Alright guys!
As promised here's the back story to the undercover op from Admire. You don't need to read admire, but this sorta ties in with chapter 2
"It's not just that Kate!" he exclaimed running a hand through his hair.
"Then what?" her face still unreadable but he saw the faintest glimmer of fear in her eyes, the way she flinched at his tone.
"6 months! You were away for 6 months! Do you know what that did to Alexis? What that did to me?" he didn't care that he was yelling or that she had begun to retreat away from him, he only wanted to see his Kate again. The care-free Kate that he had been with before this had all happened. The Kate he loved and had loved him back.
"I told you that it could take longer, I didn't say I would definitely be back in two or three weeks. You can't have everything your way Rick!" she knew it wasn't true. She knew that he knew it would take longer. But she didn't know why she was so upset, it was just another undercover op that went south.
Ok maybe a little more than south, but she is fine. She has to be.
...
"Beckett, can we talk for a second?" Montgomery asked Kate, his face serious and not giving anything away. Kate was a good detective, and the last thing he wanted to do was dump this on her shoulders.
Kate nodded and stood up, taking note of his stern expression before walking into his office,
"Close the door and take a seat, please" he motioned to the seat in front of him and walked behind his desk and sitting down.
"I'm fine standing, thanks captain" Kate replied while closing the door of the office and coming to a stand in front of his desk, her brow furrowing when she saw him staring at a case file.
"What did you want to talk about, captain?"
"About a new case"
"Case? Captain," confusion written over her face.
"A drug trafficking ring has been located-" he started
"what does that have to do with me, captain?" she asked interrupting him
"They've found three bodies who happen to be part of their 'gang' but in order to shut them down they need someone to go in undercover" he continued,
"And you want to send me in?" Kate said, the realization dawning down on her.
"It's up to you Beckett, I wouldn't be sending you in if I had a choice, but you are the best detective that I have, that I find is suitable for this op."
"When do I start?" Kate asked sighing, knowing Rick wasn't going to like this. Not going to like this at all.
...
"Your name for this operation is Nicole Fabray," He debriefed her, handing her the case file.
Kate gladly took it and starting scanning through the file, reading the details making sure she was familiar with some of the details of the ring. If she was going to be involved, she was going to have to change who she is.
"And what do I have to do exactly?" she asked trying to clarify whether or not she was going to become part of the ring or if she was just going to be a worker who just happens to start work there.
"We already have another undercover cop there, his name is Detective Scott Dale, you'll be posing as his girlfriend." Montgomery replied, his face firm, unreadable.
"how long sir?" Kate asked, almost too afraid to ask, in fear of what he would say.
"two to three months. But I can't guarantee that you'll be out in two or three months, from what I know Detective Dale has been undercover for a year."
Rick definitely wasn't going to be happy.
...
Montgomery gave her the rest of the day off, ordering her to go home familiarize herself with the case file, wanting her to be fully prepared and ready to start.
"You start on Sunday," he had told her before handing her the rest of the notes and dismissed her but not before adding, "And I want you to go home Beckett. I don't care what you want to do, this undercover op isn't going to be easy."
She sighed and nodded her head before walking out of his office and closing the door behind her.
Kate's head was going to explode, how was Rick going to react to the news. He handled her last undercover op well, he hadn't complained but he had wanted to argue with her.
Telling him was going to be hard but telling Alexis was going to be harder and more challenging, she loved Alexis, she didn't want to do this to her, but it was part of her job.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm her heart down, hearing it beating rapidly. Rick knew what her job meant to her, he knew that this would happen again, she had told him from their very first date,
"Rick, I'm a detective," she had said, looking down at her lap. "I'm not just going to drop my work to do something else. I love my job, I love how I can help people, that's something I can't change."
Gathering all her courage she parked the car and got out. Taking the lift up to his floor. To their apartment.
She would tell them after dinner, even if that did mean missing out on dessert for one night.
...
"Hey! You're home," Rick exclaimed walking over to her giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before walking back to the kitchen.
"Kate!" another voice piped up, before Alexis made an appearance,
"Hey Alexis, have a good day at school?" Kate asked, walking to where they were in the kitchen.
"Yeah, I have a physics test tomorrow," she explained when Kate looked at the books littering the dining table.
Kate shuddered. "I never did like physics," she replied before walking into the kitchen, but Rick bumped her hip with his, "nuh-uh, I'm cooking tonight, go, sit with Alexis," he smiled at her kissing her forehead before turning back to the stove.
"So... Physics huh?" Kate asked peering at all the equations in her textbook.
"Yeah, not exactly what I want to be doing at the moment, but I really want to pass." she replied smiling at Kate before diving back into the equations.
...
She was lost in thought.
She really didn't want to do this to them, but it was part of her job description. They both knew that, they all knew that there was a high risk of her not coming home at all. They all knew about the risk.
"What's going on in that head of yours?" he asked softly, rubbing his hand in soothing circles on her back,
"I have to go undercover again," she blurted out. Feeling his hand still on her back.
"Again? But you just came back from the other operation." he replied,
Oh, this was not going to go down well.
"Yeah again."
"What is it about this time?"
"Drug trafficking ring, another detective, Detective Scott Dale, has been undercover for a year and can't find a break."
"Drug trafficking ring? Kate, you can't be serious!"
"I won't be there alone! I have Dale there with me if I ever need the back up,"
"It's a drug trafficking ring, Kate. You're putting your life at risk," he argued back.
He wasn't having any of it. If last time was anything, this time would be worse.
