Title: STICKS AND STONES

Summary: Kevin Ryan Whump (A to Z) – starts when he is an officer and continues on as he becomes a detective in narcotics, undercover in the mob, and a detective in homicide.

A/N: Wow! I did not expect this story to be so well received. I really appreciate everyone's reviews and follows. They mean a lot to me. Shout out to all the Kevin Ryan (and Seamus Dever) fans who have encouraged and supported my writing. I know some of us definitely feel that Kevin, Javier, and Lanie are very complex characters that deserve more plot and air time.

This chapter occurs during Kevin Ryan's rookie days. Here, he is still partnered with Elizabeth 'Spider' Webb. I'm going to be introducing a few more reoccurring characters in this chapter, and lay down a little more background into Kevin's life. (Next chapter is where I start introducing characters from the Castle TV show/universe.)

ENJOY!

This series is an A TO Z story set. As such, expect a total of 26 chapters (or more if I decide to do an epilogue or sequel).

Disclaimer: I wish Castle was mine, but sadly it's not.


Chapter 2 – B is for Brass Knuckles

Officers Kevin Ryan and Elizabeth "Spider" Webb were speeding. They had just received a call on their radio about a domestic disturbance. Unfortunately, Elizabeth recognized the address as one that she had answered four calls from already this year. The house happened to be only a few minutes drive from where the two partners had been patrolling so Elizabeth answered the call, informing the dispatcher that they would be the first responders.

It had been almost seven months since the incident at the diner. Kevin's head had healed nicely and, after three days of paid leave, he returned to the 12th precinct. Captain Montgomery greeted him back with a medal for bravery. Humbly, he had received it.

The following months had not been as interesting or death defying as his first few days on the force had been, but the rookie was simply happy to be back. Elizabeth and Kevin proved to be an excellent pair. They became a sort of "dream team" among the regular uniformed officers. Many of their peers had tried to nickname Kevin as they had Elizabeth, but everything they tried never stuck. However, one day, a fellow rookie who was retelling an epic, though exaggerated, version of Kevin's first arrest at the diner all those months ago described his tackle of the second gunman to be like "a mad bull charging at a matador". As such, Kevin was often called "Mad Bull" or "Bull", for short. Though Elizabeth simply opted to call him by his surname, Ryan.

A few months back the two officers had been moved to a bigger neighborhood and were given a squad car so they didn't have to walk everywhere. That suited Kevin just fine but it meant they had to respond to more calls while on duty. Many were simple disturbances or petty crimes but every so often they answered domestic disputes. Kevin hated these calls. It always turned his stomach to see someone abused, verbally and/or physically, by his or her partner. To Kevin it was a serious crime.

When Elizabeth and Kevin finally reached the correct address they parked right in front of the house before exiting the squad car.

"Ryan," the female addressed her partner. "I want you to offer backup. I know this couple and they know me. I think they will respond better to a familiar face. I want you to wait outside and only come in if I radio you or you hear anything go south."

Kevin wanted to argue that it was too dangerous for his partner to handle the situation alone but, instead, he simply nodded and followed his senior officer's orders. They approached the house and climbed the stairs to the small porch. Placing her hand on her service weapon that was attached to her belt, Elizabeth calmly knocked on the door.

"Mr. and Mrs. Philips. It's Officer Webb. Would you open the door please?"

They waited but no one answered the door. Elizabeth knocked on the door again and repeated her message. No noise came from the house. Sighing, the female officer tried the door only to find it unlocked.

Looking at Kevin pointedly, Elizabeth deadpanned, "I think I just heard a cry for help." She hinted that with the possibility of a citizen in danger they could enter and search the premises with out permission or a warrant.

Her partner concurred with her justification. "I think I heard it too," he fibbed.

"Change of plans," she said. "We enter the house and try to find the Philips."

Kevin nodded before following his partner's lead. Slowly they entered the house and began searching each room individually. The first floor was cleared before the two officers decided to split up and search the rest of the house. Elizabeth volunteered to go upstairs while Kevin went to investigate the basement.

