"I'll be waiting outside," Beckett said to the strange man who had burst into the precinct, rudely taken control of her investigation, and then demanded to interrogate her partner for no visible reason. She didn't like him, and she certainly didn't trust him. Agent Smith gave a brisk nod, and ushered Castle into the interrogation room, closing the door behind them.
Beckett, Esposito, and Ryan all rushed over to the two-way mirror to watch.
"Pretty weird, huh?" Ryan commented idly as they watched the Castle and Agent Smith take their seats in the interrogation room. Beckett shot him a sideways glance.
"This case, I mean. Crazy, mass-murdering cannibals is one thing, but now we've got this weird-ass agent guy, who won't even tell us what part of the government he works for coming in, pulling strings to take over the investigation, and now he's interrogating Castle and he won't even tell us why?" Ryan said as he took a seat.
"I don't know man," Esposito said with a shrug, choosing to sit on top of the table by the two-way mirror, rather than in a chair. "There was that one case with the vampires."
"Yeah, but the vampires were fake, remember? These cannibals? Not so fake." said Beckett. She didn't sit at all, and instead faced the interrogation room with arms crossed, an almost nervous air to her. She didn't have a good feeling about this.
"Yeah, plus, there was no creepy government guy." Ryan started to say, until he was interrupted by the aforementioned creepy government guy on the other side of the mirror.
"You know, I might as well be honest with you here," They heard Agent Smith say to Castle, and stopped talking so they could listen. "You're not going to remember this conversation when it's over. Nobody will. There are people listening to this conversation-but don't think that means you can't tell me things you wouldn't say in front of them."
The three detectives shared a look.
"What the hell is he talking about?" Esposito asked, rather bluntly. He hadn't heard of any way of making someone forget something, besides amnesia-and he didn't really think that the agent was going to go around hitting them all on the head until they forgot what he was saying.
"Hell if I know," said Beckett. "Is that why he let us listen in on this conversation? Because he thinks we'll forget it, somehow?"
Inside the interrogation room, Castle seemed to be just as confused as they were. However, unlike the detectives, he took it as a joke, and started spinning some wild yarn about how the agent was an alien who'd kidnapped him.
Agent Smith wasn't laughing, and snapped off a question, asking Castle who told him about the Reavers and somebody named Miranda.
"Wait, I thought Castle made up the name 'Reavers'?" Esposito asked, the confusion written all over his face equally evident in his voice. Beckett gave a confused shrug.
"As far as I know, he did...and I don't recall anybody mentioning someone called Miranda." she said, running her fingers through her hair-it was her habit to do this sometimes when she was confused or frustrated .
"I don't either...could she have been one of the victims, maybe? I know one of them was a girl who's name started with an 'M'...it could have been Miranda." Ryan offered up, without an ounce of confidence in his voice. Even he didn't think they were talking about a victim, but none of them could figure out how this "Miranda" fit into the picture.
Castle quite understandably denied having any knowledge of the Reavers or of Miranda, and was just as weirded out as the detectives listening in when Agent Smith claimed that the only people who could know about "Miranda" were 500 years in the future...and included himself and Castle in that group.
"Mr. Castle...you are a writer, yes?" Agent Smith started to say, with the most annoying tone of condescension in his voice. Beckett didn't understand how Castle could stand to be in the room with somebody that smug, especially someone who was obviously trying to con him somehow.
"Surely, you can imagine...it is 500 years in the future. Many planets have been colonized, and we know quite a bit more about space and time then those of you in 2012. For example, we know that there are holes in the space-time continuum, called black holes, and with the right ship, and in the right conditions...you can go anywhere...or any time. I would explain it to you, but I don't think your simplistic little prehistoric brain could handle it. The government works differently in the future-we are not as careless with our secrets and knowledge as the government now. Even so, such secrets have a way of getting out, and sometimes people slip through the cracks. Outlaws have been known to go to such extremes to hide from the law. Something you said has led me to believe that you may know one of these outlaws...or you may be one yourself."
There was a pause while Ryan, Beckett and Esposito all looked at each other, and then at Castle, and then back at each other. Beckett almost felt the urge to start laughing-because surely this was a joke-but the Agent's crazy story was delivered in such a grave tone of voice that it felt impossible not to take him somewhat seriously.
"Is he nuts?"
"What the actual fuck is he talking about?" Beckett heard Esposito and Ryan say at the same time.
"I don't know, but this crazy son of a bitch has had enough time to talk to Castle. I don't know what he's going on about, but he's obviously just messing with us. We have 12 people dead already from these cannibals-from these 'Reavers' as he calls them. We don't exactly have time for this guy to waste our time, even if the governor vouched for him. I'm going in there and putting a stop to this." Beckett said with determination in her voice.
