Castle winced visibly and withdrew physically, looking ashamed.

"Well... uh... to be fair, I did have that conversation with her before finding out she's a really, really unpleasant person," he replied. "Probably doesn't make it any better, but there's that. Believe me, if I'd known..."

He trailed off. Surely Kate would accept that it was a mistake, right? Castle seemed to be one of the few people Tess hadn't been antagonistic with right off the bat- she'd been nearly nice to him, in fact.

"And... no." He sighed, resting his chin on one hand. "People have been here for years without figuring out a way out. Others come and go... not much about this place makes any logical sense."