"You wouldn't want to play Monopoly or something?" Castle was asking his girlfriend as they were sitting across from one another at the table.

"After you spent all that time setting it up?" Beckett replied with a smile.

"I'm just saying since you didn't really want to go anywhere today," Castle said.

"Make your first move," Beckett said, nodding down to the chessboard.

Castle was smiling himself before he was moving one of his pawns and their game began. They played for a while before he remembered he'd wanted to offer her a drink and was going to ask if she wanted one when his girlfriend was asking him a question.

"Why are you moving so much?" Beckett said. When she saw the way her boyfriend was looking at her in confusion she explained, "You've been shifting around… a lot."

"I just realized I forgot to ask if you wanted something to drink," Castle replied.

"Oh… do you have any iced tea?" Beckett said.

"I can make some, just give me a second," Castle replied, getting off his chair and hurrying over to the kitchen.

"You trust me that much?" Beckett asked while she was watching him go.

"Trust you?" Castle said in response, looking back at her.

Smiling Beckett said, "Trust me not to move everything on the board around?"

"I doubt you'd do that," Castle said, shaking his head. He focused his attention on making two cups of tea hot with some honey to sweeten before he poured them into tall glasses that were nearly full of ice. Once they were ready, he walked to the table and then paused at the end of it when he saw his girlfriend was sitting in front of a chess board with her queen in front of his king. "So now I shouldn't trust you?" he asked when she took one of the glasses.

"Just this one time," Beckett replied. She was a little surprised when he leaned over to her but recovered quickly to respond to his kiss before they were parting slowly. "I… sorry about ruining the game," she said, glancing at the board.

"No, it wasn't holding our attention," Castle said. "Let me get another." He started to clean up the chess pieces before he paused and said, "I should ask you what you want to play."

"You have poker chips here all the time, right?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah," Castle said quickly. "Poker?"

"Sure," Beckett said before she sipped at her drink as he was leaving. She turned her attention to the window next to her, watching outside until he came back to the table.

"How're you doing?" Castle asked when his girlfriend turned to him.

"Concerning what?" Beckett said, looking perplexed.

"Your suspension," Castle said, opening his case with poker chips in it on the piano.

"Oh… To be honest I understand why Gates kept me on it," Beckett replied. "I stopped her from sending in my resignation so it wasn't official, so I was never off of suspension."

"But really, are you okay right now?" Castle said.

Smiling Beckett told him, "I'm fine, I haven't had a vacation since we went to LA so…" She saw the way her boyfriend was looking at her and asked, "What?"

"You haven't gone anywhere since LA?" Castle asked.

"No… why does that surprise you? How many times have I gone on vacation since we've met," Beckett replied.

"That's not healthy," Castle said, sitting as he'd given chips to them both. "You get stressed out a lot Kate."

"Are you my father now?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"No, just concerned," Castle replied. "And now that I'm your boyfriend…" he started to say before he trailed off and looked at the cards he was shuffling.

"Now that you're my boyfriend what?" Beckett said.

"I can't really do anything," Castle said, shrugging. "But I thought I had something."

Laughing briefly, as he was pointing to her with a card, Beckett took it before she said, "I can see why but don't try to push me to take vacations."

"Trips?" Castle asked.

Beckett shook her head as she smiled and then said, "You misunderstood me. I meant don't push me, we'll decide on going places together. Now deal or else we'll never get a chance to play."

"Sure," Castle said though he'd been tempted to bring up his beach house in the Hamptons. He turned his attention to the cards and started dealing them out so they could start their first game. That became several of them and when they had finished, they were laughing together as she had managed to take all but two of his chips. "Okay, I have to cash out," he said when he'd calmed down before she was scoffing and talking to him teasingly.

"Cash out what?" Beckett said.

"Whatever these are," Castle said, looking at his chips. "Two-hundred dollars, not bad."

"Out of how many you had in the first place?" Beckett asked.

"So glad we're not using actual money," Castle said, shaking his head. "Do you want more chips?"

"Isn't it almost time for dinner?" Beckett asked, smiling as she watched him looking at his watch as soon as she'd said that.

"I guess it is," Castle said. "Would you mind if we didn't go out tonight?"

"No," Beckett said. "I expected you to say that with how many vegetables you got earlier."

"Alright," Castle said, going over to the kitchen. "I'd like to make a dinner…"

"Are you drunk?" Beckett asked him in slight confusion.

"No, I meant I have that ham and I got some other sides," Castle explained.

