With a rending crash, the Range Rover smashed through the doorway, driving the aluminum framework ahead of it and propelling thousands of spicules of razor sharp glass down the concourse as if by a giant shotgun blast. Rick stood hard on the brakes, and fought the steering wheel as the vehicle fish-tailed wildly on a surface now covered with broken glass.

Rick had been counting on the shock effect of the Range Rover bursting into their midst to paralyze the enemy for a few critical seconds, and so far it seemed to be working. The tool chests containing the bombs were just to the right of where the north concourse opened into the central court and Rick rounded the corner in a four wheel drift, coming to a stop six feet out from and more or less parallel to the wall.

Kate and Hayley bailed out of the passenger side before the vehicle had completely stopped. Hayley started firing, using the Range Rover as cover. Kate had a more compelling priority; the man they had seen carrying the detonators was kneeling in front of an open tool chest and fiddling with something inside that she couldn't see. With a strangled cry of rage, she attacked, butt-stroking the man with the stock of her carbine, breaking his jaw and sending him sprawling. He scrabbled desperately for a handgun stashed in his waistband, but Kate fired first.

She grabbed the detonator box, ripped loose the connections that had already been made to the bomb and flung it with desperate strength back down the concourse. Satisfied that it was safely out of reach for a few minutes, she paused to take stock and try to get control of the chaos exploding around her.

Hayley was at the rear of the Range Rover firing at targets of opportunity, but mostly keeping the enemy in and around the SUV's pinned down and out of the fight. Where is Rick? She took a couple of quick steps to the front of the Range Rover. The snarl of a bullet passing close by startled her and she snapped off a short burst at the muzzle flash, earning her a shriek of pain. Where the hell is Rick?

A rising crescendo of gunshots erupted from the west concourse as the SWAT team entered the fight. Kate moved around the front of the vehicle and gasped. She could see Rick's legs stretched out along the floor, but his head and torso were concealed behind the open driver's door. She lunged forward, pulse pounding and heart sinking. As she turned to clear the open door, she slipped on the broken glass, feet shooting out from under her and she landed full on Rick's lap. An explosive OOF greeted her arrival and she turned to meet his gaze, the adrenalin of hope coursing through her veins.

His eyes were closed, but she could swear that there was a ghost of a smile quirking the corners of his mouth upward. Then a strong, but gentle, arm encircled her waist and pulled her to him. "Are you okay?" she asked hopefully.

"Mostly," he grimaced and opened his eyes, "I'm getting too old for this."

Hayley joined them and knelt beside Rick. "That was the most amazing thing I ever saw!"
"What do you mean?" Kate wasn't sure that she was comfortable having another woman, even Hayley, looking at Rick the way Hayley was now, a mixture of awe and worship seasoned with something deeper.

Hayley turned to Kate, "When the car stopped, there were 3 or 4 of the bad guys only a few steps away from the driver's side. When Rick started to exit, they jumped him and pulled him out and started beating on him. I say started, because before long the beating was mostly going the other way." She took a deep breath, "Kate, Professor Castle here took on four bad guys hand-to-hand and took them all out!"

Kate turned to Rick, who shrugged minutely. She leaned forward to kiss his cheek, murmuring as her lips neared his skin, "Paladin, pure and true." Rick's arm tightened fiercely, drawing her to him with just enough force to avoid hurting her, but leaving her breathless. He released her and gently shifted her off his lap so he could try to stand. Kate detected another grimace of pain as he made it to the door sill where he sat with his back against front seat, taking shallow breaths a bit too rapidly to be comforting to his partners.

"Rick, what's wrong?" Kate queried urgently.

"It's okay Kate. After I took out the last guy they had a clear field of fire and I took a couple of hits. Just knocked the breath out of me."

Kate noticed that the holster on Rick's right thigh was empty. "Rick, where's your sidearm?"

"I don't know Kate, I never had time to draw it, must have gotten knocked out during the melee sometime."

Hayley leaned over and peered under the Range Rover, "Here it is." She stretched a bit and came out with the Kimber .45, which she passed to Rick. He gave it a quick once over and secured in its holster. He pushed himself up to a standing position leaning against the car's B-pillar. Hayley nodded at something over Kate's shoulder "Company coming."

The SWAT team commander walked up "Agent Beckett?"

Kate responded "That would be me"

We've got the few that are still alive in custody, is there anything else we can help with, being how this is obviously Federal Jurisdiction?"

"The most important thing right now is to positively secure the nuclear devices. If you could provide some manpower to do that until we get the appropriate resources here, that would be most helpful. The next most important thing is to secure the crime scene."

"Don't worry, agent Beckett, we'll take care of those tasks for you until your folks get here."

