AGAIN: I have no ownership, rights, connection of any kind to Castle. I also have no ownership rights to The Human Target, Suits, Numb3rs, Bones, Blue Bloods, The District, or their characters. Before I had been killing time waiting for the season to start. Now, I'm killing time because I'm not too thrilled with the new season but hey, it's only episode two.

All reviews welcome. I only ask that you be polite and constructive. Feel free to point out grammatical, spelling, or factual errors. I do a lot of editing so sometimes cut and paste errors may slip through. Please let me know.

AN: I normally don't actively troll for reviews, but I'd like to hear about the last chapter if you haven't already done so. The shootout scene was kind of nerve racking to write because I had no experience to base it on, so if you have any constructive criticism or suggestions, please have at it. There will be a be a much larger shootout scene later on in the story.

January 3, 2004 Saturday

EAST HAMPTON AIRPORT

Rick watched them take the body of Gary Mcallister away as the paramedics stitched up his arm.

"How do you feel Ricky?" Colin asked.

"It's barely a scratch. I can still ride to the tarmac."

"This is going to be a lot of paperwork."

"I don't think so."

"What have you done now?" the Brit asked in mock, shocked tone.

"Something that might get us all home tonight if I can sell it."

They got on the Harley-Davidson XR-750's and rode back to the tarmac.

OFFICE OF RICHARD COONAN

He pours himself a generous glass of Irish Whiskey.

Dick Coonan is a 5' 11" solidly built black haired, blue eyed Irish-American. Even on a saturday, he wore a well fitting blue suit to the office. Like everything else he owned, the suit was classy but modestly priced so as project an image of the selfless charity worker.

He sits down and pinches the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger trying to think.

What the hell happened?

It was a simple operation.

McCallister calls in panic saying there was some kind of tactical team laying in ambush. All the men are dead except for him. He managed to pop Brinkley before grabbing one of the Audis and making a run for it across the airport. And then something about Evel Knievel being after him.

Then he screamed he was losing control of the car and sounds that had to be a crash. He kept the line open, but all that came through was the sounds of shooting, running, and screaming and then phone went dead.

Stupid old fool. He's probably dead now too, and I can't even be sure he got Brinkley. I can't even be certain all the other men are dead. If any of them lived and talked, damn it.

If that weren't bad enough, some of those idiots from the Latin Kings started dealing in Westie territory. Shit! The imbeciles responsible are taken care of, but if that that old bastard, Finn Rourke, finds out it was my product, he will have me on a skewer, roasting over an open flame.

"Damn it!" he screamed throwing his glass against the wall.

Good thing I'm the only one here on a Saturday.

EAST HAMPTON AIRPORT

When they arrived back at the scene of the firefight, the found a beautiful woman with long blonde hair waiting for them. Here dowdy blue skirt and blazer business suit seemed to only accentuate her sleek athletic figure, and her conservative heels could not suppress the fact that she had magnificent legs.

"Holly! Good to see you again," Rick greeted her getting off of his Harley.

"Stop calling me Holly."

"Well, I'm not calling you Hollis. What were your parents thinking?"

"Since this is official business, you can call me Colonel Mann."

"Oh, that's an improvement," Rick said with an eye roll that would make Kate proud

"And what happened to your arm?" she asked with a bit of worry.

"Suspect ran out of ammo, resorted to a knife."

"And what happened to the suspect."

"Colin wasn't out of ammo."

"I see."

"Colin, you remember Lieutenant Colonel Hollis Mann, United States Army Counterintelligence? Holly you remember my brother Lieutenant Colin Hunt, New York State Police."

"Of course," he said shaking hands with her, "Though last time I saw her she was clearly out of uniform and in a towel coming out of the shower in your office at the Old Haunt."

"Yes, I remember Lieutenant Hunt," the beautiful blue eyed army officer said unfazed, "I do not need the replay. I am still, however, unclear on the familial relationship between you two."

"It's a long story," Colin informed her, "I am curious on how Army CI got here so fast."

"Oh, I called them," Rick answered.

"Of course you did. Now you want to tell me why when you call the Army, you get a supermodel but when I call, I get someone who looks like an Elephant."

"Simple, I knew which officer to ask for."

"I hate you so much right now."

"You do realize I'm standing right here?" the blonde officer said incredulously.

"Yes." they responded in unison.

OFFICE OF RICHARD COONAN

How could it go so wrong so quickly. It was a simple hit and where the hell did that tactical team come from. Someone must of talked.

