Some season 5 Halloween fun, and an important conversation, when Buck goes home with Eddie and Christopher after the 118's Halloween party.

Set during 4x04, after Buck leaves the disastrous dinner with his parents and seeks comfort from the one person who might love him anyway.

Set during 4x14, after Buck tells Christopher about the shooting - a peek at why Buck might have had a second breakdown that night. (Warning for blood/sniper references.)

"Eddie is at home with a couple of days off to decompress and definitely not dwell on another near-tragedy. If he did dwell on it, he might consider that there's no such thing as near-tragedy – that even the things you survive will leave ugly, raw, gaping wounds." A slight spoiler/spec fic set after 5x07, in which Buck confronts Eddie about all the things they've never discussed.

"He'd like to say Buck's giving him an easy out, an excuse for a date he wasn't convinced he wanted in the first place, but the way Eddie's hands have begun to shake – something he'd blame on a lack of food if anyone were to ask – suggests nothing about what he's about to do will be easy." An alternate ending for 4x06, in which Buck interrupts Eddie's breakfast plans.

"They're here at the Santa Monica Pier, about an hour from home, celebrating Eddie's graduation at the top of his class with too much junk food and very little responsibility. It's not quite a bribe or a payment long past due, just a deep breath before Eddie starts his new job and their lives continue to change." An Ice Cream Parlor AU, with a bit of a ride.

"Eddie doesn't know where to lay the blame, but something about tonight has made him realize that he's fallen completely and irrevocably in love with his best friend." A post-ep for 3x18.

"He falls onto the couch and drops his head into his hands, trying to piece together thoughts of Shannon and Ana and screaming and smiling, a more complicated equation than anything he'd attempted after dinner. Part of him wants to call Buck for help, but another argues that might be cheating. Like Buck could be the answer himself." Set during 4x08, after Eddie's date.

"Yeah, it's been there, just waiting for him to catch up. He wonders whether Buck feels it, too, or whether this new, beautiful ache is his alone. Whether it would be worth risking their friendship to find out. And whether he could even be enough for Buck and his tender, silly, perfect heart." A prequel to "like evening for night," set (mostly) at the end of 3x03.

"He can't do this now. He has to go to his son. It's just a blackout, Eddie screams at himself, but it's hard to make that matter when he was staring into Buck's eyes as the whole world went dark. Again." Inspired by the promo, set at the beginning of season five.

What happens when Eddie half-jokingly invites Buck to his house for Christopher's first sleepover? Buck accepts, other parents surprise them, and they end up in the kitchen with cupcakes and feelings. An AU take on 3x16.

"Eddie's in no shape for grand gestures, can barely control his shivering long enough to buckle his seatbelt, but he doesn't need much. Can't give much, either. He just wants it to be real." An alternate ending for 3x15, in which Buck takes Eddie home with him after Eddie saves himself from the collapsed tunnel.

"It's so quiet he almost misses it. He's not even sure Eddie meant to say anything at all. And he wants to drop to the floor and cry or press Eddie into the wall and kiss him until morning, but he tucks the words away instead, keeping them safe with all the other moments they haven't fully acknowledged." Written as a follow-up to "like evening for night." Set during 3x08.

"Chim had been the first to break the news to him, to let him know he wouldn't be allowed to have any contact with Buck for a while, so Eddie's quick to raise an eyebrow when Chim pulls him aside after the arbitration hearing and suggests the exact opposite." A difficult conversation between Buck and Eddie when they're not supposed to be talking at all. Set during 3x05.

"He knows the heat is radiating from him, but Eddie doesn't flinch, his expression carefully blank. They're close – too close for whatever they think they are – and Buck's eyes flicker toward Eddie's mouth before he's able to blink the need away." An argument between Buck and Eddie turns into something more. Set during 4x04.

"Christopher gives him a big hug, settles into his lap, and starts talking without any warning of the blow about to be delivered; it takes fewer than 10 words for Buck to feel the first corner of his heart fall, chiseled away by the sweetest voice he knows." A misunderstanding leads to an important conversation between Buck and Eddie at the end of 2x18.

