Here is where we start to get to the opening case and set the stage. This case isn't going to drag on and on, in fact, depending on how I decide to spit the text, this case should be completed in the next 2 chapters or so. It's not a main plot at all, it sets the stage.

Warnings: This chapter contains a child case. A six year old girl is murdered and sexual abuse is implied. It's nothing explicit, but f that still makes uncomfortable than you may have to skip around in the end of this chapter.

Disclaimer- Castle and its characters belong to ABC and Andrew Marlowe.

Three Years Later

"Sarah! I'm leaving for work." Ryan calls down the hall as he fastens his holster to his belt and grabs his shield from Alexis' outstretched hand. "Thanks, Alexis." He smiles and waits to hear his daughter's feet pattering down the hall.

"Wait, Daddy!" She yells as she dashes, bare foot across the hardwood directly into her dad. She wraps her arms around his waist, "Have a good day at work."

He smiles and bends over to kiss the top of her head, "And you have a good day at school. I may be home late tonight so Alexis is going to be here with you for dinner. I don't want you waiting up for me. That pretty little head of yours better be sound asleep on a pillow by the time I get home."

The five year old groans dramatically, and Ryan decides she has spent too much time with her Uncle Rick, "But, Dad."

"Butts are for toilets, not little girls. Now, go get dressed." He pushes her back towards her room before turning to Alexis.

The redhead smiles easily, "Don't worry, I'll have her in her nightgown and in bed before you're home."

Ryan smiles, "Thank you so much, Alexis. I can never say it enough."

After Jenny's death, Alexis was quick to offer to watch Sarah Grace during the day and some nights if needed. It's a life saver in so many ways and though he can't pay her much, he makes sure it is enough.

Alexis rolls her eyes with a huff, "If I've told you once, I've told a million times; you're very welcome. Now get to work before you're late."

"Okay, okay." He laughs and exits his apartment with another goodbye to both Alexis and Sarah.

Ryan walks into the bullpen and smiles when he sees Beckett, Castle and Javier already at their desk clump. "Hey, guys." He greets, finally reaching his desk.

"Morning, bro." Javier says looking up from his stack of paperwork from their last case.

Beckett turns to Ryan and grins, "Running late, huh?" She laughs and lifts her hands to his tie to straighten his crooked knot.

He nods to her in thanks and says, "We were out of milk so I had to run to the store because Sarah doesn't eat her cereal without milk."

"You should've sent Alexis, it is her job." Castle points out.

But, Ryan immediately shakes his head, "Her job is to watch Sarah Grace, not run around and do my errands because I was too lazy to pick up the groceries."

Javier frowns, "Ryan, we've been staying late every day for the past week and a half to close this case. When you finally get home each night and pass out the moment you can, isn't being lazy. You're exhausted, hell, this past week is really taxing all of us."

Beckett agrees, "But we wrapped it up, and now hopefully we'll get a few easy cases to calm the waters."

Castle nods, "It sure would be nice to have an actual meal for dinner tonight."

Beckett rubs his arm, "I'll tell you what, Castle, tonight I'll let you pick what we have seeing as you've spent more time in this precinct this week than it probably takes you to write a book and could have ditched us at any time."

Castle smoothly leans over and plants a small kiss to her cheek, "And what kind of husband would I be if I did?"

Javier grunts after fixing his last stack of papers, "Who cares about husband, you'd be an incredibly shitty friend if you left when the work got rough."

"Hey, watch it if you ever want to drive my Ferrari." Castle said with no heat behind his words.

"Whoa," Javier waves his hand, "I said if."

"I knew you love me." Castle grins cheekily.

Javier shakes his head, "Correction, your Ferrari. Not you."

Castle pretends to look shocked, "I see how it is. Remember what you just said when I have one extra ticket to a Yankee game and I invite Ryan instead of you."

"So you'll invite Ryan instead of your wife, you'll sleep on the couch that night and once again I'll be the one laughing.

