Becks Takes A Vacation

Set after the series, a story featuring Rebecca "Becks" Beckett being caught up in an adventure after meeting renowned journalist Sue Thomas while on a much needed vacation.

All Standard Disclaimers Apply

A/N: I found that I liked 'Becks' Beckett because of her 'less' jaded attitudes from not having to undergo some of the trials and tribulations that the canon Kate Beckett has had to endure. Now she gets to experience trials and tribulations that will be new and hers alone.

Even though the story is complete, I'm going to start out with a every other day posting schedule so as not to burn through it too quickly.

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CHAPTER ONE

Rebecca 'Becks' Beckett was finishing the last of the paperwork left from the case she'd just wrapped up. It had been a case where a big insurance company had hired her to track down some significant irregularities in recent payouts for claims. An insider was suspected but the people at the top didn't have a clue as to who could be behind the fraud.

Metropolitan Federal Insurance had uncovered an alarming trend in payouts over their last two quarters that went against all normal statistical forecasts for that time period. A forensic audit was only able to suggest that there had been fraudulent claims against the company. They weren't able to pin point where the fraud was being implemented and who was profiting from it. So they called in Richard Castle Investigations to do some undercover investigating.

So Becks went in as a new hire in the secretary pool. The manager of the pool, upon orders from the top, was able to shift Becks around so she could gather information and get an idea where the problems might be coming from. It took her three weeks to narrow her suspicions to a couple of vice presidents.

As it turned out, one was just incompetent and his miss-managing was costing the company money. But the other one was quite different.

Becks was able to find connections that led her to expose an illicit partnership this vice president had with a local faction of organized crime. Apparently, that particular 'family' was in the business of buying low end properties which they would then insure them for several times their actual value. Then shortly afterwards there would be a fire, or a flood, or any number of catastrophic losses that had to be paid out.

The particular VP had a 'special assessor' that he sent out to verify the valuation of the properties. Once the loss had been paid, the VP and his accomplice were paid a nice percentage of the total loss payout.

Once Becks had got onto their schemes, she was able to set up a sting with the NYPD's Organized Crime Unit. It was a well thought out plan and went off without a hitch. Met Federal was pleased with her performance and she walked away with another win for RCI.

She'd been the lone investigator the last couple of months. Ever since Hayley had officially quit and left to go back to Brittan it was just her and Joanne. Joanne was the office manager that Hayley had hired once she had taken over a couple years ago.

Becks leaned back in the fine leather desk chair that Castle had gotten back when he opened the PI office to continue investigating when he'd gotten thrown out of the precinct for a short while.

In the short time she'd been employed by RCI she'd worked several interesting cases. It wasn't like going out and catching murderers. But it was challenging. She still got to use her brain to solve whatever she was trying solve, but the physical danger she found herself entangled in was a bit less, and she seldom found herself needing to 'dumpster dive' for clues.

Also, she made much better money working for Castle than she ever would as a NYPD detective. She got a percentage of the fee they earned and she was salaried. Her salary alone put her near a captain's salary, and with her bonus percentages she did more than alright for herself.

RCI was more into high end corporate cases. Not much of a Sam Spade type private eye situation. She generally wore business suits and Burberry rather than ratty trench coats. Though she did think she would look hot in a fedora.

She glanced at her phone and noticed that she'd better get going. She was due at the loft for dinner in a little less than an hour, and she wanted to change into something more comfortable before getting there.

She got out of her chair and moved out into the lobby and stopped at Joanne's desk.

"Well, I'm leaving. Don't stay too long. You've got a couple of weeks of blissful solitude to get caught up with any work you might have to finish." Becks smirked. "Though, knowing you, you're probably ahead with everything except this last case."

Joanne smiled. "That shouldn't take long. Have you decided what you are going to do?"

Becks shook her head. "Not really. I know I want to get away to someplace I've never been before. I want to get out of New York for a while."

Joanne smirked back. "It sounds like fun. You going somewhere with Alex?"

"No, he's one a tour right now." Becks stared out the window. "We sort of decided to cool things down for a while. I don't think either of us are ready to make any sort of commitment. He's fun, and he's cute."

"He sure is!" Joanne blushed after her outbreak.

Becks grinned. "Any way, I'm not looking for anything permanent right now."

"I would think seeing what Mr. and Mrs. Castle have all the time, you'd be thinking along those lines more often."

Becks bit her lower lip. "You have to admit. There aren't a lot of Rick Castles around and it seems that my older… cousin, has got the only one tied up."

Joanne allowed herself a dreamy look. "Yeah, too bad Ms. Rogers didn't have twins, or triplets."

That got Becks. She laughed out loud for several seconds. "Believe me, there's a down side to Castle also."

