I hope everyone is doing well! Thank you all so much for the great response to the last chapter. To everyone who reviewed, thank you for taking the time out to do so. You guys really make writing this story rewarding. To know you are enjoying it really helps encourage me to continue! I hope everyone is enjoying it. We now know Sept 29 is the Castle season premier! I'm excited for it. Yes, I hated the finale. I hated that they destroyed the wedding and ruined Kate's "one and done." I thought the crash was overused, BUT I'm here until the wheels fall off. I haven't given up on the show, and I'm anxiously awaiting any spoiler news. Stana is still incredible, and Nathan is still sexy! I'm not sure what's coming, but I'm willing to wait, because it's still my favorite show! I hope you are all still going to join me in watching Sept. 29. This is my entry in the 2014 Castle Hiatus Ficathon!

Kate Beckett, Jordan Shaw and Jackson Hunt worked late into the night, they dissected every detail. Hunt promised to contact Kate if he came across any new leads or information, and to check in periodically for any new info on their part. Then as quickly as he had appeared, Hunt disappeared into the moonlit night.

It had been hours since she laid down and stared at the ceiling of their bedroom, trying to calm her nerves and the anger that coursed through her. Rick and her had made a conscious decision to continue their partnership, knowing the inherent dangers involved. They had gone into it with their eyes wide open, and had made the choice. They had each other's back, and were always there to pick up the pieces for each other. It was their choice, their life.

Hunt was another story. He had placed her family in danger three times in the last two years. They didn't know him, there was no connection, no trust. He was related by blood only, and that didn't make you family, not in her book. She didn't like the man. He was cold, indifferent, calculated, so different from his son, that she couldn't in her heart make the comparison.

Her anger boiled over as she thought of the information he had brought them. The CIA had been involved, every step of the way, in the fiasco that had been their wedding. They manipulated events when they suspected that Castle and his family were in danger. The venue hadn't burned down, they needed to get them out of the city, so they could keep them safe. The assumption had been that they'd move it to the Hampton's, and they didn't disappoint. Castle's tour had been cut short, to protect him. It was hard to protect someone when they were meeting fans and giving autographs in huge crowds. The CIA had manipulated their lives and those they loved, and in the long run screwed it up anyway. She had immediately lost her temper after Hunt's revelation, pushed her chair away from the table and paced angrily back and forth.

"Who the fuck, do you think you are to do this? I'm an N.Y.P.D. Detective! I have an entire department behind me. If we had known there was a threat, I could have protected him. But this isn't about him, is it? It's about you!" Hunt stood to talk, but Kate had turned and walked over to him. She stood barely an inch from his face. "You could have warned him, and spared our wedding. All you cared about is yourself. You showed up qto clean up after your messes! What you were doing to us, how it was affecting us, that never crossed your mind, did it? Because in your life the only person who comes first is you!"

"It's my job." He had answered her calmly. "My job keeps people like you safe. If it wasn't for me, and people like me the world would be a more dangerous place."

"Unless you're Castle, or maybe Alexis. Guess they're even farther down your list then the rest of the world, because neither did anything to deserve this, and both of them were abducted and mistreated because they were related to you!" She turned away and mumbled "pompous asshole," under her breathe.

"That's enough; both of you. This isn't helping. We need to find Castle and to do that we need every resource available." Shaw had interjected. "We also need to see how Rogan and Tildy fit in. Hunt, we need you to find out if the CIA contacted them, or if they are working for the other side."

How, Kate wondered, could Hunt manipulate people's lives without regret? How could he be so calm when his son's life was in danger? The man is supposed to be a patriot, had supposedly sacrificed much for his country, but she just didn't see the greater good here. They were drowning in the shallow end of the pool, they had no idea where Castle Was. Their God-damn plan has backfired and left Castle in grave danger. At least he was here and had admitted his involvement. That's something, but it damn sure wasn't enough.

Her emotions ran high as she laid in her bed, and recounted the many events of the day. It was late at night that she let herself feel the pain and loss of him. Each night in their bed, she prayed. She prayed like she did when she was nineteen. She prayed for his safety and for the end of this nightmare. Each night she fell asleep to the diminishing smell of him on his pillow, and the tears would come until she'd finally fall asleep from pure exhaustion.

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Alexis had decided to stay at the loft with her grandmother while her father was missing. She wanted to be close if they received any information. This morning she was up early and had rushed around as she tried to get to her first class; International Human Rights Law with Professor Cooper, who was an obnoxious hard ass, on time. She had swung her bag over her shoulder and had opened the door to the loft to leave when she spotted the large manila envelope. She picked it up and was going to just leave it for her Gram, since she was running late, but curiosity got the better of her. There wasn't a name on the envelope, so she opened it and pulled what seemed to be one of many papers out of it.

