142. Chapter 142

AU After Target and After Hunt

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I'd have a target on my back….No, that's too easy. I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: See author's note.

Author's note: This is not after Target and after Hunt, but are vignettes between Beckett and Castle during the two episodes. It will become AU during Hunt.

Kate pulled Castle away from the bloody van and behind a CSU van where they couldn't be seen. She held him closely. "Castle, you're not in this alone. We've been partners since our first case together. And in spite of everything that's happened to us, we're partners now. We'll get through this and we'll get Alexis back."

"I told you not to…" He began.

"That's a promise, Castle. A promise from me to you." She kissed him lightly on the cheek. "After all, you're the best partner in the NYPD. I can't let anything bad happen to you or yours."

Castle rested his chin on top of her head. "You're wrong. I happen to be in love with the best partner in the NYPD, maybe the whole world."

She took his hand and led him back to the crime scene. "So let's solve this case."

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Kate heard the scream from the bedroom. She turned away, noticing that Espo and Ryan paid no attention to it. Moments later Castle came out.

"I have some information. There's a farmhouse upstate. The Yukon and the girls were taken there."

Kate got on her phone and called Agent Harris, giving him all the information Castle had gotten. She turned to her partner. "He's getting the FBI tactical team. They're on their way as we speak. We should head back to the precinct."

"Beckett, how much trouble am I in for what I did?"

Kate frowned. "What you did? I didn't see or hear you do anything. "She turned to the rest of her team. "Javi, Ryan, did you hear or see anything?" Both shook their heads.

"What was there to hear or see?" Espo asked.

"Stevens will talk. He said he'd file charges against me. You can't ignore that."

Ryan shrugged. "Criminals claim they've been beaten up by cops all the time. Without any witnesses to back him up he won't get anywhere. His sister was alreafdy on her way to jail for harboring a fugitive. She didn't hear or see anything."

Kate nodded. "And if he makes a real issue out of it, we can always remind him that he was a help in the investigation and that the DA can cut him some slack. But if he insists he wasn't a help…" She left the rest unstated.

With only Espo and Ryan present, she held out her hand and took his. "We need to get back to the precinct." She smiled. "You coming, Castle?"

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Castle and Beckett walked out into the darkness, leaving the abandoned farmhouse to the FBI.

"What I don't understand, Castle, is torturing Henson. I can see the kidnappers shooting him. He's just a loose end once they have Sara. But there's no reason to torture him. Was it just pure sadism?"

Castle pushed his worried mind to think about her question. "I know a little bit about the Middle East from research. Mr. El-Masri is a hated man in Egypt, according to his wife. Let's assume this is political. The Middle East is riven with factions. There are factions within factions. Islam is divided into the Sunni and Shia branches, plus there are any number of small sects, and there are not only Muslims there, but Christians. About ten percent of Egypt's population are Christian Copts."

Castle ran his hand through his hair, trying to remember things he had learned long ago and things he had seen in the current news. "Radical Islamists get most of the press, but there are secular terror groups. And everyone seems to fight everyone else. Anti-government factions fight each other in Iraq and Syria, and they skirmish in Lebanon. They fight in Yemen, in Pakistan, Libya…And I don't know where else"

"And so?" Kate asked.

"Assume a Sunni faction took Sara. They may plan to use the money from her kidnapping to attack their Shia neighbors. So a Shia group grabs Henson and tortures him to try to find Sara so they can grab her, get the ransom themselves and kill some Sunnis. The possible permutations and combinations are virtually endless."

"This is more complex. A lot more complex than we thought."

Castle leaned against her. She put her arms around him. "I know, Kate. I know. And I don't know what to do."

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Castle walked out of his loft self-consciously touching the jacket pocket with his passport in it, and feeling guilty for lying to Martha about what he was going to do. He stopped short when he saw a familiar, slim figure standing by the elevator.

"Beckett! I was just coming back to the precinct."

"Great. I can give you a ride."

"No. That's okay. I can take a cab in case either of us have to go someplace later."

"Okay. I'll take a cab with you."

"Kate, look…"He began

"I'm going with you, Castle. It's settled. I'm going with you even if I have to handcuff us together. You are not going to Paris by yourself."

"Paris?" He tried to sound dismissive of the idea. "Why would you think..?"

"Because I know you and I can tell when you lie to me. You're going to Paris to find Alexis and I'm going with you."

"Kate, this isn't your fight."

She took a step backwards and glared at him. "If this isn't my fight, maybe you should explain exactly what kind of a relationship we're in?"

"I don't want you to get hurt." He said softly.

"And I don't want you to get hurt. And I don't want Alexis to get hurt either." Her glare faded into a smile and she took a step closer and put her arms around him. "We're partners. We have a better chance of finding Alexis together than you do alone. You know that."

He shook his head. "You don't have a passport."

She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out her passport.

"You're not a cop in France."

"You're not a cop any place."

"I might not be able to get you a seat on the plane." He tried.

"Richard Castle? Not able to get what he wants? Be serious."

