Title: The Writer Came Back

Author: Palgrave

Fandom: Castle

Gift for: crearealidad

Characters/Pairing: Kate Beckett, Richard Castle, Beckett/Castle

Rating: PG-13, maybe a low 'R' at most.

Word Count: 4909 according to Word.

Disclaimer: Castle and all characters related are property of ABC Studios, Andrew Marlowe, and probably lots of other people who aren't actually me.

Spoilers/Warnings: Post "Always" and set at some vague point in Season 5, but other than that no specific spoilers for episodes past or upcoming. Sexy fun times between consenting adults are alluded to but not graphically depicted (sorry).

Summary: Kate Beckett sets out on her motorcycle to get away from the world and to find peace. Something which would be a lot easier if she didn't keep bumping into Richard Castle.

Author's Note: crearealidad, thanks for all the great prompts (I'm still working on an X-Files one involving Scully, Reyes and Mulder on a road-trip that I've yet to complete), and I hope this contains a sufficient amount of sarcasm, bickering and contrived scenarios to satisfy. :-) jaune_chat, many thanks once again for the beta-read and the useful feedback. Everyone else, hope you like it!

But the cat came back, the very next day

The cat came back, thought he was a goner, but the cat came back

`Cause he wouldn't stay away

~ "The Cat Came Back", Harry S. Miller

"So, I've got next weekend free," Kate Beckett said suddenly, shifting under the covers and propping herself up on her elbow to look down at Richard Castle.

He blinked and looked at her, no doubt noticing the slightly nervous look on her face. It was a delicate situation, which was why she'd waited until the end of an enjoyable evening after work in his apartment with just the two of them (which, as enjoyable evenings with just the two of them did so often these days, had morphed into a very enjoyable evening with just the two of them in his bed).

His brow furrowed slightly, and his thumb paused in the circles he'd been gently rubbing into the skin above her hip, but his hand didn't move, which Kate took to be a good sign. "Oh?"

"Yeah. And I was thinking... I might get out of town for a few days. Go for a ride."

"A ride?"

"Yeah, you know. Just jump on the bike, get out of town for a couple of days. Unwind a bit. Get a bit of space. By myself," she added, quickly, as Castle shifted to look at her. His brow furrowed slightly, and she winced internally at how abrupt she'd sounded.

She'd had the idea a few days ago, after she'd looked at her roster and noticed a free weekend coming for the first time in months. The first weekend for a long time where she wasn't on-call and didn't have a heavy caseload to contend with, a weekend where she could just jump on her bike and head out of town, see where the wind took her like she used to back in the day. It had been a while since she'd really gone for a ride, and she really needed a break from everything.

Including Castle.

Sort of. It was complicated.

Because Kate loved this thing that was growing between them, loved the look in his eyes when he looked at her now, loved the brief touches that sent wonderful electric charges buzzing all the way through her. She even loved the fact that it was still secret between her and Castle, loved the thrill of the knowing exchanges between them, so full of meaning and passion that her friends and coworkers had no idea about.

(And the sex, of course. Definitely the sex.)

But it had been crazy, these last few months, and as much as she loved it this upgrade in her relationship with Castle was part of the craziness, and she needed a break from it all. Needed to just get away and recharge, sort things out in her head somewhere far away from everything. She needed some space.

Except she didn't want him to think she needed some space. Because things were still so delicate between them after that night all those months ago and the craziness since then, and she'd given him so many reasons to doubt how willing she was to commit to him before, and he might have gotten his hopes up about spending time with her this weekend. And the last thing she wanted was for him to take it the wrong way.

Kate wasn't panicking. Not in the least.

"Sounds like a good idea," Castle said after a moment.

Kate opened her mouth to launch into the first of her pre-prepared defenses of her plans for the weekend before she realized that she didn't have to. "What?"

He shrugged with one shoulder; his other arm, she was surprisingly only half-pleased to note, remained exactly where it was wrapped around her waist. "Good idea. It's been crazy lately. Might be just what you need, to get away from things. Get some space."

