Judas: Chapter 2
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DISCLAIMER: Most of these characters are not mine at all, but they are memorable. Thank you, Mr. Marlowe. The others? Yeah, they're mine
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8:42 a.m. on Thursday, April 26, 2012 at the Castles Complex in Sausalito, California
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"Well, well, the prodigal returns," a smiling Mike Monroe greets young Alexis Castle in the open foyer area of the Castles Complex administration building. A large welcoming party is mulling around, all smiles, as the youngest Castle finds herself pulled in multiple directions in numerous embraces.
"Hey, I didn't exactly run away," Alexis deadpans, then smiles broadly to Monroe and the group of well-wishers.
"Semantics," Dawn Harrison offers as she pulls the shorter redhead into a hug. "We are glad to see you, Alexis."
"I swear nothing slows down with your family," a chuckling Colin Alexander remarks. "If it isn't one thing, it's another."
"You aren't exactly wrong," a still-smiling Alexis admits. Nothing is going to ruin this reunion moment for her. Her father had called Branson school early this morning, notifying the administrators there that Alexis was – indeed – back home safe and sound. He also told them he was holding her out for the final two days of the week and that she'd be back next Monday. As expected, they received no pushback from the school, after her ordeal.
Mike finds Castle standing in the corner leading into the hallway in deep discussion with Dr. Samantha Peraza. He walks up slowly, not wanting to interrupt, arriving at the same time that Kate Beckett does, with two coffee's in her hand.
"I thought he was the coffee-gopher," Monroe chuckles, and Kate laughs with him, offering an elbow bump to the tall black man.
"Just giving him a break this morning," she smiles. "Don't worry, all will return to normal tomorrow."
"Kid gloves?" Mike asks.
"No, no," she corrects. "He's fine, really. Just . . . he's fine."
Mike Monroe nods his head in understanding. He has known Richard Castle longer than Kate has, and more, he has known Alexis Castle that much longer also. No more explanation is needed.
The man in question snaps him out of his thoughts, pulling the security chief into a long bear hug.
"So good to see you, man," Castle tells him.
"Same," Mike offers. "I'm glad our little bird is okay."
The two men break their embrace with a small fist bump, and broad smiles, before Mike continues. He doesn't really want to bring it up. But it has been on his mind.
"You could have called me, Rick" Monroe tells him in hushed tones. "Lindy and I would have –"
"You and Lindy were right where I needed you most, Mike," Castle reminds him, stern and clear in his tone. "My first thought – right or wrong – was that by taking Alexis, someone wanted my focus away from this place, away from this complex. So, pulling my two strongest away when that might have been exactly what someone wanted? I just couldn't chance that."
"I know, I know," Mike agrees, nodding his head. "That's exactly what Lindy said. And I know you're both right. Still –"
"Still nothing, Mike," Castle interrupts. "My first thought was that someone was going to try some stunt out here, with my mind focused elsewhere searching for Alexis. That thought . . . that worry . . . immediately left my mind the second I decided to leave you and Lindy here. I beg you, my friend, don't give that another thought."
"I stand properly chastised," Monroe laughs, and Richard Castle laughs with him, pulling him in for another hug.
"Do I need to be worried?" Kate asks the two men, and all three friends break into laughter.
Dr. Samantha Peraza is simply glancing around at all the people in the foyer, noticing all of the smiles, listening to all of the laughter. She smiles, realizing that she has not seen this type of glib and relaxed interactions in this building . . . well, ever. Even before the opening. She decides that this place needs more of this.
"Penny for your thoughts," Kate remarks to the good doctor.
"Just noticing how surreal all of this is," Peraza tells her.
"Yeah, I noticed it, too," Kate tells her. "I've never seen such . . ."
"Happiness?" Samantha offers.
"That's the exact word I was struggling with," Kate answers. "I've never seen such happiness here in this building."
"Even Santa showing up for Christmas didn't generate this," Peraza agrees.
"Well, we aren't going to be celebrating returned kidnappees every day," Kate laughs, and Peraza laughs with her. "We are just going to have to find other reasons to celebrate."
"I was thinking the same thing," Peraza nods. "Unfortunately, the smiles are going to come to a close in a few minutes."
"Is she here in the building yet?" Kate asks.
"Yes, we brought her in through the back, so she didn't see all this revelry and celebration," Samantha tells her. "She's far from ready for this, trust me."
Kate simply nods, noticing that Castle and Monroe have now been tuned in to their conversations, and their smiles have faded.
"Time?" Castle asks.
"I'm afraid so, Rick," Samantha Peraza tells him as she starts walking out of the foyer and down the hallway. The threesome join the doctor in walking down the hallway while the welcoming celebrations continue for Alexis. Richard Castle opens the door to the office with a one-way looking glass view of the admitting office. Mike Monroe walks into this area with Castle while Kate joins Dr. Peraza in the admitting office itself.
There, sitting at the circular table, holding a cup of steaming, black coffee in both hands, is one Elena Markov.
Kate and the doctor both offer small smiles as they approach the table. Elena begins to stand, but Kate brushes her back, gently.
