Hello guys! Hell-and-bliss wanted to join me on this disclaimer to thank you all for the reviews (we reached more than 200 so far, it's awesome!) So thanks a lot guys, we're super happy you enjoy your reading, as much as we enjoyed writing this fic! Here's today's chapter. Stay tuned! xxx

"Alexis? Mother?"

Rick Castle crossed the dark hallway between the living room and the bathroom as fast as he could. He had a bad feeling. Even though they needed to go to the bathroom, they'd been gone for too long. Behind him, Kate Beckett was following his steps. The writer frowned when he noticed the bathroom's door was half opened, but no one would answer him.

"Alexis?" he repeated as he pushed the white wooden door. His heart skipped a beat when he saw what was behind.

"Oh my God…" he managed to say as he leaned to Martha. The actress was lying on the floor, a trickle of blood on her temple.

"What the…" Kate said as she arrived at the door. She opened her mouth, in shock, while Rick was already kneeling down next to his mother's inanimate body.

"Mother! Mother, can you hear me?"

He lifted her head up and gently but firmly patted on her cheek a few times.

"What happened?" Kate asked, panicking.

"Mother, wake up!" Rick shook her a little bit stronger now. "Lanie!" he called out.

"Lanie!" Kate called out too, louder as she turned back to the hallway.

"Wake up, please…" Rick kept whispering as he shook her again. Martha remained unconscious.

"Kate…"

Rick's voice was shaking. Kate turned to him.

"What?"

"Where…where's Alexis?" Rick managed to say as he stared at the detective. She looked at him for a few seconds, paralyzed. Then she shook her head.

"All right, stay with Martha…I'll be back," she ordered before she left the bathroom.

Worried, Rick was torn between following Kate and seeing his mother wake up. He glanced at his mother still unconscious, his heart pounding. Suddenly he heard the medical examiner's steps coming, followed by Javier and Jenny.

"What happened?" Lanie asked as she rushed to Martha, still lying on the floor in her son's arms.

"I don't know…Did you see her temple?"

Lanie looked at Martha's wound.

"She has a blow…considering the angle, I'd say it was against the bathtub. But she couldn't do it herself." The ME deduced.

"What, someone pushed her?" Rick asked.

"I don't see any other options…"

"Where's Kate?" Esposito asked behind them, arriving at the door with Jenny.

"Gone, searching for Alexis…" Rick hardly replied.

"What…Alexis isn't here?" the latino said, raising an eyebrow. "Dammit, I don't like that," he mumbled as he left the room, searching for Kate. He had a bad feeling.

Rick watched him go and was about to call him back when suddenly Martha regained consciousness. She moaned a little bit before she opened her eyes with difficulty.

Rick's heart bolted in his chest.

"Mother…Mother!" he said to wake her up.

"Rick…"

"Thank God," he said, relieved she was responding.

Martha opened her eyes and looked at her son, still dizzy.

"My head…what…" she managed to say as she winced in pain.

"You got a hit on the head…Do you remember what's the date today?" Lanie asked, beside her.

"…Saturday."

"What's your family name?"

"Rogers."

Lanie opened her lids to check her pupils.

"No concussion. But we must disinfect that. Jenny, can you lend me my first-aid kit, please, in the furniture?"

Jenny nodded and opened the furniture in question.

"Where's Alexis?" Rick quickly asked to his mother.

Alexis.

Martha glanced at her son, devastated, as that name kept resonating in her head.

..

Meanwhile, Esposito had found Kate in another room, about 10 meters away from the bathroom. It was the writer's home office, even if actually, he never wrote in it. When he came to the Hamptons, Rick Castle always preferred breathing the fresh air of his garden or the luminosity of his bay window to find inspiration. The home office was dusty and smelled musty. Kate had grabbed a candle on the way in the hallway before entering. The room was small and empty. Esposito didn't even enter. He knew no one was here.

"Kate, nobody's here."

"Alexis can't be gone like that, it's impossible," she sighed.

"That's for sure. Besides, we were all in the living room, and we didn't see anything…She can't be far," Esposito mumbled.

Kate bit her lips.

"Or maybe…"

"What?"

"Maybe she was abducted."

"Kate, we checked everything and locked all the doors…"

"Yes, but face it, Martha wasn't knocked out like that…" Kate said.

Esposito hated the idea but she was right. He frowned.

"So that means…"

"There's only one room to check…" Kate whispered as she looked at him intensely.

"The garage?"

Kate replied nothing but so did her eyes. They left Rick's home office and headed rapidly to the last door.

