Chapter 1

*Beckett sat at her desk in the precinct, finishing paperwork. Her phone buzzes, showing Castle's face on the caller ID*
"What do you want Castle?"
"Tell me you need me"
"Excuse me?"
"I'm in the bank cashing this cheque for Alexis; things are just taking a little longer than expected. Please tell me there's a murder somewhere we could be solving?"
"No, I'm really sorry that no one has died today Castle, sorry to inconvenience you. I was just doing paperwork, I have literally just finished."
Castle glances around the bank, trying not to stare at the legs of a 20 something woman stood in the line a few places back, behind a rather plump nurse, lazily leaning on the separation barrier. Castle grinned to himself as he realised the nurse was Hispanic, and could quite easily have been Esposito's older, but definitely chubbier, cousin. The door swung open, and a man, avoiding eye contact with anybody, bowing his head away from any potential cameras came over the threshold.
"I think this bank's about to be robbed."
"Oh come on Castle, are you really that bored? I think your writers imagination is playing with you.."
"Ooh, look you should be here. A man has just walked through the door with a… very suspicious bulge under his, err, scrubs actually? Hmm, strange.."
"Castle, are you playing with me?"

Suddenly, the man pulled a surgical mask on, and forced a bent pipe through the handles on the glass double doors, barricading them tightly shut. Whipping out his MP5 fully automatic machine gun, he yelled
"EVERYBODY ON THE FLOOR NOW!" followed by a peppering of bullets sprayed at the ceiling to show his intentions. A chorus of screaming and shouting ripped through the air as everyone dove to the floor, complying to the terrifying man's demands. Hearing all this through the phone, Beckett turned white, her eyes wide with shock. Pressing her shoulder up to her ear to keep her cell phone in place, she called out to Castle, all the time punching the 1030 code into dispatch alerting them of the situation.

"CASTLE? Where are you?"
"I'm at the New Amsterdam Bank and Trust on Lex." Beckett gave dispatch the new information.
"Castle listen to me. How many are there?" He peeped around from the desk behind which he was hiding. He saw 3 medically dressed people, each wielding a high calibre weapon, pointing them at the cowering hostages, who were now faced down on the ground, fingers interlocked behind their heads.
"Erm, three.." Then, he heard the familiar click of a semi-automatic Glock right behind his head. "Okay, better make that four" he only just managed to get out before his phone was whipped out of his hand by another masked subject.
"I'm sorry your boyfriend can't talk right now," Dr. Collins spat down the end of the phone.
"I wouldn't worry about him, I'd worry about yourself. We've got squad cars on their way."
An instant fear flickered over the man's face, calm overriding milliseconds later. The gun in his sweating hand reminded him that he was in control. He tightened his grip slightly before replying.
"You a cop?! You called a cop?" he says in annoyance to Castle. This was not part of the plan!
"Er, well – we were already on the line when you came and spoiled this supposedly innocent trip out!" retorted Castle, worried not only for his own safety, but how this would affect Alexis, his mother… and Kate. Things had been a little different since…
"Listen to me!" Beckett's sweet, mechanised voice sprang out of the phone, jolting his mind back to reality. The robber put the phone back to his ear, and continued to listen to the cop's voice.
"So far, nobody has been hurt and nothing stolen. So, if you just leave the same way you came in, you can just disappear." The man pondered this thought for a moment.
"You promise you aren't going to look for me?"
"I don't look. I hunt." Both anger and worry mixed into her voice. She pushed her emotions aside, trying to remain professional. "And trust me, you don't want that. So leave now and this will just be a quirky little article in the Metro section."
"Sorry sweetheart, but I'd rather make the front page." He snapped back as he hung up the phone, on hearing the sirens signalling the cops' arrival. Looking back at Castle, he pistol whipped him with the butt of the gun, leaving a stinging red mark in its wake. Several women let out a yelp, in fear of this happening to them. Castle lay on the floor; his swelling red cheek collided with the icy tiles, causing the flesh to sear at the drastic change.

