Arc of the Curve
Chapter Seven

Authors note"

After some prodding and much needed reviews I have decided not to shelve this one. I want to thank everyone who has read & will read this story and especially thank those that left a review. It's nice to know the efforts are appreciated.

On that note we start the second act of the story. Where Alexis meets more of her kind and learns just what she is capable of. Meanwhile Kate and Castle learn just how deep the rabbit hole gets as our third crossover steps out of the shadows and changes things yet again!


Adam ambled down the hallway from passport control, a duffle bag hanging over one shoulder and a lazy smile on his face. 'Joe!' he shouted, quickening his pace.

'Damn buddy, it's good to see you again.' Joe laughed.

Adam stopped just in front of his old friend and dropped his bag before giving Joe a back slapping hug. After a few bone rattling slaps he let go. 'If it's so good why'd you call me to New York? I hate this place.' He joked

I don't know, thought you might like a change of scenery. I hear the weather's nice this time of year…'

'Joe…'

The retired Watcher rested his weight on his stick again. 'I told you, someone has to stop that mad woman before she blows the whole thing wide open. It's only a matter of time before the police put two and two together…'

'And come up with eight. Even if they have cast iron proof no one's going to believe them. Come on, I had to check my sword in to the hold back in Paris' Picking up his bag Adam headed deeper into the airport. Joe following.

'If you think this is all a waste of time then why are you here?' he reasoned. 'You could be anywhere, sipping cold beer on a beach on the other side of the planet? Instead I call you and you agree to catch the first flight out here?'

'Because a good friend asked. That's why.' He answered and Joe could only shake his head in wonder. Even after all these years he could still surprise him. 'But seriously, couldn't you have called Mac for this?'

The oddly matched pair stood at the baggage claim. So far there was just the same three suitcases that always seemed to be left behind whatever airport you found yourself in. 'Retired remember, officially I'm not supposed to even know where he is.'

'Unofficially?'

'Unofficially he's still in that cabin of his. No phone, no power. Word around the Watcher water cooler is he's lost it. I just think he's seen too much evil and needs some time.'

Adam shrugged. 'Sounds possible, but he can't lock himself away like Darius for a couple of dozen centuries. Decade or two maybe. I'll swing by after we're done here and get him drunk. That usually cures most existential crises. Still doesn't answer my question, why not pay him a visit?'

'We need to keep this quiet. That means no cops, no government agency getting wind and no Watchers. Mac coming out of seclusion to take heads would be loud. No one does quiet quite like you my friend.' The sword case came along and Adam picked it up with a familiar ease.

He grinned, 'Well aren't we being crafty, old man.'

'Old man, I can't believe you of all people just called me "old man"!' Joe grinned

Adam, otherwise known as Methos, threw an arm over his shoulder. 'Takes one to know one, buddy. Come, it's getting late. Let's find a hotel and get some rest. Tomorrow we ride!'


Captain Gates threw her glasses on the table. 'Are you telling me you both saw the suspect?'

'Yes, but it couldn't have been.' Kate explained. 'She didn't have a scratch on her.'

'Unless she was working with Nelson. Your report says it was his shots that took her down. Supposedly took her down.'

Kate caught her temper just in time. 'Captain, she attacked us. I've never seen anything like it. I put a round in her chest myself, she just kept coming. If it wasn't for Captain Nelson she would have escaped…'

'She did escape, damn it Beckett!' Gates had been given a desk in the 14th Precinct, with the rest of the officers homeless. Only Kate and her team had anything like a base and that was in the basement of the Old Haunt. How long that lasted was anyones guess. 'Internal Affairs are all over this one Detective. Rodger Nelson has been officially relived of duty and is about ten seconds away from being arrested for aiding and abetting his ex-wife. They're looking for any excuse to pull you and the entire department down with him. Frankly I'm looking for a reason not to throw you to the wolves.' She suddenly looked drained as if the day was finally catching up with her.

Luckily Kate was still riding the adrenalin from the raid and coffee she'd grabbed before being called in 'Captain…'

'Sit. Just sit.' The other woman sighed. 'I'm going to ignore just where Ms Castle has gotten her information. If I'm lucky I'll be able to gloss over that bit if anyone asks. I might even be able to salvage something out of this whole mess, but you need to level with me. I want the whole story. Not what you think I should know, not what you think Ms Castle left out. Everything. Otherwise it would be better for all of us if you left your badge right here.' she tapped on the desk. 'You know who hired these people and you know why.'

Kate sighed herself, she didn't have much choice. If she was ever going to catch Bracken or bring him to justice she needed her badge. 'My mother was murdered Captain. The officers that investigated just filed it as her begin in the wrong time, wrong place, but I could never understand why she was there. I became a cop to stop it from happening again. Happening to someone else, so that no other little girl would have to open a door and see a policeman instead of their mother.' She felt her voice brake but pushed on. 'It still wasn't enough though. When I got access to the records the first thing I did was find that closed case and crawled inside. There was nothing, no leads, no inconsistencies. Open and shut, just like they said. It was just too clean, but back then all I could see was that no one had been brought to justice. Captain Montgomery found me there one night. I told him it just didn't add up and he told me… he told me to keep digging. So I did. I dug until it almost destroyed me and still found nothing.'

