Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Family, Humor
Rating: M for violence, language and sexual situations
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.
A/N #1: I had wondered what kind of feedback I would get for the last chapter so it was great to see what I got, so need to get to the thank yous right away! vetgirlmx (Really wasn't surprised to see your reaction to the chapter, lol, had to laugh at you saying they let their guard down again, but… they did, lol. Oh, and the same with you mentioning her going alone, but they thought Rizzio was under guard, so that's why. And I had expected my readers to really get worried with knowing that Rizzio is aware of the pregnancy, so to see you feeling that doesn't surprise me. And you'll have to see if they might do something dangerous or stupid, but you have a point with that. And I also wasn't surprised to see you mentioning the boys finding out about the pregnancy, that too I know readers are gonna be wondering about, lol. So, so happy that you can't wait to read the next chapter, though sorry about that cliffhanger! Lol, I can't help it, it's how I write! But anyways, no need to wait, now you can go ahead and read some more!), Beckett-Castle4ever (Glad to see you thought it was a great chapter. And I was happy seeing you liked the love scene at the beginning, as well as the family time too, thought you might! Glad you thought that both were good! And not surprised you mentioned them moving forward with the wedding and also moving too before you talked about Beckett being in trouble, kinda put a stop to that, lol. And another thing I expected readers to mention is the fact that Castle might be saving her, so not surprised to see it in your review. Not shocked you're hoping that Beckett is safe, and also the baby too of course, or that you feel bad for Julia. But I am glad to see that you want to read more, and here of course you can!), TORONTOSUN (It was great reading first off that you enjoyed the love scene so much. And was happy that you liked the way they carefully talked through it. I sure hope they have a magical wedding, lol, hoping you're right since I can't judge! Had to laugh a bit at your saying of course Rizzio had to show up, lol, makes sense you'd think that though. And yeah, didn't like writing that Beckett had to beg, but she didn't have a choice as you said. Of course, you'll see what'll happen to her, since as you pointed out Castle is going to her), life's a mystery (Had to laugh a bit at the dramatic music you had at the start of your review, but it makes sense. And I just wanna point out that Beckett did think Rizzio was under strict guard, though yeah, probably should have been just a wee bit more cautious about that, you're right. Not surprised you're hoping she and the baby will be okay, as well as Castle and the boys too when they get to her. But nice to see you want to read more, which you can do so now below!), pcol22 (Glad to see you thought the last chapter was a great one! And not too surprised at your reaction to seeing Rizzio, wondering why he's out. And of course, very happy to see you're looking forward to the next chapter, and now you don't need to wait anymore for it!), Normantipton (Took what you said into account, and there is a reason why what happened in the last chapter occurred, you'll see why in this chapter. But it was nice to see you think of my writing, and that you think I'm creative too), Guest (Also took your review into account yet, and as I said before, there is a reason for the drama in this one; it's why I put it as one of my genres for this story) and sammysgirl78 (Not surprised you didn't think it was too nice to end the chapter that way, knew I was going to get that from reviewers, lol. And not shocked that you too thought she was going to be in trouble going alone, also that you're wondering about how Rizzio got out also. Was interesting to see your speculation on a third guy, can't say about that of course, lol, would be a spoiler, but I wish I could! I wasn't too surprised to read that you felt bad for Julia; you do make a point though. And had to laugh at what you said about Castle and Beckett's love scene, their morning delight as you said, but that's an apt way to describe it! Not surprised to see you're wondering how Castle will rescue her or that you want him to beat the crap out of Rizzio, that I expected you to say, lol. But am so happy that you want to read more, and now you don't need to wait, you can do so now!). So thanks so, so much to those of you who reviewed, I loved reading each review I got and also appreciate the time taken to write each one!
A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song Overkill written by Colin Hay and performed by the band Men at Work, from their album Cargo.
Ghosts Appear And Fade Away
The slap to her cheek was hard, and the sound and the pain of it brought her around, making Beckett look about to see she was on the floor of her room, facing the wall where the windows were. She tried to move, tried to breathe, but found she was still immobile, and her mouth was covered with tape.
"Katherine," Rizzio said, leaning over her. "He's on his way, but until then, we need to talk." With that he picked her up and leaned her against the wall so she was on her knees. "You really thought I wouldn't find out?" he asked, tapping her stomach with the gun. He frowned at her flinch and grew angry saying, "Why do you care? It's nothing but a mistake."
Beckett let her head fall to look at the ground, trying to move her arms up and down to be able to get them loose. But not even that motion was helping; he had taped her limbs together too tightly and it hadn't loosened in the time she'd been unconcious.
"Look at me Katherine," Rizzio snapped, swinging the back of his hand across her cheek, making her hit the bricks of the wall. "He wants it alive, but it would be so easy to pull this trigger, and boom, our problems are solved," he said.
Recovering from the slap, Beckett could feel the blood on her tongue as her teeth had cut into the side of her mouth. She was able to hear what he'd said though, even as she was feeling the blood dripping from her nose and she tried to move, somehow, to get away from him. But he was taking her chin in his hand hard and shaking his head said, "You want it don't you?"
Groaning as he suddenly grabbed her hair, Beckett felt the muzzle of the gun against her stomach, and she couldn't move, couldn't do a thing to protect her baby. She closed her eyes, expecting the searing pain of a bullet, but instead, Rizzio let her go.
"He's here," the man said, standing up at the sound of a knock. "Don't even try to leave Katherine, he's what we need to get ourselves out of here, get our lives started."
