What If?

Season 9, Episode 21

Written by Colie MacKenzie

This is a work of fiction by writers with no professional connection to ABC network's Castle. Recognizable characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe and ABC. Names, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

"You're still awake? It's two in the morning."

Kate turned her head toward her husband's voice, watched him walk around the bed where she had curled up earlier with one of her favorite paperbacks. He'd been writing, holed up in his office for the last few hours, and he looked tired now, his eyes swollen and his hair disheveled from running his fingers through it in thought.

"Thought you were trying to get some sleep?" he asked. He sat down by her hip, rubbed his hand up and down her spine. Kate hummed, turning into the soothing motion - as much as she could turn in her current, rounded condition.

"I would've liked to," she replied, "except one of us-" She looked down at her belly, ran her hand along the curve of it, brushing her thumb over the spot just below her navel where the bump of a little limb would frequently kick against the surface, "-is using my bladder as a trampoline."

"Hopefully not for much longer." Rick smiled, resting his hand atop hers on her stomach, their fingers interlacing.

"I just want her to come out now," she pleaded, miserable from the mounting discomforts of being full-term, and impatient with the inertia of waiting.

Since the stroke of midnight, it was now officially her due date, and yet Lily showed no signs of wanting to make her debut into the world. Kate's latest checkup had declared both baby and mother strong and healthy (her unexpectedly smooth pregnancy after the physical trauma last year still stunned her doctors, which they weren't remiss at pointing out every time), so there were no reasons to be worried, and she had promised herself to enjoy this time awaiting and preparing for the birth of her baby.

Yet despite knowing that due dates weren't an exact science, the date nevertheless had embedded in her mind like the finish line of this 40-week marathon, and she was exhausted. Now that it had arrived, now that everything was ready for Lily's arrival and there was nothing to do but wait without any idea how long the wait would be, Kate found herself in a perpetual state of restless, nervous limbo.

"I know," Rick murmured, rubbing a hand between her shoulder blades, and Kate burrowed her face into her pillow.

"You coming to bed?"

"Yeah. Just need to go brush my teeth." He untangled his fingers from hers, brushed a quick kiss to her cheek before he got up.

Kate set her book on her nightstand, reached up to turn off the light, and then nestled back into the mattress and curled over on her side, cradling her stomach.

"Come on, Lily," she whispered, smoothing her hand over her skin. "It's time to come out, baby girl. Mommy is so excited to meet you." But her daughter remained stubbornly quiet.

The mattress gave way as Castle sat down on his side of the bed, sliding in under the covers, spooning against her. She slid back, fitting herself into the hollow of his body, and he cradled her belly, their fingers interlocking once more atop her skin.

They fell quiet, and she listened to the hum of the air conditioning and the reassuring rhythm of his breathing.

"I miss my mom."

Rick tightened his hold around her, kissing her head. She missed her mother more than ever. She longed to ask her questions every day, to share the joys and the fears of pregnancy, and to find comfort in her mom's embrace, her wisdom, her laughter. Some days, the thought of having her own daughter without her mother present was unbearable. And Rick knew that. He'd had front-row seats to Kate's pain for years.

"And I've accepted what happened, but that doesn't mean I don't wish she was here with me. So many things would be different..." Kate let the thought trail off into the silence of the bedroom, and Rick stroked her stomach, back and forth, a soothing caress for their baby nestled beneath.

Would she actually be here, like this, she wondered, married to Rick, expecting a baby with him, if her mom were still alive? The mere thought made her shudder, and she pressed herself more snugly into him, tightened her hold around her belly as if to protect them both. She wouldn't want to give up her husband and her baby for anything! But it didn't purge the gnawing question from her mind: If her mother hadn't been killed, would she and Castle have ever met?

And if they had met, would he have found her to be the mystery he thought he would never solve, without the tragic backstory that had formed her into who she was? Without her flashing a Detective's badge at him and sparking the idea of Nikki Heat as his next creative endeavor? If it hadn't been for Nikki Heat, would he have stuck around as long for her, Kate?

