Chapter 11. The Apology in the Cheeseburger

Going to the park always gave Rick Castle a chance to think while he watched Alexis play. The first times he would come with her, he didn't part from her not for a second, not wanting to miss the any of the fun- and maybe to keep an eye on her too-. However, recently she had started to demand more independence, stating it was silly for her to play with other kids if her father was following her too. It was a bittersweet feeling for him, admiring his kid,but also knowing the little things that marked her baby as such would soon be a part of the past. His baby was growing older, and he'd try to hold on to the little moments as if his life depended on it. And in some ways it did.

Escaping from the single mothers that always seemed to smell him as soon as he arrived to the park, he found a bench, a perfect place from which he could keep an eye on Alexis. Most of the times his mind was filled with thoughts of Alexis, how it will be when she grows up, worrying about her, about his role on her life, and the lack of her mother's as well. The last one being the only part of Alexis' life which he couldn't fix, though God only knows he's tried.

However, that day, his thoughts were for the first time in a long time, not focused solely on Alexis. He was almost half way through his 'time in the precinct, and so far it had been wonderful. He noticed that the precinct was a chance to find the inner balance he needed, it grounded him. In the few weeks he's been going there, he's started to change the way he sees things. Maybe even realised that sometimes it's good to let people in, like he's done with the people in the 12th, people who don't care about his books or fame or money. Though it's a long road he's just beginning (if the annoyed female detective is anything to go by), he'll be forever grateful for their part in that change-maybe he should invite them to poker sometime-.. Even more so, it has really helped with his writing, though he's nowhere near ready to admit nor show the document currently saved in his laptop. A different series he's been working on late at night.

It's not ready.

She's not ready.

Detective Beckett. He's not sure if he will ever understand that woman. Even if she's so reserved, he detects things about her, specially by watching -not staring- her while she works. There's something almost magnetic about her, he's intrigued. He's a mystery writer, and intrigued is a force that pulls him. Which is why he's begun to pay close- closer- attention to her as a cop, like source of inspiration And the repercussions of that choice terrifies and exhilarates him.

A wail cut his reveries short, he snapped his view towards his little read head, noticing she was on the ground. His fatherly instinct had him running towards Alexis in record speed.

"What happened sweetheart?" He asked though he could see she had scraped her elbow. Thankfully it wasn't anything major.

"I.. I fell" Alexis cried. The pain clear in her watery eyes, she showed him her injured elbow. Nothing serious, maybe a band aid and an extra scoop of ice cream will do the trick.

"I see. It's ok baby, you're just fine." Rick tried to soothed her.

"It hurts"

"I know, I'm sorry." He kneeled in front of her, grabbed her arm and place a gentle kiss below the scrape "There, better?"

"No" Alexis said stubbornly.

"Oh" he gasped in mock horror. "It appears my magical powers have been drained, maybe we should go home. Will you come with me, m'lady?" he asked, standing up and extending his arm for her daughter to take. Usually that would earn him a laugh, yet Alexis continued crying. He sensed it had more to do with the fact that it was getting late than with the pain of the scrape. Sighing, he crouched in front of her so as to be in eye level with her.

"Alexis, I know you're tired. Let's go home and get some rest, ok?"

"I'm not tired. I don't want to go!" She whined. He could sense a meltdown about to happen, so he had to try to revert the situation. He had the best daughter in the world, but she was just a kid and usually tiredness led to crankiness.

"Ok" he said knowing that it was key to try to reason with her "But we have to clean your cut and put a band aid on it. We wouldn't want it to get infected, now would we?" He asked. She looked at him thoughtfully but didn't accept the offer to go home. Seeing the hesitation, Rick decide to up the ante.

"And do you know what else is necessary to cure that wound?" At that, Alexis shook her head "A big scoop of strawberry ice cream. What do you say?"

" 'Kay" she responded wearily. Singing victory in his head for successfully avoiding a major crisis, he stood up. He offered his hand again for her to take and walk back home, but Alexis just extended her arms, letting him know that the only way she would go back was by being carried. He hadn't even left the park and Alexis was already sleeping in his arms.

