Title: Hostage
Author: Sylvia
Disclaimer: Don't own anything regarding Castle.
Summary: When an obsessed fan kidnaps Castle and Beckett, they realize they're in over their heads when this psycho wants more than just an autograph. Castle will be put through a series of tests to see just how far he'll go for her.
Note: Rating may change to M at a future date...
XX
"So, I can sleep over at Casey's tonight?" Alexis' voice sounded through Castle's cell phone. He chuckled, her having asked a countless amount of times.
"For the last time Alexis, have a good time." Feeling he no longer needed to say 'yes', he just went along with it, opening the door to his home. "I'll call you tomorow morning, alright?"
"Okay. Thanks again, dad."
"Love you, bye." He hung up the phone after that, ending the call. He felt for the light switch on the wall, and before he could flick it on he heard a loud crash, only yards away from him. This caused him to jump, fumbling to find the light switch. He pushed it up, light filtering in the room. A chair was turned over on to the ground, but no one else was there. Still unsure and cautious, he slowly made his way over to the fallen object. Then the lights went back off.
He turned around quickly, facing towards where the person had switched it off. But he couldn't see a thing. As he waited for his eyes to adjust to the light, he realized that the intruder couldn't see either. Moving as quickly and quietly as he could, he approached the kitchen, feeling for some sort of weapon. He heard a floorboard creek, fairly close to him, jumping back.
"I'm sorry I have to do this, Richard." A voice said, just before he felt something hard smack across his face. Like a shovel..or a truck. Within moments, Castle's blurry vision faded to complete and utter blackness.
XX
Kate Beckett sat on her couch, reading the newspaper. She'd just left work a half hour ago, and now was incredibly bored. Castle had gone home, so tired he'd been falling asleep in the car when she'd dropped him off. She rubbed at her eyes, feeling weary herself. It was very dark outside, and she distinctively heard crickets chirping outside. She felt her phone buzz from her pocket, an oncoming text. Reaching in to her jean pocket, she pulled it out. It was from Castle. She pressed open.
Sender: Castle
Body: Hey Kate, can you meet me at my apartment? It's important.
She sighed. When was he going to give up? He constantly bothered her, always asking for her to 'hang out' with him. She knew it was his own special way of flirting, even if he barely knew he was doing it himself. Part of her hoped he had feelings for her, and it wasn't just a little game for him. The other part was too busy denying how she really felt. She quickly messaged him back, a simple 'why?'
After just a few more moments she got her answer.
Sender: Castle
Body: Something's happened. It's Alexis. Please.
Kate felt her heart pick up speed. What had happened to Alexis? Immediately, she went in to cop mode, feeling suddenly protective of her friend and his family. She quickly called his cell phone, but was slightly annoyed that he didn't answer. Giving up on calling, she grabbed her coat and headed out the door in a rush, hoping, praying, that Alexis was alright. Maybe it was just some sort of father-daught quarrel. Something they'd both get over fairly easily. She couldn't help but drive way past the speed limit. After all, she was a cop. She also couldn't help but take advantage of that right. She had to where Castle was involved.
She arrived at his home in record time, practically running for the door. Banging consistently on the door. She figured that if he didn't know better, he'd probably think someone was being attacked. No one answered. Frowning, she thought about just opening the door.
"Castle?" She called out. No one answered still. Instead of calling out again, she put her hand on the door knob, then twisting and opening it. It was completely dark. "Seriously, Castle. I don't find this entertaining." Kate walked in furhter, speaking to the darkness. "That's it, I'm leaving." She narrowed her eyes, glaring in to the room, before turning, preparing to walk out. When suddenly, the door slammed shut, and a man was in front of her. She gasped, reaching for her gun - which she hadn't brought with her.
"Sorry, Nikki." He let out a loud laugh, like an evil cartoon character in a disney movie. He made a move to hit her, but she went in to reflex mode, blocking it with her arm. Kate blocked three more hits, making a move to kick him in the stomach. He grabbed her ankle, twisting it around with her body, slamming her on the ground. She crawled along the floor, then fumbled in to a standing position, running anywhere she could. Then she felt something hard touch her foot.
She felt fearful, kneeling down. She couldn't see anything, but felt whatever it was she touched. It was a face. Her eyes widened when she realized whose face it was.
"Castle." She whispered. No idea if he was even breathing. "Please." Kate shook him slightly, feeling a pulse beneath her fingertip. "I'm gonna get us out of here." She'd made a definite rookie move in speaking, making noise, or even kneeling down. Letting her guard down. But she couldn't help that either when it came to Castle. His safety. And then she stood up, something very hard coming in to contact with her face. Kate instantly fell backwards, hitting the ground hard. She wouldn't lose that easy. Vision blurry, feeling blood at her hairline, she still wouldn't give this intruder the satisfaction. He'd called her Nikki...
