Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Thank you to everyone who has added to alerts/reviewed. Please review.
AN: As the problem with alerts have been fixed I will be updating as soon as I finish a chapter which at the moment Is once a day.
"What's going on Rick?" Kate asks walking over closely followed by her Father, the boys, Lanie and Jenny.
"Rick." Castle hears Kaylee mutter confused.
Castle looks between the two groups knowing that both of them need answers, coming out of his shock he faces his crew first "I know you guys have questions, but I got to explain a few things first they don't know." Mal says looking straight at his crew.
"They don't know?" Zoe repeats slightly surprised.
"I was going to tell them tonight but then y'all showed up." Mal tells his second in command and the people form this time are shocked that Castle the person who got annoyed about a grammatical mistake on a dead body isn't using proper English.
"Our questions can wait." Zoe says realising that Mal's friends and family as she can only assume they are need to know the truth before any of them can ask their questions.
"Come in." Mal says opening the door for his crew as everyone but Martha looks completely confused.
The crew walks in and Kaylee gives Mal a hug as she does almost knocking him over "Wow there little Kaylee." Mal says to her.
"Sorry Captain." Kaylee says as she breaks away, Kaylee calling Castle captain confuses everyone even more, everyone from his crew also say hallo to Martha as they enter.
"Rick what is going on?" Kate asks confused.
"You guys sit down." Castle says to the people from this time pointing to the couch, the detectives and their partners sit down though they are still confused.
"You two Alexis." Castle says to his daughter.
Alexis looks like she wants to ask what is going on but seeing the look on her father's face she decides not to, so she goes and sits on the couch between Kate and Lanie.
The Serenity crew stand behind Mal who is standing between the couch and his office and he notices that Wash is still haven't problems walking due to his injury "Zoe through that door is my office there is a chair in there that you can grab for Wash to sit on." He tells Zoe, Zoe nods and goes and collects the chair for her husband.
"I'll introduce you when I finish explaining." Mal tells his crew, who all nod, he then turns to his friends and daughter "I know you suspected that there was something odd about me inviting you all to dinner with such short notices, there is something that I want to tell you but I was going to wait to after dinner, but due to recent developments, I have to tell you now." Castle says then looks straight at Alexis "Alexis I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner but I didn't want tell you things that I didn't think you were ready for, I just hope you forgive me."
"Whatever it is I'll forgive you dad." Alexis says worried about what her dad didn't think he could tell her.
Castle sends a smile to his daughter then takes a deep breath and says "I don't know where to being."
"Start at the beginning Malcolm." Martha says walking over and standing next to her son.
"Malcolm?" Esposito says confused.
Mal looks at his crew "I may need your help with a bit of the history" his crew all nod in respond.
"The best place to start would be with my name, it's not Richard Edger Castle, it's not even Richard Alexander Rodgers, its Malcolm Richard Alexander Reynolds and I came here from the year 2519."
"Very Funny Rick." Kate says not believing him until she looks at his face "You're not kidding." She realises.
"No Kate I'm not."
"How's that possible Dad?" Alexis asks complete confused.
"I'll get to that, first I'll have to give you a little history lesson, though for you I guess it will be future lesson." He jokes and gets a death glare from Kate "Right too soon. " He realises then begins the story
"Population on earth got so high that it no longer had the resources to handle it. When this happened the human race was moved to another solar system where the planets and moons were terraformed to be like earth or as we know it earth-that-was." Castle begins to explain pointing himself and his crew when talking about earth-that- was "There were two dominate powers at this time, America and the Chinese. The two powers joined together with aspects of both cultures to for one."
"Is that why you speak fluent Chinese and why you taught me?" Alexis asks curious.
Mal nods then continues with his story "Within this new Verse, universe." He add seeing the confused looked "There were different types of plants the core and the outer plants. The core plants we united under one government the Alliance." Kate, the boys, her father, Lanie and Jenny eminently notice the look of anger on everyone from the future faces at the mention of the Alliance and realise that they must not be very popular.
