Chapter 2

Kate Beckett was awakened by a voice,as the cobwebs slowly began to clear from her head she became dimly aware of a dull ache in her neck and back,it took her a few seconds to work out that she must have cried herself to sleep on the floor of the hospital waiting room and that it wasn't the most comfortable place in the world to sleep. Just as she was working this out she heard the voice again and looked up to see it coming from the last person in the world she would expect.

"I figured you could use some coffee." Alexis Castle said looking down at her,she had two disposable coffee cups in her hand and she held out one to the detective. To say that Beckett was shocked would have been an understatement,the last time she had seen Alexis she was sure the young woman hated her and blamed her for getting her father shot,but now here she was offering her coffee, Beckett wasn't sure what to make of this but she straightened herself into a sitting position and gratefully took the cup. Beckett looked around the room and noted that other then the fact that Martha had a fallen asleep in a plastic chair on the other side of the room and the fact that the skylight seemed to indicate that it was dark outside,not much had changed since she had sat down on the floor.

Beckett took a few sips of coffee and when she decided to speak she chose a neutral topic,not wanting to push Alexis after everything the girl had been through. "How long was I asleep?" She asked.

"I think about five hours." Alexis replied sitting down beside the detective.

"Oh." Was Beckett's only response as she took another sip of her coffee,trying to wake up and come to terms with the day's events at the same time.

"Listen detective." Alexis said and Beckett turned to face the girl and when she did she saw that the redhead's eyes had a sad look in them that she would do anything to take away,she wanted to put the girl at ease so she interrupted her. "Please just call me Kate." she said with a warm smile.

"Okay,Kate." Alexis said as if she was trying it out to see if it felt right and then she continued. "I am so sorry for what I said earlier. I shouldn't have lashed out at you. I know you didn't ask for any of this to happen and I know my dad made his own choices that you have no control over. None of this is your fault and you don't need me laying a guilt trip on you. I don't know why I did it but I hope you can forgive me." Alexis then turned her face away as if she was ashamed of herself and looked down at the floor.

"There is nothing to forgive." Beckett said after a moment,she waited for the girl to respond but when she didn't even look at her she decided to continue. "Alexis look at me." She said in a commanding tone of voice and Alexis slowly turned her head but still didn't dare speak so Beckett decided she had to deal with this guilt the girl was feeling right away,before it became too much for her to handle. "Listen I know what you are going through and I will not lie,what you said hurt at the time." At this admission a look of shame passed over Alexis' face but Beckett knew that the best way to deal with this was to press on so that is what she did. "But I also know why you did it. You are confused,angry,and afraid. What happened today was not fair and at some point you had to break and yell at someone. I was in your position when I was just two years older then you and I know that it makes you want to throw things and hit things and do nothing but scream,to tell the truth you held together better then I did." Beckett admitted.

"You don't have to lie to make me feel better. I know I reacted badly." Alexis said after a moment.

"I am not." Beckett replied. "When the police came to my house and told my father and I that my mother had been murdered I completely lost it when they said they didn't have any suspects and accused them of not trying to solve the case. Deep down I knew that was wrong but the pain was so raw I had to lash out at someone and they were the ones there at the moment."

"Oh,really?" Alexis said and she looked as if she was only just starting to make sense of her own feelings.

"Yes,really." Beckett said and then moved on. "Also I know you are scared of being alone,I would be too but let me tell you that you will never be left on your own. First because your father is not going anywhere,and second because you will always have your grandmother."

"I know and I felt bad about saying that and said sorry to grams almost right away." Alexis interrupted.

Beckett nodded her understanding and then continued. "And third because if anything were to happen to your father I will be there for you. Your father asked me a few months ago to take care of you if anything were to happen to him on the job and I promised him I would and I keep my promises."

"Thank you Kate but you don't have to do that,after all I am not your daughter." Alexis objected looking at the detective with shock in her eyes.

"This isn't something I have to do." Beckett explained. "It's something I want to do because I care about you and I know what it is like to lose a parent. The real question is are you okay this?"

"Yeah I am." Alexis said and a sad smile played across her lips.

"Good,and don't worry because your dad isn't going anywhere." Beckett said with a smile and then she began to stand up. "Would you mind if we got up off this floor, my back is killing me?"

Alexis nodded that she understood and they stood up and started walking back and across the room together in order to stretch their legs. Once in a while they would start chatting about something or over but mostly they were silent. Both women needed time to process the day's events now that the emotions were less raw.

A huge part of Beckett wanted to run but she knew that was not an option any more,she had promissed Alexis she would be there for her and even though she was pretty sure Castle would be fine she could tell the redhead still needed someone who knew what she was going through and she was the only person in her life who had any idea what it was like so she couldn't run out on her. She had been so mad when her own father had become too lost in his own grief to help her when she needed it she would not repeat that mistake no matter how strongly her brain screamed at her to run away from the pain,she would not do it.

For her part Alexis had never really had a woman in her life who stood by her in moments like this besides her grandmother and as much as she loved her she could tell her Grams was worn out from worrying about her son and she didn't like to add to her burdens. Young people never like leaning on older relatives and Alexis was just glad that in this moment of crisis she had someone else to lean on who seemed to understand what she was going through better then anyone else. It filled her with a sense of relief and gave her hope that maybe,just maybe her father would be okay.

Okay originally this chapter was going to be longer and get more into the plot but it ended on such a different emotional note then the next part of the story but putting it together with that part felt like it gave the chapter whiplash so I split them up. Sorry the plot didn't take off in this chapter. Also there have never been a lot of Alexis/Beckett scenes on the show so I would love some feedback on what I did wrong and if you think I did them justice because I am not sure. The amount of feedback I got for the first chapter was amazing,you guys are the best and I have decided to focus on one story at a time right now while I get used to writing again and this the story I will be focusing on right now. Look for updates every couple of day or so.

Thanks for reading and thank you all for your support. Chapter three will be coming in the next day or so.

Once again many thanks go to casketfan5 for help with this chapter.