Hello guys! I did my best to make a quick update today :) Hope you'll enjoy your reading. xxx

Since the moment she had left Rick, Kate hadn't lost any minute. The early morning had replaced the night and the sky was clearer minute after minute, which was reassuring despite her loneliness in the woods.

Kate felt she had been walking for hours, even if actually, it only had been minutes, or maybe one hour. She had crossed the forest, desperately counted every tree she had met on the way. She had called Alexis, screamed her name...But the young girl hadn't replied since. No more cry for help, no more clue, and Kate was afraid now to find the inanimate body of the young girl who meant the world for Castle.

Suddenly, a smell caught the attention of the detective. Kate turned her head towards the direction where the smell was stronger, and sniffed repeatedly, trying to identify it. It didn't take too long. It was a fire smoke.

She followed the smell until she arrived to a huge bush. Then she saw the texture of the smoke...She was in the right direction.

Kate moved the branches of the bush away to make her way through it. She looked at the woods on the horizon as she kept walking and then stopped. It was early in the morning and the huge bushes in front of her had prevented her to see the light of the fire out there. But now she could see it clearly.
About thirty meters ahead, there was a wooden shed...In flames.

"Alexis..." she whispered as she started to run as fast as she could towards the shed. Indeed, detective Beckett had a bad feeling that the young girl was in it.

As she arrived in front of the door where a thick and suffocating smoke was escaping from, Kate frowned and started to cough before she protected her hands with the sleeves of her pullover. She pushed the hot door with precaution and felt some red ashes stinging her face. She tried to ignore the suffocating sensation and took a deep breath of fresh air before she entered the shed.

"Alexis?" she called once she was inside. The shed was small, only 8 square meters. Kate opened her eyes and did her best to look around her. The smoke was burning her eyes and some tears were already falling on her cheeks.

Suddenly, among the smoke and the flames, she saw her. A silhouette, on the floor, hands tied with a long rope attached to one of the beams so she couldn't escape. Long red hair...She was unmistakable. There was a thick black tape on her mouth so she couldn't yell.

"Alexis!"

Kate rushed to the young girl's body and immediately touched her neck, trying to feel her pulse.

Sighing, Kate walked around Alexis's body and rushed to the beam where the rope had been attached with dozen of knots. The hot air was suffocating and it started to burn her skin. But she had no choice. She desperately attempted to untie the knots, blaming herself for not having a swisstool on her.
Burying her fingers on the rope to untie the knots, she even broke her nails.

"Come on, Kate..." she whispered between two coughs.

Then a voice coming out of nowhere interrupted her.

"Alexis?"

Still trying to untie the knots, Kate listened to the door.

Oh yes, she knew that voice.

"...Espo?" she called.

On the other side of the door, Esposito, surrounded by other men, frowned.

"...Beckett?"

Wasting no time, he kicked the half burnt door hard, then entered like a shot in the shed. Wearing a bulletproof vest and pointing a gun right in front of him, he put it in his pocket as soon as he recognized the woman a few meters ahead, standing in front of Alexis's inanimate body.

"Kate! What are you doing here?"

"Long story...We must...untie...Alexis," she suffocated as she was exhausted.

"I got it," he said, as he rushed to the beam. "Guys, a knife!" he called the five armed men who were with him. They all approached, wearing a white mask to protect themselves from the smoke. One man gave Esposito a knife while another helped him. The others used portable fire extinguishers but their materials weren't enough obviously, since they weren't firemen. Another man was already on the phone, contacting real fire fighters.

"Is she alive?" Esposito asked, glancing at the young red haired girl. She didn't seem to be sexually assaulted, since she was still wearing her clothes.

"I think I felt a pulse earlier, but I'm not sure..." Kate answered, trembling, as she took off the tape from the girl's mouth.

"There's no trace of violence or contusions on her face..." she added as she looked at her carefully.

"What happened...Where's Bowers?" Esposito asked, still cutting the thick rope.

Kate shook her head vehemently.

"I don't know. I arrived here only 5 minutes ago. Nobody was here, except Alexis who was already inconscious. We heard yells and...Oh my God! Castle!" she remembered as she opened her eyes wide despite the smoke. "Castle is hurt, Javi, I had to let him behind, but..."

"I know," Esposito interrupted her. "A patrol found him fifteen minutes ago and Gates is taking care of him now," the latino explained, still focusing on the rope. There were only a few knots left.

"...Gates?" Kate said, surprised.

"Yeah. It's a long story, but I managed to call her and now, we have patrols to try and find Bowers. We also got ambulances. Ryan is already on the way to the hospital."

"So it's over?" Kate dared asking, with a shaky voice.

"Almost...we just have to find the guy. We thought he would be with Alexis, by the way."

Kate nodded.

"I know, me too. I don't even know what he did to her..."

"We found her, it's the most important thing for now."

"Yes. And I'm happy for Ryan...you think he's going to be okay?" Kate asked. Esposito replied with a skeptical pout.

"According to Lanie, he wasn't in great condition when he left...but he's strong, right? He better not give up on me," he mumbled, concerned for his best friend.

"He's a fighter, don't worry. And Castle, how is he?" Kate asked. "He has a huge wound on the arm..." she added.

"I don't know yet," he confessed. Kate sighed and closed her eyes, silently thanking God he was now in good hands.

