Characteristic Commonality

Playing with other people's toys always was more fun…

1, Coffee & Introductions

Beckett strode through the bustling street dodging past the usual New York foot traffic, often an annoyance, but today it was a welcome break to just be out and away from her desk. Two things had driven her away from the 12th that day; desire for a caffeine hit and fear for her own sanity. This was something saved for the most daunting of cases, when the only thing she could do was to step away, take some time out, even if only for 30 minutes in the vaguest of hopes that a break would help her recharge, change her perspective somehow, give her tired eyes and tired mind a fresh edge to work the board upon her return.

She was enduring another marathon shift, already more than 14 hours elapsing since the call rousting her prematurely from sleep. Another psycho busy during the night in her city. What was it about the small hours of Monday morning that almost guaranteed some crazy case would land in her lap? Making matters worse Castle was away, pushing his latest book and god how she wished he were here for this. Since he had been working with her, moments like this, of desperate retreat, had been all but non-existent. He would simultaneously lighten the work and far from being a distraction, he helped to keep her focus.

Even when he was throwing out one of his ridiculously extravagant theories, perhaps just for his own amusement, Castle would be making the tumblers in her mind rotate, even when they didn't fall, she sometimes felt them catch slightly, latch onto a thread of thought which may lead to a moment of inspiration. Again he would be useful at this stage, providing counterpoint to her ideas, adding his own, pushing them towards a revelatory moment of clarity. With him this often happened smoothly, like surfing a glassy wave, riding until the truth breaks. His absence today was a large setback in this process and Beckett felt the weight of the case settle on her more heavily without his support being there.

The day was cooling rapidly as the sun began to sink below the level of the buildings, creating a false twilight for this early spring day, the air temperature dropped and the concrete sprawl gave up the last of the sun's stored heat built up by baking during a clear and unusually warm day. As if drawn by the gravitational pull of the departing sun, an unexpected cool breeze swept through the streets and on it came the comforting scent of fresh coffee, wafting by from her favourite café still more than half a block away.

Beckett was tempted to pick up the pace, to get there faster, but decided against it, this was precisely what she needed. She savoured the moment while she continued her stroll, the alluring aroma full of promise, the residual heat leaching from the sidewalk in contrast with the fresh wind buffeting her, sweeping through her already tousled hair from many frustrated sweeps of her hand as she stood glaring at the murder board. She tried not to let her mind wander back to the case, easier said than done, but she really needed to give herself time away from it.

Soon enough Kate reached the doorway to the shop and pushed her way inside. Perversely the discrepancy between air pressure inside and outside meant a huge gust of wind entered along with her, announcing her entry and startling a few until the door swung shut. She murmured words of apology to the guy seated nearest the door who was now wrestling with his newspaper. Kate pushed her unruly hair back behind her ears and headed to the counter, she was more than ready for a tall cup of hot coffee.

The blonde woman raised her eyes from her stack of reports when a sudden blast of air erupted through the door, following on the heels of a slightly dishevelled looking woman just entering the café. Olivia watched as she offered apologies to an already grumpy man whose annoyance at the world and everyone in it had just increased. His paper, The Wall Street Journal she would be willing to wage a hefty bet, had been disturbed, much like her own paperwork, which was now disordered all over the tabletop. However Olivia was amused by the whole episode, due in no small part to the annoyance of Gordon Gekko over there. A smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. This was new to her, having time to sit back and observe, for no other reason than she could. Besides, she'd discovered she quite enjoyed a spot of idle people watching.

Who'd have thought? Olivia Dunham had time to do something mundane, on a whim and perhaps she was even more surprised to find that she liked it. Well, she did have a pretty fantastic excuse to sit back, take things easy and enjoy. Fantastic indeed, unexpected, magical, daunting and exciting all rolled into one and she had every intention of making the most of her current situation and all the benefits if afforded her.

She still had a light smile on her lips as she worked to reorder her paperwork, shuffling them back to fit inside their folders. Learning from her experience by weighting them down with her first and now empty cup. Her second order had been taken and the barista had kindly offered to bring it to her once it was ready. See? Benefits. Olivia had thanked the girl, no longer embarrassed by this type of treatment as at she first had been and retaken her seat.

