Sometimes I see a prompt and just know I've got to write it. Today, three different people put in a request for 7x07 taking place before Castle and Beckett were a couple. This is my effort to fill that prompt. This work is set in late season two, between 'Den Of Thieves' and 'Food To Die For'. Thanks to my friend and url twin on Tumblr, alwayswiththecoffee, for the gorgeous cover art.

To some people, a stage coach ride through a barren desert into an Old West town would be exciting, maybe even romantic. Those people wouldn't be focused on the grit and dirt that hangs heavy in the air, how it lays a fine coating of dust on anything that is within reach. Already, Kate's lungs feel thick with it and she wonders if she is destined to spend the next couple of weeks hacking up hazy desert sand, the tiny granules scraping her throat and giving everything from her morning coffee to a burger from Remy's the taste of sawdust.

If you chose this spot for a vacation, the prospect of cramped quarters, horse drawn wagons and cowboys was probably adrenaline inducing. If it had always been your dream to play The Lone Ranger with your own personal horse and sidekick, you'd probably look something like Castle as the coach lumbers over a deep rivet that sends her jostling into him.

He pays her no mind, hanging halfway out of the stagecoach window, laughing like the nine year old sugar rushed little boy she'd pegged him as so many months ago.

They've been working together over a year, but that aspect of Richard Castle definitely hasn't changed. He's still very much a kid at heart, and on most days she's learned to appreciate the easily amused nature that he brings to practically everything.

On most days she hasn't been ordered to some godforsaken patch of the Arizona desert by way of a red-eye from JFK to Phoenix at the long shot of uncovering the mystery of her latest case.

"Beckett, this is amazing!"

Castle's chattering kicks up the same moment that the coach comes to an abrupt halt, requiring that she grab onto the window edge to ensure her body doesn't topple over onto the cramped floor. By the time she's oriented herself, he's out the door, eyes wide and still laughing in delight because, to the surprise of no one, pretending to be a cowboy in the wild west is just one of many dreams to which Richard Castle has always aspired.

Kate absolutely doesn't let herself dwell on the fact that in his obvious excitement, he's still thoughtful enough to extend a hand so she can exit their ride somewhat gracefully.

The fact she exits straight into a not-so thoughtful gift from the backside of a horse isn't his fault, even if she does want to elbow him in the ribs for the quip about good luck.

Good luck probably just ruined her favorite shoes.

"Great….just great," she huffs, more to herself than Castle, least of all because her partner certainly isn't listening. Her personal golden retriever has moved on from his galant assistance to an animated conversation that Kate knows she should be listening too. Instead, she's still trying to use the edge of a wooden board to scrape the gunk from her shoe.

"That's us! Rick and….Kate," Castle calls her name a little louder than necessary, one of those broad arms snagging around her waist so she's really got no choice but to follow wherever it is that he's tugging her (and she will remember to make him pay for that decision later) or to fall on her butt in front of an entire town of people.

She chooses to follow, consciously relaxing the angry grimace to a smile that she hopes radiates polite reluctance, "Rick and Kate Rodgers, here and ready for all the adventure of the Wild Wild West," Castle rambles on, smile far too excited and grip far too tight to be a coincidence, "We're newlyweds!" he adds, voice growing even louder at the proclamation, clearly an effort to distract people from the horror that Kate can feel sliding into place. It's taking over every muscle, morphing her expression into something that their greeting part - the badge on his chest reads James Grady - picks up on, "Newlyweds on our honeymoon!"

"You gonna be sick, darlin?" he drawls, angling his body backwards two steps as if she might become sick right there.

Kate isn't sure he's very far off, she's definitely dealing with a little bit of nausea that has tempered the raging inferno of anger that she's going to unleash on Castle at the first opportunity.

"Something like that," she mutters, drawing up the sweetest smile she can manage and casually sliding her arm around Castle's waist.

She doesn't even feel guilty for pinching him when Grady begins extolling the virtues of the ranch, brandishing brochures that they have no choice but to take. In fact, she gives a genuine smile at his yelp of pain, ignoring the wounded look Castle gives her in favor of encouraging the owner to continue with the rules and regulations of their home.

"Since you are newlyweds and all, we'll give you an upgrade to one of the suites in our hotel here in town," Grady says it for the compliment that it is, and unintentionally throws one more sour note into a morning full of them when she's forced to request the bunkhouse that they need access to.

"….uh, sure. Let me just take that up with my missus," the man drawls again, eyes telegraphing disbelief that two people would forgo the comfort of the posh hotel for the bare bones bunkhouses and what Kate now knows is a single twin bed.

As Grady walks to the edge of the platform to intercept a blonde woman in an elaborate blue dress, she makes her move, elbow poking sharply into Castle's ribs until he howls in discomfort and squirms away from her, "What was that for?!" he exclaims, the confusion in his voice dying off just a bit at her glare.

"Married, Castle? Married!" she's nearly spitting the words, arms drawn tightly across her chest while he attempts to sputter some defense. "Of all the stories you pick newlyweds. I'm going to kill you."

"In cases of murder among deceased husbands, the wife usually is the first suspect," Castle responds, fear of her glare dimming in his eyes to be replaced by that infuriating teasing twinkle and lopsided smirk that drives her insane on a different number of levels that Kate will not allow herself to think about.

Not now, not ever.

"Castle, I swear to God….." she can hear how much lower her voice is, how the words are being growled out at him as the tether of her patience grows shorter. But he's already fishing something shiny and small from his pocket, pulling her arms apart with an urgency that she only understands when her ears pick up the sound of boot spurs banging across the wooden platform of the general store.

James Grady is coming back towards them, and Castle is sliding a solid gold band on her fourth finger, "I now pronounce us husband and wife," he mutters at her ear, waggling both his eyebrows and his hand to display a matching wedding band.

"Looks like you folks are in luck, the room you want is available and my wife is happy to put you in there. Now if you'll just follow me we'll see about getting you outfitted good and proper," Grady tells them, giving a sweeping gesture towards the double doors with an encouraging smile.

"Come on, Mrs. Rodgers. Let's go shopping!"