Change of Command
By Minstrel164
{Captain Gates invites Beckett to lunch and it is there that Beckett learns Gates is being promoted and transferred to 1PP. Set after the finale of season 7 and before season 8}
A/N:
I wrote this particular story some time ago. I was never particularly happy at the way the Captain Gates character was dismissed from the show this a scene that should have happened between Kate and Gates. I hope you enjoy.
Con
XXX
"So this is the Old Haunt?" Captain Victoria Gates said as she stood in the entrance and surveyed the pub.
"This is it, sir." Kate Beckett replied unable to hide the note of pride in her voice.
"I've heard people mention it."
Kate looked at her captain and saw that her usual severe, almost school-marmish expression had been replaced by a look of surprise, perhaps even wonder. It was as if what she had been expecting to find was at odds with what she actually found. Kate tried to keep the smile from her face.
"Shall we?" Kate said motioning Gates forward.
Gates finally nodded once she had stopped taking in the scene revealed before her. She allowed Kate to go forward and lead the way. It did not escape Gates' notice as they walked through the pub how the bar and wait staff greeted Kate's arrival with friendly greetings or waves of the hand which Kate returned with equal friendliness.
"Is this a cop bar, Beckett?" Gates inquired.
"It's become one in the past few years, sir."
The captain of the 12th Precinct nodded her head. She had spotted a handful of off duty patrol officers from her precinct sitting up at the bar enjoying a beer. One of the group had looked in the direction of the entrance when the door had opened and had spotted Gates. Seeing who had walked through the door the officer had quickly looked away trying not to choke on his beer and hoping he had not been spotted.
Captain Gates was surprised to see that the pub had a piano player. On entering the Old Haunt she had heard the music but thought it was recorded and piped through speakers. Piano players were more often to be found in some of the more upmarket bars and restaurants or hotels. The next moment she was even more surprised to see the piano player break into a big smile as Kate approached him.
The man suddenly stopped the jaunty tune he had been playing and seamlessly started to play the opening bars of the theme song from the old television Hill Street Blues.
"Hey, Eddy." Kate greeted the piano player happily, resting her hand on his shoulder giving it an affectionate squeeze.
Eddy the piano player smiled even more and bowed his head. Kate turned to look at Captain Gates.
"This is Eddy, he's almost a part of the furniture." Kate informed Gates. "Eddy here has a tune for each of the regulars and some other customers."
"And yours is Hill Street Blues?" Gates questioned.
"Nope, that's for you, sir."
"But how did he know?" Gates frowned. She looked at Eddy. "How did you know I'm a cop?"
"It's just one of Eddy's magical skills." Beckett answered for the piano player. Eddy grinned brightly and nodded his head in agreement as he continued playing the tune.
Gates had to concede that she did not mind the tune. It had been one of the few cop shows that she ever watched when she had been young. It was a little more realistic than other cop shows that had been around at the time. It was her father's favourite show and she used to watch it with him.
Beckett escorted Captain Gates over to the booth below the wall of fame. Kate sat with her back to the wall. Once she was settled Gates was drawn to the rows of photographs of the famous authors who had frequented the pub down the years.
"You seem awfully comfortable in here, Beckett." Gates remarked as she studied the photographs.
"You could say that, sir." Kate replied.
"All the staff seem to know you."
"Well, I do know the owner."
Gates spotted a very familiar face amongst the photographs. She looked at Beckett as she pointed to the photograph.
"Is that who I think it is...two over from Ernest Hemingway?"
"Yep that's Castle." Kate nodded without looking at the photograph that Gates was pointing to.
"Goodness he looked cute back then." Gates remarked.
Kate let out a laugh. Hurriedly she covered her mouth with her hand fearing she may have laughed a little too loudly. Gates looked over to Kate with raised eyebrows.
"Did I say something funny, Beckett?"
"I said the very same thing when I first saw that picture."
"I see." Gates laughed.
A waitress came up to the booth.
"Hey Kate, how are you?"
"Hi Rosie. I'm good." Kate said smiling up at the waitress. "How goes the acting?"
"I got a job in an off Broadway play that starts rehearsals next week." Rita replied unable to hide her excitement.
"Good for you, Rita." Kate said looking genuinely pleased. "You know we'll be wanting tickets for opening night, okay?"
"You bet." Rita replied. "Seeing we're handing out the congratulations, congrats on your promotion."
"Thanks." Kate tried hard not to blush. Even though it had been a couple of weeks since she had received word of her promotion to captain, it still felt a little funny to her.
