Richard Castle 36
Kate watched as Rick packed his backpack. She could feel her life crumbling around her and her heart was breaking. They'd had their first really big fight when she'd shown him the posters Mathias had left with her. It was only then she found out that he'd seen them on his way home. He had already decided his course of action by the time he got there.
"Please, Rick, please don't do this," she pleaded. "You're not a witch hunter anymore. You have a family." She'd lost the argument but that didn't stop her from keeping up the fight. She had to find something that would keep him safe at home.
He wouldn't look at her and kept packing."It's Meredith and you know it. How it's her I don't know but it doesn't matter. I've got to stop her."
She not only feared for him – that he would be captured and tortured – but that he would be made to tell where she and the children were, that Meredith would come and kill them, too. "It's a trap and well you know it. She's trying to draw you out so she can kill you, or at the very least make you suffer till you tell her where we are." But her arguments fell on deaf ears.
Rick looked up, his face flushed with irritation. He was upset that she couldn't or wouldn't understand. "Do you really want this battle to take place here? Where she can get her hands on our children?" he argued. "You know what she did to Alexis the last time. I'm not going through that again." He absolutely wasn't risking them. "I'll hunt her down, kill her, and put an end to this." He wanted his family somewhere safe. He had his family and he was keeping it this time.
Kate made up her mind. "Then I'm coming with you. I killed her last time; I can kill her again now."
Her statement brought his packing to an abrupt halt. "And leave the children with who? Anastasia?" He shook his head. "Dammit, Kate! If you even think of taking them with us..." He didn't finish; he didn't want to tell his wife that he thought that was the stupidest idea he'd ever heard.
She wanted to collapse. She knew Vincent and Alexis had no business being with her while she hunted down a homicidal witch bent on destroying their family. She realized she had no choice but to stay because of their children. She finally conceded defeat but still wanted to help. "At least let me search the book for a spell to help you. There has to be something I can do to help you."
Rick lifted up his backpack and stepped over to her. "You are helping, love. You're here to protect our children. Meredith wasn't alone last time and likely isn't alone now. If she figures out where we live while I'm gone, she'll send witches after you and them." He alone would deal with Meredith and Kate would keep their children safe. "You know how to fight witches," he added then leaned in to kiss her only to have Kate latch onto him and give him a kiss that showed him all of her passion and love.
"If you die on me, I'll bring you back and kill you myself." She had no idea how she was going to do that but she knew a broken heart would be the least of her pain if he did die. Kate begged one last request. "At least explain it to our children. Don't leave them wondering where their daddy went."
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Kate held the hand of each child, one standing on either side of her as they watched Rick mount Donas.
Rick saw only tears and anguish on his beloved's face and vowed to take that look from her when he got back. Vincent and Alexis were waving so he waved back. He did his best to commit the look of his family to memory. He was doing this for them.
He kicked his horse into a trot and knew he had to get away before he changed his mind. Whole towns were suffering because of him. Meredith was killing and destroying in his name. It fired his hatred for her to a new high.
He'd had just gotten out of sight of his home and started down a trail that would lead to one of the towns she had attacked when he came to a stop. He saw someone he was not expecting. "Mathias? What are you doing here?"
Mathias looked at him with determination on his face. "If you think you are going alone, you are sadly mistaken, my friend."
Rick shook his head, adamant that he should not come with him. "This is not your fight, Mathias; you shouldn't be involved."
"I think you know who and what I am my friend. You intend to hunt down a witch and kill her. I've been hunting down people and killing them for years. You knew that when you made your first weapon for me all those years ago and yet you said nothing. You could use another hunter and that just happens to be who and what I am."
Rick had to admit that most if not all of his clients all those years ago were hired guns. Mathias was no different.
"And unlike you I have no family to leave behind. When I'm gone there will be no one to miss me, no one to mourn me. You need someone to watch your back. Plus I'm not listening to that lovely wife of yours berate me for not helping. Your woman is one of a kind, Richard. If I was just a few years younger I would try and steal her from you." She was the one thing he envied about Rick's life. He had someone who loved him.
