Beckett and the Celestial Mechanic

An AU story where Kate is lying in her hospital bed after being shot at Montgomery's funeral. She is dying. But help intervenes in the form of a Celestial Mechanic who takes over her recovery. Not always to Kate's liking.

A/N: I have no explanation for this little tale. It was just something that came to mind, and before logic could take over, I wrote it.

All standard disclaimers apply.

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Dr. Josh Davidson ran his tired hand through his somewhat greasy hair. It had been a long and trying day. He'd experienced tough days as a top heart surgeon before but it was never this personal. He had done everything he could before he was replaced because the patient was his girlfriend.

The damage had been significant, but she was still alive when they closed her up. But after the conference he and the other heart specialists had just finished, it was determined that the lovely detective, his detective, wouldn't survive. At best she'd be able to hang on for a couple more days before her damaged heart would just quit.

She would soon be awake, but she'd be weak, and in pain. They had done all they could for her, but it wasn't going to be enough. And there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

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Things were currently in a chaotic frenzy at Celestial Machinations. They had warning bells ringing and those who worked there were running around in panic mode.

A stern looking supervisor stormed into the midst of the chaos. "What is going on here?" The supervisor glared at the rest. "You," with a finger pointed at one unfortunate worker. "Explain!"

A head bobbed as if the frazzled worker was a child's toy. "We have a probable paradox in process supervisor." Arms flailed about and hands fluttered. "We have a Prime Life on the edge of termination. Her future betterment quotient is up with some of the highest I've ever seen."

The supervisor frowned. "What's the problem?"

"This particular human woman was damaged and apparently the ability of the humans in charge of her care aren't up to the task of extending her life."

"How bad is it?"

"We estimate she won't last past two more rotations of the planet."

"Don't we have a Celestial Mechanic on duty?"

"Yes Supervisor, its C.M. 1313."

"Seriously?" The supervisor head drooped. "C.M. 1313 never learned the meaning of discreet."

"Yes Supervisor, what should we do?"

"Do want ever you can. Send C.M. 1313… and pray."

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Kate was laying back in her hospital bed fighting with herself over her pain medicines. Her chest was on fire, but the drugs they had prescribed for her made her brain all fuzzy. Instinctively she knew that she wasn't long for this world. People just didn't survive bullets to the heart.

Even given the pain she had to endure, in her mind, it was better to be clear headed up until the end, rather than to not be aware of the end at all. She frowned because she was sure that there was something wrong with her logic, but she held firm.

She hadn't been able to disregard all her pain medicine. Her doctors caught onto her palming of the tablets, and had begun to add the pain meds directly into her IV.

She was into a sort of limbo state. The meds gave her some comfort, but not enough to allow her to sleep. Of course, falling asleep was the last thing she wanted to do, because she was sure if she did succumb to slumber, she would never wake up.

She glanced around the room. The lights had been dimmed to replicate the nighttime environment, but she had her endless pain to keep her company. She hoped that she would last long enough to have a few visitors before it was too late. She had things she needed to say to some people before she ran out of time.

Kate blinked her eyes a few times at what seemed to be a patch of fog materializing in the middle of her room, just a few feet from her bed. The more she stared, the more solid the mist became. After a few minutes the fog had solidified into the form of a young looking woman.

Kate, with great difficulty, lifted her hand up and wiped at her eyes. "Who, or what, are you? And why are you in my hospital room? "

The figure had taken on the solid form of a woman, but there was no actual color to her. While she looked somewhat solid she also appeared to be a smoky grey/white in color. The image, who bore a startling resemblance to Kate, smiled at her.

"Hi, I was sent down here to fix you if I can. I hope you don't mind the form I chose."

Kate almost shook her head in confusion, but remembered not to just in the nick of time. "I don't understand. I was told that I wasn't 'fixable'."

The smoky woman made a face and shook her head. "Those were just doctors. They don't know everything." She seemed to float closer to Kate's bed. "Let me see if I can explain it to you."

Kate rolled her eyes. "This should be good." Somewhere in the back of her mind it should have seemed strange that she was having a conversation with a misty ghost like figure in the middle of the night in her hospital room, while waiting to die. But it didn't.

