Bonus chapter: Gimme those powerstones
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October 25th.
New York air carried that sharp edge of fall, cool enough to wake you up, warm enough to keep the crew comfortable under the lights.
The Spider-Man set looked different now. It felt tighter and more focused. Production was almost finished. Only a few reshoots remained, along with some lighting tweaks and a couple of reaction shots Alex wanted to refine. After that, only the post-credit scene would be left. The finish line was finally in sight.
By noon, Alex had wrapped the last of the reshoots. Andrew nailed the emotional pickup in two takes. Emma delivered the softer reaction that Alex had requested, and Alfred Molina adjusted a line reading that gave the scene more weight. Everything came together cleanly and efficiently.
The set settled into its familiar in-between state. The room is being set up right now.
Alex waited for Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, and Halle to arrive so they could shoot the post-credit scenes that would send audiences into chaos with the revelation of Tony Stark, Nick Fury, and Storm.
Alex stepped away from the monitors and into a small break area. He grabbed a bottle of cold water from a cooler, twisted off the cap, and drank it in one go. The tension of months of production eased from his shoulders. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and released a slow breath that sounded very close to relief.
'Finally, we are going to wrap up,' He thought.
Across the set, Richard Castle and Alexis Castle had been present since early morning. Castle had already made friends with several crew members, pitched a couple of unsolicited movie ideas, and tried to guess the post-credit scene as if it were a murder mystery. Alexis had stayed quieter, watching and thinking.
They had only exchanged a brief greeting with Alex between setups. He had been moving constantly and remained locked into the rhythm of the shoot.
Alex capped the bottle, dropped it into a recycling bin without looking, and walked straight toward them.
Castle noticed first and straightened as if he had just been called into the principal's office.
"Well, if it isn't the busiest man in Hollywood," Castle said with a grin. "You look annoyingly calm for someone running a billion-dollar setup."
Alex replied. "Calm is what makes a good movie."
He turned to Alexis, and his expression softened slightly.
"You survived a full day on set," he said. "That alone is impressive. Most people tap out by lunch."
Alexis smiled. She looked steady, but there was a spark in her eyes that had not been there earlier in the morning. "I've been thinking," she said, keeping her voice clear over the background noise of the crew. "About your offer."
"Okay," Alex said as he pulled out a folding chair and sat down. He pointed to the two empty chairs across from him. "Sit. Let's talk properly."
Castle dropped into the seat with theatrical seriousness. Alexis sat beside him, back straight, hands folded for a second before she relaxed them on her lap.
Alex studied her face carefully.
"Go on."
Alexis inhaled slowly, then nodded.
"I want to do it," she said with a quick nod. "Supergirl."
Castle glanced at her, proud but quiet. He already knew this was coming. They had talked about it for weeks after that dinner where Alex first made the offer. He had pushed her to be honest with herself about whether she wanted the spotlight or just the idea of it. And in the present, she's also taking acting classes.
Alex did not react immediately. He leaned back in the chair.
"You understand what that means," he said calmly.
Alexis did not look away. "It means my first role won't be small. It means people will judge everything. My acting, face, voice, body, interviews, and social media. All of it."
Alex gave a faint nod. "Good. You're not naïve."
Castle crossed his arms. "She's not chasing fame. She actually wants to work."
"I know," Alex replied.
He leaned forward slightly, elbows resting on his knees.
"Most actors start with commercials, student films, small theater productions," he said. "They build instincts slowly, step by step. They fail where nobody sees and learns from their mistakes. You would be skipping all of that. Your first day on camera as Supergirl will be watched by hundreds of crew members. Everyone will be new to you. You'll have to promote the movie and the reporters will bombard you with questions and every mistake gets clipped and replayed. Every strong moment gets dissected, too. So, you gotta be careful every step you take."
Alexis swallowed but did not break eye contact.
"I'm not scared of hard work," she said. "I'm scared of regretting not trying."
That made Alex smile.
"That's the right fear to have," he said.
Castle tilted his head. "How bad is the pressure?"
Alex did not sugarcoat it.
"You'll train for months," he said. "Physical conditioning, stunt work, fight choreography, wire training. You'll work with acting coaches that I'll assign every week. You'll read comics and understand who Kara is. You won't just wear the suit. You'll carry the symbol. That's all physical pressure. As for mental pressure, don't think too much. The more you think, the more paranoid you'll get. So, don't take any pressure. I'll handle the press and all during the revelation. All you gotta do is focus on learning and acting. Also, after wrapping up this film, I'll be working on a new movie as an actor. So, come to the set and watch how things are done. Get yourself familiarised with the set, people, how we work and everything."
