The Relay was on top of Madison Square Garden. Getting up to the roof was difficult, since they knew the place was crawling with gangs.

"Ascension gears." Lau told them quietly. "We can go straight up the elevator shaft to the roof. The doors are all sealed with the power out. They won't even know we're here if we walk soft."

Alexis fixed the gear to her body armor and zipped up five floors in ten seconds. If her father had been there he would have whooped like it was a rollercoaster. If her family hadn't been hostages right now, she would have had fun too.

"What's the word inside the Stadium?" Hayley asked.

"More than thirty hostiles, according to infra-red scan. There's several quarantined points in there too." Lau reported. "We think they have medical staff as prisoners, but we don't know who they are yet."

Alexis glanced at Esposito, who gave her a calming look. "Our team first, then we help those people. Add The Garden to the List."

"It's going to be a long list." Alexis said, soft enough that she barely heard it herself. If her family hadn't been missing right now, she would have been more concerned.

"There's the Relay." Lau pointed to the Cell Tower. There was something new wired into it. Alexis climbed up and took a closer look. "I have no idea what I'm looking for."

"Anything that looked like a concealed cable, or transmitter."

"Nothing in the relay..." Alexis called back. "But there is something here... Hayley, this is the same sort of signal relay that my dad bought when he went on his PI shopping spree. Is this what a battery pack is meant to look like?"

Esposito gave her a boost and Hayley clambered up. "No. Battery pack is meant to be mounted vertically in this model of Relay. This one's horizontal."

"Different model?" Lau guessed.

"Not a battery." Esposito said it. "Check it out."

Hayley pulled out her multi-tool and carefully pried the cover off the battery pack. "Bingo. It's a directional antenna. Narrow band. This relay is sending anything it gets in a specific direction, so that nobody in any other direction can overhear... And I'd say it has to be within half a klick."

They all went to the edge of the roof and scanned the city, looking for anything that stood out.

"There." Hayley said. "The Post Office."

"Big place." Esposito said quietly. "Why there?"

"The cars and trucks." Hayley pointed.

"There aren't any." Alexis said, not getting it. "Not at the Post office."

"Exactly. It's the only building in the street with at least twenty feet of no vehicles around it." Hayley declared. "Someone moved them back to make a perimeter." She flicked Alexis' ear hard. "Keep those eyes open, Rookie."

"She's right." Esposito said shortly. "Alright, back to ground level and let's get outta here. We're in a line of sight and we're on the rooftop with their Communications Relay. Sooner or later we're going to be noticed. Let's hope it's later and be elsewhere before they start taking shots at us."

Everyone moved back, out of sight of the street.

"Lau, that's our next mission." Esposito told her. "You and your team get your heads together."

It wasn't a prison cell. It was an office building. But the door was a secure room. Back when civilization mattered, the papers must have been useful or important in some way.

But the door locked, and that was all that mattered if your hands were tied. Additions had been made to the room, cage walls mounted and bolted to the floor and ceiling. It was prison enough that they couldn't get out.

Castle looked up as the door opened, and Beckett was shoved in. Her hands were tied behind her back and she sprawled, before her guard hauled her upright and cuffed her to the cage wall alongside her husband.

"Beckett?" Castle whispered. "You okay?" He wanted to break his chains and kiss her immediately, but he didn't dare let slip too much about their relationship.

"So how was your day?" Beckett declared, groaning.

"Well, this sucks." Esposito commented. "How up to date it this?"

"Latest data is six days old." Lau told them. "We have data from last week. Cera had taken over the place as an operating base, and then they went dark. We never found out who did it."

"We have now." Esposito said tightly. "What's our point of entry?"

"There isn't one. We can set up all kinds of sniping positions, but there's nothing we can do from the outside without them killing the hostages." Lau told them. "There are three routes in via the underground; including the Penn Station Line. No joy. They've got all kinds of things rigged, and the ones that aren't full of traps they've collapsed."

"So, what's our move?" Alexis demanded.

"We'll find one, Rookie." Esposito promised. "But without some intel, we're going to get ourselves killed and do more harm than good."

"There are a dozen doors and a hundred windows. All of them are fortified?"

"All of them." Lau confirmed. "Plenty of guards, too."

"Shutting down the Battalion isn't the problem. The problem is that they have prisoners."

"Can we do a drop? We've got aircraft in play again." Hayley offered.

"No high altitude craft. And if they hear a chopper coming..."

"Which they will." Alexis put in. "I haven't heard a go-kart engine in weeks. They'll hear heavy artillery coming." She looked at Esposito. "Only way to do this is to get in the door and look around first. Without them going for the prisoners."

"Then we'll have to create a diversion." Esposito said. "We can keep their focus on the corridors near the door, but the longer this goes, the more likely they'll go for the hostages. Alexis, your job will be to get to the civilian's and get them out fast, and I don't care how you do it."

"We can't use the same plan as we did at the Docks. There could be a hundred rooms in that building." Alexis argued. "It could take me an hour to search them all, especially if the doors are locked, and even more if I have to fight or sneak my way past a bunch of armed guards. They aren't scared gangs in there."

"You got a better idea?"

Alexis licked her lips. "I thought I might walk up to the front door and ask them to take me to their prisoners."

The Brig section was occupied by Castle, Beckett, Nico, Carla, and four others. One of the others was in a tattered National Guard outfit, and it looked like he'd been beaten half to death. The other three were civilians. Beckett didn't recognize them, but she knew the uniform of a post-plague survivor. Mismatched clothes, dark circles under the eyes...

Carla was breathing hellfire. "I knew this was a mistake. We're stronger alone!"

"Calm down, sis." Nico told her, unflappable. "Everything's under control."

"Care to explain that?" Castle asked him.

