AN: For those wondering about the continuity, Team Caskett is together, publicly. After the wedding, and I'm ignoring the whole 'pretending they broke up to protect each other' storyline. Nothing against it, but for this story, it works better that way. Plus, it's a Division crossover, so continuity with future episodes means nothing.

Beckett went from the Break Room to her office, with her fresh coffee held close protectively. Her husband was over at the Murder Board, but he wasn't working on a case. "You're starting a betting pool over Santa?"

"Tis the holiday season, Captain." Castle said brightly. "The sugarplums are dancing and the eggnog is flowing and all those family members are trying to decide if they want to be crammed into their happy little homes with their loved ones again so soon after Thanksgiving. Inevitably, there will be homicide! And as a symbol of peace and love and happy children, Santa Claus is sure to be the lightning rod of all that barely contained violence!"

Ramirez, already writing her picks on the whiteboard, agreed. "Last year we arrested fourteen Santa's. Drunk and Disorderly, aggravated assault, a few fake charity bins ripping off donations..."

"This year, we're organized." Castle summed up. "Why traumatize children by dragging St Nick away in cuffs if we can't put money on it?"

"That's sick." Captain Beckett declared. "But put me down for ten on 'grand theft auto'."

Ramirez dutifully wrote it down as Beckett went into her office.

Castle followed her. "Remember that time we went out to a crime scene and there was a Santa Claus that had dropped out of thin air in the middle of the night? I hear that kid is still in therapy"

"You hear?" Beckett repeated. "You kept tabs on the kid?"

"You interviewed the parents, I interviewed the kid." Castle said with dignity. "Took all of my skill as a storyteller to make her smile again."

Beckett found herself smiling it him warmly, just from that one alone.

"And that's when the ninja's attacked!" Castle added.

Beckett rolled her eyes at him. "They did not. Jeez, Ninja's attacked you one time, and you start putting them in every story you ever tell. Doesn't real life entertain you enough?"

"Of course it does." Castle said easily. "But the thing is, they're ninja. For all we know there are a dozen of them in this precinct right now. You never see them until they want to be seen. For all we know they could have been Japanese Warrior Clans involved in every case we've ever worked together and we never knew it."

"You think so?" Beckett mocked. "Then consider this: What if every country has ninja, and we only know about the Japanese ones because they suck at hiding?"

Castle stared at her a moment, and promptly reached for one of his notepads. "Now there's a thought that's going in a book!"

Beckett smirked as her office phone started ringing, and she answered it. "Beckett."

"Sweetie? It's me..." A choked voice said quietly. "It's um... it's Lanie. I need you to do something for me."

Something in her voice made Kate sit up straight. Over at the couch, Castle noticed her reaction and did the same. "Lanie?" Beckett said. "Where are you?"

"I'm downstairs. I've just locked the door."

"Why? And what's that echoing sound on the call?"

"I'm about seal myself in one of the freezers. I'll have about ten minutes of air. I need you to go Level One, and have the entire Morgue sterilized, and then contained, understand?"

Beckett was on her feet instantly. "I will. Lanie, are you... contaminated?"

"I think so." Her best friend started to cry. "The freezer is the best way I know of keeping someone from-from getting it from me, but don't let anyone in without bio-hazard gear on. Call when they're ready to come in, and I'll seal myself off. Leave a hazard suit for me. Tell them... tell them it looks like Smallpox."

Beckett felt panic rising in her chest. "Lemme put you on hold."

Esposito was ordering a hotdog, when his phone rang. "Esposito."

"Javi, it's Beckett." His captain called over the radio. "We have a situation here. Where are you?"

"On my way back to the Precinct." he said. "Turns out that tip we got-"

"Don't come." She told him. "We're quarantined."

Esposito froze. "What? Why?"

"Lanie was autopsying a few bodies that came in this morning. A black and white pulled over a car that was driving erratically, and it turned out to have two Drivers for the Carlucci family in the back seat, both of them covered in blood. The chase went on for a few minutes, when the perps overturned their vehicle... But here's the thing. According to Lainie, all three perps in the car died before the car flipped. No gunfire was exchanged, they just... dropped, mid-car chase."

"So she threw up a quarantine around her morgue?"

"Around the Precinct..." Beckett took a breath. "Javi, she's completely freaked. Lanie is good enough that she doesn't jump at shadows, but she's terrified."

Esposito's face turned to stone. "Give me an order, Captain."

"In about two minutes, I'm going to announce it over the Squawk box. Then, everyone in the city will know. I've called the CDC; they're sending a team. I'm talking to other departments so that we can find an alternate place to put any perps until we can get the quarantine lifted, and organizing patrols for everyone who's not currently here. But I have a special mission for you. Those guys worked for the Carlucci's. Castle still has a marker from Dino Scarpella. I need you to find him, and put a phone in his hand. Castle is going to get him to talk. If one of the Organized crime syndicates in this city is also going to be Ground Zero for something REALLY bad..."

