That was Yesterday 2
Chapter 1
Kate arrived on the homicide floor to everyone on the floor clapping. It was a lot for her. She didn't see where she earned any of it. Her recovery had been hell, filled with pain and a whole lot of pills. Far more than she ever thought was possible.
Esposito spotted her, greeting her enthusiastically as she reached her desk and put her coat on the back of the chair. "Hey, Beckett!"
Ryan joined him to greet her. "I thought you weren't supposed to be here until next week."
"Yeah, well, months of listening to the crickets at my dad's cabin drove me nuts." What Kate wanted most was to get back there so she could work her case. She needed to find out who had shot her and what Montgomery knew about her mother's murder.
Her mother's case was still all she truly cared about. Save for Castle. Her dad begged her to call him, so she finally broke down in a haze of pain and called him. But all she got was voice mail, day after day, week after week.
"It's okay to make excuses. We know you missed us," Esposito joked with her.
"Shut up," Kate said with a grin. These two were friends; suddenly, it felt good to have friends to banter a little with. Now, she needed to unpack what she had brought with her.
"So, anything?" She meant who shot her.
Ryan was the one who broke it to her. "We're nowhere, Beckett. The groundskeeper is a ghost. We ran facial hits on surveillance, rental cars, and every license plate we could see. Nothing panned out." Ryan felt so bad about that. He was failing his friend.
"We did get DNA off the weapon, but he's not in the system. He doesn't exist," Esposito added.
"We have a new captain, Captain Victoria Gates, AKA Iron Gates. She's as by the book as they come. She cut her teeth as a detective in Internal Affairs," Ryan told her.
"That's not going to win her popularity points." Kate wasn't sure how her job was going to go now. She knew Montgomery would be gone but wasn't expecting this.
"Where's Castle?" Kate asked them.
Ryan glanced over at Esposito before saying anything to her and sighed. "You haven't heard?" Ryan asked her.
Kate paused, removing some stuff from her bag and putting it on her desk. "Heard what?"
"Castle's dead, Beckett. Alexis, Martha, the entire Castle clan," Esposito told her.
Kate felt like she had just been shot in the heart again and collapsed onto the floor.
Kate woke up surrounded by Lanie, Ryan, and Esposito. "What happened," she asked them.
"You passed out, Beckett," Esposito told her. "Right after we told you about Castle."
Kate struggled to get up off of the floor. "CASTLE!"
"Whoa, take it easy, Kate. You fainted," Lanie said.
"I need to get to the loft," Kate told them and finally got up.
Ryan shook his head. "There's no need, Beckett. Castle's not there anymore."
But Kate wasn't listening. They were wrong; they had to be. Castle wasn't dead. It would break her if he were dead.
"BECKETT! What about Gates?" Esposito asked her.
"SCREW GATES!" Kate shouted as she ran for the elevator.
"DETECTIVE!?" Gates had heard the Screw Gates part and wanted an explanation.
Kate made it to the loft and pounded on the door. She called again and again for Castle, but he never answered.
She cried on her way to her apartment. She didn't know how she got there, but she was home. She collapsed on the sofa and cried body-quaking sobs. Kate finally slowed down, wiped her tears away, and used the back of her hand on her runny nose. Then, there was a knock on her door. In her haze, she thought it was Castle.
"CASTLE?" Kate flung open the door, but it wasn't him.
Surprised, the delivery man took a step back. "Ms. Beckett? Please, sign here," he told her.
"What?" Kate wasn't listening. Her life was over. Castle was dead, so she was dead.
"Sign, please. I have a delivery that requires your signature."
Sighing, Kate signed, and he handed her a small padded envelope. He left, and Kate closed the door and locked it. She tossed the package on her sofa and sat down on the couch. She curled up in a ball and didn't know what she would do now.
Castle was gone. Alexis was gone. Martha was gone. Her mother was gone. Montgomery was gone. Almost everyone was gone, had left her. Even Will left her.
She broke down, crying again. Eventually, she calmed down, expecting Lanie to show up at her door any time now. Then she noticed the package on her sofa, picked it up, and felt something small and hard inside.
Curious, she opened it and pulled out some paper and a flash drive.
"What the hell is this?" Kate held up the flash drive and then opened the piece of paper. All it told her was to look at the flash drive somewhere safe, away from bugs, prying eyes, and listening devices, and to be very careful. Very, very careful.
Kate didn't get it, but she was intrigued by it. She held up the flash drive again and looked at it. It wasn't anything special. It didn't have a name or anything on it. It was just a flash drive.
