Countdown

"Castle, it's so cold." Beckett huddled up against Castle, trying to keep warm in the sub-zero temperatures of the freezer. Why didn't we listen to Fallon and the Captain and stayed off the case, she thought. Oh right. We never do.

The case involved interesting twists; what first started out as a murder case turned into a more sinister one. A series of numbers were found on the victim, which later turned out to be the numbers for the address of a storage facility, and the number of the storage unit. The storage unit contained explosives, but they soon realized that there was another bomb that was held in the storage facility, but was later taken away.

They were kicked off the case by Montgomery, after they talked with a suspect behind his back, but they decided to follow the leads anyway. When they arrived at the storage facility, they found the missing bomb, but before they can do something about it, someone started shooting at them. Eventually, they were forced to run to the closest door, which turned out to be the door to the freezer. When they entered, the person shooting at them locked them inside, leaving them at their current situation.

"Beckett, calm down and listen to me," Castle said, rubbing her hands. "Ryan and Esposito will find us; we won't be here for much longer." Despite saying this, Castle didn't believe that that they were going to be found. He thought that they were going to die in that cold, horrible freezer. He thought that he was going to die without telling her how he really felt about her. He wasn't going to be able to tell her how jealous he felt when he found out that she was dating Josh. He wasn't going to be able to tell her how much he . . . how much he loved her. How much he loved that she didn't tell him to leave her after all the times that he had annoyed the crap out of her.

"We should have . . . we should have just listened to Montgomery and stayed off the case." Beckett's teeth chattered as she said this. Was it just her, or was the temperature in the freezer dropping. No, it couldn't . . . She glanced at the thermostat on the wall. No, that's impossible, she thought. If they don't find us in a few hours . . . Beckett didn't bother to finish the thought.

"Come on, Kate," Castle began, but he didn't finish his sentence. He saw Beckett glance at something on the wall, and saw the colour in her face, or what was left of it, drain away. He didn't need her to say her thoughts for him to figure out what was bothering her.

"So, how's Josh?" He asked, trying to distract her. "You haven't talked about him a lot lately. Is everything between you and him alright?"

Beckett contemplated on what Castle just asked her. He has known about their relationship for a while, yet he hasn't said anything about it, although she has talked about his busy schedule time and again. He, on the other hand, had never commented on her relationship with him, although he seemed . . . jealous of their relationship. Was it possible that he shared what she felt for him? There really was only one way to find out."

"Rick, if we die here, I want to tell you how much I . . ." Beckett hesitated, scared of what Castle might say. What if he didn't love me back? What if he still loved someone else, after all this time?

"Kate, what are you trying to say?" He asked. Is she . . . was she trying to tell me that she . . . loves me? No, that's impossible, his rational side thought. She's dating Josh, and they seem pretty serious about each other. Yeah, but look at how she treats you. She hasn't told you to leave her alone, despite all of times that you've driven her insane. All those times had to have counted for something, right? Probably, he thought, hopefully. Maybe . . . maybe she does love me. But I can't just keep guessing.

"Rick, I love you." Beckett finally said, after a long silence. "I've loved you since the day I met you and fall in love with you more each and every day I spend with you. You've been there for me through it all; you know how I've been affected by everything that surrounds me. So, I love you, Rick. With all my heart. For being who you are and for being here for me."

"Beckett, I –"

"Castle! Beckett!" Esposito and Ryan broke open the door of the freezer, and both ran to them. Esposito helped Beckett and Castle up, while Ryan both gave them blankets. Perfect timing, you two, Castle thought, bitterly. He couldn't help but feel angry that they had ruined his moment with Beckett. Thanks a lot, guys.

"How did you figure out where we were?" Beckett asked, but before Ryan or Esposito could reply, a new, yet familiar voice, called out her name. Oh no, he's supposed to be in Haiti. How am I going to face him after just revealing my feelings to Castle? I can't do this, she thought desperately.

"Josh, what are you doing here?" Despite her thoughts, Beckett was able to add the right amount of happiness and relief into her voice, so that Josh wouldn't suspect a thing. "I thought you were going to Haiti. At least, that was what you said you were doing."

