The Demon Of The Nine-Nine
Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or Brooklyn 99 in any way, shape, or form. They belong to their respective owners.
(A.N) Hello! Sorry about the massive hiatus for this story. I've been waiting with my fingers crossed for the email notifications to start working again. Unfortunately that doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon, so for the time being I'm going to upload via the app since I'm still getting notifications with that.
Angry lil' Elf: Sorry that you had to wait so long ago. Like I said up top, been waiting for the email notifications to start working again. Hopefully this chapter will be worth the wait.
Now that they had an address for him, Six is going to be hounded by fans and admirers...and he thought that the Covenant were relentless lol.
Grudgematch: We'll see.
Jestalnaker 94000: It's about time! And Underworld? Damn, that's a series I haven't about in years. But the idea sounds cool.
Sky189: Thanks, glad you liked it. And I'd like to do one chapter a month but unfortunately life constantly gets in the way.
Marlastiano: You're welcome!
NeroUmu: Thanks. I hope you like the ones in this chapter too.
FallenMetalGod: Thanks. And Six is a man of many talents lol. Hopefully this chapter will be worth the wait.
Pathfinder097: No doubt so that Six can meet Kevin. If so, good news! I might have Six meet Kevin before the party.
Jebest4781: Well, somebody had to...and who better than the guy that can afford it.
Guest: Sorry for the long ass wait. I try to upload when I can over the last month the site has just been glitching out. While I can't speak for everyone, I haven't received any emails since the 10th of October.
inatorbald: I thought you reviewed before? And it's like Terry teased, Six is a big softie at heart. And personally, I don't think Six would get far in the Boys universe without Forerunner upgrades unless he found the weakness to the supes there. I don't know much about the series/universe but I'm not sure if Homelander has a weakness like Superman does with Kryptonite.
Guest: True.
MarauderPrime12: Hopefully this one will make up for it.
Statess: Batman/Deathstroke or Batman/Captain America, perhaps. And it was. I was surprised myself with how many reviews I had to answer; not that I'm complain.
GuestFyre: That he did, and it was about time. It might have just been a production thing, but the tech looked really old in the series other than the phones. Let's be honest, Holt and Six are kindred spirits lol. And no doubt.
Yep, they all have new, comfortable chairs rather than just the one that was rewarded during the Jimmy Jab games.
Poor Amy though, it's like she's being tortured on a daily basis lol.
Natasha and her child now have a chance at a better life...and who knows, they might even make a small cameo in the future a few years down the line.
And no doubt. Six isn't just going to stop on one floor, he wants to improve production throughout the entire precinct.
It's just one of the small changes from canon/the series that Six's presence has made. And there will be more.
Nagiten: I'll have to go back and change that then. Thanks for letting me know.
Sixfan29: True. But with the number of admirers that Six has/will be getting then threesomes won't be off the table...though it'll take some time due to him being an indoctrinated, traumatized child soldier and all.
Yes.
Six doesn't care about the attention and prefers his privacy, they'd have an easier time getting blood out of a stone.
Never thought about that, but not a bad idea. Just imagine if he did though!
I'll leave that to your imagination lol. It might do, especially Carla since this is probably the first time that women are sending him gifts and trying to get his attention.
It's probably a good thing. A super soldier playboy with nearly endless stamina...do I need to say anymore?
Someone needed too.
Despite what Six claims, he does care about people. Which will no doubt be a source of amusement for Terry to tease him about.
If Six isn't careful Amy's going to throw herself at him.
Yes, he did.
Savior16: You're in luck, there is a little mention of it in this chapter.
War Sage: It was bound to happen eventually.
What can I say, everyone wants a piece of Six...and who know, they might just get it.
If they don't someone else might just snatch him up. And his home outside the city is on his own private property so he doesn't have any neighbours to worry about dropping in uninvited.
It needs to be done. Not just the interior but exterior too.
It's not. There'll be times that he shows his charitable side and the humanist in him, all of which he'll probably be teased for. He might play a tough guy, but in reality, he's a big softie when it comes to helping civilians.
And she might just do, especially if she hears him speaking Spanish fluently.
Slaggedfire: Oh, easily.
Warmachine324: You're welcome and not just yet. At this point they've only known each other for around a month, along with the fact that Six is adamant that he's not going to allow himself to become emotionally compromised by caring about people again. A mistake that he thinks he made on Reach.
Krieger Techpriest: True, with Captain America or Deathstroke thrown in.
CookieWorkout: Thank you so much, appreciate it. And I think that I got the letters mixed around. I'll have to go back and fix that. Thanks for letting me know.
Lomada: It did, but let's forget about it.
Octavio Constant: I'm guessing that was sarcasm. But to answer your question, they take as long as they take. There are only so many hours in the day, and some days I don't feel like writing when I've been working for days on end and I just want to relax. And to answer your other, it'll be soon. And I imagine that they'll be terrified...depending on what he is doing at the time. Jake might just fanboy about him and their encounter.
Brainstorm Sorcerer: Well, somebody has got to do it and since the NYPD have no intention of updating their precincts...at least in this universe/story. I have no idea what they precincts are like IRL. I might do a flashback in the future or maybe they'll be another time when he receives gifts from his admirers, undecided at the minute. Like with Rosa agreeing with Six, Amy feels dirty agreeing with Jake.
Mostly because of Kelso, add in the news crews that appeared when Six and Amy were leaving the hospital...even if they walked right past him. A couple of bribes here and there maybe, but mostly it's because I thought it would be funny...in a sadistic sort of way. Six already suffers enough as it it, only for it to worsen because everyone wants to meet and get to know the real Jericho Reach.
And I expect that there will. Maybe like the Smallville scene when Clark revealed himself to the world as the Blur and a woman jumps off a balcony to be caught by him. The training will definitely be having results. I don't think that Terry will want to be compared to Flashpoint Batman when he sees how he deals with criminals...which ironically is more what Six does as the Demon.
I'd take Scully any day over Hitchcock. Jokes aside, I can't remember once when Hitchcock has had a redeemable moment unlike Scully who has a heart of gold and is always willing to help his friends. I was referring to Season 8, which was the weakest season overall. I still feel robbed that they didn't keep going to Season 9 episode 9. If Carla does Jake that, maybe even gesturing to how big he is with her hands, he might just think that Jericho picked the wrong profession, wink, wink.
louieblair21gma: I've never watched Transformers Prime. The only Transformers I've seen are the Michael Bay films and an old series called Transformers: Cybertron, a show I watched as a kid that is still a guilty pleasure of mine.
Dinorun154: In time, yes.
Chapter 20.
Walking out of the office and across the bullpen, the squad headed over to the briefing room. Nearing the doorway, they stopped when they spotted the chairs and tables from inside dismantled and leaning against the wall; along with the board that had the number of arrests for the bet. Ignoring it for the time being, though Jake made a mental note to add the five he had arrested last week, they stepped into the briefing room to see that just like the bullpen had been completely renovated.
"DAMN!"
While not as vocal as Terry, Amy was equally amazed at the newly updated briefing room. "Oh, my god." She whispered looking at the large brown conference table that had replaced the smaller, individual desks. "It looks so...professional."
"Keep it in your pants, Santiago."
Blushing at Rosa's comment, Amy looked at her. "But it does!" She insisted defensively. "Just look at that table. Way more professional than those old desks...not to mention gum free." She added, grimacing at the latter remembering looking under the tables to find old pieces of gum stuck underneath from all the cops that had used them over the years; or maybe the NYPD had got them preowned. They weren't exactly known for splashing out.
"Who cares about some stupid table? Just look at that TV." Jake said walking past everyone and down to the end of the room where the large flatscreen was on the wall, almost in a trance-like state. "You're beautiful."
Amy rolled her eyes at him. "You know you're talking to a TV, right?"
