Not entirely sure where this came from, not entirely sure how I feel about it, but hey. Not entirely sure if this has been done before?

It's funny. Two months ago she'd have been pissed off with Castle being here. Constantly asking questions, badgering her about ice cream, and whether he actually has to be there (can't Ryan and Esposito do this? You have uniforms for a reason. There's a diner just down there we could go get a milkshake). Except they both know – knew? – he wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Not then. But that was two months ago and now she's not entirely sure where they stand any more. If she stands anywhere at all. God, what she'd give to have him whining at her. Everything is too quiet, too noisy, too… she's grown too accustomed to having him there. She's standing in line at an ice cream van, a heavy April sun beating down on her neck, gnawing on her lower lip. It seems that's all she does these days. All she wants to do is ask the guy a question about whether he's seen anything but the girl in front of her, she can barely be more than five, (and where the heck are her parents anyway?), is cooking up an ice cream concoction worthy of Castle's praise. Two scoops chocolate, one scoop mint choc chip, and another of rocky road, plus a generous amount of three different sauces. It's a sugar coma waiting to happen, and not something she's likely to try in the not so and distant future. She can't decide if she pities the parents for having to put up with it, or ashamed at them for letting that amount of sugar into their daughters blood system. But, finally, the girl has run off with her ice cream and Beckett steps up to the window. The vendor looks almost thankful when she holds up her badge.

Thankful or not, the man didn't know much about anything, said he had left at least two hours before hand, and hadn't pitched up that morning until about four hours ago. Couldn't help her at all, unless she was interested in ice cream. So she finds herself walking down a pathway towards where she thinks is a crazy golf course. Maybe she'll find something there, if her memory serves her correctly. It's a popular place. Her search, however, is interrupted by the appearance of a young brunette girl. Tears streaming down her cheeks, eyes red-rimmed, it's the girl from the ice cream van. She's still clutching at the Castle-esque ice cream, so there's no fear of her having dropped it. She thinks she must have lost her parents. But then it's the way her face lights up when she sees her, and, more importantly it's the shriek of "Mommy!" that has her taking a step backwards.

"Are you okay?"

"I thought you left!" The girls eyes are shining, blue and clear and completely open and for a moment it's like she's looking at Castle. "Where's Daddy? Is he hiding?"

"I don't – what's your name?"

The girl narrows her eyes at her. Castle constantly tells her that she looks at him like that at least five times a day. "Stop being silly, Mommy. Daddy is always the silly one, not you."

"I'm not your mommy."

The girl laughs as if this is all just some silly game to her. "Yes you are." She jumps towards her, the scoops of ice cream wobbling dangerously, and pushes at her jacket with her free hand. "Look, you have the badge and everything." She traces the number with one podgy finger, reading out the numbers as she goes. "Badge number four one three one nine. You're a detective, isn't that right? And Daddy is a writer."

"Yes, but-" Wait, what? Writer?

"Are we playing a game?"

"No. Where are your parents?" This doesn't make any sense. No sense at all she is not a parent. She has never been a parent. She's never been pregnant, or given birth, or – or anything. There's no way this girl could possibly be hers. But the way she's looking at her, the way she looks so much like Castle… hell, if this is a joke then the girl deserves an Oscar. It's good acting.

"Mommy, I don't like this game." The girl looks up at her with apprehensive eyes, big and wide and fearful, and there's still tears clinging to the long shadows of her eyelashes. "Can we go find Daddy?"

She feels like she's been given a swift kick to the ribs. This doesn't make any sense. This makes absolutely zero sense because she knows for a fact that she has never ever been in a state close to giving birth. But she's not about to leave a five year old out in the middle of New York, in the middle of summer, with nothing but a melting ice cream. "Shall we go see if he's at home?"

"Why did he go home? Didn't he want to stay with us?"

"He needed to… do some writing. You know how Daddy is with his writing. When inspiration strikes…"

The girl giggles, and takes hold of Kate's hand. It sends a jolt of… something through her heart, scorching through her bones until it leaves her breathless. "I have to tickle him. A lot. And then he stops writing and he chases me around until he catches me. What you do is icky."

"What do I do?"

"I don't know. But you keep saying I have to wait until I'm older and then you always go really red. It's icky. You're icky." She giggles, and then holds out her ice cream. "Do you want some ice cream? You always say I have to share. Though Daddy always says you don't like ice cream unless it's just vanilla, which is boring."

The breath in her chest quickens. Castle has always accused her of being too plain in her ice cream choices, and always tells them to put various sauces and sprinkles on it, followed by a very generously sized flake. She makes a point to be annoyed by it, only she never does a good job of actually hiding it. She likes that he makes it more exciting. "I'm okay. You enjoy your ice cream."

"Momma?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's your wedding ring?"

Wedding ring? She's married? To… Castle? "I – um – it's…"

"Is it around your neck?"

"Yeah. Can't wear it for work. Keep it safe, keep it hidden." Her free hand goes to the place where the silver chain, cool against her skin, lies tucked underneath her shirt, can feel the slight bump of her mothers ring. Just on. Singular. Wedding ring? Seriously?