"Well, you wanted an alliance, didn't you?" Nico grinned. "The way I figure it, we've both been taken, and both our organizations know where we were meeting. If your Noble Knights of Camelot can rescue us, then we can do business, and if my Sister's Harem of Hopeful Suitors can get me outta here, then why do we need you?"

Castle and Beckett traded a look. "So, how did your thing go?" Castle quipped.

"About the same as always." Beckett agreed grimly. "Remind me, how did I wind up in here?"

"I think you were coming to rescue me." Castle teased. "If Espo can track either of us and stage a jailbreak, we've won an ally. Do you know where we are?"

"They had me blind the entire way in." Beckett shook her head. "You?"

"Same." Castle admitted. He glanced over at the other four. "How about you? You know where we are?"

"Somewhere in Penn Plaza, I think." One of them offered. "I tried to get in out of the cold. When they realized I didn't have anyone else, they left me in here. That was day before yesterday." He nodded at the other two civilians. "They were here when I arrived, and haven't said a word."

"What happened to them?"

"I don't think it had anything to do with the soldiers. I think they were like that when they got here." He gave a hollow look to Castle. "Bad couple of weeks, y'know?"

"Yeah, I know." Castle looked back to his wife. "I'm a little surprised that we weren't tagged. They strike me as the type to snoop on their friends in The D-"

"AhAh!" Beckett shook her head. "I would be very surprised if they weren't listening in right now."

"They aren't." Groaned the man in the National Guard uniform. "If they heard half the things me and my buddy were saying to each other in here, they'd stop putting the questions so rough."

"Where's your buddy now?" Carla asked.

The guardsman just looked at them painfully. He didn't need to answer.

Nico just smirked like a shark. "Wonder which one of us gets to the 'questioning' stage first."

The door rattled open and in walked the man that had taken Beckett prisoner, red eye-patch almost glowing in the dim light. Next to him was a man with platinum blonde hair.

We're about to find out. Castle reflected.

Blonde-Hair looked at them and pointed at Beckett. "That one." He said with a leer.

Eye-patch rolled his eyes.

Castle turned to stone.

Bbut Nico actually laughed. "Ohh, it's like that, is it?" He taunted Blonde-Hair. "Funny, but ever since the world ended, I've gotten all the trim I needed, just offering a girl a tin of pineapple slices. You telling me you need to keep yours in handcuffs?"

"Maybe that's what does it for him?" Carla agreed, laughing derisively. "He's not very ugly, and he's not short... I guess I know what he's compensating for."

Blonde-Hair scowled. "You want me to pick you instead, sweetheart?"

Carla grinned toothily. "Anything you bring within reach of me I'm keeping."

Blonde-Hair came over and hauled Carla to her feet. "Fine, you win."

Eye-Patch watched them drag her out, and glanced at Beckett. "He's a hothead, that one. You do get that she and her brother just rescued you from getting picked yourself, right?"

Beckett was unreadable.

Eye-Patch shrugged. "Suit yourself." He glanced at Nico. "Don't know what you were protecting the lady cop for, convict. But you should know: What you're obviously thinking? You're wrong. We just need information, not anything else. We're not like that here."

"Information about what?" Castle asked.

"About the opposition." Eye-Patch told them. "The City is lost, and the only thing left is to wait it out, until the wildfire burns itself out. Even the coldest Darkest Winter ends. When the dust settles, the only question left is who's left standing."

Castle swiftly understood. "And the only ones who might have a problem with that are the ones who won't get with the program and play the smart odds."

"Right." Eye-Patch told them. "The Commander's a good guy. He doesn't leave his people behind, and there's nothing he wouldn't do to protect them. So your pals in The Division can either get out of the way, or be removed."

Castle and Beckett looked at each other. "The Division? What's that?"

Eye-Patch was about to answer, when the door opened again, and Carla was shoved back in, with blood pouring from her teeth, very pleased with herself. Blonde-Hair followed her in and re-cuffed her, teeth-marks deep in his neck, and a slice missing from one ear.

"Forty five seconds." Nico cackled. "New record for you, sis."

Blonde-Hair snarled, furious. "You think you're cute? There's no help coming. You know that, right? Nobody's going to help you!"

"Help!" Alexis shouted, panicked.

The two men on guard duty outside the Post office snapped their guns up. A young woman with torn clothing and messed up red hair limped up to them, hands up in surrender, trying to run when she could only hobble. A large backpack was being dragged along behind her, and she had tears streaming down her face. "Help! Please!"

The guards pointed their guns, and two red laser points were squared on her forehead, but the girl kept coming. "Help! They're behind me! Please! I'll pay you! I've got food!"

"Kid, get on the ground or I'll shoot you."

Alexis ducked, hands up higher, blubbering out huge tears. "Please! Don't leave me out here! They'll kill me! I'll do anything!"

At that moment, the sound of people yelling came from further down the street, with a few gunshots chasing after her. One bullet hit the ground at her feet and Alexis dove forward with a cry, outright pleading on hands and knees. "PLEASE!"

Figures in gas masks came running out of the dark with their guns, catcalling and hollering. One of the guards returned fire automatically. Just a few rounds. Just to keep them back.

And then a grenade came, hurled from the dark shadows.

"Grenade!" One of the guards yelled, and yanked open the door, diving inside. The other guard followed... And Alexis darted forward before it shut, managing to get inside before the thing blew, with fierce light and noise banishing the darkness for a split second.

"Oh thank you! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Alexis nearly blubbered, when five different rifles were put against her head from different directions. "Please don't shoot! I have food!"

"Stand Easy."

The soldiers all pulled back, but only a few inches. Alexis didn't dare think that she was in any way safer. She looked up as a young-ish man with thick stubble and hard eyes came over. She knew instantly that he was in charge. She made a quick scan of him, and found no name tag, no rank insignia... There was one identifying mark on his equipment. A small tag that read 'Vanguard'.