"I'm already moving." Esposito threw his hot dog away, uneaten. The vendor was still waving dollar bills after him, trying to give the cop his change. But he already had three more people in line.

"Grandma?" Alexis called into the phone. "Are you okay?"

"Darling?" Her grandmother answered, and she didn't sound so well. "Alexis, where are you?"

"I'm... At home. At Dad's. I was calling about lunch..."

"Good. Stay there." Martha croaked. "I'm going to have to cancel on lunch... There's one hell of a flu going around. Practically everyone in my building has it."

Alexis suddenly felt scared. "Grandma, what about you?"

"I'm a little under the weather, myself." Martha allowed.

"Listen, dad called, and told me not to leave the loft." Alexis wavered. "I think he'd make an exception if you needed help... or maybe you can come h-"

"No, that's good." Martha interrupted. "Stay where you are. And... don't go outside." She coughed again, harder. "What about you? Are you... healthy?"

"Not even a sore throat." Alexis reported.

"Good." Martha hacked.

"Grandma? What aren't you telling me?" Alexis pressed.

"Nothing, sweetie. Keep warm, kay?"

Alexis gripped the phone. "Gramma, you just lied to me. You didn't even lie to me about Santa Claus; no matter what Dad threatened you with. Tell me the truth."

Martha was silent a while. "There's blood on my tissues."

Alexis let out a sob. "The radio is full of stories about gridlock and crowded hospitals. The TV is calling it a bad flu season. What if they've all got it? What about dad? He's still out there!"

The streets were getting hard to navigate, but eventually, Esposito made it to the last known address of Dino Scarpella. On the way, his phone had started ringing. "Esposito."

"Javi?"

Esposito nearly slammed on the breaks. "Lanie!"

"I... I just wanted to hear your voice, baby." Lanie said quietly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not the one under quarantine."

"I really can't express to you how scary it is to see men in hazard outfits wrapping up your office in saran wrap." She whispered into the phone. "Now, let me do this first, before I lose it: Are you wearing gloves?"

"It's December. Everyone is."

"That's good, but I'd rather you wear surgical gloves. That huge Marine Survival Bag you have in your car? I assume it includes a Medkit?"

"Gloves and surgical masks." Esposito nodded.

"That may not cut it. Go home. Get your gas mask."

Esposito said nothing to that, but he had actually kept a second gas mask in the car . "This isn't just procedure then."

Lanie sniffed. "I did the tests again. Nothing else to do down here. It's not a false positive. It's Smallpox."

"How is that possible?!"

"I don't know, but it's in their clothes, in their wallets... I hear Beckett ordered them to torch the car in the impound... Javi, I did the blood work. I'm infected too."

Esposito choked on his tongue. "Are you sure?"

"Yup." Lanie sniffed, fighting down emotion. "Okay, um... I hope we'll talk again, before this is over. But I just wanted to hear your voice, and I wanted to make sure you hadn't got it. You'll put that mask on."

"I will."

"And you'll keep it on."

"I will."

"And you'll think good thoughts for me?"

"They're the only kind I have, when it comes to you." Javier wiped tears on his collar. He didn't dare touch his face right then. "I love you, Lanie. I know I broke it off, and the reasons still seem like they make sense to me, but I don't know why I didn't have every second I could with you."

He could hear her smiling, even through her tears. "Javi, I feel the same way. I wish... I wish I could touch you right now. I never realized how much I still wanted to have my arms around you until I put the damn bio-suit on..."

Javier parked his car in as secluded a spot as he could find. "I feel the same way, beautiful."

Alone in the morgue, Lanie checked her pulse again. "Javi, just so you know... I didn't call anyone else. I called Kate to lock it down, and I called you. I haven't even spoken to my parents yet. I don't dare, because whatever kate has to do to fix this, I can't put the word out. But if the worst happens, I want you to talk to them, okay? When it's safe. Tell my mom I did my best."

"I will." Javier promised.

Silence. Lanie rolled her head back, squeezing her eyes shut. "I want to keep talking, until I can't any more... But I don't want you to hear that. I'm-" She coughed. "I'm checking my vitals every half hour, and it's not looking like a good day for me. I just... I had to talk to you. Of all the things on my bucketlist, I think this was the one that mattered most."

"Don't you give up yet. Not ever."

"Javi, I'm vacuum sealed into a room, alone with my frozen stiffs. I'm trying not to be pessimistic, but Medicine is a win or lose business, even for an M.E." Lanie sniffed, looking from the sealed doorway to the rows of freezers. "And I can already feel the symptoms creeping up on me." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Javi... If I've got it, I won't last the week. And frankly... I'd be glad for it."

"What?"

She sniffed. "Javi, I checked the incubation rate. The whole country could have it right now. If it does... I'd be glad not to see it."

Javier couldn't think of anything to say. "I love you, Lanie."

"Love you." She said back with a barely there smile. "Say it again?"

