AN: For a Castle-less Monday what better than a new chapter, huh? So here you go!
I also want to take the time to thank my awesome beta-reader Lianna! Thanks for all you do for helping this story move forward!
And now, without further ado...
Over the next couple of days, arrangements are made so that Ryan, Esposito and Beckett start getting the security feeds from Castle's building to monitors in each of their apartments.
They agree on the fact that whenever the writer goes out, he'll always be accompanied by two bodyguards – Beckett always being one of them and the boys alternating – also, one of them will be monitoring the feeds during the day.
Castle has also noticed that something's up with Alexis. She looks nervous about something, and she's been spending a lot of time with one of her friends either at her house or on the phone… He's tried asking her about it, but she just says that everything's alright. It's driving him nuts.
Monday morning, while Beckett is in the middle of training, she receives a call. "Beckett" she says into the cellphone, slightly out of breath.
"Hi, it's Gina"
"Yes?" Beckett straightens up a bit.
"Are you free in an hour?" the publicist goes straight to the point.
"Um… Yeah"
"Great, can you go pass by my office? I need to talk to you about something"
Beckett scowls. Gina Cowell is not necessarily her favorite person, especially considering how their last meeting ended. "Sure, see you there" she replies before hanging up and going back to her punching bag.
"So" Gina says from her chair behind her desk. "Castle tells me he has two more bodyguards and now you're monitoring his building"
"Yes" Beckett nods. She's seated in one of the two chairs in front of the desk. "I thought it was necessary, considering the situation, and it didn't take much to convince Castle"
"Did you tell him about-"
"No" Beckett shakes her head. She hasn't said anything, even if she feels terrible keeping something like that from him.
"Hmm" Gina hums thoughtfully. She knows Castle is really protective of his family, but without knowing about the stalker fan she's not sure he'd accept so big of an operation just like that. There's something else going on here, and she has a feeling that it has something to do with the pretty bodyguard sitting in front of her. But she won't dwell on it.
After all, it's none of her business.
"Do you think it'd be safe to continue his book tour?" she asks the bodyguard, mostly as a formality. She already booked the next city.
Beckett looks doubtful. They're barely starting to get used to a new rhythm with the new security details…
Reading her look, the publicist takes another approach. "At least one city. Boston. 3 days"
"Alright" the bodyguard nods. She can make that work.
As soon as Beckett leaves her office, Gina sends Castle an email with the details. They're leaving in two weeks.
The writer goes over it and calls the bodyguard over to sort out how it's going to work.
When she gets to his apartment, she sits on one of the barstools and Castle stands at the other side of the counter.
Before they get down to business, he has a question to ask her. "Did you ever keep secrets from your dad?" he says thoughtful.
"Sure" she shrugs. Like anybody else.
"What kind?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"About your secrets? Absolutely. About my daughter's...?" probably not. "You know what," he adds as an afterthought. "I'm sure it's nothing. Alexis would never keep anything serious from me. I'm the cool dad"
"Uh-huh"
"What?" he narrows his eyes at her. He is!
She rolls her eyes and gets down to it. "Okay, so for the trip, we'll probably have to-" Beckett gets interrupted mid-sentence by the ringing of her cellphone. "Excuse me" she says before taking her phone out. She frowns when she looks at the caller ID.
Seeing the confusion on her face, he leans forward and looks at the screen, earning an arm swat from Beckett. "Alexis? Why would she call you?"
She proceeds to answering the call, all while glaring at him. "Beckett"
"It's Alexis" there's an edge to the teenager's voice.
"Is everything alright?" the bodyguard takes her eyes away from Castle and focuses on the teen.
Alexis is calling Beckett? Why would she call her? She always calls him when she needs something. The novelist walks around the counter and leans close to Beckett's phone to hear the call. Their heads are almost touching. The gesture is almost intimate.
Still on the phone, Beckett reaches with her free hand and grabs Castle's ear, pulling his head away from her, making him gasp in pain. There's a reason Alexis called her and not her father. "Okay, I'll be right there" she says on the cell before hanging up and releasing the writer.
"Next time" he says wincing and rubbing his ear. "Put it on speakerphone"
"I have to go" she gets her coat and quickly pats herself to make sure she has all her stuff.
"Was that Alexis?"
"Yeah. She asked me to pick her up"
"Wh- why? Is something wrong?" he's worried about this whole situation. "Can I come?" he gives her his best puppy eyes in a vain attempt to let him go with her.
"I don't think so, I don't know. It's probably no big deal. And no you cannot"
"When you kept secrets from your father, was it not a big deal?"
She rolls her eyes and turns towards the door.
"Where are you picking her up?" he asks innocently. He really doesn't like the idea of his daughter keeping something from him.
"Nuh-uh, Castle" she spins on her heels to looks at him pointedly. "She called me for a reason. You can ask her when she comes back. Call the boys so that we can decide what we're gonna do about Boston" she sees him pout before disappearing behind the door.
Beckett drives to the school, where Alexis asked her if she could pick her and her friend up, though she didn't explain why and the bodyguard didn't ask. She finds a parking space and walks over to the entrance of the school, where she sees Alexis and another girl sitting on a bench.