Her eyes flicked back up to his face just in time to see him turn to stone. He had seen the look. He knew she was looking for clues. "Search her!"

Alexis was hoisted to her feet and searched so thoroughly that she flushed as red as her hair. She didn't put up a fight. Her bag was taken and pulled apart. "She was right about to food..." One of the soldiers reported. "One weapon. 22. No bullets. Knife in her sleeve."

'Vanguard' came closer and looked closer at Alexis. "You were trained."

Alexis played dumb. "What? I don't understand..."

"Who. Taught. You." He said again, and she had absolutely no doubt that he'd kill her if he didn't like the answer. "Someone taught you what to look for, how to run. Who was it?"

Alexis shrugged helplessly and worked up as many tears as she could. "New York taught me. The only people left are people like me... or you."

It was the most plausible lie she could offer, since it was completely true. 'Vanguard' considered her a moment, and looked closer at her eyes, searching for something. "No contacts." He said finally.

Alexis shook her head. "No. I-I-I used to have reading glasses, but I haven't seen them in days..."

"Shut up." He told her, already at work. "Increase defenses on the Northern perimeter, and arm mines in the south quarter. Evacuate the lobby and the rear loading dock." He turned to the guard with the eye-patch. "Process her. I'll have questions later."

Eye-Patch looked Alexis up and down, exactly once. "Yes boss."

"And come straight back." The Commander warned.

"Yes boss." Eye-Patch promised, not concerned. He hadn't been planning anything.

Alexis tried to look around without it being obvious as Eye-Patch hauled her through the building. Staircases, polished marble floors, several large side rooms... But her attention kept returning to her escort. The eye-patch was distinctive. This was the man she had seen on the edge of the Echo. This was the man that took Beckett prisoner. "Interesting eye-patch." Alexis sniffed as he escorted her through the hallways, wiping her face. The more turns they made on the second floor, the fewer people she saw. They were getting to their destination... And there was nobody else in sight. When he reached for the key ring, she was sure. "I've never seen a red eye-patch before." She said with a smile. "There a story behind it?"

"There is." Eye-Patch confirmed. "You interested in hearing it?"

"Actually, no." Alexis said regretfully. An instant later, she had brought her hand up in a swift chop to his throat. It was a precision blow that Hayley had taught her, and she followed it up an instant after that with a swift knee to his groin.

The guy was two feet taller than her, and maybe fifty pounds heavier, and it took all her strength to keep him from slamming into the floor like a felled tree. He had a few seconds to try and shout past his spasming throat, and Alexis took the chance to yank a fire extinguisher off the wall and club him over the head with it. Eye-Patch went over backwards before his eyes rolled back in his head and she lunged forward to lower him to the floor as quietly as she could.

Wow. Am I really doing this?

She thought of her father. The rest was easy. She glanced around the empty hallway, and looked for a place to put him. He had keys. It took her the longest thirty seconds of her life to try them all and find the key to the nearest door.

Once the door was closed behind them, Alexis looked him over. There was little chance she could drag him any further until she got the armor, and the jacket, and the gear off him. He had zip-ties in his vest, and she tied him up. She was about to leave, when she realized she didn't know how long he'd be out, and she went back and gagged him with his own socks.

The vest wasn't exactly her size, but the straps were surprisingly adjustable. Her guard didn't carry weapons, which she would have found strange a week before, but now it was reassuring. It meant that he was in charge of guarding the prisoners. They wouldn't have armed him, because if the prisoners had gotten the upper hand, as she had just done, the battalion wouldn't want her armed.

She pulled the concealable earbud out from the spot between her teeth and her cheek. She wasn't quite sure how it had survived the trip, or how something so small could function as a microphone too, but she was just glad she hadn't swallowed it.

"Hayley, I'm in." Alexis reported.

"What do you see, Rookie?"

"At least twenty guards, armed to the teeth. Full body armor, military grade weapons and equipment. The front door is a trap; that's why they didn't fight for it. The door opens, but they've got the whole lobby rigged with explosives. I think they come in the loading bay; because both lead to the main stairwell. The prisoners are somewhere on the second floor." She hesitated. "At least, their young and female prisoners are. But I think that's where they keep people they aren't sure of yet. I don't get the feeling that these guys are... like that. They're too... cold."

"What did I tell you? The kind of face that can talk it's way through a locked door." Hayley said with a grin.

Esposito had turned to stone. "She isn't even armed."

"It was her play."

"But it's my command." He countered. "The buck stops with me, and I ordered a rookie to run up to the All Star Team and flirt her way in, just on the off chance she can improvise a half-dozen people out again."

Hayley rested a hand on her shoulder. "What I said? About how her father was the one string keeping her from flying high? For the first time, that's working for us. She'll pull it off." She offered. "I have faith."

"Boss, I got one of their radios." Alexis reported. "They're putting snipers on the roof, just in case. You'll have to remove them first."

Esposito keyed his own earpiece. "Lau, you get that?"

"I got it. Three Snipers, but they're looking at the road. We're ready to engage on your order." She reported.

"We might have another advantage." Alexis said. "The lobby is wired as a means of defense, but they aren't mines. They're remote charges. I saw short range antennae. So it stands to reason they wouldn't set them all off at once."

"Right, it'd damage the building foundation." Esposito nodded. "Probably triggered from another room, mine by mine. Cheap landmines that you can control."

"What if we could set them all off? Draw the defenders to the front of the building, while a second team goes in the Loading Bay?"

"Good plan. Get set up, Lau."

Castle and Beckett looked up when they heard keys in the door. Alexis came in and took the whole room at a glance. She saw the three civilians and felt better about her plan. She wasn't the first one to come in and never leave.

"Alexis?" Castle blurted when he saw her, straining against his cuffs.

Alexis let out a breath that she'd been holding for six hours. "I can't leave you alone for five minutes, can I?"

"Who the hell is this?" Carla demanded.

