“Am I interrupting something?”
Beckett turned her, now, furiously blushing face towards the sound to see a smiling Alexis, but she turned back around quickly as she heard a pained groan from Castle. Castle was laying back with his right arm wrapped around his chest area, having been freed from Beckett’s hand, with his eyes closed in a grimaced.
“Castle? What’s wrong?” she inquired worriedly as she stepped closer to his bed.
One eye opened as he spoke, “When Alexis surprised us, I jostled up my ribs. Just give me a sec,” he took a deep breath, held it, and exhaled slowly, then looking up at his two favorite women.
Alexis walked up beside Beckett and looked down at her father with new found worry in her eyes.
“Dad, are you okay?” she asked tentatively as she rested her hand on his thigh.
“Yea Alexis, I’m fine,” he spoke as he laid up while his bed inclined and smiled. Beckett was momentarily mesmerized at how his blue eyes sparkled as he spoke to his daughter. So mesmerized, that she didn’t notice that Castle was calling her until Alexis touched her arm.
“Detective Beckett?”
“Hmm?” Beckett said distantly as she continued to look at Castles eyes.
“Are you okay?” Alexis questioned with an amused smirk as she stared up at the detective who was strangely looking into her father’s eyes.
“Earth to Beckett! You okay?” Castle wore a smirk similar to Alexis’ as he watched Beckett slowly come back into reality.
“What happened?” teased Alexis as she nudged the detective with her elbow.
“Uhh...I got a bit distracted,” Beckett said, attempting to use her poker face, but the blush creeping up from her clavicle betrayed her.
“Alexis, I guess that proves that I’m still incredibly ruggedly handsome,” Castle stated with an amused grin on his face as he looked over at his daughter.
Alexis smiled as she watched her father and his detective friend bicker with each other. She had never seen her father be happier when he was around anyone else but her. After Gina left her and her dad, he became the ultimate bad-boy with the ladies. But once he met Beckett at the book launching party, he had spent day and night in a wild cat and mouse game.
Her thoughts and the two adults’ bickering came to a halt as a nurse came into the room with an amused grin.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your ‘mature’ conversation, but, Mr. Castle needs his rest.”
Both women nodded and turned to look at Castle, laughing as they saw his pouting face.
“Bye dad, get some rest,” Alexis said first as she grasped her dad’s hand gently in hers. She leaned down and gave his cheek a peck before saying, “I love you.”
“Love you too, Lexi. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Castle spoke fondly as he watched his daughter being escorted to the bathroom by a nurse after she asked where it was.
He then looked over to Beckett, who stood with her hands fiddling with the blanket by his hand as she bit her lip. Castle put his good hand on hers to stop her fiddling and attempted to look at her face that didn’t move from its position.
“Beckett?” he said softly after a moment of silence.
She shook her head and continued to look down at their intertwined hands, trying to shake off approaching tears. Beckett was astonished at how her walls broke down so quickly around this man.
“Kate, look at me,” he said.
She let out a long breath as she finally looked into his eyes.
“I’m so sorry. It’s all my fa--” she started guiltily before she was, once again, interrupted.
“Damn it, Kate,” Castle said angrily as he removed his hand from hers in frustration. She looked at him in surprise at his outburst. Beckett looked at him, waiting for a reply, but then realizing that she wasn’t going to get one.
“Castle...” she started hesitantly as she looked at his face to see his eyes closing.
“Do not say sorry or try to apologize in anyway because I don’t want to hear it,” he began in an emotionless voice, that scared Beckett more than when he spoke louder, “I hurt you and I ordered you to hurt me back physically. I put myself in this bed, not you. So stop it.”
She was saved by Alexis as the girl slid open the door.
“You ready, Detective?”
Beckett had agreed to take the young girl home as Martha had a client and wouldn’t make it home on time to take her. She simply nodded, still looking at Castle, who hadn’t moved from his position with his eyes closed. She turned and grabbed her stuff, before turning back around to Castle. She didn’t know what to do, so Beckett settled with simply squeezing his hand gently, silently promising to be back. Then, Alexis and her made their way of out the room and out of the hospital. For Beckett, this being the first time in days that she had been outside.
Once they left, Castle rubbed his right hand over his face in frustration as he though about his and the detectives relationship. A few hours later, he finally succumbed into unpeaceful unconsciousness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the way home, Alexis asked if they could stop by a gas station so that she could buy some tampons. Beckett agreed, needing to stop for gas anyway, leaning against her car as she waited. By the time the gas had filled, Alexis was waiting in line to purchase her items, and Beckett slipped back into the car, leaving it off for the time being. She leaned her forehead onto the steering wheel, sighing loudly as she remembered what Castle had told her.
Why would he do that? Maybe he...., her thoughts were interrupted as the passenger door opened up, and Alexis slid into the seating, thanking her for letting her stop.
