AN: To those who wonder where in the continuity of UAT this is, the short answer is that it isn't. I had the idea that after the OUAT series ended, (I mean the complete series, even the episodes we haven't seen yet) then the characters would be looking for something to do. This story isn't outside the OAUT timeline, it's beyond it.

A call at one in the morning was nothing unusual for the NYPD. They didn't enjoy it, but they obeyed without question, because it was the job.

So when Ryan and Esposito got the call, they were on their way to the cemetery immediately; expecting to find a body, and a crime scene waiting.

Lainie yawned. "You know." She said lightly as she came into the 12th Precinct's Morgue. "Perlmatter's on rotation tonight, I could have had plans. Really fun plans."

"I woke you. You were asleep. Any plans you had for the night were done." Beckett said flatly, no emotion in her voice at all. "I have two sets of prints here. I need you to compare them."

Lainie woke up enough to see her best friend was standing as still as a statue. "What's wrong?"

"Kind of everything." Beckett said.

"Kate if-"

"Conversation isn't work. I need you to work fast." She pushed over a set of properly dusted prints, and a police file. "I need you to compare these prints to the one in the file and make sure they match. Then I need you to go to the Archive room and find the other copy of the same file and compare them all. If somebody faked this, I'm gonna start killing people."

Lainie jumped. Beckett was back in Crusade mode. The only time she got this bad was when... "I'll get right on it." She said politely.

Beckett turned on one spike heel and marched for the door like all the demons of hell was keeping pace with her. "Call me when you get it."

"Remind me again, what's going on here." Ryan said quietly, his voice oddly thin.

"I need your help with something." Beckett said coldly. She had arrived at the Cemetery less than a minute after her two partners did.

"Where's Castle?" Esposito asked.

"We're not telling him about this yet." Beckett said simply, leading the way to the Custodian's Maintenance Shed. When she reached the small shed, she reared back and kicked the thin wooden door in.

"What are you doing?" Esposito demanded. "Where's Castle?"

"I got a better question." Ryan raised his hand like he was in school. "Where's the crime scene?"

Beckett ignored them both, and pulled out a pair of shovels from the shed, pushing one each at her crew. "This way." She said, cold enough that they both shivered violently.

"What the hell is this, bro?" Javier asked Ryan quietly, as they tried to keep pace with her determined stride.

"I have no idea, man." Ryan whispered back. "But there's only one thing that gets her in this kind of mood."

"Her mom's case?" Esposito looked back to the car. "Beckett? Is there someone else in your car?"

"None of your business!" Beckett almost bit his head off. "Come ON!"

They did so, but Ryan looked back to the street himself, and found Esposito was right. There was indeed someone sitting in Beckett's car, waiting in the passenger seat. In the dark, there was no way to know who it was.

Beckett stopped her march so suddenly, that they almost collided with her. "This is it." Beckett told them, arms folded. "Start digging."

She had led the two of them to a gravestone, and both detectives froze at the sight of the name.

Here Lies, Joanna Beckett.

"Kate, what the hell is going on?" Javier demanded, though his tone was gentle.

"Dig." Beckett told him, cold as death.

Trading a completely freaked out look, her most trusted partners did so.

Lainie had barely finished her assignment from Kate when her pager had buzzed. She returned the call to Kate. "Sweetie, I got good news. Every sample you gave me was a match." She paused, fishing for details. "Is that good news, or bad news?"

Beckett ignored the question. "What about the Archived samples?"

"Just on my way to get them."

"No. Don't bother. He only gave me 24 hours to decide." Beckett told her.

"To decide what?" Lainie was confused. "Girl, you're not making sense."

"I know." Kate didn't seem worried. "I need you to meet us at my place, right now."

"Who's 'we'?" The ME asked quickly.

"Me, Ryan and Espo. There's someone I need you to meet before we talk to Castle."

"Kate, where are you right now?" Lainie asked, curious.

"We're at my mom's grave." Beckett said tightly. "It's empty."

Lainie was about to scream something impolite when Beckett disconnected without another word.

It was the middle of the night, and Castle was the only one still awake. He was typing rapidly at his keyboard, in a zone that only professional writers could understand, when the house phone started ringing. He ignored it.

The phone rang nine times, before whoever was calling gave up.

Richard didn't even slow down his typing, when the cell phone rang on his desk. He glanced over. The screen said it was Beckett. With a sigh, he hit the speaker. "Hold on." He told her, by way of greeting; still hammering at the keys. "Gotta finish a thought here..."

"Is Alexis at home?" Beckett demanded.

Richard's fingers froze on the keyboard. "No, she's at Columbia tonight." He said carefully.

"When did you last hear from her?"

It was such a 'cop' question that Castle was up on his feet instantly, the phone to his ear. "What happened?" He hissed.

"Long story, just... can you make sure she's okay and call me right back?"