"Only two simple words, but the letters are tinder; neither of them speaks for several seconds, waiting to see whether there's a hopeful spark to be fanned or just the danger of burning everything to the ground." A series of late-night phone calls after some of the more important events in Buck and Eddie's lives, starting after 2x08.

"They've faced death more times than he'd like to remember, but he knows some fears come from within, as steady as the heartbeats that remind them they've survived everything so far." When Buck finds out Eddie's recovery isn't going well, he is wary about confronting him, but willing to help however he can. Post-4x14.

"She hesitates in his doorway and it strikes him how small she is, how much more delicate she becomes away from the hospital. Her strength shines in her eyes, but there's an affection they haven't quite named, and it keeps her still for a few seconds longer than he'd like." Post-ep for 3x12, when Max has a surprise visitor at his apartment.

When Richard Castle meets Kate Beckett four months after she was shot at her captain's funeral, he's catapulted into a decades-long conspiracy that has long haunted her. Working by her side and helping to solve the case may be the only way he can give her the closure she needs. A very AU take on the end of the JB case.

"She won't give up, of course, will hold on with the same stubbornness that got her here, but grief is heavy and her hands may not be strong enough to support the weight of what might have been." An AU ending for Always (4x23).

"She's already invited him out for drinks and near-death experiences often tip her toward tender; the walls keeping them apart are mere cobwebs on this late October night." An alternate ending to Cops and Robbers (4x07) written for the Castle Halloween Bash 2017.

With Sophia Turner's gun to their heads, Castle and Beckett may have one last chance to admit their feelings for each other. Just a small twist on the ending of Linchpin (4x16).

"For such softly spoken words, they've continued to echo in Kate's mind for several minutes, the reassurance she's sure Kyra intended only leaving the detective with a new mystery to solve. How could Castle be all hers when she didn't know she wanted him in the first place?" An AU ending for A Rose for Everafter (2x12) featuring a wedding reception for two.

A collection of small moments, mostly inspired by pictures or other graphics, within Castle and Beckett's emotional journey from friends to lovers. Each chapter is an unrelated ficlet, and the ratings and genres will change chapter to chapter, but I will include those notes at the top of every ficlet. This collection is rated M, but several of the chapters are not.

After the team solves Cano Vega's murder, Castle spends some time thinking about his father, then gets a surprise invitation from Beckett that has him meeting her outside on a cold winter night. A one-shot alternate ending for Suicide Squeeze (2x15).

When Art realizes Beth is the one who died at Huxley Station, Sarah Manning conning them all by stepping into a life that isn't hers, he battles his own anger and guilt over how wrong everything has become. But after a night of remembering the one he lost, he decides to move forward with those who are still fighting. A brief one-shot starting during Unconscious Selection (1x09).

Kate had spent weeks convincing herself that casual sex with Castle would keep her heart from getting involved, but when Castle comes over on an emotional night, it's difficult to remember where casual ends and more begins. A short AU, set during Kill Shot (4x09).

"And perhaps they shouldn't be working their way through bottles of expensive pinot noir when terrible vodka would suffice, but she's in a position to take a high-class approach to her mourning and she finds herself rather grateful to have Katherine by her side." An emotional conversation between Martha and Kate, set while Castle is missing in Driven (7x01).

"Jim and Kate lost something precious all those years ago, and no grand gala can erase that pain. Castle's only goal is to honor Johanna's memory and create a legacy that may bring a smile to the faces she loved. If they can smile in a tuxedo and gown while guests generously donate to the cause, all the better." A holiday fic spanning Feb-Dec 2011 (S3/S4).

Still reeling from the knowledge that Castle's life, and a future she won't allow herself to consider, had rested in the manipulative hands of a serial killer, Kate looks for a way to calm her unsteady emotions and get some sleep. And where else would she turn, but to the man whose hand she'd held earlier that night? Set after 3XK (3x06).

"Kate pivots, already prepared to surrender in a fight she doesn't want to have; he won't understand any justification she offers anyway, so there's little she can do beyond biting her lip until the familiar taste of blood touches her tongue. She thinks words linger there, too." A brief look at Kate's struggle after XX (8x02).

When Castle has a breakthrough about their case, he's eager to share it with Beckett, and his need to track her down has nothing to do with the hope of catching her in the middle of her sparring session. Nothing at all. Gratuitous fun set during Fool Me Once (2x04).

