Amy and Jake

The weekend was peaceful, Jake got updates from Rosa, they didn't find anything at any of the addresses on the list and no new killings had occurred. Saturday, Amy and Jake took JJ to the zoo, where despite the near freezing temperatures, JJ loved seeing the animals and Amy and Jake just soaked up his happiness, the fact that he was so blissfully unaware of the ugliness around him in the world. Sunday, Victor and Camila came over and they just focused on watching JJ play with his gama and gapa. Sunday night, Jake checked his emails and sighed loudly as he read his emails.

"Jake, what's wrong."

"Nothing, that's the problem, nothing else has happened, I know this killer will strike again, I just don't think we'll find anything else before he does."

"Hmmm."

Jake looked at her, that was her thinking sound, but it also meant she had an idea she wanted to share but was afraid to share because she hated people thinking she was a know it all. "Alright Ames, what are you thinking?"

"Well…it's just that he can't have gotten everything from that apartment, I know you have it under surveillance, but if this guy is good at stealth, I just think it would be worth it if you, the detective with the gut that solves cases ,to observe things again and just feel it out."

Jake grinned at her, "that's a good thought, I'll take Charles with me after our morning briefing."

"I'm glad you're taking him with you on this case, he'll watch extra carefully after you."

Jake

The briefing was quiet, everyone was feeling more rested, but the daunting task of bringing in the killer was no closer to being done that it had at the beginning, even if they knew more about him. "Listen, squad, I know we're down right now, I know I am, as my dear nana used to say, "this sucks balls."

A few of them laughed, Charles especially, "sorry, but even though it doesn't feel like it, we're doing good work. We're forcing him into smaller real estate, taking away some of his spots to hide and his picture is at all the precincts. We haven't sent it to the public yet, because he hasn't been seen at all, so it doesn't make sense to put people in harms way, but that might happen if the commissioner feels it would benefit the case and not put innocent people in harm's way."

Jake made the assignments for the day and left with Charles, they were mostly quiet on the drive to Queens, until Cat's in the Cradle came on the radio. Charles sniffled a lot and Jake forced himself not to, "That damn song, gets me every time, that was my story, I don't want it to be JJ's story."

Charles smiled, "you're a great dad Jake, you spend time with your family. Genevieve has been able to stay at home more since her brother took over as curator of her gallery, and I try. It's hard with this job."

Jake nodded, "sure is, especially with this case. I think we should get extra time off after this case is over. You haven't taken a vacation for a while, you should Charles."

"Yeah, I know, Nicolaj has school and this summer was when Genevieve and I were arguing, so I'll talk to her, I'd love that. We've wanted to go to Latvia with Nicolaj, and it's a lot cheaper to fly and get hotels in spring."

"Do it Charles, you gave Amy and I an awesome wedding gift, and since you and Genevieve have never gotten married, I'll buy your tickets, consider it a wedding gift for whenever it happens."

"Thanks, Jakey, that'll motivate me, Genevieve has wanted to do it."

As they pulled up the apartment complex, three cop cars were there. Jake got out quickly and pulled an officer over and showed him his badge, "hey, Sergeant Peralta, the nine-nine, what happened?"

The officer, a tall thin man frowned, "we were about to call you sir, your crime scene was revisited and had another crime."

"What?"

"You better come up sir, it's pretty grizzly and there's a note. We just got here a few minutes ago and my sergeant just told us this was your crime scene and investigation."

Jake followed with Charles, as they entered the small apartment, Jake's heart dropped and the rage he had felt in case began to boil over as he saw the bloodied corpse of Doug Judy laying on the table. Jake closed his eyes to quell his rage and fight any tears, on the body of his sometimes friend was the note.

He helped, he died. Be careful Peralta, you could be next.

Jake took a deep breath, "officers, could you give me and my partner a minute in here. This guy was an informant, and kind of a friend. His mother is the nicest woman you could hope to meet. I'm the Peralta in the note…"

The officers nodded glumly and left the apartment for a moment. Jake stood close to Charles and whispered with force, "this sucks Charles, I want to scream, but I have to keep calm. This guy is getting personal and we're not any closer actually apprehending him. I don't know how much longer I can do this case, it's too personal Charles, he had a picture of Amy, of my fucking wife besides the one of Judy."

"Sorry Jake, this does suck, we should go tell Doug's mom. It'd be better if two people she met did it, you know…"

Jake nodded, "yeah, I do. Good call Charles."

Jake looked down at Doug Judy, the Pontiac Bandit who had alluded him and escaped time after time, he felt no anger, no sense of I told you so, just a sadness, the sadness of seeing someone who tried to help him lose his life to a senseless act of violence. He looked at this man who shouldn't have been anything close to a friend, yet still, he was. Jake took a deep breath, Charles knew he was about to say goodbye to Doug Judy, so he turned around and looked away.