I thought I got rid of all the rats, but I guess human ones are as hard to stomp out as any vermin.

Still, thought all this War on Terror crap would take attention away from The War On Drugs, but I guess it did for all of a year. Then some bright PR boy from Washington created new word, narco-terrorist.

Hell, it doesn't even need to be an informant. I put this thing together too fast, took too many short cuts. Some gang unit surveillance douche bag could have called in report and snowballed from there.

But I had no choice. If I waited until they got him back to the city, he might have already given a statement and gone right into witness protection.

And the reason for all this is so stupid. Spend a fortune making sure I get a heads up on any police investigation by narcotics or the gang unit, and that's not what trips me up.

A greedy fool of a coroner gets caught up in a Medicaid fraud audit of all things, and suddenly, crap I thought I buried years ago can come back to nail me. Damn computers.

EAST HAMPTON AIRPORT

"My apologies Colonel,"Rick began, "We should get down to business. We have six dead hit men with links to the Latin Kings street gang. All six of them were extensively and very recently trained at the US Army School of The Americas at Fort Benning."

"That command no longer exists."

"Oh yes, I recall there was some overreaction on the part of Congress and the public when it was learned the school educated multiple dictators from at least eight different Latin American countries and even one from Africa," Rick noted, "One of the most popular courses in the curriculum was on torture."

"That allegation has never been proven. In any case. The School of the Americas was closed by the Army."

"Didn't really have much choice did you after Congress pulled the funding and threatened to do worse," Rick countered, "Interesting enough, a brand new command was established at the same same location, with the instructors, and mostly the same curriculum. Well, I hear they've added a course on human rights. What's the replacement organization called again?"

"WHINSEC, Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation."

"You're joking," Colin reacted, "And I thought we Brits had a thing for abbreviations."

"Well you did somehow turn the words 'Association Football' into Soccer and then managed to lay get the U.S. blamed for the word."

"Can you two please focus," the Colonel said a bit exasperated if not a little amused, "I swear it's like herding cats with ADHD."

"Sorry," Rick said unconvincingly, "This WHINSEC of yours, I understand Congress funded it without batting an eye. The people and press barely noticed."

"Seriously," the Brit was in shock, "How did we ever lose to you people?"

"I was under the impression you're half American, Lieutenant?"

"I am. My late mother was American though her ancestors were Loyalists during the unfortunate conflict in 1776."

"Alright children you're both blonde and pretty. Anyway Colonel, the Army has a bit of a problem. A shootout at an American Airport in New York State caused by recent graduates of WHINSEC.

"You know where this will go. First the local news picks it up. Then national news outlets pick it up. By the way, this is a heavily Republican area so you bet there will hearings in the House. They might shut down your WHINSEC again and this time, a name change won't do."

"Or Heaven forbid, they might even turn over it over to the Marines," Colin chided.

"And I bet you have a way for the Army to get out of this."

"Sure, Army Counterintelligence takes over this whole incident as one of your operations. Part of your mandate is stopping International Terrorist Organizations Insider Threats to the United States Army AND U.S. National Security.

"Since they are foreign nationals you can do your Patriot Act National Security voodoo to keep their identities under wraps. Six dead killers become unnamed dead alleged possible terrorists.

"In return, the Pentagon will owe us six favors. One for each dead body. Let's face it, with professionals like these, there is very little chance of next of kin showing up looking for them."

"And how do I explain how Army CI became involved in this situation."

"You just say that you were tracking a possible terrorist cell who you learned were raising money for the cause by taking contracts for drug cartels. You contacted the New York State Police when you learned a subject of one of our investigations was a target. One thing led to another, and your agents were able to neutralize a threat."

"All this all seems to be a clean operation, by the book. Why go through all this with Army CI."

"Mostly, we don't have time to deal with all the paperwork that comes with a multi-jurisdictional shootout. Also, this whole thing went South because Commissioner Gray screwed the pooch. Not only was he acting outside of his jurisdiction without any coordination with State or Local Authorities here.

"Gray is going to try and shift the blame on us. He has a lot of political connections to help him out, but fortunately, they are not stand up guys. Army CI involvement and the word terrorist will send them scurrying for cover."

"I can't argue with your logic Rick." She conceded.

OFFICE OF RICHARD COONAN

All he could do is sit in his office and watch the news on the big screen.

If you could call it news he thought.

"There are reports of an incident at East Hampton Airport." the talking head on the screen said.

