Florida Heat

A/N: To any new readers: Welcome! I am so happy to see you! Thank you all for your reading and for your encouragement. I am glad you are enjoying this story.

To answer a couple of questions: this is AU season 4. Montgomery was shot and killed but Kate was not shot. It picks up about 3 months after the funeral and then flashes back in time when indicated. Gates is the new captain, of course, but nothing else from season 4 has happened. Everything else (relationship with Josh included) will be answered in time. ;)

Now on with chapter 8! Enjoy! :)

Chapter 8

Unknown Days Prior

Kate's eyes flickered open but she couldn't see anything. It was dark, so dark that the hard she held up over her eyes had no form. There was no light creeping in under the door, if there even was a door. She pushed herself off the damp, mildew-covered mattress she was lying on and stumbled until she ran into a wall. Her body hurt and her legs buckled and she slid to sit on the floor. Bracing her arms against the concrete floor she tried to push herself up only to feel pain shoot straight up to her shoulders and reverberate through her temple. She let out a scream of pain and allowed herself to slide back down to the lie on floor, resting her head against the cool concrete. She pulled her lip in between her teeth and winced as the metal taste of blood hit her tongue.

What was wrong with her? How long had she been unconscious?

She forced herself to sit up again, turning around the face the wall, her cheek resting against it. It took too much energy just to make small movements.

"Help! Someone help me!" She croaked out her throat dry and raw. She lifted her only good arm to pound against the wall, her palm merely slapping the concrete, making no sound at all.

Think, Kate. What happened? She and Johnson had gone to see Jack and Judy Daniels. Something had happened there. She raised a hand to rub her brow and winced as she felt the welt on her forehead and the tenderness around her eye. Slouching down against the wall she took inventory over the rest of her body, as well as she could without seeing it. Her clothes were in one piece but her shoes were gone and so were her necklace and watch. Her lip was bleeding and she had assorted other aching bruises and stinging cuts all over her body. She reached a hand down and felt in between her thighs and breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't feel like she had been raped.

She felt her left arm. Something was wrong with it. She started with her wrist and worked her way up until she felt the tender bulge at her shoulder. It was dislocated.

Forcing herself to stand, her legs shaking underneath her, she breathed in as deeply as she could, taking a moment to steady herself. With all of the force she could muster she ran into the wall, slamming her shoulder against it, popping the joint back into place.

A scream echoed through the bare room as she stumbled backwards, falling to the mattress writhing in pain. She hissed through her bared teeth as she felt her pulse pounding in her shoulder, the throbbing traveling up to her forehead, vibrating through her skull; pain searing all the way to her fingertips. That had been a bad idea.

The pain in her head became overwhelming, and her eyes snapped shut, when the door flew open and the room was flooded in a brilliant bright light. The idea that she should try to escape danced in her head momentarily as she flailed one arm, attempting to push herself up again.

A hand reached out through the light and grabbed her injured arm, forcing her back down to the floor. She was almost grateful for the prick in her neck as it sent her back down into oblivion and the pain floated away.

The next time she awoke she felt the shock of something cold against her injured shoulder and brought her fingers up to feel the slippery frozen sides of an icepack strapped to her skin. She allowed her hand to drift down, feeling the floor beside the bed, lifting her head in surprise when her fingertips brushed against a glass and a chunk of bread on the ground. She scrambled to her knees as her fingers fumbled with the glass bringing the liquid to her lips, not bothering to smell or test it before taking in giant gulps, forcing herself to slow down as her stomach cramped. Draining the glass she dove back down, feeling the floor frantically, through the darkness, for the food. Her fingers grasped the slightly stale chunk of bread and brought it up to her mouth, gnawing at it, tearing off big chunks with her teeth, like she hadn't eaten in days. For all she knew it had been days.

She felt the floor again, hoping there was something she had missed, only to find the grit covered concrete void of any other morsels. She sighed as she rocked back, sitting on her toes. Her stomach protesting the sudden intake of food after going without it for so long, but her head feeling less fuzzy as the hydration and limited nutrition worked its into her system. She had to figure out a way to get out of here. She had to figure out where here was.

Present

"I'm doing okay, Alexis. I promise." Castle spoke quietly as he paced the hall outside of his hotel room.

The day had been long and hard. He hadn't expected it. He hadn't expected to come up yet another wall in the investigation. He hadn't expected Kate to see the photos of herself that slipped out of the file. He hadn't expected Ryan and Esposito to tell him that they had been suspended for insisting on coming down there when Gates wanted them back up in New York searching for Johnson.

