A/N: Shout out to Bossybossninja, it has been a blast so far writing with you! I've never realized how much fun it could be to bounce ideas off someone else. Thank you for PMing me! :)

I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! *reposted to fix a couple of things*

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"Yo, Beckett. Couple of strange dudes on their way to the precinct. They say they've got some information on the Gregory Smith case."

"Gregory Smith?" Kate asked. "I think I heard about that one. Wasn't that out of the 19th precinct?"

Esposito flipped pages in his notebook. "Yeah, I have a buddy over there. I'll give him a call to let him know about these guys.

"Why did they come to you?"

"I dunno. They stopped by the precinct asking about the reward poster. I was there. Then they showed up here saying they had an address and photo of Smith."

"That sounds suspicious. Do you want to follow up with them or call the 19th?"

Beckett eyed Esposito's fidgeting. She could tell he wanted to go.

"Both. I know I'm needed here, but these guys..." he trailed off.

"Got to you huh? Okay, um… Why don't you head back to the station then? I hate to take you off this case, but from what you're describing, those two seem to have attached themselves to you.

Esposito nodded and waved his arm at the scene behind him. "Yeah, and this one's a little too weird for my tastes."

Kate snorted. "Not exactly a 'Jack shot Jill over Bill', is it?

"Tell me about it. Definitely 'Beckett flavored'."

"You gonna make them squirm in the box?" she teased.

The grin on Esposito's face was evil.

"Hell, yeah. I'll let 'em sweat for an hour before calling the other detectives in. You call Castle yet?"

"Oh, crap, no. I was in the morgue with Lanie and Dr. Waters when I got the call, and we came straight here."

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed.

"Castle? Hey, we've got a scene, you in? Right, I know, dumb question. 45th and 9th. All right, see you soon."

She watched Esposito drive off then called out.

"Ryan! What have you got?"

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Different prey struggles different ways. I thought of all the planeswalkers I had killed. Every kill, every death brings me closer to the one that did this. I had to remind myself of that. Killing wasn't my favorite thing to do, but I found it necessary. I had to do something to find what had been so far unreachable, and all that filled my mind was anger towards that anonymous planeswalker that had laid this curse on me. Was this the one? I can almost hear that piece of the blind eternities in her, closer, closer.

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"I'm telling you Beckett, this is so cool!"

Castle practically skipped out of the elevator, followed by a disgruntled Beckett.

"Things that don't make sense are not cool, Castle," she grumbled.

"I mean, where else could those vines have come from?" Castle ignored her, his nine-year-old enthusiasm getting the better of him. "The cab driver said they came from nowhere, which could mean out of thin air, which means…"

Kate slammed her notebook on her desk.

"I. Don't. Know. Castle!" she snapped, effectively shutting him up. She took a deep breath and continued when she saw the look on his face.

"I'm sorry, Castle. But I don't like things that don't have explanations."

"I know, but…"

Esposito poked his head out of the interrogation room.

"Then I doubt you'll like this, but I think you need to hear it." He went back into the room and Castle and Beckett followed into the observation room.

"All right, Mr. Beleren. Tell me the story about showing up at our crime scene this morning again."

"Gideon and I were on our way here, when we noticed the vines encompassing the car. We then saw you and went over to speak to you."

"Tell me about the vines."

"They had probably been made with magic."

"Magic." Esposito stood and turned toward the mirror. "You expect me to believe that?" He turned back to the table and got into Gideon's face. "Magic isn't real. It's all tricks and sleight of hand. How did you know Smith's whereabouts? And what do you know about the scene from this morning?"

Gideon sat back in his chair, trying to get away from Esposito's antagonism.

"Magic is real, Detective," Jace told him. "Your disbelief doesn't change that. The fact that your world doesn't use magic doesn't change its reality. We used magic to find Gregory Smith. Magic was used at your crime scene this morning."

"Are you confessing to murder?" Esposito was still angry.

"Of course not," Gideon shot back. "But we may know who did."

"Spill."

Jace and Gideon looked at each other. Gideon nodded and Jace answered.

"You're looking for Garruk. So are we."

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Beckett sat in Observation with her mouth agape. She turned to Castle who had stood and was bouncing on his toes in excitement.

"Beckett, you have to admit this is the best case ever!"

