**Author's Note** This first one is based on a gifset on Tumblr by "Walking on Fire" AU: Castle and Beckett meet when Detective Castle transfers in from the LAPD and is assigned the desk across from his new partner Detective Beckett.

Partners

May 21st 2011

Richard Castle stepped off of the elevator, wearing a crisp suit, (his best one, the one he usually reserved for greeting VIP's) a messenger bag slung over one shoulder, and his Sig Sauer P-226 riding his hip in the quick draw holster as he stepped into the 12th Precinct for the very first time.

He had signed in at the front desk and been given a visor's pass so he knew he would be expected, he was not surprised when a female officer in her late forties whose name plate under her badge read Velasquez approached him.

"You Detective Castle?" she asked in a no-nonsense manner, thus far she did not seem impressed.

Rick pulled his badge from his jacket pocket and opened it.

"Yeah, Richard Castle, LAPD Homicide." He said with a smile. He'd worked Hollywood division and he certainly knew how to make a first impression. It felt weird to him, however knowing it would likely be the last time he would ever say those precise words in that exact order ever again.

His warm friendly demeanor seemed to have the desired effect and put Officer Velasquez almost immediately at ease. There was a reason he'd been good at working murder cases in Hollywood, he knew how to talk to people.

"Captain Montgomery is expecting you," she offered with a smile, "right this way."

"I've heard good things about you, Detective Castle." Montgomery offered after shaking hands and exchanging the usual pleasantries, "I was actually surprised that the LAPD was willing to let go of somebody with your exemplary record."

For the first time since walking in the door of the 12th Castle frowned. "Death threats tend to re-arrange ones priorities." Castle replied. "I'm a single father and I have a daughter to think of."

"Yeah." Montgomery agreed, looking down at the photos of his own children spread across the front of his desk. "Not that I'm complaining, but why New York?"

"I have family here, my mother, to be exact." Castle replied, "Needed to be off the west coast as quickly as possible, best to have someplace to go."

"Indeed." Montgomery replied. Deciding to drop what he could already tell was a sensitive subject for his newest detective, he reached into the top drawer of his desk and pulled out an NYPD detective's shield along with a Glock 19 and a small stack of paperwork.

"You can keep the Glock." Castle stated up front, "I filed all the paperwork to keep my current sidearm, though I imagine I will still have to re-qualify before I hit the streets."

Montgomery returned the Glock to his desk drawer along with the paperwork for that, and received the signed and notarized forms Castle handed him. He then accepted the LAPD badge from Castle before rising to his feet.

"Raise your right hand and repeat after me." he stated, waiting for Castle to comply, which he did then quoted him the oath of office that every NYPD officer took when they first received their shield, to which Rick replied;

"I, Richard Alexander Castle, do solemnly swear to support and uphold the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of New York, and the Charter of the City of New York, and to faithfully discharge the duties as a police officer of the New York City Police Department to the best of my ability, so help me God."

When Castle was done speaking, Montgomery handed him the gold shield of an NYPD Detective first class.

"Welcome to the NYPD and the 12th Precinct, Detective Castle." Montgomery said almost solemnly, before clapping him on the back and leading him out into the squad room and pointing out an empty desk. "I'm pairing you up with Detective Beckett, she's finishing up with an interrogation and will be out soon, have a seat, make yourself comfortable and get started on your entrance paperwork."

"Detective Beckett?" Castle asked.

"Yes, she's your equal in rank, Castle, but make no mistake she is the one in charge of this team. She's the best homicide I ever trained."

"Fair enough." Castle replied, as his eye wandered over the family of ceramic elephants on her desk. He'd been in charge of his own homicide unit back in L.A., but was well aware that even though his rank had transferred over, he would have to prove himself here too. It would have been no different had his and Beckett's places been reversed. He could respect that.

