0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Something was terribly wrong. Beckett felt it as Harden lead her down the dark hallway. Something bad awaited her and she had no way of getting away from it. They past a guard on the way in and Harden kept track of her out of the corner of his eye just waiting for her to do something to warrant shooting her. Beckett wiped her sweaty palms on her thighs struggling to keep her head clear. Maybe Potter made it to the 12th by now. Hopefully, the man listened to her, just in case the real Elena showed up and it would put the man six feet under. She couldn't really put any hope in Esposito figuring out her text message since Harden interrupted her before giving the full address. Her only saving grace with that was if the boys were able to track the phone by its GPS.

It was hard for her to tell just exactly where they were or even if they were in the same building as before. If anything, the GPS could lead them to the letter she left. That at least brought some amount of comfort for Beckett. She just hoped that she would get out of this mess and tell him everything in person.

Finally they reached the end of the hall and Harden pushed open a door. "In."

Shadows took over most of the room, but Beckett spotted the blood that someone was trying to wash down the drain. Swallowing hard, she pushed forward inside trying to make out anything else in the room to give her some sort of advantage.

"I apologize for the delay. I had to resolve a business matter."

Beckett couldn't see the man speaking except for two large blood covered hands and the towel he was using to clean it off. There was something about his voice that had the hairs on the back of her neck standing. "Of course."

"I don't usually do this, meet like this. But for you I'll make an exception. Between our needs and your skill set this could be a very profitable arrangement."

Beckett couldn't help it, but she hesitated before speaking again, "I agree." Damn it! Harden started shifting closer to her as if he sensed her resolve fading. This was going to get ugly and quick.

"Good. So, now that we've met, why don't we formalize our arrangement?" Simmons stepped out of the shadow and there was an instant moment of mutual recognition. "You're not Elena."

Shit! Shit! Beckett tried not to panic. What the hell had she gotten herself into? If Simmons was involved then she knew it was bad. Knew that it could be connected to him. Connected to her mother. Harden said something that went unnoticed by either her or Simmons.

"I know you."

"No." Her voice wavered a bit, "No you don't."

Simmons stepped closer to look at her better, "I never forget a face." The corner of his mouth curled, "Detective Beckett. Or should I say Castle now?"

Fuck! Cover blown, Beckett reached for the gun on her belt only to freeze when Harden pressed the barrel of his gun to her throat. This was bad. This was very very bad.

"Homicide." Simmons took Beckett's gun fully grinning now. "Out of the Twelfth. Last time I saw you, you tried to put me through a wall. Accused me of murdering your momma. And from the look on her face, she remembers me. Don't you, Detective?"

Beckett remained silent.

"Where is your protector? I hear that you married him." Simmons laughed when Beckett's emotions betrayed her. "I hope that you said a proper goodbye to your beloved husband, Detective. I'll be sure to send him some flowers when your body washes up."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A fake murder. Whatever Fowler got Beckett involved in couldn't be good. The man's story made Castle all the more desperate to find his wife. All he could do was follow the breadcrumbs she was leaving behind. Well, the boys were anyways. Gates instructed him to remain at the station as he was far too close to use a clear head. Sitting in his chair, Castle agonizingly waited for an update. What if she was already dead? The question made the writer burry his face in his hands. He couldn't lose her. Not now. Not ever. The woman was his lifeline. His rock. His everything.

"Here," Alexis offered a cup of coffee to her father. When he just shrugged it off, she forced his fingers to wrap around the ceramic mug. "You can't be driving yourself crazy like this, Dad. Kate is resourceful."

The way the detective handled faking Potter's death proved that. But there was only so many resources that Beckett had to pull from before she ran out. Since they just threw her into this mess without much a briefing, she had very little knowledge of the real Elena. Hell they still were trying to figure out who the hell the woman truly was.

"I should." Castle scrubbed a hand over his face, "I should call Jim. He needs to know what's going on."

Alexis agreed, but felt like all the phone call would do was make Jim panic without any reassurance. They needed more to go on before contacting him. "We should wait." She suggested and her father didn't put up much of an argument. "Until Ryan and Esposito comes back. They might have more information."

