Disclaimer: These characters are not mine, I only play with them and make them do silly things. I promise to put them back when I'm done.

A/N: It's possible I may have lost my mind, since 47 Seconds aired. I'm just sayin'.

Team Caskett

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

"What the hell is going on with those two?" Ryan asked, staring straight ahead through the two-way mirror.

"No idea Bro, but whatever it is, it's bad…" replied Esposito, his eyes narrowing as he took in the scene unfolding before them.

They continued to observe as Beckett and Castle finished interviewing the suspect. Usually an entertaining pastime; this evening's performance was quite worrisome. Even sans their trade-mark, rapid-fire allegations, the partners still managed to garner a confession from the suspect, but their usually palpable energy was non-existent. And although Beckett and Castle were still a force to be reckoned with; they got the job done, something had changed over the past few weeks. Gone was the playful banter, and amusing finishing of each other's sentences; it was strictly business.

They watched as Beckett stood, called the guard in, and then instructed him where to take the prisoner. They weren't alone for five seconds before Castle jumped up and checked his watch. His eyes darted everywhere but directly at Beckett. It was obvious he was itching to get out of the room, highly unusual, then almost on cue, muttered he was taking off, not even giving Beckett a chance to respond. He bolted, leaving her staring after his wake as the door closed behind him. She hung her head down low, sighed, and then returned to her chair, her intent most likely to gather up her files. Only she wasn't moving. She was just sitting there, deep in thought, staring at the now closed door.

"It's like watching a train wreck." Said Ryan.

"He's mad at her." Esposito answered matter-of-factly.

"Castle's the one who's acting out of character." Ryan defended. "He's the one back to dating bimbos and practically flaunting it in Kate's face. I just don't get it."

"I don't understand it either, but he must have a reason. He's been in love with her for years."

"What do you think happened? I don't remember them fighting about anything."

"I haven't a clue…but I know who might." Esposito watched his friend and partner as it registered exactly who might have some answers.

"Beckett's going to kill us for butting in to her personal business."

"Did you see her face?"

"Yeah…I'm in."

Lanie was in her lab going over some paperwork when Ryan and Esposito entered. She greeted them with a smile and asked them what she'd done to deserve the unexpected visit.

Esposito returned her smile, the one he reserved for when they were alone, and threw his cards down on the table. He thought he'd start with the blunt, surprise approach. "We came to see if you knew what was going on with Beckett and Castle." He said intentionally putting her on the spot, then watching as she pulled closed her "best friend with a secret, invisible shield".

"What are you two girls talking about?" she said feigning innocence. "And what makes you think I know anything about their personal business anyway?" she said quickly, adding "…honestly, you're a couple of nosy old busy-bodies, sitting around gossiping about other people." Javier then resorted to giving her his bedroom eyes, the bastard, but she was resigned to staying out of this. Besides, Kate would kill her if she broke her confidence.

Javier and Kevin glanced at each other knowingly. Ah, deflection, they knew it well, but these were a couple of detectives she was dealing with. Certain Lanie knew more than she was letting on, they were determined to break her silence.

"They're both miserable Lanie." Ryan said trying to help move things along. "We just want to help and we have a couple of ideas. We figured you could guide us so we don't screw it up and make things worse." He said looking pointedly at her. He reminded her of the Labrador she had as a kid.

"You two should mind your own business. Let them work out their problems on their own." She said remembering her vow of silence.

"Oh, so you admit they're having problems then." Javier said looking over at Ryan. "Now we're getting somewhere."

"I'm not admitting anything. Those were your words Javier Esposito." She countered. "And don't you be shooting me those eyes, by the way."

Ryan piped in, since his partner was getting nowhere fast. "You should have seen them tonight, Lanie. Hell, it's not just tonight," he said running his hands through his hair. He had to make her understand. "This has been going on for the past couple of weeks really. There's been no banter and no laughing. They're not even finishing each other's sentences anymore. It's really freaking us out." He said, as his voice became an octave or two higher. "Please, tell us what you know." He begged. "Surely Kate talks to you, you're best friends."

