What Choice Did I Really Have?
Editor's Note: This story has Mature concepts. Reader discretion is advised.
Is this story a Caskett story? That depends on your point of view. Read it and decide for yourself. There is no major character death.
I repeat: Reader discretion is advised.
One Chapter Only
"Two affairs, a loveless marriage. It's sad a man had to die because people were too scared to tell people how they really felt." Roy felt bad over this case.
Those words cut straight through her walls. "Yes, it is sad." The question was did she have the courage to tell him? Did she have the courage to think he or more to the point his family, understood and forgave her?
However, Roy walked away showing a smiling Castle. So much had changed over the last two years.
"Hey, I gotta run. I have to drive Alexis to Princeton but I'll be back in time for that little surprise party the boys are throwing me." Rick had caught wind of a little going away party they had planned for him.
"What?" Beckett had a look on her face that he couldn't place. It was soft and he couldn't read her.
"Nothing." Her fears were still with her. Talking about people being too scared to say or do something was easy. Actually doing something was a lot harder.
"Alright." Rick still didn't get it. Something was going on but he had to get going. "I'll see ya." Rick turned and walked away. Kate felt like a piece of her was walking away. She had a lot of secrets. But was she ready to give some of those secrets away?
Then in walked Tom Demming talking to someone. She was using him to push Castle away. She was scared. He was easy but eventually she was going to have to dump him. Thinking about telling Castle was hard enough, telling Tom was out of the question.
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The party was coming up soon and Kate still hadn't reached a conclusion. Yes, she was scared. Preventing him from knowing was easy. She didn't think she could take away the memory after she told him.
Then out of nowhere there was someone she had never seen before standing at her desk. He didn't have a shield so maybe a civilian? He didn't have a weapon, but he did have something in his hand. He held it out toward her.
"Can I help you?" How did a civilian even get up here in the first place? This was a Precinct and not just anyone had access to the homicide floor. Hell, they weren't even supposed to get past the front desk without a pass.
"Katherine Houghton Beckett. Born to James and Johanna Beckett. Date of birth November 17, 1979. Finally came of age immediately after her eighteenth birthday." He stated it like he was reading from whatever was in his hand.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" All that data could be obtained fairly easily, save for what he said about coming of age on her eighteenth birthday. What did he mean by that?
"You need to come with me," he asserted.
"Do I now? And why would I even want to contemplate such an action?" Kate stayed seated but used her eyes to look around for a little help if she needed it.
"What's going on here?" Roy showed up. Someone he didn't recognize was in his Precinct.
Instead of answering his question he showed Roy his machine. "I beg your pardon. Let me know if you need any help," Roy told him and walked away.
"What the hell was that and who the fuck are you?" Now Kate was actively looking for Espo and Kevin. Something was going on around here and she didn't like it.
"You need to come with me, please. You and the others are being hunted. You are a Succubus and you are being hunted. He will kill you and you cannot prevent it."
Fear flashed through her entire body. No one, literally no one, knew she was a Succubus. NO ONE! She had made sure of that.
"I'm a what?" Kate decided to play dumb while looking for some help and wondered if she could reach her own weapon. He didn't look to be armed.
"You are a Succubus. You came of age immediately after your eighteenth birthday. What you and the others do not yet know is that you are being hunted. He will succeed in killing you unless you come with me now. Stay here and you die.
"You are free to try your hypnosis skill on me if you wish. It will not work on me, however. We need to hurry. He is located in this city at this moment. Once he finds you he will kill you and then simply walk away. Your friends cannot protect you or stop him.
"We need to go." He walked toward a set of stairs. "Come and live, stay and die," he told her and continued walking. If she chose not to follow he had done his job. She had chosen to die and that was her right.
Kate took her weapon out of her desk, holstered it; she grabbed her coat and jogged to catch up to him. "Who are you?" He had used the magic word. SUCCUBUS.
"I am Xeros-Zero." He turned to go up the stairs.
"Where are we going?" There wasn't much up here. Just a workout room, showers, and restrooms.
"The roof," Xeros stated and kept walking.
"The roof?" There was nothing on the roof.
"There's nothing up here." Kate spread her arms wide after they reached it. That was until what looked like a series of lightning discharges displayed a short set of stairs and an opening. Just not much else.
