DISCLAIMERS: If 'Castle' were mine, it would've gone on for another 10 years.
SUMMARY: Castle and Beckett learn more about Caleb Brown. In the meantime, Castle tries to hold onto Kate, who is once again falling down the rabbit hole.
A/N #1: Again I want to thank Kelly, Jo and Angie for everything. I really can't thank any of them enough.
A/N #2: I know I'm going to get complaints about making Kate weak and weepy in this chapter. But keep in mind, that this is a woman who is being told about things that she has no memory of and is living in the home of a man who she remembered as annoying and intrusive. That would be enough to make any woman weak and weepy. Not to mention extremely confused. Please bear with me. This part of the storyline isn't going to last forever.
FORGETTING
CHAPTER 7: A New Enemy Surfaces
"Hayley, what did you find?" Castle asked when he and Kate walked into the P.I. office.
"Quite a lot, actually," she turned the laptop around so that they could read the screen. "Caleb graduated from Harvard Law School and immediately went to work for Baker, Scribbs, and Leaky here in the city. He soon became the counsel of record for Vulcan Simmons."
"Wait! He was Simmons' attorney?" Castle looked over at Kate, who had no reaction at the mention of the name.
"Yes, he was. He was bringing in a six figure salary keeping Simmons and his associates out of prison. He must have been good at it, because none of them ever spent so much as a minute in county."
"Is there a connection between Vikram and Vulcan Simmons?" Kate finally spoke up.
"None that I've found, so far, but I'll keep digging."
"Have they finished sweeping the bull pen?" She looked at Castle.
"I'll call and ask Esposito." Castle took out his phone and stepped away while Kate sized up Hayley.
"You must feel horribly confused," Hayley observed. "The name Vulcan Simmons doesn't ring a bell for you?"
"No," Kate shook her head. "But, right now nothing rings a bell. Who is he?"
"Maybe Rick—"
"No," Kate was quick to shake her head again. "No! I'm tired of everybody telling me, 'Maybe Rick should tell you.' I'm asking you who Vulcan Simmons is."
"I just know what Rick and Alexis have told me about him. He was already dead when I took this job. You went on an undercover assignment that went horribly, horribly wrong. Apparently you'd had a run-in with Vulcan Simmons a few years before and you had another one with him two years ago. One that almost got you killed. And then a few weeks later, someone murdered Simmons and tried to frame you for it."
"Who killed him?"
"The same man who ordered the hit on your mother."
"Well, I just got off of the phone with 'Sito and he said the sweep didn't pick up anything. What's going on?" He asked when he saw the look on Kate's face. "Kate?"
"Keep looking into Caleb Brown," Kate said. "I want to know everything." She then turned toward Castle. "Let's go to the precinct."
Kate was quiet until they got into Castle's car and he pulled into traffic. "Writer Boy, when we get home later, I want you to make a list."
"A list?"
"Yes, a list. I want you to make a list of everything that I've forgotten. Starting with Vulcan Simmons," she gave him the glare that he was all too familiar with from their early days together.
"I'll make a list and I'll tell you one story a night. Okay?"
"But you'll start with Vulcan Simmons?"
"I'll start with Vulcan Simmons."
"Thank you. I'm sorry, Castle. I'm just so confused."
"I know. Like I told you yesterday, we're going to figure this out. One step and one day at a time."
"We've been through a lot together, huh?"
"You have no idea," he said, fixing his eyes on the road.
Kate smiled, remembering saying those exact words to him after the end of the Alison Tisdale case.
***CCC***
"They finished the sweep earlier this morning and they didn't find any listening devices," Espo told Rick and Kate when they got off of the elevator.
"Then, how were they tracking Vikram?" Castle asked.
"We don't know," Will walked up to the three of them. "Either he was in contact with them or he was wired himself. We're not going to know unless we're able to get more evidence against him or find out who this guy Flynn really is."
"Hayley found out that Caleb Brown was Vulcan Simmons' attorney before he was Vikram's attorney. She's still digging into him," Castle reported.
"Good. Has she found out anything about any known associates?"
"Not yet."
"I'm going to go get some coffee," Kate said, turning and walking toward the breakroom.
"How is she doing?" Sorensen asked.