Monday morning couldn't have come any faster for bestselling author Richard Castle. It had been two long weeks of the book launch preparatives, and between that and babysitting a 4 year-old and a broadway diva, he was tired. Albeit he had some time to rest over the weekend, it was still not enough for him. It was safe to say that he wasn't made to be a guy who works in an office. So the first weeks on the job -if he could call it so- were really hard on him.

He knew that this week was going to be full of interviews, so that his public persona could sell more storm books. Even if it meant that he had to be dragged out of his apartment and set up with bimbos just to make it to page 6- he had refused to go in the past, but Paula kindly reminded him that it was in his contract-. Before Alexis, he was more than glad to oblige, but now, being a single dad, it wasn't quite as appealing as it had once been.

"Thanks for coming, mother" Richard greeted her mother when she arrived at his place. Alexis had the day off preschool, so his mother was the designated babysitter.

"Of course" Martha Rodgers dismissed with a wave of her hand. " Anything to spend more time with my favorite granddaughter"

"She's your only granddaughter" Rick remarked.

"That I know of" Martha jibed making Rick smirk.

"I set myself up for that one, didn't I?"

"Yes. but enough about that. Tell me, how's detective Beckett?" Martha asked while sporting a conspiratorial smile. Rick wasn't sure how she knew about her, or why she was looking at him that way.

"Coffee?" he asked as both of them walked to the kitchen. Martha only looked at him pointedly letting him know there was no escaping her questioning. Not that he ever thought otherwise.

"It's ok. I'm learning a lot about procedure. And the paperwork's a bitch" He informed while pouring her a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

"That's not what I asked, Richard." She said after her first sip of her beverage.

"Then I have no idea what you're asking"

"Alexis told me all about it. She said a beautiful detective 'worked' with you and that you two apparently connected"

"Wow. So your source is a 4 year old."

"That's beside the point"

"What exactly did she tell you?" He wondered, not knowing what idea Alexis must have gotten from her brief visit to the precinct.

"I'm not going to give away my intel"

"But you just gave away your source- tsk, tsk" Rick reprimanded.

"Come on, I'm your mother, you can tell me if you're dating detective Beckett. Or are you going to give me the classic 'no comment' ?" Her mother said, finishing her sentence with air quotes.

"First, stop prying. Second, nothing is going on with detective Beckett, we've only known each other for some weeks. And at least the press doesn't ask this inappropriate questions in the comforts of my own home"" He tried to sound as resolute as possible. Luckily the doorbell rang, so he crossed his loft and opened the door. In front of him was a young woman who he had never seen in his life.

"Hi, I'm Cassie Stevens. I'm a journalist for Cosmo magazine" The blonde woman said. By the way she talked, he could have mistaken her for one of the many women his agent set him up with for dates and events.

"No comment?"

"Very funny, Rick" Paula commented, appearing from behind the woman in front of him. He groaned inwardly, while trying to remember why where they in his house of all places.

"Paula, I didn't see you there. Why are you here?, not that I don't enjoy the pleasure of your company this early in the morning"

"You'd know if you picked up your phone when I call you. But no, you just ignore it and let it go to voicemail" She chastised.

"I... Right. So?" He was busted. Maybe he saw her number in the caller id and maybe he decided not to pick up.

"Miss Stevens here is doing a piece on you and your book. All you have to do is answer a few questions and you'll be done" The brunette informed him.

"Right now? I have to go to the precinct"

"Well, I'm sure she could go with you" She offered but Rick knew it was more like a threat. He could see the girl light up at the suggestion, however, he was not stupid enough to let a reporter go with him to the precinct. Talk about stupid reasons for Beckett murdering him.

"No! No, I can spare 5 minutes. Please, do come in" He said, gesturing for the two woman to enter his loft.