When the Captain returned to his office, presumably to try to get in touch with Detective Beckett, Castle set about personalizing his work space. From his messenger bag, he produced a photo of his daughter Alexis, who had taken all of her exams early so she wouldn't have to deal with school until fall when she would be starting her freshman year at Marlowe Prep. Followed by a photo of the three of them taken in happier times at his mother's house in the Hampton's and the name bracelet Alexis had made him in the third grade.

He had no sooner finished filling out all of his NYPD transfer forms, insurance paperwork and logged into the system to reset his password and schedule himself for time in the shooting range for his pistol qualification when the most beautiful woman he had ever seen (and he had spent the last five years as a detective in Hollywood surrounded by models and starlets so that was saying something) sat down at the desk across from his, she did not look happy to see him.

Captain Montgomery appeared as if out of thin air.

"Kate Beckett, meet your new partner, Richard Castle. He just transferred here from LAPD Homicide."

"Welcome to the 12th," Kate grumbled with a smile that Castle could tell was not genuine as she reached across their desks to shake his hand before looking up at Montgomery, "Sir, can we speak privately?"

"Nope." Montgomery replied, "Beckett, I know you didn't want a partner, especially after the way your last one worked out, but this comes straight from the Chief of D's office. Detective Castle's closure rate is almost as good as yours but due to uncontrollable, unforeseen circumstances he had to vacate California, and we are lucky to have him. But regardless of what the brass wants, this is my house and I want him paired with my best.

"Yes sir." Kate replied, before she eyes the photos on Castle's desk.

After the captain left Castle looked her in the eye before speaking, something very few of her other male partners had ever done before, nearly every one had to be coaxed up to meet her eyes instead of her open collar or the curves pushing against her sweater.

"I don't mean to be a bother, Beckett." He said simply. "I didn't exactly leave California by choice."

Kate felt more than a little guilty for making him feel unwelcome, she'd heard the scuttlebutt in the break room about the new detective from the LAPD. How he and his family had received death threats after one of his cases had gone south and attempt had already been made on his daughter. He had enough bullshit to deal with already. If somebody had made an attempt on her dad she didn't know what she'd do. This time she offered him a softer, more genuine smile.

"It's not your fault, Castle," she offered, "my last partner was a jerk."

It would be a while before she went into detail about how Tom Demming had basically treated her like a piece of meat simply because they had found some mutual attraction after a sparring match early on in their partnership and foolishly acted on it later at his place. It had been fun for a day or two, but then he'd thought that their "friends with benefits" arrangement had given him the right to take certain... liberties with where he put his hands at work, even after she'd broken it off.

She'd rebuffed him every time, but couldn't prove he'd done anything. Even after she'd come close to breaking two of his fingers. After nearly a month of harassment, Captain Montgomery had witnessed the last one and sent Demming packing off to Robbery Division with a grade reduction for conduct unbecoming and an admonition never to show his face in his house again. It was the best he could have done without dragging her reputation through the mud in the process. Ryan and Esposito had tuned Demming up in the parking lot an hour later, nobody had seen a thing then either. Demming certainly got the message.

She wasn't about to go into that much detail about that until she got to know Castle a little better, but it was obvious that Montgomery thought he could be trusted, or he would not have put him in the same building with her, much less pair them up, so she would give the man a chance. She owed Roy that much trust for always looking out for her.

Her reverie was quickly broken by the phone on her desk and she was all business when she answered.

"Beckett..."

When she hung up, she rose to her feet in her four-inch heeled biker boots and reached for her coat.

"We've got a murder at Fifth and Lex." she stated at his questioning look on her way to the elevator, before stopping to turn around,

"You coming Castle?"

"Always." Castle replied, dumping his messenger bag in his bottom desk drawer, reaching for his own jacket and sliding the still unfamiliar badge onto his belt. He wasn't sure what he'd just done right, but he was willing to roll with it.

If Kate Beckett was half the Detective he had heard about when he'd requested the 12th Precinct, they were going to do amazing things together. He wished he'd known somebody half as interesting when he'd tried his hand at writing, from what he'd seen so far, she was... extraordinary.

This was gonna be one hell of a partnership.