“You ready?” Beckett said as she reached her hand over to pull on her seatbelt when suddenly her car door was yanked open violently, and she felt a cold metal pressing harshly against her neck, which she could only assume was a gun. Looking over at Alexis, she saw the pale face and the terrified blue eyes of an innocent young girl. She made a promise to herself right then and there that Alexis will never be hurt if she could do anything about it.
“How you doin’ babe?” An unforgiving, raspy voice croaked and she felt a chill runs through her veins.
She then realized that her phone was on the night table beside Castles hospital bed and their only hope of help was if Alexis called for help. The young girl was practically in shock as she didn’t move from her spot, watching the man wrap his gun-free arm around Beckett’s shoulders, slowly pulling her out of the car, the gun still pressed against the detectives neck.
Help , Beckett screamed silently with her eyes, desperately looking at Alexis as she was pulled out of the car by the man.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The man pulled Beckett out, pressing her against the side of the car with his body, bringing his face close to hers as he used his free hand to touch her hips. She wiggled uncomfortably as he did, hearing the faint sound of a phones buttons being pressed, knowing that she couldn’t do anything until she knew Alexis wouldn’t get hurt.
She grabbed his hand as he slid it up, bringing her shirt up with it, instantly regretting her decision as he slapped her after ripping his hand out of her grip. Her head flew to the side, not expecting the slap, feeling the sting as her cheek heated up where his hand had struck her.
He brought his hand back up to grip her hair roughly as he whispered in her ear, “Don’t touch me, bitch.”
Beckett whimpered quietly as he pulled roughly on her hair, forcing her next back as he began to violently and roughly bit on the skin of her neck.
His feet were on hers, and his gun-wielding hand trapped her hands above her head, not allowing her to move at all. In her peripheral vision, she saw that Alexis had made her way into the store and was looking at her terrified and helplessly, knowing there was nothing she could do to help the detective.
Beckett then knew that Alexis was safe and that help was on the way, so she could either let the man continue his assault or kick his ass unconscious.
She chose the latter.
Not being able to move her arms or legs, she took her head and quickly brought it down on his, sending his flying back, gripping his head. She brought her hands down and instantly moved towards him, needing to get the gun out of his possession before anyone got hurt. Before she could do anything, the staggering man recovered and quickly brought up his gun, shooting it.
Reacting fast, she dodged out of the way, and by the time his eyes moved to where she was now, a foot was quickly flying towards his head, sending it flying violently to the side. He dropped his gun as he fell to the harsh pavement, letting out a scream as his back connected with the unforgiving cement. Quickly, Beckett dived for the gun, but just as her hand was about to grab it, a calloused hand gripped hers hard enough that she knew that she was going to have bruises. The man pulled her towards him roughly, standing up as he did, and she winced as her skin grinding against the pavement as her shirt rode up.
Soon, the two adults were against the car, Beckett being, once again, pressed against it, trying her best to avoid his hits as he cursed at her. She let out a sound of pain as her hair was grasped and pulled roughly, causing her head to crash into the window, cracking it as her head connected with it.
“Beckett!” Alexis said as she ran out of the safety of the gas station after hearing the pained yell from the detective.
Time stopped as the man pushed Beckett roughly against the car, as he dove towards the gun only a foot away. Beckett reacted quickly as well, telling Alexis to run as she painfully stood and rushed towards the man.
A click as the gun cocked was all Alexis heard before 3 shots were fired.
Alexis yelled in shock while ducking down, as she heard the glass window of the gas station shatter behind her, being hit by one bullet.
Another was shot from Detective Esposito arriving at the scene mere seconds ago. The man screamed as that bullet ripped through his jeans and his skin, lodging itself instantly in his back, paralyzing him.
That was all the shots, but Alexis looked confused and worried as she stood up.
“Alexis! Are you alright? What happened?” Ryan quickly asked as he looked her over, sighing in relief as he saw nothing wrong.
She shushed him and looked around, “Where’s the other shot?”
“Wh--?”
“There were three shots. Where did the third one go?” Alexis frantically said, cutting a confused Ryan off, as her eyes widened. “Kate!”
Alexis tore out of Ryan’s grip, leaving no time for the detective to react and grab her as she rushed over to where Esposito was kneeling next to Beckett who was being squished by the unconscious man.
Esposito was grabbing the man and pulled him off of Beckett, and as soon as he did, Alexis dropped to her knees, next to her and yelped in shock.
“Help! Kate’s hurt! She’s hurt!!” the young girl said as she tore off her jacket, putting it on the older woman’s stomach and applying pressure. “Kate! Stay with me! Please, I can’t lose you!”
Beckett struggled to keep her eyes opened as the darkness quickly seeped in, blackening out her vision and hearing. The last thing she heard was the frantic screeching of Castle’s daughter, calling for her.
“Kate! Please! NO!”
