AN: This is a story that I've worked on while writing others over the last three years. It's AU from the very start, although you will see most of the canon characters in it and some of the cases. I've adjusted things to suit the plot of the story including the ages of both Castle and Beckett. Not a lot, but enough to make a difference.

As usual, any recognizable characters belong to Andrew Marlowe and ABC. All others are figments of my imagination.

One:

January 9, 1999 -

Rick Rodgers, along with his partner Marty Winters pulled up to the crime scene in the cruiser Rick was driving. As the junior detective, Rick got the 'privilege' of driving the car and buying the coffee, and picking up their bar tab... Rick really didn't mind. As far as partners went, he could have done a lot worse and at least Winters would do his fair share of the paperwork. Marty was two years away from getting his twenty and an early retirement... Or at least that's what he talked about every day.

They definitely were an odd couple as they walked side by side to where the other detectives were congregating. While Rick was tall and athletic, Marty was short and nearly as big around as he was tall. Rick and Marty were working homicide out of the 12th precinct and had been called to assist on a case that the 15th had picked up. The two detectives approached the lead detective assigned to the case, John Raglan. Rick knew Raglan by reputation only, which wasn't very good. Raglan, along with his partner Gary McCallister were rumored to be dirty. Stories persisted of the two of them involved in bribery and extortion for years.

"What have we got here Rags?" Marty speaks to John by the nickname they gave him when they were in the academy together.

Raglan looks back at Marty and Rick smiling. "Well if it isn't doughboy and house seats... You two lose a bet or something?"

'House Seats' was a nickname Rick earned as a rookie when the other recruits learned that his mother was the actress Martha Rodgers. 'Doughboy' on the other hand was a nickname that Marty had grown into over the years.

"So what have we got?" Marty asks, this time without his customary smile.

"Vic is a white female, 49. COD appears to be multiple stab wounds... Wallet and purse were left at the scene, so robbery wasn't the motive. We should know more once the coroner completes his autopsy of the Vic, but right now it looks like some gang banger making his bones and she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. "

Rick looks around the crime scene and shakes his head. Something about this just doesn't make sense. "What's a middle aged white woman doing on the streets of Washington Heights at this time of night?" Rick inquires earning a glaring look from McCallister.

"That's why they pay you the big bucks detective. Why don't you two go and canvas the neighbors to see if they saw anything..." McCallister comments as gestures to Rick.

"Eye eye sir." Marty replies as he gives McCallister a mock salute, which earns a single finger from the detective.

It was a typical cold January night and as Marty predicted, a canvas of the neighborhood revealed absolutely nothing. The two men returned to the 12th precinct as their shift ends and finished their reports.

They never learned the name of the victim.

X-X-X-X.

Over the next year, Rick and Marty worked together on several high profile cases that earned the two of them commendations from their captain, James Burton. Rodgers liked working for the captain. He was tough but fair, equally adept at giving a pat on the back as he was a kick in the ass. Rumors were rampant that Burton was on the short list for a big promotion at 1PP.

While Marty was in the countdown phase of his career, Rick took and passed the sergeant's exam. While Rodgers still indulged his hobby by writing every night, he had accepted the fact that being a writer was nothing more than the fantasy of a young man. He was 29 years old and had been with the NYPD for six years, the last four as a detective. Outside of his job and his writing, the only other thing that he cared for was his five, going on fifteen year old daughter, Alexis.

He had met her mother not long after he was left in Grand Central Station by his college sweetheart Kyra Blane. They had been inseparable all through school and Rick had planned on proposing before starting Graduate school that fall. Kyra's mother never thought that Rick was good enough for her daughter and went out of her way to force her daughter to breakup with him. Kyra finally gave in to her mother's pressure, deciding that a summer in Europe to clear her head before she started graduate school herself was a good idea. While Kyra assured Rick that she was only leaving to clear her mind about her future, he knew that this was the end between them.

Rick was still hurting from Kyra's rejection when he first met Meredith, Alexis' mother at a party his mother had thrown for her summer theater group. Meredith was a struggling actress at the time serving as an understudy for one of the leads in the cast. She was immediately drawn to the handsome son of the woman she saw as a mentor at the time. Two weeks later, Meredith moves into the small apartment that Rick had shared with Kyra.

The start of the fall semester was a week away when Meredith learns that she is pregnant. While she wasn't sure if she should even tell Rick, he was thrilled at the thought of becoming a father. He immediately puts his dream of being an English professor on hold and enrolls at the police academy. While Rick assumed that they would marry and raise their child together, Meredith wasn't sure that she wanted to be tied down in spite of being pregnant. He didn't love Meredith like he did Kyra, but thought that he would 'learn' to over time and proposed.

Meredith rejected his proposal, saying that she wasn't ready for marriage, despite being pregnant.

Rick completed his training and was a rookie patrolman when Alexis was born. He was sure that the first time he held his daughter in his arms was the happiest moment in his life. For a brief period after her birth, Rick thought that Meredith was satisfied being with him and raising their daughter together. But that period ended nearly as quickly as it began. A friend of hers called when Alexis was six months old telling Meredith of a reoccurring role on a television series that she would be perfect for.

Using what little savings that he had managed to scrape together, Meredith flew to the coast in search of the job her friend had promised, leaving Rick with his young daughter. Her one week trip grew to two and then to four with no job and no indication that Meredith ever planned on returning to New York. The time away from Meredith made him realize that the two of them would have probably parted as soon as he returned to school if it wasn't for her pregnancy. But Alexis was his and he would do anything to keep her and if that meant staying with Meredith, then he would do it.

But Meredith had other ideas. Two months after she left for LA, she calls Rick to tell him that she's landed a role on a new series and would be moving to Los Angeles permanently. She never mentions Alexis, so he assumes that she is leaving her with him. As they never married, there was nothing to debate and Rick accepts her decision without any complaints. During the next year and a half, Rick had established a network of sitters and his mother that took care of Alexis while he worked. It was a struggle, but Rick never complained.

His promotion to detective coincided with Meredith's return from Los Angeles. She decided that after being away from Alexis for more than eighteen months, that she wanted to be a mother again. Rick tries to talk her out of taking his daughter 3,000 miles away from him, but knew that the courts would almost always rule in favor of the mother as they had never married. Rick was heartbroken as he kissed his crying daughter goodbye at the airport.

Luckily, his angst was short lived as two weeks after her departure, he receives a call from Meredith telling him to come and get the kid as she wouldn't stop crying for her daddy. Borrowing the money from his mother, Rick was on the first flight to LA he could get. Every extra dollar that he had earned was spent on obtaining a good lawyer that would give him legal custody of Alexis to prevent a repeat performance by Meredith. It took a year and a lawyer that would accept payments, but a judge finally granted full legal custody to Richard.

The last three years have been spent in a routine with his time spent either with his daughter or on the job. Rick would write about cases he was working in the evening after he put his daughter to bed. It served two purposes - it helped hone his writing skills and it allowed him to look at a case from different perspectives. It had even helped him discover new leads which in turn helped catch a few killers that may have gotten off otherwise. His entire social life consisted of an occasional celebration drink with his partner in one of the cop bars near the precinct. He had no time for dating.

That was another reason why he liked Captain Burton. The captain was keenly aware of Rick's situation with Alexis and would allow him certain liberties with his work hours to support the demands of raising a small child alone. That didn't mean that Rick got preferential treatment. In fact, Rick put in more hours than nearly any of the other detectives as his way of thanking his boss.

April, 2002:

Scuttlebutt within the precinct indicated that the long rumored promotion for their captain was about to become a reality. Speculation began as to whom the new captain would be. The leading candidate of the scuttlebutt was lieutenant Roy Montgomery in the 17th precinct. He had taken and passed the captain's exam a few months ago and was waiting for an opening. Montgomery had a reputation as being a good and fair boss.

It was a snowy Friday in early April when Burton made the announcement that he had been offered one of the deputy commissioners jobs at 1PP. He was to start his new job in a week or two. Everyone there congratulated their boss and wished him well in his new job. Burton was that rare individual that even if you didn't like him, you still respected him. In a job where it was easy to get lost in the grey, he saw everything as either black or white. Rodgers could only hope that one day he could be like him as a leader.

As soon as the group dispersed, plans for his send-off party commenced. That and speculation as to whom would be his replacement. They were looking for a venue to hold the Captain's send off that wasn't a cop bar. Rick was the one who suggested the Olde Haunt. Burton would never suspect a place like that and Rick still had fond memories of the place where he wrote his first novel on yellow legal pads. Everyone liked the idea and the planning started. Rick agreed to meet with the owner to secure the bar for the evening.

Rick, along with a couple of the uni's from the precinct, snuck out of work early on the day of the party to decorate the bar. Everything went according to plan and the party went off without a hitch. Burton decided to invite Montgomery and make the introduction of his replacement in an informal setting before the official one on Monday. The soon to be former captain knew all about the send off as he had his sources and told Montgomery to invite people from his precinct also.

Rodgers had talked his mother into watching Alexis for the evening. He promised to be back early enough for her to meet with some of her friends for a late dinner after their evening performance. Rick arrived a few minutes later than he planned to and found the bar packed with people. It was obvious that the Captain was well liked by his peers and everyone was having a good time. Rick, along with a few of his fellow detectives asked for silence as they presented him with a going away gift followed by more than a few gag gifts.

Burton thanked everyone for attending and then introduced Roy Montgomery. Roy was gracious and complimentary to Burton while promising to try to uphold the high standard of his predecessor. One of his subordinates from the 17th then began to present a similar going away speech to Montgomery as he gestured to his fellow officers in the room.

Rick scanned the room himself. Some of the faces he recognized, but the majority he did not. He was fending off the advances of one of the female uniform officers from his precinct when he saw her standing in the corner nursing a beer. Despite her attempts to blend into the background, she was impossible not to notice. Standing taller than most of her male counterparts, the brunette couldn't disguise her beauty in spite of how unflattering her uniform was.

He couldn't seem to stop from staring at her. There was something about her that drew him in. Rick politely excuses himself from the young woman who was vying for his attention at the moment. He worked his way across the room speaking to the others as he never lost focus on the woman. Finally standing next to her, Rodgers suddenly loses whatever courage he may have had and was ready to make a hasty retreat before being rejected by the beautiful young woman standing beside him. He was about to move away when he hears Burton call his name.

"Rodgers! There's someone here that I'd like you to meet..." Walking up beside Burton was Montgomery. The men stopped in front of Rick and his former boss begins to speak. "Richard Rodgers, I'd like you meet Roy Montgomery." Rick smiles and extends his hand to his new captain.

Montgomery shakes Ricks hand and smiles. "James tells me that you're one of his best young detectives... He also says that you've passed you sergeants exam..."

"Yes sir, that's true." Rick replies.

"Please Mr Rodgers, we're not on duty. Call me Roy."

"Only if you call me Rick." Rodgers replies with a smile.

Roy notices her standing in the corner beside Rick, looking as if she was trying to blend into the woodwork and smiles. "Beckett! What are you doing there? Are you hiding from me?" Roy laughs to let everyone know that he is only teasing.

"I wasn't hiding..." She replies while giving her former boss a irritated look.

"Katherine Beckett, I'd like you to meet Richard Rodgers." She extends her hand to the man standing beside her as he gently shakes it. Roy looks at the two of them together and smiles. He'd already read the personnel files on all of his direct reports and knew that Rodgers was exactly what she needed. "Kate here is a rising star also. She just passed her detective's exam... She's the youngest female to make detective in the NYPD. Right Kate?"

Beckett had to blush at the compliment from her former boss and the impressed look on Rick's face at the news. Rick smiles and comments. "Congratulations detective."

Kate could only smile in return and thank him for the comment. She glances at the mans watch on her wrist and frowns. "If you'll excuse me, I really have to be going..."

The three men standing near her all nod in understanding as she walks away from them and out of the bar only seconds later. Montgomery looks at Rick and can see that the man is impressed with Kate. Feeling a little like a yenta, he can't help but comment. "Kate's an extraordinary young woman... She's destined for greatness someday..."

Not knowing how to respond, all Rick could do was nod in agreement.