Thank you all for the follows/faves and the comment! I'm always incredibly nervous about posting (which is why there's a bunch of fics on my hard drive with no plans of seeing the light of day), but I'm on some pretty wonderful painkillers so I must have the courage to do anything. I have a few more weeks off until my forced bedrest is over and I have to go back to work, so hopefully I'll finish this all up by then. That being said - any chapter after this will most likely be written in a haze of the aforementioned painkillers. Let's see what happens!

Also - I own none of this, obviously. My computer is currently being held together by electrical tape.

One person's spending is another person's income

"Why Katherine Beckett, I must say thank you," exclaimed Castle, yelling loud enough for Kate to hear him in the other room. He heard a muffled response, chuckling to himself as he plucked a book off the shelf. "I'm sure Alexis would thank you as well, because you helped contribute to the amazing childhood she had," he continued, putting the book back and replacing it with another, more worn one. He was flipping through the pages as his partner entered the room, covered in nothing but a bathrobe.

"What the hell are you…" she exclaimed, freezing up as she finally got a look at exactly what the man was doing. "Castle, put that down, now," she said, using her patented "Cop Voice", hoping to elicit a response. The man merely raised an eyebrow as he flipped to the title page, a huge smile gracing his face as he turned the book to her.

"Wow, you must be some fan of this guy! I heard his autograph lines are long," laughed Castle, getting way more enjoyment out of his partner's embarrassment than should be legal. Kate stalked over to him, grabbed the book out of his hands and hit him with it.

"Stop snooping through a cop's stuff. I should arrest you or something," she said, carefully putting the book back in its spot and stalked back to her bedroom to finish getting ready. "And if I catch you looking at any more of those books, I'm making you go to your mother's play alone!" she yelled back just as Rick was about to grab another book. Slumping his shoulders, he turned around and headed back to the couch, where he sat on his hands waiting for his "date" to finish. His mother had been cast in a rather dubious play and insisted that he come to opening night. Alexis had claimed some SAT study group and ducked out, leaving Rick with only one other option. Luckily for him, Kate still had some faith in his mother, having never lived with her or endured the past 40 years with her and her "craft", and was actually excited for the evening out. A part of Rick was hoping it was his company that had her in high spirits, and not just the thought of a night on the town not solving a murder.

Interrupted from his thoughts by a light clicking coming from the hallway, Rick stood up to greet his date like a gentleman, the air sucking out of his lungs as he finally looked at her. Gorgeous was an understatement, as Kate was dressed in a simple dark purple dress, the mid-thigh cut accentuating her long legs, the dress hugging her in all the right ways, up to her strapless shoulders and brown hair curled and pinned back. Castle was sure he was gaping like a fish, shaking his head to clear away all the not appropriate thoughts. Composing himself, he moved towards her and offered her his arm.

"M'lady, might I say you look absolutely marvelous this evening? Please, let us adjourn to the town car so we can begin tonight's festivities," he exclaimed, using his best "upper class" accent, putting on airs and escorting her out of the apartment. Her laugh rang beautifully through the hallway, and Castle had to rein his thoughts in before he did something he knew he wouldn't regret, but she might. Stepping into the waiting elevator, he pushed the button for the ground floor and leaned against the back wall.

"So, did you find any good books on my shelves?" Kate's question startled Rick, though he calmed after seeing the twinkle in her eye and the light laugh at his embarrassment. Smiling in return, he nodded.

"You have a wonderful taste in authors," he said, turning his head back to stare at the elevator doors. She matched his pose, leaning into him a bit.

"I called in sick to wait in line to get that autograph. I was a uniform at the time, and thankfully the bookstore was nowhere near my station. I was still worried the entire time that someone would see me and just know what I had done. I think I waited about four hours – a couple to get into the reading, and a couple to get it signed," she said, standing as she felt the elevator settle and the doors opened. The pair walked outside, waiting for Castle's town car to come pick them up. He shook his head in disbelief at her story. "What, you've never done anything like that to meet one of your idols, or your favourite actor?" she questioned, slight annoyance lacing her voice. He just chuckled, shaking his head.

"Once you become famous, they want to meet you. I've never had to wait in line to meet anybody." Kate just glared at him as their car pulled up, Castle opening the door for her. Once they were settled and on their way, Castle turned back to her. "Looking back on it, were you glad you went? Was the experience everything you ever hoped for and so much more?" he questioned, a gleam in his eyes. She peered at him, the silence in the car getting heavy as she pondered her answer.

"Y'know, I am. It was a really fun day, and he shook my hand, looked me in the eyes, acted like he actually cared that I had taken the time out of my day to be there, and signed the book." If he hadn't seen the autographs in the other books, she wasn't going to bring up just how many times she had stood in that line at various book stores around the city.

"Did you tell him you were a cop?"

"Uh, no. He probably would have started asking me all these stupid questions about procedure and protocol, he would have wanted to see my gun, and then he probably would have accidentally fired it at a book case," she finished, turning to glare at him. He just gasped in return.

"I would not have! How dare you. I may have asked what department you worked in, how long you'd been a cop, and maybe, if I were feeling bold, I would have asked if you had ever fired your gun. I would not have wanted to see it," exclaimed Castle, his indignation seeping through as he sulked in the corner of the car. Beckett just laughed at him, acting like a petulant five-year old.

"Castle, I'm glad I didn't tell you I was a cop then, because then this whole "shadowing" would have started years sooner, and I'm not sure you would have survived a day with me back then! But, thank you for signing my book and acting like you actually cared about your fans," she said, putting her hand on top of his on his thigh, giving it a slight squeeze as she smiled over at him.

"Well, thanks for buying my books so I could take care of my daughter. We appreciate it," he responded, turning his palm up so they were holding hands. They stayed that way until they reached their destination, then walked arm and arm into the theatre to enjoy an entertaining night together.