It was rare for the break room to be empty, but at 2.45 in the afternoon, almost all of the precinct had been called into Gates' office for an emergency meeting. She heard muffled voices rising through the glass, and saw people beginning to move around. Automatically, she scanned the room for her friend. Kate would be in desperate need of coffee about now. She always did when forced to be in Gates' presence for any length of time.

She was just reaching for a mug when Kate opened the door and gestured to her. Puzzled, she followed her out of the room, down the hall, and into an empty office.

"Honey, you're lookin' a little wide-eyed."

Kate stared at her intently, and bit her lip.

She knew that look. "Oh my God, what have you done?"

Kate took a deep breath. "I need to call in that favor."

She felt heat rising to her cheeks even at the reference to the Incident of Shame two New Years' Eve parties ago. There would be no refusing Kate. She nodded. "Okay."

"Lanie... you can't laugh."

"Okay."

"And you can never speak of it again afterwards."

"It's that good, huh?"

Kate nodded. "Yeah. It really is."

Lanie brace herself. "Okay. Let me have it."

"I wasn't supposed to be in today."

"Mmm hmm."

"Gates called me in, she didn't say what it was for or that it would take this long."

"I'm waiting for the shameful part."

"When she called, I was going across town to meet Castle."

Shoulda known he'd be involved somehow.

"We're... intimate... now."

Lanie grinned. "Hallelujah. I've had about all the angst – "

"Yeah. Well, you see, the thing is... when Gates called, I was going to meet Castle at the Towers of the Waldorf Astoria on East 50th."

She raised her eyebrows. "Nice. Your boyfriend knows how to live."

She squirmed slightly. "Yeah. Well, I told him to get himself ready for when I arrived."

Lanie nodded. "And now you're not arriving."

Kate let out a breath. "Right."

"So call him."

Kate shifted. "Okay. This is the shameful part. I can't. Or, I can, but he can't answer."

"The man is practically hardwired to his phone."

"The man is currently handcuffed to the bed and can't do anything." She waited patiently till Lanie stopped laughing. "I know, I asked for that. Gates won't let me out of here until I've got her some information she needs for a big meeting first thing tomorrow. I can't disappear for the length of time it's gonna take me to get to the hotel and back."

She stared at her friend. "Are you seriously saying you want me to go uncuff your boyfriend?"

Kate looked utterly pathetic. "Would you?"

"Well, how do you think he's gonna feel about that?"

"I think he'd rather you let him loose than spend the next however many hours wondering at what point he should start yelling for hotel staff to call a locksmith."

"How long has he been there now?"

Kate glanced at her watch. "About half an hour. He won't be panicking yet. Please, Lanie."

"It's gonna take me a little while to wrap up downstairs and get over there."

Kate hugged her hard. "Thank you." She pressed a key into her hand.

"After this, we're square."

Kate nodded vigorously. "We are so square."

"What am I gonna say to him?"

"Lanie, do you really think that in this scenario, you're gonna be the one who's embarrassed?"

She considered. "I guess. Oh, how am I gonna get into the room?"

"It's room 345. I told him to leave the door unlocked. Let's hope he did."

***

As the doorman opened the door for her with a flourish, Lanie felt decidedly underdressed for a visit to the Waldorf Astoria, and wondered if she would ever get to spend the night, or even a dirty afternoon, in a place like this.

She bypassed the reception desk and proceeded directly to the third floor. The corridors were wide, well-lit, and punctuated with marble tables holding huge vases of very expensive flowers that lightly perfumed the air. She followed the discreet brass signs, and eventually came to room 345.

She took a deep breath, and knocked. "Castle?"

There was a muffled response from the other side of the thick door.

Lanie cracked it open. Thank goodness, it was unlocked.

The suite was gorgeous; bigger and better appointed than her apartment. She would've liked to look around and investigate how the other half lived, but dutifully headed for the double doors through to the bedroom, instead.

Castle lay naked in the middle of the bed. He was cuffed to the headboard, half-hard, and sporting a blindfold. Holy cow. She felt for him. She sure wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of this.

She spoke before he could say anything to make this worse. "Castle, it's me. Lanie."

He gasped in shock as every muscle in his body – and she could see all of them – tensed.

She went straight to the bed and covered his lower half with a blanket. "Kate got held up, and she asked me to come free you."

"Oh, my God." His face was bright red. "Would you please just kill me?"

Lanie touched the blindfold, but he squirmed.

"Leave it. No offense, but I'd rather not see you right now."

"Fair enough." She reached over his head and unlocked the handcuffs. He brought his arms down slowly, wincing.

"You okay?"

"Lanie, I..."

"It's okay, Castle. I'm gonna leave now."

He held up a hand. "No, wait." Slowly, he pulled the blindfold off, and after a moment managed to look her in the eye. "I'm really, really sorry about this; about you seeing me like..." he winced, and it was obvious what he was referring to.

"Castle, I understand, but it's fine. Honest. I know I wasn't what you were expecting."

He nodded, and ran a hand through his hair.

She smiled. "This is a nice place. You're taking good care of my friend."

He smiled for the first time. "I'm trying to."

"Be careful with her, Castle."

There was a subtle shift in his expression. "I will."

She smiled. "I know you will." She turned to go.

"Lanie, I owe you."

She grinned. "That you do, Mr. Castle. I expect coffee and a bearclaw on my desk at 7am tomorrow."

"Done."

End.