Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or the recognizable characters who appear in this story. Any other names, for characters or businesses, are fictional, uncompensated, or are in the public domain.

October 23 (continued)

Once the elevator doors closed, Beckett's team and Gates remained locked in place. But even in stillness the blood quickly drained from Captain Gates' face as the full implications of Dunn's parting words occurred to her. Without a word, she spun on her heel and strode to her office, closing her door and her blinds behind her.

"You don't think he meant…," Ryan trailed off, wondering if Dunn was playing with Gates or if she, like Delbruck and Kemp, had Alzheimer's or some other horrible diagnosis that would make it difficult for Dunn to hear her.

But Ryan's comment died mid-delivery as he realized that no one was listening. Each member of the team looked solemn and solitary, still processing the secrets Dunn had revealed and thinking about how or if they could continue to work together based on what they'd learned.

It was Beckett who finally broke the silence. Looking up, she turned to her partner and tried to get his attention. "Castle," she called out quietly several times before giving up on his name and trying a different approach. "He lied, Castle, I promise you he lied." When even that confession didn't seem to pull Castle from his thoughts, she tried one more time. "You promised me we'd talk about what he said before anything else."

Those last words seemed to penetrate, causing Castle to look up and slowly study his partner. Then, finally, he nodded. "We'll talk," he said in a quiet voice. "But I need to clear my head. I'm gonna go for a walk and think about what happened in there," he declared with a tilt of his head toward the Interrogation Room. "We can talk after I get back."

Though not a huge fan of this plan, it was still reasonable, so Beckett gave a slow nod in reply. Her partner turned toward the stairs before Ryan interrupted.

"Castle, can we talk, too? I can explain."

"Later, Kevin," Castle replied without turning back. "I need more time before I'll be willing to talk about that." Then, without another word or backwards look, Castle stepped toward the stairs and descended out of sight. Ryan seemed upset at being rejected, but took some solace in Castle's use of his given name.

The afternoon seemed interminable after that. Technically, they had no paperwork to do as their files, and the responsibility of closing the homicide cases that led them to Dunn, had all been confiscated or transferred to Dunn's minders. Beckett still retained the physical backup copies she made, but she felt no desire to peruse the files with Dunn's taunts still fresh in her mind.

With no pending cases, the team should have been placed atop the duty roster, but no one was sure if that was the case. Gates still hadn't emerged from her office. Their phones didn't ring, so the team assumed they were on standby until that changed.

Which was painful, of course. No work meant no distractions, no chases, no puzzles to command the attention that otherwise inevitably returned to Dunn's comments. Beckett could feel his words festering in her soul. She wondered if the boys were feeling the same thing but a quick glance disproved that theory – they were both shooting angry looks at the other, still riled by the truths Dunn had whispered like a snake.

Standing abruptly, Beckett decided to stop treading lightly and instead decided to risk a head-on discussion with her teammates. "Conference room," she directed before leading the way, assuming the boys would follow. And follow they did, shooting baleful looks at each other as they scuttled inside. Following Gates' lead, Beckett lowered the blinds to isolate her team before taking a seat and staring at her colleagues until they followed suit and sat at the table.

"I'm still seeing the therapist who cleared me to return to duty," she volunteered directly, counting on shock to command their attention. Sure, Dunn had revealed Burke's existence, but she figured (rightly) that her willing confession would be a surprise. "Dunn wasn't wrong – I've got some issues I'm working on and it's gonna take a while. I'd rather not bring Doctor Burke in to try to fix us," she admitted to general nods, "so we're gonna try to do this ourselves. Because I don't want Dunn to tear apart in less than a day what it took us years to build."

The boys nodded at the concept but didn't look particularly willing to join hands and sing Kumbaya around a campfire.

"So," she continued resolutely, "I'll go first. Dunn hit me with three things. I've already confessed to seeing a therapist. It sucks, I'm not good at it, I don't like it. And I finally understand that it's going to take time. But I think I'll be better for it," she confessed quietly. She risked a quick glance and thought she saw looks of compassion, which bolstered her morale and seemed to suggest that maybe catharsis was possible.

"He also hit me about Alexis. You might not like what you heard, but it was accurate," she confessed. "As you might've picked up, before my mom died, I was pretty wild," she noted with a little grin. "I would not have gotten along with Alexis at her age and I wonder if Castle's own personal life led him to shelter her too much." Recognizing the incipient interruptions, she raised her hands to ward them off. "I freely admit that I'm not a parent, have no idea how to raise a kid, don't know what effect Meredith or Gina had on Alexis' development, or many other things. My thoughts are exactly that – just my thoughts. Uninformed, biased, and perhaps, in this case, a little crude," she admitted with a shrug. "Which is why I never shared them."

"Dunn's third knock on me was the worst," she continued, girding herself for this discussion but telling herself that it might be a good test run for a later talk with Castle. "You remember how things were at the hospital after I was shot. I was in incredible pain, higher than a kite, my relationship with Josh was exploding, dad was hovering around trying to be supportive, and I was trying to understand why Montgomery did the things he did," she offered in a quiet voice, recognizing the looks of grim recollection in her teammates. She could've mentioned her terror, too, but more than enough of her private thoughts had been aired already.

