Hi guys,

I know it's been a long time since the last update, but a lot of things were going on in my life and I'm not really satisfied with the chapters I have written in advance. So now I have to work on them again, changing a few things.

With this update I want to let you know that I haven't forgotten about this story.

Again, I'm really sorry that you had to wait so long.

Hopefully you enjoy this update.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

Chapter 5

The moment the alarm went off Castle opened his eyes, groping for his phone to silence it. Hopefully the alarm hadn't disturbed anyone else in the room, but as he glanced around, he noticed that the most of the other pilgrims he had shared the room with were already gone. He tiredly stretched his limbs, before standing up.

Finally.

Today was the first of many days on the Camino Frances.

Looking outside he noticed that it would be a cloudy day. He grabbed his rain coat out of his bag and prepared himself for his first day on his tour.

Today's destination would be Roncesvalles in Spain. And while he knew exactly what he was getting himself into with this journey, Castle couldn't keep himself from groaning when he thought about the fact that he'd spend the next several hours constantly walking up the Pyrenees.

The ascent was hefty. The path was made out of cobblestones, and no matter how he walked, his wooden staff was always in the way.

On his way up the weather got worse. Half an hour after he had started his journey, it had started to rain and the higher he hiked the foggier the view became. Now and then he looked around, but he never saw anyone. He was alone. No one was walking in front of or behind him.

The fog robbed him more and more of the sight, and he started to have difficulties orientating himself. According to his guide this was one of the special places in Europe, and as he saw a picture of the scenery in his guide this morning he could understand why it was so special. The view of wonderful, snow-covered mountains with beautiful green fields at the bottom with dozens of sheep was breath-taking.

But he saw none of it because of the fog.

After a three hour march up the mountain, he finally reached the pass of Roncesvalles. It was raining cats and dogs now, even his coat didn't stand a chance against the masses of water that poured down onto him, and so after his clothes got more and more drenched, his mood steadily sank. There was a squishing noise with every step he took, since his shoes were also completely wet. He cursed himself internally that he had trusted the words of the sales man in the shop who had insisted that his equipment would be absolutely waterproof.

He sighed. He just hoped that his backpack would at least be completely dry.

The visibility had gotten worse too. Rick could hardly see his own outstretched hands anymore. Taking a minute to catch his breath, he found a big stone to sit down on. His clothes were already wet, so sitting upon the wet stone wouldn't make a difference anymore. As he sat there he glanced around hoping to find some signs, but all he saw was the white of the fog.

His thoughts drifted to Kate. He wondered how she was.

It was a good thing that he had poor reception over his daily trips to his destination, for his urge to call her and to hear her voice was strong.

But that wouldn't be fair. To either of them. He had arranged this trip to put distance between them, separating him from her life. He wanted to release her life from his brainless and childlike behavior. She needed a better partner. One who could help her with paperwork. One who could get her out of the line of a bullet in time.

Kate needed a partner who was everything he wasn't.

After he rested for a few minutes he forced himself to continue on. It would get him nowhere to wait for the fog to pass. Trusting his luck, the whiteness of the fog would be merely trade itself with the nothingness of the dark night, and he would rather not walk through the Pyrenees in the middle of the night.

As he reached the top the fog had cleared out a bit. Taking in his surroundings he saw something in the distance. Walking closer he recognized it from a picture in his guide.

The Fontaine De Roland.

Relieved, a feeling of happiness flooded through his body. On his way up he had emptied his water bottle, and now he finally had the chance to refill it. Though it had rained most of the day, his throat felt dry.

Rick rolled his eyes as he saw the golden faucet. He was in the middle of the Pyrenees and stood in front of a little fountain with a freaking golden faucet. The money spent on the faucet would've certainly be needed somewhere else, someplace better than here.

But why spend it on food for poor people when you could have a golden faucet in the middle of nowhere, Rick thought sarcastically.

Castle pulled out his water bottle and turned the faucet. He turned and turned but nothing happened.

No water came out of it.

Not one drop.

On the left and right side of the Fontaine De Roland were two streams, but the water looked filthy and Rick wasn't keen on drinking it. The feelings of happiness he had experienced not five minutes ago quickly vanished again.

This stupid fountain was the only one on his trip to Roncesvalles!

He slumped down, exhausted, at the edge of the fountain, closing his eyes. Should this be the end of his trip? Other people could walk this path without any problem, so why couldn't he? Not even through the first day and he felt like he was failing.

Suddenly he heard a strange noise in the distance. A noise that didn't fit into the loneliness he found himself in. Rick listened more attentively and, if he wasn't completely mistaken, the noise sounded almost like a car. But it couldn't be, could it?

And there it was.

A car appeared in the distance, driving towards him. New hope spread through him, and he stood up. Finally, a glimmer of hope on the horizon.