Detective Beckett inhaled the steam that emanated from her freshly brewed cup of coffee. It was very early on a monday morning, but the detective still had a lot of work to do. Having closed their latest case involving drug cartels and gangs over the weekend, and with just sunday night free after some intense days, she was definitely tired. The coffee was still too hot, yet the detective savored the scent, as it helped clear her head from tiredness and the last traces of sleep.

Placing her coffee on the side of her desk, the detective closed her eyes and took some seconds to just be. As was usual, she liked to take some seconds every morning before starting her day. Time usually enjoyed with coffee (which, no matter how many times Castle said it was poison, it was the best in the building. Which was sad, really.). There had been some sort of balance over the past weeks, with the boys and Castle. Having taken him in as part of the gang quickly, she sometimes felt as if she had to supervise three adolescents, not adults. And even if deep down some of the silly stuff they did manage to distract her from the difficult job she had, she wasn't about to accept it.

She glanced at the pile of paperwork carelessly piled on the other side of her desk, letting her eyes linger on the chair she had previously referred to as his.

Richard Castle.

He was... something. Its funny, she thought, how you can have a romanticized version of a liked author (she just liked the genre and she was sticking to that story), yet be so far from the truth. Although she never really gave much thought as to how he was in real life, she always felt that she could really connect with his writing on a level no other author could resemblance. The justice they fought being not much different from the one she sought every day, even before she became a cop. If a few weeks ago someone would have given her the opportunity to spend time with he author she would have immediately jumped at the chance. But now that she had the opportunity to spend time with him on a daily basis, she realised that there's much truth behind the phrase 'be careful what you wish for it might come true'.

In the few weeks the author has been around, she's noticed much about him (blaming it to her detective side, and nothing ese). She really hasn't given much thought to it, because much of the things that she's noted are things that annoy her. The snooping, for example. Or the way in which he always thinks he's right. She could narrate for days the quirks she has seen, but there's one thing that's different. It's the way he is sometimes, the nice guy that surfaces every once in forever. The guy that fully emerges when he brought Alexis by last week. And the fact that she doesn't mind him so much, astonishes her.

Doing a double take on her desk name plate, she noticed some sort of paper hanging, apparently it was attached to the other side. She grabbed the name plate, and when she turned it, instead of only reading 'det. Beckett', she saw something else. At the bottom there was a piece of paper stuck to it that read 'Rick Castle... just NY'. The handwriting gave away who was the name plate perpetrator. Not that she ever doubted its origin. She tried to unstuck it, but apparently it was superglued. If she pulled the paper, she would cause an even bigger mess. Automatically she turned to glare at the space that in some time will be occupied for the author.

"Miss him already?" Esposito laughed. He and Ryan where just arriving to the bullpen, perhaps from working out in the precinct gym.

"It has been one long weekend" Ryan added. She noticed she was caught staring at the chair, so she turned to face the detectives.

"Hilarious" She just narrowed her eyes at them and showed them her name plate, causing the other detectives to laugh.

"I think is kinda cute" said Espo, after which he dodged a flying pencil the female detective had thrown his way.

"Is he here, or have you killed him already?" Ryan asked. Just then did she realised it was a quarter past eight. Huh, he hadn't been late before.

"I haven't had the pleasure. Yet." She added for good measure.

"Come on girl. We know you've grown a bit fond of Rick" Esposito tried, however her only answer was arching an eyebrow.

"Not even a little?" Ryan asked innocently.

"I think the word you're looking for is annoyed. And that's stretching it a bit."

"Whatever helps you sleep through the night" Esposito conceded.

"Don't you have to go and pretend to work" She told the other detectives.

'Please, I have no idea what you're talking about" Ryan said as he and his partner went to their desks. Maybe they would cut back on doing paper airplanes and playing with the mini baskett ball they had, and fill a bit more paperwork.

In the weeks he was attending the precinct, he took pride in the knowledge that he was never actually late (first day notwithstanding). However, now that he was more than 2 hours late, he idly wondered if it was pointless to even show up at all. Walking the few blocks from the coffee shop to the precinct (he thought he could bribe the detective with coffee), he marveled at the fact that he could actually go a precinct. Regardless of the reasons that brought him there, he liked it, and he really wanted more than the weeks he had to serve doing paperwork (however, if he could do it sans the paperwork, that would be even better).

