DISCLAIMERS: 'Castle' is the property of ABC Studios Productions and Andrew W. Marlowe. No copyright infringement is intended. The story is the sole property of the author and may not be archived without her permission.

TITLE: Forgetting

AUTHOR: Caskett1960

RATING: T for now, but will change to an M at some point in the story.

SUMMARY: Post 8x07 'The Last Seduction.' The story will start in canon for that episode, but will move into AU territory after Kate receives the mysterious text from Vikram. Kate vanishes the morning after she and Castle celebrate their first wedding anniversary. Where has she gone and why? I want to thank Angie (at dtrekker) for the fantastic cover art.

A/N: This story has been in the planning stages for the past four or five months. It is based on a YouTube video of the same name by Jo (at TVCastleAlways). I want to thank her for giving me and my collaborator Kelly (at Uofmcowgirl) permission to write a story based on this terrific video. Kelly and Jo, I hope that I do this story the justice that it deserves. I will include a link to the video at the end of this chapter.

A/N #2: Like most of my stories, this one is going to be very long. If I go where I plan on going with it, it's going to be extremely long. Probably one of the longest stories I've ever written.

A/N #3: And I know the subject matter has been done to death, but trust me that I know where I'm going with it.

A/N #4: While the first chapter will start like a couple of my favorite 'Castle' episodes with a '36 Hours Earlier' type of beginning, the story won't be going back and forth. I'm just doing the first chapter like that to set up the premise.

A/N #5: In this story, Castle and Beckett didn't separate after 8x02. And Castle didn't learn about LokSat.

FORGETTING

CHAPTER 1: Happy Anniversary

"Capt. Beckett, can you hear me? Can you tell me where you are?"

"Hospital," Kate mumbled, swatting the hand away that was shining a light into her eyes. "I just want to go home."

"I'm sure that you do. Your colleagues are outside. Your husband is out there, too. He's very anxious to see you."

"Wait!" Kate struggled to sit up. "My what?"

Four Weeks Earlier

Inside of Capt. Kate Beckett's office, Castle was setting everything up so that his surprise for his wife on this, their first wedding anniversary, would be perfect. Ryan and Esposito had helped him set up the surprise by doing things to keep their captain busy and out of her office for an hour or so in order to let Castle work his magic. He smiled as he surveyed his work before quickly leaving her office before she caught him.

***CCC***

Kate was standing in front of the coffee machine in the breakroom, her mind a whirl as she absentmindedly stirred her coffee. Things had been tense between she and Castle since her return a few months earlier. She still hadn't told him the whole story regarding her run from a death squad of mercenaries. If she did, she might as well kill him herself. Because if she told him about LokSat, he'd start looking into it and get himself killed. He'd almost done exactly that while he was searching for her. No, her mind was made up. For everybody's safety, no one could know what she and Vikram Singh had been running from.

Today was hers' and Castle's first wedding anniversary. She smiled when she remembered that late afternoon exactly one year before when they'd stood together in the Hamptons and pledged their lives to one another. She didn't know how to make Castle understand that he had her heart. He was her heart. Which was why she had to keep him safe. But she hated that there still had to be secrets between them. She didn't understand why they couldn't just live a normal life like other married couples. Even her parents had had a normal life until her mother's murder.

She left the breakroom and walked across the hall to her office, where she found Castle putting the finishing touches on something on her desk. "Castle, what're you doing?"

"Oh," he turned around, looking much like a small boy who'd got caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar. "I . . . I . . . I was waiting for you," he gave her the grin that she always loved; the one that told her that he was into mischief. "Ryan and Esposito—"

"Were acting as lookouts? Well, your lookouts must've got called away," she walked over to her desk.

There was a small box on top of her desk. When she opened it, she saw a small red button. Pushing it sent a Mylar balloon floating up toward the ceiling. Smiling in delight, Kate saw a small note attached to a string on the balloon. Kate opened it and smiled at Rick's familiar handwriting. 'Have dinner with me tonight. Rick.'

"It's our anniversary, Kate," he gently reminded her. "I just want to celebrate a quiet dinner with you. No questions about where you were, no accusations. Just a quiet dinner and maybe some sexy fun," he waggled his eyebrows at her. "I mean, what's an anniversary without sex?"

Kate's brownish green eyes met Castle's blue ones. There weren't enough words to describe how much she loved him. She hated how she was hurting him. "Have you made reservations?"

"No, but I can. Wherever you'd like to go."

"Actually, I was thinking that I'd like a quiet evening at home. Just you and me."

"So, you'll have dinner with me tonight?"

"Of course," she approached him, stopping short when she heard a light knock on her door. Rolling her eyes, she called out, "Come in!"

"Capt. Beckett?" Vikram Singh stuck his head in the doorway.

"Vikram, come on in."

"What's going on?" He looked at the balloon still hanging from the ceiling.

"Nothing. Castle was surprising me for our anniversary. I'll see you around seven," she looked at Castle, who grinned and nodded before leaving. "We're having dinner tonight for our anniversary."

"Kate, do you think it's wise of you to stay with Castle? Don't you worry about him figuring out about LokSat?"

