TWO

Rick stepped off the elevator, attempting to follow his partner, only to have her stop abruptly just outside the car. He had to quickly jump to his left to avoid running into the back of her. Before he could ask what was wrong, she whipped around with an uncertain expression on her face. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"One thousand percent," he replied instantly. "Are you sure you're okay with me doing this?"

She nodded, though it was obvious her agreement was less confident than his. As a way to ease her anxiety, Rick reached out and gave her shoulder a squeeze while smiling at her. She smiled back feebly and then continued to lead the way down the hall.

In front of a door labeled 312, Kate stopped and pulled a key ring from her pocket. She unlocked the door, stepped inside, and then held the door open for him to do the same. Only once Rick had shut the door did she call out, "Dad? I, um, brought a friend for dinner."

"A friend?"

Rick looked to his right to see a man of small stature approaching from what appeared to be the main sitting room of the apartment. He was several inches shorter than Rick with narrow shoulders. He had salt-and-pepper hair and wore a curious expression that, at least upon first glance, Rick did not think looked at all like his daughter's.

"Actually, he's my partner. This is Rick Rodgers. Rick, my father Jim."

Rick held out his hand to the elder man, saying, "Pleasure to meet you sir."

Kate's father shook his hand cautiously. "Ah, yes. Same. I've heard a lot about you." He then looked over to his daughter with a questioning expression.

She glanced up at Rick nervously before confessing. "He, um, he knows, Dad."

With an impeccable poker face, the elder Beckett responded with, "Knows what?"

"Everything," she said with notable emphasis. Her father's eyes widened and he glanced between the two detectives in quick succession.

"All secrets are safe with me, I assure you," Rick added pleasantly.

The trio stood in silence for several seconds before Kate cleared her throat and quickly said, "I'll start dinner." She glanced nervously at Rick, who smiled reassuringly, so she nodded and then walked through a doorway straight ahead, which Rick assumed lead to the kitchen.

Once she was gone, Rick turned towards her father. "I hope this surprise isn't too much of an inconvenience, but Kate finally agreed to have dinner with me. I've been a bit insistent, you see."

His expression beginning to relax into one of curiosity than surprise, Jim asked, "So…how long have you known?"

"About two weeks. It came up during our weekend away at training. I'm glad she told me. I'm looking forward to getting to know the real her."

Though he was well aware of how much time had passed, Rick could hardly believe it had only been two weeks; it felt like months. He attributed this mostly to the fact that the knowledge that Beckett was female seemed to mostly explain unusual or peculiar things about her that Rick had noticed for the duration of their partnership. For instance, he now had a very obvious answer for why Beckett never showered with them and preferred the individual toilet stalls not the urinals. He also understood why Beckett never seemed to have even the slightest hint of facial hair or any other excessive body hair of any kind. It seemed every mannerism of Beckett's he picked up on, though he'd seen them many times in the past, made so much more sense with this new information.

Insofar as their partnership, their first week back after their weekend away had been a busy one, leaving them little time to socialize. When they did go out with a group for drinks at the end of a shift, he found it nearly impossible to get Beckett alone enough to have a conversation that would not have been overheard by others. Eventually they were able to grab lunch and eat together alone on a park bench, and at that point Rick began to request for them to spend time alone together outside of work where they could really talk. She had jokingly said, "You want to come and have dinner with my dad or something?" to which he responded that yes, he absolutely did want to do that. She'd been initially resistant, but several days of bringing it up over and over again had finally worn her down.

Rick wasn't sure what she was so nervous about. Absolutely nothing about a shared meal could shock him more than the bombshell of her true gender. He was actually quite thrilled at the prospect. Of course, he might have been slightly happier if the meal was just the two of them, so he could ask all the questions he'd been dying to ask, but eating with her father would be a fascinating opportunity in its own right, so he wasn't disappointed.

"Hmm…you and Katie have been partners for a few years, right?"

"Just about a year and a half."

"And how long have you been on the force?"

"Coming up on ten years."

"You're older than Katie," he said factually.

"By a few years, yes."

Before either of them could say another word, Kate poked her head out of the kitchen and said, "Why don't you both come and have a seat in here? It makes me nervous when I can't hear when you're talking about."

Jim chuckled. "Afraid I'll embarrass you, Katie?"

"Very much so."

Rick laughed at her confident answer.

"Well, I was just thinking about showing Rick some photos of your childhood."

Despite having just met the man, Rick could tell he was joking, so he decided to play along. "Oh yes, please! I'd love to see them."

"Rodgers," Kate growled, but Rick was unfazed.

"Don't worry, Beckett; I'm sure you were an adorable child."

Kate made a sound somewhere between a whimper and a groan, which amused Rick endlessly. To put her out of her misery, he made his way into the kitchen with her dad close behind, curious to see how the rest of the evening would play out.