Xeros offered to let her go first. "Please enter the ship before he arrives. I am not armed and I am unable to stop him."
Kate didn't know what possessed her, except for him telling her what she was, but it got her to enter. "Ship?" Kate was catching up.
"Follow me, please." He led her down a corridor and through a door that slid to one side.
"Ladies, meet Katherine, she is the last of this group. We will go into orbit now."
"Orbit!?" Kate gaped opened-mouthed at him.
"Meet Berineli, Catraya, Ristia, and Jillea. Each of you is a Succubus which is why all of you are here. Shall we get started?" He walked up to a podium and seemed to be pressing buttons.
In a flash someone in 3D suddenly appeared in the room. "This is a Hunter. The Hunter division is from a distant galaxy. Each Hunter is a construct. It contains no soul and it only has one purpose. That purpose is to hunt down and kill Demons. As a Succubus each of you qualifies as a Demon even if you don't think of yourselves as being an Evil being.
"A Hunter wears a combat suit. His suit allows him a number of benefits. Vision options is one such benefit. Infrared, ultraviolet, as well as various optical advantages.
"Most carry weapons while their suit allows them to carry several other weapons to complete their jobs. While it may sound harsh they are willing to do as much collateral damage as it takes to kill each of you.
"If that means taking down an entire building filled with hundreds or even thousands just to kill you, they will do so with no remorse or a thought of caring," Xeros explained.
"So why do you care?" one of them asked.
"Why are you immune?" another one inquired.
"My superior has given me the task of collecting the Succubi from this hemisphere for relocation. My superior is a Preserver. That is all any of us know about his race. He has built ships like this one to find races in danger of being made extinct and relocate them to preserve them.
"As to why I am immune to your abilities, that is because I'm an Android. An Android is a robot or other artificial being designed to resemble a humanoid, and often made from a flesh-like material on the exterior. The difference between me and a Hunter is that I am not designed to kill.
"My reason for existence is to preserve life, not end it. Should you approve we will transport you to a new location where you are free to live out your lives where a Hunter has no reason to go," Xeros explained.
"And why should we believe you?" Even Kate wasn't sure she believed any of this.
"This room is a simulator. A single Hunter will be provided and proceed to kill you. Each of you. You may attack one on one or attack together in a coordinated attack. Katherine is still armed. I did not remove her weapon," Xeros divulged and pointed at Kate.
"You have five minutes to prepare. Keep in mind a real Hunter will not give you even an instant to prepare. He will not allow you to change into your Succubus form. He will simply kill you and anyone else that gets in his way. Five minutes." Xeros sank through an opening in the floor along with the podium.
The Hunter remained.
"Do we believe any of this?" one of them asked.
"I'm not sure what to believe." None of them had any problem with being seen shifting into a Succubus given that Xeros had ratted each of them out. Still, none of them did and Kate took out her weapon.
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They were on simulation number five. FIVE! This simulation Hunter had killed all of them all five times. Be it human or Succubus. They literally did no damage. Their death was them being rendered unconscious only to wake up in yet another simulation.
"Alright. Enough! I get the point." Kate knew her weapon was empty of rounds and she like the others, had been trying not to die as a Succubus. Their clothes were scattered all over the place since they had removed them prior to the next simulation.
Without warning the floor opened up. Kate squealed she was taken down through it. Not so much a hole that she fell through, but more of an elevator, and down she went.
There was someone down here. "Xeros, I presume?"
"Welcome to reality, Katherine." She was the first to get the point.
"So what happens with this relocation thing? I obviously stand no chance against a Hunter. Stupid robot!" Kate grumbled.
"We transport you to your new home. Once there you will be allowed to live out your lives. We are aware of a Succubus's needs and will provide what you need or you can bring a lover to satisfy your needs.
"The location selected is a Station orbiting a moon of a gas giant in a different galaxy far from here. It has been selected because the races already there will not be afraid of you. None of those races will be capable of providing the life force that you require to stay alive.
"The life force we will provide is artificial in nature, however, it has been proven to work perfectly. They in turn are not a threat to your race. You will all live in peace and safety from Hunters. At least until they obtain the ability to transit from one galaxy to another," Xeros explained.
