Myfidgetball, you rock my socks off. Just saying! :D and now...


The brutally hot, late August air had no breeze whatsoever. It was worsened by the reflection of the sun on the pavement, the insulation of the humidity by the infastructure of city life. Victoria Gates unbuttoned her collar, which felt as if it were choking her at the moment, as she made her way through the airport garage and to her vehicle.

She'd been back in the city for mere minutes and she was already wishing she could leave again, to return to where she'd left her husband in South Carolina. Upon the urges of Agent Shaw, and in order to ensure whoever may have been watching that she had no part in the investigation, the woman consented to spend a considerable portion of the past month away from New York.

To say the weeks, the months that had gone by had been long and eventful would be a vast understatement. The reality of the situation was that the captain's reality had shifted significantly, her universe tilting on its axis as she grappled with the reality that her city was not as she knew it. It took a great deal for the woman, who'd made a name for herself in IA, to become impacted, but the last few months certainly did just that.

Pressing the unlock button on her keychain, she heard her car sound in response. She got in, made herself comfortable and put her seatbelt on. The captain had become hypervigilant in the past weeks, with good reason, always checking her car for intruders and monitoring her rear view mirror for suspect drivers that may have been following her.

Things had calmed down considerably since the bombing of the 12th, which she supposed was more of a warning than a major event. She had absolutely no doubt about who the warning was meant for, as the blast seed had been identified underneith detective Ryan's desk. Luckily, he was out on a case at the time. However, three other officers weren't as fortunate and the duty of informing their loved ones fell to her.

Several major changes occurred after that incident. One of the most disturbing happened on the same afternoon as the bombing, which was obviously not a coincidence. Although the details were murky, apparantly Richard Castle's mother was reading a newspaper when a section fell out. In the moment she bent to retrieve it, a sniper bullet lodged in the kitchen wall. It was obvious that it was meant for her, but she shifted at exactly the right second and was spared.

Once it became apparent that anyone associated with Beckett was a target, and that if the 12th didn't back down much worse would come, families were moved to safety. Gates saw to it personally that Castle's mother and daughter were placed into witness protection for the time being. The same option was given to Jim Beckett, who was called in at the same time as Martha and Alexis.

The three, who weren't more than aquaintences, made the decision to go with the U.S. Marshalls, and were re-located together. The common bond of their children drew Jim and Martha to decide that things would be easier if they stayed together, watched after each other, and that was that.

She didn't even know where the three were, but was assured that they were safe. For his part, Ryan refused to be moved, but urged Jenny to go. His wife would not go though, not wanting to leave her husband's side. Although it seemed to cause a rift between them for awhile, things seemed to calm down as they completely stepped away from everything related to Kate Beckett. Further steps were taken to ensure security when the detective was transferred back to the 14th temporarily. As far as the Dragon knew, the police had absolutely nothing left to do with any investigation into Beckett's mother's murder.

As far as the public was concerned, Kate Beckett finally quit her job and what many saw as the inevitable had finally happened. She and Richard Castle ran away together. The media had a field day with it, targeting his mother and daughter, wondering how the man could simply leave them. It was scandle material splashed across page six for weeks, "Famous Author Elopes With the Real Nikki Heat."

Soon, when Alexis and Martha dissappeared too, rumors of them joining the newlywed couple wherever they were hiding were spread. Both Lanie and Esposito were sure to let several more rumors slip, including their nuptuals and a secret love nest somewhere in the South of France. They didn't know if it did any good, but figured it wouldn't hurt to have some sort of cover story.

For her safety, Lanie agreed to stay with Esposito until things cleared out. However, no threats were made against her and she wasn't an active investigator. The two didn't seem to mind though, as it seemed close living quarters brought more than one couple together that summer.

Gates sighed to herself, wondering about Castle and Beckett once again. They were left out there, wherever they were, much longer than she knew they'd anticipated and she hoped that they were ok. Although they never talked specifics, during the few conversations with Shaw she'd been reassured that they were set for awhile.

As she merged her car onto the freeway and headed in the direction of her suburban home, she reflected further on life in the city. The summer heat had done nothing good for the crime rate, driving it through the roof as it usually did. Further, traffic was horrible. Her being down not just one, but two of her best detectives, not to mention the writer who did wonderful things for her closure rate, but horrible things to her nerves.

Once it was decided that Gates needed a vacation, one more loose end needed to be tied up. When it became apparent that all investigation needed to be taken out of the hands of the NYPD, Shaw decided that he was in prime position for her utilize for the case. Therefore, Esposito's suspension became a termination, as it was arranged for him to "be fired" from the NYPD and do other "consulting" work.

After his departure she was kept in the dark for the most part, and she understood it was for her own protection. What she had been told was that nobody in the force was to be trusted, as the reach of this bastard, whoever he was, was extensive. She also knew that the files she'd received anonomyously, days after they got Castle and Beckett to safety, did provide useful leads and that Shaw was narrowing in on the Son of a Bitch, and all of his high-powered henchmen.

