A/N So, another Castle one-shot. My muse seems to have a mind of its own at the moment. Its unbeta-ed to all mistakes belong to moi. Read and review. Marie X
When she was little the fairy tales were always her favourites; the faraway lands with mythical dragons and beautiful princesses imprisoned in towers. The Prince on a noble steed, who rode in to save the day; although there was always the nagging voice wandering why the princess couldn't save herself.
In her teens the fairy tales gave way to slightly more realistic fantasies of Mr Right and One-and-Done but in the end the death of her mother squashed those fantasies far more completely than any failed romance ever could. How could she dare to believe in soul mates within a world full of death and pain?
Instead of daydreams about men or relationships her days are spent solving murder cases; piecing together DNA and splatter patterns to find a killer. Her love of fairy tales is resigned to the odd Disney film on DVD or a peek at her old story books; that kind of magic no longer exists in her life.
When she first laid eyes on Richard Castle it was a dream come true; meeting one of her favourite authors in the flesh. Within two minutes her dreams are once again crushed, a man who wrote the most beautifully complex mysteries was in fact the perfect embodiment of a twelve year old. The moment the Captain informed her that Castle is shadowing her indefinitely, in order to research his new book; a book in which the main character was based on herself no less, the tiny seed of hope within her died. Under no circumstances could this man, this immature and egotistic man, ever be the person she imagined him to be.
The playboy persona was even more pronounced and yet as she grew to see him as her partner things changed. The man literally would not let her go into harm's way alone, much to her constant chagrin, though she had to admit she felt touched. The cup of coffee ready and waiting on her desk each morning gave her hope and she realised that he was the only person able to make her smile quite so much for a long time. He even charged into a burning building to save her; not quite on a noble steed but close enough.
Richard Castle may be many things but to Kate Beckett maybe, just maybe he could be the person to bring fairy tales back into her life.
Fin