"I love you."

She smiled a bit more. "You remember the time you met my parents?"

"Oh. Yes." He answered, and she could hear the rueful smile.

"When dad hugged you and said 'call me dad' I thought you were going to crack and run screaming from the room." Lanie said with a soft smile. "But you did it, and just... made it all be fine."

"Ryan came to my rescue as I recall." He smiled softly.

"That night, when you said that you wanted what they had, what Kate and Castle have... But you knew you wouldn't have that with me..." She sniffed. "I just want you to know, I meant what I said. You deserve a happily ever after, babe." She was saying goodbye, and they both knew it.

"One day." He promised. "But just so you know, she better be something pretty amazing after you. I may not have been your Happily Ever After, but you were the best thing that ever happened to me in years and years." He tried to smile through the phone. "And if memory serves, you spent the rest of that evening with your hand glued to my ass."

"Well sure, I may not be your eternal bride, but Waste-Not Want-Not."

They both chuckled, and just for a split second, the world was far away. After a moment, there was a knock on her door. Figures outside in bio-suits. She went over to the one they left for her, and started changing. "Javi, they're transferring me to an ICU. They want to get a handle on the symptoms."

"Good. They can help."

"I know Doctor Kandell. She's good." Lanie was putting a brave face on it, and they both knew it. "Tell me one more time." She said gently.

"I love you." Javier promised.

"Love you too."

The line disconnected. Javier looked at his phone for a moment... before he put it away, and got out of the car, heading up the door of Dino Scarpella.

Don't think. Don't feel. Just walk. Don't think. Don't feel. Just walk.

There was no answer, but the door was unlocked, and Javier pulled the gas mask from his car close by.

"Mister-" Esposito stopped talking and snap-drew his sidearm. "Drop the weapon! Drop it now!"

The man Esposito had been sent to find was clearly dying. Scarpella was rocking back and forth, in an old wooden rocking chair, and he had a double-barrel shotgun across his knees, pointed squarely at Esposito.

"Believe it or not, Policeman..." The older man groaned wretchedly, as bloody tears leaked from his eyes. "...I'm helping you right now. Step two feet closer, and my scattergun will be far kinder to you. Though, one wonders if it matters how a man dies."

"I'm Detective Esposito, from the 12th Precinct." Javier's gun didn't so much as waver, but he pulled the mask up over his face with one hand. "I've been instructed to put you in touch with Richard Castle."

"Rick? What does he want?"

"I can put my phone in your hand and you can ask him."

"Fine. But you better put it on speaker, and step well back. The room is unhealthy right now..."

Esposito placed the call.

"I spoke to Lanie." Kate said softly. "She's not optimistic."

Castle looked heartsick. "You guys... talked?"

"Said all the things we needed to say." Kate rubbed her eyes. "Castle, five of my people called in sick today. Ryan, I haven't heard at all."

Castle nodded. "I tried calling him. Couldn't get through."

They both jumped as Castle's phone rang. "It's Espo."

"Put it on speaker." Kate turned her chair to face the phone as he put it on the desk.

"Guys, it's me." Esposito said right off. "I found Dino. And he looks pretty bad. Whatever it is, he's got it."

"Espo, stay the hell away from him."

"That won't be hard, given that he's promised to shoot me if I come any closer. Rick, he says to put the phone on speaker."

"Do it."

Esposito did so.

"Rick!" Dino called. "I heard your wife made Captain. I'll just assume my invitation to the wedding was lost in the mail."

"Don't feel too raw about it. So was mine." Esposito put in.

"Mister Scarpella, I'm afraid I have to tell you that you lost three of your men this morning." Beckett began. "Their names are-"

"I know their names." Dino wheezed. "They took part in an armored car holdup two weeks ago."

"You understand you're talking to two police officers, right?"

"Who cares any more?" Dino wheezed. "The Sales Season had just begun, and there was plenty of money moving back and forth. My business gets its funding from plenty of places, but at this time of year, people do less gambling, and more shopping; spend less on whores and more on their families. Call it the Christmas spirit. I had... overheads. So when Vincio comes to me and says he knows the route for armored truck... I tell him to go for it. He took two friends, and... They are all leaking their guts into your morgue, right now; I imagine."

"So they hit the car, and discovered that instead of sacks of money, it was full of... What?" Castle asked, running out the plot in his head. "Vials? Lab equipment? Test tubes?"

"Money. Just bags and bags of money, exactly how it was meant to be. I tell my boys to keep it hidden, and stand guard, until the heat dies down, and the law assumes it's left the country already. They do so... And then they start to get sick." As if to punctuate the point, Dino broke down hacking and spluttering again.

"Speaking of, Dino... We can get you an ambulance? NYPD has pull with hospitals. We can get you some Intensive Care Treatment..."