"No, no, please, don't get up," Kate tells her. "Please, just relax. This is the boring but absolutely necessary orientation to help you get acquainted with this place."
It is a testament to her training that Elena Markov gives nothing away. Kate Beckett has no idea who Elena is. But the European beauty recognizes Kate immediately. Her relationship with William Bracken, and some of the tasks she had taken on for him had given her plenty of opportunity to become acquainted with the vaunted NYPD detective. Meeting the now ex-detective in person was – in Elena's mind – a long time coming.
"So there you are, Detective," Elena thinks to herself, sizing up the unsuspecting woman. "I have long desired to cross paths with you." ** (see Author's Note at the end of this chapter)
Watching behind the glass window, both Castle and Mike Monroe stand motionless, their eyes on the interactions in the next room. It is their standard spot during these orientations. They have watched over one hundred of these admission orientations now and settle in for what they know they could recite in their sleep. They've heard it enough times.
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9:14 a.m., same morning, at NuGenetix headquarters in Silicon Valley
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"Oh shit," mumbles the short-haired research developer for the small, upcoming bio-tech start-up company.
She has been sitting nervously at the conference table in the small adjoining conference room to CEO Andrew Klein's expansive office. The glass enclosed structure with the long row of windows paints the stoic, sleek and modern look Klein demands. Looks and appearances are important, for investors and employees alike.
However, this is not a good morning to be a developer at NuGenetix.
"Dammit all to hell!" Klein bellows as his lead developer cowers in fear. Cassandra Klein, the wife of the CEO, has just collapsed once more.
Again.
It is the third time she has collapsed in the past week. Three different times now, his development team has come with an antidote to the conference room, full of confidence that this time, it will work. And now three different times, Klein has been able to 'frighten' his wife back into a relapse.
This time, however, Klein has a back-up plan.
"Three strikes is more than enough, Chandra," he states out loud, bringing confusion to the young woman's face.
That Andrew Klein is highly motivated to find this antidote is no secret within the development team. After a few days of handwringing, he and Cassie decided to bring the lead developer for RSX3 into the fold in terms of the drugs true capabilities. No, he cannot tell her or the team the real reason, but his ruse regarding the military and covert applications of a drug that simulates death rang true for the brilliant scientist.
Chandra Jain is the department head for the project. Her lead quality assurance manager, Martin Sumners, has been good friends with Chandra since their time at Stanford, where Klein made his reputation. The duo were four years behind Klein.
While Chandra Jain's talents are clearly in the creative and development side, Martin is exactly what every great developer needs. A quality assurance person who can find their bugs, who can find their blind spots. Young and ambitious, the two have been inseparable for years now, much to the dismay of their romantic partners.
Klein's motivation for finding a proper and acceptable antidote are two-fold. First, there is the health of his wife who Sam Carlos infected with the drug. Second, and just as important, is the health of himself, once again, because of Sam Carlos.
This third failure inside one week has shown Klein all he needs to know. He, himself, is properly motivated. Chandra, however, is not.
That changes this morning.
It is not his nature, what he is getting ready to do. But desperate times call for desperate measures. And he has decided that it is time that someone else – someone on the development team – feel the same motivation that he feels.
He has asked that Martin be here for this test this morning. Martin, ambitious as always, was eager to get into the glass office with exposure to the top man. It is the kind of exposure Martin craves, but in the QA department, rarely gets.
"I'm sorry Andrew," Chandra begins, but he cuts her off.
"This is not your fault, Chandra," he tells her. "Your motivation for success is merely financial, and that is a mistake. It is my mistake. I am going to correct this mistake right now."
As he speaks, Klein has been walking toward Chandra. It is a bold move – it is one of those 'can't turn back' moments. It cannot be helped.
With a swift motion, he takes out a needle from his jacket pocket, and plunges the needle into the left shoulder of a now-startled Martin Sumners. Chandra screams in terror, realizing what has just happened.
"I know how close you and Martin are, Chandra," Klein begins. "And Martin, I have full confidence that Chandra – actually you and Chandra and your entire team – will find a suitable working antidote to save you. At least I have that confidence now, more than I did ten seconds ago."
With that, Klein takes out the needle, and walks toward the expansive window.
"Chandra, you now share the same motivation I have to save my wife," as Klein continues walking toward the window where large balloons have been strategically located for what could have been a celebration this morning. Since the antidote failed, the balloons will serve a different purpose. Klein takes the needle and begins jabbing multiple balloons until he hears the response from Chandra he is looking for.
"Nooooo!" he hears her scream. Sure enough, he turns around and Martin Sumners has collapsed onto the floor, unconscious.
"This is your new motivation, Chandra," Klein tells her, "and our new secret. Do not trifle with either."
With that, the NuGenetix CEO takes his leave from the conference room. He knows Chandra will take the back exit out of the room, while he walks into his adjoining office. His actions this morning have been a calculated risk. Had Martin been a developer, Klein never would have done this. To risk having a critical developer losing memories, and potentially forgetting key learnings in the coming days or weeks would have been beyond foolish.
However, a QA person whose task is to test, test and test again? That risk Klein is willing to take, especially knowing that the highly process-oriented Sumners documents everything ad nauseum. No, this was a risk worth taking.