The file that Esposito had snuck out of the precinct could cost him his job and it was now lying on the desk in the room. Kate was asleep, curled up in one of the beds, and the boys were out getting dinner. Rick sighed into the phone as his mind drifted back to the question Alexis was asking through the speaker.

"She's, uh, she's not doing great Alexis. She still doesn't remember anything, but we will get there. I promise, I will help her remember who she is."

Castle could hear him giving himself a pep talk as he filled his daughter in on Kate's condition. He paused his movement as he leaned back against the wall beside his door. He was tired; he hadn't slept in two days. He could feel himself falling asleep as he stood there in the hallway, phone slipping slowly through his fingers.

"Alexis. I love you. I have to go."

He slipped into the room quietly, his hand holding the door, making sure that it didn't slam and wake the woman sound asleep on the far bed, as it slid shut. Kate hadn't said a word since the pile of crime scene photos slid out of the manila folder and fluttered to the ground in front of her. The black eye, swollen lip, and bruised and battered state of her naked body stared back at her from the glossy pages. He had expected her to yell at him for having the pictures, be embarrassed that he had seen her naked, even though not technically. He had expected an outburst, not the quiet way she had stared at pictures before sliding into the bed and curled up in a ball. Dr. Singh was right; she didn't need to be seeing this, remembering this, right now. As soon as Ryan and Esposito came back he would have them take all of the notes and photos to their room. They may need to solve the case soon, before the operation was moved, but they needed Kate back too. And right now, to Castle, she was the priority.

His eyes felt heavy as he leaned against the door. The bed looked so inviting. He had told the boys to take their time; he was too tired to be hungry and Kate was asleep. They could wait to eat. He pushed his back off of the door and stumbled slightly towards the closest bed. Maybe he would just rest his eyes for a minute.

Two Months Prior

He had left five voicemails over the last two days and she had failed to respond to or even listen to a single one. She wasn't avoiding him; she just hadn't had the time.

She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring up at the makeshift murder board on her living room wall, a glass of red wine and a half empty bottle set on the floor next to her. She reached for the glass without looking and brought it up to her lips for a sip as a knock resounded from the front door. Her head turned so she could look back over her shoulder, like she could see through the wall and tell who was on the other side without getting up and looking through the peephole. She rolled her eyes at her own actions as she rolled off the floor and onto her feet, padding across the apartment. She leaned her head against the cool metal door and sighed, silently debating whether she should answer open it or not. She could pretend like she wasn't home or that she was asleep. He knocked again and the vibrations reverberated through her ear and jawbone. Her hand reached down and turned the knob, swinging the door open and bringing her face to face with the man she had been ignoring for the last month.

"Hi Josh."

"Kate. I called you over a dozen times. Where have you been?" He was angry and worried and he had every right to be.

"I'm sorry," she said, leaning against the doorframe, effectively blocking him from entering her apartment. "I've been busy."

That wasn't true. She had been home by five every night for the past week. She had been sitting, alone, in the dark eating take out and downing bottle after bottle of wine, forcing herself not to go for something stronger, as she stared at the information taped to her wall, or at nothing at all, for hours on end until she ultimately passed out on the floor, couch, or, on one or two occasions, actually made it to her bed.

"Well, can I come in? I haven't seen you since I got back from Haiti."

He leaned in for a kiss, but she pulled back and hung her head. "I don't think that would be a good idea."

He let out an aggravated sigh. "What's going on with you Kate? Ever since the funeral you've been in your own little world. I'm sorry your friend died, but you have to snap out of it. This isn't healthy."

He reached out and grabbed her upper arm causing her to flinch, pulling it back, curling herself up behind the door. "I think you should go, Josh."

"Kate. I'm sorry. Please, just talk to me."

Kate shook her head as she pushed the door shut. "Go home Josh."

Present

Castle's eyes flew open and he flailed for a moment as he tried to pinpoint what woke him up.

"No! Get away from me! Leave me alone! Please… please…"

Castle vaulted up and fell to his knees at the side of the other bed. "Kate? Kate? Wake up."

He shook her shoulder slightly as he sunk to the floor, making sure he wasn't leaning over her. His breath got caught in his chest as she calmed in her sleep, not waking but no longer stuck in a nightmare. He rubbed her arm lightly as she let out a sigh and sunk a little deeper into the mattress. Castle laid his head down beside hers, allowing himself to breathe again as his hand moving from her arm to run soothingly through her hair. His eyes roamed over her face, studying the tears drying on her cheeks.

"I love you Kate," he mumbled as he felt his eyelids slide shut and his hand stilled in her hair as sleep overtook him once again.

The whispered reply breathed from her lips as her nightmares untwisted into better dreams. Dreams of memories she couldn't quite place but that had the potential to be happy, to be free.

"Love you, too."