Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

Prompt #46: Character - He didn't like playing favorites, but he'd always had a soft spot for Nikki that never completely faded.

Words: 655

It was a lazy morning in November when Richard Castle sat back in his desk chair and surveyed the bookshelves that lined the walls of his study. Each title stood out to his eyes like a neon sign. Every one held an adventure, traversed by a character that he once held dear to his heart.

He thought of all his characters as his children in one way or another. They were born from his imagination and grew through years of hard research and trials. They evolved from simple names and concepts into complex people with their own pasts and demons. Sometimes he'd find a name or a story and from there, another child was born to combat the evil of the fictional crime world.

Many were one-shot stars. More like foster children, he only kept them long enough to grow up and defeated the evil within the story. Once that task was completed, he let them fade away into the halls of anonymity.

For the longest time, Derrick Storm was his favorite. The son he hoped to have, once upon a time. Daring, suave, sophisticated, and smart, he underwent trials that always kept Castle on the edge of his seat, fingers desperately flying to find out what happened next. He pushed Derrick to new heights and depths, spinning new adventures to see just how much the secret agent could develop. Once he'd done everything possible, Castle could find no other course but to kill Derrick off. The spy had gone above and beyond all expectations; he deserved a good, final rest in the graveyard of literacy.

Derrick was what he had wished he could have become - and, as luck would have it, the one who best personified his father.

Then came the NYPD homicide hotshot in heels, Detective Nikki Heat. Sassy, clever, tough, and sexy to boot, based on a woman he fell in love with (if he was being honest) almost at first sight. She and Jameson Rook had their own adventures, both on the streets and between the sheets. After Nikki's crime-solving antics spanned several books and not a few film adaptations, Rick had taken a sabbatical to spend time with his wife and daughters. It wasn't like he couldn't afford to do so, and besides, he needed the time to relax his creative juices.

That had been his problem with Derrick; pushing too hard, too fast, and too far resulted in a passion becoming more like work. Nikki needed a time-out to see if she could be taken on another adventure. And she was content to patiently await his return, a faithful and silent companion.

A surprise gift from Kate, of all people, had given birth to another character. A completely different character from Nikki and Derrick, but somehow a blend of them both. For their nine-year-old daughter who was showing a love of reading, Rick decided to try a different approach with the novel's content.

Her name was Data. A prodigy child in a futuristic world, who finds herself balancing her civilian life while assisting the police force as a crime-fighting cyber-warrior. Her first adventure, Data Hack, was on his laptop screen at this moment. Rick looked at his smartboard and regarded the charts and diagrams spread across the screen. Already the young hacker's backstory was coming together, allies springing out of the woodwork like woodland creatures at the sound of a Disney Princess's singing.

Data was what he wished his little Jo would become - a bright, spunky girl with the potential to change her world for the better.

But no matter what adventures Data or any future character took him on, Rick knew he'd always love Nikki just a bit more than any of his other literary children. Playing favorites, but it was the truth.

After all, she helped bring Rick and Kate together.

Another fluffy future fic. I think Castle would play favorites with Nikki, wouldn't you?

Review please!

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