Everyone say it with me: THEY STARTED FILMING SEASON FIVE TODAY! Better than that, behind the scenes photos (if you've seen them, *squeal* if you haven't, that's your decision and I support it) and it's day one and I've already broken my "spoiler-free" vow. And I don't even care.

It just seemed appropriate to post a new chapter today because...well it's today, how could I not post? Reviews are greatly appreciated guys. And I want you to look at where I am in the fic and where they are; do you see how close we are? Be prepared for things to get closer to the end. Just saying...

Oh and happy "oh my god they're filming season five" day.

Please review and as always you can follow me on twitter you can find me at vatrask

Enjoy 3

It's about a month into the summer that she starts wearing high heels. At first no one noticed – they just vaguely realized that she was a little taller – and then everyone noticed but they chose not to comment. Lanie was the only one who knew why she had changed her wardrobe because she'd been the one to take her shopping but she knew better than to reveal her friend's secret's to anyone. Kate would kill her if anyone found out that the brunette had spilled her guts – and her feelings – over a bottle of scotch one night and nearly cried in frustration because 'I just wanted to go to the Hamptons for the weekend I wasn't asking him to marry me' and now he was at the Hamptons with his ex-wife writing a novel about her while Gina 'sat on him' for an entire summer. A week into his trip, she caught herself staring at the phone, expecting him to call asking for updates on the case or something but no call came. After a month with no call, she forced herself to stop staring at the phone but failed miserably. I mean it wasn't as though they were in a relationship; he was her shadow who suddenly wasn't shadowing her and she was just a little thrown off by his absence – nothing more. That much denial eventually bubbled over into a late night liquor run to her best friend's apartment where the ME tried her best to convince her that no man was worth the confusion and heartache – even Richard Castle – so the next afternoon, the two girls went shopping and bought Kate a brand new wardrobe that said 'I'll kick your ass and still look sexy as hell' and thus, a brand new Beckett was born.

As the weeks wore on she eventually got better…at hiding the fact that she was still thinking about him. God, it was like the man had burrowed into her bloodstream and was just swimming around there like it was a day at the beach. Why did he do that? Wasn't it bad enough he was writing four books about her; did he really have to consume her thoughts and occasionally dreams? The boys knew that Castle had left and eventually they noticed that she was about a foot taller than before but what really tipped them off that something was wrong was the far-off way she stared at the phone and the bitchy attitude she used on suspects who showed her even the slightest bit of resistance. One little punk dared to hit on her and she nearly punched him in the break room, later venting her anger at a punching bag that actually popped.

Sometime during Beckett's venting time she went out and returned with a date that she'd met at the coffee shop that Castle usually brought her coffee from – though no one knew it because she went right back to punch things and threatening with her eyes to kill people with her new heels. After that, the Captain had a nice long chat with her that no one knew the contents of but it seemed to mellow her a bit. She still wore the heels and she still paused whenever the phone rang, secretly hoping it would be him but she'd mellowed out a great deal.

Until he came back and it all went to hell. The boys would swear under oath that when she arrested him for murder knowing that he as innocent Beckett smiled but at the moment, they were more focused on the fact that he had hurt their friend and he needed to be taught a lesson about making a girl stare at her phone longingly for three months. That involved threatening him with guns that had the safety on – well Esposito's was anyways – and treating him like the perp he was; and then sticking him in the box with Beckett.

And all they had to do was sit back and watch as Beckett interrogated her suspect and silently hope that she didn't try and punch him. "You've been informed of your rights, Mr. Castle?" Ryan 'oohed' at the fact that she was so formal – 'straight for the knees' – and Esposito would have smirked hadMontgomerynot entered to watch the interrogation. He told her that she looked good and she responded in kind – with a smile so small it was almost genuine – and then she turned on him, returning to cop mode and making him almost jump in his seat but the writer knew her too well to flinch – it didn't stop him from thinking about it though. The three boys mostly just watched, waiting to see who would crack first and make this interrogation what it really was; personal. Beckett caved first 'why didn't you call?' and the room held their breath waiting to hear his answer. They scoffed when he brushed it off as part of the case but let it slide it slipped seamlessly back into the personal realm talking about his relationship with his ex-wife. She was trying to rile him up – she knew it, he knew it, they knew it – but he still rose to the bait and punched her in the gut, asking how her boyfriend Demming was. Low blow, Castle, they thought as they watched the detective's resolve wavering. Apparently he's seen her hesitation as well because he slipped into friend mode for a brief moment. 'You broke up?' causing the two boys to look at each other in confusion. 'He doesn't know they broke up?' 'I guess not.' 'I thought she'd told him.' The gossip girls snapped shut at a pointed look from the captain standing between them.

Ryan had the decency to look guilty when Castle called him 'Annie Oakley' referencing his little faux pas with the safety and almost shooting Castle. Esposito, ever on his friend's side, mumbled something about letting him shoot the writer to teach him a lesson.

But Castle was innocent – of course they all knew that – even Beckett – but it had been kind of nice to make him squirm after what he did to Beckett and what Beckett had done to the precinct as a result. So they let him go and told him to go home knowing that he wouldn't now that he was back in Beckett's presence and they glared at him from across the precinct knowing he had no clue why.

Like he always did, he wormed his way back into their lives and got himself reassigned as Beckett's partner just for this one case if he didn't put all his creative power into finding the murderer. He put everything into this one because he knew that Beckett wouldn't hesitate to kick him out and he just couldn't imagine not coming in to the precinct to see her anymore. Yes he was back to dating Gina and letting her sit on him all summer was rather pleasant but this was Kate Beckett, the most extraordinary woman he'd ever met and shadowing her was pretty indescribable even for a writer so if it meant being realistic and logical, he'd do it.

Thankfully it didn't require too much logical detective work to find a former stripper turned murderer who was making money with a teacher, a sculptor and a vending machine guy – which still sounded like the lead in to a bad joke. And best of all, he won the bet with Beckett which meant she had to let him back in; the thought of forcing her to spend time with him made him pause and he shifted side to side as he offered her one final out. And she didn't take it – he mental fist pumped and danced around and cheered and did a series of crazy dance moves – she let him back in as her partner on a regular basis which meant that whatever he'd done to piss everyone off, was resolved – he hoped.

Everything was going back to normal and he couldn't be happier about that; one change he did like, however, was Beckett's new high heels which put her just below eye level and at the perfect level for kissing…eventually.