Per Adversa Ad Luce - Through Adversity to the Light A novella in three parts Part Three: Candorem - Incandesence

Established canon up to Kate's return to the 12th, with references and possible spoilers.

Rated M - for mature themes and content

I don't own Castle - ABC Studios and Andrew Marlowe do. I'm just borrowing the characters for a while to play.

I am not making any money from this; it's just to freeshare with my ff friends.

"See you on the other side, Brother"

Kevin Ryan - The Wild Rover

Chapter Eleven: Consilium - The Resolution

As soon as he saw the report Ryan tried Alexis' cell again, and then threw his phone across the room in frustration, as once more it went straight to voice-mail. He just stood there shaking and wondering if this day could get any worse. He was glad they were working the case, but he wanted to be out there on the ground trying to get into that damn building.

He felt a hand on his arm and turned to look at Castle. The writer's eyes were haunted and Ryan was reminded of the time she had been kidnapped. They pulled each other into a hug and shared their anguish at the unknown fate of the young woman they both loved. Beckett rubbed Castle's back in silent support and Esposito crashed himself into his chair and clenched his fists, wishing there was something he could hit.

A clearing throat got their attention and they all looked towards Gates. Her face was as stern as usual, but her eyes displayed her own distress and support for them all.

"We haven't time for this," she said. "We need to find out why this is happening and see about getting all those people, including that precious young woman, home."

"You're right," said Beckett. "Ryan, what else was there on that report?" He shook his head to clear it and then picked up the report, trying once more to concentrate on it.

"The baby, a little girl, Ashley, was born with Patau Syndrome and she only lived five and half weeks. She died in May."

"Patau syndrome? What's that?" Beckett asked, and then the answer came, but from an unexpected quarter.

"It's a chromosome abnormality and it causes multiple birth defects. It can be very painful for the child as they can have heart problems, eyes can be malformed, have trouble feeding as many are born with cleft palates, and they can even literally forget to breathe. And that's just a few of the things that can be wrong. What's Patau Syndrome got to do with the lab and our girl?"

Esposito had let Lanie know about the lab and Alexis, and she had been coming up to get an update on progress whenever she could. Now he stood and took her hand, as Ryan filled her in.

"We've had a demand for the name or names of the techs who ran fetal tests on a baby born with it. But the tests came back clear. The parents didn't know, so never had the option to abort. I think that's what the letter means when it talks about negligence."

"It's not negligence. That syndrome doesn't always show up in the tests. It's a hard one." Ryan had continued reading the report.

"Oh God! There's more. The mother, Miranda took a fatal overdose in June. They're both dead, mother and child. So the man on the roof is probably the father, Karl Sinclair. If we get the techs' names and get them there, he's gonna kill them!"

On hearing about the fate of mother and baby, Esposito had run a check on the father, and now added in his information.

"Karl Sinclair is a military sniper. And he also has a degree in Computer Science. Until September he was deployed in Afghanistan. He never got to see his daughter, and he was only allowed home briefly in June on bereavement leave for his wife's funeral."

"So basically," said Castle, "this couple has tried for years to have a child, but there was always something wrong with the pregnancy. Then they get told that finally they are going to have a healthy child, but she is born with terrible defects and only lives a very short time. I think it can explain why he would go off the deep end, but can he be talked down?"

"He won't talk to anyone," Gates said.

"How does he want the information relayed to him?" asked Beckett. "There's no point in making demands if you can't access the responses."

"He wants the name or names and pictures of them released to the news."

"He must have a laptop up there. That's how he's blocking communication and stopping the lockdown protocols from being released. How's IT doing on that?"

Gates shook her head. "Not good. They can't break through the firewalls he's put up. He's planned this to the last detail with military precision, even down to where to position himself so he has access to shoot, but can't be shot back at."

"But he probably will need to move, to precision shoot, to take out the techs," said Esposito.

They looked at him in question, and Beckett put it into words. "What do you mean?"