While Castle and Javier continue to bicker, Ryan busies himself with sorting through the papers scattered on his desk by himself and Beckett or Javier. He's glad to finally be putting this case to an end. He hopes that he'll be home in time to have dinner with Sarah Grace tonight.

Ignoring their other partners' arguing, Beckett sits down next to him and spoke softly, "You know you're not alone in this, Ryan. We're all here for you. It's okay to ask for help sometimes."

Ryan smiles up at her, "Thanks, Beckett, and if it ever comes to that I will definitely ask." He's already relying on them so much. Alexis watches Sarah Grace everyday he's at work, Javier reminded him to take care of himself the few months after Jenny's passing, and he still owes Castle from the money he loaned Ryan when he got stuck a few months ago (and it had taken everything just under force to get Ryan to accept the money by finally pulling the 'Sarah Grace' card).

"None of that crap, Ryan. I don't care if all you need is one of us to take Sarah after work so you can go out. The past three years all you've ever been is your apartment and the precinct. It's not healthy, Ryan." Beckett's a stubborn woman and most times during a case it helps catching the killer, but when she uses it on him, he can't stand it.

"I'm doing okay, I promise you three would be the first to know if I wasn't." He pats her hand, hoping to get her off his case for now.

Thankfully, it works and she turns back to her desk. But he knew she's definitely be keeping a close eye on him the next few days.

Sure, most times when he's home and Sarah isn't or she's sleeping, he feels himself slowly, miserably breaking inside, but he never carries that into work. He doesn't want his partners to worry.

Later that day, Ryan finds himself cornered by his partner in the break room. He's waiting for his bag of chips to drop from the slot when he hears Javier.

"How you doing, Kev?"

Ryan doesn't even turn around, "I'm fine."

"When you're done lying, how about you tell me what's wrong."

Ryan feels his patience growing thin and thinner. Why couldn't everyone just leave him alone? He isn't in the mood today to deal with all of this. He just wants to go home and bury himself under the blankets next to Sarah and watch a Disney movie.

Javier just can't seem to let him be, "Ryan, I'm not leaving until you talk to me."

Ryan sighs and turns around, completely forgetting to grab his snack from the machine. "Javier, I'm okay, really. I know Beckett probably put you up to this, but I'm okay. Just tired."

Javier crosses his arms and rolls his eyes with a disbelieving scoff. "Ryan, I've been your partner for 14 years. I know when you want to be alone and just need some space and I know when you want to be alone, but need someone there for you." Stupid partners that know everything.

"I just haven't been a great dad lately…" Ryan knows that he can't hold up his tough guy façade in front of his partner any longer, "Ever since Jenny actually."

Javier shuts the break room door swiftly and was by Ryan's side in a second. "I don't want to hear those words out of your mouth ever again. Do you understand me? You're the best damn dad this world has ever seen."

Ryan lifts his head up, "Oh, so that's why I hardly ever see my daughter or why I missed the Daddy-Daughter Dance last year at her school or why when I do spend time with her, I burn her dinner and fall asleep an hour in." Ryan rants, finally letting out all of his pent up frustration, "I suck at being a dad and I just wish Jenny was here to make her happy."

Ryan expects Javier to understand that it was Jenny bothering him and let him be, but he's surprised to hear his voice harden. "Ryan, I understand she was your wife. And she meant the world to you, but you've got to let her go. It's been three years, she'd want you to move on. "

Ryan feels like Javier had just slapped him in the face, "I can't just move on, Esposito. She was the love of my life and she died and she's-"

"She's gone, Ryan. She's not coming back and I know it hurts, but it's time you stopped dancing around like you're walking on hot coals. Let her go and pull yourself together, Jenny would want you to. If not for you then for Sarah Grace." Javier's voice is raised, but not enough to be heard outside the room.

"So you want me to forget all about my wife? The mother of my child?" Ryan asks feeling his throat close up.

"No. I want you to understand that she died, not you. It's going to be hard at first, but I'll be with you every step of the way."

"You're crazy."

"Ryan,-"

Javier was interrupted by the break room door opening up and Beckett peeking her head inside, "Boys, we've gotta go. We've got another drop."