"The most beautiful TV I've ever laid eyes on." Jake answered, staring devotedly at the massive television that looked to be around 85-90 inches considering that it took up most of the back wall. "Just think how awesome Die Hard would look on it."
"Of course that would be your first thought."
"Why else would you have a TV this big and not watch the greatest movie of all time?" Jake retorted to Amy.
Pulling out one of the leather seats and plopping herself down, Rosa scoffed. "Die Hard is not the greatest movie of all time." She asserted strongly, all while appreciating how comfortable the new chairs were compared to the old ones that felt like you were sitting on hardwood; not to mention hurting your ass after a while.
"We all agreed that it was, Rosa!
"When?"
"A few of weeks ago. Remember, we all laughed and agreed that it was basically about my life."
"None of that happened."
"It should've."
"I remember Jericho saying that the book was better."
Ripped from his trance-like state, Jake spun around and pointed at Amy sharply. "Which is a vicious lie!"
"Nope, the truth." Amy replied smugly pulling out a chair and sat down. "Face the facts, the books are always better. Just look at Harry Potter and Percy Jackson..." She told him, still angry how they had massacred the latter when they had so much source material to use. And Hades a bad guy? Please, he was the most benevolent Greek God there was…at least compared to his siblings.
What about Ares, where was he?
"Nerd."
Jake was all smiles. "See, Rosa agrees with me."
"Rosa doesn't." The Latina retorted.
The second that Rosa was done; Amy followed up. "You're only saying that because the only book you've ever read is My First Words...and considering your poor grammar I doubt you finished it."
"Terry, Amy's picking on me!"
"Stop being stupid heads." Terry told the pair of them...only to quickly realize what he said when everyone in the room looked at him. "Terry said what he said!" Unapologetic, he owned his mistake and went with it. "Nobody likes stupid heads! Period!"
"Well that's a little mean."
With some reluctance, Amy was forced to agree with Jake again. "Yeah. And just for the record, if anyone is a stupid head then it's him." She said as Charles looked around the room with a small frown.
"I don't like it."
"I do."
The second that Rosa said that Charles immediately changed his mind. "Because I love it!"
"Nice save, Charles." Terry whispered with a sympathetic smile at him shooting yet another shot with Rosa...and missing. While workplace relationships were never a good idea due to the potential fallout, he wasn't worried since the attraction was completely one-sided. No, if anything it would be Jericho that Rosa would get with. That thought sent a cold chill up his spine.
Terry loved love, but the thought of Jericho and Rosa being in a relationship scared him. While they would definitely be one terrifying couple, just imagine if they one day had kids! Some dark-haired child that was constantly grunting and glaring at everyone, silently judging them from afar. Great! Now he felt bad for the imaginary child having two emotionally stunted people for parents.
"Not really, Tear-Bear." Gina strongly disagreed as she walked into the briefing room, pulling Terry from his thoughts. "Mmmm. Not bad." She complimented, appraising the newly renovated and updated room. "I'll take it."
"Bah, bah, bah, bah!" Jake exclaimed, stopping Gina in her tracks. "If anyone is gonna take it then it'll be yours truly."
"Strange way to say my name, but whatever."
Jake turned to look at the dark-haired Latina. "Rosa, I love you, but please, let's leave the jokes to the professionals."
"Professional clown."
"I wish." Jake beamed at Amy. "Not only would I wow the crowds with my incredible witty banter, but I'd get paid for it too! Talk about dream job."
"You'd be an amazing clown, Jake."
"Thanks Charles...I think."
Charles' eyes lit up as an idea suddenly popped into his head. "We could be a double act. I'm amazing at giving cream pies." He said earning a collective groan from the entire room, confusing him. "What?"
"You just said you're amazing at giving cream pies." Rosa flatly told him, wrinkling her nose slightly.
"But I am. Like, really good. Just ask my cousins." Charles told her making everyone groan. "Growing up, we are always cream pieing each other. Sure it made a mess and all, but it brought us closer as a family." He continued. Next to him, Jake buried his face in his hands to hide his laughter.
Standing at the end of the table, Terry looked over at Charles. "Seriously, Charles?!"
"What?"
Before Terry could answer, Hitchcock and Scully entered the room and looked around. "We've redecorated." The former commented, then frowned. "I don't like it."
"You weren't complaining earlier." Amy remarked, glad to change the subject but shuddering at the visceral memory of the two shuffling their butts in their new chairs.
Hitchcock peered over at Amy with a stubborn look. "That's different."
"Not really." Rosa drawled from where she was sitting.
"What if me and Hitchcock want to sit together?"
Staring incredulously at Scully, Amy answered after a few moments of silence. "...then pull out two chairs."
"Alright then, genius. What if there aren't two seats together?" Hitchcock questioned Amy sharply, demanding an answer. "What then, huh?" He pressed. Getting no answer, he looked incredibly smug at his triumph over her. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Check yourself before you...
Deciding to intervene, Terry interrupted. "That's enough, Hitchcock!" He reprimanded firmly. "There are two chairs right there. Now, sit down and wait like everyone else for the morning briefing."
"Sure thing, Sarge." Scully smiled, happily doing as he was told.
Hitchcock was less cheerful about it. "Fine." He grumbled pulling out a chair and grumpily fell into it getting a groan of resistance from said seat, one that he promptly ignored and instead grumbled something, several somethings under his breath and folded his arms over his chest childishly.
"Why can't it be that easy with Cagney and Lacy?" Terry thought to himself. Oh, who was he kidding? He could never raise his voice at his little girls; he loved them too much.
Giggling, Gina looked at Terry. "You're so authoritative, Tear-Bear." She told him getting a small sigh back from him. "But just for future reference, I think that it would really help if you did it without your shirt on."
"How would that help?" Rosa asked dryly, looking at Gina.
"So we can all have something nice to look at...speaking of which," Gina trailed off with a smile looking over towards the door as Jericho walked. "Mmmm. He really fills out those overalls." She voiced blatantly checking him out and liking what she saw. You just wanted tear them off and to see that beautiful work of art that he called a body, the kind that had abs that you could suck on for days; and that wasn't the only thing she wanted to suck.
He was always so serious. What he really needed was a good blowjob to relax; and she would give him the best one he's ever had.
Turning to see what Gina was talking about, Amy unconsciously nibbled her lip when Jericho walked in still wearing his overalls. "He really does." She agreed under her breath, remembering how incredibly hot he looked assembling the desk in Holt's office.
"The briefing room looks great!" Terry praised seeing Jericho walk in. "But you really didn't need to spend your money on this place. I mean between the computers, chairs, and the new desks it must have cost you a small fortune."
"You forgetting that he's a multibillionaire?"
Rosa looked across the table at Jake who was sitting next to Charles, or maybe it was the other way around. "How can we? You remind us constantly."
"I'm just reminding everyone how extremely rich our new friend is."
"Associate." Jericho corrected pulling out a chair and sat between Amy and Rosalita.
Pretending that his words didn't sting, Jake tried not to show it and continued what he was originally saying. "He could throw away millions into this place and still be a multibillionaire. Speaking of which, any plans for the breakroom?" He asked as Hitchcock and Scully jumped up from their seats in outrage.
"You keep your grubby hands off the breakroom!" Hitchcock growled, actually growled at Jericho, baring his teeth at him like a rabid dog. "It's perfect the way it is!"
"What're you talking about?" Rosa voiced incredulously. "The couch stinks..."
"Don't you speak that way about Brown Bessy!"
Ignoring Scully, Rosa went on. "The vending machines are lousy and filled with crap that nobody wants. The only good thing is the pool table, and we can't even play since those idiots lost most of the balls."
"Well I'm sorry that my dream of being a Pokémon Master is stupid to you." Jake bristled, then looked at Jericho with an eager smile. "Sooooo?" He asked, wigging his eyebrows suggestively.
