CH14

It was two hours later by the time Kate could get back into the living room and check on how Castle was doing. What she found brought her eyes wide open as her little green monster started to make an appearance.

He was sitting on the sectional with 2 women on either side of him. There were others in the room but they were all on laptops doing their own thing.

The program on TV looked like a cartoon of some kind. It showed a giant airship that had a ramp leading down to the ground that ended with a handicap parking symbol.

As Kate listened, he talked about how the guy in the movie, someone named Carl, had met the love of his life. However she died before he did because she was sick, and he was heartbroken. The pain of losing her consumed him until he met this young boy, an innocent.

She stood there and could feel how Castle felt about losing someone he loved.

Kate pulled out her phone and stepped outside the room. "Hi sweetie, how are you and Paige doing?"

"We're great mom. We're just lounging and watching a movie." Kate thought she heard a kiss being administered to someone.

"Can I ask you to come home, it might be time to talk to Castle. He's still in the living room surrounded by female vampires," Kate told her.

"Relax mom, you've trained him well. And even they can see the collar around his neck. They're not stupid," Alexis said to her.

Kate took a deep breath. "Thanks Alexis, but it still might be a good time for you two to talk."

"Mom, can I bring Paige with me?" Alexis asked softly.

"Alexis Beckett, what have you done?" Kate was suddenly in Mom/Mistress mode.

"Paige knows mom. I told her," she almost whispered. Kate remained silent while she tried to figure out what to do with her daughter.

Suddenly a new voice was on the phone. "Hello Mistress Beckett. Alexis has told me a lot. I love her and could care less that she is a vampire. I've already told her that she can bite me if she ever needs blood to live."

"I couldn't let Alexis die if I could prevent it. Her death would break my heart. … Actually her being a vampire explains all the little scratches I have on my body. And I don't care, she can suck my blood all she wants."

"Please, Mistress Beckett, can we stay together?" Paige was laying it on thick and she knew had told her a lot including how to talk to her mother.

"I…give the phone back to my daughter, Paige," Kate asked and soon heard, "MOM!?"

"What am I going to do with you Alexis?" Kate ran a hand down her face. Her daughter was talking about adding a second human to the house. As if having one wasn't trouble enough.

"You and dad can have the room, mom. Paige and I can take the room dad is using. I know the second master bedroom is bigger, but we don't care. Please mom, I love her." Alexis had it all worked out, or so she thought.

"And how do we get all of her and your clothes into one little closet?" Kate wanted to know.

"Thank you mom, thank you." It was only then that Kate realized just what she had said, causing her head to fall to her chest.

She relented since she loved her daughter. "I'll come get you and Paige can get started packing all of her clothes. Everything else will go into storage for now." Kate started thinking about where it could all go, depending on how much stuff Paige had. She still had to move Castle out of his apartment.

"Thanks mom, I'll be waiting. I love you." Alexis really meant it with every fiber of her being.

"I love you too, sweetie. I just hope this doesn't bite us in the ass later." Kate thought at least part of the reason they had stayed in downtown Manhattan for so long was that they had stayed invisible. They didn't draw attention to themselves. Adding two humans had better not change that!

Kate went back into the living room and came up from behind Castle as the movie was ending. She placed her hands on his shoulders. "I have one more task Castle and then I'll be back to get you."

Rick turned his head to look at her and smiled. "Yes, Mistress." He was thinking sex, however, as he watched as his Mistress jumped away.

"Hello Paige." Kate showed up next to Alexis since she had sent a picture of the bedroom long ago.

"Hello Mistress. I can't begin to thank you for this." Paige lifted one hand and covered her heart with the other. "I promise to do everything you tell me to do, no questions asked. I will do nothing that might put you, Alexis, or the others in danger. I even know how to cook so I can feed myself," Paige swore.

"Our kitchens have been heavily modified, Paige. They are not capable of cooking anything anymore," Kate pointed out, mildly surprised that Alexis hadn't told her.

"I told her mom," Alexis added as she leaned in to kiss Kate on the cheek.

