Beauty of Our Reality
"Let us live for the beauty of our own reality." - Charles Lamb
Johanna Beckett collapsed back in her chair. Long wasn't a good enough word to describe her day which had revolved around the estate war between the greedy daughter and son of a former antiquities horder.
Johanna stared at the ancient medallion in her hands— the fulcrum of the feud. It was beautiful, haunting. One of the good things about estate law- well, pretty much the only good thing about estate law- was all the relics she came across during disputes. The downside being that all of this could have been avoided with an updated will.
Speaking of, she needed to remind her own daughter to finish her will. Katie would scoff. Johanna could already hear the I'm not even 40 yet, Mom.
She rotated the medallion again, running a finger over the intricate carvings, studying it. Legend said that it was the portal to an alternate dimension. It would transport the holder to a reality where their biggest regrets had never happened, where their dreams came true.
Johanna chuckled, grateful there was no one else in the office at the late hour to hear her. She weighed the artifact in her palm. She had a good life- a great husband, a fantastic daughter, a job she liked. Liked. But she did miss that passion, the fire that came with defense law. She had made the choice almost twenty years before to leave defense for the civil sector.
The prompting case had been a hard one, one that could make a lawyer, send shockwaves through the system, but it had gotten big, rattled cages. A couple of thinly veiled death threats, an earth shattering fight with her husband, and an unyielding hug from her stoic teenage daughter later, Johanna had walked away.
Johanna sighed. What if she hadn't relented? How would life be different then?
Her palm tightened around the medallion and the room vanished in a flash of white.
Johanna woke on the floor of a vacant office, the ceiling spinning above her and a steel drum band thumping in her temple. The Medallion lay on her chest.
"Hello?"
Only silence answered. Her eyes roamed the empty space where her desk and furniture usually were, landing on the window where morning light was streaming through.
"What the…?"
She pushed herself to her feet, dusting her skirt off with one hand, the other clutching at the artifact.
"Now, if you come right this way, Mr.… Who the hell are you?"
Johanna froze when the French doors swung open, and Celia Wade, the representative from the building's real estate office waltzed in.
"I…" Johanna stuttered, her gaze landing on the man trailing behind the agent. "You're Richard Castle!"
Castle's wide eyes scanned her from her head to her feet. His jaw worked silently when his gaze landed on the gold medallion in her hand.
"Yes, yes I am," he answered before turning an apologetic look toward Celia. "I am so sorry for the surprise, Ms. Wade, this is Johanna Beckett my… mother-in-law. I asked her to come help me out, act like a surprised fan or client, see how it worked in the space. And I have to say it is just perfect for my PI office. I'll take it." He clapped his hands in front of him, making a show of his enthusiasm. "If you wouldn't mind starting on the paperwork right now I'd love to move in today, and I'll be paying in cash."
"Oh? Of course!" Celia beamed. Johanna could see the money signs dancing behind her eyes. Commission was commission no matter what dimension.
What dimension…
"Hi."
Johanna snapped back to the moment at the soft greeting.
"Hi," she replied, at a loss. "Do we know each other? I mean, I know you, you're Richard Castle, and you know my name but we've never met at least not that I know of…"
Castle chuckled, his hand cupping her shoulder before falling to take the artifact from her fingers. "No, technically we've never met, but I know you, and I definitely know this. I had an encounter with it myself and traveled to a different reality where I had never met my wife."
"A different reality?"
His eyebrows danced with amusement in response to her raised one. "You're a lot like her, you know. Or I should say she's a lot like you."
"Who is?"
He softened with his reply. "Kate, my wife."
Johanna stared at the man beside her. Papers had been signed, keys handed over and now they were walking the streets of Manhattan like it was just another day in the city.
"This isn't my world, is it?" The words came tumbling off her lips before she could stop them.
But instead of commenting he shook his head. His sigh was audible over the hustle and bustle surrounding them. "No. What were you thinking about before you woke up here?"
Johanna paused before answering. "I was thinking about a case from a long time ago, one I walked away from."
"Joe Pulgatti."
Johanna's head snapped around to stare at the writer. "How did you know?"
"Because in this reality, you didn't walk away."
"And?" Johanna bounced onto the balls of her feet. Wonder bubbled up inside her. "Did I find out who did it? Did Pulgatti go free?"
A sad smile graced Castle's lips and he jerked his head, nodding toward the building to their left. "Come on, let's go inside."
Johanna let out a low whistle when the door to the loft swung open and she moved into the room with a slow circle. "You live here? This is yours? And Katie's?"
Castle hummed out an affirmative before moving to the kitchen and busying himself with the coffee maker.
"How did you two meet? Will she be home soon?"
"We met at work."
"Work? Are you a supporter of Senator Bracken's campaign?"
Castle's entire body turned rigid and he turned to face her, his expression making her insides turn to ice. "What exactly does Beckett- Kate- do in your reality?"
Johanna shrugged, slipping onto one of the bar stools at the kitchen counter. "She's a lawyer and a political consultant for Senator Bracken's presidential campaign."
