Three days. It seemed simple enough. She was a grown adult, who seemed hellbent on doing everything on her own. That was why she had moved out of their shared loft. Because she had something to do, and she had to do it on her own. Three days without her making contact with him, that wasn't what bothered Richard Castle. It was the fact that no one had heard from Kate Beckett in three days. It was like she simply vanished from the Earth. No explanation. No note. Just gone.
Part of him wanted to stay out of it, because he figured that wherever Kate had wondered off to had to do with her mission. However, he couldn't overcome the feeling in the pit of his stomach that said that she was in trouble. If she had someone to watch her back, maybe she wouldn't have gone missing.
"Dad." Alexis called out, pulling Richard from his thoughts.
He turned in his chair toward his daughter. The computer screen before him highlighting everything that he and Alexis had been able to uncover about Kate's secret mission. It wasn't much. Though it hadn't been long for him to figure out that it had something to do with her going missing earlier in the year. The case she had been working then had included Bracken, which had ended up with Bracken dead, and a dead D.A. It had been found out that the D.A had been involved with Bracken's dirty behind the scenes business.
"Yeah." He mumbled, as he stared at the minimal amount of information on Kate's case.
It hadn't taken him long to realize that Kate was still investigating that case. Which meant that the D.A had been planted as a scapegoat. It had worried Richard when he realized the truth. Kate's life was in definite danger, and he realized that Bracken had at least been partially right. She would never be able to stop digging into that part of her life. It was his fault, opening a wound that Kate had fought so hard to close back up. Yet, he hadn't believed her when she said that she wouldn't be able to stop if she started again. It was like an alcoholic. One sip, and you're lost. He thought after she had gotten Bracken, the bastard that had killed her mother, that she would be able to stop. It was over at that point, right? Then it had to get dug up all over again. The addict in Beckett couldn't let go of an unsolved portion of her mother's murder.
"Could you maybe, pay attention to me for a minute? It's important."
Castle could hear the slight edge to Alexis' voice, and allowed his head to lift up, his eyes on his daughter. "I'm all yours."
"They found a body, dad. Ryan called, he said that they have a positive ID on the body. It's Vikram."
Castle's heart sped up at that. There were three things that he knew for sure now. Kate was definitely missing, most likely taken by whoever she was investigating. That Vikram and Kate had disappeared together, meaning that they were working the case together. Lastly, that his wife was in immediate danger, and he was going to do whatever it took to get her back. Come hell or high water.
"Ryan, Espo, what do we know?"
Esposito turned his head toward Castle and frowned, "What we know, isn't the same thing as what you know. Who let you into the crime scene anyway?"
Castle didn't even bother with his usual BS, and instead, knelt down next to Vikram's body. "He was executed."
"That's why we didn't want you down here man." Ryan sighed, they all knew that none of this was good news, and that the longer it took them to locate Beckett, the less their chances were of finding her alive.
"I just don't understand why she kept this from me." Castle sighed, as he stood back up, and kicked at a rock in front of him.
"Really, Castle? Really?" Esposito asked, his eyebrows raised.
"Okay, maybe I can dive in a little too heavy handed sometimes."
"Sometimes? Castle. Whatever she is digging into is obviously dangerous. She was trying to keep you out of it, and keep you alive."
"Alright, fine, I get that, but why not let you guys in?"
"Again, Beckett is smart. She knows how you can worm information out of us. Hell, we don't even know how you worm information out of us."
Castle smiled briefly at that. "I have a way with words."
"Look, there is nothing here that you can do to help locate your wife. This is how Laney is going to help us find Beckett. You need to get out there, get information. That's what you're good at."
Castle nodded, "If you find anything..."
"We'll call you."
Castle knew it was wrong to be standing there on his own. He was trying to be angry at his wife for the same exact thing, and he knew in that moment that he was more like his wife then he had originally thought he was.
He too liked to investigate on his own. In fact he preferred it … unless it was his wife he was investigating with. It didn't matter that what he was doing was definitely dangerous. Whoever had Kate, had already killed Vikram, and if he wasn't careful, they'd kill him and Kate as well.
That was why he was standing in front of a warehouse, that still made his skin crawl. After he had left Espo and Ryan to do their detective work, Castle had gone back to his PI office. He had alternated between sitting at his desk, staring at the computer screen. The picture of him and Kate's wedding screaming back at him. Then he would stand, he would pace, trying to figure out something that Kate had been working on for months.