Castle nodded in agreement thankful that Alexis somehow managed to keep a level head through all this. His head was a mess leaving no room for rational thoughts or hope. The only thing that processed was the fact that his wife was missing, in danger, and possibly dead somewhere in this god forsaken city. They'd been lucky in the past. Some small clue would pop up or pieces of the puzzle would fall into place. It seemed that their luck was running out.

Alexis heard the ding of the elevator and looked up hopeful as the doors slid open. "They're back."

He shot to his feet, placing Beckett's mug carefully on her desk "Did you find her?"

Esposito's face turned grim, "The hotel is a rent by the hour type. The manager did recall seeing a woman come in matching Beckett's description being escorted by a man. They left not long after they arrived with no sign of where they were going. Sorry, man."

Castle deflated, "Did he say if she was hurt? Being held against her will?"

"He said she looked fine and that she didn't attempt to signal or alert him that anything was wrong." Esposito knew that gave very little comfort.

"So you found nothing?" Castle demanded.

Ryan stepped in before Castle's temper got the best of him, "There was some blood."

"Blood." Alexis grasped her father's arm for support.

"Very little. Like it had been planted and it was." Ryan withdrew a letter from the inside pocket of his jacket. Swallowing hard, he held it out so the name printed on its front faced upward. He and Esposito's arm shot out to keep Castle up right.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Simmons held the detective's head underwater. Beckett struggled trying to break free of the man's grasp. Her lungs burned. God did they burn in protest of taking water and not what it needed. Her hands were bound behind her back leaving her helpless to do anything more than fight with her upper body strength to break the surface of the water. Just when she was sure that she was going to pass out, Simmons pulled her head free. Beckett sucked in water the moment she could.

"Let's do without all this Kabuki Theater, Detective. It's undignified." He repositioned his chair smiling as the woman did her best to cough up the water in her lungs. Twisting his hand in her wet hair, he shoved her forward so her face was just mere inches from the surface of the water. "Tell me what I want to know and I'll give you a proper death without all this messy suffering."

"Fuck you." Beckett spoke in between short gasps.

"Now that's not appropriate language for a woman. Does your husband let you talk like that to him?" At the mention of the writer, Simmons felt Beckett jerk obviously hitting a nerve. "What was your mission and what do they know about Lazarus?"

She looked up between the dripping wet strands of hair that blocked most of her vision, "Fuck you." Beckett repeated this time with vitality. It only made the man laugh. Twisting her hands in hopes to loosen the restraints, Beckett snarled at Simmons, "Do you want undignified? Then wait 'til you see what I do to you."

"You know, you're just like your momma. Both playing in worlds where you don't belong."

Screaming in rage, terror, and possibly a thousand other different emotions, Beckett launched herself over the tub towards Simmons. Harden stopped her with a heavy blow to the face before she could reach her mark. Beckett's head bounced off the edge of the tub before she hit the ground with a groan of pain. Blood instantly poured into her left eye as her face throbbed. If she didn't think of something and fast then there was no way she'd walk away from this. She'd never see her husband's smile again. Never hear Alexis' laugh or Martha's singing. She was going to die here in this dark and dismal room, alone and afraid. Just like her mother. Tears burned the back of her throat at the thought of the fact that Castle must be going crazy with worry after not showing up for dinner.

Simmons wrenched Beckett up and dropped her onto the chair. "Your momma paid for it with her life. So will you."

Beckett tried to prepare herself as Simmons shoved her head under the water. Water filled her nose and lungs, burning all the way down. He didn't have her under long. Spitting up water, Beckett cried out as Simmons tightened his grip on her wet hair.

"Your husband must be going out of his mind worrying about where you are." Simmons whispered just loud enough to be heard over the woman's heavy breathing. "Tell me what I want to know and I'll make sure I don't mess you up to much when I kill you."

Her heart ached as Castle's face filled her mind. She was thankful that the droplets of water streaking down her face masked the tears of anguish. Regardless if she spoke or not, Simmons already had her death mapped out. That didn't mean she wasn't going to fight until she had nothing left. Her family was waiting for her to come. And god willing, she would make it through this.

