"I have to say dad that I've not seen you smile that much in a while." Alexis says as her father walks in and closes the door behind him.
"Something wrong with that Pumpkin?" he asks.
"No, it's just nice to see it. As we already know, she's good for you."
"We?"
"Yeah, just about anyone who's ever met the two of you." she says smiling.
"I think so too." he says not quite under his breath. "So you're going off with Lanie today. Do you need a ride or anything?" he asks pouring himself another cup of coffee, intentionally trying not to be too pushy with her.
"I'm not sure." she answers, hesitates then continues "When Kate and I went out last night it felt funny, I felt exposed but it seemed like it wasn't going to overwhelm me. I guess I could go alone."
Castle sits down at the newspaper again and takes a swig of his coffee and ponders for a moment. "Tell you what, if you don't mind, I'd like to give you a ride there. I know you can get around on your own and all but I'd like to do it."
"Um... Okay I guess. Why?"
"First off, because I don't get to spend enough time with my favorite girl." he says smiling but not turning around. "Secondly, I think it would be smart for you to have a place to retreat to if the walls start to close in on you."
"I guess those are good reasons." she agrees.
"There's another, I'd like to be a bit more protective of you than you'd normally allow me to be, at least for a little while. I just want to be there if you need me during the travel to the morgue to meet Lanie." He takes a deep fortifying breath while staring at the newspaper but not seeing it "Point blank Alexis. I don't want to let you out of my sight. I know I'm supposed to be the big strong dad but..." his voice cracks a little and his throat tightens "but I almost lost you and I just want to know you're okay for a little while longer. I'm trying to not smother you or anything, I just... want to make sure."
For the first time she sees some of the impact her kidnapping has had on him. She sees some of the veneer cracking and the person who loves her coming out instead of the strong father with all the answers trying to protect and nurture her.
"Well... If you're going to go all soft and gooey on me, you might have to buy me lunch at Remy's as compensation." she says trying to lighten his mood.
"How can I refuse? Of course I'll buy you lunch." he laughs.
"I'm going to go up to my room and change to go out." she informs him.
"Do you still have on your to do list calling the Dean of students?" he asks while continuing to skim the paper.
"Yes, I'm actually going to do that when I get upstairs, I want to have my class schedule in front of me. I'm going to see if I can catch up on some of the work from here for another couple of days."
"That's my girl."
"I'll be back in a little while and you can give me a ride to my dorm for a minute to grab a few things and then over to meet Lanie." she says coming over and giving him a hug and peck on the cheek before heading up the stairs.
"Good, I'll finish this cup of coffee and get ready to go. Meanwhile I have my own phone calls to make." he says grabbing his coffee and heading to his office and pulling out his phone.
Closing the door most of the way then sitting down at his desk, he smiles at remembering Kate's reaction to sitting here. He puts his phone into the smartstation dock, scrolls through the contacts and calls his lawyers while going about collecting a couple of things that he may want to do later.
"Richard! Nice of you to call, how have things been?" the voice booms from the box.
"Dewey, been doing okay. I've got to run out in a few minutes but there's some things I need to talk to you about." he says while moving about the room.
"Anything you want Rick, it's your nickel." the lawyer jokes.
"Did you hear about the kidnapping?" Castle asks bluntly.
"No, what'd I miss? Wait a second, let me get my secretary on the line to take down notes on this. Is that alright with you?" he asks.
"Good idea Dewey" he says then he hears the line click and a woman's voice. "I'm here gentlemen. Please continue." she says.
"First off, I, Richard Castle approve of Dewey Cheatum recording this phone conversation." Castle says.
"Thank you Mr Castle." the lawyer acknowledges.
Steeling himself for revisiting the story, he explains "Okay Dewey, this is the very short version, Alexis and another girl were kidnapped off the street in New York and held hostage in Paris France then rescued by InterPol and the French Police."
There's a sudden silence from the other end of the phone prompting Castle to turn around and walk back to his desk "Dewey? You still there?"
"Richard Castle, if this your idea of a joke, it is not at all funny." the voice says seriously.
"I wish it were Dewey. I truly wish it were. You can take me out to lunch one day and we can discuss it. Meanwhile, you can contact the American Embassy or State Department, one of those groups, to get the official press release on the event."
"Oh my god! Rick, I'm so sorry, how is she?" The lawyer asks concerned.
"Dewey, this girl's amazing. She's holding up extremely well thank you for asking. We're going to see a therapist today, that's one of the reasons I called. Her name is Doctor Isabella Stewart, if you need more info, let me know but the usual precautions need to be taken with her."
"We'll take care of it for you and Alexis." he says.
