Title: The One – Chapter Four
Author: Floss Aus
Pairing: Rick C & Kate B
Summary: Investigating a reality romance show murder has Castle and Beckett realising that secret romances are fun but also dangerous to those around them.
Spoilers: Set in post Always world.
Disclaimer: ABC and Andrew Marlowe own them, Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic inhabit them and I'm just borrowing them. I' promise to return them all – except Fillion.
Feedback: And thanks for the kind words so far, I promise to get back to the case at some point.
She stared at her, hard. She wouldn't look away or pretend not to be studying her face for some kind of reaction. Kate had called for backup, what felt like hours ago but sitting here, she knew, even then, it was going to be difficult to talk her way out of this one. Lanie shifted on the stool she was perched on, the glass of wine still in her hand. She'd wanted to leave, but Kate threw her a pleading look and with the mood that Alexis Castle seemed to be in, she needed as much support as possible.
Two Hours Earlier
Richard Castle walked into his apartment, the smile still planted on his face. He could just imagine the conversation Kate was now stuck in with Lanie. Her eyes had almost popped straight out of her head when he'd appeared from Kate's bathroom, barely clothed and still ruffled from their kisses. He felt a little guilty, not checking with Kate before he decided to reveal himself, but short of hiding in her tub, Lanie was going to find out. He could hear their conversation through the door, noting the flimsy and vague excuses Kate was giving her friend. It made him chuckle to think that his unflappable partner was so easily thrown off her game.
"Dad," Alexis voice cut into his thoughts.
"WHAA" he practically screamed, not at all prepared to find his daughter sitting on the couch, almost anticipating his arrival. "Alexis, honey, Hi," his voice dropping back into its regular deep register.
"Hey Dad," she returned his smile but it didn't reach her eyes and he knew it, straight away he could spot something was wrong.
"Is everything okay?" he asked, coming to sit by her on the couch, draping an arm across the back. For a moment she stayed silent, just staring up into his eyes, and in that instant, he could barely believe she was nineteen.
"I know you're seeing someone," she finally uttered dropping her head, a flash of embarrassment crossing her face. "And I'm sort of wondering, why you're keeping it from me?"
His face fell; he could almost literally feel it. Here sat his beautiful, bold, brave amazing daughter, staring at him, asking why he'd been lying to her. And the secrecy, which even he could admit had been sexy and alluring, the fun and frivolity of hiding his relationship with Kate evaporated in an instant. Now, he just felt immature and shallow and looking into Alexis' eyes, full of betrayal, he felt cruel.
"I.." he didn't even know how to start, "Honey, I never meant to lie to you," he slowly continued. "But yes, you're right, I'm in a relationship."
"Is it Mom?" she snapped, anger flaring and days of frustration rose to the surface. She'd spotted something amiss weeks ago. Sure, she'd spent a great deal of her summer with her friends and then taken a trip to Malibu to visit her mother, in which they'd had a particularly interesting conversation about why she hadn't attended her own daughter's graduation. Her Dad had offered to come get her from LA, citing production meetings for Nikki Heat as a reason to come out. When he came to her mother's house, it was awkward and stilted and her mother, not the world's best actress was off and her Dad, in his own way, was strange as well.
When they'd returned to New York, the strangeness continued and then she would come home with random frequency and he'd been gone, having not slept in his bed. At first she put it down to a murder case but after almost three weeks of secretly monitoring his sleeping habits, she was now, finally confronting him.
"No," he stated emphatically, firmly, knowing that going down that path was confusing and frustrating for his daughter, but also, now being with Kate, just, well...his relationship with Meredith didn't compare.
"Then whoever it is, I don't understand why you're lying to me," she replied. "Why you're sneaking around and not staying here."
"I..um," he wanted to tell her, he wanted to shout it from the rooftops, but he also understood that this, unlike joking around with Lanie, was serious. This was his child, and while Kate and he had been fooling around all summer, the actual nuts and bolts of their relationship hadn't come up. How did she feel about children, about Alexis knowing? He wanted so badly to have those answers at hand so he could tell Alexis everything, but he just knew without Kate's consent, it was a step too far.
"I can't say at the moment," he finally answered. "And it's not because I'm ashamed of you, or don't trust you or anything else you're about to say to me. It's because it is becoming serious and the ramifications of it being public knowledge are also pretty serious."
His daughter glared at him, her blue eyes blazing with offence, "So I am just part of this public that can't know. About a very serious relationship you're having."
