Entrances and Exits, Chapter 8

On her last day in the 12th, Victoria Gates stands inside her empty office. She's just finished a call with 1PP about transfer paperwork. She needs a moment to get her head out of the bureaucracy. She takes a long breath and forces her mind back to the present.

Detectives Esposito and Ryan, with too much help from Richard Castle, have put together an outstanding going-away party. Even officers not scheduled to work have swung by, and a handful of officers and civilian personnel who transferred out of the 12th during her tenure have come by to wish her luck at IA. LT even arranged to have officers from other precincts cover some of the patrols for two hours.

Victoria Gates, Deputy Commissioner, NYPD. Her parents cried when she told them the news. Her Dad shook his head and kept saying how much he wished his father could see this. Elizabeth, who had been in D.C. when the news came down, screamed over the phone. Even Luther's mother has been ecstatic about the promotion, or as ecstatic as she'll ever be about anything her still-not-good-enough-for-my-baby-boy daughter-in-law does.

Gates relishes the coming challenge. She knows how some officers view IA. She doesn't expect to change any of their opinions. She knows the importance of Internal Affairs, and that's what matters. She's humbled by the responsibility on her shoulders.

But.

Somehow over the past four years, she's come to love heading up the 12th. She likes getting to work with good cops regularly, getting wrapped up in the excitement of unfolding cases. She's even – and god help her if she ever admits this to anyone other than Luther – come to appreciate the precinct's odd mascot of Richard Castle.

She wants the challenge of her new position. She just wishes she could bring these people with her.

The 12th's reaction to her departure surprised Gates. After spending the first year feeling like everyone measured her against Montgomery and found her wanting, she settled into being the boss people tolerated and respected but little else. Prior to announcing her departure, she expected generic congratulations and the normal concern over the change of leadership.

She got the congratulations, and she got concern about the change at the top, but not how she expected. People were going to miss her, didn't want her to leave. As Ryan put it one day after bringing her a latte: We hate losing you, sir, but we'd all feel better if we knew that at least the new captain had your seal of approval.

She promised him she would. Just like Bill Hastings wanted to pass along IA to someone who cares, Gates will make sure her precinct is in good hands. Its people deserve nothing less. Plus, as Luther pointed out over dinner one night: Won't look good if the Head of IA's old precinct is at the bottom of the barrel.

"Captain?" Kate Beckett stands in the doorway. She's still a detective for now, and in retrospect, Gates wishes she had talked more with the younger woman about the career choices they've both faced in recent weeks.

"Come in, Detective."

As Beckett steps into the room, her fingers intertwine in front of her as she looks down. When she looks back up, there's a rare note of uncertainty in her eyes.

"I, um – " She unlaces her fingers to scratch above her right eyebrow. It's unusual to see Kate Beckett fidgety. "You said once that you hoped to one day earn my loyalty."

"I did." Gates remembers that day. It had been a gamble, a hope to plant seeds that would eventually blossom. Among other things, she hoped it would eventually give her the missing pieces to connect the dots between Montgomery's death and Beckett's shooting and why three top detectives would lie on official police documents.

Gates still has trouble comprehending the truth of it. She had plenty of theories but even the most outlandish fell far short of the reality.

"I just, I wanted you to know that you earned my loyalty a long time ago. I'm honored to be able to say I worked with you. I'm a better detective because of it." Beckett takes a breath, and it surprises Gates to notice that the brunette's eyes are glassy. "You put this precinct back together after Montgomery's death and made it your own. And it took a while – " Kate grins and shakes her head as her eyes look off to the side. " – but this is your precinct, your people. I'm thrilled for you and the NYPD, because we need someone like you heading up IA, but the 12th is getting the short end of the stick."

Gates blinks, once, twice. For only the fourth time in her career, she's in danger of breaking her rule about not crying at work. "Thank you, Kate. You're one of the finest detectives I've ever met, and you made me a better captain."

Unexpectedly, Beckett reaches over and hugs Gates. As Gates returns the hug, she thinks of that angry, wounded woman who stormed into her office four years ago, how her initial impression of Katherine Beckett was that she was held together by twine and tape. Now she's healed, and it's a transformation that reminds Gates of the good in the world, of the possibility of light even in the darkness.

It's a lesson she'll take with her to IA.

"Thank you," Kate whispers as they pull apart.

Gates smiles and pats the taller woman's shoulder. "Let's get back to the party."

As they exit, Gates hazards one more glance at her almost-former office. She still has one last box and her bag, but there's a finality to this moment.

Victoria Gates is excited for the future. She's also scared. She terrified that maybe she's finally throwing herself into something too big, too overwhelming to corral, but that fear means she's doing the right thing.

For now, though, she has a few more hours with these people, and she intends to enjoy it. The 12th Precinct isn't where she wanted to go, but it somehow ended up being what she needed.

As Richard Castle hands his wife and the soon-to-be-former Captain Gates glasses of champagne, Gates looks around the room and thinks:

How grateful I am that this ended up being so very good.

Author's Note: And with that, Captain Victoria Gates rides off into the sunset. I tried to leave this story open ended enough to work with a variety of Season 8 possibilities, but only the premiere will tell if this version of events works within the actual Castle universe. Either way, thanks again - this has been fun.