on a train together and the train is stopped in the middle of nowhere for some reason AU

The train rolls to a grinding halt and Kate jerks out of her doze, fingers immediately flying to her hip to check that her badge is firmly in place. Her gun is there, she can feel the chill of metal through the material of her slacks, and it helps to calm her a little bit. She wakes up like this every single time these days. Startled and gasping and unable to think straight until she can check that her weapon is secure and within arm's reach.

A glance around the carriage shows her that nobody else seems to know why the train is stopping either. Outside, the hills roll untouched, white and smooth and pure. The trees reach their crooked fingers upwards, grasping for purchase against the hard slate of sky, and Kate tilts her head back against the seat.

It's lovely in a way things never really are in the city. The snow never quite manages to cover up the belly of her home and the horrors that can swallow you up if you let them, but out here in the countryside it does a wonderful job of remaking everything.

A voice comes over the speaker above her head and Kate pulls out her earphones to listen, feels her forehead puckering into an unattractive frown. "Ladies and gentlemen, due to a small avalanche over the tracks ahead of us, we're going to have to wait here until further notice."

Groans of dismay echo around the carriage and a baby a few rows in front of Kate bursts into tears. She sighs, rubs at the back of her neck. Gates sent her to visit their victim's home and try to find out just why the young woman was in the city all alone and was murdered for it. Beckett is intrigued, obviously, but right now she hates the new captain, wishes Montgomery had never retired. He never would have done this to her.

"Damn it." The man next to her says.

She was lucky to get a window seat on the train, had hoped she'd be able to turn sideways and stretch her legs out towards the aisle, but then the train had filled up and someone had taken the seat next to her. Richard Castle, and her younger self had leapt with excitement while the rest of her doggedly pushed it back.

He is not her favourite author anymore. Not since he killed Derrick Storm and then seemed to disappear from the face of the earth. Or the literary world, at least. It's totally irrational, unfair of her, but Kate feels like she was abandoned by him. His words helped her through so much, and then they stopped cold and now the beast in the pit of her belly roars with hunger.

"No cell reception." The man - Castle - says to her, twisting in his seat to look at her. "Does yours have any? I need to call my daughter, tell her I'll be back later than I thought."

Beckett tugs her cell phone free from her jacket pocket, holds it up to show him the absence of any bars. "Sorry."

"Damn."

"Will she be okay on her own?" The protective instinct in her, the cop, flares to life and she chews on her lip. Futile really, because what exactly is she going to do if the answer is no? Throw her badge around until someone gets this train moving and returns the man to his little girl.

Her concern earns her a smile from him and he puts his phone away again, leans back in the seat. "She'll be fine. We're spending the winter upstate, skiing, but I had to come back to the city for a meeting today. But she's eighteen; she'll be fine."

It's a lot of information, willingly given, and that worries Beckett too. This man is somewhat famous, and he really shouldn't be going around spewing out random life details to strangers. Even if she does feel like she knows him.

"I know what you're thinking." He laughs when she says nothing. "Why am I telling you this? It seems like we're gonna be stuck here for a bit, so we might as well get to know each other. And. . .I saw your badge. I figured I can trust you, Detective. . ."

"Beckett. Kate." She supplies, smothering a grin behind the splay of her fingers. What has happened to her that this man has her smiling so easily?

"A pleasure to meet you, Detective Beckett. I'm Rick Castle." He holds out a hand to her and she accepts it, pleasantly surprised to find that his handshake is just firm enough to be confident without arrogance.

A part of her wants to blurt out that she knows exactly who he is, but it seems as if it will be much more fun to wait and see what information he offers up about himself if he thinks that they're total strangers. So no, she won't tell him that she has every single one of his books, a couple of them signed. She won't tell him that she's been a member of his fan site for years and she always DVRs his talk show appearances.

"So what brings you to upstate New York, Detective?" He asks, his smile warm and inviting. A little girl runs down the aisle towards them and trips, goes sprawling to the floor right next to Castle. He's out of his seat immediately, helping the little one to pick herself up and dust off and turning her back in the direction of her mother.

Kate watches all of it with her heart a silly, liquid thing in her chest. She knew that he has a daughter, but he keeps her so sheltered from the watchful eye of the media that Kate, even with her avid following of him, has never seen him as a father.

When he comes back to his seat he looks a little sheepish, apologises, and Beckett is quick to shake her head. "Don't be sorry. I caught a victim in the city who lived out there, so my captain sent me out to see if her home offers any clues as to why she was in the city in the first place."

"Your captain sent you? Isn't there. . .someone less important who could do that?"

