Cold. She was so cold. Soaked to the bone, the cold was one of those numb, paralyzing colds. She wasn't even sure she was shaking anymore. Her head didn't hurt, and neither did any one of her other injuries. The cold had made any pain mute.

She knew that if she was to stay, kneeling there, that she wouldn't survive. That the night, the cold, the forest, her injuries, that they would take her life. But part of her, the smallest part, didn't care. Didn't care because she didn't want to move, and because the smallest part of her wondered what it would be like to fade away and maybe even see her mom again.

However, the largest part, screamed at her. It screamed, you have to get out of here. You have so much to live for. You have Castle, and your dad, and your wedding. You didn't quit earlier, don't quit now. That part of her, the large part, is what caused her to ease herself on to her feet, to go over to the dead body.

She turned so she was away from him, her hands that were bound behind her back feeling in his pockets. One pocket…keys. The second one, there! The phone. The smallest smile formed on her lips as she pushed it to the edge of the pocket, and finally, finally, held it in her hands.

Or she did hold it, for about a second, before her numb hands were unable to grasp it and it fell to the ground. She picked it up once more, this time pressing the top button and seeing the screen light up before accidently dropping it again. Stay in control, Beckett, she thought, you can do this.

The third time, it worked. She pressed the emergency call button under the passcode, and dialed the only number her heart would allow her to dial. It was extremely difficult with her hands being tied behind her back, but she needed to hear his voice. She was sure, that by now, he knew. And if he didn't, well, he soon would.

After pushing the button to start the call, she put it on speaker, unable to hold it up to her ear. It rang. One time. Twice. Three times. C'mon Castle, she thought, pick up. If they were unable to find her out here, she at least wanted to hear his voice once more.

"Richard Castle." He finally picked up, and she felt a smile play at her lips. Sure, she was in the middle of god knows where, but at least Castle had picked up. At least she had him.

"Castle!" Her voice was hoarse, but it was still her own, and she could hear him yelling in the background that she was on the phone. He heard the sound of it being put on speaker. "Castle."

"Kate! Where are you? What's going on?" Hearing his tone, the worry, well, it should have kept her awake. Instead, she was feeling groggy, exhausted. She just wanted to be lulled into sleep by his voice.

"I don't know." Kate answered. "In some woods, I think. They were going to kill me, Castle….but Elena, she killed him. Saved me." Her voice sounded as she felt, as if she was no longer really awake. "So tired, Castle."

"We're going to find you." He said to her, "They're tracing this phone right now. Are you hurt?"

The selfish part of Katherine Beckett wanted to pout, and demand him here now, to hold her, to help her sleep. "Some scratches, some bruises… I'm soaked, Castle….And I was cold, but not so much anymore."

She was simply tired now, just so tired. Her muscles, her bones, everything, it was too heavy. She was too tired. Let me sleep, Castle, please. Tell me a story. "Do me a favor and don't go to sleep, Beckett?" That was Esposito. She frowned. She loved Espo like a brother, but his voice wasn't the one she so desperately craved to hear more of at the moment.

She didn't answer Espo, and she didn't have to. "We're on our way, Kate, we know where you are." Castle said, a bit of relief slipping into his voice as he talked to her. She heard it, but unlike him, she was past caring. All she cared about really was the soothing sound of his voice and the darkness that seemed to beckon her forward. Sleep, it called, sleep. You need to rest.

Her eyes were starting to close, shut when his voice finally called her back to him with a question, "Kate?'

"Mmhhm?" That was her answer. She couldn't give him more. Her voice literally wouldn't work, wouldn't cooperate.

"I like the font."

Her eyes opened immediately, as if shaken to reality. She couldn't sleep. If she slept, she probably would die. And she couldn't let that happen, she couldn't leave Castle. She had made it this long, she could stay awake. The world still wished her to give into the darkness, but she wouldn't. "I love you, Castle."

Her voice was a whisper as she bit her lip, applying pressure in an effort to force herself to stay awake. She thought of her dress, of the venue they would find, their future. She wanted it. She wanted him. "I love you too." She heard him say back.

Katherine had no idea how much time passed as she laid there, on the dirt, surrounded by trees, and with a dead body next to her. All she knew was that she had to focus, and she did. On her heartbeat, on her breathing, on staying awake. This would not be the end of her life.

Her vision was foggy as she heard her name called. "Beckett! Beckett! Beckett!" The voices belonged to Kevin Ryan, Captain Gates, and Javier Esposito.

But one voice stood out, but that was because it was calling to a deeper part of her. "Kate! Kate!"

She had to respond. She had too. And loudly. They had to hear her. "Here!" It was a whisper. Not good enough. "I'm here." Barely louder. "Here!" She croaked, finally, as loud as she could muster.

Warmth, it was the first thing she felt. It was a body, pressed against hers, the body if her fiancé, holding her tightly. He had found her, he was here."Castle." She whispered into his shoulder.

The next thing she felt was the bound around her wrist falling to the wood floor, and the next thing her knew, she had her arms around Castle's neck, breathing him in, taking him in.

He hugged her, unable to let go it seemed, for quite a few minutes. And she was okay with that. He only removed himself from her when the sirens cut through the night and the ambulance pulled up. "Let's get you checked out." He said, pulling back to look her over. He didn't like what he saw.

And so he asked the question he dreaded having to ask, "What did they do to you?"

She closed her eyes for a moment, before opening them, not knowing exactly how to tell him. She figured, finally that she should just throw it out there. "They tortured me. Forced my head into ice water."

Castle wanted to kill them, he decided, every last one of them. But that was unfortunately, not what the situation called for at the moment. At the moment, it called for him picking up his girl into his arms, and carrying her to the ambulance.

She was more important.

A/N: I just wanted to write this after seeing this episode. Follow me on Instagram or twitter ashesunbroken and at tumblr at notalonedarling or possibilityofcaskett