AN: Here's another chapter for you! Please review and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 3

Alexis Castle was a woman on a mission. She and her grandmother had just finished a long talk about her dad's time in the FBI. She had learned that he had been a rising star when he left; it was likely that he would be in the upper echelon of the Bureau if he had stayed. The stories she heard when they had attended his re-swearing ceremony made her realize that her dad was much more than she had thought. According to some folks that she spoke to that day her dad was something of a legend under his birth name.

But what had her upset was that her mother had known all of this but had been so selfish as to put her so-called career first. Alexis looked back at her mother as an actress and shook her head. Meredith had never even made the b-list! Her biggest claim to fame was her 36 seconds on an episode of NCIS. She played a woman coming from a gym that was killed 36 seconds by a bullet. She had to shower, dress, grab a juice, walk out of a building and fall down. Oh, and lay very still on a slab for 5 seconds. Not exactly Emmy stuff unless they had a category for most likely to die in 36 seconds.

And now the woman had the audacity to show up at the loft unannounced. Alexis was sure that this did not bode well and she was going to nip it in the bud. She stalked off the elevator and made her way to the front door. Opening the door, she saw her mother standing amidst a sea of bags. Meredith turned around and smiled as Alexis stuck her phone to her ear. "Hi, John…we are going to need a car here at the loft. I don't know the destination, it will be provided once your passenger determines it. Fifteen minutes? Thanks." Alexis hung up the phone.

"Alexis, honey, what's going on?"

"What's going, Mom...is you. Why are you here?"

"I need a reason to visit my beautiful daughter?"

"Cut the crap, Mom. What do you need from Dad?"

"Wow, honey, calm down. I just need a little loan until the paperwork goes through on a second mortgage of the house in Malibu."

"You are trying to take out a loan on a house that you don't own? Are you purposely being vapid Mom or are you really that stupid? No reputable bank would loan you money on someone else's property."

"Oh, come on, honey. Don't believe everything you see. I can convince your dad to loan me the money and sign over the house to me. I haven't had a good scratch to my itch in months!"

"Oh my God, Mom! You did not just tell me you were planning to have sex with Dad for money? Oh, wait, that's how you got so far in life, wasn't it? Demeaning yourself for promises of roles and money? No wonder Dad divorced you! You have no morals." Alexis had missed the door opening and Kate and Rick coming in.

Alexis glanced over and saw the two of them looking at her in shock, but this tirade had been building for a long time. "You know, Mom, for a long time I wondered why you left us. Then for a few years I almost blamed Dad. But as I got older I realized something. We were better off without you. Dad needs someone who will support him and love him and you can't even support yourself. You are forty years old Mom; yet here you are trying to use your body to get money from your ex-husband. How pathetic is that anyway? You should just face facts Mom. You are not a good actress. You are not a good mother. You must not have been a good wife. What are you good at besides selling yourself?" With that she stormed upstairs and went to her room, slamming her door.

Meredith stood there in shock. She could hardly get a word in edgewise and wasn't really sure how she would have responded anyway. The intercom buzzed and she watched as Rick went to answer it. He turned around and looked at Meredith with an expression on his face that she had never seen from him before. It was disgust.

"Meredith, there is a car downstairs waiting for you. I think you've finally managed to anger our daughter so much that she is through with you. Please do not come back. Do not call. If she wants to talk to you, she will call you. I've put up with you and made the mistake of seeing you when you came into town, but I won't ever make that a mistake again. You need to leave and take your bags with you." He took her bags and threw them out in the hall. "Goodbye, Meredith." He ushered her out and closed the doors.

Kate stood quietly and let the events unfold without comment. She looked over at Rick and moved to put an arm on his back as she hugged him. "Do you want me to go check on Lex?"

He shook his head. "When she gets like this, she's best left alone for an hour or so. Then we'll go up together and see what she has to say."

Kate looked at him for a moment and shrugged. "I'm just going to see if she's hungry. Feel like going out for dinner?"

"Sure. Are you thinking anything in particular?"

Kate thought for a moment. "Pasta sounds good."

"Italian it is. You check on her and I will make a reservation." Rick watched her head up the stairs and smiled. He loved that she wanted to check on Alexis...she didn't realize it, but she already had the girl thinking of her as her mother. He scrolled through his phone and called the restaurant.

TCOP2

Alexis looked up at the knock on her door. "Come in."

Kate opened the door and leaned on the opening. "You okay, Lex?"

"Yeah. I just don't get her sometimes. Sometimes she talks to me like I'm five and other times she tells me she plans to have sex with Dad."

