CH9

It is now one month later:

227853 spells CASTLE using the numbers on your phone. Snowman1701 was the first to send the correct answer. Everyone give a hand to Snowman1701!

No i don't mean cut yours off and mail it to him. I in no way suggested such a thing.

Are you reading this NSA? I suggested no such thing.

ISIS, there I'll bet your reading it now.

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Kate was with Castle out on what had become the main fishing boat. They were a little ways out with Castle going just fast enough to mimic being a fish, a fish in distress to more precise. They were shark fishing.

Castle was way up high piloting from where he could see everything while Kate was down on the deck strapped into the chair with a really large fishing pole in its holder between her legs.

Kate had argued that she didn't know anything about fishing, except for the lake fishing that her dad had taught her, and she also had no skill at driving a boat. Sooo, here she was sitting in the chair waiting to put her muscles to use, if they got something.

They had already dumped free food and blood over the side from the pig that they were still nursing taking parts and pieces out of the freezer, however it was time for a change. Some of the eggs had hatched into little chicks and their chicken coop was getting fuller, but having chicken was out for at least several more weeks while the chicks grew up.

Kate was just sitting there staring out into the ocean while keeping an eye on her rod and reel.

They had talked with Andy in Alaska every week so far this month, and so far nothing much had changed. Japan was still clean as was every island he had heard about. With Andy's help they had even talked with a ham radio operator in England themselves who told them the same thing.

They also had a lot of people who had escaped Europe by boat living in the British Isles in large tent cities set up by the government.

The British Navy and Air Force were constantly patrolling the channel looking for survivors or ready to blow anyone infected out of the water.

They had learned that the military had done it's best to turn peninsula's into islands to protect the locals and if you already were an island you were likely safe from infection. Now they just had to worry about food and other necessities.

The military's of the world were actually talking to each other for a change and working on plans on how to rescue anyone on the mainland and get them onto an island, or get them further north where it was cold and the infected didn't go.

Kate had also been talking with Montgomery and her father weekly so far. Roy had turned the precinct into a safe haven, complete with lots of food taken from grocery stores and restaurants. Sleeping bags and camping equipment from sporting goods stores. Appliances to store the food from other stores.

They even had a home heating oil truck along with two tankers filled with gasoline.

They had created heavily armed patrols along with convoys of police cruisers to help keep the peace.

The precinct was practically bursting at the seams with people. It was more than just her father and Martha that had been taken in. There were whole families living behind its walls now. Roy had even raided a couple of gun stores and cleaned them out before the gangs got to them. The less the gangs had the better it would be for them.

Sand bags on the roof with with look outs and snipers up there watching for anything.

Kate had even learned that one of the other precincts had cleared out of their old building and had fortified the local hospital and had done what Roy had done and then some.

Entrances were blocked by cars that didn't have tires anymore. Their gas tanks and all be sucked dry of fuel and stored for the hospitals emergency generator. Hearing that had gotten Roy to bring in those little Honda generators and get them spread out on all the floors for if or when the power went out.

The hospital parking lot had lots of cars and they were all searched and sucked dry over the last month.

And Kate was missing all of this. This was her job, or at least it used to be.

Kate was still full of self pity about running away with the Castle's. She was a cop damn it, not a survivalist. Not that the Castle's were either so much. Castle's idea of starting up his company just simply had good timing, and his natural paranoia was the reason they had weapons.

Their second day here they had spent as much time as it took to load all of the clips with ammunition, including the five 100 round drums for the Tommy Gun. A gun Kate was still itching to fire. They may have 8,000 rounds of ammunition, its just they didn't know if or when they would ever get more, so Kate refrained herself.

Even out here Kate had her service weapon and Rick had his SIG, along with a couple of spare clips. Better safe than sorry.

Kate was still going over her last conversation with her father in her mind when the fishing rod started screaming at her. "We got something!" Kate yelled out and grabbed the pole and let the line play out a little till she was sure whatever it was they had was fully hooked. Only then did she start the laborious task of reeling in whatever it was.

Castle was doing what he could to maneuver the boat to prevent whatever it was from getting under them and help Kate reel it in.

It turned out that Kate's yoga sessions had come in handy, she was standing next to Castle sweating and breathing heavy while they looked down at their catch at the stern of the boat, after it had finally stopped thrashing around.

