Thanks for all your advice with the last chapter my lovelies! Hope y'all enjoy reading this one.
WARNING: Contains tragic and sad content that may be upsetting for some.
...
As soon as Castle and Beckett entered the precinct the next morning, they knew something was off.
As they stepped out of the elevator and onto the floor of the homicide unit, they could hear a screaming match going on, and the loudest voice seemed to be that of Detective Esposito.
"You stay AWAY!" They could hear him yelling.
The pair looked at each other, concerned and then ran around the corner to ascertain what exactly was wrong.
Esposito was being held back by Ryan as he scowled at a man in his forties with a stained t-shirt and beanie, who was also being held back by a uniformed cop.
"Espo, what the hell's goin' on?" Kate questioned him.
"This bastard was hurting her, he had her in a god-damned chokehold!" He yelled between gritted teeth.
"Who?" Kate asked him, confused. "Who did he have in a chokehold?"
Esposito's nostrils flared as he turned his head to Kate. "Mikayla."
Kate and Castle both felt instant and simultaneous surges of rage for the stranger standing in front of them.
"You're her fucking cousin man, you're her family, you've got no idea what that little girl's been through and now you're just gonna..."
"Espo!" Kate interrupted his passionate ravings. "Where is she?"
She heard a small whimper behind her.
It was Castle.
Mikayla had wrapped herself around his waist as he bent down to pick her up.
"Kate." He said softly, tears forming in his blue eyes.
Mikayla looked even thinner that the last time they'd seen her. Her hair was terribly matted and her eyes were blood shot.
She had fresh bruises on her wrists and on her throat.
Kate felt sick as she took in the form of the damaged little person in front of her. She felt the worst kind of guilt. Technically, of course, it wasn't her fault. She hadn't been the one who had vetted Mikayla's cousin and deemed him suitable to take care of her, but she had let Mikayla walk out of their lives, uncertain of where she was going to next.
She had let her down. Something she would never do again.
"What have you done?" She asked the unkempt man with so much malice in her voice, it made everyone in the direct vicinity, shiver.
"I tried so hard to take care of her, but she just wouldn't talk. I asked her, what do you want to do today, what do you want to eat? And she just wouldn't answer me... She never says anything, it plays with your head, it gets on your nerves!"
Kate stepped right up to the man so that there noses were almost touching. "Let me ask you a question." She hissed with contempt dripping from her words. "Did beating her get her to talk to you, you slime-bag piece of gutless shit?"
The man audibly swallowed as she held her determined gaze on him.
"Kate..." She heard the plea of her fiance.
She turned to see him holding Mikayla in his arms. The girl had her face buried in his neck and was covering both her ears with her hands.
Kate closed her eyes for a moment before turning to glare at the man before her one more time. "Get him out of here", she told the cop who was holding him.
The young cop complied as Mikayla's cousin shouted. "I took care of that little girl... even her father didn't do that! She'd be dead without me... When they said they needed a family member, I volunteered out of the goodness of my heart, but I didn't know I was getting a kid that was broken!"
Castle noticed Kate's jaw lock at his words and he could see by her body language that she wanted to run back and kick the living daylights out of the man.
"Kate... Please", he whispered to her, leaning his head against Mikayla's.
Kate breathed in and out, focusing all her attention on Mikayla. Her anger dissipated somewhat, but only to be replaced by a deep swell of sadness for the little girl.
She stepped forward, encouraging Castle to lead the three of them to a quiet room. He lead them to interrogation 1 and sat down in a chair as Kate switched on the light and pulled a chair up next to him and Mikayla.
Tears streamed down Kate's face. "Mikayla", she choked out, wanting to lean forward and stroke the girl's hair, touch her face, if only a simple touch could erase all the memories, all the pain.
"Mikki?" She tried again. This time Mikayla buried coughed and trembled, burying her head further into Castle's neck.
Kate and Castle looked at each other. Kate bit her lip as softly, she whispered. "M.J."
Mikayla sucked in a breath and then sat up slowly so that she was finally facing Kate.
Kate sighed with relief. The girl didn't hate her, she just wanted her life to change. She wanted to forget her past and all of the names that came with it. "M.J" was new, and it was Kate's.
