AN: So I wrote this a while ago, shortly after the episode aired. I'm aware that this one of many fics regarding this episode, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Thanks to Melissa for being an awesome beta!
Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.
"Stay with me, Castle," Kate pleaded, holding his head. "Come on. Please stay with me." She bit her lip to keep from crying. She was about to lose the one person that had made her feel something in years.
She moved her hand to put pressure on the wounds, but realized something was wrong. He was disappearing! She stared in shock as the figure below her began to slowly fade until there was no trace of him left. Sighing, her hands fell lifelessly to her sides.
He's gone back to his world. Back to his Kate, she thought sadly.
Trying to regain some composure, she stood up, brushing herself off before walking forward with her head held high. She was about to exit the room to join Ryan and Esposito when she saw it. It was just sitting on the ground, taunting her, calling to her. Looking around to make sure the coast was clear, she knelt down and picked up the object that had supposedly started this whole mess. She fingered the edging gently and briefly wondered, should she try? Would it even work? She shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts from her brain. How could she miss something she never really had? It was better to leave the whole event behind and move on.
The relic found its way into the pocket of her pants anyway.
"So, Captain, what happened to the writer?" Esposito asked. They were sitting in her office later that night. Everything was finally over and she was more than ready to go home.
She shrugged. "He just took off. I don't know where he went after I came and saved him."
Esposito chuckled. "Must've been scared off. Well, good riddance, I say." He smirked and looked at her expectantly.
"Hey, he did offer some help." Sure, he had been a little nosy, annoying, and slightly manipulative, but still he had given them a bit of a hand.
"Probably just pure luck on his part. Anyway, I'm going home. Night."
"Good night, Detective," she replied. Looking at her watch, she decided it was time for her to pack it up, too. After grabbing her coat, she headed to the elevator, ready for another night alone in her apartment.
She found herself wishing a blued-eyed writer would be waiting for her.
An hour later she was in bed, still in her work clothes. She kept flipping the relic over and over again, looking at it as if it would provide her some sort of answers.
It was silly, really. She didn't believe in the supernatural, or fairy tales, or any of that ridiculous stuff. She was a woman of cold, hard facts that always had evidence to support them. To even contemplate the possibility of an alternate universe was laughable. Well, it should have been. After the events of the day, she was beginning to question her perception on things.
She had read up on the artifact and how people supposedly ended up in their "alternate realities." It didn't seem too hard to do, so she decided to try it. What was the worst that could happen? The thing probably didn't work. She tried to ignore the ache in her chest at the thought.
Closing her eyes, she clutched the relic to her chest and began repeating the same thought over and over again.
I want to meet the other Richard Castle. I want to meet the other Richard Castle. I want to meet the other Richard Castle.
She opened her eyes and remained still, her eyes darting around. There was no flash of blue light. There was no strange feeling in her body. And she frowned. Everything was normal. Of course it was. Why wouldn't it be?
She sighed, her body feeling drained, both physically and emotionally. She rolled to her side, the object still in her hand.
Closing her eyes, she wished she hadn't gotten her hopes up.
The next morning she woke up to an odd, but nice feeling of warmth. She sighed contentedly, burrowing into the comfortable, satin sheets. Her eyes flew open. Wait a minute, satin? Last time she checked, she didn't own pure satin sheets.
She tried to sit up, but found she was being held down by something, an arm to be exact. Craning her neck around, she looked to see who was holding her so tightly. She sure as hell didn't remember letting anyone into her apartment last night, let alone sleeping with them. When she saw who it was, she gasped. She tried to push the arm out of the way, but the man just snuggled closer to her and hummed.
"Don't get up yet," he murmured. "Stay in bed." He gave her a sleepy smile filled with what could only be love. She was almost drawn in by it, but quickly reminded herself of the situation.
"I need to get up," she said. A confused expression appeared on his face. "Er, nature calls." He chuckled then, releasing his hold on her. As she got out of bed, she clutched the sheet to her chest to shield herself from his view.
"Is everything okay, Kate? You're acting a little odd," Castle commented. There was no nosiness in his question, only concern for her.
"I– I–," she stuttered. What was she supposed to say? That she didn't know where she was and didn't remember sleeping with him? "I–"
"You don't regret yesterday, do you?" he asked quickly. "I mean, I know it was sudden, but you seemed so sure and I told you I wanted to marry you–"
Wait? What? Married? They were married?