"Apparently, you are a Prime Life and the damage to your heart is going to end your life in about 47. 62 hours. And the powers that be don't want that to happen, so they sent me down to fix you."

Kate's head was spinning. "A Prime Life?" She shook her head. "I don't understand."

The smoky figure just waved her hand. Kate was surprised there wasn't a trail of smoke created by the movement. "Yeah, that means you are some big deal person. It's been projected that at some point, you will do something, or several somethings, special that the bosses want to have happen. So here I am."

Kate bit her bottom lip. "And just who are you again?"

"I'm Celestial Mechanic C.M. 1313 and I work for Celestial Machinations. It's our job to make corrections whenever something unexpected happens that messes up the overall big plan."

Kate just nodded even though nothing that her smoky visitor has said so far made any sense to her. "Well, I can't just keep calling you Celestial Mechanic C.M. 1313. Do you have a name?"

Her misty guest frowned. "Not really, but I've always like the name Kari, so you can call me that."

"Okay Kari, what exactly can you do for me? From what I can see, you aren't even corporal." Kate wasn't sure what was more confusing. The fact that there was a smoky ghost like figure in front of her, or that she was having a conversation with it.

Kate was able to discern a smile along the smoky lips. "That's why I can help. I will merge my essence within your body where I'll be able to assess the actual damage to your heart down to the molecular level and with a little luck, and my incredible skills I'll be able to repair most, if not all, of the damage you sustained."

Kate stared at her ghost like savior. "There has to be a catch."

"There is one, I wouldn't call it a catch. But for me to be able to repair your injury, you will have to surrender complete control of yourself to me while I'm in there working on you."

Kate shook her head slowly. "I don't understand."

Kari tilted her head, and her misty hair seemed to float about her head. "In order to deal with damage at that molecular level, where no human doctor can go. I will have to merge with you completely. I will become part of you."

Kate frowned. "I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that."

Kari smirked. "That's not all. Once I'm merged with you, I become the dominate entity. You will, in essence, become a spectator while I'm repairing your injury and returning you to a whole, healthy human." The smoky woman smiled an uneven smile due to the drift of her ghost like body. "So what do you say Kate. Let me borrow your body for a while in exchange for a future."

Kate flopped back onto her pillow. "It's not like I really have a choice is it?"

Kari shrugged. "You could choose to die?"

Kate laid in her bed knowing she was going to die, yet why did she have the nagging feeling that dying might not be the worst choice. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. No, she wasn't a quitter. If there was any chance, any chance at all that this ghost like apparition in front of her could pull off some miraculous repair of her injury, who was she to stand in her way?

Kate shrugged her shoulders a much as the pain would let me. "Okay Kari, it's not like I have a better option. Go ahead. Make a miracle."

Kari grinned. "That's why I'm here."

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A/N: As Kari will be in complete control of Kate's body while she's in there tinkering around. Kate's communications will be designated by italics. All Kate can do is converse with Kari, but not the world outside her body.

Kate suddenly experienced a strange feeling. She would say it's like an out of the body experience only not exactly. She could feel everything her body experienced, like she could still feel her muscles being moved, and her chest heaving up and down as she drew a breath. She even saw where her eyes were focused, but she wasn't consciously doing any of it.

"So this is what a Prime Life looks like on the inside."

Kate freaked out because she could hear the words being spoken in her voice, but she wasn't saying them.

"Who's talking?"

"That would be me, your friendly Celestial Mechanic on duty. I now have complete control of your body for the duration I'm in here working my magic."

"Magic! Are you saying that you are performing some sort of magic on me?"

Kari laughed. "It's not really magic as you understand what magic is perceived to be. But to your ability to understand what I'm going to be doing, it might as well be."

Kate wanted to bite her lower lip but her facial muscles didn't react to her wishes.

"So, what exactly are you going to do to me? In terms that I might understand."

"I'm going to rebuild your poor damaged heart. If everything goes as I hope it will, you should be as good as new, and can look forward to a long healthy life… if you don't get shot again." Suddenly a shadow passed through the doorway. "Oh, oh, someone's here." Kari whispered.

