A/N: More! Sorry for the wait. I'm going to be slow to update, because of school and such, but here's one for now. Sorry also, because it's unbetaed.

Disclaimer: Own nothing. Want to own a lot of things. Though I must admit, I think Superman would be my first buy, over any other franchise. Just sayin'.

Castle sat with his head in his hands on the table, wishing this would all just melt away and he could wake up from the nightmare he seemed to be having. Questioned by police, signing a deal that required him to clean up his act, being investigated for murder- and now his daughter had to show up in the middle of it. Things could not possibly get any worse for him.

The door swung open and he silently retracted his statement. Things could get worse. They could charge him with murder.

Kate walked in and sat down across from him with a sigh. "Your daughter is just outside in the conference room with your lawyer. Detectives Ryan and Esposito will explain everything to her in a few moments."

"Wait!"

Kate's gaze snapped back up to meet his and Castle shrunk in on himself slightly, realizing how sharp his tone had been. He fidgeted as he explained himself. "I, uh, would you mind if I talked to her? I don't want her to find out about everything this way. I want to be the first to tell her, you know?"

Kate evaluated him slowly, trying to come up with a reason why this was a bad idea and winding up empty handed. The girl was going to find out anyways, and it's not like she had any motive to be on her father's side at the moment. Slowly, she nodded. "All right. Just a couple of minutes, though. And I'm staying in the room with you."

Castle nodded as Detective Beckett rose and left to go get his daughter. He waited as patiently as he could, knee jogging up and down nervously. His hands shook- either from the nerves or the withdrawals- and he sat on them to keep her from seeing them.

He was going to have to tell her the truth about everything.

A wave of panic washed over him. How was he supposed to have this conversation? He was supposed to be a good role model for her. And here he was, being questioned for murder, and severely addicted to recreational drugs. How could he even look her in the eye after this? He didn't even know what words to say-

It was too late for that now, though. The door swung open and Alexis nervously walked through, followed closely by Detective Beckett. Castle shot out of his chair, suddenly thrilled to see her. The motion seemed to alert the detective though, her hand reaching automatically for her hip where, Castle noted, she kept a holstered gun. He threw his hands up innocently, proving he wasn't going to do anything rash or dangerous. She seemed to assess him once again, but visibly relaxed as she seemed to decide he wasn't a threat for the time being.

Rick still hesitated. "Can I hug her?"

Kate nodded, waving Alexis over to him. Castle took two long strides over to her side of the room, meeting his daughter halfway and wrapping his arms around her slim frame tightly. He closed his eyes, allowing him to just feel her in his arms, to inhale her scent. There was no better fix in the world than a hug from his daughter. Besides a large amount of cocaine, of course.

"Dad," she whispered, pulling away from him after several moments. Castle immediately lamented the loss. "Dad, what happened? What are you doing here? It was on the news, you at the scene of some crime, and-"

Castle's eyes went wide at that and he backed up. "It was on the news? What did they say? Did they mention me or details or-"

"Dad, calm down. It didn't say anything about the case, but some reporters caught you following the police out of the building and they were just speculating on what happened."

Castle slumped back into his chair and put his face in his hands nervously. "Shit. Paula's gonna kill me."

"Dad," Alexis reiterated firmly, trying to get his attention. "What happened? Why are you here?"

Rick groaned and finally looked at his daughter, kneeling next to him with a soft, concerned expression on her face. She was so innocent and gentle... and he was about to turn her life upside down. "Lex, I-I screwed up. Big time."

His daughter's expression didn't change from it's encouraging look, but her eyes became more guarded. "What did you do, Dad?"

Castle swallowed thickly, glancing at the detective in the corner, making herself scarce as possible to give them their moment but still listening in. "I-I was at the book launch last night, you know."

"Yes, I was there," Alexis couldn't help the sarcasm that seeped into her tone, but she wanted him to get to the point already.

"Anyway, after you and Grams left, I... went to this nearby bar and met someone. We talked a bit, and, uh..." he stalled, unsure how to tell his daughter this sort of thing.

Alexis seemed to understand where this was going though. "You left with her," she filled in for him.

Castle nodded. "Yeah. But, nothing happened. Not that I'm aware of, anyway."

"Dad, you don't have explain these things to me. I get it. You don't need to edit yourself that much. I mean, I'm grateful you spare me the details, but-"

"No, Lex, you don't understand," he shook his head firmly. "I'm not sugar coating anything. We got to her apartment, and that's literally all I remember. I blacked out. And when I woke up this morning I was alone in her room, sleeping next to her... her body."

She furrowed her brows in confusion. "What do you mean? Were you drugged or something? Did she slip you something, or-"

"Lex."

"-Maybe you were just really drunk. And why did you say her body? That's an odd way of phrasing it, and why-"

"Alexis."

His sharp tone got her attention and she stopped to look at his weary, drained, ashen face. Her stomach clenched nervously. "Dad?"

He let his eyes drift closed softly for a moment before speaking. "I was sleeping next to her dead body."

His words were met with a resounding silence. Slowly, Castle opened his eyes to see what was going on. Alexis was blinking up at him in surprise, not quite processing it all yet. Then the horror grew on her face as she realized he was being dead serious. Slowly, she stood up and started backing away from her father. "No, no, no..."

"Alexis," he tried, but she just kept shaking her head and repeating herself as she backed up more.

"No, no, no, no. That's not- you couldn't-"

"Alexis, I didn't kill her, I swear to you."

"You- you were there! You were in her apartment- alone! - and then, and now she's-"

"Alexis, I can't explain to you what happened yet, but I can tell you that I didn't hurt that woman. I don't know how it happened or why but it wasn't me. You know me, Lex. I'm your father."

Her eyes lit up suddenly. "Wait! The black out! You blacked out! You had to have been drugged or something, right?"

Kate Beckett scoffed, the first sound she'd made since she'd brought Alexis in the room. "Yeah, that'll be hard to prove."

Alexis frowned at the woman. "What's that supposed to mean, Detective? Isn't it your job to find out what really happened and not just pigeon-hole somebody for a crime? Or is justice not on the to-do list for the day?"

Kate placed her hands on her hips and stood up straighter before the girl, looking her directly in the eye. She felt sorry for her, she did, but now Alexis Castle had crossed a line. "You want to tell your daughter why that won't work, Castle? Or should I?"

Alexis frowned and turned back towards her father once more. "Dad? What is it? What more could there possibly be?"

Castle looked down at his hands dejectedly where they lay flat on the table, tremors running through him. "Before you were ever born, I wasn't exactly the best guy. Got into some bad stuff. I quit, once I found out I was gonna be a father. But I was at a party a little while ago and- it's no excuse- but I-I kind of fell for it again, and I've been hooked ever since. It keeps getting worse, and I thought I was doing a good job of hiding it from everyone, but now..." He swallowed thickly and closed his eyes, shutting out the world around him, in particular his daughter's face.

"Dad? What are you saying?"

Rick looked up at her finally. She looked like she'd seen a ghost, she was so terrified of what he was going to say next. He felt tears brimming in his eyes, and he blinked them away quickly as he said his next few words.

"I think I'm a drug addict, pumpkin."

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