Castle was still staring at her when she finished her explanation, only blinking when the coffee maker let off a beep, alerting them the pot was full. "So, no one ever figured it out- what Bracken did?"
Johanna frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"Mrs. Beckett… Johanna."
"Jo, Mr. Castle. Please call me Jo."
"Okay." He gave her a small smile. "Rick then. Jo, Kate isn't a lawyer here. She isn't in politics. Kate became a cop. A detective now, actually."
"A cop?" Johanna's frown deepened. "But that's not Katie. She went to Stanford for law."
"I know." Castle placated, his warm palm covering her now trembling hands. "You see, here you took Pulgatti's case and because of that you found out something, something big involving very powerful people including William Bracken. But before you could do anything about it they had you and three other people you worked with killed."
Johanna's gasp echoed through the loft, one hand slipping out from under Castle's to cover her mouth. "Jim? Katie?"
Castle nodded silently, tears glistening in the corners of his eyes. "Kate was nineteen at the time. She dropped out of Stanford and enrolled back here at NYU, changed her major to criminal justice. Jim didn't take it well but he's okay now. And Kate fell into her quest for justice. She's… relentless. Extraordinary."
"But they're okay?"
"They're okay."
"And Bracken? Did they get him?"
"Yeah." A proud smile spread across Castle's lips. "Kate finally got him, a little less than a year ago, with your help."
"Me?"
"You hid a tape with pretty damning evidence inside the parade of elephants. She found it— the final piece."
Castle's phone pinged from its place on the counter. "Kate's on her way. You should wait in the office while I explain. I don't think she really believed me when I told her about my experience with the medallion."
Johanna huffed out a laugh. "My daughter the skeptic? I'd imagine she didn't."
Castle laughed, leading her across the living room. "Good to know some things never change."
"You love her, Mr. Castle?"
Castle's eyes softened. "More than life itself."
A key jingled in the lock and Castle held up a finger, signaling to her to wait, before exiting the room, pulling the door shut behind him.
"Hey, Castle. What's going on? Your text said it was urgent. You didn't try to put a slip-n-slide in the living room again, did you? Mrs. Murray just finished getting her ceiling replaced from last time."
Johanna had to bite back a laugh, even while a sob clogged her throat at the thought that the she in this reality never got to see this happy, vibrant woman her daughter had become.
"Hey! That was a one-time thing. You said you weren't going to bring it up again!"
"Right. I'm sorry. Now, what's up?"
"Well, you remember that ancient medallion I found during that case right before we got married? The one that transported me to the alternate universe?"
Kate moved across the living room to where Castle stood by the kitchen island, her hands rising to cup her husband's face even as she let out a snort. "Really, babe? We're in the middle of a case, Espo was tracking down a lead that could crack this thing wide open, and you want to talk about alternate universes?"
"Hey now, you love science fiction just as much as the next person, Ms. I Dress Up in Cosplay."
"Yes, fiction being the operative word in that sentence."
"Well, Skepticus Maximus, something else happened today that I thought you should know about."
"What, did you find an alien? Did Boba come to life and threaten to shoot you with his laser blaster?"
"No," Johanna spoke up, stepping out of the office with a deep breath. "I showed up."
Only the ticking of the clock filled the room when Kate Beckett inched around. Wide eyes locked with the nearly identical pair across the room.
"Mommy?"
"Hi, baby."
The torrent of emotion pouring from her daughter hit Johanna like a wave, and before she could take a step, Kate had sprinted across the room, her arms wrapping around Johanna's neck, clutching her like a lifeline, sobbing in her ear.
"It's okay. It's okay," Johanna shushed, rubbing one hand down Kate's back, the other holding her close.
"Mom." Kate whispered between choked sobs.
"I love you, Katie." Johanna felt the medallion in her pocket growing warm, and she shut her eyes, taking in every second she could. "I have to go, sweetheart."
"No! No… mom, please."
"Rick will tell you everything, but I love you. Remember that, and know I'm proud of you. For everything. I love you so much, my baby girl."
"No! Mom, stay. Please!"
Kate's pleas echoed when the room grew white, and with a flash of light Johanna felt herself being thrown backward.
Johanna Beckett awoke with a start, her head cradled in her arms. The line of elephants parading across her desk stared back at her.
Shaking herself out of her daze she scrambled for the keyboard of her computer, typed Joe Pulgatti's name into the search engine. She needed to make this right. She owed it to herself, to Kate. She couldn't let her daughter unknowingly work for the devil.
Her phone pinged, a message from Kate.
Dinner tonight?
The corner of the newspaper caught her eye, the Arts & Literature section, and a slow smile spread across Johanna's lips. She would get justice, but first there was something else she needed to do.
How would you feel about accompanying me to a book signing instead?
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed! Based on the prompt from Tumblr: What if a Johanna from an alternate dimension got a hold of the artifact and appeared into "our" Castle world? She's in shock over Kate being a cop and with Castle.
Thank you to Jenny & Kate Christie for the edits, and to KC for the slip-n-slide. :P