Posted 6 Feb 2019

A/N: Possession is sometimes said to be nine-tenths of the law, but what if the other tenth is illegal?

Sarah switched on the autopilot and relaxed back in her seat. She rolled her neck and shoulders. After a few calming breaths, she looked at her co-pilot. The other woman hadn't said a word since the runway. She was just curled up in her seat, staring into the night sky over the Atlantic. They were just above the cloud layer, so it was kind of beautiful, not that she thought Beckett was noticing.

Sarah knew she had to solidify the detective's trust before France. The easy part of the mission was over, and she couldn't afford doubt from a member of her team. This was going to require an honest conversation and (mostly) full disclosure, at least of the part of the plan she knew. She trusted Chuck to come up with the rest.

The trust issue with the detective was going to get worse before it got better. Sarah wasn't looking forward to it. Talking was Chuck's job. Threatening was hers.

What would Chuck do in this situation? Ok, he'd freak out a little. Then he'd try some humor. Sarah was even worse at humor than she was at talking. She had to start somewhere, though. Maybe Chuck had rubbed off a little.

"We should take shifts sleeping before we get to Paris. I'll take the first one, so you're in charge of flying the plane for the next three hours."

No reaction.

"Don't wake me unless they pursue with F-18s."

Still no reaction. She thought that one was pretty good. Maybe it wasn't funny because Sarah wasn't tired and Beckett was. Sarah had crashed for four hours in the afternoon while waiting for Beckman, Harris, and Mary to all be available all at the same time. She knew she'd be going non-stop from here on out. The detective really needed to take advantage of this opportunity to get some rest.

Or maybe Sarah's delivery needed some work.

"I assume this is your first time stealing a plane. Do you want to dwell on that some more, or do you want to talk about the rest of the mission now?"

Beckett finally turned to look at her. She wasn't happy. The look might intimidate some people, but Sarah was trained to face down terrorists and despots. An angry NYPD detective, even a master interrogator, didn't rank in the top half. At least it was a reaction. Sarah held her impassive look in return.

Beckett finally spoke. "I should arrest you, but you know I can't fly this plane myself."

"We took off from New Jersey, out of your jurisdiction. All of my crimes have been Federal anyway. The car theft was your jurisdiction until we crossed state lines, and the fraudulent rental was established with a fake ID which would make the New York travel a Federal issue."

"And since this is a Federal black op, there won't be consequences?"

"Yes, this is a black op, but that also means from here on out, we're on our own and can't get overt help from the US government. Beckman would probably spring us, but Alexis doesn't have time for us to deal with that. It'd be best not to get caught. The only reason why we have material support at all is because Agent Mary Bartowski gave me temporary clearance to the new CIA station in New York."

"Your mother-in-law," Kate recognized. "What about when French authorities surround this plane after we land?"

"We're not landing at an official airport. Feel free to add filing a false flight plan to your mental list of charges. We still will likely have a different kind of trouble when we get there, but it's a necessary resupply station for this mission. There won't be any customs."

"Resupply?"

Sarah didn't speak as if she was concerned. "The airfield is run by an arms dealer,"

"Of course it is. Friend of yours?"

"No. Not really. Their leader tried to kill me about seven years ago and failed spectacularly. Hopefully he has learned. I have a good deal for him in exchange."

Beckett ran her hand through her hair and sighed. "In exchange for what?"

"Some heavy weapons… and our lives"

"Of course." The 'of course' was getting more and more sarcastic. "What do guns and lives go for these days?"

"We're taking out their competition and leaving them this plane. I'm going to have to disable the beacon and remove the black box at some point before we get there, so this plane would be a better trading piece."

"We're taking out their competition? You mean Alexis is being held by—"

"A Russian arms dealer named Gregor Volkov. Chuck ID'd him while in Russia."

"That's where he was?" Beckett was firing questions quickly in an effort to maintain control. The trail ending in Russia would explain why the FBI's backtrace stopped.

"Yes, he was breaking into a data center in Moscow. From there he was able to track the network relay to the location in Paris where Alexis is being held."

"I could understand that El-Masri may have enemies like arms dealers, but why would they continue holding Alexis after the ransom was paid?"

"There is no indication of a link between Volkov and El-Masri. That ransom was a bonus for him. Alexis was the target all along."

That stopped Beckett for a moment of surprise. "Why?"

"Vendetta."

