A/N1: Hello peoples and WELCOME to the 14th Chapter titled 'Let's Get Moving' I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. In this chapter we get a little Jim Beckett time, I love Beckett Snr he's one of my favourite characters even though he's barely been in the series as an on screen character.
On Friday, Kate once again made her way to SoHo for another session at the gym. Once again it had been a frustrating week at the precinct with next to no progress in the Knick Knack Killer Case and she arrived at the gym, a scowl spread across her usual pretty features.
"Hey girl, what's up?" Lanie asked as her friend, blustered in the ladies change room.
"Ah...just a shitty week at work and at home," Kate replied, dropping down onto the bench in front of the lockers. "No progress in the Knick Knack case and two fresh ones dropped. You weren't the M.E on those cases so I had to deal with Perlmutter who's as cheerful as a box of rocks. Rick and I had an argument and haven't made up yet and on top of that, the plumbing in the precinct gym blew up on Monday night. So I haven't been able to get a work out in all week. After this class I'm going to belt the shit out of a boxing bag. I have some major angst to get rid of."
"Ya don't say?" the M.E replied mildly, a perfectly sculpted eyebrow arching in surprise. "What did you and Writer Boy argue about?"
"Case related stuff, he undermined me in front of a suspect," Kate replied, adjusting herself in her sports bra. "I pulled him into the break room and just about screamed at him. Then Gates pulled us into our office and yelled at us both. I've had a really, really crappy week. No sex, no morning coffee, no progress in work, no freakin'...nothing. I usually spend the weekend at Rick's but I'm heading to Dad's and we're going to his cabin in the Catskills for the weekend to drink beer—well I'll drink beer, play in the Texas Hold 'Em tournament at the local bar and go fly fishing."
Lanie laughed.
"You had me at no sex," she said in amusement. "If I went a whole week without getting it on, I'd be in a crappy mood too."
"Lanie it's not funny." Kate snapped.
"Didn't say it was girl," Lanie exclaimed, surprised at her friend's reaction. "Cool your jets, huh? Take your frustrations out in class, not me your best friend."
Kate sagged on the spot. "I'm sorry,' she said sheepishly, rubbing her face. "God things are so screwed up Lanes. Normally when I have a shitty week at work Rick is there to give me a hug or kiss and make it all better, but we've barely spoken all week. We haven't spoken outside the precinct since Monday and when we discuss case related stuff, its short one or two word or singular phrase answers."
"D'you wanna make up with him?" Lanie enquired as Kate resumed getting ready for the approaching class.
"Not right now, I'm still mad at him," Kate answered, pulling her water bottle out of her bag and shoving it in the nearest empty locker. "I want to finish being mad at him first. Might see how I feel after a weekend of drinking, poker and fishing with Dad."
"Does your Dad know that you and Rick have had an argument?"
"Not for sure, though I suspect he thinks something's going on," Kate replied, getting to her feet. "C'mon, let's hit the boards."
The two women left the change rooms and made their way across to the studio where the class was waiting for Jason to let them in. Alexis saw their approach and broke away from Paige and Kelsey and took Kate aside.
"I know you and Dad have had an argument," she said. "I made him tell me what about and you should know I'm on your side, he was being a butthead."
Kate couldn't help it and let out a snort of laughter. "Yeah he was," she answered. "Did he tell you I yelled at him and Gates yelled at us both?"
"Oh yeah, I made him tell me everything," Alexis replied. "You should also know he feels like an idiot. I think he is going to apologise soon, maybe not today but soon. Maybe at the precinct on Monday morning. Dad's not big on apologising when he knows he's in the wrong."
Kate rolled her eyes. "You're not kidding," she said dryly. "Hey, at least he feels like a douche. That makes me feel a bit better."
"I hope you two make up though, Kate. Dad's miserable when you're not around," Alexis continued. "He's gone to bed early every night this week and barely come out of his bedroom and office. It's like he's writing another manuscript. But he can't be, he's only just finished Frozen Heat and its being edited as we speak, he never starts writing another book so soon after finishing a manuscript."
