Hey guys, AC here! Thank you so, so much for the reviews; you guys really blew us away! :) I'm so glad you're enjoying this, & so without further preamble, here's the next chapter. (Usual disclaimers & such apply)

At the altar, AJ was raging.

"The wedding is ruined, Ellie is going to kill us, I'm drenched, and this all your fault!" she seethed, glaring daggers at Morgan.

"My fault? But Chuck's the one who asked me to stall…"

"Yes, to stall! Not to bring the fire department down on us! Why the bloody hell didn't you ask me for help?"

"Well I—" Before he could continue, Anna approached. Despite herself, AJ smiled. Anna's thick layer of black make-up had run so that she looked like a raccoon, and her hair hung like a dead thing on the back of her head. She looked awful.

"Back off; it wasn't Morgan's fault."

Arms crossed, AJ stared her down. "You know what, I've had just about enough of you. This is between Morgan and me, so butt out."

Anna made an indignant noise and shoved AJ, who caught unawares fell back a bit. Well, no way was she taking that lying down. She moved forward as if to shove Anna back, then at the last second swung her leg out instead, sweeping Anna's feet out from under her.

"Face it, Wu, I'm out of your league. So Butt. Out."

Then, without so much as a parting glance towards Morgan, AJ walked back down the aisle and out of the church.

Back at Castle, John's men were putting Roark into his nice, secure cell while Beth was with John giving the report to Beckman. She'd rest a bit easier after Roark was carted off and done with. She shook her head at the events of the day. Had someone told her she'd be reunited with John less than twenty-four hours after they'd last met…well, let's just say the day had been one crazy ride.

She couldn't believe Ellie's wedding was ruined though. Her heart reached out for the woman—the wedding may not have been what Ellie had wanted, but it was her day, and instead of getting to be the blushing bride, she was left standing soaking wet by sprinklers and proclaiming 'the wedding was off'. She couldn't even imagine if her wedding ended that way.

"Some wedding huh?"

She turned to face John. Lucky man had already changed. She figured she'd grab whatever she could find in the wardrobe room. "Some wedding indeed. Poor Ellie…I can't imagine what she's feeling right now. And she doesn't even know the real reasons the wedding was ruined. I'd hate to be Chuck, Morgan, or AJ at the moment. Do you think she and Devon will try again with the wedding or...?"

"Don't see why not. Not Devon's fault."

"No, but…" she trailed off.

"But?" he prompted.

"Well, I mean, this wasn't the wedding she wanted. It was the wedding Honey wanted. Because she wanted it to be 'awesome'. If I were Ellie, I'd be curled up with a plate of brownies, not wanting to see anyone."

"Not something stronger?"

Beth laughed. "Nah, I'll choose chocolate over alcohol anytime. Now if you find me a chocolate alcohol, I might be persuaded. But until then, no."

One of John's men walked up. "Sir, the prisoner's been contained."

"Good." He turned back to Beth, until the man spoke again.

"Colonel?"

"Spit it out, Thompson."

"Who's the babe?"

John growled and Beth cracked a smile. "Well, I'm not a babe, but thanks for the compliment. Beth Daniels, CIA. And who might you be?"

"Sgt. Jeremy Thompson. And you most definitely are a babe."

She was about to reply that 'babe' in her terms wasn't a compliment, but John beat her to the punch. "Call her babe once more, Thompson, and I'll make sure the remainder of your time on my team will be hell, is that clear?"

He blanched slightly, and it occurred to Beth that the soldiers had a healthy respect (and a bit of fear) for their commander. "Yes sir."

"Good."

Thompson quickly moved to the table where the other men were setting up a game of poker. Beth shook her head at John, still chuckling.

"Was that really necessary?"

"I'm the only one allowed to call you 'babe'."

"Oh are you? And when was this discussed?"

He shot her a look, and she grinned. "Not sayin' I mind, just curious."

He let out an amused grunt, and sent a longing look to the card game in progress. Catching it, Beth grinned. Men and their cards. "Don't think I didn't see that look ya shot the cards—I gotta get outta this joint anyhow; I need to see how Ellie's handling things. You go have fun."

"Sure?"

"Wouldn't have said so unless I was sure. 'Sides, I'm not leavin' yet—I'll get a few looks walkin' outta the joint in this getup."

"Dunno, think ya look pretty damn good myself."

"John!"

He smirked, and she just shook her head. She turned to head towards the wardrobe room, giving her hips a bit of an unnecessary sway. Why not? She could feel his eyes on her; figured she might as well tease him a bit. She came back about ten minutes later, clad in a tight pair of jeans, and a rather skimpy, flouncy white top. A couple of John's men stared as she walked over and leaned against the edge of the table, facing John. He glanced up from his poker hand, eyes trailing down her body.

"Hope you plan to keep that outfit."

"Not to wear in public! It was the first thing I found that fit me decently."

He let out an approving grunt. "It fits you excellently."

"Yeah, fits 'bout as well as that damn cocktail dress I used to own."

One of the men spoke up. "The Colonel's right, ma'am, it fits you like a glove."

