Here's the first chapter of my new story. This is set 24 years into the future. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the show; they belong to the genius that is Andrew Marlowe & ABC.

Chapter 1

Kate was nearly home and she was tired. It hadn't been a particularly taxing day in fact she'd spent most of it cooped up in her office dealing with the never-ending piles of paperwork, occasionally interrupted by phone calls; nonetheless she was tired. It had been happening more and more over recent weeks and she'd finally accepted that Castle had been right. It was time.

They'd argued about it for months but eventually she'd relented and had reluctantly handed in her request for retirement. She now had only one more week and then in was over. Thirty four years as a member of the NYPD was quite an achievement, most people tended to finish after they reached their twenty year point but Kate loved her job; it had driven her; it had defined her. But now was the right time to go and her body seemed to be in complete agreement. Ever since she'd handed in the letter, she'd been tired. Fatigue had finally caught up with her; she'd given it a good run but enough was enough.

She let herself into the loft, dropped her keys on to the table, hung her coat in the closet and headed to the office to put her badge and gun in the safe.

"Hi, mom!"

Kate almost had heart failure on the spot. Somehow, in her distracted state, she'd managed to completely miss seeing her daughter working at the dining table, books everywhere.

"Beth, what are you doing home? I thought you were studying with Patrick this evening."

The teenager grinned as she replied,

"Yeah, I was going to but his parents are dragging him out for dinner somewhere, so I'm left to get on with it by myself."

She couldn't help but tease her mother a little by adding,

"Probably just as well, anyway, I'll get far more work done without Patrick as a distraction."

Kate just laughed, though, as she studied her younger child. Elizabeth Johanna Castle was eighteen years old and widely acknowledged by all to be the spitting image of the teenager Kate herself had once been, except for her eyes. Her eyes were all her father's and right now, they had that trademark Castle twinkle in them.

"There are some things I prefer not to know about, thank you very much!"

After finally putting her things away, Kate returned to the kitchen,

"Do you want something to eat now or shall we wait for your dad? He guessed he'd be home about eight. We can always order in; can't say I much feel like cooking."

Beth nodded,

"That's fine, mom. I should have this done by then."

Just as Kate was about to settle on the couch, Beth suddenly spoke again,

"By the way, RJ's upstairs. Said he wanted to talk to you when you got in."

That took Kate by surprise,

"What on earth's he doing here? Oh, God, what's he done now?"

Ryan James Castle, her twenty two year old son, was at Columbia and, whereas Beth was just like her mother, not only in looks but also in character, RJ was his father's son in every aspect (again excepting his eyes; he had his mother's eyes.) As a consequence, he did have a penchant for getting himself into trouble but usually managed to talk his way out of serious repercussions. If he was here during the week, Kate immediately assumed the worst. Beth, though, was quick to reassure her,

"I don't think there's a problem, mom, don't panic. He was down here but he was being his usual, exuberant self and I sent him off upstairs so I could actually get some work done without him in my ear all the time."

Although Beth was the younger of the siblings, it always amused Kate how she had her brother wrapped around her little finger. It had always been that way. RJ had adored his little sister from the day she was born, willing to do anything for her and she had never been afraid to use that adoration fully to her advantage. Some young men might have rebelled by now but not RJ; he was just as in thrall to his sister as he'd ever been.

Kate headed up the stairs to her son's room. The door was ajar so she took a moment to watch the young man while he was still unaware of her presence. Although she would never admit it to anyone, RJ would always be particularly special to her. She had taken so long to finally admit her feelings for Castle that she had come to doubt that they would ever have a family of their own. They had Alexis, who she always treated as her own daughter but by the time they were actually together, she had worried that just too much water had flowed under that particular bridge; so when she discovered that she was actually pregnant, they were both ecstatic. When the nurse placed her son into her arms, she knew that he would always be the most precious thing in her life and here she was, twenty two years later and that feeling hadn't changed.

"Mom, quit the creepy staring, will you!"

So much for him being unaware of her presence! There again, she always knew when her husband was staring at her even when she couldn't actually see him so it should come as no surprise that their son would have the same ability.

"Sorry. Beth said you wanted to talk to me. What've you done now?"

RJ laughed. He was used to his mother's suspicious nature and loved to tease her,

"Well, I er –"

Kate frowned but it took her all of two seconds to realise he was only joking and she was grinning when she said,

"Come on, RJ, what's going on?"

He cleared some clothes off the chair and offered her a seat while he sat, with his feet curled under him, on the bed. He cleared his throat and suddenly seemed a little nervous.

"Actually, I just wanted to ask you something."

Kate was instantly concerned again,

"You come home on a week night, which you never usually do, bury yourself in your room, which you also rarely do –"

"To be fair, that was just because Beth was getting stroppy with me!"

