Kate seems to have always been successful, but how would she handle being in a position other than first? For some of this, I took Jon Huertas' comments at the Paley Center that Esposito and Beckett were partners before Ryan joined the Precinct. (Whether or not there was "something" else there, I'll leave to other writers. )
Kate adjusted her glasses and rolled her shoulders while she waited for the "Fire!" command. She and her partner, Javier Esposito, had taken the newest member of their team down to the shooting range for some friendly hazing. Kate was determined to make a good showing.
She had realized the first time they went to the range that her partner was the best shot in the NYPD. He took great pride in that the status and she knew it was something he worked to maintain. Javi wasn't arrogant about it; he always offered her tips that had helped her become the second best shot. Being second wasn't a place she enjoyed usually. However, she had convinced herself that there were a lot worse places to be then having the best shot in the city covering her back.
Today's initiation hadn't quite gone the way she planned. It was a best of seven rounds. After three rounds, Javi had a two to one lead on her. It was a fairly typical result. The next three rounds went two to one in favor of Ryan over Javier. Ryan had shrugged it off saying that being a good shot was a neccessity in his last assignment. Kate wondered why he was so cryptic. She wasn't shrugging it off so easily. This last round would determine the winners and losers, and Kate was determined not to be the loser. She carefully lined up her shot and went into her zone. She hadn't counted on Ryan expertise. However when the round was finished, she had just edged the two men. The score stood: Javier: 3; Kate: 2; and Kevin Ryan: 2.
"Should we make it best of nine?" Kate suggested.
Javier knew that his partner would keep challenging the new guy until she finally won. However, the Knicks were on TV tonight. "Or we could say that I won. Come on guys, I'll spend the money I won off of you two on dinner at Remy's to show what a good guy I am."
Kevin and Kate looked at each other; it was a free dinner.
"I could go for some food," Kevin tossed his ear muffs back into the bin by the door. He quickly started running through the process of checking his weapon and signing out.
Esposito efficiently began the same process.
Kate hesitated for a second, "I want to ask Karpowski a question. I'll catch up."
The two men headed out with Javi calling over his shoulder, "Hurry up, chica, you don't want me to spend all my winnings before you get there."
"I won't be long!" Kate called as she waited for them to clear the doors to the firing range. As soon as they did, she raced over and signed up for a couple more practice sessions. She might have accepted that her partner was a better shot, afterall Special Forces training was a bit more demanding than the Academy, but she wasn't going to be third after the new guy.