The Coming Future (A Castle Fanfiction)

Part Seven: The Split

The elevator doors opened just as a clattering sound came from the precinct. Instinct, and instinct alone told Ryan and Esposito to duck, but something else drove Melissa to rush out of the elevator. She knew that sound and something lead her straight to where she needed to be. There, laid out on the floor in the break room, Kate was completely unconscious. Maddie was up and looking at the passed out detective, but didn't say a word. Immediately Burns moved in to see if she could wake the detective and to see if she was alright. Her pulse was fine and she was breathing, but something else was definitely wrong.

A few seconds after she'd fallen, Kate began to stir without coxing from anyone around her. Melissa watched as Kate began to open her eyes. The world was fuzzy and her head pounded, but Kate refused to just let the others watch her as she was down. In her complete and total stubbornness, the cop began to sit up, and made it to a sitting position, but not without a massive amount of pain to the back of her skull. Instinctively her hand had moved to the source of the pain, but when she pulled her hand away, it was coated in blood. While Burns moved to look at the injury, Ryan and the other two reached the door, and he was the first to ask, "What happened?"

Kate vaguely explained, "I fell," not giving a reason or including the fact that she'd been unconscious.

Burns, however, decided to tell Esposito, "She's bleeding. It looks like she seriously cut the back of her head on God only knows what."

"I'm fine," Kate said, still stirring from her fight with her love, but also in a lot of pain. "I just need an icepack."

Melissa agreed, "You do need an icepack, but you should go get this looked at. It's really bad, Beckett."

"Am I going to die?" Beckett asked sarcastically.

"No," Melissa replied, and before she could say that she could have a serious concussion and that she probably needed stables, Kate cut her off.

"Good, then I don't need to get this looked at. However, I do need one of you to take Mrs. Loyelle to interrogation, see what you can get out of her by going hard and I'll be in in a minute to play good cop." Murphy suggested that she would be able to do it or at very least Burns could handle it, but Beckett shot that down by explaining that she already had a relationship going with the woman. One in which the subject thought of Kate as an ally. Plus, the testosterone in the room would help immensely considering she was a battered woman, whether she was a criminal or not.

Javier then tried to argue, "Beckett, you know Gates would kill you for doing this."

"Gates isn't here. And for now, I'm in charge, so do me a favor. Put the suspect in interrogation, question her viciously and I will be in in a minute or two," Kate insisted. They couldn't argue with her anymore and she was an adult, this was her case. They did as they were instructed, leaving the women alone in the room.

Murphy went and grabbed some ice from the freezer, placing it all in a Ziploc bag while Kate looked up at Burns. Having some experience with medicine, Melissa looked for any signs of a concussion, first looking at Kate's enlarged pupils and then asking, "What does that sing say?"

"What?" Beckett asked in annoyance.

Melissa explained, "Your pupils are massive, which is a clear sign of a concussion. Now I'm asking you what that sign over there says. Your Safety Regulations sign. Read the top line and I'll leave you alone." Kate didn't even bother trying since she knew she couldn't read it. Everything looked blurry and messed up to her. There was no way she'd even be able to see the sign.

"I'm not doing this."

"You need to go to the hospital," Burns insisted.

"No I don't."