A/N: So reviewers of my first story were demanding ... wait ... asking for another story from me so I thought I'd give it a go. If you haven't read 'Exigency' then go ... over there ... and do so. You could read this one on its own but I don't think it would make too much sense if you did :-)
FYI, Flashpoint33 made me. Just that. Haha.
This story is going to address every single spoiler snippet I can get, starting with 6x01 and 6x02, so if you're spoiler-free (haha, how did you do that?), please don't read this, similarities might occur in the actual episode if I do well ;)
Little disclaimer for the whole story: Castle does belong to Mr. Andrew W. Marlowe and I don't own it ... but I think I should. ;-)
Chapter 1 - Drop by Drop
She didn't care.
She leaned against the window of the police cruiser that transported her into prison and let out a sigh of acceptance. She would just accept her sentence and go through with it.
A gigantic blow caught the car and the power of it overturned the vehicle a couple of times until it came to a standstill at the side of the road. The driver and the other two officers were unconscious and severely injured, dislocated bones and several cuts marked the severity of their injuries. Tori Ellis was on the edge of unconsciousness, she had a deep cut on her cheek, the back of her head was covered in blood and she felt a sudden pain in her left leg. Still, she was alive.
Confused, she tried to locate the source of the blow but couldn't see far enough as her vision was clouded.
Then she heard a male voice: "Sorry for the injuries, Detective. Let's get you out of here."
The moment she awoke would always be burned into her mind as if it was done with a hot branding iron. She lay in why looked and felt like a hospital bed, white linen sheets and a slightly more comfortable mattress than a hospital would provide you with. Around her, several medical devices beeped to signal their steady workings and the room was lit quite poorly. Just a fluorescent blue light could be seen which shone around a window in one of the walls. Said window seemed to lead into a corridor, the room itself didn't have a window of its own.
Apart from the medical devices, she didn't hear any other sound. She felt that her head was bandaged all around and her right arm was in a cast. The arm hurt just a little but the pain seemed to have been dulled down by painkillers. Maybe that was also why her eyesight was foggy and her brain didn't work as fast as it usually did. She tried to sit up but she didn't have the strength to do so and she gave up.
Mere moments later a voice greeted her: "Finally you're come around, Detective, how wonderful!"
"Who are you? Where am I? What happened?" She said weakly, her voice strained from the long sleep she must have had.
"Easy, Detective, easy. All in due time. You were injured pretty badly so I suggest you get some more rest and once your brain isn't as slow as it is now, we'll talk."
Ellis realized that her lids were becoming heavy again but she didn't want to go back to sleep without at least some answers.
But the voice remained silent for her calls and eventually she gave up.
She went back into a dreamless slumber, into a place where the dull pain from her injuries was just a distant memory.
Behind the window in the corridor, a man in a lab coat noted something down on a clipboard. He mumbled something as he did so and he seemed to be satisfied with Ellis' recovery. When she was ready for it, he would remove the bandages from her head and show her the new woman that she had become in the meantime. What a coincidence it had been that some of her cuts called for some surgical attention.
She wouldn't look like she did before. Which would come in very handy.
There was still this one job she could do and he wanted just her to do it.
Kill Jerry Tyson.
She had every reason to. Some would even go as far as saying that she had every right to.
The man turned around and switched the light off in the corridor, handing a nurse the clipboard. It was time to get changed. For his normal, daily life.
They had heard the news as soon as they got back into the city and into the loft. Ryan had called with news that appeared beyond belief but were soon confirmed by Federal Agents who rushed to the scene to find three police officers severely injured and a fourth, who happened to be a convict, missing.
The incident was soon all over the news and as Kate switched the TV on, various news stations reported it and blamed the New York Police Department and the FBI for the apparent disappearance of a convict.
"Look at this" Kate said and gestured towards the big TV screen in Castle's living room. "It's disgusting!"
The anchor woman of the news station Kate had switched on reported the incident and her tone was disapproving throughout the whole depiction of the incident.
