Our favorite detective runs into Alexis Castle. Together, they free the young redhead from her mother's shopping clutches. With her dad out of the country and her grandmother MIA, Alexis needs a place to stay.
Alexis looks miserable and Kate hopes it's more the situation and less the company. She's irrationally fond of the girl. "Okay, that was the FedEx guy. Here's your new SIM. The old one's deactivated. I just got you a simple phone, since I guess that you'll get yours back eventually." Kate tosses the package at Alexis who catches it clumsily.
"How?" Alexis seems awed and Kate is glad she decided to slightly misuse her authority.
"I wouldn't come between a teenage girl and her phone, Alexis." It seems that is all the explanation the girl needs and they smile briefly at one another before Alexis tears into the package.
"This is the same one you have!" Alexis seems pleased with that and Kate almost winces at her pragmatism in the face of the young girls obvious happiness. Just like Castle, everything holds so much meaning.
"I just figured that once you're done with it, it can be my backup. I crash a lot of phones." She lets herself smile.
"Cool. Dad will totally pay you back for all of this." Alexis has the phone ready to go and is looking for an outlet to charge the device. As soon as she has unlocked the phone, she texts her father, hoping he will get her message and finally call her back.
"I was gonna order food. You want anything specific?"
"What kind of food?"
"Chinese?"
"Anything chicken."
"Wanna split two dishes?"
Alexis nods and Beckett makes the familiar call. With food on the way, she lets herself plan the rest of the night. "When do you have to be in school tomorrow?"
"Nine."
"That's good. We'll swing by the loft and pick up some clothes for you. You'll need your school uniform, I assume." Alexis nods. "Anything else? You play some kind of instrument, right? Do you have lessons?"
"Yeah, I play the violin. Olga comes by on Thursdays. I'll just cancel."
"Or you can just tell her to come here. Whatever you want Alexis."
"Really?"
"Sure. I'll drop your stuff here before I go in tomorrow and you can sort out things with your teacher." Kate takes some money out of her wallet and hands it over. "I'm gonna go pick up a toothbrush for you. I shouldn't be long, but just in case the delivery guy is fast. Tip him well, he's my main source of food." She grabs her keys from the small bowl by the door and then searches the drawer of the commode that the bowl was sitting on. "Ha!" She smiles in triumph when her fingers close around her spare key. "You'll need this tomorrow after school. I won't be home until late." She puts it into the bowl where Alexis can see it and then leaves with a simple wave. She figures, she'll give the girl a little time to get used to her surroundings. Maybe snoop a little.
The food is there when she returns. She picked up some soda and some ice-cream as well (if she bought the kid a tooth brush, they should have all the sugar they want). Alexis has found some napkins and glasses, but left the food in its containers. "I like eating out of the cartons, is that okay?"
"Perfect. We'll trade. Got some strawberry ice-cream for desert. You want water or soda?"
"Water is fine. I'll get it."
"There should be some in the fridge." Alexis brings the pitcher of filtered water to the table and Kate pushes her glass forward at Alexis's raised eyebrow.
They talk about random things during dinner. Music and school, mostly. Kate is glad that she is genuinely interested in what the young girl has to say and doesn't mind sharing some of her own musical tastes. When they've taken care of the dishes and have settled on the couch with small bowls of ice-cream, Kate can feel Alexis withdrawing. "Do you want to talk about what happened today? You don't have to, but you can."
Alexis slowly meets her eyes, but shakes her head. "Maybe tomorrow? I'm just so tired. Mom took me to parties every night and I'm just not used to so little sleep."
Kate takes another look at the slumped shoulders and blinking eyes and realises that the girl is not withdrawing. She's simply exhausted. She puts her empty bowl on the table and grabs Alexis's melting desert as well. "Come on, you're going to bed."
"Would that be okay?"
"Of course. Come on, I'll show you the rest of the apartment. Did you take a look around?"
Alexis shakes her head slowly. "Okay, you can snoop in detail tomorrow. Let's do the nickel tour. Bathroom's over here. Your toothbrush is on the windowsill. Help yourself to whatever else you need. I usually shower first thing in the morning and I'm a morning person, so it's probably best that I get the bathroom first tomorrow. I'll wake you once I'm done, okay?" Alexis nods with a smile. "Excellent. Bedroom's across the hall, you can borrow some pajamas."
"But this is your bedroom." Alexis's voice stalls Kate's search for a pajama top.
"Yeah, I don't have a guest room."
"I couldn't take your bedroom! I'll sleep on the couch."
"That's sweet Alexis, but this the quietest room in the apartment and you said yourself that you need some sleep. Besides, I'm still wide awake and you wouldn't want to kick me out of my living room just so you can sleep on the couch, would you?" Kate grins at the dilemma that Alexis clearly imagines herself in.
"Okay?"
"It's more than okay, Alexis. I fall asleep on that couch all the time. Get some sleep and we'll talk tomorrow, yeah?" She pushes the girl towards the bathroom again, points out the clean towels and goes back to her bedroom to change the sheets, gather her own sleepwear and clothes for the next day as well. She wants to let Alexis sleep till the last possible moment. It seems like the girl needs it. She grabs her alarm as well and turns on the small lamp beside her bed. With a last look through her room, she deems it ready for her guest and wanders back into her kitchen. She is drying their bowls when Alexis - swimming in her pajama top - slowly shuffles into her line of sight.
"Good night, detective." Kate smiles. Alexis reminds her of the pictures of Christopher-Robin in the book of Winnie the Pooh stories she loved as a child. "And thank you."
"No need to thank me. Just get some rest. I'll try to reach your dad, again, okay?" She is surprised by the fierce hug, but tries not to let it show.
"Thank you." The words are mumbled against her shoulder, but Kate can hear the genuine gratitude in the girl's voice loud and clear.
"Go to sleep, Lex. I'll see you in the morning."
She grins as she watched the slow shuffle to her room. She really has no defences against the Castles.
She grabs her phone and tries not to think how expensive an overseas call to an American cell phone will be. "Hey Castle. Alexis said you were country-hopping in Europe. Just wanted to let you know that your kid is currently hiding at my place and that you don't need to worry. Call her."
tbc