Authors' Note: Wow you guys have seriously blown me away with your reviews and follows. Saying thank you just doesn't seem enough. So here's another chapter instead.

This chapter is a continuation of the previous chapter and came about when I spent the day at the Tower of London last week with a group of very close friends. I have one more chapter for the Castle Clan's 'In Plane Site' travels.

Chapter Three: The Peasants are Revolting

To say Alexis was miffed with her dad was an understatement. She was currently watching him pretend to walk down stairs on the moving walkway that took visitors past the crown jewels. While the young boy on the other side of the glass though it was hilarious, did her father not realise the room he was in was one giant vault surrounded by the Queen's Guard and what looked like the SAS?

'Kate do something!' She whined in a very loud stage whisper. Alexis at this point didn't want anyone knowing she knew him, let alone was related to him, but Kate just gave her the look.

'Don't give me that look,' Alexis groused. 'I had to keep him in line for the first eighteen years, it's your turn now,'

'Why is it my turn?' Kate questioned. She was clearly just as embarrassed by her husband's behaviour as her daughter was.

'Because,' Alexis complained. Her imitation of a whining two year old was uncanny. 'You're the mom and I'm the kid and it's your job to keep the dad in line,' she justified.

'Can't we just wander off and leave him here instead?' Kate suggested by way of solution.

'OK,' the young redhead agreed. And with that mother and daughter quickly left the hall containing the crown jewels, much to the disgust of the guards who were currently watching Rick do the moon walk backwards along the people moving conveyor belt.

When Kate had suggested visiting the Tower of London this morning at breakfast as it was something she'd always wanted to do, Alexis was quick to agree. It was already on her list of locations she wanted to visit while in London, and couldn't wait to experience the history and majesty of one of the oldest castles in the world.

Had Alexis known from the moment the three of them exited the taxi this morning at the tower entrance, her father was going to be like a nine year old a sugar rush who then injected steroids, she would have gladly stayed in bed.

So far he'd defended the castle from the French and marauding peasants as he ran up and down the tower wall yelling God Save the Queen, annoyed the poor staff in the Fusillier's Museum and terrified some poor old Australian woman when he suddenly appeared from behind King Henry the Eighth's suit of armour.

His antics however in the vault containing the crown jewels was the final straw for both mother and daughter, and they both gave a sigh of relief when they re-entered the main courtyard of the tower.

As they meandered over to the Tower Hill Memorial, Alexis linked her arm through Kate's and burrowed into her to help ward off the cold wind. Even though it was early May, and technically spring, the weather in London since they arrived at the beginning of the week was more suited to winter clothing than bearing skin.

Kate placed a gentle kiss on the girl's forehead as they reached the memorial. Both women stood in respectful silence as they thought about the people, including three queens who were put to death on this very spot hundreds of years before.

'It's hard to imagine what it would have been like,' Alexis whispered into Kate's shoulder. 'Katherine Howard was the same age as I am when Henry the Eighth ordered her execution, and Anne Boleyn not much younger than you,'

Kate wrapped her arm around her daughter and pulled her in close. Reading about history was one thing, but coming face to face with it was another. And as a Homicide Detective, Kate had come to realise that society hadn't changed much over the centuries when it came to domestic violence.

Shaking herself out of her melancholy, Kate took her daughter's hand and led her down to a vacant seat not far from the exit to the Crown Jewels.

Alexis sighed as she rested her head on Kate's shoulder 'I guess he'll find us or we'll find him,'

'Or we'll have to bail him out,' Kate countered.

'Of we leave him in jail overnight while you and I have a peaceful evening and he can bail himself out in the morning,' Alexis groused. Alexis felt more than heard Kate's laugh, knowing the older woman's thoughts were probably not far from her own.

Mother and daughter sat in companionable silence watching tourists from around world walk by. Young people with the narcissist sticks as Alexis loved to call them; mom's were running after their tearaway laughing toddlers and tour leaders trying to round up their tour groups. Alexis smiled, thinking it was more like watching someone herding a colony of cats. The noise and the smells were slowly lulling the young girl to sleep.

'How you doing there kiddo,' Kate asked as she felt Alexis weight sag against her.

'Ok,' she replied. 'Still trying to regulate my body clock,' she said by way of explanation for her sudden silence while trying unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn.

