This is my first shot at a Castle Fic. It's completely AU because I love doing stuff like that and I'm good at it. Before now, I've done primarily Bones Fics (please don't hold that against me; it's a good show and I stand by it) and I had a failed attempt at a Gilmore Girls Fic. Anyway, this will be a "What if the Castle characters had met in Grade School?" take. It will start when they are six and in first grade (they're all the same age in this, except for Gates and Montgomery, who will be whatever age they were in the show) and it will go on until they're adults. Hopefully, I will be able to stick with this one. Enjoy!
Always
Chapter One
"Richard Alexander Rodgers, you stop running right this instant!" Martha Rodgers scolded her young son, who had paused, mid-step, at his mother's stern voice. He knew when enough was enough and although he loved testing his eccentric mother's patience he knew that he wouldn't get away with it just that moment.
It was Richard's, nicknamed Rick, first day of first grade, as well as plenty of other New York City children. As Martha marched down the hallway with her son hustling to keep in step with her on his short legs, she noticed a complete lack of other children, which was odd.
It probably would not have been so odd to her had she been on time.
Martha was looking at a paper in her hand, her eyes scanning the classroom numbers as they passed until they reached the one she was looking for; room 147.
"Ah, here it is!" she exclaimed, happily. "Richard, come back here!" The young boy had walked too far, too preoccupied with jumping on all the black floor tiles and pretending that the red ones were lava to notice that his mother had stopped at his assigned class. His blue eyes flashed with amusement at his mother's annoyance as he hopped back to her.
He made a show of hopping back and then bowing low when he reached his mother, chuckling at her headshake. Martha couldn't suppress a smile, though, and he affectionately stroked her son's cheek. "Whatever am I going to do with you?" she said, smiling down at him.
Rick's bright blue eyes lit up. "You could sell me to the circus! I could be a clown or a tightrope walker, or, or-"
"Richard, hush darling," Martha said, rubbing her head as she knocked on the classroom door.
The door was answered by a middle-aged, African American man, with soft brown eyes and a warm smile. "Hello," he greeted, smiling down at Rick, who had his hands folded in front of him, looking like a perfect little angel, "and how may I be of service to you, Ma'am?"
Martha smiled. "Hello, there," she said, "I'm Martha Rodgers and this is my son, Richard. It says here he's been put into this class. You're Mr. Montgomery, I presume?"
The man nodded. "That I am. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Rodgers-"
"It's Miss, actually," Martha corrected, "but you can just call me Martha. I hate titles."
Rick rolled his eyes, discreetly, still smiling up at Mr. Montgomery, who grinned down at him.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Martha, and you as well, Richard." He reached out to shake the young boy's hand and Rick responded, enthusiastically.
"You can call me Rick," he informed the teacher, "everybody does. I don't like the name Richard."
Martha nudged him with her elbow. "Richard is a wonderful name," she defended, "and you should be so lucky I didn't go with my other choice of Fitzwilliam."
Rick grimaced and Montgomery laughed. "That would have been unfortunate, hmm?" He said, patting the young boy's shoulder. "Hey, why don't you go in and introduce yourself to your classmates while your mother and I talk about your supply list?"
Rick shrugged. "Okay," he said, strolling past his mother. Martha grabbed his arm, though, and pulled him back to her in a bone-crushing hug.
"Have a good day, Sweetheart," she said into his hair, "I have to work tonight but Consuela will pick you up in the front after school."
Rick groaned; Consuela, his new nanny, smelled like sweat and burnt bread and often fell asleep when they got home, forcing him to prepare his own dinner (usually Peanut Butter & Jelly) and entertain himself until bedtime.
"Oh, don't make that noise," Martha scolded, "at least she's better than Nanny Nancy." The mention made Rick shudder and Martha giggled, kissing his cheek. "I'll see you later, Baby. Now go make some new friends!" She pushed him back into the classroom and Rick walked in, spotting the play corner right away.
His classmates were scattered around the room, a few at their desks, organizing their supplies, and other talking in pairs or groups, and some were in the play corner. The Play corner took up at least a quarter of the large room where the floor was covered with a large, square rug, with shelves that held books and toys, bins that held blocks, Legos, trucks, you name it. There were a few children there, playing with toys and board games. But there was one little girl laying on a couch, a book propped up on her flat belly, her greenish-hazel eyes completely absorbed in the story, her face serious as she read the words on the page.
