DISCLAIMER: I do not own Castle or the characters.

This chapter may cause some viewers to be uncomfortable or upset!

Read at your own risk, please.

Hints of child abuse and sexual assault.

Her hazel eyes tried their best to adjust to the lighting in the morgue and, for the first time in her life, she realized how the white shade was very distasteful and annoying. The headache that had been forming in her head only grew as the light had seemingly amplified with every regretted step. Rephrase: it wasn't regret entirely. Staying with her partner for the night was actually for the best, but not getting sleep due to his crushing body weight? That's where the regret came into place.

"Lanie," Kate called, her voice rough from lack of sleep as she pushed the door open. "What have you got?"

The medical examiner turned up from the table, looked at her friend, and dropped her head back down to the paperwork in front of her before quickly doing a double take. The detective had dark circles under her eyes, her hair slightly a mess from her night, and she was still wearing the same clothing from the previous day. She seemed slightly paler, too. A sick looking color.

The disapproving look, lips drawn into a scowl, brows pulled closer together, and arms crossed was what the detective received. "Girl, did you spend the entire night at the precinct?" She started, more than ready to lecture. "Kate, we didn't have anything to go on. There's nothing you could have done and there was no reason-"

Kate shook her head no, quickly cutting her friend off. "I wasn't at the precinct," she murmured.

That only earned a quirked brow and her leaning forward, palms pressing against the stainless steel table in front of her. "Then what exactly were you doing?"

"I took Rick to his house and ended up staying the night," she explained before processing how it sounded. She held her hand up, quickly shaking her head. "Not like that. No. Definitely not like that. I had…. He just needed comfort."

"Naked comfort," her friend teased, trying to give as much humor as she could to the situation before breaking the news, destroying whatever happiness could have been left behind.

"I was fully clothed and so was he," she defended before giving a somewhat defeated looked.

Her best friend picked up on it right away. The way her shoulders slumped, how her hand rubbed against her face, pausing to pinch the bridge of her nose. She clearly needed a moment, fighting whatever it was she had been dealing with and facing. Though, when she deflected and turned the subject back to the case, the M.E. gave her a sympathetic look.

Waving for her to follow, she headed into the back room and to the mortuary cooling chamber. Opening the door to one of the small spaces, she pulled out the slab with the girl on it. Pulling the blanket from the the child's face, wanting to show some of respect, Lanie couldn't help the sad look that crossed over her face. Kate's hazel eyes trailed over the now cleaned up little girl, her pale skin still tinted with dark bruises, now a shade of blues, greys, and purples. Around them, the skin had started to yellow from the extended trauma. There was no longer blood matted in her hair, Lanie having done a superb job on cleaning their victim as best she could.

"Kate," she started, hesitantly tugging the sheet covering the girl's legs up. Not enough to defile or overly expose her body, but enough to show the bruising. Four fingers and a thumb had been left behind on either side of her legs. "There were traces of spermicide in," she started, but stopped. She couldn't even get herself to finish what she was saying.

Usually their forensic reports took days to get back, but she had it rushed and then had rushed them again to be sure her results were more conclusive than just a hiccup in the system. She watch as the detective's jaw tightened, her fist balling up. The only thought going through her mind was emptying an entire clip into whoever had been able to do such a horrible thing.

"Kate," Lanie used her friend's name, trying to pull her back from whatever world she was in. "There's more," she started. "COD was caused from drug overdose. There were traces of acetaminophen in her system and hydrocodone was embedded in the tissue. It didn't happen just once," she managed to get out, her throat swelling as she talked. "I'll try pulling prints off of the bruising, but I can't promise I'll get anything."

She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but she couldn't find the words. Though, her entire body felt as though it was shaking, and maybe it was. With rage and anger, but what else would anyone expect. "I…. I have to call this in. This means we have a predator on our hands and there could be another kid somewhere," she told her, quickly stepping out of the room.

The girl didn't even get to live long enough to have a life, to be a person. She was violated, hurt abused, and the worst thing is, it was probably accidental that they found her body in the first place. She could have suffered years of… Kate couldn't even stomach the thought. Instead, she buried her hand into her pocket and retrieved her cellphone. Fingers hesitant to tap in her captain's number, she shook her head. It would have been better for her to just go to his office and tell him in person.

She was tempted to tell her friend goodbye, but Lanie had already started to prep the body to see if she could get finger prints off of it. It was a task that they both knew most likely wouldn't work, nor would it hold up as actual evidence if it was only a partial. She hoped they got something, anything. Even if it was a partial, they'd be able to have some form of suspect if they could run it through their database and get a hit.

He felt better than he had the day before. That was the first thing he realized when he woke up. Definitely a lot better. Of course, when he rolled over, no recollection of Kate forcing him off of her to leave hours before, he was a bit disappointed. Maybe it was the thought that she didn't take him with her or maybe just her leaving in general, but it hurt. He rationalized it as her job. If she needed him, she'd call, and she always kept him informed. However, by the time he showed up, the writer realized quickly that there had been more to her disappearance than just her job.

He stepped out of the elevator onto the tiled floor, only to stop. The murder board had been completely wiped clean. There wasn't a single picture or note jotted down. "Kate," he started, panic rising in his voice. She hadn't given the case to someone else, did she?

The detective turned to look at him, an apologetic look on her face. She hadn't handed it off to someone else, but she knew he'd be upset. "Montgomery wants to see you," she told him quietly. She'd tell him herself, but she couldn't. She knew if she had to, she would, but she didn't want to.

