"Oh god this is awful," Beckett lamented as they stood together in a tight line of hungry New Yorkers waiting for their coffees and breakfast sandwiches. Since the contents of her refrigerator were, as Castle deemed them, pathetic, he suggested getting breakfast on their way to the magic shop. As they still had probably at least an hour until it opened, she could not find much room to argue, so there they stood at Sal's Deli. "It's like people can see through us—like they know."

Rationally, she knew it wasn't possible, but she felt eyes on her—like somehow they knew it was her beneath her Richard Castle suit. Like they were judging her—them—for being freaks. Sideshow freaks. Because that's exactly what they were going to become if they were unable to get the spell reversed.

"They cannot possibly know so just relax," Castle told her quietly. "Just…be normal."

"How can I be normal!?" she snapped. "I'm a guy!"

Her trip between Castle's apartment and hers hadn't been that bad, all things considered. Her only interaction had been with Castle's doorman and the cab driver, but she had been so focused on her destination she hardly noticed. Now, completely exposed, she constantly wondered if she was walking like herself or like Castle. If she held her hands like she would or he would. It was a nightmare! The only source of amusement so far had been watching Castle—as Beckett—nearly face-plant when tripping in her high heels; that had been very entertaining.

"Well, you've been around men before, right? Just do what you think I would—wait no; scratch that," he stopped his thought abruptly. He could only imagine the horrors that would result if he suggested that his partner act as though she thought he would. He could not imagine her behaving by his normal standards, but instead, in an effort to mock the entire situation, she would act as a highly characterized version of himself and that was not something he wished to witness.

Instead, he suggested, "Just be yourself…but butchier."

She eyed him sideways. "Please, Castle. You know that in this relationship I'm the one with more butch." They stepped forward in the line and Beckett noticed an unpleasant expression cross Castle's—well, her—face. "What's wrong?"

He turned towards her and lowered his voice. Shifting uncomfortably on his feet he said, "This thong might not have been the best idea."

She let out a laugh. "Oh really, ya think? Why do you think I gave you regular panties and dress pants, but noooo," she mocked him in a tone a bit louder than she probably should have used. "Because clearly having been a woman for thirty-some years means I know nothing."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, obviously not wanting to admit she was right. "Just figure out what you want for breakfast; we're up next."

"Don't worry, this is on me and my," she paused to pull the wallet from her back pocket," AMEX Black card."

He smirked at her. "See, I knew you were going to start enjoying this."

When it was their turn, Beckett informed the blonde woman working the register that their orders would be placed together. She requested the turkey sausage and egg white sandwich and a large coffee. Castle, on the other hand, ordered a cinnamon and raisin bagel with extra cream cheese.

"Light cream cheese," Beckett corrected when passing her credit card over to the clerk. The blonde gave her a less than pleasant expression, which she ignored, until she felt an elbow dig into her rib cage. "Hey!" she hissed, but he didn't explain until they'd stepped away from the register.

"I'm famous, remember—try not to make me sound like a dick."

"What does that mean?" she asked, clearly oblivious.

"Light cream cheese? That girl probably thought I was your girlfriend and you don't want me to get fat!" He hissed at her.

Beckett shrugged; she didn't really care what the clerk thought and she stood by her decision to force him to get the light cream cheese. "Well, you're in my body—don't mess it up with your crappy eating habits."

He gave her a pointed look. "How much damage is one bagel going to do?"

After finishing their breakfasts with a limited amount of discussion, the hopeful duo returned to the magic shop they'd first visited the day before. They were ten minutes early, which was alright with Beckett because she had every intention of pouncing on the store owner the moment the doors were unlocked. Seeing the fire of determination in her eyes, Castle briefly suggested that he be the one to broach the subject with the shopkeeper, but she shot him down with one of her infamous silencing looks.

"Remember us?" she said to the shopkeeper when he unlatched the door. His blank expression did not indicate that he did, so she backhanded her partner's arm and said, "Badge."

"Oh right!" he said, forgetting that for once he was the "official" one. He pulled back the front edge of his blazer to reveal the badge on his waistband.

The shopkeeper nodded distantly. "I'm sorry, but I do not know anything more about that man."

"That's not why we're here," Beckett continued. "We need to talk with you about one of your magic books." Good god, she thought to herself as they stepped in the store. Magic was real. It hardly seemed possible. More so, it seemed like an elaborate practical joke put on by her partner. Sadly, her male body parts told her otherwise.

"Where was that book again?" she asked, turning to her partner.

"Back here," he said before heading off down a narrow aisle. Beckett made sure the shopkeeper followed him and she brought up the rear. As the shop did not have an excess of patrons, the spell book remained open to the exact incantation Castle had read the day before; the one for a better understanding.

"There, this! We need to undo this," she said, stabbing her finger at the worn pages.

"Undo…" The elder man echoed with notable confusion.

"Yes," she continued, "we need to undo it—reverse it. Yesterday, my partner read this spell and we switched bodies!" God, it sounded insane. The shopkeeper probably thought they were lunatics!

