"Boyle, what are you doing here? I thought you had to catch a flight" Jake scoffed, irritated.
"I do. My flight is in six hours. But the captain
texted me to come, so I'm here. And I brought Y/n with me, I needed moral support" Charles explained, as Y/n waved lightly.
"What?! You texted Boyle when you told me you were texting your husband? As the person who's completely in charge here, I am very disappointed. I'm changing your codename to 'bad boy'" Jake felt betrayed and surprised, pointing his finger at Holt as he spoke.
"Oh I can't imagine what it's like to be disappointed at someone under your command" Holt rolled his eyes.
"Okay, I see what you're doing. Tushy" Jake yelled, not taking his finger off Holt's face.
"It's touche" Ray corrected him in confusion.
"Well, I'm in charge, and I say it's tushy. Boyle?" Jake turned to Charles, to seek his usual support, since he couldn't get any more from Y/n.
"I've heard it both ways. Please don't involve me in this. Y/n?" Charles tried to shift the stressful situation into someone else's hands.
"It's touché" Y/n scoffed, then whispered "idiot".
"What did you say?" Jake asked, turning to Y/n.
"Handcuff the captain and take him to his old precinct" Boyle begged and sighed.
"What? Old precinct? Wait a minute. You weren't going home at all. You were going to investigate the threat because it's not a hoax, it's real!" Peralta yelled again, always with his finger pointed at Holt's face.
"Wrong, it's not real" Holt defended himself.
"You're lying! You have a tell. When you lie, the corner of your mouth moves, and it just moved" Jake said proud of himself.
"Fine. I believe the threat is real, though i'm not sure who's behind it. But this is my problem, and i'm gonna solve it on my own.
Boyle, uncuff me" the captain said in a firm voice, turning to Charles.
"Don't do it, Charles. I'll take you on that trip to the botanical gardens we've always talked about" Peralta said in a high-pitched voice.
"Uncuff me, and that's a direct order" Holt said angrier than before.
Charles's gaze moved from Holt to Jake as Y/n watched him, leaning on the arm of the chair Boyle sat in, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.
"Don't do it, best friend. Botanical gardens" Jake sang.
"Ah! this is just like Christmas at my parents' house. Why do they have separate dining rooms? I--" Boyle took Holt's wrist and handcuffed himself to him, throwing away the key, as Y/n gasped and laughed.
"No!" Both shouted, "that was not one of the options!" Jake added.
"I couldn't choose, I love you both so much".
"Y/n, don't you have another key?" Holt asked hopefully.
"No, you have deprived me of the handcuffs since the last incident, remember?" Y/n explained, rising from the arm of the chair and standing in front of them, looking at everyone but Jake.
"Right, when you tied Scully to his desk so he wouldn't finish the cake I brought for Clara's birthday" Boyle chuckled, then he looked at Holt and stopped laughing, clearing his throat.
"Yeah, and got tied to his desk for 3 days because it was thought to be normal" Jake chuckled too, turning to Y/n, and stopped laughing, then sighed, "who wants to watch safe house?".
_____________________________
Safe House
3:37 pm
All 4 were seated around a round table.
"So, including letters, emails, and texts from a blocked phone, we have received ten threats. How many people have you put away that might want you dead?" Jake interrogated, standing up and looking at Holt.
"I've arrested over 600 people" Holt answered, looking up at Jake.
"Brag. Boyle, will you please read the transcripts of the threats he's received?" Then asked to Charles.
"Yup. 'die, die, die. Die, Holt, die.'" Charles read from a computer.
"Okay, a little obvious" Jake muttered.
"No, really?" Y/n said sarcastically, not looking at his face.
"Could you stop-" Jake was about to answer, turning to Y/n but Boyle cut them off, "you will drown in your own blood".
"Better. Although I would've gone with the whole, 'I'm gonna staple my face onto your face' thing" the idiot admitted.
"Human skin mask. Classic. The next one is 'I'm gonna send you off the deep end'" Boyle read with a bewildered face.
"'drowning' and 'deep end'. Almost sounds like he's talking about a swimming pool" Jake investigated.
"Or it could be a mermaid" Y/n teased him, with a smirk.
Jake sighed "stop i-" but Holt cut him off with a yell "it's Haimes".
"Aha! Who's Haimes?" Jake asked, confused.
"Colin Haimes, the freestyle killer. He took out an entire 4x100 meter relay swim team in 1982".
