Authors Note: I told one of my reviewers that this chapter would be posted on the 23rd, but then I got busy with holiday stuff. And on Monday I took the five hour drive to Utah to visit a friend. (I woke up at four in the morning and everything. It was awful, but sooo worth it!) I just got back, and here is your chapter! I hope you all enjoy it and it doesn't make you hate me. But what's a good story without some drama, huh?

Oh, and it's also a little... un-realistic. But, hey, it's fiction.

Sorry it's short, also.

And now I'm done rambling.

Kevin Ryan walked into Remy's with his partner, to get some lunch. They ordered their food, and because it was the lunch rush the had a little while to wait. They walked over to a small space on the wall and waited there. Making small talk about various topics while they waited.

Five minutes later they got their food and made their way out, as the walked onto the street, a small blonde boy ran into Esposito. He looked to be about six or seven, and slightly nervous.

"Hey there." Esposito said in a friendly voice. "You alright?"

"yeah- I just, I can't find my babysitter. We were walking to the park, and we stopped to cross the street, and I turned my head to watch a couple of teenage girls argue across the street, and when I turned back around she wasn't there."

Espostio crouched down to his height and smiled at him. "Alright kid. What's your name?"

"Brian." he whispered.

"Hi Brian, I'm Javier Esposito, and this is my partner Kevin Ryan.." Ryan gave him a friendly smile and waved at him. "We're cops, so we can help you out."

"I was told in school to ask to see a badge if someone claimed to be a cop." Brain muttered at the ground.

"Well, you were taught right." Espo said, reaching into his jacket and pulling out his NYPD badge and showing it to the young boy.

"Brian, where did you last see your sitter? Do you remember what street it was?" Kevin asked, walking out of the middle of the sidewalk and guiding the boy to the side of the building.

He shook his head, not taking his eyes off the ground. "I do remember that there was.. a bookstore across the street, and we were standing by a guy with a sign."

"Alright, do you know the phone number of your baby sitter?" Esposito asked.

Brian shook his head again. "I know my Dad's phone number, though. He's at work, though."

"Where does your dad work?" Ryan asked him.

"Something with numbers and stuff. It's boring."

"Alright, Brian. We're gonna take you back to our precinct and we can call your Dad, sound like a plan?" Ryan told him in a sincere voice. Brian nodded looking up. They lead him to the car, and drove back to the precinct.

They walked inside, and Ryan walked over to the captain's office to explain. He figured there shouldn't be a problem, helping people was their job, after all. After explaining, he walked back over to his desk with his partner who was now entertaining the boy.

"The dad's calling the babysitter, letting her know where he is." Esposito said without looking up.

Ryan nodded and sat down and took out his paper work, but he looked over at the blonde boy before starting. "Hey, Brian, can I ask you a question?" Brian nodded, and the detective continues. "Isn't there school today?"

The boy shook his head. "I don't go to school. My mom teaches me when she gets home from work." Ryan nodded in response and set to work on his paperwork.

Twenty minutes later they heard the elevator door open and a blonde woman walked out quickly. "Brian!" she called loudly, running over and grabbing the boy. Ryan looked up, and when he saw the sight in front of him, he was shocked.

"I should have been paying attention. I'm sorry, Jenny" Brian muttered as Jenny pulled him into a hug.

"Oh my god, thank you guys so much. I'm so glad that it happened to be you two he ran into." Jenny told Ryan and Esposito as she smiled at them.

"Well, we were just doing our job. Kind of." Ryan told his ex-wife in a calm tone. He was still surprised, that out of all the people in the city, she was the little boy's babysitter. As Ryan recalled, she didn't really like babysitting other people's children.

"Thank you so much, Kevin." she gave him an awkward hug. Grabbing Brian's hand, she smiled at them again.

"Anyway, Brian's dad is leaving work early, so, let's hope I am not in too much trouble. Thanks again, and it was good to see you." she said walking out.

As the rest of the day progressed, Ryan had finished up his paperwork and was tapping his pencil on his desk as he scrolled through his email on his computer. Really nothing interesting came up.

"So, any plan with Alexis tonight?" Esposito asked his partner as the packed their things up for the night.

Ryan shrugged. "I dunno, maybe. I forgot to call her last night after I got off, so she might be mad at me."

"Dude, what's up with you?"

"What do you mean?" Kevin turned to face his partner.

"Seriously, this whole relationship with Alexis. You're acting like nothing has changed between you two."

Ryan shrugged and started walking towards the elevator. "I guess we're both more worried about what Castle thinks. We're being cautious of his feelings."

Esposito eyed him suspiciously before coming up with a counter-statement. "And that's it? You don't want to do anything because of Castle?" He glanced over at his partner, who nodded. "And you're sure that's the whole reason? Because I'm not so sure, bro. Alexis is a good woman, Kevin. If you're still in love with your ex-wife, she deserves to know, because I can promise you that she really likes you."

"Where did you get that I am still in love with Jenny?" Ryan said avoiding eye-contact. He called him Kevin, this had to be serious. Way serious.

"Well, one, you just avoiding making eye-contact with me. And two, I saw the way you looked when she gave you her "thank you" hug for helping that Brian kid today. We're detectives, it is our job to notice things, and that did not go un-noticed."

"I really, really, like Alexis." Ryan countered.

"Yeah, I know that. But do you feel the same for her as you did when you met Jenny?" Ryan sighed as Esposito talked to him. He was not prepared for this today. "That's exactly what I thought."

They parted their ways without saying more. As Ryan approached his apartment, he heard his phone go off. Without checking the caller-id, he answered it with his normal "Ryan."
"Well, isn't that a little formal way to pick up the phone when I call." he heard Alexis say, and he could tell that she was smiling by her tone.

"Sorry, I'm driving so I didn't want to check the caller id."

"I can call you back later."

"Nah, I'm just about home. What's up?"

"I took the last half of the day off today to go sign for the apartment her friend was sub-letting, and I was wondering if tomorrow you wanted to help me pack up and move over there? Then we can grab some dinner?"

"Uh, sure. I'm on call though."

"I already have most of my stuff ready to be moved, so around two sound good?"

"Mhmm."

"Kay, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yup."

"Well, bye." He heard her say in a tone he didn't hear her use very often. It wasn't as... cheery as she usually spoke. He sighed when he heard her breath cut off, letting him know that she had hung up. Tossing his phone onto the passenger seat, he groaned to himself. He was one confused detective, and it wasn't about something he was used to.