"Switched…" the wild-haired man asked, his watery blue-eyed gaze shifting between them.

"Yes, I'm him and he's me and we need to put ourselves back!" she insisted.

Finally, the shopkeepers face registered with understanding, but that remained only briefly. He shook his head and held up his hands as he walked away. "No, it cannot be undone."

"What?" Castle asked as Beckett snapped, "Excuse me!?"

"The spell cannot be undone," the shopkeeper clarified. "It must…run its course."

"Run its course!?" She repeated with horror. "Sir, this isn't a cold virus, it's our lives. We need to switch back!"

"I'm sorry, but the spell must run its course. Now if you'll excuse me…"

As the man turned away, Beckett lunged for him, but Castle's arms looping around hers held her back. "Beckett don't. He can't help us. I mean, it's not his fault."

She let out a small growl under her breath and turned back to the spell book—the new bane of her existence. "There has to be a way to fix this!" she proclaimed as she flipped rather violently through the pages. There had to be an undo spell; there just had to!

"Beckett stop. Hold on a second," he said, reaching out for her arm, but she snapped it away from him with a dangerous glare.

"Don't!"

He held up his hands defensively. "I'm sorry, but I was going to say: do you really want us to read another spell? All things considered…it could be worse."

"Worse! Worse!" She squealed. "How could it be worse!?"

He thought on this for a moment. "You could have been turned into a llama."

"What?!"

"Never mind. Look let's just go for a walk and think about this okay? C'mon." Cautiously, he placed an arm around her back and led her towards the shop exit. Dumbly, she followed him, not speaking again until they were back out on the sidewalk.

With a sigh, she leaned back against the brick exterior of the building and looked down at him. "I'm sorry, Castle, but you can't be thrilled with this whole situation either."

"Well, I guess I wouldn't say that I was thrilled, but that is one of your problems, Beckett—you can't find the good in every situation. There's always a silver lining," he informed her with a smile so irritating she wanted to slap it off him. Instead, she merely pushed herself off the brick wall and continued walking down the sidewalk.

"Okay, okay, we just need to think—what was that spell about again? A better understanding? But how are we going to achieve that? I mean…I get you," she said, glancing over at him with a shrug.

He clicked his tongue at her tone. "What does that mean?"

"It means you're not that hard to figure out: rich writer, giant child…"

He folded his arms over his chest as they walked. "That's not all I am, Kate, and you know it. You're just upset and I don't think I can exactly blame you for that so I'll let it slide."

At the next intersection, they hurried across the street (Castle with significant more difficulty due to his high heels). Just as they hopped up onto the sidewalk, their progress was interrupted by a wolf whistle from a passing cab driver. They both turned their heads in the direction of the cabbie, whose tongue protruded from his mouth in a lurid manner. Beckett scrunched her nose in disgust while her partner's brow furrowed.

"What was that about?"

"Hate to break it to you, Castle, but I think that was directed at you," she informed him as they continued their walk uptown. "Now you know why I don't wear that skirt too often."

"You mean he was objectifying me!? Sweet!" Castle proclaimed. She gave him an incredulous expression. "I mean…I dunno. I just never thought I'd be attractive as a woman; it's nice to know I'm wanted."

"Seriously Castle? You do realize this isn't the same thing as you being a woman. You being a woman would involve you shaving your very hair legs and looking like an experimentation of Bosom Buddies gone horribly awry. Since you are currently me, an actual woman, you're getting attention."

When Beckett realized her partner was not matching step with her she stopped, turned, and spotted him almost a hundred feet behind with a sour expression. "What!?" she demanded.

"Well...that wasn't very nice," he said sadly, slowly walking to catch up with her.

Fighting back laughter she said, "I'm sorry, Castle, but a ruggedly handsome woman is not the kind who would get whistled at."

Still slightly insulted, he could not help but concede to her point. He never contemplated dressing in drag, but he did not imagine it would be a very pretty sight. "Still…wait—did you just call me ruggedly handsome!?"

Ignoring his brightened expression, Beckett continued their walk. "C'mon Castle—we have to figure out how to fix this thing. I'm open to suggestions."

"Well," he began, "I think we literally need to live each other's lives—that's the best way of gaining understanding that I can think of. Let's start by going to the Twelfth."

The female detective stopped walking abruptly. "Are you out of your mind!? That has to be one of the worst ideas I've ever heard!"

"What? Why?"

"Because there is absolutely no way we can keep our covers! You cannot be me at work."

He shook his head with disappointment. "You're not giving me enough credit, Beckett. Remember, one of my greatest skills as a writer is observation. I can absolutely be you—for a little while anyway. C'mon, let's go sign that paperwork for Espo and-"

"Oh good, let's start there!" She proclaimed, dropping her hands to her sides. This really was getting more insane by the minute! "How do I sign my name Castle?"

He threw his hand to the side in a flippant manner. "Please—like I can't forge that."