Glint – Epilogue
.
DISCLAIMER: Most of these characters are not mine at all, but they are memorable. Thank you, Mr. Marlowe for a wonderful show that has meant so much, to so many.
.
Monday Afternoon – June 6, 2011, 1:30 p.m. at a Hospital near the Yale campus in New Haven, CT
.
Richard Castle drops his large frame into the oversized wheelchair, placing his feet into the small foot platform. He resembles an adult trying to sit in an elementary school desk and chair, and Alexis – who stands next to him, smiling – can barely stifle a small giggle. He allows it. Both are anxious to get out of there and get home.
And he's just happy to see his daughter up and around again.
"I feel stupid," he tells the detective who stands behind the wheelchair, her hands on each handlebar. She is of two minds right now. She is thrilled to be leaving the hospital with the man she now realizes that she loves. And she is anxious to see where this revelation takes them. At the same time, she knows she is only escorting him to the hospital entrance/exit. There is no way she can leave her injured friend and partner behind, alone.
As if on cue, their uncanny mind meld rears its head once again as Castle glances backward at his muse.
"Before we go," he begins, "take me to Javier."
She nods her head, and wheels him out of the room and turns left, Alexis still by his side. She wheels him past the room Alexis was in until this morning as well. Both are being released. None even offer a glance at the room. The next room comes up quickly, and the door is already open. The three wheel and walk their way into the room, to be greeted by the worried face of Kevin Ryan, who stands next to the bed of his long-time friend.
"Hey there," Ryan welcomes, his voice full of emotion. As he speaks, Javier Esposito –already half-lying and half-sitting in an inclined position in the bed – raises his head and looks around his friend at the visitors standing in his doorway.
"Hey guys," he offers weakly. All are aware of the long road ahead for their friend.
"They finally kicking the Castles out of here?" Javier smiles. His friends appreciate the humor Esposito offers them. The guilt on everyone is tangible.
"Can you believe it?" Richard Castle deadpans. "Both of us, in one day. I should be offended that they want to get rid of us so badly."
"Hi Javier," Alexis greets him, ignoring her father's attempt at humor and moving toward the bed. She leans in over the handrails and reaches out to the detective. She gently hugs the injured man, holding him gently, but tightly. Her red hair falls across his face as she whispers tearfully into his left ear.
"Thank you, Javi," her whispered cry offers.
"Hey, chica, don't cry for me," he tells her. "Didn't you hear? We won," he continues, his voice low and breaking slightly.
"But look at you, Javi," she argues. "I'm so sorry. I'm so grateful. I don't know –"
"Lexi," he interrupts, using the nickname he saves for her. "No regrets," he reminds her, now glancing at a tearful Kate Beckett as well. Kate cannot hear the next words between the detective and the daughter of Richard Castle, but notices the short laughter they share. Alexis hugs him once more before nodding at Kevin Ryan and departing the room.
"I'll be outside, Dad," she tells her father and Kate tearfully, as Kate wheels her father closer, toward the bed.
"Thank you, Javi," Castle repeats the grateful plea from his daughter as he comes alongside the bed. Kevin Ryan offers a glance to Kate, shaking his head. She understands.
"I will never be able to repay you for what you did," Castle continues. "For taking care of –"
"We're all partners, Castle," Esposito interrupts. "We take care of each other. You know that."
"How long?" Castle asks his friend, glancing at his legs. Esposito nods, knowing exactly what he is asking.
"A couple of months for the left leg," Javier replies. "The right? Hell, I don't know. They've told me to settle in for the long haul, so . . ."
"What's the prognosis there?" Castle asks, although he already has his suspicions.
"A cane and a constant bottle of Percocet," Esposito chuckles against the pain, and both me laugh at nod to a recent medical television show, only recently off the air.
"You wish you were that smart," Castle puns, and both men smile. "Still . . ."
