A/N: Wow! I can't thank you guys enough for the many awesome reviews you guys gave me on that last chapter. Ever. It's such an amazing feeling to know that people actually enjoy and appreciate some of this stuff I write. And that doesn't even begin to cover it. I can't even begin to cover how happy and proud and awesome your reviews make me feel. They're like a drug. A really powerful, really addicting drug. Like heroin... or chocolate. :)

So for you, my awesome readers, I have another chapter. I hope you like it!

"I'm sorry," Beckett mumbled groggily, waking up about an hour later. "I fell asleep on your movie."

"Shh, it's okay," Castle said. "You needed your rest. Do you feel better?"

She shook her head. "Headache. This is why I don't usually sleep during the day. Do you have coffee?"

He smiled. "I'll make you some." He nodded at his daughter. "Alexis?"

"Got it." The girl headed for the kitchen without an instant's hesitation.

Beckett sat up further and scanned the apartment until she located the teenager, embarrassed. "Alexis. Hi."

She turned back toward them, smiling. "Hi, Det—Kate."

"You don't have to—"

Alexis cut her off. "It's okay. I make good coffee, I swear. I don't drink it that often, but my dad says it's good, anyway. Gram likes it too, but she's not picky."

"When she's drinking coffee, she's usually not in a state to notice its quality," Castle mumbled.

Beckett smiled. "Where is Martha now?"

"She got a part in a play off-Broadway, so she'll be out of town for a little while. Alexis and I have got the place to ourselves."

"Do you miss her?"

"Yes," Alexis responded from the other room.

Castle smirked and murmured, "It's very peaceful…"

Beckett shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Thanks for making coffee, Alexis," she said, choosing to temporarily ignore him.

"You sure you don't want to go a different direction?" he asked, calling her attention back to him. Vodka? Scotch? Tequila?" He smiled. "I've got it all."

She shook her head. "Later, maybe. Coffee now."

He nodded, part of him a little surprised that, even under the circumstances, she'd granted him a maybe. This was not a side of her that he was used to seeing.

A comfortable silence descended upon them until Alexis returned with the coffee. But Kate's eyes were closed, so Castle held up a finger to tell her to wait. "Kate?" he said softly, not wanting to wake her if she'd fallen asleep again. She might've disagreed, but he knew she needed sleep more than she needed coffee.

But she opened her eyes and took the mug from Alexis. "Thanks."

"Better?" Castle asked, smiling, after she took her first long sip.

She shrugged. "A little."

"What else can we do?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. I'm fine."

He raised his eyebrows, making his expression serious because she was both worrying and irritating him. "Okay, if you can't think of anything that's one thing, but stop with the 'I'm fine.' You're not fine. I know you're not fine, you know you're not fine, Alexis knows you're not fine, and no one else is here. It's okay to be upset. It doesn't make you weak, it doesn't make you flawed, it just makes you human. And it's okay to accept help from the people who care about you. That's how you make it through the hard times without losing track of yourself. When you don't know who you are, your friends, your family, they can tell you."

She eyed him carefully. "I just meant I don't need anything right now."

He looked down, a little embarrassed. Maybe he had gotten carried away. The word "fine" did have different meanings, perhaps he shouldn't have allowed it to send him into such a rant. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "Don't be sorry. You're trying. It's not your fault I'm impossible. This whole situation is just… impossible." She took another big gulp of coffee. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I came here."

"It's not impossible," he insisted. "It's far from impossible. As are you. And I don't know why you came here, but I'd like to think it was because deep down inside you know you can get through this, and without being any worse for the wear, and you knew that I'd see that and say it to you."

"You really believe that?"

"I really do. And in time, you will too. You'll see."

He tried, but even after spending the day with her, was unable to convince Kate to stay the night. He wanted to call her when he got up the next morning but refrained, hoping to let her sleep. However, he had no intention of leaving her alone for long. Now that she wasn't working he had a feeling she'd try to close herself off from the outside world, at least for awhile. But she was not alone in the world, whether she thought she wanted to be or not, and he wasn't going to let her forget that.

Around noon he gave her a call, and was relieved when, this time, she answered after only two rings. "Hey, Castle." She sounded tired, but unbothered, maybe even pleased, to hear from him.

