The incident at the village actually happened outside of Zagreb, Croatia. I-For stood around with their thumbs up their butts and then pulled out. No defense like in my story.
The 'Matamoros' do exist and pride themselves on being the oldest continuously serving unit in the Spanish army.
A little trivia for your cocktail party conversations.
She Learned the Truth at 17 by Oldest Man
Chapter 6
"Fool around on the couch?" said Esposito.
"Or maybe the bed?" said Ryan.
"And since when do you cook, Kate?" asked Lanie.
Beckett's apartment
7pm
Rick stood in front of her door, holding a bottle of wine and a small bouquet of flowers while precariously balancing himself on one leg and two crutches.
He used the tip of one crutch to 'knock' on the door and waited. It was well worth the wait.
He almost dropped the wine and flowers. She looked beautiful in a blue v-neck sweater that showed just how mammalian she was and her skinny jeans. She had her hair up in a ponytail and was barefoot and he couldn't stop looking at her.
"If you're done staring…want to come inside? The view is better. Oh, nice wine. And flowers? Let me get a vase." She'd unconsciously echoed Alexis' first few words from their first meeting.
"Kate, stop. I was just dumbstruck that's all. It's not often a beautiful woman invites me over to her place for dinner and fooling around, y'know?" He didn't want her to think for one second that he'd been put off by her scarring.
"I know, Rick. I was just messing with your mind a bit. But I'm done fooling around, Rick. That mess in New Jersey was a wake up call for me. I'm tired of living in the shadows. You've been warned."
She'd begun opening up and letting him in more and more since the motel incident. But this was the most brazen she'd felt in forever. She didn't have to hide her scars from him. He'd forced her to be comfortable in her own skin.
"Something smells really good, Kate."
"Don't know. Haven't ordered dinner yet. What do you feel like?"
She'd practically drenched herself in the cherry bath salts and cherry body wash she'd purchased after he'd nuzzled her hair once and muttered 'mmm, cherries'. He wouldn't remember it but she did. It was right after his second surgery.
He hobbled up behind her and slipped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck and hair. She leaned back into him and shivered.
"What do you feel like, Rick?" She meant 'for dinner' on the surface but much more beneath the question.
"Like I'm seventeen again. God, Kate, you have no idea what you do to me."
She twisted around and nibbled on his neck and ear. "Oh, I think I do unless you're still carrying that pistol Shaw loaned you in your pocket."
A/N: This is a flashback sequence. Italics indicate monitored conversations between parties.
One week prior
12th Precinct
"Castle, we need some help on the White Eagles Militia case. Jordan wants to talk with you for a minute." Kate called him from the Precinct. He was home resting his leg and driving Alexis and Martha crazy.
"Nope. Not gonna give her the time of day, Kate. She ran roughshod over me and if she thinks I'm helping her out on anything, she's nuts."
"For me, Rick? Please?" She knew he'd do it if she couched her request in personal terms.
"Damn it, Beckett, that's not fair. Okay, put the bitch on the phone but put it on speaker. I want witnesses."
"This is the Bitch, Castle. You were on speaker. Look, your boy Dalton Jefferson is holed up in a motel out in Jersey and he's taken a cleaning lady hostage. He says he'll kill her unless he talks to you. If you talk to him, he'll let her go and then surrender."
"Pick me up in twenty." He hung up the phone and hurried to get dressed. He still had to wear the big brace that went over his jeans for another week but it beat the alternative.
The drive was made in almost complete silence after the initial greetings. Castle rode in the back of the SUV, his leg propped on the seat while Kate and Agent Shaw were in the front. The long drive across the bridge and then up across Staten Island and another bridge to the small New Jersey town seemed to take hours and Castle dozed off more than once.
"You okay back there, Rick?" Kate was bothered by his silence. The Rick Castle she knew would prattle on about almost anything just to hear his own voice but she had figured out that the Rick Castle she'd originally met was a mask for the real Rick – the one she'd learned about recently – Richard Alexander Rogers.
"Yeah. How much longer?"
"You should have gone before we picked you up, Castle." Jordan Shaw thought she was a comedian.
"Hardy Har Har, Agent Shaw. I'm just stiffening up back here, that's all." He made an ugly face at the back of her head and flipped her the bird.
"Not much longer. You can walk around and then we'll get you wired up."
"Jesus, I get any more wired up you'll be able to power Manhattan for a day!"
"Idiot! I meant a wire like you see in the movies. We have to know what's going on in there in case things go bad and we have to rush in and save your ungrateful ass, Castle."
"And why should I feel grateful, Agent Shaw? I'd be ever so thankful to find that out. Maybe grateful even?" Even a dead person would have cringed at the sarcasm-laced tone.
