Authors note: Thank you again to those who have followed and kindly reviewed! This story is almost finished; I hope you enjoy this chapter. I do not own Brooklyn Nine-Nine or the characters, but I sure like creating stories about them! :)

Chapter 5

After Jake and Boyle left the restaurant, they ended up solving the case. They arrested the ex-employees that they suspected. As always, revenge is a strong motivator. It was late at night at the precinct so it was mostly empty, except for a few stragglers'. Jake was finishing paperwork when he felt Boyle tap him on the shoulder.

"Jake, Holt called to tell us we're relieved for the night. We can finish this tomorrow," Boyle informed him.

"That's ok; I'm goanna stay here and wrap it up. I owe you one for tonight anyway, also it will help me get my mind off of…," trying to place his words, quickly glancing at Amy's desk. "Things."

Boyle grinned, and nodded. Jake heard the door shut from Boyle leaving, he proceeded to sigh and go back to his work. However, it only took a few seconds for his concentration to be interrupted by the sound of the door quickly opening and slammed closed. He glanced up and gaped at the sight of Amy rushing through the precinct. He stood up, surprised at her sudden appearance. He walked over to her, meeting her halfway, she was still panting.

"Santiago, what are you doing here, did something go wrong with Mason? Did he cut off his ear because of that artist thing?!" he asked, sounding serious.

"An ear…? No, it wasn't anything like that, it's just...he's not who I wanted to be with." Amy said, catching he breath. However, it was done in vain because she lost it again. Seeing his shocked and hopeful expression made her heart skip a beat. Her face reddened and she cleared her throat. "I wanted to be with you…," Amy, confessed quietly.

His smile began to brighten, and he started moving closer, towards where she stood. It felt tenser, like seconds were ticking by timelessly. Amy was keeping a constant gaze at his lips, or the floor. He assumed she wouldn't be blushing at the ground, so it must have been because of him.

Amy cleared her throat, nervous. "I—I mean, because you made that paperwork sound so tempting this morning!" Amy said quickly, trying to recover herself from mortification. "The whole night I couldn't get my mind off of… this interesting case. Have you rapped it up yet?" Amy stepped away from him then, almost tripping over her own feet, which put a smirk on Jakes face.

"Common, Jake closes every case!" he exclaimed. This made Amy feel more at ease and laughed at his remark. "However the best part, for you at least, still needs to be done!" He picked up the paperwork and put it into her hands. "It could use some good old fashioned Santiago style." He said with a wink, leaning closer.

"Whoa, it's like Christmas!" She joked. This made Jake laugh and he quirked his eyebrow.

"We'll, sha'll we get started Amy?" he said holding out his hand, bowing slightly.

Amy chuckled at this and took his arm. "You bet Peralta."

They walked to each other's desks and departed from one another. He definitely did not intend to go a little slower to spend more time with her, not one bit… just like Amy assured they would get more done if she pulled her chair up next to him to work at his desk, for no other reason at all…

After they were finally finished, they hesitantly stood up and started walking out the door. Nudging each other as they walked side by side, they reached his car that was parked outside. He stopped, standing in place, turning to Amy.

"I just wanted to say, I'm sorry if I ruined your date. I wanted you to be happy, I didn't mean to try and screw it up. It's just hard for me to… not to," Jake admitted. He gave himself a mental face palm because that probably sounded ridiculous.

"No don't be, I actually had fun tonight," Amy said yawning. She looked at her watch and noticed just then how late it was. He smiled and stepped closer to her, pushing a piece of hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear and held it there. Amy's eyes widened at the intimate gesture and Jake quickly pulled his hand away stunned that he had done it without even thinking. Somehow this made Amy panic again, and she forced herself to take a step away from him and signaled for a taxi. "I—have to go. I should get some sleep before work tomorrow."

He nodded. He opened his mouth to say something but she jumped quickly into the taxi before he could get in another word. Jake was left standing there, shocked once again. Had he scared her?

He considered for a moment that maybe he should just back off, he didn't want to ruin the friendship that they had. However as he watched her taxi drive away, he smiled, knowing it was worth the risk. Jake knew that Amy would always be more than "just" anything. At least, he hoped.

…

Amy couldn't sleep that night. She was so close to Jake, she almost kissed Peralta! There was no denying her feelings now, the revelation she had yesterday was too much to handle. She was tossing and turning in her bed with a head full of questions. "Now that I know I have feelings for him, what are we supposed to do now? How are we going to balance a relationship and still be coworkers? What if we got together and broke up? What if Holt won't approve? What if he's moved on since his confession, and doesn't feel that way about me anymore? What if we would never be able to be friends again?!" Amy thought to herself.