"The core plants were, still are advance they have the best technology the best resources everything, the outer plants were just left to basically survive on their own, some off these are barley civilisation some of these plants didn't survive. One of these planets is where mother and I are from a little plant that was mostly ranches called Shadow."
"You grew up on a ranch?" Kate asks surprised.
"Yep, mother raised me with about 40 ranch hands." Rick says smiling at his mother
"So Gram Is still Gram?' Alexis ask as that is one of the first things she was worried about when he Dad said he was from the future.
"Can't get rid of me that easy kid." Martha tells her granddaughter.
Alexis smiles at her grandmother and her father continues his story.
"Then the Alliance decided that they wanted to take control of all the outer planets because up until this point they were independent, and the war of Unification began. It was the Alliance against the independents or as we like to be called Browncoats." Mal explains.
"That explains your coat." Alexis notes.
"You daughter is right Sir, you are wearing your old coat." Zoe notes.
"You know me Zoe, you know how much this coat means to me how much I love it." Mal says to his second mate.
"You once said you got it on sale that's why you wear it." Zoe reminds him with a smile.
"I said that so you could get behind the guy and knock him out remember." Mal reminds her also smiling at the memory.
"Good point Sir." Zoe says laughing a little, "Goin' to need your help with the story of the war." Mal says looking right a Zoe, who responds "Right beside you Sir." She says stepping forward so she is on his right side why Martha is on his left.
"The Uniffcation war was.." Mal begins to stutter not really sure of how to describe the war, Martha who knows this must be hard for her son gives him one of her rare sign comfort by holding his hand. Those who know Mal as Richard Castle are in shock as they have never seen him lost for words, taking a deep breath Mal continues
"I volunteered I was a member of the 57th Overlanders, during the war Shadow was destroyed so badly that it wasn't livable anymore Mother got off just in time." Mal hears Alexis gasp and notices that she looks worriedly at her grandmother "Though it wasn't the battle that ended the war there is one battle that will always stay in my memory, a battle that I can never leave." Mal begins to explain as Kate shears a look with Esposito as she knows that he is most likely the person that she knows who can understand that statement the most he looks like he is both engaged in the story and remembering his own time I war "That was the battle of Serenity Valley, it lasted for 7 weeks an I tell you now those seven weeks were hell, I was only a Sargent but because of so many losses on our side I was in charge of 2000 men and woman, "
"Bro.." Esposito comments in complete shock knowing that the losses must have been very very bad for a Sargent to be in charge of that many people.
"I lost something in that hell of a Valley, a part of me I will never get back, I lost my faith and so much more." Mal explains and Zoe who can see that Mal is getting angry and upsets decides that it would be best if she took over the explanation, So she steps forward so that she is standing a little in front of him
"Mal and I are the only surviving members of our unit and out of the 2000 men and woman that Mall commanded there were 150 of us left." Zoe explains, Alexis who can't stand to hear the horror's he dad went through any more runs forward and throws herself into her father's arms, Zoe looks at the two "Do you want me to continue sir?" She asks and Mal nods. "Most of those members could have survived if it wasn't for thoseJing Chang Mei Yong De Go Neong Yung Duh." Zoe says and Alexis' eyes widen as she translated what Zoe said in her head, Mal who notices his daughter action decides to warn his crew
"Keep in mind when insulting someone and swearing in Chinese that I have a 17 year old daughter who speaks fluent Chinese"
"Sorry Sir," Zoe says then continues "who didn't provide us with medical treatment after the battle and left us alone for a week with no supplies while they were arranging a surrender, more people would have survived." Zoe explains and everyone from present day sits in shock about Mal's and Zoe's description of the war.
"I'm ok now." Castle whispers to Alexis who gives her father another hug before going to take her seat between Kate and Lanie who are both in total shock about what they have just herd.
"Thanks Zoe." Mal says.
Zoe nods and steps back.
"After the war I discovered that Mother was okay and living on a planet called Whitefull, and I got to tell you that was the best news I heard for a long time, Zoe and I went to see her, but we didn't stay long. We got ourselves a boat." Mal begins to explain getting to the next chapter of his life.
