A/N: In complete awe of the response you've all given to this story. Thank you.

For Your Benefit

S3 AU- This wasn't typically her sort of scene, but she swallowed down the hesitation and painted on a smile. After all, he did all of this for her, to honor her mom.

Chapter 2

The city flashed by on the way to the benefit. An energy that hummed from the streets as the sights and sounds of a New York City Saturday night danced across her vision.

People rushed through; tourists snapping pictures, families chasing after their excited children while some were dressed to the nines headed toward their night out much like she was. The flashes of life, the sounds, everything about it made her feel at ease. This was where she grew up; this was her home, for better or worse, through all its faults. She loved the city.

Kate leaned back against the leather seat with a content sigh, relaxing against the passenger headrest beside Castle in his bright red Ferrari as he weaved through the traffic. There was comfortable silence between them. He wasn't pushing or prying for information about her reflective mood. Castle simply relaxed against the leather seat and allowed her time to process everything as he drove. This was the longest he had been quiet since she had known him, but something clued him in that she needed this. It was like he knew what she needed better than anyone, maybe even better than herself.

Her mind was reeling with everything she wanted to say and everything she knew she shouldn't. He showed up tonight, pushing his way in when he knew he should and stepping back when it was appropriate. They'd had an eventful couple of months together, near death experiences drawing them closer by the day. It had changed things. There was a constant electric current that flowed between them now, a buzzing that wouldn't disappear.

Was it possible that he could feel the same way?

She glanced over to find his eyes on her already, a warm upturn to his lips.

"I'm sorry Josh couldn't come…"

Her heart dropped. Castle meant well, she knew he did, but the words sucked all the oxygen from her lungs.

Josh.

He was still in her life and even though he didn't have all the time in the world for her, he was still a good person. He sometimes just had trouble showing it.

Looking down at her hands, Kate offered him a small shrug. "Let's just enjoy the night, Castle. I don't want to think about that anymore." Her mouth formed a thin tight-lipped smile, resolving to have a good time tonight with her friends and family. If he couldn't be there for her, that was his loss. She'd worry about what to do with her relationship on another night.

The car pulled up to building, where the low key red carpet was set up on the sidewalk. As far as Richard Castle parties and events went, this was a tasteful and modest entrance. She sighed, trying to calm the pounding in her chest. Even if though there weren't many reporters, she still didn't love the idea of having to deal with them at all. Panic flashed across Castle's expression when he caught her looking back at him.

"I know it doesn't look like much," he murmured, his words lacking confidence, edging on nervousness. Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she shook her head and smiled.

"Castle, we're not even inside, yet. Let me judge it for myself when I see it." She shot him a quick wink and leaned to her left to bump shoulders with him, trying to lighten the mood. It worked, with a short chuckle and a nod; he slid from out of the driver's side.

They were going to have a good time; she'd make sure of it.

Castle walked around the car to open her door, turning for a second toward the onset of camera flashes. He had told Paula to keep the press as conservative as possible, but he should've known better. Recently, he hadn't attended many events, so the page six paparazzi have had a bit of a Richard Castle drought, not that they would get any scandalous pictures from a charity event. He looked at Beckett and she seemed unfazed by the entrance and the people, until the photographers caught sight of her. The noise from the red carpet roared to life when they realized he showed up with the real Nikki Heat. He turned back to find his partner, wide-eyed and frozen in her spot. His nerves tied his stomach in knots, he should have told Paula no about the media. All he could hope now was that he hadn't ruined the entire night.

"Beckett?" he said, offering her a hand with a tentative glance in her direction.

Even with the sinful slit that her dress had that he tried to avoid staring at, Beckett had a bit of difficulty scooting out of the vehicle. She stumbled forward as one of her heels got caught in a crack on the asphalt, managing to find her balance when her hands landed on his chest while his fell against the satin clinging to her waist. He could feel the heat of her body radiating from the fabric as his mind wandered to what secrets might lie beneath the hypnotizing material. The sound of Beckett clearing her throat tore him from his daydream.

"Um, Castle? Your hands?" she asked, smirking up at him.

His skin flushed when he realized that he was still touching her.

"Oops. Sorry!" His hands flew from her sides as if he had been burned by the contact, fluttering his fingers in front of her for evidence that they had been removed.

"Little early in the night to cop a feel. At least get me a drink first," she teased, sauntering by to step onto the red carpet. The sultry tone to her words left his mouth gaping open. Who needed a room full of people? All he wanted right now was to be alone with his detective. Beckett glanced over her shoulder and shot him a quick wink. "You coming, Castle?"

Was he coming? He'd follow her anywhere, she was the most intriguing person he had ever met and still after all this time, he was constantly surprised by her. His heart raced as Beckett's darkened eyelashes fluttered in his direction. For a moment, the rest of the world disappeared and all he could see was the brunette beauty in front of him. If being a detective ever didn't work out, she could easily fall back on a career as a model, because tonight the way she wore that gown was intoxicating.

It took him far too long to realize he was still standing on the curb, staring at her. He needed to pull himself together; Beckett was just his friend and partner – nothing more. With an embarrassed laugh, he nodded and ran after her to join her on the carpet.