"You realize there are… you mean for lunch tomorrow?" Beckett started to say before she realized what he wanted to do with that food. "Go ahead. I'm just glad you didn't get a turkey."

"Oh no, that's for Thanksgiving," Castle said seriously as they were putting everything away together. When they'd finished, he walked to the kitchen before he glanced back and noticed his girlfriend was following him.

"What?" Beckett asked as she was startled to see he was looking at her in surprise.

"You're going to watch me?" Castle responded with a question of his own.

"I'm going to help you," Beckett replied.

"You don't need to," Castle said.

"I think I do," Beckett said. "Since I would like us to eat before midnight."

Since he knew she was right; and he couldn't really try to say she didn't have to as his guest; Castle nodded before they were going together to the fridge and taking everything they needed out. "Too much?" he asked her once they were looking at the counter.

"No, I thought you would have a holiday meal," Beckett told him teasingly. She was startled when her boyfriend was leaning over to kiss her on the lips, deeply, and she wondered if he'd bring up Christmas. She couldn't help feeling relieved when he told her about the vegetables and she shook herself saying, "I'd pan sear them, make a mix."

"Great," Castle replied. "Do you mind latkes?"

"No, I saw them in the cart," Beckett replied. "Sour cream?"

"I have some already," Castle said with a nod before they were turning their attention to making the food. He felt odd with her there; since his exes hadn't been great at cooking; but settled into it quickly before they'd finished, and he was cleaning up as she set the table for them.

"Wine?" Beckett asked her boyfriend before she was going to the wine fridge.

"Yeah, go ahead and pick," Castle replied, glancing back at her though he couldn't see her.

Beckett was smiling before she selected a bottle of Moscato, taking it to Castle as was drying his hands. At his nod she got the glasses for them and they sat together at the table before they started to eat. She wasn't sure why they started telling each other stories about when they were kids, but she was enjoying it before they paused to wash their plates and move to the couch in the living room.

"Do you want any more wine?" Castle asked, following his girlfriend with the bottle in hand.

"Sure, but only a little," Beckett answered, holding up her glass for him. She took a sip while he was putting the bottle away and then said, "You mentioned going away middle through high school?"

"Boarding school," Castle said, nodding his head. "I hated it the first week."

"Just a week?" Beckett asked in surprise.

"I had a friend," Castle said with a smile, not surprised at her question. "Brad Davis, we'd known each other since the fifth grade, and we stayed friends until we finished three years of college."

"Just those three years?" Beckett asked.

Nodding his head, Castle said, "We bonded since we both had a mother, but our fathers were… we had no idea who they were." He saw the question on his girlfriend's face and said, "His mother was aware of his father I learned later, but when we met he didn't know who he was."

Beckett nodded before she paused for a moment, debating if she wanted to ask him about his father before he was speaking and changing the subject which didn't really surprise her.

"Would you want any of the rugelach?" Castle asked as he saw she was finishing her glass of wine.

"That's okay," Beckett replied, leaning over slightly to set her glass down on the coffee table. When she sat back up, she watched her boyfriend putting his glass next to hers before she said, "Should we play again?"

"Actually…" Castle said, looking towards his office. "Would you want to watch a movie?"

"Are you going to set up a screen?" Beckett asked.

"You mean my shower curtain?" Castle asked. When she shrugged, smiling slightly, he couldn't help laughing and told her, "I think it'd be better if we headed over to the office and watch on the TV there."

"Okay," Beckett said before she stood.

"More wine?" Castle asked her, inclining his head to the coffee table.

"I think I'm good for the night," Beckett told him before they were walking into his office. She sat on one of the armchairs and said, "What should we watch?"

"I'll let you decide," Castle said, handing her the remote.

"Okay," Beckett replied, looking at what he had on his media system. She debated for a moment before she said, "This one?"

"That's Alexis' she loves the main actor," Castle said as she'd found That Thing You Do! "But I don't mind it. Have you seen it?"

Shaking her head Beckett said, "My friends went to see it, but I was…"

"Grounded?" Castle asked.

Beckett hesitated before she nodded and then said, "Essentially. It was after Maddie convinced me to go wait outside this guy's place… his parents' home I should say. I didn't want to since I wasn't sure about making it back for my curfew but Maddie was pushing me so I missed the movie. I eventually forgot about it and never did see it."

"You can now," Castle commented, turning off the lights before he hurried to sit next to her.

