AN: Wow, so some of you really didn't like what I did with Kris and Castle in the last chapter. Hopefully this will make you a little happier. I'm going to start working on the wedding soon so I need some input on that! Where would you guys like to see Caskett get married and honeymoon? As always, reviews are great so leave me one and if there's anything you wanna see in this story, let me know!


Kate looked up from her paperwork when Castle took his seat beside her desk. She noticed how tense he looked and that he refused to make eye contact with her. She put her pen down and leaned back in her chair.

"Where have you been?" Kate asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Huh? I've been right here...with you. Making you coffee." Castle chuckled nervously.

"So where is it?" Kate eyed him.

"Where's what?" Castle squeaked, squirming in his chair.

"The coffee, Castle. The coffee that you were supposedly here making for me." Kate snapped.

"Oh...right. It's, um, it's in the break room. I'll go get it." Castle shot up out of his chair like someone had set it on fire and rushed to the break room. Kate immediately followed him and shut the door behind her, causing Castle to jump.

"Okay, Castle. Spill it. What the hell is going on with you?" Kate glared.

Castle finally looked her in the eye and let out a sigh. "Okay. Okay, Kate. I can't keep anything from you, especially when it concerns your sister. Not to mention, when it comes to the two of you, I'm much more afraid of you than I am of her."

"What are you talking about?" Kate took a step toward him.

"I went to talk to Kris earlier, to try and see what's been going on with her lately." Castle shrugged.

"Did she say anything?" Kate took his hand and they sat down on the break room couch.

"Not really. I mean, she said something was definitely going on but she didn't say what it was. She mentioned it was something that she thought she had dealt with back in college but that it wasn't a big deal. She made me promise not to say anything to you about it but I can't do that to you. You need to know and she needs to let you help her." Castle blurted out.

"She's too much like me for her own damn good. She thinks she can deal with anything." Kate gritted her teeth.

"She's probably going to castrate me but I'll take my chances. Something's going on, Kate, and I don't think it has anything to do with overdue books at the campus library." Castle replied.

"I tried to give her a chance this morning to talk to me about it. She shut me down but I'll be damned if she does it again. Whatever the hell is going on, I'm going to find out one way or another." Kate stood and headed toward the break room door, stopping to look back at Castle. "When my shift is over, we're heading to her apartment. Oh, and I'll take that coffee now."

Castle shook his head and grinned, then stood and made his way to the espresso machine.


When Kris walked into her apartment after work, she was more than a little paranoid. That most recent email had her on edge and she hated feeling that way. She wanted to believe that it was someone just messing with her, but deep down she knew the truth. She knew he had found her. She had truly convinced herself that part of her life was behind her, but she knew that was far from the truth.

Deciding she needed to check in on the club, she plugged her phone up to the charger and hopped in the shower. When she emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later, she saw several text messages on her phone. Throwing on a Walking Dead t-shirt and ripped jeans, she grabbed her pink Doc Martens and checked her text messages. She wasn't surprised to find they were all from Kate, one of which informing Kris that Kate and Castle would be over after she finished up at work.

"Well, too bad I won't be here." Kris mumbled to herself as she pulled on her boots and grabbed her keys and leather jacket then headed out the door.

When Kris arrived at Purge, she was greeted by the sounds of Krewella blasting from the speakers. She sent Russo a quick text to let him know where she was. He was busy with a case and she knew he probably wouldn't get home until later in the night. Pocketing her phone, she made her way to the bar and ordered a Vodka tonic. As Kris sipped her drink, she was oblivious to the figure in the far corner of the club watching her.


As Kate banged on Kris' apartment door, she knew her sister wasn't home. Knowing Russo caught a tough case that morning, she knew there was only one other place her sister would be. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she dialed Kris' number and wasn't surprised when her call dumped to voice mail after a few rings.

"Let's go, Rick. She's not here." Kate turned and headed toward the stairs.

"Where are we going?" Castle questioned as he fell in step behind his fiancee.

"Clubbing." Kate simply replied.

Kris sensed her sister before she saw her. Rolling her eyes, she wasn't the least bit surprised when Kate took the empty seat beside her at the bar, with Castle right behind her. As Kate eyed her, Kris kept her focus on the dance floor.

"What do you want?" Kris said, not bothering to look at Kate.

"What I want is to know what the hell is up with you." Kate replied, giving her sister a hard glare.

"Writer monkey just couldn't keep his damn mouth shut, huh?" Kris finally turned to face her sister.

