TITLE: Return from Oblivion
DISCLAIMERS: 'Castle' is the property of Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Studios Productions. No copyright infringement is intended. The story is the property of the author and her somewhat twisted mind.
SUMMARY: Kate and Castle both try to come to terms with the aftermath of the botched undercover assignment. Post 'In the Belly of the Beast.' Will start out T-rated, but will switch to M-rated at some point. The story goes AU after Elena leaves Beckett in the woods. Contains spoilers from the episode.
A/N #1: A lot of where I'm going to go with this story is courtesy of the review that I read on www dot Gossipandgab dot com. But far be it for me to second guess the direction that Marlowe is going to go as the season nears an end.
A/N #2: I don't know how Beckett managed to get a call into the precinct with her hands bound behind her back. After re-watching the episode, I still can't figure it out.
Chapter 1: A Harrowing Rescue
The woods were dark and shrouded in fog, resembling something out of a horror movie. Kate Beckett was kneeling on the ground, her hands and feet bound, the body of the man who'd brought her to these woods to kill her lying just feet away, his throat gaping open, crimson blood pooling under him. Kate was so cold that she was beyond numb, but she knew that if she didn't try to get out of these woods, she was going to freeze to death. Or one of Vulcan Simmons men would come looking for her when Mr. Harden didn't return to the compound.
Sitting on her butt, she managed to scoot toward Mr. Harden's lifeless body, lining herself up so that she could search his pockets. It took her a several minutes to find his cell phone. It took several more minutes until she was able to unlock the screen, thanking god he didn't have it password protected. Her frozen fingers didn't want to cooperate as she fumbled for the menu that would bring up the telephone keyboard. By using trial and error, she was able to turn the speakerphone on and then she dialed the one number that she knew would bring her help: 9-1-1.
'Scarsdale 9-1-1, do you need police, fire, or ambulance?'
'This is Det. Kate Beckett, Badge Number 41319. I'm in some woods near a house located at 501 Elm Road.'
'Det. Beckett, every officer in the city has been looking for you. I'm going to patch you through to your precinct so that you can give them your location.'
'Okay.'
She was so cold and so sleepy. She just wanted to lay down in these soft leaves and sleep. But she knew that she had to stay awake. She had to stay awake long enough to see Rick just one more time. She wanted him to hold her, and she wanted to tell him how much she loved him.
***CCC***
The hustle and bustle of the 12th Precinct had practically screeched to a halt as night turned into early morning. Rick Castle had lost count of how many cups of coffee he had consumed as he waited helplessly for word as to his fiancé's whereabouts. Kate Beckett had taken an undercover assignment the afternoon before that was supposed to be a quick in and out. Make contact, get information, leave. One, two, three. Only things hadn't gone exactly as planned.
They had lost contact with Kate shortly after she'd arrived for the assignment and except for a brief phone call and a text message; there had been nothing since the night before. All they knew for sure was that she was somewhere in Scarsdale, but they didn't know where.
The phone on Esposito's desk rang, causing everybody to become more wide awake. "Esposito!"
"This is Scarsdale 9-1-1, I'm patching through a call from Det. Beckett."
"Beckett? Hey, it's Kate!" Javier shouted as he hit speaker and everybody gathered around his desk. "Beckett, its Javi! Are you okay?"
"Javi, I'm in the woods and I'm so cold," her voice was slurred and weak, interrupted by a violent coughing fit.
"Beckett, do you know where you are?" He asked.
"501 . . . 501 Elm Road. But, I'm in the woods and I don't know . . . I don't know how far from the . . . house I am. I'm so tired."
"Kate, can you turn on the GPS for the phone?" Castle's voice entered the conversation.
"Can't. It took me . . . too long to turn . . . the phone on. Sleepy, Castle. Cold and sleepy."
"Ryan, Esposito! Take Mr. Castle and go to that address," Gates instructed them. "I'll try to keep Beckett on the line. Call for a bus when you get there! I want her checked out!"
"Come on, bro!" Espo called to Castle, who grabbed his coat and raced after the two detectives.
"Det. Beckett . . . Kate, this is Capt. Gates. I need for you to stay awake and talk to me."
