Chapter 2 is here! This is my last day of vacation, so I decided to post it already, now I have all the classes to write chapter 3 hahah (I'm smiling just to keep from crying). Anyway, how is it going so far, you liked the first chapter? Well, this one is a little longerand I really hope you enjoy it :) You know that reviews are always welcome, it's the only way for me to improve my writing heheh .So yeah, here it goes:

Beauty and the cops

"There was a child here. Beckett, a girl was kidnapped"

The detective's eyes widened as she rapidly put out an alert over the phone about a missing girl. And that was it. The lack of solid information was distressful. According to Castle, she couldn't be older than 4, 5 years and supposing she was somewhat related to the victim, they could guess she was Caucasian. And that was it. In all New York, that if they were not already in Jersey or God knows where.

"Are there more clothes?"

"Just a pair of her shoes. He had another change, too"

"Espo, let's release to the media a picture of all of this. I want it on every damn TV channel"

"On it" He was already down the wooden stairs. They were running against the clock. The last thing they wanted was a toddler's corpse over Lanie's cold table.

Beckett's heels were clicking on the floor; she was tucking her hair behind her ear, like she only did when she was nervous. However she suddenly stopped, making Castle collide with her from behind.

"What?" He followed her gaze to a door at the far end of the hallway.

"The sun is reflecting brightly over there, in that doorknob"

He raised an eyebrow "So?"

"So there's no dust" Realization filled his face.

"I think our guy ditched the run part of the deal. He might have the girl with him, hidden right under our noses"

She pulled out her gun and walked up to the door, trying to listen to anything behind it. Small sobs. Those were definitely sobs. She whispered over her shoulder "She's here, I'm coming in"

"I'll let everybody know" And with that he was on the move, giving her the space to act. She drew a deep breath and let it out. With one kick her heels had broken the wood, revealing the stuffy other side.

"NYPD! Put your hands behind your head and give us the girl"

The room was just a straight coat closet. No lights. No coats. And no attacker. At the dark corner, the sobs grew frightened and Beckett saw a little brunette girl curled up, trying walk backwards, impossibly trying to hide. She saw the crumpled pajamas, messy hair, and chubby cheeks, red and wet. However, the little one did not scream, she didn't let out a single sound.

Once her weapon was safely tucked away, Beckett kneeled down

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry I scared you" Her voice was soft. She needed this girl's trust more than everything and wished that Castle was there to help her. He was so much better with kids. "My name is Kate. I'm with the police. Do you know what we do?"

The girl nodded, slowly standing up and it took her another second before she decided it was safe to speak up "You catch the bad guys" Her voice was a shaky whisper.

Kate smiled "Yeah, that's right. That means I'm your friend and you can trust me, ok? I'm not going to hurt you. Wanna get the hell out of here?" Another nod before she rushed to the detective's reached out hand and clung to it.

They were making their way out of the house when the thin voice reappeared "I am Annabelle"

"Wow, that's the prettiest name ever"

"You think so?" The girl, who now at least had a name, looked up, grinning.

"I really do"

Just as they stepped outside, the sound of guns being cocked welcomed them, cops in position, ready to arrest the perp. Annabelle hid her face against Beckett's body. The woman just raised her hand

"It's clear, she was alone"

While the scheme was dismantled, Beckett walked straight up to Castle, who was leaning against her car. She ducked under the yellow tape, still holding Annabelle's hand, but the tape only brushed the top of the girl's head. She could see the relief in his eyes and she was pretty sure it was a reflection of hers.

The look he gave her was familiar, reassuring, the one that calmed her down like only he could, even if only a little bit. After the scare of their initial guess, the worry took place, as the dimension of the situation settled in. There she was, holding hands with a baby who had probably just witnessed a violent murder and that was now officially under their care.

Castle discreetly brushed the hair out of her face and she looked up back to his face "You okay?"

"I'm fine. Actually, we're fine, right?" She squeezed Annabelle's hand and decided to preoccupy later "Annabelle, this is Rick. He's an okay guy" She announced provocatively and his brow rose, telling her this was a game he could play. He got down so as to face the brunette eye to eye. Hers were big and curious, studying him "At least I'm a whole lot funnier than her. And more good looking too, needless to say" The girl giggled even more as Beckett rolled her green eyes. She knew Annabelle already knew about them. Kids had a knack for these things.

"I saw you on TV" The shyness was melting away. Good, he though, time for uncle Rick to sweep in.

"It's awesome, right? By the way can I call you Belle?"

"Like the princess!"

"Yes. You're pretty just like her"

Kate was smiling, loving eyes looking down at her writer

"Can you take care of her? I need to go talk to the boys"

"It'll be my pleasure"

"What's she going to do?"

"Boring police stuff" This earned him another chuckle. "I can't stop thinking about one thing, though"

"What?"

"Breakfast" Her face lit up

"I am hungry!"

"Ok, let's go call the lady" He was holding her hand now "By the way, did you know that Belle means beautiful? That's why it's your name"

The pair of round brown eyes sparkled at him, the tears long dried.