Chapter Four
Happy Monday!

Castle sat still, unable to move from the sight of the man sitting calmly across from him. Mike Royce was dead. He saw the body, he helped Beckett capture his killer. How was it possible ...

"Am I dead?" Castle asked.

Royce had been watching Castle, an unreadable expression across his face. At the author's question, his eyebrows raised. "Dead?"

"You're dead," Castle said, his mind going a million miles a minute. "So maybe ... oh my God, is this hell?"

Now Royce frowned. "You're not in hell and you're certainly not dead, and I resent the implication I would be in hell, too."

Castle shook his head. "Then I'm hallucinating. I wonder if there are poisonous gases—"

"You're not hallucinating! God, does Kate let you talk this much?"

Castle stiffened at hearing Royce, or whatever this was, saying her name. Taking a deep breath, he tried to scoot away but he had forgotten what made him jump back in the first place. Hearing the ground start to break up he went back to the safety of the rock floor, even if it was closer to the spirit.

Royce moved now and came close to the edge but no sounds of the ground crumbling could be heard when he did. Was he really there? "That's a long way down, Rick. You should be careful."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here to help you." He moved to a crouched position next to Castle while he clapped his hands together like he was trying to clean off any dirt from his hands.

"Why?"

Royce gave him a look. "What do you mean, why?"

Castle shook his head. "I hardly know, knew, you. I met you like two or three times. Why would you help me?"

"To help Kate, of course!" Royce said. "You can't die on her, Rick. That would kill her."

Castle's heart rate was beating wildly now. It was so surreal hearing Mike Royce talk about Kate like he knew about their relationship. "How would you know? We weren't even together when you were alive."

Royce chuckled, but put his back to Castle and moved forward, out of the view of the light. Castle could only hear him. "I could tell, though."

Castle stared at the darkness that was left now that Royce's image was gone. Did he just dream that? He got his answer. Royce's voice, now distant, pierced the darkness. "Are you coming or not?"

"How do I know you aren't leading me to my death?" Castle looked around. That crumbling floor was the scariest thing he'd seen, excluding the spirit of Kate's former mentor showing up.

"I just told you, that's how you know. Now come on!"

Castle remained sitting, not sure what to do. Royce's final comment made up his mind for him. "Fine, stay there. Just hope the cave spiders don't come for you."

"Cave spiders!" Immediately Castle moved in the direction Royce had taken, though he was careful of where he walked. The light led him along a wall to the right side. With his left hand holding the flashlight, Castle reached out to touch the wall with his right. He hoped that if the ground gave way again he might be able to find some nook to hold onto and keep from falling.

After several minutes - he wasn't sure how far he really went - but the wall met another one. Royce's face came into view and Castle hoped he wouldn't say anything about how the light was shaking.

"If this how slow you plan on moving this is going to take weeks."

"I have to be careful where to step, don't I?" Castle was very close to Royce now and he was tempted to reach out to see if he could touch him, but Castle didn't dare let go of the wall.

The two men stared at each other for a few seconds and then Royce sighed. "You should take some water now. The next part is gonna be hard."

Instantly Castle flipped off the light. Annoyed, Royce asked, "Why did you do that?"

Because I don't want you to see that my hand is shaking uncontrollably. "I don't want to run down the batteries."

Royce sighed again. "Just drink your water."

Castle wasn't going to argue with him but he needed to be careful how much he drank; his throat was so dry right now. Pulling out the bottle, he opened it and drank down a few sips. "I suppose you don't know how long it's going to take me to crawl out of here."

He barely knew Royce, but he could just imagine he had that sarcastic grin now, the one Kate probably thought was sexy. "Sorry, can't tell you that."

"Naturally." A few more sips.

"Be careful how much you drink though, you don't know how long you can go without water."

Castle placed the lid of the water back on and made sure it was in his pocket. "Three days."

"What?"

Wiping the sweat out of his face with his shirt, Castle said, "Three days without water."

