Ryan opened the door to his apartment and quietly closed it with a soft click. He was so focused on being quiet that it startled him when he found his wife in the living room, drinking a cup of herbal tea. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it when Jenny raised her hand to stop him so that she could speak first. "You hear that?"

"What?" asked Ryan.

"*Exactly*," Jenny replied with a smile. "I don't hear *anything*. For the first time in a month. No baby crying, no city noise...nobody's thoughts but my own. Nothing."

"Really?" asked Ryan, surprised and delighted by the relaxed look on his wife's face. "That's great!" He quickly frowned though, as a potential reason for the peace and quiet came to him. "Is the baby still okay?"

Jenny dismissed her husband's concerns. "My guess is that the baby's finally learned how to sleep. At this point I'll take any small favors I can get..."

"But you'll still check in with Lanie tomorrow, right?" Ryan warned, unwilling to rest the matter on his wife's assumptions.

Jenny smiled, her heart warming at the thought of her husband worrying about them. "Okay, I'll call her. I think you're overreacting. But I'll call her." She patted the spot next to her on the sofa to encourage Ryan to join her. "Now how was your day?"

Trying to keep a cap on his excitement, Ryan forced himself to act casually as he took a seat on the couch. "We finally figured out what's been going on with Katya."

"Really?" Jenny asked before taking a sip of her tea. "What was it?"

"Turns out her blood supplier was selling her tainted blood. Trying to 'prepare' her body so that he could resurrect his dead soulmate."

Jenny tried to hide her surprise behind another sip of tea. "Didn't he realize that someone was already *using* her body?"

Ryan nodded. "He assumed that because Katya's a vampire, she doesn't have a soul."

Jenny caught on quickly. "And because she *does* have a soul..."

"It was something of a 'Showdown at the OK Corral' inside of Katya's head."

"But she's okay now? You got the guy?"

Ryan nodded again, fingering the coin in his pocket as he spoke...and deliberately pushed the darker thoughts out of his head. "Yeah, she's going to be fine."

Jenny sipped her tea as she stared out the window, her mind wandering as she contemplated Katya's earlier suffering. "Kev, can you promise me something?"

"What?"

"When I'm finally gone...whenever that ends up being...promise me that you won't try to do anything that stupid."

Ryan forced himself to hide his smile. "Stupid?"

"Yeah, like resurrect me or somthing..."

"I'd like to think it won't ever come to that."

Jenny rolled her eyes at her husband's clear denial of the obvious. "Which one of us is immortal here, Kevin?"

Showtime, thought Ryan, no longer trying to hide his smile. "Hopefully? Both of us."

Jenny blinked back her confusion and surprise at her husband's statement. "I don't follow."

"A regular wizard can't resurrect somebody. Castle can't do it - even Lanie can't do it. Only gods can do that...and even they can't kick a soul out of its owner's body. The blood dealer was attacking Katya in the name of a god called Baron Samedi."

"Baron Samedi?"

"He's kind of like a Vodun version of Hades; power mostly over who lives, who dies and when, that sort of thing...anyway, because one of his followers tried to pull this little stunt in his name, Baron Samedi felt like he had to make it up to us." Ryan pulled the coin out of his pocket, dangling it from the chain that was now strung through its center. "This coin is Baron Samedi's symbol."

Jenny fingered the coin carefully. "It's...not exactly pretty."

Ryan unlatched the clasp of the chain and fastened it around his wife's neck. "It doesn't have to be pretty to do its job."

"What's its job?" asked Jenny.

"To protect you when I can't," Ryan replied. "As long as you wear that necklace around your neck you can't die either."

Jenny's eyes widened. "So if I wear this necklace, then I can't die?" Ryan nodded. "I become just as immortal as you are?"

Ryan nodded again. "Will you promise me that you'll never take this off? *Ever*?"

Jenny fingered the coin as the impact of her husband's explanation started to sink in. "Well...I *might* ask Castle to put the coin in a better setting..." Ryan rolled his eyes at his wife's obvious teasing, but the smile never left his face. "But I promise, honey. I won't take it off."