The younger officer opened the basement door and, flicking on the stairwell light, called out, "This is Officer Ryan. Mr. and Mrs. Philips, are you down here?"

Pausing briefly, Kevin thought he heard some muffled noises coming from the bottom of the stairs. Curious, he carefully proceeded to shuffle down the stairs. Once he reached the bottom he squinted into the darkness, trying to see a light switch. When he couldn't find one, he unclipped the flashlight from his waist and turned it on. Sweeping the bright beam around it revealed a few cluttered tables covered in boxes and dust. Carefully picking his way across the room he call out again.

That time he knew he definitely heard something. It seemed to be coming though a door at the far end of the room. He eventually made it to the door. Kevin fumbled with the nob before realizing it was locked. He pounded loudly on the door while calling out, "Hello? Is there anyone in there?"

A muffled call followed by a thud sounded through the door. Confident he had found the missing residents of the house, the young officer told whoever was behind the door to move away so he could kick it in. After waiting for a few seconds so the occupants could comply with his request, Kevin placed a well-aimed kick at the door, effectively breaking the lock. He then entered the room. Swinging his light around he spotted a badly beaten woman in the far corner. The woman flinched at the sudden light and fearfully shrank back. Her hands were bound in front of her by what seemed to be a necktie while another was tied around the lower half of her face, acting as a gag. She was small and dark-haired. Her red-rimmed eyes contrasted her pale face. Tears fell in tracks down her dirty, bruised cheeks.

"Mrs. Philips?" Kevin gently called out. "I'm Officer Ryan. I am responding to a 911 call made by one of your neighbors. May I approach?"

The woman sluggishly nodded.

After receiving permission, Kevin rushed over to the battered woman and kneeled before her. Soothingly, he removed the gag and untied her hands before helping her to her feet.

"Can you walk?"

"Y-yes," came the shaky reply.

Placing one of her arms around his shoulders, he looped his around her midsection. Then, together, they made their way out of the room. All the while, Kevin quietly asked the woman some simple questions.

"Who did this to you?"

"My husband."

"And where is Mr. Philips now?"

"I don't know. He locked me in this room and left a while ago."

"Is there any where safe you can go? A relative or friend?"

"I have a sister who lives in Rochester."

But, before Kevin could ask the woman any more questions, the light in the basement suddenly came on. Unable to cover his eyes from the glare because he was supporting Mrs. Philips, the young officer had to squint to see the source of the light. And, as his eyes were still adjusting, the woman screamed, "LOOK OUT!"

Out of nowhere a large mass flew in their direction. In order for Mrs. Philips to avoid more injury, Kevin gently pushed her out of they way before a very angry Mr. Philips ran into him and sent him crashing backwards. Kevin cried out in pain as his lower back struck the corner of a table right before collapsing in a heap on the dirty floor.

Massaging his back and blinking to get accustomed to the light, Kevin struggled to stand up. Finally able to see properly, Kevin looked up to confront Mr. Philips. Standing before him was a fair-haired, tan, sloppily dressed male. Kevin would have thought him to be handsome if not for the grizzly scar that ran all the way across his forehead. The man was tall – at least two heads taller than Kevin – and very strong. The young officer suddenly envisioned this man picking him up and breaking him in half over his right knee. It was a terrifying thought.

Before resorting to a fight, Kevin tried to do what he did best – talking. "Mr. Philips, my name is Officer Ryan and I am responding to a 911 call that was made by one from your neighbors. Upon searching your house I discovered your wife locked in the basement. It is my duty to remove her from this unsafe environment and take her to the nearest hospi-"

Kevin was cut off before he could finish his little speech. Mr. Philips seemed to disagree with his statements so the man swung a punch in the officer's direction. Kevin ducked the punch without any real effort. He continued to duck every single punch that the huge man tried to land. This made Mr. Philips angrier. His swings became more erratic and wider. While Kevin effortlessly dodged everything he was running out of space in the cluttered basement. Thus, the officer decided to throw a few punches of his own. A few landed on Mr. Philips' face, another couple on his abdomen. But Kevin purposely didn't put much force behind his blows for fear of seriously hurting the man – not that he thought he could injury the giant man. He was cop after all; he didn't want Mr. Philips to claim police brutality.

