Alexis comes up to her as she's sitting at the island, a glass of milk and a plate of cookies in front of her.
"Cookie?" she greets, one already in her hand in offering.
The girl smiles and takes the cookie happily. "Thanks," she says as she sits down next to Kate.
She can tell that something's on her mind by the way she's tapping her fingers on the tabletop, her legs kicking nervously against the rails of the stool.
"What's up?"
Alexis looks up at her, takes a breath. "Do you dance?"
Well, this isn't what she thought was about to come out of the girl's mouth.
"Do I dance?" Alexis nods. "I—I used to do ballroom, but I haven't danced in a long time."
"Ballroom?"
Kate nods, finishes chewing her cookie before she continues. "Mhm. I had a lot of energy when I was little, so my parents put me into dance classes so I'd have some way to let it all out without bouncing off the walls at home. I was in baby jazz and baby ballet before I realized I was better at ballroom, oddly enough."
"Is it hard?"
"Ballroom or dance in general?"
"Ballroom," she clarifies, grabbing for another cookie. "I was in baby dance classes when I was really small, but I stopped."
"Why'd you stop?" Kate asks. She vaguely remembers Castle mentioning that Alexis used to be in dance classes as a toddler but she doesn't recall if he ever mentioned when or why she stopped keeping up with it.
Alexis shrugs. "I don't really remember. I don't think I liked ballet. Too many leotards and tight buns."
"Oh I remember that," she laughs. "You want to go back to dance?"
"I think so. I mean, Paige goes to dance class and she's always talking about how fun it is. But she does ballet and I don't want to do that."
Kate nods, taking this in. "So ballroom?"
"Yeah," the girl whispers. "Do you think I'd be any good at it?"
She tugs Alexis off of the stool and into her side. "Of course," she says seriously. "It's like anything else. It'll be difficult when you start but the more you practice the better you'll get."
Alexis turns to her with a smile. "Thanks, Kate."
"Anytime." She gives a curt nod. "Now, go in the kitchen and get us some more cookies before we devour all of these?"
That gets a good laugh from the girl and she nods, bounces around the island and to the cabinet where the cookies are piled up.
"Chocolate chip or oreos?"
Kate makes a face. "Chocolate chip, duh."
Castle comes down just as they're piling cookies onto a plate, and Kate catches the tail end of his suppressed laughter. He rounds the island and steals the plate from Alexis, turning and holding it up so she can't reach.
"Dad!"
"Sharing is caring, pumpkin."
"I am sharing," she counters. "With Kate!"
Castle feigns offence. "Sharing with Kate but not your dear old dad? Is that what we've come to?"
Alexis steps back, puts her hands on her hips. "Yes."
"Fine," he says, relinquishing the plate. "But see if I'm in a sharing mood when I make my famous pasta for dinner."
"You won't withhold dinner, Castle," Kate chimes in, resting her elbows on the counter.
He raises a brow at her. "Won't I?"
"Nope," she says, popping the p. "You don't want me falling back into old ways, do you? Skipping meals and losing all that weight?"
Alexis looks at her and Castle's eyes widen, his mouth hanging open, but all she can do is let out a loud laugh. Their faces are hilarious.
"Kate—"
"Oh come on, Castle," she drawls. "Laugh a little."
She grins as his face breaks into a small smile and he shakes his head—at her, no doubt. A few months ago, with Castle still hesitant and nervous about her eating habits, she'd never joke about this. But now she's back at a healthy weight, no longer in need of gaining more to look less skeletal, and she can get a good laugh out of it for her own benefit.
"Not funny, Kate," he chides, but his smile is still there. "You know I'd never let that happen."
"Precisely why I'm calling your bluff." She gives him a proud, victorious grin. "You wouldn't hold out on dinner."
He sighs dramatically. "You caught me. I won't withhold dinner," he admits. "But I will hold out the desserts."
"Only if you want war."
She gets the idea not long after her talk with Alexis and spends most of the evening sneaking away in search of an old number that's probably not even the same anymore, one she hasn't had a reason to use in about six years. But it's something for Alexis, something she thinks—or hopes—she'll enjoy, so it's worth the effort.
If it's even possible. The odds aren't in her favor, but she decides to try anyway. If she could just find this damn number.
Her fingers brush against the torn, worn out black book that's been shoved in the bottom of her small keepsake box for as long as she can remember. It's had little use since her mother died and she hasn't had much energy to keep in touch with most of the people in it, but she's just glad it's still here. It's seen better days—the pages are ripped, discolored, and it's missing three quarters of the front jacket—but it's still legible and that's all that matters.
