A/N Hi and welcome to another short series. This forms part of my Intersecting Lines verse but is completely stand-alone, you don't have to read any of those stories to understand and hopefully enjoy this story.

For those who are interested the background to this story comes from my Rizzoli and Isles-based story 'Intersecting Lines'. In that universe Alex and Olivia and Jane and Maura are friends, each couple having taken the steps to move from friends to lovers one night in the stand-alone short story 'Hearts on the Shopping Block". Their friendship continues throughout 'Intersecting Lines Book 2' and will further develop in 'Intersecting Lines Book 3'.

In 'Intersecting Lines Book 2', Alex and Olivia, Jane and Maura and their friends attend the New York City Mayor's Charity Ball, where they cross paths with Olivia's rookie from her days as a beat cop, Kate Beckett and her partner Richard Castle. Their friendship rekindled, they share a night of fun with friends old and new, agreeing that they will do all they can to stay in touch, including spending time together.

This story covers the events of one such weekend. I hope you enjoy it.

Usual disclaimers apply here, I don't own any of the characters in this story, I'm just playing with them for a while.

Hampton's Hiatus

01 Friday Night

Alex's viewpoint

The drive was relaxing, we both appreciated an early exit to the working week and beating the Friday afternoon rush hour, getting the hell away from the misery of the work we do, heading out onto Long Island towards Rick Castle's place in the Hampton's for a long-anticipated weekend of fun and relaxation.

We'd followed the directions Rick had texted and combined with my own experience making the run up to the Hampton's we'd found their house without any problems; pausing at the entrance to the driveway, Liv taking in the house and its beach front surrounds and then turned to look across at me, a little awed, something that came across in her voice.

"Wow" I had to nod, taking in the house; I'd grown up spending summer vacations in the Hamptons and was used to the houses up here but even I had to admire the beautiful house and its spectacular setting; somewhat isolated and backed onto the beach where it looked out over the ocean, was pretty amazing. Looking back to Liv I smiled in anticipation before speaking.

"Nice, this should be a good weekend" We shared a look, one part excitement, one part anticipation and one part contentment, ever since Liv and her old partner Kate Beckett had reconnected at the New York Mayor's Charity Ball two months back, we'd caught up numerous times, drinks out, dinner at Rick and Kate's loft, lunch at our apartment, but a whole weekend together at their holiday home was going to be something special.

I was really looking forward to hearing stories about the two of them as partners, from what I'd already gathered Kate had been assigned as Liv's rookie when they'd both been beat cops back in the 27th precinct but I hadn't learned a whole lot more than that, Liv was pretty good at deflecting interest in her past, instead turning the conversation onto other things, usually with the comment that it was just 'boring beat stuff'. I finally had the chance to learn more and quite frankly, with a whole weekend to dig into their background together I couldn't wait.

Making our way up the drive and pulling up in front of the house, we saw Rick walking out to meet us, casual in jeans and a loose deep-blue shirt that brought out the blue in his eyes, his smile widening as he took in Liv's ageless black '65 Mustang convertible. As we got out he stepped forward, wrapping first Liv then I in hugs and kisses on the cheeks before stepping back and running his eyes over the car once more.

"I do love a woman who appreciates the classics" I just grinned at him, the chance to tease too good to pass up.

"Is that why you love Kate, because she appreciates you?" Rick laughed heartily, completely unfazed by my insinuations.

"Why thank you for the compliment but I'm not the only classic that Kate owns" He pulled out a remote from his jeans and pressed a button, the doors to the garage lifting in response; there sitting inside the multi-car garage with Rick's red Ferrari and a silver Mercedes sedan was a classic Harley Davidson Soft Tail. Rick turned and smiled at Liv's happy whoop.

"She kept it?" Rick nodded, obviously proud as punch about his girlfriend's bike, something which came out in his tone.

"Kate rode up here last night; it's safer kept here than in a storage unit back in New York, there's been a spate of break-ins there in the last six months so we'll keep it up here for now" We spent a few seconds admiring the beautiful, classic bike before Rick spoke once more.

