A/N: I do not own any of the characters or the show. If I did, the hiatus would be much shorter.
Alexis grinned at her friend, raising one eyebrow teasingly as she caught her staring friend's eye. The girl opposite Alexis blushed furiously, her head dipping to stare at her food as she tucked her lips in to attempt to hide her smile.
"Who're you looking at?" Alexis asked teasingly, not bothering to keep her voice hush. The blush worsened on the other girl and she glared at Alexis before nodding her head lightly towards a man sitting alone at the table next to them. He had dark brown hair and a perfectly aligned face, and a fierce jaw line that, at first glance, Alexis felt the need to run her fingers across. His light blue eyes met the girl's stares, and a small smile crossed his beautiful face. Alexis dropped her view, looking back at her friend, who was now looking at her.
"He's hot," she said in reply to her friend's unanswered question. Her friend grinned and nodded her head lightly before turning her attention back to her food, or what was left of it. "You should go talk to him."
Her friend's eyes widened at the suggestion and she shook her head. "No way," she said quietly with a small, shy smile. That was the thing about Amber, her smiles were always small and she hardly spoke. Alexis didn't mind, though, Amber and she had grown close in these past few months despite her quiet nature.
"Oh come on," Alexis teased with a light hit to her friend's arm.
"Fine," her friend said, looking back at the man and they met eyes once again. But this time there was a change, in both Amber's face and the man's eyes. Amber clamped her mouth shut, regretting saying a word and opening her mouth in the presence of a strange man. Her face fell and her eyes screamed terror as the man's eyes screamed hunger.
"I'll pay," Amber said quickly, ignoring Alexis's confused look as she tucked the money under a napkin and grabbed Alexis by the arm, dragging her out of the restaurant and out onto the dark, unlit street. Amber let out a breath as they reached the sidewalk, beginning their walk down the street.
"What was that all about?" Alexis asked her friend, aware of the grip her friend still had on her arm. Amber simply shook her head in reply and looked back, her heart shot with terror as she saw the man had followed them outside.
Amber swore and gripped Alexis tighter, desperate for her friend's comfort as her heart filled with fear and anxiety as their walk sped up. Before Alexis could protest, they were running, the man not far behind. Alexis snuck a glance backwards and saw the man following. It was only then that she noticed that another person was also following them, a girl about their age.
Her eyes widened and she picked up speed, knowing that both she and her friend were in danger, and that they needed to get somewhere safe as soon as possible. She dragged her friend into an alley to their left, not bothering to check if it was a dead end or not. When they nearly slammed into the wall at the end, Amber's breath stopped in fear as she clutched Alexis's arm tighter. Alexis, keeping as calm as possible, whipped out her cell phone and quickly dialed a number.
The young girl nearly threw up her dinner as her phone warned her that she had no service and the man stopped right in front of the alley entrance, spotting the two girls and grinning wickedly. Amber was shaking as she leaned against Alexis, who had pushed her friend back in front of her in a desperate attempt to protect her.
"Leave us alone!" Alexis said loudly, cursing herself when her voice shook slightly. The man said nothing but grabbed Alexis by the neck, throwing the girl into the right wall before anyone could protest. As Alexis attempted to breathe, the man was already on Amber, knife nearing the young girl's neck. She screamed, desperately calling for Alexis, who was struggling to stand, something that she had seemed to forgotten how to do.
With a final scream Amber dropped to the ground, clutching at her throat as though she could stop the flow of blood that leaked out. The man turned to Alexis, who was on the ground, frozen with terror and pleading up at the murderer in front of her. The man had changed from when she saw him in the restaurant only minutes ago, he was now wearing black gloves and a toque, as though scared some of his hair would fall onto his victims.
Alexis sobbed and braced herself for the impact of the knife against her throat. A thousand questions ran through her mind, but only two faces; her father and her grandmother's. If only she could see them one last time, truly tell them how much she loved them and was grateful for them. She knew how hard it was going to be for her father to see a scene like this happen to his own daughter, she only hoped that Beckett would be there to catch her father when he fell; arms wide open to give him comfort.
God, she wished it didn't have to end this way.
The knife finally slashed, but just as it flew across where Alexis's neck should have been, a firm arm pulled her away so quickly that her breath caught in her throat and her ankle twisted painfully. She was thrown onto the ground as someone leaped up and assaulted the man, turning his weapon against him. Yelping in pain at the knife in his shoulder and cursing the attacker, he decided Alexis wasn't important enough for him to risk his life on and he ran out of the alley before any of his blood could hit the ground.
