Author's notes: I am back with Chapter 2! I hope that you enjoy :)

Chapter 2

March 25th, 2014

The day Jake got fired

And the day He confessed his feelings to Amy

"What's going on with you?" Terry sat down across from Jake. "For the past two days you've been telling me how amazing it was going to be to solve this case. This does not look amazing."

"I don't know man. I thought I would be more psyched too. Maybe I just need a cooler case." Jake responded, although he knew that wasn't the case.

"No, that is not going to work. You set the precinct record, you weren't happy. You solved an unsolvable case, you weren't happy. No case is going to make you happy. Something's bothering you. And whatever it is, you gotta deal with it." Said Terry.

"Yeah, well maybe I can't deal with it right now." Jake said, glancing over to Amy at the bar talking to Teddy. Whatever she was talking about, she was really excited about. "Or you know, whatever."

Terry followed his gaze. " 's a tough one."

"Yeah." Jake said, with the sound of defeat in his voice.

"But solving more cases isn't going to make you feel better." Terry said.

Jake had been working hard the last couple of weeks. While Terry had been right; no case was going to make him happy if he didn't address the thing on his mind, working at least kept his mind occupied and he didn't have to think about Amy all of the time. Or at least, distract himself from thinking of Amy, since she was all he could ever think about.

He didn't understand why he couldn't get her out of his head. He usually never got hung up on girls like his. Granted, Amy wasn't like other girls he had dated. He didn't typically go for the nerdy, rule following people. But for some reason, Amy had his heart and he couldn't let it go.

Maybe that's why he was so invested in this case. He'd come across some suspicious stuff on Lucas Wint and decided to dig deeper. Having a civic leader laundering money for drug dealers was a big no-no. Civic leaders were supposed to help the community, not help drug dealers who were hurting people. Not even being placed on administrative leave and the threat of suspension could stop Jake's eagerness to solve this case.

Of course working on a case and having Amy join in didn't help with keeping his mind distracted. He was very grateful for her help, especially with what he was facing, but working with her made it very difficult not to think about her.

Man, he was a mess.

Over the next week Jake did everything he could think of to take Wint down, without of course, letting anyone know that he was still investigating. He was starting to lose hope. The day of his hearing he was officially out of ideas. Getting ready in his formal police wear, he received a call from Amy.

"Hey Jake, I think I've got a lead. I found this kid, he says he's got information that can help us. Can you meet me?"

"Amy, that's great! Yeah I can meet you, where?"

Jake met up a little later with Amy and the informant. It was a kid named Isaac who would take money to Wint's community center every week, and it would be recorded as a 'charitable' donation.

Finally, they had a solid lead. Now they just needed a way to see those log books. They were going to need a warrant. And he would need Holt's help.

He had filled out a warrant request earlier to search the Community Center but obviously hadn't had a chance to pursue that option until now.

Jake called Holt and asked him to meet him in an alley. When Holt got there, Amy and Jake had Isaac tell his story. The entire time Jake really hoped that the Captain trusted him. He would be sticking his neck out but Jake knew it would pay off.

To Jake's surprise not only did the Captain agree to sign off on the warrant so it could go to a judge, Holt decided to also join him on this case. Things were starting to get interesting.

After Holt got the signature from the judge and having visited a thrift store to buy clothes to blend in at a dancing competition at the Community Center, Jake found himself dancing with Amy. Well sort of. She was not a great dancer, and she managed to step on both of Jake's feet at the same time.

"I'm horrible at this, when can we stop?" Amy asked. They had only been dancing for like twenty seconds.

"I'm horrible at this-" Jake started before Amy cut him off.

"I know, I know, title of my sex tape."

"Huh, well done. Title of my sex tape." Sometimes they just write themselves.

"Oh my god, the captain." Amy said and Jake turned his head to see what she was looking at. "He could really win this thing."

"How did you get so amazing at dancing?" Jake asked him when he danced by.

"Jake, focus. I found a back stairway over here." And with that Holt spun his partner and off they went.

Jake felt like the captain was full of surprises, like who was this guy?

After a few moments Jake looked over to the doors to the backstair way. "That guard by the door will not move."

"Uh-oh, he just made eye contact with me. Play it cool. Dance. Dance, dance, dance." Amy said.

She was cute. "You don't have to say 'dance' every time you make a step." Jake replied.

"Good call." Amy said.

"Hey, do you want me to show you how to actually do this? So you don't hurt yourself and or others?" Jake asked her. He had been dancing at bar mitzvahs for as long as he could remember. He actually really enjoyed it.

