Castle's heart is a shriveled up prune by the time the nurse and doctor are finished poking and prodding him. Alexis is being a fly on the wall, looking at him with a certain type of pity that he's sure this world's version of himself must get a lot. He isn't used to his own daughter looking at him like that, avoiding him. He's always been very proud and even more happy that him and his daughter stay as close as they have throughout her teenage years.

"Alright, Mr. Castle," the doctor says in her competent voice as she flips the notes over on her clipboard at his bedside, next to the nurse who is checking the readings on the monitor one last time, "you're going to be fine, all things considered. No nerve damage, reflexes seem fine, blood pressure seems normal. I'll make an appointment for a checkup next Wednesday, if that works for you."

Castle doesn't hear her and keeps looking down to his lap, looking at his left hand hanging out of the sling. If he hadn't abandoned her the first time, there would have been a wedding band on this finger by now. If he hadn't made her question his undying commitment to them, made her doubt the kind of man he became for her, none of this would be happening.

"Mr. Castle?" The doctor asks in a firm voice.

"Hmm?" He sounds and looks up, not hearing a word she'd just said. "Yeah, that's fine." He says neutrally, wanting to get it over with.

The doctor scrawls out a note on her clipboard. "I'll just write you a prescription for any pain you may have, but I can only give you one refill, so be careful."

"Sure," he moans and looks back down to his lap.

"I'll get your release forms and be right back." The doctor says, clicking the back of her pen. "The police captain said she wanted a word with you."

Castle's shriveled up heart tightens at that. He doesn't know if he should try with her. He has no clue how that artifact works. If he did, he'd be home right now with the woman he loves. Did it send him to an alternate timeline, switching himself and this world's Rick Castle around? Or did the artifact somehow just reset this timeline?

One or the other, there's a look in Beckett's eye that isn't there. That's not his Kate.

The doctor makes for the door, putting a hand on his daughter's shoulder as she passes her while Alexis keeps pacing back and forth near the door with her arms crossed. Castle looks up after following the doctor with his eyes and catches his daughter's gaze. He gives her a soft smile, telling her that he's still here and he's still his normal self. Alexis smiles back just as softly, enough to make her eyes tighten just as his does when he smiles.

The door is left open and he sees Beckett quickly poke he head in, catching the knob as she leans in. He catches her gaze and they lock eyes. A familiar feeling takes hold of him, like the world is falling away before she seems to catch herself and look down to the floor, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear and stepping through the door.

Remember, he tells himself as his eyes rove over her beautiful, slender figure, this isn't your Kate.

Beckett paces her way toward his bedside and clasps her hands together in front of her as she looks up to him. She's exhausted, he thinks to himself as he catches sight of her features. "I suppose I owe you a thank you."

Castle chuckles to himself softly and looks away from her with a smile. "That or a lecture about getting involved in police business." He semi-jokes with her as he looks back to her with a gentle smirk. "To be honest, I half expected to wake up handcuffed to the railing." He says, waving his wrist in the air.

"Mr. Castle, you just took a bullet for me. Could you at least be a little more serious?" She tells him with a stern voice and a serious expression.

"Sure," he says with a casual shrug of one side of his shoulders, "but then I'd have to hold it over you."

"You saved my life, Castle." She tells him, deflating her straightened posture and looking down at him with an arch in her brow, breaking her stone-faced expression. Castle's heart skips a beat slightly at her use of the informal with him. "I've-" she starts in a tight, nervous voice and cranes her neck, "never had anyone willing to do that for me."

He doesn't know if he's supposed to be overjoyed or heartbroken that in this world, she never met anyone special.

"So," she starts again, reclasping her hands in front of her and looking back up to him, "how can I repay you?"

Castle looks over her again, his heart tugging. "Well," he starts, nodding his head to the side, "there is one thing I could use from you." He says, purposefully putting some husk into his voice to tease her.

He can see the moment when she stiffens like a board. "U-umm... okay."

Castle smirks at her, curving his brow charmingly. "You're not going to like it."

