Chapter Text
Walking through the graveyard, Kate couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched... Her heart crashed against her chest at every rustle of leaves and every scutter of squirrels. She quickened her pace; visiting her mother’s grave shouldn’t be this stressful. Maybe she should turn back. She shook the nagging thoughts away and set her jaw, raising her head to world. She couldn’t back down now, she could see the grave from here, it was only a few dozen yards away. The sun shone brightly through the gap that formed in the clouds; it glinted off a beer bottle that lay just behind a gravestone to her right, the glare flashing with the sun beams, disguising the bottle from view.
Kate froze, before throwing herself to the ground, eyes wide and panicked, flitting in every direction. Her heart thudded and yet seemed to miss several beats all at once. Memories flooded her mind, taking over. Blood dripped onto her cheek, rolling from a cut on her head. She must had hit it when she collided with the hard ground. The world flashed by and as curled her knees up to her chest, tears streaming and combining with the sticky blood flowing from her head. ‘’I’m sorry mom, I thought I could do this. I’m not ready.’’
Kate takes a shaky breath, pushing herself up on her hands; her leg gave way and she collapsed back onto the path. She cursed under her breath, she must have knocked her leg as she fell too. She wondered if she had hurt anything else, minus her pride.
Gritting her teeth, pain searing through her leg now the shock had subsided, she pulled her phone out of her pocket, pulling up Castle’s number and hesitating. She didn’t want him to see her like this… It had been several months since the shooting; he probably thinks she had gotten better by now. She felt embarrassed. Testing her leg once more, she realised there was no way she’d be able to make it back to her car without help. She needed him, no matter how much being vulnerable filled her with dread. Pushing all her thoughts away, she pressed his contact and tapped call. Half of her hoped he wouldn’t pick up, but she knew she needed the help and if she had to have help, it had to be him. She didn’t want Esposito or Ryan to know how much this still affected her, she didn’t want them to worry; or worse, she didn’t want to be babied or have Gates find out; the strict new captain was intimating, brilliant at her job but a lot much stern than Montgomery ever was. Montgomery… fresh pain surfaced in her heart.
Before she could wallow in her past and the memories anymore, Castle’s cheery tone radiated from her phone. ‘’Hey, Beckett! Caught a case?’’
Beckett mused over what to say. ‘’Hey, Castle, could you meet me at my mom’s grave?’’ There was a silence at the other end of the phone, she almost thought it had cut off or that he had gone. Then he finally replied, ‘’What’s going on, Kate?’’ She thought her voice would break if she tried to explain so she just answered, ‘’I’ll explain when you get here. Could you please get here now?’’
‘’Already on my way.’’ He said, the jingle of keys sounding from the other side of the phone before there was a beeping noise and the call was cut off. Breathing a sigh of relief, she ran a hand over the cut on her head, pulling it away to see that there was still fresh blood glistening on her fingers. She groaned, maybe she should have asked Castle to bring a first aid kit; there could be grit in there from where she fell on the path. Worse, there could be shards of broken in there, knowing how many drunken teenagers hang out in the cemetery at night.
Dreary and cold from the darker clouds that had moved in, covering the sun, she rubbed her arms to try and preserve some heat energy. It seemed like forever ago when she had called Castle. Where was he?
As if he had been summoned, she caught sight of him coming towards her through her half-closed eyes. Eyes flying open, her vision cleared, and she called out to him, ‘’Castle, you came.’’ He crouched down beside her, reaching out to touch her head. She winced slightly, the only indication that she was in any pain; she tried to hide it, not wanting to appear weak. With Castle thought, her guards seemed to come down a lot easier, she was able to let her hair down; and that scared her, her walls were still standing strong, barricading her heart, and her feelings. Piece by piece, she could feel them coming down and it terrified her. It was relieving and scary all at once, she didn’t know what to do.
‘’Kate?’’ It was a question, he must have been talking to her and she didn’t realise. ‘’Hhm?’’ She murmured, tiredness seeping through her bones. ‘’What happened? You’re hurt.’’
She closed her eyes, turning away from him, ‘’I thought,’’ her voice was shaking, she cleared the throat, her regular Beckett-y tone returning. ‘’I thought I saw a sniper.’’ She sighed, ‘’So I threw myself to the ground, but I cut my head and injured my leg… and I never got to visit my mom’s grave, I wanted to prove to her I could stay strong… but I couldn’t…’’
‘’Beckett, you’re the strongest person I know, and I know some actual circus ‘strongmen’.’’ He was trying to make her smile, distract her. It worked for a second but when she turned to look at him and his gaze was full of worry, it vanished as quickly as it arrived. ‘’Castle.’’ It was stern, telling him not to look at her like that, that he shouldn’t worry. ‘’Can you help me stand? I might need a human crutch.’’ She attempted to joke back but it fell flat, she didn’t feel like joking, she was tired and embarrassed and just wanted to go home and sleep for an entire day, maybe go through three tubs of ice cream and wallow in a blanket cocoon on the couch, watching terrible reality tv programmes.
