Finding Richard Castle

Summary – A stand-alone post For Better or Worse story about why Castle disappeared on the way to the wedding. One of Castle's crazy theories come true and he's the victim.

Author's Notes - I've decided to post these stories individually since the next one has exploded into several chapters.

Disclaimer – Don't own Castle – Marlowe, ABC, and Disney do. The OCs came out of my imagination.

Chapter 1 – Unsuitable

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Beckett paused at the door of the loft and leaned her head against it, fighting the overwhelming weariness that had seeped through her as of late and drained her of energy.

After Castle went missing on his way to their wedding 3 months ago, she had run for so long on adrenaline, sifting endlessly through the clues from the crash, that she was finally at the point of exhaustion.

But she would keep looking – she was a woman on a mission and she would never give up looking for him – if not for herself, then for the two women she had come to think of as family, who wouldn't let her go back to her old apartment and wallow in her misery, who wouldn't let her go down the rabbit hole without them.

They had been supporting each other, encouraging one another during this time, even after the FBI and the NYPD had given up.

Castle had simply disappeared – no body was found in the car and there were no witnesses as to what had happened to him. It was if he had simply vanished into thin air.

Beckett took a deep breath and straightened up, unlocking the door.

Alexis and Martha were in the kitchen, making dinner, talking quietly.

The loft didn't have the lively manner it once did, as if the heart of the home – that source of happiness – had been ripped from it. Which it truly had been, for the loft without Castle was just a set of rooms without his larger than life presence to fill it to past its capacity to hold his special kind of exuberant craziness.

"Kate, darling," said Martha. "Dinner is almost ready. Care for a glass?" she asked, raising a wine glass towards her. Even Martha had lost some of her effervescence in the past 3 months, now looking older than she ever had. The months had been hard on her even though she tried to be strong for Alexis.

Beckett smiled at them as she put her keys and purse on a side table, starting the familiar evening routine. "Alexis, it smells delicious."

"Thanks," said the red-head, ducking her head slightly. "It's just pasta carbonara."

"Your dad's recipe," Beckett stated as she walked over to give the young woman a hug.

"Yeah," said Alexis quietly, returning the hug, and then turning back to stir the sauce.

"I've made salad and put the bread in to warm," said Martha.

"Thanks," said Beckett. "I'll just go change."

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Beckett quickly locked her service gun in the gun safe, changed, and checked her personal email that she couldn't check – wouldn't check – at the precinct because of the type of people she was contacting now in hopes of finding some clue. No, there was no word on the street about Richard Castle, other than he had disappeared without a trace. Damnest thing, they all said. Cold feet was the theory that went around the most, but the consensus was no way with a bride like Beckett waiting for him.

She walked back into the living room as Martha put the plates and silver on the table.

The older woman always sat 4 place-settings, a little ritual she started the night they had gotten back from the Hamptons, empty-handed.

She reasoned it was a beacon that would guide her wayward son home, safe into the arms of his waiting family.

While Beckett walked to the refrigerator and took out the different salad dressings she knew each one of them liked, Alexis put the serving bowls on the table.

They sat at the table and joined hands. None of them were particularly religious, but they said a prayer each night in hopes that it might keep Castle safe until they could be reunited.

"So, dear, how was your day? Anything interesting?" Martha asked as she served the salad.

"Nothing special – just the usual love triangle," said Beckett, winding the strands of spaghetti around her fork. "All tied up nice and neat with a bow."

She looked at Alexis. "How are classes going? Have you heard about the research internship?"

Alexis nodded, smiling slightly. "I'm on the short list, so I should hear something tomorrow." She glanced at the door and then focused back on the table.

"Good," Beckett nodded. "And what about your students, Martha?"

"Oh, doing quite well," she said. "They are working on the Tempest."

The three women ate in silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. They had decided it would easier to try to carry on a normal life during this time, rather than sitting around waiting for their miracle to happen, as the FBI had put it when they ended the investigation. A case never resolved well after this long with no leads.