"I'm just.. so sorry." She shook her head back and forth from her position on the ground, mumbling something. Then she lost consciousness.
XX
Castle woke up with a start, letting out an exasperated breath. He had something tightly wound around his wrists and ankles. Rope. Letting out an annoyed groan, he looked up, finally noticing his surroundings. The room was empty, with a cold, dark feeling to it. Concrete covered the walls and floors. One other thing occupied the room. Or person. Beckett. Yards away from him she sat in a chair, in a predicament similar to his.
"Beckett!" He shouted, trying to gain her attention. "Kate." He said, more rough this time. Slowly, she began to stir. Her head bobbed back against the chair, causing her to jump in to waking herself up. "Thank god." Castle muttered.
"Castle..? Where the hell are we? Why are you here?"
"My guess is as good as yours. I came home and there was a man waiting for me. How'd he get you?"
"I got a text from 'you', saying that something happened to Alexis and you needed me to come over.. So naturally, I did. He was waiting there." Castle frowned.
"I'm sorry."
"Not your fault. I saw your body on the ground when I showed up and I thought.." She shivered slightly.
"It's okay, Beckett. We're okay." She looked frozen, staring in to nothing. "What is it?" Castle asked cautiously, seeing the grim look on her face.
"He called me Nikki." Castle stopped breathing all together.
"Oh, god.. Not again." She smiled sadly at him.
"We'll..figure it out...somehow." Kate whispered, eyes wondering around the room. Then the door opened, making a loud squealing noise, the rust churning against the concrete. They both visibly tensed up, a man walking in.
"Hi." He said simply, looking back and forth between them.
"Hi? Hi? Seriously?" Castle said, his tone of voice both annoyed and frustrated. "Who the hell are you?"
"Richard.." The man said softly. "It really hurts me when you use sarcasm. You see, my sister is madly in love with you." Richard raised his eyebrows.
"Is she cute?"
"Castle." Beckett said scoldingly, knowing just what was on his mind.
"So her and I..plotted to take you in."
"So, you love me too?" Castle asked the man, feeling slightly nauseous. "Nothings wrong with that kind of uhm...lifestyle. But, sorry. Not my thing. So.. pass." Kate snorted, a smile playing on her face at his ridiculous behavior.
"You misunderstand my intentions, Mr. Castle. I am a huge fan. Your number one. I loved Derek Storm.. and now I love Nikki Heat. And I've realized that the Nikki Heat books are based on Detective Beckett. And since Nikki isn't real.. why not go for the next best thing?" Kate narrowed her eyes. "Of course, I am only joking.. kind of. But, my biggest reason is to show you what you're missing." He said to Castle.
"What I'm missing.."
"Yes. In life, you don't take enough risks. You do with your life, working with the police.. But, not when it comes to your personal life. Whether it's family, work.. love. You screw up over and over. I want to make you realize just how much you have, without even seeing it."
"You're pissing me off." Castle gritted his teeth together. "How exactly do you attend on..making me see?"
"I'm going to put you through a series to tests. If you pass them all, you both get to work out of here with your heads still attached to your bodies. If not... Well, we will discuss that when it happens."
"What happens?" Kate said.
"I said we'd dis-" She interjected.
"What happens?" She repeated.
"Each test involves a life or death situation." He smirked. "Katie here, has the slight chance of dying in each test. If you, Ricky boy, manage to save her, or if she manages to save herself within each test, you win.. and live. But I must remind you the tests are difficult. Oh, and let me introduce myself.. I'm Aidan. My sister is Clara. Who you will meet soon."
"Why are you doing this?" Castle asked desperately. He was officially worn out after that font of information. Kate would have her life put in danger in each test. He had to save her. Aidan glanced at his watch.
"Would you look at the time? Your first test is about to take place. Clara!" Aidan watched as moments later, his sister walked in, a blonde woman, fairly attractive. She looked innocent and sweet, but she also had a bitter sweet darkness in her eyes. But, Castle had barely even noticed the girl. Because he was focused on what was in her hands. A large, bright orange canister was held close to her.
"What's in there?" Kate asked them, cautious. Castle locked eyes with her for a split second, both sending each other looks of fear. They were meant to be of confidence, to reassure one another. But they were both afraid, and couldn't kid themselves. Aidan let out a laugh.
