Shrinking on Castle

I wrote this years ago when I watched the show Castle religiously. Even bought all 8 seasons. I was obsessed with Kate Beckett(still am lol). Her being a badass detective, her looks, and just everything about her 😍. I grabbed a notepad and started writing, trying to keep the characters and their personalities as close as I can to them on the show. Plotted out an entire episode in one sitting. I'm posting part of it due to how long it is. My character, which is always me lol, is kidnapped and shrunk with wings being an odd side effect. I love the idea of being in the presence of Beckett and her caring for me. It's exciting. Hope you like reading it as much as I did writing it.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to any character in this story other than the one who represents myself.

STORY

I couldn't tell you how it happened, all I knew is that it did. I had went to New York City to visit the place where the show Castle was filmed, a show I was obsessed with. My favorite of all was Kate Beckett. Richard Castle was my second because he was super funny. I has been walking around, taking in the sights, when I felt a warm feeling. My body started to tingle, and then all went black. When I came to, I was in a strange place. Everything was large and seriously spaced out. I tried to move but couldn't. My arms and legs were bound together by some kind of white rope.

Suddenly there came huge trimmers from the floor. I started to freak out thinking it was an earthquake and I have no way of helping myself. But then it stopped almost as soon as it began. That's when I noticed a large shadow casting over me. When I looked up, my heart stopped. Standing over me was a giant. He has dark short hair, a poor shave job, and dark glaring eyes. "So you're finally awake." I gulped. His voice was deep and unsettling. I wanted to run, but there was no way for that to happen. "You are my 17th at successfully shrinking a human to 1 inch with minimal side effects. Each time, someone sprouted something new. You were the 6th one to end up with wings. But don't bother trying to use them, I have those toed up as well."

I couldn't breathe. What was he talking about? But then I felt them. They tried to move as I thought about it, like I had always had them. He smiled. I didn't like that smile. It looked so evil. "I'm going to have my fun with you and then like the others, I'll let you go somewhere that you wouldn't have any hopes of surviving. I'll leave the restraints of course, so you won't be able to run away from your death. There would be no fun in that." He reached down and grabbed me, hard. I squirmed in his grip, but it was no use. It hurt, a lot. He pulled at my wings until I screamed, then he threw me down onto the table. I wished I could just be knocked out so I wouldn't be awake during all this, but that was not happening. The man then flicked me off the table, landing straight onto my back on the hard floor. Though small and weighing less than I used too, I still got winded. I gasped for breath as he hovered his boot over me.

He laughed as he pushed down on my body. Just when I thought I was going to burst under the pressure, he lifted his foot up. The man then proceeded to stomp around me. My ears felt like they were going to explode. Next he stuck something sticky to me. It smelled of foul breath, like their teeth haven't been brushed in months. It was chewing gum. He stuck me to the bottom of his boot, between the treads, and walked around the room. The constant motion of going up and down, slamming into the floor, and back up again caused me to get sick. How long was he going to torture me until he lets something kill me? I wish he would just go ahead and get it over with. Don't know how much more I could take of this. Not sure how long he made me stay there before releasing me from my sticky prison. The gum pulled at my hair, tearing some of it out. Blood trickled down my face.

He then flicked me into the air and let me fall into the table. It was then I heard a pop and felt intense pain in my right shoulder. I was sure it had been broken. To my relief, he finally said, "Alright. I've grown bored of you. Time to let you go so you can die. But where can I take you?" I was crying as he thought. "Ah, it's a longshot, bit maybe I'll take you down to the police station and lay you down somewhere. They would squash you at the sight of you squirming." After gagging me, he roughly picked me up and dropped me into his pocket. Inside I was sweating and in great pain. I tried to move my right arm, but it wasn't doing anything. Yup, it was definitely broken. It throbbed with every step he took, causing me to black out from the pain.