He walks over his wife, who is still lying on the ground. He knows she will be awake in less than ten minutes now. She will be awake with no memories of what has transpired since that bastard Sam Carlos injected her. That his own wife has now become a test-bed subject brings yet another round of tears to his eyes. Tears that turn into burning anger directed at one man.
Sam the Bastard.
"Not much difference between you and I, anymore," Andrew Klein realizes out loud, his face sad, drawn and angry at the same time.
"You were right," he continues. "I just needed the proper motivation. We all did."
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9:16 a.m. on Thursday, April 26, 2012, Back at the Admitting Office at the Castles Complex in Sausalito, California
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The orientation meeting is coming to a close. It has been exactly as both men anticipated. Boring, without fanfare, and very somber . . . as it should be. But with more than a glimpse of hope for the young women who sit in that room. For them, it is always a new beginning.
For the two men on the other side of the one-way glass, however, it is something just a bit different. Something seems different, and neither can put their finger on it.
"Penny for your thoughts, Mike?" Castle asks. "You've been unusually quiet ever since Samantha started in there."
"I'm not sure, Rick," Monroe tells him. "Something I can't put my finger on."
"Well, that's not good, because I have the same little tingling feeling in the back of my head," Castle continues. "There is something I am missing here."
"Something that is right in front of us," Monroe agrees.
"So . . . talk it out," Castle encourages his security chief. "Talk out loud."
Monroe just stares at the window, at the battered woman on the other side of the glass. Richard Castle can almost hear the tumblers falling inside his friend's head as he tries to make sense of what is bothering him. Seconds later, Monroe continues.
"I have watched almost one hundred of these orientation meetings," Mike begins. "I've made it a point to be at almost every one of them."
"I know, and I appreciate it," Castle remarks.
"And in every one of them, Rick . . . every single one of them, there is a point, there is this one single moment in time when I look in the eyes of every woman who sits in there, and I see that spark. That spark of . . . of hope. That spark where – for just a moment – she allows herself to believe that this could be a rebirth, a new starting point for her, and for her kid or kids, if she has any."
Richard Castle remains quiet, allowing his friend to talk it out, but now even he is focused on the woman's eyes.
"Every single one of them has reached that moment where she has hope in her eyes," Monroe continues, "except this one. I look into her eyes and I see nothing."
At that moment, Lindy Matthews enters the viewing room, late from continued conversations and celebrations for the youngest Castle who is – at that moment – still being celebrated in the cafeteria, where her reunion has moved to.
"Hey guys," Lindy offers brightly as she walks in. Immediately, she notices the different vibe emanating from both men. It immediately draws her eyes to their focal point, the woman in the next room. Within seconds, she has joined the two men in silence.
"What do you think, Lindy?" Mike asks his first-in-command, who is rapidly becoming much more than that.
Her continued silence causes both Castle and Monroe to pull their eyes away from the window and now focus on Matthews.
"Lindy?" Castle asks.
"What's her story?" Lindy asks the duo.
"Admitted last night, beat up by her boyfriend after she confronted him for cheating," Mike tells her. "Same story they told us last night when they called during her admission."
"Uh huh," Lindy grunts, her eyes now trained intensely on the woman in the other room.
"What are you thinking?" Mike asks her yet again.
"There's something about her," Castle offers, trying to prod her forward.
"You could say that," Lindy tells them men, still focused on Elena in the next room. "Her name again?"
"Elena," Castle tells her.
"Elena Markov," Mike Monroe adds.
"Russian," Lindy remarks. "Or Ukranian. Definitely Eastern European."
"Uh . . . we are in San Francisco, Lindy," Castle tells her. "We're in the most eclectic and diverse area of this country, so having someone from –"
"She's a soldier," Lindy interrupts.
"What?" Castle asks, incredulously.
"That's it!" Monroe exclaims. "Her eyes. Those are the eyes of a fighter. They are the eyes –"
"Of a killer," Lindy finishes the thought for him.
"You're sure?" Castle asks. The tingling in the back of his head has now become a thundering battering ram. He shakes his head, not wanting to confront yet another horror show on the campus he has invested so much of his time and money and heart into.
"A killer knows another killer, Rick," Lindy answers, her voice soft and low. The threesome all turn their faces and eyes back toward the window, where they notice all three women have stood up. The orientation is over.
"So, what is a killer doing here at our campus?" Lindy asks aloud. "And who was able to do that to her to put her here?"
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A/N: ** A few people have written me and asked whether or not Kate will remember Elena. No, she will not, because in this AU they have never met until now. Remember, our AU picked up after episode 1 of Season 4 when Kate Beckett was recovering in the hospital after her gunshot wounds. In the Belly of the Beast, the episode that introduced Elena Markov was not until late Season 6. So in this AU, they have never met. However, Elena already knew Bracken then, and in this AU, she does also. It follows that Bracken would have spoken to her about his NY nemesis, and that her curiosity would have been peaked regarding the NY detective who was a thorn in Bracken's side.
Ok, so enough boring background – I hope everyone has a fantastic and filling Thanksgiving tomorrow. Peace and love to you all.