Nightfall

THREE

FRIDAY – 11:56 AM

"Liberty's down! Liberty's down!"

The panicked voice repeated the declaration twice more before it was cut off by what sounded like a muffled scream. And then there was static. Nothing but static. The white noise hung in the air for a long beat, everyone seemingly held motionless at the unexpected announcement. The old air raid alarms were triggered, the loud wails hampered somewhat by the thick stone walls of the building. Recovering her wits, Beckett heaved herself back up to her feet, helping Castle back into the chair. Wordlessly, she reached inside her pocket and took out her keys, unlocking the cuffs binding Castle's hands. No one objected to this.

"Thanks," Castle murmured softly, rubbing his wrists.

Beckett nodded, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, receiving as much comfort from the act as giving. She hadn't realized just how important and grounding his presence was for her. Despite the troubles they'd had in the past, Castle had somehow become the one constant in her life that she could rely on. It was utterly insane, considering how they'd started their unorthodox partnership, but the truth was Beckett found the thought reassuring. Pursing her lips, she straightened up and spun around, jabbing an accusing finger at Colonel Rourke.

"What the hell is going on?" she demanded. "No more of this National Security bullshit. We need to know. Now!"

Colonel Rourke gazed at her hard, eyes narrowed as he weighed his options. He swallowed, and after a tense few seconds, his posture relaxed as he decided. He issued orders to his subordinates, before turning to meet her halfway.

"Under the circumstances," he relented in a gruff breath, "I suppose it's only right you're read in."

"Even me?" Castle asked, almost haughtily as he moved up into a position by Beckett's side, still rubbing his wrists.

Rourke grunted in a terse agreement, and gestured with them to follow. He marched at a steady clip, and neither Beckett or Castle had much trouble keeping up as the Colonel pushed his way through the lobby doors and out onto the front sidewalk. There was a plume of dark smoke rising high into the air from the direction of Liberty Island. The air raid alarm abruptly cut off, but the buzz of activity did not. The military personnel were hustling about, and the trucks carrying evacuees had increased speed. Above their heads, a pair of Apache attack helicopters veered towards the bay. The thrumming sound of their rotator engines reverberated off the front façade of the Twelfth Precinct. The Colonel released a quick breath, squinting his eyes as he watched them pass by overhead, before turning around and facing Beckett and Castle.

"Around 0400, several of our subs in the Atlantic picked up a large unidentifiable object approaching the Eastern seaboard," Colonel Rourke said. "All methods of detection failed. Russians denied having anything operating in the region, as did the other major powers. At approximately 5:23 AM, Eastern Time, the USS Annapolis was struck."

"Torpedo?" Castle questioned. Always the curious mind, Beckett welcomed his input. It was times like this that his keen mind made him invaluable as an investigative partner, though she'd never tell him that.

"Negative," Rourke said after a pause that he held for a second longer than was necessary, as if even he could not believe what he was about to say next. "Biological."

"Biological!?" Beckett repeated with a furrowed brow. "What does that mean? Did they hit a whale?"

"That was the initial thought, yes," Rourke bobbed his head, glancing up as another pair of Apache helicopters drummed by. "But when crews performed an external examination after they surfaced, what they found resembled… claw marks."

"Claw marks!" hooted Castle, turning to glance at Beckett with wide eyes.

Rourke sighed. "Resembled." Growling, he snapped his fingers at one of his lieutenants, gesturing him over. He mumbled some orders to him, keeping his voice low so that neither Beckett or Castle could hear what he was saying.

Beckett stood there, grating her teeth, not sure what to believe or even, for that matter, think. It all sounded so absurd. Even Rourke appeared to have trouble believing what he was saying. Yet there was that steady thickening cloud of smoke rising up into the sky. If anything, that was evidence that something was going on, that something had attacked Liberty Island. Something had terrified Josh enough to call her and say goodbye. So, there was something out there, right now. But what was it?

"Colonel!" she shouted as he turned to walk away.

He halted, arched his neck back to look at her. "Detective?"

"You still didn't explain what all that had to do with what just happened out on Liberty Island," she gestured towards the plume of black smoke.

Rourke raised an eyebrow. "Our forces made contact with and engaged the unidentified biological."

"And lost," Castle added, somewhat soberly, glancing at Beckett with a sympathetic look.

She pursed her lips and averted her gaze, thinking of Josh, and what she should be feeling, but not feeling. It made her heart clench with guilt. But it had all happened so fast, and she still didn't know what exactly had happened. An unidentified biological? Hell—that didn't even make any damn sense. Shaking her head, she frowned, returning to the question at hand: What was happening? She still didn't know, or really understand. And Kate Beckett did not like not understanding what was going on around her.

She opened her mouth, gearing up into full interrogation mode, intent on asking another question, when suddenly three jets screeched by overhead, low and fast, their powerful engines drowning out all other sounds. A strange muffled noise followed, something akin to a bellowing roar, but dulled by the distance and the barrier of buildings shielding them from seeing what exactly was going on. Beckett's head jerked up as a soldier rushed over with a portable communication pack.

"Sir, HQ on the horn for you."

Rourke turned and took the receiver from the soldier and held it to his ear. "Colonel Rourke speaking," he answered. His eyes narrowed as he listened. "Yes, sir. Understood." He placed the receiver back in its cradle and signaled to two of his lieutenants.

"Sir?" the two men saluted.

"We've got five minutes to gather what civilians we can and pull out," Rourke offered in a flat voice. "Snap to it."

"Colonel?" Beckett shouted. "What's going on?"