As soon as he was gone, Beckett tried to move, again attempting to get free of her constraints. She only managed to fall over, and moaned as the shock of hitting the floor made her bite into the side of her mouth again. It was then she heard footsteps, different from Rizzio's, and then a second pair before the door to her room slightly closed, hearing the creak of the hinges. She was picked up and leaned against the wall, and when she saw the face of Jerry Tyson, she jerked back, only able to groan out her reaction at seeing him.
"Hello Beckett," Tyson said, studying her as he knelt next to her. "I can see you didn't stop believing I was dead. But you need to listen to your fiancé more; I learned to become an excellent diver."
Scooting back from him as she tried to put distance between them, Beckett heard the sound of a gun cocking and she looked up to see a tall, bearded man with it in his hand in front of the door. He was holding it casually, but the way his eyes bore into her, she knew he could kill her instantly if he wanted to.
"Meet my protection," Tyson said, nodding to the man. "I thought I might need to have some extra persuasion to get you to listen to me. So some congratulations are in order. You and Castle are getting married." At Beckett's closing of her eyes he said simply, "I knew, Rizzio was nice enough to keep me informed about you two. And now I found out you're going to have a baby with Castle. You two seem to have your lives all set." At that his hand snaked out and gripped her hair tightly, bringing her up against his face. "But you've taken my chance to have my life back, numerous times. I couldn't kill again, not without telling everyone I was alive. But I've left the entire city a wonderful potential time bomb if you two won't leave me to live my life."
"Man, can I look at her room?" the other man asked as Tyson paused.
"Not now," he replied quickly. "I'll get you pictures later when we go." He then turned to Beckett and said, "He's a rapist, but deadly with a gun. Oh, and I should mention he's a pedophile, he's seen your daughter and wants to meet her, or at the least see her room." He laughed as she jerked against him, anger in her eyes and he let her do so before slamming his hand flat on the side of her face, pushing her against the white brick to her muffled cry of pain. "I can keep him away from her Beckett."
Tyson stood up then and looking out the window said, "People come to me now, they want to learn how I do it, how I kill, how I become a ghost, only to reappear when it's necessary or I want to. I've got a following, and I've taught them every last thing I know. How do you think Rizzio learned how to do everything he did? I told the idiot framing Castle was not going to work, but it distracted you from thinking I had anything to do with what he did. But others know what to do, and they will strike out at you should you and Castle try to find them and me."
Beckett looked up at Tyson, thinking he meant they would harm her and Castle, but the killer opened his mouth to speak; and everything came crashing down around her.
"No, not you and him, but your little girl, and this one," Tyson replied, motioning to her stomach. "There's nothing to lose if you and Castle are killed, but children? And children that you love? You're parents now, what's more important? Especially to you Detective Beckett? Your children or your job?" He grabbed her by the hair again, and titled her head back to look up at him before telling her, "None of them will hesitate to do so. They'll kill Julia now, and then your baby as soon as it's born if you don't go.
"And I don't just mean go from the NYPD, I mean from this city," Tyson said. "I want to be able to roam at will, and hide in the darkness where you two seem to love going. You have a home in the Hamptons, and that has become your safety zone Beckett. We won't venture there, solve murders with the local PD all you want, raise your children without the need to keep them close to you to prevent all my followers the chance to repay you both for taking my life away."
Beckett closed her eyes, but Tyson was suddenly slapping her face and she could feel blood starting to trickle from her nose again as he made her look up at him.
"If you don't believe me, there'll be a sign, which only you and Castle will understand, because you've shared that interest, tomorrow," Tyson said. "Go to the Hamptons Beckett, save your children."
Beckett watched, her eyes blurred with tears at the ultimatum though there was still a part of her that thought he was out of his mind. She was a little dazed at the fact that 3XK was still alive, and he had decided to declare war on her and Castle, using their kids as collateral. Before she could give another attempt at trying to free herself, she felt herself suddenly being picked up, and she tilted her head back, a grunt of disgust escaping her lips as Rizzio tried to kiss her through the tape.
"He told you? See, the baby is too much of a risk for you Katherine," the man told her, holding her around the waist before he put her down on her bed. "Let me just-" he said, getting his gun ready to aim at her abdomen. But she managed a weak kick and got the gun out of his hand, which seemed to tell him more than her words had to him at the warehouse. "So you've made your choice?" he nearly yelled at her. "You want him when he's been with so many other women before you, you'd be lucky if he ever saw the woman you are. He must have touched you, hurt you to knock you up."
Turning onto her stomach the best she could as Rizzio leveled his gun at her stomach after picking it up off the floor, Beckett closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the shot and apologizing to the baby in her mind as her tears coursed down her cheeks in hot trails. But instead of a shot, she was almost thrown onto her back and she flinched at the loud click of the empty revolver he'd suddenly come up with.
"One bullet Katherine," Rizzio said, his eyes taking on a kind of demented look. "One and I could get rid of this-" a loud click of his gun echoed then. "And you're free for me. But I'd have to rape you, and I wouldn't stop. I know what Harris tried to do, and I learned how to do it better than he did. Tyson was very helpful in introducing me to men who'd know how to make you submit."
Feeling literally sick as her memories of Queens she'd thought she'd managed to suppress came roaring back through her mind, Beckett tried to slide over to the edge of the bed, and had nearly made it before she was grabbed by her shoulders.
"I love you Katherine, and you throw that away as if it were nothing but trash!" Rizzio yelled at her. "I tell you I can give you everything and you go with this writer who's got nothing but a past that you will be fighting against forever. You-" And with that he cut himself off, starting to punch at her face once, before he began to slap at her, his fury over having to wait so long for her boiling over into a red, hot rage.