Simmons slammed the detective's head against the lip of the tub splitting open the skin along her cheekbone wide open. "This can all be over if you just tell me what I want to know."

Beckett remained silent.

"Bad choice," Simmons informed, "Just means I'll have to try that sweet stepdaughter of yours. See what you'll tell me then when I run her through-."

For the second time, Beckett lunged forward, "You son of a bitch! You leave h-." He shoved her head under in mid sentence leaving her no choice but to choke down the water flooding in her mouth and through her nose. Her body rejected the action and Beckett began to cough making her take even more water in. She stopped struggling. There was no point to it. Her lungs were already full of water and it seemed like only a matter of time before the darkness claimed her. She didn't even have strength to gasp in air when Simmons pulled her up. She slumped forward, the man's grip on her hair the only thing keeping her from going back face first into the water.

"You know your lungs are burning. I can feel the panic in your soul. All you want is for this to end. And I promise I will end it and let your love ones claim your body. Just tell me what I want to know."

Her head lolled to the side too out of it to comprehend what he said and unable to muster a response. Not her family. This man would not hurt her family. She kept them in the front of her mind clinging to it like a life vest to keep her from being swept under.

Disgusted, Simmons threw her to the ground and she crumbled at Harden's feet. "Find a patch of dirt to put her in, somewhere where she won't be found." Simmons reached for his jacket, "They'll never have the comfort of putting you to rest. You're going to die just like your momma. Cold and alone."

Beckett couldn't manage anything other than a shallow cough.

"Get her out of here."

Grinning, Harden pulled the limp detective up. "Let's go for a nice little walk, shall we."

Not much registered to Beckett. Harden was dragging her through the dark woods, her hands were bound behind her back, and she was gagged. The man kept talking, but all that did get through was how cold and bone tired she was. She barely had the strength to put one foot in front of another. Why didn't he just kill her? This place was as good as any.

"I love these woods. My daddy used to take me hunting up here when I was a kid. I spent days learning every rock, every tree. All the secret little places to hide. Over the years it's come in handy." He catches her foot with his own sending her pitching forward down the steep hill.

There was nothing Beckett could do to stop herself. She hit the earth at full speed sending shockwaves of pain through her body. It felt like forever before she came to a stop face first in the mud unable to move or even breathe.

Watching her for a moment, Harden yanked Beckett to her knees when she made no move to get up. Her face was covered in mud and blood from the gashes along her cheekbone and brow. "You know, I had you made from the moment you walked through the door. I could see it in your eyes. I thought, no way is this woman a killer." He removed the blood soaked gag. "Go ahead and scream if you like. No one will hear you."

Screaming took too much of an effort. Instead, Beckett made a last ditch effort to save her life. "You don't want to kill me, Harden." Her voice was hoarse, "You know I'm a cop."

Harden shrugged at the information, "I've killed cops before."

"My people will hunt you down." Castle would not stop until he found the man responsible for her death. Knowing that made Beckett's blood turn to ice. She wouldn't be the reason Alexis lost her father. "They will kill you. But we can make a deal. You help me take down Lazarus and you can set any deal you want."

"Nah, I'm good with the deal I've got, thank you."

Well shit. Beckett slumped forward out of options. The only thing left to do was face her death with dignity. Conjuring up an image of her husband, Beckett held her head up high not flinching at the gun in her face.

Then something happened. Beckett was too sluggish to process everything, but she heard a click, a grunt, and then a thud as Harden crumbled to the ground. Blood began to pool on the wet leaves from the gaping wound on the man's neck. Her gaze flickered to the unknown figure looming over the dead man's body.

"Elena." Beckett breathed unsure if this was her chance to survive or another chance to die.

"You've got balls, I'll give you that Detective. I hope Lazarus knows just what type of woman he's playing with."

Beckett's injured brow shot up in surprise, "You're not going to kill me?"

"Nope," Elena kept on walking, "He sent me because he owed you. He said he wanted you to live."

And just like that the woman was gone.