He leaves the thought unsaid, and for the next few minutes, the foursome sit quietly, with only a few words shared. Kate leans across, placing a kiss on her damaged friend's forehead, then offers a hug to Kevin Ryan.
"I'm walking Castle out, and I'll be back, Javi," she tells him.
"Kate, I'm good," he tells her. "Go home, go back to the city. I will be –"
"I'm leaving when you're leaving, and not a minute before," she counters. Her tone is final, and he knows arguing with her at this point is useless.
"See you in a few, then," he half smiles, getting a smile in return from the detective as she wheels Richard Castle out of the room and into the hallway. Alexis joins them as they approach the elevator.
"So, it's over?" she asks, innocently.
Richard Castle glances backward at Kate, who holds on to the bars of the wheelchair. Both have spoken with Jackson Hunt in the past hour, via telephone. Both are aware of the full scope of her war now. Bracken. Smith. Evelyn.
Even Evelyn.
There is no way either will lie to the young woman. Not after what she has gone through. Not after what this personal war has cost her. Cost them all.
"No pumpkin," her father replies, noting the surprise – and sudden fear – in his daughter's eyes. "This is far from over."
.
Tuesday Morning – June 7, 2011, 9:45 a.m. at a home in Connecticut
.
The doorbell rings, singing a cheerful tune throughout the large estate home in North Haven, Connecticut. There is laughter heard inside – the kind of easy, happy laughter and banter found in close-nit families who don't see one another nearly enough.
"I've got it Mom," Evelyn Montgomery yells back toward the kitchen to her mother who is fixing breakfast. The elderly black woman has been enjoying unexpected time with her daughter and grandchildren. Her husband is on the deck, drinking coffee and reading his newspaper, as he normally does each morning. A real newspaper, of course. He likes the feel of the paper in his hands, the touch of the ink that inevitably marks his fingers as he turns the pages.
The smells and sounds of sizzling bacon and English muffins fills the happy home.
Roy Montgomery's widow opens the door, and her smile, her voice – and breath – they all abandon her as she stands face-to-face with Detectives Kate Beckett and Kevin Ryan. The harshness in their eyes tells her that it is over. The badge that Detective Beckett holds in one hand – the other arm is in a sling – offers a glint of sunlight reflected back onto her face. She raises a hand to shield her eyes, while her shoulders slump, and she fights back tears as her daughters suddenly appear at her side.
"Who is it, Mama?" the youngest asks.
Evelyn glances down at her daughter, who stands at her side, barely reaching above the woman's waist. Her eyes find those of Kate Beckett.
"Please, not in front of my children," Evelyn Montgomery pleads.
"They can get used to visiting you," Kevin Ryan offers coldly, stepping forward. Any mercy that could possibly be shared with the woman has been all but used up, as far as Ryan is concerned. The betrayal all feel drives them forward on this most unpleasant task.
"Evelyn Montgomery, you are under arrest for kidnapping, attempted murder, and whatever else I can think up between here and the police station."
As he speaks, Kate Beckett spins the woman harshly, snapping handcuffs on the distraught woman, before lowering the final blow to her.
"And if I were you, I'd call an attorney instead of your good friend, the Senator's wife," Kate tells her, all but hissing the words through clenched teeth. "I'm not sure how much longer she is going to be able to help you."
.
A/N: So this ends this particular tale, and as you can tell, I've let this open to continue telling more stories in this AU. In the end, we've come full circle to a different way of Kate Beckett discovering William Bracken's horrific role in her family's life. Physically, Javier Esposito is a different man moving forward, and Kevin Ryan is a different man emotionally, now with a harder edge. Richard Castle certainly has a different perspective moving forward. A long-desired love has been declared, but his daughter is a casualty of that love. It opens the door for some interesting stories, to say the least.
This story took a lot longer than I had planned, due to some unforeseen family issues – so I apologize to everyone. Look for a new story, "Serial" set in the Different Road Taken AU next. I hinted at this one during the writer's panel, and will start posting it in the next month or so.