When Kate arrived at the gym the next morning, Rachel and Matt were already there warming up. Since she had already completed her morning run along the Potomac, Beckett quickly changed into her work out clothes and wrapped her hands for the punching bag.

Matt let out a wolf whistle, when she returned from the locker room. "Well, Nikki, you certainly live up to your last name."

Kate just rolled her eyes and walked right past him.

"Ignore him." Rachel sent her colleague a dirty look. "You know there's a fine line between rookie hazing and sexual harassment. Try not to make her file a complaint against you by the end of her first week, ok?"

"Killjoy," Matt grumbled and nodded at his partner to take up her position on the mat.

Beckett checked her tapes, before she let her right fist connect with the sandbag. She was determined not to show how much the Nikki Heat teasing was actually grating on her nerves, so hitting the bag was a very welcome outlet for her frustrations. She could hear Rachel and Matt engage in a sparring session behind her back, while she buried her fists into the punching bag again and again.

A few minutes later, McCord called her over, "How about replacing your punching bag with a moving target?" She grinned and pointed her thumb over her shoulder at Hendricks.

Kate nodded and checked her wraps.

"Alright, Nikki, show us what you've got." Matt grinned at her and went into a defensive position. Beckett danced a little around the cocky senior agent, studying his moves and body postures. Then she feigned an attack on his left but actually kicked her right leg behind the hollow of his knees, and effectively swiped his legs from under him.

Matt wheezed and looked at their newest agent shocked. Rachel's face appeared in his vision, blocking his view of Beckett, as his colleague grinned at him. "Told ya, she could take you down blindfolded. Pay up!"

"I'm not done with her yet." Matt sprung back into action and shoved McCord out of his way. "Alright, Nikki, it's on."

Beckett blocked his attacks as best as she could, hissing in between, "You. Know. That. Nikki. Heat. Is. A. Fictional. Character. Don't. You?"

"Wouldn't know from they way Rookie is crushing on you." Matt grinned back, and, finding Kate's weak spot in her defense, managed a hit and brought her down on her knees. Beckett tapped out, seeing no way of launching a counter attack. "Just let me know when you're ready to capitulate."

"Hope you've got time," Kate pulled her arm back when Matt released it and jumped back to her feet, "I'm not a quitter."

"Neither am I." Hendricks cocked his head. There was something in Beckett's eyes that told him this was more than a line for her. They'd all read her file, even though no one but Rachel was supposed to. Of course they knew about the attempt on her life, and her quick recovery and return to work. They also knew about her mother's murder, and really, it was a matter of public record anyway. They could have looked it up on the internet, her file just had the reader's digest version.

"Care to raise the stakes? Two out of three. If I win, you stop calling me Nikki."

"And if I win?"

"I won't file that sexual harassment suit."

"Oh, you're on, Nikki."

Rachel interrupted the staring contest between her colleagues. "If you're going to keep up with us, you gotta work on your defense, Beckett. Your skills are really good, but you have this combination you like to use when you attack. It's like a rhythm. That gave Matt the advantage to anticipate your next move, find the weakness in your balance and take you down."

Kate nodded, waiting and hoping on further instruction how to improve her close combat skills.

"Now, if you change your stance like this," McCord moved behind her and adjusted her feet position, "you make it harder for Matt to find purchase to throw you off your balance." To prove her point, Hendricks kicked his leg into the side of Kate's kneecap, so she could feel the impact.

"Good, very good." Rachel nodded. "And now instead of the left-right-left-left combination you like to use so much, how about you go like this?" Rachel stepped away from behind Kate, so she could demonstrate with Matt the new move. "The left-right-left-left is a nice combo to use as a surprise but if you return to it like clockwork, it's no more effective than a right hook."

Kate nodded and took up her position again, this time as the aggressor. She scored a couple of hits against Hendricks but wasn't able to bring him down, when she heard noise at the back of the room.

She glanced up for a nanosecond to assess the situation and then connected her fist with Matt's jaw, eliciting a groan from him. He'd still been distracted by Richmond's entrance, and Kate took advantage of his lack of focus to score a point. Before he knew what hit him, Kate grasped his arm, moved it behind his back at an awkward angle as she rounded him and with a quick press of her heel into his kneecap, Hendricks was kneeling in front of her wincing and whimpering.

Kate's only mistake was to relax her hold on him after a triumphant cry of "Ha!", which Matt immediately used to his own advantage. Freeing his hand from her grip, he swiveled around on his knees, using his momentum to head butt Kate into her stomach. A slight ooof left her mouth with a rush of breath as she recovered from the blow that caused her to stagger slightly back. By the time she'd regained her composure, Hendricks was already back on his feet, locking the side of his leg behind her knees and unsettled Kate's balance with one swift swipe across her legs. Beckett looked almost comical as she floundered backwards, looking for purchase in vain, landing hard on her back. Matt followed her to make sure she stayed down but before he could secure the position, Kate rolled onto her side, taking hold of his legs. With a quick jerk of his right leg and a head butt into his groin, Matt folded like a sack of potatoes.