"No. They can't help me. My sainted mother, bless her heart, she lost all her brothers to the Pox. I know what I got, and I'm a dead man. It ain't right, surviving a lifetime of bullets and knives, to fall to a microbe... In fact, I have spent all morning trying to gather enough strength to lift this damn shotgun into my mouth."

Silence from the phone.

"Dino..."

"Protect your wife and your kid, Rick. There ain't nothing more important." Dino coughed. "Rick, that favor I owe you, my people know about it... You can-can-can still ask... ohh."

"Dino, I really never expected to-"

"I know, but I can be generous now. I'm negotiating for the ultimate deal, after all." Dino coughed, raising his eyes to heaven. "Beautiful Captain, you should tell your man to finish his questions and get well away from me now."

"Well, by now we've figured out what this virus does, and obviously, we have to contain it. My Precinct took in the bodies of your men. I imagine you got it from them too. But where-"

"It's in the money." Dino coughed.

"The money?" Castle said over the speaker. "Javi, did he say 'it's in the money'?"

"He did." Javier confirmed.

"My guy was healthy as a horse." The sick man explained. "He lay low for a week before the heist, and then he lay low for two weeks after. He spoke to nobody. The place we had him hidden was a converted shipping container, in a blind spot on the rooftop of an abandoned factory. Depressed areas, you know. Nobody much went there. My guys set it up to be comfortable enough, and completely off grid. He drank from rainwater tanks and melted snow, he ate long life food that was stocked there. He had no human contact with anything but the piles of money he rolled around in until he came and delivered it to us. When he grew ill, he mentioned that some of the bills felt strange. Oily, but just for a moment. He suspected that they were new bills, or marked in some way, which is why we told him to stay away from us for a few weeks." He rasped a laugh. "We were worried that someone like you had marked the bills, Captain."

"Mister Scarpella..." Beckett struggled to say it. "If the money they stole never saw anyone else... Then other money must have been contaminated too."

"The truck was on it's way to the bank. It had made a run around several of the large department stores. That money changed a dozen hands before it got anywhere near us." Dino coughed. "And now, I will... ask you to leave me to my Maker, Captain."

"I understand."

"Detective, if that pop-gun of yours happened to go off, unexpectedly... I'd be grateful to you..." Dino wheezed.

Esposito froze, willing to do it, but knowing he shouldn't... when Dino finally lost his strength and passed out.

Esposito brought the phone outside. "Guys, there are certain procedures they teach you to avoid nasties like this." He said through the gas mask. "I'm going to keep you on speaker and follow some of them. Fortunately, I have a change of clothes in the car."

"Dino said that his people hit the truck two weeks ago. If that's how long it takes to show symptoms... How fast does a dollar bill turn over in this city? Or a fiver. Or a ten?" Beckett demanded. "We've all probably handled dozens of them. If the thing is contagious during those two weeks..."

"Two weeks..." Castle turned the magic words over in his head. "The Black Friday sales."

"My god, so much money changes hands that way... And that was two weeks ago! If it's transmissible, human-to-human..."

"We don't know that yet." Esposito said, putting his clothes into a plastic bag, careful not to let any of it touch his bare skin. "And if it is, we may be looking at something a hell of a lot worse than a quarantine, but-"

There was a scuffling sound, and Castle took the phone. "Javi, listen to me. I can't reach Alexis. Last I heard from her, she was closer to my place than the office. I told her to go to my place, and stay there. That's when the landlines overloaded."

"Phones have been up and down all over the city." Beckett's voice put in.

"If you lose contact with us, tell Alexis I said: 'Clayton Forrester'. She knows what that means."

"Clayton Forrester?" Javier repeated. "I hope she does, because I won't be able to explain it to her." He looked around the street. Holiday Shopping Season in New York City. There were millions of people walking along, tossing coins into charity baskets, carrying bags from department stores, holding hands with their kids, buying food from vendors... Esposito had never realized how many of them were handling cash until he was looking for it. "Captain?"

"I'm here."

"Beckett... These people... God, all these people..."

"I know." She said, and she sounded miserable about it. She felt Castle's hand at her shoulder and she clung it it tightly, even without looking. "Listen, while the phones are up, I'm going to call the Governor's Office, and One Police Plaza. We don't need the police force for this, we need the National Guard. Do you have Biohazard gear?"

"Yeah, full gear at home, backup in the car. I'm already wearing it."

"Get your full gear from home, suit up, and take a sample of that money over to One PP. I'll have Lanie's test results assembled into something that makes sense, and leave it by the vehicle bay entrance. Take that too. We've got to sell a bunch of politicians on quarantining huge chunks of the city; and they're going to say no, just out of hand. When I go over their heads with the CDC and the State Department, I have to be able to back it up." She took a breath. "Javi, they took Lanie to the CDC in a hazard suit. She left five minutes ago."

Esposito gave no answer. The phone had dropped out, and she wasn't sure if he'd heard her.

