Found - 22
Epilogue
It has been five years since last time we saw our heroes. It had taken them 6 weeks and 6 days to reach their destination.
~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~
"I'm home, Castle! Are you here?" He wasn't always home when she got home from work, however, today was a special day so she was counting on him being there.
"In the kitchen," was the answer she got.
She took off her weapon in its holster, her cuffs, and everything else she'd been carrying since getting the job. It kind of felt like old times. She even pulled and pulled to get her boots off.
"What are you doing in the…" Kate stopped, pressed her hands to her mouth, and started laughing while tears ran down her face.
He had decorated the entire kitchen and even had food on the table. It looked like her favorite. There was a banner hanging across the ceiling. Balloons were littering the floor; he had even lit just about every candle they had and had them spread out all over.
"Welcome home, Mom." Rick smiled a wide smile, pleased that he'd managed to surprise her.
"Rick this is… this is…" She didn't know what. Though she did know that he loved her.
~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~
They had gotten married the second they had gotten out of quarantine. The entire crew of the submarine had been invited along with Hunt, Martha, and Alexis, of course. Kate was now officially Mrs. Castle and it felt great.
It had been six long months in quarantine before they'd been released. They had all spent it in a military barracks that had been emptied just for them. The "them" included the crew of SSBN 826.
Every day Alexis had been officially asked, though they weren't really asking for her to come with them so she could give them yet another blood sample.
"Blood sample, Alexis; skin sample, Alexis. If, IF I live long enough I'm going to run out of samples," Alexis had complained one day then flopped dramatically down on her cot.
The sight of her doing that had everyone in the barracks laughing their asses off. Kate was wiping her tears away from laughing so hard. "You'll live, Alexis." Kate knew her line.
"Yeah, I'll live. But I won't enjoy it," she pouted. Everyone including Kate was back to laughing their asses off. Alexis finally couldn't hold it in any longer and began laughing herself.
~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~
"I know you can't have coffee so I made you some tea. I stole it from Mother," Rick added softly.
Kate walked across and into him and let him hold her as best he could. "I love you, Castle." She had been telling him every chance she got since they had gotten here.
"I love you, too. And how is our little tadpole today? Is he kicking like crazy?" Rick placed a hand on her obvious belly given that she was just over 8 months pregnant.
"Are we going to have this argument again? It's a her, Castle." They had argued a little the last time she had gotten pregnant with Lily.
"Yes, so just get used to it," Rick argued. They had doctors and they even had a hospital. But they had chosen to be surprised just like last time.
"Ready for your maternity leave celebration dinner?" Rick asked her; Kate looked at the table.
"I'm only eating for two, Castle. We may not know the sex but the doctor said there was only one baby." The table was full except there was something else. "Why are there four plates?" Kate looked askance at him. Rick was saved by the doorbell and retreated quickly to answer it.
"Hi, Kate." Alexis walked in with her husband Jarod right behind her along with Bear who was bigger and older.
"Alexis." Now Kate knew who the other plates were for. Alexis headed straight for Kate and placed her hand on her belly. "And how is my little sister?"
"Sleeping, I think, which is a good thing since I would like to keep my bladder," Kate half laughed.
"You think she would like a little baby brother or sister?" Alexis snuck in a clue but would Kate catch it?
"I haven't even given birth to this one and you want me pregnant again?" Nope, Kate hadn't caught it.
Kate tilted her head and stared at Alexis; the younger woman was too quiet. "NO! You're pregnant?"
"WHAT! Who's pregnant?" Rick had been greeting and talking to Jarod until then. Now he was looking between his daughter and her husband.
"There aren't any pills available yet and we ran out of condoms, so guess what?" Alexis spread her arms wide.
"Oh, Alexis!" Kate moved in and hugged her. "I'm happy for you. You've started a… family." Kate caught herself before she said the word new. No one but them knew how they'd come to this world, not even Jarod.
"Pregnant." Rick swooped her up into his arms and twirled them. Alexis giggled and Jarod breathed again. "Let's celebrate!" He motioned to all the food he'd prepared.
Alexis actually ate more than Kate did or anyone else, for that matter. "Anyone remember when we ate straight from the can?" Jarod questioned before he took a drink.
"We still don't have any fresh meat." Rick moaned; he was ready for a nice, fat, juicy steak. What livestock in the area had either escaped when the virus hit or had died because there was no one to care for them. Even the chickens had died, penned in their coop.
