AN: Just a thought… Throughout the story, and as the relationship progresses, I am going to hint dialogue or situations from the show. It's like I'm going to build the relationship similarly, but in a different setting and at a different pace, which I think should be interesting. Hopefully you'll find it that way too!
During the next almost 6 hours of flight, he only talks with Alexis. Beckett barely says a word.
She keeps herself busy reading a book. And that book happens to be Storm's Last Stand, It's one of her favorite books. She's not sure what she was thinking by bringing one of his books with her, but she did. She's cringing at the thought of him gloating, though. Looks like I have a fan! She can almost picture him.
Ugh.
She has read every one of his books at least once. They have something in them that just… gets to her. I mean, when she was in the NYPD she solved murders all day; you would think that the last thing that she would want to do when she got home was read about them.
But his books saved her. All those years ago she was falling apart and those books, those stories, kept her together.
That's it. It's the story. How can people do such terrible things to one another? How could someone… do what they did to her mother? Her mind inevitably goes there.
She suddenly feels overwhelmed by her thoughts and takes a couple of deep breaths. She sometimes forgets how dangerous her wandering soul can be.
Castle is halfheartedly paying attention to the in-flight movie. He notices the title of Beckett's book in the corner of his eye and is pleasantly surprised. Looks like I have a fan! He smiles to himself. But he doesn't comment on it, figuring he already pushed enough for one day.
They get out of the airport at about 9 pm, so they go straight to the hotel.
It's a very nice 2-room suite. Beckett takes the one with one bed and Castle and Alexis share the one with two.
At about 8 the next morning, Beckett realizes Alexis and Castle are already up, so she starts getting ready.
By the time she's out, she finds the girl sitting on the couch with her gaze fixed on her phone. "Morning"
"Good morning" Alexis smiles as she takes her eyes away from her phone to meet Beckett's.
"Where's you dad?" Beckett scans the room looking for him.
"He's getting ready"
Beckett nods in response. She's standing awkwardly in front of her room, not sure of what to do next. "So… Where do you want to go today?"
Alexis' eyes light up at the question. "There's this great museum here, the Seattle Art Museum. I'd love to go there"
"Then that's where we're going" Beckett smiles back. She's surprised – that is, pleasantly surprised – at the girl's choice. She was half expecting to spend the day following her around malls and outlets for hours on end.
"Good morning, Beckett" Castle interrupts her train of thought when he gets out of his room.
"Morning"
"Have you decided where you're going?" he looks at his daughter.
"The Seattle Art Museum" she beams.
"Good choice" he's always taken aback about how lucky he is to have this bright, intelligent girl as his daughter. "Now, let's head downstairs. There's a Starbucks across the street. We can get breakfast there"
Once inside the coffee shop, Castle tells Beckett and Alexis to sit down and asks them what they want.
"I'll take care of it" the bodyguard says. She's the one who's working for them after all.
"I-" he's about to protest, but she cuts him off.
"I will take care of it" she insists.
"Okay" he throws his hands in the air in surrender before he sits down by Alexis' side.
They tell her what they want and she walks over to the counter.
Castle gets up to help her carry the beverages to the table once they're ready, earning an eye-roll from Beckett.
Truth be told, a few moments ago she was actually trying to figure out she'd take everything to the table all by herself.
They eat their breakfast mostly in silence. When they're done, Castle hands Alexis a credit card and tells her and Beckett to enjoy their day.
When he's almost at the door, he turns back to look at them. "Oh, and don't come back too late"
Beckett nods.
"Why?" Alexis asks him.
"I have reservations at the space needle at 7" he beams. The moment he knew he was coming to Seattle he had to make reservations for the needle, which are extremely hard to get, especially for dinner, but he knows people. "Hope you brought something fancy to wear, Beckett"
"I-" she's taken aback. She doesn't have anything to wear! And she won't let him spend more than he has to on her by taking her to fancy dinners. "I don't think I should go... Besides, I don't have anything to wear" she really doesn't want to go.
"Don't worry about that" he smirks. "I've got it covered" he turns around and leaves.
Beckett's left with a confused expression on her face. She shakes her head to clear her thoughts. She'll deal with that later. "Ready to go?" She looks at the teenager, who nods in response.
A couple of hours later, Beckett and Alexis are enjoying the museum, both being art aficionados.
At lunch time, they're eating in the restaurant that's inside the museum. After taking a bite of her sandwich, Beckett decides to go ahead and ask the girl what has been running around in her head since this morning. "Alexis, can I ask you something?"
"Sure"
"Why did you decide to go to a museum instead of… I don't know, going shopping? I mean, it's not a bad thing… I'm just… curious" she doesn't want to make the girl uncomfortable.
Alexis smiles at the question. She's aware that sometimes she doesn't exactly fit the teenager stereotype. "Well, I find art really interesting, and appreciating everything the world has to offer is just… Great" she pauses. "Besides, I do enough shopping when my mom's around"
Beckett nods and gives her a little smile.
"They got divorced when I was young" Alexis answers the unasked question. She can see in the bodyguard's eyes that she's curious about that, but she probably won't dig deeper.
Beckett's eyes widen a little at the confession. She was wondering about that, but she wasn't planning on asking.
"Oh" she sees the surprise in Beckett's eyes. "I- I didn't mean to-"
"No, it's okay" Beckett cuts her off as she smiles. She's actually touched at the fact that she wants to open up to her.
Alexis nods timidly. "It's just that… She's more of a crazy aunt with a credit card. I mean, I love her, I do. But I never really get to hang out with her…" she explains. "Dad has been always there for me, though" a little smile appears on her face.
Beckett nods understandingly. God! She misses her mother so much.
"I know he acts like a kid sometimes" she says with a sincerity that makes Beckett look back up into the girl's eyes. "But when he has to be an adult, he's the most caring, most responsible person you could ever meet…"
Beckett's left speechless by this. She really, really wants to hate him – it's easier if she hates him. Hate is easier than… the alternative. But it's getting harder and harder by the minute.
"Well" Alexis breaks her out of her reverie. "Maybe, not the most responsible person ever" her eyes recover their twinkle when she smiles. "But he is pretty great when you get to know him"
Beckett smiles back.
A few moments later, when they're done eating and they're waiting for the check, Alexis decides it's her turn to ask a question. "Can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead" it's her turn. Tit for tat.
"How or why did you become a bodyguard?" she's actually pretty curious about how people become bodyguards.
"Well" she figures she didn't hear her conversation with Castle, for which she's glad. She doesn't need the sympathy or the questions. At least not yet. "I used to be a cop, but I got laid off because of budget cuts" freaking politics. "Being a bodyguard wasn't my first choice" it wasn't a choice at all actually. "But I couldn't keep making my dad pay for my bills, so I decided to become a bodyguard. Which was pretty easy considering my background in law-enforcement" pretty easy… yeah right! "So… Here I am"
"Wow, quite the story" the young girl smiles.
"Tell me about it" Beckett chuckles softly.
"Well… I'm glad you ended up with us" the teenager says quietly, almost afraid to scare the bodyguard off.
Truth be told, she is scared. Not by her Principals, but by how quickly and easily she's bonding with the young girl and how much she actually cares about Castle. "Me too" she takes the teenager's hand and squeezes it softly before they get up. "Shall we continue?" Beckett grins.
"We shall" Alexis smiles back.
AN: Please, feel free to point out any mistakes or inaccuracies.