Alexis' first week of school had flown by, and she was sad when the weekend arrived. She loved to be home with Dad and Kate, but school was just so much fun. Her teacher was wonderful, and she'd made so many new friends. Learning was fun, too, but the first week had been so easy. The spelling words were words that she already knew, and math had been mostly reviewing counting and talking about the calendar. The teacher promised Alexis that this was just "kindergarten review" week, and that the real first grade work would start soon. Alexis knew that her teacher would never lie, and she couldn't wait for the curriculum to get harder.

The weekend had been fun, though. Yesterday morning, Gram had come over, and she took Alexis, Dad, and Kate on a shopping trip, followed by dinner and a trip to the movie theater to see "Muppets in Space." This morning, Kate and Alexis had played school, because Alexis missed it so much. She insisted that Kate play the role of the teacher and give her very hard spelling words. It had been a very productive morning—Alexis now knew how to spell "bumblebee," "mountain," and "envelope." Plus, Kate had told her even more stories about how nice the author of the Harry Potter books was. She couldn't wait to tell her friends about it tomorrow.

Now, it was after lunch, and she'd asked Dad if they could work their favorite jigsaw puzzle together. She wished Kate could work the puzzle with them, but Kate had a report that she had to do for her job. She'd told Alexis that sometimes grown-ups have homework, too. So Alexis and Dad would do the puzzle without her.

They had worked this puzzle so many times that she didn't even need to see the picture on the lid anymore. It depicted a red-headed girl holding a golden retriever puppy, smiling widely in the sunshine. The puzzle was 150 pieces, which was hard, but she and Dad could do it every time.

They'd just begun pulling border pieces out of the box and arranging them on the kitchen table when Alexis heard a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" she exclaimed, jumping out of her seat and running toward the door. She unlocked it and pulled the handle, swinging the door open widely to reveal a tall, thin middle-aged man with, streaks of grey accentuating his brown hair.

"Hello," the stranger said hesitantly, looking curiously into the living room. "Is… uh… is this where Katie lives?"

"I think you have the wrong apartment, sir," Alexis answered respectfully. "I'm Alexis, not Katie."

The man scratched his head, puzzled. "I could have sworn…" he started, trailing off. "She left me a message, on my phone. She gave me this address… told me she lived here…"

Before Alexis could say anything else, Kate came thundering down the stairs, skidding to a halt a few feet from the door. She stood frozen, a look of astonishment on her face as she gazed wide-eyed at the man standing in the doorway.

"Dad?" she whispered.

Kate was stunned. Never in a million years would she have expected her father to show up at the loft's front door, hoping to see her. She'd called him numerous times over the past few weeks, but had never received an answer. She always left a message, though—generally something short and simple. Yesterday, she'd decided to give him the loft's address, not expecting him to ever come by. But here he was, sitting in one of the plush armchairs in Castle's office, looking around warily.

Kate wasn't even sure how to begin the conversation; she felt like she hardly knew the man anymore. So instead she sat quietly in the chair beside him, waiting for him to speak.

After a minute or two, Jim finally broke the silence. "It's good to see you, Katie," he said hesitantly, turning to look at her. "It's been a while."

"Since May," Kate answered, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. She'd never forget that day. She'd showed up at her dad's front door in tears because of everything that had happened, and when she admitted to him that she'd messed up and had been evicted from her apartment, he'd mocked her.

Oh, that's great, Katie, he'd slurred sarcastically. Looks like you screwed up. That's too bad.

She hadn't known how bad things had become for her father until that day. And he'd stood there, his breath reeking of alcohol, swearing to her that he didn't have a drinking problem. But she knew better. Her father had become an alcoholic after her mother's death.

But the fact that he was here now meant that maybe Castle had been right when he said a father is never too drunk to love his daughter. After this many months, though, she hardly knew what that meant anymore.

"You… uh… you look good," Jim said awkwardly. "How have you been?"

"Really, Dad? You're going to ask me how I'm doing?" The words were out of her mouth before Kate could stop them. "You ignore me for months, and you want to come over here and act like nothing happened?"

She wasn't being fair, and she knew it. But her father had caused her so much hurt over the past few months, and seeing him here was making all of the hurt come flooding back.

"I tried, Katie, but didn't know how to contact you," Jim said with a sigh. "I tried calling you, but your phone had been disconnected. So I stopped by your apartment, but it was empty, and there was a 'for lease' sign on the door. I didn't know where you were, Katie… I didn't know how to find you."

The desperation in his eyes seemed genuine, and Kate wanted desperately to believe him. But she couldn't. If he really wanted to find her, why did he never call her back?

"Well, I didn't know who was calling," Jim said when Kate asked him exactly that. "I don't have caller ID. Once you started leaving messages, I knew it was you, but I had no way to call you back. You know that, Katie."

Kate had completely forgotten that the landlines at her parents' apartment—her dad's apartment, rather—were old and didn't have a caller ID feature. It was true that he had no way to contact her, despite her repeated calls. Although she was still mad at him, she felt a momentary twinge of guilt at treating him badly.

