Title: When
Summary: What starts out as an unusual case becomes a life-changing experience for Castle and Beckett…
Rating: M for violence and sexual situations.
Author's Note: The symptoms exhibited by Rue in response to her phobias are entirely accurate. I myself share her hemophobia – fear of blood – and based her reactions off of my own experiences. People's reactions to phobias differ, ranging from passing out, to irritation or exhibiting mentally challenged characteristics. The most common reaction, however, is hyperventilating.
The usual – I do not own anything to do with Castle. If I did, they'd be a couple by now! All the credit goes to the geniuses in LA and of course the amazing actors Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic. And I'd have Alexis doing my homework for me.
BEEEEEEEEEEEP!
The car screeched to a halt as the girl dashed into the street. Her long blonde hair whipped around her as she turned her head frantically, seeking a sanctuary from the cacophony of noises of swarm of colors. The fear in her eyes shone out like twin moons from her pale, peaked face.
Dashing wildly, the girl darted from side to side as she sought a way out of the maze of traffic. Her bare feet made crunching noises on the asphalt before she finally reached the park across the street. The girl collapsed onto the grass, breathing in great, heaving gasps. She looked down at her bloodstained shirt and began to tremble.
It started in her hands, working its way up her arms until every part of her was shaking uncontrollably. She became another facet of New York for people to gawk at, with her nearly epileptic-scale shaking and her clothes that had so much blood on them their original color was difficult, if not impossible, to make out.
The cops who were called in got more than they bargained for when they came to pick her up. The girl was more wary than a stray cat, flinching away from their touch and eyeing them like they carried whips in their hands. By the time they got down to the precinct the cops had scratches on their faces and arms, and the girl had to be dragged down to the interrogation room.
Throughout the entire experience, she had not made a sound.
When Beckett and Castle entered the 12th Precinct, coffee in hand, Captain Gates was already waiting for them.
"Beckett." She said, nodding a greeting to the detective. Castle was pointedly ignored.
"Morning sir – you called us in?" Beckett inquired, setting her jacket down on her desk chair.
"Yes, detective; an unusual case has come up – some beat cops found it this morning at a local park. Young mother called them in when she became concerned." The captain explained as she led Beckett and Castle towards the interrogation room.
"How is it unusual, sir?" Beckett asked. Castle slurped his coffee noisily.
"We have a witness – but no body." Captain Gates said as the three entered the observation room.
Beckett and Castle both leaned in to gaze through the two-way mirror. Curled up in a ball, her head between her legs and her back pressed against the wall as if she wanted to vanish into it, the frail girl looked more like an abused animal than a human being.
"Is that blood in her hair?" Castle asked.
"Yes. Examiners identified blood from at least three different people on her clothing. All three matched missing persons reports from the last year." Gates informed them. "The girl was found running blindly through a street when she collapsed in the park. Eyewitness reports say she acted like she'd never seen a car before. Nearly got hit a couple of times."
"The strange thing is," Gates continued, "The girl hasn't made a sound. Not one sound – grunt, sigh, moan, growl, or anything else. She appears capable of understanding, but she hasn't spoken."
"So we have a possible mute with blood from three potential victims on her clothing, all from missing persons files, and no bodies?" Beckett asked.
"Yes. Make me proud, detective." Gates said on her way out.
"How does she manage to make that sound like a threat?" Castle asked once the door had closed.
Beckett plucked the coffee from his hand. "Hey!" Castle protested.
She downed it in one gulp. "Sorry Castle," She said with an unapologetic grin. "I think I'm going to need this."
They entered the interrogation room.
Beckett approached the girl slowly, while Castle hovered near the door. He sensed the fear emanating from her, and decided that she would most likely react better to a woman.
Beckett felt like she was approaching a wild animal. The girl kept her head down, trembling slightly, but Beckett could tell she sensed her presence. When Beckett was immediately in front of the girl, she crouched down so that they were at eye level.
