Disclaimer: I do not own Brooklyn nine-nine or any of its characters.

Authors note: This is in a made-up timeline where Jake and Amy were together but Charles and Genevieve broke up with them both sharing custody of Nikolaj. Ratings may change in the future.

Chapter One

If Jake was completely honest with himself, he could have seen something like this happening. Charles was his best friend and the best partner he was ever assigned to be with. Even outranking Stevie. Though Stevie had the same flair as himself making the time with him more intriguing, Charles gave him something more. Not just the gross food and spicy scotch, but a caring friendship that made them bond deeper. Of course, Jake was still closed off on issues since he didn't like talking about emotions or feelings so when Amy got a job offer to be a subbing captain he wasn't exactly himself. They had a long talk about their relationship and in the end decided it was best to break it off since she had a high chance of becoming a permanent captain in another state. Charles and Terry were there with him in a bar to try and help him get through it even when he insisted he was fine. He wasn't fine though. Out of all his relationships, Amy and his was the longest. It maddened him as he thought back to when he had to go into hiding and they still dated. Sure, it was awkward with a backwards 'w' when they finally got to see each other again, but they made it work. He even got a new mattress for her. Though to be completely honest with himself it was a nice change to sleep on something that didn't leave his back in knots upon awaking.

After a month of self-loathing and stupid jokes to tell to his friends to put on a charade that he was fine, he decided it was best to get out there. Charles was the one who suggested trying out a dating website in which he rejected at first but made one anyway. He confided in his friend and sulked as no one was starting up a conversation with him. The same day he had Charles check his profile to see what was wrong with it and the other just said the right one just hadn't seen it yet. When work was over he just groaned and gave up, shutting down his computer and going home. He didn't want to check it in case he didn't have any new messages but his curiosity always won out. Surprisingly, he did get a message. A message from a Italiancutiebae142, (his was diehardfanatic99), which read, 'I looked over your profile and you seem amazing! I hope we can get closer and become friends or something more in the future. If you're interested write back : )'.

Before responding he did what most sane people did and looked over her profile. That should have been his second clue. A seemingly beautiful girl who was into food and was passionate about her work which wasn't listed. She was of Italian and Irish decent* which in his mind all he could think of was the word hot. She was single but recently got out of a breakup and didn't want to go to fast with someone. That made him a bit uncertain since he wanted to move on with someone else but at the same time it seemed promising. Amy and him were friends before hooking up so it could be a good thing to take things slow. Only a few pictures were posted online of her and he couldn't help but feel a bit shallow since she did look gorgeous. After looking over everything, he decided to simply reply back, 'Hey!~ I looked over yours and you seem really cool! I hope we can get closer too :D'. With a smile never leaving his face, he went to go make himself something to snake on while he waited. Which was a very healthy combo of a pepperoni hot pocket with orangina to drink. In just a few minutes he got a response that made him happy. It read, 'Awesome! I guess that means you read about my recent breakup. It went okay but I'm still a bit cautious of starting something new. So tell me, what are your interests? : )'


About three weeks later, they started dating. He knew almost everything about her and she knew almost everything about himself. Even things he never even told Amy. He felt so comfortable and happy talking to her that he actually made it on time for work so he could talk to her more. Jake thanked her for that since that meant Captain Holt didn't lecture him every time he walked in the door.

"What are you doing?" He heard a familiar voice ask behind his chair. Instead of doing the work he was supposed to be going over, he was replying to Christy's new message.

"Oh, hey Terry. I'm just texting my girlfriend~" Jake said chipper than ever, turning in his broken wheely chair to see the muscular man better. Terry just gave a stern look and glanced over at what his friend had written down.

"You should be doing the work I assigned you and not talking about possible pets." Terry said in an annoyed, parental way that Jake brushed off easily as he pointed back to the computer.

"Well, she already has some dogs but I was thinking about getting something small like a hamster. Name him… Gruber~" He said with realization before turning back in his chair to type it out. "She's never watched the Die Hard's yet so hopefully she'll like them. But who doesn't like Die Hard am I right?"

"Jake. Look- I know that after you and… Amy broke up you've been feeling lonely. But have you ever even seen this person in real life? She could be a catfish." Terry instigated, trying to make Jake see some sense as to who he might be talking to. Though was only greeted with a confused stare.

"A what? What's a 'catfish'?" Jake pondered, hearing that word before but never looked into what the word meant. Terry just sighed as he leaned against the side of the others desk.

"A catfish is someone who pretends to be someone else online. Like a fifty year old man pretending to be a twenty year old female." They explained with authority before Jake let out a soft 'oh'. There was a few seconds of silence before Jake shrugged his shoulders.

"You know what. I don't care if she isn't exactly like her pictures online. I fell in love with her because of her words and I admit slightly her looks but I'd still like her if she looked different." Jake proclaimed and started typing again. "And just to prove it, I'm setting up a real-life date with her. If she doesn't come, then I'll know it wasn't meant to be but if she does then you'll see her everyday~"

"There goes the little mermaid again-"A voice pipped up from a bit of a distance that made it clear that Gina was listening in on the whole conversation.

