Kate had taken a left out of the café, sprinting down the crowded sidewalk as quickly as she could. She wanted to put as much distance as possible between herself and Rick Castle. She ran blindly, with tears clouding her vision and sobs threatening to burst from her body. But she couldn't break down. Not yet.

A sign for a hotel came into view, and Kate ran toward it, ducking into the hotel's main lobby. She looked around until she spotted the restroom, and after hurrying into it, she locked herself in the stall furthest from the door. Kate lowered the lid of the toilet and sat, bringing her knees up to her chin and wrapping her arms around her legs. Her forehead fell to her knees, and the tears began to fall.

Castle had done nothing wrong, but the feelings that his words evoked were feelings she'd been suppressing for so long. It was all so fresh, and his words had rubbed the already raw patches on her heart. Instead of letting the truth of his words comfort her, she ran away, because she couldn't handle the pain. And now she may never see him again.

Oh, God, what had she done?

The call came at 5:52 that evening. Kate had arrived at the shelter. Rick quickly dropped Alexis off with the neighbors, citing an emergency and promising to return soon, and hailed a cab. The streets were congested with traffic, and it took much longer to get to the shelter than he'd anticipated. It was 6:48 when he finally walked through the front doors. He hurried to the front desk. "Is she here?" he asked the receptionist.

"Yeah, she's still here," the woman replied. "Didn't want dinner. She just went straight to a cot. She seemed real upset about something." She nodded toward a door to her left. Rick thanked the woman and quickly walked over to the door, opening it quietly.

The room was large and windowless. The white paint on the walls was beginning to peel, and the tile floor looked as though it hadn't been mopped in a long time. There were about forty cots with thin pillows and ragged quilts in the room, and each cot's occupant turned their head to see who had just opened the door.

Each occupant, that is, except for the one in the far left corner. She was curled up on her side on her cot, arms covering her face, unmoving. Her dark hair spilled over her shoulders, and her slim body was trembling.

Rick began moving toward her. When he reached her, he sat down on the edge of the cot, near her feet, without speaking. She gave no acknowledgement of his presence. He decided it would be best not to say anything, but to wait for Kate to speak first. He didn't know what he'd done to make her react the way she did earlier, but he didn't want it to happen again.

He glanced down at the floor, noting her open backpack on the ground. Curiosity got the better of him, and he leaned forward, glancing inside. He could see the tops of three books, lined up carefully together and placed in the center of the backpack. So she really was a reader. He reached down, about to pull one of the books out, when Kate's voice stopped him.

"I told you, I don't want to talk about it, Connie," she said, her voice quiet and muffled.

Rick straightened, turning toward her again. "I'm not Connie," he said quietly.

Kate took a sharp breath in and froze. Neither of them spoke for a long time. Finally, Kate broke the silence.

"Go away, Castle." Her voice was so quiet that he could hardly hear it.

He sighed. "I will," he promised. "But there are a few things I'd like to say first."

Kate slowly exhaled, and Rick decided to take it as a cue to continue.

"I came here to apologize," he said gently. "I don't know what I said, Kate, but I know that I hurt you. And that's the last thing on earth that I wanted to do. I'm very sorry." Kate sniffed, still not moving.

"You were right, Kate: I don't know you," he continued. "But I want to." He took a deep breath. "You are a remarkable young woman, and you did not deserve anything that happened to you. Including whatever I did to hurt you." Two sniffs this time, but still no response from Kate.

"I'm sorry, Kate, and I hope you'll forgive me." It wasn't easy for Rick to apologize, but if that's what it would take to win Kate back, he'd do it.

A full thirty seconds passed before Kate responded. "So why else are you here?" she asked bitterly, her voice quiet and shaky.