Feeling like a million dollars when Mike didn't ask him to grab a 'visitor' credential, just a barely there nod in recognition of the author's presence, Rick walked to the elevator. After it arriving at 'his' floor, he walked to Beckett's desk and deposited the to-go cup of coffee on the desk. He waited for a minute until de detective noticed him.

"You're late" She stated not bothering to look up from the papers she was filling. He didn't say anything, just sat in his chair and pushed the coffee towards her like a peace finally looked up at him when he didn't uttered a word (which was terribly unusual of him). She noticed the cup and then the apologetic smile on his face. She looked at the cup of coffee dubiously. Acknowledging said cup as a bribe, she took her own cup that was on the other side of the desk and took a sip. Albeit it was cold and tasted funny, she wasn't going to accept a cheap bribe. Especially from the author.

"Sorry. Is there something I could do to help?" He said, seeing how she was rapidly filling more papers in front of her. She stopped her work only to look incredulously at him. She nodded towards the pile of papers and files on the corner of her desk, all of the paperwork waiting to be done.

"Right" He said sheepishly, sitting down and skimming the first page of the several in front of him. "You closed the case? How? I mean, what happened?" He tried to fish for information.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She didn't fall for that.

"Yes. But I'm too tired to fish for information. Between the last touches of the book launch and Alexis I'm drained" He said, heaving a sigh.

"How's Alexis?" The detective asked and he couldn't help but smile.

"She's fine. I was actually talking to my mother, and she told me that Alexis talked about you"

"She did?" The detective asked surprised. When she remember the not so comfortable conversations with her, she tried to ignore the warmth she felt in her cheeks. "What did she.. uhm say exactly?"

"I don't know, apparently she was given the idea that we were dating or something. Weird, huh." He said.

"As if" She scoffed, never looking away from the papers in front of her.

"Hey! I would be a delight to date!"

"I'm not even going to follow that line of conversation"

"Anyway, where are Espo and Ryan?" He asked changing the subject.

"They're probably procrastinating somewhere"

They fell into a comfortable silence while they worked. Rick tried to advance as many files as he could, maybe he could have some spare time to talk with the boys or with detective Beckett about the case they had just closed. After the finishing the third file, the boys arrived to the bullpen with someone else beside them. He looked up and noted that it was the same reporter that had interviewed him early in the morning.

"Hey Castle. Apparently you forgot something home" Ryan said.

"Or should we say someone" Espo added with a conspiratorial wink. Beckett looked up as well, noting the girl with the two detectives. She looked at Castle and he was looking at her with a touch of distress, in return she just lifted an eyebrow.

"She was actually interviewing me in the morning" He tried.

"You don't have to explain yourself" Beckett smirked.

"Hi Rick" The blonde woman said, while Beckett tried not to roll her eyes at the woman.

"Hello Miss Stevens. Is there something I can do for you?" Castle said charmingly.

"Yes, I think I still have a couple of questions for you and I just had to see this precinct you kept talking about."

"Ask away" Rick said, knowing that the sooner she asked the sooner she would leave.

"I would prefer to do it in privacy" She said glancing solely at Beckett. This time the detective was unable to hold her eyes, for they rolled without her permission.

"Of course" He said walking with her towards the break room. Turning to see Beckett, he opened his palm, mouthing '5 minutes', ignoring the piercing look the detective was throwing his way. If looks could kill...

"Wow, where do this magazines even find these girls" Espo commented,

"She can interview me all she want" Ryan said,

"When you guys finish drooling, there're tons of files in your desk that need to be done today" she said sternly, which snapped the other detectives into action.

