Ch 7 Alexis's in Wonderland
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: I love the smell of Castle in the morning, but I don't own it. Rating: M, in places. Time: After Four of a Kind and probably during or after season eight.
Chapter Seven: The Iron Butterfly
Author's note: As some of you know, since I retired, I live half the year here in California and half in Arizona. I'm off to AZ today, so no more updates until next Monday or so. But, be careful to read all of this as it's going to be on the final exam. I did tell you about that, right?
Rick and Kate stared at this Alexis. Finally Rick and Kate spoke together.
"Grandpa?" Rick said.
"Mom?" Asked Kate.
That's when Rodgers and Simone pushed past Rick and Kate and into the tent.
Alexis' eyes widened. "Wait? Who are they? Who are you?"
While Rodgers removed shackle on Alexis' leg, Rick and Kate explained about the alternate universes, the kidnapping of multiple Alexis Castles', and who they were.
"You're not my dad and mom?" Alexis asked.
"I'm one Alexis' dad, but Kate isn't you her mom. A woman named Meredith is my Alexis' mom."
Alexis nodded. "Okay, technically my mom is Meredith. But ever since you got together, I've considered Kate as my mom. She's been more of a mom than my real mom ever was. I've felt that way pretty much ever since you came back from that Memorial Day weekend together."
"We spent Memorial Day together?" Castle asked, smiling.
"Yes. Somehow, it really changed both of you. When you came back, you were both in love. You got married about a year and a half later and you've been inseparable ever since. Aren't you two married?"
"Yes." Kate said." But it took us a little longer."
Castle was imagining what being with Kate would have been like years earlier when his thoughts were interrupted by the blonde woman.
"Please. Don't hurt." Her Russian accent was quite thick.
"Don't hurt Elisabeta." Alexis said. "She was with them, but not really willingly. Two of the man wanted to rape me, but Elisabeta, um, volunteered herself."
"Can we get her some clothes?" Kate asked. The blonde was entirely too undressed for her taste.
"In the green backpack." Alexis said, pointing.
Kate told Elisabeta to get dressed, which she did.
"So, you know your granddad?" Castle asked.
"Grandpa Jimmy?" Alexis frowned. "Duh! Don't you know him?"
"I met him a couple of years ago. He's CIA."
Alexis nodded. "He came back when you were about ten years old, married Grandma Martha. You kept the name Rodgers and not de Councy. He still worked for the CIA, but not in the field so much and he didn't want to beak his cover, although I never understood why. I mean, he married your mom and adopted you. But the CIA does work mysteriously."
"Damn. I grew up with my dad and married you earlier."
Kate leaned over and kissed him. "I wish we'd gotten married the day we met."
Castle laughed. "You'd have killed me before the honeymoon was over."
Kate bushed and said nothing.
They were interrupted by a burst of machine gun fire.
"Get out!" Cried Becks from the boat. "We have company. Big damned wolves."
Rodgers organized things. "I'll take point, Rick and Kate the flanks and Simone is drag. Alexis and Elisabeta stay in the middle. Beckett, tell her that. And load your grenade launchers with buckshot rounds. I can hear something growling and it's close."
Kate said a few words to the Russian woman who was clearly distraught. Castle loaded his grenade launcher with a buckshot rounds, not really surprised that he knew where they were on his web gear.
As soon as they walked out, Rick found himself looking at a wolf that was the size of a small horse. The wolf growled and reared back as if to spring. He fired his grenade launcher and 20 buckshot slammed into the wolf's head. The wolf rolled on the ground, pawing madly at his head. Beyond him Castle saw to more wolves fighting over the dead body of a kidnapper. Each had and end and were pulling on it until it came apart. Castle took aim and fired at one wolf which seemed to do no more than make him angry. He turned towards Castle, but was cut down by fire from the boat.
"Hurry up!" He heard Becks scream, followed by a burst from the twin fifties.
One immense wolf trotted by about twenty yards away with a body in its mouth. Castle let him go.
Finally they reached the boat and pulled out into the middle of the river.
"Anyone hurt?" Rodgers barked.
Caste looked around. Everyone seemed fine.
"Take up your positions. We're not out of here yet."
"Can we eat?" Alexis asked. "They haven't fed me since yesterday."
Rodgers nodded. "Why not. I think we could use a little down time."
They had lunch anchored in the middle of the river. Alexis looked around. "Cool. A pibber."