"Do you think she'll die in the first test?" Clara asked her brother.
"I don't know, Clara. I hope not. I set up so much... And I heard such positive things about the duo." She smiled softly, approaching Kate. The detective sent the girl an intense look, but she didn't even seem to notice it. She unscrewed the cap of the canister, then tilted it, and began spilling a liquid from it.
"It's gasoline." Kate said aloud, void of emotion. Clara poured the gasoline in a circle around Kate, a little bit far from her seat so it wasn't directly in front of her. She took a step back as Aidan approached Kate then, pulling matches out of his pocket.
"Good luck, detective." He turned to Castle. "You too, Rick."
"Burn in hell." He roared.
"Her first." Aidan chuckled softly. The match was lit, so slowly, to Castle it seemed like slow motion. Everything slowed down x2. Kate slowly turned her head to look at Castle, her eyes connecting with his. She saw the sadness in his eyes, his excessive blinking to keep from getting too emotional. And she mouthed to him, 'it's okay'. And before anyone could speak anymore, Aidan dropped the match.
It fell...
fell...
And hit the ground.
Aidan and Clara looked to each other, then walked out of the room, door closing. The fire spread like wildfire, flames enveloping Kate's chair. Rick Castle roared, struggling violently against his bindings, screaming for her. He saw the drop of sweat drip from her hairline, down her face.. down her chin. Her face was contorted in pain, looking up towards the ceiling, trying to escape the heat. He heard her cries, her whimpers.
"KATE!" Castle shrieked, tears gathering in his eyes, blurring the horrifying scene before him. "No, Kate!" The rope cut in to his wrists as he helplessly tore. The heat was even burning him, and he was far from the flames.
The smoke was filling the room up like a gas chamber, the oxygen fading. Kate choked, desperately trying to find the air. The flames licked her throat as they inched closer to her, the scorching heat almost literally setting her on fire. Tears were now streaming down the authors face, begging to be freed from the chair. And as if a miracle had come to be, he tore through the rope on his right wrist. His free hand frantically tore at the rope on his other one. Once untying the knot, he worked on his feet, fear clenching his soul.
"Hold on, Kate." He whispered to himself, finally getting out of the last of his bindings. He threw himself towards where she was, barely conscious. How was he supposed to get through the flames? Trying to think quickly, he looked over towards where his chair was. Castle considered using the chair to push her out, but that would just push her through the flames. He'd rather it be him then her. But, if he went in, they'd both have to go out. No matter what, she'd end up having to go through them to escape.
He ran his fingers through his hair, small whimpers squeaking from his throat. Without thinking, driving purely on instinct and the need to save her, he stepped back a few paces, and in one speedy fast charge, he dove forwards, throwing them both through the flames, throwing Kate's chair to the hard floor behind where the flames danced. It was still spreading though.
"Come on, Kate. I need you awake. I can't get you out if you don't wake up!" Castle tore at the rope on her, succesfully getting it off her feet, then hands. He gently tapped her cheek, the side of her face, patted her head. None of it worked. They were running out of time, and oxygen. His throat croaked as he felt the burning within it, preventing air from getting through his airway passage.
He lifted the woman in to his arms.
"Castle.." She mumbled.
"It's okay, I've got you." Kate wrapped her arms around his neck to keep him from dropping her. It was about all she could do. The fire covered from one side of the wall to the other, preventing him from getting to the door without once again going through the blaze. Holding her tightly to him, he jumped as high as he could with her in his arms, flying through the fire. He felt the blistering heat on his skin, the pain of the blisters forming causing him to let out a yelp of pain. But he couldn't worry about that right now. They needed to get out.
Castle grabbed the doorknob, satisfied to see it was unlocked. He pushed the door open with sudden force, slamming it behind them once they were in the hallway. It was cool, fresh.. There was air. He did all he could not to just drop her and collapse, softly placing he on the ground. Trying to collect himself, he coughed up ash, trying to clear his throat. He pressed himself against the cold tile, trying to relieve himself of the burns.
He didn't know the extent of Kate's damage, but there were burns on her arms and face. He probably looked pretty similar. Castle placed a small kiss at the top of her head. She blinked her eyes open, the glazed over look leaving her face. She squinted her eyes as she stared at him.
"Thankyou." Kate whispered.
"Anything for you."
TBC
A/N: Did you like it? Hate it? Let me know by reviewing please =) To really get in to this chapter, so I could try and get their feelings right, I turned up the heat in my bedroom all the way until I felt like I was burning to death XD. Then I couldn't take it anymore...
Hey, I tried. I'll be updating soon, hope you enjoyed it.