Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited and followed this story! I'm just completely blown away by your kind words. Thank you! I hope I can continue to draw you guys into this story. We'll find out more about who took Castle and why in the coming chapters. This is the first story I've ever written with a timeline and a sort of storyboard. I have a few wonderful people showing me the ropes. I hope I don't disappoint them. Castle is not in a good place this chapter, and that might not be changing for a while, but you know he's stronger than he looks, and way smarter than any of the bad guys. My 2014 Castle Ficathon Entry.

We all try. And try as we might to control things, sometimes bad things get in and it's not our fault.

Richard Castle ~ Heat Wave

Chapter 3

Pain, there was so much of it, it thumped red and angry, so he clawed desperately at the flimsy remnants of his unconsciousness to escape it. It was the sudden thought of Kate that catapulted him into reality.

"Kate," the word stumbled from his parched lips. "Kate!" An image of her as she waited for him, in a wedding dress, flashed through his mind. He tried to force his eyes open, but they were swollen shut. The inflamed flesh letting in just a sliver of sight through his right eye.

He struggled, only to have the familiar feel of stiff, plastic ties dig painfully into his sore wrists. His legs were similarly bound to the chair. A frayed rope fastened tightly across his exposed chest dug into tender bruised flesh. Every inch of his body screamed in agony. But it was the pain in his head that was debilitating.

The unexplained heaviness as he tried to lift his head from his chest worried him. Fiercely intense pain radiated from his nose and cheekbones to the back of his head. He was convinced that there were numerous broken bones in his face. A cough dislodged some of the dried blood that had formed along his tongue and the inside of his mouth, at least that explained the coppery taste that lingered there. He tried to spit it out, but it was useless. He simply didn't have the strength.

The cold dampness that seeped into his bones and the dank, musty smell, lead him to think he was in a basement. What little vision he had in his right eye had adjusted to the darkness of the room. With great effort he moved his head slightly in the direction of the light. The world seemed to move with him, as everything shifted, and bile burned high in his throat. There was a small window high on the wall, with so much grime that it obscured most of the light from outside. No amount of research he had ever previously done for his books prepared him for this.

Castle tried to think of the last thing he remembered. He had called Kate, told her that he was in possession of the papers and was twenty minutes away. They had exchanged "I love you's." Then he looked in his rear view mirror and spotted a black SUV that had raced dangerously close behind him, and tried to pass him. That was when the SUV side swiped him and the last thing he remembered was losing control of the car. After that, his memories became murky. There had been angry male voices, extreme pain, an explosion, then he woke up here with no concept of how much time had elapsed.

A floorboard creaked angrily above him, followed by heavy footsteps. They were the first sounds he'd heard since regaining consciousness. He tried to distinguish how many people could possibly be upstairs, but he couldn't focus.

The footsteps stopped, and he heard the creaking of a door. Voices suddenly echoed from above, followed by loud foot steps down the stairs behind him. For the first time since he'd woken up in this hell, fear overpowered his pain. He knew that in his current state there would be no escape, so he waited and prayed that Kate and the boys were looking for him.

He was startled by the jarring kick to his chair. It vibrated painfully thought his body. Someone grabbed his face to get his attention. The blood curtling scream that escaped his lips echoed off the damp cellar walls. His anger flared.

"What do you want from me?" He didn't recognize the face in front of him. He doubted the man thought he could see him.

A water bottle was pressed to his bleeding lips, water spilled down his throat as he greedily gulped mouthfuls. Castle swallowed as much as he could then spit the last bloodied mouthful defiantly at his captor. The man backhanded him, sending Castle's head reeling.

He felt the blood as it poured freely from his mouth and nose then dripped onto his bare chest. The blinding pain seared through him, and Castle fought to remain alert. Dark shadows crept around the edges of his consciousness. What little sight he had blurred, nausea churned deep in his stomach, and he welcomed the darkness.

"Too bad you missed your high society wedding, pretty boy. That mighty fine piece of ass didn't get the wedding night fucking she deserved. I'll gladly volunteer to get between those long ass legs of hers in your absence."

"You leave her alone!" He growled between clenched teeth. "Don't you touch her!" For a moment the adrenaline dulled his pain.