Kate jumped back up to her feet, eyeing Matt suspiciously but her sparring partner tapped the mat to indicate he was out. His eyes were squeezed shut and his breath came in short pants accompanied by suppressed groans. When Beckett looked up, she stared into the open-mouthed, horrified face of Richmond, who'd quickly put his own hands across his crotch protectively.

"Nice one." Rachel nodded at Kate. "Though we don't usually head butt our colleagues in the groin. We don't want the office to get sued by angry wives. Luckily for you, Matt's an old hound dog, so no women will be complaining if he's out of commission for a while."

"Funny. Not." Matt moaned.

Kate stepped forward and tipped Matt's head back with the tip of her index finger on his forehead, "It's Agent Beckett."

Matt closed his eyes and grinned, "You look very hot when you role play, Detective Heat."

Kate rolled her eyes and looked over at Rachel who threw her hands up into the air. "Is he always that stupid or is it something I said?"

"Bet's a bet, Matt. Honor it." McCord glared at her cocky colleague. Seriously what the hell was wrong with him?

"Ah but the deal was two out of three. And right now it's one each, and besides, you cheated, Nikki." Hendricks defended himself.

"In your dreams!" Kate growled, "I won fair and square. Not my fault you've got the attention span of a squirrel."

Matt narrowed his eyes at Beckett, while they heard Rachel and Richmond snicker in the background.

"Squirrel. I like that one." McCord chuckled.

"Ahh, but you forget that your first take down didn't really count since I disarmed you. That's what you get for showing weakness."

"Aright, Squirrel. Off the mat." McCord started to diffuse the situation before their morning would be spent discussing technicalities. "No one won the bet then. Rookie, your turn."

Richmond looked up and shook his head vehemently. "I can't."

Thinking he might have been slightly intimidated by her take down of Hendricks, Kate smiled at him. "Don't worry. I don't bite." He still looked completely aghast at the idea of fighting her, his head shaking from side to side. "I only head butt." Kate deadpanned but the joke didn't have its desired effect.

"Not your call, Rookie. On the mat in three or I'll write you up for insubordination."

"Please, Rachel. Don't make me fight her!" He looked at her pleadingly. "She's…" He lowered his voice, "Nikki Heat. I can't hurt Nikki. Don't make me hurt Nikki."

Before Rachel could respond, Kate stalked over to the other side of the gym and grabbed Richmond by his arm, a little bit too violently. "Let's be clear, Rookie. I'm not Nikki Heat, I'm not a doll, I won't break, you're not gonna hurt me with our little sparring session. I've been blown up and frozen and shot at, I think I can deal with your rookie moves."

Richmond throw a pleading look over his shoulder, asking Rachel silently for help. McCord shook her head. Even if she wanted to put an end to the situation, she knew that Kate was now on a mission to prove to Rookie that she was one of them and not the fragile princess of his wet dreams.

"Hit me with your best." Kate took up her position and encouraged Rookie to be the aggressor. Her brain would replay the next moments in slow motion for days to come, but she would not be able to figure out where she had gone wrong. In fifteen seconds flat, Kate Beckett found herself pinned down on the mattress with Richmond sitting on top of her, cutting off her airflow.

Seeing the panic rise in Kate's eyes, as she wildly tapped her hand on the mat, Richmond let go and looked accusingly at Rachel and Matt. "You didn't tell her?!"

Kate's hand immediately flew to her throat, rubbing the skin. "Tell me what?" She wheezed out. "Geez, Rookie. What the fuck is wrong with you?" She coughed and the burning sensation in her throat brought back unpleasant memories from a rooftop a little over a year ago. "Where'd you learn that?"

"I know, I know. Nerd like me with skills like that? Let's just say my father and brothers have shown me a couple of moves over the years."

"Seriously?" Kat eyed her new colleague suspiciously.

"My dad's a green beret. My older brother is a marine. My younger brother is a seal." Rookie grinned at her and deadpanned. "This is how we cuddle in my family!" Richmond held out his hand to help her up. "You ok? I tried not to squeeze too hard but it's like a reflex to me."

Kate let out a nervous chuckle, "And here I thought you were scared of me because I almost castrated Matt."

"That did look painful!" Richmond laughed. "But no. And I thought you must be slightly insane to be so gung-ho to spar with me but seeing as those two clowns didn't tell you," he shot Rachel and Matt a dirty glare, "it makes so much more sense."

All of a sudden all their phones went off, causing each team member to raise their eyebrows in surprise at each other.

"Alright. Hit the shower folks, looks like this one's a biggie. I'll take the call."

Fifteen minutes later, Agent McCord's team was sitting behind their computers, phones tucked under their chins, running traces on phones, financial records and checking databases. They hadn't been told any details but apparently there had been a security breach at the NSA and it was all hands on deck. The eighth floor was abuzz with activity, as people ran from cubicle to cubicle shouting commands at each other. Kate could already tell that the next few days would be crazy if they couldn't track down their traitor right away and the shit would really hit the fan, if the press found out and their worst fears came true and they were on the brink of another act of terrorism.