Dr. Josh Davidson walked in the room. He just stared down at his dying girlfriend.

"Oh no, it's Josh. He's my boyfriend. And he's the one who operated on me originally. He did what he could to save me, before protocol called for a switch of doctors."

Kari had closed Kate's eyes, and Kate was able to hear a tickle in her inner ear that transposed itself into something akin to a whisper.

"So he's the ham fisted Neanderthal who mashed up your poor heart."

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind, in this primitive world he probably didn't even understand the damage he was doing. Everything is still pretty primitive down here."

"So, are you saying you come from somewhere… up there?" Kate wanted to point upward, but her hand didn't move.

Somehow Kate could feel Kari smirk. "Up, down, directions are irrelevant. It's just easier to call this dimension as down."

Suddenly Kate's eyes opened. She could see Josh staring down at her. He had a sad look on his face, but as a doctor he'd had plenty of practice not showing any real emotion. Not even for his girlfriend.

"Kate? Are you awake? You should be resting as much as you can. And take your meds to ease the pain."

"Hah!" Kate could hear Kari vocalizing. "Those damn drugs won't do any good. They'll just fuzzy up Kate's mind, and I can't have that right now." He stared down in shock at the tone of Kate's voice, which Kate knew wasn't her.

If she could, Kate would be biting her lip to keep from laughing at the look on Josh's face.

"Accept for being kind of cute, whatever did you see in this quack?"

"Well, he is cute. And he's a good man. He spends time helping Doctors without Borders set up new hospitals in underdeveloped areas."

"Pfft. So how many of these hospitals have you got your hands actually dirty to start them up?"

Josh took a step back a look of confusion on his face. "Kate, you know of all the trips I've taken to help the disadvantaged. What has gotten into you?"

"If he only knew."

"I'm willing to bet that your help ends at putting on band aids, and wrapping a sprained ankle."

Josh's face suddenly took on a haughty look. "Of course I'm not out there putting up walls, and hanging privacy curtains. I'm a doctor. I take care of the sick and injured."

"I hope you don't do as sloppy a job on those poor people that you did on this poor woman."

"Oh, he's turning purple. I think you struck a nerve."

"Tell you what, Dr. Josh. Why don't we say our final goodbyes to each other right now? I've got a lot of work to do, and I don't want to have to worry about you wandering in and interrupting what needs to be done.

Josh took several steps back. "I don't know what kind of breakdown you are having Kate, but I'm sorry this happened to you. I'll pray for whatever comfort you can find in these next few days. Good bye." Josh turned and literally fled the hospital room.

"You weren't very nice to Josh." Kate did get a little kick out of Josh's confusion.

"The guy was a tool. It was easy to see that he did what he did to make himself feel like a bigger man. Someone who was special. I'll bet he's doing half the nursing staff too."

"Now you sound like Castle."

"Who's Castle?"

Kate in her mind frowned, but there was no movement on her face.

"Castle is the idiot who tried to throw himself in front of me as the shot was fired? He claimed he was just trying to knock me down, but there wasn't time to think like that. As soon as he recognized a light flash off the sniper's scope he launched himself toward me."

Kari chuckled. "Sounds very chivalrous. But who is he to you?"

Kate allowed herself an inner sigh. "That's a very good question. I guess you could say he's my work partner. He's a mystery writer and he's been shadowing me for three years now… in the name of research… for his books."

"Seriously? That sounds a little strange. I guess I could understand a few weeks or even a month or two, but three years?"

"Well, that's the way it started, but he has made himself a member of my team. He's one of us, and he's been an asset, even if he tends to drive me crazy sometimes."

"Even so, that still seems a bit odd for him to throw himself if front of a sniper's bullet?"

"He's not only my partner, but he's also my best friend."

Kari chuckled, and Kate heard it. "Now we're getting somewhere."

Kate wanted so bad to be able to glare at Kari.

"He also told me… he loved me." There Kate admitted she heard him.

"Was this a surprise?"

"Yes! No. Well his timing was pretty bad."

"How so?"

"He told me while I was lying on the ground with the life draining out of me!"