"Alexis what are you doing here?" Castle demanded. "You should be as far from here as you can get!"

You have four seconds to take control of a situation. Alexis remembered Kate's advice. "Hey! Listen close! If you all do exactly as I say, I can get most of you out here alive." She said firmly. "Don't be the exception!"

It worked. The people who didn't know her were listening.

"Is there a plan?" Beckett asked, subtly looking around for Esposito.

"Yes. Now that I've found you, we wait for another... two minutes." Alexis came over with the keys and started letting them free. She went to the beaten National Guard soldier and checked him. No pulse. He'd died in his sleep and nobody noticed. "Stay quiet. I can't get you out of here until we get the signal."

"What will the signal be?"

"You won't miss it." Alexis promised and lead the way out.

"Who the hell was that?" Nico's sister asked.

Castle gave her a proud look. "That's my daughter."

Nico's eyebrows raised into his hairline and he let out a low whistle. "Richard, my friend. Maybe we can do business after all, eh?"

"Careful, Nico. She's handy with a sword, from what I hear." Beckett drawled.

"Whoever those men were, they apparently don't like being run off." Vanguard said over his radio channels, and Alexis heard it in her stolen left earbud. "Our spotters see over a dozen armed men coming up the front steps toward the main entrance. Give them a good fight, but don't let them past the lobby. Ops, you have detonation control, only let them in if you have to. Remember, we don't want to run them off scared, we want to break any rival factions. Let them fight their way into the building... but don't let anyone out again."

Alexis relayed the information quietly to the mic in her right earbud. "You get all that? Don't let anyone go further than the stairs."

"Roger that. Opposition is heading for the front of the building." Lau reported. "Finding frequency."

The JTF agents and NYPD were down at ground level, firing steadily at the door. The guards were in the windows on the second and third level, firing back. Neither side had position, which was by design. Lots of noise, lots of attention, little achievement.

"Frequency found." Lau reported.

"Let em have it." Esposito ordered, heading for the Rear Loading Bay with Hayley.

Every mine in the lobby exploded at once. All of them. The blast rose through the bottom three floors of the building, and took half the concrete facade down with it, including all the windows with the guards.

Inside, on the second floor, the building shook hard enough that everyone reached out to hold onto something. The lights flickered and went out, before coming on again, and the sounds of walls cracking and floors caving in came rumbling through the structure.

"Please tell me that was the Signal." Beckett commented. "I'd hate to think there was something more obvious coming."

"Now we run!" Alexis told them, and lead the way.

"Dammit, OPS. What happened!?" Vanguard raged.

"It wasn't me, sir. I hadn't even primed the things!"

"Then we're under attack. All points, go on alert, lethal force is authorized. Abandon the front door and seal the corridors between there and the loading bay!"

Esposito floored the truck and it skidded over the barricades, wrecking the front wheels and tearing up the axles, but they made it through the loading bay doors.

The two of them flew out of the door, guns blazing, in opposite directions. They had knocked down the first round of defenders within a few seconds of the blast, but the Battalion inside the building was already counterattacking. Esposito hit a button on his gauntlet and the mobile barricade snapped open, giving him cover and he walked straight at them, firing methodically. Hayley was right behind him, using his cover herself.

"Set!" She said in his ear, and Esposito set the barricade down firmly, taking cover. Hayley tossed a grenade over his shoulder, focusing her contacts to steer the Seeker around the corner, right into the hallway.

Another blast, and they knew they'd never get inside.

"Loading Bay isn't an option. Anyone have an alternate?" Esposito called.

"Maintenance Tunnel, front side of the building." Lau called. "It leads to the main intersection, and you don't have to go up the front stairs."

"That was a lot harder than it usually would have been." Hayley commented wryly as they ran around the front half of the building. "Who are these guys?"

"Not sure... You're hit." Esposito realized.

"It hit the vest, I'm fine." Hayley hissed against her ribcage and promptly snap-drew a 45, putting two of the eager guards down. The rest of the defenders hadn't organized yet, and they ran back to the tunnel as Team Division pressed the advantage.

They made it all the way to the staircase before they met the second line of defenders, who had set up cover and barricades and gun points at the base of the stairs.

At the top of that staircase, Alexis looked down, wondering if she dared try to help. She didn't have any weapons, save her stolen knife, and she had to get her family and three other people past the landing to the other side of the hallway. Esposito and Hayley had them distracted, but one glance upstairs would be all it took for one of them to notice, waltz upstairs and just execute them all.

Everything is a weapon, a protection, or a tool. Alexis remembered Hayley's advice, and went to the fire hose on the wall. She pulled her pocket knife out and jimmied the glass off, so that the smashing sound wouldn't get anyone's attention. She rolled out the hose as quickly as she could, and sliced off the nozzle. "Kate!" She whispered. "Get ready to run. I'll delay them as long as I can."

Alexis threw the end of the hose as far down the stairs as she could, and she quickly spun the wheel. The water wasn't pumped from the mains. It was stored in the building, in case the electrics went out during a fire. The hose filled up quickly, without the nozzle to hold the water back, a river of water went streaming down the tiled stairs.

"Hey!" One of the Battalion saw it and noticed their prisoners running down the hall, in clear view. "Brig Break!"

Some of the guards who didn't have position to fire on the Division Agents broke ranks to chase after their prisoners. They went for the stairs, and suddenly went sliding around on the wet tiles.

Alexis caught a flash of Esposito coming in the door with Hayley on his heels. They had taken the Lobby...

She wanted to stay and help, but Alexis had a job, to get everyone out of there.

They made their way through the hallways, until they found a way out. A window that wasn't barred. It was over the loading dock, and would normally have a twenty foot drop under it, but at this moment, the large truck that Esposito had driven up had been parked in the loading dock, and that meant it was only a six foot drop to the container on the back.