Rick was amused. She saw right through him. "Okay, I admit, apologizing isn't the only reason I came here," he said. "I have a favor to ask of you." Kate shifted slightly, but gave no response. "My regular sitter is leaving tomorrow to go to college in Boston, and I've used her for the past four years. I don't really have anyone else, and I've procrastinated finding a new sitter. Alexis is a very well-behaved and sweet little girl, if I do say so myself, and I need a sitter from time to time. Now that I don't have one… well, Kate, what I'm trying to say is, would you like a job?"

That got Kate's attention. She moved her arms off of her face and raised her head slightly, staring at him. "I don't need charity, Castle." Her voice was soft, but filled with anger.

Rick sighed. Why was she being so defensive? "It's not charity, Kate!" he retorted, a bit louder than he meant to. Several of the people in the room turned to look at him. Damn it. Kate was staring at him, eyes wide.

"What I mean," he said sheepishly, much quieter, "is this: we both need something. You need a job, and I need a babysitter." Kate raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Really, Kate, I do!" he said defensively. "Alexis starts school in a couple of weeks, and she's too little to get there by herself. Rachel, my old sitter, would always walk her to and from school. There are other times I need a sitter, too. Like tomorrow night, actually. My mother's one of the leads in an off-Broadway play, and tomorrow's opening night. I promised her I'd go, but the play isn't appropriate for kids, so I can't bring Alexis. If I don't find someone to watch her, I'm not going to be able to go. I'm really in a bind here."

Kate eyed him suspiciously. She obviously didn't believe him.

"I saw the way you lit up when I showed you her picture, Kate," Rick continued. "That was genuine. I can tell you like kids. And I know I don't know you very well yet, but I can tell that you're trustworthy. My daughter would be in good hands with you, and I don't say that to very many people."

Kate stared at him for a moment, and he hoped that she could tell that he was being genuine. He really did need a sitter, but he also would have done almost anything to try to keep Kate in his life. Finally, Kate lowered her eyes.

"I'll think about it," she said quietly.

He wasn't going to be able to break her—she was too stubborn. So that would have to be good enough for now, Castle supposed. He stood up and turned to face Kate, who was still curled up on her side on the cot, and pulled out his wallet. "I'm going to give you my business card," he said, taking one out and placing it by her feet. "It has my phone number on it. If you decide to accept my offer, give me a call. I have to leave at 5:00 tomorrow, so if I don't hear from you by 3:30, I'll start trying to find someone else. Here are some quarters so you can use a payphone," he said, placing four quarters on top of the business card. "The card also has my address, so you can know where to come. And I'll take care of cab fees for you until you build up some savings, so don't worry about that," he added.

Kate still didn't move or look at him. The girl was stubborn, he'd give her that. He was just about to give up when he remembered the gift he'd bought for Kate on his way home. He'd almost forgotten about it. Rick pulled a single rose out of the inside pocket of his jacket, where it had been hiding for the duration of their conversation, and laid it beside the business card.

"I really am sorry, Kate," he said gently.

Kate's eyes darted quickly to the rose, then to his face. She met his eyes for a just a moment, then lowered them. She shifted her position slightly as Rick turned to walk away. He was halfway across the room when he heard her voice.

"Castle," she called.

He turned around. Kate was sitting cross-legged on her cot, the rose in her hand. "See you tomorrow," she said with a small nod. He thought he saw a hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth.

He nodded back, trying to contain his elation, and turned to continue his trek out of the room. As soon as Rick re-entered the lobby and shut the door to the cot room, he let himself celebrate. "YES!" he shouted joyfully, pumping his fist in the air.

The receptionist gave him an odd look. "I take it you had a good conversation?" she asked hesitantly.

"That we did, ma'am," he replied happily, a wide smile on his face.

On his cab ride home, Rick couldn't get Kate out of his mind. She calls me "Castle," he thought with a smile, shaking his head. Ever since their conversation in the café, she'd called him by his last name, rather than his first. Maybe that was her way of showing that she was still mad, or that she wasn't ready to trust him. He wasn't sure, but he hoped she'd start using his first name again, and soon. Clearly, he'd pushed too hard earlier, and he was going to have to back off if he wanted to keep her around. Their conversations would have to stay light-hearted and causal. He was an expert at that kind of conversation.

