No ownership, just a love of the characters.


She fights against the strong arms that are preventing her from running straight into the flames of the burning car. Barely registering the words Javi is trying to feed her she continues to force her body to move.

Javi pleads with her, "Kate, no. Listen. You need to stay here. Let them put the fire out, check the car."

"Oh God, Javi, No. No, this can't be happening." Kate's anguish wails ring out. "Help him. They have to help him."

"Don't worry Kate, they're helping him," Javi soothed.

It feels like hours go by while they watch the fire units put out the flames, dousing the entire car in foam and water. In reality it couldn't have been more than 3 minutes. In those 3 minutes, Kate was vaguely aware of Martha, Alexis and Lanie's arrival. The shocked huddle of Castle's closest people mutely stood watching the scene unfold before them.

Kate's knees give out the moment a body is unloaded to the ground and covered in a sheet. Her brain refusing to acknowledge the image before her, she sinks to the ground shaking uncontrollably.

She hears voices, muffled words all around her that she can't quite make out. "Deceased." "Male." "Autopsy." They float around her not making any sense, refusing to be acknowledged.

Suddenly she is able to focus on her father's voice as it cuts through her grief. Grateful to hear his soft, commanding tone as he demands answers from the fire, medical and police units on scene, she strains to listen. While she can't hear the entirety of their conversations, she pieces together enough to know they think Castle burned in his Mercedes.

Slowly rising up off the ground and back up to unsteady feet, she shrugs off Javi's assistance and makes her way towards her father. Once by her father's side, she notices that Lanie has also joined the group and is in a hushed discussion with the resident M.E.

Spying Kate, Lanie wraps up her talk and quickly intercepts her, guiding her away from the group and the figure draped in cloth on the ground.

Pulling Kate in close, Lanie begins, "Kate, sweetheart, I need you to prepare yourself. The body recovered from the vehicle was a male matching the height, structure and weight of Castle. I'm so sorry Kate, I'm so sorry but it looks like Cas…Rick perished in the fire."

Pulling out of Lanie's embrace, Kate looks straight into her eyes and with conviction in her voice she states, "It's not him Lanie, it's not Rick. I know it, I feel it."

"Honey," Lanie starts," I know you don't want to believe this is happening."

"No Lanie," Kate butts in, "Listen to me. If it were Rick in that car, my body would know, would feel it viscerally but it doesn't. It's not him."

As Lanie is about to speak again they are joined by Javi and Ryan, thus interrupting their argument.

Moving next to Kate, Javi says, "Beckett, this wasn't an accident. There are skid marks on the road, two sets. Only, one of them goes down the ravine and the other continues in a straight path for another 30 feet and then nothing.

"Javi, please show me the tracks, I have to see them for myself," Kate pleads.

Chancing a quick glance at Lanie first, Javi nods before speaking, "Okay, chica, but you're in your wedding dress still and…and I think Martha and Alexis need you. Once you change and take some time to talk with his family, we'll walk the scene together. "

Realizing that what Javi said is true, she agrees to head back to the house with Lanie to change and update Martha and Alexis.

As they slide into the Rolls Royce, the car they were supposed to have left in as husband and wife, Kate turns to Lanie and begs, "Lanie, I need you to oversee the autopsy on the body that was found. Make sure nothing is overlooked and that a blood sample is ran for DNA comparison."

"I will Honey, you don't even have to ask, " Lanie quickly answers.

Once back at the house she is immediately confronted by a hysterical Alexis, "Kate, Oh God, Kate, was it him? Is my dad dead? Please tell me my dad is not dead," the young read head sobs.

Not wanting to traumatize Alexis further she immediately decides to be honest with her almost step-daughter. "Alexis honey, listen to me," Kate begins. "You were there, you saw that there was a body in the car, but we can't be positive it was your dad until an autopsy can be performed. Lanie is going to make sure everything is done right, but right now we have to remain positive and believe that he was not in the car."

Attempting to stifle her sobs, Alexis gives a shuttering hiccup and nods at Kate, "I…I can do that Kate. I can be positive because I just know there is an explanation and that my dad was NOT in that car. I feel it in my heart that dad is still alive."

Hugging Alexis tight, Kate whispers in her ear, "I know he's alive too Alexis and I'm going to do everything I can to figure out what happened."

Releasing Alexis, Kate looks around for Martha but doesn't see her. Assuming she must have gone upstairs, Kate heads that direction. At the bottom of the staircase she is met by a young physician who informs her that Martha had to be sedated and is resting comfortably.

Moving as quickly as the dress allows, Kate runs up the stairs to Martha's room. The older woman looks like she as aged a decade in the last hour and grief is evident even in her sleep. Slipping quietly into the room, Kate moves towards the bed, perching on the side.

