"Dude, why are you still in your boxers?" Amy came out of the bedroom dressed and ready to go.

"My pants are in the dryer, I kind of spilled orange soda on them."

Amy took a deep breath, "you told me you wouldn't eat cereal with orange soda anymore, and you also said you didn't have any soda in the house."

Jake swallowed, "I didn't lie, about the soda in the house, it was in the trunk of my car." He saw the look at her face and quickly interjected, "so technically, I didn't lie, no soda in the house, yet I can tell from the look on your fact that it is just as bad."

Amy closed her eyes, "Babe, I can't fight this, c'mon man, I'm not trying to be a mom, I just want you to be healthier."

"Sorry, the new job has been stressful." Jake grabbed his pants from the dryer, "a little wet, but not bad."

"How has it been more stressful than just being a normal detective?" It was Wednesday, their third day of working in Holt's new task force to focus on individual drug cartels or organizations working in Brooklyn. The first day had been instructions, Holt's mission for the task force, and introductions to the unit and the new members, detectives Sloan and Newsome.

"These guys that we're after, the Bratvas, they sent the bomb, to you Ames, it's kind of freaky. I'm doing okay, but I feel more stressed just because everything we do is going to piss those guys off, and that could be dangerous."

Amy sat down and pulled Jake's arm, so he was sitting next to her, "I know, but we'll be smart. If we follow the protocols set up by Captain Holt, we'll be safe. The other things happened because of dirty cops."

"You're right, and honestly, I'm just kind of nervous. Holt did say something about a stake out happening, that could be tense. If it's one of us and not the other, then we won't see each other for a while, and if it's both of us, it's another test of how we'll respond, as a couple, under pressure."

Amy looked nervous, Jake knew the look, while they had only been a couple for close to two months, they had spent nearly every hour of those days together, and he had learned many of her tells. This nervous look meant she knew something.

"Okay Ames, what do you know and how could you not tell me?" He didn't look mad, he looked more amused as he knew she hadn't told him to not make him nervous.

"Holt told me who is involved in the stakeout and how, he told me it was up to me when I told you. With you already being nervous…"

"Ames, it's okay, just tell me now."

"The Bratvas are suspected to work out of a factory in East Flatbush that make legitimate products, some sort of gears for bicycles, I think. There is a large abandoned factory next door, you and I will spend up to one week in a large storage pod. Don't give me that look, this one is equipped with a thermostat, microwave, bed, fridge, food of course, and designed so air enters but not the elements. There are twenty cameras for us to monitor all angles. We are tasked with watching at night, the day time has been observed, and nothing has been seen. They feel they were too obvious in their efforts to observe them at night, so the officers involved never witnessed anything."

"Okay, a storage pod?"

"It will have the name of an actual company that moves equipment and goods for large companies. Other pods will be placed and moved through the week, ours has a number that will be switched when they come to replace the other pods."

Jake closed his eyes and tried to imagine what the conditions would be like, what it would feel like to be trapped in a windowless pod for a week. His mind focused on some ugly scenarios, but with the thought of being there with Amy, it didn't seem as terrifying or daunting. "Okay, I can do that. Holt really wanted the two of us?"

Amy smirked, "well, he actually wanted you and Rosa, but I pointed out that while Rosa is amazing, she is short with co-workers and you and I have experience working through stressful situations and personal space isn't an issue with us."

Jake nodded, "cool, cool, cool, cool. I mean, it sounds pretty safe. Can we exit those metal coffins if there's an emergency? I mean, remember in Apollo 13, those astronauts that died because the door wouldn't open?"

"I'm surprised you watched a somewhat factual movie." She smiled at him, knowing that him making a movie reference was a good sign and showed his nerves were improving.

"Hey, it had Tom Hanks and Bill Paxton. Game over man, Aliens, nailed it."

Amy laughed, relieved to see him on board and joking about it. "The most difficult part will be noise. We will have to be careful. During the day, there will be crews cleaning out the building to make the pod and action around the factory seem legit and not out of the ordinary. We don't want to spook them. Holt even has a worker going over and apologizing to the Bratva's factory manager for the noise and will tell them they only work during the day. When the noise is going on, we can debrief Holt on the phone."

