Yet another Knockdown kmc. This one is based on the deleted scene where Jim Beckett comes to Beckett's place to bring her some stuff, and he and Castle meet for the first time. If for some reason you haven't seen it, go to youtube now. It's adorable. Then come back and read. In my opinion, Jim Beckett is love. Every time he comes onscreen I just want to hug him.

Ten gajillion thanks to Cartographicals, Sandiane Carter and Sparklemouse for editing this. You are my dollies. Merci, my doves.

Chapter 40: 3x13, Knockdown 3.0 (in which there is Jim)

Naked Heat?

Katie opens the door, smiling, and Jim is struck for the hundred thousandth time by just how beautiful his daughter is.

"Hey."

"Hey, Dad."

He hugs her tight because whenever she talks about her mother, his heart twists and he has to remind himself that they're both okay. That she isn't falling headlong into this again, that he's not losing himself. But she hugs him back and it doesn't feel tense, or stiff, or unwilling. There's a lightness about her. Katie looks peaceful. More peaceful than she ever has when she's thinking about her mother.

God, he misses Johanna.

He lets her go. "So you're sure you want to go through with this?"

"Yeah."

Jim was worried when she called and asked for the photos and Johanna's records, but this is much better than he expected. She's calm. She doesn't have that frantic, haunted expression he remembers from so long ago, those years they were both barely hanging on. Katie looks healthy.

Jim follows her inside. He likes her apartment. She's got eclectic taste, that's for sure. The Buddha sitting beside her front door isn't quite his style. But it's warm. All the openness, the light coming in. It suits her.

There's someone sitting at her table; he stands as Jim follows Kate inside. Jim immediately recognizes the man in front of him from the books on her shelf. Well, how about that. He finally gets to meet his daughter's favorite author.

"Dad, this is Rick Castle."

Rick immediately offers his hand. "Well! Nice to finally meet you, sir."

Sir. Damn. Seriously? Katie hasn't had a boyfriend actually call Jim sir since that idiot little French duke or viscount or whoever he was, when she was a teenager. It makes him feel old.

"Yeah, I feel like I already know you. I've heard a lot of great things about you from Katie."

"Really?" Rick looks surprised at that. He glances at Kate, who just smiles and excuses herself. Rick watches her go with an undeniable tenderness in his eyes that Jim can't ignore. Huh. If I didn't know better -

Jim bites back a chuckle. He made that mistake once. She'd come over for dinner on one of her rare free evenings, and after yet another Castle did this today story, he'd casually asked So, are you two - dating, or - ? Katie had blushed bright pink and denied it vehemently. Jim had just smiled secretly into his water glass. Clearly, Rick Castle is a touchy subject.

It's been quiet for too long, so Jim says the first thing he can think of. "I, uh, read your latest book." Rick seems to brighten at that. "Naked Heat."

The author immediately seems to realize just how it sounds. "Oh. Uh. Well, uh, though my books are grounded in reality, a lot of the aspects of them are - are just - pure fantasy." Oh, yikes. Don't need to hear that. That didn't help. Rick's eyes get wide. "Not my - not my - my personal fantasy. Just - out of my imagination." No, no no no. Still not helping. Rick stumbles to catch himself - "Not that I'm - imagining that all the time. Just - uh - I'm - not doing a very good job explaining myself, am I?"

"I think you're doing fine, Rick." It's not Rick's fault Katie is so gorgeous. Though maybe it would be nice if the book she's inspired didn't have a naked woman on the cover.

"You're very kind."

Jim decides to put the poor man out of his misery. "How's she holding up?"

"Uh - you know - " There's a long moment where he's not sure if Rick's going to be honest, but the younger man sits, and it seems like he just...breaks open. "Sometimes it's hard to tell. She doesn't flinch."

Isn't that the truth. "I know. She wouldn't have a nightlight when she was a little girl. Not that she wasn't, you know, afraid of the dark. I think it was just a point of pride for her to - stare it down." He remembers it like it was yesterday, coming into her room to find tiny Katie curled up in a ball, her eyes wide, the nightlight they'd gotten her pulled out of the wall socket. Johanna had tried to plug it back in, but Katie shook her head. She hasn't changed.

