Hello people! Sorry for slowing down the frequency of the updates, but since it's the end of the holidays for me, I've been busy lately, more than usual. But I don't forget about you, dear readers, don't worry :) Here's the next chapter. Hope you'll enjoy it and thank you for your support! xxx

"Alexis!"

The echo of his voice was the only answer Rick could get. His own voice, but still no Alexis.

"Alexis!"

Once again, the writer shouted his daughter's name through the woods of the forest they had been crossing for a long moment now. His voice kept resonating, breaking the deafening silence.

Behind him, out of breath, Kate was letting him do. What could she tell him anyway? Stop calling his daughter? How could she take away the tiny hope that maybe, the young girl would answer his callings? She wouldn't dare. She knew too well what it was to call someone you loved without any answer. She did it so many times after her mother's death, during long sleepless nights of denials when she couldn't stop crying without any consolation.

"Alexis!" he shouted again, for the hundredth time.

"Rick…"

Castle turned back. Despite the darkness around them, he could read his partner's hesitant glance.

"She's around, Kate. I know she is. She's my daughter, we're bound…I know it, that's all," Rick repeated with conviction.

Kate bit her lips and stepped further, grabbing the writer's shaking hands.

"Actually…I think…I think maybe this is the wrong direction," she finally managed to say as she raised her look to his. Rick's eyes widened.

"…what?"

"We've been walking for too long now, and we can't even see a light or hear a rustling…I mean, it's dark…don't you think we should have found something by now?"

"So what, what do we do? We give up, stop searching?" he said, offended.

Kate stopped talking, seeing his helpless look. As she remained silent, he shook his head and asked:

"As if you stopped looking for your mother's murderer?"

Kate shook her head.

"Rick, that's not what I'm saying. Of course we mustn't stop. But these woods are wide and…"

"Yeah, I've noticed." He cut her off. "But if there's a tiny chance that my daughter is somewhere out there, I'll check every inch of this forest until we find her. I can't lose her, Kate…"

(n/a : music suggestion : Surface of the Sun - Coordinated Chaos)

The detective nodded in silence, as she couldn't find any other arguments. Besides, he was right. She would do the exact same thing if she were him.

"Come on, let's continue," she said simply as she started to walk again. She brushed Rick's hand as she walked past him to show him her support before she used her hands as a loudspeaker.

"Alexis!" she called out.

Staying behind her, Rick watched her walk away before he dropped his eyes, summoning his courage and his breath. They had to find her…Or his life would be destroyed. Simply destroyed.

Still lost in tracks, the writer's eyes found something that caught his attention. He didn't know what it was exactly.

A few meters ahead, next to a tree and hidden in the mud and leaves, something shining caught his attention a millisecond. It was brief, but too intriguing not to check. Rick stepped towards the tree carefully while on the other side Kate kept calling Alexis' name as she didn't realize the writer wasn't following her steps.

Rick stepped further, the falling leaves and the branches cracking under his steps. He frowned, trying to see the pale light once again, hoping it would shine again to guide him as he lost its trace. Nothing, it wasn't shining anymore.

"Where could it be…" he whispered as he arrived where he was sure he had seen something a few seconds before. Like a piece of metal, or maybe even better, one of Alexis' silver hair clip she used to wear. She was wearing one of them actually, the night she disappeared.

Feeling hope again at the thought he found a clue, something that would prove they were in the right direction or at least, on the right side of the forest, Rick knelt down to the ground and started to feel around, burying his hands into the mud and the leaves. He wanted to find what he saw, whatever it was.

"Come on…where are you hiding," he muttered as he kept searching.

Suddenly a cry tore the sky, startling Kate Beckett who was standing twenty meters ahead.

Feeling shivers down her spine, Kate Beckett turned her head towards the sound. It wasn't any random cry.

It was a horrible cry, full of pain and suffering.

A man's cry.

Rick Castle's cry.

"CASTLE!" she shouted, panicked. Raising her phone to light up the way, Kate walked back to him, shaking but determined.

