CHAPTER 5

Disclaimer:Do not own Castle. The frustrating and brilliant A. Marlowe does.

Last time:

Shaking her head, she celebrated the end of yet another obstacle with a sip of wine. She picked up Rick's book, the glass of wine and curled up on the bed. Opening Rick's latest instalment on their relationship, the dedication had her smiling tremulously.

To Roy Montgomery

He was like a father to me. May he rest in peace.

On the same page, he had signed the book for her in his neat, characteristic scrawl.

And to KB. I miss you.

When Richard Castle came back, she would be ready for him. She got under the covers, readying herself for a night of slumber. Her last thoughts before she drifted off were about him.

Miss you too Castle. Love you.

Eight Months Later:

Captain Victoria Gates looked out of her office into the precinct's homicide bullpen. For one of the most celebrated female personnel of the NYPD taskforce, the cases at IA had become too mundane and monotonous. She had longed for a challenge, longed to take part in solving cases. She had wanted more than anything to get back into the noise and bustle of an active bullpen. Take downs, building theory and solving crime were most up her street. Cleaning up house at Internal Affairs did not hold the same appeal for her as it had before. So when the offer to replace the late Montgomery had come through, she had jumped at the chance.

In the eleven months she had been Captain here, she had gone through some of the most challenging yet exhilarating moments in her career. When Roy Montgomery had recommended her as his replacement for the twelfth, she had been honoured. The twelfth was the NYPD's crown jewel. With one of the highest clearance rates in the tri-state area, the twelfth was home to some of the most brilliant and dedicated personnel in the NYPD's roster. In the twenty two years Roy Montgomery had been here, he had turned around the twelfth from a disorganised and inefficient workforce and placed it firmly at the top of the food chain.

When she had been in IA, Victoria had heard rumours of a female detective who had created waves by becoming the youngest ever to be promoted to detective. Considering that she had been inducted into homicide, which was one of the most challenging departments and had beaten Gates' own record by six months, Victoria had decided to keep a close eye on the girl. After some years, she had heard gossip making rounds of a mystery writer, specifically Richard Castle, choosing to shadow Katherine Beckett for research. The guy had somehow weaselled himself into the twelfth precinct by using his connections with the Mayor himself.

She had scoffed, not believing that Montgomery had allowed a civilian into the fold, and consequentially, her respect for him had gone down by quite a bit. She had believed it was a folly and would inevitably prove to be a disaster.

But she had proven wrong. Instead of plummeting, the clearance rates of the homicide department at the twelfth had shot through the roof. In fact, the crime rates in the area under the twelfth had seen quite a drop.

If the twelfth precinct was the crown jewel of the NYPD, the homicide department was the pride of the twelfth. Montgomery had been a homicide cop before he had ascended the ladder and eventually became captain. Along the way, he had gathered and personally trained some of the talented cops she had ever seen. With their reputation preceding them, Detectives Kate Beckett, Kevin Ryan and Javier Esposito were the toast of the force. Montgomery had taken them under his own wing, transforming them from beat cops fresh out of the academy and into one of the most efficient and feared homicide teams ever. The then addition of Richard Castle had changed the dynamics by quite a bit. People in the higher echelons of the NYPD had questioned Roy Montgomery's sanity, to say the least. After all, the man had messed up the combinations of one of the most successful homicide teams ever. Not with a cop, but with a writer of all things.

But after a few months, many of the detractors of Montgomery had been forced to eat their words. The decision being touted as a disaster had proven to be a stroke of genius. It did not matter who was on the taskforce, or who was chosen as a consultant. All that mattered was that criminals were being carted into custody, behind bars faster than ever. The DA's office and the Commissioner, along with the Mayor had been very pleased, especially with the high praise that came streaming in from the likes of the FBI, the CIA and the DHA of all places.

In fact, it was a running joke that many of the other precincts were on the lookout for their own writer-consultant, or were looking to poach Richard Castle from the twelfth.