Ryan sighed with relief before giving his wife a kiss to settle the matter. He broke the kiss with a gasp, though, when he recognized the thought that had been going through his mind...was not his own.

Jenny recognized the look on her husband's face. "Honey? What is it..."

"Shhh..." Ryan interrupted his wife, looking for quiet to focus. It took only a moment for the quiet voice in his head to call out again. Daa...daa...

"Did you hear that?" asked Ryan in a whisper.

"What?" Jenny countered in an equally whisper.

Ryan connected to his wife's mind, careful to ease the intensity of the connection so that there would be no feedback. He then attempted to speak to the new voice in his head. Baby? Is that you?

The voice in his head squealed with delight. Daaa!

Jenny gasped as tears started to well up in her eyes. "I heard that!" she exclaimed, still keeping her voice at a whisper. "Is that..."

Ryan nodded. "I think so, yeah."

"Could Alexis..."

Ryan shook his head. "Not until after she was born."

A giggle bubbled out of Jenny's heart as she shook her head in amazement. "So that was *our* baby?"

"Yeah," Ryan replied with a chuckle, his expression mirroring his wife's overflowing joy. "That was our baby..."

Jenny caressed her husband's cheek as she thought about everything that had happened to her that afternoon...and over that past year. "Hell of a life we've carved out for ourselves here, honey..."

"You regret it?"

Jenny finally let a single tear fall down her cheek, hoping that her answer would silence that question once and for all. "Not now. Not ever."

#

"Man, what a day!" Castle exclaimed as he got off the elevator. "I am *exhausted*..."

"Clearly," Beckett agreed, knowing that they probably would have teleported home if either of her wizard companions were anything other than dead on their feet. "Good thing I still carry my keys to the loft, just in case..."

Castle perked up immediately as his fiancée's voice trailed off, knowing that anything that caught the attention of Beckett's heightened senses, at this time of night, was *rarely* a good thing. "Beckett?" he asked in a voice just barely above a whisper. "What is it?"

Beckett stretched her hearing to scan the footprint of the loft, then relaxed with a weary, exhausted sigh. Her expression clearly showed that while there was no danger in whatever she was hearing, she found no comfort in it either. "I swear," Beckett declared, "that woman has the world's *worst* sense of timing."

Alexis knew that there was only one woman Beckett could possibly be talking about. "It's my mother, isn't it?"

Beckett nodded. "And unless I miss my guess, she's spent all day in the loft waiting to talk to you."

Castle groaned, and checked his cell phone. "15 messages. All of them from Meredith."

"You never called her back?" asked Alexis.

Castle rolled his eyes before staring down his daughter, annoyed that she thought to even ask the question. "We were a *little* busy today..."

Alexis threw her hands up in surrender, conceding to her father's point. "She's going to be *mad*, that's all I'm saying..."

"So how do you guys want to handle this?" asked Beckett.

Castle turned to his grown-up daughter. "Your mom. Your call."

Alexis' jaw dropped open in disbelief, amazed that her father would just drop responsibility for the situation into her lap. "You're *serious*?"

"I'm sorry, honey. She's my ex, but she's *your* mother. You're going to have to deal with her a lot more than I will. You're an adult now. However you want to handle this, I'll back you up a hundred percent."

Alexis found her father's support to be far from comforting. "Gee, thanks, *dad*," she said sarcastically. She took a moment to collect her thoughts...some of which got mumbled under her very aggravated breath. "Doesn't check his messages all day long and then dumps her into *my* lap. Nice little grownup move *there*, Dad..." Finally, though, Alexis seemed to come to a decision. "Open the door."

Beckett proceeded as she had been instructed, allowing Alexis to take the lead into the loft. Once she had closed the door behind them, though, Beckett found herself face to face with the full wrath of Meredith's icy fury. "Okay, you...just who the hell are you exactly, Kate Beckett?"

It took a second for Beckett to register that Meredith was talking to *her*. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I saw you with your so-called 'friends' at the restaurant the other night, Kate. I saw what your 'friend' did to that poor man. And if that's the kind of woman that you're exposing my daughter to..."