I was out for some time because when I woke up, I was laying on a desk. The man was gone, but I wasn't out of danger. Giants were walking by all around me. No one noticed me yet thankfully, but I longed for either death or to wake up from this nightmare. Suddenly there was a shadow over me. I squeaked in fear and rolled out of the way just in time as a coffee cup was place almost right where I was. The heat from the cup was intense. I started to semi roll away from it when another giant walked by. My body froze to not draw attention. "Hey," I heard him say. "Hey Castle." Wait, what? I knew that voice. I strained to see around the cup and my jaw dropped. This can't be. It has to be a dream.

There, sitting in her chair, was Kate Beckett. How was this possible? It was just a show! It's not real! Yet there she was and... I looked behind me and gasped. It was Richard Castle. I closed my eyes thinking if I opened them, they would be just look alikes or something and I only imagined hearing his name with her voice. But when I opened them, I knew it wasn't a dream. They were really there. Okay, I thought. If I'm to be killed by someone, I wanted it to be Kate. Such a beautiful woman who care so much for people. That's not why she became a detective, bit that is why she stays one. I wouldn't even be bothered if she didn't know I was a person. Just then I heard Castle, "What's that?" "What's what?" "That, on your desk. Looks like a bug." Here it comes. I'm ready to die.

The coffee cup suddenly moved away. I looked up to see Kate looking down at me. She just went back to her paperwork, "Just kill it. I don't want bugs on my desk." No! Not by him! Castle raised his hand, but before he brought it down, he stopped. Kate looked at him, then me, and back at him, "What's the matter? Afraid to kill a little bug?" "No. It's not that. It doesn't actually look like a bug." "What do you mean? Of course it's a bug. What else could be that small?" Good question, I thought to myself. Kate attempted to do the deed herself, but Castle stopped her hand. "No look. I'll bring up my Magnifier App." He slid his finger on his phone a few times, then held it over me. They both looked at the phone questioningly. Kate's jaw dropped, "It's a human. A real shrunken human." They looked at each other, then back at the phone.

"Hey guys, whatcha lookin' at?" I turned to see Ryan and Esposito coming from their desks. "It's a shrunken person," said Castle. Ryan laughed, "Get outta here. Really?" "Yeah look!" "Oh wow, it is." All four of them were staring at me through the phone. Castle moved it out of the way so they look at me. It wasn't the best feeling in the world to have four giants staring down at you. I was pretty close to a panic attack. Castle then said, "She's tied up." "And she's hurt," Kate added. "Can you cut the string off," Castle asked Kate. "I don't know. I can try." She pulled out some scissors and carefully lowered them in front of me, next to my hands. Kate shook her head, "No, the blades are too big. I may end up cutting her hands off. Let's take her to Lanie. I'm sure she has a tool that can do it." "You going to carry her?" Castle looked at Kate. She looked down at me with am expression that said she was unsure of what to do.

Castle started to reach for me, but I scooted away quickly. The last time a giant reached for me, I was tortured. Seeing his large hands coming toward me, it scared the hell out of me. I would even be terrified if Kate tried, and I was obsessed with her. "I think you scare her Castle." I don't know why. I'm a really likeable person." Kate rolled her eyes, "Maybe her captor was a man. So it's probably not against you." I nodded at Kate. She looked at me with worry in her eyes. "Okay, I'm going to be very gentle." As her fingers came down, I started to back away before stopping myself. My heart was in my throat, even though I knew she would treat me well. But when her finger touched my right arm, I couldn't help but scream. It was muffled from the gag I had in my mouth. Kate pulled away quickly, "Did I hurt you?" I nodded, but then shook my head. I pointed my head to my right arm.

