A/N: Once again I apologize for how long this has taken. I've been out of wi fi range for the past few weeks and I'm finally able to get this out. I hope this chapter will make up for the wait. Thanks for your patience.

And wow! Over 300 followers! I continue to be blown away by the response to this story. Even with everything going on in RL, your support helps keep the fun in writing, and I thank you so much.

I hope you enjoy!

XXXXXX

Freddy was pissed.

"When I told you no leg shot, I meant dead!"

"And if you had waited five minutes before tossing him out, he would have been!"

Myers was angry too.

"If you'd killed him outright like you were supposed to, those pigs outside wouldn't have had the chance to save him when they caught him!"

The two men glared at each other for a moment longer before Freddy broke the standoff.

"Headshot next time. When someone needs to be dead, make sure of it."

He began walking out of the break room, but Myers stopped him.

"What are you going to do with the chick? I was a little surprised you wanted the guy dead not her."

Freddy turned around. He was grinning, though Myers couldn't see it through the mask.

"I wanna play with her first."

XXXXXX

Kate could hear the muffled arguing from the break room.

It worried her. If they were fighting among themselves, what was to stop them from taking it out on her and the other hostages? Surveying the faces of the other hostages, she could tell they were thinking the same thing.

Freddy and the others hadn't announced what their agenda was – well – except for the 'because we can' that Freddy had told Eggerstrom just after she was dragged down the stairs by Skull-Face.

Because we can.

Well, that was chilling. If these guys were just in it for the thrill of it, there was a good chance no one was getting out of the precinct alive…including the captors.

Hell, this could be some elaborate suicide by cop scheme.

But somehow, Kate didn't think it was that. These guys – particularly Freddy – were enjoying themselves too much to want to get killed.

But it could still be they were doing it for 'fun'.

She looked around at the other captives, then up to the three men who were covering them, making sure none of the detectives were talking.

Her gaze stopped for a moment on Creepy Clown, who nudged Zombie when he noticed her stare.

Suddenly Kate was grateful for the masks. It made identification impossible, true, but when Marcus told her they had been ribbing each other about assaulting her… she was glad she couldn't see their leers.

The sniggers were bad enough.

She looked away from the two men, catching Marcus Andrews' eye.

He gave her an encouraging smile that didn't reach his eyes; she returned it and went back to her pondering.

Freddy had told her that he had called Castle, but none the other cops had heard him talking to anyone but the other captors. She reasoned he could be lying…but…

But then how did he know her name? She glanced over at her desk.

Her nameplate only showed her surname, and everything was neat – nothing had been disturbed since she went upstairs to work out. It didn't look like these guys had been rifling through anyone's workspace.

The only explanation was that Freddy really did call Castle. But what really made him pick up the call?

Yes, there was the explosion that would have made the news, but she didn't even know if Rick was in town. He could be jet setting all over the world with bimbos vying for the chance to be the 'new muse'.

God, she was getting worked up over what was probably nothing.

Freddy had just probably looked through the phones and found hers, scrolling through her numbers, looking for something to bait her. Kate usually didn't lock it while in the precinct – it was too much of a pain to keep typing in the password when Lanie or the boys called her.

But she couldn't get the words out of her mind…panicky and pissed off.

If Freddy wasn't messing with her, what did it mean about Castle being panicky? Was he concerned about her? Was that what he was pissed off about? Being worried about someone he was over? Or was he really upset about the detectives being taken? Even then, all Freddy had said was 'boyfriend', so was it really Castle he had called?

'Could you maybe concentrate on trying to figure out these monsters weaknesses?' Kate berated herself, then went right back to asking questions about Rick.

Is he angry at Freddy? Is he angry at him because he cares? Or because he was inconvenienced? Kate didn't like to think Rick would feel that way – but he had left the precinct and hadn't looked back.

'God, shut up, Kate!'

Overthinking wasn't getting her anywhere.

The problem was, she had no clue what would.

XXXXXX

"Yes, Mrs. Lennox… I appreciate you keeping us posted… Bruce is an integral part of our team… Right… Let us know, please… Thank you, Mrs. Lennox, goodbye."

Captain Gates clicked off her cell phone and turned to Esposito.

"Bruce survived the trip to the hospital, and is in surgery now. It's still touch and go, but he's alive. Have there been any more developments out there?"

"No, Sir. No more shots, nothing dumped out the window, nothing."

Gates frowned.

"I'm not sure that no news is good news in this scenario, but all we can do is hope. Mr. Castle?"

Rick jumped up from his corner where he was staying out of the way.

"Yes, Captain?"

"The captors haven't called you again, correct?"

"That's correct, Sir."

Victoria eyed him a moment, thinking.

"Maybe it's time we called them."

"Call them?"

"Yes. I want you to call Beckett. If…no, when the leader of these hijackers answers, find out what they want."

"How?" asked Castle. "Just ask?"

Gates shrugged.

"Sometimes, the more simple the plan is, the easier it works."

"That makes sense," Rick nodded.

"Also, ask – politely, please, no demanding at this point – to speak to one of the hostages. I know you'll ask for Kate, and that's all right, but if the phone is handed to someone else – take it."

