Standard disclaimer

Here's a longer one becuase you guys are great and we all miss Caskett.

As for those of you who didn't follow the phone recording Gates is about to hear, the NYPD can coordinate with service providers and get copies of calls (which Ryan and Espo already pulled), so Gates is going to listen to the call Beckett got Monday night, before she knew Castle had gone off grid. It was a very...friendly...conversation.

The carpet muffled their footsteps but Esposito and Ryan were both painfully aware of the Officer following them down the hall. The guy creaked and swished in his starched uniform and the constant scrape of skin against fabric as he mopped at sweat was very distracting.

"You okay?" Ryan asked, catching Officer Glover wiping his sweaty palms against his thighs out of the corner of his eye.

He nodded, swallowing so deliberately it looked painful. "Yeah," he nodded energetically.

The two detectives exchanged worried glances. Maybe green wasn't so great after all; sure a rookie was easy to use, but really not someone you wanted to take into an unknown situation. The way this guy was sweating he either had a condition or he was greener than the grass at the Yankee's stadium.

"Hey, Glover, you know we really appreciate all your help," Esposito started.

"Oh, no problem, Detective. It's my pleasure."

"Uh huh," Esposito gave him a forced smile. "You seem uh, a little anxious. How long have you been on the job?"

"A year."

"A year, huh? How you liking it?"

"Love it," again with the enthusiastic nodding.

"So, pretty exciting right. You done this before?"

"Done what?"

"Been out to talk to witnesses, canvasing…"

"Sure," his head was like a bad bobble-head.

"Good to know," Ryan said flatly, shooting Esposito a stare. He nodded once in understanding.

"We'll take point," Esposito briefed him to make sure. "So just stay behind us."

"Sure," the young man repeated, swallowing again. "Wouldn't want to startle Nikki Heat. Or Detective Beckett- I read she was the best NYPD has."

Esposito shot a look at his partner at the awe and enthusiasm the LAPD rookie gave the name, a 'how could you use him and just feed an addiction?' look. Ryan had the grace to look a little guilty.

"Yeah," Ryan smiled stiffly. "Beckett would kick your ass a lot faster than Nikki Heat could."

"The room's just ahead," Esposito interrupted, motioning for silence.

He stopped in front of the cream coloured door and sucked in a breath, prepared to face the wrath of Beckett for going through her records and flying out here.

"Castle!"

It was a gasp.

He almost believed they had all simultaneously and coincidentally misheard. His fist was still frozen an inch above the surface and all three men listened carefully. He looked over to Ryan who shrugged. From beyond the door there was an odd rocking noise that lasted for almost half a minute; something rocking against a hard flooring.

What the hell?

Then it stopped.

"Damn it, why did you have to be so tough with the restraints?"

That was Beckett's voice alright though neither had ever heard it sound like that before. Frustrated, but disturbingly breathy.

"You said tough, Kate. You wanted authentic remember?"

Castle! That was definitely his voice. She found him already?

"Come on, Kate, just a little further. Use your legs. Almost there. Harder. Come on, Kate harder! That's it."

Oh god she found him. Esposito's eyes slammed shut and he backed away from the door violently. When he opened them Ryan was crimson – even the tips of his ears lit up. The rocking got louder and he couldn't stop shaking his head. This was not happening.

"You owe Gates a month's worth of red roses," Ryan stuttered, his eyes scaling the walls like he could escape, retreating slowly back up the corridor.

Esposito followed dumbly, grabbing Officer Glover's shirt to drag him with. The guy's mouth was hanging open and he stumbled along behind, still looking back at the door, his feet clumsy and making his cuffs jingle. The thought of cuffs made him flush even hotter. Mom and Dad were playing. He was never going to unhear that.

They made it a few feet up the corridor before they heard her cry out loudly enough even Ryan heard it up front. It was a wordless exclamation filled with something he never wanted to hear again.

"Kate!" Castle called out at the same time.

"Oh my God," Officer Glover groaned.

But that didn't…he didn't want to imagine it, but that didn't sound like two people fast approaching pleasure. That sounded more like alarm. Esposito turned back and lifted his fist to pound on the door ignoring the rush of feet behind him, knowing Ryan would fall in behind but before he could set his knuckles to the paint there was a dark blur beside his hand and the door crashed inwards, the lock splintering the wood with a dry sounding tear and Officer Glover practically fell into the room.

What. The. Hell.

Ryan was already through the door trying to catch the rookie so he followed them into the main room of the suite where Glover had petrified in the entranceway just where the room widened out. Esposito tried to look around him to see what was going on. Did Beckett hurt herself? What if he was wrong? Or what if he was right the first time around…oh man, did he want to see?

Castles hands were still on Beckett's bare shoulders, supporting her weight, mouth gaping at the intrusion.

"Who the hell are you?" Beckett demanded of Glover who just trembled on the spot.

"Beckett," Ryan sighed happily, moving Glover out of the way so he could get in.

"Ryan?" she looked floored. Espo shoved his way past as well.

"Esposito?" Castle asked like a man who thought he saw something impossible and amazing and disturbing.

"What the hell are you doing, Caste?" he demanded.

Castle looked down at Kate, like he had forgotten about their positions and hastily lowered her back until all feet of her chair were touching the ground. Apparently he had caught her in the middle of a nose dive to the floor. "It's not what it looks like," he protested quickly.