"Denying access is easy, you blanket shoot, because it doesn't matter where you hit. But if you want to hit a specific target you need to get a sharp angle, and I'm betting he can't get that angle from where he is now. He'd need to be nearer to the edge."

"So what we need is a diversion, which would make him move. But we can't use those techs, put them at risk, even to save the people in the building. I can't believe he would think we would expose someone like that, or that they would allow themselves to be exposed anyway," said Beckett.

"So how do we create that diversion?" asked Castle.

"We give him what he wants," said Ryan. They all just stared at him.

"We just said…" Beckett started, when he interrupted her.

"I don't mean the actual techs, I mean someone pretending; who's trained and can take a dive on command. We only need a few seconds to get him to move."

"I can't ask anyone to put themselves at risk like that, Detective."

"You don't need to. I'm volunteering." They all started to object, but he interrupted them again.

"Look, the bottom line is we don't have time to talk him down, however much we want to. There've already been two explosions, and it won't be long before there's another. Those people don't have any more time, and neither do we. Captain, the woman I love is in there. I can't go through that again! Especially not if there's something I can do to stop it. Give me a name, any name, but make sure it's an ex-employee in case he has a list, and put my face up there. We have to do this, Captain, it's the only way." Her face showed her concern, but she sharply nodded anyway, and went to make calls to arrange it.

"Are you sure about this, Bro? You're putting your life in the hands of a SWAT sniper. They are good and all, but you don't know them and they don't know you. It's just a job. I'm not saying…" But again Ryan interrupted.

"That's why I want you."

"What?"

"You're the best shot I know Javi, and besides, timing's going to be crucial in this and we know each other's moves. The other thing is I know is that you'll try to take him out without a kill shot. He's military, like you were, and he's suffered enough. I know that suffering and how it feels. I don't think the way he's doing this is right, and God knows I hate him for putting Lex at risk, but I think he needs help rather than punishment. Sorry, Castle, if you don't agree with that."

"No, actually I do. But Alexis and you are my concerns, and if the only way is to kill him, then so be it."

…

They didn't know how she did it, but Gates got the Brass to agree with the whole plan. Esposito was up on the roof of the building with the best possible angle on the place he had worked out Sinclair needed to be, and he had briefed Ryan on the exact route he wanted him to take to the front of the building. Surrounding him were a team of SWAT snipers to back him up.

As they had expected, when the details had been released to the news and broadcast, Sinclair had sent an email to the department, demanding that the tech Jude Lawrence come to the front of the clinic. He also said he wanted him to read out an attached statement admitting negligence in the testing and admitting guilt for the suffering and deaths of Melinda and Ashley.

Ryan was prepared to read out the statement, in case that was really all Sinclair wanted, but they were all skeptical that Sinclair was willing to put so many people at risk to simply achieve that goal. They believed the first letter. He wanted the tech dead. Nevertheless Esposito knew if he didn't move, Sinclair wouldn't be able to take an accurate shot. Ryan was clothed in a flak vest and although still at risk, should be able to get out of the way of a blanket shoot, and Ryan had a hidden ear button connecting him to his partner so that Esposito could give him instructions on when to move and how.

In addition as soon as the shoot went down a second SWAT team was set to storm the roof. Beckett had been offered a place with that team, but she opted to stay on the ground with Castle and Martha and Lanie. The fire department was also on alert to get into the lab as soon as they were given the all clear to use the front entrance. Everything depended on the critical timing of the beginning of the operation, but the two main players in that crucial stage had absolute faith and trust in the other to be able to pull it off.

…

As Ryan walked out in the front of the lab building, he could feel the adrenaline surging through him. Everything was eerily silent and he reached the front without a sound coming from his partner. He pulled the statement from his pocket, and started to read, knowing that the microphones on the news vans were picking up everything he was saying.

And then suddenly his partner's voice was in his ear telling to him to dive right, and a single shot rang out from far above him. Then it was mayhem, as the noise of a battle came from the opposite roof top, followed by a call for a bus. Sinclair was down and subdued, but not dead. Esposito had pulled off the near impossible shot as Ryan knew he would. The fire department was now storming into the lab, and the news was coming down that the protocols had been lifted as soon as the laptop was secured and a tech had been able to disable the firewalls.

