One of the last things true crime writer Richard Castle expected when he took a meeting with convicted murderer Kate Beckett was to be sent on a quest for proof of her innocence, the other was to fall in love with her. A Castle AU. Written 2012. Revised 2016.

For months she's been gone. Months in which Castle's been forced to believe that Kate Beckett was dead. Eight full months in which he's missed her, craved her, mourned her. Now she's standing on his doorstep, two coffees in slightly shaking hands and Castle's world collapses. Direct spoilers for 4x23 Always, but most probably AU from there.