Chapter 8

Esposito and Ryan listened as Castle explained Wright's idea to them,both men were insanely tired but they both wanted a break in the case so they paid careful attention to everything their old friend had to say. Castle for the moment had become the "nine year old on a sugar rush" again and they both knew that meant he was either playing with them or he was onto something. No one would be cruel enough to play games with two men who were as tired as they were at that moment so they decided he had to be onto something.

"Well it makes sense and it is a lead. We were going to start looking into her background tomorrow any way." Ryan says at last and then he let out a loud yawn.

"This isn't going to be easy,we will have to did deep. Tyson will have tried to cover up any connection." Esposito pointed out and then added on a more positive note. "But at least it is some sort of lead even if it isn't solid."

"So you haven't found anything else?" Castle asked despite the fact that he was sure he already knew the answer.

"No,it looks like he got out with the crowd and was in the wind before we could stop him." Esposito answered dejectedly.

"I just can't figure out how he got past our blockades,we had all the streets blocked off." Ryan said and frustration was showing in his voice.

"I'm an idiot." Castle said as he slapped his forehead with his right hand.

"What,did you figure out how he got away?" Ryan asked looking up from the paper work he filling out on his desk.

"All of the building in the area were two stories or larger,did any of them have fire escapes?" Castle asked.

"Yeah a few." Ryan responded suddenly getting where Castle was going.

"And we didn't have any choppers in the area and we didn't have enough men to put one on every roof." Esposito said finishing the thought.

"He just had to get onto one of those roofs and move from building to building until he got past the blocked off streets." Castle continued.

"He would have to be in really good shape to do that." Ryan pointed out.

"If anyone could do it Tyson could. Just look at how easily he got the drop on Wright." Castle replied and then added. "Speaking of that was awfully good timing when her bug went out,any idea how he did it?"

"Yeah CSU found a bunch of radio single jammers set up in the that back room,they were small so we are guessing no one else who worked there noticed them." Ryan reported and he handed Castle a crime scene photo of one of the small jammers sitting on a shelf next to some clearance TVs.

"That still doesn't explain how he knew to set them up in the first place." Esposito said. "How could he have known that a detective with a wire would even be there?"

"That's easy,he's got someone watching us now." Castle said gravely and Esposito and Ryan opened their mouths to object but Castle continued. "It's the only way he could have gotten onto Wright so quickly and been ready for her." No one said anything for a few moments after this and then Esposito spoke,his voice was grim but determined.

"We need to look at security footage for this building for the past few days see if the same bystander turns up more then once."

"That is going to be a job and a half,we also have to go through all the tapes for the past few week from the electronics store for footage of Tyson." Ryan said shaking his head.

"I don't think we have a choice guys." Castle said standing up and stretching. "If there is one thing Beckett taught me it's that you have to follow every lead."

"Yeah it's just going to be a lot of slow work while Tyson is running around free to kill again." Ryan said not bothering to look up from his paperwork,there was still a lot to get through after what had happened that day.

"I wouldn't worry about that." Castle said sitting down and a dead expression passed over his face and when he spoke it was with the voice of a marked and hunted man. "He is mad at me so whatever his next move is I think it will be directly targeted at me and not some random bystander."

"Unless he goes after some random person as a way of getting under your skin." Esposito interjected.

"No,he said he was going to punish me and take everything from me so that means he is coming after me or my family next." Castle said with a depressed sigh.

"You should go home and spend some time with them,they must be worried sick." Ryan said looking up from his paperwork at last.

"I'd rather catch Tyson so I know they are safe." Castle replied.

"You should both head home and see your families." Esposito said in his best boss voice. He wasn't that good at being the no nonsense boss who forced people to do things for their own good but that didn't stop him from trying from time to time. Both men looked up at him and he explained. "Look most of the background stuff is going to have to wait until tomorrow when we are able to talk to people in Jenifer Alan's building and people in your mother's acting class any way so you may as well head home. It's been a long day."

