It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Kate Beckett's life wasn't supposed to be like this—not again. Not again.

Barely two minutes had passed since Castle stepped into the elevator with the two uniforms escorting him to central booking and she had already begun to feel his absence like weighted barbell balanced atop her shoulders. When he left before she was hurt and confused, but that sliver of hope remained with in her—the hope that somehow, someway they'd find their way back to each other. Now, that hope was non-existent. Instead, the only emotion inside her was dread.

How long would it take for Tyson's contact to find and eliminate Castle? She imagined the psychopath would want it done as quickly as possible. An hour? Two hours? How long until she heard the official word that Castle's body had been found in amongst murderers, rapists, and other criminals? How long until what she feared to be her only chance at a happy ending evaporated into nothing?

A single tear escaped the corner of Kate's left eye and she shook her head causing her hair to curtain down across her cheek and hide this display of emotion from her colleagues. She saw it on their faces as the cuffed writer was led across the bullpen; Ryan and Esposito were upset at the prospect of losing their friend, too. They were still working the case, at their desks making phone calls, reviewing documents. She should have been doing the same, but as hopelessness washed over her again, all Kate could think was, "What's the point?"

Once again, she had failed to solve one of the most important cases of her life, only this time was far worse than the other. If she never solved her mother's case it would be a grave disappointment and something she would think about to her dying day, but her mother couldn't die again. However, Castle would be killed as a direct result of her inability to find enough evidence to clear him.

Rationally she knew that the person responsible for Castle's death would be Jerry Tyson and whomever he hired to carry out the hit, but Kate's brain did not have patience for rationality at that moment. Inside her mind, one sentence was on repeat. He's going to die and I can't stop it. The notion made it feel as though a tourniquet was around her chest squeezing tighter and tighter until all her ribs broke and all her other organs were crushed along with them.

Kate was so distracted by berating herself internally she failed to notice the comeuppance by the elevators until Gates called out her name. Somewhat startled, she jumped to her feet while simultaneously rubbing her cheeks with her fingertips, trying to clear off any tear tracks that remained, "Yes, Sir?"

The captain thumbed towards the two uniforms standing behind her. "These men are here to escort Mr. Castle to central booking."

Kate blinked. "But…he's already gone."

Gates clasped her hands in front of her and took a step forward. "Yes, Detective; I'm aware of that," she said in a tone that was anything but patient.

"So…dispatch sent the order through twice?" She guessed. It certainly would not have been the first time such an incident happened.

Gates evidently had another theory because she called out, "Can anyone verify the badge numbers of those two alleged transport officers?"

Shit. Oh Shit. Kate had not even thought about the possibility that Castle had been—oh god.

So that was how he was going to do it! Killing Castle inside the tombs would be difficult but certainly not impossible. With a man of Tyson's intelligence and level of deviousness she imagined it would be tricky but well within his scope of abilities. However, more than one point existed for the plan to go awry, and Tyson had made it plain how strongly he hated when his plans were interfered with, thus he had sent fake officers to take Castle from them and they would be the ones responsible for the writer's demise.

Kate's stomach flipped in her gut and she brought up her hand to cover her face. God, oh god. He might have already been dead!

Immediately she began to regret her actions from twenty minutes prior. She had requested to be the one to cuff Castle for his transfer just so she could be close to him again, so she could touch him one last time. She expressed how sorry she was but he refused her apology making sure she knew he didn't blame her in any way and she wasn't to worry about him. He gazed at her with such tenderness and kindness as she spoke, and the best she could manage to was to linger her fingertips against his wrist for an extra few seconds. She should have pulled him close and hugged him—kissed him. Gates probably would have suspended her, but what would that have mattered? Nothing mattered anymore.

"Security cameras show them leaving the underground garage. We ran the plates and it shows that it was sold at auction two months ago." Ryan informed the time. Kate fought to keep from cursing aloud. "I'm looking in to the purchase now, but it was all cash—no way to tie to Tyson."

