What if?

Chapter Twelve

Kate groaned loudly as she was thrown roughly against the mat. She lay on her back, the big Cuban man hovering over her. A drop of his sweat trickled off the tip of his nose and hit just above her left brow.

"Oh come on, you can't be giving up now?" He had her arms pinned above Kate's head and his face was merely inches away. He had control. A smile played at her lips as Kate wriggled her arms out of his grasp and flipped the bug Cuban over, the tables had turned. Now she had the upper hand. A triumphant smile spread across her lips.

"You're a squirmy one." The Cuban smiled breathlessly. Both were equally tired, they had been going at each other for roughly an hour now. The Cuban flipped Kate back over and pulled her wrists up to her shoulder blades. Kate winced. He tugged harder and as much squirming as Kate could manage, she couldn't slip from his hold. She gave in and he released her. She fell to the ground, closing her eyes, and focused on her lungs, trying to get them to work properly. The floor mat smelled of sweat. Kate wrinkled her nose. The gym had been empty this morning so when the Big Cuban offered to spar, Kate accepted, not wanting to punch a lifeless sack of sand for an hour.

"Yo! You okay?" Kate was pulled from her thoughts and saw the Cuban stick out his hand for Kate. "Javier Esposito."

"Kate Beckett." Kate rolled over and cautiously took Javier's hand. He pulled her to her feet easily.

"So you're the newbie for the twelfth?" Kate brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah."

"Maybe you'd want to go grab a coffee now and I can fill you in on all the tips and the secrets of the twelfth?" Kate blushed.

Javier winked and replied, "Sure. I'd love to. Where would you like to go?"

"There's this great place actually only a block from the precinct if you don't mind a brief walk."

"No. Not at all." Javier smiled. "Let me go get cleaned up."

"Sure. Me too." Kate jogged to the locker rooms. She tore her bag from the little locker and sprinted to the bathrooms to change, swapping out her sweaty tank top for her blouse and sneakers for heels. In the mirror Kate fixed her hair and touched up her make up. Minutes later Kate returned down to the twelfth and found Javier's desk.

"Ready?" Kate asked. Javier looked up.

"Yeah." He slipped on his coat and led Kate to the elevator.

"So how long have you been at the twelfth?" Javier asked Kate in the elevator.

"Almost two years." She replied as they rode the car down. Together they stepped into the crisp autumn air. Kate shivered and a bright orange leaf hovered a moment in front of her nose before carelessly falling to the ground. Taxi cabs swarmed around the streets like bees around a hive. The smell of freshly baked bread invaded her nostrils and left behind a pleasant thought. She remembered the ginger bread he had attempted to bake an intricate loaf of bread and accidently burned the edges. She chuckled to herself.

The thought about hers and Rick's relationship status popped into her mind suddenly. Did they even have a status? They hadn't talked about one at all. But then again, she had been over to his loft numerous times and he'd been to her apartment equally as many times. They had met each other's family. Kate once even slept over at Rick's loft. No, not like that. Came the pesky voice in her head. But it had felt so... Real? She remembered when he rolled over and played with the ends of her hair when he thought she had fallen asleep.

But they weren't together, we're they? And even so, one little coffee break with a collègue wouldn't hurt, would it? No. Probably not...

"... Kate?"

Kate snapped back to reality to find they had arrived at the coffee house. Somehow she had managed to walk through the glass doors, pull a chair and sit down. Or had Javier pulled out her chair like a gentleman? She was in such a daze she didn't know. A thin waitress stood, waiting impatiently for Kate's order. Kate cleared her throat and hastily glanced at the menu, deciding on a simple iced coffee. Javier had gotten a frothy golden brown concoction of the cafe's own recipe. The water danced off leaving Kate and Javier. Kate was growing nervous. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, you don't even know him yet. Kate saw the way his eyes bore into hers. She knew he was trying to hide it, but he couldn't. Not in his eyes at least. A smile tugged at her lips.

"Yes?" She replied.

"Did you hear me?"

"No. Sorry."

"Oh. I asked what kind of books you liked to read."

"Richard Castle." She blurted out before thinking. "I mean, I like his books. Derrick Storm is pretty cool." Kate stumbled over her own words and blushed deep crimson. Javier simply smiled at her and nodded in agreement.

Kate glanced down at her wristwatch and her eyes widened. "I have to get back to the precinct. I'm so sorry." She grabbed her coat and lifted the ceramic mug to her lips, tilting her head back to let the brown liquid slip past her lips. Javier grabbed his own coat and they hurried back to the precinct.

Roy was waiting patiently by Kate's desk and her heart leapt up to her throat.

"We've got a case, Beckett." Roy handed over a manila folder.