It was at that point that it hit him. Not that it was an eureka moment, because he didn't even think it would lead to anything, but he figured that he would work backward. Go to the places that had been important during his short time working the loksat case with Kate. He had gone to the airfield first. Checking the same hangar, the plane that had been there before, was missing. That had been all he found at the airfield. That was why he was currently standing in front of the warehouse that he had been taken to when he was kidnapped. When he had gotten the first glimpse of Kate since she had gone missing earlier that morning.
The building brought back bad memories. The feel of the spiders crawling across his face. The smell of the man's breath as he tried to poke around for information that Castle hadn't even had. It was all coming back in a flurry of mismatched memories that Castle would rather forget. He fought back against the bile that climbed up his throat at the reminder. With his hands on his knees, Castle bent at the waist, taking in slow, deep breaths, trying to keep his lunch exactly where it was meant to be.
Once he was certain that he wasn't going to be throwing up anytime soon, Castle stood upright and faced the building again. He took a step forward toward the looming warehouse when a white, hot pain shot through his head.
He had been upright, but now he was lying face down on the ground. The dusty dirt was cake against his face and lips. Castle tried to turn over, see what had caused his fall to the ground, but the pain in the back of his head was so intense that he immediately lost conscious. His last thought was that he would never make it to Kate on time.
"Castle!"
The writer groaned. He was starting to come to. Though the pain wasn't as intense as it had been before he passed out, Castle refused to open his eyes. He did, however, hear the urgency in the familiar voice that kept screaming out his name. Which wasn't helping the throbbing in his head.
"Rick, come on. Wake up."
This time he felt the soft, tender touch, and he knew for sure who he was with. "Kate." He whispered out.
"Yeah, babe, it's me. Just, please wake up."
At that, Castle allowed one eye to pop open and scan his surroundings. The floor was damp, and smelt like sulfur, not a great smell on a good day. Darkness shrouded nearly every corner. Dank, dark, and smelly, definitely not in his top ten places he wanted to visit before his death.
Then he tilted his head sideways, trying to ignore the graying at the edge of his vision field, and the rolling in his stomach. "Where are we?" He could only see the side of Kate's face as he spoke, but he could see definite signs of injury.
He didn't wait for an answer. Sitting up quickly, too quickly, Castle nearly fell backwards, as his stomach rolled uncomfortably. Turning away from his wife, embarrassed, Castle emptied the contents of his stomach. Definitely wasn't going to help the smell in their prison.
"Castle." He could hear the definite worry in her voice.
"Are you okay?" He asked, his voice heavy, from trying to catch his breath.
"Yes. Are you?"
Castle turned his head, sitting up at the same time, in an attempt to answer his wife when he gasped. She definitely wasn't okay. Bruises littered her face and arms. Swelling on the left side of her face, made him feel like something on that side was broken, probably her orbital bone.
"You are not okay." He whispered. Forgetting for that moment how mad he was at her for keeping this secret from him. Lying to him. In that moment all that mattered was Kate, and that she make it out of this alive.
"I'm fine. It's nothing."
Castle's fingertips grazed the left side of her face. As he stared at the swelling, praying he could see through it to see how bad it truly was.
"Is anything broken?"
She shrugged, and attempted but failed to hide a grimace. "I don't think so."
"Stop lying to me." His anger starting to bubble to the front again. "All of this. You kept all of this from me, Kate." Tears filled his eyes as he continued. "Do you understand how terrified I was when we found Vikram's body this morning?"
Kate's breathing hitched in her chest. "He's dead?"
Castle nodded, ignoring the now constant ache in the back of his head. "It could have been you, Kate. I know that sounds selfish, but do you understand what it would do to me if I lost you? I mean, more than I already have." At that Castle took a step back.
Kate's head hung. "It was all a lie." At that she lifted her head and stared at Castle. "You have to know that, especially now. I never wanted to leave you. I love you. Always have. Always will. I just … I was trying to avoid this. I knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to go after them, but I couldn't drag you into this. I couldn't put you at risk. Because putting you at risk meant losing you … Alexis … or Martha. I couldn't live with that."
He sighed, "But you could live with dying? I knew that when I married you that you were broken, and that was okay with me, because I'm broken too. I just figured we could fix the broken pieces of each other, but I can't fix this, Kate. I've tried. You'll never give it up, just like Bracken said."
