Lightning Flashes - Chapter Three


Walking into the bullpen at the twelfth precinct and having all heads turn in her direction is entirely too reminiscent of junior high. If anything, it's worse than her school days, because when her coworkers begin to smile in a way that suggests they know something she doesn't, they're not just being obnoxious kids; she is absolutely, one hundred percent certain that she's not going to like whatever it is.

Beckett stops for a moment, eyeing them as well, before moving to her desk. Their eyes follow her the entire way, leaving her to tap her knuckles against the mouse pad and exhale. "Okay, what?" she asks, looking around, making eye contact with as many of them as possible. "What's going on? Do I have a 'kick me' sign on my back or something?"

A few of her observers look away, shamed into going back to what they're supposed to be doing. Others offer smug grins.

"What the hell is so funny?" she demands, lifting an eyebrow. A glare and the purse of her lips seems to be enough to quell a few of the smirks, but she notes that Esposito still looks particularly tickled.

"You wanna be on babysitting duty, Esposito?" she asks. "Because I have a suspect that I just had to cut loose that you can go watch for the rest of the night."

She's not sure what's extra funny about that, but the other detective's face breaks and laughter spills from his lips.

"Funny you should say that, Beckett, because you have a visitor."

She blinks. "Oh-kay? What does that have to do with putting you on a stakeout to teach you a lesson?"

He leans back in his chair, the self-satisfied smile making another appearance. "Why don't you go see for yourself? But I gotta tell you, it's pretty cute who you're getting visits from now. Surprising, but cute."

Her eyes narrow, but he doesn't back down.

"They're in the break room," he adds, reaching back for a file she's sure he isn't going to read.

They are in the break room? She rubs her forehead, giving the file she'd been intending to start studying a long look. She needs to go back over her witness statements, try to find something to tie this guy in a real way to their crime.

"Fine. But while I'm in there, look this over for me and quit giggling."

Esposito catches the paper as she steps around him and makes her way to the break room. A glance over her shoulder shows that he's facing his desk and she waits until he (and a fair number of the other onlookers) seem otherwise occupied before she opens the door to the break room.

Laughter alerts her to the identity of her visitor before she even steps inside. After so many years of knowing him, she can recognize his laugh anywhere.

Still, it doesn't stop her from giving him an incredulous look as she pushes the door the rest of the way open and moves inside.

"Rick Castle, what are you doing here?"

He grins, lifting Alexis to his shoulder, rubbing a circle over her back. "We had an appointment a few blocks away and thought we'd come see you."

She nods, conscious of the uniformed officer standing at the sink making cutesy faces at Alexis. It isn't that she's upset that they're here, it's just… it's personal, they're personal; she doesn't need the whole precinct gawking at her or gossiping and analyzing her relationship with Rick.

"A few blocks away, huh?"

"Give or take twenty or twenty-five."

"Uh huh. So you're just saying hi?" she asks, lifting an eyebrow. She is well aware of Rick Castle and his alternative methods and motives; he is absolutely not above using Alexis for his personal gain.

Rick's head bobs. "Well, that, and bringing you this," he adds, lifting a travel cup of coffee from their favorite café. She accepts it, offering a small smile.

"Thanks. This will definitely help."

"You have a case?"

"See you later, cutie," Officer Weems jumps in, moving over to touch Alexis's hand. "Nice meeting you, Mr. Castle."

Kate's sure a quip is coming, but her friend surprises her. "You too, Officer," Castle says instead, peppering a kiss to Alexis's head.

"To answer your question," Beckett says without waiting for him to add anything, "yes, I have a case. I pretty much always have a case."

She sips her coffee, watching him shift Alexis. The baby squirms in his arms, looking around the room. Kate reaches out, rubbing her back. "Hey, Alexis, is Daddy parading you around for fun?"

Rick turns his daughter so Beckett can see her eyes. Alexis brightens when she spots Kate, drawing a grin from the detective, too.