"Sir!" Beckett stormed into the Hostage Rescue emergency post, looking for Captain Taylor, head of Hostage Negotiation. "I was on the phone with one of the suspects when this whole thing started and-"
"Whoa, what the hell are you doing?"
"I was on the phone with my partner before it started."
"Your partner? Have we got a cop in there?"
"Er, no he's a civilian investigator, who assists on cases. We were on the phone when this all started. He says there are 4 suspects, 3 with fully automatic weapons, as handguns. They are dressed in surgical scrubs."
"Thanks for the intel, anything else you can tell me?"
"Yeah, the suspect seemed… calm, actually." Beckett replied, only just noticing how odd it was that he seemed so in control. She couldn't work out if this was in their favour or not. "Ok, so what's our next move?" she added.
"Well, your next move is to get the hell outta my operations van!" scoffed Capt. Taylor. "You work homicide, if anyone ends up dead I'll give you the case, but for now, they hostages are still alive, and I need you to back off so I have half a chance of keeping it that way. I promise we'll do everything within our power to get your partner out safe." Trusting him that he would do his job, Beckett left, and heard him directing his team to set up a communication line into the bank. She breathed out slowly and deeply, putting her head in her hands and brushing roughly through her hair as she leaned against the barricade. The world was blurring, all she could think of was Castle. It took Captain Taylor three times shouting her name to get her attention, and bring her back to the present.
"Detective Beckett, what the hell were you thinking?" shouted the Captain, holding up the headset in despair.
"I was only trying to help, Sir!"
"What, by charming the bank robber?"
"What?!" retorted Beckett, utterly confused.
"We get him on the horn, but before I get two words out, he says, and I quote, "I will only talk to the lady cop, the one with the bedroom voice." Yeah. You wanted in? well, you're in."
"Oh, no Sir, I don't have any training in hostage negotiation."
"Well I don't have time to give you a seminar about it, just basically go against everything you learnt for homicide, okay? So don't bully, or wind them up. Be calm, build rapport, no threats. It's all about keeping them calm. And keep 'em talking, because when they are talking, they're not busy killing hostages," explained Captain Taylor, evidently not keen on the fact Beckett was going to be doing the talking, but had to let her because she was their only choice. Clipping the hands-free headset over her smooth brown curls hanging loosely in tousled pieces on her shoulders, she heard the familiar husky voice of the perp crackling down the end of the line.
"This is Detective Kate Beckett. I understand that you wanted to speak with me. Anything I can do to help?" Beckett said into the receiver; Capt. Taylor had another line and was watching her closely with a piercing stare that bore into her from behind, hanging on her every word.
"Oh Kate, Kate, Kate. You're really running that idiot's playbook, aren't you? I don't like that guy"
"Yeah, me neither," the words rolled off her tongue before she could even decide if it was right. But she liked the small hint of a snigger that she got from the man at the end of the line.
"What did Captain _ tell you? Build rapport. Exact information. You lie to me, you jerk me around, if you storm the bank I swear I will kill hostages. And Kate… I'll start with your boyfriend." A click, followed by a droning dial tone signalled the end of the conversation. She thought about what he had just said, mulling his words over in her mind.

'Kill hostages'

'I'll start with your boyfriend'

'Your boyfriend'

…"He knows what he's doing. He knows our playbook. This guy's a pro." Captain Taylor addressed all present. "ESU can't get eyes or ears inside. Bank cameras are disabled and the walls are too thick to drill from the outside. So basically, we're screwed."

