Hi! This is my first venture into the Castle fandom (writing that is). Go me! Anyway, I, like everybody else, was inspired (or angered) by the last few Castle episodes (read: 47 Seconds, the Limey, and the preview of Headhunters). So here's my go at it.

Enjoy!

Kate Beckett sat on her couch with a book in her lap and wine on the coffee table, but she wasn't reading, and she hadn't touched her wine. She stared at the words on the page until they blurred. She was trying so hard to forget about Castle, but it was Castle's words staring at her and they just made her chest ache more. She missed his coffee, his smile, his warm look, even his crazy theories. She wanted her friend back. She wanted her partner back. She just wanted him. But he was angry with her and pulling away. He kept looking at her with accusation in his eyes, but what had she done? How could she fix this if she didn't know what was wrong?

Kate angrily wiped away the tears that leaked down her cheek and closed her book with a snap. She pushed herself off the couch, grabbed her glass, strode to the sink, and poured the wine down the drain. She watched the red liquid slowly disappear, just like her partnership with Castle. She wiped away more tears and slapped the counter. It had been over two weeks and their partnership was growing steadily weaker. If something didn't happen, he would be gone by the end of the week and that scared Kate more than anything. Dr. Burke asked her what she was more afraid of, that Castle would wait, or that he wouldn't. Now she had her answer. The thought of never seeing him again was utterly terrifying. More tears rolled down her face. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the counter. She took a shaky breath and pushed herself away from the counter. If Castle wasn't going to tell her what was wrong, she was going to ask him and this time she wasn't going to let him walk away. Maybe, just maybe, if she knew what was wrong she could fix it and get her Castle back. Kate grabbed her keys and jacket and headed out the door.

She glance at his door again and sighed. She had been pacing in front of his door for the past ten minutes. On the way over her anger had dimmed and her courage had faltered. She wondered if pouring her wine down the drain was a good idea. She was scared: scared she would lose him, scared this wouldn't work, and scared the accusation would stay in his eyes forever. She shook her head to clear her mind and took a deep breath. She was at the bottom, the only way to go was up. Kate raised her hand and knocked.

After five minutes she turned to leave when the door opened. Kate's breath caught in her throat. Alexis stood in the doorway glaring. It shocked Kate how much it hurt to see the anger on Alexis's face. Tears welled up in her eyes as she realized that if she failed, if Castle left, she wouldn't just lose him. She would lose Martha and Alexis too. Her courage was back. She had to do this. She wasn't going to lose three people she loved without a fight.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Detective Beckett, what do you want?" Alexis was surprised, and a little proud, at how cold her voice sounded. Alexis saw hurt flash across the detective's face and felt a twinge of victory. The dark part of Alexis wanted the detective to hurt. She wanted Beckett to feel the same pain her father felt.

"I need to speak with your father." the detective said. 'Why, so you can hurt him more' Alexis wanted to ask, instead she just stared. "It's important." At the detective's words, Alexis reluctantly moved to allow the detective entrance.

"He's in the study." Alexis felt a perverted sense of pleasure. She knew her father had Beckett's case on the smart board. She hoped her father's secret would cause Beckett the same pain Beckett's secret had caused him. As Detective Beckett neared the door to the study, Alexis felt a flash of regret. This was Kate- the person who did everything to save her father when he was in the bank, the person who laughed with them at dinner and supported Grams's play. Kate wouldn't have hurt her father on purpose.

"Kate!" Alexis called out, but Kate was already in the study.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Castle pushed his glass and the half empty bottle of scotch to the end of his desk and laid his head in his hands. He already felt like crap, more alcohol wouldn't help, especially not when morning arrived. He knew he'd feel awful in the morning anyway and for many more mornings to come. He didn't know if the ache in his chest and in his gut would ever go away. He loved Kate. He loved her so much, but she doesn't feel the same way and she had lied. He could hardly believe Kate, one of the most honest people he knew had lied to him. Maybe he didn't know her as well as he thought he did. She said they were friends, partners even, but partners don't lie to each other. He'd been so angry at her for lying. Now he just hurt. His heart hurt so bad; he didn't know if he would ever be happy again. Maybe he was being melodramatic, but he loved Kate more than he'd ever loved anyone (other than Alexis).

He thought about the murder board on the screen behind him. He'd kept a secret from Kate, but he'd never lied to her and he'd only done it to protect her. That made it less bad than Kate's lie. Right? Castle groaned; now he felt like a hypocrite too. He thought about deleting it, but dismissed that idea. Kate may not love him, and he may not work with her for much longer, but she had made him a better person. He may not be a cop, but he thought like one, and the murder board had information on it that the NYPD didn't have and he couldn't just get rid of it. One day someone might need it. One day the people "The Dragon" killed, Johanna Beckett, Montgomery, and the others, might get justice.

His head jerked up when he heard Alexis call Kate. He saw Kate standing in the doorway and he saw the emotions flit across her face: Shock, then betrayal, then sorrow, finally settling on anger mixed with hurt. He tried to call her name, but she spun around and ran out of the office. God he was an idiot. As angry as he was at Kate he hadn't wanted to hurt her. Not like that. He had thought he couldn't feel any worse, but the look of betrayal on Kate's face ripped his heart in two. What had he been thinking?

The next chapter has more conversation (more action too) and a lot more Alexis.

Reviews are more than welcome.

Thanks for reading,

~to make you think~