Kate squatted down to get a closer look at me. My heart raced as her face came into full view, those large hazel eyes focusing hard on me. I only knew her from watching the show on TV, but never knew that one day I would meet her as a giantess. And with her leaning in this close, it makes me realize how small I really am. Her eyes studied my arm. She saw me move my left one, but failed at the right one, resulting in me groaning. Tears ran down my face as she discovered what was wrong, "I think her arm is broken." Castle got down to look too. I couldn't help but back up a couple feet on my scale when he got eye level with me. "I'm going to try again," Kate spoke softly to me. "If it is broken, no matter what I do, it's going to hurt. You ready?" After a sniffle from crying, I nodded. She reached again and this time succeeded in picking me up while I screamed in pain. This was the first time since I've been shrunk that I was handled with such care. You never know how one so huge and powerful can be so gentle, until you experience it yourself. Kate carefully placed me in the middle of her other hand. It was warm and smelled like vanilla. Probably from the lotion she uses. I relaxed onto my left side as she turned to Ryan and Esposito, "You two look into the surveillance. She didn't come here on her own. Someone brought her." "You got it," Esposito said as they quickly left.

Kate's fingers curled over me while she and Castle walked into the autopsy room. Lanie was cleaning her examining table, getting ready for when the next body gets there. She looked up and smiled, "Hey guys. What's up?" Castle answered with his own smile, "You're not going to believe this." "Believe what?" He pointed toward me, "Look! It's a shrunken person!" "Nuh uh. You trying to pull something on me?" "Not this time Lanie," Kate responded. "This time he's for real." She opened her fingers to let Lanie get a good look at me. Her eyes widened, "How is this possible?" "We don't know, but she's hurt and tied up. I can't cut the string without cutting her." Lanie opened a drawer and pulled out a scalpel. "I think I can help with the string, not sure how with any injuries she has." Kate walked over and gently set me down on the cold, metal table. I hollered into the gag when she did that, causing Lanie to ask, "What's wrong with her?" "It's her arm," said Kate. "I think it might be broken."

Lanie pulled the giant magnifier over me so she can look closer, "Let's cut the string off first, and then we'll see about that arm." My body was shaking from fear and the cold. "Now don't move, I don't want to hurt you." I nodded, trying to steady my breathing as Lanie brought the tip of the enormous blade close to me. When it touched the string, I closed my eyes. I felt the backward motion of the scalpel, which caused the string's hold to release. Opening my eyes, I saw the string had been cut. But because it had been tied so tight, my skin looked like it was growing around it. Using pointed tweezers, Lanie very slowly unwound the string from my hands. Tears were streaming down my face as I cried out. I could feel it coming out of my skin. My right arm fell limp to my side, causing me to hold my breath. I used my left hand to take the gag out of my mouth, allowing me to finally breathe in large a points of cool, clean air. Next, Lanie carefully cut the string off my legs. Thankfully I had pants on because it was a barrier between the string and my skin. I was so happy that I could now stand. "What about her wings," Castle asked. Lanie gave him a sarcastic, stern look, "Hold your horses Castle. Going too fast could scare or hurt her." My heart never stopped racing as well as my steady shaking, but that did help a little knowing she's being empathetic. Turning my back toward her, it gave her the right angle to cut the string that had my wings tied together. When they were freed, I opened them for the first time. It felt weird yet wonderful at the same time. "That's so cool," Castle said as they stared through the magnifier.

"Glad to see you on your feet," said Lanie, then added, "Now let's see about that arm. Can you move it?" "No. I try but nothing happens." "What about your fingers?" I wiggled them. It hurt, but not too much. Kate smiled, "It's not broken." Lanie shook her head, "Nope, just dislocated. I can try and pop it back in." I nodded, "Do what you can." Before reaching her fingers down, she warned me, "This is going to hurt, probably a lot." I just nodded again, grabbing the gag to put it back in my mouth. I shut my eyes tight as Lanie worked her magic. Her large fingers lightly gripped my right forearm, lifting it up. The pain started to intensify as I felt a slight tug on it. I then felt two fingers on either side of my head, holding me down by the shoulders. A little more pulling and rotating the arm, then a quick but still somehow so gentle tug, there was a pop. I'm glad I put that gag back in because I screamed more than I ever have. But when she let go, I realized I had full function of my arm again.

