Hey everyone! I am so very sorry for being this late with the chapter. Life intervened then I had writer's block. But here it is now, I hope you will like it! :)
Thank you all for reading and reviewing on last chapter! You totally made my day and I love each and every one of you! The intensity with which you guys hate Kate in your comments is amazing by the way… And it is the biggest compliment for me because that means I did a good job in making her detestable, or so… So thank you!
Anyways, here is the new chapter, enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters

Chapter 3

When they pulled over across the street from Jim's building Kate finally took out her cell phone to check the message which was from Ryan, informing her of a new body. She cursed internally, reading his 'come ASAP' at the end because it told her she wouldn't even have time to have dinner.

She jumped out of the car then after Matt got out as well she locked it and they headed towards the steps leading to the front door of the apartment building.

After a short ride up the elevator they arrived and Matt eagerly knocked. Jim opened the door with a wide grin almost instantly and welcomed them with hugs.

"Come in, come in!" he said and closed the door after them. Matt kicked off his shoes and threw his jacket on them then ran off, entirely at home in his grandfather's apartment.

Kate, however, stayed put and only bent down to pick up her son's jacket and hang it up.

"C'mon Katie!" her dad said as he started for the kitchen.

"I can't stay dad." she admitted in a sad voice. "I'm sorry but I just got a text from the guys, they need me at work..." she said.

"But you are off till seven aren't you?" her father asked, hovering in the doorway to the kitchen.

"Yeah, but you know how it is... He wrote as soon as possible, it sounded urgent!" she told him and saw his shoulders sink in defeat.

„Well okay… Though I'm sure they could manage without you for another ten minutes…" he grumbled and Kate grinned at him.

„Thanks dad, love you! Bye!" she called back as she exited, shutting the door after herself and striding down the hallway towards the stairs, deciding that it would be quicker.

Kate was sitting in her car later that night. She was looking up at the building across the street thinking how the harsh lights of the club on the top floor and the reflectors on the roof making it pretty obvious to every passing by that something big was going down tonight. But she knew exactly what was going on inside already.

She took a deep breath, her brain replaying the image of the latest victim. The way she was displayed, naked but covered with petals, two shot to the chest. She knew instantly what it was. Without double checking, without any doubts. It was a scene from one of her favorite books. A Richard Castle novel. She was rather surprised that neither one of the boys or Lanie recongised it, that none of them read the books. When she shared her thoughts Esposito didn't hesitate to point out that she must be a huge fangirl and tease her about it mercilessly…

So here she was, in front of the building where Castle's book launch party was being held and she couldn't help but feel totally like the fangirl she wasn't as her heart rate sped up. Taking a deep breath she exited her car and strode across the street.

All she needed to do was flash her badge at the entrance and she was inside, practically swallowed by the enormous crowd. People were chatting easily, women giggling and flirting and men pretending not to stare shamelessly at their assets in the tiny dresses they wore. Almost everyone had a glass of something in their hands, champagne, wine or a cocktail.

Kate maneuvered the crowd without much difficulty, her years on the street as an officer paying off. She scanned the mass of people, looking for a certain face. Someone that was much likely in the center of the attention tonight. However, after long minutes of searching, she still couldn't spot the author anywhere.

She was starting to get rather desperate when she caught sight of a red flash somewhere to her right. She turned her head towards it and saw two redheads at the bar. She instantly felt a wave of victory wash over her and a smile threatened to break out on her face as she recognized them. Well, from the pictures in the newspaper anyways… One of them was Castle's teenage daughter and the other his mother, so Kate guessed that they would know where exactly he was.

But before she could approach them a man stopped just beside the women and Kate couldn't believe her luck as it was just who she had been looking for. Richard Castle the author himself was standing at the counter, ordering a drink and then talking to his family. After a few moments his mother waved goodbye then disappeared between people and Kate thought this was the appropriate time to go there, she didn't have all night after all…

What a disappointment!, Kate thought, fuming as she shut the door of the interrogation room after herself. She just spent the better part of an hour in there, questioning the writer and she was finding it hard to believe that this… this annoying, childish ass could create those wonderful stories that entertained and amazed her thoroughly.

"So?" Espo asked as Kate reached him and Ryan at the bullpen.

