Riddle Me This
Summary: This is my version of Castle being kidnapped and having to play games with other people while Beckett, Espo, and Ryan race to save him (synopsis for episode 12).
AN: And yes, this won't happen this fast in real life, but this is fanfic and I didn't want to drag it out. Once again, we come to the end of the story. And I'm trying to keep this in canon. Thanks again for reading and the reviews.
As usual, don't own Castle; ABC does. Just playing with the characters for fun.
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Chapter 6: Tilting at Windmills
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"How bad is it?" Castle asked after Beckett turned him around to look at his back.
"Oh, not that bad," Beckett lied, grimacing as she looked at his left shoulder blade.
That area must have taken the full impact of his weight and, while broken safety glass wouldn't impale you, it could still play havoc. The littler pieces of broken glass clung to his shirt, the bigger pieces shredding the material and embedding themselves in his flesh.
"Just a couple of band aids and you'll be fine," Beckett said.
"Only if you play naught nurse," Castle said.
"Yeah, but first, we have to get out of here," said Beckett, grabbing his hand and rushing towards the front of the building.
Just before they reached the front office, Beckett stopped suddenly and turned, pulling Castle in for another kiss. Reality was about to intrude on them once again.
"Rick, I love you," she whispered, closing her eyes and pressing their foreheads together as she clung to him. "I'm sorry – I am so sorry."
They stood like that for a few seconds until the sound of sirens broke the moment.
"It's okay," Castle said, pulling back and looking at her with a slight smile. "Go do what you have to do."
Beckett nodded, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes.
As they rushed out of the front of the building, she spotted Espo and Ryan talking to the members of the group.
"Ryan," she called. "I need you to get an EMT to look at Castle and then take his statement."
The detective nodded as he walked over to where they stood. "Sure thing, Captain."
"You and Espoito finish up here," she continued. "I'm going back to the precinct to start the paperwork on a search warrant for Bryan Sill's office and residence."
"Right," said Ryan as he took out his pad and pen and started asking Castle questions.
As Beckett walked towards a squad car to catch a ride, she pulled out her phone. "Hey, Lanie, I need a favor."
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Ryan took Castle's statement at the same time the EMT assessed him and then decided that he needed to go to the ER to have the pieces of glass removed. They had brought out a gurney and were insisting that Castle lay on it for the trip, while he was pointing out the problems with that, when two black town cars pulled up and several suits got out.
One of the men in a crisp, hand-tailored suit talked to a policeman for a moment before heading over to where Espo, Ryan, and Castle stood with curious expressions on their faces.
"Gentlemen," he said, "I'm Mr. Merle Peterson, VP of Research at BP. We at BP are all shocked by Dr. Sill's actions and I assure you that you will have our complete cooperation in your investigation."
"That's good to know," said Ryan, nodding, trying to keep a straight face.
"I was wondering if I could talk to the unfortunate…volunteers for a minute? We want to make sure they're okay," Peterson continued.
"I bet you do," Espo said under his breath.
Ryan and Espo looked at Castle, who nodded at them.
The group was quickly rounded up and herded towards the black town cars where Peterson introduced himself again.
"I can't tell you how shocked I am that Dr. Sill would be involved in Dr. Kazankov's murder, but I assure you that we'll get to the bottom of it," Peterson said. "And I personally wanted to make sure that all of you are all right and that you are well compensated for your pain and suffering during this horrible ordeal."
"The experiment or the fact that Dr. Sill tried to kill us?" asked Castle.
Peterson frowned at him as if not understanding the question and then continued, "BP is prepared at this time to offer each of you $100,000."
At that, one of the suits opened her briefcase and pulled out envelopes, handing one to each member of the group.
"What's the catch?" asked Risner.
"All we ask is that you sign a non-disclosure statement, stating that you will not talk to anyone about what happened outside of what the police might ask you in regards as to Dr. Sill's involvement," Peterson stated matter-of-factly.
"You mean, not tell the FDA about the inhumane experiments you're doing?" Castle said.
"Well, all of you did sign a release that specifically stated that, if chosen for the experiment, you might be subject to stressful situations," Peterson countered.
"You call that stressful?" said Castle. "I didn't know where I was or what was going on – if I was going to be killed or not."
"We try to make the situation as real as possible—" said Peterson.
"For what – a war?" Castle replied.
"Anyway," Peterson said, ignoring him, "this is a one-time offer and all of you must sign, or no one gets the money."
Castle frowned at the man and then looked at the group. "I'll do you one better. I'll give each of you $200,000 to report BP to the FDA," he told the group. "Except for you," he said to Tanya. "You work for them."
Felisha wrinkled her nose. "I'm afraid you can't do that, Mr. Castle," she said. "That could be construed as buying someone's testimony."
Castle's frowned deepened. "But that's what they're doing," he said.
Felisha nodded. "Yeah, but they can do it legally."
"That's not fair," said Castle, letting out a disgusted huff.
Peterson looked at the group with a sympathetic expression. "$100,000 and your signature. That's all it takes."
Collins looked at the envelope in his hands. "This sure would come in handy," he commented.
Both Risner and Felisha nodded. "Yeah, it would."
"Is that what you want?" Castle asked the group.
"No," said Maria finally and handed her envelope back to Peterson. "Mr. Castle is right. I wouldn't wish what happened to us on my worst enemy. I wasn't sure if I was going to see my children again or not."
"Are you sure?" prompted Peterson. "This would go a long way to paying for your son's college education."
