AN: Just a heads up, this chapter does have some minor violence and torture. It's not too graphic or prolonged, but just so you know.

Chapter 7: Hot Wheels

Amy – 17:03

"Hey, you've reached the incredible Detective Jake Peralta, but my phone is probably dead so please leave your name and number after the beeeeEEEEEP noise, and I'll get back to you"

Thirty minutes. It had been thirty minutes since Jake and Amy talked. Thirty minutes since he said he'd call her back in five. Seven calls, three voicemail messages later and Amy knew something was wrong. She felt it, she sensed it. She couldn't chalk this up to typical-Peralta-irresponsibleness. It was off. Amy bit her thumbnail and decided it was time to look for him.

She grabbed her keys and headed out of the bullpen. A horrible weight crushed her chest and she had to remind herself to breathe. There were hundreds of reasons why he hadn't answered her. Hell, his phone could be dead, for all she knew.

And yet, she didn't believe that. Something was wrong. She got to her car quickly and didn't bother to fiddle with the radio as she backed out of her spot.

Traffic was, predictably, horrendous. Amy kept reminding herself that she needed breathe.

"You don't know anything, Amy. You don't know anything" she told herself. She kept imagining Jake at a flower shop with dark figure attacking him and forcing him to eat hemlock. She shivered. She knew he shouldn't have gone in alone. He should have waited for her. The warrants didn't even take long to get! She was lucky enough to find Judge Kelling who was on board in five minutes. Why couldn't he just be patient?

"You're not much better" she thought, as she drove to the flower shop on her own, without telling anyone. She made sure to send Rosa a quick text message at a red light and considered herself slightly more responsible.

When she finally arrived at the flower shop her heart sank. Jake's car was still parked on the street and he wasn't in it. She wasted no time getting to the front door, which was mercifully unlocked. She held her gun out and assessed the small corner shop. She cleared the main floor and went behind the counter. A hallway lead to the back room, which was full of flower cutting tools, ribbons, cards, and card holders. On the left hand side of the room was another door. Amy approached it, but found it locked. She breached the door with one solid, strong kick and it flung open. Amy briefly thought how jealous Jake would be.

The door led a set of wooden stairs that went to what Amy presumed to be a creepy basement.

"Perfect" she thought and pulled out her flashlight. She crossed her flashlight hand over the one that held her gun and cautiously walked down the stairs. Pipes leaked and stairs squeaked as she stepped on them. A horrible chill traversed through her bones and dread circulated her veins.

The basement was small and overwhelmingly smelled of flowers. It made Amy's sinus' swell and her head ache. She continued on and made sure the room was clear. When she was sure she was alone, she put away her firearm and examined the room in more detail. It was mostly empty except for clumps of dead, cut-up plant stems and a small work station in the corner. Amy approached the work station that consisted of a desk and cork board. The cork board was covered by a map of Brooklyn that was peppered with little red-sharpie circle marks. She pointed her flashlight on the desk. There were several pieces of paper that were rolled up with a rubber band. Amy picked one up and smoothed it out on the desk. It was a crude drawing with measurements and faded straight lines. She took a closer look and saw that it was a ballerina on a device. Amy recognized it as a blue print.

Her heart rate increased as she opened the others and found layouts for the G.I. Joe set and the Barbie Doll house. She looked back at the map and the red circles. She studied the locations that each one indicated. There were four in total and three of them were the installation locations. Amy examined the fourth circle.

Three victims. Four circles. One more victim waiting to be found. Amy took in a sharp inhale of breath as the weight of the information hit her.

Jake was circle number four.

Jake – 17:47

Jake watched on as Archie painted delicate and intricate designs on either side of the box. Jake was amazed at his speed. He painted so quickly, yet his canvas was beautiful and without blemishes. The more paint that covered the box, the higher Jake's heart rate went up. Archie would poison Jake as soon as he finished building the box.

Jake had tried to find a sharp object to help him cut the ropes binding him, but found none. He was weary to move around too much because Archie hadn't seemed to notice Jake was awake yet. As Archie worked, Jake looked around desperately for something that could help him, but he was coming up blank.

He debated on trying to knock down one of the metal structures next to him. It was a gamble, but maybe he could knock it down while Archie was next to it. Jake shook his head. Even to him, it sounded insane and the odds of that working were beyond slim.

He continued to brainstorm a plan, but he stopped dead when he saw Archie approach him. As he got closer, Jake realized Archie was smiling at him.