"That's not a problem. I just need a mini fridge to put perishables in and the use of one of your many microwaves. You'd be surprised what you can do with a microwave. Plus I have a crock pot I can use." Paige had faith in her ability to cook.

"You're sure you've thought this through?" Kate knew Paige didn't have parents. They had died in an auto accident a few years ago. Paige was actually in good financial shape. Alexis had told her a lot about Paige during the last year. "What about work and your classes?" Kate knew Paige was working part time at a local hospital as a nurse's aide while taking classes on her off days.

"My classes are only three days a week during the day while my work is 2 days a week, also during the day for now. I can sleep after I get home and spend my evenings with Alexis while she is up."

"Plus my coming and going during the day will make the house look like someone actually lives there and not like it is abandoned," Paige reasoned. Kate stared at Alexis, since this had her hands written all over it.

"Fine, I love my daughter. You can start packing while Alexis is with me. Call Alexis when you are ready." Kate reached out, took Alexis's arm, and jumped for their bedroom.

"I'm going to go get Castle so you two can talk. I know you don't know him, sweetie, and he doesn't know you, either. At least not anymore. You can start packing while Castle and I move his things."

"Go easy on him, Alexis. To him you are his 5 year old little girl that he last saw ripped to pieces." Kate kissed her forehead.

"I'll do the best I can, mom." Alexis was hoping this went well and watched as Kate jumped for the living room.

"I'm going to steal Castle from you," Kate told the women who were still sitting near him. He stood up. As the two started to walk out, she heard, "You've chosen well Mistress," from one of the women who had been sitting near him.

"Don't let it go to your head Castle," she warned him, knowing it was likely too late.

"They're nice Mistress," Rick answered. Kate was pleased that his training was still holding.

"We're headed for my room Castle. I have someone I think you should meet," she told him.

"Ooo, a mystery guest! Sounds important, Mistress," he said, looking forward to the meeting.

"She means everything to me, Castle. She is the love of my life. I'd only been existing till she came into my life." Kate stopped at the door to her master bedroom that she shared with Alexis.

"I'm going to let you spend some time with her. She'll call for me when she thinks it's time." Kate reached for the door and opened it. "Try to keep an open mind and let her talk before you go ballistic on her. Castle..." Kate stopped him from entering and kissed him roughly, trying to devour his mouth.

"Go on inside, Castle." Kate guided him through the door. "Good luck sweetie," Kate murmured as she retreated to the kitchen to warm up a blood bag before going into the living room and facing her own music.

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Rick walked into the room and was amazed at the brightness of the place and the opulence of the room. There were 2 antique crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling giving off light. The walls had decorative wood trim either all painted in gold or layered with 18 karat gold leaf. The floor was marble and there were pictures hanging on the walls that resembled masterpieces from famous artists.

There was a sitting area near the fireplace with a loveseat and two chairs that were definitely antiques. It really wasn't his style, but he could still appreciate the beauty of the room. Even the ceilings were coffered with the same gold wood trim.

There was an enormous four poster bed with white linen hanging across and down each post. The comforter was soft yet vibrant in color. However, it was the young woman sitting on the bed cross legged that had most of his attention. "You might want to close the door, Castle," she told him. He didn't really remember doing it as he walked over to the bed with his mouth hanging open.

"Have a seat." She motioned to the wooden chair that was at a small ornate desk. Rick sat on the bed opposite from her though, getting her to smile at him. "Hi," she said weakly.

"I'm not really sure where to start… Perhaps at the beginning. Tell me what happened to...ah" she stammered, " Tell me what happened to your daughter, Alexis." She felt strange asking about herself, when from her perspective she already knew about herself. Her knowledge that her childhood memories weren't actually hers didn't make them any less real. And since Kate didn't have them anymore, they really were hers now.

"Who are you?" Rick finally found his tongue.

"Kate is my mother and I'm her daughter. We live and stay here. Answer my question Castle, please. I want to learn and we can go from there." Alexis tried to steer the story to a point where who she was would make sense to him.

"You… How?" Rick was already starting to blink back tears. "Please Castle, we need to start somewhere," Alexis tried again.

