Can't Leave Well Enough Alone

Note: Takes place following the events of "Driven" and after the ficlet "One Month."

Kate Beckett found it strange that William Bracken wasn't being held in a federal penitentiary, given his status as a United States Senator and the fact that state resources were probably inadequate given his security needs. But for her sake, it was convenient.

Not that much had gone right of late. Her fiancé was kidnapped on their wedding day, missing for two months, and to this point, evidence pointed to Richard Castle being complicit in his own abduction.

Rick was back, but things were still off – both at home and at the 12th. Ryan and Esposito weren't speaking. Lanie and Esposito weren't speaking. Gates was grouchier than usual. Martha and Castle were doing all they could to make things as normal as possible, but it wasn't enough.

Kate nodded her thanks to the security guard who led her through the drab labyrinth of Bracken's holding cell, her heart skipping a beat once she saw Bracken sitting at a table, hands cuffed to the legs, his orange jumper contrasting with the gray walls. There were no words in the English language to describe her disgust for this man, the one singlehandedly responsible for so much that had gone wrong in her life.

Still, she took great satisfaction in seeing him like this, knowing she put him there. The scar on his left cheek was just icing on the proverbial cake.

She sat across from Bracken, folding her arms over her chest. "William."

Bracken smirked. "People here still call me Senator."

"You lost the right to that title a long time ago," she spat through gritted teeth, unfolding her arms and leaning forward. She had promised herself she'd remain calm, but not even a minute into this, her hands were already balling into fists.

Bracken raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong, Detective?"

"Richard Castle," Kate sat back in her chair, the anger flashing in her eyes.

"I heard," Bracken shrugged. "Best-selling author goes missing on the day of his wedding, only to show up two months later with seemingly no memory of what happened while he was gone."

Kate frowned in confusion; Bracken chuckled. "The TV in the common room is on CNN; it was all they talked about for three days."

"Is that all you know?"

Bracken let out a laugh of disbelief. Shaking his head, he lifted his arms, showing the silver cuffs around his wrists. "Detective," he moaned in a condescending tone, "I've been here for three months; what could I possibly have done?"

Glancing over her shoulder, Kate silently cursed the fact that security was standing guard over the door. She had to play this far cooler than she wanted. Then again, for all the physical satisfaction that would come from beating Bracken's face in, but it probably wouldn't give her the answers she needed.

"Please," she mocked. "You expect me to believe that this is all over just because I put you behind bars? I'm not that naïve, Senator."

"But you were."

Kate was stunned into silence.

"Admit it, Detective," he pressed. "You led me to that squad car, and as it pulled away, you thought to yourself, 'Finally…I get my life back.' You never stopped to think what might happen if you put a highly influential Senator and potential presidential candidate behind bars."

Leaning forward again, Kate's eyes narrowed. "Don't flatter yourself, William."

Loathe as she was to admit it, though, there was a nugget of truth to what Bracken was saying. She'd poured so much of herself into solving Johanna Beckett's murder over the years that once it was finally solved, once she finally slapped the cuffs on the Senator, she truly did think it was over.

And it's not like anyone warned her otherwise. Not Gates, not Esposito, not Ryan, not Castle…no one. Everyone just assumed it was over, despite how deep and convoluted the entire conspiracy was.

Kate and Alexis had spent almost two months pouring over Johanna Beckett's file and everything they had relating to Senator Bracken. They didn't find anything they didn't already know, nothing that explicitly linked Bracken to anyone who could've made Castle disappear.

But her gut told her there was something there. McCord once told her to trust her gut, so here she was.

"You couldn't leave well enough alone," Bracken shrugged. "And now you're paying the price."

Fear overwhelmed Kate's face. She recoiled, shaking. There was no hiding this from Bracken; it was one thing to theorize about the Senator's involvement, to pour over old case files with Alexis and wonder aloud what might've happened. But to stare that reality directly in the face? Kate wasn't above admitting fear right now.

"What do you know?" Her voice was almost a whisper. "What did you do?!"

Bracken glanced to the side, lips pursed. "You know, I'm not as powerful as you think."

"Funny," Kate folded her arms again. "Seems like every time our paths crossed, you'd go out of your way to tell me how powerful you are. Now here you sit, with your pants down, and it turns out you're not all that big after all."

Hooking her foot around the chain connecting Bracken's cuffs to the desk, Kate leveled a threatening glare his way. "I'm going to ask this one more time, William," she snarled. "What did you do to Richard Castle?"

Bracken glanced over Kate's shoulder at the security guard. The guard had his back to the door, completely oblivious to what was going on inside. He returned the detective's glare, a sneer forming in the corner of his mouth.

"Are you really willing to risk your badge like this?" he wondered. "Barking up the wrong tree."

"Careful, Bracken," she glared. "My foot's starting to itch."

"Whatever power and influence I had before," Bracken explained, "it's gone now. It dried up the second to put those cuffs on me in front of the media. Donors, benefactors, string-pullers…none of them want anything more to do with me. I'm…toxic, I guess you could say."

"Yeah, well," Kate sighed, removing her foot from the chain and leaning back in her chair, "murder will do that to a guy."

"Honestly?" Bracken cocked his head to the side. "I'm surprised it took you this long to come to me. I figured the second he wound up missing, you'd come beating down my bars, demanding answers. Someone's pulling the strings here, Detective, but it's not me."

Internally, Kate was fuming. "Why should I believe you?"

"Think about it, Beckett!" Bracken snapped. "Think about it. If I really wanted your boyfriend dead, he'd be dead. I wanted Raglan dead, he's dead. I wanted McCallister dead, he's dead. I wanted your mother dead, she's dead."

Kate gritted her teeth and shoved the table into Bracken's stomach. "You watch your fucking mouth!" Standing, Kate kicked her foot across the chain, the force yanking Bracken face-first into the table. Blood trickled from his nose as Kate drew her weapon and pointed it at the disgraced Senator's forehead.

The security guard burst into the room with his weapon drawn. "Detective!" he shouted. "Stand. Down."

"Don't worry, Franklin," Kate sighed and placed her gun back in its holster. "I was just leaving."

She leaned across the table again, taking perverse satisfaction in how Bracken flinched and quivered at the sight of her. Blood poured from his nose; it was undoubtedly broken. Kate fought the urge to smile.

"I think you're lying, William, but I can't prove it yet," she hissed. "I ever get that proof? The next time you see me will be the last time you see me."

Pushing her way past Franklin, Kate took a deep breath to steel herself. She could feel the anger and the hurt and the uncertainty threatening to overtake her, and she wouldn't let herself break. Not here. Not where strangers could see.

Back in her car, Kate fished out her phone and pressed it to her ear. She sighed, glancing at the rear view mirror. After four rings, the line connected. "Hey, Ryan...is Esposito there?" She rolled her eyes. "Good, listen…" Her free hand fidgeted with the ring on the chain around her neck. "Every known associate of William Bracken who's still alive. Run them again, find out their current whereabouts.

"I'm working on a hunch."