(Bullpen)

Lanie took one look at the expression on Kate's face, and knew they had another topic to discuss. Before Kate could even reach her desk, Lanie was quickly walking toward her, grabbed her arm, and said, "Let's go grab coffees for everyone, hmm?" before quickly pulling her into the break room.

"Took you guys long enough to get back here," Esposito remarked, once the break room door shut.

"Yeah, really. Castle, what problem did Beckett have that only you could help her with?" Ryan teased, knowing fully well the answer to his question.

"You two should know that I'm in a very good mood right now, so any kind of teasing isn't going to embarrass me, or get a rise out of me, either."

"I bet Beckett got a rise out of him," Espo joked to Ryan

"Or a few," Ryan added.

"Guys," Castle chided, shaking his head, before changing subjects. "If they're grabbing coffees for us, I'm going to use the bathroom before they get back," he said, shedding his jacket so it wouldn't get in the way. He put it on his chair, and walked to the restrooms.

Ryan looked at the jacket, and then turned to Espo. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked, uncrossing his arms slightly to point at the jacket- specifically, its pocket.

It only took Esposito a moment to figure out what his partner was thinking.

"Bro, you're a genius. A sick, twisted, evil genius. Let's do it," he said, quickly reaching into the pocket of Castle's jacket, grabbing what he was looking for, before both fully grown men ran back to their seats, snickering as if they were children.

(Break Room)

"You told him!" Lanie enthused, shutting the door.

"Told him what?" Kate questioned with a straight face, starting to make coffees for everyone.

"Don't give me that. You told him you love him. Don't even try to deny it. I can see by the look on your face."

"Right, sorry, I forgot you were an expert in body language studies," Kate replied sarcastically.

"I never said I was, but I am an expert in being your best female friend, and I know that your face is different than it was before you dragged Castle into the locker room. Before, you were looking at him like you were ready to pounce on him, but you wouldn't quite let the obvious love you have for him get through to your face. Maybe a little bit of it occasionally made its way through, without your permission, but now you're not even hiding it. Kate, you and I both know that he knows. Just admit it."

Kate's lips turned up into a smile, "Yeah, he knows."

"Finally!"

Kate nodded in agreement, and laughed.

Suddenly, the vibrator started up again, and Kate jumped slightly at the sensation.

"I'm going to kill him," Kate said, putting down the mug she was currently filling with coffee, and walking toward the door to the bullpen.

"Did he turn it back on again?"

"Yeah," she said with an aggravated tone, before walking out of the room.

(Bullpen)

"Where's Castle?" Kate asked Ryan and Esposito.

"He went to the bathroom," Ryan replied. He watched as their boss quickly walked around the corner, toward the bathrooms.

She almost ran into him, not really paying attention to where she was going, just trying to get to the bathroom as soon as possible, to yell at Castle.

"Damn it, Castle! You said you were going to give me some time to rest!" she exclaimed.

"I am! I haven't touched the remote since before we-"

"Then explain to me why the vibrator is currently ON," she whispered harshly.

"I don't know! I didn't turn it on, though, I swear!"

Kate quickly turned around, storming back toward their desks.

"Guys, it's not funny. Give us back the remote," she said, glaring at Ryan and Esposito.

"You mean the remote to...," Esposito trailed off, "You actually think we'd take that?" he asked Beckett.

"You two just might be stupid enough to do that, yes," she replied.

"Well, we didn't," Ryan said, drinking the coffee that Lanie brought to them while Beckett was going to find Castle.

She glared at them for a moment or two, not sure whether or not to accept what they said. Either they were telling the truth, or their poker faces were getting really good, because she believed them.

"Then where is the damn thing? Castle, did you leave it in the locker room?"

"I don't know. I thought I put it in my pocket, but it's not in here," he replied, checking his jacket.

"I'll go back to the locker room, and look for it, then," she sighed, walking toward the elevator.

"Good, you two are back from whatever it was you needed to do," Gates said, sticking her head out of her office, "May I please see you both in here for a moment?"

"Shit," Kate whispered, turning back around and heading toward Gates' office, Castle following closely behind.

