"Captain, do we really have to do this?"

She put more than a little steel to the whine, seeing if she could get away with squirming out of this. The steel-studded black leather jacket she wore like a second skin, which served both as armour and costume, pressed into the wood of his door frame.

Roy "Captain" Montgomery, grizzled veteran of managing rock divas and pop starlets didn't even blink once. He held her gaze steadily till she looked away, a little out of embarrassment and equally out of frustration.

Then he spoke.

"Yes, Beckett, you do. Now get your shit together, stop complaining and go back to the studio downstairs. The new guitarist is going to be here soon, and we have to see if you're going to be able to work together."

She grimaces, but reluctantly turns back towards the practice rooms, knowing he's in the right. Ever since Bosco left, they've been a light, and with touring and the new album to come, it's pretty paramount they get a new guitarist. And not just anyone, but someone good.

Espo, typical drummer as he was, had slipped out of the place to get up to god-knows-what so it was just Ryan sitting there in their shared room with one of his bass guitars, running his fingers over the strings, eyes closed as he gently felt for the anchoring rhythm and the notes. Her practised ear quickly picked out the tricky bridge section of one of their newest songs, Down the Rabbit Hole, and she couldn't quiet stop herself from humming along. Perils of being the lead singer.

Ryan popped his eyes open and stopped playing, a grin dancing on the boyish features.

"Cap wouldn't let you get out of the meeting up with this guitarist he wants to bring in huh?"

She flopped down across from him somewhat petulantly, putting up the spiky heels of her boots on the coffee table.

"No. Where's Lanie?" Their producer was possibly going to be her only ally in getting rid of the new guy, especially if he didn't totally bomb.

"Fiddling with the audio settings downstairs with LT, you know how she is. Why are you getting so bent out of shape about this guy anyway? We need someone, you know that."

"Yeah, but why can't we hold auditions instead of just grabbing the first guy off the street."

He pursed his lips for a moment, and then looked at her with a thoughtful gaze.

"Nah, that's not it. It's something about this Richard Castle guy, isn't it?"

The phone interrupts before she has to answer, and lie, and she picks it up gratefully. Ryan laughs a little, before bowing his neck and working with his guitar again.

"Ms. Beckett? Reception here. We've got a Richard Castle for you."

"Send him down."

She hustles back into the studio before he gets there, her clipped and dark hair even swishing a little from the speed of her passage.

There are some butterflies in the pit of her stomach, unusual because she's never anything but nerveless and calm while in the zone then picking up the energy and drive for the performance once she starts. She's even picked up a sort of reputation, an effortless ice-cool she maintains with the press that the fans love.

But this is Richard Castle. The Richard Castle. The guy whose gravelly voice and amazing guitar solos had spoken to her in the months after her mother's death, so much so she'd scratched his CDs into oblivion playing them over and over. Whose gig she'd snuck into under-age the first chance she'd had, and who'd stopped performing and dropped out of public life suddenly and without a whisper of a reason as to why.

So why was he here to essentially audition for them, an up-and-coming band that had by no means made it?

The question is still turning over in her head when she got into the studio, and sees Lanie sitting at the board, massive black headphones on, her dreads swinging gently to whatever tune she was listening to and making minute adjustments to the equipment and the settings. Taciturn gentle giant LT is sitting at the other end of the boards, and gives her a friendly wave as she walks which she returns. She pauses for a moment, and then taps her friend gently on the shoulder.

"He's here?" Lanie took off the headphones, and turned to look at her.

"Coming down now."

And speak of the devil, he made his entrance before she could speak another word.

The knock on the door makes them both towards it simultenously, and she gets her first look at the man in years. He stood broad-shouldered and tall, taller than her even with her heels on. Rough stubble showed off a sharp jawline, with ocean-blue eyes that flitted from her to the room in a keen and observational manner. She felt those butterflies flutter a little harder. A battered, brown guitar case is casually slung over one shoulder.

"Ms. Beckett? Can I call you Kate? I'm Rick Castle."

The handshake is warm and the grip firm, respectful, but there's a playful grin that accompanies the words. Here's a man aware of his effect on most women, and she's not going to give him the satisfaction of warming to his charms.

"Actually, I would prefer if you stuck to Ms. Beckett. Or just Beckett, if that makes you feel better."

He quirks an eyebrow at her, but says nothing before turning to Lanie. A pale green collared shirt and dark stonewash jeans showcase his ruggedly handsome looks. She tries not to notice.

"Lanie Parrish, producer. Call me Lanie."

"Rick. Or Castle, if you prefer." Lanie's sizing him up like a slab of beef, eyes devouring the rear as well as he says his hellos to LT down the end, before turning to her and quirking an eyebrow and making a spank-that gesture at her. She rolls her eyes before turning away. Lanie was incorrigible. Though she can't quite get the mental image of naked Castle out of her head.

Eventually they find themselves all inside the studio, instruments plugged into various amps and recording devices. Ryan and Espo greet Castle coolly, taking their cue from her standoffishness but being civil enough anyway.

Castle has an electric-blue Stratocaster that matches amazingly well with his eyes, and she finds herself tearing her eyes away before he catches her admiring him again. This has got to stop. This ridiculous physical attraction is not at all what she needs right now.