"There's apparently a really big storm passing through tonight so you should put the beast inside" We nodded, having heard the same on the radio on the way up; Liv nodded her thanks at Rick's offer before hopping back in and manoeuvring the Mustang into the garage between the Harley and the Ferrari. That done we grabbed our bags and made our way inside where we were met by Kate, full of apologies as she'd been down at the beach front when we'd arrived, with hugs and kisses exchanged all round. I stood there and took her in, relaxed and comfortable in jeans, a light-grey loose-knitted long cardigan over a baby-blue tee and simple woven sandals on her feet, hair tousled in the ocean breeze, she looked both happy and very content.

Dinner was great, Rick had whipped up a great Italian-themed dinner, caprese salad with pesto sauce for an entrée, mushroom risotto and fettuccine for the main, he really was a good cook, enough so that Liv had teased him about it, telling him that she should place take-out orders with Rick's Café Italiane back in New York, getting a laugh from both Kate and Rick, while I'd ribbed him about a having a second career if readers ever tired of his Nikki Heat books.

Following coffee's, at Kate's suggestion we'd moved into the main room to sit in front of the roaring fireplace as Rick turned most of the lights off, giving us a front row seat to watch a big thunderstorm roll in from the ocean, full of lightning and thunder, the perfect night for reminiscing with friends about cases old and new, the weirder the better. Over the next two hours and some good red wine, we chatted about cases, the good ones, the bad ones, the weird ones.

As the thunder rolled and water streamed down the windows, backlit by the sheet lightening, Liv turned to smile fondly at me where I'd snuggled in against her, her arm around my shoulders, comfortable and warm, before looking back at Rick and Kate and speaking.

"I gotta admit when it comes to weird, you guys take the cake, the zombie story, the ghost hunting story, the alien abduction story, why does all the weird stuff happen to you?" Kate shrugged and looked up at Rick from where her head lay in his lap as she stretched out across the floor, before looking back and replying.

"It's all his fault really, my life was kinda normal till he wandered in" Rick gently smiled at her as he carefully tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear then looked up at us and spoke.

"I like to think I added a certain something, a little panache that was otherwise missing" Kate rolled her eyes at him, a smile threatening to break through.

"Sure Castle, like my life was so boring before you arrived" He grinned down at her.

"C'mon Beckett, you have to admit life's been interesting since we've been working together" I couldn't help laughing at the innocent look Rick was trying to pull off; it sure looked like Kate wasn't buying it for a second even as Liv spoke.

"He's got you there Kate" Kate just looked back over at us and smiled.

"Interesting, I suppose that's one word to describe it, maybe not the first one to come to mind, but yeah, interesting might cover it" I smiled and spoke.

"So tell me Kate, what words would you use?" Kate's smile widened as her eyes closed, her voice full of amused teasing.

"Let me work through the alphabet, aggravating, arrogant, annoying..." Rick looked down to where Kate's head lay in his lap; her long jeans-clad legs stretched across the floor towards the fireplace, her now socks-clad feet soaking up the warmth and ran his hand gently through Kate's chestnut-blonde locks, the tender care obvious.

"Why detective, your words wound me terribly" Kate just opened one eye and looked up at him, sarcasm dripping off her words.

"Let me guess Castle, you want me to kiss it all better?" She got a mock leer in return.

"Well, if you're offering..." Kate's eyes drifted shut again, her voice soft and warm.

"In your dreams Castle" Rick smiled slowly, then looked over at Liv and raised an eyebrow.

"So what was it like, being partners with Kate here?" I suddenly sat just a little straighter, I'd been fascinated by the same question for as long as I'd known about them both. Liv shrugged before answering.

"Pretty good, we worked hard, played hard; had some bad times, lots of good ones" Rick nodded, before pushing a little.

"It can't have been all work, tell us about some of the good stuff" Liv looked over at Kate and smiled as Kate's eyes half-opened and her head turned to watch Liv as my girlfriend spoke.