"I'll talk to him at the precinct on Monday, break the tension a bit," Kate promised the redhead. "I'm still going to tell him I want an apology though."
"Oh, I would too if I were in your position Kate," Alexis said seriously. "Don't worry, I know my Dad. He is going to apologise."
"Good."
Jason let the class into the studio room and excitedly bounced up onto the stage, his whiskery face alive with excitement.
"Good evening boys and girls!" he exclaimed. "How are we all tonight?"
"Freakin' awesome!" Kelsey piped up.
"Awesome Kel, awesome. Now who's been keeping an eye on the TV and internet news? Who saw the end story on the CBS news the other night?"
The class erupted into several loud and bawdy whoops and cheers.
"Well after that story and all the views the video of our flash mob got on YouTube, the producers of the NBC Today Show, Good Morning America and the Ellen Show have been in touch and they want us to perform on their shows and-"
The trainer was cut off by the class bursting into deafening cheers and whistles that echoed around the spacious studio room.
"I'm gathering by that response, you all want to take part-"
"Oh heeeeeell yeah!" Lanie exclaimed.
"Awesome, well The Ellen Show wants us in L.A in two weeks time. Apparently that episode is going live to air. Then three days after that the Today Show wants us, then the day after that GMA. I was thinking we could do a new routine at every appearance."
"You want us to learn three new routines in two weeks?" Kate yelped. "I took us a month to learn the first one."
"I know that, but I stretched the rehearsal time out," Jason replied as the rest of the class began rumbling voicing their doubts about their leader's suggestion. "I really think you could all do it."
"We'd have to be here every day and I don't have that time," Kate replied. "I'm heading up a murder investigation you know."
"Guys feel me here, I honestly think you could all do it with our thrice weekly classes," Jason pleaded. "You've been coming to this class for two months now, we've done lots of little pockets of choreography that we could tidy up and put into a routine. I have some fantastic ideas that I'm sure we could all work with."
"Ehhh, if you're game I'm game," Kate told the older man. "I'm always being told I spend too much overtime at the precinct anyway. I could come here every night if I did actually leave at the end of shift."
"If she's doing it, I'm in!" Marcus declared.
"And me!" Alexis Paige and Kelsey chorused.
Slowly the rest of the group concurred.
"Alright, that's awesome. I'll let the relevant people know and at thee end of tonight we'll discuss music," Jason began, turning to the sound system. "Alright people, let's get moving!
After the class at the gym Friday morning, Kate headed to her father's apartment ahead of their weekend in the Catskill Mountains. The two Beckett's left Manhattan as dawn broke and arrived at Jim's cabin shortly before midday.
"Are you alright Katie Bear?" the elder Beckett asked in concern as they unpacked Kate's car of all their gear.
"Yeah, I'm fine Dad. Why?" Kate asked, hoisting her backpack over her shoulder and picking up a fishing tackle box.
"You're awfully quiet and slept the entire time it was my turn to drive," Jim replied. "You haven't slept on a drive up to the Catskills since you were a little girl, even when we came up here after your shooting, you were awake the whole time. Is everything alright at work? With Rick?"
Kate made a face at the mention of the Writer. "Work is fine Dad," she replied making her way into the cabin. "That's really the only thing that is fine. I'm actually making some progress there. Javi, Ryan and I solved one of the fresh drops during the week."
"That only leaves Rick then," Jim said intuitively. "Have you two had a row?"
Kate let out a bark of humourless laughter.
"Yeah you could say that," she replied. "He's been a total ass-"
"How about we unpack, get the yabby trap and rods together then go and drown a few worms?" Jim suggested, cutting his daughter off mid-rant. "Fishing is relaxing and you can tell me everything creek side."
"Alright then."
Kate helped her father unpack everything then changed into a pair of waterproof fishing waders. She tucked her cell phone in her bra then made her way out to the dining room of the cabin where Jim was double checking the tackle box.
"You all set?' he asked brightly.
"Yep, let's go drown some worms," Kate answered. "And if we're lucky we might get some trout for dinner."