Nico and Castle started hoisting the three mute civilians out, and lowering them down so that they'd have a short drop before they could climb to street level. "If it's still mobile at all, get in that truck and go!" Nico told his sister. "If its too damaged, keep everyone together and find a place to hide. Somewhere far enough away from here to avoid snipers. Go!"

Alexis was at the door, peeking into the hallway. "You too." She told Nico. "Esposito and Hayley are pinned down at the stairwell." Alexis reported. "I have to help them but I can't until get the civilians out of here."

"You have." Nico told her. "We aren't civilians."

Alexis glanced at her father and calculated how many seconds it would take her to convince him to leave. She didn't like the number she got. But then she caught movement out of the corner of her eye, and did as Hayley instructed, she got out of sight.

An instant later, something struck the door with a wet splat, and a second after that, the door was blown to toothpicks. The roar was enough to send everyone deaf, and Beckett overturned the nearest file cabinet to make another line of cover to hide behind. It wasn't going to help, and they all knew it.

"What the hell kind of gun was that?" Castle yelped once he got his hearing back.

Alexis was flattened by the blast, trying to tell down from up. Clear the confusion. What do you see? Trolley, full of boxes of files. Filing cabinets. Fire extinguisher. Window. Door is destroyed. Fires. Small ones.

Nico looked around. "Dammit, if we only had some weapons!"

Alexis sat upright and looked around the secure room. "Everything is a weapon." She told Kate, and grabbed the closest thing on fire.

Vanguard strode into the impromptu Brig, and found it empty. He searched three doors before he found his guard with the eye-patch. The man was just coming around, and he was yelling furiously into the gag.

The Commander pulled the socks out of his mouth. "She was about two feet shorter than you, and unarmed. What did she do? Ask you nicely?"

Eye-Patch was as mortified as he was angry. "Let me at her!"

"Ordinarily, I'd tell you to get yourself free, but as it happens, the girl was just the first move; so I need all hands." He cut the man free and held out a gun. "Go."

The hallway was only eight feet. The Blonde-Haired guard that had fired the sticky bomb at them was creeping along the hallways toward the door. If his quarry was going to make a move, it would be when he got closer. He started to reload his launcher-

Out of the room, at a quick run came a trolley, and it was on fire. It took Blonde-Hair half a second to realize that the boxes of files had been lit, and he couldn't see past the smoke to tell who was pushing it, but it started coming towards him very fast.

Blonde-Hair fired again, on instinct, but he realized instantly he had the wrong target. He couldn't see who was pushing it, so he should have aimed for the floor, or the wall beside the trolley, but instead, the charge splattered all over the front of the impromptu battering ram.

Nico and Castle were pushing the trolley, Alexis and Beckett right on their heels as they charged the length of the hallway. Alexis heard the splattering sound and shouted. "Release!"

Everyone behind the battering ram dove in the opposite direction, flat against the floor. The trolley kept going, momentum taking it right up to the guard as the one second fuse counted down to nothing-

BOOM!

"Agent, we've got another blast on the second floor, I count three, maybe four civilians making a break for it., Whatever you guys are up to in there, it seems to be working!" Lau reported.

"What is that kid doing?" Esposito demanded.

"I don't know, but she seems to be doing it rather well." Hayley grinned, firing steadily. "Do we fall back?"

"What the hell is this?" Nico asked, turning the sticky bomb launcher back and forth in his hands. "Doesn't look like any kind of gun I've ever seen."

"I have." Alexis took it off him and adjusted the safety, just the way Hayley had taught her. Nobody outside the Division knew how to use a Sticky Bomb. It suddenly seemed to be semi-alive in her grip, eager to fight. Alexis could still hear the gunfire downstairs and was oddly pleased. If they were still shooting, it meant Esposito and Hayley were still alive. "Stay behind me." She went running back to the stairwell.

Nico grinned at Castle. "Rick, I really wish Dino had introduced me to your first wife. I'd love to know which side of the family she gets it from."

"You and me both." Castle murmured to himself as he watched his daughter, jaw hanging open.

"What the hell kind of bullets can go through one of our barricades that fast?" Hayley hissed.

"I have no idea!" Esposito hissed back. "We'll have to do this the old fashioned way." He switched his rifle to single shot. "Cover me while I line up the shot."

"That's not a sniper rifle."

"It is if I'm holding it." Esposito came out from behind cover and lined up a target. Hayley came out the other side and started shooting, keeping the targets down.

"Now." Esposito told her, and the cover fire stopped. After a few precious seconds, their enemies raised enough to start firing back, and Esposito put him down instantly. She second one didn't duck back fast enough, and Esposito put him down too.

"Reinforcements!" The Commander called over the building PA. "Everyone in the building with a weapon, get to the Main Intersection, we're falling back... Once our attackers are dead."

"You got an angle on the Commander?" Esposito asked.

"No. He's still on the upstairs level." Hayley grunted. Then she caught the movement. "Oop, no he's not! He's right here!"

An instant later, a heavy barrage of firepower came and sent them both running back for their lives. BRATATATATATATATATTTATAT!

"Go!" Vanguard ordered his people. "I've got this. Get our people back to the Secondary Base."

Hayley and Esposito traded a look. "Seriously, who is this guy?" She hissed. "He's got two bases and a minigun!"

"Size of your gun isn't everything, or so I'm told." Esposito said with a good-natured leer.

"So Doctor Parish told me." Hayley quipped back automatically before wincing awkwardly. "Sorry. Forgot who I was talking-"

BRATATATATATATATATTTATAT!

They both ducked again.

"How the hell do we get out of here without getting chewed to bits by that?"

"How the hell do we get downstairs without getting shot apart by that?" Alexis hissed.

Beckett looked around, seeking inspiration. "I don't know."

And then, from a lot closer than they'd expected, a familiar face with a bright red eye-patch and a rifle came into the hall. "You!"

