CHAPTER SEVENTEEN | FOREVER

xvii. the one with the tactical village

CHARLES BOYLE IS ENGAGED. IT didn't come to much of a shock to Kat—at all—since she had been on the receiving end of endless conversations from Charles about how much he loved Vivian. She was getting just a little bit annoyed about hearing just how many different spicy dreams he would have about his partner, but she couldn't say anything to him. Not when he was this excited.

Or so she thought...

Charles grins brightly as he walks beside his friend toward the precinct. "And then she licked all this chocolate off my—"

Kat groans loudly. "Oh, my God, Boyle!" she interrupts, shaking her head multiple times to try and rid herself of the image now permanently engrained in her brain. "Stop talking or I will punch you."

His lips press into a thin line. "Fair enough..." Right before they can walk through the entrance doors, he pulls her to a stop and digs an envelope out of his bag. "I wanted to give you this first."

Her brows raise in surprise, but as she studies the delicately written cursive on the front, she looks back up to him sceptically. "Why are you giving me an STD?" she asks hesitantly.

As she continues to open it, Charles's smile still hasn't disappeared. "It's a save the date!" he informs excitedly, opening the door to let her inside first.

She glances back to him with squinted eyes. "Charles, you know that has a completely different meaning than what you're probably going for, right?" As soon as he comprehends her words, his face falls. However, when she opens the invitation inside, her smile returns, just as bright as his. "I'm invited to your wedding?"

His grin returns when she squeals. "Yes!" he shrieks back. "I'm getting married!"

She throws an arm around his shoulders as she presses the button for the elevator. "I'm honoured you asked me to come," she says gratefully.

"I would totally ask you to be my best woman—well, best person, but Jake has had that role reserved for years."

"Oh, I have no doubt." As they step inside, she cracks another grin. "But if he wasn't alive, you would?"

Charles's eyes light up. "We were bullet buddies, Kat!" He points to his butt as he says, "My butt holes wouldn't have healed the same way without you." She chuckles. "But I was wondering if you would like to officiate the ceremony."

Katherine's eyes widen in shock. "Wait, me?" When he nods, her eyes widen even further. "You and Vivian want me to officiate your wedding?" Charles nods again, and her features soften. "Charles, of course I will. Absolutely yes." She smiles as he wraps his arms around her and tightly hugs her.

The second the elevator doors open, Charles shrieks once more. "Kat's gonna marry me!" he announces to the bullpen. Jake tilts his head, the rest of the squad now looking at them strangely. "She's gonna be my officiant!"

As the squad now all exclaim their congratulations and various opinions, he quickly gets to work with handing them all their own invitations. Amy looks slightly confused as she opens the envelope. "What are these?" she asks Boyle, brows furrowing.

"These, madam, are STDs."

Jake tilts his head at his best friend. "What are you talking about, buddy?"

"Save the dates for my wedding," Charles elaborates.

Jake holds his invitation up with a glint in his eyes. "Just out of curiosity," he begins. "How many people have you given STDs to?"

Charles momentarily forgets the double meaning behind the word. "Lots," he answers with a smile. "Like, a hundred." As they all laugh, his smile falls, and he sighs. "Yeah, I know, Kat told me. But no one else is gonna think that!"

Katherine winces as she sets her bag down on her desk. "I thought that for a second before, but I was proven wrong when you gave them all out now..."

Amy nods. "Yeah, everyone is going to think that," she confirms with a chuckle. "But it's sweet that your mind didn't go there."

He smiles at her. "Thank you," he says. "It is kinda sweet."

"Will your first dance be to You Give Me Fever?" she asks.

"Will you be serving crabs at the reception?" Terry adds teasingly.

Gina grins. "Do you have Herpes?" she calls out.

"Guys," Kat interjects. "This is his wedding, okay? It's super important." Charles vigorously nods, gesturing a hand to her in appreciation. "Boyle, I'm giving you protection." A grin splits across her face. "Which you've clearly forgotten before."

Jake lets out a loud laugh as Charles scowls. He coughs and holds up a hand in apology. "No, no, she's right. We're sorry. We love you, buddy." He pats Charles's shoulder. "Warts and all. Sorry, I made a rash decision! I was itching to say it. Okay, I'm done."

As they all try to hold in their laughter, Hitchcock stops by Terry. "I have an STD," he reveals.

Everyone stops to stare at him.

Jake holds up the invite as he turns back to Charles. "So, just RSVP, or..."

"Yeah, the number's right on there."

"Great, thank you!"

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎ ﾟ。 ⋆

Tactical village day was one of the events in the NYPD's calendar year that Kat looked forward to with every bone in her body. She loved it so much that she marked it in her own calendar. Her friends at the Nine-Nine share her excitement, each of them thrilled by the prospect of getting to test new weapons and participate in the drills.

Rosa grins as she glances to the woman sitting beside her. "Imagine they have this giant machine gun that we just get to fire for hours without supervision." She sighs wistfully.

Kat shakes her head with a smile. "Yeah, because that's totally something they would let police officers do," she muses.

"Happy tactical village day!" Jake exclaims, skipping into the briefing room with a wide grin. The detectives he passes by all hold up their hands so he can high-five them. "Happy tactical village day. Happy tactical village day!"

Captain Holt watches him as he sits down next to Charles. Almost the entire room is smiling at his contagious energy. "Peralta, I'm glad to see you so excited about departmentally mandated training exercises," he notes.

"It's the most fun day of the year," Jake states. "Something you wouldn't understand because you're not programmed to feel joy."

