The Root of All Evil
A/N: I just wanted to clarify, for anyone who doesn't remember. Ethan Bryant was the psychotic Lieutenant in The Western Way who sent Lockwood to kill Kate, tried to wipe out the Cherokee and kidnapped Alexis, Josh and Espo. Yeah, that guy.
Here is chapter 4! Enjoy the calm before the storm, people, because it's going to be a doozie. ;)
Chapter 4
"Sheriff Beckett?"
Her head was swimming, caught in a cloud, a black cloud, as her eyes danced behind her eyelids.
"Sheriff Beckett?"
She breathed out a moan.
"Wuz goin' on?" She mumbled as her eyelids fluttered open to see Will and a couple other townspeople gathered around her.
"You passed out," Will replied, holding a hand out to pull her off of the ground. "Are you okay to get up?"
Kate nodded as she gasped his wrist with one of her hands and used the other to rub her forehead. The telegram fluttered to the ground from where it had landed in her lap and she gazed down at it, surrounded by the other packages and letters she had dropped on her way down.
"He's out," she stated.
"Who's out?" Will questioned as Kate bent back down to pick up the slip of paper.
Kate opened her mouth to reply when Rick came busting through the doors.
"Are you okay? Mrs. O'Brien told me you fainted." He asked, panting as he reached an arm around her waist.
Kate waved him off with a shake of her head. "I'm fine, Rick. Really."
She pinned him with a look when he opened his mouth again, to ask about the baby.
"I'm fine Rick," She repeated with gritted teeth and he snapped his jaw back shut. "But we do need to talk."
Castle took the stack of packages Will was holding out to him and followed as Kate led the way out of the Post, the telegram hanging loosely from her fingers.
He glanced over at her, again, as they made their way down Main Street towards the jailhouse and she let out a sigh.
"What, Castle?" She snapped.
"Nothing."
"Then stop looking at me."
"I like looking at you."
"Well, it's starting to piss me off, so, stop it."
Castle let out an exasperated sigh and Kate ran a hand through her long brown hair, grumbling as she untwisted a couple more pieces of straw from the tangled strands.
"Are you sure, you're okay?" Castle asked again, quietly as they made their way up the steps to the jailhouse.
"I'm fine, Castle!" Kate turned and yelled back. "Why do you keep asking me that?"
Castle stared up at her, his arms still burdened with the stack of packages from the Post Office, his own anger level rising. "Because I am worried about you, damn it! You've barely been eating and anything you do eat, you're throwing up. You don't seem like you're sleeping very well, not that I would know. And you just fainted. So, yes, I think I am allowed to be worried about you…"
He lowered his voice as she continued to stare down at him. "About both of you."
A tear leaked out of Kate's eye and Castle's eyes widened as she lifted a sleeved arm to wipe it away.
"Damn it," she grumbled and turned to march through the swinging doors of the jail.
Castle hurried up the stairs after her and dumped the packages on the desk before wrapping his arms around her. She buried her head in his neck and began to sob her tears soaking the collar of his shirt.
Castle made soothing noises as he turned his head to meet the eyes of Esposito who had been lounging back in the chair when they had walked in, and was, now, sitting up straight in the chair, eyes wide as he stared at them. Castle shrugged his shoulders slightly and Esposito made the same motion in reply.
"I hate being pregnant." Kate sobbed into his shoulder and Castle deflated slightly. "I turn into an emotional wreck."
"It's okay, I didn't mean to yell. I'm just worried." He leaned down to whisper in her ear and motioned, with his eyes, for Esposito to give them a moment. Espo nodded in reply, scooting towards the doors as quickly as possible, plopping his hat on his head in the process.
"I know," she whimpered back, sniffling into his shoulder before pulling her blotchy, tear stained face back so she could look up at him. "I got a telegram today."
He stared at her for a second, thrown by the change in topic, before his eyes dropped to the slip of paper she was holding out to him. He took it as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve one more time, erasing any trace of the fact that she had been sobbing only moments before.
She watched him as he read the telegram once, his brow furrowed in confusion, a second time with his hand against this head, lips moving with the words. A pause at each "stop". And, finally, a third time with his eyes wide.
"He's out," he whispered as he looked back up at her. "How could he have gotten out? He kidnapped my daughter. He tried to kill you. He tried to wipe out the entire Cherokee reservation. They promised us he wouldn't get out!"
He was pacing the room, walking steadily from the empty back jail cell to the swinging door as his arms flailed out in front of him. Kate stood in the middle of the room as she watched him, an arm resting protectively over her belly as he paced, back and forth in front of her.
"He's going to come here," She stated quietly. "He's going to try again and he is going to be on a war path this time. He hated me in the beginning, then, I got him thrown in jail. He's going to blame me. He's going to be out for revenge."
Castle stopped to stare at her. No, he wouldn't let that happen. He wouldn't let Bryant hurt her any more than he already had. That man had put her, both of them, through hell. How had he even managed to get out of jail? The trial had been a lock. The prosecution had even told them that they didn't need to testify because they had enough evidence and witnesses without them.