He squeezed his eyes closed. Reliving his nightmare wasn't something he wanted to do. "What's your name." Rick wanted to hear it. Was he right? This grown woman looked so much like his little girl. Just seeing her was painful for his heart.

Alexis sighed. She knew this wasn't going to be easy for either of them. But especially for Castle. "My name is Alexis Beckett and I'm 19 years old, physically." Which was the truth even though she had only been alive for three.

"Alexis." Rick hadn't said that name for what felt like a very long time. "Tell me what happened Castle." Alexis tried again.

"Are you? …How? …I don't understand. You can't be…" Rick was having trouble thinking and breathing. "Castle?" Alexis urged him on.

Rick relented and began talking. "I got called away to some stupid meeting and it made me break my promise. I promised that I would be there to walk my daughter home from school, so my mother volunteered to do it." Rick calmed down though he wiped away his tears.

"It was a meeting that I shouldn't even have been there for. It wasn't worth my breaking my promise for. Then the police called. They said they had two bodies and that they wanted me to help identify them. They had gotten their names and mine from the information one of them was carrying."

"They warned me but I wasn't listening, I simply had to know. They… they…" Rick was falling to pieces all over again. "They had been ripped to shreds. I saw…I saw my precious girl's head detached from her little body." That was as far as Castle got before he broke down and fell over onto the bed. He cried heavily yet again. He just wanted the pain to go away! He was all that was left of his family, everyone was gone.

He didn't know who his father was, his wife had cheated on him, and his mother and his daughter were all gone. All there was, was him.

Rick wasn't sure but he thought he heard, "Hush, it's alright dad, everything is going to be fine." It was enough that it got Rick to stop crying. He looked up at the woman who looked so much like his little girl, just older. "Dad?" Rick barely whispered.

Alexis helped him sit back up which was simple really since she was much stronger than he was or ever would be for a human. "I'm Alexis, dad. Just not the Alexis you remember." Boy, this was going to be hard to do.

"There are two ways to convert a human into a vampire. One method only has about a 20% success rate, which is why there are so few of us. The other is what mom did for me." Alexis tried to get her words in her head right before she spoke again.

"Mom was chasing a small group of Lycans, our enemy, one day and watched them enter a building." Alexis gave him the address.

Rick knew that address. It was the building Black Pawn was in. The same address that he had his now cursed meeting in with Gina and Paula.

"Except that mom never saw them come back out. She never did explain what got her to end up in the morgue of the 12th Precinct police station. Except that down there she found 2 bodies that had been ripped to shreds , much like a Lycan was more than capable of doing."

Alexis was interrupted.

"Lycan, as in werewolf...Lycan?" Rick thought werewolves were a myth. But then again, he used to think vampires weren't real either.

"Lycans, or werewolves, are humans that have been bitten by a Lycan but not killed by a Lycan. It's more rare than you might think. Lycans are rather primitive in their thinking. In wolf form they are prone to killing in the most brutal fashion, hence most people who are bitten by them end up in pieces and don't turn into a Lycan," Alexis explained.

His Alexis and his mother were ripped to pieces. His Mistress tracked those Lycans into the building that Black Pawn was in. As much as he hated Gina and Paula, they were with him when his family was killed. "Were Gina and Paula involved in their deaths?" Rick was starting to put 2 and 2 together.

"Mom and I think so. Mom encountered both Gina and Paula turning into Lycans and killed them. They were after you for some reason, dad." Alexis told him.

"DAD!" Rick latched onto that word with both hands. "You remember me, somehow you are Alexis!" He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. His Alexis was alive! But why was she a 19 year old woman? And how did she become a vampire?

"Mom found what was left of me in the morgue at the 12th Precinct. For reasons even she can't explain, she was drawn to my…what was left of me. Mom was about to be discovered so she grabbed my head and saw my first name on something before jumping away. She went back after she converted me into a vampire, but by then everything was gone. She decided not to look into it any further, since she had what she wanted most. …Me."

