AN: A pretty long chapter based off of Season 7 Episode 6 "The Time of Our Lives". Since Castle is ending on Monday, I thought a nice happy chapter would be good. I can't believe it's going off, but it's all good... kind of. Anyway, Thank's to everyone for following, favoriting, and reviewing this story. Here's the next chapter everybody, enjoy. Don't forget to Review. :)
Also to the guest who suggested a Mother's day chapter, I was actually thinking of it on Mother's day, but I couldn't write that fast, so maybe I'll fit one into later chapters or make it a one shot. But keep an eye out of it, better late than never, right? lol... Once again, enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters.
A Caskett Wedding
It was Monday morning, and I didn't have school today. I loved when we had a four day vacation. I was eating breakfast at the kitchen isle as I watched Aunt Kate prepare a meal for Castle and her. She was chopping a melon when Castle walked into the room and she said, "Hey. Made some coffee for you. It's insomniac strength. This is the fourth night in a row that you haven't slept. Something wrong?"
"I don't know. Maybe my subconscious has a pressing need to catch up on my Facebook likes," Castle said.
Mrs. Rodgers came in and my aunt said, "Martha, good morning."
"Ah. Good morning, darling," she said as she grabbed her script to her the play she was trying out for.
"Would you like some breakfast?"
"No, thank you. I'm fasting for clarity. I've been asked to read for the new Stoppard play."
"So what's the problem?" Castle asked.
"Well, I haven't auditioned for anything in ages. I think I need to decide if that particular train has left the station."
We chuckled at her and she left the apartment with the script in hand. Castle looked at an invitation that my aunt received and asked, ""Ms. Katherine Beckett"?What's this?"
"Oh, an ex is getting married. Do you remember Will Sorenson?" she asked as she continued to cut the melon.
"Your old FBI squeeze?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, man, you're so lucky I came along and saved you from that life."
"Wait. You saved me?"
"Come on. Even you have to admit he was boring. Like, C-SPAN boring."
I chuckled at Castle's joke and he gave me a soft smile, while Aunt Kate just rolled her eyes and said, "You know, what makes you think that I would be with Sorenson if you hadn't come along?"
"All right. Where would you be?"
Aunt Kate put an arm around Castle and asked, "If you weren't around to distract me?"
"Yeah."
"Um, I would probably be captain of my own precinct."
"Wow."
"Yeah."
"Okay. Had I not been bewitched by you, I think by now I'd be working on my second Pulitzer."
"So we're bad for each other, huh?"
"The worst."
They gave each other a sweet and short kiss, and I made a disgusted face at their affectionate kiss. They pulled away and Aunt Kate said, "I guess we'd both be better off if we never met."
Her cellphone started ringing and Castle said, "It's like It's a Wonderful Life. Every time your phone rings, a victim gets their wings."
Aunt Kate answered her phone and said, "Beckett."
As she talked on the phone, getting the information on their next case, Castle came over to me.
"What are you doing today, mini Becket?" he asked.
"I don't know… Maybe I'll tag along with you guys?" I said, looking over at Aunt Kate as she hung up.
"Em… I don't know," she said, looking at me with thought.
"Please…. I have nothing else to do…"
She let out a sigh and said, "Fine, you can tag along, but no touching anything or getting into trouble."
"You can count on me," I said as I placed my empty bowl in the sink.
I went to go get changed, but my aunt stopped me before I could go, "Em, fruit."
"Aww… but Aunt Kate…" I whined.
"It's good for you."
Castle snickered at her mothering me, and I huffed as I took a handful of blue berries and a couple of melons. I shoved them into my mouth and grinned widely, showing her that I ate my fruit. Castle chuckled hard as he watched my little stunt. My aunt let out a groan and said, "All right smartass, go get ready before I change my mind and leave you here."
My eyes went wide and before I could get into trouble, I bolted up the stairs and got ready to go to the crime scene.
We arrived at the crime scene and Ryan started to fill us in, "His name is Mathias Gensler. His passport indicates that he is a Swiss national. Witnesses said that two masked men attacked both the driver and Gensler, before cutting a silver briefcase handcuffed to Mr. Gensler's wrist."
I looked at the dead body before me, looking at his chopped off hand laying just a few inches away from his arm. He had two bullet wounds in his chest which stained his light colored dress shirt red with blood.
"So this was an ambush. Whoever did this knew that he had that case with him," Aunt Kate said as she looked over the body.
"Looks like the attackers fled in a late model G-Wagen, no plates," Ryan said.
"Is that a boot print on his shirt?" Castle asked.
"Killer must have held him down with his foot," my aunt said as she stood up from where she was kneeling.
"So, what was in the case? Nuclear launch codes? Deadly virus?"
"We don't know yet. The driver's log shows that Mr. Gensler was picked up at Teterboro Airport after arriving on a private charter flight from Switzerland," Ryan said as he looked at the log.
