The answer was everybody. John has miscalculated the press who would be covering this event, so when Elizabeth had told him to pull up to the front of the Raddison hotel and about a hundred flash bulbs went off, he had been quite surprised.
And embarrassed. He repeated to himself that he didn’t need to impress Elizabeth, but when you are stuck behind an Enzo Ferrari, one tends to forget all the speil that came before. Elizabeth must have looked across and seen the expression on his face, because she reached over and took his hand as it lay on the gear stick and squeezed it.
“John, it doesn’t matter,” she smiled, rubbing her thumb over his knuckles.
“How did you know?” he almost gaped at her.
She shrugged with a coy smile, “I know you; it’s always about the toys.” She winked and he laughed, shifting the car in to gear and pulling in to the space next to the red carpet left by the Ferrari.
“You wound me madam.”
“Oh please, I only speak the truth,” she replied as their doors were opened for them.
“Good evening, sir,” the valet stood to the side as John stepped out, feeling more than a little awkward. “Would you like me to park your car, sir?”
“Uhh, yeah, thanks,” John handed the keys over and took the stub in return as the boy stepped up into the driver’s seat. “Oh wait!” he stopped the kid from closing the door and started to peer around and on to the back seat.
“Looking for this, Colonel?” Elizabeth held up his uniform cap with a grin as she came around to his side of the vehicle. He breathed a sigh of relief and took the cap from her before closing the driver side door and letting the valet drive it away. He donned his cap and offered her his arm, which she took with a smile before turning to face the red carpet. He tried his best to look confident as he walked with her, occasionally stopping so she could have her picture taken at which point he stepped aside and allowed her the time in the spotlight. Each time she looked back at him, surprised, but he shook his head and stepped back. He pretended to ignore the disappointed expression she had as she turned back to the photographers. However, the fourth time, the photographers had insisted on them both being in the picture. He reluctantly stepped forward and started to stand at attention next to her, however, she slid an arm around his waist and pulled him close to her. They stared at each other for a few seconds, before he mirrored her action to which she smiled broadly and turned to face the paparazzi. He cleared his throat quietly as her scent invaded his being and his hand settled on her slim waist underneath the train, then turned to pose with her, still feeling awkward in the situation.
After that picture, she leaned in to speak in his ear, “Don’t worry John, most of these people have no idea who they’re photographing, they just want pictures, they’ll find out who they are later. I highly doubt any of ours will make it to print.” She smiled at him as he laughed and they moved on down the carpet to repeat the pose another four more times. John could feel himself getting tenser as they carried on, until they were finally in the foyer and someone was taking Elizabeth’s shawl and offering to take his cap.
“No, thank you,” he turned the concierge away with a tight smile. He felt like he needed something to hold and keep his hands busy or he may not make it through this evening without wanting to shoot someone. Elizabeth took him by the arm and took him to the side of the foyer away from anyone else.
“John? Are you ok?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m just…cameras make me uncomfortable’s all,” he shrugged, still feeling their lensy glare upon him even though the wall between him and them.
“Hey, it’s ok, I’m sorry,” she laid a hand on his arm comfortingly.
He nodded stiffly, taking a deep breath. He wanted to tell Elizabeth about being paraded around by his father during his childhood in order to make him seem like the perfect family man for the corporation, but he knew that this wasn’t the right time. He didn’t want to make Elizabeth upset at the start of the night; wanted her to enjoy their evening together – their date. He smiled at her and told her again that he was all right before taking her arm and escorting her into the ballroom, ignoring the unconvinced look written all over her face.
After their tickets were checked, they were let in to the huge ballroom, decorated with silver and blue drapes overt the walls and balloons floating on the ceiling. There were tables and chairs, laid with blue table cloths and silver cutlery and crockery, around the edge of the dance floor in the centre. There was a live band on a stage at the far end of the hall playing some soft jazzy music with a few older couples swaying to the beat on the dance floor, while others either mingled around the tables and talked or flooded the open bar.
“Elizabeth!” a deep voice cried happily from behind them. Elizabeth turned towards him and dropped his arm.
“Richard!” she reached out her arms and the two hugged briefly before Richard took her hand and stood at arms length to admire her. She laughed and turned from side to side as he pressed the tips of his fingers to his lips and blew an exaggerated kiss.