"They have a plan, Castle, give them time." Kate wanted one almost as bad as he did.
"They only just started leaving the doors open during the day, Dad. It's going to take time, lots of time." Alexis was glad for the change and had even argued for the change.
"There are still millions of infecteds and that's just in our country," Jarod pointed out.
"They're only developing shots for those of us that are still clean. I haven't heard a thing about them trying to reverse the effect." Alexis should know. Her past life in the medical field meant she was one of the few there that had that much medical knowledge.
Kate sat back and placed both hands on her belly. "What are you thinking?" Rick was sure he could see her wheels turning.
"Just thinking about the wall they built to surround the base and the closest town. I was thinking it would be small, thanks to the time they had to build it." She was still impressed by just how big it was.
"Concrete for the first six feet followed by two sections of wood, one built above the other, for another eighteen feet." Jarod had been drafted to help them finish it after getting out of quarantine. "Did you know they took the next closest city apart to get the material to build it? They built their own concrete plant inside the wall to make all the concrete. It would be taller except they realized early on that the diesel would go bad." It meant the concrete trucks would stop rolling.
Alexis reached over to Jarod. "You and your fellow crew members are still the only people we know about who are infection free that live in the States."
"True, but we do know that we're not alone," Jarod remarked. "We left the boat and our communication equipment behind. The base has been trying to find people for years. They found an entire aircraft carrier group that had been deployed far from here at the time. They in turn have managed to find individual groups much like we had been."
Rick nodded. "I heard. It's sad that there are so few of us. That one carrier group, some individual submarines, and not much else. I'm still a little surprised." The infection had spread worldwide.
"Until we can reach or at least contact everywhere, we don't know for sure." Jarod still held out a little hope. There were a lot of smaller islands that didn't have regular service by jet plane.
"Are you two planning on moving when they allow it?" Kate asked Jarod and Alexis.
"We've talked about it some. I don't think we've made up our minds yet." Alexis reached for his hand. "The number of infecteds has gone way down in the last few years. Jarod's had his shot but that doesn't mean they won't kill you." They were thinking that until they came up with a plan to guarantee security they would stay within the wall.
"What about you two? Any plans on moving? Like after the baby?" Her dad and Kate were likely more brave than they were.
Kate looked at Rick. "We've talked about it."
Rick cleared his throat. "We've put in a request for a house we saw. We've toured it and it's in amazingly good shape. Four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a huge backyard that I'm not looking forward to taking care of. It's only drawback is that it's a little isolated."
"We can find you a riding lawn mower from somewhere," Kate teased and smiled softly, trying to hide it.
"If you'll excuse me for a minute, need to use the bathroom." Jarod stood up and left them.
"Are you planning on telling him?" Kate questioned Alexis once he was out of earshot.
"I haven't decided yet. I mean, how do you tell the person you're married to that you're actually older than his mother. Even if you don't look it." Alexis knew she was old and yet the person in the mirror looked young.
"Your call, pumpkin. But if he's as smart as you say, he's going to start asking questions," Rick warned.
"If he hasn't already," Kate said.
"He's asked a few. Grams looks young, too young to have given birth to Dad. Then there's me calling you dad. It doesn't add up. For now he's just happy with the way things are. I'll probably have no choice soon." Alexis wasn't sure how he was going to take it.
"If he loves you, he'll listen." Kate was willing to give him some credit.
"And if he doesn't I'll shoot him," Rick grinned, since he was teasing.
"I wonder who has my job in the Void," Alexis mentioned since they were on this topic.
"Are you thinking what I think you are?" Kate inquired.
"We die and he or she sends us all through the same door again. What are the odds? But yeah, I've wondered. I don't want to die but I don't fear it nearly as much, knowing what comes next. Even if next time I don't remember my previous life and start out as an infant again.
"I mean how many lives do we all get anyway. Do we suddenly die and find that we've run out of doors and I don't mean because we've gone through all those doors. Just how many doors do we get to choose?" The number of doors might be endless but how many doors do they get to use?
"I may have used up all my doors, then." Kate had gone through more doors than any of them.
Rick was all set to counter her thinking when the sound of Jarod coming back cut him short.
Jarod sat down. "I'll be glad when they get that sewage treatment plant operational again."
"That and the pump house," Kate added since they also didn't have running water yet.
Though the phones did work and theirs started ringing so Rick got up to answer it.
