Finding Richard Castle – The Isolation Experiment

Summary – Another idea about what happened to Castle to cause him to miss his wedding based on something that happened in college and the wronged party's idea of revenge…and other things.

Author's Notes – Thanks for the favs, follows, and reviews – they really mean a lot. Watching the last episode of Castle season 6 before the new season starts in two weeks – yeah! Sorry - got distracted and left out a big plot point, so I've moved the last scene to the start of the next chapter.

Disclaimer – Don't own Castle – Marlowe, ABC, and Disney do. The OCs came out of my imagination.

Chapter 10 – Lost and Found and Lost Again

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Castle leaned back against the rock, bone weary, barely breathing, trying to save what little energy he had left and not sure he could even move at this point.

After a while, he dreamed that a dementor was hovering over him, threatening to suck the life out of him, its long robes touching his face. Too bad he didn't have any chocolate, but he doubted he could eat it with the foul stench that was overwhelming him.

Foul stench? JK Rowlings never said they smelt badly.

He opened his eyes and then kicked out suddenly, causing the vulture to miss its intended target as its sharp beak came down, leaving a bloody trail along his ribs.

The big bird flopped off, hissing slightly that it had lost its meal, and seemed uninterested in him after he starting moving, obviously one of the undead.

Castle squinted in the air and saw several more birds circling. Yep, it was time to get up and move on even though it was daylight.

Look on the bright side (no pun intended), he thought as he struggled to get up, holding his side, and started trudging through the desert. He could use this as research for a future book, assuming he had a future…

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"It's okay, chica," said Espo as Beckett sat in a chair in the living room, her head between her knees until the dizziness passed. "It's not him. They're just pictures."

"Wow," said Ryan as he carefully handled the photos he had pulled off the back of the closet door after Espo had gotten Kate out of there. "This was one sick dude, but very gifted."

The photos, obviously photoshopped, showed Castle in a variety of death poses – his broken body twisted on a mountain side after a climbing accident, his mangled body lying underneath a van in the aftermath of a wreck, his rotting remains lying in a room reminiscent of the isolation tank, his bloated body washed up on a shore some place. But the winner with the big red circle around it had to be the scene in the desert where coyotes had dined on the body and vultures were now finishing it off, obviously still Castle but with parts missing.

"Wow," Ryan said again as he bagged the photos.

"You okay?" Espo said as Beckett finally raised her head.

"Yeah," Beckett nodded, using the heel of her hand to rub tear streaks off her face. "They just looked so real," she whispered. "What if we don't find him, Javi? One of those—"

Espo quickly cut her off. "We'll find him, Kate. We'll get him back."

Branson walked back into the apartment. "CSU is here to do their sweep," he said as several agents walked into the apartment.

"What about Simms?" Beckett asked, standing up. "Uh – how'd he know that Castle wasn't in that isolation tank?"

"The ventilation grate," said Branson. "It was on the opposite wall in the one Castle was in."

"And he has no idea where it is?" asked Espo.

"No," said Branson, shaking his head. "Simms gave us the names of the volunteers he worked with, but all of those tests were at this facility. He doesn't know of any other locations where tests could have taken place." Branson frowned. "We've requested satellite imagery of the southwestern US but it will take a couple of days to get that and then several more days to analyze it. And we're running down all leads on PDSE, but they've gone to ground. At this point, everything's going to take time."

He looked at the team.

"I know you want to help on the investigation, but there's nothing else we can do right now," said Branson. "You might consider going back to New York. We'll let you know if anything pops."

Beckett nodded, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Thank you," she said quietly.

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Beckett watched the setting sun as the jet climbed to cruising altitude. She had vowed to herself not to come back empty-handed and was grateful that she hadn't said anything to Martha and Alexis about this. She couldn't face them right now, knowing that she had failed.

She had felt the same helplessness when Alexis was kidnapped a couple of years ago.

She looked at Espo and Ryan who were lost in their own thoughts.

"Was it like this when I went missing on that undercover assignment?" she finally asked. "I can't imagine what you went through."

She had been fighting for her life then, just as Castle probably was now if…no, she wouldn't let herself go there because that would make at least one of those awful pictures true.

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The flashing light in the distance had finally caught Caste's eye, causing him to veer off course and stumble towards it. He fervently hoped that it wasn't a mirage because he was down to his last 2 bottles of water.

After they were gone, it wouldn't make a difference.

