I don't own Castle, the characters and anything anyone recognises as a part of the show.

A/N: After "Watershed" I had a real plague of ideas for possible beginning of season six. Here is one, which I think is the most possible of all of them. A few small spoilers can be found inside, nothing major, as I'm just using the casting snippets and we know almost nothing about those new characters. This is just my view of how it all can go after the fifth season's finale.

The elevator stopped and Richard Castle walked out of it. It was the first time in a very long period of time, that he did it without Detective Beckett at his side or coffee for her in his hands. He looked surprised that he was there, and he most definitely was. With Kate in DC, the last thing he expected was to be asked to come to the precinct by Captain Gates. It would be nothing unusual if Esposito or Ryan invited him, but definitely not Iron Gates. And it was one of the most important reasons why he decided to go there, out of curiosity. He actually came to terms with the fact, that his days at the 12th are over, so when he got the phone call and heard the woman's voice, he had no idea what to think.

When he looked around, he noticed that everyone was gathered there. It was obvious that there was no case, as the murder board was clear and people were busy with paperwork. His eyes immediately fell on the empty desk and he noticed that it was still marked as Kate's, the nameplate with "Det. Beckett" still present there. He sighed, feeling a twinge of sadness at the thought of how nice it always felt to see her there, place a coffee in front of her to be rewarded with a smile it always brought to her face. It was another thing why he didn't feel like coming there; because he thought it wasn't going to be the same without her, so empty and wrong.

"Yo, Castle!" he heard Esposito's voice and looked away from the desk.

He didn't even noticed that Espo and Ryan were sitting at their places and looking at him. He slowly made his way to them, noticing that his chair was also standing on its place. He took it and placed it closer to two Detectives, before sitting in it.

"It's been a while, since we saw you here for the last time." said Ryan, and the writer nodded.

"I know but I wasn't sure if now, that Beckett is gone, I'm not going to get kicked out the minute I place my foot in this room." he suggestively motioned to the Captain's office with his head, but it wasn't really necessary for his companions to understand the message. "It only makes the fact that she practically summoned me here even more mysterious."

The door to Gates' office suddenly opened and all the heads immediately turned in the direction. Castle followed everyone's gazes as well and noticed Gates walk out of there, accompanied by someone he has never seen before. The woman was about the Captain's height, slender, with long blond hair tied in the simple ponytail at the back of her head. She was dressed quite casually, but with a hint of professionalism and elegancy.

"If I could have everybody's attention, please." said Gates, even though it was obviously not needed, as everyone was looking at her. "I would like to introduce Detective Rachel McCord from the 8th precinct, who was temporarily assigned to our homicide team to take over Detective Beckett's duties until the permanent replacement is found. I know that some of you may not be happy with this.." she looked directly at Castle, Ryan and Esposito "..but I expect you to make her feel welcome here. This is your desk, Detective, make yourself comfortable."

"Thank you, Captain." Rachel smiled slightly and after a slightly hesitant greeting addressed to everyone, sat at the assigned place.

She didn't think of going around the room and trying to meet everyone, make friends. From the moment she stepped into the room, the way people looked at her told her that she wasn't really welcome there. She was aware of that possibility, when she agreed for the offer to join the homicide team in this precinct. As much as she loved working at the 8th precinct, after recent events she really needed a break from it and with this being a temporary assignment, it was just perfect for her. Of course, she knew what she was getting herself into, because probably every cop in New York heard of the homicide team in the 12th, mostly because of the fact that Richard Castle was a part of it. And she had to admit, she was very curious of how it worked and how it happened that he stayed there for such a long time. Still, she had no doubts that they were all very loyal to Kate Beckett and wouldn't be set friendly towards her, even though the woman was gone for almost a month now. But it wasn't going to change her mind and she intended on doing her job well, if they're going to like her or not.

"I see you came, Mr. Castle." Gates now looked at the writer, who was curiously staring at the new Detective, and when he heard her voice he quickly moved his eyes to the Captain. "Follow me to my office, please."

Even with the 'please' at the end, there was no doubts that it was an order, and Castle stood up from the chair and followed the woman. She closed the door behind him, walked to her desk and gestured towards the chair standing in front of it.

"I'm sure you're very curious why you're here. I am wondering what are your plans for now, Mr. Castle."

"I don't think I understand, Sir. I thought that with Detective Beckett no longer working here, my agreement is over, and you'd be actually content with getting rid of me."

"Well, as much as I admit, that I wasn't ecstatic with your presence, I cannot deny that it was useful. And this is why I was wondering what you intend to do now. I understand that your arrangement was made to give you the opportunity to follow specifically Detective Beckett, but I had the impression that it became something more for you than a research for a new character."

