Close Encounters 23
Honestly, it was ingenious. Castle had to hand it to Mitchell, who'd planned all this with a wounded shoulder and who knew what other injuries. Black was shackled in the very back seat of the all-terrain utility vehicle, handcuffs attached to a metal bar that kept his hands between his knees. But he couldn't complain of discomfort because the chain was just long enough to allow him to sit back in the seat.
He couldn't make trouble.
Mitchell was in the middle seat, weapon holstered into the back of the driver's seat and within easy access. Beside him sat Hunt, who would be leaving their party once they got across the border. He would not be allowed to know their final destination, though Castle was certain he'd said once or twice that they were going to try to reach Cologne. Maybe that had changed; he didn't know. He'd relinquished all control in a minor breakdown back there, and he couldn't yet feel sorry for it.
Kate was in the front passenger seat. The vehicle had seventy percent tinted windows, so it was unlikely for their images to be caught by traffic cameras, plus her seat was lowered practically horizontal. The first aid kit was on the floor between the driver's seat and the passenger, a saline bag pre-mixed and ready just in case, the vials Mitchell had brought nestled in their silver case.
Castle had popped two of the stabilizers after he'd given Kate the infusion, and he felt markedly better. Shit, of course he did - and it wasn't those stabilizers. Kate had crawled into his lap and talked to him for hours, both of them in and out of sleep, his fingers playing with her hair, her hands wandering, all of it rebuilding him moment to moment.
But with Kate away from him now, he could feel the effect those stabilizers were having over him. He warily recalled that they contained mood altering elements, and never before had he seen so clearly just how markedly they were doing their job. His anxiety levels were under control. He hadn't consciously known they weren't until, with some distance, and some enforced physical space from his wife, he saw that he was handling it. He was doing okay here.
And, worse thought, the serum itself really did affect him psychologically. Maybe he had the potential to be as psychotic and crazy and AWOL as those other soldiers had gotten. Only Castle wouldn't snap, he'd just suffer more and more irrational thoughts and behavior until he did something unforgivable.
Well, fuck. He really had to stop messing around with this stuff. He needed to do this right, do it smart. It wasn't just him - it was Kate stuck with him. It was James stuck with him, burdened with the consequences of his parents' choices.
He knew it now in a way he hadn't before.
When everyone was settled into the all-terrain beast of a vehicle, Castle got behind the wheel. He had border-crossing duty, since Mitchell's face might be recognizable from the night before, and he had the paperwork all properly stamped and in order. It would be easy enough, a group of friends on vacation, his father in the back asleep, his wife asleep. A camping trip on the river, a night in the city for a concert, anything would work, it was all normal, completely normal.
And yes, it was late at night and that was suspicious, but it was nearly dawn now, and a fishing trip would want to get started, get to where they were going.
Shit, Mitchell had even procured them rifles and shoved them into fishing reel soft cases. They had a real rod, of course, for show if they needed it, but Mitch had thought of everything.
He started the vehicle, the engine purring with its electric hybrid quiet, and Castle looked over at his wife.
Kate's cheek was pressed to the contoured side of the seat, but her eyes were open.
"Ready to go?" he asked.
She smiled. "Get me out of here."
It was easy; it was so easy. Kate just feigned sleep and the border guards gave the vehicle's occupants only a cursory look. From where her face was turned to the driver's seat, she could see Hunt sitting calmly, reading a book in German, his face unconcerned. Behind him was Mitchell, and below the line of her sight must be Black, keeping quiet, keeping still.
They'd put pillows under his head, she knew, a blanket thrown over him. Castle answered a question about his father being in the back - a recent stroke, recovery was slow, they were hoping the fresh air would help, his brother and friend were with them in case a problem arose.
Kate had her coat thrown over her chest like a cloak, hiding the port in her arm, the tape that kept it stable. She was watching through the slit in her lashes, but she thought she must have dozed off, her consciousness slipping in and out of sleep without her realizing.
She was startled awake by the car nudging forward. She shifted on the passenger seat but kept her eyes closed, let her body go slack again. After a moment, Castle's hand was on her thigh, patting softly.
"If you're awake."
She opened her eyes, still groggy. "Awake. We're clear?"
"We're clear." He was smiling at her. "Easy."
"I saw that," she laughed, trying to push up so she could sit. Didn't quite work, but Castle had a hand around her upper arm before she could say anything, silently helped her shift. Not much higher, not with the seat down like this, but enough that she could see out the windshield.
