A/N 1: Back again! Once again I thank you all for you support of this story, I know The Limey is not a universal favorite, and I'm grateful for how you all have embraced it.

Again, this chapter is heavy on dialogue from the episode, those words aren't mine. I thank them all too.

Now on with the show, I hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 4

Well, that explained why Colin didn't seem to know the man. He and Castle hadn't met. But why was Castle here?

Did he know this was the op? But how? Surely he wouldn't have made the connection with her mention of a British Detective-Inspector – though, knowing Castle...

No, it had to be a coincidence that he was here, unless the boys…?

Again, no. Castle had made it clear he wasn't going to be on this case. Neither Ryan nor Esposito would have called him.

Alexis turned a little and noticed Kate. Wide blue eyes met wide hazel eyes and Kate quickly raised a finger to her lips as she drew a little closer to hear some of the conversation between the two men.

The young woman narrowed her eyes, but said nothing, turning her attention back to her father and the Inspector General.

Dammit! Kate thought. She hoped Wyndham hadn't noticed Alexis' reaction just now. And how was she going to get the man's attention without Castle inadvertently blowing her cover? Surely the son of Martha Rodgers would be able to school his face... He wouldn't jeopardize her op just because he was angry with her, would he?

No. That was uncharitable. Castle wouldn't do that, no matter what she had done to him. He had an innate sense of justice that had surprised Kate at first, but it was one of the reasons why the man was such an integral part of her team.

But he wasn't part of the team this time.

Kate sighed silently and swung toward the bar just as Rick turned from Nigel Wyndham. She didn't see his eyes narrow in recognition.

Slipping into her role, the detective looked around for a bartender. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see her quarry. Castle was nowhere in sight, much to her relief (or dismay, she wasn't sure which).

"Good evening," the man said. "Nigel Wyndham, Deputy General." He set the glass he was holding on the bar and held out his hand.

Beckett nodded in acknowledgement and took his hand to shake.

"Jean Harrington," she replied. "Bored."

Wyndham smiled. "Well we'll have to remedy that, Miss Harrington," he replied. He looked up to the bartender making his way toward the couple. "Uh, one for the lady, please," he picked up his own glass, his wedding ring clearly visible.

"Oh, a ring," 'Jean' drawled. "That's discouraging."

The bartender returned with a glass of scotch. Kate picked it up and took a small sip.

"Oh, well," Wyndham replied, not abashed in the least. "It needn't be." He raised his glass. "To new friendships."

Beckett clinked.

"Now tell me, Miss Harrington. Are you here alone? If so, it would be a grave injustice."

Kate smiled at him, fully in character now.

"My date's more interested in networking than he is in me," she said.

Wyndham set his glass on the bar.

"In that case, he won't object if I ask you for a dance."

Beckett noticed a flash of red hair out of the corner of her eye.

She turned back to the Inspector General and smiled.

"You know what?" she asked in a flirty tone. "I wouldn't care even if he did. But first, I need to powder my nose."

Wyndham laughed, and said, pointing at her with his glass, "I'll wait for you. Don't stand me up, now."

"Not a chance," Kate graced him with one of her brilliant smiles and ran her hand over his lapel. "Be right back."

Beckett's smile dropped as she held herself to a saunter away from Wyndham. She knew she was taking a big risk in leaving the man, but she needed to talk to Alexis and either smooth some ruffled feathers or find out how Castle found out where the op was, or both.

Though, she mused. Castle wouldn't bring Alexis along if he knew there was something going down. Of course, Castle would normally be her partner.

Kate opened the powder room door with a sigh.

She was met by Alexis in a hostile pose.

XXXXXX

A few minutes earlier...

"I'm always happy to meet a fan, Mr. Wyndham," Castle said to the English official. "It's gratifying to know my books are appreciated around the world." He turned to Alexis. "And this is my daughter, Alexis Castle."

"Very nice to meet you Ms. Castle," Wyndham said with a leer that set Castle's teeth on edge.

'International sales, Richard,' Gina's voice spoke in his head. 'Suck it up.'

Alexis stiffened, but it wasn't because of Wyndham's lecherousness. She had turned a little and was looking at something with an expression akin to shock, but then schooled her face.

Continuing the conversation Rick casually glanced behind him to see what his daughter saw. His eyes widened, but he managed to stop himself from reacting further.

