State of the Union

Chapter 1

When Kate Beckett was recruited to join the FBI straight out of college at Stanford University she never expected this. Even when the Secret Service had come knocking on her door she had thought it was too good to be true. She figured she would be in an office somewhere, decoding cryptic emails or arguing policy and politics with a bunch of lawyers and suits. But, they had told her, she had a specific aptitude, a set of skills that were special so she had gone through training. Training so long, so grueling, that it had put her weeks at Quantico to shame.

Her shoulder twinged as she lifted her cardboard coffee cup, made of 80% recycled materials, to her lips and stared up at the building in front of her. She rolled it without a second thought, using her right palm to provide pressure as she swung her arm in small circles— working out the kinks she had gotten used to over the last few months. With one final swig of coffee she tossed the cup into the trashcan next to her and started across the street.

She, Katherine Beckett, had an interview to be on the personal protection detail for the President of the United States.

Kate flashed her badge at the two men securing the entrance and gives a jerky nod as they pulled the doors open, allowing her to pass through without a second thought. Pausing just next to the desk on the other side of the doors she sucked in a deep breath as she resisted the urge to massage her shoulder again. This wasn't the time nor the place to show that kind of weakness. So, instead she straightened her tailored black jacket, plucked an errant ball of fuzz from her utilitarian white button down and took a step forward.

"Special Agent Kate Beckett," she stated to the woman behind the desk. "I'm here to see Agent Kennedy and Mr. Fitzpatrick."

"Of course, Agent Beckett. Just give me a moment."

Kate nodded as she stepped back giving the older woman a chance to make the appropriate phone calls in peace. She watched with a keen eye as the hall leading to the West Wing buzzed around her. Men and women in suits and uniforms sped past her. Most of them were already glued to their cell phones; others juggled gallon-sized cups of coffee and teetering stacks of files.

Shifting her briefcase to her other hand, Kate lifted her fingers to run through her hair, using the blunt tips to ensure the strands hadn't worked themselves loose from the stark bun at the nape of her neck. She had allowed herself the luxury of a French manicure the day before her interview. Minimalistic make up, no visible jewelry, basic nude colored nail polish, that was her life. No one had to know her toes, hidden inside of her black pumps, were a bright beautiful coral pink in celebration of the last vestiges of summer.

"Agent Beckett?"

Kate took a step forward in response, her attention once again trained on the woman behind the desk.

"Agent Sorenson will be out momentarily to escort you back."

Kate graced the woman with a polite smile and a quiet thank you even as her stomach dropped like a lead weight. Of course.

Will.

It took everything in her to wait until they has rounded the corner into relative privacy before glaring at the man walking beside her.

"This was you, wasn't it?" She hissed.

"Really, Kate? That's the thanks I get? I would have thought you'd be ecstatic to get an interview at the White House. And let's face it, a lot of higher ups think you fucked up in Chicago. There was no other way you were going to end up here."

She pressed her lips shut, rage churning with the guilt in her gut.

Chicago.

"You're an ass."

"I missed you too, Kate." He returned with a smug smile.

Richard Castle sighed as he sat at his desk, the white envelope clutched in his hand. It looked so small, so incongruous. Flipping it over, he looked at the back before flipping it back to stare at the neatly printed address on the front.

Eleven point, Times New Roman. Who even used Times New Roman anymore?

The FBI had already been over it with a fine-tooth comb, the Secret Service, NSA, DoD— every agency in the bowl of Alphabet Soup. Nothing. It was like it somehow just magically ended up in his mailbox.

He was used to threats. You didn't make it to this office without your fair share of threats and even the occasional close call. His mother, his ex-wife, it had happened to all of them. His daughter, Alexis, had even been the subject of quite a few threatening letters in the past few months, but this was different. This was personal.

He pinched the edges of the envelope, allowing the slit down the side to puff open, revealing the contents. Slowly, he pulled out the photograph. It was amazing how much a single one, three by five rectangle could say. It truly was worth a thousand words, or in this case just the two printed on the back.

"Mr. President?"

Castle looked up as his young assistant knocked on the cracked door in courtesy even as her head of mousey brown hair poked through the doorway.

"Yes, Becky?"

"You told me to tell you when the meeting had started so you could pop in."

"Right."

He pushed himself out of his chair, adjusting his tie before shrugging on his jacket from where he had draped it over the back of his chair mere minutes before.

"Becky, what do you think of me initiating a casual Friday?" He asked as they walked side by side down the hall.

"I think you can do whatever you want to do, Sir."

"So is that a yes? Because I'm pretty sure my neck is actually shrinking due to all these ties I've been forced to wear over the years."

"I think foreign leaders might have a hard time taking you seriously if you're standing in front of them in jeans and your Monty Python t-shirt."

"That does it," Castle replied with a clap of his hands. "Casual Fridays and we're gifting every foreign dignitary with a dead parrot."

"Sir?" Becky asked in question as they paused in front of the meeting room doors.

"Start writing up that memo. I want to send it around by the end of the week."

"Sir? I can't tell if you're joking or not, Sir."

