"I've been roaming around. Always looking down and all I see, painted faces fill the places I can't reach. You know that I could use somebody. You know that I could use somebody. Someone like you."

Use Somebody-Laura Jenson (Kings of Leon Cover)

"Do you think she's coming back?" Emmanuella asked, her head resting against Mia's arm and her hand clinging to the older girl's elbow.

"Amber?" Mia asked.

Emmanuella nodded, waiting for an answer. "I don't know." Mia admitted.

"If she really saw Sara get killed then I imagine she ran. For her sake, I hope she doesn't come back." The girl added.

"Do you think he'll come looking for us?" Emmanuella asked, fear in her voice.

"I don't think so, little bird. Besides, if he does, I'll handle it." Mia reassured her. Truth be told, she wasn't as confidant as she sounded. She needed to form a plan to keep them safe, but didn't want to scare Emmanuella in the process.

They huddled in the corner of their dark flat, neither eager to go to bed and both hyper-vigilant. Mia knew that it was only a matter of time before their spot would be discovered. They needed to move fast. The question was - where could they go?

"Mia," came Emanuella's sad voice again.

"Yes?"

"I'm hungry." Her voice was weak and it hurt Mia's heart to hear such feeble desperation. Neither had eaten since the bread that morning. The older girl looked out the window into the night. The rain poured on, intermittent rumbles of thunder rolling every couple of minutes.

"Ok, crawl into bed and stay warm. I'll be back soon." Mia didn't like the idea of leaving her shadow, but it was cold and raining, and for the time being nobody knew they were there. At least nobody dangerous knew. Emmanuella was safer staying dry and warm.

So Mia pulled her hoodie over her head, tying it shut to keep in as much warmth as possible, and ventured into the night in search of food.


"Someone like you and all you know and how you speak. Countless lovers undercover of the street. You know that I could use somebody. You know that I could use somebody. Someone like you."

"Beckett…Beckett?" Esposito called to her multiple times before she responded.

"Yeah?"

"I asked if you were coming. We're going to go check out the address Amber gave us." Kate nodded, trying to shake of the daze she seemed to be struggling with. It made no sense for her to be so shaken. There was absolutely no evidence to suggest that this girl, that Mia, was the same girl.

Just because she's the right age, and because there is a physical resemblance…it doesn't mean that… She couldn't even admit the possibility to herself. She couldn't verbalize the possibility that Mia could be the baby she'd given up. Nobody knew about the child. Her dad didn't even know, and she'd gone to a good home. It just didn't make sense. Yet Kate couldn't stop staring at the photograph of the young girl who looked so much like she did when she was younger.

It wasn't something that the average person would pick up on, only if you'd seen pictures of Kate at that age, or if you knew her when she was a teen. It was perhaps the reason why, much to Beckett's relief - nobody else seemed to notice the resemblance.

"So, are you coming or not?" Esposito pressed again, clearly confused by his boss' strange behavior.

She stood and grabbed her jacket. "Yes, I'm coming."

They had a picture of Mia, but none of Emmanuella. Only a possible link from an old newspaper article.

"Emmanuella Rodriguez, reported missing with her older sister, Marina. Both parents were killed in an explosion several years ago. Marina was arrested for prostitution and drug trafficking about 10 months back, but there was no evidence of the younger girl."

"So," Castle summarized. "We're going to an abandoned building in Alphabet city, looking for a 13 year old with light brown hair and blue eyes, and a 10 year old Hispanic girl?"

"No, we're going to an abandoned building. You're waiting in the car." Beckett clarified.

He gave her an angry stare, causing her to snap. Perhaps it was the emotional distress of the current case, or the possibility of such a long-past part of her life emerging once again, but before she could stop herself, she blurted.

"I'm sorry if that pisses you off, Castle; but I'm not going to lose you any more than I already have."

The boys simply stared as Castle looked at Beckett in shock. He was speechless.

"Come on." She simply stated, wanting to get to lower Manhattan as soon as humanly possible.


The thing that Mia loved most about Farmer's Markets was that they threw out old produce at the end of the day. She knew when to hit each one, as the life of the products varied. She wasn't surprised, but was very grateful to find old cheese, bread and apples.

She stored as much as she could into the pockets of her hoodie and gradually made her way back home. It was getting late and the driver that let her ride the city bus for free was off duty. By the time she was back in her neighborhood she was soaked and shaking.

She stopped suddenly when she saw the flashing lights. Her stomach felt as if it were filling with concrete, as dread consumed her.

"Cops here. Cops here." Newsman Louie spoke as he rocked rhythmically back and forth from his corner,

"Let me go! Let me go!" He sang in a high-pitched voice, mimicking what he'd heard take place.

She shook as she approached, keeping in the shadows against the walls until she could clearly see Emanuella's outline in the back of a squad car.

No! She panicked, watching as two men got in either side. The engine started and Mia watched helplessly, tears falling as she watched the car reverse. They got her. I left her alone and they got her. It was difficult to spot the tears on the girl's face, as the rain continued to pour.

I'm so sorry, little bird. I'm so sorry. Mia curled into herself on the dark corner, sobbing for the loss of her one and only friend in the world.


Kate Beckett paced outside the observation room. They'd only found one of the girls, and they found the one that was in less danger from Tony the club owner. She also happened to be the one who was not possibly her daughter.

"Yo." Esposito leaned into Ryan and Castle. "You ever seen her this keyed up?" He directed their attention to Beckett before adding,

"For a case that didn't involve her mom?" All three men looked on, unsure of what to make of Kate's distressed behavior.

"Whatever happened between you two," Ryan turned to look at Castle. "I know you still care about her, and I know you can see something is wrong."