"And where was the car taking him?" Aunt Kate asked.
"Manifest only lists the pick-up."
"Did you call the car company?"
"Uh, there's no one to call. The driver, Renzo Conrad, owned the service. He was a one-man band."
"Speaking of one-man band, where's your partner?"
"Yeah… And Lanie."
"Wait, wait," Lanie said as she ran up to the scene with Esposito in toe.
"We're here. We were just, uh…" Esposito fumbled with his sentence.
"Stuck in traffic."
"Yeah."
"So gross," I mumbled.
Castle gave a short huff of laughter and Aunt Kate said, "Why don't you bring Romeo here up to speed? And contact the Swiss consulate. Maybe they know what Gensler was up to."
Ryan and Esposito left and Castle started to sniff the body on the ground. We all gave him an odd stare and Lanie asked, "Castle, what are you doing with my body?"
"Just pretend like you don't know him," Aunt Kate said with a smile.
"Beckett, this is not dirt," he sniffed some more and continued, "It's flinty. Hints of carbon. That's coal. It's pulverized, unrefined coal."
"So?"
"So, I used a clue like this in one of my early Derrick Storm books. It's pretty unusual to find unrefined coal outside a coal-fired power plant."
"All the coal plants in the city are either shut down or converted."
"Right. But some of them are still standing. There's an abandoned one on the Hudson they're gonna turn into a shopping mall."
"Coal dust could have come from a lot of places."
"An abandoned plant would be a perfect place to launch a strike like this."
"Lanie, why don't you get CSU techs to test the substance on the victim's shirt? We gotta go to Teterboro and look into that flight."
"And that coal plant is right on the way."
"Fine. We'll stop off at the coal plant."
We pulled up to the abandoned coal plant in Aunt Kate's car and Aunt Kate turned to me in the back, "Em, stay here."
"What? Why? I want to come too," I said.
"No, if Castle's right, I could be putting you in danger."
"When is Castle usually right?"
"Always! I'm always right. My theories are always on point," Castle said looking a little offended.
"Sometimes… But if this is one of them, I don't want you getting hurt. So stay here."
"Okay, fine."
I watched them get out and walk down the alleyway towards the old facility. Once I saw them enter the building, I quickly slipped out of the car and made my way into the facility. I saw them looking through a chain linked fence and Aunt Kate was calling for backup.
I stood next to Castle and said, "Wow, you were actually right."
They both looked at me and I looked at them with a small smile. Aunt Kate gave me a glare and said, "I told you to wait in the car."
"I wanted to see," I said.
"Go back to the car. We don't know if they're still here."
"But I want to help."
"No, Em. This is dangerous."
"I'll keep her close by. I promise," Castle said.
She looked between us and said, "Fine. Stay low and stay close."
We both nodded and Aunt Kate pulled out her gun. We followed her through the abandoned plant and around a couple of corners. We made it to the other side where the car was parked and the briefcase was sitting open on top of a grey, metal, rolling tool cabinet.
"There's the case," Castle said.
I followed behind Castle over to the brief case and Aunt Kate asked, "What's in it?"
I looked in the case with Castle on my right and he said, "Some kind of artifact."
It was circular with ancient markings covering the whole thing, and in the middle was a creepy looking face like the Mayans would use.
"Must be valuable if it was worth killing over," Aunt Kate said.
Castle took out a white handkerchief and took the artifact out of the case. An alarm started to beep loudly and my aunt said, "Castle, what are you…"
A gun shot echoed through the facility, the bullet hitting the briefcase, knocking it shut. Aunt Kate shot back and yelled, "Get down!"
We dropped to the ground, Castle holding me close, since the metal cabinet wasn't that long. Aunt Kate looked over at Castle and said, "Why do you always have to touch everything?"
"I thought you liked that about me," he said as he continued to hold me close with one arm as he held onto the artifact with the other.
A flash grenade rolled between the two places we were hiding and Aunt Kate yelled, "Move!"
Castle dragged me with him towards a separate room and as we got there, the flashbang went off, making a bright blue light shine in my eyes and a loud hissing noise ring through my ears. We went through the door, sliding across the metal ground, smoke clouding my vision.
"Mini Beckett? Are you okay?" Castle asked as he checked me out.
"Yeah, a bit. Little disorientated, but other than that, I'm fine," I said.
Castle helped me up and he opened up the door we just went through, whispering out, "Beckett?"
I followed him out carefully and he whispered louder, "Beckett?"
We looked around and the vehicle and briefcase were nowhere to be found. Everything almost looked spotless compared to just seconds ago.
"Beckett?" he said again before looking around screaming her name once more, "Beckett!"
"Castle, I don't like this," I said.
"Believe me Emily, I don't like it myself," he looked around a bit more and said, "Lets head to the precinct."
"Okay."
