Warnings: graphic descriptions of physical abuse, sexual abuse, eventually consensual sex and very dark thoughts. A lot of angst. It's a very dark fic alright?

Also, due to a review I received I thought I should make it clear I have not experience abuse nor inflicted it myself. It's probably more fucked up that I'm making this up from nothing but ah well. Everyone needs an outlet and this is mine.

Poor Rick and Kate though.

Castle:
Between the Lines
Chapter 1:
- Stuck in the Dark -
By NRZWolf 13

Rick barely had time to see his father's huge fist swing in an arc towards him before it had made contact with his stomach, throwing him off his feet. If he'd eaten anything in the past twelve hours he would have been sick. As it was, he felt the breath explode out of him as he crashed backwards onto the floor of his bedroom. Darkness shimmered in front of his cerulean blue eyes as he hovered at the edge of consciousness and he had to fight with all his strength simply to breathe again. He felt splinters dig into his face from the cold, hard wooden floor. He needed it. It helped to fight the dark away.

"You're lying to me," Anthony Castle snarled at his sixteen year old son. "You think I'm an idiot? You think I'm not worthy of respect?"

"No…" Rick gasped but he still hadn't caught his breath and he was in too much pain. A coppery taste filled his mouth. He had bitten his tongue when he landed. "I swear I don't know…"

Anthony swung his foot almost lazily and Rick yelled out as it came into contact with his ribs. A new wave of pain seared through his body. For a few seconds, his room went red and, not for the first time, Rick wondered if his father was going to kill him.

"What don't you know?" Anthony sneered. "You don't know why you did it? That's not a good answer you worthless piece of shit. Tell me what you did with MY MONEY!"

He lashed out again. Rick caught the boot coming in the nick of time and was able to ride with it, rolling over and over until his back crashed into the wall. He lay there panting, sweat dripping off of his hair and blood trickling from his nose.

"You shouldn't have done that," Anthony snarled while walking towards him slowly, one step at a time.

"I… haven't… done… anything… wrong… I… swear…"

"Then who did? Hmm? Was it little Alexis?" Anthony laughed as Rick started violently. "Of course it wasn't. She isn't like you. She's our little angel while you came from the pits of hell. Pathetic and worthless and I don't know why I keep you. I don't want to… and I won't. Unless you tell me the truth,"

But what truth could Rick tell? He hadn't stolen his father's money. He didn't even know his father had any money! He couldn't do anything…

Anthony reached out and grabbed Rick's hair. He tugged it so hard that Rick cried out. He could feel the tears being squeezed from his eyes. "Where is my money?" his father asked.

Rick said nothing, just continued to try and breathe normally despite the pain.

"Where is it?" Anthony pulled harder.

"I don't know!" Rick screamed. He was sure his hair was going to be torn from its scalp. Blood trickled out of his nose and out of the corner of his mouth. His mind was reeling and desperately trying to work out what to say. He had to say something – anything – to stop the pain.

For one agony filled moment, Anthony did nothing, simply stood and held his struggling son with no emotion on his face. Then, without warning, he dropped Rick onto the floor. Rick lay where he was, sprawled out on the floor like one of those drawings the police make after there's been a murder. He wondered if a few of his ribs had been broken. His entire body was in pain.

His father dropped down next to him and cupped a hand under his cheek. For a moment he truly seemed like a father consoling his injured son, but every word he spoke dripped with venom and hate. "You mean nothing to me. I only keep you because it's what she would have wanted. That does not mean you can do what you want. That does not mean you shouldn't be punished for what you did by being born. That does not fucking mean that I even like you!" Anthony's voice had risen to a roar by the end. "Got that!?"

Feebly, Rick nodded his head. Anthony let the teenager's head fall and Rick felt another spasm of pain as his head came into contact with the wooden floor. Before he finally left, Rick's father spat on him. "You're worthless. Remember that. And you better be at school tomorrow,"

That almost made Rick laugh. Almost. Sometimes it felt like he had forgotten how to smile. It was hard to be happy when he knew his father was right. He was worthless.

For a few moments, the teenager continued to lie there and listen to the apartment creak around him. Pain throbbed through his body and he was so tired. He just wanted to sleep. However, it sounded like Anthony was leaving in order to get even more pissed and that meant Alexis could come out of her room and be with Rick for a little while. If he was passed out, he wouldn't be able to cherish that.

So it was with a great amount of effort – and pain – that Rick dragged himself over to his bed and pulled himself onto the soft mattress. The front door slammed shut leaving the apartment in darkness. Instinctively, Rick curled in on himself, bringing his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and letting his head fall into the dark haven of his arms. It felt like a tiny voice inside of him was whispering to him 'Be small boy' like he needed encouragement. Sometimes he wished he could simply crawl inside of himself and be done with it.