Now as the tall brunette approached the register, Olivia made her prediction of the preference of her order. Coffee, without a doubt, and a strong one based on her appearance, tired yet still sharp, probably just taking a moment out to refresh. She expected something with added sweetness. Milk, or not? Despite seeking the bite of the caffeine Olivia guessed that the comfort of and added calories in milk would be desirable also. Lastly, stay or go? Needing a break, the time and conditions outside would mean this coffee and this coffee drinker would likely not be going anywhere. The barista stepped up, ready to receive. "Grande skim latte, two pumps sugar-free vanilla, thanks."

"To go?" the Barista asked, not the same girl Olivia had, this one a young guy with floppy hair, a student she thought, making ends meet.

"No, I'll stay in please." Olivia's smile returned and she continued to surreptitiously watch the new arrival, who, she noticed was doing exactly the same; casting her gaze over the rest of the patrons of the shop, observing, noting, and cataloguing information. She probably didn't consciously know she was doing it, a habit born of long hours of practice in a job where recall of facts and faces could prove vital. Olivia recognised this attribute, it was one she herself had and while the pleasurable aspect of this activity was only just revealing itself to her, she also recognised it's professional application, which became second nature, causing you to assess everything, everyone, everywhere. This woman was a cop.

Her style of dress; jeans, black leather boots with a sizable heel taking her out of the 'tall' category and into the realm of 'intimidatingly tall' instead. She wore a weathered brown leather jacket over a smartly casual sweater. Olivia thought she was probably a detective. So far unnoticed she watched the watcher and as the woman turned to survey this side of the room Olivia caught sight of a gold shield clipped at her waist. NYPD.

"Here you are Ma'am," Olivia's thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of her steaming hot cup of tea brought to her table as promised "sorry for your wait."

"Thank you." she said with a smile, and shake of her head to dismiss the unnecessary apology. She pushed her paperwork aside to make room on the small and cluttered table. Yeah, too much nosing, not enough working. She was after all, here to work, though not in her usual capacity.

Broyles had called her into the Bureau, a rare occurrence of late, things had been quiet recently, very quiet. Allowing her to spend unbroken time at the lab working on projects of the Bishops, straightening up outstanding paperwork, along with the odd case. Those they did catch had been light, nothing earth shattering or world threatening. Much to her chagrin this lead to her being encouraged regularly by all and sundry to take it easy, put her feet up. Now she wonders, why did she ever find that annoying?

On her arrival at the already open door to Broyles' office, she made sure to simultaneously knock and ask if she could come in, her grin and raised eyebrow earning a smile from her once stoical boss. "Dunham" was his usual greeting and today was no exception. He nodded towards the chair opposite his own at his desk "Please, take a seat.

"I'd like to call upon your particular skill set," he said. Olivia inclined her head & shrugged her shoulders, confused; her current condition was not optimal for use of her usual skill set, she'd been off active field duty for several weeks now. Broyles continued with his briefing "Liaison." He said, drawing out the word, just as he did once before and in spite of his smile, obviously teasing, Olivia still felt herself stiffen at his choice of words, even after all this time. The name taking her right back to the beginnings of their relationship when things between them were shaky at best.

Broyles chuckled lightly at her reaction and brought her back to the present. "I could use a good person, I can't think of anyone better than you to place my trust in." She nodded for him to continue. It turned out that there was conference in New York for all law enforcement agencies geared towards improving relations and systems for better, faster sharing of information. "The FBI needs a representative. Besides with the establishment of the new Fringe Division, this is the perfect opportunity for you to work on building a network. While you're out there, look for likely allies receptive to our ideas and needs of course."

So 'Liaison' she would be once more, this time under radically differing circumstances than the first time around. Her flight and hotel in New York had been booked giving her just a few days before she would have to head off and in truth she was bored, so she looked forward to actually doing something useful once more.

Beckett chose to wait for her coffee, she surveyed the surroundings weighing up where to sit, but after a minute or so she found herself taking inventory of the people too. It was an unbreakable habit it seemed, even if she didn't really notice when it happened any more, but still it was never really switched all the way off. Possibly because of the case, her senses were heightened today, dialled all the way up, even if she was supposed to be giving herself this rest. She huffed out a breath and stroked her forehead, then her hand found its way into her wind-mussed hair once more.

No seats to the left, she tuned to the right side of the room. Sitting nearest the counter in a comfy looking leather chair was a blonde woman gratefully receiving her drink, brought to her by a member of the café's staff. She pushed aside an impressive stack of professional looking brochures and some loose sheets of paper to make room for the steaming cup. Just as she settled the cup down she nudged a leaf of paper with her arm sending it fluttering to the floor. She let out a mildly irritated sigh, and slowly leant down in what turned out to be an aborted attempt to retrieve it. Having almost reached the floor with her outstretched hand, the woman straightened back up she sucked in a sharp breath in obvious discomfort, she quickly leant back and brought her hands to her very swollen middle, sporting a large bump which both her hands came to rest upon, she was very noticeably pregnant.

