Kate only slept for a few minutes before she woke. The look on Rick's face held off her unasked question, she already had the answer. Once she'd shook herself out of sleep she sat independently and stared at the wall opposite.
"I could really do with a silver lining here Rick." Kate murmured softly. Castle sighed, the last time she'd asked that of him floating to the front of his mind, before leaning forward and taking her hand in his.
"The entire precinct, the Captain included, is looking for her." She shook her head.
"That isn't a silver lining. That's a reasoned response." She turned to him, her eyes bright and shiny with tears. "Rick..." she choked. "Could you be a nine year old on a sugar rush for a minute please and just...?" Her chin hit her chest as she dropped her head. Rick slowly wrapped his arms around her back.
"At least we have each other; at least we aren't alone right now." She nodded, moving so her forehead rested against his shoulder. "We will find her Kate. I p..." she shook her head.
"Don't promise me we'll find her, unless you know for a fact we can do it. Because I'll never forgive you, anymore than I'd ever forgive myself." Rick didn't miss that it was his own words she was using right now. He gently kissed her temple.
"Okay. Okay I won't. But we won't give up until we do. I can promise you that."
More than an hour later, Kate was sat staring blankly into space while Rick was on the phone to Alexis; he had a 'pea-pod thing' urge to call his baby girl. The boys watched from Gates' office door, where they had been updating her, as their friends fell apart silently. Neither of them had ever seen Kate so scared, and they had seen her in some of the worst situations a human being can go through. Ryan looked from his friends, to his partner, to his boss.
"Sir...?" He started but he wasn't sure if he should say it. Gates nodded though, she'd been thinking the same thing.
"Beckett?" She called across the squad room. The hopelessness in her tone ensured Kate didn't get her hopes up as she turned to face her captain.
"Yes, Sir?" She asked quietly. Gates motioned to her office with her head and Kate nodded before standing and following, passing the boys as they went back to their desks. Ryan flashed her a sympathetic smile while Esposito gently captured her hand in his and gave it a comforting squeeze.
"Sir?" Kate asked softly, sitting heavily in the chair in front of her boss' desk. Gates smiled supportively.
"Maybe you should go home Beckett?" Kate shook her head, rubbing the bridge of her nose wearily.
"I can't leave Sir." She murmured. "I have to find her." Gates sat on the edge of her desk so she was in front of her detective.
"Kate." She murmured softly, garnering the younger woman's attention. "I need you to go home." Kate started to shake her head but Gates gently took her hand in her own, halting the movement. "I promise you, we will not stop until we find her."
"She's my sister." She whispered brokenly. Gates' nodded.
"I know."
"I just found out about her Sir. And, and I, I can't loose her, I just can't." Her voice broke and she dropped her head.
"Kate, she's family. To all of us." The young woman looked up slowly. "You and your team, you're my family here. I would do anything to protect you. That includes that little girl." Gates smiled softly. "Kate, go home. Get some rest. Hug Alexis. I promise, I will personally call you the moment we get anything." Kate closed her eyes as a single tear breached her lashes.
"I can't loose her." She murmured. Gates squeezed her hand.
"I won't let you, Detective." Kate nodded. "Okay?" She nodded again. "Good. I will call you, the moment, I promise."
"Sir?" Kate asked timidly.
"Yes?"
"I want to be there, when you go and get her." Gates opened her mouth to protest. "Sir, she'll need us. She's going to be terrified, and alone, and she doesn't know anyone else. I can't give her her mother Sir, as much as I would give anything to do so. I also, at this point, can't give her her dad. But I can give her family. I can give her me, and Castle. I need to be there Sir. I, I need to be the first one to hold her, to tell her she's safe." She was begging, and she knew it, but she didn't care. Gates nodded.
"Okay Kate. You and Mr Castle can be there. But you are both there as civilians. You are too close to this now, Kate." Kate nodded a little frantically.
"I can do that. I'll do that." Gates nodded.
"Okay. Now go home. I'll call." Kate nodded and stood and made to leave, before turning back to her boss.
"Thank you, Captain." Gates couldn't react before Kate left. The older woman smiled softly. She knew when she arrived she would always be 'Sir', Montgomery was, and always would be, their 'Captain'.
Apparently she had just proved herself.
Victoria Gates would deny it, under heavy torture and solemn oath, but as she sat at her desk in that moment, she discreetly wiped away tears. Her heart breaking for her team, even as she felt immensely flattered at being their 'Captain' for the first time.