"When did you change your clothes?"

"You're just full of questions today, aren't you?"

"You keep saying I'm too much like Daddy and that I should learn to be quiet most of the time. You say I talk too much, but Daddy says talking is good because it expands my vocabulary. I don't know what a vocabulary is but I can say it, and Daddy says that counts. He says I should be a writer like him, but I'm going to be an astronaut. Or maybe an elephant keeper. You love elephants, don't you? I could go live in Africa and ride an elephant to work every morning, and you and Daddy could come visit me."

"Yeah… yeah, that would be good."

"Momma?"

"Yeah?"

"This is a new car." She's looking at her, confused, slightly amused, the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "You got a new car! Did Daddy take yours? Why did Daddy take yours?"

"It's… only temporary. Old one will be back soon. It's gone to be fixed."

"Is that where my car seat is?"

"Um. Yeah." Kate pulls open the passenger door, stands by and lets the girl climb in. Except she doesn't want to. Is looking at her with that same confused look she had by the trees. "Do you want to go home or not?"

"Yes, but – Daddy always sits in the front. My seat's always in the back."

"Well… Daddy's not here, and we don't have your seat. So-" she jerks her head towards the front seat. The seat that's been empty for far too long recently. "You want to come sit up here with me?"

If it's at all possible, the girl's eyes just get wider, and wider. "Really, Mommy?"

"Yeah, come on."

She's trying not to freak out. Trying to do her best to keep her actual freaking out internalised, rather than anything on the outside. She has no idea what this is, what the heck is going on, and whether or not she has actually just kidnapped a five year old from a park. If she has? She's screwed. Her entire career has just been thrown down the pan. For what? A girl claiming her and Castle are her parents? It's probably just some stupid joke by Ryan and Esposito, one that will make them laugh and then she'll give them the entire load of paperwork that is stacking up on her desk. Probably worth it, they'll say. The girl, right now, is looking out of the window with as much wonder as Castle does. Marvelling at all of the people, the tourists, and her head twisting to and fro as they make their way through the streets. There's more than one yell about a poodle, and then a pug, and then a woman who had hair like a poodle. Kate almost regrets not seeing it.

Castle's apartment building looms in the distance, looking surprisingly dark and gloomy compared to the heat and sunshine of the rest of the city. Another reminder that Castle is getting further and further away from her. She can't even work out why. The girl is out of the car, and standing on the sidewalk before Kate has even managed to turn off the engine. Kate waits for the road to be clear before following her.

"Can I go momma?"

"Yeah. Sure. Go ahead…" The girl pegs it for the glass door, for Eduardo and his charming smile, brown hair flying behind her as she goes. "Wait by the elevator!"

"I know!" she yells back over her shoulder, leaving Kate standing by her car at a complete loss for words.

"Can I press the button?" The girl asks, just as Kate reaches over and pushes the up button with more vigour than is probably necessary. She's functioning on auto-pilot, not used to having someone there with her, let alone a kid, who, of course, would want to press every single button that she can. "Moooooom."

""You can press the other one."

She pouts, like it wasn't good enough, but resolutely presses the button for the top floor anyway. The elevator jerks into motion, calling into question again, why Castle's building seems to have one of the crappiest elevators she's ever seen. Apparently, despite the number of wealthy people who live in here, there's not enough necessity to upgrade it.

The doors open and the girl runs for the door, for Castle's door, leaving no doubt in Kate's mind that Castle is indeed the girl's father. Apparently. Which makes no sense. She's knocking on it before Kate can get two steps away from the elevator, and she hopes, and prays that Castle isn't in. That he's not in and she can just take the girl back to her apartment and work out what to do with her. But then she hears the door open, and Castle's head appears in the doorway.

The girl pushes past him, into the loft, and Castle can't even do anything about it. Just turns around and stares at her in surprise, and then steps out into the hallway. His already confused face gets all the more confused when he spots Kate, something about it looking crestfallen, and it breaks her heart.

"Beckett? What are you doing here? And who is … who was she?"

"Can we talk?"

"Well – I'm kind of in the middle of something." Time was he'd have let her in the loft without her having to even say anything.

"It's important."

He bites hard on his lip, swallows, as if there's something he's longing to say but just can't. And then he's jerking his head back into the loft. "Sure."

The girl has disappeared as she walks into the loft, Kate wonders where she's gone, but the thought is short lived as Castle turns to her. "So?"

"I was in the park, standard canvas, but I came across this girl. She can't be more than five, and she was crying, and I thought she'd lost her parents. But then she recognised me. She knew me. Badge number, she knew my job, and she called me momma. I'm not – I've never been a parent. I know that I have never been in that situation, but she knew everything. Almost everything."

Castle is staring at her like she's talking bullshit. Almost like the way she looks at him when he comes up with some crazed theory that makes as much sense as his crazy Sharknado films. "What does this have to do with me?"

"The thing is… you're… her father."

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