Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Castle or anything from the series. The characters and everything else belongs to Andrew Marlowe.
A/N: These oneshots are all AUs of one variety or another. AUs also might mean that there's some OOC-ness, although I'll try to keep it very limited. Thoughts are in italics.
**Please read the warnings/ratings at the top of each oneshot, as it might vary from chapter to chapter!** (The default for this fic as a whole will be T, until if/when I add some mature chapters, in which case the overall rating will be bumped to M.)
My apologies for any mistakes, this is unbeta'd. Especially since I've never written in this POV/tense before and I'm not sure how well it works.
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Rating for this chapter: T
Note: This AU starts off in between Castle's marriages. So in the beginning he's divorced from Meredith, but hasn't married Gina yet.
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Sirens wail as Kate watches the suspect being put into the back of the police cruiser. She knows that she should be there with the rest of the officers helping to transfer the suspect to the precinct, but she was just on the front line of a hostage situation and she feels that it's ok for her to step back for a minute. Someone else will take care of his sorry ass.
She is relishing her momentary breather when she hears someone walk up behind her. Kate is not overly surprised to see that it is Richard Castle, the thorn in her side from the last few days.
They are saying their good-byes when he feeds her a couple of lines of going out for dinner together. Kate is flattered by his proposition, though she'd never admit it, and she bites her lip as she thinks before deciding to accept his offer. The happy expression which lights up his face upon hearing her decision makes her glad that she said yes. He gives her the name of a fancy Greek restaurant he's been dying to try, and Kate agrees because she loves Greek food. With a huge smile on his face, Castle shakes her hand and says he'll be by to pick her up at six o'clock that evening. They part and head back to their respective worlds, both earnestly awaiting their dinner later that evening.
. . .
As Kate hopes, they have a wonderful evening together. Castle is, when he's not tagging along at work, not the pain in the ass he'd proved himself to be during the case.
She still hasn't been able to completely wrap her head around the fact that her favourite author had asked her out to dinner, so she is just enjoying the evening for what it is – two adults sharing a meal. They trade smiles over their dinner, sipping wine and laughing over amusing stories they share from their respective pasts. As Kate has suspected, Richard Castle is something of a womanizer, and his many years in the spotlight have not only taught him many valuable life lessons, but have also resulted in many humorous adventures for the writer. Kate's tales hark mostly back to her years in university, and Castle finds he can't get enough of her stories.
When the bill finally arrives, Castle whisks it out of Kate's reach before she can protest. He's paying, he insists, because the restaurant was his idea and he wants to treat her. Kate huffs, but relents and lets him pay. He holds the door open for her as they leave the restaurant, ever the perfect gentleman, and Kate finds that she enjoys being a man's centre of attention. She's had boyfriends before, but most didn't put on airs for her the way Castle was for her now. She could get used to this.
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After dinner Castle offers to take her dancing, but she declines, reminding him of their long day; Castle is surprising her with his seemingly endless amounts of energy, but she's reaching her limit for the night. So Castle directs the limo to take her home, and they enjoy a quiet ride back to her apartment. Kate has a suspicion how their evening might end, but isn't about her to get her hopes up. She plans to play her cards close to her chest and just see where the chips fall.
When they arrive at her building, Castle gets out first and holds his hand out for her. Her writer in shining armour, she teases, and he just smiles back. He holds her hand as they walk up to her front door, not wanting to let go any sooner than he has to.
When they turn to say their good nights at the door, Kate overrides the awkward moment by inviting him inside. Castle looks pleasantly surprised, but he accepts and she lets him in. They ride the elevator up to her apartment in silence, each sneaking not-so-subtle glances at the other. They get off on her floor and Kate lets him into her apartment slowly, trying to remember if she left it in a mess when she headed to work that morning. Thankfully it is relatively tidy, and Kate relaxes a little. She moves to hang her jacket in the hallway closet, leaving Castle to explore her apartment.
Kate is in the kitchen pulling out a couple of glasses for them when he comes up behind her and puts his hands on her waist. She tenses momentarily before turning to face him, unsure of what his intentions are. He's right in her personal space, whispering about how beautiful she is as he takes the glassware from her hands and places it on the counter. Castle's head dips towards hers, and Kate's eyes fall shut as she meets him halfway. With a soft sigh, she leans into his kisses as he pushes her against the counter. Hands touch and fingers caress as they stumble from the kitchen to the living room, neither willing to separate long enough to make it to the bedroom. Kate pushes him onto her couch and straddles his lap as she pulls her shirt up and over her head. Castle starts to say something before she interrupts him with another kiss, and then nothing more is said.