"Have you got pictures of this house that you're thinking about?" Alexis asked Kate.
"In the tablet." Kate pointed at it and Jarod got up to get it for her.
Alexis only just started to look when Rick came back. "We have to go. Mother's gone into labor," he announced.
Kate groaned as she got up. "We can take our car and leave yours plugged in," Jarod offered since the only public cars were all electric.
~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~
"Remind me again how old your grandmother is?" Jarod asked while they waited.
Alexis was spared having to answer for now when Hunt showed up. "She just went into labor. They told me to get out and come back later. Though technically that last part was from the nurse." Hunt sat down heavily into an empty chair. "I've done a lot but no one told me about this part." He knew pain but didn't know this pain.
"You should try being the one that actually gives birth," Kate said, trying to help make him feel better.
"You should try…" Hunt looked at Alexis and leaned in toward Kate. "Lying in a pool of mud filled with your own urine, waiting for your target to show himself. In the rain while freezing to death." He sat back and let her think that over.
Kate thought about that. "And Martha married you?" She did her best to keep her poker face.
Hunt struck back. "You married my son. Again!"
Rick took exception to that. "I can hear you, you know."
"And what happened to the Richard that grew up in the 1800s? He became a man. What happened to that guy?" His son had turned himself into a yes ma'am to Kate. A pussy whipped asshole.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" Jarod whispered to Alexis.
"My family is… weird." Alexis had known this day would come. She just didn't think it would be in a hospital waiting room. She watched him get up to go get a drink of water from a water cooler.
"Castle is… Well, it's complicated." Kate looked at Rick and began seeing the changes. Was she the cause of them? Had she been too controlling?
"I'm sorry, Rick, I didn't mean to… We need to talk after this." They really needed to go back to talking.
A nurse appeared at Jackson's side. "Mr. Hunt, it's time."
"That was fast." Alexis was envious. Her sons had each taken her hours to birth.
"We are so talking about everything when we get home," Jarod informed her sternly. He handed her a glass of water and Kate put in a request since he was up.
"He's either going to want to divorce me or have me committed." Alexis held her head in her free hand, placed her elbows on her legs, and bent over.
~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~X~
Kate drove her car up her driveway and parked out front. She grabbed the cord and plugged it in before going inside.
Their house was surrounded by woods and they couldn't see a neighbor.
This one of a kind all brick house has over 5002 sq ft and is in the Waynesville school district on 15+ acres. Enter the front door into the spacious entry way. Be amazed at the huge living area with its wood floors and mesmerizing ceilings and large windows and gas fireplace. Entertain guests and make family meals in the chef's kitchen which features white appliances, an island, breakfast bar, double ovens, and ceramic tile floors. Off of the kitchen there is the sun room with glass windows all the way around, letting you take in the breathtaking wooded views. Enjoy the privacy of your own personal home theater with a built-in area for your TV and home theater equipment. The spacious master bedroom features large matching his and her walk-in closets, and high, beautiful ceilings. The master bedroom has his and her sinks, corner jetted tub, and a large walk-in shower. Both downstairs bedrooms have their own full bath and private deck. There is a Jack Nicklaus putting green in the yard.
They had inherited all the furniture that came with the house. Not everything was to her liking but she could live with it. But who knows, maybe some day in the future they could make changes.
Kate headed to the master bedroom where she stripped off everything and changed into something far more comfortable. Next she went to the kitchen.
"Hi, James." Kate stepped in behind him and kissed his head. "Soup, huh? Where's your father and your brothers?" She went to check on the soup on the stove top.
"Out back practicing," James answered, continuing to eat.
"Still not to your liking, I take it." He had stated his displeasure at using a bow to hunt with. "You take after your sister."
Kate decided not to ladle out a bowl just yet and started walking so she could see out back. "Are you and Alexis still planning on going tomorrow?" Hunting was one way to add meat to their diet.
The people who did the hunting got to pick the cuts they wanted while the rest was added to city reserves. There really was no limit to how much or how often you could hunt yet, though there was talk about it.
Kate stood there and watched as Rick supervised their other two sons shoot a bow. They had a number of targets to choose from. Rick had taken the time to build a fake deer. He'd even worked out a way to make it move so that it wasn't a static target.
She watched her boys shooting at a standing target a long way off. "They're getting better." She was proud of all three of her sons. "How far do you and Alexis typically take shots at?" she inquired while continuing to watch.
