Disclaimer: I do not own anything. All rights are owned by ABC and Andrew Marlowe.

Content Disclaimer: This story contains mature themes such as violence and death. Please be warned. And unexpected car chases.

After buying a bouquet of flowers for helping Castle understand the meaning behind the roses. He quickly left the store feeling agitated and anger rising within him. This new information had opened a whole new can of worms. It certainly had made things messy while clearing some in the process. He now knew for sure that Kate had left behind roses at both scenes and his agency had tampered with the scene afterwards. The files were not the only things that had been censored. But they missed some petals in the process.

He remembered the text Kate had written to him about to watch his back and how there were many motives on the table. People on the same team but with different agendas. Castle was starting to believe in Kate more than what 'facts' he was being presented by the agency. She was more right than wrong from where he stood now.

Gates had given him a new location to report in and he ended somewhere along South east Virginia. This area was on the outskirts of the D.C. area and it fashioned long grass fields, town houses, horses running around freely, and in the middle a relatively mid-sized town center that gave home to the modern stores and restaurants. The stores were mostly aligned towards farming needs as Castle saw people coming out of the stores with bags of fertilizer and seeds.

Castle drove ten miles further south and then came across a rocky road which led to a facility that only some town folk where aware of. The big warning sign was enough for many to turn back but Castle drove on till he reached a steel gate and saw two men who wore army gear while holding Ak-47's in their hands. This was a place that wasn't meant to be trespassed upon.

Castle showed the guards the necessary identification and moments later he was led through the steel gate that had slid open. The building didn't look too extraordinary and looked like a home to a small exporting goods company.

He found a spot to park his car and then strolled towards the main entrance. He was asked for his fingerprints and after approval the door swung open for him to walk through. There was pa ale white woman in pointy framed glasses waiting for him and Castle looked at her credentials that were stuck on the left side of her chest.

The badge on her chest only displayed her last name and a seven digit number which he presumed was her ID number.

"Richard Castle?" she asked.

"Bingo," he replied.

She led Castle to an examination room and then left him inside closing the door behind her. Just as the door closed he heard a clicking sound which he assumed meant the door was locked. They didn't want him wandering the halls alone and stumbling onto something that was above his paygrade. The door opened again and in walked a black female with a slender but bordering on curvy figure. She looked to be in early thirties, dark black hair that reached her shoulders, and a light red lipstick to accompany her makeup. She was wearing a lab coat and that meant she would be treating him. The badge on her left coat pocket had the name Dr. Lanie Parish embossed on it.

"So you must be Mr. Castle? You're the Mr. Terminator we have been expecting the last few days. Your chart tells me that you received injuries?"

"Nothing that's too harmful."

"That's what all of you say. Now where is the damage?"

"Left leg and arm. Mostly my leg though."

"Take off your clothes if you don't mind."

She turned around and started meddling with the necessary materials as Castle took off his jacket, shirt, pants, and boots. He sat back on the treatment table as Lanie took a seat on a rolling chair and started examining his body for the damage it had suffered.

"What the hell? You think these burns aren't serious? Boy, these are almost second degree burns. I am surprised you aren't screaming like a banshee right now."

"They don't hurt. I am being honest."

Lanie rolled her eyes and said, "Of course they don't. You fools could get hit by a spikey baseball bat and still think you're okay. Did you at least clean the burns?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Ma'am? I am only thirty two you big bear. Good job cleaning the wounds."

"Thank you…Dr. Parish."

She squinted her eyes at him and said, "They need some work obviously. Otherwise you'll be dead of infection by Friday."

"And that's why I am here annoying you."

"No, you're not annoying. Just…something that I can't put my finger on," she said. "Going to give you some meds that will ease the pain and infection as well. While we are it you need to get a shot too just in case."

"Whatever you say."

"I must say you don't complain much unlike the other ones I have treated. They don't stop acting tough. Especially this one woman who just won't stop and I had to force her by bribing her with a bear claw and a coffee believe it or not."

"Where is she now? Have you met again?" asked Castle intrigued.

"She usually comes every month or so and we actually end up hanging out sometimes. Nice girl and a good heart on her. Just seemed lost a lot of times," she replied slowly putting a needle in Castle's left arm.

