Author's note: Alerts appear to be down again, but i'm going to put this next one up anyway. Hopefully people will find it, but if not, then they will have two to read when alerts come back up!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"I stole it, Rick."

"Stole what?"

"The Gift. Jeremy doesn't know. Just you and me."

There wasn't any darkness. Just the room he was tied in. And the woman with two names. Castle didn't even feel any pain. Only curiosity.

"Where is it?"

She giggled, and he wasn't sure there was any sanity in the sound.

"If I tell you he'll kill us both."

"He can't," Castle told her. "He's dead."

"It's like Amorous Giants," she told him, looking back toward the door to the little room as if afraid someone would come rushing in.

"Where is it?" Castle asked.

"I can't tell you."

"Where is it, Rick?" Beckett asked.

Castle blinked, startled.

"Kate?"

She was reaching up toward his swollen wrists, a knife in her hand. She cut the ropes and caught him as he fell against her, and her arms were gentle and comforting. His dropped on her shoulder. He wasn't in the little room, now, he was in the warehouse.

"Where is it, Rick?"

"I don't know."

"She told you."

"No."

"You told me she did."

Beckett's voice was tender.

"I don't know, Kate. I don't know where it is."

"It's like Amorous Giants," Bridgett told him, over Beckett's shoulder. "Just like that."

"Where is it?" Beckett asked him, again, her hand caressing his cheek, obviously trying to soothe him. "Tell me."

"I don't know," he whispered, wishing desperately that he did. He'd give her the diamond if she wanted it. If he knew where it was, it'd be hers. "I can't remember…"

"I told you," Bridgett said, her voice fading and the darkness returning.

"No."

"Yes."

Beckett's arms were still around him.

"Where is it, Castle?"

"I don't know…"

"I told you…"

"Rick, wake up."

Beckett's voice overrode Bridgett's, and fingers ran through his hair, gently. He woke up with a start to find himself still on his back and Beckett looking down at him, concerned.

"Kate?"

She nodded, reaching for the hand he brought up and squeezing it.

"Another nightmare?" she asked.

He shook his head. There hadn't been anything scary about the dream he'd just had. Just frustration, mostly.

"No. Just a crazy dream."

"About the diamond?"

He sat up, but didn't let go of her hand. He didn't need comforting; he just wanted to hold her.

"Bridgett and you…"

Beckett arched an eyebrow at him.

"Do I even want to know?"

"Not that kind of dream," he told her, too distracted to smirk like he might have. "You kept asking me where the Gift was, and she kept telling me that she told me."

"You told me once that she told you," Beckett pointed out. "Maybe she did and you're trying to remember?"

It wouldn't surprise Kate if he were focusing on that in his dreams. But it was certainly better than him having nightmares.

"I'd remember if she told me where it was," he said. "I know I would."

"What's the Amorous Giants?" Beckett asked.

He frowned.

"What?"

"The Amorous Giants," she repeated. "You were muttering about them in your sleep."

Castle's expression went blank.

"I was?"

"Yes."

"The Amorous Giants…?" he asked. "You're sure?"

"Yes."

He let go of her hand and stood up, abruptly, and walked over to her bookshelf. Confused and curious, Beckett got up and joined him.

"You don't have it," he told her.

"It's a book?"

"Yeah. An obscure anthology. One of my first short stories is in it."

"I've never heard of it," she admitted.

"Maybe you're not as big a fan as you-" he stopped in mid-sentence, and stared at her. "Oh…"

"What is it?"

"I think I know where the diamond is," Castle said.

"What? How? Where?"

"Bridgett was talking about how much of a fan she was. She probably read it."

"The short story?"

"Yes. To make a short story even shorter, it's about a guy who stole a very expensive necklace, and then had it stolen from him. He was a member of the mob, though, and the person who stole it didn't know. So he hid it someplace the mob guy wouldn't look for it and then faked his death to get everyone to stop looking for it."

"Where did he hide it?" Beckett asked, curiously, wondering how she'd missed one of his stories – even an early one.

"In the mobster's house," Castle replied with a sudden grin. "Right under his nose."

Kate stared.

"You think it's at your house?"

"Bridgett stole it from Jeremy, and she had access to my house keys, which would make it easy. If I'm right, I know exactly where it is."