Things were getting thick real fast. Javier couldn't find a clear street from the 12th to One PP to save his life, and had to go part of the way on foot. There were dozens of people sitting on the curb, looking exhausted, looking nauseous... He'd seen people laying against walls, clutching at their phones, hitting buttons over and over. Calling relatives, calling hospitals...

Once he was walking, he'd figured out why there was such gridlock. A lot of people weren't waiting for an ambulance. A lot of people were driving, and hadn't made it, fading out behind the wheel and crashing.

It was making Javier heartsick. There were people gathering around the infected, trying to help, breathing in their own sickness, slain by human instinct to help each other.

But he'd made his delivery. He was wearing a gas mask, and nobody had called him on it. New York was one of the more paranoid places these days, but nobody had been surprised about him wearing a mask. There had been no announcement, no public statement... Which meant it was happening all at once; and too fast for people to compete with.

Javier headed back to his car, and walked right past it. He went to the nearest cell tower he could find, which was mounted on top of an office building. Javier let himself in the back way, and went up the stairs. Thirty stories in a gas mask and rubber gloves, but he didn't dare take the elevator.

When he found the dish, he glanced around to see if anyone was looking, and promptly kicked open lock on the control panel. Quickly and skillfully, he unsnapped a multi-tool from his belt and made a few quick, surgical changes to the satellite dish, wiring power into the receiver. Another moment, and he pulled out his phone, opening an app that didn't appear on any of the menus. It took three passwords and a fingerprint scan for the app to activate, and it found the signal from the satellite dish quickly.

The screen went blank for a moment, and then put up a keyboard, and a single word. Javier typed his responses quickly.

REPORT.

SHD Agent - Level Nine. Javier Esposito.

VERIFY.

ZZ-Alpha-Lanie-Three-Whiskey-Tango.

PASSWORD ACCEPTED. ISAC ONLINE.

Clear and Present Danger detected. Code Dark Winter. Any chance of Containment is likely breached already. CDC contacted by local authorities. Request immediate activation of all Units in area.

REPORT RECEIVED. GO DARK UNTIL ACTIVATION.

Javier disconnected his equipment and made his way back to street level like nothing happened.

In the sky, there were suddenly a dozen more helicopters. Large ones. They weren't traffic choppers, or even the press. Word was starting to get out.

Esposito made it back to his car. The mask was stuffy and uncomfortable, and he wanted nothing more than to take it off. The gloves were making his hands sweat, even in the winter snow; but he didn't dare take them off either.

His phone rang, and he dove for it. He hadn't been able to reach any of his friends for a while. When he saw the caller ID, he moved even faster.

"Javi?" A voice coughed.

"Ryan?" Javier was suddenly frozen. Not by the voice, but by the cough.

"Javi... Um, I should have called in sick, but I couldn't reach anyone. I'm at the hospital. There's something wrong with Jenny."

Esposito suddenly wondered if he was infected too, as it took all his strength not to puke right then. "Sarah Grace?"

"Her too. The Doctor's don't know if they'll be able to save... They don't know what's wrong with either of them, Javi! They can't... They don't know what's wrong with her!"

He sounded so helpless, and Javier almost wanted to let him stay ignorant of what was going on. "I think I know."

His best friend heard the tone. "Javi, you tell me right now. What's wrong with my wife and kid?!"

Javier looked around. Nobody in sight. He squeezed his eyes shut. "Same thing that's wrong with you."

They both forced the emotion away. In a quick, almost monotone way, they briefed each other on what was happening. It was like they were comparing notes on a police case.

"If it's coming from the money... then it's not an accident." Ryan said finally.

"No." Javier agreed grimly. "If the doctors at the hospital can't identify it, then it's probably not even a natural bug."

"Javi, the hospital is packed. Way more than it should be. They think it's a bad flu season."

"The streets are clogged too." Javier agreed. "I couldn't even make it from the 12th to One PP without hopping a fire escape. The announcement will come any minute now, and when that happens..."

"So... It's goodnight, nurse." Ryan said softly. A moment later, he forced a cheerful tone. "Hey, it won't be so bad. I'm a cop, in the middle of a MidTown Hospital. If anyone is going to make it through, it's going to be us."

He didn't believe it, and Javier didn't either. "Right. Of course you are. I mean, come on; it's you and Jenny. It's going to take something a lot worse than this to split you guys up."

"I know, right?" Kevin forced a smile. "But, uh... just in case you get too busy to call me back, which we both know you will be, since you can't tie your shoes without me, I should probably tell you..." He struggled to find the words. "In case I don't see you..."

"Likewise." Javier said sincerely. "In case I don't see you."

The line dropped out.

Javier squeezed the phone so tight he heard it creak, and hit redial.

"All Circuits are currently busy." The automated voice told him. "Your call cannot be co-"

Javier switched his phone off, and plugged it into the dashboard. He didn't know what would happen next, but he wanted his phone charged.

Kevin had sounded so... defeated.

Javier Esposito was still for a split second, and then he slammed his fist against the dashboard so hard it bent inward. And then he did it again, and again, and let out a frustrated howl.

