"Castle!" Beckett's voice echoed through the precinct causing half of the room to turn in her direction, the other half focusing on the writer who was trying to slip into the break room.

He stopped mid step, his heart plummeting somewhere down south of his stomach as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Holding it, he counted to three before turning around and looking at the woman who was waiting for him to respond.

"Beckett," he responded shortly, waiting patiently for her to eat him alive. She found out. She had to know. Of course she knew, she was Beckett and a detective who was very good at her job.

She was staring at him funny, a smirk on her lips as she approached him slowly, fully aware that the whole room was staring at either one of them. He was being quiet, avoiding her even and while she wanted to know why, that was not why she had called out to him. With a devious glint in her eye, she held out his phone.

"Alexis called, something about Martha and your credit card. It did not sound good."

Castle let out the breath he had been holding, his hand going out to catch the phone that she was handing over.

"Alexis. Right," he murmured as his brain raced to catch up. "I'll just.. Go call her back."

He gave her a quick smile and slipped into the break room, heading to the farthest corner as he pretended to mess with his phone. He had no intentions of actually calling his daughter back in his state, she wouldn't know what to make of him. Feeling Beckett's eyes on him, he turned his back to her and fiddled with his phone some more. She needed to go back to her desk.

Before he could start to think of how to defuse the awkward situation, he heard a door open quickly followed by the shuffling of feet - feet that certainly did not belong to his partner.

"Yo, Castle." Relief flooded through him as he heard Esposito's voice, allowing him to turn around and stare at the man who was accompanied by his own partner. "Bro, what did you do to Beckett and why is she grinning like she found the answer to life?"

His eyes flashed with fear before he shrugged, leaning against the wall. "She just gave me my phone because Alexis called, I was downstairs talking to Lanie.."

It was a moment too late that he realized his mistake as both Esposito's and Ryan's eyes lit up with this new piece of information.

"You agreed to it, didn't you?" Esposito's arms were crossed in front of him, making him look even more intimidating.

"Oh, please. Tell me you did, Castle," Ryan said with a slight whine to his voice, picking up the cup of coffee Esposito had abandoned.

Clearing his throat and regaining most of his composure, he gave the two a grin and shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea what either of you are talking about."

"You did! He did! Finally. You owe me fifty bucks," Ryan's blue eyes were shinning brightly as he turned to Esposito who was staring at Castle in disbelief.

"I never thought you'd agree to it, bro," he grumbled as he dug his wallet out of his back pocket. Quickly giving his partner the money he owed him, he turned his attention back to the writer.

"She doesn't know?"

Castle shook his head, walking over to them now to stand in front of the coffee machine. He knew that Beckett would be waiting for her cup and he would need his own to keep on his toes.

"And she won't find out," he informed the two, giving them a look. "Not only will she kill me, but Lanie might very well kill you two for ruining this."

The two partners held their hands up at that, a grin on both of their faces.

"I'm not getting on Lanie's bad side," Ryan said quickly.

"Me either," Esposito agreed, grabbing the cup Castle set down. "Thanks, bro."

Knowing it would be a lost attempt to get the coffee back, he just let the two walk away as he went about making another. He still needed to call Alexis and figure out what exactly his mother had done that had earned him a phone call.

xxxxx0xxxxx

"You're seriously not going to tell me?"

"No, girl, that is why it's call a blind date."

Beckett could practically hear Lanie's eyes roll over the phone, something that amused the detective greatly.

"Not even just a small hint? Or just his name?"

"I'll be over tonight after work to help you get ready."

With that the ME on the other line hung up, leaving Kate to stare blankly at her computer with the phone propped oddly against her ear. Although she had a fairly good idea who her date was, she wasn't sure. She could never be sure with Lanie. That was just one of the many reasons while she loved her friend.

"Coffee for milady," Castle gave her that perfect grin as he sat her normal cup of coffee in front of her, taking residence in his seat. He seemed to have recovered from his earlier moment of awkwardness, something that intrigued her. Giving him a small smile in thanks, she sat her phone down and grabbed her coffee.

"Everything alright at the Castle home?" Her eyebrow quirked up as she took a sip of her coffee, turning her body towards him. She, for once, was caught up on paper work. The only reason she was there was because she wasn't ready to go home to an empty apartment.

"Mmm, Mother has apparently went out and bought half of the city according to Alexis. Something about an epiphany she had and how it's going to change all of our lives." He shrugged now, his eyes only meeting hers for the briefest of moments.

She nodded, accepting this as a plausible Martha thing. "Well, if you need to go home and deal with that then you can. I'm all caught up on paper work and unless we get a case, I'll be heading home here soon. I'm just waiting for Lanie to finish her last body."

With the mention of the ME's name, Castle squirmed in his seat - a small fact that Beckett tucked away, amused by his reaction. Tapping her fingers against the coffee cup, she leaned back in the chair and crossing her legs.

"Actually I was told to inform you that you needed to stop by the loft, orders via Martha and Alexis." He shrugged, obviously not knowing much more himself.

Glancing at her watch, she put down her coffee and nodded as she stood up. "Let's go. I've got plans tonight and I don't intend on being late."

Two chapters in one night? You should feel honored. I've never did this before. I hope you enjoy. Reviews make me a better writer, x3