"Hey yourself. How'd you sleep?"

"Got a couple hours, I think."

He sighed. He'd hoped for better, but hadn't really expected it. "Well, that's better than nothing."

"Yeah," she agreed halfheartedly.

"You wanna come over?"

"Not really. Thanks, though."

He nodded automatically, even though she couldn't see him. "So… what are you going to do today?"

"I… don't really have any plans. What about you? Writing?"

"No, I doubt it. Haven't been very… inspired lately." There was a loaded pause, and since she didn't say anything, he tried again. "Lanie wants to see you, you gonna hang out with her?"

"She's working. And anyway, she'll want to hear my version of the story, and I really don't want to talk about it."

He wondered if this was part of the reason she'd ended up at his house the day before. After all, he already knew what had happened. He'd been there. Following that train, he figured he'd ask. "Do you want company? I could come over. I promise I won't ask you to talk… at all, unless you want to."

"No, Castle, I couldn't ask you to do that."

"You're not asking, I'm offering. Do you want me to come over?"

"I think I'd rather just be by myself today."

"Okay. That's understandable. Am I bugging you now? Want me to hang up?" He found that he didn't care what she asked of him right now. If she needed or wanted it he was going to give it to her, even if it meant leaving her alone.

"No," she said. He expected her to elaborate, but the line was silent. That was all she said. Just "no."

"Is there anything I can do for you?" he finally asked. "Anything at all?"

"I don't know what that would be."

"Okay. If you think of anything, let me know."

"I will."

"So… have you given any more thought to what we talked about yesterday?"

She took a beat to answer, and then finally asked, "What did we talk about yesterday?"

"What you want to do now. For the rest of your life. Or… at least the next two weeks."

"Oh. Not really."

"Not at all?"

"What can I do? I can't go to work, I can't look for another job because I haven't officially lost mine yet, I don't really want to see anyone because I don't really want to talk about it… What is there to do but just let the time pass?"

Hearing this idea put into words made him almost angry. "No, no, you're thinking about this all wrong," he said, adamant. "It's two weeks, Kate. Two weeks of your life. You can't just 'let the time pass,' you can't just do nothing while the rest of the world goes on around you. You'll never get these two weeks back."

"Why would I want them back? I'd rather just forget they ever happened."

He shook his head violently. She couldn't see, but he felt so strongly about this that he couldn't seem to stop himself from physically displaying his disapproval. "No, you wouldn't. You should take advantage of this time. You have two weeks of total freedom. No restrictions, no responsibilities, you can do anything you want. They could be the best two weeks of your life."

"Castle," she sighed, "all I really want is to go to work like I've done every other day."

"You are very much lacking in imagination," he teased her gently, in a sad voice.

"I imagine that's true," she replied.

"Come on… is there anything you've always wanted to do that you couldn't because of your job?"

"No."

"Really think for a second. Everyone feels restricted by their job at times, even me. Well, maybe not me." He smiled. "Travel?" he guessed.

"Yeah, maybe. I don't usually get a whole lot of vacation time…"

"Good. Put that on the list. Traveling."

"What list?"

"The list you're going to make of all the things you couldn't do before that you can now. You'll do as much of it as you can in the next two weeks, and then after the hearing you can look at what's left. If you get your badge back, you can decide if you'd rather go back to work or keep working on the list. And if you don't… Well, then you'll already have all of these goals. It's somewhere to start."

"Well… how can I travel now?" she argued. "I don't have all this extra cash just lying around, especially now that I might not have any income."

"You weren't listening to me at all yesterday, were you? I do."

"Castle—"

But he interrupted her almost before she got his name out. "Now there's the matter of what to call it… it's not a bucket list, as you're certainly not dying…ooh, I know. The Beckett List. It's perfect!" He dug through his desk drawers for a piece of paper and a pen so that he could start creating this brilliant list. He soon found one and scrawled "The Beckett List" at the top. "Now, do you have any specific ideas about where you'd like to travel?"

"I can't just—"

"Sure you can." He thought maybe if he didn't let her finish a sentence that wasn't a part of his brilliant plan, she might actually participate. "What do you want to see? Vegas? Europe? Africa? The North Pole? Atlantis? Narnia?"