(Gates' Office)

"Here are some of the files for the cold case Detectives Ryan and Esposito started working on while you two were gone," Gates said, handing them a stack of paperwork, "Have them bring you up to speed."

"Yes, Sir," Beckett replied, looking down at her watch. 2:30pm. She thought to herself. Not bad. A few more hours, and then we can go home... Hmm, I've never thought about Castle's loft as "home" before. Well, it *is* more of a home than my apartment is, that's for sure. Maybe, even if I win the bet, I'll still agree to have dinner with his family, do the movie marathon, and sleep over. It would make the payback a hell of a lot easier to do, since he'd already be-

"Detective!" Gates shouted, her tone making it obvious to Kate that the captain had been trying to get her attention for quite some time. "Finally. I was waiting for you to come back to Earth, and pay attention to what I was asking you."

"Sorry, what was your question?"

"I asked you 'What was it that took you and Mr. Castle so long to take care of?'"

Kate startled a bit. Not just because Gates' question caught her off guard, but because the vibrations picked up a bit. Someone obviously has it, damn it, and she's going to figure out who it is. Hopefully, the boys really do have it, because if someone found it in the locker room, and they somehow trace it back to her, she might end up in deep trouble.

"I," her voice cracked, so she cleared it, "lost my keys; needed someone to help me retrace my steps, just in case look right past them."

"Castle, take the paperwork out to the other detectives, please, and spread it out on the break room table with them."

He nodded. Rick's fingers brushed over Kate's as he took the paperwork from her. The hand that was on the opposite side of the paperwork, out of Gates' line of sight, squeezed hers softly, trying to apologize - without words - for having to leave her alone in the room with Gates, who was most likely going to question her further. He took the folders out to the boys, closing the door behind himself.

"So you lost your keys, huh?" Gates asked Kate.

"Yes," Kate responded, nodding, not meeting Gates' eyes.

"Did you find them?"

"Yes."

"Beckett, you're obviously lying," Gates smirked, folding her arms across her chest, and leaning back in her chair. She was enjoying this way too much. "Do you want to try telling me the truth?"

"Not really, no."

"At least you're honest about not wanting to be honest," she laughed, "It has something to do with the dare - whatever it is - doesn't it?"

"I- Uh, it- We-" she stammered out.

"I'll take that as a yes, and leave you alone... For now. Go ahead, catch up with Castle so Ryan and Esposito don't have to explain the case details twice."

For the second time that day, Kate ran out of Gates' office.

(Bullpen)

While Castle and Beckett were in Gates' office, Esposito took the remote out of his pocket. "Psst!" he whispered to Lanie, who was putting Castle and Beckett's coffees on Kate's desk.

"What?" Lanie asked, turning her head to look at the boys.

Esposito held up the remote with one hand, and put his other to his mouth, holding up his pointer finger in a shh motion, both men snickering.

"Kate would kill you two if she found out what you were doing," Lanie said pausing for a moment, before declaring, "I want in."

She walked toward them, her hand out, grabbing it from Esposito, before quickly pressing six on the remote, and then pocketing it.

They all quickly looked toward Gates' office, laughing as Kate's posture subtly, but quickly, changed.

"If I know Kate, and I do, she's going to come out here, and check to make sure you two definitely don't have it. She obviously knows someone has it, and hopefully, she thinks someone took it from the locker room, and is trying to figure out what it does. I was with her when you guys started messing around with it, so she shouldn't suspect me. Don't be surprised, however, if she goes through your desks, and checks your pockets, looking for it, to see whether or not you're telling the truth. So it's probably in everyone's best interest for me to hold onto it, for now. After she's done checking you guys, I'll give it back to one of you, okay?"

"Good idea," they agreed.

"Okay, Castle's heading toward the door. Just keep acting like nothing's up, and hopefully, they won't suspect anything," Lanie warned.

"Gates wants us to move this to the break room, and spread everything out on the table. She's questioning Beckett, and she clearly knows something's up. Hopefully she won't figure it out, though, because I like it here, and I really don't feel like getting kicked out."