A/N: So small deviation from what we normally see on the show in this Chapter. But I really like it and it adds something to the story that I like. So I hope you like it too. Promise to work it back around to Christmas again with the next chapter.

"But you never go down to CSU. You make Ryan or Esposito do it. You just read the reports." Castle pointed out with a look in his eye. It wasn't quite confused and it wasn't quite amused, but somewhere in between.

"They're busy." She said simply as she put her things back into her desk. She shrugged off her overcoat and untied her scarf, hanging them on the back of her chair. Castle's eyes followed the coat as it fell down her back, stopping at her ass and staring. Then he blushed.

"That doesn't usually stop you." He said after a pause where he was distracted.

Kate blew out an exasperated sigh and turned slowly around to face him. She put her hands on her hips. "I don't like going down to CSU. It gives me the creeps. But, they're good at their jobs. And I don't want to have to canvas the area around the crime scene like Ryan and Esposito. I picked the lesser of those two evils." She said, then paused before adding, "The quickest." She nodded and turned back to her desk, doing a quick survey.

"Why don't you like CSU?" he badgered her further, like a five year old incessantly asking questions. She threw a quick squint over her shoulder, picked up her file and walked away. He was left to stare, once again, at her ass as she walked from her. This time, she could feel his eyes on her and added an extra, albeit small, swing to her hips.

When she got halfway down the hall she called out behind her "Close your mouth and move your feet. I'm not holding the elevator for you."

Castle took off at a quick pace to catch up with her. He missed the secret smile that spread across her face.

Beckett walked cautiously through the doors to their Crime Scene Unit, as if she expected something to attack her right then and there. Castle puzzled this in his mind as he filed in behind her. She did a sweep of the room in true Beckett fashion and apparently found the man she was looking for. She raised the file and raised her voice saying "Louie."

"Detective, what a marvelous surprise!" came the over delighted response from a balding guy at a table, lit from beneath. He was short, at least half a foot shorter than Beckett, and nearly as round as he was tall. He was clearly in charge down here as well. He pushed his old fashioned glasses up on his nose and began to walk (or rather waddle) towards them. Heads around the room began to turn in her direction and Castle watched as every man in rooms eye's traveled the length of her body. For the first time ever, Castle saw Beckett fidget. "What can I do for you today sweetie?"

Beckett steeled her voice and replied, "What have you got for me on my snowman case?" a snicker rose from the peanut gallery.

"Well, right this way, sugar." Louie replied, sticky syrup dripping from his tongue. It was enough to even make Castle uncomfortable in the situation. He watched as Beckett almost visibly shuddered.

Louie took them to a small side room, with two tables laying out most of what they had gathered at the scene. The crime scene tech walked them through some cigarette butts found near the body, some water that had once been snow with some alleged particles in it and a takeout box. Castle was not impressed. He was also not impressed by the way the crime scene tech kept touching Beckett, in his mind creepily, and kept watching her body. He decided it was time to take action.

He went to point to a scrap of clothing to ask what it was and remained pinned very close to Beckett's side. As he pulled his hand back he rested it on the small of her back, a position men typically use to take possession of a female. He felt her back tense under his hand as she shot him a questioning look out of the corner of her eye. He couldn't tell at the moment exactly how mad she was.

To Castle's delight, the tech man didn't seem to miss the pseudo intimate gesture between the two. He looked Castle up and down for the first time since he had appeared in the lab. He went on describing the evidence to Beckett but with markedly less overt sexual overtones. Castle had moved to a more normal distance from Beckett assuming that his message had been received loud and clear.

About thirty minutes later, the tech wrapped up his speech and Beckett nodded her head.

"I'll get you the formal report this afternoon." He said, and then did the same slimy slide over her body with his eyes. Beckett raised her hand to a knot that had developed in her neck as she stood there.

"Thanks Louie." She said, trying to keep the exhaustion and annoyance out of her voice.

"No problem babe." And with that, Castle lost it. He couldn't stand the thought that the best homicide detective in the precinct was being so blatantly sexualized down here by men who didn't even know her. So his body took action, with very little direction from his mind.

He raised his hands to message her neck for her and laughed as he saw her eyes get wide briefly. "Let's get you upstairs hun. It's time for lunch." He said simply. He put his hand back on the small of her back and guided her out of the side room and out of the lab as a whole. Beckett waved a thanks over her shoulder.

Back in the elevator, with the doors shut, she said, "What the hell was that?"

"He was creepy. And he was putting his creepy eyes all over you." Castle said with a shudder.

"I know that. That is the reason I don't go to CSU. But I am perfectly capable of dealing with it myself." She said, staring straight ahead.

"But he was sexualizing you." Castle pointed out earnestly.

"Castle, what exactly do you think Nikki Heat is?" She said and gave him a piercing look as she walked out of the elevator.