"Thanks Captain, and thanks for backing us up today, this could have easily turned out inconceivably worse."

"No problem Agent Beckett, any time." He strode off to oversee the setting up of the perimeter.

Rick pushed himself away from his car and took a couple of steps to test his balance, everything seemed fine, so he informed the women, "Before I go any further, I want to see what we are actually dealing with." He went to the back of the Range Rover, and came back with an electronic device about the size of an average television remote. Seeing the women's quizzical look, he informed them, "This is a radiation monitor. Kind of the 21st century version of the old Geiger counter."

He walked towards the bombs, but realized that the two women were following him. He stopped, "You two need to stay here."

"No," Kate stated firmly.

"Hell no," Hayley stated even more firmly.

"I'm serious, you have to stay here."

"Why?" Kate bristled more than a little.

"Because radiation is more dangerous to girls, that's why."

Both women rolled their eyes. "Do you see any 'girls' around here" Kate questioned.

"Nary a one." Hayley replied smugly.

"Look, we don't want to be having 2-headed babies down the road a ways do we."

"Of course not," Kate replied "We can't even take a very quick look?"

"All right, you can look, but when I say git, you've got to git, okay." They both nodded. "I'm going to go take some readings, that way I can calculate the maximum exposure time."

He was back within a minute, and read the numbers off the device's LCD screen, doing the calculations in his head. "These little bastards are pretty hot, so maximum exposure times are 30 seconds for me and 10 seconds for each of you. Let me go first and open them up so you can scoot by and take a quick look at each one."

He moved quickly opening each chest in turn and peering intently in to each for a couple of seconds. He came back to the women and set a 10 second timer on his i-phone. "When I say go, you've got ten seconds, if you're not out, I'll come get you. Go!"

The two women moved quickly to examine the contents of the three chests and sprinted back to Rick when he called time. The experience was not as stimulating as they had anticipated. The contents of the cabinets were squat metal cylinders about 15 inches in diameter and 20 inches tall, painted a peculiar yellowish green. Each cylinder had a panel sporting several electrical connectors. Other than those features, the cylinders were totally nondescript. There were two devices in the first chest, and one in each of the other two.

"I think it's time to make some phone calls," Rick observed and Kate nodded and walked back up the north concourse to call her boss. Rick turned to Hayley. "Can you do me a favor?" When she nodded affirmatively, he continued

"Call Javier and ask him to come pick us up and also have the Range Rover picked up and taken back to the Institute." He flashed her a grin "I assume you have Javier on speed dial?"

"Maybe." She called over her shoulder as she walked away.

Rick's first call was to the governor. "Rick, why do I feel a sense of impending doom whenever you call?"

"Probably, because the people of Florida didn't put a nincompoop into the Governor's Mansion. Anyway, the doom was impending an hour or so ago, not so much now."

"All right Rick, give it to me straight."

"Okay Rich, the FBI and the Hillsborough Sheriff's Department just raided the assembly area that was used by the terrorists who pulled off the attack last week at the Claw. They found enough personnel on site to make up a couple more strike teams, more of the gas cylinders and more virus cylinders." He paused for a second, hearing a strangled gasp from the other end of the line.

"Might as well go ahead and drop the other sandbag." The governor said resignedly.

"They had four nukes Rich, and when they realized the jig was up, they tried to detonate one."

"Damn the bastards! Rick, what are they up to?"

"It seems that someone has declared war on us, we just don't know who they are yet!"

"Is there anything you need from me at the moment?"

"Actually yes, can we get the MP battalion that was at the Claw to provide security while the CSI's are working up the scene?

"I'm sure that can be arranged."

Rick's next call was to the Rocky Flats Arsenal, where he spoke to the leader of the Nuclear Emergency Support Team, more popularly known as the NEST team. They were far and away the best organization to deal with the four nuclear devices. He was assured that the appropriate resources would be on the way to Florida within the hour.

His last call was to the Attorney General. As usual, she picked up on the first ring. "Hello Rick, I take it you didn't call just to pass the time of day."

"Hardly, we just raided the terrorists assembly area."
"We?"

"Kate, Hayley and myself."

"Ahh, the three musketeers strike again. So what did you find after the smoke cleared?"

"Sixteen nerve gas cylinders, sixteen virus cylinders and 4 nuclear devices, plus approximately 20 bad guys."

"Nukes?"

"Yep."

"Any idea what they were going to do with them?"

"Not yet, Jordan, you might want to sit down for this next bit of information."

"I am sitting down, give it to me straight."

"All the evidence points to there having been at least two more devices that had already been moved out before we got there."

"Damn! Any idea what the targets might be?"

"No, but we do have some leads and if anyone can put things together, then Kate and Hayley will do it."