I damn well know there was an incident! What the hell happened?

If I didn't know better, I'd think Johanna Beckett's little bitch of a daughter was behind this. Nah, she couldn't pull something like this off. She's like her mom, a real Lone Ranger type, doesn't trust many people. Likely get her killed like it did her mommy.

Stupid bitch doesn't realize the more people what you're working on, the safer you are. If mommy had gone public on the whole Pulgati thing, Bracken wouldn't have dared touch her. The Pulgati case would have been the first thing people looked at and he didn't want them looking. Would have been easier to just bump off Pulgati in the joint and call it a day.

Anyway, in all the times she's gone over her mommy's case, she hasn't once talked to Brinkley since the day it happened.

Why should she? The autopsy was 100% on the up and up. All Brinkley had to do was make sure no one saw the links to the other three. For once, the idiot did a good job. It was Raglan and his people who did all the sloppy work. Their reports are the ones she focuses on.

Besides, I bet little Katie Beckett is squeamish about looking at pictures of her precious mommy all cut up.

Brinkley said mommy's little girl couldn't bring herself when they came to ID the body. Probably still the case.

Anyway, she's still on vacation. If she thought this had anything to do with her precious mommy, she would be all over this.

Can't be Beckett's hubby either. He's been in a bottle for five years.

Why the hell doesn't Bracken take my calls? It's like he dodging me. He's even canceled on the fundraiser. It's almost like he's cutting all contact. And knowing him, that can't be good. I wonder if he's writing me off or worse.

EAST HAMPTON AIRPORT

"The first two favors we'll call in right now. First favor. Your people take credit for Gary Mcallister's death. He was Gray's man on the scene, but was working with the shooters. I checked his cell phone, the old fool used his own phone to call a number belonging to one of the hitters.

"He was a dirty cop. It won't be hard proving it. No need to advertise it, but if Gray makes some noise, that fact will scare him off."

"Second favor. Beyond my getting slightly cut by one of the assailants, my people were not involved in any aspect of the shooting. We were just in a support role and we weren't very supportive. If they have any other questions, we'll just say it's classified or whatever."

"The other four favors I will put in the bank for later. Look on the bright side, you spin this right and Army CI can get credit for foiling a mini-9-11."

The attractive officer lets out an exasperated sigh.

"Alright, Rick. Let me make a call." and went off to call her boss.

"You have a plan B, right?" Colin whispered.

"Plan B is to waste a lot of valuable time fill out paperwork, answering questions from Internal Affairs, and sparing with that idiot Gray. Like the Colonel said we did everything by the book."

"I hate plan B."

"Rick, my superiors wants to speak to you," she said handing him the phone with a smirk.

RICK'S LOFT

The doorbell rang and Kate went to answer. This is feeling way too natural. It's like I live here. Then again' I've spent the last two nights here and I'm going for number three.

I wonder if Lanie or Charlie forgot something.

After they got the all clear and everyone talked with everyone, Lanie and Charlie Parker headed out. The day had been exhausting and Kate couldn't blame them.

When Kate opened the door, she got a shock.

"Kyra Blaine?"

"Yes," answered the brown haired woman with a sweet if confused smile, "Have we met?"

Like Kate, Kyra was dressed casually in jeans and white tennis shoes. The brown haired, doe eyed beauty also was tight, fuzzy purple sweater that accentuated her larger bust-line. She stood there with a white scarf around her neck and holding her hooded navy blue quilted coat.

"Oh sorry. I'm Kate Beckett, please come in. And yes, we did briefly meet a long time ago at one of Castle's first book signings."

"I'm sorry, I don't recall. I hope you'll forgive me for not remembering."

"It's perfectly alright. Here let me take your coat," the detective said hanging in the cloak closet, "I think I was 11 at the time."

"Oh I remember now. You were the cute little girl with the huge crush on Rick."

"Excuse me?" the normally reserved detective responded, feeling herself blushing. She did not just call me a cute little girl. Ok I was..but still...

"You were staring daggers at me the whole time. I thought I'd done something wrong when your mom explained that you had gigantic crush on Rick."

Kate turned six different shades of red, "Well that's not embarrassing."

"Don't worry about it. How is your mom?"

Kate's face suddenly went ashen," She passed away. It'll be five years this coming Friday."

"Oh, I'm so sorry...I didn't mean…"

"It's alright you couldn't have known."

"Well she was very sweet lady. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." Damn it why does she have to be so nice, so real.

