The Premiere

Summary: Kate/Rick. The first Nikki Heat novel has finally been turned into a movie, and Castle asks Kate to attend the premiere with him. 2 parter.

Not supposed to be taken seriously, the same way the show isn't. Hope you enjoy, and please leave a review on your way out. Next part coming soon.

Part 1:

"Angelina Jolie is playing the role of Nikki Heat, oh come on Castle, you expect me to fall for that?" Kate Beckett asked one morning, as Castle brought along her second cappuccino of the day and a flyer. The flyer was a smaller representation of what the promotional posters for 'Heat Wave' would look like.

"There's nothing to fall for," Castle replied, sitting in the chair opposite Kate's desk. "It arrived in the mail from my publisher this morning."

"I haven't heard of the actor who's playing you though." Kate frowned, looking from up from the flyer at Castle and back again. "He's quite a good likeness." She conceded.

"His name's Nathan Fillion, he's been in a few television shows." Castle took the flyer from Kate's hand and studied it. "Not as ruggedly handsome as yours truly though."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Of course not Castle, that would be impossible."

Castle grinned back at her. "So, you are coming to the premiere, it would only be right. I mean, without you there might not be a Nikki Heat at all."

Kate's detective instincts were beginning to kick in now. "Did you just pay me a compliment, Castle?" There had to be more to this than Castle was letting on, Kate was sure of that.

"You noticed." Castle grinned, the smile lighting up his features so that he resembled a boy more than a nearly forty year old man. As much as she hated to admit it to herself, let alone to him, Kate enjoyed Castle's juvenility. With a job like her's Kate needed the moments of levity that being paired with Castle brought her. Still she was determined to get at whatever he seemed to hiding from her.

"Okay, okay." He held his hands up in surrender. "I might have told my publisher that you'd definitely be there." He paused, bracing himself for Kate's reaction to what came next. "I might also have said you'd be happy to sign autographs on the red carpet."

"What!" Kate demanded, setting her cappuccino down so forcefully on its saucer that some of the coffee spilled over the edge of the cup. "Castle, you know I hate all of that stuff. Having you tag along to crime scenes is one thing, but being paraded around in front of all your number one fans was not what I signed up for."

"Please?" He smiled sweetly, but Kate looked away. Damn it, if he asked her nicely enough she'd do anything for him, she just wished he hadn't sprung this on her out of the blue.

She reached out and took the flyer back from him, a little more roughly than she had intended. "Fine," She sighed, but she was determined to use this as leverage over Castle for as long as she possibly could.

"Did you manage to get Detective Beckett to agree to come to the premiere?" Alexis Castle asked when her father returned from the precinct later that same day.

"Of course I did." He grinned, opening the fridge and taking out a bottle of water. "Wait, you thought she'd say no? How could anyone resist my charm?"

While her father's back was turn, Alexis rolled her eyes.

"Detective Beckett isn't like the other women you..." She paused, searching her brain for the appropriate term, coming up empty. "Know." She finished somewhat lamely, unable to verbalise what Castle apparently could not see for himself.

"That's true..." Castle replied, looking oddly pensive as if something was just occurring to him. The moment was shattered by Martha's dramatic entrance.

"Alexis! I picked up your dress today!" She called, almost completely ensconced by the two dress bags she was carrying.

Abandoning what could have been a very revealing conversation with her father, Alexis scrambled up from the kitchen table and went to greet her mother. Whatever had slowly been occurring to Castle was pushed back into the recesses of his mind as he went to greet his mother and to spend the rest of the evening watching his mother parade around the house in a selection of gowns.

While Beckett soaked in the tub in her newly renovated apartment, she couldn't help but think about the 'Heat Wave' premiere. As much as she tried to deny it, she was touched that Castle had invited her, if you could really call the exchange between them that morning an invitation. Classically a jeans, shirt and boots kind of woman, Kate still couldn't help wondering if Castle would pick out a dress for her the way he had when the first Nikki Heat novel had been released.

Kate sipped from a glass of red wine, thinking back on how far her working relationship with Richard Castle had progressed since that time. In the beginning he was simply an egotistical pain in the ass, but the more time Kate spent with him and the more perilous situations they were thrown into, she came to realise that there was much more to the bestselling mystery author than she had first thought. Especially recently, as she had been targeted personally as well as professionally. She had never expected to be able to rely on Castle completely but he had really come through for her in a heroic way.

While part of her was still slightly annoyed at the underhand way Castle has dealt with the premiere invitation, Kate couldn't deny that the thought of attending brought with it a thrill of excitement. She had been a fan of Richard Castle's Derek Storm books long before she ever laid eyes on the man. In fact, her best kept secret was just how much of a fan of his books she really was. If Castle knew how much she loved his novels, she'd never hear the end of it. Especially if he knew how valuable they had been to her when she had needed escapism from the pain of losing her mother.

"Yo," Esposito greeted Beckett a few days before the 'Heat Wave' premiere. "Did Castle invite you to the movie?"

"The Nikki Heat movie?" To which Esposito nodded. "Invite isn't exactly the right word, but yes, I will be going."

"Is Castle taking you as his date?" Kevin Ryan asked, swinging around to his swivel chair to face his colleagues.

Whilst Kate shot a glare in his direction, Esposito quickly removed himself for the situation on the pretext of refilling his coffee.

"No, I'm not going as his date!" Kate protested, wondering why she was suddenly getting so riled up. It was a standing joke that Esposito and Ryan believed that Beckett and Castle were more than just partners. Perhaps Kate was so on edge because, deep down, she wished that Castle had invited her because he wanted her there, not because it was what his publishing company wanted.

Kate's desk phone began to ring, stopping her from possibly saying something she might later regret.

Sensing that the coast was clear, Esposito returned to his desk and looked across at Ryan.

"Definitely a date." They said in unison, but so as Kate would not hear them.

"So," Beckett began as she navigated through heavy traffic to get to the crime scene. The 'Heat Wave' premiere was just days away now. "Are you going to get me something to wear for the premiere or will I have to go shopping this weekend?"

Castle opened his mouth and rapidly closed it again. It hadn't crossed his mind; not this time. At the Nikki Heat book release, Castle had barely known Kate and his opinion of her and their relationship had been turned on its head since then.

"If that's what you want." He replied, his mind already putting plans in motion to find a dress for Kate pronto.

Kate shrugged one shoulder as she turned onto the block where the crime they were about to investigate had been committed.

"If you hadn't already made the assumption that I'd want to go with you, I'd be seeing it at the cinema like everyone else. And like everyone else, I'd been wearing jeans not a fancy frock."

Castle detected something in her tone, but couldn't quite place what it was.

"You mean you wouldn't want to go and hob nob with the stars?" He feigned shock.

Kate pulled the car into a space at the side of the road. "One 'star' is enough for me, thanks." She said, making air quotes around the word 'star'.

"Oh come on, this Nathan guy looks pretty hot to me." Castle protested. He was excited about the premiere, it was the first time one of his books was being memorialised on the silver screen. He thought that Kate would be more enthusiastic, especially as Nikki Heat was based on her.

"Do you have a little crush there, Castle?" Kate teased as they climbed out of the car.

Castle met her gaze over the car's roof. "Maybe."

After a few last minute calls to designer boutiques he frequented; the ones that sold women's couture too, Castle found a dress that he thought would be perfect for Kate. When he had picked out her dress for the book release, his motivations had been entirely different. She was more to him now that just another woman he could win over with his charm and his good looks. The fact that these facets of his personality did nothing to endear him to Kate had helped their working partnership immensely. If she had been any other woman, they probably would have slept together already. It wasn't that he didn't find Kate attractive; he was attracted to her personality at well as her looks, it was that she meant too much to him to screw up what they shared. He enjoyed working with her and the rest of the team as much as he loved his fiction writing, and he found he was constantly inspired to write new stories about them. Hopefully that meant he would be able to continue assisting them with their work for a long time to come.

Castle asked Alexis and, perhaps rather foolishly, his mother for their opinions on the dress he had picked for Kate to wear to the premiere. When he got their approval and some slightly inappropriate comments from his mother, he had the box sent to Beckett's apartment.

Beckett had just stepped out of the shower when she heard her apartment's intercom buzzing. Wrapping herself in a towel, Kate went to the door and accepted the package from the delivery guy. She took the box with her into the bedroom and, feeling a rush of excitement that was so unlike her, she pried the cardboard box open. She vaguely recognised the designer's name on the box; she knew enough that she never would have been able to afford such a luxury gown on her NYPD salary.

Clipping her damp hair up so it wouldn't drip on the dress, Kate unzipped the bodice and stepped into the dress. The satin clung to her figure in all the right places and, grateful that she was alone, Kate enacted a guilty twirl in front of her bedroom mirror.

The dress was perfect, and much more 'her' than the previous gown Castle had picked out for her.

Rather regretfully, Kate took the dress off and finished getting ready for bed. She hung the dress up on the outside of her closet, giving the soft fabric one last stroke before climbing into bed.

Hope you enjoyed! Please review! xx