An Unexpected Birthday - Caskett soulmate AU one shot
Sitting on the couch with her legs tucked underneath her, Kate Beckett sighed as she swiped her finger casually across the digital screen she held in order to read the next news article on her feed. Some days she wasn't sure why she bothered to read the news; it was always depressing. Reports of crime, shortages in resources, or yet another round of price hikes weren't normally things she needed to read before bed. Yet, that was the world in which she lived, and as a member of law enforcement she liked to be as informed as she could be, as she felt it made her a more well-rounded person.
She was only mid-way through an article on the anticipated rise in heating costs that winter, when she felt the couch sink beneath the weight of her companion. He slid up beside her and rested his cheek against the top of her shoulder for a moment before pressing two kisses against it and stroking his fingers delicately up and down her arm. Normally, such a move would have caused her to smile, turn to him, and offer him a kiss. That evening was different, however, as his actions made the dread bubble over in her gut and the tears begin to prick her eyes. She wasn't ready for the even of the evening; not yet. Not ever.
She remained frozen for twenty seconds, trying to will the hands of time backwards, but of course that didn't work. As her silence ticked into the thirty second mark, she heard him say softly, "It's nearly eleven."
She shut her eyes and nodded, rasping out, "I know, but I'm not ready yet." After nearly a year together, Kate knew her boyfriend well, and the double kiss to her shoulder meant that he was ready for bed—rather, the naked activities that took place in bed, not so much the sleeping. Of course sleeping came after those activities, and morning followed that. Morning was the thing she dreaded more than anything else.
She never though she could feel such violent anger towards her thirtieth birthday, but she did. So much. Sadly, there was nothing she could do about it; time moved forward whether she wanted it to or not.
Forty years earlier, the world collectively discovered they had the same problem: birth rates were decreasing rapidly resulting in some countries actually having negative population growth for several years running—and in increasing intervals. A year-long global study revealed that not only were more and more couples choosing not to have children, but even the ones that wanted them struggled to have them due to fertility issues. While plenty of scientific options existed for those couples to explore, the cost remained prohibited.
Due to concerns for the future of the human race, a global initiative was put forth to not just subsidize the cost of fertility treatments, but to take everything a step forward and, in a sense, force the hand of Darwin. The research council determined that quality DNA matching as well as diversity were the keys to continuing the human race. Thus, an unprecedented global database was created to log the DNA of babies minutes after birth. Algorithms were then used to find what other child born around the same time would have the best genetic match. The algorithms were run ten years after the child's birth and the information was available on the female's eighteenth birthday (the male only finding the identity of his mate after the female had unlocked her information for the first time.)
With the focus on diversity, many people were finding themselves matched with someone who lived on the opposite side of the world from them. For most in the eighteen-to-twenty range, this typically provided an exciting adventure. Those a bit older found themselves hesitant to completely uproot their lives for the other. After all, the DNA match was no guarantee at happiness (though most couples surveyed did agree the match was a good one). As such, many chose not to follow the guideline, so as an incentive the government instituted an annual tax on those who chose not to be with their algorithm-determined mate.
When this process was explained to Kate Beckett during her seventeenth year of life, she'd found herself utterly horrified. As she was deeply entrenched in her rebellious phase, having the DNA match even be a meaningless guideline would have angered her, but being forced to marry her mate before the age of thirty or face a fine? She was appalled! Thankfully, a few years later, that guideline was relaxed slightly to the age of thirty-three, but she still had to unlock the match she was provided by her thirtieth birthday or face fines.
After her mother's murder, Kate was even more fiercely protective of her heart. She didn't want to let anyone in, let alone a random man the government chose. Worse yet—what if that random man lived somewhere in Africa or Asia? That would mean a fifty percent chance of having to quit her job and uproot her life only to start all over again. The prospect was horrifying, and for many years she made up her mind that she would merely accept the tax, as difficult as it would be financially.
As she was never one to shy away from honesty, Kate had once mentioned her intentions while she was work, and her captain overheard her. He then sadly informed her that were she to make that choice, her career at the NYPD would be severely limited because such an action would reflect poorly on her character. It was not something that would result in her immediate termination, but it was frowned upon, so he felt it only fair to warn her. That night, Kate had gone home and cried, now hating the world that seemingly had taken away the free choices she had.
Not long after that, a case dropped into Kate's lap that completely altered the trajectory of her life. A copycat killer was stealing the murders from the books written by her favorite author, Richard Castle. The mystery writer joined in on her investigation, and after successfully closing the case, he requested to shadow her in order to do some research on NYPD procedure. As he had been overzealous and childish during their initial investigation, Kate was hesitant to agree, but his friendship with the mayor left her no choice.