"So when you left your address yesterday, it was like a glimmer of hope. I finally knew where you were," Jim said, his eyes lighting up. "And I wanted to come and see you, because I care about you. You're my daughter, and I love you."

"Then why didn't you care when I told you I was being evicted?" Kate shot back. She wasn't going to let him make excuses.

"You were evicted? You never told me that," Jim said, confused.

"I did, Dad," Kate sighed. "In May. I came to your apartment and told you, but you didn't care. You were drunk."

Jim's cheeks flushed. "God, Katie, I'm sorry," he said, raking his hand nervously through his hair. "It's just been hard, you know? Since your mom died… sometimes it's just too hard to cope, and I drink to wash away the pain, just so I can forget."

Kate sighed. "How often is 'sometimes,' Dad?"

"Oh, I don't know…" he said hesitantly. "I guess I've only drank once or twice… well, I… uh, I don't drink. Honestly."

He was contradicting himself. That, combined with his refusal to meet her eyes, was a dead giveaway that he was lying.

"I don't believe you, Dad," Kate said firmly. "And I'm not going to let you sit here, in my home, and lie to me."

"You call this your home? This isn't your home, Katie," Jim said, raising his voice. "This is not the place you grew up. This is not the place that you lived with… with your mother and I. This is not your home."

"Well, you saw to it that I couldn't call your apartment my home anymore," Kate retorted, matching his volume. "You didn't even care when I came to you and told you that I'd been evicted from my apartment and I didn't have a place to live anymore. And you know what? I didn't have a home," she said, her voice shaking with the force of her anger. "For three months. I lived on the streets, Dad. I was homeless. And you know why that is? Because you were too drunk to care." She spat the words at him, venom lacing every word.

"I was not drunk!" Jim roared, standing. "Don't you dare accuse me of drinking!"

He was lying to her again. Kate knew that alcoholics tried to lie and manipulate people to make them think they didn't actually have a problem, and her father was doing exactly that. It would be futile to argue with him.

"Fine," Kate said coolly, swiftly rising from her seat. "Thank you for coming to see me. I think it's time for you to leave now." She walked to the office door and opened it, gesturing for him to exit.

The look on Jim's face instantly turned from anger to shock. "You're going to kick your own father out? Really?" he asked. Kate said nothing, but gestured again for him to leave.

"You are kicking me out, then," Jim said, squaring his jaw as anger flashed through his eyes once more. "How dare you do this. I'm your father."

Kate remained silent, staring him down. Jim began to shift his weight from one foot to the other uneasily, finally breaking under her scrutiny and dropping his eyes to the ground. He pressed his lips together nervously as he stepped out of the office and into the living room. Kate followed him, shutting the office door firmly behind her.

"This is your fault, you know," Jim suddenly said, stopping in the middle of the living room. "You abandoned me. You went off to school in California and left your mother and I alone. And after she… after she died, you didn't stay," he continued, tauntingly. "You didn't come back, and you left me alone. It's your fault."

"You need to go, Dad," Kate said firmly, steeling her resolve. Although she knew her father was reacting out of guilt, trying to shift the blame to Kate in his refusal to admit to his problem, his words were like daggers through her heart, and it was taking a lot of effort to hold back her tears. She walked stiffly to the front door, holding it open for him to walk through.

"Fine, then," Jim said accusingly, following Kate to the door. "Move in with strangers and forget about your father. I see how this works." He turned around and stopped in the doorway, looking back at his daughter with a guilt-filled gaze. "Don't… don't call me again," he said hesitantly. "I won't answer." He turned quickly, marching down the hallway to the elevator.

Kate quickly shut the door, refusing to watch him leave. As soon as the door was locked, she sank against it, burying her face in her hands.

That could not have gone any worse.

She stood against the door for a moment, steadying her breathing and her nerves. It wasn't until she uncovered her face and turned back around that she saw Castle was in the living room, sitting in one of the armchairs and looking at her curiously.

"What?" Kate snapped.

"Nothing," Castle answered, shrugging casually.

She wasn't fooled by his nonchalance, though. The look on his face gave him away, and she knew that he'd heard the entire exchange.

"You listened to our whole conversation, didn't you? Castle, that was private!" Kate exclaimed angrily.

"Well... the office walls are bookshelves," Castle said apologetically.

Damn. Kate had forgotten about that. That meant…

"Alexis heard everything, too, didn't she?" Kate whispered.

"I told her to go to her room and close the door as soon as things started escalating. Don't worry," Castle reassured. "But Kate… are you okay?"

No. She wasn't okay. Even though she knew her father hadn't truly meant anything he said…

"It hurts, Castle," she said in a choked whisper. "I… I don't want to talk about it right now," she added, moving slowly toward the center of the room. As soon as she reached the couch, she collapsed on the edge of it, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

"You want company?" Castle asked gently.

Kate nodded slowly. He stood, leaving his armchair, and came to sit beside her on the couch. Neither of them spoke for several minutes.

