Kaboom!

Part One

A Castle Fan Fiction

By Darcie Morin

Two years had gone by since Scott Dunn was sent to a maximum security federal prison. He was a lethal enemy, Special Agent Shaw had made sure he was staying in prison for a long time and he wouldn't have a chance to get to Beckett ever again. Had it not been for Castle, they would have lost Beckett during that case. They may have lost Agent Shaw too if Castle and Beckett hadn't broken the rules to save her.

When they finished up the trial and they knew for a fact that Dunn wouldn't be getting out of jail for the rest of his life, Beckett could breathe easy again, knowing she was safe until a new enemy surfaced. Castle was certainly able to rest easy as well, having saved her life and risked his not once, but twice during the course of that case. Even then, Agent Shaw was able to realize that Castle was hopelessly in love with Beckett.

One afternoon, Beckett and Castle were leaving the twelfth, heading for a murder scene. The two got in the car just like they always did but Castle noticed something on the lower end of the car when they got in and later smelled something that didn't seem right. It quickly registered with him that the smell was cyclonite, the military grade explosive that Scott Dunn had tried to kill Beckett with two years earlier. "BECKETT GET OUT OF THE CAR!"

She had no idea why he was screaming and she wanted to punch him but even for being the drama queen that he was, Beckett knew he wouldn't yell like that unless he noticed something that she didn't. She ran from the car only seconds before it blew. Castle tackled her with his own body, shielding her from any harm other than the impact of their bodies hitting the ground.

It didn't take long for the parking garage to be swarmed with cops and as soon as Esposito and Ryan realized it was their car, they came running to make sure their partners were okay. Beckett still teased Castle that he wasn't a cop but they all saw him as their partner, part of their team.

"Beckett what the hell happened?" Captain Gates asked in her usual demanding voice.

"At the moment, I'm not sure sir," Beckett answered truthfully. "All I do know is that Castle just stopped me from being blown to bits. He saved my life." She couldn't help but smile in his direction even though she tried to hide her feelings. She still hadn't admitted to him that she remembered everything from the day of her shooting, including his admission that he loved her. One day, she thought to herself. One day I'll be able to admit to him that I really do love him too.

"Beckett," Epsosito stuck his head into the Captain's office. "Sorry to interrupt but you have a phone call that I think you need to take."

"Detective if it isn't an emergency Detective Beckett is in the middle of something," the Captain interjected.

"Who is it Espo?" Beckett asked, ignoring the Captain's intertjection.

He took a deep breath, wondering how Beckett would take the news. "It's Special Agent Shaw from the FBI."

Kate's eyes widened as did Castle's. Beckett had had little to know correspondence with Special Agent Shaw since Scott Dunn's trial. What in the world would she be calling her for now unless it was to tell her that Scott Dunn escaped from prison? "He's right sir," she said, standing up. "I really do need to take this call."

"Then you'll take it right here. Clearly, this is something that happened when Captain Montgomery still had command and I need to know what is going on especially if the safety of my best detective is being compromised."

Kate sighed and reached for the Captain's phone. "This is Detective Beckett."

She could hear the distress in Jordan's voice. "Hey Detective Beckett, I am so sorry it's taken me this long to get in touch with you. I heard there was an explosion this morning and Castle again saved your life."

"Yes, he did Agent Shaw but what exactly do you have to tell me? Is he out? Is Scott Dunn out of prison?"

"Not by our choice," she said with regret. "He escaped three days ago. They just notified me about it this morning. Did anyone get hurt this morning?"

"Other than having one hell of a headache, we're all fine. It was just me and Castle and he got us out of the car before it went up."

"Well good, I am glad he was able to get you out of there before it went up. I'm going to put in a call to your Captain when I am done with you. My team and I are setting up to head down to you so we can catch him and put him away once and for all."

"Well hold on for a moment, I can just let you speak to her Agent Shaw. She's sitting here with me right now," Kate handed the phone over to Captain Gates. "It's Special Agent Jordan Shaw."

