Chapter 25

Graham's fist was still posed to knock when the door flew open in front of him and he found himself face to face with the wide, panicked eyes of Kate Beckett.

All of the worst-case scenarios flashed through his head. She had had another panic attack. Something had gone wrong in her deportation case. Bracken had come after her. Castle had called and broken it off.

"I don't know what to wear."

Graham startled as Kate whirled around, striding towards the antique armoire in the corner.

"What?"

"For the book launch. I need a dress, and I don't have a dress. At least not a dressy dress - one I would wear to an event like this. I've never even been to an event like this- with cameras and reporters and rich, important people. And it's not like I'm going to be able to hide in a corner or duck out early. I'm the guest of honor's date, and that means I'm going to be stuck in the middle of it. I can't do this, Graham. What if something happens? What if I have a panic attack? What if I trip and face plant into the veggie dip? I'm not this person."

Graham followed her inside, pressing his hands firmly against his friend's shoulders.

"Kate, look at me. You are going to be fine. You survived prison; you can endure a couple hours at a cocktail party with New York's most tightly wound. And seriously, what's the worst that will happen? If you have to leave early you can. Prince Charming will understand. Fuck the rest of them."

Kate scrunched up her nose, her forehead creasing as she stared up into his eyes.

"Don't let him hear you call him that to his face; he'll never let it go. I swear that man has an ego-in-training the size of the Empire State Building."

Graham wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest, waiting until she relaxed her body into his, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Now, just call me your Fairy Godmother - no pun intended. We are going to find you a fantastic dress, some killer heels and send little Cinderella off to the ball."

He could feel her lips twisting against his shoulder, attempting not to smile.

"Cut it out with the fairytale metaphors, will you? Let's go shopping."

Castle's foot tapped as he waited outside the terminal of JFK. Her flight had been delayed for forty-five minutes, and he was almost to the bottom of his venti mocha. Her now-cold grande skim latte with two pumps of sugar-free vanilla was still clutched in his hand. He should have thrown it out to buy her a new one once she arrived, but he wanted her to know he had been thinking about her, that he knew her well enough to get her coffee order right. That this was more than just sex and inspiration for a book, even though the sex was beyond fantastic and the book had already been declared a hit.

Something glinted in the corner of his eye and his head turned as he sought her out in the crowd, a head of light brown waves bobbing up and down above the others. His smile echoed hers as their eyes met. She had a garment bag slung over one shoulder and a large purse hanging from the other, dressed in jeans, white button-down, deep brown leather jacket and boots that brought her up to his height.

She looked… normal.

She looked like the Kate Beckett he had written about in his books. The one that he had lain awake at night imagining she could have been, while she slept, huddled in a ball in a jail cell. As she came striding toward him, her fingers dancing in a small wave, he knew that it had never been about the books. From the first minute he had seen her, staring blankly past him at the grey wall, it had been about her - this woman who had been trapped inside a rotting shell.

"Hey!" Her eyes sparkled, smile beaming as she came to a stop in front of him and leaned up to kiss his slack-jawed mouth before reaching for the cup of coffee he had held out towards her.

"Hey…" He cleared his throat, forcing himself to snap back into the moment. "Um, hi. This is for you, except it's kind of cold now since your plane was delayed, but I can get you a new one before we catch a cab to my place." Castle moved to grab the garment bag from her hand, but she twisted her body, pulling the bag out of reach before wrapping the arm holding the cooling coffee around his neck. "I didn't really plan anything for tonight; I figured you would be tired but we can go out if you want…"

Pulling him closer, she trailed her lips up to ghost against his ear.

"It's fine, Rick. Let's stay in. Besides, I don't think you'd want anyone else to see the outfit I brought for tonight..."

His throat convulsed as he attempted to form a sentence, her lips grinning against the rim of his ear. He gaped, unmoving, when she pulled back, waltzing around him toward the exit, a sly smirk on her face.

He had liked her outfit. In fact, he had enjoyed it several times in the first 24 hours of her trip. They had finally pried themselves apart long enough to shower - separately - and get dressed for the party, making sure to stay at least five feet away from each other at all times.

When she finished the last blot of her lipstick, she found him messing with his tie in his study, growling as he readjusted the knot in the mirror. Stepping out of the bedroom, she saw the moment he noticed her in the mirror. His hands dropped from the tie, eyes going wide as he turned and took her in.

The champagne dress flowed down off of her shoulders into matching V's on her chest and back, showing just enough skin to make Castle gulp, but not enough to show her scars. The tiny crystals and beads glittered in the lamplight as they stared at each other across the room. She had worn her hair down, and by the way he was looking at her, he approved.

The living room gaped between them, the electricity threatening to overwhelm her as her heart pounded in her chest. He was gorgeous, his hair freshly cut so that it no longer flopped onto his brow, the royal blue of his tie making his bright eyes pop. And he was standing in the middle of the room, eyes fixed on her like there was no other woman left in the world.