"You know what a Pibber is?" Castle asked.
"Sure. You took me on one when you were researching Arabian Heat. You wanted to buy one, but the Navy wouldn't sell you one."
"Arabian Heat?" Kate asked, now curious.
"Sure. Rook goes off to write about Middle Eastern wars and disappears. Nikki goes after him. The movie was great. There aren't a lot of action adventure movies with a female lead, so women loved it. But, I thought the love scenes were the best part."
"Love scenes?" Rick asked, beginning to get upset.
"Purely PG, Dad. Um, Rick? What do I call you?"
"Dad and Mom will do until we get you back." Rick was feeling very paternal about this Alexis.
"Speaking of getting back, we should try to contact Metford and his pals to get us out of here." Rodgers said. They all talked to their wrists, feeling a bit foolish in front of Alexis and Elisabeta, informing anyone who was out there that the mission was accomplished.
"Whatever there is about this planet, it's keeping us from contacting them. We'll have to go down river and out to sea." Rodgers said disgustedly.
They slept that night at anchor. Rick trusted Alexis to keep watch, but not Elisabeta. The night was uneventful and they continued their journey at dawn.
"So far, so good. "Rick said, around noon. "We should make the open sea before sunset."
"The drone is picking up something ahead of us." Rodgers said. Everyone's eyes were on the river ahead of them as they rounded a bend.
"Jesus." Rodgers said when he saw them.
"That can't be." Rick said.
"Then what are they, Dad?" She asked, only a little sarcastically.
"Mammoths?"
Alexis nodded. "We're the first humans to see any for maybe ten thousand years."
"What is it?" Becks called from the back of the boat.
"Mammoths. A family, or maybe a herd of them." Rodgers called back. He had picked up the binoculars. "I count seventeen adults or near adults and five juveniles."
"Look!" Kate cried. "On the back of the fifth one from the front. It's a baby."
"Like the wolves, those things are bigger than normal. Although I'm not sure what normal means around here. "Rodgers said. "I'd guess the biggest one, the one in front, is a good twenty feet high at the shoulder."
"The largest mammoth found on our, that is, my Earth, was some thirteen feet high at the shoulder." Alexis explained.
"Any one of them could crush his boat like an eggshell." That was Kate.
Rodgers started taking the boat in a circle to allow the mammoths to cross the river.
While the mammoths slowly crossed the river, Kate noticed something. "The first couple of mammoths are carrying tree trunks in their trunks. Why do you suppose they do that?"
They found out when the first couple of mammoths reached the other side of the river. The mammoths used the tree trunks to chase away a band of alligators that had been sitting by the river bank. The slower 'gators got smashed by the clubs. The mammoths then used their clubs to clear brush and small trees away depriving any would-be enemies of cover.
"Tool using mammoths." Alexis said in awe.
"Do you suppose they'll go to the Moon in another few million years?" Castle asked.
The mammoths remained on the river bank, sunning themselves, eating and washing themselves in the river. Everyone agreed that they shouldn't try to slip past the mammoth herd, which meant staying another night on the river. "The Mississippi Delta spreads out and the branches of the river narrow down, so we don't want to try to go through at night when predators can get close to us. Our big advantage is long range fire power. We don't want to lose any of that." Rodgers had insisted.
Before nightfall they saw another denizen of this odd planet.
"Dad! Look to your right, above us. It's a giant butterfly."
Alexis was right. The butterfly had a wingspan of a good three feet and was beautiful. The wings were a deep gold and a light green with blue highlights and a red border at the edge of the wings.
"Could we take one back with us?" Alexis asked, excitedly.
Rick shook his head. "Metford is gonna go ballistic when we bring Elisabeta back. I think a giant butterfly is out of the question."
"Look! There's a bird circling above the butterfly." Simone said, pointing.
Sure enough, a large bird was circling high above the butterfly, then began a dive.
"Shoot it! Shoot it!" Alexis screamed.
"No!" Rodgers yelled. "We can't take a chance that the mammoths will notice us. If they come looking for us, we're done."
Seconds before the bird struck, the butterfly flipped onto its back and expelled a spray of something in the bird's path. The bird plunged to the surface of the river and floated there, not moving. The butterfly flew over and picked its prey up and flew off with it.
"The beauty attracts the prey and the butterfly uses, what, some kind of toxin to kill it?" Alexis asked.
"I don't know or care, Pumpkin. I just want to get off this Earth and go somewhere else."