"She's having a rough time. She wants me to make a list of everything that she doesn't remember. Seven years' worth of stuff," Castle sighed wearily. "It's going to be quite a long list."
"Bro, do you think that you should tell her everything?" Espo wanted to know.
"It probably wouldn't hurt," Ryan suggested. "Maybe some of the stories will jog something; make her start remembering."
"And maybe you've watched one too many soap operas," Espo glared.
"I'm going to make some phone calls. Let me know if anything else surfaces," Sorensen started to walk away.
"Will? Are you going to stick around?" Castled called out.
"For now. But, if we don't find something soon, I'm going to get pulled and put on other cases."
Kate was standing outside of the breakroom nursing a cup of coffee when she saw Will approaching. She followed him down the hall to her office, which he was using for the time being. "You took over my office?"
"Kate? You remember that this is your office?" Will asked in surprise.
"Well, there are pictures of Castle and me and these are my moms' elephants."
"Esposito just thought it'd be easier for me to work from here. Castle says that you're having a rough time."
"I was a fan of his, Will. When he shadowed me, he was an annoying, self-centered jerk. Then he started nosing into my mom's case and I hated him. The last time that I remember seeing him was when you were in the hospital after getting shot. He told me what he'd found. I guess that he thought that I'd be overjoyed. But I was so pissed off!" She shouted at the ceiling. "And now I find out that I'm married to him. I know that he loves me," she collapsed in a chair across from her desk. "I know that he loves me because it shows in his actions, it shows in his words, it shows in his eyes every time that he looks at me. But I don't feel anything because I don't remember loving him! I don't even understand why I'm telling you all of this!"
"You're telling me all of this because you need to tell someone. You're telling me because I'm neutral to the situation. Yes, we had a history, but we don't anymore."
"Did we get together . . . after you got out of the hospital?"
"For a little while. But we both realized that it wasn't going to work, so we ended it."
"Did I end it or did you?"
"It was a mutual decision."
"Are you seeing someone now?"
"I got married," he smiled proudly. "Just over a year ago. Right after you and Castle got married, as a matter of fact. Her name is Christine and she works for the U.S. Attorney's office as a paralegal."
"Wow," Kate smiled. "That's great. I'm really happy for you, Will."
'I really don't want to see someone else's perfect day.'
"Kate?" Sorensen had noticed a strange look come across her face. "Kate? Are you all right?"
"Yeah," she stood up. "I guess that I should go and see what the boys are up to."
She walked out and found the boys at their respective desks. She sat down in the chair beside Ryan's desk, watching him work until he stopped what he was doing to look at her. "Castle went to the men's room."
"I don't need to know where Castle is every minute of every day. He told me last night that you're married and you have a little girl," she smiled, the smile getting bigger at the look of pride that came across Ryan's face. "Tell me everything and I want to see lots of pictures."
Will looked up from his desk, frowning slightly when he heard Kate giggling and chatting with Ryan while they looked at pictures of his family on his phone. He stepped out of his office just as Castle was re-emerging from the restroom. "Castle?" Will motioned for him to come into the office, where he closed the door. "Have you noticed anything about Kate's mood?"
"The memory loss is difficult for her to deal with, but other than that, no. Why?"
"She was in here a few minutes ago, upset because she doesn't feel a connection to you. And now she's sitting out there with Ryan, laughing over his pictures."
"Well, she's going to be more comfortable with the boys because she had a relationship with them before I entered the picture."
"Maybe you should talk to that doctor that treated her after she was found. Find out what she has to say."
"Maybe, but right now, I don't see a problem."
***CCC***
That night, it was just Rick and Kate at the loft. Martha was at her apartment and Alexis was out with friends. He walked over to the sofa with a bottle of wine and two glasses. Kate looked at with him with a raised eyebrow before she accepted the glass that he held out to her. "Kate," he sat down on the sofa next to her before he began speaking, "do you remember a detective by the name of John Raglan?"
"What does he have to do with Vulcan Simmons?"
"Before I tell you about Vulcan Simmons, I need to backtrack a little bit. Everything that I'm about to tell you all ties in together. It ties together Montgomery's murder, your shooting, and your mother's murder. You got a call from John Raglan. The two of us went to meet him and while we were talking to him, someone shot and killed him."
