"So, you looking forward to Halloween?" Jake asked Amy absentmindedly. They were sat at the bar at Shaw's, grabbing a celebratory drink after solving a big case together.
"It's gonna be so normal!" Amy exclaimed without thinking, then winced, cursing her big mouth. Holt had specifically told them not to say anything to Jake and she was pretty sure she had just blown that. Jake gave her a puzzled look.
"Okay…" Jake was confused by Amy's behaviour, but wrote it off as post case-solving adrenaline. "No plans, huh?"
"Nope! Nothing!" Jake narrowed his eyes at Amy. "What? I just told you I'm not doing anything on Halloween."
"Nah, you're lying to me." Jake replied easily, taking another sip of his drink.
"What? Why would you say that?" Amy was trying her hardest not to blush, but she could feel the tell-tale heat spreading across her cheeks. She tried to remember all of the how to spot a liar seminars she had attended over the years, but it was hard when Jake's eyes were smirking down at her. They said, very clearly, 'I'm going to get the truth out of you, Amy Santiago, and I'm going to enjoy it.'
Jake snorted and shook his head. "Amy what sort of a detective would I be if I told you what your tells were? No way, I'm definitely keeping that particular bit of information to myself." Amy waited for Jake to continue speaking, but he simply drummed his fingers on the counter of the bar as he trained his eyes onto hers.
Jake knew exactly what Amy's tells were. He'd known for years and greatly enjoyed lording it over her whenever the opportunity presented itself. That's why he knew that in about 3 seconds Amy would become uncomfortable with the silence, drop her gaze and start picking at the hem of her shirt.
And 3…2…1…bingo.
Amy was becoming unnerved by Jake's unwavering stare. She raised an eyebrow, assuming the display of defiance would lead him off the scent, but he merely settled his face onto his hand and kept staring. It's gonna look weird if I don't break the eye contact, right? Amy wasn't sure how often she normally made eye contact in a conversation but it couldn't be for this long. It felt like she hadn't spoken in forever. The situation was getting critical now; Amy was almost certain her tell was too much eye contact. She flicked her eyes down to fiddle with a loose thread on the bottom of her shirt, so that she wouldn't do something stupid like put her hands over her mouth or something. Because of this, she missed Jake quirking the corner of his mouth up in triumph.
"See now, I know you know that I'm not gonna let this go until you tell me the truth, so you can either wait for me to figure it out, an option I prefer because it'll be way more embarrassing for you, or you can just tell me and we can both go along our merry way."
Amy hopped down from the bar stool. "I pick door number 3. I go and get another drink and by the time I come back you have forgotten about the whole thing." She started to walk off, but Jake laughed and grabbed her arm, swinging himself around so he was stood in front of her, blocking her path. Amy pursed her lips together slightly. "Move Peralta, or I'll jab you in the ribs again." She took slight satisfaction at the way Jake's arms jumped automatically up to his chest. He tried to cover the movement by folding his arms but the glint in Amy's eye told him that she knew.
"Oh Amy, there is no door number 3, and unfortunately you just forfeited your choice." Jake smiled sinisterly and rubbed his hands together. "I guess we're doing this the hard way."
Amy shook her head, exasperated. "Jake." She began condescendingly. "I'm a trained detective. I've got one of the highest interrogation records in the precinct and I've been to more lie detection seminars than you've probably even heard of. You're going to embarrass yourself." She said all of this in that condescending tone that always seemed to come out whenever she sensed a challenge was on its way.
"Oh please, I never get embarrassed." Jake took a step closer to Amy, who stood her ground but leaned her body back slightly. He watched her eyes flicker around until they eventually settled somewhere on his chest and grinned when he saw the blush creep back onto her face. "You, however, embarrass very easily. I plan on exploiting that." He proved his point by taking another step closer, until her face was almost touching his chest.
Almost unconsciously, Amy took a step back to try and give herself some more space and cleared her throat when her back hit the bar behind her. She was effectively trapped and swore to herself in her head. Jake knew that she was claustrophobic and couldn't believe he was doing this.