And okay, now she was feeling a bit put-out. She hadn't expected him to accept it that quickly.

"I have to admit," Kate said, perhaps a little pointedly, "I was expecting a little more objection from you than that."

His brow furrowed again. "Why would I object to you spending a weekend by yourself? Exactly how clingy do you think I am?"

"I thought you might want to do something. Together. Seeing as it's the first weekend I've had free since we..."

"Oh."

"I thought you might want to do something very romantic involving the two of us together. And that you might be a little upset if I didn't want to."

"Ah."

"Apparently I was wrong."

"Apparently." His eyes glinted mischievously. "Would you like to me to arrange something for you to spoil, though? How about a picnic in Central Park? Or a balloon ride? Ooh, how about a weekend in Paris? There's a beautiful restaurant with a view of the Seine that I could book and then cancel. It does the most amazing salmon we'd have to miss."

"Oh, shut up."

"Seriously, are you upset that I'm not more upset that you're spoiling plans I didn't have about a weekend I didn't even know you had free because you have the nerve to want to get away from the city by yourself for a couple of days? You know that's pretty silly, right?"

Kate huffed and tried to turn away. His grip around her waist tightened slightly, and he reached out, touched her chin with his thumb.

"Hey," he said gently, "you know I'd love nothing more than to spend the weekend with you if you wanted to, right?"

The frown didn't leave her face, but after a moment Kate relented and nodded.

"But I get it. I do. Things have been insane lately, neither of us have had much chance to breathe. And we've been spending a lot of time together on top of that as well. And I know you, Kate. I know how you need to be alone sometimes..."

"I don't need..."

"You like to be alone," he amended. That, she couldn't protest over. "You need your space. Believe it or not, Kate, I have learned a little something about you over four years. I don't expect us to spend every free moment we have together."

His thumb began brushing circles on her hip again. The sensation was comforting, and she felt herself settling in closer to him.

"So no, I'm not gonna be upset if you want to take the weekend and get some space by yourself. We'll have plenty of weekends together. Okay?"

"Okay." She didn't even know what she'd been worried about now.

For a few moments, they just lay together, listening to the other one breathe.

"Although since you are abandoning me -"

"Hey."

"- I do find myself now facing a certain dilemma."

"Oh?"

He rolled over so that he was on top of her, looking down, his weight gently but firmly pressing her deeper into the mattress. He had that look on his face, that glint in his eye, a grin twitching at the corner of his mouth.

"I'll need to find a way to give you an appropriate send-off before you go. Any ideas?"

Kate pretended to think for a moment. "Now you mention it," she replied, leaning up for a kiss, "I do have one or two suggestions."

Afterwards, Kate was firmly of the opinion that he could send her off as many times as he liked if that was how he was going to go about doing it.

Kate spent most of the coming week organizing her getaway, clearing her caseload as much as she could, and alternating between excitement about being away from everything for the weekend and apprehensive guilt about being away from everything (from him) for the weekend.

Which was absurd. She was only taking a weekend off, plenty of couples did separate vacations (and oh, the ease with which she'd started applying 'couple' to her and Castle didn't help, but it was another issue entirely) and Castle had said - repeatedly - that he was okay with it.

None of which did anything to quell the twisted, tangling feeling in Kate's stomach whenever she thought of being separated from him for an entire weekend, no matter how often she repeated it to herself.

As it turned out, she needn't have worried.

The first time, she hadn't even gotten out of the city. It was early Saturday morning, and she was at a red light, surrounded by traffic, the bike humming underneath her almost like it shared her eager impatience to get out of the city limits and really get moving, when she happened to turn and glance at the car beside her and noticed the guy at the wheel looked a lot like Castle.

