AN: Disclaimer I do not own Castle or anything associated with it. No copyright infringement intended.

The idea for this story is from the show, but the resulting story line is written solely by me. So far I don't have seen a story here using this line, only once it was mentioned, so I hope you will get something new to read.

Fans of the series will know where I am heading after seeing the murder scene, but I hope some twists will shake them.

It is a lose follow up to Taken, but it is not needed to read it to understand this story.

I hope that I neither killed the English language nor butchered a nice storyline for my readers.

02 April 2011, 8am:

Castle and Beckett are on their way to a crime scene with Ryan and Esposito following them in their car. Beckett fidgets in the car seat, she is nervous. Glancing at Castle she replays the last day in her mind. After two weeks Dr. Holloway came and brought the evaluation from Castle to Captain Montgomery. Castle got his field rating back, the whole team was smiling and decided it is a good moment for a coffee break. Just as she started to follow them, Dr. Holloway stopped her with a light touch on the arm. 'Detective, on a word', he said, 'although he is field rated I want you to keep an close eye on him in the next couple of weeks. Psychology is not an exact science, especially in this working environment he may has flashbacks, if the case is similar to his recent experiences. Stay close to him, it should be good for both of you.' And after he checked the time, he excused himself for an appointment he had. She stood there dumb folded by his request.

'What the heck did he mean with his last sentence anyway', she still wonders.

And in what seems for her seconds they arrive at the crime scene, easy to be found because of the patrol cruisers parked in front of it. She could even spot the van from the medical examiner.

The four of them climb out of their cars and take in the rundown surrounding.

'What is it with storage facilities, doesn't the criminals nowadays know how to dispose a body properly', Castle jibes, 'A fridge in a storage facility gets boring after the first time.'

With a sly grin Beckett takes up the banter, 'Nobody said anything about a refrigerator so far.'

'Great, I forgot my peppermint ointment.'

'Smell wasn't the reason that the body was found.'

'Let me use my psychic powers', Castle starts, bringing his hands up, so that the fingertips touches his forehead and the thumbs rest on the cheeks, 'The villain stopped paying the renting fee. Booooring, we already had such a case.'

'Oh my gosh, you are really a psychic', Beckett says in faked astonishment, 'but I can assure you this case is not like any other.'

'How do you come to this conclusion, detective?'

'They called us!'

With a smile they enter the building and after a quick orientation they follow the signs into the right direction. Counting down the numbers of the storage rooms Ryan says, 'Room 213 should be around the next corner.' As they make the turn, they see an officer standing in front of the room.

'Hey, Tim. What do we have here', Castle asks.

'I don't know, I arrived after they found the body. But I guess Dr. Parish can help you out. She and the CSU are already at work inside.'

The four put on their latex gloves and enter the storage room. They stopped inside taking in the room.

'That is definitely not what I expected', Castle breaks the stunned silence. The room looked more like a bedroom than a storage room. At the wall are cupboards and a black leather couch, but it is dominated by a big king size bed with curtains.

Lanie is kneeling besides it with a bewildered look on her face. Castle and Beckett step over to her. As they reach her, they can see the young woman on the bed. She wears a white weeding dress made out of fine satin, which hugs her well formed body. Her face is fine cut, it looks like it was carved out of stone. It is surrounded by long, pitch black hair.

'Hello, Lanie. What can you tell us so far', Beckett asks her.

Lanie looks up with a frustrated sigh, 'Not much, I can't determine neither cause nor time of death and no ID so far.'

'How can that be? By the looks of her I would say she can't be dead that long', Castle says.

'Looks can be deceiving, writer boy. Somebody drained all of her body fluids and replaced it with formaldehyde. And from what I have seen so far her main organs were replaced by some sort of filling material.'

'You telling us, she is a modern day mummy', Castle asks excited.

'Mh, you may say that', the medical examiner agrees.

'You can't be serious!' Beckett shakes her head.

'Isn't it great, I already love this case', Castle exclaims with his boyish grin on his face. Castle scoots into one corner of the room like a kid on the search for even more treasures.