Rick smiled at the girl; never had he seen somebody else his own age read a book with such intensity-he didn't even know anybody else could read! Rick, himself, had been taught how to read when he was just four years old by his favorite Nanny, Penny, who'd been an Adolescent Psychology major in college and who'd nanny'd him as a way of paying off her student loans. She had loved teaching the little boy new things, like reading, writing, and counting, and had spent mornings with him in the library, picking out her favorite children's books and sitting with him in her lap, helping him sound out the words. Now, at six years old and in first grade, Rick was at a grade five reading level. He wondered about the girl's reading level. There was only one way to find out.
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Six-year-old Kate Beckett was never scared; not of clowns or the dark or even of the Doctor's sharp needles when he had to give her a shot. Though she did tend to feel her stomach flipping and her heart beat quickening at all of these things. But that wasn't fear; she told herself, that was nerves. Yes, Kate Beckett did not get scared; she did, however, feel nervous on occasion.
Like now; Kate was nervous about her first day of first grade. She grasped her mother's hand with such strength that Johanna Beckett thought she might have to use a pry bar to release her daughter's hold when they arrived at room 147 at JFK Elementary in Lower Manhattan.
"Katie, honey," she said, chuckling, "you're cutting off my circulation."
Kate looked up, confusion written in her eyes as she blinked up at her mother. "Huh?" she said.
Johanna chuckled. "Let go of my hand, Baby," she said, shaking their conjoined hands until Kate let go, looking very embarrassed.
"Sorry," she said, and Johanna smiled warmly down at her, kneeling down to pull her little girl into her arms, hugging her tightly. Kate responded in kind, wrapping her arms around her mother's neck and burying her face into her chest.
"You nervous?" Johanna asked, knowing better than to ask if Kate was scared, knowing how the child got if fear was insinuated.
Kate nodded. "I'll be fine," she murmured into her mother's sweater. "Javi and Kevin are gonna be there, right?"
Johanna nodded, smiling. Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan were two of her best friends' sons. They were also Kate's best friends, and like surrogate brothers to her. The three had been inseparable since little Kevin's birth. They had play dates almost weekly and had been in the same Kindergarten and Preschool classes. Javier acted like a bodyguard to Kate and they both acted like older siblings to Kevin, who was the youngest and most impressionable. Kate's other best friend, Lanie Parish, who was her only girlfriend, was also in the class, which Kate was very excited about. She'd only met Lanie the previous year, in Kindergarten when Lanie's family moved to Manhattan from St. Louis, but the two had become quick friends.
Johanna couldn't see Lanie as they walked into the classroom, Kate's arm wrapped around her mother's leg, but she could see Javi and Kevin playing together on a large carpet in the corner. She nudged Kate and pointed, grinning at the large smile that spread across her daughter's face.
"You gonna be okay, now?" she asked, running her fingers through Kate's long, light brown hair, which was tied half-up in a French braid. Kate nodded. Johanna smiled. "Good. Now give me a kiss." Kate leaned up and kissed her mother on the cheek, hugging her neck.
"I love you, Mommy," she said, hugging tightly.
Johanna closed her eyes against tears that threatened to spill. "I love you, too, Katie," she said, kissing her daughter's forehead, before straightening, watching as Kate ran over to the carpet to greet her friends.
"Vroom! Vroom!" Javi was saying as Kate came up behind the boys. They were playing with toy trucks, smashing them together and pretending to have high-speed chases with them. Kevin's car was currently being chased by Javi's and Javi kept smashing his car, forcibly, into his.
"Hey!" Kevin whined. "Javi! Stop it! That's not fair!" He looked up to see Kate approaching. "Kate! Kate, Javi's cheating!"
Kate frowned and shoved Javier's head softly. "Stop cheating!" she scolded.
Javier's brown eyes widened, innocently. "I wasn't!" he defended. "Kevin's just a sore loser!" he stuck his tongue out at the boy, who returned the favor.
Kate sighed. "You two play nice!" She ordered, "Or else you both get time outs!"
Kevin frowned. "Hey! What did I do?" he whined.
Kate just shook her head and started making her way over to one of the bookshelves; she'd learned how to read in Preschool and had read every single book she could get her hands on ever since. Now, she spotted one of her favorites.
As Kate walked away Javier glowered at her back, and then stuck his tongue out. Kevin looked shocked, and Javier fixed his glare on him. "Say anything and you're dead," he warned. Kevin stayed silent.
Kate picked up the book with a smile and made herself comfortable on the couch adjacent, resting the book on her tummy as she turned to the first page, her eyes focusing on the words as she let herself fall into the magical world of Wonderland.
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Rick walked slowly and quietly over to the girl reading on the couch, step over a couple of wrestling boys on the way (the darker-skinned of the two currently had the blue-eyed one pinned beneath him with his arms held behind his back).