"I knew Castle and I needed to talk about things, but I just couldn't do it while I was in the hospital. I told him I'd call him. Then dad and I decided to move to the cabin for my recuperation. It took me a lot longer to getter better – in body and head – than I thought it would. Hell," she confessed, "I'm still working on it. I didn't want to call Castle until I was fixed. But I thought about calling him every single day," she emphasized with three pointed knocks on the table that coincided with her last words.

"This is why Dunn is so dangerous. It infuriates me that he freely volunteers what we've chosen to keep private. But more insidious is that he can lie – he knows our insecurities, knows what others think about us, what we think about them, and can deliver perfect lie with surgical precision. And why wouldn't people believe him? If he can read our thoughts, who'd doubt what he claims we think?" she nearly growled in frustration while imagining Castle wandering around outside wondering if she really never thought about him over their summer apart.

"Here's what we're gonna do," Beckett declared while standing. "What Dunn said about me affected all of us, so I needed to talk to you. I need you two to figure out how to get past what you heard. I don't need to be here for this – as far as I'm concerned, I can compartmentalize anything I heard about you and it changes nothing. So, work it out. I'll be outside covering for you and diverting any interruptions," she promised while looking stern, making it clear that she expected compliance. "Unless I need to stay here and referee?"

Neither Ryan nor Esposito spoke in reply, but both shook their heads.

"Okay, good. Now, give me your sidearms," she commanded. "I don't care if you need to knock each other around a bit to work things out, but we'll leave the guns out of it." Grudgingly, the boys complied. Internally, Beckett smiled – they might have some wide divides to mend, but perhaps the shared experience at being forced to play by her rules would provide some initial commonality on which to build. With that optimistic thought, she moved toward the door.

"Don't come out until we can function like a team again."

"What the hell's going on in there?" Karpowski asked after hearing a loud crash from the conference room.

"Team-building exercise," Beckett answered with an admirably straight face.

"Ah. Trust falls?"

"Something like that."

"Ma'am?" Officer Garr asked as he approached from the stairwell. His look of relief at speaking to Beckett rather than Gates was perfectly clear. "Is there a problem up here? The OC guys downstairs said that things are gettin' a bit loud."

"Nothing to worry about, Garr," she reassured him. "Just some renovations on the conference room. Shouldn't last much longer."

Garr tilted her head and gave her an odd look.

"Renovations?" he asked, sounding amused. "I shoulda known that word when mama asked what my brothers and I were doin.' Might could've saved us the extra chores."

"You just needed an older sister to provide some cover," Beckett smiled in response. "You can tell the dainty souls downstairs that we'll be done disturbing their beauty naps pretty soon."

"Thank you, ma'am, I think I'll do exactly that."

"Detective Beckett," she heard from behind her just as she was about to peek inside to see if the recent silence from within meant the boys had reconciled or if one had incapacitated the other.

"We're almost done," she said tersely, starting to get annoyed by the attention they were drawing to the conference room.

"Detective, we're not here about the noise."

Blowing out a sigh, Beckett turned to see the woman who'd commanded custody of Dunn. And in that moment, Beckett felt like she could imagine what it would be like to have his gift. Because with only a look, she could read the woman's mind: Dunn had escaped.

"What happened?" Gates demanded minutes later when Beckett's team, Gates, and two of Dunn's 'minders' had collected in the conference room. Gates didn't look amused at the broken chairs, listing table, or cracked window, but shrugged it off in light of more pressing matters.

"We were both compromised. Cole managed to touch your man in Holding and was able to blackmail him for a key to his cuffs even before he was interrogated. Once we collected him, Cole touched his driver and talked his way out of his car."

"Who's Cole?" Gates asked. "For that matter, who are you? You managed to skip the formalities earlier today."

"I'm Kathryn Jeffers, that's Michael Hansen," the woman replied. "We work for a division of the NSA. Alex Cole is the man remanded into our custody earlier today."

"So, Kenneth Dunn was an alias?" Ryan asked. "Nothing turned up in the system."

"Like much of what you heard today, what Cole said was designed to evoke a response," Agent Jeffers replied. "Tell me – does the name Dunn have significance to one or more of you?"

"Yes, it does," Beckett answered tersely. "So, how'd you lose Cole?"

"Detective, as you know, Cole has certain useful skills and abilities. These make him a difficult asset to manage."

"Difficult to manage?!" Gates mimicked bitingly. "He killed three people and cut them open, all in the hopes of finding a challenge! What you call 'difficult' I call criminal negligence and reckless endangerment!"

"Stop posturing," Jeffers snapped. "We both know that skills like his will not be allowed to go unused. He's never demonstrated behavior like this in the past and we'll adapt. It may sound callous but what we've gained from Cole's service outweighs the losses he inflicted."

