So, this morning I woke up with the idea to combine my two favorite shows into one crossover and while it is something I've been warring with (I never read nor write crossovers) I have decided to just go for it. I would appreciate it if any criticism in the reviews for this story be JUST about this story and not about the individual shows or me, personally. I have dealt with such reviews and am still dealing with them. I do not want to know about your opinion of me other than what pertains to my writing. If you think I am a bad writer, tell me exactly WHY you think so. Criticism of the piece is welcomed, but personal criticism is not. I ask that you please respect these wishes and enjoy the piece.

Disclaimer: I own neither Bones nor Castle. I do, however, hope to work for one of the shows someday if they stay on the air long enough for me to graduate and apply.

Chapter One

Castle was getting restless. He'd been stuck at this table, signing copy after copy of his new release, Deadly Heat, for well over two hours now with no relief, no chance to even get up and stretch his feet since both Gina and Paula were watching him with their hawk-like stares, making sure that he didn't skip out early, like he was prone to do. His only solace was that Beckett was also stuck there for the afternoon until he was finished. Currently, she was sitting in the only seating available, in Barnes and Noble's children's section, resting comfortably, yet awkwardly in one of the bigger chairs, surrounded by toddlers and young children who were all browsing the selection available. Castle smiled at her. She had curled herself in the plush green chair, her nose buried deep in his latest book.

At least she was comfortable.

Another ten minutes passed with Castle mindlessly signing each book presented to him and sketching a bunch of unoriginal messages to his fans. He hated doing that, but after a certain point, even his originality wore off. He denied requests to sign body parts (both male and female) and just focused on signing as quickly as possible so he and Kate could leave and perhaps make it to Remy's for a late lunch.

It was nearly two thirty and there were only about a dozen people left in line when Castle heard a familiar voice above him.

"Hello, Richard." Castle looked up at smiled brightly.

"Temperance!" he exclaimed, standing up to embrace his dear old friend over the table. Temperance Brennan, to his surprise, didn't just settle for her usual double-cheek kiss, but actually pulled him into her arms for a hug. My, how things have changed!

When they pulled back, Castle was beaming and he noticed how different she looked. He couldn't quite explain it, but Temperance looked…fuller, more complete than she had before.

And that's when he noticed the man standing next to her, holding a squirming toddler in his arms, trying to keep her still. Castle looked from him to Temperance and back, pointedly and Temperance's eyes widened.

"Oh! Yes! Right," she said, smiling up at the man and laying her hand on his shoulder. "Richard Castle, this is my partner, Special Agent Seeley Booth. Booth, this is Richard Castle, a good friend of mine."

The men shook hands. "Nice to meet you," Booth said, tucking the squirming toddler under one arm. The little girl pouted and Castle chuckled, giving her a little wave.

"And who's this little cutie?" he asked, looking up at Brennan.

Brennan beamed, scooping up the little girl from beneath Booth's arms and positioning her on her hip. "This," she said, nuzzling the girl's ear with her nose, "is our daughter, Christine Angela Booth."

Castle's eyes widened. "Your daughter?" he asked, surprised. The Temperance he'd known had been completely against having children, as she'd said many times when he'd brought it up in conversation. But now she had a child of her own.

Well that's new. Castle thought to himself. He smiled down at the little girl who was now squirming in Temperance's arms, putting out her own towards the children's section.

"Books!" she exclaimed, struggling against her mother.

Temperance just smiled and held her tighter. "Yes," she said, "I'd assumed you heard; Christine is nearly two years old now."

"Oh, well I haven't really been reading much more about you than your reviews and those news stories about all the cases you solve in D.C. Good work, by the way. I assume you're also her work partner?" Castle asked Booth.

Booth nodded. "Yep," he said, smiling at Brennan. "Going on nine years now." He slung an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in for a kiss, which Brennan gladly accepted. They were interrupted only by the little girl in Brennan's arm.