That night, while on watch, Rick saw something moving through the water towards them through his night vision goggles. He waited until it was about twenty feet away and fired a burst into the creature, which sank from sight.
"What was that?" Rodgers called.
"I don't know. Maybe a giant snake. Maybe a snake with legs, a sting in its tail and a really bad attitude. Whatever it is, it's gone. I hope."
At dawn they saw that the mammoths had moved away during the night. They headed down river once again. Rodgers pulled up an aerial or possibly a satellite map on the boat's computer. He found what he hoped was the widest of the branches of the Mississippi. They headed for it.
As they sailed through along the banks of the river gave way to swamps, islands and closely packed trees. They could see something, or rather some things, moving, but never got a clear look at what they might be.
"This looks like Apocalypse Now country." Rick said quietly.
"I hope Colonel Kilgore and the First of the Ninth is waiting for us, just like in the movie." Rodgers joked.
"Not going to happen."
"What's going to happen to Elisabeta, Dad? She was good to me when she didn't have to be."
Rick shook his head. "I don't know, Pumpkin. We talked them into letting us take Simone, then known as Kathleen Beckett, back to our Earth."
Alexis frowned. "Simone was another Mom? Um, Kate?"
"We had a little plastic surgery done for her so we could be seen together and not wonder how Mrs. Castle could suddenly have a twin sister. Now she owns the best restaurant in New Orleans. Don't worry. We'll make sure nothing happens to Elisabeta."
The conversation was broken off by a short burst from the stern fifty. "Something was following us underwater." Becks said, before adding, "I think."
The islands eventually turned into sand bars that were probably under water at high tide and they could see the open sea just ahead of them. And something else.
Something shot out of the water a quarter mile or so ahead of them.
"Jesus!" Rodgers yelled. "What the hell is that thing?"
To Castle, it looked like the biggest and meanest whale he'd ever seen, complete with a gaping maw filled with teeth. It was hard to tell, be he was sure it was bigger than any whale he'd ever seen or even heard of.
Then, what had driven the whale to the surface showed themselves. "A school of orcas." Alexis cried." Killer whales."
The orcas would dash in and tear a chunk out of the whale, then retreat. There were enough orcas to keep the whale moving from one tormentor to the next with very little success. But when the whale did catch one, he could bite the orca in two with one snap of its jaws.
"I'm taking us behind that sandbar." Rodgers yelled. "The water's too shallow for them to follow us. I hope."
The sandbar was covered by scrubby grass that was short enough to make any good sized predators readily apparent. Becks fired several bursts into it anyway.
The blood of the whale, and dead orcas, was starting to turn the water red, attracting other hungry predators. The whale's movement became more sluggish and the orcas moved in for the kill. Soon the corpse of the whale was floating belly up, food for all and sundry. Orcas and others tore whale flesh away from below while birds of prey landed on the carcass to feast.
Rodgers punched his wrist savagely. "Get us out of here, dammit!"
There was a flash of blue light and they found themselves back on the Moon.
"I assume everything was okay?" Metford said with a smile. "You had a pleasant trip?"
"Fuck you very much." Castle muttered.
Metford suddenly saw Elisabeta. "Who is that and why is she here?"
Castle stepped forward to explain. "She was with the kidnappers, but not one of them. They were going to rape Alexis, but Elisabeta here offered herself to them instead.
"That's right. Elisabeta is my friend. She helped me. And they hurt her for it."
"You couldn't have left her where you found her?" Metford asked sarcastically. "You're just determined to move people around from one Earth to another, aren't you, Mr. Castle?"
"Leave her there? Are you kidding me? That planet was like Jurassic Park on steroids. She'd have been dead in seconds if we left her behind."
"Nevertheless, you could have…"
"We could have done exactly what we did. We saved a person's life." Castle exploded. "Look, maybe Rodgers and Becks are here because you pulled them out of the shit and promised them a new life, but I'm here because, as much as I love my wife, in some odd way, I love all of the Kate Becketts I've met, and all the Alexis Castles I've met so far. And you brought me here because that's the kind of person I am and I'm willing to risk my life for these people."
Kate put her arm around him. "We are willing to risk our lives."
Simone joined the two, putting her hand on Rick's shoulder.
Rodgers spoke up. "And I'm not in this just for myself. I'm here to help people like this Alexis and Elisabeta, too."
Surprisingly, Becks took his hand and nodded. "Me, too."