Kate entered the crowded coffee shop and scanned through the throng of people for her friend. She was already late, having forgotten how bad the traffic in New York really was. Kate had been surprised at how unfamiliar the city was after spending so much time at her family's cabin. Moreover, the anonymity, which had never before been a problem before, was slowly getting to her. There were times she felt like she was being watched. Sometimes a passerby looked at her, almost like they pitied her as if they knew what had happened, and she hoped they didn't recognize her from the newspaper. Her dad had told her that the news of her shooting had made its way into the local news, but she didn't want to know anything about those newspapers.

She had been there that day. Had had a front-row seat on this day. It had been her who had been shot, and she wanted to forget it. Forget it all. Reading newspapers of this dark day would be anything but forgetting.

Kate found her friend Lanie Parish sitting at one of the tables in the back of the coffee shop. It was good to see her again. There was this feeling of familiarity, something that reminded her of the normality her life before a bullet had made its way into her heart. The normality she so desperately wanted to get back again.

"Finally! I started to think you stood me up." Lanie greeted her friend, enveloping Kate in a tight but soft embrace."I missed you."

Kate smiled softly. "I missed you too."

They sat down and Kate noted that a cup of coffee was already waiting for her. Kate took a sip, enjoying the taste of her favorite brew. Thankfully it still was warm enough. Lanie smiled, satisfied, at her friend, happy to see her up and well again. "You didn't really think that after all this time writer boy is the only one to know your coffee order, did you?"

"Do you know anything about my case?" Kate asked, trying to change topics immediately. She wanted to prevent any conversation that could lead to the topic of Castle. Besides she really did want to know what the police had learned about her sniper.

"I'm sorry, Girl. I can't really tell you anything. You'd have to speak to the boys directly. The only thing I know is that the new Captain put it to rest for now."

Kate looked up, horrified."What?! Why would he do that?"

"She. And it was because they haven't had any leads for a while now. New cases kept piling up on their desk."

"But someone must have seen the sniper! Anyone. He must have left some tracks! He's not a ghost, Lanie. He can't just disappear like that!"

Lanie waited patiently for Kate's rambling to end. She could understand her friend's anger, but she couldn't help her. The new Captain had put the case to the staple containing all the cases that were still unsolved. Another cold case. Newer cases, cases that couldn't wait, came onto their desks. People wouldn't just stop killing others, just because Detective Kate Beckett and her team were occupied with another case.

"Where are the files now?"

Lanie already knew that she wouldn't like the answer to that question. "Ryan and Esposito didn't want anybody to find out about Montgomery's involvement in the case. It would have ruined the memory of a good Captain."

"So, I take it they put them in a safe place." Kate stated impatiently.

"They persuaded Castle to keep them. He didn't want to at first, but they won him over in the end. Though I don't know how they did it."

Kate closed resignedly her eyes. She should have known that she couldn't avoid the topic of Castle forever, but did it have to be that soon? What she didn't understand was how he didn't want anything to do with the police anymore and still agree to watch over the files of her mother's case. He had to know she'd want those files as soon as she got back, meaning she'd have to go and see him. Why the letter? Why did he write a letter to her when he knew he'd see her again? Or was the letter an indication of where he had put the files?

Maybe it was finally time to read his letter. If the location of the files really was written down in this letter, she should be lucky as hell that she didn't listen to Josh about getting rid of it.

"I'm really sorry that I couldn't tell you more."

"It's okay. I just didn't think that it would be me who'd make the first step in contacting him."

Rick laughed happily as he saw the cloister walls of Roncesvalles appear in the distance. He had to admit that there were moments in which he thought that he'd never finish his first stage of the journey. But he made it. His first day was almost over. Roughly 16 miles through the Pyrenees.

The car had stopped next to him at the Fontaine De Roland. It had been a worker on an alp, and he was able to help Rick refill his water bottle. With that silver lining came new hope and motivation, especially as he started his descent to the Spanish village Roncesvalles soon after his encounter with the alp worker.

It was a precipitously small path, and the rain made everything slippery. For the first time since his start, Rick had been very glad that he bought the wooden staff. He doubted that he'd have been able to make the descent without it.

The cloister in Roncesvalles looked a bit misplaced. It was too big and lumpy for the tired and aching bones successfully carried him towards the cloister, the official hostel for the was cold inside the cloister, and it looked in serious need of a clean-up operation. Rick had a clear view of the main hall, and he estimated the number of guests to be around fifty. Many of them had spread out their clothes to dry them after this rainy day.

He sought out one of the members of the cloister to get his stamp and be assigned a bed for the night. He just wanted to lay down and sleep until the next morning, but like the others he first spread out his clothes to dry them. The next thing he did was write down his experiences of the day. He was sure that Alexis would check immediately if he posted something, and he didn't want her to worry if she didn't find anything, as short as it may be. Because it would be short.

Right now, he didn't have the energy to write more than necessary.

Wish you all a great week!