FIC: commas and ampersands (Castle, Beckett/Alexis, PG)
Title: commas and ampersands
Author: aphrodite_mine
Summary: Alexis grows up into a profession she should know by now
Info: written for calasara as part of qldfloodauction
It's bad. Probably downright terrible that she doesn't hear anything during the rest of the conversation with her commander after the precinct assignment. Her job is to hear things that others don't. She's on the clock, if not on assignment. She shouldn't let herself lapse this way, but -- she has to wonder. Her dad hasn't said anything about detective Beckett in months, and silence certainly doesn't come naturally to him. Maybe it's silly to her her heart up, to get set on something that probably will come to nothing.
Alexis lives in an apartment of her own, admittedly paid for mostly by her father, but her own just the same. She wakes up three hours early on the first day of her new assignment, not because she needs the time to primp, but because her stomach is in fits and she stumbles down the hall for the bathroom before the alarm. Forgoing coffee for fizzy water, she fixes herself a plain waffle and scolds herself for being nervous (though it is a natural emotion, and one that she has a right to feel. She smiles.) while flipping again through her closet, though she already decided on what to wear two nights ago in a drunken fit talking on the phone with her grandmother, who laughed it all off and said "Go with something simple, dear."
There are a frightening lack of familiar faces, as she steps out of the elevator. A few nods, a few eyes sweeping across her ensemble -- tan slacks, burgundy-striped button-down, forest green vest. Hair pulled back in a ponytail. Business. She's not here tagging along, this time.
And finally, a familiar sight. Her stomach does a quick flip, and her steps quicken (she might imagine the way her shoes cause the footsteps to echo across the room). Dark hair at a white board, the pictures done in a mess of color and black and white, words crowded in green, in blue, a giant asterisk in red (no money for an upgrade in technology, perhaps, or a stubborn agent, dragging her heels). Alexis closes in, finds Beckett with the cap of a dry erase marker in her mouth, something she fumbles to correct as the words "Agent Castle!" don't form correctly around a foreign object.
"I'll trade you an 'Alexis' for a 'Kate', if you're game." She cocks an eyebrow, extends a hand.
Kate caps the marker and drops it on her desk. "Thank god. 'Castle' always puts me in mind of your father, and well." She gestures, fruitlessly, shakes, firm. "You aren't, exactly..."
"No," Alexis admits. "I'm not." She glances at the board, at the faces pasted there, at the lines connecting them. She's been briefed. "Tell me about who I'll be speaking with today." Flicks her gaze towards Beckett's profile. "Get the most bang for your buck, so to speak." Smiles.
There's a moment's pause while Kate slowly turns, and crosses her arms. "You know, it doesn't surprise me that you're here. Of course, I was briefed that you were coming, but before that. I had a feeling about you." She doesn't blush, but she might as well. Alexis is trained to read people. Kate looks away, tightens her throat, pulls her arms closer. And suddenly, like a breath of air, she's fine. She's looking Alexis in the eye again, and leaning towards her, resting a hand on her desk. "Of course, it's been awhile since you've seen me in action, Alexis. You might be surprised."
Author: aphrodite_mine
Summary: Alexis grows up into a profession she should know by now
Info: written for calasara as part of qldfloodauction
It's bad. Probably downright terrible that she doesn't hear anything during the rest of the conversation with her commander after the precinct assignment. Her job is to hear things that others don't. She's on the clock, if not on assignment. She shouldn't let herself lapse this way, but -- she has to wonder. Her dad hasn't said anything about detective Beckett in months, and silence certainly doesn't come naturally to him. Maybe it's silly to her her heart up, to get set on something that probably will come to nothing.
Alexis lives in an apartment of her own, admittedly paid for mostly by her father, but her own just the same. She wakes up three hours early on the first day of her new assignment, not because she needs the time to primp, but because her stomach is in fits and she stumbles down the hall for the bathroom before the alarm. Forgoing coffee for fizzy water, she fixes herself a plain waffle and scolds herself for being nervous (though it is a natural emotion, and one that she has a right to feel. She smiles.) while flipping again through her closet, though she already decided on what to wear two nights ago in a drunken fit talking on the phone with her grandmother, who laughed it all off and said "Go with something simple, dear."
There are a frightening lack of familiar faces, as she steps out of the elevator. A few nods, a few eyes sweeping across her ensemble -- tan slacks, burgundy-striped button-down, forest green vest. Hair pulled back in a ponytail. Business. She's not here tagging along, this time.
And finally, a familiar sight. Her stomach does a quick flip, and her steps quicken (she might imagine the way her shoes cause the footsteps to echo across the room). Dark hair at a white board, the pictures done in a mess of color and black and white, words crowded in green, in blue, a giant asterisk in red (no money for an upgrade in technology, perhaps, or a stubborn agent, dragging her heels). Alexis closes in, finds Beckett with the cap of a dry erase marker in her mouth, something she fumbles to correct as the words "Agent Castle!" don't form correctly around a foreign object.
"I'll trade you an 'Alexis' for a 'Kate', if you're game." She cocks an eyebrow, extends a hand.
Kate caps the marker and drops it on her desk. "Thank god. 'Castle' always puts me in mind of your father, and well." She gestures, fruitlessly, shakes, firm. "You aren't, exactly..."
"No," Alexis admits. "I'm not." She glances at the board, at the faces pasted there, at the lines connecting them. She's been briefed. "Tell me about who I'll be speaking with today." Flicks her gaze towards Beckett's profile. "Get the most bang for your buck, so to speak." Smiles.
There's a moment's pause while Kate slowly turns, and crosses her arms. "You know, it doesn't surprise me that you're here. Of course, I was briefed that you were coming, but before that. I had a feeling about you." She doesn't blush, but she might as well. Alexis is trained to read people. Kate looks away, tightens her throat, pulls her arms closer. And suddenly, like a breath of air, she's fine. She's looking Alexis in the eye again, and leaning towards her, resting a hand on her desk. "Of course, it's been awhile since you've seen me in action, Alexis. You might be surprised."