What if they had never had any of their story?

September 2009

"State your name for the record, please."

"Richard Edgar Castle."

"Raise your right hand."

Richard Castle followed the instruction given by the bailiff and held up his right hand.

"Do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"I do."

"Please be seated."

He sat down, and Kate Beckett rose from her chair. She straightened her suit jacket, ran her palms down her pencil skirt to smooth out any creases and to hide the slight shake of her hands. Her stomach was in knots.

"Mr. Castle." His eyes met hers, his gaze intrigued as he followed her path from behind the desk and toward the witness stand.

He had the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. Her stomach fluttered.

Kate wanted to blame her attack of nerves on his reputation – Richard Castle was a bit of a loose cannon, with a rap sheet to match (and every time, the charges had miraculously been dropped). This was a high profile case, and ADA Beckett didn't like variables she couldn't control. But the truth was – this was Richard freaking Castle. Her favorite author. The whole playboy attitude he had going on, fed to the voracious masses by way of Page 6, had never appealed to her; his words, on the other hand... Something about his books had always spoken to her, grabbed her and didn't let go until the last page had been turned, and she'd often stared at the photo on the back of the book, wondering about the man behind the words that could touch her like this.

And now she had to question him on the stand.

"Please relate to the court the events on the evening of March 9th, 2009."

"I was at the launch party for my last bestseller, Storm Fall. You may have heard of it." He turned toward the jury, winking, and they ate it up, chuckling, flirting. One woman blushed furiously. Kate had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes.

"Continue, Mr. Castle," she requested with polite, patient restraint, her lips curving up in a small smile as if she, too, was enamored by Richard Castle's flirtations. A jury was like a fickle instrument; you had to tune them finely, play them skillfully to achieve the results you sought without alienating each individual.

"I was picked up by two NYPD detectives-"

"Detectives Muller and Rodriguez?"

"That is correct." Richard Castle nodded. "Someone had been staging murders resembling the crime scenes in some of my novels, so the police had some questions."

"What questions specifically were you asked?"

"Whether I had ever met or been acquainted with any of the victims, which I had not, and whether I had an alibi for the most recent murder, which I had. I was asked to provide the detectives with access to my fan mail, which apparently led to the arrest of Mr. Cabot."

"Objection." The defense attorney jumped up, his cheeks splotchy. "Hearsay." He was young, and inexperienced, she knew - barely out of law school and thrown into a high-profile pro-bono case - but so far he'd been holding his own quite well. Kyle Cabot sat next to him, hands curled in his lap, rocking back and forth, his gaze staring vacantly at the tabletop. His black hair was stringy, hung limp over his forehead.

"Sustained."

This was an expected objection, and hardly threw her off her stride. Kate focused on the testimony she needed to get from Richard Castle.

"Mr. Castle, have you ever met the accused, Kyle Cabot?" Kate turned slightly, made sure the jury could still see her movement as she pointed at Cabot.

"Never."

"Has he ever contacted you?"

"No, not that I'm aware of. Just the letters, which I didn't even know about until the detectives found them among my fan mail. All my mail goes directly to my publisher."

Kate turned back toward her desk, lifting up the paper in its protective evidence encasing.

"Your Honor, I'd like to enter exhibit 2B into evidence, the letter that was found among Mr. Castle's fan mail. Mr. Cabot's fingerprint was discovered on the paper, and the drawing details the exact way Ms. Tisdale was found, which proves not only Mr. Cabot's obsession with Mr. Castle, but also establishes a direct connection between Mr. Cabot and the subsequent murder of Ms. Tisdale." She held up the letter for another long moment for the jury to absorb the impact of this piece of evidence before she handed it to the judge.

Kate Beckett took her time, allowing the weight of the letter to linger and settle before she continued.

"Mr. Castle, please take a look at the three crime scenes as they were discovered by the police."