"Hey" Beckett relaxes when she doesn't see anything wrong with the girls. "What's up?"
"Hey" Alexis gets up and closes the distance between the bodyguard and herself.
Beckett looks at the girl waiting for an explanation.
"She's Melanie, one of my best friends" Alexis sighs and casts her eyes down.
The brunette narrows her eyes but doesn't push, waiting for the girl to continue.
"I- I called you because we think she has a… A disease" she says quietly, still not looking at the bodyguard.
"A disease?" Beckett's brows knit in confusion. She glances at Melanie and she sees that she's also looking at the ground, almost as if she was ashamed… Oh, dear. Realization dawns on her face, but hopes that she's wrong. "What kind of disease?"
"An STD" Alexis bites her lower lip.
Beckett sighs and throws her head back for a second, before gathering herself. These girls called her for advice on a very sensitive matter… She really can't screw this up.
She walks over to Melanie followed by Alexis. The bodyguard kneels in front of the teen. "So you- You think you have an STD?" she asks the friend softly.
Melanie nods slowly, averting the woman's gaze.
Beckett tilts her head to the side and looks at the girl sympathetically. "Melanie" she says gently. "Melanie, look at me"
The teen finally meets the bodyguard's eyes.
"Is everything alright? I mean, you're 12-years-old" there's a certain disbelief in Beckett's tone. "Did- did you do this because a boy… Are you being pressured…?" They're just so young! "Because-"
"I'm 13. I'm not a little kid" Melanie says convinced that she's old enough to do whatever she wants.
Beckett disagrees completely, but nods slowly and rises to her feet.
"We were wondering if you could get her something for…" Alexis starts but the bodyguard interrupts her.
"Oh, no. You have to tell your parents" she looks at Melanie pointedly.
"But they're gonna kill me" Melanie throws Beckett a pleading look, who shakes her head.
"Sorry, kid. Can't do. You need to tell your parents and go to a doctor"
The girl's head drops in surrender. Alexis rubs comforting circles on her friend's back.
"Now come on, I'll take you home" the girls follow Beckett somewhat begrudgingly and get into her car.
As Beckett drives she has a hard time believing what just happened. Not only did she find herself helping a 13-year-old girl who's having sex, but she was actually called by Alexis to help them.
Now she knows why they didn't call Castle, they needed a woman's advice, and she happens to be someone Alexis looks up to. That's a really big responsibility, and Beckett can just hope she's doing it right.
After dropping Melanie off at her house, an uncomfortable silence settles between Beckett and Alexis as they drive to Castle's loft.
"Alexis?" the bodyguard starts quietly.
"Hmm?" the girl takes her eyes away from the window and looks in the direction of the bodyguard.
"You know that… I'm here if you need to talk, right? And I won't tell your father anything if you don't want me to" she already has the girl's trust. She just has to make sure that she knows that's it's all between them.
Alexis half smiles, grateful for how much she seems to care about them. "Yeah… Thank you" she appreciates the effort that it's probably taking the bodyguard to say this.
Beckett looks at Alexis on the rearview mirror and gives her a smile.
"I- I'm still a… A little girl, you know" the redhead reassures her quietly.
Beckett sighs, visibly relieved. "Good" the prospect of such a young girl already… Oh, thank God.
The boys are seated comfortably on Castle's couch facing the writer. They're waiting for him to start, but he looks like something's bugging him. "Something wrong?" Ryan asks his boss.
"No" he shakes his head. "Yes" he decides to share with them. "I think my daughter might be keeping something from me"
"Maybe she got kicked out of school" Ryan says completely unhelpfully.
The boys have been working for him for a few days and they've learned a lot about the writer. They know he likes to fool around with his security detail, so Ryan decides it won't hurt to give the writer a taste of his own medicine, especially with Beckett not there to scold them.
"What?" Castle's tone is covered in disbelief.
"Or she's doing drugs" Esposito shrugs, following his partner's antics.
"Mm-hmm" Ryan nods. "Teen pregnancy is on the rise" he continues the list of possibilities.
"Whoa" the novelist stops them. "Alright, you've met my daughter. You know that she is the closest thing to perfect as humanly possible"
Ryan scoffs. "Castle, come on. We're cops. We know that people are never who we think they are. Isn't it possible your perfect daughter isn't as perfect as you think?" he looks pointedly at the writer, who's trying not to even think about that.
That's when Beckett and Alexis walk into the loft, putting an end to the boys' mind games.
Castle rises to his feet with a worried expression on his face and walks towards them, all the crazy theories a distant memory.
"Everything's alright" Beckett's quick to reassure him.
"Yeah, dad. Nothing to worry about" Alexis says, but he doesn't believe her. "Really, I just needed to ask her something"
"You know you can tell me anything, right?" he tries not to push.
"I do" he takes her into his arms and gives her a light kiss on the forehead.
Alexis then runs upstairs, leaving Beckett and Castle standing near the door and the boys looking at them from the couch.
The writer throws her a pleading look. "So, what is it?"
"Sorry, Castle. I already told you. She's got to tell you herself"
He knows he won't get anything, so he just gives up and they discuss how the Boston trip is going to work.
AN: Thank you for reading!