As she sat in the confines of her office, Victoria remembered her first meeting with the writer. It had been interesting and explosive, to the say the least. She had probably dodged a few heart attacks by a whisker that day, with all the revelations the writer and detectives Esposito and Ryan had loaded upon her. Whatever welcoming gift Victoria had expected upon taking charge, it wasn't this.

Ten months ago, Captain's office, The Twelfth Precinct:

Rick, Javi and Kevin sat in silence as Victoria Gates, the newly instated captain of the twelfth precinct regarded them with a neutral expression.

"So, Mr Castle, and detectives. Any reason for requesting this meeting? Especially you, Mr Castle. In the past month, I don't think I have ever seen you requesting anything. In fact, you go in and out of the place like you own it. Why the sudden consideration?"

Rick wiped his face tiredly. In the past month he had been observing Gates closely, watching out for any signs that told him that she had received Montgomery's missive. But so far, he had no luck. Beside him, Javi and Kevin also wore haggard expressions.

All the evidence that was contained in Montgomery's package was enough to start proceedings against the guy responsible. When Castle had called them in for dinner, they had been expecting some sort of heartache and wine sharing over Kate's absence. When they had gotten to the loft, the absence of Alexis and Martha had confused them. The expression on Castle's face had magnified the confusion into alarm. They had never seen him look so serious and foreboding.

The revelations that had followed, with them examining the evidence, the paper trails and the files on the compact disks had them stunned into silence. Montgomery had sent them a literal time bomb, which had been ticking all the time since Johanna's murder. All the people that they had come across in their pursuit of Johanna's killer – from Coonan to Lockwood to Simmons - had spoken the truth.

Kate and the guys truly had no idea who they had been dealing with. Without proper help, they would have been squished before knew it.

The scale of the conspiracy that now lay bare in front of them had them baffled and stupefied. The nexus that had spawned between Raglan, McAllister, Montgomery and their villain had left them astounded, mystified and even disgusted in some places. Rick had even gone on to call him a big fat spider with its own web. But the fact remained, that their perpetrator was a dragon in the worst sense of the word.

And Montgomery had provided them the tools to slay it.

After Javi and Kevin had read Montgomery's letter, they had come to a resolution.

Kate had to be kept out of the loop.

Rick had actually suggested this first, but after some vehement refusals from Javier and thoughtful silence from Kevin, they had come to accept that as the best course of action.

Rick had also explained that Smith's call had come through, demanding that Rick keep Kate away from the case. Rick had promised him to do so, without arousing any suspicion of any kind. Javi and Kevin promised to do their part in case Rick was not present on account of prior commitments.

All that remained was to gather the forces and move forward. It was frustrating to follow dead ends when they had all the evidence they had, too keep up pretences.

Hence their current predicament. Rick spoke first.

"Captain, I have a question for you."

In reply, Gates arched a cynical eyebrow. Rick cleared his throat.

"Did you get a certain kind of package in the mail? No sender's address, heavy duty envelope?"

Gates' expression changed from sceptical into harsh in a second. Her voice was quiet but dripping with malice as she posed a question of her own.

"How do you know about that?"

Rick cut across her with urgency, unmindful of her moods. "This is serious Captain. I need to know, have you opened and read through Montgomery's letter?"

Gates' expression changed into one of confusion. Yes, she had received a package in the mail some days ago. It was unmarked, but for her own address. She had traced the service it had come through and it was plain that it apparently contained some very sensitive information. It currently was stored in the locker in this very office. But she hadn't had the opportunity to see through it yet. With the demands of her job and her new position, she had no idea that it was from Montgomery.

"Did you say it was from Captain Montgomery?"

Rick nodded. "Yes Sir, it was. Have you read through it?"

Gates shook her head. "I haven't opened it yet. It's in my locker, here in this very office in fact."

Rick took a breath of relief. So she had received it.