"What did he tell us?"
"He didn't get to tell us much before he was killed. Only that your mother died because of something he had got involved in seven years before she was killed. His partner, Gary McCallister put us onto Vulcan Simmons. Simmons was one of the biggest heroin dealers to come out of Washington Heights."
"My mother and her colleagues were trying to rid Washington Heights of dealers."
"We know. You told us at the time. Anyway, he was brought in. Kate, he was a cocky mother fucker, excuse my language. He made some taunts about your mother and the next thing that I know, you had him up and against the mirror in the interrogation room. You smashed the mirror. He just thought that it was hilarious. The boys pulled you off of him, but Montgomery was livid because he was forced to release him. He then threw you off of the case."
"Did Simmons have anything to do with my mother's murder?"
"No. But we found out a few years later that he was working for the man who ordered her murder. You went on an undercover assignment."
"The one that went south," she filled in as he nodded.
"Vulcan Simmons was at the house. He instantly recognized you and then he tried to kill you. He waterboarded you and when he thought that you were almost dead, he had one of his henchmen take you out in the woods to kill you. But he was killed by the woman that you were impersonating, a woman by the name of Elena Markov. She was also working for the man who ordered your mother's murder. He let you live because he owed you for saving his life a year before."
"I need his name, Castle."
"No, Kate. We agreed on one story a night. Tonight we're discussing Vulcan Simmons and nobody else."
"What happened to Simmons?"
"A few weeks after we rescued you from him, he was found murdered. The person who murdered him stole one of your guns to commit the crime."
"I was framed?"
"Yeah. You and I went on the run before we finally found the evidence that cleared you, and it led to the arrest of the man who masterminded your mom's murder."
"Which you aren't going to tell me about?"
"Not tonight. One story a night, Kate," he stood up and went into the kitchen.
"You do realize that I could just Google my mother's name, don't you?"
"Yes, but I'm hoping that you won't."
"Thanks for the wine, Castle, but I think that I'm going to go to bed."
She got up and went into his bedroom, closing the door behind her. "I can't do this," she whispered against the closed door. " ' .This."
She startled when she heard Castle knock on the door. "Kate? Can I come in? Please?"
She hesitated for about a minute before she opened the door. "Castle, I need his name. I know what we agreed on, but I need his name! I have been hunting for my mom's murderer since I was 19 years old! I need this!"
"I know that you're confused. Believe me, I get that. And I know how much you need to know his name. And I promise that I will give you his name. Just not tonight."
"I can't do this, Castle. I can't stay in this apartment and pretend that everything is okay when it's not."
"I'm not pretending either, Kate. But you promised me that you wouldn't run. I have fought and I have clawed every inch of the way when it comes to my relationship with you. None of this has been easy, but one thing has always remained the same. I love you so very much. This hasn't been easy for me either." He took her left hand and held it up so that she could see her wedding ring. "I put this ring on your finger and I made a vow to love you until death do us part. That is a vow that I take very seriously."
"I want to love you," she gave him a watery smile. "I really do. Because I see in your actions and in your words that you're not that same man who used to drive me crazy. You've changed, Castle."
"You made me want to be a better man, Kate. You made me want to change. I once told you that you were the most maddening, challenging, frustrating woman I've ever known in my life, but I still love you. Would you let me try to sweep you off of your feet again?"
"Is that really how you did it?"
"Well, not exactly. I'm just asking you to please stay and to please give me a chance to prove to you that I'm not about to give up on you . . . on us. Will you do that for me?"
"When are you going to give me his name?"
Castle looked up at the ceiling and sighed. When he once again looked at Kate, his eyes were bright with tears. "I'll give you his name, but I have to tell you another story first. And it's still a story that's very hard for me to tell."
"Roy?" She guessed as he nodded. "Tomorrow, okay? I don't think I could handle hearing about how he died tonight."
"Okay," he nodded. "Tomorrow. Are you going to be okay?"
"I don't know, Castle. I still think that I should stay at my dad's or even with Lanie. That way," she saw him starting to protest, "you can find a way to sweep me off of my feet. And that way, I don't feel so much like a fish out of water."
"You're really not comfortable here?"
"No. I mean, don't get me wrong. Your bed—"
"Our bed," he corrected her.
