Disclaimer I do not own Castle or anything associated with it. No copyright infringement intended or should be inferred.

Fact v Fiction

Chapter 1

Kate felt sick at the thought some madman couldn't tell the difference between her and a character in one of Castle's books. She was nothing like Nikki Heat. She hung her head in her hands as she heard Alexis and Martha in the other room. Both women were laughing and messing about. Kate smiled slightly, she almost envied Alexis, her grandmother had died when she was a baby and her maternal grandmother had died before her parents had married. She had never had the relationship with her grandparents that Alexis had with Martha. She stared at her glass of juice that wasn't going to be drunk and sighed. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate Castle letting her stay after her apartment had burnt to the ground. She just needed to be alone to process what had happened to her, what could have happened if Castle hadn't turned up. She cringed as she remembered her best friend rescuing her from her bathroom. Only Castle would find me naked in the tub, only him. Why couldn't I have been unconscious? She blushed furiously red as she remembered Castle finding her naked. Not exactly the way I imagined it. Not that I ever imagined him seeing me naked. Oh God

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Castle rolled his eyes as he heard his mother and his daughter laugh and play in the living room. He had no idea where both women got the energy from first thing in the morning. He washed his face as he heard Alexis laugh loudly, he had a funny feeling the girl was going to be an actress like his mother. He hoped not but the tendency towards melodrama was already there. Hearing only two of the women in his life laughing his thoughts turned to the woman who wasn't. He stared in the mirror above the sink and continued shaving. He hoped she was ok, that she had slept well. He'd resisted the urge to check on his best friend more than once during the night. The thought that someone wanted to kill her because of something he had written in a book made his stomach turn. Couldn't the idiot see Nikki Heat was a character he made up? Kate Beckett was a real woman, a real police officer. Couldn't the psychopath tell the difference between fact and fiction? Castle stared in the mirror as he continued shaving his face. He gasped as he cut himself on the razor. Grabbing some tissues to stem the bleeding from the pathetically small wound he cursed as he realised he was thinking about seeing his best friend naked again.

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"Kate! Hello" Martha trilled as she took a seat next to her at the breakfast bar. Kate smiled slightly as she continued to stare in the glass in front of her. Martha raised her eyebrows as she realised the detective was wearing one of her son's blue t shirts and very little else.

"Hi" Kate barely looked up.

"Gramma be nice. Kate has had a real rough time" Alexis walked to the fridge as Kate closed her eyes. She did not need sympathy from a teenager and a woman who should have been a pensioner by now surely.

"Oh" Martha sighed "Is that what they are calling it these days? Richard darling what did you do to the girl?" She turned as she saw her son approach. He raised his eyebrows.

"It wasn't him" Kate saw him smile as she met his eyes. "My apartment burned down last night. Arson. Someone tried to kill me"

"Kate!" Alexis gasped. She knew about the fire but she had no idea her dad's friend had been at home at the time. Castle rested his hand on her shoulder.

"You ok Detective?"

She nodded "No actually. I am angry. I want this creep behind bars Castle" She hopped off the stool "and you are going to help me" Castle nodded as she spoke. She walked away from his a few paces before realising that he was watching her.

"That is as soon as I find some clothes"

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Alexis hated maths. Really hated maths but she knew she had to pass the class so there she was trying to listen to Mrs Evans drone on about quadratic equations. She found herself staring into space as her thoughts kept drifting back to the fire that could have killed Kate. She sighed as she realised that her father loved detective Kate Beckett. She just had to get him to realise that before it was too late. I mean Mom has been gone for years. She would want Dad to be happy, wouldn't she? That fire could have killed Kate. What would have happened to my Dad then? She looked up abruptly as Mrs Evans stood in front of her.

"Miss Castle? Exactly what planet are you on today?"

"I am, er I mean I am" Alexis ran from the room pretending to be sick as Mrs Evans was left to wonder exactly what her normally hyperactive student was up to now.

A/N My first chapter of my first Castle fic. Please let me know what you think. I am new to this genre (its only recently I found it on Alibi in the UK. What happened to Alexis' mother, can anyone tell me?) Also should I continue with this? Please review.