Panting furiously, the attacker crouched down in front of Amber's limp body. She was careful not to touch it, not wanting to be a suspect in the murder case that was sure to follow. Thankfully, all she needed was one look to ensure that this was the same girl she'd had her eye on for the past few weeks. She let out a sigh of regret and stood again, turning back to look at Alexis; who was now on the ground after being thrown into two trash cans. Alexis was surprised to see that her hero was a girl about her age, who was now looking at her. "You alright?" She asked, her voice unnaturally calm and smooth for just attacking someone with a knife. Alexis nodded but let out a squeak of pain as her ankle seemed to twist on her again. The girl crouched down in front of her, lightly wiping the hair away from Alexis's eyes and removing something from her coat pocket. Her touch was surprisingly gentle, but once she reached into her pocket Alexis's heart stopped in fear for a moment.
The girl pulled out a phone, quickly dialing the NYPD, a number she knew off by heart. "Hi, I'm calling to report a murder." As the girl gave their location, Alexis focused on the features of her hero the best she could in the limited light of the dark alley. She had dark brown hair, and piercing brown eyes that resembled a bird. Once she hung up the phone, she pocketed it, praying that they didn't come after her.
"Stay golden," she told to Alexis with a large smile as she turned and ran off towards the dead end, disappearing as though she was a ghost.
"Oh, Richard, dear, put some pants on!"
Richard Castle awkwardly stood in the doorway of his study, stopping mid-chew as the words left his mother's mouth. He was wearing his favorite robe, leaving it untied to reveal that he was wearing nothing but boxers underneath.
"Mother!" He yelped with a mouthful of food, quickly tying up his robe, ignoring the crumbs that spread all over the ground. "What are you doing here?"
"I live here, Richard!" Martha said with a face and a grin as she made her way into the kitchen, clutching a script that Rick knew better than to question. He finished what remained of his muffin and followed her into the kitchen, awkwardly not making eye contact.
"Morning," a familiar voice said from the top of the stairs.
"I hope you're wearing clothes!" Martha said simply, waving as she kept her eyes on the script that now sat on the table.
"Morning," Rick said with a smile, ignoring his mother's comments as he approached Kate, who was at the bottom of the stairs now, giving them both a questioning look. She had hardly a second to absorb what was going on before Rick's lips crashed into hers, and they embraced into a loving kiss for a moment before she pulled apart with a smile. "Sleep well?"
"Actually, not really," Rick said with a shrug, heading back towards the kitchen to make some coffee for his girlfriend. "I passed out at the computer."
Kate rolled her eyes. Instead of filling the night with their usual activities, Rick had been on a roll last evening, typing away at his computer for hours. Too exhausted to stay up, Kate had kissed him goodnight and headed up to bed. Hours into the morning, Rick had passed out with his head on the laptop, not to anyone's surprise. Martha had arrived from the Hamptons last night when he was writing and had hardly said a word as she headed to bed, therefore causing Rick to completely forget her arrival.
Kate's phone rang as Martha began reciting her script out loud, dramatic flair and all. Rick chuckled and muttered a "thank god", causing Kate to roll her eyes but smile.
"Beckett," she answered.
"Kate," replied the man on the other line. It was detective Kevin Ryan. "There's been a body."
"Where?" Beckett asked, cop mode activated. His tone of voice put her on high alert and made her stomach do a turn.
Ryan gave Beckett the address, but before she could do so much as move or tell Rick, Ryan interjected. "Get over here as soon as possible. And bring Castle, and his mother, if they're home."
"Why?" Kate asked cautiously Rick's head rose, concern written all over his face.
"It's Alexis," Ryan said.
"A-Alexis?" Kate managed to spit out, panic in her voice. Rick's elbow almost slipped off the counter and he instantly paled, and Martha grew silent.
"She's alright, but get down here right now." With that, Kevin Ryan hung up and Kate grabbed Rick by the arm, nodding for Martha to follow them. No one spoke as they got into the car and drove towards the scene. Despite Ryan reassuring Kate that Alexis was alright, she couldn't help but worry immensely. And by the looks on the faces of her companions, they were feeling the same way.
A/N: Thank you for reading and please take the time to leave a review! :)