The Mettle of a Man
Summary – How far would Castle go to protect his friends at the 12th and at what personal cost to himself and his relationship to the team? This takes place between "The Belly of the Beast" and "Veritas". Does not include any spoilers for "Veritas" but it does lead into it.
Author's notes – Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favs. Here's the final chapter and thanks for reading. My bad – I added more stuff to the scene at the loft because I wanted that scene to end on a cheerier note. And besides, what disguise would Castle use for a fake passport?
Disclaimer – Don't own Castle; Marlowe, ABC, and Disney do. Just writing for fun and because I have these weird plot bunnies that pop into my head (but not the same ones that Castle saw).
Rated strong T for language and innuendo.
Chapter 6 – True Confessions
Castle had been sitting on the couch for a while, his head dropped back against the padded top, eyes closed, the glass tilting precariously in his hand, when he heard noises upstairs and realized that he wasn't alone.
Martha or Alexis had probably come home at some point during the night and urged him to go to bed when they found him sleeping on the couch because they knew how grouchy he would be if he didn't.
He roused at the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.
"I'm not in the mood for talking," Castle said tiredly without bothering to open his eyes.
"Good, because that means I can get a word in edgewise," said Esposito as he took the glass out of Castle's hand. "Really, bro, you know better than this – are you seriously considered drinking with all the pain killers you took and whatever that was that made you think the loft was being overrun by giant rabbits last night? 'cus if you do, you may not be talking again."
Espo swirled the amber liquor around in the glass and then raise it to Castle. "On the other hand, I am in no pain, thanks to you." He took a sip and hummed appreciatively, "That's smooth."
During the detective's speech, Castle lifted his head and blinked his eyes several times, trying to bring the man into focus, maybe also trying to decide if he was a hallucination. "What..?" he coughed to clear his throat and then started again. "What are you doing here?"
"Beckett called Lanie when she got to the loft last night to check on you, and Lanie isn't letting me out of her sight just yet – not that I mind," Espo said with smile. "So we came over."
Castle straightened up and let out a slow breath – time to rip off the band aide that was covering the hole in his heart. "Did Kate say anything before she left?"
Espo thought for a moment but before he could say anything, Lanie came downstairs, wearing Kate's robe. "Javi, when you're out, can you stop by my place and pick up a shirt? Kate's are too small. Oh, you're up," she said as she reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Castle sitting on the couch, staring at her in surprise.
The ME quickly walked over to him and felt his forehead and cheek with the back of her hand. "How are you feeling, honey?" she said as she took his pulse.
"I'm not sure," Castle replied truthfully.
"Head still hurt?"
"A little," he said.
"Uh, huh," nodded Lanie as she leaned over to peer into his eyes, which Castle quickly averted. She straightened and smiled at him. "Dr. Jenkins said that 'good night' should be out of your system completely in 24 hours after exposure, but you shouldn't drive or make any major decisions for 48 hours just in case. And to avoid stimulants during that time also."
Castle nodded and swallowed. "Is that Kate's robe?" he asked hopefully.
Lanie nodded. "Yeah, it is. She said we could use the upstairs shower while she and Ryan ran to the store. They should be back any minute."
Right on cue, the door to the loft opened and Beckett and Ryan walked in with several bags of groceries.
A radiant smile lit up her face when Beckett saw Castle sitting on the couch. She quickly deposited her bags on the counter and walked over to him, bending over to kiss him on the lips. "Hey," she said softly as she brought a hand up to caress his cheek, still smiling. "We were out of coffee and I didn't make it to the grocery store last night because I was kinda tied up."
"Hey," Castle replied, trying not to tear up in relief. Crap, when did he grow a vagina and get so emotional?
"So how are you feeling?" Beckett said as she straightened up, reaching down to take his pulse also. "No more rabbits playing laser tag?"
"No." Castle frowned. "But did I win?" he asked.
Beckett shrugged. "You'd have to ask the rabbits."
"Thanks, but I'd rather not see them again," said Castle, shaking his head.