'I didn't get anywhere until Castle. I don't know where he found it or what favours he had to pull but he got the autopsy report to someone. Another coroner for a second opinion. It wasn't some random mugging, or a hit and run. It was a hit, someone hired a professional. My mother was close to something, something big.'

'Senator William Bracken.' Gates supplied.

'He was DA at the time. As crooked as they came and untouchable even then. He found out a group of police officers were kidnapping mobsters then ransoming them back to the families. Keeping them off the streets and making a tidy profit in the process. Along the way an undercover agent got killed. The officers framed a two bit hood and tried to sweep it under the carpet but Bracken found out about that to. He got there first, got all the evidence needed and used it to blackmail them. He's been using the money since to help fund his political ambitions.'

Taking a deep breath Kate tried to keep her voice level as she continued. 'That is when my mother got involved. She was a lawyer, a good one, and she believed everyone had the right to a fair trial. If someone was guilty she made sure they were charged right. Not for something they didn't do. Innocent, she wouldn't stop until the guilty party was found and punished. She was working the hood's case, the one that was framed. It didn't take her long to find out about the kidnappings, the murder and then the blackmail.'

Gates sat back. 'If she'd discovered the truth about Bracken's little side business, while he was still DA he'd have been disgraced, his political ambitions in ruins.'

Kate nodded. 'He was already planning to get into the White House. He couldn't let her uncover him. Bracken used the money he had extorted to pay for a killer. He paid someone to walk up behind… to…'

Gates, thankfully, saw Kate was struggling and jumped in. 'If you know all this, why have you not arrested him yet?'

Kate shook her head, this was what she was afraid of. 'The officer's involved in the kidnappings, the ones being blackmailed. They were keeping things buried all that time. When one of them, Raglan, tried to point me in the right direction Bracken hired another hit man to take him out. That man was Lockwood, he was coming after me too, until Montgomery stopped him. Maddox, the man that shot me in the chest, was another one brought in to finish the job. Captain, Bracken is a ruthless, amoral, sociopath with political, military and mercenary connections we can't begin to touch. Until today I've been threatening to go public with what little proof I have. It's not enough to get a conviction but it is keeping him away.

'Castle thinks he was trying to kill two birds with one stone this morning. Take out me and my team, then, at the same time, build a platform to rally the voters around.'

Gates agreed. 'He's defiantly getting what publicity he can out of it, being the one presidential candidate in town. I thought he was just being opportunistic.' she frowned again. 'That just leaves one question. Why not go to the press now?'

'We don't have anything solid to tie him to the bombing. Just an MO.'

'I mean with your mother's murder. Surely you have something more concrete on him. Otherwise, if he's willing to level a police building to kill one person, why would he let you live this long?'

This was it, this was the moment Kate knew was coming for years. 'Montgomery. He was one of the kidnappers. If I take Bracken down like that he'll pull the whole precinct down with him. We'll all be under suspicion for the rest of our careers, like Captain Nelson. More than that. Montgomery's wife and son. They don't know anything about this. Roy Montgomery saved my life Captain Gates. Lockwood was there for me and he… and he…' She couldn't hold it back any longer. Kate cried. She wanted to stop. To keep a brave face on it but she couldn't. Not any more.

Gates waited, giving her time to finish before pulling out a box of paper tissues. 'I wish you came to me with this earlier, but in your position I wouldn't know who to trust either. I assume you've got copies of what evidence you have stored securely?'

'We each have our own places Captain, I know Castle has a few, including a flash drive stashed in the spine of one of his books.' She lied. He did have one there, but he'd moved it months ago when his argument that, as it was the first place they'd think of looking that made it the last place they actually would stopped making sense. Kate trusted her superior officer, but not enough for this.

Gates stood up, and walked around the small room before coming to a stop on the other side of her chair and resting her hands on it's back. 'It's been a long day Detective. With Internal Affairs taking over the Hennesly part of this case and Millhill taking credit, loudly, for the bombing our involvement in this is done. The 12th's workload is being spread between the remaining Precincts, most of my officers too. I've been told, unofficially, that as of tomorrow the 12th might no longer exist.'

'Captain…' Kate asked.

'I'm officially putting you and your team on leave, tonight while I still can. Get some rest. Tomorrow just kick back, relax, take up a hobby.'

'Captan I don't have a hobby. The 12th was… is my life.' Kate was on her feet too, she had to get her superior to understand. 'Isn't there anything you, anything I can do? Maybe Castle can call the mayor…'

'You're not listening Detective. You already have a hobby and your team will be with you. Now first thing in the morning I'm going to go straight to the Chief of Police, to argue that my Precinct needs to be put back in action. I will be out of touch for the next few days, so you are on your own.'

Kate's jaw dropped and she realised what was happening. She was giving her what she needed. Permission. She was free to take down Bracken. 'Thank you, sir.' With that she turned to leave.

'Oh, Detective. Do me one favour, warn me before you make your move.'