"How quiet do we have to be at night, has anyone tested it, noise wise?"

Amy nodded, "yes, this unit has been used by a precinct in Long Island. You can't hear normal speaking unless you press your ear against it but yelling and laughing can be heard to those close by. We just have to be careful. The daytime workers provide noise so that we can use the shower, but you can't do Jake showers, there is limited water available for that."

Jake nodded, "okay, what's the toilet situation like."

Amy frowned slightly, "that's the worst part, and it's not bad. It's a self-contained compostable toilet. It's literally in a small closet in a corner."

Jake made a face, "okay, that might be weird, and gross, but it is what it is I guess. For a stakeout on super violent drug lords, not bad."

"Holt also knows your love of movies and music, so he made sure they put in a big screen t.v. with blue tooth headphones for down time. He spoke to me in private about this yesterday, explained what the set up was and asked for my opinion, telling me he thought you and Rosa would be good, he didn't want to include me because he thought that because of the bomb it might be too much."

Jake's face now showed the concern he felt, "are you sure you're okay with this? That it's not too much? It probably would be for me."

Amy shook her head, "no, I feel good about it, I really do. They won't know anyone is in the surveillance pod, and even if they suspected it, they wouldn't know who, and the hit on me was because of O'Leary, who's now in prison."

"Okay, I believe you. I just worry."

"I know, but part of why I know I can do it is that you've been my stress relief, you've helped me through all of this, and it's been a lot."

"Cool, cool, cool, cool. Now for the terrifying question, when do we start this confinement in a steel box?"

Amy tried to smile but realized how her not telling him might have been a mistake, "tomorrow first thing, as long as you're on board."

Jake's face couldn't mask the surprise and slightly hurt feelings that she hadn't told him sooner, he swallowed hard. "Okay, that shouldn't make a difference. I'm cool, so cool, super cool, no probs, no probs."

"I'm sorry, I should have told you sooner." Amy gently massaged one of his shoulders.

Jake shook his head slowly, "honestly, I gets it Ames. You worry about me, I worry about you, it makes sense. I just have to wrap my head around it."

"It was stupid of me not to Jake, we could have been packing and preparing, although food is taken care of, including orange soda, your stress drink."

Jake grinned, "noice, thanks Ames."

She sighed, "I should have told you but no use dwelling on that now. Today at work will be nothing but training on the surveillance unit. We will be instructed in how to operate, change out, and fix the cameras and equipment."

"You'll love that, all the tech stuff. I like some of it, but if they talk for more than five minutes, they just sound like the teacher from the old Charlie Brown commercials. Bwah bwah bwah bwaaah."

Amy laughed and just shook her head, "okay, you're sure you're not mad, and okay with all of this? I know it's a lot."

"I'm good, I swear. Plus, doing it in a metal box, pretty hot."

Amy rolled her eyes, but also smiled enough that Jake felt a little turned on in the moment, "yes, that's fine, we can, however, me being me, there will be rules."

"Nothing sexier than rules dictating love and sex."

Amy hit him softly, "there have to be rules when it's sex during a stakeout, which is part of our jobs, then there have to be Jake. First, only during the day when we are supposed to rest or sleep, second, we have to try to be as quiet as possible, and third and possibly most importantly, you cannot talk about it to anyone." Jake started to nod and looked like he was about to speak before Amy interrupted him, "I mean anyone Jake, not Charles, not Rosa, not Terry. No one. Our personal lives have to remain personal, this is our job and you know I try to be as professional as possible."

"I'm on board with all of those. I promise to behave and not embarrass you."

Amy tilted her head and took his hand in hers, "it's not about being embarrassed, that doesn't bother me. This is my profession Jake. I just went through hell because a man thought it was okay to use his position to guilt or trick me into having sex with him. As a woman, I have to be ten times as careful as you about the vibe I give off, or all the creepers start surrounding likes sharks on chum. You love Jaws and some of the terrible shark movies, so you know what that's like."