"No."
Jake whined, expressing his frustration. "Seriously?! You have Hollywood Actresses and Porn Stars after you and you're not even going to message them back?"
"Correct."
"Porn Stars!"
"Yes. You have mentioned that several times now."
"Then why aren't you listening?!" Jake blurted out, not understanding his madness. "You had a message from Lisa Ann and you're not even going to answer it?" He paused, his voice turning softer. "She can do things to you."
"What sort of things, Jake?"
"Naughty, but wonderful things Charles." Jake told him making many roll their eyes...but didn't entirely disagree.
Amy tried her hardest not to let her jealousy show. "Maybe because Jericho has more class than that. And remind us all again how it is that you know all these porn stars names?"
"...I'm a man of culture."
"You're a pig."
"Well, I am a cop." Jake chuckled at both his zinger and amazing timing. "And don't sit there all innocently, Mother Theresa. I bet if we were to go through your search history that we'd find some really depraved stuff."
"I'm surprised that you even know what depraved means."
"That wasn't a no."
Rosa smirked. "I bet she's really into that library porn. The hardcore stuff."
"Am not!"
"Your blushing cheeks say otherwise." Rosa disagreed getting an embarrassed and blushing glare from Amy.
Gina gasped. "How scandalous!" She teased making Amy wish that the ground would open and swallow her whole. "And all this time we thought that you were boring, uninteresting, and had no friends."
"Alright, you've all had your fun." Terry intervened, ultimately saving Amy from her embarrassment. "And this is really not the sort of conversation we should be having at work."
"...You want to have it at the bar?"
"NO TERRY DOESN'T!" The sergeant proclaimed loudly at Jake, but quickly composed himself and looked down the table at the detectives and officers that were gathered around it. "Give me an update on open cases."
Standing by the wall, one of the uniformed officers spoke up. "We just got a DOA down on Bessemer Street."
"Alright." Terry acknowledged before looking down the table. "Charles, you're the primary on this case. Take Jake with you."
While Charles was his friend, Jake couldn't help but feel a little insulted. "Um, don't you mean the other way around?" He asked. You didn't put your best detective as a secondary.
"Did Terry stutter?"
"No."
"Then you're the secondary, Jake." Terry expressed just as Captain Holt walked into the room.
"Detectives, our monthly crime statistics are due. I would like all paperwork on your close cases at your earliest convivence." Holt announced walking round the table and headed over to where Terry was standing in front of the large television on the wall. "Scully, you can just write I did not close any on a piece of paper."
"You got it."
"I already got my paperwork in, Captain."
Looking down the table, Holt stared at Amy. "Very good." He said simply, getting a bright smile from the brunette who if possible sat up straighter in her seat. "Peralta,"
"Yep?"
"How is your paperwork coming along?"
"...It's coming."
"Will it be coming today?"
"Depends on how well you treat it." Jake grinned at Holt who stared back emotionally, his dark-brown eyes boring into his skull. Terry was not much better as he sent him a flat, unimpressed look; his eyes telling him to stop...a message that went unheeded. "You know, like...
"I understood the wordplay." Holt responded coolly. "And you still have not answered my question, Peralta."
"Me and Charles were just given a case, so..."
"And why was the paperwork not completed last week?"
Suddenly on the spot, Jake desperately tried to think of something that would get him off his back. "...I was busy."
"Doing?"
"...stuff."
"Such as?" Holt inquired, his eyes never leaving Peralta.
"Important stuff." Jake muttered weakly, not really sure why he was on his case again; pun intended. He hadn't been late for weeks, what more did he want from him?
Holt remained silent, his thoughts his own as he regarded Peralta. "I want that paperwork on my desk by tomorrow."
"But you don't have a desk...or does he?" Jake asked Jericho who looked as emotionless as Holt, once again furthering the belief that the two were related.
"That will be all. Dismissed." Holt told the room, preventing Jericho was answering Jake as he ended the morning briefing. Walking down the side of the table, he left the room and headed back into his office.
Once Holt was gone, Terry frowned at Peralta. "What're you doing, Jake?"
"...Um, getting up?" Jake asked rather stated. Realizing that he was going on about, he sighed. "Relax, I'm just fooling around."
"There is a time and a place."
"Yep, and now is the time and the place." Jake retorted with a chuckle as everyone got up from around the table. Seeing the unimpressed look across his face, he sighed once again. "I'm just having a bit of fun by lightening the place up a bit, I don't see what the big deal is."
"The big deal is that completely disrespected your commanding officer in front of everyone." Terry shot back at Jake as the others began leaving the room. "Holt asked you a question...
"And I answered it."
"No, you laughed it off."
Biting the inside of his cheek, Jake fought back a retort. "Look, I would love to stay and discuss this with you Terry, but I've got to be secondary on the DOA case. Which is beyond ridiculous." He muttered under his breath, but still loud enough for Terry to hear as he walked away. "Making your best detective be the secondary." Grumbling under his breath, he caught Amy talking to Charles outside the Briefing Room.
"I know that you haven't had Jake as a secondary in a while. Be careful, it can be rough."
"Hey, saboteur, that's not true. I happen to be a very good secondary."
Amy responded by giving Jake a look, one that said oh really. "What about last time you were my secondary?"
"Oh, you mean when you broke the mirror in the Interrogation Room."
"You're the one that broke it when you kept banging on it going on and on about the perps stupid bank account!"
"You know what your problem is? You won't let things go."
"And your problem is that you can't give up control." Amy shot back at Jake. "You're terrible at following your primary's orders, you just do whatever you want because you think you're always right, which is probably why you still haven't worked with Jericho yet."
Hearing her smugness, Jake retorted. "Or counterpoint, me and Jericho are waiting for something awesome to come along. Something that requires the attention of the two best detectives around." He declared boastfully making Amy roll her eyes. "And just for the record, I can be an amazing secondary and I'll prove it."
"I know you will, Jake-in-the-Box."
"Okay, don't ever call me that again. I'm driving. We should leave now. Carry my bag." Jake ordered, but seeing the smug look that Amy sported, he quickly backtracked. "But you should pick the music, primary."
Excusing himself from the others, Six slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out his cellular device. Tapping the screen, he pressed his thumb on a certain application before bringing it to his ear and waited a few moments.
"Can I help you, Six?"
Acknowledging Dot, Six replied. "I require a contracting team to work on the men's restroom on the fourth floor of the precinct. Effective immediately."
"Very well. I'll make the call." Dot told him. "I'll contact you shortly."
Disconnecting the call, Six placed the cellular device back in his pocket just as familiar heeled footsteps approached. "Is there something you need, Rosalita?" He asked looking up to see the woman in question.
"On your phone at work? Didn't think you had it in you." Rosa smirked up at him.
"Your influence, no doubt."
Her smirk growing slightly, Rosa turned and walked with him. "Who was that?"
"Taking an interest in my life?"
Rosa scoffed. "As if."
"So you're just naturally officious?"
Breathing irritably through her nose, Rosa gritted her teeth at Jericho. "Talk normally." She growled up at him.
"Do my words confound you, Rosalita?" Six inquired only to receive a punch in the arm from the irate Latina. "We've already discussed this. Those weak little fists have no effect on me."
"What was that?!"
Amused how easy it was to get under her skin, Six responded. "Since I didn't stutter and you're in close proximity of me, as well as your violent reaction, I know you heard me." He stated smoothly as they arrived back at the bullpen.
"Fuck you." Rosa growled at him as they stepped into the bullpen. "And enjoy being a little brownnoser and building the desk for Holt."
Six promptly retorted. "I'm assembling a desk. To build would imply that I created it from scratch, I did not. And enjoy doing...what is it you do here again, Rosalita?" He questioned and watched as she responded by flipping him. "Hm. I win again."