"You know there is another possibility." Gates chimed in and the detectives looked at her, curious. "That Mr. Castle orchestrated this himself. He's got endless resources and knows our procedures in and out; it wouldn't have been difficult."

Esposito scoffed. "I think you're giving him too much credit, Captain."

"I disagree," Gates said. "And if he was guilty-"

"But he wasn't." Ryan interjected.

As the trio continued to argue, Kate took a step back, her brain whirring to life. Just as she cuffed him, Castle had made a comment about the very first time she had arrested and cuffed him—four years earlier in the New York Public Library. What I wouldn't give to be back there now, he had said. At the time, she'd been too distraught to offer anything more than a soft, "Yeah," but Gates's proposal had brought the incident into question.

What if…what if… oh god.

It was a long shot—she knew that—but there was a chance and if there was any chance at all she had to follow through. Without even speaking to the members of her team, Kate turned on her heel, rushed back to her desk to grab her jacket and keys, and then took off towards the elevator. She heard both Ryan and Esposito call out her name questioningly, but she ignored them. She had no time to waste trying to explain a scenario that might not even be true, but god, she wanted it to be true—she needed it to be.

Kate had no idea how big the New York Public Library was until she began to search it. She knew if the writer had been with her on her journey he would have been sprouting off facts about square footage, how many titles it contained and how large that was compared to other public libraries in the country. She would have looked at him annoyed, but really would have been impressed as always at the breadth of his knowledge. Now, the expansive space merely gave her anxiety as she checked each floor, every section, with no avail.

Finally, as she was descending the staircase she caught a glimpse of a figure she had not seen during her initial sweep of the second floor. Her heart leapt up into her throat and she leaned over the railing to study the man hunched at a table tucked among the stacks. He wore a blue unmarked baseball cap, which certainly was a new addition, but the button-down he wore appeared to be the same plumb shade Castle was arrested in.

Kate stepped down one step to get a better view and the man looked towards her. He caught her gaze and the moment blue met brown she felt tears pricking her eyes once more. Immediately, she was overwhelmed with relief but also nearly overcome with confusion. What the hell was he doing?

Though she wanted to leap down the stairs and take three at a time, Kate managed a calm pace so as not to rouse attention. She weaved her way through the stacks to the table at which the writer sat. When she reached him he stood and they stared at each other silently for the span of three seconds before she practically jumped forward and locked her arms around his neck. "Thank god you're all right." She exhaled into his neck.

"Sorry if I scared you." He muttered back, squeezing her just as tight as she was squeezing him. "There was no way I could tell you and I couldn't risk contacting you now that I'm out."

"Castle, oh my god." She pushed back from their embrace and shook her head as she stared up at him. "How did you-"

"Trust me—the less you know the better." He explained.

Clearly, the detective would not stand for such a vague answer, but before she could open her mouth to inquire further, her phone rang. She jumped as she had forgotten to put it on silent mode before entering the quiet space. She swiftly pulled the device from her pocket and moved to turn down the volume when she saw the caller was Esposito and, hoping there had been a break in the case, she answered it as softly as she could.

"Where the hell are you?" the male detective demanded of her, not bothering with pleasantries.

"Uh." Kate's eye flicked up towards her companion. "Following a lead," she said though she knew her tone did not sound convincing.

"Well you'd better get your ass back here ASAP. Gates is going through the roof! The DA is now convinced Castle orchestrated this escape himself and has put out an APB on him."

"I see."

"And we still don't know if—" Esposito cut off his speech mid-sentence, was silent for five seconds and then asked, "You're with him, aren't you?"

Cracking the smallest of smiles Kate said, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Possibly picking up on her lighter tone, the writer smiled as well.

"I'm sure. Well the DA is out for blood so you better tell your boy to keep his head down."

"Will do. In the meantime keep investigating—we've got to find Tyson's connection to all this."

"Ten-four."

Kate pulled the phone from her ear, pressed the End Call button and then stared up at her partner once more.