"Well, better late than never. So what are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? That doesn't make any sense."

"I wasn't ready to hear that. And I expected I was going to die. Why hurt him more."

"So you don't feel the same?" There was a silent pause. "Kate?"

"Yes, no, I don't know. I have feelings for him. But whether it can be love? I don't really know." Her tone turned petulant. "My therapists thinks I am."

"Why would that be?" Kate could tell Kari wad enjoying this way too much.

"Well most of my sessions wind up talking about Castle."

"That might be considered as something they call… a clue."

Kate tried to covey a scowl toward Kari but she had no control over her bodily movements. It was frustrating.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be fixing me up or something, instead of chatting about my pathetic love life."

"Sounds like your love life could be just fine if you gave it a chance. And don't worry, I'm good and I can work and chat at the same time. It keeps me steady."

"That's good to know."

"So tell me a little about this Castle guy whom you obviously have deep feelings for but are afraid to act on them."

Kate and Kari chatted throughout the rest of the night. Kari was very interested in what she did as a homicide detective, and how she and Castle interacted given the differences between the two of them. And she would consistently tease Kate about her being able to stare down a criminal with a gun, but couldn't bring herself to tell that man who meant the most to her that she felt the same way.

Daylight was coming through the small window in Kate's room, and the day shift traffic could be heard shuffling along out in the hallway.

"Okay, I'm almost done."

"Am I fixed?"

"Here's what's going to happen. I didn't want the medical people here to freak out over your miraculous recovery, so I put a few of the final regenerative molecules and serums on a slight time delay. Your recovery will still seem miraculous, but not impossible. Your doctors will just think that they had misdiagnosed some of the damage."

"So when can I go home?"

"You'll be well enough to leave here in a day or two, then I'm sure they'll want you to take it easy for a few weeks just to be sure. Really, you'll be as good as new by weeks end. But maybe you can think of some way to pass that time before you have to rejoin the real world."

"I can't thank you enough for saving me."

"Just don't waste this second chance. You are predicted to do great things, and I for one, am very curious and am looking forward to seeing what those great things might be."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and a head peaked into the partially opened door. "Anybody home?" Castle had a small bouquet of flowers in his hand.

"Is this him?" Kari whispered to Kate.

"Yes, that's Castle."

"He's cute."

"He has his moments." Kate suddenly felt something seeming to come from Kari. "No, Kari, what are you doing?"

Kate's body shifted slightly toward Castle. Her eyes fluttered a bit. "Are those flowers for me?"

He held them out in his hand, not knowing what to do with them. "I heard you were opening a flower shop so I thought I'd contribute."

Kate's lips smiled. "Well, I really didn't get too many because the doctor's jumped the gun and let it be known that I was dying."

A look of horror twisted Castle's face.

"But as it turns out. The report of my impending demise was a bit hasty. I'm going to be fine."

Castle looked down at her and his face was split with the widest grin.

"So tell me Mr. Castle. Is what you said to me while I was lying on the ground with a bullet in my chest the truth? Or were you just trying to make a dying woman feel better."

"Oh god, Kari, no!"

Castle picked up Kate's hand and rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand.

"I meant every word of it. I wanted you to know, that if it was destined for you to leave me, I wanted you to know that you were loved. That I loved you."

Kari spoke into Kate's ear. "I like him. I think we should tell him."

"No, we can't."

"Why not? Is he one of those who only believes in what he can see or touch?"

"Actually, he believes in just about anything."

"And would he be happy, that I existed and was able to save you?'

"Probably." Kate sighed.

Castle shook his head. "What's going on? It's almost like you were talking to yourself."

There was a big smile on Kate's face. "I hope you have an open mind Castle, because what I'm going to tell you most folks wouldn't believe."

Castle had a suspicious look on his face. "Is this some sort of joke? A let's make fun of Castle because he believes in ghosts, UFOs and honest politicians."

A peel of laughter came from Kate's throat. "Now I know you're joking. No one believes in honest politicians."