"What? We just cleared our case. Couldn't Gates have found another team?" Javier groans.

Beckett shakes her head, "Everyone else is busy. We're leaving in five, so hurry up." And with that, she is gone, leaving the room silent.

Ryan knows his partner isn't going to start the conversation back up again. He refuses to use the word argument because he and Javi never fight with each other. "Guess we better get going, sooner we get started, the sooner we finish."

Javier looks like he wanted to say something else, but all that comes out of his mouth is, "Let's go."

Ryan has always believed that there are four different kinds of cases.

There are the cases that are an easy solve; less than 24 hours and they are putting some sleaze behind bars and filing the paperwork. There are the cases that are a bit more taxing and have a few misleads along the way, but nothing too bad; they were the kind of the cases he prepared for before he became a detective. There are the cases that leave you emotionally and physically drained, whether it be from an intelligent killer that knows how to hide his footsteps or the way the murder had panned out was just so brutal and cruel that the team had to wash away the dirt they felt at the end of every one of those cases with a long night at The Old Haunt.

But then there are the cases that leave you numb. There is no celebration when the case is solved. There is no sigh of relief. There is nothing but emptiness and wonder at how the world could have possibly gotten so fucked up. No amount of alcohol can help and nothing can wash the memories away, it's like every detail of the case is branded into your mind with a hot iron rod.

Unfortunately, their current case is one of those.

Before they even see the body, he knows it.

Javier pulls their car up just behind a squad car with their lights still flashing, warning New Yorkers to stay away from this park. Something is wrong.

And indeed something is because as the four detectives walk through the park's gates, the first thing they notice is a small, pink, stuffed rabbit. It's dirty everywhere, but not from being out overnight on the cold cement. It's worn out and tattered from years of play time; one of its ears is hanging by a stitch. It is also spotted with blood.

It wasn't left behind by a child the day before. It is evidence. Marked with cards and drowned out by the flashes of cameras.

Ryan swallows thickly and notices Beckett stiffen slightly in front of him. They all know.

Ryan can tell that by the way a small huddle of detectives, officers and doctors are surrounding the sandbox that this must be where the body was dumped. He doesn't want to go closer.

He recognizes one of the doctors in the mix when she turns around to walk towards them. There is no smile on her face, her shoulders sag and dark circles hug her eyes. She gives no greeting, and gets straight to business. "Jane Doe, left in the sand box probably sometime last night between 10 and 1. She was discovered by Kelly and Jacob Carter," Lanie pointed to two children, no older than 10, who are silently crying in their mother's arms while doing their best to answer an officer's questions. "When they were digging in the sand. The killer tried to bury the poor baby in the sand."

Baby. Oh God, Ryan is going to hurl.

Beckett opens her mouth first, "How old was she?"

"She was probably around 6."

She never hit double digits yet, and they are already referring to her in past tense.

"This world is filled with monsters." Castle says, and Ryan can hear how hard he was trying to keep his voice steady; no doubt keeping his own daughter in mind.

"And the ones in the real world are much more terrifying than any a writer could hope to create." Beckett says, taking a deep breath before approaching the sandbox.

Ryan, Javier and Castle follow her until they come to stop just behind the last line of persons obstructing their view from the little girl. It only takes a moment before that wall is gone, too.

Inside the sandbox is a small, dainty toddler thrown carelessly in the sand. Her pale curls are sprawled behind her, some buried in sand, most matted in blood. Her glassy, green eyes are staring up at the sky and the dress she is wearing make them pop even more. It is tattered and worn like the rabbit. Her arms, legs and face are covered in bruises varying in all sizes and colors.

The team looks down at her broken body and no one says a word.

Becket kneels down and uses her gloved fingers to close the girl's eyes. "We don't know who she is?"

Lanie shook her head, "All we have is a first name on the tag of her dress." Lanie leans down besides Beckett and pulls down the collar to show the small tag where a name is printed in faded, black ink. "Casey." She reads aloud.

Beckett frowns, "Her dress is on backwards?" Beckett notes.

