A/N: From the amount of fics on here I can see that I'm not the only one who can't wait until September 19th. There are a lot of post-finale fics on here so I thought I'd do something different. Please let me know what you think.

"If you're lucky, you find someone to stand with you."

As Castle looked away from Beckett and out into the graveyard a flash of light caught his eye, like sunlight glancing off a window…or a sniper's scope.

"Kate!"

Without a second glance or a moment's consideration of other possibilities, he sprang towards Beckett, shoving her to the floor with an outstretched hand as the shooter squeezed down on the trigger.

Everyone hit the deck. The civilians screamed, the cops pulled their guns and searched for a target.

"Shot fired!"

"DAD!" Castle could hear Alexis's frantic cries, and those of his mother, but they seemed further away than they should have been. Beneath him Kate was breathing oddly, her eyes were wide and glassy.

He hadn't been fast enough. He'd failed her.

"Officer down!"

"Get an ambulance!"

Castle moved to get off Kate and gasped at the burning pain that suddenly ignited on the right side of his chest. His black shirt was sticky and clung to him, the strength left his arms.

He hadn't failed her.

"You're not hit." He gave her a slight smile and then coughed, tasting blood as he tried to clear his throat. Gingerly, Kate rolled him on to his back. When she took her hands off his chest, her white gloves were soaked in red. Beneath the suit, his black shirt gleamed wetly in the bright sunlight.

"Lanie! I need you!" Esposito might not let her move from where they were crouching but the M.E was Kate's only means of helping Castle survive the bullet he had taken for her, the one he had warned her was coming.

This wasn't the way it was supposed to be, Kate thought as she undid his jacket, tie and top shirt button. Writers shouldn't be protecting homicide detectives. Castle shouldn't have to die for her.

Oh god, if he was actually dying…she didn't think she'd recover from it. It was too much after Royce and the Captain, Castle meant too much to her, more than she cared to think about.

"Don't…let them see this, 'Lexis and…" Kate nodded, she knew Ryan was standing by Castle's family and would protect them, not only from any more bullets, but from sights nobody should have to see. She removed her jacket, intending to put pressure on the wound but there was so much blood she couldn't see where the wound was. Leaning over him, she took two handfuls of his shirt and pulled.

"If you…want me…naked…"

"Castle, shh…" Kate pulled again, buttons flew past her and she saw his wound, no, wounds. There was a neat round hole on his side, under his arm, the entry wound…and a larger, ragged hole just to the right of his sternum where the bullet had burst out of his body. It was far too close to the heart. His heart.

"Dammit." Quickly folding her jacket, she put pressure on the two wounds knowing that it wasn't going to be enough unless she got help pretty damn soon. The seconds were ticking by and each one brought Castle closer to his own funeral.

"LANIE!" Castle's left hand found her shoulder, she met his gaze and stared into his eyes to keep the tears from falling. She was not going to cry because he was going to be fine.

"She'll make…hell of a…'tective…jus' like you." The compliment was touching but he couldn't mean to compare her with Alexis and what was happening now, he couldn't mean that he thought he was dying. He took in another pained breath. "You…promised…when I die…" It was almost more than she could bear.

"Castle, please. Don't talk, save your strength."

Lanie and Esposito finally arrived at her side. It wasn't a nanosecond too soon.

"Move over sweetie." Kate gave Lanie the space she needed and went over to Castle's left side, taking his hand in both of hers. The doctor took one look at the injuries and became as serious as anybody at the twelfth had ever seen her. "Javi, keep pressure on." They shared an eloquently concerned look before Lanie turned to the assembled cops and raised her voice. "I need a pen-knife, and as many hip-flasks as I can get. Now." She looked at her friends and thought of all the things she'd have sacrificed to see the two of them holding hands in public, she'd sacrifice all that and more to have avoided this.

"How bad is it?" Kate couldn't keep her turbulent emotions from choking her voice into a whisper; God only knew what Lanie and Esposito saw in her face, tears more than likely.

"The right lung has collapsed because there's blood and air in the pleural cavity. I'm going to put a chest drain in while we wait for the ambulance." The wait wouldn't be long; the sirens were getting closer…but then there were always sirens wailing in New York.

Lanie doused the pen-knife in whiskey from somebody's flask and made an incision between Castle's ribs where the bottom of his lung would normally be then took a pen from her purse to pieces, discarding the parts she didn't need. After using up another officer's whisky stash on disinfecting the remains of her pen, she inserted the transparent plastic tube into her incision. Blood began flowing out as she taped the makeshift drain in place.

Taking his own jacket off and adding it to Beckett's hadn't helped Esposito stem Castle's bleeding. Now that Lanie had finished her improvised surgery, she took over putting pressure on the entry wound. He gave her another dark speaking look. He was ex-military. He knew how this story went, knew just how much blood somebody could lose from their chest. If the EMT's didn't get here PDQ and give Castle some fluids he was going to bleed out.

Kate was coming to that conclusion too, Castle's grip was getting weaker and he was far too quiet.

"Don't leave me, Rick. Rick please."

There was barely any response, his eyes moved towards her voice but not by much.

She squeezed his hand, hard. The force of his personality filled his face and eyes again. It wasn't the only thing his eyes were filled with, but as her face was tear-streaked, she could hardly judge him.

"Stay with me okay?" Her voice broke on the last word and fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. With an effort that must have cost him dearly, Castle took a deep breath. She couldn't bring herself to tell him not to speak, not when it might be the last time. Who was she to deny bestselling author Richard Castle his last words, especially if they were for his family?

His eyes bored into hers as a teardrop rolled past his temple and into his hair.

"Kate, I love you. I love you Kate."