"So you might just get used to the idea that when we save people, we expect them to stay saved." Castle then tried a more reasonable approach. "Look. I'm rich. I can provide Elisabeta with enough money to live here comfortably. Okay?"
"Your US currency isn't valid here, Mr. Castle." Metford sounded like he was weakening.
"Can I buy gold or diamonds? I can buy a computer program or something you need." Castle said.
"Let me talk to my superiors." Metford said as he walked off.
Kate spent five minutes explaining to Elisabeta what had happened. Elisabeta came to Castle and hugged him, saying thank you in a thick Russian accent. He was relieved that Elisabeta hadn't jumped him then and there.
They were having dinner when Metford came back. "The Committee has accepted your proposal Mr. Castle. As it happens, there is work of art that a museum here has wanted for some time. It's going to be on the market in a few months. I assume you can afford a million dollars?"
Castle nodded. "No problem."
Rodgers and Becks stayed up after everyone had gone to bed. They were getting a pleasant buzz from some red wine.
"Just my luck." Becks said. "One Kate Beckett gets the Rick Castle who loves her and will do anything for her. Hell, from what Kate said he helped Simone who used to be Kathleen Beckett and two other Kate Becketts from other universes. Who do I get? Some empty headed playboy who dumped me as soon as he got in my pants." She took a drink of wine. "Fuck him."
"Maybe he was right, though." Rodgers said softly.
"Who? About what?"
"About there being Rick Castles who love all Kate Becketts."
Becks laughed bitterly. "You mean us?" She pulled the patch off of her eye, revealing a red and inflamed eyelid, crudely stitched over her empty eye socket. "Do you think you can love this?"
He surprised her by putting his hand behind her head and pulling her close, then gently kissing her destroyed eye and then her lips. "I just might. And you just might."
"Are you serious?" Her voice quavered ever so slightly.
"Of course. Why wouldn't I be serious?" He pulled her in close again and kissed her, this time running his tongue over her lips until she opened her mouth and granted him access. Their tongues sparred gently and then with more passion. She took his hand and slid it under her tee shirt. He stroked one boob through her bra. "We shouldn't be doing this here." He whispered.
"Your place or mine?" She whispered back.
He laughed quietly. "Does it make any difference? Our quarters are identical."
She shook her head. "No, mine are closer."
He dropped his hand from underneath her shirt and took her hand in his, leading her to her room. Once inside, he took the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. She was wearing a sports bra which he tugged off. It joined the shirt on the floor. He bent down and kissed one boob and then the next. "Just tell me what you want. It's been kind of a long time for me. After 9/11…"
She put her hand over his lips. "It's been a long time for me, too. Do whatever you want, but please act like you mean it."
"I don't have to act. I do mean it." He stroked her boobs with one hand while he worked the belt on her jeans loose and she pulled his shirt off. She attacked his pants as he pushed her jeans down and off, followed by her panties. They stood there naked for a long moment. Suddenly, she reached down and pulled her eye patch from her pocket and put it back on.
"You don't have to do that."
She nodded. "I know. But I want to. Please?"
He picked her up and carried her the few feet to her bed and set her down. She smiled up at him as she spread her legs widely.
He knelt between her thighs and leaned forward, just able to kiss her, then began scattering kisses down her body to her boobs, then to her flat stomach and finally to her rapidly wetting slit. He flicked her clit with his tongue, then bit it ever so lightly, but ever so expertly. She shuddered.
"Yes, that. Please." She murmured.
He put his hand under her butt, squeezed the globes of her ass, then pulled her to him. He pushed his tongue as far into her as he could, then retreated, doing this over and over until she moaned and bit into her pillow to keep from screaming.
"Oh god. So fucking good." She whispered. "Amazing. Perfect."
Looking up at her, he could see tears in her eye. He moved up her body until his face was even with hers. He kissed her and she tasted herself on him.
She licked his lips and smiled. "I'll want more of that. But what about you?"
"I thought you'd never ask." He felt her hand on his erection, guiding him inside of her. He hadn't lied to her. It had been a long time since he'd been with a woman and those were one night stands with women he had been too drunk and too sad to know. He felt her long legs wrap around his waist and her arms pull him close. He moved in and out of her rapidly, too rapidly to give her the pleasure she deserved. He couldn't stop though and felt himself coming inside of her too soon. "Sorry." He muttered.
"Don't be. You meant it. I know that. And I meant it, too."