Alexis saw him, and quickly snapped up the Sticky Bomb Launcher. She didn't have the aim to get him with it, but she didn't want to anyway. Instead, she aimed at the floor...

The bomb splattered, stuck... and detonated, sending the entire floor caving in, crashing down a level.

BRATATATATATATATA-CRASH!

The Division Agents looked up in shock from their hiding places as the entire ceiling caved in on the Commander and his weapon, bringing the fight to a surprising end.

Picking herself out of the rubble was a familiar face. "Hey guys!" Alexis coughed painfully. "So, the plan went well."

Hayley ran over and pulled her upright. "Well, you can make an entrance kid, I'll give you that."

Nico and Beckett were coming down the stairs at a run. "Are you guys okay?"

Eye-Patch was climbing out of the debris, reaching for his gun, when Castle hit him with the nozzle off the hose that Alexis had cut. It was heavy and had sharp metal edges, and the guy went down hard. Dazed, he was suddenly locked in a staring contest with Alexis.

She stared right back. It was odd, like she was seeing something more in this one. Something she hadn't seen in any of the wolves she'd faced over the last few days. And after a moment, she realized what it was.

Hatred. Pure wrath. She had embarrassed him, made him look weak, and he wanted to kill her for it. If the world magically went back to normal tomorrow, he wouldn't let that stop him from seeking vengeance.

His one good eye rolled back in his head, and the spell was broken, but it had reached Alexis in a way that the entire week had not.

Wow. I have a nemesis.

Castle had his phone out. There was no signal, of course, but he was snapping photos of all the soldiers they had fought. Hayley was helping herself to a look at their weapons. Esposito had his eyes glued to the Launcher in Alexis' grip.

"Agent, what's left of the Battalion is bugging out." Lau called over their comms. "Do we pursue?"

"Negative. We have them. Mission accomplished." Esposito heard his voice say. "We need to get out of here. Right now. Move out!"

Alexis looked around quickly. "Where's Vanguard?"

Esposito looked. "The Commander. He's not here! I saw him get buried, could be..."

"Esposito, you better get your people outta there. Signal Traffic on that Relay just went through the roof. Reinforcements are coming!"

Nico looked around the dark city street like he owned it. "Rick, Captain... GI Jane and friends." He sent Alexis a wink. "You saved my life, and that of my sister. I do believe we are partners in this war now."

"Nico, I don't pretend to know what the city will look like a year from now." Beckett told him. "But I do know that we're the ones left, and that's all that matters any more. I don't know if there are laws left anywhere in the country, but there aren't any in the City. Your guys always had time to enforce your rules, and you always had time to defend your territory. If your... rules, can come in any way closer to mine, then we can hold this city together. If not, we're both fighting a war on too many fronts at the same time."

Nico gave a single nod. "I know some of the things my family has been into. But I have a sister, and she has a child. Obviously, there are some things that I can't look her in the eye and confess to. What men in my profession have done, we stopped calling it crime, and called it Business. But now, Money has been abolished too. The profit is in lifespan. I think we can dance this little dance." He sent Alexis another wink. "And I, for one, am actually looking forward to it."

Nico split off and went back to his people. The gang from the 12th and the Division Agents began the hike back to the 12th.

"Alexis." Esposito said once Nico was away. "Where did you get that launcher?"

She let out a breath. "Noticed that, did you? I got it from the guard that took a shot at me with it."

Esposito and Hayley looked at each other, eyes turning to stone.

"What?" Beckett pressed them. "What is it?"

Hayley looked the question to Esposito, who gave Beckett a meaningful look and nodded. "Me and Javi were Second Wave Agents. If we were activated, it meant that the First Wave had already gotten the lay of the land and organized civil infrastructure. But once we were activated, we realized that none of that had happened. The reason we're so far behind the curve was that we were started a week later than we should have."

"What happened to the First Wave?"

"We have no idea." Hayley admitted. "We figured the City or the plague or the factions must have gotten to them. That's why there's a Second Wave. And a Third."

"But here's the point..." Esposito put in neutrally. "That Launcher that Alexis took off her guard was Division Issue Weapons Tech. You won't find that in any other branch of the service."

"You think that the Battalion we just escaped were the ones that got your people?" Castle asked. "It would make sense, if they had all the Division Tech."

"Yeah, but the reason Alexis was able to use it? It's because I trained her how." Hayley explained. "There are safeguards in all our special weapons, specifically so that nobody could steal one and use it against us."

"Which means one of your people must have either given it to them, or shown them how." Beckett challenged.

"That's right." Esposito nodded.

"By force?"

"Our field agents are trained in resisting all kinds of downright unholy interrogation methods." Hayley said plainly, with a terrifying smirk at Alexis. "Brace yourself for when we get to that part of your training, sweetheart. It won't be fun."

Alexis shivered violently.

"So either your guy couldn't hold out, or there may be something rotten in the First Wave Agents." Beckett commented, almost daring Esposito to contradict her.

"If that's who they were." Hayley put in. "We're Sleepers. We don't know each other until the call comes in. I didn't know Esposito was an Agent."

"Well somebody does." Beckett insisted. "Something I can tell you for a fact from my time with the Feds, is that there's always something on paper somewhere, even when they're Classified Top Secret." She held out her phone to Esposito. "Espo, you may have been a Sleeper, but you were a detective too."

"Beckett, it's also possible that one of my people is tied to a chair somewhere getting this stuff beaten out of their brain, and if we go chasing ghosts, he or she just has to sit down and take it a lot longer." Esposito countered.

"I understand that, but if you were me and I was you? Tell me it wasn't the first thought that went through your head when you saw the launcher in Alexis' hand."

Castle held out his phone without a word. There hadn't been any service in weeks, but the photos he had taken were all clearly visible. Every member of the Battalion that the team from the 12th had knocked down that night.

Beat.

