The Island

It was supposed to be their anniversary. It was supposed to be a holiday with friends. It was supposed to be the time when he could finally present her with the small ring box he's kept hidden for so many months. But when their plane crashes, it leaves the group stranded on a deserted island. Of course, being stuck in the Caribbean with Richard Castle and his antics can't be all-bad.

One

"Castle, I can't believe you did this."

"Kate, would you just shut up and enjoy this?" her best friend said beside her, giving Kate a good-natured shove. "Let your man spoil us! And you can not tell me you're actually enjoying this weather."

Lanie had a point. New York had been subject to violent storms for a week now, and it showed no signs of stopping. Although, Kate had to admit the weather did have it perks; at least it had provided her with an excuse to stay holed up in bed all day with Castle.

But when her boyfriend had suggested a beach getaway with their friends, her mind had immediately drifted to the Hamptons and his beachfront home. What she had not pictured, however, was the sight currently in front of her: a private jet, waiting to whisk them away to the Caribbean.

"Kate, this is exactly why I didn't tell you," Castle calls out as he walks over to her, his hand encircling her wrist gently, tugging her towards him. "I knew you'd object."

"Of course I'd object, Castle. This is ridiculous!" Kate cried out. "At least if you had told me earlier, I would have had some time to adjust, instead of springing it on me when we suddenly arrived at the airport."

"In my defence, I thought you would figure it out. I mean, really- why would I suggest a beach holiday to the Hamptons in this weather?"

Kate pressed her lips together, and averted her eyes. She had to face it; she had been outsmarted.

Damn.

"You know, I could leave right now and head back home," she threatened, but it's hollow. And he knew it.

"Please- like you want to spend the week without me," Castle called her bluff.

She had to repress the urge to roll her eyes, because this man could be really infuriating at times. "Fine, Castle," she conceded before narrowing her eyes at him in a warning. "But this holiday had better be really good."

She wasn't sure exactly what she had been expecting when she stormed onto the plane, but it sure as hell wasn't this.

Three sets of two seats line either side of the plane, a wide aisle between them. In front of each pair, she spots tables that fold out from the wall, as well as individual television screens that extend out from the front of the armrests. And as if that wasn't enough, a stewardess stands by the entrance, her smile wide as she extends an arm out towards her, a glass full of champagne in her hand.

Kate clenched her jaw and stood still, unsure whether she should just get back off this plane now, not exactly wanting to encourage this kind of outrageous behaviour from Castle.

"Is there a problem, Detective?" Castle's voice asked quietly in her ear. His breath was hot on her neck, and she had to remind herself that she's frustrated with him.

"Castle, we're not flying half way around the world. Why on earth would you think we'd need all this?"

He moved around her so he's looking at directly at her face and shrugged. "I wanted to do something nice. Besides, how often is it that all of us have leave at the same time? Well, all of you have leave," he corrected upon seeing the pointed look on her face, reminding him that he technically didn't work at the precinct.

"Castle…"

"It's not like there's a swimming pool on board, Kate." She raised her eyebrows (because, do people really have swimming pools on private jets?) but he ignored her expression and continued. "Just relax," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

She sighed, and melted into his embrace, feeling guilty. It wasn't that she's opposed to him spending his money, exactly. It's more the surprise of it all.

Wait. Surprise.

She pulled away from him slowly, her eyes narrowing as she scrutinised him. "Exactly how long have you been planning this, Castle?"

His eyes widened for just a second, fear flashing across his face, before he schooled his features. "Uh," he started, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat, obviously giving himself an extra second to think. "A week ago," he said all-too-calmly.

"Really? A week?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow and moving into his personal space as if she were interrogating a suspect. "You just happened to organise a trip to the Caribbean- private jet and everything- in under a week?"

He shrugged. "Got lucky. It's not like it's peak travel season."

"Yeah. Pretty lucky." She pressed her lips together as she tilted her head, as if considering. "You know, Lanie has never been out of the country before."

He gulped. "Uh- you don't say?"

Beckett shrugged casually as she nodded slowly. "Yeah. She comes from a large family- five siblings- so they never had enough money growing up. And then med school happened, and between the stack of loans and the lack of time, she never had the chance."

"Well, this should be exciting for her," Castle forced out, his voice strained, before pointing to the nearest pair of chairs. "You know, we should sit- ow!"

She pinched his arm hard, glaring at him. "Lanie would have had to have known about this trip months ago, Castle. She would have had to apply for a passport."

He cringed for a moment before surrendering. "Alright, fine. Yes. I planned this a couple of months ago."

"And you didn't tell me?"