This was entirely new to him as agency employees barely knew each other and he was sure this was something that the higher ups would be aware of. Why they didn't interfere he didn't know.

"Do you work in this facility full time?"

"Oh, hell no. Have you seen how depressing this place is? I just come whenever they are understaffed and the woman I am talking about was actually my first patient too here."

"What is her name? And how did you meet outside the facility…I am sorry. I am overstepping my boundary."

"No, you're okay. You seem trustworthy enough," said Lanie with a small smile and replaced the old bandage with a new one.

"Thanks, I guess."

"I met her at the town center bar. She recognized my face and we ended up talking about life. Conversation ends and I was devastated that a woman that beautiful hadn't gotten any action in a while," she said with a quiet laugh. "Forced her to dance and I would never forget how on that night she seemed genuinely happy."

"What's her name if you don't mind me asking?"

"Nope. I have said enough already. Doctor Patient rule applies from here."

"I understand."

They sat in silence as Lanie worked quickly around his burns knowing exactly what needed to be done. She was good with her hands as he barely felt any pain at all.

"Do you work at the local hospital?"

"Trauma mostly. The morgue too. Not that many doctors around this part of the state. We have to make do with what we are dealt with."

"Trauma? So you have seen the worst of it then."

"Mostly broken bones and concussions but a few gunshots here and there," said Lanie. "Speaking of which you've had a reasonable amount of gun shots on your body too."

She looked at the most prominent scar and traced her finger alongside the edges. "Looks like a forty five."

"Nine-mill, actually. I was lucky. The shooter had me on my knees and his gun jammed all of a sudden."

She looked a little troubled by what he had said. "Do you get lucky in your line of work?"

"Sometimes. Most times it's how well you have planned it out. But mostly luck escapes us."

"Never play with luck, huh," said Lanie in a quiet tone.

"Never."

They spent the next few hours just rambling about things that didn't matter. Sports. Local events. And what shenanigans the local high school students would get up to for a senior prank.

"It was a penis drawing wasn't it?"

"All boys are the same," she replied.

She was a good person and with a heart that would accept many broken souls. Perhaps even show them a way out towards happiness.

"Well, almost done here. The pills will be outside and take them three times a day. I hope you realize how lucky you are. Any more damage and you were looking at plastic surgery."

"I know."

"Are you going to show up again?"

"Do you do autopsies in this facility?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Then I think I'll be good."

"Well that's good to hear. But do come again and visit the town center sometime."

"I'll try my best to be in one piece then."

"You do that."

"So where is my next stop, Dr. Parish?"

"That I do not know. My job is done here. Someone should come in and escort you," said Lanie packing up her things. "You take care now, Castle. No more burn and bullet wounds from now."

"Understood," replied Castle as he tried to make a thumbs up sign with his left hand and then realized it wasn't possible. "Thanks for fixing me."

"Any day," said Lanie with a smile and exited the room leaving Castle to wonder who the agent was that had struck up a friendly relationship with the good doctor.

His internal clock estimated that four minutes had passed and then the door clicked open again.

Walked in was a person that he had last seen face to face when he had been assigned Beckett's case.

Victoria Gates walked in wearing a black pantsuit, black heels, and hair groomed to perfection.

Even with the highly professional look he knew that something was wrong with Gates. Her face told an entirely new story.

Which could mean only things were about to change for Castle.

Good or bad. He didn't know.

Kate was once again on the move. You kept moving when an entire organization wanted your head.

She was never the person to stick to one place and moved whenever she got the chance.

From the hotel she had taken a cab and then gotten off to walk instead. She liked to be on her feet if there was a tail on her. In a cab her life rested on the cabbie and she didn't like trusting her life to a chain smoking man grumbling about how Uber was the worst thing to humanity.

The day had started off warm but was now cooling off because of the rain that had passed through the city. That meant a trench coat was necessary and a hundred other people had the same idea as well. It was hard to find a person in a sea of people wearing identical trench coats and umbrellas.

She had worn glasses as well even though the sun was covered behind heavy looking clouds.