"Oh, you're awake, Jacob. I'm sorry I've been ignoring you. Once I enter my 'higher self', it's hard for me to come back down to my 'social mask'" He said kindly, pleasantly even. He sat down next to Jake and sighed, "You know, Jacob, I really don't like liars"

"Um, me neither" Jake said, confused and afraid of where this was going.

"Really? Could have fooled me. Jacob, you lied to me" Archie said.

"When?" Jake asked, struggling to keep his voice even.

"You told me you were a comedian, Jacob. According to your badge, you're NYPD" Archie said as he pulled out Jake's badge. Jake cursed himself for not noticing he was without his gun, badge, and wallet.

"Oh, well that's my day job. My real passion is comedy" Jake said quickly. Archie smiled and nodded.

"Your day job. I see. That makes sense" Archie said and he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a Ziploc bag with some leaves inside. Jake's eyes widened and his body tried to back away.

"Wait-" Jake started.

"Why are you scared, Jacob? It's just a bag of leaves" Archie said as he opened the bag. Jake stared on with big eyes.

"Um, well, y'know, you've kind of got me tied up and I guess I'm just weary of anything you pull out of your pocket" Jake said, his voice giving him away. Archie nodded again and stood up. He disappeared around a corner and came back a moment later with a metal pipe. Archie loomed over Jake and Jake felt fear in his chest.

"Jacob, remember how I said I don't like liars?" Archie asked. Then, with as much force as he could muster, Archie cracked the metal pipe against Jake's thigh. Pain like a hurricane crashed through Jake's leg and he let out an anguished cry.

"Yeah, I wasn't lying about that. Listen to me, Jacob. You see that structure? It's going to be a Jack-in-the-Box. And guess what? You're the Jack. See, what I'm going to do is fasten you to that spring, so the only part of your body that will be showing is your torso. What I'm trying to say, Jacob, is that I don't give two shits about your lower half. What's going to happen is you're going to be real cooperative with me, or I'm going to hurt you" Archie said, his eyes boring into Jake's. Jake's mouth went dry and a fear that he had never felt before made him shake. He nodded.

"Good job, Jacob. Now," Archie said, pulling out the bag with leaves once more, "you're going to eat these, aren't you?"

Jake's eyes widened, but he willed himself to stay still. He knew Archie would have to feed the leaves to him and that's when Jake would strike. Jake Peralta would be damned if he wasn't going to at least put up a fight.

He nodded again for Archie's benefit. Archie smiled and grabbed a couple of leaves from the bag. He took Jake's jaw and offered the leaves to him in between his fingers. Jake waited until Archie's hand got as close to his mouth as possible. When it seemed that Archie would go no further, adrenaline pumped through Jake and he lunged at the killer. Jake bit down on the first piece of flesh he could find and clamped down as hard as he could. He began shaking his head like a rabid dog to cut the man even deeper.

"AAUGGGH!" Archie cried, but still, Jake held on. Archie grabbed the metal pole and jammed one side of it directly between Jake's legs. The searing pain was unbearable and his teeth left Archie's flesh. Archie capitalized on the opportunity and shoved a huge handful of leaves into Jake's mouth before he could respond. Archie's hands clamped down on Jake's jaw and covered his nose. Jake tried to keep the leaves in his mouth, but his body started panicking from the lack of oxygen. He swallowed the leaves and Archie let him go. Jake began coughing violently, but it was done.

Archie stood up and spat at Jake. Jake looked at the damage he had caused. Archie's thumb was a mass of red and Jake congratulated himself on at least making sure he'd need stitches. Archie cradled his hand and glowered at Jake.

"You're dead, Peralta. I shoved about twelve leaves down your throat. You'll be dead in a couple hours. You probably have about thirty minutes before your legs go numb, so you better tell me exactly what the NYPD knows about me or your legs are piñatas. You hear me?!" Archie asked, losing the calm composure he once had.

"They'll know you're the son of the toy maker across the street and they'll probably link you to the robberies. They know you're using Hemlock to murder your victims. It will take some time for them to put two and two together though, because I haven't shared my findings with anyone, but I have notes. They'll find them" Jake said. He used as much truth as he could so that Archie wouldn't pick up on his lie about working alone. Amy was his only chance now. If she didn't find him soon, he was done for.

Jake didn't really expect her to come in time though. He just didn't want Archie to plan on someone coming. Archie had Jake's gun and he could get Amy if he got the upper hand on her.

"That's it?" Archie said, threatening Jake with the pipe.