"You hungry?" he said, his voice pitched low. The hybrid engine was just so silent there was very little noise to mask their conversation from Hunt sitting directly behind him.
"Yes, actually," she said, surprised herself. "Banana?"
"Mitch?" he called back, voice raising. "You have bananas?"
She glanced past the seat and saw Mitchell coming forward with the blanket that had been thrown over Black. He half folded it, kept it on his side of the seat as he took his spot again.
"Bananas. They're not as ripe as you might like." He leaned down and grabbed a bag, pulled out a whole bunch tinged yellow-green. "So not very mushy."
"I'm good with that," she said, smiling. "Still soft food, right?"
Mitchell actually paused and glanced at Castle for permission, but her husband didn't seem to notice. Kate reached out and grabbed a banana still attached to the bunch, shook it.
"Help me?" she asked sweetly.
Castle knew better and he darted his gaze to her, then turned his head for a quick look at Mitchell. "Better do as she says. That was not her nice voice."
Mitch laughed but pulled off a banana for her, even whipcracked it to break the stem for her. She took it from him eagerly, suddenly ravenous, and pushed her thumbs into the split, made it wider, peeled open her banana.
She felt good. Tired - she was resigned to a persistent lethargy - but she felt normal again. Not dying, not crashing, not struggling to force her heart to keep beating, not drowning in a darkness that wanted to hold her under.
Just - beaten up. Bruised inside and out. Trampled and easily-
"Eat your banana, for fuck's sake," Mitchell muttered. "Don't make love to it. You're gonna make Castle jealous."
She laughed, caught by surprise at the very real grief cracking Mitchell's voice, but she took a nibbling bite of the banana to appease him. And herself.
She caught a glance that Castle threw her way and reminded herself to go slowly for him. Take it easy. Castle needed to have his concentration on the road and getting to the drop-off point for Hunt, and not be worried about her.
And Mitchell. When had he last slept? He'd given her and Castle eight hours to fall dark, a secure sleep in between fits of talking, fits of touching, her husband's grief finally drained out of him. But Mitch.
"Mitchell," she said, her voice clipped to give it that edge of authority she so clearly lacked right now. Mitch came to attention in posture if not in true deference to her, and she smiled at him. "Mitch, I'm awake. Castle is driving. You sleep, take this time while you can."
"Hey, I'm awake too," Hunt said then, the first time he'd pushed into their planning and conversation since sometime last night. Whatever riot act Mitch had read him had worked, and he'd played along, though docile - no. She'd never call Hunt that.
He was too male, too much the aggressor, despite the veneer of civilized British charm. She - it wasn't that she didn't trust him, but she understood that his ultimate goals were never going to line up with hers.
In a different universe, she'd have taken him out for drinks and flirted, touched his arm to see if he responded to her command over him. He'd have attempted the same; they'd have matched wits.
But Castle. And the whole world was different, the stakes higher and more vital, more alive. Hunt would never have been enough for her while Castle transcended the ache. And now Hunt was mere liability. It was too bad.
"What?" Hunt exploded. "Don't look at me like the snake in the grass. I can do this. I'm not on anyone's side. It's in my best interest to have him caged - and to get off this crazy train the second it pulls into a station I can control."
She nodded. "True. All true. But should that station circle back to him-" Black, she meant, and he knew it. "-then I need more than just you at my back, more than only you between him and me."
Castle grunted; he evidently liked her little speech. He wasn't jealous - oh, it was definitely in his nature; he could flare up with it and burn low, smoldering, practically unknown until it made him do something stupid. But not of Hunt. Because Hunt wasn't comparable, wasn't a threat to him, and Castle knew it.
"Mitch," she said, loudly enough that Black could also hear. Not hard to do, with the engine so quiet. "Give me your extra piece. I'm awake. I'll have it. You sleep and I'll be your eyes."
Mitchell's mouth dropped open.
Castle was moving. She jerked her head to protest - thinking he was about to do something dangerous all because she'd given a reasonable suggestion - but he wasn't getting out of his seat. He was lifting his leg and hunching forward, and for a terrible second, she though, Oh God, please, not him too.
But Castle hiked up his jeans pant leg and slipped a .38 out of his ankle holster. Without even looking at her, he laid the weapon in her lap, his hand pressing it down and into her thighs.
He flicked a look to the rearview mirror, evidently satisfied. "Mitchell. Sleep. That's an order."
Kate wrapped her hand around the weapon and instantly felt better. Armed, secure, bold.
She turned her gaze to Castle but he didn't offer a word or a look in return.
Trust. He saw she was trying; he was giving her the gun on faith.
So Kate ate her banana with one hand and kept her eyes open and on the backseat.
Black looked back at her, unrelenting, but she was not afraid.
"Katherine."
"Katherine."
She sucked in a breath and her eyes opened, her gaze directly on John Black all the way in the backseat. He gave her a grave nod, and Kate blinked, realized she had - she had actually fallen asleep.
Passed out, maybe.
She curled an arm into her chest and felt the gun still in her right hand, heavy on her lap.
Black had woken her up.
"Katherine, you need water."
Her mouth opened but her voice was gone. Her mouth was dry and she glanced to Castle whose concentration was intent on the road. He did give her a short look - he had apparently heard Black - and she didn't know what to do.
"Water, Katherine. Eight full glasses a day after the catheter removal."
Kate froze. How did Black know that? How-
"Bottles are in the bag at your feet," Castle said quietly. "I don't remember that specifically, but I only had a crash course with insertion. He's probably right."
Kate shifted to lean forward, surprised when she found the strength for it. But her head was throbbing, her mouth so dry it hurt to breathe. The bag was there, and she struggled with the zipper for too long before she finally got it open. A host of things was packed in tight: water bottles, protein bars, a pair of handcuffs, two or three of Castle's black t-shirts.
She took a water, reaching for it, and the bottle seemed to tumble straight out of her fingers and back into the bag. She blinked and the blood pounded in her head, her vision swam, and the gun pressed hard into her stomach.
Suddenly Castle's hand was there, gripping her arm hard, tugging her back upright and into the seat. She was breathing hard, dizzy, and she had the seriously crazy thought that Black had planned this.
No, no. No, get it together. She was just - it was a natural reaction; she was actually dehydrated and she'd eaten only a banana today and yesterday some pudding. She'd forgotten that she couldn't do whatever she wanted, that she had the tendency to go beyond her means without realizing it.
"Drink the water, Katherine."
Her muscles were shaking too bad to actually open the bottle. Castle released her arm and grabbed the water out of her hands, put it between his thighs, snapped the top right off as he drove. Kate couldn't even take it back from him; he had to hand it over to her, reaching across the console.
She sipped slowly. It was only lukewarm but it tasted as clear and refreshing as a mountain stream. Cliched but true. She had to hold herself back from gulping it down; obviously she'd needed the water.
That was twice that Black had nudged her towards the right. Once by calling her name when she'd fallen asleep and then this, the water.
She leaned against the back of the seat and tried not to spill the water, used the uncomfortable position to slow her gulping need. Wouldn't be a good idea to drink the whole thing in one go, not when she'd been out of it this long.
"You doing okay?" Castle murmured.
"Getting there."
"Mitchell's still asleep," he said quietly. "He's been up for about 48, so if you can-"
"I can. I think. I'll go as long as I think I'll be able to stay awake," she admitted.
"Good. Let me know when you need to change shifts."
She angled her head to the side and saw that Hunt was awake as well. His hands were on his knees; he was paying strict attention to everything being said and done, every current in the car. She felt a little sick knowing that Hunt had been the only one who had Castle's back while he drove; his father could have done anything. Cuffed, but she didn't trust that.
Hunt met her eyes, didn't look away, and then - before she could even tell what he meant - Hunt inched his pant leg up.
She blinked, completely confused, and her eyes fell the length of his leg down to his ankle.
Where he had a knife strapped to his calf. She choked on the water and jerked forward, but Castle caught her by the shoulder and gripped, a fistful of her shirt so that she hung in the balance between the two seats.
"Kate," he said slowly. There was a question it.
Hunt's eyes bored into hers, Castle was nudging her back to the seat. She opened her mouth to say something, Hunt blinked, and Castle flicked her earlobe with his finger.
She turned to him, and he shot her a look, a subtle no that had her falling back into her seat.
No?
Holy shit. It was all an act. All of it? How long? How long had they been pretending to be at odds with Hunt?
"Drink your water, Kate," Castle said, loud enough to be heard in the back, for sure. "You don't want to get dehydrated, love."
