Lanie Parish was astounded.

What the hell was Castle doing? Beckett was finally about to give him what he wanted, but he just had to run off to the Hamptons with some bleach-blonde bimbo.

Ryan, Lanie, and Captain Montgomery all watched as Espisito left to talk to Beckett.

"Yo Beckett, you okay?" He asked her, walking up to where she was sitting on her desk.

Her look of shock was replaced by a look of sadness. "Yeah, I'm fine." Liar. "I'm just going to finish this paperwork and leave." She pointed to a huge stack of it on her desk.

Oh no you're not, thought Lanie. At least not if I have anything to do with it.

Espisito shrugged and came back into the break room.

"Anybody else want to try?" He asked them.

Lanie raised her hand and walked out the door.

Beckett looked up at Lanie with tear-filled eyes eyes when she reached her desk.

"Stand up," Lanie commanded.

Beckett gave her the most confused look a marginally depressed person could manage. "W-- why?" She asked, but complied.

"You need a hug," Lanie declared. Beckett nodded and fell into her friend's embrace. When she pulled back, her face was soaked with tears.

Lanie grabbed Beckett's coat off her desk. "Come on. We're leaving."

Beckett wasn't particularly excited, but she didn't try to fight either. She was smart enough to know that she had no choice.

Lanie led the way to the elevator as Beckett put her coat on. They made their way down to the ground floor, where they stepped outside and hailed a cab.

............................

Lanie sighed as she dug through her purse. "I lost my key," she muttered.

Beckett handed it to her. "You dropped it when we were coming in."

"Thanks, Kate," Lanie said as she jammed her key into the lock. The door opened and they both walked in.

"You, sit," Lanie commanded Beckett, who obliged and sat down on the couch.

"You want some wine or something?" Lanie yelled from the kitchen.

Under normal circumstances, Beckett would have been amused by the various clanks and crashes coming from Lanie rummaging around, but not now.

"No, I'm fine." Beckett called back to her.

"Well too bad, because I'm pouring you a glass anyways," was Lanie's reply. Beckett almost laughed.

Lanie walked over to the couch with two wine glasses and a bottle.

"So what happened with Castle?" She asked, pouring them both a glass.

Beckett sighed. "I was just about to tell him I liked him that I liked him when his ex-wife Gina came running up.

Lanie had figured that much. "Idiot," she muttered under her breath.

"Hey Lanie?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Lanie raised an eyebrow. "Now what on Earth did I do to deserve a 'thanks'?"

"You listened."

"Hon, I would have been a fool not to," she said.

Beckett cracked a small grin, but it was short-lived.

Now it was Lanie's turn to grin. Evilly, as a matter of fact. She had just had an idea that wouldn't fix the situation, but it would at least put Castle in his place.

She turned to Beckett. "You wouldn't happen to know Alexis' number, would you?" she handed Beckett a piece of paper so she could write it down.

Beckett raised an eyebrow, but scribbled the number down anyway. It was a good thing she was so sad, because if she was one hundred percent alert, she would have been on to Lanie in an instant. She is a trained detective.

"Thanks!" Lanie said, taking the paper. "I'm gonna go order a pizza, m'kay?"

Beckett nodded blankly. Lanie felt awful for her... Castle was going to pay.

Lanie ran into her bedroom and started dialing like mad.

"Hello?" Alexis answered.

"Hi, is this Alexis?" Lanie asked.

"Yes, who is this?"

"I'm Lanie Parish, a medical examiner at the NYPD. I work with your dad."

Alexis sighed on the other end. "What did he do this time?"

Lanie stifled a laugh. "You know Detective Beckett, right?"

"Right..."

"And you like her?"

"Yeah, I like her a lot," Alexis replied.

"That's good. And your dad likes her too, right?"

"Right again..."

"Well, Kate was about to tell that she liked him back when he and his ex-wife Gina took off for the Hamptons before she could even finish," Lanie babbled at top speed.

There was silence on this other end. "I never did like that one," Alexis said.

Lanie smiled. "So you will talk to him?"

"Of course."

"Thank you, Alexis!"

"You're welcome," Alexis said. "Bye!"

"Goodbye," Lanie said, laughing a little.

Lanie hung up on her and started ordering the pizza.

...................................

Alexis punched her dad's number into her phone. Poor Kate, she thought. She must be heartbroken.

Castle picked up the phone almost immediately. "Hey. honey! Is everything alright?" He asked her.

"Hi, Dad!" She said. "Could you do me a favor?"

"Do you need me to take care a boy for you? Because if you do, I'll make sure he spends the rest of his life in wheelchair."

Alexis grinned. This was going to be fun. "Really?"

"Of course, Sweetie."

"Thanks... his name is Richard Castle."

"What did I do?"

"You know Detective Beckett was about to tell you that she liked you?" Alexis said in an angry tone.

Castle fell silent. "She-- she was?"

"Yes. She was. But you just HAD to take off with Gina. I knew she was bad news right from the start!"

"Well what do I do now?"

"Fix it."

And with that, Alexis hung up.

............................................

I know Alexis and Lanie were probably a little OOC. Whoops. So tell me what ya think! And the only way for that to happen is for you to REVIEW! Virtual cookies for all who do!