Disclaimer: Nothing you recognise is mine.
It's her day off and she's window shopping. It's been a long week of dark alleys and humanity's worst impulses and all she graves is the masses. Curious tourists push along sidewalks as they rush from one landmark to another. She usually doesn't like the crowds, prefers the silence of her apartment, but spring has finally hit New York and the air is still crisp. She spent her morning doing chores, almost spring cleaning, pushed her warm coat to the back of the closet and packed her heavier sweaters in the box that belonged under the bed. She has this impulse to spend money on herself. Every once in a while she will get herself something outrageously nice without even arguing with herself. It doesn't happen often, once or twice a year, but she has the money to do it. She won't buy property on the moon anytime soon, but Burberry's knows her well. She hadn't found anything so far, but she's perfectly alright with that as well. She treated herself to an excellent lunch at an absurdly overpriced café and is now just walking, absorbing everyone's energy as the tourists are slowly leaving the city and the partiers are flooding in. She just decided that she should probably head for the nearest subway when her uneventful day is interrupted.
She's used to Castle showing up out of the blue and with no warning. It usually is a different Castle at her heels though and she almost stumbles when the young redhead falls into step with her, grabs her forearm tightly and starts whispering. "Hide me, Detective Beckett."
"What?" The urgency in the girl's voice makes her reach for her gun, before she reminds herself not to be ridiculous. "What's going on, Alexis?"
"Mom took me out of school. Again. That was three days ago and she won't let me go home and Gram went on some kind of retreat and was too stubborn to ask dad to come home and mom took my phone!" She's glad that she had so many overly dramatic friends in high school, because even though Alexis has always appeared level-headed, she has dramatic genes on both sides of her family tree. She's torn between laughing and taking Alexis seriously. It's the sheen of tears that quickly convinces her. She takes in her surroundings in full cop-mode.
"Where is your mother?"
"Changing room. I may have another minute before she realizes I'm not in the one next to her. I have to get back." It's Beckett's turn to grab Alexis.
"Hold on. I have no intention to get sucked into whatever weird relationship you have with your mother. We either do this right or not at all. Decide now." For the first time in a long while, Kate hears her mother's tone of voice inside her head and it has nothing to do with her death. It's just the no-nonsense approach to life that Johanna Beckett had always prescribed to.
Alexis blinked several times. "What does that mean?"
"You can go back to your mother and act like everything is fine or we'll go in there together and I'll make sure she hears you when you talk to her." She's glad that Castle always over-shares. For once.
"Go with you." Alexis answer comes quick and Beckett has to admire the quiet determination that radiates from her all of a sudden. It occurs to her that confronting things head on is probably not something Alexis is used to in a family of actors and writers. Too much subtext.
"Okay. Just send me away when you think you're fine." She smiles in what she hopes is reassurance.
"What if it's not fine?" The sorrow that replaces determination tugs on Kate's heartstrings.
It's a gut reaction that she will question later that night. "Then you're coming home with me." The smile she gets in return is pure and she takes a second to save that image for darker times. "Let's go."
She feels out of place between gowns that cost more than she makes in a month and jewelry nobody in her family could ever afford (and they weren't poor; they just weren't filthy-rich). There's a commotion in the middle of the store that has gotten the attention of everyone inside and Meredith is in the middle of it. Alexis hesitates beside her, but Kate pushes her forward. "No turning back now."
"Mom?" Her voice is hesitant, but strong and Kate is already smiling. It's going to be fine.
"Alexis! Sweetie! What happened to you?" The whirl of red hair is almost scary and sharp blood red nails fly through the air before long thin arms envelope Alexis briefly. "I was about to have them call the police."
"Already here." Meredith finally recognises that somebody else stands besides her daughter as Kate flashes her badge to the security guards with a wave and a smile. Gratitude rolls off them in waves as they beat a hasty retreat. That should have been her first clue.
"What, may I ask, are you doing here, detective?" Meredith's voice is cold and Kate sees Alexis wince as her mother embraces her tightly all of a sudden.
"Just ran into Alexis." She smiles at the girl who seems to wilt next to her mother. "Lex?" The nick name is automatic, even though she never used it before.
"I saw detective Beckett outside and..." Don't give up now, Kate silently cheers her on. "I've been wanting to go home and to school." Meredith frowns.
"Isn't shopping with your mother much more fun than school, honey? Besides, we need to get you a new dress for the party tonight."
Kate can see the tears gathering in Alexis's eyes, a sure sign that the girl is about to crumble under her mother's pressure. "As far as I understood her, Alexis is kinda anxious to go back to school. Shopping might be fun, but education is important to your daughter." She remembers Castle's utter confusion at Alexis dedication with fondness. "She asked me to help her make that point."
"And you thought that gave you permission to butt in. How droll, detective." Meredith gives her that measured look that Kate had hated all her life. The girls who disapproved of her wardrobe in high school, the students who scoffed at her public school education, the dates who belittled her career choice... they all started with that look.
Kate looks back at Alexis and tries to connect with the girl, the way she so often does with Castle. Do you want me to leave or stay? Alexis seems to have understood her silent message as easily as Castle often reads her thoughts. Her eyes widen and she takes a step away from her mother. "I invited Detective Beckett to come with me. I expected a modicum of civility from you, mother. I should not have over-estimated you." Ouch.
"Alexis-"
"No. I've had enough. I'm leaving with Detective Beckett and tomorrow, I will go back to school. I will call you about the weekend after dad comes home and we can discuss lunch." Alexis doesn't give her mother a chance to answer, just shrugs the woman's hand off and turns fully towards Kate, who ushers both of them out of the store quickly. Kate waits until they have aimlessly rounded a corner into a side street before she makes Alexis stop.
"You okay?" She is worried. The girl has been quiet, but a quick nod reassures her. She lets the grin that she's held back take over her features. "That was awesome!"
"Right?" Alexis's grin matches hers. "I never talked to my mother that way. She was speechless. That'll teach her to exploit dad's absence like this."
"Speaking of your father, how come he did not interfere? I would have thought that he would be on your side in this."
"He's going from one country to the next right now. He should be in Italy. Mom put a child-lock on international calls and without my cellphone, I couldn't call him myself."
"Wow. That's…"
"Insane?"
"Thorough?"
"Well, she barely left me alone long enough to have a shower. I'm not sure what this is about, but she's been obsessed about going out this week."
"Maybe she wants you guys to have a better relationship? Spend some more time together?"
Kate steers them towards the next subway stop.
"Well, maybe she should try actually talking to me, instead of just dragging me all over Manhattan." The petulant tone is so adorably teenager-appropriate that Kate can only smile. The stairs to the subway are right in front of them and it won't take them long at all to get to her apartment.
"Come on, then. Time to find a place to stand still."
tbc