CH3
It is now one month later: (June)
The entire month had been a whirlwind for Kate. The phone calls with Espo using the planes communication system, the navy F/A-18E, getting a flying lesson from Alexis. How a 16 year old girl knew how to fly a plane was simply amazing.
Kate even helped her land the plane, got introduced to the child side of Richard Castle. They had taken Kate on a tour of the house, and it felt to Kate like she had been here before. Kate had even started telling Alexis what was where even before Alexis told her.
Kate watched Rick drive off in search of their first pig for her very first Luau. And it felt so natural to get up and hula dance with Alexis, it even had Kate smiling wide from all the fun. And the food was fantastic.
Kate had caught herself rubbing her arms remembering how sore they were from going deep sea fishing with Castle. It had Kate smiling wide again; it was her first shark that she had ever caught.
Watching Alexis pull out the bread machines to make more than just bread.
Laughing and playing with these two while it rained and filled their empty cistern under the house.
The weekly phone calls into Espo and her father and Martha to see how things were going. It sounded like Captain Montgomery had everything well in hand. It had Kate wondering if she would have done the same if she was in charge.
It is now one month later: (July)
Kate was lounging in the pool right next to Alexis. Kate had barely left Alexis's side since that one night. Kate had on purpose made sure that where Alexis went Kate followed, while not trying to smother her.
Kate didn't know if Castle had noticed or not, however he hadn't said anything and when Kate asked if Alexis had talked to her father about it, all Alexis did was shake her head.
IT! It had broken Kate's heart listening to Alexis's fears about her future or lack thereof. She had spent years in school applying herself to her studies. Doing countless summer projects that would only add to her ability to learn and learn about herself.
College was the next level and Alexis had plans, really big plans. She had three different majors that she was thinking about and she was thinking of pursuing them all. And when college was out she had still more plans.
All of that was up in smoke now. All she had left was her father's new dream and now even it was likely in dust. Who was going to come all the way out here to get away from it all now. Who was alive to come? Was money even worth anything anymore? And if she left her father to chase her dream, was there even going to be a college to go to?
Kate still had a hold of Alexis's hand while floating in the pool. "Alexis honey, do you remember doing this before?" Kate suddenly asks.
It got Alexis to turn to look at Kate. 'Just when did Kate start calling her honey?' Alexis decided that she liked it since she was learning to like Kate a lot. It was as if Kate was the mother she never had.
"I've had this sense of Déjà vu before we even came out here. Dad and I went around to all of the major tour companies promoting our site and it just felt like we had already done this before, and yet they had never heard of us. … It was weird." Alexis answers back.
"I could swear that I've been here before. That tour you gave me our first day here, it was like I already knew where everything was, and yet I know I've never even been in this area before." Kate confides in Alexis.
Alexis had to admit that day had been weird; Kate had even started telling Alexis things that she hadn't told Kate yet.
"And you're about to ask if Castle can write a book based on my mother's murder to try and help solve it. Have everything I know get scanned by Espo and sent out here. Hand over my entire life to Castle, which doesn't sound so scary at the moment anymore." Kate tells Alexis and watches as Alexis's mouth falls open.
"And dad is about to sneak up on us to tell us it is time to make a phone call." Alexis tells Kate, getting Kate to nod her head.
"Time to make a phone call." Rick offers, watching Kate let go of Alexis's hand like she had just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. However she also rolled off of her mattress stood up in the pool and walked for the ladder to get out with Alexis right behind her.
Rick didn't know what was going on and it had Rick very curious, just now sure how to get invited.
Kate was mostly dry and had a towel wrapped around her with Alexis standing next to her and Kate made the phone call. "Hi Espo!" Kate was still glad to hear his voice. It meant her old friends where still out there.
"It's good to hear you Beckett. How is island life?" Espo started out with stupid talk to lighten the mood.
"Hot actually. We've only had that one big rain storm almost a month ago, since then nothing." Kate however was learning to like the sun.
"Just don't go getting a sunburn Beckett." Espo teased.