"That's it. I've talked to some family members of your victims, but none of them knew anything. I came to check you out on a hunch" Jake said. He looked at Archie in the eyes for a long second, but Archie relaxed and put down the pipe. Jake exhaled a breath he had been keeping in.

"Alright, Jacob, alright. You're lucky I'm not a cruel man. I should cut off your balls for what you did to my painting hand, but you'll be dead soon, so I'm satisfied" Archie said. He walked back to the structure and started wrapping his thumb.

With Archie gone, all of Jacob's strength left him.

"I'm going to die" he thought and a pain worse than any pain a metal pipe could inflict ripped through him. It wasn't fair. He wasn't done yet. He still needed to catch so many more bad guys, he needed to get married, be a dad. He needed to be there for when Charles actually got married, he needed Rosa to help him catch the Pontiac Bandit, he needed to see Terry's son—Jake's godson. He needed to beat Holt at their next Halloween showdown, but more than that, he needed to tell him how much the captain's leadership meant to him. Holt needed to know that he was more than just a boss to Jake. Gina…he just needed to see what crazy thing would happen in her life next. He knew she was destined for greatness, but he wasn't sure how. He wanted to be there for it.

And then, dammit, there was Amy. Images of his partner and the knowledge he'd never see her again flooded him. He was never going to see Amy again. The last time he saw her, he ran out of the bullpen and stole a lead she had found. He couldn't feel guilty about that, though. If he had let her go, it might be her in this position. No, this was better. The world needed Amy Santiago a lot more than it needed Jake Peralta. Of that, he was certain.

He thought about the two times they had kissed. He tried to reimagine the way her lips felt on his, how his skin lit on fire from her touch. Another wave of pain hit his chest as he realized he spent the last three months avoiding her. Regret crashed over him like cold water. That was three months he could have spent with her, talked with her, kissed her, made love to her, and cherished her. But no, he had to put the job first. Hell, it wasn't even about the job. He didn't want to admit it, but the ticking clock made him face it.

He was scared of loving Amy. He was scared of loving her because she could hurt him beyond repair if she left. The kind of power she held over him would leave him weak. She would make him so vulnerable to pain that it paralyzed him with fear.

Jake cursed himself. Maybe if he wasn't such a coward, he could allow himself to be happy. What was worse was that he had hurt Amy because of his cowardice. She had opened her heart to him and he cast it aside.

He never even told her he was in love with her. He never said it. She would live without ever hearing it. Tears prickled his eyes and he saw no reason to inhibit their fall. If he could only just say it to her, he could die in peace. He breathed in and exhaled, a tear trailing down his cheek.

"I should make peace" he thought. He thought of prayers for the last moments of life. He wasn't great at remembering those kinds of things, but when his grandfather was in the hospital there was prayer the Rabbi had said that Jake recalled. The memory floated back to him easily and the words came to him:

A Song of Ascents.
I lift my eyes to the mountains - from where will my help come?
My help will come from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot falter; your guardian does not slumber.
Indeed, the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.
The Lord is your guardian; the Lord is your protective shade at your right hand.
The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will guard you from all evil; He will guard your soul.
The Lord will guard your going and your coming from now and for all time.

Jake remembered the prayer in Hebrew and it took him a couple of minutes to remember the translation, but he managed. Jake wasn't terribly religious, but the words gave him a small form of comfort. It was like tying up a loose end, of sorts. He wasn't a very good Jew, but at least he had done this and, hey, he wouldn't mind a guardian for his soul.

Jake let his head lie back on the cold cement. He felt an odd tingling near his feet and realized the paralysis was starting. He said goodbye to walking and closed his eyes. If he only had a couple hours left, he wanted to use them thinking of the one person that mattered the most.

Amy – 18:16

Amy cursed herself for not grabbing a police issued vehicle from the precinct. Traffic had cut down considerably, but every second she was stuck on the road, the closer Jake was to a death salad. Amy sped through as much as she could, but without lights and a siren she felt like she was going two miles per hour.

She realized she was probably going to need back up, so she grabbed her phone with a shaking hand and told Siri to call Captain Holt. Siri complied and her phone rang.

"This is Holt" the Captain said.

"Captain! This is Santiago. Sir, I have sufficient evidence to believe Peralta's been—Peralta's been—" she started, but her voice began cracking.

"Peralta's been what, Detective?" Holt asked, not unkindly.

"He's been taken by the Toy Box Killer, sir" she said, voice wavering.

"Santiago, are you sure?"

