So this is a story inspired by a prompt on Tumblr:

"Pre Caskett. (Set between 2x18 and 2x19). When Beckett injures around her ribcage, Castle takes her to the hospital, even after she believes its fine, but is in pain every time she moves"

This is the first of two chapters, this one sets the scene and the next chapter will be focusing on the prompt fill in more detail. I was going to post this as one long chapter but every time I try to my computer seems to crash, so first half today and hopefully second half tomorrow.

Let me know your thoughts and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I am not associated with Castle in any way. This is just a (not so small any more) hobby.

"Castle stop, it's not your fault" Beckett said through gritted teeth, the pain in her ribs becoming more unbearable by the second.

"How can you say that Beckett, I'm the one that got us into this mess, it was my fault they got the drop on us and now look at us!" he exclaimed tugging on the handcuffs that were attaching them together around an old pipe drain.

Beckett grunted as he continued to pull at the cuffs but she knew it was futile. Her right wrist was cuffed to his left, and his right to her left forcing her to feel every movement that he made. Both were sitting on the damp floor with their arms bound behind them, a large pipe standing between them and with every move that Castle made it sent a stabbing pain right through her ribs.

She tried to grit her teeth, tried to bare the pain that was coursing through her abdomen. She took a breath, or at least she tried to but as soon as she breathed in she was forced to exhale again, the pressure all too much, reducing her to short sharp breaths instead. It was the moment Castle yanked both his wrists at the same time, trying hopelessly the break through the cuffs that she had to speak up, she needed him to stop, the pain was too much.

"Castle stop" she said, trying to remain authoritative.

"Beckett we can't just sit here" he replied, once again twisting and pulling on the cuffs binding their wrists together.

"Please Castle stop, please stop" she said weakly her voice breaking.

He stopped immediately.

Something was wrong but he was unable to turn around and see her to find out what.

"Kate?" he asked tentatively.

"I'm fine Castle, just please stop pulling on the cuffs. We're not going anywhere. We will just have to wait for back up. Ryan and Espo will notice we are missing soon and come looking for us.

He knew she was right, there was nothing they could do. They would just have to sit and wait.

4 hours earlier.

"You do take me to the loveliest places" Castle commented as he and Beckett made their way towards the abandoned warehouse.

"Yeah well you could have stayed in the car" she commented back. Although she was glad that he had come with her, as much as she hated to admit it, he was growing on her.

After almost two years spent working everyday with him, putting up with all his ridiculous theories, copious amounts of coffee and countless innuendos she had finally started to like him. She was still living at his loft, her place still in ashes after the explosion, but he had told her she was welcome to stay for as long as she needed.

They walked into the building together, it was the last place their victim had been seen alive. He was into gangs, that much they knew and the area was notorious for gang and drug activity. It was going dark when they had arrived but luckily for them the lights of the warehouse were still on. Moving slowly from room to room they began searching for any clues that there may have been someone else there, a witness they could talk to, or a piece of evidence that would help then figure out why he had come here before his death.

"I wonder why criminals can't just for once conduct their illegal activities in some place nicer. I mean I'm not asking for much, just a place with heating or actual windows and doors"

"Castle" she said, rolling her eyes. She knew he was bored. This case wasn't turning out to be half as exciting as he had hoped for.

After searching the warehouse and concluding there was nothing there of any use, they made their way back towards the exit.

Suddenly the exit door slammed shut.

"Castle!" Beckett said, turning to face him and giving him her typical 'what the hell' look.

"That was not me" he proclaimed raising his eyebrows just as shocked as her.

"Come on Castle, I know this case isn't as exciting but we still have a murder to solve" she replied, the annoyance in her voice becoming clearer.

"Beckett I swear that wasn't me" he insisted, as Beckett tried to force the door open.

"Maybe we're not alone after all. Maybe it's Ninja Assassin, those guys are fast, and we probably wouldn't even notice them. Maybe they have come to take away the evidence, maybe Tyler was onto them, and they knew that they couldn't let him reveal their identity, or maybe…" but he was cut off before he could finish his outlandish theory.

Before they knew it three men were upon them. One grabbed both of Kate's arms, locking them tightly behind her back. Another grabbed Castle in a headlock, pressing the nuzzle of a gun to his temple.

"Don't move" the man holding Beckett sneered as he pulled Kate's body back into his.

The third man, who appeared to be the superior of the three began to circle around them.

"What are you doing on my property?" he asked, his voice a rough mixture or faux curiosity and intimidation.

"My name is Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. I'm here about the murder of Tyler Clarkson. Holding a detective at gunpoint is illegal, you let me go now and we can talk about this and sort something our" Beckett said trying to keep her voice strong.

"A detective. Hum, I've never seen a detective with such a smoking body as yours. You would fit in better in Vice detective" He sneered and Beckett had to purse her lips together and bite back a comment.

Her eyes widened as he stepped closer to her. She tried to keep her eyes locked on his, attempting not to show any sign of weakness or fear.

"Now hold still, we wouldn't want anything to happen to your buddy over there" he told her.

Castle didn't want to think about what the man had meant by that comment and before he knew it he was yelling at the leader of the group,

"You hurt her and I swear to God I will…" but he was cut off as Kate yelped in pain.