How much crap can someone ask in an interview?, the detective thought after glancing towards the break room for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past 30 minutes or so. Her relentlessness was solely based on the fact that there was an outsider in the precinct (or two. Entirely was debatable). Regardless, the detective didn't like to have people who didn't work on the precinct being there, using the premises for their own agenda. It was a police station, not a convention center. The fact that the woman was a reporter doing a story on Castle only solidified her strong repulsiveness to the whole situation.

"Hey Beckett" The presence of the two detectives startled her. She was caught staring at the break room door.

"What's up?" She asked as nonchalantly as she could.

"Nothing. We just noticed that you were looking longingly to where Castle and that model/reporter was." Espo informed her.

"I wasn't" She wasn't, was she?

"You were. In fact, we even thought that you might be a bit j-e-l-a-o-u-s" Ryan staged whispered, only causing Beckett to get even more pissed off.

"Could you stop being so juvenile. I just hate the fact that Castle think this is some sort of convention center and he can do what he pleases"

"Is it, really? So It has nothing to do with the fact that he's there, alone, with that gorgeous woman"

"Nope. And if I was looking longingly, as you put it, it was because I wanted coffee and I was wondering when will they finish. But seeing that it's their 'interview' is not ending any time soon, I'll just go interrupt them for a bit" She said, standing up and taking her empty mug in her hands. She opened the door of the break room and entered silently. Neither Castle nor the reporter noticed her presence in the room. Castle was siting on the couch and the reporter was in front of him, sitting on the coffee table. She turned to look trough the window next to the door, and saw her two team mates hovering there, as if waiting for a clash to happen, so she shooed them.

"Well, I actually have proven of assistance here to some major cases" Castle answered, his tone and expression filled with smugness. It was clear that the author didn't know that the detective had entered the room. He was embellishing the truth (depends on who you ask, though) but it was for the sake of the interview. The answer made Beckett scoff, giving away the fact that she was there. The author looked frightened and the reporter looked thoroughly annoyed (if the scowl she was sending Beckett was any indicative)

"Sorry, do continue. I'll be real quick." The detective said motioning to the coffee machine, after the initial awkward silence.

"Really, how did you helped, Rick?" The woman asked excitedly, trying to ignore the detective in the room. It was surprising how her face morphed when she looked at Rich, though.

"Yeah, "Rick' "The detective imitated the tone of the reporter "Tell her how exactly is that you 'helped'?" she finished, looking pointedly at him.

"I... well, you see" He tried to answer, but he was busted. He looked from one woman to the other.

"Could I talk with you a minute, detective?" Castle asked.

"I' wouldn't want to keep you from anything important" Beckett mocked him but left the room and went to her desk with Castle, leaving the reporter there for the time being. The detective sat in her chair, turning to face the author expectantly.

"I, erhm. Sorry about that. I was just embellishing truth a bit for the press" He apologized giving her a sheepish look..

"How much more time is that 'interview' going to last?" She asked, not without first rolling her eyes first at his apology.

"I don't know why?" He asked, noting that the detective was mad.

"Need I remind you that you come here to fulfill a punishment established by the law. It's not a recreational place, where you can just take the liberty of conducing an interview." Beckett hissed not wanting to draw attention to them. Especially attention from the two male detectives or the reporter.

"Hey, that is not my fault!" He hissed too. It wasn't fair of her to blame it all on him, when it wasn't his doing.

"Really? Because last time I check she was here to interview you!" she whispered angrily.

"I'm just as upset as you are. Do you have any idea of how boring it is to answer the same questions over and over."

"Please, I'm sure you are enjoying having your ego stroked" Beckett snarled

"I don't see why you're making a big deal out of everything!"

"Of course you don't, you think the world revolves around you. If you want to get interviewed, then go somewhere else, don't do it here in my precinct!" she ordered.

"Fine"

"Fine"

Rick stood up and went to the break room. leaving with the reporter not long after. Ryan and Esposito noted the whispered argument and the consequent departure of the author and reporter, but with just a glance at Beckett, they were smart enough not to say a word.

