This is a shift day [see above]. There was another upload this morning: If Ever She Were Lost.
"A Dish Best Served Cold"
10. Tenth
Their arrival had been heralded by the reporters trying to talk to them as they emerged from the car. Beckett was still trying to get somewhere with the Lima cops when she spotted them. She left the man she'd been speaking with and moved to join Ryan and Esposito as they came through the crowd. "Welcome to Lima," Ryan looked around.
"I'd like to say I was going to catch you up, but there's literally nothing to tell," Beckett told them.
"Let's see if we can't change that," Esposito was not defeated by this, neither was Ryan, and their optimism was as good as a recharge of energy as she could hope for.
"We're set up over there, although it's not…"
"Beckett," she turned as Castle came up to them, Schuester on his heels. "You made it," he was momentarily distracted by seeing Ryan and Esposito, but then got back on track. "We've got a problem," he told her, and she looked like those were about the worst words he could tell her.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I can't find my kids, the four I have out here, we've looked all over," Will explained. He had barely managed to say this when they heard someone call that 'they're coming out!' There was a surge of sound, and the detectives, the writer, and the teacher all looked back to the doors. The cheers were soon revealed to be premature, as only two had exited.
Blaine and Sugar came into the late afternoon light to be ushered through by Lima PD. The team from New York and Will had to wait to get through to them, as the Motta and Anderson families came up to hug their children.
"Blaine, Sugar!" Will called to them when it looked like they were trying to get away from their parents to find him. They came up to him, talking both at once and much too fast. "Stop, wait, slow down, what happened?" Will asked as the other four approached as well.
"He let us go!" Sugar told him.
"In exchange for the others," Blaine followed.
"What others?" Beckett asked, though it was barely to confirm her fears.
"Finn, and Santana, and Puck, and Lauren," Blaine replied.
"How the hell did that happen?" Beckett tried not to sound too aggravated for the scared pair's sake.
"Santana called Brittany's phone," Sugar started. "And the man said if the four of them came in, then he would let us go," she indicated herself and Blaine.
"Ten minutes or he'd start shooting," Blaine shared the rule they had been given. "And they came."
"They raided the cafeteria first, I think," Sugar frowned, now remembering both she and Blaine had yet to eat a thing.
"What's going on?" They looked back and seeing Carole Hudson there just made it worse; now they had to tell those families the bad news.
"I'll handle it, you go and…" Castle told Beckett, indicating the school. She didn't argue, taking Ryan and Esposito with her. "You two go over there, they'll give you food," Castle told Blaine and Sugar.
"I'll go with them," Will told him, staying with his students. Now Castle looked back to the frightened mother, imagining himself in her position.
"Come with me, please," he headed toward the cluster of families. "I need to speak with the Lopez, Puckerman, and Zizes families as well." They came forward, as did Burt to join Carole. All he could do for a moment was to take a breath and then another.
"Where are our kids?" Carole asked. Castle looked to her.
"They're inside now, in the choir room with the rest of them," he came right out with it, and as expected the reaction was immediate. There was an outcry, a mess of voices. He raised his hands to try and quiet them. "Please, if you'll just…"
"How the hell could you let that happen?" one of the fathers asked.
"From what I understand, the kids tried to call in to their friends inside, and Matheson forced them to come inside under threat of starting to shoot," he explained. He couldn't help but look to Mrs. Hudson and Mr. Hummel, who'd had one son on the inside and one on the outside. Despite everything else, they could understand one son needing to do everything he could to help the other. However now they were both in there, as were the other three who'd been on the outside.
"What are you doing to get them out? Because so far all you've achieved is to let this man have even more hostages," the woman he had to guess was Santana's mother asked him before dissolving into a string of muttered Spanish words he didn't need to understand. But then… "You're the writer, aren't you?" she asked, and he nodded. He wasn't sure what that meant for her, but she looked to be turning on to at least some trust. "Just do something. Get my daughter out of there."
"That, ma'am, I will," he bowed his head.
Off to the other side, Beckett had found a spot to talk with Ryan and Esposito. Even before they would start trying to figure all this out, in a way they already knew it all and had to say it just so they'd know the others were thinking the same thing.
"All he's wanted all this time was to get his hand on the kid, those kids, those specific thirteen," Beckett spoke up. "We already know he wants revenge."
"And now that he's got them…" Ryan looked from one to the other.
"This could get bad, real fast," Esposito shook his head.
"Then we better step it up," Beckett agreed. "Come on," she started back through the crowd, signalling Castle on the way.
X
With the exit of Blaine and Sugar and the addition of Finn, Santana, Puck, and Lauren, it was as though the whole room felt different. Never mind the fact that Matheson's whole stance felt changed, there were now two groups united, those who had been there all along, and those who'd seen the outside.
"All our families are out there," Finn whispered, much to the others' relief.
"They're not the only ones who are," Santana added, looking back to the other three she'd come with. It had been a matter of some debate as to whether or not it was a good idea to risk having Matheson hear about this, so if they were going to talk about it, then they needed to be discreet about it. Somehow this sentiment was understood, as everyone displayed very calm faces as they listened. "Beckett and Castle are here," she revealed, and there was just a flinch in their composures. Brittany looked to Santana and got a nod for it.
"Better keep that to ourselves," Quinn gave a side glance back to where Matheson stood.
"But it's good news, right?" Rachel looked from face to face.
"Let's hope so," Mike breathed, Tina's hand safely in his own.
"They better think of something quick," Sam spoke and they looked to him. "Think about it, I mean he looks like things didn't go the way they were supposed to. Now he's trapped, and… what if he gets desperate." This didn't help to lift spirits.
"We can't lose hope," Kurt brought them back. "Not now, not with everything like this." They thought about this, and they agreed. Now was not the time to get sidetracked.
TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)