The first punch made Beckett see stars, the slaps to her face nearly knocked her out, until finally he reached for her neck, strangling her. Her attempts to move weren't able to happen, her legs and arms bound together for so long they were numb. She could only try and turn her head, though his hand had found her face more often than not. When he suddenly stopped choking her, she tried to breathe through her nose before he was grabbing her again, hissing to her that he was finished and tired of waiting; he would kill her and the baby.
"And then what will the girl do?" Rizzio taunted her, wanting to see the pain in her eyes. "Become her mother and try to find who killed her mother and sibling? I know how to hide. She'll be you, never loving anyone because of her past. She'll be worthless, a woman never having a thing in her life but her pain." And with that, he let go of her neck and delivered yet another backhand, striking Beckett as hard as he could, sending her into unconsciousness for a second time as she couldn't recover from her near strangling along with the added pain. He picked up his gun when he heard the sound of the door opening, and the heavy footsteps made him smile as he picked up Beckett's limp body by the waist, knowing it was time to get rid of the one thing that had driven the object of his obsession away from him.
Reaching the door, Castle had to get his key out without displacing Beckett's gun in his pocket. He managed to get it, not bothering with the top lock as he'd seemed to know that it would be unlocked. Opening the door slowly, he looked down the hall in both directions before he withdrew the weapon, holding it in front of him before he stepped inside. He stayed in the entryway, seeing the absolute mess that Rizzio had made of his fiancée's apartment and he took a few careful steps forward, looking for any sign of Beckett.
Reading the text that he knew was from the former officer, Castle had known there was something wrong with his fiancée as she had put his name, and they never did that in their texts back and forth as an extra precaution. So seeing his name suddenly was enough to let him know that Rizzio had her, though how he'd thought of the man who was supposed to be laid up in the hospital, he didn't know. What was more important was finding him and making sure that Beckett was alright, as he went to her desk, seeing something dark on the floor behind it. When he reached it though, he only saw it was a pile of books in shadow, and he whirled around hearing a thud.
Running out to the living room, Castle was suddenly struck after the sharp pop of a gun went off, a bullet grazing his shoulder and knocking him to the ground, also knocking the gun from his hand. He tried to recover, blood running over his shoulder almost instantly, and it was then he saw Rizzio disappearing from the doorway to the bedrooms. He scrambled to grab the gun that had slid to the wall, and as he stood back up, saw the man coming out, his fiancée bound and gagged in his arms. "Let her go Rizzio," he said, his mouth suddenly dry as he saw where the man was aiming his weapon. Not at Beckett's head, but at her stomach. It was then he knew that the killer was aware of the pregnancy, and he couldn't wait for Ryan and Esposito to join him, too much at stake for that.
"She chose you writer," Rizzio said, going along the wall as Castle tracked him. "But I'll make her change her mind. Just need to get you out of the way, I don't care what the hell he told me to do, that he needs you alive."
"Who needs me alive?" Castle asked though he was looking at Beckett, trying to see if she was seriously injured. Her head was bowed down, so he couldn't discern that, only able to hope she wasn't and their baby was unharmed.
"What does it matter," Rizzio said simply. "You'll be dead and so will this," he said, tapping his gun against Beckett's abdomen.
Things seemed to slow down then, as Rizzio swung his arm up, aiming at Castle just as Ryan and Esposito were heard running down the hall. Castle fired, having been ready to do so since he'd first seen the killer and the shot pierced Rizzio's already wounded shoulder near his collarbone, though he'd still managed to get a shot off his own gun. Castle was forced to the ground as Rizzio let go of Beckett, her body slamming to the floor, and the killer was able to recover, aiming yet again as the two detectives came inside in time to see Castle aim for his head. He reached his target, and Rizzio was jerked back to the picture, slamming against the wall before collapsing to the floor.
"Kate!" Castle said once he'd recovered from that and found he was unhurt except for the wound already on his arm. He ran to her, pushing Rizzio's body off of her legs, trying to get the duct tape that went all the way up to her knees off.
"Here," Ryan said, handing Castle a knife. He looked at his partner who was checking on Rizzio, not surprised when Esposito shook his head. He turned back to the writer and saw he was taking off the handcuffs linked together around her ankles with a key.
"Kate, love," Castle said, in a frenzy to get her free as he cut away the tape on her arms and got the handcuffs off. As soon as he had gotten the tape off her mouth as carefully as he could, he was gathering her in his arms and holding her tightly, dimly hearing Ryan saying something about an ambulance already coming. He glanced down her body, trying not to imagine a sign that she was going to lose the baby, but it was hard not to as he could see from the bruising on her face and blood seeping between her lips that she had gone through hell. But there was nothing that indicated if she was, so he tried to take some comfort in that as he looked back at her face. "Kate?" he asked, seeing her eyes behind their lids were moving back and forth. "Love, it's me," he murmured as they opened slowly. "Love?" he asked as she just stared at him.
Abruptly, Beckett began to cough, her breathing obstructed by the blood that had remained in her mouth, and she felt her face being tilted to the side so she wouldn't choke. When her airway was clear, and slumped back, looking up at her fiancé and she was able to whisper, "Castle… the baby…" before paramedics came into the room.
Though he wanted to ask her if something was wrong with the baby, Castle had to step back and let the EMTs place her on a backboard before getting her on the stretcher. He looked at Ryan who was still in the room and said, "I need to go-"
"Go, I'll get your statements there when she can talk," the detective said quickly as Esposito came out from Beckett's bedroom.
"Get yourself cleaned up Castle," Esposito called after the writer as he was following Beckett out.
A little confused as to what he was talking about, Castle looked down at his left arm, and saw the blood that had seeped all the way down to his hand. But he didn't really have much time to think about it, as he fit himself into the elevator. As they were going down he told the EMTs, "She's pregnant."
"How far?" the woman asked, looking at her partner.
