First off, I am so sorry this chapter took so long, but it was a long chapter and was really complicated. Also, the chapter is completely molded from the episode "Veritas," I just wanted to tell you to help you follow the story better. Hope you enjoy and don't forget to review below.

Chapter 7: Home is Where the Heart Stops

The loft is unusually quiet even with the distant sound of the television. When Castle walks from the bedroom to the kitchen, the warmth of the sun on the floor is nice against his cold feet. His mother is in the kitchen, stirring up some tea and looking out to whoever is in the living room. When he passes the shelves he sees that Beckett and Lux are sitting diagonally across from each other on the couch. Beckett is watching the TV, unenthused, but Lux is alternating between examining, her nails or something of that nature, and looking at Beckett. He quietly walks over to his mother. When she sees him approaching, she asks, "Did you finish packing?"

` He nods in assurance that he is in fact ready for his book signing in Chicago, but he keeps his gaze fixed on the situation in the living room. When he finally turns to her, he whispers, "How long have they been like that?"

"Lux just got up I don't even know if Katherine knows she's there."

Worry crosses his face, "How long has Beckett been there?"

Martha waves him off and turns to grab some honey, "Longer than I've been up." He watches Lux, wondering what she is waiting for Beckett to do. He must have spaced out or something because suddenly he feels his mother tapping his arm, from across the counter, "Richard, Earth to Richard."

He snaps out of it and turns to her, "Yes?"

"Is something wrong?"

"Yes, no," he shakes his head, and turns back to the living room.

"That's not very convincing," she says sipping her tea. "There's at least something on your mind."

He turns back towards her, "Beckett is going to adopt Lux."

"Of course she is. I've known that ever since I met the girl." She looks at his scrunched face and questions, "Darling, you can't be surprised by that?"

"No, of course not," Castle says then looks at his mother's scold and raised eyebrows. "Okay, yes."

"That can't be what's bothering you."

"She wants me to adopt her too."

"Also not surprising," she reassures.

"She's not my kid," Castle argues in a slightly more hushed tone.

"Richard," She says quieting her voice as well, "When did we start splitting up by last name?" She shakes her head, "No, no, no, I know that is not what's bothering you, so you might as well tell me."

He really didn't think he was deflecting to some other problem, but at further analysis he knows that Lux not being his kid doesn't bother him even the slightest, so what is bothering him, He softens a little as he thinks aloud, "She doesn't want me, Lux I mean. She doesn't act like she needs anyone beside herself, but…" He looks over his shoulder at Lux and Kate, and then turns back to his mother lowering his head before looking at her, "She likes Beckett and wants her, but I don't think she even likes me."

Martha smiles at him. "You know, Richard, I've noticed something over the years."

His eyes soften as he wonders what this has to do with what he just said, "What's that mother?"

"You have a tendency to tell these ridiculous jokes and when you do so I laugh and smile in amusement because you're my son. Alexis laughs because you're her father, so she already thinks you're ridiculous. But I have watched Beckett go from having no tolerance for you to laughing at every joke, and I have to suspect that that has to do with her growing closer to you."

"What's your point?" Castle says slowly

"Just next time you say something you think is funny, you should watch Lux, because last time I checked she did smile."

Castle smiles and turns one last time to look at Kate and Lux.

Lux pops a grape in her mouth and chews slowly, watching Kate carefully. At first glance it appeared to her that Kate was watching TV, but now, at closer examination Lux realizes that, besides physically, Kate is not there at all.

Lux pops another grape into her mouth as a seed of encouragement, "So, Senator Bracken?"

Kate quickly looks at her, as if worried that Lux had a whole speech that she hadn't listened to, "What?"

"You've been in a really weird mood since last night, so what is it? I assumed it was about Senator Bracken, so what is it about him?"

Kate rubs her face, and steals quick glance at Castle, then at Lux before looking down at her hands, "He killed my mom."

Lux's mouth gapes open, "Your mom died?"

Kate straightens with curiosity, "Where did you think she was?"

Lux raises her eyebrows with somewhat of a pout, "The Bahamas?"

Kate can't help but almost laugh, "The Bahamas?"

"I didn't want to pry and when I was little I used to think my mom was somewhere really special and that's why she- you weren't able to keep me." Kate's smile dies out, which makes Lux's voice fade. "If he killed your mother why isn't he in jail?"

"There isn't enough evidence to arrest him," Kate continues, as she momentarily toys with her necklace.

"But you're sure?"

