His seat was supposed to be first class. At least, that's what Paula had told him. But the ticket in his hand very clearly showed him to be in business class. He'd tried calling Paula, hoping for an explanation, but she hadn't answered. Typical. He'd have to talk to her about it when he got back.

For now, though, he was stuck in his assigned seat in business class, legs crammed tightly in the tiny space between himself and the row in front of him. If he couldn't be in first class, he would have at least preferred to sit by a window, so that he could lean his head against the wall to sleep for the duration of the six-hour flight from Los Angeles to New York. Unfortunately, though, he had an aisle seat, and it would be just his luck that he had to sit beside the morbidly obese man he'd just watched struggle to fit himself down the narrow aisle.

The man stopped beside Rick. "12A?" he asked.

"No, this is aisle 11," he answered, heart leaping with joy at the close escape. "You must be behind me."

The man nodded his thanks and continued on, shuffling past Rick to claim his seat. With his fellow passenger lumbering further down the aisle, his attention was drawn to the other passengers, including the woman that had been hidden by the bulk of the mistaken man. He wasn't sure how he could have missed her- her stunning looks made her easily stand out in the crowd. She was tall, slender in a way that lent itself to time in the gym versus lack of food, and her chestnut hair brushed below her shoulders in long layers. As she came closer, Castle could see her choice of shoes- high heels- were were giving her an unnecessary boost in height. From a distance, she'd been stunning, but up close she was breathtaking, something that wasn't diluted from the furrowed eyebrows or slumped posture.

When she stopped beside Rick, he felt his heart skip a beat. Luck was on his side today after all if this attractive woman was meant to be his seatmate for the cross country flight.

"11A," she said, almost as if it were a question rather than a statement.

"Yes," Rick breathed, grinning. "Looks like business class will be fun after all."

The woman was not amused, slowly shaking her head in response. She pushed down the handle on her carry-on bag and began to lift it, aiming to put it in the overhead carrier.

Castle immediately jumped up and stepped into the aisle. "Let me," he said, taking the bag from her hands.

She seemed surprised, but allowed him to put her bag away for her, thanking him quietly as she slipped past him to her seat. As soon as she'd placed her purse on the floor in front of her and fastened her seatbelt, she turned toward the window, slowly letting out her breath as she stared silently at the tarmac outside.

There was something about her, and Rick couldn't put his finger on it. Judging by the way she was curled into herself, gaze focused on the tarmac, she wasn't in the mood to talk. She took a deep breath, curling her fingers around the armrests, and he watched as the tension worked at the muscles in her face, the effort to keep her emotions at bay obvious.

He was inexplicably drawn to this woman. She was clearly upset about something, and he yearned to know her story.

Once he'd placed her bag in the overhead bin, he returned to his seat, strapping himself in. The woman was still turned away from him, but he decided to speak, hoping to get to know her.

"So are you a window-watcher?" he asked casually.

Her head turned slightly toward him. "I'm sorry?"

"A window watcher," he repeated. "You know, the kind of person who likes to look out the window on plane rides. Because I am. It's so cool to just watch everything get smaller and smaller as the plane take off."

"Oh." She pressed her lips together. "Yeah, I guess." She exhaled slowly, turning back toward the window.

Clearly, she didn't want to talk. He'd never met a woman that was immune to his charm before, but this girl certainly seemed to be, and it was perplexing.

As the plane began to taxi down the runway, preparing for takeoff, he noticed that she was taking deep, shaky breaths, and, if he wasn't mistaken, she was gripping the armrests tighter than she had been earlier. Whether she was nervous or feeling sick, he couldn't tell. He wanted to help, but she was a stranger. There was no way he could make it not seem awkward, or even creepy. So he sat still, hoping that she'd make it through takeoff okay.

Thankfully, when they'd been in the air for a minute or two, she released her death grip on the armrests and sat back, relaxing her shoulders as she steadied her breathing. She was probably just nervous on airplanes. Maybe he could help put her at ease.

"You know, I used to be scared of flying, too," he said, turning toward her. "I guess I've done it enough now that it's not so bad. I've been on dozens of flights, and not a one of them crashed."

She was silent, and for a moment, he thought she was ignoring him. "I'm not scared," she finally muttered, keeping her head turned away from him. "I just don't feel well."

Apparently, he'd misread her body language. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I'm Rick, by the way."

