Not Supposed to Feel This Way
Chapter 1: Nikki Bound
Beckett is seated on her couch, pouring over the case file. Montgomery had forced her and her team to take a break, and she couldn't argue with him. On her way out, she had grabbed the case file, hoping that she could find some sort of lead for them to follow up the next day. Her phone vibrates, and she picks it up to see who had texted her. She smiles when she sees his name and opens the text: You still up?
Yes, she replies.
Moments later her phone vibrates again: Can I come over?
She sighs and hesitates before responding. Of course she wanted him to come, but it probably isn't best for the partnership; they had just gotten back to normal after he left for the summer, but the new information in her mother's case had made their relationship rocky again.
He has sent another text before she can decide: I know you took that case file. Let me come over, and we can talk things out and maybe come up with something that will help us.
Okay, she agrees.
Be there in twenty, he writes. She smiles again; she really does like him, but she's not sure she could handle a relationship with him. All the attention and fame and money were just too much for her; plus there was the issue of his playboy appearance. Sure, she had gotten to know him really well over the past couple years, and he was really sweet and caring but she just didn't want to risk everything.
After their kiss to disguise themselves on the stakeout for her mother's killer, he had been really understanding. He made more attempts at physical contact when no one was paying attention to them, trying to let her know he was there if she needed him. But he had never tried to pressure her into a relationship, even when she and Doctor Motorcycle-Boy, as Castle called him, had broken up; he had just been there, making sure she knew that she could count on him.
Kate is brought out of her thoughts by a sound outside her door. With a glance at her watch, she knows it could not possibly be Castle; his last text had come just five minutes ago. Cautiously she stands, trying to silently make her way over to her bedroom where she had left her gun after changing from work.
Before she even gets halfway across the room, her apartment door is kicked in. She whips around to see what is going on and finds two figures in all black with ski masks on standing in the doorway. One is pointing a gun at her, and she can see a knife clutched in the second man's hand by his side.
"What do you want?" she asks cautiously, trying to slowly edge backward closer to her bedroom, hoping she could eventually make a dash for it.
"You're working on the murder of Sara Moore, the daughter of billionaire Matthew Moore?" the one with the gun asks.
"Yes."
"Forget about that case."
"Who hired you?"
"It doesn't matter. You'll never touch the person who murdered her."
"Obviously he thinks otherwise, or you wouldn't be here right now," Kate takes a step backward.
"Don't move, or you'll regret it," the second man yells, having noticed her movement.
"If you give me his name, I can make you a deal. Minimal sentencing for breaking and entering and assault just for his name."
"No," the first man says. "We cannot give you that information. And you'll never find us either."
The second man steps forward and looks through the papers she had spread out on her couch. "Looks like it's all right here."
"Then grab them and let's get out of here before someone finds us."
As the knife-wielding man collects the papers from the file, her cell phone, lying on the couch next to the file, vibrates again. "Who's Castle?"
"Richard Castle? The author?" the first masked man turns his attention back to her. "Wait, you're Nikki Heat?"
Kate ignores him, hoping that something had come up and Castle would no longer be coming.
"Says he's stopping to pick up some food on his way over, and he'll be here in twenty minutes," the second man smiles evilly at her, dropping her phone back onto the couch. "Maybe we should give him a surprise we he comes."
Her heart starts racing at the thought of them doing anything to hurt Castle. "You have what you came for. Go before you're trapped."
"Actually, we were told to threaten you to make sure you didn't keep pursuing this case. So how would you feel if we hurt your boyfriend?" They both start to edge closer to her.
In response to their actions, she starts to back up, "He's not my boyfriend." Her back hits a wall, and she realizes she is cornered as they draw closer to her; she couldn't possibly escape both a knife and a gun and come out unscathed so she'll just have to do what they say and hope they'll be gone before Castle shows up.
"Either way I'm sure he doesn't want to see his muse harmed," he presses the gun against her side. "You'll cooperate with us, or we'll wait here and shoot your little writer pal. Go it?"
She nods, looking from one to the other. "Whatever you want."
The second man pulls a black backpack from his back, shoving the case file into it and taking out a roll of duct tape. He tucks his knife into the waist band of his pants so that he could reach it easily if he needs it and starts to rip off a piece of the tape.
Kate flinches as his fingers brush against her skin when he puts the piece of tape over her mouth. The barrel of the gun presses further into her side because of her involuntary movement.
"Hold your arms out." She stares for a moment before putting her arms out in front of her. He starts to bind her forearms together, duct taped wrapped around them from her fingertips to just above her elbows. When that is done, he bends her elbows, drawing her arms in to her chest, and starts to wrap the duct tape around her whole upper body, immobilizing her arms.
As he starts to tape her legs together, her phone vibrates once again. Keeping the gun pointing at her, the masked man goes to get her phone. "Hurry it up. We've got five minutes."
She begins to panic, hoping some unknown force would prevent him from arriving until these two had left; she wouldn't be able to stop the guilt from taking over if something were to happen to him.
"She's not getting away," the man steps back to admire his work. "How should we leave her?"
The gun man steps closer to her, his gun now at his side as he is satisfied that she can't do anything to stop them. He studies her for a long moment, and all she wants is for him to turn around and leave so Castle won't get hurt. "Do yourself some good, Nikki Heat, and don't come looking for us or the man that killed Sara Moore. Or next time you and your shadow won't be so lucky."
Before she can react to this, he has struck her over the head with his gun. Unable to stop herself, she falls backward, hitting her head on the wall behind her. Everything turns black.
A/N: So I think I wrote most of this a couple weekends ago. I was bored after midterms and found a way to entertain myself. It's got fifteen chapters. I'll try to post again Monday or Tuesday. Please review and tell me what you think so far. Thanks.