"Alright see you tomorrow Bro." Ryan said standing up and then he headed for the elevator.

It took a moment for Castle to process everything Esposito had said but after a minute or so he forced himself to stand up and without saying a word began to walk slowly out of the the bullpen.

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Castle was mobbed by two worried and somewhat angry redheads the instant he walked through the door and into his loft. At first he thought he might need the help of the police officers who were assigned to the loft in order to make it out alive but fortunately he came up with an exit strategy.

"It's not my blood. Look I will tell you all about it but I need to take a shower and change my clothes first." Castle said. This didn't seem to make either woman happy,especially Alexis who seemed to be fighting back a few worried tears but they did back off and let him make his way to his bed room. Castle then stripped down to his boxer but before he could bring himself to take a shower he had to collapse on his bed and let the day's events sink in. It had bee a long,hard,tiring day and he hadn't had time to let the full weight of what had happened hit him. Castle just lay there for the longest time in the quiet thinking. His mind wondered from 3XK,to Wright,to the fact that Alexis and his mother could be in danger,and then back again. It went on and on like that in a loop,he felt so tired at that moment and that fact was not helping anything. The next thing Castle knew the first rays of morning sunlight were peaking through the bedroom window and into his eyes,had he fallen asleep? He must have fallen asleep,he looked over at the bed side clock and it read seven o three A.M. He couldn't remember the last time he had been tired enough to just fall asleep like that. Still he felt more clear headed and as ready as he could to face the day ahead.

After Castle showered he took a look at himself in the bathroom mirror while he brushed his teeth,he had always hated what he looked like with a beard and in truth the only reason he had grown one was that he had been too depressed to shave but at that moment he was gaining a new lease on life so he decided that it was time to shave it off. Castle then decided that today he wouldn't make it easy for Tyson,he would exercise in his room. He didn't want to let fear rule his life but the events of the past day had shaken him and given what Tyson had said he didn't see any point in temping fate. Plus he was sure his leaving the loft like that would just worry Martha and Alexis and given that they were putting up with police protection to make him feel better he figured that not giving Tyson an easy target was the least he could do,plus if he didn't go for a run it would give him a chance to talk to Martha and Alexis before he left for work.

"Work." that was a strange way to think of it and now that he did think about it since when had he become "that guy",The guy that worked a job he had to leave home for every day? He wasn't getting paid and he didn't have to show up but at that moment he felt compelled to and it wasn't because of Tyson. He had to admit he found working as a cop a lot more fulfilling then writing,he didn't really have anything to write about any more any way did he? He had been on the fence but as he was pushing himself to do his sit ups he decided once and for all he was going back to the 12th full time. He didn't know how he was going to get Gates to let him back in at that moment but he did know that he was finished as a writer and climbing back to the top just didn't interest him,he was going to devote himself full time to helping victims get justice as best he could. Finally the last piece he had been looking for had fallen into place,he had a purpose in life and it had nothing to do with Beckett,that part of his life was over,the rest was ahead of him and he was going to make good,he didn't want or need anyone's help he knew how to do this job well now and he was going to do it. Richard Castle was back and he was going to spend the rest of his life doing what he loved and nothing,not Gates,Beckett running away,and least of all Tyson were going to be able to stop him. Castle decided that this was just one more thing he had to talk to his mother and Alexis about before heading in. He also needed to get his mother to come in and talk to Ryan and Esposito about Jenifer,so far she was the only person in New York that they knew for sure had any solid information about the young woman. Castle finished exercising,got dressed,and then headed out into the main living area of the loft read to have a long talk with both his mother and daughter.

Castle walked out of his room a few minutes later and found the two woman at the kitchen counter having breakfast.

"Sorry about last night,I had some thinking to do." Castle said as he took a seat at the counter. "Now I need to talk to both of you." Castle then went on to describe in detail the events of the past few days and the decision he had made the night before when he finished he just waited for someone to say something. Alexis was the first to speak and when she did it was quiet and there was a sign of worry in her voice.

