A/N: I had planned on posting on Saturday but then life as it does got away with me - c'est la vie.
Chapter Twenty Three: Yeah this is crazy, yeah it's crazy but it's true.
One month ago . . .
"New York?" Castle whispers, certain he heard correctly the first time but still in his heart needing to hear it again.
Next to him he's sure his father nods in the blackness.
"Yes Richard," Gabor confirms with amusement coloring the inflection in his voice, "New York. I think it's time we took this party home - don't you?"
The writer has to take a moment in the dark. His heart is hammering and he doesn't think it's from the exertion of the sparring or from fighting against the surges of the ocean during their swim. It's from knowing he's going home – knowing he's going to be close to Kate again – seeing a light finally shining at the end of the tunnel that's been his existence in this forced captivity.
His eyes well and he fights the tidal wave of emotion back – there is still so much that has to happen, still such a lot of obstacles that have to be overcome – he can't allow this to get out ahead of him, he needs his focus in the immediate, firmly in the here and now.
"So what's the plan?" he asks, forcing himself to the task at hand.
His father sighs thoughtfully in response and Castle waits, knows the wheels are turning furiously in the operatives brain.
"We have to get out of these wet clothes," Gabor replies at length.
Castle snorts.
"Yeah that would be great but we're in a sea cave and unfortunately I didn't think to bring a change of clothes with me," he says sarcastically.
The beam of a flashlight suddenly illuminates the darkness and Castle watches as his father pushes to his feet beside him.
"Funny," Gabor retorts, "but if you'll just follow me Rick – I think I've got you covered," he says, and Castle scrambles to his feet to follow, as Gabor heads deeper towards the back of the cave – flashlight in his hand.
As the writer's eyes adjust to the new lighting level he notices a tunnel at the back of the cave that leads both downwards and if Castle's got his orientation right – also heads back in-land.
Grinning like an idiot and wondering when his life is going to stop reading like a John Le Carre novel, Castle follows Gabor closely down the tunnel as it winds through the cliff, he studies the rocky walls and notices instantly the moment they change from a natural texture to something that's quite clearly been machined by man.
"Where does this lead?" he whispers loudly to the man in front of him.
Gabor stops and looks back at Castle over his shoulder. "It connects to the communications cave that you've been using to view all the 'watchdog' footage of Kate," he replies.
Frowning, Castle pictures the 'batcave' in his mind. It's a room he's used daily since the morning Gabor first showed it to him, and apart from the tunnel that leads into the villa and emerges behind the large picture/door in the wall close to his bedroom, Castle cannot remember any other exit from the space at all.
"Really?" he asks surprised.
Gabor nods, grinning. "It's very well hidden I'll grant you, but I can assure you this alternate exit from the communications room is there. How did you imagine I've been coming and going without you ever seeing me either arrive or depart?" he asks amused.
Oh. So that's how he's been doing it!
"So is that the only alternative way out or in?"
The CIA operative nods slowly.
"Into the villa, yes; the tunnel that connects to the communications room is the only outside method of accessing the inside of the house without walking in the front door. But further down here-" he points down the passageway in front of him, "This tunnel connects into several other tunnels that access several other different points on the island."
The agent watches his son absorb the information delightedly, and he inwardly smirks. His boy can be so wonderfully childlike at times, providing Gabor with these tantalizing glimpses of little 'Ricky Rodgers' that are just amazing for him to see. And yet his son has proven himself to be all man at the same time, a dedicated father and a loyal partner, a crack shot and a quick study – he's discovered his son has honestly grown up to become everything Gabor could ever have wished him to be.
He takes no credit, he truly doesn't – but it thrills him so much nevertheless. He loves his child - he always has, but its an unexpected bonus how much he likes him as well.
Castle shivers from the cold next to him and the motion yanks the operative back into the present and the dangerous task he knows is still ahead of them. He sternly reprimands himself for allowing the luxury of daydreaming, he has to protect his son and get him out of here – nothing, absolutely nothing can be allowed to interfere with that.
"Come on," he says, tugging on Castle's dripping t-shirt. "We need to get warm and dry, and then we can arm ourselves and formulate a plan."
