Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or the characters used in this story.

Guns are drawn as Castle carefully and quietly pulls the lock from the hasp and sets it on the floor. He places himself against the wall directly next to the door, and slowly, slowly pulls it slightly ajar while peeking inside.

Then, to Beckett's shock and dismay, he pulls the door open and darts inside, earlier thoughts of good sense and caution long forgotten.

The hidden room must be small – Castle's on his knees and his feet are still sticking out of the small doorway. But the rest of him is obscured by the door, leaving the arrayed law enforcement personnel unable to assess his situation or what's in the room.

"Castle! Get back!" Beckett calls out, but there is no reaction. In the silence that follows, Beckett thinks that she can hear murmurs from behind the door. She signals to Esposito and Ryan, who take flanking positions with weapons extended as Beckett starts toward the door. She hasn't taken more than a step before Castle's ankles start shifting back. He's starting to exit the doorway, moving backwards, but at an awkward, halting rate. As he backs out, more of him becomes visible, from ankles to lower legs.

As Castle's main body comes out from behind the door, there are gasps from Lanie and, Beckett suspects, the uniforms as well. Pressed to his chest, cradled by his arms, Castle is sheltering a young girl. She can't be older than five or six, a small child with a wild shock of blonde hair, matted and unkempt. Her face is buried in Castle's neck, and he's talking to her, continuing the murmur that Beckett had noticed earlier.

Castle shifts his weight back over his ankles and rises awkwardly, unwilling to take his arms away from cradling his small passenger. He continues to whisper soothing words to her while he turns to face the others. Without stopping his flow of words, he uses his right hand to signal to Beckett – a closed fist to indicate the lack of anyone else in the room. Beckett nods, signaling Ryan and Esposito to pull the door open all the way and verify. Castle steps past them, heading toward the ME.

"Lanie, will you check her out?" Castle says as he approaches. This plan goes awry quickly, as it's clear that his charge is unwilling to release her hold on him, crying and trembling as Lanie tries to coo to her while lifting her away from Castle's chest. Realizing that she's at risk of further traumatizing the poor girl, Lanie opts to check whatever she can while Castle holds on.

While Lanie orbits Castle and performs her assessment, Beckett and the boys approach. "I take it you saw her, and that she was alone, before you decided to dive in?" Beckett asks with a tone somewhere between highly annoyed and slightly indulgent.

"It's a dad thing, I guess," Castle shrugs, or tries to. "I think her eyes were bigger than the room. She was scared and alone. I was afraid that the guns would scare her more, or that something might go wrong if she tried to bolt. I'd apologize, except that I'd probably do it the same way every time."

Beckett takes in the scene – her partner cradling a frightened child who has clearly been locked away in a small dark room for who knows how long. She wonders if Castle is aware that he's gently rocking from side to side in a nearly figure eight motion, soothing the girl with both quiet words and a gentle sway. As has happened before when she's seen him with Alexis, Beckett is struck by the contrast of Castle's roguish reputation and his doting care for daughters, actual or embraced. With this thought in mind, she turns back to business.

"Time to talk about next steps. If Castle's theory about a boss is right, we need to get her out of here without anyone seeing her," Beckett starts, but Lanie continues "And right to the hospital. I think she's been in there for at least a few days. She looks dehydrated and she needs a complete physical."

Lanie pauses, choking on the next bit. "I mean a complete physical, considering Number Two." Heads hang in shame and horror at the implications, as a gloomy silence descends on all in the condo.

"Child Protective Services will need to be involved, too, but we've got to keep this on the down low," Ryan adds. "They'll need to assess her situation and her … mental state," he struggles, waving his hands while trying to articulate how such an ordeal might affect one so young and worried about what she might understand of what's being discussed, if she's even paying attention. Her face is again buried in Castle's neck, so it's difficult to gauge any reaction.

"Here's my suggestion," Castle offers in a soft voice. "It's not great, but it might be the best we can do. I'll take her to the ME's van with Lanie, acting like a tech. As much as I'd like to get her straight to the hospital, we've got two problems. First, she's latched on to me, which is fine and leaves all of you free to pursue the case. But if I were her parent, I'd be very uncomfortable with an unknown man in sole possession of my daughter. So, I need to stick with Beckett or Lanie until we can find someone else to ride shotgun or take over."