Then a smoky mist seemed to rise right out of Kate's chest. Within seconds there was a figure of a woman seemingly made of smoke. At first she looked a bit like Kate but her features soon became more indistinct. But she had a smile on her face.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Castle. I call myself Kari. I work for a place called Celestial Machinations. I'm what's called a Celestial Mechanic."

Rick looked over at Kate, who just shrugged her shoulders. He looked back at the ghostly figure.

She continued to speak. "You see, Mr. Castle, there are people out there that we call Prime Life's. Those are people whom predictions say will do great things in the future.

A big smile came over Castle's face. "And Kate's one of them… right!"

The woman of smoke just nodded.

Kate spoke up. "Apparently Kari, whose designation is C.M. 1313 was sent to 'fix' me when the best medical minds of New York had given up. I was a dead woman waiting."

"But I was sent to save Ms. Beckett if I could."

Kate smiled. "And apparently, she did."

Castle had his mouth hanging open. He looked at Kate, then at Kari, that back again. "Can this be true? You are going to be alright?"

The smoke woman smiled at Castle. "She's going to be just fine. I guarantee my work. She'll be better than new before you know it." Kari C.M. 1313 smiled at Kate. "It's been a pleasure fixing you, but I have to go now. They don't like us padding a lot of overtime." She grinned at the two of them. "Besides, you two have a lot of talking to do."

Castle watched as the smoky mist that was C.M. 1313 slowly disappeared. He then turned toward Kate, who by now was sitting up in her bed.

"So," he began. "We've got a lot of talking to do?"

"Well, while she was in me making all the repairs to my damaged heart, we spoke of a few things."

Castle sat on the edge of the bed. "Really? Any 'things' that I might know?"

Kate was happy to be able to chew her bottom lip again. "Maybe."

"Could some of those 'things' involve me?"

"Possibly."

"If I read our Celestial Mechanic correctly. You heard me tell you I love you."

"Ah huh." She nodded as she still gnawed on her lower lip.

"Are you going to tell me how you feel about that?"

Kate shook her head and grinned. "Not yet."

Castle raised his brow. "I sense you have some sort of plan in mind." She just nodded. "And what about Josh?"

"We have come to an understanding."

"An understanding?"

"Yeah, and thanks to Kari, Josh is no longer any part of my life."

Castle grinned. "I knew I liked her. That's just something else I have to thank her for."

"So what does your restored heart want to do about all this?" Castle asked.

"I want you to leave." Kate smirked at the look of shock on Rick's face.

"What? Why?"

"Because the doctors will be coming around soon to check up on me. Their dutiful 'death watch'. But, surprise, they will find me feeling much better. Then they'll do a whole bunch to tests only to find out that I'm miraculously not going to die. They will hold on to me as long as they dare, but I'll force their hand. After one more day of tests and visits from all my friends who thought I was dying, I'll be released to go home."

"I'll come pick you up."

She patted her cheek. "A good thought, but I'd better let my dad do that."

Castle nodded. "Yeah, I suppose that would be appropriate."

"But, after such a traumatic ordeal I will definitely need some time off to do my final healing and recovery."

Castle grinned. "And that's where I come in."

Kate nodded, her tongue sticking out between her teeth. "That's were you come in." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I will need someplace quiet and relaxing to spend my recovery." She draws her index finger down his right cheek. "Someplace nice, on a beach, with plenty of room so as not to be disturbed by neighbors but still with all the comforts that one could want."

She batted her eye lids. "Might you happen to know of a place like that?"

Castle made a show of deep thinking. Then he shook his head. "No, I don't think I do?"

She gave him the Beckett glare. "Oh, wait." Rick snapped his fingers. "I think I do know such a place. Would my Hampton's beach house work for you, madam?"

Kate touched her lips with her finger. "You know, that just might be perfect. But I can't be sure since I never did manage to visit the place."

"Well it's about time we rectified that error."

They both grinned at each other.

They were leaning toward each other for a kiss when her doctor came into the room.

The doctor stopped in his tracks. "Ms. Beckett, you look remarkable. How are you feeling?"

She gave her doctor a big smile. "I'm feeling good, doctor." She looked over at the grinning Rick Castle. "I'd say I've never felt better.

Fin.

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