Jake is one of the best guys she's ever known, she couldn't lose a friend like him; the thought of that scared he most. Was a relationship worth the risk? Amy sighed and concluded that she going to ask for a partner transfer. She had to distance herself from him, at least for a little while.

As her alarm went off, making her grimace. She had to get there early if she wanted to talk to Holt before Jake got there. Amy knew she couldn't go through with it if she saw his face.

After getting ready and driving to the station, she arrived. Stepping out of the car, she had to wipe away a tear that had fallen on her cheek. "If I'm doing the right thing, it sure sucks," she whispered to herself.

Only a few people were in the precinct when she walked into the building. She headed straight into Holt's office, trying to hold herself together as she began to speak up, "Captain, there's something I need to discuss with you."

"If this is about what kind of dish soap I use or what microwave I own; I told you I don't care to discuss—."

"No, it's nothing like that." Amy interrupts. Holt nods, waiting for her to continue. "I wanted to talk to you about a work relationship that's become…complicated."

"What's going on? Did Gina convince you to join the office dance group she's trying to start? I know she is relentless about it, but it's a terrible idea. I know I can dance, but I know that talent isn't shared throughout the workplace," he says, gesturing to Amy. She was one of the worst dancers in the office. Amy defiantly agreed, thinking back to when they were undercover in the dancing competition.

"I wasn't so bad when I had Jakes help," she thought to herself. She tried to push those thoughts out of her head and shook her head. "It's not about that; it's about my relationship with Peralta."

"I know Peralta's methods are sometimes unorthodox, but you two work quite well together. So if there's confliction between you both, you should talk it out."

"Sir, I'm not upset with him. It's just I—I am not sure if professionally, we can continue to work together so often. I'm afraid that we're going to ruin the work dynamic if feelings progress," Amy states. Reciting the speech, she practiced repeatedly in her head on the drive to the precinct.

"We'll Santiago, I appreciate your professionalism. If it's a problem, I can consider putting the two of you on separate cases for a while. However, your job requires working with others in the workplace, despite the differences ones may have."

Amy nodded and tried giving a thankful nod. Holt looked at her with suspicion. He knew Amy was holding something back. He assumed her wanting to be professional wasn't the only problem, given her distraught state.

"Santiago, there's something you're not telling me. I don't want you to make a decision you're going to regret." Amy looked stunned, she wasn't expecting that. Holt continued, "I've learned it's not always best to push away your feelings. You don't want to miss out on something great because you're afraid."

Amy opened her mouth, but she couldn't seem to think of anything to say. She was flustered; she didn't practice what she would say in this situation. What he said was the truth. She knew he was right. The question is, is she brave enough to take his advice?

Amy felt torn between her head and her heart. However, she was shook out of her thoughts when she heard on knock on the office window behind her. Jake stood holding up two cups of coffee and was grinning ear to ear. Amy beamed at him and turned back to Holt, who was waiting for a response. "On second thought Captain, I think I can work things out. I don't want to miss out on a great…work partnership."

Holt nodded and smiled slightly as he went back to his work at his desk, as if nothing had happened. Amy walked out of the office feeling as if she had gotten newfound confidence. Jake met her by her desk, handing her coffee and sat down.

Looking at him now, it seemed as if there was a spotlight on just him that made him seem brighter than anyone else in the room. Amy told herself this morning that she wouldn't be able to go through with her plans if she saw his face; and it turns out she was right, she couldn't. Amy decided she was very happy with that fact.

"Why are you in such a good mood?" Jake inquired. However, he smiled at her as if he knew the answer

"What makes you say that?" Amy chuckled.

"You can't stop smiling. Was Holt finally telling you about his microwave? I know that would make your day, even your life." Amy rolled his eyes at him. Nevertheless, that didn't stop him from proceeding to question her. "Is that what you two were talking about in his office this morning?" She then realized that she was grinning just as much as he was. He must have been rubbing off on her. Amy didn't want to tell the truth; how embarrassing would that be! But she didn't want to lie either, she settled on being allusive.

"Unfortunately, no, I guess I'm just content about where things seem to be heading recently." Amy said cheerfully.

Jake held her eyes for a few moments, as if he was trying to decipher Amy's current thoughts. Amy put on her best poker face, but Jake saw right through it. A guiltless smirk arose on his face.

"Me too," He responded.

Only a few seconds passed by before Amy spoke up, "That's surprising, seeing as how I already have three more arrests than you this month…" Amy said.

A mischievous expression took over her as she looked up at Jake, who had an amazed look on his face. He seemed stunned at her boldness, but thrilled at it at the same time.

"Not for long Santiago," he said, with a wink.