For once and for all Chapter 8, a castle fanfic

I'm so sorry for the delay! I knew what I wanted in this chapter, but I didn't really know how to do it and how to construct it. And the fact that it's been really hot (think between 95 and 104F or 35 and 40C) and that I had to go back to school last week didn't help either. I know it's a lame excuse, but it's the truth.

Anyways, here's the new chapter. I hope you like it.

Enjoy!

Chapter 8

They were all just sitting around. After Hodgins told them he'd found nothing, most people from the two teams had lost a bit more of their hope. Some of it was still there, but every lead they'd had, turned out to be nothing. And really, there was nothing else they could do right now. They were all shaken from their thoughts when a phone rang. It turned out to be Castle's.

He took it out of his pocket. It was an unknown number, but he didn't notice and just answered it.

"Castle."

"Been a while, hasn't it?" Just the sound of Jerry Tyson's voice sent shivers down Castle's spine. He sat up straight and put his phone on speaker, laying it down on the table they were all sitting around. He motioned for Ryan, who had a laptop on, to trace the call.

"Tyson, what do you want? Where is Kate?" Castle asked.

Tyson laughed. "You know I can't answer your second question. As for your first question…You see, I can't keep her alive forever, since I have other things to do. But I'm not a monster; I'll let you two talk for one last time, so you can say goodbye."

"You son of a-"Castle began.

"Now don't be mean, or I'm revoking your right to speak to her. I'm being nice here, so you should too."

Castle looked at Ryan, but Ryan shook his head. He showed him the screen, where Castle could see the signal was bouncing all over the earth.

"Fine. Now let me talk to her." He vaguely heard something that sounded like 'Don't say anything you shouldn't'.

"Rick?" Kate's voice came through Castle's phone.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief when they heard her voice.

"Oh thank God you're alive, Kate. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine. But… That's not what I want to talk about. Somewhere in your second year with us, you said I smelled like cherries. And do you remember last year, when we were in that big abandoned warehouse? The one where it was so quiet? You said it again and you asked what I used. I never answered it because it was fun to leave you hanging. But now… I use Yoshino cherry scented shampoo, conditioner and body lotion. I have a whole stack left. Give them to Alexis, will you? And tell her I love her. Tell Martha and my dad too, okay?"

Tyson cut in then.

"Tick, tock. Time is ticking."

"I love you, Rick."

Castle had tears in his eyes. He didn't want to say goodbye.

"I love you too, Kate. I love you so very, very much. We all do."

Right then, Tyson hung up. Castle looked up from his phone on the table. He looked at Ryan, but he just shook his head. He also looked guilty, as if he was responsible for not being able to track Tyson's phone. Esposito looked a bit crushed, like he'd lost his little sister while he was supposed to be watching her. Lanie had tears running down her cheeks and stood up abruptly, running away. Esposito ran after her.

Halfway down the hall, Lanie stopped running. She was blinded by tears and couldn't muster up the power to keep going. She heard someone approaching and she just knew it was Javi. She turned around and threw her arms around his neck. Esposito immediately wrapped his arms around her back, holding her tightly.

After a little while, Lanie calmed down enough to speak.

"She's my best friend, Javi. I can't lose her. I can't lose her. I can't…" Sobs took over again.

"I know chica. But we're not giving up yet. There's still hope."

Lanie pulled back, glaring at him as best as she could through her tears.

"We don't have anything. There's nothing we can do. Nothing."

"Giving up won't help her either," Esposito replied.

Lanie sighed and wiped at her cheeks. "You're right. I'm sorry. It's just- Sorry."

Esposito wiped the remaining tears on her cheeks away. "You don't have to apologize. I nearly gave up hope too. But we both love her and we need to keep hoping everything's gonna be alright." He kissed her sweetly. "I love you."

Lanie gave him a small smile. "I love you too. Now let's go back to the rest and get our friend back."

Xxx

That was easier said than done. They hadn't been able to trace the call, and really, there was nothing else. Everyone was sitting at the table, their expressions sad. Hodgins noticed and tried to lighten up the mood with some humor.

"Castle, dude, did you really ask Beckett what she used that smelled like cherries? That's girl business, bro."

Castle wanted to glare at him, but then he realized something. "Ryan, could you play the conversation again? Go forward to the part she starts with saying she's fine."

Ryan looked confused, not knowing where he was getting at, but he did it anyway. The others were curious as well.

Ryan stopped it. "What's the point in this, Castle?"

