Aftermath

When Castle and Alexis walked in the door of the loft, Martha stood…nearly shouting, "Oooooh, you're back. You're back," and exuberantly grabbed her granddaughter in a huge, welcoming hug.

Kate took the moment to go straight to Castle, not wanting to keep him from Martha for long, but needing to feel his solid warmth against her to convince herself that he was really there and unhurt. What could have come out as an admonishment reached Castle as an almost whispered plea instead. "Please don't try anything like that again without me." At his, "I won't," she kissed him and then turned her attention to Alexis, hugging her tightly and holding on to her as they followed Martha to a family breakfast.

After opening his package and feeling the relief that his father was all right, Castle broke his usual protocol for addressing his mother and said, "Mom, there's something I want to tell you."

"Then come and sit down, and tell me while we eat," she answered.

"Kate needs to hear this, too" Alexis added. "She should know."

"We can tell you part of it now," Castle offered, looking back and forth between Kate and his mother. "We may need to talk about the rest later…when it's another day or so behind us. "If one of us talks, it's okay to listen, but give us time to decompress a little before there are too many questions…please. We just…" He was obviously trying to be strong and upbeat for his daughter, but just as obviously still as traumatized by the last few days' events as she had been.

Kate covered his hand with hers in silent understanding; and his mother, reaching for his other hand and Alexis' hand at the same time, answered, "I don't need to know anything right now except that you're both home and you're both safe. When either of you want to talk, I'm ready to listen. Just remember that."

"Thank you…both of you," Castle answered.

"Just tell us what you can for now," Kate said softly. Looking directly at Alexis, she added, "And if you need me for anything…anything at all, just call me…day or night, understand?" Then she looked at Castle and his mother. "That means any of you. You know that, right?"

Alexis nodded, and Martha answered lovingly, "We've known that for a while now, darling. Thank you."

"Can we just enjoy our breakfast before we talk about any of it?" Castle asked.

They all agreed, and for a while conversation was limited to occasional comments about how good the food was and other mundane observations.

When everyone had nearly finished the meal, Alexis drew up the courage to start the inevitable conversation. "Nobody hurt me," she told her grandmother and Kate. "I guess that's the best place to start. They threatened, and they scared me…a lot, but they didn't hurt me."

"Richard, what about you?"

"I guess my answer would have to be the same as Alexis'. There were efforts and threats, and they scared me a lot, but something intervened to stop them." He paused and took a deep breath, knowing that what he was about to say would have a strong effect on his mother. "While I was trying to find Alexis, I met someone I never expected to meet," Castle told them. "He helped me get her home safely, but I didn't know if he got out himself until that book arrived. He knew I'd understand when I saw it."

"And who was this mysterious stranger?" his mother asked.

He reached across to take his mother's hand firmly in his and said quietly and carefully, "My father."

Martha's fork clattered to the table and her face took on a look of shock, the color draining from it. "Your…father?" she repeated. "How did you find him?" She was obviously shaken.

"He found me, Mother…and at just the right moment to save me from a bad situation He took me home with him to plan what we'd do next. All these years he's been keeping up with us; he's read all my books. He asked about you, he knew about Beckett, about my work with the police. He even had a little wall of pictures of Alexis from the time she was little. He's been close enough to see us sometimes.

"Then why…"

"He said he was called back to his job and had to leave…didn't know about me until he was back in the states a year later. Because of his job, he thought we'd be safer if he just didn't come back. He said the correct term for someone like him is an intelligence asset. He's a spy…CIA…and from what I saw, extremely good at his job. Alexis was taken because someone discovered she's his granddaughter…someone wanted to draw him out, and she was the bait. None of us can ever talk about that, understand? It doesn't go beyond these walls. The story that will come out was concocted to hide my father's involvement."

"Does this mean one of you… Could this sort of thing happen again?" Martha asked fearfully.

"It was a personal vendetta. One man's vengeance, and it's probably over. The man is dead."

"Thank God."

Kate sat quietly, her head downward, watching the interplay between mother and son through her lashes and staying out of the conversation. It seemed she was trying to disappear as much as possible to avoid distracting them in any way. She felt a hand over hers and glanced in that direction to find Alexis watching her and looking as if she felt very much the same way Kate did. Alexis squeezed Kate's hand, and Kate inconspicuously laced their fingers together in quiet communion as Castle continued.