Castle graced the young woman with a wink before disappearing silently through the doorway. Sometimes he just had to have a little fun; unfortunately it normally happened to be at Becky's expense. She was catching on pretty well though, even after only eight months. He might even have to start watching his back after four years or eight, though he had yet to meet anyone, even in the White House who could match his wit.

Castle held a finger to his lips as he slipped into the conference room. His three people were seated in a line on the far side of the conference table facing the door he had just entered through while the subject of their interview sat directly in front of him facing away.

Her voice kept an even tempo through the interview, answering questions succinctly as she sat, hands clasped in front of her, barely moving. Her foot didn't even jiggle with nerves. She was the perfect definition of steel.

"One final question for you, Agent Beckett." Agent Roger Kennedy stated, his voice gruff, the ever-present sheen of sweat glistening on his salt and pepper hairline.

Castle leaned back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest as he listened.

"What happened in Chicago?"

His head cocked in curiosity as the agent's entire posture stiffened in her chair. Her foot spurred into motion, beating a quick staccato tempo in the air. He hadn't had time to read through her file, he had been planning to do it before giving a final okay if and when she made it through the interview. He trusted his people to make these decisions for him, he trusted them with his life.

"You have the report in front of you, you know what happened." The response was the epitome of calm. Castle could guess that if he could see her face, it would be void of any emotion but her voice was as tight as her shoulders. There was something there, a story that had his interest piqued.

"I have read the report. I've read your file. And somehow it just doesn't add up. You're the youngest female agent ever recruited by the Secret Service. You scored higher on some of your exams and qualifications than some of our best agents. Quantico touted you as their golden child. And you are, as they say, 100 percent by the book. So tell me, what happened in Chicago that made you break formation and almost get a senator killed?"

"I didn't almost get a senator killed, I saved his life!"

Her voice rose by decibels. Kennedy's comment obviously struck a nerve that had ignited a fire in the previously calm agent.

Agent Kennedy let out a snort of derision, exchanging a look with the man next to him. The younger agent at the end, Sorenson shot a pleading look across the table at the interviewee, Beckett, was it, before shaking his head and sinking slightly back into his chair. Oh, yes, there were plenty of stories here.

"Agent Beckett," Kennedy continued, and Castle winced at the condescension dripping from his tone. "You goaded a man with a gun and jumped in front of a bullet. That may be the answer in Bond movies but not in real life."

"James Bond is a spy not a Secret Service Agent and he doesn't jump in front of bullets. He drives fast cars and seduces women."

Castle pressed his lips together to hide his smirk at the woman's innate sass.

"And yet you decided it was the best course of action because..."

"I made a split second decision and saved a man's life."

"Without any regard for your own! What would have happened if you had been without back up?"

"That an unfair question. Those would have been completely different circumstances..."

"No, both you and the senator would be dead."

"If you do this job completely by the book then someone will end up getting killed. I realized the man they were looking for wasn't the right one so..."

"Instead of going through the proper channels you went after him yourself and put everyone in danger! The President doesn't need someone reckless on his detail."

"There was no fucking time for proper channels. I had to act fast so I went with my gut. I did what I had to do and if The President doesn't understand that then he is living in Wonderland."

Castle pushed himself from his perch against the wall. This was getting them nowhere. "Well, don't tell the queen or she'll have his head."

The entire room shot to their feet and rounding the table he came face to face with undoubtedly one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Suddenly, all he could wonder was how much gorgeous she would be if a smile graced her face instead of the mixture of horror and residual anger that resided there now.

"Mr. President." They all murmured and Castle gave a nod of acknowledgement.

"Agent Kennedy, Sorenson, Mr. Fitzpatrick, nice to see you all. Agent Beckett could you give us a moment please?"

Beckett's hazel green eyes shot up from where they had been trained on a spot on the wall, meeting his for only the briefest of seconds.

"Extraordinary." He murmured under his breath as she disappeared into the hall.

"Mr. President?" Kennedy promoted.

"Hmm?" He replied breaking out of his haze. "May I ask what that was about?"

"What do you mean, Sir?" Fitzpatrick chimed into the conversation.

"I may not have been in this position for very long but I know you well enough to know you would never bring in an unqualified agent. So, I ask you again, what was that about?"

"Agent Beckett isn't unqualified."

Castle turned his attention to the younger agent standing at the far end of the room. "Agent Sorenson?"

"Beckett is one of the best agents I've met."

Kennedy let out a snort of derision. "Best in the field or between the sheets, Will?"

Castle held up a hand just as the room was about to explode. "Enough. Give me the file."

"Mr. President?" Fitzpatrick questioned.

"Agent Beckett's file, give it to me."

He snatched the file from Kennedy's hand ignoring the other man's poorly masked indignation.

Castle's eyebrows rose with every line he read, carefully making sure not to look at the picture on the left side of the file. He could feel those jade irises threatening to pierce his soul.

"This is beyond impressive. Barely thirty years old and she has more commendations than you, Kennedy."

"She's a loose cannon," Kennedy retorted, only to be interrupted by Sorenson.

"She thinks on her feet."

