Castle heads up to his loft, hoping that Martha and Alexis are already asleep, but he's pretty sure he won't be so lucky.
As soon as he opens the door, he's met with the sight of two really worried redheads sitting on the couch.
"Dad!" Alexis runs from her seat and wraps her arms around him before he can close the door.
"Hey" he smiles softly.
"Richard" Martha approaches them slowly and gets worried when notices the black eye. "What happened?"
"I had a bit of a run-in is all. Nothing serious" he shrugs when his daughter pulls back.
"Nothing serious?" Martha doesn't believe a word of what he's saying.
"I'm fine"
"Beckett saved your butt, didn't she?" Alexis looks up at her father pointedly.
Busted. "Maybe"
Martha dramatically lifts her arms in surrender. "Whatever I'm going to do with you" she sighs before turning around and walking to the staircase. "I'm going to bed"
"Goodnight mother"
"Yeah, yeah" she makes clear how much she disapproves of his little adventure. "Goodnight" she glances briefly at them before continuing her way to her room.
"You sure you're okay?" Alexis looks at Castle.
"I'm sure" he walks closer to her and kisses her on the top of her head. "Now, time for bed. It's late and it's a school night"
"Goodnight" now that she knows he's alright she'll be able to sleep. She starts walking towards her room but then spins on her heels and looks at him again with a smirk on her face. "How close was Beckett to shooting you?"
"I'm pretty sure that she was very close, though she took the passive-aggressive route this time" he seems thoughtful before he looks at his daughter again.
Alexis shakes her head wondering how long it's going to take for Beckett to just quit for all the hell her father puts her through.
Castle has had a pretty productive morning. Well, you can say that only if your definition of being productive involves writing for 5 minutes, growing bored and playing video games for the rest of the morning.
Yep. Richard Castle has been very productive today.
Alexis is in school and Martha left early in the morning.
At about noon, he receives a call. He pauses the game and doesn't even look at the caller ID when he picks his phone up from the coffee table in front of him. "Hello?"
Castle is immediately concerned when they tell him that they're calling from Alexis' school. "Yeah?" he leans forward on the couch and focuses on the female voice at the other end of the line.
"She had an incident and ended up hitting her head. She lost consciousness for a moment, so we're taking her to the hospital just to be sure that nothing's wrong. Can you meet us there?"
"Yeah, yeah. Of course" by now he's rushing around the loft looking for his keys and wallet before he leaves.
"Alright, see you there"
The writer runs downstairs and hails a cab, not trusting himself to drive. Out of breath, he gives his destination to the cabbie as he pulls his cellphone out of his pocket and dials an all too familiar number.
Beckett gets up early as usual and goes for a run. When she's back at her apartment she continues working on reading the letters, getting a general profile of his fans. She's also getting a feel of the crazy creep in whom she's more interested at the moment.
At some point, she receives a call from a number she knows all too well. "Beckett" she answers.
"Um, Alexis is in the hospital…" he's not sure why he's calling, it's not like he really needs her there. But that was his first reflex. "Can you meet us there?"
She grows worried as soon as she hears those words. "What? What happened?"
"I'm not sure. Just… Meet us there"
"Okay" she says as calmly as possible. She can feel the edge on Castle's voice and realizes that she's probably going to have to help him keep himself together.
Castle runs into the Emergency Room and he examines the place in the lookout for his daughter. When he finds one of her teachers right outside an exam room he rushes towards her. "Alexis. What happened? Where is she?" he starts asking immediately.
"She fell and lost consciousness for a few seconds, when she came back to herself, she was okay, just a little dizzy" the woman says trying to reassure the worried father. "They're checking her right now" she steps aside and motions him into the room.
He nods and steps in. His daughter seems fine, and a doctor is assessing her neurological status. "Alexis" he sighs in relief and walks to her side, letting the doctor finish his exam before taking her into his arms and asking how she's feeling.
Beckett gets into the ER and looks for where they're keeping Alexis. She walks to the room but stays outside when she sees Castle is already there.
"Don't worry. We'll take good care of your daughter" a nurse reassures Beckett mistaking her for a distressed mother when she sees the look of worry on the bodyguard's face.
"I- um…" she's taken aback by this, but doesn't correct the woman who's now inside the room.
She's never had any children; she's not even sure she even wants to have them… But being mistaken for Alexis' mother…
Should not have an impact on you. You're not her mother.
She shakes her head, clearing the conflicted thoughts. One of Kate Beckett's talents for the job is her ability to put her own feelings in a box and be professional. She's just not supposed to get attached! That's not so hard to do.
She looks at the Castles again and she can't help the warm fuzzy feeling that gets hold of her momentarily.
She's probably going to need a bigger box.
After the doctor considers that Alexis was lucky enough to only get a mild concussion, he tells Castle that he can take her home. He should just keep a close eye on her for the next couple of days. She just lost consciousness for a few seconds and was confused for less than 20 minutes, which is not that bad considering.
The novelist is extremely relieved and thanks the doctor before helping Alexis off the bed.
Beckett has waited outside patiently and gives them a small smile when they come out. "Hey" she tells them quietly.
"Hey" Alexis replies wanting to assure the bodyguard that she's okay, though she's still clinging to her father, because she doesn't trust herself to walk alone given the dizziness that's still making the world spin around her.
They get to Beckett's car and Castle helps his daughter sit in the back.
"What happened?" the bodyguard asks as she pulls into traffic.
"She fell and apparently got a mild concussion. She should be fine though" he says looking out the window.
Beckett nods but notices the worry is still etched on his face. "By the way, that makes you look pretty butch, Castle" she mentions the shiner he's got going, trying to lighten the mood.
"I know, right?" he smiles, realizing what she's doing and feeling grateful for it.
As she remembers the incident from the night before she starts feeling the anger rise. She takes a deep breath and reminds herself that at the end of the day, he's the one who lives with the consequences of his choices. "Okay, so this is usually the part where I yell at you for not thinking it through, and then I remembered you don't think things through" she silently lets him off the hook.
He looks guilty for a second, but then brushes it off.
"Those people are dangerous, Castle. Next time you even think of doing something so reckless, call me" she looks at him pointedly, telling him there'll be consequences if he doesn't do as she says.
"Do I detect actual concern for my well-being?" he teases.
"Do something like that again and I'll kill you myself" she briefly glances at him, shooting daggers.
"That's more like it" he grins making her roll her eyes.
When they come back to the loft, Castle invites Beckett inside.
She declines at first but then hears a noise inside. She draws her gun immediately. "Stay here" she hisses to her Principals before silently slipping inside of the loft, not closing the door behind her.
"Scout's honor" he takes his right hand up showing her he means it. When she disappears inside he shields Alexis, who's confused a bit and not sure of what to do.
Beckett does a quick sweep of the apartment, holding her weapon down. She hears the slightest creak of the stairs and she turns around, pointing the gun in that direction. "Do not move" she says authoritatively. The bodyguard's slightly taken aback by who she sees in front of her, but is ready to shoot if this person has any intention of harming her Principals.
AN: And there it is! Hope you liked it!