A Matter of Inches by Castlefan6

Authors Note: From a prompt from Mbeckettcastle, I hope I do it proud for you. Rick did save Kate from the sniper, but that was just the start. As always, things never go smoothly for our duo, Details from Knockout altered to fit this fic, so this is TOTALLY AU, times and dates may have been changed to fit the storyline,

I don't own Castle; I use the characters for amusement purposes only, except the ones I create.

Previously "Courtesy of Dust Jackets Dot Com"

They've spared no expense for this funeral. It's a full-on fallen officer. RYAN, ESPOSITO, BECKETT, and CASTLE are among the pallbearers for MONTGOMERY'S casket. They walk slowly past a line of police officers who all salute as they pass. His family is waiting by the grave, trying to hold it together. EVELYN sobs as she's handed the flag that covered the casket.

Everyone is there – everyone at the Twelfth is joined by LANIE, MARTHA, ALEXIS, and JIM BECKETT.

BECKETT
Roy Montgomery taught me what it meant to be a cop. He taught me that we are bound by our choices, but we are more than our mistakes. Captain Montgomery once said to me that for us, there is no victory. There are only battles. And in the end, the best you can hope for is to find a place to make your stand. And if you're very lucky, you find someone to stand with you.

She gives a sidelong glance to CASTLE. (Their eyes meet and lock, yet it was Rick who broke the look,)

BECKETT
Our Captain would want us to carry on the fight. And even if there is …

CASTLE is distracted by something glinting in the distance. He sees it once, twice, and on the third time, he realizes it's the scope of a gun, trained right at BECKETT giving the eulogy. A shot is fired and he's running towards her, but is he in time or is she hit. She lurches backwards as CASTLE takes her down.

CASTLE
Kate!

The mourners at the funeral all scream as they realize something has happened. LANIE is horrified for her friends but she's held back by ESPOSITO, till she broke loose.

RYAN
Where'd that come from?

ESPOSITO
Lanie! Get down! She was already with Kate and Rick,

Chapter 1

Kate felt the wind go out of her and heard the gunshot, it was a moment before she realized that she had just had the wind knocked out of her, and nothing else. She immediately began to call out,

"Rick, Rick, talk to me, are you hit?"

No answer, the silence was deafening as all the times this crazy man had made her his first priority in life, how many times had he risked his for her flashed in front of her eyes, God NO, this couldn't be. She noticed a trickle of blood coming from under his coat, OH GOD, Castle is hit.

Javi and Kevin were already pissed someone killed their Captain, now this pissed them off even more, and Javi took off at a sprint as he noticed the movement in the trees about 100 yards away. Ryan was in shape but was having a hell of a time keeping up with his partner.

It hadn't been more than 3 minutes since the shot rang out, and the shooter had decided to leave his gun behind, no time to break it down and put it away. It didn't matter, Javi took a shortcut through a wooded area and tackled a man in groundskeeper uniform, except he had a ski mask sticking out of his pockets.

He was in the process of trying to shed the coveralls when he was tackled full speed by Esposito, and Ryan had a gun in his face, not two inches away ready for any twitch or excuse to pull the trigger.

"Careful Bro, we need to check his palms for gunpowder residue and prints, if the Jackass handled the gun after he took these off," as he pulled the gloves from the coverall pockets with his pen and deposited them in a pile of evidence to be preserved."

Once Esposito had secured the handcuffs on the suspect, Ryan holstered his weapon and approached a worker approaching on a work utility vehicle, they spoke briefly and the man returned a few minutes later with orange cones and a roll of grey tape.

It wasn't official police equipment, but it would do to secure the scene. They both knew slimeballs like this never worked alone, they always had a puppet master pulling their strings, and if they could discredit one piece of evidence in court the SOB had a chance of walking, not happening today.

Back at the gravesite, Lanie had rushed to Rick's side and was administering first aid, it appeared he had hit his head on the podium as he dove for Kate, and there was a gunshot to his side. The wound appeared to be non-life threatening, as long as she could contain the bleeding and keep him from going into shock. She was more concerned with the goose egg that just popped up on his temple, it had grown substantially from when she reached him, and he still wasn't conscious.

On of the Uniformed Police in attendance brought a first aid kit, Lanie used the sterile sponges to apply pressure and yelled for Kate to tear open the packet of smelling salts. Kate was in a fog, operating almost like a robot, complied, and one whiff of the awful concoction had Rick's eyes open, and him coughing.

"Easy Rick, easy, I'm right here, the bus is on the way. You have a slight wound on your side, and you bumped your head pretty good, so we're going to get you checked out, OK?"