Rick's watching her again through the doorway as she carefully sorts through the pictures, and Jim decides this might be the right time. "You know, Johanna and I were colleagues for almost three years? People talk about being struck by a bolt of lightning. With us it was more of a - slow burn." That - seems to resonate. Rick's smiling. "It took me three years to figure out I was in love with her. And - I would give anything to have a minute of that time back. You know, you think you're going to have all the time in the world. But no one does."

He misses Jo so much right now, so fiercely, his love knotted in his chest for the woman he'd hoped to spend his life with. And Rick - there's a stricken look on his face. He looks like he understands. Like maybe he's been working with Katie for three years and that's not a coincidence.

Jim knows a man in love when he sees one.

"If you care about her, don't let my daughter lose another twelve years of her life to this, Rick."

There's a long silence, but before Rick can say anything, Kate comes back in, smiling. She doesn't seem to see the way Rick's watching her. Like his heart is in his throat and he's about to just say it all. "Thanks for bringing these over, Dad."

Jim clears his throat. "Well, uh. if you need anything else, just - give me a call, sweetheart."

"Actually, Dad, it's almost noon. Why don't you stay for lunch?" Katie looks at him almost shyly, and Jim can see the little girl, her eyes wide in her dark bedroom, longing but determined to be the brave one. He hears the subtext under her words: I don't want you to leave so fast, Dad.

"I'd like that."

Rick grins. "I can ask you about all those delightfully embarrassing tales of young Kate Beckett I'm so interested in hearing."

Kate rolls her eyes, and Jim can't help but laugh. They're like kids on a playground. "Well, did she ever tell you about the clown at her seventh birthday party?"

"Dad!" Her cheeks are pink and she's trying to glare at him, but she's smiling so much it doesn't work.

Jim holds up his hands, placating. "Okay. Maybe not. No story then."

Rick pouts, but Kate huffs sternly. "I never should have let you two meet. Castle, why don't you get lunch so I can tell my dad which stories are off-limits." Rick quickly pulls out his phone and steps into the kitchen.

So far, Jim has noticed a few things about Rick Castle.

Rick already knows about Johanna. And Kate isn't open. Not with people she doesn't trust.

Rick calls the Chinese place and asks Jim for his order, but already seems to know Kate's.

When Rick teases her, she laughs.

And Jim can't help but notice that Rick Castle is the first man Kate's introduced to him since -

- since she almost ended up Mrs. Will Sorenson.

Lunch is quiet and friendly. And only very mildly uncomfortable.

Jim keeps an eye on his daughter. She smiles, and she laughs, and she eats well enough that he doesn't worry. But she's watching Rick. And Rick is watching her, and watching Jim, and she's also watching Jim watching Rick. Everyone's - observing. Carefully.

For his part, Jim has to keep himself from smiling too widely. Because his daughter might pride herself on her calm demeanor and her perfect composure, but he knows her too well. He knows that quick smile, the way her eyes drop when she's self-conscious, the way she ducks her head instinctively when she's afraid she's giving too much away. Katie's all determined and fierce and independent, sure, but if his daughter's not at least a little bit in love with Rick Castle, well, Jim will eat his hat.

And Rick? Please. The man's not even hiding it.

Katie swats Rick's hand away when he tries to steal one of her wontons. "Castle, stop. Stop. You had yours."

"You would hit me in front of your father?"

"Don't steal my food."

"Rick, you probably shouldn't take her lunch," Jim points out mildly between bites of chicken. "She has a gun."

After they finish eating, Jim takes over dishwashing, purposely leaving the two of them to clear up the table together. Kate shoots him a look - she's not stupid - but he just shoos her away and runs water into the sink. Let the kids talk. Give them their space.

He can hear soft snatches of a conversation floating in. Kate.

Castle -

- can't help it -

She says something too quietly, and then Rick's voice again, low and earnest. We never talk about this, Kate. Why not?