"How does that feel," Lanie asked me. "Much better. Still hurts but I'm glad I can move it again." "It's going to be sore for a while. I'd try to use it as least as possible. That'll give it time to heal the rest of the way." I nodded at her, "Thank you." "No problem. Glad I could help." "So what's your name," Kate asked me as Lanie moved the magnifier out of the way. "It's Melissa," I answered. "Can you tell us how you became so small?" Taking a deep breath, I said, "I'm not entirely sure. I came to the city to take in the sights because..." I paused. Hesitating to tell them about the show. They wouldn't believe me, but I also didn't want to lie to them. "I came here because I wanted to see the city y'all defend." "Y'all? You must be from the South," Castle said with a smile. "Yes, I'm from Florida." "Wait," Kate interrupted. "What do you mean by seeing the city we defend?"

"I watch you on TV, a lot I might add. I became your fan." "You mean by the news," Kate assumed. Here it goes, "No. I mean as in a show. There is a show actually called Castle. I know all of you. Well, about you. Your show is running it's 6th season right now." "A show in my name? How cool is that," Castle said with excitement. "Calm down Castle, we're going to look into that. I have never heard of it." I looked up at Kate, "You probably won't find it because if I'm right, I'm in the show now. That's why when I first saw you, I thought it was a dream. I was terrified. Still am, both from being small and because of you." My heart raced as I told them, all the while keeping my eyes locked onto Kate's. Several seconds went by before Castle spoke, "She must be from another dimension." The sadness in Kate's eyes turned into amusement as she rolled them in response, "Castle, there are no other dimensions." "But what about..." Kate held her finger up to his mouth, "We'll talk about that later." Turning back to me, she said, "You know you don't have to be scared of us. We're here to help." Nodding as I lowered my eyes, then looking back up to her, "I know I can trust you, but that doesn't ease my fear. Everything and everyone is so huge. As fast as my heart is beating, I'm surprised it hasn't gave out yet. Not to mention I became obsessed...with...you." I said that last part more slowly.

Kate gave me a soft smile, bringing her finger down until it stopped right beside me. With an unsteady hand, I reached out and touched it. "Do you remember anything about when you shrank," she asked me, pulling her finger away. I had to catch myself because I had sat down and was leaning onto it. "I was walking down the street when I felt warm and tingly. Then I just blacked out. Woke up in a room with a guy standing over me. I was already tied up."

"Can you describe him," asked Kate. "Probably not. He was standing under the light so his face was kinda dark. He did talk to me though. I would be able to recognize his voice if I heard it again. Kate squatted down to get eye level with me, "What did he say to you?" "He said I was number 17 and each time he shrunk someone, they ended up with an extra something. I was the 6th one to get wings." Her eyebrows rose up, "17?" Kate then looked up and Castle and Lanie, "We gotta catch this guy." Lanie used the tweezers to pick up the string pieces, "I'll see if he left any epithelials behind. Maybe we can get his DNA." She bagged the string and took it to the lab part of the morgue. When she walked away, Kate turned back to me, "So how did you get on my desk?"

"After torturing me, he figured that by bringing me here, I would be mistaken as a bug. Said that cops hate bugs in the precinct and would kill them on sight." Castle then squatted down next to Kate saying, "And we almost did." Kate looked back at him with a worried look, "Yeah we did." Bringing her haze down at me again, the worry in here eyes never left, "I'm so sorry for thinking you were a bug." "I would have thought she was a bug too. Sorry Melissa," Lanie said coming back to the table. I shrugged, "I don't hold it against you. If I saw something this small, I would have thought the same thing."

"You said he tortured you," Kate said. "What did he do to you?" "First he grabbed me hard, pulled my wings until they almost tore off. Then he flicked me off the table onto the floor, pressed his boot on my until I thought I was going to burst. About blew my ears out by stomping around me. He pushed me into a wad of gum and stuck me to the bottom of his boot for a while. When he pulled me out of it, a lot of my hair out. Thought my entire scalp was going to come off," I touched the dried blood ony forehead, then continued, "The last thing he did was flick me again. When I landed, that's when I heard my arm pop." I saw the worry increase in Kate's eyes. I could tell she didn't like what she was hearing.

