A/N: I'm so mean I broke this chapter in two. I hope I did it justice, though.

Thanks to Maria and the other guest for their reviews :)

Disclaimer: Every time I have to write the disclamor I have to google how to spell it over on over. Oh, and all the mistakes are mine, sadly. :)

Chapter 9. And the Disappearing Act. Part One.

Rick and Alexis Castle were already getting used to their new routine. Between preschool and the personality that was Martha Rodgers, Alexis was entertained, so she didn't miss Rick quite as much as he had feared. Moreover, it also worked the other way, the precinct provided a way for Rick not to miss his little girl (well, it also came with a hot detective and ideas for writing, so it was a plus. A really, really big plus).

"Alexis, are you ready to go?" Rick asked after finishing the last sip of his regular morning coffee.

"Yep" She answered when she finished her toast.

Just as they were getting ready to go out, their home phone rang. Rick went to pick up, but stopped himself when he read the caller ID. He considered picking up, but chose against doing it. He shook his head while leaving the phone on the counter.

"Daddy, pick up?" Alexis asked.

"Nope" he answered while getting his stuff together quickly in order to escape his own house.

Alas, he was not quick enough because a second call informed him that his publisher really wanted to get hold of him.

"Daddy, pick up!" Alexis she complained.

"I don't wannaa!" he whined but stopped when he saw Alexis' stern look. Was he really being told off by his 4 year old?. He grabbed the phone and picked up.

"You have reached Château Castle. For Rick press one, For Alexis press-" He began talking with a french accent. However, the person on the other end didn't find it as funny as Alexis.

"Richard cut the crap. I know it's you. Something's come up with the new book and you need to come Black Pawn" The annoying voice of his publisher, Gina Cowell, blasted trough the receiver.

"I'm sure you can figure it out."

"No, Richard you have to come to these meetings-"

"La, La, La. Not hearing you. I don't want to go to 'meetings'. Besides I have to go to the precinct." He thought that argument could save him from going to the meetings.

"Well that's too bad. You'll have to go there some other time, this thing needs to be addressed right away."

"I don't have anyone to leave Alexis with?" He played the sweet daughter card. Rick was really desperate not to go to the 'lobotomeetings' as he kindly named them. Mostly because every time he left them, he felt as if someone had lobotomized him.

"Call your mother, bring her along, I don't care. just make sure you're here by 9." Gina stated, not leaving room for any excuses.

"Ok, I'll see what I can do." he hung up resignedly.

"There's seriously nothing that can happen to make this day any more horrible!" he complained to himself as he left the phone and resumed grabbing his stuff.

Some deity or some kind of dark energy thought it was a challenge, because not 5 seconds later, his iPhone was ringing as well. Rick looked up contrite.

"Just kidding. Please don't be Meredith" he prayed as he picked up

"Hello. Oh, mother thank god... What do you mean by you won't be able to pick Alexis up from preschool... Are you sure?... Yes, ok I understand. Ok don't worry I'll figure something out."

Apparently his mother had an urgent reunion with the cast of her latest play. Something about the main actor coming down with the flu or something like that. The point was that there was no one to leave Alexis with after preschool.

"Change of plans sweetie. I have to go to some meetings and you have to come along." He voiced the only solution he had for the current situation they were in.

"Noooo. It is really boring there! Call grams, she can stay with me!" she pouted. She had gone to some of those meetings and she had always found them extremely boring (just like her father) so he understood her frustration.

"I wish I could, but she's busy today."

"Please?" She pleaded for a way out. Just then, he figure something out. It wasn't a sure thing, however it was definitely worth a shot.

"Ok, look. maybe you can stay with detective Beckett in the police station I've been going to. But I can't promise anything, ok?" He told her and she smiled at him in approval.

"Let's go then, pack toys and your crayons" he said as Alexis run to find her backpack full of toys and drawing notebooks.

When they arrived at the bullpen, Rick looked at Beckett's desk, but she was nowhere to be seen. However he found detective's Ryan and Esposito talking about last night's game by their desks.

"Hey guys, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Alexis. Say hi, pumpkin" He announced, gaining the attention of the detectives, and also making little Alexis hide behind his leg.

"I have a lot of experience with kids, you know, having a lot of cousins and all. Kids love me." Ryan said confidently as got closer and crouched in front of Alexis

"Hi, Alexis. I'm Kevin. How are you?"

This caused Alexis to borrow further into Castle's leg, so Rick bent down too. Instead of letting her know that Ryan was okay, Alexis hugged him and borrowed her face in his neck, not letting go. She was scared so Rick was forced to carry her.