We started heading towards the precinct and I said, "Why'd you have to touch it?"
"Well, I'm sorry… I didn't think that it would have an alarm attached to it and warn the bad guys that we were there," he said with a shrug.
"I thought you knew stuff, being a writer and all."
"I know… stuff. I just… I wasn't thinking."
"I hope Aunt Kate's okay."
"Yeah, me too."
We arrived at the precinct and Castle practically ran out of the elevator towards Esposito and Ryan.
"Guys! Hey, guys! Beckett's in trouble. We got away, but her car is missing. I think she was abducted," Castle said to them as I stood next to him.
"Uh, Captain?" Ryan said.
Aunt Kate walked into the room, wearing a way different outfit then earlier.
"You're okay! You made it back!" Castle said, looking stunned.
"Captain Beckett, this guy claims you're in trouble," Ryan said.
Castle and I both looked at each other and he said, ""Captain"?"
"You know him?" Esposito asked.
"I've never seen this man before in my life. But what are you doing with my niece?" she questioned.
Something extremely fishy is going on here and I'm not liking the sound of it.
"Never seen me before? Okay, that's very funny. I'm just glad you're okay. How did you get back here?" Castle asked.
"Excuse me?" my aunt asked.
"From the power plant. We were being shot at. That's a nice suit, by the way."
"Whoever you are, I think you'd better leave. And Emily, come with me, we have to talk."
"Whoever I am?"
Esposito grabbed Castle and said, "Come on, pal. Whatever trip you're on, if you leave quietly, I'm sure we can forget this ever happened."
Castle turned around with a chuckle and said, "Okay! Whoa! I get it. You guys are punking me," he said as he poked Esposito in the chest which he quickly removed after the glare he received, "Sorry. Just like, uh, my birthday. This is good. How did you stage that? The double shooting, the severed hand, coal dust on the shirt?"
"He just described our crime scene," Esposito said.
"Where did you get that information?" my aunt asked as she walked over to them.
"From being at the crime scene with all of you," Castle said, looking at them like they were all nuts.
"Captain, we only got the forensics about the coal dust five minutes ago," Ryan said as he walked up to her.
"And how do you know so much about this case?" she asked Castle.
"Kate, okay, you know what? You got me. Joke's over," he said.
"You're right. It is."
Esposito grabbed him by his lapel, dragging him towards the interrogation room, and Castle said, "No…"
Aunt Kate looked down at me and asked, "What were you doing with him?"
"You seriously have no clue who he is?" I asked, wondering what was seriously going on here.
"Not you too. I'm going to go watch Esposito and Ryan interrogate Mr. Castle and then we are going to have a little discussion. Wait in my office," she said and walked towards the observation room.
I let out a sigh, feeling uneasy about this whole situation. Something must have happened at that plant, but what?
I was waiting for Aunt Kate in the captain's office and looked around. There were papers littering the desk and a few photos of Aunt Kate in uniform, while there a few of us together, but mostly from when I was eight or nine. That didn't look too good, especially since she keeps calling me Emily. The only time she says my full name is when she's angry with me.
I heard a commotion out front and I left Aunt Kate's office to see everyone in the precinct swarming around Mrs. Rodgers.
"Who should I make this out to?" she asked with a Sharpie in hand.
"Uh, Kevin, Mrs. Rodgers," Kevin said, looking giddy.
"Uh-huh. All right, Kevin," she said as she signed a picture for him.
"Your Mama Rose in Gypsy? Perfection."
"Ah, thank you. You are a dear, sweet boy.'
"Well… You were robbed of that third Tony."
"Oh, well."
"Mother?" Castle asked looking at her in shock.
"Richard! Darling, you look like hell."
"Thank God. You know me," he went to hug her, but she quickly put her hands up saying, "No, don't, please. Darling, you're filthy."
"You're lucky your mommy could alibi you out for the murder," Esposito said.
"Oh, he only kills on paper," Mrs. Rodgers said and Ryan laughed boyishly, "And I'll have you know that coming down to the police station to get my grown son out of prison is the last thing I have time for. You know full well we open in two days."
"We open what?" Castle asked.
"Mame!" Ryan and Mrs. Rodgers said together.
Ryan and Esposito walked away and Mrs. Rodgers said, "My revival of Auntie Mame. Exactly how hard did you party last night?"
I saw Castle's eyes look at Lanie who walked into the precinct and she was supporting a very large baby bump as she walked through. She gave Esposito a dirty look and Esposito looked kind of down. This new world was crazy.
"Apparently, very, very hard. Oh, that can't be good," Castle said.
"Come on, kiddo. Come on. Oh, dear," Mrs. Rodgers said as she pulled him along.
Aunt Kate walked by me, holding a folder in her hand, delivering it to Esposito and Ryan. I could see Castle glance at her, and I really hoped we figured things out before things get any crazier.