"Plus I brought a friend." Mathias smiled slightly then, and whistled. Instantly a dog Rick hadn't seen came running. "He is well-trained and will prove to be very useful."
Rick couldn't place the breed. It looked like a mutt to him. The dog had long legs which suggested he could run fast. He was fit and trim and even now looked to be very attentive since his eyes were everywhere, watching everything.
"His name is Royal and he just might save both of our lives." The two of them joined up with Richard Rogers, who was once more Richard Castle, witch hunter. He acceded and didn't fight Mathias about coming with him. If he was being honest with himself he was happy to have Mathias going with him.
"Royal." Rick said the name and didn't fail to notice that the dog was paying attention to him as he trotted next to Mathias. "I didn't bring food for a dog," he warned his friend.
"You let me worry about that," Mathias replied. He'd already taken care of it.
Rick had a skeptical look on his face. "I wasn't aware you had a dog." He had never seen Mathias with a dog before. Back when he first met him or even now.
"I don't," Mathias replied evenly. Rick opened his mouth to say something but Mathias continued to speak. "I called in a few favors to get him. I've called in a number of favors, actually." He had more than just a dog with him. For one he had letters that would get them almost anything or absolve them of any actions they might have to take.
"You didn't..." Rick began but Mathias interrupted him.
"You mean a lot to this country, my friend. We wouldn't be doing anywhere near this well in this war without you. Truthfully, I suspect we would be suing for peace by now. Your weapons are winning this war for us."
"All I did was design a few weapons," Rick countered; he wasn't taking credit for winning this war.
"You've done far more than that, Richard. And if you think His Majesty is going to go off and let you get yourself killed by some mad witch, you don't know your place in this country. When you come back I wouldn't be surprised if you are no longer a baron." Mathias knew something Rick didn't. "Get ready to move, my lord." He just smiled. He knew what the King had planned for Richard when he returned home.
"Now let's find this witch, kill her, and get you back to your family." He was ready for battle. "Royal… scout," Mathias commanded. The dog took off out in front of them, intent on finding someone or something. It was his job.
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Lunch was cold since they both wanted to make good time. And while Rick would never admit it, traveling with Mathias was proving to be faster than traveling with Kate. He attributed it to the fact that Mathias was more skilled than his wife.
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They'd stopped after having traveled five more hours. They'd come across a decent place to make camp and there was water not too far away. Mathias was coming back with a large bundle of wood for the fire and saw Rick just finishing digging the trench around it while Royal sat off to one side watching everything.
He dropped his armload. "It's bigger than I thought it would be," he commented after Rick had told him that he had a tent for the two of them.
"Wait till you get inside." Rick knew something he didn't. He chuckled when Mathias gave him a questioning look.
"I'm going to set my traps so that maybe we'll have meat for both supper and breakfast." Rick gave him a nod and went into the woods.
That left Mathias to finish setting up camp and starting the fire. He stepped into the tent saw that it had good space. "Why does it feel different in here?" he wondered aloud. He even went outside for a moment before going back in. "Definitely different." But it was a good different. Shrugging, he went ahead and set up his side of the tent by laying out his sleeping bag. Once back outside he gave Royal his dinner while he waited for Rick to return.
He was starting to worry when suddenly Royal raised his head and his ears perked up. Mathias saw Rick returning carrying a pair of canvas buckets. "Fresh water," Rick told him and set them down.
Rick also had food for their first night. He'd already gutted and skinned a rabbit; he put it on a spit over the fire while Mathias watched. He got his first lesson in how good a cook Rick was when using foraged supplies. "If your wife is better than this then I'm jealous," Mathias told his friend.
Rick grinned. "I'll deny it if you ever tell her, but she is actually."
Mathias made note of the weapon on Rick's right hip. "I see you do carry a standard weapon."