"Wow, Kate, how do you handle this guy?" Shaw looked over at Kate and waited for an answer.
"In small doses. But he's cute when he's asleep."
Port Elizabeth, NJ
FBI TOC
Jefferson was holed up in an old motel in the town's poorer district near the river port. He'd chosen his location carefully but somehow the FBI had found him and he'd grabbed a motel maid and made his demands.
"Look, Castle, take this and put it in your jacket pocket. If things go bad, shoot the bastard. It will be self defense and he probably deserves worse."
"No, Beckett, not that pistol. It's too bulky and he'll probably spot it. Here, take mine, Castle. Hammerless colt 5-shot snub-nosed revolver and it won't snag on your pocket. No safety. Just point and pull the trigger until it clicks on an empty chamber." Shaw had pulled up her pants leg and taken the stainless steel pistol from an ankle holster.
He shoved he pistol into his pocket and removed it a few times, felt the balance and then opened the cylinder and removed all 5 cartridges and closed the cylinder and dry-fired the pistol several times, getting the feel for the trigger pull and drag. Satisfied, he reloaded the pistol and shoved it into his pocked.
A couple of the task force agents had been watching. An older agent nodded in approval when Castle didn't do the 'TV Flip' of using the wrist to snap the cylinder closed. It weakened the retaining hinge pin and might cause the cylinder to misalign causing a bad day for the shooter.
Shaw nodded in approval at his actions, too. Her impressions of Rick Castle had been shaped by his attitude but now she saw the man who sat on a hillside in Bosnia-Herzegovina and shot more than 20 White Eagle Militia members as they slaughtered 84 villagers 300 yards away.
She could see the moment he donned his mask.
"Gosh, Beckett, this is so cool. No hammer to snag clothing and it's the ultimate in point and shoot. Cool beanz!"
"Rick, just be careful. We'll be able to hear everything that's said so remember your code phrase if you need us to bust in." She felt a need to stay connected with him, even if it only meant talking to him.
"Yeah. How could I forget it. Shaw must have thought it up."
"Castle, it's standard operating procedure to use a phrase that's not likely to used in conversation." He was right, it had been Shaw's idea.
"I'd never use it, that's for damned sure!" It was trite. Like 'it was a dark and stormy night'.
"Say it, Castle. It won't kill you." Shaw took over the briefing.
"If you insist. 'It's always darkest before the dawn'. How trite."
"Good. Now get out there and bring him out. Step away from him and stay clear of the windows. We have a sniper ready to take a shot if you can't work your magic."
"No! I bring him out and you take him into custody. That was the deal! I want your word, Shaw, that he gets the chance to surrender or I'm going home."
"Fine. I give you my word, Castle. Beckett, get him out of here before I lose my composure and smack him in his big fat mouth."
Kate walked him out of the TOC trailer and down to the edge of the parking lot. The motel was only a stone's throw away. They could see the hostage standing in front of the motel room's picture window.
"Rick, don't be a hero. Get in and get out. If you feel threatened in any way, get yourself out of there." They were holding hands and their faces were just an inch away from one another's. His were cool and dry while hers were warm and slightly damp.
He didn't care who was watching or listening, he lifted her hand to his lips and pressed his lips against it, smiling when he heard her slight gasp.
"Don't worry, Kate. You'll get frown lines. I know the drill. And I wish I wasn't wearing this damned wire so I could say what I want to say but it'll wait. See ya in a few minutes."
It took more than a few minutes for Castle to negotiate the stairs and more than once he had to stop for breath.
"Jesus, I have got to hit the gym again."
The agents in the TOC trailer all grinned and offered comments on his stamina and overall condition. It was good that he couldn't hear them.
'Okay, I'm on the landing – finally. I'm going to bang on the door with my crutch.'
They watched as he walked down the balcony to the room door.
'Hey, Dalton, it's me, Rick Rogers. Open the damned door, I'm on crutches.'
'Walk over in front of the window and raise your arms. I need to make sure you're not carrying.'
'Jesus, Dalton, it's me. I'm not going to shoot you but I might rip off your fucking head and shit down your neck. Why couldn't you hole up on the first floor?'
Observers laughed and even Kate had to crack a smile despite her worry.
'Rick's sense of humor is going to get him in trouble some day.'
Rick walked to the window and was face to face with the maid who was clearly terrified. Her face was ashen and tears were pouring down her cheeks.
'Okay, Cisco. I'm opening the door.'
The observers could see the door open wide and then Castle hobbled inside.
'Oh, Ceesco.'
'Hey, Pancho. Let the woman go. That was the deal, me for her. Well, here I am. Let her go before she craps her pants. It already smells like shit in here.'