Castle shifted his weight to bring back some of the feeling to his butt. He looked at his watch and saw that they had been sat on the floor like this for approximately 20 minutes since the heist began. Standing up with his hands in the air, he turned to face the barrel of an AK-47 being pointed at him by none other than the plump nurse from the queue before.
"Have you got a death wish?" Nurse Price yelled at him from behind her mouth shield.
"Nope just a small bladder. And it seems as though you guys are pretty serious about this whole heist and hostage thing, so I suggest you start to organise some toilet trips if you don't want things to get messy.." Castle retorted. They stared at each other for a few seconds more, before she loosened her grip on the trigger cage and lowered her weapon. She gestured for Castle to follow her, and pointed her gun at the remaining hostages as a warning, whilst her team mate covered her. She led Castle through a labyrinth of winding, dimly lit passage ways to the staff toilets buried in the depths of the bank. As they journeyed through one corridor, Castle could see that one of the doors was flung wide open, and the barred metal grills were slid apart. Another masked man in scrubs had both keys of a safety deposit box and was opening it, removing not only jewelled artefacts, which he tossed on the table in a nonchalant fashion, as he delved deeper into the small metal tin, this time removing a brown envelope containing...
"MOVE!" cried his captor, shoving the barrel of the gun into the middle of Castle's back, causing him to yelp as he was caught off guard, stumbling forwards due to the sudden impact. Regaining his balance, he glanced back to the room of safety deposit boxes and cursed once he realised he couldn't see what was in that package. Only white plastic cubes that resembled pats of butter, amongst an array of multicoloured wires which ended somewhere in the middle of the blocks. His heart rate increased and his eyes grew wide when he realised that it was most probably a bomb, and then dragged his eyes away as they continued their trip to the bathroom.

~~~~~~
*Half an hour later*

... -.. -… ….- -… ... -.. -… ….- -… ... -.. -… ….- -…

"Sir, what is that?" Members of the SWAT team began to look up at the white flickering light on the porch ceiling overlooking the grand entrance of New Amsterdam Bank and Trust's shining double doors. "It's Morse Code, Sir," added the same man, coming to a sudden realisation as to what the flashing lights were.
"That's Castle" Beckett piped up, relief flooding through her as she realises Castle is alive.
"How do you know?" Captain Taylor quizzed her, wondering how she would know such an important detail.
"I just do." Captain Taylor mused at her, but trusting her judgement anyway. "It says S.. D.. B.. 47, over and over again." Beckett squinted at the wall. "For Castle to send that, it must be important. I wonder what it means."
"SDB 47, I don't know, err.."
"It could be someone's initials, or a code. Same.. Day.. Bank..? No, Safe.. Safe.. Deposit.. SAFETY DEPOSIT BOX!" Beckett yelled. "ESPO, RYAN, are you there?" Beckett spoke into her phone.
"Yo, yeah Beckett we're here" replied Esposito.
"Good, now listen. I need you to check something for me. I need the names of the owners of a Safety Deposit Box in New Amsterdam Bank and Trust on Lex.. number 47." The swift tapping of keys indicated they had followed her orders immediately, their pace naturally quickened knowing one of their good friends and co workers was potentially in danger.
"Okay.. Beckett, it says here that the owners died a week ago… and it hasn't belonged to anyone new since then," Ryan read the information off his computer screen to update Beckett and Captain Taylor. "The ME's report stated that there were ligature marks on their necks, indicating strangulation, and the place was trashed, which means-"
"They were looking for something," Beckett said finishing his sentence as they would in a normal case in the Precinct.

Castle looked around at the other hostages as he returned to his seat on the floor. After a few more minutes of strained silence, a woman near the back cried out in pain. As soon as the sound escaped her, she attempted to muffle the sound as she winced. She clutched at her stomach, and that was when Castle realised that she was pregnant. He had not noticed in the midst of the chaos prior to this, and her swollen stomach was partially concealed as she was sat cross legged on the floor. She cried out again, and a woman near her moved to put a comforting hand on her arm. The women sat in hushed conversation, and both had a sudden look of dread in their eyes as they came to the conclusion that she was probably going into labour.
"Excuse me, Doctor?" the supporting woman, Marie, timidly cut the tension in the room. Castle looked on with interest and worry; what was happening?
"What?" replied a gruff voice from behind a mask. "What is it, what is wrong with her?"
"She is going into labour," Marie said, trying to hide the fear in her voice. Several people stole looks of anxiety and sympathy, no one wanting to directly stare at the poor woman in labour.
"We need to get her out of here, unless you really are medics, I think it is in your best interest to let her go," Castle chipped in, knowing that it would make the situation even worse for all in the room. Deciding to get the woman out of the bank, as she would only mess up their ultimate plan, Dr Collins picked up the phone and waited for someone to answer.
"Hello there Detective Beckett."
"Hello Dr Collins. What is the problem?"
"One of our hostages has decided to go to into labour, which is starting to cause distress amongst the other hostages. Also, I really am not keen on witnessing that, for it is not even half ten in the morning yet, and I rather wanted to keep my breakfast down. So, on that note, I will let you send in a paramedic, to help her out, and you are also going to have a bus ready for me in 20. That seems fair to me." And the dial tone filled Beckett's ear before she had a chance to protest.
"Sir, we can use this to our advantage. Instead of sending in a paramedic, we send in a cop with tactical training. That way, they can gain intel for when SWAT finally makes their move, and all hopefully without being made."
"And do you have someone in mind?" Taylor asked her, once again impressed by her snap decision making skills.
"Me. Send me in. I can do this." Beckett asserted. Realising she was once again the best chance they had, he gave her a single lift and fall of his head, nodding in agreement.

Castle looked up as the doors opened to allow a medic in, pushing a gurney in front of her. Her? After doing a double take, Castle realised it was Kate, in her paramedic's uniform, a light grey stethoscope draped around her neck, swaying slightly as she walked. Her eyes were focused. Her hair was clipped up off her face, in a tight mess of plaited knots, each one tangled into another, individual strands fighting free in flyaway wisps. The chestnut brown tones tossed light and dark shadows with every step, trapping and releasing the sunlight at will. She did look damn good in a uniform.

'NOT THE TIME, RICK' he thought to himself, realising he could not give her away.

He looked on jealously as Dr Collins strode over to her, and ordered her to spread her arms and legs, as he patted her down, taking far longer than necessary. His hands lingered over her well shaped thighs, and she gritted her teeth in response. Clearing her, she ran over to the panting Beth, as she struggled with her intensifying contractions. In order to maintain her cover, Beckett gave her a brief look over, before asking politely for other hostages to help. Maria held Beth's hand, and Castle rushed over to help the moment she asked, to smell her sweet perfume was only an added bonus. Realisation swept over Dr Collins, piecing the situation together. Beckett turned away, and as she did, her earpiece pinged from her ear, putting the final clue in place. Before she took another step, he thrust the butt of his 25 pound weapon into the base of her skull. She crashed to the floor, her head bouncing once, twice, as it collided with the stone, releasing an overwhelming crash. Her mouth lay a jar. Blood leaked from its corner, pooling on the floor, meeting a slow drip running down her neck from the gaping gash on her head.

"KATE!" Castle yelled out. Every pair of eyes in the room was now fixed firmly on him, each brimming with a spectrum of emotions.