He paused, eyeing her curiously. "Wait- are you mad because I didn't tell you or because I didn't tell you."

She clenched her jaw, her eyes darting away as she crossed her arms. "Both."

"Kate, I'm sorry," he sighed. "I wanted this to be a surprise."

"Don't you know by now not to surprise me?" she raised an eyebrow, half-amused. "Don't you remember the moving fiasco?"

Ah, the moving fiasco of November 2012. After spending the weekend away with her father for his birthday, Beckett had arrived at Castle's apartment for dinner only to find her every possession in his home. Castle had, apparently, taken it upon himself to decide that it was time she moved in with him, and so whilst she was away, he had everything moved for her, to 'save her the trouble of packing and unpacking'.

Needless to say, she had not been happy.

"Uh, yes. But you love it now, don't you?" He crossed his fingers as he pouted his lips, looking at her with puppy-dog eyes.

"I've… grown used to it."

He scoffed. "Please, you love it. Don't even bother denying it."

"Fine," she huffed, rolling her eyes to try and throw him off, regain the advantage. "So, tell me- why this surprise?"

"Because it's our anniversary."

Her brow furrowed, confused. "Castle, it's not our anniversary. That's in May."

"Different anniversary."

"Also in May," she noted. He smirks.

"Ah, no. Not that anniversary either," he smirked, waggling his eyebrows at her. "In five days time, it will be the anniversary of our first case, commemorating five years of partnership."

She didn't even have a chance of fighting the sweet smile that spread across her lips, lighting up her entire face. "I didn't realise you remembered. This… this is really sweet."

"Look at you, acting like a real girl," Castle commented, playfully nudging her shoulder.

"A girl that can still kick your ass."

"Duly noted," he nods, his expression serious. "So, I did good?"

She chuckled, lifting up slightly on her tiptoes to press a light kiss his cheek. "Yeah. You did good."

Glancing around, she notes Ryan and Jenny have already claimed the two back left seats, and Esposito's bag was dumped on the chair in front. Lanie had already polished off her glass of champagne front right, assumedly because of the presence of her ex-boyfriend. Kate grimaces; it's going to be a long week if all she's going to hear about was 'Esposito said this' and 'can you believe Esposito did that'.

Kate let out a long breath; this was really happening. Her boyfriend had really organised a private plane to fly them to the Caribbean.

Before she could change her mind again, she's pushed her bag underneath a chair and fastened her seatbelt. She could feel Castle's eyes on her, and she knows he'll a victorious grin on his face, but she doesn't want to give him the satisfaction by acknowledging him.

Castle grinned as he watched Kate take her seat before swiftly grabbing two glasses of champagne and dropping into the seat beside her.

"We're not the only one's flying, if that helps at all," he commented as he settles, pushing her flute across the table. "This plane belongs to the company that Black Pawn uses. As it turned out, another author- Charlotte King, I think- was also enquiring about flying to the Caribbean. So, in order to obtain the plane, we had to compromise to fly together."

"You've already sold this trip, Castle. You don't need to keep making excuses," she smirked at him, taking a sip of her champagne before relaxing back into the cushioned seat, closing her eyes. "A week away from the city, spent under the sun, will be nice. I'm sure we'll have a great time."

He smiled to himself as he discretely patted the small box in his jacket pocket.

Oh, yes. This will be a great holiday.

Only a few minutes pass before the other group arrived, and thankfully they wasted no time boarding the plane. Castle smiled politely as the other five people gather, moving around as they try and allocate seating.

"Hi. Richard Castle, right?" a woman smiled at him as she passed her handbag off to one of the men. "I'm Charlotte."

He stretched out his hand politely, shaking hers. "Oh, yeah. Nice to meet you. Paula said you're the new novelist they signed last year?"

"That's me," Charlotte grinned. "Don't worry- I'm no competition. I'm all about the contemporary fiction. This trip is technically research for me- I have a contact that I'm meeting with- but don't tell Black Pawn that I'm planning on spending a lot of time laying by the beach."

Castle laughed. "I don't think they're all that interested in our "research" methods. I've spent almost every day for the past five years working with the NYPD, but as long as I have something to publish, they don't cause a fuss." Beside him, Kate scoffed. "Er- too much fuss," he revised.

"Castle, when Paula shows up at our apartment at seven in the morning on a Saturday, it's definitely too much fuss," Kate noted bluntly, shoving him gently in the shoulder. He cringed.

"Uh, yeah. Don't get on her bad side," he warned Charlotte.