"Nice job, Ryan. I guess your art of scaring girls away start at early ages" Esposito mocked his partner.

"Shut up. There must be something wrong with her."

"No. bro. It's you. It's always been you"

"Anyway. So Alexis, huh" Ryan said to Espo, finally remembering the conversation on the bar.

Beckett, who was just returning from the bathroom, noticed that Castle was talking to the boys in the middle of the bullpen. Not really caring for their conversation, she just went to her desk. Yet, when she was about to sit she heard Ryan's last sentence. Shit, he brought her here! her inner voice screamed bloody murder inside of her. She really wasn't in the mood for meeting her, so she had to disappear, and fast.

If being surprised by Castle bringing his girlfriend to her precinct didn't gave her a mini stroke, when she looked up at them definitely did the trick. With Rick having been with his back to her, she didn't really noticed the small human he was currently holding. ... Even her inner voice was speechless. If she had been a cartoon, she would have had several facial expressions before exploding. Hell, she would take exploding in the middle of the precinct if it meant not having to face Castle.

She was vaguely relieved she didn't have to face Bambi Mc Bimbo, yet she remember what she told the boys. Maybe If she had heard Alexis' name when he was talking on the phone, she would have known that it was his daughter, not a girlfriend. Not because she was a fan or anything, it was written on his book jackets and she couldn't help but read it, nothing else. I'm a fan of the genre, her inner voice kept repeating. As to why she didn't put two and two together was beyond her.

Maybe they don't even remember, or have some sort of decency and don't bring up the fact that I told them so. But as she looked over at them again and noticed a pair of amused looking detectives. She had to run, disappear, vanish from there. She stood up and tried to run towards the bathroom.

"Oh, right. You see Beckett here told us you had a girlfriend" Esposito had to practically run across the bullpen to reach her before she slipped away. He grabbed her elbow, thus preventing her from escaping.

"Are you joking?" Castle didn't' know if he was hearing correctly.

"Nah, we went for drinks the other day and she told us all about it" Esposito said as he practically had to drag her across the bullpen towards the group. She was desperately trying not to make eye contact with Castle.

"Is that true detective Beckett? I would have thought you of all people should know that it was my kid. You know, being my number one fan an all." She was the only one in the group who was currently not enjoying their conversation. But somehow, his annoying personality and bad jokes gave her the strength to face him.

"Did you hit your head this morning or you're just extra annoying today?" she asked him.

"Wait a minute, let me get this straight. You went out and talked about me? Am I a 'hot' topic of conversation?" He just wasn't going to let it go, ever. he was genuinely surprised at the fact that she talked about him. Even if he imagined that her friends had to drill it out of her.

"You wish"

"You were so talking about me and my looks." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"You definitely hit your head this morning. You should see a doctor." Beckett told him with a serious expression.

"Deny it all you want. I know the real reason as to why you are blushing right now. Either that or my ruggedly handsome looks get you all hot and bothered." Castle grinned at her, saying the last sentence whispering and trying to cover Alexis' ears/ Alexis, ho was still in his arms had turned a little and stared at the lady talking to his dad.

"You're so full of yourself." She mocked him, trying really hard to ignore the sudden heat she felt all over her face.

"More like fully aware of what god has given me. She was totally gossiping about me, wasn't she?" He asked the boys, who were quite entertained by their conversation.

"Yeah. And if you ask me, I think she sounded jealous. Don't you think so Ryan?" Esposito said, the need to bother Beckett surpassed the fear of losing his life.

"Actually, now that you mention it. Yes, she did sound jealous to me." Ryan agreed trying to ignore the murderous look Beckett was giving them.

"Really?" Castle asked only looking at Beckett.

"I did not!" She said, but the blush that blossomed on her cheeks disproved her statement.

"We're among friends Beckett. Tell us the truth" Castle insisted.

"Oh, my god. You guys are delusional. Lanie ask about you and I told her what I assumed." She tried to downplay it.

"So you were eavesdropping into a private conversation and then you just jumped to conclusions?" He said with feigned indignation.

"Weren't you the one who was eavesdropping when we had the case the other day?" She said trying to turn tables on him

"It's different, but okay, I forgive you"

"Whatever." She was going to fire back, but she thought it was smarter to just drop the subject.

Castle realised he wasn't there to make small talk and tease the hell out of Beckett, he actually had somewhere to be and he was going to be late if he didn't speed things up. Seeing that Alexis wasn't hiding anymore and was actively listening to their conversation, he introduced her to Beckett.