"Tiger shark I think." Castle offers up. It was actually not a bad size one either.

"You can really cook and eat this thing?" Kate stared at him, still not convinced.

"Honestly?" Castle asks looking at Kate stare at him. "I've never gone shark fishing before or cooked one of even gutted one." Castle tried on his best 'please don't shoot me' face, since Kate had threatened countless time that she was going to do just that one of these days.

"So what do we do with it?" Kate really was ready to shoot him. It had taken her a lot of time to reel this damn thing in and she knew she was going to pay for it with sore muscles later. And here was Castle telling her he didn't know what to do with it.

"I said I'd never done it before, not that I didn't have a video on my laptop on how to gut it or cook books telling me how to cook it. …. We'll be fine. Trust me." Castle was smiling. There was a shark in his boat and they had caught it. How cool was that?

Castle was tying the boat to the dock as Kate watched Alexis jog down to greet them. It had Kate smiling, she really was an amazing young woman. It made Kate even more proud of her after all Alexis had been through growing up without a mother.

Castle, Kate was learning was the exact opposite of her. "What'd you catch?" Alexis was smiling. Thinking they had surely caught something.

"Castle thinks its a tiger shark." Kate pointed out the shark that was already out of the cooler that was built into the boat and ready to be picked up.

They had left the quad with the trailer attached on the dock so they could get it over to the storage building where Castle was going to gut it, before slicing it into pieces and then into bags using the vacuum system before going into the freezer.

The three of them had their catch into the trailer with Castle driving it up to the storage building while Kate and Alexis went into the house to get the two vacuum bag systems ready.

"Ever had shark before?" Kate asks, hoping these two knew it was tasty, only to watch Alexis shake her head.

Great they were all about to be guinea pigs. Marvelous!

"Oh there is one more thing we need to do before we can package and freeze it." Alexis points out and it has Kate following Alexis out to the storage building.

Alexis grabs a large round tub that Kate thought looked like a kiddie pool and helped her get it over to Castle and filled it with water. "What's this for?" Kate asks.

"We need to soak the shark pieces for a few hours first, since sharks pee through their skin." Alexis points out with Kate watching Castle grinning wide.

Kate didn't say a thing, however her idea of eating shark just took a major hit.

Still Kate helped Alexis put steaks in bags, vacuum out all the air and move them into the freezer. Kate also watched Castle place three steaks into a container to marinate them and place them into the refrigerator. That was followed by watching Castle chop three of the steaks into little pieces and place them on skewers along with some vegetables that had come from their little greenhouse.

Kate had already helped them move all of the vegetables that were ripe from the greenhouse and into the freezer for later.

Kate and Alexis were lounging later in the day drinking one of the cold drinks they had brought up from the store and were watching Castle cook their shark kabobs on the grill.

They were finally sitting at the outdoor table feeling the wind starting to kick up as Kate cut her shark piece into a smaller piece and took a deep breath, before placing it in her mouth. All set to make a nasty face and spit it out and start yelling at Castle.

Instead Kate opened her eyes wide. It was a touch chewy, but not overly so, and while it was an overly used cliché, it tasted a lot like chicken. Just not soft mouth watering chicken. "You get to live Castle." Kate tells him as she finishes off her dinner.

However they were soon picking up everything and running inside when it started raining.

It was an hour later as all three of them were standing at the open back patio door having turned off the A/C units and watching it continue to rain, feeling the breeze blowing through the house.

"Hurricane?" Kate asks, watching the wind blow as it rains heavily.

"Not yet, doesn't mean there isn't one out there though. Let's hope it doesn't decide to pass all that close to us." Castle offers a silent prayer.

"Where are you going Castle?" Kate watches Castle walk outside into the rain.

"It's been a long time since I've had fun dancing outside in the rain." Castle offers as he starts spinning round shuffling his feet in the mini pools of water that were forming on the back patio. "Come on Beckett, let your hair down, have some fun."

Beckett was sure she wasn't going out there and making a fool of herself, it also brought to mind that she hadn't had her hair cut in a little over a month now and it was getting longer.

A soaking wet Castle wearing only a long leg swimsuit had all of Kate's attention, watching the water cascade off of his body, only to suddenly watch Castle coming at her with a determined look on his face.