Concern for the well being of people, even strangers, was also a marker of her job, and in this case and with the distressed reactions of this woman just in front of her, Beckett felt her professionalism notch up a level. She edged closer, feeling compelled to check if her assistance was required. The blonde had her eyes closed, though Kate felt slightly more at ease when she noticed that her face had relaxed slightly and her eyes were no longer scrunched closed in pain. "Ma'am, are you ok?"

Without opening her eyes the woman nodded gently, still holding onto that sharply inhaled lungful of air. Slowly she let it go, breathing out through barely parted lips on a long, controlled exhalation. When she had almost exhausted her lungs capacity she opened her eyes once more, slowly swimming back into focus and searching out the concerned watcher. Beckett felt the weight of that olive green gaze as soon as it met her own, somehow instantly conveying sincerity, effortlessly and hauntingly so.

The eyes softened when the woman's smile touched them, causing them to crinkle round the edges, perhaps with a touch of embarrassment also colouring her expression if the slight pinkness rising on her cheeks was anything to go by. None the less her reply came out with a hint of a chuckle "Yes, I'm fine thank you," her hands continued to caress her bulging belly, the cast of her gaze followed suit, she continued her reply to Kate, but now was also talking to her tummy "someone in here has learnt a new trick."

Kate smiled at the warm affection seeping from this woman as she spoke just these few words about her child, she felt herself being drawn in by this person, even though she was unknown to her, still there was something she found instantly endearing. The blonde woman was of a similar age to Kate, perhaps a year or two older. She was dressed in a professional manner, but understatedly so, not even close to the mark of 'power dress' common for NYC businesswomen. Instead she favoured something altogether more utilitarian; soft well cut pants suit in black, with a plain white no-frills maternity shirt, comfortable nothing showy, right down to her shoes, which looked almost like military combat boots in style.

So, not in business. A cop? Maybe, but Beckett didn't think so, or at the very least she was sure this woman was not a New York native, she could be off duty of course, but then why the suit? Not a cop, but somehow she still had that vibe pouring off her, even in her current surroundings and very obvious condition. Perhaps she was in the presence of a genuine WIB. Yeah, that fits, Kate thought.

"She doesn't like it when she gets squished and lets me know she's unhappy in no uncertain terms." Kate watched the woman as she pokes at her belly not so gently, sticking her index finger to a spot on the top right side, then flattening her hand pressing once more with her palm, smoothing with pressure on the heel of her hand, towards the centre of her mountainous bump. "She hooks her feet under my ribs then likes to have a good stretch out." Her eyebrows lifted and a hint of sarcasm colouring her words "A great way of getting me to shift and stop squashing her in a hurry."

Kate bent down to collect the almost forgotten piece of paperwork still on the floor. She instantly recognised the crest on the letter headed paper, something already familiar to her from her time with the 12th, searching through databases and on those cases where FBI involvement was necessary, though not always desired. "Thank you Detective" the blonde woman said as she accepted the paper from Kate, whose eyebrows had shot up in surprise.

Olivia smiled widely at the surprise clearly displayed all over the face and in the body language of this helpful soul who was clearly concerned for her well-being. It also confirmed that Olivia's hunch was correct. "I notice things too," she said earning her a half smile, half quizzical look from the helpful Detective. "I saw you casing the room," she continued with her thought by way of explanation "checking out the patrons." she gestured around the space to the occupants of the room with her head. "I get it, for someone in law enforcement, it's too useful to try and switch off, then it becomes that you can't."

Olivia, raised her cup from her saucer in a sardonic toast "To professional pitfalls." She sipped some of the fragrant peppermint tea, replaced her cup then offered her hand, "Olivia Dunham." if she was here to network, why keep it to the confines of the stuffy conference room? Besides, she would much rather meet people who are actually out in the field, in her opinion, there was no substitute for time spent with boots on the ground.

"FBI?" the woman queried.

