A/N : Apologies for making you wait for the resolution to the cliff-hanger.
Disclaimer : I do not own Castle or it's characters. They are owned by ABC.
Oceanic Air Flight 57 – Forty-five minutes from arrival at Heathrow
Castle's heart skips several beats at the sight of the gun pressed to Alexis' temple. His anguished gaze oscillates between the gun, the look of desperation on the face of the man holding it, Aaron, and the wide eyed pleading look on his daughter's face. He is struggling to remember his NYPDA training now with his daughter in such peril but the look of trust he can see amongst her pleading expression has him struggling to recall, as he'd been trying to earlier with Debbie, some of his suspect negotiation and conflict resolution training.
With not a little difficulty and trying, barely, to keep the panic out of his voice he asks Aaron, "Put the gun down, Aaron. There's nowhere to go. We're going to land soon and there'll be hundreds of cops waiting for us. You won't get away."
The young man or punk, as Debbie now accurately described him earlier, gives a snort that is equal parts derision and frustration, "Oh don't I know that. I am finally trusted to carry something worth disappearing with and then Miss 'Oh isn't it sad I lost my pension' here had to go and steal it first. Then she had to get caught by you two and guarantee half the cops in England are waiting for us. Argh!" the man yells his frustration. "I'd timed it so perfectly. There's a flight for Croatia, a nice non-extradition country, which leaves ninety minutes after we land that I'm booked on under a fake name. I was supposed to land, calmly board that flight and be far away with thirteen million dollars before anyone knew it was missing. But, no, because of all this now I have to improvise. So this is how it's going to go. You are going to give me the watch and when we land all those cops will give me and red here a nice armed escort to that flight to Croatia. We'll board the flight and go there together. Then, once I arrive safely, I'll let your daughter go and not before. If that doesn't happen then your daughter is going to pay."
After the man's rant is done Alexis chimes in at this moment and again Castle feels the same mixture of pride and concern as she engages her captor calmly but with just a hint of fear in her voice, "Aaron, you don't really think that is going to work do you? I think you'll find that Croatia won't allow a flight with an armed man with a hostage to land in their country. Not to mention that while they may not have an extradition treaty with the US, kidnapping and grand theft are still crimes in their country. You may as well give up the gun because there's no way you are going to be allowed to leave the country when we land, let alone the airport."
"Well, Miss Smarty Pants, maybe I'll ask the pilot to head for somewhere in Africa that isn't so law abiding," counters Aaron angrily.
"Uh, because of the airline's penny pinching we've only got enough fuel to get to Heathrow with only a little extra in case we're put into a holding pattern. So we haven't enough fuel to get to Africa," comes the nervous voice of Jim, the flight attendant, from where he is watching horrified from the back of the cabin.
During these exchanges Castle has been studying how Aaron his holding Alexis and the gun. He is desperately looking for an opening that will allow him to free his daughter and take the man down. He really wants to put to use some of those hand to hand moves that Esposito taught him on the man that is daring to threaten his daughter. With the cold certainty that he last felt when he 'questioned' that man during Alexis' kidnapping there is no way he'll hold back if he gets his chance.
For a moment he thinks he has his chance when the man turns both himself and Alexis towards Jim after he made his comment but the gun stays firmly pressed to his daughter's head. He can see Alexis' eyes looking around as well and for a second the gun moves from her head and comes more fully into her view.
Castle takes a step closer to the pair just as they swing back to face him as Aaron obviously recognises Castle both as a 'cop' and a father as being the greatest threat. He obviously also thinks that as such he is the one best to negotiate with. As both Aaron and Alexis turn back to face him he sees that Alexis' gaze is fixed on the gun as Aaron now waves it around the cabin to cow those present. Castle follows her gaze as she seems to be concentrating on a particular part of the pistol. Then he sees what has drawn her attention. Something that he hadn't been at the right angle to see when Debbie had the gun before and his memory instantly goes back to the Tisdale case and the first time he met Kate.
The gun's safety is on!
Just as he springs forward to disarm the man before he realises his error Alexis reaches up and grips the hand holding the gun. She applies pressure on nerve points on his hand and wrist while also twisting the hand back in an unnatural and painful position. Aaron yells in pain and surprise at the attack from a young woman he thought he had fully under control. The gun falls from his hardly tight grip to the deck and Castle quickly diverts his lunge to scoop up the weapon.
As Alexis equally quickly uses a well practiced move on the cringing Aaron to force the hand and arm in her grip behind his back, Castle, gun in hand now, joins her and adds his own strength to grabbing Aaron's flailing other arm. He drags that behind Aaron's back and then together they force the man face down onto the deck.
