Doppelgänger 20

It was a school day. Alexis came down the stairs, happy to be home. Neither her dad nor Kate had been overly forthcoming about why they could come home now. She hadn't missed much school so she was happy.

"Dad, Kate." She found both of them in the kitchen and watched as Kate jerked her arms back to herself from being around her dad. She grinned at the sight.

Alexis, Martha, and Jim had indeed seen the news and knew that their house in the Hamptons had been shot at, though the shooters, their weapons, or any other evidence couldn't be found save for the rounds that had been dug out of the house. Then there was the amazing report of there being a dragon.

That wasn't in the news so much anymore. What was still in the news were the explosions on the highway between DC and New York. That the car for the New York Senator had been destroyed in an explosion was also still in the news.

However, what was believed to have been overheard by a paparazzo was at the top of the news. Who he was talking to and who he was talking about was still a mystery. But there was no mistake that he had made a call and had put out a hit on two people that he had left unnamed. He had offered double their normal amount if they finished the job by the end of the week.

How this had been obtained made it inadmissible in court, nevertheless that didn't stop all of the news organizations going over everything the good senator had done since the day he was born. It seemed new items came out during the last two newscasts. In fact, the morning shows for each of the major networks were dedicated to all things Bracken.

The most recent news leak was that the FBI was now investigating not just the explosions on the road, the destruction of his car, but also what had been recorded.

Senator Bracken had of course been spending his time denying anything and everything that was in the press that spoke badly about him. It was all lies and labeled as fake news by the Senator.

Alexis sat down at the counter in the loft, happy to be home. "Breakfast?" Rick inquired.

She shook her head. "Information." It was what she wanted most at the moment.

It was just what he and even Kate were dreading most. They both knew she, Martha, and Jim deserved answers. They had no idea what kind of answers they could give them, though.

"You can't tell us… can you?" Alexis thought she already knew the answer, just not why. The look of pain on both of their faces was her answer. "He actually did something, didn't he?"

"Yes, Alexis, he did. That and worse. It's proving it…" Kate still didn't know how they were going to prove it and get justice for her mother.

"So what happens next?" Alexis was guessing that since they had come and gotten them and they were all back home that it was safe again.

"Next… Next we keep trying to find out his secrets," Rick said.

"And you two think we're safe now?" Alexis wasn't sure how. She did trust her dad, though, and Kate was a cop. So neither of them were likely to be doing anything illegal. Dangerous, yes. Illegal, not so much.

"He can't touch us or our family. If something happens to any of us now, everyone will blame him. Whatever plan he had will end when he does that." Kate and Castle had done a lot of talking over the last few hours.

"So what are you two going to be doing?" Alexis wanted to keep them from doing something stupid or illegal. She was actually starting to think Kate could be her next stepmother, hopefully the last one.

"Why nothing, nothing at all." Rick tried to look trustworthy. Plus they really didn't have any plans to do anything else except wait. Which pretty much equaled doing nothing.

Alexis wasn't buying any of it and glared at the two of them.

"I'm… I'm just going to go check on my phone." Kate pointed to the master bedroom where she had finally plugged in her dead cell phone. She blamed it being dead on not knowing any better. There were still a few things about this world that she had to learn.

She backed up slowly, never taking her eyes off of Alexis till she turned and walked as fast as she could to get away from that glare. "Alexis can be scary sometimes."

Kate retreated, leaving Rick with Alexis concentrating her glare on him.

"I'm…" Rick pointed to where Kate went only to see Alexis intensify her glare. He changed his mind and tried to endure the glower of his daughter. "I, ah… I think I'll sit right here." He was actually starting to sweat and was wondering if somehow his Alexis had somehow taken her place. His Alexis was certainly capable of it.

He was saved when Kate came charging back into the room carrying her cell phone out in front of her. "CASTLE!" She shoved her phone into his chest.

Startled, Rick took it and started scrolling through the numerous texts that were on it, beginning with the one at the top. He looked at questioningly. "Lanie?"

"Not that one, the other ones." Kate yanked the phone out of his hand, scrolled to the more important ones, and slapped it back into his hand.

He read the very first one along with the 11 others that followed it. "We have to go." Rick was catching up to what Kate had just found out.

"You think?!" Kate snatched the phone out of his hand when her phone received yet another text.

"It's from Roy, he wants us at some airport. He's sent an address." She handed the phone back to him.

"Laptop, I need my laptop." Rick briskly walked to his study. Anything to get away from Alexis glaring at him.

Unfortunately that left Kate to endure the glare of Alexis. "I'm… I'm just going to…" She pointed to where Rick had retreated and started backing up till she turned to walk quickly away.

