A/N: I'm sorry for the delay in getting this posted. With Christmas and having to make a lot of the gifts (mainly crocheted items and pottery), I was swamped until about two weeks ago.

"Dad, have you been gone since last night? It's after lunch."

Rick turned from shutting the front door at the sound of his daughter's voice from the living room couch. "Oh, no Pumpkin. I got back last night after you were asleep and I got up early to go back to the police station." Rick walked to where Alexis sat and dropped into the couch beside her. He laid his head against the back of the couch with his hands folded over his sternum and gazed at the ceiling with a faint smile on his lips.

"What happened? Are you in trouble?" Rick didn't respond. "Dad, did you hear me?"

"Hmm?" Rick turned his head toward her.

"Are you okay? You seem…different."

"I am actually pretty wonderful."

"What happened?"

"Someone is copying the murders from some of my books."

"That is horrible! How is that wonderful?"

"No, no, no. I'm not wonderful because of that. I'm not that macabre. No, I'm wonderful because of Kate." His smile widened despite the worried look that crossed his daughter's face.

"Kate? As in Dream Kate?"

"She's real, Alexis. Kate is the detective on the case and she's real."

"Dad…"

"I know that look and I'm not crazy. Her name is Kate Beckett and she's a detective with the 12th Precinct and she 100% is real and exists. You saw her last night."

"I did, yeah. Are you sure she's the same person?"

"She looks exactly like the Kate from my dream. She talks like her, walks like her and even glares at me like her." Alexis chuckled.

"You're not going to do anything stupid now, are you?"

"I might have already done that. I said some things to her this morning and made it seem like I knew her and she kicked me out of the precinct."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. Lay low for a bit and try again later?"

"You lay low? I'll believe it when I see it." Alexis paused and Rick, sensing the change in her demeanor, sat upright. "Please don't get hurt. I don't know if I can handle seeing you break down like you did last year. I hope whatever happens is good, but please be careful."

"I will do my best."


Two Weeks Later

Dressed in a nicely fitted tux, Rick found himself standing against the wall of a giant ballroom like a 6th grade outcast attending the school dance. When Gina had called him earlier in the week telling him he was required to go to the Police Commissioner's Ball to make up for the bad press he received from getting pulled from his own book launch party by the cops, he agreed to attend, but he hadn't agreed to schmooze and that was on Gina for neglecting to add that to the deal. He was perfectly fine watching from the sidelines for now. As he sipped the glass of champagne he managed to snag from a passing waiter, he spotted a dazzling sight a mere fifty feet away; Kate Beckett in a red, floor length gown, stood in a small group of other attendees. Rick's heart skipped and a nervous jolt snapped him into perfect posture. He had already given her a bad first impression and knowing how vital it was to give a good second impression was not quelling the nerves that seemed to decide to ricochet around his body.

"Rick Castle!" a voice called out from the opposite way he was looking.

Rick pulled his gaze from Kate to find Captain Montgomery approaching him with a mischievous smirk. "Hello Roy!"

"I was under the impression you were going to be hanging around my precinct for a while, but I haven't seen you since that first day."

"Oh, didn't Kate tell you?"

"She only told me you wouldn't be coming back. Did she scare you off?"

"Something like that," Rick grimaced. "I think I offended her and I didn't want to push the matter further."

"If you ever decide to try again, my door is always open." Roy said, patting Rick on shoulder. "I have to go find my wife, but if I don't see you later, it was good seeing you."

"Same to you, Roy."

The quick exchange distracted Rick for long enough that when he turned to where Kate was once standing, she was no longer there. He muttered a curse under his breath and decided to make a loop around the room to see if he could find her again.

Rick found her a short while later talking with the mayor and with his target locked, he slowed to a saunter as he worked up the courage to approach her. A waiter carrying a tray of drinks walked by and Rick exchanged his empty glass for another flute of champagne refusing to take his eyes off Kate.

In a matter of seconds, the champagne that was once in the glass, dribbled down the front of Rick's dress shirt. A woman in a black dress tipsily babbled out an apology for not paying attention while her date apologized as well and drags her away from the scene. Rick sighed and grabbed a napkin from a nearby table. He'll need to try and wash it out in the bathroom. He can't approach Kate looking like a sloppy drunk. At least champagne isn't red.