"So what?" she asked, knowing full well that they probably listened to the interrogation from the other room, meaning they heard every word as well.

"Did you get his autograph?" He asked and Ryan snickered next to him.

Kate rolled her eyes and resisted punching him, instead she breezed past the boys and made her way to her desk.

"How are we on his alibi?" she asked in a professional tone.

"It checks out, it's impossible he killed Alyson." Ryan said, glancing into his notebook.

She nodded, the information not much of a surprise to her. She suspected from the start that Castle wasn't the killer but they did need him to answer to some questions. She gritted her teeth as she thought of the obnoxious author still sitting in the interrogation room. How he made fun of her every word, how he was almost excited about having a copycat. How he brazenly flirted with her throughout the whole ordeal.

A smaller commotion caught her attention in the next second.

"Where is he? Where is my son?" she heard the voice of a woman and as she looked towards the elevator she could see the familiar ginger from the party. Castle's mom. And his daughter was trailing behind the older woman with a worried expression on her young face.

She stood immediately and went to meet the women.

"Mrs. Rogers!" she called out and stepped closer with an extended arm. "My name is Detective Kate Beckett!" she introduced herself.

"She was the one at the party…" the girl murmured to her grandmother who shook Kate's hand firmly.

"I'm Martha Rogers, Richard's mother." the woman said and looked around. "So where is he? Is he under arrest? What did he do now?" she asked with a humored expression. She seemed rather curious than upset.

"He didn't do anything, ma'am. We just needed to ask him some questions and we thought it would be a bit… Quieter down here." she explained with a slight smile. "But my colleagues here will release him shortly, we just needed to file out some paperwork." she added, nodding to Ryan, motioning for him to get the man from interrogation.

In a few moments Castle was walking down the corridor with a grin on his face that only faltered when he saw his daughter and mother. He didn't stop though and Kate noticed with amazement how the cocky arrogant grin on his face disappeared and was replaced by a softness as he looked at his daughter. He opened his arms and the young girl ran to him and literally jumped into his embrace. Castle muttered something into the girl's ear that seemed to reassure her because a chuckle escaped her. The man's face lit up as well and he squeezed the girl, almost lifting her off the ground which made her giggle more.

Kate watched their interaction with a weird feeling spreading in her chest. They looked as if they were in their own world, alone and completely happy. She felt a strange sort of envy as she realized she had never had that connection with anyone…

Martha stepped closer and rubbed her son's shoulder which made them pull apart slightly but with still silly grins on their faces.

"Let's go son of mine! We seriously need to get this young lady home, let me remind you that tomorrow is a school day!" she said and Castle made a theatrically shocked face.

"Oh my, good Lord! Let's get going!" he said and finally looked at the three detectives staring at them. "Well detectives, it's been a pleasure… Detective Beckett, a real delight! I would love to do it again! Anytime you have some…free time!" he winked at her and the cocky ass was back, a smug smirk on his lips as he nodded at them as a goodbye and ushered his daughter and mother towards the elevator.

All of them followed the threesome enter the elevator and Kate gritted her teeth when Castle had the nerve to wave at them sweetly with his fingers. She rolled her eyes and turned away, striding back to her desk.

"Well that was… quite something." she heard Ryan's chuckle.

"Yeah, saw how he pushed Beckett's buttons?" she heard Esposito's amused whisper as she plopped down into her chair.

"I doubt you saw anything, since there was nothing to see!" she snapped at them then looked at the murder board. "Okay guys, we have leads to run… First I want security footage from her apartment building. Also we need to look into her phone records." she said, watching from the corner of her eyes as the guys came closer.

"Sure, you got it!" Ryan said and his partner nodded.

"Esposito have you talked to her father?" she asked and saw the man come closer.

"Yes, he's on his way. He was in the middle of a business meeting of sorts across the city. He said he would be down as soon as he could…" the detective said and Kate nodded.

"Alright, I'll talk to him when he gets here and until then let's get started…" she said, pushing away from her desk to reach for the case files.

