Posted 28 Feb 2011

Beckett thought the entire circumstance was a little surreal. Had they really dropped into the middle of a CIA op? "So what now?"

"Now, Detective, we wait for extraction. After we are sure the devices are secure, you can go back to catching scorned housewives, embezzling business partners, and butlers." Casey chuckled quietly at his comment, which did not amuse Beckett.

Sarah and Chuck sat against each other at on the sofa. She and Castle sat in chairs across the room at the table. Lanie sat on the floor by the door, holding her boyfriend. This new guy, Morgan walked behind the bar.

"Come on, Casey. Let's make drinks for everyone while we wait." Casey shrugged and joined him pulling out some glasses.

"You know, Sarah, I need to reschedule our flight to make sure we get back for Operation Baby Awesome tomorrow."

"Do you really think they'll go through with it, Chuck?"

"Oh yeah. They'll leave. The question is will they make it to the restaurant, or actually finish breakfast before they rush back."

Casey snickered. "My money is on them turning around at the car."

Morgan piped up, "I think they'll drag Baby Awesome with them and you guys don't even need to be there. You should just stay in New York tonight."

"Normally, I would agree with you, but I have a sneaky suspicion that Ellie is trying to get us to play parents."

Sarah's eyes shot wide open at Chuck's observation. "We haven't even set a date yet."

"You know my sister. She's always scheming two steps ahead."

"Maybe you guys could work on wedding plans while we wait."

"No, Morgan. Just because you're my best man does not mean you get to plan the wedding. That's Sarah and Ellie's job." Chuck grinned at Sarah, whose eyes had not returned to normal. "Then, when terrorists break up the first ceremony, we get Casey to plan the second on short notice because he did such a great job last time." This earned a small giggle from Sarah, finally allowing her to recover.

Casey growled, "That was a onetime deal. I only did it because I was reclaiming tax payers' hard earned money."

"Right. The Woodcomb wedding stimulus package. Ewww. That did not sound like what I meant."

Beckett whispered to Castle, "These people can't really be CIA. Can they?"

"I know. Isn't it great? Three dysfunctional, but kick-ass agents and one plucky side-kick." Castle surreptitiously pulled out a small notepad and pen from his coat pocket.

Chuck opened the backpack at Sarah's feet, making Beckett nervous at the thought of the device in the pack. Instead, he pulled out a flat, hand-held computer tablet.

"Cool, is that the new iPad 2? My publisher couldn't get me one."

Chuck set the computer on the low table in front of him and replied, "No. This is much better." Sliding out a keyboard, he continued, "See, it has this new invention called a 'keyboard' that has this ingenious feedback mechanism called 'tactile response.' It allows faster input and even allows me to look at you while I'm using it. The iPad is eliminating buttons, so I doubt you'll be seeing one of these on the next several generations of the iPad. Maybe someday Apple will figure out that people use iPods for music at night and don't want it lighting up the whole room just when the want to resume their nighttime playlists. I still have an iPhone, though. They would revoke my nerd card otherwise."

Chuck pressed a few more buttons. "I really doubt the iPad 2 can do this." Suddenly a three dimensional image was projected above the screen. Chuck moved his hands through the image and flipped several successive images to the side. "Sarah, it looks like the last flight out of La Guardia is full and the last flight out of JFK only has one seat left. So unless you want to take care of Baby Awesomette by yourself-" Sarah playfully slapped Chuck's shoulder. "I guess that is a no. I could bump someone, but maybe it'd be better if I find alternative… There. It looks like I can get a C-37A. Unless you want to see if I can get an F/A-18B. We'd have to leave those two behind but—"

"That plane only has a range of 2000 miles—not enough for a cross-country flight from Hamilton to El Segundu," Casey interrupted.

"I can fly the Gulfstream, but I'm not qualified for fighter jets," Sarah added.

"I figured I could fly it. I didn't know about the range problem. I guess I would have figured that out when I got in the cockpit. Oh, well. C-37A it is." Chuck alternated between the keyboard and some of the projected images.

"So where do I get one of those?" Castle asked, almost drooling at the high-tech gadget.

"Sorry, it's not available for the public," Chuck answered.

"My publisher knows people who work at Marvel. They could hook you up."

Chuck looked like he considered it for a second, but they replied, "As cool as that sounds, I'm more of a DC Comics guy. Also, this computer is only available from the weapon's designer who created the other two devices in the backpack. It took me three weeks to reset the SIM card, disable tracking, clean out the other logic bomb booby traps, and get it ready for this field test. I don't get to keep it after this mission, so we're both out of luck."

"Don't forget—"

"I haven't, Sarah."

Chuck typed closed the open screens and flipped up a new one. He started and then blinked a few times, shaking his head in a compact circle. Refocusing, he punched in a code on the keyboard and bunch of text flew by on the projected screen, way too fast to read. Chuck typed in a few more commands."