He didn't seem to notice her shock and kept rambling, obviously worried. She had to admit it was kind of cute, but he needed to stop talking so she could think!
"Wait! We got married?" she asked.
"Of course we did. Mother, Alexis, and your father were there." He cocked his head in thought. "Although, you did have a few glasses of champagne." He shook his head. "But you weren't drunk. I've seen drunk you, and that definitely didn't happen last night." A dreamy smile appeared on his face and she groaned.
Her hand instinctively went to her neck, but the object her fingers sought wasn't there.
"Where's my necklace?" she quizzed, looking on the nightstand for it.
"Your necklace? You haven't worn that in months, not since we solved your mother's murder. Remember?"
"We solved it? When did we solve it?" Now she was angry and upset. How dare he joke about something like that!
"Months ago. We –" he started to get up but stopped when he saw something in the covers. He reached over, grabbed it, and held it up. His eyes widened and he swallowed. "Oh no," he muttered, his eyes shooting to her. "You're the other Kate, aren't you?"
She bit her lip and nodded.
He sighed. "All right." He stood up, the sheet falling away from him as he did so. She covered her eyes with her hands and he laughed. "It's technically nothing you haven't seen before."
"Just get dressed," she grumbled, keeping her own body covered with the white cloth.
He rolled his eyes, but obeyed. She heard the sound of the opening and closing of some drawers. A few minutes later, he spoke again.
"You can uncover your eyes now." His tone was teasing.
She uncovered her eyes and sighed in relief when she saw that he had chosen pajama pants and a t-shirt.
"Didn't want to distract you," he joked. She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, you can wear some of your, er, her clothing. It should fit you. Meanwhile, I'll make us some coffee." He left her alone in the bedroom and she headed straight for the dresser. Pulling out a random shirt and pants and put them on quickly. She looked around the room and stopped when she saw the breathtaking view from the window. She couldn't help but feel a slight pang of jealously. The other her lived a pretty nice life.
When she entered the kitchen, she smiled at she smelled the scent of freshly brewed coffee. She sat down at the counter and he handed her a mug. Sipping she took sip of the hot liquid, she let out a soft and moaned. He made it just the way she liked. She knew she shouldn't really be surprised, but it was still odd to have someone else make coffee for her.
"So," he started. "I'm guessing you're not here by accident?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I tried the relic thing." She looked down at her mug. "Honestly? I didn't think it would work."
"And yet here you are," he stated. She looked up to see a raised eyebrow and a smirk. He then became serious. "Why'd you do it? I mean you weren't exactly thrilled I was around. Although, the other you was the same way." He chuckled to himself.
"I just," she started. "I wanted to feel something. Before you came along, I didn't really feel anything. I was bored with life and fed up with the system. Then you come in and turn everything upside down and change my perception. Somewhat."
"That seems to be my specialty."
She snorted. "I was pretty pissed at you with the whole pub thing. I really did think that was a date," she added softly.
"I would be more than happy to date you, except I'm married to the other you." He scratched his head, and scrunched up his nose. She thought he looked kind adorable. "It would be considered cheating, I think. Same person, but not the same person? But yeah, I'm still pretty sure it would be considered cheating."
She nodded, pursing her lips. She knew he was right, but she was still disappointed.
She looked around the place, taking in the simplicity, but beauty of the home.
"You have a nice home here," she remarked, spotting a few bookshelves. Getting up from the stool, she walked over, examining the contents of each shelf. She was surprised at the number of books that were his, ones that she had never heard of.
"This is my, well, our, Hampton house," he said from behind her. "We decided to get married here."
Married. She knew it wasn't her, per se, but it was still weird to imagine any version of her married. All of the boyfriends she had either felt she was too attached to the job or ran away due to her profession. But Castle hadn't done that and it made her like him even more.
"What are all these books?" She ran her fingers across the spines of the titles. Heat Wave, Naked Heat, Heat Rises, Frozen Heat, Deadly Heat, and Raging Heat. The titles sounded intense and she was sure the stories were too.
"They're the Nikki Heat books. The ones I based on you."
"Nikki Heat? That's a–" She started, glaring at him, stepping forward, ready to pounce.
"Stripper name?" he finished, snickering.
"Exactly!"
"Well, you warmed up to the idea, eventually. Especially once you saw how awesome and kickass she was."
She rolled her eyes, sure that it took a lot of persuasion for her agree to the name.