After that message, him and Christy talked nonstop at work. She said that she was pretty shy in real life and he said it was alright. They could just hang out like friends would to see if they would want to pursue things further. Then the topics changed to how their day was and what they wanted to eat for lunch. But then, things got personal again that took Jake by surprise. She asked him if he had ever considered or dated another man before. Well, no he had never done it before but couldn't help but consider it. In his line of duty, he had meet a lot of attractive people and was very open minded about things. His time with the coroner proved that. So, he was honest with her and told him his thoughts before asking the same thing. It turned out she had dated girls before so he asked her if she was bi. She just said she was confused and still doesn't know if she likes girls that way or not. He didn't push her to tell things she didn't want to but it turns out there was this one girl she felt like she had fallen in love with. But turns out that the friend she fell in love with loved someone else and didn't, to her knowledge, swing that way. He comforted her as much as he could online and soon they were talking about their impending date with much excitement.


The date he set up was at the bar to have a couple of drinks before going to dinner at a small restaurant. His finances weren't the greatest, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try making tonight the greatest night for them both. But as time went on, he could feel his heart drop. He kept telling himself things like she just couldn't grab a cab or she went to the restaurant first instead but after looking over the message he had sent her on the website, he knew that he made things clear. He was still hopeful but when it was just him, the bartender, and another lonely guy, he knew it wasn't going to be. After trying to be clear headed for the date he finally ordered another drink to drink before wanting to leave. But before he finished, he smiled happily as he saw his best friend walk in the door.

"Hey Charles~" He greeted gratefully, patting the empty seat next to him for the shorter man to take. Charles gave a look that seemed to be regret as he carefully sat down. "I guess you heard about my date tonight huh… Clearly didn't work out… But anyway, want to hang out? We can get some take out and watch stupid movies." Jake suggested, downing the rest of his drink.

"Jake… I'm sorry!" Charles exploded which made the other flinch in surprise at the loudness. The only other man in the bar even gave him a soft 'sh' to be quieter which made Charles just shush them back.

"What do you mean you're sorry? If you can't hang out I understand." He said with a smile, patting them on the back but paused when Charles looked as if he was guilty about something else. "Is there something else you did that you're not telling me?" Jake asked with confusion.

"I… I'm Christy okay! I knew you weren't getting any messages so I… Pretended to be a girl so you wouldn't feel sad anymore." Charles admitted with disappointment in himself and looked at Jake with worry. He didn't mean for things to go so far but continued doing what he did since he loved being able to be so close to Jake. And when Jake asked him out he didn't want to hurt their feelings by saying no so he just said yes on instinct. But at the same time, he actually did want to date him. He was always close to Jake and it was platonic but getting to talk to him every day about everything under the moon was amazing. And being a 'couple' didn't seem too crazy to him. Charles always considered himself straight and never really looked at another man before but this… Jake was always perfect in his eyes and he never hid it from anyone. Maybe deep down, he had always wanted to date his partner.

Jakes eyes widened at the declaration and could feel his breath hitch in his throat. He wanted to laugh it off to pretend that other was just playing with him but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He could even tie some of the stories that Christy said to what Charles had mentioned before like them being in men's field hockey. He stood up with his drink hitting the bar table loudly as he tried to voice the words flooding in his mind. "You…. You're… You catfished me?! You- you cat fisher!" He accused which didn't seem to have much of a bite for someone watching on the outside but to Charles it hurt greatly. "You're my best friend! Why Charles?" Jake asked confused, wanting to understand everything.

"I just wanted you to trust someone to talk about your feelings. I never hid mine from you when Genevieve and I decided it was best to break up. I was so sad and happy that I had you to lean on. I thought it'd be best especially since you were sad no one had messaged you… I'm so, so, so sorry Jake. I didn't mean for things to go far." He admitted bluntly while looking at Jake with a mix of sadness and guilt. Jake just shook his head though at the reply and gestured to the bar.

"Why did you agree to date me then? And why did you say yes to when I asked you to come here for a date?" Jake continued to question. He noticed the bartender and the lonely guy had turned their full attention on the two but didn't blame them.

"Because… Because I… I fell in love with you Jake." Charles said softly, making it obvious he wasn't joking or lying. Jake could see everything finally tying up. That's why Christy, or Charles, asked him if he ever dated or wanted to date a guy. Though all that meant was his head hurting from countless conversions running widely in his head.

"Charles… I'm… I-I… I got to go." He said and before Charles could ask him to stay, Jake bolted out the door. He didn't mean to be rude. He just didn't know what to think, or say, and he was never one to be good with handling his emotions. So instead of talking things out like an adult, he just caught a cab to ride home leaving Charles all alone in that bar. Well not completely alone. He still had the bartender, the guy that was alone, and his bill for the two drinks he got.

Author: So that's the end of chapter one~

*I'm not sure if the show told what Charles was a descent from, like Amy being from a Cuban family, so I looked up the actor and went along with that. If it did say, please let me know in a review or private message.