A/N: Hello readers. This one came to me yesterday morning, when I watched the pilot again. I thought about a different beginning, Castle not the jackass, Kate not so irritated by him. What could have happened ^^ Some dialog is verbatim from the pilot, others is changed.

Disclaimer: I own Castle... no wait, that was a dream. Dammit.

Different start

She was meeting her favorite author. Again. Would he remember her? Probably not. The first time was a book signing, where she waited two hours in the freezing cold with hundreds of others before getting ten seconds with him as he signed her book. Granted, the sentence he wrote was surprisingly deep and personal but he probably wrote stuff like this into every book he signs.

He was standing at the bar, drinking champagne and talking to a redheaded girl who looked way too young to be here, an untouched champagne glass in front of her. Who the hell was she? She couldn't be his girlfriend, she was too young. A fan? Then she'd be the luckiest of them all, getting alone time with him, with a real conversation. She had a gorgeous smile and it wasn't a I'm-meeting-my-idol kind of smile.

A daughter? His website never stated he had one. But then again, it never said anything about a family at all. But as unwilling as she was to break up that moment between the two, she had a job to do. Taking a deep breath, she stepped in behind him.

"Mr. Castle?" As he turned around to her, he took his pen out of his jacket, surely thinking she was just another fan. Which she actually was though he didn't need to know that.

"Where do you want it?" came his reply. 'On my chest please. And in every book of you I own. Stop it Kate, do your job.' Flashing her badge, his face went from placating smile to confusion.

"Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD, we need to ask you a few questions about a murder that took place earlier tonight."

She couldn't be sure but his eyes seemed to widen in the expected surprise but also something else as the words left her mouth. The girl behind him leaned over his left shoulder, taking the pen out of his hand.

"That's new." she said, a smile in her eyes. Definitely a daughter. Who else would be allowed to do that with him. 'A playboy with a daughter? That ought to be interesting.' She led him to her crown vic and took him to the precinct.

Case files in hand, she made her way to the interrogation room. She'll be alone with her favorite author. 'Dammit, get a grip woman. He's here for questioning. Maybe he even committed the crime. But what reason should he have? He has money, and a family it seems. Hmmm, a family with Richard Castle. I wonder what kind of father he is. Or how he is in bed... Stop it girl.'

Mentally slapping herself, she opened the door to the interrogation room and came face to face with him. Expecting a lot of different things to come out of his mouth, the two words that actually left it were definitely a surprise, especially combined with the sincere face.

"Thank you."

'Huh. I did not expect that. He must be the first one grateful to be taken here.'

"For what?" she asked him, dumbfounded at this strange remark.

"For getting me out of that party. I wouldn't have been able to leave for another two hours at least of not for you. Although I'd rather have gone home."

'Okay, this is new. Richard Castle, playboy, would rather be home than at a party. And the smile on his face looks real.'

"I thought you loved to party. Every weekend, a new and beautiful woman on your arm..." she scoffed at him, not even knowing where the jealousy was coming from. 'Maybe because you want to be the woman on his arm? Yeah right. Being another notch in his bedpost? It must be frayed to the point of collapse already.'

"A new and beautiful woman...?" he quoted her. "Right. More like 'another dumb bimbo who knows nothing about my work'" he said, using a mockery of her voice and frequent air-quotes. "I don't even know the last names of most of them. My publisher puts these on my arms like cufflinks. It 'enhances your standing as a playboy' they say. There are only one or two women I truly care about with me at those parties."

"And who might that be." she interrupted him, suddenly more interested in the person in front of her, the case files momentarily forgotten. 'Why am I talking to him like this? I should be questioning him.'

"You saw one of them, my really beautiful redhead daughter who had her head on my shoulder when you talked to me. The other is my mother, you might have seen her trying to land a man."

Kate couldn't hide a smile. 'His face has this look of pride of any parent talking about his little girl. It's kind of cute. Wait, cute? For the love of god, Kate, focus on your job.'

Shaking her head, she started with the case. She took the photo of the latest victim first.

"Allison Tisdale. Daughter of real estate mogul Jonathan Tisdale."

"She's cute."