"I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he stated resolutely even though they both knew that she could protect them better than he could.
Kate couldn't help but smile as she lifted up on her toes to kiss him, only to pause with her hand cupped on his cheek, her words of gratitude at his promise dying on her lips.
"Castle," she whispered suddenly, a sense of dread bubbling up through her. "He knows I killed Lockwood. He has no proof, no evidence. No one does, but he knows and if he gets even one person to listen…"
Her voice trailed off and Rick reached out to pull her to him again, a hand wrapped firmly around her back, pressing the full length of her body against his. He needed to feel her, to make sure she was alive and with him. They had had too many close calls over the past few months. They weren't going to have another one.
"You're not going anywhere alone, you hear me. I want some one with you at all times," he ordered.
Kate pulled back to stare at him. "Castle, I can take care of myself."
Rick deflated, taking a step forward to rest his forehead against hers, their noses bumping gently, nuzzling against each other. "I know you can, but I just need to be sure. It's not just you anymore, Kate."
"You think I don't know that?" She whispered back. "I know it's not just me. It's me and the baby and you and Alexis and my father. Bryant was crazy before. He sent a trained assassin to rape and kill me because I got on his nerves. I can't even imagine what prison has done to him. Have you ever been in one of those places, Castle? They breed insanity. People aren't meant to be released from them. We all need to be careful."
She let out a sigh as pulled back, out of his embrace and wrapped her arms around her middle as she leaned back against the edge of the desk. Pulling in a deep breath she glanced back up at him.
"Welcome home," she stated glibly, a forced laugh dying on her lips as she dropped her head. "Still want to marry me? It's not to late to grab Alexis and run back to New York, you know. Forget you ever met me."
Castle let out a sigh as he stepped in front of her, nudging her legs apart with his knee so he could stand in between them. His hands fell to rest on her thighs, running up the sides to her hips, his thumbs caressing her belly through the wool weave of her pants. "There is no place I would rather be."
She nodded again, her head turning to look over at the door, swinging slightly, with the spring breeze. Her breath hitched again as her chest started to constrict and tears pricked at her eyes.
"Hey, look at me," he prompted, when she continued to look everywhere except back up at him.
Her eyes darted up to his quickly, before she dropped her head to stare at his chest, arms, legs, hands. Anything that wasn't his face.
"I love you. I am going to marry you and Ethan Bryant can go to hell."
"Okay," she whispered.
Kate nodded her head a couple of times as they stood there, her perched on the desk, his thumbs rubbing lazy circles over her prominent hip bones. She brought her own thumb up to swipe at her eyes and sniffled in a breath as she gathered herself back together before looking up at him with a forced half smile.
"So, what did the preacher say?" She asked quietly after a moment.
Castle sighed as his hands stilled on her hips. "It seems that the good preacher isn't in the habit of doing shotgun weddings and he was less than thrilled when I asked him to do ours."
Kate let out a slight laugh. "I wish I could say I was surprised. We've never exactly seen eyes to eye. I thought he would make an exception though because he and my mother got along great. The same with my father."
"What do you mean you've never seen eye to eye? He's the preacher. He's supposed to love everyone despite their sins. What could you have possibly done?" Castle wondered aloud.
"Oh, you know, the usual," Kate replied flippantly, toying with one of the buttons on his shirt. "Got pregnant out of wedlock, had one shotgun wedding, became sheriff, got divorced, got pregnant a second time out of wedlock. Oh, and I never have been big on the going to church bit of the whole religion thing. He didn't take my speech on self-reflection as a form of prayer from when I was thirteen as well as I had hoped."
Castle barked out a laugh. "You really are the town problem child, aren't you?"
Kate tilted her head up to kiss his throat in silent response.
"So," Castle pressed on as she continued to nibble on the sensitive skin of his neck, his grip tightening around her hips. He could definitely get used to pregnant Kate, well, without the violent morning sickness and bipolar mood swings. "What do you think we should do?"
"General Johnson is visiting the troops out at the Army camp." She breathed against him in between nips and kisses to his flesh. "Last time I checked, Generals were ordained. We could ride out to the camp and see if he would do it for us. He does happen to like me."
She giggled slightly as Castle let out a growl and gripped her hips, pulling her up to set her completely on the desk, forcing her lips away from his neck. "If you don't stop that we aren't going to make it anywhere today except back to your bed. Last time I checked, that's what got us into this predicament in the first place."
"Fine," Kate lamented as she pushed on his chest, forcing him to take a step back so that she could hop down. "But after we get that piece of paper signed and say our "I do's" we are spending a week together, locked in that room, because when I don't want to kill you, the only thing I can think about is your hands all over me and trust me, I would be very grateful to feel them."
Castle let out a whimper as he watched her saunter towards the door, her hips swaying a little more than usual. His teeth sank down in his lower lip as she turned back to look at him a small seductive smile covering her face. "Are you coming?"
Castle let out another whimper at the innuendo and lunged at her, wrapped his arms around her waist, his lips coming down to devour hers.
"Tell Esposito he's in charge for the next couple of days. We have to see a man about a wedding."