"... It appears as if the route had been carefully spied on. The abductor used blunt force to knock the vehicle off the little used road. At this point we can only assume that an explosive device was used to stop the vehicle. Police reports that the three officers riding the police car are all severely injured and were flown into different hospitals which are specialized for their individual needs.
The convict, 28-year-old former NYPD officer Tori Leanne Ellis was not found on location and according to the little information we have gotten from the FBI this afternoon, it seems as if the blow didn't catapult her out of the car. Instead, it seems as if she was taken from the vehicle by some unknown persona who authorities suspect to be the person responsible for the blow.
Tori Leanne Ellis was sentenced to serve time in prison after her compliancy with serial killer Jerry Tyson became evident. The latter is imprisoned and several states are negotiating whether he should be sentenced to death.
Jerry Tyson was involved in the recent abduction of Katherine Beckett, NYPD detective, girlfriend to successful crime novelist Richard Castle.
As soon as we have more, you'll see it here."
Kate switched the television off, apparently annoyed at the fact that her name got mixed up in the report of the incident involving her former colleague Tori Ellis. Naturally, the press would rope her and Castle in. She snorted.
"I like the notion of the successful crime novelist, though" said Castle and dropped the bags he was still holding onto the living room floor where they landed with an audible thud.
"I like the notion of them not having discovered our engagement" Kate added and turned towards her fiancée.
"Are you embarrassed to be seen with me all of the sudden?" he acted as if he was terribly hurt, touching his chest right where his heart was.
"I am not" she contradicted and a smile played on her lips.
"Are you sure, 'cos it seems as if you were getting second thoughts, Detective..."
"Me?"
"Yeah, you" he said, coming closer.
"I am not getting second thoughts, Mr. Castle" she retorted, suddenly aware of his eyes which were rapidly darkening from the deep blue they usually were to a storm clouded dark blue which clearly showed his need to be close to her.
"When's your appointment?" he mumbles into her ear after he had pulled her into a tight embrace.
"Thursday afternoon, I cleared it with Gates already. Told her it was a routine check-up."
"Which it is until we know otherwise, relax, Kate" he said, realizing that she had stiffened under his touch all of the sudden "I know that we've been through a lot and we both knew it wouldn't be easy, being together and still being us. We know that now and can work with it, right? So please relax and don't make me anxious, too..."
"Sorry, trying here..."
"I know you are" he said and kissed her forehead. He then carefully poked her stomach with his index finger and said "if you're actually in there, little Castle, you better not stress mommy too much. If you aren't, well, then you soon will be..."
"Is that so, Rick?" she said, her voice full of affection and love for this man, her one and done.
"Be rest assured it is" he answered and smiled at the sight of her dreamy expression.
"Let's get these bags into the bedroom and start the laundry, I hate when stuff's piling up!"
"Oh, you do?" she asked incredulously "when did that happen?"
"Oh, since a certain detective moved in with me and lectured me about tidiness, dust and allergies" he chuckled and she slapped his arm.
"You better ..."
"I better ... what, Detective Beckett?"
"Run!" she said and quickly went after his retreating figure, the bags forgotten in the living room. On the kitchen counter lay the newspapers of the past week piled up, the newspaper on the top showed this day's date. Page six was flipped open and the headline immediately sprang to eye, its bold black letters mocking the potential readers in the loft:
"A writer and his muse - third time's the charm?"
- Richard Castle (42) and Katherine Beckett (33) seem to be more than just friends and now lovers, it appears as if the New York based crime novelist popped the question and as we've learned exclusively, his muse said 'yes'! We say, roll on "Deadly Heat" and "A heated Storm" for we can't wait to read more heated love scenes between those two. It seems as if they're written out of personal experience? So, steamy Mr. Castle, keep them coming ... just don't mess this one up as the previous two, will you?
Stay tuned for more and follow us online!
A/N: Welcome back ... the thing with studying is, it is not half as good as writing this so I didn't even wait a day before the sequel was begun. I really do hope you enjoy it as much as you've enjoyed "Exigency" - I am still mind-blown by your response and feedback. As always, reviews are golden.