"What now? Are you ordering your in-flight food service?" Castle asked with a bit of sarcasm.

"No, but that's a good idea. Morgan, could you get on that?"

"No problem. Let me pass out the rest of these drinks first." Morgan had just placed two martinis in front of Beckett and Castle. Castle was already downing his, but Beckett made no move towards hers. Lanie's fierce look indicated she wanted no part of any drink.

"Actually, I think the chef at the Bamboo Dragon has a cousin that lives in New York Chinatown. I bet New England shrimp is even bigger and fresher and sizzlelier." Morgan deposited a martini and some kind of mixed specialty drink in front of Chuck and Sarah before pulling out his cell to place an order.

"What I was doing, Mr. Castle, was crashing your fan website. Don't worry. It's coming back up now. The only difference is no pesky post from a fan about ninjas at this address."

"You can do that? I need to talk to someone about my website security."

Chuck scoffed, "It wouldn't make much difference. However, it was easy enough to do using your partner's sign on. So, Detective, do you want me to keep admin privileges on your account? You'll keep your loyalty points regardless. Wow, you sure do have a lot. It looks here like you were one of the first one hundred members."

Beckett slowly sunk in her chair and covered her face in embarrassment. She shook herself out of it, took a small sip of her drink, and feigned that she hadn't heard a word the last minute. Castle gave a teasing smile to Beckett, but didn't say anything.

Noticing her discomfort, Chuck continued, "Oh, sorry. I'll just restore it to your previous privilege level." Chuck entered a few more commands, closed the keyboard and put away the computer. He leaned back on the sofa, pulling Sarah back to his side.

"By the way, Morgan, what have you been hiding?" Sarah asked around Chuck's head.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Morgan took a sudden interest in the wall.

"Left pocket. It's why you came downstairs late."

"You're so smart, Sarah. Why do you even ask?"

"You know you can't keep it."

"What? Are you going to destroy it? We know you are good at that sort of thing, Miss Ninja Computer Assassin." Morgan asserted, not quite able to meet Sarah's eyes.

Chuck interceded, "You're the one who hung the shelf, Morgan. If it had not fallen, she would have just kicked our asses and stolen the computer."

"Fine. I'll just call her Miss Ninja Computer Thief. Sarah, you gotta let me keep this recording. I don't have a recording of your Thailand throw down. I don't have one of the two of you at the coffee shop in Switzerland. Mister No Secrets Agency got to it first. Chuck, my video of you taking out those ten guys in Moscow didn't turn out. By the time I recovered from where you pushed me out of the way and could pull out my cell phone, I only got a few frames of non-image stabilized footage. I heard about the army you took out at Alex's house, but there's no record of that either."

"Well, I heard that Sarah and Casey took out more people at the cabin, but since that mission was unofficial, there better not be a record of anything we did that day. The really cool one you missed was when Casey took out his sensei."

"His sensei?"

"'Can-crushing Guy.'"

"Casey versus Can-crushing Guy? That would have been so cool! See. I've missed so much."

"Sorry, buddy."

With frustration, Morgan pulled the hard drive from his pocket and tossed it to Chuck. Chuck pulled out a screw driver from his vest and proceeded to disassemble the hard drive. He pulled out a small bottle of liquid from another pouch and poured it over the platters, resulting in a sizzling sound from the hard drive chassis and a depressed sigh from Morgan.

Castle offered his condolences. "It was really cool. I doubt anyone would believe it was possible if I wrote it into a story."

The subsequent silence was uncomfortable for Castle because he couldn't help from thinking 'silent but deadly assassins'. Spies talking about flight plans and baby-sitting seemed unusual, but it was better for the blood pressure. He decided to broach another subject, "So. You guys are CIA. Do any of you happen to know Agent Gray? He's a real old school spy that helped me with Storm Warning. He's probably the most deadly man I've ever met."

Casey chuckled, and Sarah held in a laugh with her hand. Morgan's the one who answered, "You hadn't met these two before tonight. They are way more deadly. Casey was known in some countries as the 'Angel of Death', before he was renamed the 'Angle of Life' and Sarah is the—"

"Don't say it, Morgan. You know she hates that name."

"You're right, Chuck. Ok, I'll just say she has replaced the bogey man as the phantom that parents in Thailand tell their kids about when then want them to behave."

"If you say so. But working as a bartender and scared of baby-sitting… you two do not seem so tough. What's so funny about Agent Gray?" Castle asked.

Casey snickered again. "Let me guess. 'Half-Pint' told you the story about the ice cream scooper and the guy in North Korea."

"I'm not supposed to repeat that. And I wouldn't call him 'Half-Pint' to his face."

"Yeah, I thought so. That story has been floating around for decades. Sometimes it's a melon baller and a Russian. At one time it was a paint stirrer and a Nazi."

