CH1

It felt like any other day when Kate Beckett awoke….besides the fact that she didn't remember falling asleep. She reached over to the side of the bed, expecting to find Castle next to her. Instead, she was greeted with a cold empty bed. She sighed and was tempted to roll over and fall back asleep, but she was curious to see what time it was and where her husband had gone off to. She looked at the time and saw it was 7 AM. Castle was usually still asleep by now….unless he was surprising her with coffee and breakfast. She didn't smell nor hear the sounds of breakfast being made. She knew the smell of coffee far too well to not recognize it.

She got out of bed, placed her robe and slippers on, and headed out of her bedroom. She stopped in her tracks as she approached the door. Wait a second. She looked to see that this wasn't the loft. This wasn't her home. Where the hell was she? She looked around the room for clues. She opened up the closet, which appeared to have both men's and women's clothing. She saw some elephants on the dresser she was about to open, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Katie." She froze. Oh no, I'm dead. No wonder why I didn't remember going to sleep. But I'm breathing and feel very much alive so how... "Katie, come on. I know you had a late night last night, but you told me you would help me surprise your father on his last day of work."

She opened the door. "Mom?" She had so many questions, but wasn't sure if she should start with, "How did you get in?" or "Am I dead?".

"Josh let me in before he left for work." Excuse me, Josh? "Good thing too or else Mrs. Rodgers might have thought something was wrong."

"Martha?"

"Yes, she worries about you just as much as I do. Speaking of which. How much did you end up drinking last night? I know it's your first wedding anniversary, but you knew about your dad's retirement today."

Wedding anniversary? She and Castle didn't hit their year mark yet.

"Mom, not that I'm not grateful you're here, but where's Castle?" Her mother gave her a confused look. Ok, well if she was in some weird dream, her mom would at least know her favorite author. "Rick Castle. Mom, come on, he's your favorite author."

She was greeted with that same confused look. "Did James Patterson change his name without me being aware?"

She would have thought she was kidding, but with that confused look on her face, she didn't think so. "He's Martha's son."

"I wasn't aware that Richard changed his last name and was a writer."

What the hell was going on? She had to go next door. She exited her apartment (still questioning that one) and knocked on the door to her left. She was grateful that there was only one apartment next to hers, leaving no room for error.

"Katie, what's going on?" She couldn't answer her mom because she didn't know what was happening.

The door opened and a man appeared…but it wasn't Castle. "Demming?"

He gave her a confused look. "Kate? You ok?."

Kate went to open her mouth when she saw the young redhead come into view. "Dad, is everything ok?" She saw Kate. "Oh, Hi, Mrs. Davidson."

What?! "Alexis?"

"Oh, sorry. I know you've told me that I can call you Kate. Still getting used to that."

Kate felt eyes on her. She was confused, very confused. "I'm sorry to wake you. I just…you don't happen to know of a Rick Castle do you."

They both shook their heads. "Is he someone you're defending?"

Defending? "Um, no…just, someone I need to find though. If you hear anything about him, please call me."

They both nodded and with that Kate turned to go back to her…home. Her mother watched her and closed the door. "Katherine Beckett-Davidson, what the hell is going on?" She couldn't tell her mother. She didn't even believe it herself. She just had to wake up from this dream. Before she did though, there was something she needed to do. She embraced her mother in a hug, something that she hadn't felt in years. "Katie, you're scaring me."

"It's ok, mom. I'm ok. I just needed a hug before I woke up from this crazy dream."

She pulled back. "Katie, this isn't a dream." Johanna pinched her daughter's arm. Ow! "Now, get dressed and help me surprise your father."

Kate headed back into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. This wasn't a dream, so what the hell was it? Where was Castle? How is her mother alive? What the hell is she doing married to her ex-boyfriend? Why is her other ex-boyfriend her stepdaughter's father? Her head was killing her, but she knew if she didn't come out soon that her mother would be back to questioning her. Her mother didn't change no matter what universe they were in, well besides the fact that she didn't have that warm scent to her that she remembered. Just like that, it hit her. Was she in an alternative universe? God, Castle was really rubbing off on her if she was believing that.

He told her how he was in another universe where they had never met….but it seemed like she was in one where he didn't exist at all. She had to find him. She wasn't giving up. Richard Castle had to exist. She wanted to open up the laptop and start her investigation, but she knew she couldn't right now. She sighed and got dressed. She exited the room (because she definitely wasn't calling this her room) and gave her mother a soft smile.

"We'll grab breakfast on the way. Grab your jacket, it's a little chilly out there this morning."

She knew that she should be thrilled, that she was able to spend this time with her mother, but her mind kept going back to Castle. Where was he?

They arrived at her dad's law firm after picking up breakfast and coffee for the three of them. Her mom opened the trunk of the car and handed her the balloons while she got out the bottle of champagne. She went to open her mouth to say that dad couldn't have that, but she realized….her dad never became an alcoholic because her mom never died. They entered the law firm and she followed her mom to his office. On their way, she saw a nameplate that caught her eye next to a ceramic line of elephants. "Katherine Davidson". Well, that answered her question about where she was working.

They entered her dad's office and the smile on his face hit her like a ton of bricks. She hadn't seen that smile on her dad's face in years. "What a surprise! My two favorite girls."

"Happy retirement, Jim!" She watched her mom embrace her dad and it hurt. It hurt a lot. They were so happy….but this wasn't real. This wasn't her life. She was glad that if the multiverse existed that her parents were happy in this one. It gave her hope that she would find Castle if her parents had found each other.

"Katie," her dad embraced her in a hug. "Is my son-in-law on shift this morning?" She nodded, trying to play along as best as she could. She wished she knew where his real son-in-law was.

"It seems like they had a long night yesterday. I had to wake her up this morning and she thought that Rick Rodgers had changed his name to Castle."

"Castle, huh?"

"Do you know a Richard Castle, dad?"

"Can't say I do….but I can tell you need to find him. You have that look in your eyes, Katie. Go find him. Just don't kick me out of my office until later today. Once tomorrow hits, then it's your office."

She gave her parents a soft smile before she exited her dad's office and to her desk. She turned on her computer and immediately started her Google search.

AN: I had to write this one due to a request from my husband. I started watching Castle with him and he suggested I write this type of fanfic. We have not gotten to 'The Time of Our Lives' yet, so hopefully after he sees that episode he won't think this is bad hahaha. Anyways, enjoy! I will do my best to update weekly, but with the holidays approaching and work I can't promise anything. I assure you though that this fic is written and I plan to have it listed as complete before the end of the year.