Olivia nodded with a wide, toothy grin. "As charged"

The grin was reciprocated immediately and equally toothy in it's quality "Kate Beckett, NYPD." She said moving closer to engage in a firm shake, something that always satisfied Olivia. Some women tended to grab your fingers in a weird pincer, even some Bureau personnel did it, indeed she'd received a couple earlier today. She usually associated people who subscribed to the 'crab shake' method, as she thought of it, as pen pushers, educated and groomed for the purpose of driving a desk, to the point which would make them essentially useless in the field. She had a feeling that Beckett was not and never would be someone willingly chained to a desk. Much like herself, even though current circumstances meant that she was. It didn't mean she had to like it, though for her baby there was no length she wouldn't go to and she has every intention of doing all she can to ensure her child's safety.

"Please, wont you join me?" Olivia asked shuffling her files once more to make extra space for Beckett's mug.

"Thanks" Kate said taking the other seat situated at the small table, placing her coffee down while she set the chair in a comfortable position and also enabling her to see essentially the entirety of the room, she noted that that Dunham too had put herself with her back towards the corner of the room, pretty sure that she too would have relocated her seat to ensure this was the case.

As the fragrant cup came close to her Olivia caught the tempting aroma carried on the rising vapour. Of course the whole café smelled fantastic, but she found a steaming cup, even when not her preferred black coffee, almost too enticing to resist. She didn't even notice that she had shut her eyes to better savour the unique redolence, until she heard a chuckle from her compatriot. "Sorry," she said slightly embarrassed by her reaction "it feels like it's been an eternity without coffee."

"Must be torture being in here." Beckett said, thinking of how she would feel if she were denied it. "Coffee, coffee, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink…" she mused. Castle would be proud.

"Rhyme of the pregnant coffee-shop-dweller." Olivia supplied recognising Kate's paraphasal of the Coleridge poem. Not only would he be proud, Kate thought Castle would love this woman. "Surprisingly, no it's not," said Olivia, her nose scrunched as her lips lifted "I still love the smell, even though I can't have any. I'd rather have just that, because decaf…" she shook her head in disdain slightly grimacing at the thought "just doesn't cut it."

Kate snorted "Yeah." she couldn't have agreed more. "So, Agent Dunham, what brings you to these parts?" While accent wasn't such a give away for people working for the FBI, there was no hint that she was NY based. It was just a feeling, based on accent and attitude in relation to her surroundings. She thought Dunham was too relaxed to be actively working a case here, well that and she thought she was likely to have been on restricted duties. She also felt confident in the assumption that she would not have been employed in an administrative capacity for her usual role.

The shoes said something, before she had made a connection to military utilitarianism and they were not the only suggestion of a link to service. Dunham's posture while sitting was not rigid, but measured and precise. Both posture and shoe choice could have been something to do with adapting to her pregnancy, but she didn't think so, the shoes looked well worn, they and the wearer seemed comfortable, a good match. The demeanour was proper, practiced, ingrained. In Kate's experience the lack of any strong accent also was indicative of service personnel, multiple moves often making chameleons of people, adapting and fitting in wherever they went, but at the same time, not giving them the strong sense of identity associated with belonging in any one place. Accent however could have been educated away, but once she had put all these things together, she thought it was a strong possibility that Dunham had indeed been in the military at least in some capacity. The shoes also said that this was not someone who expected to be sitting on her ass all day long.

"Olivia, please," she said and Kate nodded her acknowledgement. Olivia continued, "I was sent to attend the interagency conference."

"Downtown?" Kate queried. She'd heard all about it from Gates who had been selected as the NYPD representative for the division and was none too happy about spending a couple of days away from the precinct, especially while they were in the middle of this whole crazy investigation, Beckett had been instructed to call if anything broke. "Yeah, my Captain is there." She answered the next question before it was asked "12th precinct, Homicide."

"I'll look out for her. I've been hobnobbing with all the big wigs and it is exhausting." Olivia sighed and gave an exaggerated eye roll, one Beckett herself would have been proud of. Though she was glad she hadn't been the one to endure all the professional mingling bound to cause such a reaction. "I would much rather be hanging out in the foundations than the penthouse suite."

Kate grinned and tilted her head to one side "Ah there you go, more of those professional pitfalls." Olivia puffed out her cheeks and huffed out a breath on a nod of agreement. Beckett decided to go ahead, jump in and ask the question she was burning to ask. Dunham seemed like a walking contradiction. Evidently someone important within the echelon of the FBI, or she wouldn't be at the conference, but also someone who evidently sought contact at grass roots level rather than with the elite. "So what is it that you do that earns all this executive fraternizing?"

