This is hopefully going to be a different stoty even for me.
I know where I a am going. I just don't know how to get there

YET!

We start in the beginning or more accurately the day before they meet. Time line is before S1 Ep1
All the players belong to ABC/Disney/Marlow/Milmar and not me

I do this for fun and not profit
Because if I did this for money, I would starve to death

A Stranger in a coffee Shop

A stressful Monday morning begins for Detective Becket. She does not know it is stressful but it will be

Katherine Houghton Beckett has started this morning like she always does by stopping for a morning jolt of coffee at Jan's Java Joynt on the corner just a half block from the precinct.

She opens the door today to find herself at the back of a long line of customers. Much longer than usual today. It appears that they are running way far behind in filling their customer's orders. After several minutes she finds herself almost at the front of the line, ready to give her order.

When she glances toward the counter looking for the usual staff of four there are only two today, one taking the orders and one making the brews. But no matter how fast they are in filling the customer requests, the line seems to just grow longer by the minute

"Good morning Kate" Val, the manager says as the young detective finally reaches the counter to place her order

"Hey Val! Where is everybody?" Beckett asks as she looks across the space toward the brewer

"Tony is out with the flu and Andy, the new guy, missed his train and will be here in about 15 minutes"

"That explains the long line of customers waiting"

"Yes it does" Val responds "So, Kate, the usual today?"

"You know me too well. I hate change. A Grande skim latte two pumps sugar free vanilla" Kate says as she hands over her pre paid Java Joynt card

"I am so sorry, Kate. It will be several minutes" Then she leans in close to Beckett's ear "This one's on me" the manager tells Kate

The manager pretends to charge the card then she passes it back to the young detective

Beckett smiles as she mouths the words 'Thank You' to the manager

Kate turns around and realizes the place is completely packed with people not just waiting in line to order but also waiting to pick up their orders. Glancing around the room looking for a place to stand or sit, out of the way of the crowd she takes a mental inventory of the customers, like her, waiting.

She notices a business man, in a suit, with his tablet open and a Bluetooth headset in his ear.

A well dressed woman also reading something on the front of her cell phone.

A woman in a nurse's uniform talking on her phone and waving her arms in an animated conversation with someone.

Finally, a group of three teenaged girls laughing while looking at some image on the middle girl's laptop computer.

It is after all that, that Kate notices one high top table with two stools beside it with only one occupied by a man alone. He does not have a Bluetooth device on his head. He has no tablet or computer open on the table top. He has no cell phone up to his ear. He is actually reading a real printed newspaper

Bring an observant police officer, she takes a mental inventory of this man. He is probably in his late sixties or even early seventies, tall over six foot, strong build, looks like he has probably kept himself physically fit possibly by walking, swimming or regular exercise. He has blue eyes and still has a full head of hair. His face is partially covered by a somewhat short salt and pepper beard. He is ruggedly handsome and could easily attract an equally attractive lady

He is alone however and appears to be sad somehow

She decides to ask if she can sit beside him while she waits for her order

"Excuse me sir. Is this seat taken?" Beckett asks as she is pulling the stool away from the table

The man actually does not verbally answer but signals with a slight hand motion they she may sit if she so desires

Kate rises herself up on the stool and finds she is at his eye level once she is seated. "Hi my name is Kate" she states as she offers her hand across the table top

The man looks up from the newspaper in front of him towards her pro offered hand then further up to her face.

As if not wanting to complete the meeting he finally speaks "My name is R...Um. My name is Roger"

"Hello Roger. Nice to meet you Roger. Do you come here a lot?" Kate asks

"Excuse me young lady. This is not a bar and I am not a pick up" the older man comments

"Roger, I am NOT trying to pick up you or anyone else for that matter! I was just making idle conversation while I am waiting for my coffee to be made"

The man looks across at the young woman then over at the ever growing line of patrons waiting for their morning jolt of caffeine.

"Sorry" he speaks quietly. Then returns his gaze at the daily paper in front of him and without looking up he from his newspaper continues "Just started coming last week"

"So. Do you live around here?" she asks

"Just moved two blocks from here"

She begins thinking about where he might live. If he is retired then he would be staying at a retirement community, but there is not one inside the two blocks he just mentioned. There were only apartments and lofts mostly occupied by young single professionals and small families

"You live alone?" trying to keep the conversation going

"Yeah" is his one word reply

She again tries to dig into the man "Are you retired?"