Aunt Kate came over to me and grabbed me by the arm, pulling me into her office. She closed the door behind us and said, "Emily, sit."
I sat next across from her at her desk and felt nervous about what we were going to converse about. She stared at me for a while, looking over me a couple of times, before she asked, "What were you doing with Mr. Castle."
"He's my friend and you were his fiancé. You can't remember him at all?" I asked.
"Not, you too? Did he brainwash you?"
"What? He'd never do such a thing and frankly I don't think he could."
She cocked her head to the side and asked, "Why weren't you at school today?"
"We have the day off…"
"No, you don't and you had detention today."
"Detention?"
"Come on, Emily. Work with me please. I pulled you out of boarding school because you weren't doing any better there. I don't need you getting expelled from any more schools."
"Expelled!? Boarding School!? So, I'm like a delinquent?"
She sighed and looked at me softer than earlier and said, "Emily, your behavior since you came to live with me has been unacceptable… It's… It's been extremely unruly. I just couldn't deal with it anymore, especially when I made Captain. I thought you were actually getting a little better since I pulled you from boarding school, but after this stunt… I guess I was wrong."
"I can't believe this…" I mumbled to myself.
I actually screwed up my relationship with my aunt. Instead of my behavior actually getting better, it took a turn for the worst. And if my aunt was spending most of her time at work, trying to become captain… That means… That means I felt neglected and started acting out to get attention. Ooh… I don't like this world.
"Emily?" my aunt questioned.
I looked up at her, coming out of my thoughts, "Sorry, I was just thinking. I'm real sorry that I've been acting out like that. I promise you, that I'll start coming around."
"Emily, as much as I would love to believe that…"
"You can't because I probably said the same thing a thousand of times already."
She nodded slowly and said, "Listen, I'll give you another chance, but if anything happens in the next few days, we'll be looking into another boarding school."
"Yeah, I got it…"
Night time fell upon us and I was my aunt's apartment. It's been a while since I actually been here, but it was nice to reminisce in the old setting. I could barely sleep that night and mostly paced around my room.
There was only one other person who knew what I was going through, and that was Castle. So, I waited until Aunt Kate fell asleep and went out to the living room to grab the home phone. Hopefully in this world, Castle's number still happens to be the same. I dialed his number that I knew from memorization and listened to it ring a few times before it was picked up, "Hello?"
"Castle?" I whispered.
"Mini Beckett? Why are you whispering?" he asked.
"So, my aunt won't here me."
"Oh, okay. What's going on?"
"That's why I called you… Do you have any ideas on where we are and why?"
"Actually I do. You know that ancient artifact?"
"The one you shouldn't have picked up at the plant?'
"Yeah…"
"So, what is it?"
"It's apparently some kind of gateway to another world."
"Like an alternate universe?"
"Yeah basically."
I sat down on my bed with a huff and said, "Why'd you have to send us here Castle?"
"Believe me, I wasn't trying to."
"Think we can get back?"
"Maybe… If we can find the artifact maybe we'll be able to poof ourselves back to our world."
"Well, I hope so… I don't like it here."
"I don't like it here either, Em."
"Finally my nickname… I've been missing it so much."
"Your aunt hasn't called you that?"
"No… Apparently I'm not so good to her here. We kind of... drifted apart."
"I'm sorry, Em."
"It's not your fault and at least she knows me."
"Yeah, don't remind me."
I heard movement from the hall and said, "I gotta go, Castle. Hopefully we'll figure this out."
"Bye, Em. I promise I will."
I hung up the phone and quickly went to bed, hoping that in the morning I'll be back in my world.
The next morning came, and Aunt Kate woke me up by saying, "Emily, You're going to be late for school."
I sighed to myself as I laid in my bed and figured that I was still stuck in the other world. I turned over, looking up at Aunt Kate, and said, "Aunt Kate, can't I just take the day off today? Yesterday, was still a bit confusing for me."
She let out a short huff and said, "Okay, fine, but only for today."
"Can I go to work with you?"
"I wouldn't have it any other way. I don't trust you being left alone yet."
"Fair enough."
We got ready to go and headed to the precinct. I was sitting in Aunt Kate's office, watching her do paper work while still trying to wrap my head around this whole new reality. Aunt Kate stopped doing her work, and pulled out one of Castle's books.
"So you do know Castle?" I asked.
"I know of him… I liked his Derrick Storm novels," she said.
"Interesting."
She rolled her eyes and went back to reading the story in her hand. A few minutes later, Castle walked in and said, "So, you're a fan. And here I thought you didn't know me."
She looked over at him and stammered out, "Yeah, I don't. I mean, I didn't. I…"
"Didn't recognize me in my deranged state?" he chuckled and continued his spiel, "Listen I have to apologize. How I acted, you must have thought I was crazy."
"Well, yeah. That's because you were."