Alexis wouldn't come out of her room for a few more minutes. She needed to make sure Anthony was really gone. Rick could rest a while till then… just a little while…

०౦ംഠ०҆'˚'҅०ം◦∙ ം०҆'˚'҅०౦ംഠ०

The rain gently pattered against the window, a soothing rhythm that acted as a lullaby so that Kate Beckett could fall asleep before her step-father arrived home. It didn't seem to be working though.

Kate tossed and turned for a few more minutes before finally muttering, "For god's sake," and sitting up. Her thick, chocolate brown tresses fell in a messy heap around her head, framing her face and making her pale skin stand out even more. Dark circles from lack of sleep rested almost permanently under her eyes and crow's feet reached out from the corners. Her emerald green eyes matched her exhausted his face. In the years that had led up to the hell she lived through every day, something had happened to her eyes leaving them broken, fatigued… lifeless.

Quietly, Kate slid out of bed and padded through the apartment into the bathroom. The one thing she wanted to do right now was have a shower but Alex Beckett would be home any minute and she was risking enough by being up as it was. She forced herself to calm down. He wasn't there yet. She just had to do what she always did. Stay cool; bathe her hands in warm water for a couple of minutes and go back to bed relaxed and ready to sleep. Simple.

The only problem was it let the memories come back. They always did.

Mommy… don't let daddy kiss me.

Kate closed her eyes.

Kate, don't be silly.

If only Johanna Beckett knew how very un-silly her daughter was.

Katharine Beckett was only four when her mother remarried. It had scared her at first. She had never had a father and wasn't used to him being around. She wasn't used to it not being her mom and herself anymore.

But Alex Beckett was a nice man. He didn't mind that Kate was so wary of him. He let her warm up to him in her own time. Over three years he gained her trust. Johanna was happier than she had been in a long time. Kate, although young, saw this and knew it was because of Alex. So she let her defences down.

And Alex trampled all over her.

Kate was seven when her step-father first began kissing her. Not the nice 'kiss daddy on the cheek' kiss. The 'forcing his tongue down her throat' kiss. She had been terrified. Seven years old, her mother away on a business trip, unable to move or breathe until Alex was finished.

But Kate couldn't say a word. Alex made that clear.

Mercifully, for two years kissing was all Alex could get away with. Kate hated it, but she could deal with it. Then a couple of weeks after her ninth birthday Alex crept into her room and slipped his fingers down her little cotton panties. He invaded a place she was only ever meant to show willingly and did so for a long time.

Then the worst happened. Johanna Beckett died. For so long she had been her daughter's unwitting final defence and now she was gone. A random act of gang violence.

Now Kate was all alone.

She was still nine when Alex made her touch… him for the first time. He had groaned when he made her rub it and Kate could only cry as she was forced to hold his huge, sticky member. It had been one of the worst nights of her life.

The next worse was during the year she turned ten. Alex made her give oral for the first time and he wasn't an easy man to please. Little Kate was sobbing and choking the whole way through and at the end, what was her reward? To be forced to swallow every last bit of his seed.

She was twelve, twelve years old when Alex first forced himself inside of her. Kate had never known pain like it and for weeks after had constant nightmares. He still continued to do it regardless.

When she turned thirteen she had her first womanly period. At first it was a blessing. For one week a month she would be safe from his touches. Then it quickly turned into a nightmare. Alex decided to show his little 'pet' the wonders… of anal sex.

Kate passed out half way through and could only remember waking up, smelling disgusting and covered in filth. From then on, during the lead up to her period Kate would be given a strict liquid diet only.

The sixteen year old felt all of these memories passing through her head for the millionth time as she bathed her arms in the warm water of the sink. So many times and it was never any easier. She missed her mother so much.

Kate felt a tear trickle down from her emerald green eyes as she thought of her mother. How she missed her. To anyone watching, it would seem as though the young girl was about to dissolve into sobs. But Kate Beckett was made of stronger stuff.

Instead, she wiped the stray tear away and emptied the sink before returning to her room. She then climbed into bed, her mind pleasantly fuzzier than before, and determinedly shut her eyes once more. Listening to the drumming of rain on the window, she tried to lose herself in the erratic beat. Sleep was the only sanctuary she had. Alex had never tried anything while Kate was unconscious and if he had, at least he hadn't woken her up.

But tonight it was important. Alex usually wore a condom and if he forgot or couldn't be bothered, he knew Kate took birth control pills. The problem was Kate had run out. While she was broken, while little of her life seemed worth something, pregnancy and unpredictable periods was the only thing she could bring herself to worry about anymore.

Academics, friends (or lack of), jobs, her future… it didn't seem worth very much at all.

Maybe Kate was a child of merciful Gods however because shortly before the moment Alex walked through the door of apartment 6A, she fell into a deep, uneasy sleep.