The Root of All Evil

A/N: So, I commented on Twitter that I needed the chapter to write itself and Mojor came back with this reply (also without reading the story. Lol) "Dear My-Writer, They felt all the feels, kissed, the baddies got dead, Caskett lived happy ever after. The End. Love, Chapter."

Umm, so not quite there yet… but you know, there is hope for the future :P.

Thanks, anyway, Mojor, for the motivation to write through my exhaustion.

A/N2: Now, a comment on Demming. I have nothing against any of the Ex's (Kate's or Rick's) but I needed a lawman and I wanted it to be someone who wasn't right away known to be bad, so I chose Demming. I have nothing against him but he worked for what I needed.

Anyway, now on to Ch 8!

Chapter 8

Kate lay curled on her side in the cell, facing the wall; her knees brought up to her chest, her arms curled under her head, forming a make shift pillow. She could feel him staring at her, his eyes boring into the back of her head. She had been pretending to sleep for the better part of the night. Her stomach cramped again and she stifled the need to moan. They had fed her bread and water. She had survived on worse than that before but not with a baby inside her. Little Emily needed her fill too, and the crusts were not enough. Her stomach grumbled again and she willed the baby to be quiet, her lips moving in silent soothing murmurs. It was just the two of them. They had to stick together.

The others hadn't been in to visit, even her father. Kate, knew, on some level that it was Demming keeping them away but the doubt was still there, the gnawing fear that they thought she was guilty and they were abandoning her for the other side. It was unfounded and outrageous but it was still there, the inkling of doubt. The doubt she had in herself.

"Please, please, please, please," she whispered to herself and her baby, their baby, as her stomach growled again and a tear leaked out of her eye, falling to the stiff wooden plank underneath her.

Her eyes grew heavy as her hunger turned to exhaustion and her head began to swim. She refused to beg for food for anything. She would not give him what he wanted.

"Hi Momma," a little voice greeted from behind her, a small hand petting her head and Kate couldn't help but smile.

"Sarah," she whispered out, the soft smile gracing her face as the songlike voice of her daughter floated through the air.

"Did you miss me, Momma? I missed you but I've been spending time with Grandmother. She says hello. She said everything is going to be all right." Sarah sang out as she continued to stroke her fingers through her mother's hair.

"Mmm." Kate hummed out. "Yeah, baby, I missed you, more than anything."

"But you're happy Momma, right? You forgave my father. You got married. You're having a baby. Everything is going to be okay. You're going to find him. This wasn't you Momma."

"But, how can I know that, I don't remember anything."

Sarah let out a huff of air and crawled up on the bench to perch behind Kate's back, reaching around her to place a small hand, fingers spread, over her protruding stomach. "Would you ever hurt Rick? Think Momma. Would you really ever hurt him?"

Kate closed her eyes as another tear leaked out and she drew in a stuttered breath as she shook her head. "No. No, baby. I would never hurt him."

Sarah smiled as she leaned over, her hand still spread over Kate's belly, and kissed her on the cheek. "That's how you know, Momma."

Kate's eyes blinked open again and she looked up into the bright blue eyes of the ghost of her daughter as a small smile spread over her lips. "Thank you."

Sarah let out a light giggle. "Don't thank me yet, silly, you're still stuck in this cell."

The girl hopped down off of the bench and took a step back so she could spin in a circle, her arms outstretched in the middle of the cell. "You get to thank me when I get you out of here and you find Rick, you're one true love, and you live happily ever after. The end."

Sarah collapsed to the floor in a fit of giggles. Kate couldn't help but laugh with her, her tears drying on her cheeks as she pushed herself up to sit on the bench and watch her daughter play in the middle of the jail cell.

"You're a silly girl," Kate whispered, reaching out to cup her daughter's face in the palm of her hand.

"You're the silly one, Momma. I'm just a figment of your imagination. Remember? You just don't let yourself be silly, so I have to do it for you. You're going to have to use you're imagination to get out of this one, though, Momma. Demming won't be easily swayed. You know what you have to do. You might not like it, but you know it's the only way to escape."

Kate stared at her daughter for a long moment, weighing the girl's words before the words slipped from her lips. "Make a deal with the devil."

Sarah nodded, solemnly, her once smiling face wiped clean of glee and carefree nature. "You can do it, Momma. You've done it before; you just have to be more careful this time. Don't let him get the upper hand. You can do this. You have to: for your baby, my sister, and for Rick. You have to do it for them."