"We sorta dragged each other into various things, we each knew people who knew people so we'd get invites to all sorts of things" I sat there for a second waiting for her to volunteer more, I should have known better though, this is Olivia Benson we're talking about, she practically defines closemouthed. Realising with a bit of frustration she wasn't going to say anything I prodded her.

"What sort of things?" I'd meant to let the others chat but my curiosity was well and truly aroused, the chance to learn something more about my notoriously private girlfriend's pre-SVU past too good to let go without a fight. Kate smiled, her tawny eyes opening wider as she replied.

"Oh, lots of things. I remember one time I posed for an art class; it was fun and I enjoyed it so they asked if I knew anyone else. I arranged for Liv to pose for them, the teacher raved about her muscle definition for weeks afterwards" Rick smiled and nudged her shoulder gently.

"Was that the class where you posed in the..." Kate smiled and nodded. I looked at them both and mentally finished the sentence then turned my head to look at Liv.

"And what exactly were you wearing when you posed?" Liv gave me a mildly embarrassed look and shrugged, a little sheepishly, before replying.

"Not much, it was a nude's class after all" I frowned at the idea of Liv up in front of an art class, all painting or sketching furiously, I wasn't sure if I liked the idea of other people seeing my girlfriend, my lover, like that; a naked Liv was something I wanted to keep all for myself. Unaware of my thoughts Liv was still talking. "It paid enough for a dinner and drinks, so I was happy" Rick grinned, obviously happy to keep the ball rolling.

"So what other scandalous interludes did you two get up to?" Kate suddenly looked up, a wicked smile on her face.

"Oh all sorts of things" She smirked and looked over at Liv. "There was that party we went to…you remember the one Liv, in that place in Soho where we ended up with the two male models and the fashion designer..." Liv's cheeks were suddenly flaming red, getting a hoot from Kate. "Oh yeah, you remember all right" Rick tipped his head down to look at her.

"Beckett...?" Kate shook her head decisively before he looked up at Liv, who shook her head equally firmly.

"Uh uh, no way Castle, my lips are sealed" Liv looked over at Kate. "So are yours Beckett, unless you want me spilling on what you really did that night" I let my eyebrow rise as I turned my head to look Liv in the eye.

"And what exactly did you two get up too?" Olivia smiled and leaned over, giving me a kiss and them both an out.

"That's a story for another time" She got up and picked up both our glasses, making her way out to the kitchen to get a refill as I felt a mild scowl appear on my face as I watched my surprisingly slippery girlfriend once again escape cross examination. Rick meanwhile had skewered Kate with a look.

"Beckett…" She gave him a sly smile as she snuggled her head back into his lap, looking up and speaking, her voice carrying a teasing lilt.

"Remember when I told you that vampire party we busted was tame compared to some I'd been too?" Rick nodded.

"I remember" Kate just smiled sweetly up at him and said nothing, her eyes falling closed, drawing an exasperated look from Rick.

"Beckett…" Her grin was quick and teasing, just like her voice.

"No way, like Liv said, that's a story for another time" Rick and I exchanged a meaning-filled glance, both of us obviously making a mental note; we had to hear that story, soon.

The room was quiet, not an awkward one, instead a companionable one as we watched Liv make her way back with refilled glasses for her and I. Handing one down, she carefully sat back by my side, close enough to snuggle again, then looked over at Kate.

"I see you still ride, seeing as your baby's parked in the garage" Kate's eyes popped open as she grinned, looking round at Liv.

"Yeah, no way was I going to get rid of her. Do you still ride?" I looked up from my excellent Australian Shiraz in surprise; Liv rode motorcycles, since when? Unaware of my interest Liv shook her head, a little sadly I noted.

"Haven't for years, I don't even know if the leathers still fit" At that little tidbit I turned my head slowly to look at my continually-surprising girlfriend, I let my eyes narrow as my voice dropped, picking up a little of what Liv calls my 'courtroom' voice.

"Leathers, you wear…leathers?" Liv smiled a little guiltily.