"This has nothing to do with him. This is between me and you, Kris. You need to get your head out of your ass and stop thinking you can take on the whole damn world by yourself!" Kate snapped.

"Pot, meet kettle." Kris huffed. "You're really one to talk, Kate."

"Yeah, and look where its got me. I've almost gotten myself killed more times than I can count because of it." Kate replied with a shake of her head.

"Yeah, well. I won't make the same mistakes you did." Kris downed the rest of her drink.

"No, you'll just end up dead. Whatever the hell is going on, you need to tell me." Kate all but yelled at her sister.

"I can't. This is something that I have to take care of. He already knows too much about my life now." Kris' blurted out before she could stop herself.

"He? Who's he? Kris, you have to tell me. You have to let me help you." Kate pleaded with her sister.

"Kris, you know your sister is the best damn cop in this city. You're not alone anymore. You have people who love and care about you. Please let us help you." Castle finally spoke up from behind Kate.

Kris turned her gaze back onto the dance floor and let out a long sigh. The tears that she had tried so hard to keep at bay all day finally fell down her cheeks as she contemplated all that her sister and Castle had said. She knew that she couldn't keep it to herself any longer. The last five years had been long enough and she was tired of keeping everything bottle up inside.

"Do you remember Nik?" Kris finally spoke, her voice hollow.

"Nik? The guy you used to work with at the computer store when you were in college?" Kate replied, shocked that Kris was finally opening up.

"Yeah. We hung out a lot back then. He was in some of my computer classes and we kinda clicked. I taught him a lot about hacking." Kris went on. "Of course at the time, I didn't know that was all going to come back to bite me in the ass."

"What happened?" Castle urged Kris on.

"I remember that you changed, became distant and withdrawn after you met him." Kate murmured.

"Nikolai was intense. He was from Moscow. He moved over here when he was a teenager to live with his uncle. I was so in awe of him but at the same time, he scared the shit out of me." Kris mumbled as she remembered that time in her life.

"He knew I had a crush on him and he used it against me. He manipulated me into hacking for him. It started out small...hacking into gaming and music sites. I'd hack it and he would sell the info. Then he upped the game." Kris released a long, shuddering breath.

"What'd you do, Kris?" Kate whispered.

"I didn't know it in the beginning but I eventually found out that Nik was selling stuff on the black market. By then, I was in so deep that I couldn't do anything about it and at the time I really didn't even care. I mean, he was giving me money to build a bigger and better rig so I just went along with it and didn't ask questions." Kris shook her head.

"I always wondered how you afforded that huge ass computer." Kate murmured.

"After graduation, we got drunk one night and he bet me that I couldn't hack government stuff. I just laughed at him and told him I could hack any damn thing on the planet. To prove it, he told me to hack the main frame of the CIA." Kris mumbled.

"The CIA?" Castle said in shock.

"I did it and then he kept on that I couldn't get into this or that and before I knew it, he had me downloading weapons information from the Pentagon. The next day when I woke up, I remembered what happened the previous night and I asked him about it. He told me that he had a buyer from Moscow who was willing to pay top dollar for the information." Kris sighed.

"Kris, what the hell?" Kate shook her head in disbelief.

"I didn't know he intended to sell government information!" Kris screeched. "While he was in the shower, I took the memory card and replaced it with a fake one that had some pirated video games on it. When he left that night to go meet the buyer, I packed all my stuff and boarded a plane."

"That's when you left the country for a year." Kate whispered.

"Yeah. I pretty much globe trotted for a year to make sure he didn't find me. I figured he had given up, until now." Kris signaled the bartender for another drink.

"Has he tried anything?" Castle asked, a hint of protectiveness in his voice.

"He's sent me a couple emails but nothing else so far." Kris took a long swig of beer.

"I'll put an APB out on him and inform Captain Gates." Kate said as she pulled her phone out.

"It won't do any good, Kate. He's smarter than that. You'll never find him unless he wants you to." Kris turned to her sister with a serious look.

"Have you told Russo about any of this?" Kate eyed her sister as she tossed her phone onto the bar.

"No. You guys are the only ones I've talked to about it." Kris sighed.

"Well, he needs to know. He's a part of your life now, Kris." Kate glared at her sister.

"I know." Kris murmured.

As Kris sipped her beer, Kate sent a text to Ryan and Espo telling them to pull everything they could find on one Nikolai Pavlov. Kate knew that a guy like Pavlov would be difficult to find, especially if he didn't want to be found. She also knew that she would never let him or anyone else ever harm Kris. Kate had never been able to protect her mother but she would be damned if she lost Kris, too.


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