"I can do better than that." Castle told her, tapping at his computer. "After she got kidnapped, I set her up with a security system. A webcam and a panic button. She has two, one on her keychain, one by her bed. She presses it, and an alarm sounds here, and at Campus Security or the nearest police station, whichever is closer... and She gave me the password to check... on..." He tapped a few more keys, and Alexis' webcam displayed the feed on his screen.

Alexis was asleep in bed. He watched her breathing for a moment, and relaxed. "She's fine." He told Beckett. "The webcam on her computer? I can see her right now, she's fine."

"Good." Kate let out a breath explosively. "That's good. Can I come over? There's someone I want you to meet."

Castle checked his watch. "Yeah, if it's urgent."

"It kinda is. I'm... actually outside your front door right now."

Castle went downstairs and opened the door. She was there, and standing right behind her, looking vaguely unsettled...

Castle nearly fell over.

Kate stepped in and made introductions. "Richard Castle, I want you to meet Joanna Beckett. My mother."

It was impossible for two police officers to monitor the ins and outs of a University Campus the size of Columbia U. Ryan and Esposito were parked out the front of the Main Entrance, waiting for Alexis to start her morning, as the sun rose.

"Listen, just between us..." Ryan asked finally. "You buying any of this?"

"What? A Fairy Tale Leprechaun came outta nowhere and resurrected Beckett's mom from the dead?" Javier said blandly. "Why... Of course I believe it." He rolled his neck a little, glancing at his partner. "Why? You don't?"

"Of course I do." Ryan said instantly, equally dramatic. "Every word. I mean, it's so obvious."

They looked at each other a moment, and burst into hysterical laughter.

Javier got it under control first and rubbed his eyes. "God. Remember that case a few years ago... We pranked Castle into thinking he'd been cursed by The Mummy?"

Ryan giggled a bit. "Man, the look on his face. Yeah, I remember."

"Captain Montgomery chewed us both out over mocking 'The Curse'." Javier explained. "He didn't believe in curses either, but he told us..."

They both finished the sentence together. "There's no upside in screwing around with things you don't understand."

"I remember." Ryan nodded.

Esposito shrugged, like that should explain everything. "Every episode of Scooby-Doo, the monster turned out to be a property developer in a costume. Every case we work, Castle's the one saying it was Aliens, or CIA, or robots from the future, but Beckett's the skeptic. If she's a believer on this one, then it means something. I don't know for sure who that woman we met last night is, but Lainie says she's got Joanna Beckett's teeth, fingerprints, face, voice and by the time she gets back to us, I'd lay odds she'll have Joanna Beckett's DNA too."

Ryan shivered violently. "What does that mean?" He hissed, feeling all the laws of reality turn to smoke around him.

"It means we watch Alexis Castle like hawks." Esposito said firmly. "It means we back Beckett in whatever she's got going on, it means we kill anyone who tries to hurt that family, because they're our family too. And above all, it means we play this one straight, because..."

They both finished the sentence together. "Because there's no upside in screwing around with things you don't understand."

Ryan's phone rang, and despite themselves, they both jumped. Feeling foolish, Ryan answered it. "Hello?" He listened for a few moments, then turned to his partner. "Castle says she's up and in the Cafeteria, having breakfast. He says he's spoken to her, and she's waiting for us to give her a ride back to his place."

"I'll go. Stay with the car, keep an eye out." Javier volunteered and got out of the car, heading into Columbia University.

Aside for the decorating and a little of the architecture, one school was much like any other. Corridors that filled with kids one minute, were mostly empty the next. Esposito read an evacuation map and headed toward the cafeteria... when he noticed how quiet it was. There was nobody. No faculty, no students, nothing. There was no sound of voices in any of the classrooms, or coming from outside.

Esposito had been a cop for years, a soldier before that. His instincts had kept him alive, and now his instincts were screaming that something weird was going on. He went to the nearest classroom and peeked inside. It was locked. He went to the next one and found that it was locked too. He peeked in through the glass panel. The room was empty.

Esposito checked his watch. At this time of day, the classrooms should all be open and getting ready for the morning...

And still it was dead silent.

Esposito checked the map on the wall and went up one flight of stairs to check Alexis' dorm room.

When he reached the next flight up, he checked... and noticed the window. He was still on the ground floor. He could see the path outside.

Esposito set his jaw and went up the stairs again; and then up another level, pointedly not looking at the windows. When he reached the third level, he looked out the window...

And saw he was still at the same spot he'd been when he started climbing stairs. The window showed the exact same view.

Freaked, Esposito backed away from the stairs.

And still, there hadn't been any sign of anyone.

Esposito went back to the Main Entrance, which had been full of people when he'd come in...

...and it was empty too. The doors were shut and locked.

Esposito pulled out his phone, and scrolled through his contacts for Ryan. "Hello?"

"Ryan, it's me. There's something weird going on in here."

"You think so, Javi?" Kevin responded. "Maybe you're just insane."

Esposito blinked. "What?"

"Well think about it, a man who climbs an endless flight of stairs and goes nowhere? He's either stupid, or insane. You're not stupid, are you Javi?"