"Doug Judy, you did some stupid things my friend. You broke the law, you were hard to find, you made me look stupid, a lot, yet, I'm going to miss you. Your poor mom may never get over this buddy, I'm so sorry this happened…but thanks for helping, you didn't have to, but you were better than you gave yourself credit for, It's all so fucked up man…he's killed four people now…I'm sorry you had to die like this, but I'm glad you never had to go to prison, you were a free man, you lived life on your terms. Shalom."

Charles came back and just put his arm around Jake, which was great restraint for him, Jake lost it and felt the tears coming, "we have to find this guy Charles…he's killing good people…I mean, holy fuck Charles, he's fucking killing cops…and a snitch with a heart, god dammit, this shit stops now. No more! We have to find him, I mean it Charles, we have to, I can't fucking take this anymore."

Charles patted him on the back, "we will Jakey, we will."

Amy

Amy was filling out the rosters for the next month when Andy, her secretary brought her mail in, Amy thanked him and opened up a few letters, then she opened one in an official NYPD envelope, she opened it and dropped it as she read it.

Lieutenant, you might want to warn your husband to back off, or he might end up like Doug Judy and the others, past and future but no spoilers.

Amy fumbled for her phone and called Jake.

"Hey Ames." He sounded down.

"Jake, what happened to Doug Judy?"

"What the hell? How could you know that?"

She took a deep breath, "I just got a letter from the killer telling me to have you back off or you might end up like Doug Judy, and the others, past and future." She fought her emotions, she was a lieutenant, she was the best shot in the department and could take down men twice her size, yet this was her family being threatened.

Jake broke down again, "Ames, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry for brining you into this, for brining Doug into his, for bringing me into this, I don't know if I can do this…"

"Jake," Amy found her resolve again, "Jake, listen, you have nothing to be sorry for. Doug Judy contacted you, this is our job, we know the dangers. You are fine."

"I have to call Holt and then tell the bad news to Judy's mom, that is going to suck."

"I'm sorry babe, I love you."

"Love you too, see you soon."

Amy took a moment to regain her calm and walked upstairs to see Terry, the floor was busy, and she moved without much notice to his office. "What's up Amy?"

Amy sat before speaking, "Did Jake call you?"

Terry nodded, "yeah, Doug Judy, how's he taking it?"

"Not good, despite what he said, he had a big soft spot for him."

"I know, he didn't talk much to me. Can he handle staying on this case? It's gotten way personal, it's asking a lot of anyone to keep it up with all that's happened."

"I know, I'll talk to him tonight. He's going to be hurting, and it's even worse with all he went through when I was kidnapped…"

"Yeah, Holt wants me to talk to him tomorrow, he wants him to have the night to reflect, but even Holt is thinking it's too much with all that has happened to Jake, past and present."

Jake

The ride to Doug Judy's mom's house seems surreal, but now, standing on her front porch was nightmarish, he couldn't believe that he was standing here, telling one of the nicest people he'd ever met that her son was killed, because he helped him. Charles placed his hand on his shoulder for emotional support, Jake might normally have not wanted that, but in this situation, he found it comforting.

Dorothea answered the door, as soon as she saw them, her countenance changed from a smile to sadness, "my son is dead, isn't he?"

Jake hung his head, "yeah, I'm so sorry."

Dorothea hugged him and pulled him inside, "you two had nothing to do with this. I loved my son, I always will, but after you left and I stayed up at night thinking about what might happen, when you're as old as I am you do that a lot more, I told myself, Dorothea, if this is finally it for Dougie, after everything else he's survived, at least it happened doing something selfless, doing something to help others…"

After saying this, the small, elderly woman finally broke down, Charles patted her shoulder and she hugged him, "thank you little friend, you be careful too."

Charles sniffed, "of course."

"You're going to find this man, right, don't let him bring this grief to any other old ladies, no one needs this, no one."

Jake nodded through his tears he was fighting, "we will find, I promise you, we will find him."

Amy

She was at her desk hurriedly finishing all of her paperwork, so she could leave early and be with JJ, Terry stood in her doorway. "Lieutenant, I have one thing to talk to you about, then just go home, don't freak out about what I tell you, just go home. JJ needs you and Jake will need both of you, I just sent Diaz and Aguilar and a small army to the crime scene…"

Amy stood up slightly from shock, "he struck again, already, didn't he?"

Terry nodded, his head moving slowly from the weight of the sad information he was carrying, his voice started breaking before the words came out, "He killed Gary, Jennings, I know you were his mentor…"

Amy wasn't sure what emotion was stronger at that moment, rage or despair, this killer was bound to take so much from them, all for simply doing their jobs, she allowed a few tears to fall before steeling herself to speak. "Thanks Captain, I will announce it to my officers…"

"No, you won't, I will, no one will blame you for this, you were his mentor, he worshipped you and you helped him, a lot."

