Cat and Mouse

This is my angst version of The Gambit, and Tyson and Nieman are back with a vengeance. I'm sure the writers aren't going to do this based on the spoiler pictures I've seen (and I do look), but the plot bunnies struck with a vengeance.

Author's Notes: And once again, we reach the end. Here's the last chapter. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

All characters belong to Andrew Marlowe, ABC, and Disney. Just playing with them and you.

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Chapter 4 – Witness to the Execution

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Ryan knocked softly on the door to the hospital room in case Castle was asleep and then slowly pushed it open when he didn't get a response.

"Beckett?" he called out quietly and then stepped into the suite, looking around.

Upon seeing the empty room, he turned back to Gates and Espo and shrugged slightly. They had come to pay the couple an official visit that needed to be made sooner rather than later, considering the circumstances.

He was about to say something when they heard Castle's low groan coming from the bathroom behind the closed door.

"Oh, Kate, your fingers are magical – that's the spot," Castle said. "Oh, yeah – right there – harder." He groaned again. "Oh, yeah – keep doing that."

Trying to keep the smirks off their faces, the three of them looked at each other and were about to close the door to the room when the bathroom door opened and Beckett walked out, the front of her t-shirt wet.

"Oh, Captain Gates," she said as she shut the door behind her. "We didn't hear you come in."

"Well, you were busy," Gates replied with a straight face.

Beckett motioned to the bathroom with her hand. "Ah – I was just washing Castle's hair. The doctor won't let him shower yet, so they brought up a shampoo chair."

"Hey, Beckett," Castle called from the bathroom. "When you bring the pj's, can you also bring some baby powder? I think I'm starting to cha—"

Beckett cut him off by opening the door slightly and saying, "Castle, babe, we have company – Captain Gates and the boys are here."

"Oh, okay," Castle said. "Ask them if they want something to eat."

"I'll be right back," Beckett said as she pulled a set of pj's out of the chest-of-drawers in the corner and picked up a bottle of powder.

While Beckett was gone, the trio admired the deluxe hospital suite that Castle had been ensconced in for the past 4 days after emergency room to remove the bullets. The surgery had gone much better than the doctor expected and there had been minimal damage. His only concern was that Castle's intestines had been perforated and leaked for several hours before he received medical attention. He put Castle on an IV drip for 7 days to avoid infection.

Several bouquets of fresh flowers sat on the tables in the room that looked more like a 4-star hotel room than a hospital room.

"So this is how the other half live," quipped Ryan.

After a couple of minutes, the door opened and Castle shuffled out, hair still wet but brushed, dressed in long pj's and a bathrobe, bending slightly at the waist, holding onto an IV pole.

"Hey, Castle," said Ryan. "Heard you were on some kinda vacation."

"Yeah, bro – looking good," said Espo.

Castle nodded as he scooted over to the chair by the bed and then grimaced slightly as he slowly sat down. "Give me a minute to catch my breath and I'll race you down to the nurses' station and back."

He looked up at the trio. "You want anything for lunch? The chef here is wonderful – makes a great puree that's to die for."

With a slight smile on her face, Beckett rolled her eyes at him before looking at Gates.

"If you have a minute, Detective," Gates said and they walked over to the other side of the room to talk.

Castle looked at Espo and Ryan pleadingly and said quietly, "Guys, seriously, it's like eating baby food. I'm starving. You're my friends, right? I'll give you the Ferrari for a month if you sneak me in a cheese burger or a pizza…"

Beckett paused in her conversation with Gates to look over at them. "Castle, I can hear you and the doctor says you can't have any solid food for at least 3 more days."

Castle looked beseechingly at Espo and Ryan. 'Please,' he mouthed. 'Two months?'

They looked at Beckett who was watching them with a raised eyebrow and then back at Castle.

"Sorry, bro," said Espo, shaking his head. "You're on your own."

Castle slumped down in the chair, pouting slightly. "Okay," he breathed.

He was silent for a few minutes and then looked up at Beckett and Gates, his curiosity finally peaking. "Kate, is everything okay?"