"So you are going back for good then,even after everything that has happened?" the Young redhead said.

"Well Tyson would be coming after me no matter what so I don't think I have a choice with this case,but yes when it is done I am going back." Castle explained calmly.

"What about your books,Richard?" Martha asked.

Castle let out a sigh before answering this question. "Honestly I think I have written every story I have to tell,I just don't have anything else to put down on paper."

"So that's it you are just going to go out and get yourself killed because Beckett isn't here for you to write about any more?" Alexis piped in and she sounded almost angry.

"This has nothing to do with Beckett." Castle kept his voice calm but he wasn't sure how he could explain to his daughter why he was giving up the job he had done all his life for one that would put him in danger. "I just don't find writing about fake murders when I could be helping to stop real ones all that rewarding." This answer didn't seem to satisfy Alexis so he tried to explain better. "Look I know you have been through a lot and I am sorry I let you feel the fallout when things got bad with Beckett and I know that before I kept going back because of her."

"Then why are you going back now,she isn't there any more?!" Alexis demanded and it seemed that she was almost on the point of tears.

"Because I got things backwards before." Castle tried to explain looking his daughter in the eyes. "I thought the job was there to bring me to Beckett but really Beckett was there to get me to a job. All my life I have been looking for something I was good at and now I have found it and it helps people. When I help solve a case there is always the chance that I have helped in some small way to save a life and I finally figured out that doing that is what I really want to do. I don't plan on seeing Beckett ever again but I know I have to do this from now on."

"I guess I can understand that,but I don't have to like the fact that you are in danger." Alexis said at last calming down.

"I am not asking you to but I am working with good people and most people who do this job come home safe and sound every day. I know this isn't what you thought I would be doing with my life and if you ask me too I will stop,but it does help people and it is what I want to do."

It took Alexis a moment to answer but when she did she had a small smile on her face. "Okay as long as this isn't about Beckett or you being depressed I can handle it."

"Thank you,I promise it isn't." Castle said and then he hugged his daughter.

"I am proud of you dad,I may get upset if you get hurt but I will try not to forget that I am proud of you for helping others." Alexis said as she returned the hug.

"Thanks pumpkin." Was all Castle said as he released his grip on his daughter. Castle then stood up,cleared his throat,and got down to business. "Mother if you are up to it I am going to need you to come into the precinct with me today." He said in a clear voice that didn't betray any of the emotional upset he had been in just a few moments before.

"Why do you need me to come in?" Martha asked her son puzzled.

"Because we haven't found anyone else in New York who knew Jenifer yet so we need you to tell us what you know about her." Castle explained.

"Oh yes, of course Richard. Just give me about twenty minutes and I will be ready." The older woman said and she then exited the kitchen and headed up the stairs to her room to get ready.

"So you really are okay with this?" Castle asked turning to Alexis. He knew she had just said she was but he wanted to be sure,he didn't want to turn her into nervous depressed wreck just because she had said what she thought he wanted to hear.

"Yes I really am." Alexis replied. "I was worried that you going out and getting yourself hurt or killed was your way of trying to prove something to Beckett but now that you have explained everything I'm okay with it. Just be careful,okay?"

"Scout's honor." Castle replied.

"You were never a boyscout." Alexis shot back.

"True,but I did get lost on a hike in the woods once."

"Close enough I guess." Alexis said with a smile.

"You going to be okay alone here?" Castle asked concerned.

"Yeah I will be fine there are cops here and I have some school work to catch up on. You and Grams go do what you need to do. Go save the world." Alexis said and then she kissed her father on the cheek and went off in the direction of her room.

