Chapter Twenty-Seven
Grey Sky
Meeting AU

January, 2004

"Officer Beckett, a moment, please?"

Beckett stiffens when she hears her captain's voice cut through the break room chatter, and she chugs her coffee, wincing as the bitterness hits her tongue. "Yes, sir." She follows him to his office, and shuts the door behind her at his request.

Captain Montgomery perches on the edge of his desk and crosses his arms. "You can stand down, Beckett," he tells her when she stands at attention.

Despite the smirk on his face, Beckett simply relaxes her shoulders and looks him in the eyes instead of the wall behind him. "Am I in trouble, sir?" Perhaps he found out that she's been studying her mother's file, even making copies to take home.

Montgomery shakes his head. "Not at all. In fact, I want to give you a break from the streets." He stands and walks to the back of his desk. "Black Pawn Publishing has an author event, and they're asking for some additional security."

She furrows her brows. "If I may, shouldn't they be hiring a security company or something? Why are they asking us and using city resources?"

"Well…" Montgomery hesitates. "The thing is, this particular author is friends with the mayor," he explains. "So it's really the mayor who's asking."

"I see. And you want me to be part of it?"

"Yes." He picks up a piece of paper from his desk and hands it to her. "Here's the information. It's tomorrow, you're to be at the Black Pawn office at 9am sharp. No uniform necessary, street clothes are fine."

Beckett folds the paper and tucks it in her breast pocket. "Yes, sir. Thank you." She turns the doorknob to open it and leave, when she pauses and turns back to him. "Captain? Why me?"

The corner of Montgomery's mouth quirks. "I think it will be good for you. Have a good evening, Officer Beckett."

After a night of restless sleep, Beckett arrives at Black Pawn at 8:50 sharp, and she tugs on the bottom of her freshly pressed suit jacket as she approaches the security counter in the lobby. She'd tried to find a new suit on her way home from the precinct, or at least a new blazer, but she'd struck out. So the shoulders of this one are a little tight, but she'll manage.

"Can I help you?" the older man asks from behind the counter.

Beckett pulls her badge from her pocket. "Yeah, I'm Officer Kate Beckett, I'm supposed to meet Paula, um…" She trails off, forgetting the last name of the woman who's apparently the author's publicist.

The security guard looks over Beckett's shoulder and nods his head. "You're right on time," he tells her, handing her a sign in sheet. After she signs in, he points, and Kate turns to see a nicely dressed brunette with a cell phone attached to her ear. "That's Paula. Good luck."

"No, Gina, I'm telling you, he's not here," Paula barks into her phone. She glances up when Beckett approaches, and when Beckett shows her badge, she nods. "Well, it starts at nine thirty. Make sure he's at the bookstore by then." She snaps the phone shut and levels her gaze at Beckett. "You must be the security."

"Yes, ma'am," Beckett answers, extending her hand. "Officer Kate Beckett."

"You're younger than I expected. And skinnier."

Beckett straightens her shoulders and tries not to look too annoyed. "I assure you, I'm good at my job."

"Fine. Let's go."

Paula gives her a brief rundown of the day's schedule, which Beckett had already memorized from what Montgomery had given her. There's a signing for two hours, an hour-long VIP reading and meet-and-greet, and then an afternoon signing across town.

Beckett gazes out of the window as the car takes them uptown, and she lets her thoughts drift. She still has no idea why Montgomery gave her this, for lack of a better word, assignment. The five-year anniversary of her mother's murder had passed just a week prior, and she knows she hasn't been as on top of things as usual. Montgomery knows about her mom, of course, so he's been giving her some slack on her performance. Perhaps this is his way of getting her back on track?

Or, perhaps he knows how much time off the clock she's been spending in the records room, and he wanted to get her out of the precinct for a day.

She looks up at the sky and winces. The forecast had predicted snow, and the clouds are certainly dark enough for it to start coming down any minute. Hopefully it doesn't impact their day too much.

They pull up to the Strand Bookstore just a few minutes after nine, and she follows Paula to the back of the store, where she stops short at the display of books and cardboard cutout of a very familiar man.

Oh, God.

She figured it would be a local author, perhaps someone making a name for themselves. Not the man whose books quite possibly saved her life in the wake of her mother's death. Who she's wanted to meet for years.

No, the first time she's meeting Richard freaking Castle is the day he's pissed off his publicist by being late to his own book signing.

There are already a dozen or so fans - all women - lined up and waiting for Castle. Beckett drops her shoulder bag next to the bookcase behind the signing table, and she leans against the bookcast, hands in the pockets of her trousers. She keeps her eye on the growing line of women, but none of them appear to be a threat, so she wonders again what she's doing there.

Well, her job isn't to question why she's doing what she's doing. Her job is to essentially be Richard Castle's bodyguard.

RICHARD FREAKING CASTLE'S BODYGUARD.

A deep voice cuts through her thoughts and she snaps to attention, and has to take several deep breaths when she recognizes the man who approaches the table.

"Good morning ladies," Castle says to the line of fans, a wide grin on his face, eyes hidden behind sunglasses. He saunters past them and puts his own bag under the table. He glances at Beckett and gives her a nod.

Paula appears seemingly out of thin air and stands in front of him, her jaw clenched, arms crossed. "You're late," she snaps, her voice quiet enough so the fans can't hear her, but Beckett can hear her.

Castle shrugs and runs his fingers through his tousled hair. "I'm on time, actually."

Paula narrows her eyes at him. "You were supposed to be at the office at 8:30, jackass."

"Hey now, let's not make a scene," Castle says, glancing around. "Wouldn't want my fans to get the wrong impression."

