Chapter Thirty-Five: Stakeout
"Good morning" Jake greeted, waking up Rosa gently with a parade of kisses to her neck, shoulders and eventually up to her lips.
"Morning" Rosa replied
"Happy Anniversary" He said. Rosa smiled
"You remembered" She said
"How can I ever forget?" He asked, as he passed her up a bouquet of long-stemmed white roses
"Ah Jake. They're beautiful" She said
"That's just the start. I have the perfect evening planned for us. And to sweeten the deal" He said as he pulled out an envelope
"Really. Jake you shouldn't have" She said, as she took the envelope from him. She opened it, and found inside two basketball tickets
"Courtside. Tickets are for tomorrow night" Jake said
"You're incredible" She said, as she reached down and pulled out a box of her own
"You didn't have to get me anything" He said
"Come on. You know I did" She said
Jake opened the box and found various things inside. It looked like things from a case. Inside was a picture of the inside of a vent. An apartment under construction. The German flag, a gun and a picture of a party.
"You have ten seconds" She said. Jake flicked his eyes between the images.
"Die hard" he announced
"With 6 seconds to go. Impressive" She said with a smile
"Thank you" he said
"I got you a complete set tour of the first Die Hard, with a meet and greet with Bruce Willis and William Atherton" She said
"Wait. An actual greeting?" He asked
"Yep" She confirmed
"How did you do this?" He asked
"We have a mutual friend" She said
"WHO? HOW?" Jake asked
"I fixed up an old Mustang and sold it to Jason Statham" She said
"How did I not know this?" He asked
"I kept it a surprise" She said. He leant over and kissed her deeply.
"You truly are the most incredible woman ever" He said kissing her once more.
"You know what makes this day even better?" She asked as they were getting dressed into their uniform
"You mean for getting the Meritorious service medal?" Jake asked
"On all days, today. 14 years baby" She said as she practically danced up to him. He laughed lightly at her
"Amazing" He said
Finally dressed, in their full-dress uniform, which Rosa had to admit made Jake even hotter, they drove to the Ceremony at One Police Plaza, meeting Holt and walking about his 'zingers'
Up on stage, Jake was beaming with pride. He had received medals before, but this time, he wasn't proud of himself. He was proud of the woman standing beside him. His woman. She was everything, and the fact that he could have been a part of her getting this award, only made him happier.
Because of their award, they were awarded the rest of the day off. She wanted nothing more than to spend the day with Jake. Their 6th Anniversary, their shifts fell so that they both had the weekend off for their anniversary, and they had the most incredible weekend. Since then they have always had to work at least one of them on their day, and she hated it. It was nice to be able to spend the day with him.
They left the Precinct and went straight for the Bowlarama. It wasn't until 3pm that they were able to leave.
"Bowling?" Rosa asked
"It's been a while" Jake said
"Yeah it has" She said
They played their game, which Jake won but only by a few points, before they got back into his car, and he drove them back home.
"I have us reservations at your favourite Italian place" He said.
"Jake! Really, you shouldn't have" She said
"You're worth it" He replied
As it was only three blocks away, they decided to walk, and they had the most delicious meal of their life. Laughing, joking, talking about cases. Talking about movies, and Die hard. Talking about the Nets. Everything. There wasn't anything that they couldn't talk about
They finished their meal at just gone 11pm. They then walked the long way back, which Jake pulled her at a different path, she knew they were now walking in the opposite direction, but she didn't question it. Jake held her hand, comfortingly as they walked in comfortable chatter. It was nearing midnight, as she and Jake reached the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge. There, bathed in the moonlight, he leant in and kissed her.
"Happy anniversary" He said
"Happy anniversary" She replied, as he kissed her again. So soft, so loving. Jake was certain that he had never loved anyone as much as he loved her.
-Two Days Later -
"I have a confession" Jake said walking home from work one day. Rosa walked out of the bedroom, towel around her waist whilst she was drying her hair
"What the hell did you do?" She asked, as a tall man walked around the corner
"JAKE!" She screamed, trying to give herself some more decency than the towel provided.
