This story is going to be a series of random oneshots, about anything and everything related to Castle – basically a place to post all the Castle plot bunnies I have roaming around my head. I'm going to try to keep most of it Caskett-focused, but I might slip off into tangents every now and then.
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Castle or anything from it. That honour belongs to Andrew Marlowe.
Anything in italics are personal thoughts. Any errors in this fic are mine, as this has not been beta'd. If you're going to leave constructive criticism, please be gentle is all I ask. Sorry for the lack of story breaks, this site doesn't ever seem to allow mine.
15 more minutes. Kate felt a cold sweat break out on the back of her neck, and she fidgeted with a paperclip as she watched the precinct clock. 15 more minutes until it was time for her to pack up her things and go home. 15 more minutes until she had to bid Ryan and Esposito good night and walk out the door and leave-
"Beckett."
14 more minutes. Maybe she could stay late tonight. Josh wouldn't mind. It wasn't unusual for her to have to stay late to work on a difficult case.
Yes he would. He would definitely mind.
"Beckett!" Came the voice again, snapping Kate out of her thoughts.
"Sorry, I-I just zoned out." She focused her eyes on the figure in front of her, and she was relieved to see that it was Castle. Not Josh. She beamed him a forced smile, hoping he wouldn't read too much into her odd behaviour.
"I brought you coffee," he said, still looking slightly concerned. So much for that theory.
Kate grasped the mug in both hands and took a hurried sip, wincing as she burned her tongue. "Thank you, Castle." Kate hoped the hot drink would help melt the cold knot of anxiety inside her chest; it was making it difficult for her to concentrate enough to finish her paperwork as it was now.
Castle sat down in his chair next to her desk, a cup of coffee in his hands too. "You looked like you needed a boost. This case must really be taking a toll on you."
If he only knew. "It is," she said cautiously as she rifled through the papers on her desk. "Sometimes I have a hard time leaving my work at the precinct. This one is... sticking with me more than our regular cases do."
"Because the victim reminds you of your mother?" Castle theorized.
Not even close. "A little bit."
Castle nodded, unsure of what to say next, and Kate kept her eyes on her paperwork. She wasn't about to give Castle more fodder for his theories. Polaroids of the victim were stacked on a corner of her desk; Kate had kept them as far away from her as possible so she didn't have to look at the dark marks mottling the victim's skin, or the rope burns around her neck. Kate had her suspicions about what had happened to their victim, but she lacked the evidence to back them up. Moreover, however, she was... hesitant. There were parallels between their victim and Kate's own personal life, and the pictures sitting on her desk were an undeniable reminder of what could happen when everything went sour.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Castle asked.
"I'm good."
You should tell him, said the little voice in the back of her head. Tell him the truth. Kate shook her head slightly, mentally crushing the voice under an avalanche of denial.
"Everything ok? You look like something's bothering you."
Kate shot a quick glance at the clock. A little more than 5 minutes and her shift would be over.
"I'm alright," she lied through her teeth, not looking in his direction. She knew if she saw the concern in his eyes, she would have trouble keeping her walls up. And her walls needed to stay up. Castle couldn't know.
"Are you sure?"
Kate's patience snapped. "Castle, I told you that I'm fine!" She slammed her pen down on her desk as she glared at him. "Everything is ok! Look, I really need to finish this paperwork before I leave, so do you think you could please stop chattering for just a few minutes so I can get it done without you distracting me?"
All across the bullpen, heads swivelled to stare at Kate. It wasn't often she lost her temper with anyone in the precinct, especially one of her partners. Kate ignored them all, mentally willing them to mind their own business and go back to their work.
Hurt flooded Castle's eyes. "Yeah, yeah I can do that." He pushed himself up out of his chair and walked towards to the break room. Out of the corner of her eye, Kate could see Esposito and Ryan following him over to the coffee machine. Great, now the three of them would be discussing what was making her stressed and why she had freaked out on Castle.
With her head in her hands, Kate fought to keep her frustration under control. She just had one more form to fill out and then she could go. She stole one last quick glance at the clock on the wall to confirm it-
Shit.
She was out of time. She had to leave home now in order to make it through rush hour traffic and get home by the time assigned to her. She knew there would be consequences if she was late; her sore writing hand and the bruises on her lower arms were proof of that. She'd caught Castle looking at the marks on her skin earlier and she'd tried to tug her sleeves down inconspicuously, but knowing Castle and his keen observation skills, she figured he suspected something was going on. That wasn't going to stop her from still trying to hide it though. Because really, there was nothing wrong. She was in a good relationship, she was happy with Josh-
You're not happy.
Knowing what the rest of her evening would look like if she dallied much longer, Kate frantically worked through the last remaining form before slapping it into the outbox tray on her desk. She switched her computer off and slid her jacket on quickly. If she was lucky, traffic would be lighter than usual and she'd make it home on time.
"Good night boys!" She called towards the break room, lumping Castle in with her two partners. She didn't have time to make it personal. She needed to get to her car and go.