She knew that there were no words that could fix what she had done to herself … to her marriage. Castle was right. She put her needs before her marriage … before Castle's needs, and that wasn't fair. Yet, she knew that if he had been in her position that he would have done the same thing. He had done the same in the past. He was right, they were both broken, and part of her wondered if they'd ever be able to heal the broken parts of themselves.
"I didn't mean to hurt you, Castle. I never wanted that. But you know that this part of my life, it's always going to be there. I thought it was over with Bracken, and if I never heard of lokstat, then I wouldn't even be here."
"Because you can't give it up?"
Tears formed in her eyes. "You were the one that said that it was the fact that I never gave up or gave in that made me extraordinary. Now that you see what a mess I am, has that changed?"
This time Castle sighed. "Of course not. You are extraordinary, and just because I am angry, it doesn't mean I don't still love you. Because I do, Kate. I just, I want to understand why you thought it was better to leave me out of it. We could have come up with a plan together. Something to leave the both of us out of the bulls-eye."
Kate made a move toward Castle when the heavy, metal down creaked open. "Lie back down. They're coming."
"Stop Squirming." Kate whispered as the heavy footsteps drew closer.
"I can't just let them hurt you, Kate."
"I'm going to try to get us out of here, but you need to lie still."
"What do you mean?" Castle asked as he attempted to sit up again.
"Okay, choice time, Castle. Lie still, or I will be forced to make you. My plan, it includes you being unconscious, or at least them believing that you're unconscious. So sit still, please, babe."
Sighing, Castle laid back down, his head cocked at an odd angle.
"What's wrong with him? He should be up by now. Wake him up!"
Kate stared at the bearded man yelling at her. "I can't! I don't know what you did to him, but he won't wake up. What did you do to my husband!?" She added a few tears to pull off her performance.
"How hard did you hit him?" The bearded man asked the taller, brawny man beside him.
"I don't know. Hard enough to take him down. He's a big dude."
"Did you kill him? Did you kill my husband!?" Kate lurched up and at the men before her.
The one in charge grabbed her hard by the arms. "He's breathing. So, he's alive. We'll be back in an hour. He better be awake by then." To make his point, the bearded man threw Kate to the concrete floor, hard.
She tried to brace for the fall, but she landed awkwardly on her wrist, and yelped out in pain. Kate knew once they were free from the thug brothers, that the adrenaline would stop pumping into her body, and all the pain that she had been absorbing would come to the forefront. She just hoped she could keep it off until she got them somewhere safe.
"Castle. They're gone. Let's get the hell out of here."
"Are you sure that you're okay to walk?" Castle asked, as he grabbed hold of Kate's waist for the third time since they had escaped the room they were being held in.
"I'm sure. My leg is just a little sore."
Castle sighed, knowing that she was more than a little sore anywhere. "How'd you manage to get the keys from them?"
Kate shrugged, ignoring the pain it flared up. The adrenaline was already starting to wear off, and she was really starting to feel her injuries. "I'm tricky like that, I guess. Just clipped them right off the belt loop."
"Either way, thanks."
Kate pulled Castle to a stop. She knew they didn't have time to lose, it wouldn't be much longer before they went back to get information from the both of them, only to find them gone. However, she couldn't just let his comment go.
"You don't believe me. Do you?"
Castle stared at her, one eyebrow arched in a questioningly way. "Believe what?"
"That I never stopped loving you. That I never stopped believing in us, in the power of our love?"
"I do believe you. I just …" he sighed. "It's going to take time. To trust you again. I feel like that is fair."
She couldn't deny him that fact. It was only fair. In fact, she was lucky that he was willing to give her a second chance, no matter her motives.
"We have to keep moving. We're running out of time."
"Lookie here, Jake, we got an escape artist."
Kate's entire body went rigid. Not only had Jake and his pal found them, but they had lost the drop against them.
"Stay behind me." Kate whispered, before turning around. "You do realize that I am a NYPD captain? My entire precinct is probably look for me, for us."
They shrugged, "We'll be long gone before they get here. Not to mention that you and your husband will be long dead. Especially since you just made our jobs so much harder."
