A Convergence of Storms – Part 1
Summary – A post 6x23 fic previously titled Hours Lost Forever. What happens when Castle shows back up after the car crash and thinks the crash happened after the wedding and Kate was in the car with him. Will be 3 parts and 3XK or Bracken are not involved. This looks at some new "old" mythology based on Castle's time shadowing the CIA.
Author's Notes – Thanks for all the favs, follows, and reviews – they really mean a lot. You are awesome. Warning – just a little rough Castle weather ahead; this does talk about a sensitive subject for men. And a happy late 4th to all my fellow Americans and a big thank you to all service men and women.
Disclaimer – Don't own Castle – Marlowe, ABC, and Disney do.
Chapter 7 – Darkening Skies
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Castle was initialing his discharge papers and doctor's order when Espo called, saying that Atsusi folded like a leaf as soon as they reached the precinct.
Julie and he had been talking – fighting actually – and he grabbed her arm as she turned to leave. She overbalanced and fell, striking her head on the cabinet and he panicked, so he just left her there.
"Thanks, Espo," Beckett said as she looked at Castle and smiled. "I'll drop Castle off at the loft and be there in about an hour."
"Nah," said Espo. "We got this – you just take care of Castle."
"I'm touched by your concern," Castle commented.
"Well, you can't pay up if you're incapacitated or dead," came the reply.
"Thanks, bro," said Castle, smirking at the phone.
Beckett rolled her eyes. "We'll be in tomorrow morning then. Night, Espo."
She hung up the phone as a pharmacist walked in.
"Mr. Castle," he said, looking at the chart in his hand. "I'm Stanley from Pharmacy. The doctor ordered anti-anxiety meds for you."
The man pulled out his scanner. "If I can see your wrist band?" He quickly scanned the band on Castle's wrist and then the barcode on the bottle.
"This is alprazolam. Have you ever taken this medication before?" he asked.
"No," said Castle, frowning slightly. "No, I've never needed them before."
"This is commonly prescribed for panic attacks and anxiety disorders. Take 1 tablet three times a day." He opened a leaflet and handed it to Castle. "This lists the possible side effects, but if you think you're having an allergic reaction, call 911 immediately."
The man looked at his watch. "You were given a dose about two hours ago, so you should take the next dose in 6 hours. If you have any questions, you can call the number on the bottle."
Castle nodded as he opened the bottle, shook it slightly while looking at the pills, and then closed the lid. "Thanks."
An attendant walked in the room, pushing a wheelchair. "Mr. Castle, your chariot awaits you," he said.
"Really?" asked Castle, looking at the wheelchair. "I am perfectly capable of walking."
"Hospital policy," replied the attendant. "Don't want you passing out and hitting your head when you get the bill."
"Too late for that," said Castle as he got into the chair. "The rep from accounting has already been in."
# # # # # # #
Surprisingly, the next couple of days were quiet and Castle elected to stay home and write to meet a deadline.
Beckett became concerned when she came home the second day in a row and found Castle asleep on the couch, his laptop propped on his lap, his fingers resting on the keyboard, and the page on the screen filled with the letter u.
"Hey, babe," she said softly so as not to startle him. "Have a good day?" she asked as Castle blinked his eyes several times and yawned widely, barely catching his laptop as it started to slide off his lap.
"Uh, yeah," he said, looking at the screen. "What the …" He let out a disgusted sigh and deleted the document.
"So what do you want for dinner?"
Castle frowned for a minute and then shook his head slightly. "I'm not really hungry," he said, blinking his eyes again. "I think I'll just...uh…go lay down for a while."
"Okay," said Beckett, running a hand through his hair as she sat beside him. "Did you take your meds today?"
Castle nodded, trying not to yawn again. "Yeah."
"And make an appointment with the neurologist?"
Castle frowned again. "Uh, no – I forgot." He looked at Beckett with a slight smile. "I'll make sure I do that tomorrow." He kissed her softly. "Make sure I don't sleep too long, okay?"
"Okay," said Beckett as she watched Castle drag himself off the couch and head towards the bedroom.
She quickly fixed herself something to eat and cleaned the few dishes in the sink before walking into the bedroom to check on Castle. She frowned as she saw him lying on the bed, fully clothed, and pulled a throw off the chair to cover him with before walking into the bathroom and closing the door.
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The skies were dark the next day, rain threatening, when they got the call about a body – a man found dead in a wooded area in Sara D. Roosevelt Park.
