It makes no difference if you're black or white
If you're a boy or a girl
If the music's pumping it will give you new life
You're a superstar, yes, that's what you are, you know it
- Madonna, "Vogue"

After six measures of introduction, the orchestra parts backed off to allow the chorus to sing, and Kate was able to take a moment to watch Castle conduct. She had seen him in action before, both in person and on the screen - his televised performance of the 1812 Overture with the Chicago Symphony a few July Fourths ago was a particular favorite of hers - but she had never seen it from this vantage point. As the first violinist, she was physically closer to him than anyone else in the orchestra or audience (not that there was an audience for this rehearsal), and her seat in the first chair gave her an excellent angle on his face.

She wasn't looking at his face, though. Her attention was on his body, the way it moved with the music. Kate had played for a lot of conductors, and each had his or her own unique style; some moved a lot, some hardly at all; some kept the beat simply with their hands or the tips of their batons, others expressed it with their entire bodies. Castle was definitely in the latter category. He was bouncing on his toes, with a slight side-to-side motion at what were evidently his favorite spots. Kate couldn't help noticing how well his broad chest and shoulders filled out his button-down shirt; he was clearly muscular underneath the bland clothes he wore. She found herself licking her lips as she watched him move.

A slight shift in her standmate's posture, preparing for their next big entrance, brought Kate back to herself and she quickly forced her attention back onto the music. As they launched into the lengthy series of sixteenth notes, she chewed lightly on her bottom lip and reminded herself forcefully not to get distracted.

The movement drew to a close and Castle cut off the final notes with a flourish, grinning. "Great. That was great, everyone," he called, grabbing a pencil from his stand and pausing to make a few notes. Around the room, Kate and a number of the other players were doing the same.

"Okay!" Castle went on, straightening up again. "Is everybody happy now? In a good mood? Ready to move on?" His cheer was apparently infectious; most of the chorus members - the sopranos and altos at least - were smiling back, as were a number of the instrumentalists.

"If everyone's feeling good, let's sing some Hallelujah," Castle called out, and more smiles broke out across the chorus members' faces. Kate found herself bouncing a little in her seat as well, as her standmate shuffled pages. Who didn't love the famous Hallelujah?

They dove into it with a will, riding the energy that filled the hall along with the opening notes of the well-known chorus. Most of the musicians in the room knew this piece so thoroughly that they hardly looked at their scores. Kate noticed that Castle seemed quite familiar with it as well, although he kept a careful eye on his large conductor's score as he gestured the beats and cued the various sections.

When the sopranos and trumpets started in on their long series of ascending held notes, Castle's body slowed, though his hands continued to keep perfect time; Kate saw him briefly close his eyes and just enjoy the moment, before he recalled himself and refocused his attention on the ensemble. Kate closed her own eyes in a very slow blink, feeling the power of the music flow through her the way it clearly was flowing through Castle. This particular chorus in all its glory, no matter how familiar, always had that effect.

When they finished the piece, an audible sigh of pleasure went through the room, and almost everyone was smiling. Kate sat back in her chair and watched Castle take a moment, take a deep breath, and find his voice.

"Great work, everyone. That was amazing," he said fervently, and the entire ensemble was in the palm of his hand. "But let's not rest on our laurels. There's still a lot of work to do. So hold onto that energy, and let's look at Glory to God, number seventeen."

After Glory to God they did Worthy Is The Lamb, with its extended Amen section, at the end of which the chorus was out of breath and the hall still rang with the reverberations of the timpani. Castle dismissed the trumpet and drum players for the day, and the rehearsal continued.

After an hour and a half, they had gotten through more than half of the choruses, and Castle seemed ready to dive into the next one on the list, but Kate popped up from her seat and got his attention.

"Maestro, you should call a fifteen-minute break soon. Our time is half up."

"Oh!" he said, looking at his watch and then at her with some surprise. "Has it been that long already?" His face split into a boyish grin. "I'm having so much fun, Kate."

"I'm glad," she said, trying and trying to hold back an answering smile of her own. She knew she wasn't succeeding. "But yes, it has been that long, and everyone can use a break."

"Of course." Turning to face the group, he called, "Take fifteen, everyone." The room erupted in a chaos of voices, footsteps ringing on the wooden stage, rustling papers, chairs scraping back, snatches of musical phrases being played or sung.