She reached for the door, but found that it wouldn't open. She jiggled the handle several times, and even leaned her weight against the door, but it remained shut.
"There's not even a lock on this!" She yelled with frustration as she kicked the door several times, causing several of the other police officers in the precinct who hadn't been listening in on Castle's interrogation to look at her like she was crazy. She ignored them.
"Let me take a look at that." Ryan offered, wanting to make sure that the door was actually locked and not just jammed on something. He walked up to the door, checked it's hinges, ran his hands around the frame of the door, but couldn't find anything blocking it. He and Esposito both took turns trying to get the door open.
"Eh, screw this!" Esposito half shouted, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "There must be something blocking the door, but I don't see anything. We might as well go back to listening to Castle and Smith."
"I guess so...they're just talking, after all, even if I don't like it. Fine." she said in acquiescence, and they returned to their respective spots; Ryan in the chair, Espo on the table, and Beckett standing with crossed arms and a glare. They looked back into the interrogation room, and the situation had changed.
Castle sat, uncharacteristically still and quiet, his arms crossed and his eyes shooting daggers at Agent Smith. If looks could kill, Agent Smith would surely be dead by now.
"Man, Castle looks pissed! I wonder what we missed." said Ryan. Everyone ignored him, distracted by the strange, metallic looking object Agent Smith held in his hand. One end of it was glowing blue, and it almost looked...well, like they would expect something from the future to look like: strange, shiny, and sinister. Suddenly, a voice came out of it. It was computerized and a bit broken up-it sounded like the SIRI technology that some of the newest iPhones had.*
"SON OF A RANCHER, BORN ON THE PLANET SHADOW. BOUND BY LAW FIVE TIMES: SMUGGLING, TARIFF DODGING, TRANSPORTING ILLEGAL CARGO; NO CONVICTIONS. SEARGENT AND BREVET CAPTAIN, INDEPENDENT ARMY, 57TH BRIGADE. VOLUNTEER. AWARDED VALOR COMMENDATION: BATTLE OF SERENITY VALLEY. MISSING SINCE OCTOBER 17, 2517."
"This must be what going mad feels like." said Beckett, lifting her hands to rub at her eyelids a bit, hoping that when she opened them, everything would make sense again.
She opened her eyes.
Things still didn't make sense. The boys looked at her in silence, waiting for her to add further input into the situation, to say something to explain what they had just heard. They were just as confused as she was.
"I've seen Castle's police record. He hasn't been 'bound by law' five times...only once, something about stealing a police horse while naked." she said, more to herself than to anyone else.
Esposito and Ryan started to laugh, but stopped when they saw she was going to speak again.
"He's certainly not the son of a rancher...I mean, he doesn't know his father, so I guess he could be...but Castle's a city boy. And I've never even heard of the "Independent Army" or "Serenity Valley". And he's obviously not missing. I just don't understand why the agent would say all these things when Castle obviously doesn't know what he's talking about." Beckett said, resting her chin on her hand as a contemplative look crossed her face.
"Maybe this is some kind of code? Maybe Castle's supposed to react to something he's saying?" she hypothesized, somewhat half-heartedly. That didn't even make sense to her-if the agent was fishing for some reaction from Castle, he'd gotten it-confusion. If a reaction was what he was looking for, then he was wasting his time, and Agent Smith didn't strike her as the type of man to do things without a reason. She just couldn't understand what his reason for this was.
"Look, I'm not from the future!" The sound of Castle yelling caught their attention-he was obviously distressed. "I'm 41, not 32, my name is not Malcolm Reynolds," they heard him say, "and I've certainly never fought in no gorram war." Somehow, he had gone from sitting to standing, and his chest was heaving a bit from the force of his shouting.
His tone of voice had changed-it had become a bit slower, and a bit more plain. His voice sounded more Western than Northeastern, but certainly not like any Western accent she was familiar with-not exactly, anyways. It was almost more like an amalgamation of many different accents, or an accent that had changed somewhat over time. He stood straight, an aggressive tone in his normally friendly voice. And since when did Castle, who was an author after all, not use good grammar?
He looked like a different man, and Agent Smith seemed to notice as well, and softly called him out on his poor grammar and use of the nonsense word "gorramn".
Then, things changed, and Ryan, Esposito, and Beckett heard yet another absurdity, to add to the list of crazy and absurd things Agent Smith had said-which included pretty much everything that had been spoken thus far.
"I knew the name "Malcolm Reynolds" sounded familiar-you're the captain of Serenity! Mr. Reynolds, you're not leaving because you are under arrest-for high treason against the Alliance."
