Hope 4

Rick was running out of time and being back in New York City was dangerous in more ways than one. They'd found him there last time so they could find him again. Because of that he'd been staying in some of the more unsavory locations. There were more cockroaches in the building than humans. He stomped on one, making there one less. "Not that it matters." He shook his head. "I'm sure you have a number of brothers and sisters if not kids living around here somewhere." He hated the place. He hadn't even dared to come anywhere near where he used to live.

What he wanted was out of this dump! Looking at his phone, bought from a place that had no video surveillance and with cash, it finally buzzed at him. He eagerly looked at the message. "About damn time!" Rick stood up and then Jumped to his backpacks. The guy had actually requested payment in pounds. He'd readily agreed; he gathered what he needed, then put the backpack back into place.

He'd studied the area carefully and Jumped a couple of blocks away. He watched for the next 30 minutes before he started walking. He just needed to get there and then back out.

Some big, muscle-bound guy stepped out of the shadows and actually showed his cigarette. "Hey man, you got a light?"

Rick didn't smoke and didn't have the time. "No," he replied and kept walking.

"Then you can give me your wallet before I put a bullet in your gut and let you bleed out."

Rick stopped, slowly turned around, and found that sure enough, he had a gun and it was pointed at him. "Okay." Rick gave in easily and reached into his pocket to pull out the roll of money that he had.

"Damn, I hit the jackpot." The brawny thug was very happy with himself. He even reached out to take it. Rick put it in his hand, grasped his hand, and JUMPED!

"What the hell?" The guy didn't understand how he had gotten here. Worse he was falling. His only saving grace was that the sucker with the cash was falling with him. He began flapping his arms as if that was going to stop him from falling.

Rick pulled his hand back, checked that he still had the money, and Jumped again.

He was back where he started and began walking once more. He was never going to see that guy again and doubted that anyone else would ever see him either. It was a tiny speck of land that didn't even have a single palm tree. If the jerk was lucky he would actually be able to swim to civilization. Provided that he swam in the right direction.

Rick didn't see himself as a killer. Yes, he could've let him drop in the middle of the ocean and let the sharks eat him. It was also true that he would likely die either on that island or he would die by swimming the wrong direction and end up being eaten by sharks. But all of that was up to him.

He picked up the pace and walked faster.

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Rick was cautiously happy. He stepped around the corner and Jumped to where his backpacks were located. Picking them up, he pulled out the picture and Jumped again.

The sun had gone down only a little while ago and he was right where he wanted to be. Come tomorrow morning he just had to check in, pay his tuition, and get ready for his classes. He even had a place to live. He could have gotten a place all to himself but he couldn't risk stealing from banks again, so what he had needed to last for quite a while. So he'd found a place and would put up with having roommates. Two of them in fact.

He started walking down the sidewalk and headed right to it. Knocking on the door, a geeky-looking guy answered. Rick told him his new name. "Hi, I'm Rick Castle."

"Well hi, come on in. Is this all you have?" Rick was just carrying his two backpacks and a bag.

"Yeah, all of my worldly possessions," Rick confirmed since it was. It was now anyway.

"Not a problem. I'll show you around and show you your room. I'm Bruce Romano and I'm in civil and environmental engineering. This is the living room, dining room, kitchen. The refrigerator's separated into three sections; we all share the freezer. Eat only what you put into it."

"I tend to eat out a lot or have it delivered." Rick wasn't planning on cooking since he didn't know how.

"Okay. More room for us. Half bath." Then they went upstairs. "My room." He pointed at the door. "This is James Hooper's room. The sock on his door means stay out and don't knock unless the place is on fire. You can meet him later. He's in computer science." Then he leaned in close and whispered, "You need into something he's your man."

"Good to know." Rick wasn't sure he would ever need him for anything.

"This is your room. Twin bed, desk and chair, closet. I think there are a few hangers." It was a little tight, but Rick didn't care. "Laundry's down in the basement. You're responsible for a third of the power bill, water bill, cable TV bill, and the rent. If you need access to the router I'll get you the password. It's full of weird characters… James's idea. Something about security." Bruce whispered the last part. "He's paranoid, thinks the CIA is monitoring everything."

Rick shook his head. "You mean NSA. The CIA only works outside of the country."

"Not according to James," Bruce shrugged. "There's only the one bathroom up here so after we all get our class schedules we'll work out a schedule on who gets the room when. You're in English?" Bruce didn't remember exactly.

Rick corrected him. "Creative writing to be precise."

"A writer! How cool! …Richard Castle, I'll have to remember that name." Bruce really wasn't in the least bit interested. He was just happy that they had a third roomie to cover the expenses.

