Finding a Date. Chapter 1.

Chapter 1 - The Precinct, a few days before Christmas 2013

Detective Kate Beckett raised her blue mug to her lips, grimacing at the cold sludge that remained at the bottom. She knew if she wanted another coffee she'd have to get it herself. Castle was home at the loft putting the final touches to their Christmas decorations in this last week before Christmas.

Kate had managed to dissuade him from setting up his train set any earlier, not wanting a locomotive buzzing past her ear as she snuggled with him on the couch but apparently it was tradition that Alexis helped him and she was free for the afternoon. Kate had adapted remarkably well to his family's exuberant seasonal celebrations but she was happy to leave the preparations to them.

She replaced the mug on the desk and continued reviewing the paperwork in front of her. Captain Gates had been delegating more to her since her return to the Twelfth and Beckett, well aware of the debt she owed her boss, had taken on the work and even begun to enjoy some aspects of it. Gates had made it clear that she expected Kate to think about going for promotion soon, but since the budget reductions, the promotion board exams were on hold.

There was a heap of case files from other Detective teams to be reviewed before they went to the D.A's office. Kate knew, as she had told Harrison Tisdale so long ago, that one of the first things a suspect's lawyer will do is to try to shift suspicion to someone else. Then they'll stick the investigating officer on the stand and ask why they didn't investigate this or check that and then the jury will have doubts. It was all in the detail and the case report needed to reflect that so that there were no cracks for the lawyers to prise open and the victim got the justice they deserved.

This was Karpowski's case and abrasive as that detective could be, she was dedicated and thorough. Beckett signed it off in her neatly flowing script, "KHBeckett, Supervising Detective."

She really need to have that talk with Castle about keeping her name at work; Mrs Castle sounded really great, fulfilling all her dreams but her reputation as a Detective was built on the name of Beckett and having two 'Castles' in the bullpen might just be confusing.

The next file had grease stains on the cover and it she immediately knew it was one of Detective Sullivan's. She sighed. Going by the name of Sully to his colleagues, he had to be the messiest cop she'd ever worked with.

She remembered her first day back after her reinstatement. She'd placed an extra pack of hand wipes in her bag, expecting to have to clean up her desk but on arriving at her usual workplace she'd found it pristine. Smelling of lavender polish the surface was absolutely clear but for a small posy of brightly coloured blooms. The attached card read "Welcome back" and was signed" Kevin & Jenny" She'd picked it up and thanked Ryan, he'd grinned happily. "You're welcome! It was Jenny's idea," ignoring the disdainful smirk from his partner.

Later that morning, with the desk already covered in files and with her precious elephants and favourite selection of pencils and pens in place, she'd seen Castle chatting to the building janitor. He'd placed a folded $50 bill in the man's pocket and Kate had suddenly understood why her desk had been spotless. She should be used to Castle's considerate gestures but it never failed to amaze her how he managed to think of the little things that made her life easier.

She opened Sullivan's case file but stopped immediately .This simply would not do. Knowing better than to yell across the bullpen, she looked around for him. He was at his desk on the other side of the mesh screen with no one else about.

She walked over, file in hand. "What was the name of the victim in your mugging-gone-wrong case?" she asked.

He frowned, not understanding why she didn't know from the file. "Er... Maria Lopez."

"So why does it look like ketchup?" she queried, pointing to the reddish stain hiding the typed entry on the front page of the file.

He swallowed guiltily. "Gee, I'm so sorry. I'll redo it right away." he promised, chastened.

"Your work is solid." She told him gently, handing him the file. "You're a good cop or you wouldn't be here. You should take pride in your work, don't bury it under take out wrappers." She waved at the top of his desk, littered with the debris of various fast food snacks.

He flushed. "Oh gosh. Thanks. Right. Sorry! I mean..." he stopped rambling and stood straighter. "Thanks, Detective Beckett. I'll try to do better. "

Turning back to her place Becket t hadn't noticed that two people were waiting by her desk. Officer Velasquez indicated the young man at her side. "Detective Beckett, you've got a visitor."

Kate blinked, surprised to see Pi grinning weakly at her. "Hi, Mrs. C-to-B, how's things? "

"What are you doing here Pi, is Alexis OK?" was Kate's first thought moving towards him.

