"Well Lanie was right, Kate. That was fantastic," Alexis commented gratefully, slurping up the remnants of her soup.

"Thanks," Beckett told her, taking a sip of her wine.

Alexis asked, "Did your enhanced sense of smell change how you cooked?"

"Some," shrugged Beckett. "Mostly it made it harder."

"Really?" Lanie asked, "How so?"

Beckett replied, "It was hard not to want to correct the seasonings a hundred times."

Ryan chuckled, remembering Beckett's first reaction to the glass of 'salt' water. "I'll bet."

"Well I'm just glad you figured out when to stop and let us eat," Alexis enthused. She put down her bowl and chopsticks and pushed away from the table slightly, sitting back to watch the relaxed group sitting around the table with her.

Castle noticed the contemplative look on his daughter's face. "What's on your mind, Alexis?"

"I just want to thank you guys for trusting me enough to let me help you with all of this."

Beckett leveled a teasing glare at her boyfriend as she told Alexis, "Well, after we barged in on you, you had about as much choice in this whole thing as we have." Turning to face Alexis, Beckett then admitted, "Although I doubt we would have gotten this far this fast without your help." Five heads nodded in agreement.

"Thanks," Alexis replied with a blushing half-smile. "So when do you guys think you want to head back to the city? I mean, it's not like you have to deal with the traffic on 27 or anything..."

The response was quiet, but unified and immediate. Everyone spoke in near-unison. "Tomorrow."

Beckett was the first one to give her reason to the group. "If we leave after breakfast, it'll give me a day to get used to being in Manhattan again. The city can be loud even on a good day..."

Ryan chimed in, "I hear ya. Don't get me wrong, Castle, Alexis...while it's been great being out here, we live in a city of eight million people. I *have* to learn how to get used to being around that many minds at once. Might as well get into it sooner rather than later." Beckett nodded in agreement.

"So everyone's agreed?" asked Castle. "We'll leave first thing in the morning?" Four heads around the table nodded.

"Okay then," declared Alexis, "I have one more idea for a test." The group looked to her, curious as to what she had in mind. "I was thinking we should play Truth or Dare."

"The slumber party game?" asked Lanie. "How is that a test?"

"I've got an idea," Esposito suggested. "This is a test for me, isn't it?"

Alexis nodded, then asked her father, "Dad, can you clear the table?" As the dinner plates and leftover food disappeared, Alexis explained to the group, "This will be a practice test for Detective Esposito...but only partially." She pulled out a quarter. "Heads will be truth, tails will be dare. Everyone will take turns flipping the coin. If it lands on heads, *you* get to ask Detective Esposito a personal question you know he doesn't know the answer to. He then has to answer it."

"And tails?" asked Ryan.

"Tails is dare," Alexis replied simply. "The only rule is that the dare has to be directly related to your new abilities."

Castle smiled shamelessly. "I'm in." Ryan nodded in agreement as well.

Beckett and Lanie rolled their eyes, then reluctantly consented. Lanie got up to go to the kitchen, announcing to the group, "Okay, I'll do it, but I'm sure I'm going to need a lot more alcohol..."

Ryan and Beckett chimed in quickly, "Get me one, too!"

Alexis pulled a quarter out of a nearby change jar while the rest of the group settled in with their beverages of choice. Finally, once everyone was comfortable, Alexis asked them, "So who wants to start?"

Lanie, having been the first to nervously down her beer in one long chug, spoke up first. "I'll do it."

Alexis tossed the quarter in the air and caught it before it hit the ground. Flipping the quarter onto the back of her hand without seeing it, she lifted her top hand off of the bottom one. "Tails. I have an idea for a dare. Up for it?"

The beer had gone straight to Lanie's head, making her feel a little light-headed and buzzed. "Sure, Lex. Watcha got in mind?"

"I've always wondered what I would look like as a blond."

The buzz blocked any hesitation Lanie might have had with the idea. The healed walked through the process in her head, finding it simpler than she would have thought...in theory. She motioned for Alexis to come closer to her.

Alexis obliged, getting up from her chair and going around the table to stand in front of Lanie. Lanie took the younger girl's hand and fell quickly into the trance, mentally pulling herself into Alexis' scalp. The group watched as Alexis' hair bleached white from root to tip, then gently grew more and more yellow until it reached a perfect shade of platinum blonde. She opened her eyes as Lanie pulled out of the trance, smiling as she reviewed her handiwork. "So how do I look?" asked Alexis.

