Disclaimer: I'm just a Terri looking for her Andrew.

They had been watching the snow fall outside the large windows for two hours now. Not small flakes where one could see every crystal forming the flake, but fat, wet balls of snow that piled up quickly. Any other day, Kate would have loved to see such a sight. It meant fewer murders as people sought shelter, too cold to be reckless and spontaneous.

But she wasn't on-call. Even if she had been, there was no way she was getting to the precinct or the crime scene. Not when she was sitting in an airport terminal, most certainly snowed in.

"Well this sucks…" she muttered, sitting back against the wall and stretching her legs out in front of her.

"Tell me about it. We're totally missing the Christmas Eve party."

Kate let her head shift to the side enough to glare at the man next to her. "Seriously, Castle? That's what you're worried about?"

He shrugged his shoulders in defense. "It was supposed to be good! Spiked egg nog, Secret Santa gifts, hidden mistletoe, far too many Santa hats, drunken carols."

"Sounds like a real party," she replied, pulling out her phone to check the weather even though the TVs located in the terminal were only showing the trajectory of the storm. It still hovered directly over the city and spread off the map with the remaining precipitation.

"It was going to be. Has to be when I throw it."

Next to them, a family of four was trying to calm down the two hyper children running in circles and falling down over one another. The father was on the phone, his fingers rubbing circles over the back of his wife's hand.

Castle wanted so badly to be that man, comforting Kate as their kids started to go stircrazy from the time in the airport. He let his eyes cut back to her and saw that she was watching the family, the ghost of a smile playing across her lips. Maybe someday. Minus the stuck-in-the-airport part.

"Any idea how long we're going to be stuck here?" he asked.

His voice jerked her out of her own daydream, eerily similar to his own though she would never admit to such a thing, and she turned back to face him. She had to blink a few times, try to replay his words so that they made sense to her brain. "No idea. However long it takes to clear a path to the city."

"And with the cuts to the city budget, that might take until New Year's…" he sighed. "I was really looking forward to the egg nog."

"Is that all?" she asked teasingly, that ghosted smile making itself more of a presence on her face.

Since she had taken the first step toward flirty, Castle figured it was safe to continue. "And the mistletoe. I made sure to hang a lot of it in secluded locations, perfect for a little rendezvous, if you know what I mean."

"Castle," she warned, her eyes closed as she rested her head against the wall. He didn't need to know how much she now wanted to find each and every sprig of that mistletoe in his loft and be required to follow tradition with him there next to her.

They sat in silence, listening to the screams of the kids next to them mingling with the standard announcements from the PA system telling everyone stuck in the terminal that they'd be there for an indefinite amount of time due to the Nor'easter sitting on top of them. Many families had given up their seats in the airport lounge to the elderly, taking places along the walls and windows of the terminal. Most of them had been waiting for flights leaving the city, headed off around the country and the globe to spend the holidays with family and friends.

Kate and Castle were in a different wagon. They had flown in from Boston, just beating the storm as they disembarked the plane. But then the snow had started and quickly piled up so high and heavy that the roads were declared dangerous and the two of them found that no taxis were willing to risk the drive back to Manhattan. So they had trekked back up to their gate and found a place to wait out the storm.

"Folks of Terminal C!" came the overly cheerful voice of a man on the speaker. "My name's Harry and I thought I'd pass on the latest news from the National Weather Service in regards to the light flurries we're seeing outside." The joke fell flat on exhausted and frustrated ears, only Harry's faint chuckling coming through the crackling of the speaker. "Word is that we'll be getting a white Christmas with the way the storm is shaping up. You'll want to let loved ones know that you might not be home for Christmas this year unless there's a minor miracle and the storm moves on quicker than it seems to be. So get those phones and laptops out, send your texts and e-mails before the batteries run out, and find a comfy spot. And happy Christmas Eve, everyone!"

After his sign-off, the PA static disappeared. Indeed, everyone around them was pulling out phones.

Kate sat with her own phone on her thigh. Who would she have to tell? Her dad? They normally grabbed dinner the day after Christmas at Primola, catch up over lasagna and cannolis. He wouldn't be missing her one Christmas Eve. The boys would be at the party and Castle was definitely going to be texting Alexis to let her know where he would be stuck for the night. The teenager was smart enough to inform the rest of the partygoers that were probably gathered in the loft at the moment, waiting for their two MIA co-workers to arrive.

Before she could finish puzzling out the intricacies of who to tell, her phone vibrated across her thigh. She caught it before it could hit the carpeted floor, flipping it over to see who had texted. Lanie.

You and Writer Boy coming?

Kate glanced over to her side where Castle was furiously typing away on his phone, his concentration focused on the touchscreen in a way she had only seen when it came to his family, writing, or the latest level of Fruit Ninja. She responded slower, thinking out the response as she wrote it into the message.

Stuck in LaGuardia.

She watched as the message sent, setting the phone back on her leg as he did the same thing.

"Alexis said she'd let everyone know about our… predicament," he said, rubbing his hand over his head, messing up his hair more than it already was. "Said that everyone was just standing around, waiting for us to get there."

"Figures they wouldn't know how to start a party without you, the party animal of the century." He looked over at her, one eyebrow raised in a silent question. "I mean, you're sort of known for your soirees. Without their leader, the sheep don't know what to do."

She was saved from trying to talk herself out of the situation when Lanie texted back, asking her if they were cuddling for warmth. Kate found herself smiling at the mental image, angling the phone away from Castle so he wouldn't see her response.

Maybe if the situation gets desperate. Enjoy the party.

"So we've got approximately eight hours to sit in an airport and wait for either the snow to stop or the city to get people out here to plow, right?"

Kate nodded. "Sounds about right."

"Not much to do in an airport. And I've been in enough of them to know that one can only buy so many neck pillows before it becomes ridiculous."

"Honestly, Castle, I was thinking of taking a nap. And one of those silly neck pillows might not go amiss in the situation."

He was on his feet before Kate could open her eyes. "I'll get you one then!"

She managed to snag his wrist before he turned, nearly stepping on the hand of the kid next to them. "No, Castle!" She smiled even as he tried to pull away. "It was a joke. Sit back down." When he made no move to return to the piece of wall they had claimed, she put some steel into her gaze. "Please."

He did, sliding down the wall like some nine year old, his sneakers bumping her boots as he stretched his legs out. "But seriously, Kate. If there's anything you need, just say the word and-"

"The most I'll be begging for by the end of the night is a cup of coffee or a gun to put myself out of the misery of being stuck in an airport on Christmas Eve."

Castle looked over as she curled her legs up to her chest, leaned her cheek on her knees, and closed her eyes. Her hair, escaping from the braid she had put it in for the flight, was falling against her cheeks. The trip to Boston to interview a witness stuck in the hospital had been necessary, getting that signed affidavit for the hearing that would take place after the holidays before the witness passed away in order to seal the case up. The timing certainly sucked; Kate Beckett needed the chance to not worry about work or life in general, a chance to let her hair down and enjoy the company of friends.

Well, he was going to try and make this miserable night in La Guardia's airport terminal as carefree as possible for her. She could sleep for an hour. After that, he had plans for them.

A/N: This is the result of another prompt from thejetsetgirl who I am officially declaring my muse. (You hear that, you super smart Ivy League chica! You're the Beckett to my Castle!) Anyway, she wanted them stuck overnight in an airport terminal and that's what I'm giving her. It's going to be three chapters and you'll have to hang in to see what Castle has planned for the night to make up for missing the Christmas Eve party back at the loft.

Review away! Give me an excuse not to study French verb tenses because you all desperately want to see the next chapter. Please.