She thumbs through it, her bottom lip tugged between her teeth as she flips the pages. Her eyes scan the names, the addresses and numbers until she finally, finally finds the one she's looking for.
"Yes," she whispers to herself.
This is only the first hurdle; next is actually calling, finding a way to explain why she hasn't talked to her in over five years, yet she's asking for a favor. But first she has to talk to Castle, see if he'd be fine with it.
"Castle." She calls his name as she slides across the floor, already heading for his office. "Castle!"
He walks out a second later. "You rang?"
"I have a question," she hedges. "You're completely allowed to say no, and I'm not even sure if it's plausible yet, but—"
"Kate."
She stops. "Alexis used to take dance classes?"
He pauses. "Yeah, when she was little," he says slowly. "But what does that..."
"It has to do with what I'm asking. Patience," she laughs. "She asked me if I danced and then said she thinks she wants to get back into it, probably ballroom."
"Ballroom?" She nods. "Wow, fancy. Wait, wait, wait," he backpedals, his eyes on her. "Do you dance?"
She shifts on her feet. "I used to, some things here and there. Nothing special."
"I definitely need to see you dance now," he drawls, eyebrows waggling.
Kate huffs. "Not happening," she denies, continuing as he starts to open his mouth. "Anyway, I found my old phone book and it still has the number of one of the girls I knew from back in my competition days." He doesn't need to know that she went looking for it, rummaged around in everything she owns to see if it was there before she remembered the wooden keepsake box. "She's on Dancing With The Stars now and I don't know if the number's even the same, but I thought I could give her a call, see if maybe she'd be able to meet Alexis? Give her a few pointers so she feels better about going in?"
"Your competition days?"
Of course this is what he latches onto. "Castle."
"Competitions, Kate! You did competitions. That absolutely does not equate to 'nothing special'," he says, using air quotes around her wording. "Did you win medals? Oh! Are there pictures?"
"Castle."
He sighs. "Fine. But you're not getting out of this, I want to know," he relents, giving her a pointed finger and she just rolls her eyes. "That's really sweet though, Kate. I'm sure Alexis would love that."
"So it's okay?"
"Of course," he nods. "Provided the number's the same I think it'd be fun for her. So, who's your insider?"
She grins, her lips twisting to the side. "A Dancing With The Stars fan now, are we?"
His shoulders immediately shrug, rocketing up to reach his ears in an attempt to look nonchalant. "No, no, I'm merely curious."
Her smirk just grows. "Uh huh, sure," she teases. "She's one of the female pros, but I'm not telling which one until I know one way or the other if it'll work."
"I have to wait? Aw, come on, Kate! Give me a hint!"
"Nope."
She moves back towards the living room, aware of him on her heels. "Just a small hint! What about hair color?"
"Nope, too obvious."
"Too obvious? Ooh, so it's not one of the blondes. There are so many of them it wouldn't be inherently obvious which one it was!"
Twisting to look at him over her shoulder, she huffs. "Nice deductive skills you got there, Sherlock."
"If I'm Sherlock, does that make you Watson?"
"Of course," she says, doesn't miss a beat.
"Watson, pleeease," he whines, and she almost tells him just because she feels bad about the desperate look on his face.
But she doesn't feel that bad. "Nope," she sing-songs with a grin as she races back up the stairs.
She can't believe she'd kept the same number all these years, or that she remembers her. It's a pure stroke of luck that today isn't a busy day—well, every day is busy on the show but today just so happens to allow for a few hours of time in between rehearsals—and that she's willing to meet with Alexis. And her. And Castle, who she promised could tag along as well.
But they're actually here now, in the lot of Dancing With The Stars.
"What are we doing here?" Alexis asks, leaning forward from her spot in the back seat.
They hadn't told her where they were going, only that it was a surprise and she'd like it. Kate's praying she'll like it, anyway.
"You have your shoes?" she asks instead, watches as the girl nods. "Good."
"Are we dancing?"
Castle grins. "I sure hope so," he says, looking right at Kate. "I want to see Kate dance. Don't you, Alexis?"
She nods enthusiastically. "Yes! You have to dance, Kate. Please?"
Her eyes narrow in his direction before she turns back to Alexis. "Maybe," she decides. She's not going to promise to dance because she has no real intentions of dancing at all. She didn't even bring the right shoes solely for this reason. "Come on, she's waiting."
"You still haven't told me who it is, you know," Castle reminds as he rounds the car, comes to open her door for her.
"Oh, I know."
"Kate, you promised you would," he whines.
