Disclaimer: I don't own any canonical elements, places, or characters from the tv shows Firefly or Castle or the movie Serenity. I am not making money from posting this story.

“Legacy” by JustWriter

Opening: What if you weren’t who you thought you were? What if your past came and snatched you from that glass house called ignorance? Who is Richard Castle really? It may surprise him and you to find out that he's from the 'verse he sees in his dreams; an as of yet undiscovered system of stars and planets that will one day be known as 34 Tauri.

Chapter 1: If I’m Not Rick Castle Then Who Am I?

He lay on a cold table with a smooth surface, his vision clearing from darkness, and yet he was still confused for he had been dreaming of that place again where he was a space cowboy. He hadn’t had any of those vivid dreams as often since he had finished the Derrek Storm novels. The unnamed person he was sure was himself in the dreams had been convinced that he was beginning a romantic relationship with the unattainable Companion Sarah. They had known one another in the most intimate way possible; only for him to fade away in a moment of Samson and Delilah betrayal. He never could understand what happened at the end so he had killed off the protagonist in his novels, those based on his dreams. He could always remember noticing the look of sorrow in her eyes and the determination.

Shaking himself from the world of his dreams, he tried to sit up and realized that he couldn’t move anything below his neck. He inhaled sharply in panic and machine monitoring what must have been his heart rate picked up in activity as a more frequent beeping graced his ears. “Doctor, the patient is awake,” someone called. He heard footsteps and excited breathing. In his view from beneath the bright light he saw a familiar-looking man with a smile on his face that he was trying to suppress in lieu of professionalism. The doctor resembled the way he had envisioned the Derek Storm character Doctor Tan to look; only he had a different hairstyle and attire than in his dreams.

“Hello I’m Doctor Tam and I’m here to ascertain your health. Could you tell me the last thing that you remember?”

“Uh… I was…,” Kate, she’d been knocked unconscious by… someone. He had distracted the woman and the rest of the team, except Ryan had arrived on the scene. Even though they’d had her outnumbered and at gunpoint she’d smiled a lunatic smile; a flash of light and then that dream again and now here. “I was with Beckett, following up on a lead to a case and we were confronted by some crazy woman with orange hair. I don’t know what happened after that.”

The Doctor’s face fell, seemingly disappointed. “It seems I’ll have to perform a brain scan,” the Doctor said as he flashed a light in his eyes. “Other than that you seem to be physically healthy, despite the evidence of air pollution we found in your lungs; it only ought to shorten your life by a couple of years.” Doctor Tam continued his checkup while asking him seemingly innocuous questions; things like, “Where were you born, what year?” and so forth. Then Doctor Tam asked him if he knew his name with a strange, troubled look in his eyes. “Richard Castle.” Even though Tam was trying to be genial, there was a hurt look on his face.

Tam took a deep breath and wheeled the table that he was resting on over to a strange machine. Seeing his worried look though Tam explained, “It’s painless, although it may seem strange looking at a representation of yourself above you,” he commented as he turned it on. Contrary to the Doctor’s expectation, the sight astounded and awed him. The visible projection above him reminded him of Earth’s Northern Lights. When the Doc turned it off he was a mite disappointed that it was over and asked, “So you know what’s wrong with me?”

“I know what’s wrong but I don’t know how; these aren’t the most sophisticated scans you can get in the universe. There are much more accurate scanners on the core worlds, but it’s unlikely we’ll be going to them anytime soon. I do know however that you currently have amnesia; whether it’s natural or artificial has yet to be determined; due to your sudden disappearance several months prior though it’s more likely the latter. If that’s the case you may never get your memory back unless someone administers the cure. Have you been having any vivid dreams that seem quite real?”

“Yes,” he answered, “I used to have them all the time but they’ve been staggered as of late.”

Tam appeared at first eager and then concerned over his answer. “Do you keep any dream journals?”

He then heard a hiss and felt a slight breeze. Faltered footsteps along with the sound of a cane come nearer to him and he is wary when he hears the accented voice. “Doctor Tam I asked that you inform me as soon as he woke.”

Tam’s face took on a worried visage and he bowed like a Chinaman to the unknown man. “I apologize; I was merely ascertaining his health.”

“They will not cooperate until they see him; you should have paged me,” the cane-bearing man admonished. “Is he healthy?”

“Physically, yes but he thinks that his name is Richard Castle and that he was born in New York City in the year 1971.”

“I see,” the cane-laden man answered as if he too were disappointed, “it would have been easier if he had remembered. From his books I had thought…”

“It matters not; you will develop a treatment soon Doctor Tam,” he ordered. Tam nodded solemnly. “Get him ready to see them,” he ordered before he left.

Tam looked at him again and asked him, “Can you move yet; the pain meds should have worn off by now?”

He responded by sitting up and then he asked, “If, according to you, I’m not Rick Castle then who am I; and where’s my daughter?”

Author's Note: Don't worry; 'Sarah,' had a good reason.