Prompt: Castle and Beckett find a young child at a crime scene. Castle being the more natural one with kids tries to get them to come out from their hiding place but it takes Beckett to finally get them out, after that they won't leave her alone.

As Beckett continued to search the crime scene she became increasingly aware of the sense that she was being watched. She was used to crime scenes, the dead body, the yellow tape, the eerie atmosphere that could only be created by death. However today something was different. Castle had stayed behind to explain his elaborate theory that how their victim was an undercover operative for the FBI, that had found evidence of aliens and had been killed because of his knowledge of their existence. As soon as Castle had begun talking she had taken that as her cue to leave, after hearing this theory on several other cases it was becoming quiet boring. Although it wasn't long before Castle caught up with her, and he continued to explain his theory to her regardless of whether she was paying attention or not.

Concluding that there was no more evidence to be found they turned back to head towards the body again when they heard something that sounded like a small gasp. It was only faint and could have easily have been missed. Kate turned back and flashed her flashlight towards a wire fence that was surrounded by old bits of broken furniture that had clearly been abandoned there.

Kate slowly approached the fence, Castle stayed close behind trying to keep his footsteps as light as possible. Keeping her flash light level she held it so Castle could try and see what was behind the pile of furniture, as Kate made sure she had his back covered just in case it was someone that might harm them. They couldn't be more wrong.

"Erm Beckett" Castle began and turned to watch Beckett's eyebrows raise, questioning what he had seen.

"I think we have a problem" he claimed before turning back and moving what looked like an old bedside table to reveal a little girl curled up in a ball. She had big blue eyes and long brown hair and was clutching her knees to her chest with her hands covering her ears.

"Hi there" Castle said in a friendly tone.

"My name is Rick and this is Kate, we work with the police, do you think you can come out of there? It doesn't look very comfortable in there"

The little girl shook her head furiously and backed away into the corner.

"Come on, we can even go for ice-cream, wouldn't that be great?"

"Go away" the little girl shouted, in a voice that was very strong considering her size.

"Ok Beckett you're up" Castle said straightening up.

"Excuse me?" Beckett asked.

"Well she doesn't look like she is going to listen to me"

"And what makes you think she will listen to me?" Kate retorted back.

"She might relate to you better, she clearly doesn't want to speak to me. Go on Beckett, we can't leave her sat there"

Kate rolled her eyes. She had never been much of a baby person and with Castle's background with Alexis she assumed he would be the right person for the job.

"Hey, there little one" Kate said kneeling down to the little girl's level, hoping to build some trust with the obviously traumatised child.

The child didn't move, in fact she seemed frozen. Kate slowly reached her free hand towards the child's arm. As soon as Kate fingers grazed over her arm the girl flinched away but shot her head up looking directly at Kate.

"It's ok, sweetie, you're ok' Kate soothed.

"Listen why don't you come out? You must be very cold in there" Kate wasn't exactly the maternal type and this wasn't coming as naturally as she would have hoped for but it was a start.

Kate took a breath and thought about this. The child was obviously terrified but she couldn't just leave her.

"Ok" she began, "sweetie there is nothing to be scared of, you're safe now, I'm going to look after you I promise, but you need to come out of there, I want to see your beautiful face". Kate hadn't realised exactly what she had said, but it seemed to work as the child slowly lowered her hands and reached them out towards Kate.

Kate reached in and pulled the child from the mass of discarded furniture and lifted her into her arms. The child quickly wrapped her legs around Kate's hips, pushing her head into Kate's neck and holding her arms around Kate's shoulders in a vice like grip.

"There you go sweetie, OK, now let's get you somewhere warm?"

Kate began walking back towards Ryan and Espo with Castle following cautiously behind. When they arrived back at the scene all of them were stunned to see Kate carrying a small child with her.

"Beckett?" Espo questioned as she approached.

"You do realised you have a small child clinging to you like a koala bear, right?"

"Yes Esposito I had noticed, thank you. We found her at the end of the alley back there but she seems a bit scared so I was going to ask one of the uniforms to take her back to the precinct and get her checked out"

Kate explained as her and the rest of the team made their way to a patrol car where Officer Hastings was standing.

"Hey Officer Hastings could you take this little one back, try and get her to eat something and see if she opens up at all, even just a name would be a great start. I'll be back in about an hour to take her statement"

Even though Beckett realised that this was a small child she was talking to her as if she was just any other witness. Officer Hastings gave her a confused look but accepted none the less. But as she reached to take the girl from Beckett the little girl let out a small scream and clung to Beckett even tighter than she thought would be possible for such a small child.

