Visitations
Chapter 14
It Takes Two
Kate was sitting quietly at the kitchen counter sipping coffee when Johanna materialized. Are you thinking about what we discussed?" Johanna asked.
Kate took a moment, putting down her mug before she replied. "Yeah, I know what I want, but I can't figure out how to make it all happen. Things clash with each other."
"How?" Johanna queried.
"Well, I've decided that if I really want to make changes, that means politics, but to do that I'll probably need law school."
"Not necessarily," Johanna reasoned, "but go on. "Then there are children. I want to have Castle's children. Maddy was right about that, but the clock is ticking and doing school with young children - I don't know."
"Have you talked to Castle about it?" Johanna questioned.
Kate shook her head.
"Well why the hell not!" Johanna exclaimed. "Look Kate, some words I've heard way too much in these little jaunts we've been taking are 'me,' 'my,' and 'mine.' I'm not saying you're selfish. I've seen you do some incredibly generous and thoughtful things, but you have been inwardly focused. You can't stay that way and have a marriage work. It has to be about both of you, and then if there are children, it has to be about them too. Any decisions you make about your future have to include Castle. Otherwise what you have isn't a marriage, it's roommates with benefits. We need to look at a couple of things that need to change."
Earlier Kate and Earlier Castle were in her apartment.
"Okay. So they're coming for me," Earlier Kate said resignedly.
"Ryan's got 2 teams stationed outside," Earlier Castle tried to comfort her.
"And what about tomorrow?" Earlier Kate asked. "And the day after that?"
"Let me take you someplace, Kate," Earlier Castle pleaded, wrapping his arms around her, "someplace you'll be safe." Earlier Kate sighed, pressing herself against him. He pulled her closer, even as she sighed again. "I'll never be safe."
The scene changed as night fell. Earlier Kate restlessly gazed at a photo of herself and Johanna. She smiled slightly, as if remembering happier times, but her face soon became taut as the reality of the present intruded. Shoulders stiffened with resolve, she grabbed her gun and loaded it into her holster. Earlier Kate looked at Earlier Castle in her bed and took a moment to watch him sleep before leaving the apartment.
The scene changed again as the sun rose and Earlier Castle bolted awake in a surreal rerun of the previous morning, when he had awakened after their first night together. Earlier Castle was scared and horrified to find Kate gone and called Ryan and Esposito.
"What do you mean she's not here?" Ryan asked, meeting Earlier Castle and Esposito at Earlier Kate's apartment.
"I mean she's not here and she's not answering her cell," Earlier Castle explained frantically.
"I thought you had a detail on her," Esposito yelled accusingly at Ryan.
"I did. I do!" Ryan returned. "If she would have left this building they would have seen her."
"Not if she didn't want them to," Earlier Castle realized as a fresh wave of fear hit him. "Where's Senator Bracken right now?"
"Oh man!" Esposito exclaimed. You don't think that she..."
Earlier Castle cautioned Esposito to silence while Ryan used his cell to get Bracken's location. "Yeah. It's Detective Kevin Ryan, badge number 42344. Can I get a twenty on Senator Bracken? He's hosting a fundraiser at the Widmark Hotel," Ryan reported to Earlier Castle and Esposito, when he got an answer.
"Ask if anyone else has called to check on him." Earlier Castle urged.
Ryan continued on the phone."Did anyone call to check on him?" His eyes widened as he received a response. "Okay, thanks. Beckett phoned them an hour ago," Ryan told Earlier Castle and Esposito."
"She's going to kill Senator Bracken," Earlier Castle concluded with dread.
"Were you?" Johanna asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Kate confessed. "At that moment I couldn't think of another way out, but it finally came to me as I talked to Bracken. I remembered the deal Castle had told me about earlier."
"But you didn't think to wake Castle, discuss your plan with him?" Johanna asked.
"No," Kate answered. "It was my problem, not his. I needed to solve it."
"I doubt that he looked at it that way," Johanna offered. "He was with you because he wanted to help. I'd say he was desperate to help. Let's look at something else."
In Castle's loft, Earlier Castle awoke to a ringing phone. "Yeah, hello?"
"Yo," came a familiar voice, "it's Espo. Is Beckett with you?"
Earlier Castle looked with surprise and foreboding at the empty space beside him. "Um … what's going on?"
"Well, Gates is putting her back on the Vulcan Simmons investigation," Esposito explained.
"She is?" Earlier Castle asked in surprise. "I thought she didn't want Beckett going toe-to-toe with him?"
"That's not going to be an issue anymore, Vulcan Simmons has been murdered," Esposito announced.
Earlier Castle swallowed as a his foreboding grew.
Earlier Castle pulled up to the crime scene in a taxi. He stumbled out and rushed to Earlier Kate in the doorway."Hey. Where were you this morning?"
Earlier Kate looked around, fearful of being overheard. "Not now."
Earlier Castle and Earlier Kate found time to talk in the break room. "Yes, I was there. But I didn't kill him. I thought about it, though."
"What the hell, Kate!" Earlier Castle exclaimed more in fear than in anger. "We had a deal. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I knew you wouldn't let me go," Earlier Kate confessed.
"You're damn right I wouldn't!" Earlier Castle agreed. "It was reckless".
"It was a calculated risk," Earlier Kate protested. "I couldn't let Vulcan slip away. Only I didn't move fast enough."
"So what happened last night?" Earlier Castle asked, calming slightly.
"He was in the shadows, he was waiting." Earlier Kate related. "It's like he knew I was coming. And we had words. That's it. He was alive when I left."
"And you didn't see anyone else?" Earlier Castle queried.
"No. Just him," Earlier Kate assured him."
Earlier Castle drew a deep breath in thought. "Kate, you absolutely cannot tell anyone you were at that garage."
"I know," Earlier Kate agreed.
"So," Johanna said, "even when you promised not to, you ran off half cocked like some avenging angel."
Kate looked away, saying nothing. "Kate, it can't work that way anymore," Johanna declared. "I understand how you felt. You know I wanted to run off and slay dragons. Your father was always the voice of reason, my anchor. We didn't always see things the same way, but we talked them out. And sometimes he helped me do things I never thought I could do. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you have someone who believes in you and supports you. But when you act the way you've been acting, when you leave your partner out, it builds a wall of resentment and fear. Both of you have worked so hard at knocking down walls, yours and his, it would be a tragedy to put up new ones. Do you understand what I'm saying to you?"
Kate still couldn't meet her mother's eyes. "Yes."
"More to the point," Johanna continued, "Do you think you can do it, talk to Castle about where you want your career to go, and especially about children? Before the wedding?"
Kate stiffened with determination. "I can and I will."
Johanna smiled in satisfaction. "Good girl."