Of course, just because Kevin played fair didn't mean Mr. Philips did. The man finally decided to up the ante by producing a pair of brass knuckles from his pocket. Slipping them on his right hand Mr. Philips took another swing at the rookie. The punch glanced off Kevin's shoulder but it didn't even cause the young man to take a step back. Angry that his blow had no effect, Mr. Philips made the classic mistake of putting all his effort into his next punch. Kevin easily sidestepped the swing and the momentum carried the larger man the rest of the way to the ground.

Confident his opponent wouldn't be moving anytime soon, Kevin turned his gaze to the distraught Mrs. Philips. "Ma'am, would you please go upstairs and inform my partner, Officer Webb, of the situation. I will keep my eye on your husband."

Mrs. Philips nodded and hastily made her way between the tables to the staircase that led to her freedom.

Meanwhile, Mr. Philips took the opportunity to attack Kevin while his back was turned. He reached out and grabbed the young man's left hand, which was closest, and twisted it, hard. Giving a shout of pain, the rookie cop kicked out. He caught his assailant in his right knee, causing him to let go of his wrist. The jerking motion of his newly freed hand added to his unbalance, spinning Kevin into Mr. Philips' line of attack. The large man's knuckles, which were now coated in brass, impacted the exact spot on Kevin's lower back were he had collided with a table earlier in the fight. And, before the rookie could properly react and move out of the way, Mr. Philips hit him again and again in exactly the same place.

Kevin quickly dove out of his attacker's range before Mr. Philips could land another powerful blow. Then, all of a sudden, Elizabeth appeared on the stairwell, gun drawn.

"FREEZE!" she shouted.

The giant of a man didn't listen and quickly approached the prostrate officer on the ground. Seeing her partner was in further danger, Elizabeth rush down the stairs and effortlessly maneuvered through the cluttered basement until she was standing in front of the large man. She aimed her service weapon at his chest. Blocked by an armed officer Mr. Philips paused. Seizing the opportunity, Elizabeth ground out, "Move and I'll make your birth certificate a worthless document."

Threatened with the thought of death, or at least serious injury, Mr. Philips raised his hands above his head.

"Drop the weapon!" Kevin's female partner ordered, gesturing with her service weapon.

The man easily slid the brass knuckles off his fingers and dropped them to the floor before raising his hands above his head once more.

"Mr. Philips you are under arrest for IPV and the battery and aggravated assault of a police officer. Do you understand?"

The man didn't respond.

"Don't make me add resisting arrest on that list. So answer! Do you understand?"

Mr. Philips finally ground out, "I understand."

"Good, now put your hands behind your back. Yeah, nice and slow. Officer Ryan," Elizabeth addressed her partner, "would you handcuff Mr. Philips?"

"It would be my pleasure."

A minute later they led the man up the stairs, through the house, and out the front door. Elizabeth instructed the man to sit on the steps. "No funny business," she warned. "Keep your gun on this slime bag, Ryan. Don't even let him think about running. Backup and an ambulance are on their way." The female officer then proceeded to head back inside to comfort an abused Mrs. Philips who was waiting for her on the couch in the living room.

Kevin nodded before giving his full attention to the man before him. Gun drawn, the rookie had it trained on Mr. Philips' chest. A few minutes passed before another squad car finally pulled up in front of the house. Two uniformed men exited the vehicle and walked to where Kevin was guarding Mr. Philips.

"We received a report of a domestic disturbance," the older, clearly more senior of the two men, stated.

Kevin nodded in response. "This man is under arrest for battery and aggravated assault," he informed them.

The younger officer asked, "The victim?"

"His wife. She's inside with my partner."

The men nodded. The older of the two officers offered to take Mr. Philips off Kevin's hands and place him in the squad car. He readily accepted, glad to be out of that retched man's presence at last. As the two officers loaded the man into their vehicle the ambulance arrived. Kevin walked inside to inform Elizabeth and Mrs. Philips that it was safe to emerge from the house and that the medics were here. The three exited the house together.

