Here's another chapter to this one. In this one we get to see Castle visiting Beckett, but then the training begins. I hope that you enjoy it. Gregg.
Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Castle walked into the hospital room and saw Jim Beckett already there. He was glad that he was able to convince the hospital that the man should be allowed to be here whenever he wanted to be. Castle had made sure that no expense was spared, and knew that the best thoracic surgeon in the country was on his way to look over Kate's case. Another instance where he he was damn glad he was wealthy and could go to such lengths for his friends and loved ones.
He hadn't slept well at all the night before. His mind had been shifting back and forth between what had been revealed in the files, and his constant worry about Kate. The five hours of steady writing had not helped, but he had completed six chapters. In his mind he kept seeing the flash from the sniper scope and his effort to knock Kate out of the way failing. He'd woken in a sweaty mass of tangled sheets and had given up on sleep about four o'clock.
"Any change?" he asked, clearing his throat.
Jim looked up. "No," he shook his head. He stood up and walked over to Castle. "I'm going to get something to eat and let you have some time with her," he said as he patted the younger man on the shoulder.
"Thanks, Jim," Castle replied. "You know that you're always welcome at my place if you need a place to get some rest, or unwind."
"I know, Rick," Jim smiled gratefully. "Maybe tonight. I just can't leave her yet."
"I know the feeling," Castle murmured as he watched the older man walk down the hall to the elevator. Steeling himself, he turned and made his way to her bedside, doing his best to ignore all the medical equipment and tubes running in and out of her. The pale pallor was also very disconcerting and he had to struggle to keep the bile from rising into his throat. He sat down and took her hand in his, looking at her face intently.
"We're pretty sure we know who's behind this, Kate," he said quietly "The Commissioner has me, Esposito, and Ryan on the case. I don't want you to worry about a thing. You just get better. A lot of people depend on you. Especially your Dad. He's been here the whole time, you know."
For the next hour until Jim returned Castle just rambled. He told her about his place at the Hamptons. He talked about how he got the idea for the Derrick Storm novels, something he'd never told anyone. He chuckled as he told her some more stories about the fun he'd had raising Alexis. By the time the hour was up he figured he'd told her more about himself than he'd ever revealed to her outside of that she'd gleaned for herself.
"I can go out for a bit more if you'd like some more time alone with her," Jim offered when he saw the two of them together, Rick holding her hand like a lifeline.
Castle stood and turned to him. "Actually I need to get going," he said with a tinge of sadness in his voice. "I have to meet with Esposito and Ryan this morning."
Jim nodded. "I won't ask, but I will tell you to try and stay safe," he said with obvious concern. "She needs you."
Castle turned and gave Kate a light kiss on the forehead. It was probably the most public demonstration of his genuine feelings for her that he'd ever given. He walked over to Jim and shook the mans hand. "I need her, too," he said seriously. He pulled out his wallet and handed Jim his American Express Card. "Anything you or Kate needs, use this." He held up his hand when Jim began to protest. "I mean it. I don't want either of you having to worry about expenses. You have enough to worry about as it is. I've already added both of you to this card as signers on my account for the time being."
Jim sighed in defeat. He was seeing firsthand the Rick Castle charm, but also the mans iron resolve backed up by good logic. Kate had been right about him all along, though she had really missed the mark by not confronting and being honest about her feelings for the man.
"Alright," he conceded, making his own determination to be as sparing with such largesse as he could. He would not allow anyone to label him a mooch under any circumstances. When Castle nodded and then left, he walked over and took his place at the bedside seat and took his daughters hand in his. "I hope you finally manage to get your head on straight when it comes to him, Honey," he said to his still unconscious daughter.
Castle arrived at the Precinct and went right to Esposito and Ryan's desks. He noticed that Lieutenant Gibson was working out of Montgomery's office, which was not surprising since the man had been the deputy Precinct Commander. Castle wondered idly who would be taking over permanently, but that would come soon enough.
"Hey, Castle," Ryan said brightly. He'd been looking forward to this all morning. Everyone knew Castle had some skills, but this would allow them to gauge how those skills matched up against the needed skills for this mission.
"How's Beckett?" Esposito asked as he stood up and shut down the computer.
"The same," Castle told them. "Her dad's there with her, so we'll know if anything changes."
"So, you ready for this, Bro?" Esposito asked. He was going to be keeping a close eye on him to make sure that the man's anger, and emotions, didn't overwhelm him and put them all at risk. While it didn't necessarily apply in Castle and Beckett's case considering how well the two worked together, and the fact that Castle wasn't really a cop, there were some pretty valid reasons for not allowing partners to be romantically involved.
"Definitely," Castle said firmly.
Esposito noticed the steel in the voice, but not the vengeful tone that had been there before. Good. They needed resolve, not a vigilante mentality.
"Alright, let's head down to the range and get you qualified with a handgun," he told them.
Five minutes later the three of them entered the empty firing range. Esposito and Ryan pulled out there issue pieces and their backups.
"Okay, Castle, you're going to be carrying two weapons," Esposito told him. "A primary and a backup. You have a preference for a primary?"
"9mm," Castle replied.
Ryan nodded and opened a case that he'd been carrying. He pulled out a 9mm Glock and one full clip. He set it down on the station in front of Castle.
"Okay, how about a backup?"
Castle looked at the smaller weapons in the case and picked one. "The .38," he told Ryan, who put the weapon down next to the Glock with a six round cylinder speed loader.
For the next hour Esposito and Ryan explained the details of the two weapons, including how to maintain them. In essence they gave him a streamlined version of the weapons course at the Academy. Castle listened intently, despite knowing a great deal of firearms himself. He prided himself on his interest in learning, and he would reread books and articles in the hope of picking up on things he may have missed the first time through, despite his phenomenal memory.
"Okay, Castle," Esposito said as they moved to the firing line. He handed our the earphones to each of them. "We know from Beckett you can shoot, so I'm going to give you specific targets to hit, one target, one shot. Got it?"
"Got it," Castle nodded, all serious and focused.
Esposito let the target slide back to the 15 yard marker. "Right elbow," Esposito ordered.
Esposito and Ryan about swallowed their tongues when they saw Castle, quick as lightening, snap the Glock up and fire smoothly, hitting the target dead on the target Esposito had ordered.
"You've definitely been holding out on us, Bro," Esposito said, looking at Castle with awestruck expression. He knew what Beckett had said a long time back, but this was impressive. He spent the next few minutes watching Castle bulls-eye the targets he ordered. "Alright, now for the back up piece," he directed.
Not surprisingly Castle did just as well with the .38. He was able to demonstrate that he was a marksman. Ordinarily he would be strutting and having some fun with this with his friends, but because of what all this was for he was a bit somber. He worked to keep his mind from wandering to thoughts of Kate, so the time at the range was a bit easier. Finally they had gotten to a good stopping point.
"Let's got get some lunch and then we can get to the gym," Esposito suggested. "We need to assess you on hand to hand and also begin going over basic field procedures."
"Sounds good," Castle said. "Lunch is on me, Guys."
A/N: I left it off here as I want a separate chapter on the hand to hand stuff. I hope this was a good chapter for beginning the training, but also showing the side that's worried about Beckett. Till next time. Gregg.