"I think you have a fan" Castle whispered to Beckett who simply rolled her eyes at the comment.

"Sweetie, I need to stay here but you're going to get to ride in the police car won't that be fun" Kate said trying to sound enthusiastic about it. But the little girl shook her head and continued to cling to Kate.

"Castle I" Kate began not really knowing what to do.

"Look why don't you take her back to the station, she clearly feels safe with you and we can meet you there later, ok?"

"Doesn't seem like I have much choice really does it" Kate stated. Even though she loved kids she had never really been around them and having this child desperately holding onto her for comfort was something that she just wasn't used to.

"OK" Kate said smiling down at the little girl.

"You and I are going to go back to the station and when we are there I'll see if we can get some hot chocolate, how does that sound?"

Kate looked to Castle for reassurance and he smiled back. The little girl didn't nod her approval but Kate took the fact that she hadn't tried to scream the place down and seemed to relax her grip a little as a good to go sign. She quickly jumped in the back of the car, making sure to fasten the young girl in her seat even though the little girl continued to try and cling to Kate the best she could.

"Sweetie, my name is Kate, and I would love to know what your name is" Kate said hoping to encourage the girl to say her name. Instead she simply tucked her head into Kate neck and let out a small whimper.

"It's ok little one, you can tell me when you're ready. I know it must be really scary being in that alley, but you're safe now and nothing is going to hurt you I promise"

Kate didn't know what had happened to this young girl but she felt a little bit of a connection growing, she cared for her victims only this time it could just be a little bit different.

The car was quiet for a few more minutes before a small voice said,

"Emily"

Kate looked down in surprise.

"What was that sweetie?"

"My name is Emily" the small girl replied.

"Emily" Kate repeated. "That is a beautiful name"

Emily giggled slightly and seemed to relax a bit.

"Emily can you tell me why you were hiding in the alley?" Kate asked, making sure to keep her tone as light as possible. She wasn't used to interviewing such young witnesses so this was completely new territory for her.

"Am I in trouble?" Emily asked, her eyes wide and looking up at Kate.

"No of course not sweetie. I just want to know what you were doing so we can find your parents." Kate explained, trying to keep her calm.

"I was with Johnny. He is my big brother, we were going to the shop but then Johnny told me we were going to play hide and go seek and I had to hide and not come out until he found me. But Jonny was taking ages and I got bored and I was really cold. Am I in trouble for coming out of my hiding place?"

"No Emily, you did the right thing"

"Where is Johnny? We need to tell him that you found me"

Kate couldn't explain it to her, that the body at the crime scene was a male named Johnny and it was too much of a coincidence that it wasn't her brother. They hadn't found out what happened, only that it looked as though he had been mugged and then killed, for reasons they didn't know. However if it was her brother then it would make contacting her parents easier.

"Kate?" Emily asked, after Beckett had gone quiet, thinking about how she would explain the situation.

"Emily, listen to me. You need to be a really brave girl for me and tell me did you see anyone in that alley?"

"No" Emily sighed.

"That's ok. I tell you what, me and you will go back to the station and see if we can find some hot chocolate and biscuits whilst we find your mom or dad, how does that sound?"

"Can I have chocolate biscuits?" Emily asked, a smile appearing on her face that portrayed her innocence in this entire situation.

"Of course you can"

"Thanks Kate"

Kate didn't know what would happen once they found her parents. She text Ryan letting him know what she had found out and he replied saying that they had already contacted her parents and they were meeting them at the precinct. Cases like this were always hard, but there was something about Emily that brought hope to the situation.

On arrival at the station Emily continued to cling to Kate, she refused to let go even when Kate had tried to pour her a drink and get her settled, instead she was forced to compromise and tell Emily that she could hold onto her whilst she made the drinks. Castle came to wait with them until her parents arrived but even then she wouldn't leave Kate's side. Castle couldn't help but smile at the interaction between the two of them, for the past few months they had been talking about starting a family but he knew Kate was scared of having a child, it was only last year that she was claiming she wasn't a baby person but looking at her now he knew they were both ready.

It was only when Emily's parents arrived that she finally let go of Kate. They all knew the case would be a tough one, but that was what Kate was good at; seeking justice for others. If anything Emily only encouraged her to make sure she created a solid case and found justice for her brother, who had most probably saved Emily's life.