-BREAK-
Castle was startled. He'd spent this entire interrogation completely confused by the nonsense being thrown out by Agent Smith-all the while trying to ignore the quiet voice in the back of his head that whispered, "This is who you really are". But that name...
"Serenity..." Castle whispered to himself. Something about that word just felt..like home. Like something was missing, as though there was some hole in his heart that he hadn't even known existed until then. In his mind's eye, he remembered the space ship he had seen in his dream, the night after they first discovered the Reavers.
But then the latter half of that statement was processed in his brain, and he forgot about the ship and focused on his imminent arrest for some unnamed treasonous act that he didn't even remember committing.
"Treason? Look...it's not that this hasn't been an...interesting...interrogation, but really, is that the best thing you can think of to keep me here? This is kinda getting ridiculous." He said placatingly, trying to surreptitiously inch towards the door.
"Oh no, Captain Reynolds, I'm very serious. You're letting these Reavers into the past, and the Alliance certainly couldn't allow that. It's not exactly easy to get through a black hole-it takes some very complicated technology and a very good mechanic working on the gravity drive to prevent the ship from being ripped apart by the gravity of a black hole. The Reavers don't have that kind of technology- diyu, they operate without core containment. They're barely able to keep their ships running. And there's certainly no way they would have the kind of stealth to fly a ship through New York without being noticed-or even any particular reason to be stealthy. Oh, no. Somebody had to let them in-somebody on the inside."
Castle absorbed that bit of knowledge without commenting. Somebody had let the Reavers in from the inside? He knew it wasn't him...but who did that leave? And why would they let Reavers in, when they were known to murder people...unless that was the point?
"It wasn't me, I swear!" Castle squeaked, taking a step backwards, his hands raised in a vague defensive gesture. "I like New York! I live here too, you know! Why would I invite some murderers into my city?" He asked, trying to make the agent see reason. Everything Agent Smith had said sounded absolutely insane-and yet, Castle wasn't really getting crazy vibes off of him. Castle wasn't sure what made him more nervous-that Agent Smith could be a crazy guy who was mad at him for committing some alleged crime, or that Agent Smith actually was a government agent from a future-past?- that he had forgotten all about.
"Well, Captain Reynolds," Agent Smith said, walking in a circle back around to the chair in the center of the room, his eyes following his hands as his fingers gently brushed over the interrogation room's table. "There could be a number of reasons. Here's my theory-"
Castle interrupted him. "Don't call me that." He said tersely, arms crossed, a fire leaping into his eyes as he delivered the words in a scorching tone. He was confused, and angry, but by far, the thing that bothered him most was that this agent guy had just waltzed into his life and was trying to convince him that he was someone he wasn't. He was born and raised in New York; he didn't have any military members in his family, and he couldn't remember the difference between a hoe and a plow. And yet, this guy was trying to convince him that he was an ex-soldier, a smuggler, and a rancher? It just didn't sit right with him.
"I'm sorry, Captain...don't call you what?" Agent Smith asked innocently, but that smug tone in his voice was anything but. He knew exactly what was bothering Castle, but felt no desire to stop.
"My name," Castle drew out through clenched teeth, "is Castle. Richard. Edgar. Castle. Not Malcolm. I don't even know anybody named Malcolm." he said fervently, ignoring the sinking feeling in his guts and the way his words traitorously sounded more like a lie than a denial. To himself, Castle couldn't deny that the name "Malcolm Reynolds" had a familiar ring to it.
"Oh no, Captain Reynolds," Agent Smith said with a mocking smile that didn't reach his eyes. "The data says that you are Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity...and the data never lies." Castle clenched his hands into fists angrily, affronted that this man refused to call him by his real name. "And speaking of the data..." Agent Smith trailed off.
"You fought for the Browncoats, on the losing side of a terrible war. You were from Shadow, yes?" He questioned.
"Yes. I mean no! I'm from New York." Castle said quickly, not sure why he had allowed the fallacious "yes" to slip out. Agent Smith didn't seem impressed and didn't seem to believe him, but then the world seemed to grow more quiet, and Castle grew quiet himself in response to the suddenly gravity in the atmosphere.
"I'm sorry for what they did to you. I'm sorry for what we did." he whispered, and here, the agent truly did seem to be sorry, as though he were trying to absolve himself of something -of what, Castle didn't know, but it was the first time throughout the entire interrogation that Agent Smith had actually felt somewhat human.
"Not as sorry as I am."
Castle spoke the words so quietly, he almost wasn't sure he'd said them at all. He wasn't exactly sure what he was sorry for- but he knew he was sorry for something. The word "Shadow" seemed to bring a great deal of grief to him, and he closed his eyes for a moment, and let it overwhelm him, before letting out a deep sigh that rattled in his chest.
