Disclaimer: I do not own or lay claim to anything even tenuously associated with Castle; it belongs to various individuals and corporations who are considerably more talented and well-off than myself. I am only playing with the aforesaid characters, situations, settings, etc. for my own amusement and am making no profit whatsoever from this (other than the bettering of my writing skills and my own amusement). No copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

A/N: Set shortly after 2x24: A Deadly Game.

It's like a comedy of errors, Lanie reflects ruefully. Man meets woman. Man hits on woman. Woman hits man. Cue bickering and sizzling sexual tension. (And damn, is it hot.)

But really, it's more like a tragedy of miscommunications, because they're never on the same page at the same time. When he wants her, she isn't ready. When she wants him, he's oblivious. (For an author, Richard Castle's pretty bad at reading between the lines sometimes.)

And then he's gone and she's struggling to breathe.

He'll be back in the fall, but in the meantime Lanie has to watch her best friend trying not to fall (any further). Not to fall short of her own impossible standards, not to fall to pieces… not to fall for him.

It sucks.

Which puts her in mind of that old saying: when mama ain't happy, nobody is. And Lord knows it's true. Kate Beckett's the mama around here, and she's miserable. She's not the sort to let it bleed over into her interactions with her coworkers, but everyone knows that she's unhappy, and that makes them unhappy too. 'Cause they're all a family here at the 12th Precinct.

It's not all Castle's fault. He's a man, after all; blind to the reality of the situation. But when it comes to taking sides, Lanie's with her girl every time, right or wrong. And in this case, where the blame's pretty evenly split so far as she can see, she's definitely with Kate.

So she tries to convince her stubborn friend to talk about it – which she knows isn't gonna work – and tries to make sure that she doesn't work herself to death. Which is a helluva lot easier said than done. Kate Beckett's one determined woman.

Lanie thinks it's kinda funny that two such seemingly intelligent people are so determined to make themselves miserable. Except for the fact that it's not funny at all. If this were a comedy of errors, she could be certain that there'd be a happy ending, a resolution to this mess. But this is real life, and real life is never that neat.

Still, different pages or no, Lanie's pretty certain that they're both reading the same book. Not surprising, considering how big a fan Kate is of Castle's work. (And of the man, though she'd never admit it.)

Even though she's a realist – and being a pathologist, it's hard not to be one – Lanie's got a bit of a romantic streak. So, against all logic, all reason, she clings to the hope that one day these two readers will catch up to each other. It's gotta happen sooner or later, right?

'Cause those two fit together so well, it's like they were written for one another.