A tall woman in a fabulous backless evening gown, hair swept into a slightly messy updo was walking toward the bar.

He knew that walk; he'd been following that walk for four years. It was Beckett.

The British Consulate? This was her undercover op?

XXXXXX

"Hi, Alexis," Kate said tentatively. This was such a bizarre situation. She couldn't talk to Alexis long; she was on the job. But she knew the young woman wasn't going to let her off the hook anytime soon based off the look on her face.

"Detective Beckett."

Kate raised her hands almost in a panic, looking around frantically to see if there was anyone else in the restroom. Fortunately, there wasn't.

Alexis was looking at Kate strangely. "What's going on?" she asked warily.

"Damn it, where the hell is this so-called 'badass' Beckett?!"

"Alexis, I'm working right now," Kate replied in a harsh whisper. "Undercover."

Alexis' arms tightened around herself.

"Does my dad know?" The girl was still antagonistic, though less so. "Is that why we're here? He told me Gina gave him tickets, that Mr. Wyndham was a fan."

The look of betrayal in Alexis' eyes broke Kate's heart. She was thinking her father lied to her.

"He knew about the op. I called him earlier – I'd hoped to have a conversation about our... issues – but work came up instead. I didn't tell him where it was, the two of you being here really is just a coincidence as far as I know."

Alexis looked skeptical, but Kate couldn't help that.

"Look, I've got to get back out there. I technically shouldn't have come in here at all. I just need both of you to ignore me, or at least pretend to not recognize me."

"That's going to be difficult, especially for Dad," Alexis mentioned, softening a little more, but still not quite friendly. "But he'd never 'out' you deliberately," she added.

"I know, Alexis," Kate replied, with an inner sigh of relief. She really did know, but it was nice to have some confirmation.

"If he does feel the need to know me, she continued, "my 'name' is Jean Harrington. Now I've really got to get out there."

Alexis nodded.

"You are going to talk to my dad about things? A real conversation?" she asked.

"Absolutely, Alexis. It's already planned. As soon as this case is done."

"Okay. Good luck."

It was Kate's turn to nod. She gave a cautious smile to Alexis and left the restroom.

XXXXXX

The Inspector General was right where Beckett had left him – at the bar, nursing his scotch. She slipped back into character and sidled up to him, speaking softly in his ear.

"Is the dance still on?"

She slid her hand along his arm as he turned.

"Ah, Miss Harrington, of course," Keeping his low-ball glass with him, Wyndham took Kate by the hand and led her onto the dance floor.

"So Miss Harrington, what should I know about you?"

"Well, there's more to me than meets the eye," she said with a coy smile.

"Well, what meets the eye is irresistible."

Kate noticed Colin Hunt watching them dance. He was speaking to some dignitary, but not paying much attention to the conversation. He nodded at Beckett's back where she could feel Wyndham's hand still holding his glass of whiskey. She understood what the detective inspector was getting at.

"You know," she said to Wyndham. "Actions speak louder than words."

It seemed everyone's eyebrows were getting a workout today. Wyndham raised his.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning if I'm so irresistible, then why aren't you using both your hands?"

She winked and pulled his hand to gesture to the glass. Nigel laughed and finished off the alcohol. He put the empty glass on a tray a passing waiter carried. Beckett caught Hunt's eye and nodded toward the waiter moving away. Colin nodded back in understanding.

He excused himself from his conversation and followed the waiter, but was stopped in his tracks by security.

"Sir Alfred Heath?" the security officer asked.

Colin glanced at the man, still trying to keep his eyes on the glass.

"Yes?"

"May I have a word, sir?" the man continued. "There seems to be two of you here this evening."

While she didn't stop the dance, Kate stumbled a bit as she watched her op go up in flames.

"Sorry," she smiled sheepishly at her dance partner after stepping on his toes for the third time. She whipped the two of them around trying to keep an eye on what was happening to Colin.

"I have to ask," Wyndham commented. "Are you as aggressive in your other activities as you are on the dance floor?" He leered and waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Ah, you know," Kate replied. "What can I say? I like to lead. All the time."

Castle would agree with that, she thought,

While Beckett was looking around for Hunt, she nearly tripped when Wyndham suddenly stopped dancing.