Almost immediately, Kate was surrounded by people with questions or problems of various kinds. She handled most of them easily: yes, the chorus rehearsal tomorrow was to begin at 2:00; yes, it was okay if one of the violists came half an hour late in the morning; no, she didn't yet know what the seating assignments would be for the spring concert cycle. There were several questions about Perlmutter, which she referred to Howard; she refused to get drawn into gossip.

Rick Castle, of course, was also surrounded, and Kate suspected that most of the musicians coming over to introduce themselves and ask 'just one quick question' were really just fishing for excuses to get near the superstar. She rolled her eyes at the predictability of people.

Then Lanie appeared by her side with an envelope full of cash, which she handed over as unobtrusively as possible. "Don't know how you did that, bitch," she teased, "but if we find out you had advance knowledge, there'll be hell to pay."

"I swear, Lanie, it was just a lucky guess." Kate tucked the money away in her purse, trying not to grin triumphantly.

"Uh-huh," Lanie said skeptically. "Have you-"

"Kate, can we talk for a moment?" Castle interrupted, and Kate startled, not having noticed him approaching. "I don't believe we've met," he added in Lanie's direction, holding out his hand.

"Lanie Parish, alto," she said, shaking his hand, "and may I say, it's a delight to have you with us, Maestro."

"Thank you. It's my pleasure," he replied, and both women noticed how his gaze lingered on Lanie's considerable cleavage before he turned back to Kate. "So, what was the payoff for? Are you dealing drugs out of your violin case?"

"What?" she exclaimed, but then she noticed the twinkle in his eye. Oh, was that supposed to be a joke? She narrowed her eyes at him. Lanie was snickering on her other side. Castle gave them both a wide-eyed faux-innocent look.

"Tell me," Lanie asked, putting a hand on his arm, "why did you choose to start with For Unto Us?"

"Oh," he said eagerly, "well, it's just such a happy, joyful piece, and I thought it would be a great way to start us all off in a good mood. It kind of reminds me of a child's birthday party, actually."

Kate couldn't restrain a little gasp, her eyes going to her music stand. Lanie glanced down, then quickly over at Kate again.

"Oh my god," Lanie exclaimed. "Are you two seriously sharing a brain or what?"

"Uh, what?" Castle asked, confused.

Wordlessly, Lanie snatched Kate's musical score off the stand - evading Kate's attempt to grab it - and held it up for Castle to see. In the margin alongside number 12, Kate had scribbled the words Birthday Party.

"Wow," Castle said, his eyebrows going up, turning his gaze back to Kate. "I guess we really are having a brain-share moment."

Kate huffed, biting her lip. "I suppose."

"Wait," Castle said slowly, looking again at Kate's purse, "so you were betting on which chorus I would start with? That's what the payoff was about?"

Both women shuffled their feet and averted their eyes. "Um," said Kate.

"Um," said Lanie. "Yeah ... it's something we started a few years back, because Perlmutter was always so predictable."

"I see." Castle nodded thoughtfully. "And I helped you win, so I should get half the prize, right?"

Kate opened her mouth to protest, but caught the glint in his eye and frowned instead. "Forget it," she said sharply. "I won that money fair and square, using only my superior intellect and intuition. I'm keeping it." Anyway, it wasn't as if Rick Castle needed the money. Kate didn't really need it either, for that matter, but that was beside the point.

"Okay, okay." Castle put up his hands in surrender, but his eyes were still twinkling with amusement. "Fair enough. But if any other gambling opportunities arise, I want in." He directed this last comment toward Lanie, who grinned widely and gave him a nod.

"You got it, boss." She gave Kate a meaningful look, the meaning of which Kate couldn't discern, and sauntered away.

"I had no idea the symphony chorus was such a hotbed of illicit activity," Castle said to Kate, putting on a mock-outraged expression. "What else do you people do for fun that I should know about?"

"You don't honestly expect me to answer that, do you?" Kate tossed back, deadpan. Castle smirked in response.

"Well. Maybe after we get to know each other better," he murmured, and hopped back up onto the podium while she was still blinking and gaping at his audacity.

"Okay, people! Let's get back to it," he called, and Kate sank into her chair, her face heating up.

The rest of the rehearsal proceeded smoothly. They finished running through all of the choruses, and then Castle asked the singers which spots they wanted to revisit. Watching him as unobtrusively as she could manage, Kate noted that he seemed nervous. She couldn't quite put her finger on what made her think that, but she was pretty sure that letting the singers guide the rest of the rehearsal was a deflection technique, relieving Castle of the need to decide for himself which parts they should practice.

In any case, he tackled the singers' requested sections with enthusiasm, but as the end of the rehearsal period approached, there were still several singers with their hands raised.