"He loves you, Kate," Castle finally said. "He wouldn't have come to see you if he didn't." He paused, taking a deep breath. "We'll help him get back on track. We won't stop trying."

We. Not "you," but "we." For three months, Kate had been alone, and there had been no "we." But now she had a promise from Castle that he would be with her the rest of the way, and that made helping her father seem possible, even after that awful fight.

"Good morning, New York County Judge Dan Markaway's office, how may I help you?"

It was her third Monday of work, and Kate had answered so many telephone calls over the past couple of weeks that she could probably recite the telephone greeting in her sleep. It had taken her a few days to get used to the telephone extension system, but she was so accustomed to it by now that she was able to press the correct extension without having to check the reference sheet she had taped to her desk beside the phone. Everyone seemed impressed with her efficiency, and Markaway himself had bragged on Kate for being such a fast learner.

"Hi, this is the DA," the man on the phone said. "I was hoping to stop by this morning. Is Dan in?"

"Yes, sir," Kate said, straightening in her seat. "Would you like me to tell him you're coming by?"

"Sure," the man answered. "I'll be there in five minutes."

Kate hung up the telephone and walked down the short hallway to Markaway's office. After she alerted him to the District Attorney's impending arrival, she walked back to her desk, hurriedly straightening the stray papers strewn across it. The District Attorney was one of the most important men in the city. It wouldn't hurt to make a good impression.

Moments later, the door opened, and a tall man walked into the lobby. He was smartly dressed, his navy blue suit accentuated by a red tie, and his dark blonde hair was combed neatly. He smiled widely at Kate as he made his way to her, and she immediately felt at ease. She stood up, walking around to the front of her desk.

"Hi," he greeted, holding out his hand. "William Bracken, District Attorney. You must be the new secretary that Dan's been raving about for the past few days."

Kate grinned shyly. "Kate Beckett," she said, accepting his handshake. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Beckett," he said, releasing her hand. He tilted his head sideways, studying her face. "I'm sorry to ask, but I just can't help but wonder—such a strong resemblance - you wouldn't happen to be related to the attorney Johanna Beckett, would you?"

Kate lowered her head. "Yes, sir," she said quietly. "My mother."

"My, but you look just like her," Bracken said gently. "I was very saddened when I heard about her death. I'm so sorry for your loss."

She raised her head, looking into his eyes, and she saw the genuine concern written into them. "Thank you, sir," she said, tears springing to her eyes. Damn it, Kate. Pull yourself together. You can't cry in front of the DA…

Much to her chagrin, though, Bracken noticed the tears. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," he said, a touch of concern in his voice.

Kate felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment, and she quickly reached up to wipe her eyes. "It's fine," she murmured.

Before the man could speak again, Markaway entered the lobby, greeting Bracken jovially. Kate walked back to her desk and sat down, expecting the men to begin their conversation and ignore her. To her surprise, though, Bracken stopped his conversation with Markaway and turned to face her.

"Say, Kate," he started. "Dan and I are headed to lunch after we talk about a few things, and I'd love it if you were to join us. Provided that's alright with your boss, that is," he added, nodding toward Markaway.

"Well, how am I supposed to say no to that?" Markaway smiled. "I'd love that. What do you say, Kate? Care to join us?"

Kate thought for a moment. The District Attorney—Mr. Bracken—seemed like a very nice man. He'd worked closely with her mother, too. She knew her mom had other colleagues who had probably known her better, but her efforts to find them- - Jennifer Stewart and Diane Cavanaugh in particular- had been in vain. Kate knew the three women had been working on a secret project together, and she couldn't help but wonder if her mother's work on the surreptitious "Justice Initiative" had anything to do with her death.

Mr. Bracken probably didn't know about the project, but perhaps he could fill her in on enough details of her mom's life that she could begin to put the pieces together. Besides, he was running for Congress in November. Or was it Senate? Kate couldn't remember. A New York state politician had unexpectedly died last month, and Bracken had announced his intention to run for the open position. He'd be a good person to know, for many reasons.

"Absolutely, sir," Kate answered, smiling.

She hadn't forgotten the promise she'd made to her mother that day in the graveyard exactly one month ago. She was going to solve this case. She couldn't bear to let her mom down. And hopefully, finding justice for her mother would help to bring her father the closure and peace he deserved, too.

It was by random chance that he'd run into Johanna Beckett's daughter this morning. Fate, almost.

The poor girl seemed so lost and confused. Of course, she missed her mother. But Johanna had posed too great of a threat, and he'd had to dispose of her. It was unfortunate, but that's the way it had to be.

But he'd get to know her daughter. She obviously had the same drive and courage that her mother did, and she could be quite the asset to his team some day, with a bit of training.

If she started asking questions or investigating her mother's case, though, she'd have to be disposed of, too.

Author's note: As you can see, this chapter took an unexpected turn, and it's one of many that you can expect. I hope you like where I take things from here. :)

Yes, I do realize that Bracken was Assistant DA, not DA. But that was years before this chapter takes place. I'm assuming that he advanced his career in that time and moved up to DA.

Reviews and comments are appreciated, as always.