Good Friend and a Glass of Wine

A/N - I got the idea for this story in the ep when Castle & Beckett went to L.A! What if Castle went off to deal with movie stuff, and Beckett went to stay with a friend for a while? Not any spoilers for that ep though as this is totally AU =) I can see Beckett & Lisbon being friends, they are really similar, both grew up without Moms, I think they would connect so this fic came of my many musings about it!

DISCLAIMER: Still don't own Castle!

After a 6 hour flight sitting next to Richard Castle, Kate Beckett felt like skydiving off of the plane, In the 6 hours she had learned enough about General Hospital to never ever want to watch it, and had been forced to listen to Castles rantings about how unreliable aeroplanes are and the statistics of them dying. Beckett had realised that Castle was nervous so she had grabbed his hand and he had smiled his thanks at her, and their hands had remained that way for the entire flight duration.

When the duo got off the plane at LAX and went through all the security measures it was time to split up. Beckett smiled, "Good luck with the movie." She said, as they both hailed separate cabs.

In a moment of weakness Castle hugged her, "Have fun with your friend." He said genuinely and with a wave they got into their respective cabs and told the driver their destination.

"L.A studios."

"Santa Monica Airport."

Beckett had left Castle in the early hours of the morning and by the time she had taken the cab to Santa Monica Airport, boarded the plane to Sacramento, got through security and hailed another cab it was just coming up for 4pm. She knew her friend would still be at work so she instructed the cab driver to take her to the CBI headquarters.

When Beckett walked in she remembered where to go, she had been here to visit her friend on more than one occasion, she rode the elevator to the Serious Crimes Unit floor and walked out, she glanced around the bullpen, not seeing Teresa, that was odd, she used to have a desk in the far corner, but there was now a couch in that space, with a man lying on it, Teresa did still work here right?…

A young woman with long red hair smiled at her, "Hi, I'm Agent Van Pelt, can I help you?" She asked politely.

Beckett smiled at her, "I was looking for Teresa Lisbon." She said.

"Oh she's in her office." Van Pelt said, wondering who this woman was.

Wow, she has her own office now? Beckett thought, and before she could ask where it was she found herself being cornered by the handsome blonde man from the couch, "In what way do you know the fine Teresa Lisbon?" He asked with a cheeky smile that reminded her of Castle.

Beckett cocked her head at the man, "She's my best friend, and you, must be the infamous Patrick Jane."

"She talks about me?" Jane asked, smirking.

Beckett smiled, "She talks about wanting to kill you, I believe she has a mental list with all the different ways she would do so if the situation ever arose."

The two other Agents in the room snickered at Becketts words whereas Jane just scoffed, "She's a liar, she's in love with me."

"Right." Beckett said simply, not believing him at all.

A door at the end of the bullpen opened and Lisbon walked into the bullpen, she stopped when she saw Beckett and grinned, "Kate! I didn't know you were in the area!" She exclaimed.

Beckett nodded as she walked over to her friend, the Agents watched their exchange curiously, "I'm here for a week, Castles new movie comes out on Friday so he's doing the last minute preparations before the premiere."

"Richard Castle?" One of the Agents asked, he was an Asian man with a stoic expression.

Beckett nodded, "You've heard of him?" She asked.

Cho simply held up a book entitled, 'Naked Heat' by Richard Castle, causing Beckett to grin, "You read his books?" Cho nodded, and that was the end of the conversation.

"Have you read Heatwave Tess?" Beckett asked, turning back to her friend.

Lisbon smirked, "Of course I have, the dedication to you was adorable." She added, "But the character of Nikki Heat is only loosely based on you and Castles relationship right?"

Beckett nodded, "Yeah, a lot of it is fiction." She replied.

"Like the sex scenes?" Lisbon asked, still smirking as Beckett blushed, "Yeah, that's his imagination for you."

Lisbon laughed, "Team meet my oldest friend Detective Kate Beckett. Kate this is Patrick Jane the pain in my ass who I told you about, Agents Van Pelt, Cho and Rigsby."

Beckett smiled at them all as they were introduced, and Jane had questions as usual, "Detective?"

"At NYPD." Beckett answered.

"And you flew all the way over here to see Lisbon? That's nice." Jane said with a strange kind of smile, Beckett narrowed her eyes at him, "I know what you're doing you know."