Kate and her father packed the trunk of her car with all their fishing gear then got in the vehicle and drove down the dirt road, edging the land the cabin was on til they came to a secluded freshwater creek. When Kate was small she spent much of her summers swimming in this creek then when she was older fishing for trout and trawling for yabbies with her father. The two Beckett's exited the vehicle then worked in silence setting up two camping chairs and baiting hooks.
"Alright, so what's going on with you and Rick?" Jim asked, delicately fixing a fly lure to the line of his rod.
"He undermined me in front of a suspect, the douche." Kate cussed, violently casting her line into the swirling water.
"And how exactly did he undermine you?" Jim asked, casting his line with much less aggression than his daughter.
"Well I can't go into specific detail because the case is still active," Kate revealed, jiggling the line with her right index finger. "But I asked this suspect a question about his whereabouts at a particular time and place and Rick said to me in front of the suspect 'he didn't do it, there was no point in keeping him back'. AND he questioned my interrogating techniques, saying outright in front of the suspect I was being too aggressive. I was so mad at him, Dad that I barely dragged him out of the interrogation room and into the break room before I started screaming at him. Then Gates dragged us into her office and yelled at us both which made me madder at Rick because if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have yelled at him then had Gates yell at me. It was humiliating, Dad. We haven't spoken outside the precinct since Tuesday and when we do talk about case stuff it's only one or two word answers or questions. And he hasn't brought me a coffee every morning like he usually does, that's our wordless good morning you see and I know he only stops doing that if he's upset or mad. I've never been so mad at anyone in my life. I wanted to strangle him right then and there."
"Have you tried making up?" Jim asked, flicking his own line. "Or at the very least...talked?"
"No...I'm too mad and not in the right frame of mind to make a proper effort yet," Kate confessed. "Though I did promise Alexis last night I would say something to Rick at the precinct on Monday morning. She's noticed things are tense between us and made him tell her what happened. And she told me he feels like an idiot, which is enough for me at the moment. I want him to squirm. GAAAAAAAAH he frustrates me so much Dad!"
The brunette paused a moment, taking a deep breath.
"One moment he's a fully grown man being the best consultant I've ever had to deal with since I came on the job and the best father. Then he's a nine year old on a sugar rush being a totally immature douche bag." she continued "Some days I want to kiss him in the middle of the bullpen, other days I want to run him over with the Crown Vic."
Jim unsuccessfully tried to hide a snort of laughter and bit the inside of his cheek as Kate gave him the stink eye.
"What?" she snapped, flicking the line in the direction of a trout she had seen leave the water and flop down with a splash.
"It's just that..." Jim began with a wry smile. "You remind me so much of you mother and something she said to her sister."
"Oh yeah, what did she say?" Kate asked her brow sill creased a little.
"I overheard her, years ago before we were married and long before you came along. Your Mom was moaning to Jackie about how much of a pain in the ass I was, how up myself I was and how much I frustrated her. You and Rick remind me a lot of your Mom and me. He annoys and frustrates you to the point of wanting to strangle him and Rick is forever urging you to loosen up and do something out of character. That flash mob you took part in is the exact sort of thing you would never have done prior to meeting him. He's unleashed your inner child and it's rather refreshing."
"You really think?"
"Yeah I do."
"Eh, he's still a douche bag," Kate muttered, feeling a sharp jerk on the end of her rod. "Ah, got one!"
"I was a douche bag as you say in your Mom's eyes, Katie. And it worked out well for us in the end," Jim told his daughter as she reeled in a rainbow trout. "We were together for twenty five years and had you, the best thing either of us ever did. Don't be mad at Rick for too long sweetheart, what he did was wrong and yes, I think he was an idiot for doing it. But you two are meant to be, you're soul mates like your Mom and I were. You'll make it up in time."
"So how long did you and Mom not talk when you did something to piss her off?" Kate asked, reeling in her trout and swiftly removing it from the hook.