Lanie took a spot next to Kate, also getting down on my level, "What about the other 16?" "He said that he would put them in situations where they would surely get killed. And like me, he left them tied up and gagged so they couldn't get away or call for help. I would guess on sidewalks to get stepped on, or the roads to get run over." They all grimaced at the thought. "Definitely not the way I would picture going out." Castle said what everyone was thinking because they all nodded. Kate stated, "You were dropped off at the right place because you're safe now, and we're going to help you." I smiled at her. Never knew that one day I would become Kate Beckett's top priority. And with that knowledge, I knew I was completely safe, even if I'm only an inch tall.

"So," Castle spoke up, "About this show. If we're characters, I gotta know. Which one of us is your favorite?" I laughed, "Sorry Castle, but I choose Kate." Kate smirked at him. He just smiled and said, "She'd be my favorite too." Kate stood up, causing the others to do so as well. The moment she stood back to her full height, my fear was opened back up. My obsession with her made her the main focus of my eyes. I do believe I had fallen in love with Kate, but I know I could never tell her...maybe. Both her and Castle looked at Lanie, who glanced at everyone, "You're always my favorite girl, Kate." "Thanks Lanie."

Kate turned to walk out the door, "I'm going to go see if they found anything on the surveillance." But before she got to the door, she stopped and turned around, "You wanna come Melissa?" I perked up, "Yeah." She stepped toward the table and held out her hand, "See if you can fly to me." I gulped, "Oh, okay." Focusing on my wings, I was able to get them moving. Took a few minutes before I was able to get myself into the air. When I did, I slowly moved forward. I had gone about a foot or so on a normal scale before I lost my focus. My wings suddenly gave out and I started to fall. Kate reacted quickly, putting her hand under me allowing me to land in it, "Don't worry, I got you." "Was that your first time flying," asked Castle. I nodded, "They we're always tied up. When Lanie cut the string, that was the first time even opening them." "For your first time flying, I'd say you did pretty good," Lanie complimented. "Thanks."

Kate partially closed her hand as she started to walk out the door, "Come on Castle. Let's hope they found something." I tried to peek through Kate's fingers to see where we were going, but she kept them too close together. So I just sat down in the middle of her hand while we rode the elevator up and made our way to Ryan's desk. "Did you guys find anything," Kate asked him. "A man comes in, walks by your desk, clearly drops the girl off and walks out. Every angle doesn't show his face." "With any luck we'll get a DNA match from the string. We need to catch him before he kills anyone else."

"Someone else?" Esposito was hovering next to Ryan as they looked at the screen. He had glanced up, then at me in Kate's hand. Castle answered, "There we're 16 others before Melissa." "Melissa? She speaks," asked Ryan. "Of course she speaks Ryan, she's human," Kate told him with a single smirk. "Just smaller," Castle added, using his hand to make a gesture with his finger and thumb. "What's going on here?" That sudden stern voice actually made me jump. It's was Gates, the Captain. She was very good at her job, giving her the nickname Iron Gates. It wasn't easy flying under her radar. "Are you working a case that I don't know about?" "This one was just dropped on my desk," stated Kate before Castle added, "Literally." Gates gave him a glare. She didn't really like him that much.

She looked back at Kate, "What's the case?" "This one is different than any other case we have ever had, probably the first." "Just tell me Beckett." My heart was in my throat when I felt Kate's hand rise outward. Opening her fingers, I looked up into the light to see Gates lower her eyes down at me. She was confused at first, then her expression changed to surprise when she realized what I was. "This is Melissa. She's is victim number 17 and currently the only survivor. She was supposed to die. A man dropped.jer on my desk in hopes that we would think she's a big and kill her. Which," Kate looked at Castle, "we almost did. But Castle noticed she looked different than any normal bug."