"I see." Kate needed to think. "What do I do once I get there? Peace sounds nice, but we don't have peace. I'm a homicide detective."
"We have a number of options for you and the others to consider. We are merely offering. You are free to decline. Keep in mind that even as a group you lost to just one Hunter. You stay, you will not live long," Xeros reminded her.
"I need to think. I can't just up and decide to change my life, leave the few friends I have," Kate told him. "Even if none of them know I'm a Succubus. Not even my dad."
"Follow me." He took her out a door and stopped at another door, and opened it. "This is your room while you think. We will remain in orbit, hidden from everyone, until all of you make a decision. Just press the panel if you desire something. We have an artificial life force for you if you desire it." He left Kate behind to think about just what to do.
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Kate watched the door open to Alexis. "Detective Beckett?" She was not expecting her.
"Hello, Alexis. Is Cas… I mean, is Rick here?" Kate needed to start making some really big choices. Just being here was one already.
"Dad should be already in the Hamptons. He said you elected not to go with him." Alexis wasn't mad at her. She had a job to do and maybe just didn't have the time off.
"I see." Kate needed to think fast. "Is your grandmother here?"
"Grams is upstairs in her room. …Why?" Why would she need her grandmother?
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Kate was in a town car as it pulled up to the house in the Hamptons with Alexis and Martha right next to her. "Wow." Kate opened the door and got out. "You rich or something, Castle?" Kate said to herself as she looked it over.
"Dad is expecting us," Alexis pointed out after the teen got out.
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Rick and Gina had gotten into another fight before they had even left the Precinct which resulted in Rick being out here all alone.
"We're all here, Beckett." Rick sat down with his drink of choice. Kate had declined anything.
"Try and let me finish before you start asking questions." Kate asked them. "This isn't going to be easy for me. I've spent years hiding this from everyone but my life is forcing changes on me that I'm not comfortable with making."
"A little history first. When I was officially eighteen years old, my body underwent changes. I hid them from everyone. This was before my mother was killed and I hid it from her as well. Then she was killed before I could work up the courage to talk to her." Kate started there.
"Changes?" Alexis was well aware of changes. She had been a flat-chested fifteen-year-old but now she wasn't. Technically, she was even still developing a little yet.
"Not those kind of changes and yet, yes, those kind of changes, just more dramatic. When I was a fifteen-year-old I was flat-chested and was afraid I would never fill out. I did but this is more than that.
"Oh, boy." She took a deep breath and blurted, "I'm a Succubus." There, she had told them.
"A what?" Alexis questioned her.
"A Succubus?" Rick looked her over. He knew what a Succubus looked like and Kate didn't even begin to fit that description.
"Obviously, I can hide what I am. I don't always look like a Succubus all the time. …Alright, don't move and don't scream." Kate turned her back on them and began removing her clothes. She needed her clothes. She hadn't come out here with anything but what was on her body.
By the time Kate was pulling her pants down after being topless, Rick put a hand over Alexis's eyes so she didn't see this.
"DAD!" Alexis swatted at his hand and pulled it down so she could see what was happening.
Sure enough, Kate was buck naked and then it started to happen. Wings came out of her back and a tail came out of her butt. Well, right at the top of the crack of her ass anyway.
Her hair grew longer and turned black and her skin changed to a deeper red color.
Rick could tell that she still had really long legs but mostly he couldn't take his eyes off of that tail that was whipping around seemingly all on its own.
Then Kate turned around. "OH, MY!" Martha was shocked by what she saw now.
Kate didn't just have breasts, she had really big breasts. All three were guessing somewhere around 36DD. They were perfect! Not even a bit of sag and her nipples were dark and big.
It took a lot of will power on Rick's part to take his eyes off of her magnificent reddish breasts. When he did he saw horns on her forehead. Not overly big ones but she had horns.
"Say something. …Please?" Kate begged them.
"I… I…" Alexis didn't know what to say.
"Beckett?" Rick was shocked into silence which might be a first for him.
"Katherine. …You've known since you were eighteen?" Martha asked her.
However, as Kate watched she saw Rick's skin color change and his breathing became more labored. "My pheromones. I'm sorry, Rick. I'll try and tone them down."
