Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or the original characters belonging to the series.
PART ONE
A deafening gunshot made Ryan draw his piece and spin around. "Javi!" he called out, creeping back down the hall. Obviously, he and his partner had missed something.
When the older detective made no answer, Ryan's heart sank. He took deep, silent breaths as he walked, quietly as his shoes would allow. He came to the room he'd left Esposito in. Peering around the door frame, he saw Esposito's body crumbled in the middle of the floor, a pool of dark blood staining the dirty carpet under him. Ryan resisted the initial urge to rush into the room. That would do nothing to help his fallen brother. No, he had to be levelheaded. But his gaze lingered a few moments more on Javier before he forced it up to scan the room. But he didn't see anything, because a sudden, sharp pain struck the base of his skull, and everything went blank.
Kevin opened his eyes. It hurt, the light, and he squinted, blinking rapidly, trying to let his eyes adjust. The pain didn't go away though, and he realized it wasn't going to. The pain stemmed from the back of his head, crawling up his skull and brain. He wished he hadn't woken up at all. With a groan and some effort, he lifted his chin from his chest. His memories were muddled and confused, but questions poked at him, demanding attention. Where am I? What happened? Why does my head hurt? Where's Javi? The last question caught his attention. Panic gripped him, and he jolted to stand up. Something stopped him. Metal bit painfully into his wrists. He suddenly realized where caught behind him, securing him to a tall, round, skinny pole. He looked back and realized it was a pipe extending up and turning at the top to go into the wall. It was a water pipe, like you'd find in a basement.
"What the—" he breathed, tugging again, uselessly, at his restraints.
"Kevin!"
Esposito's voice made Ryan turn his head too fast. The room spun and turned on its end. Ryan had to close his eyes tight to make it stop. He made himself speak. "Javi, where are you? Are you okay?"
"If by 'okay' you mean 'shot through the shoulder,' then yeah, I'm just peachy."
Ryan smiled, but it was only out of relief. If Javier was still able to make snarky comments, then he couldn't be too bad off. "You were shot. I remember. I saw you in the room, on the ground. But before I could get to you, someone knocked me out."
"And then they tossed the both of us in this dank basement," Javier said, finishing the piece of the story Ryan didn't have.
With a sickening turn of his stomach, Ryan managed to open his eyes again. He resumed his search for his partner, only this time, much more slowly. He found him immediately. Esposito was sitting up against the wall beside him, his left hand clinging to his right shoulder, blood stains all over his hands and shirt. He looked pale, and much weaker than his voice had indicated. His whole body looked slumped and lethargic.
"How you holding up?" Ryan asked weakly.
"What?" Esposito asked.
Ryan repeated with more precision. "How are you holding up?"
"I'll live," Esposito replied. "You look like hell."
"Likewise," Ryan mumbled with a grin. He closed his eyes again, resting his head against the pipe. "How long've we been down here?" It felt like his tongue didn't want to form the words in his mouth, and it was a struggle to put a sentence together. Ryan knew it was a symptom of a bad concussion, but at least he wasn't bleeding out like Esposito. His partner was the one he was worried about.
"A couple hours, more or less," Esposito replied. "I was sure Beckett and Castle would've found us by now."
"Yeah, well," Ryan said, "we don't know what our perp did to cover up his tracks. Could've thrown them off somehow." Sleep sounded heavenly right about now as his head nodded forward.
"Ryan," Esposito said loudly.
He might as well have smacked Ryan over the head again for all the pain he caused. "What the hell, Javi," Ryan growled, "Could you quiet down?"
"You were about to fall asleep, bro. You can't do that."
Ryan frowned. "I know in theory I shouldn't but…"
"But nothing," Esposito said, "We have to keep each other from passing out, because I'm not feeling too hot myself. We need to come up with a plan to get out of here."
"In case you didn't notice," Ryan muttered, "I'm handcuffed to a pipe."
"Yeah, I noticed. Doesn't give you a pass to sleep on the job, though."
"Fine," Ryan agreed. "Where do we start?"
"We start with what we know."
"And what do we know?"
Esposito lifted his chin to indicate the opposite side of the room. "The door over there, it's dead bolted."
"That's helpful." Ryan retorted.
Esposito smirked humorlessly. "Don't be funny, Ryan. We don't have time for that."
"We got plenty of time," Ryan said. "'Cause there's no way we're getting out of here until Castle and Beckett show up."
"I don't like that," Esposito said. "We don't know when that will be. And, bro," he said, his voice dropping to a disheartened mutter, "I'm bleeding out bad."
Ryan looked at his partner again, trying to focus his thoughts. They were muddied, even now, like one of Sarah Grace's finger paintings. All brown where the paint had been over mixed with edges of random colors. He squinted. "Let me see it."
Gingerly, Esposito lifted his hand. He had managed, apparently, while Ryan was still unconscious, to unbutton and take off the side of his shirt the wound was on. Peeling the shirt back, he revealed an angry, red wound crudely staining his white undershirt black and burgundy with dried and fresh blood. "There's an exit wound too," Esposito said.
"I thought you said you'll 'live,'" Ryan said.
"I lied," Esposito shot back. He rolled his eyes. "Geez, Kev, you really are out of it."
He couldn't deny it, so he didn't respond to the comment. "What do we do, Javi? I can't move, you can't move…"
"We need to stay positive," Esposito decided.
Kevin thought a moment, but his brain refused to comply. "How?"
"We need to think of things to keep us going. To keep ourselves occupied," Esposito said. "Tell each other stories. You start."
"Why me?"
"'Cause I don't have any. Now go."
"What do you want me to tell a story about?"
"I don't care. Anything. So long as it doesn't have to do with shootings, dead guys, or being handcuffed to a pipe."
Ryan laughed. "Darn. Now that's all I can think of."
"Fine. Then let's play a word game," Esposito said. "I'll say a word, and you say the first word that pops into your head. Then I'll say what I think of when you say that word, and so on."
"Why do you got to have so many rules?" Ryan asked sluggishly.
"Basement," Esposito said.
Ryan's mouth popped a word before his brain could. "Monopoly."
"What? Why Monopoly?" Esposito asked.
"Because," Ryan said, "when I was a kid, my sisters and I would play Monopoly in the basement of our apartment building. It was like our secret hideout or something. I dunno what we were thinking. Kind of creeps me out now."
"That's 'cause you're a homicide detective now," Esposito said. "That can make anything creepy."
Ryan chuckled. "True. What's your word?"
"Win. Because I'm the king of Monopoly."
"No, sir!" Ryan protested.
"Oh, and I suppose you think you could beat me? I've never lost a game."
Ryan snorted. "Liar. That's my word: Liar."
"Cheater."
"You," shot Ryan.
"Me?!"
"Now we agree on something," Ryan said with a smug grin.
Esposito rolled his eyes. "We're starting over. This time, you give the first word."
"Marriage," Ryan said immediately. When Esposito hesitated, he added, "First word that comes to mind, Javi! Follow the rules, cheater."
"That was a trick word," Esposito retorted.
"You told me to start, so I started. What was the first word that popped into your head, huh? C'mon, quit cheating like you're playing Monopoly."
"This is a stupid game," Esposito decided, "I'm done."
"Was your word Lanie?" Ryan pressed.
"Knock it off, Ryan," Esposito muttered. He adjusted himself, hissing through clenched teeth as he moved his shoulder.
"Hurt pretty bad, huh?" Ryan asked.
Esposito regarded him coldly. "You think?"
Ryan shrugged. "Never been shot before. I wouldn't know. But, hey, let's look on the bright side."
"That being?"
"I still don't know what it feels like to be shot." Ryan smiled.
Esposito grinned irritably. "Jerk."
"C'mon," Ryan protested, "I thought we were trying to think positive."
"Well, if you are trying to come off as positively annoying, you're sure as hell pulling it off," Esposito said with another moan of discomfort. He looked up at the tiny window over his head. It was just big enough to let a shaft of light in and dimly light the room. "Where are they? They should be here by now," Esposito muttered. "We told them where we were going, we did everything right. Why aren't they here?"
Ryan sighed. "You know how many times we've gotten Beckett and Castle out just in the nick of time? Just when they were giving up hope?"
Esposito nodded.
"This is just like that," Ryan said, leaning his head back against the pipe. "Just be happy we're not freezing to death, or being sized up by a tiger, ya know?" His partner smirked, closing his eyes and resting it against the wall. Ryan watched him for a few minutes until he thought Esposito looked too comfortable. "You still with me, Javi?"
"Yeah," Esposito said vaguely.
"Are we done with that stupid word game?" Ryan asked.
Esposito muttered something under his breath Ryan couldn't hear.
"Sarah Grace," Ryan said, trying to think of an innocent topic, "she's getting so old. When's the last time you saw her, Javi?"
"Last week, when you and Jenny invited Lanie and I over for dinner," Esposito said.
"Oh, right." Ryan fell silent again. He couldn't think of anything to talk about to take their minds off of what was happening. "Remember the night Sarah Grace was born? This isn't our first time escaping within an inch of our lives, you know?"
"But this time," Esposito said, his voice becoming more and more faint, "no one knows where we are. I'm losing too much blood, bro. I can't…"
"That's what blood banks are for," Ryan interrupted. "When you get to the hospital, they'll fill you back up, ya know?"
Esposito's head lulled forward, and Ryan cried out, "Now who's sleeping on the job, huh? C'mon, Javi, don't leave me alone."
No reply. Esposito didn't move. Ryan watched him intently, and sighed in relief when he saw Esposito's chest shudder in a shallow breath. He pulled against his cuffs one more time, testing them, as though there would be any chance. "C'mon, Javi," he said, "please. Just stay awake a little longer. Please."
"I'm so cold," Esposito muttered, lifting his head.
"It's chilly in here," Ryan lied. "But at least the room's not on fire, huh?" He laughed, but it was shrill and nervous. "I'll bet you that Beckett's right outside and she and Castle will come bursting in here."
Esposito didn't answer. He just stared at Ryan listlessly, as though it was all he could do to keep his eyes open. Ryan bent his head, trying to make eye contact. "Hey, you wanna go get a drink at the Old Haunt after this? I'll buy."
"Lanie…" Esposito breathed.
"She must be worried sick about you, man," Ryan prompted, "You two've got a future ahead of you. Jenny said she'll set a date for your guys if you two don't decide on your own soon."
Esposito's eyes slid shut.
"C'mon, Javi, no," pleaded Ryan. How could his friend be fading so fast? It wasn't very long ago he was pestering Ryan not to fall asleep with his concussion. "We're gonna get out of this, Javi," Ryan said, "you'll be in a hospital bed pining for desk work by this time tomorrow night." He laughed.
Esposito made no reply, but Ryan saw him shuddering. Perspiration shone on his partner's face, and his breathing was becoming louder and ragged.
"Where are you, Beckett," Ryan whispered.
TBC