“How are you, my dear Elizabeth?” he asked smoothly, oozing with charm as he leant down and kissed her hand with a smile.
“I am doing wonderfully, thank you,” she smiled back as he straightened and clocked John standing next to her. “How about you? I must say, I was surprised to receive an invitation after so long,” she teased, their hands dropping.
“What can I say, for my first one you were incommunicado and try as I might, no-one seemed to know where you were,” he cast another almost suspicious glance at John who silently watched them as they reunited, before returning his gaze to Elizabeth. “So where were you?”
“I was on a diplomatic mission,” she informed him calmly and John marvelled at her ease of telling him the truth, but not the whole truth. However, it looked like Castle didn’t completely believe her; if the grin on his face was anything to go by anyway.
“Come on, Elizabeth, you can tell me,” he goaded.
“Richard, if past experience is anything to go by I most definitely cannot tell you,” she laughed back and John wondered how serious that comment was.
“So, who’s your friend?” he asked after a little playful pout. John wasn’t entirely convinced he had dropped the subject though; he’d have to be careful around the writer if he started snooping, as John suspected he would.
“Richard Castle this is Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard. John, this is Richard Castle,” she waved a hand between the two by way of introduction, smiling as the two males approached each other, shaking hands firmly.
“Hi, welcome to the party,” Richard greeted warmly, although Elizabeth could sense he was eyeing John up to see if he thought he might let on anymore than she had.
“Thank you Mr. Castle, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” John replied.
“Please, call me Richard, Mr. Castle makes me feel forty years older and not half as fun!” He grinned and made Elizabeth laugh lightly.
“John’s a big fan of yours,” she touched him on the arm and smiled at Castle. “His jaw almost hit the floor when he found out I knew you.”
“Some might say you know me better than most,” he replied with a sultry tone of voice and offered a cheeky wink in her direction and John saw her blush and look down as she smiled at the writer.
“Same old Richard I see,” Elizabeth teased him.
“Why change when life is so fun?” he joked to John.
“So what are you doing these days?”
“Oh, y’know…writing, running, shooting, getting blown up, that sort of…” His words trailed off as the ballroom doors opened behind Elizabeth and his eyes were captured by the most gorgeous sight of his life.
Elizabeth looked at Richard with amusement as the expression she had seen all too often from the man appeared on his face; he had spotted a woman who caught his fancy. However, a glance to her right found John sporting a similar expression in the same direction and she found herself disappointed that it wasn’t expressly for her as she had thought when he arrived that day. She turned around to find what they were looking at and found herself catching herself before she ogled the woman walking in to the room, bright light from the foyer behind her.
She was a tall, slim, brunette with long wavy hair which bounced lightly over her shoulders as she walked towards them. Her short royal blue dress flowed down her body to her mid-thigh and is held up on one shoulder by a sparkling strap. Her strappy, silver high-heeled shoes made her legs look all the longer and Elizabeth couldn’t help but think she was seeing a supremely confident woman who could possibly take John on and win.
“Castle, my face is up here,” the woman told him, sounding firm but amused. Elizabeth looked over at the writer to see his eyes were travelling the length of her legs. He mumbled some sort of affirmation and slowly dragged his eyes up to her face. Hearing John clear his throat over her other shoulder, she looked over to find him with his eyes firmly on the floor and rubbing a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture she had identified in their first week of the Atlantis mission. At John’s reaction to the newcomer, Elizabeth felt extremely uncomfortable. She’d found a thrill when John arrived this evening and she had left him speechless, but seeing a stranger render him in a similar condition hurt her feelings. She found herself doing something very unusual; smoothing down her dress, trying to regain some of her confidence with the simple gesture.
“Beckett…you…you look amazing!” Elizabeth smiled tightly as Castle stumbled over his words.
“Why thank you, Castle. He’s quite sweet when he’s tongue-tied, don’t you think?” the other woman asked Elizabeth with a grin.
“Now that’s not fair, you can’t just turn up looking like…” he gestured up and down at her. “…that and expect me not to notice!”
“I expect you not to drool though,” she looked at his face, laughing as he wiped his face to check. “Such an easy mark, Castle,” she accepted the glare he shot at her with a giggle as he stepped to the side.