"Are you saying it was fiction?"

"Godwin's law," Chuck offered.

Casey crinkled his face at Chuck, not understanding the reference. Chuck explained, "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."

Casey just shook his head. "Agent Gray teaches an intimidation seminar for spy trainees a couple times a year. The rest of the time he ensures reports are filed on time, which is where he perfected his intimidation skill. He moonlights spinning stories in the Disinformation Department, 'adjusting' information from the thousands of reports he's read over the years."

"You mean to tell me that Agent Gray is an office clerk?"

"Yes… a rather annoying one. He thinks he's an amateur magician, too. He doesn't realize disappearing in middle of a conversation is annoying, not spooky. I just use it as an excuse to not hand in some reports."

Castle's mouth dropped open, and Beckett joined in the spies' laughter.

"Ok. So Agent Gray… not so tough. However, we've seen Special Agent Shaw in action, with some of the same kind of cool toys you all have…" Castle trailed off when he noticed the spies' reactions. Casey and Sarah instinctively reached for their weapons. Chuck grasped Sarah around the shoulders. And Morgan almost dropped his glass, barely steadying it on the bar. "What?"

"You know Shaw?" Chuck asked as Casey moved slowly around to the front of the bar.

"Yes, she helped us on a serial killer case last year."

"She? Last year?" Casey cautiously asked. Sarah was frozen as Chuck tightened his grip.

"Yes."

"Evelyn Shaw?"

"No. Jordan Shaw."

Chuck blinked rapidly and rapidly shook his head slightly.

"Chuck?" Sarah prompted with eyes full of fear.

Chuck quickly answered, "No relation," and everyone immediately relaxed.

Beckett asked, "What just happened?"

Chuck responded calmly, "We have some personal experience with a couple of 'Agent Shaws'. One was killed as a double agent several years ago. The other is extremely dangerous, but fortunately is locked up in a maximum security psychiatric facility. Jordan Shaw of the FBI is not related to either one."

Beckett nodded, but realized this was a very touchy, personal, and apparently dangerous subject for these spies. If someone mentioned Raglan or Coonan, she would probably have a similar reaction.

Everyone was startled by a ring from Castle's phone. In truth, it was a welcome tension breaker.

"Hello? … Hey, Bob. … Sure, I'll put you on speaker."

Castle set his phone on the table and pressed the screen. "You're on, Mr. Mayor."

"Are you there, Detective Beckett?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Are Colonel Casey and Agent Walker there too?"

"Yes, sir." Casey replied for both of them.

"Is everybody still in one piece?"

After a pregnant pause, Beckett spoke up, "Detective Esposito is unconscious, but I've been assured the tranquilizer dart should wear off in a couple hours."

"Oh… well… At least there's no permanent harm. Listen, I've got to go in a second. I'm on hold waiting for the President right now. A couple of quick points… First, Colonel Casey and Agent Walker, thanks to you and your team. I've been told this could have been a bad one. Second, I've been instructed by a General Beckman that everything that happened tonight is top secret classified, so nothing ever happened tonight, including this phone call. I wish I could say that about a couple of nights in my past. Finally, thanks, Rick. You once again got yourself in a mess, and I'm reaping the rewards. I'm getting a breakfast with the President next week." The mayor sound positively cheery. Then in a rush, "Oh, gotta go. Conference call with Homeland Security to clear the airspace for a military chopper. Sit tight, and you can all go home in no time. Until then, please give Colonel Casey, Agent Walker, and their team full cooperation. And please… nobody shoot anybody else."

Morgan crossed the room with an air of superiority. "Now that our boss has told your boss's boss's boss who's in charge and 'Bob' has confirmed we are one big happy family…" Morgan paused and the quickly pulled Castles pen and notepad out of his hands.

"Hey!"

"Like they were going to let you keep that. They wouldn't even let me keep the fight recording, and I'm on their team."

"He's right, Castle." Beckett figured after the mayor's call, there was not much point in resisting. These spies were just offbeat enough that maybe they would help her mess with Castle. "You realize you could probably be locked away if anything you've seen or heard tonight ends up in one of your books."

"We've got something more important to talk about anyway." Morgan asserted as he pulled a chair across from them. Beckett smiled as she realized watching this Morgan bug Castle might be fun.

"We need to talk about this problem between the two of you. You know this unresolved, unspoken, yearning thing." Morgan flipped open the pad to a new page and crossed his legs. "Bob said to give us your full cooperation. So, talk to Dr. Morgan."

Beckett's smile dropped. "Wait! What!?"

A/N: Like most of my conversations, this one got away from me, so I decided to break it right before I got to the Casketty goodness.

Just over a 12 hours countdown until "Countdown"! Even better, less than 12 until the Bank of Evil heist!