"Of course, Captain. What should I ask Kate…or whoever answers?"

Victoria sat at a makeshift desk set up in the truck. This part could get delicate.

"We'll have to assume that at least one of these men will be listening in. You won't be able to ask for specifics directly, and the answers you receive will be cryptic. We'll hook up your phone to speakers so we can all hear what's going on, and if you can't decipher what Beckett says, maybe one of us can."

She gestured at the hostage negotiators listening in on the conversation.

"We'll come up with a set of questions for you to ask. Of course this is all dependent on whether or not you're allowed to speak to a captive."

"Understood, Captain," Rick acknowledged. "One question though, how do we know how many bad guys there are?"

Pat Faulkner, one of the negotiators, spoke up.

"Based on the gunfire, we believe there to be at least three of them."

"That doesn't seem to be enough to take down a bunch of cops," Castle frowned.

"I get your point, Mr. Castle," returned Faulkner, "but the explosion would cause confusion if not injuries – giving these men time to subdue our people."

Gates cut in.

"There also may be more of these terrorists. Which is why that's going to go on the list of questions."

Castle looked up at Gates' choice of word.

"Do you think this is a terroristic act?"

"Maybe not in the legal sense, But I'm terrified, aren't you? Anything's possible, Mr. Castle. At least until we find out more."

She stood and clapped her hands together.

"All right, people, lets get to work."

XXXXXX

Half an hour later, a short list was completed.

Miodrag Dragović, a Serbian psychologist working with the NYPD handed the paper to Rick.

He began speaking in a thick accent.

"Here is the list of four questions for the kidnappers, and six questions for a hostage. This is to give us an idea of what we're up against."

"Why only four for the bad guys?" asked Castle.

"Captain Gates has informed me that you have a tendency to think outside the box – that sometimes your… 'crazy theories' as she put it… can lead to real information. We need all the intelligence we can get."

Rick was stunned.

"Captain Gates said that about me?" The disbelief in his voice made Dragović smile.

"Don't let it go to your head Mr. Castle," the captain called from her desk.

He grinned and relaxed a little. Too much levity would be out of place, but a little actually helped.

"So, you want me to come up with a couple of 'out there' questions for the captors? CIA conspiracies, aliens, similar to that?"

"Exactly, Mr. Castle. No more than two, we want as much data as we can receive, but we also need to keep it simple, and not make any of them angry.

Rick nodded and looked at the list of questions for the captors:

What do you want/Why are you doing this?

Are you married/have a girlfriend/boyfriend?

What do you do for a living?

Will you let me speak to Kate or another hostage?

And then the questions for a hostage:

Have they told you why they're doing this?

How many captors are there?

Can you give a description?

How did they hurt you?

Are you physically all right now?

Have they hurt anyone besides you and Bruce Lennox?

"A couple of these are specifically directed at Beckett. What if they hand the phone to someone else?"

"You can still ask them, Castle," Esposito butted in, still a bit more snarky than Rick thought he needed to be. "Just alter the question a little."

He nodded.

"I guess I'm nervous."

"Hide that as best you can," returned Dragović. "Confidence will get you more."

"But don't be cocky," Espo emphasized. "The weird questions you'll ask will antagonize them enough without your being a know it all."

Castle opened his mouth to protest, but Esposito cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"I'm not saying that you are that, but it's important that those guys in there don't think it."

"Okay," Rick breathed. He stood still a moment, gathering himself.

"Okay, I'm ready."

XXXXXX

Kate had been released from the cuffs so she could use the bathroom. Freddy had gone with her to watch and make sure she didn't try and find something to use as a weapon.

She tried a little snark on him.

"What am I going to use on you? A tampon from the machine?"

That earned her a hard slap on the face.

"Don't be a bitch. Or I'll send my colleagues in with you."

He indicated Zombie and Creepy Clown.

Kate swallowed hard.

Freddy leaned right into her face.

"And I won't be responsible if they do anything to you."

Kate said nothing.

"Good answer," Freddy mocked as they went into the restroom. "Door stays open or I'm coming in the stall with you."

Kate turned her back on the man and rolled her eyes. She entered the stall, pivoted back around and looked him straight in the eyes, (at least she thought it was his eyes, she couldn't quite tell through the mask) and undid her pants.

She quickly took care of business, keeping an eye on Freddy the entire time. She wouldn't put it past him to try something when she was vulnerable like this, but she also didn't want to antagonize him enough to bring in the other two.

As soon as she finished washing her hands, Freddy put a fresh pair of zipties on her wrists.

Behind her back.

"I bet you think you're being treated badly," Freddy smirked at the look on her face. "I bet you thought that because I recuffed the others in front, that I'd do you too."

He scoffed.

"If you hadn't pulled such a stupid ass stunt with those scissors, maybe I would've. But you did, and your punishment isn't over. Probably won't ever be over – until everyone's dead but you."

Kate recoiled at that.

"You are planning on killing us? Why?"

"Why not?"

With a wide grin, Freddy sauntered toward the bathroom door, leaving Kate staring after him with her mouth open.

Because we can.

Oh, God.

XXXXXX

A/N/2: Thoughts?