A/N: Thank you for the lovely reviews, guys. I added a kind of unorthodox ending to this chapter to add some levity to the dramatic chapters. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Not mine!

Chapter 4: Honesty

"So this guy is coming after you again?" Alexis, clutching a cup of hot tea, was the obvious adult in charge. Castle and even Beckett looked down at themselves, unsure of what to say or how to react. "Both of you?" Beckett, against her better judgment, glanced up at the teenager. Her blue eyes were fixed on her. Beckett gave her a nod, and Alexis threw up her arms, annoyed. "Because you aren't in enough danger as it is, right? You had to go and poke the sleeping, angry beast with a stick?"

Castle looked up this time, and Beckett hung her head. It was like taking turns at getting whipped. What else could they do but stand there and take it? "Whoa, now, hey, I didn't do this on purpose. I weighed the options and decided this was the best move to make."

Beckett could see the opening before Alexis jumped on it, but no amount of preparation or foresight could take away the sting. "Best for who Dad? You? Me? Beckett?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Because it sounds like Detective Beckett is your highest priority now."

That was all she needed to hear. "I should go," she muttered, and moved toward the door.

"Kate," Castle called her back, but she didn't turn around.

"No, Detective Beckett, stay, I'll go," Alexis made a beeline for the door, snatching her purse by a peg in the hall closet, slamming the door behind her.

Castle turned to Beckett, worry all over his face. "Can we have her followed?" He asked. Beckett opened her phone and called in a favor. A cop from the 14th Precinct had lost one too many hands of poker to her, and he was more than willing to only have to keep an eye on a teenage girl.

Beckett collapsed on the couch and covered her eyes with her hands. She felt the couch protest as Castle sat next to her. "She has a future in interrogation, doesn't she?" He asked, trying to put some good-natured fun back into their relationship. She didn't smile.

"I should go," she said again, standing. "For real this time." Castle's hand reached up to stop her, but she was halfway out the door before he managed to say something.

"If you want us to get better, you have to stop running!" She froze, her hand on the doorknob, but didn't turn around. "Please."

"Were you not at the same execution, Castle? Your daughter just accused you of making me your first priority," she let the door fall closed, and dropped her keys by her badge and gun on the floor.

"Yeah, I was," he said seriously. "And I also know that her statement hit you harder than it hit me," she gave him a stern look, and he patted the couch next to him. She took the seat, but kept her arms wrapped around her knees, her eyes forward. "I know she's wrong, and I know she'll calm down, come back, and apologize."

"No you don't," she said quietly, uncomfortable.

His arm slithered around her waist. "Yes, I do," she stiffened, and he regrettably retracted his arm.

"Maybe you should let me handle this alone," she replied. "You have a family to protect."

He turned on the couch toward her, but she did not mirror the movement. "So do you," he protested. "Your father, Ryan, Esposito, those people are my family too!" He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she finally turned toward him. "I know you see us as your family too, that's why what Alexis said upset you. By helping you, I'm protecting them."

"And you have no other reason for doing this?" She stared into his eyes and watched self-doubt fill them. "Be honest," she urged, "I will not fault you for your honesty." He stared at her, eyes brimming with hope and a kind of fear. He placed both hands on either side of her face, forcing her to turn completely toward him, their knees pressed tightly together. She felt her heart kick roughly against her rips, and her eyes moved, as usual, to his mouth.

"You said you wouldn't fault me," he said softly. Her eyes flickered up to his eyes, but his eyes were on her mouth. She knew it would lead to this. But –

"You would be deluding yourself if you thought this would make me yours," she whispered. "What I told you on that swing set still stands."

He nodded, but kept his hands where they were. "But tell me this. Would this moment, right here, make you feel any better?" She hesitated, and he threw her own phrase back at her. "Be honest."

She didn't have to say a word. The look in her eyes was enough for Castle. He leaned forward, kissing her slowly and tentatively. She let her hands come to life and pulled him closer by grabbing the front of his shirt. He tumbled forward, landing on top of her, her legs trapped beneath them.

