"Kate, are you ok?" Castle inquired as she was led into the room. His first instinct was to rush forward, but the two armed men who entered behind her halted his progress. They were followed by another man, who despite his small stature and homely appearance, appeared to be in charge.
"I'm fine," Kate confirmed.
"What do you want? Listen, take whatever you want. I've got cash in the safe," Rick bargained with the trio, praying that this was just some sort of pseudo home invasion at best, but fearing the worst, given the call from Gates and boys.
"That's very generous of you, Mr. Castle. But I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass on the offer. As I was telling Detective Beckett earlier, at the conclusion of our time together, she will have told me all she knows about LokSat." Flynn responded. His small beady eyes sparkling with glee. Castle's flinch at the mention of LokSat didn't go unnoticed.
"Ah, I can see you're familiar with that name as well." Flynn's phone pinged with an incoming text. He took it out, read the text and sighed. "Well, it looks like things need to get moving sooner than anticipated. Oh well, on to plan B. Take care of him." He ordered Henchman 1 who stepped up and pistol whipped Castle from behind. The last thing Rick heard before his world went dark was his wife screaming his name.
"Castle!" Kate shrieked as she lunged towards her husband. Flynn reached forward and grabbed her by the pony tail, pulling her back. Kate's eyes watered, her knees buckled at the pain.
"Tie her up and toss this room. I want it to look like a robbery gone wrong," Flynn commanded. Henchman 2 pulled Kate off the floor and manhandled her across the room, slamming her down onto the Rita chair. Kate was seriously starting to detest this particular piece of furniture. "Make sure she's secured." The man nodded his assent and zip tied Kate's arms and legs to the chair so tightly she had to bite back the wince. Kate tried to flex her muscles against the bindings but there was no slack to gain seeing how tightly she'd been restrained. Kate cringed at the sound of their belongings being tossed, drawers up ended, the crashing of the lamp as it was tossed to the floor.
"Such a pity," Flynn started, running a finger down Kate's cheek. She tried to pull away from the caress and hissed in disgust. The slap to face caught her by surprise, snapping her head back, white spots exploded behind her eyes. Kate bit back the groan, refusing to give him the satisfaction. As long as his attention remained on her face and away from her helpless husband and precious cargo, she'd put up with being a punching bag.
"I can't say I'm disappointed about the change in the game plan, though. Personally, I prefer science over violence," he informed her gleefully as if he just hadn't slapped her.
Kate blanched at the sight of the hydroponic needle. She redoubled her efforts to escape struggling against the restraints that dug into her wrist. The chair tipped precariously, but Flynn's lackey just stepped up and held it down, leaning down on her forearms to stop her movements. Flynn stepped forward and depressed the plunger into Kate's neck.
"This should only take a minute now. Pretty soon you'll tell me all I need to know."
Kate felt the drugs coursing through her veins. Her whole system was trying to revolt against the side effects of the medication. The desire to fight ingrained. But it was no use. Her body wasn't responding to her mind's command. A thin sheet of sweat coated her body, her breath shallow. She closed her eyes, willed herself to stay strong.
"What's your name?" Flynn began.
"Fuck you." Kate spat defiantly.
"What's your name?" he asked again unperturbed by her outburst.
She felt the moment the drug took full effect, despite every attempt to withhold back information, she found herself compelled to answer Flynn's question.
"Katherine Houghton Castle."
Flynn clapped his hands to gather in delight. "See, that wasn't hard."
"You're a dead man." she growled.
"Now, now, Detective, that wasn't very nice." Flynn patted her hand. He calmly stepped up to her chair and tugged her head back so she was forced to look into his eyes.
"What do you know about LokSat?" he demanded. Kate whimpered pushing up in the chair, trying to get some relief from the pain his tight grip on her hair was causing.
"LokSat," he repeated, releasing his hold as he strolled in front of her, tilting her chin up.
It was like word vomit, the whole story spilling out. She told him about Rita and Hunt's warning, about Vikram's missed calls and her suspicions. She told him about contacting the boys. She told him everything he wanted to know.
