G.O.D.
"Don't tell me you don't remember!" Kate yelled at him. "I was shot in the chest and I remember every moment of it!"
Castle never heard a word after that. He was in the observation room watching Kate interrogate their suspect. It was about yet another murder, but for him it had suddenly turned into something far worse than that.
All these years up in smoke after one simple little sentence. He was still trying to wrap his mind around what she had said minutes later. He never saw Kate leave the interrogation room. He hadn't heard her ask where Castle was. He never saw her reaction when she was told he was still in the observation room.
Kate felt her heart fall. She hadn't meant for him to find out like this. She had meant to tell him and beg, if not plead, for his forgiveness. It left her staring at the door. "Castle." His name barely escaped her lips.
She didn't want to do it here, yet she didn't think she had a choice any longer. She had let her lie go on for far too long and it had finally come around and bit her in the ass.
She was scared but she managed to walk over to the door but that was as far as she got.
Rick blinked, looked through the glass, and didn't see Kate. He had no idea when she had left, nor what time it was. Or how long she had been gone.
His mind finally started to work and what it was telling him took him from amazed, astonished, to mad, followed by furious. He had been played. USED! Kate had used him, chewed him up, and spat him out.
He had spent years on this planet doing his job. He sent in his reports like clockwork. They had worked hard to give him, his daughter, and his mother a background. One that would be believable and difficult to disprove if anyone chose to dig. He even had another report that had to go out before the end of today.
Right now, though, he didn't give a damn about his report. Kate had used him, toyed with him, made a fool of him. Then he huffed out a laugh. "A human." His reports about humans and what was happening on this planet had not been glowing.
Humans to him were amazingly complex. One minute they were capable of such amazing things. Artists, composers, other writers. Teachers who did their best. His work as a writer and in the 12th Precinct had shown him some of the darker side.
Love being turned to murder. Murdering your own girlfriend because you stupidly thought she was leaving you for another man. Murder for money, for power, or just because you wanted the challenge of killing someone and getting away with it. And not only murder, but arson. You burned it down because you thought it was ugly, because you needed the money, or simply because you wanted to see the fire dance before your eyes.
Just walking down the street might be dangerous. Mugged, run over by a car, or in the wrong place at the wrong time. A stray bullet from a murder on the other side of the wall, or even a block away found you.
And all of this was just what one civilian would do to another. Then there were the wars that these people would start. One side was right and one side was wrong. But each side thought they were right. That GOD was on their side.
They started wars for resources, for land to expand into, because one place thought GOD was this while another thought GOD was that. And it wasn't just religion. It was ideology. The so-called democratic West on one side and the Communists on the other. Or you were a totalitarian state. You were a dictator that told everyone else what to do, what to think, where they could go.
However, following what the humans did to each other wasn't his primary mission. It was what they did to the planet. He knew other teams inspected various areas of the planet and sent in their reports. His job was to help determine if humans were capable of change.
Rick made a choice and opened the door to find Kate standing there. Just the other side of the door.
Kate saw surprise on his face. That was quickly replaced with hurt followed quickly by anger. The next face was one she had never seen before and it was directed at her. He was furious with her. But the next look on his face sent her hopes and her heart spiraling to new depths. His look was cold. He was done with her. "Castle." She desperately wanted to explain. He needed to understand.
He slipped out past her and walked away to stab at the button for the elevator.
"Castle, wait." He needed to stop. She needed to explain, but he didn't hesitate. It didn't help that Espo had something to tell her about the case.
She had to finish this case. She would find him after and try and explain. She knew he had good reason to be mad. Still that final face was haunting her. She couldn't get it out of her mind. It was really all she saw.
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"Hi Dad, you're home early. We received a message. We just need for Grams to come home." Alexis had seen it and while a little surprised, she'd been expecting it.
"What's it say?" Rick wasn't willing to wait for his mother to get home. He was in far too foul of a mood.
"What happened?" Alexis knew him and knew something was terribly wrong.
"JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION!" he bellowed at her and then instantly softened. "I'm sorry. What did it say, Pumpkin?" Rick waited.
There was only one person that could make her dad this mad. Gina could piss him off, but there was only one person that could get him like this. "What did Detective Beckett do?"
"She lied! All this time she knew that I had told her that I loved her. She's been playing me all this time. She wasn't even ever going to tell me. I had to find out behind her back." Rick sat down despondently and looked totally crushed.
"I'm sorry." Silently, though, Alexis was a bit pleased. At least finally Detective Beckett was finally out of their lives. Her dad could move on.
Subdued, Rick quietly asked, "What did it say?"
"A decision's been made. They've decided to clean the planet. Ships will begin arriving tomorrow. We've been ordered out on the first one. We'll find out where we go once we're onboard." Alexis was actually looking forward to leaving. Earth was turning out to be a filthy planet. It needed to be cleaned.
Rick silently nodded. "Pack whatever you think you want or download it and take it with you. I'll tell Mother." He sat there defeated, dejected, and unwanted.
