Let me know what you think about all this. Please. And if you want to offer an opinion on what happens next, do so. Thanks for everything guys. Love you all 3 ALWAYS

Chapter 10

Kate woke with a start and tears in her eyes. She continued to lay down and just sob. She hugged her stomach and couldn't let go. In an instant, Jackson was there, pulling her up and into his open arms. She didn't hesitate to be wrapped up in him. He felt so familiar and she knew it was because he was Rick's father. She could hold a part of Rick, the kind that felt like him. She clung to his shirt and gripped him tight. She refused to let go. She was with him, she kissed him, and she knew he was still fighting but what she saw in the shadows scared her even more. Smith, he was dead. Or at least that's how he looked to her. Her tears continued to fall and her sobs were so loud she couldn't hear Jackson talking to her. She tried to shut her mouth.

"It will be ok Kate. I promise, we'll get our Ricky back. I promise you. Please, it will be ok." His words seemed so little but yet, it did the trick.

"Ok." She pulled back from him a little, his arms stilled wrapped around her. "It's just I saw him. And please don't think I'm crazy. I saw him and kissed him and it wasn't a dream. I know it wasn't because his tears, his tears were in my mouth. They weren't my own." She observed his eyes, searching for any hint of disbelief. There wasn't any. "You believe me?"

"Yes. Because I was with you. When you found out, I somehow saw you. But no one else saw me or heard me. I saw you look at the car. And then I knew something bad happened. So I started an investigation. I wanted to come to you sooner but I needed to give you time. And I wasn't sure but I hoped that you wouldn't believe that he was dead. I saw it all Kate."

Her pupils dilated and stared right into his. "What do you mean you saw it?" With this she withdrew from his grip. She scooted a little further from him on the couch and pulled the little blanket back over her.

"I was coming to surprise you and Rick when I saw this black car getting awfully close to his car and then I saw Rick pull over to let them pass but that's not what happened. Instead, two men got out and dragged him out of the car, tossing him into the car. And then another man got in Rick's car and crashed it. So I knew that he was taken." He watched her horror stricken face. "Please don't look at me like that. I wanted to make sure I had a hand in this before coming to you." He tried to grab her hands but she slid off the couch and pulled down on her sweater just in case.

"Keeping secrets must come in the family." She flashed back to the time when Rick kept Smith a secret from her. "I can't believe you did that. Jackson, I was hurting and I needed someone to believe me besides Alexis." Kate shook and then her anger boiled up. "How dare you! Do you know what we're going through?! No! I, I needed this… and you, you just sat on it…" She just kept shaking her head and when he wrapped his arms around her back, she pushed him off.

"I know more than you…" But he didn't get to finish that sentence because she punched him across his face. She saw a little blood trickle from his mouth and she didn't feel bad.

"How does that feel? Imagine that in your heart. That's how I've been feeling. And no one was there to hold me. I sent my dad home because face it, he won't get it. He will think that this is just a repeat…" She couldn't continue on with her words because just thinking of her mom, made her heart ache. Sure Bracken got what was coming, as did Simmons, he was dead, but there was that small part of her that will never get over losing her.

"Kate, nice punch. Hell of a punch but you aren't mad at me. But if punching me helps… then I'm glad you got the chance to. But listen to me. You don't know that I know more than you about all of this. Trust me."

She laughed. "Trust you? You think you know more when I've dealt with this man more than once. He almost killed a friend and my Rick." She stopped because the first time she came across this man, he tied Rick up, then Rick wasn't hers. "And then he came back and messed with my friends and then he came after Rick. He came after my whole world, he almost took Rick from me and then I couldn't do a damn thing. And then he almost killed me because of Rick and then I thought we got rid of him. Rick saved me that day, like he has been saving me everyday since I've met him. That first day… He saved me then and he keeps doing that. And now, I have to save him. It's my turn. We have been through so much together and we, together, have dealt with this guy and now… I can't do anything. I'm helpless." This time she let him hold her. She felt a pain in her head and knew that it was because she had decided to get wasted.

"You aren't helpless. If you have visited him, then close your eyes and think of everything that you saw." His hands gripped her arms, loosely, just making sure she didn't fall down.

But thinking of what she saw, she saw Smith, dead. She didn't want to see that again. Especially in detail. He watched her shudder at the thought of closing her eyes and knew that she would tell him, that he couldn't pry. She gripped her head and he laughed.

"Hangover headache. I got something for you. Don't ask what's in it. Just drink." He handed her his own concoction and she immediately took a big gulp. And she winced a little.

"Ugh. That was dumb of me huh? I shouldn't have drank so much, I need to have a clear head and instead I get wasted." She sat on top of the island and ignored the fact that her sweater hung off both of her shoulders. "I'm sorry but I had no idea you were coming. And I felt so useless. I know Tyson has him but I didn't know Smith was involved until I saw him dead."