"Lau." Esposito called, taking the phone. "When I get back to the 12th, I'll be sending you some pictures of faces. Run them, would you please?"

"We don't have files on all the faces in New York." Lau reminded him.

"I'm betting you will on these ones." Esposito kept his eyes focused on the screen, and his face expressionless.

"I'll get to it." Lau promised. "Listen, my guys keeping watch back at Penn Plaza say that the Enemy Reinforcements aren't fortifying, they're evacuating."

"Good." Esposito commented. "What would you say about claiming the Post Office as a Base of Operations?"

"I think it's a good position, but there's plenty more to sort out."

Esposito nodded to himself. "We'll discuss it back at the 12th."

They kept walking.

Hayley poked Alexis' side. "So. Nico's cute."

Alexis smirked. "For a mobster."

They heard Castle growl from four feet away.

There was a round of applause from the 12th when the Captain walked back in the door. She smiled and ducked her head. It wasn't the first time people had made a fuss, but the last time was when she had been shot. She would have been glad to walk in unnoticed and sneak back to her office, but such was not likely.

Castle squeezed her fingers. Embrace it, Kate. Not a lot of happy news these days.

Kate couldn't deny that. She put a hand up to call for quiet, and made the speech. "I'm told that you guys all mobilized to get me and my husband back. Obviously, I'm grateful; and while I hope never to return the favor, you know that I'd move heaven and earth to get all of you back." She looked to Esposito. "All of you." She emphasized. "But as much as I'd like to celebrate and take a week off, the city doesn't sleep, even now." She smiled at them. "The mission was a success. We've got the docks, we've got Allies keeping the Dark Zone behind it's walls with a whip and a chair, and we've cleaned out an idea Base of Operations for our partners in The Division, which means we get the Bullpen back soon. This was a good night for us."

The 12th applauded.

Alexis felt a hundred feet tall and glanced over at Hayley. She, Lau and Esposito were melting back against the walls, going unnoticed. Alexis swiftly understood. We're Division. We don't take curtain calls, we don't take the credit. We just do the job.

Lau's people had set up a temporary command center in one of the interrogation rooms. Lau was already there, at the map, Esposito went to her, and waved Alexis over to join them.

Castle turned and noticed his daughter wasn't at his hip any more. He went looking and found her at the map too. One of Lau's people stopped him at the doorway, but he could still hear them speaking.

"The position is good, I just worry about the size of it." Lau explained. "The Post Office is a big space, and we always planned to open a medical wing, and a refugee center. it's meant as a Safe Zone, after all. But if we don't have a lab, or a Checkpoint, or for that matter, power and water; then what really is the point?"

"How many of there people do we have?"

"None of the living. They came back and cleared their people out, and they trashed the generators, the turbines, the security systems... They just smashed the whole thing on their way out." Lau said, annoyed.

"Alexis?" Castle called from the door, a little surprised.

His daughter glanced up. "Yeah, I'll be right in; Dad. Gotta get this down while it's still fresh." She was still totally focused on the map. "Lau's right, the Post Office is a mess... But it just needs repair, not construction. Find any other building in the city that's set up half as well, and with equally good positioning. I've been out there Scouting for a week, and I'll give you a hint: There isn't one."

"Fixing her up will take a lot of work."

"So will building a new base." Esposito told them. "Half the equipment and preparation was done by the Battalion for us already. Finding key people was already on our mission list, let's put them to work for repair instead of construction." Esposito told them.

"He's right. It saves us a lot of time in the long term." Alexis nodded. "While I was in there, I saw plenty of dorm room, plenty of workspace, fortifications over the windows already built, and after we were done with it, there was only one main entrance, so it's fairly defensible."

She's a soldier now. Castle thought in disbelief. My baby girl is all grown up taking over the city, one block at a time.

He felt Kate slip her hand in his, and lead him gently away as The Division took over command, making their plans to retake the city.

Kate led the way into her office. Castle hadn't said much since Alexis had freed them. She had no idea what he was thinking. She closed the door carefully, led him over to the couch and sat him down. He followed her direction without even looking at her, off somewhere in his head.

Beckett gave him all the time he needed, resting her hands on his shoulders.

Finally, he spoke. "Kate?"

"Yeah?"

Castle took in a slow, deep breath, and then exploded off the couch with a war whoop. "Did you see that!?" Castle almost yelled. "That was my daughter that did that!"

"She was impressive." Kate agreed, smiling.

Castle kept smiling for five seconds, before the blood ran away from his face and he turned ashen. "Kate? Did you see all that? That was my daughter that did that!"

Kate came forward and wrapped her arms around him tightly. "I know, Babe. I know."

They stayed there a while, rocking with each other gently.

"It's hers now, isn't it?" Castle whispered. "You and me and Ryan and Lanie and Roy and Espo... We fought the Good Fight for eight years... And now it's my daughter's fight. Her and Espo and Hayley. It's their fight now."

"No. Our fight too. Her world, our war." Beckett promised. "We were the Alpha's for a long time, Babe... But the NYPD is disbanded. Even if I kept the team from the 12th together, most of them are dead, and the rest are JTF now. I don't think it's our Wolfpack any more."

Castle scrubbed his face with his hands. "When I killed off Derrick Storm, I had a dozen ideas on how to continue. I actually played around with the idea of having Storm's long lost son get a book of his own; but who would take that seriously? Thank god I met you."

"Our story is far from over, Babe." Beckett promised him. "The players have changed, but the game stays the same. Serve and protect, even in the face of extinction." Beckett sighed hard. "And innocence may be a lost cause now, but there are still people in trouble, surrounded by wolves, and crying out for someone to come and help them. And while Alexis and her guys take on people like the Cleaners and the Battalion... There's still a whole lot to be protected. Five percent of people is still a big number in the mortal city."

"You and Beckett seemed... okay." Alexis commented. "Ice thawing?"