Beckett turned her, now, furiously blushing face towards the sound to see a smiling Alexis, but she turned back around quickly as she heard a pained groan from Castle. Castle was laying back with his right arm wrapped around his chest area, having been freed from Beckett’s hand, with his eyes closed in a grimaced.
“Castle? What’s wrong?” she inquired worriedly as she stepped closer to his bed.
One eye opened as he spoke, “When Alexis surprised us, I jostled up my ribs. Just give me a sec,” he took a deep breath, held it, and exhaled slowly, then looking up at his two favorite women.
Alexis walked up beside Beckett and looked down at her father with new found worry in her eyes.
“Dad, are you okay?” she asked tentatively as she rested her hand on his thigh.
“Yea Alexis, I’m fine,” he spoke as he laid up while his bed inclined and smiled. Beckett was momentarily mesmerized at how his blue eyes sparkled as he spoke to his daughter. So mesmerized, that she didn’t notice that Castle was calling her until Alexis touched her arm.
“Detective Beckett?”
“Hmm?” Beckett said distantly as she continued to look at Castles eyes.
“Are you okay?” Alexis questioned with an amused smirk as she stared up at the detective who was strangely looking into her father’s eyes.
“Earth to Beckett! You okay?” Castle wore a smirk similar to Alexis’ as he watched Beckett slowly come back into reality.
“What happened?” teased Alexis as she nudged the detective with her elbow.
“Uhh...I got a bit distracted,” Beckett said, attempting to use her poker face, but the blush creeping up from her clavicle betrayed her.
“Alexis, I guess that proves that I’m still incredibly ruggedly handsome,” Castle stated with an amused grin on his face as he looked over at his daughter.
Alexis smiled as she watched her father and his detective friend bicker with each other. She had never seen her father be happier when he was around anyone else but her. After Gina left her and her dad, he became the ultimate bad-boy with the ladies. But once he met Beckett at the book launching party, he had spent day and night in a wild cat and mouse game.
Her thoughts and the two adults’ bickering came to a halt as a nurse came into the room with an amused grin.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your ‘mature’ conversation, but, Mr. Castle needs his rest.”
Both women nodded and turned to look at Castle, laughing as they saw his pouting face.
“Bye dad, get some rest,” Alexis said first as she grasped her dad’s hand gently in hers. She leaned down and gave his cheek a peck before saying, “I love you.”
“Love you too, Lexi. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Castle spoke fondly as he watched his daughter being escorted to the bathroom by a nurse after she asked where it was.
He then looked over to Beckett, who stood with her hands fiddling with the blanket by his hand as she bit her lip. Castle put his good hand on hers to stop her fiddling and attempted to look at her face that didn’t move from its position.
“Beckett?” he said softly after a moment of silence.
She shook her head and continued to look down at their intertwined hands, trying to shake off approaching tears. Beckett was astonished at how her walls broke down so quickly around this man.
“Kate, look at me,” he said.
She let out a long breath as she finally looked into his eyes.
“I’m so sorry. It’s all my fa--” she started guiltily before she was, once again, interrupted.
“Damn it, Kate,” Castle said angrily as he removed his hand from hers in frustration. She looked at him in surprise at his outburst. Beckett looked at him, waiting for a reply, but then realizing that she wasn’t going to get one.
“Castle...” she started hesitantly as she looked at his face to see his eyes closing.
“Do not say sorry or try to apologize in anyway because I don’t want to hear it,” he began in an emotionless voice, that scared Beckett more than when he spoke louder, “I hurt you and I ordered you to hurt me back physically. I put myself in this bed, not you. So stop it.”
She was saved by Alexis as the girl slid open the door.
“You ready, Detective?”
Beckett had agreed to take the young girl home as Martha had a client and wouldn’t make it home on time to take her. She simply nodded, still looking at Castle, who hadn’t moved from his position with his eyes closed. She turned and grabbed her stuff, before turning back around to Castle. She didn’t know what to do, so Beckett settled with simply squeezing his hand gently, silently promising to be back. Then, Alexis and her made their way of out the room and out of the hospital. For Beckett, this being the first time in days that she had been outside.
Once they left, Castle rubbed his right hand over his face in frustration as he though about his and the detectives relationship. A few hours later, he finally succumbed into unpeaceful unconsciousness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the way home, Alexis asked if they could stop by a gas station so that she could buy some tampons. Beckett agreed, needing to stop for gas anyway, leaning against her car as she waited. By the time the gas had filled, Alexis was waiting in line to purchase her items, and Beckett slipped back into the car, leaving it off for the time being. She leaned her forehead onto the steering wheel, sighing loudly as she remembered what Castle had told her.
Why would he do that? Maybe he...., her thoughts were interrupted as the passenger door opened up, and Alexis slid into the seating, thanking her for letting her stop.