Laughing softly, Beckett started the movie as he was taking her free hand which made her glance at him with a smile before she turned back to the TV. They were laughing together at the movie and held each other's hands off and on until the credits were playing. "It's not bad," she said as her boyfriend was turning on the lights.

"No, Alexis really likes Shades," Castle said with a smile. "And I just like it because I've always liked Tom Hanks."

"Bachelor Party?" Beckett said.

Frowning at her playfully for a moment, Castle then said, "Big."

"I should have known," Beckett told him with a smile.

"No, it was a good guess," Castle replied. "I've seen the movie but Big was so much better."

"We'll have to watch that another night," Beckett said.

"You?" Castle asked her.

"Tom Hanks movie?" Beckett asked. When he nodded, she smiled and said, "Apollo 13."

"Oh, that's a good one too," Castle commented. "We should watch that instead."

"Aren't I here for a few more nights?" Beckett said teasingly. "We can watch them both."

"And then something else in between," Castle said.

Beckett laughed briefly before she said, "Alright. So what do we do now?" She watched him as he walked over to her and she stood before he reached her chair and she said, "That you can decide," as she looked into his eyes.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Castle said before he wrapped his arms around her tightly. He pulled her close against him just before he kissed her deeply, running his hands up and down her back as they were involved with one another for some time. He was breathing hard as they parted and the murmured against her lips, "Though I should ask, are you sure?"

Smiling, Beckett kissed him gently and then said, "I knew what you'd be thinking."

"May I ask how?" Castle asked her.

"Oh… the way you were holding my hand," Beckett said.

"Should I worry you could tell just from that?" Castle replied after hesitating for a moment.

"Not really," Beckett said. "You didn't want to hide that from me."

"No," Castle replied before he was letting her go to take her hand and pulling her into the bedroom. He gathered her back in his arms again before he kissed her and did so hard until they were nearly panting, and their lips were swollen. He stared into her eyes then and said, "I really want you Kate."

Beckett's response was to lean into her boyfriend and brush her lips against his before she said, "I think we both have the same thing in mind."

"Perfect," Castle said huskily before he was sweeping her up in his arms to help her onto the bed before he was joining her as she pulled at his shirt.

"Skye?" Beckett asked, shaking herself of her thoughts about the night. "What're you doing here?"

"Abrupt change of plans," the investigator said as she was walking into the office. "The Chairman wants us to hold a press conference."

"Why?" Castle asked, grateful for the distraction as he'd been unable to help thinking of him and Beckett after they'd watched the movie.

"Update he said, people are incredibly nervous; no surprise there," Skye replied. She then scratched her cheek and said, "I texted Patrick and he urged me to take you with us."

"Has he said what he's been doing?" Beckett asked.

"Just looking at names," Skye said. "His boss roped him into helping out, but he did say we was going to try and get out of it at some point. But he said it's up to you guys if you want to stay."

"We will," Beckett said when her husband looked at her to answer. "But are you sure about taking us with you?"

"Yeah, I'd prefer if you came with us," Skye said, looking at a mirror on one of the walls. She brushed back her hair before she said, "Look, for security reasons…"

"I understand," Beckett said.

"It makes sense," Castle added.

"Alright, let's go," Skye told them.

"Where are you having this?" Beckett asked her friend as they were leaving the office and walking out of the hangar.

"Inside Dulles, there's a room in the terminal right in front of us that we can use for things like this," Skye explained.

"Is it small?" Castle asked. He wasn't surprised when the investigator looked at him and he said, "We might stick out."

"Just sit in the back," Skye told them.

"Is Trevor there now?" Beckett asked.

"Should be, he's preparing what we'll say," Skye answered.

"Are you going to mention sabotage?" Castle said.

"Can't, not until we have the results from those parts we found," Skye said. "But I lean towards it."

"Gut instinct?" Castle suggested.

"Essentially," Skye replied. "Don't let the Chairman hear you call it that though."

"I… highly doubt I'd be talking to him," Castle said slowly.

"Would you get in trouble for us being here?" Beckett asked.

"No, he does know who you two are and he knows you've been around me and Trevor," Skye said. As she stopped the pair at a vehicle to drive to the airport she explained saying, "The media did catch the five of us getting people out, Jodie too. He saw and he doesn't care since people have mentioned it was a good thing we had more help since there were so many people on the plane."

"Good publicity?" Beckett guessed.

"Yeah," Skye replied with a quick nod. She then said with a sigh, "Sorry."

"No, if it helps you then we don't care," Castle said, Beckett nodding rapidly when the investigator looked at her for confirmation.