She slowly let out her breath and turned to face him. "Kate," she answered quietly, her eyes flickering up to meet his.

"It's wonderful to meet you, Kate," Castle said, smiling, studying her face carefully. Her brow was knitted, lips pressed together in a grim line, and the bags under her eyes alerted him to her exhaustion. He knew that whatever was causing her to be so preoccupied must also be keeping her from sleeping. And though he didn't want to pry, his curiosity prompted him to speak again.

"So why are you headed to New York?" he asked.

"Because I live there," she answered, a hint of fatigue in her voice.

"Me, too!" Castle grinned. "So what do you do?"

"I'm NYPD."

"Oh, that's so cool!" Castle exclaimed. "So what do you do? Drug busts? Traffic tickets? Ooh, are you on the K9 unit? I've always thought the K9 cops were…"

"Homicide detective," she interrupted, sighing.

"A homicide detective?" he nearly shouted, grinning. "That's pretty badass. It's even cooler since you're a girl."

The corners of her mouth slowly began to raise, as if she wanted to smile, but was fighting it. "Yeah, I guess so," she agreed, a hint of laughter in her voice.

Although it was small, it was the first smile he'd seen from her, and it made all the difference. No longer was she a woman burdened down by whatever problem had followed her onto the plane, now she was temporarily at ease, her physical beauty meeting some inner happiness that made him smile in response.

"So what were you doing in Los Angeles?" he asked. "Going on vacation? Chasing bad guys across the country?"

Her face immediately fell, and he instantly regretted asking. "Oh, no, I-"

"Investigating a murder," she said quietly, eyes averted to her lap.

Castle's eyebrows immediately shot up as he began to make a connection in his mind. "You wouldn't happen to be Detective Kate Beckett, would you?" he asked.

She looked up at him, surprise and confusion written across her face. "How do you know my name?" she asked, tensing her shoulders.

"It is you!" Castle exclaimed. "Wow, this is coincidental. You see," he continued, pulling a folded newspaper out of his bag, "I picked this up at my hotel this morning. New York Times. It almost makes LA feel like home," he joked, grinning. When Kate didn't laugh, he continued.

"I found this article," he said, thumbing through the pages until he landed on the correct one. "Look! 'A murder in Manhattan garnered an arrest in Los Angeles, CA on May 5 as Russell Ganz was formally charged by the Los Angeles Police Department for the murder of retired New York police officer Michael Royce. Mr. Royce's former partner, NYPD Detective Kate Beckett, served as the official liaison and arresting officer for the NYPD.' I'm sorry to hear about your partner," he added, noting how Kate's face had fallen when he mentioned Royce's name. Perhaps that was the reason she seemed so preoccupied.

She pressed her lips together and nodded. "It's fine," she whispered, waving her hand in dismissal of his words. The deep, shaky breath that followed indicated that she obviously wasn't fine, but he didn't press.

"And that's not the first time I've read about you, Detective Beckett," Rick continued, folding up the newspaper and tucking it back into his bag. "If I'm not mistaken, you returned a toddler to her father a couple of years ago after her mother and aunt planned the girl's kidnapping. My favorite, though, was when you solved the murder of that guy who thought he was a vampire- on Halloween, no less. All that to say, I've been reading about you for quite some time."

"Thanks," she mumbled, a shy grin appearing on her face as her cheeks flushed. She was no longer holding tension in her shoulders, appearing to be much more relaxed than she had been a few moments ago. Maybe she wasn't immune to his charm after all.

"My full name is Richard Castle. I'm a mystery writer," he said. "Maybe you've heard of me? The Derrick Storm series?" She mumbled something unintelligible, still staring at the ground. If he wasn't mistaken, her cheeks were turning a brighter shade of red. .

"Well, anyway," he continued, "I've killed off Storm, which is sad, because I really liked that guy. I just finished up with a "Storm" book tour in LA. But now I'm stuck. I've been wanting to shadow a detective for a long time, to get some ideas for a new detective series that's been brewing in my mind for a while. I just need some character inspiration, you know? I'm friends with the mayor and have already spoken with him about it. And guess who I asked him if I could shadow?"

Kate looked up, eyes wide. "You didn't," she whispered, eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"I did," Castle answered, a pleased grin on his face. "He's already spoken with your captain, and I'm set to start tomorrow. Of course, I'm sure that your captain was going to tell you before I got there in the morning, but now you already know. It's like our meeting today was a confirmation that this was supposed to happen! It's fate, Detective."