'You got it' She grinned. Bracken was at last, finally going to pay for what he'd done.


Alexis woke up early, with the sun shining though the slit of a window. After a long moment she got out of bed and looked around her tiny apartment. It was only three small rooms, four if you counted the kitchen. If you could call a microwave and a sink crammed in a corner a kitchen. Still it was hers.

Pi had moved out a couple of days ago and there wasn't one thing to tell people he'd ever been here at all. Not that there was much when he was there, other than the piles of discarded clothes. That was his way, drifting through life and going with the flow of things. The thought she loved that about him. His care free attitude, easy smile and the way nothing bothered him. He just sort of floated around life, living each day as it came.

She was the one that made decisions, that thought about tomorrow and the day after. At first she thought it was a perfect fit, but as time went on nothing changed. They didn't argue, you couldn't when some agreed with everything you said. Pi didn't think, didn't seem to care, about anyone. Not himself and, Alexis realised eventually, not her.

Even suggesting they take a break he just shrugged, said okay and left. Not packing so much as collecting his debris. When they moved in together she thought that would break her heart. As it was she just felt tired and not just a little disappointed.

Heading into the toilet, with it's cramped basin and mirror she shook her head. Things had really changed over the last few days. Pi moving out, the bombing and finally telling her father about what she could do. It was just so much to take on board right now. She smiled at herself. 'I wish I could just click my heels and vanish to Oz.'

As soon as she said it Alexis felt light headed. It only lasted moment, then it was like when you're drifting asleep and your leg jolts you awake. Suddenly she wasn't in her tiny, cheap, one bedroom apartment. She was standing barefoot on an island beach.

It was a dream, it had to be. She must have fainted. Alexis pinched the back of her hand and felt it. It felt all too real, the sand was still warm from the freshly set sun. The sky above was a shade of blue slightly lighter than night and the stars were just beginning to show. A beautiful full moon shin down like a silver penny, It's deep craters making it appear almost tarnished. The smell of salt water on the breeze and the gentle lapping of the waves.

There was just too much detail to be a dream. Even the refreshing cold of sea water between her toes as the tide slowly came in. 'Wha..'

'Hello?' a voice came from behind her and Alexis spun.

It was an attractive woman, she was in her late twenties, early thirties and had a mass of brown hair on her head. What scared Alexis was she hadn't felt them, they were a total blank to her and her abilities.

Stumbling Alexis fell backwards, landing not in the sea like she half expected, but her own apartment. The sand still sticking to her feet.

She didn't think she could get dressed fast enough.


Jade teleported in to the house. 'Whoa there, hold on. Where's the fire?' Megabyte asked practically running to her.

'Adrian, is he here?'

'Sure, in the living room. What's up?' her boyfriend asked, but she didn't have time to answer. He guessed as much and stuck close.

In the living room Adrian was reading a book, but he already knew she was coming. 'Jade, what's the matter?'

'I saw her, our mystery Tomorrow Person! I saw her!' She burst out. That got everyones attention.

'Where?' 'Was it a Psychic vision?' they both asked at once.

She shook her head. 'It was on the Island, she teleported there, but I don't think she meant to. She was gone before I could talk to her.'

'Did you get her name?' Megabyte prodded. 'Where she's from.'

Jade could only shake her head. 'She was too shocked and too closed off. I think she tried to scan me, but it was more instinct than anything else.'

'When was this, just now?' Adrian asked standing up.

Jade nodded. 'You felt something?'

'Just a flash of fear.' He frowned, like he was remembering something. 'You saw her, what did she look like?'

He was intent, a lot more than Jade was used to coming from the artist. 'She was pale, willowy. Tall and thin, but not sick thin you know. Very pretty, with beautiful red hair.' She described the girl. As she did Adrian's face went blank.

'Hey, whats wrong?' Megabyte asked. The two of them had practically adopted Adrian shortly after he completely broke out a few years earlier. Dead mom and a dad that really didn't deserve the title. He'd spent most of his teenage years bouncing from relative to relative, never quite fitting in due to his telepathic powers manifesting so early. Since becoming a full Tomorrow Person he'd found a home and an extended family with them.

He didn't answer her at first, just grabbing his sketchbook. He quickly flicked to the back and showed it to her. There, roughly drawn a number of times, was the same woman she'd seen not five minutes earlier. 'Wait, you know her?' Megabyte frowned.

'I've known her all my life.' He said wistfully. 'Alexis. Her name's Alexis… something. She lives in New York, she did when we were kids at least, probably still does.'

Jade and Megabyte silently asked a question, of course he heard it. 'I don't know. She's just always was. My best imaginary friend, whenever I needed her she was there.' There was something in Adrian's voice. he was worried about her.

'Wait, if you've known her all your life how come you didn't think of her before?' Megabyte asked.

Adrian shook his head. 'Because she was never real before. She was always my imaginary friend. I never imagined after all these years she could be real. Like you and me.'

'She is real, I've seen her and she's one of us. Now we know where.' Jade told the pair of them. 'We'll find her, Adrian. She'll be alright.'

End Chapter Seven