This is set somewhere in the future, after the Castle/ Beckett friendship grows a little deeper.

R

Referee

She was always playing referee.

Castle would do this, Beckett would say that, and it was her job to make sure it was a clean game.

That, and that it didn't carry on for too long. I mean damn, only so much banter can happen before someone scores a goal.

So when Beckett comes down to her lab, she isn't surprised. No, she got over the surprise months ago. Years, even. No, she just gave her the knowing eye she had gotten so good at and motioned for the autopsy table.

She could have become a therapist instead of a city-employed ME and make a hell of a lot more money for hell of a lot less work. She made sure to tell Kate this, who only rolled her eyes in return.

It's when Castle starts to come down to the freezer that is the morgue when she is caught by surprise.

"Lanie," he greets her.

"Castle. To what do I owe the pleasure?" the back and forth is amicable with the undertones of flirtation but nothing more.

"Can I get your advice?"

"I need to start charging by the hour," she said, emphatically, punctuating her point by pointing the scalpel she held in her hand at him. His arms went up in mock self-defense. "Between the two of you I'd make a fortune."

"The two of us?" he inquired, suspecting who she was talking about. She looked away, busying herself with the corpse before her, and he realized he wasn't going to get anything more than that from her. "You're her best friend, Lanie, you more than anyone should know-"

But Lanie had had enough of this.

They were in denial.
The both of them.

"Damn it, Castle," she slammed down the scalpel, metal hitting metal with a loud, atrocious clang. "When will you get it through your thick skull?" His furrowed brow told her he was confused. "I'm not her best friend," she told him, with a slight shake of her head as her demeanor softened.

Pause.
Pause.
Hard Pause.

"You are."

He just stared at her a moment, a lost look on his face as though she just sprouted wings and started speaking German to him. His mouth made to form words but none came.

"I know I'm pretty, Castle, but you better get your ass back out there, apologize, and make it better for her or so help me-"

"Yeah," he finally managed. "I gotta go, uhh, you know… Make it better…" And with those words he was gone.

She huffed a breath, a mix of victory and relief. That needed to be done. She picked up her scalpel, positioned it over the corpse that laid before her, and began to cut.

"See what I mean?" She said, partly to herself and party to the deceased. "They are hopeless."

And after a moment:

"I'm tired of playing referee."

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