"Hello Agent Shaw, Victoria Gates, new homicide command. What can you tell me about this case and who in the hell is Scott Dunn?" she asked, sitting the phone back in its cradle after she put it on speaker.

Kate couldn't help but smirk because she knew the Captain would be a formidable opponent for the quick witted and smart mouth Jordan Shaw. They would make quite a pair, to say the least. She could hear Jordan's exasperated sigh and Castle's giggle behind her. "Well Captain Gates, Scott Dunn is a completely psychotic man convinced that Detective Beckett is in fact Nikki Heat, Mr. Castle's fictional character based on her. A few years ago, he murdered a series of people, leaving messages on the bullets that he shot them with…."

"What did the message say?" Gates interrupted again, glaring at Castle as if it were his fault.

"Nikki will burn," Jordan responded.

"Okay, I take it that your team wants to come and assist in the re-capture of this suspect since you were involved in the original capture?"

"Yes actually, I just wanted to clear that with you. My team and I are setting up to come down this afternoon and assist Detective Beckett and also aide with protecting her in case he does manage to strike again. Scott Dunn is a lethal man hell bent on killing Detective Beckett. It's my job to make sure that doesn't happen."

"We'll see you soon then Agent Shaw. I'll get rid of Mr. Castle so he's not hindering your ability to do your job," Gates said.

"Absolutely not!" Jordan snapped. "Mr. Castle is no hindrance whatsoever. He is an asset to your department and to Detective Beckett's team. In the previous capture of Scott Dunn he is the one responsible for Detective Beckett still being alive. If you're going to send him home, than we will bring him in as an FBI consultant to assist on the case… considering that it's his characters and his story, no one knows this better than him."

It was obvious Captain Gates didn't like being out ranked like that, especially where Castle was concerned. She had always disliked Castle from the day she started in homicide. Castle couldn't contain his excitement over the fact that Jordan had just stood up for him the way that she did. Beckett smiled at him. "You're like a kid at Christmas.

"Agent Shaw thinks I'm capable!" he beamed with excitement.

"You are capable, very capable but don't get that excited you know Agent Shaw is going to be hell-bent on catching Dunn and she's going to be hard on you," Kate reminded him. "Don't give her such a hard time this time around."

"Watch it Beckett, I'm an asset!"

She chuckled and playfully smacked him. "You're an asset to my team, not hers. So shut up and let's go!"

He laughed and followed her out into the bull pen. "Beckett wait a minute," the Captain yelled to her and she turned to face her.

"Yes sir?" she looked at her curiously.

"I want you to make sure you stay safe okay?" She said, sounding as if she cared. "You're the best Detective I have and I'm not ready to lose that so stay out of trouble and keep that damn Castle in line!"

Beckett smiled because in all these years she had never been able to keep Castle in line. Being kept in line wasn't in his nature but she nodded. "Yes sir. I will make sure Castle does things by the book." She quickly made a graceful exit and headed to her desk to wait for Agent Shaw and her team, along with all of their smart boards and crazy toys. She looked over at Castle who was staring her down. "What Castle?"

He looked at her worried, she could tell Dunn's escape was freaking him out. She didn't blame him because she was uneasy about it as well. The difference was, she wasn't about to let anyone see that fear. It could cost her everything to show her fear to anyone, even Castle. "I'm just worried Beckett," he admitted. "He almost killed you last time. I don't want to see anything happen to you."

"Yeah then Nikki Heat will have to die too," she said, covering her feelings. His words made her want to cry because it was again showing how much he really cared for her. Part of her desperately wanted to tell Castle that she was madly in love with him but she knew that would only cause more trouble.

"Yeah," he said with a sigh, looking away from her. "Nikki Heat would have to die too." He pretended that was why he didn't want her to get hurt but he and Beckett both knew it was because he loved her.

She sighed, looking at him because she knew this was only the beginning of their second encounter with Scott Dunn. He wasn't going to stop until he killed her or worse, killed Castle. She couldn't let him get hurt, especially not to protect her. None of them were safe until Dunn was back in custody where he belonged.