"She's dead. Did you ever meet her? Book signing, charity event?"

"It's possible. But when you sign thousands of books at hundreds of signings, you rarely remember the people. I only remember five distinct people at my book signings. Three of them were famous actors. But she's not in my little black book if that's what you're asking." he added with a smirk.

"What about this guy? Marvin Fisk, small claims lawyer." Kate asked, placing the second picture in front of him.

"Most of my claims tend to be on the large side." he said, earning himself an eye-roll from the beautiful detective. "I know. I can be a jackass. It's hard sometimes to switch off the playboy role. Especially in front of a beautiful woman like you."

'Ah, there is the playboy from the papers.'

"But, as nice as chatting with you is, even in a sterile environment like this, I must ask. Since you know that I didn't kill these people, I'm assuming the guy is dead as well, you want to ask for my help. So, what has this do to with me?"

'Interesting'. She thought. 'He's more acute than I thought.'

"What if I think you did kill these people?"

"If you'd really thought I killed them, you wouldn't have asked me to come in for questions. I'd have my picture plastered in the newspaper tomorrow with the headlines 'Richard Castle arrested for murder' showing me being escorted out of the building in handcuffs into a squad car."

"You're good. The question for you regards the way we found the victims. This is how we found Alison Tisdale." she said, showing him the crime scene photo. The picture takes him aback.

"Flowers for your grave." he said, recognizing the picture as a scene from one of his books.

"And this is how we found Marvin Fisk. Right out of Hell Hath No Fury."

"Looks like I have a fan." he said, smirking again.

"A very deranged fan."

"Oh, you don't look deranged to me?"

"What?"

"Hell Hath No Fury? Angry wickens out for blood? Come on, only hardcore Castle groupies read that one."

'Damn, he's really acute' "Do any of these groupies ever write you letters?" she asked, earning only a nod. "Disturbing letters?"

"Oh, all my fan mail is disturbing, it's an occupational hazard."

"Because, sometimes in cases like this we find that the killer..." she starts, getting interrupted by him.

"...attempts to contact the subject of his obsession." he finishes her sentence.

'Huh? What the hell was that'

"I'm also pretty well versed in psychopathic methodologies. Another occupational hazard. And do you know you have gorgeous eyes."

His blatant attempt at flattery snapped her out of her surprise.

"So I take it you won't have any objections to us going through your mail?"

"Knock yourself out."

As she was getting up, he suddenly seemed to remember something.

"I know your eyes."

That made her give him another eye roll. She couldn't wrap her head around the changes in his behavior, first the loving father and then being the playboy the media said he was.

"Give it a rest, Mister Castle."

"'To Kate, even if you are faced with sorrowful times, don't hide your smile from the world.'"

That sentence made her drop the case files, looking at him in astonishment. After the death of her mother, she read and fell in love with his books and went to a signing. This was the exact sentence he wrote in the book when he signed it to her.

"What did you say?" she tried to deflect him from the fact that he hit a nerve.

"That was my dedication for you, wasn't it?"

"It... I... I need to go. Thank you for your cooperation. You are free to go." she stammered out, quickly leaving the room which looked to everybody like she was fleeing. She called up some uniforms to pick up the fan mail for the next day and hurried out of the precinct to get home.

It was night. Kate's mind was foggy yet she was wide awake. She felt herself standing up and suddenly she was at the right side of her bed, looking down on it. And she saw herself still lying there. What the hell? A cone of light coming from a light source that wasn't even there illuminated her face. She wasn't sleeping. Her face was contorted in pleasure, her lips moving, saying words like 'more' and 'yes'.

'What's going on?' she thought. She couldn't hear anything, her only information came from lip reading and her eyes. The cone of light started to expand, illuminating not only her face but starting to light up her chest. Her breath caught in her throat when it got down to her breasts. It wasn't the fact that she was topless. Or that her breasts were firm, she knew that. Or that her nipples were hard as rock.

There were hands on her breasts! Male hands. With thumb and forefinger, those hands tweaked and swiped her nipples and according to her facial expression, she liked it. The cone of light continued to expand, lighting up her trim waist, the arms connected to the male hands continuing down at her sides, while her own arms were stretched down as well, holding something.

