A/N: In all honesty, I have several chapters already written, but I don't yet know where this one is going or where it'll end up, so I hope you'll bear with me. I suppose all I can say is that my aim is to be light and fun and flirty and, perhaps, a bit naughty, hence the choice of rating, just to be safe.

On that Monday morning, Detective Richard Castle, NYPD shield number 4774, suddenly found himself in a shitload of trouble, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

There she stood, in his captain's office across the bullpen of the 12th Precinct, the most captivating assemblage of flesh and blood he'd ever laid his eyes on, the leggy brunette superstar whose smile could outshine the noonday sun, and their lives were about to intersect in a very real way, one he'd never imagined or could ever have prepared for.

Both he and his partner in Homicide-Jordan Shaw, one of the most exalted detectives the department had ever turned out-had been informed of an actress's forthcoming stint with the unit, but the news that that actress was to be one Kate Beckett had felt like a bomb dropped into his life. The reality that such a woman would be so close yet simultaneously so far out of his reach was positively torturous, and that foreseen torment had only been compounded by the fact that the moment she'd stepped out of the 4th floor elevator, he'd learned there really was such a thing as love at first sight, and it was only Day One.

"Castle," hissed a voice with some manner of underlining, and once he managed to pry his attention away from the distraction beyond the wall of windows, he found Jordan looking less than amused. "What the hell's the matter with you? I called you three times. One more and you would've found my stapler on top of that disgusting thing you call a breakfast."

"With your aim, I don't think so," he replied, swiftly gathering his wits. "And breakfast envy isn't a pretty color on you. At least mine is fun, and doesn't taste like the cardboard I have to watch you shovel in every morning."

She wheeled back in her chair and got up, empty coffee mug in hand. "Yeah, well, I'd like to be around for my next birthday, and if you want to pull out our most recent qualifiers and compare hits, that crap-pile of sugar isn't the only thing you'll be eating," she asserted against his slight of her marksmanship. "If this shadow shit's starting again this morning, I need more caffeine. Try to finish that thing before I get back so I don't have to look at it, anymore."

You can't have my doughnut he hummed like a child as she walked off, and with a wise plan of attack, at that. Four weeks lay ahead of him. Four weeks of questions and explanations and demonstrations, of making sure this goddess of cinema was prepared enough to fool millions of TV viewers into believing she knew the first thing about being a cop in New York City, and all he'd have to show for it was a headache the size of Madison Square Garden and a meaningless pat on the back from a captain who'd, no doubt, have spent those weeks laughing under his breath about the whole thing.

But an assignment like that was one of the things that came from having a diamond for a partner. There was a constant spotlight, someone forever on watch-so Rick had learned over the past two years-and that meant, for the big heads down at 1PP, successes to try and milk at every opportunity. High profile always meant the potential for high return-for someone.

They'd been tasked with that Hollywood-classroom bullshit before. The first round a doltish actor who'd spent most of his time with them shamelessly hitting on a married Jordan and kicking Rick in the nuts, and neither wanted to ever have to go through it again. Cut to the current unfortunate collision between a star detective on the heels of a major takedown and a press-drunk directorate. How much more publicity could they wring out of the Jordan Shaw sponge? Cue Kate Beckett.

"Bambi's still in there? Maybe we can get someone up from maintenance to lock his door from the outside," Jordan joked upon her return from the break room, though, from the tone of her voice, only those who really knew her would've ever known it to be humor. "They must be trying to punish you for something, Castle, saddling us with this garbage again. What did you do this time?"

As deliberately as he could for optimum effect, Rick popped the last oozing bite of the Boston cream into his mouth, leaving a remnant on his lip that, for counterplay purposes, went without a tip-off from her.

"Sure, Shaw, because it couldn't possibly have anything to do with you and that glistening crown of a record of yours, right? 1PP wears it like a goddamned halo and you know it, and there I am, standing right there next to you for all of it, and they barely even notice me."