Paula huffs and steps aside. "Fine. But this conversation is not over." She plasters a smile on her face and turns to the rapidly growing line of fans.

As Paula makes an announcement and goes over some ground rules - pictures fine, please don't come around the table - Castle turns around and extends his hand.

"Rick Castle," he introduces himself. "Nice to meet you."

Beckett drops her jaw, but composes herself quickly and shakes his hand. His skin is soft and warm, and she could hold it for a lot longer than appropriate, so she forces herself to let go after a few seconds. "Officer Beckett, NYPD."

Castle grins. "NYPD. Nice. What's your first name? Or should I call you Officer? Or Beckett? Or whatever your first name is?"

"Most people call me Beckett."

"Beckett it is. Well, I hope today isn't too boring for you."

With that, he gives her one more crooked grin and settles at the table.

Although the majority of the morning is spent standing behind Castle and observing his interactions with the fans, she's not bored. She's tried to go to his book signings before, but she's never been able to make it work with her schedule, even before she joined the NYPD.

It starts snowing as the VIP meet-and-greet is wrapping up, and per Paula's instruction they make a quick exit to get to the second store of the day. Paula and Castle talk about an upcoming book tour, and Beckett watches the snow fall.

Her mom would have enjoyed this story, she knows, of her daughter picked to be a bodyguard for her favorite author for the day. Add the snow coating the city in a soft white blanket, and it could be a setting for the cozy romance novels that she enjoyed reading.

"Ask him to sign a book, Katie," Johanna would say with a smirk. "Flatter him, tell him how much of an honor it was to work with him, to watch him interact with his fans, something. And maybe he'll even ask for your number, and you'd live happily ever after."

"Officer Beckett?"

She twists her head towards the sound of her name, and she feels her face flush when she notices both Paula and Castle staring at her. "Sorry, I wasn't listening," she admits.

Paula motions outside the window at the thickening snowfall. "I was just saying, we might want to consider cancelling the second signing. The snow's just going to get worse, and we don't want to put anyone in an unsafe situation."

"What do you think?" Castle asks.

Beckett shrugs. "We could still go, and just keep an eye out. It's not sticking to the roads yet, so we may have a little bit of time. And there might not be much of a crowd, either."

The smile she gets from Castle warms her from the inside out.

As it turns out, only a few fans are at the second signing, and the manager tells them that a lot of people had called to ask if the signing would be rescheduled. Paula follows her to an office to discuss a new date.

Beckett stays by Castle as he puts his pens back in his bag, and the battle she's been waging inside her mind finally settles itself.

"Um, Mr. Castle?" she asks, approaching him.

Castle grins. "We've spent the day together, Beckett. Rick is fine."

"Okay, um, Rick." She hesitates. His first name sounds weird coming out of her mouth, but she could get used to it. "I know this is terribly unprofessional…" She trails off. No, she shouldn't ask.

"What is it?"

Castle's soft tone encourages her, gives her that extra boost of courage.

"I'm sorry if this crosses a line, but I actually really like your books." She takes a deep breath and continues before she loses her nerve. "Would you mind signing one for me?"

It comes out in one jumbled mess, and for a few moments Castle just stares at her. She shakes her head and takes a step back. "Never mind. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have."

Castle stops her with a hand on her arm. "No, it's fine," he assures her. His lips turn up in a crooked smile. "I'm flattered. I'd love to."

He takes a book off the nearby display, as well as some cash from his wallet. "It's my treat," he tells her when she protests that she can at least buy it. "Consider it a thank you for today." He sits back down at the table and uncaps his pen. "What's your first name? If you don't mind."

Beckett shakes her head. "No, I don't. It's Kate."

"Kate," Castle repeats with a smile. "Kate Beckett. It's a pretty name."

"Thanks, I'll tell my dad." She watches as he thinks for a few moments, then writes something on the title page, and finishes with a flourish. When Castle hands it back to her, she's careful with it, not wanting to drop it or tear the cover.

Castle holds out his hand, much like when they'd met that morning. His fingers curl around hers when their hands meet. "It was nice to meet you, Kate," he says in a low voice, a slight husk to the baritone.

She feels her cheeks get hot and she hopes she isn't too obvious. "It was my pleasure, Mr.-" When he raises his eyebrows, she chuckles. "Rick. Thank you for the book."

"Any time."

"Okay, loverboy, that's a wrap." Paula's voice cuts between them, and Castle takes a step back. Paula narrows her eyes at him for a brief moment. "We'll try it again in two weeks." She turns to Beckett. "We're all done, but you're welcome to ride along if you need to go back to Black Pawn."

Beckett shakes Paula's hand. "I'm good, I can take the subway from here. It was a pleasure. Thanks."

"So long, Officer," Castle calls after her when she walks away.

After checking in with Captain Montgomery to make sure she was on shift the next day, she changes into her sweats and baggy NYPD sweatshirt, pours a generous glass of wine, and drops to the couch with her newly acquired book. She won't read it yet - she has a pre-ordered copy on her way and she doesn't want to ruin the signed copy. But she makes sure her wine is secure on the coffee table before opening to the title page.

Kate-

Thank you for keeping me company today. I'd love to do it again.

-Rick

She feels her face flush again and smiles at the inscription and signature below. Although he has a playboy bachelor persona, today she'd seen a softer sign of him as he interacted with his fans. He was kind without being over-the-top, making every person feel special and calling them all by name. It was nice to see.

She'd be surprised if she was tasked with being a security detail again, especially since she's still trying to prove herself, but at least she can say she spent a day with her favorite author. It gives her a bright memory to hold onto when the days are dark.

A/N: Many thanks to Lou for her idea for this one!