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The questioning went along pleasantly enough,Esposito asked most of the questions since Ryan was busy looking at security footage. Martha was helpful but there was only so much she could tell them. She had an address and could tell them that Jenifer was very dedicated to the craft of acting and was very good at playing death scenes but other then that she didn't have a whole lot to say. It seemed that Jenifer kept things to herself and while she would go on and on excitedly about acting she didn't talk about her personal life while at class. The true interest in acting had been enough to earn her Martha's friendship but it wasn't very helpful to the police. Still when all was said and done and Martha left they did have an address out of it so Esposito and Castle found themselves on the way to check it out some time around ten in the morning. Ryan was left with his security tapes and that got a grumble from him. Castle took some copies of the DvDs with him in the car to look at on his laptop and try to help Ryan out but that did little to brighten the Irishman's outlook on the day he had ahead of him.

The apartment building was in a section of town that was not the best but also was not the worst,in fact if one word could be used to describe the apartment building and it's whole neighborhood it would be average. Everything about the place was average in every way.

Castle and Esposito walked into the lobby and they saw an older man pushing a large garbage can towards the door. He was in working clothes who stood about five and a half feet tall,he was mostly bald with some pure white hair still hanging onto the edges of his scalp,and his back had a slight hump.

"Excuse me do you work here?" Esposito asked the man as he walked up to him.

"Who wants to know?" The old man shot back not even bothering to look up.

"Detective Esposito NYPD." Esposito said holding out his I.D but the man didn't stop pushing the garbage can or even look up at Esposito or the I.D. "Does this woman live here?" Esposito continues as he holds out a picture of Jenifer. This gets the old man's attention and he stops pushing the trash can and looks up at the picture.

"Yeah I'm the super and I can tell you she lives on the third floor but I haven't seen her lately,still she is paid up till the end of the month so what do I care." The old man says a moment later while making it clear that they are intruding and there are a lot of things he would rather be doing then answering a lot of questions from Castle and Esposito. "What did she do that has you coming around here?"

"She was murdered almost two weeks ago." Esposito replied.

"Guess that explains why I haven't seen her around." The old man said dryly not showing any concern or emotion of any kind. "I can let you into the room if you want." Castle suspected that the old man was not trying to be helpful as much as he was trying to get rid of them so he could get back to work,he didn't know the guy's story but he took an instant dislike to anyone who could hear that fellow member of the human race had been murdered and not have any kind of reaction to it.

"In a minute first what is your name,sir?" Epsosito asked.

"Fred Thomson." The man answered gruffly,his mood was not improving.

"Alright is there anything you can tell us about ?" Esposito asked.

"Not much other then the fact that she moved in about eleven months ago and always paid her rent on time,I mind my own business." Thomson answered and then added rather tersely. "Look do you want me to let you into the room or not,I have a lot of work to do."

That was the last straw and it caused Castle to snap,he stepped forward into Thomson's face and spoke harshly. "Look a woman was just murdered and we are trying to catch the guy who did it before he kills again,you can take five minutes to answer a few questions!" Castle was just barely holding his rage in check.

"Look pal I didn't see nothing that could help you." Thomson shot back.

"So you did see something that could help us." Castle countered.

All this seemed to do was confuse Thomson who turned to Esposito. "Who is this guy?" He demanded.

"This is Richard Castle,he is working with the department on this case." Esposito explained keeping calm and professional. "We do need you to answer a few questions because we believe may have been stalked and her killer will kill someone else if he is not caught. Anything you can remember about her may help us."

Thomson seemed to soften a bit upon hearing those words and while he wasn't exactly friendly he seemed to have decided to at least try to help for the time being. As Castle and Esposito headed up to the third floor apartment they learned from Thomson that he all he knew about Jenifer Alan was that she was taking some kind of acting class and that she worked at a coffee shop down the street. He couldn't tell them anything about her friends or family and he didn't know if she was dating anyone. They showed him a picture of Tyson but he was pretty sure he had never seen him before in his life. It was none to soon for Thomson when Esposito handed him a card and asked him to call if he remembered anything. Thomson left Castle and Esposito standing in front of the unlocked door of apartment 305 as he went back about his business,the whole murder thing had not seemed to phase him at all.

