So this is likely to be the last chapter till the New Year as I am away over Christmas and the New Year at my in laws and I don't know how much time I'm going to get to sit and do some writing.

Wishing everyone a Happy Holidays.

What if Alexis had pulled Kate to one side that night at the loft.

They'd all eaten their fill and were now all sitting around, talking. Martha was telling them all about how Rick had taken charge in the bank and Kate smiled at him softly.

"What can I say," Rick said dramatically, "I'm just that good."

Kate laughed and took another drink from her glass of wine.

"I think you just had a good teacher dad," Alexis said. She looked between her dad and Kate. "Detective Beckett obviously rubbed off on you."

Martha laughed as Rick glared jokingly at his daughter. "I'm offended," he whined, "I was a god damned hero today and you're bursting my bubble." He pouted and crossed his arms over his chest like a child throwing a tantrum.

Kate and Martha both started properly laughing as Alexis just shrugged and smiled at her dad.

"All my girls are ganging up on me," he moaned, "That's not fair."

Kate felt a thrill go up her spine as Rick included her as one of his girls but ignored it and took another drink as Martha carried on laughing and Alexis joined in.

Rick stuck his tongue out at all of them and then got to his feet. "I'm going to go and get another drink," he told them all, "I'd ask if anyone wanted anything but frankly you can all get your own drinks."

The three women all continued to laugh as Rick walked away. Kate took another drink and then caught Alexis' eye. Alexis held it for a moment before she looked away for a second before looking back. "Can I talk to you about something Detective?" Alexis asked quietly.

"Of course," Kate told her.

Alexis glanced at Martha and then back at Kate. "Would you mind coming with me?"

Realising that the girl wanted to talk to her in private Kate nodded and got to her feet. "After you," she invited. She placed her glass on the coffee table and then followed Alexis towards the stairs.

They both stopped though when they heard Rick call. "And just where are you two going?"

"I just wanted to talk to Detective Beckett about something," Alexis called back.

They heard Rick hum in response and over her shoulder, Kate saw as he settled back onto the sofa next to Martha. She caught his eye and they smiled at each other, and then Kate turned back and followed Alexis up the stairs.

They walked along the hall and then Alexis led the way into her room. Kate didn't want to be nosy but she couldn't help but look around the room. It was clearly a room that belonged to a teenager, but here and there there were momentos from when Alexis had been a child.

Kate stood awkwardly in the doorway as Alexis sat on her bed. Kate pushed the door shut then lent against it. Her eyes roamed the room as she waited for Alexis to speak and her eyes stopped on a picture.

"Do you mind?" Kate asked, gesturing to the picture.

Alexis shook her head and Kate moved away from the door and moved to take a closer look at the picture. It showed a younger Rick with a very young Alexis sitting on his lap reading a book. "That's a really nice picture," Kate commented.

She was filling the silence, hoping to give Alexis space to think about whatever it was she wanted to talk to Kate about.

"Thanks," Alexis replied. There was more silence as Kate moved back to lean against the door. She looked at Alexis and waited for her to speak. "I wanted to apologise," Alexis said.

"For what?" Kate asked.

"For the way I behaved in front of the bank," Alexis told her.

"You have nothing to apologise for," Kate interrupted quickly, "It was an emotionally charged situation and you needed an outlet."

Alexis stared at her. "You didn't deserve it," she said.

Kate shrugged. "I'm a big girl Alexis," she told her softly, "I can take it."

And she meant it. She would rather that Alexis hadn't found herself in that situation but she had and she'd needed someone to take her frustration and fear out on, and Kate had no problem that Alexis had chosen her for that. In fact, she was glad she had, there was a part of Kate that knew she deserved it for what she had done to Rick over the summer.

Alexis' mind must have been going in the same direction because she spoke again. "It wasn't just today," she said, her voice quiet, "I hated you for what you did to my dad over the summer, and today I just let it all out and that's not fair." She sighed. "I know you had a lot going on," she said, "I really do. You had just been shot." Kate resisted the urge to reach up and rub her scar as had become a habit whenever someone mentioned her shooting. "And I know you had to heal, but you told my dad you'd call him and then you didn't." Alexis stared hard at Kate. "Did you know he had nightmares for weeks afterwards Kate?" she demanded, "For all I know he still does and he's just gotten better at hiding it. But for those first few weeks, he barely slept and then when he did sleep he'd be yelling out for you." Alexis tore her eyes away from Kate's and stared down at her hands. "He pretended that he was ok, wouldn't even talk about it when I asked him, but I pieced it together. He kept seeing you die, Kate, every time he went to sleep he'd see you die, and then you didn't call him, at all, for months."

Kate stared at her in stunned silence. She knew that Rick had struggled with her shooting, and the subsequent radio silence, he'd told her as much after all, but she hadn't realised just how badly he'd been affected. While it was her who had been shot, she wasn't the only one who'd suffered that day, Rick had been beside her when she'd been shot, hell he could easily have been hit himself, but Alexis had also been there, as had Martha, and they'd seen it all. They'd seen more than she had in fact, she'd disappeared to her dad's cabin but Alexis and Martha had stayed in the city, dealing with what sounded like a distraught Rick.

Kate opened her mouth to speak but Alexis carried on speaking, not giving her a chance to say a word.