Jake, the bearded man, made an advance toward Kate. He held a large hunting knife in his hand. She had one chance at this. One chance to get this right, and save both of their lives. She waited, watched as Jake tripped over a hidden mop handle, before plunging the dull piece of metal she had scavenged from their prison room, straight into Jake's stomach. With a gurgle, he fell back. Not dead, but definitely mortally wounded. Without treatment fairly quickly, Jake would no longer be among the living. Before Kate had a chance to readjust to attack the man she still didn't know the name of, he was on her. His knife dug deeply into her side, as he twisted it's handle around in attempt to cause as much damage as possible. Groaning, Kate was able to subdue him with a jab of her metal into his arm. While he stepped back, Kate scrambled back to her feet. The stab wound on her side was bleeding at an alarming rate, but she had to protect Rick, no matter what. As she went in for another stab with her metal, she watched in surreal horror, as he pulled a gun from the back of his waistband and pointed it at her.
She heard Rick yell as the gun went off. She fell backward, her world tilted on it's axis. She heard another gunshot, and a yelp, followed by a body dropping hard to the ground. "Rick!" She forced out, no matter the pain going through-out her body.
"I'm alright. He got me in the leg, but I'm fine. I was able to get the knife he dropped and stab him in the leg and stomach."
She hated that Rick had to do such violent acts because he was the opposite of a violent person, but in dire times.
"You need to check them over, Rick. Find a cell phone. You need to call Espo or Ryan."
He could tell she was fading. Her breathing was labored, and her eyes kept drooping close, before popping back open. "Okay, but you need to stay with me, Kate. Do you hear me?"
She tried to nod, but the energy had been sapped from her body. "Need something to stop the bleeding, Rick. Don't wanna die."
It took everything in him to not break down in that moment, but instead, he pulled the shirt off his back, and wadded it up before pressing it hard against Kate's stomach. This time it was slightly lower, more to the right, which made him feel at least a little safer. It was at least further from her heart. "Keep pressure, Kate." He pressed her hands down hard on the shirt.
He hated leaving her, but she was right, they needed medical help, and soon. He found a phone on Jake's body, while still alive, he was far too busy gurgling, choking to death on his own blood, to stop Rick from taking it. Castle dialed a familiar number, waited till he heard the greeting before speaking. "Found Kate, need assistance and an ambulance. I don't know where we are. Track the cell I'm calling from."
It was all he could get out, as the pain sapped him of his energy, and the blood continue to seep profusely from his leg. He tried to crawl back to Kate, but he only made it halfway before his legs gave out and he collapsed on the floor. "I love you," he whispered out, hoping she could hear him.
Castle groaned. His head was pounding to the beat of a drum that he couldn't hear. Pain radiated from his leg, like someone had burned it before sitting it on fire.
"Dad?"
He cracked an eye open, and smiled at his daughter. "Alexis." Castle tried, but couldn't remember why he was currently lying in a hospital bed. All he could remember was that Kate had gone missing … that was all it took. Like photographs flashing through his already worn out mind, Castle remembered every horrible thing. The way Kate looked when he woke up in their shared, smelly prison. How she had been shot and stabbed.
"Kate!" Castle yelled as he sat bolt upright. Pain and dizziness hit him, forcing his head back against the pillow.
"Easy, dad. The doctor said you have a pretty serious concussion."
"Where is Kate?"
Alexis looked at the floor for a beat, "Look, dad..."
"Oh God, she's dead isn't she. I just...No." Was all he could say. She couldn't be dead. Not Kate. Not his wife. She had lived through worse … though not at the same time, but that didn't matter. Kate was strong, the toughest woman … the toughest person that he had ever met. There was no way that she was dead. He wasn't going to believe it without seeing her body.
It was then that Castle realized that he was crying. Not in the snot flying from your nose kind of crying. The kind that came from a heart breaking slowly, into a thousand pieces.
"No, dad, look at me. She's not dead. The doctor isn't sure how she's alive. But she is."
He stared at Alexis for a minute, before a relived smile crossed his lips. "I knew she couldn't be dead. I would feel it if she died. I would feel a piece of myself missing."
Alexis shook her head. "She's not in good shape, dad. Kate's critical. She's had one surgery already, and the doctor said she would probably need another. Aside from the bruising and broken bones, her orbital bone and her wrist, she lost a ton of blood by the time that the guys found you. Kate wasn't breathing, her heartbeat was weak. They almost lost her on the way to the hospital. I just, I need you to prepare yourself for what you're going to see."
He nodded. She hadn't looked good before he lost consciousness either. Kate had held the pallor of a ghost, from the blood loss.
"They also had to remove her spleen. The knife wound was the cause of that particular damage."
"Can I see her?"
"You'll have to speak to your doctor."
Castle sighed, "Alright, but will you go sit with her, until I can get him in here? I don't want her being alone when she wakes up."
