Castle fans the remaining letters of this bizarre alphabet are for you. Here's Y. Totally AU story, our duo way back in the past, a bar, an encounter. Enjoy the reading.

A/N: Any hints for the following letters? I, L, P, V? I'm curious to find out who's on the same page with me (I have a few ideas but I'm open to any interesting ones) Thanks

A/N: unfortunately I do not own any of these characters.

YOUNG

He simply loved to be there.

As he sat at his usual spot, in the dimly lit far end of the room, in the booth that had become his over the last months, Richard could observe the incessant flow of people that attended the bar.

Not any bar. The Old Haunt. A piece of New York's history. And history could be smelled everywhere in there, it had impregnated the wood and the ceiling, it was written on the walls. Most of the best selling authors had come here. It didn't matter why, the Old Haunt was the bar. For a drink, for a chat, for a girl, for a story...

A story. Richard had a crave for stories. That's what he was really good at, inventing stories. In the soft lighting which enveloped him he could unleash his imagination and give birth to the most intriguing stories that populated his mind. He could stay there sitting at his table for hours, taking in every single detail of the scene before him, of the man or the woman he had decided to be interesting enough as a character. Something clicked in his mind and the story started to unravel itself.

He always carried a writing pad with him. Sometimes it was just for a few notes, others for a whole chapter. When he went back home he'd type everything down on his computer until he was totally exhausted and had simply to throw himself on the bed and close his eyes.

He had been observing her for a while now. She had caught his attention the moment she had stepped into the bar with that particular way of swaying her hips, the determination he had seen in her eyes, the unusual totally mind-blowing laughter she burst into every now and then at her companion's jokes. He was magnetized. No matter how hard he tried to focus his attention on the other lively attenders his eyes always went back to her, drawn by a mysterious force that made him shiver from head to toe.

Feeling observed she turned round and met his gaze. He kept eye contact and she simply refused to let go as she dug her green eyes into his incredibly blue ones. Has she ever seen such a shade of blue before? she asked herself. And what the hell was this young man doing staring at her like that anyway? All by himself, a pen in his hand. A journalist, yeah. One of those free lancers desperately trying to write and sell "the piece of their life"... he must be what? About thirty, really tall by the look of it, fairly good looking guy... and that light in his eyes...

He didn't flinch. Neither did she. Till her friend stopped talking and pulled her forearm dragging her attention away from him. When she turned round to look at him again she saw him bent, writing frantically down on his pad. God, was he quick? She was fascinated by his ability to let the pen slip on the paper, almost caressing it. For a moment she wished to feel his hand run over her skin like that and she was thrilled.

Now that was just crazy – she thought – way too far carried away Kate! You don't even know his name... he could be easily one of those creeps who were after a one night stand...

He lifted his eyes sensing her gaze on him. The contact was held once again. More powerful this time. She felt his eyes burn on her skin as he looked at her. It was like eye-sex.

Never ever had she done that. She was puzzled, she felt strangely aroused, what the hell was she doing? Going to have a mind-blowing orgasm just looking at a guy she had never seen before? In a bar? While drinking with a friend who must have realized by now what was going on between her and the freaking hot lone young man not far from their table?

He kept his eyes on hers thinking he had never looked at a woman like this before. He felt the blood turn into fire in his veins, his body burning with the impossible desire of her. Now, that was not good, getting so powerfully aroused by a girl he had just seen at a bar. But she was not any girl. His senses had understood that much earlier than his brain and he felt absolutely powerless against what seemed to be inevitable and almost too embarrassing for him. He swallowed hard desperately trying to regain control over his aching body. There must be something he could do about this, he thought.

He dropped his eyes on the notepad quickly going through the lines he had just written down. He needed to cool off a bit or he would go crazy. He stared at his words for a long while, suddenly feeling his mind regain control over his heart.

When he lifted his eyes again she was gone.

He sighed. Oh - he thought – she would make the perfect character.

A/N: thanks to all the readers for the incredible response to Undercover which, in this amazing "battlefield", is about to overcome A surprise, my most successful story so far.