"Medieval Castle"

"Going medieval": Refers to upcoming violent behavior… –Urban Dictionary

Castle is waiting for his date to show up, when his phone vibrates. A chill runs through him at the message, "Alexis 911". After a word to David he hurries out, calling Alexis for the location.

Clair enters the restaurant, ready to apologize. But Rick is nowhere in sight. The maître de approaches her, "Miss Winter? I've been asked to convey Mr. Castle's regrets, that he won't be able to join you this evening. Further, as per his wishes, we've held a table for you in case you choose to remain and enjoy dinner, at Mr. Castle's expense." Disappointed, Clair makes the best of it, "Then I suppose there's no reason not to try the garlic scampi tonight?"

Alexis is alone in a booth at the diner, when Castle bursts in. The look of fear on her face causes him actual pain. Then he sees only relief as she stands up to return his hug. After a few seconds she says, "I'm fine Dad, and I need oxygen." So he releases her, but keeps hold of her hand as they sit down, saying, "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"No, nothing like that. I feel kind of silly now that you're here. It's just that, after rehearsal, there was a guy who gave me the creeps. Then I couldn't get a cab. And after a while I felt like someone was following me. I couldn't see anyone, but…."

Castle squeezes her hand in reassurance and says, "Wait right here." Outside, he scans the street, but sees nothing amiss. The taxi-driver asks, "Ready to go?" Castle leans in to ask if he saw anyone lurking, but he hasn't. So Castle says, "Ok. I'll just be a few minutes." After scanning the street once more, he collects Alexis and her violin, then heads home.

At the apartment he soothes their nerves with hot cocoa, and says, "Tomorrow, you'll have a driver."

"No, please Dad, my life is awkward enough without adding a chauffeur. I was probably just imagining things…" But he's wearing his resolute face, so there's no point arguing, and she gives in graciously, "Ok. I guess it won't be too bad. It's not like I'm the only student to have a driver. But I reserve the right to protest and complain and generally make your life a misery."

He nods, saying, "As always." After a pause he asks, "So the creepy guy at rehearsal?"

"What, so you can harass him? No, Dad. He didn't do anything wrong. He just stands a little close when he talks to people, and he's kind of intense about Bach."

"All right. But let me know if he bothers you again, ok?"

"Ok. Well, I'm going to have an early night." After they've said goodnight, Castle remains in his chair for a while, wondering how he can find out the creep's name. With a plan in mind, he remembers to first call Clair and apologize.

Knowing better than to ask Beckett to bend the rules, Castle waits for a quiet moment at the station and asks Esposito, "I think some kid is stalking Alexis. She was scared out of her mind last night."

"Name?"

Relieved at his cooperation, Castle hands him a slip of paper, saying, "Matthaus Marhold. He's a UN brat, new to her school, and he plays cello."

"Ok, leave it with me bro." Castle slaps his shoulder in thanks and is leaving when Esposito calls him back to add, "If you even follow this kid it's a class B misdemeanor, any more and it's a felony. Got it?"

"Got it, thanks."

Esposito gets back to Castle later that day, "Nothing. He's a nice Jewish boy staying, legally, in New York while he studies music and does an internship with the German Mission at the UN. His parents are still in Germany. He has some relatives here, but not many friends, so he's probably just lonely. Actually, from his online profile, I think he might be gay."

Reassured, Castle thanks him and they disperse before Beckett suspects anything.

The next day is unusually quiet at the precinct. Castle decides to accompany the driver, Mark, and surprise Alexis when she finishes school. He's almost able to fool himself that he's not hoping to meet young Mr. Marhold. Because of the tinted windows, Alexis doesn't realize Castle is in the car. She greets Mark and opens the door. On seeing Castle she pauses for a second and he actually sees the anger building in her. She almost shuts the door on him, but then enters, and sits down as far as possible from him. Futilely hoping to bluff his way out, Castle begins, "So, how was your day?"

