Author's note : Thanks again for the reviews ! You guys are amazing ! Words of advice though, if you ever write a cliffhanger, make sure you know what comes next BEFORE posting the first part... Yes, I'm an idiot. Here's hoping it lives up to expectations.
Lanie was on lunch break with some colleagues from the medical examiner's office when she received the most alarming text she ever read.
"Hey Lane! Thank you so much for setting me up for the fundraiser. The author was really amazing. I'm seeing him again tonight. XO. Charlene."
The ME nearly spat her soda. She started typing something but decided to call instead. She excused herself from the cafeteria table and try to find a quiet place. Not an easy task in such a busy building. Plastered against a corridor wall, she dialed her friend.
"Hey Lanie ! Got my text ?"
"You're seeing him again ?" Lanie was agitated but trying not to call to much attention on herself.
"Yeah. We really hit it off. Really ! If you know what I mean...", the dancer gave a light chuckle.
Lanie nearly had a heart attack.
"I'm not really sure..."
"Oh, come on. We spent the night together. He was so charming. So th..", Charlene continued but Lanie wasn't listening anymore. She was hyperventilating.
"Charlene, I'm sorry. Gotta go", she ended the call and stared straight ahead. "What have I done ? Oh my god. Oh my god.." she repeated until her colleagues came looking for her.
The gang was still on the Saint-Peter's case. Late in the afternoon, she had found some elements she needed Beckett to see. She wasn't sure she could face her friend and Castle without saying something but the job had to come first. It was well after 9 when the two partners arrived. The offices were already deserted, only Lanie remained. She heard the elevator and the sound of Beckett's heels. That's not all she heard. The detective was apparently arguing with Castle. Loudly.
"I can't believe you slept with her ! No ! Don't you dare talk to me."
"Oh come on", she heard Castle start. But there was a noise that sounded strangely like a slap.
Seconds later, a stern looking Beckett walked through the door, followed, a few feet behind, by Castle, holding his cheek.
"What've you got ?" The detective was all business and Lanie, for once, didn't want to pry. She felt guilty for introducing Charlene to the writer as much as she was angry at the man for being, well, that kind of man.
"When I analyzed the contempt of his stomach, I found something weird. Amongst alcohol, a burger and some gum, I found that." The ME showed them a paper. It was all wrinkled and dirty. "I'm trying a solution on it to see if we can see what was on it. It will be ready tomorrow morning."
"He ate that ?", Castle quipped.
"Yes. That's disgusting !", Lanie said, not talking about the paper. She looked at him pointedly. "Disgusting !"
"Great. Thanks Lanie." Beckett glanced at her watch. "It's late. I guess I'm gonna call it a night and come back for the results tomorrow then." She waved at Lanie and left without waiting for Castle. She even shut the door on his nose on purpose. Lanie heard him call after Beckett.
"Take a cab !", came the curt reply.
Lanie winced, thinking she really screwed up. Not as much as Castle, but still... Picking up her phone, she texted Esposito before gathering her stuff. She drove directly to the precinct. When she parked there, she didn't notice, a little further away in the dark, two shadows in a Crown Vic.
"How did you know she would be coming here ?", Castle asked. Beckett shrugged.
"I didn't but going to Esposito seemed a natural choice."
"You're very good", he said in that tone that made her blush every time. "Do we go now ?"
"No, we wait a little. I don't want us to run into Lanie too early", she explained.
Silence settled until he turned to her.
"You know I would never ever cheat on you, right ?" His face was serious.
She smiled at him, thinking he was so cute when concerned about things like that.
"I know", she replied, leaning into him. She kissed his lips tenderly. "I love you", she whispered against them. His heart was doing somersaults in his chest. If he said it a dozen times already, even lightheartedly ; if she implied it many times with "me too", it was the first time she pronounced the words.
"I love you too", he whispered back, grinning.
She pulled away and opened her car door.
"Come on, Castle. Show time !"
In the dimly lit precinct, Lanie, Esposito and Ryan were standing around the detectives' desks. Lanie had been explaining the whole disaster to them. They were trying to find a way to fix it and/or hurt Castle. In the deserted bullpen, they distinctly heard the ding of the elevator. They turned around and their jaws hit the floor. Castle and Beckett were locked in an heated embrace against the wall of the lift. They separated just long enough for Castle to throw an envelop out and push the ground floor button. The two lovers winked at their friends and got back to kissing. As the doors closed again, Castle decided to be bold. With both hands under Beckett's thighs, he pushed her up between him and the wall, her legs hooking up at his waist. He ground into her.
"Castle !", Beckett scolded him, once the elevator was on its way down.
He offered her his best Cheshire cat grin. "What ?"
Back in the bullpen, the three of them ran to the envelop. Ryan got there first. He tore it down. Inside were pictures of the fundraiser. Lanie snatched them from him.
"That's Charlene !", she exclaimed.
"And that's Alex Conrad dancing with her", Ryan noted.
"Chica. When your friend said she slept with Castle. Did she said Castle."
Realization dawned on her : "The author." Both men frowned at her. "Oops ?"
Outside, Beckett and Castle were laughing their ass off as they walked to the car.
"I wish we could have seen their face, though", he said. "Can we go back to rub it in their faces ?"
Never stopping, Beckett inched closer to him. She snuck an arm around his waist and kissed his neck up to his ear. "I'd rather finish what we started in the elevator."
An excited expression appeared on Castle's face. He quickened his pace, taking her hand in his and dragging her as she laughed.