Prompt: Prison AU where he's a CO and one day she gets beat up by the other inmates and he helps her, tends to her ribs and stuff, maybe?
From anon on castlefanfic tumblr.
This was the fourth time in two weeks that he had seen her crippled over in pain when she came for her lunch. She was walking too cautiously, measuring each of her steps and keeping a tight grip on her ribs, not to mention how she would try and avoid every other inmate like the plague if she could. Inmate Katherine Beckett; 20 years old, had only been in the high security unit for two weeks after being convicted of the murder of Senator William Bracken and Dick Coonan, it was only the fact that she had admitted she was guilty that had saved her from the death penalty, but now she was spending life without parole in one of Americas most highly secure prisons with some of the most dangerous women in the country.
Officer Richard Castle had only recently been moved to the prison, only three weeks before she had arrived and he was the officer assigned to her case; and what a case it was. Both her parents had been lawyers and she was well on her way to carrying on the family tradition, however after her mother was killed she left college and joined the police academy. According to her file she was good, and her training officers had commented that she would make detective in no time as long as she focused. However there was only one reason she had joined the academy; to get an inside look, so she would be able to see all the case details from her mother's murder and eventually be able to seek her revenge on the monsters that had ripped her life apart. She had tortured Dick Coonan, forcing him to tell her who hired him to kill her mother; when he finally told her she killed him and then went after William Bracken. She had pleaded guilty and admitted what she had done. He felt sorry for her to some extent, she had clearly tried to do things the right way but all her evidence had been buried, after all she was only a police officer and a young one with an ulterior motive, it didn't take the court long to return with a guilty verdict.
He would watch her at lunch as she hobbled over to the counter, getting a glass of water and then skipping the food line, although he was sure she wasn't passing on the food deliberately. He had noticed her getting weaker over the past few days, her cheekbones were beginning to show more and her clothes were getting looser by the day.
He had spoken to her but she had refused to tell him anything. He knew that life for a prison officer behind bars would be tough, he had offer to put her in isolation for her own safely after he discovered her with bruising on her arms but she had refused. The governor had demanded that she had already been put on suicide watch for her own safety but he highly doubted that she was at risk.
He knew the other inmates didn't like her and weren't afraid to make it public knowledge that she was a dirty cop and probably the reason half of them were in there; which was completely untrue, but they were well known throughout the prison and no other inmates every questioned them.
Every Saturday night Officer Castle would take the night shift. After the inmates were fed, showered and locked in their cells for the night the other officers would head home and he would begin his shift. At 1am he went to do his usual rounds, checking that all the inmates were asleep and for once the night was quiet.
He made his way to Kate's cell. He glanced through the slim window but noticed that she wasn't in her bed, turning his head to get a better look at the rest of the cell he noticed her crumbled form on the floor.
Cursing under his breath he quickly grabbed his keys, fearing that the worst had happened, and unlocked the door. He entered her cell and locked the door behind him before crouching down next to her limp body.
"Beckett? Beckett wake up" he demanded as he felt for a pulse.
It was there and she was breathing which was a relief in itself, but as he managed to get a closer look at her, he knew something was seriously wrong. Her lip was split and there was a trickle of blood down her cheek, coming from a nasty cut on her eyebrow. She remained hunched over, with her knees pulled up to her chest, curled into a ball on the floor as if she had finally given up.
"Beckett. Open your eyes for me" he commanded and touched her face, trying to bring her back to consciousness.
Luckily it worked and her eyes began to flutter open. As soon as she caught a glimpse of his uniform she tried to back away, pushing against him and trying to get to the door. He knew she could be violent, she didn't trust the officers and he couldn't really blame her. He wasn't prepared when her fist connected with his face with surprising strength, but as she tried to take another swing he grabbed her wrist and pinned it behind her back, to which Kate screamed in pain.
"Beckett stop fighting it's me Officer Castle."
He hated pinning her down like this but she was a risk to him as well as herself. He held her for a few more minutes, hoping that she would give up and stop resisting. She didn't, it wasn't in her nature and he knew that. She left him with no other choice than to pull her other arm behind her back and cuff her wrists together. She yelled in protest, begging him not to, but he couldn't risk it.
Eventually she gave up her fight, her body growing tired as she lay still on the cold floor. He watched as she closed her eyes and a tear leaked from the corner of her eye. He needed to get her cleaned up.