"Mama! Books!" Christine whined. Brennan pulled away from Booth and smiled down at her daughter.

"In a minute, Christine," she said, sternly. She turned back to Castle with an exasperated look. "She is just like her father, I swear." Castle chuckled. "So, I hear you've been doing work with the NYPD as research for your new novels."

Castle nodded. "Yep, and my partner is right over there," he motioned towards the children's section, where Kate hadn't even moved an inch, except to turn the page. "You can go talk to her about it while I finish up. I think Paula and Gina might be plotting my murder as we speak."

He glanced over at the two women in question and they were both shooting daggers at him with their eyes. Brennan chuckled.

"That sounds good. This way Christine can get what she wants and I can find out what you've been up to these last few years." She lifted one brow, grinning. "But first," she pushed her copy of his book towards him, "I would like a signature."

Castle nodded, sitting back down. "Of course," he said, opening the book and writing her a personalized message and signing his name with a flourish, before handing the book back and allowing her to go make introductions to Beckett.

By the time he was done signing the remainder of the books, all in good spirit, he got up and practically jogged over to where Kate was still sitting in the easy chair, across from Temperance who had pulled a chair out of the café section to talk. Booth, meanwhile, was looking at books with Christine, who kept on pulling them off the shelf while her father picked them up after her and replaced them.

Castle walked in just as Brennan was in the middle of a story. "…and I told him how one would go about effectively making a push off a building look like a suicide."

"Whoa," Castle said, coming to lean on the arm of Beckett's chair, "what are we talking about here?"

Beckett grinned up at him. "Temperance was just telling me about how you two met."

Castle nodded. "Ah yes," he said, stroking his chin, "it was at the height of my career. I was a mere lad at the age of twenty-nine, with a know-it-all daughter, and a knack for procrastination. I had spent all my spare hours, when I wasn't cooking or cleaning or supervising play dates, researching this very topic…"

"Then your publicist gave you my number, which you called incessantly until I agreed to meet with you and go over the entire plot," Brennan said, rolling her eyes.

"Yep, that sounds like Castle," Kate said, earning her a light poke in the ribs that made her jump.

"And I thank you for that," Castle said to Brennan, "because without your help, that book never would have become the bestseller that it is. You were pretty smart for a recent graduate student."

"Oh, yes," Brennan said, nodding, "I am quite brilliant. My daughter is, too." She smiled over at where Christine had abandoned the books for a toy train in the middle of the section, leaving Booth to clean up her mess.

"She's absolutely precious," Kate said, smiling wistfully. She and Castle had finally let their relationship out on their one year anniversary—surprisingly Gates was okay with it and had claimed to know all along—and Kate had just recently moved into the loft with Castle and Martha. There had been no talk of marriage or babies yet but Kate knew she would like to have children someday. And she would like it if they were Castle's children, as well.

But she wasn't going to be the one to bring it up.

Brennan beamed. "Thank you. She is quite beautiful, isn't she?" She glanced over at Christine, who was making train noises as she ran it around the tracks.

"She is," Kate confirmed. She felt Castle's hand squeeze her shoulder and she looked up to find him smiling lovingly at him. Their 'I love you's were exchanged—his for the third time and hers for the first—on his birthday, the first one they spent together as a couple. It was part of his birthday gift. He leaned down and kissed her, softly, on the lips.

Brennan's eyes widened. "Oh!" she said, causing them both to detach their lips and look at her. "I'm sorry but I wasn't aware…I mean, I figured you two were just…I had no idea that you were romantically involved."

Castle chuckled. "Took me nearly five years and a couple dozen near-deaths but I finally got her to give in."

"Yeah, after you completely gave up hope and I nearly fell off a building," Kate pointed out.

"Hey! If I had completely given up do you really think I would have let you stay that night and…did what we did?" He looked down at her pointedly and Kate rolled her eyes, even as she leaned into him, resting her cheek on his chest.