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The three of them went at the same time and essentially got in line. They knew what courses they would each be taking. Now it was time to find out just when and where on campus each class would take place.

Rick had walked off to one side and sat down in the grass under a little shade and started looking over his class schedule and where each class was located. "OH SWELL!" He was ready to collapse. He had a class at 7:30 am on the other side of the campus from the house he was helping to rent.

"7:30!" a new voice rang out and Rick could sympathize with whoever it was. He looked up and he saw what he was sure was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her cheek bones were prominent, long brown hair. He did kind of prefer blondes, but it looked good on her. But what he really noticed was the really long legs. Legs that started from the tennis shoes she was wearing and only ended when they reached the clouds.

"You too? Sounds like we'll both be up early," he commiserated and she stopped.

"At least it's close, but did it have to be at 7:30?" Kate knew she was an early riser, but this was taking things a little far.

"I'm an English major… You?" He wanted to keep talking to her.

"Pre-law," Kate answered and kept reading her course schedule.

"Pre-law, sounds aggressive. What are your plans if I may ask." Rick wanted to know more including her name, where she was staying, and even her phone number.

"Supreme Court Justice." Kate had a plan, she just hadn't expected to be up so early this semester.

"Impressive. Creative writing for me," Rick said and that seemed to get her attention.

"A writer." She loved reading books. "I'm Kate." She sat down but kept her distance.

"Rick Castle. You wait, I'll have several books on the New York's top ten best sellers list. I can't fail." He really did need for this to work. He just didn't need his picture posted all over where that Aaron guy could see it.

"You sound cocky!" Kate was starting to dislike him. He was too full of himself.

"No, just sure in what I want to succeed at. Don't you want to succeed?" Rick countered.

Kate took away her bad marks. She had been too impulsive, too fast to judge him. "You're right. I apologize."

"I'll accept your apology if I can buy you a coffee. I missed breakfast this morning. …I'll even throw in a pastry or perhaps a bagel," Rick offered since he wanted to keep talking to her. Get a chance to learn more.

He wasn't bad on the eyes and she had been a little mean in judging him. "Deal, provided I get to choose." She knew what she wanted.

Rick had no clue where to go. "Do you know of a place?"

"First semester here?" It sounded like it to her.

"Yes, everyone has to start somewhere," he replied defensively.

"It's my second. Come on, I know just the place." Kate was intrigued. She'd dated a little during her previous semester but she'd been so dedicated to her classes that there was no one special. She didn't know much about him, but she was willing to give him a chance. Kate got up, glancing around to make sure she knew where to go. "You coming, Castle?" Why was he still just sitting there?

"Yes!" He eagerly stood up. "Lead the way." He stood back a couple steps, letting her go first. "And you can call me Rick." He preferred first names.

"I'll stay with Castle for now," Kate said.

Rick took the small opening she'd given him, jumped through, and prayed he would catch her. "Is that a yes to my offer for a dinner date?"

"Coffee first, then we'll see." Kate only just now realized what she'd said. What she didn't know was why she'd given him an opening.

"Then this place had better have the best coffee on the planet," Rick responded as she led the way.

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They'd spent close to two hours in the coffee shop, drinking not one but two cups of coffee as well as enjoying two danish of Kate's choosing.

Rick was standing there smiling from ear to ear as he watched Kate walk away. The view he'd had while sitting across from her had been spectacular. And watching her ass sway as she walked was equally amazing. Even more amazing was she was willing to go out on a date with him in two weeks. She had wanted to attend her classes and get a handle on how they were going to go. "Last semester was filled with a lot of late night reading and writing. Time for anything else was a little limited," Kate had told him.

Rick had translated that one sentence into: "She doesn't date much if at all and she hasn't gotten laid in months."

He was still thinking that a woman that beautiful shouldn't be sitting around just reading or writing papers. Which suddenly reminded him – he needed to get a computer so he could type everything. And a printer, Zip discs, an external Zip drive, and paper and ink. He knew just who to ask where all that was.

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It had taken him three days to select what he wanted and get all of it up to his room. At first he'd considered getting a desktop computer with a big monitor. The problem with that was where was he going to fit the desk. His room was tiny.

Now he was sitting up in bed with his laptop in his lap. The printer was sitting on the dresser, barely. Along with extra paper and extra ink. His roommate James had set him up and he was connected to everything perfectly. He just had to be careful of all the cables that were routed everywhere.

First thing he did was start looking for a good place to take Kate to for their dinner date. Classes started in two days so he needed to find a place before that.

