Jeremiah Jones pinches the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb trying to relieve the tension behind his eyes. He'd been researching the NYPD's active cases for any mention of his now three dead mercs for the last three hours. After finding no reports of their involvement in the OCME debacle, he instead searched the active case files for the 12th precinct's homicide team that was oddly enough lead by a female detective by the name of Beckett. He found that they were at a standstill with nothing but their bodies being found in New Jersey.

He abandoned his search temporarily in lieu of some better research. Before the night was over he would know what made her team tick. There were three sworn detectives and one civilian consultant. After he skims all four members files he decides to start with the civilian consultant's history first. Richard Castle. His net worth puts him in the top 20 richest men in the United States. Holdings include a house in Northampton, a loft in So-Ho, a bar in Chelsea, another house in Key West, and a 10-unit apartment building on the East side. During his pairing with the female detective for book research, he has written two N.Y. Times best sellers. He has arrests for public indecency, stealing an NYPD police horse, tampering with files during an active NYPD ongoing investigation. He has been in some sticky situations as well. A shootout at a witness's home, a dirty bomb that was disarmed by him and the detective, almost lost his life in a botched bank robbery and was targeted by a serial killer while being accused of murder. He has been married twice and has a 16-year-old daughter. He'll get back to him later. He pulls out the next file and reads on. Javier Esposito. Ex-Special Forces. He'd guess a Ranger by the length of his Army service record quite possibly a sniper. Honorably discharged and recruited by the NYPD in 2000. Holds the rank of detective second grade. Numerous awards for valor, police combat award, four Awards of Commendation, and a pistol Firearms Proficiency Bar. Previous commands in the Bronx, Queens and currently at the 12th precinct. Kevin Ryan. He's new to the 12th homicide department with six years of service. Joined the NYPD right after graduating high school. Worked in narcotics and vice. Married with one child on the way.

Jeremiah pulls up the last record. He decided to take a short nap before getting into this file. He gets up moves to the bedroom and lies down.

Xx

"Kate where is Alexis?" Lanie desperately asked.

"Lanie, I haven't talked to Rick since he left around noon. Why?"

"Kate, according to what you just told me this lethal mix of chemicals will do so much more damage to her than it will for me. We need to get to Rick's loft."

"Lanie you're not going to make it through this either. Within 48 hours you will have the same symptoms that she might have now."

"Kate, just get me there! Wherever there is."

"Let me call him see where he is now."

Kate dials Rick's number and waits impatiently. What seems like forever is in reality only four rings.

"Castle." He answers.

"Rick, it's Kate where are you right now?"

"Kate thank god you called. I had to rush Alexis to Columbia. I found her unconscious in the loft about two hours ago barely breathing and her pulse was weak. Why?"

"No time to explain now. Lanie and I will be there as soon as we can."

"Again I ask why?" Rick was really confused now.

"Rick just trust me on this! Don't leave the hospital."

"Alright, Kate. I'll see you when you get here."

After the call, she thinks that he sounded like he was in a fishbowl. His voice echoed when he spoke.

When the call ends and all he can do is wonder why she want's to see him.

"Kate, he's at Columbia?"

"Yeah. Are you ready to go?"

Lanie nods. And then they are fighting midtown traffic heading north to Columbia. It takes them about thirty minutes but they get there and park in the ER's parking spot reserved for the NYPD.

"I'm looking for Richard Castle. Kate asks the nurse at the ER nurses station.

"I'm afraid that he can't see anyone now. I'm sorry."

"Why in the hell not? Listen I'm an NYPD detective and I need to see him right now!"

"Listen, Detective, I don't care what you do or where you're from. Richard and Alexis Castle are under quarantine. No one in or out. Now is there anything else you need?"

"There is, point me to where he is and I'll be out of your hair!"

Knowing that she won't take no for an answer the nurse points towards two sets of double doors and tells her "Isolation unit 3B." Then she returns to her work without even looking up at Kate.

Lanie and Kate are running down the hall and are seen by the doctor that is treating Alexis. He turns to his colleague and gives him a look. They both leave the office they are in and are quickly running after the pair of women.

"Rick, Alexis! Where are you?" Kate calls out.

Rick moves towards the door that's sealed. Kate can hardly hear him when he yells at her. They both stop and look to the glass doors they heard the sound from.

"Rick? Why are you in quarantine?"

Almost at a shout, he replies. "They seem to think that Alexis is contagious. Her lungs are filling up with water and she's having trouble breathing now."

"Rick, how long has she been like this?" Lanie asked through the heavy glass doors all the time watching Alexis.

"For about the last four hours now and it's only getting worse. They are trying to research old cases that are similar to her symptoms but they have nothing so far."

"Where is her doctor?"

"He's right behind you!"

Kate and Lanie turn quickly to see an older man nearing about sixty. She has seen him on occasion here at the hospital, but never stopped to talk to him.

"Doctor, I'm Dr. Lanie Parish and this is my close friend detective Kate Beckett. I was hoping that you had a diagnosis or your patient in quarantine."

Dr. Parish, I'm not sure what we are up against here. It's something that I've never seen before. She presents with the symptoms of pneumonia, but from what I can tell she seems to be deteriorating faster than with someone who has pneumonia. So, we isolated her and her father because we are sure that whatever she has is airborne in nature."

"Doctor…" Lanie hints.

"I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I'm doctor Young and this is my colleague Dr. Allen."

They all shake hands and look towards the room Alexis is in.

"Dr. Young, she is not contagious. She was exposed to a mixture of toxic chemicals that produced a vapor that if inhaled will break down the respiratory system within the first 12 hours of inhaling it. It will affect the young and elderly at first resulting in the same symptoms."

"What is the end result? Is there an antidote?" He asked

"The end result is death. And as far as I know, there is no antidote known to exist."

Xx

Kevin and Tori have been working nonstop for the last six hours trying to isolate the virus, but each time they come close the come up with a dead end. They are hot, frustrated and hungry. He decided to take the laptop that he thinks was scrubbed clean after its last use, but what he doesn't know is that it was reprogrammed and issued to a night shift detective. He has a thought about trying to trap the virus and walks over to where Tori sits in the back of the server room to ask her if she thinks it will work. He explains the idea to her and she thinks that it is worth the risk.

He initiates a program that seeks out unknown viruses. It will take about fifteen minutes for it to scan the servers. He waits and watches as it seeks. Fifteen minutes later it has found three viruses. The first two are non-threatening and he deletes them. The third he opens to see if he can find out who created it or who wrote it. As Tori walks to him she looks down just as he is about to hit the enter button. By the time she can stop him she's too late and he hits the enter button. That's when all hell breaks loose in the server room….