To say that Mark Fallon was the last person any of the Castles were expecting would be an understatement.
Rick and Kate had not seen the Homeland Security Agent in about ten years and Alexis had no idea who the man was
"Agent Fallon…come inn" Rick remarks as he steps aside to allow the man in enter the home
Alexis has a look of questioning on her face
"Mr. Castle. I did not expect to see you today or any day for that matter but I should not be surprised since the person I was looking for has the same last name"
Alexis turn to her father "Who is Agent Fallon?" looking back to the guest
"Kate and I had…um…an interaction with him several years ago"
The federal agent looks at Castle now knowing that he must not have told his daughter anything about their previous encounter. He is next shocked when Kate Beckett turns the counter "Mark Fallon. You are someone I never expected to see ever again"
He now has a more intense look of shock on his face "Detective Beckett?"
"It's Captain now"
"I believe I did hear that somewhere but…" he looks between the three not sure what to say "But I did not know about you two…"
"Married… with children" Castle comments
"Really? I thought you said…" he points at Kate "That you two were not a couple and I thought you were with someone else at the time I believe?"
"We weren't together at that time…No" She answers
Castle looks at Kate with the same amount of love for her that she experiences now every day "But things have changed…"
Kate finishes the thought "and changed for the better"
Agent Fallon seems unmoved by the revelation and returns to his original goal "I need to talk to Doctor Castle" he looks at Alexis who has stood-by while her parents who seem to be familiar with the visitor but have not given her even a clue about who he is and why he would be here
"What is it that I can do for you Mr. Fallon?" Alexis asks then looks at her mom and dad "And we will see what you can do for me later"
Alexis looks in Rick and Kate's direction putting them on notice that she full well intends to carry on the inquisition later
"Dr. Castle….please understand that my prior meeting with Mr. Castle and Detective Beckett…" he points toward the couple "your mom and dad is, unfortunately, classified and I am not permitted to give you any more information than that they saved the City of New York a few years back" then he looks toward Kate and Rick "and maybe now their daughter might save us once again"
He pause for a moment "I am Special Agent Mark Fallon and I'm with the office of Homeland Security
"Agent Fallon…" Alexis starts up "this sounds very sinister. So what is this all about?"
"The fingerprints that were entered into AAFES by you sent up a red flag on my radar"
"Was he a person that homeland security was looking for?" Castle asks
He pauses before completing "The man whose prints that you entered was Lance Walker"
Fallon pauses just a moment before finishing "And no we were not looking for him. Actually he was an agent on my team. He had been working with me for the last five years"
"What was he doing here, on Long Island?" Beckett questions
It is obvious that Fallon was uncomfortable in answering the question. But after a few seconds "I am not comfortable in answering that question"
Rick starts his comments "Agent Fallon. Your man was found dead in the lighthouse out here. There has been some strange activity related to the tower"
"What type of activity?"
"The main torch has been turned off and strange lights have been seen in the windows"
"Lights? What do you mean…lights?"
Kate rolls her eyes as her husband continues his story
"Several people have reported seeing a strange glow. You know like a ghost or something appearing in the tower"
Fallon seems a little putout himself "There are no such things as ghosts. Anyone who believes that is just stu…"
Beckett cuts him off to protect her husband's dignity "Agent Fallon…there have been many reports of the glowing and some have reported that they saw a ghost, but we all" she looks at Rick "know there are no ghosts…right?"
Castle succumbs to his wife's comment "OK…so there are NO ghosts, but you did say our body was a spook"
"Agent Fallon" giving her man a silly smirk Beckett begins back up "your agent, our dead body, was found murdered and caught up in the lamp rotation mechanism at the Montauk Lighthouse"
The remark brings a question on the face of the Homeland agent "He was caught up in the gears?"
"Yes. His body had been thrown or fell into the gearbox and caught up in the teeth" Alexis responds
"Was that the cause of death?"
"No. He had several stab wounds"
"OH?" Fallon remarks more like a question "So the cause of death was not the wheels but the stab wounds? He was murdered then?"
"Yes. He was stabbed to death"
"Agent Fallon" Beckett starts up "Why was your agent here or was he just on vacation?"
