I'm glad you all enjoyed the first chapter of this one. This one won't be as dramatic, but it does help set the scene for the remainder of the story. I hope you enjoy it. Gregg.

Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Three men were sitting in Castle's study at his loft. No one else was in the loft, so it was just those three that were going to be privy to what was going on. After Castle had had a chance to go in and spend a few minutes with Beckett, who was still unconscious, he had asked them to go with him to his place so they could talk. The ride over had been silent. Both Esposito and Ryan knew that they had to let Castle in on the coming drama, but his coldly detached anger that was simmering just below the surface unnerved them. Martha had been right. This wasn't Castle. Or at least wasn't the man that they all looked at as Rick Castle. This was a man who wanted vengeance, and wasn't about to let anyone stand in his way.

"What did the Commissioner want?" Castle asked when he set a beer down in front of each of them.

"Before we get into that we need to ask you something," Esposito said, looking at Ryan to make sure he agreed. Ryan gave a short, curt nod of his head.

"Okay," Castle said, looking at both of his friends.

"When she wakes up are you going to tell her how you feel?" Esposito asked bluntly. "No bullshit, Castle. You may be our friend, and a damn good partner, but she's like our sister, Bro. You need to either tell her, or let this go once and for all and just be friends without all the baggage."

Castle closed his eyes briefly, letting the emotions wash over him. When he opened his eyes he met them head on. "I told her when she was shot, and I'll tell her again when she wakes up," he told them seriously.

"That's good enough for us," Ryan said, this time with Esposito nodding.

Esposito pulled out the files that the Commissioner had given them and laid them out on the desk. "The Captain sent these to the Commissioner before he bought it, and now we're working under the radar for the Commissioner to solve the case once and for all," he told Castle.

"I want in," Castle said firmly.

Ryan and Esposito looked at each other. Castle had a steel in his voice that neither had heard before, and the look in the man's eyes was slightly disturbing. Esposito sighed and pulled out the detective's badge.

"The Commissioner said to bring you in on this and to give you this, too," he said. "It was Montgomery's when he was a detective. Montgomery wanted you to have it."

Castle took the badge and turned it over in his hand. He didn't let himself show the emotions that were playing out in his mind. Montgomery had been a good man who got caught up in something inadvertently when he was a young cop. He could forgive the man, and he knew Beckett would in time. He would hold onto this badge and try and uphold the integrity that Montgomery had seen in him at some point.

"During this assignment, you're considered a detective like us, Castle," Esposito told him. "Before we get the investigation started, though, you're going to be trained by us. You've shown that you can be counted on to watch our backs, Bro, but this requires proper training. You're getting the crash course over the next few days."

"Alright," Castle nodded. He could deal with that, and knew that when things got back to normal it would come in handy.

"You're not going to like who this points to, Castle, though it's circumstantial," Ryan said, opening the main file and turning it to the man.

Castle skimmed the cover page quickly. His eyes grew cold, almost glacial in their intensity. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The man was a friend! A damn good friend! He spent a moment flipping through some more information while he got his anger under control. Now was not the time to vent and say or do something that he may later regret. When he felt he could speak rationally, he looked up at the other two.

"When do we start?" he asked.

"Tomorrow morning," Ryan told him. "We've got the firing range and one of the small workout gyms reserved. Come by the precinct at 10. That way you can go see Beckett before we spend the day on your training."

For the next couple of hours the three of them went through the information and divided up how the investigation would proceed. Then they talked about the training. They all hated the tedious nature of the conversation, but they also knew that this had to be done right, no matter what. This was for the Captain, and also for Beckett. When Ryan and Esposito left Castle poured himself a stiff drink, downing it in one strong toss. He was angry at what he'd found out, and was trying not to rush over and kill his former friend. He called the hospital to check on Beckett, and finding nothing had changed, he decided to spend some time decompressing. He did what he always did when he needed to think. He sat down with his laptop and began writing. Rapid, frenetic, but productive. When Beckett woke up he wanted to have a first draft of his new Nikki Heat novel finished for her to read. Maybe that would prove to her that he was serious. Before he knew it he was lost in the plot lines and characters of the world of Nikki Heat.

A/N: Like I said I wanted this one to be more of a set up for the rest of the storyline, so this was a shorter one. I hope you enjoyed it. Gregg.