"Oh, do you?" Jane asked challenging her, as he smiled at her from his spot on the couch.

Beckett accepted the challenge, "You're trying to get a read on me, and it's not going to work, I work with Richard Castle everyday."

"Trust me, he's much more annoying." Lisbon said, motioning at Jane who just smirked at her words, and mouthed, 'liar' at Lisbon.

Beckett was about to speak when her phone rang, she looked at the caller ID and saw Castles face smiling up at her, "Talk of the Devil." She said with a chuckle as she answered the phone, "What's up Castle?"

Castle asked, "The friend who you are staying with, Teresa Lisbon? Does she know a Patrick Jane?"

Beckett frowned slightly, "Yeah…he's here right now, why?"

Castle got excited, "You are with him? Can I talk to him please?" He asked.

Beckett wondered about him sometimes, but she replied, "Sure." And walked over to Jane, handing him the phone, "Castle wants to talk to you." She said.

Jane grinned and said, "Patrick Jane here."

"Hey Patrick, we met a few years ago at the fundraiser for your DVD remember?" Castle asked.

"Ah yes, if I recall that was the very same fundraiser at which your wife threw a glass cabinet at you?" Jane said casually from his couch as everyone watching him curiously.

"Ex-wife." Castle corrected.

"Well, that isn't surprising."

Castle chuckled, "How would you like to come to my movie premiere on Friday night? You can bring a date."

Jane grinned, "I'd love to come to your movie premiere, I'll even bring your lovely Detectives best friend as my date." He said, winking at Lisbon who rolled her eyes.

Castle seemed happy, "That's great, I'll see you on Friday Jane."

Jane said he was looking forward to it and handed the phone back to Beckett, "Castle, is that all you wanted?"

"Ah, no actually. I know you were invited to the premiere anyway since the main character is based on you, but would you like to come as my date?" Castle asked somewhat shyly.

Beckett smiled, "I'd love too, see you on Friday Castle." And ended the call.

Jane was smiling at Lisbon, "My fair lady, will you do me the honour of accompanying me to the premiere of 'Heatwave' on Friday?"

Lisbon rolled her eyes, "I'll go, but only to keep Kate company!" She said, using it as an excuse, she was delighted Jane had asked her.

Beckett chuckled, "When do you get off?" She asked, glancing at her watch.

Lisbon shrugged, "It's been a slow day of paperwork, I'm sure leaving early won't be a problem." She said, going into her office to gather up her things.

Beckett made her way over to Jane, and sat down next to him on the couch, "So does she know that you are madly in love with her?"

Jane feigned innocence, "I'm not sure I know what you are talking about Detective."

Beckett rolled her eyes, "I work with people who try and conceal a relationship every day, it's obvious you have feelings for her, I can see it in the way you look at her."

Jane smiled a little at Beckett, "You remind me very much of Lisbon, are you secretly her twin?" He narrowed his eyes at Beckett who laughed, "No, but I've known her since we were 6 years old, she's my best friend, and I know everything about her, I think she feels the same way about you."

That caught Jane off-guard but he covered it up quickly, "So you met in Kindergarten?" He asked, avoiding the subject of him and Lisbon having feelings for each other.

Beckett shook her head, "No we met in the 1st grade." She said, "I lived in Chicago up until I left school, I moved to New York and got a job at the NYPD, I've been there ever since."

Jane calculated it, "So you were there for her when her Mother died." He said, more to himself than to Beckett.

Becketts eyes darkened a little, "Yeah, in the 7th grade. It was a hard year, she got bullied after everything that happened, and when her Dad died in the 10th grade everyone kind of deserted her except the set group of us who had been friends from the beginning." Beckett informed him, she smiled softly at the memories, "That was when we went through our wild child phase." She admitted.

Jane looked interested and amused by this, "Lisbon went through a wild child phase?" He asked.

Beckett grinned, "Oh yeah." She said, "And she was a good girl so she turned real bad." Jane looked as if he couldn't quite believe this, as Beckett continued, "We saved up and bought matching bikes, Harley softails." She grinned at the look of astonishment on Janes face, "Teresa sold hers when she became a cop, she thought it was inappropriate, but I still have mine."

"Anything else about this wild child phase I should know?" Jane asked, almost cautiously.

Beckett grinned, "Have you seen her tattoo?" She asked.

Janes eyes widened, "She has a tattoo? Where?"