"Am I in trouble?" he asked with a small amount of amusement.

"Extremely and you'll be in more as soon as every NYPD officer starts their manhunt for you. The boys are going to keep searching for clues to tie Tyson to this, but we need a plan."

"Ah!" he said, holding up his right index finger. "I might have something on that."

She arched a skeptical eyebrow in his direction. "Is this a realistic idea or one of Richard Castle's wild theories?"

He continued to gaze at her. "I thought you liked my wild theories, Detective?"

"Only when your life isn't in danger."

He bobbed his head. "Fair enough, but this is a good idea. A very good idea. An idea that will make you think I'm brilliant."

Kate felt tingles form at the base of her neck at the way Castle spoke the last word in his statement. His breath brushed across her cheek and she found herself leaning into him. He was so close—so very close—and there weren't bars between them now. She could so easily give in to what she wanted and just—

"Excuse me!" The sharp hiss of a library volunteer pulled Kate's mind back to reality. "This is a library—you need to keep your voices down!"

"I'm sorry." Kate told the women as quietly as she could. "I promise we're leaving right now." The stern-faced woman walked away and Castle and Beckett exchanged glanced before she nodded towards the stairs. "Let's get out of here before anyone else sees us. You can tell me about your brilliant idea on the way."

He grinned and, without hesitation, grabbed her hand with his. "C'mon partner; you're gonna love it!"

"It's over, Castle."

"Hmm?"

Kate glanced over at her passenger as they made the drive back towards southern Manhattan. Though it was dark and she could hardly see the finer details of her face, she could still feel his body pulsating with stress and tension. "It's over." She repeated both for his benefit and her own.

Though the statement was true, she still found it hard to believe especially since, in the end, the reveal had not been nearly as shocking and twisting as she would have thought Jerry Tyson capable of. Castle's hunch that Tyson had hired an actor to play his doppelganger had paid off in spades. Once they located the man hired to do the bank withdrawal and purchase the earrings as "Richard Castle" it was barely a hop, skip and jump to the warehouse in which Tyson had apparently plotted his evil plan. Surveillance photos, schematics of both Tessa Horton's and Castle's apartment, and even specs about the precinct's security cameras easily absolved the writer of all guilt.

When Gates announced that Castle was cleared of all charges—including escaping police custody—Kate fought the urge to celebrate. Just twenty-four hours earlier she feared his life would soon be at an end and now he—they—had been given a second chance. Still, with her tendency to have a dark cloud over any happy moments of her life, Kate remained hesitant especially with the normally jovial writer not celebrating beside her.

He looked over at her and, when their eyes met, she could see how dark his gaze was. "It was too easy—far too easy."

She sighed and eased their vehicle to a stop in front of a raising drawbridge. "It wasn't easy—we got lucky, I'll admit that, but we needed a bit of luck, didn't we? Tyson screwed up and-"

"That's just it." Castle interrupted. "Tyson doesn't screw up—he's too smart for that. He wanted a way to make a clean escape and-"

Castle's observation was cut off by the squealing of tires and the crunching impact of a vehicle plowing into the back of Beckett's cruiser. Despite her foot on the break, the car lurched forward and began steadily moving towards the space in the bridge where the road was missing. Her fingers gripping the wheel and her foot pressing the brake pedal into the floor, Kate glanced in her rear view mirror and growled at the sight.

"It's Tyson."

"No shit!" Castle responded, craning his head to see behind them. A moment later he gasped. "Gun—he has a gun."

"Then get down!"

Her heart thundering in her chest, Kate slouched down as low as she could so her head was protected by the back of the seat. She flinched when the first bullet ripped through the rear window. Taking but a millisecond to weigh her next course of action, Kate wrenched the steering wheel to the left, turning the car into the edge of the bridge. When it crunched against the railing, she let out a breath of relief; at least they weren't going into the water. She quickly glanced at the ducking man beside her and said, "Stay in the car," before pulling her gun from its holster and clambering out onto the bridge.