A gentle but firm arm clutched her own and she looked up to see Castle, one arm ready to steady her. He gave her a nod to say he was going to lift her up now, and he does. Slowly as not to hurt her further, he bought her to her feet and steadied her. She took a step and cried out in pain. It was possible that her leg was broken, or fractured or something else, something more sinister than a bruised muscle and sprain. Horror crossed Castle’s face as she cried out and he knew what he had to do; and he also knew that she would hate him for it, that she would try to be stubborn and not accept his help. It was the only option though. ‘’That’s it, I’m carrying you.’’ He said, positioning his arms to pick her up. ‘’You are not carrying me, Castle! That is not happening!’’
‘’Look, Beckett, you can’t walk, you most definitely can’t stay here all night, so the only option is for me to carry you back to the car. No-one will ever know, I pinkie-promise I won’t tell.’’ He held out his little finger to her and she sighed, ‘’Fine,’’ it was almost a growl as she swatted his finger away, supressing a giggle at the childishness of the man standing before her, and yet how sincere he could sound whilst proposing a pinkie-promise.
He lifted her carefully into his arms and carried her fire-fighter style towards his car, which sat at the entrance of the cemetery, a couple hundred metres away. She wouldn’t admit but she felt a rush from being carried, his strong arms so gentle and cautious. She made an undistinguishable noise and he turned to face her. ‘’Are you okay? We’re almost there now.’’ She gave a small nod. Her leg was killing her, but she wasn’t about to make him worry anymore than he already was. He smiled back at her, his smile not quite reaching his eyes; he wasn’t reassured, he could see right through her shields, he knew she was putting on a brave front.
Arriving at his car, he settled her down at the passenger’s side and opened the door, helping her inside and closing the door before heading around to the driver’s side and jumping in and starting the engine. He paused, ‘’Your car?’’ She groaned, ‘’I’ll call Lanie.’’ She pulled out her phone and selected her best friend’s contact. She answered immediately. ‘’Hey girl, what’s up?’’ She sounded breathless and she could have sworn she heard Esposito whispering to her friend. ‘’Hope I’m not interrupting anything, Lanie.’’ Kate teased; it wasn’t a secret that Esposito and Lanie were on-and-off constantly. ‘’I mean…’’ she started, trailing off. ‘’Nah girl, you’re all good. What’s up?’’
Kate took a few seconds to answer. ‘’Espo, you better not be eavesdropping.’’ She started, sternly in the tone she usually conducts interrogations in. She heard the rustle of bedsheets which confirmed her suspicions. ‘’Lane, would you be able to grab my car from out front of the cemetery? I’ve had an accident; thought I saw a sniper and long story short I’ve possibly got a broken leg and a gash on my forehead.’’ She heaved a sigh; she really didn’t want to keep recounting the story. ‘’God, Kate, where are you?’’ Lanie exclaimed, voice laced with concern. ‘’Castle’s car, I had to call him to help me, I can’t drive like this, I couldn’t even stand by myself.’’
‘’Damn, calling him before me.’’ Lanie teased, ‘’You got it bad, girl.’’ Letting a laugh slide, Kate replied, ‘’No offense, Lane, I don’t think you’d be able to carry me.’’
‘’He carried you?’’ Lanie squealed, and Beckett could picture her flapping her hands around excitedly. Rolling her eyes, she could feel a flush rising to her cheeks. ‘’Don’t go there.’’ She huffed, trying to seem annoyed when in reality, she was embarrassed, embarrassed that she had enjoyed being in such close contact with her partner. They had kissed before, but it had been a ruse, a distraction so she could get the upper hand, a mere tactic. She didn’t think either of them were pretending through, the passion that had flared through her had been real, the quiet moan that had passed her lips unwillingly had been real too. Castle… his was definitely real, she had asusmed that then but now she was certain. After his confession during her shooting, she knew what his true feelings were. She had had her suspicions for a while but that just confirmed them. She was jolted back to the present when her friend’s voice came back through the phone. ‘’I can get your back for you. Stay safe, Kate.’’ Louder she said, ‘’Look after her, Castle! Make sure she goes to the hospital; I have scalpels and I’m not afraid to use them!’’
‘’Duly noted.’’ He responded, looking slightly concerned. As the phoned beeped, signalling the end of the call, he turned to his partner, ‘’She wouldn’t, would she?’’ Kate laughed, ‘’I don’t think you have anything to worry about.’’
Pulling away, Castle started the short journey to the hospital, despite Beckett’s complaints and grumbles that it wasn’t necessary. ‘’You’re so stubborn,’’ he huffed, ‘’You’re not going to walk around on that leg, I know you, you hate asking for help. But you’re going to the hospital and that’s that… also, I’m scared Lanie would murder me if I just dropped you off at your apartment.’’ He let out a nervous chuckle and Kate couldn’t supress her own in return.