It sounded like Ryan, but it wasn't him. Esposito looked at his phone for a moment. "Who is this?"

"Look to your left." Ryan said brightly.

Javier looked. There was a man in a long back coat, and oily hair making his way down the hallway. He was heading for a door. One of the ones Esposito had tried. But when he reached it, it opened before he even touched the handle.

Esposito took off running instantly. He caught the door just before it closed, and yanked it open, diving through.

He had looked through the glass panel a minute before, and it was an empty classroom. But as he exploded through the door, he was back on the front steps of the University.

And there before him, was the infamous Mister Gold.

With a crocodile smile, he stuck a hand out. "Pleased to meet you Detective Esposito." He grinned. "Hope you guessed my name."

Javier made no move to shake his hand.

Gold sighed. "Young people. No respect for the rules of chivalry. After all the effort I went through to make sure we could speak privately."

Javier wasn't sure what his gun would do, but he kept his hand on his holster anyway. "You're not getting Alexis."

"So I keep hearing." Gold bared his teeth. "You think you could stop me?"

Javier could see for a fair distance in several directions, and in the middle of the morning, there wasn't another living soul in sight. "If it was that simple, you would have done it already. Don't underestimate Castle and Beckett."

"I've faced teams like that before. Choking on nobility, eager to save strangers..." His voice went a little distant. "...armed with the most powerful magic of all, when they put their heads together." He shook his head a little, focusing. "So no, I don't underestimate anything about Team Caskett. But you don't break a chain by pulling, you focus on the weak link."

"Yeah? And what or who would that be?" Javier demanded.

Silence.

Gold rolled his eyes. "Just wait, it'll come to you."

Javier bared his teeth. "Me? I've been called a lot of things by a lot of evil people, Gold. 'Weak' has never been one of them."

"Everyone has his price, Javier." Gold commented. "For example... Kevin Ryan?"

Esposito had his gun drawn and pointed instantly. "You stay the hell away from my partner."

"But Ryan's not your partner, is he? Kate is your partner. Or at least... she was. Then you got handed some kid out of the gang department. Couldn't even look at the messier corpses. Green as hell. Blushed when he interviewed the pimps and Kate put you in charge of looking after him."

Esposito snorted. "You think you can play me? Pick a better target than my best friend."

"He's your best friend?" Gold laughed, like that was a joke. "Since he got married? Is he still your best friend?"

"Yes."

"Is he?" Gold pressed. "He's got Jenny, Kate has Richard... and you? You go home alone."

Esposito said nothing.

"Why should Ryan be so happy?" Gold commented, with a jaded icy smile. "You had it all, didn't you? You had Lainie, you had a great job, you were doing good in the world... And then you lost it all. And Kevin Ryan got it. Your best friend to be sure, so obviously you're happy for him... But everything you wanted for your life, the kid you had to babysit got instead for himself."

Esposito was notably silent.

"Tell me you're not just a little bit jealous." Gold whispered like a snake. "Just a little? I won't tell. You were Kate's partner. Then Ryan came along and you were just a member of her team. Then Castle came along and both of you got demoted from partners to lackeys. Ryan took to that, because he never wanted more. Then Writer-Boy gets Kate's total devotion after just a few months, after you claw that respect out of the Department for ten years... Loyalty, Javier. Loyalty is everything to you. And what did Castle, or Lainie, or Ryan or even Beckett give you that was equal to the loyalty you showed them?"

Esposito was notably silent.

"Tell me that deep down, at the darkest time of the night, in your cold empty bed, when your most unworthy thoughts wouldn't let you sleep..." Gold was merciless. "Tell me that just for an instant, you didn't want to set things right? To make it fair?"

Javier was weakening, gun wavering.

"If I could make that happen, Javier..." Gold tempted. "Would that be worth something to you?"

Long silence.

Esposito suddenly tossed his gun away and howled, lunging for Gold. He tacked the man into the wall behind him and went berserk, raining punches down on Gold. One savage punch after another, right between the yellow cats-eyes, the hooked nose, the maddening grin. He kept punching till his knuckles split open.

And Gold started laughing at him. The giggle was nails on a chalkboard.

"Detective Esposito?"

Javier looked up sharply at Alexis Castle, looking down at him from the stairs in open shock. Several other young men and women were also staring at him, a little freaked out.

Esposito looked down. Gold was gone. Javier's fist was a bloody mess, as though he'd been punching the concrete itself.

Awkwardly, Javier rose to his feet. Alexis came down the stairs, looking embarrassed that she had witnessed the scene. "Dad called in... He said that he wanted me to come home urgently for something, and that... are you okay?"

Esposito shivered. "Fine. Just fine."

The young woman stared at him for a moment, and bent down to pick up his gun. "Um... you shouldn't leave this lying around."

Esposito quickly took it back and holstered it. "Right. Come on, we've got a car waiting for us."