After Castle was shot with a bullet meant for his real-life Nikki Heat, Kate wrestled with her expected guilt and fear. When she found a gift he'd set aside for her, being able to talk to him again became that much more important. An AU ending for Boom! (2x18).

"Still, she's smiling, and it's the same gorgeous, open smile that he's seen more in the past several weeks than in their first few years of working together, stunning in its sincerity. If he didn't know better, he'd think it held an unspoken dream, curved around honesty and love and forever." Castle and Kate attend Ryan's wedding just as their own relationship is falling apart.

"There's a fragility that seems woven into memories of her mother, a layer of the Beckett onion he'd almost rather leave untouched, and he isn't sure what to say now that they've finished breakfast and she's fumbling with the napkin she still holds in her lap." A peek at a quiet conversation between Castle and Beckett at the end of Home is Where the Heart Stops (1x07).

After two more close calls and the beginning of a confession, Kate can't deny her feelings for Castle any longer. Still, diving into something new with her best friend and partner isn't as easy at she'd like it to be. This is a journey through the end of season three and how the C/B relationship might have developed if Kate had broken up with Josh after Countdown.

"She has the passing thought that she's even colder now than she was that afternoon in the grass, finding it harder to breathe than when a bullet had pierced her chest. His words always come at the wrong time." A one-shot of frustration and fear, set during Always (4x23).

"The familiar cadence of her voice, the bite of her lip, and the tilt of her head were interwoven with a weariness and uncertainty that he wasn't used to at all, and he became even more interested in putting a smile on her face." An AU take on Castle's date with Captain Beckett, set during Time of Our Lives (7x06).

"Her mind is so clouded now, even more so than before, exhausted from the utter hell she endured at the hands of Vulcan Simmons and tortured by the ongoing war with Senator Bracken, so she is growing desperate for what Castle is about to do to her." A look at how Castle helps Kate in the aftermath of In the Belly of the Beast (6x17).

"It's one thing to stop by unannounced when they're in the middle of a case and he's excited about a theory; it may be a weak excuse even then, but he can usually make it work. But now he has nothing but a small box of comic books and an uncomfortably strong heartbeat and he just needs to knock and get over it." Post-ep for Heroes and Villains (4x02).

After their late-night cemetery dig, Castle and Beckett return to the precinct to clean up. They don't get to keep the treasure they found, but perhaps they'll stumble across something better. Set at the end of "Under the Gun" (3x03).

After Kate disappears, Castle will do whatever it takes to get her back, even if it means playing along with Jerry Tyson's dangerous game. But given the similarities between psychopaths and mystery writers, does Castle have an advantage that even 3XK hadn't considered? A multi-chapter mystery AU taking off from the end of Resurrection (7x14).

"'I'm not going home. Not until you tell me why you're so pissed.' He pauses, tilting his head as he studies her. 'Actually, no. Not until you tell me why you're hurt. Because that's what this is, right? You're hurt.'" Castle confronts Beckett after his return to the precinct in 3x01.

"There was no sound until the eventual click of the lock, the sigh of the hinge that was reluctant to make room for him. And even though he'd been expecting it, he was startled when she appeared, slumped against the door jamb..." Episode insert for Rise (4x01), in which Castle goes to Kate during her recovery.

Kate has had enough experience with nightmares to know that little can be done to stop Castle's dreams before they awaken them both. Instead, she focuses on helping soothe him in the darkness that follows.

"Her carefully constructed walls had been well-acknowledged, but his had been overlooked, even as they had strained with the ferocity of his love for her. Four words from her and they'd crumbled entirely." An AU take on what happened after the deleted scene from "Always" (4x23).

"He likes her tie." These four small moments tell us why.

"They'd been close to death too many times, together or individually, but tonight was a reminder that nothing would hurt as much as being the one left behind." A one-shot set after "Under Fire" (6x11).

"He hadn't expected her to say yes, for the serious detective to agree to celebrate a case by having drinks with him. And he definitely hadn't expected a couple of beers and shots of whiskey to unearth a bold invitation to her apartment." Set at the end of "Little Girl Lost" (1x09), when the C/B relationship was still raw.