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Kate tried calling Castle all night long. But every call went straight to voice mail. She was even thinking of getting up really early in the morning. Even earlier than she normally did. Go over to Castle's place and confess all her sins.
He had every right to be mad at her. She was sure he might not talk to her for weeks or even possibly a month. It was just that he always came back. No matter what she said or how she treated him, he always forgave her. She was counting on it. It was all she had left at least until she could talk to him.
Kate was forced out of her shower as her cell phone kept ringing and ringing. "Beckett." She had a towel wrapped around her and her hair was still dripping wet as was most of her body.
She pressed END and tossed it on the bed. "So much for going to see Castle." She'd been ordered into the precinct. Everyone was being ordered into the precinct. She had been told that even if you were on vacation, if you were still in the city, your vacation was canceled.
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Kate drove her cruiser into the precinct. Once she got there she found the place was a mad house. Except the this time it wasn't some Halloween free-for-all. Or one of those full moon fiascoes. This time officers in uniform and those in plain clothes were rushing all over the place.
She made it to the 4th floor where she found Espo and Ryan already there. "What's going on?" Then she saw people that were part of the night shift rushing back in.
"It's all over the TV, Beckett." Espo couldn't believe it. He was sure, or at least hoping, that it was some attempt at getting people to notice.
"It's aliens, Beckett, real live aliens!" Ryan couldn't believe it.
"There are no aliens, Ryan. You've been around Castle too long." Kate was sure of it. Aliens didn't exist.
"It's on all the channels, Beckett." Espo guided her to the TV in the break room.
It was there that Kate watched as Espo changed channels; each one was showing basically the same thing, just from different views. There was a massive glowing ball several stories tall, sitting in Central Park. The picture that Espo stopped on showed helicopters flying around it. They looked like specks, flies compared to the gargantuan ball that was just…there.
Then they all heard a loud whistle. "Listen up!" Captain Gates called out and waited for everyone to be quiet, since she had no intention of yelling again. "If you haven't found out by now, there are several of these…globes all over the planet. We have just the one here in New York and that's the one that we're going to focus on."
"There are more?" This was the first Kate had heard about it.
"Here, Kansas, California, Florida. Must be others," Espo whispered, telling her what little he knew and that was from what the TV told them.
"IF, and I stress IF, these are aliens, all it means for us is that the public will panic. This means riots, thefts, and murders. We work until we drop. For now, any outstanding cases that you were working on are delayed. Be ready to help with riots, robberies, and stand ready for anything.
"And for the immediate future, you're all broken up into teams. Day and night teams will remain as is. Make sure your your cars are ready, charge your phones, and be vigilant." Gates returned to her office.
"Aliens!" Kate rolled her eyes and went to her desk.
"Beckett, we've got one. East 64th Street and 5th Avenue." Ryan showed her his Post-it note with the address.
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"Central Park Zoo?" Kate stood there with Espo and Ryan as they looked at the entrance. "Let's find out what we've got." She knew it wasn't aliens.
They walked until they found the office which wasn't all that easy given they'd arrived at the entrance the public passed through to view the animals.
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"What do you mean gone?" Kate wasn't sure just what was going on here.
"GONE! All of the animals are gone. Their cages aren't open and all of the zookeepers are missing. Every elephant, tiger, monkey, every animal, reptile, and bird!" He couldn't believe it. It should be impossible, but they were gone.
Robbery wasn't really their thing. Though, with the zookeepers missing, it did sound like foul play even without there being any bodies.
"We'll look into it." She meant the missing people, not the animals.
With a map of employee entrances and exits they spread out to look for them, or at least how they could have gotten out. Kate gave Espo and Ryan their orders. "You two take these two entrances; I'm going to the security office to look at the video feed. Maybe they have video of the event."
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Kate located the office with no trouble and with the key she'd been given, gained entry. A quick view of the monitors told her there was no movement, until she finally saw Espo and Ryan walking.
She sat down in front of the computer to find the recordings. She eventually went back a few hours until she saw the animals in their areas. From there she watched. Suddenly a gray cloud showed up in all of the animal habitats; after it blew through all of the animals were gone. "What the hell?" Puzzled, she reversed the video and looked it over again. It played out the same way. This isolated black cloud blew in and then blew out. Behind it, nothing was left. "Wait." Kate reversed it again and watched it carefully but not where the animals were located.
She watched the dark cloud blow in and blow back out again. Only this time she saw people disappear with it. "Kidnapping?" She didn't see any bodies and people didn't just disintegrate. She pulled out her phone. "Espo, keep an eye open for a dark cloud. If you see one try and follow it. I think someone's using it as cover to steal animals or kidnap people."
It sounded plausible enough to him. "Got it but this better make sense," Espo answered.
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Kate, Espo, and Ryan walked back into the precinct and rode the elevator up to the 4th floor. The guys headed for their desks while Kate went to Gate's office to fill her in.
