The soothe of coffee ran across her taste buds as she held the warmth close to her, the caffeine already working wonders on the ache behind her eyes. It was stupid...really... irresponsible of her not to go decaf at 7.45 at night. But honestly... she needed the extra stimulation if she was ever going to survive the intrusive looks and knowing smirks from the two sitting across from her. They looked at each other flicking their eyes as they moulded their hands over their beverages. It's like they are having a conversation without words... IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?... STOP. Now... please dear God stop with the humming and the tapping and the quirky little nods that seem harmless but I know they are about to destroy me.

The ringing of a phone startled Kate out of her spiral as Alexis stood and moved to take the call, saying something of Paige and 'boy troubles'... oh the teenage life. Sadly boy troubles don't go away with pimples and growth spurts... if Kate's life was living proof. She sighed and looked at middle Castle... deciding to start the conversation before she attempted to peel away at Kate's defences. "So... where have you been for three years?"

"Oh" she shrugged and smiled "I've been working in Australia... my publicist insisted that my books were incredibly popular there and that if I wrote more and did some promotions in the actual country it would encourage more fans"

"And so you left."

"Yea.."

"What was it like?" Kate asked as she tapped at her cup, the younger girl lifting her eyes and sighing, smirking sadly as she gulped at her own beverage.

"It's not home..."

"Oh... you didn't want to go?"

"Are you kidding?" She asked as she lifted her eyes and stared across at the glimpses of her sister visible from the windows. "Rick, Lex and Grams... they.. they are my everything. Three years... do you know how long that is to be away from the people who make you whole? No... no I didn't want to leave.. and I never want to leave again."

Kate stared at the young girl, the words spilling from her lips before she could even think about stopping them.. "Then why did you?"

"Sometimes... being a minor means you really don't have a choice." She shifted and dragged her fingers through her hair, moving its loose curls from her face. "My foster dad thought the money was important so they relocated us... and gave him another kid.. an Australian girl. Her name is Marie... she's a year younger than Lex"

She smiled swiping her phone to show Kate a photo of a young girl, impossibly straight blonde hair framing impossibly alluring blue eyes. She was sitting beside Mya on an overstuffed chair, both girls bringing their knee's up to their chins as the blonde leaned slightly on the older girl, laughing at something she'd said as they curled up next to one another.

"Wow... you two seem close."

"Yea... us foster kids tend to stick together... and it helps that she is an excellent baker and can woo me with her chocolate creations" Mya laughed as she placed her phone back down, fondness in her eyes as she looked back up at Kate. The older woman wanted to probe... craved to know more about this girl whose past resembled hers, but circumstances made them so different. Longed to help aid the sadness that crept in her eyes sometimes when she thought no one was looking. But before she could... before the questions she wanted to ask formed on her lips, Mya raised her eyebrows, cleared her throat as though it was the most normal thing in the world and opened the conversation that Kate had been avoiding. "So what's it like being partners with Rick?"

...Crap.

It was loud... it was busy... it was everything Rick hoped it would be and more. There were drunk surgeons... drunk wives... Heck drunk waiters that moved carelessly around them as he drank in the atmosphere. out the corner of his eyes he watched an overly busty 30 something year old move toward a brunet woman; her back turned as she was caught in conversation with supposedly another doctor. Suddenly there was attacking...there was screaming.. there was hair pulling. And this was quickly becoming Rick Castles ultimate night out.

"Oooooo that gotta hurt!" he exclaimed fist to his lips as he watched the fight, taking in everything he could. "Why didn't I go to med school? This is absolute genius!"

"Mmmhhmmm... wait watch what happens next" Lanie says getting caught up in the adrenaline herself... though knowing far too well how this fight ends. The brunet woman turned, bringing with her a tray she had managed to grab from a passing waiter, knocking her assailant full in the chest with as much force she could manage... He heard it... would've have heard it even if he wasn't standing in the same room as the busty girl herself. A loud pop echoed across the floor as she doubled over. And then she stood... the sloshing unmistakable as she looked down at what used to be her perfectly engineered breasts... her left one not so perfectly rounded anymore.