"Tell them to . . . hurry. Tell Castle that I love . . . him."
"You can tell him that yourself in about 45 minutes. They're on their way to your location now. Can you tell me what happened?"
Kate's brain was so foggy. Why didn't Gates understand that she just wanted to sleep? But the cop part of her realized that she needed to focus. She'd survived almost dying in a freezer with Castle, being shot in the chest, almost becoming tiger kibble, and almost plunging off of a rooftop to her death. She wasn't about to die like this, in the woods, alone. 'No!' Her voice screamed at her from inside of her head. "Elena lied."
"We know. We figured that out when she escaped from the hospital. She killed her guard. Plus, Mr. Potter contacted us."
"Nothing's what . . . it seemed. Fowler . . . Fowler—"
"Let me take care of Fowler. This whole thing was a grade-A cluster fuck."
"Yeah, it was," Kate managed to chuckle. "Where are they?"
"They'll be there soon, Kate."
"He tried to drown me. In a bucket . . . of ice water. I'm so cold," her voice whined across the line as the normally stoic captain felt like sobbing. "The man who tried . . . to drown me . . . Vulcan Simmons."
"Are you sure?"
"You know him?"
"I know of his reputation."
"Castle . . . and I interrogated him almost three years ago. We thought he was . . . connected to my . . . mother's murder. I pushed him . . . through the one-way mirror in Interrogation Room 1. He didn't . . . forget."
On the other end of the line, Gates could hear Kate's teeth chattering as she tried to talk. But she knew that her teeth chattering were a good sign. It was when the chattering stopped that they needed to worry. "Kate, do you have any other injuries?"
"I might have a mild concussion. He banged my . . . head in the bucket. I'm so . . . tired."
"Beckett, don't you dare go to sleep! Stay awake and talk to me! Tell me about your wedding to Mr. Castle. I understand that you still haven't found a venue."
"No, we're still . . . looking. We had a perfect . . . place, but I . . . I messed it up. I still have . . . to pick . . . my wedding party."
"Picking who you want to stand with you can be nerve racking," the captain remembered.
"Sir . . . no, never mind."
"What is it, detective?"
"I'm sleepy. Where is . . . Castle?"
"They'll be there soon, detective. Tell me about your wedding. Do you want something small and low key or something huge?"
Kate started to speak, but instead started coughing once again. Her chest burned like it was on fire. "Since Castle is my one and done, I want the whole fairy tale," she said when she was able to get her breath once again. "Sir, I can't stay awake. I'm so sleepy."
"Beckett, don't you dare go to sleep on me!" Gates shouted at her, willing the three men to please hurry. She wasn't sure how much more time Beckett had.
"You sound . . . like Lanie after I got shot," Kate's voice was weak and raspy. "I could hear her yelling at me not to die."
"You can't go to sleep, Kate," Gates kept her voice calm, although she was screaming inside. "If you go to sleep, you won't wake up."
"Sir, Fowler's story didn't . . . make sense."
The captain turned around when she noticed the narcotics captain listening to the conversation. "No, it didn't," she agreed, glaring at the captain.
"Gotta check him—"
"Beckett! Kate! Det. Beckett, you can't go to sleep! Beckett!" It was no use. The captain had lost contact with Beckett. She pulled out her cell phone and hit Ryan's name. He answered on the first ring. "Detective, how far are you from the destination?"
"About two minutes."
"You need to hurry! I think Beckett has lost consciousness!"
Castle's heart leaped into his throat at the captain's words. He pressed his foot down on the floorboard, willing Esposito to drive faster. A minute later, they raced through an ornate gateway leading toward a huge mansion. The ambulance came in right behind them. The three men jumped out of their car as did the two paramedics. "The patient is in the woods somewhere," Espo told them. "We're not sure exactly where."
Armed with flashlights, the search party headed into the misty woods, calling Kate's name every few seconds. The only sounds they heard were of the nightlife in the trees over their heads. Esposito pulled out his cell and called the precinct. "Captain, this is Espo. Can you call out for Beckett? If we hear your voice, we can trace where she's at."
"Okay."
They walked for another several minutes before they heard a voice shouting Kate's name. "This way," Ryan pointed as the men walked off toward the left.