"I hope they'll save his arm. If you had seen his condition, it's..."

"I hope so too. Fucking nightmare..." Esposito mumbled as he kept trying untie the rope. His gruff voice made Kate smile despite the gravity of the situation.

"You know, Espo...Despite the circumstances...I'm glad to see you," she managed to say, as she untied another knot.

Esposito gave her a faint smile.

"Me too, pigheaded woman. A good thing I told you to go home, by the way, huh?"

He glanced at her and Kate rolled her eyes.

"I know...But if you had seen how agitated Rick was..."

"Rick, huh?" Esposito said, with a little smile. Kate stared at him, surprised and realized too late that she had just called him by his real name, which was unusual. She gave Esposito the eye.

"Espo..."

"What," he chuckled. "Don't look at me like that, Kate. I'm happy for you. For both of you guys."

Too exhausted to reply, Kate didn't even have the strength to give more explanations and just nodded with a slight smile.

"Now, get out of here, we're suffocating. We're taking care of Alexis. I'll join you in a minute," he added with a protective tone.

Kate nodded as she coughed, then left the shed.

She would never admit it to Esposito but it was about time. As she arrived outside, she almost collapsed on the ground, trembling. Kate took a deep breath of fresh air. Still suffocating, she finally got a grip when Esposito joined her a few seconds later with the young girl's body in his arms. He laid her down on the ground carefully and touched her neck again to feel her pulse.

"...So?" Kate asked him as she untied the knots on Alexis's wrist.

Esposito glanced at her.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the woods...

"OUCH! Dammit, motherf..."

Rick didn't finish his sentence and closed his eyes, trying to forget the pain. He bit his lower lip so hard it was about to bleed too.

The heavy metal blades of the trap finally let go off the writer's wounded arm, as a first-aider was kneeling down beside him.

"Sorry, no choice," the man apologized as he set the trap aside. Seeing the long blades full of his own blood and even pieces of his flesh, Rick winced and fought the urge to puke, tears even filling his eyes.

"It's horrible," he sighed.

Kneeling down beside him, Gates nodded.

"I confirm, it's not pretty. How the hell did it happen?"

Rick just sighed, before he swallowed the medecine the first-aider had just given him.

"Long story," he said as he drank some water.

The first-aider cleaned the wound with a gauze full of desinfectant, which made the writer wince even more.

"Well, Castle. I've never thought I would tell you that someday, but...I'm glad to see you."

"Me too, Sir," he smiled despite the pain. "By the way, how did you get here?"

"Long story," she replied as well. To sum it up, let's say Esposito managed to call me. Damn it, who is this wacko?"

"Bowers?"

Rick shrugged.

"To be honest, I don't even know the guy. What I know is that he tried to get me because he was jealous apparently...And he made Gina pay for not publishing him. But are we sure it's him, at least?"

"90% sure, yes. We don't have any other suspect, and he's missing since friday night. His therapist said his schizophrenic condition got worse these days, that he missed many sessions, that he couldn't write anymore despite the fact that it really helped him."

"So he's mentally ill?" Castle understood, in shock. Gates nodded.

"He's mentally ill and dangerous. We interrogated the secretary of your friend Gina who confirmed she saw him around the office several times a week ago. Sometimes he entered and asked to talk to her, and got absolutely furious when he was told she wasn't available. He was obsessed by her. And apparently he wanted to make you pay too. That trap wasn't supposed to be here. The patrols found others in the forest, whereas hunting is forbidden."

Rick shook his head.

"He's crazy..." he whispered, still in shock.

Gates put a hand on the other arm of the writer and stroked it gently.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Castle. And for everything that happened," Gates said softly.

"Thank you. I still can't believe it, actually..." he confessed. "But thank you for coming, Captain. Even more since it's Sunday."

Gates chuckled.

"You're kidding me? Sunday or not, I wouldn't have let my men in that hell. I do have a heart, you know," she said. Castle smiled.

"Well hidden then," he teased. Gates gave him a wary look before she smiled herself.

"We need to get back to the other ambulance at the manor. You lost too much blood", the first-aider interrupted them, preoccupied by the state of his patient. "We couldn't bring it here because of the trees...Can you walk? Otherwise, we have the helicopter," he added.

Rick shook his head.

"No, I can walk," he replied before he turned to Gates. "But first, I'd like to hear about Alexis and Beckett. Anything new?" he added, concerned.

"Well, Esposito went looking for them with a patrol. Get back to the manor with the ambulance men. By the way, your mother left with Doctor Parish earlier."

"Where?" Rick asked, surprised.

"We sent a patrol to drive them back to Wainscott so they can take some rest after all this," Gates explained.

"Good idea", Castle approved.

"Go home with the ambulance men and go to the hospital if you need to. We're here now. I'll keep you informed as soon as I..."

Gates couldn't finish her phrase as her talkie walkie made a sizzling noise and interrupted her. She dropped her eyes towards her belt and grabbed it.

"Sir?"

It was detective Esposito.

"Yes, detective?" Gates said, listening carefully.

"I found Beckett and Alexis," the voice said despite the sizzling noise.

Rick felt shivers down his spine, relieved, but also intrigued by the way Esposito had announced it. Gates raised her eyes and shared a look with Castle.
.

to be continued...