It sounded like Royce shifted. "You sure?"

"I did research on it. Derrick Storm is a spy and would need to know these things. I called it the Big Three: Three minutes without air, three days without water, and three weeks without food."

"But that guy gave you some food right? A protein bar?"

But Castle didn't want to eat, he wanted to know about his kidnapper. "So, what do you know of him?"

Castle turned the flashlight back on. He wanted to see Royce's face. Eerily, Royce's eyes didn't adjust like they should now that a bright light was suddenly in his face. "I don't know anything about him."

"Is Kate looking for me?" Castle asked. Could he at least know that?

Royce tilted his head. "You shouldn't even have to ask me that. Of course she is!"

"It's just... I don't know how long before she knows I'm gone. She's busier now and it might be hours before she notices—"

"Hours? Try days. And she's looking hard, you can bet your ass on that."

"Days?" Suddenly Castle felt exhaustion over take him.

Royce shook his head. "Look, don't go to sleep yet. I promise, this one last trip, then you can."

Castle looked past to where Royce was gesturing. Actually, he had to look up. The wall that stood before him was angled slightly and he saw there was enough room to climb. "Um, is there another way out of here?"

"Yeah, but that would be going in the opposite direction."

Castle glared at the spirit. Of course he was right. "I'm not exactly great at climbing up things."

"You can do it."

Castle wished he had that confidence. "How do you know?"

"Because you have no choice."

"What about the flashlight?" There was no way he could hold it and head up the wall. He wished he had another glowstick.

"Put it in your pocket. And don't forget to turn it off. Might as well save the batteries again."

Now Castle laughed. "How the hell can I do this without light?"

"You have me!" Royce said, his hands on the wall now too, ready to climb with him. "I used to be a rock climbing guide back in the day."

"I don't know if I knew that," Castle said, wondering if what he was about to do made those college guys in Cumberland Caverns look like geniuses.

Royce shrugged. "That's because Kate didn't know. Ready?"

Turning off the flashlight, Castle made sure he had it secured in his pocket. Thank God he liked sweats with deep, baggy pockets. Reaching out, he found the wall wasn't hard to grip. It had many niches and areas to grab, at least down here. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"I can't believe I'm dead, but you accept what fate throws at you."

Hearing the "d" word, Castle began climbing. Not being able to see, he felt like a blind squirrel.

"So you hate Kate's job huh?"

Is he seriously going to talk to me about that now? "I'm kind of busy here, Mike!"

He heard him laugh. "I know, but you were saying Kate was, too. This job is a big step for her!"

"I know that!" Castle snapped. Though talking didn't make it easier, this conversation was starting to piss him off. He moved faster.

"I would have thought you'd be supportive." Royce must have still been right beside him.

Castle kept pulling up, and took a deep breath to answer. "I am! I moved to a whole new city, didn't I? I asked her to marry me, didn't I?"

Royce sounded like he was on the other side of him now, making Castle jump slightly, but he quickly took his left hand and pulled up some more. Royce replied, "Yeah, but it's clear you don't like how little you get to see her."

Sweat was starting to trickle on his forehead but Castle didn't notice, so irritated at the conversation. Hugging the wall, his right hand felt around and found another niche. Pulling up, Castle growled, "I used to see her all the time! We worked together and spent our free time together..." he had to stop talking to take a breath while pulling up again with his left hand. He was taking long stretches as it made it easier to talk. "Now she has very little free time."

"Which upsets you."

"That isn't what upsets me." His toe was caught below him and he was in too awkward a position to bring it up. Eventually he got it free but it slipped some. Finally he got a rhythm going and was moving steadily. He noticed Royce had been silent for a while.

It didn't last long. "Then what does?"

Son of a bitch! "Nothing, never mind." His arms were killing him and he wasn't sure how much farther he could keep going. He also had no idea how high he had climbed. He reached up but hit rock directly ahead. It was like he climbed up into a corner. "Dammit, where have you taken me?"

