"I can't believe this..." sighed Castle. "It wasn't nearly this hard the first two times...I don't think..."

Beckett chuckled as she added five more people to their seemingly endless list of names. "I kinda pegged you for the 'just show up in a tux' type, Castle..."

"The first time I was," Castle admitted. "It was something of a shotgun wedding."

Beckett's eyebrow went up when she heard the dubious expression. "So Alexis was born eight months later?"

Castle shook his head. "More like four."

"Wow," Beckett mouthed. "What about Gina?"

"Our wedding was...well, it was everything you might expect from a wedding planned by a frustrated writer turned publisher," Castle explained with a grimace. "I was swamped in every little detail for months. Whether I liked it or not."

Beckett nodded sympathetically, rubbing Castle's shoulders gently before turning her attention back to the list. "Okay," she summarized, "when you add in the poker gang and Martha's banker that makes...674."

"Jesus," Castle breathed out, as much a prayer as a declaration of frustration. "How many of those are Network?"

"Two hundred, maybe?" Beckett countered, looking for confirmation of the number.

The question was hardly what Castle wanted to hear, regardless of how close Beckett was to the actual number. "So even if we limited the wedding to our 'top secret' friends it's still going to be bigger than we wanted?"

"Yep," Beckett declared with a weary sigh. "So much for limiting things to our closest friends and family."

Castle matched his fiancée's frustration before an idea struck him. "What if we eloped?" he asked with a growing smile.

Beckett's eyes widened when she recognized the look on Castle's face. "You're serious?"

Castle nodded. "We go to Vegas, right now. Spend the weekend at the Aria..."

Beckett smile was starting to match her fiancé's. "I always did like that place," she agreed.

"We have a great honeymoon," Castle purred, turning on every bit of charm he possessed as he slid closer to his soulmate. "Anywhere you want. He then nibbled on Beckett's very sensitive neck to persuasively drive his point home. "Then we get to start the rest of our eternal lives together without all of this hassle hanging over our heads. What do you think?"

Beckett seemed to be considering her options carefully when Esposito broke into their conversation, his voice clearly showing the slightest hint of panic. "Your appointment with Elvis is going to have to wait, guys. We got incoming."

#

Steve was forcing himself to hold back the hope that was starting to take root in his heart. "You're telling me that if I bring Bucky here, you guys can heal him? Completely?"

Lanie and Banner both nodded. "As long as all of his limbs are still in good working order underneath whatever he's hooked up to," Lanie replied, "then yeah, we should be able to help him return to normal."

"What about his mind?" asked Steve. "HYDRA's had him pretty messed up for a long time."

"Master Mùshī should be able to help him," Banner replied confidently.

"And if he can't, then this Shadow girl can?" Steve repeated what he had heard earlier, making sure he had all the details straight. Lanie and Banner both nodded again.

Steve felt ready to head right out and search for his old friend...until he saw Esposito approach out of the corner of his eye. He fell in step with the Guardian. "I know that look," Steve told Esposito. "Do I need to suit up?"

"No time for that," Esposito replied, not slowing his pace down to talk. "I got a feeling this is something big. And it's already on its way."

An alarm klaxon erupted, its wailing noise making it hard for anyone to talk to each other any further. Steve, though, still tried. "What is that?" he asked Beckett, knowing the woman could still hear him even as the couple fell in line behind him and Esposito.

"Intruder alert," Beckett replied.

"Ever go off before?" Steve yelled back.

Beckett turned the corner before responding to the question. "Nope."

Steve opened his mouth to respond, then closed it quickly as he took in the sight in front of him. Adrenaline started to course through his veins as Steve went on high alert. "So these guys aren't friends of yours?" he asked Esposito.

Esposito matched his friend's defensive stance. "Never seen them before."

"O...kay," said Steve, his nerves tinging the edges of his voice as he tried to take in the scene before him. An overwhelming feeling of peace washed over the room, causing Steve to relax his position and turn to the man who he knew was the source of the emotion. "Master...?"

Ryan shushed the superhero and killed the alarm with a wave of his hand. Three blue-skinned men were each bent down on one knee before the Guardian. "How...how may we help you?" Ryan asked, not even sure if the beings in front of him spoke English.

"Forgive us," the being in the middle replied to Ryan's question. "While we have worked with the leaders of your world in the past, this current governmental configuration is new to us, so we were not able to familiarize ourselves with the changes in diplomatic protocols..."

It took a moment for Ryan to catch up with what he was hearing. "What are you talking about?" he blurted out.

The being in front of Ryan frowned in confusion, turning to study each of the humans as they cautiously approached the circle. "Are you...are you not the leaders of this world?"

Ryan opened his mind to connect with the beings kneeling before him, and gasped at the strange thoughts and feelings that flooded his consciousness.

Esposito noticed the change in his friend immediately. "Uh, bro?"

Ryan ignored Esposito, fighting to make sense of what was going through his head...and finally deciding to take things one step at a time. "Who are you?"

"We are Kree...my lords," the being replied. "I am Kalum Zann. I have brought my brothers Dan and Ael with me. We have come to request your assistance."

"How can we help you?" asked Steve.

Kalum Zann looked up at Steve, then turned to Ryan for guidance. "Rise, please, and answer my brother's question," he told the Kree, hoping to 'fake' sounding and acting as regal as he possibly could.

The three beings rose to their full standing height...and Ryan was starting to wish he hadn't told them to get up. "Well," he exclaimed, "you guys are...huge, aren't you?"

Kalum Zann ignored the comment. "Our brother was sent to the homeworld of one of our enemies..."

Castle swallowed nervously. "Us?"

"No, my lords," replied Zann. "The Chitauri."

Steve tensed up at the sound of the name. "The Chitauri?"

"Yes, my lords," Zann agreed. "My brother followed the Chitauri here to Earth, but we have not received any information from him for months." The Kree knelt down before Ryan a second time. "My lords, I humbly request your assistance in ascertaining the location of my brother."

Ryan opened the floor to his fellow Guardians while he appeared to 'consider the matter'. What do you guys think?

Do you guys really think that these Kree are only interested in finding their brother? asked Lanie.

Hell no, Esposito replied.

I agree, added Fallon. But the only way to find out what these Kree really want is to find their man.

Ryan put his hand to his mouth to mask his nod. So we're in agreement, then?

Yep, the group agreed in mental unison.

"We will help you find your brother," Ryan announced to the Kree. "But it will take us some time."

The three Kree bowed low in an extended show of grateful submission. "Thank you, my lords," said Zann.

When the Kree disappeared from their positions in the circle, the group's discussion began in earnest. "Okay," said Castle, "that was..."

"Awkward?" added Beckett, completing the thought.

Castle smiled warmly. "You read my mind."

Beckett returned the smile and patted her fiancé gently on the cheek. "I always do." She then turned her attention to the rest of the group. "So anyone have any ideas how we can start looking for one eight foot tall alien on a planet of several billion people?"

Steve's face fell as he thought of his answer to that question. "Normally, I would suggest that I talk to my contacts at SHIELD..."

"Why don't we talk to SHIELD?" Ryan agreed, inspired by Steve's idea. "All their secrets have been published online, haven't they? If they had had contact with giant blue human-looking aliens it would be public record now, wouldn't it?"

"The government has been re-encrypting more and more of that stuff every day," Castle countered. "And I don't know about you, but I'm not nearly good enough with computers to do anything about that..."

"Maybe not," Esposito chimed in. "But I think I know somebody who is."

#

Comments, anyone?