"You've won nothing." Rosa insisted through gritted teeth as he walked off towards Holt's office, not even offering a retort...which only pissed her off further. The smug, scar-faced sonofabitch thought he was so smart. Yeah, well, he wouldn't be acting so smug when she fucked his brains out. She was going to enjoy breaking him and turning him into a submissive little bitch.
Putting that thought on hold for the moment, Rosa turned and walked over to her desk. Pulling out her chair, she plopped herself down in the comfortable, padded seat that was much kinder on her ass than the old chairs they had been using for years. Begrudgingly, she had to give it to that scar-faced bastard, he knew how to upgrade a place...not that she'd ever tell him that.
Grabbing her phone that was pressing uncomfortably tight against her thigh, she freed it from her jeans pocket and placed it on the large black mousepad making the screen light up. Glancing at it, she saw that it was charging wirelessly getting a small smile from her, one that she forced away before anyone could see it. "Not bad." She praised under her breath, mostly so that nobody would hear her essentially complimenting him.
It was a few hours later when Six could be found dressed in his actual work-clothes and sitting at his desk. Captain Holt's had been assembled, and work was already underway on stripping apart the men's restroom which as excepted needed more work than originally thought with most of the pipes being corroded and in need of replacing before any renovations could be made; the problems just continued to mount up.
Unsurprisingly, Hitchcock and Scully had been outraged and even complained to the captain about the entire situation since it meant that they would have to use the restroom on the third floor until the work had been completed. While he liked to think that his patience was endless, it was beginning to wear thin with those two.
He had been there nearly a month and still failed to see what they contributed to the squad and the New York Police Department as a whole. Throughout the eighties, a time when New York had been at its worst, they had been competent detectives...but now? For over twenty years they had done nothing. Like Captain Holt had mentioned in passing this morning, Scully hadn't closed any cases this month,
And the only reason that Hitchcock had was because Jake had given him one of his cases when he had been having a series of bad luck a few weeks ago, the perp coming in and confessing to everything.
From the moment they arrived they could be found sitting at their desks wasting time on their computers rather than doing the tasks that had been assigned and eating whatever food they brought in with them; that or sleeping. Just a waste on the taxpayers' money.
He didn't even need to ask how the two were still cops, he already knew the answer. Captain McGintley. His poor leadership and lackadaisical attitude being the causation of the precinct's poor reputation throughout the NYPD; not to mention the unprofessionalism that ran rampart through the Nine-Nine that had gone unchecked for years.
Jake firing his beverages at the ceiling was just the first of many incidents to occur at the precinct. The fact that it had happened at all, that he thought that such behaviour was acceptable in the workplace was concerning. As was his impertinence with Holt this morning.
He had thought that since Holt had taken command of the Nine-Nine that Jake had changed, and he had certainly changed from the arrogant man that he had encountered on his first day, one that imperiously commented that it didn't matter that he mislabelled the evidence or had poor paperwork since he had more felon arrests than any other detective in the buildings, at least he assumed that was what he was alluding too.
But his attitude this morning, he guessed that he hadn't changed at all. He might have been more punctual, but he was still just...
"Careful, you're gonna hurt yourself."
His train of thought interrupted, Six looked across his desk at Rosalita. "Such rapier wit."
"I aim to please." Rosa mocked back through a smirk, using what could be considered his catchphrase seeing how much he fuckin' said it. "And what you thinking about...other than new ways to brood?"
Grunting, Six replied. "Nothing of relevance." He told her, meaning every word. Perhaps he was being too hard on Jake, his punctuality had certainly improved since Holt had taken command of the precinct. People didn't change overnight, but with the right leadership. "And there are no new ways to brood."
"You looked?" Rosa asked, smirking when he grunted again. "And I'm hungry."
"You should do something about that then." Six idly commented, looking at the computer desktop that was open...and had been for some time. All his cases were closed, and he hadn't been given any new ones. Additionally, the bullpen and briefing room had been completed to an acceptable degree leaving only the breakroom, the copy room...which could probably be scraped now that they all had printers with built-in copiers, the interrogation rooms, and holding cells to do.
Along with the waiting area. While it was hardly a priority, he supposed that they could make it more inviting for civilians that came in.
"I'm about too. You're buying."
Looking up from his computer, Six stared back at Rosalita. "Can't afford to buy your own lunch?" He asked casually. "Makes sense. Guess you're still paying off your lessons you took at the American..."
"Finish that sentence and I'll gut you alive." Rosa warned through gritted teeth, her smoky eyes flashing dangerously and stirring Amy from her work who looked over at the pair of them from where she was sitting at her desk.
"Threats only work if you can back them up, Rosalita." Six reminded her once again. He found a sense of gratification when she narrowed her dark brown eyes and glared hotly at him, as well as aesthetically pleasing.
"Oh, I'll back it up alright." Rosa growled at that smug sonofabitch.
Ignoring Rosalita, Six looked over at the other detective in the room. "Amy, would you like food?" He asked making Rosa narrow her eyes even more, noting that he had put emphasis on you, singling her out.
"Um, sure." Amy smiled lightly, like Rosa not missing that he had specifically asked her and left Rosa out. "Anywhere in particular?"
"The hour grows late. To ensure that we're back on time, we should have the food delivered here."
Rosa scoffed mockingly. "Please, that's not the reason and you know it. Is someone scared of being mobbed by their adoring fans?" She taunted him.
"No more than you being scared about me revealing everything about your life to the squad, Emily." Six smoothly retorted. He once again felt a sense of gratification watching her eyes widen at the revelation of the pseudonym she was using at her current place of residence.
"Emily?"
Before Amy could get her answer or Rosa had the chance to leapt across the desk and kill him, another voiced called out. "Did Terry hear something about ordering food in?" Glancing in the direction of the voice, the three detectives turned to see Terry poking his head out of the breakroom.
"Hm."
Stepping out of the breakroom, Terry walked over to them. "What're you getting?" He asked, taking a break from sketching the picture of the perp that the victim had described to him for Amy's purse-snatcher.
"Nourishment."
Rosa scowled at him. "Just say food like a normal person." She growled, annoyed that he had somehow discovered something else about her. Smug sonofabitch.
"Terry thinks that somebody is getting hangry."
"I think that Terry better mind his own damn business." Rosa growled, directing her anger at him and making him back off.
"Damn, Rosa. Chill!"
Coming to Terry's rescue, Amy spoke up. "We could get McDonalds?"
"Again?"
Her cheeks colouring at the subtle accusation, Amy defended herself. "I like the milkshakes...and the ice-creams." She told Jericho, hinting at the latter.
"Terry does too!"
"Very well." Six stated, agreeing to the request. While he cared very little about what food they picked or even eating for that matter, having eaten the day before, he would not deprive them of nourishment. That and Rosalita had not been entirely inaccurate regarding the reason for him not wanting to go out. Ever since it had been revealed that he and the Jericho Reach that owned Noble Industries were one and the same the paparazzi had made both his personal and work life...difficult.
Fortunately, he made sure that Kelso understood that choices had consequences.
"Three meals then."
On the other side of the desk, Rosa narrowed her eyes dangerously. "You better not be forgetting me."
"I have many skills, Rosalita, telepathy is not one of them." Six informed the Latina across from him. "You must vocalize what you want for me to know." He explained getting a death glare from her as he brought up the homepage for one of the fast-food delivery services. "As it does for the rest of you."
It was a little while later when Jake and Charles finally arrived back at the precinct. Driving down into the lot, Jake parked his Mustang and jumped out along with his partner. The DOA had been nothing special, just natural causes. On the plus side, he did get his flirt on with the new medical examiner, scoring a date for tonight.