Amy nodded, and Jake brought her a little closer, and ignoring the way his heart was pounding in his chest, started to guide her. After a second Amy got it and they started to get into a nice little rhythm.

"This is kinda fun." Amy said. Yeah it was kind of fun. She was getting the hang of it, and Jake really enjoyed dancing with her.

"Ooh, maybe Teddy and I should take a class." Amy said, after a moment.

Way to kill the mood

"Yeah, maybe." Jake grumbled. He needed a distraction from his thoughts.

Captain Holt luckily came up at that moment, swaying to the music. "Guys we're running out of time. What's the plan?"

"That guard won't move." Jake said, gesturing to the guy over by the side door. "We need a distraction."

"I'm on it." Amy said. Walking away she headed over towards the guard and muttered under her breath, "Dance, dance, dance."

God, she was adorable.

While Amy pretended to hurt her ankle, and thus moving the guard away from the door, Jake made his way over and through the door. He was able to find a staircase and made his way up to the office. After digging through a couple of drawers he found the account books, and knowing time was of the essence, snatched some photos and quickly made his way back down stairs.

Making his way back into the ballroom, he gestured to Holt and Amy, motioning to them to get out there. He really needed to get to the hearing. Amy had been moved over to the stage where she was sitting, still pretending that her ankle hurt. Jake made his way over to her and together with Holt they carried her outside so they could keep their cover. As soon as they were out the doors, they let Amy go and hurried to the car.

They got to One Police Plaza and quickly changed. As they were making their way to the hearing room, Jake started to look at the photos he had taken, not having had time earlier.

"Aw, this is incredible, the account books have everything. Dates, names, dollar amounts. I can't wait to show this to Podolski." Jake told Amy "I should probably slip in a Miley-Cyrus-told-you-so face." And he took a picture. After looking at it he said "It's hard to do on the move," and took another one.

"Peralta, wait. Santiago, give us a minute." Captain Holt said unexpectedly.

"Sir?" Jake responded.

"I need you to do something. And it's going to sound crazy but it's important and I need you to trust me.

"Of course, Captain. What do you need?

"When you go in there, I need you to get fired."

"Fired?!"

"Shh, shh." Holt said, holding his finger up to his lips.

"Fired?" Jake said again in a quieter voice. "After all that work, you want me to get fired?"

"I know it's crazy but I asked you to trust me, remember? You will find out everything soon enough."

Jake sighed, "Fine, but I'm not going to like it."

With that Jake and Captain Holt walked into the hearing room and sitted before them, were the committee members. They both sat down at a table nearby and Jake sat in silence. He had so much he wanted to say but couldn't. This was going to suck.

"So detective Peralta, do you have any evidence you'd like to present on your behalf?" Podoski asked.

"No, I have nothing." Jake responded, guilt rising in his chest. It felt wrong to lie, especially when a civic leader was doing things they shouldn't be. But Jake trusted Holt, and at that moment, that was going to have to be good enough.

"Well Detective Peralta, after looking at the evidence presented here today, we have decided that the best course of action is to suspend you. You'll be suspended for the next six months. Afterwards we'll decide what your future with the NYPD will look like." Podoski said. He looked all too happy to be saying that.

"Suspend me? You've got to be kidding!" Jake stood up and walked to the front of the long table where the committee members sat. "I give my heart and soul to this job and you suspend me, when there's a corrupt leader?" He yelled, and slammed his fist on the table.

"Now calm down detective.."

"No, you calm down! This is absolutely ridiculous and you're all a bunch of pigs. And your mother is a pig"

"Now, back up there Peralta, you've gone too far."

"Oh I'm not done yet. And your mother!" He said, pointing to a lady nearby" All of your mothers. And your grandmothers and your grandmother's little dogs."

"You done?"

"No, I'm not done!" Jake responded. He had to admit, this was kind of fun.
"Aw, you're done!"

"You can't handle the me!"

"That's enough! Jake Peralta, due to your actions displayed here today, we have no choice but to fire you from the NYPD, effective immediately. Now get out before we arrest you"

"Whatever." Jake said and turned and walked out the door, slamming it on his way out.

Jake made his way out to the parking garage and took some deep breaths. While what he said was intentional with the hope of getting fired, the realization of actually getting fired hit him. What had he done? He really hoped that Captain Holt was right.

"Jake what happened?" Amy said as she walked into the garage. Her voice brought him back to reality. "Did Holt ask you to get suspended?