"Yeah. It's this new book I've been working on. I have been working non-stop. I mean, I have been drinking coffee, popping NoDoz. I haven't slept in days. And to make matters worse, the new character, I kind of based her on you. What I've read about you. So, she's savvy and smart and driven, and I have fallen in love with her. I mean, I eat with her, I sleep with her. But I know you are not her."
Nice one, Castle, I thought to myself as I watched their interaction go down. Aunt Kate looked at him with her questioning eyes and said, "You know, none of this explains how you know so much about the crime scene."
"I have a police scanner, and I was tracking the investigation. Actually, that's why I'm here, Captain. I know what was in the briefcase, I know where it's going, and I think I know who took it," he said cleverly.
"And how do you know all that?"
"It's complicated, but I do."
Ryan came into the room and said, "Hey, Cap. What's he doing here?"
"I'm not sure," she said with her arms folded across her chest.
"Okay. So, I heard back from the courier company. Turns out our victim was transporting…" Castle cut Ryan off and said, "An ancient Incan artifact."
Ryan looked at him surprised and said, "Yeah. And, uh, it was on its way…" he was cut off once again by Castle who said, "To the Lamont-Doherty laboratories in Palisades, New York, for studies. Scientists believe it was fashioned from a meteorite, but it's proven impenetrable to conventional scans."
Ryan was about to question Castle, but Castle said, "How did I know all this? I used to be a crime novelist, and I still have a few sources," Castle handed over a piece of paper to Aunt Kate and said, "Captain, this is what your victims were killed for."
"And why would someone kill for this?" she asked.
"Well, the folks at the lab said an object like that would be invaluable to any collector," Ryan said, looking over at Castle for reassurance.
Castle nodded and Ryan smiled softly, feeling good about his police work.
"Mr. Castle, you said that you might know who took it,' my aunt said.
"Not exactly who, but I know who is involved."
We all made our way out to the investigation board and Castle started speaking, "So, the car service was going to pick up Gensler, the courier, from the airport here, take him to the lab here. Basically, north. Yet for some reason, when they were attacked, they ended up here, in Spanish Harlem."
"The opposite way," my aunt said.
"Yes. So either this driver had a terrible sense of direction…"
"Or he was in on it."
"And maybe his partners killed him to silence him."
"Detective Ryan, get me everything you can on that driver," Ryan looked between the two strangely and walked away, "That was surprisingly helpful, Mr. Castle."
"Do you mind if I hang around? See how this turns out?"
"Mmm-hmm. Break room's over there."
"I know."
He walked off and my aunt looked down at me, "Come on."
"Okay," I said, following her back into her office.
A little while later, Ryan got some more information on the case and we stood around the investigation board once again.
"Okay, so, over the last four days before he was killed, our driver made a…" Ryan stopped, looking over at Castle who was observing them from afar. Ryan looked back at Aunt Kate who gave him a small nod, before continuing what he was saying, "Our driver made a series of phone calls to a pay phone located inside of a restaurant. The only problem is, the place has been shut down the past couple of months."
"Who was he calling?" Esposito asked.
"I have no idea, but check it out. The deserted restaurant, El Chozo, maybe that's where he was headed. It's right near where the SUV was attacked."
"All right. Get up there, see what you can find," my aunt said.
"Uh, Captain, would it be possible for me to ride along? Uh, strictly for research purposes," Castle asked her.
"Is he kidding?" Esposito asked turning to my aunt.
"I would just love the chance to observe, get some details for my book."
"Yeah, sure, Cap. We'll take him along," Ryan said happily.
"What the…" Esposito fussed.
"Dude, that's Martha Rodgers' son. He can get us house seats," Ryan turned to Castle and said, "You can get us house seats, right?"
"Absolutely," Castle said.
"Okay. But do as they say, and don't interfere."
"Can I go too?" I asked.
Everyone looked at me and I suddenly felt extremely small. My aunt shook her head and said, "No, I'm going to have to put my foot down on that."
"Please, I'll behave. I just want to see what it's like on the field…"
"I promise to watch her," Castle said, knowing my reasoning to go with.
She sighed loudly and said, "Okay, but don't get into any trouble."
"I won't, I'll be on my best behavior."
"Come on. Let's go, house seats. You too little Beckett," Ryan said as we left the building.
Castle and I were riding in the back of the car, Esposito in the driver's seat and Ryan in the passenger seat. Castle squeezed himself between the seats and said, "So, the captain… Is she seeing anyone?"
"She has boyfriends. None of them serious," Ryan said.
"Why, writer boy? What, you think you have a chance with her?" Esposito said to him before turning to Ryan, "And what are you doing, telling crazy over here about everyone's private life?"
"Me?"
"Yeah. You told him about Lanie and me."
"No, no, no, I didn't."
"I'm telling you. Listen to me! I have a gift, all right? I look at people and I see things," Castle said.
