A/N:Sorry so short but "real" life has been hectic. Hopefully things will alow down shortly. Enjoy.

Hideout
Alexis

She woke up slowly. She felt as if her head had been packed with wool. Remembering the same feeling when she had her tonsils removed, she moved slowly. She did not want to embarrass herself by losing the contents of her stomach on the floor. At first she thought that she was sleeping in the bed beside her dad, but then she remembered the explosion. The chaos and fear, the acrid smoke that felt like it coated her lungs, the strange sweet smell of the cloth pressed over her mouth, all these memories danced through her mind. Adrenaline surged through her body as she thought of Jonathon; He was with her in the stairwell where she passed out. She tried to sit up but found that nausea and hand cuffs restrained her.

"Easy Pumpkin" a soothing voice said.

She focused her eyes to see her captor. She had been correct in her assumptions, it was Jonathon.

"So, to what do I owe the honor?" Alexis was rather proud that her voice barely trembled.

"I am glad that you have decided to be level headed about this." His voice was different from the shy EMT. It had more confidence but the slight southern accent was still there. His posture had changed as well. Where Jonathon had a slightly loose stance, now he had an almost military bearing.

"Why am I here? Why didn't you kill me?"

"Why Alexis, you wound me. I could never hurt you." He seemed sincere, "I just had to get you away from those bad influences. That man you were living with was no good for you. Truthfully, were you not more the parent, more mature than Richard ever was."

"That's not the point, he is my father."

"No!" he shouted. "I know that this is going to be hard for you to accept but, Richard is not your father, well biologically he may be your father, but I am the one that truly cares."

Alexis' blood ran ice cold. This guy really believed what he was saying. Her real father had written many psychotic characters but none as twisted as this guy. In a way she was glad that her father could not imagine something so dark. Alexis fought to keep her breathing calm. Deep inside her, she knew that this psycho would kill her if she did not play along.

"So, D..Dad, what is your name? I mean, I..I won't call you by your name but I would like to know who cares for me so much to kid…. I mean take me away from the evil influences of my… Richard Castle"

"Honey, I know that this is a lot to take in." He said stroking her hair. Alexis resisted jerking away from his touch. "But trust me, once you accept that you are better off with me then things will be alright. I am kind of surprised that you don't recognize me though. I am Derek Storm, sweetie."

ICU
Beckett & Co.

Kate Beckett was livid. Her team was failing her. They were failing Castle. At last they knew who was perpetrating the crimes but he was still illusive as smoke.

"Let we get this straight, Ryan, we know who this bastard is but we can't find him. I got the combined power of the NYPD and the FBI and we still don't have the guy. What the hell have you all been doing?"

"Hey Beckett give us a break there are over 8 million people in this city, so it is going to take awhile to get through them all."

"Surely this guy has to live some where. It is not like he could take Alexis to shelter or a soup kitchen."

"Dominic does not have address in this city. At least not under his name, and to search all the dives around town takes time. Plus all the officers we have trying to safeguard Martha and Gina and Castle, takes away manpower that we could be used to speed up the process."

"Look Beckett, Just because you know the victims personally doesn't change the fact that you are still a cop. So stop acting like a civi' and get you head back in the game." Esposito admonished.

Kate took a breath. Esposito was right she was acting like a civilian, someone who did not know the score. She was not some zonked out victim from a bad TV crime procedural. She was a Detective of the New York City Police Department. She needed to act like one. She could not help Alexis or Richard if she lost her head.

"I suggest that we concentrate on abandoned buildings around the city." The FBI profiler supplied. There is no way that our perp would risk being spotted at inhabited apartment buildings. He would not risk being seen with Alexis. He may risk a mission or soup kitchen. If he does that, Alexis will be heavily sedated. So she will be easy to control. We must approach the suspect with caution. If at anytime he feels threatened he will cut his loses and bolt."

"Approach with caution" Ryan said "Got it".

"Hey Beckett" a groggy Castle whispered "Where is Alexis?"