“You ready?” Beckett said as she reached her hand over to pull on her seatbelt when suddenly her car door was yanked open violently, and she felt a cold metal pressing harshly against her neck, which she could only assume was a gun. Looking over at Alexis, she saw the pale face and the terrified blue eyes of an innocent young girl. She made a promise to herself right then and there that Alexis will never be hurt if she could do anything about it.
“How you doin’ babe?” An unforgiving, raspy voice croaked and she felt a chill runs through her veins.
She then realized that her phone was on the night table beside Castles hospital bed and their only hope of help was if Alexis called for help. The young girl was practically in shock as she didn’t move from her spot, watching the man wrap his gun-free arm around Beckett’s shoulders, slowly pulling her out of the car, the gun still pressed against the detectives neck.
Help , Beckett screamed silently with her eyes, desperately looking at Alexis as she was pulled out of the car by the man.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The man pulled Beckett out, pressing her against the side of the car with his body, bringing his face close to hers as he used his free hand to touch her hips. She wiggled uncomfortably as he did, hearing the faint sound of a phones buttons being pressed, knowing that she couldn’t do anything until she knew Alexis wouldn’t get hurt.
She grabbed his hand as he slid it up, bringing her shirt up with it, instantly regretting her decision as he slapped her after ripping his hand out of her grip. Her head flew to the side, not expecting the slap, feeling the sting as her cheek heated up where his hand had struck her.
He brought his hand back up to grip her hair roughly as he whispered in her ear, “Don’t touch me, bitch.”
Beckett whimpered quietly as he pulled roughly on her hair, forcing her next back as he began to violently and roughly bit on the skin of her neck.
His feet were on hers, and his gun-wielding hand trapped her hands above her head, not allowing her to move at all. In her peripheral vision, she saw that Alexis had made her way into the store and was looking at her terrified and helplessly, knowing there was nothing she could do to help the detective.
Beckett then knew that Alexis was safe and that help was on the way, so she could either let the man continue his assault or kick his ass unconscious.
She chose the latter.
Not being able to move her arms or legs, she took her head and quickly brought it down on his, sending his flying back, gripping his head. She brought her hands down and instantly moved towards him, needing to get the gun out of his possession before anyone got hurt. Before she could do anything, the staggering man recovered and quickly brought up his gun, shooting it.
Reacting fast, she dodged out of the way, and by the time his eyes moved to where she was now, a foot was quickly flying towards his head, sending it flying violently to the side. He dropped his gun as he fell to the harsh pavement, letting out a scream as his back connected with the unforgiving cement. Quickly, Beckett dived for the gun, but just as her hand was about to grab it, a calloused hand gripped hers hard enough that she knew that she was going to have bruises. The man pulled her towards him roughly, standing up as he did, and she winced as her skin grinding against the pavement as her shirt rode up.
Soon, the two adults were against the car, Beckett being, once again, pressed against it, trying her best to avoid his hits as he cursed at her. She let out a sound of pain as her hair was grasped and pulled roughly, causing her head to crash into the window, cracking it as her head connected with it.
“Beckett!” Alexis said as she ran out of the safety of the gas station after hearing the pained yell from the detective.
Time stopped as the man pushed Beckett roughly against the car, as he dove towards the gun only a foot away. Beckett reacted quickly as well, telling Alexis to run as she painfully stood and rushed towards the man.
A click as the gun cocked was all Alexis heard before 3 shots were fired.
Alexis yelled in shock while ducking down, as she heard the glass window of the gas station shatter behind her, being hit by one bullet.
Another was shot from Detective Esposito arriving at the scene mere seconds ago. The man screamed as that bullet ripped through his jeans and his skin, lodging itself instantly in his back, paralyzing him.
That was all the shots, but Alexis looked confused and worried as she stood up.
“Alexis! Are you alright? What happened?” Ryan quickly asked as he looked her over, sighing in relief as he saw nothing wrong.
She shushed him and looked around, “Where’s the other shot?”
“Wh--?”
“There were three shots. Where did the third one go?” Alexis frantically said, cutting a confused Ryan off, as her eyes widened. “Kate!”
Alexis tore out of Ryan’s grip, leaving no time for the detective to react and grab her as she rushed over to where Esposito was kneeling next to Beckett who was being squished by the unconscious man.
Esposito was grabbing the man and pulled him off of Beckett, and as soon as he did, Alexis dropped to her knees, next to her and yelped in shock.
“Help! Kate’s hurt! She’s hurt!!” the young girl said as she tore off her jacket, putting it on the older woman’s stomach and applying pressure. “Kate! Stay with me! Please, I can’t lose you!”
Beckett struggled to keep her eyes opened as the darkness quickly seeped in, blackening out her vision and hearing. The last thing she heard was the frantic screeching of Castle’s daughter, calling for her.
“Kate! Please! NO!”
