Re-upload with chapter 2 to follow soon.
Summary – It had been five days since they found Detective Kate Beckett shot and dumped among the fallen leaves in Scarsdale. Semi AU, post episode fic, 6x17 – 'In the Belly of the Beast'.
Fragile Hope
It had been five days. Five days since they had found her. Shot and dumped in a bed of decaying leaves and dirt in the middle of the woodland just outside of Scarsdale. The call had come in from a woman, an anonymous tipster, and led the police to the exact location.
Detective Kate Beckett lay face down, bound, and in a pool of her blood. She had a bullet in her head. A man, known only as 'Harden', from the lone text on his burner cell, was found strewn out beside her. A round in his chest, and his throat cut out, he stared wide-eyed into the starry darkness above.
Pronounced dead on scene, Harden had died instantly. The homicide detective was alive. Her pulse weak, and her breathing barely a whisper, she was alive. By chance, by luck, or by sheer miracle, she had survived.
Richard Castle sat at Kate's bedside in the ICU. The silvery-white hue of florescent lights shone down and chased away the shadows. Outside the storm raged on, rain pelted and blotted against the hospital windows. Rick swept a hand over his tired, swollen eyes, watching over Kate.
The room was white and sterile. The wires hooked into her skin, to monitor and sustain her, provided the space with a little color. Kate looked pale and vulnerable among the starched sheets. Her forehead dressed in gauzy bandages, her blond-brown hair fanned out over the pillows behind her.
It was hard for Rick to see her like this. The tube in her mouth, fixed and taped to her soft skin, was a sight he sadly wouldn't forget in a hurry. She looked small and helpless, and that wasn't the woman he loved. He missed her terribly, though he had been at her side pretty much every minute since she'd been found. He missed the sound of her voice, her dazzling smile, and her laugh. He missed the warmth of her hug, and the touch of her kiss. He missed her jokes, her sarcasm, and the sight of her rolling her eyes at one of his far-fetched theories.
He missed the strong, assuring grip on intertwining fingers as he held her hand.
She might make it through this. She might not. She may never wake up.
Rick exhaled from the depths of his throat, penetrating the silence. He pushed that thought away and grasped her hand tighter. That realization threatened to swallow him whole if he let it. The doctors don't know if she'll wake up. They've done all they can. Now all that was left to do was watch over her, and wait.
And all Rick could do was hold on to hope and their love. He'd spent money to get her the very best care. He'd come too close to losing her too many times before. He won't give up on her.
He tried to stay positive; it was what he did best. He was the optimist. Kate always said he was the one who managed to find the silver lining in the direst of situations.
Kate was hanging on by a thread. He needed that optimism and strength now. After all the pain she had endured, he owed her that much.
Rick had seen the compound for himself. Seen all the horrors it held. And it haunted him. Whenever his eyes wandered over the angry red and purple marks etched over her delicate, porcelain skin it haunted him.
Three days ago, once Kate's condition was stable, Alexis and Martha had insisted he go home to rest. Giving into theirs', and the nurses', persuasions, he'd left the hospital to attempt to sleep. He couldn't. Back at the apartment he'd only felt lost and useless. But a call from Esposito, checking in on how Kate was doing, had provided Rick with a much-needed distraction.
The police had found the compound. Rick hung up and showered quickly. Along with Ryan and Esposito, he'd ridden down to Westchester County.
The large complex cleansed of all signs of life and criminal activity, the operation had moved on after the police's discovery of the NYPD detective and the dead drug dealer.
Uniformed officers and CSU scoured every inch for anything left. Rick had seen the torture room in the basement. Ryan and Esposito both insisted he didn't, but he had to see. Rick had to know. With all evidence of cruelty, and DNA, cleared and scrubbed away, the harsh, harrowing basement still churned with its untold horrors and secrets.
The writer's eyes fixed on the large bucket in the centre of the room. It didn't take any stretch of imagination to know what Kate had endured and suffered in the murky space. He felt sick to the pit of his stomach.
Rick hadn't stayed in the basement for long. He'd needed to go back upstairs. Roy Hunter, the CSU supervisor heading the investigation, quickly occupied him. Rick followed Hunter to a room. Techs had found traces of blood in the walls. Behind the grills was a letter.
The letter was for him. He recognized the handwriting instantly. Kate's heartfelt, honest words. The page confessed pure love and devotion. He'd been with her in her most dire moments. Emotions threatened to choke him.
He'd carried a copy of her letter in the depths of his pocket since its discovery. The original being held as evidence. Her words engraved on his mind. He would never forget them. The message was her way of saying goodbye. He only hoped they wouldn't have to.
Blinking away stray tears, Rick attempted to shove away the seeping vulnerability.
Time for more coffee. He reached for his coffee cup, sitting beside the home cooked meal Alexis had brought in. With the paper cup, and its companions, all empty he gathered them up.
"I'll be right back," he promised Kate, untangling his fingers from hers.