It took less than a second for Alexis to realize that her mother was talking about Katya's bachelorette party. It only took slightly longer for her to realize exactly what that *meant*. "Why were you at the restaurant, mom? Were you *following* me?!"

Meredith backtracked quickly when she noticed that her daughter was now standing between her and her intended victim. "I-I-I...When you told me that your dad had gotten engaged, Lex, I realized that I didn't know Kate all that well, and...and I wanted to see what kind of a relationship you two had, see if I could trust her with you..."

"Stop," Alexis cut off her mother's ramblings, knowing that the woman was just fishing for something she thought her daughter would buy. "Just...stop. First of all, 'mother'. Those weren't just Kate's friends at the restaurant. They were *my* friends. In fact, they were *my* friends long before most of them had even *met* Kate."

"I..."

Alexis cut her mother off again. "Second, I am *perfectly* capable of taking care of myself, 'mother'. More so than you could ever *possibly* imagine."

"But..."

Alexis cut her mother off by covering Meredith's mouth with her hand. "And third, do *not* try to hand me some bull about wanting to make sure that Kate is 'good enough' to hang out with me. Ever since you came to 'take care' of me when I had mono, you've only had one goal in mind every time we've talked: to break up Kate and my dad so you could have him all to yourself again. And I'm not going to stand for it anymore. I'm sure as *hell* not going to be the excuse for your actions."

"Alexis, I..."

Alexis uncovered her mother's mouth only long enough to walk back to the loft's front door and open it. "Get out."

Meredith stared at her daughter in open-mouthed shock. "Excuse me?"

"Get. Out. You are not welcome here, you are not welcome at my school, you are not welcome in New York City. Not until you can accept that my dad's life is doing just fine *without you in it*. Mom, I love you, but you are not going to be the center of my life or the center of my dad's life *ever* again. And I don't want to see you around us until you are fully willing to accept that." Too astonished and embarrased to speak, Meredith simply picked up her coat from where she tossed it on the couch and left without another word.

Castle studied his daughter's expression, wishing he had Ryan's gift so that he could tell what his daughter was thinking and feeling. "Alexis?" he asked gently, not wanting to aggravate her further. "Honey, are you okay?"

Alexis let out a long, slow, deep breath, trying to push out the tension in her body through her lungs. "I'll be fine, dad," she sighed, giving Castle a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "To be honest, I probably should have done that months ago. I hate that it had to come to that, but it's what she needed to hear."

"I had to have a conversation like that with my dad, once," Beckett chimed in. "He was drinking himself to death. I told him he had to check himself into rehab or get out of my life."

"So he must have checked himself into rehab, then?" asked Alexis.

"Not for another year," Beckett replied sadly. "You can't help an addict until they're ready to help themselves. Honestly, that year was the hardest year of my life. But he needed to hear what I told him. Just like your mom needed to hear what you told her tonight."

Alexis smiled slightly, taking some comfort in Beckett's words of encouragement. "Thanks, Kate." The young wizard yawned deeply before another word could come out of her mouth. "I *really* need to go to bed," she admitted. "Good night, you two."

"Good night, honey," Castle called back to his daughter as she climbed the staircase. He then turned his attention to his fiancée without turning his gaze. "That was a really brave thing she did tonight."

Beckett nodded her head in agreement as she watched Alexis disappear into her room. "It was even more brave after the incredibly stupid move *you* made."

Castle now gave Beckett his full attention. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," insisted Beckett. "You let Alexis do your dirty work for you! Real 'adult' move there, Castle..."

Castle had to force his open mouth to close as he watched Beckett walk past him into the bedrom. "But...but Kate," he protested weakly, "I didn't say anything to her about exactly *how* she should have handled things with her mother..."

#

"That was a hell of a thing you did back there, bro. I don't think I could have done it."

Ryan clinked beer bottles with his partner, then turned to watch the last rays of sunlight disappear over New Jersey. "Just...embracing my inner Warrior Priest, I guess," he shrugged.