Forgetting about his date, one that he hoped ended in them showing each other their naughty bits, Jake left the parking lot with Charles. Walking down the sidewalk, he spotted the paparazzi across the street. Man, Jericho was so lucky. Not only did he have beautiful Hollywood actresses and super sexy porn stars after him, but everyone wanted his picture, autograph, you name it!
He wasn't just Supercop, but celebrity cop! They should make a movie about him...and they were probably trying too. Personally, if it were him, he would be basking in all the attention and perks that came with being Jericho 'fuckin' Reach. Going to all the fanciest restaurants with a beautiful woman on each arm; and when he got home, he'd go straight to his master bedroom where he would find the hottest porn stars laying on his bed wearing sexy lingerie that were waiting to pleasure him in ways no normal woman could,
They were masters of their craft, after all.
Seriously, Jericho was living every guy's fantasy and he was squandering it! When you thought about it, he was being quite selfish...unless he was more interested in seeing Rosa dressed up as a maid. He pretty saw that Charles would give himself a heart attack if he ever saw Rosa in a maid costume. As for himself. Well, it would be funny and amazing getting to boss her around and all, but incredibly awkward.
Not that Jericho or Charles were ever gonna see Rosa in a maid costume, well Jericho might if he and Rosa decided to roleplay during sexy time that had everyone knew was going to happen sooner or later with how much they kept flirting with one another; with Charles' heart breaking each time. But he was getting off track. Now as he was saying...thinking, whatever.
He was winning, the million dollars from Jericho...though now that he knew he was a multibillionaire he should have tried upping it to a billion dollars, the terrible date with Amy, having Rosa as his maid and bossing her around, all of it!
Nearing the entrance, Jake spotted several vans parked outside. Shrugging, he headed inside with Charles. Walking up the steps and into the elevator, he pressed the button making the door close and felt the room shift as it went up to the fourth floor. Silence filling the elevator, once again making him wish that they could have some music playing to kill it, he thought about his date tonight, one that he still hoped, secretly praying that it would end in some sexy doctor roleplay.
Sure, she wasn't that kind of doctor, but she was still a doctor, so it still counted.
Feeling the elevator shift as reached the fourth floor, Jake stepped out with Charles to find everyone eating fast-food. And not just the squad, but even the uniformed officers standing around the room that ranged from McDonalds, Subway, Pizza Hut, Wendy's, you name it!
"What's all this?" Charles asked stepping into the bullpen behind Jake.
Dipping his mozzarella stick into the dip, Terry answered from the table in the kitchen. "Jericho brought everyone lunch."
"Not everyone."
Looking over where the grumbling voice was coming from, Jake and Charles saw Hitchcock and Scully sulking at their desks.
"You two went out for lunch."
"So!" Scully cried at Rosa. "You should have still thought of us."
"Right!" Hitchcock nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with his partner. "Stupid, Jericho. First, he takes the toilets from us...
"Toilets? What happened to the toilets?" He asked, then looked over at Jericho with a smile. "Did somebody clog them up?
The room erupted into disgusted groans. Looking up from her food, Amy made a face at him. "We're trying to eat!" She whined before grabbing one of her fries and placed it in her mouth. Smiling as she swallowed it, she turned to Hitchcock and Scully. "And you're complaining because it means that you have to use one of the restrooms on the other floors until the work is done."
"What work?"
Looking at Charles, Terry told him what was happening. "Jericho is paying for work to be done to the restroom." He explained. While he did feel guilty about Jericho using his own money, he was a little giddy about having a restroom that actually worked...not to mention hygienic. And handtowels! Sweet, sweet, handtowels!
"The workers also got lunch." Amy chirped, happily rubbing it in Jake's face.
Pouting slightly, Jake tried to play off the jealously he was currently feeling. "Good for them." He gasped, a smile slowly forming as an idea popped into his head and looked over at Jericho who even seemed grumpy when eating fast-food. There wasn't even a slight twitching of his lips that indicating that he was enjoying himself. Seeing as how that wasn't important right now, he voiced what he was thinking. "Will we be getting those smart toilets put in?"
"You mean the kind that shoot water up your ass?" Rosa asked after swallowing a mouthful of burger. "Didn't know you were into that sort of thing."
Jake laughed her off, somewhat awkwardly. "I'm not...but I am curious, and there is nothing wrong with that."
"True."
Seeing that Jericho hadn't said anything, Jake persisted. "Well?"
"We'll see."
Jake had to fight back a squeal of joy. "That wasn't a no." He practically sang out. Those Japanese toilets always looked so fancy, so stylish! And they warmed your bum on those cold days and dried them. Forgetting about toilets, he changed the subject. "I don't suppose that you got me and Charles anything?"
"No." Jericho answered, getting a pout from Jake. "I hypothesized that you and Charles would buy sustenance while you were out."
"Oh." Jake mumbled disappointedly...and hungrily.
"You don't want deep fried food...
Jake immediately cut Charles off. "Yes I do!"
"Join the club." Scully poutingly grumbled. "And how come Gina got food and we didn't? I thought that we were friends?"
Grabbing his drink, Jericho replied. "I apologize if I ever gave you that impression." He voiced emotionlessly making the others in the room laugh; Scully just pouted even more.
"And it's because I'm his favourite." Gina smiled brightly playing on her phone and nibbling on her sections of her Subway.
Disgruntled, Jake retorted. "Please, everyone knows that I'm his favourite. I'm a loveable scamp, what's not to love?"
"Remind me again, when was the last time you went on a case together?" Amy mocked him. "And there is plenty not to love, trust me."
"But there is also plenty of me to love."
Rosa looked at him dryly. "Really, a dick joke? I thought you were better than that."
"I wasn't even talking about lil' Jake."
"Lil' indeed."
"Have you been peeping again? We've spoken about this. Stop it. Get some help." Jake told Amy who rolled her eyes, then looked at Rosa. "And I know you been with Jericho all day but get your mind out of the gutter."
Before things could escalate, and by escalate he meant Rosa jumping over the table to kill Jake, Terry intervened. "How did the case go?"
"Great!" Jake answered for the pair of them. "You know, thanks to me being an amazing secondary." He bragged making most of them roll their eyes. "And since none of you bothered to think about me and Charles...
"Or me and Hitchcock." Scully added, interrupting Jake.
"I'm going to ask our supreme ruler if we can go out and get some food before he reports back to the mothership." Jake told them, pretending that he hadn't heard Scully as he headed off to speak to Holt.
Once Jake was out of earshot, Amy looked at Charles. "So, how did it really go?"
"YOU GOT FOOD TOO?!"
Jumping a little at Jake yelling, Charles answered. "Great. Just like Jake said. I really couldn't have asked for a better secondary." He cheerfully remarked. "I sometimes wonder if there is anything that he can't do, you know."
Not buying it, Rosa voiced that belief. "He steamrolled you, didn't he." It wasn't even a question, rather a fact.
"No!" Charles' high-pitched voice told them all that he did. "The two of us were on the same wavelength the entire time. It was really quite something. "Of course, you had to be there to see it."
"Riiiight." Amy drawled her words out, like Rosa not believing that for a second. This was Jake after all. "I did warn you he was a terrible secondary."
Immediately jumping to his best friends' defence, Charles disagreed. "That is where you are wrong. If Jake is such a bad secondary, then why he did volunteer to follow up with the M.E. to get the autopsy results tonight?"
"He did?" Amy voiced her astonishment. "Huh, I take it back. Guess it's just me that he does it to...stupid jerk." She grumbled at her stupid partner. Her grumble morphed into a smile when she grabbed her drink that was next to her ice-cream and sucked on the straw, enjoying her milkshake.
Sceptical, considering how unhappy and insulted he had been when made secondary instead of primary, Terry spoke up. "Jake volunteered?"
"Yep." Charles nodded with an upbeat smile. "Isn't he the greatest?"
"Hardly sounds like Jake." Rosa muttered.
