6:22am:

'Whom did you kill', Beckett asks with a tremulous tone in her voice.

'I killed …', and with his smile there is the 9 year boy on the sugar rush back, even if it is only for a short moment, ' … Nikki Heat or to be more precise the whole cast.'

'How and why did you do it?'

'She wanted me to write for her, I tried to piss her off, but the things I wrote didn't have the effects I wanted. Even as I went so far to have Rook, Raley and Ochoa get into a intimate relationship she wasn't discouraged. In fact she liked it so much she didn't beat me up for a full day.'

The detectives exchange a quick look, the story and the way he tells it, remind them of the numerous wives beaten up by their husbands.

'So I decided to let them all boarder a private jet to some Law Enforcement Congress, jet goes down, no survivors. I think the ten liner should be lying on the floor somewhere nearby.'

'So that is the motive', Ryan says, 'I wonder what the other guy wrote to get a bullet to the head.'

Castle pales under the bruises, realizing that he played with a very dangerous fire, 'What other guy?'

'Don't worry Castle, we have everything under control,' Beckett assure him.

The EMT come into the room and converge around Castle, starting with a vast array of tests to determine how severe he was injured and what the best treatment is.

The detectives step back and Beckett takes her cellphone out of her vest. Hitting the speed dial she waits for someone to pick up. 'Good morning, Alexis … NO, good news we found him and he is under the circumstances well …. Right now the EMT take care of him …. Yeah, I will.' Turning to the nearest fireman she asks, 'To which hospital will you bring him?'

'St. Michaels', the fireman responds, refocusing on the work at hand he turns himself shouting across the room, 'Jimmy, go up and bring the big angular grinder we need it to cut the chain from his ankle.'

Putting her cellphone back to her ear Beckett starts. 'They bring him to St. Michaels …. No, nobody is cutting his ankle off, they need to cut a chain …. See you at the hospital.' Before she put her cell away, she remembers to call Captain Montgomery, dialing his number her gaze wanders back to Castle, taking in every detail of him.

'Morning, Captain Montgomery … That's right we found him … Yeah, you can call the Mayor and let him know he don't need someone else for his poker evening … Motive? So far it seems to be related to them being writers … Don't know why she killed him, we will know more after an interrogation of her … Right you didn't know, her name is Michelle Summers … I'll fill you in with all the details later at the precinct.'

Meanwhile the firemen got rid of the chain and put Castle on the stretcher. Stepping to Esposito she says, 'You have this scene, search for evidence that connects her to Winters and what motivated her to take these two different writer. I am going with Castle.'

'On it boss, I call CSU in,' is his short reply.

Beckett uses the short drive to the hospital to take a look at her feelings and is still at a loss, because there were so many different in a short time: fear, rage, relief, joy, desire and doubt to name a few.

7:11am:

Beckett leans at the door frame, taking in the heart warming moment. Martha stands at the bottom end of the bed, tears of joy streaming open down her face and Alexis is nearly lying on the bed, while holding on to her farther.

'Dad, I should have stayed with you having breakfast and you wouldn't be here. Nothing would have happened if I had eaten my porridge', Alexis says with a weak voice, while looking at the floor.

Castle grabs her head and pulls her to him, planting a kiss on her forehead and after forcing her to look into his eyes, he simply says, 'It is not your fault, that a lunatic picks me. You bolted every time I made this dish, so I knew you would do it, and in the end it is solely the fault of your grandmother that I got shot anyway.'

Beckett takes two quick steps into the room, before she sees Castle boyish grin on his face. Martha looks at her son in disbelieve, 'How can you say such a ridiculous thing, Richard?'

'Quite easy, she slipped on a empty champagne bottle and shot me accidentally. So if you didn't had the party or cleaned up behind yourself I would not have been shot.'

'These are mere details, in the end it was the lunatic wrong doing' , quickly changing the topic she adds, 'Why aren't you in the ER?'

'They checked me out on the way over here and the worst I have are broken rips, a old gunshot wound and a couple of cuts. And after all it is Sunday morning.'

'What does the weekday have to do with it?'

'A lot of people don't work on the weekends, so instead of relaxing they get drunk. Resulting in a lot more bar fights, shootings and drunk driver hitting a tree. And the rest gets into domestic trouble.' And like an afterthought he says into her general direction, 'Isn't that right, Detective?'

'Yes, that is right', she says and thinks, 'There is it again, why can't he look me into the eyes, what is he hiding?'

Taking a quick look at her fathers watch she states, 'I have to go to the precinct, I have to get a confession.'

7:45am:

Beckett arrives at the bull pen, only to find it empty. She expected that some are still at the apartment, but that none is back doesn't sit right. So she walks over to the interrogation rooms. She don't want to interrupt any ongoing interrogations, so she opens the door to the observation room and finds Captain Montgomery starring intense through the one way mirror. Surprised he turns to her, 'Didn't expect you back so soon', he starts, 'so I send Ryan with Karpowski in.'

'How far did they get her?'

'Astonishingly she don't resists, talks without ending and it is really disturbing. You know what reason she gave for shooting Winters?' Beckett shakes her head. 'Because of his rheumatism he wasn't able to write anymore, took him out and shoot him without remorse. He was useless for her. If he would have simply denied to write for her, there were ways to break him she states, like starving or a couple of well timed beatings. She is what we have in mind, when we talk about monsters.'

'But why take them in the first place and these two different authors?'

'Because both wrote about a strong woman and she wants to be the only one reading about them.'

Beckett taken aback by his words stands at the door and thinks about what to do. 'I will let these two finish the interrogation, no need in disturbing a willing and talking criminal. I am at my desk doing paperwork.'

After a nod of the captain she closes the door and heads back to her desk. Letting herself drop into her chair a cold shiver runs down her spine, while imagining what could have happen to Castle, if they didn't found him so soon. And it would have been her fault and hers only.

1:20pm, four days later:

Beckett stands in the break room and smells at the delicious coffee she just brew. The coffee smells even better knowing that Castle is back, not fully recovered naturally, but he is here none the less. She strolls back to her desk, taking a sip of coffee every few steps. And there he is, sitting in her chair and going through the paper work lying on the desk, a bad habit of him she doesn't like at all, even if that's the way it should be. Coming to a stop behind the chair she simply says in a commanding voice, 'Castle.'

What happens next she didn't foresee Castle bends down in the chair in a nearly comical manner bringing up his arms around his head. Because he hits the desk with his elbow his cup with his coffee falls over and spills it over the paper work. After a second he relaxes taking in what mess his coffee has made and turns around with a confused and hurt look in his eyes. 'I .. I .. will get .. some paper towels', he stampers and nearly storms away, leaving a shocked Beckett behind him.

She senses that someone steps besides her, taking a quick glance she sees Dr. Holloway. 'It is not your fault', he says, 'you just approached him in the same manner Ms. Summers used before starting to beat him. So his body just reacted on that memory, you will need to give him time to shake off these.' And with that he leaves to follow Castle.

'But what will happen if he can't overcome these memories', she whispers, observing the two men talking in the break room.

AN: I hope you liked my beginners take of the famous "main character gets kidnapped" theme and that at least a couple of my twists took you by surprise. And that you take a look at my follow up: Beach boys, where Beckett and Castle will spent time at a couple of beaches, with a story line that is hopefully not used before. I will try to bring a little bit more emotions into play, so that the characters seem more life like.