"Yeah? Okay," Ryan chuckled, "Uh, what do you see when you look at me?"
"Honey milk and freckles."
"No! That's Jenny O'Malley. Yeah, she used to make me honey milk. She could have been the one."
""Could have"?"
"Yeah. Um, well, when Beckett was promoted to captain, our caseload doubled. Well, I guess I never had time for her."
"Maybe you should give her a call."
"Maybe you should mind your own business," Esposito said and pushed Castle back into his seat.
We pulled up to El Chozo and Esposito said, "All right, here are the rules. Stay in the car or I shoot you. Got it? Watch him Emily."
I nodded and Castle said, "You wanna crack a window for us?"
Esposito scoffed and he exited the vehicle with Ryan following behind him.
We watched them walk into the facility and Castle said, "Come on."
"Right behind you," I said.
We went into the rundown restaurant and tried to stay low, so Esposito and Ryan wouldn't notice us. I followed behind Castle, going the opposite way of the guys. We were in a kitchen area and spotted a sleeping bag in there. Castle spotted the artifact and picked it up saying, "Yes! Okay. Take us home."
"Nothing happened," I said.
He gave me a glare and held up the artifact again and whispered, "Come on."
A lady came up behind him and put a knife to his throat, "Hand it over or you die."
"Castle, look out." I said.
"Thanks for the warning," he grumbled.
She gave me a short glare and said to Castle, "Who sent you? What do you know?"
"Nobody sent me. Nobody, uh… This, it sent me. The object, it sent me. I saw a blue light, and I ended up here."
Esposito and Ryan came into the room with their guns drawn and said, "NYPD! Drop your knife, now!"
She took off running, but Esposito grabbed her quickly. Since everything happened so quickly, Castle dropped the artifact onto the table, making it shatter into dozens of pieces.
"No!" Castle yelled.
"What the hell, man? You were supposed to wait in the car. You too little Beckett," Ryan said.
"What does it matter now? It's broken. Now we're never getting home. We're stuck here in this life."
I started to feel down, but then Castle said, "But the real one would never break. This is a fake! This is a fake. Where did you get this? And where's the real one?"
"Cuff him, too," Esposito said.
Ryan sighed and pulled out his cuffs too.
We made it back to the precinct, and Aunt Kate wasn't too happy about the little stunt we pulled. We were in her office and she said, "What the hell do you think you were doing? You could've gotten yourself killed. The both of you could have."
"We had backup. And I did help capture a suspect," Castle said.
"No, you were supposed to accompany and observe, not participate and…" Castle jumped in and said, "Annoy."
"Risk my people's lives. Now, after this morning's antics, I expected you to be on your best behavior."
"Actually, that kind of is my best behavior."
"What?" Aunt Kate asked Esposito who was standing in the doorway.
"Oh, I'm just enjoying the show," he said before showing Aunt Kate a picture of the suspect, "Our suspect's name is Maria Sanchez. She's wanted by the Peruvian government in connection with the bombings at a government building, not to mention the theft and trafficking of stolen artifacts."
Castle took the picture from Esposito and said, "Then that's her. And she's behind it. We need to talk to her."
"No, Mr. Castle. They need to talk to her. You need to go home. You're done with this case," Aunt Kate said.
"But…"
"You're lucky I don't arrest you for obstruction. Officer, please escort Mr. Castle to the elevator. I want him gone."
An officer started to escort Castle out and Castle said, "You don't understand. I need to find this artifact. Beckett, please!"
"Yes, Detective Esposito?" she asked him.
"You're not letting him get to you, are you?" he asked her.
"Don't you have a case to close?"
"Mmm…" he groaned as he walked out.
Aunt Kate looked at me and said, "I thought you weren't going to get into any trouble."
"I… I'm sorry..."
She shook her head and went back to reading Storm Fall by Castle. A few minutes later, she got up and said, "I'm going to go finish this work and check on Ryan and Esposito."
"Okay," I said.
"Stay here."
"I will."
A few more minutes later, she came back and didn't look to happy.
"What happened?" I asked, scared to hear the answer.
"I found Mr. Castle in the observation room. I just had him locked in a holding cell," she said.
"What!?"
"I can't have him running around my precinct. So maybe some time in there will help him think."
I sunk back into my chair and inwardly groaned to myself. Of course Castle would get himself arrested when we're stuck in a crazy alternate universe.
A few hours later, Aunt Kate asked an officer to take me home because it was getting late. The whole time at home I couldn't stop thinking about how we'll get that artifact back. I hoped we did get that artifact back, so we could get back to our real home.
Since I couldn't stay cooped up in here any longer, I decided to head to Castle's apartment. I walked all the way there and knocked on the door when I got there. The door opened and standing there was Alexis with died black hair and purple highlights.
"Whoa… Alexis…" I said wowed by her new hairstyle.
"Do I know you?" she asked.
