Title: Where the Lines Overlap

Author: LogicBomb.32

Ships: Caskett

Summary: And it is the last of these three that force her up the stairs, one agonizing level after the next because she knows that the pain she feels now will be nothing compared to that of losing Alexis. Castle as she knows him will never be the same.

Authors Note: Had a crappy weekend and as a result I buried myself in my room listening to Two Steps From Hell (essentially the most epic music everrrrr) and this was the result.

Her lungs burn.

Her thighs are screaming.

Her heart is breaking.

And it is the last of these three that force her up the stairs, one agonizing level after the next because she knows that the pain she feels now will be nothing compared to that of losing Alexis. She knows that if she fails in this task that everything she knows about her life will be destroyed. Castle as she knows him will never be the same, he will cease to exist but as a hollow shell of himself and it's a sure bet that he will never return to the precinct.

And so she keeps running, only her harsh breathing and the last words Castle had spoken echoing in her ears.

Bring her back to me.

And it was one of those promises that Kate Beckett could not, would not break, especially not a promise made to Castle. She had long ago admitted to herself that she was in love with the man, it was a matter of admitting it to the rest of the world part that she had a problem with. Admitting it to herself was one thing, but to bring the rest of the world in on her dark secret, that meant that it was real. Real love. Real happiness. Real heartbreak.

Could she bring herself to risk it all?

Maybe. But right now it didn't matter because if she didn't bring Alexis Castle back to her partner alive and well…

"I can't lose her Kate." He whispers, his voice barely above a whisper as he looks up at her.

He looks helpless, utterly lost as, not for the first time, he finds himself one the other side of the table, paralyzed by emotions he has never felt before. And Kate too finds herself in a new place, a place where Castle is broken one and she is the one who needs to be strong, strong for him and for his daughter.

She fought long and hard for the right to take this case, screwing personal conflicts and feelings Beckett had told her Captain "I don't give a damn that there's personal conflict sir." She doesn't even stop to breath, just continues on her rant "They took one of our own and there's no one better to beat this sicko at the game he want's to play then the people standing out there right now."

It had gone against Gates better judgment but the detective had fire in her eyes and Castle on her mind, so the captain conceded, but with a warning "There is a line Detective, remember that."

"Yes sir." Beckett replied, already walking out the door, but she paused, one hand resting on the frame "Thank you."

Her hand was curled around the grip of her gun, as they came to a stop outside the fourth level of an old meat packing plant. She glanced back at Esposito and Ryan, both of them decked out in Kevlar and Esposito armed with a shotgun. She met their gazes and knew that they were in the same place she was, toeing that line she had been reminded of. This was Alexis they were talking about, but she was still an officer of the law, bound to serve and protect, not exact revenge.

She placed her hand on the door, knowing that it was unlocked, and gave it a small push. It swung open and a wave of ice cold air hit her, reminding her what exactly was at stake. Taking a step inside, gun leveled at shadows Beckett held her breath and scanned the darkness, hoping for a sign.

And she got one.

An explosion of gunfire forced her to the ground and the searing pain of bullet tearing through flesh almost sent her into a flashback. But as she struggled to keep herself together, she thought of Castle, the helpless look in his eyes and the heartbreak that would overcome him, it grounded her. Pushing herself sideways, behind a pillar, Beckett saw Esposito and Ryan crouching in similar places.

Her arm was throbbing, but from a quick glance down the detective knew that it wasn't more than a scratch. They needed to move or else this sicko would once again get away from them. Slipping through the cracks was what he did, kidnapping was more of a sick game that he played. Both for money and for pleasure, so it seemed and the fact that Castle was not his first victim, that made him all the more dangerous.

He never worked with the same team twice, that much they had gathered from the six or seven bodies that inevitably appeared after the kidnapping and subsequent man-hunt and payoff-rescue had taken place. This time however, this time there would be no payoff, no happy ending, because the NYPD had broken on of his cardinal rules. It was life or death for Alexis Castle and Beckett had the feeling that this man didn't care which way the coin fell.

