Disclaimer: The gang's not mine, but I like to pretend.
Heart to Heart
Chapter 1: Kate/Lanie, Season 2, Episode: A Deadly Game, Part 1.
Kate had called Lanie earlier in the day to make plans for dinner at Remy's after work. Knowing the remains growing in her fridge were inedible, she longed for a big juicy cheeseburger. But hunger wasn't the only reason she wanted to hang out with Lanie tonight. She needed to vent about the two men in her life.
Demming and Castle's constant competing was giving her a headache. You'd think she'd be flattered by all the attention and used to the high level of testosterone at work by now, but this was over-kill, even for Kate. She needed a little girl-talk.
Once they were nestled in their quiet booth, the waiter came and took their drink order. They ordered a couple of Cosmos, and then he left them to fetch their drinks. Not a heartbeat later, Lanie got down to business.
"Ok girl, so spill," she said. "What's going on between you, Writer Boy and Demming?"
Kate's mouth hung open as she'd been unprepared for her friend's blunt opening. She tried not to appear nervous.
Since she was starving and had been busy focusing on the toppings to go on the huge burger she was about to order, in her weakened condition, Lanie had caught her off guard. She'd meant to ease into this conversation on her own terms, but hadn't been sure how to broach the subject, a problem that had just been remedied.
Unfortunately, and not to be paranoid, this also meant she'd obviously been the subject of some very recent office gossip. The look on Lanie's face made it clear she'd come prepared and armed with Intel. This was bad on many levels since Lanie was nothing, if not thorough and there would be no escape. Lanie probably knew more about her dilemma than she did. Lord knows what the boys had told her. Kate made a mental note to throw some extra paperwork Ryan and Esposito's way tomorrow as their punishment. She took a deep breath and reminded herself this was Lanie, her best friend, so there was no cause for embarrassment, still she struggled for a rebuttal. Maybe she'd come clean later, after a nice dinner – and a couple of drinks. The time for avoidance had arrived. She shut her mouth and worked towards a neutral expression.
"What do you mean?" Kate hedged, playing with her napkin. "Nothing's going on. Oh, before I forget, I meant to ask, are you up for a shopping spree tomorrow? I was thinking I could use a new pair of jeans and Macy's is having a one day sale."
"Sale or no sale, you do know changing the subject won't work with me, right," she said, raising an eyebrow, amused by Kate's lame attempt. "How long have we been friends?" They then enjoyed a brief stare-down.
Kate broke first and sighed as she took in the determined expression on her friend's face. She figured she might as well get it over with. "Ok. You've got me. You know, you'd make a hell of an interrogator, right?" she said ignoring Lanie's satisfied smirk. "It's not that I don't want to talk about it, it's just… it's weird. I mean, Castle, he's my partner and Demming, well… I'm not sure what he is. I don't know what to make of either of them right now. I might be reading more into this than there is."
"Oooh, this is going to be good." Lanie said rubbing her hands together in anticipation. "Go on. Tell me what's going on." she prompted.
"Something tells me you already know everything. Anyway, what have you heard and who has a bigger mouth, Ryan or Esposito?"
"A lady never reveals her sources. And it doesn't matter what I've heard about the 12th's hottest new love triangle. I'd rather hear your take on it. But to answer your question – that would be Ryan."
Kate gathered her courage and dove in. "Well, frankly, Castle and Demming are both driving me crazy."
"Castle's been driving you crazy for awhile now, so that's nothing new. Why is it bothering you now?" Lanie asked.
"I don't know, it could be my imagination, but lately he's been acting stranger than usual, ever since Demming started helping us out on a couple of cases. They do not play well together."
"Yes, so I've heard - any ideas about why that might be?" Lanie asked unable to pull off coy. "You don't think they'll come to blows?"
"Well, no, I wouldn't say they're going to break out into a fist-fight any time soon, but they're constantly shooting each other dirty looks and trying to one-up each other. Also, they're practically tripping over themselves to impress me. I've been trying to ignore their shenanigans, but it's not easy. They seem to have forgotten we're in the middle of an investigation. At one point, I actually interrupted them in the middle of one of their arguments to tell them it wasn't a competition."
"What did they say for themselves when you called them on it?" Lanie asked.
"Picture a couple of deer caught in headlights and you'd be dead on…and they didn't say anything." she replied shaking her head, "They looked surprised to see me. I think they'd forgotten I was in the room at the time."