When Kate pushed the door in question, the first thing she noticed was the freezing air in here…The heavy metal door of the garage that leaded to the garden…was opened. The blowing wind could enter and the place got colder in no time. Kate frowned, her breathing quickened. They made sure it was locked earlier, she was sure of it.

"The door…it should be closed…Remember?"

"Hell yeah. I did it myself." Esposito nodded.

Esposito headed slowly to the door. But there was no need to come closer to see it had been wrecked.

"It's been wrecked…with an axe, I think," Esposito explained as he shared a panicked look with Kate.

"We were right…"

"Dammit, how could the maniac break the lock so easily? I can't believe it…" the latino said as he ran a hand on his face, exhausted.

"We have to tell Rick," Kate said seriously. Her heart sank, as she didn't even know how she should announce it to him.

Esposito replied nothing and sighed heavily.

"Let's go."

..

"What happened…and where's Alexis?"

Rick asked his question again, doing his best to stay calm.

"Oh my God, Richard…" Martha stammered, on the edge of bursting into tears. She tried to stand up, but Lanie stopped her.

"No, don't," she ordered. "Otherwise you're going to faint."

"Do you remember what happened?" her son kept asking. After a few seconds of hesitation, Martha finally spoke.

"Yes I remember now…But I couldn't do anything…" Martha said, shaking. Rick frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"We went to the bathroom, Alexis wasn't feeling well at all…But she didn't throw up in the end. All I remember is…someone pushed me against the bathtub…I saw Alexis being taken, a tissue against her mouth…and I wasn't even strong enough to yell…and then…blackout."

"Oh my God," Jenny said, from the end of the room. "What a nightmare…"

"Calm down, Jenny," Lanie told her.

"I can't believe it…you're telling me she was abducted, only ten meters from where we were standing?" Richard said, stunned.

"I'm sorry, darling…I couldn't do anything…" Martha stammered.

Rick stood up silently. His face was grave, impassive. His breathing quickened but he remained silent as he paced in the room.

"Castle…" Lanie said, watching him walk away. But she couldn't say anything more.

Kate's voice called out suddenly.

"Rick!"

They all turned their head to the bathroom's door. Beckett was back, followed by detective Esposito.

"Alexis's been abducted!" Rick said as he saw her approaching.

"We know…The garage's door has been forced," she explained.

"…What?"

"Someone smashed the lock with an axe," Esposito explained. Imagining Alexis with a maniac and an axe made Rick's blood boil.

"Dammit…" Rick mumbled, as he started to shake.

He crossed the bathroom rapidly and, without saying a word, left. When he walked past Kate without stopping or even looking at her, she frowned.

"Where are you going?"

"Finding my daughter," he said, determined. He kept walking away, without turning back.

"Rick!" Kate called out…in vain. She stepped further towards the garage and Esposito followed her steps.

"Castle!" Kate repeated.

The writer kept ignoring her callings and disappeared into the garage.

"Dammit…" she sighed as she turned to Esposito.

"Where is he going?" Esposito frowned.

"His daughter's been abducted, where do you think he's going?"

"Kate, he won't find her alone."

"That's why I have to go with him," Kate nodded.

"Yeah, join him, but bring him back now. I hope you're aware that the two of you can't find her?"

"So what, we stay here and do nothing?"

"No, we think about another solution…You're going to put yourself in danger, Kate," Javier said, calmly.

She shook her head.

"Don't worry about it."

He smirked.

"How can I not worry about you? You're a fucking hot-head."

Irritated, Kate sighed.

"Espo, I tell you it'll be fine. I catch him, I talk to him and we come back, okay?"

"You won't go searching for Alexis?" Javier asked hesitantly.

"I said no!" she repeated.

She grabbed her cell phone quickly to check the battery.

"Two bars…it'll be enough."

"There's no network, remember?" Esposito reminded her.

"No, but as we don't have any more flashlights, it'll be useful to light up the way. Okay, I'll go now…"

She started to walk away but Esposito caught her by the arm.

"Be careful…You guys be careful. And hurry up," Esposito whispered.

She gave him a warm smile and nodded before she ran to the garage.

Suddenly, Esposito realized she left without her Glock.

"Kate, your gun!"

Too late, the detective was already far away.

The latino let a Spanish curse word escape his mouth and joined the others. He knew it wasn't a good idea to split up. Added to the fact he still had that bad feeling.

Back in the bathroom, Jenny turned her head to him, while Lanie was still cleaning up Martha's wound on the temple with a disinfectant and a cotton puff.

"Where are they?" Jenny asked Esposito.

"Castle left like a fury and Kate is trying to bring him back home…"

"Oh, my son is blaming me…" Martha stammered, on the verge of tears.

"There's no reason to blame you, Martha. It's not your fault", Lanie told her softly.