After a few more heart-wrenching minutes, they heard the voice more clearly. "Kate!" Castle sidestepped down the small hill to where Kate was lying unconscious at the bottom. "Kate!"
"Step back, sir," one of the paramedics checked her carotid artery. "Okay, I've got a pulse. Let's get her to the bus!"
"Is she okay?" Castle was in a blind panic. She was cold and soaking wet. What in the hell had happened to her? He then noticed her hands were behind her back. "Espo, Ryan! Do either of you have a knife? We need to cut her hands loose!"
"Sir, relax," the attendant told him. "We'll cut the ties off of her hands when we get her to the bus. We need to go. Now!"
Ryan picked up the phone. "Sir, we've got her. We'll keep you posted."
"Are you going to call the coroner about the dead guy?" Castle nodded toward where Harden's body was lying.
"Yeah. Are you going to ride with her?" Espo asked.
"Absolutely."
"Then you'd better go. We'll wait for the M.E."
Castle turned and made his way up the hill behind the ambulance attendants who were taking Kate to the ambulance. By the time he got to the bus, they had cut the zip ties off of her wrists and were rubbing her hands to return the circulation. The first paramedic frowned after he'd listened to her lungs. "Her lungs are filled with fluid."
"Her clothes are soaking wet," the second one chimed in. "If I didn't know better, I'd think someone tried to drown her."
The first paramedic quickly started an IV before looking at his partner. "Let's get her to the ER."
"I'm coming with her," Castle said as he stepped into the ambulance.
"Just stay out of my way and let me treat her."
Castle sat beside the gurney, watching the paramedic as he placed oxygen cannula's under her nose and began placing warming packs under her arms and by her hips. "Does she have hypothermia?" He asked anxiously.
"Her body temperature is low. That's why I'm placing the warming packs."
"Can't you get the fluid out of her lungs? Isn't she drowning still?"
"They'll remove the water at the hospital. We'll be there in just a few minutes."
He hadn't seen her so still since that awful day in the cemetery, the day that he'd almost lost her forever. He could see dark bruises forming on her pale skin. He fought back tears as he wondered just what hellish torture she'd undergone in what was supposed to have been an easy assignment.
***CCC***
Castle was waiting outside of the trauma room when he heard footsteps approaching. Jim Beckett was walking with Martha and Alexis. "Rick, how is she?"
"They haven't told me anything, yet. The paramedics got her stabilized, but she was in rough shape when they brought her in."
"Richard, what happened?" Martha asked.
"I don't know. She went on an undercover assignment for narcotics and things were sideways almost immediately. There was another man in the woods where we found Kate, but he was dead. Esposito called and said that his throat had been slashed."
"Where are Ryan and Esposito?" Alexis asked.
"They were waiting for the M.E. They should be here soon," Castle began to pace. "They tried to drown her. When we found her, she was soaking wet and freezing cold."
Just then, a doctor came out holding a file in his hand. "Family of Katherine Beckett!" He called out.
"I'm Jim Beckett, Katie's father and this is her fiancée, Richard Castle."
"I'm Dr. Evans. Your daughter is suffering from a moderate to severe case of hypothermia. She's also somewhat bruised and battered. We've started her on an IV of warm saline to re-warm her blood and we've also inserted a tube to get the water out of her lungs. She's being monitored for adverse reactions to the re-warming, but so far she's tolerating the procedure well. She'll be moved to a room shortly."
"Has she regained consciousness?" Castle asked.
"No, but I don't expect her to for several hours. This is due to the hypothermia."
"Thank you, doctor," Jim turned toward the family. "Why was she working narcotics? I thought that Katie is a homicide detective."
"It's a long story, and I really don't understand all of it. Capt. Gates will be here soon and maybe she can explain it to you," Castle rubbed his face wearily.
"I'm going to go get us some coffee," Martha said. "Alexis, come along and help me."
Castle and Jim were standing there when the boys and Capt. Gates arrived a short time later. "How is she?" Gates asked.
"Still unconscious. The doctor doesn't expect her to wake up for several more hours. What did you find out about the dead guy?"
"We're running his prints, but his throat was slit just like the dead drug dealers. So, we're guessing that it's the work of Elena Markov," Ryan said.
