Suspend Your Disbelief

Or

How Beckett Went Fifteen Years Without Knowing She Was Married

By Dana Keylits

A/N: I have a couple of friends who are cops, I asked them if marital status is part of a standard background check when becoming a cop and they said it depended on jurisdiction, but in both of their cases, it had not been. You have to indicate whether you've been married on your application forms, but they said the dep't doesn't necessarily check to see if you're lying. Prior to 9/11, background checks were not as extensive as they are today, and although Kate became a cop after 9/11, policies were slow to change. So, it is entirely plausible that Kate's "marriage" to Rogan O'Leary could have gone unnoticed by the NYPD.

However, it would NOT have gone unnoticed by the Department of Homeland Security. Which is why I've written this drabble to help us all suspend our disbelief.

Detective Beckett had been gone for all of five minutes and Anthony Freedman had already made the decision to hire her.

Now.

She had received the highest accolades from both the Mayor of New York City and the NYPD Commissioner of Detectives, and he had only her direct supervisor, a Captain Victoria Gates, yet to speak with and the more formal background checks to conduct, before he could offer her the position.

He glanced out of his window just in time to see her emerge from the building below and hail a cab, one long slender arm held out to the street, commanding a yellow taxi to pull up beside her. She opened the back door of the cab and Freedman watched as she hesitated, turned back to look at the massive historical building, a smile broadening her features, and then disappeared into the vehicle, her well-heeled foot being the last part of her that was visible before the door slammed shut.

She would make one hell of an agent, and he wanted to fast track her before someone else snapped her up, including the brass over at 1PP, who hadn't been at all happy about the Attorney Generals interest in the accomplished detective.

He picked up the phone to call Agent Donovan in HR, and then, spying his empty coffee mug, decided to make an in-person visit to the department, instead.

Donovan looked up from his desk, a stack of background check forms, reference check forms, and employment verification forms piled in front of him. "Sir?" he asked, standing up.

Freedman waved him back into his seat. "Have you begun the background check on Detective Beckett, yet?"

Donovan plopped down into his chair, shaking his head. "I was about to, just getting all of the paperwork together. I assume you wanted the extended check done on her?" He frowned at the mountain of paperwork in front of him.

Freedman scrubbed his beard. "No, I don't think that's necessary in this case. She's already been vetted by the NYPD, and I have the Mayor and Commissioner of Detectives references already. I think we can get by with just a standard check." He pointed at the forms. "How long will it take?"

"A standard background check?"

He nodded.

"Should have it done by tomorrow, maybe the next day."

"And the extended check?"

"Well, depending on what we find, and how quickly her friends and family return the reference forms, how fast the Census Bureau, DMV, and Vital Records get back to us, it could be weeks. Maybe as long as a month." He opened the folder and scanned her application, noting that she'd checked Single/Never Married on the form. "She's never been married, so we don't need to vet a spouse or ex-husband." He closed the folder, "But still, it could take up to a month, Sir."

Freedman pondered this. Given her reputation, the information he already had on her, the references he'd already received, he didn't see why he needed to waste time talking to her neighbors, friends or family, a criminal and employment background check would be enough, and if anything wonky came up, they could always dig deeper. He made up his mind, pointing at the Agent. "Unless something weird pings on her application, or you find something on the standard check, I think we can skip the friends and family tour."

Donovan smiled, setting aside the mountainous stack of papers on his desk, and reaching for the much more manageable two-page BCA background check form instead. "On it, Chief."

A/N: And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how Beckett avoided knowing about her "husband" Rogan O'Leary until she filed for a marriage license. Yes, there are holes (surely at some point the IRS would have asked, but maybe she'd never been audited!), and yes, it is highly doubtful this would ever happen, but, it's plausible...shortcuts happen every day. I hope I have been able to help you suspend your disbelief.

You can find me on Twitter (krdanakeylits), I always follow back. :-)