"Uh... I can come back" He said
"Nope!" Jake replied grabbing his wrist and pulling him in
"Jake, what's going on?" She asked
"Remember Sophia?" Jake asked
"Your girlfriend, yes" Rosa replied
"This is your boyfriend. Marcus" Jake replied
"Why am I getting a boyfriend?" She asked
"Because I overheard Charles talking about how he's planning to set you up with someone, and we know from when he was trying to set me up that this will never end well." Jake said
"So. Marcus is it?" Jake asked. He nodded
"What's the deal with him?" Rosa asked
"I'm Captain Holt's nephew" Marcus said
"What? No! Jake! This is too far" She said
"Here's the deal. Marcus' job has taken him to New York for a year, but he hasn't got anywhere to stay. He knows that he can stay with Holt and Kevin temporarily, but they won't let him stay for a year without good reason. If he's dating you, that's enough reason to stay. He pretends to be your boyfriend, so we can date in peace, you give Holt a reason not to kick him out" Jake said "What do you think?" He asked
"I think I should actually have some clothes on when we have this discussion" She said.
"Oh, yeah right" Jake said as she walked off.
-One Week Later-
"Listen up, gang" Terry said "We have Intel on a drop house used by Alexei Bisko, a captain in the Ukraine Mafia" He added
"Oh, he should be psyched. That's a very up and coming Mafia" Jake said
"His Soldiers use the site to drop off money and pick up weapons. We need a couple of teams to do long-term stakeouts" Holt said. Rosa excused herself immediately.
"The only decent vantage is this condemned hotel across the street." Holt said
"We can go in as exterminators, but too much movement will look suspicious. It's an Eight-day op, so two teams will do four days each" Terry said Jake volunteered him and Boyle, saying that they could do all eight days. They finished the meeting, and Rosa met Jake outside.
"Trying to avoid me?" She asked once out of earshot from everyone else
"What?" He asked
"Eight days away from me?" she asked
"Come on. You know that's not how it's meant" Jake said
"Yeah I know. I'm just messing with you" She replied
Rosa and Terry helped load Jake and Charles inside, and sorted the food. Looking around she did not envy Jake. Charles and Terry went to sort the bathroom. Once out of sight, Rosa walked up to him
"Have a great time" She said
"The plan with Marcus is to be in action today" He said. She kissed him
"I'm going to miss you" She said
"I'll miss you too. But don't worry. You'll be fine" He said, kissing her once more before Terry and Charles walked out
"And you'll keep an eye on all my open cases?" Jake asked
"Of course" She replied. Terry and Rosa left.
Back at the precinct, Rosa sat at her desk, waiting for the initiation of Marcus Part 1. As he walked into the precinct and up to Captain Holt's desk
"Everyone" Holt greeted walking out of his office, getting their attention
"This is my nephew, Marcus. He's new in town, he's staying with me until he finds a place. He is 31" Holt introduced. He said hello, but disappeared of quickly. Rosa made a point of saying 'bye' to him, which Gina helped out the plan unknowingly, by pointing it out to Holt.
It was two days later, that Holt told Rosa that Marcus asked for her number. Rosa was wondering if he was still interested in the plan. Evidently, he was.
Marcus messaged her a few days later, and they decided that Holt was very sceptical of a relationship between them. The two spoke and decided that something drastic had to be done.
Rosa snuck over to Captain Holt's house at 5am
"Morning" Marcus greeted
"Hey" Rosa replied back, handing Marcus a bra
"What's this?" He asked
"Proof. In case Captain Holt still doesn't believe us" She said. Thye waited until they could hear both men downstairs before they instigated their plan. Marcus walked down the stairs, Rosa following behind, watching as Holt had some comments, before she left, making a point of telling Marcus that they shouldn't see each other again.
Jake returned a day early, and she was confused. Once Boyle and Hitchcock had left Jake alone, she walked up to him.
"What happened?" She asked
"We blew the operation" Jake said "How did it go with Marcus?" He asked
"As far as Holt things, we slept together last night. I walked down on him and Kevin eating breakfast" She said
"Nice" Jake said
"PERALTA!" Holt called from his office "Thanks to your basketball mishap, the drop site has been abandoned. And Alexei Bisko's gone to ground. We told you eight days was too long for a stakeout" Holt scalded
"With all due respect, dir. It wasn't the amount of time, Sir. It was who I was stuck there with. I could easily have done it with Scully" Jake said, before he was given door duty. Once Jake and Charles walked off, Holt called Rosa into his office, handing her back the proof bra, and giving his approval of the relationship.
Jake returned to the precinct with Bisko, and Holt was impressed, Rosa walked over to him, and congratulated him.
"We have Holt's approval. Operation Marcus is in action" She said with a smile
"Good. Because I've had a long few days, and I need you tonight" Jake said, as they counted down the minutes until they could clock out.