'Okay. A deal's a deal. You go stand and take her place. Go ahead, lady, get out. Sorry for the fuss.'
A woman ran out of the room and down the long balcony to waiting Hostage Rescue Team the FBI had in place. The sniper reported that the 'negotiator' had negated a clear shot. He meant that Castle was in the way.
'You got old, Cisco.'
'I get enough of that at home, Dalton. Ready to leave? You promised them that you'd surrender if I showed up. Well, here I am. Let's go. I'll hire the best lawyers in New York for you. You can claim PTSD or some other – '
'Listen, Cisco, I'm sorry you got arrested. I saw the papers. I never meant you to catch friendly fire, man, but at least you got sprung, right?'
'Oh, yeah, although I think the FBI still has a hard on for me. Why me, Dalton? Why do you want to talk to me? Any of the hostage negotiators would have served the same pupose.'
'Do you remember that day, Cisco? I remember. You sat on that hillside and capped 19 militia trying to save the girls and at least 8 or 9 before that. You were in the zone but there were just too many of them.'
'How could I forget? There were just too many of them, Pancho, and when the girls ran they just shot them down like dogs.'
It was quiet in the TOC and Beckett saw that even Shaw was moved by the tone of his words. '…shot them down like dogs'. It would be hard to forget.
'I saw Soraya go down and the Alexaya, Rick. Do you ever think of her?'
'Every damned day, Dalton, every damned day. Every time I see my daughter, Alexis.'
Kate stifled a gasp and Shaw looked over at her, a question in her eyes. "He named his daughter Alexis."
It was quiet in the TOC and quiet in the motel room. Kate leaned forward, straining to hear something, gnawing at her lip.
There was a sound like a gunshot and Kate started to get up and run but Shaw grabbed her forearm and pulled her back down. "LISTEN!" she hissed, as reports of 'Shots fired!' poured into her other ear from the HRT leaders.
'Feel better now, Dalton? Shooting a defenseless television? Look, let's go. I'm done with talking about old times, too damned many memories. I'm serious about the lawyer…"
"Don't get impatient, Castle, just talk him down," Shaw mumbled to herself.
In the motel room, Castle took a deep breath and tried to calm down. The shot has scared him. It was totally unexpected but then he hadn't been watching the muted television screen except for a surprised glimpse at a 'Breaking News' feed of the motel and the HRT gathered on the balcony.
'Dalton, what the hell were you thinking? What's your exit strategy? Where's your egress route? We were taught better than this.'
Castle tried to change the subject since Jefferson seemed hesitant to leave and he was the one holding the gun.
'Egress route? Jesus, Cisco, there ain't no egress route. This is the end of the line. I didn't plan on getting caught. I ain't got no options.'
"Calm him down, Castle. He's getting too excited." Shaw wished they'd been able to set up a two-way hookup but there hadn't been time.
'There are always options. C'mon, let's walk outside and we can end this. If you don't, they're going to come busting in here and you won't like how that ends.'
'Okay, here. Take it. Just – just don't forget about us, okay? Remember us from time to time, Cisco.'
He handed Rick the 9mm and then stepped back. Castle quickly removed the magazine and cleared the weapon and threw it on the bed.
"Oh, shit! Get the HRT in there. He's got something else going on. He's talking a terminal resolution. Take him out!" Shaw was shouting into her tactical microphone and Kate didn't understand what was happening.
Rick turned and started for the door and had just grabbed the doorknob when he looked over and saw that Jefferson wasn't following him.
'C'mon, Pancho, let's go. It's over.'
'Yeah, Cisco, it is.'
The HRT teams were crab-walking down the balcony and were only a few doors away when Kate saw Castle throw himself out the door and then crawl away. A second later the motel room exploded. The windows blew out and the door blew shut with such force that it broke the masonry holding the frame in place and sailed out into the parking lot.
She never remembered leaving the TOC trailer and running across the lot and up the stars to the balcony. She wouldn't be able to remember shoving her way through the crowd of HRT agents securing the area.
She would always remember seeing him leaning against the wall and how his smile when their eyes met seemed to release something inside of her that had held her back from so many things in life.
They would always remember the first words out of her mouth.
"Castle, I looked down into the pond and saw the reflection of the swan."
She didn't flinch when he gently placed his hands on both sides of her face and leaned down and kissed her.
A/N: End flashback
Still Kate's apartment
Kate stepped away and took a deep breath. "I saw you on the morning show, Rick. I thought you handled those questions about your friend with sensitivity and just the right degree of candor. You constantly surprise me. Speaking of surprises, Captain Montgomery asked if you'd stop by the precinct sometime Monday. He wants to talk with you about something."