"Sure Lanie, anything you say." As he went to close his eyes,

"Rick, baby listen to me, I know you want to close your eyes but you can't OK, you have to stay awake, look I love you but, I'll use the smelling salts again if I need to, understand.?"

Kate went to say something, and was silenced with a vicious head nod and look from Lanie, who mouthed "NOT NOW".

She knew Lanie was the Professional and she had to listen, but she also knew that Rick had to know that she appreciated, hell she loved him who was she kidding, how many close calls was it going to take for her to drop the bullshit facade and just let things happen

Rick opened his eyes and went to sit up,

"Eh, Eh, Eh, no Rick, just keep your eyes open and lay still, I got you. You got a little ding they may want to put some stitches in when they get you to the hospital."

"Hospital? You sure I need to go, Lanie, you know how I hate them."

"Yes Rick, I know, look I wouldn't say go unless I know you need to be looked at by a doctor other than one who stares at dead bodies all day, OK?" Look everyone is OK, Kate's fine just got the wind knocked out of her, Javi and Keven have the shooter in custody, they are keeping the crime scene tight until the feds get here. Alexis is right behind me,"

"Hi Daddy, we're all OK, and you have to do what Dr. Parrish said, PLEASE no arguments."

"OK Pumpkin, you win, hospital it is, but I'm coming home as soon as I feel strong enough," as his eyes start to close, Lanie hit him with another whiff of the salts. His eyes flew open,

"Hey I thought only Beckett wanted to shoot me, Lanie, I thought you were my friend,"

"I am your friend Rick, you just can't go to sleep when you have a bump on your head, why do you think I'm here to check on you because I don't like you? I love you, Rick, everyone does so just behave, please."

Beckett is in the background dying to say something, but if Lanie didn't kill her, the looks she was getting from Alexis was a guarantee that there would need to be another ambulance called. She had seen the young lady upset, but steam was coming off of her. Even Martha had snubbed her and told her in no uncertain terms that Lanie would be riding to the hospital with Rick, meet them there.

As the boys were securing, photographing, courtesy of one of the cop friendly press corps, the entire scene, they reluctantly turned it over to Jordan Shaw, Special Agent, for the FBI. They made their way back to the gravesite just in time for Lannie to give Javi a kiss with her hands still applying pressure to Rick's wound.

Javi mouthed, "How Bad?" meaning Rick's wound,

Lannie just gave him the glare and he knew, not to press it, but to get Martha and Alexis to the hospital as soon as he could.

Ten minutes later they were pulling into the ER Bays at Mercy East Hospital, right behind the ambulance is Kate, and waiting already inside the bay is Alexis and Martha. The trauma doctors came running out to meet the paramedics when Alexis threw a fit,

"Get him the hell away from my father, now, don't let him touch my Dad or I'll own this fucking hospital, and I mean it." She exploded, and when Martha tried to calm her, Alexis whispered something to her.

"What my granddaughter is saying is Dr. Josh Davidson is not to touch my son, get another doctor or we're going to another hospital, and trust me, my son has very good attorneys waiting to sue someone."

Another Doctor ran out still fastening the yellow protective cover over his scrubs and approached the crew still working on Rick.

"Dr. Davidson, stand down, you're off this case, it's my case now so step away and don't come within 100 yards of this patient, is that clear?"

"It's clear Doctor Horvath," as he pulled his yellow cover from his scrubs and threw it in the bin,

Kate was less than 50 feet away from the entire event and was speechless, she knew Alexis was aware she was dating a doctor, but she had no idea she knew it was Josh. Why she had such a reaction when all he was trying to do was help her father, he was a doctor, and Rick needed medical care. Martha's support and threat to go to another hospital floored her, she had never seen her act or speak with such authority.

They took Rick back to the bays, with Dr. Horvath clearly in charge, and as Kate noticed the plaques, she saw his name listed as Medical Director. Martha and Alexis were rushed to a VIP waiting room, apart from the rest who followed them to the hospital. Soon, there was a call for Lanie, and she joined the family in the waiting room. Kate had never felt so alone since her mother died, and she was left to clean up the constant mess from her Dad.

Josh approached her,

"What the hell happened Kate, and why did his kid go all nuts on me?"

"He got shot at the funeral and also had a bad hit to the head" she replied, not really caring if she talked to him or not,

"Shot, what the hell Kate, how does Nancy Drew get himself shot at a funeral? Does he need the sales that bad he'd pull that kind of stunt?"

