DON'T JUMP! If you already did, gee you're impatient. It didn't take me that long, although it did take longer than I was hoping it would. But like I said, the cliff wasn't that high, so you're probably okay. Most likely. If you waited patiently on the edge of the cliff like I asked you to, you're awesome. Here's a ladder. Oh, forget the ladder, we'll make it a staircase. You know what? Because you guys are so awesome, I'll go all-out. Make it an elevator. In the form of a fluff-infested, semi-plotless chapter in which what was supposed to be a fairly short scene tried to take over the world. Maybe one day I'll learn to outline. But I wouldn't hold my breath for that.

It makes me happy that a lot of you apparently like my rambling author's notes. They amuse me, so I'm glad they amuse some other people also. Umm, okay, you can read now. I have a couple more quick notes, but I'll put them at the end so I'm not giving anything away.

Alexis snapped her head up from her book with a half-frown. "Yeah, definitely. What is it?"

But, fortunately before Kate started speaking, Castle appeared in the doorway, fresh cup of tea in his hand. "Hey sweetie," he said in a voice that would've interrupted any conversation that had been going on anyway, "Beckett brought you some more of that raspberry tea that you like." He handed her the cup. "Wasn't that nice?"

Alexis raised an eyebrow at her father, but then smiled at Kate genuinely. "Yeah, it was really nice. Thanks."

She nodded to acknowledge Alexis, but then couldn't help jerking Castle's chain a bit. "'Wasn't that nice?' Seriously, Castle? I'm really not used to seeing you in Dad mode. It's actually kind of creepy."

"To that extreme?" Alexis muttered, "Yeah, neither am I."

He scowled at his daughter. "Alexis, there's really no point in saying things under your breath when everyone in the room can still hear you."

Beckett laughed. "See, that's more like the kind of fatherly advice I would've expected."

He gave her a look that looked like it was aiming to say he was not amused, but the fact that he also looked like he was fighting back a laugh made it fall very, very short. But without actually making any further comment, he turned to his daughter. "How are you feeling, sweetie?"

She rolled her eyes. "No different than I was when you asked me that twenty minutes ago."

"Castle," Beckett told him, in the same manner that she did when they were at work and he was being annoying, with a nod toward the door. "We have studying to do."

"Wow, fine," he said, dramatically feigning offense. "Since I can see I'm not wanted here, I have some writing to do anyway. I need to start typing what I wrote at your place the other night."

"Great. Get to it."

He shot them another overdramatized pout before exiting, closing the door behind him.

As soon as he was gone, Alexis whispered, "He's driving me crazy."

Kate rolled her eyes. "I can't say I blame you there. Is he always this… protective?"

She shook her head. "I mean yeah, about certain things, but this is weird. I guess I haven't really been sick in years, so maybe I just don't remember, but some of this is definitely not normal. Like that thing about how you bringing the tea was nice… which it was by the way, but that's just not something he would normally say. And you know that, you called him on it."

"Yeah, turns out I know your dad pretty well."

"Well, of course you do. Sometimes I think you see more of him than I do."

"I'm sure that's not true. But he is acting weird. That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. This morning he was really… out of it. I don't know if you noticed."

"Sort of. I know what you mean."

"Yeah. But then we were getting ready to have breakfast and he went to his study for… fifteen, twenty minutes, and then when he came back it was like everything was back to normal."

She frowned. "Weird."

"Do you have any idea what he might've been doing?"

Alexis smiled a little. "Is this how you talk to witnesses when you're trying to get information?"

Beckett laughed. She hadn't thought of that. "Yeah, actually. Witnesses, family and friends of the victim… same tactics. Why, do you think it's working?"

She raised her eyebrows, eyes widening a little. "God yeah, you're like scary good. I just feel like I'm being investigated."

"Sorry. I'll try to tone it down a little. It's just… it's what I do. It's hard to turn it off sometimes."

"It's okay, I'm just not used to talking to cops."

"That's a good thing, I think."

"True. But I think I could get used to talking to you."

Beckett smiled. "Anyway, what do you think he was doing?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. He usually writes in his study… maybe he was writing?"

She frowned. "That doesn't really make sense."

Alexis shook her head. "No. Well, what was he doing before he went in there? Were you talking?"

"Kind of. He was being distant so I asked him why, and then he left and said he'd be right back."

"Huh. I don't know." But Alexis's face betrayed more than she did. She was smiling a little as she took another sip of her tea.

Beckett, of course, didn't miss it. What kind of a detective would she be if she had? "Don't you?" She tried to smile a little, remembering what Alexis had said about her being in work mode and not wanting the girl to feel like she was being interrogated, but she could still tell she was coming across more harshly than she wanted. Her detective mode was effective. When she wanted answers she knew how to get them, but she couldn't help sounding a little like a cop. It was a big part of who she was.

"I really don't know what he was doing in his study," Alexis quickly insisted, a little startled. She was right, she had come on a little too strong. She hadn't meant to freak Alexis out. She gave her a quick apologetic smile, which the girl seemed to understand, and relaxed a little before continuing. "But I do kind of have a theory about why he's been acting so weird."

Beckett frowned. "A theory? Okay, let's hear it."

Alexis actually blushed, which seemed strange. "Uh, okay," she stuttered. She tried to clear her throat but then made a face, squeezing her eyes shut, and leaned back against her bed's headboard.

Kate actually felt herself soften, her detective mode stepping back a pace or two. "Yeah, you shouldn't do that," she advised. "It hurts. And it doesn't do much good."

"Yeah, I got that," she whispered, eyes still closed. Finally she exhaled and took another sip of her tea.

She tentatively put her hand on Alexis's. "I hope you feel better soon."

Alexis sighed. "Me too."

"So… your theory?"