"So what would you ladies like to drink?" Rita asked.
Kate looked over to Gates. "Captain?"
"A white wine, please."
"We have a nice Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand that I'm sure you'll like." Rita suggested.
"Sounds good." Gates nodded.
"Make that two." Kate added.
"Coming right up."
Rita turned and departed from the booth. Kate turned to Gates and found the older woman looking at her shrewdly.
"Mr Castle owns this place, doesn't he?" She declared.
"Yeah." Kate nodded.
Kate was not surprised at how quickly Gates had figured out that Castle was the owner of the Old Haunt.
"Why doesn't it surprise me?" Gates shook her head."There's got to be a story behind it."
"There is." Kate agreed.
"I'd like to hear it, if you don't mind."
Kate nodded her head before she leaned back a little. She cast her eyes around the pub taking in the scene. The place was starting to fill up with the lunch time crowd, stockbrokers and lawyers mixing with more off duty cops from the 12th and closer precincts along with a sprinkling of tourists. She settled her gaze on Gates and gave her a small smile.
"The Old Haunt holds a lot of fond memories for Castle." Kate started and her smile grew a little more. "This place started out as a blacksmiths and then was a bordello."
Gates' eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"During Prohibition it became a speakeasy and has remained a bar ever since."
"I see, I think." Gates said slowly.
"A lot of the famous writers of the day have called it home." Kate continued, waving her hand at the wall of fame behind her. "In this very booth we're sitting in is where Castle wrote most of his first novel."
"In A Hail of Bullets."
"You've read it?"
Gates confirmed it with a nod of her head. Kate knew that Gates had read all of Castle's Nikki Heat books because Gates had said as much during the Wendy Dupree murder case a couple of years back. However it was interesting to discover that Gates had read Castle's other books as well. That was a little tid bit of information that Castle might appreciate.
The Wendy Dupree case was where they had discovered Gates' hobby of collecting Gemini dolls. Gates motioned for Kate to continue.
"Donny Hayes the owner of the Old Haunt was murdered and we caught the case..."
Kate's voice trailed off when she saw the look on Gates' face as if she was trying to remember the case.
"It was the case where they found Mayor Jimmy Walker's secret whiskey stash." Kate added helpfully.
Gates' face brightened with recognition.
"Ah yes, I remember the case now."
"Anyway with the owner dead, they were going to sell the Old Haunt to some corporation that would turn the place into some McChucklenuts franchise."
"But Mr Castle stepped in and bought it instead."
"Yeah and he's kept it pretty much like it was. A proud institution standing up to ruthless gentrification." Kate could almost picture her husband beaming from ear to ear at her having quoted him.
Rita returned with their drinks.
"Are you staying for lunch?" Rita asked.
"We are." Kate informed her. "What would you recommend?"
"The Salt and Pepper Calamari is to die for."
Kate looked across to Gates for her opinion.
"The calamari will be fine." Gates stated.
Kate looked up to Rita and nodded her head.
Gates reached down and picked up her glass of wine and took a sip of it. She nodded her approval at the wine selection.
"I suppose you're wondering why I invited you to lunch?" Gates said once she set her glass down.
"The thought did cross my mind, sir."
"Please call me Victoria." Gates said with a smile. "After all we are equals now."
"Ok."
The invitation to go to lunch had come right out of the blue much to Kate's surprise. As she had no active case on the go Kate was going through some her other case files bringing them up to date before handing them off. Thankfully there weren't too many outstanding cases. Kate had hesitated a moment at the invitation. She could not recall any other time Gates having invited her out to lunch. It was an opportunity she really could not pass up. Gates even allowed Kate to pick the place.
"I thought it would be nice for us to have a quiet sit down, have a chat, perhaps give you the benefit of the wisdom of my experience."
"I'd really like that, Victoria." Kate said. She had been thinking about sitting down with the captain of the 12th Precinct to find out what the job of being a precinct captain entailed. "Whatever you wish to share, Victoria, I would appreciate it."
Gates reached for her glass again and took a bigger sip. She let out an appreciative murmur. Kate grinned back. Castle had chosen the wine list for the Old Haunt in consultation with one of New York's best sommeliers. The list comprised selections from around the world.
"The first few days in the job, perhaps the first couple of weeks, you'll be wondering if you've done the right thing." Gates said slowly. "You'll feel overwhelmed."
Kate nodded her head slowly.