Alexis nodded, "Of course."
Castle sat calmly in the wheelchair that his mother was pushing, when he heard screaming coming from Kate's room. "Mom, quicker, something's wrong." He spoke, as he started trying to wheel himself into Kate's room.
As they both pushed past the door, and into Kate's room, Castle found out what all the yelling was about. Kate, looking as fragile as he's ever seen her, was lying, her eyes wide, as Alexis yelled at her.
"Hey! What's going on."
Upon hearing his voice, Kate's head snapped in his direct. Relief flooding her features, obviously worried about her husband.
"I'm sorry. I just, I thought I could handle seeing her." Alexis huffed.
"Alexis, none of this is Kate's fault."
"All of it is her fault."
Sighing, he shook his head. Ignoring the pain that flared at the movement. "No, she's not. She didn't ask me to go looking for her. She kept it a secret to keep all of us safe. These people, they're dangerous. They wouldn't have any qualm in killing all of us. Kate was trying to keep us all safe."
"She didn't have to poke into it to begin with."
"You don't understand, Alexis, because you've never had to deal with something like Kate has. Her mother was murdered, sweetie. Think of it as if that was me. Would you just give up if you knew there was someone out there that was getting away with it? I know you wouldn't. I know I wouldn't, and Kate can't either. When I married her, I knew exactly who I was marrying. Better or worse, those were our vows. Partners in crime and life. This is her worse, Alexis, and she's seen me through my worse. Shouldn't I afford her the same? Doesn't she deserve that? Two months. I went missing for two months, and she never turned her back on me. She never gave up on me. She deserves the same."
Alexis bowed her head. "I know." She mumbled toward Castle, before turning to Kate, who was still crying. "I am sorry that I yelled."
Kate reached out her good arm, and grabbed Alexis' hand. "No need for apologies. If I were in your shoes, I would have done the same. But, I need you to know, all of you, that I never meant to hurt you. That was never my intention. You're all my family."
Alexis smiled at that, "We should go grab a coffee, right, Grandma?"
Martha nodded, before walking towards Kate's bed. "I'm so glad you're alright, Katherine." Before kissing Kate's cheek.
"Thanks, Martha."
Castle waited until his daughter and mother walked out of the room, pulling the door shut behind them, before he rolled closer to Kate's bed.
"I'm so glad your okay." Kate mumbled.
Castle could tell that his wife wouldn't be conscious long, the pain medication that she was on was obviously working it's magic. "I should say the same about you. Alexis scared the hell out of me." Before explaining, Castle reached over the rail and grabbed his wife's hand. "It took her so long to tell me if you were alright, that I assumed the worst."
Kate squeezed his hand, "I'm alive because of you."
He offered her a small smile. "Yeah, well, in those brief seconds that I thought I had lost you. I got a look at my life without you, and I didn't like it. Kate, I meant what I said to Alexis. That doesn't mean that it didn't hurt that you lied to me. That you left me without so much of an explanation. I know you have this drive, this need to find everyone that had a hand in your mother's murder. That is fine, but don't leave me in the dark again. No more lying. I fear our marriage won't withstand something like this again, because as much as I need you in my life. I will not be pushed aside, no matter the reasoning, for a case. No matter how important that case might be. Promise me that this was a one-time mistake."
Kate squeezed his hand again. "If I had known the outcome of this entire situation. If I had known that your life would have been in danger anyway, I never would have done it. Rick, you don't understand how badly I wish I could go back to that night and take it all back. I never meant to hurt you. I love you, and I need you. I didn't even realize how much I needed you until this all happened. I can't do this without you, and that is hard for me to say. You know how independent that I am. You know I hate having to rely on someone else, even if that someone is you, Rick. That's just how I've always been, and it's hard for me to admit that I need someone else, but, Rick, I need you."
Castle smiled, "You've got me, Kate. I'm not going anywhere. Not unless you tell me too."
"Never." Kate whispered.
He knew that he would be reprimanded for what he was about to do, but he couldn't help it. All he needed in that moment was her lips against his. To hold her in his arms. He stood up, balancing on one leg had never been a gift of his, but he managed it without falling on his injured wife. Leaning down, bracing himself on the railing on the side of her bed, he pressed his lips to hers. A chaste, soft kiss. Something he had been dying to do since the night she walked out their front door with her luggage.
"Best. Kiss. Ever." He whispered against her lips, smiling.