A few years back a comment about a knife akin to the device used to murder her mother would have created a great deal of emotions to fly all over Katherine Beckett-Castle,

But today….

Today is different.

Today is better

She has moved past the history that consumed her life for over a decade and almost destroyed her.

A history that was filled with pain, denial, and avoidance.

Avoidance from opening herself to her emotions. Avoidance from opening her heart to anyone. Denial that she might actually have a life not filled with pain. Denial that she would ever fall in love

But he came into her life and accomplished that very task, opening her up to love and be loved. Complete unearned love that brought a level of joy to both of them

Helped her in finding her mom's killer and being with her for the conclusion of that case

And now, today, all the former terrors she once lived with are completely covered by her husband's love and dedication…not to mention that the murderer is dead at Beckett's hand, and the man who ordered her death is also no longer a mystery and is no longer in a position to harm anyone

However it is obvious that the murderer in this case was trained by and was probably a member of the same Special Forces group so close to Kate's history

Kate leans into her husband and he whispers to her "You OK?"

She nods her head in response

"Are you sure?"

Pulling back to look at him, he is pleased that no anger or fear is present in her face. No tears filling her eyes, only a determination to assist someone else find peace "But now we must bring closure to another"

She sees her husband smile back to her

"Mr. Castle" Agent Fallon begins "What is it? Is there something about this knife important? Is there something I need to know about?"

Beckett responds to the question "This knife is identical to the blade used to murder my mother almost twenty years ago"

Agent Fallon is taken back by her answer "Do you think the killer is here now?"

"No. I actually shot the man who murdered my mother. He is dead. But I would assume that this person has had the same training that my mother's killer had. He was Special Forces, and this is the blade most revered by them" she points at the picture Alexis has drawn

"So it is possible that our murderer was trained by our own government?"

Castle starts thinking "Didn't we train Special Forces of several friendly countries over the years?"

Fallon responds "Yes. Our government did give a lot of support to foreign powers over the last decades after Dessert Storm"

Beckett questions this response "How many of those we trained were then radicalized and might just be the ones your team is looking for?"

"That is an unknown number. It could be in the hundreds"

"Agent Fallon…can your unit look into the names of these that had been trained and cross reference that with the CIA intelligence on known radicals and then those who want to invade the US and cause damage?"

"We can ask but the CIA is not obligated to help us with that"

"If you get these names of the trainees, I will contact someone I know in the CIA and ask for help"

"You told me once you knew the governor of New York and that turned out to not be true"

Kate backs up her husband "I know for a fact that Castle has that connection…I have met the agent myself. Please get that list and we will see where that goes"

"Very well! I will get the department started on that and will contact you when I have the list. Just a word of warning, the list will be long" and he exits the room

After the agent leaves, Castle and Beckett turn their attention back to the current victim and their daughter who just happens to be standing with her arms crossed glaring at them

"NOW are you going to tell me about Agent Mark Fallon or do I need to begin using some of these on you two:" she points at the table with a set of very intimidating instruments

Alexis' remarks bring a little chuckle from her parents "No Alexis, we are now able to tell you about Agent Fallon and our first meeting with him"

Castle proceeds to fill their daughter in on all the details of when Fallon came into their lives. How he was extremely brutal to a woman who ended up being a victim herself and how Kate almost shot him because of the threats

Castle explains to her about how he and Kate tracked down the actual threat and what transpired on a city street with a dirty bomb with only seconds to live. All those years ago

"So I almost lost my dad and future step mom all in one boom?"

"We almost lost the city, Alexis" Kate remarks "but I think that might have been the day I realized how much I cared for your father" she looks at Rick "Facing our own mortality brings a lot of feelings to the surface. At least it did for me" she smiles to no one in particular

"So you two should have been together long before you did" Alexis knows that is true "and dirty bombs have nothing to do with that fact"

"OK Alexis, now that we have given you our history, what do you have on our victim?"

"Not much more than what I had last night except the officers searching the building located his billfold at the bottom of the lighthouse. It was opened to his government id and they believe he might have been pulling it out to identify himself when he was attacked and he dropped it"

"So no other evidence on the body?"

"Not ON the body but his shoes were covered by some type chemical. I am waiting for analysis right now. I should have that back later today"

"OK. Great" the power couple leave the morgue and return to their SUV. As they approach Beckett notices that Rick has not removed the magnetic sign with the flowers and "Mystery Machine" logo

"Castle…will you take that ridiculous sign off our car?"

"It's not ridiculous! We still have a mystery and we really don't know it there are ghosts involved or not"

"CASTLE! There are no such things as ghosts"

"We still have the spooks…ER…I meant mystery lights that no one has explained in the lighthouse"

Kates face changes to irritation to resolve

"Fine" she almost whispers while actually loving the silliness of her man the entire time

As they get back in the van she comes to the decision that she is going to do something later to pay him back for all this. She just needs the time to go into town without him so she can execute her plan

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Back at the police station Castle and Beckett ask the chief if there is some place they can work and have access to police resources such as a computer and the National Crime Information Computer system.

Chief Brady provides them and old empty spot. There is an empty office far off the man hallway. This office is so secluded almost no employees of the department do not even know it exists

The room has a desk, one chair and an old couch. The computer is old but functional and there is no telephone. He tells them that they will have to use their cell phones to communicate

"I will try to get an extra chair for you to use instead of the couch" Brady remarks as he leaves the room closing the door as he passed back to the corridor

The couple look around when Kate remarks "I thought the old New York police stations had some old empty room, but this one makes them seem airy and bright"

Castle shakes his head "So true"

Kate drops her bag on the and looks around

"You know Kate we have used some of the old offices at home for some FUN activities" and he puts on a cat eating canary grin

"CASTLE! We are not doing that here"

"Why not? No one know this office is here and there is a lock on the door"

Beckett's cell phone rings saving her from having to deal with her husband's current plans

Caller ID say Alexis

Kate has turned on her speaker phone

"Hi Lex" Kate speaks into the phone "OK. What was the results of the analyses of the chemicals found on his shoes?"

Rick and Kate hear the response

"There are slivers of plastic and small glass pieces mixed with Phenyl oxalate and fluorescent dye solution made from a hydrogen peroxide solution"

Kate gets a blank look on her face "What is that?"

Castle answers the question "That are the parts that make up a glo-stick"