Kate is halfway through her second glass of red when she's pulled from her melancholic state by a gentle knocking at her front door. She's half tempted to ignore it, pretend she's asleep, or out, or in the shower, or something that doesn't involve any kind of public interaction.

"Kate, I know you're in there. I can smell the Chinese."

So much for that idea. Shooting the offending carton of crispy Sichuan beef a glare she pushes herself up off of the sofa. It's late, and she should sleep, but Kate recognises the voice, knows that no matter what the pull of sleep is, or how tired she is, the pull of him is always going to be stronger. She does wonder why he's here, it's late, and surely Mollie should be asleep. She pulls open the door with a half smile, one that falters slightly when she sees that it isn't exactly who she thought it was. But at least he smiles at her.

"Hello, Kate."

"You're… grey."

"I know, right? Kate says I look distinguished. Very refined." Kate opens her mouth, mostly to disagree, because if anything Castle is, then it is neither distinguished, nor refined. "Okay," he continues, "I think it makes me look distinguished and refined. You think I should dye it?"

"I – why are you here? Surely you'd…"

"Want to go and see Mollie? It's fine, Kate's there. Anyway, she'll be asleep. I came to talk to you." He breezes past her, much like his past self, walks into her apartment like he's completely at home here. Maybe he is. Or was, at some point. Will be? This whole thing makes no sense to her.

"Why? Why do you want to talk to me?" she questions, closing the door behind him, and then turning to Castle, her hands dug deep into the pockets of her hooded jumper. "You hate me. Or something. I don't know what it is, I don't know what's going through your mind right now, but you're supposed to…."

"Love you? I married you, Kate. I don't think hate is the right word."

"Well, you're certainly acting like it right now. Not you, but, the … other you."

"I think he's justified, if you ask me."

"I wasn't asking, but you would agree. You're the same person. I suppose it would be nice to know why he's acting so strange. Don't suppose you fancy telling me?"

"Have you tried asking him?"

"I – well… not… exactly. But every time I try and talk to him he just pushes me away, fobs me off with some two word answer that doesn't explain anything. I can't think of any other way to get whatever it is that's bothering him, out of him."

"You could be… you know, direct. Ask him what you did."

"So it was something I did?"

"Can you seriously not think about what it could be?"

"If I knew what it was then I wouldn't be in this predicament, would I?"

"Fine." He leans back against the sofa, arms folded. "Let's see if I can jog your memory. Bobby Lopez. You remember him?"

"Bobby – he, he was the… a suspect in the bombing at the protest. He picked up the backpack, but then he dropped it again. If he'd left it where he was the explosion wouldn't have been so bad."

"Yep. Keep going."

"Keep going?"

"The interrogation. Go through the interrogation."

"Um, he… we thought he was the one who placed the bomb. He had the bag, he put it by the post, it seemed like an easy catch. I asked him what he knew, and he said he couldn't remember anything. He said the trauma of the blast made him… forget."

"And then you said…"

"I… said, he didn't get to use that excuse."

"And why didn't he get to use that excuse?"

Oh god. She feels sick. Presses the back of her hand to her mouth in either shock or a vain attempt at keep her stomach where it belongs. Why didn't she see it before? There had been coffee on her desk. Coffee from Castle. She knew he'd been there whilst she'd been in the box, but she just hadn't put two and two together. It all makes so much sense. "Because I was… shot in the chest and I…" He mouths it along with her, word for word, and inclines his head when she trails off.

"…and I…"

"Remember every second of it. He heard. He heard me." She presses the palm of her hand into her forehead, screws her eyes up tight and trying to swallow down the churning worm of guilt and terror that is churning in her stomach.

"Bingo. Does it all make sense now?"

"I need to talk to him. I need to make things right – if he's angry that I lied – I need to apologise. Even if he really does want to leave and walk away, I need to at least say sorry. I never meant to hurt him. I never meant to hurt you."

"I know that. At least, I do now. But he doesn't. And it's not just that you lied. Past me thinks you lied because you didn't want to deal with his feelings, with any awkward situation that would arise from it, because you didn't feel the same as he does." Kate isn't listening, not properly, she's pulling her coat from the hooks, shrugging into onto her shoulders. "Er, what are you doing?"

"Er – I'm going to go … and talk to Castle."

"It's three in the morning." He replies, standing up, and taking a step towards her. She thinks he's going to make a grab for her, to stop her from going. "Everyone will be asleep."

"You're here at that time. Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"I just time travelled. I have time lag."

Kate rolls her eyes. Grabs her keys and her phone and drops them into various pockets, looks at her gun. Doesn't think she'll need it. She shouldn't need it. With the gun she's Detective Beckett, cool, hard-hitting and with a very firm grip on her emotions. Without it, she's just Kate Beckett. A woman, who may or may not have made a mistake, who loves a man, who needs to make amends for the pain she's caused. That's who she's going as. "That's – that's not a thing."

"Sure it is. You can't go. He's not going to be entirely reciprocating if you wake him up half way through his beauty sleep. And he's probably going to be weirded out because of Mollie, anyway. I mean, how often does a girl come back from the future and claiming to be your daughter? Especially a daughter with a woman you think is only leading you on."

"I' m not leading him on!-"

"I know, Kate, but he doesn't."

"-and he seems to be handling Mollie perfectly fine."

"It would appear so. You're the one freaking out. Kate was right."

"I – she – what about?"

"That you wouldn't stay. You wouldn't be there. She said you'd freak out, assume that Castle was playing a joke, or it was one of the boys."

"It's – it's not that. Castle doesn't – he didn't want me there. He's made that obvious that he doesn't want anything to do with me. I didn't want Mollie to be in the middle of that. Castle is an amazing father. Mollie would have been perfectly fine without me."