He stood about two feet away from her, just staring at her, waiting for her to notice him, observing. The girl had light brown hair and bright green-hazel eyes that were focused solely on the book in her hands. Her hair was half up in some sort of complicated braid and she was wearing a purple shirt and a pair of jeans, embroidered with daisies on the thigh. She had on a simple pair of sneakers.
She was pretty-for a girl, at least. Martha had told Rick never to end his sentences like that when actually talking to a girl, but just thinking it was okay, right?
"Why are you staring at me?" the soft, melodic voice startled Rick from his thoughts.
"What?" he said, blinking, realizing, for the first time, that the girl's eyes were no longer focused on the pages of her book, but, rather, on him.
"I said, 'Why are you staring at me?'," the girl repeated, not unkindly.
"Oh!" Rick blushed. "No reason. I just…I thought I was the only one who could read. I mean, the only one our age." One of the girl's eyebrows lifted, which Rick thought was neat; he couldn't raise just one eyebrow, no matter how hard he tried. "So," he said, trying to break the awkward silence that had fallen over them, "watcha readin'?"
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," she answered, "it's my favorite book."
Rick smiled. "Yeah, it's good. My favorite is the Wizard of Oz, though."
The girl's eyes lit up. "Oh, I love that one! My favorite is the Scarecrow! How about you?"
"I like the Witch," Rick said, smiling.
"Which one? Glinda?"
Rick shook his head. "Nope. The green one; the Wicked Witch of the West. I love her!"
"What? But she's the bad guy! She tries to take Dorothy's shoes!"
"Could you really blame her, though? Those shoes were her sister's. For all we know Glinda could have stolen them from her and then just given them to Dorothy to make the witch mad. She could be the victim!"
The girl laughed laughed. "You're crazy," she said, smiling at him.
Rick shrugged. "Ya learn to live with it." Kate laughed again and Rick smiled. "My name's Rick, by the way. Rick Rodgers."
The girl smiled. "My name's Kate Beckett. Nice to meet you." She sat up and put her hand out. Rick shook it, grinning widely. Kate blushed, before nodding at the two boys wrestling on the carpet. "Those dimwits are Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan. Say hi, boys."
The boys stopped wrestling for a moment to look up at Rick.
"Hi," Kevin said, politely.
"Who are you?" Javier asked.
Kate rolled her eyes. Rick laughed.
"My name's Rick. Rick Rodgers," he said.
Javier eyed him up and down. "Nice to meet ya," he said, before pinning Kevin to the ground again, bringing his arm to rest at an awkward and uncomfortable angle above his head. "Say 'Uncle'!" he ordered.
"Ahh!" Kevin called out. "Kate!"
Kate sighed and stood up, walking over to the boys and pulling Javi's shirt, practically tossing the boy off of Kevin like it was nothing, then helping Kevin to his feet. "You okay, Kev?" she asked. He nodded, his blue eyes blinking away tears. Kate pulled him into an affectionate hug, glaring at Javi over Kevin's shoulder. "You have to be careful with him!" she yelled. Javier had the decency to look ashamed, staring down at his knees, pouting.
Kate let go of Kevin and looked over at Rick, rolling her eyes. Rick chuckled.
"Listen up, everybody!" the teacher called, gaining everybody's attention. "It's time to take your seats! They all have your names on them, so as to avoid confusion! You're all paired in twos. You will have a partner for the entirety of the year, with whom you will work on projects and experiments with! Now, hurry up and get in your seats so we can get started!"
Kate, Rick, Javi, and Kevin all started towards the desks, looking for their names. Javi and Kevin were happy to see that their names were together and high-fived as they took their seats.
Kate and Rick were still looking for their names when Kate heard a familiar voice calling out her name.
"Kate!" Lanie shouted from the doorway, before leaving her mother's side to race toward her best friend. Kate smiled at her and opened her arms, embracing her friend in a fierce hug.
"There you are!" Kate exclaimed. "I was wondering when you were gonna get here!"
Lanie giggled. "Momma took the wrong subway again. We ended up in Chinatown!"
Kate giggled. "Well at least you're here now. Come on, we gotta find our spots." Kate took Lanie's hand and the two continued searching for their spots, Rick trailing behind them.
Lanie found her spot, quickly, and was ecstatic to find that Kate's was just across the aisle, so they could talk to each other easily. Rick then found that his seat was the one that adjoined Kate's and found he was happy with that arrangement.
"Hey," he said, grinning, "looks like we're partners now."
Kate nodded. "Looks like it," she said, smiling.
Rick tipped an invisible hat towards her and spoke in what he thought was a Western accent. "Well, it's nice to meet you then, Pardner…" He stuck out his hand and Kate just stared at it.
"You are so weird," she said, shaking her head.
REVIEWS would be very nice, yes?