And then they were on each other, mouths fused together as her nimble fingers loosened the knot of his tie and flipped open the top two buttons on his shirt, snaking her fingers inside. A long leg wrapped around his hip as he pressed her into the back of the couch, her grip on him the only thing keeping her from tumbling over, his mouth working a hot trail down her neck.

His hands ran up her thighs, his mouth kissing, licking, nipping its way down her front and round… oh hell she had lost count of what round they were up to… seemed inevitable. The book could launch on its own; they didn't really need the writer or inspiration there… did they?

The intercom buzzed and they both froze, his thumb pressed into her belly, fingers wrapped around the flare of her hip, breath coming in labored puffs against her overheated skin. One of her hands curled around his belt buckle, the other cupping his jaw as their foreheads pressed together, dissolving into a fit of giggles.

"That's the car," Castle whispered, tilting his head to sneak one last kiss. "We should probably go."

And she nodded against him. Yeah, they probably should because it was time to finally face the world.

The butterflies in her stomach had managed to tame themselves down to a flutter as the town car pulled to a stop in front of the hotel.

One flash went off as he helped her out of the car, her hand gripping his. A second, when her stiletto clad feet hit the sidewalk and a third and fourth as she secured her arm through his, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear with her free hand, her head ducked to stare at the ground. Her fingers tightened around Castle's suit-clad arm as her heart began to pound in her chest, the sound reverberating in her ears.

"You're okay," he murmured, lips suddenly ghosting against her hair, whispering soothing words as they walked the last few feet to the door.

She let out a breath, a small smile gracing her features as she turned eyes up to meet his inquiring ones.

"Thank you."

"Always," he smiled down at her, ducking the mere inches so that their lips met in a tender kiss. Her rigid muscles finally started to relax, the stress and panic flowing from her body. The worst of it was over. Graham had been right; it was going to be a good night.

"Oh! There you are. Gina and I were getting worried."

Kate craned her neck to see a woman, her dark, severe bun and black dress seemingly out of place amongst the weightless atmosphere of flowing gowns and alcohol.

"Good evening, Paula," Castle greeted. "It's nice to see you, too. Where is Gina? I need to be sure to avoid her all evening. She's already been on me about the second book."

Paula waved off his teasing tone with her thin, pale fingers, blood red nails dancing in the air as she leaned up to smack twin kisses on his cheeks. He reached back, threading his fingers through Kate's, pulling her up to his side and causing Paula's eyes to shift to her.

"So, this must be the jailhouse princess responsible for this whole soiree." Paula took a step back, her arms crossed over her chest, assessing her.

"Paula, this is Kate Beckett," Castle introduced as he stood between the two women. "Kate, this is Paula Haas, my publicist.

Paula's eyes narrowed as she continued to study Kate.

"I was informed of your PTSD for security reasons. Are you going to pass out or have a breakdown or anything?"

Kate's mouth fell open at the other woman's brashness as she felt Castle's hand tighten around her own.

"I, um, no, I wasn't planning on it. Not that it is any of your business, but I'm fine now."

Paula let out a huff, waving off the couple as she turned to walk away.

"Shame. It definitely would have been cause for a bump in sales." She paused in her retreat, turning suddenly back to them as the pair continued to stare at her in shock. "Would you be willing to fake it?"

"Dad! This is amazing, look at all these people! It's like you're famous or something."

Castle turned to see Alexis making her way across the room, clad in a sky blue gown, her red hair glistening in the light. His eyes widened, grip tightening on Kate's hand when he saw his daughter's arm entwined with one belonging to a dark-haired boy.

"Alexis? Who…?"

"Oh," Alexis' cheeks blushed pink as she let her arm drop to her side, taking a small step away from her date's side. "Dad, Kate, this is Dana… Dana this is my father, Richard Castle and his girlfriend, Kate Beckett. Dana and I were in the same philosophy class last semester, Dad. You remember me talking about it…"

Castle sucked in a deep breath. Dana, of course, it wasn't like he had thought Dana had been a girl or anything. It was perfectly logical that Alexis' new friend, Dana, from her intro to philosophy class who she had been studying with almost every evening was a nineteen year-old boy.

"… Actually I'm going into my senior year."

Castle zoned back into the conversation to hear the end of the answer Dana had been giving Kate. Twenty-one. Even better, he could buy alcohol.

"Rick."

"Hmm?" Castle pulled his glare away from the young, clean-cut man next to his daughter, instead focusing a questioning gaze on his girlfriend… partner… the amazingly gorgeous woman on his arm. The woman whose eyes were narrowing at him and whose manicured nails were digging into the flesh of his wrist.

"Dana was just saying how he's planning to go on and get his master's degree in engineering at NYU after he graduates. Isn't that great?"

"Yes, great, fantastic." Castle stuttered, finally sticking his hand out to the boy. "Dana it's very nice to meet you."

Dana gave a hesitant nod in return as Castle's grip tightened around his hand.

"You too, Mr. Castle. Alexis tells me fantastic stories about you and her childhood."

Castle's mouth flickered up into a faint smile as he focused on his daughter.

"Richard!"