"I'm sorry we didn't get to all of you," Castle said earnestly, "but please keep your spots in mind for tomorrow, and I'll make sure we get to them. Okay?"

Nods and agreement all around. Castle looked tired, and so did most of the others. It had been a long day.

"Thank you, everyone," Castle said, "see you tomorrow." And the hall broke out into noise again as everyone prepared to depart.

Once again, Kate was surrounded by players and singers with questions of various kinds. They followed her off the stage and back to the administrative area of the symphony hall, where she ended up standing outside the door to the ladies' restroom to answer the last few questions. Finally the last petitioner left her alone and she was able to use the restroom in peace.

As she emerged, she heard the sound of raised voices from down the hall, in the direction of Howard Grainger's office. Curious, she took a few steps that way, then paused, torn. It was probably none of her business, she told herself; she should just walk away.

While she was standing there debating what to do, the door of Howard's office burst open and his assistant, an older woman named Lois, came out with her mouth set in a hard line and a file folder clutched protectively to her chest. She caught sight of Kate and startled.

"Oh ... Kate, I didn't see you there."

"I'm sorry," Kate said. "I, uh, I heard voices."

Lois huffed out a short breath, hesitated, and then stepped closer, lowering her voice. "Contract problems. Soloists can be so - Well, I didn't get the whole story, but I guess Annabel Matthews, you know, the soprano soloist?" At Kate's nod, she went on, "She's been hounding Howard to change her contract. Like I said, I don't know the details, but he's pretty mad."

"Hmm," Kate said noncommittally. Contract stuff was definitely not her business and she firmly intended to keep it that way. Heaven forbid anyone in the orchestra got the idea that they could come to Kate with that kind of thing.

"Oh," Lois gulped, "but I shouldn't be talking about this stuff, it's probably confidential, I'm so sorry."

"No, it's okay. I won't say anything." Kate squeezed the other woman's shoulder briefly, and returned to the stage to gather her things.

Most of the chorus and orchestra had already left; just a few stragglers remained, chit-chatting as they prepared to leave. Castle was on the audience floor, still surrounded by a small crowd of admirers. Kate rolled her eyes, unaccountably frustrated by the people who apparently didn't realize how transparent they were. She tuned out their chatter and focused on getting her belongings sorted out.

"Hey, girl," said Lanie, approaching with her coat and bag. "Sorry, but I gotta bail on drinks. Javier is having some kind of existential crisis and needs his hand held." She rolled her eyes extravagantly.

"What?" Kate paused and looked at her friend. "You're back with him, again? Since when?"

"Oh, you're one to talk, chica. Have you even gotten laid yet this century?"

Kate huffed indignantly. "Fine. Just abandon me for your guy. But if his 'crisis' turns out to be nothing more than a booty call, tell him he owes me a beer."

"Will do," Lanie grinned, and departed.

Kate finished packing away her violin and was putting on her coat when the sound of a throat clearing alerted her to the presence of Castle, standing beside her chair, watching her. Her breath quickened a little as she looked at him looking at her. Almost everyone was gone. Why was he still here?

"Well," she said a little awkwardly, "guess this is it for today."

"Oh, it doesn't have to be," he replied, his expression open and earnest. "We could, uh, go to dinner, debrief each other."

"Debrief?" she laughed, buttoning her coat. "What are we, CIA agents?" He quirked a small grin at that, ducking his head. "What are you thinking, Castle, that I could be another one of your conquests?"

"Or I could be one of yours," he shot back quickly, smiling for real now. It was ... a surprisingly endearing smile. She cursed herself internally for being drawn to it.

"It was nice to meet you, Maestro Castle," she said formally, and added, "I'll see you in the morning. Orchestra rehearsal starts at ten."

"Can we at least meet up for coffee before the rehearsal? Discuss our plan of attack for the day?" he urged, following her down the center aisle of the concert hall. "I'd love your input."

Kate sighed and bit her lip, her thoughts whirling. If anyone saw them having coffee together... But on the other hand, she had promised Howard that she would give Castle all the assistance he required. Glancing back at his face, she knew that he was counting on that very thing to get her to agree. Ugh, it was so obnoxious and irritating of him. But on the third hand - or maybe the fourth or fifth by now; she had lost count - he was an interesting guy, and one of her favorite composers, and it was a legitimate request for help.

"Okay," she agreed at last. "There's a Starbucks across the street. Meet you there at nine?"

