Photo prompt & cover art sent to me by Hannah. Original art by Tammy van Coccinella.

Please Don't Take My Sunshine Away

Kate blinked rapidly in the darkness, trying to get her senses to focus as she drifted into consciousness.

Cold.

Damp.

Voices.

She heard distant strained words slowly becoming clearer, "Kate! Kate! Please, let me get to her!"

A punch.

A crack.

A screech.

As her body became instantly flooded with adrenaline at the sound of her husband's pain, she shot upwards from the grey, stone cobbled ground, only to find that she was being held back by someone.

"Kate." Rick repeated, sounding slightly more relaxed now that she was awake, but she could still clearly see the tears streaking down his face, mingling in with the dark maroon blood from the multiple grazes that covered his soft features.

"Cas-" Her voice was hoarse, so she began again as she cleared her throat, "Castle?"

"I'm here." He replied, his eyes shining with water once more.

"What's going on?" She asked hesitantly, racking her brain to remember the past few hours, coming up with a blank.

"Shh, I'm here." He made a move to walk towards her, only for a man from behind him to grip his forearms tightly so he stayed in place.

"Let me get to her." The masked man continued to keep a stoic look, "Please!" He begged, his voice cracking, making Beckett whimper at the desperation that riddled his voice.

"Rick…" She whispered, looking at him with unspoken words, hoping that her eyes could convey everything.

"Please." Rick repeated to the person behind him, his voice now gentler.

The man holding Castle down looked to the side of the room, where a shadowed figure was standing insolently, both hostages unable to identify the face. He gave a slow but firm nod, which made the man holding Rick loosen his grip, allowing him to lunge forward to get closer to his wife.

"Kate…" He whispered, their warm, rapid breaths hitting each other's faces as they stood closely together.

"What's happening, Castle?" Kate attempted again, but Rick simply shook his head.

"I love you. I love you." He said solidly, planting a firm, unwavering kiss on his partner's mouth, encompassing love and fear and passion and regret all at once.

The two were pulled away once again as the shadow in the darkness began to approach them.

"You must choose, Detective." The ominous voice declared.

Kate's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion as she felt herself trembling in the grip of the person holding her back. But before she could ask, she saw that her father had been kneeling down on the floor behind her husband, who now joined him as the man forcibly kicked Rick's knees, making them buckle as he fell harshly to the cold ground.

The shadow settled into an unyielding stance behind the two most important men in her life, cocking a small pistol gun.

A scream instantly ripped from Beckett's mouth as she tried to attack the figure, but the grip remained firm on her upper arm.

"Choose."

"You wouldn't dare." She spat out, feigning more confidence than she felt in the moment.

"I've done it once before, Detective." The voice retorted with maliciously.

The words whirred around in her brain, "Bracken?" She cursed the word with pure disgust and anger, causing a deep chuckle to emit from the shadow's throat.

"Choose."

"But you're supposed to be gone." She reasoned, trying to stay strong as the two men that were crouched down in front of her looked up at her with terror in their eyes.

"I'm not here to explain semantics to you. I'm here to make you choose."

"Why?" She whimpered.

"Because I cannot be 'gone' until you lose everything. Until you know full despair. Like me."

"You deserve to lose everything and despair, you fucking bastard." Kate retorted, clenching her teeth as a newfound feeling of fury and rage shot through her veins.

"Some may say you do, too. All the killing you've done. All the lies you've told. All the lives you've ruined. You don't deserve happiness, Kate. You don't deserve anything good. You deserve heartbreak and loneliness and utter desolation. You always have."

She opened her mouth to fight back, but the words failed her, as if her throat was closing up.

"Now that you've said all you needed to, choose."

Kate shook her head violently.

Another chuckle, "Come on, Detective. You can either make it one life, or two."

"You wouldn't dare." She exclaimed again, her voice shaking with all the emotions coursing through her body.

"Wouldn't I?"