"Thanks for not giving up," she said, softly.

"Always," he whispered back, kissing her forehead.

Brennan smiled at the two. "You two are very romantic. If it's alright, how long have you two been together?"

Castle smiled. "It'll be two years this May. How about you and Mr. FBI over there? How long have you two been together?"

Brennan smiled over at Booth, who was making choo choo noises, making Christine giggle with his silliness.

"We've been together about three years. Like you, our anniversary is also in May."

"Oh, but…um, Christine…how old did you say she was?" Castle asked, getting an elbow in the ribs by Beckett."

"She will be two in January. January 26th, to be exact," Brennan answered with a smile. "And yes, before you ask, Richard, we conceived her at the same time as we got together. But she is not the only reason we are together. I genuinely love and adore Booth. I have for years. It just took some…extenuating circumstances for us to finally, as my friend Angela would say, 'get our heads out of our asses' and get together, already."

Kate chuckled. "She sounds like one of my friends, Lanie. She's our ME at the twelfth."

"Oh, really? That sounds very interesting. I would very much like to meet her."

"You would? Well then how about I invite her out with us for lunch. I haven't had anything to eat with Mr. Writer over here signing books. I'm starving!"

"While I am sure you must be famished not having had lunch yet, you are probably not starving, because you look pretty well-fed and," at Kate's confused expression, Brennan paused, before smiling, "of you were being hyperbolic?" Kate grinned and nodded. "That's very funny," Brennan laughed, before standing and turning towards Christine. "Christine, come here please," she called, putting her arms out.

Christine smiled up at her mother and picked up some book from the floor before running towards her, holding the book over her head. "Book!" Christine said, as Brennan scooped her up.

"What do you say?" Brennan prompted.

"Book, please," Christine replied obediently.

Brennan nodded. "Very good. Yes, Christine, you can get a book."

Christine beamed and Brennan turned to Kate. "I'll be right back," she said. "I just have to go pay for this and then we can go to lunch." Kate nodded, pulling out her phone to call Lanie.

She picked up after two rings. "Parish."

"Hey, Lanie," Kate greeted.

"Hey, girl! How's the book signing going?"

"It went pretty well. It's over now and I was just wondering if you wanted to grab a bite to eat? I met one of Castle's friends today and we're going to head out for lunch with her daughter."

"That sounds amazing! I haven't eaten all day. Too busy with tox reports and autopsies to even think about food. But I could go for a Remy's burger. Meet you there in twenty?"

"Sounds good. I'll see you then." Kate hung up.

"Hey, what about me? I'm starving, too!" Castle whined.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Sorry, Castle," she said, "girls only. Why don't you take Agent Booth over there to the Old Haunt for drinks with the guys. I know Ryan's not doing anything today since he's been whining constantly about how Jenny went to go visit her sister in Florida and he was going to be alone for the entire weekend. It's a pretty safe bet that he and Javi are already at the bar, sharing a drink, anyhow."

"Fine," Castle huffed, before leaning down to kiss her. "But just know that I'll miss you terribly the entire time."

"Gee," Kate said, "that's not clingy at all."

Castle chuckled and kissed her again. "I'll see you later," he said, "I love you. Temperance," he called over to his friend who was making her way back towards him, "don't you dare tell her about the thing!"

"What th-oh! That thing…that's a really good story. I'm sure she'd love to hear all about it. Wouldn't you, Kate?"

Kate smiled evilly up at Castle. "Oh, definitely," she said.

"Hear about what?" Booth asked, coming up to stand with them.

"Nothing," Brennan said, shaking her head. "Booth, Christine and I are going out to lunch with Detective Beckett and her friend. Why don't you go with Richard and get a drink or something. I'm quite certain he has a few friends he would like to introduce you to. Perhaps other cops?" She turned to Castle, who nodded.

"Yeah, I know a couple of guys you might like to meet."

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