A/N: Hi everyone! This is my Halloween Bash Entry for 2019. Can't promise how my updates will look like since I'm just right now finished writing chapter two but reason I start publishing is because I want to give you guys something and this is the only way I can do it right now. I do promise this will have an ending though, I will finish it even if it might take time to update it. Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did writing it. Until next time, xxxx
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"Roy Montgomery taught me what it meant to be a cop," Kate looked out at the crowd in front of her. Couldn't believe she was speaking of her beloved captain in past tense. "He taught me that we are bound by our choices, but we are more than our mistakes." And he was more than his mistakes. At first she'd been mad at him for knowing who was behind her mother's murder all along, but losing him was never something she'd want. He had been her mentor. "Captain Montgomery once said to me that for us, there is no victory, there are only battles." She paused, took another breath. "And in the end, the best you could hope for, is to find a place to make your stand. And if you're very lucky," she glanced behind her to eye her partner, hoping he'd understand she truly meant it, "you find someone willing to stand with you."
She took another breath, meeting her partner's blue eyes and silently wondering how she hadn't admitted her feelings to him earlier. It wasn't exactly something she should deny, it wasn't something she could hide from him forever. Turning back around to the crowd she made a quick sweep over the people before she looked down at her papers again, at the speech she'd spent too much time trying to make perfect.
"Our captain would want us to carry on the fight. And even if there is…"
"Kate!"
His shout had her insides clench and she felt her instincts heighten. The hair in her neck raised as she realized what was wrong. Someone's aiming at her. She saw the glimpse he'd most likely seen, the indicator it was indeed a sniper, And before she heard the shooter pull the trigger she grabbed his arms, which were already reaching for her, and pulled him with her as she threw herself backwards. When she heard the shot ring in her ears she got furious her partner had tried to throw himself in front of her. What if he'd been shot?! She would've never forgiven herself! She pushed him off of her and immediately tried to examine his body, making sure there was no blood even though she knew there wasn't. It would've filled her nostrils if there was any.
"Goddamnit Castle!" she cursed under her breath before she pulled him with her to take cover behind the podium.
"K-Kate?" His voice made her look at him and she saw the way his eyes were meeting hers with fear and confusion written all over them.
"Stay down, Castle," she ordered as she took up her weapon, clicking off the safety before she took up her phone to call the medical examiner.
"Kate?!" Lanie answered and Kate sighed with somewhat relief.
"Anyone hit?"
"No, what about you? They aimed for you!" Lanie's worry seemed to make the M.E. hysteric and Kate tried to shake off the guilt.
"No, we're good," Kate assured her best friend before she added, "eyes on the shooter?"
She heard her friend ask someone beside her, and from her memory she figured it to be detective Esposito who had been sitting beside her during the funeral.
"No, no sign of him."
That made Kate's heart fasten and she started raising to be able to check for herself. Without warning his hands were on her shoulders, pushing her down onto her knees again.
"Don't!" Castle's voice exposed exactly how frightened he was, along with his rapid heartbeat.
His eyes were wide, looking at her as if he couldn't believe she wasn't lost, as if he knew she shouldn't have been able to pull away so quickly.
"Castle, I'm fine," she said with her eyes flickering between his blues. She tried searching for reassurement, to see if he truly believed she was fine or not.
"You… you almost… I…" he couldn't seem to get his words straight, which would be ironic since he's a writer but considering the circumstances she wouldn't even try to tease him about it.
She hushed him, took one of his hands off of her shoulders in order to give it a squeeze. Before she could open her mouth again, though, her two colleagues came forward.
"Beckett, Castle, you two okay?" Esposito questioned as he looked around.
"Damn Beckett, you had us scared. Thought the bullet would hit you," Ryan sighed out in relief and Kate looked at the two with confusion in her eyes.
"Why aren't you running after the shooter?" she asked, letting go of her partner's hand in order to focus on the job. "Someone else pursuing him?"
"Yeah, we have officers searching the area already, but there's no sign anywhere. It's almost like he turned into a ghost."
Esposito looked bitter and Kate felt her skin turn pale. If the shooter was still out there, Castle could still be in danger if he was seen with her. Turning to her partner she knew what she had to say.
"Castle, go home with your mother and daughter, I'll get a protective detail to stay outside your loft. Ryan, Espo, you start canvassing the area, I'll find someone to take statements from all the guests before everyone get out of here."
"Oh no," Castle was shaking his head violently, his heart picking up speed again. "I'm not leaving you."
She was about to disagree with him again, but seeing the panic in his eyes had her heart shatter and she knew he wouldn't back down. If places had been switched she hadn't moved either.
"Fine, but you send them home first," she said and after a few minutes of him just staring at her she saw acceptance in his blues.
With a nod he went off to meet his family, who were already on their way over to him. Ryan and Espo were already walking around the area with a few other cops going with them and so Kate got a hold of a few others that could go around taking statements. Meanwhile she'd gotten most other cops in motion she herself took off towards where she'd noticed the shooter right before he shot at her. Maybe she'd be able to pick up his scent and therefore be able to catch up with him. Once getting there she spotted the gun, the sniper. If she hadn't had the reflexes she had… What if Castle had been shot? She would've never forgiven herself if that had happened. She went down on her knees in order to get closer to the gun, tried to look like she was simply checking out the gun while she in reality was taking a deep breath for tracking the man behind the sniper. She picked up the scent and started implement it into her memory, she wanted to remember it for when she ran into the sniper again. Because she would.
"Beckett!" his voice sounded pained in a way she wasn't used to and se she immediately turned to her partner.
She heard his heart still racing and she cursed herself for letting him feel that way. If she'd spotted the sniper earlier, then maybe he wouldn't have looked so terrified for her life right now. He was jogging towards her and she raised up in order to be at the same level as him. She noticed the way his eyes kept swirling around them, most likely trying to find the sniper among the loads of police officers canvassing the area.
"Castle, you really should get going, there's nothing for you to do here anyway," she said with a lowered but gentle tone.
"No way, I'm not leaving you alone in this when there's a killer out there to get you," he shook his head with a frustration she wasn't used to see on his face.
She fought the urge to roll her eyes, tried to remember he didn't know what she knew. If he knew then maybe he wouldn't have worried as much as he did. But if he knew maybe he would be afraid of her.
"That's the reason you should go home," she argued but also knew it was pointless. She wouldn't had gone home either if the roles were reversed.
"No," he simply said and she could hear it was non-negotiable through the tone he was using. "Anything unusual about the sniper?"
Without groaning she shook her head no, because other than the scent there wasn't anything visual that could help them. Not without needing to examine it in a lab.
"Beckett, there's no sign of the shooter, we can't find a trail either," Ryan said as he walked up to them, oblivious to the worrisome exchange between the two.
"No one saw him either. Are you sure you're okay?" Espo asked and Kate nodded.
"I'm fine, Castle managed to warn me in time," she told them but when her eyes met the writer's she knew he was pondering over what had happened. She had been hoping he wouldn't but she had a feeling she couldn't keep him in the dark for much longer. Fuck. "Anyway we should get back to the precinct then, scout for traffic cameras that might have captured him. Espo, Ryan, you two stay here and call the CSU, have them examine the weapon and see if they can find anything on this spot, maybe the shooter left some prints. Once they get here you two go to the precinct and join me and Castle."
Espo gave her a look of concern and so she gave him a questionable one.
"You should go home and have a protective detail on you, it was you they were after."
"Not a chance," she bit off. "See you at the precinct."
She didn't hesitate before she turned around and started walking away towards where her cruiser was.
"Castle, keep an eye on her," she heard Espo whisper to the writer and she narrowed her eyes pretending to scanning for her car. She wasn't supposed to hear it, and as far as the boys knew she couldn't, but she did and sometimes she hated the fact that she could.
It didn't take long for her partner to catch up with her and she tried not to glance at him, she didn't need him knowing she'd heard what the other detective had said. Once they sat in the car she glanced at him to see his eyes were still blank with fright, and when she listened more carefully she could hear his heart was still pumping in a pace that wasn't quite normal for him. He was never this… scared. But then again, they had almost just been shot by a sniper. God, what if he'd been faster than her? She wouldn't had been able to ever forgive herself if he'd been able to throw himself in front of her. Good thing she is what she is.
"Castle, you okay?" she asked, it wasn't like him to sit quietly for more than five minutes when it was just the two of them in the car.
She felt his eyes turn to her before she heard him open his mouth. "No. You should've… you could've… you… how did you dodge it?"
The hair in her neck raised as she understood what he was trying to figure out in his mind. This wasn't good. This wasn't part of the plan. Not that she'd really had a plan to begin with, but she knew she hadn't been planning on telling him so soon.
"Adrenaline, I guess," she shrugged her shoulders and tried to change the subject. "When we get to the precinct could you get us coffee while I start up on the search for traffic cameras?"
She felt his eyes continue searching her face, probably looking for something she hoped he wasn't finding, before she could see him nodding in her peripheral sight. "Sure."
To be continued...