The real rulers in Washington are invisible, and exercise power from behind the scenes.

Felix Frankfurter

X

There are a number of things wrong with Washington. One of them is that everyone is too far from home.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

NEW YORK CITY

"That's the last of it, Katie." Jim's voice is low and even, as if he's trying not to spook her and really, it's a good call. Because she is. So very spooked.

What is she thinking? Uprooting her life, leaving the only town she's ever called home, and, even worse, dragging her father along because she's too selfish to leave him behind.

Okay, and because there's an amazing rehab facility that even he's excited to go to. And that above all should be enough of a reason to not be so spooked. That her father is excited to take control of his alcoholism.

But the new job should excite her. And it does. Secret Service Agent? It's a leap she never thought she'd take. And yet…

"Katie?" He places hesitant fingers to her elbow and she finally turns from the window, sucks in a breath at the sight of her empty apartment before her. She releases the air from her lungs, takes a slow pull of air through her nose and locks eyes with her father.

"I'm ready."

WASHINGTON, D.C.

"Sir?"

At the sound of his assistant's voice, Rick turns from the window, tearing his eyes from the inviting lush green of the lawn. He would much rather be out there, taking a nap in the sun.

"Director Rancic is here for his meeting."

Except that his job is getting in the way.

"Ellen, what color lightsaber would you have?"

"None, because I'm not a Jedi. There are no Jedi here, sir, this is the White House." Her answer comes swiftly and without reproach; the woman is quite skilled at derailing his non-sequitur questions which is why he hired her all those years ago for his Senate office. It was a no-brainer to bring her along to sit outside the Oval Office. Everyone knows that if you don't have a meeting, you're not getting past Ellen to see the President.

He frowns at her. "Fun ruiner."

"Someone has to keep you in line when your daughter's not here. Shall I show the director in, Mr. President?"

"Fine." He doesn't miss her smirk at his petulant tone.

"Rick, how are ya?" the Secret Service director calls out jovially as he enters, offering his hand in greeting.

"Ed, can we hire a few Jedi?" is his form of a reply as he gives a hearty handshake before motioning to sit.

"Well, I'm open to the idea," he muses as he settles on a sofa. "But I don't know any. Have anyone in mind?"

"Nah, I was hoping you did. But seriously, how cool would I look flanked by guys with lightsabers? I'd definitely have to get Alexis a Queen Amidala costume."

"Speaking of Alexis…"

"Oh, right, you are here for a reason, aren't you? 3:15, meeting with Secret Service Director."

Ed chuckles as he pulls a few files from his briefcase. "Some of us do work around here."

"Hey, I'm leader of the free world. I work."

"Before I showed up, how long were you thinking about Jedi?"

"'Bout half an hour," Rick admits sheepishly.

"I thought so. I have a couple options for Alexis's new detail," Ed starts, placing a file on the table between them and flipping open the cover. "First guy-"

"No. I told you I want a woman, Alexis has been surrounded by enough men, I want her to see a strong female on a daily basis."

"He's a good agent," he presses.

"Then give him a good detail but it won't be with my daughter."

"Fair enough." Ed sets the file aside and replaces it with another. "Kendra Winecroft, just finished at Quantico a month ago, recruited by one my best agents. She has a great skill set."

"But no experience," Rick points out.

"But no experience," Ed admits.

Rick shrugs and the file is moved wordlessly, replaced by the third and final folder from the director's hands.

"Katherine Beckett," he introduces. "She was a police officer in New York City and was referred to me by a friend from the FBI who worked with her on a case. She was a hairsbreadth from being promoted to detective when we lured her to the Dark Side." He grins, pleased with himself, before continuing. "She's strong, smart, tested off the charts when we asked her to think outside the box. The case in New York involved a kid and Beckett moved mountains to get him back. Everyone on the case said they wouldn't have got him back if not for her."

Rick's impressed but… "That's just one case." He takes the file to look over. "She's young. For an agent."

"You're young for a president," Ed volleys back.

He grins. "I'm ambitious."

"Same could be said about her."

