Close Encounters 19: Thunderball
for Jessie, who actually likes James, despite herself
(you know you do)
and for Jocelyn, whose enthusiasm is as amazing as her skill
Programming Note: In my delirious Parisian excitement, I forgot to edit a rather massive error in CE18 - namely, that the mole in the CIA is not Ken Marshall, random flunkie, but Ken *Walker*, the man who helped Castle locate Beckett in a previous story. I had used Marshall as a placeholder name until I could go back and research the man's name and then promptly forgot I'd done that. Please forgive me. I've edited CE18 to reflect the correct name. Suffice it to say, same guy, but he's Walker.
"You okay?" Castle murmured against her neck.
"More than," she smiled softly.
He squeezed and let her go, and then Kate Beckett turned and opened the interrogation room door.
On the other side sat Ken Walker, dark hair and grey eyes, in a mussed white dress shirt with his collar open. The room was warm, exceedingly so, but Walker wasn't a professional. He'd already drank the offered water they had laced with a version of sodium pentothal. He looked ready for a chat.
"Beckett," Walker said when she entered. "First friendly face I've seen in a while. What's going on? If you tell me what's wrong, I can help clear this up. Whatever it is."
She sat down opposite him at the metal table. She and Castle had taken a series of flights to get back into the States, but it had only been a matter of days since Walker had been pulled for questioning.
His tongue was a little loose, making his hard consonants soft, but he truly didn't look worried.
He didn't have the look that Deleware had given her all through the ordeal in Tunisia - like he saw something he loathed. Walker was smiling, relief at seeing her.
"Walker," she said quietly.
"Yeah," he answered, a little eager even. No one had been allowed inside, no one could speak to him. Ryan and Esposito had even kept away. "Look, Agent Beckett, I'm not sure what's going on here. I really - this is interrogation tactics, and I'm pretty sure there was something in that water, cause I feel real loose, but I don't know why."
"You work for the CIA, Walker," she said.
He swallowed but then he shook his head. "I know - always have known that - but what I mean is... since you and Castle have taken over, everyone talks about how it's like a family now. How we protect our own. We go after guys lost in the field and we never leave a man..."
She felt a moment's sharp pride that people thought it had so changed, that it was a place no longer solely about political maneuvering, that the people in their division assumed they'd be taken care of.
"Walker, we protect our own," she answered. She sat back in her chair to put distance between them, and she let her hesitation show. Conflicting body language that his brain would interpret as Beckett doing her job but not liking it. She wanted to play the role of a friend for as long as possible; she was sure he'd talk more willingly that way.
"So why am I here?" he pleaded.
"You've been aiding the enemy," she answered. She let her voice be certain, final, and Walker flinched. There was some responsibility there; he felt culpable for something. "Walker, he's already told us. He gave you up for a deal."
"Gave me... who? Who gave me up?"
She remained silent, her silence condemning and all-knowing, and it actually worked. He sat back with a startled noise but there was only confusion on his face.
"Are you talking about AIC Black? I don't... understand. He said it had to remain off-book for your safety. You and Agent Castle both. He said the program-"
Here it seemed to finally dawn on Walker that he was in deep trouble, that Black had played him somehow, and he shut his mouth, closing his eyes. His head tilted back and Beckett had a moment's doubt that her boys hadn't searched Walker as thoroughly as they should have.
Poison capsule in the teeth might-
But no, Walker opened his eyes again and gave her a bleak look. "I guess... I need a lawyer."
"Walker, this is the CIA. Lawyers don't have high enough security clearance."
"Oh, fuck," he whispered. His hands, which hadn't been cuffed, came to the table top and pressed hard. He was swallowing; he looked like he might be sick. "I'm done. Aren't I? One... they said don't trust anyone, not even the guys who sit next to you, but I really thought this department was different. I really thought I could trust the guy next to me."
Trust the guy next to him?
Beckett made a gesture with her finger on the table and she knew Castle would be running that down ASAP. Because while Black had been forthcoming in giving up his mole, neither she nor Castle believed he was the only man working for the former director.
"You do realize that Black was ousted from his position and arrested to stand trial? That he has tried numerous times to kill me? That Castle doesn't trust him and he's no longer allowed clearance?"
"No. Not - not for real." Walker wiped a hand down his face and spoke from behind his palm. "He said he was working under the Director's orders. That his arrest was a fake to let him go off-grid. And he was working at the behest of the Director. I asked. When you were in Russia, he was your handler-"
Never mind that 'handler' implied protection and back-up that Black hadn't given, the Director still hadn't had any further dealings with Black once the man had been arrested. Someone had fed Walker bad information, or at least someone had confirmed that bad intel that Black himself had told the data analyst.