Heading down the darkened corridor, he spotted the nurse on night duty. Evelyn sat at her station and gave him a kind smile. He smiled back. He'd warm to the wise, witty woman from Ireland instantly. She let him stay past visiting hours and supplied him with blankets. She regaled him with tales of coming to the US to be with the man she loved.
Rick strode to the vending machine tucked away in the waiting area. With the hospital canteen closed, the Styrofoam coffee would have to suffice. Digging into his pocket for loose change, he purchased a beverage from him and for Evelyn.
On the way back, he set the nurse's at the now absent desk. Turning the corner he noticed the lone, stealthy figure creeping toward his fiancée's room. The stranger still immediately, before turning and hurrying away. Rick's alarm peaked. Those responsible for Kate's abduction were still out there. He gave chase.
"Wait!" He sprinted down the shiny corridor in pursuit. "Stop!"
The woman dressed in blacked slowed in her retreat.
"Who are you?" he demanded, fearing this visitor might be here to finish the job.
"A friend," she replied simply. After a beat she turned around. She raised her hands to indicate she wasn't a threat.
Rick recognized Elena Markov immediately.
"Elena?" Rick uttered under his breath.
It began to make sense to him. The puzzle of who had killed Harden, and all the unanswered questions surrounding that night. The bullet lodged in Harden's chest was not fired from his gun. A tied and unarmed Kate couldn't have shot him. Police suspected a third person.
Lanie confirmed suspicions at the lab; the bullet had come from another weapon. It had not resulted in the man's death. He'd met his demise from the laceration to the threat. The M.O of the Russian killer for hire. No second gun or blade were recovered.
Furthermore it was a woman who'd left an anonymous tip of Kate's location. She'd left without a trace before officials arrived.
There was no doubt in Rick's mind; Elena was the third person in the woods.
The contract killer was the reason Kate was still alive.
"It was you?" Rick inched closer. Elena remained silent and unmoving.
"Who sent you?" He pushed for information. He would forever in her debt, but he had to know.
Elena evaded the question in part. Her dark eyes ghosted on Kate through the room's observation window. "He sent me because he owed her. He said he wanted her to live."
"Who? Who owed her?"
Only one name came to Rick's mind, and it wasn't the one the woman spoke.
"Lazarus."
The way the woman spoke his name. Like she was talking about someone untouchable, a proverbial ghost. The one behind the drugs operations.
"Who's Lazarus?" He didn't expect an answer. And Elena was done.
"I have to go." Heels tapped and the woman turned, vanishing into the night.
Lazarus. Rick mulled the mention over in his mind. The name was of little significance to him. Maybe it meant something to Captain Fowler and the narcotics team. He'd call Esposito in the morning.
He walked back into the room. He sat beside Kate, taking a tentative sip of lukewarm coffee. He grimaced as he swallowed the tar-like substance.
"The coffee here really is terrible," he joked lightly. He gathered her hand, rubbing circles on her skin with his thumb. "I'll buy them an espresso machine once you're better."
Rick liked to talk to her. He felt closest to her then. Evelyn, and the other nurses, said Kate might be able to hear him. He hoped that she could. He hoped that he could reach her, wherever she was. He didn't want her feel alone.
He talked to her about everything. About wedding plans, seating charts, fonts, and small details they could not agree on.
He promised her he'd be at her side when she woke up. He hadn't been there as she'd recovered from the last near-death encounter. He hadn't been there as she healed. Though that hadn't been by his choice. But he'd be there this time.
Growing drowsy, emotion leaking in through tired eyes, Rick set down the half-drunk coffee.
"I love you, Kate," he told her, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
He settled backed in the chair, pulling a blanket around his shoulders. He kept a grip firmly on Kate's hand.
Drifting into a light, anxious sleep, he felt a tightening sensation on his hand. His eyes snapped open. He bolted upright in the chair.
"Kate?" he asked softly, leaning in closer. He watched her. He stared at her. She hadn't moved. Arms at her sides, her eyes pressed shut. The tube aiding her breathing was still taped to her mouth. The monitors still bleeped steadily.
But he'd felt it.
"Kate, can you hear me?" he encouraged. He moved to sit on the bed. He lifted her hand, cradling it in both of his. "Squeeze my hand if you can hear me."
Nothing. He waited for the seemingly unending moments to tick by. His eyes fixed on unmoving fingers.
Rick's brow knitted together. She wasn't responding. He was certain he'd felt something. He believed it.
His gaze never left her as he reached for the button to call the nurse. He sat on the mattress, coaxing Kate to wake up. Hospital staff flooded in through the door.
"Come back to me, Kate." He stroked her knuckles with his thumb. "Stay with me."
Evelyn persuaded him to move away. The doctor needed to do his job. Rick attempted to ignore the dim expression on Evelyn's face as she led him out into the corridor.
Maybe he'd imagined it. Exhausted, and over-caffeinated, perhaps he mind was playing tricks on him.
The minutes ticked on by. The doctor examined her closely and Rick's hopes slowly faded.
To be continued...