"If we thought he'd come for her as quickly as he'd come for you, we'd have had fun with her, wouldn't we boys?" He heard several of the men hum their approval.

"I bet she'd love good ol' fashioned gang bang with some real men. I bet those tits of hers would taste mighty fine." Castle struggled against his restraints. "Don't you worry yourself. We won't hurt your lady cop, and you're only good to us alive. If you don't behave though, we can always go to plan B."

"What do you want?" Castle growled as the adrenaline in his body began to falter. "I can get you money. Whatever you want I can get it for you." It hurt to move his jaw, thinking made his head hurt more. He couldn't concentrate, couldn't search for clues to help himself. Then he felt a prick on the back of his neck and something the asshole said fluttered at the edge of his consciousness before he welcomed the darkness, at least there'd be no pain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~C&B~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Lanie, are you absolutely sure?" Kate asked as tears freely flowed down her face.

"Kate Beckett! Do you think I would do something like that to you? The man in the car was not Richard Castle. That man was at least three inches shorter, and the dental records don't match. There is no ID on him at all." For the first time in the last 24 hours Kate Beckett smiled as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"God, thank you Lanie. I'm going to go tell everyone the good news. Thank you!" It felt like she could finally take a deep breath.

Kate threw on Castle's favorite robe and proceeded to the kitchen where she heard signs of life. She stopped at the top of the stairs for a moment and watched what had become her family. Martha and Jim sat on either side of Alexis, who struggled with her emotions. Espo, Ryan and Jenny attempted to cook breakfast for the group. Captain Gates had told her that she was going early in the morning to the Hampton PD to talk to the Chief.

The feeling of belonging surged through her for the first time since she was nineteen. She watched this crazy makeshift family that she and Castle had brought together. They had been there for each other, making sure that no one was going through this alone. As she started down the stairs, everyone looked up at her. Her tears evident on her face, her arms dwarfed in Castle's large robe. Her family stared blankly at her in confusion.

Aware of her smile, when she reached the bottom of the stairs she called out, "Lanie, just called. The body in the car is not Castle's. The body is too short and the dental records don't match. DNA had not come in yet, but she is positive it's not Castle."

Alexis' body crashed against her with full force. Her arms wrapped around Kate's waist. Sobs racked Alexis' body as she pressed herself against Kate.

"I promise to do everything I can to find him Alexis. He will come home." Kate told the girl through her own tears, as she rubbed her back. "We'll find him, sweetie."

Kate watched as hugs were shared among the group, while she comforted Alexis. Ryan held up his cell to get her attention, and she motioned him to bring it to her.

"Beckett." She answered.

"Kate, this is Captain Gates. I need you to think back to yesterday. Do you remember what time you got the phone call about the accident?"

Kate thought about it. "Sir, Castle called me at about 3:30 to say he was about 20 minutes away. Right before the phone rang, we were discussing that it had been an hour since he called. So, it was around 4:30."

The silence on the other end of the phone was disturbing. "Sir?"

"Kate, the Hampton PD got a call reporting the accident by a local resident at 4:03. They arrived at the accident at 4:15, questioned the witness and secured the area. At 4:23 the fire dept. arrived. At 4:25 Officer Callahan called in the plates to see who owned the vehicle. The result came back at 4:31 and they called the Sheriff with the information. He got in his car to come talk to your family himself. He never made it there, because he drove by the scene and saw you there. No one from the Hampton PD made that phone call, Detective. Whoever called wanted you to go that accident scene."

There was another moment of silence as both women thought about who would do that. Kate broke the silence

"Sir, have you talked to the ME or Lanie? She called about 5 minutes ago to tell us that the body in the car wasn't Castle's. The body was too short, and the dental records don't match. There is something else going on here."

"Kate, stay there, I'm on my way." Gates replied, then hung up. Kate tried putting the pieces together, but, none of it made sense.

A friendly reminder this story will have weekly updates, with longer chapters. I'm honored at the reception this fic has gotten! Thanks again for reading :) Follow me on Twitter glo1196 - Tumblr: MyCastleObsession and Pintrest glo11962 where I have a Castle board! Thank you again.