"I haven't been to the beach since I was a little girl…" she said, reluctantly. "I guess… I'd kind of like to do that."

"We went to the beach in LA," he reminded her.

"Yeah, and I almost shot a guy. Not exactly relaxing."

"Oh." He immediately regretted bringing that incident up, afraid it would remind her of the more recent incident that he knew she was trying not to think about. "Sorry." He wrote "beach" on the list. "What else?"

"I guess I always wished I had more time to read…"

"You read plenty, but I guess I'll add it."

"Are you actually making a list?"

"Of course. How else will we remember? We can check things off as we go."

"We're not actually going to do this, Castle."

"Of course we are. Or, you are, actually. What else?"

"I don't know."

"Come on. What else did you always wish you had more time to do?"

"I guess… I've lost touch with a lot of old friends. So… spend time with friends and family."

"Good, perfect." He wrote it down.

"And… to have a relationship. A real, lasting relationship. Not… not like what I had with Josh."

He was surprised she'd shared this last bit with him. Her love life was usually an off-limits topic. But he wrote it down. "Got it. Anything else?"

"Not that I can think of."

"Well, that's a good start. And when you think of more, just tell me and I'll add it to the list. When do you want to get started?"

"This is your thing, Castle," she sighed, a little exasperated. "When would you like to get started?"

"I think you should start as soon as possible. Tomorrow. Or today. Both, actually. And I have the perfect idea for how to begin. Today, you can read. Pick something easy and lighthearted. A beach book, you know? And then find some more and pack them, because tomorrow you're going to the beach."

"And how exactly to do expect me to do that?"

"My place in the Hamptons. Take it for as long as you like. I'll give you the keys. You can invite Lanie, or maybe some of those friends you say you've lost touch with… or just go by yourself. It's very peaceful, and it's away from all of this. You won't have to think about anything. Reality is off-limits. Turn over a new leaf."

"That's nice, Castle, but I don't want to stay at your place without you there… it would be too weird."

"No it wouldn't. I'd leave you alone, I promise. It would be your place until you're ready to leave."

"No… no, I couldn't."

He could tell she'd thought about it, and it bothered him that she wasn't accepting. So rather than giving up, he decided to pitch a different idea. One he'd thought of first, but hadn't thought there was a chance in the world of her accepting. Now that she'd rejected his initial offer, he figured he'd try it. He didn't have anything to lose. "What if I went too? I usually go up there around this time of year anyway, and I have plenty of bedrooms. It would be totally relaxed?" His voice went up at the end, because he so doubted she'd agree that he felt is safer to ask than really offer.

But she didn't immediately refuse. In fact, she didn't say anything at all, so either she was actually considering or trying to devise a way to permanently shut him up.

"Come on, Kate," he tried to encourage her. "Get away from all of this for a little while. Your life will still be here when you get back."

"What's left of it," she murmured.

"Stop. Come on, you have to do this. Change your outlook."

"Maybe…" She hesitated. "Maybe just for a couple days."

He was actually shocked by her answer. "Really?"

"It would be nice… to get away."

"Then it's settled. We leave tomorrow. Pack your things and I'll pick you up at eleven."

"Are you sure? What about Alexis?"

"She has school, but I might be able to get her to come up on the weekend if we're still there."
"No, I mean, Martha's out of town, right?"

"Oh, she'll be fine by herself," he said quickly. "She's done it before. She's seventeen, and pretty responsible. And she can have a friend come over if she wants."

"You're sure you want to? Don't you have stuff to do?"

He smiled. "Think about what I usually do during the day. I'm kind of out of a job too."

She responded immediately, and defensively. "You are not."

""No, sorry…" He hadn't wanted to upset her. "That's not what I meant. I just meant I have some free time. To do stuff like this. Reallly, there's nothing I'd rather do. And I'll leave you alone if you want me to. It'll be your call."

"Eleven?" she asked, changing the subject slightly.

"Yeah, eleven's good. It'll give me time to get ready. If that's okay with you?"

