Richard Castle 38

Kate had dragged herself out of bed – a far too lonely bed – and was making her way downstairs after waking Vincent and Alexis. She'd laid out what clothes she had wanted them to wear today and would be back to help with shoes later.

Right now she had to get breakfast started since Anastasia was off today. She didn't know for sure but assumed it would be spent with a special someone. That thought alone made her sigh heavily. "At least someone…" She really didn't want to go there, but it was difficult not to.

Long before she had ever even seen Rick, let alone been in his arms, she had gotten along just fine on her own. All right, it wasn't great but it was better than this. Gods, she wanted her husband home!

She was just finishing setting everything up. "Mama," Alexis called. Kate turned to find the two of them entering the kitchen hand in hand. What she saw had her biting back a smile and a small laugh. Both children were barefoot, holding their socks and shoes.

Kate started with Vincent. "Are you ready for your first day of school, young man?" She wanted to hear his voice. It wasn't so much what he would say but how he said it that would tell her something.

Only he didn't say a thing. "It will be fine, my love. Your father and I have chosen this school with great care. There will be lots of children for you to get to know and have some fun with." It cost a pretty penny to get him into this school. That was one of the reasons it had been chosen. That and they had gotten to talk with some of the people in charge including a few of the teachers.

"I wish Daddy was home," Vincent finally whispered. So that's what the problem was. Hearing Alexis sniffle didn't help any. Kate wished he was home, too.

She tried to reassure them yet again. "Your father is doing something very important. He's trying to make sure you two stay safe. To make sure all of us are safe." Even if what he's doing is incredibly stupid, she thought. "As soon as he's done he'll be back home." Kate tried to think of things that made her husband important. "Your father is a baron, a very esteemed person. And Smith & Wesson is a very essential business, especially to the Crown."

"When?" Vincent's soft voice sounded like it was on the verge of breaking much like she was sure Alexis's already was.

"I don't know exactly." Kate wished mightily that he was already finished and on his way home. Since neither of them knew just where Meredith was, it was going to take time.

"But when he does get home he is going to find his handsome young man is learning new things in school while Alexis is helping me in my shop." Kate knew the new routine was likely to play out for the next several days if not weeks. Please don't let it be months. None of us is going to last that long.

Kate had gotten Alexis's socks and shoes on her even though she was still sniffling. "Now let's eat our breakfast and start our day." Only none of them were all that hungry. She didn't chastise them for not eating since she mostly played with her food much like they were doing. What she wanted was to be angry with her husband. However, she knew this was all Meredith's fault which angered her all the more.

The second Rick was back she was going to give him a piece of her mind. Followed by fucking his brains out since she was in dire need of making love to her husband.

It was about an hour later. "You are a Smith and your father is important. Show your teachers just how smart you really are. And don't get into trouble. Just because your father isn't home don't think I won't punish you if you misbehave," Kate cautioned.

"Yes, Mama," Vincent answered softly and lowered his head. The dark cloud that was hanging over them this morning was still clearly present.

She lifted his chin up with a light touch. "Hey, everything will be fine. I'll be here to pick you up and take you back to my shop before we go home. Have some fun and learn something, sweetheart." Kate kissed his cheek. "Always remember your father and I love you." She saw a few other children that didn't look overly happy either.

She watched as her son dragged himself into the building and wished she knew what to do or say that would help. Please hurry home, Rick.

Kate and Alexis found two people standing outside her shop waiting for her. Just a few minutes later she and Alexis were already working on making the potions they would need.

The work helped keep her from missing her husband, however briefly. It also seemed to lift Alexis's spirits a bit since she was helping to make a potion. Kate heard the door. "You know what to do just as they start to boil," she told her then stepped into the main room.

There was a young man who looked like he had seen better days waiting for her. "May I help you?"

"Yes, you can hand over all your money." Then he pulled out a knife. It was something that she knew was going to happen one day. The city was full of pickpockets and thieves. They had done their best to avoid most of them up till now.

"You're making a mistake. What you're doing isn't wise."

"Don't think I won't use it, lady." The tone of his voice told her he hadn't done this very often, if ever. She might even be his first. Not that that helped her any.

It was a new voice that got their attention, though. "Leave my mama alone." Alexis's voice sounded nothing like the sweet girl Kate knew she was. Worse, she had her wand in hand and was pointing it at him.

The would-be thief was a little shocked. Only witches had wands but this was a child and the stick she had in her hand looked more like a toy. He turned his head and looked at Kate. "You're a witch?" He had heard of them. Didn't know much and had never seen one before.

She was all set to counter his claim when Alexis said something. "Gort, Klaatu, Barada, Nikto."

Kate tried to keep her eyes on both the young thief and her daughter. She was shocked when he suddenly vanished. One second he was there and the next he was gone.

Kate had been slowly reaching for the pouch on her stomach so she could reach her own wand and deal with this miscreant. When he disappeared she jerked her hand out of her clothes in surprise and gawked at the empty space where he used to be. Looking at Alexis, what she saw indicated that Alexis thought she was in trouble. "Alexis… was that you?" It was a spell Kate knew nothing about and knew she hadn't taught it to her daughter.