The superior of the three had just landed a punch right to her left side, she doubled over as much as she could, but the man standing being her pulled on her arms forcing her to remain upright as another blow was delivered to the same side. Kate gasped in pain, trying to block out some of the pain and regain control over her convulsing body. He then released her, throwing her to the concrete floor before delivering four swift kicks to her ribs.

"Stop please! Kate! Please stop please!" Castle begged, his face distraught as he watched Kate crumple into a ball on the floor.

The man eventually stopped and Castle could barely breathe, all he wanted to do was hold her, to tell her he was sorry and that he would fix things, somehow he would try to make this right.

The man who was holding Kate earlier grabbed her by her hair and pulled her back into a standing position, forcing her to arch her back causing excruciating pain to her ribs.

"You try that again and next time it will be done with a metal pipe" the man hissed at Castle.

"Now darling" he said turning back around to face Kate, his voice smooth and casual like what he and his friend had just done was nothing.

"You co-operate with us and our little friend over here might regain control over that gun of his. He's got very quick reactions but his hand isn't always that steady and we wouldn't want that gun going off unnecessarily now would we?" he asked rhetorically, his head nudging to the man holding Castle.

Beckett remained still, her eyes glued to Castle.

The man leaned in to Beckett and began slowly crawling his hands down her ribs purposely pressing his palms into where he and his accomplice had just attacked her, but she remained still, forcing herself to keep a poker face. He reached the top of her jeans and felt around for her gun, phone and handcuffs. He removed them from her and held them up for her to see.

"You won't be needing these" he said before continued to search her.

He skimmed his hands down the inside of her legs and around her ankle where he found her spare piece and handcuff keys, once again taking them from her.

It sicken Castle to watch and it took all this energy not to try and break the hold the beefy man had on him and attack the men, but he knew they were outnumbered, and it would do no good to try and resist when he knew the man would hold good on this threat.

"Now tell me detective." The leader of the group began,

"Why were you trespassing on my property?"

"We are investigating the death of Tyler Clarkson, this was the last place he was seen alive" Beckett said, trying to keep her voice strong even through the agonising pain that was coursing through her body.

The leader stepped closer to Kate, moving further into her personal space and Castle had to do everything he could to stop himself lunging for the man.

Castle could only watch as Kate shrank back, he had never seen her like this, she was tough and usually a situation like this wouldn't phase her, but for some reason today it was. He could see her breathing becoming heavier as her eyes widened.

"You've already told me that detective. You won't find anything here. But now we have a problem, see I don't know what you've seen and that can be very worrying for a man like me. So now I need to decide what to do with you and your little friend over there. I'm assuming he's not a cop, doesn't look like one. He cares too much to keep a poker face."

The man stared at Kate before turning his back on her and moving towards one of the tables in the room. Packing away her gun and phone in a bag he then pulled out his phone, nodding to the man holding Castle, before leaving the room.

"Right pretty boy" the brute holding Castle sneered.

"You're going to walk over to that pipe and sit down, any funny business and your partner will pay, you understand?"

Castle nodded, keeping his eyes focused on Beckett, he could see she was in pain, the beating she had taken to her side coupled with the way the animal was holding her he knew something was seriously wrong.

Castle did as he was told, walking towards the metal pipe and sitting down, he watched as the other man dragged Beckett over, forcing her to sit down behind him. Her cuffs were passed between them and secured around one of their wrists. The leader of the group returned holding Beckett's spare handcuffs between his beefy fingers, he locked them around their other wrists, securing them together around the pipe.

"Take the car and dump it someone, dump the phones as well" he ordered to the two men who quickly grabbed Castle's phone from his coat pocked and left to follow their orders.

"Well I would like to say this has been fun, but you're more of a nuisance than a help. Better luck next time detective." He sneered before turning to exit the warehouse.

Present day

"When do you think the boys will notice we are missing?" Castle asked, although he was bored, he was starting to get a little nervous.

"They should have noticed that we haven't checked in by now" Kate said, clenching her jaw and shifting her position, in favour of finding one more comfortable.

"Hopefully it won't be… won't be too long now"

Castle noticed her breathing had become more labored, she was focusing too much energy on making sure she had enough oxygen.

"Kate, how bad is your side?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

"It's fine"

"Then why are you struggling to breathe? Kate they gave you a horrific beating, you could have cracked ribs, or broken ribs or a punctured lung" he was rambling but he knew what it felt like to have bruised ribs; just one of the many occupational hazards of doing Derrick Storm research.

"Castle stop, I'm fine"

"You're not fine, I need to get you out of here, it's my fault they did this, please just let me help you"

"Castle I swear if you start pulling on these cuffs again that as soon as I get my gun back I will shoot you. It wasn't your fault. Now just sit tight Ryan and Espo will be here soon"

Kate hoped against hope that she was right. She needed to be lying down, a burning pain had settled on her side that was causing a fire to rip violently through her body and Castle's comment about broken ribs and punctured lungs wasn't helping the matter. She knew there was no way out though, she had told Ryan and Espo where they were going and as soon as they realised she hadn't checked in and neither of them was answering their phones, she knew they would come looking for them.

It was just a matter of time.

Please leave a review or comment, I always welcome constructive criticism. Stay tuned for chapter two!