"Sir, as you must have deduced, it contains very important, sensitive and classified information. I request that read the letter that is contained in it. Please take it to your home and make copies, if you can and then store it the safest place you can find. I, Javi and Kevin can wait till you do so. Please do it sir, it is very urgent."

Still somewhat sceptical by Castle's claims, she had nevertheless done as he asked her too.

And boy was she glad she did. She was still reeling from the revelations. That evening was perhaps the tensest evening of her life. The next day, she had met with them again and together they had hatched out a plan of action. When consensus was reached, they had agreed on some core points.

Kate was to be kept out of this. Rick was absolutely immovable on this. He had seen what her mother's case did to Kate, and it scared him. He was determined to this right, uncaring if it meant ending his cherished partnership with her.

Information was to be passed on between people personally, and on a need to know basis. Which meant, there were no messengers to be involved and any possible conversation was only to be face to face.

Any active movement or action was impossible until Jordan Shaw approached them personally.

Last but not the least, they had to keep up the charade of this being a cold case. The details had to be kept under the radar until they were ready to make the drop on their target, for once and for all. For this, Castle volunteered to be thrown out of the precinct for a little misdirection. Gates, with more than a little humour agreed enthusiastically, with the assurance from Ryan and Esposito to keep Kate safe and distracted.

That was ten months ago. Since then, they had made a whole lot of progress. A few days after that night, Jordan Shaw had come forth. Montgomery's package for her had had the same effect as it did on anybody that had received it. It had raised a lot of hue and cry along with a healthy dose of shock within the higher echelons of the FBI when she had declassified the contents.

Long sessions that involved plans, discussions, covert interrogations and a hell lot of cussing had followed. Bit by bit, over the last ten months, they had uncovered one of the most deep rooted crime networks in the history of the United States.

Suffice to say, they were ready for crackdown.

All while somehow leaving Kate out of the loop.

In fact, Gates thought, a smile gracing her lips, today was the day when the results of their investigation would began to show. Not to mention, a certain someone who had started all this in the first place was returning back from a lengthy absence.

She looked at bullpen through her window, watching Kate Beckett go through paperwork.

Silent, contained, circumspect.

Buck up Beckett, not long to go now.

Kate was perched on her chair, going through her files at a rapid pace. A string of cases, both complicated and run-of-the-mill had kept her and the team busy throughout the last week.

They had finished clearing up the last of their workload yesterday evening and all that remained was to clear up the last bit of remaining paperwork. She had to get by using reheated meals, minimal sleep and copious amounts of her coffee.

Coffee, which somehow wasn't as appetising as it was when a special someone used to make one for her.

Oh Castle…

The intrepid detective sighed as she thought of her partner in crime who had become a lot more important for her in the past year or so.

Or if she was being honest with herself, since her mother's passing away.

She missed him so much that her heart literally cried out in pain when she caught mentions of his name in passing. Thoughts of him assaulted her psyche. She both dreamt and daydreamed of him, craving his soothing presence, the warmth of his body and security of his arms around her.

She had realised that she truly never had known the pain of heartache that came from losing a love. Oh, losing her mother was as painful as it could be, the agony of watching her father fight a losing battle with the bottle even more.

But losing Castle, to be away from him for so long cut away at her very core.

It had almost been a year since she had seen him, not since he had left on that infernal 'research' trip of his. Away from the country, from New York, from his home, from the 12th, from Nikki.

From her…

Mechanically signing the last of the forms, she filed them away with a sigh. She was done for the day, hopefully.

"BECKETT! RYAN! ESPOSITO! In my office now!" Gates' cry rang out through the bullpen.

Kate gave a frustrated moan. So much for 'hopefully'.

A.N: Please don't kill me.

I Have a full time job now which takes up all my time. It's very vexing and frustrating not being to eke out a single iota of time to devote to TWO of my passions: fan-fiction, and writing.

Half-assed jobs will yield poor results,and I refuse to do that.

So updates for my fics will be sporadic at best...

Once again, very sorry.

Sincerely,

Lust of Alucard.