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He frowned, quickly moving for the captain's off. Though, upon entering, he slowed. The man in the chair was far from the captain he'd seen on any other case. His face dull, his eyes boring into the pictures in front of him and his detective's current report from her visit to the M.E. He had chin resting against his fists. Age had shown through in dark lines and wrinkles that tugged at his skin until his eyes flickered up. Glazed over, full of pain, and wanting nothing more than all of this to be a horrible dream, he had cleared his throat.

"Mr. Castle," he greeted.

The writer almost rolled his eyes. When had they been that formal? Not for about a year or so. "Montgomery, what's going on?"

The captain was quick to his feet, gesturing to the seat opposite of him. "Sit." It wasn't an offer. He was giving a command, needing the writer to stay long enough for an explanation. To say he was happy the other man complied, it would be an understatement. He knew how hard headed he could be, one of the many reasons why he was so great of a partner with his detective. Both could get their way and they worked just like Yin and Yang.

Taking a deep breath, the man had paced for a moment. First he went towards the windows that allowed him to peer out to his detectives and then to the other side of the room to peer out into the city. Even for a beautiful fall day, Montgomery couldn't help but think of all of the bad in the world. His mouth did open several times before closing, he wasn't very sure where to behind.

"You're being removed from this case," he decided it was better to just be blunt and forward.

"What? Why the hell am I being removed?" He snapped, betrayal hitting him.

A soft sigh escaped his lips. "Castle, there's a little girl in our mortuary who has been assaulted," he started. "A little girl who reminds you of your daughter, and don't tell me you haven't associated the two." His tone was full of authority and demand. Any hit of amusement or joking was gone, and Roy couldn't help but feel like he was over stepping. He had kids, too. He knew what it was like to be a worried parent and wanting justice. "I need my best people on this without having to worry about my suspects being at risk of getting hurt."

"It hasn't even been a day," he argued. "I haven't done anything!"

"But your partner can't trust you to have her back in this."

Oh. Oh, this was Kate's doing? What the hell? She was the one who told him to go home and rest up. She was the one who convinced him to sleep, and she even stayed to comfort him. "Kate wants it this way?"

He wasn't supposed to really mention Kate, but he had to. Rick wouldn't have taken lightly to find it out differently. "Rick, she couldn't help it. I asked her what she thought of this case and you working it. She told me that it wasn't a good idea."

"Why?"

"It's my job to make sure my team is safe out there and that they can handle things emotionally. I need to do that without plastering this little girl's face all over the news, and I know that if I let you work this, you'll be more of a liability than me just handing you my gun and telling you to shoot off as you please."

Rick's eyes were filled with defiance, wanting to rebel and insist that he'd be fine, alright to work. Of course, he wasn't. He already hated whoever could hurt a child, but then it dawned on him that there was more. There had to be. What would have changed in the last twenty-four hours that would pull him from the case? She was more than willing to let him work it the day before. She just wanted him to go home and get some form of rest. What could have been so horrible that he'd be pulled?

He felt like he was entitled to an explanation. "What happened?"

"Rick," he started, shaking his head.

"No. You're removing from this case and I deserve to know more than just Kate not wanting me here!"

He chewed the inside of his cheek, contemplating the harm in telling him. It didn't seem like much. He wouldn't be able to get any more information than they already had, could he? So, on a soft sigh, he told him. "Sexual assault, Mr. Castle."

That answer had clearly been a slap to his face, shocking his entire system. At first, he waited for the cruel sign of joking, but when it never came, he nearly choked on his exhale. "You mean…." The man only nodded.

"Beckett didn't want you assign to this case when she found out because we all saw how it tore you apart yesterday. Castle, she's looking out for you. It's not a personal attack or her not wanting you as a partner," he assured the man. "But until we catch this SOB, you're not allowed to come here."

He opened his mouth, ready to insist that he had to work the case even more so. He had to make things better, make things right. Though, he doubted Montgomery would let him anywhere near it now. His large hands shaking, he wiped them over his face and leaned back into the chair. Emotions had already started to swell in his chest and his heart hurt a lot more than he wanted to admit.

"The department has protocol, too," Montgomery explained. "Everyone associated with this case has to go and see Dr. Burke. Cases like these are emotionally hard on everyone, and even Beckett has to see him," the dark skinned man explained. Leaning over to grab a folder with the paperwork needed in it, he offered it to the writer. "These will need to be filled out before you come back. It's just a few consent forms releasing you to work and clearing you. Burke will probably have you go twice. Once for his first session and the second as a follow up session."

Rick needed a moment to process everything, his head spinning in circles. He eventually did take the papers, standing, and then walking out. There was no goodbye or see you later. There was no glance back. Hell, he even walked right passed Kate without as much as a glance at her. She expected resentment of some sort, but received nothing, which hurt and scared her.

She hadn't meant to get him removed from the case, but it was what felt best. He always had her back. This time, she was just trying to have his. Even if it meant she hurt him a little, that was better than her jeopardizing her team's lives or someone else's because cases like this never went over well. Suspects look good for the crime, but didn't do it. Sometimes they walked when there wasn't enough to hold them or they didn't get put them away for good. Sometimes people close to them were targeted for revenge. Hell, sometimes there was more than just one victim. She wasn't going to subject him to that.

Hey, guys! Sorry it took so long for me to update. Last Monday I had a doctor appointment and was moving. The Monday before that I was working. The Monday before that I had been plans to do things. . I'm sorry! I'll try my best to update multiple times this week to make up for the Monday's I missed!