"I should have yelled…I should have warned you earlier…"

"Martha, stop blaming yourself. When did this happen?" Esposito asked.

"Only a few minutes ago…maybe ten…" Martha replied.

"So they're not far away", the latino said as he bit his lips.

"What can we do for Alexis?" Jenny asked him. Javier shrugged.

"Not much…" Esposito sighed, before he frowned and became silent and pensive for a few seconds.

"Unless…"

Knowing his particular tone too much when he had something in mind, Lanie turned her head to him and gave him a questioning look.

"Unless what?"

Javier shook his head and looked back to Martha, reluctantly ignoring Lanie's question.

"Martha, do you have an old radio somewhere? With an antenna?"

"I'm not sure, we don't keep old stuff here…But maybe in the basement", she managed to say.

"Great, I'll check it out," Javier said as he started to walk away.

Lanie watched him, speechless.

"May I ask you why? Javi!" she called him. But he was already gone. "Dammit," she mumbled. "Jenny, can you replace me, please?"

"Of course."

The pretty blonde girl stepped towards Martha to take care of her while the ME left the bathroom to catch up with her ex-boyfriend.

..

"Rick, wait!"

Kate finally caught up with him. Under the pouring rain, and in the dark…he had left only a few minutes before her but he had been fast and she had almost lost sight of him. Rick Castle was now arriving at the edge of the woods, at the limit of the unfenced garden.

"Rick!"

He turned back, finally.

"What!" he yelled aggressively.

Kate's heart sank seeing him being so aggressive but she decided to ignore it; he was in shock. When she finally could reach him, she grabbed him by the arm.

"What are you planning to do?" Kate asked, out of breath.

"What do you think I'm doing? Do I have to remind you Alexis's been abducted?"

"I know that, but simply…"

"Simply what?"

"Rick, we won't find her like that."

"So you plan to do nothing?" he asked offended.

"That's not what I'm saying…but you have to be reasonable, Espo wants us to come back."

He smirked.

"I don't give a fuck of what Espo wants," he said. "I'll find my daughter, and I don't need you…"

"Stop turning yourself!" Kate said irritated. "The two of us going out there without any way to call anyone or any back up, in the night with no lights, it's totally insane and reckless!"

"We have no time to be careful, Kate! My daughter's been abducted by someone who killed my ex-wife, shot Ryan and has a grudge against me. Do I have to remind you? Needless to say he broke into the garage and wrecked a double layer steel lock with an axe. So I don't care if I'm being reckless, or whatever…I won't lose any more minute to discuss", he said before he turned back. But she grabbed his arm again.

"Rick…"

"No, don't insist. Go home, if you want. I didn't ask you to come with me anyway."

Kate frowned, dumbfounded by the tone he was using. He'd never talked to her that way.

"Why are you so aggressive? Why do you think I'm here?"

He sighed heavily but replied nothing.

"Because I do wanna help you, Rick. But we can't do that like that…I'm not saying that because I don't care about Alexis, you know I'd give anything for you to find her…But we have to face it, it's dangerous and I don't want…I don't want anything to happen to you", she managed to say in a lower voice. There, she had said it. Rick's exhausted and irritated face softened. He slightly held her hand tighter.

"Nothing's going to happen to me, Kate."

"How can you say that…You said it yourself, the maniac has a grudge against you."

"He's hurting the people I love, Kate…all the more reason for you not to come with me", he whispered. Kate smiled. Despite the stressing situation, she came closer and put her hands on his cheeks before kissing him softly on the lips.

"You won't go anywhere without me…you need a cop to protect you", she whispered against his lips. Rick savored the kiss and this moment of intimacy, despite the circumstances.

"I'm sorry for earlier…I was losing it, I shouldn't have talked to you that way", he said in a low voice. This time, he kissed her, and even if it was a soft kiss, Kate felt butterflies in her stomach. She felt reassured as he was apologizing.

"I know…" she whispered. "I promise we'll do anything to find her."

"I'm scared. If only you knew…Are you sure we'll find her? You saw Gina's body, Royal…he spared no one…I won't be able to find Alexis's lifeless body, and…"

All Rick's body was shaking. Kate could feel it just by stroking his cheeks.

"Hey!" she cut him off. "We are going to find her, do you hear me?"

"I'm sure you don't believe it yourself…"

Kate interrupted him again by pressing her lips against his. Then she broke the kiss and leaned her forehead against his.

"I'm telling you we'll find her. Trust me. Come on."

She grabbed his hand and leaded him to the dark and scary woods.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

"You said Esposito wanted us to come back…"

"Esposito will do fine without us. I trust him, he'll take care of the others."

.

to be continued...