Disclaimer: I do not own Castle, which is probably a good thing because even though I love the show, I could never write mysteries well enough. This is the secondary story I hinted at in the summary of 'Deal with the Devil,' and is called 'The Hero and the Fire.' It takes place about a week after the events in 'Deal with the Devil.' Both, stories are direct continuations of the original tale 'Swept Away.' So if you have not read either 'Swept Away' or 'Deal with the Devil,' you many want to start there, as some events referenced will have more significance.

Her heart raced in her chest as she desperately searched for a clear path through, her glove barely serving its purpose against the smoke. She side stepped a collapsing ceiling beam, and immediately felt the heat of the flames consuming it. Taking a step forward, she ducked below a second wood beam, and closing her eyes pushed through a wall of fire, and into the main portion of the building. The second floor was completely engulfed in flames, and the first wasn't too far behind. Where are they?

"Castle, Rachelle!" Kate coughed out the smoke that had entered her lungs. She listened for a response. Nothing. She looked towards the far back of the store, flames where all that could be seen. "Castle—

"Kate!"

Castle's voice came from upstairs. Damn.

"Rachelle, are you alright," she shouted up towards the open second floor.

"I'll live, but Detective the floor is beginning to buckle."

She could hear the frightened tone hidden behind the young woman's confident voice.

"Kate, is the staircase clear!"

Kate turned in the direction of the old staircase, and inwardly cursed. The warn wood had given in easily, and a twelve foot gap separated the top of the stair from the bottom. Her heart caught in her throat. Trapped.

The sound of cracking beams rang out into the air.

Kate froze.

Rachelle screamed.

The whole upper floor came crashing down.

Two days earlier—

"You'll be safe here, until arrangements can be made for a place of your own."

"Than you, Detective."

Kate held her door to open to admit the young woman into her apartment. She trundled passed Kate, burdened down with a backpack and two duffle bags, and continued on until she came to rest in the middle of the room, allowing her baggage to slide to the floor in one big rush. Following the young woman in, Kate closed and locked the door, and walked over to the pile of belongings, helping her short term house guest to move the pile to the side of the couch, surprised at the amount of weight the petite girl had been able to carry at once.

"Who knew college books could build brain, as well as brawn," joked the young woman, taking a seat at the side of the couch and reaching over the arm and scuffling through the tan drawstring backpack, pulling back a strand of dark black hair behind her ear. Rising up the young woman placed a small black laptop on the coffee table, and then returned to rummaging in the pack. "I hope you want mind me taking over your table here, I have several finals coming up and ten different books to study for them, and one major paper to finish." The young woman pulled herself up from the arm of the couch two thick hardcover textbooks in either hand. She lifted her head to get a response to her question. Kate gave a quick indication to proceed forward, surprised by the young woman's casualness despite being almost killed just this morning.

"Rachelle, there are two rules I need you to follow while you're here."

The young woman halted her progress on removing much of the clutter from the coffee table. She straightened up, pushed her thin framed glasses back onto the bridge of her nose, and looked up at Kate, her features making her appear younger then she was.

"One, you do not open that door to anyone, unless it is me," Kate indicated the door to her apartment, with a point over her shoulder, for emphasis. "And, two, you do not leave this apartment, unless I am with you. Is that understood?"

Rachelle nodded her head in quiet understanding, before turning back to her belongings beside the couch, and removing yet more textbooks and paper to file in the gaps left by the missing clutter. Kate headed towards the counter of her kitchen, ripped a small piece of paper from a notepad by the fridge, pulled out a pen from a drawer, scribbled a quick note on the page, and set it down on the coffee table. "If there is any trouble, call me," she said indicating her cell phone number on the paper with the pen. "Other, then that, there is not much else to add. The only bathroom is down the hall, off the master bedroom. There are a few snacks in the cabinets above the sink, and a few sodas in the fridge. Any questions," Kate finished, walking away from the couch and making her way towards where she had set her gun and badge down on the counter.

"Just one, Detective Beckett."

"Go ahead."

"How is Mr. Castle, feeling?"

Kate gripped the counter tighter then she meant too. "Good, I suppose," she answered, trying to keep the pain and emotion out of her voice. She turned back to face Rachelle. The young woman was watching her, steadying her, as if she had caught the slight hint of turmoil running under the surface of her words. She tried to conceal a deep breath, and placed the same worn smile she had presented to her team, the day after he left. "Why do you ask?" Rachelle raised a slight eyebrow, before returning to her books and papers.

"Last time we met, I could have sworn you two were both sewn together at the hip. Took, all my will power not to check for threads." Rachelle smiled at her small joke, and turned to her laptop, flipping the screen open, and pushing the small on button. "So I was more than a little surprised not to him with you this morning. I assumed maybe he was sick."

"I wouldn't know… I mean I don't…No, he's not sick."

Rachelle lifted her head from her computer, and stared at Kate; her eyebrow raised, but said nothing. Turning away, Kate immediately wiped away the tears threatening to overflow onto her cheeks. She grabbed the tools of her trade, and started for the door. "Um," she started feeling the catch in throat grow. "Like I said before, call me if you need anything. Food's in the kitchen. Bathroom down the hall. I need to get back to the precinct, start the investigation into who wants to keep you from testifying against, DeMille."

"If you see, Mr. Castle. Tell him I say hello."

"I…I will," Kate managed to say as she slipped out the door, and turned her key in the lock. If I see him. After what I said, I don't know if I will ever see him, again. Taking a deep breath, as she felt the first tears roll down her face, Kate started hastily down the apartment hallway.

***Author's note: Told ya I'd be backJ Thanks for sticking with me. I don't know how fast I will be able to get these chapters out, but stay tuned. Things are only going to get more interesting***