"OHHHMMYYYYGGGODDD" Rick stumbled across the laugh that was now wanting to rip across his chest. "That did NOT just happen!"

"Yea it did... see the brunet over there... she's a plastic surgeon. If she can create the boobs she can take the boobs away" she said clicking her fingers

"Amen" he replied, "De-breasting by a waiter's tray...who would've thought?"

There was a moment of silence as they looked at each other seriously... Lanie nodding, Rick arching his eyebrows in apparent agreement. And then it became too much, they both clung to each other in hysterics, coughing and wheezing but too caught up in the silliness of it all to care as they quickly ran out of breath. They didn't notice several flashes that directed their way..

All they saw when they recovered was a now lonely blonde stealing cautious glances at the crowd while stuffing napkins down the front of her dress...trying to compensate for the now saggy left side.

And then they doubled over in laughter.

"Uhmm...it's interesting" Kate nonchalantly stated... hostility oozing from her as she spoke. Hostility however didn't seem to faze middle Castle. Dammit.

"Yea... I bet it is... I heard he jumped in front of a bullet for you"

SHIT...this could not be happening. Nope. No. She will not succumb to this interrogation

"Heard he pulled you out of a burning building too"

HOLYMOTHERFU "Yea...we've..had our moments" she was nervous now... the younger girl seemed intent on revealing...revealing wayyy too much for Kate Beckett's liking.

"You know he used to talk about you all the time...when he called me in Australia." Mya said as though it was a fact...an everyday thing that her father had called her almost everyday...spilled his heart to her as she listened on the other end of the world.

"Really?" Kate piqued at that...What did he say...

Mya knew what she was doing to Kate... it was obvious from her fidgeting that it was getting to her and she couldn't help but smirk in triumph at unsettling the famous 'Beckett'. Oh yes she knew how much Rick loved his muse... cherished her.. adored her even. But she needed to know how much his muse shared his feelings. She needed to know who she was giving her father to.

"Yea.. he said that he was happy" the implication clear in her voice...he said you make him happy. Kate felt a warmth spreading from the middle of her chest as she melted slightly back into her seat. She wanted to say that he made her happy too... that he has always been the reason that she smiled so often. But it was too intimate... too much of herself was to bared in that statement, and though the truth shone from her eyes she stayed safe.

"I'm glad" she whispered and took a gulp of her coffee

Mya frowned, watched the older woman's carefully concealed expression and almost audibly sighed in exasperation. There was a lot of work to be done.

"Come on writer boy... time to dance!"

"Dance?" he gulped... on an ordinary day he was average... but under the influence he had trouble distinguishing his left foot from his right. "If you don't mind getting your feet crushed... sure."

"Ohh please... I've seen you at those book parties of yours... you have moves"

"Yea Lanie... it's called the 'I am forced to be here' boogie and 'do you know how much I'm getting paid for this' jive"

She giggled at his antics and they parted their way through the crowd. Neither of them had drunk enough to be intoxicated, but the atmosphere was hard not to get sucked into and soon the looseness that many of attendee's seemed to adopting was seeping through their skin and Lanie Parish had to admit she was having fun. A lot of fun. And so was he, if his constant laughter was any indication. Truth be told, both Rick and Lanie never really interacted alone... always Kate between them. But now that they had it was a wonder they hadn't sooner. They got along immensely well and Lanie hoped that after all the scheming... and well... lying to his face, that she and Castle could continue this new found friendship. After all... her best friends soon to be man had to be accepted by said friend. And she watched the Writer monkey shake his bootie in exaggerated movements causing the doctor herself to burst out in laughter.. she knew that he was perfect for her friend... and she approved of him. Wholeheartedly.

But then the sudden buzzing of her phone broke through her musings as she looked at the home screen. Oh shit...

Alexis Castle collapsed in the seat next to her sisters and flicked her hair out of her eyes. "Urrghh... I hate high school"

"Why?" Kate asked amused as the younger girl rolled her eyes.