"How are things there?" Kate wanted an update.
"Still lots of food, we finally found an electrician who could hook up the ranges that we have down in the garage. We have real meals now. People were starting to get restless around here. It really is crowded here Beckett." Espo points out. Not going into detail about where all the people were sleeping.
"We got word that one of the gangs made a run on the hospital that the 54th had turned into their headquarters. The 54th called and we sent 6 cruisers as back up and broke it up. It's been mostly quiet since then. Just minor little things. I think that's what's go Montgomery so antsy." Espo was guessing even if he was actually wrong.
Kate had heard all of this before, she just didn't know how.
"Have Montgomery go back out and round up even more food Espo, all you can find. Oh and more sleeping bags and another home heating oil truck. One isn't enough to last through the winter. And go find all the Sta-bil you can find and pour it into the gasoline tankers, it'll make the gas last longer.
And Espo, tell the 54th to go looking for all the diesel fuel they can find for their giant generator." Kate adds "And Espo go out and find winter clothing while you still can, you're going to need it. And all the Honda generators you can find. And maybe another tanker filled with gas if you can.
Oh and a milk truck of something and fill it with water while you still can.
Did you get all that Espo?" Kate knew it was a lot. It's just that somehow Kate knew they needed those things.
"We got it Beckett." Espo confirms as he watches his partner writing it all down as fast as Beckett came up with it. "You really will make a great Captain, Beckett." Espo wouldn't have thought of these things.
It had Kate smiling; it's just that Kate wasn't sure she could take the credit for it. It just felt like she had done all this before and it was what they needed.
"Have you got the last of the information Espo?" Kate wanted the last of the information.
"Sending it now." As Espo nodded to Tori who was actually doing all the tech work to send all of this.
Alexis was soon printing it out as she brought it up on the laptop, while downloading it onto the laptops hard drive under an encrypted section of the hard drive and then downloaded it all onto a flash drive that was easier to carry around, and hide for later if it came to that.
The rest of the phone call was spent with Kate talking with her father and Alexis talking with Martha.
Kate had everything all stacked up on the dresser in her room. So far Castle hadn't made any attempts at entering her bedroom, leaving Kate to strip off the bed sheets for herself. There were items that Kate had at home and yet here all she had were photos of it all that Espo had taken for her, it was everything Kate could think about that had anything to do with her mother.
"Dad, can we talk to you." Alexis approached her father with Kate right behind her, quaking in her boots, still not sure how Alexis had talked her into this. Kate was a very private person and letting Castle into her life was really something that didn't sit well with her.
"Kate has an open murder case that she has been working on for the last 15 years without success. …. We want you to study all of the information that is in Kate's bedroom." Alexis hands over Rick's laptop to him.
"Write you two a murder mystery based off of what you have in that bedroom?" Rick was actually hooked already, since he felt like he already knew just what he was going to write.
"Yeah, how did you know dad?" Alexis looked at her father, questioning.
"It's like I knew you were going to ask. You want to see if I can write up a scenario that will help explain why your mother was murdered." Rick looks at the two of them and can see the look of shock on their faces.
"I've been having this since of Déjà vu that I've had before we even got here. It's hard to explain. I can already see a lot of the book in my mind. … Is this making any sense to either of you?" Rick was starting to worry that he was losing his mind.
"Alexis and I have been doing the same thing for a while now. Something that I can't explain, I even knew that you were going to be in the same hotel that I was in, and that you had a way out.
I even remembered you sideswiping those two cars, ..." Rick interrupts her.
"It was a pothole that I wasn't expecting and it jerked the wheel out of my hand." Rick lied.
Kate simply glared at him and it seemed to work. "And the two fences and knew Alexis had the keys to the plane." Kate continued.
Rick suddenly felt better that he wasn't alone, now knowing that the two women in his life felt the same way.
It is now 1 month later: (August)
Kate had gotten tired of pork and shark and was ready for something else during this period of time.
"We can go fishing if you want to try." Alexis offered.
Kate had jumped at the chance. "Anything but shark." Kate prayed.
