Visitations
Chapter 15
Castle Joins In
"Were you thinking about me?" Johanna asked, appearing before her daughter.
"I was," Kate confided. "I was wondering if there was any way to take Castle with us when we go to the past."
"Why?" Johanna asked.
"Well, the things I wanna discuss with him, my career, kids, those things have actually come up before - and not just with Maddy. I thought is if he could see, it would help me talk to him. It's certainly helped me talk to you," Kate pointed out.
"That wasn't included in what I was instructed," Johanna mused, "but if you think it'll make a difference, I can ask." Johanna shimmered away.
Kate fidgeted, waiting for her mother to return. "There's a way to do it." Johanna explained, popping back after a few minutes, "but he has to want to go."
Kate found Castle at his desk staring at the screen of his laptop, trying to finish a chapter of Nikki Heat.
"Blocked?" Kate asked.
"A little," Castle confessed.
"Think a little trip with my mother would help?" Kate inquired hopefully.
"Are you kidding?" Castle exclaimed. "That would be so cool. Can I see her?"
"Let's find out," Kate replied.
Castle could not see or hear the wraith as she gave careful instructions to Kate. "You have to hold on to him as if you're one being,"
"What happens if I let go?" Kate asked.
"He springs back in time," Johanna explained "and he may not remember what he saw."
Kate shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Just what we need, more amnesia. I'll hold tight."
"What?" Castle asked, confused.
"She said I have to hold tight to you or you'll bounce back and might forget the trip," Kate relayed.
"You have to hold me? Torture!" Castle teased.
They appeared in front of the murder board at the precinct as Earlier Kate was taking down the photographs for storage in evidence. Earlier Castle took the picture of Barbra Landau and stared at it.
"What's going on?" Earlier Kate asked.
"I was just thinking about how we rely on dreams to keep us going in life and how sad it is when they become the things that tear us down," Earlier Castle explained.
"Yeah well, that might be the case for Barbra Landau, but not for everyone with dreams that didn't come true," Earlier Kate suggested. "I mean, take Lanie for instance. She wanted to be a dancer. She became a doctor. That's not so bad, is it?"
"Hum," Earlier Castle responded. "What about you? I mean, we know you became a cop because your mother was murdered, but there had to be something before that. What did little Kate Beckett want to be when she grew up?"
Earlier Kate smiled at the memory. "At Stanford I was pre-law."
"So your dream was to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court?" Earlier Castle asked.
"Mmhmm. Yep," Earlier Kate confirmed. "I was on my way to becoming the first female Chief Justice."
"Wow," Earlier Castle commented admiringly. "Not bad." He watched her for a moment as she glanced back, still smiling.
With an arm around his waist, Kate clung to Castle as the scene changed again to an earlier time, in the precinct hallway.
"It's about time you got back," Roy Montgomery complained, stepping out of his office. "We've got a very persistent citizen waiting to ask you some questions."
"Alexis, what are you doing here?" Earlier Castle asked as Alexis appeared from behind Montgomery. "How come you're not at school?"
"Oh, I have study hall first period," Alexis replied. "Dad, is it true?"
"Uh, yeah, sweetie. I'm afraid so," Earlier Castle informed her as gently as he could.
"What happened? Was it the drugs?" Alexis prodded.
"Doesn't look like it." Earlier Kate put in. "Why? Did she have a drug problem?"
"Well, she used to," Alexis explained "She went to rehab three months ago, after her friends found her choking on her own..."
"Okay!" Earlier Castle interrupted. You know... You know what, I think it's time we reset the parental controls on your computer."
"Please." Alexis protested, "I had to set the parental control on your computer, remember?"
"Speaking of which...," Earlier Castle asked hopefully.
"No!" Alexis told him firmly.
"Beckett," Esposito called.
"Yeah?" Earlier Kate answered, turning her attention from the Castles.
"Street was negative for cameras," Esposito informed her. "We got a dozen shoe prints off the alley, size five through eleven. Checked her DMV records online. She moved from the address they had listed three months ago."
"That was about the same time that Hayley went into rehab," Earlier Kate noted.
"But check this out," Ryan interjected. "I ran a search for that song on Hayley's iPod, Here, Kitty, Kitty. Look what popped up."
Castle, Beckett, Montgomery, Alexis, and Esposito clustered around the computer screen as a video of Hayley Blue played. "I can see the writing 'cause I wrote it on the wall."
"A music video?" Earlier Kate asked.
"See if this looks familiar," Ryan suggested, allowing his computer to continue to show the feed.
An upside down Haley sang: "You can't conquer every vibe just because I'm open wide. You can't catch me, though you try. You can kiss this goodbye."
"Is that how you found her?" Alexis asked.
"Does that mean anything to you?" Earlier Kate questioned.
"Yeah," Alexis confirmed. "Hayley wrote this song about some obsessed fan who was stalking her."
"Do you know who he was?" Earlier Kate inquired further.
"Wait," Alexis offered. "There might be something in the song. Play it again."
Ryan replayed the video "It's okay to want me, but you want nothing else. Sitting back and plotting is a crime in itself."
