A/N: Still don't own any of this, just like to play with them for a while.

To say that Rick 'knew a guy' was a gross understatement. He had a guy in the FBI, a guy in the CIA, a guy in the mob, a guy in the Pentagon and at Langley. And he had a guy who knew a guy in the NYPD. He called him and started, "Hey big guy, how's it going?"

"Fine, I guess," his contact replied, "Will let you know when I find out what you want now."

Rick continued, "I'm looking for someone, a woman."

"Yeah, aren't we all."

"Not like that, someone specific and she is a cop. I would guess her to be relatively new and about 21 or 22 years old. All I know is she had a shield and her first name is Kate. She is extraordinarily beautiful, long, wavy brunette hair, about 5 foot 9 with a smile that would stop a war. Think you can find her?"

"Of course, I can, but it will take a couple of days and will cost you."

"Don't care, I need to find her."

"I'll get back to you as soon as I have any information. Gonna be tough to crack the blue line for that information for someone on the outside. Will let you know."

So with that, his guy went off looking for Rick's mystery cop. His contact inside the NYPD was not in personnel, so he would have to give him time to find another cop inside personnel to help out. It would be delicate because cops are very protective of their brothers in blue.

Rick went about his daily routine as if in a daze. All he could think about was the vision that had suddenly reappeared in his life, just as she did on the stage in San Francisco. He was hoping against hope his contact would get back to him soon.

Now Rick was a big believer in magic and destiny and fate, so having Emerald, er Kate, fall back into his life was no coincidence. In fact, she had actually gone out of her way to find him, so he was thinking there must be some feelings on her side also.

He reflected back on his very brief meeting of her and realized he now found a much more mature looking woman than the one he saw in California. He also sensed a great tragedy in her, something that had affected her to the very depths of her soul. He knew there had been a story behind her sudden disappearance from the club after she had invited him to come watch her dance. He just didn't know what it was. Yet.

Kate had fled from Rick's presence, not wanting to but feeling she had no choice at the time. She desperately wanted to meet with him again, to maybe rekindle the sentiment, and maybe desire, she had felt in his hotel room. Never before or since had she felt as safe and as at peace with the world as she did back then with him.

Rick Castle, world famous best-selling author. Who would have known? How could she have fallen for a guy with this kind of backstory? What would she do now, knowing his fame could draw unwanted attention to her if they would happen to get back together? She was not Emerald anymore, but she was still a private person, even more so after her mom's death. She wanted no notoriety that might hinder her search for her mom's assailant. She just wanted justice for her.

But she also wanted Rick. Oh how she wanted him, to feel the safety and harmony she had experienced on that dark cold night two years ago in San Francisco. She not only wanted Rick, she needed him to balance the scales of her life. She needed him to help quell the raging emotions concerning her mother's murder. He could do that.

Probably only he could do that.

"Katherine Beckett, 12th Precinct," the voice on the phone said. "You are on your own now. Payment as is customary and through the same channels. Separation of church and state and all that, you see."

"Not a problem," Rick said. "There will be an added bonus for your discretion. I can't thank you enough."

Hmm, Kate Beckett? How do I get to her now? I have a guy in the phone company. Wonder if he can get her number for me?

Two days later, the text arrived, relaying a single phone number, for a cell.

"Now under what pretenses do I call her? How do I assure her that I respect her privacy and do not want to hurt her?" Rick pondered. He could simply cold-call her, but didn't want to freak her out. He could text and leave a message, trying desperately to assuage her fear so she might return his text. He could show up at the Precinct, (12th wasn't it?), to try to talk to her outside of work. Nope, stalker much?

None of these seemed like very good choices.

Maybe he would try to determine her routine, find some innocuous semi-public location where he could 'accidentally' bump into her. Guess what, he knew another guy.

He contacted his old friend Dave and asked him if he thought he could shadow a person for a week or so to set a routine for her.

Dave immediately asked, chuckling, "Rick, you didn't get a woman pregnant did you?"

Rick mumbled under his breath, "No, not this time." Would he ever have a chance to even consider that, starting a family with Kate?

Anyway, Dave said he could but would need some info first. Rick gave him what he knew and Dave said he would get back to him. Rick wasn't sure how he would know who Kate was since he did not have a picture of her for Dave's use.

"No worries Rick, that is why you pay me my exorbitant sum."

So once again, Rick was caught in a waiting game. He was going absolutely stir crazy having to wait to meet with his destiny. He had waited for more than two years before having a chance encounter and he was not going to let this chance get by. He was bound and determined to find Kate and try to make something out of the attraction he knew they both felt. He had not felt this attraction ever, for Kyra or even for Meredith. Marriage to her was a matter of responsibility and trying to provide a family he never had for Alexis. However, it was not to be, but he was sure a relationship with Kate was something that would be more. Hell, it already had been. Only one night; he had been nearly celibate since then no matter what page six claimed. He had been with only one woman since then and to be truthful she simply was not Kate.

He could not explain it, but he was pretty sure she was his ever after.

Kate was beating herself up about why her compulsion to see Rick again had driven her to actually meet with him on her home turf. She worked just eleven city blocks from the bookstore. He had to know she was from the city now and dreaded whether he would somehow find out she worked for the NYPD and inadvertently cause some personnel issues for her at the precinct. She truly felt he would not do this intentionally, but secrets do slip and she could not afford to have the big one between Rick and her emerge from her past.

She went about her routine as normal, but deliberately did not go out in public any more than necessary to perform her patrol duties and travel back and forth to work. One routine she did not give up though was stopping at her favorite little bistro for her morning coffee. If she was not properly caffeinated, she was one cranky momma bear all day.

Well guess what, Dave discovered this routine also and after some continued shadowing, he relayed the information to Rick.

Perfect, Rick thought. A new game was afoot. He could meet her 'accidentally' at the coffeehouse and maybe have a quiet conversation with her. He would observe her for a time before actually initiating the meeting so he would know under what circumstances he stood the best chance.

So for the next two weeks, he watched the coffeehouse and found that Kate was very punctual with her early routine. She went to work nearly at the exact same time each morning, stopping at the bistro within three to five minutes of the same time each day.

Well at least the timing would be easy. Rick was not sure about any of the other details yet. Rick had never had this type of clandestine task research before, but nothing he had ever undertaken had meant so much as this one meeting could be. He had to be able to pull this off within the first minute or she might be gone again or at least from him. He really was curious and more than a little saddened that she had disappeared from the bookstore as she had. Why had she made the trip to the bookstore if she didn't want to see him? Why would she take off in such a hurry if she wasn't fearful of him? Did she remember the time in California differently than he did? He could only wonder if his jumbled writer's brain recollected correctly the events he has fantasized over so often since San Francisco.

He was planning to try to meet her tomorrow morning before her shift, so he needed to get some sleep. With visions of Emerald literally dancing in his dreams, he slept soundly and woke refreshed, if not just a little anxious because of his fantasy and what the day might have in store for him.

It was a momentous day for him. Can he succeed in finding his gem today?