A Future Caskett

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: You know this by now, right? Rating: K Time: See below.

A month later Kate woke up in a strange bedroom. After a split second's panic, she remembered she was in Rick's bed, comforted by silk sheets and down pillows. They had finally been able to make love at Rick's because Alexis was staying with a friend for the weekend.

Kate sat up, stretched and looked around. Then she heard the soft tap-tap of Rick's computer keys. He was busy writing. She headed for the bathroom to get ready for the day.

She was just finishing getting dressed when she heard something. One was the continued tap-tap of the computer while Rick wrote. The other was the sound of pots and pans being moved in the kitchen. She peered out through the wall of books to see Alexis busy making breakfast. For a brief moment Kate thought about hiding in the bathroom until Alexis left. Then she reasoned that Alexis must have heard the noise of the shower and sink. Alexis already knew she was here.

She squared her shoulders and walked out, headed for the kitchen. "Hi, Alexis." She said with a false confidence she definitely didn't feel.

"Hi, Kate. Did you have a good sleep?" The redhead was faced away from her, so Kate wasn't sure how Alexis was taking this.

"Alexis, I know you must be upset with the idea of your father having….relations with someone who's not an Elite, but…"

Alexis faced Kate. "Don't be ridiculous. I couldn't be happier that you and dad aren't sneaking around, having dad come back from your place at four in the morning so that he can try to convince me that he didn't stay with you. Dad is happier than I've ever seen him and he's done more work since he's met you. Gina is normally over here two or three times a month reminding him that another chapter is due, but, miracle of miracles, he's been several chapters ahead for months now." The redheaded girl walked over and hugged Kate. "As far as I'm concerned, you should stay with us forever."

Kate tried to think of something to say, but Alexis' response had been so far from what she had expected, she said nothing.

"Dad is deep in his writing zone, so come with me since it'll take the two of us to get him to eat breakfast. Oh, I made waffles, scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, hash browns and coffee. Grande skim latte with two pumps of sugar free vanilla for you, right?"

Kate could only nod.

Within the next few days, things would happen that would change Rick, Alexis and Kate's life forever, although they wouldn't realize this until much later.

The first began with a phone call.

"Beckett!" Castle called as Kate walked through the front door. "Nobody died today and all the paperwork is caught up? Sit down, I was just making lunch."

"I got a phone call from a hospital in Junktown. Some gangster dying of cancer wants to talk to me about my mom. His name is Josh Davidson. He wants me to come alone."

"Did he say why, or what he wanted to tell you?"

She shook her head. "It was a nurse that called me. All she knew was what Davidson told her. I looked him up. He was a mid-level drug dealer. He did more than sell drugs, he could cook up a lot as well. He was arrested a couple of times and did a couple of years inside."

"You want me to go with you." It wasn't a question.

"If you don't ….Castle, where are you going." She said as Castle headed for his office.

"I'm getting my guns."

Kate rolled her eyes. "You don't need them. He's dying."

"Suppose this is some kind of a plot by someone you put away who wants revenge. Besides, I have a concealed carry permit. I can go armed any time I want."

"Okay, but don't take that .50 caliber cannon. You could get hurt."

"As it happens, Detective Beckett, I've been practicing with my .50 caliber Spencer."

"And?"

There was a brief pause before Castle answered. "I'm not taking the Spencer. I could get hurt."

Kate managed not to laugh.

When He came out of the office, Kate noticed a bulge under his left armpit. "You have your 9 in a shoulder holster?"

He nodded. "And the 6mm Spoletto is in a holster in the small of my back. Shall we go?"

The hospital looked rundown from the outside and they both were sure it would be no better on the inside. There was actually a human being at the parking garage, handing out tickets. Apparently, automation was not due in Junktown for some time.

Leaving the garage, Castle stopped to talk to the parking attendant. "See that car over there?"

The attendant nodded dumbly, probably never having seen a car like it before.

"Whatever happens to that car while I'm gone will happen to you. No matter how fast you run or how far you go, one day you'll look up and I'll be there. Understand?"

The parking attendant nodded.

As they walked away, Kate spoke. "Really, Castle? Using a line from Storm's Quest on the attendant?"

"I've always wanted to use one of Storm's lines. I was just in the moment." He said happily.

"It would have been more impressive if you'd used the line on a hulking brute of an outlaw biker like Storm did and not on a teenaged girl."

"I just couldn't help myself. I'll give her a twenty sovereign tip when we leave."

"Fifty sovereigns. She's probably had to go change her underwear."

"A hundred sovereigns it is."

Josh Davidson was in an open ward with a good twenty other people. It smelled of urine, disinfectant and hopelessness. Davidson had once been a large, powerful man according to his records, but now he had wasted away to a shadow of his former self.

"Joshua Davidson? I'm Detective Kate Beckett. This is my friend Richard Castle."

