A/N: Thank you all so very, very much for your continued enthusiasm for this story - especially the phenomenal response to the last chapter, it was awesome and overwhelming (I loved it).

Chapter Twenty Five: Tight rope walking ain't that hard.

One month ago . . .

Castle takes a deep quick breath and gauntlets his hands, focuses down the barrel of the handgun, his finger ready on the trigger.

The footsteps grow louder, pounding on the stone floor of the tunnel leading from the villa into the communications room and Castle grips the gun in his hands just a little tighter. He notices idly that although he's nervous and his heart-rate is accelerated he's centered and focused – sure that he won't just gawk if this is indeed a threat approaching – his purpose is crystal clear.

It's Gabor who enters the room running though, blood visible at his left temple and judging by the sounding of further footfalls behind him he has an assailant on his tail. The operative's gun is securely in his right hand but he's clutching Castle's manuscript to his chest with his left, awkwardly trying to maintain his grip on the large stack of hand-typed loose pages that are merely bundled together with a large elastic band. Maintaining his hold on it is hampering him – but the novel is their sole purpose for coming back here.

Two identical sets of blue eyes meet and lock. Gabor shifts his pupils to the left for a fraction of a second, but it's enough of a communication for Castle to know exactly what it is that Gabor needs him to do. The writer blinks and Gabor ducks, rolling at once quickly to his left side and giving Castle a clean shot now at a man in a black balaclava who's entering the communications room chasing him.

The author takes it - two shots in quick succession, yet muffled as they are by the silencer the sound is sickeningly almost nothing.

The man on Gabor's heels takes the bullets in the center of his right shoulder – Castle knows he should probably have aimed for center mass but surely this is enough force to drop him. Gabor springs back to his feet and blocks Castle's view, the author hears another couple of soft pops before Gabor is pushing him back into the tunnel behind them.

"Go quickly," his father hisses, sounding furious with him. "Now Richard – get moving."

More footsteps can be heard heading their way and with one final quick glance at the now unmoving masked man lying on floor beyond his father, Castle turns and steps back into the tunnel. He hears four more muffled pop sounds at his rear and then suddenly Gabor's pushing hard against him, urging him away from the 'rock' door and further into the passageway so that he can seal the entrance behind them. The two men navigate the short tunnel to the more secure steel door in a frantic stumbling jumble of limbs, once they are safely through it, Gabor uses the hand scanner to seal it – plunging them back into darkness - before he fires up his flashlight again and smashes the scanner plate to pieces with the butt of his gun. It should hold whoever follows them for some time hopefully, and once he's completed this task Gabor turns blazing eyes on his son.

"You could have gotten yourself killed with that stunt," he growls murderously.

Castle frowns at the venom in the older man's voice and his eyes darken, his own face turning angry. He steps closer to the operative.

"I took him down," he replies in a harsh tone. "I didn't even hesitate – I just didn't see the need at that moment to actually kill him."

Gabor snorts.

"That wasn't your call to make; you were supposed to do precisely what I told you."

Castle shakes his head. "The only part of your instruction I ignored was shooting to kill."

Father and son stand toe to toe in the rocky confined space both breathing quickly. Richard Gabor seems to silently assess both his son's words and his defiant posture, and Castle stares mutely back, his jaw tight and his blue eyes unyielding.

The spy sighs softly.

"I'm trying very hard to protect you," he says sternly and at length. "And you aren't making that task any easier Richard if I can't trust you to follow all my instructions to the letter."

The operative's eyes are hard as flint as he stares down his only son, but Castle won't be cowed by him.

"I did follow them." Castle retorts. "Maybe not strictly to the letter, but I did what you asked of me," he says quietly. "I did what was strictly necessary."

The writer doesn't plan on apologizing for his choice, but he does allow something like it to creep quietly into his gaze, and he softens his stance hoping this is will be enough, Gabor shakes his head at him. Castle thinks his father might even be smiling – albeit faintly – it's hard to tell in the relative darkness.

"Are you stubborn like this with Kate too?" Gabor asks.

In response the writer flashes a wry grin and nods just once very quickly.

"I-"

Any further conversation is halted at this point by someone or something crashing loudly into the far side of the steel door behind them.

Gabor reaches into a pocket in his cargo pants and pulls a large waterproof pouch from it, he carefully inserts the novel into it and seals it up tightly.

"We need to go," Gabor says quietly, re-focusing. "Here take the flashlight and take this-" he says, also handing the pouch containing the novel over. "Take the stairs Richard, all the way back down to the bottom – go – now."

The writer eyes the destroyed access panel warily, jumping slightly as another crashing sound echoes loudly in the dark rocky tunnel, as whoever is on the other side of the door smashes into it again.

"How sturdy is that thing?" He asks with concern, beginning his descent of the spiraling staircase with Gabor right on his rear.

"Sturdy enough would my guess, there's no control panel on the other side so it can't be re-wired. Unless the tunnels ahead of us have been compromised we'll have an adequate amount of time to get clear before anyone has a prayer of getting through it."

