A Convergence of Storms – Part 1
Summary – A post 6x23 fic previously titled Hours Lost Forever. What happens when Castle shows back up after the car crash and thinks the crash happened after the wedding and Kate was in the car with him. Will be 3 parts (maybe more) and 3XK or Bracken are not involved.
Author's Notes – There are a lot of good post 6x23 fics out there with 3XK and Bracken, but this strange plot bunny popped into my head and I just had to write it. This is a different take on S6 finale and the new mythology that is being introduced in Season 7. This is definitely AU and deals with Castle's time shadowing the CIA, so, yep, it's made up – just my vivid imagination at play (now that it's back since I quit taking Singular for my sinuses). I'm exploring some TV tropes since those have been in the forums a lot lately. I'm also just guessing where Castle's house is in the Hamptons. And wow, Castle now has another leader – I'll be interested to see where it goes from here.
Disclaimer – Don't own Castle – ABC and Disney do. Just playing with the characters.
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Chapter 1 – Found
Beckett lay awake, staring out the window at the stars, alone in bed when she should have been married by now and on her honeymoon. She kept wondering how yesterday could have gone so wrong after all they had been through, when their fairy tale ending was in sight.
The initial panic resulting from the call about the wreck had subsided when she heard that the car was empty – the fire fighters confirmed it when they had finally been able to approach the car.
Now it was replaced by gnawing worry over what had happened to Castle. Chief Brady had his officers looking all afternoon and into the night, but there had been no sign of her missing fiancée.
So now the questions were where was he and what had happened to him?
Because of Sarah Grace, Ryan and Jenny had gone back to NYC that evening with the rest of the guests, but Lanie and Espo were staying at the house in case they were needed.
The ringing of the phone startled her and she quickly picked it up.
"Beckett," she answered hoarsely, her throat raw from all the crying she had done.
"Detective Beckett, this is Chief Brady. I wanted to let you know that we found Mr. Castle. He's being transported to the Southampton hospital."
"Thank you – we'll be right there," Beckett said, springing out of bed.
"Martha! Alexis! Lanie! Espo!" she yelled as she pulled on whatever clothes she could find and raced to the living room. "They found him!"
"Thank god," said Martha as she and Alexis rushed down stairs.
"Chief Brady said they're taking him to the hospital now," Kate said.
Her blue eyes also rimmed in red, a tentative smile on her face, Alexis nodded as she hugged her grandmother.
"I'll drive," said Espo, coming downstairs with Lanie.
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At the hospital, Espo simply pulled up to the emergency room entrance and parked, his years of being a police officer working on automatic pilot.
Chief Brady was waiting for them at the desk and was immediately bombarded by questions.
"Where's Castle?" "Where's my son?" "Where's my dad?" "How is he?"
Brady held up his hands to try to stem the tide. "They're examining him right now and Dr. Freas will be out in a moment to give you an update."
"Thanks," said Beckett, nodding. "Where did you find him?"
"That's the strange thing – the police didn't find him. It was the fire department," Brady explained. "A fire alarm was called in about 3 am for a house under renovation on Hedgebank Drive. A fireman noticed him on the beach and went over to ask if he had seen anything. That's when he realized it was Mr. Castle, so they called it in."
Beckett nodded, slightly puzzled. Hedgebank Drive – that was nowhere near where the wreck had happened, where Castle should have been. How had he gotten there? Had he walked that far without being noticed by anyone?
His doctor's next question, softly asked so that it could only be heard by the group, rocked her. "Detective Beckett, is it possible that Mr. Castle was into something illegal? Ah - when the fire fighters made a sweep of the house after the fire was out, they found several men inside along with illegal automatic weapons. They had been killed before the fire started because it looked like they didn't try to escape. CSU and the arson investigator are on the scene now."
Beckett shook her head. "No, no – he wasn't," she said emphatically.
"Okay," said Brady, nodding hesitantly.
"Dr. Parish and I'd like to go to the scene, if that's okay with you," said Espo. "Take a look around."
"Sure, sure," said Brady. "This doesn't happen – hasn't happened in the Hamptons before, so I'd appreciate any help."
Espo looked at Kate. "We've got this," he said before they walked away with the chief.
Martha, Alexis, and Kate looked over to the doors as they opened, and a doctor came out.
"Family of Richard Castle," he said.
Martha waved her hand. "That's us."
He walked up to them. "I'm Dr. Freas. I'll be taking care of Mr. Castle while he's here. And you would be?"
"His mother, Martha Rogers," Martha said. "This is Alexis Castle, his daughter; Kate Beckett, his wi – fiancée."
The doctor frowned when she said that and then looked at Beckett thoughtfully. "Why don't we go in the conference room?" he said, opening the door to the room. "It's a little more private."
The three women looked at each other apprehensively and then walked inside.
The doctor closed the door and then turned to Martha. "Do I have permission to discuss his condition in front of Ms. Beckett?"
"Oh, for heaven's sake," said Martha. "If this silly accident hadn't happened, they would be married by now."
The doctor nodded and began. "Mr. Castle arrived at the ER approximately 40 minutes ago. He was fairly coherent and able to give the police his name and your name," he said, nodding at Martha. "He started to give a statement about what had happened to him, but became very agitated during it so the police decided to wait until later."
He paused for a moment. "I understand he was in a car wreck yesterday afternoon but he's been missing for more than 12 hours. His injuries are consistent with a wreck, mostly bruises and lacerations, but there are some other odd marks that we haven't been able to identify yet. He does have some 2nd and 3rd degree burns on his hands, but they should be fine with treatment," he quickly reassured them. "He does have a large bump on the back of his head. We're running a CT scan now to check for any brain injury."
The doctor paused for a moment. "Our main concern is his mental state. As I said, Mr. Castle was very agitated when he was brought in. He kept saying that he was sorry – that he couldn't do anything – so we've given him something to calm him down."
Beckett nodded, a brief weak smile flashing on her face. Of course Castle would take the blame for the wedding not happening, even if it wasn't his fault.
"Ms. Beckett," said the doctor, looking directly at her. "According to the statement he gave the police, Mr. Castle believes that the wedding did take place and the wreck happened after that." He took a deep breath. "And that you died in the wreck because he couldn't get you out of the car when it was burning."
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