"May I?" she asked, reaching up to what she assumed was the first book.
"Of course." He gave her a reassuring smile and she grabbed the novel. Flipping it open, the first thing that caught her attention was the dedication. It was interesting that he singled her out. Becoming curious, she opened the other books and looked at the dedication page. Each one more heartfelt than the last, clearly showing his love for her. She felt tears form in her eyes, the impact of of his words hitting her.
These are for the other me, Kate reminded herself.
"I mean every word." She could feel him directly behind her now. "Both of you are extraordinary."
"I doubt it. She doesn't compromise," she muttered bitterly.
"You did the same thing. Eventually," he soothed, placing a hand on her shoulder.
She did, but she knew what he was getting at earlier. She used to be determined, uncompromising, and headstrong. However, after years of getting nowhere with her mother's case, she didn't see the point in trying anymore. When she became captain, the politics had pulled her down and bea her into submission, molding her into what the people at 1PP wanted her to be. She lost sight of what was important, the victims. Castle had made her realize that.
"You said you solved my mother's case?" she inquired. He was quiet for a moment, and she sensed his hesitation. He spoke then, saying, "Yes, we did." He sighed. "I know what you're going to ask and the answer is no."
"Why?"
"Because I know you. You'll put yourself in danger going after the people who killed your mother alone. You may be from another universe, but I still care about what happens to you." He took her hands in his, rubbing her palms with his thumbs. "Look, all I will tell you is that it was a a hired hit man who did the actual murders. The person who hired him has a lot of connections and is very high on the political hierarchy."
She frowned, craving more information, but the look on his face made it clear he wasn't going to share anything else.
"I guess it's a start." Looking around, she examined the pictures that were scattered in the house. It was clear that in this world, Martha definitely wasn't the famous actress she was in her universe. Also, the house had a more of a bachelor feel to it, but she could see it was slowly changing into that of a couple's home. She could see touches of things she liked, little knickknacks here and there.
Walking over to the fireplace, she noticed a group picture of him, her, Ryan, a blonde woman in a bride's dress, Esposito, and Lanie.
"That was taken on Ryan's wedding day. He married Jenny, finally. I encouraged your Ryan to give her a call, he seemed lonely and it's clear he regretted letting her go."
Kate smiled, glad that Ryan had found some happiness. She had noticed the same thing about him being lonely, but then again, they all were, except for Lanie.
"Esposito and Lanie are together. That should be interesting." She raised an eyebrow. "They're on again, off again, but I have a feeling they're in it for the long haul this time." She chuckled, knowing that Esposito hated letting Lanie get with another man.
"And us?" she asked, her fingers hovering the image of the two of them smiling, looking completely and utterly blissful.
"You asked me to be your plus one. 'Third time's the charm' you told me." He gave her a boyish grin and she found herself smiling back. Setting down the picture, she turned to him.
"I like this universe," she stated. "Everyone seems so happy and content. No loneliness or regret. Very different from what I have."
"You can have that, too," he replied. "You just have to work at it."
"But where should I start?" Surely she couldn't just tell everyone what happened here. They would think she was nuts.
"Well, I don't know about you, but my first step would be to find a certain ruggedly handsome writer, ask him out for coffee, and tell him a little bit about your job. I heard he's having problems finding inspiration." He winked.
"I might just do that," she teased. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "How am I supposed to get back though?"
"The same way you got here," he said. "So just go to sleep."
"Okay," she said and headed towards the bedroom. Taking the relic off of the bed where she left it, she lay down and closed her eyes.
"Just think about how much you want to get home," Castle, who had followed her, instructed.
"Mmm, okay," she replied. Keeping her eyes closed, she clutched the artifact tightly in her hand and began thinking of her home. She felt her body grow heavy and soon she was beginning to drift off to sleep. Before her body fully succumbed to slumber, she heard, "Good luck, Kate. And no matter which world it is, I will always love you."
She fell asleep with a smile on her face and soon saw a flash of blue light.
When she awoke, she was back in her own room and in her own clothes. Looking down, she saw the object was still in her hand and she smiled. So it really did happen.
Realizing it was still nighttime, she pouted. She was eager to meet a certain writer, but knew it had to wait until morning. Lying down again, she grinned to herself, knowing that tomorrow would be the starting point of a new chapter in her life.
She felt a new sense of purpose and she had Richard Castle to thank for that.