A tight grin flashes across the novelist's face and he nods his agreement.
"Lead on," he replies.
Gabor continues down the tunnel for another fifty meters, at which point the tunnel opens out and becomes a cavern of reasonable proportions. The spy disappears to Castle's right for a moment, the flashlight beam erratically hitting the floor and then the walls, but then there is a soft click followed by a humming noise and warm light suddenly illuminates his surroundings. Castle looks about eagerly, notices the light is coming from electric subway lighting that has been installed high up on the cavern walls and as he looks back down the tunnel behind him it's also lit now with a warm glow.
The light isn't overly bright but it feels harsh against his eyeballs after the blackness before, and the writer blinks furiously for moment before he notices that his father has apparently 'disappeared'.
Castle looks about him worried, finally giving into the fear, "Gabor? Where are you?" he calls as quietly as he can while still hoping to be heard.
He waits for a minute that stretches into two and then he calls out again, louder this time, and he's rewarded when his father re-appears from another tunnel that Castle hadn't noticed, almost hidden behind an outcropping of rock on the caverns far side.
The spy has an armload of dark clothing with him so Castle swallows the lump of anxiety still residing in his windpipe and paints a neutral expression on his face instead.
"Here," Gabor says, handing Castle dry black cargo pants and a form-fitting long sleeved black knit top with reinforced patches on the shoulders and elbows. He places an identical outfit for himself on the stone floor beside the writer, before heading back across the cavern to the semi-hidden tunnel again.
"Where are you going?" Castle asks quickly, before the spy can once more disappear.
"Shoes." Gabor throws back over his shoulder. "Change Richard – and do it quickly. We need to move swiftly and precisely now – with any luck we can get in and get your novel unseen, but we also need to be prepared to meet force with force," he says before he leaves.
Nerves bubble tightly in the author's stomach. The exact same kind of restless, giddy thrill he gets when following Kate into a take-down situation. Thankfully over the years of their partnership he's learned to handle the adrenaline of it properly, and with his recent training he notices he feels even more in control.
He does as he's bid, grateful to cast aside his sodden clothing and pull warm dry things on over his goose-fleshed skin. Everything fits him perfectly and for second Castle thinks that's weird, but then he realizes these are Gabor's clothes he's wearing and then it makes sense to him that it would all fit.
The CIA operative returns a few minutes later, pleased when he finds Castle ready and waiting, he hands the writer a black pair of flexible but sturdy climbing shoes, the kind the author has seen Gabor wearing when free-climbing the cliffs here.
He shoots Gabor a look that's sort of terrified and Gabor laughs quietly at the horror in his son's expression.
"They're very quiet and have great traction," he says, "don't look so scared, I'm not actually about to make you climb rock faces."
"Thank God," Castle retorts.
"Don't thank me just yet," his father replies more seriously. "Here you go Rick."
He hands Castle a 9mm handgun with a silencer attached and a spare clip, and the air around the pair of them changes instantly. Nervous vivid blue eyes meet ice-cold stony ones and Castle swallows furiously, but doesn't take his eyes off Gabor's intense face. He can read the other man so easily now it seems, and the ice-cold look chills him only in that he knows the operative is committed to doing whatever it takes here. Anyone who gets in Gabor's way tonight will be eliminated – anyone. And the writer also understands that anyone who threatens him will suffer the same fate.
"You know your way around this," Gabor says indicating the gun, "I know you do. But stay behind me Richard, at all times – do I make myself clear?"
Castle nods.
"Follow my lead, get down and stay down if and when I tell you to, and you do precisely and unquestioningly what I say. And no heroics – promise me Richard." He grabs Castle's right forearm and squeezes tightly.
The author nods again.
"I swear," he replies.
Gabor changes quickly out of his wet things and into his dry all-black outfit before he douses the cavern lights again and switches back to the flashlight. The two men remain stationary for a couple of minutes to allow their eyes to re-adjust to the darkness, and then with a tight smile at his son illuminated only by the sharp LED's bluish glow he says simply, "Let's go."