"I've got a design to replace it that I'm working on. It's a combination between the automatic weapon and this using the same clip system. Its only limitation is the number of rounds it can hold. The clip will only hold 20 rounds and be empty in a second or two."
Mathias pulled out the weapon Rick had made for him and looked it over. He tried to imagine it being able to fire 20 rounds in a second. "If you manage that, then I'm right – you are a genius."
"Isn't that weapon a little cumbersome?" Mathias pointed to the single 3-barreled weapon that Rick had on him, not knowing that he had other weapons in his backpack along with lots of ammunition.
Rick took it out of its harness and handed it over. "It might come in handy but I rely on this weapon." He pulled out his shotgun and pumped a round into it and demonstrated how he used it without actually firing it.
Mathias carried far fewer weapons, however, in his experience they had been enough. He was willing to admit that he had never hunted witches before. Rick had the expertise and reputation as a witch hunter.
"Our first town is in three days," Mathias reminded him.
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They only stayed a day and even then they didn't stay inside the town. Parts of it had burned to the ground and the people that still lived there feared that they wouldn't be there for much longer. None of them had the money to rebuild what they'd lost. It was simply easier to move on.
There was one thing that became abundantly clear in the short time either of them had been inside the town. A witch had burned it down and most of the remaining townsfolk blamed Richard Castle for it. The witch had singled him out and he wasn't there to kill her nor had he shown up even weeks later to hunt her down. A few even suggested that he was afraid of her which was why he never showed up to help them. The fact that they didn't have the money to hire him didn't matter. Richard Castle was to blame.
"You're not listening to these people are you?" Mathias demanded incredulously as they walked their horses to give them a rest on the way to the next town. "You had effectively retired from being a witch hunter," he reminded him. Mathias didn't see how any of this was Richard's fault.
"Meredith is my problem. She's after me and me alone. That town is suffering because of me, because of who I used to be," he retorted heatedly. "If I had stayed a witch hunter..." Mathias stopped him right there.
"You wouldn't have a beautiful wife, nor would you have two clever, beautiful children. Not to mention owning a weapons factory that is doing great things. And what about being a baron in a land that is defeating everyone on the battlefield. Plus your home is amazing." Mathias had only seen a little of it but liked it a lot.
"At the cost of these people losing their families and friends and not even having a home," Rick replied bitterly.
"And what makes you think you would have been anywhere near here when that witch was if you were still a witch hunter? This land is vast. Who's to say that you wouldn't have been far to the north when this happened? You could still be there today and never have known," Mathias countered knowing that Rick moved around a lot.
That gave Rick something to think about. Mathias could see him withdrawing into himself so he didn't bring it up again. This witch, this Meredith, was to blame. It did leave him with a few questions about how Rick knew so much about this particular witch. When his friend was ready to tell him he would. Until that time Mathias would wait and piece together the little information that Rick would give him.
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Alexis couldn't take it any longer. She knew that her brother was missing their father, too, since they had been talking. "Mama?"
Kate hadn't really noticed but she had been far too silent and not overly motherly with her children the last few days. Her heart ached for what her husband was doing.
"Mama?" Alexis tried again; she went over and tugged on Kate's dress.
"I'm busy, can't it wait?" Kate didn't notice the tartness and dismissal in her voice. But Alexis did.
"I'm sorry." A dejected, ignored, and heartbroken Alexis turned away and headed back toward the tent behind her mother's shop. Even the blacksmith shop felt cold since it wasn't open anymore.
The tone of Alexis's voice reached Kate in her despair. She left her pot even if it did mean her potion was ruined. She dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Alexis from behind. "I'm sorry sweetheart. Mama's really sorry."
The sound of his mother's voice drew Vincent out of the tent. He saw that Alexis was getting a hug and he really wanted one, too, so he stepped in close and found himself enveloped in his mother's arms like his sister was.
"I miss Daddy," Alexis said with a quiver as tears started to run down her face. "Can we go see him?" She knew of a way even if her mother didn't know about it.
