Vince Peake

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle. In fact, owning people is illegal. Rating: T Time: AU.

Author's note: Vince Peake was a non-canon friend of Alexis' from high school and then a soldier. He appeared in Who Are You?, and The Girl I Left Behind Me. The canon Castle has been somewhat skewed for this to work.

Then

He saw his hands go around her waist and he let out a roar, pushing students aside and heading for them. He saw fear in the young punk's eyes as he swung his fist. Unfortunately, the well-polished floor caused him to slip, but he saw the kid go down.

"DADDY!" Alexis screamed. "What are you doing?"

"Um, I saw him grab you?" Now he didn't sound so sure.

"You didn't see Paul Grogan grope me and now he's gone. You did see Vince Peake try to pull me away from Paul." She looked down at Vince. "Are you okay?"

Castle held out his hand. "Sorry. Let me help you up."

Vince pushed himself up, avoiding any contact with Castle. "No. I'm fine. Gotta go, Alexis." And he hurried away.

When Castle turned around, Alexis was headed for the door.

She was in the car and staring straight ahead when he got in. "Pumpkin, I'm so sorry. But I thought…."

"You didn't think and now everybody thinks Vince was messing with me and you had to rescue me. Do you have any idea how embarrassing that is, for both of us?"

Castle tried to change the subject. "Vince Peake? I haven't heard you mention him before. Is he a friend?"

"No, not really. He's not my type."

"Is he a bad kid?" Castle said hopefully.

"No, he's an underachiever. He's smart, really smart, I've seen how smart he is when he's interested in something. But usually he just does enough work to get C's. But he is the type to take on a goon like Paul Grogan when everyone else pretends not to notice."

The rest of the ride home was in silence. Once at the loft, Alexis ran upstairs. "I'll be doing my homework."

Martha looked at her granddaughter and then at her son. "What caused that?"

Castle explained. Martha just shook her head. "You're going to have to worry about her boyfriends, Kiddo, not punch them out."

When Alexis came down for dinner, Castle tried to apologize again. "Maybe I could do something for him. A baseball game, maybe?"

"I don't think Vince wants anything from you, Dad. I'll buy him a hamburger and a shake tomorrow, after school."

Tomorrow, after school.

Vince tweaked Alexis's nipple until it was fully engorged. Then he sucked on it and worked on the other nipple with his fingers.

"I love when you do that." She moaned.

"I love doing it." He moved his hand to her pubic hair. "You ever think of shaving this?"

"And look like some porn star?"

Vince grinned. "And how does innocent Alexis Castle know what porn stars look like? Is there something you're not telling me?"

She blushed a deep red. "My dad has a stash of porn DVD's he thinks he has hidden. I found some and watched a couple." She changed the subject. "Are you sure we won't get caught here?"

"Not a chance. When my dad headed for Brazil with all of our money, all my mom had left was this condo. We need to sell it, but the real estate market in New York sucks. When we moved out, they changed the combination on the front door to the building, but were too lazy to change the one on the back door. And I overheard the realtor give my mom the combination to the lockbox for the key. And here we are."

"Lucky us." She said, as his hands left her boobs and headed for her slit.

"Are you sure you're protected?" He asked.

"When I became a teenager, my step-mom insisted that I go on birth control pills. My dad went ballistic, of course. They argued for months. I think that was part of the reason they broke up. But Dad finally gave in."

"What did you tell him so you could come here?"

Alexis giggled. "I said I was going to buy you a burger and a shake."

"Maybe instead I'll have lunch at the Y."

It took Alexis a second to figure that out. "Vince! That is so gross."

"You liked it last time." He began kissing his way down her body.

She stopped him. "I think I'll have lunch at the Y instead."

Years later.

He saw her as soon as they came around the corner. "Beckett! You were supposed to call me."

"I'm sorry. But, I needed time."

"Three months?"

"Yes. And as I recall, you were supposed to call me some time ago and never did. I had to track you down."

Castle looked at the five young men on motorcycles around Beckett. "I see you still have no trouble attracting boyfriends."

"Really, dude. We just stopped a second ago to admire her soft tail." One of the men said.

"That's the thing. She likes for people to admire her soft tail, but that's all. It never goes any farther than that."

Kate jammed her helmet on her head. "Castle, I need to talk to you about some things you have for my case. I'll call you. Don't call me." She roared off into traffic on her Harley.

One of the men turned to Alexis. "You know, Alexis, I don't think I like your dad any better than the first time I met him."

"Do I know you?" He asked.

"Dad, this is Vince Peake. You punched him out in high school when you thought he was groping me."

"Mr. Peake, I'm so very sorry for that."

"No problem, Mr. Castle. Water under the bridge and all that."

"I heard you were a soldier, Vince." Alexis asked.

"I am a soldier. First Ranger Battalion, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. So are they." He indicated his friends.

"Oh." Was all that Alexis could say.

"We have to be on our way. See you around sometime. Later. Maybe." The five men roared off.

Sometime. Later. Maybe.

Alexis pulled her tee shirt over her head. "Vince, will you hurry up and get dressed?"

He pushed his feet into his boots. "What's the big rush?"

"My roommates are just getting out of class. They'll be here in fifteen minutes or less."

"So? No one has ever made love in a dorm room before?"

"Not the red headed virgin of Columbia University."

Peake laughed. "You?" He pulled his own shirt over his head and put his arms around Alexis, cupping her ass.

"Yes, me. I'm no different than when I was in high school. I want to get into the best med school I can, which means lots of studying and no social life."

He kissed her. "So, this was just an anatomy lesson for you?"

She kissed him back. "Of course not, silly. Sometimes I run into a guy who does really amazing things to me. You, for instance. But you have to leave now."

Peake sighed. "Will I see you again?"

"When do you leave?"

"I go back to Jaw-jia on Friday. Two days from now."

"Do you know where the music practice rooms are?"

"The big grey building with the musical note thingy outside?"

"Yes, the big grey building with the musical note thingy. You could see it from my window if you could take your eyes off my boobs for a second."

"What about it?"

"Somehow, they lost the keys to room 27B." Alexis reached into her pocket and pulled out some keys. "No one can get in." She giggled. "Except us. I get out of class at 2. And best of all, it's totally soundproofed. "

"I just love it when you scream."

"Me too. Now get out of here.

Now.

She knelt in front of the small marker. It was identical to the thousands of others that were laid out with military precision for as far as she could see. She was only able to read the name on the tombstone before her eyes were too filled with tears to see any more: Vincent M. Peake. She put the small bouquet down on the soft grass and silently wept for ten minutes.

When she got up, she stumbled slightly. Her step-mother put her arm around her. "Are you okay, Alexis?"

She nodded. "Thanks, Kate. No, I'm not okay, but I am as good as I'm going to be for today."

"Pumpkin, this is a tragedy, but you hardly knew Vince Peake."

She turned around. "Vince was my first lover. And he damned well won't be the last." She turned and strode up the hill to where the car was parked, leaving her stunned father behind.

Kate put her arms around her husband. "Rick, she's a woman now. And one day she'll bring home a boy she wants to marry, that you'll absolutely hate, but then, before you know it, you'll be happily dandling grandchildren on you knee and spoiling terribly. And your children, too."

"Children?" He squealed. "Beckett, are you pregnant?"

"No, but I do know how that works. Come on, we need to go."

When Alexis reached the car, she turned around for one last look at Vince Peake's grave. But she couldn't identify it among the thousands that marched across the peaceful green lawns, joined in their tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions across the world.

She got in the car and sobbed.

The End