A/N: Okay, this is where things start getting wilder, and also where the T rating starts to come into play.

Chapter 3

The Worst Time For Pink

In determining what the best storage space for the BB guns would be, Beckett had settled on the house safe. She would keep them in there until being informed that Gates and the team were on their way back with Mrs. Downey, and give them back then. As long as Brad and Sean kept their promise of no more trickery, then nobody else need know about the embarrassing incident just minutes earlier ... especially Castle.

After stowing away the fake weapons and securing the safe door, Beckett had to wonder what it was that had brought on the boys' little prank. Had she inadvertently done something to offend them? If so, then maybe she should make it clear that she didn't mean to? But it wasn't as if this was the first time a prank had been pulled on her in this situation. Thinking back briefly to her teenage babysitting days, Beckett could recall a few of her charges who had possessed quite the mischievous streak, and all it took to claim control in those cases had been a firm hand combined with finding common ground between her and the kids. That was most likely her best bet right now, but the problem was she didn't know much of anything about Brad and Sean Downey, so she had no idea where to begin.

She was spared by further thought on the matter when her phone rang. Beckett slipped the device out of her pocket and looked at the caller ID. It was Captain Gates, so she immediately answered. "Beckett."

"How are things going there, Detective?" Gates asked, getting right down to business like usual. "Any trouble?"

"No, nothing I can't handle, sir," Beckett replied, a statement which she believed wholeheartedly. "How about on your end? Is Mrs. Downey on the stand yet?"

Gates sighed heavily. "I'm afraid not. The recess for lunch is just wrapping up as we speak, and apparently, the Prosecution has a whole line of witnesses they brought in today. They have a strong case, and they want to make it obvious to the jury. We'll be lucky if they start questioning Mrs. Downey by late afternoon."

"And then, with this being the last day for the case, there's still the deliberation period for the jury," Beckett supplied with somewhat deflated hopes for a quick day.

"Yes, so it appears we'd all better get comfortable where we are," said Gates seriously. "We're nowhere near out of the woods yet."

"I understand, sir. But fortunately, there's been no suspicious activity to speak of." Except for Brad and Sean shooting BB pellets at me, Beckett thought to herself, but Gates didn't need to know that particular detail.

"That's reassuring, Detective. Let's hope it stays that way." There was a moment of silence, probably so Gates could do something menial such as check her watch. "Anyway, the recess is nearly over. I have to be getting back, but one more thing. Are the children still content?"

"Yes," Beckett answered instantly, maybe a little too instantly. But Gates didn't seem to pick up on it.

"Good. Well, just make sure it stays that way. Either myself or Detectives Ryan and Esposito will be getting back to you with the next significant update."

"Understood, sir. I'll be waiting."

And with that, the conversation was over. Beckett walked back into the living room, set her phone on the coffee table and was about to search around for something like a board game to possibly play with the boys when she remembered an important fact.

My handcuffs. I forgot to hide those, too.

They were still in one of Beckett's coat pockets, and if Brad and Sean came across them for whatever reason, it would lead to awkward questions. So, Beckett abandoned her quest for common ground to share and made her way back to the coat rack in the main hallway. She located the silver restraints within seconds and was about to put them inside the safe, too, when a thought occurred to her.

It might be easier to keep these in better reach. Somewhere that doesn't take as much time to get to.

Beckett stole a hurried glance up the staircase to make sure Brad and Sean weren't out in the open, which they weren't, and then scanned around for the type of hiding spot she was hoping for: a closet, which was located down the hallway and close to the living room.

Perfect.

First, Beckett replaced the cuffs in the coat pocket, then she removed the coat from the rack and carried it the short distance down the hallway. With a simple twist of the doorknob, the closet was open and it only took Beckett a moment to locate an unused hanger.

The suspicious shuffle of movement from behind her happened too late for Beckett to react to it in time. While placing the hanger holding her coat back on the bar, she felt two pairs of small hands press against her lower back and upper legs, thus sending Beckett stumbling further into the narrow closet. The action was accompanied by snickers and followed by the sound of the closet door slamming shut behind her. Not to mention the click of a lock.

Total darkness, save for a few slivers of light filtering in from the edges of the door, enveloped her and it was a struggle for Beckett to properly turn around. But when she did, she wasted no time in pounding on the door.

"Hey! Let me out right now!"

"Hmmmmmmmmmm ... no!" Sean merrily said from the opposite side.

"You two are in SUCH BIG TROUBLE!" Beckett huffed, this time kicking the door. It only made her foot hurt.

"Whenever you get out, we will be," Brad replied cheekily.

"You ... you can't do this!" Beckett said pathetically. Clearly, her anger was clouding her ability to come back with a better retort.

"I think we just did!" said Sean. The sound of a high-five was audible.