Alexis nodded but still looked wary. "Grams taught me," she replied so softly that Kate almost missed it.

Kate knelt down to her level. "What did you do, sweetheart, and where did he go? And who is Grams?" She kicked herself for never getting back to that. She had gotten distracted and had forgotten. It seemed like things always happened to keep her busy.

"Gone," Alexis answered hesitantly, knowing that she was in trouble.

"Gone…? What do you mean, gone? Gone where?" Just what had Alexis done?

Alexis shrugged. "Gone. He's swimming," she added.

That didn't help even a little. Gone and swimming just didn't add up to meaning anything. "Gone where exactly?" She decided to solve one before moving on to swimming.

"Am I in trouble?" Alexis only knew he was going to hurt her mama and she couldn't let that happen. She knew one spell that would make him go away so she had used it.

"NO! Yes… Maybe… Gone where, Alexis? Tell me what you did." She didn't want Alexis so scared that she was in trouble that she wouldn't explain. But yes, she was in trouble. Big trouble.

"He's swimming," Alexis replied patiently which didn't help Kate at all.

Kate decided a little love might help loosen her daughter's tongue so she hugged Alexis and kissed her. Finally Alexis went from stiff as a board to being far more relaxed so Kate to let go of her just enough so that she could look at her. "Tell me what you did, lovey. I promise not to be angry." The hug had helped Kate a lot, too.

Alexis tried to explain. "He was going to hurt you so I sent him swimming." It was simple as far as she was concerned. She had sent him to where she went swimming with Grams.

"Swimming." Kate tried to think of when any of them had gone swimming last. "Who is Grams?" Time to get to the bottom of this.

She saw Alexis point and turned her head only to see empty space. What she couldn't see was Martha standing there looking both proud of her granddaughter and worried sick.

"There's no one there, little love." Alexis nodded, stubbornly insistent. "You can see this Grams?" Kate was going to get to the bottom of it this time only to have her front door open. "We're closed, come back in an hour." She didn't mean to be curt with the lady who had entered but it was time to get answers.

Kate followed her to the door and locked it. Then she went back to Alexis and got down on her knees. "You can see this Grams person?" she asked again and Alexis barely nodded.

She tried to reassure her. "You're not in trouble, Alexis." Except that you are.

"What does she look like?" If Alexis could see her then she could describe her. "How tall is she; how old is she; what color is her hair?" Kate tried a number of questions. "Don't look at her, look at me." She turned her daughter's head so that Alexis was only looking at her. "Tell me."

"Is she as tall as me?" Alexis shook her head. "So she's a little shorter than me?" Alexis nodded.

"How old is she? Why do you call her Grams?"

Alexis shrugged once more. "She said she was Grams."

"So she looks old?" The little girl nodded. "And you can see and hear her?" Alexis nodded again.

"What does she look like? What color is her hair?" She wasn't sure if that would help, but more information would be good.

"Her eyes are like Daddy's and she has red hair." Hearing that shocked Kate.

"Red hair?" Kate tried to think of anyone she had seen that was old and a redhead. Suddenly her eyes widened. There was only one person. Just the one. She took hold of Alexis. "Is her name Martha? Ask her if her name is Martha," she commanded. This was important if not impossible.

Kate turned her head to look where Alexis had pointed. "Martha?" Then she turned back to look at Alexis. "Is her name Martha?" Alexis looked past her then nodded. That one little nod shattered Kate's world. She let go of Alexis, turned, and stood. "Martha? How? I mean you're…" She caught herself before she said something she shouldn't.

"Martha has been teaching you spells? How can she teach you spells?" Martha was dead. How could she be doing anything?

"Are we in trouble?" Alexis hated being in trouble. She tried so hard to be a good girl.

Kate knelt back down on the floor to hug Alexis. "No, sweetheart, you're not in trouble." Kate turned her head and glared in what she thought was Martha's general direction. "Martha is! But not you." She brushed Alexis's cheek with a kiss.

"Now, how does Martha help you learn new spells?" How did a dead person teach her daughter spells? Hell's bells, how did a dead person do anything?

"From the book," Alexis said softly. She knew reading from her mother's book was probably a bad thing. But learning those spells had been so much fun. It had made her happy and it had made Grams happy.

"Book? My book? You've been reading from my book?!" Now she was angry, really angry. Seeing Alexis nod hesitantly only fueled her anger.

"MARTHA!" Kate growled. Oh, she was angry all right. She was furious. Only problem was she was being furious at an empty space.

"You, young lady, are going to show me what spell she taught you, then Martha and I are going to have a long talk." It was going to be a one-sided conversation since she could neither see nor hear Martha. But Martha was going to get a piece of her mind anyway.

Kate was fuming. She marched Alexis into the back room and pulled out her Book of Shadows. "Now, show me what spell Martha taught you." She sat the book down in Alexis's lap and waited. "Alexis…" She knew she was being short with her and didn't mean to be, but this was important. Kate didn't dare leave the book where she couldn't keep track of it. So she kept it in her backpack.