He was slipping away and it was her last chance to grasp at the relationship they could have, if only she could stop tripping over her fear. Could she make her feelings clear through one more phone call? This is the final part of the "If I..." trilogy and will make the most sense if you've read "If I Had Stayed" and "If I Could Be There." Starts at the end of "Undead Again" (4x22).

Enchanted by the wedding they'd just attended, neither Castle nor Kate want the night to end. While they both know she's not ready for everything she could have, another phone call allows them to continue moving forward. This is a sequel to "If I Had Stayed," but you don't have to read that first. Takes place after "Til Death Do Us Part" (4x11).

After Kate was shot, she ran away to her father's cabin, torn between needing Castle's support and wanting to keep him away from the damaged mess she'd become. When she hears a song that makes her reach out to him, will it be enough? Inspired by the song "Demons" by Imagine Dragons. AU after "Knockout."

She's not quite ready for the relationship they both want, but she allows them this big step forward. After the day they'd had, how could she not? Takes place after Cops & Robbers (4x07), once they're both in the privacy of their own homes.

"...there was no way she was getting through the rest of the day without begging him for release, either from the restraints or from the captivity of her own need." After Kate leaves Castle utterly unfulfilled one afternoon, he finds a sexy way to get back at her. Set any time within their established relationship, with no episode spoilers.

Castle and Beckett enjoy a nice lunch, and a few shots of tequila, during their Mexican vacation. By the time the meal is over, they're both eager to get back to their rented beach house. PWP with no spoilers. This is simply their own private fiesta, inspired by my incessant craving for good food and my love of C/B.

This was inspired by the song "Just Give Me a Reason" by Pink/Nate Ruess. It takes place about a year after C/B started dating, but is not tied to the specifics of season five. In other words, it's a slight AU, forcing the ugly conversation they've needed to have for quite a while.

"She took a deep breath, willing herself to sound like she was in control of her own body. Like it wasn't about to abandon her head and run off in a bookstore-borne fantasy." Set in episode 2x05, during and after the Heat Wave launch party. This came about as I was busy appreciating how incredible both Castle and Beckett looked in that particular scene. M-rated one-shot!

"As much as I love our friends, please don't ever make us share a cabin with them again." Castle plans a group vacation with Kate, Ryan, Jenny, Esposito, and Lanie, but seems to forget that Kate can't be as uninhibited when they're confined to such a small space. In fact, she's awful at being quiet, but Castle is willing to help her try. PWP set almost any time in season 5.

When Castle accepts a delivery for Kate, his curiosity about the package is overwhelming. Will his intimate interrogation unravel Kate's mystery, or will he decide he doesn't need answers at all? M-rated one-shot with spoilers through 5x17.

"Eyes wide, Kate stayed still, watching his back and praying to a long-forgotten deity that he would just keep going. That he would be merciful and overlook the cries that poured from her lips without invitation. But Castle had spent more than two years pointedly not ignoring her and she supposed it was too much to hope for now." One-shot set toward the end of Knockout (3x24).

"I was trying to learn more about you, in the process of figuring out us." When Kate admits that she has questions, Castle tries to give her answers. Set at a non-specific point in the middle of season 5. One-shot, complete.

"She'd done this to him, and he was tragically grateful." This is a one-shot, set anywhere toward the end of season 4. It was inspired by Billy Joel's rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Light as the Breeze," but you don't need to be familiar with the song to read the fic.

One-shot set during Boom! (2x18). "Jordan Shaw is pretty cool, but she's not the woman about whom I was writing tonight."

"They were lying in bed on a quiet Sunday afternoon, the room dimmed by the gray clouds outside. The dancing snow flurries made them glad they were inside, enjoying the warmth of each other instead of an unwelcome chill." M-rated Caskett two-shot, now complete!

"I wish we didn't have to worry so much about publicity. I would love to make a video with you and show everyone that you're mine."

Sure, all she had done was open the suite door, to return to where she had left him on the sofa. But there was no doubt in her mind that a step into the hotel living room would have effectively pushed the domino that she had worked so hard to keep upright. Starts during 3x22 "To Love and Die in L.A."