"Still...I definitely don't think I'd ever be able to get up the nerve to marry off my ex to her new boyfriend."

The blush that crept up in Ryan cheeks was starting to match the red of the sky even as he smiled. "Yeah, well...it helps when you know you're not going to be on the market again...ever."

Esposito slowly matched his partner's smile as his last comments started to sink in. "Bro...?"

"Castle gave me his coin to give to Jenny. Said he couldn't think of anyone he'd want to give it to more."

Esposito, in turn, fished his own coin out of his pocket. "Guess he beat me to it, then."

Ryan stared at the coin in his partner's hand as he thought about the offer his partner had been hoping to make. He the enveloped the man in a giant bear hug. "Still...I appreciate the offer. It means more than you'll ever know." Esposito opened his mouth to speak...but was interrupted by a group of Network members who came up to compliment Ryan on the beauty of the ceremony.

The bride and groom were not among the group, however. They were far more preoccupied by a couple of other pieces of jewelry. "I can't believe it," Katya commented in amazement, looking down at the ring on her left hand for to have been the tenth time since the since the ceremony. "We *finally* got married..."

Fallon looked at their intertwined left hands, taking a second to appreciate the set of matching rings for himself. "Yeah..." he exclaimed, matching his wife's amazement. "We made it..." The moment was broken by a smattering of applause around the outdoor space as the decorative lights on the roof were all lit at once - a signal that the party was going to go late into the night. Fallon took that opportunity to appreciate the beauty of his wife's face as her pale skin reflected the new light around her. "So...no more running away from the idea of marriage, huh?"

Katya broke into a fang-bearing grin. "Darling," she teased, "if you *ever* tried to run, I can promise you this: I would catch you every time."

Fallon glowed with a smile that matched his bride's. "I'm counting on it," he cooed, before leaning in to consume her smile in another passionate kiss.

The couple broke the kiss when the tinkling of clinking glasses erupted around them. "What is that *racket*?" asked Katya.

Fallon could only shrug. "I don't know. Usually that sound is made at a wedding to *encourage* the bride and groom to kiss..."

"Well, I have no issues with *that*..." Katya purred, leaning in to gently nibble on Fallon's ear as she talked over the din.

Fallon pulled his bride away from his ear when he realized that the clinking of glasses had had an instigator. And that the instigator in question was now trying to silence the glasses so that he could speak. "All right, everyone!" Castle yelled out over the noise. He then waitied until he had the attention of everyone on the roof before speaking.

"As 'Director' Fallon's best man, it is the typical tradition at weddings for me to start the festivities by offering a toast to the bride and groom. Now, while the couple we are celebrating with tonight is *far* from traditional..." Light laughter could be heard around the room as everyone agreed with Castle's comments. "While this couple is far from traditional, I see no reason why this particular tradition shouldn't continue." Castle then made sure his attention was focused completely on the couple as he continued. "Mark, Ekaterina...for reasons that I couldn't possibly begin to fathom, you each made the decision to devote your lives to helping us protect this city. And while there are *centuries* of differences between the two of you, that *one* decision brought you to each other and brought all of us to where we are today. And I, for one, will be *eternally* grateful."

As a chorus of "here, here"s rippled through the rooftop space, Castle raised his glass of champagne; a gesture which everyone else immediately imitated. "To Mark and Katya," he toasted the couple.

"May your futures, *forever*, be blessed."

#

Well, folks, that's it! A humble and grateful thank you for those of you who have stuck with this wonderful universe of the Castle Guardians to the bitter end. While I can't say for certain that this will be my last foray into fan fiction, I can say with absolute certainty that this will be my last fan fiction for *quite* a while as I now *fully* turn my attentions to writing Guardians of Shangri La, which will be the totally original story of Katya and her time with the Castle Guardians' temple predecessors. Those of you who want to follow that story should go to my author page and sign up for the author alerts on my Fiction Press page.

As always, I look forward to reading your comments! Thank you, again, for taking the time to let me tell you these crazy stories. I hope that you have enjoyed reading them as much as I have enjoyed writing them.

And may your futures, forever, be blessed!