'Oh my god!' she thought, as the light finished expanding, illuminating the entire bed. The male arms ended in a male body, with a male head buried between her legs. Her own arms alternated between holding her own legs spread apart as wide as possible and pushing the male head harder against her.

She saw herself panting and continue to mouth words like 'yes' until she cried out in pleasure and her hips bucked upwards. When the male lifted his head with a grin on his face, Kate gasped. It was Richard Castle. That smug playboy bastard. But while she was outraged at the notion of him seducing her, the Kate on the bed only smiled and pulled him up to her face to plant an open-mouthed kiss on his lips, their tongues battling for dominance all the while Rick placed himself on top of her and entered her slowly. She saw her counterpart gasping out at the contact, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. As much as Kate wanted to, she couldn't turn around or even close her eyes.

She saw herself speaking, and reading her own lips, she saw herself telling him to do unspeakable things to her. Rick just smiled and started pumping. After a short while that seemed like hours of seeing her own face twisted in a state of pleasure she didn't remember ever experiencing, Rick grabbed behind him, unhooked her ankles and lifted both her legs. Grabbing her calves, he pushed her legs up and forward until her knees were almost next to her head. This position seemed to work because the Kate on the bed cried out expletives all the while Rick roughly pounded her until she saw herself climaxing violently.

Despite that she saw herself complaining when Rick pulled out. But not for long. He turned her around, stuck a pillow below her hips, so her behind was lifted higher and entered her again. He started pounding without pause, hammering his hips against hers, hard and rough. She saw her face again contorted in pleasure, her lips shouting a lot of expletives alternating with desperate appeals to a deity.

She saw herself climaxing when her upper body jerked upwards with a scream on her lips. With lightning reflexes, Rick caught her and pressed his lips on hers and held her up without ever stopping his pounding of her. She barely rode out her orgasm when the angle had her climaxing again, this time taking him with her.

Both bodies collapsed onto the bed, his face hidden by her head but both panting. Kate looked at her own body, still twitching from the occasional aftershock, breathing hard and her face filled with a post-coital glow and a big smile on her face. Rick lifted himself up and both looked at each other. Kate saw the emotions showing in both their eyes. They said more than simple satisfied lust. Kate panicked when her counterpart opened her mouth and her lips started saying 'I lo...'

"Oh my god!" she screamed, jerking awake. It took her a minute until she realized that she was alone in her bed, her sheets tangled and her left hand between her legs. She felt the moisture on her pajama pants and her breathing was ragged, giving credence to the intensity of the dream she just experienced.

She looked at her alarm clock. 5:15 am. It would go off in 30 minutes. She thought of trying to get some more sleep but her pounding heart and the adrenaline flowing through her body made that notion impossible. Instead she got up, started a pot of coffee and headed towards the shower.

As she was standing under the spray of water, she thought back to the fast fading dream and what it represented. Yes, Rick Castle was handsome, he was rich, not that it was important to her, and yes, he wasn't what the media made him to be. But that last part, was her dream counterpart really saying love? No. Not love. She couldn't love Richard Castle. He lived in a completely different world. And she would never see him in person again. Problem solved.

He was helping with the case! This could not be happening. He contacted the Mayor, who he apparently was on a first name basis with, who called Captain Montgomery who put him on her team for this case. Now he was sitting two feet away, reading through his own fan mail, regularly looking at her over the paper. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asks, not waiting for an answer. "Why are you here? You clearly don't care about the body."

"I'm here for the story." he answered, as if that said everything.

"Excuse me?"

"Why those people? Why those murders?"

"Sometimes, there is no story. Sometimes, the guy is just a psychopath. "

"There's always a story, always a chain of events that makes everything make sense." he said, scoffing. "Take you for example. Under normal circumstances, you should not be here. Most smart good looking women become lawyers, not cops. And yet here you are. Why?"

"I don't know, Rick. You're the novelist. You tell me." she tells him, a smirk on her face.

