"Beckett." She was in the cafeteria of the hospital with Martha getting some much needed nourishment. As she listened to Esposito, she closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. Castle was asleep. She was not going to wake him. He was improving but much rest was required. He had convinced her to go to his place rather than her apartment. She was not doing this for her safety but for Martha and Alexis. Castle said he didn't care why she did it as long as she did. She could tell that he was at the end of his rope and the knot was fraying.
As soon as the uniforms arrived she would climb into his California king bed after using the Jacuzzi in his room then get some much needed rest. He assured her with a wink that it was a virgin bed, bought after Gina left. He said it was a lonely bed. Yeah, Castle was on the mend.
"Tell her what you can, but be kind. I will be over there as soon as possible." She listened for a moment more. "Javi, she is a little girl who adores her father and she is going to think this is going to change them. She is confused, hurt and feeling like she had been lied to. Be careful. Little girls have claws and women grow poisonous fangs when they feel deceived. She is going to want to punish someone."
She hung up and looked at Martha with sad eyes. "She knows."
Esposito held the angry, frightened, confused woman child in his arms as she cried. He told her what he knew. He could not downplay the condition of her father. He knew from his sisters and Beckett's warning that he was also holding a little red tiger ready to rip him to shreds because he was the only one available. He squeezed her tighter, rubbing the back of her head.
Suddenly, she pushed away from him and stood. Her hands pawed away the tears streaking her face. "Why didn't he tell me?" She demanded. She began to pace her father's study. She picked examined pictures of father and daughter from birth to the one taken just last Halloween. She tossed the one of Castle holding her tight to his chest as a newborn infant, him in scrubs kissing her head and wrapped in a pink blanket to Esposito.
"You're lying! Richard Castle is not my father. He just got stuck with me! He lied to me!" She continued in this vein for several minutes; blaming the man who had raised and loved her for 16 years for seemingly everything wrong in her life and the world. She threw pictures at the wall and wiping Castle's desk with her arm.
Esposito held the picture and let her rant. He was uncomfortable and wished anyone else was her to deal with this. Like Castle or her Grandmother, maybe Beckett. No, Beckett would have nailed the little brat to the wall by now. What would he do if this was one of his sisters? "Are you listening to me?" She screamed at him. She tried to pluck the pictures from his hand. He grabbed her by her wrist and put the picture on the table. She seemed to have accepted what he told her for a few minutes then went into a rage of temper. Believing a psycho over him or years of living with her father.
He made her sit. It was big brother time. "Sit down. I have had enough of you acting the spoiled princess." He frowned at her though he could understand most of the feelings coursing through her. "Yes, your life sucks at this moment. On your birth certificate is his name. He put it there. There's no guarantee for life being fair printed on that birth certificate."
Alexis started to stand up again. Esposito pushed her back down. "He's not my dad. He's not. My mother fooled him. She only ever thinks of herself." She remembered that her mother was dead. "Only thought of herself."
"What did your father," his hand went up when she opened her mouth again, "your father, do that was so bad?" He threw her a box of tissue from the side table. "Let's see. He cosseted you, protected you, loved you, and kept you safe at the cost of the skin on his back." He crossed his arms and leveled her with a look. "Did you ever think for a moment that you weren't his daughter?"
She was ripping the tissue to shreds, staring at her hands as if they weren't hers. "What makes a father, Alexis? Is it that he screwed your mother?" He knew that he was being crude, but he had to make her understand before she began ranting at Castle who so did not need it or deserve it. "Or is it that he is the one who has seen that you have had every need and want fulfilled?" Esposito took a deep breath. "Has he ever treated you as anything but his adored, pampered daughter? How can you slander him like this? Doesn't he deserve more than that from you?"
Alexis' washed out blue eyes locked with Esposito's espresso colored ones. "You're right, but.."