Rick flips the page and is greeted with a photo of a stunning brunette. Her hair is pulled into a high ponytail, leaving her face open to proudly display her moss green eyes, high cheekbones and full mouth. He clears his suddenly dry throat, tries to cover it with a cough but can see Ed lean forward out of the corner of his eye. Rick's interest is not lost on the man. But he needs to be interested in more than just her face. He forces himself to flip the photo over and read on, scans commendations and glowing recommendation letters. She does seem impressive.

"This is the one?"

"I think she'd be a good choice." Ed shrugs, nonchalant.

He narrows his eyes. "You already had her picked out. The others were just for show; you knew I'd say no."

The director gathers his other files and deposits them back in the briefcase, locks it up tight before standing. "I brought some options of capable agents for you to peruse." He shakes his head when Rick tries to hand Beckett's file back. "That one's for you. Look it over close, make sure you're okay with it. She doesn't report for a few days and she doesn't have an assignment yet so she doesn't ever have to know if you say no.

"I really don't think you should though," he calls from the door before leaving.

Left alone with his thoughts and the file, Rick opens it back up to her photo. Her eyes pierce into him again. She's beautiful ("Too beautiful to become a cop," he thinks), there's no denying that but he sees beyond that to the sadness in her eyes. Yet, despite that, she's accomplished so much. Even caught the attention of multiple government agencies. This is definitely a woman that he would want his daughter to be around. This is an agent that he would feel comfortable sending her with.

He stands from the sofa and rounds his desk, punching the button that calls Ellen's phone.

"Call Director Rancic's office and tell them the decision is fine. And…order me a couple of lightsabers."

Ellen sighs and he can almost see her pinching the bridge of her nose through the door. "Any particular color?"

"Surprise me."

Kate and Jim spend their first few days sight-seeing and settling her into her condo. She likes the quaint neighborhood in Annapolis, likes seeing trees out her window instead of steel and concrete. She feels bad for thinking like that, for thinking ill of her beloved New York City but she came here to make a change and the view out the window certainly is.

It's nice for them to just spend some time together but reality comes crashing down the day that she drives him to the rehab facility. He requests to be left at the door and she grudgingly complies, watching with trepidation as he disappears inside. She wanted to look around, see his room, meet some of the staff but she knows that he's more than capable than handling all of that.

And she's pretty sure that he doesn't want her worried eyes tracking his every move.

She leaves with a sigh and heads back to civilization, back to her cozy condo and her new career waiting for her.

"Really, sir?" It's not like her to question orders from her superiors but Kate Beckett isn't sure she heard the man correctly.

Director Rancic just nods at her. "Really, Beckett. I'm assigning you Alexis Castle's detail. You'll be the most junior agent on her detail but you'll be one of the people responsible for the President's daughter."

"Thank you, sir," she manages to choke out. "It's an honor."

But it doesn't feel like so much of an honor three days later when she's drowning in report files, memorizing code names and analyzing building schematics. All in the name of protection, she supposes.

She's about to open another file when her stomach grumbles. Loudly. She takes the hint and stands from her desk, stretching her arms over her head to release the tension in her back from being hunched over for hours on end. She wanders into the break room, collects her lunch from the fridge and pops the leftovers in the microwave.

Her phone buzzes in her pocket and she smiles when she see the number that she's come to associate with her father's rehab facility flash across the screen. "Hey, great timing, I just took a break for lunch."

"At 3:30 in the afternoon?" Jim replies, amused.

Kate winces. "I must have lost track of time."

"Hey, you're saving the world, it's allowed."

"I'm not quite doing that, but sure, we'll use that excuse." She can't help the grin that steals across her face. It's so nice to hear her dad sound this light and…happy. He sounds happy for the first time in a very, very long time. "How's it going out there?"

"This place reminds of the cabin in New York. I've gone for walks around the lake and the air is so fresh. It's just what I needed."

"I'm glad, Dad." Her heart is so full for him, so proud of what he's doing. But the Beckett's don't use words like that so she leaves the pride in her voice for him to hear.

"You still coming up this weekend?"

"Yep," she replies, nodding even though he can't see her. "I want to especially since I'm in training camp for two weeks and then starting my detail."