"So are you and Rick...together?"

"Kyra!" Serena said walking up to the woman and giving her a big hug.

"Hi Serena, I hope this is still a good time."

"I'm sorry Kate, I was coming to tell you about Kyra coming up when the girls ambushed me. Kyra owns several art galleries and I need her expertise for an assignment from work."

Yeah, right. The great love of Castle's life. The one that got away suddenly shows up and it's all about work.

EAST HAMPTON AIRPORT

Rick gave the phone back to the lady Colonel. After a minute, she hung up.

"Alright Rick," the blonde officer said coming back, "Your terms are acceptable."

"Excellent," he replied shaking hands with her.

"About the remaining favors. What do you plan to do?" the attractive female officer said raising an eyebrow.

"Relax Colonel," Rick said with his most harmless smile, "This is strictly business."

"You, strictly business?" Maybe the smile was not harmless enough.

"Oh, believe it Colonel," Colin interjected, "He proposed to a young lady on New Years Eve and is being good until she gives him an answer."

Dum da dum...I'm dead.

"That's interesting considering the incident your brother described in your office occurred shortly before Christmas. Were you seriously dating this young lady then and failed to mention it?"

"Actually Colonel, he didn't meet her until this past Monday."

What are you doing Colin? We still want her to like us.

"You proposed to a woman you you've only known for three days?"

"Don't go there Colonel," Colin interrupted, "It's a whole thing that will drive you insane. I know it's getting the rest of there. I think he would have proposed on the first day but they were standing in a cemetery.

What is wrong with you? Bad Briton.

"A cemetery? Interesting place to meet women."

"He hasn't even slept with her yet."

Will you please stop that?

"Really, how refreshingly old fashioned for a woman."

"Actually, she's willing. He's the one who's refusing until she marries him."

Thank you for nothing you useless Limey!

"Really, how interesting. You should tell me how it all works out Lieutenant Castle."

"I'm sure Colin will keep you informed."

"Good day Lieutenant Castle, Lieutenant Hunt."

"Thank you Colin. Now she's addressing me by my rank."

"What's wrong with that?"

"That's never good. She only does that when she's really mad."

Colin gives him a quizzical look then has a flash of realization, "Because Colonels are much higher in rank than Lieutenants. I'm not sure it's really the same thing...Army rank and Police rank."

"Yea..well..I doubt see's focusing on the fine print. She's mad."

"Well, her boss agreed to the deal, and she was going to find out sooner or later."

"Yes, but I'd preferred later and I'd like to have delivered the news myself."

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that for me?"

RICK'S LOFT

"Kyra!" Isobel and Elise cried in unison and went in for a hug followed by Martha.

"Wow, you haven't aged a day. You look exactly the same as the last time we saw you," Isobel complimented.

"Yeah, right before you broke our brother's heart," Elise said smiling and giving her a very light punch to the shoulder.

"Yeah, you have no idea how many nights I woke up in London terrified that you were coming to beat me up Elise."

"I offered, but Ricky forbid us doing anything to you. And I had some great ideas too. A lot of them involved ancient torture devices for accused witches."

Kyra laughed nervously not sure if the redhead was kidding or not.

"Don't worry my dear," Martha commented, "Elise just want to get a little payback for all the hell Richard put us through when you left. It wasn't pretty."

"And it smelled even worse," Isobel commented, "I think he went days without a shower or changing his clothes."

Kate watched the whole scene with mixed feelings, bad and worse. OK, so there she is, the first great love of Richard Castle's life. The first woman he ever proposed to. The one who left him, breaking his heart and turning him into useless pile of schmutz for months.

And she hasn't aged a day. I can't believe she's almost 8 years older than me. She'll probably still look this good when she's 80. I so want to hate her, but she seems nice and besides, it's not really my place...is it? He did propose to me.

On top of it all, Rick's favorite sister invites her to his home. The other two and his mother are greeting her like the prodigal daughter / sister. I thought Serena and I were actually getting along. Of course, she likely invited her before today.

"Well on that note, I must be leaving," Elise informed.

"Not on my account I hope," Kyra said in a worried tone.

"No, there's a cute Irishman passed out in my bed who should be coming around. Good to see you again."

As she was leaving, Elise went over and surprised Kate with a hug whispering, "Thank you for protecting Alexis."

"You're Welcome," came out of Kate before she knew what happened and then felt obligated to say, "Please don't break Ryan. I need him at work on Monday."

