I do not own Castle. I borrow him from time to time. He belongs to ABC
Too bad Marlow is not still there. If he were, I think we would have a great season 8.
Not this…
Moving on Let's be perfectly clear about this tale of fiction
This story is AU and NOT CANON
I am using the canon as a launch pad to go somewhere
Hopefully somewhere you don't expect
Please ignore the show and seasons and episodes and scenes
I am using snippets of their story to tell my story
He has settled into the comfortable seat in first class of the new Boeing 777 aircraft. He has mentally prepared himself for the long plane ride back to the big apple and what waits for him there.
The plane ride back home to New York. The city he grew up in. The city where he wrote his first book. In fact almost all his books were written there. From the tales committed to paper in the days before a laptop that is now his storage method of choice. The nights at the Old Haunt before he arranged to buy it, to the morbid killing off of that same character, Derrick Storm
Then meeting and following the beautiful and intelligent detective Katherine Beckett who allowed him to create his favorite character, Nikki Heat. Then spending almost every waking hour in her presence before changes caused his departure to parts far away
He leans his head back on the headrest of his seat and closes his eyes. Every time he does this he sees her face. Not just her face. Her hair. Her smile. He hears her laugh in his ears.
He can almost smell the scent of her. That faint aroma of cherries lifting his heart up.
It has been two years since he has been able to actually be in her presence but that will, evidently, end today. She had told him that she would pick him up at the airport. He tried to convince her not to bother that he could catch a cab or have a car service pick him up, but she insisted that she do this one thing for him, so he decided to allow her that privilege.
He is trying to convince his mind to shut down and get a little sleep but his brain is more alive than it has ever been. He is looking forward to the return to the big city after almost two years of absence. Having only been back once for a scheduled book signing, he has not stepped foot in inside a New York cab or ridden a single stop on the subway
Today will be different. Or rather the beginning of a new life for him. His return to the place he called home and to the life he left so many months ago
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
She has been looking at the clock in her office just waiting for the time that his plane arrives. She had already arranged for Lieutenant Ryan to cover the rest of the day as senior officer on duty. Being captain, she had some privileges and escaping for a few hours at the end of the day was one of them
She steps out of her office and tells the team that she is leaving and that she will only respond if one of them is killed so for them to make sure that does not happen. The team agrees to try and comply with her request.
After the elevator door closes Ryan turns to his partner "SO! Seeing him for the first time in 2 years. I wonder how that will go?"
Javier responds in his usual manor of assured demeanor "After how they left off? I just don't know"
"She was out of sorts for a long time after he left, wasn't she?"
"Yeah. Like she had lost a part of her own self"
/\/\/\/\/\/\
Captain Katherine Beckett has left the station and headed home to clean up before going to the airport. Running inside she showers quickly and changes into a comfortable pair of slacks, that make her legs look amazing and a soft cream colored blouse that makes her olive complexion just pop out
She gets back into her car and makes her way to the airport as fast as she can travel just short of turning on the lights and using the siren
Upon arriving at the terminal she has the fortune of locating a police only parking place where she drops the cruiser and rushes inside
Once she clears herself past TSA using her credentials she checks the flight displays to verify the arrival time of his flight and what gate. She rushes toward the end of the terminal where she will wait for him to arrive
Once she gets as close to the gate as she can she realizes that she is almost an hour early and has a lot of time to kill waiting for the flight to arrive
She passes a coffee kiosk and orders her favorite brew. A Grande skim latte with two pumps of sugar free vanilla. But, as it has been from the time he left, it is simply not as good as what he made for her every day before he left
She places herself in one of the horribly uncomfortable chairs facing a television display and tries to concentrate on the images being placed out on the national news channel that seems to be on every screen in the area
Displays repeating the terrible stories of the day. Nothing is hopeful except what she wishes to happen later today
The wait allows her mind to wander back from today to "Their" former life together
Closing her eyes, she tells herself that she will rest for a moment waiting for his arrival.
Her thoughts start at the beginning. That night she arrived at his book signing and brought him into the station for questioning as if he were a suspect himself
A gentle smile crosses her face at the very thought of what transpired following that first meeting
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
He tried to sleep but his brain simply would not quit. Even the constant white noise surrounding the aircraft, no slumber is occurring
He is returning to his home. But the one thing that he wishes would happen is the least likely to occur
He allows his mind to go down the path it has traveled regularly during the past 25 months since he left the city.
He thinks about 'her'
He returns to the night they met and how much he wanted more with her but she shut him down with so few words and left him wanting more
His connections to the mayor gave him his only chance to get closer to her. The memories of the fun things that occurred after that brought a smile to his face
He recalled the girl murdered and dumped in a clothes dryer. The frozen body at a construction site. The victim drowned in a bathtub filled with motor oil.