Alexis came into the apartment, with Ryan and Esposito flanking her. She found Beckett in the kitchen. "Morning Detective." She waved. Kate was fast becoming a regular at the Castle Breakfast table. "I had to skip breakfast, have you... eaten..."

Then she looked again. Beckett was dressed like she'd just come from work. Her jacket had been swept around to keep her holster in easy reach, the badge right next to it. Beckett was expecting a gunfight any second. "Detective? What's wrong?" She heard a noise and turned away from Beckett to the living space, where Ryan, Esposito and Lainie Parish were all assembled. Esposito was trying to smile at her, but it didn't quite seem to take. Lainie was looking at her with open sympathy.

Alexis felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Alexis." Her father called from his office. "Would you join us in here, please?"

Kate gave the girl a nod. "Go ahead. We'll be right here. We'll speak soon."

Alexis went into her father's office, and found the family assembled. Her father was behind his desk, her grandmother sitting on the couch. Martha's eyes were red.

Alexis was quietly freaking out. "What's going on?"

"Sit down Sweetie, we have something to tell you." Martha patted the couch beside her.

Ryan rubbed the back of his neck. "This is freaking me out."

"I'm shaking in my stylish and affordable boots." Lainie nodded seriously.

Esposito toasted and slugged back his drink.

Ryan glanced over at Beckett. "At some point, one of us has got to tell Gates."

Beckett was halfway across the apartment, but she whirled as if shot. "Don't tell Gates! Nobody talks to Gates about this!"

"She came back from the freakin' grave, Beckett." Esposito argued. "I know, because I dug up the coffin to check."

"The minute we tell Gates, she takes this off us." Beckett snarled. "At best, I'll lose this case. At worst, I'll never see my mom again. Don't tell Gates."

"What case? How is this a case?" Ryan argued. "We're homicide. This is the exact opposite of a homicide!"

Esposito reached out and grabbed Ryan by the scruff of the neck. "Don't. Tell. Gates. The less people that know about this, the better. One thing I learned from my grandmother's stories: Never tell an Imp your name. She said that names have power. Especially for Rumple... for this one in particular."

Ryan felt his jaw drop. "You're not saying you believe that?"

The door to the office opened and Team Castle filed out, Alexis in the lead. She looked across the assorted police officers and went to Lainie. "Doctor Parish, I'm not going to believe it unless I hear it from you. Level with me."

"I don't know about this Gold guy, sweetie." Lainie broke it to her gently. "But... I ran all the tests myself. I got the control group of Beckett's collection of her mothers things. They all came back as a match."

"Detective." Alexis said quietly, turning to Beckett. "It's not the fairy tales I grew up with, but if my dad was writing the story of Prince Charming and Snow White, there'd be a grisly murder or three in it. Tell me the truth."

"I'm afraid it's all true. Gold gave me 24 hours with my mom, and at midnight, I have to choose." Kate took a few steps toward Alexis, and the girl shied back a bit, taking a step back. At the same time, Castle stepped in closer, almost standing between his daughter and his girlfriend.

Kate looked up at Castle and her jaw dropped. Alexis was afraid of her, and Castle was keeping Kate out of reach. "...Rick?"

Castle's face was unreadable. "Beckett, there's an easy way to prove it."

Realization struck her suddenly, and her own face turned to stone. Something electric passed between the two lovers, and Beckett stalked off to Castle's bedroom without a word.

Castle wasn't going to let his girlfriend get within reach of his daughter... for at least 24 hours.

Joanna Beckett had been waiting for the right moment to introduce herself. Her daughter had filled her in on a few details. Castle had filled in a few more.

Richard Castle had books all over his home; the two main collections were in his office, and in his bedroom. He had copies of all his own books in each.

When Kate came in, Joanna had a copy of Heat Wave in her hands, reading he dedication. "Nikki Heat?" Joanna said from the bookshelf. "You don't think that's... Well, a stripper name?"

"Hah!" Beckett commented.

"Naked Heat?" Joanna had found the second book. "Katie, how have you not shown him the door by now?"

"I was under a direct order from the Mayor's Office to play nice." Kate chuckled.

Joanna turned from the bookshelf to the bed, and noticed something. A moment later she drew a pair of women's underwear from under the pillow. "Play how nice, exactly?"

Beckett flushed red as a tomato. I wondered where they went. "Alexis has been informed. You ready to meet the rest of the team?"

Joanna smiled a bit. "My daughter has a team. Wow. Lead the way."

Introductions were made, and those that didn't have the whole story were quickly informed. Nobody knew what Gold was exactly, but they were still police, and they knew they had to protect the innocent.

"Martha will need protection too." Kate announced. "Gold first demonstrated an interest in Alexis through his deal with her."

Everyone glanced at Martha, who nodded. "He made it clear. My lifestyle or my grandchild."

Beckett twitched hard. "Right. And then he offered to let me take over the deal. Martha's grandchild or my mom. If we're going to save both, we need to keep all our bases covered."

While Beckett went over the details of protecting Alexis with her team, Joanna sidled up to Castle. "I think it's time you and I had a personal chat." Joanna said to him quietly.

