The elevator bell rings and brings the attention of Detectives Ryan and Esposito as a tall man in a business suit walks briskly across the floor toward the office door of Captain Beckett. The man halts abruptly when he notices the door is closed and the light is off
"Where is Captain Beckett?" the man asks with no introduction or salutations
"Esposito, being closest responds "Who wants to know?"
"Special Agent Zachary Sutton"
Unmoved by the response both detectives are now standing in front of the man.
"Special Agent with what agency?" Ryan questions
"Attorney General's Office" the man is standing his ground
Not appreciating his attitude, Esposito asks "Can I see some identification?"
The man seems not moved by the challenge. He then brings out an ID folio and presents it to the two detectives
After looking at the documents, "what can we do for the Attorney General's office?" Esposito asks
"Where is the captain?" he again requests
"She is off for a few days. Is there something we can do for you?"
"Is there somewhere we can talk privately?"
The two detectives direct the man toward the conference room. After entering the room and closing the door Ryan points toward the table and chairs in the center of the room
"Have a seat"
The agent pulls out the chair and sits down "I am here on the direction of the Attorney General himself to discuss a matter with your captain. When will she be back?"
Esposito answers "We are not positive. She took a little down time. The weekend to be more specific"
"I need to talk to her immediately. How can I reach her?"
Not wanting to divulge more data to this man Ryan remarks "She is off grid at the moment"
"What about her husband then? How can I reach him?"
The two detectives look across to one another before Ryan answers "We are not positive, since he does not report to us, but we believe that he is not in town either"
"Did they go away for the weekend?"
"We are positive that they are not together" Javi comments
Ryan completes the thought "They are not exactly… on the same page at the moment"
The agent seems to contemplate the answer "I see! So they are separated?"
Again the detectives are not comfortable answering this man's questions
"Let's just say…it appears they are on a rough spot in the road"
The special agent sits for a brief moment "Well then I need to speak to the captain. How can I do that?"
The detectives are silent once more when the agent becomes more indignant "I need to speak to her now, gentlemen"
"To be perfectly honest with you, we are having trouble contacting her. We sent her a message and it was several hours before we heard back. So I am sure even if we gave you her contact information, it will not be very soon"
"If you will get me the data, I will make that determination"
Finally, Esposito presented the agent the number and the man gets up to leave but before he does, he again asks "This is very, very important. Are you sure that Mr. Castle and Mrs. Castle are not…together right now?"
"Ryan responds "Oh yes, positive. They are currently in a…time out. Why?"
"Let me say that she might be in danger if they are. That's all" and the man turn to leave the room heading toward the elevator
"Well that's interesting" Esposito comments
Ryan nod his head in response
As Agent Sutton approaches the elevator the door opens and a much shorter man exits onto the floor and begins heading toward the bull pen. As the two men approach each other it is obvious they have met before
"Agent Gray" the taller man comments
The shorter man responds "Agent Sutton…imagine seeing you here"
"Gray! Don't act surprised. You knew we would be following up on this"
"I just didn't know you would be assigned"
"You thought after I left the company that I would just take a desk job in Baltimore, put in my twenty, and pull the plug?"
"No, not really. I just imagined you be staying away from project Z. That's all"
"Is that what this is all about? I was understanding that that program was defunded and closed"
The shorter man shakes his head "I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation into this matter"
The taller agent tries to act like he does not fuller understand the current investigation "Is that what this is?"
"You know exactly what this is" Gray states as if everyone knows the facts
"Then will you do all of us a favor and just keep me informed? The AG's office cannot afford to lose any more experienced agents like McCord and her team. That was a devastating"
The shorter agent's expression never changes "See you around"
"Yeah. You too" as the taller man enters the elevator cab
When agent Gray enters the area of the desk he approaches Ryan and Esposito and talking like an old friend of Rick speaks up "Hey Detectives…I am Fred Gray. I used to work with Rick back before he was with Black Pawn. Do you know where I can find him?"
The two detectives are wondering why, all of a sudden, Castle and Beckett are so in demand
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The evening on Martha's Vineyards is peaceful. The birds are flying over the water, the sun is setting on the mainland side away from their current place. Castle has finished putting away the dinner dishes while Kate is showering. Once she is finished in the shower, he takes his turn to clean up.
She is drying her long luscious hair, that he loves so very much, and he completes his cleansing
When he re-enters the living space he sees her standing in the door looking outside. The view he is blessed with is the one that he wishes he could capture in his mind like a high definition video image and keep it in storage to recall at a moment's notice anytime he needs to
She is standing in silhouette of the glass wearing his pajamas top. Her long legs exiting from the hem traveling for what seems like miles ending with her feet at the floor. One leg straight and the other at a sight angle with just her heel touching the other ankle, knee ben gracefully
Before he can even move toward her he simply has to marvel in what wonders have been brought to his life by this woman standing here so absolutely mesmerizingly beautiful
He walks up behind her and gently places his arms around her waist. Any worry he might have had about her desire for a conversation disappears when, with a sigh, she simply melts backwards into his arms holding his hands to her own. Her soft hair the only thing separating her head from his.