"Enough, both of you. In the end this is my decision, is it not?" His eyes panned the room as three heads all nodded reluctantly. "Okay then."

With that he turned, file in hand and exited the room, leaving the three bewildered men in his wake.

She was leaned against the wall in the hall when he spotted her. Her head tilted back to rest against the off-white plaster, eyes closed, both hands clasping the handles of the briefcase in front of her.

"Agent Beckett with me."

Kate's eyes snapped open at the command and she quickly fell into step behind The President in silence. He had heard that, all of it. Her mind was racing through everyone she would be able to call to ask a favor in an hour once she was inevitably fired. There had been that one guy, the military contractor who had pinged her for a stint in Afghanistan. That could be okay, as a last resort. Or she could always take the safe route and finally take the bar exam and join her parents' practice back in New York. Settle down, have a couple of kids, and spend her days juggling piles of litigation paperwork and making sure little Johnny got to soccer practice on time. Of course she could also just...

"What do you see here?"

Kate's attention snapped back to the present and she choked on a gasp, releasing a slight wheezing cough instead. She was in the Oval Office. Her jaw snapped shut and she forced her attention back to the lone man in the room with her.

"Sir?"

Castle chuckled slightly, gesturing for her to take the small sheet of paper in his hand. "What do you see?"

Slowly, she reached out to grab it, her eyes only leaving him long enough to make sure she wasn't grasping at air.

"I, uh," she stuttered, leaning slightly to place her briefcase on floor beside her. It wasn't paper; it was a photograph. Analyze. This was her job; she was good at this. She could do this.

"It's a picture of your daughter," She started with a slight frown, and The President motioned for her to continue as he took a step back to lean against his desk. "She's in her uniform and holding books, so I'm assuming it was taken outside her school."

The President hummed in affirmation spurring on her confidence.

"She's not paying attention to the camera, laughing with friends so that tells me it's a candid shot; she didn't know it was being taken. Lighting indicates it's mid afternoon, so probably right after school was let out for the day."

Castle shifted his position on the desk, leaning forward slightly in interest.

"They are wearing their summer uniforms so the picture was taken sometime in the last two months." She shrugged slightly as she held the photograph back out to him.

The picture fell slightly as he pushed himself off of the desk, arms folded over his chest, ignoring her attempt to return it.

"Turn it over."

She flipped the photo over and her frown deepened at the two words printed on the back.

She's mine.

"I'm guessing you didn't write that, Sir?"

Castle huffed out a laugh before dropping down into his chair. "I did not. See anything else now?"

Kate flipped the picture back over, her brow furrowed as she began to pace the room. Her free thumb gravitated to her lips and she chewed gently on the skin surrounding her nail. It was a disgusting habit her mother had been trying to cure her of since childhood, but it still flared whenever she was deep in thought.

"It's a close up shot, so either it was taken from a close proximity or from a distance with a very expensive telephoto lens."

"How can you tell that?"

Kate stepped around the side of the desk without a second thought and placed the picture on the table in front of him, as she leaned over next to his chair. "See how clear the photo is? No blurring, distortion or trace of pixilation. That means one of two things— either it was taken up close, or that the photographer zoomed in from far away with a really good lens. Either way that's not a good thing."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, either they managed to get that close to Alexis without catching attention. That would mean it's probably someone she knows. Or if it was taken from far away, a telephoto lens that good would cost upward of thirty grand. That means this is someone with money who knows what they are doing. This isn't a crackpot. This is a threat to be taken seriously."

"I agree. You're good. It took four agencies two days to tell me what you just did in two minutes. How do you feel about children?"

"Sir?" Beckett questioned, her breath catching slightly as he reached out to take the photo, their fingers brushing.

"I'm offering you a job. I'd be willing to jump in front of a bullet for my daughter, would you?"

"Mr. President, if I did my job correctly I wouldn't have to."

"Seven tomorrow morning," Castle responded, and Beckett stumbled back, quickly regaining her composure as he pushed back his chair to stand. She rounded the desk as he spoke into the intercom on the desk. "Becky please come show Agent Beckett out from the Round Room and give her a copy of Alexis' schedule and the proper credentials. Agent Beckett, welcome to the White House."

Kate murmured a thank you as she reached for her brief case and turned to follow Becky out of the office her head spinning.

What the hell just happened?

A/N: As always, thank you for your kind words and feedback. Flew beta free on this chapter, so any mistakes are my own or because of Autocorrect. (Actually, let's just blame Autocorrect, shall we?). Beta will be back next chapter. ;)

This is for Berkie, Nina, Marie, Dia, KC and everyone else who begged me to write this AU. I hope you all enjoy it! Based on the Tumblr Prompt- Castle is the president and Beckett is a SSA agent in charge of protecting Alexis. In the original prompt Alexis was 6-8. I changed it to 11/12 for creative purposes.

This will be a multi-chapter. I'm not sure exactly how long it will be but I feel like this could be a nice fun story no matter how long. I will update this and my other stories as quickly as possible but I do appreciate your understanding and patience since real life does come first. ;)

x. Alex

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