"Determination"
One Month Later...
The sound of doors slamming was what got the chaos started. Two people – one female, one male – came bursting through the ER, unconscious, and on gurneys. As fast as the paramedics and medical personnel could run, they got him to a room. He was drenched in his own blood, losing it fast. Dirtied, ripped clothes were immediately cut off and placed in clear property bags.
A dog tag was carefully taken off from around his neck. The chaos within that room carried the most intense moment that ER had seen in a long time. Hastily hooked up to different monitors, it was discovered to be a strong heartbeat and obvious signs of brain activity. That relieved the doctors and nurses.
It was obvious from the X-Rays, MRIs, and CAT scans that he had endured very damaging torture.
"My God...it's Richard Castle." A male doctor trailed off with widened eyes. He turned to the nurse beside him. "Have reception get a hold of his next of kin."
"Yes, Doctor Kingsley." With that, the nurse did as told.
She got the call in the ween hours of the night. Light orange hair sticking up practically everywhere...eyes bloodshot...in a sleep-induced haze...these were the obvious signs of someone in a toss-and-turn night.
Groaning, she scratched her head with one hand just as she picked up the house phone. "H-hello?" Her voice greeted, hoarsely.
"This is Catalina from St. Mary's Hospital. Is Alexis Castle there?" The feminine voice sounded worn-down, stressed.
The young woman straightened up, instantly became more alert. "This is she." Her eyes widened and there was hope laced in her voice. Finally, maybe her father was alive.
"Your father was rushed into the ER a few minutes ago. The doctor thought it'd be best if you came here."
Alexis let out a big sigh of relief as she tried to calm her thunderous heart and hammering nerves. For the first time in over three months, she genuinely smiled. "Was there a month old baby brought in with him? What about a woman?"
"It's best you get here as soon as possible." The nurse repeated.
"I'll be there shortly." With that, Alexis slammed the phone down, turned on her heels and darted up the stairs, all the while yelling for her grandmother.
A dim light sat alone on an end table next to an unmade bed. Sitting on the bed under the covers was a young man who was in deep concentration as he read through a book. One by one, he flipped the pages, making the occasional reaction any reader would get. The sound of the phone ringing in the hallway near his room interrupted his concentration, causing him to whirl his head to the right. His bedroom door was opened, leaving him the chance to see his father grab the phone.
Watching curiously, he listened to his father's half of the conversation and observing the man's face go from sleeping to shock to some relief as he replied that he'd be there shortly.
"What's going on, Dad?" The young man asked as his father turned around, facing him.
"Rick's at a hospital." The older man sounded stunned, barely able to hold his own weight up. "Get ready, Justin. We're heading to the hospital."
Justin was out of bed before Jim even finished speaking.
Beep...beep...beep was the sound that Castle heard in the distance as his mind seemed to be in a delirious atmosphere. He couldn't open his eyes but he felt pain all over his body. This sense came in and out as his consciousness drifted in warning territory. A soft urgent desperation ran its course throughout his nervous system, immediately making him worry about Kate and Xavier. He couldn't feel them, but he could feel his mother and daughter, her father and brother, and their friends.
Where the hell are they? He thought as the noises in the distance became closer. Please let them safe.
Finally, he managed to push through the limbo state his mind seemed to take residence in and opened his eyes. Bright light streamed into the room from the opened blind, greeting his eyes to a harsh reality. Instead, he lifted his right hand to block it.
"Oh thank GOD!" came his daughter's loud relieved voice. He whipped his head to his left and saw that it was indeed his daughter sitting in a chair next to his bed. Her appearance was of worn-down, stressed, worry, crying. It looked like she hadn't slept in days.
"Alexis?" Castle sounded confused. This tone of voice caused her smile to immediately slip into a worried frown. She could tell he was looking her over, and she was sure he could see the evidence of just how affected she was of his spontaneous return. Furrowed eyebrows, Castle spoke again. "Are you okay?" Instantly, paternal instinct overruled his own pain. He lifted his arm out to beckon her into his arms, to which she immediately did as tears fell freely from her face. He wanted to hold her tightly, but the pain in his torso shot that out of the water, so he settled for a tolerable tightness. His heart constricted.
