Chapter 1

Ok this story is a bit of a twist. I wanted to see how far I could stretch the characters while still keeping true to them, take them to their limits. Hopefully I did alright. Enjoy!

Detectives Ryan, Esposito and Beckett sat quietly at their desks while Rick Castle sat nearby, typing away merrily on his cell phone. They were in between cases at the moment and didn't have a whole lot to do except backed up paperwork.

Captain Montgomery poked his head out of his office door. "Detective Beckett, can I see you for a minute?" he said before withdrawing.

The three men left in the room looked at her quizzically. She shrugged her shoulders and gave them a look that said who knows? She closed the office door behind her when she stepped inside.

"Have a seat." The captain said. She sat down. "How are you doing detective?" he continued.

"Good sir, how are you?" she asked even though she could tell from the way he was sitting that he hadn't called her in here just to see how things were going.

"I'm good." He paused. "I have a question for you detective."

"Go ahead." She felt herself tense up a bit.

"Have you heard any rumors floating around the precinct about me retiring?"

She stared for a second. She had heard whispers in the locker room but hadn't thought anything of them. There was no way the captain could retire. "Yes sir, but I didn't believe them."

"Well, maybe you should start."

"Sir?"

"At the end of this year I will be retiring."

Kate couldn't help but let her jaw drop. "Why?"

He sighed. "I love my job, I really do, but I've been doing it for far too long."

Beckett simply nodded. "I understand sir, but if I could ask a question now?"

"Of course"

"Why tell me? Why not tell everyone at once?"

"Because I'd like to find my replacement before I make the announcement."

"I still don't see what this has to do with me sir."

He smiled. "You know for a detective you're not doing a very good job of putting the pieces together." He raised an eyebrow and continued smiling.

She stared for another second before it sunk in. "Me? No sir, with all due respect I can't. I-"

"Stop."

She stopped and pursed her lips. As much as she liked and respected Roy Montgomery she hated being cut off. She kept quiet while he continued. "Katherine Beckett you are the finest detective I've seen come through this precinct in the 30 years I've been here, even before I was captain. You and your partners have the highest case closure rate in the past 10 years, and I can honestly say that everyone in this building respects you." She opened her mouth to disagree but he kept talking. "I'm not done yet detective. You know this city like the back of your hand and you're smart. You can keep your head and I have no doubt that you'll be excellent at training new recruits. I could find someone who can do this job decently enough, but there's nobody I would trust more to keep this precinct where it needs to be."

Kate sat silently for a minute. "I don't know what to sat sir."

"Say you'll think about it. We have the whole year ahead of us. I don't need an answer right away."

Kate stood up. "I'll think about it sir. And thank you for the offer, but I can't do this. You may think I'm ready but I don't." she turned to go.

"Kate, I'm going to do whatever I can to get you into this position."

She turned back to him and nodded with her lips pursed.

"You can talk to Ryan and Esposito about this but I want it kept on the down low until a decision is made. Am I clear?"

"Not a problem sir." She opened the door and headed for the coffee machine. The second she was out of the office Ryan and Esposito could tell something was wrong.

"Everything ok?" Ryan asked.

She motioned for them to follow her into the break room and closed the door behind them. She looked at her two partners. "Where's Castle?"

Esposito spoke up. "He lost a bet with Alexis and had to take her and a friend shopping. So what did the captain want?"

She took a deep breath. "He's retiring." She watched as her two partners exchanged glances and then looked back at her. She took another breath and braced herself. "And he's offered me the position of captain."

"Wow detective, that's great." Ryan said.

"I didn't accept the offer." Kate said, pouring a cup of the coffee. "I told him I didn't want it."

"You do realize that captain is a promotion right?" Ryan asked.

"Captain Beckett has a nice ring to it." Esposito pointed out.

"Listen guys, you cant tell anyone about this yet. The captain wants to keep it quiet until a decision is made."

Her partners nodded and the three of them went back to their paperwork. Beckett found a message from Castle on the phone she had left on her desk. It read Bought a remote control spycopter. Just in case we need any recon. on our next case. She smiled and tried to concentrate on the papers in front of her.

An hour later she had barely gotten anything done, too preoccupied with thoughts of being known as Captain Beckett. She looked down at her watch. It was still early but she knew she wasn't going to get anymore work done.

"Hey guys, I think I'm going to head out early." She said to Ryan and Esposito

Esposito noticed something in her tone. "You ok Beckett?"

"Yeah, just got a lot on my mind." She said putting away the file of papers and putting on her coat. She left the building and climbed into a waiting taxi, but at the last minute decided not to go home.

There was a liquor store a few buildings down from Castle's apartment and that's where she had the cab drop her off.

Detective Kate Beckett was not a party girl. She had been a little wild in college but that time was long gone. She did, however, still harbor a secret fondness for vodka. She usually drank it in the form of the one martini she let herself have a week. She walked up to the isle with the vodka and grabbed a medium sized bottle of the cheap stuff. At this point she wasn't picky.

After paying and leaving the store she walked the few minutes to Castle's building. While she was in the elevator she opened the bottle and took a sip, wincing a little as she swallowed. The last time she remembered drinking alcohol straight was the night she shot Dick Coonan almost a year ago. It had hurt like hell the next morning but had helped her deal with it. She took another sip and felt the warmth spread as the liquid hit her stomach.

She got off the elevator and stood in front of Castle's door for a minute before taking one more sip and knocking.

Let me know what you think? Reviews are always appreciated