He pulled away long enough for her to lie properly on the couch before pouncing on her again, this time focusing on her throat. She arched her back, her hands trailing down to his belt. He groaned into her neck and she returned the sound when his hands met her bare skin. She pulled him back up to her mouth and sank her teeth into his bottom lip.

Her shirt was off and over her head before she could change her mind, and all she could think was this is happening, this is not a dream, and then he was pulling away, looking like he just realized what was happening.

"What?" She asked. "What happened?"

He looked a wreck, his hair was disheveled, his eyes bleary, his shirt wrinkled. Beckett was reminded of him pulling her into the break room to tell her he had lied to her. Her stomach clenched nervously. "I can't do this," he breathed.

Immediately, Beckett shoved herself away from him, pulling on her shirt and running a hand through her hair. She felt embarrassed tears fill her eyes until Castle wrapped his arm around her torso and pulled her back to him.

"I'm not saying I don't want to," he said in her ear. She shivered, and let her head fall onto his shoulder. "Trust me, I want to," his voice dipped low, and Beckett let her eyes slip closed. "But I don't want the first time I make love to you to be rushed, on a couch, where it might not mean the same thing to you as it does to me."

Her head left his shoulder, and she was staring at her lap again, her guard up.

"What are you thinking?" He asked gently, leaning back to take in her full appearance. When she didn't answer, he nudged her gently with his elbow. "Come on, Kate."

She shook her head, her lips pressed together. He coaxed her, poking and prodding, until she finally got exasperated. "Stop it, Castle!"

"Then tell me!" he looked so boyish and cute that Beckett almost caved. She kept her face stoic, letting no clues through that just a small amount of his begging was enough to make her comply.

A loud buzzing sound came from her hip, and she fished out her phone. "Hey, Ryan, what's up?"

Kevin Ryan's voice came loud and clear over the phone. "Oh, you know, I thought I'd call, ask how everybody was, if Little Castle was found or missing..." his voice was dripping with thinly veiled sarcasm.

Beckett slapped her hand to her forehead. "I'm so sorry, Ryan! Alexis is fine. She spent a while working us over for waking her up."

"Alexis is worried about you guys too, huh?" Ryan replied knowingly, and Beckett smiled affectionately at the implications of his sentence.

"Yeah, she is. I'm sorry you guys have to deal with this," she said, and felt Castle take her hand. 'You shouldn't have to."

The answer was instantaneous. "All in the line of duty, boss. Besides, if we didn't, you would have your back? Castle?" His nasally chuckle made Beckett laugh and Castle looked offended.

"I'm helpful!" he whined. "At least I make better coffee than Esposito," Beckett squeezed his hand with a smile.

"Where is Espo, anyway?" Beckett asked. "Normally he makes the calls."

"So I'm not good enough for you now?" Ryan asked, chuckling. "He went down to records a while back to make sure we got everything from the Johanna, Lockwood, and Montgomery cases." He paused. "But that was a while back."

Silence settled over them. "Ryan?" Beckett asked. "We're coming over right now. Don't go down there until we get there, okay?"

"Affirmative."

"Don't even call his phone," Castle added. Beckett hung up the phone and leaped up from the couch, racing to the door, where she put her gun on her belt, her badge around her neck, and grabbed her keys. Castle was slipping on his jacket when she turned around.

"It would've meant the world to me," she said simply. Castle paused, looking confused. "You coming or what?" Beckett asked, halfway out the door. He followed, and it wasn't until they were in the car that he realized what she had said. He leaned over, gave her a brief kiss on the cheek, and buckled himself in.

"Let's get moving, Detective," he replied. Beckett gave him a tight smile and floored it.

"Ryan!" Beckett came tearing into the bullpen, Castle on her heels. "Any word?" Ryan shook his head once, and they turned around to the elevator and pushed the button for the basement.

At the obnoxiously loud 'ding,' Beckett and Ryan drew their weapons, their eyes trained to detect anything out of place. Castle kept himself half-behind Beckett, enough to keep himself from being a direct target, but not obscured enough to be a useless pair of eyes.