Jackson leaned in front of her. The closeness felt a little intimate to her but he was just trying to comfort her in any way he could. She let him lean in.

"What do you mean Smith is dead?" Jackson thought about what he had learned about Smith from the man himself. But he must have not been on Tyson's side if he is dead. Smith gave in which means they don't have much time. "Tell me everything you saw."

"I saw Rick lying in blood, with his eyes closed and…" She didn't tell him what Rick said because that was for her not him. "And then well, I hugged him. I saw a shadow on the floor and when I really looked, it was Smith, dead. He wasn't moving or anything and the door was locked, it had to be otherwise Rick would have ran some more. There was a desk with a ledger with all these numbers and a window and I could smell the river. The light coming in didn't offer much light. There had to be electricity. A light flickered. And that's all. I was too focused on Rick and being with him." She blushed at just the memory of her kiss with him. It felt so good and real. She didn't even know she saw that much. She hadn't thought much about anything except touching and being with Rick. If she had more time, she probably would have begged for more.

"That's a lot to go by Kate, you did great." His warm palm wrapped up her cheek and he leaned in and kissed her on her head. But his hand still rested on her cheek. She turned her head into it and smiled.

"You feel warm. And you remind me so much of Rick, sure you don't have the same touch but… could you hold me for a minute?" Her big brown eyes, in this light, stared at him and silently pleaded. She needed this.

"Of course." He dropped his hand and pulled her body against his chest. He rubbed her back and she kept her legs from wrapping around him. He wasn't Rick and even though it felt nice to be held by a part of him, it wasn't the real thing and she had to keep telling her drunk self that it wasn't Rick. No, it's Jackson. She pulled back and only saw Rick though. Jackson saw the look of desire in her eyes and ripped himself from her.

Her head shook and she felt herself blush. "Oh my gosh. I wanted to kiss you. What's wrong with me?" She slid from the counter and began to pace around the kitchen.

"Kate, it's ok. You're drunk and I have similar features. You weren't going to kiss me, you wanted to kiss Rick. And that's ok." He didn't try to touch her but instead opened the door leading to the ocean. The moon hung high in the sky and he just stared into the open space.

Kate left him alone and headed upstairs to check on Alexis. The note was torn from the door and ripped to shreds. Kate lightly knocked on the door and it was opened a little. So she stepped inside and saw Alexis sitting cross legged on her bed and saw scattered pictures all over her bed. At the door opening, Alexis turned to Kate and saw that her eyes looked like they were permanently stained red. She looked like a wisp of air rather than an actual person.

"Hey Alexis. Why didn't you come downstairs. Jackson's here and well…" She stopped when she saw that Alexis wasn't saying a thing but just staring at her. "What's going on? You look like, like how I feel. Hollow."

"I don't care about anything anymore. Look, look how happy we were." She picked up a picture of Rick holding Alexis as a baby. "I keep all my copies here. Incase I need them to look at. And look at this one." It was one of Kate looking at Rick, pure love in her eyes. Except Kate hadn't been with Rick then.

She snatched the picture out of Alexis's hands. "When did you take this?" But Kate knew when. It was after the bank robbers held Rick hostage. Martha had her over for dinner and they were toasting and he wasn't looking at her yet but she was sure looking at him.

"I was coming down the stairs and saw you two and snapped a photo, I love this one. I love it because this is when you both still denied your feelings for each other and I had proof that you both were madly in love with the other. Look at this one." Alexis held another secret pic of them. But in this one, Rick was looking at Kate. This was after the whole serial killer thing when her place was blown up and she stayed at Casa de' Castle. He looked at her like she was the whole world. "I snapped it, once again coming down the stairs. He looks at you the way I wish a guy looked at me."

Kate was shocked, sure she knew he was attracted to her but all along, he had felt feelings of love. Alexis had proof. Alexis knew all along and she did nothing.

"Why didn't you say something?" She was shocked.

"And ruin destiny? Karma is a bitch and I am not messing with her. Plus, it was going to happen, when it was meant to. Come and sit down. I have tons of amazing pictures." Alexis cleared a spot for her to sit and they spent the remainder of the night, flipping through happier times of the Castle clan. She was so surprised to see pictures of her in Alexis's family album. But she knew that whether she planned on it or not, she was and had always been part of their family. She just couldn't wait till it was in print. Mrs. Castle was all she wanted at the moment. Alexis never brought up Jackson and Kate was ok with that. She was sure she wanted to deal with all that, with a clear head.

They didn't know when they put away the pictures but they fell asleep, side by side in Alexis's bed. And when Alexis scooted closer to her, Kate smiled in her sleep. It didn't matter anymore that they were stuck with so little. They knew within their hearts, that he would come back. It was just a matter of time.

She remembered one last time what she saw and in this dream, she saw one more thing. A logo. But her head hurt too much to decipher. In the morning, all would begin again, in the morning.