AN: As always, thank you for the reviews. Thank you as well for being patient for the next chapter. Anything that is italicized is set in the past. Enjoy!

CH4

Castle was on his way to the bakery later than usual. He was up all night writing. The story just kept writing itself, something that he hadn't felt in years. The shadowing was helping, but Kate Beckett was inspiring him to write. He had been tempted to Google Kate, see what came up about her mother and of course herself, but he resisted the urge. He also had the urge to ask Ryan to send him information about her mother's case, to see if he could solve it with the help of "Doctor Death", and bring her some peace that he knew she was still searching for. The urge was there, but he was also warned by Ryan to not touch her mother's case when he brought it up to him yesterday on the car ride back to the precinct.

"So, I saw you went to Johanna's this morning? Only brought one coffee huh?"

"Well I did buy two, but Beckett seemed like she needed it more than you at that moment." Plus, she has this little smile that comes out when I hand her a cup of coffee. "She told me a bit about why she is no longer a detective. Were you there when she got shot?"

His facial expression changed from busting his chops to serious. "Yea, Javi and I both were...Lanie too. It was our captain's funeral. He had his part in her mother's death and...well he sacrificed himself for Kate. They ended up trying to kill her anyway at the funeral. It was….rough. We didn't think she would make it. Her heart stopped multiple times and Lanie performed CPR on her while en route to the hospital. Javi and I tried to find the shooter, but all we found was the gun. We were all shaken up, but Javi was the one that led us and made sure we didn't dwell on what we all could have done differently to prevent it. Being in the military, he's sadly seen people close to him die. We're just glad that Beckett wasn't one of them. She needed time to heal, so she at first put in a leave of absence...but a few weeks went by and she told us she wasn't coming back. I can't say I blame her. We miss her a lot, but she has to do what is best for her."

"Have you tried to look into it?"

"Beckett warned us not to touch it. If there is one thing in this world that you don't want it is to be on Beckett's bad side. She doesn't want to lose anyone else. I have a daughter on the way and Javi has Lanie. They got back together once Kate was shot, they both needed each other. We also don't want Beckett to get back involved with this case. We almost lost her once and she's at a place where she can accept that she might not ever find her mother's killer, but she can still honor her mother."

He walked into the bakery and waited in line for his coffee and his new morning routine with his favorite baker.

"Good morning, Kate."

"Morning, Castle. What can I get for you today besides coffee?"

He smiled. "One of those cheese danishes would be fantastic."

"Two coffees? Ryan called me saying I'm not allowed to take his coffee anymore." He said it jokingly of course.

Castle chuckled. "Three coffees then. I have to make sure you stay caffeinated too. Someone has to keep me on my toes." She smiled as she handed him the two coffees and kept the third one. "Oh no, this one is for you. It's just not the same if I don't personally hand it back to you."

She laughed. "And how is it not the same?"

"Because I wouldn't see you smile."

She felt heat creep up her neck. She was trying to blame that on the heat of the ovens, but she knew that it was a blush. "Thank you for the coffee and your purchase. I'm assuming I'll see you later?"

"Definitely. I'll tell you all about how we caught our murderer."

Once he left, Jim gave his daughter a look. "What?"

"Living vicariously through a writer?"

"No, dad. I gave that career up a long time ago."

"Which I told you you didn't have to do."

"I know, but I do enjoy doing this with you. I think mom would too."

He smiled. "I think so too. I know she's proud of you Katie. I know I am."

She smiled. "Thanks, dad."

"I also saw this morning that we have a new coffee machine. Splurging already?"

"Actually, that was a gift from Castle. He happened to walk in when the old one was having one of its...well moments. That night he came in with that."

"I told you your baking could mesmerize people."

"Dad, he's just trying to get into my pants. That's why he's all over page 6 with some new arm candy each week."

"Katie, the way he was looking at you, that's not lust. That's more than that."

"I think you need glasses, dad."

"I'm not kidding. As you said, he probably has girls lined up….but he's coming in here every day to see you."

"Twice a day."

"Twice? Oh, Katie, he's more than smitten with you."

"I'm sure once he's done shadowing Ryan he won't be around."

"You'll be surprised, sweetheart when he sticks around."

