Author's Note: I'd like to thank FDWojo, phnxgrl, southerngirl1, and TORONTOSUN for their reviews. FDWojo: I hadn't thought of Romeo and Juliet before, but there is a little of that going on, isn't there. phnxgrl: Alex likes her plans... southerngrl1: Me too. TORONTOSUN: We'll see... Here is our first look at Castle post-abduction. This chapter starts one hour before the last chapter ended. Enjoy!

Chapter 42

Volkert turned the television in front of Castle on. "It is 11 o'clock, let's see if your fiancée has the guts to save you."

Castle glared at the man standing in front of him. "You're despicable. You don't honestly believe Kate would be foolish enough to listen to you."

Volkert chuckled. "We shall see. Ah, I see our guest of honor has arrived."

Castle looked into the shadows and was surprised to see Alex walking in. She was looking at him coldly and Castle found he was speechless. Volkert pulled a chair out from behind the table and set it up next to his before he sat down. Alex took the seat and turned her attention to the television screen. The view was of Beckett's car. For a few minutes, nothing happened. Then, Beckett appeared on screen, nervously glancing over her shoulders as though she was afraid that she was being watched.

Castle's face was horrified. "Kate, no, what are you doing?!"

Volkert smiled. "So, I see your fiancée is foolish after all." They watched as Beckett's car pulled away from the curb and into the street. Volkert stood up to face Castle. "It takes at least twenty minutes to get to the George Washington Bridge from her precinct, so let's talk. What do you think will happen now?"

Castle said nothing. Alex continued to watch the screen. Eight minutes after Beckett left, Ryan and Esposito showed up on screen.

Volkert turned around to watch. "Ah, the dynamic duo is rushing to the rescue." He picked up a radio. "Kiniaev, what is going on?"

A voice with a slight Eastern European accent answered. "One of them used a radio. He said, 'Eagle's Nest, this is Bravo team. The Sparrow has flown the coop. We're in pursuit.' What should I do?"

"Hold your position. Let's see if anyone else comes down." Volkert set the radio down. "I love the FBI and their code names. 'Eagle's Nest, Bravo team, the Sparrow.' Lovely." He looked at his watch. "Uh-oh, they better hurry if they want to stop her. This should be exciting."

Castle was praying that Ryan and Esposito would make it on time. He couldn't live with himself if Beckett committed suicide to save him. Not that I'm likely to live long, I've seen their faces. Volkert was busy watching the FBI agents rush to their SUVs. Castle turned his head to look at Alex. She was watching him with a cold expression; it was as though she didn't care for him at all. Volkert switched off the television.

"Nothing to see until the George Washington Bridge, I'm afraid. I'm going to get myself a drink. Alex, care to join me?"

Alex shook her head. "No, thanks, I'm on the job."

Volkert shook his head. "You're always on the job. Ah well, more for me, I guess."

Ten minutes later, Volkert returned with a glass of brandy and an unlit cigar. He set the cigar down on the table and turned the television back on. Now they were watching the street near the George Washington Bridge. A little while later, Beckett's car pulled into a spot near the bridge and stopped. She looked around and then appeared to be searching her car for something. A minute later, it was obvious that she was writing a note.

Volkert chuckled. "A last letter, how sentimental. I'm going to enjoy watching her die."

Castle was both livid and terrified at the same moment. "I hope your death is agony. She doesn't deserve this; she is ten times better than you'll ever be."

Volkert sat down slowly. "Mr. Castle, all men must die. And soon, we will find out if it is you, or her. Personally, I do hope it's her. My quarrel is with your darling wife-to-be after all, not you."

They watched as Beckett eventually emerged from the car, carefully removed her badge from her hip, and placed it on the seat. She followed that with her gun from its holster and her phone from her pocket. She placed these on the seat as well as her keys. She stood outside the car looking at the note before it too was placed on the seat. Then she paused for another minute before taking off a necklace, examining it, and placing that on the seat too. Beckett then locked the car and closed the door. Castle was becoming frantic as his 'one and done' started to walk onto the bridge. She pulled her coat tighter around herself and glanced at her watch before speeding up.

