I seriously meant this as a one shot. Really, I did, but it's turning out to be HUGE! so I decided to post it in parts. But I'll be done with it soon. Thanks to Cat for the Beta!

Kate watched Castle and his ex walk away. As the elevator closed on the image that broke her heart, her eyes did too, burning that picture in her brain forever. She didn't dare open them to look at her audience and see the pity on their faces, so she took a step forward and headed for the ladies room, dropping her beer on someone's desk. Without a thought, Kate went in a stall and sat on the toilet, a wounded moan coming out of her throat. The sound hurt her vocal cords the same way her heart was slaughtering her soul, but nothing else came. Tears were stopped by the sound, but she was beyond them anyway.

It was the first time since her mother died that she had dared go beyond and open herself to the possibility of love and he just walked out the door with some bimbette on his arm. One he had already divorced! What did that say about her own worth if he preferred the blonde to her? Why had she bothered anyway? Sure, she wasn't in love with Demming, probably never would be, but she could have learned to love him. Damned if that was not what she should have done. It would have been safe, and probably just as frustrating as all her previous relationships, but at least she wouldn't feel like she was being repeatedly shot in the chest.

Kate closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall in defeat. She heard the room to the ladies room open and pulled her feet up to hide her location, despite the obvious lack of options. She knew it was Lanie, not only because, logically, she was the only one who could enter the room, but because she already knew her friend would be looking for her sooner or later. Kate wished it could have been much later, or not at all, but when the high heels went in the stall next to hers, she knew her time was up. The beer she had discarded not five minutes ago was passed to her from under the partition.

"We don't have anything stronger, sorry."

Kate took it and gulped down the first quarter of it. Lanie waited for Kate to speak, knowing that pushing the detective would be counter productive.

"The boys gone?"

"Not quite, they're planning the accidental demise of Castle's ex-wife."

"Not Castle's?"

A resigned sigh came from both sides.

"No, not Castle's."

"Why not?"

Kate's voice cracked on the question and she took another sip of beer to soothe her throat. It failed miserably and chose to remain, or so it seemed, in the region of her gag reflex, making her nauseous.

"Because he was doing what every broken hearted man does, girl. He found some willing woman to prove his worth. It's dumb, but that's what they do. Hell, that's what we do."

Kate thumbed the label on the bottle she was balancing on her knee and her face crunched in a grimace.

"*He* isn't heartbroken."

It came out bitterly, the pained moan clawing to be let out again. She washed it back down with more beer, adding to her already present nausea. She took a deep breath to keep herself from throwing up and let it out slowly, her lower lip shaking silently on the exhale. She was so busy trying to even out the pain in her heart and her urge to vomit that she didn't hear Lanie get out of her stall and open the door to the one she was occupying. She did hear the door crash open and a dime drop on the floor as Lanie glared at her, her arm keeping the door open.

"Wake up, girl! The man's been a wreck since you've started making eyes at Tom Demming and you know it."

Kate's Bambi eyes almost killed the tough as nail woman, but she knew that sympathy didn't work well and pity would land her on the floor, so the only thing she could do, as her best friend, was to force Beckett off her ass.

"Are you saying this is my fault?"

"No I'm not; I'm just saying it's not his. But what did you expect Kate? That he'd watch you overcompensate with Demming and would stay here for you to notice when you weren't busy with your boy toy?"

Kate's jaw inched toward the floor as her grip tightened around her beer bottle.

"Overcompensate? What the hell does that mean?"

Lanie pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes; not quite believing the so smart detective had no idea what she was talking about.

"It means that Kate Beckett doesn't make out in the precinct with some guy, no matter how hot he is, unless she's got something to prove."

"Prove to whom?"

Both women crossed their arms in front of their chest, their stance full blow fight even though Lanie had the advantage, both in truth and in height.

"To yourself, girl! You needed to prove that Castle wasn't the one, that he was just a player and that you didn't love him. And where did that get you? In a dirty washroom, hiding in a stall, drinking warm beer. You want to show yourself something Kate? Prove you're not the wimp we just saw watch her man walk away with some dumb blonde piece of arm candy."

Despite her already strong urge to throw up, Kate took a swing of her beer and looked at Lanie as if the ME was a sphinx who would give her all the answers if she could just solve the riddle. Her brow wrinkled as she tried to make sense of her thoughts, but all that came through was:

"But he chose her."

"He didn't choose anything; he defaulted back to her. That sure ain't choosing."

Kate nodded, more to give herself something to do than because she was agreeing with Lanie. She stared in space, grasping at her thoughts. But so what if he hadn't chosen Gina? She could hardly call him and beg him to stay. What was she supposed to do? Wait until the fall and hope for the best? Put her life on hold until it was splashed on page six that Rick Castle had wed for the third time (or would it be second and a half)? What was she suppose to do? She hadn't realized she had spoken out loud until Lanie snapped her fingers to bring Kate's eyes back to her.

"I'll tell you what you're gonna do. You're going to go home, pack all your sexiest things, including that barely there bikini you say you don't own and then you're gonna go down there and get your man."

"And where am I supposed to stay? In Castle's spare room while he and Gina reunite?"

At the small snag in her plan, Lanie pursed her lips and then smiled.

"Vanessa."

"Your cousin?"

"Yeah, remember Carl?"

"That green bridesmaid dress cost me more than all the other five combined, of course I remember."

"Well, money man has a house in the Hamptons. I know they always keep the house ready, but they're in Greece right now, on a yacht. I'll give her a call, but you know she'll let you use the house."

Kate bit her lip and looked at Lanie without really seeing her. Could she do this? Could she really just go over there and claim Castle? Watching the conflicting emotions flutter over her best friend's very expressive face, Lanie sighed and crossed her arms in front of her chest again, her hip keeping the door open.

"Here are the options you have girl: You stay here and have a miserable summer because the man you love is with another woman. You'll make us all just as miserable with the scorned woman bitchiness and then you'll pretend that nothing has bothered you when Castle comes back, if he does. And then, you'll be mean to him because you will have convinced yourself that this is his entire fault. You'll be saying that he can't be trusted because he's just a little boy who can't keep his toy in his pants."

Kate winced at the picture Lanie painted; it wasn't pretty, but it was accurate.

"OR, you go there and get YOUR man. So?"

As far as options went, she didn't have many by Lanie's estimate. The annoying part was that her best friend was usually right.

"Vanessa won't mind?"

"She still owes you for that weird extra fabric over your ass."

The first real smile painted itself on Kate's lips, confirming her choice and her determination. She unfolded her legs and stood, towering somewhat over the ME who grinned.

"That's my girl, now let's go home and get you packed. I've got to get a hold of Vanessa."

Kate gave Lanie a hug and walked out of the Ladies room with her head high and if she wasn't happier than she'd been walking in, at least she didn't feel as pathetic and defeated. It was an improvement.