The nearest bathroom was just outside of the ballroom in a secluded hallway. Going from a bustling and noisy room to the sharp contrast of quiet made Rick's head buzz as though his ears were still hearing the noise from the party.

Rick found the men's bathroom and did his best at removing the champagne tinge from his shirt, but he knew he didn't have the appropriate tools or chemicals to do the job properly and figured he'd just live with it. He continued to dab at the wet spot with a paper towel as he exited the bathroom and bumped right into a woman in red.

"Oh shit, I'm sor…Kate!"

Kate looked up at the man who nearly ran her over. "Richard Castle," she said matter-of-factly and took a noticeably large step away from him.

"I'm sorry, I seem to be running into everyone today, hence why I have this stain on my shirt." He motioned to his chest and let out a nervous laugh.

"What are you doing here?" Kate asked coldly.

"Uh, my publisher thought I needed some good publicity after being escorted out of my book party by the police and demanded I attend. I had no idea you were going to be here. I'm glad I got to run into you though. I wanted to apologize."

"For what?"

"For what I said or what I suggested when I was at the precinct that day. I didn't mean to offend you or imply anything." Rick rubbed the back of his neck with one of his hands. "I guess I haven't really been myself since I got hit by a car last year."

"I heard about that. Is that why you haven't had anything published until recently?"

"Yeah, you could say that. I went through some stuff after the accident and lost something that threw me into a funk. Thankfully most of the last Derrick Storm book was written at the time of the accident, but finishing it took a lot."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kate said genuinely, her iciness softening.

"Aside from my book party a few weeks ago and this event, I haven't really been on the social scene in over a year, so I'm kind of rusty at being around people. I do hope you forgive me for what I said though."

"It's fine, Mr. Castle. That wasn't even close to being the weirdest interaction I've had as a cop." Kate smirked.

Rick smiled and shifted his weight. "It was good running into you again, Detective Beckett. I will let you go and stop bothering you now."

"Yeah, it was good seeing you again. Maybe I'll see you back in there when I'm done?" Kate gestured to the bathroom behind her.

"I would love that," Rick said, shoving his hands in his pocket and turning to reenter the ballroom, a hopeful smile gracing his lips.


He didn't want to appear too eager to see her, so he tried to make it look like he was casually taking in the room and far enough away from the door she would enter through that she wouldn't think he was like a puppy waiting for his owner to return from the bathroom. He knew when she reentered the ballroom even without looking at the door. He resisted turning his head to gaze at her and instead silently prayed that she would notice he was nearby and she'd come over to him.

It was a solid minute before Rick gave in and looked to the ballroom door. Kate wasn't there. Rick sagged, the hopeful anticipation being the puppet master holding the strings to his marionette. He scanned the crowd but couldn't find his beacon in red.

"Looking for someone?" a familiar voice asked behind him.

Rick whipped around and there she stood. Kate Beckett with an evil, yet playful, smirk.

"Kate, uh…hi!" Kate let out a delighted chuckle at the sight of Rick's nervousness. "Yeah, I was looking for you." Rick visibly blushed.

"I figured I'd make you sweat it out a bit before I came over here."

"Well at least you thought of coming over here. I thought for sure, I'd scared you off."

"I don't scare easily."

"I'm grateful for that." Rick smiled before switching topics. "So, what brings you here tonight?"

"One of my partner's asked me if I wanted to come with him."

"Oh, I hope he doesn't mind me distracting you from him." Rick looked over Kate's shoulder like he was anticipating a big burly man to come out of nowhere to beat him up.

Kate flicked her hand dismissively. "Psh, I doubt it. He only asked me because his wife had a last-minute business trip and he didn't want the ticket to go to waste."

"Oh, a wife. That's good. Does that mean you're single then?"

"Who's asking?" Kate nudged Rick with her shoulder.

"Would you be interested in getting dinner with me sometime this week or whenever you are free?"

Kate grinned. "I'd love to."


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