So this was written by request from a friend who asked for B99 Frienship!fic. I guess it's really less friendship and more the long and winding road to friendship but I think that still counts. The title comes from a Beatles song that actually an upbeat love song, even though the fic itself has absolutely nothing to do with it. I wouldn't take this as canon, and I hammered it out in like an hour and a half so I understand if it's one of the worst things you've ever read.
I Saw Her Standing There
The first time they met wasn't exactly fairy tale material. Or maybe it was, except she was the dragon and he was the princess in need of rescue. And she didn't actually rescue him. She pointed and laughed while he was tripping over his own feet on their first obstacle course and she encouraged the rest of the academy class to do the same.
He got her back for it eventually, though.
Second week of training she accidentally pronounced 'manslaughter' as 'man's laughter' when asked a question in class and he convinced everyone to use her version for the rest of the month.
The teasing started to escalate until the entire class had been divided into Team Jake and Team Rosa and bets were made on who would get the other expelled first.
Point for point, they matched each other on firearms, physical training, and knowledge of the law. Whatever extra ground she had in Spanish, he made up for it with superior knowledge in computers and electronics.
The idea that they would BOTH get kicked out was tossed around and seriously considered by a few of their friends, though the official pool couldn't reflect it once the bets were cast.
Finally there was only test that could decide the victor. Full-contact sparring. The one area remaining that they hadn't been pitted directly against each other.
Rosa's friends gathered in her corner, Jake's friends gathered in his.
There would be three rounds. Five minutes each. To win one person had to pin the other on the ground for twenty seconds in two of the three rounds.
"Careful you don't bite through your own tongue, Peralta," she snarked as her friend Vanessa helped her into her padding.
Normally he would've come up with the brilliant retort but the first thing he had done was put in a mouthguard. Something he was now regretting for purely petty reasons.
"Touch gloves."
They eyed each other up and down.
"Fight!"
They both knew each other's strengths and weaknesses. It would've been an advantage if they'd been working together, but here in the ring it would inevitably lead to a stalemate since neither could stay ahead of the other long enough to claim victory.
Rosa took the first round, flipping Jake over her shoulder like a huge bag of flour and stunning him just enough to jump on top of him and pin his limbs.
It wouldn't work on him again, but he modified her move to his advantage in round 2. Instead of flipping her, he pretty much just jumped on her back. She was strong, but it was unexpected enough that she went down on all fours, making it easy to keep her down for the required time.
There were no advantages this time. Nothing one could use against the other. They knew all the tricks, all the the feints, all the wind-ups, everything.
The third round ended in a tie. Both of them still on their feet, taking pot shots wherever they could.
The bell rang with them still scowling at each other, friends having to physically drag them both out of the ring and back to their separate dorms to get cleaned up.
They avoided each other for about a week after that until one Wednesday, about two months before graduation. They happened to wind up next to each other in the lunch line. Jake made the mistake of reaching across her for a packet of ketchup, and Rosa retaliated by jamming her elbow into his chest, knocking his entire tray to the ground.
"What the hell is your problem?" he demanded loudly enough for half the room to hear.
"My problem is you, I thought I made that obvious!"
It was petty. He knew it was petty. It was petty and childish and immature but she had been wearing on his nerves for four months and he was sick and tired of it. Jake grabbed the glass of milk off of Rosa's tray and dumped it over her head without another word.
The squawking noise she made was worth it for about a second but after that she turned to him with a look so murderous he was pretty sure he'd wind up as an example crime scene for the next class of potential NYPD officers.
She caught him off-guard. It was the only reason she was able to knock him over as quickly as she did. His head slammed into the linoleum and her hands were around his neck before he could react.
"What's YOUR fucking problem, Peralta? Did you not get
enough hugs or something when you were a kid? Or do you just get your kicks off by humiliating people?"
Somehow he managed to pry her thumbs away from his windpipe though there was no way he'd be able to flip her over and get the high ground.
"I could say the same thing about you...Diaz. I didn't make fun of you until you made fun of me!"
She started to scream what sounded like another insult but right at that moment, security personnel showed up and dragged her away from him. He caught her eye as she was being led out. Her hair and jacket still dripping with milk, death glare still very much present. There was something more behind her expression, though. Something he couldn't quite identify. Not pity. Not an apology. But something. Something less hurtful than whatever she was feeling a moment ago.
They were both hauled before a disciplinary committee to present the case as to why they shouldn't both be expelled immediately.
They were both respectful, polite, and gave no indication of the hatred that had developed between them. Their personal feelings for each other aside, they both knew one thing. They would both make great cops. And Brooklyn needed more great cops.
The committee shut its doors to make deliberations, sending both cadets to wait in the hall.
They sat across from each other. Jake looked at the ceiling, Rosa looked the floor. The silence was more uncomfortable than any argument or fight they'd had up to that point.
"So-" he started to say.
"I'm-" she said at the same time.
They both stopped. Looked each other in the eye for a long moment.
Jake was the first one to cave. "What?"
"I...I have dyslexia," she said softly.
"What?" He wasn't exactly expecting an apology but this came completely out of left field.
"My brain messes up the letters when I try to read sometimes. That's why I said 'man's laughter'. It's not something I like to talk about. I don't like getting pity or handouts from other people."
The wave of understanding wasn't so much a wave as it was a large pile of rocks falling on his head. She wasn't done, though.
"People have called me stupid my entire life for it and this was the one place where no one knew me and didn't know about it and I thought I could have a clean slate without any preconceptions. And you ruined that for me. THAT'S my problem, Peralta."
He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times. Eye for an eye had been a principle he'd followed since grade school. Someone insults you, you insult them back, everything's square. It had never even occurred to him that she might take it personally.
He should apologize. He should fall on his knees at her feet and beg forgiveness. (Wait, what? She'd hate that!)
The words that came spilling out were somewhat different.
"I broke two toes."
She looked up at him, cheeks and eyes more than a little red.
"What?"
"Two days before we started. I slipped on a pizza box I left on the floor and I broke two toes. That's why I tripped on the obstacle course."
"Oh."
"I'm on the verge of getting kicked out of my apartment and I needed to get into the academy for this term to prevent it so I couldn't just drop out."
She scoffed. "Never would've occurred to me that you'd be careless with money."
That stung a bit but only because it was true.
"This was the first time in my life where I was determined to succeed and I fucked it up on the first day and you made sure everyone knew it. So I retaliated and I figured that would be the end of it."
Rosa actually looked...ashamed.
"I had no idea."
"Me either."
They both started to say something again but this time before any sound could come out, they were interrupted by the door opening.
"They're ready for you," the man said.
"Okay."
"Thanks."
They stood up in unison and walked over to the door. He was closer and got there sooner and had his back to her but he turned his head to the side just enough to catch her eye.
Neither one of them was good with words but the expressions on both their faces was enough.
I'm...really sorry.
I am, too.
We're good?
Good.