They went into Castle's Office. Joanna opened the conversation as soon as he shut the door behind them.

"First of all, my daughter is suddenly old enough to be my twin. New York seems to have gotten a lot taller; and everyone seems to think I'm dead."

"Seems to think?" Castle repeated.

Joanna looked down. "I remember the Alley. I remember being stabbed. I remember... dying. Then, quite suddenly, I'm outside an apartment door, and my daughter is on the other side of it when I knock."

"A really big night for you two, I'll admit." Castle commented. "But why talk to me?"

"Two reasons." Joanna explained, laying it out like a lawyer would. "One: When Katie saw me, the first person she mentioned was you. She woke up her friends, her partners... And once she was convinced I really existed, she brought me here. She hasn't even told her father yet, but she brings me to meet you? That's a pretty clear indication of things. And two... You're the only one that seems unhappy to see me."

Castle sighed. "I am overjoyed to meet you. I am overjoyed for Kate. But... You were busy being... dead, for the last fifteen years. Losing you set Beckett on a Crusade. I've been on her side, and in her way, whenever your name gets spoken, and it doesn't end well. And now... She's got something better than a chance for vengeance. She's got you. And the stated price is my daughter."

"Katie would never do that." Joanna said instantly.

Castle said nothing.

"I'm serious Mister Castle, she would never... She wouldn't." Joanna insisted.

Castle said nothing.

Joanna was horrified. "Would she do that?"

"I don't know, but I know she considered it."

Joanna looked at him with her jaw hanging open. "No, surely not."

Without a word, Castle reached out and turned on he screen. The 'Mind Map' of Joanna Beckett's case lit up the screen. It was all there. Crime Scene Photos, Bracken's picture, Kate getting shot...

"My God..." Joanna whispered.

"There's a fifteen year gap in your knowledge on the subject Mrs Beckett. And that gap starts with you being dead in an alley."

Joanna shivered hard. "What did... What did it turn my daughter into?"

Castle sighed. "A brilliant, beautiful, frustrating, daring, wonderful, infuriating cop... Who is totally dedicated to making sure that total strangers never once have to go through what she did."

Joanna's eyes were shining. One lone tear made it past her eyes and rolled down her cheek.

"And I'm in love with her." Castle said with a sigh. "And there is nothing I can do that will make her half as happy as having you back is sure to do... And I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that this genuine miracle lasts only 24 hours." He looked a million years older. "And I'm sorry Joanna, I'm really so very sorry... But to save my daughter, I have to make sure you go back to The Other Side."

"So that's the whole situation." Beckett finished. "Whatever else, whatever happens, we are all in agreement? Gold doesn't get Alexis."

"Right." Everyone agreed... except Javier. Esposito was notably silent on the end of the couch.

"Espo?" Kate blurted in shock.

Esposito chewed his lip. "I'd take a bullet before I let anything happen to that kid, or to any of you; you know that." He said carefully. "But... you had us watching Alexis today? And for what? Because if Gold decides to just take her away... you think anything we've got can stop him? I'm not so sure."

"Don't tell me you're scared of the boogeyman now." Lainie commented in jaded awe.

"You're not?" Esposito challenged her. "Kate, when I was a kid, I got sent a chain letter. I threw it away, and my grandmother almost threw me out of the house. She was freaked out about curses and bad omens... She told me over and over, there was no ignoring it; all you could do was make it someone else's problem. I hate this bastard, but what if the only way to get rid of him is to make him someone else's problem?"

"Someone like Alexis?" A voice said tiredly.

Everyone turned and found Joanna Beckett in the doorway.

"Mom, you shouldn't-" Beckett started to stammer.

Joanna held up a hand. "Katie, can we speak privately for a moment?"

Kate nodded, shoulders hunched like a twelve year old that was caught doing something wrong.

Kate followed her mother into the office and started to speak. "Mom, before you go and-"

"Sit." Her mother said simply.

Kate sat down instantly.

Joanna perched on the edge of the desk and took a breath. "Katie, did you want to become a lawyer because I was one?"

"No Ma'am." Kate said immediately.

"Are you sure? Because you became a cop because of me." Joanna pointed out.

Kate looked down. "I had to."

Joanna sighed. "Do you remember when you were young; and you had to do your homework? We'd pull an essay question out of a hat, and debate it back and forth. You were beating me by the time you were eleven; so I had to put a stopwatch on you just to keep up."

Kate smiled. "I remember. My teachers hated when I had essay questions. I kept fighting them on the answers."

Joanna smiled. "My baby girl, the only one in class that could fight the teachers and win." She let the smile fall. "Today's topic: What are you thinking?"

Kate blinked. "I don't understand?"

"You've got a family of people in there, and all of them are half expecting you to toss that teenage girl under a bus. I don't know Alexis, but I think that Richard Castle adores her every bit as much as I adore you."

Kate nodded dutifully. "He does."

"And he clearly worships you."

