Prompt: What if Alexis had met Josh on a Doctor's Without Borders mission while she was in Costa Rica in the S5/S6 hiatus?

A/N: Based on an old crack fic prompt for "the most awkward family thanksgiving ever", Brain (who has a mind of its own) suddenly decided I needed to write how these two would have met down in the jungle, only as a serious fic. Brain is also trying to talk me into actually writing the sequel in which said thanksgiving dinner would eventually occur, but that all depends on whether anyone even reads this one. This fic is a Josh/Alexis pairing. If you don't like the idea, there are something like 22.7k other Castle fics on this site that you can read. Chapters 1-3 will be rated T, chapters 4 & 5 will be M. Updates will be every 3 days so that Ch 4 will coincide with next weekend's Pornado. Cover art by the incredibly talented and wonderful ABettis41319.

This fic would never have been written without my wonderful beta and cheersquad team of Lindsey, Katherine, and Anja. I love you girls more than you know. Thanks for putting up with me.

Castle belongs to AWM/ABC.

Doctor Doctor, gimme the news

I got a bad case of lovin' you

No pill's gonna cure my ill

I got a bad case of lovin' you

-Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor), Robert Palmer, 1979

In hindsight, she should have seen it coming.

She had known from the very beginning that the first week of their trip, they would be camping close to civilization, but in the second week they would be meeting up with a Doctors Without Borders team and going in deeper, camping on the outskirts of a friendly but remote village. Professor Rankowski had a friend on the DWB team and it had all arranged itself beautifully.

But still, Alexis felt like she ought to have known.

The first week was amazing. Meeting the team of scientists, researchers, and environmentalists was a dream come true. Of the 30 total people, only half a dozen were students, and the rest were professionals. They were from all around the world, and a real sense of camaraderie had already sprung up in the camp, in spite of the differences in ages and backgrounds and cultures. Camping in the jungle, too, had been the experience of a lifetime, and Alexis was excited about the rest of her trip.

Also, there was a boy. Technically a few years older, and belonging to the contingent from the Netherlands ("Although my Mom was from Iowa!"), he was a curly headed research assistant who was brilliant at his work… although maybe not so brilliant in other areas. But something about the way he seemed so lost when he wasn't directly working on their research, and the way his eyes followed her with dog-like devotion after she brought him a sandwich on the second day when he forgot his own lunch, made her feel special. Like she was making a difference, not only to the rain forest, but in someone else's life. She felt important, and adored, and it was really rather nice.

All of that flew out of her mind the moment, on the first morning of their second week, they rendezvoused with the Doctors Without Borders team - and who should step out of the second truck but Dr. Josh Davidson, her Dad's girlfriend's - excuse me, fiancée, she reminded herself bitterly, not that her Dad cared enough to tell her that - obnoxious ex-boyfriend. She had only met him once, of course - on that horrible day in the hospital corridor, when Beckett had been shot and he had come to blame it all on her Dad. Like it was his fault. Like he hadn't tried to dive in front of the bullet, to save her.

Like he didn't remember he had a daughter who had no one else in this world. Well, there was Gram, of course, but… that was different.

Wow, okay. She thought she had worked through those issues but apparently, between her Dad not telling her about his engagement and seeing… what did Dad used to call him? Doctor Motorcycle Boy? ...again was enough to reopen old wounds. Maybe she really did need therapy. After Paris, it probably wasn't a dumb idea. She decided to look into it when she got back to the city.

Dr. Davidson was looking at her like he couldn't quite place her, and she shuffled uncomfortably under his gaze. Professor Rankowski was talking to his buddy, the leader of the DWB team, and then began directing their party into the trucks.

As luck would have it, Alexis was assigned to the second truck, Pi following behind her like an eager puppy.

Dr. Davidson, tall and handsome, smiled at her as she approached and held out his hand for her pack so he could load it with the rest of their gear.

"I know I know you, but I can't place where from," he said, gazing down at her with friendly brown eyes.

Alexis found herself tongue tied, but just then Professor Rankowski approached. "Ah, yes, Dr. Davidson. This is one of my prize students from Columbia University, another New Yorker like yourself. Alexis Castle, Dr. Josh Davidson."

Dr. Davidson's eyebrows shot up at the name, and he scanned her face again. "Castle? As in…"

Alexis snapped, and went on the offensive. "As in Richard Castle, yes. We met once before. The day Kate was shot. In the hospital," she reminded him, and was satisfied when color tinged his cheeks at the reminder of that day. Still, he gallantly held his hand out to help her into the back of the truck.

She ignored it, scrambling in on her own.