The group turned to see Gina stalking across the room toward them, clad in a gold dress, which blended into her cream complexion.

Castle's eyes grew wide, glancing over at Kate as he mumbled under his breath.

"Run."

"If you'll excuse us it seems we are needed elsewhere," Kate interjected, tugging on Castle's arm, causing him to drop his grip on Dana's hand.

The boy flexed his fingers a couple of times, wincing as he smiled at Kate.

"It was very nice to meet you, Ms. Beckett."

"Likewise, and call me Kate, please," Kate smiled back.

Dana's eyes shifted to meet Castle's.

"Mr. Castle."

"Dana."

Kate pulled his arm, rotating him in a half-circle and guiding him into the crowd and away from Gina's path as Alexis pulled the boy over towards her grandmother's perch at the bar. He glanced over to find Kate staring back.

"What?"

With a shake of her head, she let out an incredulous snort.

"You could have been a little nicer."

"I was plenty nice."

"You almost broke the poor boy's hand."

"Well do you know where he wants to put that hand? He'd be lucky if I only broke it. If I find it in an inappropriate place I might be inclined to amputate it."

"An inappropriate place? Like where your hands were in the car on the way here?"

He did a double take as she smirked at him.

"That's different and you know it. Besides he's older than her!"

"Yeah, by two years! Do you remember how much older than me you are?"

Castle went pale.

"That's…"

"Different, yeah, yeah I got it." She rolled her eyes as they spun back around toward the bar, steering him to the corner where Ryan, Esposito and two women were gathered. "Alexis is grown up. She's going to date. At least be happy it's someone she's willing to introduce to you."

Kate waved across the bar to Martha. For all his worry, Kate was handling the night brilliantly. Being in the crowd, meeting strangers, mingling. She seemed more at home than he did. He made a mental note to send Graham the most obnoxiously oversized bouquet of flowers he could find.

"Richard!" The two came to a halt as Gina intercepted them. "There you two are. I've been trying to flag you down all night. I have someone I want to introduce you to."

Castle glanced over, exchanging a look with Kate, taking in her half shrug as they turned to follow Gina back across the room, the jazz band playing in the background.

"It isn't often that we have someone of a higher celebrity status attend one of these parties, especially for one of our lesser known writers, no offense, Richard. I was very surprised when I received the RSVP, even more shocked when I saw him in person here, but he said that he was captivated by your story, Ms. Beckett, and wanted to come to pay his respects to both of you," Gina rambled, glancing over her shoulder at them every couple of seconds. "Ah, there he is. Senator!"

Kate froze in place, jerking on his arm as the man in front of them turned around, meeting them with a wide smile.

"Richard Castle, Kate Beckett, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Senator William Bracken. Senator, this is Rick Castle, our honored guest of the evening."

"Mr. Castle," Bracken held out his hand, his grin never faltering. "It really is a pleasure to meet you. I was gripped by your biography of sorts about Ms. Beckett. I do hope you forgive me for crashing your party; but after I read it, I just had to see the two of you for myself. It truly is horrible what they did to you, Ms. Beckett."

Kate's fingers burrowed into Castle's arm, her face ashen.

"Oh no, of course not, Senator. It is always nice to meet… a fan." Castle forced a smile onto his face as he clasped the man's hand, his throat choking around the words.

Gina glanced between them in confusion.

"Is everything okay?"

Castle turned his attention to her.

"Oh, everything is fine. But if you'll excuse us, I hope you enjoy the rest of the party, Senator."

He pulled Kate away gently, a hand at her elbow, his turn now to steer her across the room toward the detectives in the corner.

"Castle… what's he doing here?" She wheezed after a second. "He's up to something. He's trying to get to me."

"It's going to be okay," he murmured in response, walking her across the room as hastily as possible, listening as her breath continued to quicken, every muscle in her body tense. "I'll get you out of here."

Kate's head bobbed in a short, jerky nod as they finally approached their friends.

"Ryan, Esposito."

"Hey, man! Awesome party" Esposito replied, his wide grin falling when he took in their expressions. "What's wrong?"

"Bracken," Kate wheezed, the heel of her hand pressed against her chest. "Bracken's here."

"What the…?" Ryan started as the two other women looked between them in confusion.

"Look, we can spitball theories later, but I need you to get Kate out of here now, she's…"

"What the hell was that?"

Castle whipped around to see Gina stalking up to the group.

"Gina, not now."

"Not now? Richard. You just blew off a senator."

"I didn't blow him off, we just had to go," he expressed as Kate started to sway into him, glassy eyes focused on the far wall.

"Oh don't give me that bull, now you go over there, apologize, and answer any questions he has. He's very curious about the two of you."

"Gina stop it, you don't get it," Castle hissed as Kate drew in another gasp of air.

He turned quickly toward the detectives. He had to get her out of there.

"Espo..."

The sentence died in his throat as Kate's hand slipped off his arm. His head whipped around to see her eyelids flutter shut. And with a shout of her name, his arms shot out to catch her just as her body went limp, crumpling to a pile on the floor.