"Well, the first part is true. I did tell her she smelled like cherries somewhere in our first or second year. But the part of the warehouse… I mean, yeah, sure, we've been into a couple of them, but I'm sure I never asked her about the cherry scent. So why would she-" and then it hit him. "She knew I knew I never asked her about that. That's why she was so detailed. Guys, she's giving us hints! She's trying to tell us where she is!" Castle exclaimed excitingly, glad that he might be able to hold his girlfriend in his arms again.

Esposito immediately took the laptop from Ryan. "It's worth a shot", he explained, seeing the doubt on the faces of the Jeffersonian people and he played the conversation again. While it was playing, Castle was thinking. "Come on, Castle, think. Think like Kate. Err… warehouse, abandoned, big, cherries, Yoshino-"

"Esposito, can you look if there are Yoshino cherry trees in DC and where? Cross reference it with abandoned warehouses."

Esposito gave Castle a look for going all bossy on him, but did it anyway. Beckett was his friend too, after all.

Everyone now understood what Castle was thinking, and their expressions grew more hopeful. Lanie took hold of Castle's hand, which was on the table, and she squeezed it.

"Okay, there are quite some Yoshino cherry trees throughout DC, but only five of them have an empty warehouse nearby," Esposito said after a minute or so.

"Five is too much. We need to narrow it down to one," Booth replied. He walked over to Esposito, and looked at the screen as well. "Can you send it to Angela? We need to lay them next to each other, and eliminate four of them. That won't work on this small screen." Esposito nodded and did as told. They all went to Angela's office, where Angela pulled up the five locations next to each other.

"I don't really know this guy, but I don't think Tyson would want to take the risk of neighbors seeing him," Cam said.

Angela nodded. "Let's see… One of them has apartment buildings surrounding it, and one has big companies around. So we can rule those out." She removed them. "But we still have three options left."

"It won't be a busy street, either. More like an alley, or a street that's not used much. Kate said 'The one where it was so quiet'," Castle said after that.

"Okay… That rules out one more. Now we need to figure out which of the two left is the one," Angela said, looking intently at the big screen.

"Angela, can you pull up a map and mark the places where the other two warehouses are?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, sure."

When it was on the big screen, Ryan took a good look at it. "That's what I thought."

They all looked at him questioningly. He pointed at the screen. "See? One of them is on the other end of the city. There's no way he would've made it that far. Every single cop in the city has his photograph. Kate's photograph too. The other one is closer. That's the most logical choice!"

They didn't waste any more time and soon Booth, Ryan, Esposito and Castle were on their way. Esposito was driving, Booth next to him and Ryan and Castle in the back. When they arrived at the warehouse, Castle went to put on his vest so he could go in, but Esposito stopped him.

"Oh, come on, you're not going to leave me outside, are you? I need to go inside with you guys," Castle said.

Esposito shook his head. "Sorry, bro. For all we know this was exactly his plan. We can't take any risks. But we're getting her out of there alive, I promise you."

Castle wanted to protest again, but he knew it was a lost cause, so he put his vest back in the car and stayed behind, while Ryan, Esposito and Booth went in. He watched them disappear inside and prayed for the best.

Meanwhile, inside the warehouse

Tyson had left the room after the call but had returned just now, a knife. Kate didn't know how long he'd been gone, but she didn't care. She only prayed Castle had understood the hints she gave him.

Tyson was now standing in front of her, taking her in in a way that made Kate feel a bit sick. He crouched down and started to unbutton her shirt. When it was completely open, he put his hands on her waist, the knife sliding lightly against Kate's skin. He kissed her exposed skin and she shivered. He looked up at her, giving her a sick smile.

"If you're really smart, detective, you don't fight ba-"

"FBI!"
"NYPD!"

Ryan, Esposito and Booth yelled at the same time.

"Jerry Tyson, hands where we can see them, and turn around slowly!" Booth yelled after that.

Tyson sighed, before raising his hands, dropping the knife and turning around towards the 3 men aiming their guns at him. Ryan and Esposito rushed towards Kate and untied her, while Booth went to cuff Tyson.

Kate stood and stretched her arms, muscles aching from having been tied up for a while. That's when she noticed a small flickering light coming from Tyson's pocket. How did she not notice that before?

Tyson noticed she noticed.

"You people all think you're so smart, but you seem forget something every time."

That's when the object started beeping as well. Kate shouted "Run!" to the three men that came to rescue her, and they started to run, leaving Tyson behind.

Not long after, an explosion was heard.

Hope you don't mind the cliffhanger…

This is one of the last chapters, there will only be 1 or 2 more. (Or maybe, very, very maybe 3) I don't know yet, it depends on what my head's gonna come up with.

As always, I'd love to know what you think.

-xxx-