"And there will be a few, especially those guys who've been in the job twenty or more years who will try to tell you what to do."
"Because they'll be thinking I'm too young for the job or not up to it." Kate supplied. She knew what Gates was talking about. Kate been dealing with those kinds of cops for most of her career.
"Precisely." Gates nodded, then she leaned a little forward. "Doesn't matter whether you're too young or old, that's not important. What is important is the fact that you aced the Captains' exam and that means you're up for the job and no one can change that."
Kate nodded as she reached for her glass of wine. She took a drink from it.
"You have to remember that from now on, you're not one of the boys anymore. You have to take a step back, be aloof." Gates said.
"That may not be so easy." Kate ventured.
"It's not." Gates agreed. "You have to remember the buck stops with you now. You'll be making the final decisions. Yes, It will piss some people off but that's something that can't be helped. You're the boss. You have to keep your eye on the bigger picture."
"I understand." Kate nodded.
"You'll will have to be on top of everything." Gates continued. "You're not a homicide detective anymore, Kate. You're the one in charge. You're the boss of homicide, robbery, patrol and every other unit operating out of the precinct and for the most part they answer to you. So you have to know what's going on."
"I can do that." Kate assured her.
"And there will be times turning a blind eye to certain things happening in your precinct may be the best course of action."
Kate was looking down at her glass of wine. Suddenly she felt her cheeks start to warm up. She knew immediately what the other woman was talking about. Looking up she saw the glint of amusement in Gates' eyes.
"Plausible deniability." Kate muttered, trying not to smile.
"That's right, Kate."
"How long did you know about me and Castle?" Kate asked.
Kate could not help but wonder how long Captain Gates knew about the relationship she had with Castle.
"A lot longer than you think." Gates replied. "I suspected almost from the beginning, the lengths Mr Castle went to just so that he could remain your partner."
"I'm sorry about Castle using his friendship with the Mayor."
Gates waved the apology away.
"I'll concede I was not very happy at the start." Gates said. "However I came to see that he was an integral member of your team. I would have been a fool to break up a winning combination, especially with a clearance rate you have. Besides, the two of you made the effort to keep your personal relationship away from the precinct and I appreciated that."
Gates paused to take another sip of her wine. She smiled as she looked across to Kate.
"Tell me Kate, did you get those exquisite diamond and sapphire earrings for Valentine's Day?"
Kate's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"You knew they were for me?"
"Of course. That was when I knew for sure you and Mr Castle were a couple."
Kate laughed once she recovered from her momentary shock. It had been their first Valentine's Day as a couple and Kate's gift ninja of a husband, fiance at the time, had gone all out and bought her an expensive pair of diamond and blue sapphire earrings. Castle had thought it would be a wonderful surprise for her if she dug her hand into her jacket and find the box containing the earrings.
That had been the plan. Only Castle being Castle, he had slipped the gift into the pocket of the wrong jacket. He had secreted the present into the pocket of the jacket belonging to Gates, though he did not know it at the time. Both jackets had been hanging on the back of chairs in the break room. To be fair to Castle the two jackets looked very similar.
Castle only discovered his error when he and Kate had to head out to interview someone and Kate had collected her jacket from the back of a chair which had been a couple of tables away from where Captain Gates had been sitting with the jacket containing the Valentine's Day present.
"After what had happened he didn't have the heart to give them to me." Kate informed Gates.
"Oh that's a shame." Gates said. "They were very beautiful."
"Yeah." Kate agreed. "Still. Not to worry. Castle went out and bought me a similar pair, only they were set in platinum and a little more expensive."
"I have to tell you, Kate. I had a hard time of it trying to keep a straight face while I chewed him out as I gave back the earrings." Gates laughed.
"I can picture his face." Kate said trying to hold back her laughter. "You know, Castle thought for a long time that you hated him."
"It doesn't hurt to keep our men on their toes."
Both women laughed loudly at that remark.
"Here we are." Rita the waitress announced as she arrived at the booth with their food. A second waitress set down a basket of bread and some condiments and cutlery. For the next few minutes the two women ate their lunch and engaged in small talk. Gates made no secret of how much she loved the food.
XXX
"Kate, I can't stress this enough, when you walk into Compstat be prepared. Be very prepared." Gates resumed once they had finished their meal. "You'll feel like Daniel walking into the lion's den your first day and believe me when I tell you that some of your colleagues in there will love nothing more than to see you fall flat on your face. Have your facts and figures at your fingertips. Better yet memorise the more salient facts and figures."