"Positive"

For the brief second, Lux's face contorts in a way that shows that she is trying to find a fix, a solution, or even just a suggestion on how to solve the injustice. For once, Kate understands why Castle has always hated watching her do this. It's like watching someone tear themselves apart, for no resolution. Lux suddenly softens, "I'm sorry about your mom."

"Thanks," Kate says quietly.

"Can I ask you another question while we're on the topic?"

"Sure," Kate reassures.

"Where's Alexis' mom?" Lux asks cautiously, now afraid of the possible answer. For a second, Kate processes the question then smiles. Lux smiles in response, "What's so funny?"

"She may actually be in the Bahamas," Kate says.

…

Four Days Later

Kate taps elbows with Ryan, while Castle and Esposito converse in low ruff tones, "Ryan can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure," he says.

They only walk a few steps away from them. Kate brushes her hair behind her ear and says, "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

Kate takes a deep breath, "Can you check on Lux?"

Ryan frowns unable to follow, "Ye-Why can't you?"

"Ryan you know just like I do that if Internal Affairs gets involved with this, they will come after me and-" He lowers his head not liking any possible ending to that sentence, "Ryan could you please just watch out for her, make sure she doesn't get mixed up in any of this."

"What about Castle?"

She looks over at Castle, only to see him walking over towards them, "Can I borrow her for a second?"

Ryan gives a nod and takes a few steps back, "Yeah."

Kate looks at him one last time, "Ryan?"

He nods and sighs, "Yeah, of course."

Castle turns to Beckett, "The break room?"

She gives a short smile, "Sure." Then turns and starts walking with him towards the break room.

They both walk into the room and when Castle closes the door, it is like a flip switches inside of him. "Were you with Simmons last night?"

"Yes, I was there, but I didn't kill him, I thought about it though."

"What the hell Kate we had a deal. Why didn't you tell me?"

Kate shakes her head, "I knew you wouldn't let me go."

"You're damn right I wouldn't. It was reckless," Castle scolds in a whisper so he won't be heard by the detectives outside.

"It was a calculated risk," she calmly rebuttals, "I couldn't let Vulcan slip away."

"Kate you need to get your head on straight and figure out what you can and can't live with."

She snaps into attention "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Lux, Kate, I thought maybe with Lux around you would be more careful! The last time you were this reckless you almost died."

Kate's phone starts buzzing in her pocket, but before answering it she coyly, without a smile, says, "Last time, I wound up at your doorstep."

"Kate," he warns as she answers her phone.

"Lanie, hey," Beckett says answering the phone.

Lanie sounds horribly shaken as she says, "Kate, we have a problem."

At the sound of her voice, Beckett pulls Castle closer so he can hear Lanie as well, "Lanie, what's wrong?"

"I found a bullet in Vulcan's body, lodged in his spine, a 40 caliber. The killer must've missed it."

"How is that a problem? If ballistics gets a match, then-"

"Ballistics did get a match," Lanie takes a breath then continues, "The bullet came from a pistol that was registered to you." Beckett's eyes get wide, now understanding Lanie's wary voice. When responded to with silence, Lanie continues, "Kate, Vulcan Simmons was killed with your gun."

Immediately, Beckett pulls away from Castle and hangs up the phone. Castle quickly responds, "How could it be from your gun, you have your gun."

"That's my backup piece. I have a 40 cal in my safe at home."

"You're being set up," he concludes, letting all of his anger turn into worry. Something suddenly draws his attention away from Beckett. Something that seems to catch him off guard and when she turns to see what it is, she freezes. Castle notices her unfriendly response, to the man in Gates' office, and asks, "Who is that?"

"Captain Donovan, he's internal affairs. He took over after Gates transferred here."

The man turns to leave Gates' office. They can hear Donovan telling his men to block the exits, but when Beckett looks at Castle, all Castle says is, "Keep in touch."

She gives a quick fearful smile and says, "Always"

…

Ryan huffs, "Can't we just not and say that we did?"

"C'mon man we've got to," Esposito looks behind him at the two suited men starting to head down the hallway, "It's better us than them."

Ryan looks at the men, then down at the ground, as he solemnly knocks his knuckles against the door. He only looks up from the floor, when Alexis, with a smile, flings open the door, but when she registers it's them, worry flushes her face. "Ryan, Espo, what are you doing here?"

When Ryan goes to open his mouth, the two Internal Affairs agents push their way past Alexis and into the loft.

"Hey!" Alexis yells.