"The farthest has been about a mile. It was that bear," James replied like it had been no big deal.
Kate remembered that bear meat. It hadn't been what she was expecting. But then a lot of the meat that made up their diet wasn't what she was used to. Her husband and children came back with whatever they could find.
"Just be careful, James. Don't make me arrest you because you shot someone." It would break her heart if she had to do that.
"We're careful, Mom." James had no intention of shooting someone and he wasn't shooting alone yet.
"I know you are. I'm just saying that accidents happen. You and Alexis aren't the only ones out there hunting." Kate decided to join him; she scooped out a bowl full and sat down at the breakfast bar next to him.
"We're wearing our vests and we always look twice before taking the shot. Have you seen her weapon?" James was still impressed at not just that a girl could do this but at her weapon of choice.
"Her Rad Tek rifle? Yeah, your father and I watched her practice when she was younger before we drove here from Disney." Kate hadn't understood why she had chosen that weapon. It wasn't until they were out of quarantine that they were all assigned positions either on the wall or at one of the gates.
Alexis had added a night scope she had gotten from the base. She'd positioned herself on the wall and had started shooting infecteds that were over a mile away and had earned herself a reputation during those early years.
"Walt Disney World." James sighed. "Do you think we'll ever get to go there." He and his brothers had listened to the stories their parents, Alexis, Martha, and even Jackson had told them about getting from there to here.
"You know your father. The second they say the place is open he'll have all of us out there as fast as he can." She looked at her son. "What's in this soup?" She couldn't quite place it.
"Possum, I think. He shrugged. "Maybe rabbit." James didn't care; the soup had meat in it.
Kate went back to eating while trying to place the meat with this information.
~[o]~X~[o]~
Kate was finishing putting moisturizer on her body before walking unclothed to the bed where Rick was already waiting for her.
"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." He watched every step she made and opened his arms to her.
"Talk like that might earn you a reward tonight." Kate smiled since she enjoyed making love to her husband.
"What's wrong?" Rick knew his wife and something was off.
She knew she couldn't hide it from him. "We had our first suspected murder today. Even after all the death we've experienced, people still kill each other." Kate had made it to homicide detective even though she was the only one they had.
"I'll join you after I drop the boys off at school tomorrow." Rick had every intention of helping her just like he had before.
"We don't know much yet. I need to wait for Alexis to finish the autopsy." Kate snuggled up to him, thinking maybe sleep was a better idea. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
"You're a homicide detective; I get to be your partner. Alexis is the ME. Now we just need Javi and Kevin." Rick saw the similarities.
"I do wonder where they are now. Do they even remember their previous life or did they start all over again?" Kate did miss them a little especially now that they had a dead body.
~[o]~X~[o]~
"Hi Alexis, what have you got for me?" Kate came in to find Alexis still working on their dead body.
"A lot actually. Our guy was shot by more than one arrow. The first one was only a wound, however, the second went right through his throat. But that's not all. Based on the damage I'm placing the trajectory like this." Alexis held up a laser to demonstrate.
Kate raised her hands to demonstrate an arrow shot only to have Alexis come over to her. "More like this." Alexis had her bend at the waist.
"He was on the ground when he was killed. The first shot I could see as an accident," Kate commented.
"There were no arrows found at the scene so he – or they – policed their shots. Were Dad and the boys out hunting?" Alexis prayed that her family wasn't involved in this.
"They were at school and none of them are scheduled for another couple of days." Kate knew her family was in the clear. She changed the subject. "How are Jarod and the girls?"
"Amazing as ever. I still can't believe how well he took it all. Oh, and Cassie has started to notice boys. Not like there aren't enough of them." Alexis rolled her eyes which made Kate smile since she recognized that look. Females were outnumbered almost 3 to 1.
"James has noticed that all the girls are taken so I get it from the other end." Kate mimicked Alexis and rolled her eyes.
"There's one more thing." Alexis tried to hide her smile since this was a really big deal for all of them.
"You know who killed him?" Was it that simple? But no, Alexis was smiling. "What?"
"I was offered a job last night!" Alexis was almost dancing.
"Another one?" How many jobs did Alexis think she needed? Yes, this was the only dead body they had but this could just be the start. They had a killer out there.
"I got a job in the VOID!" This time Alexis did start dancing in place.
Kate remembered something her husband had told her once. "He knows what door my mother went through."