"Alexis can be scary," she admitted and peered over Castle's shoulder to see what he was looking at.

"It's a small private airport outside of the city. Small planes and helicopters only." Rick kept reading.

"Why there?" Kate didn't get it. If he had something to say or wanted something, why leave the city?

"Kate." He really didn't know how to say this. "The hunter in me and even the writer tells me that this is a trap. Either someone has him and is using his phone, or…" Rick trailed off and looked at her. She looked back at him waiting for him to finish. He sighed. "Or he's in on it. Either because he wants to be or he's being coerced into doing it."

"We're talking about my boss, Castle. I've… Kate Beckett has known him for years. He wouldn't, he just wouldn't." Kate staunchly defended him because of Kate Beckett's memories.

"Okay, say it's not him, but it's still a trap. Involved or not, it is his phone." Rick knew what he knew and felt. Then he had a thought. "Roy has a family doesn't he?"

Suddenly it all started to make sense to her. "Bracken… he couldn't get to us or our families so he's using someone else. But he's being watched almost 24 hours a day. There are reporters and paparazzi with cameras all over him." Kate didn't understand how Bracken could possibly be involved.

"Did your spies see anything?" She knew he'd split up his spies between his office and his apartment so it meant there were gaps in their coverage. Her owl was outside the loft watching.

Rick shook his head. If Bracken had done something he had done it where no one, including Rick, could see. Kate remembered something, though. They might be able to use it. "While I was with you in the Hamptons, I saw a man enter my apartment and leave little things behind. Each was much smaller than what you use."

"Interesting… They're monitoring your apartment." He thought it over. "We might be able to use that depending on how things go at the airport."

"So we're going, even if it's a trap." Kate wanted to make sure.

"Best way to learn something," Rick asserted.

"Best way to get killed too," Kate was thinking. She momentarily closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her boss was either involved or more likely, being used as bait.

"Castle, if Roy is being used, what would be the best way to get him to do what you wanted? The same reason it would work on us maybe." Kate had an idea.

"His family's in danger or they already have them. So they get him to call you and get you to come out to a small airport. Or…" Rick had a thought.

"Or?" Kate wasn't following.

"Or he knows his family is in danger and wants you in an isolated location so he can talk. Talk where Bracken doesn't have anyone." It was yet another option.

"So what do we do? It's either a trap or it's not." There were only two options that she could see.

"You go, I follow. We treat it like it's a trap and Roy's part of it. To do otherwise is to underestimate Bracken which will get both of us killed. If Roy's clean in this then we apologize and compare notes." As far as Rick was concerned there was no choice but to treat it like it was a trap.

Kate started to leave to get ready. "I'll recall my owl."

"It might be best if it stays. I've scanned the loft and it's clean. But with us gone someone might come here to do what they did to your apartment," he cautioned. "I intend to leave one of my spies inside combined with yours outside."

"Do you still think Alexis, Martha, and my dad are safe? If they have Roy's family…" Maybe they were wrong.

"They may have taken his family before they came after us or at the same time. It's possible that Roy's being used now since Bracken can't risk going after us directly again. You didn't really think he would just give up, did you?" He could see worry written all over her face.

"A girl can dream. My dream of getting a new and better life got me here." Kate's smile trembled as she leaned down to kiss his cheek. "It got me you."

*\/\/*\/x\/*\/\/*\/x\/*\/\/*\/x\/*\/\/*\/x\/*\/\/*\/x\/*\/\/*\/x\/*\/\/*\/x\/*\/\/X\/\/*\/x\/*\/\/*\/x\/*\/\/*\/x\/*\/\/*\/x\/*\/\/*\/x\/*\/\/*\/x\/*\/\/*\/x\/*\/\/*

"You sent your little spies already and we're an hour early… anything?" Kate sat in the passenger seat of the Ferrari on a residential street over a mile away.

She'd already questioned him about using the Ferrari. "Because it's faster than the Mercedes and if things go bad I prefer to have every benefit I can get," Rick answered.

"And you know how to drive this car to make it worth while?" After all, he wasn't Richard Castle; he came from a different planet that didn't even have cars anything like this one. His silence told her that speeding away in this car was likely not going to be the best plan.

"Anything outside the loft?" Alexis and Martha were home and Rick had seen them, though both were up in their rooms at the moment. Kate shook her head.

It was half an hour later. "I've got a car approaching the area. Better make that a car and an SUV. Each is coming from a different direction."

"How many?" Kate was wondering what they should do; she pulled out her dagger.

They had discussed her using it based on what they saw. "Zooming." His spies didn't have a scanning ability. They could simply hear, see, and smell.

