Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or the recognizable characters who appear in this story. Any other names, for characters or businesses, are fictional, uncompensated, or are in the public domain.
"Hello, Kate," Dr. Burke greets Beckett at the door, gesturing towards her seat. "How are you this afternoon?"
"I still haven't talked to Castle," she admits immediately, diving in to this session even before she takes her seat.
"So, let me guess where you'd like to start," Dr. Burke offers with a small smile, trying to take the sting out of his patient's concern. "Have there been any additional circumstances to provide insight into his situation?"
"No," Beckett replies gratefully. "No anger and nothing violent. But we still haven't really talked about it – he's just so good at deflecting any conversation away from himself that he derails me before I even get started."
"It's been a week since we spoke about Mr. Castle's injuries and how you might address them," Dr. Burke reminds them both. "Should we consider a different strategy? If this is causing you more duress, it might be time to find an alternate strategy. A surrogate, perhaps? Maybe Doctor Parish or your father?"
"No," Beckett rejects the suggestion immediately. "It needs to be me. I can do it. I was ready to do it. Twice."
"What happened?" her therapist asks. "Is that something we should talk about?"
Nodding, Beckett clearly intends to devote this session to figuring out how to approach her partner. "Yes. I was going to talk to him in the precinct," she explains with a shrug. "I figured it's a safe, comfortable, relatively neutral place."
Dr. Burke pulls his head back at this comment, tilting his chin down to cast a dubious look.
"Well, it's more neutral than his loft or his bar," she defends herself. "Or even my place. So, I figured we could talk at work, maybe over lunch."
"So, what happened?"
"Ryan and Esposito," she growls in reply, running a hand through her hair. "They've been a little out of control."
"How so?" Dr. Burke asks, surprised to hear dissension within the ranks of his patient's team.
"We're testing new surveillance equipment," Beckett answers with a sigh. "Tiny new devices for CIs – sorry, confidential informants – or undercover officers to record conversations. They're mostly for Vice or White Collar, but each department got some for evaluation. The boys keep talking about how they're going sneak a bug onto Castle."
"To learn how he's getting hurt?" the therapist reacts in surprise. "I was unaware that they knew of his injuries."
"No," Beckett answers, blushing. "To… um…"
"Yes?" Dr. Burke prompts, surprised at his patient's hesitancy.
"Word got out that I didn't call Castle during the summer," she explains. "Some of my colleagues think that means Castle's available," she continues, picking up speed due to her discomfort with the topic. "The boys are anxious to record some of those conversations so they can tease him."
"I see," Dr. Burke answers with a frown, wondering at the high-school antics. "And you're concerned about how Mr. Castle might react to one of these expressions of interest?"
"No," Beckett answers quickly, shaking her head. "We've talked about that. He won't see anyone in the precinct," she answers with a blush, looking down. What Castle had said, actually, was that he wouldn't date anyone else in the precinct. She'd blown off his comment as more flirtatious bravado, but she's learned better since then. She knows Castle likes to wrap the truth in a joke or a pass to ease its delivery. "And I'm sure he'll be kind while diverting anyone who approaches him."
Dr. Burke nods, remaining silent to avoid breaking Beckett's explanation.
"I don't trust the boys. I'm worried that I'll talk to Castle and find out later the whole conversation's been recorded. It's going to be a difficult enough talk without that nonsense," she huffs, getting a nod of agreement from her therapist. "And I don't need any evasions about Lady Irena on tape," she mumbles.
"Lady Irena?" Dr. Burke asks, curious about the introduction of a new character in this drama.
Blushing in embarrassment about being heard or the subject matter, Beckett offers a quick explanation to move off this topic. "She's a, uh, different kind of therapist we met on one of our cases. One whose services could leave bruises."
"Oh," Dr. Burke replies, eyebrows comically high. "Yours seems like a sensible precaution," he offers, not interested in lingering on 'alternate therapy' and thinking that the teasing her colleagues intend could backfire spectacularly and do a fair bit of harm to Detective Beckett's progress. "You said you tried two times – tell me about the other attempt?"
"I gave up on the neutral ground theory," Beckett confesses, blushing again. "I visited his loft. It… didn't go well."
"Detective Beckett?" Alexis greets in a subdued tone after opening the door.
"Hello, Alexis," Beckett replies in a tone that reaches for friendly but probably still sounds nervous. "Is your dad here? I was hoping to talk to him."
"No," Castle's daughter replies, brows furrowed. "He's at Black Pawn tonight, hammering out his promotional responsibilities for the next two quarters. He won't be back for a few hours. And after that long with Gina and Paula, he'll probably be irate, drunk, or both."
"Oh," Beckett replies, wondering why he hadn't mentioned anything to her. The answers arrive almost immediately – he won't do anything that suggests his time at the precinct is impinging on his home or work life, since doing so might limit the time he can keep an eye on his partner as she continues to recover. And he's become very careful about mentioning Gina after their disastrous parting for that second summer, which seems so long ago now. "Sorry to bother you, I didn't know."
Beckett's apology causes Alexis to look confused again. Clearly, the notion of a contrite partner hadn't figured into Alexis' conception of the detective. The reaction helps Beckett decide to pursue a risky strategy.
"Look, Alexis," she says, somewhat abruptly. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
The young woman purses her lips but holds the door open, good graces and upbringing apparently winning out over other considerations. Once Beckett's entered the loft, though, Alexis doesn't repair to the lounge. Instead, she stands beside the door, silently signaling her hopes for a brief conversation.