Olivia smoothed at her hair, from temple to braided ponytail, she then picked up her cup relaxed back in her seat, buying herself some time to figure out her response. Although Fringe had now been given a more visible profile, it was still something of a mystery to most, likely to cause confusion and concern to many, or rather it would if they knew it's true nature and the scale of things they had dealt with and would continue to be called upon to contain.

"My Division is expanding. It is multi agency by necessity, so this conference comes at an ideal time and provides us with the opportunity to develop our links within the law enforcement community." Although Olivia's instincts would usually cause her to dodge questions such as the one Beckett just asked, the changes paired with the fact that they were now actively searching out responsive contacts, required her to be more open to discussion. Also, although Beckett was not involved in the event, something about her whispered to Olivia that she could be just the type of person they were looking for.

"We are known as Fringe Division. We specialise in cases of a scientific nature, often labelled bizarre or unexplained by conventional investigative standards." She watched Beckett closely for her reaction; this moment was often telling and would probably serve as a good indicator as to whether or not further contact would be worth pursuing. She hoped that in this instance, her gut was right.

Kate felt her eyebrow lift, that was not what she had been expecting, but the surprise was a pleasant one. "Beckett flavoured." she said her voice rising with a developing sense of excitement. 'Oh Castle,' she thought 'you would love this.' Olivia's expression at the strange response compelled her to explain.

"I have a reputation at the 12th, for involvement in" she dipped her head in admittance "and enjoyment of 'freaky' cases. My colleagues refer to cases involving anything particularly strange as 'Beckett Flavoured'. My partner also has a flare for the unpredictable." She thought Castle would be fit to burst if he were here right now, she knew it. The mental image made her smile to herself, "Actually that's probably a crazy understatement, if he was here and you'd said that to him he would have fallen over himself in delight and you would now be under fire from a barrage of questions. He might even ditch me, try tailing you for a while…"

Olivia shook her head confused as ever. Kate rolled her eyes at herself, briefly wondering how it was that she felt so open and comfortable in talking with Olivia Dunham, yet somehow she was and felt an instantaneous professional kinship with this woman. It seemed it went beyond professionalism too, one of those strange unpredictable moments when you meet someone and just feel that click and you know that this is a person you could become good friends with, that you wanted to share your time and thoughts with and felt comfortable showing part of your life to. "My partner, Castle, well he's not in the strictest sense of the term, my partner. He is in every way that counts, but he's not NYPD."

Kate's words surprised Olivia, they were striking all manner of chords with her, there was a fondness streaming from Kate in waves when she spoke of her partner and she imagined she would be sending out similar signals if she were talking about Peter. She found she was eager to hear more and it seemed that Kate was happy to extend her story. "You could say it all happened by accident. He was a person of interest in an investigation just over five years ago… It sounds weird when I try and say this all out loud." She shook her head "Unbelievable and crazy even."

"I make a career in crazy and unbelievable remember." Olivia said prompting Kate to continue.

"Yeah, I guess you do." she chuckled. Olivia didn't seem like the type of person who would be either fazed or dazzled by the so-called celebrity status of Castle, his involvement with the team at the 12th and their relationship, so she decided to lay it all down. "My partner is Richard Castle. The mystery writer, yeah" she said reading the flicker of recognition as it crossed Olivia's face.

"The Tisdale case, I read about it, among others and your partnership." Olivia nodded, then she saw the look of embarrassment flashing on the face of Beckett, "Not in the tabloids you'll be pleased to hear," she added hastily. "Internal FBI publication, reporting on cases of interest, yours was one."

Kate was relieved, she knew how it might seem to someone looking in from the outside, but the simple fact was that she and Castle, they just worked. "Sorry," she said with a shrug "I sometimes feel like I need to defend us."

"No need to, I assure you. My team is just about the farthest thing from conventional you could possibly imagine." Olivia said, a mixture of affection, exasperation and alluding to such a lot more just beyond her reply, which in turn further piqued Kate's interest, ever the sucker for a good story. "If it's working for you Detective… I'd say don't worry about what anyone else thinks" she shrugged nonchalantly "and in any case, the article was favourable."

"Who…" Kate trailed off, squinting suspiciously, momentarily confused as to how their work could have become known among FBI circles, but then a light dawned in her eyes. "Jordan Shaw." Olivia nodded the affirmative. The FBI profiler had profiled their work, and it seems their working relationship. 'Such a long time ago and she knew before I did', Kate thought shaking her head at herself, 'or at least before I was ready to act upon the attraction always bubbling under between us.'