Kate was just about at the elevator when her phone chirped. The monotonous tone told her she had a text message waiting for her. She pulled the phone from her pocket as she jabbed the down button for the elevator, cursing its sluggishness. Pressing the menu button, she was surprised to see the message on her screen.
"I'm sorry for upsetting you. Call me later if you need anything. Anything at all. – Castle"
A ghost of a smile flickered across Kate's lips as the elevator finally arrived and she stepped inside the aging doors. She appreciated her partner's offer, but she knew she wouldn't take him up on it. If she had her way, Castle would never know what her life at home was like right now. Josh was a big man, a strong man, and she didn't want Castle to get involved. He had his own life to worry about, a mother and daughter who needed him in one piece. Kate could take care of herself. She could.
Kate checked her watch as she reached her car in the below ground parking lot. She was a few minutes behind, but if she sped a little on the way home, she'd be able to make it in time. Moments later she was in her car and leaving the parking garage, but her stomach dropped when she saw how congested the traffic was. It was bumper to bumper for blocks in front of her; there must have been an accident of some sort nearby.
It was going to be a long ride home.
The moon was high in the night sky when his phone rang on his nightstand. Castle jolted awake and threw his arm out, trying to find his phone before he was completely awake. His fingers closed clumsily around it as he brought it to his ear.
"-Lo?"
"Hello?" Said a voice.
"Who is this?" Rick rubbed his face with one hand, trying to will himself awake. A quick glance at his alarm clock told him it was nearly two in the morning. Who could be calling at this time of night?
"Is this Mr. Richard Castle?"
"Yes it is. May I ask who this is and why you're calling at this ungodly hour?" He said, letting some annoyance creep into his voice. He'd been sleeping deeply and was loathe to be up at this hour of the night without a legitimate reason.
"This is the New York Women's Transition House."
Rick blinked, his mind unwilling to process what he'd just heard. "Pardon me?"
"This is the New York Women's Transition House," the voice repeated. "We have a woman here by the name of Katherine Beckett. She gave us your phone number and asked us to call you."
"Kate?" Rick breathed as panic crept into his voice. "Is she alright? What's wrong?"
"Mr. Castle, Ms. Beckett is wondering if you can come pick her up. She is unable to return home, but says she needs a place to stay."
Rick was curious why Beckett wasn't choosing to stay with her father or Lanie, but he wasn't about to second guess Kate's need for safety. "O-of course. I can be there right away. Right away. Just give me a minute to throw some clothes on and I'll drive right over-"
"Mr. Castle," the voice interrupted. "We cannot give you our address, as this is a safe house for women. But we can give you an address of a nearby location, and we will meet you there with Kate."
"I, I understand," Rick stammered. The shock of hearing that Kate was in a women's safe house hadn't quite worn off yet. "Where would be an acceptable place to meet?"
The voice on the other end of the line rattled off an address, and Rick quickly scrawled it onto the notepad he kept by his bed. With a quick promise to be there as soon as he could, Rick hung up his phone. Fear made his movements jerky and rushed as he put on an outfit he grabbed randomly from his closet. It didn't matter how he was dressed, just that he got to Kate as quickly as possible.
Shoving his note in his back pocket, Rick hurried from his apartment and locked the door quietly behind him. He didn't bother to leave a note – if his family woke up while he was gone, he would simply explain his absence when he got home. Kate needed him right now. That was more important than anything else.
Knowing he'd wreck his car if he tried to drive over to the rendezvous point himself, Rick hailed for a cab outside of his apartment building. As he waited impatiently, he thought about the little signs he'd noticed earlier but had done nothing about. Perhaps if he had tried talking to Kate about the dark smudges under her eyes, her swollen lips or the dark marks on her skin, this whole situation could have been avoided. Guilt ate at his insides at the very thought that he could have somehow prevented the situation his partner was now in.
A taxi pulled over for him - About damned time! - and he stepped inside. The address he had been given was at a gas station with an attached restaurant located maybe fifteen minutes away from where he lived.
"Step on it, please," Rick implored, his voice thick with repressed emotion. "There's a bonus for you if you can get me to my destination within the next five minutes."
It was a good location for a meet-up, Rick thought to himself as his taxi pulled into the eatery's parking lot. Street lights and a couple of lampposts threw some light over the empty parking spots, but the location provided a certain amount of cover from the main road thanks to the tall hedge bordering the lot. Rick suspected that that was why that particular location had been chosen – good lighting, but still private.
Rick slipped his driver his bonus and asked him to please wait for a few minutes. His driver nodded and turned the ignition off, pulling out a newspaper from under his seat. "No worries sir, take as long as you need."
Turning back to the empty lot, Rick watched from inside the cab, waiting for the other vehicle to show up. He didn't have to wait for very long – the vehicle from the transition house was there within minutes. Rich slid the door open slowly and stepped out, letting the women see that he was alone and that they had nothing to fear. In the back seat of the cat he could see a figure huddled under a blanket, and while he couldn't see the individual's face, he knew it was Kate. His heart skipped a beat at the thought of how much pain she might be in and how scared she must be.
