The Western Way

A/N: I am so sorry it has taken me so long to update this story. Don't worry, I will finish this one- I have it all planned out. There are a few more chapters to go and I even have the last chapter written already. woo! Anyway, here we are picking up with Sheriff Beckett's plan to save Espo, Josh and Alexis. I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think! Remember, reviews are love! :)

Chapter 10

Kate crouched low in the tree line, the brush rustling around her, keeping her on edge. Her eyes never wavered from the camp as she waited for the duo to make it past the perimeter guards and safely past inspection. It was a good plan, a solid plan, but Kate still held her breath and kept a her hand wrapped firmly around Castle's forearm as he crouched silently beside her. She allowed her eyes to drift to him for a second while they waited. He was quiet. In fact, he had been quiet since she had laid out her plan earlier. Richard Castle was never quiet. She had put up with him following her around for days on end and in the rare moments that his mouth had shut up, he would be tapping something or touching things. He was never still and never quiet, until now. Kate's grip loosened on his arm momentarily and she awarded him a kind smile, one that didn't quite reach her eyes but that let him know that she understood.

"It's going to be okay," She stated, her voice coming out low and comforting. "We will get her back. I promise."

He glanced over at her, out of the corner of his eye and let out a low hum of acknowledgement; his attention still on the performance going on before them.

"You want me to do what?" Annabelle squeaked, her mouth hanging open as she pushed a clump of disheveled blonde hair behind her ear.

Kate sighed. "Look, we have to get into that camp and they already know what Castle and I look like so it has to be you two. The easiest way is to pose as a prostitute. Trust me. No one will think twice about a working girl going into the army camp and chances are they won't remember your face."

Castle slid his eyes over to look at the sheriff, but smartly, kept his mouth shut at the comment.

Kate looked around at the three individuals standing around her. They all had a stake in this plan. They all had something to lose if it went wrong. She briefly closed her eyes and prayed that it would work out. Her plans almost always worked… almost… No, it wasn't time to think about that now. Now, they had to get Josh, Alexis and Javi back alive and unharmed.

"Once inside the tent. Annabelle you distract Bryant while Port uses the chloroform to knock him out. Once it gets dark Castle and I will slip in the back and help you get him out. From there it will be easy; we follow the trail from the reservation, find the kidnapper's camp and trade Bryant for our people. Everyone understand? Any comments? No? Good. Come on," she continued, pulling out a knife as she motioned for Annabelle to follow her over to the wagon. "We have to do something about that dress if you want to be convincing."

Beckett looked down to see Castle's hand held out expectantly in front of her.

"What?"

"Give me one of your guns," Castle said, wiggling his fingers at her.

"No. I am not giving you a gun," Kate replied emphatically, shaking her head in emphasis.

"Come on. We have no idea what is going to happen here. Plus, you have a bow and arrows, at least two knives and from what I can see, two revolvers and a riffle. I think you can spare one," he reasoned.

Kate pursed her lips for a moment before sighing and taking one of her guns and its holster off of her belt. "Fine, but if you shoot anything that is not supposed to be shot, I will kill you. And it's three, I have three knives."

Castle shot her a look. "Where is the third one?"

She smirked, not taking her eyes off of the camp. "Don't ask."

They watched as Annabelle charmed the guards and Port took her by the arm, practically dragging her past them and towards the Lieutenant's tent. Kate had to give it to them; they weren't bad actors. She drew in a breath and heard Castle do the same as Bryant stepped out of the tent and give Annabelle a once over. Port was saying something that Bryant was paying half attention to, and Annabelle only shifted uncomfortably once under the man's gaze. Good girl. He wouldn't believe it if she looked uncomfortable. Bryant's eyes ran over Annabelle's body once more before giving a curt nod and whipping back through the flap to his tent as Porter and Annabelle followed. They were in.

Rick and Kate turned around and rested their backs against the, conveniently located, fallen tree trunk they had been kneeling behind. Kate pulled out one of her knives and picked a chunk of wood off of the ground and started to whittle away at it.

Castle looked over at her and picked at a blade of grass, plucking it from the ground and twisting it between his fingers. "Now what?"

Kate glanced up at the soon to be setting sun before returning her attention to the woodwork. "Now we wait."

Castle nodded absently and continued to twist the grass in his fingers until it turned into green pulp and he wiped the remnants on his pants leg before plucking a new blade from the earth. He glanced at the woman sitting to his right as he twisted this one, tying it into a series of knots. He had already had his breakdown over Alexis and with this new plan and the knowledge that Javier and Josh wouldn't let anything happen to her, he felt like he was handling the situation quite well. Kate on the other hand, hadn't said two words that weren't related to the current situation since she had laid it out for them at the camp. She hadn't made eye contact and even the one sly joke he had managed to pull out of her was half hearted.

"How are you doing?" He asked quietly.

"Fine." The answer was barely audible and Castle snorted in response. Bullshit.

"Bullshit."

Kate's head shot up and her eyes finally met his. "Excuse me?"

"You are not "fine". No one would be fine in this situation and, like it or not, you are just as human the rest of us. So, I ask again, how are you doing?"

Kate seethed for a moment before answering. "Fine, all right. You want to know how I am? I am emotionally drained. It is taking everything in me to stay standing at this moment and not curled up in a corner somewhere with a bottle of whiskey. And I am pissed off. I am pissed off at you for coming here in the first place and dredging up all of this emotional crap I have been doing a pretty good job at keeping at bay. I am pissed off at Josh for asking for having the audacity to waltz back here flaunting his perfect new fiancé and serving me with divorce papers in the middle of town for everyone to see. I am pissed off at myself for allowing Alexis for coming out here and I am pissed off at Bryant for being a complete asshole. Lastly, I am pissed at Little Bear for allowing it to get this far to begin with. You happy now?"