She sipped from her mug and pulled back into her desk. "I think we both know who the envious one in this partnership is. Time to put your big-boy badge on, Cas-"

"Hey, you two, can I see you in here, please?" Captain Montgomery hollered from across the room.

"Here we go. Should we take bets? How long before this one cries?" Jordan asked with a smirk, and Rick would've laughed if he wasn't so busy trying not to cry himself.

xxxx

"Kate Beckett, meet my finest, Jordan Shaw, and her partner, Rick Castle." Rick shot daggers Montgomery's way as the women greeted one another, the perspiration from his palm covertly transferred to the fabric of his pants in anticipation of his turn. "It's called a joke, Castle, relax. You used to have a sense of humor."

Kate took a step towards Rick and his body stiffened, though he did manage to extend a hand despite the herculean effort it required. "And when something's funny, I still do, sir," he replied with more satisfaction than was warranted. "Rick. Welcome to the Comedy Hut. Shows daily."

"Happy to have a ticket," she said, playing along. Her eyes drifted to his mouth, and she watched the pronounced roll of his Adam's apple when he swallowed hard. "You have something on your lip, Detective Chuckles."

Jordan grinned as Rick, sufficiently mortified, frantically attempted to wipe whatever it was away.

"All right, that's enough. I've got things to do. Sit down, all of you."

Kate sat between Rick and Jordan, and it took everything in him to keep his attention elsewhere. Now he'd looked into her eyes, and he couldn't pretend otherwise, because they'd pierced his heart like arrows to a bullseye and left him struggling for air.

"I think Castle and I know the drill here, Captain," Jordan said with an enthusiasm feeble at best.

"Well, Shaw, how about you sit there and listen, anyway, and one day, when you're on this side of the desk, you can decide who knows what when."

The hint of a chuckle escaped Rick, but transitioned to more of an awkward cough with the glare that came his way.

"Yes, sir."

"Ms. Beckett has just a four-week window into this division. Do not waste her time. Treat her as you would any other member of your team, but please do not forget that she is a civilian, and she will be under your watch. She and I will be meeting weekly to make sure she's getting what she needs, so if there's any BS, I will hear about it."

It was Kate who broke the ensuing silence. "Ms. Beckett also doesn't want to be in anyone's way, and she understands she's going to be a disruption to your routine, so feel free to tell her if she's annoying the shit out of you."

A warning siren began blaring in Rick's head as her charm hit him full blast. Kyra! Kyra! Kyra!

They were on-again at present, whatever that even meant, he and Kyra, the switch that controlled their relationship having been flipped so many times it practically necessitated an electrician on standby, and though he doubted someone like Kate Beckett would ever give a man like him the time of day, his conscience's tap on the shoulder about his current roller coaster of romance felt cruel, nonetheless.

"I've had a lot of practice with Castle, so I'll have no problem with that," Jordan assured her.

Kate turned to Rick and her lips curled at the corner.

"That's funny," he said. "I've never heard you say that. It must be too noisy what with all the paparazzi flashbulbs popping all the time."

"E-N-V-Y."

"You two are worse than my kids, I swear," Montgomery huffed. "Get out of my office and find something to do besides annoy me." He crooked a finger at Kate and she leaned in over his desk. "They're both pains in the ass, especially him. You have my permission to give it right back."

"Yes, sir," she said amused and then followed the other two out.

Rick and Jordan returned to their respective desks-one faced the other-and Kate stood off to the side, surveyed the bullpen. It was markedly similar to what she'd always seen on TV and in movies, almost to the point of cliché, right down to the doughnut bag on his desk, and that feeling of almost being on a set lent itself to a sense of comfort she certainly appreciated.

"Have a seat," Jordan told her, and Kate chose the empty chair beside her desk rather than Rick's, to his dismay. "So, why are you here, Kate Beckett? I don't really have time to follow the celebrity scene."