She turns to him in shock at this pathetic attempt, "How was my day?" She punches his arm and says, "Did you really think you could interrogate my friends and I wouldn't find out?"

Rubbing his arm, Castle begins, "I'm sorry, I was just worried. You were so scared last night."

Shaking her head in dismay, Alexis says, "You always do this. You always overreact."

As gently as possible he explains, "And, when you're in trouble, I probably always will."

Seemingly exhausted by the effort of trying to make him understand, Alexis sighs and says, "And what if one day I'm in real danger, but I don't call you, because I'm worried that you'll go medieval?"

For a second he's scared that she means it, but then says, "You wouldn't do that to me."

Finally calming down she insists, "I wouldn't want to."

Genuinely apologetic, Castle says, "I really am sorry. But I promise to work on underreacting, if you promise to call me if you're ever in real danger. Deal?" And he offers his hand.

She accepts the handshake, "Deal. But you better not be here tomorrow."

A few days later Castle is at home when Mark calls, asking to meet at a nearby café. Only the two of them know that the driver is also a trained, and armed, security officer. Handing over a written report, Mark says, "You were right Mr. Castle. They're keeping their distance, so I haven't got a look at them. But there does seem to be someone following her. What do you want me to do?"

This is the worst news Mark could have given him. Castle swallows his fear and says, "So long as he keeps his distance, what you're doing is fine. Just keep me posted, thanks." After Mark leaves, Castle takes a moment to calm his nerves before calling Beckett. Keeping Esposito out of it, he explains everything that's happened, since he got the 911 call from Alexis. She's at the café within 20 minutes. After reading the report she asks, "Why do you think it's this Marhold?"

"Alexis said he's creepy."

Looking over the report again, she says, "I'm afraid this doesn't sound like some kid, Castle. But I'll see what I can find out. No offence, but I'm surprised you came to me, instead of doing something stupid."

"None taken. It's been pointed out to me that I have a tendency to overreact where Alexis is concerned. But I'm taking the pills, and working all the steps."

The next day brings worse news. Beckett and the guys inform him that the stalker is almost certainly not Matthaus Marhold. Suddenly feeling the need to sit down, Castle asks, "So, maybe a complete stranger is stalking my daughter?"

Beckett tries to reassure him, "But we're on it Castle. And Mark Whitbourne is good at his job. He'll keep an eye on her when she's out, and your place is as safe as any in the city."

Ryan adds, "And we'll catch him Castle. You know we will.

Beckett hesitates, before suggesting, "Alexis might know her stalker, without realizing it. So it would be useful if she gave a statement. You'll have to tell her what's going on."

Shaking his head, Castle resists, "Oh, no. No. You didn't see how scared she was the other night. If she finds out that someone really is after her…" But then he realizes, "She's safer, if she knows, isn't she?"

Relieved that he's being sensible, she offers, "Want me to be there when you tell her?"

"No, I'll do it. Thanks."

He leaves, forgetting his coat. Ryan grabs it and rushes to catch him.

When Castle is out of earshot Esposito asks, "Think he'll be ok?"

"Yeah, he'll be ok. Though I can't say the same for the bastard who's after Alexis."

Alexis accepts the news of her stalker fairly calmly, perhaps a little too calmly. So Castle asks, "What is it? I'm not going to do anything crazy. I just need to know, ok?"

She reaches for her phone, saying, "I've been getting these weird texts. I didn't recognize the numbers, so I haven't replied. I thought it was Matthaus at first, but he's not into Tchaikovsky."

Each line of text adds a weight to Castle's heart, "heard you play nocturne #20-what it would sound like if music could weep" "if you like sad try None but the lonely heart-to die for" "I luv the way your fingers dance on the strings" "tempo 2 fast 2nite but bravo on cadenza" "u should wear your hair like that at recital" There's more, but he's seen enough and asks, "How long has this been going on?"

"About two weeks; just after we started rehearsals."

"Why didn't you tell me…"

"You know why."

