Alexis strained to hear what they were saying,
"I am just so scared Javi, what if we don't get there in time and we go through all of this only to find him dead" Lanie's voice shook with fear.
"Look chica, you have to trust the plan, Castle's Dad will come through for us, and he made the plan happen when Alexis was saved, so we have to trust he can make this one work too." Javi placed his arm around her shoulders and looked around for anyone else who had lingered on, and when he didn't see anyone due to the long Fourth of July weekend ahead of them, he felt free to steal a long kiss, however what happened next made both of them jump,
"Okay, I want to know right now what you two are up to!" Alexis shouted.
"Oh, hi there hun, we were just getting ready to leave for our trip to the Catskill Mountains, we…"
Alexis cut her off abruptly. "No you were not, you have information on my father and my guess is you haven't told Kate either"
"I am not sure you heard right Alexis we were just, we were saying how much Castle and Beckett would have…" Espo chimed in.
"No, do NOT try to even cover this up, I cannot believe he is alive, and I cannot believe you wouldn't tell Kate of all people, that is just so wrong, she loved him, she is heartbroken!" She admonished him.
"Look Alexis hun, we cannot talk here, she will be back any moment, how about we meet after you get done with your dinner, make up some excuse to not go back to the loft and meet us up the street at that little café with the red and green curtains" Lanie spoke to Alexis in a calming manner and with her arm around her to comfort her, "we will explain everything".
"Okay, but you better not think you can avoid me or I will run screaming to Kate, he is my Dad and I am an adult now, I deserve to know!" Lanie and Espo looked at each other as if to say "Wow, she is just lie her father" but they felt it would not be wise to stay and get caught by Kate when she came up from the records room.
"Okay, okay, eight and we WILL be there" and with that they were both gone.
Just as the elevator doors close, Kate came around the corner and glanced up seeing Alexis smile, she said, "Hey there, I'm almost ready to go, did you figure out where you would like to go for dinner?"
"Yeah, I'm in the mood for pizza, can we go to Authentic Nick's?" She said.
"Okay, but you know Terrific Nick's pizza is better, at least that is what they say" Kate teased and they laughed.
It was no use, once they told Alexis the plan there was no stopping her from going. She, of course, would not be in any danger, and would try very hard not to get in the way, but she was still going to be one of the first to wrap her arms around her father. Her father was alive, for now, that was so very nice to say to herself, she was so upset and despondent from his death like her all in all was gone, she didn't eat well, like Kate, and she also was not sleeping right. A very large part of her desire to stay at the loft most of the time was gone and so she was staying in Button's apartment on and off, so it was not so unusual when she told Kate she was joining Button's family on a last minute trip to the Catskill Mountains to her family retreat.
Everyone met at the airport, except Jenny for obvious reasons, and boarded the first trip for most of them to parts around Europe, even Lanie and Esposito did not have the luxury of flying as a couple. The flight was long and hard on Alexis who drifted off into fitful dreams due to her nerves over finding her father dead by the time they got there. The compound that he was being kept at was heavily guarded with barbed wire and it was no surprise that they all had to cross the Spanish boarder to get there. The reason for this maneuver was not to draw attention on many of Castle's friends and family going on a trip together and to land in the same place as well. Hunt said they could not be too careful and had asked the Turkish government to help with the attack by giving them some of their best militant soldiers to perform the task of raiding the compound when they stormed it. They were pretty sure of the location of Castle within the building because informants who were hired on without the knowledge of the entire case.
The whole plan was to be carried out by people from all over the globe who were a part of Mr. Hunt's secret organization; they were mercenary soldiers who helped when the government couldn't carry out a task without causing major casualty and distress to the people who they were saving. One thing that the team was realizing by this whole operation was that the CIA and the FBI, even Homeland Security had their limits and in the end it was up to the individual secret cluster groups to get it done.
As the group surrounded the compound, they checked their final connections and directions. No one had better screw up because it would put many of them in danger. Lanie and Alexis were positioned in the van several miles away listening to the plan unfold, and as much as Alexis begged her grandfather, there was no way she was going to be part of the final take over. This conversation took part the night before at a small cabin located at the edge of France.
"But I can do this, since my Dad has been with Beckett, and because of when I was taken last time, my Dad has taught me to protect myself, I am a sharp shot with a gun and I know every take down move …I can show you… I" She begged.
"Alexis, it is not that I don't want your help and I know you have been learning how to be a better prepared person due to our last time here, but I just cannot take the chance!" Hunt retorted, "You're father and grandmother would kill me and…"
"I am going, my father is in there and we don't know if he is alive or not, sure we have people telling us that no harm has been done but I really don't know for sure, I…"
"You need to trust he is Alexis and you have to trust me! I realize that is hard, I know I have not been the ideal grandfather, but …"
"But what, say it, start today being my grandfather, start by telling me WHY I can't go in there…be honest for once in your life!" She was desperate, the thought of not being able to participate was killing her, she wanted to be there, be able to hug him, thinking he was dead nearly killed her as well, she even contemplated leaving college and working more on the sales end of his books, to keep his legacy going. She wanted to know what it was that was dangerous and to be treated like she mattered…
"It's because, I love you, okay! There I said it!"
Alexis was stunned. She didn't think that this man who never seemed to want to be around for her family, was even the least bit connected to her.
"I love you; you are my granddaughter in every sense of the word. Oh sure I realize that all I have are pictures of when you were growing up and times when I could get away to watch you and your Dad personally myself, it killed me not having a relationship with you and your father, it was a sacrifice I had to make, I had to remain an arm's length away. Do you understand why?"
"NO! You don't get to make excuses to keep me away, again! I want my Dad to know I am there to fight for him, to get out, and further more I resent that you kept Beckett, my grandmother, and myself out of this process and allowed us to grieve for him, do you even realize what he means to all of us, do you?" she continued without changing tone and attitude, all of the feeling of the missed wedding, the grief she had felt over his death, and the resentment that this man was still screwing up their lives with his so called "Connections" was bubbling to the top and exploding.
"I wept for days! Beckett walks through her days like a ghost of the woman she was, my grandmother had to bury her son before herself which is an UNTHINKABLE pain! So NO! I really don't want to hear how sorry you are and I don't want to be told I can't be there to see my Dad released and out of harm's way!"
"Alexis, you are not going in, maybe someday, someday…you will see why"
And with that Alexis went into her designated room to continue to be at odds with the only grandfather she had ever known, and the grandfather pulled out a picture he kept, in his wallet, close to him, but the only relationship he would ever get.
The lack of excessive motor noise and the screech over the speaker in the van told her that the vehicle had come to a complete stop. They were at the border of their mission and Alexis gave the look to Lanie that only Lanie could understand. It was time, and the fate of Castle, of the mission, of Esposito, Ryan, and all of the groups involved was at hand, Alexis may not have been there physically on the side lines waiting for her father with a desire to save him, but she was there in spirit which was all that anyone would let her do at this time. It was then that for the first time she feared for this mission, this suicide that they were all consumed in completing that she thought of him…the man who was so unfamiliar to her…the man she called "HUNT"…her grandfather, and she prayed.