Bracken aimed the gun at her father, who had his head bowed down, and shot into his thigh, making him crumple over in pain.

"Dad!" She cried out, wriggling forcefully to attempt to make her way to his side, to no avail.

"Now, which one will die tonight? Your father, or your husband?"

She stood completely still as she gave her answer, "I will. Shoot me."

The two men protested loudly in shouts, but Beckett solely shook her head at them.

"That's not an option, Detective."

"Then fucking make it one."

"No can do. It's not how this works."

Before she could get another word in, Castle slowly stood up, his legs shaking violently underneath him.

"Castle?" She whimpered, "What are you-"

"Me." He concluded, "Kill me."

"No!" Kate screeched, her legs and arms flailing in all directions as she protested.

"Kate, let me do this." He whispered, his eyes downcast, unable to look his lover in the eye.

"Rick, please." She whimpered as salty tears flowed down her cheeks and along her jawline, culminating at her neck.

Bracken's voice piped up, "You picked a good man to marry, Detective. Strong. Brave."

She cried loudly as Bracken lined up his next shot, Rick squeezing his eyes shut.

"Too bad you're a widow now."

The loud bang resonated deep within her bones, making her as if every part of her was being broken, disintegrating piece by piece. Her eyes were trained on her lover's crumpled body that was leaking the deep velvet coloured fluid that she was all too familiar with.

Kate fell to her knees, slamming her head to the ground as she cried.

The last thing she heard was Bracken laughing.

"Kate. Please. You're safe. You're here."

She sat up with a loud gasp as she panted desperately for air, the dark encompassing her, making her feel like she was back in that awful situation.

Then, she registered her husband sitting next to her, his arms cautiously wrapped around her as he hushed her gently.

"You're okay. It was a dream. You're at home, in bed." Rick murmured, trying to kick her out of her reverie.

"Castle?" She whispered, the word barely audible as her voice was so hoarse.

"Yes, I'm here, love. I'm here with you."

She nodded, unable to talk as she sputtered out the last of her cries, registering and revelling in the slow circles her partner was rubbing soothingly onto her back. Kate wiped away the beads of sweat from her forehead with shaky hands, letting out a few more deep exhales before she spoke.

"Sorry." She whispered, hanging her head in shame and guilt.

Rick simply ignored her statement, "Nightmare?"

She nodded, a solitary stray tear strolling down her cheekbone, which Castle quickly wiped away with the back of his thumb, his touch riddled with care and tenderness.

"Want to talk about it?" He offered, placing a light kiss onto her dishevelled hair.

She shook her head, then nuzzled it into the crook of his neck; needing his embrace and his warmth.

"Want to try going back to sleep?" He whispered, continuing to skate his palms over her skin in a comforting motion.

Kate nodded, prompting Rick to slowly lay back down onto the soft mattress, pulling his wife down with him as she curled up into his broad frame, her fingers fiddling with his navy night shirt.

"I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." Castle stated, as if he knew the exact nature of her dream.

She nodded once more, hoping that he would understand her silent plea to stop the current topic of conversation, which he did.

The two lovers stayed intertwined together, facing each other as Rick occasionally leaned forward to pepper small kisses onto his wife's face, scattering them in a pattern from her forehead, to each of her cheeks, to her nose, to her chin, and then repeating the sequence, making a small smile appear on her features, the horror of her night terror slowly drifting away with each touch.

"I love you." She whispered to him while he nuzzled her cheek with his nose, hearing the relieved exhale of breath he expelled.

His inevitable response of 'I love you too' was the last thing she heard before she fell into a calm, dreamless sleep, her husband never letting go.

Thank you so much for reading! I haven't ventured into the angsty/hurt world of fanfiction before, so this was a new experience for me!

P.S. If anyone would like to send me a prompt, I would love it! Either write a message in my ask, submit a photo, or send me an email and pullingbeckettspigtails

Oh, and happy Castle Monday!

Lou xo