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. And yeah for 3-day weekends! Rated T for mild swearing.
Disclaimer – Don't own Castle – Marlowe, ABC, and Disney do.
Chapter 9 – Deluge
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It was with much consternation that Beckett found herself at Coney Island two hours later, Castle sitting nervously beside her, rubbing his sweaty palms on his thighs several times to dry them as they waited for Althea.
She watched him for a minute before saying softly, "You didn't say much on the way here. Are you mad at me? For lying to you?"
Castle paused and frowned, then dropped his head and shook it. "No, no, I'm not. Hurt, yes, but not mad." He made a face and shrugged slightly. "But then again I spent 9 months lying to you to protect you – to keep you safe, so I guess we're even."
Beckett pressed her lips together, not looking at Castle. "So is that what we're doing – keeping score?" she finally asked.
"No, oh, god no, Kate – never," Castle said quickly, looking at her. "We both kept secrets and I don't want us doing that anymore." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I want us to be able to tell each other anything – to trust each other enough to do that."
Castle frowned. "Last year, when you were in Washington – after I was poisoned, I could feel it eating away at me, and my only regret in those last few hours was that I waited so long to tell you that I loved you." He shook his head. "And that night when Alexis graduated – when you came to the loft after almost dying and you told me that I was all that you wanted…and then you stood on that bomb and said 'I love you'…"
He took a breath and touched her face with his hand. "I don't want that for us, Kate – only to be able to tell each other these things when we're facing death. I don't want any more regrets."
Beckett smiled at him with tears in her eyes. "And that's why I want to marry you," she said as she leaned forward to kiss him.
Their lips lingered for a minute and then they touched foreheads before sitting back next to each other, holding hands.
"But I have saved your life more times than you've saved my life," Castle quipped off-handedly.
Beckett let out an exasperated breath and hit him lightly on the arm.
Castle smiled at her and then the expression on his face hardened as he looked down the boardwalk at a couple approaching them. "Damn," he said standing up. "This must be bad – they brought in the heavy guns."
Beckett watched the two people as they got closer.
The woman was tall, slender, athletic, her short brown curly hair cropped close, framing her face. Beckett guessed that she was in her late 40's, but the woman had that ageless quality about her.
The man was about Castle's height and age, an eye patch covering his left eye, a slight limp in his walk.
They both looked like tourist, dressed in floral shirts, khaki shorts, and sandals.
"Richard," the woman said as they stopped in front of them. "I was surprised to get your call so soon."
"Althea, you're looking as good as ever," Castle said, reaching forward to shake her hand. He nodded toward the man. "Anders."
The man nodded back. "Hey, speed reader."
Castle turned to Beckett. "Kate, this is Althea Conrad – she was my handler when I was shadowing the CIA."
Althea turned to Beckett and reached out her hand. "Civilian liaison," she corrected as they shook hands. "I assure you, Detective Beckett, that I never handled anything." She smiled at Beckett. "You must be Detective Katherine Beckett. It's so good to finally meet you."
"Ah, I didn't know Castle told you about me," said Beckett, shaking the woman's hand.
"Oh, he hasn't," said Althea simply.
"This is Brad Anders," said Castle, motioning towards the man. "He was the section head of the department in the CIA that I shadowed."
"Director now," said Anders, reaching out his hand to shake Beckett's.
"Uh, are you sure we should be doing this here?" Castle asked, looking around.
Althea looked around herself and shrugged. "I can't think of a better place," she said. "It's open and public." She frowned at Castle. "You didn't follow instructions, but why doesn't that surprise me?" she said, pulling a red baseball hat out of her pack. "Here – put this on."
Castle took the hat and looked at it. "Why does that make me feel like I have a target on my back?"
Althea smiled at him. "It's just so that if something happens, the sniper on the roof over there doesn't accidentally take you out." She looked at the people standing near the edge of the boardwalk. "And the man taking pictures over there – that's an audio jammer, so there isn't a chance of us being overheard."
Castle frowned as he put on the hat, his shoulder slumping slightly in an effort not to be so noticeable.
"So what's going on?" he asked. "Why are you following me?"
Anders looked at him for a minute and then at Beckett without saying anything.
"Listen," said Castle, putting up his hand. "Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of Kate. I trust her with my life."
"As your fiancé, I think you would," said Althea, nodding. "Fair enough. Do you want to start or do you want me to start?" she asked him.
"Castle, I don't understand – what's going on?" Beckett asked.
Castle took her hands. "Kate, when I was shadowing the CIA, I was also working for them."
"A spy – like your dad?" Kate blurted out before she could think and then quickly covered her mouth at having revealed that to two strangers.
"That's okay, Kate, if I may call you that," Althea quickly assured her. "It's one of the worst kept secrets at certain levels in the Company. But no, that would mean being inconspicuous and flying under the radar, neither of which are Rick's strong points. No offense," she said looking at Castle.
"None taken," he replied. "Kate, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were correct – I did read reports while I was there – I worked as an analyst, gratis of course. Anders thought that if I was observing them, I could at least make myself useful and not so annoying. It really happened by accident."
Castle paused for a moment. "Surprisingly, Anders was not very pleased that I was there – said it upset the delicate balance of the department synergy, as I recall," he said, looking at the man.
"Anyway, I had to have a security clearance, and after I had been there for a couple of weeks, one of their analysts was out so Anders gave me a report to analyze. He told me not to come back until after I had read it all, thinking that it would keep me busy for a couple of days."
Castle pressed his lips together for a moment, thinking. "Anyway, he was being a jackass and I was being a wise ass. The document was about 1,000 pages, and Alexis and mother were in California visiting Meredith, so I spent all night reading it. I also looked up several key points on the internet that pertained to the report and noted those. I went back first thing the next morning and gave him my report."
"Yeah," said Anders. "I lost the office bet – cost me two week's pay."
"And a legend was born—" said Althea.
"Speed reader," said Beckett.
"Yeah, my super power," Castle quipped. "Able to read large amounts and retain that knowledge for a while – at least long enough to pass a test on it."
He looked at Anders and Althea. "So what's going on? What's the problem?"
Anders frowned slightly. "When we found out that Sophia Turner was a rouge agent, we performed a forensic analysis on all of her activities within the Company. She was very good at hiding her tracks, and it took several years to complete it."
Althea nodded. "Rick, we found some disturbing variances concerning you."
"Okay," said Castle hesitantly. It still surprised him to this day that Sophia, a woman he thought he knew so well, was a double agent capable of starting WWIII.
"Did she ever give you any reports to read?" Anders asked bluntly.
Castle nodded. "Yeah, a couple of times when she was supervising the group in your absence. She said that you left them for me to review. Why?"
Anders and Althea looked at each other, and then Althea looked at Castle. "Because she wasn't authorized to give you any reports at all. Only Anders was."
She took Castle's hand. "I'm sorry, Rick. She played us and you were the fatted calf."
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