"You're an amazing mother too, you know. Mollie worships the ground that you walk upon."

"I'm sure, but I'm not her mother. I'm not fit enough to be in any kind of relationship, let alone raise a child."

"Have more faith in yourself, Kate. You're closer to being ready than you think you are. He's waited for you for this long, explain yourself to him, properly, and maybe he'll wait some more."

"He has to. He has to, right, because you're married and you have a future – you have Mollie. That's my future. That's … my future, right?"

He looks horribly uncertain. A look that doesn't exactly fill Kate with confidence. "I – don't know. I mean, you must have seen all the films with the warnings. You change one bit of your past, your history, you change your future."

"Step on a butterfly, you change the future of the human race…"

"Yes. So, if you and Castle don't work things out…"

"Mollie would essentially cease to exist. Your daughter… jeez, that's a lot of pressure."

"As much as I love Mollie, as much as I love my wife, you can't force Castle to do anything. If you get him to forgive you, that's wonderful, if you can't… it's not like I'll remember them. At least, not Mollie."

Kate tugs at her hair, paces back and forth with a look of anguish that seems to mirror the guilt that is tearing her apart inside. "This just got a lot worse. This is a so lot worse than I thought, this is-"

"Well, the sooner we get over there, the sooner we'll know. Are we just going to sit around and anticipate the worst, or are we going to go?"

"Which one of us is knocking?"

"Knocking? I figured we'd just use my key." He holds up a key chain, at least three different car keys that Kate doesn't recognise, and the black fob that resembles his front door key. "You know, since I live here. Technically."

He pushes open the door, gestures for her to go ahead of her. The room is dark, the only light coming from upstairs. Something – a huddled mass of blankets rises up from the sofas that makes Kate stumble slightly. "Whossat?"

It's just her. Older, future her. Asleep on a couch. Why is she asleep on the couch? "Where's Castle?"

"He's… right behind you?"

"No – my Castle."

"Asleep, last time I checked."

"No, he's not. God, you guys talk loud." His focus turns on Kate, his gaze cold and calculating. "Why are you here?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Now? It's almost four in the morning."

"It's important. Please, Castle, I know – I know I don't – you have every right to tell me to leave, I know that, but can I just try to explain?"

"There's nothing to explain, Beckett." He starts to turn away, heading back to his bed and away from her.

"Rick." He stops, but he still doesn't look at her. "Please." Castle looks from his future self, to his so called future wife, but they're giving him nothing. Instead, they seem to be communicating silently between themselves, using some subtle expressions and not so subtle finger jabbing. "Castle, I know I lied. To you. I know I did, and I'm sorry, I really am but you need to just let me explain why.."

"Why should I? I have given you seven, eight months to explain yourself. I have been with you, for four years waiting, and what if I've waited long enough? What if I'm fed up of waiting, of believing that one day we'd actually be something more than work partners? You lied, Beckett, you openly lied-"

A cough interrupts him, and all three of them turn towards the future version of Kate. Future Castle almost winces, looks like he knows what his wife is about to say and is dreading every moment after. "Don't get me wrong, you have every right to be upset with her, but need I remind you that she is not the only one who has, not necessarily lied, but withheld vital information? If Kate needs to be honest, then so do you."

Kate's head snaps from Castle, over to her future self, and then back again. "What does she mean? Castle, what - tell me what she means." Castle isn't looking at her. Well, he is. But future her. And she can't explain that look. He's hurt, he's wounded, betrayed, but he also looks busted. And then his shoulders sag. Defeat. He's completely, and utterly defeated. "Castle?"

"We're going to go upstairs. This is between you two."

Kate almost asks herself to stay, to have someone in her defence, but she's quiet. Watches with baited breath as Kate pulls something out of a bag, something small and black with eyes. She recognises it, vaguely, something from a film, maybe. The other woman gives her a look, something full of reassurance, of power, makes a small amount of hope blossom in her chest. Then they're disappearing into the dim glow of upstairs to their daughter.

"Kate?" His voice is quiet, and unsure, and whatever hope there was is soon replaced by fear. She doesn't know what it is Castle has been hiding from her, but she can see what it's done to him. "Maybe we should talk."

Kate almost cries when she sees the sleeping form of her daughter. She knew she was safe, knew from the moment Castle had told her that Mollie was perfectly fine, unhurt, and was actually enjoying her adventure, but she'd missed her. Missed her cheeky smile, her constant talking, the incessant questioning. Castle squeezes her hand behind her. "I think it's bedtime."

There's a faint stirring from the bed, the slight noises from Mollie's mouth pulling her out of her sleep. "Daddy?"

"Hey, little monkey. Didn't mean to wake you."

"I missed you."

"I missed you too. Hey, guess who is here too. And she's got something for you."

Mollie struggles up into a sitting position, her hair in disarray and blinks through the haze of sleep. "Momma! Momma, we went shopping today and we bought you some new shoes."

"So I've heard. You'd make an excellent living from swindling people out of their money, but please don't do that, because I'd hate to arrest you."

"I'm going to look after elephants. Or maybe an astronaut, or maybe I'll be a physician, or the president-"

"You can be whatever the heck you want to, Mollie." Castle interrupts, as he tugs off his shirt. "But right now, what you need to be, is asleep. We even bought you Dragon."

"Dragon!"

Kate throws back the covers of one side of the bed, slides in next to her daughter and then ceremoniously hands over the stuffed animal to her daughter. "Flew all the way from home, just because he missed you almost as much as we did."

Mollie cradles the toy to her chest, her eyes closing in obvious happiness. It seems that' is all that's needed to send the girl straight back to sleep, and she ends up slumped against her mothers chest, arms tight around Dragon. Kate presses a soft kiss to Mollie's forehead and pulls the covers up around them again. "Room for one more, if you want."

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