The Haunting Past (A Castle Fanfiction)

Part Sixteen: Breaking Point

As Jenny, Lanie, and several officers waited for news on Ryan, Espo and Carpenter, they remained absolutely silent, in complete and utter shock. Lanie had nothing to say to anyone. All she could do was think back on every memory she had of Esposito and Ryan with Rick and wonder how someone as close to those two guys as he was could trade their lives away like they were just a couple of baseball cards. She was in awe at the thought of Rick doing this to them, especially considering they were more than just friends to Rick. They were family. Or at least- they seemed that way.

Nearly an hour passed before someone walked toward them to give them an update, but for every man, they were in a touch and go state. Stability wasn't the issue anymore, but- maintaining stability was. None of them were capable of being seen. At that moment they were working furiously to find someone qualified enough to remove the bullet from Esposito's spine. Ryan's team was rolling him down to the recovery ward of the ICU. Then, there was Carpenter. They had reinflated his right lung, but- repairing it would be a long process. He would be out for months.

After having had time to process what she had heard about Ryan and Esposito, she asked the doctor, "What- what about Sophie. Is he going to be able to be home any time soon, or do we need to find someone to watch her?"

The man breathed. "At this point, I think it's best someone else take her in. And considering Detective Carpenter may be out for a couple of months for recovery, it might be best to just find somewhere Sophie can feel at home."

"Where is she now," Jenny questioned.

Lanie said honestly, "Last time I saw her, she was at the loft with Rick, but- everyone's here. I- I have no idea where she is."

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As Castle blew into his apartment, he ripped open his laptop and furiously smashing his keyboard just to pull up the files he already had memorized. Once files were starting to load, he had nothing he could do but wait and pace. The electronic devise worked as fast as its modem allowed, but it could only do so much. As it tried to load, he watched and irately screamed at it, "Come on! You piece of shit! Load!"

Right as he screamed this, footsteps became audible behind him. Rick didn't hear anything until Mike called out, "Woah! Woah! Mr. Castle, calm down! Sophie's upstairs watching cartoons. I just got her to stop crying."

Rick turned around with heat burning through his limbs as he hissed through clenched teeth, "Don't tell me to calm down, kid. It's not a good idea." The boy was not bigger than Rick. He was not stronger, even though he was plenty strong. He was not even more motivated than Castle was to fight, but he had something else up his sleeve. It was obvious this guy was somehow out of his mind, so Mike didn't say a word. He just watched Rick in silence, holding an emotionless indifference toward his girlfriend's father. If he knew anything about the man standing before him, he knew he wasn't actually going to hurt him. They hadn't met before, but by the way Alexis described him, this rage wasn't who he was. So, he let the man steam a moment.

Castle quickly came to his senses. He backed down, lowering the finger he had pointed and releasing the hatred in his tone. "I'm- I'm sorry. I- don't know what that was."

"It's alright," Mike said, putting his hands up to show a lack of contempt. "I know you're going through stuff. Just try not to lose it with the kid around, alright?"

The writer breathed, putting his hand over his eyes and rubbing them gently. "I know. I- I wouldn't... I hope you don't think..."

"I know," the boy said with a grin. "I know you would never actually hurt anyone."

Castle then regained a certain amount of sanity which led him to the question, "Did, ah... did Lexis ask you to babysit?"

"No, actually, your mother called Alexis and said she was going to have to bring Sophie to the hospital and they were worried about all fitting in your wife's father's car so I drove over, gave them the keys to my S.U.V and volunteered to watch Sophie. I figured it was the least I could do, plus kids are- easy when you don't live with them."