After 9/11, local Law Enforcement was issued more secure communications equipment, in the event that the city phone circuits were overloaded. Kate received a call, for the Captain only, and took it in private.

Castle tried to call his daughter, and got an error message each time. He was about to try again, when the phone rang in his hand, and he answered it. "Hello?"

"I've piggybacked this call onto Beckett's secure line. It will last only as long as she stays on the phone." A gravel voice said quickly. It was Jackson Hunt.

Castle quickly glanced around, and took the call into as private a corner as he could find. "Jackson! Do you know what's going on?"

"The news is reporting it as a flu outbreak. That's a lie. I got a look at Beckett's report to the CDC, and she's pretty close with her recommendations. They may even have worked, if she'd gotten them in place two weeks ago."

"Then we were right." Castle breathed. "This isn't nature, this is an attack."

"They won't announce that for another few days." The older spy told him. "Right now, there are seven operations going on, trying to capture or terminate those responsible. One way or another, those ops will be completed in the next seventy two hours. That's when they'll announce what it really is. The problem at this point is containment. For two weeks, this has been spreading, invisibly. We'll be lucky if it hasn't covered the globe by now. That's my job. Your job, is to wait it out."

"That's not going to be a popular position around here." Castle said lightly. "Even with the Quarantine, half the precinct is already deployed outside. My wife can run a war with a walkie talkie and a map."

"In another three days, we'll see how many of her army are infected." His father countered. "The problem, Richard; is not who's sick and who's healthy. It's who's going to snap first, and break ranks. Morale is such a deadly thing. Now, I have some good news. Alexis is safe. She is not infected."

"How do you know that?"

"I know."

Castle's ears pricked up. "Did you do something? Is there a cure after all? A vaccine?"

"That doesn't matter at this point. Just know that Alexis survived the First Wave. Whether or not she survives what comes next is mostly up to her."

"What can I do?"

"A few years ago, I looked at your emergency supplies, and left you a list of suggestions. Did you find what I told you to find?"

"Yessir."

"Does Alexis know to stay indoors and hold position?"

"Yessir."

"Good. You taught her well." Jackson let out a sigh. "Richard, there's one more thing I can suggest, but you can't ask me for details; and I know you hate that."

"Will it keep Alexis safe?"

"There is no safe right now, but it'll improve her odds."

"Then I'll do it."

"Text Detective Esposito and P.I. Hayley Shipton. Don't call. Text. Tell them to get to Alexis, and then go Dark. You'll need to add this code: Sierra-Grid-Epsilon-Nine. That will be the last you hear from them."

"Why them?"

"What did I just say about details?" His father barked. "Now, grab a pen. I'm going to tell you what I can about the other thing. You're not cleared to know it, but it's going to be made public knowledge in a day or two."

Castle flipped open his notebook. "Tell me everything."

Javier Esposito was on his way home, when he received a text message. Phone calls weren't working. Text messaging was becoming the more reliable way to send and receive messages. Javi's phone found a connection once every half hour or so, and information came scrolling in.

When he got to the one from Castle's number, he froze. How the hell did Castle get that code?!

His orders were to go dark until activated. It rubbed him the wrong way, leaving the 12th behind, but that was his job.

But now Castle had a clearance code. How he got it, who the hell would know? If it even came from Castle...

Javier put his phone away and turned on his heel, heading back the way he came. He had orders to go dark. He could do that just as easily while watching over Alexis as he could alone.

Beckett looked through the page in his notebook. "Your father was the source for all this?" She said dubiously. "And you believe him?"

"He hasn't steered me wrong yet."

"He also got your daughter kidnapped once."

"And he was the reason I got her out again." Castle shot back. "Look, he may be unreliable, but that doesn't make him wrong. It's getting ugly outside, Kate. And I don't mean the street, I mean outside this office."

This was true. The bullpen was getting incredibly tense. People were glaring at each other, snapping at each other...

"I've been looking at some of the numbers he sent me." Castle said slowly. "There are seven vaccines for smallpox in the USA. If a hundred people in New York get it, you need a hundred million immune people around them to stop the spread. And there are only seven known doses of the vaccine in the country."

"I'll go you one better than that." Beckett said grimly. "It takes an average of six weeks for a pharmacy to restock the shelves with anti-biotics, and there's an average of thirty hospital beds for every thousand people in the hospital's area." She waved over at the filing cabinet. "The NYPD has procedures for what to do if it hits. They all involve being outside a quarantine. I'm afraid the 12th is going to be late to this particular party." She licked her lips. "Rick, you might want-"

"I already called Alexis, and told her to go to my place and lock the doors. I can't get mother on the phone." Castle said grimly. "What do we do in the meantime?"

"People, may I have your attention." Beckett called. Thirty police officers, and more than a few civilians gathered around. "This is rumor control. Yes, it looks like there's been a Bio-Attack. Doctor Parish was infected while examining the bodies, and followed containment procedures. It's not a false alarm."