As Mrs. Philips was placed in the emergency vehicle Elizabeth turned to Kevin and asked, "Do you want one of the medics to check you out, kid? It looked like that guy got in a couple of good hits."

"No, I'm fine, honestly," Kevin responded. "He landed a few lucky blows, that's all."

"If you say so."

"I do."

"Okay, let's get back to the precinct so we can book this bastard."

~o~o~

The 12th precinct was crowded. Many uniformed officers were excitedly rushing around while others seemed to be preparing for a big spectacle. Upon entering the building, Kevin almost got knocked over by one particularly eager detective. Confused by the commotion, Elizabeth tightened her grip on the handcuffed Mr. Philips. Looking around the senior officer eventually spotted someone she knew. To get his attention she called out; "Hey Walker!"

A middle aged, slightly greying man looked up at the call of his name. Kevin had seen the man around the precinct before. He distinctly remembered seeing the officer hanging around break room with the detectives from Narcotics - though he didn't know why. Everyone knew the boys from Narcotics were a wild and rugged bunch. They often were subjected to intense undercover work and dangerous drug busts. As such, they were closely connected to Organized Crime – the only department more uncultivated and rowdy than Narcotics. Kevin secretly hoped he never would have to work in either of those departments.

"Hey Spider! Long time, no see," the officer, Todd Walker, commented. He slowly wound his way over to where Elizabeth, Kevin, and their detainee were standing.

"You would know," Elizabeth responded. "You never respond to my invitations to the Dugout," she said, referring to a well-known sports bar that was frequented by cops.

"Been busy."

Elizabeth nodded understandingly before gesturing to the commotion around them. "What's going on here?"

A huge grin broke out on Walker's face. "Some Narcs just busted James Ruiz! Caught him with 35 kilos of cocaine in the trunk of his car, which just happened to be stolen."

"James Ruiz?" Kevin asked, not recognizing the name.

Walker glanced at him, slightly offended, before stating, "Surely you have heard of Ruiz! He's the main drug dealer for the Latin Kings. We've been after him for years."

The Latin Kings was the biggest, most violent Latino gang currently on the streets of New York. The rookie's eyebrows shot up when he suddenly made the connection. "You mean 'King Jimmy'?"

"The one and only."

"Wow."

"I know right!" Walker exclaimed. "They're set to parade him through the station any minute. I can't wait to see the bastard. I've seen one too many of his drug mules wind up downstairs in the morgue."

Elizabeth abruptly spoke up. "That's fine and dandy, Walker. But we have our own crook to book. Do you mind?"

The young officer's face deflated. "But-" Kevin started to say before he was cut off.

"This won't be the first time you see a big bust go down. I'm sure you won't miss much."

Walker laughed. "You hit the nail on the head, Spider," he grinned before turning to face the younger man again. "Better luck next time, kid," he said, clapping him on the back.

"It's Ryan, Kevin Ryan," he introduced himself, hand out stretched to shake.

"The 'Mad Bull'?"

Kevin blushed slightly at the nickname. "Yeah."

"Pleasure's all mine," the older officer said, shaking his peer's hand. "Name's Todd Walker."

But before Kevin could say anything else, Elizabeth cut him off again. "Enough talk. Come on, Ryan, let's go."

And, without another word, the female officer marched Mr. Philips though the crowded precinct to the temporary holding cells one floor below. Kevin waved apologetically at Walker before rushing after his partner.

The two uniformed officers then proceeded to go through post-arrest procedures. Elizabeth took down all of Mr. Philips information while Kevin had him finger printed and photographed. And, thirty-five minutes later, Mr. Philips was documented and locked up behind bars for processing. Finally satisfied, Elizabeth led Kevin back to their shared desk on the main floor. Many citizens didn't know about the massive amounts of paperwork that police officers had to complete after each arrest. It was one of the least glamorous aspects of the job, but it had to be done. If not, mistakes could be made in the legal system, which led to wrongful convictions or the dismissal of a case. And, if anything, that was a cop's worst nightmare – hunting down a criminal only for them to be released due to fouled paperwork.