"Is that what that is?" Alexis felt herself getting wet and her breathing was becoming a little labored.
"I'm sorry, it's habit. It's meant to increase the sexual desire of someone." Kate did her best to tone them down to relieve the pressure.
"Well?" Kate was telling those three her biggest secret. She had others and even another big one that might not go over well.
"I don't know a lot about a Succubus, but don't you kill men to gain their life force? And isn't a Succubus a Demon? Meaning seriously evil?" Rick questioned her.
"Don't believe everything you've read. I've done a lot of reading about them too. RICK! EYES UP!"His eyes were locked on her enlarged and wet pussy mound.
"Sorry." Rick raised his eyes for a moment before looking back down there again and up again.
Kate spotted Alexis looking now and so she put her hand over her mound to hide it from sight. "I get it, a Succubus is a sexual creature, and yes, I need Life Force to live. I can get it from a man typically or a woman, but I don't have to kill to get it.
"I have the ability to hypnotize a person, take the Life Force I need, and make sure they remember nothing. I haven't killed anyone since I was eighteen years old and that was more accident than anything." Kate looked down for a moment. "I didn't yet understand just what I was."
"Succubus," Alexis stated thinking that if she wasn't seeing it she wouldn't believe it.
"So why are you telling us, Beckett? If I heard right you can just make us forget all this," Rick pointed out and fought against his eyes. One second they were on her breasts and the next they were on her hand covering her pussy.
"That's where things get complicated." Kate began to explain it as best she could. "I had someone show up at my desk who got Captain Montgomery to just walk away. That same someone knew I was a Succubus. No one knew I was a Succubus. I've been very careful all these years.
"Anyway, he took me up to the roof and I ended up in a spaceship that had a cloaking device."
Martha had been following but was just a bit overwhelmed. "I'm lost, Katherine."
"Like an honest-to-goodness spaceship!?" Rick was loving this part. "Little green men or little gray guys with big black eyes?" At least now his eyes were on her eyes for a change.
"Neither. It was an Android, actually. He informed us that there is something called a Hunter that has been sent out to kill all the Succubi it can find. That means me and others. We even found ourselves in a combat simulator and it kicked our ass so damn fast." Kate rolled her eyes since that had been a real eyeopener.
"Others?" Alexis asked.
"Apparently I'm not the only Succubus, but until today I'd never met another like me. For all I knew I was alone." Kate shrugged. "Surprise."
"So, back to why you are telling us?" Rick questioned her.
"Two things mostly. One, if he's correct and if that simulation's right, I don't stand a chance if it finds me. Even my being here might be putting all of you in danger. Which leads me to the other reason.
"Do you remember our first case, Rick?" Kate asked him.
"Vividly," Rick replied. "You were perfect for my new character idea."
"Yes, well. Forgive me but ever since that first case you and I have been having sex on a weekly basis. Your bedroom or mine. But we've been lovers for almost two years." Kate was positive this wasn't going to go well.
"I would remember if I made love to anyone that looked like you, Beckett," Rick insisted.
Kate shook her head. "No, you wouldn't. I've made sure of that. I couldn't trust anyone to know that I'm a Succubus, not even you."
"You erased my memory?" Rick couldn't believe it. He didn't feel any different. Rick saw her nod her head. "We've been lovers for two years and I don't know anything about this?" This was almost too impossible to believe and watched her shake her head.
"Then why Demming? I mean if we're been lovers for two years without my knowledge, why him? Did I do something?" Rick didn't understand.
"Because you scare me, Castle. I mean, Rick. I knew I was falling in love with you, but I'm a Succubus. I can't fall in love with someone. I'm a Succubus." Kate took her hand away from her pussy and spread her arms wide so they could see all of her.
"You scare me, Rick. You can't love a Succubus," Kate told him.
"You've been taking Dad's life force for the last two years?" Alexis didn't like the sound of that. To her, life force meant life itself. Detective Beckett was slowly killing her dad over the last two years.
"I'm not sure what Life Force means to you, but to me it means his climax. Either down my throat or inside me. That's all I need to live. I can eat a little and drink some, but I don't need it. I could do without completely and still live.