"The freestyle killer. Man! How come all the killers you've caught had such cool names? The best name I ever brought in was 'narrow shoes' Sam, because--" he started to explain but Ray continued, "his shoes were narrow and his name was Sam. I get it".
"Yeah, you get it".
"And the fact that he had a limp doesn't mean he was easy to catch," Y/n added, Boyle glared at her to shut her up.
"Well, captain, it looks like you needed our help after all. Together, we figured out it was Haimes, and together, we're gonna take him down. Because together, we can do anything. Here we go!" Jake tried to cheer them, starting a wave with the shoulders.
"I'm finding Haimes alone" Holt stopped it, trying to explain his intentions.
"Coming back at you, Jake!" Boyle tried to continue the wave.
_____________________________
The plan to take a picture of Rosa smiling continued.
"Oh, my god, Rosa! I accidentally opened your mail, but look what it says. 'Dear miss diaz, you just won--' " Amy started but was interrupted by Gina who apparently didn't understand the plan.
"Rosa, guess what. I accidentally opened your mail-" Gina continued.
"No, I'm reading the letter, and you're taking the picture" Amy whispered to her.
"It's not my fault! Y/n should have taken the picture, but she left to see her boyfriend-" Gina whispered/yelled.
"What? You were trying to get me to smile for your dumb picture, but you messed up?" Rosa smiled.
"Ah! She smiled. She's smiling! And no one has a camera..." Amy sighed.
Scully came over with his phone and took a picture of Amy "got it, Amy. Got a picture of you frowning. That's what you wanted, right?".
_____________________________
All 4 ended up in Holt's car, Jake was driving and Holt was holding the wheel in the front seats, while Boyle and Y/n were in the rear.
"I still don't understand why I can't drive" Y/n sighed.
"Because I wanted to drive!" Jake yelled as Y/n scoffed.
"Peralta, for the last time we don't have to go back to the precinct. I don't need everyone's help" Holt was trying to direct him elsewhere, holding the steering wheel.
"Look, captain, you're stubborn. And that's
an adorable quality. You wanna know what's not an adorable quality? Being dead-" Jake tried to say.
"-Acne" Boyle added, "yep, being dead" and Ray sighed.
"I mean, I give up. What's going on with you? Why are you being so weird about this?" Jake asks in exasperation.
"I don't need your help. I don't wanna involve you, or Boyle, or Y/l/n, or anyone. Because I brought this situation on myself. No one should get hurt because of a dumb mistake I made as a brash, young detective" Holt tried to explain but Jake was mocking him.
˚✧₊⁎ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚flashback ˚✧₊⁎ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚
"Hey, Haimes. You're gonna spend the rest of your life in a little cement room, doing nothing. And while you're in there, I'm gonna go for a swim. And after that swim, I might take another swim. And you'll just be sitting there on your metal toilet, thinking of me swim, swim, swimming all day long" young Holt she mocked him, with a smile.
"When I get out of lockup, I'm gonna hunt you down and kill you" Haimes said through gritted teeth, angry.
"Yeah. Right" young Holt laughed.
˚✧₊⁎ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚end of flashback ˚✧₊⁎ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚
Y/n was surprised, she couldn't believe that version of Holt, but it brought her a smile.
"Wow, I think I really would've gotten along with young Ray Holt" Jake whispered.
"Yes, that's why I decided to change everything about my life" Holt explained, with a sigh.
"Well, frankly, sir, you're still acting like that brash, dumb detective. If you had truly changed, you'd be saying a bunch of boring, responsible stuff, like... 'use the detective squad. You're part of a team. I smell like sandalwood'. That's what it is!" this was the first time in a long time that Y/n looked up to Jake, with an admiring gaze.
"Yet another terrible impression, Peralta. But I think you're right" Holt smiled a little.
"Wait, what?" while Jake was still surprised to hear these words coming out of the captain's mouth.
_____________________________
99th Precinct
8:22 pm
Everyone was in the briefing room, Holt was sitting at a desk and Amy went in front of him.
"Sir, I'm sure you had your reasons for going to Peralta, but... this is exactly the type of job I would love to have" Amy begged.
"Okay, the next time someone threatens to kill me, I'll come straight to you" Holt looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"Thank you, sir. I can't wait. I...didn't mean... let's catch this bastard" Amy raised her fist.
Jake entered and started the meeting, "All right, let's go! Updates. Santiago?".
"Looking into Haimes' associates. Nothing yet" she explained.
"Boyle?" Jake turned to him.