They take the tunnel hidden behind the out-cropping and once more make their way in-land in the direction of the villa. Gabor's steps are sure and even although Castle, following behind and unfamiliar with the territory stumbles often on the uneven rocky ground. Soon enough however they reach the base of a spiraling metal staircase.
"From now on we need to be as silent as possible," Gabor says quietly. "Whoever was on that motorboat has had more than enough time to land and infiltrate the villa. The motor wasn't loud enough to indicate a large craft; I'd estimate there can be no more than five in the team that's been sent in – but that's an estimate Richard and it will be better for us if we are never seen."
"I get that." Castle replies. "But what exactly is your plan here?"
"You have to hold the communications room. When we get up there, you'll stay put Rick and I'll retrieve the novel from your room. I'll be back as quickly as possible and we'll get out of here. If anyone comes down the tunnel from the villa but me – shoot them. Can you do that?" Gabor asks gravely.
The writer nods, his voice when he speaks is firm and unwavering - certain. "I can hold the room," he says. "Now how are we getting off this island?"
"Boat. Then a seaplane that's anchored five miles off shore," his father responds.
Castle's eyes widen, but he forces both his excitement and any further questions down. "Okay," he says simply. "Then let's do this."
They scale the staircase together almost silently. The ridged rubber treading on the climbing shoes absorbing almost all the sound of their footfalls. Castle estimates there are more stairs here than the usual route up the stone staircase from the beach, but then this method of egress places them on the second floor of the villa instead of the ground floor so when the staircase reaches it's end it feels just right. A heavy silver steel door greets them, with a palm-reader set into the rock at its side and Gabor scans his left hand quickly before answering the unspoken question he can see practically bursting from Castle's eyes.
"Left hand so that your gun remains in play," he whispers, smiling in the dark when he hears the writer mumbling something that sounds suspiciously like 'so cool' as the door swings open to the side.
"You ready?" Gabor asks softly.
"On your six," Castle replies.
The tunnel on the far side of the steel door is both narrow and short, ending in what appears to be a dead-end, a rock wall.
Gabor listens intently, a finger across his lips telling Castle to remain absolutely silent. But after several minutes the spy seems to be content that no sounds from the communications room can be heard through the stone.
Reaching above his head the CIA agent pulls down on a rusty iron lever almost hidden against the craggy ceiling of the tunnel and there is a very small click followed by the barest sliver of light, and a with a small push a part of the wall just gives wide. Gabor's gun is up and in his hand as he moves slowly into the room, eyes scanning high and low with years of honed experience, searching for anything out of place and any danger.
Castle remains in the relative safety of the tunnel until he hears his father utter the word 'clear', then he moves through the rock 'door' and into the room, his gun also at the ready.
"Stay here," his father instructs him. "And leave the door to the passageway open, stay in the doorway Richard, keep your gun up and across the room, keep it trained on the villa entrance-way – am I clear?"
Castle nods. "Yeah I got it. Hold the room and stay in the tunnel opening," he replies.
Gabor steps closer, his hypnotic blue eyes steely.
"Just to reiterate," he says, "if anyone but me comes into this room you mustn't hesitate Richard. Shoot to kill – your life depends on it."
"I understand."
"Anyone Richard, anyone but me – your word on that, I don't know who might have been sent here, I don't know which of my colleagues is out for me. There is a chance – however small that it could be someone you know."
Oh. Yeah he does know some people at the CIA. Oh wow.
Castle looks his father dead in the eyes, doesn't flinch. "Anyone but you," he says vehemently.
Gabor flashes a quick smile of approval and heads swiftly down the tunnel that leads into the villa, and Castle backs up into the rocky doorway behind him, raises the 9mm in his hand and taking a deep breath he trains it in the direction of the other entrance-way.
He waits tensely for long minutes, his breathing accelerated but his hands steady and sure, and then he hears it – gunshots and the sound of shouting, and then footfalls coming swiftly towards his location – into the 'batcave' down the tunnel from the villa.
Castle takes a deep quick breath and gauntlets his hands, focuses down the barrel of the handgun, his finger ready on the trigger.