Amy slumped in her desk chair, "I adored him, he could drive me crazy, but in a me sort of way, he only did it because he was so eager to do well and be the best cop he could…oh shit, I have to tell his parents."

Terry held up his hand, "Holt is already on his way to New Jersey to tell them, he left immediately, you and Jake have both given too much to this, you need a rest, that's an order."

Jake

Charles was waiting in the car at the corner mart, Jake ran in for an orange soda, he hadn't been drinking near as much soda, but today he didn't care, he deserved this. As Jake opened the door he was getting off a call with Terry.

"Take me home Charles, Terry's orders. And oh yeah, the motherfucker struck again…one of our own, Jennings." Jake closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe despite that his body felt tense an incapable of such an action.

Charles slammed his hands on the steering wheel, "not Gary…he was such a nice guy, holy crap Jake, this guy is hitting you where it hurts, I…it's just…"

"I know Charles, I know, hit the siren and get me home, Ames is going to be raw, she liked Gary a lot more than she let on, I mean, he was the young less attractive male version of her…Sorry, that's a dick move."

"Jake, you're coping, don't apologize, plus it was true."

Jake was silent for a few minutes as Charles wove them adeptly in and out of the slow responding traffic, "What else will this son of a bitch take from us if we stay on the case? I mean, he killed two seemingly unrelated cops, maybe just to see who would be in charge of it all, and then my doppelganger at the nine-seven, then Doug Judy, and now Amy's doppelganger. I just don't know if any of us can afford to stay on this case, more innocent people will suffer."

Amy and Jake

As Jake staggered through the door of their home, Amy was on the couch watching JJ play with his toys, Jake bent over and kissed his son as JJ smiled at him, he then collapsed onto the couch, and into Amy's arms.

"I'm so sorry Ames."

"Yeah, this is one hell of a case, huh?"

Jake closed his eyes as he concentrated and the feeling of his wife's caress, "What do you think, I want your honest opinion, should I stay on this case?"

Amy couldn't answer right away, she had thought about this a lot, but the fact was that she was conflicted, pulled in two opposite directions from her training as a police officer and her own feelings as an actual human who had suffered loss and whose husband had suffered loss. After a slightly awkward pause, she quietly cleared her throat to get her words out clearly, "no. You should ask to be relieved. We can't handle more, god knows I can't, and I'm pretty sure you're at your breaking point as well, but wait to do it until after the funerals."

Jake sighed, "everything you say is true, and you have a good point about waiting until after the funerals, it's just…it's just not us…"

"That doesn't matter, it's us now Jake, it's us making sure more innocent people don't get hurt because we're on a case or somehow involved, get people who are better at staying out of the limelight do this…that sounds selfish."

Jake sat up and looked at her, "no, it sounds sensible, and if it is selfish, then fuck it, we deserve selfish, find two people who have given more to the NYPD than we have, there might be a few, but not many."

"It's the right decision, I can go with you when you tell Holt, but it may be worse for us if we're both there." Amy slumped down, this decision was not easy for her to make.

"Yeah, I'll take Charles for support, he gets it."

"Good call," Amy cuddled into his arms, "Terry was going to talk to you tomorrow, they know how terrible this has been, it's beyond the pale, nobody expects anyone to put up with this much, this is the right call."

The first funeral, for Officer Cohen was the next day, followed by Doug Judy's the next day and two days later was Doug Judy's, with each funeral, Jake felt more and more sure that his decision was the right one, he warned Terry it might be coming, but he was waiting for now. As he sat next to Amy at Doug's funeral, Charles was on his other side, his arm around Doug's mom Dorothea who had taken a shine to Charles.

The funeral was brief, Dorothea said she didn't like long funerals, as the preacher finished, Jake stood up and looked around the room, there were very few people, Jake had always found it interesting that criminals always talked about how loyal they were, but he seldom saw it, not like policemen, who gather money for loved ones and all come out to support their lost comrade.

Jake was looking at some pictures of Doug as child that were displayed when Holt walked up to him. "Sergeant Peralta, I understand you wish to talk to me to tomorrow, at my office."

Jake nodded, "yes sir, it's just…"

Holt shook his head, "do not worry about it now, focus on saying goodbye, something we have done far too often lately."

After the funeral, Jake and Amy went to dinner at Charles' and Genevieve's home, the mood was somber except for the noises of contentment as JJ tried to walk and chase after Nicolaj. The two couples were unusually quiet, making some small talk but struggling to keep it going. As they were about to leave, Genevieve cleared her throat, "before I forget, even though today and the last week have been terrible, I have something to say, um Charles, I will marry you."

Charles stood up and hugged her, instantly crying, Nicolaj jumped up and down and JJ tried to copy him, Amy and Jake congratulated them, Jake was happy that a little good news could come from everything, and he was happy for his best friend who had wanted to marry her for some time.