"Crawford, need I remind you that's my woman you're talking about?"

"I'm just appreciating the view, sir."

"You can appreciate it from guard duty to Roark."

The soldier seemed to get the point. "Sorry, Colonel. I meant no disrespect."

Before John could respond, Beth spoke. "No disrespect was taken. Now as much fun as it is chatting with you boys and watching this enlightening poker match, I've got a distraught bride to check on." She leaned forward, giving John a quick kiss, or what was intended to be a quick kiss. John pulled her closer, ignoring the fact she knocked over his poker chips and his whole team was watching. Then again, Beth thought absently, that may have been the point. The man was a bit…protective—he didn't like the others looking at her. Not that she minded his protectiveness. It was sweet, to a point. They finally parted, and Beth grinned.

"Now was that necessary?"

"Always."

She shook her head, and stood to go. "Don't you dare leave without telling me goodbye John Casey. Else I'll make the threats that you give your men look like pleasure compared to what I have in store for you."

"Duly noted."

Giving him one last peck on the cheek, she headed out of Castle, intent on finding Ellie and doing her damndest to fix the mess Roark and his agents created.

After her little spat with Anna, AJ stormed out of the church intent on driving back to her apartment, but was stopped by Mr. B. at the door.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"Nothing," AJ said, shaking the water out of her hair. "Did everything go alright on the spy front?"

"More or less; Colonel Casey and his men got here just in the nick of time to capture Roark."

"Casey's here? Well, Beth must be happy at least."

"Why would Beth be happy?"

AJ shook her head, laughing. "It's a long story. Can I give you a ride back to the apartments?"

"Sure."

AJ led him over to my Jeep, opening the passenger's door before moving over to the driver's seat and climbing in.

"I can't believe Eleanor cancelled the wedding," Mr. B. said as soon as we were out of the parking lot.

"We'll figure something out," AJ said with a confidence she didn't quite have. "In the year since I've been back, the gang's managed to pull off some pretty impressive things. Of course, it's makes more sense now that I know they're all spies…"

"How did you find out anyway?"

"Well, I'd been suspicious for a while, what with all of the strange people going in and out of the yogurt shop's freezer and how Chuck and the others have a tendency to disappear all at once for hours at a time," AJ said, pulling onto the freeway, "but what really tipped me off is that the found you, sir."

"Oh?"

"You're not an easy man to find," she elaborated. "I'd been helping Chuck look for you for months and we'd both given up when suddenly he and Sarah showed up at the complex with you. They had to have access to something I didn't."

Mr. B. said, "Charles only found me because I let him find me. It wasn't safe for me to come back before."

"I'm glad you came back now," AJ said.

Smiling, Mr. B. said after a moment, "So tell me what you've been doing these last few years. The last time I saw you, you were seventeen."

AJ thought back. It had been her last summer in Burbank before going to college. She remembered the day he'd gone MIA, how Ellie had cried for days and Chuck had almost changed his mind about going to school. For a long time she'd been convinced he'd been killed or was being held hostage, because she'd been unwilling to accept the possibility that he'd willingly left his family. She was glad to know now that she'd been right on that last count; he'd left to protect them, not because he wanted to.

"Well you already know about MIT. After graduating, I did some traveling, and then a year ago I came back to Burbank for Gran's funeral and ended up staying for a while."

He tilted his head slightly. "A while?"

"I'm leaving for Dubai late tonight."

"What's in Dubai?"

AJ shrugged her shoulders. "Not sure yet."

"Oh boy."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're not in love with Charles, are you?"

The Jeep veered into oncoming traffic from AJ's surprise before she got a hold of herself and got back in the right lane. "No! God, no! Chuck's like my brother. Besides, everybody knows he and Sarah belong together."

"I had to ask. Who is he then?"

"Who's who?"

"The boy who's got you all riled up. Oh, I bet I know, it's Morgan isn't it? He always did like you."

AJ kept her eyes determinately on the road. "I don't know what you're talking about. There isn't any boy."

"Of course not," Mr. B. acknowledged. "So what's the story with Beth and Casey?"

"Oh, well as I'm sure you've noticed, Casey isn't the most personable fellow and Beth's a total people person. Classic ying and yang. So of course they're head over heels for one another."

"Sure."

"Anyway, Casey tries to act like he doesn't care, but then he goes and calls Beth 'Tulip' or holds the door open for her or something. And Beth, well, she doesn't even deny her infatuation anymore."

"So why aren't they together?"

AJ considered; why weren't they together? "Now that I know they're both spies, I'm assuming that's why."

"And why aren't you and Morgan together?"

Again, the car swerved for a split second as the driver's concentration faltered. "Mr. B., when'd you become such a gossip?"

"I may have been hiding out in the middle of nowhere for a very long time, but I still remember what it was like to be young and in love. Your feelings for Morgan must be pretty strong if you're going all the way to India to escape them."

AJ was saved from having to answer by their arrival at the apartment complex. Getting out of the car, she said, "We'd better go check on Ellie."

AC: So, a slightly less action-packed chapter than the list, but hopefully just as enjoyable. Please review & let us know?