As Tyson fired at them, Kate fired back in rapid succession, squeezing out at least ten bullets before she saw the shooter drop back in his vehicle. Not convinced her shot was fatal, but hoping he was at least significantly wounded, Kate approached the car. Just as she was reaching out for the door handle, the door popped open and smacked her hard, knocking her off balance and causing her to fall.

Kate cursed as her gun skidded away from her and Tyson's hand wrapped around her neck. He hauled her to her feet and she choked, spluttered, and clawed at his arm, trying to get him to release her, but it was no use; his fury made his grip iron-strong.

"Hey Castle! C'mere Castle!" Tyson called out, tauntingly. He pressed his gun into Kate's side just at the bottom of her rib cage and she grunted out in pain. "C'mon Castle. You can't save her, but I want you to watch—I want you to watch and see as the life drains out of her knowing that I've been in control all along."

As he spoke, Tyson moved forward with Kate still in his grip. She continued to claw, but her nails were worthless against the sleeve of his jacket. When they reached the passenger side of the cruiser, Tyson slowed his walk. "C'mon Castle—you don't want your friend to die without you now." Just as they reached the edge of the passenger door, Tyson moved his weapon from Kate's gut to be pointed out in front of him, obviously meaning to aim it towards Castle, but before Kate got close enough to look inside the vehicle, she heard a voice from behind them.

"She's not my friend; she's the woman I love."

Kate heard the gunshot just as Tyson whipped towards the back of the vehicle where the writer stood. When the bullet connected with Tyson's shoulder, his grip loosened and Kate slid out of it, dropping to her knees on the ground. The bullets continued to fly, but she stayed low, looking up just in time to see Tyson stumble backwards off the edge of the bridge. By the time her brain registered what had happened, Castle was at her side, scooping her under the armpit and hauling her to her feet.

"Kate—Kate! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"'m fine, Castle," she said, her eyes never leaving the last spot Tyson had been. She cautiously peered over the edge of the bridge and saw ripples in the water below; she shivered involuntarily. Well, he definitely wasn't coming back from that.

Turning back to her partner, Kate saw he wore an extremely guilty expression. "I'm so sorry, Beckett."

She shook her head. "This isn't your fault."

"But you could have been hurt. You could have…without knowing…" He shook his head and brought his hand up to his face, only then realizing he still held the gun. Carefully, he tossed it to the ground and stepped up to Kate. "I almost lost you again and I know you said you wanted to talk later, but this can't wait.

"Back in May I ended our partnership because I felt foolish. I thought I was following you around waiting for something only to discover you didn't feel the same, so I felt like an idiot. I realize now I was mistaken and I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions instead of confronting you about it, but you need to know that my feelings haven't changed. I…I spent the past few months thinking I could make myself get over you, but I can't—I never could because I-"

In one swift move, Kate stepped forward and brought her lips against his, cutting off his romantic confession. The writer hummed softly against her mouth before wrapping his arms around her, pulling her closer, and kissing her like she'd wanted him to kiss her for years. Unfortunately, that was also the moment that the sound of approaching sirens hit Kate's ears so she pulled back and rested her hand gently against his cheek as she spoke to him.

"Castle, I feel the same."

His eyes lit with recognition. "You...do?"

She nodded and then added carefully, "But Castle I don't want to dive in to anything. I...that's why I told you I needed time. It's hard for me to be completely open so…" She paused and gazed around the disaster area that was once a bridge. "Let's clean this mess up and then we can talk about us okay?"

Studying her face, he nodded. "We can...go to dinner?"

A smile creeping across her face she nodded. "I'd like that."

"Then," he said, giving her waist one final squeeze as the cruisers pulled up on the bridge around them, "It's a date."

A/N: Thank you to everyone for your reviews and follows! I really appreciate them!

Also thanks to Lou for the prompt/inspiration - hope it lived up to your expectations!

"Murphy's Law" is coming next Saturday! Until then... :)