While he didn't voice it, Six agreed with Rosalita. From personal experience and everything that was in his dossier, volunteering to do extra work was uncharacteristic of him. If it was for the bet, he would have let it slide, but since it wasn't. Maybe he was paranoid, and he was most certainly paranoid, but it had served him well in the past...and the future, depending on whether or not this was not the past but rather they had created some alternate timeline separate from the one they came from, which would make sense,
They had been there a decade now and with the all the changes they had made to the twenty-first century something should have changed about the future. His mind, even without his knowledge or consent should have been altered; yet he remembered everything about the Human-Covenant war and the history lessons that he underwent while training on Onyx.
Either they had changed nothing, were in some alternate timeline or universe, or perhaps this was some sort of paradox; he didn't know. He had been taught many things on Onyx, being transported back to the early twenty-first century was not one of them. Forgetting about that for the time being, he decided to keep an eye on Jake.
It was several hours later when night fell across Brooklyn. After they had gone home to get showered and out of their work clothes, most of the squad could be found at Shaw's. Inside the bar that was much quieter than usual since it was only Monday night, Amy, Charles, Gina, and Rosa could be seen at one of the tables.
Nursing a beer in her hand, Rosa looked at Charles. "Say it."
"I don't..." Charles started to say but one look from Rosa, the thief of his heart, he faltered and ultimately relented. "Alright, fine. I like the no primary system with Jericho. It was nice being treated like an equal."
"Me too." Amy agreed with him. "It's great to have someone on the squad that actually takes their job seriously." She remarked. Seeing the looks that Charles and Rosa gave her, she quickly amended her words. "You've seen who we work with, right? We have Hitchcock and Scully that barely do anything...then there is Jake, an overgrown man-child that never learnt to grow up. We have like three good detectives."
"But with Jericho, it's four. And good doesn't really cut it for him." Amy commented, feeling like she was insulting him just calling him good. "And just look at everything he's done to improve productivity and performance since transferring. The Fourth Floor looks so professional now."
Begrudgingly, Rosa agreed with her. "The computers are dope." She felt dirty saying that out loud.
"And the desks." Amy added, her eyes glazing over in thought. "My beautiful pedestal desk with six draws. And then there is the table in the briefing room." It was just little changes, but the Nine-Nine was finally becoming a place that she wanted to work. Okay, that wasn't entirely accurate. She had always loved working there, more for the people than her captain who had been a disgrace to carry the name.
Of course anywhere was better than the precinct and captain that she had joined the Nine-Nine to escape from; but now it was everything that she had dreamed. Under the leadership of Holt and the added additions made by Jericho, the precinct was starting to look and feel more professional; and it had only been around a month since they had both joined.
She eagerly awaited to see what other changes the two would make. Holt was better than McGintley in every way imaginable, and Jericho was just as amazing as the stories made him out to be. She knew that it was a running joke at this point about the two being related and all, but the two did make a great team managing to turn the precinct around within a month. Sure, there was a lot more work to do, but it was already so better than it had been before they both had arrived.
They now actually had a captain that did their job...even if she knew that Jake, and probably Hitchcock and Scully for that matter would have preferred to have McGintley back since he let them do whatever they wanted.
"Do you think Jericho has any plans for the breakroom?" Charles asked, pulling Amy from her thoughts.
"Hopefully." Amy replied, thinking about what a updated breakroom could look like...she hoped that they could add some input too. "But you know that Hitchcock and Scully are going to throw a fit. You saw Hitchcock this morning."
"Who cares what they want? It only matters what I want. Besides, that man can do anything, anyone he likes." Gina said making Amy blush a little, not missing how she had put emphasis on anyone...and secretly wished that it would be her. Ever since Jericho had protected her, shielding her from the bullets by risking his own life and comforting her afterwards, reassuring her that he was fine by gently taking her hands in his, she hadn't been about to stop thinking about him.
Jericho had been her knight in shining armour, one that she yearned to be kissed by. This last month had been torture with him constantly turning her on just by being himself, showing that he had trained both his body and mind to perfection that it had taken every bit of willpower and self-control she had not to go to his penthouse in Manhattan and reward him for saving her life. She hungered for his lips to be pressed against hers, and not just her lips, but to explore every inch of her body.
"What do you think he's up to?"
"Dunno. Don't care...probably brooding." Rosa told Charles, still angry with him that he somehow discovered something else about her. She'd have labelled him a stalker, but it went way beyond that. Whatever he did in the Army and as a Headhunter, something that he was tight-lipped about much to Jake's frustration, he definitely worked with or alongside an intelligence Agency; he knew too fuckin' much about her and everyone else not to be.
"In his defence, he has a lot to brood about." Amy defended Jericho, escaping her thoughts that she knew were totally unprofessional. There had been so many times that she wanted to ask about Noble Team but never worked up the nerve to ask him about Carter, Kat, Jun, Emile, and Jorge; the names that she had seen on the dog tags. It was obvious that they had been important to him considering that he had named his company Noble Industries, surely his way of honouring them.
She knew he had PTSD because of what happened to Noble Team, but she often found herself wondering what he had been like before they died. While she liked that Jericho was serious, it was a rather attractive trait that set him apart from the other men that she worked with, she wished he'd smile, even if just a little. Despite what he thought, he deserved to be happy.
He had helped so many people, both through Noble Industries and his own acts of kindness like he had demonstrated with Natasha and her unborn child showing that just like Holt said, Jericho still cared about people far more than he'd care to admit. Not to mention being a big softie at heart just like Terry had teased; his stern, emotionless demeanour nothing more than an act that he had spent years crafting.
Still, like Charles, she wondered what Jericho was up to. It was only Monday, meaning that he would be at his penthouse rather than the property he owned outside New York doing...whatever it was that he did when he wasn't working.
Sitting in the fanciest restaurant that he could afford...which was about what you expect from a man that was in debt, both with the government and his friends, Jake sat opposite Dr Rossi in the best smart clothes he owned looking pretty fly if you asked him.
"I'm really glad that you could sneak away from your case."
Jake smiled back at his date. "Well, it's technically not really my case, but on the plus side, I have all the time in the world."
"Oh?" Rossi smiled a little more, happy to hear that.
Grabbing his glass, Jake raised it. "To you...and the ginormous, dead fat guy that brought us together." Clinging their glasses together, he took a sip just as one of the waiters or waitresses came over and stood at their table, casting a large shadow over them.
"We're actually good for the minute, thanks." Jake politely told them placing his glass back on the table. When they didn't move or even speak, he turned and was confused when the person wasn't wearing the uniform that the rest of the staff were but rather black tactical cargo pants and a black hoodie that had the sleeves revealing very familiar burns and scars across the muscular arms that made his heart sink.
Closing his eyes with a wince, Jake opened them and slowly looked up to see the scarred face of Jericho, his eyes a shade colder than usual and bore into his own. "Hey, man. What, what are you doing here?"
"Outside. Both of you."
Confused and annoyed at their date being interrupted, Rossi spoke up. "I'm sorry, but who are you exactly."
"Jesus Christ!" Someone in the restaurant blurted out. "That's Jericho Reach!"
Realizing exactly who it was standing before her, Rossi swallowed a nervous breath. "Oh, shit."
"Now."
Getting up from their seats, Jake and Rossi followed behind Jericho and walked through the restaurant with their heads hung low like misbehaving children as murmurs and whispers filled the room. Heading through the building, passing both the staff and costumers that were cueing to get in with the two on a date praying that they wouldn't think that they were leaving, the three stepped outside and into the nightlife.
Once they were outside, Jericho turned to face them. "What was it you were meant to be doing tonight?" He questioned the two of them.
"Um, enjoying our food?" Jake replied cheekily hoping to break the tension...it didn't work as Jericho just stared at him. "Are you sure you're not related to Holt? Because you look like his younger, white, scarred double right now."
