This may all not make sense, but I'm going to try to tie the story together soon. Hopefully, the chapter after this will make much more sense.

I hope you all stay with me and thank you for all the feedback.

"Legacy"

Silence. It could become an unnerving thing, making thousands of people uncomfortable, relaxed or a sanctuary for those who need it most. Today, it was a curse.

Jacob Beater rarely got a moment of silence. Between being head of the Division of Lynux and tending to his own home life, he had very little time to himself. Today, he got that chance.

Sitting in his den, he lay back in his comfy chair with a book in his lap and a single dim lamp on the end table beside him. A fire crackled in the fireplace, leaving it to be the only noise – aside from the central air/heating system – in the room. Outside, voices were muffled as they moved passed the den, followed by walking and the obvious sounds of people moving about.

The sudden sound of his cell phone on the table beside vibrating and then ringing, lighting the screen up with a Restricted number popping up caused him to jerk out of his fantasy world. Irritably, he grabbed it and answered it.

"The cat is out of the bag." was the greeting he received by Johanna. He detected the worn-down, defeated emotion in her broken voice.

"What do you mean?" He sat up in his chair, swinging his legs off the foot stool. Placing the phone in the crook of his neck and shoulder, he placed his bookmark in the book and set it on the foot stool. He resumed holding the phone.

"He took off. He'll tell her." She vaguely told him. "My own son betrayed me!"

He started to speak but stilled once he heard a crashing sound in the background. Alarmed, his eyes widened. "Johanna, you're not making sense. Which son and what the hell are you doing? This is not how our game is supposed to play out."

"Justin disappeared. Nate came to me, informing me that he'd left to find their father. Little do they know all three of my children share the same father. After Nate pushed for the answer, I finally got fed up and told him. It's only a matter of time before my reign falls down."

He heard the sound of a gun cocking. "Don't do anything irrational. There's plenty of reasons to not kill yourself."

"What! So you can just kill me for yourself?" Johanna sounded a little drunk. "I don't think so. Besides, good always beats bad."

"We brought our children together for a reason, Johanna." He stated, sternly as he stood, using his hand to make a point. "He's here."

"Xavier." She deduced. "All along, you wanted me to take him." She pointed out, sounding a little more clear-headed.

"He'll be a hell of a lot advanced than his parents. It'll be worth it, trust me." Jake's face transformed into a sinister expression.

"Ah...so the truth comes out." Johanna made the connections. "Nice, Jacob."

"I've learned from the best." Jake complimented.

Unbeknownst to him, she blushed. "You always were my best student."

Hows it going there? was the text message Alexis received an hour later just as she woke up. Yawning and stretching, she had picked up the buzzing phone and, under her still sleep-induced mind, typed a quick response. She could hear singing and walking in the other room. Martha had probably gotten up with Xavier sometime between her father and Kate's departure and just now.

She got out of bed and made her way down the hallway to the youngest Castle's room. There, she saw Martha holding Xavier with one arm and animatedly singing to him, using her free hand as a visual, as she paced back and forth across the room. From Alexis' vantage point, she could see her brother's tiny smile.

Leaning against the door frame, Alexis crossed her arms and produced a warm, free smile. "You know, I would've gotten him." She stated, announcing her presence.

Martha stopped, faltering in both walking and singing. Glancing at her granddaughter, she waved her free hand in a nonsense gesture, turning back to Xavier. "You looked peaceful, and I was already up anyway. Besides, it gave him some grandmother-grandson bonding time. Didn't it?" She cooed.

"Okay." Alexis started.

"Better get dressed, Alexis." Martha advised, to which Alexis gave her a confused look. "I thought we'd take him out and go shopping. Besides, you need a dress for tomorrow's date."

Alexis blushed, slightly embarrassed. In all the chaos, she'd forgotten that she and Wyatt (a guy she met in class) had a date. "Oh, crap."

"Did you forget?" Martha inquired as she walked over to the changing table, where, beside it, was his dresser. She glanced up long enough to see her nod. Shaking her head, she said. "Well, better get ready."

With that, Alexis turned and retraced her steps to her room where she immediately headed to her closet.

Justin gauged his older sister and her boyfriend's reactions to the information they were just given, and he was nervous. Would they accept him like his father seemed to? Will he face his death? Questions of that nature swirled in his mind.

"How long have you known about me?" Kate asked, drawing Justin's attention to the present.

"All of my life. Mom may have changed, but she never forgot her family. You two were always in the back of her minds. She just never spoke about it." He drew quiet, letting that sink in before continuing. "No one can ever just let their pasts go. No matter how much they try."