But his heart begins to race as he recalls the formal ball where she arrived at his home in the dress he arranged for her. She was breathtaking and she never did tell him where she hid her badge
He can now admit that he was jealous of FBI agent Will Sorenson when he arrived on the scene. Trying to re connect with Kate and rekindle their love affair but she chose to not move to Boston with him and she stayed allowing Castle to at least still work with her
After ridding his mind of the affects of the FBI agent he again closes his eyes in at feeble attempt at sleep, but as before slumber will not occur
As soon as his eyes close he can see her the day of the photo shoot for the magazine. The story about her and the book and her stern look of wanting him to be involved in a shooting of a different kind
Chasing down the clues as they did. working as a professional team but when they closed the case she had to solve it by arresting the suspect while wearing a skin tight micro mini dress that clung to her every curve in just the right way
He truly believes he was never the same after that
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Her thoughts move to later times with them. Those first few cases were so telling about the playboy that the papers always projected about him. Why did he have to turn out to be someone different than the tabloids?
He was a great father and family man who loved and respected his mother so much? A man who would tell his daughter only the truth no matter how hard it would be and how much she would be affected by it but has always there to take care of her.
And then he treated me well. With that she sighs at the thought
Did I really treat him badly? In the beginning, YES! But he deserved it
But I also teased him unmercifully. Micro dress showing almost all my legs. Asking if he wanted to see me under the hot sun in a swimsuit. I think I almost caused him to have a stroke
But then it happened. His book launch party. The Nikki Heat book launch party. I had learned he was writing another Nikki Heat book and I was not getting rid of him. At least not any time soon
Then he told me about the "Other" book. The spy books. He would be leaving to write them and I would have him finally out of my life.
Then it hit me 'I would have him out of my life…For good!'
I had started to see the possibility of being friends with him…or more
Then he had to do IT!
At the launch party there it was. The dedication of the book. Dedicated to me. Calling me Extraordinary
Why did he have to do that to me? That is where her heart turned around when it came to him.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/
He thinks he might have actually fallen asleep if only briefly because he had a dream. The reason for the dream was, of course her. Every moment of every day over the last two years has been filled by the thoughts of her so why would it not be that way again today?
Even though he had no right…To be missing her right now
But her unwavering desire to dive into the cases and solve the crimes for the benefit of the victims that was the most desirable part of her
So many victims over the many cases. So many criminals taken off the street by their mutual need to solve the crimes
His train of thought is broken by the jolt of the landing gear touching the ground
The plane has landed and the crew is assisting in the process of leaving the cocoon of the aircraft and the return to the ground around New York
He wonders if she is waiting for him like she had promised. She had no reason to make that promise, but she had.
He will know very soon
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The flight information boards brought up his flight changing the status from 'On time' to "Arrived" and she continues to watch as the screen finally displays to 'At Gate'
This is when she stands and moves to the exit turn styles to wait for his appearance on the concourse. It seems like hours before she can see other passengers exiting from the restricted area.
Each face that she sees is not the face she wants to see. Some are older. Some are younger. But not one is the one she is waiting for.
Then it happens. She can see him moving toward the exit
She suddenly wonders if this was the right thing to do. She had no reason to be here. Yes she does. She is here to greet him back to the city after a long time away
He exits the turn styles pulling a bag behind him. He is looking around trying to find her.
Then it happens. Their eyes meet
He rushes toward her and she does the same towards him
He drops his bag when she is directly in front of him. His heart wants to wrap his arms around her but his brain is telling him that this is not the right thing to be doing and especially not in the airport terminal
"You didn't have to pick me up"
She is fighting her desire to hug him as well "I felt like you needed a greeting party after being gone so long."
She looks at his bag and reaches to take it but he is faster and grabs the handle before she gets the opportunity
They walk in silence to the cruiser out on the lost. After loading his bag into the back seat they are off driving toward his loft
The trip is mostly done in silence, neither one knowing what to say
When they arrive at his place they head upstairs to the unit.
When they enter through the door way it is evident that he has missed his place
"Go put your bag in the bedroom and I will check on dinner" she points toward his bedroom "I had the housekeeper put a chicken parmigiana on to cook"
"That is what smells so good" he responds as he enters the door to the bedroom
"If you want to, you can grab a shower before the chicken is ready" she loudly speaks toward his room
She goes into the kitchen and finds that all the preparations have already been made by the helper leaving her nothing to do but pour some wine and wait for him to return
Fifteen minutes later he comes back into the living room with his hair still a little fly away
He finds her in the kitchen pulling the casserole dish from the oven "The salad is on the table, ready, and the chicken is just coming out. Sit down and I will plate this up"
"You know Kate, you didn't have to do any of this" he waves his arms around
"I know, but you were coming home and I thought you might find it easier if the loft was re started. After all, it has been two years since you were home and it needed a little setting up"
He smiles "it looks like everything is great" he is glancing around the space
"Yeah. I had the super get your home opened back up ready for your return"
"Thank you" he speaks softly toward her
"Always" she responds then realizes she might be blushing a little
They both return their concentration to the meal in front of them.
After the dinner has been consumed the two walk back into the living room and sit on the couch
The air is filled with tension. Neither on is sure where to start of is there even is a place to begin
Castle decides to start at a place that will probably be a deal breaker "So, I understand you have had a couple of boyfriends over the last two years"
The air in her lungs suddenly becomes too hot to keep inside.