Elise gave a wink and was gone.

EAST HAMPTON AIRPORT

Immediately, Colonel Hollis Mann took over the crime scene. She was efficient and professional except for the death glares she would occasionally throw at Rick.

"Are we all packed and ready?" Rick asked.

They all nodded.

"Good, as soon as we get the all clear from Army CI we can go."

"Where is he?!" they heard a female voice shouting, "I'll kill him!"

Vanessa came around the corner with Ian and then hugged Rick intensely being careful about his left arm.

"What did you do to yourself?" she said looking at his arm.

"I didn't exactly do it to myself. You guys told her what happened, didn't you?"

"Oh, yeah…" Ethan and Roland said nodding their heads.

"Nessa, it's nothing, just a scratch."

"Yeah," Colin responded, "It's not like one of the bullets hit him?"

"Bullets? I thought Mcallister was out of bullets."

"Colin…" Rick said in a warning manner that did no good.

"Oh yea, Mcallister had his backup piece. After he crashed the car, he got out and fired all six shots as Ricky charged him on the Harley. But he missed."

"You charged an armed, desperate rouge cop," she then slaps him on the back of the head, "You blockhead!"

"Calm down Nessa."

"Don't you tell me to calm down. You are getting yourself to a hospital and getting properly checked out mister."

"Nessa…"

"And if you give me any lip, I'll insist on a 24-hour colonoscopy."

"We have to get the all clear from Colonel Mann first."

"Give me a moment brother dear."

They watched her march off to speak to the blonde Colonel.

"Is it me or do they seem to be instantly getting along?" Ethan commented.

"Yeah, now they're laughing," Colin observed.

"Now they're laughing harder and pointing over here...at you."

"They could be pointing at all of us," Rick said in an act of denial.

"Let's test that theory out," Colin responded.

Colin, Roland, and Ethan then moved rapidly away from Rick.

"Nope," Ethan said, "They are pointing and laughing at you."

"Thank you Ethan, I can see that. I don't need the play by play commentary."

Then Vanessa Came back.

"She compassionately agreed to let us take you to the hospital to get Ricky checked out. She especially liked the whole 24-hour colonoscopy suggestion."

"Of course she did."

She then slaps him on the back of the head.

"A sister's love, nothing like it."

RICK'S LOFT

Kate was still in a bit of shock over Elise's actions. What struck her most was the word she used.

Protect? She didn't say thanks for taking care of Alexis. Thanks for being there for Alexis. Thanks for taking Alexis shopping. Castle and his siblings are very careful about the words they use. It's what makes them such masters of misdirection and confusion, causing people to deceive themselves. I have to constantly reexamine everything they've said to see if they really said what I think they said.

More than once, they've thanked me today for sticking up for Alexis or protecting Alexis. I guess part of love is the willingness to protect your loved ones from harm, but maybe, for them, it seems to be the most important part.

As Kyra made small talk with Serena, Martha, and Isobel, Kate stood off to the side not sure what to do.

I would say I feel like a stranger in my own home, but this isn't my home. Richard Freaking Castle. He has me so tied up in knots. Right now, I don't know who I am or where I belong.

If I had any brains, I would get my stuff, leave, and knock on someone's door who I know wouldn't turn me away. Then I would fuck until Richard and Alexis Castle were distant memories.

"Who's that?" Alexis walked over to Kate, standing next to her.

Kate looked down and smiled at the little girl. All her self-destructive thoughts just disappeared.

"Her name is Kyra Blaine. She and your daddy were boyfriend and girlfriend before he met your mom."

"She's pretty. She kinda looks like The Little Mermaid except without the fish parts and the red hair."

Kate burst out giggling.

"What's so funny Kate?"

"It's just that I used to think the same thing."

"Oh", the little girl giggled, "She seems nice though."

"She is."

"What's she doing here?"

"She and your aunt Serena have some work stuff to deal with."

Then suddenly, the house phone rang which Serena picked up.

"Kyra? Your mother's here. Should I send her up?"

"Might as well. I doubt you could stop her."

WEST ON RT-27 (MONTAUK HWY)

Southampton Hospital was the closest emergency facility and luckily less than 30 min from the airport.

"You know Nessa," Colin said from the third row of seats, "Wouldn't you have been happier in your car with Ian instead of having him follow us all by himself?"

"Oh yeah, I'm going to leave it to the Three Stooges to get Rick to the hospital. You're the ones who let him get stabbed in the first place," she responded from the seat next to Rick.