Moving out from behind the pillar Esposito let loose three blasts from the shot-gun in rapid fire and from the moans, Beckett knew that at least two different people had been hit. However they had a small window of time to get to and save Alexis before she ended up with Lanie. Shots were returned, but they missed and it was in the beat of silence that Beckett heard it, the sound of a door opening and closing.

Without so much as a glance or a sign, Ryan and Esposito opened fire as Beckett darted for the door, providing her with cover to go to the one place they hadn't cleared, the roof. It was only one flight, a relief for the detective who was pushing her physical limits further than even those days in the Academy. She grabbed the door and tried to yank it open, but it didn't budge. It was locked.

Taking a step back Beckett brought the heel of her shoe to the keypad, smashing it to smithereens and was rewarded with a searing pain in her leg and the unmistakable click of the door unlocking. She pulled it open; ignoring the pain it caused her, and stepped out into the winter air. The wind bit and nipped at her exposed skin as she looked around the rooftop for any place to hide a hostage.

And she saw it.

And she saw him.

He was dressed in black and had the unmistakable limp of their prime suspect, Sargent Gregory Gains of the Marine Corps. His own daughter had been kidnapped and killed in the rescue attempt due to a federal blunder and revenge had been his occupation ever since. Making others feel the pain he felt as he watched his own daughter get murdered.

He hadn't seen her, yet, and Kate needed that advantage because if she lost it, her only chance was to shoot him. So she ran forwards as silently as possible, trying to cover as much ground as she could before he noticed her. They were heading for a small rooftop pigeon coop, locked from the outside with a thick chain and lined with bulletproof glass. Still unseen Beckett watched as he held the gun with one hand and pulled the key from around his neck with the other. The detective waited for the exact moment that the chains were unlocked to raise her gun and shout "NYPD, put your hands in the air!"

Her gun was leveled at his chest but even so he moved with such speed that she couldn't even get a shot off before his gun, a semi-automatic pistol, was now aimed at her head "How about you put your gun down." He said, utterly nonplussed at the situation.

"You know I can't do that." Beckett said, not sure why she was following the normal channels of hostage negation with this loon. It hadn't worked the last time she had done it, but Castle, and eleven other hostages were safe and living their lives.

"I think you can detective. Think about it" he continued, opening the door with one hand and keeping the gun aimed at her "You put the gun down, handcuff yourself, I get the girl and vanish into the sunset."

"Not gunna happen and you know that. You want this to end up as some sort of fire fight where you go down a broken hero because of what happened to your daughter." Beckett said, edging forward slightly knowing that Gains' attention was focused on something else for the moment.

"No." he said, a flicker of emotion playing across his face "I want people to understand."

Beckett let out a harsh laugh "Understand what Greg? What is there to understand about this situation? They won't understand how you feel, how it felt to have your daughters life ripped from you, because of something the police did. They won't feel that, at all and do you know why? Because the police aren't in the wrong here, you are, anything that may or may not happen to this girl, it isn't our fault. You're not going to make this family resent the NYPD because we didn't do anything wrong."

He seemed to be struggling to understand this, the logic she had presented clearly making some sort of sense. And just as she thought it had worked, and his arm had twitched downwards, he shook his head "You're lying." He yelled and pulled Alexis out of the abandoned pigeon coop.

It was the first time the detective had seen the younger Castle in the two days that she had been missing and if not for the strip duct tape across her mouth and those biding her wrists together, she looked okay. But that was only at first glance. As the red head was dragged in front of her kidnapper to serve as some sort of human shield, Beckett saw the signs. Exhaustion, dehydration, hunger, but most apparent, a sort of suppressed terror.

"Where are you going to go?" Beckett asked, moving in unison with the kidnapper as he tried to make his way to an escape.

His options however, were limited. His back was to the door he had come up and Beckett stood in between him and the second set of stairs. Even if he did make it to a staircase, Esposito and Ryan were, hopefully waiting and ready. But none of it was for certain, they didn't have SWAT as backup and Castle was all but handcuffed to the steering wheel of Beckett's car.