"I thought if I ever met my father, I'd despise him for leaving us, but I couldn't. It still seems wrong that he left, but he said his job allows for no relationships…no regular contacts either I'd think. Maybe, even that long ago, he'd already made that kind of enemies. I didn't have time to ask those questions. Mother, I liked him…felt drawn to him…felt sorry that he seemed to want a connection to us so badly and believed he could never risk it. His job isn't as appealing as I used to think it might be. The kinds of things he has to do…and I'm not sure I want to know all of them…it separates him…makes him vicious enemies if they can identify him; and that leaves him apart from the people he cares about, the ones he knows would care about him. I could almost feel the loneliness in the air around him when we talked about us." He gripped his mother's hand gently when he saw the tears overflowing her eyes. "He said he's always been proud of me…and I had the feeling that he didn't want to leave me any more than I wanted to leave him…that he would have given anything to meet Alexis…but it would have put all three of us in more danger. Time was an important factor; he had things planned to the minute. He wanted us safe."

"Richard…I don't know what to say," Martha whispered, her head down.

"You don't need to say anything, Mother. All my life you've made sure that I knew I was loved. I just needed you to know that I understand why you wanted to be with him. In spite of everything, I think he's a good man."

"Thank you," she answered softly and patted his hand with her free one, rubbing the back of it with her thumb before she released hers from his grip.

"I think that's all I have in me right now," Castle stated suddenly. "We could all use some rest." Looking at Kate and his mother, he said, "I know the two of you probably didn't get any more sleep than we did."

"Alexis, will you be okay in your room alone?" Kate asked, not yet letting go of her hand.

"I think I might actually be tired enough to sleep a little bit. Will you stay with us, Kate?"

"Yeah. Gates kicked the whole team out last night when she found out the two of you were on your way home…told us not to come back 'til tomorrow. She said I was so tired I was less than worthless to her, anyway." She put her other hand over Alexis' hand and added, "And there's no place I'd rather be."

Alexis smiled at her…not her usual smile, but any smile at all was a welcome sight; then she stood up. "I'm going to take a shower, put on my favorite pajamas, and get in my own bed."

"Call me when you're in your pj's. I want to tuck you in," Castle told her.

She looked like she was about to protest but then answered, "Okay," and went to his chair, hugged him, and kissed his cheek before she went to take her shower.

When Alexis was upstairs, Martha turned to her son. "You need rest as much as she does, Richard. Tuck your daughter in and let me take care of her if she wakes up before you do…or if she has a nightmare. All the time the two of you were gone, everybody else had something useful to do. All I could do was stay here with the FBI people, answer the phone when it rang, and worry constantly. This is something I can do…something useful for all of you. After Alexis is asleep, go get some rest. And your daughter isn't the only one who needs comforting. Let Kate take care of you. I'll take a book and camp out in Alexis' room. She won't be alone."

"I'll try, but it's hard right now to let my baby out of my sight long enough for her take a shower and get into her pajamas. "I was so scared." He put his elbows on the table and rested his face in his hands.

Martha stroked a hand up and down his arm, and Kate stood behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck, her hands crossed on his chest, and leaned her head down to kiss his cheek.

"Whatever you need…just tell me," she whispered before she kissed him again.

"I don't know what I'd do without either of you," he answered appreciatively and leaned his head back against Kate's shoulder.

Martha insisted on taking care of the dishes herself and demanded that they relax on the sofa until Alexis was back. Kate curled up next to Castle, and he held her close, his head on hers. Neither of them needed to say anything; they simply needed to be close. Martha stole a glance now and then and smiled but left them alone.

When Alexis came to the top of the stairs, Castle went up to meet her, and Kate watched as he possessively put an arm around his daughter's shoulders to walk her to her room. She then went into the kitchen to help Martha with the last of the clean-up and saw tears in her eyes. It broke her heart to see the usually strong, exuberant woman that way. Kate hugged Martha, and the older woman returned it.

"Kate, I'm so relieved. I was so afraid I'd never see them again."

"I know. Me, too."

"Will they be okay?"

"Eventually. It might take some time."

"I know you'll get Richard to talk to you. I think you're the only one he lets his guard down for. We get most of the story, but we have to judge the rest ourselves. No matter how silly he can get, when it matters, he's always determined to be the man of the house, the one we can all depend on. If Alexis is having trouble, will you help her, too? I don't think I know how…no matter how much I want to. Richard will do his best, but I'm not sure he knows how to help himself right now."

"Anything…anytime, Martha…for you, too."

"We're all lucky to have you, Kate Beckett."

"And I'm pretty lucky all of you adopted me," she assured Martha as Castle's mother pulled away and found a tissue to dry her eyes.

It was twenty minutes later before Castle felt Alexis was sufficiently tucked in. He reported that she was so exhausted she was falling asleep almost by the time her head hit the pillow, but he hadn't been able to make himself leave until he knew she was really asleep.

Martha picked up the book she had been unsuccessfully trying to read earlier and ordered her son to get some rest. "I'll be right beside her. If she seems to need you more than me, I'll come and get you."

Castle just nodded and wrapped an arm around Kate's shoulders before walking toward his room.