Standing in the kitchen in the loft, Beckett poured coffee in two to-go cups. "Hey, Castle, you ready?" she called.
Not hearing a response, she walked into the bedroom and stopped when she saw him sitting on the bed, eyes closed, his shirt on but not buttoned.
"Castle," she said firmly to get his attention.
"Huh?" he said, opening his eyes and blinking at her.
"You ready?"
"Uh, yeah," he said as he stood and buttoned his shirt. "Just…uh…thinking."
"Yeah," said Beckett, nodding her head and walking into his office. "Where's the card for the neurologist?"
"Kate, I said I would call him today," Castle said almost testily as he walked into the room. "And I will," he said kissing her nose as he walked past her.
"Okay," said Beckett, rolling her eyes slightly.
# # # # # # #
Lanie, Ryan, and Espo were already at the scene when they arrived.
The body was lying in a wooded area, several feet from the trail. An ugly jagged cut marred his left temple and a rock nearby was covered with blood.
"Male, about 43 years old. The blow to the head killed him, but there's this," Lanie said, moving aside his jacket collar to reveal a puncture wound on his neck. She looked up, waiting for Castle's comment.
"Huh," was all he said as he stared at the body.
Beckett and Lanie shared a look as Espo pulled a wallet out of a plastic bag. "Still has ID and money so robbery can probably be ruled out. Mr. Bob Stahlman, 555 Eldridge Street. Judging by his clothes, I'd say he was out running.
Ryan walked up with an older woman carrying a small dog in tow. "Hey, Beckett – we have a potential witness. This is Myrtle Wysman," he said. "Mrs. Wysman, this is Detective Beckett. Tell her what you told me."
"Like I said to this nice young man, I live right over there," she said pointing to some apartments across the park. "I was walking Duke in the park and going to the deli when I saw Bob on this trail. He was running really strangely, holding his neck and I thought it was odd he was wearing a scarf in this heat. I didn't see him when I came back though."
"Did you see anyone else in the area?" Beckett asked.
Mrs. Wysman nodded her head. "Some other joggers, some ladies walking their babies in strollers. No one was on this path though."
"Thanks, Mrs. Wysman." Beckett walked back over to Lanie as Ryan and Mrs. Wysman moved off to finish her interview.
"Anything else, Lanie?" Beckett asked.
Lanie shook her head. "I'll know more when I get him back – hey, Castle, watch out—" she said suddenly as Castle almost tripped over the body.
"Uh – sorry," said Castle, shaking his head. He frowned at Beckett. "Kate, I think I'm just going back to the loft for a while."
Beckett nodded. "You okay? Do you want me to go with you?"
"No, I'm just gonna lay down for a while," he said and then turned and walked to the street to hail a cab.
Beckett watched him go and then looked back at Lanie as she stood up.
"Girl, what's going on with your man?" she whispered. "First that panic attack and now this? That's not Castle. Is it about the accident?"
Beckett nodded miserably, knowing that she couldn't share everything she knew with her best friend. "He started having nightmares about it, and then the same doctor was at the hospital after he had a panic attack. He wants him to see a neurologist."
"So he thinks there's something wrong?" Lanie asked.
"Yeah, I think he does."
Lanie stripped off her gloves and gave Beckett a quick hug. "Let me know if there is anything I can do," she whispered.
Beckett nodded as the boys walked back up.
"I just saw Castle get in a cab – is everything okay?" asked Ryan.
"Yeah," Beckett nodded. "He just has some things to take care of at home."
# # # # # # # #
When Beckett walked in that night, she was pleasantly surprised by the delicious smells coming out of the kitchen.
"Hey, Castle, you must be feeling better if you're cooking," she said as she closed the door.
"No, it's me," said Alexis, wiping her hands on a dish towel and greeting her with a hug. "Grams said that dad sounded a little down on the phone so I thought I'd come by and fix some of his favorite dishes and then head back to my friend's." She tilted her head slightly towards his office. "He's talking with his lawyer about the problem at the airport."
"I'm so glad you're here," Beckett said, smiling. "We've missed you." She thought a moment. "You know you can come back any time."
"Well, you are technically supposed to be on your honeymoon," said Alexis. "And Grams and I don't want to interrupt anything."
Beckett shook her head. "Well, you won't be—"
Alexis held up her hand. "Way too much oversharing," she said quickly.
Beckett smiled slightly. "What I meant to say was that your dad's been sleeping a lot since the wreck. It would be nice to have someone to talk to."
