Disclaimer: I do not own Castle ABC does
A/N: Once again I am overwhelmed by the reviews they are really enjoyable to read! This chapter is from Beckett's POV and it is meant to help clear the air a bit more. I told you all I wasn't making her the bad guy and that Ryan and Esposito would get a beating, I just never said it was going to be done in a literal sense. Next chapter will go into detail about Castle's "mysterious" background and what is going on, but I couldn't help but leave you on a cliffhanger this time around. I have not had this betaed so there may be some disconnect, spelling, grammar, and fact errors but I tried my hardest. If you find any glaring errors just let me know and I will be happy to fix them. I must say I am a bit impressed with myself since the new promo for season 3 shows Castle almost as if he was from my story, I swear I have no clue what is going on with that. As always all questions comments and concerns I would be more than happy to answer just put them in a review and I will get back to you. Now enjoy the third chapter of A Black Past!
Chapter 3: Discovery
Detective Kate Beckett was in the midst of an utterly horrible day. The day hadn't started that badly, in fact it had been one of the most pleasant mornings in months. While browsing her email this morning she had received a notice from Castle's fan site that he was back in town doing book signings and other PR regarding "Naked Heat." When reading that Kate had assumed that he was booked doing his actual author duties and would be back as soon as he was free. However, her first meeting with him since he had left in the spring had started her day spiraling downward.
An anonymous tip about a murder had led her and her team to an apartment building downtown right before lunch. Normally she and the boys wouldn't have responded to an anonymous tip, but they had just wrapped up a case the day before and had the time to go investigate. If the call had turned out to be a prank then the worst case was that they got to stretch their legs a bit, besides it was a slow day. What they had found at the scene was something that none of them had expected.
After seeing the door had been forced open they had quickly stacked up and infiltrated the room only to find a man holding a gun. The man had been none other than Richard Castle standing over the dead body of a woman holding a snub nosed .38. Of course they had only identified him after Ryan had squeezed off a premature shot that thankfully Esposito had diverted, which had led to a thorough dressing down after Castle's booking for such rookie behavior.
Kate knew she should have been overjoyed at the sight of him after so long, but the situation she had found him in, coupled with Ryan almost killing him, had caused her to completely shut down emotionally. Instead of offering him any glimpse of friendship she had sectioned that part of herself off for the time being and had, like the veteran cop she was, treated him like anyone else that was found red handed at a murder scene. Without a doubt she knew her behavior had rubbed him the wrong way and she had meant to apologize when she had gotten him into interrogation, albeit only slightly since he had after all been found at a murder scene. Ryan calling him a scumbag and Esposito hauling him around by the handcuffs had not helped the situation one bit.
While arresting, processing the scene, then booking Castle had really brought her day down, the past five hours and had only exasperated the entire matter. From the minute Castle had been brought in Internal Affairs had been all over her and the boys trying to discover, and even make up angles for them to be involved in the murder. Needless to say the meddling from IA had not only been extremely aggravating,, but had also kept her from being able to question Castle and tell him the good news that had come back from the lap reports.
It had turned out that the gun that was in his hand had in fact been the one that shot the woman who they still had yet to identify. Fortunately, forensics on Castle's coat and samples taken from his shirt had failed to produce any gun shot residue, which meant unless he could throw a bullet at the speed of sound he couldn't have killed their victim. Regardless of that fact, he was still found at the scene and with the murder weapon so she wasn't able to release him until she had questioned him. Which, thanks to Internal Affairs only recently leaving her alone, she was finally about to get around to doing. That was as soon as Ryan and Esposito got back from their interview with IA on the second floor.
Apparently Esposito's ears had been burning because as soon as she had thought of him her phone vibrated showing a incoming text from him. Sighing in frustration that he was still not here and had resorted to texting her about his tardiness she flipped open her phone. What she saw sent a shot of panic through heras she read, HELP F2 AUX STAIRS and before she could even completely process the text the emergency fire alarms started going off in the precinct
Quickly springing to her feet Kate grabbed her side arm and bolted towards the stairwell doors, ignoring the rest of the detectives who all headed towards the main stairwell. Throwing open the doors she launched herself down the stairs looking for her two detectives. Coming upon the second floor landing she was shocked at what she saw. Lying on the ground where both Ryan and Esposito with Ryan laying face down while Esposito was slumped against the wall wheezing holding his cell phone.
