Martha and Alexis are met at the airport by Ryan and Esposito. The Castle women are rushed thru customs with the aid of an agent from the State Department being present to assure no delays.

The two detectives load the suitcases into their cruiser and head directly to the morgue. Alexis is the first to notice the direction that the two detectives are driving

"Ryan? Why are we heading toward the morgue and not the hospital?"

"Oh I didn't mean to scare you. The CDC has set up the containment facility at the morgue. It was the most central location with a large enough lot along with the necessary facilities" Ryan responds

"Oh! You mean facilities like a morgue has with refrigerated units for body storage?" Alexis responded very sarcastically

"No. Sorry little Castle. I didn't mean for it to sound like that. We were referring to the laboratory facility. The morgue does have the best medical lab with isolation capability in the city so the CDC set up there".

Martha has not spoken which is very out of character for her "Kevin, what are the doctors saying about Richard?"

"They currently believe that he trapped the virus with the coat he threw on top of the helicopter. This prevented the virus from escaping into the atmosphere. The current concern is if any of the virus actually came into contact with Castle. They are keeping him in isolation for at least two weeks in case he was to have a break out."

Martha responds "Well thank goodness Richard was immunized for smallpox when he was very young"

Ryan quickly turns his head back toward the two women "Did you say that Castle has been vaccinated for smallpox when he was a child?"

"Yes, oh yes my boy. He and I went on a trip to Europe when he was about 7 or 8 and I thought it would be a good idea to get all the vaccinations that were out there at the time. He was not a very happy little boy. He cried for three days about all the shots. And there were a lot of them. Afterwards when that ugly pox showed up on his arm, he started crying again. He thought it meant he had caught smallpox and was going to die from it. The doctor and I both could barely convince him that he was not going to die from smallpox and the sore was normal part of the treatment process"

Ryan takes his phone out and immediately dials Lanie and puts it on speakerphone

From the other end of the call the four hear the medical examiner answer

"Hey Ryan. Did you two pick up Martha and Alexis yet?"

"Yeah we did and we have some great news. Castle was vaccinated for smallpox when he was a little boy"

"Do you know if it took? I mean did he get a pox nodule pop up on his arm?"

"Yes, Martha said that he thought that meant he had caught smallpox"

Lanie has joy in her voice "Technically he did. That nodule meant his body fought off the disease and it now knows what to fight. That is great news. I will let the doctors know here. I know Kate will be happy"

Martha speaks up from the back seat "How is Kate doing. I know that girl must be very stressed right now?"

Lanie can be heard answering "Yes, Martha, she has stayed in the containment tent ever since we brought Castle here yesterday. She won't go home. She wants to be here when he wakes up"

"Is he still unconscious?"

"Right now he is. Still out The doctors say he took a pretty good bump on his head when he hit the AC vent on the roof. "

"Richard has a pretty hard head. Did he dent the vent?" Martha tries for a bit of levity

All the others put out a light chuckle except Alexis. She has so far sat quite in the back seat with a very concerned look on her face. Or possibly anger

Lanie speaks back up. "Let me go tell the CDC doctors the good news. And of course I will be letting Kate know so maybe she can get some rest knowing her man is probably not going to die from smallpox"

"Ok Lanie we will be there in about 20." Ryan hangs up the phone

Alexis decides to finally say something "What was my dad doing chasing terrorists who had smallpox. Why was he on the roof of the UN? Why was he even involved? Why wasn't he at home where he belongs? He is not a cop. Why did Beckett let him do this?"

Martha responds to her granddaughter "Alexis! Your father is the only one responsible for his actions. Kate did not force him to go in and do whatever caused this. So young lady whatever you want to think about what happened you will not blame Kate for this. She loves your dad every bit as much as you and I do. She probably already blames herself for this. So I suggest you back down, not add any more to her grief and give your step mother a little room"

Alexis looks out the window of the police car. She knows her grandmother is right. Her dad did whatever he decided needed to be done and not something Kate made him do. In fact Beckett would have stopped him had she been there on that roof. "Yes grams"

The cruiser pulls into the parking lot and they see one very large containment tent set up. It is completely hidden from the street. This explains why the media is not all over the occupants wanting to know about the activities happening in the back lot.

The two red heads exit the car ands rush into the side entrance. They are stopped immediately by security who tells them that they cannot enter. Alexis pulls out her ID and tells the man that her father is inside the facility and she will see him. Before the officer can object, Kate walks up from behind

"Let them pass this is Castle's mother and daughter"

The guard opens the door and lets the two women in. Martha grabs Kate into one of her famous Broadway diva hugs and Alexis comes up and wraps her arms around Kate as well. For a brief moment the three women in Richard Castle's life are standing in a mutual embrace.

"Any news on his condition?" .Martha asks

"No change. We passed the word to the CDC that Rick had been inoculated for smallpox when he was a child. They think that may be enough to protect him. Also they discovered that all of the virus they tested from the sprayer was dead. It had already become non viable. It seems that they forgot that putting the virus in a shipping container from Texas, in the Texas heat without any air conditioning is not a very good way to deliver it. They said the temperatures inside the container probably hit 135 degrees or maybe more for extended periods of time. Not good for the bugs"

Alexis looks up to Beckett "We have not heard any details about what happened. What exactly did my dad do?"

Kate pulls the two into a break room and they sit at the lunch table. "Ryan and Esposito went up on the roof with Rick. When they opened the security gate surrounding the fresh air vents, Rick saw the helicopter. It started to rise up and turn toward the vents. It looked like it was getting ready to spray the virus so he took his coat off and lunged to throw it over the top of the copter and when he did, he hit his head on the metal frame of the air vent. No one could go in to help him until bio hazard suits could arrive for the rescuers to wear"

Beckett takes both women's hands and pulls them up and takes them thru the door to the observation room beside the isolation unit "Come on I'll take you two to him"

When they enter the observation room, Beckett is immediately taken back. She looks thru the window and Castle is not there. The room is empty. She runs back into the hall to the nurse's station

"Where's Castle. What have they done with my husband?"