He winces, as if he's expecting her to ream him out, but she laughs instead. Because damn it, he's right. "Yes, there probably is. But she doesn't like me very much. I think she just wanted an excuse to send me away from the precinct."

"She doesn't like you?" He's incredulous with it, his voice rising in both pitch and volume to such a degree that the two elderly women across the aisle from them both turn to look. It makes him blush a little bit, but his mouth is still open in bafflement. "I find that impossible to believe."

Beckett shrugs, finds her face splitting apart into a smile. It's sweet, to have this man whom she just met five minutes ago so eager to defend her. "Our old captain recently retired and the new one, Gates, is from Internal Affairs. So she's not exactly popular."

"Well, she's not going to do herself any favours by sending you upstate." He huffs, and Kate giggles before she can manage to bite it back. Her cheeks flush but he doesn't seem to notice; if he does, he's kind enough not to comment. "When do you think we'll get there?"

"I have no idea. Could be hours." Kate groans, dropping her head back against the seat. "And I don't even have a hotel yet or anything."

"You don't?"

"No. It was all a bit spur of the moment." Kate uncrosses her legs and brings her foot up onto the seat, massages her ankle and hisses at the cold touch of her fingers at the thin skin there. She is just too tall to be squashed into a space like this.

Castle is frowning at her still, but she doesn't miss the way his eyes seem to catch and get stuck on the slither of bare skin she reveals to him between the cuff of her pants and the top of her sock. "Where are you headed, exactly? Where did your victim live?"

"In Chestertown." Beckett rubs a hand over her face, scrubs at her eyes. She's exhausted, and the thought of not having anywhere to stay tonight makes her want to cry. Just a little bit.

"No way!" Castle's whole face animates with joy and he beams at her, bouncing in his seat a little bit. "My daughter and I are staying at the Ridin-Hy Ranch nearby."

Her heart does a strange little flutter, something that might be longing, and she ducks her chin to hide her wistful laughter. "Is it nice?"

"It's amazing. We have a jacuzzi."

That makes her laugh again, freer than she has in a very long time. He just seems so enraptured with the world that it's sort of infectious, makes her feel like a jacuzzi is the best thing to possibly happen. And well, with the knots in her shoulders and the ache rippling along her spine, it wouldn't be too far off. "That sounds wonderful."

"It is. Hey, you could stay at our cabin." He seems delighted at this prospect and she rolls her eyes, shakes her head at him.

"I only just met you, Mr Castle. You can't just invite me to stay with you."

He frowns at that, seems genuinely hurt, and she is suddenly swamped with ridiculous guilt. It is not unfair of her to feel uncomfortable staying with a man she has just met, the rational part of her brain yells at her, even as the rest of her softens with his generosity.

"Why not? There's a spare room, and my daughter will be there. It's not like I'm asking you to share my bed." She blushes, her brain instantly providing her with not completely unwelcome images of Castle in bed next to her, Castle's arm around her waist. "I just don't want you to be left with nowhere to go. It's the least I can do for New York's finest."

Kate bites her lip, hard, feels the rush of metallic warmth in her mouth. "That's very kind of you, Mr Castle, but-"

"How about this?" He ploughs right through her. "You look for somewhere to stay in the town. But if you don't find anywhere, call me and you can stay with us."

"I don't have your number." She mutters inanely. It's been a long time since anyone has been so concerned for her, has seemed so worried for her welfare, and it's throwing her for a loop. Beckett can't remember the appropriate way to react here, and all of the lines are getting blurred because she feels like she knows him so well already, and she's so incredibly tempted to take him up on his offer.

After all, she does have a gun.

"I'll put it in your phone." He holds his hand out and she passes her cell over to him, watches him type in his number and rolls her eyes even as she laughs at him when he holds her phone out in front of himself and takes a ridiculous selfie to set as his contact picture.

Kate takes her cell phone back from him and keeps it balanced at her thigh, her fingers stroking over the screen. The way she sort of wants to do with his actual face, but she pushes that firmly out of her mind. As nice and as genuine as he seems, Kate knows perhaps better than anyone that appearances can be deceiving.

That trust, if offered too easily, can be horribly dangerous.

The train jolts into action again and a cheer ripples through the carriage, a smattering of applause. Castle joins in, his face luminescent with delight, and she's quite certain that it's not just because they're moving forward again.


Kate finds a place to say, a cheap motel where the sheets scratch and the radiator gurgles at her all night long. It's miserable, lonely, and as soon as she decides it's an acceptable hour of the morning she calls Richard Castle and asks him and his daughter if they want to join her for brunch.