"But, Walker, you weren't here during that time. You were in a different division. Castle brought you to the Eastern Europe department because he thought he could trust you. We thought we could trust you."
"You can," he cried out. "You just - why don't you tell people these things? You were supposed to be different. This was supposed to be a place where we could work together."
"What do you mean?"
"If it wasn't such a damn secret then maybe I'd have known that he'd been arrested for real, that he wanted to kill you. Wait," Walker said suddenly, straightening up. "That can't be right. It's Black who told me that the Westies were-"
Walker shut his mouth, closed his eyes, shook his head. His self-preservation instinct was kicking in against the medication they'd slipped into his water. He pressed his hand to his eyes and seemed to be trying to collect himself.
Kate couldn't let that happen. "He tried to have Senator Bracken kill me. You've heard how he was involved with the mafia? Well, Black told Bracken that I was going to expose him - that I had been the one to uncover his dealings and that he was going to stand trial for it. So Bracken came after me."
"No," Walker muttered, pushing his thumb and finger into his closed lids. "No. That doesn't - he told me where - he said the Westies had you. That was his intel."
"Black told you that the Westies had helped Bracken? Why would he do that, Walker?"
"Because you were in trouble - you were kidnapped. Everyone knew. He was trying to help."
"Or he gave you just enough information so that you'd give him a whole lot more in return. He gave you just enough to get you on scene for his grand finale. Kill two birds with one stone, right? I'd be dead and his nemesis, Bracken, would be under arrest for my murder."
"No we saved you."
"Who?" she said fiercely. "You saved me? No, I saved myself. Haven't you heard the news lately, Walker? I shot Senator Bracken and I killed him. No one saved me."
She knew it was killing Castle to hear like that, but Walker crumpled. He pushed his hands into his face and hid his eyes, his shoulders hunched. She kept going.
"Black sent you to be witnesses to my execution. And you happily led my husband straight to the scene of the crime. You-"
"No," he yelled, shooting to his feet and panting, fists clenched. The door was already coming open and Castle spilling inside, but Kate stood and pushed her way between them, certain that the analyst was no threat.
"Agent Walker, sit down."
Walker sank to his chair and stared up at them with his horror clearly splashed across his face. He looked pale, weak suddenly, broken. "We were saving you," he choked out. "We got the rest of them, didn't we? We saved you."
"Walker. I'm going to give you a yellow legal pad and a pen," she said softly. "And you're going to write down everything he told you."
"What about.. what about the stuff I told him?" Walker croaked. He looked done in.
"We'll get to that later," Kate said, interrupting Castle before he could start. She put her hand on Walker's shoulder. "For now, just the things he told you. It's not treasonous to listen to him, only to help him."
Walker flinched but nodded, and he gave her a hopeful look.
Kate turned and left him with that hope even as Castle glowered. She pushed her husband out of the room ahead of her, spoke to the agent in the hall as the door closed behind them. "Please get Agent Walker a notepad and a soft writing utensil. No pencil, no pen - one of the special ones."
"Yes, ma'am," the agent said, moving off smartly.
Castle burst out with it the moment they were alone. "You're letting him go," he hissed. "You're going to-"
"He's the same as Ren," she said quickly, shutting him up. "Now Walker knows better than anyone what it is to be betrayed so badly. To fall for it. He knows better. Just like Reynolds knows better, like Mitch knows better."
"Mitch?"
"All those times he took your father's side," she said quietly.
"That's been paid in full," Castle growled at her. "Forgiven. Forgotten. Over. Kate, this isn't like you. What happened to the woman who gave me a sense of right and wrong? Who insisted the world - and the CIA - couldn't be filled with so many ambiguous greys?"
"There's justice, and then there's mercy, Castle. He doesn't deserve the letter of the law just because he didn't know any better."
"That's bogus and you know it," Castle shot back, crossing his arms. "Ignorance of the law is no defense."
She shook her head, reached up to uncross his arms, draw them down. "Yeah? And what about me?"
"What about you?"
"The times I've helped him. Gone straight to him - helped him escape. What happens when I'm the one who needs mercy?"
"You didn't-"
She pressed her fingers to his mouth to keep him from twisting out of it with a lie. It was only the truth; she had bent her morals to suit her needs, compromised herself - in an effort to save her husband's life. "We know my line," she whispered. "We know the price for my integrity. It would be hypocritical to refuse to allow Walker the same mercy - you heard him in there, Rick. He thought he was helping us."