"Would you mind if I cut in?"

Kate's head shot around so fast it hurt.

Speak of the devil…

Wyndham chuckled.

"And where is your lovely date?" he asked the writer.

"Interested in someone her own age," Castle pointed with some chagrin toward Alexis in an animated conversation with a young man.

Kate was relieved to see she hadn't completely ruined the young woman's evening. She wasn't sure what to make of Castle's interference though.

"Besides, it's not fair for you to keep the most beautiful woman here to yourself."

That was a surprise coming from Castle. A bit condescending, maybe, but the way Wyndham was acting, this could be part of Castle's 'cover'. Turn on the old playboy charm. Then there was the expression on his face. Not lecherous, but soft. Real. Maybe she could salvage this whole mess with him. Of course, he was his mother's son, so how much was really real, and how much was acting? Something to ponder when she had time – which was not now.

Wyndham conceded to Castle, shaking his hand and whispering something in his ear.

Kate didn't notice the whisper because she was still looking for Colin.

There he was... Oh, not good. The detective was still with the security team, trying to talk his way out of trouble. He still didn't have the glass.

Damn.

She turned back to Castle.

"You –," he began. "Is everything all right?"

"Oh, sure," she said sarcastically. "My op is falling apart but other than that, everything's dandy."

She blushed and put her head down, touching his shoulder, not looking at him.

"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I don't mean to take it out on you. I don't want to take it out on you."

She looked back up at him. "It doesn't help that I've been working with the wrong partner. Now that the right one is here, maybe we can salvage this? Universe and all that?"

Castle was looking at Kate in shock. At first, he'd bristled at her sarcastic response to a simple question. But her immediate turnaround – especially her forehead grazing his shoulder, which was still tingling at her touch – surprised him. She still considered him her partner? She wanted his help tonight? She was still looking at him with hopeful eyes.

Damn it, he was such a sucker when Beckett was being 'Kate'. He hadn't been sure at first why he'd cut in, but thinking about it, perhaps it was his insatiable curiosity rearing its head – who was she after? And, well… Undercover could be fun if it wasn't too dangerous, and Rick really doubted a party this genteel would be.

"I was just going to ask you if there was any way I could help. What do you need me to do?"

He could see relief flash through her eyes as she turned back into 'Beckett' and went into cop mode.

"I'm sure you've noticed the man over there being escorted out?"

Castle looked over to Hunt still trying to talk his way out of trouble.

"Um... Yeah."

"That," Kate sighed. "Is my partner. Detective Inspector Colin Hunt of Scotland Yard."

Rick watched as one of the security men manhandled the DI out the door.

"Ouch."

"Yeah."

Kate ducked her head as the head of security scanned the room.

"There's a good chance I'll be kicked out too, since I came in with him…" she began.

"Nigel Wyndham did say you were acting strangely when I cut in."

"That was when security caught up with Colin, I guess," Kate said. "I wonder how they made him? Our intel said the guy he's impersonating – some Sir Alfred Heath – wasn't going to be here."

Castle nodded to a man sitting watching the dancing. He was holding a cane.

"That is Sir Alfred Heath."

"Oh, hell. He was supposed to have gout."

"He does. Hence the cane and the chair." Castle glanced at the doorway. "Uh-oh, someone's coming to crash our party."

Kate glanced in the same direction and saw two men moving toward them.

"Oh, shit, time's run out." She looked Castle in the eye. "Do you trust me?"

It was a loaded question, and they both knew it, but there was no time to deal with the subtext.

"Of course."

"We need Nigel Wyndham's prints."

"Nigel Wyndham is your target?"

Castle hadn't been loud, but Beckett shushed him anyway.

"Don't give us away!" she exclaimed in a harsh whisper.

"Sorry," he mimed zipping his lips.

"Why do you think I was dancing with him? We were hoping to get prints off a whiskey tumbler he'd been holding, but it doesn't look like Colin was able to snag it."

"I'll see what I can do," Castle began just as security reached them.

"Sorry to intrude, Mr. Castle," the guard said.

"Yes, what is it?"

"The young lady, I need her to come with me."

"How come?"

Kate slipped back into character and ran her hand down Castle's chest as she pulled away.

"Don't worry, darling," she whispered. "I have no doubt that we'll see each other again very soon."