A sob of relief tore from her throat. She made it. How and why her life was spared, she wasn't sure. And for the moment that was okay. Later she would figure out what happened. But for now she chose to focus on the fact she could make it home to her family.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Kate!" Alexis shot across the bullpen.

The sound of her stepdaughter's voice, snapped Beckett out of her haze. Her body ached everywhere, but that didn't stop Beckett from meeting Alexis halfway, opening her arms, and stumbled under the force of Alexis's embrace. Blanket still wrapped around her, Beckett held onto the redhead like a vise.

"It's okay." Words of comfort were mixed in with tears of joy to be able to hold Alexis again. "I'm okay. I'm okay."

"I thought… I…" Alexis cried into her stepmother's neck unable to get the words out.

Beckett stroked a hand over the young woman's red hair, "I know. I'm sorry to put you through that."

"I'm just glad that you're okay."

"We both are."

Beckett's gaze shot to her husband's worried face. She wants to reach out and touch him, but she's rooted to the spot her mind still unsure if this was actually real. Alexis shifts in her arms distracting her for a moment and not seeing Castle's hand reaching for her cheek. Still somewhat in shock, Beckett jerked back from his touch expecting pain. Safe. She was safe. This was real. She glances at the hand inches from her cheek then to his face letting herself be drawn by his comfort.

Castle skimmed a hand over her uninjured cheek before pulling both women into his arms. He felt Beckett's shudder against him as she lets out the sobs he knew she'd been fighting the moment Alexis was in her arms. He pressed his face into her slightly damp hair letting all his fears and worries be washed away by the feel of her body against his. "You're safe." He tightened his hold on them, "You're home."

Beckett's fingers dug into the back of his shirt to anchor her, "I'm so sorry, Rick. I should have run off like that. I didn't… I didn't know."

"It's done, baby." Castle assured, "I've got you now." And he had no intention of letting her go anytime soon.

Soaking up their comfort, Beckett pressed her face into Alexis's hair peppering her crown with soft kisses. She had come so close to losing all of this. All this love and comfort. What scared her more was the feeling that this wasn't over. Simmons would figure out she lived. The drug lord had connections. Powerful connections. "Take me home, Rick."

Castle glanced back at the captain who motioned silently with a nod of her head towards the breakroom. He sighed, "Gates need to talk to you."

Beckett shook her head in understanding and dutifully made her way to her captain with Alexis in her arm flush to her side.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Future Forward

Beckett sat on the floor of the living room watching the man she most despised boost about himself in front of a half dozen reporters. Though there was no proof, Beckett knew that Bracken sent Elena to kill Harden. But why? Why spare her life when he didn't spare her mother's? As far as the Senator knew, she held all the cards that at any moment she could lay them down and expose his dirty secrets. So why?

Castle leaned against the doorjamb of his office to study his wife. Thankfully, the color had returned to her face and she no longer seemed shell shocked. Lanie dragged her to the hospital where it took a total of twenty stitches to close the gash along her left brow and cheekbone. She also had two bruised ribs, a sprained ankle, and slight hyperthermia. Gates put her on medical leave for a week maybe two if she saw fit. To his surprise, Beckett didn't argue. That's how Castle knew that the experience shook his wife to the bone. Now, looking at Bracken on the screen, he knew why. He'd spent many restless nights wondering when this particular case would come back into their lives.

"Alexis gone?" Castle asked.

Beckett didn't draw her attention away from the TV, "No. I convinced her and Jeremy to stay here tonight." There was no way she was going to let them stay in her old apartment. People might be coming for her and she'd be damn if they touched anyone she loved to get to her.

"He's involved, Rick." Beckett tore her gaze from the screen to look at her husband. "I know it, but I can't prove it."

"He's made a mistake with Simmons." Castle lowered himself onto the floor next to her, "He's bound to make more. We just have to find them."

The 'we' made Beckett's heart lurch in terror, "We agreed to leave it alone. I made the deal to keep you and Alexis safe. I won't risk them coming after you."