The girl was a mystery that he wanted to devote his time to solving. How anyone could go from being a successful, brilliant pre-law student to living on the streets in a matter of months was beyond perplexing to him, not to mention completely unfortunate. No, 'unfortunate' wasn't the right word—it was just terrible. She was so embarrassed about the way she was living now, and even more embarrassed because she believed that everything that had happened to her was her own fault. Kate had so much potential, though. Even the age of nineteen, she had the confidence and grace of a model, but the brains of a lawyer and the quick wit of a cop.

A cop. That's what Rick imagined her becoming when she "grew up"—not a lawyer. In the small amount of time he'd known her, he could tell she was both passionate and compassionate, not to mention intelligent and driven. All of those traits would make her an excellent cop, or even a detective.

Her mother was murdered. How awful. Rick had wanted to ask her if there had been any investigation into the case, or if there were any leads on a suspect, but it clearly hurt her too much to talk about it. The pain was too fresh. Maybe that's why she had reacted the way she did earlier—not out of anger, but out of pain. Either way, he wouldn't bring it up again for a long time. He'd have to see if he could find the woman's name—the last name was probably Beckett—and find which precinct and court was dealing with her case. He was friends with a long-time local judge, and it would be pure luck if Kate's mother's case was in this judge's precinct. He hoped it would be. Maybe he'd be able to get some case details. He knew that as much as he wanted Kate's mother's murderer to be brought to justice, she wanted it more. Kate was beating herself up and even blaming herself because she couldn't do anything about it—she couldn't stop it when it happened, and she couldn't solve it now.

The Kate he knew now was different than the Kate he imagined. He saw her as a superstar detective, solving crimes and giving killers the justice they deserved. If she couldn't do it for her mother, at least she could do it for others. And maybe someday, she'd be able to solve her mother's case. Hopefully, he could help her do it.

As soon as Alexis was in bed that evening, he sat down at his desktop computer and began to write a new novel. His story's main character was a detective that was posing undercover as a homeless woman in the streets of Manhattan. Her cover allowed her to investigate murders and solve crimes. She was smart, really good at her job, and had haunting good looks—in fact, she was practically Superwoman. Her name was Nikki Heat.

Kate heard Castle's shouts of joy after he left the room and giggled. He must not have realized how easily sounds from the lobby filtered into the cot room. She leaned back against the wall, ignoring the stares of all of the other people in the room, and gently stroked the velvet petals of the rose he'd given her. She'd been a jerk, and she knew it, but her stubbornness and pride kept her from admitting it to him. You're an idiot, Kate, she thought. Accepting his offer was her way of apologizing, and she hoped he'd realized that.

She had a job. A real job. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Kate breathed a sigh of relief and set the rose down gently at the end of her cot. She reached down to her backpack and pulled out Flowers for your Grave. This was the only book he had signed after her mother's death. She'd gone to the book signing alone that day in early March, not wanting her friends to know how Richard Castle's books had saved her. They'd think it was silly. At the signing, Castle had seen the sadness in her eyes, and although neither of them mentioned it during their thirty-second conversation, he had been gentle and sweet—much different than the two previous book signings she'd attended. He'd been almost flirtatious with her the other two times, just like he was with every other woman present. Kate opened the book to the title page, reading his writing for the thousandth time:

"To Kate: Smile! You are extraordinary. Richard Castle"

Although the message was short, it was powerful. In the other two books he'd signed for her, he'd written just his name, without a message. And, as far as she could tell, that's all he'd done for the other people that had been in line in front of her that day. Even though he probably didn't remember her from that book signing, maybe, Kate thought, just maybe, he actually did care.

She smiled. Tomorrow. She'd get to see Rick again tomorrow.

Author's note: Thanks for reading! Please send your reviews in- they're very helpful to me. :)