"Try not to touch anything,CSU will be here in a bit to check for prints. If you are right maybe we will get lucky and Tyson will have left something behind." Esposito said as he pushed the door opened. Castle nodded that he understood and followed his friend into the small apartment.

The apartment was one room with a small bathroom and a decent sized closet. There was a bed,a desk with a laptop on it,a small round table with two chairs,and a dresser sitting next to the bed but Castle's eyes were drawn to the bookcase that was opposite the door. Castle walked over and began studying the books carefully while Esposito seemed more interested in the laptop.

"Well he has been here,the hard drive has been ripped out of the computer." Esposito said walking over to Castle who was looking intently at the spines of the books on the shelf. Castle didn't respond so Esposito continued. "Also I don't think CSU will find anything,the bathroom and the rest of this place is insanely clean. Looks like Tyson cleaned up after himself." Castle still didn't respond so Esposito stepped between him and the book shelf. "Dude is there something wrong?" He asked.

"Does anything about these books strike you as a little odd?" Castle responded with a question still looking at the books and not meeting Esposito's gaze.

"It's a bookcase full of books." Esposito replied simply.

"There are fifty three books on this case and they are all either about the after life or near death experiences. They are all about what happens when or after you die." Castle said thoughtfully as he picked up one of the books and handed it to Esposito.

"Yeah that is kind of creepy." Esposito admitted.

"Tell me about it. It's not normal for a girl in her mid twenties to be so fixated on death." Castle said as he took a look at one of the other books. "Also the ones about near death experiences all seem to be written by people who suffered some form of violent attack. Bombs in war zones,shootings,stabbings,and this woman was nearly killed by a shark." Castle held up the book he was skimming through so Esposito could see the cover. "Either I am crazy or that is not normal."

"You are not crazy,something was up with this woman." Esposito said as he returned the book he was holding to it's place on the shelf.

"I think this tells use something about Jenifer." Castle said taking a breath.

"That she was an Emo kid?" Esposito ventures.

"No,something more that." Castle said and after a moment he began to explain his theory. "I think she lost someone close to her violently,she may or may not have seen it. She has spent her life trying to reconnect with that person and looking for hope,hence the books. Her life feels empty to her so she took to acting because she could lose herself in another person and forget about her life and her lose. I don't know how she got on Tyson's radar or why he got close enough that he had to hide his connection with her but I think all this somehow made her different from his other victims and when we catch him we will find that she was the first one he killed on this spree."

Esposito took a minute to think about this before replying. "That is an interesting theory,but how does it help us catch Tyson?"

"I don't know." Castle admitted. "But it does help us understand him and it is more then we knew this morning so that is something."

"Yeah I guess. I just wish we had found something really useful here,like his home address." Esposito said as he turned and headed to the door.

"Me too,But this is Tyson we are talking about. I don't think we will get that lucky." Castle replied and he turned to follow the detective.

"Well come on we need to question the other people who live here,see if they know anything." Esposito said and with that he and Castle walked out of the apartment closing the door behind them.

Questioning the other tenants turned up exactly zilch. No one was able to add anything that Castle and Esposito didn't already know. The same went for the coffee shop. People said Jenifer was nice and that she was studying acting but other then that they couldn't add much. They didn't know who her friends where or if she had a boyfriend and none of them could remember seeing Tyson. This left both men in a pretty bad mood when they finally finished around two in the after noon. They then decided to use their lunch break to go check in on Wright at the hospital,they drove back to the 12th first to pick up Ryan and then headed over to the hospital. No one said much on the way other and there was a wait to see Wright because the doctor was checking on her,finally they got into the room. The three men made small talk with Wright and her parents for about five minutes before Wright's father led her mother out so that Wright could have some time to talk to her team alone before they had to head back to work.

"So how are you doing?" Esposito asked taking a step closer to Wright.

"I have some pain and I fall asleep every few hours but other then that I feel fine." Wright said and then added. "You know for someone who can't stand corpses I came close to being one so considering that I feel really good,you don't have to worry."

"I'm sorry I let you down. It was my job to keep you safe on that operation and I failed." Esposito said with guilt written all over his face.