"Honey, I want to tell you, I really, really do but I have to respect the other person in this."
"By lying to me? Not very respectful to your own daughter," she huffed crossing her arms.
"Hey, you know I respect you, you know that." He paused, trying to find the right words to balance two women in his life. "You're becoming an adult now, and yes I know, really you've been an adult a lot longer than I have. In my life, I've got complicated relationships which I'd like to manage before I bring them home to you."
"Why because you're embarrassed to have a daughter?"
"No Alexis, that's not it all. I want to make them fit into my life, not the other way around. And okay, I may have been a little late with the details and maybe I should have let you know that I was seeing someone sooner, but it's difficult and this relationship means a great deal to me."
"Come on Dad," she rose from the couch, her anger driving her forward, away from the growing sadness on her father's face. "As if some airline steward is interested in a serious relationship with a man who has a teenage daughter. Not even your books and bank account will cover that." And with that, she slammed the door.
"You can't not say anything," Lanie squealed as Kate poured them the wine.
"Watch me," she smiled, her eyes dancing and Lanie almost clapped with joy. For too long she'd watched her friend almost drown in misery and sorrow, always burdened by the past, always trying to make amends for a crime she had no part in. Richard Castle had from the moment he'd stepped into her friend's life brought light and fun, maybe returning Kate to the girl she used to be, a girl Lanie never knew. This woman though, a possible combination of the girl and the burdened detective, with her wicked grin and playful side burning through, this Kate Beckett is the person Lanie always hoped was one day coming out of the ashes.
"Seriously, though, those abs, oh my God," Lanie pretended to fan herself.
"I'm not commenting," Kate sat down next to her on the couch.
"He is a tall man, isn't he? And big, you know, writer hands," Lanie jokingly appraised her own. "You wonder, big man, big hands..." she trailed off and Kate broke down into hysterical laughter, her friend clearly having too much fun at her expense.
"Are you asking me any kind question?" Kate asked, wiping tears from her face.
"Is he making you happy?" Lanie smiled, and Kate's mouth fell open in shock. "No, not that kind of happy, damn, you're just as bad as me!"
A rap on the door interrupted them and Kate rose to answer it, but turned her over shoulder to Lanie as she walked by, "Yes, he is making me very happy. On both counts," she winked mischievously and Lanie almost screamed in delight.
Kate swung open the door, "Hel-Alexis?"
"I'm sorry to disturb you but I need to talk, it's important." The younger Castle, stormed into her apartment, not even waiting for a response.
"Hey Alexis," Lanie greeted her, a wary look shot in Kate's direction as the redhead planted herself on Kate's couch. "I'm going to let you two-" but the pleading glance Kate shot her, stopped in her mid-sentence and she moved not to the door, but the counter, making sure to take her glass of wine with her.
"Alexis, what's up?" Kate asked hesitantly, already sensing her mood.
"My Dad's seeing someone, and it's serious and he won't tell me who," she rambled. "And I know we're not supposed to talk about it, and he'd kill me if he knew I was here, but Detective Beckett, you've got to make a move."
"What?" Kate stammered, shock ricocheting through her body.
"I confronted him this afternoon, and told him I knew. And then he went all serious, and wouldn't tell me who it was, he said he wanted to respect this person's privacy. But he always tells me everything. And Lanie, I know you've said I'm supposed to stay out of it." Kate shot Lanie a look that told her they would be talking about this issue later. "But seriously, Detective Beckett, the look on his face... I've never really seen that look before."
Just for a moment, Kate smiled to herself. She couldn't believe Rick hadn't told Alexis, his own daughter about their relationship when confronted with it. And then the smiled evaporated because it actually hurt, she hurt for him. She knew how much Alexis meant to him, how she was basically his entire world, and for him to stay silent and endure a betrayed daughter, clearly seething at him, it spoke volumes to her.
"Alexis, I..." Kate tried to cut in but she was still going, her hands flying around her as she spoke in a constant world wind.
"And the thing is, he likes you, he really does. And I know he wants to be with you, or I know he did. He'd never say anything to me, but come on, how stupid does he think I am? I've read the Nikki Heat books."
"Alexis, I need to tell you something." Kate spoke a little louder, trying to get her attention. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Lanie urging her on.
"The reason your Dad hasn't said anything about seeing someone, is that I asked him not to."
"Wait...it's you, he's seeing you, isn't he?" She faced Kate, suddenly quiet and jitter free.
"Yes," she replied and silence befell the room.