She laughs. "And you'll find out in like three minutes. You can't wait that long?"
She walks away before he can answer, guiding Alexis in the direction she's fairly certain they should be going. He'll find out who it is soon enough. Right now her main concern is navigating their way; she thinks she was told there'd be someone waiting for them at the gates, but the gates are open, and so they just wander in on their own.
"Either you're a criminal breaking into our stage or you're Kate," a voice pops in, causing Kate to jump and spin around. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."
"It's okay," she breathes, a hand on her chest. "Yes, yeah I'm Kate."
"I'm Rick, and this is Alexis," Castle offers, placing a hand on the girl's back.
The guy nods. "Maks," he says, and Kate takes note of the thick accent. Russian or Ukrainian, if she had to guess. "Nice to meet you all. I was asked to take you in so you don't get lost. Which is pretty easy to do."
"Much appreciated," Castle laughs. "This place is amazing."
It really is. The walls are different colors; yellows and reds and royal blues, and there are huge photographs of past winners and contestants lining them, a pattern of smiling faces holding the mirror ball trophy in the air as they're hoisted onto others shoulders.
They're lead through halls and past a number of rooms where they can hear people talking, the sounds of feet tapping against the hardwood as they rehearse.
"And here we are," Maks announces as he comes to a stop outside another rehearsal room. "Sharna's waiting for you, so you can go right in. Have fun, Alexis," he adds on, and she figures he's been told of what's happening.
Alexis looks up shyly at him. "Thank you."
As soon as he's out of sight Castle whips his head towards her, a proud smirk on his face. "Sharna?" She nods. "So that's why you couldn't tell me the hair color. There are only two redheads."
"That is exactly why I couldn't tell you, yes."
"Who's Sharna?" Alexis asks, bringing both of their attention to her.
Kate smiles. "She's one of the pro dancers on the show. I used to dance with her when I was younger, so I asked if she'd be able to meet you and give a few ballroom pointers before you go into class."
The girl's eyes widen, surprised, but they light up a second later. "Really?"
"Really," she affirms. "She was always one of the best."
She's nervous about seeing her old friend again; she hasn't actually seen her—aside from on television—since she was in dance, competing alongside her, and she did just call her out of the blue to ask for a favor. She feels awful about that, and makes a mental note to do something to repay her, to thank her.
"You ready to go in?" Castle asks, looking between her and the door.
"Oh, yeah, of course. Let's go."
Alexis lingers behind the two of them as they make their way inside the room. It's extremely spacious, with blue walls all around that match the decor of the halls and giant lettering that spells out Dancing With The Stars on the far wall, just above a few rows of steps. The wall to their right is a line of mirrors that reach from the ground to the ceiling, and there's a window opposite that wall where light continues to spill in from outside.
At the other end of the room, standing on the steps as she talks to someone else, is Sharna.
The woman turns at the sound of their entering. "Kate?" she says, her eyes widening as she leaves her place on the steps and makes her way towards them, pulling Kate into a hug. "Hi, wow, it's been so long."
Kate hugs back after a second of surprise. "I know, hi," she breathes. "How are you?"
Sharna nods, blowing out an exhale. "Good, good. Busy, but it's what I signed up for. How've you been? I haven't seen you since, god, that one championships in upstate New York?"
"I can imagine the show keeps you busy," Kate says with a smile. "You've been great, though."
"Thanks, babe."
She grins at that, the charming way her old friend always refers to people as babe. Sharna looks the same as she did in their competition days, only older and with one glaring difference in hair color. The platinum blonde turned black that she's so used to is now a bright red, flowing over her shoulders in waves. It's not the same color as Alexis's, it's darker, more fiery, but they share the same bright blue eyes.
Alexis has been self conscious about her hair recently, and Kate hopes that seeing another redhead, doing incredible things on television and in dance, that she'll feel better about it.
"I've been... all right. Good, now," she hedges, unwilling to go into all the grisly details. "But yeah, New York Championships I think. We took first and second, as usual," she laughs. Castle's smiling along as the two talk, and she uses the silence now to tug Alexis up into the front. "And Sharna, this is Alexis. Alexis, this is Sharna Burgess."
Alexis gives a shy smile. "It's nice to meet you."
"You too, sweetheart," Sharna smiles back. "So, I hear you want to do ballroom?"
A small nod. "Yeah, I think so. Is it too late to start?"
"Absolutely not," she says, shaking her head. "I started my ballroom training at eight, too."
Alexis perks up. "Really?"
She nods. "Really. So don't worry about that, okay? We'll make sure you go in way ahead of the game." She gives her a wink.