Pi followed, completely unaware of the tension because he had spotted a particular type of native butterfly and was chattering on about it. Alexis settled herself onto the hard bench seat and tried to pay attention to him, but a moment later Dr. Davidson climbed up and of course wound up sitting directly across from her.

The trucks started and the small convoy moved off. It was some time before Pi's chatter ceased, and for the first time this trip Alexis found herself grateful for his silence; up until now she had hung on his every word, but she was too aware of the hulking form of the doctor sitting across from her. She knew he was looking at her, and she was trying her darndest not to shuffle uncomfortably every time his eyes turned in her direction.

She found herself wishing she was wearing makeup. Nicer clothes. Something.

She knew Kate was always poised and put-together, that Dr. Davidson had never seen Kate wearing an open cotton flannel-patterned shirt over a grey tank top and shorts. Kate would never have worn the comfortable, functional sneakers for him. Kate would never have let him see her after a week of camping in the jungle.

Alexis drew herself up short. What did it matter what she looked like? Did she really care what the doctor thought of her? If anything, he saw her as a child, after all. She was his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend's daughter. Nothing more.

As if reading her thoughts, Dr. Davidson spoke. "How is Kate, anyway? Did she and your dad ever get together?" The end of this sentence had a bitter quality about it, and Alexis couldn't help tilting her chin up, enjoying his discomfort.

"She's doing great. They're engaged, actually," she said, and grinned as his eyes dropped away from hers.

He nodded, his jaw working, and lapsed into silence again.

She felt as though she should be feeling triumphant, but something about the way his broad shoulders slumped made her feel ashamed instead.

Here was another person hurt by her father and Kate.

Alexis leaned back in her seat, willing their interminable journey to be over.

The village was small and packed and so grateful to have newcomers, and they were given a riotous welcome. The DWB team set their clinic up right away, and Professor Rankowski directed their team to set up camp in a clearing on the edge of the village. Alexis pitched in with enthusiasm, and was more than happy to retire early, her emotions still in a jumble.

Yet sleep was a long time coming, and when it did eventually claim her, it was restless. She found herself gripped by a nightmare again, something that hadn't occured yet this trip, something dark and sinister, of Paris and being stolen away. Only this time it wasn't her Dad who was racing to save her, but a tall, broad, handsome man whose eyes turned from kindly to disappointed when she told him she was Rick Castle's daughter, and he turned away, leaving her to her captors.

She woke with a scream still lodged in her throat and scrambled out of her tent into the cool, thick night air.

Their tents were arranged around a central campfire, used for cooking their meals, and overlooked the river that the village used for their water supply, as well as for bathing. She paused to slip her sneakers on. Wandering off in the middle of the night wasn't exactly encouraged, and she knew better than to go too far, but she had so much excess energy from her nightmare that she needed… something.

She wandered along a clear-cut trail along the river's edge. Not far - if something happened and she screamed, someone from her team should wake - but far enough that she didn't feel like she needed to hold her breath in case of waking the lighter sleepers in their group. Up ahead, overlooking the river, was a convenient looking boulder, just the right height for staring moodily out across the water in the middle of the night. A couple of trees stood nearby, and suddenly, one of them parted from the rest.

It wasn't a tree, it was a man.

As in all her nightmares, Alexis's mouth opened to scream but no sound came out. She stood still, terrified, as the enormous figure loomed closer.

"Alexis? Are you okay? Why are you awake? It's after midnight," Dr. Davidson asked, stepping closer so that his form melted from a menacing, unknown threat into something familiar and real. His dark eyes were filled with concern, his jaw chiselled, and her momentary terror melted away, leaving her feeling… safe. Somehow, she knew that with Josh Davidson here, no monsters would get her tonight.

"I… I couldn't sleep," she stammered, suddenly shy.

"Neither could I. It's always so intense arriving in a new village. Some of these people haven't ever seen a medical professional in their lives, and they travel for miles when they hear we're coming. We only deal to the really urgent cases the first night, though. But something about it leaves me… energized, I guess. So I didn't want to go to bed right away," he said. She found herself falling into step beside him, wandering back up to the boulder and the tree beside it, listening to the way he spoke with so much passion, and something in her heart thawed.

She couldn't hate him.

She wanted to. She knew how much misery he had caused her Dad, both by dating Beckett and by blaming him for reopening Beckett's mom's case - a charge Alexis knew had haunted her father over the summer after the shooting. She wanted to hate him simply for being Beckett's ex, out of loyalty to his father's girlfriend. Fiancée. Whatever.

"Do you mind me being here?" she asked quietly, settling herself down on the boulder. With the village and the camp lost in the trees behind them, and the gap in the forest canopy above them thanks to the wide but shallow river running past beneath their feet, their view of the stars from this vantage point was breathtaking, made even more so by the complete lack of light pollution and the fact that the moon had yet to rise.