Alexis nodded and frowned. "Yeah, he seems kinda off when I talk to him." She looked at Beckett. "Is everything okay?"
Beckett nodded. Now she was lying to Alexis as well. "He'll be okay – just give him some time."
She was about to say something else when Castle stormed out of the office. "Babe, what's wrong?"
"Phil has no idea why I'm on the no fly list so he doesn't know how to fix it," Castle said, scrubbing his face with his hands in frustration. "He's talked to the mayor and even to Senator Gillibrand, but they can't pull up any information. So as long as I'm on the list, we're stuck here."
"Hey, it's okay," Beckett said, hugging him. "We can always go to Niagara Falls for our honeymoon. I hear it's quite the romantic destination."
"Yeah, but not as much fun as a private island in the Maldives," said Castle pouting.
Alexis cleared her throat as they kissed. "So do you want Caesar dressing on the salad or Italian?"
"God damn it, Alexis, just pick one," Castle said harshly.
The shocked look on his face was matched by the shocked expressions on both Beckett's and Alexis' faces.
He quickly walked to his daughter and grabbed her in a hug. "Alexis, I am so sorry," he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut as tears threatened to slide out. "I didn't mean it, Pumpkin." He paused for a beat. "Either one is fine."
Alexis nodded, squeezing her lips tightly together as she returned the hug.
"It smells wonderful and I appreciate it," Castle said as he kissed the top of her head.
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Dinner was a quiet affair, something unusual in the Castle household Beckett had come to realize. Usually they discussed their day, what new things they had seen, other topics that were of interest.
But now everyone sat quietly eating, Castle pushing the food around on his plate mostly.
"This is really good," he finally said, glancing up at Alexis. He thought another minute. "Uh, have you thought about coming back?"
Alexis nodded, glad to have something to talk about finally. "Yeah, I was thinking about staying here tonight…"
"Good," said Castle, nodding. He wiped his mouth with his napkin and then put it on the table. "I think I'm just going to go to bed."
"Okay," both Alexis and Kate replied.
Castle kissed Alexis on the head. "I'm so sorry, Pumpkin," he whispered.
Alexis shook her head and smiled at him. "Don't worry about it. We all get stressed sometimes and say things we don't mean."
Castle nodded and then moved to kiss Beckett and then walked into the bedroom and shut the door.
Alexis watched him go and then turned to Beckett, tears in her eyes. "Kate, are you sure my dad is going to be okay?"
# # # # # # # #
Beckett walked into the bedroom a short time later to find Castle sitting on the bed in his boxers, a t-shirt wadded in his hands, head hanging low.
"Kate," he said finally. "I don't know what's wrong with me – I've never yelled at Alexis ever."
Beckett crawled across the bed and hugged him from behind, wrapping her arms around him and laying her head on his back. "It will be okay, babe."
Castle nodded, barely able to keep back tears.
"We'll get through this," she whispered in his ear, kissing the side of his neck.
They stayed like that for several minutes before Castle straightened slightly.
"I'm – uh – just going to take a shower," he finally said, not looking at Beckett.
Beckett nodded. "Want some help?" she whispered in his ear.
Castle shook his head and swallowed. "No, no – I'll be out in a couple of minutes."
Now it was Beckett's turn to frown. "Okay, I'll just go help Alexis clean up."
"Okay," Castle said sullenly and walked into the bathroom.
He shut and locked the door and quickly stripped, looking at himself in the mirror. He had always had a response before and now nothing…? Not even a little? Usually it just took one look at Beckett, one breath of hers against his neck he thought as he fingered himself, but still nothing.
This had never happened before, he thought in horror. Other men, yes, but not to him.
Castle ran a shaky hand through his hair.
What the hell was happening to him? He was angry one minute and then almost in tears the next, and he had never yelled at Alexis before.
He quickly thought over the events of the last few days, trying to pinpoint what exactly had changed and the only thing that came to mind were the pills the doctor had prescribed after his panic attack.
Castle nodded at himself in the mirror. That's what it had to be, so he wouldn't take them for a couple of days and see if that changed anything.
But Beckett was adamant that he take them. She had said that the doctors prescribed anti-anxiety meds for her for several weeks after her shooting and they helped her.
He quickly decided to substitute the contents of the bottle for the vitamins that his internist had prescribed and then he'd talk to Beckett if he saw any changes.
Castle nodded to himself again and turned on the spray of the shower and stepped in, letting the pulse of the hot water relax his muscles.
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