"Whoa, whoa, what's going on here," Martha says as she comes out of the kitchen.

One of the agents goes upstairs and the other, already a couple yards away from Alexis, turns towards her, then Martha, "We have a search warrant for this apartment." He says, then proceeds to go into the Castle and Beckett'sbedroom.

"Why?" Alexis says turning back to Ryan and Esposito who are both still in the doorway.

Espo opens his mouth to say something, but Ryan says, "Is Lux here?"

Alexis doesn't sidetrack so easily, "No. What's going on? Where's my dad?"

Martha lightly pulls at Alexis' shoulder, "Darling, let the boys speak."

Alexis only subtly backs off and Ryan can feel that, if he doesn't start speaking soon, she will start interrogating them again. Espo must have felt it too because, as soon as Alexis slightly calms, he starts, "Everybody is okay."

Ryan continues, "But, they think-"

"Who are they," Alexis interrupts, obviously growing more annoyed by not knowing what's going on.

"Internal Affairs is investigating Beckett."

Alexis hushes her voice a little this time, "Why would they be investigating Beckett?"

"They think she murdered someone," Esposito continues.

Martha asks before Alexis can respond, "Why are they here?"

"Well when they came to the precinct to take her into custody she disappeared," Esposito answers.

Alexis opens her mouth to say something, but Ryan answers her question before she even has time to ask it, "She thinks Bracken is behind all of this, so-"

Alexis cuts off Ryan almost like payback for doing the same to her, "She went underground to stay safe."

"As safe as she possibly can," Martha adds, looking at Alexis then turning towards Ryan and Espo, "And Richard, I presume, is with her?"

"As far as we know," Ryan says.

The two agents come to stand in the living room. When Martha and Alexis turn to look at them, one of them says, "All clear."

There is a moment of silence as Esposito glances at Ryan, and then looks back at Castle's family. The sound of his voice makes them turn to look at him again, "We have to bring you guys in for questioning."

Alexis asks with a slight indication of protest, "Why can't you guys question us here?"

"Internal Affairs doesn't want us questioning you, but Gates convinced them to let us come and pick you up."

Martha grabs her jacket from behind the door. When she turns to see if Alexis is ready she sees her glaring at the agents, who are standing obediently side by side. "Alexis, darling, get your jacket," she warns.

When Alexis runs up the stairs, one of the agents turns to the other agent and mutters, "Kids these days."

Martha turns to face them, "She's twenty and it was for your own good."

"Martha?" Ryan calmly says, pulling her attention away from the agents, "Do you have Lux's number?"

"Yes?" She says a little confused.

"Can you call her?" Ryan asks as he watches Alexis coming back down the stairs.

Martha can see a sense of worry on his face. "Yes, of course, but you look really worried."

Espo explains, "We don't know if Bracken knows about Lux, but it wouldn't be surprising if he does."

"If he does we need to find her because, he needs to get to Beckett and-"

Alexis sighs, "And the best way to find Beckett is to get to Lux… I'll call her."

Ryan nods and Espo gestures at the hallway, "We should go."

…

Bug practically growls, as he throws Lux's shirt at her, "You promised!"

"When? When exactly did I promise?" Bug frowns at her, and she softens just the slightest. "Okay, so I promised, but that was before everything happened."

"So I was right you are just going to ditch us all, Me, Tasha, Gavin?"

She pulls on her shirt angrily, "Oh come on Gavin never really liked me, Tasha is in Sunnyvale, and you," She moves so she is in front of him and only a couple of inches away, "I'm not going to ditchyou."

"You-"

Lux's phone starts ringing again for the third time in the last twenty minutes, cutting Bug off for the third time today; she quickly pulls it out of her pocket. She found a picture of Alexis the other day when she was about three on Castle's desk; she enjoyed something about the picture, so she set it as her contact photo for Alexis. The same picture is now flashing on the screen of her phone.

Lux is debating on if she should answer it, when Bug snaps, "Do you have somewhere you need to be?"

"No," she says as she presses ignore.

"No, no go ahead," he says sarcastically.

"I ignored it," Lux says, obviously irritated.

"No, you should call them back, I know how much more important they are than me."

"Bug," Lux pleads. The phone begins ringing again. She looks down at the phone again, but this time Ryan's name flashes on the screen, which automatically confuses her and makes her extremely worried.

When she looks up at Bug he has a very serious expression and seems annoyed by her worry and apparent want to answer the phone, "Go on, Lux. Answer the phone."

