A/N: One more chapter left! Hope you enjoy! This is the BETA'd version. Also, how awesome was the Halloween ep of Castle! Malcolm Reynolds was back!

Beckett stared at the piece of paper that Castle had thrust into her hands. She had been looking it over for the past minute. Castle knew that Beckett knew it wasn't a fake. The real problem was going to be convincing her that it was a trustworthy source.

"How do I know that this is from a trustworthy source?" Castle's smirk grew slightly at Beckett's question. He knew her too well.

"Because it came from Dresden! Well, from some of his associates in town at least. And Sergeant Murphy said that she trusts their information." Castle placed his hands behind his back and closed the distance between Beckett and himself. "Now, if memory serves, there was something of a bet about this."

A reddish tint flew into Beckett's cheeks. She was blushing; this was too good. He could see that she was trying to figure some way to talk herself out of kissing him. Castle knew that he had won though, there was nothing anyone could say—

"He lost the bet."

Both Castle and Beckett turned to Murphy.

"What?" The question was asked by Beckett and Castle at the same time, her voice tinted with hope, Castle's tinted with despair.

Murphy tapped the piece of paper. "Technically speaking, Dresden found this, not Mr. Castle."

"What? We never agreed—" Castle tried to defend himself.

"Nope. You lost. Bet over." Beckett's tone was concise and sharp. Castle was afraid to talk back, so he looked to Dresden for backup. Castle gave Dresden the universal sign for 'help me', he made several inarticulate sounds while gesturing between Dresden and Beckett with both hands. Dresden only shook his head and held up both hands. Traitor. Castle was about to try to talk his way back into winning the bet through masterful use of rhetoric and a generous application of his natural charm, when Sergeant Murphy spoke up.

"As much fun as this is, I really think we should be getting back to the case, especially since we now have this list of people that we can talk to."

"Yes, thank you Sergeant." Castle could see Beckett mentally kicking herself in the head. "Mr. Dresden, do you honestly believe this to be from a credible source? I realize that I am repeating myself, but there are a lot of names on this and I want to know it's not going to be a wild goose chase before I commit to this."

" I can assure you that there is merit to what is on that list. I can't promise you that every name on that list will yield more information, but we will know more when we're done. And if I may throw in my two pennies," Dresden stepped forward and examined the list, "These names with the asterisks next to them, they were marked because they are people who are very deep into the magical community. These people are most likely not going to talk to the police. If you don't mind, I'd like to visit these people myself while the three of you check out the other names."

Castle could see that Beckett didn't like this new information. "I don't want you out there by yourself. I understand what you're saying about these people, but you agreed not to go off and do things by yourself after the incident this morning at the station. Besides, what if some of these other people don't feel like talking to us?"

Dresden started to say something but then stopped. Castle could tell Dresden was counting to ten in his mind as he ran his hand across his face. "Listen," Dresden said, "I'm a licensed P.I.; I'm not some random Joe off the street. I know what people's rights are and I understand what I can and cannot do during the course of an investigation. These people do not like the police, and if I show up with the police they're just going to clam up because you are not part of the community. If you have any trouble let Sergeant Murphy take over, she's been with me long enough to know a couple of names to drop if she has to and she has experience with these people. If you let me do this my way you will get the information that you need."

Castle could see that Beckett knew he was right, but that she still didn't like the idea of loosing Dresden in the city without any supervision. "O.K., but you have to take Castle with you."

Castle saw this as a great opportunity to find out more about Dresden. "All right! This can be fun! What do you say?"

Dresden's response wasn't as enthusiastic as Castle had hoped. "If that's what it takes, deal."

Beckett stepped forward. "Castle, you had better keep a good eye on Dresden. I promise you for every dollar in property damage or every word of a report I have to write because of something that he does it will equal one minute in the ring that you have to spar against me."

The color drained from Castle's face. He knew the average sentence contained about 15 words, and even UFC fighters only spend about that much time in the ring each fight. He could handle 15 minutes fencing Alexis, but full contact sparring was something totally different.

The massacre that was playing in his head was interrupted by the arrival of Ryan and Esposito. Beckett divided the list amongst the three groups and got Ryan and Esposito to give Castle and Dresden a ride back to the station to get Murphy's car. When Dresden went to get the keys from Murphy, she pulled him off to the side and the two exchanged some words and finished with a quick hug. Castle wasn't sure what they were saying exactly, but he was sure that they were reminding each other to be smart and not to get hurt. When Castle went to get the list back from Beckett, she told him where he could buy a mouth guard, fight gloves and a cup; then she hit him on the arm. To say that he felt loved would have been a lie.