"Um… I guess not."
"Are you selling something for school?"
"No… I was looking for your dad, um, Richard Castle."
"Why?"
"He's been working with my aunt at the precinct."
"The one who arrested him."
"Uh... Yeah, that would be the one."
"Well, he's not here right now."
"Oh, okay… Will you tell him I stopped by?"
"Sure…"
"Thanks," I said and headed back home.
Thankfully when I got there, Aunt Kate wasn't home yet, so I wasn't going to get into any more trouble. I decided to go to bed and pray that we'll be able to make it back home.
The next day came around and Aunt Kate left me a note that told me she was at the precinct. She also told me not to get into any trouble, but I was going to see Castle. We needed to get out of here somehow, before I end up back in boarding school.
I made my way back to Castle's place and I was just about to knock on the door when it opened, revealing just the man I wanted to see.
"Em, what are you doing here?" he asked with a shocked face.
"I'm here to see you," I stated.
"Well, okay," he pulled me with him and said, "Come with me, I have a plan to get Kate back."
"Well, thank god for that."
I followed him down the sidewalk and asked, "So, exactly how are you planning to get her back."
"With my ruggedly handsome look and boyish charm," he said as we stopped at a coffee vendor.
"And coffee?"
"Yep, and coffee."
He ordered a cup of coffee for both him and Aunt Kate and as the vendor made it I said, "You know if you plan on getting her back, like you did in our other world… It's going to take at least six years."
"I think I'll be able to get your aunt to see the real me again. Then hopefully leading us to the artifact."
"Eh… I hope you're right."
"Trust me, I got this."
I groaned and hoped that Castle was right about this one. The vendor finished up and handed him the two cups of coffee, "There you go. That's a large cappuccino for Rick, and a large skinny latte, two pumps sugar-free vanilla, for Kate. Right?"
"Perfect!" Castle said as he handed her the money.
"Awesome."
"Thank you very much," he said and we walked towards the street, Castle signaling for a taxi, "Taxi!"
A guy came up behind him, putting a gun into his side, and said, "That's okay. I'll give you a ride."
"I hate this world," I heard Castle mumbled.
We were both shoved into a car and taken back to where this whole thing began, the power plant. The man pushed us into the room and Castle said, "Hey, take it easy."
"That's him," some guy in a suit said to another guy in a suit.
"Marcus Lark, Lark Development. So you're behind this," Castle said.
"What do you know about this, Mr. Castle?" Mr. Lark said.
"I know you killed two men for it."
"Oh, you know more than that. My attorney overheard you at the police station, so I had him check up on you. Pretty strange behavior the last two days. Which means either you're psychotic, or this isn't your world."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I think you do," he said as he opened the briefcase with the real artifact inside it, "Do you know how many years I spent looking for this? Hearing the whispered secrets, ancient alien technology, naturally-occurring quantum anomalies, the power of God. I spent years untangling legend from truth. The Incans believed it was a gateway to the gods, but it's not. It's a doorway to the infinite. A chance to change my destiny. I know everything about this, Mr. Castle. Except how it works."
"You're rich, successful. You have everything. Why would you wanna change your destiny?"
"No man lives without regrets. Now then, Mr. Castle, how does it work?"
"I don't know. I was holding on to it, and it just happened."
"Look, I don't wanna hurt you. But I will if you don't tell me how it works."
"I swear to you, I don't know."
"Shoot the kid."
"What?" we both said.
"NYPD! Drop your weapon, now!" Aunt Kate said, firing at the man who abducted us as he turned to shoot at her.
Castle grabbed the artifact and said, "Regret this!"
He hit Mr. Lark in the face with the artifact and knocked him out. Aunt Kate ran over to us and asked, "Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah," we said.
"How'd you find us?" Castle asked.
"I couldn't stop thinking about what you said, about compromise. So I decided to retrace the investigation. It's just pure luck that it brought me here when it did."
"Or fate."
"Why are you here? What did they want from you?"
"Something I guess I didn't have," a gun cocked in the distance and Castle jumped in front of my aunt, "Look out!"
He was shot twice in the chest and Aunt Kate shot and killed the other man. I dropped next to Castle and my aunt did the same thing.
"Oh, God! Mr. Castle, you saved my life. Why?" she asked as she looked him over.
"Because I love you, Kate," he whispered out.
He started dying and I said, "Don't leave me here Castle. I don't want to be in this world alone."
I grabbed the hand that held onto the artifact and another blue light started shining in my eyes once again. I could vaguely hear my aunt call out to Castle as he was dying.
I felt someone shaking me and barely heard my name being called out. I turned over and said, "Ow… what!?"
I opened my eyes and saw Castle alive and without bullet holes. I quickly embraced him and said, "You're alive."
"Yeah, I'm not dead," he said with a short chuckle.
"What happened? You two hit your head?" Aunt Kate asked.
