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The sun was streaming through the bedroom window as Alexis woke up. She cracked an eye and peered through the tangle of red hair that fell over her face. "Ugh," she thought as she strained to open her eyes. Her head was killing her. "What happened?" Then she remembered the bank robbery the day before, along with her breakup with Ashley. She closed her eyes again and groaned, feeling miserable. There was no way she would change her decision, but why did she have to feel so bad about it?

Rolling out of bed, she got ready for the day and walked down the stairs. Her head was positively throbbing. No surprise, yesterday had been very stressful. She got down to the kitchen and saw Martha eating breakfast at the counter. Where was her dad? He was always here in the morning. She slowly approached her grandmother, making as little noise as possible.

"Good morning Alexis!" Martha's voice cut through the air, startling her. She walked over to the counter and stared at her grandmother, still clearing her head.

"Where's Dad?" she asked.

"He got a call from Beckett about a body around 5:00 this morning and left right away," Martha replied.

Alexis sighed. She had been hoping to talk to him about Ashley today. Thanking her grandmother, she decided to go to the precinct to see her dad.

Outside the building, she hailed a cab. "The 12th precinct, please." She told the balding, 40-something-year-old driver. As the taxi pulled away from the curb, she laid her head against the back of the seat, hoping it would soothe her still-aching head. No such luck, so she closed her eyes, thinking maybe that would help. As she felt the taxi roll down the bumpy road, she flashed back to the day before.

The bank exploded, knocking her to the ground. It was the loudest sound she had ever heard, louder than a gunshot, louder than Gram doing one of her horror movie scenes. Dust and debris filled the air as she felt her stomach drop to her feet. "Dad!" she screamed, or so she thought. She couldn't hear the sound of her own voice. Her ears were ringing as she tried to run past the barrier. One of the uniformed officers held her back as she watched Beckett race inside.

"Here!" a loud, grumpy voice jerked her back to reality. She looked out the window at the large building. The 12th precinct had become as familiar as her high school since her dad started working there. She tossed $15 to the driver and hopped out, rubbing her temples as the sunlight worsened her headache.

The smoke cleared. The ringing in her ears fell to a dull whine as she watched her father and grandmother stumble out from the ruined bank. She broke away from the officer's grasp and ran into his arms. She could hear again, though not very well. She threw her arms around her dad and buried her head in his shoulder, fighting back tears of relief. She looked behind him at a smiling Detective Beckett. Everything was alright.

The elevator doors pinged as she stepped out onto the floor of the Homicide Department. She wandered into the bullpen and looked at Detective Beckett's desk. It was empty. So was her dad's chair. She felt her heart sink as she realized they were still at the crime scene. Walking over to the desk, she fell into her dad's chair and sighed. She would wait until they were back.

She put her head in her hands and groaned. This headache would not go away. Suddenly, the sound of someone clearing their throat made her jump. She looked around the room and discovered the source of the noise.

"Detective Ryan?" she asked. Ryan looked up, apparently unaware of her presence until now. He blinked and smiled, albeit a rather confused one.

"Alexis?" he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for my dad—why aren't you at the crime scene with him?" she replied.

Ryan suddenly looked very embarrassed. "I—uh—kinda sprained my ankle."

Alexis raised an eyebrow, which really only served to make the dull throb in her head substantially worse. "Sprained your ankle doing… what?"

She watched Ryan's face turn bright red. "I—uh—slipped in the shower," he stuttered. Alexis fought back a giggle, knowing it would only make the already awkward detective feel more insecure.

"Do you know when they'll be back?" she asked. Ryan shrugged.

"Why?" he asked.

"I wanted to talk to him," she answered vaguely.

Ryan now looked less embarrassed and more intrigued. "You could talk to me," he suggested. Alexis thought about it. She trusted Detective Ryan, especially after he had been so nice to her in the past.

"Ok," she said. She got up from her chair and sat down in the rolling one Ryan had pulled up. Feeling a bit odd talking to her dad's (male) friend about her boy troubles—odd but not uncomfortable—she decided to dive right in.

"I broke up with my boyfriend yesterday," she stated. She looked up and met Ryan's gentle blue eyes. He looked at her sadly.

"Why?" he asked. She shrugged.

"He goes to Stanford, and that's all the way across the country. He's never there for me anymore. When Dad got held hostage, he was too busy to answer his phone, much less comfort me." Ryan nodded.

"I went through that once," he said. Alexis looked up at him, her eyes pleading for the story.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I was in college, and my girlfriend transferred to another school, 1000 miles away. We tried to stay in touch, but it was hard. The time difference meant we couldn't get a whole lot of time to talk. Eventually a mutual friend went to visit her and came back with the news that she had moved on while she was there. She didn't even have the decency to tell me. So I broke up with her that night." Ryan concluded.

"What did you do to get over her?" Alexis asked. Ryan trained his soft gaze on her and sighed.

"I drowned myself in Land of the Lost reruns and Star Wars. It helped a bit, but not enough. The hurting only really stopped when I joined the police academy." Alexis narrowed her eyes. Suddenly, Ryan realized what his words sounded like. "N-not that I think you should join in order to feel better, that is definitely not the only way to feel better. Neither is Star Wars." Alexis smiled, amused by how the brilliant detective sounded like a teenager at times.

"I wouldn't change my decision, but I still feel kind of guilty for dumping him. And my head's been killing me because I'm so stressed out about it!" Ryan placed his hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"It's gonna be ok, you know? Everything's going to be ok."

Alexis stared at him, then threw her arms around him. Surprised by the gesture, Ryan gently wrapped her in a hug. She pulled away and smiled. "Thanks Detective," she said.

"Call me Ryan," he answered.

Alexis stood up and began to walk out of the precinct, just as Castle, Beckett, and Esposito came in.

"Alexis?" Castle said. His daughter stopped.

"Oh it's ok Dad, I feel much better now," she said, hugging him and leaving. Castle stared after her and walked over to Ryan.

"What were you guys talking about?" he asked. Ryan looked up.

"Star Wars," he responded with an innocent smile.