"Second," Castle continues, "someone might be watching. If we send a vehicle straight to the hospital, we give any observer a reason to think that one of vics survived or that we found this little angel. So, I head to Lanie's office with our little stowaway. Beckett, you get a female officer to pick us up there and we'll head to the hospital, where I hope CPS can meet us. What happens from there will be in the hands of the doctors and counselors."

"We need to limit who knows that we found her and keep any chatter about it off the air," Esposito chimes in. "I'll pull the uniforms and techs aside and put the fear of god into them to ensure that we've got no leaks. Castle's plan brings in more people – another officer, CPS, and the hospital staff. And Gates. But, I think those are all necessary inclusions, we just have to be careful about communications and ensure that there are no leaks."

Heads are nodding, but Ryan interjects. "We need at least one more person drawn in. I'll set up here for now, but we'll need someone here inside in case the big boss sends someone or looks in himself."

"Do it," comes the definitive response from Beckett. "Espo, ensure that everyone here understands what's at stake and the cost of leaking." With a wolfish grin, Esposito turns to gather the uniforms and techs.

"Ryan, thanks for taking the first shift. I'll head to the precinct and go right to Gates. We'll get someone to join Castle and someone else to relieve you. As soon as you're free, head back to the precinct. By then, with any luck Lanie will have completed her assessment and we can figure out if our homicide is closed or whether we pursue that while also working on her mystery."

"Castle," Beckett continues, "anything you can learn from the doctors about her identity would be helpful. We still don't have ID on the vics or the condo owner, and we're going to need to establish her identity, too. I assume that Gates will call in the FBI. With any luck, that won't blow the security of our plan."

While Beckett works out the details of the next steps with Esposito, Ryan, and Lanie, Castle wanders over to a gurney and addresses one of the technicians. After quashing what look to be initial objections, Castle acquires two things to make his escape: a white lab coat (accessorized with a stethoscope – why would a coroner's tech have a stethoscope?) and a large duffel bag of medical supplies.

Taking his prizes into the next room, Castle sits on a couch and continues to hold the young girl with one arm while dumping the contents of the duffel with his other. He lays the empty duffel out on the couch, then starts talking to the young girl, whispering to her.

Beckett and Lanie both pause to watch the interaction: the little girl doesn't say a word, just stares directly at Castle with impossibly large, brown eyes. They can't make out what Castle is saying, but the little girl seems to relax, then finally nod.

Beckett realizes how precarious this whole situation is, and how much worse it could have been without Castle. Would they have found the girl? Would they have taken precautions to keep her secret, and would they have been able to keep her so calm? This morning has been a showcase for Castle's contributions, and she makes a note to tuck this realization away to help her keep perspective the next time she's frustrated or irritated by Castle's regular antics.

"Are we ready?" Castle calls out and breaks Beckett from her reflections. It looks like Lanie was also lost in thought, and she quickly moves to work the lead gurney. Castle has already donned his lab coat, though his passenger is still glued to his chest.

When everyone looks ready to move, Castle whispers to the young girl again, and she slowly detaches herself and lies on top of the empty duffel on the couch. Castle draws the bag up around her, using the handles to support the bag while he pulls a strap over his shoulder. He peers down into the bag, into which the little girl has completely disappeared.

"You okay in there Angel?" Castle says, gracing the young one with a full-wattage Castle smile. He positions a fist over the bag, and chuckles when a little fist emerges to give him a bump. "Okay, time to play hide & seek. Here. We. Go!" he says in a sing-song voice, obviously trying to making the whole event into a game.

Castle and Laney push Number One through the door, followed by the techs pushing the other gurney. Beckett and Esposito follow, leaving the uniforms to place the crime scene tape and seal the door behind them. With luck, if anyone is watching, they'll not notice that the departing police number one fewer, with Ryan secreted inside in case anyone else comes calling.

Beckett heads towards her car, glancing as casually as she can manage over to the vans that will be heading toward the ME's office. Just as the van doors are about to close, she sees Castle raise his hand to her, gracing her with a soft smile. It's almost as if he lobs the smile to her, and she can feel the moment the smile arrives with a nearly physical impact. The van doors close, sealing him away, but not before the smile migrates to her face. Sending good wishes for the hospital visit skyward, she sinks into her cruiser and heads for the precinct.