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The sun is barely peeking over the horizon when the alarm on Kate's phone starts buzzing. She untangles herself from Castle's embrace long enough to reach over and shut it off, then settles back into bed. She watches his chest rise and fall under the covers, and she decides to take pity on him and let him sleep while she gets ready for work. It's not until she's heading into the bathroom for her morning shower that Kate sees him stir and start to waken. She catches his eye and gives him a small smile before shutting the bathroom door.
When she gets out of her shower, she can smell something delicious coming from the kitchen. She makes a beeline for the coffeemaker, only to see that Castle has a fresh pot already waiting for her. He's also making her scrambled eggs, something Kate hasn't had in awhile; usually she just has coffee for breakfast. She shows her appreciation with a few gentle kisses, which he returns, and then they sit down for breakfast together in her kitchen.
It is not long after that when Kate has to leave for work. Castle is reluctant to leave her, but knows he should head home and try to see his daughter before she leaves for school. As they leave Kate's apartment and she locks the front door behind them, Castle thanks her for having him over and letting him stay the night. Kate merely nods, and together they make their way downstairs. Just before they part ways outside her building, Castle gives her one more kiss and promises to call. He leaves in a taxi, and he's not even out of sight before Kate realizes how much she's looking forward to seeing him again. Richard Castle is a famous author, a playboy and a flirt, but he is also so much more, something Kate now knows firsthand. She already can't wait for him to call her.
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Several days pass and when Kate still hasn't heard from Castle, she decides to be the one to break the ice. She's had his number since they first started working together, so during one of her breaks at work she calls his cellphone.
It rings several times before a woman answers. Kate is surprised and stammers out a mumbled greeting. Before she can explain who she is, the woman on the phone cuts her off, telling her that Richard Castle is in the middle of a book signing and not to be interrupted. Kate tries to explain the situation, but the aggressive woman on the other end of the line labels her a groupie and tells her not to call Castle's number again before hanging up.
Kate stares at the receiver in her hand. Who was that? And where does she get the nerve to be so rude to someone she's never met! Replacing the phone in its cradle, Kate scolds herself for thinking that maybe she had meant something to the famous author. As she heads back to her desk to resume working on her case, she shores up her walls up a little higher and reinforces their strength. Kate Beckett didn't make the same mistakes twice.
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She doesn't see Richard Castle again after that. She is still not sure why he never called her back, but after that phone call with the still-unknown woman, Kate is not about to risk calling him again. If he really wants to see her again, he'll call her.
The weeks pass, and one day she happens to glance at an open newspaper in the break room while she's making herself a coffee. It's been left open at the entertainment section, and Kate almost drops her coffee cup when she sees that front and centre on the page is a picture of Richard Castle with a woman who is apparently his new wife. 'Richard Castle Marries Publicist' proclaims the headline. Kate can't bring herself to read the article itself, but she stares at the picture longer than she cares to admit. His new wife is blonde, slender and gorgeous, and they stare at each other with matching expressions of love. They look happy together. Kate's walls crack a little as she is reminded yet again of the night they shared.
She hurries out of the break room, determined to forget what she just saw. The little voice at the back of her mind whispers that she won't forget.
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Months pass, and then years. Kate has learned to forgive Richard Castle for what happened between them, but she has never really forgotten. He is still writing best-selling books, and she continues to buy them. She logs onto his website occasionally and browses the forum boards, discussing his novels behind the screen of anonymity. Kate has never told anyone about her night with Castle, and she doesn't plan to. If he never goes public with it, then it will be her secret to keep.
One morning while on her way to work, Kate hears on her patrol car radio that Castle has gotten divorced from his second wife. Kate's heart clenches as a myriad of emotions rush through her. She shoves it all back down, locks it away once more. She has a job to do and Castle is no longer a part of her life.
It's not long after that when she comes in to work and sees her captain talking to someone in his office. Kate wonders if a high profile case has just broke open on their laps, but she knows he will come explain the situation to her when he's done. Ryan and Esposito arrive at the precinct and together they debrief each other on the case they just closed.
Kate is in the middle of describing the take-down for the boys, who hadn't been present at the time it happened, when they suddenly fall silent. She looks confused and it takes a moment before she realizes that a figure has come to stand beside her desk. Turning her head, she turns to see who the stranger is.
Vibrant blue locks with brilliant green as Richard Castle and Kate Beckett meet once again.
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A/N: Sorry again for any OOC-ness. If you've made it this far, thank you so much for reading!