"I put my life at risk everyday," she shot back, standing up,
"Yeah, but at least you have other people around you, it's not just you versus how ever many people there are in this ring."
"I won't be alone. I have Dale."
"Dale my ass!" he almost shouted, before realizing that Alexis was upstairs,
"I have no choice Rick, I start on Sunday," and she walked off. Shutting their bedroom door behind her.
…...
He couldn't believe it, she was going undercover again.
She had walked off making him think like all that was his fault, making him think she was upset because of him, and the only thing he was doing was being worried for her well-being.
He loved her for crying out loud. She was different to other women he'd dated. Very different.
He waited 10 minutes to calm down, and also to let Kate relax, he knew that she needed her space, it was the very first thing that stood out from her.
She was a private person, exactly the opposite to him and to some of his past dates.
But she needed to know that now it wasn't all about her anymore, it was about him and Alexis too. They were in her life now and that should count for something.
Before Rick went to back to their bedroom to try and reason with Kate, he stopped and looked at the stair case, waited a few seconds before walking up them to make sure Alexis hadn't heard any of their shouting. It would be Kate's decision to tell Alexis. Not his.
Walking back down the stairs he walked into the kitchen to have a cup of water to give Kate more time, knowing that she wouldn't be asleep.
Rick knocked a few times on the door and then without waiting any response he came in.
At first he didn't see anything, with the light off it was all dark and his eyes took a few minutes to get used to it, then he spotted Kate.
…...
She was laying on the bed looking towards the bathroom, with her back to the door. It happened again. They argued.
She didn't like arguing with him, but he should know that her job was important to her and she was pretty sure that he knew why her job was so important to her. That's what made him so different to the other guys that she had dated. She hadn't told him the full story behind her choice to become a detective, but he did know enough to not question her.
And that knowledge of him was one of the things that made her fall in love with him, knowing that he could read her so damn easily.
"Kate" he whispered softly to her, she didn't acknowledge him only looking at the bathroom. Her chest rising and falling.
He sighed and walked over to her, knowing that the only way to deal with this was to dive in head first. Even if it did end up with him sleeping outside on the couch.
He gently sat down on the bed next to her, gathering her up and pulling her into a hug, feeling her try to push him away, his grip on her tightened forcefully dragging her to him, not caring that he was the last person she wanted to see. The thing with Kate was that sometimes you needed to push her, sometimes you needed to get passed the gate and in order to do that you needed to forcefully shove against it and continue fighting it, sometimes she needed to be pushed and to be broken down in order to understand her and to get her to understand you.
"I didn't mean that I didn't trust you enough, I trust you Kate, I really do." he tried to explain himself rubbing soft circles on her back, feeling her tense up and try to pull away. But he wasn't having any of it.
"but..." she replied, there was always a 'but'
"A year Kate! Do you know how long that is!" he tried not to shout to loud, but only succeed with raising his voice.
"I won't be undercover for that long" she argued back, giving in and resting her head against his shoulder.
"But what if you are?"
"I won't" her voice slightly raised and agitated
He sighed, knowing he was fighting a losing battle. "When do you start?"
"Wednesday"
"But that's tomorrow!" his voice trying to fight the shock and the anger at being told about this at such a short notice.
"I have no choice Rick, it's either shut the ring down or let more people be killed," and she stood up making her way into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
...
Kate swallowed as she turned to face the mirror. Her hair was blonde.
She shivered as she remembered the last time she had dyed her hair blonde.
But now she had to concentrate on her job, to concentrate on making sure she would and will come back home. Safely. She reassured herself that all was going to go well, and that in 2 or 3 months she would be back with Rick and Alexis.
'Alexis!' she remembered, jumping a little, she hadn't told her yet about her going undercover again. It wasn't because she wanted to hide it from her, it was because she didn't know how to tell her.
But she preferred to tell Alexis herself and not let Rick have to do deal with the issue or someone else, and she hoped that she would be more understanding and hoped that it didn't affect her too much.
...
Kate quietly crept out of their bedroom and into the kitchen, only to bump into Alexis, who was sitting at the table eating her breakfast, but had turned to look at Kate upon seeing the brunette detective walk out of the bedroom with blonde hair.
"Kate?" Alexis asked, confused
"Alexis! I didn't think you'd be up yet," Kate jumped a little bit and turned around to face Alexis. Who was looking at her weirdly.
Kate realized that she had yet to explain to her about her undercover op.
"I have to go undercover again," she said simply waiting for the teenagers response
"Again? As a blonde?" Alexis questioned
"Yeah, I want to make sure that they won't be able to recognize me, going blonde seemed a good start." Kate explained coming to sit next to her.
"Does dad know?"
"Yeah, he knows" Kate replied sighing
"I'm guessing he didn't take it well,"
"he understands... Now" Kate answered back, before standing up again and giving the girl a hug,
"How long will you be away for?" Alexis asked, seeing the strain in Kate's face she knew she wasn't going to like the answer,
"Montgomery thinks maybe 2-3 months but he isn't sure, for all he knows it could take up to 6 months," Kate sighed running a hand through her hair giving it a disapproving look before smiling at Alexis and kissing her forehead before walking out the door, taking one last look at the house, knowing that it would be a long time before she would be seeing the house again.
fanfictioncaskett4 and I talked about this fic and well, we did want this to be a one shot, but when we started writing it we realized that if we were to write a one shot it would so long it would probably end up like the neverending story!
So we talked and decided that we would split it into three parts,
fanfictioncaskett4 and tahz101