Kate was silent for a moment, staring at him. Finally, she sighed. "I can't believe Montgomery agreed to that without asking me," she finally muttered, rubbing her temples.

"Oh, come on," Castle continued. "It'll be fun. I'll get to go everywhere with you. Think of me as your plucky sidekick." He smirked, proud of his joke.

But once again, Kate didn't laugh. Instead, she turned away from him to face the window. She took a deep, shaky breath, and he watched as her shoulders fell, trembling. After a second deep breath, she reached up and swiped at her cheek.

Was she crying?

A sniffle confirmed his suspicions. Damn it, he'd just made a perfect stranger cry because of his teasing. "Hey," he said gently. "I was just joking- I didn't mean to… are you okay?" he asked.

It took a moment but slowly she turned to look at him, and he could see the sadness reflected in her tear-filled eyes. "Look, it's nothing against you, but…" she paused, taking a deep breath, as if to steady herself. "I'm just not in the mood to talk right now." A stray tear escaped from one of her eyes, and she quickly wiped it, pressing her lips together firmly.

"It's okay," Castle reassured. "I understand."

Kate nodded curtly, turning back to the window, and Castle pulled the Sky Mall catalog from the pocket of the seat in front of him. He flipped through the pages, soon engrossed with all of the useless gadgets and trinkets the magazine showcased. A sniffle from Kate periodically drew him out of his reading, and he'd look over at her, hoping she'd say something, ready and willing to talk to her. But she stayed silent, only moving occasionally to wipe tears from her face. At one point, she reached into her bag and pulled out a letter of some sort, studying it for a long time before tucking it back into her bag. As much as he wanted to be able to help, he knew that whatever was going on with Kate must be deeply personal, and asking would have been overstepping his boundaries.

Two hours later, when they hit some mild turbulence due to a storm over Kansas City, she finally turned to face forward, her face quickly blanching. "I think I'm going to be sick," she murmured, her voice weak and strained.

"No, no," Castle responded quickly. "You're not. Let me help."

Before she could protest, he'd taken both of her hands in his, turning her slightly toward him. Her skin was cool and smooth, and the touch was electrifying. Judging by the goosebumps that began to crawl across her flesh, she felt something, too. But her quick, shallow breaths indicated that it wasn't the best time to get lost in some fantasy about the attractive, if reluctant, Detective Beckett.

Focus, Rick.

"You close your eyes and take deep breaths," he said gently, sliding his hands down to her wrists. With his thumb and index finger, he began to apply pressure to both sides of her wrists, reminding her to continue to breathe. Her eyes had slipped shut, and he could feel her pulse, much quicker than it should have been, underneath his fingers. They stayed that way long after the turbulence ended, with Castle continually applying pressure, feeling her heartbeat gradually slow to a normal rate. Finally, Kate exhaled, eyes slowly opening and a flush of color beginning to return to her cheeks.

"Thanks," she murmured, staring down at his hands. She remained still, allowing Castle to hold her for just a moment longer before slowly pulling her hands from his. "How… how did you do that?"

"Pressure points on the wrists," Castle said simply. "You know, they make these wristbands now that have little balls built into them. You line the ball up with the pressure point, and it has the same effect. If you get motion sick a lot, you should consider getting some."

Kate was silent for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed and her lips pressed together tightly. "It's not motion sickness," she finally said, her voice so quiet he could hardly hear it. "I mean, it could have been this time, but I've never gotten motion sickness before... I think it was…" she trailed off.

"Not motion sickness? What do you think it is, then?" Castle asked, concerned.

"It's nothing," she said wearily, biting her lip as she glanced away. "Forget I said anything."

She shifted toward the window again, and Castle sighed, leaning back in his seat. For just a moment, she'd almost allowed herself to be open with him, but just as quickly, she'd become defensive. He began to wonder if there more going on with Kate than simply grieving her former partner's murder, judging by the way she was open one moment and cagey the next, prone to unexpected tears. Perhaps she was having problems at work, or had just been through a recent breakup. Whatever the case, something was wreaking havoc on her emotions, and he was desperate to know. But unless she decided to tell him, he likely wouldn't find out.

