Title: Kidnapping Castle

Pairing: R. Castle and K. Beckett

Summary: So Martha has contacted Gates informing her about what Castle has been up to, what will Beckett do when she finds out that Castle has been keeping things from her? And has Castle's chance at being found improved because of it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle

Words: 2 212

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Chapter 5:

12 hours after being taken

KB POV:

I had raced as quickly as I could to Castle's loft, tyres screeching to a halt as I pulled up in front of his building. I dashed out of the car, carelessly slamming the door shut as I raced into the lobby. Not even greeting the doorman, there was no time for pleasantries.

I had to get upstairs and find out just what was going on, what this complication was.

I hoped that it was something that could work in our favour, something that would get us a lead, or that it would allow us to get Castle back safely. But I had a sinking feeling in my stomach, complications were rarely good things.

The doors to the elevator were just closing; my hand darted between the two metal doors causing them to stop moving towards each other. A moment later and they were moving further apart, allowing my admittance into the little metal box.

Stepping in, I immediately pushed the small round button for Castle's floor, my finger restlessly tapping it several times in the space of two seconds. I ignored the old woman I was sharing the elevator with, I had seen her before on several occasions, and she wasn't overly fond of Castle from what I can remember.

He never let it get him down though, even when she called his books nothing but smut. I could still recall coming over for dinner the one evening to the loft and having to share the elevator with her, Castle had been polite and greeted her pleasantly with a smile, and she had instead tossed several insults his way in return.

All of which he had managed to shrug off while still being perfectly pleasant towards her, Castle never took offense. He was always so forgiving and understanding, allowing insults to roll of his back as if they meant nothing to him. He would accept them with a smile.

He was such a generous man, forgiving and kind, loyal to a fault. Always friendly even when others didn't deserve it, and the childishness that he displayed, which had driven me to near insanity in the first few months of him shadowing me, now though it was just a part of his charm.

Something that I adored about him but I would never tell him that, he had a big enough ego as it was.

Stepping into his loft and knowing that he wasn't there, that his future was uncertain at this moment, made me want to turn around and run right out. But I couldn't just do that, it would be abandoning him, and he deserved more than that. He deserved everything.

I eyed the kitchen as I entered the loft; they had set up a small work station there. But Gates wasn't among them, maybe she hadn't arrived yet.

"Yo Beckett, Gates is in the study." Esposito called out.

I wondered for a brief moment just what he and Ryan were doing here, but I pushed the thought out of my mind. It wasn't important right now, I would find out later.

Giving Esposito a small nod of acknowledgement, I made my way into the study. I easily recalled the first time I had been in here; Castle and I were working our fifth case together. Back then he had been annoying and pesky easily managing to get on my nerves and make me frustrated with his mere presence, but I had been at a dead end that night and I had needed his insight.

I had needed someone to bounce ideas off of and build a theory with, and it had been him.

I had shown up unannounced that evening, he had been home playing laser tag with Alexis and looking goofy in the high tech gear. He had been taken completely aback at my unannounced arrival to his home. When I had stepped into the study I could easily picture him behind the desk hammering out the latest of his best sellers.

Now, stepping into the study, all I could do was miss him even more.

Gates was standing ramrod straight in one of the corners while Martha was seated in a plush leather armchair. She was always so vibrant and alive, her love of life shining through in everything that she did but now her dramatic flair was missing.

Normally she was always wore such vibrant and bright colours that she personified with her larger than life attitude but now it looked like all the colour had been drained from her, she looked older than I had ever seen her. Weary, beaten, defeated, drained were just some of the words that sprung to mind as I laid eyes on her, Castle would no doubt feel guilty if he could see her in this moment. But he wasn't here to do that, he was gone.

He had been taken from us.

From his family, those he was related to by blood and his working family, who were all worried about him and trying to do everything that they could to get him back to us safely.

And from me, he was taken from me.

"What is going on?" I demanded.

I stood close by to Martha, seeking the comfort that she normally gave off but it wasn't there, all I could draw comfort on was the fact that she was a part of Castle. One thing that he had undoubtedly inherited from her was his flair for being dramatic.

"It would seem that Mr Castle has been investigating independently." Gates answered without preamble.

She wasn't one to beat around the bush, her no nonsense attitude hadn't won her many fans during her time as captain so far, but in this moment I couldn't help but appreciate it for she would tell it exactly as it was. She could be brutally honest.

"What?" I asked, but a part of me already knew the answer. "What has he been investigating?"

"Your shooting Detective as well as your mothers murder." She stated plainly, staring right at me.

As her words crashed over me, it felt like I was being ripped into a black hole. The room was suddenly too small, the air was thick and I couldn't breathe. My legs wanted to buckle but I wouldn't let them. I wanted to scream and shout, berate him for doing this.

For going behind my back.

For keeping secrets from me.

But I couldn't, he was still missing.

