Chapter Sixteen: Operation Broken Feather

"We are going to KICK ASS today" Jake said as he got up that morning. Rosa watched him slyly, as he danced around the kitchen. Today was their annual football game against the Fire department, and given Jake's history with Boone, she concluded that Jake was in for the win.

Rosa watched, as Jake gave the big speech and then, with albeit a little help from Terry, Jake scored a goal.

They won with a triumphant victory, and celebrated that night at Shaw's bar.

"TO THE NINE-NINE!" Terry said holding up his glass, and they all cheered.

A few drinks down the line, Rosa and Jake decided to leave. Boyle too, so it didn't seem odd.

As soon as they got back, Jake sat down at his laptop, whilst Rosa walked off to her room. She came out a few minutes later wearing an almost see-through Lingerie one-piece and a thin robe over it.

"Are you ready to celebrate your victory?" She asked in a sultry voice

"In a minute. I just have to do one thing first" Jake replied, not looking up from his laptop. Rosa walked over and sat beside him. Surprised to see that he had logged into his NYPD account.

"What are you doing?" she asked

"I have an open case. One that's bugging me. Murderer. I've been chasing him for like three months now. I have him almost dead to rights. I know where he is, I've done enough stakeouts, to work his entire daily routine. He has a motive, the Victim owed him about $15,000, he has no alibi, I have witnesses, but no CCTV footage or fingerprints. I just need some evidence to get this in the bag" Jake said

"Ok. You said the murder was three months ago?" Rosa asked

"Give or take, yes" Jake replied

"Ok. Well run me through the crime scene" She said

"Not much. Some hikers called in a dead DOA, maimed, dismembered. We found a hand half a mile away. But there were no fingerprints on the body. We went to the dead guy's house and found that he had been murdered in there, then the body dragged away, about three miles to the park" Jake said

"How did they drag him?" Rosa asked

"They found him on a blanket. I assume they dragged him on that. But nothing on the blanket" Jake said

"So, he wore gloves. Have you been through this guy's trash to find any?" She asked

"By the time that came, it was too late" Jake said

"Well. What about the murder weapon?" She asked

"There was a semi-blunt kitchen knife found in the apartment. Crime techs matched the blood to the victim, but there was no fingerprints" Jake said

"Anything in the apartment?" she asked

"No. And nothing in the hall either" He added

"Well. What about the door?" She asked

"What?" He asked

"He must have broken into the apartment somehow" She said

"Here" Jake said tapping a few keys and bringing up pictures of the crime scene.

"When were these taken?" She asked

"At the time" Jake said

"And did you find the break in tool inside? He found the murder weapon inside the apartment, so how did he get in? These pictures clearly show the door had been bust open" Rosa said

"Nothing in the apartment, or in the hall" Jake said

"Well it has to be somewhere" She said

"He dragged the body out. He could easily have brought it" Jake said

"There is no easy way to drag a body 3 miles. It must have gone in a car" She said

"I guess" Jake said

"Well. He'd have his hands full, and the body would have showed wood splinters if the weapon touched the body. Did it?" She asked. He shook his head

"No" He replied

"Have Crime Techs released the scene yet?" she asked

"No. Still under investigation" Jake said

"Come on" She said

"What?" Jake asked, finally turning to look at her "Wow" He said

"Come on. Let's go solve this case" She said

"But... Fuck Rosa" He said looking at her body

"Later. Solve the case, and you know the deal" She said with a wink, she walked off to get changed, and before Jake had even logged out of his computer, she had returned in her usual jeans, top and jacket attire

"Let's go" She said grabbing her car keys.

They drove to the site, and Jake showed his badge to the on-duty guard who nodded, letting them in.

"Ok. So, there's CCTV outside, shows him going into the building. We lose him, and we have no view of him ever leaving. So, he must have gotten out through the basement, which connects to a garage" Jake said

"Why come in that way? If he didn't have a weapon when he came in, then he must have something hidden inside" Rosa said

"You'd have thought" Jake said. They walked around and Rosa noticed a screw on the floor

"Was this noted?" She asked to the screw. Jake looked

"I told them not to, you get bits all over the place" He said. Rosa looked around

"Looks like it came from the air vent" She said noticing the vent was only held on by 3 screws now.

"Is it?" Jake asked. Rosa slipped on some blood gloves.

"Give me a leg up?" she asked. Jake picked her up with ease, and pulling a tool from her picket, she made quick work of the air vent, opening it, and poking her head inside

"BINGO!" She called

"No way! You actually found it?" he asked

"I found more than just it" She replied, pulling out a crowbar, and a box of gloves.

"How the fuck do you do that?" Jake asked

"Always the case. When me and you get on a job together, out of hours we solve it quick. Come on, let's go and get some analysis on this" She said. They drove to the 98 which was closer and had the crime techs analyse it. An anxious 10 minute wait then they were called in.

