This was so good; I loved it. Fascinating to look more in depth at the Beckett without Castle, and how he sees her, past self and current self and alternate self, it's all so wonderfully confusing and heartbreaking too, the ways he sees her, and misses her so much. His her. Lol. But quite possibly I adore part 2 even more, with this Beckett who's staying, who's seeing the man beyond the mask. Great work.

Very interesting story ! Thank you

So...it is the universe-correct version of Richard Castle in the hospital bed, I see. Fitting, as "our" Castle either still stuck but with amnesia or faking memory loss in some gamble to getting around Kate's walls would feel like missteps.

All in all, a great story and I can't wait to get started on "The World Anew"!

So...is this the correct Richard Castle, now returned from his Quantum Leap imitation and our Castle has gone on to return to his reality or another parallel one? Is it still the Castle we know, but suffering from amnesia due to Kate reacting even more negatively than he expected to his revelations about her mother's murder case, and then getting shot saving a woman who looks like his soulmate but doesn't return familiar feelings? Or is our Castle, pulling a well-intentioned scam to get inside Kate's walls to win her over?

;)

I have to admit, I love the final line of this chapter! It feels like a quote from the show, but I don't recall it ever being used, especially early on when such a remark would feel...right.

Amnesia?! We're breaking THAT storytelling trick out now?! Or have we gotten this universe's version of Richard Castle back again, and now Beckett is the one left with feeling something for a person that doesn't know them?

It's funny...Kate's monologue while standing sentinel over Castle feels like a grand exposition of stuff that we should already know but feel like a revelation. Which is probably the point, since Kate's reprocessing with extra detail how much Richard Castle is a paradox to her...his words, his imagination, his message as an author being such a balm to her mental and emotional wounds while his personal life decisions offended her; "our" Kate was probably the same way - though there's a good half-decade less chicanery due to Kate and the Twelfth Precinct's influence tempering some of his vices - but quickly got to see that Richard Castle was more than playboy antics.

Ooooh...I get the feeling that, unlike the episode itself, Castle getting shot protecting Kate isn't going to force a universe shift but there will be CONSEQUENCES!

;)

Amazing chapter, chezchuckles! The dialogue and descriptions of Castle struggling with telling Kate about her mother's murder and Roy Montgomery's involvement in it, and Kate's reaction to getting the highlights all at once was just A drama!

Wow...this experience is really hitting Castle between the eyes that he just cannot fall back onto the pattern he used to win Kate the the first time around, isn't it? Police Captain!Kate hasn't had the same highs and lows as "our" Kate, so her walls are still up and she's had extra years to nominally accept her mother's murder will go unsolved...extra years to further bury the fire that honestly led her to several near-death scrapes. So stuff that Castle said and did that was painful but turned out to be recoverable from isn't the same now because of the extra layers.

As much as I'm glad to see the pride of St. Thomas back (aka Kate's department-issue Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor), I'm kinda surprised that Kate wasn't eligible for an upgrade to the Charger she's driven since Sophia Turner and her goons tried killing her in main timeline.

;)

All humour about Kate's faithful chariot aside, seeing you tackle this AU of an AU warms my heart and makes me excited to see how Castle will take advantage of this opportunity to re-woo Kate all over again, though he's admittedly working against several extra years of emotional walls existing. I definitely have curiosity if Castle will ignite this Kate Beckett's fire for solving her mother's murder by being able to provide all the evidence and details he's aware of in one lump sum (rather than do as he did in "reality" and open the wound with the knife wound re-analysis that led to their first estrangement).

Great story! I love how they're so intertwined even though they barely know each other:) I'm sorry I got so crazy behind, I'm glad I caught up

It's delightful to watch Kate fall in love by stealth ;)
Looking forward to the epilogue.

Awwww, adored that final scene :)

Great scenes between Kate, Martha and Alexis, so poignant, you captured their characters perfectly. I loved the insight into Kate trying to make sense of their connection.

I love the fact that Capt. Beckett has so many of Gates' qualities and yet she hasn't foregone using 'honey' as a means to an end, namely Josh! Nice cameo there.

Poor Kate, locking away her grief for so, so long has damaged her so badly :(
I wasn't expecting you to go back to Rick being shot in your AU version! Oh!