"You are a celebrity," Rick mumbled as he shifted paper around his desk for no other reason than to appear as though it served some meaningful purpose, which it didn't.

"You'll have to excuse my partner. With that mug of his, he doesn't get the chance to meet a lot of women. Someone as beautiful as you sets him back a couple of decades to his adolescence."

Kate rotated in the chair, hooked her arm around the back. "I kind of like his mug, actually, even if he stuffs it with doughnuts."

And she'd definitely noticed his mug, among his other fine physical attributes, and felt an immediate attraction. There existed a common misconception that the life of a celebrity was filled with friends and parties and noise, but that couldn't have been further from Kate's reality. She'd learned the hard way that finding the right people to trust, letting people in, was a difficult road for someone in her position, and her inner circle was held small as a result. But there was something about the soul in Rick's eyes that spoke to her right away, that made her want to look closer, to have him around her.

"Okay, I see how this month is going to be. You've already picked a side, fine, Superstar, but you'll come to your senses, and when you do, it might just be too late to join Team Castle."

"I'll consider myself warned," Kate said sassily and turned her body straight. "To answer your question, I'm here because I'll be playing an NYPD detective in my first TV project, and I always like to be as prepared as I can be for any role I take. I figure if the audience is willing to give me the benefit of their time, they deserve that much."

Danger. There was the voice in Rick's head again. Beautiful and magnanimous? Christ, he wasn't made of stone.

"Shit," he snarled when one of the papers sliced across his fingertip, and both women snapped their heads. "Paper cut."

"Aren't you glad you and the city are in this guy's hands?" Jordan said to Kate.

"You two aren't married, are you?" Kate teased, the question meant as a joke in reaction to their continual picking at one another, yes, but also as something of a personal mission to find out more about Rick, who already seemed to be of more interest to her than he should, considering she'd only known him for about two seconds.

Jordan nearly choked on her mouthful of coffee. "God, no, that sounds like some horror movie we might see you in. Speaking of frightening things, how is that gallery groupie of yours, Castle? Still following you around like a puppy dog this week or have you finally grown some balls and jumped off that ride?"

Kate slid a glance his way, quietly anxious for the answer; meanwhile, Rick wanted to hurl something sharp at his partner. There was no damn reason she had to bring Kyra into it. A simple "No" would've sufficed.

Yes, Kyra, Kyra whom he'd met while on the job in his old assignment as part of the Major Case Squad, back when art theft was his specialty-the only time his degree in art history had ever come of any use-and to say their relationship road had been rocky would've been akin to saying the Pacific Ocean was big.

The problem-or the biggest, at least-was that one of the few things they really had in common was they could both distinguish between a Monet and a Manet. After a while, that truth began to wear on Rick. For Kyra not so much, it seemed, either by choice or an utter lack of awareness, and he wasn't sure which of the two was worse.

But the days he lived were fucking hard, and more often than not, that was an understatement. Since moving up to Homicide and into a position he both wanted and fought for, he'd seen things no one ever should, but Kyra always managed to make him laugh, despite the darkness, and that ability was a magnetic elixir, one he hadn't been able to simply cast aside. Also, and Kyra would second it, the sex was incredible.

"I'm sure our guest has more interesting things to hear about than that. Are we going to start what she came here for or not?"

Kate wanted to, but she didn't push. Not then, not there.

Jordan eyed him knowingly. "Well, Kate, I hope you find paperwork interesting, because until the next body drops, that's what we're stuck here doing."

"If it's part of the job, I'm in. Let's do it. I just need to use the restroom, first." Jordan pointed out where it was and Kate moved to go, but she stopped and leaned in for Rick's ear on the way past. "I think I'd like to hear more about you and this groupie of yours," she said before walking off.

"Keep it in your pants, Castle," Jordan scoffed, noting the enamored look Kate's proximity had inspired, and he turned an even brighter shade of pink.