After he left the precinct and told the reporter he wasn't going to answer more questions, Rick decided to walk back home. Though he knew it was too far, the exercise allowed him to blow off some steam. Maybe the detective had a point, but the way she snapped at him and practically threw him away from the precinct made him mad too.

But as he walked the streets of New York, he realised he had crossed the line. When he offered to conduct the interview in the break room, he didn't think much to it. But now that he had some time to think, he knew that he was the one who was wrong. The detective was in every right to be mad at him.

After lunch time, he returned to the precinct, figuring the detective would have also needed some time too calm down and not kill him the minute she laid eyes on him.

"Hey" he said to the detective. She had noticed him, but didn't feel like talking to him at all "Sorry about this morning" He apologized.

"Just do your paperwork" She said curtly.

"Yes, ma'am" he said, hoping that with time she would stop being mad at him.

"And don't call me ma'am"

"Got it"

He said and started working on his paperwork for the second time that day. He stayed until late, trying to cover the hours he'd lost because of the incident.

The next day, he returned bright and early, trying to complete more of the endless files that always seemed to restock overnight.

It was past one o'clock when Kate noted that Castle wasn't around anymore. She didn't even remember him leaving for the day. Some time after, she felt someone watching her and using her peripheral vision, she realized it was Castle. She didn't know how long he had been openly staring at her, or when had he returned.

"Stop staring Castle" She said plainly.

"Wow, how did you do that?" he eagerly asked. She just ignored him.

"What do you want?" she asked not even bothering to stop reading the files in her hand.

"it's 1:15"

"So?"

"So… it's lunch time"

"Ok? Go if you want"

"I know that. But.. don't you eat?" he asked hesitantly. He had noticed that the detective didn't exactly had a healthy eating habit.

"I have"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I had a bag of gummy bears"

"Is that a joke? I can never tell with you." She narrowed her eyes at him and he stopped talking.

The sound of bags and the delicious smell of cheeseburgers made the detective look around searching for its cause. She noticed that Castle was eating from a styrofoam container what looked like a Remy's burger. In fact, she also noted that Espo and Ryan, as well as some other detectives had similar containers. It appeared as Castle had bought lunch for everyone, not being the first time that had happened.

Then, she looked down to her desk and saw a bag of Remy's in front of her, supposedly her own burger. She looked at Castle but he refused to look back at her, apparently to busy with the food in his hands. She hesitated. She was still a bit mad at him, though not as much as she had been when he first left the day before. The fact that he was doing extra time in a form of making amends did earn him some points, but she didn't know if she should accept the burger (which clearly was a peace offering gift) .

After some seconds of hesitations, she decided to accept the proffered burger.

By friday, they were in speaking terms, but there was still a bit of tense air between them. Which was part of the reason he kept staying the afternoons to help out. Knowing that on friday's the detectives left early (if there wasn't an open case, which thankfully there wasn't), he decided to also call it a day earlier than the previous days.

"I'll just go now." Rick told Beckett, who only nodded in response. Beckett was just about to go herself, but thinking that it would look weird if they left the precinct together, she decided to go to the captain's office and inform him that she was leaving for the day.

20 minutes later, after talking to captain Montgomery, Kate Beckett left the precinct. She got in her cruiser and was about to turn into the street, when she saw Rick Castle in front of the building. Apparently he had been waiting there for a taxi for more than 20 minutes. Kate thought about leaving him there, really thought about it. However, some force made her stop the cruiser in front of him, though her mind was trying to prevent her from doing so.

"Need a ride?" Beckett asked. Yep, I'm already regretting this

"Really?" He voiced his thoughts. Was he hallucinating or the detective was actually offering him a ride.

"Do you really want me to reconsider my offer?" To that, Rick made a show of zipping his mouth, while he entered her car. It was the first time he was in her car. Or in her presence outside the precinct his mind also provided, and that made him somewhat nervous (if only for the fact that if she was to kill him, there would be no witnesses).

A/N: What was Becket thinking! Coming up, the car ride. Which was how I initially thought this chapter to be, but it just took a life of its own.