The elevator door opened. Kate took his hand. "Come on, Castle." She pulled him into the elevator.

Once inside, he hugged her. "Have I told you how much I love you?"

She smiled. "As a matter of fact, you have."

He shook his head. "However much I said it was before, I was wrong. I love you infinitely more than that."

Once on the airplane, Kate snuggled up next to Castle and went to sleep with her head on his shoulder. He looked down at her and smiled. I don't know if I should be twice as worried because Kate could be in danger or half as worried because my partner is with me. But I'd rather be with her than anyone else.

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Kate sat in the back of the church trying to look like she was praying while keeping an eye on Castle and the mysterious M. Henri. She put her head down as the two men rose and headed or the door. Then Henri stopped right by her.

"We seem to have a tail, Mister Castle. An American by her clothing. Have you ever seen this woman before?"

Castle smiled and nodded. "This is my girlfriend, Detective Kate Beckett, New York Police Department."

"The police?" Henri raised one eyebrow. "She has no authority here. And I find the police to be…too bureaucratic."

Kate stood up. "None of us have any authority here. If I understood correctly, you have no authority either. And I'm not at all bureaucratic. Just ask Castle."

Castle was quick to agree. "She's the least bureaucratic cop in New York, maybe in the whole US."

Henri looked at them both. "Then come with me." He turned to Castle. "Just to be sure, you don't have anyone else?"

"No. Of course not."

"You'd better not have anyone else, Castle." Kate said, taking his hand.

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Kate had been shocked by Henri's betrayal. He had taken the ransom money and was walking away. The masked men had knocked Castle to the ground. She had quickly knelt beside him. One of the masked men pointed his submachine gun at Castle.

"I love you, Rick." She whispered, wishing she could say more. Castle reached for her hand, but before he touched her a volley of shots rang out. She steeled herself for the feeling of bullets ripping into her. Then stole a glance at Castle. He was alive. She looked up to see a man walking towards them, rifle in his hands. They got up and started to move.

"If I wanted to kill you two, you'd be dead by now."

"Makes sense." She said.

She recognized the man at once. He was the man in the two sketches. Who was he?

He insisted they leave at once, which she agreed with. They had no idea who he was, but he seemed to be an ally.

"I should get the ransom money." She said quickly. She moved to pry the case out of Henri's dead hand and also surreptitiously took his pistol, tucking it into her coat pocket. Then she got in the back of the car.

The grey haired man looked at her in the mirror. "Detective Beckett, if you're planning to threaten me with the pistol you picked up, I don't threaten easily. Besides, you're smart enough to realize I'm on your side." He smiled at her. "But keep the weapon. You may need it."

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She was surprised to find out that Jackson Hunt was Rick's father. Everything he said sounded like it was out of one of Castle's novels. Except she knew it was real and dead serious. Then she noticed something on the wall where the photos of Alexis were posted.

"You have photos of me?" She asked.

"Of course. I'm interested in my son's life. That's why I've been keeping tabs on Alexis, and Martha and Rick, of course. When he started shadowing you, I became interested in you. You're really more beautiful in person than in the photos."

Kate just nodded. Jackson Hunt was a spy, whether for the CIA or someone else, she didn't know. She decided she'd trust him only as far as she had to.

"Son, I never paid much attention to your first two wives. But she interests me. I sure hope you're not so dumb that you let this one get away."

Rick smiled and pulled Kate to him. "No one would be that dumb."

Kate decided this was the wrong time to mention any of the times he had let her get away, even if it wasn't permanent. Besides, I was at fault most of the time.

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She waited behind Volkov's headquarters looking down the barrel of her pistol, waiting for the explosion. Praying that everything would work out as Hunt had planned.

In spite of everything, the explosion took her by surprise. She saw the two men guarding the back hurry back inside the house. In spite of her orders from Hunt, she ran to the back door and found it open. She slipped inside. Another gunman came down the stairs and stopped, looking towards the front of the house. Kate raised her pistol, took careful aim and shot him. He collapsed.

She moved further into the building. There something or someone coming towards her. She saw a flash of red hair.

"Castle! Hurry up." She screamed. She saw movement behind them. "Castle! Down! Now!" As they hit the floor, she fired three times. Whatever was behind them was gone. "Run!" She screamed. Castle and Alexis ran past her and she backed out of the building.

"What are you waiting for?" She yelled when she saw the two Castles standing outside the building.

All three began running. "We were waiting for you." Castle said, breathing heavily. "We're not going anyplace without you."

"You were told not to stop for anything."

"Detective Beckett, just keep running." Alexis said.

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"We're almost home." Castle said. "All we have to do is open the door."

"Detective Beckett? Will you do the honors?" Alexis pointed to the front door of the loft.

"You should call her Kate when we're at home." Castle said, holding two of the three women he loved.

Kate opened the door and heard Martha's cry of joy. Martha hugged first her son, then her granddaughter, and then Kate.

"Katherine, you beautiful, wonderful, brave, caring person. Welcome home!"

Rick, Alexis and Kate all thought the same thing. I am home.