Disclaimer: I own very little of this and nothing of Castle (other than a calander and a couple books and DVDS).

The Limey

Girl Talk

The splash of the red wine Kate poured was almost as loud as the detective's voice as she spoke. "I'm telling you, something happened," she insisted. "Something changed. " It's been weird between us lately," she went on, looking from the wine she was pouring to Lanie and back again.

"Lately?" Lanie said in a dry tone. "Kate, it's been weird for four years."

"No, it's like he's pulling away," she said, setting down the glass.

"Well, can you blame him?" Lanie asked. "He's probably tired of waiting," she theorized and took a sip of her wine.

"Waiting for what?" Kate tried to keep up her usual façade, but when she spoke the last word her eyes betrayed her. Lanie could clearly see the need for reassurance emanating from her friend's gaze.

"What do you think?" Lanie couldn't believe Kate needed her to spell it out for her. But if that's what she needed, that's exactly what the M.E. was prepared to do. "The guy is crazy about you." She wasn't surprised when Kate lowered her gaze again. But her friend's obvious discomfort with such directness wasn't going to stop Lanie. Not this time. "And despite your little act, you're crazy about him."

Lanie was a little annoyed when Kate reacted to her statement with a look of skepticism. After her clear worry over the changes in Castle, did she really think Lanie didn't know?

"Oh, what? Was that supposed to be some big secret?" Lanie's tone clearly told Kate what she thought of that idea.

As if putting some physical space between herself and Lanie would give her some distance between herself and her emotions, Kate stepped back from the counter.

Kate's first reaction to the question was an emphatic, "Yes" as she slowly walked over to the nearest barstool. But she couldn't keep up the charade under Lanie's pointed look. "No," she admitted a moment later. She plopped down onto the stool as a new thought hit her. "Do you think he knows?" she asked her friend worriedly.

Lanie couldn't help but feel compassionate for her conflicted friend. When it came to crime scenes Kate noticed every detail. When it came to relationships, the detective was often completely oblivious.

"You remember how he used to be? Girl on either arm? You really don't see that guy much anymore. Why do you think that is?"

Kate knew what Lanie was getting at. She wasn't stupid. Although she had asked him to wait all those months ago, even if the conversation had been riddled with subtext, she'd still wrestled with doubts. Kate swallowed down the lump of emotion that tried to surface at the implications. Because the last woman she had seen him out with had been Serena, and that had been at Kate's own insistence for a case. Before that had been Gina. Over a year ago.

Had he been waiting, even then?

"He's waiting for you," Lanie answered her own question, pointing at the other woman as she said the last word.

Kate couldn't deny the truth of Lanie's words as the dark woman gave her a prompting look.

But it wasn't as simple as Lanie seemed to think it was.

"Yeah, but Lanie-"she started.

"I know, you're dealing with stuff," Lanie interrupted, having heard it all before. "But you cannot ask him to wait forever. Unless of course you're okay with him pulling away."

Of course she wasn't okay with it!

"What if it doesn't work?" Kate voiced her greatest fear. "What if it ends up like you and Javi?"

Lanie didn't think that would be a problem. Not for these two. But even if it didn't work out between them-

"Well, at least we gave it a shot," she said after a moment's thought. "And so it didn't work out. So what? Now we can move on. Give or take the occasional booty call," she said with a self-satisfied smirk.

Kate smiled at that. Somehow the M.E. and Hispanic detective had been able to part amicably.

But Kate knew she couldn't be that blasé about things if she started a relationship with Castle and things didn't work out. She would be crushed. An occasional 'booty call' would be out of the question.

"I just, I don't want to lose what we have, you know?" Kate said, her tone soft but serious.

"Girl, please," Lanie wasn't buying it. "What exactly do you have, really?"

Kate wasn't entirely certain how to sum up what she had with Castle. He was her partner, her best friend, the man who made her job fun. But he was so much more than that. He was the man, to use Lanie's term, that she was crazy about. Her feelings for the man were stronger than they'd ever been with anyone else, even Mike Royce.

Lately, though-

Right now, what did they have?

"A friendship?" Kate couldn't help the uncertainty in her tone. Not just because she wasn't sure if that response would be good enough for Lanie, but also because a part of her wondered if she still had even that much with Castle.

"No," Lanie replied, blunt and to the point. "What you and I have," she gestured in the space between them, "is a friendship. What you and Castle have is a holding pattern. How long can you circle," with her hands she imitated a circling plane, "before the fuel runs out?"

The ring of Kate's phone saved Kate from having to reply.

"Beckett," she greeted the person on the other end of the line. But her usual brisk tone was replaced by a sad, thoughtful one.

"Don't think you were saved by the bell, Kate Beckett," Lanie said as the two women walked up to the crime scene a short time later. "As you're friend, I'm not going to let this drop."

"So, what?" Kate and Lanie both ducked under the yellow tape that one of the uniforms lifted over their heads. "You think I should tell him how I feel?"

If it had been anyone other than Kate, Lanie would have been exasperated by the question. In this case, she only felt relief that her friend was seriously considering what she should have done a long time ago.

"Yes!" she cried. Knowing how big of a step this was for her friend, she added, "You hunt murderers for a living. You can do this."

"Okay," Kate's voice was slightly breathless as she said the word, her nervousness a palatable thing. "Okay," the second time the word was uttered some of the nervousness had dissipated, determination taking its place. "I just, I have to find the right time."

Lanie wasn't going to let her get away with that. "No time like the present," she said, knowing that Castle would show up at the crime scene any minute now.

The screech of tires and low purr of a sports car engine drew their attention away from the conversation. They both turned their heads to see Castle. In his red Ferrari. With a beautiful blonde woman sitting next to him in the passenger seat.

"What the-?" Lanie gasped.

Kate didn't say a word, but her shock, tinged with disgust, was clear on her face while she watched as Castle's mysterious companion opened the car door and stepped out of the fancy vehicle.

She looked back over at Lanie, her eyes clearly asking, Do you really think now is a good time?

Lanie did not want to be around to see this. "On second thought, maybe you should wait a bit," she amended. "What's that?" She turned but still kept her gaze in Kate's direction. Her discomfort radiated from her dark eyes. "I think I hear Ryan calling," she said lamely. "I gotta go," she said and made a beeline for the other detective.

Kate didn't bother to call on her ridiculous excuse.

She didn't want to be around Castle right now, either.