The last person Kate Beckett expects to bump into in an airport is Richard Castle and of course he's on her flight, too. AU After Season 1.


Murphy's Law: Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.


Chapter One

Kate Beckett skidded to a stop in front of Gate 32C at John F. Kennedy International Airport and breathed a sigh of relief; she had made it! Of course her gate had to be the one absolutely the furthest from the airport entrance when she was already running almost two hours late. As she slowed her pace to a walk, Kate tried to breathe deep while gazing at the door for the ramp leading to the plane. The door was closed, which momentarily made her heart clutch with the fear she would be denied boarding, but something was not right about this picture.

If the plane had boarded, there surely would not be this many people gathered around the gate area—some seated, some standing, upwards of seventy percent of them gazing at smart phones. Upon further examination, most of them also appeared to be quite annoyed or, at the very least, impatient. Her eyes still scanning the area, Kate finally took note of the reason.

The blinking, bold red letters announcing FLIGHT DELAYED from the status board caused Kate to grin and mentally clap her hands in triumph. Normally, a delayed flight was the worst possible way to begin a journey; however, given her tardiness, in this case a half hour delay meant a bathroom break and possibly even a bottle of water were a distinct possibility. Considering the stress she'd gone through in her rush to the airport, those prospects were equally welcome.

Just as Kate was turning to head back up the concourse to the nearest women's restroom, she heard her phone chirp and absentmindedly pulled it from the pocket of her blazer. Unfortunately, she had not had time to change our of her more formal clothing before heading to the airport; thank god for the hindsight of bringing her luggage with her for the day as she never would have made it back to her apartment—or the precinct. As much as she wished for jeans in lieu of the business suit, at least the flight would be short in duration—once she was able to get on it.

Examining the display of her phone, Kate discovered a text message from American Airlines stating that her flight had been delayed and the new departure time was 5:25 p.m. "Thanks, I know." She muttered to the phone before swiping at the unlock screen and tapping in her password. As long as the device was out she figured she should skim through her work emails quickly to make sure nothing urgent had come up, though, as she did not have an active case at the moment, she did not expect anything too pressing.

Kate was happy for Kevin, she really was. He was clearly completely head-over-heels for Jenny and they had a great relationship. Of course she was thrilled to attend the wedding of her friend and colleague so she could share in their joyful day. The day simply had unfortunate timing, particularly since the wedding was taking place in Virginia Beach and not in Manhattan.

Realistically, being away from the precinct for barely more than forty-eight hours should not have been a problem for her, but with Ryan taking nearly two weeks off for his wedding and honeymoon and Esposito taking off an extra few days to fulfil his groomsman duties her team was already at skeleton crew level. After she and Espo wrapped up their most recent case on Wednesday of that week, she was forced to tell Montgomery they could not take on any new active cases until the following week—something she absolutely hated to do. The captain understood, of course. He even playacted her by saying he didn't intent to assign any new cases as they had a court appearance at the end of the week. Still, she didn't like not pulling her weight, even if categorizing the situation as such was unfair.

While her colleague scooted off to finalize wedding details, Kate immersed herself in reviewing notes from an arrest they'd made nearly nine months prior. A drug deal gone wrong had led to a man shooting his dealer, fleeing the scene, and then inadvertently running across an innocent bystander, whom he had also shot. The dealer had survived his leg wound, but after a month in the hospital the bystander had succumbed to complications from his abdomen shot, which meant the assailant was on trial for first degree murder.

The case itself was fairly straightforward. There were several witnesses as well as traffic camera footage that caught the shooter fleeing the scene on foot; Kate's appearance in court as the arresting officer should have merely been a formality…and it would have been had someone involved in another case not chosen to walk in to the courthouse with a weapon that morning. Thus her time on the stand was pushed from ten a.m. to two p.m., hence her mad rush to the airport.

Fortunately, all that was behind her now and so she should have been able to clear her mind and simply focus on having a good weekend, but she was Kate Beckett. When had Kate Beckett ever been able to put work aside and focus on the present? Never, that's when.