"Look let's not do this." Wright pleaded looking up at Esposito. "My whole family are cops and you have been a cop for a long time,we both know sometimes cops get hurt on the job and there is no one to blame but the perps. It isn't your fault and I don't blame you. Let's leave it at that,okay?" Esposito nodded that he understood. In truth he understood in his head but it didn't make him feel much better.

"So any idea when they are going to let you out of here?" Ryan asked changing the subject.

"They say I should be able to go home in a week or so if everything goes alright but they will not know for sure for a while." Wright answered with a weak smile.

"So I guess that means you will be back kicking ass in no time." Ryan observed.

"I'm afraid the doctors are saying it will be a few months before they let me back on the force." Wright said with a hint of frustration creeping into her voice.

"Well don't worry,your desk will be waiting for you when you get out." Esposito reassured her.

"I'm not worried about that." Wright said a few moments later. "I just wanted to help take this guy down and now I am going to have to sit out the rest of this case,plus I am going out of my mind with nothing to do here."

Upon hearing this Castle perked up,he had an idea. "Wait here I few minutes,I'll be right back." He said with a smile and then he dashed out of the room and down to the parking garage. Once he was down there he made his way to the car,this took longer then he thought it would since he found that he couldn't quite remember where he,Ryan,and Esposito had parked,but at last he found the car that he could have sworn was hiding from him on purpose. Once Castle got to the care he opened the front passenger said door and gathered up all the dvds of footage from the precinct and the electronics store that he and Ryan had been looking at all day. Next he opened up his laptop and after deleting his internet history and some of his bookmarks closed it up and grabbed it and it's power cable in his other hand and made his way back into the hospital.

Castle was making his way down the hall to Wright's room with his little surprise when he ran right into and the dvds in his left hand were scattered across the floor.

"Oh I'm sorry ." Smith said as she bent down to help Castle pick up the dvds.

"No,it was my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going." Castle said as he stood up while handed him the last three dvds. "I don't think we were properly introduced yesterday,I'm Rick Castle."

"Julie, Smith." replied. "I know who you are,I have read your books."

"Oh,a fan?" Castle asked.

"Well let's just say your books are better then the magazines they keep in the waiting room." Smith replied playfully.

"Well that has always been my goal in life. To write books that are slightly better then the magazines in a hospital's waiting room." Castle returned.

"Speaking of any idea when your next book is coming out?" Smith asked.

"As soon as I get an idea." Castle admitted suddenly he was having a lot less fun then he had been a few few seconds before,Smith seemed to sense this and she stepped in and changed the subject. "I take it you are here to see detective Wright." She said trying to keep things light.

"Yeah,can you tell me how bad she really is?" Castle asked,this was a fairly heavy topic but he was glad to get off the subject of his writers block since thinking about that lead him to thinking about Beckett and how things had ended with her and he had promised Alexis he would move on and that was what he intended to do,but having people remind him of her didn't help him with that task.

"Well there is good news it looks like she will be alright." Smith began to explain as Castle listened intently,this was the first good news he had had all day. "There was a lot of bleeding but the knife just missed everything vital. Now I can't understate how painful the recovery is going to be or how careful she will have to be in order to avoid complications but she should be able to make a full recovery assuming nothing unexpected goes wrong."

"That's not what I expected." Castle said thoughtfully,suddenly not paying much attention to Smith and instead getting lost in his own thoughts.

"I'll admit I didn't expect it either. It couldn't have gone better if the attacker had been trying to avoid killing her,she was very lucky." Smith replied.

"Yeah lucky." Castle said still lost in his own thoughts. "Did Tyson leave her alive on purpose,if so why?"