He'd at least found out a lot about her. She loved Chinese and Italian food but wasn't a fan of Mexican cuisine. Though she liked most Thai food and even some Indian food. She even loved greasy burgers, fries, and shakes. The question he hadn't asked was how did she keep her figure if she ate that much.

She'd been born and raised in New York. Had chosen Stanford as her ideal school and thought of herself as getting lucky to get in. That had launched Rick into talking about all the boarding schools he had been in as well as all the ones he'd been kicked out of.

"You put a cow on the roof!?" Kate had commented skeptically then had started laughing. "Okay Castle, what else have you done?" She was sure she had just met the biggest prankster on the planet.

His life sounded a whole lot more exciting than hers and that was what intrigued her about him. He was willing to take risks that she hadn't considered doing. Dating Castle was going to be anything but boring, and that alone had her hooked. He wasn't a Bad Boy like some of her high school boyfriends. He was just far more adventurous than any of her boyfriends. Now if she could just keep Madison from stealing him…

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"What are you doing Kate?" Her roommate entered their dorm room to find Kate standing there partially dressed with half of her closet laid out on her bed.

"OH, hey Jen. I'm just trying to make a decision on what to wear." Kate went back to looking at what used to be in her closet.

"Big date coming up I take it?" Jen started firing off questions. "What's his name? Is he good looking? …And does he have a brother?"

"In about two weeks, his name is Rick, and no, he doesn't have a brother." Kate leaned down to pick something up.

"TWO WEEKS! And you're trying to find something to wear already? You must really like him. I don't remember you doing this last semester," Jen commented as she stepped next to Kate and looked at all the clothes on the bed. "And you didn't answer my question," Jen reminded her.

"What? Yes I did." Kate was sure she had answered her roommates barrage of questions. Then she remembered them and started picking up clothes to put back into her closet.

"He must not be just good looking, he must be a hunk. Rick what?" Jen wanted answers.

Kate hung up what she had in her hands. "None of your business. I found him, he's mine."

"Oh, you've got it bad and on your first date, too." She was sure Kate had gone over the edge for this boy.

Jen decided to tease her. "Just warn me ahead of time if you plan on bringing him here to have sex with him so I can make arrangements to sleep somewhere else."

"WE'RE NOT HAVING SEX! We haven't even had our first date yet." Now, of course, the question of what Rick looked like naked ran through her mind.

"Oh, but you want to or you wouldn't be trying to decide what to wear already," Jen insisted since she was having so much fun at Kate's expense.

"So how big is he? Is he Godzilla? So big and so long that all it does is hurt? Or is he normal size and you simply like it. Or is he a pocket rocket?" Jen was curious as to just what Kate desired in a penis.

"We're not talking about this." Kate's back straightened and her whole body stiffened as she went back to her bed and picked up more of her clothes. She was getting really annoyed.

"Considering how skinny you are, Godzilla's out. Better hope he's not 9-inches or bigger." She was having fun.

"JEN!" Kate couldn't believe how they got onto this topic. "And I'm not skinny…I'm athletic." She stuck her chin out and turned her back on her roommate.

"With as much Yoga as you do, I'll buy that. So you want a pocket rocket." Jen thought she was getting somewhere now.

"If he's big enough to stretch me, yeah. Okay, enough of this, Jen, we haven't even kissed yet let alone had sex." Kate was so done.

"FINE!" Jen had gotten what she wanted anyway. "Just remember to give me some warning if you decide to have sex on your first date." She moved over to her desk to start work on her little project.

"We're NOT having sex on our first date!" Kate was sure of that.

"Maybe," Jen remarked softly.

"Yes, maybe. …WAIT! No maybe about it. NO SEX!" Kate yelled.

"Who's not having sex?" a voice inquired when a new girl entered their room.

"Kate's getting ready for her first date in two weeks and plans on having sex on their first date." Jen's teasing was going full throttle now that Karen was here.

"I SAID NO SUCH THING! YOU! Out, out, out." Kate started pushing Karen out of their room so she could shut the door on her and any others that wanted in on this conversation.

She shut the door and locked it. "AND YOU… No. Sex." Kate pointed her finger at Jen.

"Oh, I plan on having sex this semester. Lots and lots of sex. …Hey, maybe you could invite your boyfriend over and we could have an orgy." Jen couldn't hide the giant smile that was on her face.

"For the last time! We're not having sex and he's not my boyfriend." Kate went back to putting her clothes away.

"Just make sure you leave the blinds open so I can use my binoculars," Jen added and listened to Kate scream. Teasing her was so much fun and the semester hadn't even officially begun. Yeah, this was going to be a really good semester. She could feel it… For both of them.