The photographers called for their attention to pose for some pictures before they were interviewed by a couple reporters. They were able to explain the importance of the event and Beckett was even able to share a short anecdote about her mom. Her tentative mood seemed to disappear as she came alive on the red carpet talking to the journalists. He couldn't help but be in awe of her, and the fact that Josh was MIA – all the better.

Tonight was going to be a good night.

This was too much.

Kate's eyes scanned the ballroom as they walked through the door and her jaw dropped. It was gorgeous – all of it. Soft Christmas lights lined the ceiling, to give it the impression of being outside under the stars which was aided by the small candles placed on the tables throughout the room. Shimmering gold accents among the elegant black and white linens added a pop of color and warmth to the space. She looked down at her dress and it dawned on her. Lanie must have known the colors and that was why she insisted that she wore this dress.

Her mouth continued to gape open as she took it all in, a bit dazed. It was simply amazing. She felt Castle lead her to the bar to get a drink before they sat down, but she couldn't even focus long enough to order. Everything was exquisitely decorated down to the finest detail.

"Castle, it's perfect," she whispered, smiling. God, she didn't think she'd ever stop smiling because of this. How could he go through all this trouble? Just for her?

"Really? You like it?" he asked, his face lighting up like a kid at Christmas, causing her heart to thrum in her chest. He acted like he had thought she wouldn't have approved and that idea alone was the most ridiculous thought. No one had ever gone through so much trouble for her in her entire life.

She accepted the glass of red that he ordered for her and took a slow sip. He even made sure they had her favorite type of wine.

"Like it?" she asked, her voice thick in her throat. "I just – I can't believe you did all of this for me – for my mom."

She was sure she looked like a deer in headlights, but it was overwhelming. Blinking back the happy tears that threatened to fall, she couldn't imagine how she was so lucky to have someone like Castle in her life. He placed his hand along her upper arm, with a gentle caress - apparently their customary 'no touching rule' had vanished for the evening - as her skin warmed under his palm.

"Beckett, I wish I could've known her. She seemed like a remarkable woman. It's the least I could do." He took a sip of his scotch before he led her through the rest of the room, passing by the hors d'oeuvres and all the silent auction items. There wasn't one thing he hadn't thought of and every last item was exactly how her mom would've wanted it.

Standing with her back toward the door, she stopped Castle in his tracks with a smile.

"She would've loved this," she hummed. "Added to the fact that she was a huge fan of yours, she wouldn't have believed that the man she stood in line for over an hour would do this for her." Kate smiled at the idea. Johanna Beckett was one of the biggest Richard Castle fan right from the start of his career.

"Wait – I met your mom?"

"You did," she said, with a short nod before taking another sip of her drink. "She stood in line to get her copy of Flowers for Your Grave signed – the same copy that's now sitting on my bookshelf."

"Why didn't you ever tell me this?" he asked, quiet surprise laced in every syllable. This Castle, the gentle reserved one, this was her best friend, the man that the public didn't get to see, and she was honored that she did.

"Didn't want your ego to get any bigger," she teased as his face broke out into a smile. "Your head wouldn't fit through the door."

"So that's why you knew that book so well during the Tisdale murder…"

"Partly. She was a huge fan of yours, Castle, so after she died – reading your books helped me feel connected to her. Your words helped me," she said, trying to shrug off the emotion that was choking up her voice and clouding her vision. She stared down at her black painted toenails, trying to get a hold of herself.

"Kate…" The use of her first name grabbed her attention as her head tilted up to meet his eyes. His expression was full of lov- awe. Awe – nothing else, because anything else would be an inappropriate way to describe it. They were standing in the middle of crowded ballroom and she currently was in a relationship with another man. Her story just caught him off guard, that's all it was, all it could be. He looked down at her, with his lips turned up, before stretching wide into a grin. Her heart fluttered, bringing with it an onset of terrifying thoughts.

Oh, God. This was all too much right now. She forced herself to place a hand against his bicep to try and stop whatever declaration he was about to make.

"I just wanted you to know how much all of this means to me. It doesn't feel like enough to just say thank you so I wanted to share something about her, with you," she said, her eyes searching the room again and landing on the screen that displayed a slideshow of pictures of her mom and their family. It made her wonder if her dad was here, yet. He would love all the pictures that were chosen.

"I know I can't bring her back," he said, stepping closer to her and lowering his voice to keep their conversation out of curious ears. "I wish I could, Beckett, but anything I can do to celebrate her memory – for you…"

"It's more than I could ever ask for. Really. Thank you for this." She reached for his hand and gave it a small squeeze. Tonight was perfect and being here with him - it made the idea of more, not so far out of their reach. Chewing down on her bottom lip, Kate considered what else she could possible say to him. How else could she show him how much she appreciated everything? She looked into Castle's eyes and everything went black. Her vision was covered, as she felt hands blocking her eyes.

"Surprise," the voice husked in her ear, warm breath against her skin. Dropping Castle's hand, Kate turned around, confused by the sudden pang of disappointment in the pit of her stomach.

"Josh?"

tbc

Thanks so much for reading! I would love to hear what you think!

xoxo

My lovely group of betas and friends...I may whine but you make me work for this. Thanks.