Till Death Do Us Part
A.N.: Spoilers for "For Better or Worse". Don't say I didn't warn you. AU-ish, but only 'ish'.
The phone rings once, twice and his impatience grows. For a moment he's frightened that she won't pick up - that she's to busy talking to Lanie or Martha or some of the guests, or that she's in the bathroom or-
"Hey, lover.", she answers the phone and his heart almost stops. For a second he thought he might've gotten the voicemail. "How close are you?", she asks and he closes his eyes. It takes every bit of self control he has not to leave out an exasperated sigh.
Instead, he puts on a jolly tone to his voice. "Twenty minutes.", he lies, but he is a writer, after all, and lying was never foreign to him: heck, he earned money off of lies he wrote. Stories of people who never existed, or alternate ones for the ones who live and breathe. "And you'll be happy to know that things went smoothly with the judge; you are now a free woman."
On the other side of the phone, Kate lets out a sigh of relief. For a moment, he lets himself pretend.
"But not for long. I've got our marriage license in my pocket and I will be there soon.", he says and he can almost imagine that what he's saying was true: that he will be there in twenty minutes and that he will see her in a stunning dress and watch her as she walks down the aisle, steps closer to becoming his wife. And Alexis will be there, too, right by his side where she has always been, and for the life of him he can't imagine how he'll carry on living his life without never possibly seeing his daughter again; never seeing the most important person in his life.
He thanks God in his head that he told Alexis he loved her when they last spoke. He only had one phone call, and he had to make it worth it.
"And, Kate?", he calls out even though he already has her attention. "I love you.", he says and he can almost hear her smiling on the other end of the call, or even biting her lip.
He blinks once or twice and shakes his head in an effort to clear his mind. It doesn't really help.
As she says "I love you, too", his heart breaks. He manages to keep himself together for a moment longer, he even manages to put on a faint smile, until he hangs up.
He then turns around to the person sitting beside him. The man is in his late thirties and quite tall even if he's not standing up. He doesn't have a lot of muscle, but he is well built. He's wearing a grey suit - not expensive but not really cheap, either - and he has 'Federal Bureau of Investigation' written all over him.
His name is Ryder, Castle remembers, Ross Ryder.
"You done with your goodbyes, Mr. Castle?", Ryder says, in no way sarcastic. He knows of the man - has read about him in the newspapers a few times, and his wife even owns a signed copy of the last Derrick Storm novel - and he can only imagine how hard all this might be on him.
Ross Ryder has probably gotten over a hundred people into the program, but it never got easier seeing them struggle to say goodbye to the life they knew.
"No.", Castle replies, eyes on the road. "But that doesn't make any difference, does it?", he says, sending a glare Ryder's way.
"This wasn't my choice to make, Mr. Castle."
"Of course it wasn't.", Castle replies, but the tone of his voice implying to Ryder that he means the exact opposite.
"We're only doing this for your protection.", Ryder replies. "You'll have 24-hour-a-day security, and will also be provided with money for housing, essentials, and medical care.", he says, giving Castle a glimpse into his new credentials as he shows him his new ID.
Castle's not really a fan of his passport photo, though.
"WITSEC also provides job training and employment assistance, seeing as you would probably like to keep a low profile by going on a writing hiatus."
Castle snorts, "That won't be a problem seeing as I'll be dead."
"The program is entirely voluntary, Mr. Castle.", Ryder replies, raising his voice only in the slightest. "You are permitted to leave the program and return to your life at any time, but by doing that you'll be putting your family at risk."
Castle sighs. "Why do I have to pay for my father's mistakes?", he asks but Ryder doesn't answer. The silence lasts a short while until Castle breaks it. "So, how are we gonna do this?"
"You leave this all to us, Mr. Castle. WITSEC knows what they're doing, it isn't our first time."
Castle speeds up the car.
"WITSEC can bite me."
(That day, Richard Castle dies in a car crash.)