Jordan changed the subject, "Rick, the SECDEF is not happy with me."

"And that bothers you?"

"No, actually it's kind of amusing. He keeps complaining that I always find out about national security issues before he does."

Rick chuckled, "That's because you have friends in low places."

"I'll have to remember that line, that's a good one. Is there anything you need from me?"

"No, just giving you a heads up."

"Thanks Rick."

Kate rejoined him as he terminated the call, "Roy is going to take over the investigation until I get back. He'll be here in a half hour or so."

Hayley walked up to the other two. "Javier's on his way."

"Good," he replied. "Now, if you don't mind, I could use some fresh air." Kate startled a bit at that statement, remembering what happened the last time she heard those words from his lips.

"May we come too?" Kate asked. Maybe she and Hayley could help him deal with an episode if it occurred. She held out her hand, and he took it without hesitation. They walked hand in hand back down the north concourse, Hayley trailing by a few paces. They passed through the shattered doorway and Rick spotted a planted area with an 18 inch high brick wall around it that would serve as a seat. He led the women over to it and motioned for them to sit. They removed their helmets and finger combed the tangles out of their hair.

Rick sat quietly until Kate spoke, "Are you all right?"

Rick nodded, "It was too damned close…again. The next time…what if we're just a second late?"

"You think there'll be a next time?" Hayley asked.

"Yeah, I do. Two reasons, first there was enough space in the chests for two more devices. Why buy three chests if you only need two?

"Wait a minute, Rick, are you saying there were two more nukes that we missed?" Kate's hand in his tightened almost painfully.

"No, I'm saying there were at least two more. I'm betting there are other assembly areas just like this; perhaps quite a few of them."

"Oh crap!" Kate and Hayley spoke together, but it was Kate who voiced the inevitable conclusion, "Rick, if there are more of these, then some of the attacks will probably succeed."

"Yep, just because we got lucky in Tampa and the Springs, doesn't mean another city will be as lucky."

Hayley interjected, "You said there were two reasons?"

"Yeah, I did, the second reason is…..well actually, let's see if you two can guess what it is."
"Okay, Castle you're on," Kate declared and Hayley nodded agreement. "What're the stakes?'

"If you guess, I have to give each of you one of my world famous back rubs. If you can't guess, you both have to wear bikinis to the beach in front of everyone for at least an hour?"

Kate and Hayley traded glances, they were both taking bikinis, so that didn't sound so bad. "Okay, agreed."

"Oh, by the way, there is one stipulation."

"Yes?" they were both skeptical.

"The bikinis will be supplied by me."

"No, no way, I can imagine what that would be like." Kate protested.

"What's the matter, ya chicken?"

Kate looked at her friend who gave her a quick nod, "Okay, you're on, you better bring a lot of your magic rubbing oil, cause you're going to need it."

"Hey, I'm happy, I win either way. I'll give you one hint….did you notice anything unusual about the devices that you looked at?" He sat quietly, with a confident smile as he watched the metaphorical wheels turning in the two women's minds. After a minute or so of consultation they turned to him with a barely suppressed sense of triumph. Oh hang, I shouldn't have let them work together, too much brainpower.

"We thought they would be cruder, kind of homemade maybe. Instead, they looked very industrial, like they were made in a factory."

"You win." He hung his head in mock shame, and the two women grinned delightedly and fist bumped each other. "They were made in a factory, a Russian factory to be precise."

"Russian?"

"Yeah, they are ADM's , atomic demolition munitions, some people refer to them as 'suitcase bombs', but as you saw they're a bit too big to actually fit in a suitcase. Only two nations have had the technological capability to produce them, us and the Soviets. These weren't ours, they are a Soviet design. The Soviets supposedly made around 230 of them, and then when the Soviet Union broke up, around half of them were never accounted for."

Both women went a little pale at the thought of a hundred nuclear devices in the hands of people who were fully prepared to use them. Kate broke the silence, "You think that the ones here were part of the group that went missing?"

"Yes I do. A GRU official who defected claimed that during the Cold War, the GRU stashed caches of weapons, explosives and ADM's near strategic targets to be used in the event of hostilities breaking out between NATO and the Soviet Union. No such cache has ever been found in the U.S., but a couple, minus the nukes, were found in Europe."

"Doesn't the fact that some caches were found and these nukes showed up here kind of establish the validity of his claims?" Kate asked.

"I think so, but we need to find an intact cache before we can be sure."

"Do we have any idea where the caches might be?" Hayley joined in.

"As far as I know, the only locations he gave were in the Shenandoah Valley and the area was searched and nothing was found." The tone of his voice indicated Rick's frustration at the paucity of information."