The girl raised her head just enough so that her eyes could peep out and gaze at Beckett. The girl seemed to be studying her, almost… undressing her. Not in a sexual way, but like she was trying to peel away Beckett's skin and muscles until she saw her soul. It would have made Beckett uncomfortable, but the fear and gentleness in the girl's eyes made her pause.
Finally, Beckett felt she could speak.
"Hi." She said, gently. "I'm Detective Kate Beckett."
The girl said nothing and didn't move, but her eyes glowed with recognition.
"What's your name?" Beckett asked, still talking soothingly.
The girl's entire body froze, and the trembling started again. She shook her head once, a tiny spasm.
"You don't know what your name is?"
No response.
"You can't tell me what your name is?"
The girl gave a tiny, trembling nod.
Beckett felt the corners of her mouth tugging into a frown, but she took a deep breath and maintained her composure. "That's okay." She said. "Why can't you tell me?"
The girl seemed to think about this for a moment. Then a shaking hand came out and pointed at Beckett's badge hanging from the chain on her neck.
"It's because I'm a member of the police?" Beckett asked.
The girl gave another jerky nod.
Beckett turned to Castle, who shrugged. "Perhaps whoever committed the murders told her something bad would happen if she went to the police." Castle hazarded.
The girl pointed at Beckett's eyes.
"What?" Beckett asked.
The girl pointed at Beckett's eyes again, then put a hand over her heart and smiled. Her smile looked almost like a grimace, as if her face was out of practice.
"Something about my face?" Beckett guessed.
"Do it again." Castle said, watching the girl carefully.
The girl pointed at Beckett's eyes, then put her on her heart, and smiled.
"She thinks your eyes are kind." Castle guessed.
The girl gave a slightly more enthusiastic nod. She turned to Castle and gave him the same searching look she had Beckett. Castle raised his eyebrows and glanced over at his partner, who shrugged.
Beckett turned back to the girl. "You can't be very comfortable." She said kindly.
The girl blinked, then shook her head. She pointed up at the light on the ceiling.
"It's too bright in here." Castle translated.
The girl looked over at him, her eyes shining with gratitude.
Beckett sighed. "Guys, can we dim the lights a little?"
On the other side of the two-way mirror, Ryan obligingly lowered the lights.
The girl looked around, blinking slowly. Tentatively, still trembling a little, she unraveled herself from the tight ball she'd been in. Stretching out her legs, Castle and Beckett could see for the first time what she was wearing.
She wore ragged jean shorts and a tank top, both of which were coated in blood. Dried blood that looked like it had been there for years and blood that looked much fresher… it was in her hair, too. And under her nails. Her skin and hair looked like they hadn't been washed in months, and there were a few bruises on her arms and legs.
The girl continued to get up excruciatingly slowly. She seemed almost afraid to move, and there was an odd expression on her face. It seemed oddly familiar to Castle, although at first he couldn't place it. It wasn't until the girl had stood up on shaky legs that he realized where he'd seen that expression before. The girl looked just like Alexis when she was little and had the flu, doing her best not to vomit.
"Uh, Beckett? I think we might want to get her a bucket." Castle said, gesturing.
Beckett watched the girl's face. Her throat was tight and strained, and her jaw was clenched. Her handles continued to tremble, and as she settled herself into the chair she stared at the table with an intensity that was frightening.
"Are you okay? Do you need some water?" Beckett asked.
The girl shook her head.
"Beckett, I think she might want some new clothes." Castle said.
"The evidence guys couldn't get near her to take them off. They've all got scratches." Beckett said.
The girl was plucking at her clothing with one hand, while the other was rubbing the veins in her neck. Beckett shot Castle a look and looked into the girl's eyes.
"Do you want some new clothes?" Beckett asked.
The girl looked up, her eyes showing the battle within as gratitude and fear fought for dominance. After a minute, she gave a jerky nod.
Beckett took a deep breath. "Okay. Here's the deal; you tell us your name, and we'll get you some new clothes. We'll let you change in private."
The girl thought for a minute.
