24 Hours later
His head was heavy but not exactly painful. There was no central focal point of pain or any other aches. Those familiar symptoms of a fight that had taken a wrong turn on the intersection of his skull but his head was stuffed full of cotton all the same. As he sat up in bed he finally hit upon the sensation he felt, medicated. A drug-induced sleep that explained the empty cotton feeling and the sluggish quality to his mind. And where was he now? He stiffened to listen to the space in absolute silence. A room in the Mandalay. Sounded a great deal like his room but without some distinct noise from one of his neighbors the rooms were too similar to be completely certain. He needed to get up and investigate further before his body tried to solve the discomfort of his head with even more sleep.
Matt kept his things arranged carefully so after a minute of exploring he was able to confirm that this was his room. The certainty did not give him a sense of relief or safety. How he had gotten to his room was completely unknown but his disguise was still on. Frank, maybe Frank had brought him back to his room. Castle knew who he was. A little meditation was required to get through the cobwebs the cotton had left in his mind. He had been down in the lobby investigating the latest problem they faced when he had started to get sleepy. He’d made a run for the outer doors but given that he was in his room now, the opposite direction his run must have been a pathetic attempt.
Only he couldn’t remember Frank in the lobby. He’d gone out alone to investigate as he usually did. He would check the net, surely Frank wouldn’t let this slide without a comment. He could deal with that later, a shower first then he would have to do something about the aching hole of hunger in his chest. He pulled the mask from his face as he headed into the shower.