"Yes, sir. I found a basement with a map to where he was taking his victims. I have the address of where I believe Peralta is. I believe the perp is planning to use Peralta for his next installation. Sir, I request back up, but I won't be able to wait for it" Amy said, her voice evening out again.

"What do you mean you can't wait for back up?" Holt asked.

"Sir, I'm almost at the site and if Jake has been fed the poison that the perp uses, well, every minute will count. I'll have to take immediate action" she said.

"I can't let you go in without back up, Amy" Holt said and Amy swore she heard sympathy.

"With all due respect sir, you can't stop me" Amy said and Holt went silent.

"Be careful. I'm sending all available units to you and an ambulance. We'll be there soon" he said.

"Thank you, sir" Amy said and she blinked back tears again. She gave him the address and thanked him once again. Holt reiterated that she needed to be careful and hung up.

Amy took a right onto the street where the warehouse was. She saw it at the end of the block and she turned off her car lights. She drove onto a drive-way and parked on the curb. She got out of the car immediately and took her gun out of its holster. Lights illuminated the second story and she crept alongside the corners to find a way in the building. She found one on the north wall and opened the door slowly.

The first floor was dark and dusty so she brought out her flashlight. The walls were narrow and she felt as if they were caving in on her. She continued on, being careful not to make any noise as she walked amongst the debris. After a few twists and turns she found a staircase. She made her way up it and as she did, she heard a voice.

"You know, Jacob? You're actually really lucky. You'll be immortalized within my art. Humans—they live, they die, but you, ha, you will be remembered for a long time. They'll hang pictures of you in museums and you'll be all over the news. Immortal" the voice said and Amy almost gasped at the mention of Jake's full name. He was here.

She reached the top of the stairs and was greeted by a wall of wood paneling. There were gaps in the paneling and she looked through them.

The floor was large and open, but had a gigantic box with a spring in the corner. By the box was a man painting it.

"That's him. The killer" she thought and she put her finger on the trigger of her gun. She scanned the area further and saw a mass on the other side of the room.

"Jake!" she realized. His hands were tied behind his back and his ankles were tied as well. For one horrible, horrible moment, she thought he was already dead because he didn't moved and his eyes were shut, but as the perp began speaking again, Jake opened his eyes.

"Jacob, you're awfully quiet, what's wrong?"

Jake stared on in silence. Amy watched the man, Archie, as he put down his paints. He grabbed something on a table and started walking towards Jake. Amy looked at the object in his hand and saw that it was a gun. She sneaked over to end of the wood paneling in order to take the shot she needed.

"Aww, Jacob. Don't be mad. You'll be immortal. It's an honor really. Look, you won't have to suffer long. See, I was thinking about it and I think the hemlock isn't a good idea for you, since the NYPD knows about it and all. Maybe a bullet wound will shake them off the trail for a little bit. I hate to break your skin, but your chest will be covered by the costume, so it'll be okay. I'll clean the blood real well so it doesn't mess up the installation. Don't worry" Archie said and he lifted the gun.

Amy reacted instantly, but she felt like everything was happening in slow motion. She turned out from behind the wood paneling and aimed her shot. She pressed her finger against the trigger and she watched the bullet travel, saw the gun in Archie's hand raise to Jake's chest, then watched the bullet dig into the Toy Box Killer's skull. His eyes widened at the impact, but his body began to fall. He fell alongside Jake, dead.

The slow motion wore off and the world seemed to kick into hyper speed.

"Jake! Jake!" She yelled as she ran to him. She dropped to her knees and grabbed his cheeks.

"Amy…" he said, his eyes looking at her like she was an angel or ghost.

"Jake, did he give you the hemlock?!" Amy said and she could hear the sirens outside. She untied his hands.

"Amy, is that really you?" he asked and his hand lifted up to stoke her cheek gently. She held it.

"Jake, listen to me, did he give you the hemlock?" she asked, desperate for an answer. Her heart was pounding so hard, she thought it might explode.

"Amy…" he said, his eyes full of sadness and confirmation.

And she knew.

AN: Don't want to say too much for this one, but I hoped you enjoyed it. Two more chapters are coming.

So the title in front of each section uses military time. In chronological order: 5:03pm, 5:47pm, 6:16pm

The prayer Jake remembers is a real prayer, but it usually would be done in Hebrew. I thought it would be more accessible if I gave you a translated version, so I hope that made sense. I'm a Jew myself, but I'm a bad Jew, so I apologize for any inaccuracies. Let me know and I'll fix them.

Thank you so much for reading and for your kind comments. You're all very lovely.