"I should be asking you the same thing, Dad." Alexis said under her muffled voice. She pulled back and her father immediately wiped away the tears. "I'm just so glad you're alive."
"What do you mean?" He asked, furrowing his brows once again. "How long have I been gone?"
"Wha..." Alexis started, stunned. "You don't know?"
He shook his head.
"Dad, you've been missing for a month. You, Kate, and Xavier." Alexis revealed, eyes widened at the disbelief.
Castle's eyes turned away from her. His mind was in a wave of unfathomable proportions. Finally, his eyes returned to her. "Where are they?"
"We don't know." Alexis answered.
His heart began to pound in his chest. Panic swept him. "I've got to get to them." He pulled the sheets off him and started to move, but the pain reminded him not to move too much. As a reaction, he hissed, clutching a hand to his rib cage.
"No, Dad! Don't!" Alexis warned, darting around the bed to stop him. Placing her hands on his shoulders, she effectively stopped him as he looked up at her. "Please!" She begged. "You're in no shape to get out of bed."
He started to ignore her warnings, but the door swung open, revealing his mother and a doctor.
"Richard Edgar!" She yelled as the doctor came around her and helped Alexis to ease him back on the bed. They all received a glare. "What has gotten into you?"
"They've got Kate and Xavier! I'm the only one who can get them back!" He yelled back.
Martha could clearly see the lost, helpless expression that only she and Alexis was able to pick up on. Feeling sympathetic, she crossed the room, taking the seat previously occupied by Alexis and resting a hand on his cut arm. "We'll get them back." She wanted to pat his arm but know that was inadvisable. "Listen to Dr. Kingsley."
The doctor now stood at the foot of the bed with his chart in hand, looking at his patient expectantly. When he realized he had their full attention, he started with introductions before explaining what had gone since his arrival. "Mr. Castle, you are a very lucky man. You sustained broken ribs, trauma to your brain, various cuts and bruises along your body, at one point we discovered an open wound from, what we believe, some sort of sharp object, most likely a knife, to your lower left stomach. Your heart gave us a little scare shortly after you arrived, but we were able to revive you."
As the doctor explained his injuries, Castle lay his head back against the pillow, looking upward as flashbacks of the tortures he endured raided his mind. His heart pounded. All his mind worried about was getting his girlfriend and son back.
"Mr. Castle?" He heard the doctor's voice in the distance. "Mr. Castle?" Again, he heard the voice but it was closer.
"Richard!" His mother's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Uh, sorry. I..." He trailed off, blinking and pulling his attention back to the people in the room.
"It's understandable. You've undergone extensive trauma. It's normal to be a little out of it." The doctor was impassive. "I need to check on other patients, but I'm glad you're awake. I'll swing back by here and check on you later."
He slipped out, leaving Castle to tend to his family.
"Mother, I have to get them back." He stressed, eyeing first his mother then Alexis.
"Then, let us help you." Martha offered, patting his shoulder lightly.
He pulled Alexis into a reassuring hug. "I'll be just fine, pumpkin." He forced a smile as she drew back before pulling her closer to lay a kiss on the top of her head. To his mother, he lightly squeezed her upper arm. "Just fine." As a reaction, his mother merely smiled.
A child's coos drifted into one of the many rooms in the house from the hallway. She knew immediately it was her son's and a smile lit her features. Forcibly tied to a halfway comfortable chair in the office, Kate struggled against the ropes. Her wrist hurt like hell from the device sitting on the neat desk before her, mocking her. Her clothes were just as dirty and bloody from all that she'd endured. Her long, silky brown hair was now tangled and completely messed up. Her entire body hurt like hell, but the sound of her innocent son's voice made it all seem to go away.
She knew otherwise. From the many crime scenes, she knew she'd be lucky to live much longer. Xavier shouldn't live in this world; he should grow up in the Beckett-Castle environment with a childish, famous father and driven mother, and a college determined sister, and grandparents. Luckily, though, he hasn't been harmed.
