Kidnapped Ch.17

As she traced a finger over the slight bump on her abdomen, a shiver of anticipation and joy went down her spine. The slight protrusion meant everything to her. Despite what she had been through, she was able to protect her baby, and now, he or she was making itself known to the rest of the world.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, her eyes still closed. She could feel her heart beating, and a strange but clear sensation filled her body. For the first time, it actually hit her. A child was growing inside her, and she was responsible for his or her safety.

A pair of hands encircled her and she stiffened, her mind going completely blank. After a moment of panic in which she struggled to remember where she was, she relaxed, recognizing the owner of the hands as Castle's.

He began to trail kisses along her back as his hands danced across the bare skin of her abdomen. As he reached the bottom, he finally felt the bump, and he looked at her in the mirror, his eyes wide with wonder.

Smiling, Kate turned around and cupped his face in her hand, and gently pressed a kiss to his lips.

'Our baby,' she murmured, looking at him in the eye.

'Our baby,' Castle agreed, returning a deeper, joyful kiss.

"What do you feel, Kate?' Dr. Burke asked. Kate sat uneasily in his office, eyeing him with undisguised discomfort. Her hands were tightly clenched together as she sat perched on the edge of the sofa.

'I don't know,' Kate answered shortly, and Dr. Burke chuckled internally. Of all the patients that he had dealt with, Kate Beckett was surely on the top of the list of being one of the most stubborn persons that he had ever dealt with.

'Kate, you've been through what most people will never go through. And you've experienced it twice. There must be something that you are feeling,' Dr. Burke prodded. There was a heavy silence afterwards, and he was beginning to wonder if he would have to schedule the session for another day when she exploded, a torrent of words bursting from her mouth.

'I hate all of it,' Kate answered vehemently, her head jerking up sharply. 'I hate the constant fear. I hate having to look over my shoulder. I hate jumping every time my husband touches me. And I have no idea what to do about it. I just want everything to stop, to go back to the way it was. Why can't I stop myself from being so scared? Why can't someone help me?'

'Can they, Kate? Maybe they're trying to; you're just pushing them away,' Dr. Burke asked.

'What are you talking about?' Kate asked, sinking back into the soft sofa opposite to Dr. Burke.

'Kate, you are a strong, tough person, but are you ever willing to talk about what happened? Does anyone else apart from you actually know what happened when you were kidnapped?' Dr. Burke asked. 'Are you letting people help you at all?'

'Ryan, you'd better tell me what you are doing soon, or I'll be coming over to smack your pretty-boy face,' Esposito muttered darkly as Ryan continued to flip through the pages.

'T-something Lane,' Ryan murmured. 'What is that?'

'Bro, I'm telling you. One Temptation Lane fan here is more than enough. If you tell me that you've started watching Temptation Lane like Beckett, I swear I will hit you until you regain your senses,' Esposito threatened, and Ryan's eyebrow shot up.

'Aha! Temptation Lane,' Ryan exclaimed in triumph. He made to get up from his chair, but Esposito pushed him back down, and leaned towards him.

'Bro, what is going on?' Esposito asked seriously, and Ryan finally handed him the diary with the mysteriousness of a person who knows everything.

'Do that fanning thing so that you flip through the pages real quick. Pay attention to the letters in the lower right hand corner,' Ryan told him, leaning back on his chair.

Esposito did so and he looked at Ryan, his eyes wide with realization. 'What has Temptation Lane got to do with everything?'

'I have no idea, but let's go talk to Beckett about this – now,' Ryan answered, pulling on his jacket hurriedly.

'You're exactly like your mother when she was pregnant with you,' Jim Beckett told his only daughter that afternoon.

'What do you mean?' Kate asked, her attention temporarily diverted away from the drama series on the television. Her hand was suspended above the bowl of marmite and mashed potatoes that sat on her lap.

'When Jo was pregnant with you, all she wanted to do was to sit in front of a television and eat the weirdest combination of food there was available,' Jim chuckled, a wistful smile on his face as he thought of the wonderful times he had had with his wife.

'What did she watch?' Kate asked, intrigued.

'Temptation Lane,' Jim answered, laughing. 'That was why she would watch it with you when you were sick. It reminded her of the times when she was pregnant with you.'

'I still remember those scripts that mom made for me when I was younger. She got me so obsessed with that show,' Kate reminisced wistfully.

'Jo would sit in front of a typewriter late at night to make you those scripts. You would read them all the time, and say that it was just as good as watching the show,' Jim told her, and Kate laughed.

'I wish I knew where they were,' Kate told her father. 'I would love to read them again.'

'Well, I'm pretty sure that they are in those boxes in her room. I… didn't really go through them yet,' Jim mumbled, sadness seeping through his body.

'Dad, we don't have to get them yet,' Kate told him. 'We can wait until you are ready.'

'No, Katie. What I've learnt from this incident is that you never knew what will happen next. If it is something that you want, and it's possible for it to be done, then I should do it,' Jim answered, taking a deep breath. 'I'm ready.'

'What have we got?' Esposito asked Ryan when he got back. They didn't get a chance to go and see Kate yet, as a fresh murder had just turned up. Beckett still had a week of medical leave left, so he was left in charge until she was ready to return. The Temptation Lane question would just have to wait.

'Vic's name is Elizabeth Donelly. Widowed with no children. Poor woman,' Ryan shook his head as he relayed the information to Esposito. 'Lanie, what happened here?'

Lanie, who was crouched beside the body of an older female victim, looked up at them, no hint of teasing in her tone. 'Preliminary COD is a bullet through her head, execution style,' Lanie told him. 'And there is also something that you two should see.'

Ryan and Esposito exchanged glances. Whenever Lanie said that, it was never something good.

Pulling up her shirt to reveal her abdomen, both detectives stifled a little cry of shock. A knife was used to carve her stomach, leaving behind scarlet ribbons of fresh blood. The word they formed was unmistakable.

'Beckett.'

A/N: AHA! I'm back with my old tricks of cliffhangers. I know you all missed them, didn't you? Come on, you can admit it. No one will be upset. I really hope that you like this chapter, as I am not quite sure whether I am completely happy with how this turned out.

As usual, PLEASE REVIEW. Criticisms are much appreciated, but no flamers please.

This chapter is dedicated to Bianca tabbycat, my willing beta, who did not have to go to school today because of the weather. That lucky brat.

Zoe tabbycat