Katherine Houghton Beckett stared at the ring in front of her.

Did he just...

No he couldn't have. Yet there was a ring in front of her all the same. A bright shiny ring. Beckett looked down into Castle's blue eyes, and simply melted as she always did when looking at him. He was down on one knee in the middle of a playground. Mothers, fathers, and nannies were watching children playing only a few feet away. Yet here he was, eyes beseeching her to answer.

"Castle, I..."

Beckett's speech was cut short when she heard the sound of gunfire. She looked towards the sound and saw a blue beat up old car slowly driving past the playground. A young man leaning out the window holding a gun.

"Get down" Beckett yelled at Castle, pushing him away from her as she threw herself to the ground as well.

"Get down," she screamed again to the people in the playground.

When Beckett saw the shooter aim the gun away from her direction, she leapt up and pulled her gun.

"Call 911," she yelled to Castle, not sparing the author a glance as she ran towards the vehicle. It was up to her to stop this potential massacre.

"NYPD," she screamed as she neared the vehicle.

The shooter spared her a look before leaning back into the vehicle. He obviously urged the driver to take off as the car increased its speed. Beckett sized up her surroundings. There were adults and children lying on the ground, voluntarily she hoped. She made sure the area was clear before she lifted her weapon and fired at the vehicle. When the back window exploded, the vehicle suddenly jerked sideways before smashing into a light pole.

"Call 911 now!" Beckett yelled to no one in particular as she ran towards the now stopped vehicle.

The door to the car opened and the shooter fell out of the car onto the ground. Beckett approached the vehicle with caution.

"NYPD. Put your hands up."

The assailant seemed to be surrendering by raising his left hand.

"Both hands," she yelled.

He moved slowly at first moving his right arm but not raising it. Suddenly he extracted his right hand pointing a small hand gun directly at her. Beckett didn't hesitate to fire off a shot. Her shot had been accurate and the man slumped to the ground, the weapon falling from his hand. She approached with caution: there was still another potential assailant in the car. Beckett had seen too many action movies to know that a person was no longer a threat when he was six feet under and not before. Watching the car, Beckett kicked the gun away from the prone man on the ground before taking a few steps back and levelling her gun at the car.

"NYPD. Get out of the car, hands in the air."

"Okay, okay. Don't shoot. I'm getting out, please don't shoot."

Beckett's heart twitched at the sound of the young man's voice breaking as he spoke. The kid hadn't even gone through puberty yet and was already an accomplice to what she hoped was a failed attempt at a driveby shooting. The teenager rounded the car and looked in horror at the man lying on the ground. A small pool of blood was seeping out from under him.

"Is he dead?"

"Check his pulse," she told the boy. She had no back up. There was a chance that the man was faking it; she couldn't risk her life or anyone else's.

Beckett watched the frightened boy poke the man's neck a few times.

"I think I feel something. He is breathing though. I think I can see his chest moving. That means he is alive, right?"

Yes, breathing indicated life. Beckett glanced at the body as she took a cautious step closer. Yes: there was definitely a rise and fall of the man's back. Keeping her gun pointed at the two males, Beckett looked around at the many witnesses that had circled once the gun fire was over. Seeing quite a few people with their phones out, she hoped one had called 911 and not simply posted a picture of her taking down the shooter on Facebook.

"Did anyone call 911?"

Beckett was relieved when a few nodded their heads. Her faith in society was briefly restored. She looked over her shoulder to the playground, trying to assess the situation there. How many people had been shot? Were they alive? Where was Castle? She figured he would have come after her once the shooting had stopped. Maybe he was helping out a victim. If he was, maybe her skills were needed elsewhere.

Beckett pulled her cuffs out and threw them at the driver who was definitely too young to have a licence.

"Cuff yourself to your friend there,"

The boy did as he was told. Satisfied that the two weren't going anywhere Beckett assessed the crowd and spotted a tall beefy guy wearing black. She saw he had an ID tag hanging off his chest.

"Hey you, tall guy," she yelled to the man and ushered him over with her free hand.