"Looks like one in the car, that I can't identify yet. …And four in the SUV, I think. Based on movements everyone but the driver is preparing their weapons. It appears they each have a silencer on a fully automatic weapon. Clip size suggests 30 rounds per clip. Definitely our guys." Rick kept on watching where each car went.

"My dragon can turn their cars and them into ash." Using the dagger wasn't her first choice, but it would keep Roy alive.

Rick shook his head. "If I wanted I could attach an explosive from here, but if they have Roy's family and he's giving you up…" He didn't like the idea but it was still a possibility. He started the car but left the lights off and did his best not to use the brakes.

It was really tricky to pay attention to Roy's car, the SUV, and where he was going in the dark. Finally he stopped and set the parking brake. "We walk from here. Roy's in what is likely a small side room of that hangar there." Rick pointed.

"The SUV with our killers is parked a few planes down to the right. I haven't seen them exit the SUV yet. …Strike that, I've got one exiting and making his way forward," Rick informed her as they exited the car.

"They want to see you, so you go in through the main hangar opening. Give me a couple of minutes to get to the back of the building. I'll be right there," he assured her.

Kate grabbed hold of him and pulled his head down so she could kiss him. "Do not get yourself killed, Rick. I happen to like this life and I want to keep it." He smiled and started jogging for the back of the building.

Kate took a deep breath and began walking toward the front of the hangar. Once there, she saw a row of small planes parked out front but didn't see the man or the SUV. Looking inside she saw a small mostly white plane and a small red helicopter.

She walked inside and looked around then the sound of a door opening got her attention.

It was Roy who was walking out with a large revolver being held at his side. "Sir?" Kate was going to let him explain.

"I'm really sorry, Beckett, really sorry. I've done my best to protect you and my family…"

Kate interrupted him. "Bracken has your family, doesn't he?" She got right to the point and was sad but not surprised by the look of shock on his face. Snohbal could almost feel Kate Beckett screaming at him.

Roy couldn't believe it. How could she possibly know? Based on working with Kate for years and knowing how she operated, he was sure she would run right at him and get herself killed. Then it hit him. "That was you? All those explosions, including his car?" That didn't sound like the Kate he knew. He was thinking she would walk right up to him with a gun in her hand.

"Yes and no. You don't have to do this, Roy. We can help you." Kate slowly moved her hand over her service weapon at her side. "We can get them back and bring Bracken down."

Roy wanted to believe her, but his biggest fear had come to pass. His mistake so long ago had finally hurt his family and as much as he liked Kate, his family came first. He shook his head. "He has far more people at his disposal than you can believe. Far more money than you can begin to imagine." He had no choice but to get her here so they could take her.

Headlights told him that the time had come. He raised his weapon and pointed it at Kate. "I am sorry about this, Beckett, I really am. You're the best I've ever seen."

She wasn't sure where Rick was, but knew he was around here somewhere. They watched as the SUV stopped just at the entrance to the hanger and all four doors opened.

It was then that they heard three distinct sounds. It sounded like metal hitting metal.

Rick had changed weapons. He had his weapon out that would fire guided rounds to hit each person. Instead he changed to a larger weapon and had fired three rounds. One hit each side of the front of the SUV while the third hit the driver's door.

A moment later all three rounds exploded, taking the SUV and the four men with it. Rick quickly withdrew that weapon and went back to the other weapon. He pointed it at Roy and got a scan of him. All he had to do was pull the trigger and Roy's mind would be turned into cottage cheese.

Roy and Kate had cringed from the explosion, now both were standing more erect. While Kate was looking at Roy, Roy was staring at the charred remains of the SUV.

"We can help you, Roy," Rick called out. Roy spun and pointed his weapon at Rick. "Don't make me kill you, Roy. Let us help you get your family back," Rick pleaded.

Rick's distraction allowed Kate to draw her service weapon and point it at him. Then she slowly put it away. She really did want him alive and decided she would attempt to charm him if he didn't get rid of his weapon.

"Make your choice, Roy." Rick added a fractional amount of pressure to his trigger. Another fraction and Roy would lose his mind.

Kate called out her captain's name and started stepping closer to him. Rick wanted to warn her to stop but held his tongue.

"Put the weapon away, Roy." She did her best to charm him to do as she commanded. "Think of your family and put it away."

He was married with children so she doubted he would kiss her, so she stuck with just a simple charm spell. If he had been trying to protect Kate all this time then he would probably continue helping her now. "We can get them back, put the weapon away." At this point she was standing right in front of him. If he fired his weapon he wouldn't miss her.

She was a succubus; she was betting on what she was and what she could do.