"We missed dinner, so I'm making breakfast," Beckett said as she kissed him on the head. "Anything special that you want?"
Castle sniffed himself. "Probably a shower," he said. He did smell rather ripe according to his nose. At Lanie's lifted eyebrow and pointed look, he quickly added morosely, "Alone."
Beckett smiled and kissed him again. "It's only 48 hours," she whispered in his ear.
Castle pressed his lips together. "Definitely a cold shower," he muttered to himself as he stood and walked back into the bedroom.
# # # # # # #
By the time Castle had showered and changed, Beckett had finished making breakfast and the team was sitting at the table, laughing.
Crap, Castle thought as he stood at the door watching them, trying not to tear up again – this was a side effect that Peterson had failed to mention. He put on a smile and walked into the room.
"Hey, Castle," said Ryan. "Beckett was just explaining how you got the nickname 'Stumpy'."
"No wonder my ears were burning," Castle said as he sat down at the table.
Beckett put a cup of coffee in front of him. "It's decaf," she said as she scooted her chair closer and sat down next to him.
Castle passed on the food because his stomach still felt a little off. "So how did Gates take everything?" he finally asked after they had eaten a couple of bites.
Ryan and Espo looked at each other and shrugged.
"Well, in the beginning, when SWAT came into the room, she was so mad that I thought she was going to have a stroke," said Ryan. "Then Beckett disappeared, so we weren't sure what was going on."
"But the police commissioner explained what had happened and I think she was a little impressed," said Espo.
"You know, that was so well put together" said Ryan, pointing his fork at Castle, "you could have had a career as a con artist."
Beckett laughed. "Don't encourage him. I'd rather not spend my marriage making conjugal visits to a prison."
"And the thing with the bank account and the passports," said Espo. "That was just perfect. That really showed them that you meant business. How on earth did you know what guy to use?"
Castle stared at the cup of coffee in his hands for a moment. "A good lie is always grounded in some truth," he said seriously.
The team frowned at him curiously.
"I am helping Brandy with a book and we did discuss a sex scene, so the note was real," he said and then put a hand up in defense at Beckett's sharp intake of air. "All I told her was that only reason to put a sex scene in a book was if it was a natural extension of the characters. Otherwise, it's forced and hurts the flow of the story." He shrugged. "Not every book needs a sex scene in it."
Castle paused for a moment. "And I did take $500,000 out of a bank account earlier this week. And I did buy fake passports from Sly – 12 of them to be exact."
"Castle, what are you thinking! That's 120 years!" Beckett exclaimed.
Castle shook his head, smiling knowingly like he held an unbeatable poker hand. "Actually, no, because I have a signed document from the US government that I cannot be prosecuted for having those passports as well as anyone who uses them. Sorenson wasn't too happy, but he agreed with my reason."
He stood and walked over to the kitchen counter, then opened the second drawer and reached inside and pulled out a packet.
"I was going to give these to you last night after the poker game," he said as he opened the packet and gave each person an envelope marked with their name. "There's one here for your dad also, Kate."
They looked at each other and then opened the envelopes.
Lanie gasped when she saw what was inside. "Castle, you shouldn't have. I can't take this."
"No, I should have and you can. Someone once told me that there's another world out there, one that most people don't see, run by money, influence, power, and the people in it will do anything they can to stay on top." He sat back down at the table. "Which includes getting rid of any obstacles in their way."
Castle thought a moment. "After the botched narcotics investigation, I thought that Bracken could and most likely will come after any member of this team and their families – we're obstacles because we know too much. So I wanted to make sure that you could go off grid for a while if you have to."
"Bro, I don't know what to say," said Espo.
"Let's just hope we don't have to use them," said Castle, holding his breath as he watched Kate open her passport.
Ryan looked at him thoughtfully. "Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but what did Sly mean when he mentioned a new blonde girlfriend?"
"What the hell, Castle?" Beckett said as she looked at the picture in the passport and then at him, holding it out towards him. "This doesn't look like me."