"Almost a month," Castle said, taking Beckett's hand with his right.
"Alright, ma'am, do you remember what happened?" the female paramedic asked Beckett.
"He hit me, tried to strangle me, but stopped before he did twice," Beckett murmured. "They both hit me."
"Alright, were you hit in the stomach at all? Do you feel any pain in your abdomen?" the woman asked as they pushed the stretcher into the lobby. At Beckett's quick shake of her head she said, "They'll look at you at the hospital, for now we need to stop the bleeding in your mouth," putting a small roll of gauze into Beckett's mouth.
"Will she need stitches?" Castle asked, watching. His question wasn't answered though, as they had reached the ambulance, and he had to step back to let them put her inside. "I'm her fiancé," he told them as he climbed into the back.
"Fine, it'll save another ambulance from coming to get you," the woman said as her partner went to the front to drive. She then worked to get Beckett buckled into the stretcher, and proceeded to clean her face of blood before asking Castle, "Are you in pain?"
"Slightly," he answered, still not feeling the pain of his own wound. He was watching Beckett as the blood slowly disappeared from her face, and cringed inwardly at the sight of the purpling bruise just under her right eye. He wanted to reach out to her, to take her hand, but all Castle could do was press the very tips of his fingers against her arm as they raced to the hospital.
"Sir! Just calm down please and we'll let you go see her," the nurse was saying as the security guard was having little luck in keeping Castle from leaving the room.
"I'm fine," he told everyone around him. "I need to see my fiancée."
"Castle," Esposito said, coming inside as he'd heard the desperation in the nurse's voice. "Calm down bro, Beckett's being looked at right now, so you can't see her yet."
"Is she okay?" Castle asked.
"I don't know, but she's being taken care of okay? But you know she'd kick your ass for not getting that cleaned up," Esposito said, seeing the state of Castle's shirt at his left shoulder.
"Am I going to be arrested?" Castle said as he finally let the nurse get his shirt off.
"No, we told Gates we were there and it was complete self defense," Esposito assured him. "And he was protected from the neck down, except for his shoulders, so there wasn't any other way you could save Beckett or yourself since that first shot didn't stop him."
"How did he escape?" Castle asked.
"He had help," Esposito told him. "Ryan called you but you didn't pick up, we guessed you left your phone at home. But the cameras on Rizzio's room at the hospital were knocked out remotely, tech can't find out from where though. And someone called off the police outside his room, told them they could go on their break early as the doctor was going to come in. Only thing is we don't know if it was a doctor."
"If Bracken was still alive I'd say it was him," Castle said, hissing as the nurse was dabbing alcohol against his wound. "Will I need stitches?" he asked her.
"It's not deep enough, you'll have to be careful not to stretch it out though," she told him.
"What about Beckett's apartment?" Castle asked.
"The key that Carisbrooke used to get inside is missing from evidence, but it's back at her place, on Rizzio's body," Esposito replied. "So he planned this, but he couldn't have gotten that gear alone."
"I don't know," Castle said as the nurse was taping gauze on his shoulder. "We haven't really had any indication that he had someone with him besides Reynolds, and he's dead."
"We'll be looking into it," Esposito said as Castle was handed a scrubs shirt and allowed to get down from the bed. "He can go?" he asked the nurse.
"He can, do you need any painkillers?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Castle said simply. "Did you let our family know what happened?"
"Ryan called them, but only said that Beckett was being checked out," Esposito replied as they went to the nearest elevator. "They seemed pretty horrified."
"And Gates?" Castle asked.
"She's leaving this for us to investigate," Esposito replied as they stepped out onto the sixth floor where he'd found out Beckett was.
Nodding, Castle went to the nurse's station, speaking with the one there behind the desk. But since his fiancée was still being examined by the doctor, he could only return to the waiting room, where he went to a window, leaning against the sill and looking out at the city while Esposito and Ryan watched him at the other end of the room.
"You know I wasn't sure before," Esposito said. "About him," he told his partner when Ryan looked at him questioningly. "But he loves her."
"I told you," Ryan said simply. "And Beckett does love him; just watch them together to see how they are."
Esposito nodded, when he heard the elevator door open and the sound of sniffing made him turn to see it was Julia, carried by her grandfather and followed by Castle's mother and Alexis. "We don't know anything yet," he told them before Julia made her grandfather put her down. They all watched as the little girl raced over to Castle and then turning to the others said, "She's still being checked out by the doctor."
Throwing herself at Castle, Julia buried her face against his side before she felt him picking her up. She started to cry asking, "Is Mommy kay?"
"I'm not sure yet sweetheart," Castle told her, turning to lean against the sill. He stroked her hair saying, "But she's getting help so we'll find out soon."
"Dad," Alexis said, coming up to them carefully, not sure if he wanted to really talk to anyone else. When he gathered her in his arm with his free one she heard him grunt before she felt the bulk of the bandage under his shirt. She opened her mouth, but quickly cut herself off as she didn't want to alarm her sister. But she understood then why he was wearing a scrubs shirt. "She'll be fine," she said, not sure if they were empty words or not for the two.
"She should be," Castle then said, wondering why he hadn't said that to Julia in the first place. But he'd been worrying so much about both Beckett and the baby that he'd been thinking more negatively than he should have. "She will be," he said with more confidence, though he wasn't sure about the baby still; that being the unknown. "A doctor is looking at her right now, checking to make sure she's okay and then she'll come home with us," hoping that would be the case. He glanced over at his mother, Jim and Ryan who were near them; guessing Esposito had left to get back to the case; and he was about to speak when a voice called his name. "Here," he told his daughter, quickly handing her Julia. He kissed them both, promising to come back to take them to see Beckett, before jogging to the nurse. "I'm Castle," he told her. "Is she alright?"