"Yeah, I guess so. Thanks for telling me now. You'll have to make do with a prepaid cell while Beckett checks this out. You can get one in the morning." Handing it back to her, he says, "Last chance to delete anything you don't want me to see."

When she grabs for the phone he moves it out of her reach a few times, until she's laughing and begging for mercy. After letting her win, he lingers in the doorway. Without looking up Alexis says, "Out! I'll bring it downstairs when I'm done."

Castle heads downstairs, disturbed by a feeling of loss…or something forgotten. He's at the bottom of the stairs before he realizes what it is; he suddenly can't recall what Alexis was like as a baby.

Next afternoon, at the precinct, Beckett has limited results for Castle, "Forensics couldn't track him from the texts. He's using disposable phones, changing them every few days, and only turns them on to send. If we find one of the phones, and he's using his real name to buy them, we could get lucky."

Esposito points out, "But he could be using phones dumped by dealers. They use the same method, and just throw them in the trash when they're done."

Ryan adds, "We're doing background checks on employees at the concert hall where she's rehearsing, but no red flags yet. And we're still going through the list of associates Alexis gave in her statement."

A loud silence fills the air, so Castle asks, "What?" They all glance at each other, until he demands, "Seriously, what is it? I want to know."

Beckett opens a file from her desk and reveals, "We had the texts analyzed by a forensic psychiatrist. She thinks we're dealing with an erotomanic stalker; a male, aged 23-30, with a history of mental problems, including delusional schizophrenia. She says that our suspect has formed a romantic attachment to Alexis, which he believes is reciprocated."

"But she didn't even reply to the messages."

Shaking her head, Beckett continues, "It doesn't matter. Even without any reply, the tone of the messages is getting progressively more familiar, more intimate. The good news is that he appears to be at stage one of this imaginary romance."

Struggling to speak, Castle asks, "Bad news?"

"Unless something happens to stop him, he'll progress to the next stage. When Alexis doesn't return his affection, he'll try to harass and threaten her into admitting her love for him."

Feeling ill, Castle asks, "How many stages are there?"

"Just three."

"I don't want to know stage three, do I?"

"Probably not. But we'll find him before it gets to that, I promise."

"Maybe I should take her away for a while?"

"I don't know. Assuming you could talk her into leaving, there's no guarantee it would work. He might just fall off our radar, while he puts every resource he has into finding her. This could go on for years. But there is a chance that, with Alexis gone, he'll find another target. It's your call."

All three detectives jump when he suddenly yells, "Fuck! I just want to find him and rip his throat out."

Esposito is the first to recover, "Amen."

Alexis refuses to leave the city, until after the concert. As a compromise she consents to Mark accompanying her whenever she's out of the apartment. And, after a call from Beckett, her music teacher agrees to move rehearsals to another venue. It's enough that Castle can finally sleep, but not well. So he's not looking, or feeling, his best when he arrives at the precinct to check on progress. One of the people exiting looks familiar, but he can't recall why. It hits him on the way up to Homicide and he demands of Beckett, "What was Marhold doing here?"

From the look on her face, he's not sure that she was going to mention it. With the cat already out of the bag, she admits, "We did some digging. He doesn't have a record; maybe because Germany's anti-stalking laws are not as strict. But Marhold was questioned, and cautioned, after a young woman complained to police. She…"

Castle is already leaving. Ryan and Esposito move to block his path, as Beckett warns, "Castle, you can't go near him."

As if he hasn't heard her, he says to the guys, "Move!" Ryan shakes his head, Esposito folds his arms.

Without turning, he addresses Beckett, "You can't keep me here."

"I can. And I will. If you don't sit down I'll have you arrested for intent to commit felony assault. And I'll make sure it's three days before you can even post bail."

That gets his attention. He turns to assess how serious she is, and doesn't like what he sees. So he tries a new approach, "Please, I just want to talk to him. I won't hurt him."

Shaking her head, she says, "You don't know that, Castle. Yesterday you wanted to rip his throat out. If you go see him, you might hurt him, and you'd still be in jail when Alexis graduates from college."