"So, um, this is my room."

Rick eagerly stepped into the small bedroom just down the hall from the kitchen and swept his gaze over the walls, which were completely plastered with posters, photographs, and other memorabilia. "Wow. This is excellent!" he proclaimed, flashing a grin to his companion. "A Beckett time capsule!"

"Something like that," she agreed with demure smile.

Rick stepped all the way into the bedroom and shut the door behind him if for no other reason than to give them a bit more space since describing the room as cramped would have been an understatement. Shoved into the corner was a single bed and in the opposite corner a desk with hardly enough room to pull out the chair before it hit the nightstand. The remaining corner of the room had a worn wing-back chair with faded blue cloth and just beside that was a bookcase absolutely overflowing with novels.

After perusing the bookcase, Rick looked at each of the posters in turn, finding a solid mix of those representing her interest from both her younger years and teens. Most of the pictures and cut-outs were of young male actors and singers, which didn't cause him any wonder at that moment, but if he had still known the person beside him as James Beckett might have resulted in a raised eyebrow or two.

Unable to suppress his curiosity, he asked, "What did your friends think of your decorations?"

A mirthless laugh escaped her lips. "What friends?"

Rick's brow knitted together, and he asked with concern, "You didn't have friends?"

Kate shrugged a little and scrubbed her toes against the rug just beside her bed. "I had a few in school, I guess, but I never had anyone over to see my room. It was…" She let out a heavy breath and sat down on her bed. Rick drifted over towards her desk and pulled out the chair for him to sit while she explained her younger years.

"My parents were always open with me; they always told me that I was different. When I was much younger the narrative was that I was a boy, just more unique than all the other boys in my class. I was eight when my mother told me the truth. It was…" She chewed on her bottom lip several seconds before answering. "I struggled. I wanted to rebel, even more so since I couldn't – it would have been too dangerous for all of us. So, I was just left with all this internal turmoil—not sure how to feel or how to act.

"When I was ten, I asked to be called Kate at home. I got my first doll. My mother made me a dress to wear. Here. Only here." She gazed around the room with a rather sad expression and Rick couldn't help but wonder how much these four walls might have felt as much like a prison as they were a safe haven.

"I struggled a lot, especially with puberty. I had to pretend my voice was getting deeper while having no one to talk about all the changes I was going through."

"I can't imagine. You really are incredible, you know." He told her with confidence.

A light blush crept into her cheeks, and she shook her head. "Oh…I don't know about that."

Unable to resist, Rick moved to sit beside her on the bed so he could put his hand atop hers, which rested on her knee. "Trust me. You are. You definitely are."

She met his gaze, smiling softly, and Rick felt his heart stutter in his chest. In that moment, he was sure he'd never seen anyone as beautiful as her in his entire life. From her honey-brown eyes to the pink fullness of her lips to the whisps of brown hair that curled slightly at her temples. She was beautiful, incredible, and unlike anyone he'd ever known.

He suddenly felt as though everything in his life had been building to that exact moment. All the struggles he'd had before deciding on his career in the NYPD. All the turmoil and tension that came from living in a land populated by men frustrated with the world around them. The eighteen months he had getting to know Beckett as a partner, and the two weeks that had shown him how incredible she truly ones. Everything, all of it, had led him to that moment and he was grateful for it, but at the same time more than ready to take a flying leap into more.

"Kate?" he began softly.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever kissed anyone?"

Her gaze flashed with surprised and, clearly flustered, she looked away from him for several moments. When she looked back, the blush in her cheeks had intensified. "Um…once."

"How was it?"

"Um." Her voice cracked a little and she brought her left hand up to scrub across the back of her neck. "Not great, I guess."

Chuckling, he agreed. "Same."

Her eyes widened with pure shock. "You kissed another man?"

He gave a little shrug, as he didn't have very strong feelings regarding the event that had happened nearly two decades prior. "I was sixteen and a group of us were hanging out. Someone had brought a really horrendous bottle of cheap liquor, so we were all definitely a little tipsy. One of the guys brought up kissing and we all just somehow agreed to play a game where we threw our names in a hat and we went around the room and whoever's name you drew, you kissed them."

"So, who'd you kiss?"

"His name was Jake; we'd played on the school's basketball team together back in middle school. And, I dunno," he shrugged. "It wasn't something I wanted to repeat; it was kinda weird."

"That's what the guy who kissed me said—that it was weird," she said before dipping her gaze towards her lap.

Rick squeezed her hand and she looked up to him; he smiled at her. "I promise I'm not going to think this is weird."

