Welcome back, my friends...

This part of their story is ending the boys and Castle will bring them home...of course, more to tell...Enjoy...

My friends do such a wonderful job, keeping me in line...on track...Love you

XXOO,

Melody

Time was dragging on, Castle and the boys were still uncertain of exactly what was in Alexis' messages when a knock at the door announced an expected visitor.

Castle answered the door and instantly took him to the table with the computers resting on it. After introductions, they started the tapes, each trying to focus on Alexis' hand signals, but intermittently were drawn to the abuse Kate was undergoing on film.

The first translation the interpreter came up with was a description of the escape vehicle and most importantly the license plate number. Ryan jumped up and immediately called the motor vehicle department to identify the vehicle's owner. Ryan ran back to the group as he finished the phone call.

"We have a name. The car is registered to a John Jones. Obviously it's an alias, but the good news it has a GPS system. I've asked the techs to see if they can locate it."

"Alexis said they drove 59 minutes total, on curving roads and the van was getting cooler as they went further."

She also said Kate thought she recognized one of the men, deciding she had seen him on some police business."

Castle finished watching the second film, turned to the boys, his eyes dark and terrified.

"If we don't find them soon, I don't know what they may do to Kate. She has physically sacrificed herself to ensure my daughter's safety." His voice caught, and he was unable to finish, as he stood up he heaved the glass into the wall.

"Bro, we will find her. We will get both of them out of there."

Ryan came back in, "Come on, the techs have a hit. They found the car and it's not moving. Let's go."

The three men grabbed their weapons and vests, telling the Morse code expert to keep working and let them know if he got anything else.

The van was about 60 miles outside the city. As they left, they called Gates on her private number, telling her they were afraid this kidnapping might involve a policeman and were reluctant to use the normal numbers to call for backup.

Gates told them she would call in people she trusted and send them as backup.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"What hurts, Kate? Your face is swelling and turning purple. What about your side?" Alexis asked concerned.

Kate laughed out loud, which only caused her head to hurt and brought on a new wave of dizziness. She reached out for Alexis' hands, squeezing them and hanging on.

"To be exact, you should ask what doesn't hurt."

Alexis hesitated, but got the courage to ask. "Did these guys hurt you as bad as Maddox did?" She sat silent. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

Kate paused for a moment, pondering on how best to answer Alexis honestly.

"Alexis, you can ask me anything, never fear. It's different, they both hurt me physically, but what Maddox did to me was more personal, more visceral. He shot me, nearly taking me from your dad before we had a chance to begin our lives together. I was a different person then, so vulnerable and uncertain." She took a breath before restarting.

"What these men are doing to me is more vindictive and cruel. But regardless, I do know, when we are rescued I will be more mentally prepared to survive the recovery, and I actually will try to cooperate. You, your dad, grandmother and our friends have helped me become a better person. Although, I would like this shit to stop." Her last statement made her laugh, causing her to gasp and grab her side. "Damn, that hurts."

"You have always been amazing, now more so than ever. I can't ever thank you for what you've done for me."

"I'd do it again, in a heartbeat, no questions asked." Kate gave the young woman an affectionate gaze.

Alexis lay next to Kate, covering them before they both fell into a restless, exhausted sleep.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Come on, Ryan, we need to hurry."

"Castle, driving us off the cliff will not help."

"The techs say the van has not moved. We still have not received the final demands. Hopefully we can surprise them and rescue the girls without too much effort, but we will do what it takes to bring them home." Espo's voice was determined.

"There it is up ahead. Let's proceed on foot."

The three men got out of the car, opened the trunk and pulled out their vests, extra weapons and ammunition. As they were about to leave towards the house, another unmarked car pulled up and four men exited and mimicked the first groups actions. They decided who would enter where. Ryan, Espo and Castle would go in first and their job was to find the captives as quickly as possible.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Alexis and Kate stirred after a few hours of sleep, waking up cold and hungry. Kate's was getting weaker, and her injuries more painful, She strained to sit with her back against the wall, her knees bent., with her arms resting on her knees and her head on her arms.

Alexis joined her, bringing the blankets with her, covering them both again.

Kate had no idea what lay ahead for them. Her fear was she would not be able to protect Alexis much longer.

"Castle, hurry up, please." She whispered into her arms.

The door swung open, and her heart went to her throat as she steeled herself for what would come. Her eyes lifted as she stared through her lashes, her vision blurry. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out who was entering the room.

"Kate, Alexis." She would recognize his voice anywhere and her lips gradually turned up into a relieved smile.

"Castle." She murmured.

He was in front of her, a smile of adoration and relief plastered on his face. He picked up her bound hands and removed the restraints, noting the bloody marks left in place.

"Reminds me of another rescue, where this beautiful cop, came in and removed my restraints. I thought you would kiss me, God I wanted you to, but as usual Mother interrupted you."

"Your Mother's not here, Rick. Kiss me." He tilted his head in, his lips gently brushing hers, tasting old blood, afraid to press too hard.

Ryan and Espo had untied Alexis and helped her stand up.

"I'm okay guys, but Kate's hurt."

"Let's get out of here." Kate ignored Alexis' comment and merely wanted to leave.

Rick leaned into Alexis, hugged her tightly, yet never taking his eyes off of Kate and he reached down to help Kate to her feet.

She rose slowly, her back against the wall for support, taking deep breaths to stabilize herself.

"Let me carry you, Kate."

She glared at him through swollen, bloodied eyes and firmly gritted teeth. "Back off, Mister. I'm walking out of here." Her lip between her teeth as she finished.

"Don't be so stubborn, Kate. We saw everything those men did to you, you can't hide that." Rick burrowed his eyes into hers, both communicating the pain they were experiencing silently.