"Drama...and cheating boyfriends... and the overrated, construed idea's of sex all rolled into one"

Kate chocked on her coffee... Uhm..what?

"Oh yea..." Mya sighed as she grinned "Gotta miss the good old days... when hooking up in the supply closet or getting caught naked in the gym locker rooms with a boy was considered cool" she wistfully took a sip of her beverage before noticing the arched eyebrows of both Kate and Alexis staring her way. "Not... that I did that...nope..nooo"

Alexis regarded her carefully. "You were never caught were you?" Mya gulped as she looking at both the homicide detective and 16 year old. And then a sudden buzzing stole the silence.

"OH HEY...look..it's my phone...someone's calling... gotta get that... yep..wouldn't want it to go to voice mail...no.." she stood as both Kate and Alexis rolled their eyes.

"Nahh.. she's lying... she thinks locker rooms smell...no way would she get naked with a guy in one" Alexis said as Kate all but burst out laughing.

"Let's hope you're not"

Alexis widened her eyes... realising the compromising situation she put herself in. "What...eww no. Locker rooms do smell" and Kate snorted at her attempt at naivety. "No but seriously... I'm only 16... I've got plenty of time... and akka would kill me.."

"Why do you call her that... akka?" Kate asked curious as she felt the name roll of her tongue.

"It means 'Big sister' in her mother tongue... When I was younger she would sing to me in different languages and we would play around with words... and before I went to sleep at night she would kiss me on the forehead and say 'Sweet dreams thankachi' and brush my hair of my face. It became a routine just like dad's goodnights and so one day I asked her what it meant. And she said... it was a sign of respect. It meant little sister... and she was accepting me as her family. And so from that day on I've called her akka... because she is my family"

"Wow"

"Yea.. she still calls me thankachi... but only when it's just us... because its become something special you know"

"WE HAVE A PROBLEM" Said sister now interrupted their conversation, gesturing to the Alexis as they jumped at her entrance.

"What?"

Kate's phone began ringing abruptly and she answered it with her usual 'Beckett' forgetting the girls for just a moment.

"That.." Mya replied gesturing to Kate as Alexis regarded her incredulously. "Code RED lex... code effing red"

Realisation dawned on her as she looked at Beckett and then at the phone now pressed to her ear. "No... no! it's too early... we can't move on to phase two yet!"

"I know!"

"Shit... Lanie is sooo dead"

"I know..."

"Hey girls I have a body... I have to be at the morgue" Kate said as she stood.

...yea...We know...

It was a a quick car ride back to the morgue... too quick in Mya's opinion as neither she nor Lex had chance to prepare themselves. This could not be HAPPENING. They had lied... made up some stupid little excuse about Alexis needing to see Lanie about her internship. Offcourse however they needed to be there... damage control and what not. However they were acutely of the holster strapped to a one Kate Beckett's hip. Oh God..please tell me this is not happening.

They made their way quickly into the cool building, Kate tracing her steps from memory. And then she saw Lanie... all dressed up in a black and gold number that clung to her curves and accentuated her figure... wow.. she looked good.

"Hey girl.. you're..here..." Lanie said nervously glancing over Beckett's shoulder at the two Castle twins as the older mouthed 'I'm sorry' , the younger almost cringing at the inevitable.

"Wow Lanie! You look great!... this must've been some date huh?"

"Err..."

And at that moment a voice echoed across the room. A voice so very familiar and both girls cringed. Great.

"Hey Lanie, the limo is still outside in case we finish up early here and have time to get back. We still have champagne to finish... and you will not GUESS what I brought for you" He entered the room unknowingly, looking absolutely dashing in his Armani suit, his hair slightly ruffled- a smile on his face. And then he stopped

Beckett gaped

She looked between her best friend and her partner... took in their attire, the giddy flush of their skin. "Castle?"

All three conspirators flinched

And then all that could be heard was the awkwardness of the girls, the startled gasp of one homicide detective and the unmistakable clanging of a waiter's tray hitting the floor.

OH SHIT.

Breast implants bursting? Oh the hillariousness i can only imagine. Hope you enjoyed it :P