Thank God for schedule changes and lousy weather. :) I'm still expecting to make my Monday deadline, but since I was able to get this ready early I couldn't wait to share. :D

Castle woke up slowly, savoring the feel of having his girlfriend draped across him. More urgent biological needs quickly took precedence, though, so he gently untangled himself from the mess of limbs and sheets and made his way to the bathroom.

After using the toilet and getting a drink of water, he stood in the doorway to the bedroom, watching the way that the moonlight shone in her hair and cast the subtlest of shadows across her naked back. He rubbed his thumbs across his fingertips, remembering the electric connection between those fingertips and his beloved's gloriously sensitive skin. Not that his own...sensitivities were any less impressive. Not any more. Castle reached through the link that he was just starting to accept as a part of them. She was dreaming of him; the idea made him smile.

Castle thought about going back to bed, but then his jet lag kicked in full force and he knew that sleep was not going to be on his to-do list any time soon. Not in the mood to wander around the loft naked, he found his boxers, putting them on quietly so as not to disturb Beckett while she slept. The wizard slipped out of the room, letting the door close behind him with a soft 'click'...

...and nearly walked straight through the spirit of Mike Royce, who was wandering around the study, examining everything he could without the ability to actually *touch* anything. "Mike!" Castle exclaimed in a surprised whisper. "I...wasn't expecting to see you there." The realization of their changed reality dawned on him quickly as he continued, "I wasn't expecting to see you at *all*, really..."

"It's that link between you guys," Royce replied.

Castle's eyes widened, remembering when he and Beckett had talked about the connection between them...and what they had been doing at the time. "How do you know about the link, Mike?" asked Castle, trying to keep his voice steady.

Mike smiled, enjoying having the upper hand on the younger man. "Relax, Tiger. I've never been the type of guy who liked to watch. The link shows up in your auras sometimes."

"And you can see our auras?" asked Castle.

"Every once in a while," Royce replied with a shrug. "It's a dead guy thing."

Castle nodded, accepting Royce's statement at face value. "So what are you doing here at this hour, Mike?"

Royce turned away from Castle, just for a split second. The writer might have thought the ghost was actually *blushing*. "I, uh...I was kind of curious to see how the other half lives. I figured you guys were gonna be asleep, so..."

"Sorry," Castle apologized, "jumping continents did a number on my sleep cycle."

"Ah." Royce studied the younger man from his vantage point by the window. "I know about the...understanding she has with Bracken." Castle nodded, accepting the shift in conversation. "You know it's total BS, right?" asked Mike. "That she's bluffing with the little bits of information you guys were able to piece together when the safe blew?"

Castle sat down at his desk, opening the combination safe he kept underneath. He pulled out a manila folder clearly emblazoned with the NYPD logo. "She was bluffing then. She's not anymore."

Mike approached the desk carefully, not believing what he was seeing. He tried to open the file, only to watch his hand pass through the desk. Royce looked to the man across from him. "Would you mind?" Castle flipped open the file, showing Royce the contents of the folder. Mike had to remind himself that he was no longer simply dealing with Richard Castle, playboy crime novelist. "Your work, I take it?" Royce asked with a smile.

Castle's face held no such smile. "It was one of the first spells I ever created on my own," he replied. "Took me a week to perfect it." He closed the file and carefully returned it to the safe.

"Does Katie know you have that?" asked Royce.

Castle shook his head. "Let's just call this my ace in the hole."

"So if Bracken ever tries to call her bluff..."

"The file will go public." Castle stood up, coming around the desk to sit on its edge and talk to Royce at something closer to eye level. "When Kate and I first got together the one thing that frustrated me, more than anything else, was the idea that I was powerless to protect her from these people."

"And this is your way of protecting her," Royce stated.

Castle responded with a half-hearted smile. "Part of it, yeah."

Royce shook his head sadly. "Man, you two really are perfect for each other..." he commented quietly. "Couple 'a stubborn jackasses..."