Alexis grins. "Okay."
Sharna points behind them, to a blonde standing near a stack of duffle bags. "That's Peta, she'll be helping us out. Why don't you go over and start warming up and I'll be right over?"
Kate watches as Alexis exchanges glances with both her and Castle, who gives an encouraging nod, before making her way towards Peta.
"Thank you so much for doing this, Sharna," Castle says, his eyes on Alexis as she gets to know their fellow dancer. "She's shy at first, but I know Alexis really appreciates this."
"Of course." She waves an arm. "I'm happy to help. Especially since it means I get to see you again, Kate," she says, grinning as she nudges her shoulder.
Kate smiles. "It's really great to see you too. I'm sorry for springing this on you, though," she starts. "I haven't even talked to you in too many years and then this, out of the blue, and you accept—"
"Hey, don't worry about it," Sharna cuts her off, shaking her head, then lowers her voice to a whisper. "I heard about what happened to your mom, Kate, I get it. I'm so sorry, too. She was an amazing woman, we all loved her."
She lets out a breath; she shouldn't be too surprised that she found out, but she's glad she doesn't have to go through it. "Thank you," she nods, then turns to Castle. "My mom used to bring fat-free cookies to the competitions so all the dancers could eat them."
Castle grins. "That's amazing. She sounds wonderful."
"Oh, she was," Sharna chimes in. "We all knew that when we saw Johanna with a tray it was going to be a good day."
Kate laughs, her face breaking into a wide smile at the memory. She remembers those competitions. They'd arrive early, as usual, and her mother would often have a tray of cookies, all fat free but all different kinds. Kids from all of the teams would come over and take one, and she never discriminated. Her mother never turned them down just because she was competing against them. Everyone loved her.
"You ready, Shar?" Peta's voice calls out across the room, causing the three of them to turn their attention to the woman and Alexis, now standing and warmed up by the window. "This one's a natural when it comes to stretching."
"Go on." Kate nudges her, nodding towards Alexis and Peta. "We'll be over here."
Sharna raises a brow. "You don't want to join in?"
"Oh, no, I don't—"
"Don't tell me you thought you'd be coming here without getting back onto the floor, Kate." At Kate's pointed silence, she goes on. "You did, didn't you?"
Castle nods. "She did."
"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side," Kate hisses in a hushed whisper. "Really, I'm not at all prepared to dance."
Sharna points to corner where her bag is. "I've got extra shoes, so if that's your reasoning you should come up with a better one."
Shit. That was her reasoning, and Kate's realizing now that it was poor to begin with. Dancers always bring extra shoes. She purposely wore flats with absolutely no grip on the bottom to make it nearly impossible to dance properly on the hardwood.
"I haven't danced in years," she tries weakly. "It's fine, you go ahead. It's Alexis who needs the help anyway."
"Nope." Sharna shakes her head. "You're not leaving here without getting back out here with me, babe. Not happening."
"Come on, Kate," Castle eggs on, an annoying grin on his face. "Show us what you've got."
Her eyes narrow, her lips tugging into a straight line. "I—"
She doesn't even get the full sentence out before Sharna's dangling another pair of shoes in her face. "Put them on," she winks. "You can show your writer how to dance."
Kate blinks. "He's not my writer."
"We'll be over here," her friend calls as she heads over to Peta and Alexis.
She sighs, making her way over to the wall to tug off her flats and put on the ones Sharna handed her. They're the right size, surprisingly. If she didn't know any better, didn't know that he had no clue who they were meeting, she'd think Castle gave her a heads up.
He's practically beaming as he leans over her, and when she stands back up she gives him a pointed smirk. "I don't know why you're grinning. This means you're dancing too."
His smile falters. "What?"
Now it's her turn to grin. "Yup. I dance, you dance, buddy."
"Come on, guys," Alexis calls.
"Get your dancing shoes on, Castle."
"Other foot."
"I thought you said left right right?"
"No, left right left."
"I could've sworn—"
"Castle."
"Fine."
This is how most of the dancing goes for the first half hour. They're side by side, Kate leading, as she tries to teach Castle the cha cha. It started out as a group effort, all five of them going at the same pace, but Castle got stuck around the fifth count and they've been working through it together in a corner for the past forty five minutes now.
The cha cha is fast paced and there's a lot of hip action, which she'd assume he has no issues with—not that she's thought about that, though, no—but it's coming off a bit awkward.