Kate tried to explain it yet again. "Your father is hunting down an evil witch who is doing really bad things to people. He needs to stop her. She's very dangerous and we need to let daddy do his job." Even if Kate didn't like him doing it alone. Meredith was supposed to be dead. Kate had killed her.
"We can't go see him?" Alexis just had to say the words and she would be right next to him. She didn't have to stay long. Just long enough to get a hug and a kiss. She knew she couldn't take both her mother and her brother at the same time. But she could take one at a time and come back for the other.
"I wish we could, sweetheart. I miss him, too. But it's dangerous. Evil witches are mean." Kate was just starting to understand just how wicked and powerful Meredith truly was.
"I have a wand," Alexis pointed out and she was learning new spells. Between what her mother was teaching her and what her grams was teaching her, she knew a lot of spells now. At least to her they were a lot.
"And it's a very pretty wand. But this witch is powerful, little love. Even more powerful than I am." Kate was sure of that since killing Meredith was proving to be far more difficult than she thought it should be.
"Your father has skills. Enough to kill the evil witch. When he's done, he'll come back because he loves you – he loves both of you so very much." Kate kissed their heads.
"Will you help me with my potion, lovey?" Kate looked at Alexis. "And you, young man, can go back to practicing with your bow. You'll be able to show your father just how good you've gotten when he gets back. He'll be even more proud of you than he already is. You've come so far, Vincent. I love you, little man."
She watched as Vincent went into his father's smithy. He lit up the place so he could practice.
"I have to start my potion over again. Do you want to help me? Then we can teach you a new spell." She knew Alexis loved learning new spells. She had gotten really good at the ones she did know. The spells that Kate knew about anyway.
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"It's time to teach Alexis a new spell," Johanna told her friend while they watched Kate show Alexis how to put a potion together.
"Which one do you have in mind?" Martha queried; she had an idea or two of her own.
"The healing spell." It was the very same spell she had taught Katie when she was really little. It had come in very handy when Jo had been hurt. It had been a traumatic experience for her daughter at the time, yet little Katie Beckett had done it and her mama was proud of her.
"You don't actually think any of them will come this close to the city do you?" Martha couldn't see Paula, Jacinda, or even Meredith coming here. Still Meredith might risk it if she learned where Kate was now.
"We simply need to be ready," was all Johanna was willing to offer. Like her friend she couldn't see into the future but having Alexis able to heal wounds no matter how big could only help.
"I'll start teaching her tonight. She learns fast and she's proving to be powerful. She might even be able to regrow limbs one day." Martha was impressed by her granddaughter.
"Maybe Alexis will be able to discover more powerful spells that are hidden in the Book of Shadows." Johanna knew there were hundreds of spells in that book. The little girl just needed to figure out when and how to fold the pages and what page to turn to next.
"We need to plan for a possible time when Alexis finally tells Kate about me… or us. If – or when – Kate catches Alexis reading from her book, we'll be in such trouble." Martha knew that would be a turning point.
"Do we suggest that Alexis let Kate use her wand? Those two leaves in her wand are why she can see and hear us. If it works for Alexis, it should work for Kate." Martha knew Kate was using Johanna's wand so she should be able to use Alexis's wand.
Johanna sighed heavily. The thought of being able to speak to her daughter was almost irresistible. But the pain it might cause Kate worried her. She was dead and no one had the power to fix that.
"We'll see." It was the only concession that Johanna was willing to make. Martha had other plans, though. If Meredith finally died and Kate, Rick, and their children were all still alive, she was going to tell Alexis to give her wand to Kate and tell her what to do.
It was as close getting to talk to her son as she was going to get. She didn't have Johanna's resolve to not tell Kate. She had already hugged and kissed her son's cheek so many times already without him ever knowing it. She'd even watched over him when he was in pain from his headaches and when he was in the throes of his nightmares as well.
What she didn't know was that Johanna had done the same with Kate.