Castle shook his head in disbelief at the crack he had just heard. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Castle," Royce replied simply. "*She* goes running off alone to protect *you* and *you* keep secrets to protect *her*. How's that working out for you kids so far?" The ghost backed away toward the living room in an attempt to get out of Castle's face and give the younger man a chance to process what he was saying. Castle was carefully considering what Mike was trying to tell him...and it was clear to Royce that his point was starting to get through. "You know I'm right about this."

Castle finally, reluctantly, nodded in agreement. "I'll tell her about the file."

Mike let out a sigh of relief. "Good. Hey, did I ever tell you about this girl biker gang Beckett helped me take down..."

Beckett winced as the first bright rays of sunlight streamed through the loft's windows. As she slowly eased herself into the waking world, it didn't take long for her to notice who was missing from her bed. She extended her hearing through the loft, smiling as she heard something that Kate thought she might never get the chance to ever hear:

Castle and Royce, the best two partners she's ever had, swapping stories.

About her.

Beckett sped up her morning routine, though, when she realized that the longer their conversation went on, the more embarrassing the stories were likely to get. Foregoing a shower, she made it into the living room just as Castle was describing the snake smuggling case.

"So we're both in this restaurant, on first dates with other people," Castle explained, "and all *either* of us can think about is the case. I kept making excuses to go to the bathroom and talk to Beckett, which Amanda saw right through, so by the time we were heading back to the precinct our dates had totally given up on both of us and sat down to have dinner *with each other*..."

Mike shook his head in amused amazement. "So your dates hooked up with each *other*?"

"Actually, they did," Beckett chimed in. When Castle and Royce gave her their full attention, she continued, "Lanie mentioned them to me the other day. Apparently they're getting married some time next spring."

"Really?" commented Castle. "Good for them."

"Were your ears burning back there, kid?" asked Royce with a mischievous smile. "Your boyfriend and I have been swapping stories for quite a while..."

Beckett joined Castle on the couch with a wary expression. "How long is 'a while'?"

Castle looked out the window, finally realizing that he had talked with Royce until past sunrise. "Wow," he exclaimed, "we've been talking for hours, easy." Castle turned to give his girlfriend a good morning kiss. "Want me to go make us some coffee?"

"Sounds great," Beckett replied with a smile as she relaxed into her spot on the couch. She watched Castle head off the kitchen before turning her attentions to her old partner. "Have you been here all night, Mike?"

Royce simply shrugged in response, "Guess so." His smile turned mischievous again as he teased, "Relax, Kate. I didn't say anything to embarrass you...much."

Beckett raised her hand to smack Royce on the arm, then stopped herself when she realized the gesture would have gone straight through him. She watched her hand as she lowered it, contemplating the absurdity of her current situation before shifting her focus to the plans for the upcoming day. "What do you know about Stephanie's friends?"

"Decent bunch," replied Royce. "They all know each other pretty well."

Castle returned from the kitchen with coffee cups for both himself and Beckett. As he settled in next to her on the couch, Castle asked Royce, "Any of them seem like they might have taken an interest in the supernatural?"

"A couple," Royce told them. "Mostly through Stephanie."

"Their friend's in trouble, so they wanted to help her out kind of thing?" asked Beckett. Royce nodded. "Any relationship drama in the group we can use to our advantage?"

Royce shook his head. "Nah, the guys in this bunch are gay. A couple of them even dated each other in college...although, Stephanie did hook up with one of the guys about a year ago..." Mike leaned back on the couch, kicking himself for not remembering this information sooner. "The guy she dated? Jake Bradford."

Beckett's eyes widened when she recognized the name. "The last surviving Wotan?"

"Yeah," Royce nodded. "That's him."

Vanderkellen unlocked the door to the empty dressing room, flinging the door open with barely concealed impatience. "I will have my assistant bring the singers to you at *their* convenience, starting with Mr. Bradford."

Beckett was unfazed by the older man's frustration. "The NYPD greatly appreciates your cooperation with this investigation, Mr. Vanderkellen," she countered diplomatically.

