Disclaimer: I own zip. Nada. Zilch.

A/N: Hey everyone! This will be my first Castle fic, as I've only done NCIS before. I've noticed the Castle-fic community over here
seems to be a bit better than NCIS's, so we'll see how this goes! Hopefully you guys will like...please drop me a line and let me know! I LOVE reviews...

-Also, I forgot to mention that there is NO more Kate/Josh.
We'll just pretend they parted on amiable terms. (:

Chapter 1

"So, today's the day, huh?" Kate Beckett asked over her shoulder.

"Today's the day," Rick Castle affirmed, trying to keep up with her as they walked towards a dark alleyway, which was crawling with uniforms.

"Wow. I can't believe I'll be Castle-free for three whole months," she grinned, flashing her badge at the officer guarding the scene.

The officer smiled at her as he held up the obnoxiously yellow police tape for her to duck under, watching her walk away appreciatively. He then dropped it before Castle could go under, making the writer shoot him a dirty look as he caught back up to Beckett.

"I know. It'll be miserable."

She rolled her eyes. "That's not exactly the word I'd use."

He opened his mouth, but she was already talking to Lanie before he could reply.

"Meet Robert Jenner, age 36. Time of death looks to be about three this morning. Single gunshot wound to the chest was probably the cause." She indicated the entry wound, then carefully rolled the victim over, pointing at a bloodied spot on his back. "Exit is right here. That's all I can tell you 'till I get him back to my office."

Kate nodded her thanks and looked at Esposito and Ryan, who were walking towards her, notepads in hand.

"Nobody says they heard a gunshot this morning, and we couldn't find anybody who knew anything else."

Kate sighed, looking up at the tall buildings that surrounded the alley. "There's no construction…the residents didn't say anything about any other noises?"

"Nope," Esposito answered.

"Must've used a silencer then."

"Yep," Ryan agreed.

They all suddenly stopped to look at Castle expectantly.

"What?" He looked from detective to detective.

"What, no crazy theories this time?"

Castle shrugged helplessly. "Seems like a pretty common murder to me."

"A common murder?" Kate raised her eyebrows.

He nodded as she gave a slight roll of her eyes, turning back to Esposito.

"Any family?"

"Yeah, his daughter, Rosalynn, lives with him in lower Manhattan. Both of his parents are dead; no siblings."

"How old is his daughter?" Castle asked.

Esposito sighed sorrowfully. "Six."

Pain became the subtle backdrop of Kate's face. "What about her mother?"

"They got divorced in 2008. Dad got full custody."

Ryan chimed in. "The mom currently lives in New Hampshire, but she's away on a business trip in Phoenix. She hasn't been informed yet."

"Alright. Thanks guys." She turned to Castle. "Look like we have a notification on our hands," she said in an almost-whisper.

Her face darkened, and he knew that she was thinking about the victim's little girl. What could she say to a small child who could barely grasp the concept of death? To a tiny girl who had just lost her daddy?

He remained silent as he walked back to the Crown Vic with her, hoping against all hopes that everything would be okay…even though he knew this case might hit a little too close to home for the both of them.

Rosalynn Jenner was a small little thing with a head full of wild brown curls, and the bluest eyes you'd ever seen.

Despite her young age, she looked full of life—Castle would even have gone as far to say vivacious.

But what scared Kate was how innocent and naïve she looked. And she was the one who was about to be responsible for taking that away. Her all-American childhood would be gone within just a few minutes, and it would be her doing.

The social worker stood by the child, who made it very apparent she was bored and restless as she danced around in place. Rosalynn looked excitedly about her at the hustle of the precinct, which she had been temporarily brought to for safekeeping.

As Kate and Castle neared her, she looked up at social worker, tugging on her shirt. "Where's Daddy? Will he be here soon?"

The adult looked down at her sadly, and began to reply when Kate interrupted, saving her the grief.

"Rosalynn?" She felt a stab of pain in her chest as the sky-blue eyes immediately looked at her.

"Hi," she bent down, getting on eye-level. "I'm Kate." She tried her hardest to smile for the girl's sake.

"Hi," came the shy, quiet reply. "You're really pretty." She hesitantly reached out to touch one of Kate's own brown curls and then grinned at the detective.

"Thank you," she smiled softly again. "You are too." She gently tousled her hair, asking if she was a princess.

When Rosalynn said no, giggling, and asked why, Kate told her she was so pretty, she had to be a princess, causing her to go into another fit of girlish laughter.

Castle watched the exchange quietly, realizing just how good Beckett was with the girl-how much she seemed like a mother. He also couldn't help but notice the striking resemlance between the two, and absently wondered if Beckett could possibly have a long-lost relative.

"Do you have a nickname, Rosalynn?" He vaguely heard her ask.

"My daddy and my friends at Kindergarten call me Rose. You can call me Rose, too," she added. "Kate, do you know where my daddy is?"

Kate closed her eyes for a brief second, then opened them back up, inhaling deeply. "Rose, I have something to tell you." She patted the floor beside her as she sat down, crossing her legs to sit Indian-style on the precinct floor.

Rose followed her example, and then looked back up at Kate, eyes shining. "Okay."

"Rose, we found your daddy this morning. Did you see him last night?"

"Yes. He tucked me in and read me a bedtime story. It was Goodnight Moon," she grinned. "That's my favorite. Where did you find him?"

Kate held back a sigh, taking the girl's cheek in her hand. "Do you know what dying is?" She asked softly.

"Yeah, it means you go to Heaven!" She smiled again, proud of her knowledge.

Kate took this and used it to her advantage-how else would you tell a kid their parent died?

"Rose, your dad went to Heaven today," she replied quietly, and as gently as she could.

"Do you mean he died?"

"Yeah honey," she whispered. "He did."

"So, he's gone?" Her voice got quieter and quieter.

"Yeah."

Kate suddenly opened her arms, which Rose ran into after standing up.

"I'm so sorry, sweetie." She felt her shoulder becoming wet with Rose's quiet tears. "It's okay," she whispered into her ear. "Cry it out."

"What's going to happen to her?"

"Well, Detective Beckett, we're not exactly sure yet. She has no surviving family members other than her mother, who is unable to get here anytime soon, and Mr. Jenner's neighbors were unfit to take care of her at this time. She'll probably be forced to go into a temporary home until we can get into better contact with her mother."

Kate looked over at Rose, who was talking to Castle. She almost smiled at his over-the-top antics to try and cheer the little girl up.

Captain Montgomery sighed. "Looks like our only option. I just hate to put her in that situation right after she finds out her dad is dead. She's so young, and-"

"I'll take care of her." The words were out of Kate's mouth before she could even think about them.

The social worker and the Captain both looked at her questioningly.

"How would you be able to?"

She thought a moment. "Well, I can take care of her when I'm off work or if I'm doing desk-duty. And when I'm in the field, I can find someone. Plus, she'll be in school soon enough, once she has time to recover."

"You're sure?" Montgomery asked. "If it's going to interfere with your work too much, I don't want you taking on that kind of responsibility. You've gotta remember, she's only six, Beckett. She can't take care of herself."

She nodded her head after a second. "I'm sure. I'll let you know if it gets too difficult."

"Alright." He caught her eye, seeing the need there to help repair the child so she wouldn't have to go down the same road Beckett once had. "I'll help make the arrangements."

"Thank you, Sir."

She turned to shake the social worker's hand. "And you, Mrs. Sharma."

"No, thank you, Detective Beckett. I'll work on getting in touch with her mother in the meantime."

Kate nodded again, and then went to join Castle and Rosalynn after saying goodbye.

"Hey, Rose. Has Mr. Castle here annoyed you enough yet?" She winked.

She shook her head, her curls flying through the air. "He's funny! And nice."

"Yes, he is," she replied slowly, shooting Castle a slight smile, causing him to smile back at her. "So, what would you think of spending the night at my house for a little while?"

Castle's eyebrows went up at this, but she ignored him.

Rose slowly nodded in agreement. "Okay. Can we watch movies?"

Kate laughed, standing up. "Sure. I'm going to go get my stuff, and then we can leave, alright?"

"Okay." A small smile began to grow on her face. "Can Rick come, too?"

"Yeah, can Rick come too?" Castle asked, grinning.

"Not tonight," she replied, trying to hide her own smile. "Why don't you go get your stuff from Captain Montgomery's room so we can go?"

Rose nodded her head and skipped off to obey her request.

The next thing Kate knew, Castle was staring her down.

"What, Castle?"

"I'm just trying to figure it out."

"What out?"

"You out."

"Why?"

"How are you supposed to watch her?" He asked after an awkward minute of silence. "I mean, you're working all the time, and-"

"I'm a big girl, Castle. I can take care of myself."

"I know you can. But can you take care of yourself and her, too?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "I'm sure I can handle it."

"Alright..."

"Castle! I'll be fine!"

"At least let me help you out! I'm good with kids, you know that!"

"No, you have your book tour to do this month. And the next one. And then you have your movie stuff for the one after that in L.A."

"I can cancel!"

"No, Castle, you can't. And you know that."

"Fine," he said, pulling out his cellphone. "I'll just postpone." And with that, he was speed-dialing Paula.

Kate opened her mouth to argue, but he was already chatting away.

Rolling her eyes a second time, she turned to Rose, who had emerged out of Montgomery's office.

"All ready?"

She nodded, showing off her pink Disney princess suitcase on wheels, and Kate couldn't help but smile.

"Bye, Castle," she called as she guided Rose to the elevator.

"Bye Rick!" She echoed.

Castle chuckled at the little girl, following them out, with his agent screaming at him through the earpiece of his phone about how ridiculous he was. Or something like that.

He wasn't going to let Beckett take care of a child all alone-although he was sure she was capable, she had enough stress in her life.

Plus, he wasn't about to miss this new side of her-this mommish, lovey-dovey, affectionate side-for the world.

Kate listened to the sound of Rose playing in the bathtub as she fixed pancakes for dinner, smiling softly.

This little girl was a wild one. She was as sweet as could be, but very much a free spirit.

She was happy until she remembered her dad, but Kate was expecting these mood swings-she'd been in the business long enough to know how little kids acted when a loved one died.

Castle had ended up walking the two girls to her car after they'd left the precinct, and Rose had given him a ginormous hug-along with a kiss on the cheek-before getting buckled into the carseat Ryan and Esposito had installed in Kate's car.

Kate smiled at the memory. She had to admit, Castle did have a certain way with kids.

She also had to admit, it was a major turn-on for her...but she wasn't about to say that so were his eyes, his hair, his smile-nope. None of that.

Her phone suddenly buzzed on the counter with a text and she picked it up, setting the spatula she was using down in its place.

Speak of the devil.

-Everything okay over there?

-Castle, I'm not incompetent. We've already been over this, she typed back.

He replied after a second, which she read while sighing.

-Just checking. Cause I'll come over there if you need me to.

Kate grinned, deciding to mess with his head a little.

-Oh, Mr. Castle, we can't right now...not while I have company.

She could just imagine his eyes widening, his breath hitching in his throat. She laughed, and then set her phone down again, turning the stove off.

"Rose! Pancakes are ready!" She went to knock on the bathroom door. "Are you all done in there?"

Six years old, and the girl was already demanding privacy to the extreme. She had not only locked the door, but had also shoved a chair from the kitchen under the knob.

"Yes!" Kate heard her answer.

"Alright, well, it'll be on the table!" She called, going to get everything set out.

Stopping by her phone, she found herself laughing out loud at the message on the screen.

-Alexis loves to babysit.

Early the next morning, Rose was sitting behind Kate's desk at the precinct, drawing on a piece of scrap paper.

Kate had told her she wouldn't have to go back to school for a little while, and that she would be staying with them in the meantime. Rose had agreed in a heartbeat.

"Yo, Beckett, got our financials back on our vic-" Esposito stopped himself, seeing Rose.

Kate nodded, standing up to go talk to him. "Keep coloring, sweetheart; I'll be right back."

She watched as Castle entered the room, two large coffees and one (she guessed hot chocolate) in hand.

Setting one down on her desk and the small one in front of the artist, he pulled up his chair to sit next to Rose. As he started to animatedly talk to her, pointing at things she'd drawn and asking her about them, Kate smiled.

They were so damn cute, it wasn't even funny.

Suddenly, she saw Esposito's fingers snapping in front of her eyes, and she turned to look at him.

"Earth to Beckett," he smirked.

"Sorry, I just...anyways, mhmm, financials?"

"Mhmm. Anyways, Jenner had almost 15 G's disappear out of his checking account last week, and the week before that."

"They weren't purchases?"

"Nope-transfer to an offshore account in Europe. We're working on tracing it now...just thought you might like to know."

"Alright, thanks."

He nodded, walking off, as she turned to go back to her desk.

"Coffee's here," Castle gestured to her cup.

"I noticed."

"Oh, you did, did you?"

She rolled her eyes and picked up a stack of papers that had piled up, along with the coffee.

"Could you stay here with Rose while I go take care of these?"

"No problem," he told her.

Castle watched her walk off, and then turned back to Rose after she had rounded the corner and disappeared.

"So, what do you say we go and get some ice cream after lunch today?"

Rose looked up at him curiously. "Kate told me you're bad news," she said seriously. "But I like you."

He laughed. "Oh did she now?"

She nodded, then squinted at him. "What kind of ice cream?"

"I don't know, what's your favorite? Chocolate? Rainbow? Vanilla?"

"Vanilla! With rainbow sprinkles and gummy bears!"

"No way! Me too!"

She grinned ear-to-ear, and then resumed her drawing, allowing a moment of quiet to pass.

"So what else did Kate say about me?" Castle suddenly asked.

Rose shook her head and made a zipping motion across her lips.

"Aw, come on! Please?"

"Nope!"

"Pleeeaaassseee?"

"Noo!"

Kate came back, paper-free, and smiling at the noises of their argument.

"What's Castle doing now?"

"He's trying to break me!" Rose whined. "But I stayed strong, just like you taught me."

The detective grinned at the proud swell of her chest. "Good job," she told her, stopping to stand behind her and pat her on the head.

Castle's eyebrows shot up incredulously. "You warned her about little ol' me?"

Kate smirked, softly playing with Rose's hair. "Who, me? No, never."

"Yeah, right," he scoffed.

"So, you wanna go play with the lights and sirens on the police car?"

Rose agreed eagerly, hopping down from Kate's chair, as Castle jumped up from his.

"I wanna play with the li-"

"Shut up, Castle."

"Alright Rose, this is Lanie. Lanie, Rose."

"I have heard so much about you, girl!" Lanie smiled warmly, extending her hand.

Rose took it, smiling back. "Are all the ladies here pretty?" She asked Kate, looking up at her towering figure.

"Ooh, I like this one!" Lanie grinned at Kate, eyebrows raised.

Kate laughed in turn. "Good, I'm glad you do. So now I can leave you two together for a while, right?"

"Yep."

"Alrighty then, I'll see you girls later!" She began to walk out of the conference room, when Lanie quickly grabbed her arm, lowering her voice.

"Kate, are you sure this girl isn't yours? Or is she a sister, niece, cousin-anything?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," she laughed. "Why?"

Lanie frowned at her. "Girl, if you can't see the similarities…"

"Yeah, Castle already tried pitching that one to me this morning. We're not related in any way, I promise."

"Alright, whatever you say…"

"I do say…" Kate mimicked her sing-songy tone.

"You know, come to think of it, she looks an awful lot like you had some fun with writer-boy." She grinned at her best friend's shocked face.

"What? How-" She could feel her face slowly flushing.

"I know, I know. Not possible. But come on, look at her! Your hair, your face, his eyes, his smile-tell me it's not freaky."

Kate scoffed, trying to resist the temptation to stare at Rose to see what Lanie saw. "Whatever."

Lanie smirked. "Just sayin'." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Um, you're late."

"Oh, crap! I've gotta go-I'll be back at four o'clock!" She sprinted out the door. "Bye Rose, have fun!"

"You know, you're pretty good at this kid stuff."

Kate didn't dignify him by offering a reply, but kept her eyes on the traffic-jammed road ahead.

Castle tried again. "And you're pretty cute when you do the kid stuff too."

She frowned as she tried to hide her face, which was quickly reddening.

"Shut up."

"But you-"

"Castle, I just got my Taser fixed. Shut up."

He smirked, but sat back in his seat and obeyed.

"Alright. Just sayin'."

She reached for the radio dial, filling the small, confined space with the sound of Frank Sinatra. "There seems to be a lot of 'just sayin's going around lately."

Castle smiled, then attempted at changing the subject. "So you like the classics, huh? How come I've never heard you play them before?"

She looked over at him as the light turned red. "Yeah, I do. And I don't know, I like everything, really. But I listen mostly to all the old stuff at home."

He nodded approvingly. "Good taste."

Kate felt another blush creeping over her cheeks, so she hurriedly yelled through the windshield at a car that just then cut her off, using her anger as an excuse for her red face.

She had hunted, chased down, and caught hundreds of criminals in her career, and then interrogated tons more.

She'd faced them alone in a small room-albeit with backup, but they were in a different room watching her-and there had been some tough, intimidating, even scary people.

Hell, she'd even been held hostage once, and nothing and no one made her more uneasy than Richard Castle could.

She sighed as she began to drum her fingers on the steering wheel.

"Damn traffic," she muttered under her breath.

Castle, having heard her, chuckled quietly, causing her to lash her head around and glare at him.

"What?" She spat, irritated.

He shook his head. "Nothing. Nothin' at all…" he trailed off, propping his hands behind his head.

Kate remained still for a second, then reached over to twist Castle's ear.

She laughed as he loudly yelped in pain, and then let go.

"Now are you gonna shut up?"

A/N: Alright, so I know it kind of started off slow, and it's kind of an awkward spot to leave off, but the other stuff I had written for this chapter seemed to drag on
even more than (I'm sure) this one did. It should get much better and faster-paced, if I continue.

And I know I have a reputation for being the um, *cough cough* world's slowest updater, but maybe a slew of reviews/alerts would greatly encourage me?
You never know until you try...

So, this is the part where I, again, shamelessly beg you for reviews. If you think I should continue on with this, let me know. If you think I should drop it, let me know.
Basically, any and all feedback would be welcomed and appreciated!