"Showing her off is more like it. She's working her charm on everyone she meets today. Including you, Beckett. I saw your expression when you walked in here."

"Shush," she insists, shaking her head at his grin. "I know where this visit is going, Rick, and I can't leave."

"Just… a quick break," he tries. "A walk around the block, if nothing else. I haven't seen you in days, it feels like, and I know you're working too hard."

"Rick…"

"Pleaaase?" he asks, lifting Alexis higher, pressing his cheek to his daughter's, letting the girl's bright blue eyes do additional pleading for him.

"Okay, okay," she concedes. "A walk around the block to clear my head doesn't sound too bad, actually."

Rick bounces, triumphant. "See, I knew that. I could see that on your face."

Her eyes narrow. "Watch it, buster. Insults aren't the way to sway me."

"No insult, just expressing my concern for your well being. Come on, let's walk. Before you–"

"Beckett," Esposito sticks his head into the break room. "I found something you're going to want to see."

Rick's shoulders drop, causing regret to lick at her gut. "So close," he murmurs, pressing a kiss to Alexis's hair.

"Sorry," Beckett apologies, taking a deep breath. "I'm off tomorrow afternoon – today I'm working a double – we can do something then?"

Her friend nods. "Trying to get rid of me?" he teases.

"Yep. Call me tomorrow and let me know where you wanna meet? We can take our walk then."

"Kay," he agrees, offering Alexis to her. Beckett doesn't take her from him, lifting the baby's hand instead and pecking a kiss against her little fingers. "See you tomorrow," she says, locking eyes with the girl before turning to the elder Castle. "See you tomorrow. And thank you for the coffee."

Rick cocks his head. "You're welcome. I'll uh, I'll just head home now."

He lifts the bag of Alexis's things to his shoulder, looking around before pulling the stroller from a corner. She waves to Alexis as he plants the girl in the seat, moving to hold the door for them.

She ignores Esposito's gleeful, inquisitive looks, waiting until Rick steers Alexis out of the bullpen and onto the elevator to turn to him.

"Don't."

"Oh no, no. I'm gonna."

"What'd you find, Detective?" she asks, ignoring the questions that start to spill from his mouth.

Esposito sighs. "Spoilsport."

"Yeah, I'm a spoilsport. I'm also trying to solve a murder. So, do you wanna help with that? Or am I going to have to do it all on my own? Again."

"Oh ho, you think you've done it on your own before?"

Beckett snorts. "I know I have. What do you think I was doing before you got here?"

Esposito waves a hand. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I looked at the witness statements like you said and something stuck out at me: everyone heard the shot but only half of them saw a guy matching Pearson's description."

"Except his alibi checks out," she says. "That's why we had to cut him loose."

"Yeah, but think about who corroborated that alibi? The owner of the club where our victim worked. That seems weird, doesn't it?"

Her brow furrows. "Yeah it does."

"Care to take a ride over there and see if anyone can tell us whether Pearson and Caroline crossed paths at the club at all?"

"Or whether Caroline and the owner did," she says, feeling the tug of a new thought at the edge of her brain. A new lead to follow. "Let's go."

Esposito nods, grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair. "And on the way, I'm going to get you to talk about your boyfriend back there – and his baby. And if I don't, Ryan will be pissed at me when he gets back."

She rolls her eyes, following him out of the bullpen.

"Yeah, good luck with that."

She gives him nothing.


"You're not mad at me for showing up at the precinct yesterday, are you?"

"No," she says, strolling beside Rick, bumping her shoulder against his. "I was just surprised to see you."

He looks skeptical, leading her to exhale and continue, "It's just… well, people always talk, but it got their tongues wagging a little more than normal. That's all."

Rick grins. "What'd they say? Was it good?"

She snorts. "Digging for compliments, Rick? That's a little sad. Do you want to know if Officer Weems thinks you're dreamy?" she teases.

"No," he says, then after a beat, "But did she say anything?"

"No."