"So, she accosted Beckett in the woods, but left her unharmed?" Castle was puzzled. "That doesn't make any sense."
"Maybe she thought that Beckett would be dead before she was found," Espo added.
"Mr. Beckett, I want to apologize to you and to Mr. Castle," Gates looked at the two worried men. "I was assured that this was a simple undercover assignment. Kate was just supposed to go in and have a meet, and then she was supposed to get out. My intuition was telling me that something wasn't right. I even offered Kate an out, but she refused."
"What about the house? Did you find anything there?"
"Yeah, it was clean," Ryan said.
"Clean? You didn't find any fingerprints?" Castle was stymied.
"We didn't find anything. It was as if nobody had ever been there. CSU is still checking it out, but they're not overly optimistic," Espo said.
"We have to work on the assumption that Beckett was made and the dead man had taken her out to the woods to kill her," Gates added.
"And Elena killed him, but left Kate alive. None of this makes any sense," Castle was angry, but he didn't know who to be angry at.
It was obvious that Capt. Fowler hadn't done his homework. If he had, he would've known that Elena Markov was a contract killer and not a drug courier. If he had bothered to do research, alarm bells would've gone off. Nothing about this case was as it seemed and it angered him.
***CCC***
Kate came to Castle's door feeling wet and cold from the rain. But now she was warm, unbelievably warm. Reaching out, she could feel the softness of Castle's hair under her fingers. She hummed low in her throat as she combed her fingers through it. She loved touching him, feeling the way that his skin felt under her hands when they made love. She also loved what his hands could do to her, making her feel things she'd never felt with any other man.
She opened her eyes, when she realized that she was running her fingers through Castle's hair. It wasn't a dream. She hadn't died. Castle was asleep, his head resting by her hip, and his hands stretched out across her abdomen. Her eyes still felt so heavy, and she was so sore, but at least she was warm now. "Castle?" Her voice was raspy and her throat hurt. "Rick?"
At the sound of his name, Castle sleepily lifted his head up off of the bed, his eyes crinkling in a smile when he saw that Kate was awake. "Hey," he whispered.
"You found me."
"Hey, it's me that you're talking about. You're not going to get away from me that easily. Of course I had some help from Ryan and Esposito. Let me go and let someone that you're awake," he stood up and started to leave, but she grabbed his shirt. "Kate, I'll be right back."
"Don't go," she whispered. "They'll figure out I'm awake when they come in here."
He could see the relief shining in her eyes that she was still alive, but he also saw the fear. Toeing out of his shoes, he laid down next to her, feeling her curl herself around him. "Watch your IV." He smiled when he felt her nuzzling his neck. "Do you want to talk about what happened?"
"Not yet. I don't want to tell my story a hundred times."
They lay quietly side by side, each lost in their thoughts. She could feel his hands rubbing slowly up and down her spine, soothing her wandering thoughts. There was so much that she didn't remember. But on the other hand, there was too much that she did remember.
Holding her in his arms, Castle was startled when she made a sound low in her throat. "Kate?" He whispered before he felt her tighten her grip on his chest. "It's okay. You're safe. Relax. Shh," he whispered to her, bringing her back from the brink of whatever had been trying to draw her away.
The door opened and a nurse stepped in, stopping short when she saw Castle in the bed with Kate. "Welcome back, detective. Let me call Dr. Evans and then we'll take a look at you. I'll be right back."
"They're going to throw you out," her voice sounded raspy, but sad.
"If you don't want me to leave, I'm not leaving," he declared resolutely.
She reached up to touch his face before drawing him down for a kiss. "I dreamed about doing that again," she stroked his face before kissing him again.
They were interrupted by the door opening, this time by the same nurse who had been in earlier followed by a doctor. "Det. Beckett, I'm Dr. Evans. How are you feeling?"
"A little sluggish, but I'm much warmer now," she answered as he raised the bed and checked her reflexes.
"The sluggishness might linger for a few days. I'm going to go ahead and remove this IV since you're awake. Your throat and chest might be sore for several days due to the water that you ingested. I would like for you to rest tonight and I'll release you first thing in the morning."