Kate no sooner stepped into her office when she heard, "Let me guess. You saw evidence that this dark cloud blew in and left nothing in its wake," Gates said.
"Sir?" How did she already know?
"You're not the first. We've already got reports coming in from other locations. Animals are gone along with all the people that were handling them. No blood, no bodies. I need you and your team to gather all of it and put it together. Time of the event, its location, the people involved, what their specialty was. Everything about the animals and the people.
"Now, Detective, before more disappear." Gates wasn't in a good mood. To prove it her phone started ringing.
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Kate was still gathering information when Espo showed up at her desk. "What?"
"Nothing makes sense. No one can empty an entire zoo – and not just one zoo – of all the animals and all of the zookeepers. Not the public, just them. So why them?" Espo didn't get it.
"What we need is another crazy Castle theory," Ryan chimed and got a glare from Kate. "Face it, Beckett. Our logic isn't solving anything. Yes, Castle might say it's aliens or the CIA. Or maybe not. He's proven that he thinks outside the box. An outside the box idea is just what we could use right about now. A clue that we're not seeing." Ryan wasn't above pleading. Something big was happening and he didn't want it affecting his family.
Kate sat back in her chair. "What?" Espo didn't see the problem here.
"Castle is a little mad at me," she confessed.
That was news to Ryan. "How mad?"
"What did you do this time?" Espo was sure Kate had said or done something.
Kate glared at him. "Fine I'll go find him and bring him in. Tell Gates…something." She gathered up her things and headed to her car.
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Kate parked out front of the Broome Street building and ran to the entryway. Edward stopped her in her tracks. "I'm sorry, Ms. Beckett. The Castles aren't in."
"Where did they go?" She needed Castle.
"They didn't say. Mr. Castle left you this in case you showed up." The doorman handed over a small box.
Kate took it and looked up at the top floor where he lived. A new fear started forming. Had she screwed up that badly?
She took it back to her cruiser. She thought about taking it back to the precinct and opening it there. However, the precinct wasn't exactly private, if it ever was.
Kate sat there and decided to open it. Inside she found a mostly flat something; she wasn't sure what it was. It looked a lot like a piece of skin only it was green. There was also a folded up piece of paper. She set the skin aside on the passenger seat and opened the paper.
K,
With this note is a recording. Simply press your thumb in the middle.
R
Kate looked at the skin on the passenger seat. It didn't look like anything special. Why should she press it? It was just that Castle was missing and angry at her. She picked it up and placed it in the palm of her hand. Even if she did press her thumb in the middle, what was it going to do except sit there just like it was.
"Fine!" She pressed her thumb in the very center. She watched a set of glowing lights start to swirl until they coalesced into a full body image of Castle. He was maybe 3 inches tall and it looked like he was really there.
Kate, If you're seeing this then it means we're gone. I and my family are aliens, real aliens from another planet. We are Janosian and no, we aren't human. We were one of several teams sent to Earth. Our job was to follow the progress of Earth and send back reports.
By now you will have noticed our ships that have landed all over the planet. Really large glowing globes. They serve two purposes. One is to collect all the wildlife that they can within a certain amount of time based on space limitation inside the ships. The ships will defend themselves if they deem it necessary. The second is to cleanse the planet. Earth is in danger and the galaxy is a lot smaller than you think. Earth needs to be saved. To do that it needs to be cleansed. The process will start soon and will take approximately two days.
Everything humans have ever made on the planet, above the planet, or in the planet will be cleansed. This includes the humans that did this to Earth. Once Earth has been cleansed all the wildlife that has been collected will be placed back on Earth, after Earth's ecosystem has stabilized.
The project is called G.O.D.: Galactic Observation Deployment. Earth isn't the first planet and it won't be the last. We need to save Earth before it's too late.
I love you, Kate. I tried to get you to love me, too. I could have argued to bring you with us, especially if you were my wife. You chose otherwise so you will share the fate of all the other humans of Earth.
Because I love you I'm explaining everything and giving you a chance to…well, prepare as you see fit for the end of humanity.
Goodbye, Kate. I love you." His face looked hurt still.
She watched him disappear in another swirl of lights, then she saw the skin start to disintegrate. She tossed it onto the passenger seat and stared at it until all that was left was some powder.
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Kate had spent the last 48 hours with her dad in his apartment. Together they watched reports of a black cloud escaping from the globe in Central Park. She had never gone back to the precinct and had actually turned her cell phone off to avoid any calls.
"What's it doing?" Jim asked as he brought her a cup of coffee.
"Cleansing the planet, Dad. Cleansing the planet," Kate answered distractedly as she watched the video feed until it stopped only to go back to the woman that was the news anchor.
"That sounds nice. This planet is full of toxins. Dirty air, polluted streams." It didn't sound so bad to Jim. Maybe these aliens were actually the good guys. Not the destroyers that the movies always made them out to be.
Kate sat there with her dad and watched the TV while hugging her dad…until the wall behind it started to dissolve. A tear trickled down her cheek. "I love you, too, Rick, and I'm so sorry."