Disclaimer: I do not own these characters; they belong to the genius of AWM and that other three letter network I really don't like.

Overheard

Chapter 3

Kate was awake before the sun the next morning, having only managed a few hours of restless sleep. In most cases, when she had a big decision to make, she would mull over it for a long time, reviewing her options, putting the topic aside and coming back to it again and again until she was sure it was the right decision. She would also run and hide until she had made her decision and was ready to face the world again. She had run this time, but she recognised she had no time left to dither about her decision. Castle had been entertaining suicidal thoughts, and god knows what may have happened if he didn't have Alexis to consider. She may have already lost him. That thought had her jumping out of bed, straight into the shower and rushing through her morning routine, determined to put her plan into action immediately.

She arrived at the precinct before anyone else on the day shift, but was pleased to see that Captain Gates was already in her office, probably preparing for a meeting at 1PP. Kate again reminded herself that while promotion and career progression was high on her priorities list, she didn't want to become a precinct captain and get buried in paperwork. She boldly walked up to the office door and knocked, waiting for Gates' permission before walking in and closing the door.

"You're in early, Detective Beckett, even for you. Is there something wrong?" Gates asked, with her usual raised eyebrow.

"Yes, Sir. I needed to speak to you as soon as possible. I need to take a few days leave, starting immediately." Kate was not willing to give Gates any more information unless she really had to.

Gates looked at her, and removed her glasses, placing them down on the desk before she indicated that Kate should sit. When she did, Gates looked at her for a long while again, before speaking.

"Does this have anything to do with that erstwhile partner of yours?"

Kate was taken aback at how perceptive Gates seemed to be, but she was not about to discuss her personal life.

"I'd rather not say, Sir. I have the completed documentation here."

Gates just looked at her again, then reached her hand out for the forms. After reviewing them, she signed in the three places required, but did not hand them back straight away.

"Detective Beckett, you may think I don't like Mr. Castle, and I am certainly not a fan of his more outlandish efforts. But I have noticed something off about your partnership the last few days, so if there is anything you can do to bring it back into balance, you have my support. I don't want to see you here until next Monday."

"Thank you, Sir." Kate nodded at Gates, then walked out, collecting her bag and coat from her desk before leaving via the stairway, not wanting to bump into any of her colleagues. She was pleasantly surprised by her Captain's reaction to her leave request, but she wouldn't waste any more time on it until she returned to work, hopefully with her partner in tow. One task down, she moved onto the next on her mental list.

She drove to the morgue to speak with Alexis, and set up drinks with Lanie. When she walked in, Lanie had her arms buried to the elbows in a new corpse, and Alexis was nowhere to be seen. She nodded at her friend and walked over to her desk, settled down to wait until Lanie was finished to speak to her friend.

It was 20 minutes later when Lanie sealed up the body and cleaned her hands. She walked over observing Kate closely, seeing the changes the last week had made in her friend, just when she thought Kate was finally looking happier and healthier.

"Ok, what's up girl?" Lanie asked, pulling the rolling stool over to her desk next to Kate.

"Ah, nothing, Lanie, I wanted to speak to Alexis" Immediately Lanie could tell that Kate was deflecting, and she wasn't going to allow it today.

"Nah uh, Kate, that's not nothing. You still look like someone kicked your dog, and I think Alexis is the wrong Castle you need to be talking to."

"Yes, I know, Lanie, but ….I, ah, can we catch up for drinks tomorrow night? I do want to talk to you, but first I need to talk to Alexis."

"Well, she's not here, sweetie, she hasn't been back since the bombing case. She rang me last night and said her Dad was not comfortable with her being around so much death, and she would not be finishing her internship. She sounded pretty cut up about it, but I could hear relief in her voice as well. She really is too young to see the dark side of this city in such close proximity."

"Oh." Kate breathed the word, and her face fell. If she couldn't speak to Alexis, how was she supposed to find Castle so she could talk to him?

"Kate? Kate, what's going on?" She must have zoned out because she suddenly realised that Lanie was shaking her arm trying to get her attention. She stood up, deciding this was not the place, and she had to rethink her plans.

"Not here, Lanie. Come over tomorrow, we can talk then. I have to get going." Kate had her Beckett armour on again, and Lanie knew she would get nothing further now.

"OK, I'll be there. And then you are going to tell me everything, girlfriend!" Lanie called as Kate walked out through the swinging doors, waving distractedly. She was thinking maybe she could call Alexis anyway, check up on the girl, and somehow lead the conversation around to her dad. She even dialled her number, but then thought better of it. Driving through Manhattan traffic required all her concentration, but so did this conversation, so she had better give both those things her full attention.

Once Kate was back inside her apartment again, she knew she couldn't put it off any longer. She sat on her bed as she stared at her phone, Alexis' contact details up on the screen. She took a last deep breath, then dialled, hoping she could start to win Castle back with Alexis' help.

The phone rang quite a few times before it was answered, and Kate was starting to think Alexis was ignoring her, when the girl answered, but her tone of voice was not at all welcoming.

"Detective Beckett?" the girl asked, the tone of surprise almost concealing the chill.

"Hi Alexis, is this a bad time?" Kate asked. She figured if Castle was around he would already know who his daughter was talking to, and perhaps she could redirect the conversation to another time if that was the case.

"Um, no, I'm just out shopping." Alexis was not forthcoming with anything else, and Kate remembered that other times when she had called, Alexis always asked if something was wrong with her Dad. Obviously she knew that Castle hadn't been to the precinct lately, so Kate wondered how much she had been told, or been able to guess.

"Listen, Alexis, I think your Dad and I had a misunderstanding and I want to-" Kate didn't get any further before the girl cut her off.

"Is that what you call it? It didn't sound like that from his side. Of course he's been keeping me away from anything to do with the precinct lately, but I can see that something has hurt him really badly. And again, it has something to do with you. Don't you think you have hurt him enough? Maybe you should just leave him be, Detective." Alexis didn't give her a chance to reply, but hung up.

TBC

A/N: Yup, that went well. Sorry, couldn't resist quoting a little Firefly there who can tell me which episode that is from?

I continue to be pleasantly surprised and humbled by your response to my story, as it's now my 4th most reviewed story by a considerable margin, and I can only hope that you continue to enjoy it and share your thoughts with me. Next up, I will share a little of Castle's POV.