Hello! This is my first ever story on fanfiction. 0_0 so yeah... little nervous... anyways, feedback would be welcomed and yeah! this is a test story so sorry if it's horrible. =^.^= ~summer slushy

disclaimer: I don't own castle :(


Chapter 1:

"One grande skim latte with two pumps of sugar free vanilla and a bear claw!"

Quickly putting down her book, Kate Beckett stands up to retrieve her long awaited order. Breathing in the scent she locates a small table, secluded and quite. Claiming her spot, she picks up her book and barely reads two words before she sees a flash of bright red in her peripheral vision.

Peeking over the top of her book, she tracks the flame of red hair, which can barely be seen due to the mass of adults in the bookstore. Smiling to herself, Kate turns her attention back to her book, quickly locates her spot and continues reading.

Finishing her latte and bear claw, Kate sighs in satisfaction before standing up to throw away her trash. Putting her unfinished book on the table, she notices the little red headed girl she was watching only moments before. This time however, Kate notices the slight fear on her face. Narrowing her eyes, Beckett scans the crowed before locating a man, standing very close to the girl. Looking between the girl and the man, Kate's trained eyes notice the way he follows the girl, while looking some-what normal. Quickly standing up, Beckett abandons her stuff and pretends to walk to the bathroom, while in reality, trying to intercept the girl. In that split second, the man makes a move to grab the girl.

Eyes widening in fear, the girl starts to walk faster while looking around for an exit, only to find none, due to the amount of adults waiting around. Kate's eyes narrow and she puts her hand on her concealed gun at her hip. The second he touched the red head, Kate's gun was aimed.

"NYPD! Put your hands over your head!"

There was a lot of commotion before two more "hidden" cops produced some handcuffs and cuffed the creep. Kate frantically looked around for the flash of red before something latched onto her legs.

"Thank you! T-thank y-y-you so much-h-h!" the little girl was sobbing so hard, it was hard for her to get a word out. Smiling, Kate kneeled down and held her at an arm's length.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Alexis"