A Convergence of Storms

Summary – Someone from Castle's past is murdered and that gives Kate a look into his unconventional childhood and time spent shadowing the CIA, something that hasn't really been discussed on the show (yet). AU of course, with some grounding in canon.

Author's Notes – Back from vacation so trying to get caught up with the everyday and get the imagination working again.

Disclaimer – Don't own Castle – Marlowe, ABC, and Disney do. The OCs came out of my imagination.

Chapter 19 – Eyes Wide Open

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The next morning, Gates was unpleasantly surprised once again to find people waiting for her in the bull pen, this time without the courtesy of a text message to warn her.

Castle, Beckett, and Esposito were still dressed in the clothes they had worn the day before, indicating that they had spent the night at the precinct. Several containers of to-go food that Ryan had brought in littered the counter in the break room.

"Captain, if we could have a moment of your time…" Beckett started, motioning to Anders.

"Of course, Detective." From the looks on their faces, whatever they had to discuss was serious.

Beckett gave Castle's hand a quick squeeze before walking into Gates' office and closing the door.

Castle looked at Althea and motioned to the break room. "Can I offer you a cronut or a cup of coffee?"

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"Castle, about the gps," Althea said in an exasperated voice as she sat down the cup that he had handed her, "the red button is only to be pushed in case of an emergency."

"But this is an emergency – our best lead has left the country and gone to where all of this started – Mar del Plata, Argentina – that can't be a coincidence," Castle replied emphatically.

"And only in case of a life-threatening event," Althea continued, knowing she wasn't going to win this battle but trying anyway.

"Uncle Armie's dead, so I consider that life-threatening, and I'm sure he would too, if he were still alive," Castle countered. "And someone who is probably associated with Mr. Melekov tried to abduct me – again – but you know that since you took him and all the evidence."

Althea squeezed the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger and closed her eyes, shaking her head slightly. Most of the time, she had enjoyed working with Castle, but there were times when he tried her patience. Divide and conquer was definitely not working in this case and she hoped that Anders was having better luck in Gate's office.

"You do realize this could be a trap – that they want you back there?" she finally asked.

Castle nodded. "But at least this time, I'll be walking in with my eyes wide open." He paused for a moment before straightening up and saying resolutely, "And it's better than living in a cage for the rest of my life."

Althea nodded. "We thought you'd say that." She pulled a cell phone out of her pocket. "Here – this will give you something to play with on the trip."

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Gates frowned disapprovingly. "Are you sure about this, Detective?"

Beckett nodded. "His secretary said that Mr. Melekov has gone to Mar del Plata, Argentina, to take care of his cousin's estate. That can't be a coincidence," she said, saying the exact same thing at the exact same time that Castle said it to Althea.

Gates frowned again. "The US has an extradition treaty with Argentina—" she started.

"And that will take months, if not years," interjected Beckett. "Right now, all we have is circumstantial evidence – Mr. Tavitian took a picture from Mr. Melekov's house when he was there tuning a piano – he thought it was a picture of Castle. And we believe he was killed for that – because if someone saw that picture, they would know without a doubt that Melekov is involved. The man who attempted to abduct Castle wanted that picture, but that man and the evidence are now in CIA custody and out of our reach."

Gates looked questioningly at Anders with an eyebrow raised. The man simply shrugged.

"The attacks on Castle won't stop until this is settled – whatever this is," Beckett stated emphatically. "And that puts our entire team in danger and prevents us from doing our job effectively."

Gates nodded, thinking. "Let me just remind you, Detective, that where you're going, you don't have jurisdiction."

Beckett shrugged. "Castle and I are just going there to pay our respect to Mr. Melekov for his loss."

Gates nodded again and then looked at the man intruding in her office. "Mr. Anders, is that your assessment of the situation?"

"Unfortunately, yes," he said, nodding. "Mr. Melekov's name did come up during the conversation we had with our guest, so he is a key suspect in this matter and Castle is definitely the target. While we don't normally allow civilians on 'missions', Detective Beckett is a highly trained professional and Castle is…well, Castle."

Gates looked out her window at Esposito and Ryan who were sitting at their desks, trying to look busy and then back at Beckett. "What about the rest of your team?"

Beckett glanced over at the detectives who were discretely sneaking glances themselves at both the break room and Gate's office. "We need someone here to run the investigation on Melekov," she said.

Gates nodded again and looked back at Anders. "I'm sending my best detective with you, Mr. Anders. I trust you'll make sure nothing happens to her…and to Mr. Castle."

Anders nodded. "We'll make it a priority to return Detective Beckett safe and sound, but Castle…?" he just shrugged.

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Espo and Ryan looked up as Beckett and Anders walked out of Gate's office.

Beckett walked over to their desks while Anders went into the break room.

"Road trip?" Espo asked quietly.

Beckett nodded and then quickly added, "But not for you two."

She put a hand up to stall Espo as he ramped up to voice his displeasure.

"I need you here – I want everything you can get on Melekov – and that information needs to be unfiltered," she said, glancing at Anders and Althea who were talking by the break room door. "I think they know more than they are willing to share."

Espo frowned before huffing out a breath and then nodded. "Yeah, we got your back."

He frowned again as Anders and Anders walked over to Beckett.

"There's a private jet scheduled to depart JFK in 2 hours," said Althea. "And we'll provide everything so you don't need to go back to the loft to pack."

"What about our passports?" Beckett asked.

"Already taken care of," replied Anders.

Beckett nodded and then looked around. "Where's Castle?"

"Setting up his new cell phone," said Althea. "Wouldn't want him to get bored on the trip."

"Hey," said Castle, walking up to them with a cell phone in his hand. "All set?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Beckett, nodding. She looked back at Espo and Ryan. "Sorry, guys."

"No problem," said Ryan.

"Yeah," snorted Espo.

"Oh, hey – there's a couple of cronuts left," said Castle over his shoulder, motioning towards the break room as they walked towards the elevator to leave the precinct. "In case you're hungry later…"

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Espo frowned as the results from the search came back empty and then pushed away from his desk and walked into the break room.

He smiled at the lone cronut left in the box and picked it up to take a bite when the envelope peeking out from under the corner of the box caught his attention.

He slowly moved the box off of it and saw that his name was written on it in Castle's handwriting. He glanced around before picking it up, opening it, and reading what was inside.

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