Alexis sighed and sat back in her seat. "But I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing," she started. "I don't know that I can give it my full attention."

Beckett reached over and squeezed her hand. "It's what your father would want," she said gently. "He wouldn't want you to give up your life because of this."

Alexis nodded. "I know – rather, my brain knows," she said. "It's just that my heart expects him to walk through that door any minute."

Martha smiled at her, the smile wavering slightly. "I know, dear."

They sat in silence for a moment longer.

"I made tiramisu," said Alexis, standing up, wiping a tear from her eye.

She froze in place as they heard the sound of a key in the door.

Beckett's first thoughts were that no one else had a key to the loft and her gun was in the safe and her cell phone was by the computer in the office. She quickly rose to stand protectively in front of Alexis and Martha, as Alexis pulled out her cell phone to call 911 if needed.

"I am so glad to be home," Castle said as he walked into the room. "You would not believe the trip I've had."

He stopped suddenly as they stared at him. "What?" he asked, looking over his shoulder to see if some bug-eyed monster had followed him in. "Do I have broccoli in my teeth?"

"Dad!" "Richard!" "Castle!"

The commotion was immediate as the three woman raced toward him, grabbing him and hugging him at the same time, tears flowing down their faces.

"Wow – if that's the reception I'm going to get when I get home, I'm going away more often," he quipped.

"That's not even funny," said Martha as she hugged him harder.

"Not even," scolded Beckett, smiling as she kissed him. "Rick, you've been gone for 3 months. We didn't know where you were."

"Uh, Schenectady for two weeks, teaching a writing class," Castle offered.

"No, no," said Alexis, smiling and crying at the same time. "You've been missing for 3 months."

"We didn't have any leads – no witnesses," finished Beckett.

"Really?" Castle said. "You'd think I'd remember that."

"You disappeared the day of the wedding," explained Beckett. "Your car was run off the road. It caught fire, but we didn't find anyone inside."

"The Mercedes? It's in the garage," he said. "And we didn't get married. The judge had to leave because of a family emergency before I got to the court house and couldn't sign the paper so we rescheduled the wedding to October."

"No, no – we didn't," Beckett said as she shook her head, wiping tears from her eyes. "But it doesn't matter – what matters is that you're home now."

"And it is so good to be home," Castle said as he wrapped her in a bear hug. He let go after a few moments. "Is that pasta carbonara I smell? The food at the college was so bland, it feels like I haven't eaten anything good in a weeks."

"Yes," said Alexis. "Here," she said, pulling him towards the table and sitting him down at the spot Martha had fixed for him. "And tiramisu for dessert."

She fixed him a big plate of the pasta while Beckett fixed him a salad and Martha poured him a glass of wine.

"This is fantastic," said Castle as he took a bite. "I really missed this." He paused for a moment. "Aren't you eating also?" he asked, motioning with his fork at the trio still staring at him.

"Yes, yes," laughed Beckett. Tonight it was enough to have him home safe; they would figure out where he had been later.

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An hour later, after cleaning the kitchen because Alexis had cooked, Castle and Beckett stood in the shower, their appetites now focused on something more physical.

"I missed you so much," said Castle, trailing his lips hungrily down her throat. "It feels like we haven't done this in months."

"Trust me," Beckett said breathlessly, "we haven't."

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Another hour passed before they finally made it to bed, both exhausted but content.

As they lay in bed, Castle tilted his head and gently slapped his hand against his ear, trying to dislodge the fullness that plagued him.

"You okay, babe?" Beckett asked.

"Probably just got some water in my ear," Castle replied as he settled in the bed, Beckett lying next to him, her hand resting on his chest, feeling his solidness.

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The room was finally still, the only sounds Castle's slight snoring and Beckett's deep breathing.

As Castle rolled onto his side, he absently reached up to rub his ear again, trying to get rid of the slight buzzing in there.

As he quieted, the N'ferat slowly wormed its way out of his ear canal and slid down the side of his face, onto the pillow, and then finally crawled onto the nightstand.

