Your response to the last chapter was incredible! Thank you, so...even on my crazy vacation in Disney, with my kids I've managed to get this chapter out ahead of schedule! Next chapter will definitely be after August 7! Hope you guys enjoy it. Again let me know what you think! Oh BTW the anonymous reviewer who said I should get my head examined? I deleted you comment by mistake, sorry. And too late, been there done that, and still going back :) This is my entry in the 2014 Castle Hiatus Ficathon! Please let me know what you think!

Chapter 11

The sun had set and darkness had crept in around him. He hoped and prayed it would swallow him whole. The pain was blinding. It radiated from his mouth to his ears, eyes then ricocheted off the back of his head. Blood continued to trickle out of the side of his mouth and his throat burned from retching up wood bits and blood. He felt no other part of his body as he curled himself into the fetal position, on the filthy mattress. He tried to conjure images of his family, but the pain was all encompassing, and for the first time since his abduction Castle was losing hope. Where the hell were his father and Kate?

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

Kate had demanded that Lanie be the one to work on the extracted tooth and tissue, and no one objected. Shaw made sure an FBI expert assisted her and that the samples were sent to different labs. She ordered agents to walk the samples through, and never let them out of their sight, to ensure that there was no tampering. Within hours they had been able to verify that it was indeed Castle's canine tooth, through dental records and DNA testing. The FBI agents had proven that the photo had not been tampered with. There hadn't been any trace of a numbing agent or an injection sight. The extraction had been done with a typical household tool, probably a pair of vise grip pliers. Nobody had to say out loud that it had been excruciatingly painful.

Lanie had called Gates first with the information, and had asked to be the one to deliver the news to Kate and the boys. She knew they would need her support. Kate was working at her desk, when she looked up as Lanie got off the elevator and entered the bullpen. She instinctively knew from Lanie's eyes and posture that the news was not good. Gates had come out of her office and had called them all into the conference room. She motioned for everyone to sit. Kate refused to sit and leaned against the wall.

"Dr. Parrish, called me a half hour ago and requested that she be able to give all of you her findings in person. Under the circumstances I thought it would be in everyone's best interest. Lanie was assisted by one Shaw's agents both Dr.'s got the same exact results." Gates took a seat and Lanie stood at the front of the table. She looked at Kate as she started.

"We compared DNA samples from those the city required him to give when he first started shadowing you. The blood and tissue on the tooth, is definitely Castle's. We didn't find an injection site, or any form Novocaine or any other anesthetic in the surrounding tissue. The tooth was extracted with a store bought pair of pliers, probably what are known as vise grips based on the tooth marks, and used to inflict the most amount of pain. Lanie looked at Kate, her eyes conveyed that she knew her friend was hurting. "I'm so sorry, Kate."

Kate leaned over and tightly gripped the back of the chair in front of her, as she closed her eyes. She took a couple of deep breaths as she tried to keep her composure. Espo and Ryan visibly flinched, and quickly looked to their friend and boss for direction. This wasn't the news anyone of them wanted.

"Even with the ice keeping it fresh, the tissue and blood are very fresh. I estimate that the extraction happened today within the last two to four hours. We found trace particles of wood, they may have used something wooden to keep his mouth open. The one good thing is that no matter how the tooth was extracted, the blood loss wouldn't be life threatening. I'm concerned about the incredible pain Castle has had inflicted on him. Psychologically none of this is good for him. There is also the high probability of infection which if not taken care of could be very dangerous.

Shaw spoke up, "If we take into account the amount of time it took to do the extraction, the time to transport it to the city, get it picked up by a courier and brought here. Then the place they are keeping Castle at is an hour or so away. Let's concentrate on the sites on our list within 50 miles of here and between here and the Hampton's."

Ryan ran out of the room and returned with the list they'd compiled. "There are only a half a dozen or so candidate locations that are both between 50 miles of here and between here and the Hamptons. There are a few large institutions on that list. Those will take more manpower and time. If he is at one of those it will be hard to get the drop on them. I'm sure they'll be looking out for us."

"Has anyone contacted Hunt?" Espo asked. "He may have more resources for manpower." Then he turned towards Shaw. "Do you still have access to the fancy toys, Agent Shaw? The infra-red body heat devices would be helpful."

The conversation continued as Kate slipped out of the room, pulled the the burner phone Hunt gave her out and reluctantly made the call. He answered immediately.

"Detective Beckett, do you have new information?"

"A courier delivered a cooler to the precinct earlier today. Inside was an extracted tooth with gum tissue attached, that has been positively identified through DNA as Castle's. Lanie estimated that the extraction took place less than 4 hours ago. We have now focused our search to abandoned buildings within 50 miles of here and between here and the Hamptons."

"I have done recon on a few of the places on the list you gave me. I'll send them to you in a text. You can eliminate them from your searches, as there was no evidence of anyone having been there recently." He answered her.

"I'll be waiting for it." Then he hung up leaving her staring at the phone. She gathered herself up and re-entered the conference room. Everyone looked up from what they were doing as her phone dinged with an incoming message. Beckett scanned the text quickly and looked over at Ryan.

"Ryan, Hunt has already gone to some of these sites. You might still want them on the list, but leave them for last. I don't trust him."

Ryan left the room to work on getting teams together, and figuring out where to start.

"Espo, work with Shaw on getting together a good tactical team." Then Kate looked towards Gates.

"Sir, I'm going to head up to the Hampton's PD and see if they have anything new. I also need to close the house and bring our stuff down."

"Go ahead, Kate. Come back tomorrow and we will be ready with teams."

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

Kate drove through evening into night on her way to his Hampton home. She was about half way there when the sign for an off ramp jogged her memory and she recalled that one of the places on the list was only a few miles away. In a spur of the moment decision she took exit 53 and headed north toward the long abandoned King's Park Psychiatric hospital.

It took less than ten minutes to arrive to the hospital. Distracted, tired and deep in thought, Kate drove down the abandoned driveway that lead to the main building. It wasn't until she saw dim lights in couple of windows on an upper floor of the main building that it registered, with a shock that jolted her wide awake and fully alert, that this could be the place and no one knew where she was. She pulled out her phone and dialed Espo's number. Her head snapped towards to the left when she heard a tap on her driver's side window and looked straight down the barrel of a gun.

Please, don't forget this will have weekly updates, with longer chapters (hopefully). 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!