"..."
Getting only silence, Jake sighed. "I was meant to be getting the autopsy results."
"Have you?"
"That's a great question..." Jake complimented playfully. Seeing that Jericho wasn't amused...or maybe he was, he was as hard to read as Holt; only furthering his belief that they were somehow related and just weren't telling anyone. "And to answer it...no, I haven't."
"Why?"
"It's just natural causes..."
"And how do you know that?" Jericho asked coolly. "You just told me you haven't done the postmortem."
"The victim had a basket filled with heart medicine. There was a defibrillator, and a frequent customer gift basket from the cardiac wing of Brooklyn Methodist at his apartment. Case solved."
"Have you got any evidence to back your hypothesis, Peralta?" Jericho asked getting a hurt look from Jake for the Peralta remark. "Or do you think that you're exempt from following protocol like everyone else has to because you think you know what happened? What if you're wrong?"
"I'm not."
"How do you know you're not? You've got no evidence to back up your claim."
"I know from experience."
"Experience?"
"Yeah. I've been on hundreds of cases..."
"Then you understand why collecting evidence is so important to ensure that justice is served. You're not fresh out of the academy, Peralta. Your cavalier attitude notwithstanding, you're a seasoned detective with eight years' worth of experience that knows why following protocol is imperative."
Not appreciating being spoken down to like a child especially in front of his date...or understanding how caviar could have attitude, Jake frustratedly breathed through his nose. "Alright, I get it. You've made your point."
"I've barely started." Jericho informed him. "You explicitly told Charles that you were going to follow up with the Medical Examiner to get the results for the postmortem, when in reality you had no intention of doing so. Not only did you undermine Charles, but you have potentially compromised the entire investigation because of your egotism that McGintley allowed to fester due to his poor leadership and lackadaisical attitude."
"If you had been at any of precinct, under any other captain your behaviour would have resulted in your termination. What you have shown me tonight is that you care for nobody but yourself, Peralta."
Jake opened his mouth to argue, only for Jericho to turned to the blonde. "As for you, Dr Rossi. You were fully aware that the postmortem for Frank Patterson needed to be performed so that it could be determined whether it was natural causes or foul play. But instead, you elected to go on a date, setting the investigation back." He remarked, reprimanding her. "Your actions hardly inspire confidence, especially considering that it is your first day as new head pathologist."
"We messed up, but we still have time to fix it." Jake voiced optimistically. "It's not even nine o'clock yet. If we..."
Jericho silenced him quickly. "You've done enough, Peralta. Besides, your foods going cold." He reminded them. Not even offering a goodbye, he turned and walked across the street where his 1969 Pontiac GTO was parked. Climbing in, he started her up before pulling away leaving Jake and Rossi standing there to stoop in their shame as they watched the taillights disappear into the darkness.
It was Tuesday morning. Driving down into the lot, an exhausted Jake parked his Mustang. Switching the engine off, he slowly reached over and took his seatbelt off before opening the door and climbed out.
Feeling a little lightheaded from fatigue, he closed the door and made his way through the parking lot. He hadn't slept a wink last night after Jericho had ripped him a new one and essentially cockblocked him since they had both gone home soon after, neither of them in the mood for sexy time. Walking up the incline to the street, he headed for the entrance.
The worst part about being chewed out by Jericho other than disappointing his idol was that he never once shouted, hadn't even raised his voice a little. It was just that bland, emotionless tone that he shared with Holt. That was another reason he hadn't slept...what if Jericho told Holt? It wasn't like with Rosa where he would've had her back, not just because they had the hots for one another but because they were partners. You had to have their back; it was an unwritten rule.
Heading into the building, he walked up the stairs and into the elevator. Pressing the button, the door closed, and the room shifted as it went up to the fourth floor. Listening to the music, he exhaled a deep breath suddenly becoming nervous about what was waiting for him...all because he had made a stupid mistake. Jericho's words had stung. Not about being wrong about natural causes, it was natural causes, everything pointed to that. But rather about undermining Charles.
Pulled from his thoughts when the elevator shifted, Jake waited for the door to open before stepping out...and immediately regretted it when he saw Holt standing by his desk with his hands resting behind his back.
"Captain," Jake began softly, walking into the bullpen. "Can I...
Not letting him finish, Holt addressed the entire room. "Everyone, gather round." He commanded with the squad, uniformed officers, and Gina stopping what they were doing to do exactly that. Pulling his hands from behind his back, he held up a piece of paper. "Do you know what this is, Peralta?"
"A piece of paper." Jake was tempted to say, but managed to stop himself from doing so knowing that he was in enough doodoo as it was. "No, Captain." He responded, even if he had a gut feeling.
"A formal complaint about you, written up by Reach who handed it to me this morning when I arrived. And after a lengthy conversation, I understand why he felt the need to write it up. Would you care to tell everyone where you were last night."
"Not really." Jake admitted through a mumble.
"It was not a request."
Feeling like the room had grown colder, Jake hesitantly did so. "I...was on a date." He answered making everyone look at him, though his eyes drifted to Charles who seemed torn between being hurt and confused.
"And what were you meant to be doing?" Holt probed further. "What did you tell Detective Boyle that you would be doing?"
"Getting the results for the autopsy."
"And did you?"
"Can't we talk about this in your office?"
Unrelenting, Holt responded. "Answer the question, Peralta."
"No, I didn't. I thought that it would be waste of time since it's just Natural Causes." Jake told him folding his arms over his chest. "All the evidence at the apartment pointed to that, right Charles?"
Holt raised his hand to stop Charles from answering. "That is irrelevant. You know full that that before doing anything that you wait for the autopsy report to determine the cause of death. In addition to undermining Detective Boyle, you deliberately sabotaged the investigation in your hubris. Not only have you halted progress, but because of your actions we now have to wait for Reach to return from the morgue with the results of the autopsy which could take hours depending on how busy they are."
"I messed up, I get it, but..."
"That is putting it mildly, Peralta." Holt acknowledged him. "What you have done is beyond unprofessional. And for that you are suspended for a month." He announced shocking everyone present, none more than Jake.
"What?!"
"Without pay."
Feeling like he had just been slapped, Jake begged him to reconsider. "Please captain, just give me another chance to..."
"I have given you enough chances." Holt stated simply, not caring to hear his excuses. "Your badge and gun." He ordered, holding his only free remaining hand out for both, and waited expectantly for them.
His whole world shattering around him because he made one mistake, Jake numbly obliged. Pulling the badge that was connected to the chain from around his neck, he then unholstered his Glock and handed both to Holt.
"I strongly suggest that you spend the month revaluating your behaviour or start looking for another career." Holt told him sharply before turning his attention to Charles. "Boyle."
Shocked like everyone else that Jake had been suspended, something that had never happened before, Charles stepped forward. "Yes, captain?"
"Because of Peralta's actions not only will you need to do the paperwork for the Patterson case but also the paperwork that he should have completed last week since you were with him." Holt informed Charles who nodded his head. "And because we are now down a detective for a month the rest of the detective squad will have to pick up the slack, potentially resulting in overtime." He alerted them causing most of the squad to give Jake a dirty look, making him feel worse than he already did.
"That will be all." Holt dismissed the room. He then looked at Jake. "Retrieve whatever you require from your desks and consider what I said, Peralta." He advised him before turning and headed into his office with the complaint form, badge, and gun.
While the uniformed officers dispersed, the squad remained rooted where they were. "Thanks a lot, Jake!" Rosa growled at him, being the first to break the silence by showing how irritated she was with him.
"I said I was sorry."
"When?" Amy asked him.
"Well I implied it. And shouldn't you be happy? You love extra work."
"I love doing extra work during my regular hours."