Giving him a flirty smile, she sauntered away, snagging a spoon of caviar from a waiter on her way out. She hadn't had the delicacy for a long time, and she thought she might as well get something out of this whole fiasco.

She wiggled her fingers and winked at a very confused Nigel Wyndham who had been watching the whole exchange and walked out of the party, followed closely by the two men escorting her.

It was up to Castle now. Kate could only hope he'd figure something out.

XXXXXX

Rick's brow furrowed as he surreptitiously watched Nigel out of the corner of his eye. How the hell was he supposed to get the man's prints? Castle hadn't seen him take a glass of champagne or head to the bar for something stronger. Wait... there was a possibility.

Wyndham had taken a business card case out of his inner tuxedo pocket and handed a card to the gentleman he was speaking with. If Rick could get a hold of either a card or the case itself, that would do it.

But how? He had no need for a card from the British Inspector General. Maybe he could play it off as setting up a signing in England? Gina usually took care of things like that, but Wyndham didn't need to know that.

He was also still a bit distracted by Beckett's touch. Even though he knew it was 'Jean' who caressed him, and it therefore didn't really mean anything, it still affected him more than was decent for a few moments. Even now he was having trouble consciously letting it go, which was another reason he was off in a corner by himself, not talking to anyone.

"Hey, Dad."

Rick jumped a good foot in the air. Luckily, he'd finished his champagne, or he would have spilled it. He also considered himself fortunate to not have shrieked like a little girl. He turned to his daughter, hand on his heart, trying to keep it from beating right out of his chest.

"Alexis!"

The teenager smirked.

"Sorry I scared you," she replied, not sounding sorry at all.

"Geez!" He mock glared at his daughter.

"So, what's got you all inside yourself?" Alexis asked. "Is it Beckett?"

There was no bitterness in her voice, just resignation.

"What do you mean, Alexis?"

"She told me you two were going to talk. I asked her. She sounded like she meant it."

"I'm glad she told you that," he replied. "And that she meant it."

"It's just..." Alexis hesitated, biting her lip in an ironic, yet unconscious imitation of Beckett. "I've seen what she does to you. One second you're incredibly happy, the next you're incredibly sad, and the next you're incredibly pissed off. Does that make for a healthy relationship? I mean..." she trailed off.

"I get where you're coming from, Alexis, I do." Rick looked around. "It's not really the time or place for this conversation, but we can discuss it when we get home if you'd like."

"Maybe. But for now, what's got you so pensive?"

Castle turned back to the Inspector General.

"I'm trying to think of a way to get fingerprints from Nigel that doesn't include me dancing with him."

Whatever Alexis was expecting him to say, that wasn't it. She barked a laugh.

"Why would you have to dance with him to get his prints? If he picks up a glass, grab that when he puts it down," she replied sensibly, then frowned slightly.

Castle didn't notice his daughter's expression.

"That was Beckett's idea, but she and her partner got caught."

"She roped you in again." Alexis shook her head, her father looked up in surprise.

"Alexis…"

She held up a hand. "It is what it is. Maybe it's dumb, but you seem more yourself since you danced with her tonight than you have in a long time. I don't know if I hope it's a last hurrah, but if it's not… I'll help you if I can."

A loud burst of laughter brought father and daughter out of their serious conversation. They looked at each other sheepishly, then turned back to watch the guests, Castle taking another glass of champagne from a waiter passing by.

"You could ask for one of his business cards?" Alexis noticed Wyndham handing a card to a woman.

Taking a sip, Castle said "I thought of that, but it would be awkward taking it in a way that wouldn't disturb his prints."

They both noticed the man put the card case in his outside pocket.

"I could…"

"You still know how…?"

They smiled at their shared thought.

"I could dance with him," – Alexis shuddered a little – "and pick his pocket."

"You still remember how to do that?" Rick asked.

His daughter gave him a look, and much to his surprise handed him his phone.

"Well done, Grasshopper," he grinned.

"I learned from the best." She looked over at Wyndham and caught his eye. He smiled and began walking toward them.

"Just get the card case and end the dance," Rick said. "He's creepy."

"You're telling me," she answered as the man in question approached.

"May I have this dance, Miss Castle?"

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A/N 2: Thank you for reading! What did you think?