“Well, now that she’s embarrassed me, allow me to introduce my partner, Detective Kate Beckett. Beckett, this is Dr. Elizabeth Weir and Colonel…” Castle trailed off, obviously forgetting John’s last name.
“Sheppard,” John reached his hand out and shook hers. “Colonel John Sheppard.”
“Nice to meet you,” Kate replied, reaching for Elizabeth’s hand to greet her. “Dr. Weir,” the two women smiled at each other courteously. “So how do you and Castle know each other?”
“We were at college together, many moons ago,” Elizabeth told her. “We dated for a while too.”
“Really…” Kate’s eyebrows reached her hairline as she turned to look at her partner.
“”Yes, well, as lovely as this is, why don’t we go get a drink,” Castle took Kate by the arms and started steering her away to the bar. “See you later Elizabeth!” The two disappeared into the crowd and left John and Elizabeth standing on the edge of the dance floor.
“Well, he’s an interesting character,” John quipped.
“Dr. Weir seems nice,” Kate teased as they leant up against the bar, side by side.
“She is,” Castle waved the bartender over to them. “Two martinis, dry and make mine dirty.”
“Dirty? Ohh…Castle, she must be nice. A dirty Martini? What happened between you two?”
“Nothing, why does anything have to have happened. She’s a friend, we used to go out, we don’t anymore, why the Spanish Inquisition?” The bartender placed the drinks in front of them and Castle downed his in one, ordering another drink straight afterwards. “What about you? No Josh?”
“Uh…no,” she took her drink in hand and mirrored him, downing her drink in one and ordering a replacement. “He had a seminar he had to speak at tonight.”
“Oh,” Castle looked sorry for asking the question, but decided that since fair was fair he’d try and change the subject. “So why didn’t you bring Ryan? Or Esposito?”
“What and pick a favourite? They’d be bickering from now until the end of time,” she joked.
“Ah true, you should never pick a favourite,” he laughed.
“Beckett!” Alexis’ voice cried from behind them. They both turned around and Kate was engulfed in a hug from the girl while Martha moved to kiss her son on the cheek.
“She looks ravishing, son,” Martha whispered next to his ear before they watched Kate and Alexis chatter away. “Going to do anything about it?” she teased, earning a glare from him.
He downed his second drink and ordered another. This is going to be a long party.
And embarrassed. He repeated to himself that he didn’t need to impress Elizabeth, but when you are stuck behind an Enzo Ferrari, one tends to forget all the speil that came before. Elizabeth must have looked across and seen the expression on his face, because she reached over and took his hand as it lay on the gear stick and squeezed it.
“John, it doesn’t matter,” she smiled, rubbing her thumb over his knuckles.
“How did you know?” he almost gaped at her.
She shrugged with a coy smile, “I know you; it’s always about the toys.” She winked and he laughed, shifting the car in to gear and pulling in to the space next to the red carpet left by the Ferrari.
“You wound me madam.”
“Oh please, I only speak the truth,” she replied as their doors were opened for them.
“Good evening, sir,” the valet stood to the side as John stepped out, feeling more than a little awkward. “Would you like me to park your car, sir?”
“Uhh, yeah, thanks,” John handed the keys over and took the stub in return as the boy stepped up into the driver’s seat. “Oh wait!” he stopped the kid from closing the door and started to peer around and on to the back seat.
“Looking for this, Colonel?” Elizabeth held up his uniform cap with a grin as she came around to his side of the vehicle. He breathed a sigh of relief and took the cap from her before closing the driver side door and letting the valet drive it away. He donned his cap and offered her his arm, which she took with a smile before turning to face the red carpet. He tried his best to look confident as he walked with her, occasionally stopping so she could have her picture taken at which point he stepped aside and allowed her the time in the spotlight. Each time she looked back at him, surprised, but he shook his head and stepped back. He pretended to ignore the disappointed expression she had as she turned back to the photographers. However, the fourth time, the photographers had insisted on them both being in the picture. He reluctantly stepped forward and started to stand at attention next to her, however, she slid an arm around his waist and pulled him close to her. They stared at each other for a few seconds, before he mirrored her action to which she smiled broadly and turned to face the paparazzi. He cleared his throat quietly as her scent invaded his being and his hand settled on her slim waist underneath the train, then turned to pose with her, still feeling awkward in the situation.