Joanne's brow rose. Becks waved her hand. "Okay, not too far down."

They both laughed.

"Okay, you've got my cell number so you can call me if there is some emergency, but otherwise I'm out of touch. If it's a potential client tell them I'm not available for two weeks. If their problem can't wait, refer them to Alias Investigations."

"Isn't that Jessica Jones' agency?"

Becks nodded. "Yeah, she has one less employee than we do. She's a one woman shop, but you don't ever want to get on her bad side. She's reputed to be a pretty tough lady.'

Becks glanced up at the clock on the wall over Joanne's desk.

"Shit, I've got to get going, I'm going to be late for dinner." Becks did a quick inventory to make sure she had everything. "Okay, if things get slow, just take the time off. Rick can afford it."

Joanne just rolled her eyes. She shooed Becks away with a wave of her hand. "You get going. Say high to Rick and Kate for me and be sure to have a good time on your trip… wherever you decide to go."

Becks smiled. "I will, take care." She turned and almost sprinted out the door to the elevator.

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Becks was approaching the door to Castle's loft. She was supposed to be there a half an hour ago, but she was running late. She almost just skipped going to her apartment to shower and change clothes since she'd spent the entire day at the office finishing the paper work on the Met Federal case. But she changed her mind. She knew it was going to be just them so she wanted to be comfortable. She hadn't seen either Rick, her boss, or Kate, her 'cousin' in over two weeks. She was looking forward to seeing them.

She was proud of how well she had been adjusting to living in a world that was ten years more advanced than where she had come from. Everything seemed to be better, faster, and more powerful than she had been used to. But still, they were familiar to her, just more advanced than she remembered. So it hadn't taken her much time to accommodate herself to 2019 as opposed to 2009, the year she had come from.

Occasionally she was surprised by some new technology that confounded her briefly, but it never took long for her to adjust and familiarize herself to whatever it was. The advancement of cell phones had astounded her, but she quickly availed herself of the amazing advancements.

The advancement and prevalence of social media bothered her. It seems there was no longer any concern about courtesy, privacy, or decency in this new over shared world of social media. It made her sad that it had gotten so far out of hand.

Of course, being a private investigator, it came in handy many times while trying to track down some information about a client, or person of interest on a case. Double edged swords.

Becks stood in front of the door to the loft and gave it a couple of solid raps. She had been given a key to the loft, but had decided that she would never use it unless it was an emergency. Just because she was a former Kate Beckett didn't give her the right to come and go as she pleased in their home. She had called and warned him so Castle knew that she would be a bit late.

The door opened and she was greeted by the smiling face of Richard Castle.

"Hey Becks, glad you were able to make it. Tough day?"

She stepped into the familiar loft as Castle backed away to let her in. She pulled off her jacket and handed it to Rick who was waiting for it so he could put it in the hall closet.

"Finished a case, so today was a paperwork day." She sighed. "Doesn't matter what you do, or where you work, paperwork always sucks."

Castle laughed. "Come on in. Kate is still in the bedroom or bathroom fretting over her new haircut."

Becks glanced toward the bedroom. "So, she finally decided it was time."

Rick smiled as he nodded. "Yeah, she's officially off work now so she decided to visit her stylist and get chopped."

Becks grinned, as she remembered Kate's declaration that she would chop off her long hair before the baby was born so as not to have to deal with little grabby hands pulling on her long locks.

"So, when is she due?"

"Not for a few weeks yet, but I guess first kids are more unpredictable, and with her medical history the doctor wants her on extra bed rest before delivery." Castle had a big smile on his face.

"Why don't I go and see if I can coax Kate out of the bedroom." She gave Castle a wink. He just chuckled.

Becks strode confidently through Rick's office and through the doorway that led to the master bedroom. It was empty but she noticed that light leaked out around the partially closed door to the en suite bathroom.

Becks pushed on the door as she called out. "Hey, Kate, I'm coming in."

"Oh my." Becks couldn't help herself when she walked in and saw Kate staring at herself in the large mirror. She had a comb in one hand and a brush in the other. She had an annoyed look on her face.

Kate huffed. "It won't do what I want it to do!" She exclaimed.

Becks had to hide her grin. "Well, I'd say it's doing all that it can do." She came closer. "It's cute, but it's a lot shorter than I thought you'd go."

Becks took in the somewhat boyish looking haircut. It was a short layered cap of dark brown that covered about half of her ear on the side and ended at the base of her skull in the back. Her neck was completely exposed. A quick image of Rick taking advantage of that access came to mind. She quickly shook off that image.

Kate frowned. "Yeah, it is." She turned to her 'cousin'. "Does it look terrible?"

Becks shook her head. "No, I think it looks cute. It's a bit of a shock because of the extremeness of the change from mid-back to an almost pixie length."

