AN: This is the first story I've posted and I generally don't write stories, but this wouldn't leave me alone. Just to get you into the time where this fits, I started writing it after Countdown aired, but it's set about three months into the future from that point.

AN II: Thanks to ciao2147 who noticed that my tenses were all mixed up. This chapter had been edited and reposted due to that.

Chapter 1

Kate Beckett was annoyed. No, she had been annoyed earlier, now? Now she was frustrated, and she blamed it all on herself. Or, most of it anyway. Not that it was her fault, only her current predicament was, everything else? Well, she was sure Castle would blame it on the universe.

In the early hours of the morning she was called to a body. She collected the one who had dubbed himself her partner, and gone to take a look.

Therein started her annoyance.

She couldn't get close enough to the body to look properly, god only knows how Lanie got to it.

"Ask Esposito," Her ever present shadow said, and she cringed because she knew what was coming. "I bet he could tell you all about how flexible she is."

The body it's self looked like it was a suicide, except that the feet were flat on the ground. There was a noose around the neck, with the rope pulled tightly enough so that the body appeared to be standing by itself. Beckett could only see the back of the body. Castle went to inspect the tangle (really, that was the only word to describe what it was) of fishing wire on their side of the body, there was another about the same distance from the other side of the body.

"Don't touch that, Castle. We have no idea what might happen, you could get Lanie killed." She turned to Lanie. "Cause of death?"

"Gunshot to the chest."

It had taken way to long for Lanie to get the body back to the lab, and what had annoyed her even more was the guys name. John Doe. Who would call their kid that? No one. When Ryan had looked into it he found that he had changed his name. Why? Why would anyone do that? To make life harder if they were killed? And why was she thinking about this now? Shouldn't he be trying to get out of her predicament?

Where was she now? She was in the apartment of one James L. Webb. They had gone to John Doe's apartment and found Webb's mail everywhere, that's why they were there, but that is not why she was frustrated. It was because she'd come with just Castle.

The door had opened as soon as she knocked on it, she immediately pulled out her gun. She walked in, with Castle right behind her. The next thing they knew, they were trapped. Solid metal closed over the door and windows. They were trapped, but they were alone.

That's why she was at this point trapped inside the only suspects house, with no idea where he was, and only knowing that he is fond of booby-trapping things.

The only thing that makes this slightly better is that she has Castle for company. She knows that she would never say this aloud to him, or anyone else, but she enjoys his company, no more so than she has in the last week. He seems to know just how to make her day brighter, even if she does feel like she needs to keep him on a leash sometimes. Like now for instance.

"Castle! Keep your hands to yourself. This is evidence."

"But, I'm wearing gloves." He says to her and, as if to prove his point, he waves his purple clad hands in her face, and pulls out another pair for her.

"I'm not even going to ask." She mumbles to herself, and rolls her eyes at him as she takes them. She doesn't put them on just yet, she has a phone call to make, and she can't believe she's forgotten to do so until now. It must have been the amount of frustration within her system. She dials.

"Motgomery."

This was just fantastic. Just because she had spent all that time thinking about how she got in this little jam, meant that she had no way of getting out of it until at least morning.

Yes, that's right. Kate Beckett was trapped (for want of a better word) in a murder suspect's apartment, overnight, with none other than Richard Castle, best selling mystery writer, partner, shadow, what-ever. Because in her mind that's what he is at this moment in time. Her 'what-ever'.

She just knew that this could become somewhat awkward, purely because he didn't know what was (or wasn't) going on in her life. It would just make it more awkward if he did. That's what she keeps telling herself anyway. While she is thinking about this, her phone rings.

"Beckett."

"Hey Boss," It's Ryan. "We've called a few security places and no-one can even come look at it until morning. So unless we find Webb, you guys are stuck for the unforeseeable future. Try and make the best of it!" he hangs up before Beckett can say anything.

"Any news?"

Beckett turns abruptly, walking into Castle who has been standing behind her for who knows how long. "Don't creep up on me like that! That was Ryan, there would be only one way to get us out anytime soon, and that would be to find Webb, but he seems to have flown the coop. So we're stuck here. For the night. Alone."

"Look on the bright side." Castle says. Beckett just raises an eyebrow at him. "We still have our creature comforts. The main one being power."

Suddenly they are plunged into darkness.