This did nothing to help the tangling in her stomach; she hadn't seen him since she'd slipped out of his apartment early Thursday morning. She'd been too busy getting everything sorted out since then to go back, and the memory of his lips on hers as she kissed him farewell had only added to the torment. She'd only had a text message from him this morning since then, just a simple thing wishing her a good time - and careful about swallowing flies! - but it had almost been enough to get her to cancel the whole thing.

Absurd.

It took Kate another moment to realize that, now she thought about it, the car kind of looked like the one Castle sometimes drove as well. Not the Ferrari, but a sleek silver Audi sedan she'd only seen once or twice before. And it was absurd, because really, why would Castle be driving around the city, he'd get a cab or use his car service or something, but her cop's suspicious instincts were suddenly firing and she was leaning closer in to get a better look...

It was Castle. He hadn't noticed her, was tapping the wheel in time to whatever song he had playing on his iPod as he drove, the sleeves of his shirt (an ugly old plaid thing he only ever really wore to lounge around in, she'd begged him to get rid of it but he dug in his heels every time) rolled up to his elbows.

And then he was pulling away, and she watched him disappear up the street, her mouth open under her helmet, and it wasn't until the sound of horns behind her penetrated her consciousness that she realized the light was green. As she pulled away, her mind was buzzing over the coincidence.

Where was Castle going?

The second time, she'd just pulled into a service station to top up the gas and get a stick of gum, and had just paid and was walking back to her bike when, out of the corner of her eye, she happened to notice a familiar silver Audi at one of the pumps, and beside it filling up the gas was none other than...

"Castle?" She blurted out.

Castle turned at the sound of his name, only to do a double take when he realized who he was standing opposite of. "Kate?" He said back, apparently genuinely surprised. "What are you doing here?"

She began to walk over to him, arms folded over her chest and an eyebrow raised. "I could ask you the same thing. Is this you giving me space?"

"I'm driving up to the Hamptons," he replied, a note of defensiveness in his voice. "I figured since you were gonna be out of town, I'd get out of town too. Sit by the beach, do some writing."

"You didn't tell me that."

He shrugged. "It was an impulse."

"Really."

"Do you honestly think I'm following you or something?" he asked, irritated. "How clingy do you think I am? You didn't even tell me where you were going, and we haven't seen each other since Thursday. How was I supposed to know where you were gonna be? It's just a coincidence."

"Was last time a coincidence as well?"

"'Last time'? What are you talking about?"

Kate was about to press him about their earlier encounter at the traffic light when she realized that he hadn't seen her, wouldn't have any clue what she was talking about, and besides, he wasn't subtle at all when it came to following people. If he'd been tailing her, she'd have pegged him no trouble. Stop being so touchy, Kate.

"You're right," she conceded. "Sorry."

"It's okay."

They stood there for a moment in awkward silence.

"Guess I'd better get back on the road, then," she offered, more to fill the silence than anything, and immediately decided she sounded like an idiot. "Enjoy the Hamptons."

"You too. Enjoy your ride, I mean."

"I will. See you when I get back?"

"Looking forward to it," Castle smiled at her before he turned back to the filling the car. It didn't quite meet his eyes.

Kate sighed, and turned back to her bike, feeling like an ass, the tangle in her stomach having only gotten worse.

The third time was after she'd tried getting herself lost in a series of small streets and lanes, going through small towns and hamlets that almost blurred past her, until the point where she just needed to stop and get herself untangled. She'd pulled up by a field on a quiet road and was leaning against a tree, staring at the small line of blue in the horizon and trying to get her thoughts together. She was on edge, had been since she'd decided this whole trip in the first place, and the whole point of this little excursion was to get herself calm and relaxed, not to get herself more tense and uptight about things.

Including Castle.

No, she shouldn't have snapped at him like that, it made her seem paranoid and ridiculous, but... no, there wasn't a but. Not one she managed to get herself to find convincing, anyway. He was right, it was just a weird coincidence, but it had unsettled her for some reason and she'd taken it out on him.

What was wrong with her?