"Oh, I don't know Castle, with everything I have going on right now, I doubt I'll be ready in time…"

He laughed a little humorlessly. "Well, I'm glad you have enough energy for your cynical sarcasm. I'll see you tomorrow, then. And call me if you need anything else, okay?"

"Thanks, Castle. See you tomorrow."

You're a grown man, he reminded himself as he stood before his daughter's bedroom door. Just tell her. It won't be a problem.

But the fact was that he knew it wouldn't be as simple as he'd tried to convince Beckett, as he'd tried to convince himself, that it would be. It wasn't like he went out of town often, not without a specific reason, and not without taking Alexis with him. On the few occasions that he had, for the most part, Martha had been home. He hadn't lied to Kate exactly, Alexis had been home by herself before, but not for more than a couple of days at a time, and he really wasn't at all sure what her reaction to this trip would be. But finally he gathered his nerve and knocked lightly.

"Come on in, Dad," she called from inside.

Alexis was at her desk when he walked in, so he took a seat on the edge of her bed. "I have something to run by you," he said.

Sensing his unease, she turned her desk chair to face him. "What is it?"

"How would you feel if I … went away for a couple of days?"

She lowered her eyebrows, confused. "Away where?"

"The Hamptons."

"In the middle of the week?"

"Yeah. Well, tomorrow."

If she'd been confused before, he didn't know what she was now. "Why?"

"Beckett. She needs to get away for a little while, and I thought I'd go with her."

It seemed that Alexis was finally beginning to comprehend. "Ah. For how long?"

"I honestly don't know. It could be anywhere from two days to… two weeks. We need to be back here two weeks from tomorrow for the hearing."

"Two weeks?" she repeated, uncomfortable.

"It probably won't be that long. You could even come with us if you want. Take some time off of school."

"I have finals coming up. I can't do that."

He nodded. "I figured you'd say that. But you're more than welcome to come hang out over the weekend if we're still there. And in the meantime you could have a friend come stay with you." He held eye contact with his daughter, silently pleading with her to understand how important this was. "I don't want her to be alone," he said. "Not now. She needs… Well, I don't know if she needs me, exactly, but she needs someone, and she's willing to tolerate me for some reason. I think it's got something to do with the fact that I was there with her when everything happened. She doesn't have to explain anything to me."

Alexis slowly nodded. "But… what if I need you here?"

"Then I won't go," he said solemnly.

"Then… it's up to me?"

"It's completely up to you. But I will ask you to remember how you said that if there was anything you could do to help her, you wanted to do it. I think this would help her. But it's your call."

"Is there anything… going on between the two of you?"

He frowned. "Nothing different than yesterday. Or any other day. Why?"

"I don't know. It just seems… different. Yesterday too. There was a vibe."

"Just helping out a friend."

"But if it becomes more than that, you'll tell me?"

Now this was different. Alexis didn't usually ask much about his personal life. "Sure," he told her. "But it won't."

"But if it does?"

"Of course. Why are you so interested?"

"Because Beckett's different," she said simply.

He nodded. "She is, isn't she?"

Alexis nodded.

"So… what do you think?"

"I think… she needs you more than I do right now."

He got up from where he was sitting and hugged his daughter. "Thank you," he told her. "And if you need anything, you just call me and I'll come right home. Okay?"

She nodded. "I'll be fine."

"I know." He turned to let her go back to her studying, and hardly realized that he was shaking his head in amazement as he walked away.

"What?" she asked, bringing him back to reality.

He turned back around to face her and smiled. "Oh. Nothing. Just… sometimes I marvel at the woman you're turning out to be."

She rolled her eyes. "Dad…"

"No," he interrupted her. "Really. And I know that neither genetics nor parenting explains it, so you must just be a fluke." He smiled.

Alexis laughed, and then met his eyes. "Maybe it's a little of all three."

So... hopefully you liked this chapter too and it wasn't just the new story novelty that intrigued all of you. :)

Bonus points if you got the slightly tweaked Firefly reference.

And remember... reviews are like heroin and/or chocolate. WANT. (Yes I did sort of steal that from Nathan, paraphrase it and change the context. No I will not apologize.) Also, getting reviews does tend to motivate me to write faster. I know we all say that, but it's so true.