Jake agreed silently, he hadn't thought of all he had seen her go through. His thoughts had been about being alone with his girlfriend on stakeout and the possibilities, not the obvious issues he should have thought about and how they affected her. "Sorry Ames, I should have thought about that after all I've seen you deal with. And for the record, the other shark movies are awesome because they are terrible. Jaws 3, the shark is at an aquarium attacking people, so stupid, yet so awesome."

Thirty minutes later they entered the precinct, Holt immediately ushered them into his office. "Detective Santiago, has Detective Peralta been filled in with the details of the surveillance opportunity yet?"

Amy nodded, "yes sir, he has."

Holt placed a finger on his chin, "And you, detective Peralta, are you on board with the plan? You are okay with the difficulties involved in this particular circumstance?"

Jake glanced nervously at Amy and then at Holt again, "I am. It's not one hundred percent ideal, but I know it will help the case and is the best possible way we have right now."

Holt paused before speaking again, "and you are all right working with your girlfriend in such close proximities for so long?"

"Well yeah, that's the easiest part."

Holt nodded, "I see. Well I hope the two of you can make it work. Your off hours are yours to use as you see fit, you are not officially on duty in those hours and…well, I think you understand what I am desperately trying not to say."

Jake grinned and Amy nodded, "yes sir. Thank you?"

Holt wiped his brow with his handkerchief, "I did not intend to make this awkward, I just know that for couples, you have a closeness and also a way to relieve stress…dear God I'm not making this any better."

Amy closed her eyes as Jake tried his best to not laugh and simply look as serious as possible, "sir, we understand, thank you. There are challenges involved, but as we talked about, we have experience in dealing with stress, in fact, it's all we know so far in our relationship."

"That cannot be an ideal way to start, but you have made it work and I trust you can make it work for this purpose." Amy and Jake both nodded as Holt continued, "I have also decided we need a team ready to provide cover or back up at any given time. I requested a team of three officers be three blocks away in a secure location. They will work twelve hour shifts and be ready at moment's need. They can also extract the two of you if needed. Detective Diaz will lead one team and I will lead the other. The cameras you have do not transmit to anywhere else. There is too much danger of interference or of a seasoned team of criminals such as the Bratva organization being able to track or detect such signals, so what you record is all we will have. You are to alert of us of when you see any movements during the night. Once we establish a pattern, we can make some arrests. We hope to get to a midlevel man in their organization and put the pressure on him to cooperate. I have documents showing that any of them can be extradited to the Ukraine where they would receive the death penalty for their involvement with such a notorious outfit. It is fake of course, but it should prove most effective."

"Wow, you're going all out on this Captain, balls to wall." Jake immediately stopped and could feel Amy's glaring eyes on him.

Holt offered a brief smile, "a rather crude sentiment Peralta, but effective nonetheless in its meaning. Yes, I must give it all I can to show how effective smaller teams with one purpose can be. We shed the weight of ineffective officers and lose much of the red tape that can bog down the actual important work we do as officers of the law, I hope the top brass will take notice."

"Sorry sir," Amy spoke somewhat curtly, she was still mad at Jake, "he's a work in progress for some of his speech patterns and choices."

Holt waved a dismissive hand, "think nothing of it, detective, he is honest and unabashed in his verbal communication. While I could never do such a thing, I admire his frankness and passion for the work. Why just yesterday, Kevin, my husband, said like a boss after stating how he weeded our backyard. We both had a hearty chuckle about that."

"I'll bet," Jake said trying his best to not erupt with laughter.

After the meeting with Captain Holt, the rest of the day was spent in technical and safety training. Jake put forth a good effort to pay attention, but by the end of the different trainings, the instructor still sounded like a Charlie Brown adult to him. Amy could tell when he was mentally checking out and tried to hurry the instructor as she already knew the information and knew Jake wouldn't get anything else from it.