Castle set his jaw to control the surge of anger at how Beckett came to make such a deal. After tonight, the last thing he wanted was to get into an argument with her. In truth, he wanted this whole mess to go away. On the other hand, Castle knew how important it was for Beckett to take down the man responsible for her mother's murder. He needed to give her that closure. "What if…" Castle mulled over a few ideas in his head, "What if we hired someone to trail Simmons and maybe Bracken."

"What?"

"There are private investigators that do more than catch cheating spouses. I have a few in mind I used for book research."

Of course he did. Beckett was learning that her husband had friends of every shape and size nearly all over the world. "There is a risk."

"But nowhere near the risk if we investigate." He took her hands, his thumb stroking over her knuckles, "I can't go through this again, Kate. When you called and told us that Simmons had you, I about lost it. Bracken will see it as you going back on your word. We need to go after him before he tries to get to you.

Beckett tilted her brow to his, "Okay." She touched a hand to his stubbly cheek. His blue eyes were full of love laced with worry. She tried to imagine what he went through these past eighteen hours by putting herself in his shoes. She hoped that he would have used the same tactic she used to make it through it all. "When they were interrogating me, the only thing that kept me going was thinking about you. About our future, our family. You were with me the whole time."

Castle cupped the back of her head in his hand, bringing her lips to his. "I want to take you away for a few days. To just leave all of this behind. I was thinking maybe a trip to the Hamptons or maybe Europe-."

"I can't fly."

His brow scrunched in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Wanting to see his face, Beckett drew away with a smile on his face, "I'm pregnant."

The writer sputtered, "What?"

"Lanie told me at the hospital when you went to get Alexis."

Amazed, Castle laid his hand over his wife's flat stomach. There was a terror coursing through him, but he tried to keep it from his voice. "Is it okay? How far along are you?"

Beckett had to place a finger over his lips to stop his rambling of questions, "I'm about three months. Lanie can't say for sure if today harmed him. I was going to call the doctor in the morning."

"It's okay." Castle whispered in hope. It had to be. Losing another child would just be too much for either of them to handle. His head jerked up, "Three months? Did you know-."

"No." Beckett quickly replied knowing anger was about to follow for being stupid enough to go out in the field with her history. "My period was light so I didn't even suspect."

"Three months?"

"Yes." Tears of joy flooded her voice, "maybe four. I'll know more once I go to the doctor."

Now hope was washing away the terror, "We've never gotten this far." Tears of his own streaked down his face as he pulled her tight against him. "We're going to make it this time, Kate."

Beckett placed her hand over the one resting on her stomach, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Look who's up!" Castle looked up from the skillet he was making French toast in and gave his daughter a smile and then Jeremy a slightly harden look of disapproval. Not that he really was. Jeremy was a good man for his daughter. The aspiring police officer left class the moment that Alexis finally called to tell him what was going on.

Alexis grumbled still half asleep, "Morning." She came up behind her stepmother and gave her a tight hug before dropping her head onto Beckett's shoulder. "Can I have a cup of coffee? You make the best coffee, Kate."

Laughing, Beckett nudged Alexis, "I'll have to make a pot, but sure."

Alexis's head shot up in wonder and looked at the coffee pot. Sure enough there was none made and it looked like no coffee at all had been run through. That was odd.

"How are you feeling, Kate?" Jeremy asked after giving the detective a gentle hug.

"Sore." Beckett confessed munching on a piece of bacon Castle slid onto her plate. The moment the piece of food hit her stomach it rebelled and she dropped it as if it burned her.

Jeremy's green eyes filled with concern, "Kate?"

She waved in 'I'm all right gesture' while struggling to keep what food she had in her stomach down. Being pregnant explained all those small bouts of nausea she'd experience. Beckett just chalked it up to her lack of eating and mood after losing the baby. Thankfully, her stomach settled without having to rush to the bathroom.

Suddenly a huge smile crossed the redhead's face as she hugged Beckett again with all her might. "Oh!" She let go when the detective made a tiny noise of pain. "Sorry! But why didn't you guys tell me."

Castle tried to play innocent, "Tell you what."

"That's you're pregnant."