"If you can't talk, we can get you a paper and pencil." Castle said quickly.
The girl frowned, her forehead puckering. She shook her head. She licked her lips and opened her mouth, clearing her throat a couple of times.
When she spoke, her voice was so quiet that both detective and writer had to strain to catch the words.
"Rue." She whispered. "My name Rue."
Beckett nodded. "Do you have a last name?"
The girl looked at Beckett like she'd spoken in Farsi. "Last?" She asked.
Castle and Beckett exchanged a look. As always, unspoken words zinged between them like an electrical charge as they read each other's thoughts.
She doesn't know what a last name is?
Maybe she just forgot.
There were no signs of a concussion when they examined her.
They didn't get to examine much, Kate; she wasn't exactly compliant.
Beckett hated it when he called her Kate in his mind. Or maybe that was just her mind, having him call her that privately. Either way, it made her skin crawl in a strange way.
The girl looked back and forth at them, and for some reason both had the strange feeling that the girl knew exactly what was going on. Then she held up a piece of her shirt and pointed at it.
"Clothes?" The girl asked.
Beckett sighed and headed off to get the girl a change of clothing.
Having been settled comfortably into a new set of clothing, Rue sat quietly in the chair at the table, staring at her fingernails. They were rather long and unkempt, and she seemed to be picking them off in an attempt to shorten them.
From their position on the other side of the two-way mirror, Beckett and Castle observed her.
"She's hiding something." Beckett pronounced.
"Of course she is." Castle said in the voice that everyone knew announced a speech. "The question is only what she is hiding. Is she the murder? Is she, perhaps, mentally unbalanced? Does she know the murder? Or, maybe, she is faking all of this in an attempt to delay us and give the murder time to escape! Say, a beloved older brother, a role model, or her partner in crime, or…"
"Castle, all we have right now is conjecture, but that does not mean that your conjecture is appreciated." Beckett said. She had to fight to keep the smile off of her face. She succeeded, but he could still hear it in her voice.
Castle sent her a look and Beckett knew that if he was five, he'd have stuck his tongue out at her.
"So," Castle said, "Blood that was identified to have been from three missing girls, as well as blood from several other individuals, but not enough to secure an ID. The name on the inside band of the jeans was from yet another victim, this one a male who vanished three years ago."
He turned to Beckett. "How on earth did this girl get all of that on her?"
Beckett frowned. "I don't know, and that's why we need to get in there and get some answers."
Despite all the coffee she'd drank, Beckett was still cold so she put her red jacket from that morning back on.
The effect when she entered the interrogation room was immediate, unexpected, and unsettling.
Rue jumped up and started to back away from Beckett, her mouth open in a silent scream. The lack of sound was starting to unsettle Beckett. Rue was trembling again, rubbing the inside of her arms along her arteries and staring at Beckett like she had grown an extra eye.
"Beckett, your jacket – she's scared of your jacket." Castle pronounced. Beckett didn't even have time to argue before he'd grabbed her shoulders and shucked the jacket off of her, exiting the room with it.
The minute the door closed, Rue began to calm down. She stopped trembling and closed her mouth, although it took a minute for her to stop rubbing her arms.
"I'm sorry." Beckett said, the words tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them. Rue just looked so scared and forlorn, looking at Beckett like she'd betrayed her or something. "Do you not like jackets?"
Rue looked at Beckett as though she couldn't understand the word. "Jacket?" She repeated, slowly.
Beckett's veins slowly filled with ice. Rue didn't understand the word. She cleared her throat. "What I was wearing earlier."
Rue processed this. Beckett could practically see the wheels turning in her brain as she worked it out. Finally, Rue shook her head vehemently. She opened her mouth, then closed it, gave a twitching look around the room.
"It's okay; you can talk." Beckett assured her. She sat down at the table and gestured for Rue to sit across from her.
Rue complied. "No jacket." She said, tasting the new word. "Color."
"You're scared of the color red?" Castle asked incredulously.
Beckett jumped. She hadn't realized he'd come back into the room.
