A/N: I had the idea to this a while ago and decided to keep up writing it down. I'm still working on 'The Sweet Side', don't worry and I have plenty of more ideas I have to work on. I'm still dying over the latest Sneak peek for To Love And Die In L.A! And you know what's best with this? I'm watching the episode at 4am on Tuesday, 3rd May...which happens to be my 18th Birthday! How could it start any brighter? Anyway, I haven't gotten the time to let it checked by a beta reader so any mistakes belong to me.

No Hear, No See, No Talk

It was a cool November night as he slowly walked through the empty alley. Never had he seen the city this quiet, almost peaceful. He sighed, maybe he was just lucky with where he was walking, it wasn't really late after all. It was a beautiful night, though. There were no clouds to be seen so one could count the stars if they wanted to. It was only 9pm but Castle had decided to go out for a walk, maybe have a drink somewhere until, hopefully, inspiration would strike him. So far, he hadn't been successful.

As he kept moving he suddenly heard a scream and figured it'd close by so Castle started to run. He had to know if everything was alright. Sure, it was New York City but his work with the police in the past three years had shown Castle what people could really do to each other and his instincts had already kicked in.

Castle moved as fast as he could and tried to remember where the scream had been coming from. If memory served him right he only had to turn once to the right again and so he did. It had taken him less than a minute to run there but when he turned into the alley he could already see that he was too late. Castle swallowed once before he slowly stepped closer to what lay on the ground.

It was dark in the alley when he passed the trashcans to take a closer look at the ground. He had to try hard not to close his eyes but he managed and took one final step closer.

There was a body lying on the ground surrounded by a dark liquid- if Castle had to guess, he would say it was blood. A lot of it. It wasn't what shocked him most, though. He skipped several heartbeats when he glanced at the part of the body's face he could see. It looked a young teenage boy, he couldn't be much older than Alexis was. Before Castle could give in to his urge to throw up, his brain jumped back in: The scream. Maybe the boy was still alive. When Castle turned the boy's head around to check for his breathing and his pulse he jumped back. He gave up all the hope he still had have for the boy to be alive. The boy who had still been alive a minute ago was dead and he started to believe it was his fault.

Then Castle remembered that he had to inform the police so he flipped out his phone to call Beckett. It rang a few times before someone picked up.

"Castle? What is it?" Beckett's almost sleepy voice answered from the end of the other line.

"Beckett...I...There...That boy..." He didn't know what to say, his eyes were focused on the boy and he started to let the tears free.

Beckett, alarmed by Castle's stumbling and hearing the sobs on the other end, jumped into business in less than a second.

"Castle! Calm down! Where are you? What boy?"

Castle turned around to see where he was and gave Beckett his location. When he was running to see if everything was alright earlier he hadn't been paying any attention at all.

"I...Beckett, please...Please." He hung up when he couldn't fight the urge to throw up anymore.

He had been on so many crime scenes over the past years but he had never seen anything close to this. He didn't think that maybe, whoever did this to the boy, could still be around. Castle could only stare at the body until Beckett arrived. She practically ran towards him as soon as she got out of her car and spotted him. Castle, who was sitting on the street with his back against the wall, barely noticed that Beckett had come over. Not until she kneeled down next to him, worry spread all over her face.

"Castle, are you ok?"

"Yes..."

"Castle...You mentioned a boy on the phone..." She didn't need or wanted to continue her sentence.

Either way, Castle knew and pointed towards the body a few meter away from them. He heard her inhale sharply when she saw the boy. She got her phone out of her pocket and dialled Ryan's number.

"Ryan, we have a body. Get Esposito and Lanie and come down here..." Beckett said, giving him the address and hanging up again.

Then she turned back to Castle.

"Castle-"

"I heard a scream when I was maybe two blocks from here so I went to look for its origin. I thought... When I got here I saw something lying on the ground and when I stepped closer I saw the body and the blood. It had not even been a minute until I got here but I was too late...He was already dead... He doesn't look older than Alexis..." Castle interrupted, his voice barely above a whisper.

He had taken the time Beckett's phone call to Ryan had taken to calm himself enough to give her a statement. He knew she would need one- better sooner than later. Beckett had to force herself to stay in 'Detective Mode' and it wasn't easy.

