Disclaimer: The only part of Castle that I own is the TV on which I watch the show.
She can't stay in here forever, but why hasn't he called? Surely by now he has seen that she has been trying to reach him; her desperation is obvious. She closes her eyes for a minute in the hope of blocking out the Hell that is burning on the other side of the door.
Her arm shoots out for her cell when she hears Castle's ringtone.
"Hi, Beckett."
There's not even a note of concern in his voice. She covers her eyes with her forearm. Why does he sound he so upbeat? She left him panicky messages, she all but threatened his life, and he's Mister Goodcheer.
"Where the hell are you, Castle?"
"Did I wake you up, Beckett? I'm in Boston."
"Basking in the adoration of your New England fans, I'm sure. I can't believe that you didn't call me before this after the texts and voicemails I left you."
"What's wrong? You sound really mad, but I promise, I promise that I didn't hear a word from you."
"Yeah, well let me just check my phone and I'll tell you exactly how often I've called you since the three Witches Of Macbeth and their sidekicks showed up. Hold on." She scrolls through her records. That can't be. She checks again. "Castle, there's nothing there. I don't get it. I swear I tried you at least four times in less than hour, and now—What the hell!"
"Beckett, Beckett, Beckett," he says, trying to sound calm and soothing. She's knocked him for a bit of a loop, but he needs to get her to tell him exactly what's going on.
"It's eight o'clock, Castle. All I'm wearing is a T shirt but I was all dressed up before."
"You were dressed up before? When was that?"
"At ten. After Meredith got here I changed, but it's not ten yet?"
"Not yet. Listen, I'm almost positive that I woke you up. I think you must have been having a dream." He pauses for a moment, considering what to say next. Maybe if he lightens things up a bit. "You said Meredith was there? That was definitely a nightmare? And other people? Do you want to check to see if they're there?" He hears rustling. It sounds as though she's getting out of bed. He starts counting seconds until she's back on the phone.
"There's no one. And the table isn't set. It was set before, for brunch. Green plates, green napkins, green orchids. Oh, and green food. But it's all gone. Everything is normal. Except me."
"One of the many reasons that I love you is that you're not normal, Beckett. Do you want me to come home? I can, I'll get the next flight if you're still upset, and be there in a couple of hours. When it really is ten."
"Mom, there's no brunch? That Meredith lady isn't there? Does that mean you don't have to drink iced green tea with lime? Could we please have a milkshake?"
"Thanks, I'm okay. It was just so real. Totally weird, but real."
"You want to tell me about it? Because I'm dying to hear. For one thing, I want to know who the witches were. Besides Meredith."
"There were witches here? Meredith is a witch? I thought witches were only at Hallowe'en. Dad told me all about Hallowe'en. He says we get to wear costumes, but I don't know what they are. Are they like genes?"
"I'm going through this in my mind, Castle, and I have to say that hideous as the experience was—and I will spare you no details—I'm excited to know that my imagination is that good."
"See? I knew I wasn't the only storyteller in the family. Start at the beginning. Meredith was there and you changed clothes?"
"I actually changed clothes twice, Castle. The first time was when I woke up, I mean woke up in my dream and heard a terrible crash and I thought there was a burglar since I was the only one here."
"Mom, Mom, remember? I was here, too. Geez."
"You didn't want to call the doorman?"
"I didn't say it made sense, it was a dream. In the dream I thought there wasn't time to call him. Anyway, I remembered the POLICEMOM vest and went to the closet and got it and my gun."
"I knew you'd be glad I got you that vest, Beckett. So then what?"
She wishes that she could see his face because his excitement is palpable even over the phone. "I sneaked into the office so that I could look out into the rest of the loft, with my gun drawn. And then I saw Meredith, setting the table."
"She never set the table in her life, Beckett. That should have been the tip off that you were dreaming."
"Yeah, if I had found her there, unannounced, in real life, I'd probably have shot her."
"Tell Dad about the green eggs and ham, he'll like that part."
And she does tell him that part, and everything else. By the end of her recitation, both she and Castle are howling.
"You know, Beckett, I have to say, I've never had a dream about Will Sorenson or Tom Demming or Josh Davidson or any of your other dalliances."
"Dalliances? Is this 1855? Beside, you have to admit my taste in exes is less colorful than yours."
"By colorful you mean trashy?"
"You said it."
"I really liked that Natalie Rhodes was dressed up as if she were pregnant. Nice touch, Beckett. Very method."
There's a silence that goes on a little too long to be comfortable. "Um, Castle? Do you think it's pathetic that I had this dream? What does it say about me, anyway?"
"Nope, not pathetic. Just, you know, we're both stupidly still a little lacking in self-confidence about who the other one was with, or circling, before we ended up together."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Castle? It's almost convention time. Go meet your fans. And come home and tell me all about it, unless you signed some chests, in which case I'll have to get the gun out of the closet."
"No chests in years, Beckett. Only yours."
"I know. And don't forget our class tonight."
"Class? Are we going to school? I thought babies didn't have to go to school? I heard Alexis talking about homework. I don't think I'd like it."
"Not a chance I'd forget it. Are you going back to sleep now?"
"Not a chance. I might have another dream and shoot Jacinda." Instead, she putters around and reads and eats lunch with nothing green it and takes a walk. And then Castle is back and they're off to class.
"So, this is a first for you, too, Castle," she says as they ride uptown.
"Didn't you guys go to school already? I dunno, you get me all mixed up sometimes."
"Meredith wouldn't have set foot in this class."
"She's back? Oh, boy. I have to take a nap."
The cab pulls up to the hospital entrance, and they get out. They cross the lobby to the elevator bank, and go to the seventh floor. "Could you tell us where room seven eighteen is, please?" Beckett asks the woman on duty at the desk. "We're here for the natural childbirth class."
"Go down this corridor and take the first left. It'll be the fourth door on your right."
"Thank you," Castle says, taking Beckett's hand. And they walk down the hall, take the first left and bump straight into a doctor.
"Davidson?" Castle squeaks.
"Josh?" Beckett says. "What a surprise."
"What a nightmare," Castle says, but only in his head. He just grips Beckett's hand a little harder, and smiles.
A/N I wanted to play with that hoary convention of TV, the dream sequence, so I did. I had fun, and I hope that you did, too. And that's it! No more dreaming in this story.