"Come with me please," the nurse told him simply. She led him down the hall and up to a door where a doctor was standing.
"Mr. Castle?" the woman asked, shaking his hand. "Your fiancée is doing fine, I took the precaution of having an x-ray done of her throat as she mentioned passing out after nearly being strangled, which you heard on the way here. But I've looked at the pictures and she looks to be fine. Just some lacerations on the inside of her mouth that have stopped bleeding and contusions on her face and neck. But nothing too serious, she'll be allowed to go home after I complete my check up on the baby she's carrying."
"Is it okay?" Castle asked, his heart in his throat at that.
"I think so, but she's insisting I make sure of it," the doctor replied. "So I'll be performing an ultrasound. For now, you can go in to see her."
Nodding his thanks, Castle nearly raced into the room after opening the door, and he paused seeing his fiancée on the bed inside, eyes closed and looking as if she was asleep. He closed the door behind him and then allowed himself to hurry to her side, pulling up a chair before he took her hand, kissing the palm before pressing it to his cheek.
"Hey," Beckett said, getting his attention. She was a little startled seeing the tears in his eyes and she said, "You were that worried?"
"About both of you," Castle said simply. "I still am for…" he began before trailing off, resting his hand on her stomach. When she covered his hand with her own and squeezed it he asked, "No pain or anything?"
"No, but… I'm not going to be able to relax until I'm sure it's okay," Beckett said. She pulled on his hand until he stood, and took his kiss which was what she'd wanted him to do. She wasn't really okay with how quickly he did that, soon sitting down again, but knew he was going to be very careful as she'd been told she had livid red marks on her neck. She noticed that he had a scrubs shirt on and asked, "Were you hurt?"
"Yeah, Rizzio shot at me, grazed me but I'm fine," Castle said, waving it away as nothing. "But you?" he asked, looking at her face.
"We'll be matching for the wedding," Beckett said before she frowned and looked at the door. "Castle, there's something you need to know, about what happened before you came," she said, seeing the concern on his face at her tone. Taking a deep breath she began with, "Tyson is alive," and with that told him exactly what the serial killer had told her, not stopping to let her fiancé speak until she'd finished, laying back against the bed, watching him for his reaction.
Trying to take everything in at once, Castle went back to what she'd said first saying, "He's alive."
"You said that before when-" Beckett said in a little irritation.
"No, I believe you Kate, I do, I'm just trying to understand all of this," Castle said. "But he threatened our-" he started to say before the door started to open. "We'll talk about this later," he told her quickly before the doctor came in with a nurse pushing in a machine.
"Alright Ms. Beckett," the doctor said once the nurse had prepped her patient. "Have you undergone this before?"
"No, I was going to go back to my doctor at the beginning of September," Beckett replied, watching as the doctor ran the probe around her stomach. She looked at the monitor on the machine, reaching for Castle's hand before they entwined their fingers together.
"Are you going to be able to see much?" Castle couldn't help asking as it took a moment for the doctor to find the baby.
"Not really, but you can see there is something…" the doctor trailed off before turning the monitor to them both so they could see better.
"That's it?" Beckett asked, a little startled the slight circle of white on the grainy image was their baby. She shook her head; as she'd seen already in a pregnancy book what a month old fetus looked like; and then said, "So you can't tell if it's okay?"
"Well, with it being that small, there's not much we can do to," the doctor replied. "But I explained that if you're not feeling any cramps and you're not bleeding, then the baby should be okay. What I would suggest," the doctor said, pressing a few buttons. "Is that you take it easy the rest of the day, not bed rest, but nothing strenuous such as exercise."
"Thank you," Castle said as he looked at the picture of the ultrasound that the doctor had given Beckett.
"I'll release you now," the woman said. "So you can leave whenever you'd like."
"I…" Beckett said when they were alone, trailing off as she was still looking at the picture. "This is inside of me."
Castle didn't reply, since he knew it was a statement and not a question, but he could understand her shock, their baby little more than a speck inside her womb. He opened his mouth to speak, when the nurse knocked on the door.
"I'm sorry, but there's a Detective Ryan outside in the waiting room, asking for you both," the woman told them.
"We should go," Beckett said, not surprised when Castle nodded in agreement. She handed him the picture of the baby and once the same nurse had brought in a wheelchair she sat down, wearing a scrubs shirt like Castle; as they'd taken hers away; and her jeans since they hadn't been soaked in blood like her shirt. "I still need to go to my place," she told her fiancé as he wheeled her down to the waiting room.
"Are you sure?" Castle asked, surprised she wanted to go back.
"I'm not going to run away from it," Beckett said. "But we're not living there again," she said simply. "We need to start moving everything out."
"Not today though," Castle commented, an idea coming to mind at that. He wanted to tell her about it, but with their family rushing up to her, he had to set it aside for the moment as she hugged and kissed their daughter.
"We're alright," Beckett whispered since she could see Ryan a little further back in the room to give them privacy. "And I can go home, but I would be grateful if you all headed back to the loft; if you want to go Dad," she added.
"You're going to work?" Martha asked.
"No," Beckett replied, shaking her head. "I need to go to the apartment and Castle and I will start getting our clothes." When her dad, Martha and Alexis started to protest she quickly held up her hand saying, "He'll be with me, and I will be careful." She then turned her attention to Julia and said gently, "Can you go back with them sweetie?" as she kissed her temple.
"Kay, but you're kay?" Julia asked, her chin wobbling as she glanced again at her mother's bruises.
"I'm fine, and we're just going to talk to your uncle," Beckett said, nodding in Ryan's direction. "And get some clothes and then come home."