During the early days of their working relationship, Kate found herself continuously grumpy by her seemingly immature shadow, but eventually they found their stride. He was actually surprisingly insightful and helpful—when he stopped trying to turn on the siren in her car for more than five minutes. The more time they spent together, she found herself enjoying his presence. Of course, she never let that show. At least, not until the one case during which they were forced to go undercover at a fancy gala. That night they danced, laughed, and actually had fun. She knew inviting him to walk her up to her apartment at the end of the night was a bad idea, but she'd done it anyway. Their beneath-the-sheets activities were supposed to be a one-time thing. But then that one-time thing happed again…and again… Until the one day she discovered he'd been investigating her mother's murder even after she specifically asked him not to; that action both boiled her blood and broke her heart.
For over a month they didn't speak until Castle's persistent groveling annoyed her to the point where she allowed him to shadow her once more. For another few weeks they remained friends, until one night during a stakeout they ended up talking for hours, mostly about the DNA-matching initiative.
Though he was almost a decade older than her, Castle's mate had never unlocked their match, which had him assuming that she was dead or like Kate—refusing to accept the duty most felt bound to. He said it made him sad, never having the chance to meet her. He explained that if they met, and tried to work things out, but ultimately decided to go their separate ways, he would have accepted that, but not meeting her was, as he described, a mystery he could never solve, and that ate away at him.
As he spoke, Kate realized she had never once thought about her match and how her decision might affect him. Though she was not entirely convinced she decided she would consider meeting up with the man whose DNA melded so perfectly with hers; that did only seem fair. In a somewhat ironic move, their conversation also led to her inviting him home with her again for a little more uncomplicated, bedroom fun.
That was what their relationship was supposed to be, anyway—uncomplicated. Kate told herself again and again that every morning she woke up beside him meant nothing. The way he made her laugh, the way her heart swelled when she looked at him, was insignificant and fleeting. Deep down, however, she knew the opposite was true. She didn't acknowledge that, however, until she received the sixty-day notification to her quickly approaching thirtieth birthday. That morning, she'd cried as she stared down at her phone, knowing that she was in love with someone she could never be with long-term.
When Castle awoke and saw her tear-stained face, of course he asked her what was wrong. She tried to avoid his questions until he finally saw the alert on her phone and they talked about the reality that imminently faced them. They talked about the possibility of her going with her original plan and not finding her match, and paying the fine instead, but she decided that was unfair to four people: the two of them, and their matches. Plus, she had her career to consider. Ultimately, he told her that the decision was hers and he would support her whenever. He closed his statement by saying, "But you should know that I love you." After that, she'd fallen into his arms and cried until she had to leave for work.
For two weeks after that incident Kate thought long and hard about her life. She wanted to be with Castle, a thought that was as surprising as it was comforting. For the first time in her life she had found someone she genuinely wanted to be around all the time. Sadly, like so many others who found themselves in relationships before their DNA match was revealed, it simply was not meant to be. Sad as it was, the world had changed to a point when relationships would never be that simple again.
With a heavy heart Kate decided that she would do as the government wished and access her DNA match on her thirtieth birthday. As promised, Castle supported her and even quipped, "He'll probably be far better for you than I am," but as she held him close that night she knew that most likely would never be true.
Kate spent the next few weeks in utter denial of the looming milestone, until that evening when she'd arrived at Castle's expansive apartment with a heavy heart. All through dinner she'd ignored the factor, but now that it was nearly time for bed, she could not deny any longer that they would be spending their last hours together—and it was absolutely going to shatter her heart.
"C'mon, Kate." He nudged her arm and then stood up from the couch. "Making yourself overtired isn't going to make this any easier."
Reluctantly, she agreed, and after shutting off her tablet and returning it to her purse, she followed him into the bedroom. He finished pulling down the duvet before turning and giving her a sad little smile. The emotion bubbling over inside her, she rushed forward and locked her arms around his shoulders. When his hands bracketed her waist, she sobbed out, "I never…I never thought I'd find someone like you. Someone I connected with. I never…I didn't think it was in the cards for me. This wasn't even supposed to become this. It was supposed to be fun and uncomplicated but then, you…you became someone I…"
"I know." He sighed, bumping his forehead against hers, somehow knowing she'd never be able to get the right words out. "I feel the same."
She sniffed and gripped him a little tighter saying, "I don't want to let you go."
He hugged her for a few more moments, then pulled back and pressed a soft kiss against her lips. Bringing up his hand to cup her jaw, he managed to smile, and say, "If I had a choice, I'd pick you."
A few tears slipped down her cheeks as she whispered, "Me too." Then she pulled him towards her, determined to make the memories of their last night together last for a lifetime.