"You sure, because it looks like you used duct tape to tie Beckett to a chair." He didn't want to know and would prefer to have the image of Beckett taped to a chair half-dressed erased from his mind, but at the same time was glad it wasn't what it sounded like from outside.

Beckett had not flown all this way for a sex marathon.

He didn't lose the bet.

"Yeah, well, I…uh…well you see we…I mean…" he turned to Beckett comically flustered and seeming to forget her situation with the kitchen chair. At least he had caught her when it tipped before she hit the floor. "What do I do?"

"You could untie me for a start," she suggested, her cheeks tinged with just enough red to make it look like she had used blusher.

"Right," he agreed, taking off for the kitchen drawer in maroon boxers in search of a knife or scissors.

"I know what this is," Ryan suddenly piped up, his face clearing. "This is the scene out of Naked Heat. The Texan assassin takes Rook to his chair in his study and Nikki in the card room and puts black pillowcases over their heads before he tries to interrogate them with the dental picks about the missing last chapter of the gossip queen's manuscript."

They all stare at him after the summary and he shifted uncomfortably.

"Pretty much," Kate admitted.

"They just started filming the scene," Castle explained. "Natalie tried to do it but she couldn't and Kate and I were playing poker. Instead of more strip…anyway, I bet her acting out the scene to see if she could get away and I won, so…" he began cutting away the duct tape from the wood.

"In the book you wrote that the pillow cases were technically blue."

All eyes swivelled to the Officer still standing in an awkward limbo between the main room and the entry. He couldn't seem to decide where to look, flicking between Castle and Beckett, but mostly Beckett, shifting his weight awkwardly. Apparently he was a fan. Who remembers the colours of pillowcases? Except Ryan.

"Oh, right, this is Officer Glover," Ryan introduced him. "He helped get us access to security and track down your taxi."

"I see," she sounded less than impressed. Glover took this as approval however and stumbled forward to take her hand and shake it violently, tearing her arm away from the tape Castle had just cut but not tried to peel away. Her startled intake of air was the only sign she made that the young man had just abruptly removed some skin and a few hairs from her right wrist.

"Detective Beckett. I am such a fan." She smiled weakly and looked over at Castle in entreaty. Glover hadn't let go of her hand yet and was practically between her legs where they were still taped to the front chair legs. Beckett looked to Castle again and he stepped in quickly, snapping back out of his shock.

"Officer Glover, was it?" he asked, holding out a hand and forcing Glover to drop Kate's.

"Mr Castle," Glover took his hand and pumped it. "I can't wait for Naked Heat to come out. I must have watched Heat Wave five times before I bought it on iTunes. It's an honour. It's actually why I worked on the case."

"What do you mean?" Castle gently shook his hand off and shepherded him away from Beckett so he could cut the tape around her ankles.

Esposito had all been so concentrated on the explanations he hadn't fully registered Beckett's state of undress. Castle was only in his boxers and a white T-shirt, crumpled with sleep and Beckett was dressed to match. The tank top was not unlike the sportswear she used when she trained at the gym, but the only thing covering her legs were the lace edged boy-short style underwear which barely covered anything. The sight of Castle with his mouth practically pressed to the skin of her thighs while he carefully cut the tape around her ankles was disturbing.

It had captured Glover's attention if his staring was any indication.

"Officer Glover," she prompted him, startling his gaze back up to her face.

"Right," he cleared his throat distractedly. "Sorry. We follow the protocol. We don't pursue cases or give them much credence until 24 hours passes. I think I mentioned that on the phone," he admitted.

"Wait. That was you who called me yesterday? Why would an Officer be responsible for notifying the designated contacts?"

"They're not," he stuttered, shooting a nervous look at Esposito and Ryan. "But I recognized Mr Castle's name when I took the report, and Ms Rhodes was pretty upset, so I might have looked into it a little. When I saw your name listed as Emergency Contact, I guess I got a little carried away and made the call."

"Do your superiors know?"

"No," he shook his head violently.

"So the LAPD still thinks I'm missing?" Castle guessed.

"I told you he wasn't," Beckett sighed. "But if they didn't know you already spoke to me, you couldn't tell them, right?"

"No problem," Esposito shrugged. "Just go back to your Hotel and let Paula see you and she'll go to the police. Or save yourself some time and go in and talk to Glover's superior."

"Or not," Glover practically bleated.

"Why not?" Castle asked. "I'd rather head in there than back to the set."

"It's faster," Beckett agreed, standing and rubbing at her left wrist. "I'd don't want to get another call from the LAPD telling me Castle has gone missing."

"Please don't," Glover implored.

"Why?" Esposito demanded.

Glover looked at Beckett, apprehensive and a little sick. "I asked you yesterday if I could, uh, pull a recording of the call…"

Beckett's mouth fell open in dismay. "You didn't."

Glover's face was painfully red now and the distracted way he had been staring at Beckett was starting to have other meanings. What had those two talked about that made this guy so…oh. Oh. Really? Listening to those two did it for him? Enough to kick down a door to see?

"Ms Rhodes wanted him found so bad and I'm …I'm the only one who listened to it," he petered off and Esposito didn't blame him: Beckett's eyes were starting to flash.

"You listened to it all?" she ground out.

He was backing away.

"Get out," she hissed. "If I don't get another call tonight so Castle can tell them himself he's not missing, we will be there tomorrow and you better make sure no one else gets a hold of that call. Are we clear?"

"Clear," he squeaked.

"Now get out."

He fled.