Rue thought for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "Color red?" She asked.
"Yes. The jacket was red." Castle said.
Rue processed this before speaking. "Red color…" She pointed to her arm. Beckett didn't get it, but Castle seemed to understand.
"You're pointing to your veins. Red is the color of blood!" He was excited he'd figured it out.
Rue jumped at the word, shaking a little.
"Sorry, sorry." Castle apologized.
Beckett decided it was time to get down to business. "Rue," She said, getting the girl's attention. "How did you get those clothes?"
Rue shook her head empathetically. Castle noticed that before she spoke, her eyes darted around wildly – namely, towards the corners of the ceiling, the mirror, and various points in the wall.
"No talk." She whispered.
"You can talk." Beckett insisted.
Rue shook her head again, pointing at the mirror.
Castle and Beckett turned and looked at it.
"Watching." Rue whispered hoarsely. She started to tremble again and back away.
"I suppose we can add catoptrophobia to the list…" Castle said. Beckett looked at him. "Fear of mirrors." Castle explained.
"Watching – he's watching. Watching!" Rue's trembling was more violent now, and she was rubbing her arms again. The timbre of her voice had changed and it was no longer simply fearful; it now contained a note of warning.
"Beckett… she's trying to warn us." Castle realized. Beckett gave him her incredulous look again, but Castle insisted. "I'm serious, Beckett. She thinks we're in danger."
Beckett looked over at Rue. The girl was rubbing her arms and neck and backing slowly away from the two-way mirror. Her eyes kept darting over at Beckett, as if urging her on.
"No safe… no safe… must run, must run!" Rue was still whispering, but her voice contained more energy and urgency than if she'd screamed.
Beckett wasn't entirely sure why she made the decision. Perhaps it was the crazed fear that possessed Rue; maybe it was her innate need to nurture; or, maybe, it was because some part of her remembered what it was like to feel that scared, to want someone to make it all go away.
Gently but firmly, Beckett crossed over to Rue and took her by the hand. She took the girl out of the interrogation room and into the viewing room, where Ryan and Esposito looked up in surprise.
"Look." Beckett said, gesturing to the mirror. Rue's eyes went wide as she looked into the interrogation room.
"See?" Beckett asked. "It's where we watch the bad guys." She explained. "There's no one here who can hurt you."
Rue looked at the mirror, then at Beckett. She pointed at Beckett's eyes again. "Kind eyes." She whispered. "Trust kind eyes."
Beckett was startled. Ryan and Esposito pretended they weren't paying attention. "What?" Beckett asked.
"Trust eyes." Rue explained patiently. "Eyes no lie."
Castle entered the room. Beckett turned to him. "We're done for the day. We'll work on her more tomorrow."
Castle didn't dare argue with Beckett when she used that tone.
Beckett sat at her desk, reviewing the evidence they had so far. It wasn't a lot.
"Castle, if we break this case, we could solve several cold cases." Beckett said in exasperation. "Why won't she talk to us?"
Castle was fiddling with something on his phone. After a moment, he pressed a button with a flourish and the screech of violins filled the precinct.
"Psycho, Castle?" Beckett asked, amused.
"Think about it." Castle said. "She's scared of blood, the color red, mirrors, loud noises and bright light… she's covered in blood from several missing persons cases… she's in cahoots with a serial killer!"
Beckett rolled her eyes. "Castle, there has to be a more logical explanation than that. And living with a serial killer doesn't explain why she won't talk or why she can't seem to see very well in bright light… or why she didn't know what a car was…"
She tapped her fingers on the table in frustration. "This case is bugging me, and I have to find out the answer!"
Castle's phone buzzed discreetly. He took a look at it and sighed. "Well, you know I'd love to stay and see how many times I can get you to roll your eyes, but it's poker night and I have to get back to set up."
Beckett had already turned back to the paperwork and merely nodded absently. "Be sure to call me if you get any bright ideas."
"Always." Castle assured her as he headed towards the elevator.