"How long has he been in the wind?" Esposito asked, getting them back on task. This question shifted the group's attention to him. While all certainly noticed the swelling around his eye and torn shirt, they ignored it just as they ignored Ryan's bloody lip and obvious limp. Considering their familiarity with Dunn's – or Cole's – methods, the agents probably weren't surprised by evidence of disharmony. Beckett was happy to ignore the incidental damage as well, as the boys seemed to have worked through at least a large portion of their awkwardness and animosity.

"About 45 minutes now," Jeffers answered after checking her watch.

"What?! Why didn't you call us immediately?" Gates demanded.

"One, because we didn't know right away. Cole compelled his driver to continue on, so we didn't immediately realize he'd slipped from the car. Two, we were hoping to avoid a panic."

"Wait a minute," Beckett interjected in a low, dangerous tone. "That means you lost him almost as soon as you left the precinct," she figured as she whipped out her phone and started dialing.

"That's right," Jeffers replied. "About four blocks from here."

But Beckett had stopped listening to the agent, instead willing Castle to answer his phone. She sagged in relief when her call went through.

"Katie-bug! I was hoping you'd call. I'm afraid Ricky can't come to the phone right now, but do you have a message to pass along?"

Beckett could feel the blood draining from her face. Not that she noticed, but the others in the room recognized either her reaction or managed to overhear Cole's voice in the tiny room.

"Don't worry about it," Cole interjected before Beckett could reply. "I know you pretty well, so I'll just wing it. Gotta go, lots and lots to do. Toodles!"

"No go on Castle's cell," Ryan reported morosely after hanging up with the 12th's tech department. "Cole either ditched the phone or powered it off."

"What about Mister Castle's daughter or mother?" Gates asked.

"They're not at home," Jeffers answered from her borrowed desk in the Homicide bullpen. "One of my agents just called in – no one there and the doorman said the lock was changed earlier today."

"Marlowe Prep said Alexis was pulled out of class by someone named…," Espo added, pausing to look down at his notes, "… William Fitzpatrick. He was on the pre-cleared list so they let her go. No one's seen Martha today but I'm still on hold to talk to one of her students."

"Fitz!" Beckett cried, making a connection and drawing the attention of the assembled NYPD staff and their federal visitors.

"Detective?" Gates prompted when Beckett looked lost in thought.

"Before he went in to interrogate Dunn, I mean Cole," Beckett explained, "Castle called someone named Fitz and told him to activate something he called the Tyson protocols."

"Who's Fitz?"

"Who's Tyson?"

"What protocols?"

Shaking her head, Beckett collected her thoughts. "I think Fitz is one of Castle's attorneys. Espo, will you run that down?" she asked, getting a quick nod in reply. "As for Tyson, that's a reference to Jerry Tyson. He's… he's a very careful, methodical killer we ran into last year. He was very adept at researching and planning – he entered the lives of his victim and had elaborate and effective means of avoiding detection."

"Where is he now?"

"I wish I knew," Beckett replied softly, getting a firm nod from Ryan. "He incapacitated Ryan and could've killed Castle, but he bolted. He's out there, somewhere, almost certainly planning his revenge."

"Why revenge? What'd you do to him?" Gates asked. Beckett frowned, wondering if this was her boss asking to better understand the situation with Castle or if she was still wearing her Internal Affairs hat and sniffing around for evidence of police misconduct.

"We ruined his perfect crime. Like any other self-described genius, he has a very large ego. He'll certainly want payback for having his hard work spoiled," Beckett answered.

"So, I take it Mister Castle shares this opinion?" Jeffers asked rhetorically before continuing. "If so, is it reasonable to assume that the 'Tyson protocols' would be intended to prevent Tyson from entering into Castle's life?"

Beckett took a moment to think and then started nodding. "That makes sense. Look at what we know – Castle's loft is empty and the locks were changed. Fitz pulled Alexis out of school and we can't find Martha. When he was talking to Fitz about the protocols, Castle told him to take off, that they'd check in as pre-arranged, and that he hoped it was a false alarm and things could go back to normal next week," she thought aloud. "And," she exclaimed as she made yet another connection, "we didn't know it, but Castle already had his psychometry theory about Dunn – Cole – then. So he might've been worried about what would happen if Cole touched him. It fits," she declared.

"Then we are both very fortunate and very unlucky," Jeffers replied somberly. "We are fortunate in that it sounds as if his family is not in immediate danger and we needn't worry about Cole using Mister Castle's properties or assets. However, it also means that Mister Castle would be acting at random, taking care not to go anywhere or call anyone familiar. That means that unless Detective Beckett has any insight into how he would react in this kind of situation, we don't even know where to begin looking for Mister Castle," Jeffers summarized. Then, looking around at the faces of the NYPD personnel, she finished her thought.

"Worse, Mister Castle's daughter and mother are hidden, even from him. Who can find them first sounds like exactly the kind of game that will appeal to Cole."

A/N: This chapter brought to you early thanks to a lengthy flight delay. And, yes, I managed to retain possession of my computer at the airport this time. This is the last chapter that takes place on October 23. We've finally made it to the scene that started the story!