"And why do you suppose they don't get along Kate?"
"I'm not really sure."
"Oh, I think you may have an opinion or two about it." Lanie said, challenging Kate to face facts.
"Well, if I had to venture a guess, I'd say they were both acting jealous and territorial." Kate admitted.
"Now we're getting somewhere. And whom do you suppose is the subject of their juvenile, but - oh so hot - behavior?" Lanie replied grinning.
Kate opted for a pensive expression, enjoying her brief reprieve as their waiter placed their drinks on the table and told them the dinner specials. To Lanie's dismay, Kate took her time ordering.
"Cheers." Lanie said. "And congratulations Kate that was amazing. It took you over ten minutes to order a cheeseburger. If I didn't know you so well, I'd say you were avoiding answering my question."
"Cheers." Kate said clinking glasses with her friend. "And I don't know what you mean. I'm not avoiding. I was just curious about some of their other selections on the menu."
"Un-huh. So where were we?" Lanie asked, not buying it. "Oh, yes, I remember now. We were discussing the two hot guys who are lusting after you and what you're going to do about it?" She was eager to get back to their previous conversation. Kate had finally been opening up and Lanie needed to keep her talking.
"Demming and I are sort of seeing each other." Kate said.
"And where does this leave Mr. Castle?" Lanie asked.
"Castle is my partner, same as always. We work together. We're good friends. There's never been anything romantic between us." Much as Kate tried, she didn't look very convincing.
"Honey, I've had plenty of male friends and not one of them has ever looked at me the way Writer Boy eyeballs you. How could you not notice this? You call yourself a detective? And don't get me started on the looks you give him."
"I'm sure you're mistaken." Kate replied on auto-pilot. Sensing Lanie's patience is wearing thin, she decides to be more truthful. "Ok, you may have a point, but Lanie there's more." Kate confessed. "I may have left out a few minor details."
"Such as?" Lanie asked.
"Castle may have asked me a few times to go with him to his place in the Hamptons for the Memorial Day weekend." Kate watched as Lanie's eyes went wide. "But he said there would be no funny business." She added.
"Holy crap. Oh my God, are you going? And no funny business, my ass! Just how stupid does he think we are - I mean you are?" Lanie was hanging on the edge of her seat about ready to burst from the suspense. She'd been waiting for Kate and Castle to get together since the day they met. She might even have a little bet riding on it.
"At first I wasn't sure he was even serious," Kate replied "so I played it off like it was no big deal. Then he asked me again, but I never really gave him an answer. Like I said, I'm sort of dating Demming right now and one man at a time is confusing enough."
"Yes, but who do you want to be with Kate? And what the hell does "sort of dating Demming" mean anyway?" she said. "You're either dating or you're not."
"I don't know Lanie. I mean Demming's a good guy and I like him a lot. He's the safe choice but I don't see us together long term. And Castle, well, he's…Castle. Right from the start, he's made me nuts. But he's smart, funny, just this side of crazy and can be really sweet. He's my partner and we've got each other's backs. There might be something there, but it's… like I said this whole thing is complicated and he's a complete risk."
"So, I'm going to make a pretty big assumption here and say this isn't the first time you've thought about you and Castle possibly getting together, is it Kate?"
"You could say that would be a safe assumption Dr. Parish."
"Oh, honey. You've got to get your head out of your ass. You know Castle's not going to wait around forever. No way is he going to stick around to watch you be with another guy."
"I know Lanie." Kate said as the waiter brought over their food. "I'll get it together soon. I just need to sleep on it. If it's meant to be, it will be. What's one more day? Now let's eat. I don't know about you, but I'm starving."
A/N: Well, if you remember this episode, you'll also remember "one more day" was the day Castle walked away for an entire summer with Gina hanging on his arm. The hussy. Coincidentally, this was the same day my TV remote broke since I threw it across the room at the end of the episode.
Anyhoo, should I continue? I'm already working on a Part 2 to this chapter since I've often wondered what the gang talked about after they witnessed Castle walk out with his ex-wife the next day, effectively breaking Kate's heart. After that, if there's any interest I'll randomly pick episodes and write Heart to Heart discussions between various characters. Please tell me if there's one you'd like to see. Any episode, any mix of characters.
I'd really appreciate hearing what you think! Thanks for reading, Karen