"He won't."

"But what if he does?"

"Vikram, relax. I've been back home for two months now and Castle isn't investigating anything about our missing time. I love him. He's my husband. So, what have you got?"

Vikram went over some information with Kate regarding their current case before going back to the IT lab. Once in there and alone, he removed a phone from his pocket and made a phone call. "What is it, Singh?" The voice on the phone answered with a snarl. "I told you not to call unless there was an issue. Is there an issue?"

"I'm worried that Beckett is going to tell Castle about the organization. The man is like a dog with a bone. He won't let it go until he finds out everything."

"Where is Capt. Beckett now?"

"She's still here, but she's planning on having dinner with Castle tonight. It's their anniversary."

"Meet me at the usual place at five o'clock. We'll figure out a plan."

"Got it," Vikram was about to say something further, but the line went dead.

Kate left the precinct after seven, walking down the street to the parking garage to get her car. Walking toward the garage took her past Remy's, the hamburger joint that was practically an institution in the neighborhood. She smiled remembering all of the meals she and Castle had shared inside of Remy's. Meals that had solidified their friendship in the early years and even now, thinking of sharing burgers, fries and obscenely thick shakes sounded like the perfect anniversary dinner. She opened the door and stepped inside. "Hey, Capt. Beckett!" One of the waitresses called out to her. "Are you eating here or are you getting something to go?"

"To go, Mandy," she stepped up to the counter. "I need mine and Castle's usual, except leave off the onions on his."

"You've got it," Mandy wrote down the order before going back to clip it for the cook to get it. "How is Castle? I haven't seen him lately."

"He's good. His P.I. business keeps him pretty busy."

"So, I take it that you have plans," Mandy gave Kate a sly smile. "You did say to leave the onions off of his burger."

"Today's our anniversary," Kate smiled shyly.

"Wow, it's been a year already? Congratulations."

"Thank you."

***CCC***

At the loft, Castle was looking for a bottle of the red wine that he knew his wife loved. "What are you looking for, Rick?" Lucy, his new home security system asked from the end of the counter.

"Today is mine and Kate's anniversary. I know that doesn't mean anything to you, but it means a lot to me, in light of everything that's happened in the last few months."

"What do you mean, Rick?"

"I just wish . . . I just wish that she would trust me enough to open up to me about what happened when she and Vikram were on the run."

"Maybe you should stop pushing the issue. Let her tell you when she's ready. I thought that you love her."

"I do."

"Then, give her the space that she needs to figure things out. I'm sure that she'll tell you what's going on when she's ready."

"Have I ever told you that you were definitely money well spent."

"Thank you, Rick."

"No. Thank you, Lucy."

Moments later, he heard Kate's key in the front door, followed seconds later by his beautiful wife. "Good evening, Kate," Lucy chimed in before Castle had a chance to speak. "Rick and I were just talking about you."

"Were you?" Kate gave the computerized gadget on the counter a strange look as she walked up to Rick, holding out the Remy's bag. "I brought dinner."

"Remy's," he kissed her before taking the bags. "Perfect."

"I ordered your burger without onions. For later," she clarified.

"What's happening later, Rick?" Lucy asked.

"Castle, could you please shut that . . . that . . . thing off for tonight?" Kate pointed at the triangle that Castle had bought weeks earlier as some sort of new age home security system. She felt like the device hated her. Was jealous of her even, which she knew was ridiculous.

"Lucy, quiet," Castle ordered the device.

"As you wish, Rick," Lucy said before going into silent mode. Silent but still ever listening.

Castle placed their meals on plates before bringing them over to the sofa along with their milkshakes. "How was your day?" He asked, taking a bite of his burger.

"Long, uneventful. By the way, right after you left, I got showered with confetti from my ceiling."

"Oh. I didn't have time to work all of the bugs out of my anniversary surprise. The confetti was supposed to fall when you pressed the button that triggered the balloon. What can I say? Engineering isn't my strong suit."

"It was still very sweet, even if the confetti was delayed," she moved closer and kissed him. "Happy anniversary, Rick."

"Happy birthday, Kate," he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her until she was in his lap. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

***CCC***

"Sooner or later, Castle's going to figure out what's going on. He's going to figure out that Kate is still looking into you. So far, I've been able to lead her down blind alleys, but how long is that going to last?" Vikram was obviously on edge, pacing back and forth in the small room.

"You worry too much. I've got things under control. Shortly after you and Capt. Beckett returned to the land of the living, I had a listening device sent to the Castle's home."

"You bugged their home? What if one of them gets suspicious and does a sweep?"

"This device can't be picked up by a sweeper."

"How can you be sure?"

"Mr. Singh, while I appreciate your paranoia, might I remind you that I was an operative for a very long time. Long before you were even a gleam in your father's eye. Believe me when I tell you that I know what I'm doing. I have plans for Capt. Beckett. When I'm done with her, she's barely going to remember her name, much less anything about our organization."

A/N #6: Don't accuse me of dragging this story out. I'm reminding everybody up front that it's going to be very long.

A/N #7: Here's the link for the video: www dot youtube dot com backslash watch?v=gPgL8Y92KBE

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