On a dark street, well off the beaten path there is a building currently void of any occupants. In fact it is also void of windows and doors, as if it had a lot before the attack. But what few it did have are now covered by plywood panels. This is a building, that just yesterday, was full of equipment. Computers. Network connections. Racks filled with data storage devices and several employees tasked with assuring the heath of the systems and information being kept stored in the electronic library
Today, however, the building is almost completely empty. The employees are gone. The storage devices smashed into un-useable scrap metal and plastic. Component parts broken into tiny pieces. Wires ripped from their connections. Computers smashed beyond recognition
But more painful is the evidence of the carnage done to human life. The blood stains covering the floor in several places where once living men and women were employed now just memories of who they were
The premises has been declared off limits to the local police authorities but the woman currently walking across the door opening is not local. She has special access due to her level of employment high up the chain of government
Although she is older than most law enforcement investigators and field operatives, she is still very striking in her appearance. She exudes confidence along with her outer mature beauty. She carries herself confidently on long lean legs covered by slender cut jeans and ending in stiletto boots bringing her to well over 6 feet in height. There are probably a lot of men, even some younger, who would find her attractive
She has only been in the building a very few minutes when a man's deep baritone voice is heard above the outside traffic noises
"They always seem to leave a lot of carnage, don't they?"
She never outwardly reacts to the surprise visitor's voice "They do make a mess every time"
An equally tall and also older man appears from the shadows. "It's been a long time Rita"
"Too long Jackson" she responds without looking away from her, for lack of a better word, evidence gathering
"London? Or was it Marseilles?" he comments
"I think it was in Stockholm. I remember it was very cold and I almost froze to death before you finally shot Rene"
"He kept moving and I could not get a clean shot"
"I had tried just about everything to get him to stop long enough for you to target him" she remarks
"You did not have to strip down completely naked in your hotel room window just to distract him until I could get a good shot"
"I figured that I might just get him to stand still that way…anyway it worked. Didn't it?"
He walks up to the woman "Yes it did"
She smiles to the man "and not to mention, you seemed to enjoy it yourself once you got to my room"
"You have always been able to distract me Rita"
"So what are you doing here Jackson?"
"Trying to keep an eye on my family"
"Which one is snooping? Your son or your daughter-in-law?"
"Both actually. Kate had found some information and brought it to Castle from the LockStat research and now my son is digging into this using his connections with the team from Berlin"
With him referencing the name makes the woman react "That was a bad time for everyone involved"
"Yeah but at least Rick saved the team and allowed them to get out safe and bring back the intel they had gone in for. And for that Jake and the team have had his back ever since"
"And still do" she remarks
"Yes but what happened after that must have been really bad. I have been able to find out very little. I did find out he was taken to Bangkok and then everything went south. That team was decimated. All were killed. Rick was the only one that got out"
"So much taken from him at that time. He was hit hard by the losses. Not able to deal with it all"
Hunt finishes "That is when they wiped his memory and planted the story about Sophia. That way it explained his time away from home"
"It was for the best" Rita comments "He did not need to remember what actually happened"
After a pause she continues "Are we sure that he does not recall the operation?"
"I have interacted with him twice. He gave no indication that he remembers anything. But it appears his memory of Sophia is intact"
"What about his relationship with Beckett? Is their marriage good?"
"Everything is solid with them. I have never seen two people more in love than they are" Hunt comments
"Except us maybe?" Rita states as she steps beside Hunt "I bet you became very concerned when Rick disappeared on his wedding day"
"Yeah! I wanted to be here to see them get married and share in their happiness, but you know how our lives are" Jackson remarks "we don't get to pick our days off"
"No we can't" Rita agrees "but from what I heard he was kidnapped by someone in LockStat's inner circle who was also part of the original team that recruited Rick in the first place. So he felt comfortable when they took him"
Castle just thought he was safe…"
"…when in reality he was in mortal danger" Rita finishes the thought
The pair walks around the space for several more minutes reviewing the scene when the man speaks
"Did they finally get away for some downtime alone?"