"See for yourself," Lanie replied, sharing Alexis' smile.

Alexis ran straight for the nearest mirror. She smiled as she ran her fingers through her hair, amazed at the silky texture of her hair and the natural look of the color. "Wow...my hair is so soft..." The girl started to frown, however, as she took in the full effect of the color change on her appearance. "Still, I don't think I look that great as a blond. Can you change it back?"

"Sure," Lanie replied. She crossed to the mirror and grabbed Alexis' hand, not even needing to close her eyes to know what she was doing. Lanie watched with growing satisfaction as Alexis' hair shifted back from blond to its original fiery red, squeezing the girl's hand when she was done.

Alexis squeezed Lanie's hand in return, relieved as her appearance returned to normal. "Thanks, Lanie." Alexis returned her attention to the rest of the group. "So who's next?"

Ryan finished his beer with one long swallow. "I'll give it a shot, Lex."

Alexis tossed the quarter in the air and caught it before it hit the ground. Flipping the quarter onto the back of her hand without seeing it, she lifted her top hand off of the bottom one. "Heads."

Taking a deep breath, Ryan focused his attention on his partner. He asked Esposito, "What's the closest I've ever come to getting arrested?"

Esposito closed his eyes. "You and Jenny were at a carnival, and you decided to ride the ferris wheel..." Suddenly, his expression darkened, contorted into a mask of anger and embarrassment. "Uh, guys," Esposito said to no one in particular, "I'm gonna go for a run. I'll...I'll see you later."

He was out the door before any of the other five members of the group had the chance to object. Alexis was first out the door...but Esposito was barely a dot on the horizon by the time the rest of the group caught up to her on the beach. Ryan stopped his young friend with a hand on her shoulder. "It was my memory, Lex. I'll go."

"No!" insisted Alexis forcefully. "It was *my* test. *I* need to be the one to talk to him, Kevin. Please...?"

The pleading, guilt-ridden tone in Alexis' voice was more than Castle could stand. He grabbed his daughter by the wrist and disappeared.

Alexis and her father reappeared at the edge of a small forest clearing. Castle spotted his friend first, seated on the beach about fifty feet ahead of them. A gentle hand on Castle's arm moved his attention back to his first priority. "You're sure you want to be the one to talk to him about this, Alexis?"

Alexis nodded. "I'm only going to keep being helpful to you guys if I can understand what I do wrong when I do something wrong and fix it." She wrapped her arms around her father's waist and hugged him gratefully. "But thank you for trusting me to do this."

"Hey, better you than me," Castle replied with a chuckle. "Do you have your phone with you?"

"Yeah," replied Alexis, "I'll call you when we're done?"

"Okay," Castle replied with a smile as he separated from his daughter's embrace. "Good luck," he added, before disappearing in a blink.

Alexis climbed the sand dune and crossed down the hill to the place where the detective was watching the sunset. He spoke before she had a chance to say anything. "I don't want to talk about it, Alexis."

"Was it that bad, Detective?" Alexis sat down on the beach cross legged, facing Esposito as he faced the sunset.

"You have no idea," Esposito replied. Out of the corner of his eye, Esposito realized that the girl had settled in and would not be leaving his side any time soon. So either I can take off running again, or... "Before tonight, when I...saw something, I saw it in third person. Like I was just there, observing, even if I was there in the memory. Tonight, though..." His voice trailed off as his discomfort with the memory was sparked anew.

Alexis prodded, "Go on."

Esposito sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get out of this without facing it head on. "Tonight, I saw Ryan's memory through his eyes. The way *he* lived it."

"Why is that that much different?" asked Alexis, confused.

Esposito stated matter-of-factly, "Apparently Ryan's close call was for...public lewdness on the Ferris Wheel."

It took Alexis a moment to understand what Esposito was talking about. Her eyes widened as she understood what he had seen...and the *implications* of it. "Wow. I'm starting to get why you left."

"Yeah," agreed Esposito. "I have to keep reminding myself that I did *not* just sleep with my best friend's wife."

"I am *so* sorry about this, detective," Alexis apologized. "I had no idea..."

