Ain't No Mountain High Enough

By

Natalie Elizabeth

Previously on Aint No Mountain High Enough. Castle and Beckett end there unorthodox relationship after Alexis finds out they slept together.

Alexis entered her home and frowned at the darkness. It was 7 but she assumed her father would be home by now. She had texted him earlier telling him she was having dinner with Paige. He had texted back and given her permission, not that she really needed it. He told her he would be home when she got home, but she knew his schedule was all over the place. She flicked on the lights dropped her bag and went to walk up the stairs when something caught her eye. She turned towards the couch and noticed a shape, was that a pillow or her Dads head.

"Dad?"

Alexis walked around the couch to look at her father. Had he fallen asleep sitting up, it wouldn't be the first time. There was one time he had fallen asleep on the toilet and fallen off, a memory she was trying to erase, with no avail. What she saw shocked her, her Dad was sitting up staring straight ahead.

"Dad" she screamed leaning forward and shaking him.

He jolted in his seat and then looked at his daughter, a look of confusion on his face.

"Alexis, what's going on?"

"That's what I want to know. Dad you're sitting in the dark."

His eyes were vacant as he looked around.

"No I'm not."

Alexis shook her head as she sat down next to him. "That's because I turned the light on. Dad is everything ok." A scary thought hit her. "Is Gram ok? Oh my God did something happen to her."

She watched as he turned and looked at her an almost robotic way about his movements.

"I don't think so," he then turned back to look at, well Alexis wasn't sure.

What was her father looking at? Alexis placed her head next to her Dads and tried to see what he was focusing on. Nothing, there was nothing there. A wall. He was looking at a wall. He was sitting in the dark without knowing it, staring at a wall.

"Dad. Are you working on a confusing case? Do you want to talk to me about it? "

He robotically turned to her again. "Case, what case, are you going somewhere?" he was really having trouble understanding his daughter today.

"Dad what happened to you today? You're scaring me."

Scared, he was scared. Scared that he would never see Beckett again. Scared that she would never be ok. Scared that she would be ok and decide she didn't need him in her life. Scared that he would never have a chance to prove to Beckett that he was a regular decent guy. Scared he would never get a chance to tell Beckett how much he cared for her. He was scared. He was scared and Alexis was scared. Alexis was scared! Castle turned quickly to his daughter. She was scared, he had scared his daughter.

"Oh pumpkin come here," he opened his arms and his daughter entered them. "I'm sorry honey," he held onto his daughter and squeezed her tight.

"Are you ok Dad? Did you have a tough case; was it a child that was murdered?" Her father was getting used to seeing dead bodies but when they were young they seemed to affect him more, not that she blamed him. She knew he didn't like discussing those cases with her; he usually just liked a hug and some time watching movies on the couch. Maybe she shouldn't have gone to Paiges after school, but he said it was ok. Oh well she was here now.

"No. No case. I didn't go into today; I won't be going in for a few days."

What! Alexis pulled back and looked at her father.

"Did something happen?"

She had been thinking about her Dad and Kate all day. Paige had told her she had butted in when it wasn't her place to, but how could she not. Her father wasn't as strong as he led people to believe. He wasn't Superman, he wasn't the man of steel, bullets didn't bounce of his chest. His chest was penetrable and once you got through that layer you got to his heart. She knew his heart had been broken by woman in the past, even her mother had broken it. Alexis couldn't let that happen again, she had to protect him. She smiled as her father lightly stroked her hair.

"Nothing happened. I just haven't been focusing on my writing lately. I'll be going back on Monday."

"What does Detective Beckett think about this?"

Alexis watched as her fathers eyes returned to the vacant stare he had been wearing a minute before.

"She thinks it's a good idea," he looked away from her now and raked a hand through his hair. He then stood up and walked away without a word to her.

Alexis turned on the couch and watched as her father walked away from her. His head was hanging down and he was walking slowly.

"Dad?"

"I'm heading to bed, I don't feel too good."

