Okay, so I'm hopelessly stalled on The Perfect Plan. So, I needed to take a break and write something different. So, I took a prompt from castlefanficprompts on tumblr. I'm sure I mangled it, but here goes nothing.
Prompt: Beckett is pregnant during 7x15. Spoilers within.
Over the next eight hours, Kate drifted in and out of consciousness. She had to do something to get out of here. She had to do something to save herself and her unborn baby. Kate managed to smile despite the gag in her mouth. She allowed herself a brief moment to think about what their baby would look like. She could see their child so clearly.
She imagined a tiny baby boy. With eyes so blue they were almost the color of sapphires. Their baby had hair the color of soft caramel. Then she would come back to reality and remember where she was and wondered if daydreaming about their baby was a hopeless dream. Would their baby survive to be born? Would she? She had to believe that her team would find her and bring her home to him.
She wished that she had told Castle about the baby. She shouldn't have waited. She shouldn't have put their baby in danger. What kind of mother did that make her? She was more concerned about her job than keeping her baby safe. She closed her eyes and willed the tears to stay put. Especially when she heard Kelly Nieman was back in the room. She couldn't let on that she was pregnant.
She scratched the straps with her finger. Trying to loosen the bindings. Then, she found the nut that held it do the table. She worked it with her fingers. After an hour of working on it, she knew that her fingers were bleeding. Part of her wanted to stop, but the other, more determined part, told her to push on. She'd already lost the man that she had loved. Her one and done. She would be damned if she would let her take her life and the life of her unborn baby.
No, her son would live to be born and she would tell him all about the amazing man that his father was. How much he loved her and would have loved him. Even though she had just found out about the baby, she somehow knew that their child would be a boy. Call it a mother's intuition, call it wishful thinking, she just knew.
She would get out of here and live to raise her baby. She would be damned if Nieman would take anything else from her. When the doctor came near her, she had just loosened the straps and that was when she fought back. She grabbed the scalpel that was in the woman's hand and fought with all her might. Her years of physical training were paying off in that moment.
The doctor turned to leave and that was when Kate simply reacted. She watched as the woman begged for her life. Her pleas fell on deaf ears. Kate could only think about her dead husband and her unborn baby. She would be damned if she was going to let her get the upped hand again. No. This stopped now. She acted swiftly and with a rage that Kate had never known she had possessed. When the woman was dead, she held the scalpel in her left hand and simply looked down at the dead woman. She felt nothing but relief. Relief that the woman was dead and relief that she would never hurt anyone in her family ever again.
Kate put her hand on her still flat stomach and closed her eyes tightly. She felt nothing for the woman that lay dead at her feet. It scared her how cold and uncaring she was at that moment. However, she could feel nothing but relief that her baby wasn't hurt.
Her only wish was that she could have prevented her husband's death. God how it hurt to know that Castle had been killed by Jerry Tyson. If only she hadn't insisted on going alone that night. If only she had let Castle come with her. Maybe she wouldn't have been kidnapped and Castle would still be alive.
Kate finally swallowed her tears and shook her head. She would always have their baby. It was the final gift that Castle had given her. The most precious gift ever. More precious than diamonds or pearls. She would make sure, along with the help of Alexis and Martha, that this baby knew only love.
That was when she heard the sound of the door breaking behind her. She didn't bother to turn around. She simply stared down at the lifeless body on the ground.
That was when she heard it. At first, she thought that she had imagined hearing Castle's voice. Then, she heard him whisper, "Beckett..."
She turned around slowly and looked at him. Part of her wanted to believe that he was really there. That he was still alive and well. Another part of her was afraid to believe that however. She looked past him and saw Ryan and Esposito standing there.
For his part, Espo could tell that Beckett was in a state of shock. He managed to pry the scalpel from her hand and then he asked one of the uniformed officers for a hoodie. Kate barely looked at Castle the entire time. It was almost as if she was looking right through him. He had hugged her briefly when they had come into the room, but other than that brief moment of contact, she had managed to keep herself away from the man that she loved. She was sure that her mind was playing a cruel trick on her.
When they sat in the back of Espo's car, Castle reached out to take her hand and she pulled away out of instinct. She wasn't sure who this man was that was currently sitting beside her, but how dare he try to hold her hand. Part of her wondered if Nieman had managed to alter another mans face so that he looked like her husband. After all, Nieman had told her that Tyson had killed Castle. Her husband was dead, so who was this imposter sitting beside her? Trying to hold her hand and edge his way into her life.
She wanted to believe that the man sitting beside her was the man that she had loved for longer than even she had been willing to admit. She swallowed hard and then looked over at him. He certainly looked exactly like Castle. When his hand wrapped around hers, he applied just the right amount of pressure. Just like Castle always had. He even managed to rub his thumb in the same circular pattern that Castle always had.
She finally looked into this mans eyes and whispered, "Why are you doing this to me? Isn't it enough that they killed him? Are you trying to drive me insane?"
She watched as this man, this pseudo-Castle, looked at her with a pained expression. She looked into his eyes and for a brief moment, she thought that maybe, just maybe this man was her husband. She turned her head towards the window and sighed heavily. No. This man wasn't her husband. Wasn't the father of her unborn baby. He was merely a trick that Kelly Nieman and Jerry Tyson had pulled on her. She wouldn't fall for anymore of their tricks.
Espo parked the car at the entrance to the hospital and Kate asked, "What are we doing here?"
Ryan turned around and told her, "We need to get you checked out Kate. You've been without food or water for two days. They need to make sure everything is okay with..."
"No!" She motioned with her head towards Castle and mumbled, "Not in front of him Ryan. Please?"
Ryan looked at her strangely and finally nodded, "Okay..."
Kate opened her door and walked towards the hospital. Castle looked at Ryan and Espo and whispered, "It's like she doesn't know me anymore. She seems like she's afraid of me. What did they do to her?"
Espo looked at Kate's retreating form and shook his head, "I'm not sure, but I'll get to the bottom of it. I promise."
Castle nodded and the three men got out of the car and followed Kate into the hospital. Wondering what had happened to the once strong detective. Wondering if things would ever be normal again...
Yes, this is a bit AU, but it seemed to fit Beckett's look when the team rescued her...