Beckett's shoulders fall again as she lets out a deep sigh. "Why couldn't you have just let me take the hit?"

"You're going to fight me on it, tooth and nail." He continues to tease her.

"Would you just tell me what it is you want?" She demands, waving her arms out.

Castle softens his features into a gentle smile and a soft, caring gaze. "You could go home and get some rest."

Beckett feels her annoyed heart seize up, her breath robbed from her as she catches sight of his soft... caring blue eyes. The way he's looking at her... not out of lust or primal want... but like he genuinely cares about her. "No, Mr. Castle, I-"

"You're tired, Beckett." He stops her in a stern, soft voice. She stops at the tone he's using, her heart pulled. "I know the look of someone who just spent a night at their desk." He tells her, very familiar with the self-destructive work ethic of the woman he loves, in this world or any other. "I'm sure the precinct can last one day shift without their fearless leader."

She fights a smile with more effort that she's had to in a long time as she sees his smile grow out of the corner of her eye as she looks down to the floor. "I appreciate the concern, Mr. Castle. But I'm not really allowed to play hooky."

"What fun is being the boss if you can't break your own rules?" He jokingly asks her, trying to disengage her clearly well-trained defenses. He watches as she clenches her jaw and fights her smile, just as she did at the start of their partnership, and looks away from him, shifting her weight. "Come on, the mark of any decent leader is knowing how to delegate responsibilities. I'm sure your lead detective can handle things for one day. So, please," he starts, pausing to try and get her attention fully before putting a more sincerity into his voice. When she looks over to him again, seeming hesitant to accept, but willing, he starts again. "Go home, maybe get something out of that styrofoam temple I'm sure you have in your fridge and get some rest."

Beckett nods to herself and wrings her hands together for a moment.

"Come on, there's even an all-day marathon of an old show you might be interested in on today." He says, hoping the TV schedule is the same across worlds.

She stops, looking up to him with a pinch in her brow. "What's that?" She asks, curious to see if they're thinking of the same show.

Castle fights a smile of his own and looks down to his lap. "Just some old show that someone special got me to turn around on." He shrugs his uninjured shoulder. "I had planned on surprising her and getting her to play hooky herself today so we could stay in but uh..." he says with a heavy heart, having the scene all played out in his head, "plans sort of fell through."

"What show, Castle?" She asks on a soft chuckle.

Castle looks up to her, "Just some old sci-fi show called Nebula Nine."

He can see the moment an amazed smile lights up her features and when he looks up to catch a glimpse of it, he feels his heart swell. He can see the bright gleam in her eye... the remnants of the woman he loves, of his Kate. "You're a fan of Nebula Nine?"

"Well," he starts again, "I was skeptical at first, but... I've turned around on it." He says as he looks into her eyes. "Go home and get some rest, okay?"

Beckett starts fighting her smile again, her heart fluttering wildly in her chest as she gives him a nod. "If you ever need me, Mr. Castle, you know how to reach me."

"Your number still 911?" He jokes with her again as she turns to make for the door.

She lets a smile sneak passed her defenses for a moment before she looks down to the floor, lifts her hand to give him a small wave goodbye, and makes for the door. After disappearing behind the door, Castle rechecks himself and looks back over to his daughter, who's pretending she's not in the room. "Hey," he calls for her in a happy tone. Alexis looks over to him, "Come over here for a sec."

Alexis seems hesitant to make for his bedside, but after a moment, she steps over and leans against the railing of his bed. "I canceled my flight back to L.A."

He feels his system unclench, knowing whatever this version of him did to drive her away, at the core of their relationship, he's still her father. "Looks like we're both sticking around here for a while then."

"Dad..." Alexis sighs deeply and cranes her neck, shaking her head.

"Alexis," he starts seriously, reaching up and putting his hand over her's, "I know this is going to sound insane, and believe me, I would much rather be able just say I'm going crazy and call it a day, but I need someone in this world to believe me, okay?"

"Dad," Alexis says and looks up to him with a worried glimmer in her eye, "what are you talking about? Can you just tell me why you've been acting so strange lately? I mean... I come home and you're... back to your old self."