"Uh, some intel coming in from Ossining" Boyle added.
"Good. Y/l/n?" Jake turned to her for the first time, not looking down, was it just for work?
Y/n was surprised to hear her name and looked up, looking at him "uh...well. I found little information about him, he was able to hide his secrets well. However I found an event in which another swimmer, his opponent during the race, pushed him, causing him to fall on his knee, this led him to stay still for a month, I don't know if it could help..." she looked at the paper she was holding in her hands.
Jake smiled a little "It's good information, we'll make it right" Y/n smiled slightly back, while Amy looked at them with incredulous eyes, turning to Boyle to see if he too was surprised, which he was, and turned to her with raised eyebrows, then nodded.
"Hitchcock and Scully, update on your secret project?" Jake shouted.
"Hazelnut coffee'll be up in five minutes" Scully informed them.
"Sumatran's ready to go" Hitchcock continued.
"Keep me updated" Jake nodded.
"Warrant for the phone trace came through. We got Haimes' number... and the last coordinates from its gps. The Rail Yards" Rosa informed.
"All right, we got him. Everyone suit up!" Jake yelled to everyone and went to Holt, "I know there's no point in telling you not to come, but while we're out there, you're sticking with me".
"Oh. Goodie" he said, and walked to the door.
"Man, you really know how to take the fun out of saving your life" Jake said, following him to the exit.
"You heard him, Hitchcock. Get that sumatran
in the thermos" Scully whispered.
"I'm on it" he whispered back.
_____________________________
Brooklyn Rai Yards
8:45 pm
Everyone was in uniform and moving towards the goal.
"If things go south, I just want you to know it's been an honor being able to boss you around" Jake said to Holt, as they crouched along.
"Anything else?" Holt asked.
"Yes. What cute little nickname do you call your husband?".
"Kevin" Holt uttered the sweetest name ever heard.
"Adorable".
"Can we be honest? What happened with Y/n?" Holt looked at him.
"I...I'm scared" Jake sighed.
"Scared?" Holt repeated, surprised, "why?".
"I don't know...I don't know how I feel about her, it's a mix".
"Are you sad when she's not around?" Holt interrogated.
"...Yes..."
"Do you like her laugh?".
"Yes..."
"Do you like her humor, do you laugh at her jokes?".
"Oh, absolutely" Jake sighed again.
"Then you have your answer, this is how I feel about my husband" Holt smiled a little.
"Do you laugh at your husband's jokes? Wait, do you laugh in general?" Jake asked surprised as Holt just stared at him.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Y/n, Amy, Rosa and Charles were together.
"Sorry you missed your flight" Rosa said to Boyle.
"I have a backup flight in four hours" Charles replied.
"How did it go with Jake?" Amy whispered to Y/n.
"Why? How was it supposed to go?" Y/n didn't look at her.
"I don't know, earlier he smiled at you. He didn't smile at you for a month" Amy whispered again.
"I don't know what changed, I didn't do anything" she quickened her pace.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Gotta flush him out. We got his number now. Call his phone" Holt suggested, talking to Jake.
"Smart" Peralta nodded, picking up his phone,
"it's ringing. This is exciting".
A melodic ringtone was heard.
"That is Haimes' phone. I repeat, everyone converge on that ringtone" he said into the radio for all to hear, then they began to run.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
He passed right where Amy, Y/n, Charles and Rosa were.
"He's heading north on track 17!" Amy announced.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Hey. When this is all over, we should take a train trip together. Just for fun" Jake began to speak, but was interrupted by gunshots.
"Go, go, go, go, go!" they ran but Haimes found himself behind them, "Ray Holt!" he pointed a gun at him.
"Hello, Haimes".
"Thought about you every day I was in jail just like you said. I thought about pointing a gun at you and pulling the trigger. Kinda like this" he tried to shoot but was stopped by the sergeant "noooo!", then put him on his stomach, keeping his hands on his back, "Terry's back! Terry's back!"
"We got him" Jake said into the radio, as soon as Y/n heard it she sighed with relief.
"Nice work, Jeffords. Nice work, Peralta".
"Captain, you're doing it. You're emoting" Jake smiled as Holt laughed a bit.
Rosa on radio: "I need an ambulance. Boyle's down".
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Ah, what happened? Am I dead?" Boyle was lying on the floor.
"You saved my life" Rosa whispered to him.
Haimes tried to shoot Rosa, but Boyle stopped him, getting shot in the butt.