Not wasting a second Kate snapped open her phone and dialed Lanie. "Lanie I need you in the auxiliary stairwell on the second floor Ryan and Esposito are down and I'm not sure how bad they're hurt," she shouted into the phone barely registering Lanie's squawk of surprise before closing the phone.
Sliding next to Ryan she quickly barked at Esposito demanding an explanation, "What happened to him?" Noticing that Ryan was unconscious, but thankfully not bleeding, she looked at Esposito when he began wheezing in response to her question. Listening to him it dawned on her that he couldn't talk and that the wheezing was his attempts at answering her which explained the text. Hearing a door slam open floors below and the clicking of heels running she knew that Lanie had entered the stairwell and was on her way. Unfortunately for her two detectives, no one else had come upon them since the auxiliary stairwell was never used due to poor floor planning that put the entrances in remote corners that were a fire hazard in themselves to get to. Ryan and Esposito only used it because, as part of their Castle adopted juvenile antics, they discovered that it shortened their distance to the espresso machine by five seconds.
Hearing huffing and puffing Kate turned to see Lanie come and kneel next to Ryan who was starting to groan and regain consciousness, still nose first into the ground. Kate had no idea what had happened to her two detectives, but she bet that them being found like this and the fire alarm going off wasn't coincidence. That matter she could deal with later right now she was worried about her teammates and hoped that Lanie was going to give her good news.
(BREAK)
Well hope seemed to work for Kate since she was now sitting at the break room table with Ryan hold a bag of ice to a welt on his head, Esposito drinking salt water to ease the pain in his throat, and Lanie who was still staring at them like a hawk looking for signs of further trauma. Captain Montgomery was leaning against the counter intent to discover what the heck happened to his detectives only two floors above a wide open fire door. After examining them Lanie had concluded that Ryan didn't have a concussion and Esposito's throat was just badly stunned and bruised with no permanent damage to either. Kate now knowing that neither of them was hurt was waiting for them to spill about what happened.
Ryan was the first one to speak simply because he was the only one who could, "It was Castle. I have no idea how or why, but we just got done talking with IA and got into the stairwell and there he was in front of us. We asked how he got out and when Esposito went to cuff him he attacked. I have no idea what happened but next thing I know Esposito is going down and I see the ground coming up fast towards my head then nothing. Next thing I know Lanie is leaning over me and you know the rest."
"Castle? Our Castle? The one we have in lockup right now?" Kate asked incredulously thinking that Ryan must have hit his head harder than she thought and that EMTs were going to be necessary.
Esposito put down the glass of salt water he had been drinking and managed to rasp out his first intelligible sentence, "No question it was him. Castle said he hadn't hurt us to bad then something about wanting us to help but he was out of time and that we wouldn't listen. He sounded pissed." By the end of his statement a grimace of discomfort crossed Esposito's face signifying his throat was still sore.
Kate was a bit flabbergasted. Not only had Castle, the harmless playboy, apparently escaped his holding cell, but then he had proceeded to down both of her teammates and escape with no indication of any difficulty. She knew that he was probably innocent but him running wasn't something they could just sit around and ignore. Anger at Internal Affairs for preventing her from talking to him was her largest emotion, especially since it had led Rick to believe he couldn't talk to them or trust them. Regardless of her feelings Kate Beckett was still a cop and Castle's escape had just made finding him and what information he had her first priority.
"Ok I need to know how he got out of his cell, how he got to the stairs, how the heck he got past you two, and finally what he knows about the murder. Put out a BOLO he couldn't have gone to far and a famous guy like him shouldn't take to long to find," Kate rattled off knowing that the sooner they got to work the sooner she would be able to talk to him.
"I'm afraid that isn't the wisest decision Detective," a voice interrupted from the door of the break room. Whirling around she saw a non-descript short man in a beige suit standing with an air of confidence and mystery. Kate knew she had met this man before and suddenly it clicked. This was CIA Agent Gray that Castle had introduced her to when they investigated the con artist who was killed in an arctic tent in his apartment.
"Agent Gray, what are you doing here?" Kate asked confused to the reason why a CIA agent was not only here, but also commenting on the tracking of Castle.
Looking at them all, almost if sizing them up for their trustworthiness, Agent Gray let out a breath and spoke, "I'm here about Richard Castle. You see, he is one of ours."
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