"That's true, Sir. The research was one thing, as all the cases I've worked on with them allowed me to create nice ideas for my books. However, I really enjoyed being a part of this team, working on solving those murders."

"Really? That's surprising, considering that you didn't even show yourself here to ask if it would be possible for you to stay in the precinct. Because, honestly, that's what I thought you were going to do."

"Oh." was the only thing he was able to mutter, as he had to focus really hard not to stare in shock at the Captain. He really didn't expect Iron Gates to tell him, that she kind of waited for him to come there and ask for lengthening his stay at the 12th. "Well... Firstly, as you said, I've got an allowance to follow Detective Beckett and she's not here anymore. Then, I was quite sure that with her gone, you're going to gladly throw me out of here, because it's no secret that you're not the biggest fan of my cooperation with the precinct. Considering this, I thought that I can as well stay at home."

It was turn for Victoria Gates to be quite astonished. She couldn't deny that he was right, because she never really showed any sign of having positive feelings towards his person or the whole arrangement. In fact, she was terribly displeased with it when she first took over Roy Montgomery's responsibilities, but after a few cases she could see that he was indeed quite useful, just like her predecessor wrote in his notes. His crazy theories and immature behaviour were driving her crazy, but she decided to give him a chance and he definitely passed the test. As much as she hated to admit, she could see advantages of Castle's presence at the precinct and his influence on Detective Beckett. Even though it was all under the name of research, it quickly became obvious for her that over those three years before she came there, it evolved to something completely different. There was no denying that a very strong bond appeared between Beckett and Castle – far stronger than between casual partners – and she was really surprised when she saw, that they seemed to completely ignore it. But it wasn't her business and it didn't affect their work, yet, she could see that for the writer, it became even more than just following Beckett. She could see passion for solving those cases in him and it was the main reason why she was so surprised, that he gave up so easily.

"With Detective Beckett and you gone, I really lack people. I am not saying that Detectives Esposito and Ryan aren't doing their job well, quite the contrary, but I think that our homicide team really could do with more than two people. We've got Detective McCord now, for what I am very grateful, and I think that she would feel better if she had a partner. Not that I doubt her abilities, because I've read a very good opinion of her from her Captain, but I am aware that she may not be accepted easily here. The last thing I need is spreading of the information that our precinct isn't a very nice place, because people here are conservative and unfriendly. This is why I thought that maybe you would like to change your arrangement a bit, so instead of agreement for following Detective Beckett, you'd have the allowance to cooperate with our homicide team."

"I feel... flattered."

Castle was watching the woman carefully, but it seemed that there was nothing unsaid behind her words. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel unsure. If anyone told him that she'll offer him to stay with the precinct, he'd say that there was nothing he could hesitate about, but right now it was exactly opposite. He didn't really know if he wanted to stay in the precinct, or more specifically, work with the Detective other than Kate Beckett. He could remember his experiment with Slaughter, and even though he didn't suspect that the inconspicuous woman he saw could be anything like him, he wasn't really sure if he should accept this offer.

"Why don't you give me your answer by the end of the week?" asked Gates, like she was reading his mind and he agreed.

Ryan and Esposito were sitting at their desk, and even though they should be focused on their paperwork, they kept looking either in direction of the Captain's office or the new Detective. Rachel McCord acted like she was completely oblivious that ninety percent of eyes in the room were at her, but the truth was that she could feel all this staring and just chose to ignore it. Meanwhile, they could see Castle and Gates discussing something, and the curiosity got the better of their patience. They were wondering what the two of them could talk about so civilly, as Gates seemed to mostly shout at Castle, showing him her displease. Finally, the writer got out and walked out, closing the door behind himself and looked at them with shock all over his face.

"What is it, Bro?" asked Esposito, unable to keep the question to himself any longer.

"What did Iron Gates want from you?" added Ryan, obviously as interested as his partner.

They heard a snort and his heads immediately turned to the newest addition to the team. McCord was shaking her head with a small smile, but didn't even raise her head to look at them. They exchanged glances and shrugged, understanding each other perfectly even without saying their thoughts out loud. The woman was at least strange.

"She asked me to stay at the precinct." Castle didn't even try to hide a surprise in his voice, and both Detectives looked at him in an equal shock.

"Wow, that's great! Right?" Ryan looked at him, trying to guess Castle's feelings and noticed that the man didn't seem to be very happy about it.

"Yes, it is. I'm just not sure if I actually want to stay... I mean, the biggest fun of the whole following Beckett at work was exactly following Beckett."

"It's not like anyone had any doubts that it is about her from the beginning, Bro. But why do I have a feeling, that even though it's about Beckett, it's not the way you show it now."

"What do you mean, Espo?"

