Chapter 3 – Barriers

She had fallen for it again. The three of them had left the precinct and headed back to his place for dinner and to continue the discussion. They had worked on leads from the precinct, not wanting to leave Alexis alone in the bullpen. The sister would be arriving on a flight early in the morning, in time for Ryan and Esposito to meet her. Plus, checking out the docks would be more useful knowing Martha was on a red eye back to New York to help with Alexis.

Getting off the elevator, Castle spied Alexis asleep on the desk as the two babysitters continued making phone calls. She had missed lunch and it was almost dinner. "Are you doing anything tonight?" he asked.

"Besides work?" Beckett asked irritatingly. But her features quickly softened when she looked in the direction Castle was. Her heart fell as Beckett pictured what she went through her first time on a murder case, seeing the body, having to analyze it, and then forget it. "What did you have in mind?"

"Delivery and a smaller murder board in a swanky loft not completely across town." He leaned over and shook Alexis gently as the two other men watched. She moaned softly and stretched, now surprised by all the eyes on her.

"I fell asleep? I guess I didn't sleep that well last night." She rubbed her eyes and started packing up her books after seeing her father pick up his overcoat he had left.

"We're ordering in tonight."

"I want the Chinese place. The one with the real dim sum," Alexis stated as she curiously watched Beckett grab her coat and purse.

"Guys, call me on the cell if you break anything." The three walked away as Ryan and Esposito just looked at each other.

The three walked into Castle's apartment with bags on Chinese wafting sweet and sour smells through the air. Beckett watched as Alexis immediately headed upstairs to throw her things down and Castle carefully laid out plates and dinner. "Wine or something else?"

Beckett shook out of her stare. "Tea? You know with the food."

"Ahh," she shook her head as Castle continued bounding around the kitchen grabbing a teapot and a large teabag with what she only guessed was fresh leaves.

"Wow, I was looking for Lipton, but you apparently know the place in Chinatown," she commented as Alexis reappeared, dressed much more comfortably.

"Yeah, a friend of mine at school her dad runs a big tea and herbal market there. Dad gets a discount." Beckett shook her head as the teapot went off and watched Castle carefully pour hot water over the diffusers in each cup.

"Now," he pointed out, "you can take it out when it hits the strength you want." He sat the water back on the stove and sat on the other chair. The three continued to eat in relative peace, going back over pieces of the case that wouldn't alarm or put off Alexis. After dinner, she excused herself.

"I'm going to head up to bed. Thanks Kate for letting me hang today; it was easier than school and probably all the kids will have something else to talk about come Monday." She hugged Kate and then Castle goodnight.

"You have a date tonight?" Castle threw out as he cleaned up the kitchen.

"No, he's actually on his way to Japan," he heard her say quietly as she continued to nurse her tea.

Castle was confused. "I thought he wasn't going out of the country. I thought you two had worked it out." He didn't want to lead her to believe what he was feeling. The last he knew their kiss had been nothing, and Josh was still very much in the picture. He watched as she pushed her tea away and slid off the chair.

"Well, earthquakes change people's minds."

"I'm sorry, but I mean he'll be back. He's not gone for good." Castle followed her to the door. She seemed to be running out the door. "Beckett." He reached for her and turned her around.

Beckett was breathing harder than she knew she could handle. Squeezing at her temples, she sighed. "Did either one of your wives ever cheat on you, or was it just relationship issues?" she asked before she think about the question.

Castle backed up and tried unsuccessfully to pull Beckett back into the loft. "Meredith. One of the many reasons I have little to do with her. Beckett, what did Josh do?" He pulled her out of the doorway as he saw her wipe her face.

"I'm sorry, this is really Lanie's department, but she's been…"

Castle pulled her hands down from her face really looked at her. "Kate, I live with a teenage daughter. Now, what happened?" Pulling her over to the couch he kept her hands in his and sat patiently as she thought.

"He…," she closed her eyes and bit down hard on her lip. "I called this afternoon to check in with him as soon as I knew he would be getting up and a woman answered." She sat back into the pillows on the couch and stared at Castle. "I was pretty sure I made a mistake and dialed again with the same result. Asked for him."

With his head slightly lowered, he was overly concerned. She didn't deserve this. Josh had no knowledge of her background, but no woman really deserved the treatment, especially her. Castle knew that inside her firm demeanor was still that little girl wanting to talk to her mom, more so at time like this.

"What did he say?"

He watched as Kate fiddled with her fingers and closed her eyes. "He said it was really tough over there and his emotions had just led him off the path. That he didn't know where we stood and said he was staying for another month. And I said well, that's that." She glanced at Castle who returned with nothing. "I couldn't even say the words."

"Come here," Castle whispered as he put his arm up for her to curl under. She thought it to be a bad idea, but gave up feeling the warmth next to him. Falling into his body, he handed her the tissue box from the side table and let her cry.

"You go through this with Alexis?" She sniffled out after a few minutes.

"With Ashley, it's been awhile, but it happens." He felt her try to sit up and then bury further into him.

"Thank you, although I have this feeling you're thrilled." She heard him scoff in a silent retort, but knew he had to be. She closed her eyes and ignored the fact she was buried in Castle's arm. She could smell him, even in the evening, he smelled luscious. His breathing slowed as Castle looked up at the clock.

He wanted to get angry; he wanted to buy a ticket to Japan just to beat the sense back into the man. He wanted to be with her, but at least wanted whomever she picked to be good to her. His Beckett wasn't happy, and that hurt him.

After sitting quiet for awhile, Castle wanted to see if she had truly just fallen asleep. He held still for a moment longer and then moved his arm slightly. She stirred and then cuddled against the pillow he replaced his body with. Covering her up, he kissed her forehead, put an extra key next to purse, turned off the lights and went to bed.

TBC

A/N - Thank you again for the alerts and the reviews. It truly helps keep the momentum.