"My flight got cancelled." Josh replied, hugging her. "And I'm glad it did, or else I would have lost you. I'm so glad you're alright." He led Beckett away from Ryan, Esposito and Castle, who watched as Josh helped Beckett into an ambulance. Please don't let his reappearance change her feelings for me. I still have to tell her. I don't want to lose her. She means too much to me! Castle knew that he would keep his thoughts to himself – until, at least, the right moment – and that he needed to remember that Esposito and Ryan had just saved their lives. He needed to forget about what Kate had told him, and focus on the case. With this thought, he looked at them and said "How did you guys find us? We tried calling you, but we couldn't contact you from the freezer."

"Alexis called us after she didn't receive a call from you." Ryan said. "We thought that you must be out there doing something incredibly stupid against orders, so we sent patrol units everywhere we figured you'd be moronic enough to go. We found Beckett's car and searched the area until we found the light from the storage container. And that's how we found you."

"Well, I'm glad my stupidity is predictable," Castle said. "What has happened since Montgomery kicked us off?"

"We found out that a truck has been missing from Jamal's moving company, and we looked for the missing truck. We, well they, found it and it was empty. So, we decided to try and find you guys. Which reminds me; you should probably go and get yourself checked by a doctor. You might have hypothermia," Esposito said, pushing Castle towards an ambulance.

"Castle, what do we do?" Beckett had started panicking, since they couldn't figure out how to diffuse the bomb. After days of searching and finding blind leads, they finally found the bomb.

"I don't know," Castle said. He was distracted; he wasn't thinking of the bomb, or the fact that he and Beckett, along with a majority of the people who lived in New York. He had sent his mother and Alexis to the Hamptons, but he did not tell them why. He only told them of an event that might happen in New York, and that they needed to get out of town. But, despite his impending doom, he wasn't thinking of Alexis or his mother, or anyone else in New York. He was only thinking of one person.

What about Beckett? He thought. She still doesn't know about his feelings for her. She had confessed her feelings for him, but he wasn't able to tell her of his feelings for her, due to Esposito and Ryan's impeccable timing. It's now or never, he thought. What if we die now? She would never be able to know how I felt for her.

Like Castle, Beckett was not afraid of dying, but was afraid of losing the person that she loved most in the world: Castle. She had told him about her feelings for him, yet he didn't tell her about his feelings for him. If he didn't love me, she thought, while looking at him, he wouldn't have stayed for this long.

They turned to the bomb and watched the timer tick down closer to their doom as these thoughts swirled in their head. The timer closer and closer to their doom. Castle knew he only had so much time left, so he decided to finally take his chances…

"Kate, wait," Castle said, grabbing her hand. "I need to tell you something. If this all ends now, I want you to know that I . . . " He pulled her towards him and kissed her.

"Kate, I love you," Castle said, after he pulled away. "I'm selfish to say this, but I want you to be with me and not Josh. It scares me to lose you after every time that you and I get in danger, and I was scared to lose you in that freezer. I'm scared to lose you now, but if this is how it's going to end, then this is how it will."

Beckett pulled Castle closer to her and kissed him again, but he pulled away. "But what about Josh?" He asked. "I thought you two were dating."

"I – I broke up with him," Beckett replied. "After we got out of the freezer. He treated me, and I broke up with him then."

Beckett tried to kiss him, but he pulled away yet again. I wonder if this will work, he thought. But if it doesn't, she knows how I feel for her, and I know that she loves me, too. He grabbed all of the wires and pulled, disconnecting it from the bomb.

The timer stopped; it was over; Beckett wasn't going to die, and neither was he. They loved each other, and they were going to have days and days to live with each other. Castle picked up Beckett, and spun her around in a circle before kissing her. He kissed her until . . .

"Ahem," Captain Montgomery arrived, smiling at the two. "You did it; you found the bomb and stopped it before it can destroy New York City. The mayor wants to talk to you; he said something about you two receiving an award, but he doesn't know what for."

Beckett wasn't listening to the Captain. Castle was hers, and they weren't going to die

"If you don't mind, sir," Beckett said, grabbing Castle's hand. "We need to attend to something." And she kissed him, ignoring their audience. All they paid attention to was that they had each other, and that they weren't going to die. All was well.