_____________________________
Brooklyn Methodist Hospital
10:15 pm
"He's gonna be fine. You can see him in a minute" the nurse informed everyone.
"Thank you" the captain nodded, "Boyle got shot because of me. This is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to avoid" then sighed.
"Captain, this is our job. Any one of us would've taken that bullet" Jake reassured him as Y/n watched them smiling.
"I'm sorry I've been so difficult. You were right. We couldn't have caught him without the team" Ray nodded.
"Well, well, well. It appears the student
has become the teacher. And the teacher has become--" he started waving his forefinger in the air.
"That's enough".
"Okay" Jake smiled while Holt shook his hand "thank you".
"You're welcome".
"Team pop and lock. Here we go! Whoosh!" he tried to make a wave with his arms but Holt stopped him, again.
"Come on, still? We saved your life!" the captain thought about it for a moment and then satisfied him.
"Oh, my god. Oh, my god. It's happening! Whoa, whoa! Yes! We did it!" Jake laughed with the rest of the team.
"Excuse me! This is a hospital" the nurse from earlier scolded them.
"Right. Sorry. People are dying" Jake muttered as Y/n laughed a little. Hearing her laugh Jake turned to her and then smiled at her without showing his teeth, while she waved to him lightly, smiling a little (he waved back).
_____________________________
"You know, everyone should just go home and enjoy their Christmas. You don't need to stick around here for me" Boyle reassured them.
"Shut up, no one's going anywhere. What you did was amazing" Jake shuttered him up.
"Yeah, Boyle, that was some superman stuff" Amy added.
"Yeah, you did the nine-nine proud" the captain congratulated.
"No ifs, ands, or butts. Sorry, it's just right there. Literally. It's just right in front of me. His butt is right in my face" Jake apologized.
"I have to tell you guys something. Even though I got shot-" Boyle tried to say something.
"-In the butt. Sorry" but Jake kept interrupting him.
"-I'd rather be here, spending Christmas with all of you, than on some stupid singles cruise. And y mean that, from the bottom of my--".
"-Butt. Again, sorry" Y/n slapped him on the shoulder, "Ow!".
"Shut up, jake!" Y/n scolded him.
"Boyle's a hero. And so is his butt" Rosa commented.
A camera clicked, "I got it! She smiled Christmas card complete" Scully was happy.
"He got shot in the butt" Jake laughed again and Y/n just looked at him smiling, and shaking her head.
Jake turned to Y/n, stopped laughing but not smiling, then he plucked up courage and asked her "ehm...can I talk to you for a moment?" As Y/n nodded.
They left the room and sat in the waiting room.
A few moments of silence passed, so Jake decided to speak "so...".
Y/n looked at him, "so...what did you want to tell me?".
Jake sighed "I'm...sorry. This".
"Did you just want to apologize?" She looked at him, disappointed.
"Yes...well...no. I wanted to explain why I didn't talk to you anymore. I'm scared, that kiss was...strange. I was drunk, I shouldn't have done that. I'm still sorry. It doesn't mean I didn't like it, but our friendship is very important to me, I don't want to lose it, if that means never being with you." Jake said it all looking straight ahead.
Y/n just nodded, "I understand". Jake whirled on her as she spoke "your friendship is also important to me, if you don't want to be with me, I'll get over it, it's enough for me to be friends" she smiled sadly.
"No...I-I didn't mean that, I like you...a lot, you don't know how much. But I have to think about it, if trying a relationship could ruin our friendship...I dont want to...".
Y/n put a hand on Jake's "I get you, you don't have to apologize. Think about it, okay?" she tried to get up but Jake held her hand "I love you, in a friendly way, for now" he had some tears in his eyes.
Y/n took a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to him "I love you too, in a friendly way", then smiled.
Jake let go of her hand and she walked back into the room.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Amy, as soon as she saw her enter, immediately took her aside "What did he say?".
"Nothing, we're friends again".
"Just friends? Nothing more? No kiss, touch-".
"Just friends" Y/n interrupted her.
"Oh...if that's what you want..." Amy squeezed her hand to reassure her.
"It's not what I want, but if he's okay with it. He said he has to think about it" Y/n sighed.
"Then it's not a no." Amy's eyes lit up.
"I think so" Y/n chuckled.
"Then enjoy Christmas, don't think about it" Amy brought her among the others, to talk to Boyle lying on the hospital bed, and put her arm around her shoulders.
_____________________________