An hour before their shift was to end, Amy and Jake were driven in unmarked police van to a warehouse where the pod was being stored. Jake knew it would be small, but upon seeing the storage pod, he already felt claustrophobic. The pod was twenty feet long, eight feet wide, and eight and half feet high. Some of Jake's nervousness went away when he and Amy were shown the interior. The walls were lined with wood, he could see the a/c and heating units. There was a small closet on each side as you entered the pod, one was the shower, the other was the bathroom. The bed was a top of the line sofa bed combination, Jake was pleasantly surprised when he laid on it, it was nicer than his old mattress was, before it was destroyed in the fire. There was a regular sized fridge, a small sink, and mid-sized microwave. As promised, on one wall was a tv, Jake was handed a bag of thumb drives.

Dan Sellars, who was showing them around the pod explained that Holt had instructed him in Jake's movie preferences. He was impressed to hear that it included all of the Die Hards and many other films he enjoyed as well. On the far end of the pod was a bank of screens and desks with keyboards, Sellars then pointed out the small black boxes just below the ceiling on the walls through out the pod. Those were the cameras, there was a large box containing spare cameras and parts for repairs.

Jake shook his head as he exited the storage pod, "damn, the thing really looks like just a regular shitty storage pod."

"Captain Holt's design. He suggested it to me in a meeting a few years back. He never got the credit he deserved, but that should change now."

"Those cabinets you saw just above head level contain your food and clothing. You have to know that Boyle was in charge of some of the purchases, so when you see the large box of condoms and edible gels, those were from him."

Jake and Amy both had disgusted looks on their faces, "sorry Sellars, Boyle is obsessed with us." Jake had to make a mental note to get on Charles for this, it always did way more damage than good with Amy.

As they returned to the Nine-Nine, Holt held a briefing with all the members of his new unit to explain the specifics of the operation and everyone's personal responsibilities. Both Amy and Jake felt good about the operation as Holt had everything well planned, including contingency plans and emergency procedures. The briefing didn't last long, and everyone wished them well, as they were about leave, Holt held them back for a second. "Pack up tonight, be ready to go at seven thirty. I will personally pick you up and drop you off a hotel, a nice one. You will be picked up from there, from a back entrance that will be explained to you in materials found in your hotel room at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. From there you will be taken to the warehouse from earlier today and settle into your surveillance pod which be picked up and placed by our target at nine o'clock, at the same time that three other pods are placed. They will be loaded throughout the day. Your pod will be picked up and moved each day. You will be advised when it will happen. Sellars will run that operation from the warehouse. Any questions?"

Amy and Jake looked at each other, Jake shook his head, "No sir. Detective Peralta and I are somewhat apprehensive, but we understand the plan and we have confidence in our support team and know that there plans and people in place if something goes wrong."

"Wisely said detective Santiago. I worry when detectives are not at least somewhat anxious. This job is not without its dangers. We must be careful and be realistic with ourselves, it helps us to be the appropriate amount of cautious. I will see you tonight and give my last minute instructions and pep talk at that time."

After a quick dinner at Jake's favorite taco truck, they returned home to pack. Amy pulled a fully packed small suitcase. She replaced a few items and zipped it shut. "Done."

"Yeah, because you knew about it and packed yesterday."

"I did not. This is my emergency suitcase. I switched out my conservative undergarments for something more appropriate for our situation, but I can switch them back."

Jake shook his head, "no, don't do that. I'll shut up. Again, you're always a step ahead of me."

Jake took an armful of genes and t-shirts from the dresser. Before living with Amy, he hadn't kept things orderly in dressers, but he was doing his best to not make her regret inviting him to live with her. He counted quickly, seven t-shirts, four pairs of jeans, five pairs of boxers, three pairs of socks, and three pairs of sneakers. That would have to do he thought, the rest of his clothes were dirty, and Amy told him he couldn't bring more than three pairs of sneakers.

Captain Holt and Terry arrived five minutes early, but both were ready, Terry drove the van as Holt talked to them. "My last minute in person instructions to you both are to first, trust each other. Second, do not hesitate to call for assistance if you feel that your target is on to you. Third, do not put this job or assignment above each other. Mistakes in one's job are not preferred, but are easier to fix than a relationship that you value."