"Doctor—"
"You almost drowned, detective. You need to be observed overnight. I promise that I will release you first thing in the morning. Mr. Castle, you should go home and get some rest, as well."
"He's not going anywhere," Kate declared stubbornly.
"Well, for right now your father is outside and your boss has been anxious to ask you a few questions."
"Can you send my dad in for a few minutes?"
"Of course."
"Do you want me to stay or do you want some alone time?" Castle asked her.
"Will you please stay?" Her eyes were huge in her still too pale face.
"I'll stay," he kissed her above the bruised area on her forehead. He sat against her pillows as she put her head on his shoulder.
The door opened and Jim walked in as Kate gave him a bright smile. "Hi, dad."
"Katie, you gave all of us quite a scare," he walked over and gently hugged her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm a little sore, but I'm okay. They're going to let me go home in the morning."
"I can see that you're tired, so I won't stay long. I just wanted to see you and make sure that you were okay. Take care of her, Rick."
"You don't have to tell me twice," Castle smiled.
Moments after her father walked out, Gates and the boys walked in. "We won't stay long, detective. Can you walk us through what happened? We got the text that you sent, but we couldn't ping the phone."
"I tried to send the entire address, but Mr. Jones came to take me to the meeting with Lazarus."
"And you met with him?"
"I met with the person that I thought was Lazarus, but it wasn't him."
"And that was Vulcan Simmons?"
Castle's breath caught in his throat at the mention of the hated name. "Vulcan Simmons did this to you?" He looked at her, but he instantly calmed down when he felt her withdrawing into herself and away from him. "Kate, I'm sorry."
"I recognized his voice, but I was hoping that I was mistaken. But then he turned around and—"
"He knew who you were?" Gates guessed as Kate nodded.
"If someone puts you through a mirrored wall, you don't exactly forget what they look like. Especially when the person who put you through that wall is a woman."
"Beckett, what happened?" Ryan asked.
"He wanted to know what the police knew about Lazarus. He had this tub of water . . . with ice cubes floating in it. He then started repeatedly asking what I knew about Lazarus. At some point, I passed out for a few seconds. He shoved me to the floor and that was when I heard him tell Mr. Harden—"
"Who's Harden?" Esposito wanted to know.
"You should've found his body in the woods when you found me. Elena killed him."
"Elena Markov?" Ryan looked at Kate as she nodded. "Why did she kill Mr. Harden, but she left you alive?"
"She told me that Lazarus wanted me alive. That's how I know that Simmons isn't Lazarus, because Vulcan Simmons wanted me dead."
"So, Simmons is just a middleman?"
"Yeah," Kate yawned.
"We're going to let you get some rest. We'll figure this out, detective," Gates told her.
"Yes, sir."
"Take a few days and we'll talk at the end of the week."
Kate sagged wearily against Castle's shoulder the second that her visitors all left. He pressed his lips to the top of her head. "Go back to sleep, Kate."
"It's Bracken, Castle," he looked down at her in shock. "Bracken is Lazarus."
"Kate—"
"No, listen to me. When Elena slit Harden's throat, I asked her if she was going to kill me. She said that her boss wanted me left alive. She said that he owed me. When I stopped the assassination last year, the last thing that Bracken said was that he owed me. Now we're even. Which means that the next time we meet—"
"I don't even want to think about that."
"It's going to be bad this time, Castle," she put her head on his chest. "Every time you mention leaving, I just feel overwhelming panic. I don't want to let you out of my sight."
"I'm not going anywhere," he held her tighter.
"So, how do you feel about sharing a very small, very uncomfortable bed?" She looked up at him.
"I'm not going anywhere," he tilted her head up and kissed her, relishing the feel of her mouth moving against his.
"I love you, Castle," she murmured sleepily, feeling his arms tighten around her even more.
"I love you, too."
Castle lay awake for a long time after Kate had settled into a deep sleep against his chest. His thoughts were full of so many things; Kate being safe and sound, her struggles with PTSD, and lastly, the revelation that Senator William Bracken was far more evil than either of them had known.
A/N #3: This story is going to be posted very slowly. It took me four tries to get the first chapter the way that I wanted it to go. I'm also not sure how long it's going to be. Please read and review.
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