"Do you remember my book release party for Storm Fall? After I had killed off Derrick Storm?"

Taken off guard, she brushes her long, dyed hair behind her ear. "Yeah, that's when you admitted to me that you were having writer's block."

"Where I'm from, something happened that night that changed my life forever."

Looking at him as if she's talking to an asylum patient, she continues. "Like... what?"

"That's the night I met her." He says, nodding his head toward the door.

Alexis looks over her shoulder toward the door. "You mean Captain Beckett?"

"She was a detective when I met her, investigating the murder of Alison Tisdale. Alexis," he pauses, taking a hold of her hand, "she inspired me to write again. I went home after she was doing questioning me and I started to write again. You want to know why I never gave up? It's because of her, Alexis. I fell in love with her. In my world, I never gave up because of her. Because of her, I became a better man."

"Dad..." Alexis trails off again, shaking her head and pulling away.

"I know," he says, leaning toward her, "how it sounds. But please, Alexis, I can't be trapped in a world where the love of my life looks at me like I'm a complete stranger. I need your help."

Alexis looks down to his hand, then back up to her father's eyes. Even if this is just insane ravings, there's a look in his eyes right now that he's at least committed to something, and to him, it's something important. If this woman is what that something is, if this is what gets her her dad back, maybe she can steer him to see reality by supporting him for a little while. "Okay."

"Okay, promise not to laugh!"

"I promise! Quit stalling, come out already!" He calls back from the bed.

"Okay, ready?" She asks on a tight laugh.

She hears the bed creak from the hallway into the bathroom. "Ready."

Slowly putting her foot out, she twists her ankle around before slowly moving her legs out, arching her back and showing her legs and her ass off for him, knowing how crazy he goes for them, especially in the tightness of her Nebula Nine outfit.

In one fowl twist, she whips out in her mask and sees him jump in fright from the bed, falling to the floor on the other side as she leans sexily against the wall. "Do you like it? Huh?" She asks as he jumps up from the floor.

"That's not what you... that's not..." he stammers as he shuffles away from her.

She smiles evilly behind her Reaver mask, getting her payback for making fun of her and her favorite show. "Want to make out, Castle?" She teases him, sliding her hands down her hips as she wiggles them. "Rawr!" She teases again as his back hits against the door to the living room. She giggles evilly behind her mask as she rounds the bed and he quickly goes through the door, slamming it shut behind him.

"Castle?" She calls for him, putting her ear to the door. "Are we going to make out?" She continues, knocking on the door. "Castle? Come on, you wanted to have fun! I promise I won't bite."

"That's what you said on Halloween!" He calls back, sounding as if he's shuffling around with something.

"Come on, babe, you said you wanted to have fun! So just-"

She's thrown back by the door flying open, sending her stumbling back toward the edge of the bed, the small of her back hitting against the corner of the bed and sending her to her ass as she falls to the floor. Getting ready to yell at him, she reaches up and pulls her mask off, but feels every nerve go haywire at the sight of him.

Standing in the doorway is her boyfriend, clad in a long brown, dark burgundy coat, brown leather boots, brown pants with leather suspenders, and a dirty burgundy button up shirt, holding a silver, futuristic looking revolver in his hand and a confident smirk on his face.

God, he looks so sexy in that coat.

"Never did like the looks of you Federation- Alliance types." He says, pointing the barrel down at her as she gives herself away with an amazed, sexy, open smile, and very wanting eyes boring into him. "You expecting me to go down with a fight, you best be willing to wait a while."

She grabs the edge of the bed and pushes herself up, her legs wobbling at the sight of her boyfriend. "I've learned never to put anything passed you..." she trails off, eyes roving over him as she steps forward with a swing in her hips, "outlaws."

"You aiming to lock me up for being an outlaw. You've been trying for years." He says, swinging his revolver on his finger and sliding it into the holster on his side.

"Well then..." She says, slowly walking toward him, swinging her hips and hungrily boring her eyes into him, "maybe the Alliance can make you a deal."