"Okay. Now you say you just want to ask me something. There is such a thing as a cell phone, you know. That's what people normally use to ask people questions when they're not actually in the same place."

"I know but I needed to ask you in person because it's kind of important."

Kate was getting rather impatient,

"Just get on with it and quit stalling."

RJ took a deep breath and began to talk,

"You know how I really want to become a journalist after college?"

Kate nodded; that was nothing new. Her son had inherited his father's ability with words together with her determination to search for the truth so it was no real surprise when he had told them that he wanted a career as a journalist.

"Well, I'd really like to go ahead and prove what I can do. I intend to go through the college route and head to Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism next year but in the mean time, I've got an idea for an article I'd like to write just to show what I'm capable of producing."

"So why do you need to ask me?"

Kate was still confused.

"The article I want to write, well, it's about you," he said quickly, totally unsure of his mother's reaction.

"Me? Why me? I'm just a cop; you're hardly likely to win a Pulitzer writing about your mother!"

RJ laughed,

"To say you're just a cop, is like saying the Pope is just a priest. Come off it, mom. Even the stuff I know about your life is special and I'm certain there's a lot more you've never told me. Youngest woman to make detective, longest serving woman in NYPD, captain of the 12th for 10 years and most of that whilst spending half your time at social events because you also happen to be the wife of a highly successful author. Mom, that's stuff's like gold dust and that's before we even get to the story of your mom and former Senator Bracken."

Kate, who'd been quite happy to listen to her son's argument, flinched as soon as he mentioned Bracken.

"Listen, Ryan, I get that you could probably write an interesting article but I'm not sure that I'm ready to have it all out there like that."

"Mom, let me interview you, pretend it's a real interview with a journalist. Answer the questions you want to answer and ignore the rest, that'll be fine by me."

As she thought about what her son was suggesting, Kate suddenly had a moment of clarity. Throughout most of her younger years, she'd tried to keep out of the limelight, under the radar but then she'd fallen in love with Richard Castle and any chance of that flew out of the window. Much though he'd made every effort to keep their private lives private, it had proved well nigh impossible. They had managed to prevent too much interference with her job but other than that, she had been squarely in the spotlight for many years. Maybe now would be a good time for an article like this to be written and who would she trust to write it more than her son? No-one. The facts about her mom's murder and the involvement of former New York Senator, William H. Bracken were a matter of public record ever since the somewhat poetic justice of his eventual demise, therefore that was not a problem. If the article was written now, it might just be possible for them to head quietly into their retirement and out of the public gaze.

"Okay. I'll do it but be aware, there are still some things that will never be told and if I tell you something off the record, I trust you will respect that."

Kate had spoken rather more sharply than she'd intended and RJ was a little taken aback, initially by the fact that his mother had actually agreed to his proposal but then also by the cold tone of her voice.

"I'm sorry. That came out harsher than I intended. For a brief moment, I was talking to every other journalist I've ever had dealings with. I'm used to making my feelings very clear at the outset of interviews; it saves misunderstandings later."

She smiled as she continued,

"I trust you completely and I know you'll do a great job. I just hope someone finds it interesting enough to make your effort worthwhile."

"Don't worry, there's no doubt about that. Now are we having dinner or must I head back to college to get some decent food?"

Kate managed to clip her son on the shoulder as he tried to dive past her and head downstairs,

"Watch it! We were planning to wait for your dad to get home and then order in but it's up to you whether you want to wait or not."

RJ thought about it for a second before he said,

"Delicious take out at home or whatever leftovers I can find at college? Mmm? Okay, you've got me, I'll stay."

Later that evening, after RJ had returned to college and Beth had headed to her room to concentrate on her latest book, Kate and her husband were snuggled together on the couch watching the end of a movie.

"Did RJ ask you about the article?" Rick asked.

Kate raised her head a little to look at him,

"You knew about that?"

"Yeah, he asked me a few days ago what I thought about the idea and if I thought you'd go for it."

"And what did you say, oh so wise one?" Kate asked, her mouth beginning to curl into a grin.

"If you must know, I said he'd better ask you but I just had a feeling that you'd agree to do it. Did you?"

Kate lifted her hand to his face as she replied,

"You know me too well. Of course I said yes. You didn't really think I'd say no to our son, did you?"

Rick laughed,

"No, you never have been able to resist his charms. Mind you, he's just like his old man and you could never resist my charms either," as he turned to kiss her palm as it rested on his cheek.

"Oh, if I remember correctly, I resisted your charms for a long time."

"Too long," he replied, wistfully.

"Maybe," she agreed, softly, "But we got there in the end. Come on, let's go to bed."

She gave him a gentle kiss on the corner of his mouth, stood and held out her hand. He took it and allowed her to pull him to his feet. They walked hand in hand into the bedroom and closed the door.