Beckett looked over at him and then nodded as Gates finished. She walked over to Castle and pulled a chair up to his and sat down, taking his hand in hers.

"So are you going to ask which I want first – the good news or the bad news?" he quipped as she pushed a piece a hair behind her ear.

This his eyes widen. "No, wait – they didn't get away, did they? Tell me they didn't get away," Castle said quickly, anxiety evident in his voice.

Beckett shook her head. "No, no – they didn't get away." She glanced at Gates and then looked back at Castle. "Actually, they're here in a secured area of the hospital," she said reassuringly.

"Oh, good," said Castle, relaxing a little.

She took a breath. "Rick, babe – in the alley, when you shot at the van, you hit both Tyson and Nieman—"

"The fake DA had left the gun," nodded Castle. "They were going to run me over. And I couldn't let them get away again."

It was Ryan's turn to nod. "Yeah, when we were in the building, we had to go outside to get a signal."

Beckett nodded at him and then looked back at Castle. "And when you started shooting, they put the van in reverse and pulled out into traffic."

"The van was hit by a cement mixer and rammed into armored car," added Espo.

"They were seriously injured in the wreck," Beckett continued, looking at Castle. "It took firefighters an hour to cut them out." She held his hand tighter. "They've been on life support since they were brought in."

Castle swallowed thickly. These two people were serial killers so why did he feel so bad about what had happened?

"Was anyone else hurt?" he asked quietly.

Beckett shook her head. "Neither of the other drivers was hurt. And no bystanders were hurt either."

Castle nodded. "So what's the good news?" he asked softly.

"The DA has ruled that shooting as self-defense," said Gates. "They aren't going to press charges against you."

"Okay," said Castle, nodding again as he digested the information. He looked at Beckett. "So what else?"

Beckett paused for a moment before speaking. "They're taking Nieman and Tyson off of life support today. The doctors say there is no brain activity." She looked up at Gates, Espo, and Ryan. "They're here to witness it."

Castle nodded, brow furrowed. "And you're sure it's really them?" he asked quietly.

Gates nodded. "Yes, they have been positively identified." She paused for a moment. "Mr. Castle, in light of the circumstances, we wanted to ask you and Detective Beckett if you would like to attend."

Castle looked at her and then at Beckett for their answer.

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For two people who had destroyed numerous lives with their evil, the event itself was almost anti-climactic, Castle thought as he sat in the wheelchair and watched what was going on in the room.

The police commission and DA Cummins were there also, as well as Dr. Parish, to witness the event.

The doctor simply switched off the ventilators, their hearts beat a couple of more times and then stopped, and ME Lanie Parish called the time of death.

And that was it.

It was too simple, Castle thought as he stared at the two bodies. But what he had really expected?

He felt Beckett's grip tighten on his hand and gently squeezed back. So if these people were so bad, why did he feel responsible?

By the time Beckett wheeled Castle back into the hospital room, he was in serious pain because he skipped his pain medicine to be able to witness the – what would he call it – execution or getting off easy?

Ryan and Espo had to help him get out of the wheelchair and into bed.

Espo put a comforting hand on his shoulder and leaned over to whisper into his ear.

"I've been there, bro – in both situations. You can't let it get to you. And take the pain meds – they really help."

A nurse walked in, carrying a syringe. "So where would you like it, Mr. Castle?" she asked.

Beckett smoothed his hair back from his forehead and kissed him. "I'll be back in a minute, babe."

Castle nodded as he closed his eyes and relaxed as the medicine took effect.

Beckett walked out into the hallway with Gates and the others.

The captain paused for a moment and then smiled slightly at Beckett. "In light of the circumstances, the DA has changed her mind and has agreed to let Mr. Castle volunteer again at the 12th." She paused for a moment. "He will need to pass a psych eval before he returns though."

"Thank you. This means a lot to us," said Beckett, nodding and smiling herself. "I'll let him know."

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Two weeks later, when Castle was finally able to get around without much difficulty, he and Beckett found themselves sitting in Dr. Burke's office for Castle's psych eval.