With a sigh of defeat, he pulled out his phone and opened his Angry Birds app, glancing at Kate from the corner of his eye between games. She stared out the window for a long time, periodically sighing or shifting slightly, but finally leaned her chair back and closed her eyes. Within minutes, her breathing was slow and steady. She slept for the remainder of the flight, and when the plane finally came to a stop at its gate, she stirred, unbuckling her seatbelt and slipping her shoes back on her feet.

"Sleep well?" Castle asked with a grin, unbuckling his own belt.

Kate was still for a moment, shoulders tensed, as though the question had caught her off guard. "Yeah, I did," she admitted shyly, suppressing a grin as she reached to pick up her purse from the floor.

As they stood up, waiting to exit the plane, Castle turned toward her. "Well, Detective Beckett, it was a pleasure to meet you," he said, smiling. "But this isn't goodbye, is it? I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Kate sighed, her face falling as she lowered her chin. "About that…" she started. "You're going to have to find someone else to shadow."

"What? Why?" Castle asked. She didn't answer, still looking at the ground. "If it's something I did, Kate, I'm sorry."

"It's nothing you did," she said, looking up at him. "It's just that…" She paused, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, he could see the nervousness etched into them.

"I'm pregnant," she said quietly. "And when I tell my captain tomorrow, he's going to place me on desk duty for the rest of my pregnancy. So you need to find someone else." Kate's eyes lingered on his for a moment, then immediately fell to the ground as she ran a hand nervously through her hair.

She was pregnant. Well, that certainly explained the rapidly changing emotions, defensiveness, and the impending nausea. Still, he could sense that there was more going on with her than she was sharing.

"Well, congratulations, Detective," Castle said, giving her a genuine smile. "I'm very happy for you."

A slight smile began to play at the corners of her mouth. "Thanks," she said, looking up at him again. "I'm sorry I'm so awkward. I just… I only found out yesterday, and you're the first person I've told," she admitted. "I don't even know why I told you, because I don't even know you, but…" she trailed off, cheeks flushing.

She hadn't told anyone? That was surprising, but made sense, considering how nervous she'd seemed just a moment ago. Perhaps his theory about a recent breakup wasn't too far off, or maybe things were already rocky with the baby's father. In either case, her behavior toward him over the past few hours was starting to make sense. She'd either been let down or betrayed by a man she thought she could trust, and trusting another man, especially a stranger, couldn't have been easy.

"I'm honored that you told me," Castle reassured her. "But we can still get to know each other. I'm sure that there's a lot I could learn from observing desk duty."

She pressed her lips together in a grim line, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't think that will work." Her eyes wandered past his shoulder, and she motioned for Castle to turn around. The travelers had begun to exit the plane, and the row in front of them had just vacated. He stepped into the aisle and turned to the overhead bin, pulling Kate's bag down and handing it to her. She followed behind him as he filed out the door and onto the jet bridge.

"Are you sure?" he asked as they walked through the jet bridge to the terminal. "I mean, I can help you with whatever you need, and I really could learn a lot…"

"Mr. Castle," she interrupted, voice firm. "I'm very sure that when I tell you it won't work, that it will not."

Her hazel eyes bored into his, and for the first time that day, he was able to see a glimpse of the accomplished, successful detective he'd been admiring for years, rather than the unsure woman he'd met that morning. The change in demeanor made Castle grin. He liked this version of Kate.

She caught him grinning, too, but didn't mention it, allowing him to follow her in silence to the baggage claim. When he insisted on retrieving her bag from the carousel, Kate didn't fight him, other than making a quiet declaration that she was capable of doing it herself. And, despite her eye rolls at his antics, the word of thanks when he presented her bag was genuine, as was the grin that she hadn't been able to stop from appearing on her face.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," she said as they stopped at the airport exit.

"Yeah, I guess so," Castle responded. "It was a pleasure, Detective."

She nodded, running a hand through her hair. "Sorry it didn't work out… good luck finding a new detective to shadow." Kate pressed her lips together tightly, the corners of her mouth turning up ever so slightly as she began to walk off, suitcase rolling along behind her.

Castle watched her as she walked away, her shoulders squared confidently. "See you tomorrow," he said quietly, grinning. She'd put too much distance between them to possibly have heard him, but he couldn't wait to see the look on her face when he strolled into the precinct the next morning and announced that there was indeed a lot he could learn from desk duty.

Author's note: Thanks to alwayswritewithcoffee for her amazing beta work. Your reviews and comments are appreciated!

Ancora: (Italian) still; yet; more; anchor