Kate nodded her head as she finished her glass of wine. She signalled to Rita to bring another round of drinks to the table.
"The commissioner likes to ask tough questions of his people and so does the Chief of Department. Be assured they'll be asking you some very tough questions."
Kate did not have the heart to tell Gates that she already knew the kind of questions the Commissioner asked. She had been on the receiving end of a few tough questions about a case she had been investigating when she was talking his money at one of Castle's Gotham crew poker nights.
"Right, be prepared." Kate said.
"Don't be intimidated by them." Gates said. "You have every right to be there. You have a record that would put most of them to shame. If you have an opinion don't be afraid to voice it regardless of whether you think senior brass want to hear it or not. You'll find the commissioner values people who put forward their opinions and can back up what they say."
Kate nodded her acknowledgement of that piece of advice.
"What if I want to work cases?" Kate asked. "Work in the field?"
It was something that had been weighing on her mind for a little while, almost from the moment she had knocked back the offer to stand for the state senate and decided on being a captain.
"Every captain will shape the job in their own way. Running the precinct will always take priority, Kate, don't forget that. You'll be in the field from time to time, dealing with major incidents, directing investigations, speaking to the media, that sort of thing. However if you have the time, there's nothing to stop you from investigating a case. Most of the time you'll be overseeing numerous cases. Your people will be reporting to you, keeping you up to date with ongoing cases. Or you will be chasing people for updates on cases.
Kate nodded her head in understanding.
"Another thing. Mr Castle will not be able to follow you around anymore." Gates stated.
Kate let out a small sigh and nodded her head again. She had suspected that would be the case. She and Castle had talked about it not long after she had found out she had passed her Captain's exam.
"I doubt he'd want to sit around and watch me do paperwork all day." She said. "He never has before and I can't see him starting now."
"However, there's nothing to stop you calling him in for consultations."
Kate looked at Gates with some surprise. She saw the small smile on the other woman's face.
"Remember it's your house, Kate." Gates said. "If he can help to maintain the clearance rate, why not use his services?"
"Understood." Kate smiled. She was sure Castle would be very pleased to hear that piece of news.
"I could have killed him when he smashed my Gemini dolls." Gates announced suddenly.
Kate shuddered at the memory. At the time there had been a moment where Kate thought she might have to step in and physically restrain the furious looking Captain from attacking Castle. Probably the only thing that saved him that day was in one of the smashed dolls was a flash drive and a prosthetic eye, the evidence that caught the killer.
"The look on your face..." Kate chuckled.
"Don't remind me." Gates replied, shaking her head. "Still, a week later he was back in my good books."
"What?"
"He sent me a complete collection of Gemini dolls." Gates informed her.
"He did?"
"Yes. Not to mention a very nice and genuinely contrite letter of apology."
"Really?"
"Really."
Castle had never told her that he had done that. Kate remembered Castle at the time felt bad at having destroyed those dolls. It came as no surprise to be told that he had sought out a complete collection and sent it to Gates with no fanfare or publicity. She had come to learn it was something her husband did from time to time. It made her love him that little bit more.
"There is something else I have to tell you." Gates said, her face turning serious. "If some outside unit or commander comes to the precinct wanting one of your people for a last minute undercover operation. Don't agree to it. If your gut tells you it doesn't feel right, don't agree to it."
Kate stilled and stared back at Gates. She knew exactly which case the other woman was talking about. Castle called it In the Belly of the Beast case, the one where she had gone undercover posing as a Russian assassin only to be captured by Vulcan Simmons and tortured.
"Look, Victoria, you gave me the chance to opt out of the operation." Kate pointed out. "You don't have to apologise."
"I should never have put you in that position." Gate said. "It felt wrong the minute Fowler told me about the op. And it still felt wrong when the brass came marching into my office."
"I knew what I was getting into."
"No you didn't." Gates retorted. "And neither did Captain Fowler."
Kate held her tongue.
"That op went south right from the beginning and we both know it."
Kate tried not to shudder at the memory. It had almost cost her her life.
"We did get a little closer to taking Bracken down because of that op." Kate offered a couple of moments later.
"I almost lost my best detective." Gates hissed back. "Don't make the same mistake I did, Kate. Trust your gut."
Kate was taken aback at how angry Gates still was about this case even after all this time. Castle too had been angry after they had found her and she recovered from her ordeal. He had been hell bent in calling his friend the mayor to get Captain Fowler sacked. It had been all Kate could do to stop him.
