Kate had been doing the same job for the past five years, never taking a single day off. She loved every second of solving crimes, providing people with the justice she could never get herself and her family. But somewhere in her love for finding the truth, she had lost herself; become this shell of who she used to be. She spent all of her time at the precinct and the few hours she did take off, she spent with Laine. Romantic relationships never really stood a chance when it came to a choice between them and her career. It had become a ritual between Laine and Kate, every time she had a breakup, they'd go to a bar and get drunk; somehow trying to fill the void in Kate's heart. This time around, Kate's boyfriend of 6 months, Toby broke up with her, using the same reason they all did, "you never have time for anything but work."

"This isn't working anymore." Laine said.

"What?" Kate asked, looking up from the bar counter she had been staring at.

"This routine we have of drinking our sorrows away, every time you have a break up. We need to do something more." Laine said.

"Like what?" Kate asked, taking a sip of her whiskey, the ice hitting the glass as she brought it closer to her lips.

Laine thought for a second. "Vegas!" She said, her eyes lighting up like Christmas trees.

"What?" Kate asked, confused.

"Las Vegas. We need to go, now." Laine said.

"We can't just go off to Vegas like this." Kate said.

"Why not? You have no active cases, it's a Friday and you're not supposed to be working this weekend. Give me one good reason why, we shouldn't go." Laine said, crossing her arms. She had no time for Kate and her excuses.

"Well…" Kate started but nothing came to her. "We just can't.."

"We can and you know it. Come on Kate, live a little." Laine said.

Kate thought for a second, the picture of Toby breaking up with her flashed in front of her eyes. She felt a lump forming her throat and decided she had nothing to lose.

Downing her whiskey she said, "Let's do it."

Laine couldn't contain her excitement and began looking up flight tickets.

As soon as Kate agreed to this, she began doubting whether or not she should do this, the same doubts that always began creeping up every time she tried doing something for herself. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the heartbreak - Kate didn't really know what it was. She decided to throw caution to the wind, what had it gotten her anyway?

So Kate and Laine packed their bags and hopped onto the first flight they could find. Kate spent the entire flight wanting to check her phone, part of it was out of habit and part of it was her being afraid to let herself think about all the things she actively avoided. During all of this, Kate didn't even notice Laine giving her a death stare, which obviously made Kate stop fiddling with her phone. They then spent the rest of the flight talking about anything and everything but work.

The first thing they did after checking into the hotel was hit the bar. They were tired but neither of them wanted to a waste a second of this holiday. Once they were seated at the bar, they ordered their drinks and began talking.

Kate turned to her side, when a tall man with brown hair caught her eye. It took her a second to realise who it was, it was her favourite author – Richard Castle. He was sitting with a friend of his. She tried to contain herself, not wanting her inner fangirl come out. It was clear that she had caught his attention too because he began walking toward her.

"Hey ladies. I'm Richard Castle and this is Espo. " Richard said, as he walked up with his friend.

"Hey, I'm Laine and this is Kate." Laine said.

"Lovely to meet you both. We were wondering if we could join you." Espo said.

Laine and Kate looked at each other, trying to figure out what the other was thinking. Kate could tell Laine liked Espo and as much as Kate loved his books, she had heard about Rick's womanizing ways and wanted to be weary of him.

"Sure." Laine said, before Kate could say anything.

Espo sat down next to Laine and Rick sat down next to Kate.

"So Kate, what do you do?" Rick asked.

"I'm a detective." Kate said, taking a sip of her drink.

Rick was a little taken aback by how unimpressed Kate seemed with him, so he decided to pull out the big guns.

"Yeah, I'm a mystery writer myself, you might have heard of me." Rick said.

Kate rolled her eyes at how pompous he sounded, trying to make sure she could hide what a big fan she was.

"I would've pegged you for a detective." Rick said.

"Why?" Kate asked.

"You're so uptight." Rick said.

Kate shot him a look. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean look at you. You're barely talking to me, you have your arms crossed. You seem like the only person here who isn't having a good time." Rick said.

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I'm just not interested in having a conversation with you?" Kate asked.

"Nah, that's not it. I think you might have forgotten how to have fun." Rick said.

"How can you possibly know that? You know nothing about me." Kate said.

"I think I might be able to read you better than you think. Why not just let me and Espo take you and Llaine out on the town. Show you guys a good time." Rick said.

Kate sighed, not wanting to say yes.

"Come on Kate. What are you so afraid of?" Rick asked.

"I'm afraid of so much. So fucking much." Kate thought. She didn't want to spend her time with Rick, he was clearly to self-absorbed for her liking. But on the other hand, Laine was having a great time with Espo and they did come here to have fun.

"What the hell. Let's do it." Kate said.

After a very long time, Kate felt a rush, a kind of excitement that was different from the one she got when she cracked a case. This time, it was because of Rick and how carefree he seemed. Spending time with him was a risk, one Kate would normally never take. But maybe it was finally time for her to take a chance, on herself and someone else.