"Sitting back and plotting," Montgomery commented. "Sounds like she thought he was dangerous."
"Yeah," Alexis agreed. "Listen. Here's the part."
"Does fifty feet or less mean anything to you at all?" the video continued.
"Fifty feet or less," Esposito repeated.
"She got a restraining order against him," Earlier Kate realized. Alright, run it and get me a name."
"And you," Earlier Castle ordered Alexis, "will go off to school."
"But I was just helpful," Alexis argued.
"Yes, but if I let you out of class every time you were helpful, you'd never go," Earlier Castle countered.
"But I won't be able to focus on school today," Alexis protested. "I just can't concentrate."
"Which will make you just like all the other kids in your class," Earlier Castle told her.
"Dad," Alexis appealed.
"I am serious, or I will call the truant officer," Earlier Castle assured her. "Do you still have truant officers?" he asked Montgomery.
"Budget cuts," Montgomery deadpanned.
"You're so lucky," Earlier Castle informed his daughter.
"Found your stalker," Esposito reported to Earlier Kate. "Franco Marquez, aka Frankie Markie. Hayley filed half a dozen complaints against him. It says here that he even tried to break into her apartment. And when she filed against him, he showed up in court and called her a..." Esposito stopped as he looked at Alexis. "B-I-T-C-H," he spelled.
Earlier Castle shook his head. "She can spell, Detective."
"Probably better than you." Ryan taunted.
"Bring him in," Montgomery ordered Ryan and Esposito.
"And you," Earlier Castle reiterated to Alexis, "to school."
"Fine," Alexis agreed grudgingly.
"Thank you," Earlier Castle called, smiling as she left. "What?" Earlier Castle asked as he noticed Earlier Kate watching him.
"Nothing," Earlier Kate replied. "It's just, I'm so used to you acting like a 12-year-old all the time, it's kind of refreshing to see you as a father."
Earlier Castle smiled lasciviously. "Makes you want me, right?"
Earlier Kate rolled her eyes. "And there's the 12-year-old again."
Kate strengthened her grip on Castle once more as the scene shifted again.
Earlier Kate and Earlier Castle were digging through a dumpster in an alley, not far from Ryan and Esposito, who were doing the same.
"You always take me to the most exotic places," Earlier Castle quipped.
"If you didn't want to jump in, you could have waited on the side like you usually do," Earlier Kate teased, smiling.
"What?" Earlier Castle asked "After the puke storm I put you through last night? It felt wrong not to participate."
"Yeah," Earlier Kate agreed.
"Which, by the way, you were great last night," Earlier Castle told her admiringly.
Earlier Kate smiled at the compliment. "Thank you. You weren't so bad yourself."
"Well, I was no baby whisperer," Earlier Castle confessed as she laughed. "You know, I've gotta say, when I volunteered to take Cosmo I – I thought I was doing it for his benefit, but … I realized I was doing it more for mine. I - when Alexis was little Meredith wasn't really around, so I - I did it all on my own. And … when you said you weren't a baby person …."
"Ah, okay. Okay, I get it," Earlier Kate interjected. "You were thinking that …."
Earlier Castle nodded. "Yeah."
"Well, tell you what. When the time comes, there's no way I'm going to let you take care of our baby on your own."
Sharing a smile, they leaned in for a kiss.
"Hey guys!" Ryan called.
They pulled back as Ryan triumphantly held up bag.
Once more, Kate made sure she had a firm grasp on Castle, as they were transported back to the loft.
"Ryan, you old cop blocker," Castle murmured, finishing the kiss with Kate that his earlier self had missed. "So I'm guessing," he told Kate, as they slowly pulled apart, "that there was a message in all this somewhere."
"I'll leave you to it," Johanna told Kate, shimmering out.
"Yeah," Kate began tentatively, "oh, and by the way, my mom's gone."
Castle nodded. "Okay, so tell me. What was that all about?"
"A couple of things, really," Kate told him. "The first one, about my dream for law school, I think I want to continue that in some way, work toward public office somehow. I want to be able to make a bigger difference."
"And the second?" Castle prompted.
"I also want to have kids," Kate explained, "I just don't know how all that can work."
"Well," Castle told her thoughtfully," that time traveler, Doyle, told us you were going to be a senator and that we were going to have three kids, so obviously we can work it out."
"Castle," Kate exclaimed, "you really believe he was a time traveler?"
"Kate," Castle returned, "we just took a voyage in time with your mother the ghost! If anything, harnessing tachyons seems more likely. The way I see it, there are a couple of ways to go. Once we're married, we can try for a baby. While we're working on that, you see if you can fit some law courses around your schedule or you could try for a starter political office like councilperson, see how it goes. If we can get you pregnant, then we can work around whatever you're doing. If not, I hope we'll have more fun than Ryan did, trying. Whatever happens, we will work it out together."
Kate wrapped her arms around Castle's waist, pressing herself against the warmth of his body. "Castle," have I told you that I love you?"
"You know," Castle whispered. "I did have amnesia, you might have to tell me again."
"I think," Kate purred, stretching to bring her lips to his, "I'll just show you."