Something about the tone of the CIA agent's voice doesn't sound completely convincing but then his over active imagination could be conjuring that, either way Castle begins to take the stairs much faster – two at a time, suddenly very grateful for the comforting presence of a gun in his hand, his book tucked awkwardly under his arm.

The two men reach the bottom without incident and Castle is about to head back the way they came in but Gabor instantly steps ahead of him.

"Stay behind me," he instructs, grabbing the flashlight again.

"I have a gun," Castle protests.

Gabor shoots him a pleading look over his shoulder, "Just hold onto that book and stay behind me – please."

Castle is tempted to roll his eyes, but thinks better of it.

"Fine – I don't know where we're going anyway," he mutters a little truculently.

The journey back through the tunnel to the cavern is faster this time, Gabor hurries them through it and back into the tunnel heading towards the sea. The two men are almost back at the sea cave when the CIA operative suddenly ducks into another very narrow passageway branching off to the left of them.

Castle swallows back his sound of surprise – he never even noticed this tiny tunnel on their way in.

Passing through it proves extremely challenging. Both Castle and Gabor are large men and the tunnel is only wide enough in several spots for them to suck in everything and squeeze themselves through. It's dark and the rocky floor beneath their feet is damp and very slippery. Several times Castle's feet almost slide out from under him and only the presence of the extreme grips of his climbing shoes saves him from a nasty spill.

It's also uncomfortably claustrophobic and the author is thrilled when he notices he can hear the sound of the ocean dead ahead of them.

Gabor stops suddenly and Castle bumps into him.

"Listen," his father instructs in a whisper. "Tell me if you can hear anything?"

Motionless the writer strains his ears, but beyond the sound of waves against rock he can't hear a blessed thing.

"The ocean," he whispers back, "that's it."

Gabor nods his head in agreement.

"Yeah that's all I can hear too. Luck is apparently on our side Rick; we might just get away with this."

Castle inclines his eyebrow.

"Might?" he hisses.

Gabor studiously ignores him.

"Time to get wet again I'm afraid," he says, before he places the flashlight between his teeth and pockets his firearm in a pouch on his cargo pants. The operative then turns his back on Castle and leaps into the darkness - vanishing, the sound of a large splash follows.

Stunned for a second the author stares into the dark just blinking, but then as his eyes adjust to the absence of the glow from the flashlight, he realizes he's almost right on the edge of a small cliff here. He steps up and looks over the edge, barely able to discern Gabor treading water about fifteen feet below him.

Castle doesn't wait to be told to follow; he pockets his own gun as he'd watched Gabor do, holds tightly to the pouch with his novel and he jumps in.

He emerges spluttering slightly next to his father and the operative just flashes him a quick grin before he begins to stroke away.

The writer shivers violently, shocked motionless by the cold water for a moment, and then as best he can with only one hand free, he swims.

The inward motion of the waves is constantly pushing back against them; but thankfully their destination isn't all that far. Castle notices the atmosphere around them is growing lighter and as they round a curve in the cave walls he's suddenly aware that he can see an entrance about forty feet away now, and beyond it the open sea. A sleek black speedboat is moored just inside the mouth of the cavern and Gabor is clearly heading there.

His father reaches the boat about ten strokes ahead of him, hauling himself with practiced ease over the side. He quickly unleashes the craft before he leans down to help assist his son in, trying to mask a grimace as the younger man's dead weight pulls awkwardly on his still recovering shoulder.

Once Castle is on-board, Gabor turns the key sitting waiting in the speedboat's ignition, and the twin high performance outboard engines kick in. The sound is deafening, like a jet aircraft in the confined space they occupy; it breaks through the stillness of the night echoing outward, and Castle shivers not just from his soaked attire but from a sudden sharp rush of adrenaline. The sound gives them away. It calls immediate attention to their position – so Castle reaches into the pocket on his pants for the 9mm, and once more wraps his fingers lovingly around it.

Gabor shakes his head at him, and then nods at locker in the center of the craft, so the writer climbs over the intervening seat and pries it open it just as Gabor nudges the boat forwards and towards the ocean. They are out in the open now and it's immediately so much easier to see. A sliver of moonlight peaking through the dark clouds overhead flashes off the barrel of a rifle lying in the bottom of the locker, so Castle pushes the handgun back into the pocket of his pants and picks up the rifle as instructed instead. He drops the book safely into the locker for now and re-closes the lid.

Releasing the safety on the long gun, Castle crouches down instinctively in the seat, his eyes scanning the open expanse of water for anything following - he's relieved a little as they put the island behind them finally, and Gabor heads them unerringly out to sea.

The speedboat is sleek and swift, fifteen minutes and they've almost relaxed, almost reached the seaplane that is their destination when they suddenly hear it behind them – the whine of a boat engine being punished brutally.

Castle looks over at Gabor with fear clearly evident in his eyes, and his father's face is grim.

So much for a clean getaway, Castle thinks - they're being hunted it seems.