"Well I need to get back to work,it was nice meeting you ." Smith said and then she turned and went back about her business. The whole conversation had left Castle more then a little confused,not just the information about Wright's wound but the way he had reacted had puzzled Castle. He had always assumed that after Beckett he was done but had he just been flirting with that woman? He hadn't meant to and truth be told he didn't know he was doing it when it happened but it was like some long lost instinct had taken over him and controlled his actions and body language. Then again why did this bother him? He and Beckett were done,what was wrong with moving on and why did he feel bad about it? Castle shrugged and decided to put those problems aside for another day since he knew Ryan and Esposito would have to head back to work soon,so he decided to drop off his present for Wright and then get back to work on the case.

Castle found Ryan and Esposito chatting with Wright when he entered the room and strange as it seemed they were all relaxed and seemed more like a team then they had at any point since Castle had come on board the case. "Hey I got something for you if it's okay with Esposito." Castle said as he walked towards the bed. Esposito looked up at what Castle was carrying and nodded his approval.

"What is it?" Wright asked puzzled. Castle went on to explain about how Ryan was having a hard time going through all the footage from the precinct and the electronics store alone looking for someone who turned up in both places. "So if you are really board I figured you could look through it and see what you could find,an extra pair of eyes never hurts."

"Thanks I am so board and I don't want to let this guy get away. Hand it over." Wright said with a smile and Castle handed her the laptop and the discs.

Esposito then looked at his watch. "Hey I think we need to get back to work guys." He said switching to boss mode. The other two men nodded,they said their goodbys to Wright and then headed out leaving her looking intently at the screen to Castle's laptop.

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When all three men got back to the 12th Ryan and Esposito sat down at Esposito's desk to compare notes and run other what if anything they had learned that day. Castle didn't join them instead he peeked in through the blinds into Captain Gates' office and he let out a sigh when he saw that she seemed to just be doing paper work at that moment. Castle was hoping that she would be busy so he would have a good reason to put off having the conversation he was planing on having,he was not looking forward to it at all. He didn't suppose "Iron" Gates would respond well to the news that he planed on coming back full time and surmised that he had a full blown fight on his hands and he really wasn't in the mood for it. Still he figured it was better to get it out of the way sooner rather then latter and he had better chance of getting Gates to agree when she needed him on a case then when she didn't so he screwed up his courage,took a breath,and knocked on the door to her office. Suddenly Castle felt like a kid who was in trouble at school,he wanted to leave but Gates answered the knock with a "Come in." and it was too late.

"Oh, ." Gates said as Castle entered the room closing the door behind him,he figured there was no reason why anyone else should have to hear Gates' screams of terror when he gave her the news. Gates motioned for Castle to have a seat but he decided he would be able to get through the whole ordeal better if he was standing.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." He said after a moment.

"What is that?" Gates asked giving him nowhere to go with the conversation other then just saying what he wanted.

"It's about after this case is done,The fact is I think I have proven myself around here and I know I am not a cop but I would like to come back and help out on cases again. I wouldn't be shadowing anyone I would just be helping out with cases when I can." Gates didn't seem to scream and Castle took that as a good sigh and continued. "It is up to you and if you say no I will not be going to the Mayor or anything like that I just want to help because I feel useful here."

Gates kept Castle waiting for about thirty seconds of pure hell where he couldn't read her face,Castle guessed that she had used that face to break many a dirty cop in her day,and then she finally replied. "As long as you understand that I am in charge and you follow our rules I don't have any problem with that." She said at last and this took Castle aback,he was expecting to have to fight to come back and he really wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Really?" Castle asked rather weakly.

"Really." Gates replied. "Look I may not have liked the idea of you working cases when I first took over here but I am not an idiot. Now if you repeat what I am about to say you will be out of this place so fast there will be skid marks on the floor because I have a reputation to keep up." Castle nodded that he understood and then Gates continued. "You do a good job on this team. You clearly care about the victims,you see details others miss,and you do keep the team's spirits up with your insanity. However I could use a little less of that in future. What is more the case closer rate does jump up while you are here. I am not just a paper pusher I do care about the job so I am not going to turn down good help when it is offered but remember I am the boss."

"Yes sir." Castle said and then he just stood in place stunned,that was the last thing he had expected Gates to say when he entered the room.