"I'm sorry, Rick. I trapped myself. I liked the sex even if I was the only one that knew it. But while I did that, I slowly fell in love with you." Kate sighed. "It's just that I'm a Succubus, so I traded you in for Demming. He doesn't know anything either. I didn't know what else to do." Kate turned her back to them, shifted back to being human, picked up her clothes, and put them on. She didn't turn around again till she was dressed.
"Again, why are you telling us anything?" Alexis queried. She didn't question who her dad had sex with. Besides, if she believed her and it sounded like her dad didn't remember a thing, why tell them anything?
"If the Android is right that Hunter will find me and kill me. And based on those simulations I can't stop him. But the Android has somewhere to take us so we can be safe, live in peace, and not be hunted. It's in a different galaxy, no less," Kate told her.
"We're here because I'm going to take the offer. It sounds like it's my only chance at staying alive. Maybe I'm being lied to and maybe I'm not. But if he's right I'm not putting all of my friends in danger by staying. The Hunter has the power and lack of morals to kill everyone around me just to get to me and I can't live with that.
Kate raised her head and looked straight at all of them. "I'm here to say goodbye."
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Kate in Succubus form collapsed on Rick to rest with him still inside her. He had asked for them to make love and that she not erase his memory of it. She had sucked his cock. He ate her pussy. He fucked her from behind and now she was resting a moment after being on top of him.
"So you're leaving?" Rick asked her.
"I am. I don't see another option," Kate said, her heart aching. "Based on what I know, if I stay I'll die and maybe take someone with me. You're always right there, Rick. He kills me, he might kill you too and I can't live with that."
"Because you love me? Do you want to know how long I've wished for you to say that?" Rick asked.
Kate countered what he might be thinking. "I'm a Succubus, Rick. I can't have children. As much sex as we've had over the last two years I would be pregnant by now. We don't use protection. I need your Cum to live."
"And you've decided to leave me behind, forcing me to forget you?" Rick asked her.
"I'm sorry, I don't know any other way. You're not a Succubus," Kate told him.
"When are you leaving?" Rick inquired.
"Bright and early, just before the sun comes up. They're coming down to here to get me. Are you ready for round three? I'm a Succubus after all, so I'm not tired." Kate grinned at him.
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Kate didn't want to say goodbye again. Leaving was breaking her heart. She was a Succubus but she was in love and she was leaving that love behind because she loved him. She need to keep him alive and he wasn't a Succubus, so he couldn't come. She had woken to find him gone so she guessed that was her answer to him joining her because he loved her. Apparently it was just her that loved someone.
Kate looked back at the house then raced out on the beach toward the water. She saw the lightning flashes that showed her the entrance to the ship and climbed up the stairs. She didn't dare look back again. If she did she would break down sobbing as her heart fractured. Being a Succubus had never hurt so badly as it did now.
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Alexis woke up early and was downstairs as the sun started to come up. Watching the sunrise over the water out here was beautiful to see. Stepping into the kitchen she found papers on the breakfast bar that had her name on them.
"Forgive me, Pumpkin, but I love her, Succubus or not. And even though Kate said she can't get pregnant as a Succubus, maybe she can when she's human. Either way, I'll still love her.
"I've spent the last two hours awake and talking with my lawyer. I won't be declared dead for up to seven years. So I've moved all of the cash into an account for you and Mother. Henry's going to give you papers to sign that will sell the building the loft is in to you. You just have to give him the amount indicated.
"I'm doing the same for the house in the Hamptons to Mother. You two can share it.
"As for what is now the last Nikki Heat book, it's in my laptop. I'm leaving the password to it behind for you. I've left a few notes for someone to finish it. The code for each safe is also on the laptop.
"Go to the college of your choice. Live your life your way. You pretty much have all your life. I'm sorry I won't be there to walk you down the aisle but you probably don't want me scaring the life out of him if he doesn't treat you right. Just do me proud and find the right man. Someone who loves you for being you.
"Please don't be angry. But she told me that she loved me and I love her; I have for a quite sometime. If you're reading this it means I made it onto the ship with or without her knowledge.
"Live your life, Pumpkin, and know that I'm happy living mine with Kate.
"May the Force be with you.
"Love you always."
Alexis wiped away her tears. "Love you too, Dad," she whispered and another tear ran down her cheek.