There was a silence as the two men contemplated each other, until it was finally broken by Agent Smith.
"Yes...you'd be very sorry indeed. A man like you would have every reason to hate the Alliance. After all, even if you may not remember it, it was you and your crew that sent out the Miranda broadwave. Oh, we made your lives miserable afterward." He said softly, speaking the last words with relish, as if he had fond memories of the alleged misery he had caused.
"I remember that time-the crew of Serenity was all anyone could talk about. From what I hear, you were arrested several times, and weren't always given...the best of treatment. Nobody would hire you-hell, from what the rumors say, almost all of your contacts were killed by one of our men, just before the broadwave was sent out. Oh yes, I can understand you wanting to leave and escape to the past...and I bet you never stopped hating the Alliance." Castle wanted to protest at this point, but wisely decided to keep silent. He still didn't completely understand what was going on-he didn't even completely understand what the Alliance was, although from the context, he figured that it must be some government faction. "People on Earth-That-Was live like people on the Core-I'm sure you've noticed that," Agent Smith continued, oblivious to Castle's wandering attention. "It must have killed you, being surrounded by reminders of the war you lost, trapped in the past, unable to join the uprising. It's not such a huge leap, from killing Alliance to killing people who remind you of the Alliance. All this time, I bet you've been biding your time to get revenge for Serenity Valley and the Unification War, and here was your chance to aid the uprising by causing a distraction during what may be the beginning stages of a revolution-with the sacrifice of a few lives, of course. Oh yes, Captain Reynolds-you're very sorry indeed, and sorry men are desperate men, and I bet you'd be desperate enough to kill."
Castle blinked, trying to purposefully make his confusion apparent. "You seem to be forgetting something" he stated, grateful to finally get the chance to have the upper hand in the conversation. He even dared to quirk an eyebrow in mockery of the "future" government agent.
Agent Smith paused, caught off guard; clearly, that was not the response he had been expecting. "Am I? And what might that be?" Smith asked, a little too casually.
"You are-I have no idea what you are talking about. You can't even arrest me anyways-that's the most circumstantial thing I've ever heard. You think I might be from the "future", and that I might be part of some revolution that I've never even heard and that I'm killing people in the "past" in retribution for some war and battle I was supposedly part of, when I've never been a soldier of any kind. You can't arrest anybody for that. I'd like to leave, please." Agent Smith was really starting to freak Castle out by this point. He couldn't deny that the thought of him in time traveling and taking place in some space-war against a tyrannical government was kind of awesome; however, getting arrested was not awesome, especially when it was by someone who was crazy.
Agent Smith opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, and seemed to consider what Castle had said.
"You are from the 26th century, even if you don't remember it. However, it is obvious to me that I'm beating a dead horse, at this point-you'll never admit that you're not from this time period. This interrogation has been...enlightening, to say the least. However, Mr. Reynolds, this isn't the last you'll be seeing of me." He then walked over to the door, fiddled with it a bit, and then opened it and left the room, Castle following close behind.
"Agent Smith, what the hell was that?! You're actually going to suggest that Castle is some revolutionary from the future? I don't think so-you better explain why you've been wasting our time." Beckett said, glad to finally be able to talk to the man. That was, hands down, the strangest interrogation she had ever watched, and she wanted answers.
"Ah, I knew I'd forgotten something." Agent Smith mumbled to himself as he searched through the pockets of his gray suit. He then pulled out a small object. It was about the same shape of an egg, except it was purple instead of brown or white, and had a glassy quality to it.
"What's tha-" Agent Smith threw the egg-thing down onto the ground before Beckett could finish her question, and the glass shattered all over the precinct's floor. Quickly, he pulled a white handkerchief out of the front pocket of his suit and pressed it to his face, covering his mouth and nose. As he did this, a strange, smoky substance began to rise from the egg.
Somebody shrieked, and the smoke seemed to pour out of the egg, thicker and faster every second. Beckett, Ryan, Castle, and Esposito all tried to hold their breath, but slowly, each inhaled the smoke and one by one, everyone in the precinct fell asleep.
In all the chaos, nobody noticed Agent Smith quietly slip out the door.
A/N: I'm sorry I'm so late everyone! I've had a deadline come up recently where I had to make one of those big, life-changing decisions and, quite frankly, writing was the furthest thing from my mind. Here's the good news though: In the next chapter, Castle should start getting his memory back, River shows up, and hopefully, I'll begin to answer some of the questions raised in the last few chapters. Remember, I'm looking for a beta so if anyone wants to volunteer, I'd really appreciate it!
Thanks for reading!
~J