"I reckon the longest we went just giving each other the death glare was a week maybe ten days," Jim recalled as he hooked his own fish. "You're Mom and I rarely argued though. Once you came along we just concentrated on being parents. You were more important to us than trivial tiffs."
Kate smiled her tense visage evaporating. "You and Mom were meant to be," she said, putting her catch in a hessian sack tying it off with a rubber band and hooking it over a tree branch so it would dangle in the flowing water.
"Yup we were, aside from you. Your Mom was the best thing ever to happen to me," Jim confessed, a soft smile upon his aged skin.
"Have you ever thought there might be someone else out there for you, Dad?" Kate asked carefully as her father added his catch to the sack. "I know Mom would want you to be happy if someone did come into your life. I know you haven't been with anyone since she died and thirteen years on your own after being with someone for as long as you were with Mom must be hard and kinda lonely."
"It has been," Jim admitted, checking the lure before deftly casting his line again. "For the longest time I didn't want to find someone, I loved your Mom with my entire being. I am open to finding love again, sweetie. But I'm not going to chase it. Love is something that finds you, you don't find it. That's what happened for you and Rick and it happened for your Mom and me."
"I hope you find someone Dad, you're a pretty good catch," Kate told her father with a giggle as she cast her line again. "Even in your old age."
"Oi cheeky," the elder Beckett scolded affectionately, elbowing his daughter. "Enough of the old age rot. I'm not in the ground yet."
Kate let out a great snort of laughter. "Oh you're so old I can hear your joints creaking from Rick's place when I'm there," Kate teased. "And you live miles away from TriBeCa."
Jim rolled his eyes. "Ha ha smart alec," he said. "Come on let's have a contest. Whoever catches the least fish in an hour has to shout the person who catches the most fish in an hour, dinner at the Crown."
"You're on old man!" Kate declared.
After a relaxing weekend in the Catskills, fishing, hiking and slaying the locals in Texas Hold 'Em at the local bar Kate and her father returned to Manhattan late Sunday night.
"Thanks for the help unpacking Katie, you're a gem," Jim told his daughter, engulfing her in a crushing hug. "Let's do the Catskills more often huh? We'll regularly need to stock up on trout."
"Dad, we caught enough trout to last us til the summer after next," Kate said, returning the hug. "I think by the time I get to the last fillet, I'll have turned into a trout."
Jim laughed heartily
"Your Mom said that line more than once," he said with a reminiscent sigh. "And she never turned into a trout."
Kate grinned. "I might though," she said in amusement. "You take care alright? Ring if you need anything."
"Sane to you sweetheart, let me know how talking to Rick goes, alright?" Jim asked, gently rubbing his daughter's arms. "I don't like seeing you upset and even though we had a good weekend together, I could see the whole time your mind was somewhere else."
"I never used to be so obvious," Kate muttered, under her breath. "Alright, I'll let you know how things go...okay?"
"Good, see you Sunday kiddo."
"See you then Dad."
Kate went to bed as soon as she returned to her apartment but try as she might sleep eluded her. For two hours straight the petite brunette tossed and turned, awkwardly twisting the sheets around her body.
"Fuck this," she cussed, throwing the sheets back and swinging her legs over the edge of the king sized mattress. "I can't damn well sleep while thinking of you, you douche!"
Kate got to her feet and swiftly dressed before redressing her bed and packing an overnight bag with some casual and work clothes. She then pocketed her badge and phone and holstered her Glock before leaving her apartment and heading downstairs to her car.
"We're going to talk and talk now, you nit," she muttered under her breath as she got into her car and started the engine with a menacing roar. "No more of this cold shoulder shit."
Kate fastened her seatbelt then yanked her car into reverse, cringing inwardly as the engine screeched its disapproval. She then put it in drive and began the journey to Rick's loft in TriBeCa.
Having convinced herself she'd incurred half a dozen speeding fines during the course of her journey, Kate arrived at Rick's apartment building fifteen minutes later, parking her car next to his Ferrari in the underground parking garage. Taking a moment to cast her eyes over the gleaming red vehicle, Kate made her way up into the street punching in the pin code that would allow her access to the upmarket building.