Castle puts his knee forcefully and with just a bit of feeling into the small of the struggling man's back and he grits out angrily, "Don't move!"
Aaron must realise the futility of his situation because he gradually stills under the pressure of the father and daughter on his back. Once he has stopped moving Castle risks a look at Alexis next to him and she coincidentally looks at him at the same time giving him a quirky smile as she does so.
"I knew that self defence training Kate gave me after Paris would come in handy someday," she says with a shrug of her shoulders.
Castle gives her a shaky smile, his emotions still battling with themselves after seeing his daughter's life threatened, but relief becomes the dominate one as his smile widens. There is a tentative step close to them and he looks up at the surprised face of Farrah.
The young flight attendant gestures to the now submissive Aaron on the deck and the shamefaced Debbie who is standing slumped against the front bulkhead of the cabin behind them and says, "I think we're going to run out of zip ties."
Aircraft Security Bay near Terminal 3 – Heathrow Airport
Detective Inspector Colin Hunt stands on the windy tarmac with several heavily armed members of the Metropolitan Police's Aviation Security Operational Command Unit, the unit of the Met responsible for security at Heathrow, and watches as Oceanic Air Flight 57 comes to a stop. The plane is now parked in the isolated bay away from the terminals and other aircraft, specifically designed for serious security situations. A single, old fashioned, in this age of air bridges, set of stairs is then wheeled up to the front passenger door of the 747.
As he strides forward to mount the stairs, followed by his MP5 toting colleagues, Hunt recalls the conversation he had with his Chief Inspector or 'Guv' just a few hours ago that brought him here. Still unofficially on the shit list after his little personal investigation in New York two years ago he hardly expected to be called in by his boss and sent to Heathrow because of that same case.
Due to the very personal nature of that case and the subsequent negative consequences for his career he well remembers his time spent helping the Detectives of the NYPD's 12th Precinct tracking down the killer of the woman who was his sister in everything but name. He particularly well remembers the beautiful female detective that led the squad that caught Claire's killer. On the other hand he faintly remembers the well heeled mystery writer that was following the woman around at the time.
Yes, his attention had been naturally dawn to the gorgeous detective so he'd not paid that much attention to the writer tag along. Then again he had suspected at the time that it was because of something between the pair that had Detective Kate Beckett so distracted and distant during the drink they shared before he caught his flight back home at the end of the case. Nothing had come of that night because both of her distraction and him still being caught up with all the emotion regarding Claire's murder. In the end they'd shared one drink each and swapped a couple of those amusing but inconsequential stories that all cops have before parting ways amicably.
Now, after a quick search on his phone while he was waiting for the plane to arrive, he's learnt that the detective and writer are married. The same writer that is now, unbelievably, an NYPD Auxiliary Detective and is arriving on said plane after what sounds like arresting half those aboard. Because of his history with the man, fleeting though significant that it was, his superiors have sent him out here to be the liaison between the Met and the American.
Clearing the last two steps with a single bound he arrives at the top and the engineer from the airline that is waiting there looks to him expectantly. Giving the greasy, coveralls wearing man a nod of assent he watches as the engineer bangs on the plane door and signals through the small window set in it. The handle recessed into the door comes out and turns and likewise the door comes out of the side of the fuselage and moves to one side as it is pushed open by a dark haired male flight attendant inside.
The flight attendant and engineer step to the side as Hunt steps forward onto the plane with the tread of boots and the squawks from the radios on their utility vests telling him that his armed colleagues are close behind. Upon entering the galley area that the door leads to he immediately recognises the man standing there as that same mystery writer from two years ago, Richard Castle. He doesn't recognise the young red headed woman standing next to him but from the information he'd received about what had been going on aboard this flight he surmises that this must be his daughter, Alexis Castle.
Hunt observes a look of surprised recognition cross the writer's face before it is quickly replaced with a charming grin as the man steps forward with his hand held out to shake as he says, "Detective Inspector Hunt, welcome aboard Oceanic Air Flight 57."
Putting his own hand forward and shaking the writer's firmly, Hunt responds, "Thank you Mister Castle and welcome to England."
After they release their hands Castle indicates to the young woman next to him, "Inspector Hunt this is my daughter Alexis. Alexis this is Detective Inspector Hunt. Kate and I helped him track down the murderer of someone close to him about...oh...two years ago now."
