Summary – Kate is at mandatory police training and Castle gets into trouble while researching a story. Can the 12th save him in time?
FYI – There are more characters is this story than I can select.
Disclaimer – Don't own Castle: Marlowe, ABC, and Disney do. Just writing for fun.
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This Is Castle We're Talking About – Chapter 9
Wide-eyed, Castle sat on the edge of the hospital bed, clutching the notebook to his chest in one hand and Kate's hand in another while he listened to Dr. Bresslier explain about ER4-SER and the side effects he was experiencing.
The words that the doctor rattled off were not comforting in the least, leaving him with more questions than answers. Except for the few seizures he had experienced, he was more healthy than not and he didn't fit any of the profiles of the original test subjects. Dr. Davidson had even given him a clean bill of health after a series of tests showed that this had not damaged his heart.
Castle had given more samples and had more tests in the last few days than he had his entire life and he was being to feel like a lab rat being stuck in an unsolvable maze, which did little to help his anxiety.
The doctors were just really shooting in the dark at this point. Should they give him more of the counter-agent, but that had its own set of risks. Or should they just take a wait-and-see stance in dealing with this? One thing was certain and that was his memory of those two days was forever gone and not coming back.
Castle stared at the door for a while after the doctor had left and then looked at Kate. She squeezed his hand, but she also had on her cop face and he knew that was bad.
"So no leads?" he asked quietly.
Beckett shook her head and tucked her hair behind her ear. "No, as far as we can tell, you didn't do anything Monday after you went to the warehouse and before the cameras show you entering the back door of the loft that night. No phone calls, no twitter feeds, no credit card receipts. You were supposed to meet with Gina and Paula, but you cancelled that at the last minute. It's like you fell off the face of the earth."
Castle stood and paced the room. "Kate, this is me we're talking about. I just don't not do anything – I've got this massive digital footprint. We have to be missing something," he said looking at the book where he had written everything. "Maybe if I see the pictures, listen to the recording?"
Beckett nodded. "That could help if you're up to it."
Castle stopped and looked at Kate, a scared expression on his face. "But what if—"
"You really did something stupid? Castle – Rick, I know you," said Beckett, standing and walking over to him. She placed her hand gently on his cheek and smiled reassuringly at him. "I've worked with you for the past 5 years. I think you actually care about the law now and I know you wouldn't do anything illegal. And if you did, I've got a gun."
Castle smirked at Beckett's attempt to relieve the pressure. "And handcuffs as I recall," he waggled an eyebrow at her.
"Yeah," said Beckett blushing slightly. "And I know how to use them."
Castle kissed her quickly. "You know they're always watching and listening," he breathed into her ear. "Better control yourself, Detective."
Beckett smiled seductively and turned away, pulling out her phone. She moved to the wall where she knew she would get good reception.
"Demming, it's Beckett. Can you bring the pictures and the recording to the hospital? Dr. Bresslier will meet you at the side door."
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Castle studied the pictures that Demming had placed in front of him. Yeah, the guy with the white hair and his assistant – he had run into them several times in the last week or so, but they were just quick meetings, nothing that would raise a red flag.
"This is the recording from the warehouse," Demming said as he put the mp3 player on the table and turned it on.
A European-accented voice could be heard over the noise of the airplanes taking off and landing. "…and let you know that the package arrived safely."
"So what package, Mr. Castle?" asked Demming. "You talked with him about 10 minutes at the warehouse before leaving."
The writer shook his head. "I have no clue." Castle thought back to their other brief meetings. "He didn't mention a package any other time. Just the weather – how he was a fan of my books. You've talked to him, right?"
Castle didn't miss the glance between Beckett and Demming. "You did talk to him and something happened."
Kate nodded. "Linderhoff said that you had a mutual friend who used his services in case you were interested. And after that, he changed his plane tickets to leave the country. He's flying to Morocco Saturday night."
"And you won't be able to touch him there." Castle ran a hand through his hair and then motioned at the MP3 player. "Is there any more of our conversation on there?"
"We weren't able to pull anything else off that was useful," said Demming.
"Do you mind if I listen to the whole thing?"
"No," said Demming as he handed Castle the player.
Castle took the small ear buds that Beckett had brought him to plug into his iPod out of the pocket of the robe and inserted them into the player. He then backed the recording up to the beginning, put the ear buds in his ears, and turned the player on.
The writer sat still, with his eyes closed, as he listened intently to the recording twice.
Castle finally opened his eyes and shook his head. "No, sorry, I didn't hear anything else that could help you."
"Well, it was worth a try," said Demming. "Kate, I've got to get back to the precinct. We're working some other leads, so maybe they'll turn up something." He nodded at Castle as he walked out of the room.
Castle sat wearily in the chair. "Sorry," he said.
"You tried – that's what matters," said Kate, walking over to him and holding him for a few minutes.
"Hmmm," hummed Castle. "This is nice. I've missed you."
"I've missed you to," said Kate, kissing him on the top of the head before releasing him.
"But you better get home – or Lanie's since our place is still off-limits – and get some rest. I don't think you've had much lately," Castle said.
"You don't want me to stay?" asked Kate.
Castle shook his head. "No – I'm so restless, I wouldn't be good company and you look tired. But can you swing by my mother's tonight and give them this?" He held out several sheets of paper to her. "They won't let me see or talk to them yet, and I wanted to let them to know I'm okay."
"Sure," Kate said as she took the sheets, smiling. "Can I bring you something tomorrow?"
"Nah – I've got a source for coffee now since they won't let me go to the coffee shop."
"Okay," said Kate, kissing him. "Have them call me if you change your mind. Good night, Castle."
"See you tomorrow," he said, returning her kiss.
Castle watched her walk out the door and then waited 15 minutes to make sure she was gone before pressing the buzzer.
"Can I help you?" said the nurse.
"Yes, I want to see Danberg immediately. I know what this is about and what I did Monday."
Kate was definitely going to kill him for this because he promised he'd never do it again without her, but he had heard something on the tape that had given him a clue as to what was going on, especially since she had told him that someone had gone through the loft, even putting his Casino Royale books back in his bookcase. This was his worst nightmare – Paris all over again, and as much as he wanted to tell her, he wouldn't do anything that would put her in harm's way.
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