CH5

He had been reading to her when Ryan wheeled himself in with Esposito in tow. "What happened to you?"

"It looks worse than it is. Broke my leg while chasing down a suspect. Figured we'd stop by."

"You just wanted me to sign your cast." He was trying to find some humor in the situation. As each day went on, humor was something that was harder and harder to find.

Esposito handed him the sharpie that he asked the nurse for so he could sign Ryan's cast. "How's she doing?"

He looked over at his wife. "The same. I thought I saw the faintest of smiles when I was reading to her, but I feel like it's just my imagination."

"Beckett's strong. She'll wake up," Ryan said hoping to reassure his friend. It would have worked too if multiple machines didn't start beeping. Nurses rushed in, to see what was going on.

"Kate, stay with me! I'm right here, Kate."


Kate knew that they just couldn't enter someone's apartment and as a lawyer, she had no right to ask them if she could enter their home…which is why she was so glad Will could. Sure, he was a state trooper, but they didn't need to know that. They just saw a badge and Cassie Evans was more than happy to oblige.

Alright, Castle. 'Death of a Prom Queen'. I know this is the right place, but what am I looking for? And that's when she saw it. It was her dresser. The one that she had in her old apartment. The one where she gave him his drawer for Valentine's Day.

"This might sound like a weird question, but do you keep anything in that drawer? The top right?" She pointed to the dresser.

"No, I was actually about to sell it."

"Mind if I take a look?"

"Go ahead."

She walked with Will into the room and opened up the drawer. There it was, a piece of paper that read, "Swing sets." She knew where she had to go.

They left the apartment and she led them in the direction of the park. Their park. They had just entered the park when she stopped him. "Castle?" He was sitting on the swings. There was one seat next to him. Her seat. "Will, please tell me you see this."

"That man there? He's your husband?"

She nodded and went to go to him. She was almost to him, close enough to be earshot. She opened her mouth to call for him when her mother stepped in front of her. "Mom?!"

"Katie, what are you doing here?"

"Mom, I found Castle."

"Castle? Katie, enough of this."

"Mom, he's right there. Move and turn around." She did just that. There was no one on the swings. "No, he was right there!"

"Kate, I don't know what's going on here, but I'm glad I bumped into you. I could use your help with carrying these and helping to get the house ready for your father's party." She handed her a few bags.

She couldn't say no, but something was drawing her to those swings. She felt like if she just sat on the swing, she'd be home. However, she knew if she did that and it didn't work she was pretty sure her mother would be sending her off to an asylum. So, going against her gut, she followed Johanna. She'd be back. She wasn't going to give up on finding him. I'll be back, Castle. Just hang on a little longer.


The doctors told him that she was fine. That there was nothing to worry about. It wasn't their wife though that was in that hospital bed. Ryan and Esposito had left once Kate was stable, so he was by himself at the moment (well besides a comatose Kate). He placed his hand in hers, needing some form of contact with her.

They were on 'Hell Hath No Fury'. It surprised him how fast they had gotten through his books, yet it felt like time was standing still.

"I would have stuck with the classics, but I know how big of a groupie you are." That's when he felt it. A squeeze to his hand. "Kate?" He hadn't imagined that, did he? Another squeeze to his hand. Oh, he definitely didn't imagine that. "Kate, come on. Keep fighting. Come back to us, to me." She didn't squeeze his hand again, but this was enough. This was enough, for now, to know that she was still here. He started to read to her once again.


Will had checked out the swings for her and found nothing. She believed him, but she still had to get back there. She was holding on to that feeling that he would be back there when she returned. Kate couldn't help but feel conflicted. She had wished many times that she was able to spend more time with her mom and now she felt like her wish came true and she wanted nothing to do with it.

It hurt, knowing that this wasn't real and accepting that it wasn't. She knew she had to get home to Castle and the more time she spent with her mom the more she wouldn't want to leave. If only he existed in this universe. She helped her mom decorate and greeted guests as they walked through the door. Tom (Rick), Alexis, and Martha arrived along with Javier, Lanie, Kevin, Jenny, and their four children. She felt a little awkward making small talk with her "friends" who she didn't really know. It wasn't as awkward though when Josh walked through the door and she practically pushed him off of her. She had forgotten he was her husband in this universe. Luckily, Will had turned it into a joke saying he smelled after his 12-hour shift and he didn't blame her for not wanting a kiss.

She opened the door to someone she didn't recognize. He introduced himself as Adam Parel. 'Hell Hath No Fury.' What was he doing here? There were no clues here in helping to find Castle. Right? Maybe he wasn't here as a clue. Maybe he was here to tell her to keep going.

"Adam, how do you know my dad?"

"We met at the park. My son had fallen off the swings and he offered to buy him an ice cream. Been friends ever since."

Well, she had her answer. He was here to tell her to go back. She just had to figure out a way to leave. It wasn't like she was back in her own universe where she could say a body dropped and she had to leave. She never thought she would be trying to find an excuse to leave her dad's retirement party, but here she was. She was knocked out of her thoughts when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Kate, are you okay?"

She turned around to find her best friend (was she still her best friend?). "Yeah, I'm ok, Lanie."

"Don't lie to me."

She looked around and saw that no one was watching them before she took Lanie outside. When they were alone, she spoke. "I'm not supposed to be here."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, I'm supposed to be somewhere else. There's this man named Richard Castle. Have you heard of him?"

"No, is he threatening you?"

"No, nothing like that. I just…I have to see him."

"Are you cheating on Josh with this Rick?"

"Lanie, you know me better than that. Rick just has something for me that I need to get." She wanted to tell her friend the truth, but she didn't know if she would believe her.

"I do know you better than that and I also know that you're not buying drugs from him or anything else that's illegal." There was a bit of a pause. "So, what kind of diversion do you need for us to get you out of here?"

She smiled. Okay, maybe she could trust this Lanie after all. "Work with Will. He's been helping me today to try and contact him. My mom thinks I had a bad hangover from last night."

"I'll come up with something, but do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Take Javi with you. I don't want you to end up in any trouble."

This was the first time she would have preferred to take Will over Esposito in many years, but she knew Lanie wouldn't let her go without backup per se. "Deal." She thought about running off as soon as Lanie left to go get Esposito, but she realized she didn't have a car. She would need to ask Josh for the keys and he would want to know where she was going. The less he knew, the better.

It wasn't much longer before Esposito came outside with his keys in hand. "I don't want to know what you've gotten yourself into this time, but let's go." He went to unlock the door. "Oh, and mess with my playlist like you did the last time when we were driving to the court house and you're banned from ever driving with me again."

She rolled her eyes before she got into the car, hopefully heading home to Castle.

AN: Thank you as always for reading and reviewing. I hope all my American readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving!