Disclaimer : Castle and it's characters aren't mine. Only the original characters and situations in this story are.
Castle takes a deep breath to steel himself before pushing open the door and stepping into the room at the NYPD Academy at Gramercy Park. Upon entering the room, with its rows of chairs with fold back writing tops fixed to each arm, he is instantly transported back in time to days of growth spurts, acne and all too many schools over too few years. His stomach has that, he thought, long forgotten tickle of butterflies that he remembers from every first day at every new school he ever attended.
This is ridiculous, he thinks, as he shakes his head and braces is shoulders back to dispel the sudden nerves he is feeling as he strides purposely into the room and over to an empty chair about three rows from the front and at the end of the row. He is a forty something father, husband and world famous author, not some awkward, hormone driven, teenager. There is no reason for him to feel nervous about this. Well, not much.
That feeling of his first day at school returns somewhat as he becomes aware of a reaction in the room to his arrival. As he settles into his seat he is conscious of a decrease in the buzz of the discussions in the room and the prickly sensation on his neck of quite a few stares aimed in his direction. Sighing and fixing his well-practiced for the public smile to his lips he lifts his head and looks around the room. He notices quite a few of those seated around the room suddenly look away as his gaze falls upon them and yet others start some very rushed whispered conversations while still stealing looks in his direction.
Completing his general scan of the room he then focuses his attention on his immediate neighbour. He is greeted with the sight of a, to his eyes, very young, African American man, in his early twenties, with his hair barely visible, so close is it shaved to his scalp, and dressed in dark blue jeans and a red polo shirt. The raised eyebrows and wide eyes in surprise and recognition indicates to Castle that the man may have heard of him but not wanting to assume and with his innate manners he holds out his hand to introduce himself.
"Hi, Rick Castle."
He watches as the man shakes his head to obviously clear his surprise as he shoots out his own hand to grip Castle's and shake it as he replies with what starts as a slightly high pitched voice, "Uh...John Parker...Uh... Mister Castle?" ends Parker with his voice slightly more in control but also with a definite question in his tone at the end.
"Please Parker, just call me Castle. No need to be so formal. I'm just a new NYPDA recruit, just like you," responds Castle in his most charming voice. Obviously the press coverage of the creation of Auxiliary Detectives and his involvement, not to mention his own renown as a writer and a consultant with the NYPD, means that there is no way he can be just another recruit. That he will garner a certain amount of attention as he undertakes his training is a given. He'd expected it and just hopes that after the initial attention that he can be seen as just another member of the class.
"Uh..Ok, Castle," replies a still slightly surprised Parker.
As always, wanting to get to the young man's story and to try and break the ice Castle asks him in his easiest and most charming voice, "So, Parker, why did you decide to become a NYPDA officer?"
The young man blinks a couple of times, obviously still trying to get his head around the fact that a guy that he'd only seen on TV or in the paper was here, asking him a question. Eventually he answers, "Well, I work in my parents bodega and they've been robbed more than a few times so I thought I'd join the NYPDA as a way of helping to protect all those honest hard working people out there like my folks. I thought about becoming a full time cop but mom and dad need me at the store so the Auxiliary seemed the next best option."
Castle nods his head as he acknowledges the sincerity of Parker's motivation, "Very admirable, Parker."
"So, Castle...," starts Parker but he is interrupted as two burly, hairy arms covered in blond hair rest themselves on his and Castle's shoulder and a pale, crew cut blond haired head of a man in his late twenties and dressed in faded jeans and an open checked shirt over a white t-shirt, appears between the two of them.
"So, Castle, is it true that you married that hot piece of ass of a detective that you follow around?" asks the blond haired man rudely.
Castle is uncomfortable at the invasion of his personal space and angry at the derogatory description of his wife. He restrains himself from reacting however as he is not wanting to get off on the wrong foot on his first day with what will be his class for the duration of his training. He turns his head and replies evenly, "Yes, Detective Beckett did do me the honour of becoming my wife. A fact I thank my lucky stars for every day. And you are friend?"
"Bill Tomkins, and is it true that you are drinking buddies with the Mayor and it was only because of that and the money you've thrown at his campaign that you were able to talk your way into becoming the first Auxiliary Detective?" presses Tomkins challengingly.
Castle steadies his breathing as he concentrates on not losing his cool. Unfortunately he'd expected this but had hoped that he wouldn't encounter it so soon. That there would be those that would view his efforts to become an NYPDA Detective with cynicism, distrust and jealousy, yet it seems that this Tomkins guy is going to live right up to those low expectations. He turns in his seat so that he can look more directly at Tomkins and in the process dislodges the man's elbow from his shoulder. He plasters the best of his fake media grins on his face as he answers the man in a continuation of his even tone.
"I will admit that my long standing friendship with the Mayor was instrumental in the creation of Auxiliary Detectives but I see their creation as not only benefiting me but all of New York. And I'll only say this once, I have never paid the Mayor, or anyone in his office, for any services I have requested. If you continue to imply otherwise I will be happy to introduce you to my lawyer. Anyway, like Parker here, I've decided to join the NYPDA as a way of giving back to the city where I live and that I love not to mention being able to continue to work closely with my lovely wife. What about you Tomkins? Why did you join?"
"Well, I got out of the Army about a year ago, moved back home to Queens, got a job with ConEd but decided I still wanted a bit of action in my life and I thought I might get that as a part-time cop. I didn't know I'd be working with some pansy-ass writer that bought his way onto the job," replies Tomkins looking Castle in the eye while dismissing him with the derogatory tone in his voice and defaming allegation.
Castle's temper finally threatens to spring free at this point but before he can respond a woman sitting next to Tomkins interrupts, "Oh, put a sock in it Tomkins. I remember you. I was an MP in Germany and saw you there. You were in the Engineers and if I remember rightly your unit was never deployed so the only action you ever saw was in some Frankfurt back alley."
The thirtyish woman, dressed in dark slacks and light blouse and matching dark jacket, with a bob of short black hair and olive skin betraying her Italian heritage, leans in front of Tomkins and forces him to sit back into his chair. She stretches out her hand to Castle and as he grips it to shake she introduces herself pleasantly, "Fran Carlotti, Castle, it's a pleasure to meet someone else here with some law enforcement experience."
Tomkins, obviously not quite done, snorts at that, "Some experience, I bet whenever he got close to a real criminal he hid behind his wife's skirt."
Parker pipes up in Castle's defence at this point, "Actually, Castle here has been a volunteer consultant with the homicide squad at the 12th precinct for over six years, all on his own time. According to a recent article in The New York Ledger he has assisted that squad with the arrest of well over a hundred murderers. In fact, most recently, he and his team were responsible for the taking down of a pair of serial killers that had operated freely for years."
"Yeah, well you can't believe everything you read in the papers. I bet he paid for that article himself," rebuts Tomkins still not deterred.
"Oh, and what experience do you have with dealing with real criminals there Tomkins? I know for a fact, through some buddies that joined the NYPD after their time in, that if anything that article sold Castle here short with all that he's done as a consultant at the twelfth. Now, if you don't have anything intelligent to say why don't you shut up and let the grown-ups talk," rebukes Carlotti disdainfully.
"Thanks to you both but Tomkins here is just voicing some of the criticism that I've already heard regarding my joining the NYPDA. I'm more than confident though that, through my performance, I'll be able to prove them wrong," acknowledges Castle. He then turns back to the Italian woman, wanting to put an end to Tomkins comments as he asks, "So, Carlotti, you were an MP, huh? One of the detectives I work with was in Special Forces and was deployed to Iraq a couple of times. He thought joining the NYPD would be a good fit after leaving the Army. What about you? What brings you to the NYPD Auxiliary?"
Carlotti shrugs her shoulders as she replies, "Well, unlike our friend here I did two tours in Afghanistan and after that I decided I had enough of the Army life. On top of that I have a husband and a son here waiting for me so when my time was up I didn't re-sign and came home to my family. I got a job teaching languages and phys-ed to a bunch of high schoolers in Brooklyn but once a cop always a cop so I decided to join the Auxiliary to keep my hand in. So here I am."
Castle nods his head in appreciation of her story but before any of them can continue their conversation the door at the front of the class room opens and a short, stocky man with brown hair, greying at the temples and in an NYPDA Auxiliary Sergeant's uniform walks in. The Sergeant walks over to the desk at the front of the room and raises his voice to the room.
"All right people, I'm Sergeant Andrews and I'm here to run you all through this your first course introducing you to the proper roles and procedures involved in being an Auxiliary Police Officer with the New York City Police Department," Sergeant Andrews pauses at that. While the amount of talking around the room mostly dropped off at his entrance there is still a few whispered conversations taking place and glances being directed at Castle. The Sergeant eyes light upon Castle and show no surprise in them at his presence. He was obviously told who was in his class.
Raising his voice to a slightly louder volume, so that he can get everyone's attention, Sergeant Andrews says," Ok, people. Yes, we have a celebrity in the class. Everyone have a good look and get it out of your systems because from now on Recruit Castle is just another one of you. I and I'm sure he would appreciate it that if from now on you could all treat him the same way as any other member of the class. I assure you all that I will be treating him as such. So now if you will all open your texts at the first chapter...,"
Castle opens up the text book that he'd placed on the writing top attached to his chair, when he sat down, and sends some silent thanks in Sergeant Andrews' direction. As he thought before, that is exactly how he wants to be treated throughout this whole exercise. Just like any other recruit.
At the same time at One Police Plaza
Commissioner Hayward is sitting at the head of the conference room table and looking around at the other men and women seated there. This is the weekly senior staff meeting of the NYPD and all the senior officers of the department are present. The meeting has dealt with all the major issues and it is close to winding up. He glances down at one of the papers in front of him and reads the reminder his assistant has written there.
Hayward turns his head to Auxiliary Deputy Chief McGill, who is sitting near the end of the table and asks, "Cathy, I understand Rick Castle started his training at Gramercy Park today. Have there been any other applicants to become Auxiliary Detectives?"
The woman with long tawny hair and wearing the white uniform shirt with a single gold star on her collar looks through some papers in front of her before answering him, "We've had about a hundred applicants from serving NYPDA officers and that number again from new recruits. We're starting an order of merit for the applicants. Once Castle completes his training we'll look at an initial intake of fifty of the most likely applicants and then take it from there."
"Joe, will you have a use for fifty part-time detectives amongst your squads?" Hayward asks of Chief of Detectives Chavez who is sitting on his immediate left.
"Hump, yeah I can use them. I'll say this, Castle better qualify because it looks like I'll need him or one of these other Auxiliary Detectives to fill a hole coming up at the 12th," Chief of Detectives Chavez looks over his reading glasses down the table to a man in a dark suit sitting next to Deputy Chief McGill. "From what Charlie there told me before the meeting looks like I'll gain one Castle and loose another."
Hayward looks down curiously at the Asian man Chavez had indicated, Assistant Commissioner Wing, the man ultimately responsible for all personnel movement and promotions within the NYPD, "What's he talking about Charlie?"
"As I told the Chief of Detectives, Detective Beckett has applied to take the Captain's exam and to cover more specifically what he is referring to, she has applied under her new married name, Beckett-Castle," responds AC Wing.
That news has Commissioner Hayward sitting back in his high backed, leather arm chair as CoD Chavez then adds," and knowing her she's sure to pass at the very top. So just when her husband formally becomes a Detective I'll loose her to some admin job running a precinct. On top of that, given Rick Castle's conditions for becoming an Auxiliary Detective, he'll follow her to whatever new command she is given and then one of the best homicide squads I have at the 12th will be broken up."
Commissioner Hayward looks thoughtfully at CoD Chavez before saying, "Joe, remember what we discussed the other day? My thoughts for a special unit..."
CoD Chavez's eyebrows rise up his forehead as he recalls the discussion from a few days ago. He then looks shrewdly at the Commissioner as he responds, "Yeah, I do. In fact if I didn't know better I would think that you knew that Detective Beckett was going to apply for promotion and you had her in mind for this all along."
"I may have had her in mind as part of the unit but I was not aware she was looking for promotion but I think you'll agree her advancement would ideally suit what we have in mind," answers Commissioner Hayward frankly.
Chief Barnes, sitting on the Commissioner's right, chimes in at this point, "We've still got to get the state boys fully on board if you want the complete scope of the idea of this unit to be fully realised."
"I'll have a word with Jack and try selling him on a trial run. Suggest that if a case that would normally be under the State Police jurisdiction comes along that, let's say, is a bit unusual then a picked team of our detectives will take it off his hands," suggests Commissioner Hayward, the Jack he is referring to is Jack Clancy, the Superintendent of the New York State Police.
"Ha, you know what Vikki Gates told me they call those cases at the 12th...'Beckett' flavoured. Looks like that might be the case for more than the 12th soon," raises CoD Chavez with a wry grin.
"Well she's got to pass the exam yet, then we have to sell it to her and her husband and then we've got to convince a lot of our colleagues that this idea will benefit them. So there's still a bit to do," concludes Commissioner Hayward.
The Castle loft later that afternoon
Kate walks through the front door of the loft and is almost immediately greeted with a call from her red headed step-daughter who is sitting on the couch in the living room, casually reading a glossy fashion magazine.
"Hey, Kate. You're home early?" calls out Alexis obviously curious at Kate's uncharacteristic early return from work.
"Hey Alexis. Yeah, well with your dad starting his first course at the Academy today, no active case and all my paperwork up to date for once Captain Gates let me come home early so that I could get some study done for the Captain's exam," responds Kate as she divests herself of her coat and hangs it in the closet near the front door.
That done she carries the Captain's Exam Tutorial text that is under her arm over to the kitchen island and deposits on the counter as she takes a seat at one of the stools there. She then turns in the stool to face Alexis and asks tentatively, "Uh, Lex. Do you have time to help me with this? Maybe quiz me on some of the stuff I've already gone over?"