An intrigued and appraising look comes across the young woman's face as she chirps up with, "Oh, I remember. He's the sexy Brit Detective that Lanie told me that you and Kate arrested when he was naked."
A faint blush raises across both men's faces as the memory of how they first met as Castle says frustratingly to his daughter, "I think I need to have a few words with Lanie about what she tells you about Kate and my cases."
Hunt feigns looking around the immediate area as he asks, "I understand your wife, Detective Beckett, or should that be Castle now, isn't with you."
"Ah, no. 'Captain' Beckett-Castle had to stay in New York. Pressure of work," responds a prideful Castle.
Any further discussion is interrupted by the arrival of a middle aged woman wearing a pilot's uniform from the stairs leading from the upper deck, where the cockpit on the 747 is located.
"Ah, Captain Edmunds, this is Detective Inspector Hunt. DI Hunt this is Captain Edmunds the chief pilot of the flight," informs Castle charmingly, again providing the introductions.
"Captain," greets Hunt as he likewise shakes the pilot's outstretched hand.
"Detective Inspector," greets the woman with a nod. "It's good to see you and your men though Detective Castle and is daughter have had the matter well in hand."
Hunt sees Castle stand a little bit taller at the pilot's praise and the man glances down his own, puffed out chest towards the gold star badge that is hanging from the top pocket of the sports coat he is wearing. Hunt had noticed the badge on the man's chest when he first saw him but had waited to see how long it took for him to mention or otherwise bring attention to it. Looks like the Captain has done it for him, in a roundabout way.
Hunt quirks an eyebrow, "Ah, yes, when they told me a cop was on board and had made the arrests I must say I was a little surprised to learn it was you 'Detective' Castle."
Castle shrugs his shoulders as he grins, "Only just qualified. These are my first arrests as an NYPDA Detective."
"Well, let's get down to business. Detective Castle would you care to show my colleagues and I to these people who will now be staying in England at the pleasure of Her Majesty," asks Hunt of Castle.
Before he does so Castle turns to his daughter and says, "Alexis, go to our seats and get our things together while I show the Detective Inspector to our prisoners."
The young woman nods and squeezes the man's hand as she says, "Ok, Dad."
Castle then proceeds down the aisle indicating for Hunt and his men to follow and confides to him gleefully as he walks, "As usually happens, as soon as the plane stopped, despite the seat belt sign still being on and an announcement from the Captain for everyone to stay in their seats quite few people jumped up to get their carry-on. The sight of your colleagues and their guns soon had them all sitting back down again however."
Eventually Hunt and his men are led down to the cargo hold to be greeted to the sight of four people, two men and two women, siting at various points around the hold, zip tied in place. All of them have the sourest of looks on their faces at the sight of the large group of officers there obviously to take them into custody.
It is some time later as the last of the arrested parties, a rather mournful looking African American woman in a flight attendant's uniform, is led down the staircase outside the plane. Their zip ties replaced with standard issue Met handcuffs.
Hunt and Castle watch from the top of the stairs as they are all loaded into a marked police van, blue lights flashing on its roof and Hunt turns to the writer come detective, "Well, Detective, you, your daughter, the crew and any passengers that are witnesses will have to accompany me to Scotland Yard for your statements to be taken."
Castle turns to him and asks tentatively, "I understand that there's a lot of procedure to follow and paperwork to fill out on this and I'm prepared to do what is necessary I just ask that if we are not finished by tonight if I could take a break to give a speech I'm due to give at the Sherlock Holmes Society?"
Hunt looks at the slightly pleading look on the man's face, shrugs and responds, "As long as you're prepared to be at Scotland Yard first thing in the morning to finish things up, I don't see why not."
"And, Alexis, my daughter, she has plans to meet with some friends in South Kent this evening. Could you give her the same latitude?" presses Castle only to be contradicted by the young woman who has now joined them.
"Actually, Dad, I want to go with you and watch you give your speech tonight," she tells the author with a bit of sheepishness in her voice.
The man turns to face her and asks, "Even if that means we're joined at the hip while we're here?"
The young redhead shrugs her shoulders, "Maybe I want to be."
Castle loops an arm around his daughter's shoulder and drags her into a hug, 'Yeah, I kinda want to be as well."
Hunt watches the tender moment between the father and daughter. He didn't see this side of the man during their interactions in New York two years ago. Nothing to indicate the doting father as shown by the display in front of him. Neither did he get an indication of the accomplished detective as shown by the van load of people now departing for the local 'Nick' and the professional manner in which Castle had described their various crimes as they'd been led away.
