Hole Chapter. Should be fun.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

Reason: Chapter 3

And with that, I took a deep breath and descended into the hole. The chasm of death. The lair of the mole people. With a dead body. And Beckett. Yeah, this day was great.

The pit was deep and dark and dank. Below me, I heard Beckett carefully moving down the ladder. I focused on the walls of the hole. Most holes narrow as they go down. This hole was totally straight, as if a large post-hole digger had been used.

The mole people were certainly advanced.

"This is not twenty feet!" I called down.

"Yeah," Beckett answered, "More like ten."

"Lanie needs to take a course in measurement."

"Lay off. She doesn't like holes."

I heard Beckett touch down on the bottom. Rocks slipped and moved under her feet. The hole was a bit wider than me and about as long as me if I chose to lie down in it. I did not choose to do so. The first thing I noticed when my feet touched the rocks is that they were very unstable. I had to work at keeping upright. One wrong move and you could slip and fall. A fall would be bad here.

The floor seemed to be on a slant. There was a dark shape in the corner furthest from me where the floor looked lowest. Beckett was waiting for me at the other side of the hole. I walked a step over to her. It really was cramped.

"My theory has been defeated. No adjoining tunnels." I said, slightly sad. I was sure that the Nazi mole people had done it.

"I'm crying myself to sleep tonight." She tried to walk past me. "Castle, could you move?"

"Nowhere to go."

"Yeah, well, find somewhere." In the light from the flashlight I could see this was no time to joke with her. Like that was going to stop me.

"Not until you tell me about the shoes."She let out an exasperated sigh.

"Lanie called me with a heads up about the hole. I decided to wear more practical shoes." Beckett? Wear practical shoes? Does she think I'm an idiot?

"Liar." She opened her mouth to say something but I put my finger up to silence her. "It's no use. When I was watching you walk earlier I noticed you were limping slightly. Could it possibly be that your feet hurt from chasing the suspects yesterday though an alley? In heels?"

"You were watching me walk?"

"That's not the point." I smiled wider. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"Yes. Fine, my feet hurt from yesterday, happy?"

"I could offer my massage services if that would-"

"Move."

I turned to the side and pushed myself against the wall so she could squeeze past. To my disappointment, she did so without touching me. Plan one to make-Beckett-uncomfortable-without-suffering-serious-injury: failed.

She walked over to the dark shape on the opposite side of the hole and crouched down. She nearly slipped and fell into it but I, having followed her closely, steadied her. She nodded at me in thanks. Then I realized what the dark shape was.

A body, if you could even call it that. Upside down, face to the wall, crumpled and broken. The bullet hole in the plaid shirt on his back was rimmed with blood.

"Okay, found the body." I said, lightly. "He doesn't look C.I.A, but you can never tell."

"He doesn't look like anything, Castle." She stood up and I moved back to give her room. She flashed the light on the ground and walls.

"What are you looking for?" I asked. There couldn't be much down here. "Mole people?"

"Will you stop it with the mole people already?" She muttered, but she sounded as if her mind were elsewhere. I turned to follow the beam of light. Nothing. Just dirt and rocks and... wait...

"What's that?" I pointed. Something had sparkled back when Beckett moved the light over it. She moved the light back and I walked forward, staying out of the beam. I could hear Beckett following me. I knelt down by the object, for it was an object, not mole people signalling. Yeah. I really need to drop the mole thing.

"Hold the flashlight." Beckett passed it to me and I held it steady. She pulled on a latex glove (where did she get that?) and knelt down, being all C.S.I.

Totally hot.

"Huh." She said, turning it over.

"What?" I asked craning my head forward.

"You'll like this, Castle." I started to open my mouth and talk about C.I.A and mole people when she held up a finger. "Not that."

"What? What is it?" I could see her smile in the light of the flashlight. She lifted her hand and I gasped, understanding.

"It's a girl's best friend." The diamond was big. Bigger than your average diamond but not super-sized.

"Oh, the killer must be Meredith." She looked at me, half surprise, half exasperation.

"Your ex-wife? Really Castle?" I shrugged.

"I recognize that diamond. It's changed forms since I last saw it though." She sighed and closed her eyes.

"I'll bite."She said warily.

"Well, last time I saw it, it was in the form of an alimony check." She closed her eyes and I could tell she was holding back a smile. I've come to recognize all the expressions of Kate Beckett over the years. This one was amusement hiding behind serious.

"Castle..."

"Yes, Beckett?" She rolled her eyes (it's her favourite thing, I swear).

"Let's go." She stood up fluidly. I tried to imitate her but failed. I started to tumble down when she put a hand under my arm. I accepted her help gratefully. I did not want to go tumbling into a dead body. That and she was touching me.

"Thanks." She smiled and gave me a slap on the shoulder. Didn't hurt at all (lies, it hurt. It still hurts).

"No problem. Just returning a favour." And with that, she started up the ladder.

"Oh, and Castle? If you stare at my butt, I will hurt you." I saluted.

"Yes ma'am." I couldn't see it, but I could tell she rolled her eyes. I waited until she was halfway up then started climbing back to the sunshine. Or lack thereof. It had clouded over since Beckett and I had descended. I didn't look at her butt once. I swear. Not once.

Twice.

Beckett was handing the diamond off to C.S.U and telling them to be careful down there. I walked over to Ryan and Esposito. They were talking quietly to each other. When they noticed me, they stopped abruptly. Esposito strolled over to me.

"So," He began. "Cozy down there?" Ryan joined him on my other side.

"You and Beckett get some 'quality time' together?" He added with a smirk.

I scoffed. "As if, gentlemen."

"Deny it all you want, bro. We know the truth." Esposito tried to look all knowing and superior.

"Yup," Ryan added. "You can't hide the truth from us."

Yeah," Said Esposito, "We're detectives."

"We know things."

I smiled. "You know nothing." I laughed at the expressions of mock hurt on their faces and went to find Beckett.

She was waiting by the car, looking at Ryan and Esposito with amusement.

"You boys playing nice?" She asked.

"Yes Miss. Beckett."

"Good. Come on, we got a case to work."

"Can I drive?" I asked hopefully. Maybe this time she'd let me!

"No." I sighed. I'd never get to drive the Beckett-mobile.

With that exchange done, we drove back to the precinct. Little did we know that today would cause change. Good change.

Oo..oO

A/N: I'm going to make things more interesting soon. Please review. I love all of you reading this!