Volkert radioed his man on the street. "Weller, let me know when she's close to the support structure. I want to know when the cameras should switch."

Almost ten minutes later, Weller radioed back. "She's almost there."

Volkert hit a button. "And there she is."

Castle was starting to hyperventilate watching as Beckett tied the rope to the railing and then into a knot. He could tell that her hands were shaking and was sure that the cold night air was not the reason. She was nervous about what she was about to do, but she was also Beckett, which meant that she was determined to see this through.

Volkert's radio crackled to life. "Sir."

Volkert picked up the radio again. "What is it, Hirsch?"

Hirsch sounded like he was from the South. "Another car just arrived. There's a small white guy standing next to the lady's car. What should I do?"

Volkert shook his head with frustration. Sometimes, good help was hard to find. "Let it play. I want to watch this."

Beckett dropped the rope and bent down to retrieve it. When she stood up, she glanced around, probably hearing sirens. She started to frantically work on the rope, dropping it again in her haste. An SUV came to a halt near the detective, and she looked panicked.

Volkert reached for his radio again, irritation in his voice. "Weller, let's hear what they're saying!"

The sound turned on in time to hear the end of Esposito's sentence. "…this, we can figure it out!"

Beckett shook her head. "Do you have Castle?!"

Ryan shook his head. "Beckett, the FBI are all over it! Shaw won't let you down! Come on, this isn't what Castle would want you to do!"

Beckett nodded. "I know! He would want me to let him die! But I can't do that; he has a family to live for!"

Esposito adjusted his grip on his gun. "So do you! We are your family! Come on, Kate; drop the rope and come over here! We don't want to hurt you!"

Beckett put the rope around her neck. "Tell Castle I'm sorry!"

Castle couldn't remain silent any longer. "Kate, no!"

Beckett turned her back to the other detectives as she stepped up to the rail. Ryan pulled the trigger of the Taser and Beckett's body tensed as the barbs sank into her through the thin coat she was wearing. Her body wavered slightly and then fell onto the sidewalk. Esposito vaulted the barrier and reached her first, removing the rope from around her neck as Ryan joined him and helped to carry the fighting detective to their car. The FBI arrived and it looked like Beckett started to cry as the door to the SUV shut.

"They actually managed to stop her. Now I can't enjoy my cigar." Volkert stood up in anger. "Mr. Castle, I'm afraid your time is up."

Alex stood up lazily. "You don't have to kill him now. Give him twenty-four hours."

Volkert turned to her. "Why?"

Alex shrugged. "I think he could still be of some use to us."

Volkert's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Are you defending him?"

Alex shook her head. "No."

Volkert was still suspicious. "Then why does it seem like you are defending him?"

Alex looked at Volkert as coldly as she had looked at Castle. "Personally, I don't care what you do to him. At least give me the twenty-four hours."

Volkert turned the television off. "Why? So you can go to the cops and tell them where we are? Don't think I was unaware of your trip to them this afternoon. You tried to give them information."

Alex didn't react. "Fine, I went to the cops today, but that was only to gain their trust. You gave me a contract to complete, but I haven't finished it yet. Do you really think that I wanted Beckett to commit suicide instead? I wanted to be the one that finished her, which meant that I had to be able to get close enough. After they found out who I really am, they've never really trusted me. Every time I got even a little bit close, they always managed to spot me and would try to kill or arrest me. And you having Locken kill her father didn't help."

"You're blaming me for your inability to complete your contract."

"Killing her father made it very difficult to get anywhere near her. If I couldn't get close, I couldn't finish the job. By going to the cops with some information, they've begun to trust me. If you kill Castle now, then they won't trust me. And if they don't trust me, I can't get close, which means Beckett lives. So give me twenty-four hours. After that, you can do whatever you want with him."

Castle was furious. "How could you?! She trusted you!"

Alex slapped Castle so hard, the sound echoed through the abandoned warehouse. "Shut up. I'm an assassin, remember? You shouldn't trust me on principle."

Castle glared at her, but kept his mouth shut. Volkert walked away to contemplate Alex's offer. Alex watched him, and Castle continued to glare at her. Eventually, it looked like Volkert had come to a decision.