Kate bit her lip. "You never liked any of my boyfriends."

"You dated idiots." Joanna said without missing a beat. "There's a row of bestsellers on that shelf that suggest this one might have something to him." Her gaze hardened. "So why were you seriously considering handing over his daughter?"

"I wasn't!" Kate insisted. "I wouldn't do that."

"Then why do the people who know you best think you might?" Joanna pounced. "And before you try to come up with an answer?" She turned the screen back on, revealing Castle's Mind Map of the case.

Kate looked down. "Gold didn't ask for Alexis."

"No?"

Kate squeezed her eyes shut. "He was specific. He wanted Martha's grandchild."

Joanna blinked. "Well, does Richard have any brothers or... sisters..." She trailed off and looked at her daughter carefully again. "Oh my god."

Kate rested a hand over her stomach. "I only found out a week ago." She whispered. "It's... It's not like when I was a kid mom, the world's changed while you were away. Single mothers are... well, everywhere now."

"That matters less to me." Joanna said carefully. "He doesn't know, does he?"

Kate shook her head.

"Are you going to tell him?"

Kate nodded her head.

"You said that Gold's choice of words was specific. Me, or Martha's grandchild. Now there are two of those he can choose from."

Kate nodded her head.

"Kate..." Joanna said tightly. "If you even consider handing over that girl out there, or my grandkid growing inside you, just to bring me back? Then I don't even want to know you."

Kate shook her head, tears forming.

"Say something." Joanna directed.

"I miss you." Kate said finally. "We all fell apart when you died. Dad crawled into a bottle of scotch and didn't come out for years. I quit school and became a cop... There was a you-sized hole in the world, and everything that was good in our lives went away when you were gone."

Joanna reached out and cupped her daughter' chin. "Throwing away everything that might possibly make you happy would not have brought me back. And now that I am back, it doesn't make everything better again. Kate... If I only have a day to live, let me do this one pure thing with it. Let me save my grandkids."

"He knows that I thought about it. I never would have done it, but he knows that I thought about it." Beckett wept. "He'll never trust me again. He's gonna hate me. And then he'll find out about the baby and he'll do the right thing and he'll be stuck with a woman he can't trust and doesn't love any more."

Joanna came forward and hugged her daughter tightly. "When your grandmother died?" She said softly. "I would have given anything to see her again for one day."

Kate hugged her tighter. "There's gotta be a way to have both."

Joanna leaned back enough to look her in the eyes. "Third most important lesson I ever taught you?"

Kate sniffed. "Can't always get what you want, but if you try, you might get what you need." She smiled. "I was fourteen before I realized it was a lyric from a Rolling Stones song."

Joanna laughed. "Young people. No appreciation for good music."

"You think that was true fifteen years ago? You have no idea."

Joanna smiled. "We've got today, we've got tonight, and we've got two kids with rich full lives ahead of them. I'd call that a victory, if I were you."

"I'm a homicide cop. Rich full lives ahead of people is better than it usually gets." Kate sighed, and scrubbed her face with her hands. "Okay. We better get back in there."

Everyone fell silent when the two of them returned to the living room. Kate broke the silence. "If anyone has any ways to win this particular game that I haven't thought of? You've got..." She checked her watch. "Seventeen hours left to work a plan and make it happen."

Loud silence. Alexis bowed her head.

"Yeah." Beckett sighed. "That's what I figured."

"Seventeen hours?" Joanna repeated, checking her watch. "Katie, my dear... I think it's time we called your father."

"There's a reunion scene begging to be written." Castle said under his breath.

"What the hell do we tell him?" Kate asked helplessly.

"You told us." Ryan offered.

"You weren't married to her." Esposito shushed him.

Beckett had pulled out her phone. "Dad?" She said, her voice suddenly high and squeaky. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Dad, are you sitting down? I got something to tell you. Are you at home right now?" She listened. "Okay. I'm going to come over... and I'm bringing one hell of a surprise."

It was clear their little meeting was coming to an end. Everyone rose to their feet, Alexis looked around, wondering what to do, and found Ryan and Esposito taking position on either side of her.

Beckett gave marching orders quickly. "Guys, stick with Alexis. Mom, we're going home; but you'll need to let me prepare him. Lainie... Cover for us at the Precinct, and keep in touch with everyone. Castle... For now, stay with your daughter. I'll be back as soon as I get mom and dad sorted out."

Everyone nodded.

Joanna broke the 'war room' feel of the moment. "It was nice meeting you all."

Beckett led them out and Castle closed the door behind them. A moment later, there was a rapid knock on the door. Castle didn't even have the time to step away from the door, and he opened it again. Beckett was standing there, in a total panic. "Come with me?"

Alexis had already brought her father his jacket.

Jim Beckett didn't say a word the entire time. He barely seemed to be listening. His face never changed as Beckett explained the situation. He didn't react as Castle picked up the story and told him the background.

Kate and Rick had suddenly run out of words. Jim Beckett didn't say a word for a full two minutes. When he did speak, his words were directed at Castle. "Richard? The cabinet on your left."