Kevin diligently filed out his report before handing it over to Elizabeth to review. She always had to check his work before it could be recorded in the archives. He was a rookie after all. After fixing a few minor errors Elizabeth handed it back to him with the instruction to turn it in to the Lieutenant on-duty. "Then I want you to call the hospital to get a report of Mrs. Philips' condition."

"No problem."

Standing up from his seat a sudden flash of pain raced up Kevin's lower back, where Mr. Philips had punched him repeatedly, to his abdomen. Involuntarily, he hissed at the unexpected pain.

Elizabeth heard his sharp intake and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah, just a little stiff from earlier," he dismissed casually.

The female officer nodded before turning back to her report.

As he walked through the bullpen, Kevin became consciously aware of a nagging pain in his back. Ignoring it he made his way over to the Lieutenant's desk. It was unoccupied so he just placed the folder on top of the "in-box" before turning to make his way back to his desk. Unfortunately he accidently knocked an empty coffee mug off of the desk. In a burst of adrenaline Kevin dove for the mug, catching it in his left hand seconds before it could smash in a thousand pieces on the ground. A flare of agony burned through Kevin's wrist as he gently placed the mug back on the Lieutenant's desk. But, as he straitened up, an acute throbbing sensation began to emit from his abdomen.

Groaning at the discomfort, the young officer decided to make a slight detour before heading back to Elizabeth. Luckily the bathroom was empty. Confident that no one would see him, Kevin slowly tugged at the corner of his blue uniform. Hitching the back of the shirt he raised it just enough to spot a horribly swollen purple bruise. He grimaced at the reflection in the mirror. There was no hiding that bruise from anyone unless he kept a shirt on at all times – not that he was planning to walk around the precinct topless. Next, he rolled his left wrist, checking for breaks. Though he didn't find any it still pained him with each movement. He was fortunate to be right handed so he would have to worry too much about the aching appendage. Decidedly, Kevin opted to relieve himself because he was already in the bathroom. It was only as he went to flush the urinal that he noticed there was blood in his urine.

"Well, that's not good," he whispered to himself.

He thought about what he could do; he could go to the ER or wait until the end of shift, take some meds, and sleep it off. The second option currently seemed more appealing to Kevin, so he washed his hands, fixed his uniform, and exited the bathroom.

The next few hours were slow. Kevin had eventually called the hospital were Mrs. Philips was being treated. He learned from her doctor that she was severely dehydrated from her stay in the basement. On top of that she also had a sprained wrist, lacerated back, bruised legs, two cracked and three broken ribs, a broken thumb, and a partly healed fractured clavicle (possibly from an old beating that was never properly treated). Kevin was relieved to learn that there were no signs of sexual assault. The rookie had even briefly talked to Mrs. Philips who informed him that she would happily testify against her husband. Crying, she had told him that she was already in the process of filing a divorce when her husband had found out and almost killed her before locking her in the basement. She was just so glad that Kevin had found her in time. She continuously thanked him for saving her life. Kevin humbly received the praise before telling Mrs. Philips to get some rest. But, before he hung up, he promised to visit her some time soon.

Around the end of his shift the insistent pain in his lower back was causing Kevin extreme discomfort. He hid it well enough from Elizabeth; she wasn't a detective after all, but she wasn't stupid either. The female officer had noticed that the young officer couldn't seem to sit still and that he constantly stopped what he was doing to massage his lower back. Though worried for her partner, Elizabeth knew that if there were something wrong with Kevin he would have immediately informed her. As such, Elizabeth didn't say anything at the end of their shift when Kevin's face contorted in discomfort when they walked their respective locker rooms to change out of their uniforms.

When Kevin entered the men's locker room he just happened to come face to face with Todd Walker, the older officer he had met a few hours before. Though equally shocked, the greying gentleman greeted his fellow man in blue. "Hey, Mad Bull. What's up?"

Kevin just shrugged. But he regretted the movement when it caused another flash of hot pain to roll up his back and flank. Walker didn't seem to notice Kevin's discomfort because he thumped the young cop on the back, saying, "Man, you missed the coolest detainment earlier! When the Narcs brought Ruiz in they had to have five guys handle him. He was ranting and raving… I swear he was as high as a kite." He signed at the memory. "Too bad you weren't there."