He stopped feet from Alex. "You have twenty-four hours to kill Beckett. And I want her body brought here as proof. My men will escort you out. Meet them mid-block on West 36th at Midtown Glass when you've completed the job."

Alex nodded and walked toward the door. Volkert picked up the empty brandy snifter and unused cigar and carried them out of the main room. As the solitary light in the warehouse turned off, Castle's sobs could be heard softly echoing through the room.

The next morning…

Beckett woke curled up on the couch in the lounge. She sat up, disoriented for a moment. She couldn't remember returning to the precinct, let alone getting to the lounge. The events of the previous night returned to her and tears started to fall. Beckett feared that Castle was dead by now, making the whole thing pointless.

Shaw walked in to check on Beckett. "You're awake. Good." She held out a cup of coffee. "I thought you might want this."

Beckett shook her head. She didn't feel like she could eat or drink, not with Castle still missing and the weight of her guilt weighing her down.

Shaw nodded as though she understood and set the cup down on the table in front of Beckett. "We haven't found anything yet. I have a feeling that if Volkert is as theatrical as Alex claims, we would have found his body by now if he were dead. So, for now, you need to believe that Castle is still alive."

Beckett nodded, but her eyes said that she couldn't believe that. The two women sat in silence for a minute, not needing to talk to communicate the feelings of loss and fear from one, and the concern and sympathy from the other. Shaw watched Beckett and could tell that this time around, her feelings for her partner were more than just those for a sometimes-annoying friend; she really did love the man who was currently in the hands of a dangerous and unstable criminal mastermind.

There was a commotion in the bullpen. Shaw and Beckett raced out to see what was going on. Alex was walking into the bullpen, hands once again raised in surrender. Cops and agents had their guns trained in her direction, more as a precaution than an actual need to defend themselves.

"I'm unarmed, I'm here to help." She glanced over when she saw Beckett. "Castle's alive." Alex's face became apologetic. "I'm afraid I had to hit him to sell the ruse though. Sorry."

Beckett let out a shaky laugh in relief. "Thank you."

Alex smiled. "Can I talk to you? Alone?"

Beckett was curious and nodded. Alex lowered her hands after Avery patted her down and confirmed that she was clean. Together, they walked into the lounge and shut the door. Shaw watched them go, suspicious, but willing, for once, to let it play.

Thirty minutes later…

Esposito watched the women as they talked in the lounge. Alex had her back to the door and seemed to be doing most of the talking. Beckett looked like she was occasionally asking a question, but for the most part she seemed to just stand there, staring at the floor. Esposito couldn't tell if the frustration on his boss's face was with Alex or just the whole, messed up situation; it was probably both.

He turned back to his computer and started scrolling through the online hotline tips again. Most were worthless and had been checked out or discarded already. He glanced over his shoulder at his partner. Ryan was busy with a phone call that sounded like another waste of time.

Ryan looked over his shoulder and rolled his eyes as he continued with the call. "Yes Ma'am, I'll make sure someone checks into it." He hung up the phone. "This lady thinks she saw Castle walk through a wall into an abandoned apartment building in Los Angeles. How are the online tips coming?"

Esposito shrugged. "At least I don't have to talk to them. Most of them are just as bogus as your calls. And the ones that aren't have already been checked out."

Ryan glanced toward the lounge. "How long have they been in there?"

Esposito glanced at his phone. "Half an hour. I want to know what they're talking about."

"Yeah." Ryan glanced toward the war room. Shaw was standing in the doorway watching Beckett and Alex closely. "Looks like you're not the only one."

Shaw crossed the bullpen to the lounge and knocked on the door. Alex opened it up and closed it behind Shaw. The women stayed in there for another half hour before they emerged, Shaw a couple minutes before Alex and Beckett, who had a brief conversation and then Alex left. Esposito watched as Alex walked out, noting a slightly subdued manner in her demeanor. Shaw called Avery over and Beckett went to her desk. After a quick and quiet conversation, Avery nodded and went to make a phone call. Shaw walked into Captain Gates's office and shut the door.