Esposito grimaced, but the expression cleared almost as quickly as it had formed. "Yeah, well...it's trial and error for all of us right now, isn't it?" The silence between them was easily filled by the late evening tide as the detective allowed himself to get lost in his own thoughts. Finally, Esposito let himself speak his mind with a weary sigh. "God, it was bad enough when I thought I was just going to be a peeping Tom into other people's lives. After tonight, seeing what I saw, the way I saw it...I dunno, maybe *I* should be the one who stays away from the rest of the world."

"Detective..."

Esposito chuckled bitterly. "Alexis, please...I've already pulled memories out of your head. If you stick around long enough I'll probably end up pulling out a thousand more. The least I can do in return is let you call me by my first name. Javier."

"Javier," Alexis repeated, clearly uncomfortable with the idea. "Can I ask you a question?" When Esposito only shrugged, Alexis took a deep breath and continued, "Lanie once told me that you were in Special Forces. Is that true?" As Esposito nodded, Alexis continued, "I'm guessing that you've seen things that are a lot more disturbing than anything you've seen in a vision up to this point. True?"

"Yeah..." Esposito agreed warily, knowing the girl was trying to make a point, but failing to see what it was.

Alexis pressed on with her questioning. "How do you deal with the things you saw in the Army?"

"War is war," Esposito tried to explain with a shrug. "Now that I'm away from that life, I...keep most of the memories in the back of my mind. Most of the time I just don't think about it."

"Even as a cop? When people are shooting at you?"

Esposito nodded. "Different circumstances, different weapons...it's kind of hard to explain."

"What's been going through your mind at the times that you've had your visions?"

Esposito considered the question carefully. "I had a goal in mind. Either it was to answer a particular question or help get a point across...usually the point that we aren't crazy and that all this, for better or worse, is real."

"And the...information you got about Kevin tonight, what will you do with it?"

Esposito's reply was firm, steely with conviction. "Nothing. After tonight I'll take that memory to my grave...and hopefully never think about it again."

"Javier, why are the memories that you're getting from someone else any different than the memories you have from your own experiences?"

"I..." Esposito's train of thought stopped cold as he considered Alexis' question.

Alexis pressed on. "If you can set aside all your memories of war so you can live a normal life, and set aside the memories of this crazy night so you can have a good relationship with your partner, then how can it be any harder to do the same thing with the next memory you have...whether it's yours or someone else's?"

"I see your point, Alexis, I do," Esposito conceded. "It still doesn't make me any more comfortable with the idea of stealing stuff out of people's minds."

"You're not stealing," Alexis countered. "Stealing would mean that you take the memory from the person and it's gone from their mind. And I still remember that conversation you saw me having back in the city." Alexis started thinking out loud, trying to form her argument even as she told it to Esposito. "So think of it...think of it as being a corroborating witness. Only now you don't have to worry about filtering a witness' testimony through what they think might be important."

Esposito's next question flew out of his mouth before he thought about it. "But what about outside of work, Alexis? I don't know if I want to know so much about my friends if it's stuff they wouldn't want to tell me..."

"Outside of tonight, have you had a vision about something that personal?" Alexis countered. When Esposito suddenly became unable to look her in the eye, Alexis knew she needed to press further. "You have, haven't you? What was it about?"

Esposito winced when he realized where his big mouth had gotten him. He turned to look at Alexis and quickly understood that she was not going to give up until he answered her. Esposito sighed, finally admitting, "Lanie."

"Past or future?"

"Future."

Alexis mused, "That's why you guys got back together, isn't it?" Esposito nodded. "What did you see?"

"You won't tell her?" Alexis shook her head. "Swear it."

"I swear. What did you see?"

"Our wedding."

Alexis smiled. "Javier, this just proves my point. Every time you've had a vision you've had a goal in mind. Even with Lanie, you needed to know how it was going to turn out before you risked your heart again."

"And now I know."

"And now you know. Look, if there's one thing that I've seen over the past couple of days, it's that each of you has the ability you have because you're the person who can best handle that ability and *everything* that goes with it. You can do this."

Hi gang! Sorry it took so long to get this posted. Had family in from out-of-state for the annual staycation. While I absolutely *love* my family and had a great time, it left me with ten days of very, *very* little time to write. The good news, though, is that now that everyone's gone and the house is starting to settle down again I should be posting updates a lot faster. However, that speed will be helped greatly by getting lots of comments on this chapter. :-D