The Coming Future (A Castle Fanfiction)

Part Eighteen: Things Missed

"Castle, please, I'm fine. Stop worrying," Beckett said for the thousandth time to the man who would not stop helping her. They'd barely made it into the lobby of his building before he'd already been too kind to her. He'd help open her door every time she moved from or to the car, he'd held open the door for her to the building, he'd helped her up the three stairs between the sidewalk and his front entrance and he was now trying to convince her to allow him to help her just simply walk into the elevator. Yes, she was injured and yes, she felt a bit weak still, but the pain pills and coffee had done wonders for her energy issues. Plus, she hated feeling like she needed help and he knew it.

He looked at her and sighed to himself, telling her, "I know you're fine and that you don't need help, but it makes me feel better when you let me help." She looked at him and he then asked, "Was that selfish of me to say?"

"No," she laughed, "It's sweet. It's just not who I am. I've never been the kind of girl who wants a guy helping her every second of the day. It's nothing personal, Castle, it's just who I am." When she smiled up at him and he smiled at her, he couldn't stay mad at her. He simply stayed back and watched as she made her way into the elevator and then followed her in. Her thoughts wandered from Rick and she turned to him to ask, "How was Maddie today? Did she catch up on her school work? Will she be able to go back tomorrow to get some sense of normalcy?"

Rick looked at her and honestly answered, "Normalcy? It doesn't really matter when she goes back, Kate, she won't be going back with a sense of normalcy or familiarity ever again. I mean, she'll be wandering the halls with a reminder or Jess around every corner and his face plastered in every hallway. I don't know how she's ever going back." The air between the two went cold before the doors opened and Rick revealed, "She was working on school work all day though, and she talked about school like she was planning on going back. Maybe she'll be alright and she'll go back without boarding."

"What if she wants to board?" Kate asked as they started down the hall and she struggled to keep up with him. "What if she wants to go back to her normal life? I mean, I wouldn't be able to blame her really. We shouldn't stop her from going back it if she thinks she can handle it."

Rick then argued, "You really think she can handle it?"

"I don't know. I mean, I don't know her as well as you do, but I know she must be strong. I mean, after going through what she went through and not showing any sign of it to anyone, she has to be pretty strong, right?" They'd reached the door by now and Rick pulled out his key to unlock the door. When he pushed it in, he was stopped by the chain lock. He looked at his wife and she looked at him, confused and concerned.

He called inside, "Maddie? Alexis? Either of you there?" No one replied. This made him more concerned so he pulled out his phone and dialed Alexis' number. It rang twice before she declined his call. Again he called through to the other side, but no one replied. "Girls, this isn't funny. One of you needs to open this door right now!"

Rick's stern tone and harsh words finally coerced a soft reply, "Rick? Is that you?" The girl's sleepy tone came through and Castle could barely hear her, but she had caught Kate's attention.

"Yes, Maddie. It's us, Rick and I," Kate softly replied. This came with a slow shuffle of heavy footsteps and an unlocking of the door. Once it was completely opened, Kate took in the sight of the girl's weary smile and asked with a grin of her own, "Were you asleep?"

The teenager laughed and opened her arms with droopy hands, "It's been a long day. I was worried you wouldn't come back." When Maddie laced her arms around Beckett's body, Kate gladly took the girl into her arms and held her a moment. She was just tall enough that it was effortless for Kate to lay a soft kiss on her forehead as she held her. Finally they broke apart, relieving Kate of the pleasurable pain that had accompanied the tight squeeze. Maddie then asked with a slightly more awake voice, "Is everything alright? What happened? What did he do?"