Juan the night doorman looked up in surprise at the late night visitor but only nodded to the female detective in greeting sensing the woman wasn't in the mood for conversation. Kate strode across the elegantly decorated lobby and to the elevator bay, hammering upon the 'up' button til the elevator arrived with a metallic crunch.
Her impatience growing with every passing minute Kate travelled up to the topmost floor of the building and strode along the wood panelled hallway, taking her set of keys from within her handbag and jamming it into the lock.
Careful not to make any noise that might rouse Alexis, Kate let herself into the darkened loft and locked the door behind her. She hung her coat up next to Rick's on the hat stand then turned and made her way into the depths of the spacious loft til she came to the master bedroom.
Rick had clearly fallen asleep reading. There was a battered copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows open on the floor and his bedside light was on. Kate put her things in the Writers wardrobe before picking up the book and putting it back on his side table. The writer shifted in his sleep and let out a sudden grunting snoreas he unconciously tried to get more confortable. Quietly Kate undressed then lifted up the quilt and climbed into the bed leaning across Rick's muscular form to flick off the light. This movement and pressure of her body on his woke him up and he gave a little start.
"K-Kate?" he exclaimed incredulously his voice heavy with sleep.
"Yeah it's me shut up and go back to sleep," the female detective replied, snuggling down into the smoothness of the sheets and the warmth of his body. "It's half past two in the morning."
"W-what are you doing here?" Rick pressed.
"I couldn't sleep." Kate answered. "Now shut up and go back to sleep."
"I thought we weren't talking?" the Writer replied, an ever so slight edge creeping into his voice.
"Well obviously we are," Kate replied dryly, through the darkness.
There was a sudden shift of weight and Rick rolled over to switch his bedside light back on.
"You know what I mean Kate," he said sitting up. "For nearly a week we've barely said half a dozen words to each other. Why are you here at-"
He looked at his alarm clock. "Two thirty five in the morning?"
"I don't want to not talk anymore," Kate told him after a brief moment of silence. "I'm still really mad at you and want an apology but I love you and miss you. I spent the weekend with Dad in the Catskills and spent the whole time thinking about you and the argument we had. And Dad noticed it the whole time. I want to talk again. I want to come here on the weekend and do nothing but hang out with you and Alexis and kiss you and make love when we're alone. It sucks not talking to you."
The frown that formed on Rick's face disappeared and his hard exterior melted away.
"It sucks not talking to you either," he confessed, sliding down under he covers and resting a hand on the swell of her hip. "I'm sorry for being such an ass. Undermining you was totally wrong and Gates was right, if I was a cop she would suspend me. I shouldn't have done it and I feel like a total idiot...forgive me?"
Kate .sat up slightly and pressed her lips against his.
"I forgive you," she said softly. "Now shut up and go back to sleep. We have to be at the precinct in six hours and I do want some sleep."
Rick leaned down and suckled upon her neck.
"Sleep is over rated," he murmured sliding a hand up her side and cupping a breast in his hand. "Very over rated."
Kate shivered as the Writer pinched her nipple and laved attention upon the nape of her neck.
"Says Mr Snuffalupagus who was snoring when I arrived," she teased. "You sounded like a lawnmower that won't kick over."
Rick chuckled. "I-do-not-snore," he murmured, against her neck and moving his hand lower to the juncture of her thighs and hips. "You lie."
Kate let out a moan of desire as she felt Rick's fingers part her femininity and brush over her core.
"Rick," she gasped. "It's quarter to three in the morning, god you're inappropriate!" she declared, trying and failing miserably to sound stern.
"How about you let me apologize properly?" the Writer whispered in her ear. "It's been a whole week, Tulip. I need to feel you again. I need to remember what together is like."
Kate turned over and looked into her Writer's baby blue eyes. "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell," she said, drawing out the word. "I suppose you better start remembering then..."
A/N2: Reviews are my fuel people1 Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter especially caskett10 (I think that's your name toots!) who said I was one of heir favourite fic writers!