"Oh…"

She said nothing else, and remained looking a little uncertain, but Rick assumed she was simply nervous, so he tentatively leaned forward. He waited until he sensed her leaning into him and then closed the distance between them and pressed his lips softly against hers. Their first kiss was quite brief—barely more than a peck—but he didn't want to force her into something she felt uncomfortable with. He cracked open one eye and saw that hers remained closed, so he hovered close to her for several seconds, wondering if he should kiss her again, but then he felt her fingertips curl around his and took that as a positive sign.

A moment later, with his lips back on Kate's, Rick was certain he was having an out of body experience. His first and only kiss had been so horrible and awkward; he was certain that even given a more appealing opportunity he'd never be able to kiss right (whatever that meant), but this—this—was more than right. It was perfect—beyond even. Somehow, he just knew how much pressure was needed and at what moment he should cradle her neck with his hands. When, after a minute, she let out a soft mew of approval he felt a surge of pleasure travel the length of his spine, shooting sparks into both his heart and groin.

"Oh Kate…" His enthusiasm was so great that his sigh ended up sounding a bit like a laugh. As such, Kate pulled back with a concerned expression on her face.

"You're laughing."

"No, no—I mean, yes, but with…joy? Relief? This just feels so much better than I thought anything could."

Relief flooded her face and she let out a breathy, "Oh."

As her smile only made him want to kiss her more, he did exactly that, leaning back in and cradling her face with both hands that time. Within just a few minutes, they had reclined back against her mattress as they kissed with his hands caressing her neck and shoulders and hers around his waist. When she skimmed her fingertips up his spine, he shivered, let out a breathy groan and nuzzled his nose against hers.

"This is ridiculously good."

"Yeah?" she asked curiously.

He opened his eyes and gazed at her curiously. "You don't think so?"

"I…think I'm just in shocked that we're doing this. I never thought I'd…I never thought I'd kiss anyone like this. Let alone you," she added, her disbelief clear.

"But you wanted to, right?"

The corners of her lips turned up into a shy smile and she nodded her head. As he'd thought of her as a man until recently, Rick couldn't say that he'd had any desire to kiss her until a few days prior when he'd been watching an old movie on television and seen two characters kiss. That had been the first time his brain had asked, "What would it be like to kiss Beckett?" the thought had surprised him, as he hadn't felt many emotions towards her in the prior few days, mostly because he was trying to get over the shock and also trying to figure out how he hadn't picked up on any feminine parts of her in the past. The more he thought about kissing her, the more intrigued he was by the idea, but he also knew that what she needed most was a friend willing to accept and understand her true self and, possibly even more importantly, someone she could trust with her secret. He was unquestionably that person and would continue to prove that too her, but that didn't mean they couldn't also kiss—particularly since they both wanted to.

With that thought in his mind, Rick leaned in to kiss her again, that time using his hands at her waist to tilt her body towards his. Her lips parted and he found himself using the tip of his tongue to gently touch her bottom lip. He'd never kissed like that before, and suspected she hadn't either, but when he felt her reciprocate, he decided to try again. After a few awkward seconds, somehow instinct took over him and he knew exactly how to kiss her that way, even if their teeth did still bump together a few times accidentally.

As they kissed, Kate's hand continued to caress his back, at one point coming in contact with the bare skin just below his hip where his shirt had evidently become untucked from his pants. The contact of her skin against his lit a fire inside of him Rick was certain he'd never felt before. He groaned into her mouth and pulled her closer so that their chests were pushed flushed together. At the contact, she gasped, and leaned away from him appearing rather startled.

"What is it?" he asked, concerned.

"We, uh, we should stop doing this."

She moved to sit up, but he placed his hand heavy on her hip to keep her in position. "What do you mean? I never want to stop doing this."

Her eyes widened for a moment but then she turned her head carefully towards her bedroom door. "My father is out there," she told him in a stage whisper.

"So?" he responded. "You're twenty-eight."

"I know but…I dunno, I just feel a little self-conscious. I'm sorry."

He sat up, pulling her lip along with him, and found her hand so he could give it a squeeze. "Don't apologize. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable while we're kissing. How about…how about the next time we have dinner it's at my place."

She skimmed her teeth across her bottom lip. "I don't know…I'm just not sure I'd be able to relax fully if you're roommate was there. I don't know him, do I?"

He blinked at her. "I don't have a roommate."

Her brow arched abruptly. "Really?"

"Have you ever heard me talk about one?"

"Well…I guess not, but everyone has a roommate…right?"

He gave a little shrug. "Not me." The curiosity on her face persisted and he understood why; it was quite uncommon for a man of his age not to have a roommate or two, though far from unheard of. Squeezing her hand again, he said, "Maybe if you come and have dinner with me, you'll see why. It's nothing too weird, I promise."

"Okay."

"Okay," he echoed. Then with a grin he added, "It's a date."


A/N - thank you all for reading & reviewing!