A loud murmur ran through everyone. The unlucky civilians that had been sealed in with them started shouting questions.

"PEOPLE!" She shouted. "I'm going to tell you everything I know. Full disclosure."

Everyone settled enough to listen.

"We know that the disease is transferable through touch, and infected items. So, nobody touch your face or eyes, we're issuing gloves and surgical masks. Those of you with badges, we have some protective gear issued for exactly this reason. Not everyone is here, so the spares will be issued fairly. As Captain, I'm also ordering that the seized property lockers be searched for anything useful, such as a change of unaffected clothing. Everyone will remove their personal items, and keep them sealed in our evidence bags until we can test it; you'll have a change of clothes provided."

"How long will the testing take?"

"A few hours."

"HOURS?!" A woman shouted. "I have to get home! I can't be here for hours! I have kids in school!"

Beckett blew right past that. They were going to be waiting for days. But they weren't ready for that one yet. "Anything that's contaminated has to be burned. We've got an incinerator in the basement... And you're all going to start screaming in a moment, but there's one thing that we know was deliberately contaminated. And that's paper money. It all has to go, right now."

That little revelation set off a roar. And not just from the civilians and the perps.

"HEY!" Beckett roared, loud enough that everyone went silent for a split second, before they started roaring again.

Castle came over to stand next to his wife, and produced a megaphone. Beckett took it and got control of the room back.

"Everyone who follows this instruction will be reimbursed by the city. As Captain, it's within my power to force you to do this, but I'd rather we all behave like adults. We've got intel that says the money was deliberately poisoned, as part of a terror campaign. Now, we've all been handling said money, myself included, but the best bet is that time, and many hands would dilute the poison at some point. As long as there's a one in a thousand chance that we can spare anyone from infection, we'll do it." She cleared her throat. "As Captain, I also have the authority to reimburse you for any personal items lost due to official police action. You'll all get your money back, plus an extra twenty percent for being such good, co-operative citizens, during this time of crisis."

"...Emergency services are already maxed out. We're getting reports of wait times of up to three hours for ambulances, and patients being treated in hallways at all major hospitals. Supplies of Antibiotics are already running out, and due to congestion on the roads, resupply is running far behind schedule. Let's go now to our Medical Expert, Doctor Mary Reddy. Doctor Reddy, what's your take on the current situation?"

"Dave, the sad fact is that the hospital system has been screwed up for years. Wait times on operations have always been abysmal, and with precious little margin for error. Something like this was bound to happen eventually."

"Well, a city wide health crisis is hardly the time to talk about politics and money. What I'm asking is, what can be done?"

"Well, several people who have already gotten their flu shots are actually inviting some of the sick into their homes for care. It's a wonderful example to follow. That said, we have to be careful about making sure we don't spread the flu around any faster, so carefully washing your hands, covering your mouth, and being aware of the following symptoms-"

"A full list of which can be found on our website. But Doctor, we're receiving some reports of people on social media, giving updates of their conditions. Some of these symptoms don't appear on our list. In fact-"

"Oh, well if the Internet says something is so, then it must be."

"You don't believe the reports?"

"Well you said it yourself, none of these those people are describing flu symptoms."

"Which was rather my question. What if it isn't just the flu?"

"Well... what else could it be?"

"It was ballsy, telling them about the attack." Castle observed. "You could have just told them that it was routine procedure."

"Nobody would have bought that once I set all their money on fire." Beckett retorted. "If they all get on twitter to complain... Well, the news is already reporting people dying. They don't know the 'S' word, so we can afford to be honest."

"That woman who was talking about her kids? She won't appreciate honesty." Castle reminded her. "She'll crack first. I've written this story. A dozen people who can't get out, and they're all spooked? Every Agatha Christie story begins this way. It's a matter of time until one of them snaps."

Castle's words soon proved prophetic. The 12th stayed calm for almost three hours before someone tried to force their way through the doors. The woman with kids in school had come to report a missing purse and was now trapped. The phones were off the air and she was starting to panic, unable to reach her husband, or her neighbors, or anyone who could pick up her pre-teen children.

"The door is right there!" Her voice had rung out. "Look, I'm not sick, and I'm not a damn criminal, and you have to LET ME OUT!"

The police did their jobs, and Beckett had made a show of locking the doors shut. The woman refused to calm down and started getting louder and more hostile. They kept her in the interrogation room.

She wasn't the only member of the general public who had been unlucky. A few food deliveries, some eyewitnesses giving testimony, one or two trying to pick up lost or stolen property, and three lawyers meeting with clients.

At any given moment, there were several people locked in the 12th holding cells. People who were awaiting bail, or trial, or transfer to Rikers for everything from shoplifting to Murder One. They were the most calm. If the 12th was sealed up, it made no difference until they got hungry, and the food was being rationed so far.