"Is there anything else?" Gates asked.

"Oh sorry." Castle said,it was all he could think to say and then he tried to explain. "I just figured I would have to fight to get back in and this is a bit of a shock."

"Well everything I said was true and plus I figured that given what has happened the past few months we should try to get along better for the sake of our kids." Gates said in what was almost a relaxed and off hand manor.

"Yeah I guess you are right...Wait what?!" Castle injected the last part about kids puzzled him. "What did you mean by that?" he asked.

Now it was Gates' turn to be surprised. "I just meant that given what has happened between my oldest son and your daughter the past few months we should at least try to be friends." Gates said and then she seemed to realize that she had made a huge mistake and back tracked. "Wait Alexis hasn't said anything about this to you has she?" The older woman said.

"Anything about what,what is going on between your oldest son and my daughter?" Castle asked he was now worried and afraid. He had a hunch he knew what she was talking about and the idea filled him with horror.

"If Alexis hasn't said anything then forget I said anything,I am not coming between a father and daughter." Gates said trying to end the conversation and for the first time since he had met her Castle could swear the captain was embarrassed about something.

Suddenly Castle started to put the pieces together. "Wait your oldest son is in college right,He doesn't happen to go to the same college Alexis goes to does he?" Castle asked and his face became white as a sheet.

"As a matter of fact he does,but you didn't hear that from me and I would advise you not to talk to Alexis about anything you may or may not know because of something I may or may not have said." Gates replied suddenly becoming a spokesperson for the C.I.A. "Now will you please leave my office I have work to do."

Castle stepped out of Gates' office in a complete state of shock,nothing could have prepared him for what had just happened in that room. He didn't need a sixteen ton weight to fall on him in order to get the picture. Alexis was dating Gates' son and had been doing so for months. Suddenly the image of himself having to sit across the table from "Iron" Gates and family at Thanksgiving dinner passed in front of his eyes and a cold chill ran down his spine. It was one things to have to deal with Gates at work it was another to have to make nice in his personal life,this just couldn't work. Castle could see only one hope,both Alexis and Gates' son were in college so if he was lucky the relationship would not last.

It was as Castle was trying calm himself down and focus on the case again that his cellphone rang,he picked it up and saw that it was a call from the last person he needed to talk to at that moment,his daughter Alexis.

Castle answered the phone with a sigh but he was still in too much a state of shock to speak so Alexis spoke first. "Hey dad,hows the case going?" Alexis asked cheerfully.

"It's coming fine." Castle said evenly,he knew Gates was right and it would be a mistake to confront her with what he knew so he didn't say anything else because he couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Well I just called because I thought I would let you know that you got a package in from Beckett." Alexis said carefully,she clearly didn't want to upset her father.

This jerked Castle out of his grim thoughts,he couldn't think for the life off him what Beckett would be sending to him now. "Are you sure it is from her?" He asked.

"Well it has her name on it and a D.C return address,I guess she must have found some stuff you left at her place while she was moving in and sent it back to you. Any way I put it in you office." Alexis replied clearly trying to keep from upsetting him,she knew her father didn't like thinking about Beckett.

"Yeah I am sure that is it." Castle said and then another worse thought pasted through his mind,he didn't like it but he couldn't remember leaving anything at Beckett's apartment that she would have taken with her when she moved. Castle decided he had to act on his idea even if he he was panicking over nothing. When Castle next spoke he kept his voice calm but urgent. "Alexis I want you to listen to me,I need you and your grandmother to get out of the loft now. Leave the package there and get out."

"Why?" Alexis asked clearly puzzled.

"Never mind just get out now."

"Okay I'll ge..." Alexis began and then Castle heard a sound that made his blood run cold,a loud explosion.

Panic took him over as he yelled into the phone. "Alexis?! ALEXIS!" No reply came and the line went dead.

Sorry it has taken so long please leave a review and let me know that you thought of this chapter. Thanks for your support.