"There is a capture/kill order out on Black. We've made that clear. Walker chose the wrong side."
"Baby, he chose our side," she laughed softly. He didn't look amused; she tried to mask her face, be serious again. "He's right, you know. We kept piling on the lies rather than come right out and say it. He wouldn't have had clearance for it, true, but he's right. We should tell the people in our division what your father is capable of, and what he can do."
"Kate, I love you, but you're killing me."
She bit her bottom lip and squeezed his arm. "No, I'm not. Been there, done that. We need to brief the division. They deserve to know what's happened - and they deserve to know that Walker, a guy they like and trust, is going to be okay."
"He can't stay here."
"I think Mitchell could use a good man for his security firm."
Castle groaned and sank back against the wall. "Woman."
"You know I'm right. We handle our own. And maybe someone comes up to us and says, Hey, I was scared to say this before, but now that I know I'll be okay..."
Castle lifted his gaze to hers. "You think there are others."
"I'm pretty sure there have to be."
"Me too," he said grimly.
She waited.
"All right," he rasped. "We handle our own mistakes. I'll - figure out a way to brief the division about Black. No mention of our separate issues."
He flicked his finger towards her stomach, encompassing everything in that small gesture. She had to restrain herself from touching the place where their little wolf was growing, and she smiled at Castle instead.
"Thanks, Rick. What do you want me to tell Walker?"
"Debrief him. Get everything you can on what he's told Black, but nothing in writing. It'll be recorded, but no official statement. I'll call Mitch and give him temporary clearance to the main floor, and we'll transfer custody."
"I don't think you should call it that."
"Fine. Whatever. Just - let Mitch deal with him."
She smiled brilliantly at her growly husband and leaned in to kiss his cheek. It was rough from a few days' of travel; they'd practically come straight here. "Love you, sweetheart."
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. "Only because you always get your way."
But they both knew that wasn't true.
At least not all the time.
Castle watched his team members file into the largest lecture hall available on their floor. The Eastern European division had been split into the Pan-slavic, Baltic, and Russian states about ten years ago, and those were the main purview of his department. Germany and Austria, the 'stable' countries as they called them, that was a division Castle was no longer in control of. After his illness had taken the reins out of his hands, the EE division had been further segmented to keep all their operations going.
He hadn't actually sat down with everyone in at least two years. Part of that was simple efficiency, part of it was his time with Beckett.
When everyone was in the room who could crowd inside, Castle nodded towards Reynolds who was at the door. Ren turned and left to grab the last two people.
"Let's get started," Castle called out. He caught Beckett's eye in the crowd; she winked at him and he had to resist the urge to make a face back at her. He was doing this because of her, but the last ten thousand or so good ideas had been hers. Nothing new.
His team started to shift and settle, and Castle raised both hands to gain their attention. "You might be wondering why we've mixed clearance levels for this meeting, why I'm not talking to your division head so that he or she can turn around and give you the clean version. Well, there's a reason for that."
The door opened and Reynolds led their prisoner into the room. Every single person crowded into the lecture hall went silent.
Walker looked scared out of his mind.
Castle sighed and gestured for Reynolds; the man held open the door and Mitchell came in behind them. When Walker and Mitch had gotten to Castle front and center, a murmur started in the back of the room and washed down towards them.
"This is Agent Walker," Castle said clearly. "He was a CIA analyst, worked right alongside most of you. Walker helped us out a great deal when Agent Beckett was abducted from the street and our own Agent Malone was shot and killed. Walker rode out with me that day, and he was instrumental in our finding Agent Beckett alive."
Beckett was getting fast looks now, but Castle kept going, ignoring the way people were beginning to whisper to each other.
"Walker was given some outside help," Castle said distinctly. "He was in contact with former Agent In Charge John Black, the man most of you know is also my father."
He clapped Walker on the shoulder and the man's knees about buckled. He hadn't told Walker what was about to happen and he rather liked keeping him in the dark. Letting him sweat.
"What you might not know, what Walker here didn't understand, is that the capture/kill order out for John Black is very real. Black, while running this division, worked his own agenda to gain political power and curry favor with the Director. Most importantly, he put the lives of our agents in the field at risk to put himself in a better position. Including myself, my wife, Mitchell - and a number of you as well."
He found Beckett's eyes in the crowd and she was straight and tall and strong; it gave him strength to keep going.
