This is the prologue of a story I'm co-writing with wolfergirl.

We are very excited about it and we can't wait to hear your feedback!

Hugs,

Vicky and Alex

Before I forget, we do not own Castle nor anything related to the show. All credits go to ABC and Andrew Marlowe.

Prologue.

There was a time when the world didn't have tall buildings and luxurious mansions; when the cities were small towns and the forests were big with lush vegetation. It was the time when a band called The Outlaws stole from the rich and gave to the poor.

The outlaws were men and women who had done something against the laws of the land and had been forced to hide in the woods to survive. They lived like a family, respecting and caring for each other. They lived in peace.

You must be wondering how a bunch of thieves and lawbreakers had come to live in harmony. It was because they were not bad people. They were victims of King William's tyranny. The evil king of the House of Bracken who ruled the lands exploited his peasants with high taxes. And anyone who refused to pay their taxes had to face the sheriff of New York, Hal Lockwood.

The reign of King William and his sheriff was marked as dark times, and no one would stand up to them. No one except a group of outlaws that followed the orders of their leader: Katherine Beckett.

Katherine Beckett was born to a nobleman and his wife. They too had fought against King William's dictatorship. Beckett's mother had given up her life for her ideals, and now it was Kate's turn to fight for what was fair.

With Beckett as their leader, the outlaws tried to bring about a little bit of justice. Dressed in suits of green, and armed with bows and arrows they would wait for rich carriages to pass by to steal the fortune they carried. Whenever they had taken anything, Kate would divide it fairly among them, giving to each man his just share.

Kate never let her outlaws hurt innocent people. Only rich, corrupted people were their target. She was kind to the poor and often helped them, giving them money to pay King William's taxes.

Beckett was idolized by many people in the towns nearby her forest. She was considered a friend who would always help when others were in need. She was considered the mother of the orphans and the savior of the poor.

There were just two people that hated the woman. King William and Sheriff Lockwood. But nothing they did seemed to stop Beckett's mission or make the people hate her. They had raised the taxes to punish the villagers since they couldn't punish Beckett; they had closed the schools and burned the stables. With each royal order, the people loved Beckett and her outlaws even more.

That's when King William decided to send a spy into the forest. A man who would get close to the outlaws, learn their ways, lead the King's army to them and finish with the convicts once for all.

The man they had chosen for this dangerous mission was the son of the most notable spy of all time, Richard Castle.

This is not a love story. This is a story about deception and failure. A story where there is no happy ending but a lot of disappointments and false hopes.

This is the story of Kate Beckett, the last Queen of the Thieves.