She watched in amazement as Alexis started folding and turning pages to show her mama each and every word that was part of the spell. Kate took the book back and did it herself.

"It's a transport spell." Kate stared at Alexis as she tried to think this through. Martha had taught her daughter a transport spell. The words couldn't have been easy for Alexis to learn. Not for a child her age even if Alexis was brilliant. Then she realized this had started long ago. "What else has she taught you from this book?" Kate was fairly sure if there was one there were more.

She watched her slowly fold pages and turn them. However, Kate recognized the words for this spell. She stopped Alexis before she finished. "It's a healing spell. Martha taught you a transport spell and a healing spell." Kate sat there, bewildered, while she looked at Alexis who was sure she was in big trouble, really big trouble.

Why, what was Martha trying to do? "We need to have a little talk, Martha, right now." Now was as good a time as any. "Why can Alexis see and talk to you when no one else can?" She stared at Alexis since she was who the answer was going to come from.

"Grams says my wand." The answer even confused Alexis. She knew having a wand was part of being a witch. But what did her wand have to do with anything? Grams was quite real to her, even if she couldn't touch her; she had tried a number of times.

It at least told Kate that Martha was still there. Close enough to speak to Alexis. "Your wand?" It was a child's wand. How could it possibly do that? She held out her hand to Alexis and waited.

Alexis didn't want to hand it over. It was her wand. But she was her mother and she was a good girl. Alexis slowly handed it to her. "Please don't be mad, Mama… Grams is nice." Alexis had learned to trust Martha. She didn't understand why she had trusted her so much at the start, but she had.

Kate took the wand, looked at it, and then at Alexis. "Martha?" Kate looked up and sure enough, an older woman stood right behind Alexis. She looked exactly like the woman Kate had seen in Rick's mind.

"Martha." Kate's voice softened which helped Alexis's fears a little.

Martha smiled. "Hello Katherine."

"But you're… I mean, you're…" Kate looked down at Alexis. Did she know that Martha was her grandmother? That she was Rick's mother? Rick's dead mother? "How?"

"We don't really know how ourselves. We've speculated that it has to do with the two leaves that are a part of Alexis's wand. In fact she has a few items that are part of a pair in her wand," Martha told her.

"It's good to see you, my dear. I couldn't think of anyone I would want more to bring my son back to the land of the living. He was so broken, in so much pain." Martha couldn't help the tears that started to flow. Rick was her son and she loved him more than anything. Martha wiped away her tears.

"I saw you in Rick's nightmares. What Meredith did…" Kate felt her own eyes start to water just remembering his pain. "He destroyed everything. I watched him bury…" Kate couldn't say Alexis, not now. "He burned his house until there was nothing left but ashes. Then he turned into someone else. I saw what Meredith did."

Martha knelt down right behind Alexis who turned her head to look but couldn't see her. "I can't begin to tell you how thankful I am for all that you have done for my son… and Alexis." Kate watched Martha stroke Alexis's hair and kiss her head; the child never responded to any of it.

"I don't understand, Martha. I mean, you're…" Kate didn't finish because she still wasn't sure just how much Alexis understood.

"Dead, Katherine. I'm dead." Martha said the words knowing that Alexis could no longer hear her. "I fought so hard to protect Alexis that day. Meredith is just too strong. Far stronger than any witch has any right to be. No one person should have that kind of power. What she has planned next…" Martha shook her head. What Meredith was planning was so horrible that she couldn't even begin to find the words to describe it.

"Rick is hunting her, Martha. If Meredith is that strong…" He was going to be killed wasn't he? Fear's icy fingers clutched her heart. Her uneasiness grew immensely. Kate suddenly had an idea. "The transport spell. I can go get him and bring him back." If it worked like she thought it would only take a moment.

Martha shook her head which angered Kate. "You can't. As much as it might sound like a good idea, it's not. Meredith needs to be stopped, she needs to die. To finally really die."

"But she'll…" Kate stopped herself again. She couldn't say kill Rick in front of Alexis. "How, if she's as powerful as you say? Is there something in this book? Show me." Kate would do it. Cast the transport spell, then yet another spell that would finally kill the Witch Queen.

"There's no one spell in that book that will kill her. Not that either of us know about, anyway. We do have a plan, though. Meredith has just the one weakness, just the one." Martha looked meaningfully at Alexis.

Kate's eyes went wide. "Surely you don't… She's too young. Absolutely not!" There was no way in hell she was allowing Alexis anywhere near Meredith.

Something suddenly dawned on her. "You said we." Martha winced at that which told Kate there was something she wasn't supposed to know. "Who is we, Martha?"

Johanna materialized right behind her best friend. "Hello, Katie." Kate clapped a hand over her mouth. Not that that did anything to stop the tears, the look of shock on her face, nor the choked sound of a stuttering breath.

"Mama?" Kate's whisper through her quivering lips and the hand covering her mouth could barely be heard.