Lanie uses her pen to gesture to the line of buttons that are all mismatched and uneven. "The killer must have carelessly thrown it on just before dumping her body." There is more, Ryan can see it in Lanie's face and hear it in the words she didn't say.

"Why was she-" Beckett's question is answered before she even finishes her question.

Lanie lifts up the skirt where it's bunched around her thighs and exposes a small shock blanket covering her underneath. "She wasn't wearing underwear and look what else we found." She pulls down the blanket an inch by her hips to expose bruises lining her sides that looked like-

"Fingerprints." Beckett whispers before pulling the dress back down, both so that even in death the girl can have some privacy and because she can't stand to look at the bruises anymore.

Ryan is definitely going to be sick.

She stands back up and dusts the sand off the knees of her pants before addressing her partners, "I want a canvas around the neighborhood to see if anyone knows a girl named Casey. Also check to see if any parents have called looking for a missing child."

Ryan knows that it is Javier and his job to go door to door, but he can't move from his spot. All he can see in his head is his little Sarah Grace in place of Casey. He feels his stomach churn dangerously. Seconds later, he turns to throw up in the nearest garbage can, but sees none. He is unfortunately forced to settle with the sidewalk directly besides Castle's shoes.

Ryan is glad that instead of making a joke out of his misfortune, the writer makes sure he was okay. "Ry, you okay?" Ryan feels a strong hand rubbing his back soothingly.

Ryan nods and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, "M'fine." He mumbles, avoiding everyone's gaze.

"Are you sure, Ryan? We can always -" Javier starts to give him a reason for him to get upset again, but Ryan won't let him.

"I said I'm fine…it just hit hard. Let's get started so we can figure out who she is." Ryan doesn't wait for Javier to say anything back before he was already off and headed towards the park gate.

He hears Javier's pace was rushed until he caught up to his partner. "Are we going to talk about what just happened?"

Ryan shrugs, "It must have been something I ate."

Javier rolls his eyes, but thankfully drops the conversation. "We'll start over there and see if anyone knows her."

They go from door to door questioning adults, but it's hard to see if they knew a certain little girl without having a picture of her. It takes an hour before they finally get an answer.

"Yes," The woman replies at the door, "I sometimes saw her play in the park down the street with one of the older girls. She's such a sweet girl, it's a shame what she had to go through."

Ryan's attention is caught, "What did she have to go through, ma'am?"

The woman's eyes fill with pain and she shakes her head, "The poor baby lost her mother and father in an accident. She lives in an orphanage for young girls downtown." She makes a face when she said the word 'orphanage'.

Javier beats him to the question, "Which orphanage is that?"

"Miss. Owen's, but if you ask me, she should never have control of children. Not a very pleasant woman."

Ryan knows that he and Javier had all they needed, "Thank you for your help."

Before they can turn away, the woman spoke, "Is Casey okay? If you see here tell her that Mrs. Fletcher says hello."

Ryan sees even Javier pale underneath that darker skin of his, it's hard to tell someone that a person they knew and cared for was killed but it's a completely different story when the person killed was a toddler. Javier must have taken pity on Ryan for the fact that he had just gotten sick from the sight of the poor little girl and brakes the heart shattering news to the woman.

"She was killed last night, I'm so sorry." Javier says with a sympathetic frown.

"She was…killed?" She repeats in a broken whispered question. "Who would kill such a young, beautiful, baby girl?"

Ryan doesn't want his partner to have to do it all on his own, "We're not sure, but the moment we will bring her killer to justice."

She nods, "That's all we can hope for right now." She says sadly followed by goodbye before shutting the door.

Once her door is shut, Ryan and Javier exchange a similar look that show how much the two hate this part of the job.

"C'mon," Javier sighs and nods his head towards their parked car. "Let's go tell Beckett what we found out. I think the orphanage will lead us somewhere."

"Yeah…" Ryan repeated, almost distractedly, "Let's go."

If anyone is interested, I'm looking for some beta-readers for this fic. If you're willing to help beta please PM me!

See you next week!