There's a million and one other things I should be doing right now, including writing a sequel to my story Memento Mori, but I haven't been able to get last night's episode out of my head all day, so here we are.
I'm 99.99% sure that this is not what's going to happen in Hunt. But there's always that .01% chance...
Be aware, this oneshot contains blatant spoilers for Target and some minor spoilers/speculation about next week's episode. If none of that makes you want to turn back now, enjoy?
She's propped up on the edge of her desk in front of the murder board, the boys flanking her, the chair alongside her desk glaringly empty. Her partner? Running circles in Paris, endangering himself and their mission despite his good intentions. She needs to find some clue, just something to go on. She needs to help Castle however she can from her spot here at the Twelfth before he gets himself caught or worse.
Paris. Why Paris? What does France have to do with the El-Masris…or Alexis for that matter? There has to be some kind of connection. She just has to-
Her cell phone lets out a low buzz from the pocket of her blazer, and Ryan twitches. He's on edge. They all are. Beckett exhales a sigh of relief when she sees the caller ID.
"Castle," she breathes into the speaker. "Where are you?"
She's gotten a few short updates, mostly text messages, in the thirty-two hour time period since her well-meaning boyfriend decided to go rogue. From that information, she's deduced that he found some sort of help in France. He's not operating alone, and she doesn't know whether to be comforted or fearful about it.
"Kate," he says back, voice rasping. He sounds funny. Strained. Oh, no. She can't be, can she? But then he speaks again. "Hey. I'm still in Paris. I found her, Kate. I found Alexis."
"Oh!" She feels the swell of emotion rising in her throat. Her feet find the floor. "Oh thank God, Castle. Is she okay? Are you okay?"
There's a pregnant pause on the line before he answers. "Yes, yes. Alexis is okay. A few bumps and bruises, maybe, but she's going to be just fine."
Beckett waits for the reassurance that he's fine as well, but it never comes. She feels the sharp fingertips of dread clawing in her stomach. Something's wrong. Something is terribly, horribly wrong.
"Castle?"
"Listen, Kate." She knows he can sense her distress. "I don't have much time. There's something I have to tell you." She can hear rustling in the background and the faint voice of someone speaking in Arabic. "There's a plane arriving at LaGuardia in eight hours. I need you to be there at the airport. Can you do that for me?"
She has to get out of here before things get too out of hand, before she can't control herself. But her feet won't move.
"Rick, please, what is going on?" Kate can hear her voice crescendo, and she can tell that she's attracting the attention of her fellow homicide detectives. Probably Gates too.
"Alexis will be on that plane, Beckett. I can't tell you much more than that. You need to promise me that you'll be there to take her home and keep her safe. Do you understand?"
"Castle." His name is a guttural wail, and Esposito takes that as his cue to get her out of the bullpen while making as little a scene as possible.
She trips over her own heels as her teammates drag her into an abandoned hallway before ripping their hands off her shoulders once solid footing is regained.
"This is bigger than we thought. You'll figure it out, I know you will. But for now, Alexis can come home. I'm all the leverage they need."
"Please, you don't have to do this. Let the FBI help you. Let me help you. Please."
"It's already done." He gives a heavy sigh, and she can hear the resignation. He's giving up, just like that. He got what he wanted. He doesn't care what happens now. "I love you, Kate."
"Rick, no. Don't make me say it over the phone," she cries. Those words. Why didn't she just say them sooner? "This isn't how I wanted it to be. Please don't make me say it over the phone."
"You don't have to. I already know."
And then she doesn't have the chance to say anything else at all. A chair screeches, a man calls out, and Castle gives a shuddering gasp before the line goes dead.
She's sitting on the floor after that. She doesn't know how it happened. Her phone is resting in her lap. Ryan is holding her hand, and she's gripping it so tightly - nails digging in - she might be drawing blood. Esposito's leaning over her knees, trying to look her in the eye.
"Breathe, Beckett. Just breathe."
She's not going to have a panic attack in front of the boys. Hell no. She just needs to catch her breath.
"Alexis…airport," she manages to puff out. "Castle got them to…I need to…"
"I'll go get her," Kevin avows, bless him. But she has a promise to keep.
"No, no. I'll go. I have some time until then. I need to do it. It has to be me. I have to make sure she's all right." Then, she thrusts her cell into Esposito's palm. "Track the call. Let's find these sons of bitches."
"On it, boss."
She stays grounded for a while after that, shooing Ryan away when he continues to hover like she's some kind of invalid.
"Just give me a minute, okay?" she wheezes, and thankfully, he concedes. Her heart is still beating a little too fast, the rhythm a tad irregular. It's a problem she's had ever since the shooting. Whether the culprit is the panic attacks or just the toll of flat lining on the operating table, she'll never really know.
Kate rubs the sleeve of her jacket over her face, and it comes back stained wet with tears she didn't even know she shed. She'd be embarrassed if she wasn't so beside herself. Oh, Castle. He's so valiant. So stupidly brave. But he said he'd get his daughter back, and he did. With a price. Now it's just her job to make sure his efforts weren't in vain.
She'll keep Alexis safe until he's back, safe and sound, to do it with her.
In my head, and based on some spoilers, the kidnapping isn't about Sara El-Masri. From what I've read, all the hints point to Alexis being the intended target. Then Castle's father shows up, and I can only assume Marlowe and Co. are going the CIA route with that. The way I see it, the man either heard about Alexis's capture because of his special intelligence connections, or his connections are the reason for the kidnapping. Someone in France has a grudge with the agency perhaps? Surely, it's the former rather than the latter, but for the purposes of this short story, I've taken the less likely road. So Castle could be proper leverage over his father just as well as Alexis could.
This isn't what's going to happen next week, but I decided to write it anyway. Now I'm probably going to go rewatch Target until next Monday. Thanks for reading.