"Good advice. I think my husband would kill me," Charlotte laughed. "Anyway, it was nice to meet you. We might run into you sometime during the week." They smile and nod politely as Charlotte moved away, following her husband toward the vacant seats at the rear of the plane, before Castle glanced around at the other passengers, trying to figure out their stories.

To his front right sat another woman and man- twins, perhaps, as their features resembled each other's strikingly. As he watched them already bickering over something trivial, and he had to admit- there's definitely one benefit to being an only child.

Behind them, Esposito was sitting alone, a scowl on his face as he turned to focus his gaze out the window. Castle frowned, confused, when he felt Kate nudge him gently with her elbow.

"Are you listening to this?" she whispered in his ear.

"Listening to what?"

She pointed to the set of seats in front of her. "Lanie, and the man sitting next to her. She's not exactly being subtle with her flirting."

Castle listened for a few moments before nodding in agreement. "She's only laying it on so thick 'cause Esposito's here."

"You don't think they'll fight too much, do you?" He grimaced at the thought.

When he originally planned this trip, Esposito and Lanie were together once again after deciding to give their relationship another shot. Of course, they just had to end it only a week ago, and- both being to stubborn to back out and lose face- were now both about to fly down to the Caribbean to spend a week away with each other.

Very awkward. And annoying for the rest of the group, who have to put up with their bickering.

"Who knows," Castle replied quietly with a shrug of his shoulders, "Maybe this trip will be the push they need to rekindle their relationship. Uh, again. Again."

Kate chuckled. "Let's hope so."

The click of the P.A. system sounded quietly through the speakers before a warm voice addressed them, informing them it was time to take off. Castle grinned widely like a child, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he barely contained the excitement. "Here we go!"

Unfortunately, it turned out the benefits of flying in a private jet were almost completely limited when there's a storm raging outside the plane. Kate wasn't complaining, though, because when you're relaxing in the luxurious armchairs of a private jet, being stuck in your seat wasn't too bad at all.

But beside her, Castle was squirming, completely restless from being restrained by the seatbelt. He kept fidgeting- running his hand through his hair, tapping his knee, cracking his knuckles, reaching for her hand, before starting all over again- and it was starting to drive her insane.

"Castle, sit still," she urged him, pressing his hands down onto his thigh underneath hers. "Watch a movie if you're bored." She pointed to the hidden screen in the armrest, but he shook his head at her suggestion.

"I'm not bored. Just restless." She rolled her eyes unsympathetically.

"It's only a four hour fight, half of which is already over. You'll survive," she muttered. "Besides, it was your idea to fly in this weather."

He sighed, and sunk back into the chair, letting his arms fall uselessly beside his legs. "Yeah, alright."

Suddenly, the plane dropped. She knew it was only a second, but the dropping of her stomach slowed time, stretching it on as they continued to dip. Castle's hand was suddenly clutching hers, squeezing it so tightly it turns white as he cut off the circulation.

"Castle, it's just turbulence," she said softly, restraining an eye roll and instead accompanying it with her thumb tracing soothing circles on the back of his hand. She almost thought it worked when the plane shuddered and dropped again, and he squeezed her hand once more, his entire body tense. "It's just the weather."

"I don't think the plane is supposed to just drop like that." His voice is strained and his eyes were wide as he looked at her for reassurance.

"I'm sure the pilot has been through worse."

"Yes, but what if-"

"Castle, the plane is designed to withstand this type of weather. We're still flying, aren't we?"

Suddenly, lightening struck them, the sound louder than the crack of a gunshot as it rattles the plane. The lights flickered, and the plane dropped again, her stomach lurching at the motion. The thunder rumbled low outside, booming and ominous, sending vibrations through the plane.

"Kate-"

Nothing else made it passed his lips. Without any warning, the nose of the plane tilted forward and they begun spiralling down. Kate grabbed onto Castle's hands tightly, searching for his eyes in the sudden darkness and screaming that surround them, but they're squeezed shut, the terror all over his face.

"Castle," she whispered, reaching one of their joined hands to touch his face. "Castle, it's okay," she promised. "It's okay. It's okay."

It wasn't. The plane didn't right itself, instead leaving them to plummet the 35,000 feet toward the earth. Suddenly, the storm threw them forward, and the world slowed down around her as she's thrown at the motion, the seatbelt digging harshly into her hips as it restrained her for just a moment before it snapped, and she's flung from her seat. She gripped onto Castle's hands, but the momentum was too great. She flew forward, her body twisting, crashing.

Everything went black.

Initial thoughts? Any questions? Let me know =) Just remember to keep an open mind. At the moment, I do have a pretty good idea of where I want to take this, but once I get further into it… well, who knows. Things never seem to turn out as planned.

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