She leans over, checking Alexis's face. The girl sleeps on, oblivious to their conversation. "I'm just not sure the precinct is good for Alexis. You came in on a good day, but it can get crazy, too."

"Oh yeah, that's fair. I didn't think about that; I'll keep a better eye out next time."

She laughs. "Uh huh. That wasn't necessarily what I was trying to get you to take away from that."

"Oh, I know. But I'm still going to visit you and bring her. I'll just be careful."

Kate cocks her head. "Okay, okay," she sighs. "But if you expect me to be your wing woman with the uniforms – or anyone for that matter – you're fooling yourself. And I will be kicking you out if you misbehave."

"Duly noted," Rick laughs. "I will never ask you to be my wing woman."

She hums, looping her arm through his. "See that you don't."

He lifts a hand from the stroller handle, patting her fingers lightly. "On another note, I brought food so we can just sit, and you can relax, since you were at work all night long."

And just like that, his over the top teasing has ended and he's back to being Rick; light-hearted, sweet Rick.

"That sounds great, thank you," she exhales, resting her cheek on his shoulder, lifting it a moment later when it proves uncomfortable to walk like that. Plus, she might just fall asleep if she gets too comfortable, and Rick always manages to help her let go of the tension and exhaustion she feels.

Her friend smiles. "I made your favorite, too."

"Mmm, you're spoiling me."

He pats her hand again. "More like buttering you up to tell me all about that case you were working when I stopped by."

"Rick," she groans. "I can't tell you. You know that."

"Yeah, I know. But it was worth a shot."

"Always gotta try, huh?" she asks, wry.

"Well yeah, wouldn't you?"

She squeezes his arm. "Of course. I will tell you that we got the guy – the victim's boss did it. Then he tried to play the good guy by alibiing our first suspect out and that's what got us onto him."

"That's good. Why'd he kill them – do you know?"

"Drugs, money. The victim was going to turn him in for embezzling from the business and using the money to score his next fix. It was actually kind of sad," she adds, frowning at the memory of the heartbroken look on the man's face. "He may end up in a rehab program in prison, but I don't know."

Rick nods, looking thoughtful. "I hope he manages to get clean."

She nods. "I do, too. It was just so… he lost his temper and a woman died. No premeditation, no malice. Just a guy who wanted to cover his ass and got mad."

Castle offers her a soft look, pressing his lips to her forehead. "I'm sorry. I know cases like that are hard."

"Yeah they are," she exhales, hoping he can't tell the way she leans into the touch of his lips, hoping the flip of her stomach isn't obvious. "They're all hard, but the senseless ones are worse."

"Yeah," he agrees.

"Thanks, Rick," she says after a moment, grateful for the chance to express herself without facing the judgement that sometimes rears its ugly head in the NYPD ranks when they even lean toward feeling anything but machismo and stoicism.

"Anytime. Now that we've made it to the park, pick where you want to sit; I'm starving. Aren't you starving?"

"I'm starving," she insists. "I've been starving. You were the one insisting we take a leisurely stroll before we could sit and eat. I would've eaten sitting outside my apartment if you had let me."

"I'm just waiting for you to pick the right spot. All you had to do was tell me when you wanted to stop walking."

She rolls her eyes, pointing toward a tall tree. "Over there in the shade, okay?"

Rick steers the stroller off the pathway, moving toward the spot she'd indicated. She grabs the blanket from the shelf on the bottom of the stroller once they stop, spreading it out on the grass. Castle hands over the makeshift picnic basket once she finishes, turning to unwrap Alexis from her light blanket and lift her out.

Alexis stretches but Kate can't tell if the movement has disturbed her sleep or not. Rick cuddles his daughter, nuzzling her head and murmuring words of comfort as if he had, but she doesn't cry to indicate she's upset.

"She could've stayed in the stroller, you know."

"I–" he stops, gathering his thoughts. "Yeah, I know, but I also worry about someone coming along and grabbing it and running off with her."