She was just thinking of ways that she could make it up to him - and there were some forms of apologies she was coming up with that were more enticing than was convenient when she was by herself in the middle of a field - when she was distracted by a glint of light in the distance, something shiny, and she idly watched it get closer until it formed the shape of a car, a silvery car, and it looked really familiar, until it got close enough for her to recognize it and -

Oh.

Oh, come on. You have got to be kidding me.

She watched, dumbfounded, as Castle drove past her. He was going slowly, slowly, staring out at the scenery, and his face looked deep in thought and slightly distracted. Until he turned, and noticed her, and she was pretty sure that the bewildered look on his face was the exact mirror of hers. Only he looked a lot more awkward.

On a dull impulse, she waved.

After a few heartbeats, he waved back. Then, his eyes flickered away, and the car drove past. It seemed to pick up speed, slightly.

Kate huffed, and leaned back against the tree. Great. Just great. On top of everything else, she'd made her boyfriend feel like a stalker.

In retrospect, a weekend tour of Long Island didn't seem like such a great idea after all.

The fourth time was another service station. The bathroom facilities were unisex, and from the outside at least looked less-than-ideal when it came to cleanliness, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

She was just looking idly browsing the candy section while she waited for the current occupant to finish up, idly wondering whether she could indulge her sweet tooth (she was on vacation, why the heck not?) when the door opened. She hurried to go past the person coming out, not really focusing on anything other than her destination – beggars really couldn't be choosers in this case - but whoever it was was apparently big, and blocking the doorway, and in the hurry she brushed his shoulder.

"Sorry," she muttered automatically.

"Kate?!" came the incredulous response.

Her head whipped around at the familiar voice, and she found herself looking right into a very familiar, and very astonished, pair of eyes. "Castle?!"

The two stared incredulously at each other for a second.

"I... need to use the bathroom," she explained redundantly, pointing into the bathroom.

"Yes," he replied, sounding a bit stunned.

Another awkward pause.

"I'll, ah, leave you to it, then," he offered.

"Yes," she replied automatically.

They stared at each other a moment more before Kate remembered the call of nature and disappeared into the bathroom, wondering precisely what the hell was going on.

The fifth time, she'd stopped in a very pleasant town to go to a little cafe she remembered visiting once on a stop-off during a camping trip with her parents, a place where she'd remembered having the most amazing burgers, and she'd just decided on an impulse to see whether the present matched her childhood memories. She'd just walked in, and oh, the smell alone had taken her back, and it was something she'd barely thought of since her childhood, just a memory from that camping trip, sitting by the window in one of the booths with her dad opposite her pretending to steal her fries, and her mom next to her, reaching out and stroking a hand through her hair, and she just felt so happy and warm...

"Kate?!"

Kate turned at her name, at the familiar voice, and the familiar man sitting in a booth by the window, staring at her with less astonishment than previously, which was only to be expected by this point. And when she saw Castle, she didn't know whether it was because of the memory or whether it was because she'd partly been expecting to see him, but she just burst out laughing.

Of course he was here. Of course he was. Par for the course.

"You're like the cat who came back," she giggled when she'd recovered enough poise to realize people were beginning to stare.

"Me?" Castle replied, mock-indignantly, as she walked over to his booth and stood beside him. "I think you'll find I got here first this time, Kate Beckett. And last time, come to that. Starting to seem more like you're magnetically drawn to me."

"That doesn't seem to bother you too much."

He shrugged, and sighed dramatically. "I have long since gotten used to the burdens of my charisma. You're not the first who's found she just can't get away."

Kate raised an eyebrow, daring him to continue. "Is that so?"

"Hmmm. But you, I hope, are gonna stay a bit longer." He waved to the seat opposite him. "Please."

She hesitated for a moment, thinking back to their fight earlier. Either Castle read her mind or it showed up on her face, because his face softened. "Kate, it's okay. Please."

