Disclaimer: I make no claim of owning Castle, or any of it's characters.
"Kate, you can make it out to Kate."
Richard Castle looked up at the young woman standing before him. It was the end of a long day of publicity and book signing and he just wanted to be done and go home, but there was something in this woman's voice that intrigued him.
He looked up to meet her gaze and momentarily couldn't speak. She was gorgeous, yes, but it would take much more than a pretty woman to put Castle at a loss for words. No, she just looked so… wounded, with fathomless pain hidden under a carefully maintained facade. That pain was what he had heard in her voice. She was young, but her eyes were the eyes of someone much older.
As much as he wanted to be done for the day, he couldn't just let her go. The line was short at this point, almost at the end. He could spare a few moments for her.
"And what do you do for a living, Kate?" He questioned.
"I'm studying at the police academy right now." She only offered him the most basic information in response, not the typical flustered, rambling Castle fangirl.
Rick couldn't stop the surprise from reaching his face. He hadn't had her pegged for a normal girl, but he hadn't expected a cop. "Really, you want to be a police officer?"
"A detective actually, homicide." Kate regarded him warily, as if she was used to this admission scaring people away.
Instead, he grinned like a little boy. "That's so cool!" This Kate just kept getting more interesting. "If you'd like to stick around until I'm done, I'd love to hear more about what it takes to become a police detective."
She eyed him suspiciously, no doubt thinking the writer widely known as a playboy was merely hitting on her. Honestly, he kind of was, who could resist a woman who looked like that, but he really did want to find out more about her as well.
"No, sorry, I really have to get home. I have a lot of studying to get done tonight. I didn't really have time to come to this signing in the first place, but I couldn't pass it up." She smiled, and he knew that there wasn't much he wouldn't do to see that smile again if she were his girl. It was dazzling.
"Well, thank you for coming anyways Kate, and good luck with your studies," he replied as he scrawled a note across her book and signed it.
She responded with a simple "Thank you" then graced him with another small smile as she read the note, turned, and walked out of the door.
Castle's eyes followed her as she left. He felt a strange pang as he realized he'd probably never see this captivating stranger again, not in a city as big as New York. He tried not to care.
A/N: Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews on my last story. You all convinced me to write and publish some more.