*We have a new cover, a result of a nice collaboration between Angie (dtrekker on Twitter) and myself. I feel like it represents the story a little better than the previous one.

Solid Ground – Chapter 26

He ran through the jungle, shoving ferns and low hanging vines out of the way as he went. He cursed and growled, tripping over gnarled roots as he groped blindly around in the middle of the downpour. The rain pelted him, soaking his clothes and obscuring his vision. John clutched the gun tightly in his hand, and twisted his neck to glance over his shoulder. They weren't following him. He'd expected them to follow. But they didn't.

"Fools," he grumbled under his breath as he quickened his stride, jumping over a boulder and bounding down a slope, kicking up loose scree.

John was a professional. And he hated leaving business unfinished. But this job was something else. The target was something else. Kate Beckett. Wow! What a woman! If circumstances had been different, he'd more than willingly accept the challenge she offered. She'd be a fighter. He could feel it in his core. She'd probably bite, kick, and claw at him as he took her. But in the end, she'd like it. They all did. Even that bitch Trishna, who'd given herself freely to him without threat or incentive of payment afterwards, had liked it. She'd claimed that she'd just used him for release. But he knew better. She had liked it. Her death was such a waste, but he wouldn't shed any tears for her.

Heaving in a deep breath, and wiping the water from his eyes, John slowed down to a trot. He weaved to the left and found the stream that he'd been searching for. Coming to a stop, he pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and quickly opened it. Droplets of rain peppered the thin material, making the ink smudge, but not enough to distort the features on the map. John scanned the drawing for several more seconds before he carefully folded it back up and placed it back into his pocket.

He surveyed his surroundings with skilled eyes.

All he had to do was follow the stream. It would lead him to the first checkpoint. After which, he'd have to brave the stormy waters to reach the small island and find that radio transmitter, if it even still existed. Staying alert, John moved forward at a less hurried clip. The others weren't following him. He'd taken care of that by knocking the writer unconscious. Trishna had accused him of not reading the files on their target. But he had. And he understood better than she did. The writer was Beckett's weakness. She should be out hunting him down, seeking to punish him for his employer's crimes. But no. She was most likely kneeling over that foolish writer, crying her pretty eyes out.

Once he'd secured an escape off this God forsaken island, he'd have her, and then kill her. He smirked just thinking of it. After all, no one said he couldn't have a little fun.

XXX

Lightning crackled across the sky, illuminating the camp and startling him from unconsciousness. Castle gasped and coughed, wincing at the throbbing pain located on the back of his head. With blurry eyes, he glanced around, a little confused as to how he'd ended up in the clinic. The roof was leaking and the loud pitter-patter of rain could be heard, along with a tremendous howl of wind. Storm. There was a storm. He remembered a certain storm over a year ago that had brought him his Kate. This storm, on the other hand, seemed dead set on taking her away.

He could not allow that. Not now. Not after she'd agree to forever with him, to happily and joyously become his wife and the mother of his child. No. It was not allowed. Kate was going to live. They were going to get married. She was going to grow large with child and give birth. And be safe. She was supposed to be safe.

Castle groaned and rubbed his forehead, feeling groggy. His head was pounding, and it took all his willpower just to sit up. His eyelids were heavy and it took all he had to force them open and remain in the waking world. He couldn't afford sleep. Not now. The last thing he remembered before the blackness was John shoving him into camp, and seeing his Kate. His beautiful Kate. She'd looked so worried. He'd wanted so badly to reach out and reassure her, but he'd been tired and held at gunpoint.

Robin.

He choked, stifling a sob.

She'd been one of the very first amongst their fellow passengers to befriend Kate, and in extension himself. He'd enjoyed her company, and the optimist in him couldn't help but envision her in a god-awful dress as one of Kate's bridesmaids. Castle had felt a small part of his heart wink out of existence when she'd died in his arms. It was just so wrong. It made him want to rail against the universe and decry it for what it had done. Robin did not deserve to die. No one amongst their band of castaways did, especially after miraculously surviving that horrific plane crash.

But despite all his wishes, the sad truth remained… Robin was dead. And it was because of him. He'd heard what the vile killer had said.

"I needed to make a point to your lover boy."

Well, the point was well taken. This man was nothing like Lockwood or Maddox. Both had been smug and arrogant sons-of-bitches who'd stop to chew the fat and pontificate. They'd easily fallen into the cliché pattern of the villain that would make some speech about his dastardly scheme, just so they could twist the knife a little bit more and make their victim squirm. John, while arrogant, played by a different set of rules. He killed mercilessly, and with no hesitation. He was deadly.

But his actions had stoked something in Castle that was rarely seen or brought out to the surface. Recently, in the past year, that part of him had emerged when his baby girl had been taken from him. And it had once again manifested on this very island when John had first appeared and Trishna's betrayal had been exposed. Castle would do anything to protect the people he loved. And he would do the same for those who had been wrongly killed.