Castle's eyes had widened continuously during her rant. "Well, no, actually, I am not happy but I am glad you told me that. It's not good to keep all of that inside. Do you feel better?"

Kate sighed and sent him another waning glare before her shoulders slumped and she hands went to work again, whittling the chunk of wood into a small figurine.

"Yes," she relented.

Castle watched her for a moment before placing a hand over hers, effectively stilling her work. "None of this is your fault, you know."

Kate sat still for a moment, staring at the small figure in her hands. "It's not yours either."

Green eyes met blue as they sat in the setting sun and Castle's hand raised to cup her cheek, rubbing his thumb over her soft, dirt and sweat covered skin. It seemed like the common setting for them to have intimate, heartfelt conversations: the pinks and oranges hues of the twilight sky. The silent conversation they exchanged was a gentle one, one of comfort and promise; one that neither of them really understood yet.

"We should get going." Kate whispered, her voice rough as his thumb brushed gently over her lips. "It will be dark soon and we have three people to save."

Castle dropped his hand to his lap as he nodded in agreement.

"Hey," Kate said, reaching out to grab his hand in hers. "We will get her back. I promise."

"You can't know that."

"Yes, I can and we will."

The conviction in her voice stunned him into silence as she squeezed his hand in emphasis.

"Okay," he nodded his head as he squeezed her hand back. "Let's go kidnap a military officer."

Castle paused as he heard a twig snap under his foot and sent an apologetic look at the death glare he received from Kate. Both of them held their breath for a moment, waiting to hear if someone heard them. The men around the nearest fire let out a round of raucous laughter and both of them breathed out in relief. The tent was quiet when they slid through a flap Port had loosened in the back and they came face to face with Bryant passed out on the bed, and Annabelle sitting, looking bored, in the corner.

"Did everything go as planned?" Kate asked as Castle bent over the Lieutenant, making sure he was still breathing.

"Except for officer debonair here getting a little bit grabby, it all went perfectly to plan," Annabelle replied, pushing herself out of the chair and straightening what was left of her dress. Kate had cut away a good amount of it back at the reservation. Castle looked up from his position by the bed and shrugged off his jacket, handing it to the blonde woman who took it with a grateful smile. Kate rolled her eyes as Annabelle blushed over the reporter and shrugged into the jacket.

"All right, lets get out of here. Castle— strip down, Port— find the wheelbarrow and Annabelle— keep lookout."

Kate started working on Bryant's clothing, ignoring the fact that Castle was gaping at her as she stripped the Lieutenant, handing the pieces to the other man as they came loose. "Come on Castle, we don't have all day. Someone is going to get suspicious and come looking for him eventually. Trust me, he would never last this long with a prostitute."

Castle snapped out of his daze and began working on his shirt as Annabelle peeked out of the tent flap. "Again, do I want to know how you know all of this?"

Kate paused for a moment from shimmying the pants down Bryant's legs, to look up at him before shrugging a shoulder and shaking her head. "No, probably not."

Castle let out a low chuckle as he pulled the Lieutenant's shirt over his head and caught the pants that came flying suddenly at his face. "So many layers to the Beckett onion. How will I peel them all away?"

Kate rolled her eyes once again. "Shut up and get dressed."

Getting out of the camp was a lot more difficult than getting in as Kate pushed the wheelbarrow out the back flap of the tent. The plan was simple, if more tedious: Port and Annabelle would leave the way they came and Castle would pose as the Lieutenant seeing them off. In the darkness the resemblance was close enough to fool some of the more drunken soldiers. Annabelle would then distract the men at the closest fire until Kate, Castle and the wheelbarrow carrying Bryant were clear, and then Port would pull her away. Simple.

Kate peered around the edge of the tent, watching while Annabelle played the part flawlessly. She heard someone approaching and turned, expecting to see Rick coming up behind her only to feel the cold metal of a revolver pressed against the back of her head.

"Well, well, well. Sheriff Beckett. What are you doing here?"

Kate sighed as she closed her eyes. From the slur in the soldier's voice, it was clear that the man was drunk, but that didn't help the fact that he had a gun pressed to her skull.

"You know," he continued, before Kate even said a word to answer. "Bryant isn't too happy with you. That's why he attacked the camp and that's why he ordered your people taken. You have been a thorn in his side since he got here and to make matters even worse you killed one of his best friends."

The man paused and giggled as Kate's body went rigid. What? "Who?"

"Lockwood, my fine sheriff. Bryant sent him to kill you— get you out of the way so you wouldn't interfere with the "negotiations" going on at the reservation and you killed him first. That's why Bryant had me kill Little Bear. He watched me as I sunk a knife into your Cherokee friend's gut."

Kate saw red as her hands came up off of the handles of the wheelbarrow and curled into fists at her sides. She let her body go limp as she moved to turn around swinging, only to have her movements cut short as she heard a shuffle behind her and the soldier's body fell to the ground in a heap. Turning her head she came face to face with a panting Richard Castle, holding the barrel of the revolver she had given him. The handle was covered with blood from where he had pistol-whipped other man.

"Thanks." She nodded, breathless as their eyes met.

"Anytime." He shrugged back.

Kate paused. "How much of that did you hear?"

Castle's eyes darkened for a moment. "Later."

Kate nodded as he made his way around her and picked up the handles to the cart carrying Lieutenant Bryant's limp body. Later. Now, they had friends to save.