Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe, Terri Edda Miller, and ABC Studio Productions.

I know that I pissed some of you off with where I ended the last chapter. That was the idea. I needed you to all believe that I was honestly going to end it there for this epilogue to work. But, c'mon guys, I wouldn't leave you hanging like that! I already have a plan for the sequel to this fic, which I will name at a later date, and this epilogue will hopefully clear everything up for everyone. I'm sorry if I lost any of my audience due to the last chapter, but I had to do it. Love you guys ;)

That night...

Gabe stood on the porch, his eyes transfixed on the large moon that hung over the trees against the velvet black sky. The rest of the group had gone to sleep hours before, their gentle snoring a harmony in his ears as they dreamt.

A shiver ran through his body as he recalled the horror that it had been to pull the trigger on his own father. His body had crumpled to the ground so quickly that he almost thought it could have been a dummy standing behind Esposito. But he remembered the cold, yellow eyes that had been fixed on Ryan. The glint of his father's teeth as they grazed Esposito's neck viciously.

He couldn't stand to see his mother so broken down. Tears had fallen from her eyes unendingly as she'd held Alexis and Martha to her chest. Even Ryan and Esposito had shed a few tears into their coffee mugs, though they would never admit it if he brought it up. Gabe had kept up the stoic facade of indifference that he'd perfected.

"Are they okay?" Came the quiet whisper from the edge of the trees. Gabe pulled a half shrug and walked down the steps towards the forest slowly. He kept his hands tucked into the pockets of his too-big jeans to keep them situated around his hips.

"They're doing as well as can be expected. Mom, Gram, and Alexis are a wreck. I think they're still pissed at me."

"Well, that's to be expected." Rick nodded, stepping forward enough so that the pale moonlight washed over his marred features. "So, they bought it, then?"

"Yeah, I made sure to get them out of the clearing as fast as possible like we talked about. How are you feeling?"

"Well, you're a damned good shot." Rick touched the dark bruise around his Adam's apple tenderly where there had been a hole ripped through his flesh a hours earlier. "That hurt something fierce, but it healed up pretty fast."

Gabe reached over and flicked a charred piece of cloth over the slightly scarred skin of his forearm. He hated the fact that he and his father were hiding this from everyone. They had discussed the plan when he had returned, their hushed voices too low for anyone but themselves to hear on the trek back.

He had found out, when the others had captured him, that if the bullet intended to "kill" them didn't go directly into the brain, it wasn't going to do a damned bit of good. They would heal and stand up as if nothing had ever happened. And forget everything that zombie movies had ever depicted. Fire did nothing, after the flames were extinguished, the skin would heal, the char falling away like scraping a barbeque grill. They were damned near unstoppable.

"Yeah, I thought lighting you on fire really sold it." He chuckled, shooting his father a wink.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up now, wise guy. One of these days I'm going to pay you back for that." Rick rolled his eyes and playfully pushed Gabe, sending him stumbling back a few feet. Gabe chuckled and returned the favor, his large hand landing in the middle of Rick's chest and shoving him towards the trunk of a large Pine tree.

"Where are you going to go now?" He asked quietly, his face suddenly somber.

"I'm going to go back to New York, try to finish solving the case, if anything is left to investigate when I get there. I think that the solution to this whole ordeal is in whoever killed Marquez." Gabe nodded his acceptance, but an air of sadness still hung about him like a dark cloud.

"When can we tell them? I hate having to see Mom like this. She's a mess."

"I know, Gabe, I hate it too, but we can't let them know that I'm alive. It's dangerous." He wrapped his arms around Gabe tightly, pulling him into a long hug. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this charade, son."

"If I hadn't told you about what I learned while I was with them, you wouldn't have a charade to pull me into. You'd have just had to pull a disappearing act and they'd all be in the same situation."

"I suppose. But you're my son. I'm supposed to protect you too, not asking you to lie for me." Rick grumbled, running his hands through the tattered remains of his hair. Gabe glanced down at him and shook his head.

"You don't have to protect me, Dad. I'm a big boy."

"Three weeks ago you were an infant. It's still a little rattling to have such a change."

"Rattling? Please tell me that's not your idea of a baby joke." Rick chuckled and shook his head.

"That was completely unintentional, I swear." He extended his hand son, who grasped it firmly. They shook hands, a proud grin stretched across Rick's face. "Take care of them, Gabe. I'll be back as soon as I can. If you guys get overrun and need to move on, leave a note and I'll find you. I promise."

"You got it. Good luck, and be careful. You better come back, old man, or I swear to God, I'll track you down and kill you myself." He chuckled.

"You tried that once. Can't do it, remember?"

"Good point. But, still, come back safe, okay? I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, Gabe." And with that, Rick turned on his heel and trotted into the forest, his form disappearing like a vision. Gabe watched his father's back weaving between large tree trunks until he could no longer strain and hear the almost silent footfalls against the dried leaves. He sighed and headed back up the stairs to the house to make a round and check on everyone before settling into the living room for the rest of the night.

His dad was going to figure everything out, and he'd come riding back on a white steed, telling them that they were all saved. He had to. It was the only chance that any of them had at making it out of the stalemate that the war had become alive.

So, the next multi-chapter dealing with Rick's return and their war against the zombies should be up soon. Forgive me? Drop me a review and let me know what you think.

Much love,

J. Rook