After that picture, she leaned in to speak in his ear, “Don’t worry John, most of these people have no idea who they’re photographing, they just want pictures, they’ll find out who they are later. I highly doubt any of ours will make it to print.” She smiled at him as he laughed and they moved on down the carpet to repeat the pose another four more times. John could feel himself getting tenser as they carried on, until they were finally in the foyer and someone was taking Elizabeth’s shawl and offering to take his cap.
“No, thank you,” he turned the concierge away with a tight smile. He felt like he needed something to hold and keep his hands busy or he may not make it through this evening without wanting to shoot someone. Elizabeth took him by the arm and took him to the side of the foyer away from anyone else.
“John? Are you ok?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m just…cameras make me uncomfortable’s all,” he shrugged, still feeling their lensy glare upon him even though the wall between him and them.
“Hey, it’s ok, I’m sorry,” she laid a hand on his arm comfortingly.
He nodded stiffly, taking a deep breath. He wanted to tell Elizabeth about being paraded around by his father during his childhood in order to make him seem like the perfect family man for the corporation, but he knew that this wasn’t the right time. He didn’t want to make Elizabeth upset at the start of the night; wanted her to enjoy their evening together – their date. He smiled at her and told her again that he was all right before taking her arm and escorting her into the ballroom, ignoring the unconvinced look written all over her face.
After their tickets were checked, they were let in to the huge ballroom, decorated with silver and blue drapes overt the walls and balloons floating on the ceiling. There were tables and chairs, laid with blue table cloths and silver cutlery and crockery, around the edge of the dance floor in the centre. There was a live band on a stage at the far end of the hall playing some soft jazzy music with a few older couples swaying to the beat on the dance floor, while others either mingled around the tables and talked or flooded the open bar.
“Elizabeth!” a deep voice cried happily from behind them. Elizabeth turned towards him and dropped his arm.
“Richard!” she reached out her arms and the two hugged briefly before Richard took her hand and stood at arms length to admire her. She laughed and turned from side to side as he pressed the tips of his fingers to his lips and blew an exaggerated kiss.
“How are you, my dear Elizabeth?” he asked smoothly, oozing with charm as he leant down and kissed her hand with a smile.
“I am doing wonderfully, thank you,” she smiled back as he straightened and clocked John standing next to her. “How about you? I must say, I was surprised to receive an invitation after so long,” she teased, their hands dropping.
“What can I say, for my first one you were incommunicado and try as I might, no-one seemed to know where you were,” he cast another almost suspicious glance at John who silently watched them as they reunited, before returning his gaze to Elizabeth. “So where were you?”
“I was on a diplomatic mission,” she informed him calmly and John marvelled at her ease of telling him the truth, but not the whole truth. However, it looked like Castle didn’t completely believe her; if the grin on his face was anything to go by anyway.
“Come on, Elizabeth, you can tell me,” he goaded.
“Richard, if past experience is anything to go by I most definitely cannot tell you,” she laughed back and John wondered how serious that comment was.
“So, who’s your friend?” he asked after a little playful pout. John wasn’t entirely convinced he had dropped the subject though; he’d have to be careful around the writer if he started snooping, as John suspected he would.
“Richard Castle this is Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard. John, this is Richard Castle,” she waved a hand between the two by way of introduction, smiling as the two males approached each other, shaking hands firmly.
“Hi, welcome to the party,” Richard greeted warmly, although Elizabeth could sense he was eyeing John up to see if he thought he might let on anymore than she had.
“Thank you Mr. Castle, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” John replied.
“Please, call me Richard, Mr. Castle makes me feel forty years older and not half as fun!” He grinned and made Elizabeth laugh lightly.
“John’s a big fan of yours,” she touched him on the arm and smiled at Castle. “His jaw almost hit the floor when he found out I knew you.”
“Some might say you know me better than most,” he replied with a sultry tone of voice and offered a cheeky wink in her direction and John saw her blush and look down as she smiled at the writer.
“Same old Richard I see,” Elizabeth teased him.
“Why change when life is so fun?” he joked to John.
“So what are you doing these days?”
“Oh, y’know…writing, running, shooting, getting blown up, that sort of…” His words trailed off as the ballroom doors opened behind Elizabeth and his eyes were captured by the most gorgeous sight of his life.
