Lanie joined the group with a curious expression on her face. "You called, guys. What's up?"

Castle called Ryan, Henry and Eric over to join the healer. "I have a theory," Castle explained. "The problem is, I'm not exactly sure how to prove it."

Lanie looked decidedly skeptical. "This oughta be good."

"Doctor Selving, by your own admission you've studied the Tesseract pretty thoroughly and been attacked by Loki's scepter," said Castle.

"I have," Eric agreed.

"You can't have had that much contact with two of the universe's most powerful magical objects and not be changed by it on some level."

Lanie found that she was at least partially understanding the logic behind Castle's theory. So far. "You think we're talking about a flip?"

"Flip?" asked Eric.

Castle shook his head. "We'd have seen evidence of it by now. No, I don't think he has the gene. But that doesn't mean something else isn't there."

Lanie sighed, knowing that Castle's logic was sound, but hating what that logic meant for her immediate future. Her attention briefly turned to the two man who were flanking her new patient. "I take it that's why you two are here?"

Ryan smiled and gave a curt bow of his head as Henry matched the gesture. "Smith and Wesson, at your service."

Lanie rolled her eyes at the two men before turning her attention to her patient. "Doctor Selvig, I presume?"

"Yes?" Eric replied.

"I would like to give you a quick examination," Lanie explained. "Just to see if Master Sìfāng's 'theory' has any legs."

Eric glanced at Esposito out of the corner of his eye. "I take it this 'examination' will be similar to sharing my memories with your partner over there?"

Lanie followed Eric's glance and realized that her husband was the one in his crosshairs. "I promise you, Dr. Selvig," Lanie assured him, "you won't feel a thing."

The Guardian gestured for Eric's hand, which he offered without complaint. Henry placed a hand on Lanie's shoulder before she slipped into her healer's trance. Her eyes rolled back into her head just before her eyelids closed. Ryan completed the magical circuit between himself, Lanie and Henry, shaping and directing the combined energies so that the healer could get down to the the atomic level of Eric's cellular structure.

The pull to get lost was the strongest that Lanie had felt in a long time. You still with me, Kev? she thought.

Ryan smiled even as his eyes remained firmly shut. Always, he replied.

Good, thought Lanie. Her head tilted sideways. I think Castle may be right, but I can't be completely sure. I wish I had Beckett's hearing...

Let me bring her in, Ryan declared. He made a light connection to the Guardian's mind. Beckett, Ryan projected through the mind-link, Lanie said she needs your help.

Beckett snapped to attention. How can I help?

She says she needs you to listen to something, replied Ryan.

Beckett nodded even though the two other people in the conversation couldn't see her. Open the connection, she told Ryan, closing her eyes.

The next image Beckett saw was like nothing she had ever seen before in her life. What...what am I seeing? she asked in amazement.

The inside of a cell, Lanie replied.

Beckett allowed herself a small moment of wonder before returning her focus on the task at hand. What do you need from me?

Listen, Lanie instructed. Do you hear that hum?

Beckett focused on the sound that she had relegated to background white noise. Yeah, she replied. I hear it.

That hum is the energy that holds our bodies together. My gut's telling me that if...if...Castle's theory is correct, then Doctor Selvig is running on a different frequency than the rest of us.

It's...it's possible, I suppose, agreed Beckett. I don't have a frame of reference to tell from in here...

The group separated returned to outer world with a quiet gasp, Beckett immediately picking up where she left off. She paced the room slowly, her eyes half-open as she listened for traces of the frequency she had just heard.

Sandburg immediately recognized the signs of a sentinel on the hunt. "Beckett," he asked in the calm, quiet tone Ellison always associated with 'guide mode', "what are you..."

"Shhh," Beckett insisted, looking for as close to absolute quiet as she could get. "I hear it, Lanie, but it's so faint..."

Henry re-connected with Beckett...and she fell to her knees as the sensory input threatened to overwhelm her.

Ryan and Sandburg rushed to Beckett's aid. "Dial it back," Sandburg instructed her as he put his hand on her other shoulder. "Focus on my voice, on the touch of my hand on your shoulder. Let everything else just fade into the background."

Beckett smiled as relief washed over her. "Thanks, guys."

The three men supporting Beckett never wavered from their focus. "What are you listening for?" asked Sandburg.

Beckett let her vision fade out as she returned to her mission, opening herself to Ryan and Henry's combined energies drop by drop. "I need to find someone...normal..." Her focus eventually settled on Darcy.

Darcy couldn't resist. "First time I think anyone's looked at me as the standard for being normal..." she cracked.

"Shhhhh," insisted Beckett, cutting the younger woman off. She listened for a moment, then opened her touch to verify what she found. Beckett then cocked her head to the side just slightly as her senses revealed more than she had been expecting.

Castle watched as his fiancée slowly re-scanned the room. "Beckett?" he asked. "What is it?"

"You were right, Lanie," Beckett replied. "I think Doctor Selvig's frequency is different from normal..."

"But..." Castle added, noting the hesitation in Beckett's voice.

Beckett turned her attention toward Castle. "The difference in Doctor Selvig is faint. There are pockets in the room where that frequency is much stronger."

"Pockets?" asked Lanie.

It was only then that Beckett fully opened her eyes, combining what she was seeing with what she had heard and felt. "The five of us are on that same frequency," she announced.

"Us?" asked Esposito, clearly surprised by the declaration.

Beckett nodded. "But we're not even the strongest sources of the frequency in this room."

"Then what are they?" asked Ryan.

"There are three sources," Beckett explained. She pointed to three people standing at opposite ends of the room. "Shadow, Doc...and Doctor Foster."

Jane's eyes went wide. "Me?"

Thor stared at his beloved in awe. "That must be why the Aether chose you," he realized. "You're a carrier."