It was all she needed. Before she knew it, Kate was sitting opposite him, and the guilt she'd been mulling over all day had just evaporated like it had never been. He had a pen and a bit of paper in front of him, had clearly been scribbling ideas down before she showed up.

"So," Kate continued, pointing to the pad, "writing?"

Castle shrugged. "Getting a few ideas down. Gina's been on my case this week. I'm a bit behind."

"Oh?"

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly as he struggled to maintain an innocent, neutral expression. "I've been distracted recently." he said smoothly.

He didn't need to elaborate on what - or rather, who - he'd been distracted with recently, and she felt the beginnings of a flush crawl up her neck. She had been occupying quite a lot of his attention.

"Well," Kate replied, trying to keep control, "Sounds like you need all the time you can get. I'd hate to be keeping you from anything important."

He eyed her from top to bottom in a fairly brazen fashion in a way that made her want to rip that awful shirt off. She would have to, had they not been in public and still trying to keep things private. "Detective," he murmured, "you can distract me whenever you like."

She had to bite her lower lip and look out of the window for a moment to school her face, keep the huge grin threatening to break through down. When she'd recovered enough to turn back to him, he was watching her innocently.

He knew. He knew full well what effect he had on her. And he loved it.

"So," he asked, "how's the ride going?"

"You tell me; you've been there for most of it."

"Ah, touché."

"So, what brings you here?"

His eyes glinted mischievously. "I could ask you the same thing."

She nodded and smiled. "Touché. Actually, I came here with my parents one time, when we went on a camping trip. I wanted to try the burgers again, see if they were still good."

"Oh, the burgers," he groaned in ecstasy. "They do great burgers here. Alexis loves them."

She blinked, surprised. "You've been here before?"

"We usually take a diversion, stop off here. The house isn't actually that far away." A sudden look of mock panic crossed his face. "She, uh, might actually get a little mad if she ever learns I came here without her."

"Ah."

"Your silence would be greatly appreciated."

"I'm sure it would. But I'm afraid my silence also comes with a price."

"I'll give you anything. Anything. A king's ransom of treasure? Ever-lasting fame and adulation?" He waggled his eyebrows in a fashion that could only be described as filthy. "How about fulfilling every single fantasy you've ever in as much pure, debauched, intimate detail as possible?"

"Tempting." The last one in particular, but Kate didn't mention that. She got the distinct impression she didn't need to. "Throw in you paying the bill, and we've got a deal."

"You drive a hard bargain, Detective Beckett," he sighed, "but I accept." He raised his arm to attract the attention of the waitress.

"So, swallow any bugs yet?" He asked after the waitress, a pleasant teenage girl with braces, had gone to place their orders.

"That's generally why they put the visors on the helmets, Castle."

"Pfft. I thought bikers were supposed to be daring. Where's the fun in that?"

Kate smiled, and tried not to think about how she was having more fun in this entire conversation than she'd had during the rest of the entire trip so far.

They were just about to part company after eating, and Castle was admiring her bike in the way he did that was kind of like an awestruck six-year-old who was encountering something cool in a zoo yet was worrying on some level that it might break out of its cage and bite him, when Kate got the familiar urge to kiss him. And normally when they were out in public she had to push it down, remindherself that they needed to keep things hidden and secret between them.

But that was in the city. They were a long way from the city now.

So she gently took hold of Castle's shoulders, turned him to face her, leaned up, and kissed him. It was gentle, but there was still a moment of surprised hesitation before his arms wrapped around her, brought her close, letting her deepen it. It wasn't the most passionate kiss they'd ever shared, but she still felt breathless when they broke it.

Across the parking lot, some teenagers were watching; one of them hollered something. And it suddenly occurred to Kate that this was the first time she'd ever kissed him in public. She looked down, suddenly feeling shy and self-conscious.

"Well," Castle said warmly, after a moment. "That was certainly something else."

"Indeed it was," she replied.