Esposito sat beside her. "No buts. Don't make excuses. Excuses are what pathetic, lame people use to justify their actions. You are not pathetic or lame. You are Castle's daughter. Now act like it." He cuffed her on the shoulder. "Besides you have only some psychotic son of a bi…Beehive's word on that. They tend to lie."
"But, what if he doesn't want me? What if a DNA test proves that I am not his? That I belong to some Irish mobster? What if I am just as crazy as he is?" Her face became more alarmed as she continued to list possibilities and improbabilities.
"Do you really think Rick Castle would toss you to the street? Listen to me. O'Shea is probably lying. OK?" He understood her insecurity, but he was no psychologist. His master's degree was in criminal justice.
"Let's take it one step at a time. If Castle knew he wasn't your biological father from birth, he kept you. If he didn't care, he would have signed the custody papers and saved himself a whole lotta pain. " He grinned at her. "You are crazy. Biological father or not, Castle infected you with his particular brand of lunacy. As far as being the get of an Irish mobster, it least that could explain your good looks."
Surprise shot through her eyes at his words and gave him a gamine grin. She picked up the picture of them that Esposito had put down. "He has always loved me, no matter what."
"Yes and that man is as enthralled about you today as he was then." He tapped the picture. "Ryan and I are getting sick listening to how perfect you are. You have him firmly wrapped around this little finger." He pulled up her hand and grasped her smallest finger.
Tears filled her eyes again as looked at Esposito. "His beating was my fault. He should have…"
Esposito cut her off with a curse. "Damn. You go from one extreme to the other, don't you? You have to be a Castle because you bounce around like a super ball." He hugged her close. "None of this is your fault. It is nobody's fault except that … lunatic out there. You're kid. Just a kid. It is Castle's duty, my duty, every adult's duty to keep you safe and sound." He pulled back and shook her shoulders slightly. "Got it?"
She nodded. "I feel like I am going to explode." She grinned at him and wrapped her arms around his middle, laying her cheek on his chest. "What do you do when you feel like this, Javi?"
Esposito silently groaned. "I do target practice." An idea blossomed; he pushed her away holding on to her biceps. "Want to go to the firing range with me?"
She nodded and walking over to her dad's desk she pulled out key. She put the key into what looked like a large cigar box attached to the wall on one side of the window. Opening it, she pulled out a Smith & Wesson Centennial 442. It is what is called .38 special. "Dad bought this for me when we go to the firing range. His is a 9 mm in the box over there." She gestured to the other side of the window.
Esposito's heart stopped and went into overtime. That weapon had no safety catch and she was handling it like a toy. He took it from her hands. It was a ladies gun, lightweight and easy to use. Castle had chosen well. It was a hammerless weapon, no cocking necessary, nothing to catch on when pulling it from a purse or a coat. Simply load the cylinder, point and fire. This weapon was very simple and powerful.
Esposito popped the cylinder out. It was fully loaded. He turned the weapon, allowing the rounds to fall into his hand. "First lesson. Never keep your weapon loaded." He considered for a moment then shrugged. "Unless you are a trained professional."
She handed him a carrying case for her weapon that she had pulled from a cabinet and a couple of boxes of rounds. Esposito began to realize just how much he didn't know about Castle. He seemed outgoing, fun-loving, and always ready with a joke or a crazy theory; a horny teenager of legal drinking age. Yet Esposito's cop senses were telling him that there was more, much more to this man. Castle's uncomplicated appearance was beginning to crack and something dark was showing; a side that Esposito had never seen until today. Something wasn't right.
"Let's go." He handed her case and moved her to his left side. At her questioning look he responded, "My weapon is on my left side. I like having my right hand free." He demonstrated by reaching with his right hand to his left shoulder for his service revolver. He flipped up the back of his suit jacket to show her the small of his back. Another weapon, much smaller than his 9 mm, lay nestled between his spine and pants in a small holster. "Back up weapon." He placed his left hand on the small of her back and escorted her out the door.