"But you promised no more pranks!" Oh, how Beckett wished she had her gun right now. For the doorknob, though, not the kids. She was much more willing to use her handcuffs on them, however.

"And you seriously fell for that?" Brad sounded incredulous. "C'mon, Kate, don't you know about crossed fingers?" He and his brother laughed some more.

The sound was enough to make Beckett grunt in rage.

"Okay, so we're going to enjoy having the house to ourselves for a bit," Brad continued conversationally. "Don't go anywhere. Not that you could, anyway!"

Their laughter receded, as they no doubt went elsewhere in the house.

"Just you WAIT until I get out!" Beckett exclaimed, only to be ignored. She sighed and planted her head against the door in frustration.

This is hardly a sign of a cop doing her job, a little voice inside Beckett's head mocked.

With each passing minute, Beckett became angrier and angrier, which only made things worse for Brad and Sean whenever they decided to free her. She could hear them walking back and forth throughout the house, communicating in mumbles that were completely indiscernible to Beckett from inside the closet. And what's more, they were ignoring her totally, as if there weren't a grown woman currently locked in their closet. Beckett would bang on the door and shout angrily every once in a while at them, but she may as well just have been keeping silent.

Finally, Beckett got fed up with this treatment and she grabbed the doorknob, more out of annoyance than purpose, and twisted it. The action had just been meant to express her temper, so the last thing Beckett expected was for the door to open up with enough force to send her tumbling out into the hallway with a small and surprised shriek. She landed on the floor in a heap with an "Ooomph!" while laughter rang out on either side of her.

"Well ... that sure worked out well!" guffawed Brad. "Talk about a happy accident!"

"Hey, Kate, look at this!" Sean said excitedly.

Against her better judgment, Beckett lifted up her head and turned it around to give the six year-old a death glare. But the effect of the stare was undoubtedly lost when the downpour of water from a cup in Sean's hand hit her face.

Beckett coughed and spluttered after the liquid soaked her face and a good part of her hair. The kids, of course, laughed some more. Beckett grunted and hauled herself to her feet, resuming the hand-on-hips position.

"We thought you might've been thirsty!" Sean stated innocently.

"If you two don't march up to your rooms right now," Beckett snarled through gritted teeth, "and stay there until I tell you to come out, then I can guarantee to make sure your mother punishes you like the juvenile delinquents you are!"

That made Brad and Sean stop laughing and stare at Beckett as if she'd just offended them.

"It was just a joke, geez!" Brad muttered.

"Rooms! Now!" Beckett even pointed upstairs for emphasis.

The two boys hung their heads low again and walked in the direction of the stairs without another word. Beckett followed behind them to ensure that they followed her instructions and wasn't satisfied until she personally closed each of their doors.

That'll show them, she thought on her way back down.

She stopped in the bathroom for a minute and used a towel to dry off her face. Beckett next walked into the living room and scooped up her phone. Ideally, she wouldn't have chosen to relay her recent experiences to Castle, but she was so angry right now, that she needed to vent somehow, and that was her best option.

Beckett was about to pull up his number when the phone sprang to life of its own accord, showing a photo of Mr. Ruggedly Handsome himself due to him calling her. "Coincidences," Beckett dryly remarked to herself as she answered.

"Have I reached Beckett's Babysitting Service?"

Despite her high temper, Beckett couldn't help but crack a slight smile. "We're clearly evolving as a couple. It's like you knew I was about to call."

"Well, ESP has been proven -"

"Castle, as much as I love hearing your larger than life theories about the world we live in, there are other things on my mind right now." Beckett picked up the mug of soda that she left in the living room and took a long gulp. There was a prolonged pause on the other end, and Beckett had to check her phone to see if the connection dropped. "Castle? Still there?"

"Yeah, sorry, was just testing out my ESP theory over the phone." His voice took on a more serious tone. "Is what's on your mind related to your little assignment?"

"Yep." Beckett hesitated.

"Okay, are you gonna make me interrogate it out of you? Cause, one, I'm at a slight disadvantage with this being a phone conversation and all. And two, I'm nowhere near as skilled at that as you."

Beckett finished another sip of soda and set the mug back down. "Alright. Try to restrain yourself after I tell you what I'm about to tell you." She breathed in and out. "These boys ... are not as innocent as they appear. They just pulled a few ... well, pranks on me."

The sudden uptake in Castle's tone was hard to miss. "Don't take this the wrong way, Kate, but I have never been as attentive to you as I am now. I'm all ears."

Beckett rolled her eyes and pressed on in telling Castle all about what had happened to her over the past half hour.

"Not that you don't have my deepest sympathies or anything," said Castle when she was done, "but I think this may be an intriguing new aspect to bring to Nikki Heat in the next book. An NYPD Detective who gets out-tricked by little kids from time to time."

"Castle, be serious!" Beckett berated him while rubbing her forehead. "I really could use some advice here, especially from a guy who raised a little girl all by himself."