"Why did you get yourself a boat Castle? Were you planning to sail somewhere?" Ryan asks.
"A boat or a ship is what we call a spaceship." Mal explains and Ryan and the others nod in understanding "We figured that we no matter how long the arm of the Alliance was we could just get ourselves a little further survived on what jobs we could get, that's what we did got a boat named her Serenity." Mal explains.
"Why would you name your ship after something that had such bad memories for you?" Jim asks confused.
Zoe is the one two answer Jim instead of Castle using the same line that she once told Simon "Because no one leaves Serenity, you just learn to live there" Zoe explains.
Mal nods then continues on with his story "We got a pilot, a mechanic, hired muscle, and .." Mal begins to think of the best way to describe Inara the one person that he hasn't looked at since she arrived "Someone who had her own business. Things got a bit more interestin' than I would have liked when a young doctor, his sister and a Shepard joined us, but that's not my story to tell." Mal says then looks at Simon "Doc? Do you want to take it from here."
Simon nods knowing that they should know exactly what the Alliance did "My sister who is currently dancing around Mal's loft." Simon says smiling at River who is dancing around the loft and looking at the pictures "Is a child progeny, there was nothing that she couldn't learn, couldn't do, she began to correct my spelling at the age of three, she was able to learn everything from dance to Physics as easy as breathing." Everyone from this time is in shock about that imagining just how smart that girl is "When she was fourteen she went to what my parents and myself thought was a private school for gifted children called the Academy, I didn't hear from her for a while but when I did start to hear from her again, there was something off, she had written a code in her letters to me I managed to decode it and all it said was 'help, their hurting us.' After that my sole mission was getting her out, it took two years but I managed it, but we had become fugitives, I got passage on Serenity and snuck River aboard. That is the best thing I have done for the both of us. When we got on Serenity I begin to discover that River was different from my Méi-mei. With the help of everyone aboard Serenity we discovered that, through all the pain they inflicted on River everything they did including making her feel everything no matter what she did River became a Psychic." Simon explains.
"Psychic?" Kate repeats and Castle can tell that she doesn't believe Simon.
"You don't know what to call him anymore, you think you don't know him. But you do, he may go by many names but the man is the same." River says to Kate in the voice that the crew of Serenity recognizes as the one she uses when she is using her abilities.
"Thank you River." Mal says quickly, and River smiles at Mal then continues to dance.
"Is that why you believed the Psychic was real in the case we work over a year ago?" Ryan asks Castle.
"I knew it was a possibility but I also knew that there was no one like River." Castle explains.
"That explains about your past Dad, but how did you get here?" Alexis asks.
"I'm gettin to that, thanks Simon." Mal says "River was able to get in touch with some information that she accidently discovered at the Academy it all that the rest of us were able to make out was Miranda, we did some research and discovered Miranda was a plant that was meant to have been made unlivable during a terraforming accident, we planned to go there but it wouldn't be as easy as we thought it would be cause we had to cross Reaver territory." Mal explains and is interrupted by Esposito.
"What are Reavers?" He asks.
"Reavers are something terrible, y'all don't need the image of what they do in your heads no one does." Mal explains. Kate, Alexis, the boys Lanie, Jenny and Jim all exchange looks and assume that these Reavers whatever they are must be bad.
"As to what they are, it was once thought that Reavers were men who went to the edge of space and saw the black, and it turned them insane, we discovered the truth." Mal informs his friends.
"Of course you did." Kate says smiling a little.
