Chapter 3: The Helping Hand

"Detective Beckett?"

Kate looks up, "Hey, Alexis."

"Have you seen my dad?"

"He just left to get coffee… ten minutes ago. He should be back soon. He said you were meeting for dinner tonight, but he didn't say you were meeting here first."

"Actually he said something about you coming with us."

"Oh… he… hasn't asked yet, but I have paperwork that needs to get to the DA for tomorrow morning."

"I think he wanted to meet here so that I could try to convince you to go; he seemed to think I'd have a better chance than he did."

"Oh…"

"You were at our place the other night?"

She gives a small nod before standing and gesturing for the teenager to follow her. They go into the break room, and she closes the door. "I was, but it's not what you think."

"Dad explained everything to me. Or almost everything. I just… wanted to let you know that I like you, Detective Beckett, and I think that you and Dad will be good together. I was going to tell you the other morning, but you were already gone. I don't want you to have to worry about me and everything so I just thought I'd tell you this."

"Thanks… for your approval, Alexis. It means a lot to me."

Alexis smiles, "I'd hug you, but you probably don't want that at work. You're a lot different from the women Dad normally dates, and I know dating him is going to be challenging for you because of who he is and all so I thought that I'd try to at least ease one of these challenges for you."

Castle walks in, a cup of coffee for her in hand. "So how's it going?"

"Really, Castle, you sent your daughter to do your dirty work?" Kate glares at him.

"Depends. Are you coming with us to dinner?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I have paperwork, Castle. The DA wants our reports by tomorrow morning."

He glances at Alexis before giving Beckett puppy dog eyes. "Please? We want you to join us."

"No."

"Alexis, help me."

"Sorry, Dad," the teenager shrugs. "She's got work to do."

"How long is it going to take you to finish?" he sighs.

"Maybe half an hour if I'm not interrupted."

"How about Remy's?" Alexis nods. Kate still looks skeptical. "While you finish your paperwork, Alexis and I will walk there. I'll order your usual for you unless you want something different. When you're done, you can drive and meet us there. The food should get there about the same time you do."

"Not with evening traffic."

"We'll walk slowly and window shop. Text me when you're on the way, and we'll wait to order until then."

"Fine, Castle," she gives in. Both Castles grin at her, and she instantly looks wary.

CB

"Took you long enough to get here. Did another body drop since you called?" Castle asks as she sits down in the booth beside him.

She glares at him, "Car accident actually. I had to make sure everyone was okay and then wait for uniforms to arrive to take care of it."

"Oh."

The waitress comes over with their food, "Enjoy."

"You didn't have to wait for me."

"Of course we did," Alexis says. "You're part of our family, and we'll always wait for you."

Kate looks down at her plate, not knowing what to say.

He notices her discomfort and tries to change the subject, "So you've got your paperwork in to the DA?"

"It's all ready for him to pick up in the morning."

"And you're free to relax this evening. No cases to think about at all."

She looks at him for a long moment; she did have a case to work on, but they hadn't gotten any leads on her mother's case, meaning it would be put off yet again. "I guess."

"If you want, you could come over. I've got all my homework done so we could do something fun tonight. A movie or game or something," the teenager offers.

"That sounds nice, Alexis, but I really ought to go home. I really need to get some rest, or I might fall asleep at work tomorrow."

"Oh… that wouldn't be good. Maybe some other time we can hang out."

"I have next Saturday off. If you don't have plans, we could do something and get to know each other better."

"I'd like that."

Castle smiles, glad that they are getting along so well, "Can I come?"

"No," they both say at once.

He pouts, "Why not?"

"Because we've both already bonded enough with you," Kate smiles.

"Well… can I take you two out to dinner that night then?"

She thinks for a few moment, "Castle, I don't know. I don't want to do this yet."

"It's just dinner. It can't even be a date since Alexis will be there. And it doesn't have to be anything fancy."

"Okay."

He smiles lightly at her before sipping the rest of his milkshake through his straw. While she takes another bite of her burger, he sticks his straw in her glass, hoping to steal some of her shake.

"What are you doing, Dad?" Alexis asks.

Beckett glares at Castle, who now has her glass halfway to his mouth. "I wasn't done with that yet."

"Oh… would you like it back?" he asks innocently.

"No, you've already tainted it with your straw."

"Would you like a new one?"

