Disclaimer: Nope, still nothing on that front.

Spoilers: Okay people, we've officially stepped off canon (in light of Alexis' multiple internships in Pandora) so we'll say that there are possible spoilers for all episodes until The Blue Butterfly and that it goes AU from there.


"Beckett?"

She smiled and the warmth of that smile transferred to her voice, to the phone, to Rick's ear, and, finally, to his heart "Hey, Castle, your daughter is on her way back to you."

At the sound of that soft voice, he relaxed into the couch cushions at his back.

"Are you gonna tell me what this was all about?"

She gave a soft chuckle "No, I'm not." He sighed. "But she will… eventually. Just- Castle, don't push her, okay? She's had a long day… Can you- Listen, I promise she'll tell you but, could you just- let her come to you? When she's ready?"

He didn't want to. He was tired of waiting for people to be ready. He wanted to know already. He wanted to be in the loop and to stop worrying and wondering. He was so so tired of the wait… And, yes, he was probably overreacting because of the parallel between this conversation and his situation with the detective currently on the phone with him. He sighed again. He didn't want to but he would. He would always wait for her, or, well, for Alexis for that matter.

"Okay, I'll wait…" He says begrudgingly. His next words, however, carried some of the deep concern he felt for his little girl, "You'd tell me if it was bad though?"

"Of course I would, Castle. It's not bad. And she'll tell you. Soon." The low harmonics of her voice carrying soft reassurances through the phone line unclenched his heart and sent curling warmth of comfort through his gut.

They breathed in sync for a while.

"You have a great kid. You know that, right?" Her tone was tender and he wanted to see her face.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know…" Then he added mischievously "Did you just get all mushy over my adorable daughter, detective?"

She laughed then. A clear, bright laugh he felt in every nerve of his body. "Well, I wouldn't say 'mushy', but yeah, I like Alexis…"

He chuckled.

"Hey, Kate, I wanted to say: thank you… I'm glad Alexis can come to you when she has a problem she can't share with us. And I'm sorry, I know I was a pain earlier."

"Yeah, well, you were worried, which is why I refrained from punching you in the nose."

He grinned "And my nose thanks you for that too…"

"You're welcome. And, about Alexis, I'm happy she felt comfortable enough to come to me… I was kind of surprised actually, I mean- I don't know, I haven't seen her much since this summer and I- I don't know…" She trailed off.

Rick cleared his throat "Hm, well, you know…" He tried to sound nonchalant.

Apparently, he didn't do 'nonchalant' very well. "Castle? Is there something I should know?"

"No… I mean- obviously everything's all right if she came to you, right?"

"That doesn't reassure me at all. Is Alexis mad at me for something?"

The writer sighed "Listen Kate, that's a question you should ask Alexis. I can't answer it, the same way you can't tell me what you two talked about tonight."

It was Kate's turn to sigh "Well, that sucks."

He chuckled "You got that right… But Kate, she did come to you tonight, so I guess she's over it, whatever it was."

"Yeah, if you say so…"

They stayed like that for a while, basking in the comfortable silence and listening to each other's breathes over the line.

After some time, Rick couldn't refrain from asking the one question that had been nagging at his brain since he knew Alexis wanted to talk to Kate "She's not pregnant, is she?"

And again, Kate surprised him with her startled laugh "No… God no… she's not." she said, panting with the last of her sudden hilarity.

He grinned, partly in relief and partly at the mystery this woman constantly proved to be. "And that is so funny why?" he teased.

She chuckled "It's funny because it's the first thing I asked her."

He laughed at that "It's like we could be partners! Well, you know what they say, 'great minds…'"

He felt her grin in her next sentence "'… disregard completely what a reasonable girl Alexis is and embarrass themselves with stupid conjectures?'"

He snorted "Yeah, you're probably right… Oh, I hear the elevator coming up, I think Alexis' coming!"

"Okay, Castle, I'll let you go. 'Night."

"'Night, Kate."

"And leave her alone! At least for tonight!"

He chuckled "Yeah, yeah, I get it… And, Kate, thanks."

"Always." He heard before the line went dead.

And Richard Castle waited for his daughter to come home with a contented smile on his face and a warm feeling inside his chest.


The following morning saw Kate leaning on the side of her desk, pensively looking at the murder board and swinging a pen between two fingers. UpAnd down. Up… This case was going nowhere. And down. Castle had dubbed it 'the-most-frustrating-case-ever' after just two days and now, a week later, everyone on the case had to agree with him. Up. It had seemed pretty straightforward at first. Dead guy in a blind alley. Down. Said guy had a rap sheet long like the arm. Up. They started to search for people in his life who would have had motives to kill him. Down. And they found fourteen suspects. Up. Fourteen. Every one of them with a motive and an alibi. Down. In fact, most of them were providing alibis to each other and the detectives were trying to untangle the truth from the web of lies. Up. Also, there were lawyers everywhere.

Beckett's phone buzzed near her hip and she startled. The pen tumbled on the floor.

It was a text from Castle: 'Alexis seems to want to talk this morning. I'll come by later.'

She smiled, picked up her pen, dropped it on her desk and sat in her chair while composing her answer 'Take your time, your kid is more important.'

She thought about Alexis' revelation the night before and how the girl had been anxious to see her reaction and she hoped Castle would be able to school his features when the girl told him. She hesitated for a minute and sent another text: 'Don't screw up.'

He didn't answer and she didn't expect him to. He was probably already occupied with his daughter.


She was engrossed in the suspects' phone records when the smell of fresh coffee made her raise her head. Richard Castle was standing in front of her desk, a Starbuck's cup extended toward her and a mocking twinkle in his eyes.

"'Don't screw up'? Really? I shouldn't even give you the coffee for your lack of faith in me."

Kate snatched the coffee before it was out of her reach and took a grateful sip. "Sorry?" she said somewhat sheepishly.

He just grinned and sat in his chair.

She eyed him curiously. "So… I guess it went well?"

"Of course, it went well! Don't you know me?" Then, his grin went big, "My little girl has a crush on you!"

Kate almost spit her mouthful of coffee, "What?"

He laughed "Oh, come on! Don't tell me you didn't notice the similarities between you and that Olivia!"

At her doe-eyed look, he added "Really? A young woman, beautiful, kind, smart, whose sole presence draws attention, passionate about her work… and none of that rang a bell?"

Kate blushed "Alexis doesn't have a crush on me."

He smiled cheekily "If you say so…"

She cleared her throat "So… Did you expect that?"

His eyes widened "Not at all! I was shocked for a while, completely at a loss for words!"

"Well that's a first…" the detective mumbled.

"I heard that. But then she told me the story, and what you said to her last night about being in love with a human being and not a gender- I'm impressed by the way- and I said to her that she should invite Olivia over for dinner, you know, when everything is sorted out for them, and she agreed on the condition that you're invited too. So here, I invite you to dinner someday soon with my girl and her girlfriend."

Kate sniffed "I don't know, Castle. I think I'm offended that you're so impressed by the fact that I could come up with an articulate little speech for your daughter and her situation."

He raised an eyebrow at her "Well, I think I'm offended that you thought I'd 'screw up' and wouldn't be able to handle the situation; so I guess that makes us even…"

She grinned "Oh, okay, we're even. Tell me when the dinner is and I'll come."

Castle beamed at her "Great!" Then he turned to the murder board, "So, has anything moved on the-most-frustrating-case-ever while I wasn't here?"

The detective sighed and they were back to business.


Again, sorry for the wait, I felt a bit lazy this week.

Also, this is not beta-ed and all the mistakes are mine.

Now, what did you think?