Castle went to work. A few of the civilians had heard of him, and he had been telling them tales of his adventures with the 12th for over an hour. His natural skill as a storyteller was doing it's job; and Beckett couldn't help but roll her eyes when they started peeking at her in her office. Castle's stories were at their most entertaining when he started including the parts that led to them getting married.

The prisoners were calm, the civilians were being entertained, the police were at their posts, keeping an eye on everything, and the lawyers were already preparing a class action suit for when the Quarantine was lifted.

"All in all..." Castle had declared cheerfully. "I'd say the circle of life is doing it's thing."

Alexis tried her phone for the eighth time. She couldn't get through to her father. She couldn't get through to anyone.

She heard the front door open, and the sound of heavy scraping soon after. Her heart leaped into her throat and she went looking for the nearest blunt object she could find. She found a baseball bat, signed by Joe Torre.

Sorry, Beckett, but I need this for more than a collectible now. Alexis lifted the bat off it's mount and started creeping down the stairs.

The man was still in the foyer, pulling an end table against the door and reaching for a the couch.

He's sealing us in! Alexis gripped the baseball bat tightly. "Who are you?!"

"Castle Jr?" The man turned, and pulled the gas mask away. It was Esposito.

The young woman let the bat drop. "Thank god. I have been trying to reach- How did you get up here?"

"Your doorman is infected."

"Ohno, not Murray!" Alexis covered her mouth in shock. "He has kids!"

Esposito started looking for more furniture to pull in front of the door. "What about you? Symptoms?"

"None." Alexis reported dutifully, suddenly talking a mile a minute. "I've been looking up the symptoms of this thing, I don't have any of them. I think I missed it. Though I have no idea how. I've been trying to keep busy and I've been scrubbing every inch of the place. There are rumors all over the net that it's in the money. Grandma was at the Black Friday Sales. I heard from her this morning, and she's-" Her voice cracked a little. "She's got it."

Esposito looked up from the hall table he was pushing to look at her. "I'm sorry, kid."

Alexis looked at his face. He wasn't even offering her hopeful platitudes. "It's as bad as it sounds, isn't it?"

"Afraid so." The Detective nodded. "Your father won't be home for a while, either. The 12th is Quarantined. Some of the bodies in our morgue had it."

Alexis got the implications immediately. "Doctor Parish?"

Esposito wouldn't meet her eyes, but shook his head.

Alexis wilted. Lanie was her friend. It just kept getting worse.

Esposito looked over at her. "Your father said to tell you: 'Clayton Forrester'. He said you'd understand."

Alexis' face changed, and she suddenly looked beyond horrified. "Clear that stuff away from the door." She said quickly. "I've got something a lot better in the hall closet."

It took him a few minutes to do so. While he made room around the front door, Alexis had gone to the closet and produced a large industrial level power drill and some steel brackets with long screws. Esposito wasn't sure what they were for until she put them on either side of the door, and gestured for him to screw them into place right through the concrete walls. Alexis was setting up her front door to take an old fashioned, Medieval style cross-beam barricade. He screwed it in place, and she measured out the door, putting another barricade up for him to secure. Then a third. Then a fourth.

She then led him upstairs to her father's room and turned up the mattress on his bed. The bed frame was made of solid mahogany timber, and the two of them disassembled it, laying the solid timbers across the door perfectly. Five cross beams that could not be accessed from the outside, like an ordinary key lock could.

Esposito was frankly impressed. "Nobody's getting through that without a battering ram."

Alexis wasn't done. She had returned to the closet and come back with a new drill bit, one designed to drill a circle through the door, about two inches across, and a steel shutter that would slide open and closed, like the sort found in maximum security jail cells. "We drill a peephole through the door between the barricades, and put this over it to secure the gap. It's large enough to point your gun through without opening the door." She explained. "The guy with the battering ram won't have a chance."

Esposito was past impressed and well into stunned. "Where is all this coming from, miss sweetness-and-light?"

Alexis had turned to look out the windows. "Clayton Forrester." She said quietly.

"He your supplier for all this survival gear?"

"No. He's our code word." Alexis whispered.

The sounds of helicopters came from outside. Alexis ran to the window and looked up. Her jaw dropped open. "I've never seen so many helicopters in one place at one time. Those are military choppers! Big transport ones!"

"Yup." Esposito fitted the drill bit, and lifted the drill back to the door. "Code word for what?"

The sound of distant explosions boomed across the night sky, huge clouds of smoke billowed up from beyond the New York Skyline, lit by fire that Alexis couldn't see.

"For the End of the World, Detective." Alexis said simply. "It's the End of the World."

AN: Bonus points for anyone who can guess what 'Clayton Forrester' means without Google!

Not entirely sure where I'm going with this one, to be honest. It was an idea that kept coming back to me when I played the first beta, and this was the result. The idea was that SHD could be anyone, until they get Activated. Esposito seemed the most likely candidate from Castle-Verse, and just like that, I had a story.

Read and Review!