So, here is the second chapter. Hope you'll enjoy it.

Some reviews would be really great!


He turned around, left the basement, and cautiously locked the door. The writer and his muse looked at the clock as one. Time was slowly slipping away, tirelessly.

Neither of them said a word for quite a long time. They did not even look at each other. Kate withdrew into silence, and started pacing again, trying to find a solution. A way out.

'Beckett?' Rick asked timidly.

The detective ignored him, and kept on walking back and forth.

'Kate!' angrily yelled the writer.

His muse froze. She was turning her back to him, unable to face him. Rick got up, and softly walked towards her. He went in front of her, and took her hands.

'Kate. Kate, look at me.'

He had spontaneously used her first name. Using her last name seemed pointless in such circumstances. They had been using their surnames as a barrier, to keep some distance between them, and at this precise moment, which could have been the last they would ever share, they only needed each other's closeness.

Beckett raised her head, and looked at the writer's deep-blue eyes. He faintly smiled at her. She saw in his eyes the terror he was trying to hide, and knew he was seeing the same feeling in hers. It was like looking at a mirror. She tried to smile back, but failed to.

'Kate…We have to talk about it.'

'No. No way. There's no way we're even going to consider what that son of a bitch wants us to. We'll find a way.'

She pulled her hands off his, and turned away again.

'You're hiding, the writer accused her. It's what you do. Whenever you're not in control, you run away. You withdraw into yourself. You don't let anyone in. You heard him, didn't you ? If we do nothing, he'll hurt them, Kate ! Is this what you want ? For Alexis or your father to get hurt ?'

'We will find a way!' Kate shouted.

The detective ran her hand through her hair and bit her lips. They would not discuss it because she would give her life for him. 'Why would you do that?' whispered the voice of her conscience to her ear. 'Because I…Because he's my partner. Because he has a daughter. Because thousands of people count on him, just the way I had even before I met him,' she tried to convince herself.

The writer looked at her while she was lost in her thoughts, and frowned. And suddenly, he understood. This revelation hit him hard.

'Kate, no!'

'What?'

'I won't let you do it. I won't let you…'

'You wanted to talk, so let's talk ! Kate angrily interrupted him. You have a daughter, Castle! Alexis needs you! And don't even get me started on the thousands of fans to whom your death would be heartbreaking!' She sarcastically added.

'You're hiding again! furiously shouted Castle. You don't even have the guts to admit what's truly motivating you!'

He walked away from her, and violently hit the wall. He rested his forehead against the dusty wall, his palms against it, and took a deep breath. Kate stood in the middle of the room, frozen. She thought about what the writer had just said. She would have liked to think she was about to sacrifice herself out of love, out of loyalty or out of bravery. But she knew it would have been a lie. Castle was right. She was a coward, she was hiding. She was hiding from what she could not control. And she was so tired. She had survived too many deaths, too many lost. To sacrifice herself seemed so much easier. To live was no easy task, she had learnt it at her expense. She was living through every second of every single day haunted by the death of her mother and the sacrifice of Roy. She could not live knowing the man she loved had given his life for her. 'The greatest sacrifice does not lie in self-sacrifice. It does not reside in one's death due to their sacrifice, she thought, No, sometimes, the greatest sacrifice is to be the one that lives.' She knew she was not that brave. She could not imagine her life without Castle. Without his smile, his jokes, his charming and yet irritating behavior. Without all of his attentions and kind thoughts. Without his presence to help her through her darkest moments.

She had just admitted to herself the true reason that was making her willing to sacrifice herself. She could not imagine living in a world in which she would have to live with the shadow of the writer's sacrifice over her shoulder. She felt something change in her at this exact moment. She could not say whether a part of her had just bloomed or died. She raised her head, and looked at Rick, who noticed the yet subtle change in his muse.

'Don't ask me this, Rick', she begged him in a broken voice.

'Ask you what?'

'Don't ask me to survive you.' She whispered.

Rick felt stupefied after what Kate had just told him. He did not know what to say. His mother was right. For a writer, he was terrible with words. They both remained silent after this, sometimes looking at the seconds that were slipping by. They eventually sat one next to the other, still not talking. They did not need to. There are some relationships that do not need words, and theirs was one of them. Rick dithered for several minutes, and eventually grabbed his partner's hand, entwining his fingers with hers. He expected her to push him away or to tense up, but she did not. Much to his surprise, she even held his hand tighter, and rested her head on his shoulder.

'Will you look after my dad?'

Kate's question broke the silence. Rick hesitated, choosing his words carefully.

'We haven't decided anything yet', he answered, determined to not let his muse die.

'Rick…'

'You said it yourself. We'll find a way.'