Alexis puts her magazine aside and bounds up eagerly from the couch and over to where Kate is sitting, "Sure Kate. I'd love to."
Kate holds up a hand in caution, "Only if you've got time. I don't want to interfere with your own studies."
Alexis gives Kate a very Beckett eye roll at how careful her step mother is with her sometimes. They've had some issues in the past but all that was now just that, in the past. Especially after how close the two of them became and how much they supported each other during her dad's disappearance.
"Seriously, Kate. It's no problem. As you saw I wasn't exactly in the middle of anything super important right now. I'll tell you what. How about a trade? I'll help you study for the Captain's exam and you help me study for an exam I've got coming up in my Intro to Law class. Deal?" proposes Alexis as she sits in the stool next to Kate.
Kate cocks her head to one side in mock consideration of Alexis' proposal and then grins as she answers, "Ok, deal!"
At that Kate pushes the text over the counter towards Alexis. Alexis opens the book and starts looking for some of the mock questions to quiz Kate with.
"So, we should have a couple of hours before your Dad gets home from the Academy. That should be enough time because I'm sure when he gets home we'll be distracted by all the tales he'll have to regale us with about his day," says Kate without a hint of irony in her voice.
"Oh, yeah, knowing him when he gets home he'll have a ton of stories about his day and there's no way you'll get any study done then. Hey, did you see how nervous Dad was looking when he left this morning?" queries Alexis.
"I did. I think he was nervous about his first day at the Academy. It was odd to see him like that before he left. Up until now none of the training he's done has fazed him but today he was so uncertain. I even offered to give him a lift to the Academy for moral support but he refused. He said he was already thinking like it was the first day of school. Me dropping him off like I'm the parent and he's the kid would just reinforce that impression in his mind."
"Oh, I wish I'd thought of that. I could have done that. It would have gotten him back for all those times he embarrassed me dropping me off or picking me up at school over the years," says Alexis enthusiastically.
"Embarrassed you? Castle? Surely not?" asks Kate sarcastically.
Alexis gives her a look as she replies, "Well, there was this one time when I was in fourth grade. He thought it would be super cool and make me popular at school if he picked me up at the end of the day in a fire engine."
Kate gives her an incredulous look, "A fire engine? Where did he get that? Oh, wait. Let me guess. He knows a guy."
Alexis shrugs and then nods her head in agreement, "Yep, it was a truck that was to be decommissioned so at least there wasn't a fire out there somewhere at the time that was missing a truck to fight it. The really embarrassing thing of it was that like a lot of what Dad does, while his heart is in the right place, he sometimes doesn't think things all the way through. He didn't think what the effect of a big red truck would have on the traffic flow outside my school at the time when all the soccer moms were also arriving in their SUVs to pick up their kids. Add a bunch of squealing pre-adolescents mobbing this huge red truck with flashing lights parked right in front of the school at it was pandemonium. It took ages for both the traffic and all the kids to get back to something close to normal. I distinctly remember my principal pulling Dad aside and telling him that if he didn't pick me up on foot in future then he would be banned from the school grounds."
"But did it make you popular?" asks Kate, curious to see if Castle's scheme worked.
"Oh yeah, for about five minutes. Then when everyone, first, realised that my Dad wasn't a fireman and then, second, that he wasn't going to be picking me up in the fire engine every day my sudden popularity took a dive," shrugs Alexis again. "As embarrassed as I was at the time, deep down I know that he did it because he loves me. So for all the things he did and sometimes still does to embarrass me I see them for what they are. His own unique way of being my Dad and showing me how much I mean to him."
"Yep. He's definitely his own unique kind of Dad, but he's also one of the best I've ever seen. I've told you before that seeing the kind of Dad he is for you is one of the first things that I came to love about him," says Kate giving a sincere look to Alexis.
"Yes, and boy am I glad you guys are married. Now he's got someone else to embarrass with his wild ideas. Anyway, let's get to it or he'll be home before we get anything done," and with that Alexis opens the text back up at a page of mock questions and proceeds to quiz Kate.
It is the sight of them so engaged that greets Castle when he pushes his way into the loft a couple of hours later. As they predicted no more study takes place from then on as Castle proceeds to give them a detailed and entertaining account of his first day at the Academy.
A/N : Finally got this update out. Still not a lot of case work yet in this story but there will be. I just want Castle close to having, if not actually with, a badge when we do. Also tying up some threads from canon while adding my own little universe here and a possible solution to where they left the end of season seven.
Thanks to everyone that is reviewing, reading, making this their favourite and following.