Kate nodded. "Yeah, and it was all my fault too."

Becks looked confused. "Fault? What do you mean, fault? Isn't this what you were going for?"

Kate shrugged. "Well, close." She gave herself a quick look back, then turned back to Becks. "I'd had a rough day, because I wanted to get everything done because I was going to be starting my maternity leave. So I was bushed when I got to Greg's shop."

Becks walked over and leaned against the bathroom countertop. She watched Kate's face as she related her story.

"So I sat in the chair and Greg asked what I was looking to do. I gave him my baby hands speech and I felt confident when he nodded his understanding." Kate reached up and ran her hand through her short locks and watched them fall right back into place.

"Anyway, I told him to start at the shoulders and then keep cutting a little at a time until I told him to stop."

Beck raised her brow. "And…?"

Kate rolled her eyes at herself. "I dozed off. By the time Greg realized I wasn't providing any guidance anymore we had reached this length."

Becks couldn't help but laugh, to which Kate glared at her.

Becks waved her hand. "You're lucky he stopped when he did. It looks good right now, it's cute and works just fine with the shape of your head. But I don't know how much shorter you could go and still be happy with it."

"I'm not happy with it now!" Kate frowned at her image in the mirror.

Becks frowned. "Really, I think it looks good on you."

Kate sighed. "Yes, I think it looks good on me too. You're right it is cute, but, I can't do anything else with it. For the foreseeable future I will be sporting this one hairstyle. There's practically nothing else I can do if I want to change it up for some reason."

Becks nodded. "Yeah, I can see that. About all you could do is slick it back and use some gaudy earrings and fancy pins and such."

Kate rolled her eyes again. "Yeah, like that's really me."

Becks couldn't help but laugh at Kate glares. "I wouldn't worry too much about that Kate. Heaven knows I'm no expert, but it seems to me that for the next few months, at least, you are not going to exactly be a social butterfly. About the only time you'll be leaving this place it to buy supplies and take the baby for a walk in its stroller."

A look of concentration came over Kate's face as what Becks said wormed its way into her mind.

She sighed. "I guess you're right." She glanced at herself in the mirror again. "So, you think it looks okay?"

Becks chuckled. "I think it looks great, but I'm more curious about how Rick is going to react to that long sexy neck he now has full access to."

Kate blushed, then winked at Becks. "Me too."

Becks laughed. "I'll let you finish getting dressed. I'll see you when you're done."

Becks turned and went back out the way she came in.

Becks was sitting at the island counter watching Rick finish the final preparations for dinner. He was plating the stroganoff and Becks got up and helped getting the veggies to the table and the bottle of sparkling water for Kate, and the wine for Rick and her.

She knew that Rick seldom drank anything alcoholic when it was just them, but he did imbibe some when they had company. Becks whenever she was over made sure she held back on her drinking just because it was polite. She knew Kate didn't care, but she took her cue from Rick.

"Kate, are you about ready? We're ready to eat."

"I'm coming."

Kate came walking out and met Castle half way with a fierce kiss on the lips. Becks had to smile. These two people, one of whom was an older parallel dimensional version of herself, were so in love it was almost embarrassing to watch them together.

A slight pain flashed through her chest when she thought back to her original home world and the Richard Castle there that she never got the chance to really get to know. Of all the things she would find herself thinking about the world that was torn from her, it was Rick Castle.

She took a sip of her wine as she watched the size of Kate's smile as she talked with her husband. They'd known each other for a little more than ten years and they survived anything and everything a couple could possibly have thrown at them, but they came out the other side stronger than ever.

Becks wasn't a spiritual person, nor did she believe in existential stuff like 'love in first sight' or 'soulmates', but when one was presented with their story… maybe?

Castle turned to Becks. "I heard from Alex that he was going on a long country wide book tour."

Becks nodded. "Yeah, he left about a week ago."

"So, on this vacation you are planning, do you intend to join up with him somewhere along the way?" Kate added.

Becks shook her head. "No, I haven't decided where I'm going to go yet." She took a sip of her wine. "As far as Alex goes. We've decided to take a break from each other."

Castle smiled to himself while Kate gave him a dirty look then turned toward Becks. "Any particular reason?"

Becks shrugged. "He was nice, and cute. We had fun together, but I didn't see any growth toward an 'us' in the relationship."

Castle frowned. "We're you looking for something like that?"

Becks chuckled. "Well, if I were still back home, no I wouldn't be looking for more than some fun now and then. But getting to know you two has kind of jaded me toward pointless flings."

Kate leaned back in her chair. "Are you saying that you are looking for something that could lead to a more permanent relationship? You're still young enough to just enjoy your life and loves."