"Well, you're not bridge-and-tunnel. No trace of the boroughs when you talk. So that means Manhattan. That means money. You went to college, probably a pretty good one. You had options. You had a lot of options, more socailly acceptable options. But you still chose this. That tells me, something happened. Not to you. You're wounded, but you're not that wounded. No, it was someone you care about, someone you loved. And you probably could have lived with that but the person responsible was never caught."

During his short speech, Kate's face fell from smirk to sad. 'God, in a few sentences he more or less figured out my history.' she thought, fighting back the tears that were threatening to fall. Not that he didn't notice her struggle. And she saw him taking a breath, probably to hit her with some smug remark about his ability to read her like an open book.

"And that Detective Beckett, is why you are here." he said, turning back to his letter.

That was a surprise. Not smug remark, no grin in his face. Just a matter-of-fact statement and turning away that was more like a verbal version of squeezing her hand in comfort. But instead of acknowledging him, she fell back in her defensive techniques.

"Cute trick. Don't think you know me." she told him, ending the conversation in her mind.

"The point is there's always a story. You just have to find it." he said, again surprising her with insight, as she finds exactly what he's talking about in the letter she is holding.

They picked up Kyle. The second victim was his social worker, he was clinically depressed and he was a Richard Castle maniac, knowing everything about him and his books. In Kate's mind, it was an open and shut case. Tomorrow, he'd be transferred from holding to the DA and out of her hand and she could tell the relatives of the victims that her killer was going behind bars.

This night her dreams weren't filled with steamy sex with a certain handsome author. After getting up and showering, she made her way to the precinct, only to find this certain author sitting at her desk, reading through her case files.

"What are you doing?" she asks him, taking the files out of his hands.

"It's a novelists habit, poke through other peoples mail, checking their medicine cabinets."

"Why are you still here?"

"I just came by to give you this. Something to memorialize our brief partnership."

She gave him an eyeroll.

"Don't look so suspicious. Open it."

She took the package and with a sigh opened the lid, probably to find some skimpy piece of clothing only to be surprised when it was his latest book.

"I got you an advanced copy. I even signed it to you, not that you're a fan." he said, with a smile on his face.

"Thank you. That's actially kind of sweet."

"Well, it was nice to have met you, Detective Beckett." he said, leaning in and giving her a somewhat awkward kiss on her cheek before leaving.

When she said down at her desk, thinking about what just happened, she couldn't stop a smile forming. Shaking her head, she prepared to start her paperwork when a thought suddenly hit her.

"He didn't." she said to herself, taking the Tisdale case file, almost ripping it open and finding a lot of stuff missing. "Oh, he did!"

Grasping her jacket, she ran off towards the exit to find and arrest him. Turning around a corner, she almost ran into him as he was standing nonchalantly at a wall, smiling at her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she practically yells at him.

"Getting your attention. Come on, we have a killer to find." she tells her, not the slightest bit intimidated by her outburst, which is kind of surprising to her.

"We already have our killer, Castle. And give me back the files or I will handcuff you to the nearest radiator."

"Uh, kinky. My safe word is apples." he said with a grin on his face. "But seriously, the killer wants you to think you have him, but Kyle was set up to take the fall. Now quit stalling and come on. Get those long and nice legs of yours moving and take me to the public library. We find our evidence there."

"You will give me those case files back and leave before my "long and nice" legs kick your ass."

"I will wait by your car. Meet me there when you punched a wall and calmed down." he said smiling and walked away.

Kate could only stand there, mouth open in surprise at his audacity. Not only did he steal police property, he was smug about it and still walked out of the precinct. And further, his calm demeanor completely dissipated her anger.

'I will shoot him. Yes, I will shoot him. Maybe in the legs. He needs his hands to write. I will humor him and see what he has, and then I will kiss him. Wait, what? No, I will shoot him. God dammit.'

Ending her embarrassing train of thought, she took off to the garage and true to his words, he waited next to the passenger door. Twenty minutes later they were walking into the public library.

"Mister Castle." came an elderly voice, as she walked beside him. She turned to see a librarian, at least in her sixties, walking towards Rick and give him an affectionate hug.

"Hello, Marge. Always nice to see you. And I told you, you can call me Rick" he said with an honest smile, hugging her back. Suddenly, Kate wanted to be the one he hugged.

'Not now Kate.' she thought and mentally slapped herself.

"Mister Castle, Doctor Brown wanted to personally thank you for your generous donation last month. It was enough to add another wing to the east room."

"It's my pleasure, Marge. I'd do anything for the place I spent a lot of my childhood in."

Kate was surprised. 'Not only is he not a playboy, he is a generous man.' Her animosity had a harder and harder time to keep up.

"Marge, it'd be great to chat, but we are here for work."

"Okay Mister Castle, I leave you to it." the librarian said, sitting down at her desk.

"Come on, Kate." he said, walking towards the biology section.

As she followed him, she didn't even realize that he called her by her first name. What she also didn't realize was that her subconscious didn't even mind.

"See, these are the rose petals found on Alison's body. And these are the ones I used in my book."

"You dragged me to the library to show me pictures of flowers?"

"Well, I could have dragged you to my loft but that might have given you the wrong idea about my intentions. Also, my mother and daughter would probably mind me bringing someone there in the morning, although you would probably be more welcome than any other girl I could bring there."

"Why, I was under the impression you bring girls there on a fairly regular basis." she said, smirking.

"I might not be a celibate but no, I never brought women to my place when either my mother or daughter were there. Especially my daughter. I can't be a good father to her when I more or less whore around. That sends the wrong signals, although she is already way more grown up than me.

"Anyway, in the Tisdale murder the rose pedals came from Grandiflora. In my book, I had the murderer use Hybrid Teas."

"So what?"

"So what? And you call yourself a detective?" She was about to snap back at him but he didn't let her. "Be quiet. Kyle is an obsessive. I think, if you ask him a question about my books, any part of them, he will give you the correct answer."

"Yes, go on."

"How come, an obsessive uses the wrong roses. Or kills his victim the wrong way? Marvin Fisk was strangled with his tie, in my book the victim was suffocated with a plastic bag."

"And in the third murder, the victim had the wrong dress color." Kate finished his train of thought.

"Damn, you might be right."

"Might?"

"Shut up, Ricky."

"Okay Katie. Lets go, we have an appointment."

"An appointment? With whom?"

"Jonathan Tisdale."

"Alison Tisdale's father?"

"Yes."

She watched him walk away and was kind of impressed with him. Not only did he raise doubts about the supposed killer, he also anticipated her next move. When she started following him, another thought hit her.

"Did you just call me Katie?"

"Yes."

"Who gave you permission do to that?"

"You did when you called me Ricky. If you upgrade the terms of endearment, I will use them too." he said smiling and got into her car.

"Listen to me... honey" she said, drawing out the honey to show him she means business. "If you call me Katie again, I will break your arm."

"No problem sweetie." he answered, giving her another of his disarming smile. And as much as she wanted to be angry at him, she couldn't stop herself from smiling at him.

The ride to Jonathan Tisdale's office building took longer due to the rush hour Manhattan traffic. She couldn't stop herself from looking at Rick time and again and while she was sure he looked at her too when she wasn't, he mostly looked out the windows, contemplating.

"Penny for your thoughts." she said, trying to penetrate the silence.

"I'm thinking about what to write now that the Storm series is done. About the direction it goes, the main character, the supporting cast, the locations. I forgot my notebook, I'm trying to do a mental list."

"Anything concrete?"

"Well, I think the main character should be female this time. Usually my main characters are males, that should change."

"What brought that idea up?"

"You." he stated, matter-of-fact.

"Come again?"

"You're a detective, and a rather successful one I heard, in a male dominated profession. You're smart and beautiful. And you're tall. I like that."

She was speechless. He was really thinking about a character, seemingly based on her. Before she could comment on that, he spoke again.

"We're here."

Parking the car, they went up to meet the father of the victim.

The meeting was short and rather pointless. She didn't get any new information about possible killers from the victim's father and she turned around to tell Castle this very thing and lecture him about wasting the time of a detective.

"He's dying." he said, before she could get out a word.

"Who's dying? Tisdale?"