"It's okay, Castle. Reach behind you." Royce sounded like he was behind him.

"To fall to my death?"

"Rick, if I wanted you dead, I would have just let you fall off the cliff earlier."

Well, that was true. Saying a quick prayer, Castle made sure to hug as tightly to the wall as he could with his left arm, then taking his right he reached behind him. His arm extended about two feet behind him before he could feel more wall.

"That's it. Good Rick." Royce said positively. "Now you're going to have to push off with your left arm so you can have momentum to grab with your right, then follow with your left. It's gotta be quick or you'll fall for sure."

Was he insane? "I can't."

"Yes you can, Rick."

He felt himself start to slip and he pulled his right hand back to the wall. "No, see. I'm falling."

Suddenly, Royce was in his ear. "RICK, I NEVER THOUGHT YOU WERE MAN ENOUGH FOR KATE BECKETT. NOW I SEE I'M RIGHT."

Growling, Castle flung himself around. Maybe he could hit Royce before he fell to his death. But the velocity of his turn in air made him hit the opposite wall hard. Instinct kicked in and his hands grabbed the wall. Gravity pulled his body down but Castle grunted as he held on. It hurt like hell.

"Good job! Now, you just have a couple of feet to go."

He swung his legs around but found nothing for them to settle on. The wall must curve away below him.

Royce whispered, "Rick, you can't use your legs, but move your left arm. Your right will hold."

With tears in his eyes Castle did as the spirit said. He found the wall wasn't so much of a wall but a hill at this point. It was leveling out. After his left arm reached out and grasped, Castle took care with his right. Pulling as hard as he can, he alternated arms. Luckily he found it was getting easier and he was able to use his legs to help, until the hill was ended and he was on flat ground. Eventually his whole body was lying on the new floor bed.

Resting, Castle let his muscles finally relax. He almost thought he could fall asleep.

Royce had other plans. "Now what were you saying before? What is it that upsets you about this new job of Kate's?"

Lifting his head up, Castle looked around but naturally couldn't see. Taking out his flashlight he turned it on. Royce was a few feet ahead of him, leaning against another wall. Castle was so tired, but he thought maybe he could crawl a little bit. Within a few minutes, he was now further inside the room.

"So am I directly above where I was before?"

Royce looked around the room. To Castle it was very similar to the other rooms he had been in, except this one was apparently tall enough to let him stand once he had strength for it. "Sort of. You still have a long way to go."

"How deep am I?"

Royce shook his head. "Are you gonna answer my question?"

Leaning against the wall, Castle enjoyed how cool the rock felt against his skin. He wished Royce would go away. Maybe he would if he answered the question. "I get upset because it seems like I'm no longer a participant in her life, just a spectator. And I wish it bothered her as much as it bothered me too."

"You doubt she misses you?"

Turning around, Castle now had his back on the cave wall. He glanced in the direction in which he came. He was fairly proud he was able to do what he did in the dark.

"Castle?"

"I know she misses me, but ... there is a lot to do in her new job - important things to do - and I'm sure she does what she always does: gets herself wrapped up in the case and doesn't think about anything else."

Royce smiled. "Yeah, she was always like that. I used to try to tell her to relax, take a break, go have fun."

Castle shook his head. "It's not in her nature."

"It is now though, since she met you. I saw that at once. It's why I said what I did in the letter I wrote her."

"What letter?"

Royce shook his head. "Never mind. The important thing is, she's lightened up, especially since you two have been together."

Castle shrugged. "I guess."

Royce stared at the writer like he was contemplating something. Finally Castle asked. "What?"

"I think... it's time you should eat some of that protein bar."

Before Caste could argue, his stomach growled. Sighing, he pulled out the first bar and broke it in half. He started to put it in his mouth when Royce cleared his throat.

"What?" Castle said, glaring.

"You should turn off that light."

Oh yeah. "Right."

Thoughts? Is Royce really there or is he a figment of Castle's imagination?