"Very good, Detective. It really is a shame we won't have more time together, I'd really like to understand what makes you tick. But, alas, you'll be dead by this evening," he informed her pleasantly. "And this time the boss is insisting on doing the job himself. You must be truly special," he mused. "He never gets his hands dirty. I guess there really is an exception to every rule." Kate had the feeling he was talking more to himself than to her. "The saddest part about all of this is that this all could have been avoided. But you don't give up do you?"
Kate sighed in defeat. She had given this up, but it seemed to follow her anyways. Smith had been right, so long ago, when he tagged her as radioactive.
"As for your husband," Flynn turned to look at Castle's still form and shrugged his shoulders. "He's just collateral damage." He approached Kate again with another syringe. "No need to struggle, Detective, this won't hurt. It'll just knock you out for a while."
"No, please," Beckett begged. She didn't know what these drugs were or what effect they would have on her baby if she managed to survive. "I'm pregnant, please, no." She couldn't stop the words from escaping. Flynn paused his forward motion, slightly intrigued. "That's a pity," he considered.
The breaking down of the door had Flynn startling in surprise. He scurried over to the balcony, like the rat he was, in attempt to escape, but the team that stormed the room had the two henchmen and Flynn secured in a matter of minutes with surprising ease. One of the officers came over to Kate and cut through the bindings.
She struggled to her feet, swayed, and stumbled to her knees. Crawling her way to Castle, she cradled his head in her lap. She was oblivious to the going-ons around her, to the calls of 'Clear," as the police scanned the suite. Her attention was single-mindedly focused on reaching her husband.
"Rick, wake up for me, please," she pleaded stroking his face, brushing the hair off his forehead. She checked him for injuries, locating the bump on the back of his head. She could feel blood, sticky, oozing. It coated her hands. She wanted to vomit. "Rick, baby, please. I can't do this without you. You need to wake up."
Castle's eyes fluttered open. "Kate?" he murmured. "You ok? What happened?" Kate nodded relieved to see him awake and coherent.
"I'm alright, Castle," she replied but then the tears started to fall and she didn't have the energy to hold them back. "The baby, Castle," she cried. "Oh god, I don't know what he did to the baby."
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They learned that the local cops had been mobilized by the quick thinking team back in New York after over hearing the conformation in the room over the speaker phone that Castle had, luckily, failed to mute.
Despite being eternally grateful to the officers who had come to their rescue, Castle was belligerent when questioned and insisted they go to the hospital, to have Kate and the baby checked out, before either one of them gave a statement.
The officer in charge appeared to understand the urgency and agreed to postpone the interview. Flynn and his two lackey's were led silently away. They had not uttered a word, but Kate had pointed out Flynn's cell phone and the police were trying to trace his most recent communication in hopes of finding those responsible.
When they got to the hospital, it was the same doctor on rotation as their previous visit. He listened to Castle as he relayed their concerns and proceeded to order blood work and an ultrasound in order to determine the drug pathology and possible implications. He did his best to console the couple, offering words of comfort and ensuring them they would do everything possible.
Kate remained stoic throughout the doctor's visit, letting Castle do all the talking. She was afraid she would fall apart, if pressured to talk. The lab tech entered the room carting in the imaging machine and Kate was instructed to lie down. While the technician set everything up, Kate reached out for Castle's hand, squeezing tightly.
"This is going to be a little cold." She was informed but Kate didn't feel a thing. She was holding her breath, terrified. There was silence as the doctor rubbed the wand across Kate's abdomen. Then, all of sudden a loud whoosh filled the room.
"Sounds like a perfectly healthy heartbeat," the doctor announced and Kate finally released her breath. They weren't out of the woods yet, the effects of the drug still unknown, but for the moment they had hope. Their baby was still there.
The doctor finished up the examination, snapping some pictures and finally wiping Kate down. He exited the room, instructing her to try and relax while they waited for the results of the toxicology report.
Kate sat up and Castle came to stand between the v of her legs. He placed his hands on each side of her, leaning his forehead against hers. Kate held the sonogram picture in her lap and they both glanced down at the image, so many hopes and dreams held literally in the palm of her hand.