Instead of answering her, he started to walk towards the hot dog vendor.

"You want a hotdog? I want a hotdog."

'Okay, that's enough.' she thought and grabbed his nose, squeezing it in a very painful way.

"Ouch, apples, apples, apples." he yelped and she let go, leaving him to rub his nose.

"What makes you think, he's dying?"

"You saw those pictures in his office?"

"Yeah"

"He's much thinner now, like sick thin, not workout thin."

"His daughter was just murdered."

"And the way he kept touching his hair, like he's self-conscious?" he continues, ignoring her remark.

"You think it was a piece?"

"It's a good one but it's new to him. The chemo is relatively recent. And he was wearing make-up."

"He tries to look healthier than he is."

"Doesn't want his shareholders to know."

"So he's got cancer, doesn't mean he's terminal."

"But it's a much better story if he is. You interview the brother?"

"There was no reason to."

"Well. now there is."

With that he turned around to get his hotdog. 'Man, he's really observant. I never saw that.' Her gaze went to his broad back as he was standing in front of the vendor, her gaze wandering down his body, before she realized what she was doing and averted her gaze.

The rest of the case went in kind of a blur. They talked to the son, and she realized before him that he was guilty of the murders, even though she had to admit that his second passport theory blew it wide open and probably saved them enough time to get a quick search warrant (again thanks to his connections to the judge) and get to Harrison Tisdale just as he was fleeing with the shredded passport in a bag.

After saving Castles life, which she didn't really do, after he indicated the safety on the murderer's gun, she stood in front of him, the familiar smirk on his face as he looked at her.

"Well, guess this is it." she said. 'Is it strange that I don't really want it to be?' she added in her head.

"It doesn't have to be. We could have dinner, debrief each other." he proposed.

'Yes please'. "Why Castle, so I can be another one of your conquests?"

"Not really, I'd rather not make a move on you when my mother and daughter are there."

"Wait, you're who are what now?"

"My family will be there too. You know, at my home, when I cook dinner..." he said, the end of the sentence trailing off as he saw the look on her face.

"Why Detective Beckett, if I didn't know better, I think you had really nasty thoughts about a dinner with me in that lovely head of yours."

"Ok Castle, you're on. Give me your address and I will be there."

"Great, we start at 6:30 pm. And I guess, you already have my address." he said, winking at her and moving away to call a cab.

Kate just smiled to herself, wondering why she had agreed.

It was 6:15 pm. Kate had finished the paperwork, got home for a shower and changed. Just as she was about to knock, the door opened and Martha came out.

"Kate, darling, go right in. Change of plans, I have a date tonight and can't join you for dinner. But you guys have fun. Bye."

Without waiting for a reply from Kate, Martha swooped by and stepped into the elevator. Kate stepped into the loft, marveling at the size of it and the simplistic beauty of the interior design. The kitchen was spacious, with a large counter currently filled with various dinner ingredients, bar stools in front of it. The living room was huge, with a enormous high definition TV with a surround sound system. To the right was a study filled with a desk and lots of books. A stairway indicated a second floor to he place, which made it gigantic. Her entire apartment could fit at least three times in here.

A high pitched scream followed by a loud bang made her turn around. She saw Castle leaning against the oven, his hands over his heart and two pots at his feet.

"Jeez, Kate, you want to give me a heart attack? How did you get in here?"

"Your mother let me in when she left. Seemed she was kind of in a hurry."

"Yeah, she met someone and is on a date. Knowing her, she won't be back until late night or tomorrow."

"So... it's just you and me?" she asked, suddenly apprehensive.

"And Alexis. You know, young, beautiful, smart and my daughter."

"Right. So, the three of us."

"Exactly. That reminds me. PUMPKIN. Come down and help me with dinner." he shouted upstairs.

"In response she heard feet trampling down and soon saw his daughter, fully dressed with jacket and shoes."

"Dad, I need to skip dinner."

"What? Why?" he asked and the look on his face told Kate that he was just as surprised as she was.

"Paige called. She has major boy troubles. I have to go over there to comfort her and talk trash about him."

"But you promised to help me with the Lasagna."