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This one is a fighter, she needs something to help flush her out. My wild instincts were never too far away from me; I could tell so much about a person by their looks. And she looked capable. But not enough. An easy kill, but still more sport in it, because she would last longer. After a second, I knew what I would summon to help me kill her. Drawing upon the mana around me, a huge beast - a Blastoderm - materialized from the Æther, right beside me. A mix of rhino and tree standing seven feet tall, it would do the job. Go there. A simple mental command, but it knew exactly what I wanted. It stalked off, readying itself for the ambush. The trees provided excellent cover, and I prepared myself as well. I had to stay moving, though, because if I stayed too long in a single spot, the plants would wither around me, giving away my location.

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Kate was in Washington Market Park, jogging down a path with trees on either side. She was cooling off; the recent events were still a lot to wrap her head around. She was breathing in the brisk evening air. The leaves were rustling, a small breeze catching the hundreds of trees and keeping the air nice and cool. Finally, she stopped to catch her breath. She had been at this for some time, going through all the possibilities for this new case. It just didn't add up. Something was missing.

Pulling out her phone, she dialed Castle.

"Ah, Detective, to what do I owe this late night call?"

Kate snorted. "Why do I usually call, Castle?"

"You have another body? Is this turning into a serial case? With magic?"

"Don't get excited. I hope we don't get any more," she huffed, still a little out of breath.

"Are you all right?" he asked. "Where are you?"

"I'm at Washington Market, jogging."

"At a park? This late?"

"Castle, I'm a cop. I have a gun, and I know how to use it."

She heard a twig snap. Brushing off the sound as someone else walking, she reached for a small water bottle in her running pack. Taking a drink, she heard a growl, almost like a dog, but much… deeper.

"Castle, stay with me."

"Beckett? Kate, are you okay?"

"So far."

She capped the bottle and set it down. The growling stopped. She looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There were bushes, and trees, and… What? A tree that didn't look like a tree caught her eye. It was shaped differently, most of it was behind a bush. It didn't move at all, it was just… different.

Kate picked up her bottle. She turned to move on, but something was wrong. She turned back to look at that weird tree, but it wasn't there. She pulled her gun. The low, even growl cut through the silence. There. The tree had moved, and – was moving! The thing started towards her, and now it hardly looked like a harmless piece of the vegetation. It had a resemblance to a rhino, but it had tusks that curled around its face, and it looked like it was part-plant. There were even leaves growing out of its back, she realized in horror. It had been slowly advancing on her, and she was slowly backing away, but then she ran.

"Castle, I'm in trouble!"

"Kate? I'll call 911!"

"No! I need you to stay with me!"

A howl pierced the air, a guttural cry that sent birds flying away in all directions, and Kate wished that she could fly like a bird. The beast had begun to chase her, and she was only able to outdistance it by the compactness of the trees, and the size of the thing chasing her. She was able to weave through, while the beast laid out a path of destruction in its wake. Kate got a couple of shots off, but wasn't sure she hit the thing. As she continued to run, the creature finally caught up to her. It vaulted through the air, and its tusks hit her leg. Hard. She struggled to get up, but knew that the bone had probably shattered, and the pain was unbearable. A voice, speaking in a language she did not understand came from her left. "This is all that the planeswalkers here can do? Run? No, they must be hiding the one somewhere, I will find that one. Is it you? Are you the planeswalker that cursed me?" She turned to the man, and saw her assailant.

Kate could see the person approaching her. She could see the hate in his eyes, practically radiating off of him, and then in his hand, the biggest axe she had ever seen. With a word, he created a ball of dark energy, somehow taking the light out of the very air. She knew about fear from times before, but this was different. This was fear of something more than death, what it was, she didn't know, but the feeling was there still the same. He smiled. He looked at the beast, and with a word, it vanished. Then, he stopped next to her. She could see him, standing there and now, she knew that she would die. In a burst of motion, he plunged down his hand, she kicked out at his legs, and then a wave of pain washed over her.

The last thing she heard was Castle calling her through her headphones.

"Kate!"

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Kate opened her eyes. "Where am I?"

"Don't worry, Kate, we found you before Garruk."

"What? Where was I? How did I not die?" She sat up, and noticed that everything about her felt fine, even her leg. "How is my leg fine?"

"That is a lot of questions. I'll answer them as best as I can." Jace paused for a moment. "You were in Washington Market Park, but now you are on the roof of the police station. You did not die because – well – you went into the Blind Eternities. And Gideon healed your leg."

"What? What does all of that mean?

"Kate, you're a planeswalker."

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A/N 2: One thing I noticed in writing this chapter, is that the 'believer's' – Castle and Ryan – haven't had much to do yet. The story has just gravitated towards Beckett and Espo. I've always been a 'go with what comes' kind of writer, but I'm hoping to give them something to do in the future!

I'd love to hear what you think!