Rick wasn't certain how to deal with this 'new' Beckett but he was definitely looking forward to learning how.
"My – my dad saw the news clips from the motel, Rick. He asked me how long I'd been having this 'wild affair' with you. He invited us up for Sunday dinner and I couldn't think of an excuse fast enough so, will you go with me on Sunday?"
He stepped towards her and she stepped back, her back flush with the small kitchen table.
"You did tell him that what he saw was a 'first kiss' and not some adrenalin-fueled response to the situation, didn't you? And why wouldn't I want to meet your dad, Kate?"
"I really didn't answer him at all, Rick. I – I never had to explain something that never existed before and I was caught flat-footed."
"This isn't some affair as far as I'm concerned, Kate. Surely you know it's not just some…"
He was too close and she felt hemmed in. She side-stepped him and walked over to the sink and looked out the window at her view of the adjacent apartment building. She could feel the bubble of panic growing in her chest.
"I'm new at all this, remember? I'm the girl who never got asked to dances and never had a real 'adult' date. I'm the girl who no one looked at twice. I don't know what this is but I like it. I'm just not sure where it's headed and I'm afraid - "
Rick walked up behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder and slipped his arms loosely around her. He spoke quietly and sincerely, not wanting to ruin the moment.
"I know. So am I. Afraid I'll say the wrong thing, push too hard, fail some 'Beckett test' and you'll walk away from me. I'm way past 'liking' you, Kate, can't you tell?"
She hung her head and looked at her bare feet. A part of her mind noticed the chip in the lacquer on one of her toenails.
"I don't know. This is all happening so fast and – and I'm not really sure how you feel or what you want from me. I'm afraid you'll wake up some morning and think 'what the hell am I doing with her' and that'll be it."
She stepped away from him again, wanting distance but craving his embrace. She crossed her arms across her chest and hugged herself, not meeting his eyes.
"Maybe I'd better go, Kate, before one of us screws up and – and we lose what progress we've made. Maybe we're going too fast for you."
Her head jerked up and she glared at him.
"See? This is exactly what I'm talking about. I don't know how to deal with you. I'm afraid I'm just some project of yours, some experience to enhance your writing."
Her voice rose with each phrase until she was almost shouting. Her eyes were boring into his, looking for some answers to questions she hadn't even asked.
Castle's defensive instinct started to kick in and he was almost on the verge of lashing out at her but he stopped, squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath as he looked at the situation with her eyes.
What he 'saw' surprised him when it shouldn't have.
When he spoke, his voice was soft and soothing and had none of the anger she'd expected. He spoke so softly that she had to strain to hear what he said.
"Kate, all this is new to me, too. I've never…" He unbuttoned his shirt and pulled a thin gold chain from around his neck and fingered two rings that hung from it.
"I wear these as reminders, Kate, that I have two failed marriages behind me. They remind me that I married first," he held up a small plain gold band in between two fingers, "because I thought I'd fathered a child and didn't want it aborted. I married a woman I didn't love to save Alexis. Meredith didn't hang around long."
Kate stood, transfixed. She remembered someone telling her that he wore two rings around his neck but not why. She'd dismissed it at the time as irrelevant but now she was learning just how relevant they were.
Rick took the second ring, a diamond-encrusted wedding band, and held it up for inspection.
"This one reminds me that I married because I thought it was time. Alexis needed a mother figure in her life and Gina was strong, smart, sexy and I thought she loved me for who I was, not what I was and would become. I didn't love her either, not really. Not the kind of love I should have felt and she soon strayed and left me."
"I didn't love them the way I love you. There, I said it. The cat's out of the bag. Richard Castle loves Kate Beckett." He replaced the chain around his neck and buttoned his shirt.
She hadn't moved a muscle since he started his 'confession' and now she was staring at her bare feet, still hugging herself.
"You know it's funny, Beckett. We've seen each other at our most vulnerable and it still doesn't seem to be enough proof for you that I see past the physical 'you' and see the real you."
He turned and watched her rapidly repair her walls. It was a subconscious reaction on her part. She pulled her hair out of its ponytail, shook her head, and let her hair fall naturally into a russet shield about her face.
"You're a beautiful woman who is strong and fragile at the same time. You're afraid to love because you fear that no one can love you in return.
Castle's sigh of resignation was almost inaudible. He put on his leather jacket and quietly left.
It was the 'snick' of the door closing softly that brought her out of her fugue.
He said he loved her. She hadn't answered. He told her exactly why he loved her and exactly why she wouldn't believe him.
He was wrong. She believed him. Now she had to get him to believe her.