"Anyway, this is Alexis" He told her, somehow expecting Beckett to change into a motherly version of herself.

"I..ok. Would you explain to me why is there a 4 year old kid in my precinct?"

"You did knew I had a daughter! Or else how would you have known her age" He exclaimed. She was busted, but she wasn't going to let him know that. She only lifted one eyebrow challenging to say something about that.

"Actually I kinda have a small favor to ask you" He said placing Alexis on the ground.

"Alexis, go and play with uncle Javi and uncle Kevin. They really enjoy playing princess, go show them your dolls" He said to her while holding his laughter.

"Not funny, dude" Was all Esposito said. Ryan however went willingly, his best guess was to prove them he really was good with children.

"No! Absolutely not." Beckett stated as soon as Espo and Ryan were out of earshot.

"I haven't even tell you what the favor is!" Castle accused.

"Well from what I gather, it has to do with the kid...So no" She said not giving him any sign that she would change her mind whatsoever.

"All you have to do is keep an eye on her while I go to some meetings for my new book. It won't take too much time, I swear" He noticed she was sending concerned looks to Alexis

"Hold on... You're not worried about the wellbeing of Alexis. You're scared to stay with a kid!"

"I'm not scared!" But she was, she hadn't had any form of interactions with children that age since she was that age, so she really didn't know how to deal with them.

"Yeah, you are. What fearsome detective Beckett can't deal with a child?" He was going to annoy her until she said yes.

"I deal with you everyday"

"Ha ha. You're scared, admit it!"

"No, i won't admit it"

"But you are." he sing-songed.

"No. Why don't you ask Ryan or Esposito" She asked as they looked at the other detectives. Alexis was sitting on a chair while Ryan and Esposito examined her as if she was some sort of alien.

"Or, someone else entirely?"

"Please. I could take her with me but she always gets bored.. Please Beckett?" He pleaded.

She really didn't want to have a one on one with Castle's kid. While she considered the cons and few pros, Alexis walked towards Castle and pulled the side seam of his pants to get his attention.

"Daddy, do we really have to go to?" She asked him, already sensing she might not stay with the police officers.

"Is up to detective Beckett sweetie" he said looking straight at said detective.

Beckett narrowed her eyes at him for that low blow and then looked down to where Alexis was giving the same puppy dog eyes she gave her father and her grams. She almost always got her way with that.

"Ok. But if a body drops, you have to come and pick her up."

"Yes, no problem. Thank you, than you, thank you. I'll try to return as fast as I can" he assured her.

Castle walked with Alexis to Ryan's desk, where he had placed her backpack.

"Nicely played pumpkin" He told her while he high-five with her.

"I have to go now. Be good" he said and then kissed her goodbye.

"Ok, bye daddy"

He waved at her while he walked towards the elevator. After he was gone, Alexis was still standing in the bullpen with her backpack in her hands. She looked at the male detectives and then at Beckett. She ponder for a few seconds and decided to go to where the lady was standing. She started dragging the backpack by the shoulder straps, so Beckett walked towards her to help.

"Do you need help with that?" Kate asked awkwardly, not knowing how to talk to a kid, at all.

Alexis just shook her head and stared at her, and resumed dragging her backpack. After some time, she reached Beckett's desk, and decided to sit on the same chair her father sat, not that she really knew that. Kate decided not to offer her help when she struggled to locate her tiny body on the chair. she just watched her, asking how on earth she agree to take care of her.

After some minutes, detective Beckett was working and the little human was drawing on a notebook with some crayons that were on her backpack. She noticed that the girl was staring at her, somehow her staring was much more upsetting than her father' every time she looked at her, she would -not so smoothly- act like if she hadn't been looking.

"Hi... I'm Beck-.. mm I'm Kate... " she introduced herself.

Alexis just observed her, which made her even more nervous. In her day to day, she faced tougher looking criminals but a 4 year old was making her feel uncomfortable.

"Ok.. " she observed as Alexis sat on Castle's chair. How hard can a 4 year old be, right? And since when did the chair become Castle's chair?

She resumed her work and tried to ignore her inner questions and little Castle. While she pretended to work, she remembered that someone once told her that you were supposed to talk to kids as if they were small humans, that they understood perfectly almost anything. Maybe the kid didn't trust her or was shy and wanted something.

"I'm sorry, do you need anything?, Are you hungry or something?" Beckett tried her best, though there was still no answer. She looked over to her teammates, and they gave her thumbs up.