"I love you Mommy," Julia said, hugging her tightly around the neck.
"I love you so much Julia," Beckett said, hugging her close and kissing her cheek. Tyson's words echoed in her head, and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly at that, before she felt her fiancé's hand on her shoulder. After their family had left, she looked up at him and said, "What do I say about Tyson?"
"Just say he threatened us," Castle said. "If we send Ryan and Espo in to investigate him, we don't want him jumping the gun on that proof he mentioned. Ready?" At Beckett's nod, he pushed her over to their partner and sitting in the chair next to her, took her hand as she recounted being caught unarmed in her apartment as Ryan was writing everything down.
Walking into her apartment, Beckett slowed down slightly, seeing the large blank space where her picture should have been. She went over to it, getting close enough to see the two bullet holes; one at Rizzio's shoulder, the other at his head. She turned to him saying, "I see letting you practice at the range helped."
"It did, but I was lucky on that first shot, you were so close in his arm," Castle said, shaking his head. "Do you want to talk now?"
"No, not here, it'll just bring back memories," Beckett said quickly before walking into her room. "Was his blood on the picture?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," Castle told her, following with the suitcase.
"No, it's better you saved us instead of the picture," Beckett said, going to her armoire. After changing out of the scrubs shirt as he changed into a shirt still there in his drawer, she began to pull out clothes at random, wanting to go home as quickly as possible as at some point, the apartment had long since ceased being her home. She folded quickly, turning to the dresser when she was suddenly stopped, looking into her fiancé's eyes. "I'm fine, just… like I told you, I don't want to remember for now, I've had to remember enough," she told him, referring to having to give her statement to Ryan. After they'd told him about Tyson, he'd left to tell Esposito and Gates, and she had been dreading a call from the Captain, though none had been forthcoming so far.
"We-" Castle started to say when her phone rang.
"It's Espo," Beckett said, getting it out of her pocket. "Yeah? Oh, she did… and Castle? Of course," she said, rolling her eyes at what the detective was saying on the other end. "We'll come in tomorrow, but we can't look into Tyson… great, thanks."
"So we can go back, and we don't have to look into Tyson," Castle guessed before she could speak.
Nodding, Beckett went back to her clothes before she had filled the suitcase halfway. She started on her shoes, putting them into the duffel bag that Castle was holding for her. "Alright, some of Julia's things, and then we can go."
"Maybe we should have come tomorrow," Castle suggested, having been watching her avoid the wall where the windows were.
"No, we needed clothes, I just need a little time," Beckett said simply. She headed out to Julia's room, and was relieved when he brought the suitcase and bag with him. She was able to pack a lot faster, and once she'd gotten some of Julia's shoes, they were leaving her apartment. During the ride to Castle's she leaned against him, exhausted with the emotions she was keeping at bay and knowing she and her fiancé needed to talk; uneasy as to what they might decide.
Sitting on the couch with her Stitch doll in her arms, Julia looked up as she heard the faint sound of footsteps outside. Going to the door, she managed to get out of the way as Castle let her mother go inside first. Running to Beckett, she wrapped her arms around her, pressing her cheek to her abdomen. "I didn't say is the baby kay?" she whispered.
"Let your mom sit sweetheart," Castle said, setting the suitcase and duffle bag aside. Going to the couch he had Beckett sit before he asked her, "Should we show them?"
"Show us what?" Alexis asked.
"This," Castle replied at Beckett's nod. He pulled the picture of the ultrasound from his back pocket.
"That's the baby?" Alexis asked in amazement.
"I'm not even a full month along," Beckett reminded them, unable to help smiling at the different expressions on her dad's, Martha's and Alexis' faces as they studied the picture. "But the baby should be okay."
"Can I see?" Julia asked, burning with curiosity about the photograph, but not wanting to move. When Castle handed it to her she studied it and said, "Is that the baby?" seeing the spot in the space of black.
"Mmm-hmm," Beckett said, kissing Julia's temple. "So now you know what we mean when we say your brother or sister has a lot of growing to do."
Sighing, Julia handed the picture to her mother and leaning against her asked, "Are you still gonna get married?"
"Of course," Castle said, sitting with his fiancée and their daughter at his mother's insistence. "And we're still having it the seventeenth. So, we've got some time until dinner, what do we do?"
"You don't want to rest?" Martha asked Beckett.
"I am now," she replied. "But why don't we work on the tree pictures? I still need to do mine though Castle and Alexis are done with theirs."
"I can get some of the arts and crafts stuff we have for Julia," Alexis said quickly. "Come on Jules, let's get everything ready."
When the two were gone, Martha turned to her son saying, "You were hurt Richard."
"It's nothing," Castle said quickly, knowing his fiancée was looking at him. "Just got grazed and I feel perfectly fine."
Before anyone could comment on that, Alexis and Julia were coming down the stairs, and while the others were gathering around the table, Castle poured some tea for them that his mother had started. They were quiet at first, until Julia giggled softly at something Castle had said, and that seemed to break the tension they were all feeling, and they began to talk as they usually did as things became less of an effort to assure the little girl that everything was fine and more because they were relieved nothing had happened to Castle, Beckett and the baby.
"You'll take it easy tomorrow I hope," Jim was saying to his daughter as he was telling her goodbye after dinner.
"I will," Beckett assured him. "I'm not exactly back to work, just going to help Ryan and Esposito if they need me to; Castle too." She hugged her father tightly and watched him leave before closing the door. Turning she said to her fiancé who was in the kitchen, "I'm not sure what we can do exactly."
The sound of Julia laughing coming down the stairs made Castle share a smile with his fiancée before he told her, "We really need to discuss what we'll do."