She had been waiting for a car to show up and it finally rolled up to the street curb. It was a Mercedes S-Class and the man who was driving the car went by the name Kevin Ryan. A self-made millionaire who started his own security firm and made an app where event managers and even individuals could get their own security personal. He looked to be in his late-thirties and his hair were the lightest of black color. But the person sitting next to him warranted Kate's attention more.

Fifteen, slightly muscular, long red hair, and striking blue eyes.

The Mercedes stopped near a stop sign and the teenager got out of the car to reveal her entire self. She wore skinny jeans, a slightly bigger shirt than her whole upper body, and some sneakers. She wore a large backpack with books bundled up in her hands. The weight of the backpack itself looked heavier than the kid.

Alexis Rodgers looked like any other teen that was about to go to class.

She stopped midway and looked back at the car and gave Kevin Ryan a small wave with a smile. She turned around and walked away while the Mercedes pulled away into the traffic.

From what she had read and observed herself. Kevin Ryan loved his step daughter and treated her as though god himself had presented him a gift. The Ryan family had tried for a baby but after two miscarriages it was time to move on. In came Alexis and they had felt as though they had been a given another chance at being parents.

She turned her attention back to Alexis who was the main person of interest.

Kate observed the entire area around her and looked for any suspicious individuals. They couldn't have reached this far but she needed to proceed with caution.

There was no one watching Alexis expect for her. She quickly took out her phone and took a picture of Alexis entering the school.

School ended at 4 pm for these kids and she knew that Alexis's ride home would be in a bus rather than a Mercedes.

Kate would come back at three forty five, fifteen minutes before the school freed the tired students to go home.

She watched closely as Alexis entered the school hallways and she then turned around and walked away herself.

Her next location was a crime scene she was responsible for. She wasn't going there to disrupt the scene or tamper with whatever evidence she could have left behind. But it was simply to observe a person that she knew would be there.

She arrived at her destination where the crime scene was covered in investigators, mostly FBI, while barricades surrounded the area.

There was a coffee shop nearby and she ordered a Grande skim latte, two pumps sugar free vanilla with of course a bear claw and some mints as well. She took the newspaper out of a stand and sat at a table looking nothing out of the ordinary.

A woman had arrived on the scene and Beckett was unfazed by her sudden appearance as she took a sip of her coffee.

Jordan Shaw was the one talking to her agents that were under her command and signed some documents at the same time. Shaw looked at the building that had housed and killed Josh Davidson and then looked at the direction where Kate had taken the shot.

Kate knew that Shaw wasn't a cakewalk and could probably gather all the evidence from both scenes. She would then break her head over it and then find the killer who had done it. But this time she won't. She had the no doubt the smarts to get Kate but there will be agencies in her way that will use everything in their ammo to stop her from getting to the truth.

Kate understood the one fact that she faced. The agency would get to her first before the FBI could even know of her existence or she could finish her job and disappear forever.

She wasn't scared of almost anything that resembled a human being. She wasn't scared of Super Agent Shaw. And she wasn't scared of the FBI either.

There were only two things that scared her.

She was scared of the monolith agency she had worked for and was now hunting her down.

And most of all. Castle.

He was the only variable in this whole scenario that stuck out like a thorn.

She was also afraid that her mission would fail. It was the single biggest thing that has defined her entire existence if she was being honest.

She took out her phone and lined up a camera shot of Shaw while pretending to be on the phone.

She knew exactly where Shaw lived and she had taken the pleasure of taking a tour of her condo as well. Shaw wasn't married and wasn't exactly looking for a soulmate either. Apparently she took the phrase 'married to your work' too seriously.

Just like me I suppose.

Shaw had a thing for Castle. And it was pretty blatantly obvious.

This was a good thing for Kate but not for Castle. And she knew that Castle was aware that any type of relationship was a weakness for him that she can use against him.

Kate looked down at her coffee and started to put together the list of events that had happened. Castle had received burns that needed treatment so he must have gone to a secure facility. Coonan was dead. That meant Castle was summoned by the higher ups. That could only mean one person above Coonan.

William Bracken.

Kate walked out the coffee store keeping her head down and waved for a cab. Her next destination was a rental car shop and as the cab merged into the traffic she looked at Shaw once more standing behind the barricades. Shaw immediately turned around and looked towards the cab. The windows were tinted so Kate's face was not visible from the outside but the Shaw continued to stare. The cabbie pulled away leaving Shaw in the rear view.