"Well, these are boys. However ... since you've often pointed out that I have the mind of an eight year-old on a sugar rush, maybe that's an angle I can help you from."

Beckett smiled widely at his suggestion. "I don't think I've ever felt so attracted to you as I do right now."

There was a muffled voice from the other end of the line that sounded like someone speaking over an intercom. A few seconds later, Castle sighed. "Tell you what. Hold that thought not only until I get back in town, but more importantly for another ... forty-five minutes to an hour. I've got this Q & A panel I'm participating in. Gee, these calls have been really ill-timed, haven't they? You think you can survive for that long?"

"I've banished them to their rooms and they can't come out unless I say so. I'll be just fine."

"Great. Talk to you again soon."

"Looking forward to it."

Just like the last time, the couple hung up simultaneously. But where Beckett had just moments ago been experiencing decidedly negative feelings, she now had a glimmer of hope, all thanks to her fantastic and ruggedly handsome boyfriend. She put her phone on the table once more and reclaimed her mug of soda, which had just a few sips left that she quickly consumed while going back into the kitchen. At the sink, she rinsed out the mug and added it to the lunch dishes now occupying the dishwasher.

Once Beckett had settled back down on the couch in the living room, with the television turned on, she slowly started to feel a sense of drowsiness gradually overtake her. For a few minutes, she fought it as best she could, but eventually it became too powerful.

It's only the middle of the day. Why am I so sleepy?

She had to be alert, not only for any phone call which came through, but also in case Brad and Sean tried anything. However, the allure of a short nap seemed all too appealing, and before Beckett knew it, she had laid down on the couch with her head on a pillow and was drifting off into dreamland.

Her last glimpse was of the clock mounted on the wall over the television. It read one-fifteen p.m.

The clock was the first thing Beckett saw when she re-opened her eyes. The first thing she took stock of was the time, five minutes to two. Had she really been asleep for forty minutes? What had happened in those forty minutes, though, was the more important question on Beckett's mind than why exactly she had felt the need to take a nap in the first place. Especially given the situation she was in today, falling asleep on the job was not a good idea when all was said and done. Beckett could only imagine what Captain Gates would say if she found out about this.

C'mon, Kate, you're better than this! she scolded herself.

In any case, Castle was due to call back soon, and she needed to be awake for that. Then there was the possibility of either Gates, Ryan or Esposito calling with an important update about the trial, which was even more pressing. Beckett only hoped that none of them had tried to call during her nap. With that in mind, she made to reach over for her phone.

But there was one problem.

Her arms seemed to be stuck over her head. Beckett could still move them slightly, but it felt more like they were being held in an upright position ... not by anything like a rope around her wrists, but more like ... a piece of fabric around her arms and just over her head.

When Beckett glanced down curiously at herself, she made the unfortunate discovery of what that piece of fabric was. It was her shirt. She could tell because there was nothing covering her chest, and therefore the light pink bra she was wearing at the moment.

"Oh my God!"

This was no doubt the devious work of Brad and Sean, but Beckett was only concerned about covering herself back up. She swung her legs hurriedly over the side of the couch and shot to her feet in a flash, but she soon discovered that was a mistake on her part. It was only after Beckett had stood up that she noticed her jeans had been purposely loosened. She had to find out the hard way, because they dropped around her ankles, thus exposing the pair of pink panties that matched the bra.

Beckett stood there shell-shocked, both pieces of her underwear clearly out in the open and her arms still held over her head by her own shirt. Her instinct to freeze on the spot ultimately proved foolish, because the sound of laughter from both in front of and behind her showed Beckett that Brad was sitting on a chair directly in front of her, obviously taking pictures of her state on a phone while Sean was right behind her doing the exact same thing.

"YOU LITTLE MONSTERS!" Beckett screamed.

"Nice pictures, Kate!" Brad exclaimed happily. "Very photogenic!"

"Nice underwear, too!" Sean added with just as much joy.

"I'll show you photogenic!" Beckett snarled as she pulled her shirt back down over her head and pulled her pants back up, not even bothering to fasten them. She stepped around the coffee table and made to lunge for Brad, but found her feet knocked out from under her by something in her path.

Beckett went tumbling forward and fell on top of a footstool placed in front of another chair. She growled in anger, but before Beckett could do anything else, she felt a pair of hands yank her jeans back down. She gasped out of instinct.

Brad and Sean took more photographs and one of them even gave her a quick spank, which both offended and angered Beckett.

"Come and get us, stupid-head!" taunted Sean.

"Or would it be stupid-butt?" laughed Brad. He and Sean high-fived each other before they took off through the patio doors.

This left Beckett to angrily clamber to her feet, properly secure her pants around her waist this time and run after them.

Of all the days to wear pink underwear, she scolded herself. But Beckett was determined to let that be as far any humiliation intended for her went.