This so normal behavior for him, brings big smiles on the faces of his four friends. 'That is the Castle we all learned to know and love', Lanie says the thoughts of them and looks at the end of her sentence curios at Beckett.

Beckett blushes slightly and to cover it up she says, 'Let's split up, we have a room to examine, boys.' Beckett is looking through the first cupboard as her cellphone rings.

'Detective Beckett … You can't be serious Captain … I understand … Where is it? … Okay, I will be there in half a hour. Bye.'

Heading to the exit she calls out, 'Esposito, this is your case now. Castle are you coming, we are needed at the beach.'

Everyone in the room can see how torn Castle is about this unexpected development. 'The beach with Beckett … A freaking mummy … beach .. mummy, oh crap, I can't decide.'

'Hurry up Castle, decide her or me', Beckett asks impatiently.

Castle looks from her to the victim and then back, 'That is so unfair, why can't I have both of you.'

'That is gross, Castle', Beckett says.

After a second he realize what he has just said. 'That doesn't come out the way I intended it. Can't somebody else take over the other case?'

'No, can't do. It seems today is 'wish the detective' at the precinct. The second time I was requested and the Mayor believes the other case is more important than our Jane Doe here', in the end anger is clearly to be heard in her voice.

'Let's hope that the other case is equally good', Castle says as he follows her to the car.

'Can't promise you that, I only know the address', Beckett says.

02 April 2011, 8:55am:

The signs that they have arrived at the crime scene are the same like at the first scene they drove to earlier in the morning. Patrol cars with turned on blue lights parking at the street side, only that in this case there are more, a lot more patrol cars. Even a couple of big black SUV are parked there. 'FBI', Castle asks. 'Don't ask me, I know the same as you', Beckett answers defensive.

And naturally it is at a beach, so there are already a lot more on-looker at the scene cranking their heads to get a better view at the scene.

'I hate these on-looker', Beckett says and climbs out of the car, 'they are getting their cheap adrenaline kick out of the pain from others.'

Beckett and Castle step to the barrier and with a nod to the officers they are through it. 'Yeah, it is the FBI', Beckett says and nods to their right, 'Crawford is over there with Franks.' Beckett stops at Crawford and the team leader of the CSU team at this scene. Castle strolls into the direction of the shore line and spots Perlmutter working there. The further down the beach he walks the more his stomach tightens in anticipation. From what he sees the act of violence can't be happened to far in the past. He kneels down on the other side of the small body and forces himself to look around. He sees the officers from the CSU team walking slowly around, picking up and bagging every piece of paper and trash they find. He looks also at the ocean and how the waves break on the shore. His eyes always drawn to the body right in front of him. Looking over to Perlmutter he says in a quite, nearly soft voice, 'Perlmutter, you better get the guys from CSU move a little faster, the high tide is coming in.' Perlmutter locks up in alarm, 'Right, these guys don't think on something like that. And I better get the kid ready and move him to the morgue.'

The medical examiner stands up and searches for the team leader of the CSU team, leaving Castle alone with the body.

Castle tries hard not to look down at it, but his eyes finally give in. He swallows hard and his hands start to shake, 'Yesterday you played hide and go seek with your friends, and today you are … here. How can this happen?' A shadow falls over his shoulder and he tenses up.

'Castle are you okay?' Beckett steps at his side. 'Castle?'

He forces himself to mumble, ' I'm alright.'
'I don't think so, I know how cases with children affects you.' After a quick glance over to Agent Crawford she continues, 'That is the reason I believe you should work the mummy case with Esposito and Ryan, I can handle this one with Crawford.'

'I … I think you are right, but I will head home now, I am totally exhausted', he agrees.

'Do you want to be drove home by a patrol?'

'NO .. no, I will walk. I need the fresh air.'
The two woman follow him with their eyes as he limps up to the street.

'Am I wrong, or is his limp worse than last week', Crawford asks.

'I believe his mind is occupied with this here, so he can't hide the pain he still has in his leg. And this is all my fault I should have let him stay with the mummy, instead of dragging him here', Beckett says with guilt in her voice. 'So let's see what we have here.'
'Mummy, are you serious?'

'I am always serious, Crawford.'

And in the following silence the two could hear a horn blow.