Set up to the side of the courtroom, photos of the crime scenes were printed on poster board and placed on easels. It was one of Kate's preferred methods in a trial. It emphasized the stakes of each case to the jury and, more than anything, she never wanted the victims to be forgotten; she didn't want it to be out of sight or out of mind for even one second that these people deserved justice.

"Are you familiar with these crime scenes?"

"Yes." Castle nodded. "They look just like the murder scenes that I created in some of my novels." He pointed at the first one, the case of Marvin Fisk. "This is the murder scene from Hell Hath No Fury, and this second one-" He pointed at the image of Alison Tisdale covered entirely in roses, with sunflowers on her eyes. "From Flowers for Your Grave. And the third one looks like the scene from Death of a Prom Queen."

Kate nodded, pleased with how smoothly the questioning had gone despite the doubts she'd had. "No further-"

"Except in my book the dress was blue."

Beckett froze; alarm bells went off in her head. No no no, this wasn't what he'd been prepped for in his deposition!

Her thoughts were firing, running through her options at lightning speed. She quickly realized that none would lead to a desirable outcome. Either she'd ask for Castle to clarify his remark, which would potentially open a huge can of worms she couldn't control. Or she'd end her questioning here, and provide the defense attorney with a big fat opportunity to puncture a few holes in her evidence. Then the jury would have doubts, and she couldn't afford for them to have doubts.

Yet the reality was, she was the one who had opened this line of questioning. If he noted a discrepancy between the crime scenes and his books, she had no choice but to see it through.

"Would you please clarify your comment?"

"Yes, well. In my book, the victim's dress in the scene was blue, yet the murder victim wears a yellow dress. In fact, Mr. Fisk should have been suffocated by a plastic bag, not strangled with a necktie. It doesn't make any sense."

"So you would say that a couple of minor details-" Kate purposely emphasized the word 'minor,' "-did not exactly match the scenes you wrote?" Kate scrambled through her meager attempt at damage control; it was all she had.

"Yes, I would say that."

"But as a whole the scenes still match the descriptions of your books closely enough that they appear copied?"

"Objection. Leading the witness."

"Sustained."

"No further questions, Your Honor. Thank you, Mr. Castle." Kate walked back to her desk, her head held high, her steps confident. The key was to never indicate that anything had gone amiss, that everything the jury had seen and heard hadn't unfolded exactly as planned.

Inside, Kate Beckett was fuming.

The defense attorney rose. Kate already knew what was coming, and there was nothing she could do about it but watch it happen.

"Mr. Castle, why did you feel it was important to point out the differences between the murders in your books and the crime scenes? After all, at first glance they seem to be just-" The attorney let his gaze run over the jury, shrugging his shoulders. "Minor details."

"Well as far as I understand, Mr. Cabot developed an obsession with me, and it was his obsession with me that led him to kill people staged like scenes from my books. Yet obsessives are meticulous; they go through great lengths to make sure every aspect is exact. For someone like Kyle Cabot, it would've been impossible to get the details wrong."

"Objection," Kate interjected. "Calls for speculation."

"Sustained," the judge granted, but it was too late. The damage was done.

"Thank you, Mr. Castle, no further questions." While Richard Castle vacated the witness stand, opposing counsel turned to address the judge.

"Your Honor, in light of Mr. Castle's testimony and the questions that have arisen, the defense requests a delay in order to prepare any potential mitigating evidence."

Richard Castle walked past her but Kate Beckett ignored him, staring straight ahead as she awaited the judge's ruling, with her thoughts turning at the nosedive that her case had just taken, and the fallout she'd be facing.

"Granted." The judge banged his gavel. "You've got 48 hours."

NOTE 1: Dear fans, thank you so much for your enthusiasm and support for the Season 9 project! This is the penultimate episode; our season finale is coming next week. We hope you enjoy these last two episodes.

NOTE 2: This week's episode has 6 chapters, so we are posting two chapters today. The remaining chapters will be posted one per day from Tuesday through Friday of this week. While email notifications are still broken, rest assured that we continue to post chapters each weekday at approximately 10:00 P.M., US Eastern Time.