It sounds private, so he lingers. Let them have some space. Whenever it's about Johanna, he treads lightly. Katie's a strong woman, but that's her weak spot. He knows she still hurts over it. He does too. It's a pain that never goes away; the best it ever becomes is bearable. And after all this time, after Katie dragged him out of that darkness that almost killed him, it still catches him off-guard sometimes, the way his chest aches when he remembers that police officer standing at their front door, the moment he thought nothing would ever be okay, ever again.

Jim dries off the last dish - he found a small pile of them already stacked in the sink, so he washed those too, figuring she probably gets busy enough that she might not have time - and puts everything away. Rinsing out the washcloth, he wipes down the counters, straightens her coffeemaker, and runs the cloth over her stove before finally rinsing it and wiping off the sink and faucet.

Hmm. It's gotten quiet. Rick didn't leave, did he?

Laying the washcloth out to dry, Jim ducks back into the office. "Katie, did - oh."

They're kissing.

It looks timid, innocent, almost unsure. Rick's hand is on her cheek, and for a split second Jim thinks the scene in front of him is perfect. Soft. Gentle. Openly loving.

But they jerk apart instantly, and Kate covers her mouth, almost as if she's trying to hide it. Jim coughs a little. It's been a long time since he caught his daughter kissing a boy. "Oh. Uh. Sorry, you two."

Katie chokes a little. "Dad - Dad, it - it's not - "

"No, no. It's my fault. Didn't mean to startle you," Jim says, shoving his hands in his pockets. Rick looks scared as hell. Poor guy. If lunch was awkward, this is - well, considerably more awkward.

Katie murmurs something like excuse me and ducks back into the kitchen, leaving Jim alone with the man who wrote Naked Heat about her.

To his credit, Rick looks properly mortified. "Look, sir - "

"Oh, don't call me 'sir.' Makes me feel like a fossil."

"Mr. Beckett -"

"Seriously. Just call me Jim."

Rick chuckles weakly. "Right. Jim. I - look, this has never - I mean, we're not - together."

"If you don't mind me asking, Rick - why not?"

Rick looks down, and Jim sees a flash of genuine pain in the man's face. "She - she's seeing someone. Someone else."

Oh. She...hasn't mentioned that. She's seeing someone? A different man? Who is he? What kind of guy is he? Why hasn't she -

Not the time for that now. "I know you care about her. Just - don't give up on her, okay?"

"Jim, I appreciate it, but she's got someone else. He's - "

"He's not here." Jim fixes the younger man with a sharp look. "And you are. Don't think that means nothing." Rick stares at him, eyes wide, and Jim thinks - he hopes - he's touched a nerve. "And between you and me, son, when Katie was in high school, some boy she didn't like tried to kiss her once. He got a bloody nose. My daughter doesn't accept a kiss she doesn't want."

Rick lets out a short laugh, his shoulders relaxing a little. "That - I could see that, actually."

"It's not my place," Jim shrugs. "But you seem like a good man. And if she's letting you in, it means she wants you here. This - this whole - you know, I think. What it did to us. To me."

Rick looks away. "I. Yeah. She - told me."

"She mentioned you have a daughter, right? In high school?" The writer nods. "Then you know. You know how they grow into amazing people, brave and strong and so much more than you ever thought. She saved me. And I'm asking you, Rick. Take care of her. She's everything to me. And if she trusts you, then I do too."

Katie comes back in then, her face less flushed, her eyes still bright. And the quick look she gives Rick is - shy. Conflicted. Unsure. But then, she's dating someone else, isn't she? Some phantom man who's not here and doesn't seem to realize she needs someone.

She and Rick need to talk about – whatever this is.

Jim excuses himself and leaves, twisting his keys in his pocket. It's chilly outside, but sunny, and he can't help but smile as he heads for the subway. Rick Castle. Huh.

He misses Johanna every day, but the absence has lost its bitterness. The ache is gentler. He can remember her without anger now. Remember her for the beautiful, dazzling woman she was. Love her for the wonderful daughter they raised.

Johanna used to tell him not to scare Katie's boyfriends in high school. Jim. Stop it. You're overreacting. He's not that bad.

And for once, Jim's met a guy he thinks might actually be good enough for her.