"And I still can't know what that is?"

She chuckles at his teasing. "You know you can't."

"It's the big man himself, isn't it? You're guarding the President, I know it."

"Even if I was, I couldn't tell you."

"Fine. I'll just sit over here in fantasy land believing what I want to believe." They laugh softly together for a minute. The microwave beeps and he must hear it through the line. "I'll leave you to your food, Katie. See you this weekend."

"Bye Dad. See you soon."

It's the first day of officially being part of Alexis Castle's detail and she's nervous. Nervous to meet a little kid. Well, no, she's nervous to protect the kid. But what if the girl doesn't like her? What if she's a hellion brat and this is actually a punishment assignment? There's not much about Alexis Castle reported in the news. Which is intentional, she's learned. If the President finds out that you let something about his daughter end up in the media, you aren't shown the door, you are catapulted out of it.

So yeah, she's nervous.

"Spice is making her exit," a voice murmurs in her earpiece. She stands up straighter.

The door is pushed open and Alexis Castle breezes through, offering a smile and genuine "Thank you" to the agent that holds it open for her. Her flame hair drapes over her shoulders, over the strap of the bulging messenger bag that the girl carries with ease.

"You're new," she states plainly when she's standing in front of Kate.

"Yeah." Really, Kate? You're that unnerved by an 8 year old that all you can manage is "yeah?"

"What's your name?" It's a request, the girl's sweet voice laced with curiosity.

"Agent Beckett."

She wrinkles her nose. "That's a weird name." Kate bristles with indignation. "He's Agent George and he's Agent Nick but I guess Beckett is a cool name."

Oh. Oh. George is Harris's first name and Nick is Larson's.

"Well, in that case, I'm Agent Kate."

"Oh, I like that! Nice to meet you Agent Kate. Are you coming with us to school today?"

"I am," she confirms as she opens the door of the SUV for Alexis, marveling at the way she manages to get her slim frame and the heavy book bag in at the same time. She shuts the door behind her before turning to the other agents. "A warning would have been nice."

"Where's the fun in that, Beckett?" Larson answers, sauntering around the vehicle to get in.

She sits in the back with Alexis, the girl chattering at her the whole way. Asking her where she's from, what her favorite books are, what TV shows she likes. Kate's never really been a kid person, she likes them well enough but she's never really spent a significant amount of time around them. Yet she finds herself really liking Alexis Castle, the kid has a natural way of talking to people and seems genuinely interested in what they have to say despite what people say about the attention span of children her age.

The drive into school passes quickly and they're wishing her a good day before Beckett realizes it and they watch her make her way down the hall with the her friends until she disappears into her classroom. Beckett trails after Harris and Larson to a small lounge where it appears the private security and protection for the students spend their day.

"School's a cake walk," Harris tells her. "You're along for the cake walk so that you can see how it goes. Three agents are too many on a normal day but if you're on Spice's detail, you gotta know the ropes."

"Hey, she should walk her home tonight," Larson interjects.

"Yeah," Harris agrees, a smile that Beckett doesn't like taking over his features. "It's Thursday, she goes to spend time with her dad after school on Thursday."

Her dad. Her dad the President. Beckett hides a gulp as best she can, hopes desperately that her voice is even when she speaks. "Sounds great."

Today she meets President Castle.

Based on the following prompt from castlefanficprompts tumblr: Kate Beckett recently got promoted to be the First Daughter's secret service detail. She has never met single dad and President of America, Richard Castle before. And when she does, sparks fly. Plus, Alexis (7 or 8 years old) simply adores her and considers her as a pseudo-mom. Will this sort of forbidden romance bloom? or will the people of America say otherwise? ^_^ ~A.L.~

twitter: Berkielynn

tumblr: berkieryan

A/N: This story is fully written and it is my plan to put chapters up as they're edited and to have it completely posted by the time season 8 starts airing.

Thank you to my amazing betas Lou and Bean and also to Jennifer and Jill for reading this over.

ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM: Yes, there is another fic based off this prompt. Yes, the author of that fic knows that I'm writing this and is entirely supportive.