"He was here on a case"
Acting just like a real medical examiner "What was the case?" Alexis starts asking
There is a momentary pause before Fallon continues "I need to get the authorization from higher up before answering that question. In the mean time I will get the FBI in here to begin the investigation"
Beckett responds quickly "Fallon, if your man was here on a case it means you suspect terrorism…"
Castle continues the thought "…and the last thing you want is the bad guys to know you are here…"
"And that Lance was with DHS" Kate asks
"Wouldn't it be better for the murder to be investigated locally?" Castle questions
A smile appears on Fallon's face "I see that you two are still finishing each other's sentences"
The pair looks at one another
"And that is why I was positive you two were a couple back when I first met you. You two belonged together back then"
"So?" Kate begins "Are you going to let us take care of this or will we have the problems from before?"
"I thought his would be a local case or at the worst a state level event" Agent Fallon remarks "I didn't know you had jurisdiction here Captain?"
"Mom has been asked to look into the murder by both the local and state officials" Alexis responds
Again Fallon just glances between the now three people "I think this is going to be good. Let me contact up my chain of command and see about reading all of you in on the case"
"Thank you Agent Fallon" Beckett remarks
"And see if we can fill Alexis in on events from ten years ago"
"I will check first thing in the morning and get back to you"
"In the morning then" Castle responds as the federal agent moves to the door
"And nice to meet you Dr. Castle" and the agent exits the home
Alexis looks back at her parents "I think now would be a good time to tell me about this man? He seems to know an awful lot about you two and your history of missing out on being with each other"
"Pumpkin let's just wait and see what he says. It is classified and Kate and I could get in a lot of trouble if we told you, so wait until tomorrow…OK?"
She lets out a gentle huff "Good night" she walks over and gives each a kiss "I have some things to do before I jump back into the autopsy tomorrow" and Alexis heads upstairs
"I hope he lets us tell her about our history" Castle remarks "We just need to give her all the cold hard facts of what happened"
"I don't know Rick. "Kate slides up and wraps her arms around her husband's arm "Huddling in a freezer sounds cold but I think it could have become hard if we had had the time"
Castle turns and is about to drag his wife to the bedroom when the front door opens and two little Castles and one grandfather enter. The little ones have obviously had a good time but they both are dragging, sleepy, and are ready to go to bed
Rick and Kate walk to the children. "Let's get your baths and into bed" Kate remarks and neither child argues about bedtime tonight
After getting the young ones off and tucked into bed, Rick and Kate join her dad out on the three season porch. He has a glass of sparkling cider and is looking out the screens and into the night sky.
Rick and Kate have also chosen glasses of the non-alcohol drink as well and have joined the older Beckett in the quiet of the night
Jim Beckett speaks first "Rick I want to say thank you"
"You're welcome…but what did I do?"
"You brought back my daughter. The happy little girl I missed having" He looks in Kate's direction "The woman I raised and lost. And especially giving me the two most precious gifts a man could want in those two upstairs in their beds"
Rick feels his hand being wrapped into Kate's once more
Rick looks at Kate and even though it is dark she can feel Castle's smile "I need to thank you, Jim, for having raised such a wonderful example of womanhood and letting me love her"
The three sit in relative silence until finally Jim stands "I am heading to bed. I will see you in the morning" and he enters the house and moves to the stairs
"Well Mr. Castle…it's just you and me" Kate kisses Rick's arm
"It is Mrs. Castle…Care to join me in there?" He points his thumb toward the door
Once they are ready for bed, Kate snuggles up to her husband as she has done virtually every night since they have been together.
She feels the warmth from him and he feels the warmth from her.
Afraid to break the magic of the moment, Castle asks a serious question he feels needs to be addressed "Kate are you seriously considering retirement from the force?"
He does feel a tensing of her body then she relaxes "It has crossed my mind. Especially in the last few weeks"
"Any particular reason?"
"Rick. I love being here with you and the children. I love you and I want more of this" she pulls his arm tighter around her
"Kate. Is there anything wrong?"
"No…"
"Is it something I did?"
She turns to face him and snuggles up as close as possible "The only thing you did was love me…as flawed as I was back then and refused to go away and get out of my personal life" she smiles at him
"You know I was just trying to get you in my bed"
She pulls him closer "Well guess what. It worked"