"What?" Castle asked, turning to look at his partner, disbelief clouding his eyes as he comprehended her request "No way, I'm not staying here."

Beckett turned to look at the man she had grown to care about more than ever anticipated "Rick" she said, looking into his eyes "I know you want to come with me, I know you want to get Alexis back. But this guy, he wants to see the parents as upset and angry as he is. If you're there, if he sees your reaction he has no reason to keep Alexis alive anymore."

Castle wasn't buying it and as such he reached into the back seat and grabbed his Kevlar vest. Kate placed a hand on his wrist "Do you trust me?" she asked, once again meeting his gaze.

"Of course." He replied without hesitation

"Then let me do my job and get your daughter back."

He let out a sigh; a long, resigned sigh but he nodded "Bring her back to me." He said, more serious than Beckett had ever known him to be.

"Put your gun down Detective." Gains ordered, shifting the gun from the detective to Alexis "Or else I will shoot her."

Beckett hesitated, Alexis couldn't die here because the only way that life would return to normal would be if she returned to her father. And Beckett didn't care how it happened, or what it took to make that happen. The detective met the gaze of the teenager and saw something in her eyes, something that reminded the detective why this girl was related to Richard Castle, fight.

If it was anyone else, Beckett would have expected them to be too paralyzed by terror to do what happened next, but this was a Castle she was dealing with. Ordinary didn't really suit them. Beckett watched as Alexis brought her left foot up, simultaneously the detective took a step towards Gains continuing to watch as if in slow motion the teen slammed her foot down and into her captors shin.

The red head dove to the ground as a shot went off, and for a moment Kate found herself in the cemetery, Castle leaning over her, pouring out his soul. But it was only a flash and then she herself standing in front of the girl, gun still leveled at Gains' head. However she had made one mistake, she had come too close and now Gains had the height, weight and combat advantage.

Getting off one shot before his foot sent the gun flying out of the detective's hand had been pure luck and as Beckett prepared herself for a fight she yelled for Alexis to run. And from the flutter of motion out of the corner of her eye the teen was complying. But then the wind was knocked out of Beckets chest with a particularly violent blow to the stomach.

She stumbled backwards knowing now that her fate rested in her ability to hold off this man from killing her and Esposito and Ryan's ability to read minds. Before she could react however his arms were around her waist and he was hoisting her into the air. Knowing that flying off the building was probably his next idea Beckett did the one thing that made sense.

She bit him.

He let out a howl of agony as her teeth sliced through his fleshy earlobe and she tasted the sour metal of blood. Thrusting her knee into his stomach Beckett found his grip loosening from around her waist and she squirmed out of his grip, grabbing the knife she had seen on his waistband as she did so.

Gains brought a hand to his ear and wiped the blood away and as Beckett turned away from the edge of the building, he reached out for her arm. He got lucky and she felt more pain as his hand wrapped around her wrist and squeezed. Her arm exploded in pain at the combination of the bullet would and Gain's hand. In one motion Beckett brought the knife up and buried it in his chest. She felt the pressure leave her wrist and watched as he stumbled backwards. Backwards towards the edge.

He scrambled for his footing before, in a last ditch effort to kill the detective who understood him, he charged towards her. The weight of him barreling into her sent Beckett to the floor and no matter how she tried, she couldn't get him off of her. Hot blood dripped down onto her face, onto her chest and onto her arms. He wrapped one hand around her throat, and using the other he pinned her wounded arm to the rooftop.

She couldn't breath.

She couldn't move.

She couldn't save herself.

Again.

Again she found herself dying at the hands of another.

Again she found herself wanting to see his face, the last image permanently etched into her soul before she slipped into the abyss.

Again she found herself wishing she had told him, wishing she had the courage to love him.

Wishing she hadn't been so broken.

And it was as the last dregs of pure, sweet Oxygen left her lungs Kate Beckett concluded, that fight as she did, she could not escape death.

Hi there.

I suppose the questions are:

Will Beckett survive?

Did Alexis make it off the roof?

And did Castle really stay put in the car?

R&R is appreciated,

LogicBomb.32