Beckett frowned in response to the vague answer. "Against whom? Castle? Did he offend someone in one of his books or something? That last Derrick Storm book was set in Russia and wasn't very good, but that was ghost written anyway. The previous Russia-based Storm book was written eight years ago, Storm Front."

"It wasn't from one of his books. It was another member of his family."

"Who then? Martha? You met her. She can be a character, especially when she's in actress-mode, but she's harmless."

"No. This is about Castle's father."

"Castle's father? He doesn't have a father."

Sarah tilted her head.

"Well, of course he has a father, but Castle doesn't know who it is," Beckett clarified.

"But Volkov does."

"He does? Who is he?" Beckett demanded.

"Castle's father is a disavowed spy."

"What? No." Kate paused and weighed this revelation. Maybe Sarah's bad joke earlier did have a useful purpose. Now the detective knew Sarah was not good at them so knew now this was no joke. "How long have you known?"

"Chuck made the connection when he fla… when he uncovered Volkov's history. Volkov's wife was killed by Castle's father, and he put Volkov in prison. Volkov escaped a few months ago."

Beckett realized something. "Castle's father must have been responsible for the farmhouse." She was an excellent detective, as demonstrated by that deduction.

"I believe so. As I said, that type of torture was popular with the CIA in the late cold war area. Now they primarily use water and electricity, while a few use sharp objects."

Beckett let a thought form before continuing, "You said he is disavowed. Does that mean he can't be trusted?"

"I am fairly certain he can be trusted to try to rescue his granddaughter. Whether or not he is the best person for that job is another story. As far as Chuck could tell, he's still loyal to the US government. The disavowment is likely a ruse. The men he supposedly killed when escaping an American prison have false identities which means they most likely are not dead. His cover is typical for when a burned-out spy goes into semi-retirement. It gives him the freedom for occasional off-the-books missions of the more unseemly nature or when someone doesn't want a job to appear like a US mission."

Beckett cautiously suggested, "You make him sound dangerous."

"Of course he is dangerous. So am I. He's a spy. Don't worry. He won't intentionally harm Castle. We just need to make sure Castle and his father agree with our plan. That's where you'll be an asset."

"You mean… how does he even know where Castle is?"

"We're picking up two pings from your boyfriend's cell phone. The second has the GPS off, but when we last checked it was in the same tower coverage as Castle's. We only pick up the double signal for a minute or so when they switch between towers. The two towers do not switch at the same time for the two phones."

"How do you know that?"

"Chuck hacked into the French telecommunications network while waiting at the airport in Moscow. He got lucky and found two signals. Castle should learn to turn off GPS for missions like this, but for now, his mistake is useful for us."

The detective brushed off the security suggestion and asked, "What is this great plan of yours?"

"We land at a weapons dealer outside Paris, trade a plane for some heavy weapons and a ride into Paris, meet up with Chuck, find Castle and his father, rescue Alexis, and turn Volkov over to Interpol."

"That easy, huh?"

"Interpol doesn't exactly like us."

"That's the hard part."

"We had a big misunderstanding a few years back. They still don't seem to realize we probably saved the lives of the two agents that survived. They're more hung up on the fact we drugged them and later punched them out to escape their custody so we could go and make things better. Those two survived while others were killed by terrorists. We prevented the two of them from being killed, too."

"Great. You're wanted by Interpol."

"No. They just won't be cooperative because they don't like us. It might be safer to go with whoever DGSE picks for domestic matters, but we haven't reached out to them yet. Our best contact in DGSE may be out of the country. Also, she's Casey's ex. They parted on good terms, but you never know with foreign spies. Hopefully, we might never interact with Interpol."

"What about all of the other hard parts?"

"We're counting on you to convince Castle to back our play instead of whatever dangerous idea his father may have devised."

"Why am I supposed to think your plan is any less crazy? You started by stealing a plane!"

She had a point. Maybe more disclosure was the best approach. Sarah had hoped to avoid this part of the discussion. "It isn't exactly stealing."

"It isn't borrowing if you trade it with arms dealers."

"No, I just mean… Here, let me show you."

Sarah leaned over to a floor panel, lifted and turned a handle. Underneath was a safe with a keypad. Sarah punched in a twelve digit code. A panel dropped for a thumb scanner. Sarah pressed her thumb, waited for the click, and opened the safe. She pulled out some of the contents.

"How did you know that was there? It used your print. Is this your plane?"

"Not anymore. It used to be." Sarah continued digging.

"Is that a gun?"

