It was getting late, and they still had nothing.

Ellie cried herself to sleep in the break room, and the team needed someone to stay there with her.

"I'll stay," Beckett volunteered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah Ryan, don't worry, you and Espo go home."

"Call if you need anything," He said as Espo took his hand and led them both outside after a 'see you tomorrow' and a quick worried glace at Ellie.

"Need me to stay?" Castle asked.

"No," Beckett smiled, "Go home to Alexis, I'll see you tomorrow."

Then it was just her and the girl, so Beckett made herself comfortable at her desk and went through some paperwork, trying to see if they'd missed anything.

It was after 1am that Ellie woke up and saw that she was alone in the break room, so slowly she got up and went to see if there was anyone there.

"Hey, what are you doing up?" Beckett asked when she saw her.

Ellie shrugged, "Not really tired."

"You want something to eat? I think Castle left pizza in the fridge."

"No, thank you." The teen said as she took a seat next to the detective's desk.

"You found anything?"

"Not yet," Beckett said and saw Ellie's face fall, "But we will find your par- him." she quickly corrected herself, not wanting to upset the girl more than she already was.

"You can say it," she said, "My parents killer." Tears were starting to shine in her chocolate eyes, "I should get used to it."

After thinking about what she should say Beckett spoke, "I lost my mother like that, I know it's probably nothing compared to what you're going through, but I just want you to know that if you need to talk I'm here."

"Thank you."

"Does it get easier?" she asked after some seconds.

"In time you learn to live with it." Beckett answered.

After a few minutes, Ellie's soft voice broke the silence, "What's going to happen to me now?"

Beckett looked at her, and with the kindest voice she could muster, she answered, "Until the case is closed you'll stay here, after it maybe you'll go to a foster family."

Ellie nodded, her dark hair falling to her face.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?" Beckett asked, confused.

"For being honest."

Beckett smiled at her, and was glad to see a smile, if rather small, grace the girls face in return.

LINE BREAK

"I should have stayed," Kevin said as he and Javi got home.

Javi looked at him, "Are you okay? you seem, I don't know, more sympathetic than usual this case."

Kevin had a frown on his face as he sat on the couch, Javi joining him not a second later taking Kevin's hand in his.

"She just didn't deserve it." He said.

"It's not the first time we have a murder victim who had a kid, they never deserve it," Javi said, "But she'll be alright."

"But it is the first time that the kid didn't have anyone else."

Javi didn't know what to say, it really was the first time that they had a kid who both her parents were murdered and she had no other family, he checked.

Kevin put his head on Javi's shoulder and Javi's arm snaked around his partners shoulder bringing him closer.

"I just wish there was more I could do." Kevin said quietly.

And Javi couldn't help but agree.

LINE BREAK

The next morning Ryan and Espo found Beckett and Ellie asleep on the couches in the break room.

"I thought that the guard was supposed to stay awake?" Javi said with a smirk.

Slowly Beckett's eyes opened and she threw a pillow at Espo, making Ryan smile.

"So how is she?" Ryan asked, looking at the still sleeping girl.

"She's alright," Beckett said, "As much as she can be."

When Castle showed up, with two cups of coffee in his hands, he found the three detectives standing in front of the board, when he looked at Beckett he smirked, "Nice makeup, I like the smudged eye look, sexy."

She glared at him, thought it was obvious she was trying to hold back a smile, "Just give me the coffee."

"Nothing?" he asked as he handed Beckett her coffee.

"Not yet," she said, looking very frustrated she added, "we don't even have leads to who we should even question."

Espo nodded, "If you have a theory now that would be great."

Castle looked apologetic, "I have nothing."

After some minutes of staring at the board, Castle looked at the still sleeping girl.

"So how is she?"

"She lost her parents Castle," Beckett said, "she barely even spoke last night."

"You talked? How's she like?" Castle asked.

"She's sad, quiet." Beckett answered.

"I can't even imagine what would happen to Alexis if I was killed."

Beckett looked at him, "We would have taken care of her." She said, Ryan and Espo both nodded in agreement.

"Thanks guys." Castle smiled, "I just wish she would have had someone to take care of her too." He added nudging his head at Ellie's direction.

"I'll make sure she goes to a good family after the case's closed." Beckett said.

Suddenly they heard a loud boom.

They ran to the break room to find Ellie looking frightened and a bullet hole on the wall.

Ryan ran and grabbed Ellie, running into an interrogation room, where there were no windows.

Soon after Espo and Castle were there too.

Ellie was scared and crying, mentally cursing herself for crying again in front of the detectives.

"Ellie, what happened?" Ryan asked, looking at her in concern.

"I don't know," she said between sobs, "The sound woke me up, and when I saw it was a bullet I freaked out."

Espo and Ryan shared a look with each other.

"Where's Beckett?" Ryan asked, knowing that Beckett was the best in calming people.

"She's in the break room," Espo answered, "looks like the entire precinct's there right now. She called Lanie to check if the bullet's the same to- you know."

Ten minutes later Beckett walked into the room.

"Lanie's checking the bullet." She looked at Ellie, "Are you okay?"

Ellie nodded, her tear stained cheeks proved differently.

"We can't have you in the precinct anymore," Beckett started, "We'll have to get you to a safe house."

Beckett left to make the phone call, and Ryan grabbed Espo's hand and led him to the other side of the interrogation room's glass.

"She can stay with us." Ryan told him.

Espo looked at him shocked, "What?"

"I mean, we started to think about adopting," He said, "Maybe having her there will help us decide if we really want to, besides, I was the one to tell her about her parents, I feel like I owe it to her- to keep her safe you know."

Espo's mouth was open, "We thought about adopting a baby! How are we going to keep a teenage girl safe? Especially with a killer after her? How do we even know that she'll be comfortable with this arrangement?"

"She has no one, the least we could do is have her stay with us, at least she knows us."

Ryan looked at him with those big blue eyes that had Espo so whipped.

"I owe it to her." He said, as if it was supposed to make everything make sense.

Espo sighed, and buried his face in one hand.

"Please," Ryan said.

Espo looked at him, and he understood that nothing was going to change his husband's mind on the matter.

"I'll see what I can do." He said, Ryan smiled and kissed him.

Espo kissed back and hugged him and then left to find Beckett.

LINE BREAK

"Yo, Beckett,"

She turned to see Espo coming her way, and waited for him to talk.

"Maybe she can come with me and Kevin," He said, and even though Beckett's shocked face would have made him laugh under different circumstances, he continued to talk, "Kevin and I are both detectives on the case, I think we are both the best option to keep her safe, also we're not really strangers so maybe that'll make her more comfortable."

Beckett seemed to have snapped out of her shocked state and spoke, "Yes, you are both detectives on the case, which means you have to be here to solve it."

"Look Beckett," He started, "Kevin feels responsible, he's quite persistent that he keep her safe."

Beckett nodded, and to Espo's shock she said a quick 'I'll see what I can do' and left.