Unfortunately her body isn't listening at all.

Espo starts with the first rhythmic drumbeats of Down the Rabbit Hole, and she finds herself seamlessly slipping into her performance zone. Cognizant of her audience and her band but also alone in her own performance headspace. Ryan's bass drive kicks in next and then…she launches into the first notes at exactly the same time as Castle comes with the guitar. It's a tricky intro and one song she picked for that very reason, but he found the timing like they'd been playing together for years, not like it was the first jam session.

She rolls through the first verse, reflecting on some of her darker memories, and then falls silent. Espo and then Ryan do too, leaving the guitar solo to Castle.

She turns to look at him.

He's staring down at his instrument, pick in one hand as those strong fingers move impossible quickly over the strings. He's the best she's played with, the best she's heard live, amongst the best she's ever heard. He's in his own performance zone, eyes dancing with energy, but when he looks up and catches her eye, he smiles. This is a full, genuine smile, the delight of a master in his art, and she can't help but smile back.

She joins back in on the chorus, the notes building and entwining, her strong and husky vocals holding the whole song together, sweat sheening on her forehead as she grips the mic and pours herself into the song, leaving nothing behind.

They work through Dark Fall next, a more balladic song that stretches her voice, then through the Watch and Ring which has a tricky riff or two. She watches him with hooded eyes through that one. They finish on Blood Brothers which the boys co-wrote and requires has a couple of male parts. Bosco's voice has been nothing more than serviceable. Castle's was fantastic, a deep and gravelly counterpoint to her own, his playing still faultless. More than that, brilliant.

Their eyes met again as they sang, and she could feel some electricity crackle between them.

"Where's Castle?"

"Upstairs, with the Captain. Talking. Probably sharing a drink." She didn't keep the note of disdain out of her voice, and Ryan and Espo shot each other a look.

"What?" She grumbles at them, fingers playing with the leather cuffs of her jacket.

"He's good."

"Very good."

"Better than Bosco."

Lanie walks into the room then, catching the tail end of the conversation.

"Oh he's definitely better than Bosco. He's a keeper, Kate, trust me."

She arches an eyebrow at Lanie, who winks back at her.

"I don't like him."

"You mean you don't think you can control him." Ryan grins up at her, running his hands through his spiky hair.

She grimaces. More like she can't control herself.

"Control freak like you, that's gotta hurt." Espo joins in on the act.

"Boys…" Lanie gives them an eye-roll as she does her best to ignore them. Unfortunately, the facts are the facts. He is good, very good. And they need someone. The Cap trusts him, and he comes recommended on high from within the record label. But she doesn't.

God the man can play though. And sing.

She pushes herself off the wall with a thrust of her hips, eager to break into the boys club meeting upstairs, but she meets him when he's coming down half-way, jaunty in his stride, compelling yet annoying at the same time.

"Ahh, Beckett. Was just coming to see you."

"Castle."

"Wanna go for a walk? I need some fresh air, and something to eat."

She acquiesces, but not before shooting him a piercing glare.

"Why are you here, Castle?"

It's a blustery but sunny spring day in New York, the wind cancelling out any warmth from the sun, and she zips up the jacket with a quick flick of her wrist.

"Hmm?"

He shoots her a guarded smile, noncommittal, but she presses.

"You used to have your own solo career. You were good. Then you dropped out of sight. Now you're back and you want in my team, my band. You don't want in with us for the fame, or the money. So why?"

"For the music."

This time she was openly sceptical, snorting in disbelief.

"Beckett…Kate. You're talented. So are the guys you play with, but you're special. You write most of the songs, and they're incredibly true and that comes through in your performance. The rawness. The honesty. For a long time I've been looking for the right opportunity to get back to music, the right reason, and as soon as I heard your voice, I knew I'd found it."

She glances over uneasily, but this isn't flattery. He's genuine.

Fuck.

"Why did you drop out of your career?"

"My daughter. Someone needed to take care of her, and my ex wasn't up to the job."

"Regret it?"

"Not for a second, Alexis is everything."

"And now?"

"She's older. My mom's moved back into help. And I need to be making music again."

They walk on in silence for a moment, and she finds it not all awkward. Companionable, even.

"You think our songs are honest?"

"I think you've suffered a lot of grief when you were younger, and you're still searching for answers, and it fuels your music."

She stumbles as he dissects her in one sentence, and she can't quite stop her features from growing solemn, the brief glimpse of something watery at the edge of her eye.

"Cute trick, but don't think you know me."

They lapse back into silence, but she can feel the apology hovering in the air. She accepts by letting him buy her a hotdog, and then tweaks his ear when he suggests a lyrical improvement to one of the new songs. Then makes a mental note to make that improvement. Some part of her hindbrain also files away the fact his safe-word is "apples" for future use, quite disobeying her conscious.

Lanie, Ryan and Espo all vote him in later. She follows suit reluctantly.

Rick Castle, her new bandmate. It's certainly going to be interesting.

A/N: Please forgive any music-related errors. I'm certainly not musically inclined myself and have almost no idea about the music production process. Why I thought I should tackle a one-shot about this AU first I have no idea. I have a couple of other AU one-shots I want to do. Anyway, leave me a review with your thoughts?