"My father set up an elaborate scheme to get rid of our own US Senator William Bracken. Bracken, as you know, was a crooked politician. The two had been political enemies for years, and Agent Beckett's personal investigation as an NYPD detective happened to coincide with information Black had known for a long time."
People in the room were giving him funny looks.
"My father decided to open an investigation into Bracken's illegal activities, thinking to use Detective Beckett like a vise, squeezing on Bracken's criminal activities. He made Beckett an agent and let Bracken know she was out for him. Agent Beckett's home was bombed by Bracken during this time. But when the legal investigation proved fruitless, he decided instead that it was easier to play with his enemy rather than against him. To win Bracken's approval for a position on a Senate committee, John Black tried to execute my wife in an alley behind the Plaza Terrace hotel."
No one breathed.
Castle pressed the button for the slide show and the projector started up in the brightly-lit room. The video was poor quality, gleaned from the security cameras outside the Plaza Terrace, but it was clear. Beckett on her knees, the gun to her head, and then the explosion of the exit door as Castle had burst onto the scene just in time.
He stopped the recording before they could see him pummel John Black. "Needless to say," Castle started dryly. "My father and I didn't see eye to eye on that decision."
The room gave over a choked laugh, someone gasped, and at the back, Castle could see Ryan loading the next clip to the slide show.
"Ever since that day, I've tried to keep it quiet, tried not to upset the delicate balance of politics and power in this division. The Director himself used my father covertly on an op to Russia, but because I had kept secrets, because Kate and I decided not tell you all this, even the Director didn't know how very bad an idea that was."
Walker was breathing hard beside him.
"This agent here - he had no idea either. When the situation in Russia got screwed, when Black led us all astray and refused to work with the Russian authorities over their own nuclear reprocessing plant - when he decided instead to simply take it, this all got completely out of hand."
Walker was trembling; he jerked his head toward Castle with a pleading look to his eye. Castle gripped his shoulder to keep him from talking, ruining the moment.
"I was in a hospital, sedated, while Black left Beckett out there to die."
Kate was definitely getting looks now.
"But we don't do that here," Castle said gravely. "We don't leave men behind; we don't play politics with your lives. I was given direction over this department and Black was arrested. He has since escaped and continues to try to get back into the game - any means necessary. Walker... Walker was just trying to help."
He turned and looked Walker in the eye.
"I apologize for not giving you the truth about things," Castle said quietly, for his ears only.
Walker sucked in a breath.
"Walker leaked information to John Black. In return, Black gave him information as well. It's a zero sum game, and Beckett's life was in the balance. Because I take partial responsibility for his ignorance of the true nature of Black's standing within this organization, and because we do things differently now-"
"He's getting off," someone whispered.
"Yeah," Castle said with a grim smile. "He won't be tried for treason. He won't be tried at all. But he won't be a CIA analyst any longer."
The entire room let out a collective breath and Walker sank as if he might drop to his knees. Castle gripped him by the shoulders and ducked his head so that they were close, and he shook the man a little.
"I promised you - if you helped me find my wife, I'd get you a desk with a view. This is the best I can do."
"Yes, sir," Walker garbled.
Castle released the man and nodded to Mitchell. "This is former Agent Mitchell. He has a securities and consulting firm that our agency contracts work to. Mitchell is a good friend of mine, and on top of that, a man I trust. Walker will be going to work for him."
"Thank you, sir," Walker croaked. "Thank you, Agent Castle, I-"
Castle shook his head. He didn't want it; their debt was over. Mitchell was the one who uncuffed Walker's wrists and Mitchell was the one who led him back out into the hall. Mason left to escort them out and now Reynolds came down to the front of the lecture hall and stood beside Castle.
His fingers were still in splints even though the broken bones should have healed long ago. He'd undergone surgery two weeks ago to try and repair the nerve damage, and his face was still heavily shadowed, as if there were some bruises that could never fade.
"In case you think it's a fine idea to work with John Black, since I've been lenient and since I don't punish as severely as others, I want you to take a good look at this man. Michael Reynolds. Agent Reynolds's only crime was being the head jailer at a little known listening post off the coast of Tunisia. Where I sent John Black to stay for the remainder of his banishment."
Castle pressed the play button on the remote and the video started again. This time it was internal feed from the listening station's own holding cell where Black had coldly watched Maine torture Reynolds for information. It was only thirty seconds, but it was agonizing.
The room was stone silent.
"That. That is what happens when good people get tangled up in my father's schemes. I don't want it happening to you. If he's contacted you, if you've told him pieces of information thinking he was only a spy pushed out into the cold, if you've seen him and not reported it... whatever little thing you've done, this is what happens. This is what happens. And you need to tell me now."