Amy swallowed. She was glad they hadn't officially made a bet, because if these were Jake's tactics she was pretty sure she was going to lose. Torn, Amy deliberated her plan of action. On the one hand, she really wanted Jake to move back, but she didn't want him to know he was getting to her. There was no way she would go down without a fight.
"This is a low blow, Peralta." Amy said through gritted teeth, keeping her eyes on Jake's folded arms.
"Name of your sex tape." Jake grinned. "And I don't know what you mean! Why, are you uncomfortable? I'm just stood here talking to you, my good friend and colleague!" Jake spread his arms out at his sides, so that he almost encircled Amy. He knew exactly what he was doing. He had noticed that Amy never deliberately got close to people. When they stood next to her she would shuffle just a tiny bit away, and whenever someone (usually him) leaned down behind her to read her computer screen, she would tense until he moved. He also knew that Amy was near her breaking point, and with the right incentives she would tell him exactly what he needed to know.
"I'm not uncomfortable. I've never felt more comfortable in my life." Jake didn't even bother to hide his laugh at the obvious lie. "Now get out of my way Peralta. I want to get another drink."
"But I thought you were perfectly comfortable?" Jake asked too innocently. Amy glared up at him for a moment and his smile grew wider when he saw that he was getting to her. "Tell me what I want to know and I'll move."
Amy scowled at him. "You'll move now." She said, mostly to herself and tried to push him out of the way, but to no avail.
How is he stronger than me? Amy thought disbelievingly. She went to the gym 3 times a week and ate grown up food, while Jake never worked out and probably hadn't eaten a vegetable in his adult life, and yet he still didn't budge when she pushed against him with all her might. Stupid Jake with his stupid muscles that he doesn't even deserve.
Jake let Amy try to move him until she growled in frustration, then grabbed her wrists lightly. She glanced up at him in surprise and Jake could see the intense discomfort hiding behind her eyes. He stood up to his full height (he was actually quite a bit taller than Amy when he bothered to stand properly, especially when she was stood at an angle like she was now) so that she was completely surrounded by him. He knew he was using unfair tactics, and he did actually feel quite bad, but Amy had gotten herself into this when she had lied to him in the first place. "Tell me what I want to know." Amy pressed her lips together and shook her head defiantly, but her widened eyes and red face betrayed her. "Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me." He leaned in until they were almost impossibly close, and he was breathing the same air that Amy was shallowing breathing in and out.
She saw the look in Jake's eyes, that dark one he got when he was determined and would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. She was so overwhelmed by how close he was that she felt like she couldn't breathe, her brain froze. He kept repeating those two words, "Tell me. Tell me." and Amy knew she had to get out of that little circle of Jake, no matter what it took.
"Captain Holt is planning next Halloween with everyone and he's got a plan formed and everything he's got everyone involved to take you down." Amy clenched her eyes shut as the words came tumbling out of her mouth in a rush, not wanting to see the look of victory on Jake's face. She couldn't believe she had betrayed Captain Holt like that, and to Jake no less.
Jake was smiling so widely he looked like he had a plate in his mouth. He stepped back, grinning insanely, keeping his word to move away when he got what he wanted. He watched Amy put her face in her hands, knowing what was going her head at the moment.
He couldn't believe that had actually worked. He had had a theory, of course. Jake had always been able to know when Amy was lying, but now that he knew how to make her tell him the truth, well, his life just got a whole lot more interesting.
"Thanks Ames." Jake said cheerfully, ignoring the look of pure venom he was getting from Amy. She knew that nothing would ever be safe from him again, gone were the days when she would be able to keep secrets from him.
"I hate you. Go die." Jake laughed and swung his arm around her shoulders, noting the way she tensed up almost instantly.
"Aww, don't worry Amy, I won't do it all the time. Where's the fun in that?" He winced when she jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. Hard. "Ow Amy, that hurt." He complained, withdrawing his arm to rub his chest in indignation.
"Good." She muttered. "I swear, if you tell anyone…" Amy made a threatening gesture with her hands at Jake, who held up his own in a gesture of peace.
"My lips are sealed. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a heist to prepare for." He dropped a kiss on the top of her head before she could hit him and ran out of the bar to her threats yelled menacingly at his back.