"Come on Beckett, pretend your young again. Didn't you go down the street stomping your feet in all the water puddles you came across." And Castle had a hold of one of her hands with one of his and Alexis's hand in his other and was using his strength, bulk and weight to pull both of them outside and into the rain.

It only took a few minutes for Alexis to be running around in the rain, cooling off with her head held back, mouth open wide and her tongue out catching the rain.

Kate however was standing there with Castle still holding her hand, wishing she could get out of the rain and back inside where it was dry.

Kate soon however found Castle had let go of her allowing her to make a run for the inside again so she could search for a towel, when suddenly a massive amount of water hit her in the back.

Kate twisted round to see Castle standing there grinning wide holding a bucket that was likely empty now. "CASTLE! … WHAT THE HELL!" If Kate had her gun on her she would shoot him.

"You're wet Kate, have a little fun." Castle took the bucket that had a little water in it again and launched it at Kate.

It was an hour later and a seriously laughing Kate, along with a happy Alexis and Castle were stepping back inside the house and headed for a bathroom in search of towels to dry off with.

Kate was standing in her bedroom with a towel around her as she used another to dry her long hair as she looked at the smiling person that was in her mirror, not recognizing the person that was in it.

Who was she and what had she done with the Kate Beckett that she knew?

Kate literally bumped into Alexis as she exited her bedroom. They had both changed into a different bikini and had a different wrap around their waists. "Sorry." Kate offers an apology and both of them head into the living room.

Kate was standing at the back patio door watching it still raining heavy with a little wind while Alexis was searching the DVD cabinet for a movie to watch.

Alexis however was stealing glances at Kate. It had taken work but the steely looking Kate still had a big smile on her face when Alexis had bumped into her outside Kate's bedroom. It looked good on her. Alexis knew she had a serious job and it had Alexis wondering just when was the last time Kate had, had any fun.

They had a volleyball net, a basketball hoop down next to the store along with a couple of soccer balls. Even a badminton set around here somewhere. They even had a few board games that they could try.

Rick caught Alexis staring at Kate deep in thought when he suddenly showed up next to her to help pick out a movie to watch.

Rick ended up on one end of the sofa, Kate on the other end and Alexis in the middle who was holding the bowl of popcorn. It was microwave popcorn compliments of one of the many boxes in the pantry, so the entire house smelled of popcorn.

Kate was minding her own business taking a handful of popcorn and eating one at a time from her hand when a popcorn kernel showed up suddenly in her lap. Kate simply figured she had dropped it, so picked it up and popped it in her mouth.

Only to have several more show up one after the other. "CASTLE!" Kate warned him, only to have another kernel show up moments later. "Cut it out Castle."

"You're not armed at the moment Beckett." Castle counters, only to have a handful of popcorn show up in his lap part of which went right back at Beckett.

Alexis meanwhile just sat there eating popcorn and ignored these two.

The movie was over and the popcorn bowl was empty and Alexis got up to retrieve the DVD to put it away before going to her room. "You two are cleaning up your mess on your own. … Night dad." Alexis hugs and kisses her father. "Night Kate." Alexis simply waves at Kate.

"Good night Alexis." Kate answers back.

"Clean up your mess Castle. … Where are you going!?" Kate watched him walk away. If he was leaving her behind to clean up all the popcorn that was lying around he was going to be sadly mistaken.

However Castle was soon back with one of those mini dust busters, turned it on and had his side clean of popcorn kernels in seconds. Castle just smiled and walked away again, leaving Kate to pick up her side by hand.

"He's going to pay for that." Kate mumbled to herself while she took her kernels to the trash can.

Castle was still grinning when they ended up meeting at the hallway leading to the bedrooms. Kate however glared at him and went into her room without talking to him. "Night Beckett." Castle offers at his door.

Kate slipped into the one and only sleep shirt that she had. She had so little here. Everything was theirs and she was using it. Kate was happy to go fishing, because it meant she was contributing something. If she couldn't be a homicide detective, she would be something else.

Kate went to sleep listening to it rain and woke in the morning listening to it rain. Kate was up and looking out the window. The sun wasn't up just yet and maybe it never would since it was still raining hard.

Kate was in the bathroom washing herself off using a washcloth with there was a knock on the door leading to Alexis's room. "I'll be out in a moment." Kate yells out.

"Take a shower if you want Kate, it's rained all night and looks like it's going to rain all day, so we have the water." Alexis counters.