You're wrong, dad. Everyone ends up leaving, she wanted to say. She didn't though and just went back to preparing a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies.

Sure enough, Castle was back around closing time to tell her all about how they solved the case and how he wants to continue shadowing Ryan for a little while longer. This time she didn't make him sweep, no he went and got the broom and started himself.

"Can I tell you a bit about the book I'm writing?"

"Sure."

He wasn't sure how much he wanted to give away, considering he wanted it to be a surprise that he was using her as an inspiration for the main character.

"Well since I had a male main character for previous books, I figured I'd use a woman this time around. She's a homicide detective and….well I don't want to give the plot away, but she's unlike any character I've written before."

"That's a good thing right?"

"Yes, an extremely good thing."

She debated if she wanted to tell him if she was a fan of his work, that they helped her through her mother's death, but she decided against it. Instead, she asked, "How many chapters have you written?"

"I think I'm almost halfway through, which is amazing because I only started writing once I left here last night. The words just kind of came out of nowhere as I started typing."

"What's the title or do you not have one? Can you just not share it with me yet?"

"Nikki Heat. That's the name of the main character."

She stopped kneeing the dough she was preparing to look at him with one of her famous looks. "You're making her sound like a stripper with that name instead of a detective."

"Well, I have to make sure the readers know exactly how gorgeous this woman is. It's not like I can take a picture of her and put her in there. And I definitely can't draw her. Drawing is not one of my talents."

"Wait, picture? So you're basing this off of someone at the precinct? Or are you just imagining what Ryan would look like as a woman?" She felt a little jealous and she wished she could push that feeling away. She wasn't sure if the jealousy was that he had his eyes on a female detective when he had been well flirting with her or that it was because that detective was doing what Kate had loved doing. Maybe both?

Well, I guess he was going to tell her after all that he was basing his new character on her. "It's definitely not Ryan as a woman or Esposito. I, um…She's based on you."

"Me?"

"Yea, well not everything, but just from how everyone still talks about how great of a detective you were and just getting to know you personally….you're a great muse."

"I'm flattered?"

He placed the broom back into the storage closet. "I hope you are. You might not be a detective anymore, but there's no one else I'd rather base a character on."

She gave him a soft smile and they locked eyes for a moment. Kate saw something that she hadn't seen before, especially in him. When they first met at his book signing, he just had a look of lust for all the women that came up to his table (including her). She saw a glimpse of that when he first walked in the other day, but it faded by the time he returned that night. He was interested in her and wanted to know everything about her. She wasn't sure if it was just to get him out of his writer's block or if it was because he genuinely wanted to get to know her.

She broke the contact as she cleared her throat. "Thank you for helping me clean up. Do you think I can read your book when you're done?"

He smiled. "Of course! I'll give you the first draft. I know Gina isn't going to like it, but what she doesn't know won't hurt her."

"Gina? Oh, you're ex-wife and publisher."

"Katherine Beckett, do I have a fan?"

She felt that heat in the back of her neck again. "I mean, your breakup was all over the papers and it was a slow day at the precinct."

She remembered that day far too well. It was anything but slow.

She was sitting at her desk, fiddling with her pen as she was looking at the information that she had on her murder board when Ryan came into the bullpen.

"Did you see the latest in the celebrity world?"

She looked up from her screen and looked at Ryan. "You know I don't keep track of who Kim Kardashian is dating and who she married for 3 hours before divorcing them."

He read the headline to her, "Richard Castle and wife Gina split for the second time. Maybe the third time's the charm for this couple."

"He's probably already moved on to the next piece of eye candy he sees."

"For someone who has all his books…"

"I don't have to agree with his personal life choices to be a fan of his work."

"Even that last book he put out? Who the hell was that Loksat character anyways?"

"I still don't know what that was."

"Beckett!" Esposito said coming out of the elevators. "I've got a lead on Coonan!"

"Are you sure you don't secretly have my Twitter notifications on?"

"Trust me, Castle. I don't tweet."

"Not even for Johanna's? I can set you up with a great social media coordinator."

"I'm sure." She placed the dough into the fridge for tomorrow. "Thank you again for cleaning up. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I hope so….well I don't hope for a murder, but…"

"I get it, Castle. Goodnight."

"Until tomorrow, Kate."