It would be another three weeks before the doctor would release him to return to volunteer work at the precinct, but they wanted to make sure that all of the paperwork would be completed by that time, not there was any doubt of it with Burke's involvement.

At the appointed time, the door opened and Burke stepped out, smiling professionally at the couple.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Beckett asked quietly.

"Is that permitted?" Castle asked. It wasn't like she was going to hear anything new. They had spent hours talking late into the night about what had happened; this interview was just a mere formality.

"I think we can make an exception in this case," Burke replied.

"Good," Castle said as he stood and held out his hand to Beckett.

"So, Mr. Castle," said Burke as the couple sat down on the couch. "I've read your books."

Castle smiled. "I'll be glad to sign them if you want."

Burke nodded. "We'll save that for later. So you're here for a psych eval?" he asked, leafing through some papers.

Castle nodded as he looked at Beckett and then back at Burke.

"Yeah." His expression changed as he thought. "I'm sure you've read the papers – about the serial killers, Tyson and Nieman…"

Burke nodded in response. "The article just said that they were injured in a traffic accident and didn't regain consciousness after that."

Castle nodded again. "I did that – I caused that. They died because of me," he said simply.

Burke nodded again. "And how do you feel about that?"

Castle took a breath. "That they got off too easily. They were monsters – they killed at least 10 people that we know of – probably more that we don't know about. They've lurked in the shadows for the last couple of years, ever since I discovered who Tyson really was. They threatened my family – the officers of the 12th. And if the same thing happened, I'd do it all over again. Well, I would try to avoid getting shot by the fake DA," Castle quickly added.

"But…?" Burke prompted.

Castle leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, as Beckett placed a hand on his shoulder.

"There's a part of me that's glad they're dead – that thinks they should have suffered like their victims suffered. But there's a part of me that tells me I'm responsible for their deaths – that because of me, two people died."

Burke nodded. "And that bothers you?"

Castle stood, giving Beckett a quick kiss on the forehead before starting to pace.

"I kill people for a living, on paper at least. But in real life, it's totally different." He stopped and looked at Burke.

"And you're having trouble reconciling that," Burke said. He cocked his head slightly and paused before talking. "In your books, you bring people to justice – good always triumphs over evil."

Castle nodded, smiling slightly and shrugging. "That's a given in murder mysteries unless the book is about the anti-hero. But in real life, good doesn't always win. It just happened to this time."

Burke nodded as he studied Castle. "I would be more concerned if you didn't feel any guilt about this. That's what makes you different than a serial killer."

Castle nodded and smiled at Beckett. "So I've been told."

"And is this something you think you can live with?" Burke asked.

Castle scrubbed a hand through his hair and then nodded. "Yeah, I can."

Burke scribbled something down on the paper and then looked back up at Castle. "Well, Mr. Castle, welcome back to the force."

"Thank you." Castle breathed with a sigh of relief. Beckett had reassured him that he would pass the psych eval with flying colors, but he hadn't been so sure.

He smiled at Burke. "So when do you want me to sign those books?"

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Beckett's phone chirped as they left Burke's office and she glanced at it.

"Sorry, babe, that was Espo – we got a body. I'll have to take a rain check on the coffee," she said and then kissed Castle as he pouted slightly. "Besides, it's almost time for your nap."

Castle rolled his eyes slightly – he was a grown man and shouldn't need a nap to make it through the day, but at this point, if he didn't take one, he would be asleep on the couch by 8 pm, dead to the world so to speak.

He quirked an eyebrow at her and pulled her into a hug. "And maybe you could take a nap with me when you get home," he said suggestively.

He leaned in to kiss her and then grimaced as his side pulled. "Or maybe not…" he said as he leaned back and pressed a hand into his side.

"Down, boy. Let's not get too frisky yet," Beckett said with a slight smile. "Besides, that can be your present for coming back to the precinct," she purred into his ear. "And I'll be sure to wrap it up with a bow."

"And that's one present I can't wait to unwrap," replied Castle.

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The End