'Everything else OK?' Kate asked. While Alexis and her dad had spoken briefly about their ordeal on their flight over, she hadn't yet spoken to Kate about it.

Alexis shrugged her shoulders in response. Had she been ten years old this would have been perfectly acceptable response. But as a twenty one year old adult, she should be adult enough to deal with traumas in her life on her own without burdening others with her problems.

'You know you can come talk to me about anything don't you?' Kate soothed as she rested her head gently on her daughters

'Yeah I know,' Alexis replied. She just didn't want to be a burden on Kate, especially not now that her family life was as close to perfect as she could get it. The last thing Alexis wanted to do was scare Kate off with being needy. She'd already had one mother abandon her and she wasn't going to risk losing another.

'You know it's not being a burden when you need help or want to talk,' Kate said as she took Alexis's hand. 'Trust me I know what it's like to try to shoulder the hurt on your own while maintaining a façade of strength, in the end it's just exhausting and soul destroying,' Kate said. Alexis could feel the burn in her eyes from the sudden onset of tears and turned her head away so Kate couldn't see the affect her words had on her.

'Wow do you and dad do some kind of ninja Vulcan mind meld thing at night or something,' by way of deflection before realising what she said. 'Eww, just eww…..please forget I said that,'

'Trust me not as bad as….nope not going there either,' Kate giggled as she remembered where her mind went the morning she arrived in their hotel room after her mad dash to London. Telling her daughter she was thinking how Alexis wouldn't hear her ravishing her dad as she entered her room would keep the young girl in therapy for the rest of her life.

'I've talked to dad, cause he was there and all,' Alexis started. 'And it's not like it was terrifying, even though it was, I mean there wasn't some crazy man with a bomb strapped to him or anything….and I'm not doing a very good job of explaining myself am I?' she sighed.

'It's just that,' she continued 'Even with everything that was going on, and trying to get our flight to London safely, all I could think about was if something happened, you'd be left all alone, and I'd never get to come home to you and dad and my life is finally where I want it and….,'Kate could see the beginnings of a panic attack overtake the girl and quietly started to sooth her through it.

'Oh honey its ok,' she said rubbing a comforting hand up and down the young redheads back. 'You're safe, I'm safe, your dad's safe…..well he's not on the plane anymore but you know what I mean,' Kate said. Alexis couldn't help but giggle, feeling ridiculous for having lost it in the middle of a crowded tourist attraction in London.

'You know I had exactly the same thoughts as you did' Kate started. 'Except I was stuck on the ground in New York as my husband and daughter were at the mercy of a killer on jumbo jet in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean,' she continued. 'And just like you all I could think about was how I finally got my perfect life with my perfect family, and I was just about to lose it all and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it,'

Alexis finally lost control of the tears she'd desperately tried to hide over the past ten minutes, but made no move to hide them from her mother. Kate gathered her daughter close and held her tightly murmuring words of love and comfort.

'Oh sweetie I'm so sorry you had to go through that, it's been a hard enough year already without adding more drama,' Kate said

'Drama I can handle,' Alexis grumbled. 'It's the constant disappearances and life and death situations I'm getting sick of,' she sniffed. Kate gave her a sad smile as she handed her a tissue which Alexis took gratefully.

'Speaking of drama, I don't see your dad yet,' Kate said as she looked towards to the exit of the tower containing the crown jewels.

Just at that moment there was a commotion in the direction they were looking. Fully expecting to see Rick being escorted out by security guards and police, they were surprised to see him surrounded by adoring fans signing autographs and taking selfies as he left the entrance way. It seemed the man could charm is way out of anything.

'It must be some sort of superpower,' Kate's voice a mixture of awe and irritation.

'I can assure you it's not hereditary,' Alexis groused as her dad walked over to them as Kate just giggled and squeezed her daughter's shoulder.

'Hello ladies, I wondered where you'd wandered off too,' Rick said. Neither of them missed his little play on words, but they didn't want his head to get any bigger than it already was.

'We just needed a little fresh air…'Kate started as Alexis nodded her head in agreement. Letting her dad bail himself out was one thing, making fun of him while he was having so much fun was something she would never do, even if he did embarrassed the hell out of her.

'Is there anything else you girls wanted to see before we head off,' Rick asked. They'd covered the entire Tower since arriving early in the morning, and the place was now starting to fill up with people.