Castle reached over without standing up. In the cabinet, at the back... was a bottle of gin, half empty. There was a line drawn on the glass in marker pen, exactly at the line of the liquor within.

Kate saw the bottle and her face fell. "Aw, Dad..."

Jim took the bottle and held it up. "I bought this bottle seven years ago. I still haven't finished it. I've been dry for seven years, two months and nine days. The whole time, I've had this here... and never touched it." He smirked at Kate. "It's a point of pride, that I could be an alcoholic, and not touch this." He set the bottle down. "Katie, if this turns out to be a very bad joke... I swear, I'll drain this whole thing dry without pausing to take a breath."

Beckett looked twelve years old again. "She's outside."

"Bring her in."

Jim Beckett looked twenty years younger when his wife stepped into the room. They met in a passionate kiss, and both Kate and Richard knew to leave them alone.

Kate was crying as they stepped into the next room. "I should never have brought her here." She hissed to Castle. "I never should have made him go through this again."

"You said yes." Castle offered. "You knew you'd have to go through this, but you took 24 hours. You brought her here for the same reason you took the offer. You wanted a chance to see her again, and say goodbye this time." His face froze. "Or... maybe you knew 24 hours wouldn't be enough time."

Beckett didn't like the implication, and changed the subject. "I have something to show you."

Downstairs at her car, Beckett opened the trunk and pulled out a rucksack with only one thing in it. "This is the book." Kate told him. "Martha told me about the book, and then when I came home, I found it there."

She handed it to him, and Castle turned to stone. It was a huge leatherbound book with illuminated writing and pictures that seemed to come alive. "I've seen that before..." He whispered, not aware he'd spoken.

Beckett pushed it into his hands. "Martha said that Gold gave it to you."

"Yes..." Castle said, a million miles away. "I only kept it for..." He squeezed his eyes shut.

"If you don't mind my saying..." Kate said carefully. "You took to this like a fish to water. You weren't surprised by any of it. Martha already told you?"

"Not exactly." Richard sighed. "I... I've met Gold."

"Yeah, Martha said you were a kid at the time."

"No. I met him again, five years ago. About a week before you and I met."

Kate was stunned. "Tell me."

Castle rolled his neck painfully. "I was halfway through Storm Fall, and I didn't have a clue how to end the damn thing. I was a year out of my second marriage..." He looked at Kate with haunted eyes. "Only a few authors keep churning things out every year, Kate. A lot of professional writers are at war with their own writersblock. Kerouac, King... They write half their stories from inside a scotch bottle. I had a daughter, I didn't want to do that."

Kate was stunned. "You were going to give it up. You were going to give up writing."

"I was." Castle nodded. "And then I came out into the kitchen, and sitting on the counter was this book. I recognized Gold, of course. The fact that he didn't seem a day older freaked me out... And then he offered me a deal."

Kate hardened. "What did he want?"

"Derrick Storm." Castle said simply. "The deal was, I had to kill off the character. I told Paula and Gina, and they both hit the roof. Paula vowed she'd never forgive me. Gina said point blank that I'd never find a publisher willing to put up with me again. Killing off my most popular series would have been a death blow to my career. Gina wanted me to get a ghostwriter to just keep writing the Storm books for me; and keep collecting the royalties. But I said no. That was my deal with Gold."

Kate took in a slow deep breath. "And what did he promise you?"

Richard gave her a sad, crooked smile. "He promised me... that I would find a Muse. A perfect one. A Muse that would make sure I never suffered from writersblock again. Someone that would not only inspire my books, but make my life something extraordinary, and..." He stopped real quick. "I wrote the ending to Storm Fall, and killed off the character like we agreed... and a few days later, mother called to tell me she was homeless... and a week after that, I met you."

Kate was floored. "How long has Gold been planning this?"

"A long time." Castle agreed. "He wanted Alexis, and he knew my mother would say no. He knew you'd give him Alexis if you got your mom in exchange, but he had to make sure you met her first. He rooked us into meeting each other, Kate."

They sat quietly for a moment and Richard suddenly chuckled.

She waited for him to share the joke, but he didn't say anything.

"What are you thinking?" Kate asked finally.

Rick chewed his lip. "Rumpelstiltskin is a character out of a story. If story characters exist in some way, then maybe..." He couldn't help the silly smile. "How do I know where the line is? Oliver Twist? Peter Pan? Frankenstein?" He let the moment hang. "Derrick Storm? Nikki Heat?"

Beckett burst out laughing hysterically. "You think Nikki Heat is out there somewhere?"

Castle couldn't help but laugh along.

Beckett was smiling for the first time in what felt like days. "Ahh, I get it. You want to meet Nikki. She's your dream version of me, so obviously..."

Castle came closer and slid his arms around her waist. "I've already got my dream version of you. She's right here."

Kate softened and kissed him. An instant later she pulled back. "Hold on. I'm still mad at you."

