I relaize that I should be working on my other ongoing stories but this little plot bunny popped into me head and was dieing to be written. So I thought I'd give it a shot and see what you guys think. If you like it please review and alert so I know you want to read more! thanks so much for all your support!

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, as much as I'd like to.

"What?" she asked, feeling the gaze of the writer upon her.

Castle looked down, "Nothing." Beckett knew it wasn't nothing, it was never nothing with Castle, especially when he looked this serious.

"Castle" she said with an assertive tone that knew very well he was lying.

"If something were to happen to me I want you to watch out for Alexis." Kate turned her head sharply to face the worried writer. "She looks up to you. And if her boyfriends get frisky you can shoot them."

She shook her head slightly as she spoke, giving both verbal and physical reassurance. "Nothing's going to happen to you."

"But if it does..."

She took a moment to gaze upon his face, ensuring his intentions were true. "Okay" came the reply, as a smile spread across her face. Castle trusted her not only with his life, but with the life of his daughter. Nothing he could have said could have touched her more at that moment.

The rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor echoed hollowly through the room as Kate Beckett sat watching her partner lay in the starched hospital bed. It was all her fault. She had promised him that nothing was going to happen to him, and then she dropped her guard down and he paid the price.

Esposito, Ryan and her all had their guns drawn as they ran into the building, Castle close behind. They had made quick work of the ground floor, and had advanced to the upper level, searching each room for the crook they were seeking. Kate had took a quick glance at the bedroom and assumed it was empty. Seeing her give the all clear nod Castle had entered the room and walked over to the connecting balcony. He has seen the balcony as they were coming in and knew it would be a great vantage point to watch for the guy trying to escape out the window and down the fire escape. Had he not been so sure of Beckett's judgement perhaps he would have glanced to his left before placing himself completely out onto the small balcony, defenceless against any attack.

Within minutes the crook had him in an air bar, leaning dangerously over the balcony's edge, the cool metal of a gun being thrusted against his skull. Castle let out a terrifying yelp of surprise, drawing the attention of the detectives still inside the house. Beckett was the first to react, rushing into the bedroom with her gun drawn, as she yelled for the man to drop his weapon.

"Not a chance detective. It's your own fault for leaving your little puppy here as bait. Either you let me go, or a bullet goes right through his brain." Kate's eyes darted to Castle and back, unsure how to react given that she was unable to see his face.

"I can't let you go Wilson, you murdered three people. Let Castle go and we can work out a deal."

The rat of a man laughed coolly. "Do you really think I'm that stupid? If I let him go you're going to drag me back to the precinct and put me away for life. No way am I going without taking something from you first detective. "

Kate's hand began to shake slightly, her emotions welling up inside. "You don't have to do this."

"See that's where you wrong detective. Not only do I have to do this, but I want to do this." With a thick cynical laugh the killer smashed his gun hard against Castle head before throwing him over the railing, his body landing with a sickening thuds two stories below. Before the killer himself could jump Kate's gun fired, letting out a tiny pocket of searing metal that ripped into the chest of the killer without mercy. He slumped to the ground as blood poured out of his body, but Beckett didn't care, all she cared about was Castle. Reaching the edge of the railing she leaned over screaming his name. The foliage under the balcony partially his body from view, but she could see enough to realize he wasn't moving. Scrambling down the fire escape as fast as she could she rushed over to his limp body. His arm was twisted into an unnatural position, and his head was bleeding where the gun had left a gash on his forehead. She called his name once more, gentler this time as her hands came to cradle his head. She could see his chest slowly rising and falling, meaning he was still alive, but barely. She leaned closer, stroking his cheek with her thumb as she prayed for him to stay alive. "Please Castle don't leave me. I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry. Please God don't let him die, I can't lose another loved one, I can't."

Castle's eyelids fluttered as his Adams apple bobbed, he was attempting to say something. "Kate..." he whispered. One of her hands left his face to hold his hand in her own.

"I'm here Castle, I'm here. What is it?" His eyes opened and closed once more, as he attempted to gather the strength to speak.

"Take care of Alexis, she loves you, I love..." Kate's eyes blurred with tears as she squeezed his hand harder.

"You love what Castle? Who do love?" her voice was shrill, almost screaming and she pleaded for him to finish his sentence. His head moved slightly towards her as if to continue, before it fell softly against her thigh. Hearing the ambulance sirens approaching she placed a chaste kiss on his bloody face before allowing her sobs to overcome her. The EMT's came rushing over, moving her out of the way as they strapped his body to a gurney. They quickly began attaching equipment to him as they slid him securely into the ambulance. Kate made to go with him but was abruptly stopped.

"Sorry m'am, but there just isn't enough room" and with that the doors closed. Kate watched in agony as the ambulance speed away with the man she loved.

Kate and the rest of her team had followed the ambulance to the hospital and had been waiting anxiously in the waiting room ever since. Seeing that Kate was clearly too emotionally fragile, Esposito took it upon himself to call Martha and Alexis and tell them the news. Ryan had called the captain and Lanie, and before long the entire gang of them were sitting in the waiting room, anxiously anticipating news.

After hours of pacing, fitful naps and multiple coffee breaks the doctor came with news. He was going to live; he was going to be fine. The rejoice amoungst the group could be heard from down the hall. Everyone hugged, and allowed tears of rejoice to flow freely; all except Kate. The doctor had yet to leave, and she knew that look. The look that insinuated there was a gray cloud to this sunny day. Alexis was the first to notice Kate's expression and quickly quieted the rest down.

"Mr. Castle is doing fine physically, but currently his mental state is unknown. The impact from his fall combined with his head wound has caused him to lapse into a coma. We're confident he'll recover but we don't know when."

Alexis's raging emotions took hold of the usually composed teenager as she yelled at the doctor. "What do you mean you don't know when!? You're a doctor, run some tests! Surely you can figure this out." The doctor smiled sadly at the teen, as Alexis was taken into the firm and comforting grasp of her grandmother.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple. We have run all the tests we can, and the scans aren't showing anything. His coma is being completely controlled by his mental state, not his physical. When whatever he is dealing with had been dealt with in his mind he'll wake up. Until then you're just going to have to support him and wait." With a curt nod the doctor left the room, as the group stood in silence. Fresh tears fell down Alexis's cheeks as she buried her face into her grandmother's chest. Lanie came and gave Beckett a comforting hug as Kate attempted to fight off her own new set of tears. Knowing there wasn't much they could do most of the gang left, leaving just Kate, Alexis and Martha in the room.

"You better go see him" said Kate, placing a hand on Martha's shoulder. "I can go grab more coffee while you talk to him. I'll come back upstairs later and see him." The Castle women nodded back thankfully. Martha grabbed Kate into a tender motherly hug before following Alexis down the hall. Kate sighed deeply, wiping at the mascara that had smudged under her eyes. She was glad Castle was alive, she really was. What worried her was how she was going to get through his current situation without him. They had been through so much together; she relied on him to be her crutch during the toughest of times. He had always been there to offer a playful flirtation or a quiet understanding when she needed it. How was she supposed to overcome this new hurtle in their ever changing relationship without him?

Please remeber to hit the review button and tell me what you think! I need to know if this story is good enough to continue or if I should just let it float away into Castle fanfic heaven. :P