"Plus fake passports and a little cash. This was one of our go-stashes, like a go-bag. My silly husband forgot to clean this out when he sold the plane a year ago. At least he got the smaller bags in the 'shute packs."

Whoa, look at that. There's two boxes.

"You keep condoms in a safe." Kate observed, not sure what to think.

"The first time Chuck and I went on the run, his wallet condom had been borrowed by Morgan. We always keep at least a box locked up now. It's also a good idea to practice safety when on the run." Sarah explained as if it was perfectly reasonable. Upon finding the third box of condoms, though, Sarah knew her husband had really over packed, even for him. It's not like they couldn't resupply. When they had to get food, they could get other things.

Sarah showed the detective a cover id with the blonde's photo, which was buried at the bottom. Sarah had burned that one when she realized it was compromised after they sold the plane. Beckett looked as if she was more exacerbated than angry. Sarah didn't know if that was closer to trusting. She wished she had Chuck for this conversation.

Sarah opened a vial from the bottom and dumped the liquid over the rest of the contents, including the burned cover IDs, which started to dissolve. She closed the safe, knowing the contents inside were destroyed.

"That was money," Kate quietly said.

She had just destroyed several stacks of cash: dollars, pounds, and euros. All in total it was equivalent to about five thousand, US. She was lucky it wasn't more. She expected fifty Gs in a go-stash. They must have raided it for funds when Carmichael Industries was strapped for cash before her memory wipe. Sarah explained, "If we carry it off the plane, the arms dealers will confiscate it. I try not to fund terrorism. We'll take care of the plane later. They'll want to refuel anyway. I just don't want them finding the money before we can destroy the plane."

Beckett finally said, "Ok, you sold this plane. What if the buyer presses charges?"

"This is where it gets interesting."

"Just now, huh?"

"When looking for transport, we found this unique opportunity for a bank shot, to hurt one obstacle on the way to taking out another."

Sarah could see the detective working it out. "Whose plane is this?"

"We sold the plane to a political group that became Freedom First, a Super PAC in DC, but they gave the plane away in what could be considered an illegal campaign contribution."

"NOW you are worried about legality." Beckett continued to press. "You think whoever owns the plane now won't want any fuss. Who did they give it to?"

Sarah didn't need the interrogation. She was planning on telling the whole story anyway, but she did see the value of letting the detective think she was controlling the conversation. In a moment, that illusion would be gone. "When the fence opening at the airport is found, the guards will figure out their sleepiness was not an accident, and they'll talk. There will be an investigation. It just won't point to us."

"You're trying to expose this person."

"Yes. If he reacts, he's more likely to make a mistake."

"Who is it?"

"He was affiliated with the Ring, a defunct organization that tried an intelligence organization coup three years ago. They locked up General Beckman, and they captured and planned to kill Casey, Chuck, and me. They're responsible for killing Chuck's dad. Morgan rescued us."

"Morgan? Seriously?" That distracted Beckett for a moment, providing a chance to ease her into it. Not that this could ever be revealed easily.

"It was really bad. Chuck's sister and her husband, who are untrained civilians, helped extract us from custody. We stopped the Ring and caught the leadership, but we didn't catch everyone, like the 'owner' of this plane."

"Why not just reveal this person? Turn him in? You have enough contacts with the CIA and NSA."

"We only identified him a few months ago."

"You're in the FBI network whenever you feel like it, apparently. Why not…" Beckett trailed off. "You have a different source." The detective was very clever. She figured out the Feds didn't know, but Carmichael Industries had another source. She could never imagine the Intersect or why they wanted to keep that a secret.

"Yes. With Sophia Turner, we might have revealed a little too much. We can't afford to take the risk of revealing our source again."

"But you didn't reveal anything. Chuck just knew she was a traitor."

"And you should stop trying to figure it out right now."

Beckett stopped, and Sarah stared her down until saw acceptance.

After a moment, Beckett continued, "Ok. But you still haven't answered my question. Who owns this plane?" she insisted.

"Before I say, just remember your role in this mission is still compartmentalized. It's why I had to break into airport security records. More important than hiding me was hiding you. There is no evidence of your involvement, and he never needs to know of your involvement. Later, it might be useful, strategically. We'll see."

"Who is it?" She was almost there.

"This plane was an illegal campaign contribution from the DC lobbying organization," Sarah repeated what she said earlier.

"You said that. Lobbying group… You mean… This plane belongs to..." Sarah saw the detective crumble before her eyes.

"The US Senator from New York, William Bracken."