"No, he told me to get fired." Jake said, still in disbelief.

"Why?"

"I don't know. I'm kind of freaking out. He said to do it and the next thing I knew, I was just yelling. I kind of insulted everyone's moms, and grandmothers."

"Oh my god."

"Peralta!" Captain Holt said, walking up to them with three men in suits close behind.

"Hey what's going on?"

"This is special agent Clarke with the FBI." Holt replied, gesturing to the man in front.

"FBI?" Jake responded. He was even more confused.

"We couldn't let you expose Lucas Wint. It would've compromised a much larger ongoing federal investigation. We believe that Wint has ties to the Ianucci Crime Family." Agent Clarke said.

"That's one of the best crime families." Jake whispered over to Amy. Yeah he knew things.

"We needed you to get fired for real because the Ianuccis have moles inside the NYPD, and we need them to trust you. Detective, we'd like you to go undercover and help us with the investigation."

"Okay, the answer is 'yes'. The details are: my name is Duncan Buck. I was raised on an oil rig by 90 men and 1 prostitute." He had come up with an undercover story years ago in case a moment like this ever presented itself.

"We'd like you to be yourself."

"Even better." Jake said. Whatever worked for him.

"This could be very dangerous. So please, take some time, and.." Jake interrupted him before he could finish. "

"No need. I'm in. Eyes closed head first, can't lose." This was literally a dream come true.

"I don't think that's the expression." Captain Holt said.

"Can you just let me have this?" Jake responded. He'd just lost his job, he needed a moment.

"Well Detective, we appreciate your willingness to assist us in this case. Just know that since you're going undercover, you won't be able to have any contact with people from your precinct. You have two hours to say your goodbyes and let everyone at your precinct know that you've been fired. We'll be in contact after that." Agent Clarke said. Then he and the other two men in suits walked off.

Holt turned to Jake, "Well Detective, let us go and make this official. The rest of the squad deserves to know."

Telling the rest of the squad was harder than Jake had anticipated. Fortunately Holt felt it was best that they did know the whole story, which made it easier at least. But saying goodbye for six months, not knowing what was going to happen to him, gutted him. The reality of what he was about to do seemed to hit him as he drove back to the precinct. What if something went wrong? What if they found out he was undercover? What would happen to him and to the people he loved? There was so much he wanted to say and unfortunately no time to say it. Luckily, he thought all of them knew how much he cared about them. Well, all of them but one.

After making a 'scene' about getting fired and kicking a trash can across the bullpen, Jake hurried as fast as he could to change out of his uniform and collect everything from his desk and locker. People were leaving for the night and he wanted to make sure that he had a chance to talk to Amy before she left. It was literally now or never.

Just as he finished putting the last of his things in a box, he saw her just as the elevator doors started to close.

Worried that he had missed his chance, he booked it down the side stairs, trying his best not to spill the box of stuff he was carrying.

Exiting the stairway, he saw Amy make her way outside and he dashed after her.

"Amy?" Jake called after her as he exited the doors. "Hey, I thought I missed you."

"Hey Jake, amazing assignment. I have to admit, I'm a little jealous."

"Really?" He was surprised. He didn't take Amy for the undercover type.

"Mm-hmm."

"Well if you want I can help get you fired. I'm really good at it ."

They both laughed. Amy had such a cute laugh.

"Yeah."

"This is real, this is happening." Amy said, slightly messing with the things in the box he was carrying.

"Look- um." Chuckling a little bit, Jake tried to find the right words. He'd gone over this scenario a thousand times in his head but, of course, he was at a lot of words now.

"I don't want to be a jerk. I know you're dating Teddy, and it's going really well. It's just…"

"What's going on?" Amy asked, and Jake could hear the slight concern in her voice.

"I don't know what's going to happen on this assignment, and if something bad goes down, I think I'd be pissed at myself if I didn't say this." Jake sighed again. Just say it Peralta. It's now or never. "I kinda wish something could happen between us, romantic-styles. And I know it can't because you're with Teddy, and I'm going undercover, and that's just how it is. But- Anyway, we're not supposed to have any contact, so I should go. America needs me. Bye." And he walked away before Amy could say anything. He didn't need to know her response, he had said what he wanted to say and that was enough for him. A huge weight was lifted off of his shoulders. Whatever happened on this assignment, it would be okay.

Jake didn't know that as he left, Amy's eyes followed him for a second, and she just stood there, too in shock to say or do anything. Little did he know that she would be thinking about that moment for the next six months.