Hello people! Today's chapter is about Esplanie. Sorry Caskett shippers, but you'll have some news of Kate and Castle soon! I know my buddy Hell-and-bliss loves this part (and so do I ^_^), so buddy, if you came by, hope you'll enjoy it in English! :D Anyway, thank you guys sooo much for your support and feedbacks, it means a lot! :) stay tuned! xxx

Long minutes had passed since Kate and Rick left, and Esposito had run to the basement of the manor.

Standing a few meters in front of him, crossing her arms, Lanie stared at Javier who was turning carton boxes upside down, searching for the radio.

"Can you explain me why you're searching for a radio?"

"To save our lives…" he said simply, lifting up another box.

"Javi, can you make yourself clearer?" Lanie said, irritated.

"And you, can you move and lend me some help?" he retorted, irritated as well, as he found another box. She rolled her eyes and stepped towards the first carton box she found. They were all dusty, dirty and Lanie winced as she saw a black and hairy spider running away from one.

"Dammit, it has to be somewhere here," Javier mumbled right behind her.

"You know, Martha didn't seem to be sure of it."

"Well, she better be because it could really save our asses…"

Lanie frowned.

"Can you tell me why an old radio could save our lives?" she asked, reluctantly putting her hand into one carton box in front of her.

"Bingo!" was the only answer. Surprised, Lanie turned back.

Javier Esposito had just found an old dusty radio he wiped by blowing on it. Lanie came closer and took it from his hands, looking at the object skeptically.

"Are you serious? This moldy thing from our grandparents' era is really going to save our lives?"

"If everything works according to my plans," he said as he took the radio back from Lanie's hands. He flipped it back and studied it in details.

"All right. That could be working. I have to go to my car."

Lanie frowned again.

"Your car…why?"

"I have my toolbox, and…you'll see," he replied as he walked towards the door. Lanie watched him walk away a few seconds before she followed his steps.

..

A few minutes later, Javier Esposito was in his car as planned. The lights were turned on, the driver's door was opened, and Lanie was sitting on the passenger seat, looking at Esposito unscrew and fiddle about with some wires of the little radio he had put on the car's hood, in front of her. Lanie was watching him through the windshield, moved to see him so focused on what he was doing. Sometimes, he was sticking his tongue out. He was always doing that when he was extremely concentrated.

She couldn't help smiling as she slipped outside the car, wrapped in her navy-blue blazer as the night was colder, even if –and it was about time, it wasn't raining any more.

Esposito noticed she was shivering as she approached him.

"So, how is it going MacGuyver?"

He smiled as he looked back at the wires he was touching.

"You should go home, you look like you're freezing."

"No, I'm fine," she pleaded.

He glanced at her and sighed.

"Lanie, you're shivering."

"Javier, I don't want to go home!" she sighed.

"It's not about the temperature, you'd be safer at home, with Jenny, Martha and Kevin. It's dangerous being outside."

Lanie rolled her eyes.

"What about you, you're putting yourself in danger", she said.

"It's different."

"Why that?"

"Because I'm the one who's supposed to protect you all, Lanie," he replied with a sigh, a little bit irritated.

"Well, one more reason for me to stay with you here…I feel safer", she admitted shyly. Esposito was softened by her words and gave her a short but cute smile before he kept working.

"So, how is it going?" the ME asked.

"I'm almost done with the wires…then I'll have to connect everything to the car's battery, and if I add another connection to my phone, maybe it can work."

Lanie dropped her eyes to the radio he had fiddled with.

"Thank God you never became a surgeon," she chuckled. He let out a laugh.

"I know it's gross."

"A little bit. But are you sure connecting the radio to your phone can help us create a contact?"

"With a local radio, yeah, it's possible. I've done it before."

"How talented you are detective," she teased him a little with a smile. Javier smiled back at her but shook his head.

"I learned that in the army. We used to do those kinds of things, especially when the radios broke down."

"Did it work?"

He shrugged.

"Most of the time, yes."

"So there's a chance it won't," she understood. Javier sighed and stared at her.

"Lanie, I'm doing my best here."

She smiled tenderly at him and nodded, putting a hand on his back for a few seconds.

"I know, I'm sorry…it's just that I'm worried, Kate and Castle aren't coming back yet…" she said as she glanced around. Everything was dark, scary and silent. "It sucks, huh?" she asked in a low voice as she looked back at him.

"I don't wanna lie to you…They left without guns, that's not a good sign. That's why I have to hurry and fix that freaking stuff that better be working, or we'll never make it…"

"Do you think something happened to Alexis?" Lanie asked with a concerned look.

He shook his head, lost.

"I don't know Lanie. I hope not, but…"

"I know," she cut him off. "She's been abducted by a maniac with an axe," she said.

"Yes, that's it. And considering what he did to Gina, or Royal…well, you know," he sighed.

"Poor Alexis…" Lanie whispered. "Being kidnapped like that by a maniac…"

Esposito stared at her a few seconds before he nudged her to show her his support.

"We'll do everything to find her, Chica," he promised. Lanie nodded and bit her lips, unsure.

"Okay, I'm done connecting the phone to the radio. Help me lift up the hood, we need the battery."

Lanie nodded and Javier took his tools, the radio and the phone so that Lanie could lift up the car's hood. Then Javier put the materials down next to the battery and Lanie went back to the car to switch on the ignition so that the battery would work.

"So?" she asked as she came back to him. Esposito had just finished the connections. He waited a few seconds before he winced.

"It doesn't seem to work," he sighed.

Lanie looked at the equipment with a disappointed look and sighed.

"Maybe…Maybe Kate and Castle already found her…" she said, trying to stay optimistic.