"Katie?" Her mother's voice called from behind her at what she assumed was the door.
"Don't call me that!" She growled. "Only my parents are allowed to call me that."
A moment of silence fell over the room. "Fair enough." Johanna said as she entered the office and came into view. Kate stared into her eyes, no longer seeing any trace of her mother's warm, loving green-brown eyes. They were cold...distant. She wondered if these were the eyes her brothers looked into as they grew. She shivered, feeling bad that they didn't get the chance to know the mother she had...the mother that was the real Johanna Beckett.
"What...happened to you?" Kate asked as she looked at her mother from her feet to her head. Not a lot had changed: merely age and the sinister aura.
"I quit my day job as a lawyer and switched sides." Johanna did a slow 360° with her hands up in a what do you think gesture. "It actually pays more. That, plus I get to be the one giving the orders. Something that I never got at the law firm." She picked at her nails as she sat on the edge of the desk, looking down before slowly looking up. Kate looked at her, aghast. "Oh, no need to cast that look. I've accepted my role in the world a long time ago. Now, it's your turn."
"What is your role?" Kate wondered.
Johanna got up and walked over to the nearest bookshelf, browsing the books. She pulled one out and admired the dust jacket before opening it, fingering it. "Well, I always assumed I would raise good children and live a good life." She slid it back in its spot and looked back. "Two-fourths of that happened. My role now is to make sure the right people get what they deserve, except my work is more focused on the bad side of the line." She moved to the window where her family were enjoying the weather, playing outside. "While you solve murders and get justice for the victims, I create them. Those who do me and my family wrong are punished, so in a way we both put bad guys away."
Kate remained quiet, raising an eyebrow as she chewed that interesting logic. "Why haven't you released me then?" She asked, continuing. "As much as I don't want to say this, I could help you."
Her mother smiled. "That's what I was hoping you'd say." She moved forward until she was face-to-face with her. "That was my ulterior motive. Not only to raise my grandson in this more useful environment, but bring my daughter into it as an asset. Your abilities would make my work a lot easier."
"You're asking me to switch sides like you?"
"Exactly." She sat on the edge of the desk, crossing her arms and producing a smug smile. "Plus you can be near Xavier. I'll make you my second-in-command, so you won't be in the direct line."
Kate raised her eyebrows in surprise. Although her mind told her it was wrong, her heart tugged at the tempting offer. It was after all in its twisted way a sense of justice, if she just kept that in mind. "What about Castle? He's Xavier's father. Shouldn't he be involved in his son's life?"
Johanna looked down. "Unfortunately, Jake declared him as useless. Evidently, Castle wasn't agreeing to his plan. He's been...how should I put this...disposed of?"
Kate's heart fell. Her thoughts immediately drove down the worst scenario. He's dead? Tears started falling as her world seemed to dim. As her breathing became erratic, she struggled to keep herself in check.
Johanna eyed her. "Good Lord, girl! He's not dead! Jake would never do that to any of his children. He was picked up at The Stix and taken to the nearest hospital. He'll live."
Kate took a deep breath and let it out, completely relieved. Her tears, however, kept falling. Finally after she was able to calm her nerves, she glared at her mother. "What the hell? You led me to believe he was dead!"
"Didn't intend to. You just assumed. That's something you'll learn not to do while you do this job." Johanna pointed out. "So...you in?"
Seeing no obvious option, she finally nodded. This seemed to thrill her mother because she released Kate from her restraints and escorted her to the backyard, where she smiled as she picked up her son.
"Kate? Please." Johanna waved her hand, pulling her aside. Holding her son, Kate joined her. "I'm going to grant you access to mail Mr. Castle, even see your family, but! You cannot engage in conversation with them at any time." She made it very clear. She pointed to the invisible tattoo. "I've installed a tracking device shortly after you came here, so no funny business."
You have no clue of my connection with Castle. He'll easily pinpoint me if I get close. Kate thought as she nodded. But you don't need to know that. Instead, she turned back to her son.
Although quite happy that her daughter decided to join her side of the tracks, she still held reservations of her. She vowed that her daughter definitely wouldn't get back him.