It looked at the large being in which it had resided the last 3 days and slowly shook its dominant head. This definitely had been a mistake.

This had started out so promising but quickly had turned into a small problem and then into an even larger problem.

And that's what N'ferats' problem was – they were small – tiny in fact – so tiny that they couldn't operate the machines that the ancient ones had left them.

They were dependent on hosts to do that and this arrangement had proven to be beneficial for both the N'ferats and the hosts. But now the current hosts were old, dying at a rate that could not be replenished without finding other suitable hosts.

The beings on the third rock from the sun A'kdar had held such promise as potential hosts. A scan showed that many of them were more than 35 kelnars in height and would be able to operate the equipment with ease, the first requirement of becoming a host. And they seemed very social, a second requirement for being a host because after they were paired, they would be with each other continuously from that moment on.

A small team was sent to select specimens to study their suitability.

The N'ferat had chosen this particular specimen after studying the communications from the planet. The name this one went by was seen often in the communications and appeared to have some type of following. They had hoped to draw on that base for their need.

The first clue that this would be a problem should have been what happened to the mobile device the being was in after he was removed from it. Surely the mobile devices for a race as advanced as this one would be self-guiding, but no – the mobile device swerved off the side of the road as soon as the being was removed.

The situation was only made worse when they locked the transport onto the device and attempted to lift it, only to cause a tank to rupture and spill out a liquid which then caught fire, igniting the mobile device.

No, not a good sign at all if the N'ferat had been paying close attention.

The next clue should have been what happened when the being woke up, finding itself in a strange environment, with no beckett, as he called it. Perhaps it had been in the car and was important?

The N'ferat had already been paired with the being, had already entered his auditory canal to make contact, only to find itself being jarred repeatedly as the being tried to get rid of the voice in his head by pounding on his ear. The N'ferat had to firmly grasp onto fixtures so that it wouldn't be shaken loose and trampled.

The N'ferat finally convinced the being what was going on when another host came in and explained the situation to him.

The N'ferat still wasn't sure why the being referred to the situation as an offspring of a female dog.

The next clue should have been when the being wouldn't stop talking, asking questions, touching things. The N'ferats and their hosts were a quiet, structured society, each having their own assignment and never varying from them, voices kept to a soft murmur. They lived their entire life in one section of the ship, never straying from that area so that everything ran smoothly to the benefit of all.

But this one – after he had been convinced as to what had happened to him – he wanted to know everything, see everything – something unheard of.

Usually, all the N'ferat had to do was whisper a command to the host and it was obeyed, but this one – even shouting couldn't control it. It was like being in an ion storm and being whipped to and fro with utter disregard.

But the worst occurred at nights, when this one slept and moaned about a beckett – whatever that was. Perhaps they should go back and find the beckett? Perhaps that would calm the being enough to be useful?

The final straw had come when the being had touched the controls to the drive, after repeatedly being told not to, and had sent the ship spiraling out of orbit into space before the study had been completed.

The elder had called an assembly, disengaged from its host, and lifted one wrinkled, quivering appendage towards the door and made its pronouncement of the unsuitability of the host. The being had to go, and the sooner, the better.

Typically, the N'ferats could just return those beings deemed unsuitable to the location where they had taken them from, but several days had passed on the ship before they were once again orbiting the 3rd planet from the sun. And on that planet, several months had passed so returning the being to its original location was not an option.

Now, they shifted some of the memories around to hide their existence and returned the being to the one place he thought of the most – the place that held the beckett.

The N'ferat shuddered violently, stilled, and then shuddered again as it split into 2. The two N'ferat slowly unfurled their wings and flew up the vent to their waiting ship.

No, this had not worked out well at all.

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In the next several days, Castle underwent repeated tests to discover where he had been, other than Schenectady, by the traces that CSU found on his clothes, but everything was inconclusive.

So the mystery remained unsolved, the wedding happened in October, and everyone, even the N'ferats who eventually found other suitable hosts, lived happily ever after.

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The End of "Unsuitable"