"Then grab a normal fishing rod or two out of the storage building along with the tackle box and meet me down at Flash." Alexis smiled as she made her way to the front door and start walking for the boats, and can hear the sound of Kate's flip flops as Kate runs for the storage building.
Kate all but jumped in the boat. "I'm driving!" Kate jumped into the driver's seat and held out her hand for the keys, smiling wide, giddy with excitement. GOD she hadn't felt like this since she was a teenager, but this boat was going to be so much fun. Kate was going to put this baby through its paces.
"KATE! … KATE!" Alexis is yelling at her as she holds on for dear life to the seat she is in, ever so happy that she had chosen to wear a life vest. Except that was only going to keep her from drowning and not prevent the massive amount of fractures she was sure she was going to have soon when Kate crashed the boat.
"KATE, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE FISHING!" Alexis tries yelling again.
Alexis was in the kitchen skinning the fish they had caught. Ok the fish that ALEXIS had caught, all three of them. "Kate I said I was sorry." Alexis offers while she runs her knife over the fish doing what Kate told her to do.
"You're supposed to skin it not butcher it." Kate moans. "Move over or we'll be eating pork or shark again." Kate hip butts Alexis out of the way and cleans the fish herself.
"I'll go start the grill." Alexis offers and heads for the back patio.
"It was beginners luck, you know that. … Likely never going to happen again. … EVER!" Kate yells at Alexis's retreating form only to get Alexis to turn her head and smile back continuing her trip out to the grill.
"Alexis, wait!" Kate suddenly calls out getting Alexis to stop and watch as Kate comes out of the kitchen and comes over to Alexis and wrap her arms around Alexis and kiss her head.
"I'm sorry honey, I was only teasing. … And yet it feels like I've done this before somehow, even though I know I've never met you before, and yet, ..." Kate knew she was falling for Alexis fast, and also knew that it was going to happen.
"Kate, you've been, I don't know." Alexis didn't know what to say. She'd never had a woman care about her like this before except for her grandmother and even she didn't do what Kate was doing.
"I like you honey, I like you a lot and I couldn't imagine being here without you and your father." Kate had to admit.
Kate and Alexis had loved the fish, it was fresh and a welcome change to their diet.
"How about a board game unless you want to try dad's X-box." Alexis was hoping Kate had never played X-box and she could mop the floor with her.
Kate however having been spending this much time with Alexis could see something, one of her suggestions meant trouble for her, however Kate just didn't know which one. Still she had a 50-50 chance. "Board game." Kate tried to sound convincing.
Alexis went to select a board game cursing silently, how did Kate get so damn lucky? What Alexis doesn't see behind her back is Kate pump her fist. She had selected right and now knew to stay far, far away from the X-box. At least until she got in some practice without these two.
Twilight Struggle Deluxe Edition - This Deluxe Edition of Twilight Struggle seeks to capture the feeling of that earlier era. Twilight Struggle is a two-player game simulating the forty-five year dance of intrigue, prestige, and occasional flares of warfare between the Soviet Union and the United States. Twilight Struggle recreates the conflict between the most powerful nation states the world has ever known. The scope of the game covers the entire world as it was found in 1945. Players move units and exert influence in attempts to gain allies and control for their superpower. Twilight Struggle is a two-player game simulating the forty-five year dance of intrigue, prestige, and occasional flares of warfare between the Soviet Union and the United States.
They were still playing when it was time to start dinner however working together to make dinner was also part of the game. "Stop crowding me commie." Alexis bumps Kate in the hip.
"Plan R." Kate whispers mostly to herself.
"I was just thinking that." Alexis turns to look at Kate. "We have that movie in the cabinet." Alexis offers.
"Game over." Kate offers and watches as Alexis loads the movie. "Sit here honey." Kate pats the sofa next to her, and wraps her arms around her and holds her tight after Alexis sits down.
The movie wasn't done yet and Kate suddenly heard Alexis sniffle. It got Kate to look down at Alexis. "What's wrong honey?" Kate didn't like the sound of Alexis crying, it broke her heart, not that she yet understood why yet.