"I'm so sorry", Kate said as she held out her hand to Mikayla. Kate ran her other hand over her face, covering her eyes to stop the flow of tears.
She was startled when she felt a small set of five fingers curl around her palm.
Kate lowered her hand to see Mikayla leaning forward on Castle's knee. Her cheeks were tear-stained and her eyes were all cried out. Those same eyes seemed to look into Kate's soul. it was in that moment Kate realized how important communicating with her eyes was going to be with this little girl.
"M.J, I promise that nothing is going to happen like that again... You did nothing wrong, it was his fault, OK? You are not broken, you are beautiful, you are special and smart and sweet."
Kate tried to smile at the girl. "And I will not let anyone ever hurt you again...I promise."
Mikayla blinked and shifted her body forward so that Kate could take her in her arms.
Kate stroked the little girl's back. Pretending, just quietly that with every stroke, she was erasing a bad memory.
Little did she know; she was.
...
"She will not be appearing in court, she can't!" Kate raved as she stood in Gates' office.
"Detective, I understand your frustration and your concern, but if we don't proceed with this, the case will be overturned instantly and Wilkes will walk."
"M.J has been the victim of abuse for possibly the last three weeks, she is not psychologically able to testify at the present time."
"Well detective, you have three hours to get her ready, because, as I said, if she is not ready, the case will be thrown out, and we will have lost all hope. All hope for bringing her mother's killer to just-"
"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S AT STAKE HERE?" Kate screamed, startling her Captain.
Kate breathed rapidly, her pulse rising by the second. She bit her lip hard, trying to still her emotions.
"Beckett, I know what this means to you, and believe me, I have considered removing you from the case... for your own sake", she added defensively as Kate looked ready to protest.
"But then I saw how much trust Mikayla Ramirez placed in both you and Mr. Castle, and I knew that you were going to be the only ones who would ever get her through the trial."
Kate stared at her Captain. Had she really just said something remotely... complimentary?
"It was the right decision, Sir."
"I don't make wrong decisions, detective", Gates said sitting down at her desk.
Kate's lips twisted, withholding a retort.
"And I appreciate your faith in me. I won't let you down Sir. M.J will be ready for court today."
"Good." Gates replied. Kate took that as her cue to leave.
"Oh and Beckett?"
Kate stopped at the door and spun on her heel.
"Make sure you use the girl's correct name on the stand."
Once again, Kate kept her mouth closed and turned around again to go and find her husband and the little girl she had to prepare for the biggest moment of her young life.
She had two hours and forty eight... nope... forty seven minutes.
...
She found Mikayla and Castle in the break room. Castle was reading Mikayla the story book he'd bought her the night before and she was clutching on to her little "Rocket" toy and sucking her thumb, listening intently.
"The little puppy wanted to help, but he couldn't swim either, he was scared of the water, and didn't like getting his paws wet."
Kate became transfixed by the lull of his voice. One of her favorite activities on a rare day off was to be put to sleep by the sound of her fiancé's smooth, melodic voice, reading her one of his best-sellers.
Or even one of his flops.
"He watched as his brother struggled against the tide, the waves were too strong though and they floated little Cosmo down the river... Curly saw a farmer nearby, working on his field and he barked for help. The farmer noticed little Curly's panic and he came over to see what was wrong with the little puppy. Curly curled his way around the farmer's feet and then ran, hoping the farmer would follow him... and he did!"
Kate smiled as she watched Mikayla's face light up at Castle's excited voice.
"Finally Curly and the farmer caught up to Cosmo who had floated a long way down the river. The little puppy had managed to swim nearer to the river bank and when the farmer saw him there, he knelt down and reached out as far as he could... and do you want to know what happened next?"
Mikayla's eyes widened and her little mouth parted in anticipation. "The farmer fell into the river too!"
Mikayla frowned. Not the outcome she was expecting, evidently.
Kate chuckled a little, she knew the happy ending was coming.
"But the farmer could swim well and he grabbed little Cosmo and carried him to the river bank, lifting him up wet and shaken, but still wagging his little tail."
Mikayla slowly smiled, and one of the fractures to Kate's heart healed a little bit.
"The two brothers gave each other puppy kisses and barked happily. They licked the farmer's hand to thank him and then walked off happily back home, both deciding that the next time they decided to go for a swim, it would be in a bathtub... The end."