Becks stared back at Kate. "And you don't ever regret the time that you missed that could have been spent with Rick earlier?"

Kate furrowed her forehead. "I do and I don't." They both laughed. "I do wish there hadn't been so many mistakes made that kept us apart as long as they did, but I also think that we had those 'delays' because we needed them to be able to realize what it was that we both needed. And that was…each other."

Becks raised her brow. "You realize you just told me that you needed to stay apart so you would realize that you should be together."

"Exactly!" They both laughed. Castle just shook his head as he got up from his chair to get the desert that he had ready.

In a couple of minutes Castle had bowls of the homemade ice cream he'd made earlier.

"This looks delicious. What flavor compilation has your mad ice cream science come up with this time?" Becks poked the creamy delight with her spoon.

"It's called Castle's Berry Berry Good." He grinned. "It's a mixture of Strawberry, Raspberry, and Blackberry swirled in a vanilla base with cherry bits."

Becks nodded. "I see. It's a diet dessert then." They all laughed.

"Who wants whipped cream?" Of course everyone did.

After the not so low calorie dessert, and once the table was cleared they all removed themselves to the living room. Rick and Kate plopped onto the sofa, and Becks took the large overstuffed chair opposite.

"So, you're planning to be gone for two weeks and you don't know where you want to go?"

Becks shrugged. "I just want to get away. Go someplace I've never been. See some nice scenery. Just relax."

Kate nodded. "Well, we are getting into the fall colors, perhaps you should go up to Vermont, or up the coast. See all the beautiful colors."

Becks nodded. "That might be nice, but I've been up that way before. I'm looking for something a little more rugged, less crowded. I need to be able to just veg out and think about what I'm doing and what I want to do."

Kate looked at the younger version of herself. "Are you unhappy with the life you have here?"

Becks chewed her bottom lip. "Not unhappy, no. I'm thrilled that after being thrust into a world that wasn't mine, that I managed to end up in such a good situation. I have a family again, and a few people I can call friends." She held back a tear. "Your father has been so good to me. Sometimes I just close my eyes and think that he's my father come back to me."

Rick nodded. Kate wiped her eye. "You know he's thrilled to have a younger daughter again."

Becks nodded. "I look at this as a do over of sorts. I don't have to bury myself in years of a frustrating search for my mother's killer. That's already been taken care of. I liked being a detective, but I have to admit that I'm not as driven as I once was. I enjoy what I'm doing now at RCI, but it might be more fun if we brought on another investigator?"

Rick nodded with a smirk on his face. "I see. Maybe a young man in his mid-thirties. A strapping lad, handsome, intelligent and devoted to his senior agent."

"Amazing how alike we think, boss." Becks giggled.

"Minnesota!" Kate suddenly shouted.

"What?" Both Becks and Castle chorused.

Kate blushed. "I was just thinking of where you might go." She squinted like she was trying to remember something. "We had to do a paper back in junior high school about out of the way vacation spots. I threw a dart at a map and it landed in Northern Minnesota."

"Isn't that supposed to be the 'Land of 10,000 Lakes'?" Becks tossed out.

Castle joined in. "Actually, they have over 17,000 lakes in Minnesota."

Kate got a bit excited. "Yes they do, but I'm talking about up along the north shore along Lake Superior, and then inland in the Arrowhead, and northern Minnesota. You have several state parks, The Superior National Forest, and dozens of fast flowing rivers with multiple falls and rapids. You have hiking trails all over the place, and the boundary waters, where no powered boat is allowed." Kate took a breath. "And the cool part would be in the fall there would be spectacular colors, and you might wander into a moose, or wolf on your meanderings. Or a black bear. I guess in some places the bears can become a menace because so many tourists feed them."

Becks jerked in her chair. "Who would be stupid enough to feed a bear?"

Both Castles shrugged.

Becks stifled a yawn as she stood up. "Well this girl needs to get home a get to bed. I'll give this Minnesota trip a thought."

She went over and hugged both Rick and Kate, then went to the closet to get her coat.

Once she had her coat on, both Kate and Rick joined her at the door. She smiled at both of them.

"I can never thank you two enough for giving me back a life when mine was torn from me."

Rick smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "We're just happy that you are part of our family. Let us know when you decide where you're going to vacation so I know what sort of post cards I can expect."

Becks laughed. "Thanks, I will."

She left and walked toward the elevator. "Minnesota? Hmm."

A/N: And away we go! No I don't work for the Minnesota Tourism Department, but I am looking forward to going up along the North Shore in April to see the sights with a couple of buddies. They've had about 200 inches of snow up north from this winter and the rivers should be really flowing and the rapids and falls should be spectacular. I can't wait.

All Readers are Appreciated, Review if you wish.