The writer nodded. Something was wrong. The problem was he didn't know what to do about it. He found that he had little to say to Kate. After everything they'd been through. He didn't have a clue, no matter how much he wanted to help her. The truth was he wanted desperately to make it all better for her. He wanted to hold her close and kiss the lines of worry away, to tell her that everything would be ok. However, it wasn't his role anymore. They weren't together anymore and he had to keep his distance, even if he still loved her.

It was the strangest breakup he'd experienced. They didn't scream or fight, they'd simply separated. They'd lost one another. She pulled away and he was unable to push back. When she lost the baby, he'd been devastated. He mourned for the loss of the child they would never have. However, she seemed unfazed by it and it made no sense.

He was filled with disbelief and anger at first. Castle couldn't fathom being with someone who would take such a loss and treat it as if nothing happened. So he distanced himself. By the time he'd gotten over his anger and grief to think clearly enough to realize that maybe she was just coping in a different way, it was too late.

He wasn't sure who was responsible - maybe both of them, but a wall had been erected between them and this time he couldn't bring it down.

His mother asked him why he continued to work at the 12th. They all knew he was no longer shadowing her, or anyone else for that matter. He supposed it was a combination of wanting to bring justice to others, of the meaning and the purpose he found there. Yet he also knew that a large part was his inability to separate and walk away. It was that part of him that was glutton for punishment; that would face the pain every day if it meant seeing her.

Some days he hated it. He hated her and he hated himself. Mostly he hated that they'd lost everything, and that he didn't know how to get them back on the right track. It was messy and it was complicated, but it was them; and it was all that Castle had left.

"Earth to Castle?" Ryan spoke, bringing him out of his own thoughts.

"I'm at a loss guys." He spoke, earning a pair of disappointed stares.


Emmanuella sat stone-faced, answering no questions.

"Look, I understand that you want to protect your friend, but the fact of the matter is that she's in danger." Esposito spoke with the young girl, Ryan sitting next to him and looking at the young girl sympathetically.

The social worker sat next to her, squeezing Emanuella's shoulder supportively.

"You know, there's someone who has been looking for you." She noted to the young girl, prompting Emmanuella to turn her head.

"Your sister has been living and working in Brooklyn. She's been looking for you for a long time." The social worker informed her. It finally prompted the young girl to speak.

"My sister does drugs."

"That's right. Your sister did drugs." Ryan spoke. "She went to jail about 10 months ago and was sent to rehab. She's clean and has been working a good job….and has been looking for you." The detective continued.

Emmanuella looked from Ryan to the Social worker and back, wanting to believe them but afraid to trust the adults.

Esposito spoke again. "We don't want to hurt Mia, and she isn't in trouble - but it is important that we find her."

"I don't know where she is. She went to get us some food because I was hungry. Then you came." She spoke, not offering any more information.

Castle and Beckett watched silently from the observation room. He watched Kate as much as he did the young girl. Finally unable to ignore her distress, he began to speak. "Kate, what is it?" His voice was soft and tentative. He was offering her an olive branch, and it was up to her to take it.

She turned to him, her eyes wide. "I don't know. I don't…"

The door opened before she could continue, much to Castle's chagrin.

Karpowski stepped in with a box of objects in her arms. "Hey Beckett. This was just delivered to your desk. Officers canvassed the building where the girls were living and found several objects that may shed some light on the case." The curly-haired detective handed Kate the box with a sad expression on her face, the young girl in the interrogation room got to everyone involved with the case. "You might want to check it out."

She smiled to Castle and Beckett before leaving the room again.

Kate placed the box on the table and began to remove the objects, studying them with care.

An old, ratty doll came out first. It wore a knitted sweater and had the name 'Sara' woven into it. Next came a bag filled with old, expired-looking makeup. Followed by tattered magazines, an old photograph featuring a smiling couple with a much younger-looking Amber.

Castle sighed sadly, it was heartbreaking to see how little these girls had, and how cruel the world had been to them. Next they found an old baby blanket, a lunch pail that was filled with half-broken crayons and drawings, a dead ipod with no headphones and a small, empty jewelry box that had a ballerina on top. It looked like it spun and played music at one time, but no longer functioned.

Kate sighed sadly, and was stunned by the squeeze of support she felt from her former partner. She turned to look at him somewhat tentatively, but offered a small smile of thanks. The simple act sent both their hearts into overdrive. Kate needed to break the eye-contact, and used the now half-empty box as an excuse to look away. After several seconds she was able to breathe normally again, but noticed that Castle didn't remove his hand. She didn't want him to.

The bottom of the box was filled with books, old and tattered novels. Castle reached in and read the titles.

"Some of these are really good," he noted, especially intrigued to find a tattered copy of Casino Royale. Also in the pile was The Hobbit, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Wizard of Oz.

"One of our girls is a reader." Castle stated. "I imagine that it's Mia…Amber didn't strike me as a reader -"He stopped suddenly when Beckett spotted something at the bottom of the box, she shoved the remaining books aside and grabbed it as if it provided some long-lost clue. He watched as the color drained from her face, and saw that in her hand was a book with a very familiar cover. It was Castle's very first Derrick Storm novel.

"Hey, that's one of mine!" He noted as he looked at his own image on the back of the book. It was certainly a younger version of him. Kate didn't respond, staring at the book in disbelief and running her hand across the cover. She made a small sound, somewhere between a gasp and a sob.

"Kate?" He asked again.

She opened the book and ran her fingers over the hand-written inscription there, mouthing the words that she read. When she finally looked up at him there were tears in her eyes.

She finally spoke, her voice shallow and trembling. "Oh my God, Castle. It's really her."

"I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready now.

Oh, someone like me.

I've been roaming around; I was looking down at all I see…"