Elizabeth looked at Richard with amusement as the expression she had seen all too often from the man appeared on his face; he had spotted a woman who caught his fancy. However, a glance to her right found John sporting a similar expression in the same direction and she found herself disappointed that it wasn’t expressly for her as she had thought when he arrived that day. She turned around to find what they were looking at and found herself catching herself before she ogled the woman walking in to the room, bright light from the foyer behind her.
She was a tall, slim, brunette with long wavy hair which bounced lightly over her shoulders as she walked towards them. Her short royal blue dress flowed down her body to her mid-thigh and is held up on one shoulder by a sparkling strap. Her strappy, silver high-heeled shoes made her legs look all the longer and Elizabeth couldn’t help but think she was seeing a supremely confident woman who could possibly take John on and win.
“Castle, my face is up here,” the woman told him, sounding firm but amused. Elizabeth looked over at the writer to see his eyes were travelling the length of her legs. He mumbled some sort of affirmation and slowly dragged his eyes up to her face. Hearing John clear his throat over her other shoulder, she looked over to find him with his eyes firmly on the floor and rubbing a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture she had identified in their first week of the Atlantis mission. At John’s reaction to the newcomer, Elizabeth felt extremely uncomfortable. She’d found a thrill when John arrived this evening and she had left him speechless, but seeing a stranger render him in a similar condition hurt her feelings. She found herself doing something very unusual; smoothing down her dress, trying to regain some of her confidence with the simple gesture.
“Beckett…you…you look amazing!” Elizabeth smiled tightly as Castle stumbled over his words.
“Why thank you, Castle. He’s quite sweet when he’s tongue-tied, don’t you think?” the other woman asked Elizabeth with a grin.
“Now that’s not fair, you can’t just turn up looking like…” he gestured up and down at her. “…that and expect me not to notice!”
“I expect you not to drool though,” she looked at his face, laughing as he wiped his face to check. “Such an easy mark, Castle,” she accepted the glare he shot at her with a giggle as he stepped to the side.
“Well, now that she’s embarrassed me, allow me to introduce my partner, Detective Kate Beckett. Beckett, this is Dr. Elizabeth Weir and Colonel…” Castle trailed off, obviously forgetting John’s last name.
“Sheppard,” John reached his hand out and shook hers. “Colonel John Sheppard.”
“Nice to meet you,” Kate replied, reaching for Elizabeth’s hand to greet her. “Dr. Weir,” the two women smiled at each other courteously. “So how do you and Castle know each other?”
“We were at college together, many moons ago,” Elizabeth told her. “We dated for a while too.”
“Really…” Kate’s eyebrows reached her hairline as she turned to look at her partner.
“”Yes, well, as lovely as this is, why don’t we go get a drink,” Castle took Kate by the arms and started steering her away to the bar. “See you later Elizabeth!” The two disappeared into the crowd and left John and Elizabeth standing on the edge of the dance floor.
“Well, he’s an interesting character,” John quipped.
“Dr. Weir seems nice,” Kate teased as they leant up against the bar, side by side.
“She is,” Castle waved the bartender over to them. “Two martinis, dry and make mine dirty.”
“Dirty? Ohh…Castle, she must be nice. A dirty Martini? What happened between you two?”
“Nothing, why does anything have to have happened. She’s a friend, we used to go out, we don’t anymore, why the Spanish Inquisition?” The bartender placed the drinks in front of them and Castle downed his in one, ordering another drink straight afterwards. “What about you? No Josh?”
“Uh…no,” she took her drink in hand and mirrored him, downing her drink in one and ordering a replacement. “He had a seminar he had to speak at tonight.”
“Oh,” Castle looked sorry for asking the question, but decided that since fair was fair he’d try and change the subject. “So why didn’t you bring Ryan? Or Esposito?”
“What and pick a favourite? They’d be bickering from now until the end of time,” she joked.
“Ah true, you should never pick a favourite,” he laughed.
“Beckett!” Alexis’ voice cried from behind them. They both turned around and Kate was engulfed in a hug from the girl while Martha moved to kiss her son on the cheek.
“She looks ravishing, son,” Martha whispered next to his ear before they watched Kate and Alexis chatter away. “Going to do anything about it?” she teased, earning a glare from him.
He downed his second drink and ordered another. This is going to be a long party.