"Okay, our bed is extremely comfortable and I love the huge tub. I have to admit that the life-size Bobo Fett is a little hard to get used to," she looked at him as he chuckled softly. "But, it just doesn't feel like me."
"Okay," he relented. "Could you do me one favor?"
"Maybe."
"You have a therapist. His number is on your phone. Will you call him and talk to him? Either him or that doctor from the hospital, Dr. Morales."
"What is his name?"
"Burke. Carter Burke."
"What am I supposed to tell him, Castle? 'Hello, Dr. Burke? You might remember me, but I'm sorry that I don't remember you. I'm suffering from amnesia right now.' That sounds like something right out of a plot from 'Temptation Lane.'"
"Yeah, it does when you put it like that. Will you at least talk to Dr. Morales?"
"Okay. I'll call her. I guess that I should also call my dad to let him know that I'm coming back home."
"Let me know when you're ready and I'll take you over there."
"Castle?" She called out to him when he was turning to leave. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For not stopping to think about how much this is hurting you. You're the person that you were before I went missing. And now you're in this situation of living with a person who has no memory of you . . . of knowing what it's like to love you."
"Like I said," he once again took her left hand, "we're going to figure this out. It's what we're good at."
***CCC***
In the house where Kate had been held for four weeks, Vikram Singh sat in a room with Flynn and Caleb Brown. "She's leaving him," Flynn announced. "Apparently the memories are becoming too much to take."
"Where is she going?" Caleb asked.
"She's going to be staying with her old man. We need to find a way to bug his house."
"No," Caleb disagreed. "Did the old man agree to that?"
"No, but we're not going to know what Beckett does or doesn't remember if we don't get ears on the situation," Flynn reasoned. "And what about him?" He nodded toward Vikram.
"Don't worry about him. As long as he stays here, no one is going to get to him. And don't worry about what Beckett starts to remember. She's still not going to be any closer to our operation."
"I thought that she wasn't going to remember anything," Vikram spoke up for the first time. "I thought that was the whole idea."
"Unfortunately, she will start remembering," Flynn looked disappointed at the notion. "As good as we like to think we are, we still haven't been successful in completely erasing someone's memory. We just need to keep our eyes opened and our ears to the ground. We need to be ready to spring into action when the time comes."
***CCC***
"Do you want to talk about it?" Jim Beckett brought his daughter a cup of coffee before taking a seat in his recliner.
"I don't even know where to begin," she held the cup in her hands, feeling the warmth seep through her fingers. "How do you remember how to love somebody? He tells me stories about these people that I have no memory of. Except for John Raglan. I remember him all too clearly."
"Why don't I share some happier memories of you and Rick instead? Can I do that?"
"Yes, I would like that," she managed to smile at him.
"You had been offered a job in DC with the Attorney General's task force. It was a huge opportunity for you, Katie, but it also forced you to ask yourself some tough questions about where things stood with you and Rick. You were happy with him, Katie. Happier than I'd ever seen you. We talked about it, but I could see that you were still torn. Later that afternoon, you called me and you weren't making any sense," he smiled at the memory. "I finally had to beg you to calm down so that I could understand what you were saying. You told me that Rick had asked you to marry him despite the fact that you had decided to take the job in DC. You rushed over and you showed me your ring. And we . . . we both cried because it suddenly hit you that your mother wasn't here to see the moment when her little girl got a marriage proposal."
"Who took him? He said that someone took him on our original wedding day. Do you know who?"
"We never learned the whole story, Katie. You were devastated. Of course, so were Martha and Alexis, but it hit you very hard. You're the person who always has to know the reasons why something happened. When Rick was found, he had no memory of those missing two months. And to this day he feels like he ruined your perfect wedding, although the wedding that you had several months later was lovely and magical. All that he cares about is your happiness, Katie."
"I know. I can see that. He wants a chance to sweep me off of my feet."
"Are you going to give it to him?"
"Well, he said that we didn't date. I'd like to see what it feels like to date my favorite writer," she smiled a shy smile. "I just want to see if we can move on past this. As much as I want to find out who took me and why, right now I just want normal."
"I think we all could use a little normal," he agreed with her.
A/N #3: In the next chapter, the love story will begin anew.
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