"Thankfully, Fowler is no longer in a position to stage half-assed undercover ops anymore." Gates added in a low but angry voice.
Kate stared at Gates and saw the look in the woman's eye. She opened her mouth to ask a question but quickly thought better of it. She had heard a couple of months after the case that Captain Fowler had been transferred out of Narcotics and was in some admin job at 1PP. Publicly it was said to be a promotion but the scuttlebutt going around at the time was that he had been demoted for that operation and a couple of others.
Her first thought had been that Castle had something to to do with the transfer but she had never pressed the matter with him. It seemed that Gates may have had something to do with the transfer and not her husband. She figured a former head of Internal Affairs would know a lot of dirty secrets about a lot of people within the department and wielded a lot of power. Kate quickly shook off that line of thought.
"Right, trust your gut." Kate repeated.
"Finally, if you have any questions, any questions at all call me any time."
"Thank you, Victoria, I really appreciate that." Kate smiled. "If I am half as good as you, Victoria, I'll be doing well."
"That's kind of you to say."
Kate finished her glass of wine and set it aside. The food plates had been cleared a little earlier.
"When is your captain's orientation course, Kate?"
"Next week."
"Make sure all your case files are up to date before you hand them over."
"That's what I'm doing at the moment. I'll pass most of them off to Ryan and Esposito."
Gates nodded her approval.
"The rest I'll probably give off to some of the other detectives."
"Have you been told where you're being posted yet?" Gates inquired.
Kate shook her head. "No, not yet." She sighed. "I expect to be filling in here and there until a permanent post comes up. I'll probably end up getting a precinct in Queens or Brooklyn. But I'll be happy with whatever they give me."
Kate had been curious as to which precinct command she would get but it was nothing compared to the eagerness her husband had displayed. There had been a couple of times she had to stop Castle from pestering the Mayor and Commissioner to find out from them what precinct she was getting. He had not been happy about it but managed to curb his curiosity.
Gates smiled as she finished her glass of wine. She slowly set the empty glass back on the table.
"Actually Kate, you wont be filling in at precincts here and there." Gates announced slowly.
"What?"
"I happen to know which precinct you'll be getting."
"You do?" Kate looked surprised. "How?"
"You're not the only one who's been given a promotion, Kate."
"What?"
"I'm moving back to 1PP." Gates informed the other woman. "I've been promoted to Inspector and I'll be heading up a specialist unit within the Counter Terrorism Bureau."
"Wow, congratulations, Victoria." Kate said genuinely happy for the other woman..
"Thank you."
The smile on Kate's suddenly froze.
"Wait a minute, that means there's an opening at the 12th."
"That's right." Gates smiled and nodded.
"You mean..." Kate's voice trailed off as the full implications of what Gates had said finally sank in.
"The Commissioner asked me for a recommendation as to who should fill the post." Gates explained, her smile deepening. "I told him that there was only one person I would recommend for the job. He accepted my recommendation."
"Me?"
"Yes, Kate. You."
"Oh, wow."
"Congratulations, Captain Beckett."
"Thank you, Inspector Gates."
"I will have to ask you to keep this information to yourself, Kate." Gates said. "The Commissioner will be making an announcement in a couple of days. You'll take the reins of the 12th after you come back from leave."
"Can I at least tell Castle?"
"Can he be discrete about it?"
"If he knows what's good for him he will." Kate replied crisply.
Captain Gates reached for her purse signaling the end of lunch. She pulled out her credit card.
"I wouldn't bother, Victoria." Kate announced as she eased out of the booth.
"I said I was paying, Kate."
"I know but they wont take your money here."
"I insist."
Kate saw the frown forming on Gate's face. You could take the girl out of IAD but you couldn't take IAD out of the girl she thought to herself with some amusement.
"Standing policy of the owner of the Old Haunt." Kate explained and shrugged. "Off duty NYPD officers pay half price for drinks and meals are gratis."
The frown on Gates' face deepened.
"That is..."
"Don't worry, Victoria. It's been cleared with the Commissioner." Kate assured her.
"Be that as..."
"It's Castle's way of saying thank you to the NYPD." Kate added.
"I see." Gates replied looking a little mollified. She closed her purse and eased out of the booth. "We'd better get back to the precinct."
As she followed Gates out of the pub Kate found it hard to contain her smile. She was getting command of the 12th Precinct. She had dreamed of getting the 12th but never really believing for a single moment she would actually get it. Castle was right, dreams could come true.
The End