"Yeah," Kevin agreed, forcing a smile through his pain. "Sounded awesome."

"You know," Walker continued. "You seem pretty mild for someone who's called Mad Bull."

The rookie grinned shyly. "You don't know the half of it."

"Really? That's too bad. I'd love to hear your half of the story sometime. If you're not busy tonight some of the guys are heading to the Dugout after this for a few drinks, wanna join us?"

Kevin had slowly made his way over to his locker while Walker had been talking. He liked the man. He had a sort of infectious heartening attitude that made Kevin smile even through his pain. On any other night he would have accepted Walker's invitation in a heart beat but he just wasn't in the mood. "Some other time, Walker. I'm a bit tired. Haven't been getting enough sleep, you know."

The man laughed. "Sure thing, Bull. Maybe next time."

Kevin nodded before turning back to his locker and opening it. A few seconds after he took out his change of civilian clothes Kevin heard Walker exit the locker room, leaving him all alone. Extremely slowly, the rookie undressed and folded his uniform before placing it in his locker. And, with the same amount of tenderness, he pulled on a pair of jeans and a casual button down. But once he started to try and do the buttons a sharp pain made him stop. Glancing down at his left hand Kevin clearly saw a livid bruise shaped like fingers – imprints from when Mr. Philips had grabbed him.

Biting his lip to distribute some pain, Kevin finished getting dressed. But, before leaving the precinct, he stopped back in the bathroom. Unfortunately his urine was still mixed with blood. Making up his mind the rookie decided to go to the hospital; there he could kill two birds with one stone – visit Mrs. Philips and make sure he didn't have bruised kidneys.

~o~o~

Kevin sat in a bed next to a sleeping Mrs. Philips waiting for a doctor to come and give him a once over. He was lucky that the ER wasn't busy so he could be seen quickly and quietly. He was even luckier when he was led to a bed directly next to the woman he intended to visit after his examination. Two birds, one stone.

After about twenty minutes of waiting the door clicked open to reveal a fair-haired, female doctor holding a clipboard.

"Mr. Ryan?" she asked, glancing down at the sheets in her hand.

Kevin straightened abruptly, wincing. "Yes."

"My name is Doctor Luka," she introduced herself. And, flipping through some more sheets on the clipboard, she continued, "The nurse said you were complaining of an acute abdominal pain and possible sprained wrist."

"That's correct."

"Very well. I'm going to need you to take off your shirt."

Kevin slowly complied. Once he was topless Doctor Luka could clearly see the extensive bruising trailing all over his back.

"Oh, dear. How did you get these?"

The young man ruefully smiled. "Fighting Mrs. Philips' husband."

"Mrs. Philips? Oh," she quickly glanced over at the resting woman. "The abuse victim. I treated her earlier. She did mention something about a cop who rescued her…" She trailed off, concluding that the man before her was Mrs. Philips' rescuer.

Kevin chuckled nervously. "Yeah, that was me."

The doctor's eyes narrowed marginally. "Wait a minute. Were you here about six months ago with a bashed in skull?"

"Yeah, that was me, too," he nodded.

"I thought I recognized you. I was the attending doctor that night, you were a bloody mess."

"I don't remember."

"You probably wouldn't… Anyway," Doctor Luka switched back to the topic at hand, "This looks like very deep bruising, possible kidney damage. Anything you didn't tell the nurse?"

Blushing, Kevin reluctantly responded. "There was a little blood in my urine."

"Uh huh," she nodded. "Alright, let's take a look, shall we?" Doctor Luka then proceeded to poke and prod Kevin for a full fifteen minutes before finally giving a verdict. "Okay, your left wrist is definitely sprained so you need to rest it for the next couple of days. I suggest you put it on ice for twenty minutes every three to four hours for the next forty-eight hours so the swelling goes down. I can have someone wrap it for you and give you a sling to help you keep it elevated. But at night you might need to put some pillows underneath it to ensure blood flow. Next, I need you to go pee in this," Doctor Luka handed Kevin a urine sample kit, "Then, when you get back, I'll have a nurse waiting to patch up that wrist."