"Oh yeah, but I just hope her two partners can leave them alone so they can have some married couple privacy. Those two guys tend to dig into anything that suits them good or not so good"
"Where did they go? Castle and Beckett, I mean"
"Jake Garrett set them up for a weekend at the safe house on Martha's Vineyard" Rita answers
Hunt nods his head "That should give them a little more private time without threat of danger"
"And in a lot cleaner place than that cheap motel they spent the night in last weekend"
"That was a low-end dump…wasn't it?"
"Sort of like some of the places you have taken me" she comments as she steps up closer to him again and takes a hold of his arm "So mister…would you like to go somewhere and see what a hundred dollars will get YOU?"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
There is a knock on the front door of the house on Martha's Vineyards. Richard Castle. When he opens the door he finds his former Special Forces partner standing there
"Hey Jake. What are you doing here?"
"I have some more information for you" He holds up another file
Castle steps aside to allow the man to enter. Once he has entered the living room the man sits down in a chair across from the couch where Beckett is perched. Rick sits beside her and takes a hold of her hand
"What do you have Jake?"
"We are still data mining but we did back track to the time you were with us in Berlin"
No specific places had been mentioned before now and Rick can feel his wife tense in his embrace
"After the mission and the debrief, my team was sent back to Langley. You stayed at the CIA field office in Germany. You were then shuttled to Bangkok Thailand where you met up with a drug interdiction team"
Kate sits up a little with the mention of drugs
"The mission was to determine who was receiving the drugs from a cartel just outside the city. And just like before you were the analyst and were overseeing the intel that the team had gathered. But this time, something went terribly wrong. This team walked into a trap. The cartel knew they were coming"
"How…how did Rick get out then?" Kate has a frightened and nervous tone in her voice
"He was at the command post in radio contact with the team. When he heard the radio traffic. The shooting and then…"
Rick finishes "Then silence on the radio?"
"Yeah. You went back and were debriefed by the project manager"
"I don't remember that" Castle has a serious look of concern on his face
"You were sent back to the states and that is when…Uh…they erased your memories including the mission. The lost men. The drugs. Everything about this operation was removed"
"And they planted my relationship with Sophia Turner?"
"Exactly" Jake answers
Rick and Kate sit in silence for a few minutes then finally Rick speaks "What did I see or hear that they erased?"
Jake answers "We think you met LockStat"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Having finished dinner Castle and Beckett are now sitting on the love seat out on the back veranda of the house. They are sharing a bottle of wine that actually, Kate has drank very little of.
"You don't like my selection?" Rick asks while pointing to her still full glass"
"No. it's fine. I am just not in the mood tonight"
"If you are not in the mood for wine, maybe you ARE in the mood for something else. Something that does not require glasses or…anything else. Such as clothes"
This is when he sees her eyes are glassy and then a tear escapes down her cheek. He takes her glass from her and places both hers and his on the table
Taking a firm grip on her hand "Kate…are you OK?"
Wiping the errant tear from her face "Yeah…fine"
No you are not fine. Tell me what you are thinking that this new information connects me LockStat? Or that I am an assassin? What is it?"
"They did plant memories of Sophia. Months of memories. Almost a year of you two being…lovers. You thought it was real, didn't you?"
Her using that word tightens Castle's chest. "Yes, I have a dim memory of her and me but now looking back I can see where it might not be real"
"If that is not real then how are you so sure about us?"
"Kate, ask me about anything between our first meeting and today. If it is not real, then…"
She finishes the line "Then this is not real"
He pulls her tight to his side "Go ahead and ask"
She takes a deep breath "OK…the first case…"
"I worked with a Detective McNulty and he and I working together discovered the killer was Tisdale's son"
Kate reacts to his statement by sitting up straight. This is when she sees Rick's evil grin from ear to ear
"But what I DID was…I tried to flirt with you and pick you up from the moment you interrogated me. I told you that you have beautiful eyes"
She relaxes a little
"And I tried to take you out and that is when this all began" he points between them
"But I said no" she responds
"Exactly, and that is why I fell in love with Katherine Beckett"
She has changed her eyes from worry to shy. He loves her ability to show so much through her eyes
"And you do still have beautiful eyes. I enjoy looking into your soul thru them"
She curls back into his side, takes a deep breath then speaks "But I do want to talk about us…I have things I want you to know"
"Bad things?"
"Good things. Really good things"