"Kate!"
You would think that she was this girl's mother, her older sister, or – at the very least – her best friend. The joy in Alexis's voice was intense enough for a stranger to believe any of the above.
As soon as she came in the door, her eyes landed on Kate, sitting on the back of the couch (she liked it better there than on the part you were actually supposed to sit on, mostly because it felt more like she was standing up on her own), watching Castle pouring a packet of finely powdered bright orange cheese into a black pot. Her shoulder bag slipped from her arm and hit the floor with a thud, but the teenager didn't seem to care at all. Not bothering to take off her coat or shoes, she ran towards Kate at top speed and enveloped her in an insanely tight bear hug that knocked the breath out of the homicide detective. The side of Alexis's head was pressed against Kate's shoulder, and she could practically feel the girl's cheekbones lift slightly as she grinned. The euphoria that emanated from her was so palpable, so tangible, that one got the feeling she had never been happier in her life, which made little sense. Kate's relationship with Alexis had never been particularly close. There had been moments – like the first time she saw her after three months of isolation after her shooting – when the edge of her words and the glances she would shoot her gave the impression that she was angry as hell at Kate. When she'd rescued Castle and Martha from the bank months ago, she thought she'd felt the last of Alexis's resentment slip away, but this… it was like she'd never done anything to hurt this girl's father. It was like she was perfect, an angel brought into the Castles' lives to bring them nothing but happiness.
Very few things were further from the truth.
Still, as Alexis slowly pulled away, still smiling at her, she couldn't help but feel… what? Happy? Not quite. Hopeful? Maybe. Accepted? Yes, there was that, but something more.
Loved. She felt loved.
She honestly couldn't say that she disliked the feeling.
"We were all so worried!" Alexis exclaimed, her blue eyes – so like her father's – wide open. "Where were you? What happened? Are you okay?"
"Alexis, slow down," Castle urged as he leaned across the kitchen to grab a wooden spoon, but Kate gave him a small smile that said 'it's alright'.
"Cordelia Evans," she began. "I arrested her brother a while back, and apparently she wanted revenge."
"Why now?" Alexis asked. "Why'd she wait so long?"
"Search me." Kate shrugged. "Really, I have no clue. I'm not sure how she got into my apartment, either. I just walked out into the living room, and all of a sudden someone was attacking me. I didn't even see her at all – I just remember thinking that she was tiny," one note of cynical laughter, "but she could seriously fight."
"Ryan ran a background check on her," Castle called, dumping a glass measuring cup full of hot water into the pot. "Or something. Anyways, she knows tae kwon do. And jujitsu. And Kempo."
"Kempo," Kate repeated with a sigh. "That explains that, then. Wait. When was this?"
"He called while I was getting coffee."
Kate frowned. "And you didn't mention this until now?"
"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I had… other things on my mind."
Other things on his mind. Somehow, she couldn't find it in her to scold him for not telling her this. Actually, she almost wanted to grin. But she didn't. She just turned back to Alexis and continued. "Anyways, I woke up in her basement. Really, almost nothing happened while I was there. She mostly just sat there a ways away from me. It was kind of weird. She never did anything. She only left every once in a while to eat something and when her cell phone rang. I never even saw her sleep."
"Weird," Alexis murmured. "Wait. Did she give you anything to eat?"
"Water, every once in a while," Kate replied. "No food."
The teenager's eyes got even wider. "You must be starving!"
"Alexis, relax," Castle called. "I'm making mac and cheese."
"Let me help," Alexis said immediately, hurrying over into the kitchen and peering into the pot. "Dad, you're supposed to put the macaroni in before the cheese."
"Oh. Right."
"Here. Let me." She was standing on his left – wordlessly, she reached across his body and slipped the box of Spiderman-themed macaroni from his right hand. Swiftly, she opened it, dumping all of the little white spider webs and characters into the pot, grabbed the wooden spoon from her father's left hand, and began stirring. As Kate laughed softly, Castle gave her a look that clearly said 'I told you she'd want to help'.
They were so clearly family. Father and daughter. More closely bonded than any other pair. She would always be his little girl. And Kate knew that no matter what she did, Alexis would always come first.
The thought didn't bother her at all.
They were family. Of course Alexis would come first. They were family.
And for the first time, Kate felt like she was really and truly a part of this family.
And that thought made her happier than anything.
-0-0-0-
"Welcome to Loretta's."