No, he recalls a man that had flitted in and out of the investigation usually to have lunch with some busty flight attendant and yet who seemed very watchful of the interactions between Hunt and the female Detective who is now his wife. That and his reputation as a rich mystery writer occasionally in the tabloids had not given Hunt a very favourable impression of the author. As a result he'd dreaded what he would find aboard this plane when he first heard the man was the Detective on board.
Then again Castle had been one of the people that helped him get justice for Claire so he had been happy to come out here to be a friendly face even if he'd been prepared for there to be one hell of a mess aboard and was therefore pleasantly surprised to be proved wrong. That he is so pleasantly surprised at the level of the man's competence as a cop, even a part time one, has turned out to be both unexpected and welcome.
As the father daughter pair end their embrace Castle turns expectantly to Hunt and says, "We're all yours, Detective Inspector."
The 12th Precinct
Kate lets out a long breath in relief as she hangs up her cell phone and sits back in her office chair. Castle had called her from the car as he and Alexis were being driven to Scotland Yard to give their statements. That they are being driven there by Detective Inspector Colin Hunt from that case when she thought she'd lost Castle just as they were about to get together is yet another surprise in a day where she has had enough surprises to last her for the rest of the year.
"They OK?" asks the concerned voice of Kevin Ryan from the doorway as he and his partner, Esposito, enter.
"Yeah, safe and sound and everyone they arrested are on their way to an English jail," she replies, her tone further advertising her relief.
"Told you they'd be alright," adds a slightly smug Esposito as the men sit down on the chairs on the other side of her desk.
Kate gives her freind a mild glare even if the man is right. He'd come into her office and seen her watching the icon of her family's flight as it made it's final descent into Heathrow with fixed intensity while worrying her bottom lip. He'd reassured her and told her it was all over and her family were ok but that didn't deter her from keeping her gaze fixed on the screen until the notification that the flight had safely landed had appeared.
"Yes, Espo, take note because you won't hear me say this often. You were right," she pauses and changes tack, keen to put the day's events behind her. "I think we've done enough for today. Why don't you two head home."
"What about you, Ka...I mean, Captain? You going to go home or are you going to jump the next flight to London to really make sure they're OK?" asks Ryan, stumbling over whether to call her by her name or her rank.
"Kev, when we're alone and it's not business you can both call me Kate. And, no, I won't be jetting off. Castle insisted I stay here. In fact he's asked me to start the US side of the paperwork to have all his prisoners extradited back here. He said he and Alexis are going to cut the trip short anyway once his speaking engagements and the paperwork for his arrests are done. They'll both be back before we know it," she reassures the Irish Detective.
"If you're sure, because we're more than capable to cover for you with 1PP if you want to go and be with your family," adds Esposito kindly.
Kate gives a smile at the thoughtfulness of her 'brothers' but shakes her head, "No, as much as I'd like to, Castle insists that they'll be back as soon as they can and that I'd be wasting my trip if I joined them. Now, you two hit the road before I find some paperwork for you to do."
"Ok, Ok, we're going," replies Esposito, holding up is hands in mock protest. "Did you want to join us at the Old Haunt for a cold one to celebrate?"
Kate shakes her head again, "No, I've got some work to finish off here that I wasn't able to do what with everything today. Then I'm looking forward to going home and watching a Castle's speech on Face Time."
The boys both give her a look as they stand and Ryan comments incredulously yet playfully, "Purposefully listening to a speech given by Castle. Geeze, Kate, you really do love the guy."
As Esposito chuckles at his partner's comment Kate gives them both a glare this time as she protests, "Hey, during the last speech he gave I seem to remember a certain Mystery Writer calling you two his 'brother in arms' so don't talk down Castle's speeches, OK."
They both smile at her as Esposito responds, "Ok, Beckett, we won't. Nite and don't stay too late or you'll miss that speech you are sooo looking forward to."
"Yeah, Nite, boss and go home too or Espo here will sic Lanie on you," adds Ryan with a twinkle in his eye.
"Alright, I promise not to stay too late. Now get going the pair of you before I change my mind and find that paperwork for you to do," instructs Kate half seriously.
Ryan gives her a half bow in acknowledgment and Espo shoots her a casual salute as the two men take their leave. Kate smiles to herself as her friends walk away then sighs as she turns her attention to the computer monitor in front of her.