She keeps his stare, but he looks down as soon as she answers, "Ryan?"

"Lux? Thank God! Where are you?"

She hears a voice a little more distant, "Jesus Christ, Lux, why didn't you answer the phone?"

Lux squints, "Is that Alexis?"

"Yeah," Ryan says. Lux can almost hear the glare Ryan is giving Alexis. "Where are you?"

"Bug's"

"Okay you stay there. I'm coming to get you. Text me Bug's address."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you when I get there. Could you do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Still be there when I get there?"

"I'll do my best," Lux lets out a somewhat nervous laugh.

"Seriously," Ryan scolds.

"I promise, I'll be right here," Lux says, still not as serious as Ryan would like but he hangs up. She puts the phone back in her pocket and looks up to see Bug looking at her, "What? I needed to answer before half of New York's finest were at your door."

"I just hope for their sake you can keep you promise," Bug mumbles as he walks into the other room.

…

The Next Day

"I'll call Ryan and Espo see if they can help." Beckett dials the number into the prepaid phone.

The phone rings for a long time and a moment before she is about to hang up a voice answers, "Hi, um this is Detective Ryan's phone. He will be back in a second if you want to wait or I can take a message for you."

"Lux?"

In a hushed voice the girl on the other end of the phone responds, "Kate?"

"Why are you answering Ryan's phone?"

"I came to see what is going on, because you know my mother is a fugitive and all. So I came to talk to Ryan and Esposito."

"Where's Ryan?"

"He didn't see me come in. He and Espo are talking to your captain. Oh, they're coming back!"

Beckett hears Ryan ask who it is and hears Lux make an interesting response. In a very quiet voice Ryan asks, "Beckett, is that you?"

"Did Lux just call me Nikki?"

"Talking to Beckett is against the law," Ryan says very matter of fact.

"Can you and Espo help me get into my apartment?"

"Um, maybe, it wouldn't be for a very long, five minutes at the most."

"That's good enough. I'll call you when we're close."

Ryan hangs up the phone and looks at Lux, "You shouldn't be here."

"I wanted to know what's going on."

"You should go home."

Lux blatantly counters, "Why can't I stay here?"

"Beckett told me to keep you out of… all of this. Please just go back to the loft."

"Whatever you say," Lux stands and walks over to the staircase.

A couple of minutes later Espo comes over to his desk, "What is Lux doing here?"

"She wanted to know what was going on, but I sent her home."

"Yeah you know that's what she said, but I watched her go all the way down to the morgue."

Ryan whines, "Are you serious?"

"Yup, just watched her."

"How is it that we chase down murderers every day, and a sixteen year old is going to kill me?"

"Chill she's fine she's probably just talking to Lanie."

"Beckett told me to make sure she didn't get mixed up in this."

"Ha," Espo blurts.

"What?"

"Gates told Beckett two days ago to back off. You see how well that worked out?"

"So, me going down to the morgue and telling Lux to go home…"

"Pointless," Espo assures.

Ryan stands up, "I'm going anyway."

"Good luck," Espo says over his shoulder as Ryan starts walking towards the stairs.

…

Three Hours Later

When they come out of the elevator, Donovan leads the way followed by Beckett and Castle, then followed by Ryan and Espo, trailed by four Internal Affair agents. As soon as Beckett can see the entirety of the floor she sees Gates coming out of her office. For once Gates doesn't seem to care about what bad thing she or any other part of this precinct did, but seems more concerned. "Look guys I'm so sorry," Beckett says to Ryan and Esposito, without turning to see them walking behind her.

"Please," Espo say, "We're the ones that screwed up."

"We led them right to you," Ryan adds.

They all stop when Donovan stops and turns to his four detectives standing behind Ryan and Espo and commands, "Keep them right here until I get back. I want to personally escort them to booking."

When he goes over to talk to Captain Gates, Beckett and Castle stand in the entrance way of the bullpen. "Castle, I-"

"Shh. It's not your fault," He says quietly.

She falls silent not quite sure if she believes him. "I really thought we were going to make it," She looks at him, trying to apologize again, more secretively, hoping for less resistance this time.

When he looks at her, he catches on, and grabs her hands to pull her closer. "Hey whatever happens-" She is tired of keeping him at a safe distance, especially since he doesn't seem to like it anyway, so she leans in and kisses him before he can finish. She thinks about how in the grand scheme of things, none of this is her fault, but she could have left it alone and could have been working on some other case right now or sitting on the couch watching a movie with… Too many things must have been running through her head because she didn't even realize Castle had pulled away until he muttered, "Lux?"

