615. Chapter 615

After The Fifth Bullet

Episode 2.10

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: If I claim to own Castle you can shoot me in my book. Rating: K Time: See above.

Author's note: This is a mirror image, so to speak, of Chapter 450.

Beckett heard Castle yell something and a split second later she heard the shot. She ran to the stairwell and edged around the door frame with her Glock in front of her. She caught a quick glimpse of someone running up the stairs. "Ryan! Espo! He's headed for the roof." She knew Bascombe couldn't go down since the building's exits was blocked by uniforms.

She glanced down and her heart froze. "God! Castle!"

He was laying on the landing, face up, but with blood under his head. As she knelt over him, she saw his eyes flicker. "Castle! Are you hit? Are you okay?"

He opened his eyes. "Don't shoot!" He slurred.

"I'm not going to shoot, you, Castle." She snapped at him, relieved he was all right. She could see the bullet was embedded in his protective vest.

"Castle?"

"Yes, you. Castle."

"Then who are you?"

"This is no time to play games. I'm going to call an ambulance. The bullet may have been stopped by your vest, but you could have a broken rib or something. And you're bleeding from a head wound. Probably when you fell."

"Who would shoot me?"

"Bascombe, of course." She said, then began talking on her phone, ordering an ambulance. When she was done she turned back to Castle. "Just lay there. The EMTs will be here soon."

"Who are you?" There was a note of panic in his voice.

"Beckett." She said without really thinking. "Wait. You don't know who I am?"

"No idea. What am I doing here? Why was I shot? What the hell is going on here?" She could hear the panic in his voice.

Beckett took a deep breath. "You're Richard Castle, I'm Detective Kate Beckett. Do you remember me?"

"I'm a cop?"

"No. You're a writer. You're shadowing me for a book."

Before either one could say anything, the EMTs arrived, decided Castle had no more than a bruised chest and a head laceration, but being told he had lost his memory, transferred him to their ambulance. Beckett rode along with him.

Between the oxygen mask he had on, and the EMTs checking his vitals, they didn't talk on the way to the hospital.

After waiting for an hour, Ryan and Espo arrived. "We got Bascombe and his gun. He's at the precinct. We called Castle's family. We just told them he had some cuts and bruises. We weren't sure he lost him memory. Did he?"

Beckett nodded. "He didn't know me, or who he was, or what he was doing with us. Maybe it's just temporary." She said without much hope.

Just as the two detectives were about to leave, a doctor came out. "Detective…"He glanced at a clipboard in his hand. "…Beckett?"

Beckett nodded. "That's me. These are Detectives Ryan and Esposito."

"Mr. Castle isn't a policeman?" The doctor asked, somewhat confused.

"He's a writer and a consultant with the NYPD. If there's any problems with insurance, or money, I can personally…"

The doctor cut her off. "No, we found Mr. Castle's insurance card. That's not a problem. We're just trying to find out what happened."

Kate quickly explained what had happened.

She had just finished when Martha and Alexis were led in by a nurse. "What happened?" Martha asked, looking back and forth between Beckett and the doctor.

The doctor walked over to the two. "I'm Dr. Boyle. Let me explain and then we can go see….your son?"

Martha confirmed their relationship and Alexis' and the doctor spoke to them in low, serious tones. "I think we can go in, just briefly. Detective Beckett, do you want to come?"

Kate blushed slightly. "I'm not family."

"Detective, any familiar face may help. Are the other Detectives friends of Mr. Castle's?"

"Absolutely." Espo said at once. Ryan just nodded.

They all followed Dr. Boyle to Castle's bed in the ER. When Castle saw them, he only smiled at Beckett. It was clear in a few minutes that he remembered none of them or anything about his life. Dr. Boyle led them out again.

"How could you have let this happen to him?" Alexis shouted at Beckett. "You're the super cop with the gun? Why is my father the one who got shot?"

Before Beckett could reply, Martha took Alexis' hand. "Alexis Castle, that's unfair. You know that your father has been perfectly capable of getting himself into all sorts of trouble long before he ever met Katherine. I'm amazed he's never been seriously injured before this. This is not Katherine's fault and you owe her an apology."

Alexis turned to Beckett with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry. You're not to blame. But….I'm so frightened." Before Beckett knew what was happening, Alexis was hugging her and sobbing on her shoulder.

Beckett did her best to comfort he girl, but felt inadequate.

After Alexis and Martha left, Beckett looked at her two friends. "This was all my fault."

Espo frowned. "Like hell. It was Bascombe's fault. He killed two people and shot Castle. It wasn't your fault."

Beckett shook her head. "I was mad at Castle for some silly thing he said. I told him not to go with me, to stay by the stairwell. I thought Bascombe was in his apartment and I didn't want Castle to get in my way. Castle's my partner. He should have been with me where I could protect him, not standing between a killer and the stairs."

The two detectives argued with Beckett all the way back to the precinct, but Beckett still felt responsible.

Later the next day, Martha and Alexis brought Castle to the precinct. Castle was introduced to everyone in the precinct, but remembered no one. Beckett sat down with him and went over their old cases, showing him their files, crime scene photos and recordings of interrogations. Nothing was familiar to Castle.

Beckett spent as much time with Castle as she could, taking him with her to crime scenes, and asking his opinion frequently, but Castle made no reply. Finally he said, "Why do you keep asking me? I'm a writer, not a cop. How would I know anything about this?"