Beckett knew the aisle of her mother's case like it called to her. She turned the corner, gun raised. The aisle was empty. She heard Castle let out a sigh of relief, and suppressed one of her own. She moved down the next aisle, following Ryan, and again found nothing. In the last aisle, there were a pair of familiar booted feet just barely in view.

Ryan, disregarding all protocol, lowered his weapon and dropped to his knees, feeling for a pulse. He exhaled heavily, and gave them a thumbs-up. Beckett leaned against the wall, covering her face, discreetly wiping a tear away. Castle, seeing her movement, averted his gaze.

"Guys," he said suddenly. "Where are the files?" Beckett glanced quickly around, seeing nothing. She pulled open a few boxes, and, getting progressively more frantic, started dumping them on the ground. Castle picked up her mess behind her, trying to keep the records intact. Esposito stirred.

"Mmm...wuz goin' on?" he asked groggily. "What's up boss?" He asked, seeing Beckett's face. "Ugh," his hand went to the knot at the back of his head.

"What was that?" Castle, ever-observant, asked, pointing at the small paper fluttering to the ground. Beckett scooped it up, her eyes running over the one line of text. She felt Castle move next to her, and passed it off to him.

"Espo, did you move the files?" She asked. Ryan glanced over the mess on the floor.

"It's not here," he said.

"I didn't move it," Espo added, trying to stand.

Castle's voice was low, dangerous. "They took them. They took them all."

"What does the note say?" Espo asked. Beckett held out her hand to Castle, who passed it to her, who passed it to Espo.

Next time, you won't find a body.

Espo looked up, his face pale. It was one thing to be attacked. It was another to be threatened by a face-less entity who had killed multiple people, and had almost succeeded in killing his boss. "So...we're telling Gates?"

Beckett nodded. "We're telling Gates."

The amount of high-stress conflict Beckett had encountered in the day was slowly tearing her nerves to frayed edges. Standing in the waves of Gates's fury, she felt her defenses falling. She was battered raw.

Gates's voice dropped in volume. "You mean to tell me that your former Captain was involved with all this mess, and you never saw fit to tell anyone?" She was absolutely seething with anger.

No one answered her.

"And one of your team had to be attacked before you decided to come to me?"

"Can I just say something?"

Beckett's head snapped around to Castle, whose eyes never strayed from Gates. "No one spoke up because we didn't want to tarnish Montgomery's memory. He died to protect Kate; that should count for something."

"And he broke the law, Castle. I know that doesn't mean much to you, but it means something to me," Gates snapped. Castle stepped back, chagrined. "However," she added. "I can appreciate his sacrifice. This detail will remain a secret."

"Thank you, sir," Beckett breathed.

"Also, I have good news," Castle cut in. Beckett felt the atmosphere change, and turned to him. He was smiling at her. "I happen to have copies of those missing reports," he said. "All but Montgomery's. He sent them to me," he added, seeing Beckett's confused face.

Gates slumped into her seat. "Get them, and make more copies. We can't be too careful." Esposito and Ryan, recognizing their cue to go, turned to leave.

"Sir?" Beckett asked. "Permission to call in a favor?"

Gates surveyed her face, and must have seen something she liked, because she nodded. "Granted."

"So who is it?" Castle asked.

"A surprise," Beckett sing-songed. "You'll see," she grabbed her coat from her chair. "I'm going home, I need a bath."

Castle paused, and Beckett gave him a coy smile. "You could stay with me," he suggested. "Actually," he raised his voice. "How about you guys stay with me too?" Esposito and Ryan turned to him, eyebrows raised.

"'Scuse me?" Espo asked.

"Saving resources. All of the tails in one place? Then you only need half the cops. Alexis and Martha are going to visit Meredith, so there's plenty of room," he turned to Beckett, eyes pleading.

"Alexis and Martha in California?" She asked quietly.

"Mother suggested it. It'll be good for them, and they'll be safe. Come on," he nudged her with his arm. "It'll help with your state of mind. Everyone you're going to worry about in one place."

"So it, boss," Espo added. "You need it."