Kate's eyes narrowed. "She wanted to have sex with Rick when he is engaged?"

"I don't think she cares as long as she gets what she wants, Kate. She was going to try to get him to give her some money and was willing to throw herself at him to get it."

Kate snorted. "I bet you freaked her out when you yelled at her."

Alexis grinned impishly. "It felt good, too. She has taken advantage of Dad for years! I think it made more of an impact coming from me as opposed to you because she didn't expect it from me."

"I think you're right. Anyway, I came up to see if you wanted to go out to dinner with us."

"I'm starving! Where are you going?"

"Well...I don't know. I mentioned pasta to your dad."

"Awesome! He'll call Pepolino's I bet. I better grab a dress and clean up. Meet you guys in twenty?"

"Sounds good. I'll change, too and we'll wow your dad."

Alexis giggled. "Sounds like a plan." She turned as Kate closed the door and went into the bathroom to get ready.

TCOP2

Rick sat at the end of the bed while Kate looked for a dress to wear. "Was she okay?"

"She was fine, Rick. I would say that she was relieved. She said that Meredith had it coming."

"I wonder what Meredith said to make her mad. She's usually not like that."

"Well, whatever it was, she was excited to go to dinner." She turned around with a burgundy dress and laid it on the bed. "I'll be right out. How far is the restaurant?"

"Quite a few blocks. I have a car ordered and our reservation is for 6:30 so we have almost an hour."

"Okay." She headed into the bathroom and refreshed her makeup. She came out and slipped her dress on and stepped into her shoes. She transferred a few things into her small purse and headed out to meet Rick and Alexis.

Twenty minutes later she smiled as Rick helped her out of the car. She joined Alexis as Rick let the driver know about how long they would be. Kate looked around...as many years as she had been in New York she had never dined here before. The red awning with 'Pepolino Ristorante' in a happy script beckoned you to come in. Rick rejoined them and they made their way inside. Kate was captivated by the wood floors and brick walls. The whole place had an ambience of romance and family.

She looked up as a young woman approached. "Rick? Oh it is so great to see you!" She leaned up and kissed his cheek then turned to Alexis. "Lexi!" She leaned over and hugged the teen. "Oh, little Lexi! Papa will be sad that he was not here to see how beautiful you have grown!" She then turned to Kate. "And you must be Ms. Beckett! Rick has talked about you often!"

Kate looked at Rick. "He has? Well, it's nice to meet you."

"Oh, my manners! Welcome to Pepolino's… I'm Angelique." She smiled at the three of them and looked at Kate. "I've known Rick and Alexis since she was little and I was a teenager. My father has worked here for many years and I waitressed here while I was in high school and college. Rick wrote a very nice letter of introduction when I applied to Harvard to get my business degree. Luckily I had good grades in high school and managed a good scholarship."

Kate smiled. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Thank you. Now let me show you to your table." She led them to a table in the back of the restaurant and handed them their menus. "Gregory will be serving you tonight. I will have a bottle sent to your table. Buon appetito!"

Kate looked at Rick. "How does she know what wine to send?"

"Ah...well we are regulars here and I have a few bottles stored for our use."

"Ah, so a Chianti?"

Rick smiled. "You would think. But I found a great Argentine wine that works best, so I have a few bottles stored here."

At that point, a young man approached the table. "Buonasera, I am Gregory and I will be your server this evening. Welcome back, Mr. Castle, Miss Castle. And welcome, Miss Beckett." He pulled a bottle of wine from behind his back and three glasses. He opened the wine and poured a small bit into Rick's glass. Rick lifted the glass and took a whiff then a sip and nodded. Gregory poured the wine into all three glasses and set the bottle on the table. "Are you ready to order?"

Kate looked at Rick. "You order for me."

Rick nodded. "Alexis will have the Spaghetti Ai Gamberi; the lady and I will have Pollo Alla Buco and Costolette D'agnello."

Gregory nodded. "Very good sir. I'll be back to check on you shortly." He walked away towards the kitchen.

Kate pulled the bottle towards her after she took a sip. "2006 Trapiche Bonarda Broquel...this is really good!"

Alexis smiled at her dad. "Dad let me try some last time and I liked it. So I get a half glass with dinner and then I drink water. But it is good."

Rick smiled. "I wanted to share my love of good wine with her. She used to get sparkling grape juice, but when she turned 16 I decided she could have a little wine on special occasions."

Alexis grinned. "Can I propose a toast?" She raised her glass. "To Dad and Kate, may you have a happy life together!"