That had Kate stepping out of the shower feeling clean with her hair clean too for a change. She felt so much better now. Kate tapped on a brief amount of make-up because she only had what she had brought with her and talking with Alexis she had very little too.

Kate was out of the bathroom as quickly as possible to give Alexis a chance to use it. Slipping on one of her now three bikini's to chose from, a wrap around her waist and her flip flops and she was ready to greet the day. It was raining so she got to skip lathering on a thick layer of sunscreen everywhere.

Stepping into the living Kate got another surprise, Castle was in the kitchen cooking. He was never up this early. "Castle?" Kate greeted him while sitting at the breakfast bar.

"Morning Beckett." Rick offers. "Like some breakfast?" Castle had noticed that Kate didn't always eat breakfast.

"Yes please, thanks." Kate watched him work. The chicks were growing up fast. It was coming up on 5 weeks and they were fast approaching the size of their parents. A few weeks from now and they might be able to have chicken instead of pork and shark. And likely have even more eggs to work with.

They were trapped indoors all day since it never did stop raining and they were on their third movie of the day and Kate had given up doing nothing and was asleep while leaning up against Alexis.

Alexis for her part was chuckling internally that Kate couldn't stay awake. Even if she did have to admit it was a boring day, listening to it rain. "Maybe we should put her to bed dad." Alexis offers.

Rick moved the coffee table first so he could move in and pick Kate up. With a little help from Alexis Rick had Kate in his arms who quickly Hummmed and leaned her head into Rick and even snuggled her head into his neck.

Rick felt Kate reach up to hold onto him as he lowered her down onto her bed forcing Rick to remove the grip she had on him. Getting Rick to wish he could just lay down onto the bed with her, however he knew she would hurt him when she woke up, plus how would he explain it to his daughter.

It did however allow Rick to look down on her as she twisted and grabbed a pillow to hang onto instead. She really was a truly beautiful woman and he was learning more about her the longer she stayed here.

He was still standing there staring at her when Alexis cleared her throat, getting Rick to jump out of his skin having been caught staring at Kate.

Alexis was grinning wide while following her dad back out into the living room.

They were both standing at the back patio door looking out into the darkness listening to it rain. They still had all the doors and windows open allowing a breeze to flow through.

"I hope it keeps raining dad, we could use the water." Alexis comments having gone down to look for herself. This storm was actually a good thing, even if it was annoying and keeping them trapped inside.

"We're going to need to inspect all of the tents if it keeps raining much longer after it finally stops." Rick had never seen the island after getting this much rain, let alone if it kept raining.

And check the plane, Alexis added to herself. One of the boats could reach Key West or even Miami, however travel by plane would be better. They just needed a runway to land on, free of infected naturally.

"I'm going to bed pumpkin, don't stay up too late." Rick hugged Alexis and kissed her head and walked for his bedroom. "And peek in on Beckett before you do." Rick adds over his shoulder.

Alexis remained to stare out into the dark and listened to it rain. It had been a whole month and she had gotten to talk with Martha each week that they phoned into the precinct, however she was missing her old life. Having the world turned upside down on her life.

Was there even a college for her to attend anymore? What choices did she have now?

Alexis shuffled her feet to her bedroom and went to bed.

Kate woke up in the middle of the night and could still hear it raining outside. She found herself still dressed in her bikini that she had worn all day, and she was in bed not knowing how she got here.

Kate decided to wash and maybe brush her teeth and get a drink of water and go back to bed. At least that was the plan until she made it into the bathroom and heard sniffling coming through the open door leading to Alexis's bedroom.

It got Kate to find Alexis curled up in bed who was obviously crying. This got Kate to kneel down and face Alexis. "Alexis, what's wrong?" Kate whispers out only to see Alexis shake her head.

Kate was seeing the first crack in Alexis's armor and was seeing the little girl that was Alexis leaking out. Kate didn't think Alexis was going to talk to her, at least not tonight. "Scoot over sweetie." Kate gave her a slight push getting Alexis to move more to the center of the bed and watched as Kate climbed into bed with her and spooned herself in behind Alexis and wrap an arm around her, holding Alexis in tight to her.

Kate stroked Alexis's hair and started humming a tune that her mother used to sing to her when she was little, sad and couldn't get to sleep. If it helped her, maybe it would help Alexis.