I know it's been a while since my last publishing. Some of the reviews for The Acid Slayer that I chose to not approve for public showing were terribly scalding and my confidence was shaken. So I nitpicked at this until I nearly went insane. Read and Review please :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, wish I did
A man stands over a fresh grave, there's no light in his eyes or life in his voice as he speaks to the woman who lies in the grave.
"I was too late... just a half second too late. I'm going to fix this Kate, once and for all"
He looks at the small lamp in his hand and shakes his head
"My first wish, when I was but eight or nine was for my mother to live. There was an accident on stage and the scaffolding had fallen on her, the doctors said she wouldn't live the night so I wished on this lamp that she would make it and she did. My second wish, was when Alexis was born. She was premature and... I've never wished so hard in my life and she pulled through. Now my next wish will be for you, but different than it was with them. I love you, I've always loved you, but I'd rather you be alive with someone else than in the ground"
He checks the inside of his jacket where his silenced sig is then holding up the lamp he strokes it three times, a living eye appearing in it's side
"My third wish, is for my present body to travel back in time to the morning of January 9th, 1999 to this spot in New York City"
He closes his eyes and feels as the time shifts around him, the sensation odd but comforting at the same time. When he opens his eyes his first sight is of the twin towers still standing in the distance, it crosses his mind to warn the government but that would be far too large a change no matter how much he wants to stop it. He takes a deep breath, puts his sunglasses on and heads to get a taxi.
He remembers vividly what Kate had told him she'd spent her last day of joy doing and now he stood fifty feet away watching her with her father. Her nineteen year old self glowing with life and happiness, a stark contrast to the Beckett he knew. His mind stopped on that... knew... in his time she died in his arms but never again. He spent another half hour watching her, letting her laughter wash over him to give him the fortitude to do what he needed to do, once he was as ready as he was going to be he made his way down to the district attorney's office and waited. It was after three before his prey exited the building, Assistant District Attorney William H. Bracken. He sneered and followed the man, watching as he gave the order on his cell phone then walking right up behind him and jabbing him in the ribs with his silenced sig as soon as he hung up
"You don't know me Bracken, but I know you and I know what call you just made. Keep walking and take a right at the next alley"
Bracken is instantly nervous but does what he's told
"I don't know what you're talking about, I was just calling my wife..."
Castle grunts
"Can it Bracken, you were calling Dick Coonan to confirm the hit on Johanna Beckett to cover up your part in the murder of FBI agent Bob Arman and the frame job of Joe Pulgatti"
Once in the alley he gave Bracken a good shove and watched as the man turned around
"I don't know how you know about all of that but I can pay you, I can pay you a lot of money get you a job in any position you want..."
Castle takes his sunglasses off and aims his gun at Bracken
"all the promises in the world wont give me what you've taken from me Bracken. If I were to let you live thirteen years from now you'd hire a hit man and put a bullet through the heart of the woman I love, I'm not letting that happen and in fact I'm saving more lives than I can count today but I only care about one. Goodbye Bracken"
Without another word he unloads two into Bracken's face then standing over him he puts two in his heart. He uses a handkerchief to take his watch, ring and wallet then kick rolls him into a pile of trash and with a few more kicks the body is buried for now. He checks his watch and moves off to his next task.
He stands in the alley where in his future Johanna Beckett died, hanging in the shadows as he stares down at a picture taken of him and Kate at his last birthday party where she'd actually given him a kiss on the cheek that had made his night like no other gift. He focuses on the smile, her smile then pockets his phone and steps out as Johanna starts taking photos
"Mrs. Beckett, you're not safe here"
he said gently as he makes his way over, eyes watching for Coonan knowing they got a little time. She turns and looks at him
"how do I know that it is not you who makes me unsafe? you know my name yet I do not know you"
Castle rubs his face a little
"I don't know how to explain this without sounding like a crazy person, so I will start with things that no one should know. Your husband is Jim Beckett, he is also a lawyer. You have a daughter, Katherine, she's home on Christmas break from Stanford and is supposed to fly back to California tomorrow. You are here because you are investigating the murder of FBI agent Bob Arman because a man named Joe Pulgatti is in jail for his murder when he didn't do it"
He stops because her eyes are huge now
"I came back in time from a future that I could not live with. I have already taken steps that will change it, but you Johanna are key to that change. If I leave now then at a little after nine tonight your husband and daughter will be brought to this very alley to identify your body. I wont allow this, you will live no matter what."
Johanna looked up and down the alley nervous now
"Why would you want to change the future so badly?"
Castle took a deep breath.
"I will explain in more detail later, but for me in this body twelve years from now I hold the woman I love in my arms as she dies from a bullet to the heart. That woman is your daughter Johanna and I would rather live forever without her than go back to my time where she is dead. I just... I can't"
Johanna's eyes are filled with tears at this revelation
"how do I know that you're not just making this up?"
Castle draws out his phone and flips a few pictures to a different one from his birthday where it's him, Alexis and Kate and he has an arm around each of them. He turns the phone so she can see
"This was taken at my last birthday party, we weren't a couple... we didn't... I didn't step up but I still loved her. In my heart I know she loved me too, no one would put up with me as long as she did if she didn't"
Johanna laughs softly at that
"okay, as insane as this is I believe you. what do we do now?"
A voice comes from behind Castle
"You die"
Castle moves at just the right moment so that the knife goes through his jacket and not him, then he turns drawing his gun at the same time. He makes eye contact with Coonan then fires two shots right into his heart and watching without care as he hits the ground
"and that would be the man sent to kill you"
he takes a deep breath then gets his hanky out again
"I know you're a lawyer and this goes against everything you believe in Johanna but we can't call this in. I'm a bit of a doppelganger right now because right at this moment on Broome street my twenty nine year old self is living in a loft, raising his daughter... my daughter"
Johanna tips her head trying to figure out who he is, she stares at the picture on his phone while Castle kicks the body under some trash
"You're Richard Castle..."
he looks up at her and nods
"Yes, Kate told me you were a fan so it doesn't surprise me that you recognize me after all the facts"
he drops the wallet and watch into his jacket pocket with the stuff from Bracken then walks over to her.
"Right now we don't have time to talk, you have dinner with your family tonight. Your nerves are frayed, just fib a little. Tell them someone tried to mug you so a unknown male stepped in so you could escape. Not entirely a lie, the truth is cleaner. Have a nice dinner with your family, see Kate off safely in the morning then meet me at Balto at one pm. I'll try to answer any questions you may have then"
She nods and gives his phone back to him
"alright, but I can't lie to them Rick..."
he pinches the bridge of his nose a moment
"then just say you got hung up while looking over a scene for a case. It's not a lie it's just not detailed"
She studied him a long moment then nodded
"Alright that's a compromise I can make. I'll speak with you again tomorrow at Balto"
They spoke quietly for a few more minutes before she started to leave. She paused mid step, moved back to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, then hurried off to dinner with her family. Castle side tripped to the river where one item at a time he pulled cash out of wallets then tossed the wallet into the Hudson, followed by each watch and Bracken's ring.
Once done he had a pocket full of money he could actually use here, but instead of getting himself some food he finds himself across the street from the Italian Restaurant watching Kate with her parents, his heart aching with desire to hold her once more but knowing he can't he forces a few deep breaths then walks down the street, there's another stop he needs to make.