The front door opened and a tall woman dressed in jeans and a sweater got out and approached Rick. He watched her eye him cautiously as she got closer, and he tried to smile, hoping to ease her fears. "I swear to you I'm not armed or anything, ma'am. I'm just here to pick up Kate."
She nodded and finally held out her hand for him to shake. "My name is Tracey, Mr. Castle. Kate told us we could trust you, but I still wanted to be sure." She looked back at the car they'd arrived in. "We normally don't do this, but given that Ms. Beckett is a city police officer and she gave us her word, we're going to trust you to take care of her."
Rick nodded. "I was planning on taking Kate home with me. I figured she could stay with me for the night, and in the morning we could discuss what she would like to do next. Call her family, her friends, her boss, that sort of thing." He paused, clearly unsure of how to ask the question he so desperately wanted to ask.
Tracey gave him a half-smile, understanding without the words being spoken. "I will let Kate explain the details to you, but basically there was a domestic violence incident in her home. Her attacker left the home and she immediately called us. We met her near her home and brought her back to the transition house."
"When-"
"My understanding is that it happened shortly after she returned home from work. She wouldn't give us the details on what set him off, just that it happened and then he left."
Rick was having a hard time focusing on what he was being told. "Does-does she need medical attention?"
Tracey shook her head. "Melanie – the other woman in the car with Kate – and I treated her cuts and scrapes, but she doesn't appear to have any broken bones. However, if you could convince her to seek medical attention, it would probably be in her best interests to have a doctor look at her injuries. A referral to some professional psychological treatment would be a good idea as well."
Rick nodded. "Done. Anything Kate needs, she'll get."
Tracey gave Rick a faint smile. "Thank you, Mr. Castle."
"Please, call me Rick."
"Alright. Rick if you can just wait over here for a minute, I'll go speak to Kate and make sure she's still ok to go home with you."
Rick's heart ached at the very idea of Kate no longer being comfortable in his presence, but he knew he couldn't fault her for that. "I understand."
"Thank you." Tracey walked back over to the car and opened the back door. Rick watched her speak to Kate, saw his partner nod and gather a bag off the floor. Melanie turned around in the front seat to speak to Kate briefly, and Tracey replied with something Rick wasn't quite able to hear. Then Tracey stepped back from the backdoor and Rick's eyes followed Kate as she climbed out slowly.
His first instinct was to run to her and hold her close, but he knew he had to let her come to him. He kept his gaze focused on Kate, though his peripheral vision told him that Tracey and Melanie were watching them both, ready to step in at a moment's notice if needed.
Kate was still wearing the outfit she'd worn at work when Rick had last seen her. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but Rick could see that some pieces had been pulled out and were hanging loose around her face. From where he was standing he thought he could see smudges of blood on her face, but as she got closer he could see that they were actually bruises. She must have been hit hard if they were becoming visible already. She had wrapped the thin blanket around her shoulders, and it hung down around her body like a shawl.
Kate kept her eyes on the ground, looking up at Rick only when she was a few feet away. She had a bag hanging on one wrist and she clutched the ends of the blanket to her chest. Rick had never seen a more pitiful sight; the knowledge that this was Kate, his partner, broke his heart.
"Hey," he whispered.
Kate said nothing, merely nodded and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. He saw her shaking slightly, but knew better than to comment.
"Are you ready to go?"
She nodded again, and Rick stepped back to let her get into the taxicab. When she didn't move, however, he approached her carefully.
"Kate? Are you alright?" He cursed himself the moment his question left his lips. Of course she wasn't alright.
Kate bowed her head, and Rick knew she was trying so hard not to break in front of him. That was his Kate; always the warrior, always the strong one.
Slowly, gently, Rick reached out to touch Kate's shoulder. The moment his fingers grazed the blanket, a whimper broke loose and she tried to stifle it with the back of one hand. She unconsciously took a step towards Rick, and that was the only prompt he needed. Wordlessly he pressed her close in a warm and gentle embrace, wrapping his arms and his presence around her. Kate tucked her face against his chest, her lips pressed tightly together to prevent her cries from escaping.
I'm here for you, Kate. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
They stood together in the parking lot for a few minutes more before Kate finally broke the hug. She tried to give Rick a smile, and he returned it to her. "Thank you... Castle," she whispered.
Rick wanted so badly to touch her, caress her face, do something to reassure her that things were going to get better, but he didn't want to scare her while she was in this state."Anytime. Come on Kate, let's go home."
Kate nodded and got into the cab, with Rick climbing in behind her. He closed the sliding door behind him, and the cab drove off into the night.
A/N: This first chapter was inspired by another fic I read where Demming was Kate's abusive boyfriend (and more). It is not intended to be a copycat, rather just a standalone oneshot. I might continue it in the future, I haven't decided yet.
Re: the transition house, some of the protocol is based on personal knowledge, but I'm aware that some of it might not be accurate. If that's the case, please humour me – this is fanfiction, creative liberties are allowed.