'And what if we didn't ? What if I had to…' She stopped talking, unable to keep going. After a while, she finally said: 'You promise you will take care of him?'

Rick got lost in his thoughts. It reminded him of another conversation he had had with her, the one about Alexis, when he thought he had been cursed by a Mayan malediction. He smiled at the memory of this investigation. He came back to reality when he felt Kate squeezing his hand.

'Rick?' insisted the detective.

'I promise. But you will take care of him yourself. We'll both make it. We have to believe this. The guys will look for us, they will…

'Castle!' bitterly interrupted his muse. 'When they realize we're missing…It will be too late. We're all supposed to have our weekend off. They have no reason to be looking for us.'

'Mother or Alexis will notice, insisted Castle. When Alexis does not get any answer to her texts, she will know something's wrong. She…'

'It's the middle of the night, Castle. When Alexis realizes you're gone…The period will be over.'

Kate felt despair overwhelm her. She hated herself for hurting Rick, for crushing his hopes.

'I'm sorry. I shouldn't have talked to you like this.'

'No. You were right. Let's not talk about it, okay?'

Kate nodded and cuddled up closer to his partner and friend. He rested his head against hers, enjoying the little comfort it was giving them. They waited in silence for the three hours to slip by.

When the door opened up, Kate startled. She had fallen asleep for a few minutes, exhausted. The two partners got up. Praying for a miracle. Rick wished reality was nothing more than one of his book so as to rewrite the ending. Caleb entered the room, looking amused and cheerful.

'I hope you've made your choice? I would hate to hurt your lovely daughter, Mister Castle. And Detective Beckett, don't you think it would be sad to screw up so many years of sobriety?'

The writer and his muse tensed, clenching their jaw, and hardly containing the hatred that was overwhelming them. Kate told herself that, if it had only been about her, she would have tried to do something. But she had no right to put her partner and their family at risk. She kept her mouth shut and did nothing, cursing herself for it.

'Well? I'm waiting for an answer.' Caleb impatiently asked.

'It will be me,' calmly claimed Kate.

She stepped forward, putting herself in front of her partner. As if to protect him. She felt Rick tense behind her.

'Why am I not surprised?' Blake asked in a sarcastic tone. 'Why do you always have to be so noble?'

Kate could not hold back a bitter smile. She felt relieved that he was mistaken. Had he known…She shivered with fear, and buried this thought deep down inside her.

'Step away from him.' As he noticed the detective's hesitation, Caleb added 'You don't want him to be covered in your blood, do you? I think the least you can do is to spare him this.'

Kate reluctantly obeyed, and stepped away from Castle until Caleb told her to stop. She felt nervous not to have Castle standing right by her side. She was scared to leave him like this. Caleb slowly pointed his gun at her, enjoying the situation.

'Down on your knees. Both of you.'

Kate had a feeling of déjà-vu. The memory of Sophia ordering them to do the same was haunting her. And she had the feeling the cavalry would definitely be too late this time. The writer and his muse obeyed. When she saw the gun aimed at her, Kate stopped breathing, terrified. Her heart raced up as she was remembering her shooting. She looked at the man in front of them.

'Kate…'

She ignored her partner. She was unable to look at him. She met the eyes of the man who was about to execute her. She felt contempt overwhelm her, and did not even bother to hide it.

'Do I disgust you, Kate?'

'Detective Beckett.'

It made him laugh.

'In here, at my mercy, you're just Kate. But enough chit-chat. You've bought enough time. I am bored, let's finish this.

Kate closed her eyes, but finally opened them up again. She wanted to look death in the face. Not to retreat while facing death was all that she had left. This last act of bravery irritated Caleb, but he kept silent. 'She is about to get what she deserved' he thought. A weird glint lit up his eyes, and a wicked smile spread across his face. Kate felt her heart stop, and terror overwhelmed her.

'No!'

She shouted. She tried to stop him. In vain. He had quickly turned to Castle, and fired. Twice. Kate rushed towards the writer, lying on the ground, blood spilling out his chest.

'I had warned you, Kate, Blake coldly said. A life for a life. You weren't expecting to get off lightly, were you? It would have been so easy to just kill you. I want you to suffer, Kate. To kill would have been a punishment way too mild. Now we're even.'

Kate kept on looking at Rick, her hands putting pressure on his chest. She tried to keep the blood from leaving the writer's body, as well as his life. Blake looked amused at the scene, and, alluding to Beckett's earlier plea to Castle, contemptuously said:

'Will you able to survive him, Kate?'


I don't know when I'll post the last chapter. I have been given some very bad news today, and I'm not really in the mood to translate it. I'll try to do it as soon as possible, I'll just need a couple days to really process what I've been told.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!