Hi guys,

I think it's safe to say that you're interested in this story.

Thanks for the great response so far.

It's time to see what Rick has planned.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

Chapter 2

Darkness. Kate was surrounded by darkness, and she hadn't the slightest idea of where exactly she was. Her memories were blurred, covered by a faint remembrance of being at the funeral of her Captain, but not what had happened after she went up to give the eulogy. An obtrusively beeping sound could be heard, but she couldn't place it yet. She tried to open her eyes to take a look at her surroundings, however, her eyelids seemed heavier than normally.

Slowly, too slowly for her liking, Kate finally opened her eyes.

The room she was in was filled with brightness, and she was forced to close her eyes again almost immediately, since it was too much after the darkness she had just been in. After a few seconds she tried again, this time prepared for the onslaught as she got used to the light.

Apparently she was in a hospital, with various machines connected to her body, and the irritating sound came from the device monitoring her heartbeat. How did she end up here?

Kate glanced around. It was a normal hospital room, a single, with a chair standing beside her bed and a coffee sitting next to it on the ground. Someone must have been sitting there not too long ago. Also, she took notice of the numerous flower bouquets surrounding her as she asked herself how long she might have been unconscious.

"Kate."

She looked towards the door and saw Josh. He smiled at seeing her awake and she smiled back at him, however, it didn't really reach her eyes. She felt bad that she'd have preferred Castle coming through that door instead of her boyfriend. Kate shook off those feelings; now was not the time for them.

"How are you feeling?" Josh asked softly and sat down on chair beside her bed. He took her hand in his and caressed it gently like he was afraid it would break if he gripped too hard.

"I feel tired and a little bit confused. What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"My memories are a little blurred."

"You were shot. At the funeral."

Shot? Kate tried to remember what happened. She remembered giving the eulogy. The last clear memory was of Castle yelling something to her, then everything after that was just foggy.

Kate, please!

Stay with me, Kate.

Don't leave me, please.

Stay with me, okay?

Kate, I love you.

I love you, Kate.

"Was anyone else injured?" she asked, unable to put the fragments of her memory in the right order. Since she didn't feel well right now, Kate postponed the analysis of them for a later time.

"No. You're the only one."

"How long was I out?"

"Two days. I was worried."

"Do you know if the sniper was apprehended yet?" She had been unconscious for two days; that was two days too long. She had a lot to catch up on.

"I'm sorry, Kate, I don't know anything about the case. But I'll inform Detectives Ryan and Esposito that you're awake." Josh got up and kissed her head. "I'll get your doctor so that he can check you out."

Before Josh could leave the room she stopped him. "Josh."

"Yeah?" he turned around, looking questioningly at her.

"Could you call Castle, please?"

Something flashed through his eyes but it was too quick for her to tell exactly what it was. His answer came with a few second delay, and he looked decidedly uncomfortable. Maybe she shouldn't have asked him, but she wanted to see her partner. "Of course". Then he disappeared from her field of vision.

"Dad, I'll only be there for two and a half months not two and a half years!"

"I just want to be sure that you have everything you need," answered Castle. He followed her to the kitchen, oblivious that his cell was lying on the table and humming with an incoming call.

Alexis rolled her eyes, because her father was sometimes just like a little kid. No, not sometimes; always. Sometimes more, sometimes less. She had just packed her bags for her temporary stay in Paris, and her dad seemed to believe that it wasn't enough.

"I'm not moving to Paris. If I forget something, I'll just buy it there."

"You want to buy daily new clothes?"

"It's Paris, Dad, not a jungle. I'm pretty sure that there will be some laundry facilities."

"But you won't have time to do laundry while you're working."

"I won't work all the time."

"True. But you're going to spend most of your free time with your amazing dad, sightseeing and such," he told her.

Castle had decided to accompany his daughter to Paris, but he wouldn't be going home with her after those two and a half months. He wouldn't accompany Alexis straight away either, since he had to take care of some things beforehand, mostly concerning Gina and Black Pawn. She'd probably be anything but happy about his plans.

He planned to enjoy those two and a half months with his daughter in Paris and, while she'd take a flight back home, he'd be on his way to the real trip he had planned. Castle planned to walk the Way of St. James, and it would be a new challenge for him. Something new and he could hardly wait for it. His family wasn't so happy about it though, since he'd be walking alone. That meant five hundred miles packed with loneliness, hard weather conditions, and high physical performance. It was a trip into the unknown.

Since the moment he started to plan this trip, he'd gone to the gym regularly, and he would continue his training in Paris. After all, his daughter would be working most of the days so he would have a lot of time to work on his fitness.

Another thing his family, and especially Gina, was going to hate was that he'd be gone for several weeks: weeks in which he would neither write a single word nor be reachable to anyone. Though Castle would have his cell with him, he wouldn't have reception most of the time while walking to the destinations each day.

He was fine with that; the writer wouldn't have to go to meetings with Gina, and he could sort out his thoughts. Maybe he could come up with new things to do after this trip.

One thing was for sure, however, his life at the Twelfth Precinct was over. A new stage of life would begin now.

Originally I planned that Castle would travel through Europe but then I remembered that it was revealed in one episode that he pretty much has been in a lot of countries already. At that moment I was reading a book about the Way of St. James and thought that this could exactly be the kind of adventure he'd want to take part in.

Tell me what you think.

Enjoy your day.