Alexis watched his retreating back. He was upset, he was hurting, a total contrast to the man she had seen this morning. He had spoken to Kate, he had to have. He would have mentioned not going to the precinct this morning, if he had known then. She doubted that he would have been happy about not going to the precinct, not seeing Kate. Finding her father staring off into the abyss was a little scary especially considering she may be the reason for it. It was just one day though. One day of pain to prevent years worth! She had done the right thing; at least she thought she had. She looked in the direction her father had gone, it was eerily silent. Silence and her Dad weren't a good thing, Alexis slid down slightly on the couch. One day at a time.

Castle stared at his bed, he wasn't really tired but he still wanted to go to sleep. He wanted to sleep and forget that this day ever happened. Maybe if he went to sleep he would wake up and discover it was all a dream. What was the dream though, Beckett rejecting him, or making love to Beckett. He wanted to erase Beckett rejecting him; if that was a dream then as the day wore on he would forget it. It would also mean if the rejection was a dream then he would wake up next to Beckett. He didn't want making love to Beckett to be a dream; he didn't want to erase that ever. Even though it had lead to the rejection. Oh he was so messed up, maybe he should be a seeing a shirk too.

Castle shed his clothes he had spent so much time agonising over earlier that morning. He looked at the pile and decided he better picked them up. Alexis was already worried about him the last thing he needed was him tripping over them. Picking them up in one big armful he violently threw them towards his chest of drawers. One shoe hit the top of the drawers and then fell off, Castle sighed, his aim was way off with everything today. He walked over to his shoes bent down to pick up the shoe but his gaze focused on the lower drawer. The drawer contained Beckett's pyjamas, towel and other things he had organised for her. Dropping the shoe on top of the drawers with his other items he opened the drawer. He stood there staring at the items, should he get rid of them? She had only ever used the pyjamas but the point of the other items was if she ever needed them they were there. There partnership was still intact at least as far as he knew, just because she wouldn't be sleeping over didn't mean she wouldn't be coming over. If she ever did and spilled something on her clothes she could use the items. He was really grasping at straws now. Castle picked up the t shirt and looked it over. It was his own shirt but it would forever be known as Becketts. He opened the shirt and slipped it over his head; he wiggled as he pulled the shirt over his chest. It was a little snug but it was covered in Becketts scent so it felt like she was surrounding him, hugging him tight. He grabbed the shorts and undid the drawstring Beckett had pulled tight in order to stop the pants from falling down. Slipping the shorts over his adult underwear that he had to search for this morning, he had been buying way too many superhero underpants lately. Crossing to his bed Castle looked at it. In the past he had slept right in the middle and stretched out starfish style. On warm nights he liked nothing better than to slide between the cold sheets naked. After a big case when he was feeling pumped he would lay on his side and start running, slow motion, superhero style. He would hum that song they always played when a runner wins a sprit and they replayed it in slow motion. dum dum diddi dum dum, dum dum diddi dum. He didn't feel like being a superhero tonight, he felt like a villain. Pulling back the covers he slipped into bed, on Becketts side, he grabbed the pillow she normally slept on and turned it sideways. He then rubbed his face into the pillow and hugged it tight. He had done the same thing only weeks ago, but he had been happy then. Now he was sad, extremely sad. Closing his eyes a tear ran down his face cheek and then another and then another. There was still a chance he had a future with Beckett, after all he hadn't acted like this when she had started dating Josh. He sniffed back tears, things were different now, he knew it. Beckett wasn't the only one who had been affected by three near death experiences. He had always thought he lived by the seat of his pants not putting off until tomorrow what should be done today; writing was the exception of course. Yet he had done that with Beckett, had not taken the time to win her heart. He had dated people he knew he had no intention of loving. He had made mistakes but he vowed he wasn't going to do that anymore. Beckett breaking up with Josh had been his green light; he hadn't wanted to confess his feelings for her while she was with another man. Unless he was sure she wasn't 100% invested in that relationship. There time at the Hamptons had been the start of something amazing, how had it gone so downhill from there. Castle hugged his pillow tighter; memories of the Hamptons flooded his mind. The memories were almost like a dream, a fantasy of what he wanted the rest of his life to turn out like. After a busy week of work the family would head out to the Hamptons for a weekend getaway. Board games and movies when the weather outside was bad and when the sun was shining, walks on the beach developing new stories while his wife sat nearby reading his books. Wife! Wife! Ok that really was a fantasy, Beckett didn't even want to sit close to him let alone marry him. He thought marriage was out of his mind for good obviously he was wrong. Lying in his bed alone felt so strange. Yes there had been a few woman to warm his bed over the last few years. A few, not a lot and not for very long. He had spent many night alone yet he had never felt like this, not even after the breakup of both his marriages. He felt so lonely, so empty. Had this been what Beckett was talking about. The emptiness, the loneliness, the cold damp feeling that was infiltrating his heart. No wonder turning her heat on and putting a few pictures up hadn't helped. Pulling the covers over his head he hoped sleep would consume him soon.