The building grew in size as he got closer to it and he could finally make out what it was – a gas station. The light of the setting sun had been reflecting off of the gas pumps.

And just his luck, he thought as he finally reached the building. It was closed down – the price sign out front missing several of its numbers.

He yanked on the metal folding gate that covered the front door and windows several times, but it wouldn't budge.

He slowly walked around the building, looking for an access, when he spotted a crowbar lying in a trash heap near the building. That might work to pry the back door open, he thought as he picked it up.

He walked to the back door and examined the it.

Maybe luck was on his side this time – the lock on the door had apparently broken, only to be replaced by a double hinged hasp and a padlock.

Good, he thought, I can do this.

He inserted the crow bar through the top loop of the padlock and then applied pressure to force the body of the lock away from the loop. He was finally rewarded with a loud pop as the two parts of the lock separated.

Castle pulled the crowbar out and then opened the door, keeping a firm grasp on the crowbar in case something else had taken refuge inside the gas station.

He carefully walked inside, using the last of the daylight to find the light switches, and breathed a sigh of relief when the lights flickered and then came on. At least he had electricity – and air conditioning, he smiled, as he found the AC switches and flicked them on.

Now that he had shelter, the next order of survival was to find something to eat and drink, then a way to contact Kate.

The owners had obviously intended to come back because the inside was still partially stocked – a couple of cases of water sat on the shelf, a couple of boxes of crackers on another, packets of jerky on a display.

Well, that will have to do for now, thought Castle, as he used the screwdriver to slit the plastic surrounding the water. He grabbed a bottle and downed it quickly, savoring the water as it hit his parched throat.

Now to contact Kate and outside civilization in that order…

He looked around for a landline, but didn't find one, so he started prowling through the store.

He finally found a cardboard box tucked in a corner of the office, obviously the lost and found from the items inside of it, but he had hit the jackpot – two prepaid phones whose batteries were still charged.

He thumbed one on, holding his breath as it came to life, and then quickly checked the minutes. Damn, only 2 minutes. He tried the next one and this one had 3 minutes.

Okay, the one with 3 minutes would work for calling Kate. He could always call 911 from any working phone – assuming they had 911 out here.

He looked around to see if he could figure out exactly where he was before he made either call. The star on the map on the wall was placed at Jean, Nevada, but he wasn't in a town.

He had seen a glow on the horizon last night and had been wondering if he would actually make it that far before his body gave out.

He quickly dialed Beckett's number and counted the rings until her voice mail picked up.

Castle gulped as he heard her voice and took a deep breath. He had to start talking.

"Kate," he said finally. "I thought I'd never hear your voice again." He tried to keep his voice from shaking since he had less than 3 minutes and desperately needed to get his message across. "I was talking to you and then there was a crash and I got out to talk to the people and then I woke up in this beige room. But I got out and I'm fine now. I'm so sorry about the wedding. And the honeymoon – 3 weeks in the Maldives. Oh, god, how I missed that - seeing you walk on the beach, seeing you scuba diving for the first time, seeing you at sunset. This phone is running out of minutes. I'm at this gas station near Jean, Nevada. I think that's near Las Vegas because I see a lot of lights in the distance. I'm going to call 911 now. Kate, I've missed you so much. I love you."

Castle waited a moment more before hanging up the phone and picking up the other one. He quickly dialed 911 and waited expectantly.

Finally the operator answered. "911 Las Vegas – what is your emergency?"

"Yes, my name is Richard Castle. I'm in a closed gas station in Jean, Nevada. Uh—" What should he say? He was kidnapped by some unknown person and held captive underground in a tiny room for several months from what he could tell, and then mysteriously let go so he could wander in the desert?

"Sir, do you have a life-threatening emergency?"

Yes, a vulture tried to eat me today," Castle replied.

"Sir, they do not eat live people."

"They thought I was dead – hell, I thought I was dead."

"Sir, do you have an emergency?"

"Yes, I got lost in the desert for several days and finally found this closed gas station."

"I see," said the operator. "And where are you calling from now?"

"Inside the closed gas station," replied Castle.

"I'll have a squad car there in a moment."

"Thanks, I'd appreciate it," said Castle.

"Just wait right there," said the operator.

"Trust me, I'm not going anywhere," said Castle. He hung up the phone and sank down to the floor, resting his head against the counter. He then opened another bottle of water and drank it.

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The screaming sirens finally roused Castle from the stupor he had been in. He quickly raised both his hands over his head as several police officers barreled into the gas station with their guns drawn.

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