500. Chapter 500

After Everything

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: This should prove I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: The future.

Author's note: As this is the 500th chapter of this, I thought I'd do something a bit different.

Kate Castle walked into the kitchen of their loft and kissed her husband good morning. "Did you sleep well, lover?" She asked.

"Surprisingly, no." Rick replied. "I had this nightmare where you didn't accept my dinner invitation after the Tisdale murder case and it took us years to finally get together."

Kate shuddered, then smiled. "I can't imagine not accepting your invitation. After all, I fell in love with you the moment I saw you."

Rick smiled. "Just as I fell in love with you. I can't imagine us not getting together."

"What's this about you two not getting together?" Martha asked, coming down the stairs.

"Oh, just some silly dream Rick had, Mom." Kate said. "Are you ready for your move to Hollywood?"

Martha laughed. "I can't believe it. I'm replacing Angelina Jolie in the remake of Gone with the Wind."

Rick nodded. "Well, since Alexis invented the youth serum, you are the second most beautiful woman on Earth, after my beloved Kate, of course."

"Oh, be sure to say "Hi" to Meredith." Kate said. "We just loved the documentary on her program to feed the homeless in LA." She turned to her husband. "I'm so glad you had that little chat with her, Rick."

"Speaking of Alexis, where is she?" Asked Rick.

"Right here, Dad. I just got through packing for my trip to Stockholm."

"My little girl almost swept the Nobel Prizes this year." Rick said proudly. "Again."

Alexis blushed. "I'm glad that if I had to miss out on one of the Nobels, that it was the one for literature. Congratulations, Dad. You deserve it."

Rick blushed. "Kate really deserves it. I just wrote it, she lived it."

"You're too modest." Kate said. "You deserve every Nobel Prize for Literature you've won. Every one of them."

"Oh," Alexis said, "I almost forgot. Steven Hawking invited me to go skiing with him at Gstaad after the awards. He is so grateful for my little medical procedure. Really, it was so simple I don't know why no one thought of it before. Then I'll give him a little help in understanding the universe. It shouldn't take more than two days."

"You will be back in time for Gina's wedding, won't you?" Rick asked.

"Of course. Dad. Now that Gina isn't frigid any more, I'm really happy she marrying your agent, Paula. Thanks to Kate they were able to get Father Kim Jong Un to officiate. Reverend Putin was unavailable, unfortunately. He's so funny, especially when he does those Hilary Clinton impersonations."

"He looks surprisingly good in a dress." Martha said.

"Speaking of happy couples," Rick said, "I hear our good friend in Robbery has a girlfriend?"

Kate looked away. "Actually, it turned out that Demming just bought one of those inflatable dolls. It's embarrassing when he brings her, um, it to the precinct." Kate decided to change the subject. "I so wanted to thank you, Rick, for donating to that nice doctor Davidson. He's doing such good work in the eastern Congo."

"I know. It's a shame his other funding was pulled because of his involvement with that female giraffe. I thought they made a lovely, if somewhat unusual, couple."

Kate shook her head slowly. "He never should have tried to take her for a ride on the back of his Harley, though."

"Tragic." Rick agreed. "You have to watch those freeway underpasses."

"But at least Will Sorenson and his wife Lady Irena are happy." Kate said happily.

Rick smiled, although his memories of the wedding reception were not the most pleasant. But, if that's what Will wants, I'm happy for him.

Kate's phone rang and she answered it. "Mrs. Castle."

She listened for a while and then thanked the caller and hung up, "That was Chief Esposito, bringing me up to date on a few things. Both Bracken and Simmons have fully confessed and pled guilty. They'll be in prison for the rest of their lives. And Joe Pulgatti has been released from prison. He went straight to the monastery where he took vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and silence."

"Not so different from prison." Rick noted.

"And Jerry Tyson is dead. He committed suicide after hanging a female plastic surgeon named Kelly Nieman."

"I've heard of a male plastic surgeon who hung himself. "Castle mused. That got a glare from Kate.

"There's more good news from Chief Esposito. President Weldon has offered him the job of FBI director. He's taking it, of course. He's really missed Lanie since she was appointed Surgeon General of the United States. They'll be together now."

"I know it's a great job, but I wish Kevin hadn't taken the post of US Ambassador to Ireland. Although Jenny and their twelve children seem to enjoy the Olde Sod."

This time it was Rick's phone that rang. "Hello, Tory, how are things?" There was a brief pause, "Glad to hear it. Yes, of course, I'll tell Kate." Rick hung up and turned to Kate. "Tory took the job as the new president of Microsoft."

"Oh!" Kate said, "I thought she was leaning towards Google. It seemed a better match for…"

She was interrupted by a knock on the door. "I'll get it." Said the Castle's butler, Serena. She really did look like a traditional English butler since the operation.

"Mrs. Gates!" Rick said happily. "And how is the president of the Rick Castle fan club?"

"Sir, I'm so happy I took this job. Running a precinct was never this much fun."

Castle nodded. "Well, once Kate and I got into full stride, crime practically disappeared in New York. Ashley's last act as the Mayor of New York was to beef up the littering patrols in Central Park."

"He got what he deserved for breaking Alexis's heart." Martha said coldly.

"Karma's a bitch when it bites you in the ass." Rick said.

"I never could understand how a female tiger named Karma could get from Texas to here." Kate said. Rick and Alexis said nothing.

"By the way, honey. We have a little surprise for you. Do you remember when Alexis was working on that project a week or so ago?"

"Yes." Kate said. "What is it?"

"Not what, but who." Said a voice she had not heard for years.

"Mom!" She cried. "But, but…You're dead."

"A little cloning and she's back as good as new." Alexis said proudly. "Of course recovering her memories took some doing, but I managed."

Johanna Beckett hugged Kate. "Look at my little girl, a US Senator. And you look the same as you did the last time I saw you."

"It's Alexis' youth serum."

"I could use some of that." Said another voice.

"Roy!" Kate yelled. "I don't believe it, but the police…."

"We found evidence that Raglan and McAllister hypnotized Roy into thinking he was involved with their scheme. He wasn't, of course."

Kate turned to Rick. "You're the best husband ever, and I have the best family ever."

"You're the best wife ever and we have the best family ever."

"Always." They said together.