The following morning, Kate opened her eyes for the first time and sucked in a deep breath, still shaking off the remnants of dreamland and blissfully ignorant to the significance of the day. Then, as sleep slowly faded, her heart sank deeper into her chest than it ever had before. She wanted to shut her eyes and will herself back to sleep so that she did not have to face the morning, but it was too late. Evidently her companion had been watching her, for a moment later she felt his hand close around her arm. His thumb brushed softly against her bicep as he said, "Happy Birthday."
She let out a noise that mixed sadness and disgust and immediately rolled her body into his. He opened up his arms and let her snuggle into his chest. He dropped two kisses onto the top of her head and then breathed out heavily against her hair. Kate clung to him for several minutes before confessing softly, "I don't want to go."
"But you have to." He spoke the words as a sad conclusion—an unfortunate fate that had befallen them both.
"Yeah," she sighed, though she only held him tighter.
Laying there, listening to the sounds of her partner's rhythmic breathing, Kate cursed the world for how unfair it was for people like them. They were far from the only two who had found love only to have the governmental rules break their hearts. She had heard plenty of stories of young love destined for ruin, childhood sweethearts torn apart, or even those like her, who'd held off until the last moment, thinking they'd have fun while they could only to have an unexpected bond sneak up on them.
They all should have known better. To encourage diversity, government matches were almost never in the same city, rarely in the same state, and unusually in the same area of the country. At least half the women she knew were matched with non-Americans. To be able to stay with someone that you matched with organically was the new version of a fairy tale.
After nearly ten minutes of snuggling, Kate knew she could deny reality no longer. She reluctantly slid from bed, picked up her discarded clothing from the floor, and slipped into the bathroom. She moved as quickly as she could knowing that lingering would only make the tears come faster. Her toiletry bag was already mostly packed. She brushed her teeth and then added her toothbrush and paste to the top layer and zipped it shut. She did one last double check to make sure all her things had been collected from his space, before walking into the closet, putting her toiletry bag in the larger suitcase that sat there, and quickly pulled on jeans and a sweater.
When Kate returned to the bedroom, Castle sat at the edge of the mattress wearing a sad smile. He reached out a hand and she slipped hers in his, letting him tug her forward and into a brief kiss. She stood in front of him as his hands bracketed her waist and she cradled his jaw with her hands. Gazing down into his azure eyes for what she knew to be the last time, Kate fought the spasms in her diaphragm, but did permit a single tear to slide down her cheek as she said, "I love you. So much."
He dipped his chin and landed his forehead against the space just above her belly button. He held it there for a moment, and when he looked back up towards her, the emotion was evident in his eyes. "I love you too. Always. No matter what happens, I'll be here for you; I promise you."
She sadly shook her head. "No, don't say that."
"Why."
"Because any day now your match will come knocking at your front door and you'll forget about me."
He stood quickly and peppered kisses across her cheeks and nose, promising, "Never. Never. Not even if you have to move to Japan tomorrow. We'll still talk."
Though it shattered her heart into even smaller pieces to do so, she sniffled out, "I—I don't think I can." Confusion and hurt flashed in his eyes and before the expression could completely break her, she pushed herself away from him. "I'm sorry, but I…I just think it would make it so much worse, because it would make me want to be with you even when I couldn't." She thought about it so many times: keeping him as her best friend, even when she finally met up with her government match. She wanted it, but also knew how heartbreaking it would be. Ultimately, as devastating as it would be in the moment, a clean break was in the best interest of both of them.
"I understand." He rasped out in a tone that made it clear he barely did. "It would have been really hard, so I guess that's best."
She turned back, leaned in, and kissed his cheek, then, unable to say goodbye, she grabbed the handle of her luggage and hurried out of the apartment.
By the time she reached the elevator and began stabbing at the call button, Kate's heart was racing and her face had flushed hot. She just needed to get inside the car, down to the street, and into a cab. She'd splurge that morning in hopes of getting back to her apartment faster. That way she could curl up in her favorite blanket and cry as much as she wanted.
Again and again Kate jabbed the elevator call button to no avail; the car wasn't coming. This simple failure bubbled over into more emotion than she could endure, and though it was in the middle of the hallway, Kate fell down to her knees beside her luggage and began to sob. Eventually she fell over to sit on her hip with her shoulder resting against the front of her bag. As she slumped forward, her purse straps drooped from her arm, letting her bag flop open. Her cell phone slid to the floor and landed beside her ankle.