"We discovered that the Allience released as substance called the Pax, on Miranda to remove all conflict, it worked a little too well, the majority of the population became so numb that they stopped doing everything, they just waited for death. It had the opposite effect for 0.1% of the population they turned savage they became Reavers. When we discovered this information we couldn't let them get away with it, we knew it wouldn't be too long before they tried it again, tried to make everyone better. With this information we headed back to a friend, a friend who was going to broadcast it all across the Verse, but it was harder getting back this time cause we had both the Alliances and Reavers after us. I'm not goin to get into details about exactly what happened but we did get the information to the Verse nearly lost Wash and the Shepard in the process, all of us got hurt and we still bear those scares. After that battle we started to restore Serenity, due to Wash being so hurt River took over flying her. We were able to live our lives how we always did for a about a month, then we got a wave from Mother"
"A wave?" Lanie asks confused.
"Mode of communication, kind of like a video call." Mal explains trying to come up with the explanation that they would understand.
"She had just gotten to a friend's house after an advanced warning that the Allience was after her, they were goin after her cause of me." Mal continues to explain. Alexis looks worriedly at her grandmother
"We were able to get Mother off Whitefull safely and she joined Serenity. She stayed with us for 2 months, durin that time we discovered that the Allience was goin to go after everyone I cared about because of what I did, I realized that the only way to keep them safe was to disappear. We all worked together to create a time machine, the one problem was it was only one trip and we had no control over where it would take me. I planned to come alone but mother wouldn't let me, so we both came here, during the travel I became 17 again and mother also de-aged. Mother decided that our last name was going to be her grandmothers Rodgers, she decided that she was going to keep her first name but I couldn't, so I became Richard Rodgers, later Richard Castle, my grandmothers name, and I began another life, and that's everything." Richard informs his friends, then turns to Alexis "Alexis, what are you thinking?" He asks his daughter.
"I'm a little angry that you didn't tell me sooner, but I understand you reasons I don't know how I would have reacted to getting this news if I received it when I was younger." Alexis says getting up and giving her father a hug. "You going to introduce everyone now?" she asks.
"Good idea." He decided to introduce the people from this time first Mal points to everyone as he says who they are "Kevin Ryan, his wife Jenny, Javier Esposito, Dr Lanie Parish, my girlfriend Kate Beckett." He says then about to quickly introduce Jim when he is interrupted by Zoe.
"You have a girlfriend" She says in shock.
"Yes." He answers.
"A serious Girlfriend?" This time it is Kaylee who asks but sounds as shocked as Zoe.
"Yes, is that so surprising?" Mal asks his crew.
"it's not surprising it's a miracle." Inara comments in her usually playful teasing that Mal is used to hearing though he does hear something in her voice he doesn't hear often, pain.
Ignoring Inara's comment because he wants to talk to Inara in private to explain everything, he introduces Jim "and that's her father Jim." Mal says then turns to his crew and points out everyone.
"Zoe Washburne, my second in command, her husband Wash our pilot, Jayne our hired muscle, Dr Simon Tam and his sister River, Shepard Book who as you can guess is a Shepard, and Inara Serra." He says and when introducing Inara he looks at her for the first time since she arrived and once again is overcome with her beauty, and everything he feels for her.
"Alexis Inara Castle." Every single person in the room hears Alexis say.
"Yes." Mal says to his daughter.
"You named me after her." She says realizing that whoever this Inara is to her father, she is important, the members of Serenity smile a little all knowing how important Inara is to Mal and visa versa. Inara smile is bigger than them all feeling completely touched that Mal named his daughter after her.
Kate is surprised at that realization and gives Inara a look over and the first thing she notices is that Inara is beautiful, and realizes whatever the history is between the two, she's very important to him.
"Dad you never said what Inara does on the Serenity." Alexis realizes wanting to know information about the person her father cared enough about to name her after.
"It's just Serenity not the." Mal tells his daughter then gets a smile on his face and his crew wonder just what Mal is going to introduce Inara as "Inara is our ambassador."
"Really Mal you are going with ambassador?" Inara asks surprised by him using his old joke.
"You're always was the one saying you open doors from us and have connections that otherwise we wouldn't." Mal remind her.
"You weren't complaining when those connections were the reason you still have an ear attached to the side of your head." Inara shots back getting caught up in their old banter that she forgets that Mal's teenage daughter is still in the room.
"What!" Alexis says shocked and looks on both his ears "I still see the scar how did that happen Dad?" She asks worried.
"Thanks Nara this isn't a story I was plannin to tell. " Mal says looking at Inara who mouths 'sorry' back.
"We got a job from a guy called Niska, we're not usually fussy about the jobs we take on." Mal begins to explain and he knows that Kate and the other detective's in the room most likely picked up on the fact that the jobs they do are illegal "but there are things that we won't do, and Niska didn't give us all the information when we found out the truth we returned the money that he played us and undid what we did for the job, a few months later when we were returning from another Job Niska grabbed Wash and me, when Zoe discovered that we were gone Zoe realized who it was that took us and every member of Serenity put all their money together for Zoe to offer in exchange for our release, Niska felt it was only enough for one of us, Zoe decided on Wash, and before you guys say anything it was best that way, " Mal quickly says before any of his friends can comment "before she was about to leave Niska stopped her, he felt that it the money she gave was worth more than Wash, so he cut off my ear, and yes Nara it was due to you connections that we were able to get the equipment that Simon needed to sow it back on." Mal admits smiling at Inara.
"Tell the rest of the story Dad." Alexis tells her father.
"Alexis you don't need to hear that." Mal tells his daughter.
"Yes I do, either you tell me or I'll ask one of your crew and as I'm the captains daughter they have to tell me." Alexis threaten her father.
"Wow you really are your father's daughter." Inara comments.
Mal shots a glare at Inara "She is right though." He admits knowing Alexis "Ok but if you want me to stop just tell me." He tells his daughter who nods. "Niska tortured me, it was so bad that at one point I died," At hearing that her father once died, Alexis engulfs him in the biggest hug and holds onto her dad so tightly, realizing that he dad has stopped the story Alexis says though tears "Finish the story Daddy."
"Niska bought me back because he wasn't finished, then my crew saved me." Mal says his eyes leaving his daughters face which has tear running down it to look at his crew and smile, though at the same time he tightens the hug he has on his daughter, as if to tell her "I'm here I'm ok"
"Never leave a man behind." Wash says to him.
"Bro you and I have to have a long talk at some point." Esposito says to Castle in shock and aww about everything they have discovered tonight.
"I assumed so." Rick answers.
"So I'm assuming Inara isn't you ambassador what does she do?" Lanie asks.
"I'm a registered Companion" Inara answers before Mal can.
"And a companion is?" Ryan asks interested and confused.
"A whore." Mal answers.
"Here we go again." Kaylee says amused knowing like everyone else who has ever been on Serenity the unstoppable argument that is about to take place.
"How many times have I told you not to call me that, a companion is different form a whore we are educated and we do so much more than what a whore does, we are a companion whatever that may mean for a client whether that means being a friend, or a counselor or something else." Inara says standing right in fount of Mal in a tone of voice that appears to be angrily to everyone else except Mal who knows her two well.
"Aww you missed me." Mal notes with a smile on his face.
"Of course I did you Chwen Joo." Inara says annoyed hitting Mal, and Alexis laughs after translating what she said in her head.
"I missed you to Nara." Mal informs her giving her a one arm hug and staring into her eyes, Kate noticing both the gestures can't help but become jealous.
"Malcolm dinner." Martha reminds her son.
"Right, Alexis do you and Gram want to get the extra chairs. Simon, Jayne give them a hand." Mal says.
"I'll show you were to go." Alexis says walking upstairs to where they keep the extra chairs, closely followed by Simon and Jayne.
"Ryan, Esposito do you mind helping to?" Castle asks his friends.
"Not at all." Ryan and Esposito say both getting up to help.
"Kate lets go for a walk." Castle says to Kate as he has noticed that Kate has been quite the whole time, Kate nods and walks over to Castle.
"What about dinner?" Martha reminds her son.
"It's still go another 10-15 minutes we should be back by then, you can handle it." Malcolm says to his mother as he and Kate collect her jacket and leave the loft.
PLEASE REVIEW
PLEASE REVIEW
PLEASE REVIEW