"Yeah, what he said." Javier added. "Chica, we only want to help. They're our friends too and we all know they're destined to be together."

"Look…I think it's sweet you two want to help…." She said, then stopped mid-sentence to address Javier. "Did you say you think they're destined to be together?"

"Yeah. It's their destiny. They're perfect for one another, meant to be." Javier replied.

"Oh, that's so sweet." She said going all girly on them, which was followed by melting. "And while I may agree with you..." She sighed. "It's not up to us. They're adults. They'll figure it out all in good time."

"Um, Lanie…," Ryan chimed in. "I don't know if you know this or not, but Castle's been flaunting some bimbo in Kate's face and going on wild weekends to Las Vegas, meanwhile Kate's not doing a thing to stop any of it. It's going downhill and fast. So I wouldn't quite say they're acting like adults, nor would I agree they have all the time in the world. He's definitely starting to move on without her. It's almost like he's trying to get over her. And she's letting it happen. We think she did something to piss him off. Something big, but we have no idea what it is."

"I saw him pull up in his Ferrari with the blonde." She said with a grimace. "I'm sure she's really… smart." Lanie couldn't hide her disgust from them. She wanted Kate and Rick to fix things too. She was of the opinion Kate needed to get off her ass and tell the guy how she feels before it was too late, however, butting in wasn't her style so she was still wary.

"It's getting progressively worse Lanie." Javier told her. "They're drifting farther apart from each other. There has to be something we can do. Aside from banging their heads together, I mean."

"I'd love to lock them in a room together and threaten to throw away the key until they hashed things out, but Beckett would probably shoot us." Ryan said.

Lanie looked like she wanted to say something, but was holding back. Javier decided to give it one final shot. "Look Lanie, when you and I weren't getting along, and couldn't see eye to eye, chucklehead over here," he said pointing to Ryan, "interfered every five minutes. He helped me to see I was being a stubborn jackass and that you were worth fighting for. We just want to do the same for Beckett and Castle." He waited patiently as she mulled it over.

"Damn you Javier. You had to go and pull out the big guns." She said fighting the urge to kiss him senseless.

Her internal debate put her heart at odds with her common sense. As she studied her very own Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum she knew they were trying to do a good thing here. She also knew without a doubt they'd go ahead with god knows what plans they had in mind and butt in with or without her help – the fools. She might as well make sure it didn't blow up in their faces. Their hearts were in the right place. She just hoped Kate would forgive her.

"Ok. Don't make me regret this." She told them shaking her head; pretty sure she'd gone and lost her mind. "I'll tell you what I know. You tell me what you got, and we'll talk about this. That's all I'm agreeing to right now." She hedged, but they knew they had her. Grinning ear to ear, they took a moment to feed the birds, and breathe a sigh of relief, since they knew deep down inside, they'd be lost without her adult supervision.

"But I have rules…." They tried to pay attention since apparently Lanie was still talking to them - something about rules. "This goes no further until you both agree. I'll listen to your ideas on how to get them to stop being so stubborn, to get them talking to each other, but I get veto rights. If I think your plan needs work, we wait. We do this my way so nothing goes wrong. Understood?" She waited for them to agree, which they did, wholeheartedly.

Ryan was the first to start… "What could possibly go wrong?" he replied, looking at Esposito who was nodding in agreement. "Ok, here's what we've seen…"

What they didn't know was Alexis was in the back of the lab, listening to the entire exchange.

A/N: End of Chapter 1. I see it as one more chapter, but who knows… Please review; let me know what you think and if you'd like to see more. I'm thinking up some crazy antics for our trio, or is it a trio? There could be 5 or 6 more characters on Team Caskett. Just in case, I'm having a dozen shirts made. Thanks for reading! Karen