He actually saw eyes out there shifting, looking away. Castle felt it like a fist clutching his heart. He had talked to Beckett about this, about what should be said, what things he'd explain and how to best present the truth, and he knew now she'd been right.
"Tell me now. He doesn't care about our lives. He will kill you. He's tried to kill me. His own son. He won't hesitate to sacrifice you as well."
Castle nodded to Reynolds and the man moved to stand by the door once more, his part of things over. Castle turned back to his division and took a slow and steady breath.
"I do things differently. My wife has taught me a lot about knowing what's right and what's definitely wrong. And the ways my father ran this place are not my ways. In fact, I know that's a lot of the reason why he wants us dead. Because I am unwilling to sacrifice your lives for some nebulous greater good. We will work for the good of our country, we are here to provide freedom and true justice, but we will not... we will never... sacrifice your lives to do so."
At this, Beckett started through the room. As they'd arranged, she'd been right in the middle, standing strong, and now she came forward, brushing past coworkers and agents like some ethereal lady of the lake.
When Kate was at his side, she turned and made their final appeal.
"Each one of you is important to us. Your work is vital. What you do matters to those in the field and to the people we serve. You can tell us, you can come to us with this. We will take care of you."
Castle let out a long breath and felt his shoulders ease. Even though every eye in the room was now on his wife, no one seemed to think it strange. Not her place at his side and not her appearance before them.
The pregnancy, the regimen - those things were still secrets.
When Kate finally found him, Castle was in his office of all places.
He was never in his office. He was always out in the control room, keeping track of their missions and the analysts down in the pit, or stopping by her work station and getting the input of the team.
She paused in the doorway to assess her husband, noted the slouched line of his shoulders under the cloth of his dress shirt, the way he rubbed two fingers over his eyebrows like he was massaging a sinus headache. He was slumped over his desk but his laptop wasn't open, just files of paperwork strewn over the wood.
"Hey, sweetheart," she murmured, stepping in the office.
Castle lifted his head slowly and his eyes landed on her with something like relief. Kate came to his side at the desk and ran her fingers through his hair, tugged his head into her for an embrace. Castle sighed and buried his nose in the crook of her arm, his ear pressed to her stomach even as he sank against her.
Kate smoothed her fingers through his hair, scratching lightly at his scalp. She laid her other arm over his shoulders and rubbed his back, let him take the time he needed.
She knew he'd been in here listening to confessions all morning. The entire division had talked about nothing else. People were coming out of the woodwork, though thankfully most were giving grievance to the things Black had made them do while he was still Agent In Charge.
But her husband had been forced to act the priest, hearing all the sins of his own father, and it couldn't have been good for him. She'd been against showing the video of Black pointing a gun at her in the alley simply for Castle's sake, but in the end, it was the hard evidence they'd needed to make their case.
And still Castle leaned against her. She was grateful she'd closed his door when she'd come inside, and now she trailed her fingers around his eye socket, the shape of his cheekbone, and down around his ear. He breathed out against her and she felt the heat of him strike something deep in her, call and response.
Kate wanted very badly to take him home and let him sleep, maybe have him sprawled against her like he often wound up in the middle of the night, heavy and boneless and nearly on top of her.
But in lieu of bed and hiding away from the world, she could take him to lunch. Kate rubbed her fingers along his ear and tugged softly until she knew she had his attention.
"You're taking a break. We'll get tacos from the cart and eat under the trees in the park," she said quickly. "Come on, Castle."
He didn't lift from her, but he muttered something against her shirt that she didn't catch.
"Up, baby. I'm taking you out. Little wolf is hungry."
Castle startled a laugh and tilted his head back to look at her. "Uh-huh. All right. I'm coming."
She smiled back at him and caressed his jaw, loving the rough abrasion of his five o'clock shadow against the sensitive pads of her fingers. Everything was sensitive; she responded at the slightest touch.
Forget going home to sleep and hide away, what Kate Beckett wanted were two or threes enthusiastic rounds in bed with him.
She lowered her mouth to his and kissed him ruthlessly, stroking her tongue against his and gripping him by the ears. Castle growled and surged to his feet, drawing her hard against his body, fisting his hand in her hair at her neck.
Their teeth clashed as he finally broke from her, his breathing shallow and rough as he stared into her eyes. They were nearly even when she was wearing her heels like this, and she loved feeling the power of his body coiled against hers.
"Skip the tacos," he said throatily. "I'll make you something at home. After."
"Oh, yes," she hummed. "After."