Olivia watched as the detective waded through her thoughts, conflicting emotions clearly displayed through rapidly shuffling micro changes in her expressions and she wondered about this woman, her partner and their story. Shaw's article spoke fondly of the pair but remained entirely professional in tone, but now Olivia saw beyond the words Shaw had laid down on the page and could see that Castle and Beckett had something more entirely. Again she thought of Peter and herself and everything they had to get through to be where they were now, perhaps she could see elements of this type of struggle reflected within Kate too. "As I said, she was highly complimentary about your work and your team, especially Mr Castle. She made the case for inclusion of civilian personnel when it was of benefit to the case or the working relationship. I speak from personal experience when I say I agree whole heartedly with that idea."

"We weren't together back then." Kate said, still feeling slightly on the defensive.

Olivia disarmed her with an open smile. "But you are now." it wasn't a question.

"Yes. We have been for over a year."

Olivia's smile grew even wider, god this pregnancy had turned her into the ultimate sap. "Good for you." she said, honestly feeling pleased for Beckett.

Beckett's eyes scrunched, a frown finding it's way onto her face then she blinked slowly, wondering if she should delve deeper into Dunham's life. How could she not when she had just thrown her a bone? "'Personal experience?'" she questioned.

Kate saw a slight flush bloom on Olivia's cheeks, but her gaze remained clear and unblinking, her expression open. "I think your partnership with Castle is very similar to mine with Peter." Kate noticed that Olivia's hand had returned to the side of her bump and was gently drawing soothing circles there. "He started out as a civilian consultant brought in for a single case, but he became my partner in work and with time," her hands flicked out indicating her belly "my life."

Kate watched while Olivia's focus remained with her child, hands cupping and caressing the life within. She felt her breath hitch and a sense of longing overcame her, totally enveloping her in it's quicksand embrace. Since she and Castle been together, there had been seeds sewn of a conversation they had yet to have. The lack of a discussion didn't change the fact that increasingly Kate's thoughts had turned towards the possibility of starting a family with him, of what it would be like to create and carry their child, bring them into the world, to share the love they both had to give.

He'd hinted that he might be willing to take the plunge, and every time Kate caught undertones of his fiercely protective nature or saw evidence manifest of his fatherly tendencies, it made something within her flutter at the thought of them making it reality. However this overwhelming feeling was a first, it was a tangible feeling of want, of need. It squeezed at her lungs from within and stole her breath away. She had so far avoided bringing up the subject, but if he were here now, she would not have hesitated. The idea of starting a family was both elating and frightening; emotions that were battling inside her even now, but this was the first time she had actually felt ready.

She had never really had anyone to talk to about this, and here in front of her was a golden opportunity to talk with someone in a position very similar to her own. Would she have the same hopes and fears that Kate felt? She was surprised to find that there were tears welling up in her eyes, she brushed them away swiftly feeling vaguely ridiculous, but at the same time grateful for this dawning epiphany.

Olivia had looked back up by now catching Kate swiping tears from her glassy hazel-green eyes, she smiled and nodded. She thought she understood what Kate was feeling, it was something she too had buried deeply within herself, resolutely insisting it would be foolish and irresponsible to bring a child into a word she knew could be so unpredictable and cruel. But the yearning was always there, most notable in the time she spent with Ella, especially when the girl was younger, but even now, her maternal nature would flood from within and she could not deny what she truly hoped for, what she absolutely without doubt, wanted. Now she had been gifted with this, an opportunity she had secretly craved but very rarely dared to admit to herself, let alone anyone else. Yet here she was. More in love and more hopeful than she ever thought possible.

Kate sniffed and executed a mini eye roll to the left, scolding herself for tearing up in a coffee house in front of someone she hardly knew. "I'm sorry." she said her breath catching still. She could tell herself that it was the tension and pressure of the case getting to her, that she was missing Castle and the lack of both sleep and a decent meal were starting to tell. All of which were indeed contributing factors, but she would be doing herself a disservice to deny her true feelings now.

"It's ok" Olivia said reassuringly, then gave Kate time to regain her composure while she busied herself with a few sips of her tea. "You're thinking about it." She said, again not questioning, this was just one of those times when she knew she was right. Kate's focus returned to her. "Children?" Olivia prompted, also sensing that Kate might welcome someone with a sympathetic ear to lend on such a topic.

"Yeah, I think maybe I am." Kate whispered reverently.