A/N: This was originally written as a ficlet for shules-caskett, and I have yet to decide whether or not I'll expand it. :)

Juliet had only transferred a few months ago from Santa Barbara to New York. It started with a vacation-turned-investigation, and her prior knowledge of both the victim and her supposed killer prompted an opportunity to consult on the case. Beckett was pleased that Juliet was a real and proper cop, welcomed her "entirely fed up with the usual consultants." Castle was disgruntled at first, muttering something about Beckett "mortally wounding his feelings" but was silenced with a quick peck on the cheek. When the investigation resulted in a shootout, wounding a few cops and killing one, Gates offered Juliet a position, impressed by her experience with homicide and willingness to follow orders.

At first she was hesitant, but gradually Juliet began to seriously consider it. Lassiter now worked in a government agency that she wasn't allowed to know about and Shawn, well, Shawn had come here with her. There wasn't really much left for her in California besides some truly fantastic weather, so she accepted the position, and somehow, three months later, Shawn convinced Gus to move in to the apartment two floors down ("We could have been neighbours!" "I would have killed you in your sleep." "Gus, don't be a three legged dog at a cat show.") and things were working out. Granted, Shawn didn't stop complaining about the weather ("Why does it have to change?") but the new precinct was nice and the people there were even nicer.

Kate Beckett hit it off right away with the new girl, Juliet. She was smart, she was a good cop, and she annoyed the hell out of Castle. The only downside was that it seemed like Juliet had a Castle of her own. A "psychic detective" named Shawn. He was every bit as ridiculous as Castle, about ten times more uncontrollable, and Gates liked him. Gates, who had ceased for only one case in showing her distain for Castle, who found his theories silly and a waste of time, liked Juliet's obviously fake psychic boyfriend that hung about as much as her not-so-secret boyfriend.

In the short time that Juliet had been there, she had begun to pick up on the strange dynamic of Kate and the writer who followed her around. One of the other cops told her that he was a mystery novelist named Richard Castle who used Kate as the inspiration for his Nikki Heat novels. After internalising her minor break-down that she had been working with her favourite mystery novelist, she poked and prodded, trying to get more answers out of the cop she was pretty sure was named "Esposito" but he only smiled and flirted and avoided the remainder of her questions.

Juliet was sure there was something going on between them, and she made the mistake of complaining about it one night to Shawn. He, of course, cracked a joke and teased her and avoided telling her if he'd noticed anything. He had, of course, but he wrote it off as exactly what he and Juliet were three years ago: flirtatious and too scared to confess their attraction for each other. Because really, if they were dating, how were they doing that thing where they don't touch each other in public? Honestly Juliet.

One day, at the end of a case, Juliet approached Kate, asking about the dynamic between her and Castle and if it had every translated into something more. Beckett merely shrugged it off, saying that she and Castle were just friends and started saying that yes, he was smart and funny and incredible but she stopped herself short and changed the subject. Leaving Juliet with no answers and more suspicion.

The past few days, Juliet had watched Kate and Castle very closely, but was unable see anything beyond the high-level of attraction and abstaining behaviour of the two. Handing Shawn a cup of coffee she started to ask him if he'd seen anything related to the case when he elbowed her in the side, almost spilling coffee on her shirt.
"Shawn!"
"Shhh... there are people in the break room talking in hushed tones. It sounds like they're about to do something interesting." He wiggled his eyebrows and the two set their coffee down and walked over to the window.

Peering through the open blinds, they saw Castle and Beckett talking awfully close to each other's faces.
"Oh my god is that-" Shawn started.
"Yes, yes it is," Juliet replied with a smile.
Shawn began again to say something but stopped short when Castle and Beckett's lips met. His jaw dropped nearly to the floor, and Juliet's head turned in both amusement and surprise. For once, Shawn had nothing witty to say.

So instead he whistled.

Kate turned around in shock. Juliet shrugged and smiled, giving her a bit of a knowing look, and Shawn's mouth split into a grin that meant that Kate was never going to hear the end of it.

"Dammit."