"Thank you, but Patrick would be a little upset you seem to have forgotten him," Skye said with a smile. "Let's go," she said then to get the two to climb onto the cart. She drove them across to the terminal she had pointed out until she parked underneath an overhang saying, "We'll go through the side staircase only employees can use, the media will be led through by employees and we won't cross paths."

"Is there a way we can not be with the media?" Beckett asked.

"There is a smaller room off it," Skye said. "Not sure what it's for though."

"As long as we can stay there out of the way," Beckett replied.

"And out of the hangar," Castle added.

Skye laughed and shook her head before she said, "True, this way." She led the pair through the building once they had reached a door, taking them to the room she knew the directions from as her co-IIC had told her. They reached the small room off it and told Nkosi who was there, "Are we set?"

"We are," the investigator replied. "Did you get anything writing everything?"

"Not really, just names," Castle said. "We were hoping maybe they had something with Allard. Though I know, he was a guard that night."

"Wishful thinking?" Nkosi asked.

"Very," Beckett replied, shaking her head.

Skye was about to respond when one of the investigators on their case hurried in and she asked the man, "They're ready?"

"And waiting," he replied with a nod.

"Okay, we'll see you guys in a few," Skye said before she and Nkosi were walking out of the room.

"Does she not want to work with the FBI?" Castle murmured to his wife as they sat on the couch that was against the opposite wall from where the two had walked out.

"I don't think either of them want to but if it is sabotage they'll call them in," Beckett said. "I think it just hinges on the tests of those items she mentioned."

Nodding, Castle looked up at the TV in the room that was on the local news station and said, "Trevor put this?"

"Yeah, he says he watched the coverage of the TWA 800 crash on CNN so he sticks with this one," Beckett replied. She wasn't surprised when her husband nodded as on the screen Skye was stepping up to the podium and they watched while she began speaking.

"Good afternoon," the investigator began with. "On May tenth at two thirty pm, Potomac Airways Flight 450 made a crash landing here at Dulles airport. The recommendation to ground all other Boeing 777s in the fleet was made immediately after and still stands. The investigation is ongoing, and we are looking into several scenarios as to why their planes have had problems while landing. We were fortunate to recover all four black boxes from this flight and the previous Potomac Airways flight quickly and we have preliminary information that shows both experienced similar difficulties."

Castle and Beckett looked on while Skye, with Nkosi's help, was showing a graph of the flight and it's decent before another that showed a matching graph for the other flight. They glanced at each other at the similarity, wondering what the media would say to that when they heard their friend speaking.

"There is no evidence at this time," Skye was saying. "To say for certain what we are looking at and we are still searching both planes for any clues. We are very relieved to announce that all three hundred and six passengers and crew have survived and will recover. We will now take questions though we won't be speculating on any one cause for the crash."

While Skye and Nkosi were taking questions from the media, Castle leaned over and asked, "Have you noticed she wears her hair back during investigations?"

"I have," Beckett replied. "She let it grow, that's why."

"Is it a good idea?" Castle asked, recalling her climbing into the plane the accident she'd been investigating when they met her.

"She did it for Mary," Beckett said simply. When she glanced at her husband, she wasn't surprised when he was staring back at her and said, "Really."

"No, I can see she would want that but I'm surprised Skye went for it," Castle said. "Just because of her work."

"She's not always climbing into planes," Beckett said before she felt her phone vibrating.

"Julia?" Castle asked as he watched her looking at the screen. He then recalled school and looked at his watch saying, "She might have waited to text you."

"I don't think so," Beckett said slowly. When her husband looked at her questioningly, she handed him the phone.

Seeing the text read What's going on? Where's Grandmama? Castle said, "Why isn't your mom with her?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Beckett said, frowning. She turned to her husband and saw the expression on his face saying, "Go ahead."
"Something made her come to you, I don't know why," Castle replied. "And I think her appearing was the reason you passed out. She had to take your energy."

"Take your energy?" Skye asked, walking into the room with Nkosi. She smiled briefly seeing the surprise on the pair's faces and told them, "We finished."

"They didn't have much to ask when we wouldn't say if it was foul play or not," Nkosi added. "What's going on though."

"It's Julia," Beckett told him, knowing he'd be wondering if it was his husband. She sighed and said, "There's something I have to tell you." And with that she related what had happened at the field, watching the investigator closely to see her reaction.

"That's interesting," Skye said musingly. "That you would see her suddenly…"

"Is there something wrong with that area of the field?" Castle asked.