"Beckett, I'm going to help you stand up and take you to the medical officer to get you cleaned up"
She didn't speak, not that expected her to. Whenever he had tried to talk to her in the past she had barely said two words to him, and he knew that whatever she did say was probably a lie to protect herself, or the people that were doing this to her.
He helped her into a sitting position, propping her back against the side of the bed frame. It was only then he noticed the extent of her injuries, her face was a mess and he could tell she was in pain by the way she wasn't making any move to continue to harm him, or make any effort to stand up by herself.
When she had first arrived one of the guards had claimed she attacked him, after that the guards made sure that if she ever went anywhere she transported in shackles and was never left alone. He knew some of the guards also liked to take out their own form of punishment, usually by cutting her shower short or telling her she didn't have enough credit to buy extra food at the shop after she had been forced to skip dinner.
He put his arms around her and helped her into a standing position, making sure she had her balance before he moved behind her and guided her out of the cell. He was taking her to the medical office; at least that was where he intended to take her, however at the end of the corridor he found himself turning left towards the bathrooms rather than towards the medical room. The onsite doctor would never believe her story and would probably report her for attacking him. Castle knew most of the prison was against her, but so far he hadn't been able to see any wrong in her.
He felt her tense when she realised they weren't heading for medical room and she spun her head around as much as she could.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked and he could sense the panic in her voice.
"It's OK, just trust me and keep walking" Castle replied, keeping his voice low.
He hoped that his instincts were right and that he could trust her not to cause a scene. He had never seen her be violent towards anyone, and he could tell that she had only been trying to protect herself from him earlier. By the way she was now dragging her feet he could tell she was scared about what was going to happen and where he was taking her, only fuelling his belief that she wasn't a threat to him.
They turned the corner and entered the staff restroom, it was the one he used when he was working a double shift and rather than go home he simply stayed there. It was a small room with a bed and bathroom facilities and he knew they wouldn't be disturbed. He guided her inside and sat her on the bed, before going to close the door. As he turned back to face her he could tell she was scared, her eyes were wild with fear; a look that he hadn't seen on her before.
"It's OK." He tried to reassure her.
"I'm going to take the cuffs off. This door is not locked, but I'm hoping I can trust you not to do anything stupid, I just want to help you"
She nodded her head and turned slightly so he could remove the cuffs. Once her hands were free she instantly moved one to the right side of her stomach, clutching at her ribs. He moved towards the sink and picked up the wash cloth and towel before moving to sit on the bed next to her. She backed away slightly, still weary of why he was doing this.
"Here, let me just…"
But she snatched the cloth from his grasp before he could touch her face with it.
"I can do it myself" she told him, her voice filled with anger.
"I don't doubt that, but you look in pain, I'm just trying to help you Beckett"
She huffed a laugh and pressed the wet cloth to her face. He could only watched as the corner she was using slowly began to turn a deep red colour. The pain from the injury seeping into the material.
"I've seen what you all call help. I don't need your pity, I'm fine on my own", she winced as she pressed the cloth too hard to her bleeding lip, the jolting of her body only adding to the stabbing pain that was shooting through her ribs.
"Yeah well we're not all like them" he said under his breath reaching once again for her face.
This time she let him, she could see in his eyes that he was different to the others. She let him take hold of the cloth and press it to her bleeding lip.
"So come on what happened this time? Fall out of bed again?" he asked sarcastically because he knew she wouldn't give him an honest answer.
"Something like that" she mumbled.
He didn't respond. He had been trying to work her out ever since she had arrived, he wanted to know her story, what drove her to be so closed off from the world yet leave herself so vulnerable. He tilted her head up towards the light and inspected the wound on her eye brown. Luckily it didn't look like it would need any stitches but he was sure she would have a splitting headache in the morning. He touched it with the cloth gently and she hissed at the contact, wanting to pull her face away from his hands but he held her firmly in place. He wasn't about to let it get infected and cause he even more problems.
"What happened to your side?" he asked, tilting his head to look at her ribs.
"Just bruised, they will be fine soon"
Castle sighed, he knew he couldn't take her word for it. If her ribs were broken or cracked then it could be extremely dangerous for her.
"Lie down, let me see"
"What? No it's fine"
"Beckett lie down, unless you want me to take you to Doctor Samuels again and he put you on 24/7 lockdown and round the clock watch."
He watched as Beckett's shoulders dropped. The last time she had been to see Dr Samuels he had put her on suicide watch and also claimed that she had hurt him during her examination. Castle knew it was a lie but it was her word against his and the prison weren't in the habit of believing convicted criminals.