"Yeah, she's great, but ...um, could I talk to you a minute?" He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze not quite so sure of himself in the bullpen as he had been those early mornings in Castle's loft.

Kate nodded her thanks to the uniformed officer and led the young man to the interview room, waving him towards one of the low slung chairs. She perched on the edge of the table. "It's Detective Beckett here," she told him, "Now, what's the problem? "

"I, er... have you decided on your wedding date yet?"

"Excuse me? What business is that of yours?" Kate pushed herself off the desk, unconsciously adopting her interrogation posture.

Pi squirmed on his chair, no longer the brash, noisy individual she was used to.

"It's Alexis you see. She was so upset at not being part of your engagement even though she was around and not finding out until she was in Costa Rica and then from her Grams not her Dad and she really looks up to you and she is so scared she'll miss the wedding so she won't sign up for the field trip but her Professor says she should go and she needs to let him know by the first week of next term but she's worried you won't want her at your wedding 'cos she's not been very nice to you and ..."

His gabble of words halted as he took a breath. Kate ran her hands through her hair and sat down opposite him.

"Wait. You're telling me Alexis has a chance for another field trip but won't go in case she misses my wedding?"

"Um... yes, that's about it"

"There's no way I'm getting married without Alexis present." Kate assured him, "And no way Castle would either!" she added for good measure. "When's this field trip?"

"Easter break, last two weeks in April & first in May. It's to Panama this time and Alexis is so good at collating all the data. The Prof. says it'd be great experience."

Kate nodded, the girl had always been well organised and methodical – amazing given Martha's scatty facade & Castle's inability to get down to serious business until it was about to bite him in the ass.

"Well, tell her not to worry, I definitely want her at my wedding and we'll just have to make sure it's not over Easter break. In fact, I probably couldn't get leave then anyway as other Detectives will want time off."

Pi looked even more uncomfortable. "Er... she doesn't know I'm here. She'd hate me coming to you, please don't let on I told you."

Kate stood, opening the door then looking back at Pi as he also got his feet. "Actually Pi, it's a good thing you did. I should've thought to check when others are available; it's not just my wedding. We'll talk about it at Christmas when everyone's together and then it'll seem natural to ask Alexis."

"Thanks Mrs. C-to-B, I mean, Detective B. That's great, only I won't be there at Christmas."

Kate looked at him startled. "You won't?

"No, I haven't seen my family in over a year and my parents have sent me the plane ticket to go home for Christmas." Pi explained.

"So you found your passport? "

"Oh yeah, I guess. " Kate smiled to herself. She'd never thought it was lost and Castle would be over the moon to have Christmas without Pi, even though he'd been trying hard to accept him.

"I asked Alexis to come with me, " Pi said, "but she thought she ought to spend it with her father, you know she's still trying to make things right with him."

"Mmm" Kate acknowledged. They were nearly at the elevator and Kate beckoned to LT as she hit the down button. "This Officer will see you out, Pi. Thanks for coming, Alexis is lucky that you care so much about her."

"Yeah, I do. Thanks, Detective. "He threw his arms around her in a hug before turning to follow the lanky officer into the elevator.

"Yo Beckett!" Espo called, as she moved back to her desk. "Should Castle be worried?" He grinned at Ryan indicating the interaction he'd just witnessed.

"He's already worried!" quipped Kate, "that's Pi, Alexis' boyfriend."

Espo whistled, "Do we need to take care of him?" finger waving quotation marks as he said it.

"Nope, he may not respect boundaries but he really cares about Alexis. Hey guys," she added, "no need to tell anyone about this visit, it's just Christmas surprises, you know?"

It wasn't far off the truth and she thought Castle would probably consider the young man's absence over Christmas an unexpected gift.

However, she knew she also had to get her act together. The wedding wasn't just about the two of them, she needed bridesmaids!

"Guys, I'm going to see Lanie." she said, pulling her jacket from the back of her chair.

"Has she got a body?" Espo asked

Kate smirked, "Well you would know that, better than most!"

Ryan shook his head sadly at his partner raising his hand for a high-five salute as Kate stepped past on her way to the elevator. "Too easy, Bro!"