Colin was about to say something, but he knew better to try to use logic when Nessa was in one of her overprotective modes.

"Any news on Brinkley's condition?" Rick asked over the cell phone to the detail at the hospital, "Ok, thanks."

"Any change," Vanessa asked.

"One sec. Let me get Justin on the line," Rick replied dialing, "Justin, you're on speaker. You secure?"

"Roger that brother mine."

"OK, Brinkley's condition is unchanged. He's still in surgery. They got him stable and breathing on his own before they rolled him in. Likely all the rounds in him were from McCallister. Since they were small arms fire, it rules us out. And they weren't hollow points which ruled out the hit team. It's not looking good. They give him only one chance in ten of making it until tomorrow. Hell, he may have stroke on the table and be brain dead if not all dead."

"If he's ever stable enough to move, we should transfer him to Lutheran Medical Center," Vanessa suggested.

"Lutheran?" Colin questioned.

"It's a designated stroke center and a level I trauma center. Also, it keeps Brinkley in Bob Weldon's jurisdiction."

"Nessa's right," Rick agreed, "I've had enough Lou's cock ups."

Rick then went quite.

"Not to speak ill of the crooked and almost brain dead," Roland began, "But does it really matter if the bastard lives or dies. You said it yourself, Rick, exposing the situation was enough for our purposes. His part in it is done."

RICK'S LOFT

A well dressed woman in her 50's, dressed in black and red Channel, simply strode in past Kate without be asked to enter. She had short black and wide eyes that never seemed to blink.

"May I help you?"

"Sheila Blaine. I'm looking for my daughter." It was a statement and a demand at the same time.

She looks like a demented Liza Minnelli. Wait, isn't that redundant? Kate thought. Oh my God, I'm starting think like Castle.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Kyra asked.

"I'm here to keep you from repeating the biggest mistake of your life and getting involved with Richard Castle again."

"Mother, I'm here to discuss business with Serena. Rick's not even here today."

"You don't fool me Kyra Blaine. You never can think straight when it comes to that classless, talentless, womanizing ha….ow!"

"Stop saying mean things about my daddy!" Alexis said after kicking Sheila in the shin.

"Alexis! That was not a very nice thing to do," Kate said trying to scold the little girl but barely able suppress a smile. Her grandmother and aunts were equally proud of her but couldn't let it show.

"She deserved it. She came in to our house and started saying mean things about daddy," then looking up at Sheila Blaine, crossing her arms, and giving her own little death glare, "That's just rude."

"It's hard to argue with the ball of fire," Martha said coming up, "Hello Sheila."

'Hello Martha. I see you still haven't learned to dress like an adult." referring to Martha's outlandish animal print outfit.

"Be careful mother. Martha can likely kick a lot harder than her granddaughter."

"Well, it seems lack manners and breeding runs in the family."

Before anyone else could respond or kick, Kate's temper got the better of her.

"First of all Mrs. Blaine, you've been extraordinarily pushy and rude. You come here uninvited. You begin publically spouting off insults in the home of the man you've entered without him being here to defend himself.

"While we may appreciate your concern for your daughter's well being, that does not excuse your lack of manners. Any person with the manners and breeding God gave a wolverine would have simply taken their daughter aside for a private chat. Furthermore, you do this without looking around to notice that there is a child present who should not be exposed to such hostility in her own home, directed at a father she adores."

"Who do you think you are."

"I am the person moments away from tossing you out into the hallway on your posh designer rear. I've known women like you my entire life Mrs. Blaine. You're at most one generation removed from being born in the mud which is no sin in itself. But you married up and now, you're terrified people will remember that. So you use condescending language and passive-aggressive behavior to knock people down so they don't dare notice you for who you are."

"Well, it's obvious that this can wait until later Kyra. I will speak to you then," Sheila then turned on her heel about to go when Kate moved and got between her and the door.

"What is it now?"

"You owe Alexis an apology for your behavior in her home. You owe your daughter an apology for embarrassing her in front of people she considers friends and colleagues. You owe Martha, Serena, and Isobel an apology for the way you acted."

"You must be joking."

"Try me." Kate said with a pose similar to Alexis', but Kate's death glare made Sheila shiver.

"I'm apologize young lady," Sheila turned to Alexis, "I am not very found of your father, but that didn't give me any right to insult him in front of you.'

To her credit, Alexis smiled and offered Shelia her hand, "Apology accepted, Mrs. Blaine."

