Disclaimer: All part of ABC and well whoever owns it.

A/N: This is set some time in the future after the events of Knockdown, as you will see. There are no spoilers, only if you haven't already seen Knockdown. All mistakes belong to me as this hasn't been beta-ed yet.

A Different Life

It had been six weeks. Six long fucking weeks since she had actually laid eyes on him. Six long weeks since she had heard his voice. Six excruciating weeks since she had felt the safety of his arms and the thrill of his kiss. It had also been six trying weeks of her attempting to stick to her self-imposed rule of not seeking him out, and making him come to her. She had almost made it too, it of weren't for the little punk seated at the end of the bar counter, currently having his wrist examined by Lanie, to see if any damage had been done to it, courtesy of Kate. From what the detective saw, there had been no damage, but one could never be sure and she didn't need a damn law suit to add to her already growing list of problems.

Castle had conveniently stopped coming to the precinct after the Raglan case, with the excuse that Gina was after his blood for not handing in the latest chapter of his book, and because she wanted him to go on tour to promote the 'Nikki Heat' movie that was due out in a couple of days. While his book sales were doing exceptionally well, Gina had forced him to do the tour, stating that people would fork out more for the movie and book if he made a special live guest appearance. It turned out though, that the blonde woman didn't need to put in the extra effort she usually did to convince him, he was more than willing to get as far away from New York as he could, as fast as was humanly possible. He was ready to take a break from shadowing the famous 'Detective Nikki Heat' for a short while just to clear his head.

The trip however, had proven to be anything but a source of distraction for the best-selling author. At every corner he turned, he was met with promotional posters advertising the Nikki Heat movie. Whether it was on billboards, or at bus stands, even on windows of movie rental shops, there was no way he could escape her and it only prompted him to think about her even more. By the end of the fifth week, Castle decided that he had, had enough and he was ready to go home, back to New York, back to his mother and daughter.

He knew he should have told her he was back as soon as he got home, but he was not sure he could deal with her rejection yet again. This had happened once before, and while the previous time he had made the mistake of not keeping in touch with any of the team members, this time he had taken the effort of texting either Ryan or Esposito asking them how it was going and keeping the it general. He had never once inquired specifically about Kate though he knew the boys would understand that him keeping in touch with them had everything to do with their team leader.

Castle simply did not want history to repeat itself, and seeing as he had received no word from Ryan or Esposito that she had broken up with her Mr Perfect, Doctor-By-Day, Biker-by-Night boyfriend, Josh he decided to keep his distance from the female detective. Well it was not as though he had informed Kate about his break-up with Gina either…

0 o 0 o 0

The team had caught a case, and while they were closing in on the suspect, Beckett knew that they would have figured it out a lot sooner if Castle were still with her – them. Sure he was annoying and frustrating and childish at times – a nine year old child on a sugar rush trapped in a man's body, but he was also surprisingly observant and meticulous, wanting to get the details correct and knowing the questions to ask to get the brain flowing again. After what seemed like an eternity, but was only a week and a half, they solved the case and brought the perp in. Ryan was the one who suggested they go to 'The Haunt' for drinks – to decompress.

Beckett had almost declined the invite, but the look on her best friend Lanie's face immediately swayed her decision, and besides, she thought to herself, Castle was still on his book / movie tour and he would only be returning in a week's time – not that she was counting. There was no chance of bumping into him and she found that she was okay with that.

At ten pm on a weeknight, The Haunt was surprisingly busy, Beckett noted. She also saw that she recognised a lot more faces than she thought she would have. The Haunt, it seemed had become a cop bar, with many of them from the twelfth coming here to unwind and decompress before going home to their families. It almost seemed like a second home to her. She seated herself on a bar stool at the end of the wooden counter and waited as her three friends did the same. An hour or so passed with them talking about nothing in general, Lanie and Esposito still trying to hide the fact that they were dating, and Beckett and Ryan laughing because they already knew.

The rest of them were already on their third beers while Beckett was still nursing her first, not being in the mood to drink that evening, when she felt the change in the atmosphere. It was not something anyone would have picked up on even had they been paying attention, but the detective had long ago grown accustomed and very aware to his presence. She could pick out his footfalls out of thousands, and she knew, without a doubt, that he had just entered the bar.