Kevin nodded before disappearing down the hall to find the men's room. A few minutes later he returned to find a nurse waiting for him, just as Doctor Luka said. The nurse took the urine sample and went to give it to the good doctor before returning with some bandages and a sling. Once the nurse was done she told Kevin to wait for Doctor Luka's return. Just as the door snapped shut Mrs. Philips decided to wake up from her nap.

"Officer Ryan?" she asked, confused. She quickly blinked the sleep from her eyes and turned her head to get a clearer look at him. "What are you doing here? What happened to you?" she questioned, seeing the sling on his arm.

Kevin smiled sweetly down at the woman. "I did promise I would visit, didn't I? As for this," he lifted his arm as an indication, "Your soon to be ex-husband landed a few lucky blows during our scuffle earlier today."

"Oh my," she gasped. "I didn't know you were so badly hurt."

"Don't worry," he reassured her. "It's worse than it looks," Kevin joked. He winked.

"Oh I wouldn't say that," Doctor Luka announced as she reentered the room.

Mrs. Philips frowned and inquired, "What ever do you mean?"

"Well, there doesn't appear to be too much blood in your urine. But it still indicates that you have bruising on your kidneys. I suggest you drink plenty of water and rest in bed for about a week. If there is no more blood in your urine after a day or so then feel free to gradually build back up to normal activity, however, if there are still signs of blood you much rest until there isn't any. If the amount of blood increases then you must return immediately and get urgent care. You can take extra strength Tylenol for the pain, but no more than the recommended dose."

"Bed rest for a whole week?" Kevin practically squeaked, shocked at the high amount.

"Yes, Mr. Ryan, a week. Bruising to the kidney should not be taken lightly and bed rest will get the bleeding under control. If the bleeding has stopped before the week is up then you can stop bed rest after a few days but you must not over exert yourself otherwise. I don't have to explain what that means, do I?"

"No ma'am," Kevin sighed in defeat.

"Good. Now, Mrs. Philips, how are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you. These pain meds are helping me breathe much easier now."

"Wonderful, if you need anything feel free to call. I will be back in about an hour with more medication and a nurse to check on your wounds." And, with that being said, Doctor Luka exited the room again.

Mrs. Philips turned her head and addressed Kevin, "I'm sorry you got so hurt because of me."

"It's my job." Kevin stood to make his way over to the bed-ridden woman. "I am just glad I got there in time."

She smiled up at him sweetly, tears in her eyes. "T-thank you," she choked out.

He leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on her discolored temple. "I'll try to visit again. Stay strong!"

And with some final good-byes Kevin left the hospital. He stiffly wandered over to where he parked his car. Kevin drove carefully back to his small apartment building. After driving around the blocks a few times he found an acceptable parking space. The rookie finally made it up to his apartment and, after trying to find the correct key, made it inside. He slowly and deliberately poured himself a glass of water and headed for the bedroom. He downed a few Tylenol and lay back on his bed. He hurt too much and was too tired to even consider changing into his pajamas. Kevin sighed. Scrubbing his face with his right hand, the young man pulled out his cellphone. He had a lot of explaining to do, not only to Elizabeth but also to Captain Montgomery. He honestly had no idea how to safely ask for a week off.


A/N: This Chapter was mainly for the use of introducing some recurring characters from the series – Officer Todd Walker and Doctor Molly Luka. In the next chapter I am going to have Kevin meet some of the actually TV show's characters. I know this is kind of a slow opening to the series but it is necessary. Throughout the next couple chapter I will have Kevin meet more characters from Castle and complete his undercover work for Narcotics… then we'll get into the good stuff – the team of Beckett, Esposito, and Ryan.

In case you were wondering: IPV – Intimate Partner Violence

I have been working on this series for the past several months. About half of it has been already written or all the plots have been outlined.

Some of my plot points slightly contradict with the Castle universe, but none of the major ones (possibly just small side comments or remarks made during the show).

Please review!

Coming Soon: C is for Cat