"To convert me into a vampire and bring me back to life, she took my head, filled it with her own blood, removed a piece of her heart and buried the both of us in Manhattan soil, hoping that I was born in Manhattan. We stayed there for 24 hours."

"When we woke up, mom dug us out and jumped for home with me and told me everything. The process converted me from a 5 year old child to a 19 year old woman, the same age as the piece of mom's heart at the time that she gave it to me. However it cost her. Instead of remaining 19 like she would have if she hadn't brought me to life, she's now 26 years old, and looks it."

"Mom also gave me all of her childhood memories up to about 18 years of age. They are the only memories I have, except for the last 3 years which are my own," Alexis was forced to admit.

"You don't remember me?" Rick was desolated. He had such sudden high hopes of at least getting his daughter back.

Alexis shook her head. "I'm sorry dad. No, I don't remember you. I was brain dead at the time. Now my blood is actually mom's blood and my memories are actually her memories." She had no other memories at all.

"You call Mistress, mom?" Rick asked.

"She gave birth to me; she's my mother. It may not have been a human birth, but she is my mother and I love her. Mom means more to me than anyone else, even Paige." Alexis told him and saw the look on his face that clearly asked, 'Who'? "Paige is my…girlfriend. I love her a lot."

"And this Paige is another vampire?" Rick queried and watched Alexis shake her head. "Mom has her human lover and I have mine." Alexis wasn't ashamed of Paige being either human or her lover.

Rick sat there completely at a loss as to what to say or even think. "I need a drink."

"Sorry dad, we only have blood. Have you tried it, it's actually pretty tasty." Alexis liked the taste of blood a lot. Especially the tiny portions she sucked from Paige.

There was a knock on the door and Kate stepped in. "How are we doing in here?" She was curious and couldn't stay away any longer.

Alexis got up off the bed. "I think we're done for now. I'm going to go find Paige. Do you know where she is?" Alexis wanted to get her hands on Paige.

"She's in the living room being grilled over an open fire by some of the women," Kate teased her, though Paige was being asked a lot of questions.

"Great! I'm going to go save her." Alexis kissed Kate and started to leave.

"I'll be there in a few. We need to pack her up, get it all transferred to here and into storage. Then we need to work on Castle's stuff. I want them both out and moved in before sunup." Kate told her.

"We'll be waiting mom," she answered and went to find Paige.

Kate closed the door and turned towards Castle. "How are you doing?" she asked gently. She knew it was a big blow.

Rick opened his mouth to say something only to close it again. Kate moved over and sat on the bed not far from him. "Is she really? …I mean, she's all grown up."

"She is your little girl, or at least she used to be. I really am sorry. She doesn't remember you or her life when she was little. Alexis only remembers when I was little. My earlier memories belong to her now."

"I don't know how to explain why I decided to do what I did, it just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. And now that she's here, I love her more than my own life. There is nothing I wouldn't do for her." Kate knew her heart was wrapped around Alexis.

"I remember when she was handed to me right after she was born. Alexis was tiny and so vulnerable. I fell in love with her that instant and knew I would do everything I could to make her happy. No sleep for months, diapers, bottles, furniture, baby food, baby clothes, car seat, countless baby things. And after Meredith cheated on me I did all of it all alone."

"My life ended when… " Rick didn't want to go down that road again.

"I am sorry Castle. Your Alexis is gone and isn't coming back. However you could learn to love the new Alexis. This is what your Alexis would have looked like when she grew up. I know you missed out on all that and I can't fix that."

"And before you go there, I didn't know anything about you before or after I turned your Alexis into a vampire and made her my Alexis. I really do love her, Castle. She's amazing and so smart. Everyone else in this house watches TV while Alexis goes into the library and reads."

"She has even taken online evening college classes. Last year it was computers and programming. This year it's mathematics. Alexis is really smart Castle. Can you at least give her a chance?" Alexis came first. Kate was willing to cut Castle loose before she gave up Alexis.

"I promise to try, Mistress." Rick couldn't get past that this Alexis looked so much like his, just older.

His promise earned him a passionate kiss from Kate.