She leans over to steal some fries from his plate, "No, I'm good."

They finish up, and the waitress brings their bill. The detective offers them a ride home, their loft only a slight detour for her on her way home, and they all pile into her car.

She pulls up outside their building. Castle remains seated, trying to figure out what to say to her. Alexis opens her door, deciding they need some privacy. "Good night, Detective Beckett. See you upstairs, Dad."

Once his daughter is inside, the writer turns to her. "Kate… are you… have you been… You said you needed to rest. Have you not been sleeping well?"

She refuses to look at him, that in itself answering him.

"How long, Kate?"

"Since her case was opened again," she quietly responds. "Every night… but the two we spent together."

"Kate…"

"Don't, Rick."

"I have to help you."

"No, you don't. It's not your problem to fix."

"Yes, it is. You just said I helped, so let me do it again."

"No," she insists, staring out the window. "I can take care of myself."

"I know you can. But just let me help you, Kate. I hate seeing you like this."

"Then get out of the car and let me go home."

"No," he says, becoming just as stubborn as her. "I'm not getting out of this car until you do. So either you get out here with me, or we go to your place. Your choice."

"No," she snaps, finally turning to face him. A tear is running down her cheek.

"Please, Kate. Don't make drag you inside."

"Touch me and I kill you."

Rick tries not to let his fear show. "I'm serious, Kate."

"So am I." They stare at each other for a full two minutes before she finally speaks again. "I know that you want to help, Castle, but this is something I have to face on my own. If you can't respect that, we're done."

"But you don't have to deal with this alone. I'm here. Let me do everything I can to ease your pain."

"If we keep doing this, it's not going to be innocent anymore. I don't know how much longer I can hold you back."

"So don't. You have to trust me; I'm not going to hurt you, Kate," he reaches over to take her hand. "Just let me in, and I can help you."

Kate bites her lip, "Okay, Castle. But this is the last time until we're actually together."

"We could be together."

She shakes her head, "Please don't push it tonight."

"Whatever you want."

They both get out of the car and make their way up to the loft. Alexis isn't around, so they assume she had gone up to her room to give them some privacy. Kate sinks down on the couch, pulling her knees to her chest and closing her eyes.

After a moment, Castle sits beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. "I would kill this guy for you if I thought it could make things easier for you, Kate."

"It wouldn't. I'd just have to arrest you," she mumbles.

"We wouldn't want that."

"I'd get you out," she repeats her words from so many months ago.

"That's sweet of you, Kate, but don't ruin your own life for my sake."

"Maybe you shouldn't do stupid things then."

He squeezes her shoulder, "So what can I do to make things better?"

"Absolutely nothing is going to fix this, Castle. Not unless you can find a time machine so we can go back to that night."

"If they were real, I'd buy you one. Of course, then you'd go back and change things and we'd probably never meet."

"And what a shame that would be," she gives a soft smile.

"You wound me," he shakes his head sadly. "I honestly don't know how I put up with all this emotional abuse."

She leans her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes, "I'm sure you can handle it."

"Kate?" he asks timidly.

"Yes, Castle?"

"Are you planning on staying here all night long?"

"I'm not going to leave in the middle of the night unless I get called in."

"I meant here on the couch?"

"I'm too comfortable and lazy to move."

"Promise you won't kill me?"

"Why would I kill you?" she asks, still keeping her eyes closed.

He gently puts his arms around her so he can lift her up and carry her to his bedroom. She immediately opens her eyes to see what is going on, but quickly settles back down, content to let him take care of her for the time being.

A/N: So in case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm pretty sure every one of the chapters of this story ends with them in bed together. Anyway... I'm totally bored and don't want to learn these medical terms for my test next week. I just want it to be tomorrow or Wednesday so I can see my midterm grades in zoology and chemistry. Every question I remember for zoology and look up the answer to, I can't remember whether it's what I put or I know it's not what I put; but the good news is when I look up the chemistry questions, I'm pretty sure I put the right answer. And I can't wait for next week. I just keep watching the video of their kiss over and over. Hopefully I don't have too much homework this week or it's not going to get done. Oh, and I started another story. I've written like five chapters in two days. And I really don't know where it's going to end up; I origianlly only thought of ideas for the first two chapters, but it just keeps coming. So... hope you enjoyed this chapter. More on Thursday probably. Thanks.