After answering two emails Kate forced herself to put her phone away once more. If she kept reading and answering she knew she'd burn up most of her thirty minute gift and end up not having time to use the restroom. With an exhale, she tucked her boarding pass into the front pocket of her purse and began walking back up the hallway now even more crowded with departing and arriving passengers.

She had only taken five steps when a man stepped out from the seating area and almost completely blocked her path. As his eyes were focused on the iPhone in his hand, she assume he didn't notice her, which was quite fortunate for her, because she most certainly noticed—and recognized—him.

Shit.

What the hell was Richard Castle doing in his airport? How was that even possible?

She gazed at him for several moments out of pure shock, taking in his typical Richard Castle attire of dark trousers, a light blue button-down, navy blazer. He didn't look much different, not that she had expected him to have acquired a facial tattoo or gained several hundred pounds in the thirteen months since she'd seen him. Yet, there he was, barely five feet from her. For a fleeting moment, she thought she could scoot around him and escape without being noticed, but then he looked up and—oh. He was looking directly at her. His brow rose, indicating surprise and then he raised his hand and waved, giving her a dopy smile.

Shit. There was definitely no escaping now.

"Beckett. Long time no see." He grinned at her as he closed the distance between them.

"Castle." She tried to keep her voice even and did her best not to growl at him. She was a professional. She could be professional for a two minute conversation.

Probably.

"How are you?"

"I'm…fine—good. You?"

"Excellent." He glanced over at Gate 32C still displaying the FLIGHT DELAYED message and then back to the detective, his brow now wrinkling slightly. "You're…on your way to Kev and Jenny's wedding?"

"I…yes." She confirmed before cursing internally. If he was asking her about the wedding then more than likely he was also going to the wedding. Why else would he be standing in front of an airport gate going to Norfolk, Virginia? As the gates were packed quite tightly, he could have been traveling somewhere else, but the only other planes in their vicinity were going to Boston and Dallas, neither of which seemed any more likely. Great.

"I, uh, couldn't fly our earlier because I had a court appearance." She explained.

"Guilty verdict?"

She shrugged. "The trial continues Monday, but it seemed like the guy might plead out."

He hummed and nodded. Then, gesturing towards the airport gate he said, "Well, as I'm sure you saw, we have a delay. If you're wondering I heard someone ask and the gate agent said the incoming flight is what's holding us up."

She nodded. Well, that was helpful information. Not that it much mattered if the plane was late or if it was having mechanical trouble; they still wouldn't be taking off on time. Then again, a delayed incoming plane certainly explained the shorter delay whereas presumably mechanical trouble would take longer than half an hour to fix. "Okay. Thanks. I was just-"

Kate's comment was just then interrupted by an announcement on the airport loud speakers. It told them that their flight to Norfolk, the nearest airport to Virginia Beach, was delayed again and the new departure time was 7:45 p.m.

Castle glanced down at his watch. "Almost two and a half more hours. Perfect."

Kate could not say that she entirely disagreed with his irritated tone. A half hour delay was one thing, but an additional two and a quarter hours? That would mean she would not get to her hotel in Virginia Beach until after ten p.m. While this was certainly not the latest time, it was annoying as she had already had a very long day. "Yeah." She sighed out. "Perfect."

"Well," the writer continued, now giving her a small smile, "would you like to grab a drink? My treat."

As Kate gazed up at him she tried her best not to reveal any emotions on her face. Did she want to hang out with Castle? In a word: no. In fact, had someone asked her several hours earlier, she probably would have told them that Castle was one of the absolute last people in the city she wanted to spend any time with. She never even considered the possibility of him being at Kevin and Jenny's wedding, which would have been irritating enough, but now she faced the possibility of spending two and a half hours with him?!

There was, of course, the option of saying no. She could go to the restroom and then return to the gate, find a seat furthest from him and read the book she brought with her, but she knew Richard Castle too well for that. He'd get all offended and become even more irritating. Perhaps he'd even shoot her those sad puppy dog face looks from across the terminal. Either way there was no way she would be able to read in peace.

Okay, okay, she thought; she could totally do this. She was an adult. Castle was (arguably) an adult. She could bury the hatched with him for forty-eight hours. How bad could it possibly be?

Wait. It's Castle, she thought; don't answer that.

"Uh, yeah, okay. Just give me a few minutes first?"

He bobbed his head. "Absolutely, Kate; I'll wait right here."


Standing in JFK Airport Terminal 8, his hands in his pockets as he rocked back on his heels, trying his best to stay out of the way of the rushing passengers, Richard Castle could not have been more pleased with himself. He had anticipated seeing Beckett at the wedding or perhaps at dinner in the hotel that evening, but sharing a plane with her was certainly an unexpected treat. Even better: sharing a drink. He feared that if he only saw her at the wedding or the reception they would not have the opportunity to talk—an opportunity he very much wanted as things needed to be said, but the plane delay was turning out to be a positive rather than a negative, which he surely never would have anticipated.

To say that they had not parted on good terms a year prior would have been an understatement. Things ended badly between them when he stood in a sterile hospital hallway fifteen months earlier and confessed what he'd discovered about her mother's murder. He honestly wasn't sure what had been the most upsetting part: the devastated look on her face at the feelings his information dredged up or the acidic way she told him she never wanted to see him again.

Despite how livid she had been at the time, Castle's eternal optimism told him that she would ultimately come around if given a week or two to cool off. He had, after all, done nothing malicious. He only wanted to help her.

Castle could see how much her mother's murder ate away at her and, thanks to his own experiences, could completely understand a deep-rooted life-changing incident, and he wanted to do what he could to aid in solving this case just like he had all the others. Yes, technically he had gone against something she requested, but when was that new? It was part of their dynamic. She told him not to do something, he did it anyway, and in the end it all worked out. Unfortunately, when, several weeks later, he told her as much, she had LT forcibly remove him from the precinct.

After that, he tried to keep his distance, still hopeful, but also realizing he may have truly crossed into the point of no return. As the weeks went on and she glowered at him from the break room every time he stopped by the Twelfth to see Ryan or Esposito, his annoyance grew, a small part of him believing she was overreacting by cutting off what had previously been an excellent partnership at the knees because of one simple misstep.

Their discourse finally came to a head two months later when he was back at the Twelfth taking photographs and doing press for the release of the inaugural Nikki Heat novel. They'd had an argument that began when he tried to strike up a pleasant and innocent conversation with her. She snapped at him and when he returned with, "Just tell me what you want me to say to make this right, Beckett," she had said, "I don't want you to say anything. I want you to leave this precinct and never come back." When she'd declined her invitation to the Nikki Heat book release party he'd known for certain: whatever they had was gone for good.

In the months following Castle had experienced no small amount of regret. He had not quite realized how much he enjoyed his days of playing real life cops and robbers until they were gone. In addition, he had not realized quite how enthralled he was with Kate Beckett until she was gone as well.

With the arrival of Kevin's wedding invitation Castle knew he would be getting a second chance. If he was invited then surely so was Beckett and if they were finally in the same place—on neutral ground, so to speak—he could apologize to her. Despite his optimism, he realistically understood the chances of their partnership rebooting were slim. However, if he could end the weekend with her greeting him with a neutral expression rather than a glare, he would consider it a win.

Approximately five minutes after she'd disappeared, Castle heard Kate approaching once more by the way her heels clicked against the airport flooring. The terminal was bustling with people, some merely strolling along, others practically sprinting, but despite the chaos he could recognize her gate anywhere. Turning his head to the left he spotted her approaching and was for perhaps the hundredth time rendered breathless by her beauty.

Beckett's hair had changed since last he saw her. It was longer, which was to be expected, but also a different color. Gone was the mauve of a year ago; it was now a pleasant shade of chestnut brown. Given how nicely it matched her eyebrows he assumed this to be her natural color and instantly wished she'd never dye it again.