Kate had an idea, "Rick if we sent one of the devices to the Institute, could your staff of alchemists, wizards and warlocks tell us where the devices were stored?"

He pondered for a moment and then he smiled "I've always said that if Lainiecan't analyze something, it isn't there. Maybe it's time to make good on that boast."

"Now would be a very good time. Can your folks at the Institute work with radioactive material?"

"Of course," looking at her as if she had asked if they could go to the bathroom by themselves. "Besides, we don't need the physics package, just the outer casing."

"Physics package?"

"The part that goes bang." Rick made the call to the NEST team leader and after several minutes of conversation, he hung up smiling. "They'll have two of the casings to us by the end of the week."

"Roy's here," Hayley interjected. They followed her gaze to see a black Tahoe come to a stop at the curb and Roy Montgomery exit the vehicle and head in their direction.

"I'll go brief Roy," Kate volunteered. She met Rick's gaze "Wait for me?"

"Of course." She strode off to meet her boss and they disappeared into the mall, Kate talking animatedly.

Hayley turned to Rick, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For making my girl happy."

"I sincerely hope so." He said with total conviction.

"You have no idea. Rick, she's been a different person since you came along, I think we're starting to see the real Kate emerge, and I really like what I'm seeing."

"So I don't have to worry about getting shot?" he grinned.

"Only if you stop doing whatever you're doing."

"No danger of that, I'm just getting started."

Something over Rick's shoulder caught her attention and her countenance lit up like the morning sun. Rick turned and saw what he expected, Javier Esposito exiting a Lincoln Navigator and trotting toward them. Hayley met him before he had covered half the distance, and he gathered her into a crushing hug followed by a searing kiss.

Rick chuckled softly, And I thought I was moving fast. Eventually, they came up for air and joined Rick.

The two men clasped forearms, and Javier informed Rick, "I'm jealous, you've gotten to see my girl in action a couple of times now and I haven't got to see it even once. Doesn't hardly seem fair."

"It's a thing of beauty, I assure you." Rick wondered if either of them caught the intentional double entendre. If Hayley's blush and Javier's brilliant grin were any indication, they had. The flat bed truck from the Institute arrived, and Rick excused himself to supervise the loading of the Range Rover and to recover the Valkyrie and the Fire Ants.

When he rejoined the others , Kate had returned and She and Hayley were hugging each other and talking softly to one another. Javier was sitting next to Hayley, holding her hand and rubbing gentle circles on her palm with his thumb.

Rick was pretty sure what was going on. They were experiencing the combination of adrenalin withdrawal and even worse, the effect of having looked into the abyss of nuclear annihilation and confronting their own mortality. To be honest, he was surprised they had made it this long. These were two very tough women. He sat beside Kate, and she moved from Hayley to him, seeking the comfort of his arms.

"Rick, I've never felt like this before, what's wrong with me?" She shivered and her free hand grabbed a fistful of his shirt.

"Sweetheart, there's nothing wrong with you, nukes have that effect on people, that and just the normal adrenalin crash after being shot at and surviving. I remember the first time I ever saw a nuclear warhead in person, it was all I could do to not run screaming from the room.

The image of Rick running screaming from a nuclear warhead caused a tiny smile to appear and a soft laugh escaped easing her tension. It was amazing how Rick always seemed to know exactly what to say to make her feel better. Usually it was some sort of self deprecating humor. Did the man have no ego at all?

She turned back to see how Hayley was coping and smiled when she saw that Javier was talking to her earnestly, but too softly for Kate to hear what was being said. He had his arm around her shoulders protectively, and their heads were leaning in, almost touching. She managed a smile that was almost back to normal, her best friend seemed to be in very good hands.

Rick noticed that Kate was looking up at him through her lashes. This was her shy and mildly embarrassed tell. "Yes?" he prompted gently.

"Rick, Would you mind if I…uh…maybe…uh…stayed with you tonight?" The last few words came out in a rush and she colored slightly. "I just don't feel like being alone after today."

"Sweetheart, you're welcome in my home or in my bed any day or every day should you so choose, there's no need to ask, cause the answer is always going to be yes."

Her heart fluttered a little at his answer and she met his gaze fully, loving the warmth of his eyes that radiated such unconditional love. She tossed her head slightly in Hayley's direction. He understood instantly, noticing that Javier had stopped talking and that the two of them were just sitting quietly. "Javier, Hayley?"

"Yes," they answered simultaneously, turning to face him.

"I was thinking it might be a good idea if the three of you stayed at my place tonight. Just chill a bit, been a long day."

Hayley looked at Kate, who nodded. "I'd love to Rick." Javier just nodded, he had been to Rick's place many times and slept over a few times after a particularly raucous poker night.