The next morning Kate woke on the couch in the break room, just like so many times before. She had sent Ryan and Esposito home just a bit after midnight but she stayed in and studied financial records and phone records until four in the morning. She made herself a cup of coffee and sat at the table with a slightly expressionless face as she tried to put pieces together. She needed to go down to the morgue. Also Castle's mail would be coming in today so they needed to check that out.

Soon the guys arrived as well, then the Captain, scolding her for spending another night at the precinct.

They shared another coffee, the second one that morning for Kate as they watched the tapes from the building that were sent over that morning. However, when nothing useful popped up she left the boys to check the footages from the surrounding streets and instead she headed off to the morgue.

When she arrived Lanie was waiting for her in the morgue, bent over a table, studying something under the microscope.

"Hey honey!" she greeted Kate with a gleeful tilt in her voice, her lips curling into a wide grin.

"Hi Lanie, good morning!" she returned her friend's smile as she stepped closer. "What do you have there?" she inquired.

"Well, it's some tissue we found under her nails, I'm checking for DNA now but I'm afraid it's too little…" the latina sighed as she straightened up and turned to face her friend. "However I do have something for you…"

Lanie rounded a table to get to another one with a covered body on it and Kate followed her, stepping across her just as the ME pulled back the green cover from Alyson's body.

"I checked the bullet wounds and she was shot with still in her clothes. But the weapon wasn't close enough to leave a trace on her skin. No gunpowder either. I didn't find any major struggle signs either so she didn't fight. I would guess she knew her killer."

"Yes, the state of the lock on her front door suggest that as well. It wasn't forced open, she let her killer inside herself…" Kate nodded. "What else?"

"Well time of death is between 5 and 6 PM." Lanie stated.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome, sweetie." the woman smiled then she pulled off her gloves with a snap and a chesire cat like grin spread on her face. "So…" she drawled out. "Tell me about this… case."

"This case? What do you mean?" Kate asked with narrowed eyebrows.

"You know what I'm talking about!" Lanie chuckled and gave her a pointed look.

"Uh…no?" she shook her head.

"Dammit, girl. Richard Castle! Spill!" Lanie grinned at her and Kate rolled her eyes.

"Duh, don't even start!" she said, her face contorting in annoyance as the memory of the author came up in her mind.

"Why? How was it? How is he?"

"He is a total pain in the neck. A childish, arrogant jackass!" Kate growled, her hands curling into fists at her sides.

"No way! I bet he isn't so bad…" Lanie laughed.

"He is worse… He was insensitive and made fun of the whole interrogation!" she fumed.

"You mean made fun of you… Honey, you can be a bit uptight, you know!" the woman suggested with a teasing glint in her eyes.

"That's not true." Kate protested with wide eyes but all it took was a pointed stare from Lanie for her to reconsider and realize that her friend was probably right. Not that she was about to admit that, so she only rolled her eyes one more time then crossed her arms over her chest. "Anyways, luckily I don't have to tolerate him any longer. Today we get his fanmail, sort it through and then we are done with him…" she sighed contentedly.

"Yeah, sure. He totally got to you, I can see that! You should…you know…" Lanie winked and Kate felt herself flush as it dawned on her what her friend meant.

"Shut up Lanie!" she muttered. The silence between them stretched out and she could almost feel the woman's grin on her when the buzzing of her cell phone interrupted them.

Kate pulled it out and opened the text message from Esposito.

'Yo Beckett. We've got a situation here, come back as soon as you can!'

She sighed as she read it, wondering what it could be. Maybe they found a new lead…

"Sorry Lanie, I gotta go." she apologized.

"Yeah sure, you always have more important stuff. Go, detect and kick those asses!" Lanie told her with a small wave as she picked up a file from a desk.

"Thanks. I'll talk to you later. Bye!" she said and hurried out.

When she arrived at the precinct she didn't see anything out of place at first. She got out of the elevator and made her way towards the desks, her eyes catching sight of the boxes on the huge table in the conference room. She stepped inside, looking at the piles of letters and envelopes.

"Wow." she murmured as she took in. Castle's fanmail was…extensive.

She went closer to the table and reached out, picking up one of the papers. She unfolded it and ran her eyes across the words scrawled on the paper.

'Dear Mr. Castle,
I adore you, you truly are a talent. I hope you will write many more books because they are amazing!
Best wishes, Mary Hopkins'

Kate repressed a snort as she put the letter on the table and reached for another one.