"So. We did our analysis, and yeah. The fingerprints match the Murderer" The tech said

"Way to go, we cracked the case!" Rosa celebrated

"You're incredible" Jake replied. They stopped by the Nine-nine on their way home, and Jake put through an arrest warrant, before they went back home and Rosa slipped back into her lingerie, only to have it ripped from her moments later by Jake.

-The Next Morning-

Jake and Rosa had their usual routine of getting to work, but as soon as Jake arrived in and checked his emails, finding his warrant had been approved, he grabbed Rosa, they drove for about three minutes, arrested the perp then drove back before even Amy got to the Precinct.

"I'm going to grab some breakfast, I'll see you in a bit" Jake said as Holt walked up to him.

Rosa sat at her desk when the phone rang. It was downstairs.

"Detective Diaz" She greeted

"Diaz, it's Marty. Just so you know, Detective Pembroke from Major crimes is on his way over, they have taken over a murder which Detective Peralta is on, some murder from three years ago" Marty said

"WHAT?" Rosa yelled hanging up.

"What's wrong?" Amy and Terry asked hearing the commotion

"The Vulture's on his way, for Jake's murder" Rosa said quickly as they ran over to Jake.

"Jake! JAKE!" Amy hissed

"Uh oh! This can't be good!" Jake said seeing Rosa's facial expression

"Major Crimes Division just called. They're taking over your murder case! The Vulture is on his way here now!" Terry said. Jake locked eyes with Rosa who nodded. Confirming it for him

"NO! Doesn't that guy get tired of stealing our cases?" Jake asked "He took one from me and Rosa last week" Jake said referring to when Pembroke caught the guy after he had made them run up ten flights of stairs. They were both so pissed off that night they just ranted until the early hours of the morning. After a few beers, it got quite entertaining.

"Don't worry. We can stall him until you get the confession" Amy promised him "We rehearsed this everyone. This is not a drill. Everyone know their assignments?" she asked. Rosa and Jake had planned their Operation Broken Feather after their last interaction with the Vulture, and the group split off to their own assignments. Jake ran into the interrogation room, whilst Rosa went to the stairs.

Rosa got a message. 'The vulture still flies' Rosa took her shot. She walked down the stairs, and tried hard to flirt imagining it was Jake, although, she still found the Vulture kind of hot. Not so much after the other week though.

"Hey Pembroke" She greeted "What do you say we go talk about a case in the break room?" She asked sultrily.

"What case?" He asked

"The case of how you got so damn sexy" She replied huskily

"God owed me a favour. Case closed" He said walking off. Rosa bit back her frustration, telling Amy that he was still on the move.

When she got back into the Bullpen, Jake was walking out with Pembroke.

"I did it!" He called. Before walking over

"He confessed to killing the neighbour too" He whispered to Rosa, whose eyes widened in shock.

Once Pembroke had gone, Jake and Rosa returned to the crime scene which they had invaded that night.

"How did we not know about the neighbour?" Jake asked walking to the next door over and knocking on it

"NYPD Open up!" He called. No reply. He knocked again. This time there was a scratching noise inside. Rosa and Jake drew their guns and knocked the door in, and were overcome with the foulest smell.

"Yep. Definitely dead" Jake said referring to the dead body on the floor being eaten by rats. The cause of the scratching. They called in crime techs, but the body had been decomposing for about three months, and the window to the fire escape had been broken.

Gus confessed to having been seen as he went down to the basement, and killed the neighbour in his apartment too.

Open and shut case, Rosa and Jake were pleased.

-One Week Later-

It was the end of the day. Jake and Rosa had been separate all day. Jake arrived home soon after Rosa, as he got caught up in traffic with Amy.

"Your home" Rosa greeted

"Hey" Jake said sitting beside her on the couch, for once not kissing her.

"What's wrong?" she asked

"Did you know that Amy took a job interview with Major Crimes?" He asked

"Amy? She's leaving? I thought she wanted to be captain" Rosa questioned

"She does. She turned down the job" Jake said

"Oh" Rosa replied "So, what's the problem?" She asked

"Nothing. I was just saying" Jake replied. They sat in silence watching TV, until they got tired and went to bed. Jake couldn't focus. He was too focused on his thoughts. The thought of Amy leaving made him sad. It really did. He was starting to have feelings for her, and he hated himself for it. He knew that while Amy flirted with him, he knew that she would definitely not go out with him. She was too obsessed with rules to date a cop.

But Rosa. What he had with Rosa was prefect. He rolled over to face her, sleeping beside her. He leant over and placed a kiss to her cheek. Rosa stirred, smiled and met his lips

"Sorry" He whispered

"Don't worry" She whispered back. He wrapped his arms around her as he finally found sleep. Happy with the girl in his arms.