"That's an… oddly specific concern, Castle. I think baby snatching in broad daylight has gone out of fashion, though, so you're probably safe to let her stay in the stroller for now."

Rick narrows his eyes. "Confident as you've made me now, I think I'll just hold her anyway."

She snickers, shrugging. "Suit yourself."

She holds out his food once he's settled, patting his knee. "You're sweet to be concerned, Rick. Just remember, you can move the stroller closer if you're worried." She cocks her head, the corners of her lips twitching. "And I can chase people down if I need to."

He grins. "I wouldn't mind seeing that."

Kate rolls her eyes. "Shut up and eat."

Her order makes his smile widen. "Speaking of shutting up, there are drinks in there, too. They should be chilled by now. I think I remember putting water and some… flavored something that looked good in the store."

"Thanks." She digs in the bag again, pulling two bottles of water from the cooler portion, handing his over with a gentle nudge of her knee against his.

Rick returns the nudge, shifting Alexis. "Anytime, Kate."

When it becomes apparent that he's not going to be able to eat his lunch one-handed, they come to a compromise of settling Alexis on the blanket between them and shielding her with their bodies from the few rays of sun that peek through the leaves.

"I did put sunscreen on her, but it never hurts to be safe."

"With hair that red? She might burn just thinking about the sun," Beckett murmurs, sipping her water.

Rick chuckles. "Yeah, going to the Hamptons with her will be interesting. She'll love it, playing in the pool, on the beach. She's going to practically live in the water during the summer, I can already picture it."

"You should ask your mom for advice," she suggests. "After all, she's pretty fair."

"Oh, I'm sure Mother will give me advice whether I ask for it or not," Castle says, dodging her swat. "But you're right; I don't know what it's like to burn easily and I don't want Alexis to be hurting or uncomfortable during the summers. So even if my mother just says to invest in industrial strength SPF 70, that'll be good to know."

Kate smiles into her sandwich. Every day he impresses her a little more with his devotion to Alexis, with the thought (and sometimes overthought) that he puts into taking care of the girl. It's not a surprise to see him diving in head-first; he's always been passionate about something with he puts his mind to it, but until Alexis came into his life, he'd largely focused that energy on his books, researching for his books, buying new trinkets to amuse him when he wanted to deal with neither of the first two things, and playing the careless playboy in the press.

"Yeah, exactly. It's better to know. You're going to buy her so many pool toys, aren't you?" she asks, reaching out and running a fingertip down Alexis's cheek.

"Would you expect any less of me?"

"Never."

He laughs. "I've already started looking for the best ones for infants."

"Of course you have. How could I think otherwise?" She takes another bite of her sandwich, sighing in contentment. "This is so good, Castle."

Rick sits up a little straighter. "I'm glad. I thought about doing that salad you like, but then I thought the lettuce might get too wilted in transit."

"Good call. This is just what I needed; something hearty. Besides, I had a pitiful excuse for a chef's salad for dinner last night and I'm not sure I want to see anything resembling romaine for a little while."

She takes another bite, nodding to herself. Turkey and roast beef with mushrooms and cheese melted on top is so much more appealing right now than a salad. "Yeah, way better."

Castle takes a bite of his own sandwich, looking pleased with himself. "And for dessert, there's a bag of cookies. Not homemade, but still good; I picked them up on our way to meet you, so they're fresh."

She grins, turning her attention back to Rick's daughter. "Oh, Alexis, you're not going to know what hit you when you start eating solid foods. I'm sure your dad will find some way to make you gourmet chicken fingers and dipping sauces instead of boring regular ketchup."

Rick laughs. "Why wait for her to start on solids, I want to do that next week for myself. You're invited, of course, so mark your calendar and tell the bad guys to quit for a night, because you're needed at Casa Castle."

Kate chuckles at his insistence, his enthusiasm for what had been an off-the-cuff suggestion on her part, smiling to herself. "Sure thing, Rick. Sure thing."


Thank you all for giving this story such an amazing reception! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading!