"You're going to be great, Kate," Castle said affectionately, as Kate stood in the mirror looking at her reflection uncertainly.

"Thanks," she whispered as she turned and took the cup of espresso he offered. "What time is your flight leaving?"

"Not until around 1." Kate nodded and tried to swallow around the lump currently lodged in her throat. It had been one month since she received the job offer that had changed her life and one month since she accepted the proposal of her boyfriend and partner. Now, on the verge of her first day as a federal agent, she was starting to doubt her decision.

It wasn't the first time she had experienced doubts. When she had to tell the boys, the thought of leaving behind her second family was almost enough to change her mind. When she handed her landlord the keys to her apartment, she had to hold back tears. When she hugged her dad goodbye, she secretly cried for several hours. The one saving grace was that she hadn't had to say goodbye to Castle yet. He had helped her pack and then drove down with her to help her get settled. With the release of Deadly Heat, however, he had commitments back in New York. In a few minutes, she was going to have to head to work, and it was going to be time to say goodbye.

"I'm nervous," she admitted. "It took me so long to establish myself as someone who deserved respect, and as a woman in a police department as large as the NYPD, it wasn't easy. Now, I feel like I'm starting all over again."

"But this is what you want, right?" Over the past month, Castle had gotten more than a few mixed signals. The afternoon he proposed, Beckett had initially said no. Heartbroken, he had prepared to walk away from her forever, until she said that it wasn't no – it was not yet. There was too much distance between them to start a life together, and when he considered her words, he knew she was right. After holing up in her apartment for a long weekend, however, they hashed out everything and realized that it was time to stop stalling. Castle finally got his yes, and Beckett decided it was time to move on professionally. Since then, she had moved forward with a drive that was uniquely Beckett – she just didn't seem happy about what she was doing.

"It is," Kate said with forced conviction. "It will be a chance to do something more." A chance to do something more. That was the phrase Beckett had been clinging to since Castle first found out about her secret job interview. It wasn't "this is what I want" or even "this is a wonderful opportunity." Instead, she kept looking at it in terms of what she'd be able to do for others, which was wonderfully altruistic, but not necessarily the key to happiness.

"Don't you have to be there at 9?" Castle asked finally glancing at the clock on the dresser. It was nearly 8:15. Even though she lived close, she'd need to leave now if she had any prayer of making it to Pennsylvania Avenue on time.

"Yeah," she said, the wobble in her voice not going unnoticed.

"It's only a week, Kate." The press tour would be over in a week, and then, Rick would be able to come back to Washington. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do with himself, though. He had spent enough time on the beat with Beckett to have enough information for 100 Nikki Heat books. But his drive to write about Nikki had faltered in the days since their partnership ended. There was always Derrick Storm, but at the moment, writing about Storm had pretty much lost its appeal too. "I'll be back before you know it."

"I know," Kate said, schooling her features and putting on a brave face. "It's just going to be hard. You know, without my partner."

"You'll be fine. You solved hundreds of cases before I came along. I just hope the Justice Department realizes how lucky they are to have you on their team."

In spite of everything Kate had put him through, Castle's faith in her was unwavering and a little staggering. "I love you," she said as she pulled him in for a kiss.

"I love you, too. Now, seriously, go to work. Spies can't be late." She rolled her eyes at him – only Castle – but greatly appreciated his attempt at keeping the situation light.

"You've got my spare key?"

"Right here," he said with a crooked smile, holding up the key chain.

"Good. Don't forget to lock up my apartment or I'll be forced to kill you." With that last little comment, Kate headed out the door to grab a cab. As soon as the door closed behind her, Castle's face fell as he took a deep breath. Despite his assurances, he couldn't help but feel like Kate was moving on without him.

"Agent Beckett," Stack greeted from his perch behind the security desk once she entered the Office of the U.S. Justice Department, "welcome."

As much as she tried to play it cool, Kate couldn't help marveling at both the sheer size and beauty of her new workplace and the sound of her new title.

"Thank you," she said with a small smile.

"She's with me," Stack said to the woman manning the security desk. "We'll get you your own ID badge sometime today. How does it feel to be joining the most elite detective team in the country?"

"Surreal," Kate answered honestly.

"I felt the same way. The novelty will wear off soon enough, though. Trust me."

Kate followed Stack to the ninth floor, which housed the Attorney General's office. Instead of directing her to any one of the many doors located in the long hallway, he took her to the end of the hall, flipped up a small piece of wood paneling and keyed in a code on a number pad in the wall. Before she had a chance to say anything, the wall parted, leading to an expansive work space filled with people milling about, going through their everyday routines. The space reminded her of the bullpen, except it was much larger and featured all sorts of gadgets that Kate couldn't even begin to describe. It was very similar to both the makeshift war room Agent Shaw had constructed and the CIA headquarters where she and Castle had nearly lost their lives at the hands of former KGB spy Sophia Turner. "You'll get your own code to the floor this afternoon," Stack continued, interrupting her internal musings."The Attorney General wants to meet with you first." His comment made Kate feel like she was on probation, which didn't set too well. With the security clearance she was being given, though, it would only make sense that they'd want to investigate her on-the-job skills more thoroughly before they turned over the keys to the palace.

"We have the most sophisticated investigative and defense software available," Stack explained as he continued her tour. "Our equipment easily rivals what they have at Langley." Kate nodded along as they walked, her heart sinking a little when she thought about Castle and how excited he would be if he saw all of these toys. It hurt that she wouldn't be able to share this with him.

"And here's your desk," Stack announced as they made their way to the far end of the space. There were several rows of desks lined up like you'd expect in any normal office setting. On the far left desk, a small paperweight reading 'Agent Beckett' sat waiting for her. "I'll give you a few minutes to get settled. The Attorney General would like to meet with you at 10:30." A glance at her father's watch revealed that she had over an hour to get acclimated to her new surroundings. She had brought her usual duffel bag to work, and inside, she had packed her elephants, some workout clothes, a change of work clothes and her stick man, along with the pens she preferred, file folders and other miscellaneous office supplies.

After setting up her desk, Beckett still had 45 minutes to spare, and the minutes ticked by so slowly it was painful. Everyone was obviously busy working on various cases, and it killed her to be out of the loop. She hadn't signed up for a desk job, but she knew she'd have to be patient and pay her dues before they let her loose in the field. At 10:30, Kate got up and made her way to Stack, who directed her to the Attorney General's office. He was on a call, so his administrative assistant got Beckett a bottle of water and started chatting with her about how much she loved working in Washington. Kate was so nervous she felt like she was going to be sick, so polite conversation wasn't on her list of priorities. Still, she managed a small smile for the girl who couldn't have been older than 20.

At 10:55, the door to the office swung open and Beckett was ushered inside. For the next two hours, she received an overwhelming amount of information that would have been difficult to keep up with even if that was her only focus. At the same time, she was also being grilled about her closure rates, her record as both a cop and a detective, and her work style, people skills and various other peculiarities. When she was finally finished with the meeting, she felt equal parts exhausted and confused.

"He just likes to intimidate," Stack assured as Kate came out of his office looking a little dazed.

"He is intimidating," Beckett admitted. "Anyway, what now?"

"It's 1:00 so you should grab some lunch. When you get back, you'll have to check in with the girls in Human Resources. They have a variety of forms you'll need to fill out."

The way Stack said "girls" rankled her, but she did her best to hide it. She followed him back into what she now knew was referred to as the tech floor and grabbed her bag. The space was mostly empty now that everyone had gone to lunch, and Kate finally felt herself feeling a little more at ease. She couldn't wait until she got her first case.

It was nearing 6:30 by the time Kate got home. Without her writer, her apartment felt empty and lonely. After changing her clothes and sitting on the couch for a few minutes, she became restless, so she changed into running gear and hit the pavement. Five miles and a stop for Chinese takeout later, she was feeling much better. She plated her food, poured herself a generous serving of red wine and flipped on the television before sitting down. As she none-to-daintily devoured her food, she wasn't paying too much attention to the news, using it mostly for background noise. When she heard a familiar name, however, she nearly choked.

"We received word today that Senator William Bracken (D-NY) is one of several senators putting in an early bid for the November 2016 Presidential Election," the anchor read with a smile on her face. "While it is still very early in the race, with many potential candidates yet to announce interest, Bracken, who has worked closely with the Vice President and was instrumental in the passing of last quarter's extremely popular environmental bill, is the current frontrunner for the Democratic Party, which hopes to maintain the White House in 2016." Kate knew this was coming eventually, but it still caught her off guard. Fighting a wave of tears, she reached for her cell phone at the same time it started ringing.

"Hi," Kate answered, sounding close to tears. "Did your plane just get in?"

"About 45 minutes ago – I just got back to the loft. I take it from the sound of your voice that you've already seen the news."

"I am watching it right now."

"I'm so sorry, Kate."

"No, don't be sorry. 2016 is three years away. I'm confident he'll make another mistake, and when he does, I'll be ready."

"Kate..." Castle started before thinking better of it. She was upset, and trying to reason with her now would only lead to a fight. With that thought lingering, the pair changed to more upbeat topics, including the details of Castle's press tour schedule, which he had just received. Kate continued to sip her wine, and the conversation with Castle was doing wonders to cheer her, like it always did. She was starting to relax, starting to think that it really would be okay, as she felt herself melt further into the sofa.

On the other side of town, a man eating a hamburger and drinking a beer watched a live video feed of a woman in running clothes laying on her couch while she talked to her boyfriend. It was the kind of routine surveillance work that Everett Michaels detested, but his client paid well, so he couldn't complain. He was just starting to zone out when the woman unknowingly muttered a game-changing sentence. Smiling to himself, Michaels grabbed his phone and pressed one on his speed dial. His payment was about to double.

"Yes?" an irritated voice on the other side of the line questioned.

"I have some news."

"Well?"

After waiting a few moments for the suspense to build, Michaels whispered the six words that he knew his boss had secretly been waiting to hear: "Kate Beckett is still a threat."