To hell with justice. Castle wanted revenge.

He wanted Bracken and his henchman dead. But Bracken was unavailable. So he'd have to settle for John. This was a dark part of him. A part he'd never liked others to see, but in times like these, it seemed prudent to embrace it and accept what it offered him, clarity of purpose. Castle knew he'd struggle with it, not wanting to lose himself to its seductive pull. He'd manage to retain his core-self during the Paris incident with Alexis, but a lot of that had to do with his father's sudden appearance and assistance.

Life was a mystery to him. The twists and turns were harder to navigate than the plot points of his novels. Real life was certainly more complicated and brutal than the worlds he'd crafted with his imagination. However, sometimes it seemed like luck was on their side. If Trishna had not also been employed by Bracken as John's handler, Castle was fairly certain that the killer would have just shot first and then asked questions. And if that were so, then Kate would never have stood a chance of surviving her first encounter with the hired gun.

Kate!

As awareness slowly returned to him, her name began to repeat over and over in his head. Kate. Kate. Kate. Her name was a mantra, a song that he would never cease to sing. Grunting loudly, he arched his back and rolled off the padded examination bed. He was slightly unstable on his legs, but the throbbing in his head was already starting to dissipate as a result of his upright posture. He'd wasted enough time lying unconscious while John was out there thinking of other ways to kill the woman he loved. After all, with the truth about the file out and in the open, Kate was vulnerable. There was nothing to stop John from killing her now.

"Whoa! What do you think you're doing!?"

Castle pulled his head up with a jerk, and squinted his eyes. Lightning flashed outside and illuminated the silhouette of a familiar figure. His breath caught in his throat and his blood heated with the sight of her. She was beautiful. So very beautiful. Perhaps the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, and he'd seen quite a few beautiful women in his time. But she was different. Unique. Dare he say… extraordinary? She possessed that rare kind of beauty, the exterior and interior matching with breathless wonder.

And from the moment he'd first seen her, he was hers.

"Castle," she reprimanded him in a soft tone, more concerned than anything else. "What are you doing up? There is a high possibility that you might have a concussion."

"I… Kate…," he croaked out, not knowing what to say. His eyes widened as he took in her drenched hair and soaked clothes. He was hit with a series of rapid flashbacks of that first night when they made love for the first time. Her clothes had been plastered to her like a second skin, and she'd made these delicious soft keens of pleasure as he'd peeled them off her and finally touched her warmed flesh.

"Castle!" she snapped, a little sharper, tugging him out of his pleasant memories.

"Sorry," he wheezed, moving a hand to grip the edge of the examination bed. "I… I was just remembering a different storm."

A faint smile touched her lips, and her eyebrows rose an inch. "Oh… really?" she questioned. "And how did that one go?"

"Amazing," he murmured dreamily, unable to keep the happy smile off his face. "As I recall, it ended with a bang." Castle cocked his head towards her and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "A really BIG bang."

Kate pulled her lower lip under her teeth and flicked her eyes up at him coyly. Castle knew when she was trying to suppress her amusement. It only made her more alluring. "It certainly was a night to remember," she agreed, letting go of her lower lip and smiling widely, all teeth and gum. So delighted and happy.

"The best," he concurred, sighing as he lowered his head and rubbed his forehead. Kate stepped closer, reaching out to smooth her hand along his shoulder. Castle felt his tense muscles relax under her touch. But the events of the past twenty-four hours weighed heavily on him. "Kate… what happened?"

"Chris…," she paused, inhaling deeply as she looked away. "Chris shot Trishna with an arrow, and then John killed Chris." Kate pursed her lips and clenched her eyes shut, her chest heaving. Castle's heart jumped into his throat, and he cupped her jaw, caressing her cheek, seeking to comfort her as best he could. "After that, all hell broke loose. Jeff and Raymond tried to get the bastard, but he was quick… so damn fast, Castle! I… I thought he was going to kill you. But… damn it, Castle," she jabbed her fist into his chest. "We've been in far too many life and death situations."

He agreed with her on that. But now was not the time to dwell on the numerous near-death experiences they'd both had. "I take it he escaped," Castle said evenly, not allowing any of his emotions to betray the uneasy feeling in his stomach at the reminder of how close he'd come to breaking his promise to never leave her.

Kate bobbed her head. "Yes," she confirmed. "He ran back away into the jungle, fired a couple of rounds behind to cover his escape. A bullet grazed Jeff in the leg. The bleeding was worse than the actual injury."

"Isn't it always," Castle chuckled, and then lowered his eyebrows in concern, glancing around for his friend.

Noticing his search, Kate elaborated, "Kimberly thought it would be better to tend to his wounds elsewhere. They… well, everyone seemed to want to give us some privacy."