"Um yeah, I used to ride, well Kate and I did, we'd go for rides on our weekends off, once every month or so, take our bikes, she had the Soft Tail, I had a Low Boy Fat Rider, we'd get out of the city and get our heads straight on the open road, stay somewhere overnight and head home on Sunday" I half-closed my eyes for a moment, imagining a young Liv in tight black leather on a Harley as I carefully swallowed at the picture; Rick smiled at me fondly, obviously reading my mind.

"Nice, I have to say I appreciate Kate here in black leather, I'm sure Liv'd look great too" Kate snickered from his lap, looked over at Liv and asked a question.

"Remember the time those Hell's Angel's tried to pick us up in that bar?" That got a laugh from Liv.

"The look on their faces when we said no, then told him if he didn't take his hand off you we'd arrest him" She looked around at Rick and I. "They didn't believe that we were cops, till we pulled out our badges and showed them our guns, after that they calmed right down. Ended up buying us drinks for the afternoon" There were smiles around the room at the thought, even as I snuggled in a little closer to Liv's reassuringly solid, powerful build, feeling her arm lift to allow me to scoot a little closer and then settle around my shoulders.

"Where's your bike now?" It was Kate, she frowned. "You do still have it?" Liv shook her head sadly.

"No, it was stolen right out of the storage place I had stashed it in" She frowned. "I tried to recover it but a guy in the auto theft team told me it was almost certainly either stripped down for parts or it'd been rebirthed for sale overseas" I frowned, noticing the slightly sad tone in Liv's voice and looked up at her

"You never thought of replacing it?" She looked down and smiled at me as she explained.

"I used the insurance money and bought the Mustang. I was working in SVU, I wasn't riding much then and I wanted something I could park in the garage or on the street that'd be reasonably secure" I nodded slowly as Kate interjected.

"That's a real shame, you loved that bike"

"I did, but it wasn't the same, riding alone" Rick smiled, a little crookedly.

"But you wouldn't be, I'm pretty sure that Alex would be happy to be your bitch, wouldn't you?" I looked across at him, frowning at the term, something Kate must have seen because she laughed.

"It's a term for the partner who rides behind the bike's owner" She glanced at Rick then back at me. "That makes Castle here my bitch" I nodded sagely then looked over at Rick.

"You happy being Kate's bitch Rick?" He pretended to think about it for a moment then tipped a fond smile at Kate.

"It's a cross I bear, the long-suffering partner" Kate looked up at him, her voice full of scorn.

"Suffering, you, since when?" He smiled down at her indulgently as he replied, the humour apparent in his voice.

"Snuggled up against you, while you're wearing tight black riding leather but out in public where I can't do anything about it?" He glanced up and flashed us both a wicked grin as he continued. "You bet I suffer" They shared a quick smile before he bent over and kissed her, it was meant to be a quick peck but Kate hooked her arm around his head and held him there for a moment as they kissed, full of love and passion. I finally turned away, a little embarrassed and a little turned on and looked up at Liv, seeing her smiling at her friend before asking her a question.

"So tell me Liv, what would it take for you to ride again?" She smiled back at me as she answered. .

"I dunno, if we had a chance maybe I could borrow Kate's bike and we could ride around a couple of the back streets" I nodded, already imagining myself snuggled up behind my girlfriend on the back of a bike, feeling a slow growing heat at the thought.

"Will it involve you in leather?" She smiled, a little wickedly.

"Maybe, maybe not" I couldn't help the pout that appeared at her teasing, before Liv leaned forward and kissed me soundly. For a moment I lost myself in her kiss, feeling my body respond to her, a hum running through me as she soundly plundered my mouth with her tongue, drawing a low moan from me unbidden, before finally pulling apart to see Rick and Kate watching us, I could feel my cheeks redden as I realised they'd seen and heard it all. Kate nodded once.

I don't normally let anyone ride my baby, but for Liv?" She smiled and tipped her head Liv's way. "I think I can make an exception"