"Somewhere safe? Why?" Kate didn't get it, but to her, it sounded like something Castle would do. He was into aliens and the CIA, but he was dead. He couldn't send her something from the grave.
"But maybe he sent it before he was…" Kate stopped talking since it said
somewhere safe and to be careful. No bugs, prying eyes, or listening devices.
CASTLE! She just knew it. It had him written all over it.
Kate went out immediately and bought a cheap HP Laptop. Now, she needed someplace safe without bugs or prying eyes. She needed to think.
"Main Library. There are rooms off to one side," Kate told herself and headed there.
Kate arrived at the main Library, found a secluded corner with a small table, and put the laptop on it. She opened it and turned it on. Kate had to go through all the start-up stuff until she finally had it working.
Then she plugged in the flash drive and watched as the icon for it popped up.
This is it, Castle. Please, please, please," she murmured. "I'm dead without you," Kate told herself.
She put the cursor on the icon and pressed the button on the pad. Up popped a face. "Alexis?" Kate was guessing. She had short, very red hair, but it sort of looked like her.
"Hello, Detective. You hurt Dad so much, so very much. I'm not sure why I'm doing this, but my dad loves you, so here goes. We're not dead. Dad's not dead, and neither is Grams."
Kate clapped a hand over her mouth for fear of saying something she shouldn't.
"I asked Dad to choose a song to tell you what he thought of you. He chose this one."
Alexis played the song, even sang it to her softly. She even included the HAH.
… Hah
… There's a time and place for everything, for everyone
We can push with all our might, but nothin's gonna come
Oh no, nothin's gonna change
And if I asked you not to try
Oh, could you let it be?
… I wanna hold you and say
We can't throw this all away
Tell me you won't go, you won't go
You have to hear me say
… I can't stop lovin' you
And no matter what I say or do
But you know my heart is true, oh-oh
I can't stop loving you
… You can change your friends, your place of life
You can change your mind
We can change the things we say and do anytime
Oh no, but I think you'll find
That when you look inside your heart
Oh baby, I'll be there
… Yeah, hold on
I'm holding on
Baby, just come on, come on, come on
I just wanna hear you say
… I can't stop lovin' you
And no matter what you say or do
You know my heart is true, oh-oh
I can't stop lovin' you
… Oh, I'm so twisted and tied
And all I remember
Was how hard we tried
Only to surrender
… And when it's over
I know how it's gonna be
And true love will never die
Oh, not fade away
… And I can't stop lovin' you
No matter what I say or do
You know my heart is true, oh-oh
I can't stop lovin' you
And I know what I got to do
And babe, what you said is true, oh-oh
I can't stop lovin' you, oh
… Oh, I can't stop lovin' you
Kate sat there crying her eyes out. Castle had chosen the most perfect song.
"Dad went into hiding. He was afraid they would use us to get to him so he dragged Grams and me along with him. I know why, but I won't tell you that. You might do something foolish and since Dad loves you, I'm going to do as he wishes.
Now if you plan on joining us here in hiding there are things you're going to need first.
Memorize this, don't write it down. Ready?"
Alexis rattled off an address.
"Got that? I'll tell you just one more time."
Alexis repeated the address.
"His name is Bruce. Not his real name, by the way. He will give you a fake passport. You're going to need to die and tell no one. Not your dad, Lanie, or anyone else. Dad already paid for it.
That's the hard part, but trust me, you want to be dead when you find out why we're hiding. You'll need to change your appearance first since he'll need to take a picture of you.
Now, here's the difficult part. Your death has to look like an accident and not leave a body behind, not one. But they will need to know it's you.
You need to memorize this address. Don't write it down; learn it."
Alexis gave her the address.
"St. Croix? Seriously?" That took Kate aback.
"One more time. Ready?" Alexis repeated the address. "Well, that's about it. This recording will self-destruct in 15 seconds. Good luck, Detective. It truly will self-destruct in 15 seconds. Don't ask," Alexis warned her, and suddenly there was an electrical discharge.
"So much for that laptop," Kate muttered as she repeated the two addresses to help her remember them.
"But Castle's alive, thank goodness," Kate told herself. "But what have you done, Castle?"
"Now, how do I die without telling anyone and not leave a body behind?" Kate turned it over in her mind. "First, I need a disguise, then pack it all without seeing Lanie. She's going to hate me," Kate moaned.
Kate went home, packed most of her clothes and shoes, and checked into a hotel. Then she went out, bought scissors and hair dye, cut her hair as short as she could in the back, and dyed it when she got back.
She looked at herself in the mirror and liked it. "Even if my mother were still alive, she wouldn't recognize me."