"I wish we could stay here like this forever" he comments
"It would be nice, wouldn't it?" is her agreed response "But there are bad guys out there wanting to cause damage to us and the rest of the world"
They stand here for several more minutes before she finally pulls away and turns to Rick. When she turns to face him with eyes simply screaming her love toward her husband she takes his hand and starts pulling him toward the couch
Once close to the love seat, she reaches out to turn off a table lamp. When she does she has to bend over to reach the switch. Being she is facing partly away from him, he is given a nice view of one of her many assets.
When she turns back toward him, it is very evident of where his eyes were facing
"Enjoying the view Mr. Castle?" she walks back beside her husband
"Always" he responds.
She directs him to sit down and as he does she joins him
His next comment catches her a little off guard "I am just hoping this conversation is not leading to me losing that privilege"
She has placed herself in such a way that still gives him a hope that all is well with them. She then takes his hands into both of hers
She takes in a long deep breath "Do you remember what you said to me the day you proposed?"
"Most of it. I was petrified that I might have already lost you then"
"You said that you had to scratch and claw because I don't let people in…"
"Kate I…uh"
"Let me finish" She squeezes his hand tightly "You were right about that. In all of my life, I never wanted to let anyone in because there was no one I wanted to know me that way" there is a moment of silence. "No one was going to be allowed to peel off all of the Beckett onion. That is until you came along"
Rick is trying to let her off the hook for whatever she thinks she needs to do "I know you Kate and how close to the hip you have always kept your feelings…"
"That is the purpose of this conversation" She remarks "I want to make sure that you know just how important you are to me"
"OK"
"Rick…our friendship…our relationship is THE most important thing in my life. You are an amazing man and I love you with all of my heart"
Being worried that there might be something else going on in her mind "Kate, it there something you need to tell me? Is something bad going to happen? What?"
"No. Nothing is happening. I just got to thinking about us…how we came to be here and after all the ups and down roads we traveled, I have never told you to your face how much all this means to me. How important this is"
"WOW" Castle is taken back by her openness tonight "
"Since we are being open I guess I need to tell you a few things too about what this is to me"
"You mean I am more than just a quick tumble like the other night at the no-tell motel?"
He looks off like he is thinking about that "That was way more than a quick tumble. In fact it WAS pretty good"
She pokes him "PRETTY GOOD?"
"OK…Really good?"
"You better remember that night well because it might just be your last" she chides him
Castle pulls her closer then she continues "After I found out about my team from the AG's office being murdered and the attack on me I got to thinking about how little we have talked about…this. Us! I have not openly told you how I feel. I have kept all my feelings pent up inside myself"
"Kate" castle interrupts her "you have shown me more love in the short period of time we have known each other than from all others in all the years I lived before"
She lays her head down on his chest "And you have to me as well. More than I felt like I deserved after all the pushing away I did to you early on"
"I know Kate, but honestly I probably deserved being pushed away"
"Yeah, probably" she chides him again
A few moments of silence are finally broken when he asks "Tell me something…"
"Hum?"
"I have often wondered Kate. When did you realize we, you and me, might have a chance?'
She thinks for a very few seconds "The Nikki Heat release party"
"Really?"
"I was faced with loosing you as a friend and confidant. You had already shown me you could help me with cases and you are a loving and caring man. The type man I never honestly thought was inside that outward shell"
"But we fought that night. You acted like you wanted me to move on"
She slides a finger across his chest "Do you remember my comments about pulling pigtails?"
"Oh yes" he almost chuckles "Is that what you and I were. Two school yard crushes pushing each other's buttons?"
"Do I really have to answer that?"
"Not really"
Rick squeezes her softly "Kate?"
"It was that way for me too"
"Castle, you were the playboy having every woman you wanted. Why the cat and mouse with me?"
"I think I really fell in love with you way back then too. But I was afraid of losing something I had never had before"
"I guess we should have had this talk a long time ago? We would have started long before we did"
"Would it have been as amazing if we had?"
"Probably not. But Kate you were right. It helps sometime to hear the words and not just the motions"
She looks over at her husband, stands, takes his hand, pulls him to ta standing position, and begins pulling him toward the bedroom
As they move through the main part of the house, she turns off lights, then stops just before the bedroom door. And turns back to him "did you lock up the doors?"
"All secure" he answers
"Good" she says then begins to pull Rick into the room
Once inside Kate pulls back the covers and directs her husband to lay down. She then pulls herself under the covers and lays her head on her arm so that she is looking at him
"But I also love the ACTION part and I plan to spend the rest of our get way involved in the actions, if you don't mind"
OH!
A lot of love
and
A little Angst for our couple?