Maybe he had been taken by who ever had ordered the murder of my mother, who ever had ordered the hit on me?

The person that seemed wouldn't stop at anything to keep the truth a secret, Castle could have been taken by them. I had feared for his life before, wondering if he was still alive and praying that he wasn't badly injured, now though praying and hoping wouldn't help anything.

These people were ruthless, they didn't care who they killed as long as they accomplished what they needed to.

If these people had taken Castle his odds were even more against him.

I shook my head, my entire body was trembling and I felt light headed. I was furious at him, so very furious.

A daze had descended over me, my thoughts were swirling and blurring into one, image after image rushed through my mind. My mother lying dead in an alley, Roy dying in my arms, everyone who had died because of this rushed through the forefront of my mind.

Until suddenly only one picture remained, conjured up by my imagination. Vivid and more disturbing than the rest, Castle battered and broken, a bullet lodged in his chest as he lay in a pool of his own crimson blood.

It was that image that my imagination had conjured up that gave me the strength and will to not flee from the loft. To not flee from helping him, running wasn't an option. I had to save him, I could be furious later, I could cry later over everything, yell and scream, all of that I could do later.

But now, for now I had to ignore it, push it aside and concentrate on what is important in this moment. And that was finding him which was all that mattered right now, nothing else. Yelling and screaming wouldn't change the fact that he was taken, that so many had died, wasting time would probably mean his death and that was something that I wouldn't allow to happen.

No matter how angry I was, no matter how much it hurt to know that he had been digging into my shooting behind my back, that he had been looking into my mother's case without telling me.

If I wanted to shout and yell at him, he had to be alive for me to do it.

He had to be alive.

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14 hours after being taken

RC POV:

Sitting in the hard metal chair bound by cuffs with nothing but morbid thoughts to occupy myself with I had no idea how much time had passed since being taken. Or since the man had left even.

It was maddening not knowing, I was certain that it had at least been a few hours since I had been taken from the Old Haunt but no longer than a day but I could be wrong.

The grinding of metal on metal greeted my ears, immediately followed by his soft footfalls. They weren't hurried, I felt as if I was prey being stalked by a large predator. I predator against whom I was completely helpless.

Defenceless.

"Are you going to answer my questions now Mr Castle?" The man asked, his voice was even but still held a sinister quality to it.

He was looming over me, a large black bag in hand with a smile on his face. I tried to ignore his presence, tried not to think about what could be in the bag, tried not to think about why he was smiling at me like that, I tried not to think about many things. But it was all that I could think about.

His smile widened when I didn't answer, it wasn't pleasant there was something about him that was unnerving. His smile wasn't natural, it was twisted and cold.

He dropped the bag to the ground with a thud only to bend at the waist to zip it open, even as I tried to stare ahead and to not look at what was inside my natural curiosity took over. I couldn't help but to look but as I did the saying "curiosity killed the cat" came to mind.

He pulled out a gleaming silver knife from the top of the bag. There was nothing remarkable about it, the handle was plain the blade itself was only about five centimetres long and two centimetres wide. Even though there was nothing special about the knife, I knew that I would never forget it if I lived to survive this.

In one smooth motion, he had gotten to his feet and plunged the knife into my thigh the entire blade sinking easily into my flesh.

Blood pooled into my mouth, I had bitten my bottom lip broken in an attempt to muffle the scream of pain. The coppery taste of my own blood made me want to throw up. My body was arched in pain, my back bowed backwards as I stared up at the dark ceiling that was lost in the depths of darkness.

My head snapped back even further when the blade was driven into me again directly above the first wound. My entire body jerked, my leg included but it only increased the pain.

The blood from my broken lip was running down the back of my throat, reflexively I swallowed which only caused me to gag. Bent forward, I spat what blood remained in my mouth on him. Unfortunately for me I didn't manage to get him in the face, only on the chest.

Well, maybe it had been fortunate I mused later on. He had been furious after I had spat on him.

His face had never changed from that impassive mask he wore but I had seen it in his eyes, when he had attacked me at the Old Haunt his eyes had been dead at first but then there had been a sort of restrained determination to them. This time it had been more fury than determination, although he had been determined to make me suffer.

I was barely conscious enough to hear the grinding metal sound of the door as he left. My body hurt worse than anything I had ever experienced before. The patches of wet warmth that I could feel scattered around my hurting body was the places were my blood was running freely out of my body.

In the moment before I passed out, I felt a grim relief that the cops had pulled the file on Beckett's shooting out. The man had let it slipped during our overly long time together, demanding to know how they had linked my abduction and his shooting of Beckett together.

Just maybe there was hope that I would be found after all.

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AN: Desperation for answers has driven Maddox to extreme levels but things can easily get worse or better, hope you enjoyed this chapter. I can't wait for the next episode of Castle, 5x15 looks like it's going to be AMAZING! What is your personal favourite episode?