The general manager nodded in appreciation of the expression of respect. "Please don't delay my people any longer than necessary, detective. I do have a very busy schedule to keep."

Beckett nodded as Vanderkellen turned to leave, then ushered Castle into the dressing room. As she watched Castle set up the chairs to prep for the interviews, Beckett couldn't help but smile.

Castle noticed his girlfriend's expression out of the corner of his eye. "What?"

"Nothing," Kate shrugged casually. "I just missed you, that's all."

Rick's smile matched his girlfriends, just for a moment. "Me too."

The moment passed quickly as Jacob Bradford appeared in the doorway behind them. The instant change in her partner's demeanor told Beckett that their first interview had arrived. "Mr. Bradford," Beckett announced, "please have a seat."

Jacob Bradford sat down in the single chair facing them, fidgeting nervously. "Detectives? You wanted to see me?"

Beckett nodded as she and Castle sat down to begin. "Don't worry, Mr. Bradford," she informed the singer, "We'll keep this brief. What was your relationship with Thomas Engebretsen?"

Jacob looked back at her quizzically. "I...followed him around for two days. After the first Wotan died the director insisted we both learn the staging in a hurry. Why?" His confusion suddenly grew to alarm. "You don't think I had anything to do with his death, do you?"

"Did you?" asked Castle. "I mean after all, you did stand to gain the most from his death."

Beckett had to filter out the sound of Bradford's heartbeat as the man's pulse raced out of control. "God, no," he gasped, "I *never* would have wanted Engebretsen to die. I *needed* him here, badly."

"Really?" frowned Beckett. "Why's that?"

"I took this job to *learn* to play Wotan," exclaimed Jacob, "not to actually have to *play* him! And for Engebretsen to have died so close to dress rehearsal...If I had been there I might have actually laid down in between him and the spear. And I sure as hell wouldn't have been the one *holding* that spear!"

Beckett spoke up in hopes of defusing the situation by changing the subject. "What's your relationship to Stephanie Frederickson?"

Bradford blinked and shook his head, thrown by the shift in conversation. "My ex? What would she have to do with this?"

Beckett played into the possessive tone she heard in Bradford's response. "We had a source tell us that people in the productions she's been in have had a tendency to be somewhat accident-prone..."

Bradford started shaking his head. "No way. Stephanie could never hurt anybody. And-and those incidents in th-the shows, they were just accidents..."

"Like Hightower's drowning was an accident?" Beckett countered. As Bradford slumped down in his chair in shock and disbelief, Beckett leaned in to reassure him. "Look, Mr. Bradford, I don't think that Stephanie's involved...at least, not directly. According to our source, Stephanie's been..."

"Haunted?" Bradford's reply was tentative, terrified, and barely above a whisper.

Beckett nodded. "We have reason to believe Mr. Engebretsen's death may be connected to that...but you don't seem too surprised to hear that."

Bradford shook his head. "Ow-our third show together in college. I was waiting up to walk her to her dorm room...and I saw them. She said they were harmless, but I found that pretty hard to believe...especially after her principal 'suddenly' wrapped her car around a tree."

"You suspected a connection?" asked Castle.

Bradford nodded as he stood up, signaling the end of the interview. "I'm sorry," he excused himself, "but I really need to go get ready for the show. Look, I'm not the only one who's seen Stephanie's ghosts over the years. After the first scene is over you should talk to Alex Korotkin; she's been friends with Steph almost as long as I have and she knows more about the ghosts than any of us."

Castle got up and shook Bradford's offered hand. "Break a leg out there, Mr. Bradford."

"Under the circumstances, I hope not," Bradford replied with a nervous chuckle, "but I appreciate the sentiment all the same."

The two Guardians watched Bradford walk out of the dressing room as Ryan projected into their mind. Guys?

Yeah, Beckett replied, what's up guys?

Lanie's got the results back on Engebretsen's autopsy and on the spear. You guys might want to come down here and check this out.