Maria stood her ground. "I'm absolutely sure," she said. "No – I will not take your money nor will I sign a statement."
The rest of the group looked at them and then also nodded and handed the envelopes back.
"Very well then. You don't know what you're passing up," Peterson threatened. "What difference do the 5 of you think you're going to make?"
"Oh, I think they do," said Castle. "And the difference is that I know some of the people on the BP Board of Directors, and after I finish telling them what happened here, you'll be lucky to be cleaning toilets there."
Peterson scowled at him and then got back into the car and the rest of the suits followed suite.
"What was that all about?" asked Ryan as Castle walked up to them.
"Oh, just some old-fashion tilting at windmills," Castle said. He looked at the EMTs in mock defeat. "I'm all yours. Take me away."
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Castle sat on the bed in the ER room, swinging his legs and wishing he had his phone with him. It hadn't been found yet, so he was sure he'd had to buy a new one. With the number of phones he had lost or that had been destroyed, maybe there was a frequent buyer plan he could enroll in.
He looked up, eye brows lifting high in surprise, as Lanie walked into the room, a chart in her hands.
"Dr. Parish, to what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked and then stopped. "I'm not dying, am I? Ryan said that the drug could cause heart attacks in some people."
"No," said the ME, shaking her head with a smirk on her face. "You'll be fine. It turns out that they didn't give you drug – you and Maria Consuela were the control group."
"Really?" Castle asked in surprise and then nodded, a slight smile on his face. "Good for her."
He looked back at Lanie. "Then why are you here?"
"Just taking care of my writer boy," Lanie said as she walked behind him and opened the gown and h'mmed.
"What?" Castle asked. "Is it bad?"
"Seen worse," she said. "I'll need to remove the glass and it looks like nothing will need stitches. So let's get you into the operating room."
"The operating rooms?" Castle asked in a semi-high pitched voice. "Is that really necessary?"
Lanie nodded. "Sterile environment – don't want the wounds to get infected. If it bothers you, I can do it under general anesthesia or give you a local."
"A local will be fine. I'm so done with being knocked out," Castle said drily.
"Make yourself comfortable and I'll get an orderly to come get you in a minute," Lanie said as she patted his leg.
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The operating room was cold and sterile, four big lights aimed at the table in the middle.
Castle got out of the wheelchair and then lay down on his stomach on the table, his head nestled in his arms, and waited for Lanie to come in.
She walked in shortly with a nurse in tow, both wearing masks.
"So, how are we doing?" she asked. "I'm going to give you some shots to numb your back. They might sting a little. Nurse, will you monitor Mr. Castle's vitals and let me know if there is any change?"
The nurse nodded and moved to the head of the table.
"Ready?" asked Lanie.
"Yeah, do your worst," Castle replied and then frowned as he felt slender fingers wrap around his wrist. He tilted his head up to look at the nurse and tried not to smile as green eyes smiled back at him.
The nurse leaned over and whispered, "Just wait until you see my naughty nurse outfit."
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Later that night, Castle stood shirtless in the bathroom, back to the mirror, craning his head around to look at the bandage on his back and let out a sigh. Before he left the hospital, Lanie had given him strict instructions to put antibiotics on the area twice a day and then cover it with a bandage for at least 5 days.
But he couldn't quite reach the area by himself and he certainly wasn't going to ask his mother or Alexis to do it. He frowned as he pursed his lips. He could probably talk Lanie into doing it or go to an urgent care clinic to have them do it.
Sometimes it sucked being the only one at home.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Beckett asked from the doorway.
Castle turned to her with a wistful smile. "Better now that you're here."
"I came as soon as I could. We picked up Sill this evening at JFK. He was trying to leave the country," Beckett said as she walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him. She leaned against his chest and took several deep breaths. "I thought I had lost you again."
Castle nodded. "I thought I'd lost me too." He kissed her head. "Are you hungry? I've got leftovers."
"Yeah, it's been a long day," Beckett said.
Castle shrugged on a t-shirt and they walked into the kitchen.
Beckett watched while he pulled the Chinese food he had ordered when he had gotten home out of the refrigerator.
"So, you signed up to be part of an experimental drug test?" she finally asked.
Castle nodded. "Yeah, I did. Seemed like a good idea at the time."
"And you didn't think to talk to me about it?" Beckett asked curiously.
Castle stopped and took a deep breath before looking at Beckett. "You weren't here. You'd left without any explanation and I couldn't figure out why. Alexis was in California visiting her mother. So I thought this would be a way to help someone and take my mind off of my problems. I just didn't expect it to turn out the way it did."
Beckett walked around the island and hugged him. "Rick, I'm sorry."
Castle nodded as he hugged her back. "I know."
"We'll get there," Beckett said. "It may just take some time."
"I know," said Castle, giving her a squeeze before he let her go. "Anyway, something good came out of this – a great feature article about illegal testing by big drug companies."
"So you're going to become a Rook?" Beckett asked, switching back to a safer subject.
Castle shook his head. "No, Maria's son is interested in becoming an investigative reporter, so I pitched him the idea." He handed her a plate. "Besides, I plan on doing Nikki Heat for quite a while."
"Good," said Beckett. "And I'll be here tomorrow morning to do your back after you do Nikki Heat."
Castle nodded and then studied Beckett. "So you must have told Ryan, Espo, and Lanie who Svetlana and Dr. Livingstone are. How'd they take the news?"
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The End