"I mean, that you're afraid that Beckett isn't going to like you following another Detective, especially female Detective, and you want to ask her permission first."

Esposito was looking at him with a look telling 'I know that I'm right, just admit it', while Ryan grinned because of his partner's words and the face expression, which appeared on Castle's face. It was a mix of disbelief and embarrassment, and the way he was opening and closing his mouth to say something only made the two men grin wider.

"I don't know where did the two of you get this idea from, but I do not have to ask Beckett's permission to stay at the precinct. And now, if you excuse me, I've got a chapter to write."

With this words he left, completely ignoring his two friends now talking to each other how much it was the matter, because otherwise he wouldn't have reacted this way, and the female Detective, who was now openly grinning as she followed him with her eyes.

~ Caskett ~

"Are you kidding me, Castle?" Beckett's voice wafted around his office.

It was already an evening, and he was sitting there and writing, when the popup informing him that she's available appeared on his screen. He didn't hesitate to call her and the image from her webcam soon covered everything else on his laptop.

"Okay, okay, don't be angry. I just thought it won't hurt to ask!" he said in a defensive tone and the smile on her face widened.

"Castle, I don't mean that you shouldn't accept Gates' offer. I just can't believe that you're asking me for permission to do this!"

He could feel the warmth spread over his entire face and didn't need to look at the small square with his own image to know that he's blushing deeply. He didn't plan to do this, but Esposito's words made him think and the longer he was replaying them in his mind, the more convinced he was getting that it may not be such a bad idea to ask Kate about her feelings. During their talk on the swings they agreed not to keep anything important – and preferably nothing at all – away from each other, and he intended to keep this promise.

"It's just... I don't want you to discover it in some unwanted way, jump into conclusions and be angry at me. I can remember how jealous you were every time I showed the sings of being interested in working with other people."

"Like who for example?"

"Jordan Shaw? I can remember how possessive you became, accusing me of building theories with her instead of you! Sophia? I mean, I know that she turned out the be our enemy, but you can't deny that you were jealous of her before we knew it. Or how you pretended to completely don't care about me following Slaughter and doing all those jealous faces... Or..."

"Castle, it was because you were supposed to be my partner. Now, you can't be my partner anymore, so I really don't see a reason why I should be against you following another cop. I may not feel completely fine with it, because when you were with me, I could be sure that you're fine, but other than this I really don't see any problems."

"Espo suggested that the problem may be that the cop is slightly younger than you, blonde, a little plain but pretty anyway..."

"You say Espo?" she looked at him with her eyebrows raised and chuckled at his reaction. "Castle, I trust you. I'm in DC, your daughter is in Costa Rica, your mother is mostly absent and Espo, Ryan and Lanie don't spend every minute of the day with you. If you wanted to cheat on me, you'd have no problem!"

"So you don't see this whole partnership with Detective McCord as cheating on you, even if only professionally?"

"Not really, but if it's going to make you feel better, you have my blessing to cheat on me, professionally."

She smiled and was happy to notice, that corners of his mouth soon turned upwards as well. She felt a small twinge of sadness at the thought that she'd like to hug or kiss him, as a sign that she really is fine with all this. It's been almost four full weeks since she had left New York and felt his arms around her for the last time. She was very busy, spending most time of her days at work but it didn't change the fact that she missed him terribly. Especially, when just like that evening, she was at home and could actually think about something different than solving a case. Before she left, they would just sit at his or her apartment and spend the time together, enjoying the free time. Now she could only wish he was there, right next to her, while the closest thing she had was the image of his face on her laptop's screen.

"So, how is DC? I'm happy to see that you're not stuck in the office till very late night."

"Yeah, I even have a day off tomorrow, unless there is a case and they have to summon me."

"That's great, you look like you could use a few long, uninterrupted hours of sleep and a day of lazing."

"Yeah, thanks, I'll take it as a compliment. I still have to go shopping tomorrow, most of the food I had became quite furry."

"It's not its fault that you spend so little time at home. And I think I'm not going to keep you longer. Go to bed, think about me and have nice dreams."

She chuckled, but agreed anyway. He was right, she really needed some proper rest, because most of what she was having lately were two or three hours every now and then, and even though the coffee was as for now effectively hiding it, she was exhausted. They finished the call and she turned off the laptop, placing it back at the small shelf under the table. She was in her pyjamas and just walked to the bedroom. Her eyes immediately landed on the ring, lying on the bedside table, just when she left it as she was getting ready for a bath. She smiled but it only made her miss Castle a little more, even though she knew that he was only a phone call away and she could make it at any time of the day or night, as he assured her so many times before she left. She slipped under the covers of the uncomfortably empty bed, but she quickly found his advice very useful. The moment she thought about him, she drifted off to sleep.