"Castle, I've told you. You've been my partner for a while now. You're good at this. You really are. I need you back."

He shook his head. "Nothing makes sense. Nothing looks familiar. Detective Beckett, I'm sorry. I just can't do this."

The next day, Castle came in to the precinct and went straight to Captain Montgomery's office. He asked Montgomery to bring Beckett and her team in, as well as Lanie.

"I've made a decision." He announced. "As much as you've all tried to help me, it's not working. I've read Heat Wave and I don't remember a word of it. If my name wasn't on the front and my photo on the back, I'd never believe I'd written it. I've read what I've written of the next book, Naked Heat, on my laptop. I have no idea what comes next. I've decided it'll be best for me to go home and try to regain my memory with my family and in familiar surroundings. I do want to thank you all for that you've tried to do for me. I appreciate it more than I can tell you." He shook hands with them all and headed for the elevator. Before the door opened, Kate Beckett was at his side. She took hold of the sleeve of his coat and pulled him to an empty office. "Come with me, Castle."

Castle spoke first. "Detective Beckett…."

"Please. Call me Beckett or Kate." She asked.

"Beckett. Lanie told me that you feel responsible for what happened to me, but you're not. The guy who shot me is. Plus, I've read more than just Naked Heat on my laptop. There are personal things there. I know that you hate my book and I know that you hate the character I based on you. And I know that you don't like me at all. I really appreciate what you've tried to do, but don't worry. I'll be okay."

Castle walked out of the precinct leaving a very confused and unhappy Kate behind. "Be careful of what you wish for. You might get it." She whispered to herself.

The next day she missed having her coffee delivered to her. She missed having Castle sit by the murder board with her and build theory. She missed Castle. When five o'clock came, she grabbed her coat.

"Leaving already?" Espo called to her, pointing to a pile of paperwork on her desk.

"I have something more important to do."

"Bring him back to us then." Espo laughed.

She stood outside of Castle's door for several minutes before she got the nerve to knock. Castle answered.

"Detective Beckett, why are you…" He began.

"In your office, now!" She said, taking his hand and pulling him into the office. Both Alexis and Martha watched, and then headed upstairs.

"I was angry that you forced your way onto my team and you told me that Nikki was slutty. I was unhappy with the book until I read it. I love the book. I love the character, and I almost accept her name. But you could have done better." Beckett took a deep breath. "When my mother died, I put up this wall against the outside world so I'd ever be hurt like that again. The reason I've been pushing you away is because I do like you. A lot. And when you leave, as you must, it could break my heart if we really became close. However, you're my partner and partners watch out for each other, so, like it or not, Richard Castle, you're stuck with me until you get your memory back and probably for longer. Understand?"

Castle smiled and shook his head gently. "I really appreciate what you just said, but I know that you feel responsible for what happened and I can't…" Castle didn't get the last words out because Beckett's lips were on his, her tongue running along his lower lip.

When they broke the kiss, Beckett looked up at him. "You're stuck with me. Now, did that feel like the kiss of a woman who doesn't like you?"

Castle laughed. "Unfortunately I have no frame of reference. As far as I know, that may have been my very first kiss ever."

"You know you have a daughter, don't you?"

"You're probably right." He conceded.

"I'll pick you up here tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow, Castle. It's more hopeful."

Castle came into the precinct, but was very quiet. But on the third day, he noticed something. "Detec…"

She glared at him.

"Beckett. Isn't it kind of unusual that our suspect and one of the witnesses had the same amount withdrawn from one account and paid into another? Almost like the witness was paying our suspect?"

That was the first case the new Castle helped solve.

At the end of the first week, Beckett took Castle back to her apartment. When dinner was over, he began to do the dishes, but she pulled him away and into her bedroom. "If I'm going to have my heart broken when you leave, I want to make damned sure I have great memories." She said as they lay naked in each other's arms.

'Why do you think I'm going to leave?"

She shrugged. "Do you really think we'd be together always? Rick Castle and some cop? The more I like you the more I fear losing you. The more it'll hurt when you do leave."

"You know I feel the same way, don't you?"

She stopped and looked at him. "You? Why?"

"I have a mother and a daughter who I'm supposed to love, but I don't. I don't even know them. I have all sorts of friends, or so they tell me, but I can't name one of them. All I have is you and I'm terrified that one day you'll get tired of hanging around with some guy with no memory and move on."

Kate thought about that. "We're both a mess, aren't we?"

"Tell me about it."

"Look, I like you and you like me. So let's agree to be together until we're both not a mess, okay?"

"And then?"

She kissed him. "I have a feeling that won't be a problem."

Eight days later, Kate woke up in Castle's bed. It was 3AM and he wasn't in bed with her. She threw on a robe and went looking. She found him in his office, typing on his laptop. She stood there for over an hour before he noticed her.

"What happened?" She asked.

"I woke up and I knew the whole plot of Naked Heat. I had to rush in here and start getting it all down."

"Did you remember anything else?"

Castle looked at her oddly. Finally, "Did you once threaten to break both of my legs if I called you my muse?"

She swung one leg over him and sat on his lap, facing him, then thoroughly kissed him. "Does that feel like the kiss of a woman who doesn't want to be your muse?"

"I could get used to your musing."

"Oh, you will."