The girl behind the counter was young, younger than Cordelia – probably eighteen or nineteen. She had long dark brown hair, almost imperceptibly wavy, tumbling loosely down her back to her elbows. She was rather pretty, with wide, dark eyes, thin, arching eyebrows, a tiny button nose, pursed lips, and a rounded face. Her ears stuck out a bit, though, and her skin was pale and freckled, like she hadn't been out in the sun in years. She wore a black fitted t-shirt; a white pattern that resembled splatter paint was visible on the left sleeve, but most of the shirt was covered by an apron – light, creamy yellow, quilt-like material, with Loretta's embroidered across the chest in elegant cursive with light purple thread. A similarly colored baseball cap sat atop the girl's head – it, too, had Loretta's written on it in the same style as on the apron.
"You'd be Loretta?" Cordelia asked the girl, out of pure curiosity.
"Loretta's my mother," the girl replied, sounding like the fact irritated her quite a bit. "I'm Rhonda."
"Pretty name."
"Thanks. Can I get you anything?"
Cordelia paused, unsure. She wasn't really hungry – still, the cute British guy had told her to order something and pay with Quinn Solace's credit card. Maybe she'd just get a cookie. Or a smoothie. Something small.
"The special's key lime pie," Rhonda piped up, pointing to the chalkboard where just that was written. "I made it myself."
"Okay. I'll have that, then."
"Alright. That's six dollars."
Cordelia shoved her hand into her pocket and pulled out the purple leather wallet she'd bought herself at a store in the bus station for this exact purpose. She'd carefully filled it with everything of Quinn Solace's – driver's license, credit card, etcetera – so that anyone in line behind her would not see her rummaging through a bag full of various identities. That would look a tad bit suspicious.
She slipped the credit card from its pocket and passed it over to Rhonda, who took it, swiped it, and gave it back. Peering at the screen, she read, "Quinn L. Solace."
"Yeah."
"That's a cool name. Cooler than Rhonda Holloway. What's the 'L' stand for?"
"Leslie."
"Ah. That's cool. You want a receipt?"
"Oh, ah – no thanks."
"S'cool." Rhonda hit a button on the keyboard and turned, saying, "I'll be right back with your pie." But as she hurried away, Cordelia heard a voice behind her – a voice that was chillingly familiar, even though she'd only heard it once before.
"Quinn."
She looked over her shoulder, giving what she hoped was a convincing smile as her eyes landed on the British guy. "Hey," she greeted.
"I was a little worried you wouldn't come," he admitted, walking up to join her at the counter.
"Why's that?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. Just a hunch, I guess. Apparently I was wrong."
"Apparently."
There was a slight thump, and Cordelia turned back to see Rhonda placing a small paper plate with a slice of key lime pie and a plastic fork on it down on the counter. "There you go," she said; then, when she caught sight of the British guy, her marginally irritated expression morphed into a smile, and then a look of confusion. "Hey, you guys know each other?"
"Old friends," the British guy told her. "How's life, Rhon?"
She shrugged. "Oh, you know college. Too much work, too little time, and any extra seconds you have spent serving pie at your mom's diner to earn a little pocket money. Overall, I guess life's alright." She turned to Cordelia, saying, "Pete comes here all the time. He loves my pie."
"It's incredible."
"You're sweet. Now, please, if you're not going to buy anything, move along. I have paying customers waiting."
"Of course." He began to walk away; Cordelia picked up her pie, said a quick goodbye to Rhonda (who was no longer paying her any attention), and hurried after him.
"Pete," she called as he pushed through the doors, rather grateful to have something to call this man who was supposed to be an old friend. He didn't stop, just looked back over his shoulder and gestured for her to follow him. So she did.
In hindsight, she really shouldn't have.
-0-0-0-
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Okay, so writing this chapter was fun. I managed to work in a few references to my other favorite TV show, Warehouse 13, and I'm very proud of myself for that. Anyone who watches Warehouse and caught the references, shoot me a review and let me know. Anyone who doesn't watch Warehouse and, as such, did not understand the references, review anyways. I love reviews. Reviews are my life.
I've gotten a lot of feedback about the fact that there hasn't been much Castle and Beckett of late; at least half of each recent chapter has been Cordelia, and Chapter 20 was all her. Sorry that we haven't been making much progress on the Caskett front. We're not nearly done with Cordelia yet and I've got a lot of stuff I need to get through before the major events of the story will transfer back to our favorite crime-solving duo. In the meantime, stick with me and try to live through Cordelia's constant POVs. I promise it'll be worth it in the end.