The ride back to the station consisted of Dresden giving Ryan and Esposito a list of things to ask as well as things that they should be on the lookout for when interviewing people in the magical community. Castle asked Ryan and Esposito for some hints if he wanted to start sparring with some of the cops at the station. Esposito told him to just take it slow and not to fight someone as skilled as Beckett right off the bat. Ryan told him to do a barrel roll; offered no further explanation and kept snickering to himself. After Dresden and Castle got dropped off at the station, they got into Murphy's car, stopped at a hotdog stand for a quick lunch and then headed off to the first name on the list.

The first woman, Dorothy McDowell, lived only a few blocks from where Michelle lived. Dresden agreed that after talking with Dorothy they could check on Michelle. When they got out of the car, Dresden removed his staff from the back seat and again donned the grey cloak. As Castle was about to knock on the door he was stopped by Dresden.

"What's wrong?" Castle asked. "This is her room, isn't it?"

"Yes it is, and it's not always the smartest idea to just go knocking on the doors of these people. Trust me." Having said that, Dresden stretched out his hand and held it just in front of the door. After a second of holding his hand near the door a slight smirk appeared on his face and he withdrew his hand. Taking a quick breath he rapped on the door three times with the end of his staff.

"I seek Dorothy McDowell!" Castle was sure that everyone on the floor heard Dresden.

Sounds of rustling and movement could be heard on the other side of the door before an old woman's voice crackled out, "Who's there? If it's more of you hooligans from down the hall you'll regret this." The door was opened by a woman who was easily in her eighties. She had a scowl on her face that made Castle immediately think of a number of stereotypical "wicked witches" he had seen on T.V. and in movies. She gave Castle a glare that made him take a step back. When she looked to Dresden her look of anger turned to one of surprise.

"A Warden! Oh, my sincerest apology sir! I was not expecting you!" Her voice had lost its hard edge and was replaced with just the slightest tremble of fear. She began smoothing out her dress and ran her hand through her hair several times. "I must look a mess! I was just cleaning sir."

Castle was astounded by the complete reversal of personality that Dresden's presence had brought on to this woman. He also noted that she had called him "Warden", a title that seemed to carry a good amount of respect. He was sure the grey cloak played into the title somehow, but he tucked those facts and questions into a drawer in his mind labeled 'Ask About Later.' Looking to Dresden now, Castle could see him smiling politely.

"No need for an apology ma'am. I was wondering if my associate and I would be allowed into your home to ask you a few questions. I assure you we won't be long."

"A Warden of the Council is always welcome in my home," she gestured to Castle, "and the same is true for anyone with them. Please come in."

Dresden and Castle spent the next 15 minutes talking to the now very friendly old woman and asking her about what she had seen. It turned out that Dorothy had seen a young man frequenting the apartment of Michelle Peterson. This spiked Castle's interest, he hadn't been able to get a hold of her for two days now, hearing this made him go from being uneasy to scared for her. What if she was going to be the next victim?

"Don't worry about her Mr. Castle, I spoke with her this morning. I wanted to know what was going on. She told me that he was a friend from out of town who was staying with her. She and I have known each other for several years so I believed it, although..."

Castle leaned forward in his seat. "Although, what?"

Dorothy furrowed her brow and pursed her lips. "Well, now that I think about it, she was a little out of it. She was talking fine, but it seemed like she never quite knew what to say." Dorothy's eyes opened suddenly like she had just been told her dog had been run over, "You don't think she'd been Enthralled do you?"

Castle looked to Dresden for clarification on what was going on. He had no idea what being 'Enthralled' meant, but by the way that Dorothy said it and the look on Dresden's face, it wasn't anything good. "Dresden, what does this mean? Is she going to be alright?"

Dresden didn't look at Castle, "Maybe, I won't be able to tell until I see her. However, " Dresden stood and picked up his staff, "This means he's violated two Laws of Magic." This drew a gasp from Dorothy. "Mrs. McDowell, thank you very much for your hospitality, but I'm afraid that we're going to have to take our leave now."

She stood and escorted them to the door. "Of course Warden Dresden, I'm glad I could be of help to you. Please be careful Warden, sir."

As Castle and followed Dresden to the car, he assaulted him with questions.

"Being Enthralled isn't that bad right?"

"It depends on-- "

" It's like brainwashing or being hyped up on drugs right?"

"Not exactly. It's--"

"Can she be snapped out of it without any permanent damage?"

"Are you going to let me—"

" If she's Enthralled then she won't be the next victim will she?"

"You're just going to cut me—"

" You've dealt with this before haven't you?"

"…."

"I knew I should have gone to check on her when she didn't return any of my phone calls. Don't you have anything to say about this!"