For some time Alexis sat there watching Kate while debating if she should trust her or not, while Beckett actively ignored her.

"Does daddy work with you?" Alexis asked, finally arriving to the conclusion that Kate was okay.

"I don't know if working-" she began to say but realised it was his kid she was talking to. "I mean, yes. Actually you're sitting on his chair."

"What do you do?" Alexis asked, making Kate really uncomfortable again.

"We..uhm" she debated whether or not telling her about murders and stuff was appropriate for someone her age.

"Do you put away bad people like on daddy's books?" She asked, and the detective was relieved Castle had found a kid-friendly way of explaining his books.

"Yes, exactly like that, Alexis"

"He likes it here. Do you like having him here?" Alexis asked innocently.

"I... I guess he is ok." she supposed telling his kid that she wished him gone wasn't quite appropriate either.

"He has writer's meltdown? or blockdown?" Alexis struggled to remember and pronounce the words.

"Writer's block?" Kate helped her out.

"Yes, that."

"Does he, now?" She asked intrigued. Suddenly it dawned on her that Alexis could be filled with information she could later use when being bothered by the author.

"I don't know, that's what grams told me he had when he sat on his underwear all day watching tv. Is that bad, is he going to be okay?" Alexis was really concerned about her father.

"It's not bad, he'll be just fine" Kate tried to set her at ease but didn't succeed.

"It's like when you've just drawn al lot of pictures an you don't know what else to draw anymore" Kate figured the drawing analogy could be well received, so she mentally patted herself on the back.

"Oh... But then I think about something else to draw" Alexis explained carefully.

"Exactly. I guess he's in that process now. Maybe he's just a little slower than most people?" She said and Alexis giggled which also made Beckett laugh She looked over were Espo and Ryan where and they looked surprised that Alexis was talking with Beckett. Kate raised her shoulders as if saying have no idea what just happened.

Alexis resumed her drawings and Beckett tried to concentrate on the file she was reading. Not five minutes later Alexis started talking again.

"Are you daddy's girlfriend?" She asked as if asking for the time.

"What?" She half shouted half shocked. Clearing her throat and lowering her voice she answered."I mean no. What would make you say that?" She was truly stunned as to how the little girl could pass from talking about her dad's writing issues to his love interests. Not that she was one.

"Oh. Nothing" Alexis said, looking disappointed. Did that girl wanted her to date her father?

"But do you like my daddy?" She tried again. If there was something this girl shared with her father, it was the potential of making her uncomfortable with every conversation.

" Yeah, Beckett. Do you like him?" Esposito said from the other side of the room. Apparently her reaction to the girl's question it hadn't go unnoticed.

"We just met? But I'm sure he's a nice dad" Was the best deflection she could come up with.

"He is. but his alone. He shouldn't be, like the fairytales... Do you think you'll marry him?"

Wow talk about direct hits. How do you even answer a question like that? She refused to look at Espo and Ryan, yet she didn't need to look at them to hear their laughter.

"No, we're just friends." She said, and that was stretching the truth. "I have a lot of work. So why don't you keep drawing while I work, ok?" She said not really interested in answering any more of her questions.

"Okay" Alexis smiled as if nothing was wrong.

"I have to go to the bathroom" Alexis informed her some time later.

"Oh, ok. Just go straight" she said while turning and pointing to a hallway behind her. "It's the second door to the right."

Alexis looked at the detective for a brief second furrowing her eyebrows. Then, she stood up and went to the big hallway trying to find the door Kate had told her about.

"Hey boss. Where's Alexis?" Espo asked 15 minutes later.

"She said she had to use the bathroom" She told him.

"And you what? Gave her directions and made her go alone?" He asked worried.

"Yes?" Beckett could sense the distress on Esposito's voice so she wondered if she had done something wrong.

"She can get lost, Kate. I'm no expert, but I know they tend to wonder off. I think you should go find her."

"She can!?.. I guess I should.." she said nodding to the direction of the bathroom.

"Yeah" Esposito prayed the girl was still in the bathroom.

As Beckett walked towards the bathroom she could feel the thumping of her erratic heart. Had she really lost Castle's kid?

"Alexis,... Alexis!?"She yelled when she entered the women's bathroom. Crap, crap, crap...This can't be happening to me.

She ran back to Esposito's and Ryan's desks. Ryan was the first one to notice her.

"Hey, what's up boss?" he asked seeing Beckett standing up in front of them looking as if she had seen a ghost.

"I think I might have lost Alexis" She cringed while she thought how she was going to explain that one to Castle.