Epilogue: Part Two

May 21st 2011

Jessica had seen the reports on the news about the arrest of Senator William Bracken.

Considering what he did to both his daughter and her own, she thought it was poetic justice that Special Agent Richard Rodgers had slapped the cuffs on him, personally. She knew in her heart, however, that either through his connections, or his rich father, he might somehow find a way to get himself out of this...unless she beat him to the punch. At one time she had been a tireless advocate for justice, but what that man had done to her, her family and the countless other lives he had ruined in his bid for power had opened her eyes.

She had made a few friends since she had begun working for Webb. Some of whom had also been wronged by Senator Bracken or one of his underlings in one way or another since he had shut down Project Archangel all those years ago, some just hated what he had gotten away with over the years, a few others had worked closely with Mike Smith and wanted payback.

She now had access to a small, motivated pool of very highly trained and disciplined men and women who were both loyal to Richard Webb, yet all too painfully aware of the fact that he was allowing his personal feelings about William Bracken and his father to get in the way of his better judgment. Men and women who were more than willing to do what they knew must be done, now that they had completed their assigned tasks under Operation Instant Karma.

For highly trained and experienced operators like these, planning a jailbreak from the New York City Federal Building's holding cells with zero collateral damage would be child's play.

She would let Bracken think that his father had broken him out, at least for a short time anyway. Let him have that illusion to cling to, that his money and connections had once again gotten him out from under the the scales of Blind Justice. She would dish out some karma of her own when she shattered that illusion, crushed those hopes and then sanctioned him. With extreme prejudice.

They would break out Lockwood's remaining henchman, Tom Jackson, as well (he had been transferred to federal custody a week ago to face charges of treason) then make it look like they had a falling out and Richards killed him before going off the grid. Jackson's body would never be found. The "Dragon" would be slain, and the last of his henchmen who could positively identify her would be dead. Operation Dragonslayer (as the group called it informally) would kick of in twenty minutes.

As Richard Webb was fond of saying, she thought to herself, "Ain't karma a bitch."

May 2nd, 2013

Kate Beckett had been signing so many copies of her first book, Heat Wave that she thought her arm was going to go numb. She had been propositioned by at least a half dozen men and more than a few women who had obviously not seen either the engagement announcement that her publicist, Paula Haas had gotten into just about every newspaper on the planet, nor the incredibly expensive and tasteful engagement ring she sported on her finger.

She would have liked nothing better than to have her soon to be husband with her at her first book signing, she really needed her partner, but he had opted to stay at the hotel. He sent her frequent, loving text messages of encouragement as well as to remind her that they had dinner plans later that evening.

His help had been invaluable when she was researching the book and setting up the various plot devices and complex relationships in the plot. Not to mention his near encyclopedic knowledge of FBI procedures. She knew the real reason he had elected to bow out, however. He didn't want to take the chance of being recognized as Richard Castle, didn't want his celebrity past to steal her thunder or overshadow her achievement. She knew how proud he was of her. The forward he had written as his former alter ego was proof of that.

He had written it in secret when she was away at her therapy sessions, both PT and with Dr. Burke. All she had known at the time was that he had been withdrawn and depressed for nearly a week, she would come home at night to find him staring at the photo of himself and Alexis walking to the playground with tears in his eyes. It broke her heart to see him like this. To see what the loss of his daughter still did to him, even now.

It wasn't until she had received the final pre-press treatment for the novel that she realized the enormity what he had done. It was a beautifully written three paragraph forward from Richard Castle himself to all of his fans. He sang her praises as a new author, and asked them to support her as she took up the mantle that he had set aside so many years ago and dubbed her the new "Mistress of the Macabre." He had obviously slipped it into the shipping box containing her manuscript without her knowledge. The press had picked it up (with a little help from Paula) and ran with it, driving initial sales through the roof.

He had, on his own initiative, willingly brought upon himself a week of near crippling emotional agony as he tore open the scars of his deepest emotional wound to be her favorite writer one final time. If she had had any doubts about how much he loved her, or how far he would go to support her, they were erased forever.

She requested only one change to her manuscript...the dedication.

For Special Agent Richard Rodgers, FBI
my true love & partner in all things.
In memory of his beloved daughter.
May she continue to watch over both of us...

Always.

The book signing was coming to an end, when a woman in her late fifties in a gray blazer and matching pencil skirt with strawberry blonde hair carefully drawn up in a tight bun, stepped up to the table.

"Who can I make it out to?" Kate asked with a kind smile for what had to be the thousandth time that day.

"Jessica. You can make it out to Jessica Bennet, thank you." the woman replied quietly. She seemed hesitant and skittish, like she would flee at the slightest provocation.

Kate looked up at the older woman before her and took in her sad, haunted eyes, and was reminded of Richard when she had first met him, once upon a time and wrote the following in her book.

To Jessica Bennet,
Don't let what you have lost keep you from reaching out for what you still have.
Strive to be happy and free.

Katherine Beckett

She thought for the briefest moment that the older woman would burst into tears when she read it. But it had felt right. The woman seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place her. The next person in line ended her introspective moment though as the mystery woman melted into the crowd and disappeared.