Davidson lifted his head a bit off the pillow to look at them. "Shit! You brought some MSS stooge with you? If you're planning on busting me, I won't last until a trial."

"Mr. Castle is a civilian and a friend of mine. And I'm not going to arrest you. I've looked up your record and I know enough about you, so let's cut the small talk. What do you know about my mother."

Davidson looked at them for a long while. "There's a fifty-fifty chance that I killed your mom."

Kate took a long minute to process that. "What do you mean by a fifty-fifty chance? Either you did or you didn't."

"Some context is in order. Back in the day, I made and sold drugs. They called me "Doc" because I could cure what ailed you. If I couldn't make it, I'd find it for you. My partner was a guy named Eric Vaughn. He handled the money, I supplied the product. We had a really big score, some dumb ass Elite kids wanted some real primo dope. Eric and I went to Finn Roarke's to celebrate. We got pretty wasted and decided to finish off the night with your mom. Er, if you didn't know…"

"I know how my mother kept her job. You don't need to spell it out for me."

"We got into an argument about who'd be first. Like I said, we were pretty wasted and somehow we got into a fight and we both pulled our blades. Your mom was the one who got stabbed. I tell you, I don't know which one of us did it."

"What about this Vaughn?" Kate snapped. "Where do I find him?"

"Dead. Long dead. When Vulcan Simmons tried to take over all the drugs, Vaughn wouldn't play ball. Simmons had him iced. I kept my head down and played along until Finn Roarke had Simmons iced."

"When I got out of the Police Academy, I went to see Roarke. He said he knew nothing about my mom's death. The bastard had two police sergeants sitting at the bar with him. He swore he knew nothing. Was he lying?"

Davidson laughed which turned into a long cough. "If you dropped a fork on the floor in his place, Finn Roarke knew about it."

"So, why are you confessing this to me now? You don't look like the type to try to make peace with God or whatever when you're facing death. Why confess to this, now, and to me?"

"I liked your mom. She was a lady, not like the pros you usually got at Roarke's. I asked her to dump your dad and live with me. I told her I'd show her a real good time. She turned me down flat. She said she had a daughter that she was going to get out of Junktown no matter what and shacking up with a drug dealer wasn't going to help. That impressed me. My dad left before I was born and all I was good for to my ma was to go get her some dope. Your mom was the only person I ever met who cared that much for her kid. I just wanted to see how you'd turned out." Davidson smiled. "It looks like you're out of Junktown and headed for the Elite."

Kate leaned over and whispered in Davidson's ear. "I hope you die slowly and in great pain and that you rot in hell for eternity." Then she got up and walked out.

When Kate got back to the car, she noticed that Castle was just coming out of the hospital. She stood there tapping her foot, obviously impatient. "What kept you?" She demanded.

"Nothing. You just walked away awfully quick."

"Let me in then. I have to get on the computer and find out how much of Davidson's story is true. If any."

Kate was busy with the computer when Castle passed the parking attendant.

"No charge, sir. "She said, hiding in her booth.

He took out his wallet and grabbed several bills. He reached out and handed them to the girl. "This is for you. For taking such good care of my car."

"Sir, there's two hundred and fifty sovereigns here." The girl squeaked.

"There is?" Castle pulled out a hundred sovereign bill. "Sorry for short changing you." And off he went.

Kate worked the computer all the way back to Castle's home, and as soon as she walked in, she headed straight for the main computer in Castle's office. Later, Castle made her dinner and took it to her. When he checked an hour later, it was untouched. He decided against interrupting her and took the food back to the kitchen. At nine-thirty he checked on her again. She was sitting staring at the computer.

"Done?" He asked.

She nodded glumly. "I looked everywhere I can think of. Eric Vaughn is dead. Finn Roarke is dead. Vulcan Simmons is dead. The two cops who sat by Roarke while he lied through his teeth to me about my mom are also dead. Everyone else that was connected to Davidson and Vaughn are either dead or on some prison work gang. Like a lot of crims, Davidson and Vaughn didn't have many close friends. I could maybe find some musclehead they used occasionally or some elderly hooker, but what would they know after all these years. I have to conclude that one of my mom's killers is already dead, one is dying and the people who covered it up are dead."

"Do you want dinner?"

Kate looked at her watch. "Is it nine-thirty already? Um, no. I'm really not hungry. I just want to go to bed."

Once in bed, Kate snuggled up against Rick and then began to sob. She sobbed for half an hour. "I'm sorry. I've wanted to confront the men who killed my mom for years and now that I know who they are, there's nothing I can really do to them. I just feel empty." It was then that something that had been at the edge of her consciousness since they left the hospital popped into her mind. "Castle, you can walk as fast as I can. Why did you lag behind?"

"I bribed the nurse to give Davidson less pain killers than he's supposed to get. If I know Junktown hospitals, he's getting the bare minimum already. He will die in considerable pain."

"Thank you."

"It's the least I could do for the woman I love."