Alexis heard the front door open and almost held her breath thinking it was Kate. What would she do? What would she say? Should she give her another chance to explain herself? Thankfully it was just her grandmother.

"Hello darling."

Alexis gave her Grandmother a brief smile.

"Hey."

"Is your father home?"

Alexis nodded.

"He went to bed."

Alexis watched as her grandmother looked off in the direction of his room. She then quickly glided over to the couch on tip toes.

"It's still early, is Kate with him or is she going to sneak in soon. Should we make ourselves scarce?"

"Kate won't be coming over anymore."

Alexis turned her back and suddenly realised what her dad found so interesting about staring at the wall. Staring at the nothingness cleared your mind.

"Why? Did something happen?"

Martha came around the couch and sat next to her granddaughter who did not look happy. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was staring at the wall.

"Dad went out last night and he didn't come home until this morning. He was singing Disney songs at breakfast. Dad and Kate had sex last night. Gram"

Martha smiled. "Really, that's fantastic. Well this is good news honey. It's what we have been hoping for. So he went to bed early huh, Kate wore him out huh, finally met his match." Martha rubbed her hands with glee. Her sons love life had so many ups and downs, and she wasn't just talking about in the bedroom. It was good for him to have someone genuine in her life.

"Gram" Alexis practically shouted. "They had sex, they are not a couple, they are not together, yet they had sex. Kate had an itch and used Dad as a scratching post."

Martha wrapped her arms around her granddaughter.

"Oh you don't know that."

Alexis nodded her head resting on her grandmothers chest. "Yes I do. I went around and saw Kate." A tear rolled down Alexis' cheek. "She stood there and lied right to my face, tried to tell me nothing was going on. Like I wouldn't notice her sneaking out of the house in the morning. Like I didn't sit here for hours poring over those photos with Dad to try and figure out which ones would look good in her apartment. I didn't study for a test so I could scrapbook the photo of everyone at the precinct and us. Why Gram, why? Why do woman I love keep hurting me, hurting Dad. Are we flawed, is it some genetic defect. Do you have it too or does it come from my grandfathers side, is that why he's not in your life?"

Martha kissed her granddaughter on the head and squeezed.

"Oh honey, you're not flawed. Or maybe we all are, we look for the good in people and find it hard to believe people we love can hurt us. Just give Kate and your father some time, there adults they will figure it out."

Alexis sat up and wiped her face. "No, they won't. Dad will keep doing whatever Kate wants and Kate will keep taking advantage of it. I asked her if she was in love with Dad and she told me she didn't think she was capable of loving anyone. What kind of person says that?"

She was right about one think Kate had lied. Lied about not being able to love. That was the biggest lie she had heard in awhile. She had seen Kates love with her own eyes. Martha struggled to find the right way to address this issue with her granddaughter.

"Darling." Martha took a deep breath and blew it out in a huff. "Everyone has issues."

"Yeah but when some ones issues, start giving me issues, than it becomes an issue. I told Kate if she has no intention of loving Dad than she can just stay away."

"Alexis," she wanted to tell the child off, she really did. However Alexis was only doing what she thought was right, protecting her father. Considering he was her son she really should be doing it herself.

"What Gram, what should I have done. Let Kate walk all over him. Kiss him, hug him, sleep with him. Have him fall even deeper in love with her only for Kate to tell him she can't love him. No, I won't let that happen. It's not going to happen. I told Kate to leave Dad alone."

Martha sighed was it the right thing to do, she didn't know. Her granddaughter had made a decision on her sons half, the best thing she could do was give her support.

AUTHORS NOTE, THANKS ALL FOR YOU LOVELY REVIEWS