Castle: Shattered (2/?)
Title: Shattered
Pairing: Caskett
Characters: Castle, Beckett, Esposito, Alexis, Martha, Ryan
Warnings: some violence
Spoilers: most of season two
Summary: While worrying over her reaction to the new cover art, a call from Esposito shatters his world, tilting it off it's axis.
"I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing
With a broken heart that's still beating
In the pain, there is healing
In your name I find meaning"
-Broken, Lifehouse
For seconds, his world stopped. All thought ceased to exist and he knew only the distant sound of blood rushing in his head. The writer had never thought that it would be possible for thought to ever cease in his brain - always another thought, always another idea - but now his mind was like the shore of a violent ocean. The fingers that were grasping the phone and holding it to his ear went numb as his mind.
He didn't know how long he stood there, but it couldn't have been more than ten seconds. Rick Castle's mind was awakened again by the two calls of his name - one standing next to him, the other by Esposito on the phone.
"She's not missing. Didn't you check her apartment?" Castle managed the words but they sounded dumb when he said them aloud. Of course they'd already checked her apartment.
"Who's missing?" Alexis was standing now, having come over from the chair to try and hear the conversation. She hardly needed to ask the question, though - who else could it be? Her face drained of color. Her father held out a hand in a 'wait' motion.
"Ryan and I are there right now. She didn't show up this morning."
"Leads?" There was a hint of hope in his voice. Maybe she'd just spent the night somewhere else. Maybe … maybe it didn't mean that someone had taken her.
"None." The response was so simple, but it shattered what hope he'd had.
"Uh …" He went through his mind, searching for the answer he knew had to be there, but came up short. "Enemies. Recent enemies."
"She's a detective, Castle. She's got plenty."
He hissed out a breath. "Was there any evidence at the sc- her apartment?" He'd almost called it the scene. He refused to refer to her apartment as the crime scene.
"Dad?" Alexis asked again, worry strong in her voice. "It's Beckett, isn't it?"
He didn't want to nod but he had no choice. Shocked, Alexis leaned back into the chair again, a pale hand covering her mouth.
"Signs of a struggle." Esposito said. "Things knocked over, a broken vase. There's some blood. CSU's going over it now." Esposito didn't say if the blood was from her or from the attacker, but figuring that she wasn't there - the chances were that it was hers.
There's some blood. Those words scared him, but he forced past it. "Of course. She doesn't go down without a fight." He thought of all the times he'd seen her take someone down and couldn't believe that someone had managed to get the jump on her. "We need to find her. Suspects. Evidence." All the police work that she did and he followed in her shadow of. "Where am I meeting you?"
"The precinct." Esposito answered quickly. "Ryan's already headed there."
"Good, alright." His mind was working again - running down the lists of all the possible people who could be turned into suspects. Esposito had been right - there were plenty who could consider her an enemy. Family members of people she'd caught, the people she'd caught who were on parole ... and then there were the other options. Crazed stalkers. Random snatching.
He hung up and turned to find Alexis still standing there, her eyes wide and an expectant expression on her face. "How?" She spoke only the one word.
"Someone took her from the apartment." It was a Sunday. Martha would be back soon - she could be alone until then, even though he didn't appreciate the idea. She was fifteen, after all. However, when he grabbed his coat from the hook in the hallway, he was surprised to find that Alexis was following him. She, too, was grabbing her coat off of its hook.
"Alexis-"
"She's my friend too, Dad. I'm coming with you. I'll stay out of the way unless I think of something. Besides, if it's a crazed Nikki Heat fan, do you really want me to stay here?" Alexis raised her eyebrows.
"No, I don't." The writer admitted with a sigh. If that was what this was, then she'd be safest at the precinct. "You're coming with me." The other detectives there would have to understand. As soon as he could, he'd call his mother and warn her. There were places she could go as well - stay at Chet's house for awhile longer, until they were sure of things.
Locking the door behind them, he turned to Alexis with a nod. "Alright. Let's go."
--
She woke to find her head was pounding. It wasn't one of her normal headaches - one of her 'stressed, doing too much' variety - but rather like she'd hit her head heavily on something. When she realized that, memories came back, quickly, pressing against the sides of her skull. There'd been a struggle in her apartment… she'd hit her shoulder, too.
More awareness began to seep back into her, but she wished that it hadn't. Her right shoulder was on fire and her left ankle was a haze of pain. Coldness was nearly a physical presence in the room. Thick rope encircled her wrists, pulling her dislocated shoulder back cruelly. Beckett swallowed several times, breathing in and out. Broken ribs, she realized quickly.
"Whoever is finding this amusing is going to pay." She half whispered the words. "Big time."