Mikayla raised her arms up, as if to cheer, although not making any sound.
Castle laughed. "You liked that, huh?"
"I liked the bit where the farmer falls in", Kate smiled lightly as she walked further into the room.
The two of them looked at her. "Why did you like that part in particular?" Castle asked her with a nod of his head.
"Because even though the farmer must have been very scared, he was strong and he was brave and he got the puppy back to safety... He saved the puppy."
"Yes he was very brave", Castle said as he looked for Mikayla's reaction.
"You know who else is brave?" Kate asked, sitting down in front of Mikayla again.
Mikayla pointed a finger toward Kate.
Kate's eyebrows knitted together as she smiled a watery smile. She hadn't been expecting that and it had thrown her for a minute. "Yeah, I'm pretty brave, but not as brave as you M.J."
Castle tilted his head to see the little girl was deep in thought. "And even though we know you're scared, just like farmer. You're going to have to be really brave today, because guess what?"
Mikayla lifted her head to look at him. "You're going to save this case for us. Just like the farmer saved Curly."
Mikayla bowed her head.
"Can you do that for us M.J? Can you save Curly for us?"
The pair of them waited anxiously until Mikayla's little dark haired head bobbed up and down slowly.
Castle and Kate looked at each other, sighing with relief. Castle placed his hand on Mikayla's shoulder, silently thanking her. Kate's came to rest on top of his and he laced his fingers with hers as they both held their M.J.
...
Kate and Castle sat with Mikayla in the scratchy 1970's that were designed surely to make the witnesses and criminologists as uncomfortable as possible.
Wilkes entered the room when called, dressed in a well tailored grey suit that really didn't suit his blonde hair.
Kate glanced at Mikayla to gage her reaction. The little girl was stoic, sitting quite still, clearly uncomfortable.
Wilkes sat down and uttered the compulsory "I do", with his right hand on the bible as the prosecutor began questioning him.
Mikayla seemed to cower with every word the prosecutor would shout at Wilkes, the increase in volume clearly scaring her.
"Rick, this is too much for her...", Kate whispered to her partner, looking down at the little child sitting between the two of them.
"If we don't say strong, she can't either", Castle reminded her lowly.
Kate frowned but nodded to him.
"...Mikayla Johanna Ramirez to the stand."
Kate and Castle inhaled deep breaths together.
Kate placed a soft hand on Mikayla's shoulder. "OK sweetie, now it's your turn to go up OK? You have to go with this nice lady and she will take you up there just like we talked about."
Mikayla slowly approached the stand, her little legs shaking slightly as she walked. The lawyer helped her up to the landing and put a pillow on the seat to raise her up.
"Hello Mikayla, my name is Lucy and I need to ask you a few questions, is that OK?"
Mikayla's eyes darted around the room.
Castle and Kate nodded encouragingly at her and finally, she nodded.
"OK, now first I'd like you to tell me about this", Lucy held up Mikayla's drawing of the man seemingly with the NYPD.
"Is this a picture of a policeman?" Mikayla looked around the room again before nodding slowly.
"Is that police officer in this room right now Mikayla?"
Mikayla froze and Kate and Rick both froze with her. Kate couldn't handle seeing her little... the little girl so stressed. "Be brave Mikayla, just like Curly!" She called out from the seats.
"Objection your honor, no calling out from the pews!" The defense lawyer said, looking annoyed.
"Thank you Mr. Conners, I do know the law", the judge leveled him with a look. "Any witnesses who are not on the stand will remain silent", he said firmly, looking at Kate.
Castle squeezed his fiancé's hand and she shook her head, feeling helpless. "Miss Matlin, is your client able to answer the question or isn't she?"
"Mikayla?" Lucy pushed softly, but pleadingly. Mikayla looked frantically around the room, her eyes set on Wilkes and she began to bawl loudly, squirming in her seat.
Kate and Castle buried their heads in their hands.
The prosecution's case had lost all hope... until:
"Stop it! Just leave Mikki alone, OK? She hasn't done anything wrong."
"Mr. Wilkes, you have no right to-"
"No. just listen... It was me, alright? I did it... I killed Al and Mia."
Wilkes confessed.
...
Huh... does that mean what I think it... nah, surely not... right?
Your thoughts?