She was filled with a sense of satisfaction in knowing that the small group, working outside of the force and very discretely, seemed to be undetected. As she pulled into her driveway she wondered to herself how much longer they could go on before something had to give. As she approached her front door and inserted the key in the lock, she found it open.

It appeared that she was able to answer her own question as she looked over her ransacked home. It was complete and utter chaos and as she looked around she surveyed the extensive damage. In that moment she was filled with panic. Retrieving her gun from it's holster, she quickly made her way towards her office and to the wall safe.

She stared in horror as she beheld the opened vault, which was supposed to be secure. Her blood ran cold as she pulled out her phone and called Special Agent Jordan Shaw. Not only were the partners compromised, but there was no way to tell how long they'd been in danger.


Javier Esposito paced the floor, his fists balled as he tried to control the anxiety within him. Knowing they were compromised was one thing, knowing that they could have been attacked weeks ago was completely another matter and it made him shake with a mixture of rage and fear. When he'd been informed that they'd been found, he'd demanded that they rush to their aid as soon as possible.

Unfortionately, there was little doubt as to who their mole was. As the previous week one of their own had been found dead, signs of torture evident. Although the murder was investigated, they came only to dead ends. Gates could offer little insight without giving their investigation away, as only she, her boss and Esposito were aware of their activities. The only other member of the agency who knew that coordinates were stored safely at Gates' home was now dead.

Shaw agreed, but urged the detective to wait on rescuing his friends. Afterall, she was waiting on a very important call. It was a call that had the potential to bring an end to the reign of a certain New York City police commissioner, and she wasn't about to let it go. The evidence against Commissioner Joseph Kelly was insurmountable, and from him the money trail was endless. Most importantly, cracking the commissioner offered them the chance to nail the bastard behind the whole thing.

When Gates had turned over the files they started slowly, becoming aware of just how pervasive the web they were cautiously navigating was. They quickly identified not one, but four different police Captains, from precincts throughout the city. From there they were able to nail an assortment of detectives, officers, mob ties and drug dealers, as well as low-life criminals. However, despite the damning evidence against the individuals they'd identified, it was obvious that they were answering to a higher power. Unwilling to tip their hand, they continued to follow the paper trail.

Then, with a single bank transfer record, they finally cracked the case wide open. Shaw discovered her needle in the haystack of files, a decades-old bank account number from Roy Montgomery, buried within an array of financial information, they were able to identify a single transfer of funds that unraveled the intricate system.

Shaw paced the floor, waiting for the phone to ring as her boss, Assistant Directior John Bates, informed his boss of the damning evidence against the commissioner. If they could get him, the second in command, to crack and turn, they would have a shot at taking down the Dragon, New York State Senator Thomas Berkley.

They were told to proceed with caution, only with a confession, an implication of Berkley, and an agreement to testify from the commissioner would the evidence go to the Attorney General. However, if they could get him to testify, a very public grand jury indightment would be in the senator's future. The files, plus a personal testimony would be damning enough to watch the Dragon pay for his crimes.


Warrant in hand, they moved fast, taking the commissioner into custody. Esposito looked on as Shaw grilled the man, urging him to crack. They presented him their evidence, identified the chief's, the officers, the criminals that all tied to him.

They identified the long list of individuals that would be traced to him and made it abundantly clear that if he didn't give his boss' name over, he would be charged and tried for the countless murders. Not only murders that he'd committed, or had seen to arranging, but to the ones that his boss was responsible for.

It took hours, but it was obvious that the evidence was extremely damning to the man. Therefore, after some heavy negotiating, and an agreement to take the death penalty off the table in exchange for life in prison if he gave them the name, the commissioner caved. He admitted that he'd been working for the senator for years.

He'd admitted that he'd been ordered to handle the dirty work: hiring killers, monitoring finances, blackmailing politicians, overseeing and managing drug trafficking to name a few. Crimes against the senator went so far as to include human trafficking. Countless victims, all in the name of money and power. Names, many names were provided, including lists of hired killers that had been employed. Esposito recognized Cole Maddox as one of those names immediately.

The commissioner's taped confession, the countless names indicated, the damning money trail, all of it was taken from the hands of Assistant Director Bates, to the hands of FBI director David Carter. At 10pm that evening, Attorney General Stephen Crawford was awakened at his home, the FBI standing at his doorstep with some very compelling information. By 11pm the president was briefed on the situation and warned of the media storm that would break by morning, and before midnight Senator Berkley was brought into custody.


Finally satisfied that it was over, that safety was finally ensured as the City of New York moved to arrest a record number of officials in one of the biggest scandals in history, Shaw turned to Esposito and nodded.

"Let's try to bring them home." Getting on the road as quickly as possible, they made their way upstate; desperately hoping that their friends were still alive.


I do hope that this satisfied some of your questions. ;) My ridiculous flow chart of bad guys versus good guys is pretty funny. Also, Wikipedia helped me map a chain of command that could grill a fictional Senator. Fake politicians/bad guys beware of the flow chart :) More will be explored from the perspectives of other characters, such as those in witness protection, down the road. Oh, and this is SO not over :)