The next morning starts like any other for the peculiar trio.

Today, Alexis is visiting a friend with whom she used to go to school until her and her family moved to San Diego. Her father is some multi-millionaire business man, and they invite Alexis to spend the day in their mansion.

Castle knows the family, so he knows Alexis will be okay, therefore, Beckett goes with him.

At lunch time, they go eat at a restaurant just a couple of blocks from the library, so they walk there. They have to go through a park and pass in front of a couple stores on their way. Outside one of those stores there is a newspaper stand and a headline catches Castle's eye. It's about a father of two who was brutally murdered. He stops on his tracks and stares at the grim description.

"What is it?" Beckett asks when she notices he stopped. She follows his line of vision and sees the issue.

"Makes me think about Alexis" he says as he takes his eyes away and continues walking towards the restaurant. "What would she do if something happened to me?" he asks his bodyguard.

"Well, she still has her mom, right?"

"Meredith's more like a crazy aunt with a credit card. Of the two of us, I'm the more responsible one" he thinks about the fact that he actually is the more responsible one… How did Alexis manage to turn up so well? "Pretty sad, isn't it?"

"Well, I wouldn't worry about it too much, Castle. After all, only the good die young" she smirks. It's just so easy sometimes… She can't help it.

"Ouch" he feigns being hurt.

They eat and make their way back to the library. As they're walking through the park, a guy stands up on a bench not too far away from them and starts yelling some crazy ramble. Beckett immediately identifies this as a threat and pushes Castle away from him.

When the guy realizes nobody's listening to him, he takes out his gun. Panic spreads like fire and suddenly everyone starts running and screaming.

Beckett grabs Castle by the arm and pulls him towards her to take him out of there, but he scurries away from her grip.

He sees a little girl, scared and alone not too far away from the gunman in the midst of all the chaos and scared people running around. He feels Beckett tugging his arm to take him away, but he can't just leave that girl there. She's a sitting duck. So he shakes himself away and runs in the girl's direction.

Beckett turns around and runs after Castle wondering what the hell he's doing. "Castle! No!" she yells at him unholstering her gun.

He ignores her and takes the little girl in his arms quickly before turning back towards the bodyguard.

Beckett catches up to him and is surprised by what he's doing, but she doesn't have the time to dwell on it. She puts herself between the gunman – who's still yelling at the scared crowd – and Castle, who starts running back away from him while shielding the little girl in his arms.

When the guy starts pointing his gun at people, someone from the crowd – a very strong someone – sends a fairly heavy trash can hurling through the air and hitting the guy on the head, knocking him to the ground.

Beckett swears under her breath, this just made her job way more difficult than it already was. When he gets up, he's going to start shooting with no mercy.

"Stay here" she tells Castle before hurrying towards the guy still pointing her weapon.

Beckett notices he's trying to reach for his gun – which was knocked from his hand when he fell – he manages to take it but she steps on his wrist before he can do anything with it. She points her weapon directly at him. "Go ahead" she dares him. "I need the practice" she says unflinching.

The guy is sane enough to recognize that it's over so he drops the gun and drops limply on the ground in surrender.

Right then, two uniforms point their guns at her and the guy, commanding her to drop her weapon. She puts her gun back in the holster and takes out her bodyguard license. She shows it to the cops, telling them that she knows what she's doing – all while keeping her foot on the guy's wrist. One of the uniforms lowers his weapon while the other one keeps his pointed to the gunman.

"We've got it from here, Miss" the cop tells her picking up the guy's gun. "We're going to have to need you to tell us what happened, though"

She looks around the park and spots plenty of people – some on the verge of a panic attack, though – that could give their statement. "I see plenty of witnesses. Ask them" she tells them and she rushes towards her Principal.

She finds him near the sidewalk kneeling in front of the little girl. "Castle, are you okay?" she goes ahead and stares him down and sees that he's not visibly injured.

"Yeah"

"And the girl?" she takes a clear look at the child too. She looks about four years old. She's got short blond hair and she's clutching a little bunny in her hands. She looks scared out of her mind, starring at both adults with big, frightened blue eyes.

"She seems to be okay… Though she's not talking much" he has tried talking to her and all she says is 'I want mommy' in a quiet voice. "I just know that she wants her mom" he raises to his feet.

After making sure they're okay, she goes ahead and shows him how pissed he is for what he just pulled on her. "Castle, what the hell were you thinking?!" she turns him to face her and she hisses at him.

"I was thinking that there was a little girl that was just a sitting duck" he hisses back. He won't apologize for doing what he did.

Beckett runs her hand over her face as she sighs in frustration. Fact is, she admires what he did and she would've done the exact same thing. Problem is, him getting himself killed is not exactly good for business.

"Look, Castle" she says after she calms down. "I'm just here to protect you, and if you keep getting yourself into dangerous situations I can't guarantee your safety" she looks at him straight in the eyes. She needs him to understand. "And if you don't care about yourself" she says a little more harshly than she intended. "Think about Alexis" she makes reference to their earlier conversation.

The thing is, he was thinking about Alexis. What if that was his daughter? He just can't envision her getting hurt. "I appreciate what you do for us Beckett. I really do" he says sincerely. "But I just couldn't leave her there" he looks down at the child who's hiding behind his leg.

Beckett nods and she drops it. "We need to take her to the police"

Castle agrees and he takes the girl into his arms. They walk towards the cops, who're still taking statements from witnesses and have called reinforcements. One of the uniforms is trying to calm down a crying woman who seems distressed.

The woman notices the couple and the child and breaks down. "Oh, my God" she says visibly relieved as she runs towards Castle and Beckett.

"Mommy!" the girl in the writer's arms squeals with joy as she recognizes her mother hurrying towards them.

Castle surrenders the child smiling.

"Oh, my God" she hugs the child. "It's okay, baby" she's still in shock. "Thank you" she looks at the couple gratefully. "Thank you so much" the woman can't manage to stop crying.

"Not a problem" Castle says with a smile before the woman leaves. He looks at Beckett with a look of wasn't it worth it?

She rolls her eyes at him as they get in their way to the library again. "Guess you did your good deed of the day, Castle"

"Hmm" he smirks. "And so did you, by the way. What a show" he says in applause.

"Yeah, well… That's actually my job"

"Oh, and that, uh, 'Go ahead. I need the practice'" he shakes his head admiringly. "That was classic"

Beckett smirks and rolls her eyes. "Come on, you're already late" she tugs him forward by his coat playfully.

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