Premiere

"December the 15h !", Castle exclaimed as he strutted in the precinct. He fell more than he sat in his chair next to Beckett's desk.

"What ?" Her attention shifted from her paperwork to her grinning partner.

"The New York premiere date of Heat Wave."

Two heads, a few desks away, perked up. "Really ? Are we invited ?", Ryan asked as he and Esposito got up to approach.

"Of course you are ! Why wouldn't Roach be invited ?", Castle replied, waving his hand dismissively. The two detectives bumped fists. But Esposito quickly turned back to the author and Beckett. "You two met the actors playing us. But you never told us how that was."

Castle and Beckett spoke simultaneously : "Uncanny" ; "Creepy".

"Yes, a bit creepy too", Castle admitted. "But they are great, I swear."

"Have you already seen the movie, Castle ?" Beckett inquired.

"No. But I've seen rushes. Don't worry, guys." Ryan and Esposito looked alarmed but shrugged it off.

"So, rushes, hu ? How's Natalie's doing ?", Beckett asked.

"Oh no, detective." Castle leaned closer, clearly in a flirty mood. "If you want to know, you will have to show up... in a scandalous dress !"

She held her ground : "Maybe I will !"

"I'm not walking the red carpet". Beckett had decided to put her foot down, once and for all.

"But you can't not do it !", Castle cried. "We're already in the limo !"

"Double negation. Really, Castle ?", she frowned.

They were en route for the Heat wave premiere. The limo was already in line, moving slowly along in the queue of luxury cars transporting guests, producers, actors... Beckett was freaking out. The flashes outside the windows, the crowd, the giant posters. Everything was a bit too much for her. Yes, she had walked on red carpets before : at this event during the jewelery thieves case, for the book launches. But those were nothing compared to the scale of a movie premiere.

In front of her, Castle was freaking out at her freak out. He started babbling.

"I'll ask Natalie to hurry. She's just behind us with the rest of the cast. You know how she is. She 'll be glad to take your place in the spotlights. No one will even look at you... Not that you're not as beautiful as her, because you are. Even more but... "

"It will be ok, Kate", Josh interrupted. She pivoted to face her boyfriend, who was sitting close to her. He smiled and lifted their joined hands to kiss hers.

"And you find this funny ?", she scowled. Josh looked sheepish for a second but winked at Castle.

"Come on, Detective Beckett. It's a little funny. You can run into buildings crawling with criminals but you're afraid to walk down a red carpet ?", Alexis teased.

Beckett narrowed her eyes at the teenager, sitting next to her father. "Yeah, well. I don't have my bulletproof jacket."

"That would have ruined your stunning look", Josh said.

"That would have been scandalous", Castle added.

Beckett recognized his flirty tone. "Maybe next time", she shot back.

It hadn't been as bad as she had thought. She had walked quickly with Josh and Alexis. Castle had handled the interviews with his usual charm. Now inside, they found Esposito, Lanie, Ryan and Jenny, who had walked in just before them.

"That was incredible!", Lanie exclaimed, as her and Jenny giggled. The ME was clad in a tight blue dress. Esposito wasn't letting her step away from his arm. "Yeah. That was cool", he said, playing macho man. Ryan just rolled his eyes, pulling Jenny closer. Outside, the flashes intensified and the crowd was getting louder.

"Must be the cast", Castle noted.

Natalie Rhodes was working the carpet like a pro. Posing, waving. A tall man arrived next and Natalie waited for him. They posed together, close, Hollywood smile firmly in place.

"Who's that?", Josh asked.

"Nathan Fillion", Castle answered. "Great guy. Pretty good at Angry birds, but not as good as me obvio... and nobody cares." He stopped, sensing his daughter elbow in his side.

"He's playing Jameson Rook", Beckett supplied.

"Dad loves him. He was in a space western once", Alexis explained.

"Oh yeah. I remember now. Serenity. Love that movie. It was brilliant." Josh nodded.

"Right ?" Castle said excitedly as the two men bumped fists. Beckett looked at them, puzzled.

In the theatre, they had been placed by some stressed woman with a headpiece mic. Had she chosen, she wouldn't have sit between Josh and Castle. She was getting uncomfortable. Page 105 was coming up. She glanced nervously at Castle, then at Josh. She was well aware her partner was observing her. She quite liked the movie but found difficult to enjoy it, knowing she, the inspiration for Nikki, would have to watch a sex scene between Heat and Rook, sitting between her boyfriend and the writer of said scene. Awkward.

Thankfully, she knew the book pretty well. As the last plot point before the famous scene unrolled she got up. Josh looked up. "Bathroom", she whispered, planting a kiss on his cheek. Castle did a double take as he watched her leave. He knew too what was coming up. He had been waiting for it actually. He wanted to see her reaction and was disappointed to see her gone. Then it struck him. The sex scene was approaching and he was just a sit away from Beckett's boyfriend. Her tall, muscular, fit and maybe just a bit jealous, boyfriend. Without her as a buffer. He was screwed, he thought. He decided to duck out.

He pushed the door and was surprised to see Beckett leaning back on the corridor wall, just outside. She saw him and frowned.

"What are you doing here ?", she hissed.

"I could ask you the same thing !", he retorted, walking up to her.

"I... I... I asked you first !"

"I know what you're doing." He stepped closer.

"Oh yeah ?"

"You didn't want to be in there for page 105." He smiled, smugly. She stood there, agape, speechless. "And you know what, Beckett ? I get it. Hell ! I don't want to sit next to motorcycle-boy during that either. The man's taller than me. And Natalie's doing a too good job at being you to stay there while he watches... it."

Beckett shook herself out of her awe. "The actor playing Rook is pretty good too", she smiled.

Castle smiled back. "He looks like me." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Well, he's more handsome." She couldn't help the jab.

Castle chuckled and leaned back on the wall, next to her. They waited together in silence. After a few minutes, Beckett spoke : "Maybe we can go back in, now ?" He nodded and opened the door a crack. On the screen, Nikki was at a crime scene. Castle turned back, motioning at Beckett to enter. "You go first."

Once back in the room, as the credits rolled, the author leaned into his partner. "I will get you a DVD for the scene we missed", he whispered in her ear.

"Shut up, Castle !"