Terry stopped the van at the hotel drop-off, Captain Holt helped them with their bags and gave them their room key as they were already checked in. Amy opened the door to the room, "wow, Jake, this room is really nice, especially considering the NYPD is paying for it."

Jake looked around the spacious and elegant room, "yeah, it's nice, but it could have been a motel six, I just need a bed and you."

Amy rolled her eyes and waved a dismissive hand, "yes, we can have sex."

Jake laughed and shook his head, "not that, all though I wouldn't say no, have you seen you? But I just meant I just want to rest and hang out with you. We don't know what kind of stress and shit this assignment will bring, so a night before the stress to just chill, very noice. Toit."

Amy set her suitcase by the bed and sat down, "this bed is much nicer than a motel six bed, so I'll take this one, but I agree, it's nice to have a night away from the stress before we go into the unknown."

Jake looked over at her and felt a wave of gratitude, even in the best of circumstances, any normal cop knew that the possibility of a week-long stakeout, especially a high-stakes one in a steel box observing cold blooded killers, was a time bomb waiting to go off. Jake instead felt fortunate to be with someone he knew he would do his best to keep happy and knew they would do the same. He had done long stakeouts with Rosa and later with Hitchcock, and each one had been disastrous. The natural stress of the situation and being in such close-proximity to someone else had natural and unpleasant consequences.

Jake laid back on the bed, "this mattress is amazingly soft, but the one in the pod is still way better than the lumpy thing I had in my old apartment."

Amy laid on top him, her arms and hands on the sides on his head, her fingers slowly feeling and twirling the curls in his hair. "I know this situation might get tense, but you have to remember, I really do love you. So much, Jake, it's scary at times."

Jake was about to respond when Amy's lips came crashing down on his, he felt the passion as her hands began tugging at his shirt. As Jake's shirt came off, he looked up to see an already topless Amy, her bronzed skin, dark eyes, and the smile he knew he could never get tired of.

After several minutes of kissing and their hands moving and grabbing everywhere, Amy lifted up her hips and slid off her remaining clothing. Jake clumsily removed his jeans and boxers and before they hit the floor, Amy pulled him, so he was on top of her. Before kissing any part of her gorgeous body that now lay underneath him, he just took in her eyes, again reminding himself how lucky he was. His kisses started on her neck and jaw line, gently working slowly downward. As he reached her breasts, he softly kissed every inch of available real estate before using his tongue on her hardened nipples. Amy released a soft sound of approval as he did, her body starting to move in uncontrolled motions as she enjoyed more and more what he was doing. In his mind, Jake had grand plans of what he wanted to do to bring her pleasure, but her hands grabbing his erection and guiding him to her entrance changed that.

Amy winced in way he found incredibly sexy as he entered her, but before he could begin to move, her hips began thrust upward. He felt lazy and like he should do something more, but by look on her face, she was doing just fine being in control. He movements began to come with more force, each movement making a hard-slapping sound combined with their own grunts of strain and pleasure. Jake tried to remain as still as possible as he felt himself reaching his limit. He tried to think of anything to do with Hitchcock and Scully to stop the inevitable, but it was no use. He tried to warn her but instead he could only grunt as he released.

Amy grinned up at him, her forehead beaded with sweat, her body glistening, but her movements didn't slow down at all. Jake tried to apply more pressure to make up for the fact that he had finished his part, but before he could worry very much, Amy closed her eyes intensely, her movements becoming somewhat erratic, "Jake, shit. I love you!"

As she stopped, Jake removed himself and lay next to her, admiring the woman he had met at one of the worst times in her life, yet she was still amazing. "Do you ever worry what we'll be like when life isn't stressful?"

She smiled at him, "it's funny, I've wondered the same thing, but the more I thought about, I realized it was stupid."

"Stupid? Okay, first, harsh. Why stupid?"

"Jake, we're cops in the NYPD, detectives, we deal with other cops and criminals, if life feels easy, we're doing something wrong."

Jake nodded, "noice. Toit. Smort."