"No. Do you mind me being here?" he asked in return, and she shook her head. "Good. I'm glad. I know… I know I didn't make a good impression that day in the hospital."

She heaved a sigh. "It was a dark day. It was a dark time. I know my behavior wasn't much better, considering."

He perched next to her and bumped her shoulder with his. "You were a kid, and you were scared, and some big oaf came in and started yelling at your father. Not my finest hour, I admit."

"You were worried about Kate. We all were," she replied simply. "I held the shooting against Kate for months afterward."

He looked at her. "Against Kate? Why? She was the victim."

Alexis felt her cheeks flush. "I know. But Dad dived for her, tried to get between her and the bullet, and, well… It's selfish and childish but I didn't want to lose my dad. He and Gram are all the family I've got, really."

"And Kate now, too, right? She's going to be your stepmother, after all," he reminded her.

"Yeah," she said, without any trace of enthusiasm.

"You're not happy?" he prompted.

"Well, of course I am. I like Kate. I've always looked up to her. She's the only person I think Dad's ever been with who was really real, you know? They're… I'm sorry, this probably isn't the nicest thing to say, to you, at least, but, well… they're right for each other. They really compliment each other and make each other stronger. I'm really, genuinely happy for them." She lapsed into silence.

"What's wrong, then? Because you really don't sound happy," he prompted after a moment.

"It's stupid. It doesn't matter," she muttered, feeling more and more like a spoiled child next to this grown man.

He nudged her. "Sure it does. It matters to you, clearly, so it matters. What's going on?"

She heaved a sigh, and relented. "So Dad and I have always been super close, right? Mom left when I was really little and I don't really remember her living with us. Not really. And Dad remarried for a while when I was a kid, but Gina and I were never close either and to be honest it was a bit of a relief when they broke up. But my Dad has always been my best friend and we've always told each other… well, not everything, but all the important things."

She glanced up at him, his face half in shadow, and saw him nodding. "He sounds like a regular super hero," he said dryly.

"He was. To me, at least. And I am happy that he and Kate are together, and getting married, but… but he didn't tell me. He never once mentioned that he was proposing, or asked my opinion or permission, like he did when he married Gina. He just asked her. And even then, he didn't tell me. Gram mentioned it, casually, in a phone conversation, like I already knew, but Dad hasn't said a word about it. It's like it doesn't even matter, like getting a new stepmother isn't going to affect me at all," she finished, and was horrified to find she could no longer hold back her tears. They spilled down her cheeks, mute witness to her pain.

"I'm sorry," he murmured into the darkness. "That's really rough, and you don't deserve it."

"I know Dad has his faults," she said, brushing her tears away roughly. "I know you don't like him. But he's not normally thoughtless. Not about people he cares about. And up until now I've always come first with him, and now… now I'm not sure that I do. And after Paris, I just… I don't know what to do with it."

"Paris?"

"Oh… never mind." She found herself coloring again.

"Alexis, I'm not going to tell anyone, and… frankly, it sounds like you need to talk. I'm not a psychiatrist but I am a doctor and I do know a thing or two. Now, if you don't want to, that's fine, but if you need me, I'm here," he said gently.

Alexis hesitated only a moment, then almost without her permission, words began to spill out of her. The whole saga of her experience in Paris, how scared she was, even the bits about her grandfather that technically she was never meant to tell anyone ever, the whole story came tumbling out.

"That's why I wanted to do this trip. Because I'm still terrified every day that I'm going to wake up back in that room, or in that cage, or that someone else will come and take me away. I've been having nightmares. That's why I came out tonight, actually. I was asleep, but then the dreams came, and I had to get away." She ducked her head, a little afraid of his reaction, but his next words warmed her heart and brought her gaze back up to meet his.

"I think you are an incredibly brave and strong person," Dr. Davidson replied slowly. "Thank you for telling me. I promise it won't go any further."

"I trust you," she replied, looking up at him, and he smiled down at her - and her stomach did a flip-flop. Oh, God, she was developing a crush on him.

"Thank you," he said, sounding genuinely touched. "Now, it's getting late. Do you think you'll be able to sleep now?"

She nodded. "Talking about it helped more than I can say. I don't like telling Dad about the nightmares. I don't like to worry him. So I really appreciate it, Dr. Davidson."

"Alexis, call me Josh, please. You make me sound ancient."

She giggled. "Okay. Thank you, Josh."

"You're welcome. And I'm sure your father doesn't mind you worrying him - he would probably prefer it. But enough of that for now. Come on, Alexis. I'll walk you back," he said, standing, and together they made their way back to camp.