She rented a small BMW and drove to one of the most famous courthouses in the state of Virginia.

The United States Courthouse stood in front of her. The enormous architectural achievement mesmerized many but for all intends and purposes it was place strictly used to hand down justice. It was a place where the guilty were convicted and some innocently convicted people were given another rightful chance at life.

Kate had doubt that courthouses meant anything these days. If there was actual justice being served than nearly all of Wall Street would be in jail overnight. She knew the system wasn't perfect but it had been influenced enough that it had only become a matter of how much wealth a person has.

Kate understood one thing that she had grown up to learn.

There were consequences for some actions.

There was an individual in the courthouse who had taken an action and she was the consequence.

She parked her car at a curb across the courthouse and patiently waited for almost an hour leaving the engine running. There was little to no parking anywhere near the courthouse and she was lucky to find the perfect spot overlooking the entrance of the courthouse.

Clouds had gathered above her and soon small water drops were starting to fall on her windshield. She didn't care as her eyes were locked with the revolving door at the entrance. And finally after what seemed longer than an hour five men walked out the courthouse door.

The only person that she cared about was the oldest one. She wondered why he hadn't listened to the warnings he had probably received by now. With age came wisdom and apparently not in this man's case.

The old man Kate had been eyeing had was gray haired with hints of black, tall, muscular, and small eyes that were hard to read. He cracked a joke which made the rest of the men laugh and reaching the end of the stairs the group said their goodbyes and dispersed in the different directions. Beckett's person of interest turned right and walked on with an umbrella over his head.

He went by the name Vulcan Simmons.

The man had become one of the most famous African American judges in recent history as the one judge that everyone knew. That was thanks to the media who had covered his well known cases that had involved serial killers and celebrities. But what many forgot was that he was the one that had let corrupt bankers and political workers walk out innocently when it was a case that was never in their favor. His marriage to a well-known daughter of a well-known tobacco company owner had brought him numerous wealth and had given him luxuries that many judges would dream of in his position.

Simmons had made national news when the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court had appointed him the chief of the DAA, Defense of America Agency. It was an agency that was responsible for clandestine missions and worked in so much secrecy that not even the President knew of the ongoing operations. Congress didn't interfere either and the DAA never published any documents regarding their operations. There was no accountability and in many ways had become the ultimate agency which bowed to no one. The DAA consisted of eight judges and Simmons had happily agreed to be one of them. He showed his appreciation by allowing every request the DAA had made regarding their operations.

Kate observed Vulcan Simmons closely as he walked past the garage where his car had been parked. This meant he was walking home but it didn't make sense. The town house he owned was miles away and she doubted that Simmons would stoop low and take public metro buses. He wasn't a big fan of mingling with the common people and she assumed by looking at the time he was heading somewhere to eat.

She put her car into drive and drove slowly behind him but at a distance.

The list of the targets she had made for herself popped into her mind.

Vulcan Simmons was target number three.

She had taken care of the people responsible in the intelligence sector and now it was the judiciary department that required her assistance in cleaning.

Simmons had been a fool to walk alone despite it being broad daylight and witnesses everywhere. He should have known better, knowing what had happened to Coonan and Josh.

If he didn't know he was a target then he wasn't even worth taking out.

He must know otherwise it wouldn't make sense.

Something bothered Kate about this whole scenario she was spearheading.

She looked at her rear view mirror and quickly realized that she had made her first and biggest mistake yet.

After seeing the sedan behind her the obvious solution would have been to speed up or take alternative routes with sharp cuts down several streets. But she decided against both as she got another idea that could be her best chance at survival.

She looked into her rear view mirror and saw two blacked out cars with tinted windows. One was an SUV while the other one was a sedan. She knew both cars had passengers that had weapons fully loaded and ready to fire on her. Both cars were probably in communication on how to approach her too probably.

This was a chess match. And Beckett needed to think five moves ahead and take a leap of faith.

If she accelerated faster or took a detour at this very moment then that would be too predictable. She looked back again through her rear view mirror, acknowledged the traffic surrounding them, and the rain soaked streets as well. She knew where Simmons was and tracked his movements through her peripheral vision.