Gates looked at Kate and Castle. She pointed at me and asked out of confusion and anger, "How did this happen? And where are we on catching the guy?" All four of them took turns telling her the details I spoke of on how I got there, what happened between then and now, searching camera footage, and that Lanie is trying to find DNA. "Work fast. I want this guy caught." "Yes sir," Kate said as Gates walked back into her office, but not before giving one last glance at me. Kate turned to Ryan and Esposito, "Print that photo and show it around the precinct. Someone has to remember seeing him." "On it," Esposito said before he and Ryan quickly left. She looked back to Castle as she lifted me up in her hand so that I was closer to her face. I looked up into her eyes when she spoke, "We can't really do much else until we come up with a lead. Wanna grab some lunch?" My stomach growled at the mention of food. Putting my hand over it, I said, "That sounds great. I haven't eaten since before I got kidnapped." Castle smiled as he pulled out his phone, "Chinese it is."

While we were all sitting down, with me on the table between Kate and Castle, we find that the guys had no luck on the photo. Kate sighed as she placed a noodle in front of me, "Guess it's all on the DNA now." Castle added a bit of chicken and a carrot, giving me some variety of food to eat. Ryan and Esposito were sitting across from us, quiet. We were all thinking to ourselves on who or why this would happen to me. Kate set a bottle cap of water down for me just before Lanie walked in with bad news, "Either there was not enough in the string for DNA or the guy was wearing gloves." "So we're out of leads then," Kate said in disappointment, looking down at me.

Everyone sat quietly while trying to figure out a way to get something. Then Castle's eyes lit up, "Chewing gum!" Kate looked at him with confusion, "You want gum? Now?" "No. Melissa said she was mashed into some chewing gum. If the gum was his," he started. "Then there would be his DNA on Melissa," Kate finished. Lanie nodded," It's a long shot, but it might work."

We finished lunch while Lanie left to get a swab stick, which she used to give me a complete rub down. It only took a few hours before they got a match. Kate read off the screen his information, "His name is Justin Cleaver. Age 46. He lives on 49th and 10th." Gates stood up from leaning toward the computer, "Go get him." They all started to leave when Kate hesitated. "What's the matter Beckett?" "It's Melissa. I can't take her, it'll be too dangerous." "Then leave her here with me and go," Gates said as she held out her hand. Kate carefully lowered me into her palm, then hurried off after the guys. Lanie came up to stand next to Gates, "I hope he's there." "Me too," Gates agreed. She looked down at me before continuing, "And without a new victim."

Sitting on Gates' desk was a hard wait as the team rounded up Justin. As luck would have it, he hadn't found a new victim. I watched as they walked passed the office with him in handcuffs. Gates stood up and went to the doorway. She then turned to look at me, "Is that him?" "I'm not sure on the looks, but I would know by his voice." She walked over to me, allowing me to crawl into her hand. Gates then went into the room opposite of the 2 way mirror. As I stood in her hand, we watched while Kate and Castle grilled him. They had found all the evidence the need to lock him away for a long time. They even found the shrink ray gun. But the moment he spoke, a shiver went down my spine. It had to sit, "That's him. That's the guy that did this."

Justin tried to deny using it on people, but Kate said his attempt to have me killed failed. "She's in the other room recognizing your voice. She told us about the other 16 you had killed before her. Tell us their names." Justin sat still for a while before reluctantly rattling off 16 names of women he had shrunken, tortured and threw out like garbage to die some gruesome death. "I didn't kill them myself so you can't pin murder charges on me." "Oh yes I can, amd I will as well as attempted murder. You'll never see the loght of day ever again. But if you grow her back to normal, I'll the DA you cooperated and maybe you'll have a chance for parole." Justin shook his head, "It's called a 'Shrink Ray', not a 'Grow Ray'. I didn't make one and never planned to."

While they were arguing, I finally managed to fly up out of Gates' hand and land on the ledge of the window, with my hands pressed against the glass. I wanted him to make it, but at the same time I didn't. If I grow back, will all this go away and I wake up back in a place where Castle is a show again? Being here, I'm living it. This is a bottle where it's hard to pick a side.