As she reaches for the mouse on her desk she is sorely tempted to open her web browser to look up flights to London. Despite what she just told the boys and what she agreed to with Castle she is seriously considering jumping on the next flight to the UK. She just wants to see Rick and Alexis' faces again just to clear the last shred of worry in her gut that they are both truly unhurt. She suspects that a Face Time call later, after they are finished at Scotland Yard, just isn't going to cut it.
She goes as far as dragging the cursor over to the web browser but she stops herself from clicking on it. No, she promised Rick and she really does have a lot of work to do. It's just that she knows that the faint flutter of butterflies in her stomach aren't going to go away until her husband and step-daughter are home. It would be easy to banish the butterflies by jetting off to see them but that's not what she agreed to.
So she's going to keep her word and stay here and eagerly await their return. That's not to say that if her family is delayed in coming back by all the legalities and red tape that the arrests made on the flight are sure to generate she reserves the right to join them. After all, in such an instance, they may need her help and support navigating such a bureaucratic minefield.
With another sigh, showing that she's still not happy with her decision, Kate moves the cursor over to the email icon and clicks on it. She almost sighs again at the number of new emails that now fill her screen. All of them are in one way or another related to the taskforce. More personnel files of prospective team members, funding related emails from accounting at 1PP, meeting requests from the Chief of Detectives and the head of CSU and many more.
She scrolls down the screen and her shoulders droop slightly at the sight of even more emails for her to read and action. It's not that she didn't expect there to be a lot of work to get the taskforce up and running it's just after today she's hardly motivated to give them the attention they require.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts she thinks to herself, no, she can do this. Being able to put aside her own emotional disquiet for a few moments to concentrate on work that has been a culmination of her years as a cop is what Castle would expect of her, his 'extraordinary' wife. Maybe if she can concentrate on work she can distract herself until it's time to go home, talk to Castle and Alexis again and watch his speech.
She pauses her scrolling through the emails as one from the Commissioner's office catches her attention. Opening it her eyebrows knit together as she frowns at the screen. She wasn't expecting this. The Commissioner only mentioned personnel from the NYPD and the approached State Police forces being a part of the taskforce and nothing about federal involvement.
As she reads the email further she soon sees why she's about to have a Fed join her team, money. Looks like the Department of Justice and the FBI have offered to send some funds the taskforce's way in return for having and FBI liaison being a part of the team.
The last couple paragraphs are surprisingly frank seeing as the email comes from the Commissioner. They indicate that while the feebs will choose the agent to embed in her team she will still have final approval on the agent's appointment and the Commissioner makes it clear that he will back her if she decides to reject the FBI's selection.
Well, that's another wrinkle that she wasn't expecting. One thing is for sure though. She knows how the feds work, hell she worked for them even if it was only for a brief time. By putting an agent in with them and supplying some funding the FBI are sure to want to try and assert some control over the running of the taskforce. At the very least they might try to influence the types of cases they investigate so that there aren't any conflicts with their own cases.
Well, one thing is for sure, whoever they decide to send her she is going to go over their record with a fine tooth comb before even considering them as a member of the taskforce. Then, if they are suitable, she is going to make it clear to him or her that she, Captain Kate Beckett-Castle, is running this taskforce and not the FBI. She'll happily take their money and any personnel that they send to help her as long as they are clear that she is running the show.
If they don't then she knows what they can do with their 'help'.
A/N : So I hope people accept my resolution of the cliff-hanger. I did have it planned this way when I wrote the previous chapter. I know the whole "the safety is on" isn't original so let's call it a homage. We'll leave season 7 here as I'm not touching Sleeper as it doesn't really fit in this AU. I've already mentioned Castle's amnesia anyway. I may address it later just not in the way as was covered in Sleeper. From watching the start of Season 8 my story is definitely going in a different direction.
Spoiler Warning - if you haven't watched 8x01 yet I'm about to make a couple of comments so look away now. On XY, I'm keen to see Kate's perspective in the next episode because I am with Castle in thinking that she's got some explaining to do. The writers, through the speech that Alexis gives him, seem to be trying to justify her actions but I tend to only accept keeping Castle safe as one of the only understandable reasons for not including him in what she is doing. I just hope that after all this is done that it isn't like it never happened and that our favourite couple have a 'real' conversation about it all or there are consequences for Kate's silence even if it isn't just Castle (the boys and the whole NYPD) that she is hiding from. As for the episode itself, I liked it and thought it was a good episode that moved along nicely and appreciate that they are trying to do something new and make it even more action packed. I'm definitely looking forward to the next episode which I suppose means that they succeeded with the purpose of a two parter.
Many thanks again to all that have stayed with my story.