Sheila shook the little girl's hand, and actually smiled a little.

Kate was actually feeling proud.

"I apologize Kyra. I was trying to keep you from getting hurt. Maybe I could have handled it better, but...well I'm sorry…"

"Apology accepted, mother."

"And Martha, Serena, and Isobel, I apologize for my behavior today."

And with that Sheila Blaine left.

"Wow" was all Kyra could say.

Kate suddenly realized what she had done. What the hell just happened. One minute I'm trying get out of here to go in search of a quickie. The next thing I know I see a bully insulting Alexis and I want to rip her head off like materially irate mamma bear.

"I'm so sorry Kyra. I don't know what got into me. I shouldn't have said those things about your mother and your family."

"Oh believe me, you have nothing to apologize about. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom, but there are are times when she needs someone to stand up to her."

They all giggled at that.

All except Alexis. She was just looking up at Kate beaming with total adoration.

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"Whatcha thinking Ricky?" Colin asked.

"Roland's right. Brinkley's status is irrelevant to us at this point at least in the overall plan. However, as long as he's alive, Coonan and Bracken will have to be nervous."

"The longer we can make them believe he's alive and has a possibility of recovery, the longer he's a distraction." Vanessa finished Rick's thought.

"He could even be bait again to capture or take out more of their thugs," Colin added.

"It might even bring Coonan out into the open. He hasn't done any wet work himself in while, but his options are now very limited. It gives us options in how we want to deal with him. I'm fairly sure the Westies don't care who kills him or how."

"Back to Colin's original question, whatcha thinking Rick?" Ethan asked.

"I'm thinking Steve McQueen."

"Bullitt?" Ethan inquired.

"Bullitt."

"I take it you don't mean the car chase scene," Colin asked.

"Oh no…not until we have to at least. Anyway, from now on, anything to do with Dr. John Brinkley's medical situation will be referred to under heading Operation GT."

"GT?" Vanessa questioned.

"Short for Goat Testicles."

"Ricky, you know I love your imaginative code names, but...Operation Goat Testicles?" Roland asked in disbelief.

"I have my reasons."

"This ought to be good." Vanessa commented.

"In the 1920's and 30's, there was a famous quack physician also named Dr. John Brinkley, no relation that I know of. This earlier Dr. Brinkley made a fortune doing an operation that he claimed would cure erectile disfunction. He would open up his patients, drop two goat testicles into their body cavity and sewed them up again."

"You're making this up!" Ethan yelled from the drivers seat.

"Nope. Of course, he lost all his money as a result of the large number of malpractice, wrongful death and fraud suits brought against him."

"Imagine that. OK, operation GT it is." Vanessa said deadpan.

"While we're at the hospital, can we give Rick a CAT scan to see why he remembers Goat Testicle surgeons from 80 years ago but can't remember to wait for backup before going after a fugitive on foot," Colin said equally deadpan.

"In the words of the great Bugs Bunny," Rick replied, "Ha Ha...it is to laugh."

RICK'S STUDY

"Please have a seat Kyra," Serena gestured to the couch while she closed the door.

"I'm so sorry about what happened. I never expected her to follow me up here."

"It's alright, really. We've with Sheila in the past. I must admit, though, that when Rick told us he wanted to propose to you, we were all quivering at the idea of Thanksgivings with your mother."

The both chuckled at that.

"Well, I need to apologize again to Rick's little girl. She is so adorable, and so protective of her father."

"Yes she is. Rick is entire world."

"I was surprised to hear from you, Serena. I figured…"

"You figured I'd still be mad."

"Yeah," she said with a nervous smile.

"I must admit you were not my favorite person for a while. He was in such pain for such a long time. I was so worried about him. I thought he'd never snap out of it. Even though I felt Meredith, Alexis' mom, was so not right for him, I was actually just happy he was able to smile again."

"So, Kate isn't Alexis' mom because Alexis seemed very close to her."

"That's a whole thing I'll explain later. Shall we get business out of the way first."

"Sure."

"You've heard that Christian Dahl is putting most of his art collection on permanent loan?"

"Sure, it seems that it's like all we do talk about. Some of those pieces haven't been seen in public in decades."

"We?"

"The other gallery owners, Art Nerds."

"Well I work for Sterling-Bosch which insures the works and my boss is a bit paranoid about a move of this many pieces at once. Considering all the chaos involved, she's afraid someone may try to switch one or all with a fake.