The emotions betrayed her as they passed over her face. He could tell she was caught between wanting to believe him and still not trusting what he was telling her. Although he felt a little discouraged that she would feel that, he wasn't backing down from the challenge of persuading her to believe him. "That's not true." She finally responded. "I moved on from what kept me from being happy." She said that as she took Castle's hand in her own and looked at him with a confident smile.

"Her 'death' will forever be in the back of your mind, will it not?" He pressed. "Especially with your newborn son." And the atmosphere immediately grew still and cold. Three pairs of eyes stared at him in surprise. He looked at each member, not the least phased by their sudden cold vibe. "What? I know everything. Mom didn't raise fools."

Panicked expressions slid over Kate and Castle. "You leave him alone." Castle growled.

Justin leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. Smugly, he replied. "I'm not the one you should worry about, Mr. Castle."

With looks at one another, the partners disappeared, leaving only roused air behind.

They arrived within a blink of an eye. The apartment was still, aside from the appliances and air/heat unit. Wildly, they took off in opposite directions, searching the large apartment within seconds.

"Oh my God!" Kate said, heart hammering in her chest. "Where are they, Castle?"

Looking just as frantic as she felt, he merely shook his head. At that moment, his phone buzzed, nearly making him jump. Silently, he pulled it out of his pocket only to see he had a text message from Alexis.

Come. Stix.

- JB

Castle slowly looked up at Kate, stomach sinking. "Dear..."

"What?" Kate's voice matched his. She turned to look at him, seeing him lift the phone and face the screen at her. Quickly, she read the short message. "Get us there, Castle." Her voice sounded like venom and held no argument, which Castle wouldn't object. "Now!" She yelled as she wrapped her arms around him, snapping her eyes closed. At a superhuman speed, he shoved the phone in his pocket, wrapped his arms around her, snapped his eyes shut, and sent them to the Stix.

Jake stared at the two women before him. Each were tied to chairs, their hands behind the chair and feet tied tightly to the metal legs. No matter how much they squirmed, they wouldn't be able to get out.

"What's the meaning of this?" Martha asked, glaring at the man.

"You don't remember me, do you, Martha?" Jake questioned, crossing his arms as he ignored her question.

Martha looked more closer, taking a few minutes to connect the dots. She could immediately see the similarity between her son and this man. "Oh my God."

Alexis looked back and forth between the older people. "What? Gram, who is this?"

Martha's mind was swirling with so many questions. "How did...what the..." She looked at the floor, then at Jake, then over at Alexis, who looked at her expectantly. "Alexis, meet your grandfather." She revealed as she rolled her head back to her captor.

Stunned, Alexis' mouth formed an O as she slowly looked at him. She was about to say something, but her little brother's screams interrupted them. Whipping her head behind her, she tried to see what was going on with him.

An older woman held him up, inspecting him. They were a few yards away. He didn't like being held in the air, away from a warm body. She lowered him, holding him against her chest to calm him. He never did. The tension in the room was overwhelming.

"He's perfect. Just like you said, Jake." She announced with a sinister smile.

"Good." Jake smiled. "Get him out of here."

She started to walk away but was stopped by Kate, who stood with clenched fists and a pissed off expression. "Katie..."

Kate's expression slipped to a stunned one. "Mom? You're really alive?"

Behind Jake, Castle stood on the other side of the table which Jake was leaning against. "Leave my family alone." He growled with an equally pissed off expression, one Alexis had only seen whenever her father was livid.

Jake momentarily jumped, whirling on his heels and staring him down. "They're my family too, Richard."

"Biologically, yes. Everything else, hell no!" Castle yelled, glancing passed them to see Kate faltering their otherwise flawless plan. "Kate! Don't let her appearance change your reasonings!" That seemed to realign her focus.

"You don't understand. We had to do this. It was necessary." Jake vaguely explained. "He was always supposed to be ours."

"Dad!" Alexis called out. That averted Castle's attention for a fraction. Unfortunately, that fraction caused him to slip from his focus. "Look out!"

He didn't catch the man approaching him from behind until the burning sensation materialized on his wrist, immediately making him fall onto the table. Weakened by sensation, he was helpless as he watched the scene before him, grimacing in pain. Kate dropped just like him; she too suffering the same feeling.

Jake held a black trigger in his hand, its light up at green. A sinister expression was on his face, slipping into a sympathetic expression. "Your mother and daughter will be safe. We only want you two and Xavier. You're our greatest legacy. I'm sorry." His voice became distorted as he lost consciousness. In the background, he heard his family's screams for him and Kate.

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