Castle nodded in understanding. Though the current events affected them all, Kate was the primary target, with himself as a secondary target. He'd been used as bait, so obviously Bracken didn't consider him to be that much of a threat, which kind of hurt his feelings. Castle had been hoping he'd made some sort of impression on the corrupt bastard during that one case last year, not to mention all his dealings with Mr. Smith. But alas, he had to play second fiddle to Kate. Though, to be fair, Kate really didn't want first chair. No one would.

"You're not alone, Kate," Castle said, noticing the hollow look in her eyes for what it was. He'd seen it before. She'd spent so long working this case by her lonesome that it had become second nature to her. But she wasn't alone anymore. This case was theirs. They'd been through so much together in an ultimately futile attempt to slay the dragon to only broker a tentative deal, which had now been torn to shreds. Wherever John was going to lick his wounds, both Castle and Beckett knew that he'd be back to finish the job.

Kate moistened her lips with her tongue and looked up at him. Her gaze softened and she gave him a meek smile. "I know," she murmured, reaching up to caress the side of his face, her eyes growing warm with love. "If ever I had to choose a person to stand by my side in this fight, I'd choose you, Castle. Always."

He grinned, and looped his arms around her waist, tugging her close for a lingering kiss. She hummed into his mouth and pulled away, letting her hand drop to his shoulder.

"While we're making out in here, what are the others up to?"

She smirked, and glanced his way. "Forming a posse."

"Really?" his eyes lit up with glee despite the horror of the circumstances. "Please, let me join them. I always wanted to be part of a posse."

"Castle…"

"Beckett…"

"Hey," she snorted, giving him a little glare. "We're not at the precinct."

"Then why am I always just 'Castle'?" he questioned, starting to feel even better. The jackhammer in his head had long since gone quiet. All that remained was a slight thrumming of heat on the back of his head where a lump was no doubt beginning to form. Bantering with his ladylove always helped soothe him. It made things seem normal, if only for but a little while.

"It's a cop thing," she supplied, and then shifted back, furrowing her brow as she looked up at him with a slightly bemused expression. "Besides, I've never heard any complaints when you've made me scream 'Castle' during sex."

He chuckled, deep and low, appreciative of her trying to lighten the mood. "You got me there, that is hot. God… you're hot." Castle darted in to press a quick peck to her lips to distract her as he lowered a hand down her back to grab at her ass.

Kate's eyebrows rose in shock, and a tiny gasp emanated from her mouth. Castle grinned smugly, pleased that he'd caught her off guard with his playful fondle of her adorable little backside. With all the heaviness in the air, she needed some distractions.

"Not going to work," she informed him, wiping the smug grin off his face with a nibbling kiss. He stuck out his lower lip on a pout and she shook her head, before gazing up at him with earnest eyes. "I reserve the use of 'Rick' for when things are serious," she explained, though there was no need. Castle already knew. He'd known for quite some time. And she was right; he did like how she called him by his last name.

At first, he'd been a little irritated by it. He'd wanted her to call him 'Rick', had wanted to hear how it sounded tumbling from her lips as she writhed under him in pure ecstasy, only coherent enough to scream his name. But, then she'd turned his last name into something so much more than it already was. It grew on him, hearing 'Castle' spoken from her intoxicating voice. After that, he'd become entranced. She made him work for it. And he had welcomed the challenge. He put more of an effort into poking and prodding her until she'd groan in irritation and growl his last name out in warning.

It was so hot. And she had no idea what it did for him.

Things changed. The Earth rotated on its axis as it orbited the sun, and his infatuation quickly turned into something far more than a schoolboy crush and a teenage hard-on. He was in love. And it still stunned him that he had found love… real love, the kind that would make the angels weep for joy. She was his, and he was hers. He had it all: The varying arrays of tones, inclinations, tempers, and modulations. Each variation of which she spoke his last name brought joy into his heart. He never wanted her to stop. Never.

"I know," Castle sighed, combing his fingers through her wet hair, enthralled by the splendor that was Kate Beckett's hair-porn. She released a sigh of her own and eased into his touch, humming softly in approval as he caressed the side of her face. "I need to do this, Kate. Not just for you. But for us."

Kate gave a nod of her head. "I know, Castle," she said, taking in a shaky breath. "And I'm coming with you."

"Kate," he began to protest.

"No," she shushed him, putting her palm over his mouth, effectively silencing him. "Not this time. We made a promise to each other a while ago, Rick, that we'd do this together… as partners."

Castle frowned, but had to concede her point. He'd made a promise. He might not like the risk involved with her current condition. But he knew he'd feel better with her by his side, if just for his peace of mind. And the man that she'd helped him become did not break his word. "Partners," he echoed, and slipped his arms around her, pulling her closer.

"Partners," she repeated, then tilted her head up to meet his lips with hers, sealing the promise with a kiss.