Seeing that as a sign that she should get the inevitable over with, Kate picked up the device and navigated to the government app. Normally when using that app to pay her taxes or renew her government ID, she avoided the bottom section like the plague, but that morning, with a resigned sigh and a trembling bottom lip, she swiped all the way down to the panel that read "DNA Match."
Kate felt her stomach lurch as she tapped her thumb on it. As with almost all the sections in that app, she was required to re-enter her social security number before she could access any further screens. Unlike other portions of that app, she was forced to answer several more security questions as well. She nearly threw her phone at the elevator when she discovered this, but ultimately resigned to enter her birthday, mother's maiden name, place of birth, and registered current zip code.
Her thumb twitched above the "submit" button. She shut her eyes and lifted her chin towards the sky as another wave of nausea struck her. God, she didn't want to do this. Why did the world have to be like this? Why couldn't she just live her life the way she wanted to?
After several more moments of denial, she sucked in a breath, and tapped her finger against the screen. She let several more seconds go by before she opened her eyes and dropped her chin. Tears blurred her vision at first, so she blinked them away until she could see the screen. Immediately, she almost vomited.
"WHa…." She let out a croaked sound as a familiar face stared back at her.
Struggling to believe, Kate brought the phone closer to her face, and clawed at the screen with her fingertips. She though for sure this was a joke, and had Castle any ability to manipulate such an official document she was sure the thought would have crossed her mind; yet, in this instance, it was impossible, for she was certain he didn't know her social security number—or her mother's maiden name.
Still unable to believe it wasn't a trick, Kate logged out of the app entirely, then logged back in. That time, she did not have to access the DNA Match model. Instead, where it once was, the DMV photo once again was displayed.
Richard Edgar Castle (formerly Richard Alexander Rodgers)
"God." She breathed out, still in shock until thirty seconds later when the elevator doors opened with a soft ding. Kate looked up in shocked, for she had completely forgotten she was sitting in front of the elevator cars. A second later, she bolted off the ground, abandoning her luggage and purse behind, running only with her phone and the disbelief that dreams really did come true.
"Castle! Castle! Shit!" She cursed when she incorrectly typed in the access code to his apartment twice in a row. She took a deep breath to steady her shaking hand then punched the code correctly. The door unlocked and she flew inside, racing back to the bedroom to find him curled up on the middle of the mattress, tears streaking against his cheeks.
"Castle!" she hopped up on the bed, landed on her knees, and draped her body over his. "I'm calling in sick to work tonight; I'm going to spend the rest of the day with you."
"No, don't." He sniffed and sat up slowly, forcing her to sit back on her heels. He shook his head sadly and said, "It'll only make it so much harder, you know that."
"No." The grin spread across her face and she held out her phone to him. "I want to celebrate. Look. You're my match."
"What?" he asked with genuine confusion.
"Rick—you're my match!" she repeated with more enthusiasm.
"No…" He gazed down at the phone then back at her, still shaking his head. "This isn't possible."
She brushed a stray tear from her cheek and merely shrugged. He was right; it did seem impossible. Not only did they live in far too close proximity together, they were nine years apart in age, which was far larger a gap than she'd ever heard the government allowing before; yet, the truth was right in front of them. "It's right here; I didn't make this up."
"Hang on—don't move." He scrambled out of bed and snagged his phone off the nightstand. He swiped around for a few minutes and then she watched as his expression changed from one to mixed disbelief and joy. "Oh. God. Kate." He turned the phone towards her and she could see her face on his government app.
Overwhelmed with joy, she jumped from the bed directly into his arms. He caught her and she locked both her arms and legs around his body. The embrace was almost painfully tight, but she didn't care; she never wanted to let go again.
After several moments Castle staggered forward and dumped them both down onto the mattress. His face found hers and for the next minute they kissed and shared 'I love yous' over and over again.
"Kate," he sighed after they'd held each other for several moments. He lifted the hand she had pressed to his cheek to his lips, kissed it, and then asked, "Will you marry me?"
Her heart fluttered beneath her ribcage and she thought briefly of what one of her coworkers had told her the week before—that once she got to know her DNA match, she'd be happier with him than she had been with anyone. Fortunately, she already knew that to be true—but that didn't mean she couldn't have a little fun.
"Well, I was going to; I don't want to pay the tax."
His lips curled in displeasure and he shook his head. "I want you to want to marry me."
"I do. I do." She promised. He grinned, kissed her, and then began tugging at her clothes. She did the same with his, eager to start the first day of the rest of her life.
A/N - first i apologize for the dumb title. I've literally had this completed for about 3 years but i couldn't figure out a title so i never posted it
but then i realized its my friend Jenn's milestone birthday today and since this take's place on a KB milestone birthday it seemed appropriate to post
so enjoy, and Happy Birthday Jenn!