She had a lot of books left to sign in a very short period of time if she wanted to meet Rick in time to change for dinner. They had reservations at Le Cirque at seven thirty. The mystery of Jessica Bennet, or "the Gray Lady" as Paula and Gina had taken to calling her when they thought she wasn't listening, (they knew she didn't take kindly to such things, she was protective of her new-found fans, even the weird ones) would have to wait.

September 28th, 2015
Presbyterian Hospital
11:25 PM

Kate Beckett Rodgers woke in a hospital bed for the first time since her shooting to find her husband seated next to her in the bed clutching her hand in a near catatonic state. Anguish and grief were written all over his face. The last thing she remembered before she lost consciousness was the squeal of brakes and the shrieking of rending metal as the other car had run the red light and t-boned her sedan on the passenger side. Though there was relief in his eyes that she had survived, his grief had not subsided. In that instant, as her eyes locked on his, she knew something was wrong. Something was terribly, horribly wrong.

"The baby?' she choked out, "Rick...please...no."

He hook his head, because he couldn't get the words past his throat, and as if they were one being they both burst into tears. Their shared grief over the loss of a child who had not yet even had a chance to draw breath echoed in the room. She had only been pregnant for ten weeks, but they had been excited beyond measure, only to have their hopes dashed in an instant.

They clung to each other as if for dear life. It was the one secret pain that Rick had never wanted to share with his beloved Kate, the crushing grief of losing a child, even a fetus. He would not let her face it alone like he had. They would get through this like they had gotten through everything else that life had cruelly thrown at them...together.

Little did they know that another person had been present to observe their grief. Jessica Bennet had been shadowing her daughter. She had been as soon as she had found out she was pregnant. It had been she who had wrenched open the driver's side door of Kate's shattered car, assessed her injuries, most notably the one to her abdomen and called the ambulance.

This wasn't something she could fix with a knife or a silenced pistol in a dark alley. There was no one to blame, the other driver had not intentionally run the red light, it had been determined that a ruptured brake line had been the primary cause of the accident that had cost Kate what should have been her first born.

Katie didn't need an avenger or a guardian angel this time, she needed her mother. She couldn't in good conscience stand in the shadows any longer. It was time for Johanna Beckett to come in out of the cold.

The initial revelation two weeks later when she had finally screwed on her courage had not gone well. Katie's initial anger had been anticipated. Webb had prepared her for that, based on his own experience with Martha. Katie had simply refused to believe her. After a DNA test had proven she was who she said she was, and Kate had raged, thrown things and cried herself to sleep in Ricks arms she allowed her to explain what had become of her.

The story of Bracken's treachery and her own transformation from legal crusader for the downtrodden to dangerous assassin. Her fight to get her identity back, her finally melted her heart toward her. When her father found out, he too needed some convincing, but after hearing her out, he was only too happy to have her back.

Several weeks later, the tabloids noted that the father of best selling author Katherine Beckett was seen in the company of a woman identified only as Jessica. It had been a matter of public record that he was a widower and the writer of the piece went on to wish him well.

July 21st 2016
Rodgers Loft

Kate and Rick stood in the middle of the nursery arm in arm looking at their newborn twins, marveling at how perfect they were. They hadn't been actively looking to try again so soon after she lost the last one, but shortly after her recovery they had gotten into a stupid shouting match over what to do with the crib and baby clothes they had bought. It had gotten truly ugly very quickly and neither of them backed down, or pulled any punches. It had been one of the worst fights they had had since the Raglan case.

One thing had led to another and they ended up having angry sex on the breakfast bar in the kitchen...on the desk in their shared study...pressed up against the door to their bedroom...and again in their bed. Somewhere in the middle of all that the twins now curled up together in the crib had been conceived, one girl named Johanna Alexis Rodgers, and a boy named David Christopher Rodgers.

Kate had taken to calling the two redheads her "wonder twins" as they had pulled her back from the depression that had threatened to cripple her following the car accident that had taken their first from them. She had studiously refused to drive a car during her pregnancy, and rarely ventured out other than to her prenatal doctor visits, and then only because Rick insisted she get some air. She was positively paranoid about letting nothing go wrong this time.

The day she and the twins came home from the hospital, he had led her up the stairs with a surprise for her. When he opened the door to what had been Alexis' room and flicked on the light, his daughter's possessions were gone, replaced by a fully appointed nursery. A framed photo of Alexis hung on the wall over the crib, and the stuffed animals that had once stood silent guard over her bed were arranged in various surfaces of the room. When she looked at him with misty eyes he merely shrugged his shoulders and said, "She would want them to have it."

Her mother had been an invaluable asset during the new pregnancy. If had taken time to get used to to the idea that her name was now Jessica Bennet, but she had insisted that Johanna had died that day back in 1999, She was a different person now and this was the name the world knew her by now and the name suited her. Jim had the hardest time acclimating to this change as Kate simply called her mom. She studiously avoided the topic of what she did for a living now. Merely a vague reference to working for the State Department.

As an active FBI agent, Rick knew that this doublespeak was common for agents of the CIA and NSA, but his security clearance required him to keep this information to himself. He didn't want to rock the boat, because he knew that this is what Kate needed. For the first time since he had known her, Kate felt whole and happy. It was enough for him.

As she turned out the light on her way out of the nursery, out of the corner of her eye, Kate could have swore she saw Alexis standing beside the crib where her brother and sister slept, silently keeping watch. A small smile on her face.

All was now right with their universe.

The End.