"I'm sure you can do it. Maybe Detective Beckett will help you, so the little mishap from last time doesn't happen again."

"What mishap?" Kate asked, suddenly nosy about a piece of Castle family gossip.

"Hey, that was nothing. My eyebrows had grown back after a month."

"Yes, but I could still smell the stench of burning hair a month after, and we had to replace the oven once again."

Kate couldn't prevent herself from laughing out loud. The easy way in which Rick talked to his daughter made him incredibly sexy. 'Wait, sexy? I meant cute. No, sweet. No... Argh, think unsexy thoughts Kate.'

"But be so nice dad and put the leftovers in the fridge. I have to go."

"Wait, when will you be back?"

"Tomorrow. We'll have a sleepover."

"But..."

"No buts dad, I earned it after I beat you at laser tag yesterday."

"You cheated."

"I didn't. It's not my fault you get distracted by grams."

Without waiting for a reply, Alexis left the loft.

"What just happened?" Rick asked, looking at Kate.

"I think you just got your ass kicked verbally."

"From a 15-year old. How low have I sunk. Well, I guess it truly is just the two of us."

Kate had to fight a moment of panic. Dinner for two with Richard Castle. In his home. 'That will not end well, I'm sure. Come on Kate, you can do it. If he tries any funny business, arrest him.'

"So, what's the plan?" she asked him, trying to break the silence that has descended over them.

"Well, I thought of carrying you to my bed, rip your pants off and pound you until you come so often that you can't walk anymore." he stated, in a matter-of-fact fashion.

'What the...' "What did you say?" she half screamed at him.

"I said, I thought of you making the salad, while I prepare the pots and pans for the pasta and meats we'll need for the lasagna. But I warn you, once you ate my lasagna, you might not want to leave anymore." he said smiling.

' Dear god, how could my brain twist that sentence to the other one. I have to keep my distance. Don't look at him too long Kate. Or you'll jump him right on the kitchen counter.'

"Sure, hand me the knife and vegetables."

She had to give it to him. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was great. She laughed a lot at his stories and he laughed at hers. The time went by way too fast for her liking.

"I think we'll have to finish this evening." he said, which made her jump at the abrupt change in topic.

"Why?" she asked, not wanting it to end yet.

"Because it's almost one in the morning and you probably have to go to work today."

"Oh god, I had no idea it was so late. I need to get home."

"You could sleep here. I have a guest room upstairs."

'Or I could sleep in your big bed next to you. Or on top of you. Ok, that's it. Stop it Kate or I will hammer my head against a wall.' she thought.

"Thanks for the offer, but I have no clothes here and I can't go to work in this." she said, pointing at her dress.

"Okay. I understand."

She quickly grabbed her jacket and her shows, put both on and headed to the door, Rick right behind her. She opened it and turned around.

"Well Detective, it has been fun. I'm glad you agreed to this. Although I thought you would flee, after my family bailed." he said, with his usual smile on his face.

"Well, it was a close call. Good night Castle."

"Drive safely and sleep well, Detective."

After stepping into he hallway, she stopped and turned around again. Rick looked at her questioningly, probably thinking, she forgot something. She had something else on her mind though. Could she? Should she?

'Oh what the hell.' she thought, stepped back in and kissed him. After his initial shock he returned the kiss but before it could get deeper she pulled back and smiled at him.

"Good night, Rick." she said and started walking to the elevator.

"Good night, Kate." he answered and closed the door.

Kate stepped into the elevator, pressed the button for the ground floor and leaned on the rail. He was a good kisser. Maybe there was something. She couldn't stop smiling all the way home until she fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Rick started cleaning up and his smile never left his face. All day he thought about his new character based on the beautiful detective and after tonight, there was nothing stopping him from doing it. First thing in the morning, he had to call his friend, the Mayor.

A/N: I know, another fluffy thing but hey, it's fun and I have nothing better to do :)

A/N2: It's 40° Celsius outside in the shade, about 50° Celsius under the sun on asphalt and I'm sitting in my apartment. At least the cast if off my arm, though I'm still very limited in the movement range. But writing has become easier.

Review please :)