"She wants to authenticate each piece before and after, quickly. But it's too much for our in house staff. So, I'm trying to pull together as many people with expertise as possible to supplement our numbers. I was hoping you would be one of them."

Serena hands her a file.

"If you agree, this is the list of artists and their works that I'd like you to work on. All of them are in your field of specialty."

"Wow," said the cute gallery owner, "That's quite a list. I mean I'd love to take the job, but considering the collection, I'm not sure you can find enough people to get it done in time for the transfer."

"Actually, we're turning to technology for some help, at least for the paintings."

"Technology?"

"A friend of Justin's in L.A. has come up with a prototype software to help detect art forgeries, at least in paintings. It takes in two pictures of a painting. A by comparing both the craquelure pattern and then the brushstroke pattern, the program can determine if the pictures are of the same painting.

"Now, the program is still experimental so we would still need human eyes to verify anything it marks as suspect. Also, the program is fine for authenticating after delivery to the museum. We have total control of who takes the photographs and their quality."

"But you can't be sure the actual piece in the collection is an original and you can't be certain of the source of any picture of it that you didn't take yourself," Kyra completed Serena's thought.

"Exactly."

"But do you actually think any part of Christian Dahl's is fake?"

"I think that the woman who signs my paycheck and approves my expense account doesn't want to take any chances and the people who sign her paychecks agree."

"Fair enough."

"So are you in?"

"I'm in."

"Now as to Rick and Kate…"

RICK'S LOFT

Kate sat at the kitchen table nursing a cup of coffee looking a framed photo.

"Hey kiddo," Martha greeted as she sat down across from her.

Kate was so deep in thought that she suddenly jerked in her seat.

"I'm sorry dear, I didn't mean to startle you."

Kate looked up and realized they were the only ones she could see, "Where'd everyone go?"

"Alexis took Mary Ro up to her room to play while Serena and Kyra discussed business in Richard's study. Isobel is in another room checking in with the hospital and her boyfriend, that delicious Dr. Davidson

"And of course you saw Elise go off to continue doing all sorts of ungodly things to your poor officer Ryan. If that boy is able to still walk on Monday morning, it will be a testament to Irish resilience."

That last bit made Kate laugh out loud.

"So come on. Let me see what has you so distracted? Oh, I love that photo and not just because I took it."

"I hope you don't mind me taking it off the mantel. It just caught my attention."

"My dear, my son asked you to marry him and is trusting you with the most precious thing in his life, his little girl. I don't think looking at some old family photos is crossing any kind of line."

Kate grinned widely and may have even blushed a little. The picture had intrigued her. Rick and Serena looked about 14. The others surrounded them, all dressed in their school uniforms.

"They look so precious, don't they." older redhead said.

"Yes, they look so happy and adorable."

"That was taken when Richard had won a national essay contest. He was so proud and they were so proud of him."

"Whose this man standing with them. he seems to be some kind of priest." Kate referred to a very tall, at least 6' 5" man with white hair and a white beard in clerical dress. Kate guessed it was Episcopalian. He stood in the center, behind them.

"The Reverend Canon Ambrose Caledon. A Church of England Priest. He came from Britain to be headmaster of their school. Brilliant man, wonderful dancer, and that beard tickled in all the right ways."

"Martha! Did you two?" Kate exclaimed in shock and giggling.

"There is no vow celibacy for Anglican Clergy, my dear."

This time Kate did blush. She was certainly no prude nor was she a steady churchgoer, but discussing the effects of men's beards on the female body with Castle's mother was a bit much.

"Well, they seem very close."

"My dear, every Round Table needs a Merlin." the older redhead said matter of fact as she went to refill her coffee cup.

AGAIN: I have no ownership, rights, connection of any kind to Castle. I also have no ownership rights to The Human Target, Suits, Numb3rs, Bones, Blue Bloods, The District, or their characters. Before I had been killing time waiting for the season to start. Now, I'm killing time because I'm not too thrilled with the new season but hey, it's only episode two.

All reviews welcome. I only ask that you be polite and constructive. Feel free to point out grammatical, spelling, or factual errors. I do a lot of editing so sometimes cut and paste errors may slip through. Please let me know.

AN: I normally don't actively troll for reviews, but I'd like to hear about the last chapter if you haven't already done so. The shootout scene was kind of nerve racking to write because I had no experience to base it on, so if you have any constructive criticism or suggestions, please have at it. There will be a be a much larger shootout scene later on in the story.