Again he never looks up "Sort of"

"You ARE retired?"

"Sort of" is his response again

She decides to try a different approach. "Are you working part time?"

"Sort of"

She knows that this is not going to go anywhere. But before she can continue her questioning she hears her name being called to pick up her order

"That's my order" Kate slides off the stool "Roger, it was nice to meet you and I hope to see you again"

Once more, the man does not seem interested in the conversation with his half hearted response "Yeah"

All the way to the station, Detective Beckett fills her thoughts about the stranger. She thinks about the man she just met. He seemed like a lonely person. Probably living alone. Not in a retirement community where he would be with possible peers or friends or even lady friends. He was different from all the other customers at the shop. Reading a newspaper, not talking on a cell phone or even seems to be interested in any of the electronic devices. He never once looked up at the television over the counter playing the daily news reports

Kate's mind is quickly drawn back to work.

When she arrived at her desk there it was, a large stack of reports needing her attention. Starting at the top, she slowly began to bring the monster pile of paper under control. By mid afternoon she could see the end of the monster of paper was in sight.

But as fate would have it her afternoon bliss is interrupted by the call from dispatch. A woman's body has been found covered in rose petals and with two sunflowers covering her eyes.

Detective Katherine Beckett gathers up her bag and tells her two partners, Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan to 'grab your stuff' and the trio head out to the crime scene

Once there the three detectives are met by the medical examiner and Detective Beckett's best friend, Dr. Lanie Parish,

Detective Beckett walks around the victim and realizes that this crime scene is staged exactly like a story in a mystery novel she had read in the past. This makes two crime scenes that appear exactly like fictional tales. Both from the same author.

After making the connection, she chides her partners about not seeing the connection but neither of the two men seems to have the same fixation on the author or even the stories that Detective Beckett does.

She tells the others that she has an idea that she wants to follow up on and heads out into the New York night. She places a phone call to the police data search unit and has them do a search for the current location of the writer of the tales she suspects is the basis of her most recent killing. She believes that in locating this man might help solve her most recent cases.

Driving to the address she uses her shield to gain access to the part celebrating the most recent book release of the man in question.

Pulling her training and inner strength together she manages to not let the man's fame pull her strings and she confronts the possible suspect. After identifying herself and telling him that she needs to ask him a few questions she sees a look in his well known face. A look of stunned confusion

After the interview is over and she decides he had no part of these murders, she realizes he was flirting with her just like he did to all the others. All the debutant and Hollywood wantabe's. But he seemed to especially like playing his game with her

A new week begins for Detective Kate Beckett with another trip to the same coffee shop to get the same coffee and to walk the same sidewalk to the same police station to work on the same old cases.

Again today Beckett orders her usual coffee and notices the same older man sitting at the same high top table reading the newspaper. This time she decides to strike up another conversation with the man

"Good morning Roger" Beckett speaks as she sits down with her coffee

The man glances up without even raising his head "Huh"

"Remember me?

"Hard not to. You interrupted my reading last week and now you are back interrupting me again today"

"Sorry. I didn't know I was an interruption" She has decided that this is going to be a challenge

"Well it was" he responds again without looking up

"What is so important in that paper that speaking to a real person is a problem?"

Turning pages he answers "News, travel, people, weather" again without ever looking up

"Look at me" Kate says using her best detective voice

The man finally raises his head, Kate finally looks into his deep blue eyes and that is when it happens. For some reason Kate Beckett feels a connection inside. There is something familiar yet unknown in this man's face. She feels like they are friends and at the same time strangers. She stutters with her next words

"UH…You look like you could use a friend"

"I don't need a friend" He responds again while lowering his head back to the paper

"OH! I think you do…and I am going to be that friend" She firmly comments

Later in the day, after arriving at the station, Detective Beckett is summoned into the captain's office.

Once inside the boss tells her that her life has just been turned on its head.

The playboy writer will be in her way

Until further notisce!