"Did you sense anything there while you were walking?" Skye asked.

"The need to go to… well it wasn't where I passed out," Beckett replied, not surprised when the other three were startled at her being so forthcoming. She wanted to remind them that she was trying to believe in her abilities more but instead said, "It was past that, in the trees there are."

"Think we should ask Patrick to look back there?" Castle said.

"You didn't tell him about what happened?" Nkosi asked in shock.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "I didn't want to think about it but if Julia's noticing something's happening…"

"Just make sure you tell Darnley you weren't sure about telling him," Skye said a little wryly since Beckett had mentioned that. "But there may or may not be something there."

"What do you mean?" Beckett asked, surprised her friend looked extremely uncertain.

"You don't… she's never had that before," Castle told the investigator.

"If something happens at that spot then yes she has some kind of ability," Skye said.

"Predicting the future?" Beckett asked. When her husband and friend looked at her, she said with a shrug, "It wasn't hard to tell really."

"I wouldn't say you're psychic," Skye said. "The fact this hasn't happened before means it's not an ability. But you might get a feeling or just something about that area warranted your mother's spirit to go to you and try to stop you."

"Probably the latter," Beckett said, shaking her head. "I might be more accepting but not so much I could tell the future."

"Are you going to answer Julia?" Castle asked her.

"Right now, I'll let her know she came to me and we'll talk later," Beckett answered as she was texting that on her phone. "She has dance class right now."

"The press conference went okay?" Castle said to the investigators.

"Yeah, standard for this point," Skye replied. "I don't blame you for spacing out the questions. But since we have that set we can go back to the hangar… hotel?"

"No, we'll stay," Beckett said. "Hopefully Patrick will say if he can continue to investigate or not." She and Castle went back with both Skye and Nkosi outside to the cart and they were starting to head to the hangar before Nkosi stopped the cart. They watched a British Airways plane landing and she reached up to Skye to squeeze her shoulder before the woman looked back at her with a slight smile before she spoke.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Skye replied. "Let's keep going," she said to Nkosi though she was watching an Ethiopian plane landing.

"What're you going to do now?" Castle asked.

"Listen to the CVR recordings for both flights," Nkosi said. "I got a text just before we spoke; I forgot; everything's ready."

"That's okay, as long as we have it," Skye replied before they were driving again. When they were in the hangar she said to Castle and Beckett, "I'm afraid it's back to the office for you two, what will you do?"

"We'll find something," Castle replied, glancing at his wife, not surprised when she shrugged.

"Are you sure you don't want to go back to your hotel?" Nkosi was asking them as Skye was called to the piece of fuselage from Flight 450 by another investigator.

"We're sure," Beckett replied. "I'm giving Patrick another half hour before I text him and we'll go back for sure."

After the investigator had nodded and then left them in the office, Castle turned to his wife and said, "I'm not remembering that week anymore. It's becoming a risk."

"I realize that," Beckett replied with a smile. She saw her husband looked surprised and said, "I went through the same myself."

Nodding his head, Castle said, "Now we're not going to do that, and we have the names written down, what will we do?"

"Watch something on your phone?" Beckett asked.

"Sure, what would you like to see?" Castle said. He was a little startled when his wife took his phone from his hand and he watched her going on it until she was moving her chair over towards him. He looked on the screen as they watched the questions part of the press conference they'd missed and were listening to some commentary after and said, "I'm not sure what they expected them to say. The investigation is still on going."

"I've had that problem," Beckett said in understanding. "And Skye did what she was supposed to, wrap things up since they didn't stop asking when they told them they couldn't answer everything." She looked out on the hangar and could see the investigators were gathering around a TV screen on a table before one was walking out. "I wonder if they're going to be able to bring in the other plane fully."

"Isn't this a double hangar?" Castle asked her.

"I think so," Beckett said. "Now what?"

"We have twenty more minutes in your half hour," Castle commented, looking at his watch before he glanced at his wife's phone as it was ringing. "Or maybe not," he told her as they could see it was Darnley.

"Patrick-" Beckett started to say.

"Kate, you need to have someone drop you off on the road by the hangar you're at right now," Darnley said.

"What happened?" Beckett asked him as he was speaking in a rush.

"There's been a shooting at the field, one of our three employees from Potomac was shot by a sniper; he's dead," Darnley said.

Castle and Beckett looked at one another before they said at the same time, "We'll be there," and left the office in a rush to meet Darnley for their return to the verdant battlefield and new crime scene.