"Well, it will with some enhancements," said Castle, smiling disarmingly at her. "If we have to use these, we'll need to get around facial recognition; otherwise, they'll be able to track us."
He slid three photographs towards her. "So I have a friend photoshop two pictures together – one of you and one of Brandy."
The first one was the official photograph of Beckett taken for the NYPD. The second one was a selfie that Castle had taken of himself and Brandy. The final one was a compilation of the two that showed Castle with the buxom blonde who had Beckett's face.
"Whoa, Beckett, is that you?" Espo asked when he saw the photograph, his eyes almost popping out of his head.
"That's the one I gave to Sly to use," Castle confessed. "It could certainly fool facial recognition."
"So could a pair of big sunglasses and a scarf," Beckett said, raising an eyebrow at Castle. "Now I know what I'd look like if I had married Biff Tannen."
"But that looks like you're hiding. I'm thinking a blonde wig and some…" Castle gestured with his hands.
Beckett snorted at him and picked up his passport. "And what picture did you use so people don't recognize you?" She had to stifle a laugh when she saw it and then looked at him with a smirk.
"Mustache and full beard," Castle said proudly as he took the passport and held it up beside his face and waggled his eyebrows.
"So you're automatically going to sprout facial hair while we're trying to flee the country or is your mom going to meet you with a fake beard?" Beckett asked, slightly amused.
"Don't ruin my pictures with your logic," Castle said, making a face. He thought for a moment and added, "I'll call Sly and have him change the pictures."
"Good idea, kitten," Beckett said as she leaned forward to kiss him.
They touched foreheads briefly as they both whispered, "I thought I'd lost you."
"Never," they both whispered again at the same time, smiling at each other.
# # # # # # # #
While Beckett was giving her statement to the authorities about what had happened at the precinct, Castle walked across the street to the small coffee shop where Captain Gates was waiting for him.
With Gate's choice of this particular location, he knew she wanted to keep this conversation private and off the record.
He spotted her quickly and walked to the table she sat.
"Captain," Castle said, nodding at her and waiting for her invitation to sit down.
"Mr. Castle, please take a seat," Gates replied, gesturing at the empty chair across from her. "I just wanted to thank you for what you did for the team – our team. If you hadn't taken the actions you did, I am sure that the results would have been far different."
The writer shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure everyone got out alive."
"Still, you put yourself at great personal risk." Gates looked at him. "You could have waited for SWAT to handle the situation."
Castle shook his head, frowning, as he took a sip from his mug that the barista had brought over. "There wasn't enough time and they wouldn't have been fast enough when they did breach the bullpen."
"Because this…event…is what it is, there will be no public record of it," continued Gates.
"And I won't get a gold star," quipped Castle. He studied the captain for a minute. "But that's not why you asked to meet here."
"No," said Gates, shaking her head. "It's about those fake passports that 'Sly' said you bought. You do realize that is highly illegal."
"I have a note from the principal," Castle quipped. He sat back in his chair, contemplating his coffee before looking at Gates. "I can't help but think that the botched narcotics investigation was either a spectacular failure by people desperate to bring down a drug organization or a spectacular success by people desperate to level the playing field. Either way," he said, looking her straight in the eye and unwavering, "Captain Gates – Victoria, I will do everything I can to make sure that this team – that Kate is safe – everything," he emphasized.
Castle paused for a moment before pulling an envelope out of his pocket. "And that includes the entire team," he said as he held out the envelope.
Gates studied him in return and then finally shook her head. "Thank you for that thought, Mr. Castle. But if something happens, you'll need someone here to ride shotgun on the investigation. As Roy Montgomery said, 'the best that you can hope for is that you find some place where you can make your stand'." She paused for a moment. "Just be sure to stay in touch."
Gates got up to leave. "And we've never had this conversation."
She paused as she walked past him and then put a hand on his shoulder. "Rick, just make sure you don't wait too late."
# # # # # # # # # #
The End
Author's Notes – Now we just have to wait and see what AM does to end this arc.