"I take it this is goodbye, though." Despite his words, he didn't seem quite willing to break the hug yet. There was something that looked like regret in his eyes.

She sighed. "Yeah. I've got some ground to cover before I reach my motel."

"Well then," he said, "enjoy the rest of the ride."

"I will," she replied, not entirely certain it wasn't a lie. "Hope your writing goes well."

His eyes glinted. "I'm sure it will. You've certainly inspired me."

Reluctantly, she broke free from the hug and mounted the bike. He shuffled on the sidewalk beside her. "Well then," he said, with a cheer that didn't quite seem genuine. "I guess I'll see you back in New York, then."

She grinned, and leaned over to give him another kiss, this time a quick one on the lips.

"Given what's happened so far," she replied. "I'm expecting to see you much sooner."

As she rode off, Kate realized that the tangles she'd felt in her stomach all day now felt like flutters, like a swarm of butterflies trying to break free.

The next time Kate stopped, it was because she'd come across a quaint little colonial-style hamlet. There wasn't much there, but she stopped to look around anyway, mainly because she couldn't help but think that it was the sort of place Castle would love. He'd be running around everywhere, pointing out things that grabbed his attention, spinning stories about everything and everyone he came across.

Given the day's precedent, she kept expecting to bump into him in the least likely places.

He didn't show up.

She didn't see him for the rest of the day.

Kate told herself she didn't mind.

The sky was golden as Kate pulled up outside of the motel she'd booked into for the night, and before she dismounted from the bike she looked up to admire it. And as she did, her only thought was - I wonder how Castle would describe it.

And then she realized.

Castle had been wrong, that night she'd first told him of her plans for this weekend, when he'd initially said that sometimes she needed to be alone. He might have been - would have been - right about her once, before they met, but he was wrong now. She didn't need to be alone. She didn't.

But what Castle hadn't realized, what Kate hadn't realized until now, was that now she didn't need to be alone, she didn't want to be alone any more. Not for a single minute more than she had to be when she had him in her life.

Kate didn't even hesitate, didn't need to think for a second. She just revved the bike up and turned right back around the way she'd come.

It took Kate longer than she'd thought it would to find Castle's place in the Hamptons, and it was late in the evening by the time she got there. But there were still lights burning in the windows and that was all the incentive she needed. She left her bike on the driveway on the driveway beside his car - and oh, she'd never been happier to see a car before in her life - and didn't even hesitate as she pounded on the door, her knocks matching the beat of her heart exactly.

It took him a few moments to open the door, but the look on his face when he saw her was more than worth the wait. "Kate? Whu -" was about as far as he got before she grabbed him and kissed him, for far longer and far more passionately than at the diner earlier that day, trying to channel everything she'd realized and everything she felt about him into it.

"Hi," she breathed after she broke the kiss, unable to stop herself grinning.

"Hello," Castle said, tightening his grip on her. "Not that I'm not very happy to see you, particularly after that, but what are you doing here?"

Kate had intended to say something clever, something witty. Something that sparked, the way words always sparked between them. But then her heart, her stupid, needy, too-sincere heart, took over.

"I missed you," she said simply, and then it all became clear, how true it was. She'd missed him all day. As absurd as it sounded, she'd missed him before she'd even left him.

"You do realize we saw each other quite a lot today?"

"And the parts where we didn't see each other," she replied, beginning to kiss his jaw, his neck, "were unbearable."

"So what happened to needing some space?"

"Space is overrated."

"So," Castle mused, "I guess I'm not gonna get much writing done this weekend, huh?"

"It's unlikely. I can distract you whenever, remember?"

"As if I could forget."

"And I seem to remember something about you fulfilling every fantasy I ever had..."

"Well," he sighed, "I guess someone has to. So, where do we start?"

"Well," she mused, pushing past him into the house and hooking her fingers into his jeans, "after the day I've had, I could really use a bath."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Kate grinned, wickedly. "Care to join me?

Castle smiled, and closed the front door behind him.