Moment in Time II

Chapter 37

Habeas Corpse

Castle skipped into his office to call Esposito to raise the stakes on the bet.

"Castle wait," Kate called after him.

"Darling, don't worry about it," Martha gushed. "All anyone will remember after that performance is that you sounded like an angel."

Kate sank into a chair opposite her mother-in-law. "Martha, that's just it, I won't."

"What are you talking about?" Martha asked, confused, "you just did."

"But Martha, that was here, just in front of you and Castle. In front of a group of strangers," Kate confided, "my throat closes up, I sound like a frog."

"But you and Richard do karaoke," Martha protested.

"Yeah," Kate agreed, "but only when I'm pretty drunk."

"Well you could have a few drinks before you go on," Martha suggested, "I know a lot of actors who do that. Some of them would be losing their high priced dinners on stage if they didn't. Stage fright is not as uncommon as you might think."

"Even if I wasn't afraid I'd fall on my face in the lift, I couldn't. It's a police benefit and we're technically all on duty. I don't know what to do," Kate sighed, "I don't want to disappoint Castle."

Martha patted her hand. "And you won't have to. I know this wonderful hypnotist. Several of my co-stars have used him including the current Prince of Broadway."

"You mean...?"

"Exactly," Martha confirmed. "The man plays a superhero but could barely take a step on stage before he he was put under. I can get you an appointment."

Kate kissed her mother-in-law on the cheek. "Martha, that would be great."

Kate regarded the sign on the door in the plush office building skeptically. "The Great Zeno? Really Martha? I thought we'd be going to a psychologist or a psychiatrist."

"Well yes," Martha acknowledged, "it might seem a little strange to those outside the business. He was a carny. He could hypnotize people anywhere, anytime, get them to do anything. His act reminded me of one my parents used to do. But he got tired of life on the road, and settled down with a practice, mostly helping theater people. You'll see, he's wonderful and absolutely charming."

Zeno was tall and thin with jet black hair and piercing eyes so dark they appeared black as well. Kate had halfway expected a black silk cape, but Zeno wore a well tailored suit and Italian shoes. He invited Kate to sit in a deep chair opposite him."

"So Martha told me you have a problem with stage fright," he began in a voice reminiscent of John Carradine, "tell me about it."

"Um, my husband, that's Martha's son Richard Castle, signed us up to do a routine for the N.Y.P.D. Talent Show. We're dancing and singing, and I'm just afraid I'll make a fool of myself in front of my colleagues."

"Colleagues?" Zeno inquired.

"Yes," Kate replied nervously, "I'm a homicide detective."

Zeno nodded sagely. "Ah, a brave woman, accustomed to being in the line of fire. So you find the fear of performing in public embarrassing?"

"Yes I do," Kate confessed.

"Well don't worry about it my dear. No one need ever know your secret. We'll have you on stage without a care in the world," Zeno assured her. "Now, what song will you be performing?"

"I've Got You Under My Skin. We'll be singing and dancing." Kate blushed. "Actually it's a routine my husband and I do in the shower. We just expanded it a little for the performance - and added clothes."

"A fine number," Zeno opined. "I saw old blue eyes himself perform it. Now I want you to relax and close your eyes. Feel your muscles go limp. Don't resist. Just let everything go. Now, you are under a spray of warm water. It engulfs you. You are calm, ready. Open your eyes. Where are you?"

"In the loft," Kate answered, "in the shower with Castle."

"Are you having fun?" Zeno asked.

A smile spread over Kate's face. "Oh yes."

Zeno nodded in satisfaction. "Good, now whenever you hear the phrase, 'under my skin,' you'll be as you are now. When I snap my fingers you'll awake refreshed and ready to perform."

Kate opened her eyes. "How do you feel?" Zeno asked.

"Terrific," Kate answered, surprised to find that she meant it.

Zeno extended a hand. "Good. You should be able to get through your performance just fine."

Captain Gates slammed a pile of folders on her desk. "Detective Beckett," she called from her office, "do you have the Baker file?"

"No Sir," Beckett replied. "I put that on your desk this morning."

Gates looked again, finding the file peeking out from under a stack of papers. "Yes, Detective, I'm sorry. My mother-in-law is visiting and she's getting under my skin."

Kate blanched and looked around, crossing her arms in front of her body to cover herself. "Detective, are you all right?" Gates asked.

With a look of absolute panic, Kate ducked behind her desk. "Give me your jacket!" she hissed at Castle, who was standing at the murder board.

Castle turned to look down at her. "Kate what?"

"Castle, give me your jacket," Kate repeated urgently. Castle slipped out of the tailored tweed and handed it to her, baffled. She grabbed it and wrapped it around herself. "Castle, take me home."

"Kate," Castle asked with concern, "do you have chills? Are you sick?"

"Castle," she spat out desperately, "are you blind? I'm naked!"

"Mr. Castle," Gates advised, "you'd better get her out of here, and to a doctor."

"Yes Captain," Castle agreed.

Castle unlocked the door of the loft. Kate ran straight to the bedroom and began pulling clothes out of the dresser. She tried to put her underwear over her clothes and screamed in frustration when it wouldn't go on. Martha rushed downstairs from her room. "What the hell is going on here?"

Castle stared at his wife still frantically trying to get a bra over shirt. "Mother, I don't know. Everything was perfectly normal and then all of a sudden Kate decided she was naked. Maybe I can find the number of the therapist she used to see. I need to call someone."

"Oh no!" Martha exclaimed. "I need to call someone."

At Martha's frantic call, Zeno arrived at the loft. "Someone must have said the trigger phrase," he surmised, "but this is all wrong."

"Well you better make it right!" Martha advised angrily.

"Kate," Zeno ordered in his booming voice, "you are still, you are relaxed, sitting quietly."

Kate immediately sat limply on the edge of the bed. "Now, 'under my skin' is merely a line from a song. It carries no more meaning than that. You are at home. You are fully dressed." Zeno snapped his fingers.

Kate opened her eyes and looked around. "Oh my God!" She fixed Zeno with a glare. "What did you do to me?"

"You better leave," Castle urged Zeno. "You definitely will not like her when she's angry. "

"Or me," Martha added.

Kate sat with her head in her hands and Castle's arm around her as Martha angrily hustled Zeno out of the loft. "I can guarantee you," Martha declared as she returned, "by the end of the day. No one in the theater will ever do business with that man again. He's through."

"So am I," Kate moaned. "How can I ever go back in that bullpen again?"

Castle gathered her to him, as Martha quietly backed out of the room. "Hey, you ducked behind the desk so fast that no one saw anything except me and Captain Gates. Once I tell her what happened and that Mother was involved, you know she'll never say a word. And you know I won't either. Your reputation as the badass detective will be intact. But Kate, why didn't you tell me you had a problem with performing? I would have gotten us out of it."

"I didn't want you to think less of me, and that trophy meant so much to you."

"Not as much as you do, but do me a favor, next time you have a problem with something, tell me, not Mother."

Kate turned to him cupping the back of his head to bring his lips to hers. "Count on it."

A/N This is only a story. It in no way implies anything against hypnosis done by a licensed therapist.