Dresden stopped at the side of the car and turned to Castle. "Yes! I've been trying to say something but you won't shut the hell up!" Dresden opened the back door and threw his staff in. "We need to stay focused on—"

"Stay focused! My friend's been placed under some kind of mind control by a serial killer!" Castle was furious. Who was this man to tell him not to worry about Michelle? "Have you ever feared for the life of someone you care for? What in your magical little life gives you the right to belittle this—"

Castle's rant was cut short by Dresden grabbing Castle by the collar and shoving him up against the hood of the car. Castle was completely ready to fight Dresden, it wasn't that he wanted to hurt Dresden, but when you throw a man up against the side of a car, he's going to want to fight back. He locked eyes with Dresden and glared.

Then everything changed. He felt like he was being pulled into Dresden's eye by his belly button. His senses were suddenly overloaded with sights, smells, feelings and emotions that were not his own. He felt agony, pain, suffering and only hints of happiness. He saw images of battle, friends in trouble, blood, fire, claws, fangs and creatures that were anything but human. The onslaught continued for what felt like a lifetime, but at the same time he knew it was only mere seconds.

As soon as it had started it was over. He was back up against the car with Dresden holding his collar. Dresden let go of Castle's collar and walked several steps away, seeming to compose himself. Castle realized this was what happened earlier at the police station, the thug had looked into Dresden's soul. Castle didn't pretend to understand it, but he knew that's what had happened. What he had been shown proved that Dresden wasn't joking about anything. Magic was real; it was powerful and it was dangerous. Castle had seen how powerful Dresden truly was, and some of the things he had done. But he had also felt the pain Dresden had lived through. He didn't blame the thug for believing Dresden to be a monster.

But Castle understood; Dresden was like Frankenstein's monster. A creature of great power, but incorrectly judged to be a monster because of what it was capable of. Castle knew that Dresden's power was in check by his humanity. He had seen it.

"I'm sorry." Dresden's voice made Castle jump.

"What?"

"I didn't mean to…I shouldn't have Soulgazed you. You don't deserve to see that, not with the life you've lived."

"How do you……its two way isn't it? I saw yours and you saw mine?"

Dresden nodded. "You've had a great life and you have a beautiful family. You're lucky."

"Listen, Dresden, I don't know what to say. You—"

"Stop." Dresden once again interrupted. "I don't want to talk about this right now. You're friends in danger, we need to help her."

Castle looked at Dresden for a moment, then nodded. "Right, what's the plan?"

Dresden took off his grey cloak and threw that on top of his staff in the back seat and closed the door. "We walk." Dresden did just that. He turned and started to walk away from the car, his coat flowing slightly behind him. Castle took out his notebook as he began to follow, making a note to include a coat like Dresden's somewhere in "Heat Wave".

"Where to? Is there some secret shop around here where we can get an invisibility robe or some kind of magic grenade?"

"No. That's just….never mind. We're going to walk to Michelle's apartment. I'm going to assume there's at least some kind of alarm set up near the building. Approaching on foot will let me see them and avoid them."

Castle stopped walking. "O.K., but her apartment's this way." Castle pointed over his shoulder with his thumb.

Dresden stopped, turned around, coughed and walked past Castle. Glancing back to the car, a question popped into Castle's head.

"Why are you leaving your staff? Isn't that a wizard's main weapon?"

"Yep. But I don't want them to know I'm a wizard." Dresden tapped the side of his head a couple of times. "Because I'm sneaky."

Castle snapped his fingers. "I see. Give him a false sense of security by having him think you're just a regular old human."

"That's the plan."

"All right," Castle reached into his pocket, "I'll just get Beckett to meet us and then we"ll—"

"No cops." Dresden turned to Castle quickly. Castle could see urgency on his face.

"If the cops get involved, our Warlock may get spooked and decide to cut his losses. That would be a very bad thing for Michelle."

Castle thought it through. Right now Michelle was being held hostage by this man. Castle realized that he had no idea what to expect if things led to violence. He didn't want her to become a human shield or innocent victim. If they were to try to take the apartment by force who knows what this 'Warlock", as Dresden called him, could do. That was something else Castle realized, magic was a factor that he never had to worry about before. This brought so many new things to consider. Could these people fly or teleport like in the movies?

Castle had to make a choice fast, would he leave Beckett out of the loop and follow Dresden's plan? While the plan was probably safer for Michelle, Beckett was going to kill him when she finds out about it. Castle smirked. It wasn't a hard choice.

"All right Dresden, what do you need me to do?"

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed it! I know it's not my best chapter, but I'm saving all the good stuff for the next one. Despite my plans, it's looking like the next chapter is either going to be one big one or two medium length ones. That's why I put the poll on this chapter; I want to know what you guys would like. Either way, magic fights and battles will be prevalent in the rest of the story so get ready!!

P.S.: Reviews are my only current source of food. Please don't let me starve.

P.S.S: About the Halloween Castle ep, if you liked that then you'll love the fic "The Last Bite is the Deepest" by jane0904.