She's found the right words to get through to him, and he sits down, "Ok, I'm sitting. What now?"

"Well, first; you could trust us to do our job. Second; you can only leave here after you promise, and make me believe it, that you won't go anywhere near Matthaus Marhold. Third; go home and get some sleep. You're no use to us in this condition, and every minute we spend appeasing your ego is a minute not spent on the case." She looks guilty at these last words, but recants nothing.

Grinding his teeth at the injustice of it, Castle recites, "I swear, on the life of my daughter, that I won't go anywhere near Matthaus Marhold."

Beckett glances at Ryan and Esposito, and they sit down, indicating that Castle can leave. He does so without a word to any of them.

When he's gone, Beckett exhales and says, "I need a drink. I'll settle for a coffee."

After she's gone to the break room Esposito whistles through his teeth, as Ryan says, "Wow! That was amazing."

"It was like watching the unstoppable force meet the immovable object."

"Well, at least now we know what happens."

"Yeah, Beckett wins."

Hours pass before Castle calms down enough to go home. When he enters the apartment Mark is there, chatting with Martha and Alexis. It's a breach of protocol, so Castle is immediately concerned. Mark jumps to his feet, as Alexis says, "Dad, it's ok. I'm fine." After greeting both women, Castle motions that Mark should join him in the office. After shutting the door, Mark explains, "Alexis had just finished rehearsal. I was about to enter traffic, when something hit the back window." At Castle's evident concern he holds up a hand to reassure him, saying, "It's fine. They're all toughened glass, so the window shattered, and held. Alexis was shaken up, but unhurt. After checking that she was ok, I drove a block away before assessing the damage. The projectile was a lump of concrete with a note tied around it. Police met us at the scene."

"The note?"

"Handwritten, so that's good." Reading from his notebook he says, "Why haven't you replied? Just give me a sign that you feel it too. This torturous love is like a sickness in my soul."

"Alexis didn't see this?"

"No, sir. I made sure she stayed in the car."

Something about the way he says it, makes Castle wonder if Alexis resisted. But all he says is, "Ok, thanks. I suppose the car is with NYPD?

"Yes, sir. The company has already provided a replacement. There's more good news…potential good news. All our cars are equipped with surveillance cameras, front and rear."

"We might have him on camera?"

"Yes, sir. Part of him, at least."

Castle almost embraces him, but settles for a vigorous handshake, "Wonderful. Thanks."

"One more thing; your friends at the precinct have been keeping me in the loop. This attack clears Marhold. He was at the station when it happened." Castle realizes just how close he came to assaulting a nice Jewish boy, for the crime of being socially awkward, and thanks him again. Mark says his goodbyes, to everyone, looking distinctly uncomfortable when Alexis hugs him. When he's gone Martha comments, "A nice young man."

Castle says, "But I wish he'd stop calling me sir. It makes me feel old."

Alexis points out, "Dad, you are old." And then ducks behind the counter, keeping out of his reach.

Martha finally ends the game, by saying, "Well, goodnight all. I've had quite enough excitement for one day."

When she's gone, Castle says to Alexis, "Ever notice how she always makes it about her? You'd think she was the one in the car."

Alexis laughs and says, "It's her gift." After a pause she asks, "Can I know what Mark said?"

Gathering her in his arms, Castle says, "He said it should be over soon."

After they've said goodnight Castle picks up the phone, to call the precinct, then hesitates. His need to know what's going on, battles with his desire to trust his friends. He grips the receiver hard enough to turn his knuckles white, then replaces it and goes to bed.

Castle answers the door to see Beckett. Given their last conversation the greeting is awkward, and she says, "We have a suspect. I've got some photos for Alexis to look at."

"She's out with my mother; retail therapy. But they're only about 10 minutes away. Have a seat."

