After taking the kids to their schools, Castle and Beckett went to the precinct.
They exited the elevator and saw Ryan and Esposito in their desks:
"Hey guys" Beckett said as she and Castle took off their jackets and place them on the chairs "Where's Tom and Jess?" She spoke again.
"Probably late as usual" Esposito stated. Just then the elevator opened and they saw both Jessica and Tom coming out. Jessica was now 5 months pregnant.
"Hey" Jessica said as she hugged Beckett, then Castle.
"Where's Captain Gates?" Tom asked looking at the Captain's empty office.
"Some relative of hers died in Europe so she won't be here until next week" Esposito explained.
"Thank god" Tom sighed then continued "Do we have any case in hands?"
"Just lots of paperwork! Is that enough?" Esposito asked.
As Jessica and Tom sat on their desks, Castle's phone rang.
"Alexis wants to meet up, wanna come?" Castle asked his beloved wife.
"I would, but looking at the fact Gates isn't here, I'll go take care of some things at the bank, I'll see you later" She answered as she kissed Castle's cheek and left.
Castle arrived home, Alexis was already there and Martha was nowhere to be found. He sat on the couch next to his daughter and they talked for hours, they haven't been that close since Alexis moved in with her boyfriend so they decided to bond a little bit. But what they didn't expected was a phone call from a blocked number:
"Castle" He answered the phone.
"Mr. Castle, this is captain Thompson from the FBI, you're the emergency number from Katherine Castle's phone..." Castle cut him off.
"Is everything okay? Is she alright?"
"I'm sorry to tell you this but she's being kept as a hostage with 10 more people in a bank downtown."
"Why is the FBI involved?" Castle asked all stressed.
"The man who's keeping them hostages has been hiding from us for 16 years, this is our shot to get him"
"Thank you for calling Captain" Castle thanked him and then hung up.
"Who was that? Is everything okay?" Alexis asked as she saw the worry in her father's look.
"I have to go! Beckett went to the bank and there's been a sequester"
Castle said already opening the door.
"Oh jeez... I'm going with you" Alexis said as she exited the house behind her father.
As Castle was driving to the bank, he also called Ryan and Esposito to tell them what was going on. And in a matter of time they were all in front of the bank in the middle of the police cars.
"I'm gonna talk with those guys from the FBI, see if I can get any information" Esposito said and they all followed him.
"NYPD" Esposito shouted as he showed his badge to a group of feds.
"What can I help you with?" One of them asked.
"Can we speak with the captain?"
"Captain Thompson, this people want to talk to you" The man called and in a second another man was in front of them.
"Can I help you?"
"We're here because one of our own is in there, she's one of the hostages" Ryan told him.
"We have a cop inside? What's her name?"
"Katherine Beckett" Castle answered. "Castle, Katherine Castle" he then corrected himself.
"I just talked with her emergency number, if you want to talk to him his probably on his way.
"That would be me. She's my partner"
"So you're Richard Castle, and her partner" The captain added.
"She's also my wife and the mother of my kids, I would like to help with the case" Castle offered.
"I guess I can open an exception for the NYPD, and after all if we work together this nightmare will be over sooner" Thompson answered giving Castle a friendly smile.
"Thank you, I appreciate it" Castle replied with a weak smile.
After captain Thompson talked with the DA, the five of them, plus Alexis, walked inside of one of the compartments the FBI team placed there and started asking questions about what they knew about the terrorist.
"Phillip Tucker, it's his name. He has been running from us for years and not leaving any trace of his path, he usually places small bombs in banks and when it explodes everyone is distracted and he goes inside the coffins and steals every cash he can" Thompson explained.
"How does he get the codes?" Jessica asked curious.
"His a hacker and he's also incredibly smart" The captain added.
"So he's a psychopath" Esposito added and the man nodded in agreement.
"Damn it" Castle thought but it looked like he said it out loud because Alexis asked:
"What's wrong dad?"
"Despite the fact that Beckett's in there now I have to go give lunch to the kids while this is happening" He answered
"I'll go with you" Alexis offered herself.
"Guys, captain, please call me if there are any news" Castle asked and they all nodded in agreement.
Maddy was the first one Castle picked up, the first thing she asked when she got in the car was where was her mother.
"Where's mom, dad?" As Castle heard this, his first reaction was to look at Alexis who fortunately answered for him.
"Kate had work to do, she couldn't come so dad asked me if I wanted to"
As Castle placed Cosmo and Emily in the car and put them their sit belts, the question popped again, this time from Cosmo:
"Where's mommy?" The four year old asked.
Castle took a deep breath before answering "She had to to stay at work" Then faked a smile. But what he didn't knew was that Maddy had been observing and got to the conclusion that something was up.
At home
The five of them were sitting in the table with the food on the plates, Castle didn't felt like eating so he just told them he had eaten something at the precinct, once again, Maddy added that to the 'Something is wrong' list.
After they finished their meal, Castle and Alexis were washing the dishes while the kids were on the couch watching TV. Castle could hear them laughing and talking to each other, that made him smile even though his day was being a tough one.
Maddy stood up from the couch and on her way to the kitchen she walked by the table where they usually eat when she saw her dad's phone vibrating, the photo of the caller was a photo of Beckett and Castle kissing, then she looked at the ID Caller.
"Dad, mom's calling you"