"Castle...I'm really sorry, we'll have to wait for the rest of the team to come... Are you sure you're ok?"

Castle nodded briefly. He appreciated the sincerity of her voice but it didn't help much. He still felt sick and shocked.

Both, Castle and Beckett, couldn't tell how much time it took the others to arrive. While Castle was still silent and staring a hole in the wall on the opposite site, Beckett tried to stay calm and be there for him. He needed the company, she was sure of it and they both needed to stay as zen as possible.

"Beckett!" Ryan and Esposito called in unison when they saw her kneeling in front of Castle.

Beckett got up and brushed her fingers over Castle's hand and then walked over to her boys. Lanie had already made her way to the body in the meantime.

"How's he holding up?"

Beckett watched her friends for a moment. Then she looked over her shoulder for a second before she turned her attention back to Esposito and Ryan.

"This one would shaken up everybody's bones but...he'll be fine." He has to be...

The guys nodded and passed her to write down what Castle had to say while she made her way up to Lanie. Beckett had heard Castle's statement but didn't write down anything. For now, she really needed to talk to her friend while doing work at the same time.

"Got anything for me?"

"He was shot in the head. I haven't found an ID yet, maybe it's lying around here somewhere. From what I can say so far, I'd say he died around an hour ago but I can tell you for sure after the autopsy...And his eyes are missing."

"I know...Can you say if they ... went missing before he was killed?"

"After the autopsy." Lanie sighed, looking up at her friend, "How's Castle handling it?"

"Hard." Was all Beckett replied.

Lanie got up and moved over to the detective, "Do you want me to check him?"

Beckett considered it for a second before nodding. She knew it wasn't really necessary, Castle had a shock, but it wouldn't harm anybody if Lanie checked him through.

"You said around an hour ago, right? That was around the time Castle heard the scream...He didn't mention a gunshot, though..."

"Honey..."

"Call me when you find something, will you?" Beckett interrupted. She didn't want to hear whatever Lanie had to say. Not when she started like this. She had to concentrate on the case, both of them.

"You'll be the first to know. Don't think we're done with this, Kate."

Beckett rolled her eyes and she was about to go back to the rest of her team when Lanie called out for her once again. She turned around and raised an eyebrow at Lanie.

"Take good care of the man."

They smiled sadly at one another for a moment before Kate eventually joined the others.

Meanwhile Ryan and Esposito had been talking to Castle.

"Hey, Castle, how're ya feeling?"

"Been better...You guys want my statement?"

The two detectives nodded and put out their pens and notebooks.

"I was out for a walk, I needed some fresh air, when I heard a scream not far away. I ran to see what it was and where or who it came from and ended up in this alley. When I walked closer I saw the body and all this blood...Then I remembered that I heard this scream so I wanted to check for his pulse and breathing but... but when I turned his head..." Castle started under the sympathetic eyes of Ryan and Esposito, who encouraged him to continue, "When I turned his head I saw all the blood from where his eyes used to be...I called Beckett when I could think halfway clear again, maybe a minute later...I had to throw up a bit after that."

"Thanks...and sorry, bro. No one should ever see something like this. You should go home, Castle." Esposito said, one hand on Castle's shoulder.

Neither Ryan nor Esposito had seen the body yet and they hadn't known that the boy's eyes were missing. They could feel their stomachs twisting and making knots just at the thought of it.

"Maybe you're right...but I want to help on this case."

"Castle! You're too close to this case, Esposito is right, you better go home...I fill you in later but I don't want to see you anywhere near the precinct, got it?" Beckett jumped in when she stepped close enough to take part of the conversation.

"Beckett...Fine, I guess you're right." Castle said, defeated.

"I will drive you home. Guys, I want you to find out who that boy is. Call me when you find something."

Ryan and Esposito looked at each other and nodded. Any other time they would have loved to hear this sentence leaving Beckett's mouth but under the circumstances it wouldn't feel right to them.

"We will. Castle...We'll find out who did this to the kid."

They nodded at one another when Lanie walked up to them and pulled Castle into a spontaneous hug. After some reassuring words from her side she left with the body for the morgue. Whilst Kate and Castle made their way to Beckett's car Ryan and Esposito were leaving the crime scene.

They had a body to identify.

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