Alexis nodded without hesitation.
"I can do that," she said. "I promise to give my 100%."
Alex watched her closely. She was nervous. Anyone would be. But she has that fire in her eyes that he hasn't seen in a while in Hollywood.
She shifted slightly in her seat.
"And if you don't mind me asking… in one of your old interviews, you said you directed Forrest Gump as a complete newbie with zero directing experience. Was that actually true?"
Castle looked at Alex immediately. He had heard the story in pieces, never from Alex himself.
A faint smile touched Alex's lips, the kind that only shows up when someone is remembering something that could have gone very wrong.
"Yeah," he said. "That part was true."
He rested his forearms on his thighs and looked at the floor for a second before meeting Alexis's eyes again.
"Back then I wasn't the Golden Boy of anything. I was a construction worker, working and struggling to pay my overdue bills. So, I started writing at night, despite the pain and exhaustion. And Forrest Gump was one of the books I wrote and then made a script and submitted to a competition."
Castle leaned forward, hooked.
"They bought it?" he asked.
"They selected it," Alex replied. "And I thought that was the peak of my life. I figured I'd take the check, maybe stay in a small room somewhere, and watch a real director turn it into something big."
He paused.
"Then the main director got into a serious accident right in the middle of production. The assistant director didn't want to take the risk. The studio head saw a chance."
Alex's smile shifted into something bitter.
"They called me in. Told me they believed in my vision. Offered me a raise. Said since I wrote it, I should direct it and bring it to life. They said the whole studio was behind me."
Castle snorted softly. "They were setting you up."
"Of course they were," Alex said calmly. "If it failed, the headline would read: Inexperienced Writer Ruins Emotional Drama. They would have buried me and moved on. They would've lost money if it flopped, but a few million dollars are nothing to them as long as they get to keep their image clean. And I was the perfect scapegoat."
Alexis listened without blinking.
"So why did you say yes?" she asked.
"Because I had nothing to lose at that point in my life," Alex replied. "And because I knew that script better than anyone else. I figured if I was going down, I was going down swinging."
He leaned back again.
"I walked onto that set terrified. I had veteran crew members looking at me like I was a kid who wandered into the wrong building. I studied every night. I asked questions. I made mistakes and corrected them fast. I protected the heart of the story. And I trusted my instincts when it mattered."
He smiled, this time softer.
"Tom Hanks trusted me. That changed everything. He gave everything to that role. When he won the Oscar, the same people who thought I would crash and burn suddenly acted like they saw it coming from day one."
Castle laughed under his breath. "Of course they did."
Alex's gaze returned to Alexis.
"So yeah. It's true. I directed Forrest Gump with no prior directing experience. And it worked because I treated it like survival. Oh, by the way, I made a hostile takeover of the studio."
Alexis absorbed every word.
"You think I can do that?" she asked quietly.
Alex did not hesitate.
"Yeah, you can do it if you train, learn and watch..." He replied with a smile.
Castle glanced at his daughter, then back at Alex.
"She's stubborn," he said proudly. "Once she fixes her mind on something, she'll definitely do it and give it her all."
"Only time will tell," Alex said as he stood from the chair and adjusted the cuff of his jacket. "Training starts next month. I'll have Rachel coordinate everything. Welcome to the chaos."
He extended his hand toward Alexis.
"Thank you," Alexis said, shaking his hand with a smile. "I won't disappoint you."
From across the stage, someone called out that Robert Downey Jr. and Samuel L. Jackson had arrived.
Alex's phone vibrated. He took it out and it was a text from Halle. She'll be there in ten minutes. He closed his phone and put it back in his pocket. Then looked up at the duo.
"Well, that's my cue."
He pointed at Castle. "And I have good news for the Nikki Heat movie. We'll talk more after the shoot."
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Quick spoilers[1]
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---[MORE POWERSTONES💎💎💎]---
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[5 advance chs] [All chs available for all tiers]
+ [Early access to Reborn in Castle: 8 chs]
[No double billing.]
[1] Megan Fox for Nikki HeatBut I want to give some love to Angela White: Powergirl