He wanted to run into the building, but knew he would only get in the way. He'd done his job, now he needed to let the fire department do theirs, and bring his lady out to him. He joined his friends, his family and waited. Shortly Esposito too joined the vigil. And they waited.

And then the firemen started to bring people out and he strained to see her, but Castle spotted her first.

"Alexis!" He called and waved as they all started to move towards her. She smiled briefly at her dad and then only had eyes for him, as she ran and threw herself into his arms.

For the first time, since it all started he felt like he could actually take a calm breath. Had it only been a few hours? It felt like forever. He showered her face with kisses, as she breathlessly spoke to him.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I should have done what you said!"

"It's not your fault. You said it this morning, bad things happen, but we can't stop living. We just have to make the most of what we have. I love you, Lex."

"I love you back. Just hold me please. I need to know that you're real."

…

At a slight distance the other five who loved her stood and watched the reunion. Castle sighed and Becket hugged him into her side and spoke to him softly.

"She'll be here in a moment. Just give them a little time."

"I know," he answered. "It's just… it's strange. I knew it would happen and I'm glad it's Kevin because I love him too, but still it feels strange. Whenever she was in trouble or pain, the arms she looked for were always mine."

"She loves him."

"She does, indeed. And he loves her. I'm happy for them, I wanted this! But it's still hard to be supplanted, even by someone you care for."

…

The following weekend found Kevin and Alexis back in Philadelphia, as they attended the tenth birthday party of Cathleen's son, Dylan. Kevin had been close to the boy, up to the time he had stopped seeing his siblings, and he was very glad to renew their relationship. He had been looking forward to the visit, but in the aftermath of what had happened, was wary of seeing his mother.

After Alexis had greeted her friends and family waiting to speak to her, and re-assured them that she was fine, he had taken her home, and they had re-affirmed their love for each other in the best way they knew. But later, they had received a call from Niamh making sure they were both OK. Apparently the broadcast had not been confined to the local New York stations, but had hit some of the national ones too, and his family in Philadelphia had all seen him walk out.

Sure enough, his mother asked if she could talk to him, and despite wanting to avoid it, especially in view of the occasion, he decided it was time he faced things head on. He started to speak before she did, wanting to try to finally make her understand why his job was so important to him.

"I'm sorry if you're upset and angry, Ma. But I had to do what I did."

"You could have been killed… again." He closed his eyes briefly, worn out by the same old arguments.

"Thirty-two people, Ma. Thirty-two people are possibly alive because I walked out in front of that building. I must admit that only one of them was in the forefront of my mind, but that is still a true fact."

"It wasn't you he wanted!"

"No, it wasn't. But I'm trained to do things like that. And I knew people had my back, one in particular. I trusted my partner to do what he had to do, to keep me safe. I do get it. I know you worry. I'm your son, of course you do. I worry about Lex, as well, especially after what happened with Jenny. But we can't live our lives controlled by that. I learned that last week."

"Kevin, I was so angry with you when I saw you walk out on the television. I wanted to shake you and ask if you hadn't risked your life enough. But I did understand why you were doing it. Finally, I did understand. Because it wasn't someone telling me you were doing it, and it wasn't conjuring worse case scenarios in my mind. It wasn't even seeing your broken body as we did in the hospital. It was watching my son walk into danger, to safeguard others. And I was so proud of you. So very proud."

By now both Kevin and his mother were in tears, but even as he took her in his arms to comfort her, he knew that finally, finally his mother was on his side.

…

AN: A HUGE thank you to Firestar385 for beta reading, Americanizing and generally correcting this work. Any remaining mistakes are mine!

Please let me know what you think. All constructive criticism is welcomed - I haven't written in quite a while and the only way to improve is to take on board other people's comments. I hope you will enjoy the reading journey as much as I am enjoying the writing one.

Bookart for this work can be found on my tumblr blog: lsmwalls period tumblr period com [ / ] image [ / ] 65824702381