"Looking for your own letter, Beckett?"

She jumped on the spot, spinning around to face a very familiar, grinning face with a scowl on her face.

"I didn't write…" she trailed off as Castle's grin only widened. "What the hell are you doing here Castle?" she asked him.

"I brought in my fanmail, just like you asked, detective Beckett." he shrugged, blinking at her with innocent eyes.

"I asked you nothing of the sort. I certainly never asked you to come in here." she stated coldly and he feigned hurt. "Anyways, thank you for your help. Goodbye!" she said, emphasizing her last word, sending him the message that she didn't want him around any longer.

"Hey, hey wait!" he said just as she turned away from him. She looked back with irritated eyes. "I wanna help!" he said and her eyes widened.

"No." she said simply.

"What? Why not?" he asked and came further into the room. "I know these letters, I read them… And I'm a fast reader, I can be of help!" he tried to convince her.

"No, Castle. This is police work. A serious investigation, not a playground." she told him bluntly.

"I know that." he said and for the first time Kate could see something like sincerity flash in his eyes.

"Well then you understand why you need to go home." she said, considering the subject closed.

"Please Beckett. Someone is killing people the way I write it in my books. It's like… " he sighed before continuing "…It feels like it's my fault." he admitted, looking at the ground.

"It is not. It's the murderer's fault."

"I know that…but still…" he said and then shrugged helplessly. And for a moment she felt a bit sorry for him. But then he added something that made her blood boil. "Anyways, I already talked about it with the captain and I kinda have his blessing, so you just gotta put up with me!" he said then went past her and plopped down into one of the chairs, reaching for a box.

Kate just stood there, gaping, not quite believing that the captain, her captain would do that. That he would make a decision like that without her.

"Are you going to stand there all day?" Castle asked her after a minute, glancing at her from his seat with an insolent smirk.

All she did was glare at him before turning around and storming out of the conference room and towards the captain's office. The door was open but she still knocked twice on the door post.

"Yeah?" the captain murmured, reading a document. Then as he looked up and saw her he smiled. "Beckett, hello. Come in!" he said, motioning towards the chair in front of his desk.

Kate entered and closed the door behind herself as she went to stand across from her boss.

"Sir, I…uh… Richard Castle is here, and he claims.. that…he had talked to you and that you allowed him to…" she stuttered, not quite knowing how to ask what was on her mind without sounding disrespectful.

"That I let him help you with this case?" Montgomery asked and Kate nodded. "That is right, detective. Mr. Castle will consult you on this case. He knows those murders so he can be helpful. Also, I hear he is looking for a main character for his new book…" the man said and Kate felt her disbelief morphing into anger.

"But sir, you can't… do that. I mean, he's childish and… irritating. He'll be in the way. I can't…" she tried but the captain silenced her with a questioning look.

"Beckett. This man is friends with the mayor. If he wants to work this case, he will… You know how it is, if the mayor's happy, the police chief's happy. And if he's happy then I'm as well…" Montgomery said with a small smirk and Kate felt frustration rise in her.

"Sir, please… I can't work with him." she shook her head, thinking how Castle annoyed her already.

"Well you better make it work, Beckett, because he's staying!" Montgomery stated and he raised one eyebrow, challenging her to go up against him. But of course she wouldn't…

She only swallowed hard then took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes sir." she said, already thinking of ways to kill Castle. Lanie would probably help her hide the body, right?

"Good, now go. I think you have a murderer to catch!" he said and Kate couldn't even be mad at him because his eyes were warm, benevolent.

She turned around and exited the office only to freeze and stop short in her tracks the moment she stepped out into the bullpen.

So this was it. What do you think? I would love to hear your opinions so please write me a few words in a review! :)
So this is how they meet… I decided to stick to the original story in a way, but I will change some bits as you can already see…
Also I messed up a tiny detail in last chapter which I corrected in this one, I hope it didn't bother anybody too badly…
Thank you all for reading and a huge thanks to those of you who take time to review! You guys are the best and I love you!
I promise I will try to hurry up with next chapter! It is already done in my head, so all I have to do is write it down! I'll do my best! Until then, xxx