"I know, but I'm tired, so once we get her to bed then we can talk," Beckett said.
"Fatigue?" Castle asked, getting the kettle full of water then. "And I'm making decaf Earl Grey for you."
"Thank you," Beckett said. "And yes, it's fatigue, but not as bad as it's been since I've been resting a lot since we got home."
"Okay, so since we forgot Kauai when we went to your place," Castle said as he set the kettle on the stove to heat up later. "Tomorrow after we're done at the Precinct, we'll stop by there."
"I think that's all we can plan for now," Beckett said, frowning for a moment before she felt her fiancé's arm come around her. She looked up at him and was about to speak when she heard his mother calling down to them.
"Richard, Kate, Julia is ready to be tucked in," Martha said, coming down enough to see them in the kitchen.
"We're coming," Beckett said, leading the way up into Alexis' room. "Are you ready to sleep sweetie?"
"Yeah, do I really need to go to camp?" Julia asked with a sigh as she was sitting on the bed.
"You do, but we should be able to pick you up," Castle said. "Work shouldn't take too long."
"What about the Hamptons?" Julia asked, hugging Martha first.
"We'll go later this week," Beckett said before the little girl shared a kiss with Castle's mother. She smiled as Julia hugged Alexis tightly and kissed her as well.
"Sweet dreams Julia," Castle said. "And thank you."
"For what?" the little girl asked in surprise.
"For wanting to come with me to go to your mom," Castle said. "You're a brave, unselfish little girl and I love you."
Blushing, Julia nodded once before throwing her arms around him tightly and sharing a kiss with him. When her mother walked up to her she said, "I thought you were hurt Mommy."
"I know, Alexis told me, and thank you for trying to help," Beckett said, hugging the little girl to her tightly. She kissed her temple saying, "I love you so much for that. And you know you don't have to keep us safe; that's what Castle and I will do for you."
"I know, I love you Mommy, you're the best mommy," Julia whispered, hugging her tightly. "And I know you'll keep my little brother or sister safe, you and Castle."
Nodding, Beckett tried not to show the emotions she was struggling with hearing that, but finally was able to tuck Julia in as Castle was saying goodnight to his daughter. She shared a kiss with Julia once she was on the bed, and she followed her fiancé and Martha to the door, waving at Alexis before he closed it.
"Get some rest you two," Martha urged her son and his fiancée. "You both look completely done in."
"We feel like it," Castle said, his arm around Beckett tightly. "And we'll go to bed, just some tea before that."
"Goodnight Martha," Beckett said, taken aback when the woman hugged her.
"I'm sorry, I was worried about you and the baby," Martha said. She cupped her son's cheek and with a goodnight to them both, she went to her room.
"Do you think we can switch that Earl Grey to chamomile?" Beckett asked as they went to the stove.
"Sure, probably better if we want to get any kind of sleep," Castle commented. He busied himself with get the water starting to boil before he went around to get mugs and honey, not noticing Beckett had left him until he turned to hand her her cup. He went to his room, and inside saw that she was looking at her reflection in the mirror next to the bed on his side. "You're still beautiful," he commented, setting the mugs down on the dresser before going to her.
"That's not why I'm looking at myself," Beckett murmured. She turned to her fiancé and stopped him from coming close enough to touch her telling him, "Close the door." As he was doing that, she went to her side of the bed and sat against the headboard. "What if he's serious?"
"About us staying here in NYC, you staying a detective?" Castle asked, sitting next to her on the edge and facing her. "Do you think he is?"
"Look at what he did to get Rizzio to break us down to this point," Beckett replied. "He was behind everything, just using Rizzio's obsession with me as a tool and a decoy." She ran her hand over her stomach saying, "I don't know, I just… he asked me what was more important to me; my job or our children."
"Would you consider resigning?" Castle asked, surprised to hear very little in the way of internal conflict in her tone.
"I don't know," Beckett groaned, covering her face with her hands. "Because if I did, what would I do?" She was surprised when Castle got up then, and she watched him go to his closet, bringing out a book. "What?" she asked since he'd already been starting to sign copies of Hamptons Heat for September when the book would be released.
"I didn't let you take a look at it, because I was waiting to see if there could be any chance of me asking this," Castle said, looking at the cover of the book and not her. Finally he turned his gaze up to her and opened the book to the very last page of his epilogue telling her, "Read the last paragraph."
"Out loud," Beckett asked him, wondering what it was about it that was making him so uneasy. When he nodded, she suddenly felt her chest clench in the worry that he was repeating another plot point, and she turned her attention to the paragraph. "Walking to the door, Nikki found her resolve beginning to tilt again towards remaining, but she felt Rook's hand on her back, leading her to the jet bridge. She had no way of knowing what she was going to face in Egypt with him, but there was nothing left for her in the city and her future lay beyond the door to the plane, waiting for her; waiting for them," she read before looking up at him. "They… you're finishing the Heat series," she stated, her eyes wide.
"Look at the dedication," Castle said hurriedly.
Flipping to the front of the book, Beckett read, that time to herself, To Kate, my love, Parvati to my Shiva and yin to my yang. My other half, my soul and my muse. Always. She bit her lower lip as tears came to her eyes and she whispered, "So I'm still your inspiration, but why finish the series?"
"Because you've broken with Nikki Heat, so much so that even though you're not exactly alike, I'm having a hard time writing her world when I find myself wanting to be with you more," Castle said. "It's why this book was so hard to write. It was so difficult not to throw in a child for them to be with at the Hamptons but that would have made no sense."
"So you'll write about another woman?" Beckett asked, slightly hesitatingly.
"With you," Castle said, looking into her eyes.
"I'm… not a writer," Beckett said, hesitating for a moment. "I've never been."