After that, she went to see Bruce, who took her picture and told her to return in two days. That gave Kate just enough time to come up with a plan on how to kill herself and not leave a body, but so those who knew her would know that she was dead.
"This would be easier if I had Lanie helping me."
Kate came up with a plan on how to die and make it look like her since she left her police ID and her driver's license behind. Then she went back to Bruce.
"Russian Passport?" Kate questioned him.
"You speak Russian, don't you?" Bruce inquired.
"Da," Kate replied with an accent that sounded Russian to him.
"Can you read Russian?" Bruce asked her.
Kate shook her head. "No."
"Fake it." Bruce used her new name. "Good luck, Katrina."
"Thanks for everything, Bruce. And for not asking me why."
"Castle would kill me if I did. If he was here," Bruce told her.
"Poka," Kate said.
"I would get used to talking like that if I were you," Bruce suggested.
"Spasibo," Kate told him as she left. Now, she needed a flight that took her to St. Croix.
Kate had a 9:15 am flight out with a one-hour layover in Miami and landed at 5:20 pm. It would take her seven hours to reach it.
She was nervous while she went through Security. It was a fake passport, after all. She moved little by little until finally, she stood in front of the Transportation Security Officer. She handed him her boarding pass and her passport.
He looked at her boarding pass and ran her passport under a blue light. Then he handed both back to her and waited for the next person.
Kate let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She just had to go through the X-ray machine with her carry-on and purse. She took off her shoes and dumped everything she had on her in a tray, walked through, and didn't set off an alarm.
She collected her stuff and her carry-on and walked to her gate. She had just over an hour to wait, so she bought a water bottle and started drinking it.
She was in line when her section was called. Kate handed over her boarding pass. The woman ran it under her scanner, handed it back to her, and she was in.
Kate found her seat, put her carry-on above her head, sat down, and buckled up.
She ran for her next flight since she had just an hour, and her plane left late.
She got on her next flight, found her seat, and put her carry-on over her head. She sat down and waited for someone to sit next to her.
A woman showed up, so Kate got up and let her sit down, then she sat down and buckled up.
Her seatmate said something, and Kate answered. "YA govoryu tol'ko po-russki. Izvini." That got her to shut up, and she never said anything else.
Kate landed and headed for baggage claim, where she found her two bags. She dragged both of them behind her, along with her carry-on and her purse. She found a taxi and gave him the address she had memorized.
The taxi stopped. Kate got out, paid the driver, and looked at the front door.
There was a wall with two wooden doors and potted plants on either side. Kate looked for a buzzer but failed to find one. But she did find a real bell. So, Kate rang it and waited. Then she rang it again. She thought she heard a door opening and saw the door in front of her.
"Yes, can I help you?" Alexis asked her.
"It's me, Alexis, Kate Beckett."
Alexis blinked. "Detective? You made it. I take it you got the flash drive?"
Kate nodded. "I did. I followed it to the letter. I got a Russian passport from Bruce. I killed myself and didn't leave a body, but they'll know it's me. I told no one I was coming here.
"I love Castle, Alexis. I love him so much. You have to believe me. I screwed up. It's what I do, I screw up and I'm sorry. But I'm here. That has to count for something, right? Is he here?" Kate asked her.
Alexis eyed her. "You love Dad?"
"Yes, Alexis, I love him. I called and called him while I was recovering from being shot, but he didn't pick up. I'm guessing that's because he was here instead of at the Loft."
"We've been here for about two months already. Dad is out buying groceries, and Grams is out shopping." Alexis shrugged. "Who knows what she'll come home with."
"Can I come in? I've come a long way, and I got a disguise." Kate ran her hand through her blonde, almost golden, hair.
"Welcome to the club. I thought short red hair would make me look grown up." Alexis ran her fingers through her hair. "Well, grab your bags and come inside."
Alexis shut the door, closed the inner door, and walked Kate into the space.
"WOW! I don't know what I was expecting, but this isn't it," Kate exclaimed. "I was thinking of a shack on the beach somewhere." She saw a pool with a statue in it. There was another pool beyond that and a building on both sides.
"Dad lives here, and Grams and I live on the other side. Dad's side has three bedrooms, each with its en-suite bathroom. There's a media room, living room, dining room, and a kitchen. There's solar power for each building.
"Our building has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen, and a half bath. In between both buildings is the pool with gardens all around.
"There's a two-car garage, generally with a car and a golf cart, which is in use now. Since Dad's side has three bedrooms, I think you'll be staying on that side. I'll take you to one of them so you can start unpacking.
"Dad is going to be so surprised," Alexis told her. "And yes, I'm still mad at you for what you did to him."