Alexis dropped the envelope on the floor, some of it's contents spilling onto the floor. She just stared at the pictures, in horror. There in the middle of the room was her father, tied to a chair and shirtless. He was a bloodied mess. His face swollen and disfigured, but it was him And he was alive. Her hands started to tremble and her mind cleared as she yelled for her Grams and reached for her cell to call Kate.

Kate had been sleeping when her cell had begun to ring. She reached over and was perplexed that Alexis would call her this early. As soon as Kate answered Alexis was talking. "I was getting ready to leave. There was a Manila envelope on the floor in front of the front door. I didn't think, Kate. I opened it. There are picture, pictures of Dad." She started to cry. "They've beaten him, Kate. He's tied to a chair and he full of cuts and bruises, his face is a mess, there blood on the floor and on his pants. Oh my God Kate what have they done to him?"

By now Martha had arrived at the top of the stairs and listened in horror. She came down the stairs and stood quietly behind Alexis. Martha glimpsed quickly at the picture and turned away, but held her granddaughter close, as she lost control.

"Alexis, listen to me. I'm going to call the 12th and get Espo and Ryan down there. Keep the picture you touched aside, so they know your prints are on them. Don't touch anything else. Alexis?" Kate waited for the girl to respond.

"Yeah, Grams is here with me now. We won't touch anything again, and we'll wait for Ryan and Esposito to get here. He looks so bad, Kate. We have to find him."

"I'm going to come home. I'll be there as soon as I can. We're going to find him Alexis, and we're all going to be ok." She hung up with Alexis and rushed around the room. Kate needed to see the picture. To see for herself proof that he was still alive, even though she knew seeing the pictures would devastate her.

Kate threw on clothes and ran to the kitchen where Shaw quietly sat and drank her first cup of the day. She looked up to a disheveled Kate Beckett and instantly knew there was some kind of news.

"Pictures of Castle were delivered to the loft. Alexis found them this morning as she was leaving for school. She's a mess because he was obviously tied and beaten in the pictures. I'm headed to the city. You guys want to meet me there?" Kate clipped on her badge and adjusted her gun as she spoke.

"You go, we'll be a few minutes behind you. I don't want to keep you. We'll meet you at the loft." Shaw said as she drank the last of her coffee and headed out to find Avery and make the necessary calls.

Kate started driving, she called the 12th and started things rolling there. Before she got off the phone she had talked to the boys and Gates. They would meet her at the loft when she arrived there, and would supervise the collection of evidence. Kate reminded them that the building had security cameras and to request the video.

She had a two hour drive ahead of her, and all she could think of was Castle And what she would find in those pictures.

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His captors had all returned, and they came back angrier then before they left. They had barged into the room and had used him as their personal punching bag. Castle had gotten in a few punches and had tried to protect himself but it was of no use. He was grossly outnumbered.

They had laughed when one particular punch had knocked out an already lose tooth and blood spurted from his mouth. They taunted him, told him he wasn't so pretty to look at anymore.

Then they asked him where "Craven" was? He had no clue who they were talking about and told them so. They didn't believe him. Each time he said he didn't know a new round of punches and kicks ensued. It wasn't until one of them pulled out a picture of Craven that he knew who they were talking about.

There in front of him was a picture of Hunt. The bile rose to his mouth and anger boiled through his veins. He couldn't believe this was because of him, again?

"I despise that man." He said through clenched teeth. "I know you know who he is, but I've only met him twice, and I certainly have no idea where he is now!"

"We want him, so it's going to be you or him. We left your family a present, and hope that it's enough for them to know we aren't playing games here." One of the men spoke.

"Don't you touch my family!" He growled and tried to get up. He was too badly beaten to stand and dropped back to the floor in a heap.

"If we have to, we will do whatever we need to do to get Craven. If we have to involve your sexy fiancé or sweet daughter to get what we need, then so be it." He leans by Castle's ear and hisses "Either of them would be a tasty morsel."

Castle charged towards the man but fell before reaching him. "I'll kill you if you touch them." Castle growled.

All the men laugh and the leader speaks again, "You can hardly stand on your own two feet, let alone kill me. Maybe we'll let you watch as we all take turns with them."

They turned and left the room as they discussed Kate and Alexis. Bile rose quickly in his throat and he threw up in a corner of the room. The blind anger consumed him. He couldn't believe this was happening again. He had been right all along. Hunt wasn't family, Alexis, Martha, Kate and those closest to him at the 12th were family, and he knew they had not given up on him.

He crawled to the bed on the other side of the room and collapsed into it. Everything hurt. He closed his eyes and thought of his family. He thought of last Christmas, and Valentine's Day, and eventually exhaustion took over and he fell into a restless sleep.

Please, don't forget this will have weekly updates, with longer chapters. I'm honored at the reception this story has gotten! Thanks again for reading :) Follow me on Twitter glo1196 - Tumblr: MyCastleObsession and on Pintrest glo11962 where I have a Castle board!