He had not gotten the words out of his mouth till he felt the full wrath of Kate Beckett's hand across his face.

"How dare you, you pompous Ass, he got shot knocking me down and out of the way of a sniper bullet meant for me. He saved my life, so don't you dare stand there and call his effort a publicity stunt. You know what, he's more man than you will ever be, so we're done, your shit will be on at the desk to pick up by tomorrow morning and the locks will be changed, if you try anything I will shoot your ass an intruder, now get your hands off of me"

"Fine, I knew you were screwing him all along anyway, so no problem"

"Yeah, I heard all about your closet affairs over there, you may want to tell nurse big tits to lower her voice when she's describing how you fucked her in the supply room, you two-timing bastard."

How much worse could this day get, Castle shot trying to protect her, his family hating her, and now she overheard about her boyfriend, well ex-boyfriend screwing the nurses when he was supposed to be saving lives, God what a mess.

She looked up to see Dr. Horvath come into the VIP waiting room with Alexis, Martha, and Lanie, and as he was talking, Lanie hugged Alexis as she began to cry, God no Rick, no bad news he was doing fine, please God, let him be OK.

Martha was fighting her own battle with tears, but Lanie was talking, then Dr. Horvath seemed to be explaining something in detail to her, as she translated it into common people talk. Damn Greeks and their stupid names for everything medical.

Lanie stood and hugged Martha, then Alexis, who seemed not to want to let go, then they followed Dr. Horvath and Lanie was coming back into the general waiting room. She motioned for everyone to join her in a small room, Javi, Kevin, Kate, LT, and a few more patrolmen, Roz, and her team all crowded into a small room meant for three, maximum.

"Well, Rick's out of surgery, the bullet pierced his lung and fractured two ribs, those have been repaired, they're waiting on more tests now for the bump on the head, but Neurology has him in ICU, only family visiting 15 minutes three times a day. They're running scans and hopefully will know more later tonight, or tomorrow. He has double vision, and a very severe headache, with nausea, not good signs."

"What do you mean Lannie, it's a bump on the head right, I mean he's going to be OK isn't he," Kate half asked, half ordered,

"Kate, the bump on the head, the signs he is showing now could mean a brain bleed or aneurysm, the scans show some blood, but they can only wait to see if it increases or is from the initial hit when he hit the podium when he tackled you."

"He'll be in ICU until the bleeding source has been determined, and they are sure he won't have a stroke, or aneurysm while he is here. We did the right thing by keeping him awake, the doctor said if he had gone to sleep, he may not have woken up, it's serious so go home, to church, or wherever you find peace, but the family and Rick need your prayers."

"Javi he said to tell you and Kev thanks for running the guy down, but he could still take you in a mile-long race, "Lanie tried to laugh but tears fell,

"Well, tell him I'll give him time to heal and get back in shape then I'll kick his ass in a mile race," Javi said as he hugged Lanie trying to keep it light,

"Bro, Jordan Shaw called, she wants to see us as soon as we can get to the 12th, guess they're trying to process the asshole before his handler finds out too much. Let's Go" Kevin said,

"Right behind you Bro" and they were gone.

The remainder of the crowd starting filing out slowly till it was just Lanie and Kate,

"Lanie, seriously how bad is he, he can't die can he?"

Lanie gave her that patented look like WTH are you thinking, "Of course he could die, Kate, what the hell do you think ICU is for, people with a sliver being removed from their finger? Why do you care? You have Josh, so why do you even concern yourself with Castle?"

"WHAT, Lanie, he's my partner, he's my friend. Of course, I'm concerned, and I don't have Josh, the two-timing bastard and I are done."

"So, what now that you're between players, Castle is good enough to fill in for you till you dump him again for the next pretty boy, or manly man, God Kate you are unbelievable, I can't even talk to you, Alexis and Martha need me now." As she turned and stormed away,

Kate was left to think about what she said, what Rick did and why, and the hatred she could feel coming from his family. She didn't blame them, he was an author, he shouldn't protect her, she should protect him. She made it home and had the hospital ICU desk on speed dial, to check on him throughout the night, she knew she wasn't going to sleep.

One last task to do, she went and gathered all of Josh's personal belongings, not that there were many, two shirts, some underwear, and his shaving kit, and boxed them up. She called the security desk and asked someone to come up with a new lock, and keys.

Two hours later the locks had been changed, including the security latch, and Dr. Davidson had been banned from the building. His possessions were at the desk, if he hadn't claimed them in thirty days they would be donated, another end to a chapter in her life that made absolutely no sense at all.