3x03—Under the Gun

"All that was an act just to get a trace?"

"Of course."

But he can see. He can see everything written, as clear as day, in her eyes. Every single word that fell off her lips was the God's honest truth.

It breaks his heart the second he realizes it, but she's already making her way steadfastly towards the elevator, pressing the button firmly, her hands quickly holstering her weapon and clipping her badge to her belt loop. The boys brush by him, holstering their own weapons and Esposito shoots him a knowing look that tells Castle that he knows, too. It also tells Castle to leave it as it is, if only just for now.

He gives the shorter man a nod and quickly follows them to the elevator, taking his place in the back corner when it opens on their floor, his eyes riveted to the back of Beckett's head.

They'll talk about this, he promises himself; eventually, they'll talk about all of this.

XXX

It's not until hours later when they finally get the chance.

It's after everything that's gone down; after the confrontation at Gunn's grave, the arrests made and the last clue found that might possibly lead them to the treasure.

They're both sweaty, shovels pressing splinters and blisters and God-knows-what into their hands as they dig for that elusive treasure—and Castle wonders, fleetingly, why in the world Beckett had two shovels in her trunk in the first place. The silent has blanketed them for the last fifteen minutes, the only sounds are those of their grunts and huffs as they pile more and more dirt outside of the hole, forming piles that are nearly as tall as they are by now.

Finally, he can't take it anymore.

"So," Castle says and he could swear he sees her startle; "Royce."

Kate, for her part, doesn't even lose momentum; just lets out a grunt as she tosses another shovelful of dirt onto the pile next to them. "What about him?" she says, after a moment's pause.

"You two…well, I think it's kind of obvious that you had a thing."

"A thing?" Kate scoffs. "Hardly; he was my TO, Castle; nothing more."

"Bull," Castle says, pausing for a second to look at her. "I saw the way you looked at him; that was more than just the mentor/mentee relationship; that's the stuff that porns are made of."

Kate rolls her eyes, still not losing momentum. "Keep talking, Castle," she says, "and you might find yourself digging your own grave tonight."

"Apt place for a grave, I think," he quips and gives himself a pat on the back when he catches her smirk. He goes back to digging and they're silent for another minute.

"I know you were lying," he says, tensing his body just in case she decides to follow through with her promise. She still doesn't pause.

"When?" she asks, simply.

"Before," Castle explains, "when you told us that…that it was just an act when you told Royce you were in love with him; I knew that was a lie."

"Congratulations," Kate snarks, "wanna cookie?" He can see the new walls erecting even without even turning around; he can hear the barricades in her voice.

"I'm not trying to gloat," Castle says. "Not trying to prove anything by it. I just…I want you to know that you're not alone."

For the first time, Kate pauses—if only for a second. But then she's right back to piling the dirt. "What do you mean?" she asks.

"I've been…let down a few times before, by people who were supposed to love me, to be there for me, you know? First, by Kyra—you already know that story; then by…by my first ex-wife…"

"Meredith?" Kate asks, remembering the redheaded maelstrom who'd whizzed through just two years earlier.

"Yeah," Castle sighs, putting a little more force into his next dig, "Meredith. She cheated on me in the third—and last—year of our marriage."

Kate's digging stops automatically at that, the shovel dropping from her hands as she turns to him. "What?" she says, her eyes wide. Castle, though, doesn't stop digging.

"Yeah," he sighs. "Caught her in bed with her director; she didn't even look remorseful about it, either. Just…inconvenienced. After yelling at her and kicking that scumbag out—the director, not Meredith—I went to go pick up Alexis from Daycare, fully expecting to talk to Meredith about what had happened and try to work it all out but…she was already gone." He sighs, letting his shoulders droop with the confession; he's never told anybody this before, besides his mother. "To be honest, I wouldn't have really minded if it was just me she left—I mean, I would, but I'd have gotten over it much more quickly if we didn't have Alexis. But we did; we had this beautiful three year old girl who had no idea why her mother was no longer there and then wouldn't even fight for custody…I forgave Meredith a long time ago for cheating on me, but I'll never forgive her for what she put our daughter through."

It's deadly silent after that and he has the ridiculous notion that she's somehow disappeared altogether, but then her hand is on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Castle," she says, and it's nearly a whisper. He turns and gives her a sad little smile, shrugging slightly.

"I think we turned out okay," he says, smirking. "For the most part, anyway."

"I worry about your mental stability, sometimes," she teases.

"I think we all worry about that," he quips back. "But, according to mother, I was only dropped on my head twice, tops." Kate snorts and rolls her eyes. He grins and they both go back to shoveling.

Before long, their shovels hit something and then they're both scrambling to push away the dirt with their clawed hands, both rejoicing as they reveal a trunk from the loose earth, tugging it up and onto the flat ground next to their three-foot-deep hole.

Castle helps her out first before scrambling over the side next to her, grinning widely down at the small wooden chest.

"Shiny," he mutters under his breath and Kate snorts, but her eyes are wide and excited and she looks like a ten-year-old that just unearthed her favorite childhood toy. Impulsively, she wraps her arms around Castle's waist, her face pressing into his neck as she hugs him and he stiffens for only a second in surprise before wrapping his arms around her in return.

They stay like that for a few moments until Castle could swear he hears a soft, 'thank you' whispered into the skin of his neck. He smiles and squeezes her briefly before letting go.

"Let's open this baby up, shall we?" he says, rubbing his hands together. But when he reaches out to lift the top, she swats him and he yelps, pulling his hands back to his chest, pouting at her.

"What was that for?" he squeaks.

"This isn't ours, Castle," she says, lifting the box as she stands. "We have to return it to its rightful owner."

"Now?" Castle whines, following her. "We can't even see what's inside first?"

"Nope," Kate says, opening her trunk and placing the chest and her shovel in. Castle places his next to it. And she pulls out a towel, handing it to him. "Sit on this."

He snatches it, still pouty. "We can't even take a little peak?" he asks. Kate shakes her head.

"Sorry," she says.

"But….but what if it has explosives in it?" he asks, grasping at straws.

"It's been buried for long enough that they would probably be useless by now, Castle," Kate points out. "Besides, who buries explosives?"

"Pirates!"

"I think we're okay," Kate says, grinning as she sets her own towel down on the driver's seat, before sitting down and starting up the engine.

"But then what was the point of searching for it?" he asks, still whiny and petulant as a child.

Kate shrugs, grinning at him. "For the story?" she suggests.

Not M-rated but there wasn't a lot of 'M' to do in this between Caskett and I was not gonna let anything happen with Royce xP. Reviews please!