Okay, so it's been a while since I've written any Castle and Beckett. I should really be doing homework right now, but I couldn't bring myself to stop writing.

This is a completely AU fic in which Beckett is a famous singer, and Castle is a writer for a famous magazine. Castle brings Alexis to her concert with backstage passes, and they meet her. Thank you to my friend Marissa for her stellar tags which give me tons of inspiration. Thank you! (By the way, this will definitely be a multi-chapter fic. I just don't know how quickly I'll be able to update it.)

Disclamer: I do not own Castle, and if I did, Castle and Beckett would be together by now.

edit: If this is horrible, I apologize to Marissa and all of my other Castle fangirls in advance. I put your hopes very high for this, so I'm sorry if it's not that good. I hope it'll get better as it goes along, though!


The second her hair was curled into its normal shape, landing just perfectly on her shoulders, she knew it was going to be another ordinary day. She was going to head to her concert, pick up her guitar, play for an audience, go home, sleep it off, and then wake up and do the same thing the next day. Really, it wasn't the ideal career for Kate Beckett. She wanted something exciting, something interesting… something extraordinary.

Of course, what she wanted… she never got. So she figured that if she said she didn't want it, she'd get it, but that didn't turn out working either. It was like she was forced to perform every day, but even that was a little harsh. Really, it was a way for her to get out all of those emotions she never could escape from. She would get up on that stage and sing her heart out, the lyrics meaning things no one had any idea about, and she would go on living, that burden off of her shoulders. It was her way of coping with the loss of certain people she'd rather not think about, and for the years she had been doing this… it was working.

The ghosts of her past were finally leaving her, and for once… she felt like she could breathe.

Sighing, Kate threw a jacket to shield herself from the chilly fall breeze, and started walking towards the street so she could get in her car, driving off to the small venue she was performing at. It wasn't really a burden driving herself there. In fact, she preferred it, and she would most likely do it for the rest of her life. She needed that preparation time period to make sure all of her thoughts were in check and there were no emotions hanging loose for everyone to see. She was a very reserved person, and she wasn't one to put her emotions out for everyone to see.

Just as she stopped at a red light, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Kate pulled it out, and almost didn't answer it once she saw the caller ID. Her manager was calling, and she could guess why he was calling right away. She was late for her rehearsal, as usual, and she really didn't care one bit. Finally, after a few rings, she picked up the phone. "Yes?" Was all she said, watching the light turn green as she started to pull off onto the road again.

"Where the hell are you? You're almost an hour late." He grumbled, obviously extremely agitated.

"I'm on my way." She said calmly, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I'm practically there. Give me, like… ten minutes. I'll be there. I had a rough morning."

"Don't give me excuses. Just fucking get here." The line went dead at that moment, and she pursed her lips, throwing her phone on the seat beside her. It should bother her that her manager was pissed with her, but really… it didn't. Not at all. He'd been far more furious with her before, and this was practically nothing. When she finally pulled into the parking lot, she grabbed her phone and her keys, throwing her sunglasses in her purse as she hopped out of the car. With a quick lock of the car, she stepped out, her heels clicking along the rough pavement as she walked in the side door of the venue. It was just a small club, nothing huge.

She didn't even really get what the big deal was. She wasn't that famous. Sure, she had a lot of money… but she wasn't drowning in it. She was on the TV every few weeks, and lots of people knew her name. It was just like she was comfortable. And no matter what… she could deal with that.

Without hesitation, she stepped inside the building and prepared herself for the yelling she was sure she was going to receive any second.

"Kate, is that you?"

"Yes," She groaned, walking a little faster. "I'm here, I'm here."


"Mother, I assure you, I don't plan on harassing her for information." He groaned, running a hand through his hair.

"Richard Castle. You better not. Because I will remind you for the thousandth time, women do not like to be pressured for information!" Martha told her son, holding her finger up at him as she walked around the kitchen.

"Yes, yes, I know. Now I'll be back later, alright? Alexis will be perfectly fine with me backstage." He threw his coat on, putting on a scarf to complete the look. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Castle smiled, giving his mother a quick hug before grabbing his iPhone and wallet and walking out the door. Alexis followed behind him, and he simply just listened to her ongoing talk about how excited she was to finally be meeting her idol. Castle on the other hand… he was just really excited to get information for his article. He had been planning this article for months – he had questions to ask, blanks to be filled, and pure curiosity tingling every nerve in his body. This woman Kate Beckett truly was a mystery to everyone, but he was hoping that he'd be able to peel back at least one layer of her onion.

The metaphorical one, of course. What kind of person would carry around an onion?

He shook his head, laughing at his own stupid thoughts. He arrived at the concert a little late, but that was no big deal for him. He walked in while she was going on to start her first song, and he quietly slipped backstage. He grabbed his backstage pass out of his pocket for him and Alexis, and the guard simply nodded. Sheepishly, Castle and Alexis slipped past him, careful not to make too much noise and get on the guard's bad side.