"Rick, then you understand how humiliating it was, let me walk under my own power, please." Her words pleaded with him. Rick nodded, he understood, this was important to Kate and he gave in.

She hung on to his arm with a death grip, her left arm hurt and she just wanted to get out of this prison. He purposefully started walking slowly, hanging on to her as tightly as he could without inflicting further damage.

Kate was concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other, looking down mostly, each step causing pain to run through her body.

"Hey, guys, thanks." She looked at Ryan and Espo, smiling as much as she could. Alexis had a grip on her father as well as they left the room.

They exited the building as the rest of the rescue party joined the group. The place was deserted and they had already called CSU to come and examine the area.

Ryan and Espo both looked at each other and back at Beckett.

"We're going to go ahead and leave, call us if you find anything."

Kate stopped her walk, looked from Espo to Ryan and then to Castle.

"Before we leave look the place over, please. Just put me in the car, I'll wait there. I promise." She raised her fingers in the Girl Scout promise, taking a stuttering breath as she resumed her journey.

She visibly relaxed as she made it to the car, Ryan had the back door open, and waiting for her. Kate brushed her hand on Ryan's face, "Thanks, Kevin."

She turned to sit on the back seat, and bending at the waist she was unable to stifle the groan coming from her, the discomfort preventing her from getting her legs in the car. Rick gently lifted her legs in, then reaching up he softly touched her face.

Kate was afraid to look directly at him for fear she would break down. She just wanted him to hold her, she felt terrible, but knew she needed to hold it together.

Espo appeared with a bottle of water and some pain pills. Kate started to protest, but realized if she took the pills, the boys would have time to look over the place before leaving. She swallowed the pills, handed Rick the bottle and assured him she would be okay.

Kate called Alexis to her, and the young woman went to her side without hesitation.

"Do you think you can go back in there? You could really help them out, but I know you've been through a lot so you don't have to, it's okay."

"I'm fine. I'll go in if you think it would help." Alexis peered into Kate's eyes, searching for approval.

"Yes, it would. You know things no one else would know. Thank you, I can't make it back there." Kate's face was filled with disdain for her condition.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Walking back into the building was unsettling for everyone, the detectives' mouths thin and hard, knowing they needed to be cops right now, looking over the surroundings, and various pieces of equipment, avoiding touching anything without gloves on.

One of members of the other team came up and told them they had found the area used for taping.

Ryan asked Alexis if she could look at it with them.

She paled, but assured them she could. Entering the room, everyone's heart jerked, Alexis shivered as she remembered what had happened in here. The two chairs were still there, Alexis looked around the room, pointing out various areas of interest. She gasped when she spotted dried blood on the floor, Kate's blood.

"Guys, this is not a good idea. I'm taking Alexis out of here." Rick stated.

"No, Dad, this is important." Her face set, determined to be of assistance. She described in detail the filming, how she and Kate had planned to convey information. How Kate had taught her how to read people, as she shared some of the quirks the men exhibited, their mannerisms.

After a few minutes, they knew they had gathered everything of value and as a group, decided they needed to get Kate to a hospital.

Ryan told the other team specific areas CSU needed to examine, things to bring to the precinct.

"Dad, why did they leave? They must have been warned you were coming. Why didn't they kill us before they left?'

"I don't know pumpkin, but we will find out" Rick held his daughter tightly against him, his heart still racing at what they had seen.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

They got in the car, Castle slid next to Kate, and fingered his hand through her hair, causing her to start.

"We're leaving now, we've got everything we need." Rick whispered to his partner, Kate mumbled her understanding.

"Take me to Steve." Her words slurred from the medication, her words sending chills through Rick, even causing Ryan and Espo to look at her. She had confirmed their worst fears, she was injured badly enough to want Steve to care for her.

She settled against Rick, feeling safe for the first time since their captivity began.

"Is Alexis okay? She did great, you should be proud." Her voice hushed, her words still somewhat slurred. Rick's eyes filled with tears.

"She's fine, thanks to you." Rick's lips on her forehead, Kate's body and mind slipping back into the dark abyss as the car moved towards the city.

Espo drove as fast as possible, Rick had called Steve and alerted him to Kate's lasted injuries. Steve assured him, he would be waiting for them.

As they drove into the emergency parking, Steve was standing outside, with a gurney and his medical team.

Rick stroked his fingers over her jaw line, whispering "we're here, love." She barely stirred, nodding imperceptibly, not moving.

Her door was opened and Steve expertly leaned in to see this most frequent visitor, wondering what she had gotten into yet again. He felt for her pulse and shook his head in disgust, it was weak and thready, she was gravely injured.

He gradually pulled her legs out as he rotated her trunk, her right arm, clutching his shoulder, her eyes trying to open.

"Kate, what did you do?"

"Not my fault." She retorted.

He started to pick her up, but she resisted.

"Stand...up...myself..." her words stilted but firm.

She was on her feet, but very wobbly, Castle was by her side, the two men trying to guide her to the waiting gurney. She took one step, halted, tried to take another, but collapsed into Castle's arms.

He swept up and laid her on the gurney.

"I hate this," Kate muttered, disgusted she hadn't been able to make it to the gurney under her own power.

"It's okay, you're still the toughest cop in high heels." He looked up and stared into Steve's eyes, both men were worried about Kate.

Kate's eyes were closed tight, a frown on her forehead, her teeth biting her lower lip and the dizzy periods seemed to be getting worse.

"I don't feel right, Rick." Her words again were spoken in a whisper.

"I know my love, Steve will check you out."

He started to say more, but realized Kate had lapsed into the darkness again.