Beckett laughed, "Somewhere you'll never see unless you get her in bed." She said quietly so the team couldn't hear, causing Janes eye to widen even more.

"Oh and that was when we started up the band too." Beckett added, "I did the singing, Teresa played the electric guitar, we were a wannabe rock band." She chuckled as Jane smirked, "So that's the instrument she played in high school."

At that point Lisbon came out of her office and eyed the two of them together on the couch, "Kate, you haven't told Jane anything have you?" She asked suspiciously.

"Oh no, of course not." Beckett lied easily, but Jane grinned, "Detective Beckett was just telling me about your wild child phase." He said, causing Lisbon to blush furiously and glare at Beckett.

As the two friends made their way out of the bullpen Jane called, "I'd love to see photos of this Harley of yours!" to Lisbon who made a rude hand gesture at Jane as the elevator doors shut.

Later that night after a couple of glasses of wine and a lot of Chinese takeout Beckett brought up the subject she really wanted to discuss with Lisbon, "So…this Patrick Jane." Was all she said, but her knowing look made Lisbon roll her eyes, "Is just a friend." She finished.

Beckett scoffed, "Yeah right, you have feelings for him." She stated, it wasn't a question.

Lisbon snorted, "I do not have feelings for Patrick Jane." She lied, badly.

Beckett gave her a pointed look, and Lisbon caved, "Okay fine, I like him!" She admitted.

Beckett grinned, "He's attractive." She admitted, "And you always did like blondes…"

Lisbon blushed a little, "It's the stupid smile, gets me every time."

Becketts grin hadn't moved from her face, as she took a sip from her 3rd glass of wine, "I know the feeling." She said quietly and as if on cue her phone rang, Castles face smiling up at her from the picture.

Lisbon smirked, "Now whose the one hiding something." She remarked as Beckett answered her phone, "Hey Castle." She said, ignoring Lisbons smirking face.

"Hey Beckett, I just wanted to tell you that the movie has been finalised so I'll be in San Francisco for a few days if you need me for anything and I'll come pick you up on Friday at 9am." Castle informed her.

Beckett answered, "Oh that's great, I didn't know you knew anyone in San Francisco."

"Yeah, an old writer friend." Castle said, "Where will I pick you up?"

Beckett bit her lip for a second, "Why don't you pick me up at Teresa's? That way Teresa and Jane can carpool with us to the premiere."

"It's in L.A" Castle reminded her, "So we could drive to the airport together, I've already booked 4 plane tickets to LAX and from there you guys can go to the hotel and get ready, I've booked you all in."

"That's really sweet Castle, you didn't have to do all of that." Beckett said, unable to stop smiling.

"Oh its no problem Beckett." He said casually, "Anyway I need to go or I'll miss my flight."

"Have a good flight, I'll text you Teresa's address." Beckett said and bade him goodbye, when she hung up the phone Lisbon was looking at her suspiciously.

"Don't, say, a word." Beckett warned her, "Because Castle just offered to drive us all to the airport and paid for our flights to LAX and booked us into the hotel, he's paid for it all."

"Wow, that's really sweet of him." Lisbon admitted, "Although he only did it because he's in love with you."

Beckett rolled her eyes, that wasn't the first time that she had heard that one, "He isn't in love with me."

"Right, and you have feelings for him." Lisbon added, looking at her knowingly, "C'mon I told you mines, tell me yours."

Beckett groaned, "Fine, I care about him, I've broken up with two guys for him!"

"So what is it that's holding you back?" Lisbon asked, feeling rather like a shrink.

Beckett glared at her slightly and then her expression softened, "I'm not sure, I think it's mainly because he's my best friend and I don't want to jeopardize that, but theres also the fact that we work together." She sighed, glancing at Lisbon, "So what about you and Adonis?"

Lisbon laughed at the reference, Adonis, that suited him somehow, "Well it's not exactly easy." She admitted, "You know the story, he won't stop until he has his revenge, he'll kill Red John one day or he'll get killed trying to kill Red John, either way I lose him." She frowned, "And to be honest I don't think he has it in him to love again after what love has done to him."

Beckett placed her hand on Lisbons shoulder, "You don't know that Tess, and I think he does like you, I'm not sure how much or for how long yet but I think he definitely feels something more than friendship for you."

Lisbon smiled her thanks at her friend and they went back to their safe conversation of work and cases.

End of day one.