"No," Kate ground out, pressing a fist to her forehead, shaking her head. "There has to be another way. It's too dangerous. What if… what if it goes wrong again?"

Her last words came out in a whisper as she peered up at Sarah, who was standing in front of her, a small hand resting on her shoulder, playing with a lock of her hair.

Sarah sighed and stepped forward to sit on her mother's lap, wrapping her arms around Kate's neck and laying her head on her shoulder. "It's not going to Momma. You've got to have faith that it won't happen again. You can do this. You have to. He's too smart to let you out of here. You have to trick him, to lull him into a false sense of security. It's going to take time. Take it slow."

Kate nodded as Sarah's little fingers wound through her hair and danced across her neck. She took in a deep breath and pulled her daughter closer to her body, cuddling her, taking solace in the smell of her baby's skin. "I love you, baby."

"I love you, too, Momma. Always."

"Always."

Kate's eyes popped open and she drew in a breath as she stared at the brick wall of the jail cell. Sucking in a deep breath as she pushed herself to sit up on the hard wooden bench. Demming was sitting in the chair, staring at her and she brought a hand up to rub her eyes. The blood was dry on her skin but she still grimaced as the stained flesh touched her face.

Slowly she looked up at him, her arms braced on the bench. She could do this.

"Can I have a bucket of water to wash myself and a clean change of clothes, a dress?" She whispered as her head ducked, and she broke eye contact, staring down at the wooden planks of the cell. "And could I have some more food? My baby is hungry. Please? If you are going to be sheriff in this town it will go a long way to win you support if you show me some mercy."

She raised her gaze so she could see his reaction as he considered her request. He eyed her for a moment, his gaze studying her face as she bit her lip in trepidation and looked up at him. He looked over the rest of her body, the way the shirt hung off of her and her bare feet, toes black with dirt on the steady on the wood floor.

"Fine," he finally nodded. Before turning his head to look at one of the men standing guard by the door. "Sam, go get them."

Sam nodded back in reply, his face emotionless before pushing his way back out to the street. He returned the better part of an hour later and Demming stood by the cell door, hand on gun, while Sam took the items inside.

Kate dove into the plate of food as soon as it was placed next to her, ignoring the chuckle of laughter Demming let out as he settled back into her chair. "I'm glad you are starting to accept your situation, Mrs. Castle."

Kate swallowed her mouthful and sucked in a calming breath before looking back up at him from behind a curtain of hair. "My husband's dead, Sheriff Demming. It's, now, my job to do what is best for my child. If that means I have to sacrifice myself, then, so be it."

Silence fell over the room as Kate's eyes dropped back down to stared at her half empty plate and Demming stared at her, his hands folded in his lap as he waited for her to continue.

"So," she continued quietly, her eyes still trained on the ground. "What do I have to do to make sure she survives?"

"Daniel!" Alexis called as she dismounted Whisper, one braid flopping over each shoulder as her hat flew off of her head and hung by the string around her neck. The morning light was peaking over the horizon. She and Jim had slept in the barn the night before. Well, she had slept fitfully, a plague of nightmares flooding her mind. Jim had sat, with Esposito and Port, a rifle across his lap. Lanie and Gina had curled up next to her in the hay.

We're in this together, Alexis. Lanie had said when she had told them to go home, that they would meet in the morning.

They were in this together. All of them.

"Alexis?" The blond-haired young man answered, snapping Alexis out of her thoughts, as he stepped out of the crowd and made his way over to her, his gate slowing as he saw the group behind the girl. "What are you doing here?"

"My father… my… Kate," Alexis's voice trailed off as she sucked in a breath, fighting back her tears and clenched her jaw into a brave face. "They're in trouble. I need your help."

Private Daniel Tailor leaned forward, his arm reaching out to cup Alexis's cheek. "What is happening?"

A tear leaked out of Alexis' eye as she leaned into his touch. "My father, he's missing. Kate was arrested for his murder. She didn't do it, I'm sure of it but the town is up in arms. They are going to hang her and my father is gone and we need to find him to prove her innocence. I…"

Her words choked in her throat as the tears flooded her eyes. "What if he's dead?"

Daniel took another step forward, his free hand rising to rest on her waist when his eyes darting up to see Jim Beckett and Esposito standing behind her, arms crossed over their chests. Identical glares covered their faces. His hand fell back to his side like it had been burned but he leaned his head closer to hers instead. "He's not dead. We'll find him. What do you need me to do?"

Alexis raised her eyes to meet his, a fire sparking in them, "We need you to help us start a war."