He frowned briefly in thought. "I have to drop my daughter off at school ... but yeah, I can be there by nine."

"Sounds good." She gave him a nod. "I'll see you then, Castle."

"Till tomorrow, Kate."

They stepped out the front door, descended the wide stone steps, and went their separate ways.

Castle opened the door of his loft and sniffed the air a little cautiously. It smelled as if his mother had been cooking. He hoped the kitchen was intact.

"Dad! You're home!" called an excited young voice, and he pouted a little as he hung up his coat. He still hadn't gotten used to his beloved daughter no longer calling him Daddy. Now that Alexis was fifteen, she seemed to think that she was too old for things like "Daddy" and ice cream for breakfast. He was just thankful that she still had an interest in laser tag.

"Hey there, pumpkin," he greeted her as he approached the kitchen. "You didn't let Gram burn anything, did you?"

"Very funny, Richard," said a mellow voice from behind the open refrigerator door. "For your information, kale is supposed to smell like that."

"Kale?" he muttered in Alexis's ear as he hugged her, and felt her slender shoulders lift in a shrug.

"It's super nutritious, apparently," she whispered back. "How was the rehearsal?" she added at normal volume. "Did you miss any entrances?"

"A few," he admitted, pulling a mock-offended face as he slid onto a stool, "but I'm deeply wounded that you would ask such a thing, daughter. But since you ask, the rehearsal went very well. The music is fantastic, of course, and everyone was really nice."

"Sign many chests?" Alexis asked teasingly.

"Zero, in fact. It wasn't that kind of crowd."

"No women in the orchestra?" his mother needled, closing the fridge and pouring two glasses of wine.

"Oh, there are women. Plenty of women," he said, distracted for a moment by the thought of Kate Beckett: the snap and spark in her eye when he teased her; the decisive, confident sweep of her violin bow; the long slim lines of her body. A thought occurred to him and he pulled out his phone, scrolling through his list of contacts. He looked up briefly to see his mother and daughter eyeing him speculatively.

"What?"

"Who is she, Dad?"

"Who is who?" he asked innocently, and then bristled when they both rolled their eyes in unison. "I don't have to put up with this grilling," he announced loftily, standing up. "I have some phone calls to make. Call me when the..." he glanced at the pot bubbling on the stove, and grimaced, "...pizza gets here."

Kate Beckett picked up some takeout from her favorite sushi place and went home. After putting the sushi in the fridge and changing out of her workday clothes, she ran a hot bath. While the tub was filling, she wandered out to her living room and found herself at the music cabinet, scanning her large collection of CDs. Slowly her hand came up, hesitated, hovered, and at last landed, separating a CD case from the rest. She took it back into the bathroom, opened the case, and slipped the disc into the small portable CD player on the shelf.

The opening strains of Richard Castle's "Alice Suite" filled the small bathroom as Kate slid out of her robe and lowered herself carefully into the steaming hot water. It was one of Castle's earliest non-dramatic choral works, a series of short songs whose lyrics were poems from Alice in Wonderland. Kate smiled quietly to herself as the first words drifted out.

'You are old, Father William,' the young man said,
'and your hair has become very white.
And yet you incessantly stand on your head -
Do you think, at your age, it is right?'

Kate sank down into the bubbles and allowed memories to percolate upward in her mind as her body relaxed.

She remembered her mother coming home with a new CD and saying excitedly, "Oh, Katie, you've got to hear this. This guy is really good. He's a new young composer and I think you'll love his stuff."

She remembered rolling her eyes and sighing, "Mom, I don't have time to listen to new music, not when I have all this material to learn already."

But Johanna had put the CD on anyway, and played it almost constantly over the next few weeks, until Kate, to her disgust, found herself humming the songs wherever she went.

Then, unexpectedly, her mother had surprised Kate with tickets to Castle's then brand-new Broadway show...

Kate paused at that point, redirecting her thoughts before they could get any closer to painful memories she wasn't in the mood to revisit tonight.

She closed her eyes and began instead to mentally review the schedule for tomorrow's two rehearsals - the orchestra in the morning, and the chorus in the afternoon - while Castle's music continued playing softly in the background.

Author's Note: Thank you very much to all who have reviewed, followed, favorited, etc.! I hope you continue to enjoy the ride. I intend to post a chapter every few days, but as you surely know, December can be a busy month so please have patience with my sometimes erratic posting schedule.

Since I forgot to mention it in the previous chapter, let me add a very heartfelt thanks to Lindsey (ipreferwestside) for beta-reading and general words of support on the first two chapters!