"Yes, ma'am,"

"Are you a security guard?" she asked, looking him over.

"Yeah. I'm on my way to work,"

Beckett nodded. The backup she needed.

"You carry a weapon,"

The man nodded and she watched as he pulled out a Taser. Beckett shrugged, it would have to do.

"Can you do me a favour? I need to go and check on any victims over there. Watch over these two, if either of them moves don't hesitate to shoot. "

It was unorthodox, but she had no other choice.

The man nodded at her. "It would be my pleasure."

Beckett nodded at him. She hoped she was doing the right thing. "When the police arrive, tell them I'm Detective Beckett from the 12th, and let them know where I am."

He nodded again and Beckett turned back and ran back the way she had come. She approached the playground, and was glad it didn't look like a complete war zone. There were a few people still on the ground, but they seemed to be moving. A lot of crying from both adults and children could be heard. She assumed they were ok. They were probably more scared to move, rather not having the ability to do so. There were a few people running around trying to help others, splashes of blood could be seen on their garments. She would help them soon, but first she needed to find Castle. He was a man who knew how to take action in a crisis. Wherever he was, he was needed. Beckett scanned over the area trying to find him.

A dark cloud settled over Beckett when she looked towards the swings she had been sitting on. Three people were hovering over a person on the ground. Three people who were not Castle.

"Castle," Beckett gasped. She sprinted over to the swings as fast as she could. She felt as if she were in some strange dream where her legs wouldn't move fast enough. Suddenly, it felt as if her chest was bursting open when she saw white writing on the bottom of a pair of black shoes. 'This way up,' the left shoe practically screamed at her while the other simply had a smiley face. She had caught sight of the writing only a few weeks ago. Castle had informed her if he was ever murdered, he wanted the M E to at least have something to smile about.

"Castle" she screamed as she pushed two of the people out of the way. The sight of Castle's pale face and the red stain spreading across his chest had Beckett falling to her knees. She couldn't help it, her legs just gave way. A woman was currently holding what once must have been a white sweater over Castle's chest.

"Castle. Chest. Blood." was all Beckett could manage.

"The bullet went straight though," the woman told her. "I'm a nurse,"

Beckett nodded at her before looking over Castle. His eyes were closed and he wasn't moving. She should be doing something. She knew she should be doing something but she didn't know what. Her mind went blank as she looked over his still body.

"Castle," she gasped as she held his lifeless hand. She had to grip it tightly, his blood was still wet and slick on his hand. Had he reached for his wound before he became unconscious? "Castle come on. Open your eyes. Castle. Don't do this to me. "

He still didn't react. She ran a hand over his face and winced at how cold it felt. Beckett shuffled closer and winced when her knee hit something hard on the ground. She attempted to brush the burden away but when her hand connected with it she stopped. Looking down she shuffled back and saw that it hadn't been a rock digging into her. It was a ring. Her ring. The ring Castle had tried giving her.

"Castle" she gasped again. She clutched the ring tightly in her hand. "Castle come on, don't leave me,"

"We need some help over here," somebody yelled.

Beckett watched as the woman who was currently keeping Castle alive turned to look around.

"I have to go."

Beckett looked at the woman in shock. "What? No. You can't leave."

How could this woman leave Castle?

"I have to. There is nothing else I can do for. Can you keep the pressure on? I have to go and make sure other are ok"

Beckett looked at the woman who was holding the blood soaked sweater to Castles chest.

"I... I... I,"

The nurse grabbed Beckett's hands and placed them on top of the blood soaked cloth.

"If you want him to live, keep pressure on it. Okay."

Beckett started to shake as she looked down at the blood on her hands and the blood on Castle's chest.

"Okay." she stuttered.

The woman dashed off, one of the people who had been looking over Castle went with her.

"I can do that if you prefer,"

Beckett looked at the figure that was kneeling next to her. She hadn't really looked at the person she had pushed over.

"What?" she asked the young woman.

"I can hold pressure on the wound if you need to go help others,"

"No," Beckett screamed. "I can't leave him."