Ryan was the first to spot him standing in the doorway, and waved him over as soon as the author looked in their direction. Beckett had kept her gaze settled on her drink, forcing herself not to look up at him. She wanted him to work for a reaction from her, for her attention. To say that she was mad at him or even upset was the understatement of the damn century. She listened though, as Castle and the rest of the group exchanged tales about the past few weeks that he had been gone. Well mostly Ryan and Esposito listened while Lanie and Castle talked. It did not escape her attention that he did not, even once, try to include her in any part of the conversation, and while she wanted it that way, she had to admit his unusual behaviour unnerved her somewhat. Finally when she could no longer handle it, she excused herself and made her way to the bathrooms on the other side of the room, and then she intended to leave this damn place.

Beckett was so lost in her own thoughts that she did not notice Castle had followed her down the corridor that led to the bathroom. It was only when she felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to face him did she realise he had been two steps behind her all this while. She saw a glimmer of movement behind her, and all her senses clicked into place. She was a cop first, and her immediate reaction was to pull him out of the way and then deal with the damn perp who was trying to get at Castle. It had all happened in the blink of any eye, and the next thing she realised was that she had cuffed the kid who had tried to get an autograph from the duo and that she was pressed flush up against Castle who had reversed their positions so that his larger body was now covering hers from any danger that might still be lurking.

It didn't matter that the kid had not protested her cuffing him, using more force than was necessary to do so. All she could think of was that he was in danger and that she had to protect him, after failing him on two occasions. The triple killer case still haunted her, and she knew she was one of the lucky ones because he had let Castle go. He could have killed him, and Beckett would have never known. And with the Raglan case, Castle could have easily been the sniper's target instead of the cop….

"Hey, I was only tyring to get an autograph," the kid said and it was only then that Beckett realised it was just a kid, maybe eighteen or nineteen the oldest.

"Next time, just ask," she shot back, the adrenaline still pumping and her fears still at the front of her mind.

She gave Castle a proper once over, making sure he had not been injured before putting a little distance between them. It was increasingly difficult for her to think while he was so damn close to her. It seemed he had other thoughts though, and he leaned down to place a soft kiss on her temple before straightening up and allowing her to move away from him.

"Come on Becks, let the kid go. There was no harm done," Castle said once he had regained himself, but with the glare he got from the female detective he knew it was totally the wrong thing to say.

Ryan and Esposito, having heard the slight commotion appeared a few minutes later, the latter's eyebrow raised in question.

"Problem?" Ryan asked and before Beckett could reply, Castle shook his head, indicating there was none.

"Just a really, really persistent fan wanting an autograph," Castle smiled at the two male detectives, who seemed to accept the explanation, before Ryan un-cuffed the kid and Esposito ordered him to ask the woman seated at the end of the bar to check his wrist out. When the pair was sure there was no other danger to Castle and Beckett, they made their way back to the table, leaving the two alone once again.

An uncomfortable silence settled between the partners, and neither of them knew what to do. It was Castle who finally broke it.

"Beckett," he called her and waited for a response but she gave him none.

"Kate," he tried again, but was met with the same reaction.

"Katie…" he whispered and this time Beckett felt all the anger and annoyance melt with the simple name he used to call her. However, she maintained her stoic expression, not wanting him to see just how much he affected her.

"I…I.." he started but stopped and heaved in a deep breath.

"Katie these past few weeks…" he started again, but was cut midway when he another voice calling out for Beckett.

The pair turned their attention to the entrance of the corridor, and Castle heaved in another deep breath without even realising it, when he saw Josh. It didn't escape his attention that Beckett was just as surprised to see Mr Perfect Biker Boy Boyfriend standing in the corridor, as he was.

Beckett watched as Castle composed himself before he took the first step forward, toward her, and then another and then another, until he was right in front of her. She knew he was waiting for her to make the first move, take that first step, but she simply stood there, looking at him, her face betraying none of the emotion that were running wild in her heart and head.

And finally…

He made the move.

"I guess I'll see you around, Detective Beckett," he greeted her.

Beckett felt the air whoosh out of her lungs as though she had been punched in the gut, and she found that no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't breathe for a few minutes. She watched as he closed the distance between them and placed a soft, gentle, platonic kiss on the corner of her mouth…

And then he was gone.

By the time her brain had process what had just transpired, Castle was long gone, and she now she stood facing Josh.

"You ready to go?" he asked her and she could only nod her head dumbly.

God Castle… I wish things were different! She thought to herself and she watched the buildings pass by in the familiar route to Josh's apartment.

Hope you guys liked it. The next chapter will be up as soon as I am done writing it.
And yes I do mean on paper with a pen or pencil LOL
Let me know what you think and if I should continue this or not.
Thanks…