544. Chapter 544

After Time Will Tell

Episode 6.05

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: At no time do I claim to own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

"I'm coming. I'm coming!" Kate yelled as she ran to answer the frantic pounding on their front door. She opened the door to find a bearded man standing there.

"What are you doing here?" He yelled at her.

"I live here. Why shouldn't I be here?" She wondered, if the man was dangerous, could she get to her old Glock in time.

"No! Why aren't you in the Senate in Washington DC?"

Kate looked again at the man. He was somehow familiar and the mention of the Senate was somehow oddly familiar. "Who are you?"

"I'm Simon Doyle. We met when you were a detective investigating the murders of Shauna Taylor and Malcolm Wickfield. Remember?'

Kate nodded slowly. "Yes, now that you mention it, I do. "She decided that Doyle was a harmless eccentric, although one with money apparently. He looked little different than he had in 2013. That kind of cosmetic surgery took a lot of money.

"Why aren't you a Senator? Why did you arrest Bracken?"

Kate frowned. "Why did I arrest Bracken? He had my mother killed, and he was trying to have me killed. What did you expect me to do?"

"Honey? What's that about Bracken? Is that another reporter?" Castle came down stairs from his office.

"No, this is Simon Doyle. He was a person of interest in a case in 2013."

Castle nodded. "The time traveler? Of course! Good to see you again. How's the world?"

"It's different! I can't get back. I can never get back. And it's all your fault." He screamed at them.

"Why don't you came in and have a cup of coffee, and not stand in our doorway where the neighbors can see you? And hear you." Castle asked. Kate glared at him, but it did no good.

Once seated on the patio overlooking the Atlantic and with their coffees in front of them, Castle asked what the problem with Bracken was.

"He shouldn't have been arrested. He should have been the President."

"In that case, I would have been dead." Kate cut in.

"No, no. Your husband, Rick, took you to Canada after you killed the two hitmen. That's when you broke his heart."

"I broke his heart? I don't believe it." Kate snapped.

"You decided that it was too dangerous for Rick to go with you, so you left him in Manitoba and went underground. But Rick wasn't wanted for anything because they couldn't prove he had anything to do with your escape from the police. But he searched for you for years. Of course he had to be very careful, since both the police and Bracken's people were also looking for you. And that's when Rick started writing serious literature. Northern Lights, the soul crushing story of a man's search for his lost love in northern Canada. Obviously based on reality, but no one could prove anything. He finally found you working at a truck stop in the Four Corners."

"Which state?' Castle asked, starting to take notes.

"What difference…It was New Mexico. And why did you keep writing that awful pulp fiction?"

"Hey, the Nikki Heat series did very well, thank you. But as Nikki's inspiration became a captain and then a mom, it got harder to write the books. That's when I started the Red Herren: Zombie Hunter series. Most people know that Red is based physically on Alexis, although Red's personality is nothing like Alexis'. Red is a tough chick…"

"And what happened to Alexis?" Doyle interrupted. "She was supposed to be a doctor and save lives all over the world. And she never married Pi? And she has children? She had no time for children. She was too busy!" Doyle yelled. "And now Pi is living on an English country estate with the daughter of a member of the House of Commons."

"Alexis married Pi? In the other future? At least he hasn't changed any. Oh, this is a great future we have here. And Alexis' work as an oceanographer has helped stabilize the oceans, opening up renewable fish stocks to feed mankind and reverse global warming. And we love having grandchildren. Except changing diapers at 3AM."

"You don't understand." Doyle tried to remain calm as he explained. "Bracken was the head neo-fascist. Because he was in jail when the 2016 election came around, he wasn't elected President. And everyone close to him politically pretty much had their careers ended by the scandal. Because Bracken wasn't President, he never made himself dictator and he and his cronies never had to corner global energy for their own selfish uses. There was no energy war beginning in 2031."

"Isn't there not being a war a good thing?" Kate asked.

"Good for ninety nine per cent of the human race. Bad for me. Because there were no energy wars, Paul Deschiles never invented the energy shield. The secret of time travel was never unlocked. I went back to 2007 to try to contact Garrett Ward to see what he was up to. And when I came back, I didn't come back to my own timeline, I came back to this one. Where there is no time travel. I know that Deschiles is working on the tachyon generator. It was his life long dream. He has to be working on it. I need to find him so I can get back to my own timeline. Do you know where he is?"

"Actually, we do. Sort of." Castle said.

"Sort of?" Doyle asked. "What do you mean, sort of?"

"Paul Deschiles was working very hard. Maybe too hard on his Ph.D. One night he ran through Hudson University with a sheet tied around his neck like a cloak, yelling, "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." while waving an old slide rule around. He only had the sheet on. Nothing else."

"But he got better. Tell me he got better." Doyle begged.

"He spent a year at a vegan commune in the Big Sur area. Then he lived under a bridge on the Colorado River near Blythe, California. Then he opened Red Meets, a gourmet burger place in San Francisco. He made so much money…"

"He went back to science?" Doyle said hopefully.

Castle shook his head. "He bought radio station XTRA in Rosarita Beach, Mexico. He broadcasts old time rock music with one million watts of power every night as the Howlin' Child. It's said he uses a lot of…recreational substances."

Kate nodded. "Jo used to listen to him. I guarantee you he was stoned the whole time he was on the air."

"But you were both heroes of the revolution. Once people realized Bracken was ruthless dictator, people realized you two must be innocent. When Bracken was defeated, naturally you wanted to help set the country right and were elected to the Senate. Don't you ever feel the urge to go to Washington?"

"I've been there and I have no desire to go back. I retired from the NYPD and got my law degree. I keep busy but still have enough time for Rick and the kids."

Doyle turned to Rick. "Don't you want to write something meaningful? On the Mogollon Rim, the stirring tale of your flight through New Mexico and Arizona with Kate, staying just one step ahead of Bracken's hired killers makes me cry every time I read it."

"I have a new series. "Rick said. "Fidelity Lane. She's a ballerina who keeps getting involved in murders. Aunt Lanie and our Jo are the models for that, of course. Well, they never have solved any crimes together."

"And General Esposito? What about "Iceman" Ryan, the head of the Combined Intelligence Service? And his wife Magda?"

"Esposito is the coach of a minor league baseball team and Ryan runs the family business, a series of Irish themed bars in New York with his wife Jenny and their five kids."

"Is Vickie Esposito still alive?"

"Who?" Rick and Kate asked together.

"You knew her as Gates, I suppose."

"She runs an antique doll store in lower Manhattan and never married Esposito." Kate said.

Doyle straightened himself up. "I'm off to Mexico. If I can, I'll talk Deschiles into going back to physics so I can get back home. So long." He walked away and neither Rick nor Kate ever saw him again.

Kate closed the door. "That was odd."

Rick grinned. "Bizarre, is more like it. Imagine trying to convince us he's a time traveler lost in time. Even I don't believe in that stuff any more."

"Rick, do you remember the note that Deschiles sent to Malcolm Wickfield? I need to tell you something about it."