With a trembling hand Kate strokes a few strands of red hair out of Martha's face. She watches as the older woman's chest rises and falls with each breath. Leaning closer, Kate places a kiss on Martha's forehead and softly whispers, "We'll get through this Martha, together. I promise."

Rising from the bed and quietly exiting the guest room, Kate finally heads to the master bedroom to change so she can meet up with Ryan and Esposito.

Lanie is already inside the room waiting to help her out of the dress.

Turning Kate around, Lanie begins to unbutton the delicate pearl knobs of the beautiful dress.

"Kate, are you sure you want to do this," Lanie asks, "Maybe we should wait for the autopsy results or…," Lane trails off.

Twisting and turning as she grapples with the endless material, Kate starts, "Lanie, I have to do this now. I have to figure out what happened and how to help him. I have to know where he is. I can't do that until I get out of this dress and I can get down to scene again. Please Lanie; I need you to trust that I know what I'm doing."

Hugging Kate tightly, Lanie answers, "I do trust you Kate, I just want to make sure you're okay."

"I'll never be okay until I know the truth Lanie, never, " Voices Kate.

Flying down the stairs Kate she runs straight into Alexis. Grabbing the girl's forearms to brace herself and to look in the red head's eyes, Kate lets the girl know where she's going and that she'll be back in about an hour for her.

Leaving Castle's daughter behind weighs heavily on Kate but she knows it's the right thing. She needs to look the scene over, find any evidence of Castle being thrown from the car, taken from the scene or…No, she refuses to go there. She needs to find proof that her writer is still alive.

Coming up on the burned out wreckage of the car again Kate spies Ryan and Esposito walking the street and the nearby vegetation. She quickly catches up to them hoping for any kind of update.

"Anything?" She questions both detectives.

Ryan looks her over before proceeding with a semi report, "We scoured the immediate area and didn't find anything concrete."

"We did find one interesting bit of evidence though," Esposito continues after Ryan, "There are some strange brush patterns on the driver's side of the car. Almost appears as someone attempted to cover up footprints. However, with the amount of prints scattered around from the responding units, it's too hard to tell for sure."

Nodding, Kate speaks directly to Javi, "Show me."

The three detectives head to the remains of the still smoldering wreckage.

Bending down Kate inspects the driver's side area that Esposito refers too. He's right, there is something but there is also too many other prints overlapping the marks to confirm anything has been covered up.

Standing up straight Kate looks up the ravine and towards the road. The distance to the skid marks on the street is about 200 feet. Too far to carry an unconscious human alone but possible if more than one person was involved or if the victim walked out on his own.

Deciding to back track the path the car had taken, Kate begins to climb the ravine. About 20 feet away she spots a small piece of paper, roughly the size of a quarter. Picking it up Kate notices that the scrap is still white and not tinged by fire as the other documents found by the accident have been. Turning the piece of paper over in her hand she sees "Katherine" neatly typed in the center.

Stifling a small gasp she quickly calls out to the boys, "Guys, I may have found something."

Both men quickly meet up at her side as she shows them the piece of paper she retrieved from the ground.

"Beckett, Castle had all kinds of documents in his car, this doesn't necessarily mean anything, " Esposito states.

Sighing, Kate responds to Esposito's hesitancy, "I know that Javi but this scrap is unharmed, unburned while the rest of the debris around the wreck was either singed, burned entirely or water logged. It's something to hold onto. I think we should continue up this same path and see what else is out here."

Not bothering to wait for their response, Kate continues up towards the road scanning the ground as she goes. Another 25 feet or so she spots another larger piece of paper and stoops to pick it up. This one also has typed letter on it only this one simply reads "Beckett." Tears threaten to spill down her face as she looks up and can tell that there are more scraps littering the hillside. She counts at least 4 more and moves quickly to collect them.

Every piece is strategically spaced about 25 feet apart, guiding her up the hill to the road. She reads the pieces as she comes upon them. "Houghton" "Family" "Declaration". Right before the grass ends and the road begins there is a final piece, it simply reads "Marriage".

Clutching the pieces tightly in her hand, Kate calls out to Ryan and Esposito, "Guys, it's him. Castle's alive and he's letting me know he wasn't in that car. Look, look at these. All white, all typed, all one word and all related to me and marriage."

"Beckett," Ryan begins but is cut off.

"No Ryan, please listen to me," Kate pleads. "That was not his body that was found in the car and he sure as hell didn't leave the accident on his own accord. He's a writer, my writer and it only makes sense that he would leave a trail of words clueing us in to his still being alive."

Both Ryan and Esposito nod their acceptance of Kate's reasoning.

It's Ryan who speaks first. "Okay Kate, let's assume it is Castle leaving a trail for us. Where the heck is he now and where do we begin to search?"

TBC


A/N Big shout out to krist0526 for correcting the mistakes! To Kalinda Walker for being willing to push!

My plan is to post weekly and I imagine a 4-5 chapter story.

Constructive criticism is always welcome.