"Please tell me that the date was her idea, that you were coerced into it." Charles pleaded, refusing to believe that his best friend would do that to him. And when he got a guilty look back, he got his answer. "But you told me..."
"I know."
"Then why..."
Answering Charles, Amy interjected. "Because like usual he makes it all about himself. Typical." She jeered at her partner.
"Geez, talk about kicking me when I down."
"Is this because I made you secondary?" Terry asked him, speaking for the first time.
"No!"
"Then why would you do this?" Terry interrogated Jake, demanding an answer. "You know that nobody on this squad would ever do it to you, so why?"
"Because I thought that...
"Nobody cares what you think, Jake!" Terry uncharacteristically snapped at him, being dead serious. "You know what, you're not even Jake anymore, you're Peralta. Just plain old, untrustworthy Peralta."
Flinching a little, Jake looked at Terry. "You can't mean that."
"Terry meant every word of it!" The upset sergeant promised him. "You might be childish,"
"And an overgrown man-child." Amy added helpfully getting a look of betray from Jake, not that she cared right now. She just glad that he was finally getting called out on his immaturity for once, something that never happened under McGintley...though this was definitely the first time that he had ever pulled anything like this. Fingers crossed this would be the wake up call he sorely needed.
"But I always regarded you as one of my best detectives." Terry continued.
"What the hell, Sarge!" Hitchcock voiced his displeasure.
Scully nodded along with his partner. "And after all the work we do for this place."
"Like what?" Rosa asked incredulously.
Ignoring Hitchcock and Scully, Terry continued what he was saying to Jake. "Obviously I was wrong." He finished, shaking his head at him. "I told you a few weeks ago to get with the program, and did you? No, you just did whatever the hell you want like usual. The only difference is that this time someone called you up on it. You haven't even apologized to Charles for what you did."
"Charles, I'm..."
"Don't apologize to him!" Terry yelled startling everyone. "You don't deserve his forgiveness. Now, grab your things and go home." He ordered. Ordinarily, he never would have reacted this way. He hated having to be Scary Terry and shout at people, but what Jake had done was inexcusable. Of all the people that he thought he'd have to worry about not doing their job properly then it was Hitchcock and Scully, not Jake. He wasn't mad, he was just disappointed.
It had been several hours since Holt had reprimanded Jake in front of everyone and suspended him for an entire month with no pay. As expected, rumours had spread through the building like a wildfire, each one being more outlandish than the last.
Stepping out of the elevator, Six stepped onto the fourth floor to see the entire squad minus Peralta working at their desks. It was well into the afternoon, the postmortem taking most of the day due to the pathologists being overworked. Thankfully they managed to get it done without the assistance of Dr Rossi who had been suspended for her actions the night prior, confirming that the cause of death was not Natural Causes like Peralta had hypothesised.
"Detective." Captain Holt greeted, pulling the Spartan from his thoughts as he entered the bullpen. "I trust that you were successful?" He asked as the others stopped what they were doing.
"Affirmative, sir. I apologize for the delay. The pathologists were already fully booked without an added postmortem." He explained his prolonged absence. "While the report has yet to be compiled, they did confirm that Frank Patterson was poisoned, ingested, evident by the scarring on his liver."
"Not Natural Causes then." Holt expressed, his nostrils flaring.
Stepping forward, Charles revealed what he had discovered. "If Frank Patterson was poisoned it could be his wife." He said making everyone look at him. "She told me that they were meant to be going on a cruise together next month, but her credit card bill shows only one ticket booked."
"Which would imply that she was lying or planned his murder." Holt finished, adding his own hypothesis. "Good find, Boyle. We'll have her brought in to be interviewed by you and Diaz."
Charles nodded. "Yes, sir." He acknowledged before looking at Jericho. "Thanks for getting the autopsy results."
"Hm."
"That means you're welcome." Amy translated, spending the last month deciphering what each of his grunts meant and liked to think that she had made pretty good progress.
"Hm."
"That means not bad."
Amused, Terry looked at Jericho. "We all heard about what Jake did."
"Which I'm still trying to wrap my head around." Charles admitted, struggling to look at Jake in a bad light.
Six turned his attention to Charles. "Why?" He questioned, unsure where the confusion lay. "His egotism has been referenced several times over his career but because of the poor leadership and lackadaisical attitude of Captain McGintley it has been allowed to go unchecked. His behaviour last night proved to me that I cannot trust him to perform even the simplest tasks let alone watch my back in the field. And if I cannot trust him, neither should you."
"I have worked with the three of you," Six looked between Amy, Charles, and Rosalita. "I know that I don't need to worry about any of you, but Peralta, I'm going to have to observe everything he does to guarantee that he does his job correctly."
"What about us, Jericho? You trust us, right?" Scully asked for him about Hitchcock making the man in question look at them.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Six looked back at the others. "Anything I should know?"
"Not at present."
"Jericho really said that?" Jake asked sitting in one of the booths at Shaws. The last twenty-four hours had probably been the worst of his life...well, second worst. The worst was when his parents got a divorce, or maybe it was when Jenny Gildenhorn, the girl that had stolen and then stamped on his thirteen-year-old heart by dumping and getting with that damn Eddie Fung at his own Bar Mitzvah!
"Yep." Amy happily told him.
Jake slammed his head on the table and wailed, both from the thump that was much harder than he was expecting and the fact that his idol didn't trust him. Next to him, Charles patted his back to console his best friend that was suffering.
"There, there, I'll be okay."
"No, it won't." Jake disagreed. Lifting his head up that no sported a large red mark, he looked at Boyle. "I'm sorry, Charles."
"It's fine..."
"No, it's not." Jake argued. "I nearly let the killer get away because I didn't do my job as secondary, like at all. Jericho is right not to trust me, but I will earn it back...when I get back that is." He promised, amending his words at the end, and getting a snort from Rosa.
"Earn it back? You never had it in the first place."
"I'm not Jericho."
"Oh, we're very aware of that." Amy told him.
Jake threw Amy a look. "First off, keep it in your pants. We're in public, for god's sake." He told Amy who rolled her eyes, then looked at Rosa. "And while you and Jericho might get off insulting each all day, I don't. I'm a person, I have feelings."
"Lame."
"I know one thing." Amy smiled with a twinkle in her dark brown eyes. "The next month is going to be so much fun. Just think about all the cases that we're going to work with Jericho." She bragged, then mocked Jake with a pout. "Whereas you will be at home, no doubt living in your own filth for the next thirty-one days. Why, you might as well kiss that Mustang of yours goodbye.
Jake's eyes widened to comical proportions when he realized how long he was going to be away for. "Then we should postpone the bet until I get back."
"As if."
"Not happening." Amy said following Rosa. "Actions have consequences, Peralta." She finished smugly.
"Damn you! Damn you all to hell!"
And cut! Here is the next chapter of The Demon Of The Nine-Nine. I hoped you all enjoyed it. Now, I know you all probably think that I'm being too hard on Jake and that he's not that bad, but this is early season 1 Jake who was extremely arrogant. Just watch the Tagger episode and see how defensive he gets when Holt brings up the mistakes he makes on his paperwork, retorting who cares since he has more felony arrests than any other detective.
While Brooklyn 99 is a comedy show, Six isn't going to tolerate that Jake compromised an investigation by going on a date with the Medical Examiner. Nor would Holt if he ever found out, which I don't think that he did since it stayed between Charles, Jake, and Rosa.
And while I would really like to jump to the next episode, which is the Vulture, I'm going to have at least one filler chapter about the month that Jake is suspended for. It might just be a filler with Six interacting with everyone or I might have a case going on...one that won't as traumatizing as the last one that Six had with Amy.
And I know that Rosa joined Charles and Jake in that episode but saw no reason why they would send three detectives on a simple DOA case.
Anyway, let me know what you all thought...and hopefully you will all see this chapter.