"Castle…Rick…" she stammered as she finally found him. He was lying on the floor, under the tree, collapsing on the leaves. Despite the night, she could see his body was trembling in pain, and he was biting his cheeks from inside trying not to scream again.

"Dammit!" he managed to say, wincing.

"What happened? What's wrong?" Kate panicked as she knelt beside him in a hurry.

Why did he cry out like that?

"Something…something caught my arm…" he managed to explain as he swallowed hard. "Dammit it hurts like hell," he added, twitching his mouth. He couldn't help cursing. The pain was too strong.

"Something?" Kate repeated.

"It's still grabbing my arm…and I feel like I'm bleeding. It hurts like hell, Kate…" he added with a hoarse voice, writhing in pain and dreading what could be the cause at the same time.

"Wait, I'm looking at what…"

She couldn't finish her sentence. Her phone light had revealed what it was and answered to her question. Opening her mouth, Kate swallowed hard as she stared at the horror in front of her.

Rick's arm was locked in a metallic trap, from the wrist to the forearm. It was probably some kind of an animal trap. The long and sharp blades were deeply thrust in his arm. It was bleeding so much Kate couldn't even see the natural color of his skin. The blades were forming some little purple wounds as if the arm was full of holes. They were so deep that they were touching the muscles and nerves, and Rick was trying hard not to scream every second. The pain was unbearable.

"Oh my God, Rick…" Kate stammered as she raised a panicked look. The writer had his eyes shut and gritted his teeth.

"What…What is this shit…" he hardly said, doing his best to give it a look despite the pain.

"It looks like a trap…for animals," Kate explained, trying to pull herself together.

"Dammit…I didn't even know there was some here…" Rick said, trying to catch his breath.

"Me neither…but it's not normal. It's forbidden during this season," Kate replied, looking back at the writer's wound that was bleeding more and more.

"How is it?" Rick asked as he couldn't look at it again.

Kate swallowed hard, seeing his open wound and all the blood he was losing.

"Rick, I won't lie to you. It's a mess."

"I'm fucking stupid," he sighed with difficulty.

"How did it happen? Why didn't you follow me?" the detective asked quickly.

"I saw something metallic shine, and I thought it might be Alexis' hair clip, so I started to search on the ground to find it", he explained in a weak voice. "Well, I'm just the biggest fool in the world."

"Come on, it's not your fault," Kate said as she shook her head. She gently stroked his drenched cheek that was shaking with the pain.

"How…how do you feel?" she managed to say, regretting her stupid question.

"I guess if I don't end up with an amputation, I'd consider myself lucky", he replied, breathing in and out to ease his pain. But it wasn't working.

"Stop kidding…I have to call for help right now."

"And how?"

She rubbed her face with her hand, tired, searching for an answer. Then she glanced around, trying to figure out where they were.

"We were coming from there, right?" she wondered out loud as she pointed at one direction.

He shook his head.

"I don't know, Kate…I have to admit I've stopped paying attention to where we were going." Rick replied.

"So what should I do? Watch you losing your blood to death?" she panicked.

Rick was about to say something when another scream interrupted them.

It was another terrible cry, but more high-pitched and panicked. A young woman's cry. And not the least.

Rick felt a shiver down his spine as he stared at Kate. There was no doubt in which that person was. He felt even more desperate.

"Alexis…it's Alexis!" he realized as his heart almost stopped. Kate tried to listen, on the watch.

"It was Alexis, Kate. I'm sure!" he added as he tried to stand up. But as he got up on his knees, his arm still trapped, the wound was so painful he let out a cry of uncontrollable pain.

"Dammit! Alexis!" he yelled again, frustrated he couldn't go help her.

"Rick, stop moving!" Kate said, worried to see him suffer, morally as well as physically.

"Dammit, I have to find a way to take it off…"

He had barely brushed the wound with his other hand than he ground his teeth and bit his lips not to cry out again.

"Rick, forget it. It will only get things worse."