Though he preferred her casual—in jeans and a t-shirt, perhaps a button-down blouse—he could not deny how sexy she looked in her power suit. The blazer and matching knee-length skirt were dark in color—navy or perhaps even eggplant—but they looked excellent with the cream colored blouse she wore beneath. With her hair falling in gentle curls to her shoulders, she looked just as lovely as the day they met; perhaps even lovelier.

When she came within a few feet of him, he led the way to the nearest bar situated at a pub-style restaurant not too far from their gate. He ordered beers on tap for both of them and then, given the hour, offered her dinner as well. She refused at first, but ultimately relented and ordered a hot Reuben sandwich while he chose the bleu cheese burger.

"So why didn't you fly out earlier today?" She asked as they sipped their drinks and waited for their food.

He hummed as he set down his beer glass. "I, ah, had a chapter due by five today, but when Gina heard about the wedding she moved the time up to noon."

She smirked at him. "And you were still writing at 11:59?"

He gasped dramatically and pressed his palm flat against his chest, fingers splayed. "Beckett, you wound me. It was 11:58 when I hit 'send' on the email." Okay, he was exaggerating slightly for entertainment value. The chapter had been completed the night before—well, at one a.m.—and he was doing some proofreading that morning, so he'd really emailed her around quarter to twelve, which was still closed by many standards, but quite comfortable by his.

Kate chuckled. "Well, at least you finished."

He grimaced. "Kind of. The chapter is horrible and I'm certain Gina will hate it."

"Is it another Nikki Heat?"

The delivery of their meals by the bartender afforded Castle the extra moment to pause and consider carefully how he would word his response. Certainly, this was a delicate area. "Ah, no. All things considered I decided against continuing that series. The book I'm currently writing—rather, trying to write—has new characters and is meant to be a stand-alone like I used to do, but it, ah, could be going better."

Oh, yeah, that was an understatement—a huge understatement unless "could be going well" could equate to saying that the Titanic had taken on a little water. He had reworked and rewritten so many times he had lost count. Unfortunately, the story was making less and less sense as time went on, but what choice did he have? A contract was a contract and he had to produce books. He knew Gina wanted nothing more than to go back to Nikki Heat since the inaugural novel had not only been well-received critically, but sold at an above-expected rate. Write what the public wants, she continuously told him, but unfortunately it was never that simple.

When Kate was silent for over a minute, Castle dared to glance at her and found her flipping a potato chip between a few of her fingers. When she met his eye she, for perhaps the first time in over a year, her expression appeared to soften. "Castle…if what happened with us made you feel like you couldn't continue with Nikki Heat… I mean, it's your character; your story…"

He offered her a small smile. Her statement did make him feel better—minimally, but better. He was glad to hear she was not outright banning him from using the character she inspired, but instead offering permission. Once again, though, it was not that simple. To write a character, he needed to feel him or her in his heart, and with the termination of his relationship with Nikki's inspiration, Castle no longer had the heart to write Nikki, as much as he missed both her and her real-life counterpart.

"That's kind of you to say Beckett, but I'm not sure I agree." Maybe if they were going to get technical—legal—about it, Nikki would be his character, but that's not how he felt. She was both of them together, which made writing her without his partnership with Kate nearly impossible.

After taking a bite of her sandwich, Kate picked up a paper napkin and asked, "So what's the new book about?"

"Aliens."

She laughed and he shook his head. "Not kidding. It's very…Independence Day meets National Treasure."

"Oh." Her expression showed a minimal amount of curiosity, but mostly confusion. "Well, I'm sure you'll make it interesting."

"Interesting? Maybe. Publishable? Not so much."

She eyed him with uncertainty before, for the moment, they both returned to their sandwiches. Only two more hours until take off.


A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. I didn't want to give too much away in the description, but the first chapter gives you the gist of where this is going.

There are 8 chapters in total.