Disclaimer: If I owned them, I wouldn't be writing about them here. I'm just playing with AWM's characters, and I'll put them back when I'm done.

"Detective Ryan, Detective Esposito!" the voice rang out across the bullpen. Both men in question looked up to see Captain Victoria Gates gesturing in the universal 'in my office' motion with her fingers.

They weren't back to perfect yet, but since Beckett's return they'd gotten more friendly, and now they looked at each other in something like bewilderment.

"I just saw Castle and Beckett leave, and they seemed happy enough," Esposito trailed off.

"At the very least they had all their limbs," Ryan half joked, even as they started to rise and head for the office.

"So seeing as Castle hasn't done anything to piss her off, what do you think she wants?"

"Maybe she just wants to brief us on a new case?" postured Ryan.

"In her office?"

"Maybe it's sensitive. Or maybe she actually wants to be nice to us, but doesn't want anyone else to hear it." Both men smiled at the outrageous possibility that Gates would be praising them for anything as they approached the doorway.

The Captain was sitting at her desk, continued to look at her paperwork, even as she once again gestured for them to enter, "Close the door, detectives, and take a seat."

The two detectives were not unlike school kids who were in the principal's office, awaiting punishment, both shifting uncomfortably in their chairs.

With cool, practiced motions, Gates signed the last page of the file, set it in her outbox and placed her pen on the desk, fixing her team with a calculating stare.

"I just had a very interesting conversation with Detective Beckett and Mr. Castle," she began, linking her fingers and resting then under her chin, "They suggested I speak with you two."

"Us, sir?" queried Ryan, shooting a slightly panicked look at Esposito.

"Yes, Detective Ryan. Detective Beckett suggested that I speak to you about collecting my winnings." She leant back, appraising their reactions.

"Winnings? Sir," Esposito added as an afterthought.

"From the pool," Off their blank looks, "The pool on Beckett and Castle. Oh please, detectives, I know about the bet."

"Sir, we—"

"Sorry, sir, it—"

Both detectives stuttered and stopped with the raise of Gates' hand.

"In fact," she continued, "A few months after Beckett returned to work, I caught a few junior officers taking bets on when the two of them would 'get together'," she noted that the boys had the decency to at least look guilty, "In a moment of whimsy, I had what you could call a 'proxy' place a bet for me. According to Detective Beckett, I win."

Ryan and Esposito sat there, dumbfounded.

"Just ensure that the money is on my desk by the end of the day. That is all, detectives, you can go."

finis

I've never written these three, so I'd love to hear what you think, good or bad :)