Beckett's conducted more than enough interviews to recognize the body language and she's not here to cause trouble. So, she decides, best to jump right in.
"I'm worried about your father," she prefaces, watching Alexis grow concerned. "I think…," she continues, starting to grow concerned about betraying Castle's trust but convinced that the potential danger to him demands her efforts, "I think he's been hurt. I think someone's hurting him."
Alexis' massive snort is highly undignified but elegant in its brevity. "Yeah," she answers after raising and lowering a hand to her mouth after her outburst. "Someone's definitely hurt him," she agrees readily, nodding while piercing Beckett with the cool, blue eyes she inherited from her father. "Someone's definitely still hurting him."
"Someone besides me," Beckett answers in a small voice, looking at the toes of her boots.
Alexis remains quiet after Beckett's admission, finally prompting the detective to raise her eyes. "I'm not sure I'd notice anything other than the obvious," she offers, keeping her tone remarkably light. Martha, or perhaps even Meredith, would be impressed by her dramatic control. "What does Dr. Parish call it? Oh, yeah – post-mortem scarring. I think the damage has been done, Detective. Anything more at this point is probably just overkill."
Alexis pauses, providing Beckett an opportunity to object or explain. For her part, Beckett's decided that any further discussion is unlikely to do anything to protect Castle and might just give him one more reason to be upset.
"Now, Detective, if you have any questions about my father," Alexis says while reaching for the doorknob, "I think you should talk to him, not me." With that, Castle's daughter stops talking and draws open the door, holding it open while looking openly at Beckett.
Nodding, Beckett moves to the doorway. Before she passes into the hallway, though, Beckett turns in place and addresses the young woman again. "If anything's wrong, you can call me. Or the boys," she adds, noting Alexis' expression hadn't reacted at all to her offer. "I just want him to be safe," she adds with a shrug. This produces pursed lips and raised brows, making Beckett wonder if she's digging a deeper hole. "I'm sorry," she finally offers, stepping backwards so that Castle's daughter can gently close the door on her.
"An inauspicious meeting," Dr. Burke summarizes. "But you knew this was likely to occur. We've talked about Ms. Castle's likely reactions to what happened to her father, both at the funeral and after."
Beckett nods along sadly. "I wasn't surprised by her reaction. I'd just let myself hope that maybe she wouldn't be so upset. All things considered," she allows, "she was actually pretty polite."
"Except, perhaps, for the snort," Dr. Burke replies, again trying to cheer his patient. "I can understand your concern about this meeting, but I'll confess that I'm impressed," he says while watching Beckett's bloom of astonishment. "You knew your reception was unlikely to be a warm one, yet your concern for Mr. Castle's safety led you to act. Those are hardly the actions I'd expected after the way you started our session today."
"It doesn't matter, though, does it? The fact is I'm no closer to figuring out who's hurting Castle or why he's allowing it," Beckett laments.
"And you're convinced that you should be the one to pursue this with Mr. Castle?" he inquires.
"Yes," Beckett answers quickly. "For so many reasons, it has to be me."
"Then, perhaps I could assist?" he asks, surprising the detective. "It's sensible, don't you think? You want someplace neutral," he reiterates, gesturing to his office with an airy wave. "And back when you asked for a counselor recommendation, you knew he'd ask if you were seeing a therapist. So, if he's going to find out anyway, why not begin the conversation by proving your commitment to recovery?" he asks reasonably. "In a moderated conversation, I can help ensure that we address the topics of relevance without drifting off course. And although I'm not actually a couples' counselor," he adds, watching Beckett's cheeks grow pink, "I suspect I could help moderate any communication difficulties until the two of you are more comfortable speaking directly about difficult personal subjects."
"I…," Beckett trails off, her instinctual reaction to reject Dr. Burke's offer warring with her goals for herself and Castle. "I'd like to try that," she vows after a fortifying breath. "I…," she seems to stumble again, probably considering the magnitude of her commitment. "Thank you," she whispers.
"Would you like to invite him or shall I?" Dr. Burke follows up, trying to exact a commitment to ensure forward movement.
"I want you to call him," Beckett says clearly after a moment's thought, "if I haven't managed to do it by our next session." Dr. Burke nods and again lets a small grin show, pleased to hear that his patient is employing commitment devices herself.
"Excellent," he praises, rising to his feet. "Then we have a plan of action," he summarizes to praise their progress. "I shall be quite curious as to how the next week develops. Don't feel obliged to wait until our next session to apprise me of any developments."
"I'll keep that in mind," Beckett says with a low chuckle, still a little shocked at her own plan. "As for now, I should probably get back to the precinct. Thank you, Doctor Burke," Beckett repeats herself as she pulls out her phone to take it off mute and reconnect to the precinct.
"My pleasure, Kate," he replies honestly. His happiness at their progress curdles, though, as Beckett grows rigid and pale, looking at her phone as it continually vibrates in her hand, a slew of texts she missed during her session scrolling across the screen.
"Oh, God," Beckett groans as she sways distressingly, causing Dr. Burke to lurch into motion. Before he can reach her side, though, Kate's morphed from therapy patient into Detective Beckett. Had he not seen it, Dr. Burke might not've believed the transformation.
"What is it? What's happened?"
"I don't know," Beckett answers, already striding toward the door. "There's something going on at the 12th," she explains, already lifting the phone to her ear. "Espo's last text just said 'They took Castle.'"