"Thanks Dewey. I've also got another task for you. I'll send you the woman's contact information within the hour. Her name is Anne Hastings, she's a patrol officer in the twelfth precinct with Kate. Separately from the police department, she gives classes in self-defense aimed specifically at young women. Alexis is going to get in on the course which is how I found out about this. She has no releases or application forms or anything..."
"Holy crap Richard! She's begging for trouble!" The lawyer exclaims.
"I know, that's why I'm bringing this up, I want you folks to talk to her and set her up. She needs all the usual protections and you might as well discuss insurance protections too. She'll be getting off duty after three today, I'd like it if you'd touch base with her to start the ball rolling. Also, there's a very good chance that she's going to use my mother's acting school during off hours to hold these classes. So, that's going to need to be considered."
"Got it Richard. What else can we do for you?"
"Right now Dewey, that's enough. Like I said I'll get you Hasting's contact info shortly. If there's any questions, you can also ask Kate if you can't reach me."
"Okay, got it. I'll get things started here. Quick recap. We'll have the contact info for that officer before noon from you and we'll be in touch with her after three PM when she gets off of work we're going to put together standard release and waiver forms for her classes. We'll contact the embassy to get the official press release on the... I can't believe I'm saying this... On Alexis' kidnapping. We're going to check out a therapist for you and make sure that a non-disclosure agreement is in place and your name is protected. I think that's all the action items on my list, did I miss anything?"
"Sounds like you've got it all down." Castle says now sitting down at his desk again.
"Rickey, please tell Alexis we all wish her well and we're all relieved to hear that she is going to be okay. If you could also express our concern with Martha too."
"Dewey you're a prince. Thank you, I'll tell them both."
"Thanks Rick, and let us know if there's anything we can do to help her beyond this." the lawyer says sounding personally concerned for her well-being.
"You've got it. I have to get going, I'm driving to to meet someone. Call me if there's any questions at all okay?"
"You bet Rick."
"Crap, hey Dewey, I don't know if I said it, the appointment for the doctor is this afternoon. Let me know if that's a problem okay?"
"No problem, we'll handle it. You take care of that little girl and we'll talk later."
"Okay, thanks again Dewey. Good bye." Castle says as he hangs up the phone. Taking his phone off the cradle and standing with his small briefcase, he heads out of his office to the living room as Alexis comes down the stairs. He notices just by the cadence of her footfalls that things are still not normal for her.
"Hey Pumpkin, I talked to the lawyers and they're going to talk to Doctor Stewart's office before we get there."
"Good. Do you think it'd be bad for me to let the doctor know what my real name is?" she asks not looking up.
"Good question. I suspect that it won't be a security risk once the lawyers have talked to them. I also think that it's up to you." her dad explains "If you want to, then you can, if you'd rather be Lexi Rogers, woman of mystery, you're welcome to. Of course once I walk in and say hello, the odds are she'll know who I am and therefore who you are."
"Hmm... Didn't think that out before I asked it. I guess that's kind of obvious."
"With that said, if you'd rather me not be part of it, I can stay out of it." he says "Remember, this is all about you."
"Okay. Thanks. No, I'd rather do this with you." Alexis says as she's putting her shoes on. "Kate and I discussed this and I think you and I need to share in a controlled environment."
Castle dons his coat, throws his small briefcase strap onto his shoulder and grabs his keys.
"Dad!"
"What?" He turns startled.
"Where the heck did you get that? Is that one of those man bags?" she asks embarrassed.
"No it isn't. It's just a simple briefcase but the carry strap will stay in the car. Is that okay with you?" he says acting like he's modeling it.
"I suppose. As long as I don't run into anyone I know." she concedes.
"There, that's..."
"Or may ever know come to think of it." she interrupts giving him a stern look.
"I promise, no one will know we're together. Does that make you happy?" he says teasing her back.
"I hope so." she concedes as they turn to leave.
He turns the knob and holds the door open for his daughter. As she passes, he puts his hand on the small of her back and can feel a slight twinge in her as she passes over the threshold but he doesn't say anything.
They wait in front of the elevator making small talk. He makes mental notes about things he notices about her that he wants to bring to her attention later when working with the therapist.
Author's Note:
Before everyone tells me that HIPA protects patient information, let me describe to you what someone (of status) said to me about his seeing a shrink "HIPA tells doctor's that 'somewhere, there's a guy of indeterminate size with a stick of indeterminate size who may or may not come and whack you, either easy or hard, depending on his mood if you disclose the wrong thing.' and a lawyer with an NDA (Non-disclosure agreement) is a very large man, like a sultan would have in an old movie with a huge sword that is razor sharp already out and raised over his head telling you that if you say *anything* you'll get hurt very badly." Given a choice, the second is a much better deterrent than the first.