"Right." But then she pulled back again. "I mean, it's just a theory…"

Beckett smiled. "Alexis, what?"

"Well, there's really only one variable that's different from every other day."

"And… what's that?" She could think of more than one variable without trying very hard, so she had no idea what Alexis's point might be.

She blushed again and spoke in a small voice, even considering that she was hoarse to begin with. "You."

Beckett raised an eyebrow. "How? Like you said, I see him almost every day."

"Yeah, but not like this. Here? Away from work, and for this long?" A grin spread across the teenager's face. "Plus you kissed last night."

Kate groaned. "Why did I tell you that, again?"

"I can be very persuasive."

"Apparently. But even if you're right, why would that make him act weird?"

"I think he's trying to impress you."

That made absolutely no sense. "What?"

She shrugged, gaining confidence. "You're different from the women he's used to. You're not impressed by the same things. You know, money, fame, material stuff… So I think he's trying out some different angles. Trying to look like a model father, for example."

She thought about that for a second, and then let out a little "hm" sound. "That's really insightful. Do you think that's what it is?"

"I mean yeah, I think it at least has something to do with it. Not that he isn't actually worried about me. I'm sure he is, even though I'm fine. He's just like that. It's kind of annoying."

"It's the parent thing. He can't help it."

"Yeah, well, whatever it is. But I think if you weren't here he'd be a little less… I don't know, insistent."

"But why would he do that? It's not like I don't already know him. I know what he's like."

"Yeah, but you don't usually see him at home." She shrugged. "Like I said, it's just a theory."

Beckett considered the theory further. She knew she'd told Castle before that she liked seeing him with Alexis. That she was so used to seeing him act like a child that it was refreshing to see him as a father. Would he have tried to take that to a new level for her benefit? Maybe, but there was one thing that wasn't accounted for. "But why would he be trying so hard to impress me when he's still with Gina?"

Alexis literally rolled her eyes. "If he even is still with her, he won't be for very long. I'm honestly surprised he didn't call her right after you guys kissed."

"He said he would. I told him not to."

"Why?"

"Because ending a relationship over the phone… it sucks."

Alexis's eyes seemed to widen a bit, became sympathetic. She understood. "Is that how you—"

She nodded.

"Oh. Sorry."

"No, it's okay." She shrugged. "What's done is done. I'm not really that upset about it. And being here, taking care of you two… I think that distraction helped a lot."

"I'm glad we could help, although I wish the circumstances were different." Alexis puckered her lips and shifted them to one side before continuing her thought. "I'm sorry if I was difficult."

Kate smiled. "You know, I can tell you're feeling better, because last night I really don't think you cared."

The little smile that Alexis gave had no actual happiness in it, just guilt and embarrassment. "I'm sorry!"

But Kate waved her off. "Nah, don't be sorry. You're fine. I'm just happy I could help."

"I'm glad you were here," Alexis whispered, but she was obviously thinking of something else. Her eyes were far away. She smiled. "I wonder if that's what he was doing?"

Beckett snapped right back to the conversation they'd strayed away from, although she didn't quite lapse back into full detective mode. "Your dad? What?"

"Do you think he called Gina?"

"No," she said automatically, simply because she hadn't even remotely considered that as an option. "He wouldn't have… would he?"

"I don't know. Maybe. It makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Not really." She didn't like the idea that talking to Gina, for whatever reason, could've made him so much happier.

"No, think about it. He breaks up with her—"

She cut Alexis off. "Breaks up with her?" Given what Alexis had said just minutes before, she should've seen this coming, but she hadn't.

"Yeah. I mean, okay, you told him not to, but he's not always the best listener."

She almost laughed. "That I know. But why would he have done that?"

"Come on. Because of you."

If she'd been talking to Lanie or Esposito or anyone else, really, she would've made some comment about how egotistical it would be for him to assume that just because she was no longer with Josh, she would be interested in Castle, but she was talking to his daughter. It just didn't feel like the right thing to say, although it was the first thing that came to her mind. After working with Castle for so long, she'd had to field plenty of comments, insinuations, and questions about her relationship with him, and she'd developed a method with which to handle them. It rarely varied. Biting sarcasm. Of course not. They worked together, and she had no interest in anything more. But she wasn't even sure this was true anymore, and even if it was, it wasn't the attitude she wanted to take with his daughter, the girl who was nothing but sweet. The girl who looked up to her in a way that no one else ever had before. The girl who was obviously rooting for some kind of romantic involvement between Kate and her father.

Having made a conscious decision not to say the first thing that came into her mind, she had to take a second to formulate another response. But try as she might, she couldn't come up with anything that seemed both appropriate and true, and she felt her face starting to heat up.

It was Alexis who finally broke the slightly awkward silence. "Remember last night when I asked you to think about it?" she asked Kate quietly. "Did you?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I've thought about it."

Alexis waited for more, and then raised her eyebrows when she realized it wasn't coming. "And?"

She shrugged. "Still thinking." She patted the history book in Alexis's lap definitively, changing the subject. "We should get to studying, shouldn't we? You have work to do."

Okay, one: Yes, the dynamic between Castle and Beckett is changing a little. That's intentional, I didn't just completely forget what I was doing. Things are starting to go back to normal, so the way they interact is going back to normal as well.

And two: I think this story will probably be wrapped up in the next chapter or two. Just a heads-up. I have some other things that I'm working on that I'd like to be able to put more focus on, plus this is already... about 9 chapters longer than I originally intended (again with the not outlining thing... these things happen) and I don't want to over-stretch it. So I can't be positive, but I'm planning on one more chapter, or two if it gets away from me.

I'm not under any sort of delusion that this is one of my better chapters. It is not. But I still loooove your reviews, and remember, I built you an elevator... :)