"There's a way I can free my arm, isn't it?"

Kate studied the blades deeply thrust in his arm that was becoming purple and swollen, searching for a way to free it. But she had to face it. There was nothing she could do.

"I…I don't think so. Not like that, without tools."

"It was Alexis who yelled, Kate. I MUST find a way", he said, despite the blood he was losing.

"What you must do is stop moving, and save your energy," she replied protectively.

"You go Kate."

"What?"

"We heard her, she's near…Go and see what's going on, please."

Kate's eyes widened, shocked by his demand.

"…What about 911?"

"I don't care."

"Rick, you're losing too much blood."

"I don't care, Kate!" he snapped, irritated.

'Well, I do!" she protested, panicking with the situation.

Should she go and see what was going on with Alexis and take the risk to lose Rick forever? Or give priority to the man she loved and his safety, but lose him anyway because she wouldn't save her daughter? She was torn apart.

"It's a nightmare…" she stammered as she dropped her eyes, emotionally exhausted because of this weekend that hadn't stopped getting worse each second.

"Look at me, Kate. Look at me." He whispered.

Kate raised her look to his and he saw a tear slipping on her cheek.

"I swear it's not that painful now…"

She rolled her eyes.

"You can't lie to me."

"I'm sure I can hold on a few hours if I have to", he assured. "But we can't deny I'm stuck here. And you, you can walk. So please, Kate, go and see what's going on…She…there's a reason why she cried," he stammered, worried at the thought. She might be tortured at that very moment. Or maybe she was already…No, he couldn't imagine it.

Kate closed her eyes for a second, on the verge of tears. It was horrible. What a nightmare. She couldn't make a choice. She was about to lose it. Finally, she sighed.

"All right…I'll go." She managed to say with a shaky voice.

She got up on her knees and squatted beside him.

"But I don't want to leave you here," she stammered.

"You're not leaving me here, honey", he whispered as he raised his other arm and touched the detective's cheek to make her look at him. She gave him a teary look. It was the first time he was calling her that way. She was troubled and softened.

"I'll be fine. I'm strong. This won't kill me."

"You don't know that," she sniffed, almost annoyed to hear him joke about it.

"I'm Rick Castle. I know everything," he joked anyway, making her smile lightly.

"Fine…I'll go. But I'll be back soon. As soon as possible, you hear me? As soon as I can," she repeated with determination.

"Hey," he whispered as he grabbed her arm. "I trust you." He nodded as he gazed at her.

"You can," Kate nodded, leaning over him a little bit closer. She kissed him on the lips hungrily. It was hard for her to step back.

When she ended the kiss, she put her forehead against his and closed her eyes.

"We're gonna get through this…I don't want…it can't be over like that, between us," she admitted in a whisper.

"Me neither. I'm finally with the girl of my dreams…It's not a freaking psychopath who's going to end it."

Kate opened her eyes and found his gaze.

"The girl of your dreams, huh?"

"Mm mm," Rick nodded. "This and even better, my favorite source of inspiration," he said in a whisper, coming closer again. He kissed her back but only brushed his lips against hers, weakened. The pain was there, again. He wouldn't admit it to Kate but he was starting to feel feverish and weak. Probably the blood he was losing…or an infection of his wound that was near, regarding the conditions.

It didn't matter anyway. Alexis's fate was the only thing that mattered to him.

"Go," he whispered in a barely audible voice.

Kate nodded reluctantly and stood up before she started to walk away. She turned back one last time to Rick, her heart sinking for leaving him.

"I'll be back soon. With Alexis. So hold on for her, okay?"

Rick smiled with the few last strengths he had.

"I promise."

On the verge of tears again, Kate reluctantly turned her head and walked away, forgetting the image of the man she loved bleeding to death as she couldn't do anything for him.

"Come on Kate, get a grip," she whispered to herself as she wiped her tears, walking faster.

She had to find Alexis back. She owed it to Rick. She would never be able to see him destroyed if he ever lost his daughter.

.

to be continued...