Counting to five in her head. She didn't accelerate. She slammed on her brakes and going forty miles per hour the brakes sizzled and burned the rubber of the tires making smoke appear under them.

The traffic moved around her and she counted to five again.

She accelerated hard but this time in reverse.

The SUV and Sedan were right behind her as Kate slammed her car into the sedan.

She already knew what the armed guards were communicating inside the two cars.

They were probably surprised and knew Kate was trying to trap them in.

She accelerated forward again and aimed for the front grill of the smaller car.

The sedan moved into the next lane and the SUV took its place.

She could tell what they were communicating now as well.

The SUV would take the impact. She couldn't make out the men but they were probably bracing themselves for the impact by fastening their seatbelts. The collision would take place and the men in the sedan would take out Kate in a hail of bullets.

What they hadn't thought of in their plan was that Kate knew her way around a car. Another advantage she had was that her convertible was easy to handle as well.

She fine-tuned the car settings by turning off any braking and steering assistance and then timing it perfectly aimed for the gap between the SUV and the Sedan. It was as though she was playing a running back in Football and was running towards a small gap her team had made. She pulled out her gun and rolled down the windows automatically as her car burst through the gap. She fired at both the cars rapidly and the rear tire of the SUV burst making the whole car slump backwards. Her car cleared the gap and the SUV collided with the sedan in an effort to stop the gutsy little convertible.

Speed saves lives, kids.

She cleared the gap and Kate accelerated hard doing a quick 180 turn by pulling her handbrake to face the opposite direction. She would have received top marks for this back in her academy days.

She punched the gas once more, turned right on a street, and sped down the alley.

Ten minutes or so later she abandoned the car in a parking lot and walked away with her handbag which had the items that she needed for these situations. The car wouldn't need a wipe down for fingerprints as she always wore gloves when driving.

There was a subway station nearby and soon she was on a train which sped into the underground tunnels taking her away from the mess she had made. Simmons was still alive but she had escaped from an almost certain death.

If this was a mission that would have determined how good she was in these type of scenarios. Then she would have failed. She was the judge in this scenario and had the harshest grading scheme set for herself. It she was being honest then today had been utterly humiliating for her. She had already noted in her head five mistakes she had made that could have potentially killed her.

I should be dead.

The outcome of this mission also meant that she needed a different identity again.

Her car had been spotted. They will probably trace it back to the rental and from there they would know the name she has been using, credit card number, and also the driver's license she was using. All the necessary items to track her down. The items were now useless to her.

She thanked her past self that this particular scenario could have played out and had alternatives. This had happened too quickly for her personal liking and this had ramifications that meant there were going to be more hurdles in her path.

The first hurdle was that Vulcan Simmons was now on full alert.

She got off the train and went up a flight of stairs to exit the subway station. She hailed a cab and gave directions to a bank which held a safe box under the fake name she had assigned for herself. The agency was probably aware of that name now and she knew this was a risk but she had to take it. The box contained items such as more fake ID's, blank passports, money, and other documents that she needed. The agency was probably on its way and she left the bank walking towards a cabstand.

The hotel she had booked near the bank was now useless as well. Staying there would make her an easy target and the building itself didn't give her an advantage either. She patiently waited for another cab and got in.

Her next location would be across town. It took a while as the radio in the cab gave warning of heavy traffic of two cars colliding because of a burst tire. She reached her destination in thirty minutes and then walked in the opposite direction.

All the measures she was taking right now would annoy a lot of people but in the world she operated in this was the bare minimum.

A hotel came into view and she checked into it with a new identity. She went up to her room, checked for any devices that could have been setup, looked out the window for any unmarked vehicles, and then unloaded some items from her bag.

She sat on down on the edge of her bed and took off her shirt which revealed that she hadn't escaped the predicament without a scratch. A bullet had managed to find its way through all the chaos and had ripped through her shirt but had only left a scratch wound from it whizzing by and embedding itself in a door.

It could have been worse, she thought.

The heat from the wound made her wheeze a little as she took out a first aid kit to clean the wound. She didn't mind the scratch leaving a scar as she was used to it by now. She had scars that made this one look like a paper cut in comparison. But it still hurt like hell and there was no escaping that.