Because mixing Castle humor with a mean guard? Not the best choice. He'd probably get body slammed and die from a rib crushing his heart. It would be worth it. As long as he'd gotten the information from Kate, he could at least pass it on to his team back at the editing station. Now his stories were getting carried away with him, and he knew he needed to go over his questions in his mind so he didn't have to read from his paper when he got his chance with her.

But then, she started singing again, and it seemed like his whole world stopped. A voice of an angel could really come from someone that delicate, that small? Well, granted, she wasn't that small, but still, up there on that stool all alone with a guitar and a drummer, she looked pretty vulnerable. She had dark blue skinny jeans on, a light blue shirt, and her hair splayed out over her shoulders like she had just woken up. Of course, it looked good on her – Castle would stand by the idea that anything would look good on her.

Her haunting voice filled the speakers of the small room, and he could hear the crowd singing along. The smile on her face wasn't exactly hidden, and she didn't worry about how she acted. She was completely herself on that stage, and it didn't take an idiot to see that she enjoyed her job. If you could even call it that. It was more a lifestyle – not a choice, and definitely not something she did for the money. Online, you could see thousands and thousands of pictures of that spark in her eye. And just by that, you knew it was for a real reason. She had a real passion for music. Even someone completely stupid could figure that out.

"Dad! Earth to Dad!" Alexis sing-songed, her hand waving right in front of her father's eyes. "You're zoning out again. And the concert is almost over and I can't afford for you to be half out of it when she comes near us. We only have so much time."

He blinked his eyes a few times and nodded. "I know you're excited pumpkin. But you do realize that she's probably going to be very distracted, right? She's probably going to forget your name two minutes into the conversation."

"No she's not." Alexis protested, her eyes narrowed slightly.

"All I'm saying is… Don't get your hopes up, Lex." He repeated, "She's a very busy woman."

When she finally walked off of the stage about twenty minutes later, Alexis was as jumpy as any girl could get, and she was practically screaming when Kate walked past her. The second she set her guitar down, Kate smiled and walked over to them. There were only about ten people backstage, so there wasn't too much of a time crunch. Castle put away his phone so he could talk to the woman as well, but all of the breath needed for talking pretty much left his lungs as soon as she looked at him. If he thought she was beautiful up on stage, close up was an entirely different thing. She was purely stunning, and he didn't think he'd seen anyone so perfect before.

"Hi." Kate said quietly to the both of them, her eyes on Castle.

"Hey." Castle said quietly, his eyes on hers.

Alexis just about jumped out of her skin, and her smile was just getting wider and wider. "Oh my god, you were amazing tonight, really. And so was your drummer Kevin. Is it true that you guys are dating? Because you'd make such a cute couple and-"

"No –" She stopped herself. "What's your name?"

"Alexis." She responded immediately.

"No, Alexis. We aren't dating. To be honest, he's been a family friend for a long… long time. You can talk to him if you'd like. He's really nice. And if you keep him talking enough, he might even let you play on his drums for a few minutes."

"Really? Oh, where is he?" Her eyes wandered backstage, looking inside every nook and cranny for him.

"He should be right by the donuts and coffee around the corner. You can take whatever you'd like." She gave the girl a quick hug, squeezing her tightly and laughing as she thanked her and ran off around the corner. That left just the two adults, and Castle laughed quietly to break the tension.

"I'm sorry that Alexis is so jumpy. She's never been so excited to come to a concert before." He rubbed his neck, and he watched as she laughed quietly, her head hanging slightly as her hair framed her face.

"I'm just glad she enjoys the music. It means a lot." She offered him a smile, and she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. There was a slight break in the conversation until Castle spoke again.

"Well… uh, I was going to ask you some questions, but I don't really think that it's necessary anymore…" He pushed out his words slowly; almost afraid he was somehow going to stumble over them.

"It's okay, you can always write to me or something. I'm sure that I'll get your letter. Unless I have some crazed stalker who steals all of my mail…"

Quickly, they stumbled into comfortable conversation, and there were laughs being shared, smiles being given, and they barely noticed that it was slowly getting later and later, and people were clearing out. Castle looked back and saw Alexis still engaged in her conversation with Kevin, and he shook his head. When Kevin gave her a hug, he knew that they were probably almost finished with their conversation, so he should probably wrap his conversation up, too.

"Well, it was really great talking to you." She finally said, reaching out her hand. He furrowed his eyebrows slightly, surprised at the gesture, but he gladly took her hand, grabbing it firmly as he shook it, not releasing his grip right away.

"I can definitely say the same, Miss Beckett." He said in his smoothest voice.

"Don't push it," She joked, letting go of his hand. "But by the way, I never got your name."

"Castle." He said, nodding slightly.

"Castle?" She asked, the slightest question in her voice. "Your real name is Castle?"

It seemed like Alexis walked back over to him right on cue, and he smiled mysteriously. "It's always good to have a little mystery in your life, right?" He almost laughed at her confused expression, but he wanted to keep his act up. He let his daughter wave goodbye, and then together, they walked out of the backstage area, and Castle couldn't keep the smile off of his face any longer.

"What's up with you, Dad?"

"Nothing. Just some good conversation to brighten the day." He left it at that, smiling down at her as they continued to walk towards their car.