815. Chapter 815

After Countdown

Episode 3.17

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Lift off, and I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

They watched helplessly as the counter reached zero. Nothing happened.

"Castle! The bomb didn't go off!" Beckett threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Castle was too busy feeling Beckett's body against his to notice anything else, but Beckett's police senses were still in high gear. "Castle, where are we?"

"We're in New…." He stopped as he raised his head and looked around him. Manhattan and its huge canyons of concrete buildings had disappeared completely. In its place was a gently rolling countryside, covered in long, green grass and with oaks spotted here and there. A gentle breeze slowly pushed puffy white clouds in a deep blue sky. "Some kind of a time warp, maybe? We could be a million years in the past, maybe a million years in the future, or maybe in an alternate universe." Even as he said it, he knew it sounded phony.

Kat shook her head. "If we were on Manhattan, we'd be able to see the Hudson or the East River. I don't see any water anywhere."

Rick pointed to what he thought was the west, based on the position of the sun. "There a line of green on the horizon over there. That probably means water."

Kate nodded. "We should head for there. It's as good a place as any." She reached for her Glock and found it, her backup Glock and her holsters were missing. So were her spare ammo clips and her cuffs. "Do you have your phone? I don't."

Rick checked his pocket. "No, it's gone." He checked his other pockets. "My wallet and keys are missing, too. We've been robbed."

"Wouldn't we remember being robbed?"

He thought for a second. "Maybe it's like Rip van Winkle. We fell asleep and…."He stopped when he saw the look on Kate's face.

"Really? You're going with Rip van Winkle? We were drinking with some Dutchmen who were bowling?"

"Probably not." Rick said quietly.

They headed for the line of green in the distance which seemed to be getting no closer after an hour of walking. Then Kate stopped so suddenly that Rick ran into her, earning him a glare. "Do you hear that?" She asked.

"What?"

"That."

Rick did hear it. It was a dog barking. "A dog. Behind us I think."

In seconds a dog appeared, running over a hill and coming straight for them. A medium sized dog, mostly black with a large white blaze on its chest. It ran to them and stopped, looking up at them.

Rick knelt. "Whose dog are you, fella? Do you live around here? Are here people here, or just you?"

"Castle, that's not a fellow. Wrong equipment."

Then they heard the neigh of a horse and a squeaking and jingling of metal against metal. The dog turned to look at them, then ran a little way back the way he came and then ran back to them, doing this several times.

"She wants us to follow her." Having little other options, they followed the dog and soon came upon a wagon pulled by two horses, driven by a single man. "Good day to you. Might I offer you a ride?"

As the dog ran to jump up on the seat next to the man, Rick and Kate looked at each other. "We may as well." Kate said.

Soon they were seated aboard the wagon. "I'm Rick Castle and this is Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD."

"Call me Farmer George, if you please. Luckily, I'm going right past where you're going. We should be there directly."

"Um, where is that?" Kate asked,

The man laughed. "Why, home, of course. Where else would you be going?"

Before either of them could ask another question, they came over a small rise and saw a small farmhouse ahead with a barn in back and a chicken coop to one side with rows of some sort of crop around the house.

George pulled up and smiled at them. "Here you are."

They got off the wagon and looked at the house. "I've never been here. This isn't my home." But George was already headed away from them.

"Katie?" Cried a familiar voice.

Kate turned stunned. "Mom? Mom, is that you?"

A woman who looked remarkably like the photos of Johanna Beckett that Rick had seen came rushing out of the house and swept Kate into a fierce embrace. Kate began to cry.

What had happened to them came quickly to Rick. He walked up and put his arm on Kate's shoulder. As he did, Johanna pulled him into the embrace and Kate put her arm around him and hugged him too. But he had to speak. "Kate, I think we're dead."

It took a second for that to penetrate. "Dead? We're dead."

"Please, Katie, come inside. I was just making lunch. You must be hungry. You too, Rick."

They sat in a pleasant, warm, friendly kitchen while Johanna fussed with the lunch. Kate hadn't said a thing and Rick didn't want to speak first. This was Kate's mom, after all.

Johanna put two plates of sandwiches and two bowls of soup in front of them. "Now, Rick, as Katie's mom, I want you to tell me exactly you feel about her."

Rick opened his mouth, but nothing came out for second. "She's remarkable, and dedicated. Intelligent and…"

"Rick, exactly." Johanna prompted.

"I love her. More than I thought I could lover someone. More than I thought it possible to love someone."

"Katie, how do you really feel about Rick? And you don't need any walls now. Tell him. And me."

"I love him, too." She said softly. "I've been afraid to love him, but I'm not afraid anymore."

Rick put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "I love you, Kate."

They were interrupted by a teenaged Asian girl who ran into the kitchen. "Mom, is lunch ready?"

"Mom?" Kate said. "You were able to have….."

Johanna shook her head. "No, Lilly here came to us when she was quite young and needed a mother. I volunteered. And, yes, dear, I made lunch for you, too." The girl took her lunch and began eating.

"I don't mean to be critical, but I'm not ready for…this?" Rick said.

Kate held on to his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. "Me either. I have friends and there's Dad and I have to find out who killed you. We have to go back."

"Go back?" Johanna said." I don't think anyone's ever wanted to go back."

"We do." They said together.

"Let me see if I can get help. George? Albert? Sam?"

With no further ado, three men walked into the kitchen. George was the farmer who had brought them here. Albert, and Sam were younger men who somehow looked familiar to Rick.

"Perhaps these gentlemen can help. "George is a bit of a politician and has some other talents. Al is quite knowledgeable in the ways of the worlds, and Sam is a story teller. He has quite the imagination, don't you know." Johanna went on to explain the problem to the men. All three were surprised that the two wanted to leave.

George ran his hand along his chin. "I've never heard of that in all my years. I don't know if it's possible. I'm not sure it's allowed."

"But is it specifically not allowed?" Johanna, the lawyer, asked.

"I don't know. Sam, do you know?"

Sam chuckled. "Now I've heard a lot of whoppers in my day, and told a few myself, but a couple who want to leave here? That beats them all. But I don't rightly know if there's a rule again it. I surely don't."

Both men turned to Albert. "You're the big brain." Sam said. "Got any ideas?"

Albert sat there and thought. "There are many things that I know and so many that I do not know. But I know that the most powerful force in the entire universe is love."

"Love?" Rick said, pulling Kate close.

"Love." She replied.

They watched helplessly as the counter reached zero. Rick reached for the wires and pulled them all out. Nothing happened.

Both Rick and Kate screamed and hugged each other. In seconds the bomb squad was there, then more police and emergency services people.

As they went to her car, Rick tried to remember something that he was sure was important, but nothing came to his mind. "Did something else just happen just now?"

She looked at him. "You mean aside from saving countless lives? Not that I know of."

And it would be many, many years before they met Johanna Beckett again and remembered all the events of that day.