They stopped in Jülich, a town midway between Cologne and the Belgium border - roughly. Castle parked at the train station and turned in the driver's seat to level Hunt with a look.
"I took you literally," he said. Hunt had said he wanted off this crazy train; Castle was willing to give him a new track.
Hunt glanced out of the tinted windows and sighed. "Right. Of course."
"Hunt," Black said quickly.
Mitchell turned and shot him a quelling look, then leaned forward again and opened his own door. He gestured for Hunt to follow and Castle opened his door too, getting out with them. He turned at the last second and pointed at his wife.
"Open your door. Need to see you."
Kate smiled but she did as he asked - well, commanded - and opened her own door. Mitchell caught it and stood in the open arc, Hunt close, and Castle rounded the hood and came over to them.
Like this, they were somewhat blocked by the frame of the all-terrain vehicle, and Castle offered a low hand to Hunt.
He didn't say thank you, but Hunt took it like that; he shook and gave a brief nod, then turned to Mitchell. The two only looked each other over, and then Mitch gave up a small backpack, allowed Hunt to shrug it on his shoulders.
"Hunt," Castle said, ready to kick the guy to the curb no matter the help he'd been. But he felt Kate's knee in his back and turned to her.
She was looking at Hunt; her fingers came to Castle's shirt and fisted, hanging on, and she leaned out. "Hunt."
Like a magnet, the man was drawn to her. Castle stayed planted where he was, a wall between them, and Kate pressed heavily on his shoulder to lean closer to Hunt.
"Thank you," she whispered. Her lips touched Hunt's cheek only inches from Castle's chin. Hunt stood absolutely rooted to the spot for one held-breath second, and then he stumbled backward, cracked his skull on the frame of the open passenger door, rebounded off and into Mitch.
"Fuck," Hunt groaned. "You guys are - dangerous. You're all dangerous. Holy shit, my head is throbbing."
"You'll live," Castle said darkly.
Kate was still pressed against his back, her cheek resting on top of his shoulder now so that he could feel her hair getting caught by his weeks' growth of beard.
Hunt stalked away, the backpack over one shoulder, only the knife they'd taken from Black for a weapon. Hunt dodged parked cars and came to the massive, regal train station, mixed with the early morning commuters to disappear inside.
Kate's forehead came to rest at his neck. "That was honorable," she murmured. "We owe him."
"We are not in his debt," Castle growled out. "You handily repaid it with that kissed-cheek stunt, Mrs. Katherine Castle."
She laughed. Damn, but it felt so good to hear. "Rodgers," she murmured. "It's Rodgers, sweetheart. Do get it right."
He turned his head and caught the smile on her lips with his mouth, a little nip, and she was even giggling as he nudged her back into the passenger seat. Suddenly a sober look came over her and she stared at him.
"We did the right thing. Right?"
He sighed. "We did the only thing, Beckett. Get in. We're headed to Cologne."
Castle had done his research but it was Mitchell's contacts that let them into a privately owned apartment in Cologne's Old Town. A brick-paved alley with no space required them to double park and unload the equipment, plus John Black, and finally Beckett. Castle carried her through the building's narrow security door and up the cramped flight of stairs, but because of the tight confines, her legs were wrapped around his waist and her arms at his neck rather than wedding style.
It was - there was friction. And her mouth breathing at his neck. And-
He was trying. He really was.
She didn't seem to notice, but not much in that department ever got past Kate. He hoped she would just sleep today, forget about it, give them all twenty-four hours to recover. She was scheduled to get saline today, for the electrolytes, and then tomorrow morning another infusion of immunities Mitchell had brought.
From James. From their son whom they had left in New York last Thursday, nearly seven days ago, their six month old son who never seemed to be sad but who definitely was a serious little thing, and they'd left him.
"You smell good," she mumbled at his neck.
Castle sighed, let go the things he couldn't - absolutely couldn't - change. This, his wife wrapped around him, this he could change, one way or another, by persuasion or force of will, and he'd do what he could where he could. And know that Jim would do the same for Castle's son as Castle was doing for Jim's daughter. A matter of faith.
Mitchell opened the door ahead of them to a cramped, one-bedroom apartment. The windows were wide but functional, and every single one was open to the cool April air, fog shrouding the buildings across the street.
"Where'd you put Black?" he asked Mitch.
"In the bedroom. I figured we needed a place to keep him - and keep him out of our daily hub - so he gets the master. I did, however, rearrange the furniture." Mitchell swept his hand across the room and Castle realized then that what he'd thought was simply a studio apartment was in fact the living room.