"We've been ordered to pull out," Rourke announced. "Collect your people, Detective. Command wants us heading for the Holland Tunnel ASAP."

"What about the rest of the evacuees," Beckett said, knowing that they had yet to clear two grids in their assigned district. "We can't just leave them."

"There's no time," Rourke snapped back, looking overwhelmed. "It's moving." He set his face, schooling his features, and then stalked off. "Mount up, people, we're on the clock!"

Beckett stood there, watching him march off and climb into the jeep parked by the curb, her mouth hung open in shock. This was utterly insane. It was like the world had been turned upside down. She didn't know what to think or do. She felt frozen in place, watching as the military personnel poured out of the Twelfth Precinct. Colonel Rourke shouted orders from his perch in the front passenger seat of the jeep, before slapping a hand on the driver's shoulder. Blinking, she watched helplessly as the jeep maneuvered around a squad of marching soldiers and took off towards the head of the transport convoy.

"Beckett?"

She barely heard Castle calling her name. Everything seemed so distant. Up above them, another air patrol soared by, one jet banking to the right, towards the Hudson River. It was almost like New York had turned into a warzone.

"Kate?" Castle raised his voice a bit as he touched her shoulder, startling her back to reality.

Beckett blinked rapidly, tilting her head back to look at him.

"Castle?" she returned, lifting her eyes to his.

"What do we do?" he asked.

She bit her lower lip as her brow furrowed in thought. The question of what was going on still hung on her mind, unable to let go. Colonel Rourke's explanation didn't make any sense. Something biological? From the ocean? A submarine had been damaged, and the forward operating base on Liberty Island—where Josh had been—was now gone. All of it related to this unknown, unidentified biological that had come from the ocean deep. It was surreal, like something out of a movie.

Snatching up the walkie-talkie, she called out to Esposito.

"Beckett?" came his baffled and concerned voice. "What the hell is going on? Lieutenant Barrow just said he had orders to pull out. We still have people here."

"No time to explain," Beckett said, snapping into action. Without glancing at Castle, knowing he'd follow her without prompting, she turned on her heels and marched back into the precinct. "Something's attacked Liberty Island, destroyed it. Military has orders to pull out and regroup off Manhattan."

"Destroyed—?"

"No time," Beckett bit out. They didn't have any time for her to explain what was going on. It also did not help that she still didn't fully comprehend what exactly that was, but she supposed she knew enough to know it was dangerous to remain. "Find Ryan and get your asses out of here."

"What about you?" came her colleagues worried voice. Always the big brother.

"I can take care of myself, Espo," she replied, her voice softening. "You just take care of yourself."

There was a brief pause before Esposito replied. "Got it," he said. "See you on the other side, Beckett."

"You too," she answered.

She strolled towards the armory, and stopped, hand held to chest as she took a moment to collect herself. Her heart was jackhammering beneath her breast, and her breath was coming in sharp pants. She closed her eyes and took slow deep breaths, attempting to calm herself and find her center. She needed to be in top form during this crisis, she couldn't afford anything less than her best.

Glancing behind her, she noticed that Castle had his phone out, staring intently at it. Seeing that he'd been spotted, his eyes jerked up guiltily and he offered her a weak smile.

"Seeing as Josh was able to call you, I thought it was worth a shot," he explained.

"And?"

He let out a disappointed sigh and shook his head, carding his finger through his ruffled hair. Beckett had to bite her lip and stifle the urge to reach out to brush back the hair that flopped down over his forehead. "Nothing. I can't tell if her phone is off or if I'm just not getting through."

"Try sending a text," Beckett suggested.

"All right," Castle nodded, and dipped his head down as he did so. After a few seconds a smile broke across his face, and Beckett felt some relief at seeing it. She hadn't realized just how invested she was in this… in him and his life… his family. "Her bus is still on Canal Street, there's a logjam getting into the tunnel."

"But she's okay?" Beckett asked, surprised at just how much she needed to know.

"Yes," he nodded, letting out a relieved breath. "She's okay."

For now, she couldn't help thinking. Sometimes the realist inside her was a bitch. "Good," she said instead, nodding, not wanting to alarm Castle more than absolutely necessary. But she knew he'd have to face the hard truth of the situation sooner rather than later. Turning back to the armory, Beckett punched in the key code and shoved the door open.

"Beckett?" Castle inquired, following her in, gasping when she tossed him a handgun as she pulled out some spare ammo clips. He glanced down at the gun in his hand, holding it awkwardly, like he was afraid it would go off. "I don't understand, what are you doing?"

"The military is pulling out and abandoning us, Castle," she explained in a tense voice. "And whatever it is that's out there is heading for the city."

Castle's eyes went as wide as saucers. A horrified look flashed across his ruggedly handsome features, and she knew he was thinking about his daughter in a bus stuck on Canal Street. There. That was it. He now comprehended the situation. She'd spared him a minute or two to reach that realization, but she didn't regret it. Castle had such an optimistic view of the world at times that Beckett hated tearing it down. Besides, she reasoned it was better for him to make this realization himself, as it would help fortify his decision to act knowing it was his own.

"Kate," he inhaled sharply through his nose, voice trembling. "Alexis. I need to get to Alexis."

Beckett looked up at him after double checking her Glock, holstering it. Her eyes softened in understanding. Beckett discovered she would do just about anything for this man, more so than she ever thought possible. It was a sobering revelation, but one she didn't really have the time yet to think about. She pursed her lips, and nodded, meeting his worrying gaze. "I know," she said, grabbing his arm in support, discovering she needed it just as much. "And you're not in this alone, Castle. I'm coming with you."