As the sun starts to set, they're driving into San Diego. They arrive at yet another five-star hotel and when they're checking in, Castle points out that there's one room tonight and Beckett rolls her eyes. There's already been enough craziness for a while, thank you.
They get to their suite and get settled into their own rooms, same as in every city before. They order room service and have a quiet dinner.
The next morning, Castle has the day off, so he asks Alexis what she wants to do.
"I don't know…" she thinks for a second. "Oh!" she says triumphal. "Let's go to the zoo!" they're in San Diego for crying out loud! If they're famous for anything it's for their zoo! And maybe their climate… Anyway, they're going to the zoo.
"Great choice, pumpkin"
Beckett smiles at the idea of going to the zoo. She loved visiting them when she was a kid.
They have a blast while they're there. Castle keeps making silly jokes and buying completely unnecessary souvenirs. Alexis enjoys her day admiring the animals and listening to her father ramble on.
I'm guarding a twelve-year old that's worse than his twelve-year-old, Beckett thinks. She either rolls her eyes or chuckles at Castle's antics, all while doing her job of course.
She observes father and daughter carefully throughout the day and realizes more and more how a great father he is – when he's not being stupid – and how much love he has for his daughter. It's not like she didn't already know this, I mean he hired her to protect Alexis, but sometimes it's easy to forget, especially when he's sending inappropriate advances her way or throwing wild parties that end by them being kicked out of their hotel.
Castle and Beckett sit down on a bench as they look at Alexis admire the birds. The writer stares at his daughter wearing a proud smile on his face – and a silly lion hat on his head. On his periphery he notices Beckett staring at him. "What?" he turns to face her.
"Nothing" she shakes her head and focuses on Alexis. "It's just, I'm so used to you acting like a 12-year-old all the time, it's kind of refreshing to see you as a father" she shrugs. It's not like she hadn't noticed before, but she's realizing it more and more.
"Makes you want me, right?" he smirks. He couldn't help it.
"And there's the 12-year-old again" she nods.
After a moment of silence, he turns his body and leans towards her.
She notices his move and cringes. He's going to try to dig into her personal life again.
"So you like the zoo" he states more than asks.
"How did you know?" she throws him a side-ways look – she's still got her eye on the young girl – and doesn't even try to deny the fact that she adores it.
"Spidey sense" and the way her eyes lit up when Alexis suggested coming.
"Yeah, so?"
"Just, you know… Trying to get to know who works for me"
"Oh, so many layers to the Beckett onion. However will you peel them all" she knows that he's been trying to do so since they met. It's not like he's been subtle about it.
He recognizes that he's probably not going to get anything else so he drops it.
They continue browsing through the zoo, and when they get to the elephants he notices the shift in attitude from the bodyguard. She's still doing her job properly, but he catches her staring at the majestic animals more than casually looking at them. There's a deeper meaning somewhere.
When they get to the elephants she stops on her tracks and stands there her gaze on the creatures. Those animals that meant so much to her mother… That mean so much to her. There's just something in them, a sort of wisdom…
She comes back to reality a moment later and realizes she's not doing her job, so the bodyguard focuses on her Principals once again, though she keeps glancing at the animals every once in a while.
They go back to the souvenir store right before they leave, but Castle asks Beckett to stay outside wearing his puppy eyes. She narrows her eyes at him wondering what he has in mind, but after giving the place a once over she begrudgingly accepts, telling them to be quick.
When they're back outside, Alexis and Castle are each holding a bag of their own. Beckett wonders what else he bought – she's already holding another bag full of things – nevertheless, she doesn't say a word.
Once they're back at the hotel, they shower and change before ordering dinner from room service.
Alexis goes to her room after she's done, leaving Beckett finishing her dinner and Castle on the couch writing. When he notices his daughter is gone, he figures this is a great opportunity to give Beckett her surprise so he closes the laptop and goes to his room to get it.
When he's back in the living room, she's left to her room. Damn, he thinks to himself. He stands in the middle of the room thinking about what his next move should be. He decides to knock on her door and tell her he has to tell her something. It's not like boundaries have ever stopped him before.
He takes a deep breath – for some reason he's nervous – and walks to her door. He knocks a couple of times before she opens it. She looks at him expectantly, wondering what he wants.
"I… Can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Sure" she debates with herself whether she should let him in or she should join him in the living room… Yeah, they better go to the living room.
She follows him and drops on the couch by his side. "What's up?" she turns her body towards him, placing her leg underneath herself.
"I have something for you" she cocks her head to the side wondering what he's talking about before he hands her the San Diego Zoo gift-shop bag. "I noticed you were staring" he explains before she looks inside.
She takes out a cute little stuffed elephant. Her eyes light up when she sees it before she remembers who it came from. "Wow" it's all she manages to say. "Thank you" she smiles.
"It's just… You know for helping us and keeping us safe and all"
"That's my job" she reminds him, but the fact that he actually noticed and he went out of his way to give her a gift makes her feel… some things.
"So you like elephants" he continues his line of questioning from the zoo.
She rolls her eyes but smiles. "I do"
"Will you tell me why?" he bites his lower lip waiting for an answer.
She turns serious again and hesitates for a second. "They never forget" just like she hasn't forgotten. Even now, that she's following him around instead of trying to hunt those demons down… She hasn't forgotten.
She'll get them. It's taken her longer than she thought it would – and it's only going to get worse until she can get back on the force – but she will get them. She will hunt them down. She will get justice for what they did to her mother.
Castle almost shivers when he hears those words and he sees the grim determined expression on her face that he can't quite understand. He has no idea of the reason of the shift of attitude but he knows it's something big.
And he also knows he shouldn't make any inappropriate comment about it, so he just nods and smiles.
"Thank you, Castle" her expression softens again. "I really appreciate it. But you don't have to buy me things. You're already paying me enough"
"Nonsense" he shakes his head. "Anyway, I'm off to bed. Until tomorrow, Beckett" he says reverentially as he gets up.
"You can't just say 'Night?'" she furrows her brow at his choice of words.
"I'm a writer. 'Night' is boring. 'Until tomorrow' is more… hopeful" he lives his life hoping for the best. Being happy and making others happy is his reason for living.
"Yeah. Well, I was a cop" she's seen the worst in people. She's stared into the eyes of monsters… There's only so much you can hope for.
She gets up from her seat and turns to look at Castle before she disappears into her bedroom. "Night"
He watches her walk away and he can actually see and feel the weight of the world on her shoulders. "Night"
Making others happy is his reason for living, he might just have gotten himself a new project.