Esposito got up and went to talk to Beckett. "Hey, what was that all about?"

Beckett glanced up, seeming distracted as she put her badge, gun and necklace back on. "Oh, she was telling me about Castle. He's okay, just a couple of bruises. And apparently he could see the whole thing at the bridge. Alex was giving me the blow by blow of his reactions."

Esposito nodded, not completely believing her. "What did she have to say to Shaw?"

Beckett looked away. "Shaw was asking about the place Castle was being held. I honestly wasn't really paying attention to that."

"Worried about Castle?" Esposito glanced to where Shaw had disappeared.

Beckett nodded. "I don't know what to do. First my mom, then Montgomery, then my dad, and now Castle. Why does this keep happening?"

Esposito ducked his head down to try and get her attention. "Hey, don't you give up on Castle yet. We are doing everything we can to get him back. Castle is not going to be Lanie's next customer, mark my words."

Beckett gave a weak smile. "Thanks. Listen, I'm going to go home and get some sleep. I'm no good here."

"Oh, no you don't. Not till your protective detail gets here." Shaw had just emerged from the Captain's office.

Esposito stood up. "We can protect her. Hey, Ryan…"

Shaw shook her head. "No, I need you here. The detail should be here any minute. Avery will be with them. We've already figured out the logistics."

Ryan came over. "What's up?"

Esposito shrugged. "Nothing, apparently. I was volunteering to be Beckett's protection, but Shaw's already got that covered." Ryan went back to his desk and Esposito turned back to Beckett. "We'll let you know if we hear anything."

Beckett's desk phone rang. Shaw snapped her fingers and the tech team nodded. They got the trace going and Shaw put on headphones. Beckett waited for the go ahead before she picked up the phone.

"Beckett."

The technologically altered voice was back. "I'm very disappointed that you failed. But I also know that it was not entirely your fault. So I'm giving you twenty-four hours from last night to die. This time, you can come up with your own solution to our problem."

Beckett's voice was shaky. "How do I know Castle's still alive?"

The voice laughed. "Speak to him yourself."

Castle's voice echoed over the phone. "Kate, don't listen to him! Don't do it!"

A slap was heard over the line before the voice came back. "Midnight, detective. If you're not dead by the end of the time limit, Castle will be. And this time there will be no reprieve. I can be a patient man, but that patience it starting to wear thin. You know what to do."

The line went dead and the tech team shook their heads. "It wasn't a landline; we weren't able to triangulate the position in the timeframe."

Shaw shook her head. "At least we gave it a shot." Her phone rang. "Shaw. Okay, I'll send her down." She hung up. "Avery says the protection detail is close. You'll get into a taxi and Avery's team will follow." Beckett nodded and grabbed her coat. "Don't worry, we'll find him."

Gates came out of her office. "Beckett, I'm going to have to ask that you leave your gun here. I trust that you wouldn't really hurt yourself, but I have to take every precaution."

Beckett nodded and handed over her piece. "I understand, sir."

Esposito followed her to the elevators. "I meant what I said earlier. We're going to find him."

Beckett nodded as she waited for the elevator to arrive. "I know." The walls of her armor cracked. "Javier, you have to find him. I couldn't bear it if I lost him. I've lost so much already. If I lose him…" She trailed off before she shook her head and took in a shuttering breath. "If I lose him, his body won't be the only one you guys find."

The elevator arrived and Beckett got on. Esposito watched as the doors closed; he could tell that Beckett was putting on a brave front, but he could also see just how shattered his boss felt.

Meanwhile…

Volkert's phone rang. "Hello?"

"If you want to witness Beckett's death for yourself, you'll have to pick up the signal from the camera I just installed on the building near the corner of Crosby and Broome. Wireless I.D. 546K-8I76-51L3-L256."

Volkert smiled as he shut his phone. Finally.

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger (actually, I'm not). So, what do you think is going to happen? Write a review and we'll see if you're right. As for the address, according to a check Martha Rodgers receives after Chet's death, Castle lives at 395 Broome St. in the SoHo area of Manhattan. The actual exterior shots we see in the show are a block or two away at Broome and Crosby. Just a little trivia…