They all sipped their wine and made conversation while they waited for their meals to arrive.

TCOP2

William Bracken was not a happy man. He had tried to call his people to come make bail for him, but he had gotten no responses. He saw on the news that his arrest was the top story. He looked at the list of names that had been released and his ego plummeted; they had done a thorough job at identifying his network. Once he had seen the list he realized that he was not getting out anytime soon. His assets had been frozen and he could not even afford to hire an attorney.

He was still being held in the holding cells of the Metro Police. His arraignment hearing was scheduled for the next day, but he knew that the charges would stick. His run for the Presidency was through; hell, any further political aspirations were trashed. How had the FBI gotten involved? He knew he should have gotten rid of that Beckett broad!

The lawyers that had been appointed for him were little more than fresh graduates from law school. But his massive resources from just a few weeks ago were so ravaged that he had no other options; he had to take what he was give…for now at least. He would return, and when he did, he would remove that bitch that put him there.

TCOP2

Rachel McCord was the chief investigator for the Attorney General's office. She had been assigned to review the evidence collected by the task force and look for any gaps. As she dug through the records compiled by the team, she kept seeing Kate Beckett's name. She had heard of Beckett and did a background check on her; at one point Beckett had been considered to be approached for recruitment but there had not been an appropriate reason for contact. As she went over the rest of the team she saw Rick Rodgers and it sparked a memory.

She had been working on a particularly difficult case involving a human trafficking ring and the BAU had been called in to assist. She hated the head shrinks because they usually got the glory after the initial team couldn't crack the case.

She had heard that they were sending in some hotshot rookie agent; evidently they didn't even rate the help of one of the veterans. This pissed her off. The people they were tracking were dangerous and were responsible for hundreds of kids going missing. They needed someone who could really help not some Ivy League prepster with connections!

In walks this guy that exudes confidence. She takes in the outer appearance and shakes her head. She had been in the Civil Rights Unit for three years and had seen some really bad things. She wasn't sure the BAU agent had even been on a case yet.

He walked up to her. "Rick Rodgers, BAU. You're Agent McCord, right?"

She narrowed her eyes. "How did you know?" She was one of several female agents so she didn't think it would be easy to zone in on her.

He smiled. "Agent Rachel McCord…twenty seven years old, newly married and top of her class at the Academy. Coffee drinker…enjoys golfing and is a rabid baseball fan, especially the…Cincinnati Reds?"

She stared at him, dumbfounded. "Did you do a background check on me?"

He laughed. "No."

"Then how did you know all that?"

He grinned. "Well, let's see…your Academy diploma is from four years ago, making you twenty seven. You play with your wedding ring, which most likely means it's new to you. You have a stained coffee cup on your desk next to a pack of breath mints, so you likely drink your coffee black. You have just a couple personal items in your office…a picture of you and a man in wedding clothing, a desktop putting green for de-stressing and a baseball in a case, signed by Davy Concepcion, arguably the best ever shortstop in the game and a part of the Big Red Machine."

She grinned. "Not bad, Rodgers. Ready to help me catch some bad guys?"

"Let's grab a cup of coffee and show me what you have so far." She nodded and headed towards the kitchenette.

As she came out of her musing, she closed the case files. With his help they had cracked the case and put the 'bad guys' behind bars. It had been the biggest bust she was a part of during her tenure. When she left the FBI several years ago to work for the AG, she had been selected in part due to her work on that case. She grinned when she thought of the day she had met Rick Rodgers. The last she had heard he had left the Bureau; she would definitely have to find him and see what was going on.

TCOP2

Dak Thorne smiled as he hung up the phone. He looked over at his Army buddy Jack Hunt. They sat looking at each other for a couple of minutes before either spoke. "Looks like we were able to get the situation with Montgomery resolved; the AG's office just confirmed immunity for his testimony. We're going to spin it as a sting operation."

Hunt nodded. "Good. What about the staff?"

"It seems that the Senator's staff was quick to turn on him; he was not kind to them. His top aide handed over both the official and personal calendars without being asked. One of the interns admitted to being pressured to submit to his sexual advances and that started the ball rolling. We are adding multiple counts of sexual harassment to his already impressive list of charges."

"So any luck with Richard?"

Thorne grinned. "I think so. His weakness is his girlfriend. I let him know I would issue a Federal permit for her to carry as a thank you for his acceptance as a reserve SAC. He wanted time so I gave him till the end of the day. He called me earlier to tell me he would let me know by nine PM."

Hunt smiled. "Good. Now where are we on the Iranians?"