"How'd-."

"The no coffee." Alexis explain, "Kate never goes without coffee unless the world is coming to an end. I can't believe it."

Castle barely had time to step away from the stove before his daughter all but tackled him in a tight hug. "Hey, easy now."

Alexis pulled away beaming, "I'm so happy. How far along are you? When did you find out? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm between three and four months along. I found out last night at the hospital which is the reason we didn't tell you because we haven't had the chance." Beckett answered in the same order of the questions asked. "We are going to the doctor today to make sure that everything is okay. So might not want to get too excited just yet."

The warning didn't stop Alexis from bursting with joy. "It's always been in the first month. Doesn't this mean that there is a good chance that everything is fine?"

"That's what we hope to find out today." Castle informed turning back to making breakfast.

"Can I come?" The question took the married couple by surprise. "I want to be there to find out."

It took a moment for Beckett to regain the ability to talk. She had thought that Alexis might feel some type of apprehension to her having a child since it had been just Castle and Alexis for so long. "I would like it very much if you'd come."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Are you ready?" Tara, Beckett's OBGYN, asked the couple with the ultrasound wand in hand. Her voice was heavy with emotions having been through this with them once before only to give them bad news.

Beckett looked over before grabbing her husband's hand. The warm touch helped calm her nerves. "Ready."

Castle leaned forward placed his arm behind Beckett's head so he could view the small screen better. The time passed so slowly as Tara moved the wand over Beckett's stomach causing the picture to flicker between black and white. He tried his hardest to not let his mind start to go down a dark path when it seemed that Tara wasn't going to find anything but another empty womb. Castle found himself praying that wasn't the case. They couldn't go through this all again. Not for a third time. It would just destroy them.

"Oh look."

Alexis's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he refocused on the screen. Tears instantly filled his eyes as he hugged his arm around his wife's shoulder. "Kate."

The detective was far too overwhelmed to speak.

A smile bloomed across Tara's face, looking towards the trio, "See this right here." She pointed to a small rapid moving black spec near the arms of the fetus. "That's his heartbeat."

"His?" Castle echoed choking back a sob, "You can tell this early?"

"Oh yes." Tara laughed and pointed to another part of the screen that helped her determined the sex. "You're most definitely having a boy."

"You hear that, baby," Castle cupped her cheek to turn her face towards his. He gave her a searing kiss paying no mind to the fact that they weren't alone. "We're having a boy."

Beckett let out a watery laugh and pulled him back for another. Tears poured down her face in relief as she let go of all the worries that kept her up all night. They weren't completely out of the woods and she knew that there was still a risk of losing the baby, but right now all that she focused on was the joy.

Tara let them have their moment while she finished up with taking the pictures and measurements with the ultrasound that she needed. "You're just over four months along." Tara's news broke the couple apart. ."I know you said you were spotting, but what I can see is you're in no danger of losing the baby. But with your history we need to monitor you and you should be put on desk duty immediately. There might be more restrictions as you progress through the pregnancy."

Beckett nodded ready to do anything and everything to make sure that her son came into this world. "If the spotting doesn't stop?"

"We will have to see what happens." Tara softly explained not wanting to give the detective too much cause to worry. She tore two pictures from the machine and offered it to the expecting parents. "I want you to focus that your son is healthy and everything is okay. Worrying will put stress on you and the baby. And you need to start taking prenatal vitamins today."

Beckett gazed down at the grainy picture of the life growing inside her and listened to every single instruction the doctor gave her committing them to memory. Even if she had to be strapped down to the bed, she would do it. "Thank you." Beckett looked up to smile at Tara. "Thank you so much."

Tara touched the hand on her arm, "We're going to do whatever it takes to get you through this, Kate. Listen to your family as they help you through this too. Now I'll go get Alexis so you can share the good news."

Once they were alone, Castle brushed his nose against Beckett's smiling like an idiot. "We're going to have a boy, Kate. Thank you." He choked down a sob, "Thank you for giving me this gift."

Beckett brushed her fingers over his chin as she lifted her mouth to his. "Thank you for not letting me give up."