She closed her eyes and exhaled. "Deal," she felt Castle squeeze her arm, and grabbed her keys. "Let me grab my stuff from my place and we'll meet you guys there?"

Ryan grabbed his jacket. "I'll get the Chinese!" Beckett laughed.

"So, detective," Castle smirked. "Are you ready for poker night with Chinese food? This will be very relaxing for you, I'm sure."

Beckett gave him an uneasy smile. "I'm sure it will."

After a long, steamy shower, Beckett came downstairs to Ryan, Esposito, and Castle, all huddled around the poker table. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" She asked, flipping her wet hair to the other shoulder.

Castle glanced up and, unprepared for what he found, stopped short. Beckett was wearing an oversize t-shirt, her father's, and a pair of shorts, hidden beneath the shirt. Her hair was handing in wet tendrils over her shoulder, and her face was completely devoid of makeup.

"We're gonna play strip poker," Ryan announced. Beckett raised her eyebrows.

Castle chuckled. "You do realize that there is only one woman here, right? And you are married, and," she turned to Esposito, "you have Lanie. So...what's the point of removing clothes?"

Ryan's eyes flickered only momentarily to Castle, and she had her answer. But Esposito didn't let her take it.

"So what about Castle? You gave me and Ryan reasons to keep our clothes on, but not Castle?" His eyes were shrewd, and Beckett felt her cheeks flush red.

Castle watched her closely. "So, are we going to play or what?" he asked loudly. Beckett gave him a grateful smile and took the seat across from him. He dealt the hands and gave her a smirk over his set of five. The games had begun.

Esposito lost the first hand, and lost his shirt. Castle lost the next one, and lost his socks. Next came Ryan and his vest, and then Castle and his tie.

"Are you serious?" Castle yelped as Beckett laid down a royal flush. "You haven't lost a hand yet!"

Ryan unbuttoned his shirt.

"It looks like we are the only ones who have any sort of luck here," Beckett smiled at Castle, whose hands shook as he dealt a new hand. Beckett put her head in her hands as Castle laid down a straight.

"Off with it, Beckett," Espo crowed, laughing. Ryan had his phone pointing discreetly at Castle, video-taping his reaction. Beckett, without looking at Castle, peeled off her oversize shirt and let it flutter to the floor, revealing a plum colored lace bra and a toned stomach. Even with all that, the only thing that kept Castle's attention was the scar she had, nestled between her breasts. He couldn't take his eyes off of it, and only did so when her hand self-consciously covered it. His eyes slid up to hers and he gave her a half-smile. She lowered her hand and reached for her cards, keeping her eyes on his. Their earlier make out session, on his couch, had been too feverish and frantic for him to see the scar much at all. Now, it was all he could think about, save other thoughts that he wanted to keep pushed away so he wouldn't lose every single hand of poker.

As the night wore on, Ryan got a call from Jenny in Flushing, and left the table to talk to his wife. Esposito only played one more hand before he realized he was only down to his boxers. He gave Castle and Beckett a smirk, gathered his clothes, and retreated to the guest room before Ryan could claim it.

"I guess that leaves us," Castle noted unnecessarily. Beckett covered up her smirk with her cards.

"I guess that leaves us," she repeated. "One more hand?"

He dealt the cards, and watched her face for a tell. When she had a good hand, she would glance at the cards, and then focus on his face. She spared a few second glance at the cards, and her green eyes settled on his blue ones. She raised an eyebrow.

He was screwed. He laid down his hand, three tens. She let a small smile grace her face, and put her cards on the table, face down.

"What?" He asked impatiently. "Whhaaattt?"

She smiled and stood. "I think I'll go to bed," she sauntered by him, letting her hand trail over his bare chest on her way out. As he turned around to make her stop, he caught her unhooking her bra from behind her back. She deftly slid her arms out of the straps and let the plum colored lingerie hang from one finger as she walked away.

The sight of her bare back, wet tendrils of golden hair tickling the skin, would haunt his dreams.

"Good night, Castle!" she called back, a laugh in her voice.

"Until tomorrow, Kate," he replied.