"I've only ever done this with dad and not since I was little." Alexis used the back of her hand to wipe away some of her tears.
"Your mother or Gina never did this with you?" Kate couldn't understand those two. Alexis was an amazing young woman. Every woman's perfect example of having a loving teenager.
Only to watch Alexis shake her head and sniffle again, getting Kate to hold onto Alexis a little tighter. "I'm sorry Alexis, I don't understand those two, but I swear I'm not like that." Kate kissed the top of Alexis's head.
The Pink Panther movies were next since Kate had mentioned that she loved Peter Sellers.
Kate simply left the A/C units on and got Alexis to lie down on the sofa and found a light cover and let her sleep, after stroking her hear and kissing her head.
Kate stopped at Castle's closed door noticing that his light was on and thought about knocking but thought Castle wouldn't answer. And Alexis had been just walking in without knocking all this time, but Kate didn't feel right about doing that, so she turned around to head for her room, just as Castle's door opened.
"KATE!" Castle was looked glad to see her. "Your mother is amazing Kate." And Castle leaned in and kissed Kate on the cheek and then practically jogged for the living room and Kate could hear a door open and close.
Kate just stood there and watched Rick come rushing back with his hands filled with still more papers. Rick stepped up to Kate and with papers in hand hugged Kate and kissed her cheek again. "Thank you." And Castle disappeared back into his bedroom.
It left Kate standing there stunned. Kate had felt him next to her, since all either of them were wearing was a swimsuit, and where did the kisses come from?
Kate could suddenly see Rick kissing her a lot and she was kissing him back. Kate knew she already loved Alexis and was wishing that Alexis was hers. Her life would so different with Alexis in her life.
"Castle!?" Kate also knew that she couldn't have one without the other, it was just that she didn't love Castle, but could she?
Kate ran across Castle in the morning and just knew what he was going to say somehow.
Castle hands Kate a piece of paper. "My mom's notes with her impossible encryption." Kate confirms. And then Castle hands her a hand written page, one of what looked like hundreds scattered all over his bed.
Kate started reading and was looking between the two. "YOU SOLVED IT!?" Kate stared at him.
"I know a guy." Castle shrugs his shoulders.
"You know a guy?" Kate was now looking between the papers and Castle.
"I followed around a CIA operative once for about a year years ago, and I got to know a lot of people because of it. Naturally everything I wrote had to go through them first. … However one of the guys I met worked on breaking encryptions.
I took pictures and sent them to him using my phone. Thankfully the CIA in Langley is locked up tight and free of infection. I sent him every page of your mother's notes and he sent them back for me to print out." Castle picks up a pile of papers that had all of Johanna's notes all deciphered for Castle to read.
"You, … you, ..." Kate didn't know what to say as she saw all the pages in Castle's hands. How had he, …? Kate could feel the tears starting to flow down her face. She had never been this close to solving the case that was her life.
There was only one thing Kate could think of to do to say thanks. She kissed him softly, quickly and then backed off a little while still looking at Castle and let the tears flow. What she didn't expect was to feel something from that one little kiss. She didn't really know him except from what Alexis had been telling her.
And then something happened, Castle kissed her back. Wrapped his arms around Kate and feeling her own arms go around him as Castle kissed Kate and pressed into the kiss. Using his tongue to ask for entrance and when getting just a slight break in Kate's lips the war of dueling tongues was on.
They only broke from the kiss to get some air, only to have Castle kiss Kate again. Kate was soon moaning into the kiss. No one had really kissed her in a long time, it had even been longer since she had even been with a man. Her job had come first, Kate loved her job.
Kate got out of his arms and backed off. "Castle, …. I need time Castle, please understand."
"Take it slower, I can do that. Just remember, I won't take no for an answer later." Rick warns her.
It had Kate weak in the knees. Did Castle just say that he was going to ask her something? Married to Castle with Alexis for a daughter. Maybe someday hear Alexis call her mom since for some reason she really wanted to hear Alexis call her mom.