The awkwardness continues after they sit down. After several seconds of heavy silence, they suddenly apologize at the same time, "Look, I was out of line…" "I'm sorry about yesterday…"

They laugh, and the awkwardness is gone. Beckett says, "When you didn't call, I was worried that I'd gone too far."

"No, you went just far enough, that's why I didn't call. You were right; I've just been slowing you down, though it took me a few hours to see it that way. Would you really have arrested me?"

She answers, "Absolutely." But her eyes make a lie of the statement.

"You were bluffing? Clair was right."

Silently cursing herself for caring, Beckett asks, "What? What did she say?"

"She said that next time you and I play poker, you're going to lose."

Before Beckett can find out more, Alexis and Martha return, struggling under the weight of their purchases. After moving to help them, Castle asks, "Did Mark survive?"

Martha says, "Just barely. Detective Beckett!" To Castle she says, "Good news?"

"Good news."

Visibly relieved Martha continues, "Well, I'll take these upstairs. Nice to see you, Kate."

Beckett spreads the photos on the table and motions for Alexis to take a look, saying, "Do you recognize any of these men? Take your time."

After carefully studying each face Alexis points to one, saying, "He looks familiar, but I don't know why."

It's obvious that she's identified the suspect when Beckett says, "He works part-time at a music supply store on the Upper West Side."

Alexis says, "Oh my God, yes. The bridge on my violin broke and I had to get a replacement. But I was only in the store for a few minutes, and I hardly spoke to him."

Castle can't help himself, "So long as you didn't offer to rosin his bow."

Alexis glares at him, and Beckett ignores him, saying, "It wouldn't have mattered what you said, or didn't say. He's done this before. This time we have him for assault too. So you're not going to hear from him for a very long time."

Relieved beyond words Alexis hugs Beckett, and then says, "Well, I have a lot of new clothes to try on."

Castle watches her go, and then says only, "Thankyou."

"Any time." She pauses, and asks, "So, what makes you think that you can now beat me at poker?"

Delighted to have the upper hand, he says, "Oh, no. You'll have to wait until after the game."

Reaching for her handcuffs, Beckett threatens, "You'd better tell me."

Nodding at the 'cuffs, Castle says, "You know that's not a deterrent, right?"

She heads for the door, saying, "That's it! I'm getting my sidearm from the car."

Castle shuts and locks the door behind her, saying, "Next game is on Friday. No guns!"

After a few hours of poker, most of the chips are in the middle of the table. As the last card is revealed Castle is watching Beckett. She adds her remaining chips to the pot, saying, "All-in." Esposito quickly throws in his cards. After considering for a moment, Ryan does the same. Beckett is stony-faced, but he's sure that she's bluffing, so he bets everything. She only has Jack High. He's beaten her with a pair of sevens! Ryan and Esposito are suitably impressed. They call it quits after a while, with Castle the clear winner for the night. Beckett, as first to bust out, is on clean-up duty. Castle sees Ryan and Esposito to the door. When he turns around Beckett is standing hands on hips. He considers stringing her along a while longer, but relents, "You hold your breath for a second or two when you're bluffing."

"I do not."

"You do. And you should do something about it, before you pass out in the middle of an interrogation."

Thinking about it for a while she asks, "You said Clair told you?"

"Yeah. Though, come to think of it, she lied about it."

"As if she knew you would use it to torture me?"

"Yeah, I guess being able to read people comes in pretty handy in her line of work. Though, it was just after her attack, so it could have been the concussion."

"How's she doing? Esposito said you two have been hanging out?"

Suddenly nervous Castle proceeds with caution, "We've had dinner a couple of times. She's still not well enough to work. So she's bored out of her gourd. She's considering going to Mattland's arraignment."

Shaking her head, Beckett explains, "It's not necessary. It's just about deciding bail…"

"Clair knows that. But her face is still a bit of a mess, so she wants to be in the room, where the judge can see her…I think maybe she needs to confront Mattland too."

Impressed, Beckett says, "She's got guts. Sure you know what you're getting into?"

"Nope. Never have, probably never will."

The End