She thought about Castle and how he would have unwanted memories of past missions on his body too. She had given him fresh ones as well to ponder over thanks to the cottage bomb she had setup. She was still conflicted internally about what she had done to Castle. He was not on her list but the agency had made him one. Maybe in the next life they could be partners solving mysteries like these but without all the trying to kill each other scenario.

She looked at the clock in her hotel room and realized she had to leave for school soon.

Alexis was waiting for her.

But for now she stared at the rain falling down relentlessly outside the window.

The weather had become grim and matched her current situation perfectly.

The agency had won round 3.

She needed to make sure the match was hers.

"Well, you look like someone told you that the agency pension system was cancelled and Santa isn't real," said Castle walking next to Gates down a narrow hallway.

"There is no pension to begin with and that's not why I am troubled at the moment."

"Federal employees get pensions last I checked."

"That is just to show good face and get more people to join. Work in our field and you would be lucky to even get a house."

"So where are we heading now?"

"Talk to someone."

"Personal one to one between the two of us?"

"Not this time."

"Who then? I have already listened to Bracken and Coonan is dead."

"You're going to meet the new number two in the agency. At least for the time being."

"That was a fast transition."

"Burn a fire under the government and it works faster."

"Who is this person?"

"I can't say. There have been new rules and standards that have been placed."

"New rules? Coonan and Josh's death change the old ones?"

"No, their deaths were one of the few factors that influenced the decision."

"What else is there? Has something happened that I am not aware of?" asked Castle.

"All of your questions will be answered soon."

Castle wanted to ask another question but restrained himself. It was quite evident that Gates was not in the mood for a Q&A. And he didn't want to question her regarding the crime scenes that had been tampered with. He wondered whether the new number two could answer those questions.

They reached the end of the hall and the door opened with Castle being told to get in. Gates had turned around and left closing the door behind Castle.

Castle looked around the room he was in and it was simplicity at its essence. Just like Kate's house only the absolute necessary furniture was used and a small circular rug had been placed in the middle. There was a round table placed on it with two chairs.

One of them was occupied.

The man that was sitting in front of him was an African American male who looked to be in his late fifties. His face told a story of heavy stress with wrinkles adorning his face quite liberally. He was wearing glasses with a graying hair on his head. This man used to be incredibly handsome at one point in his life but life had other plans for him.

Castle had never seen this individual before. It was an agency that was based on secrecy. Its employees didn't exactly have LinkedIn profiles.

"Have a seat, Mr. Castle."

Castle did as he was told and took a seat in the chair right across the man. He wasn't going to talk as he was the one who had been called upon.

"My name is Roy Montgomery. I have taken over the duties that Mr. Coonan has left."

The agency didn't have time for sympathy apparently as Coonan didn't even deserve an 'unfortunate demise of Mr. Coonan'.

"I have been told there was someone new."

"I have taken the liberty of looking over your files and your recent investigations as well."

This whole conversation taking place didn't make sense to Castle. This was his second bout with a higher up. First Bracken and now his new number two. Was this whole thing planned ahead?

Montgomery stared at him from across the table and his eyes fell on Castle's left arm. "How are you holding up?"

"I was patched up pretty well."

"It was a close call, Mr. Castle."

"Indeed."

"I have seen the footage and with all due respect I don't think you survive another one of those."

"Game of luck and I had won. Not the next time I suppose."

"Your investigation hasn't led to any revelations."

"Working on it. Takes time to solve a mystery of a killer's mind."

"Time is running out in the meantime."

"The files from you guys aren't helpful."

Montgomery leaned forward on the table and said, "Then let's make it a bit more helpful. Katherine Beckett?"

"What about her?"

"My knowledge on her could prove to be helpful."

"I am all ears."

"Then listen carefully," said Montgomery.

Castle straightened up in his seat. "Please, go on."

"There is a reason I have been given this position in the agency."

"And what might that reason be?"

"Everything Kate knows down to her mannerisms. I was the one that helped train her."

Quick Note: DUN DUN DUN. Just wanted to say a quick thanks to all the people who have left review's, faved, and followed this story. It really motivates me to write better and faster as well.