Beckett did as she was told. Slowly swinging her legs up onto the mattress and rolling her shirt up slightly to reveal numerous purple and yellow marks covering her torso. Castle tried to keep his composure, he didn't want to let his personal feelings get in the way of doing his job but he knew he couldn't let this go on, if it did she would be dead within a week.
He slowly pressed on her ribs and she immediately grabbed his wrist to stop him, her eyes locked with his, filling with tears that were threatening to fall.
"Beckett what has been going on? Some of these bruises look weeks old"
But she shook her head, determined not to tell him how she had been receiving regular visits from other inmates that thought she owed them something because she had been a cop.
"Come on Kate you need to tell me. If you don't tell me how am I supposed to stop this from happening to you again?"
"Kate" she whispered.
"What?"
"You called me Kate" she stated, as a small bubble of hope appeared in her chest. No-one had called her Kate since her trial. In prison she was known as Beckett, and she had to stay strong, she developed a character for herself, one that could take anything and wouldn't let anyone in.
"It's who you are" he said simply, grabbing the cold cloth and placing it across her ribcage, he didn't know how much good it would do, but from the look on her face, it seemed to relieve some of the pain.
"Not in here. I can't be who I really am in here."
"Who really are you Kate?"
He watched as she trapped her bottom lip between her teeth as she debated on telling him the truth. He didn't expect her to, he expected her to clam up again like she always did.
"I'm scared" she whispered, so quietly that he almost missed it.
"What are you scared of Kate?"
"Everything" she confessed, and the tears she had been holding back slowly slipped down her cheek.
"I'm scared of being left alone in case someone hurts me and I can't protect myself. I'm scared of being with the guards in case they decide to hurt me. Most of all I'm scared of what I've become."
He knew it was a big step for her, to admit how she was feeling, especially to him.
"You need to tell me what happened tonight Kate so we can put a stop to it. Who did this to you?"
"Johnson. Johnson came into my cell before lock up tonight. She told me dirty cops were the reason she was in here and that I deserved to pay for every dirty cop that was out there. I saw Officer Standish on the landing, I thought he would help me, he saw her kick me and he just stood there. He did nothing."
Castle had only once had the displeasure of working with Officer Standish and it had been the shift from hell. Six hours putting up with constant degrading remarks and rule breaking had made him decide to work nights so he wouldn't have to work with him any longer. Now he realised what a mistake that might have been.
"Eventually he pulled her off me, he told me to keep my mouth shut and if I said anything he would be back."
As if realising what she had said she quickly sat herself upright, fighting through the pain that soared through her ribs.
"You can't tell anyone, please Officer Castle I'm begging you, if you do I'll be dead before lunch time tomorrow. Please just take me back to my cell and pretend this never happened" She said quickly in a panic, thrusting her wrists out in front of her ready for him to cuff her and take her back to her cell.
"Relax Kate, its ok. I won't let him hurt you." He assured her, gently pushing her wrists back down onto her lap.
"Tomorrow morning I am having you moved, you won't have to see anyone from this block again, I promise."
He knew he needed to get her out of there, yes she might be a criminal but she didn't deserve this. Her crimes had been those of passion, she was seeking justice for her mother and a part of him understood why she did that, why she had needed to do that. Although what was done was done and he couldn't change the fact that she was looking at life without parole, he could try and make her stay easier on her. He would do everything he could to prove that she wasn't a threat to anyone any more, he would get her moved, get her a job, and get her into education. He would make sure that this didn't become her life.
"Even you?" she asked, dragging him from his train of thoughts.
"You said I won't have to see anyone from this block again. Does that include you?"
"Probably. After all this comes out I will probably be moved as well"
Kate hung her head.
"I'm sorry" she uttered.
"It's not your fault, I would rather know that you are safe" he replied sincerely.
"I'm sorry for hitting you as well. When I saw your shoes I thought he had come back to finish the job. I panicked. I didn't mean to hurt you"
"Don't worry about it. I think it adds to my ruggedly handsome charm"
She smiled. For the first time in months she smiled. He knew there was a long road ahead of them, with many questions to be asked, but for now he was going to make sure she was safe.
OK, so I totally wanted to add something like 'After all he couldn't let Mr Smith down' at the end there, but that would lead into some extremely complex, multi chapter, AU fic, that I am no where skilled enough to write, but it would have been a fun cliffhanger!