Her eyes open and he nods with his head, unable to point with the handcuffs around his wrist. She looks, without letting go of his hands, following his gaze to the break room, where Lux is sitting cross legged on top of the table and fiddling with what Kate assumes to be her phone.

Kate turns to Ryan, who just shrugs, "Hey, I tried."

She closes her eyes and remembers all of this isn't Ryan's fault either. When she glances back towards the break room, Lux looks over and sees them gathered in the entrance. Lux turns so that she can face the window and see what's going on. When she does so, she holds the thing she was fiddling with in one hand, as the other turns her body around. Kate smiles when she thinks she recognizes the object as the lone elephant, that Castle deemed the Rockefeller of the elephants. She looks at her desk to confirm the elephant is not on her desk and thinks about how Lux will probably want to keep them just like Kate- "Castle," she says quietly before pulling away from him just the slightest. Castle looks up, to see why she has distanced herself, only to find her staring at him, "The elephants."

"I don't understand."

"They were my mom's." Castle turns to see the elephants on her desk. Her whispering voice catches his attention again, "Before they were on my desk, she used to keep them on hers. She used to joke about how they were like a family. Just like us: me, my mom, my dad, they were a family."

He can see her convincing herself more and more, barely able to contain herself, as she talked her way through what she had been missing for years. He suddenly can't feel her hands in his anymore. She is running over to her desk and grabbing the statue of the parading elephants. Castle quickly turns to see Lux scrambling off the break room table. He quickly turns and watches Kate carefully as she searches the elephants. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Donovan pull his gun on her, when he realizes what all the commotion is. He sees that Gates is trying to get Donovan to lower his gun, which is fixed on one of her people. Suddenly, Ryan, Espo and Castle are pushed against the opposite wall and behind the IA agents.

Kate feels Donovan grab her arm, but she shoves him back, pulling her arm free. She knows she can find the hiding spot in the elephants; he just needs to give her a minute. She can hear him yelling at her, which she ignores, until she suddenly hears Lux scream, "Stop!" She looks up even though as soon as she does she realizes Lux wasn't yelling at her to stop, but at Donovan. Suddenly, Kate's hand, which is on the back of one of the elephants, slips as the back comes off, drawing Kate's attention back to the elephants, or more importantly to the tape the falls to the floor in front of her.

…

Lux pushes the contents of her bag around, trying to find her keys. Suddenly, the door swings open. Alexis' face seems somewhat shocked.

When Martha sees the teenager at the door she sighs, "Oh, thank God."

"Where have you been?" Alexis pries, "This morning, you said you were going to Sunnyvale to visit Tasha, so when you didn't come back we called Sunnyvale and they said that Tasha wasn't allowed visitors today."

Lux tries to enter the loft, but Alexis puts her arm up to block the doorway and cocks her head to the side. "Fine, I lied, okay?" Lux says, ducking under Alexis' arm.

Alexis peeks out the door, as Martha continues calmly questioning Lux, "If you weren't at Sunnyvale, then where were you?"

Lux walks over to the couch and before she can answer, Alexis closes the door and says, "No one is out there."

"They caught Kate and Castle," Lux says, very matter of fact as she turns on the TV.

"When?" Martha exclaims.

Alexis softly asks, obviously trying to take on a calmer composure, "How do you know that?"

"I was at the precinct."

"Lux," Alexis sweetly scolds.

"Are they there now?" Martha asks.

"No, I can probably show you, though," Lux says flipping from one news channel to the next. Alexis, now looking at the screen, stops Lux, "There!"

Lux smiles as the breaking news story, of Senator William Bracken's arrest for conspiracy, fraud, and murder, shows on the screen, visualized by Beckett guiding the senator down the stairs of the building.

"Well, we found Katherine," Martha says with a smile.

"Wait," Alexis stops smiling for a second, "this says this happened an hour-" She then stops at the sound of the door opening.

"Hi, guys," Kate says as soon as she comes into the loft, followed by Castle.

"Says the victor on her triumphant return," Alexis beams, as she quickly walks over to hug her dad, then Kate.

Kate smirks, partially from embarrassment and partially because it is completely impossible to stop smiling.

"Congratulations Katherine," Martha says, pulling her into a hug.

Lux smiles as she watches them from the couch. She pulls her knees up to her chest and rests her head on top of them. There is something comforting about watching them rejoice from this distance.