Oh, just a fun little something I wrote :) Thanks to CelticKnot12 for assistance in editing, as usual. Read, review, but overall, enjoy :)

"Castle!"

"Huh?" Rick lâu đài jerked his attention back to his aggravated inspiration, Detective Kate Beckett. The subtle white noise of the busy coffee cửa hàng flooded back to his ears.

"Castle, I just đã đưa ý kiến that I re-read your sách every night in hopes that I dream of them and bạn just sat there staring at that couple like an idiot."

"Uh huh," he đã đưa ý kiến distractedly, glancing back for a moment before he suddenly blinked and squinted at her. "Wait, bạn read my sách every night in hopes that I'll be in your dreams?" He gave a slight, satisfied smile.

Kate stared at him, her eyebrow raised incredulously. Castle's smirk slid away to hiển thị a slightly disappointed look. "Oh. Right."

Beckett rolled her eyes and wrapped her hand around the warm mug in front of her, breathing in the aroma of coffee beans. "So, now that I finally have your attention, would bạn mind telling me what's so fascinating about them that bạn can't focus on reviewing the case that bạn begged to be on?"

lâu đài pointed behind him at the bàn set for two. "Have bạn heard those two have been talking about?" He twisted around in his chair to peek over at the man and woman intent on conversation.

"No; I'm not an eavesdropper unless I'm on duty." Kate took a small sip from her cup.

"I think I found some fellow writers. No one else would come up with such an elaborate idea…" lâu đài zeroed in on them again.

"You're listening in on a private conversation; they could be on a ngày and you're ruining it for them. Stop staring!" Beckett whispered harshly, giving his arm a short smack.

"Ow!" lâu đài flinched, turning back to Kate. "I can't help it! What these two have come up with…" His eyes slipped towards the strangers again as he added, "And two people sitting at a bàn in a coffee cửa hàng doesn't always count as a date." He paused, and then suddenly whipped his head back towards Beckett, pulling out his charm as he raised his eyebrows. "Unless…"

"Not a chance, Castle." Kate said, watching him with a mix of annoyance and amusement. He gave the slightest sign of a frown.

"Let's get back to the case." Beckett exhaled in concentration. "Okay, so we know the brother had an alibi at his job and Esposito and Ryan are checking out the…where are bạn going? Castle!" Kate hissed a whisper at Rick as he suddenly slipped out of his chair and strode over to the couple he was listening to. She gave a frustrated groan.

"Excuse me," lâu đài đã đưa ý kiến boldly as he stood tiếp theo to the man and woman, who had stopped talking in their hushed tones the instant he came near.

"Yes?" The man looked up, slight suspicion in his eyes.

"I couldn't help but overhear—"

"Yes, he could have." Kate came up beside Rick, sending him a short glare before turning a polite look to the couple. "I'm sorry to interrupt bạn like this. We'll be going now." She directed her last words to Castle, speaking in authority.

"Oh, no, really, that's okay." The woman held up her hand, waving it in dismissal. "We were about to leave anyway." She met eyes with her friend, as if to communicate some hidden message.

"Yeah," the man agreed, looking hesitantly away from her and up at Castle. "Out of curiosity…what, uh, what did bạn hear?" He twirled his nearly empty Styrofoam cup on its base and the woman bit her lip.

lâu đài passed a concerned glance between the two before realization struck. "Oh! Oh, no, no, no, no, I, I won't steal your ideas, I promise. I'm thêm in the mystery genre, though I do enjoy a good Sci-Fi. So, what are your works?"

The strangers exchanged puzzled looks.

"Oh!" The man looked up, as if he understood, raising his finger, but then his brow furrowed again. "Wait, what?"

Castle's expression was slightly baffled. "Well, you…you are writers, aren't you? I can usually sniff them out a mile away, and I'm right 99% of the time… Granted I've only met three other writers in person, but still, it's a pretty good track record and—"

"Castle." Kate stopped him.

"Uh, no, we're not writers." The man looked at him with an amused smile, running a hand through his dark gray hair as he shared a glance with his friend. "Though I'm sure we could quickly fill an entire series."

"Well, what I heard bạn talking about sounded like it could be the spark for a hit book. All those what-if scenarios bạn had. 'What if mind-controlling aliens came to earth', I thought, was a nice combination between normal Martians and robots. bởi the way, what does SGC stand for?-Ah!" lâu đài flinched as Beckett subtly elbowed him hard in the side.

"Uh," the man blinked.

"It stands for không gian and Geocentric Communications." The woman offered quickly. "We work with deep không gian telemetry."

Castle's eyes lit up. "You're astronauts? Tell me the truth…are there really không gian cowboys?"

"Well, we prefer to call them meteor-boys." The man said, giving a casual shrug and earning an appreciative nod from the writer.

"We're not astronauts." The woman clarified, tucking a stray piece of her short, blonde hair back in place. "We're more…behind the scenes."

"Oh. Are bạn sure you're not writers?" lâu đài pried, squinting at both of them. "You have the great makings of one…well, from what I could hear over the Frappuccino machine anyway."

"Nope," the man shook his head. "Just plain Jane and average Joe."

lâu đài opened his mouth, but Beckett cut him off. "We've bugged bạn enough. Enjoy the rest of your coffee." She nodded goodbye and grabbed Castle's arm, ignoring his protests as she dragged him out of the café.

"You know, Castle, someday I'm going to lock bạn in a holding cell to keep bạn out of trouble." Kate vented as she briskly strode down the sidewalk.

lâu đài lengthened his stride, nearly skipping as he tried to keep her pace and angle himself in front of her. "What do bạn mean, 'trouble'? I was merely asking an innocent question. You're a detective, bạn should know about asking questions."

"Not irrelevant questions; my các câu hỏi have purpose." She kept her eyes forward, trying to ignore the half-skipping annoyance beside her.

"I had a purpose."

"More than just ruining their date?" They stopped at a crosswalk, waiting for the signal to turn.

"They weren't on a date," lâu đài protested. His eyes suddenly gained a faraway look. "Not officially, anyways."

"What do bạn mean?" Beckett glanced up at him.

"I saw the way they looked at each other….Two co-workers, trapped bởi rules and regulations, unable to express their true feelings that are hidden so deep within that even they don't realize it…" He met Beckett's gaze. "Until they look into each other's eyes. And in that chẻ, phân chia, split một giây they know the truth. Oh, they know that they are meant for each other. But life, in its cruel, harsh way, makes a barrier between them so thin…and yet so impossible to break through in order to finally be in each other's arms."

Kate stared at Castle, her stance softening as she watched his eyes slowly focus again.

"Man! That is good!" His sudden outburst made Beckett flinch. He quickly patted his pockets. "I have got to write that down. Do bạn have a pen?"

Beckett rolled her eyes as she started down the street.

"What?" lâu đài tailed her closely. "You'd read a story like that, wouldn't you? Who knows, it might even be put into a 10 năm ti vi series!"

bạn can find the SupremeCommanderOfPencils at fanfiction.com!!!!