"Yeah." Esposito agreed. "What about you? Ice between you and your dad seemed to be growing thicker."

"That wasn't Ice, that was parental instinct." Alexis shook her head. "I think it's finally dawned on him that I can handle this job better than he can handle me having it."

"Well, our Base of Operations will be running by dawn. And Camp Hudson is receiving choppers every ten minutes, bringing in supplies, weapons, people... Foreplay's over, we're in the game now." Hayley told her apprentice. "Which means it's time for you to make a decision."

"I thought I already had." Alexis almost smiled.

"It's not official till we sign you in at the base." Esposito told her. "You get your contacts, your rank, your SHD Clearance... Your father wasn't wrong, kid. It's a bad business sometimes. Certainly a hard one. You made it through and saved your family... but saving the City is something else. You've been shot at five times in the last week; and that's not even close to a good way of life. This ain't no video game where you can just shrug off getting shot. One bad millisecond is all it takes."

Alexis looked hard at him. "Are you telling me to stay out of it?"

"I'm saying that Hayley has been training you in Field Ops. But I saw you when we waited out the first week. You were working three radio's, charting every move that every faction made... Logistics is no small thing; and it's non-combat. I can make it happen."

"You could also put me on your fireteam." Alexis said with a glance at Hayley.

"Yes, I could." Esposito said matter-of-factly. "Hayley made the comment that you felt responsible for your father. I've known the man eight years, and I agree, you're more of a positive role model than anyone else in the family ever was."

Alexis snorted.

"Hayley said that your dad was the one string you had holding onto you. Tonight, for the first time, that made you want to fight, with nothing held back." Esposito told her. "You went all the way, unarmed, without any backup that could help, and you landed on your feet like a pro. Like Beckett working her mom's case: You shifted into a whole other gear. If you can bring that kind of Game Face to every mission; without having to rescue your father every time, you'd be one of the best I've ever seen."

"The reverse is also true." Hayley said. "Your dad would rather you be manning a radio, but there are people who can do that. More than can do what you can do. Because there aren't a lot of people who would have volunteered tonight." She leaned back in her chair. "There. You are officially evaluated by your Supervising Officers."

Alexis chewed her lip. "I owe you guys my life."

"Doesn't matter." Hayley and Esposito said together.

"I don't like the idea of you going out there into danger while I sit behind a radio and be s-"

"Doesn't matter." Hayley and Esposito said together.

"This choice is for all the marbles, rookie." Esposito told her. "You can't let us, or your dad or Kate have any power over it. You got drafted into this by circumstance, but now, for the first time, there's a safe place on the map."

"Then I guess i have a choice to make." Alexis said quietly.

"You have until 0600." Esposito told her. "When you sign in at 0630, you either get Contacts, or a desk."

When dawn came, Esposito and Hayley stood on the rooftop, gazing over the city. Smoke rose, and so did the smell.

Alexis came up the access hatch to join them. The sound of sobbing, or screaming was carried on the wind. Alexis shivered. At this time of day, there wouldn't be any streetlights. The skyline looked pretty close to normal. But there was a sense of dread hanging over the city like a haze. The same sort of haze that had hit them after 9/11.

"What a mess." Alexis said softly to herself.

She hadn't thought she was speaking loud enough to be heard, but Hayley turned and held an arm out to her. Alexis came forward, and stood with them. "I've thought it over."

They didn't even look away from the city, just waiting for her to declare.

"When I was on the radio, during that first week... My brain wanted to climb out of my head and cry in the corner. I hated it. Never in my life had I felt so useless. I hated that feeling. It was that same, powerless fear I got every time I saw that stupid custom-made vest in dad's closet. Eight years, I've been on the sidelines. But until last night, I didn't know I could be any other way. Last night, when I went in to get my dad; I didn't even blink. I was afraid, but that fear was powerless. I was so focused that it was like the world was made of paper. If I had to chose between going back in to last night's battle, and going back to my quiet, secure home where the radio's are... I can't be on the sidelines any more. I've been both this month; and I know which one I need to be. I'm in, all the way. Now that I know what I can do, I can do anything."

"You would be amazed how often that's all you need." Esposito told her.

"What about the other times?" Alexis asked. "When you need more?"

"Ohh, there are ways to handle that one."

The roof hatch opened again, and Beckett and Castle climbed up to join them.

"We have a Quarantine Bay active at Penn Plaza, your scanners are calibrated correctly to match the ones at Camp Hudson, and the 12th has communications back with One PP... Or JTF Command, if we're calling it that now." Beckett reported. "Your operating post is set up and what's left of the NYPD is ready to go."

"My guy in the Syndicate is on board. He's willing to have his people help maintain order around the outer perimeter of the Dark Zones, and monitor the High Risk Targets until you can deal with them." Castle reported. "Also, Lau left early this morning. She's taken a chopper to Brooklyn to ferry in the rest of your Division Field Agents. They've been gathering there for the last few days. They'll make their way from Camp Hudson to Penn Plaza on foot."

Kate shook her head a little. "I still can't believe I'm sayin' this, but... Esposito, sir? What do we do next?"

"We finish what we started." Esposito drew a flare gun and held it out, handle first, to Alexis. "So, Agent Castle. Care to see who else in the neighborhood is ready to go?"

Alexis grinned, and took the flare gun. With a look to her father, she pointed it straight up, and a bright red light flew straight up into the sky.

The glow lit them all warmly for a moment, and started to go out... when another flare rose quickly, from two blocks away. And then another, twelve streets south. And then another, to the north.

Everyone smiled, suddenly surrounded by allies.

"Let's Take Back New York!"

AN: And so ends the prequel tale. I have no great plans to take it any further at the moment, but I never really close the book on any of my stories. Hope you all enjoyed the ride,. and if I may direct your attention to the lovely 'review' button, at the bottom of the page...