"I've had first aid training,"

"No," Beckett screamed again. "I can't leave him. I won't."

"Okay, okay. Is there anything else I can do?"

Beckett looked at Castle. How could things change so quickly? One moment he was on one knee now his whole body was on the ground. He had held up a bright shiny ring in his fingertips. Now that ring was in her pocket covered in blood.

"Can I do anything?" the woman asked again.

"The police are here," someone yelled out.

Beckett felt relief when she saw the familiar looking cars.

"Go get them,"

"Who?"

"The police," Beckett told the woman who knew first aid. "Tell them we have an officer down and we need help here immediately."

Sirens were blaring. People were crying. Police officers were now yelling instructions. Beckett heard none of it. All of her focus was on the man lying on the ground before her. The man who had held her in much the same way what seemed like a lifetime ago. A sniper had shot at her and he had tackled her to the ground. He had covered her body with his own to protect her. This man had stayed with her and held her in her dying moments. Castle had stuck with her and yet she hadn't done the same. While Castle had been lying on the ground, in the mud, in the sand, in the dirt, she hadn't been there for him. She had run off and done her job!

"Excuse me miss, you need to move out of the way,"

Move. What? No she wasn't leaving Castle.

"No, no. I have to stay with him."

"Miss, you have to move so we can help him."

Beckett looked at the person next to her. She took in the familiar paramedic uniform and slowly removed her hand.

"Detective,"

"What?" the man asked as he started cutting her favourite shirt off his body. They were all her favourite shirts, they belonged to Castle. The paramedic was ruining one of Castle's shirts.

"I'm a Detective. Detective Kate Beckett."

"Ok then Detective, you need to move back,"

Beckett moved back an inch.

"Excuse me, Detective."

Beckett watched as two men started working on Castle.

"Excuse me, Detective,"

Beckett turned to the person who was addressing her. She blinked a few times before realising he was wearing a different coloured uniform.

"Yes, officer."

"We were informed by the security guard over there that you are the person who apprehended the driver. We were told you also shot the main suspect."

Beckett nodded at the man before turning back to the people who were working on Castle. What were they doing and why weren't they doing it faster?

"Excuse me, Detective. We need to speak to you about the incident."

"I need to stay with Castle." she told them.

"The paramedics are working on him. Here, let me help you up."

Beckett felt a hand wrap around her arm.

"No," Beckett told the man trying to swat the officer away. "I have to stay with him."

"There is nothing you can do for him at the moment,"

Beckett turned and looked at the officer in shock. "I can stay here with him. Be here." Beckett staggered to her feet. "I can't leave him." she yelled angrily.

"What you can do is tell us what happened so we can make sure the guy who did this goes to jail." The officer gently took her by the arm and led her away. Beckett hesitated before stumbling away.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"A man started shooting from a car,"

Beckett looked over the playground. Multiple people were talking to officers. When did they all get there? A few paramedics were scattered around, treating victims and the man who had created them. The paramedics were helping save the man who had harmed Castle. Beckett turned to look back at Castle, fearing what would happen to him if she lost sight of him again. The paramedics were loading him onto a gurney. How had that happened? Wasn't that too quick?

"Castle," Beckett took a step towards him.

"Detective," the officer tapped her on the shoulder.

"I have to go," she told him.

The officer stepped in front of her. "You need to stay so we can work out the facts."

"I have to go with Castle," she told him.

"You need to stay, I need more facts" he informed her.

Beckett blinked a few times, finally listening to what the officer was saying.

"I need to stay," she told him, it finally dawning on her.

He nodded at her. "Yes, you can't go yet."

Beckett nodded her head. "I can't go."

Author Note: I have been really apprehensive about posting this story. Didn't even talk much about it to my friend who I usually talk non stop to about my stories. I think this is a lot different to what I normally write. Maybe a bit darker. MMM. Also not sure if the protocol was right by some of the minor characters but I felt if I changed it it would change where i was going to go with the story. So believable or not, it is what it is.

I hope you like it.I'm actually scared about your reactions, Ive never been like that with any of my other fics

Please let me know either way.

*Natalie*