"No. How long were we gone?"
"I don't know. We got separated. Ryan and Esposito got here just in time with backup."
We got up and walked out of the small room. Ryan came over with two of the suspects at hand and said, "Hey, Castle and Mini B, you missed all the excitement. We were awesome. Weren't we, Javi?"
"As usual," Esposito said as he pulled Lark along.
"Lark?" Castle questioned.
"It looks like he was behind the theft. Although none of them are talking. You know, the one thing that we haven't been able to find is the object that was in the briefcase," Aunt Kate said.
Castle patted himself down and pulled out the artifact, "When you hold this, do not wonder even for a second if you'd be better off anyplace else but here."
"Okay," my aunt said as she took the artifact from him.
We made our way back to the precinct and we told her everything about our alternate universe experience. As we exited off the elevator, she said, "So, in this alternate universe, I was the captain and you and I have never met? And Emily was still a handful."
"Hey…" I mumbled.
She chuckled patting my shoulder and Castle said, "You were married to your work. A lot like when you were when I met you."
"And how were you without me? Did you win the Pulitzer?" she asked him.
"Pfft," I snickered.
Castle nudged me softly and said, "Uh, I was still waiting to hear. But I admit that my life was nowhere near as wonderful without you."
"That's quite a dream. Magical artifacts and parallel worlds."
"Yeah, it was a lot more than that."
"But it couldn't have been a dream… How could it intertwine?" I asked.
"Stranger things have happened," my aunt said.
I nodded and Castle said, "You know, the only other world I would ever want to visit is the one where I made it to our wedding."
"Me, too."
"Yeah, I know. It's the reason I haven't been sleeping. And I keep trying to figure it out. How do you live with a man who's lost two months of his life and left you at the altar? How do I live with the pain I know I've caused you? How do we get past this?"
"I wish I knew."
"I think I have the answer. We just do. So, Katherine Beckett, will you marry me?"
She grinned widely and said, "I've already said yes."
"Will you marry me right now?"
Her smile grew wider and she said, "Yes."
"Awesome," I said.
They chuckled at me and grinned back at them, happy they were finally going to tie the knot.
We went to the Hamptons, getting ready for a small wedding in such a short notice. The sun was starting to set, which made the atmosphere even more romantic for this special wedding. I put on a simple purple dress and black flats for the special occasion. Mrs. Rodgers, Alexis, and I were standing in a nice gazebo with the preacher, waiting for the ceremony to begin.
Castle came running up in his suit and said to the priest, "Hey. Thank you for coming on such short notice."
He went over to his daughter, giving her a kiss on the cheek and then to his mother.
"Oh, darling, I am so proud of you," she said as she hugged him.
"Mother, you know that audition?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"I really think you should go for it."
"All right. Thank you."
"Okay. Let's do it. Oh, I got it, okay," he said as he patted himself down for the ring.
He looked over at me and I gave him a thumbs up. He gave me a small one back and then Aunt Kate came out with grandpa on her arm. She was wearing a simple white lacey top with white dress pants and it was paired with tall white heels.
They walked down the aisle and into the gazebo with all of us. She gave grandpa a hug and kiss before going over to Castle. She then turned back to me and looked down at her bouquet saying, "Oh. Em."
I took it from her and she gave me a small smile before turning back to Castle.
"Hi," she said to him.
"Hi," he said.
"Whenever you're ready," the priest said.
"Yes," she said and placed Castle's ring on his finger, "The moment that I met you, my life became extraordinary. You taught me to be my best self, to look forward to tomorrow's adventures. And when I was vulnerable, you were strong. I love you, Richard Castle, and I wanna live my life in the warmth of your smile and the strength of your embrace. I promise you I will love you. I will be your friend and your partner in crime and in life. Always."
Castle put on Aunt Kate's ring and said, "The moment we met, my life became extraordinary. You taught me more about myself than I knew there was to learn. You are the joy of my heart, and you're the last person I wanna see every night when I close my eyes. I love you, Katherine Beckett. And the mystery of you is the one I want to spend the rest of my life exploring. I promise to love you, to be your friend and your partner in crime and life. Till death do us part, and for the time of our lives."
"By the power vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife," the priest said.
Aunt Kate chuckled before pulling Castle into a romantic kiss. They were finally married and I was super thrilled with that, we were one step closer to being a real family.
They all popped a bottle of champagne after the wedding was over and said, "Cheers. To the wedded couple."
As they all drank the champagne, I was drinking a nice glass of apple juice. I looked over at the gazeebo which still held Aunt Kate and my, now, Uncle Rick, and they were dancing slowly together in the romantic sunset.
I smiled happily at my new family and would never change a thing about this world… My world.
AN 2: I was going to go a completely different route with this chapter and fitting Emily in it, but I thought it would be fun to have her go to the alternate universe too. Thanks for reading and see you at the next update.