I found this one so hard to write. Cops and Robbers is one of my very favourite episodes (along with many of you, I'm sure) and I wanted, so much, to do it justice. Hope I've managed it.

I also had to split it into two chapters because well there was rather a lot of stuff going on in Beckett's head!

Disclaimer: wish I could have thought it up, but I didn't, so it's not mine!

Chapter 9

Cops and Robbers (Part 1)

Kate had the day off and it was just as well. She'd spent the last five hours alternating between lying awake, tossing and turning, and sleeping but experiencing vivid nightmares. These nightmares were different, though. Usually her dreams centred on her mother's death, her own shooting, Montgomery's betrayal or any number of other events around the same theme. Last night she dreamed about Castle; Castle dead; shot; blown apart by an explosion. The nightmares had left her terrified. She knew that they were just that, nightmares, tricks of her sub-conscious brain but she was left trembling and in a cold sweat.

At 5.30, she decided to go for a run. She ran further and faster than usual, trying to escape her demons. It had no effect. She tried yoga for an hour, thinking that she may be able to lose herself in the relaxation of mind and body. That failed, too. She took herself off to the precinct gym where she ran out of available (or was that willing) sparing partners. Kate Beckett was a formidable opponent at the best of times but today, she was just ferocious. She left the gym in agony. Her physical therapist, Roger, had told her she could do some light sparing. That had not been a light session and her body was now telling her how stupid she was being.

She tried soaking her aching body in the bath and although that managed to ease the physical pain, the mental anguish was still there as prominent as ever. Finally she took out the diary and began to write about the events of the previous day; the day that had shaken her to the very core.

Yesterday started out just fine. We didn't have a new case so I was finally catching up on overdue paperwork. Castle, of course, was nowhere to be seen. I'd been at it for a couple of hours when the phone rang. Talk of the devil, it was Castle but I have to say, his first words took me completely by surprise,

"Tell me you need me."

How was I supposed to answer that one? Tell him the truth and open my soul to him, no Kate Beckett doesn't do that or lie to him and risk everything we've been building recently. So I did what I always do, played for time,

"Excuse me?" I replied.

As it turned out, what he really meant was that he was bored and wishing fervently that there was a dead body somewhere to rescue him. He was apparently stuck at the bank while his mother was trying to negotiate a loan to repair her acting studio and business meetings were not Castle's idea of a fun time, although evidently better than doing paperwork with me. I'm not sure, but I think I feel a little insulted by that. Anyway, his boredom seemed to be causing his writer's imagination to run away with him as he was suddenly concerned that the bank was about to be robbed. He'd spotted a couple of suspicious-looking characters in doctors' scrubs and had decided to weave a story around them.

Then I heard it; a voice shouting for everyone to get down on the floor. Castle was right, the bank was indeed about to be robbed. I could hear the confusion in the background, voices yelling, people screaming. He told me he was at New Amsterdam Bank and Trust on Lexington so I immediately got Esposito to advise dispatch. The robbers were relieving everyone of their cell phones and Castle was evidently hiding while he gave me all the information he could. He told me there were three of them, all dressed in scrubs, emptying the cash drawers and taking the manager's key. At that moment, my heart froze as I heard the familiar sound of a hand gun being cocked.

"Make that four," said Castle and it didn't take a genius to figure that he'd been discovered. I heard a guy threatening to make an example of him but the next thing I know, the robber is on the other end of the line,

"Sorry, your friend can't talk right now."

Now I'm no expert in hostage situations and my next move may not have been the correct one but I let him know that I was a cop and that I had squad cars on the way to the bank. I heard Castle denying that he'd called the cops, not strictly true as he had called me; that we'd already been on the phone when they came in, which was, of course, true. It seemed to satisfy the guy. I offered him a way out; just leave, take nothing, no-one gets hurt and they could disappear. I thought he was considering it for a moment when he asked if I promised not to look for him but then I couldn't help myself, I had to let him know the sort of cop he was dealing with,

"I don't look, I hunt; and trust me, you don't want that."

Was that smart? Hell, I don't know. But the next thing I do know, he's turning down my offer and the line goes dead. There was only one thing to do now; I had to get down there. There was no way on earth I was staying at the precinct while Castle was held hostage in a bank robbery.

When we got there, the place was swarming with cops and press. A cordon had been set up and members of the public were being cleared from the area. I made my way to the Command Centre and introduced myself to the commander, Captain Peterson. I must say, I took an immediate dislike to the man but he was the expert and Castle's life was in his hands for the time being. I told him my partner was in the bank and he naturally assumed that meant he was a cop. I contemplated lying or at least not correcting him because, maybe that would change his attitude, but I was sure it wouldn't take long for the truth to come out and then I would have lost his trust totally; so I told him that Castle was a civilian investigator, that we'd been on the phone when the situation began and that I'd talked to one of the robbers. He asked about his demeanour and I told him just how calm he'd been; in fact, as I thought about it, the guy had been scarily calm. Once Captain Peterson had got all the information from me, he made it very clear that my presence was no longer required. As I left the Command Centre, I stopped to look at the bank where, at that very moment, Castle and Martha's lives were under threat and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. Well I wasn't prepared to settle for that.

I sent Esposito off to talk to his buddies in ESU and Ryan to find out about any other robberies with the same MO. At least if we could gather information it might give us some leverage. Next thing I know, I'm summoned back to the Command Centre. It appeared the robber I'd spoken to earlier would only talk to me. As I said before, I have absolutely zero training in hostage negotiation but Captain Peterson simply told me to do the opposite of what my homicide training told me; don't yell, don't bully, don't threaten him in any way. Yeah, like that's easy! But it did give me a way in; a way to have some control over the situation; a way to help Castle instead of standing around waiting for someone else to rescue my partner. So I agreed.

I started to build rapport straight away when the robber stated that he didn't like Captain Peterson; that was easy because neither did I; we had something in common, at least! I got a name from him, then, Trapper John; obviously a M*A*S*H fan. I couldn't quite believe just how in control of the situation Trapper John was. He knew our playbook, probably a lot better than I did, come to that. He calmly threatened to kill hostages if we did anything other than follow his instructions and told me he'd start with 'my boyfriend'. Okay, so Castle isn't my boyfriend but, if I'm very honest and I am being here, he might just as well be because my feeling of dread could not have been greater even if we were officially an item.

I was as nervous as hell. I wanted to do something, anything; but hostage negotiations are not like murder investigations apparently and doing nothing is all you can do. Crap!

Espo came back from chatting with his ESU buddies but it was all bad news. The bank cameras were down and there was no way of getting eyes or ears on what was going on inside. In that scenario, if they stormed the bank the hostages stood no chance. He didn't need to say it, I could tell just by looking at his face.

Trapper John came back on the phone a few minutes later. I tried to get him to release Simone, the pregnant bank teller but he was having none of it. He was willing to let her go but only after they'd got to Teterboro Airport and he was planning on keeping the rest of the hostages until they arrived at a foreign destination of his choosing. He gave us three hours to get them a bus.

Captain Peterson immediately ordered the bus but denied he was giving in to demands saying that the only way Trapper John was leaving was in handcuffs or a body bag but if necessary he could use the bus to lure the robbers out and have snipers take them out. He may have been the expert, but this didn't feel right to me.

It was at this point that a flashing light was spotted in the bank and it took me all of about three seconds to realise that it was Morse code and to know exactly who was sending the message. I had to smile to myself; Castle was okay and, as always, was trying to help. The message was cryptic, though; SDB 120 repeated over and over again. I had to understand what he was trying to tell me and, yes, I knew perfectly well that the message was for me. It only took a moment; Safe Deposit Box 120. That was all well and good, but, Castle, what the hell did that mean? Records showed that the box belonged to an elderly couple, Gideon and Agnes Fields. Now I had a way to help so I sent Ryan and Esposito to talk to the Fields.

The boys didn't take long to report back. Gideon Fields had been dead for four years – odd, as he'd been accessing the Safe Deposit Box regularly - and they'd found Agnes's body at their home. She looked as though she'd been dead about a week and the place was trashed as though the killer had been searching for something. There was a broken keychain necklace on the body which must have held the box key. Ryan also found a top of the range bug. This wasn't just a run of the mill bank robbery. What the hell was going on? I had no clue.

Then things got even more complicated. I turned round and saw a familiar figure at the edge of the crowd looking terrified. It was Alexis. I had to get off the phone and talk to her. I instructed Esposito to carry on the investigation at the Fields' home and quickly crossed to the young red-head. I don't think I'd ever seen the usually so mature girl looking so young and fragile. She was in a state of blind panic. I've dealt with the family of victims all my career but this felt so very different; this was the daughter of my partner, the man I know I love; this was personal; but I had to push down my own fears and be as professional and reassuring as I could. In the end, though, I held her arms and made her a promise that they'd be okay; a promise that I had no idea if I could keep; a promise made as much for my own benefit as hers. Then she looked at me with eyes suddenly as hard as steel,

"They'd better," and that was when I realised just how much was at stake here. This wonderful girl in front of me was in grave danger of losing a parent, the only parent she'd ever been really close to, and her grandmother. She was just a year younger than I was when my mother was killed. I was not prepared to allow Alexis to go through that. I would do anything in my power to prevent it.

At that moment I was called back to the Command Centre. I told Alexis I had to go but asked one of the uniforms to stay with her. I didn't want her to be left alone.

Kate realised that the day was getting away from her. It was her day off and all she'd done so far was nearly kill herself by exercising way too much and write in her diary. It was already mid-afternoon and she'd managed to miss both breakfast and lunch. It was time to take a break and at least grab a sandwich. She could finish the diary entry later.

Hope you guys are okay with this so far. Part 2 will be up tomorrow. Please feel free to let me know how it's going.