Did Amy stare at the burner phone for hours after being back home? Yes, she definitely did but she was not going to admit it to anybody, not even under torture.

Which was more or less where she was at the moment. Torture. Waiting for one Jake Peralta to do something without having any idea of what that something would be was killing her, slowly. And then there was his text and this was another thing Amy would rather die than confess. That colony of butterflies that had taken residence inside her the moment she had read the message.

She was by no means "his" anything… and yet. Why did it feel so good to be called that?

Maybe going undercover was altering his brain. And hers. Yeah, that would be reasonable.

It was almost midnight when the loud ring woke her up. She had been dozing off on the couch and now her neck felt stiff, but she ignored that completely.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ames." It was finally his voice, finally that nickname she had missed so much.

"Hey."

"What's up?" He asked, almost as if he had just entered the precinct on a regular work day.

"Are you… is this safe?"

"As much as it can be."

Amy didn't know what to make out of that, or if it was ok for her to keep on asking.

"So, what's up?" Jake asked again, and this time she thought he was making real attempts to keep it cool.

"Not much. You know, work as always."

"Are you guys missing me?"

"Boyle is devastated."

"I bet."

For a moment nobody spoke. Amy's brain seemed to have gone numb.

"There is something I need to ask you," Jake spoke again, his voice now steady. "When I saw you in that station… were you working on a case?"

"Not really. We got a tip off about that bar from a kid-"

"Please, drop it."

"Huh?"

"Drop it, if you can. That place… it is one of Leo's favourite spots. I haven't seen him doing anything fishy, yet, but let's not-"

"I know, I know. Glad you told me. I was there just on a hunch."

"Thanks."

"Jake-"

"Amy-" They spoke at the same time.

"You go first," he said.

"How are you, really?"

He chuckled dryly. "I'm… not bad. Not in immediate danger. But, you know… let's not talk about that. Tell me about you. About work, whatever."

Amy racked her brains frantically. She understood what he was doing. Talking about him would jeopardise his mission, but also talking about his previous life was probably something that could keep him from going insane.

"Scully and Hitchcock are sulking because the microwave door is broken and they have to hold it with their hands while warming something up."

Jack laughed, this time earnestly. "Are you kidding me?"

"100% serius. And then Holt started worrying about their health and of course a little radiation is the least of their health-related problems-"

They kept talking for a long while. Amy telling him about whatever nonsense jumped into her mind. Jake making hilarious comments that made her laugh so much she was crying. Later she would reflect on the fact that she couldn't remember the last time she had laughed this hard, but she was sure it was before he went undercover.

Half an hour went by until Jake stopped laughing and she felt it was time for this to end. It made her sad.

"I guess I have to go…" he trailed off.

"Sure, yeah. Cool."

"But, you know… this has been really nice."

"Yeah…" she said.

"Amy?"

"Jake?"

"Would it be ok if we could-? I mean, would it be ok if we'd talk again, another time? I know we'd be breaking half a dozen rules doing that but…"

"Aren't we already?"

"Just the one," he said with a small chuckle. "Besides, I am really interested in investing in my future. Becoming my own boss, you know."

"Yeah," she chuckled, too. "I mean, I would like to talk to you. Again. Soon."

"Noice," he said, but he didn't sound cocky as he used to and she thought that saying goodbye was going to be equally as hard on both sides. "I'll let you know…"

"Ok."

"Ok. Listen, Ames, I got to go."

"Yeah, absolut-"

And the line was dead.