"No, you have," Castle protested. "I… don't hurt me, but I asked your dad for papers from high school that you wrote, especially if they were stories, and he gave me some. Love, you have the ability, but I could tell you were holding back a little."
"I was only a teenager," Beckett protested, though without much heat behind her words.
"But you're good, it's there, just write with me, and I can help you become a writer," Castle said. "Well, let's write one book together, and see where we go from there," he told her as he held her hand tightly in both of his hands.
Biting her lower lip, Beckett said, "I'll need to see if I decide to resign from the NYPD. But, what about leaving the city, we've grown up here, it's where Julia was born; Alexis too. Could we leave?"
"For the Hamptons we could, because we would be safe," Castle said. "Did he ever mention my mother or Alexis?"
"No," Beckett said softly. "It was just the four of us," she told him as he got on the bed to wrap his arm around her, his free hand resting on her abdomen.
"I realized something when you told me about him saying the Hamptons would be a safe zone," Castle told her. "And it's the fact that Rizzio's pictures were never taken anywhere outside of the city."
Beckett opened her mouth to reply, when she realized he was right and leaned against him, suddenly exhausted. "This can't be real," she told him as he asked her if she was okay. "He can't expect us to believe that we would just leave at his verbal threat."
"He said he would give us a sign to show that he was serious," Castle said. "Should we go to work and let Julia go to camp?"
"It's what he wants us to do if we stay," Beckett said. "But I'm not going to give in to that threat. We'll stay for now, and Wednesday, let's start buying our apartment."
"Okay," Castle said, a little hesitant as he wasn't so sure of Tyson's warning being so benign. But he didn't want to worry her, so he said, "So are you serious about resigning or just waiting? And you know I leave the decision up to you."
"I know, and at the moment I'm waiting," Beckett said. She looked at her fiancé and quickly said, "But I won't hesitate if it becomes something I need to do to protect Julia and our baby. I just pray it won't come to that."
Kissing the side of her head, Castle said, "I think we should get some sleep love." He wasn't surprised when she nodded, knowing that agreement was a mixture of her fatigue from the pregnancy and what she'd gone through that day. He moved so they could change into their pajamas before they lay down under the sheet and as she lay on her back, he brushed his fingertips along her bruise under her eye as gently as she could. "I can't wait to marry you," he murmured.
"Me too," Beckett whispered. She wrapped her arms around him before their lips met in a kiss that became more passionate as time went on. Finally though, she pulled away from him, and told him, "I love you Rick. Thank you for coming to save us."
"I love you too Kate. And I will do whatever I can for my family, always," Castle said before he kissed her gently. He then listened for the sound of her steady breathing to indicate to him that she had fallen asleep. That happened quickly; which wasn't a surprise; and he pressed a lingering kiss to her temple before getting out of bed. Taking the still full mugs of tea to the kitchen, he jumped and sloshed the liquid into the sink as he heard footsteps, turning to see it was his mother. "Can't sleep?" he asked.
"It's fairly early Richard, are you alright?" Martha asked. "Kate?"
"She's fine," Castle said quickly. "We're just…" he began. He sighed and told his mother about Tyson, needing her to know what would happen if 3XK chose to show he was serious.
"My god, no wonder she's been back and forth emotionally since she came home," Martha said, her hand to her chest. "And you too, what will you do?"
"We might be moving to the Hamptons," Castle said simply. "We can't risk Julia and the baby. And you and Alexis are welcome to come, but it's just us four that seem to be a target, the kids especially."
"We'll see what happens," Martha said with a frown. "But could you really move out of the city?" When her son only looked at her she nodded saying, "Alright, but what will she do if she's no longer a detective?"
"Write," a voice said, making the two jump. "Sorry," Beckett said, going to her fiancé. "I noticed you were gone," she told him as she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her cheek to his chest. "Are we crazy for considering all of this?"
"Oh darling, I couldn't say, this is between you and Richard," Castle's mother said, putting her hand on Beckett's shoulder. "But you're considering the right things for your children, and that's what's more important than anything else. You should know though, we'll be behind you, whatever you decide."
"Thank you Mother," Castle said quickly since she had been serious. When Beckett murmured the same he said, "We'll have to tell your dad, and Alexis, and Julia."
"We'll tell them," Beckett said. "When we know what we'll need to do. But for now, come to bed," she told him, taking his hand. "Night Martha."
"Goodnight you two," Castle's mother replied in response to her son's goodnight. She smiled a little as she watched them go into his room and she sighed, hoping things would work out for them as she headed back to her room.
Once the door was closed, Beckett wrapped her arms around her fiancé, bringing him down to her and kissing him deeply. She was relieved when he responded quickly to that, and felt her sense of unease about their future easing slightly. When they parted she murmured, "I have you don't I?"
"Always," Castle said simply before leading her to the bed. When they were settled he held her against his side and stroking her hair, pressed his lips to her forehead. "I think it's more we have each other," he then said.
Smiling Beckett then said, "We do."
Castle shared another kiss with her, and when they'd settled down, listened to their breathing together. He had no idea when he fell asleep, but soon drifted off holding her securely in his arms as he remembered the image of their baby earlier that day.
Though she was fatigued, Beckett took a little longer to fall asleep, her mind going over Tyson's words though she had been trying to keep from doing so. She finally shook herself from that when Castle's hand came to rest on her abdomen. It was that touch that made her let go of the subject that had been heavy on her mind, and she squeezed his hand gently before closing her eyes. And as she tried to fall asleep she was very aware of him holding her close as she shared his thoughts of their baby without knowing it. It helped her drift off much easier than anything else could and gave her a reprieve from the elusiveness of the next day and what they might be facing.