"No, like this," she says, moving behind him, placing her hands at his hips. Her breath hitches when she feels a shiver run through his body at the contact, but she just lets out an exhale and continues. Her hands move his hips for him, emulating the movement he's supposed to be making. "Now just—just twist your hips."
Her hands come off of his hips and she watches from behind as he continues the rotations. "Like this?"
She nods until she realizes that she's behind him, he can't actually see her. "Yeah," she manages. "Better."
His body twists to her, a soft smile on his face even as his eyes darken. "These hips don't lie," he jokes, and she laughs, tongue peeking out between her teeth. Leave it to him to lighten the air, bring it back down.
"Okay, Shakira, let's take a break," she breathes, dipping her head as she wipes at her brow. She almost forgot how much energy this takes, and she's barely going half speed.
Castle nods. "Good, a break sounds good."
Kate laughs, grabbing a bottle of water from the table and tossing one to him.
"How does it feel to be dancing again?" he asks as he takes a sip.
She exhales. "It's—weird? Different, after all these years. But good. The rush has always been my favorite." There's a pause. "Let's go see how Alexis is doing."
They make their way to the other side where Alexis stands in the middle of Sharna and Peta, the two of them going over more in depth steps. Alexis caught onto the basics much quicker than her father and now they're moving on. Kate can hear the two dancers explaining some technical points, what to do and what not to do, and a number of foot placements. She's surprised she remembers most of it.
"That's right," Sharna coaches, her eyes on Alexis's feet as she moves. "Make sure your toes are pointed into the ground. Exactly, like that."
Peta nudges the girl's shoulder. "Good job, girl."
"You're doing really great, Alexis," Kate says, smiling at the small redhead. "Much better than your father."
"Hey!"
Alexis grins through her laughter. "Sorry, dad, I believe Kate," she says as she goes through the movements one more time. "You kinda have two left feet."
"I do not," he defends, a hand coming to his chest. "I'm offended!"
"Show us what you got then, Castle," Kate suggests, raising a brow at him. "What could it hurt?"
He huffs. "Why don't you show us what you got? Get up there and do the routine with Sharna and Peta. The three of you can show us how it's done."
Before Kate can even answer, get out the polite decline that's on the tip of her tongue because she's not at all prepared to keep up with the two of them, Sharna's clapping.
"Yes, definitely! Kate, come on, for old time's sake."
"I don't know," she says. "I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up anymore."
Sharna scoffs. "Oh please, you've always played down your own abilities, even as you were taking first place."
"Yeah, Kate, dance it through with us," Peta encourages. "It'll be fun to have another girl out on the floor."
She bites on her bottom lip, looks between the two expectant faces and the hopeful ones of Castle and Alexis, too. "Alright, fine," she concedes with a small smile, an eye roll. "One run through."
That's all it is. It's just a run through, a simple cha cha. She can do this. The cha cha was always one of her favorites to compete with, after all, right after the Argentine Tango.
She lines up with the two of them, taking a deep breath as she watches the two Castles move over to the wall to observe. The music starts and they all move, one two three cha cha cha echoing in her mind, and she realizes that she's doing a pretty decent job keeping in time with Sharna and Peta. They go through the entire routine, foot movements exactly where they're supposed to be, arms not too wild or flimsy.
When the music stops she's smiling—out of breath, but smiling—and she's being pulled into a hug by Sharna.
"Told you you still got it!" she half yells excitedly.
Kate laughs. "I guess I'm not as rusty as I thought I'd be."
Castle and Alexis join them on the floor. "That was incredible," he says, his eyes shining. "You kept up perfectly. I didn't know you were so good, you were dumbing it down for me!"
"You were great, Kate," Alexis beams. "You can teach me more when we get home too!"
"Yeah, I can if you want," she agrees, smiling down at her.
"So, you up for a few more tips, Alexis?" Peta asks the girl, who nods eagerly and grabs her hand to go back out with Sharna. "We've got a bit more, then you'll go into your ballroom ahead of everyone else."
It's a beginners class, and she doubts anyone else is being taught by dancers on an award winning television show, so that's probably true.
Castle and Kate stand back and watch this time, as Kate continues to catch her breath.
"So, what other dances do you know?"
"A couple."
"Which ones?"
"Tango, waltz, rumba—"
"Rumba? That's the dance of sex isn't it?"
She almost chokes. "The what?"
"Is it not?"
"No, Castle. It's a sensual dance, but it's not the dance of sex."
"It could—"
"Do yourself a favor and don't finish that sentence."
Thank you all so much for your kind sentiments. This section with the dancing was actually the first scene I had in mind when I started this story (though it ended up a bit differently), so I hope you enjoy it!