A/N- ever since that episode in season four where Gates is talking about her father being a cop I wanted to write a Gates central story. Because I finally caved in and did not go spoiler free for S5E3, I have enough material to write something... keeping this in mind, this contains spoilers from season 4, season 5, and episode 3 promos.

Also, this isn't new, just edited because I gave it a read and, although I write these at a godforsaken hour when I have nightmares, it was below my usually low standards for myself. :)

Beshert, a yiddish term meaning "meant to be" used when things are meant to be i.e. It was beshert that I ran in to you today, I finally found that spoon you leant me three years ago." Or to describe your soul mate i.e. Castle is Beckett's beshert.

She sat on the corner of her bed on the soft pink comforter and ran her fingers over the perfectly embroidered ballet slippers that dotted it. Even through her closed door she could hear her mother and father fighting. They had been fighting pretty consistently for the past few months, well at least when her dad was home, which was becoming increasingly less often. In any case, from what she could gather and comprehend in her seven year old mind, that itself was the problem.

"Rodger, you're never home anymore! I know what you're doing is important, but I can't raise three children on my own! When I said my vows, I was signing up for a life together, with you. Not a life by myself waiting for you to come home each night!"

"You think it's not hard for me too? Walking around the streets of New York City, picking up other people's kids when they get too drunk? You don't think I'd rather be at home playing hockey with Brian, helping Vicky with her homework, reading bed time stories to Abbey and eating dinner with you? I would much rather be here, but I go out every night to keep the city I love safe for the family I love... Dammit Rita, are you crying. Please, it's hard enough as it is... can you please pull it together and be strong, if not for me, for the kids!."

"Oh you want me to do something for the kids. Come on Rodger don't you dare play that card on me..."

Her mother's voice trailed off around the corner, following the slamming of her parent's bedroom door. All Vicky wanted to do was cry. But she heard what her father said: crying wasn't strong. Crying wasn't helping anybody. And despite the fact that she was only seven, Vicky was determined to make her father proud. She understood why he was doing what he was doing. She listened to the stories he told her at night about the bad guys he caught (the kid friendly version) and all she could think about as she would drift off to sleep is how each time her daddy threw one more bad guy into jail, there was one less bad guy out there to snatch her up. She knew it, she knew he loved her, she knew he loved his family... if only she could make her mother understand...

Vicky looked across her room. In the corner in between her dresser and her door she spotted two dolls that she had received for Christmas lying haphazardly across a pile of dirty clothes. She made her way over to them and picked them up. After a quick inspection, she decided to bring them over to her bed. Vicky had never been much of a doll girl, she would rather do what little homework she had and read stories, but as she tried to hold back her tears, she decided maybe these dolls weren't so bad. If she imagined real hard, the Ken doll kind of looked like her daddy, and the plush beanie baby sort of resembled her mother... maybe now she could get her mom to understand!

By the time she was 16, many things about Victoria Gates changed. For starters, she ditched "Vicky" by grade three... it was too childish, too weak for her liking, and her previous apathy towards dolls disappeared faster than her nickname. The day after her sixteenth birthday, Victoria had over 100 dolls. Some mint condition, some well loved, some collectors items, and some that just had sentimental value.

Playing with dolls had become and escape for her when she was younger, and when she outgrew that, and once it became social unacceptable for her to play with dolls, they continued to be her method of escaping reality and she became and avid collector.

Victoria Gates built a name for herself working in Internal Affairs, a field of police work that she loved because it looked out for, and regulated, cops like her father, and like her uncles. Despite her passion for the field, and the fact that she was very good at her job, she jumped at the opportunity to captain the 12th precinct. Partially because of the prestige the promotion would bring, partially because she had seen Detective Kate Beckett's name pop up on a couple of reports and she wanted an opportunity to work a little more closely with the youngest female detective in the NYPD (who also happened to be the most troublesome detective in the NYPD), and partially because of some instinct. Victoria wanted to change the outcome of life's events for the better, she had this strong desire to make people's lives better and after Beckett's shooting, she saw an opportunity to do just that for the woman. It would be like playing with her dolls, but she would actually make a difference. Unlike when her parents divorced...

Captain Gates never liked Castle and, despite the fact that he was good for Kate, she did NOT want him in her precinct. He messed things up, he made things dangerous, and he went against protocol. Three things she could not stand. But when she saw him holding that doll... and when he gave it to her she felt this unbridled joy. Not only was her collection complete, but something in her life felt complete too. It almost felt like a sign from heaven that she did what she was meant to do. That she helped write a better story for Kate Beckett, and probably others. It finally felt like her becoming captain of this precinct was meant to be. Beshert.

A/N thanks for reading, let me know what you think.. just keep in mind this is unedited as I have a math test I should be studying for... I better do that now (oh and RosalineC... you might want to get on that too... :P)