He smirks, looks her over and turns to face her fully. "Always making yourself come out on top?"

"That's the way I like it, outlaw." She says, coming a step away from him. "You want to go free? Here's the deal." She tells him, reaching over to him, grabbing his suspenders and pulling herself forward. "You lose... everything," she says in a husky voice as she yanks herself against him and entwines her breath with his, "but the coat stays on."

He smiles and reaches down, grabbing her thighs and pulling her up. She lets out a happy giggle, feeling a euphoric love overcome her as she whips her legs around his waist, pulls at the back of his hair and latches onto his mouth, her tongue quickly delving inside with a deep, hearty moan. With his fingers pressing hard into the back of her thighs, squeezing her legs, she steers him around and sends him down to the bed, her heart flickering inside of her chest like a butterfly. She lands on top of him, her hands pressing him into the bed by his chest.

"We either have a very healthy sex life," he says, breaking the roleplay as his hands slide up her legs around the curve of her ass, "or a very disturbed one."

"Let's go with the former and keep kissing, okay?"

He smiles at her and leans up, capturing her mouth again.

"Hphmm..." she giggles, twisting her head against the throw pillow on her couch. "You know I'm ticklish right there, Castle. Stop it and get this thing off me."

Beckett slowly opens her eyes, feeling her body still tingle and gyrate, her center coiling wildly. Once she realizes she's awake, she pushes herself upright off her couch and looks around, not seeing him. In the emptiness of her apartment, she looks up to the TV and sees it's left on, tuned to the Nebula Nine marathon he'd told her about. She feels her system fall in deep annoyance as she reaches up and presses her palm into her aching head, groaning.

"Uhhh..." she groans, closing her eyes, "Why'd it have to be a sex dream?"

A knock on her door snaps her out of the dream, her once hot and very bothered body coming back to reality.

"Coming," she calls to whoever's at the door and pushes herself up off her couch, shaking her baggy shirt out. "One day and he's already got me dreaming about him." She laments to herself as she heads for the door. She opens the door as she's pushing her hair back and sees a young teenager at the door, holding a paper bag of food with the Remy's logo on the front.

"One double cheeseburger, extra pepper jack cheese, lettuce, onions, no mustard, no tomato, with curly fries, and a large strawberry shake." The teen says with a smile, handing her the food.

"Uh..." she stammers, being confused. That's her usual order, down to the letter, but... "I didn't order anything."

"Oh, it's uh..." the teen says, looking at the recipe. "Compliments of a... Rick Castle."

Beckett stares at the bag as he hands it to her. Confused, she takes the bag. "Thank you."

"Enjoy," the teen says and moves down the hall.

She shuts the door slowly, turns and sets the food down to her coffee table. Looking down at the bag, containing her exact usual order from Remy's, she feels her dream flutter into her mind again as her headache briefly subsides. Her eyes travel to the hallway that leads to her bedroom and before she realizes it, she's dashing toward the closed door to her bedroom, is whipping it open and moving toward the closet. She clicks on the light as quick as she can and goes to the far corner, reaching for the dusty box in the far corner of the top shelf of her closet.

She pulls it down, sets it to the floor and kneels down, pulling the folded flaps apart and starts to dig through the box until she feels the fabric of her old Nebula Nine costume. With hitched breath, she pulls it out until it's lying in her hands. When she sees it, the dream flashes in her mind again, perfectly clear.

Scared, she stuffs the costume back into the box and shoves it away from her, quickly getting to her feet. She moves out of her closet in a light, tightly-muscled glide, her posture stiff.

"It was just a dream, Kate." She says to herself as she moves back down the hall into her living room. She reaches up to her mouth, tracing her lips with her finger, knowing that she can still feel his mouth on her, feel his hair in her fingers, feel his waist around her legs. "It was just a dream."

A/N: Some people have reviewed, asking me if I was going to show the "other side". Hadn't really planned on it. But with this chapter, I think you'll see why. What'd you think of the Nebula Nine- Firefly cosplay between Rick and Kate? Always wanted to write that one shot. ;)