"Then he started to get better," Alexis said, still studying her hands, "But then you came back into his life and he went back to work at the precinct." She shook her head. "I asked him not to go," she confided, "To stay home. I didn't want him back working with you Kate, I just wanted him safe."

She fell silent again and returned her eyes to Kate's. Kate was alarmed to see that there were tears in her eyes. She didn't know what to do but then made the decision to move across the room and perch on the bed beside Kate. She slowly reached out a hand and placed it on the girl's knee. "And then today at the bank," Kate said softly, "You suddenly came close to losing him again."

Alexis nodded numbly. "Him and Grams." A tear fell from her eye and without thinking Kate wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled the girl in for a hug. She felt Alexis tense up but then she relaxed and Kate hugged her tighter.

"Why did you have to take him back?" Alexis asked, her voice muffled, "Why couldn't you just have gotten your files back and then left again?"

Kate wondered how much she should tell the girl and then decided to go for the truth, or at least as much of the truth as she was able to share. "Because I needed him," Kate said softly, "The only reason I have is so incredibly selfish but it's the truth. I didn't speak to him for months but I needed him. He's been there for me through a lot over the years and I've started to rely on him." She shook her head. "And it scares the hell out of me, but I needed him and I didn't consider you or Martha and I'm sorry for that." She gave Alexis a squeeze. "I'm not used to being around people with kids," she admitted, "So I forgot that working with your dad doesn't just affect me and him, but you and Martha as well."

Alexis pulled away and Kate dropped her arm. Alexis turned to look at Kate, a few tears still clinging to her eyelashes.

"I saw your face," Alexis told her, "When you came out of that van, just after the bomb went off."

Kate looked away. That had been one of the worst moments of her life when she thought that Rick had been killed in an explosion, and right now she couldn't look at Alexis, the girl had her fathers eyes and Kate knew that she would be able to see through her just like Rick did.

"You looked like I felt," Alexis continued softly.

"But he's ok now," Kate reminded the girl, wanting to change to subject away from something she wasn't yet ready to discuss with anyone, "He's sat downstairs right now with a glass of wine and your Grams, he's fine."

Alexis nodded and wiped her face. "I realised something today though," she said.

"What's that?" Kate asked.

"That life is messy and even if he's not with you he could still get into trouble," Alexis said, "Just like today at the bank." Kate looked back at her and Alexis held her gaze. "And even though he's more likely to be in danger when he's following you around, at least when you're with him there's someone with a gun to keep him out of trouble."

Kate couldn't help the chuckle that burst from her lips. Alexis looked at her sharply and then she chuckled too.

"For what it's worth," Kate then said, "I can't promise that your dad won't get hurt following me around, but I promise to always try to get him home to you and Martha."

Alexis stared at her for a long moment before she nodded. "Thank you, Kate," she said softly. She then reached out and wrapped her arms around Kate, pulling her into a hug. Kate's arms came up automatically and wrapped around the girls back. They sat for a moment and then pulled apart.

"Now he's back working with you I'm glad," Alexis then admitted, "As much as I was against it working with you and the guys has made him more like him."

Kate frowned in confusion. "I don't understand," she admitted.

"My dad has this personality that he puts on in public," Alexis told her, "The whole playboy thing is just a stunt to sell more books. He explained it to me once, rich playboy sells more books than homely dad, so the publishers use that, but that's not my dad."

Kate nodded. She had come to realise that over the years they'd been working together. There was a lot more to Rick Castle than the media would have you believe. Kate had seen it time and again on cases, but no more so than whenever Rick was talking to, or about, Alexis.

"And then there's who he is when he's my dad," Alexis continued, "And he's just a big goof who loves to play games."

Kate smiled at her. "Yeah, I've noticed that."

"He doesn't have to hide when he's with you and the guys," Alexis told her, "You all accepted him for him, you're not around him just because he has money, so he's more real around you."

Kate felt flattered and continued to smile. "I'll keep him safe Alexis," Kate then told her softly, "For both our sakes."

Alexis reached out and grabbed hold of Kate's hand, where it was resting on her knee. She gave it a squeeze. "And yourself Kate," she said softly, "If something serious happened to you he'd crawl back into the hole that he made after your shooting, and I don't know if he'd be able to make it out the next time."

Kate placed her hand over the top of the girls and squeezed it. "I'll do my best," she said.

Alexis stared at her for a long moment and Kate held her gaze. Alexis then nodded. "We should probably go back downstairs," she then said, "Before dad comes looking for us."

Kate nodded in agreement and the two of them got up. Alexis caught sight of herself in the mirror and shook her head. "I'm going to go clean up then I'll come back down to join you all," she said.

Kate nodded once again. They walked out of Alexis' room and then Kate headed one way while Alexis headed the other. But before they got too far apart Kate reached out and snagged Alexis' elbow. Alexis turned to her, her face questioning.

"If you ever need to talk to me about anything," Kate said, "Don't stand on ceremony. If you think I'm putting your dad in more danger, or if something is going on with him that you think I should know please tell me ok. I want to be able to keep working with him, but I don't want you to lose your dad ok."

Alexis nodded and then gave Kate a smile. "Are we ok?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah," Kate told her, "I'm ok if you're ok."

Alexis nodded again and then the two of them separated, Alexis heading for the bathroom while Kate headed back down the stairs to join Rick and Martha.