Title: Plus One
Summary: Kate struggles with her feelings in the lead-up to Ryan and Jenni's wedding.
Rating: T
Disclaimer: The usual. Sadly.
Author's Note: *shrugs* no idea where it came from, folks... *whispers* i think Manuxinhace must have slipped the plot bunnies something while i wasn't looking...
Lanie frowned, concentrating on the body she was currently wrist-deep in as she spoke.
"Other than the nine-mil slug I dug out of our boy already, there's not much I can tell you..." She glanced up and sighed as she noted the frown on Beckett's face. She went on, regardless. "Bullet penetration says the shot was close range, but there's no powder residue on his clothing."
"Meaning the shooter used a silencer." Beckett replied, her frown deepening. Silencers always made things that little bit more tricky to solve, the reduced noise meaning usually fewer witnesses, and the fact that the shooter had the presence of mind to use one told her that it probably wasn't the first time they'd done it. She sighed, knowing the chances of a speedy resolution were fading rapidly.
"Fraid so..." The ME replied, straightening up as she stripped her bloodied surgical gloves off. Tossing them into the trash can, she turned and sat down, crossing her arms as she ran a speculative eye over the detective. "So," She said, pursing her lips slightly. "Anything else you wanna get off your chest, girl?"
Beckett blinked rapidly, not saying anything. There was a moment's silence, and then Lanie picked up the slack.
"You know you could have called me for that bit of information, so the fact that you dragged your backside down here when there is other things you could be doing tells me you needed to see me in person. What's wrong, Kate?"
Beckett hesitated for a second, before giving up, crossing her own arms and speaking, her voice subdued.
"It's about the wedding..." Lanie's eyebrows raised as she replied.
"The fact that the RSVP date is today, and I know for a fact that you don't have a plus one yet? From the look on your face, I'd say that Writer Boy either hasn't replied yet, or doesn't have one either." Beckett tried hard to keep the shocked look off her face, but failed miserably.
"How did you-"
"Honey, the two of you have been dancing around the issue since the invites were sent out. It's not exactly brain surgery figuring out what's been eating you two."
Biting her lip anxiously, Kate met her friend's challenging stare, saying
"I just don't know if I am ready for it yet, Lanie. The whole... thing." She trailed off, unable or unwilling to put words to it.
"The 'is it a date' thing, or the 'what do I call our relationship' thing...?" Lanie pressed, trying to keep the smirk off her face. Watching Beckett struggle for the right words, the ME saw the tiny opening in her defences and struck. "Maybe I can help you out... Answer me this: you're not in a relationship with Castle, right?"
Beckett shook her head immediately, the soft 'no' slipping out unbidden. Lanie rolled her eyes, the move a perfect imitation of the detective.
"He brings you coffee every morning without fail, you share a minimum of one meal together every day, you've spend your free time at his place watching movies or 'just hanging out', he gets on great with your dad, knows about your mom, you get irritable if he doesn't come in to the precinct, and irrational when other women flirt with him." She watched Beckett's eyes as she ticked off each point on her fingers. "Girl, you need to face the facts: you two are already in a relationship, with everything except the sex." She grinned, immensely pleased with herself. Realising that perhaps the detective could use a little more persuading, she went on, her words coming rapidly, she fired off her questions, not giving Beckett a chance to over-think her responses. "Tell me: can you really see yourself bringing anybody else along to the wedding?"
"Well, no, but-"
"And how would you feel if he did?" Kate's jaw tightened, her eyes narrowing as she drew breath to reply, but was cut off before she could get a word in. "And what if he happened to take his plus one home after the reception?" Beckett couldn't hide the sickly feeling that twisted her gut at the thought. Lanie went on, her momentum building. "How does he have his coffee?"
"Black and one, espresso, never instant."
"Favorite meal?"
"Chinese."
"And he orders?"
"Beef and black bean, and two egg dumplings"
"What's his birthday?"
"April first..."
"Favorite colour?"
"Blue."
"Mother's maiden name?"
"Rogers."
"Favorite movie?"
"Star Wars - Return of the Jedi"
"Favorite TV show?"
"Firefly."
"Do you love him?"
"Yes, I-" Lanie smirked at her friend, then looked down and played with her nails for a second as Beckett realised what she'd just admitted out loud. The detective had to admire her friend's interrogative technique, although she was regretting that it had been used on her, and to such an extent. She bit her lip, as if trying to un-say the words, knowing it was too late to take them back. She sighed, her face downcast as she spoke quietly. "I've done this before, Lanie... What if he-"
"Like he did with the whole Demming and Gina fiasco?"
"Yeah..." Kate replied quietly, her face still showing the heartache that she had felt, watching her partner walk out of the precinct with his ex-wife, out of her life for three months.
"This time it's different, Kate..." Lanie replied gently. "The man is crazy about you. The only reason he hasn't asked already is because you've spent the last couple of years shooting him down." She paused, looking at her friend sadly. "He won't ask, Beckett, because a man can only take so much rejection. He knows how he feels, and he knows that if he pushes the matter, you'll shut him out. He's just... turning up, every damned day, hoping against hope that you see what's in front of you before it's too late."
Blinking rapidly, Kate ran her hand through her hair, buying herself a few seconds to think. Finally, she met her friend's challenging stare across the autopsy table.
"Okay, so what do I do?"
"Like a band-aid, it's better to get it out of the way quickly, that way you two can actually start worrying about catching our killer before Ryan and Jenny get married..." Lanie said bluntly. "Although, I'd wait until you two just happen to have lunch together again today before you ask him. I don't think the boys need to put up with any more eye-sex between you two at the moment."
Straightening her shoulders, Beckett stood up and headed towards the door. Her hand on the handle, she glanced back over her shoulder as she pushed.
"Thanks Lanie." She left, the sound of her heels echoing on the hard floor of the hall way, her resolve firming with every step.
Alone with the body once more, Lanie slipped on a fresh pair of gloves and got back to work, a grin firmly in place as she muttered to the corpse in front of her,
"And it's about damn time, too..."
A/n: edited this morning to correct Castle's birthday, folks. I had a sneaking suspicion the date had been mentioned a some point, but I really wanted to get this one out before the episode aired today, and given the hour, I just... couldn't have been bothered taking the extra few seconds to cross-check. yeah, it's slack of me, I know, and I promise it (probably) wont happen again. Thanks again for the nice reviews though! :-D
Nev