'Nope I'm good,' Kate said.

'Yeah me too,' Alexis agreed.

Rick held out his hand to help Kate up and pulled her in one of his famous all-encompassing hugs. She buried her head in his neck and took a deep breath, grounding herself in his smell. Pulling back he placed a gentle kiss on her lips so reverently she could feel her eyes burn with tears.

Kate pulled Alexis to her side where the young woman proceeded to burrow into her mother's side as the wind picked up again. Smiling she looked up to see the peaceful happiness on her parent's faces as they looked into each other's eyes, both wrapped around her. Sighing contently, Alexis gently disentangled herself from her parent's arms and stood to the side of the couple whilst holding onto Kate's hand.

Alexis felt a vibration in her pocket and pulled out her cell phone to see who was trying to contact her. Opening the message, her heart stopped in her chest as the familiar feeling of fear started to overtake her. Looking around, Alexis tried to find not only who took the photo, but how they got her number. Just as the panic started to escalate another message came through.

'Hey Red this is my new number luv Paige'

Alexis looked down at the photo now she realised they weren't being followed by paparazzi or crazed stalker, and the photo Paige sent her took her breath away. Her best friend had managed to capture the love of her family as they stood together in a group hug.

Kate peered over Alexis's should to see what was distracting the young woman and gasped when she saw the photo which of course made Rick want to see as well. The three members of the Castle family stood looking at this beautiful photo of them that somehow captured the essence of them as a family.

All three startled as they head a young woman squeal as she ran across the court yard toward them. Alexis squealed back as she ran to meet her best friend Paige halfway. Rick and Kate watched on while Alexis and Paige laughed and hugged and cried as they greeted each other after not seeing each other for over a year.

Arm in arm, the two young women rushed back to the older couple, giggling and talking a million miles an hour.

'Hey Uncle Rick,' Paige gushed as she was pulled in for one of Rick's famous all encompassing hugs.

'Wow look at you,' he said as she stepped back.

'Yeah all grown up, hard to believe hu?' she sassed. 'Hi Detective Beckett,' Paige said, greeting the older woman. 'Although it's Mrs. Castle now, which technically means you're Aunty Kate, that is so way cool having an Aunt who's a Detective,' Kate's head was spinning at how quickly Paige was talking. Rick just laughed while Alexis pulled her best friend in for another hug.

'I thought you were in Edinburgh this week,' Alexis cried as she and Paige finally started to calm down.

'Nah, heard a whisper that a certain red head and her writer dad were in town this week so I postponed my plans hoping to catch up with you guys,' Paige replied. 'Who'd have thought I'd run into you here while I was stuck with my brother and his girlfriend,' she grumbled.

'We're just about to head off for some lunch if you want to join us,' Kate offered and felt Alexis take her hand giving it a gentle squeeze.

'Wow I'd love too!' Paige exclaimed. 'I can't tell you how much I've missed you guys, mom and dad were here last week and I know it's dorky and childish but I miss them both like crazy,' Kate couldn't for the life of her work out how Paige managed to get so many words out of her mouth without breathing.

'You think she talks now, you should see her when she's drunk,' Alexis giggled as she whispered in Kate's ear.

Kate let out a quiet laugh as she wrapped her arm around her daughter and pulled in close. It was such a normal display of affection towards the young girl now that it was second nature to Kate.

The little family waited for Paige to let her brother know she'd 'gotten a better offer' as she so delicately put it, and ran back to join the Castle Clan for lunch.

Alexis and Paige linked arms and walked on ahead, talking and laughing, and every now and then letting out a squeal that would've had poor Queen Anne Boleyn rolling in her grave in the chapel adjoining the court yard. But Kate and Rick were just happy to see their daughter content, safe and carefree.

Rick raised Kate's hand to his lips where he bestowed a loving kiss before dropping it to wrap his arm around her as Kate wrapped one arm around her husband's waist. Reaching up with her other hand, she laced her fingers through Rick's where they rested on her shoulder.

They shared one final kiss that promised much more later on, and then followed the sound of laughter and squealing until they caught up with the two younger woman again.

Kate looked at her husband who was looking adoringly at his daughter and squeezed his hand. Rick gave her a soul melting smile as he gently placed a kiss on her forehead. Sighing she lay her head on her husband's shoulder and she realised she was content to follow her husband and daughter to the ends of the earth.