"Why?"

"For thinking I'd take Alexis." She told him, not pulling away. "You thought I was going to do it this morning, and you just said that I'd do it just now."

Castle sighed and hugged her close for a moment, before stepping back to give them some space. "Your whole life became about your mother. You didn't care if they killed you, as long as you got six inches closer to avenging your mom. I know you want to protect the innocent Kate, but your mom is innocent too, and if you had to choose between your own mom and Mother Theresa, I think you'd choose your mom."

Beckett looked down. "I... I probably would." She conceded. "But there's them... and then there's your kid."

"You weren't tempted?" Castle dared her. "Just for a second, you weren't tempted?"

Kate looked at him. "Castle... If Meredith was standing here, would you be asking her that question?"

"Of course not."

Beckett nodded. "Castle... You've said, in some detail, how I'm more reliable than she is. The only difference when it comes to Alexis is biology. Rick... If I said that your family was mine now... would you believe that?"

Richard blinked rapidly. "Kate?"

She held up a hand. "That wasn't a proposal. But the reason things didn't work when you tried with Gina, was that you wouldn't let her into Team Castle. It's a very exclusive club, and it's hard to get into. Hell, Alexis didn't want her own mother to stay in New York..." Kate's phone rang, and she answered it. "Hello?" She listened for a moment. "Okay. I'm looking at my watch."

"Problem?" Castle asked her.

Kate disconnected. "Mom says to leave them alone for a few... Hours. We've got fifteen hours left, I'll give them eight."

"Eight hours?" Castle let out a low whistle.

"I'm anticipating every possible remark you can make and I find none of them amusing." Kate said sharply. "Those are my parents you're not talking about."

Richard gave her a dirty smile and went back to the book. "So." He said finally. "Eight hours to kill."

Beckett sighed. "We might as well make an appearance at the Precinct."

Castle was still staring at the book. "I've got a better idea."

Alexis had spoken to her friends at College to make sure she'd have some notes from the classes she missed. She was ahead enough that she could vanish for a day from her dorm.

But she wasn't satisfied with sitting around while everyone in her life seemed geared for a war.

While Ryan and Esposito paced the boundaries of the Castle Home, Alexis went to work doing what she did best: Research.

"Have you ever read the book 'Needful Things' by Stephen King?" Alexis asked the room finally.

"Saw the movie." Ryan offered.

Alexis nodded. "Simple idea. A guy with some mystical power moves into a small town and sets up an antique shop. He gives each member of the town something they want and in return they grant him small favors. Within a week, he's played every member of the town against each other, playing old grudges and long standing rivalries, winding them up with petty annoyances until the entire town goes mad and starts wiping each other out."

"And you think that's what this Gold guy is?" Ryan guessed. "Some dark genie?"

"I don't know, but that's what Detective Esposito thinks." Alexis shot back.

Ryan looked at his partner, who looked straight back and gave a single nod, then returned his gaze to the window.

"So... what? How do you fight that?" Ryan asked.

Alexis shook her head. "Thing about mythology is, there are too many versions. What will kill a vampire in one story will be useless in the next. And we don't know what Gold is. In the stories I've found, a Djinn can do anything, as long as someone asks for it. You have to ask for something, but you won't like it when you get what you ask for. An evil Genie is the embodiment of the saying 'Be Careful What You Wish For'. That sounds like what we're dealing with."

There was a knock at the door, and both cops took positions between Alexis and the door.

A moment the door opened, and Kate leaned in. "It's us."

Everyone relaxed as Kate and Richard came in. Richard had the book under his arm.

"Report." Kate said first thing.

"Status Quo." Esposito reported. "Castle Jr is onto something."

Castle came over to his daughter. "Research?"

"A lot to choose from." Alexis reported. "Anything on your end? You know mythology better than I do."

Castle placed the book before her. "Page forty one."

Alexis looked it up. "Rumplesti-"

"AhAhAh!" Beckett cut her off. "I said the name out loud, and look where that got us."

"Right." Alexis stopped herself.

"But the picture? It looks exactly like Gold." Castle explained. "Think that means what we hope it means?"

Alexis flipped through the pages. "The ending isn't there. Someone tore the page out."

"I've checked. Someone tore the last page out of every story in the book. Snow White, Prince Charming, Red Riding Hood the Werewolf-"

"The what now?" Alexis flipped pages faster. "I don't remember that version."

"Me neither. My point is, someone tore the ending out of every story, like they didn't want us to know how any of their stories end."

Alexis looked up at him. "Gold is real... Maybe that means the others are out there somewhere?"

"We've been through that." Beckett told her. "And Rick, I swear, if you go looking for..." She trailed off suddenly.

Everyone looked over at her, but Beckett was staring darkly at the television. On the screen was a news update. The sound was off, but they didn't need it. They had everything they needed from the picture.

On the screen, with a big smile, was Congressman William Bracken.

The news had obligingly put up a caption.

Congressman Bracken To Run For President.

AN: Read and Review!