His final refusal about making a Grow Ray ended in frustration for Kate. She slammed her hands on the table and left, followed by Castle. I flew up and out the door after Gates opened it for me. Kate stopped short in front of Gates, and me hovering at hee eye level. Castle came up beside her and she he saw me, he smiled, "Hey look! You're flying!" "Yeah. I think I finally figured it out." Kate told Ryan to read Justin his rights. He was under arrest for 16 counts of murder, kidnapping, and attempted murder of me. "He wouldn't budge on making a Grow Ray." She looked at me, "I'm sorry. I won't give up though. We'll figure a way to get you back to normal." "It's okay. Maybe I can figure a way to manage life like this. I'm just glad he won't be able to do this to anyone else." "Me too," Gates agreed. "He's going away for life and no chance of parole. "

The moment I saw Justin come out of that room, he started to turn in our direction. I panicked and flew to the first place I that came to mind, under Kate's hair. I darted behind her neck and grabbed some strands of hair to hold onto for support. She must have felt me because I felt her fingers as she probed through it in her search for me. But she stopped when she turned around to see why I hid. Justin was standing there angry, "It was a mistake to bring her here. I would have gotten away with it. That little..." Kate interrupted him before he could finish whatever insult he had for me, "Get him outta here. He's starting to give me a headache." As Ryan pulled him away, Justin said coldly, "You'll see my view one day. We are the dominant ones. Those who are insignificant to life tend to shrink away over time and die. I just sped up the process. So no matter what you do, she will die."

My heart dropped, causing me to grip onto Kate's hair even tighter. It swayed slightly when she stepped over to him, getting in his face. Kate's voice lowered, it would have scared me hearing that tone, but what she said relieve me in so many ways, "You think just because she's shrunk that we suddenly have all power over her? You're wrong. She's still human and she still matters. I hope you enjoy your rot in prison. Maybe someone there will show how insignificant YOU are." She turned her back on him while Ryan took him away.

They waited until he was out of sight before Kate said to me, "It's okay Melissa, he's gone now. You can come out." I didn't move. All I could do was think about what Justin said. It weighed heavily on me at first, but then I thought about what Kate said in my defense. It made me smile. Even though I'm as small as I am, she still sees me as a person. "Melissa? Are you okay in there?" I sniffed back my tears, "Yeah. I'm okay. He just got to me s little bit." "Are you going to come out?" "Oh yeah. I may need some help though." "Okay, hold on," Kate told me. I then watched her fingers come into view. They gently wrapped around me and slowly pulled me out.

Kate laid her hand out flat for me to sit. I looked up at her and saw her smiling down on me before it was replaced with concern, "Don't think about what he said. He's wrong. You are not insignificant. Yes you are small, but that doesn't make you any less human." "That's right," Castle agreed. "We are your friends." Kate nodded, "And there's no way we would let anything happen to you." "We got your back," Esposito said to me. I smiled up at everyone, "Thanks. That makes me fell better." They all smiled back at me, even Gates before saying, "Well, that's good work for today. Sorry we couldn't make you big, but that's one more bad guy off the streets. Now let's call it a day. Go home and get some rest." "I'm down with that," Esposito said after Gates was gone. He pointed to me, "Keep her safe. Don't let anything happen." "She'll be fine Esposito," Kate reassured him. "See you tomorrow." "Later." Esposito grabbed his coat and headed to the elevator.

Sitting there in Kate's hand, I only had one question, "So now what? Where am I going to stay? Can't go back home, not like this." Castle smiled as his eyebrows went up, "You can stay with me!" "Calm down Castle, I think she would have more fun at my place." "I can be fun." Kate rolled her eyes, "I'm sure you can. Besides didn't you hear her earlier," she scratched the top of my head with her fingernail, "I'm her favorite." I reached up to grab her finger, but she had already moved it away. "Okay, but if she changes her mind, my apartment is open." I smiled, "I'll remember that. Thanks Castle." "You are most welcome. So then," he looks at Kate, "I'll see you tomorrow. You too Melissa." "See you tomorrow," I said to him just as he was turning away, not sure if he could hear me or not. I looked at Kate, "So it's to your place we go?" "Yup." "Awesome. And Kate." "What?" "Thanks for helping me." She smiled at me, "Always."