Mitch had dragged the full bed into the space where, presumably, a couch had been, shoving aside a modern, white Ikea table for space. A floor lamp was on, illuminating an open floor plan that led directly to the kitchen.
"So Black has a couch in there?"
"Hideaway, so he should be fine. You want to put her down?"
Castle was surprised that she hadn't already nudged him to move, but when he stepped towards the bed, he realized she had fallen asleep. She didn't even stir when he lowered her to the mattress, unwound her locked legs from his waist, and tugged the covers up around her shoulders. He brushed the hair back from her face and sank down beside her. "The medical equipment?"
"Heart monitor is at your feet," Mitchell said. "The saline and IV stuff is just under the bed. Might want to think about hiding this stuff somewhere. In case Black figures out a way to slip his bonds and go skulking in the night."
"And poisons her?" Castle rasped, lifting weary eyes to his friend. Agent, friend, brother-in-arms. Eastman had been his partner, his father figure even though only ten years older than himself, and with his death, Castle had lost something he hadn't expected to find again. But Mitchell was solid. Mitchell had blood oath with Castle, in so many ways, and he could depend on Mitch.
"Or fuck with the saline, take the needles, contaminate the kids'-"
"I got it," Castle muttered. "Thanks for thinking ahead. My whole - feels like everything has narrowed down to this core focus: just Kate. I can't even think unless it somehow loops right back to her."
Mitch landed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Man, that's how it's supposed to be. You do what has to be done to save her life, and I'll cover your backs. John Black is in cuffs that are clamped to the radiator on the choke chain, so he won't be slipping those any time soon. I still don't plan on underestimating him."
"He said something in the car. You were asleep. I don't know why. He called her name and woke her up. I was gonna let her sleep, knowing that Hunt had it covered."
"Smart move. With Hunt."
"He's halfway in love with her," Castle snorted. "Just took a little extra inducement. He doesn't respond to threats, so I figured, why the hell not?"
"You tell her to kiss him?"
Castle gave Mitch a dark look.
"Ha," Mitch crowed, sinking down to the stark red chair that had survived his rearranging. "She's just that smart."
"Hunt showed her that he was armed and it surprised her. I'm sure her mind was racing the whole rest of the drive. But Hunt-" Castle stopped, casting a long glance to the door behind which his father was must lay. He wouldn't say it out loud, the plan Hunt promised to put into action.
"I know," Mitch said, shrugging. "I heard the tail end. I can figure it out. That's only smart."
Castle nodded quickly, grateful. Grateful even for Hunt, who had given Castle the buffer between himself and his father that he'd so desperately needed. And maybe Black had seen that, known it for what it was, and had engineered Hunt's arrival for that very purpose, but there was still a measure of confidence in knowing that Hunt was independent. He'd play the game for money and the rush, but he wouldn't be stupid. He was too much like Castle for that.
Hunt would set up in Cologne for the next few days, hang around until the courier arrived with the package from New York, and then Hunt would bring it to Mitch.
In no way was Castle relying on Black for their resources. Not now.
Castle leaned over and grabbed the bag of medical equipment. "I'm going to plug in the heart monitor and set the alarm on it. If it goes off, believe me, you'll hear it. We both need some sleep. Take shifts?"
Mitch nodded, finally holstering his weapon now that the briefing was over. "I'll go first. I got a nap in the car. You sleep, and maybe you'll match her schedule."
He hoped not. Now that he was super, and the stabilizers were doing their jobs in his system, he didn't need as much sleep as Mitch seemed to think. "I don't think so, Mitch. You sleep, get a full eight hours. I've had mine, thanks to you. Plus I need to get the saline going later tonight. Sleeping bags are down in the car."
Mitchell gave him a thoughtful look and then nodded. "I'll find a spot to leave the car, and then I'll hike back here with a couple sleeping bags. Just try to keep it down, will ya? I don't wanna hear you two pining for each other while I'm trying to sleep."
Castle's smile was brief, but it was there. It meant something. "Dismissed, soldier."
Mitch saluted sarcastically and headed for the door, leaving Castle alone.
The fog had thickened outside and now began to curl through the windows and linger in the room. Wispy, damp, cool, almost childlike. Castle pulled the blanket up a little higher over Kate and started to work on the heart monitor.
One thing at a time.