"Yeah, with Beckett, everything's possible…" Javier nodded as he kept a focused eye on what he had done, still wondering why it wasn't working. "I really hope so, anyway," he added. "Because I think it's completely reckless going there, blind and unarmed. It's too dangerous and it doesn't look like Kate."

Lanie sighed.

"I know, I'm surprised too…But Rick must have been in shock, and as we know there's nothing she wouldn't do for him…Our writer boy makes her lose control", Lanie sighed.

Esposito let out a laugh.

"You don't know how right you are…"

Lanie raised an eyebrow and Javier cleared his throat as he kept fiddling with the wires of the radio.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing…except that…I saw the two of them kissing in the kitchen when you were sleeping," he admitted simply. As if the information was normal. But for Lanie, it wasn't.

The ME blinked her eyes and stared at the latino, in shock.

"…Excuse me?" she finally managed to say.

"Yup. They were checking each other's tonsils for long min…"

Javier couldn't finish his sentence as Lanie hit him hard on the arm.

"Ouch, Lanie! What was that for?"

"Why didn't you wake me up?" she groaned, frustrated.

"What? You had just operated on Ryan and you were completely exhausted…I wasn't going to wake you up for that detail…"

"A detail? You dare calling that a detail? Tell me I'm dreaming", she mumbled as she rolled her eyes.

"You fell asleep in less than 5 minutes! You were exhausted, I didn't want to wake you up…"

"Find another excuse," she barked.

"Damn, are you kidding me?" he smirked. "You're mad at me because I didn't wake you up?"

"I've been living for that moment for at least 4 years!" she said, half serious.

"You're crazy," he laughed as he shook his head. "And that's not cool for me."

She raised her eyebrows.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well…when we were together, I hope you were living a little bit for me too …" he said. Lanie smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Don't make it about you…" she said as she tried her best not to smile. He smiled and looked at her, captivated by her lips.

"See, I still can manage to make you smile," he said.

"Of course you can, silly."

"And you still love insulting me."

"Of course I…"

She stopped and frowned as she looked at him.

"What am I saying? What's your point, anyway?"

He moistened his lips as he focused on the battery cables and the radio wires so that it could finally work.

"Well…I'm just saying…that after what happened recently, you can't deny that we got closer again, and…"

He didn't finish his sentence, feeling awkward.

"And…?" Lanie encouraged him.

"Lanie I'm not going to draw you a picture," he mumbled, still focusing on his work.

"Well, you can finish your sentence…"

"And I still love you! Are you satisfied?"

He had blurted it out, with an irritated tone that absolutely didn't reflect his feelings. Lanie's eyes were wide open.

"You still love me?" she repeated.

"What, are you surprised?"

She dropped her eyes, her cheeks on fire, but her chocolate skin could hide easily her blushing.

"I don't know, I…I thought you forgot me," she whispered.

"How can you think that?" Javier asked.

"Do I have to remind you what happened with Kay? And with the waitress last night? And the girls in Atlantic City for Kevin's bachelor party?"

He sighed.

"Stop Lanie. I've never been with anyone else…And if truth be told, nothing ever happened in Atlantic City. Nothing with Kay, nothing with anyone else. They're nothing compared to you. I've always been in love with you, even if you never looked at me or you pushed me back every time I came to see you at the morgue," he confided as he gazed at her hungrily.

"So, when you made me understand you weren't ready to live something serious although we were together for more than a year, I couldn't stop thinking about what I did wrong for you to dump me from one day to the next."

Lanie swallowed hard and kept looking at him, captivated by his gaze and his disappointed look. She slowly shook her head.

"You did nothing wrong, Javi…you've always been perfect with me. It's just that I needed time to think about some things…but it's not your fault at all. And for your information, I…"

She couldn't finish her sentence as a sizzling sound interrupted them and Lanie and Javier simultaneously turned their heads towards it.

It was the radio. More precisely, the battery/radio/phone combination Javier had fixed, that was finally making a signal.

"What the…" Lanie began, as she couldn't find the strength to finish her sentence, staring at the phone light that was blinking on and off, while the radio was making a sizzling sound.

"It's working…we have a frequency…" he managed to say, hardly believing what was going on. Lanie let out a laugh in relief and excitement.

"You did it!"

"I did it," he repeated, hardly believing it.

"You're a genius!" Lanie shouted as she rushed to him. Spontaneously, she jumped at him and put her arms around his neck, hugging him as tight as she could. Javier didn't even have time to react as she stepped back and met his eyes. She was still holding Javier's shoulders and her body was next to his. When their eyes locked, they couldn't blink. The gaze they were sharing spoke for them. Everything they wanted to tell each other, all this time…

Lanie opened her mouth as she wanted to find the right words, in vain…but she didn't have time to say anything else. In a split second, the ex-lovers jumped at each other, and their lips met passionately like two magnets. Javier took the initiative to intensify the kiss and slipped his tongue inside the ME's mouth who didn't resist when she felt his tongue against hers. She responded with a moan as she put her hands against his neck tighter and pulled him against her body. Javier's arms caressed the small of her back, her hair, while their tongues kept melting with passion as well as their breaths. They were about to brutally make love against the car but Lanie was the first to get back to reality, despite her need to show him how much she loved him too. Because she didn't even tell him.

"Javi…" Lanie managed to say a few seconds later after he let her lips go to kiss her cheek, before he buried his head into her neck.

"What…"

"The radio," she reminded him reluctantly, as she felt him gently bite the skin of her neck.

"Right," he realized as he stepped back.

He let Lanie go reluctantly but he remembered the gravity of the situation. It wasn't the time for that obviously. They had to find Alexis, Rick and Kate and for that, there was only one thing to do: calling the police and an ambulance for Ryan but first and foremost, calling their biggest chance to get through this:

Victoria Gates.

.

to be continued...