Thank you to everyone for all the kind reviews and follows! I will try to update more frequently :)

Everyone immediately got to work, as Jake continued to bark out orders. The seriousness in his tone was disconcerting to the crime team, and they began busting about the crime scene to do their jobs. Amy started towards Jake, but stopped as she realized that his hands were shaking. She started to say something, reaching out to put her hand on his arm. Before she could, Jake brushed past her and went into the other room. She sighed as his strangely authoritative tone echoed back to her from the next room, and turned to complete her usual thorough and meticulous observations of the scene.

Amy found herself sucked in to her work as her focus tunneled onto the body and scene before her. After a while, however, she began to feel a nagging feeling in her gut that something was out of place. Looking up, she suddenly realized that Jake was nowhere to be seen. Frowning, she stood up from where she had been squatting and wiped her palms on her pants, a nervous habit. She searched the entire apartment, but was unable to find her boisterous partner anywhere.

Her concern mounting, she stepped out into the hall to search the hallway, where she finally found him. He was sitting on the ground with his knees to his chest, and as she jogged over to where he was she could hear his ragged, gasping breaths.

Quickly squatting down next to him, Amy put her hands on his shoulders and gripped him tightly. "Jake…Jake, look at me...follow my breathing, see how I'm breathing? Just follow what I'm doing, ok?" she spoke in a low tone that sounded far more strong and confident than she felt, but after a minute it seemed to be working.

Jake's head snapped up and his eyes zeroed in on her face, but he appeared to be seeing right through her. He reached up and grabbed her arms and gripped them tightly, and she could feel his fingernails digging into her skin through her blouse as he clutched at her desperately, his arms still trembling.

She continued to exaggeratedly breathe in and out until his gasping slowly evened out to deep, shaky breaths, and Amy nearly sank to the ground in relief. There had been several times during their partnership where the situation had been reversed. Amy's anxiety and OCD would sometimes accumulate into a full-blown panic attack, and each time Jake had patiently talked her through it and calmed her down.

No one else on the squad really knew about that part of Amy, save for Captain Holt. Jake, however, was her partner, and spent enough time with her to understand her in ways that amazed her at times. He was always able to tell when she was heading towards panic, and was surprisingly good at talking her back down and helping her.

The first time it had happened was very early on in their partnership. They had been working nonstop on a kidnapping case of a little girl who looked way too much like Amy's niece and was taking way too long to find. Neither of them had slept more than a few hours on the breakroom couch the last three days, and Amy had never seen Jake so serious and focused about anything. They finally found her, somehow working out the pieces roughly around 2am and springing into action, resulting in a work day that did not end until well into the afternoon. Amy had been keeping it together fairly well, and she had been feeling proud of herself for that fact. However, once everything was processed and the little girl was finally able to go home with her teary eyed, very appreciative mother, she had stopped to hug both Jake and Amy, whispering a quiet thank you as she did, and that was just about all Amy could take.

She tried channeling the writhing ball of anxiety and nerves in her stomach into her paperwork, but after cleaning and reorganizing her desk several times, she finally gave up and retreated to the roof, where she collapsed in the corner and broke down.

Jake had found her, and had stumbled his way through helping her calm down, holding her close and taking to her softly and telling her that it was alright until she was able to breathe again and the world had stopped spinning. Amy had found out later that after that day, he had researched extensively and learned how to cope with a panic attack, and to this day it was one of the kindest things anyone has ever done for her.

Amy shook away the thoughts and memories that had momentarily distracted her, and looked down at her partner. Jake was now sitting, staring at his still-shaking, fidgeting hands and looked somewhat ashamed.

"You ok?" she asked softly. She knew it was a stupid question, but she asked anyway. He looked up and met her eyes guiltily, twisting his face into a wry grin that didn't reach his eyes.

"Guess it was time for some payback, huh?" he said, looking back down at his hands.

"Jake," Amy began, but he waved her off and began to stand up.

"It's cool, Ames," he said in a tone that could almost pass as flippant. "I freaked out a little cause yeah…I knew the kid. I stuck my neck out for him coupla times. I really thought he might be turning his life around. I was just talking to him the day before yesterday…" Jake trailed off, his eyes pooling with a dark uneasiness that Amy had never seen before.

"He was just a kid," he whispered brokenly. He turned his head to look away, but not before Amy saw the tears gathering in his eyes, threatening to spill over. She touched his arm gently, taking it as a good sign that he did not flinch or try to shrug her off.

"I'm so sorry Jake," she said softly. "Can I take you home?" She started ushering him towards the elevator, her heart breaking as she noticed the blank, hollow look in his eye. The elevator ride was silent as each detective became wrapped up and lost in their own thoughts. Amy nearly jumped when Jake broke the quiet.

"Let's just go back to the precinct," he said, his voice so quiet and un-Jake like that for a moment Amy thought she imagined it.

"Are you sure? I don't know if that's such a good idea…" Amy looked over at her partner, taking in his sagging posture and the dark circles under his eyes, frowning as he raked his hands through his hair. Jake squeezed his eyes closed.

"Please, Amy…I just need to start working on this case. I owe it to him, I need to do this…please…"

Amy signed deeply. "Fine," she agreed softly, "but you have to go home at a reasonable time tonight."

Jake gave a humorless snort and exited the elevator without a word, Amy following behind him with a worried frown.