"Yes, but my software is due for an exuberance upgrade."

"You know, when you play along with the robot jokes it kind of ruins my enjoyment of them."

"Yes, I know."

"Anyways!" Jake glances around the room, his grin quickly returning. "Tactical village day is awesome! We get to field test a bunch of cool, new weapons, and there's always a new training situation."

Kat smiles at the thought of the last one. "Last year's was prison break," she says, head tilting slightly as she recalls the memory. "It got super violent. It was amazing."

"It's like being in an action movie," Jake says happily.

Terry turns to the captain beside him. "It's also a good opportunity for us to let off steam and bond as a unit." He smiles. "Everybody gets into it."

Amy cradles her cup of coffee and sighs. "Needless to say, the Nine-Nine has never had a perfect run," she reveals.

"True," Charles acknowledges. He glances to his best friend. "But Jake has been the finalist for coolest kill two years in a row." The mentioned man purses his lips. "That's every precinct sending around their footage and all the cops voting."

"It's not that big of a deal," Detective Peralta dismisses with a wave of his hand. "All you win is a children's karate trophy, so..."

Holt leans forward on his podium ever so slightly. "You desperately want it, don't you?" he presumes.

"So badly," Jake confesses. "I will stop at nothing to get that trophy. I'll shoot you all in the face if I have to!" He clears his throat after his rather passionate words. "Go team."

Kat squints her eyes. "I might shoot you in the face even if there isn't a trophy," she says calmly. Rosa glances to her with raised brows, and Jake spares a look at her to then nervously spin back around straight away.

The entirety of the bus ride to the Tactical Village consisted of Terry giving Kat various tips on how to pass her upcoming sergeants exam. She had just under two weeks before she would sit the test and, of course, she's panicking. What if she failed? She wouldn't be able to take it again for another three years. But she couldn't fail. She couldn't fail because she had a teenage girl looking up to her. She had to pass this exam for Tisha.

"Okay, Stella, all right. Oh, no, no problem!" Terry smiles, trying to convey calmness to the other end of the phone. "Okay, all right, bye." As soon as he hangs up, a scowl replaces his smile. "Damn!"

Rosa stops beside him and Kat with confusion. "What's happening?" she asks, brows furrowing.

"Our babysitter's busy the night of Boyle's wedding," Terry says in frustration. Kat's eyes squint at Rosa's subtle clench of her jaw. "She's gonna be in her high school talent show. Which she's gonna lose unless her talent is leaving potato chip crumbs all over Terry's couch."

After studying Rosa for another few seconds, Katherine's eyes widen in realisation. "You weren't invited to the wedding," she says quietly. Rosa's head snaps over to her, eyes locking.

Terry's brows shoot up in surprise. "Wait, he didn't give you a save the date?"

Rosa shakes her head. "I think he's been avoiding me," she tells them. "He didn't invite me to his wedding, and he's scared like a little bitch."

Kat and Terry share a look with each other as she continues to glower at the empty space before her. "I mean, maybe Vivian wasn't comfortable with you coming," Kat suggests. Rosa's eyes flick over to her.

Terry nods in agreement. "Yeah, Boyle was in love with you until a few weeks ago," he points out. Rosa ignores both of them, shoving them to the side as she walks off. "Oh, don't be angry!"

"I'm not angry," she retorts, spinning around on her heels. "I think it's funny."

Kat arches a brow at her forced and incredibly fake laughter. "Oh, boy," she mutters.

Without touching on the matter any further, they join the rest of the squad as they approach the massive building that is the NYPD's Tactical Village. "The Nine-Nine is in the village," Jake announces loudly.

His colleagues grin. "Nine-Nine," they yell.

"Hey, Ronnie," Jake greets. One of the men turns around, his t-shirt printed with 'perp.' "They upgraded you from bystander to perp! That's great, man."

"Thank you!"

Jake smiles. "I'm gonna blow your brains out." Ronnie's face falls.

As they take a table to unpack their bags, Kat's eyes close in annoyance when she hears someone call out, "Amy Santiago!"

She has been introduced to Teddy Wells once before when they had passed by each other on a joint case their precincts had been working on. Not to mention that Amy has talked her ear off about him to the point where Kat practically knows almost everything there is to know about him.

She would never tell her best friend, but there is nothing about him that she likes. He might be the most boring man in America. Nae, the world.

Amy immediately smiles at the man walking over to them. "Teddy!" she says excitedly. She goes over to hug him. "Oh, my God. It's been so long, what are you doing here?"

"I'm with the Eight-Two now," Teddy tells her with a smile. Kat looks back down to her bag and rolls her eyes. "We're paired with you today. Yeah! Quick. Ten-Fifty-Four L."

Amy squints her eyes in concentration. "Ambulance case," she answers. "Severed limb." They share a laugh as they high-five.

"Oh, my God, shut up," Kat grumbles to herself.

Rosa, hearing the comment, looks over to her in amusement. "You know him?" she asks, raising a brow.

Katherine turns to her friend with an unreadable expression. "I hate him," she says bluntly. "I genuinely hate him, Rosa."

Now incredibly curious, Rosa turns her attention back over to Amy who is watching Teddy walk off. "So, who's that guy?" she questions with a smirk.

"Uh, that was Teddy," she says. "We went on, like, five dates last year."

"That your best friend does not approve of," Kat mumbles under her breath.

Amy's brows raise. "What did you say?"

Kat plasters on a smile as she spots Rosa trying not to laugh in her peripheral vision. "Oh, I was just saying how much I approve of him!"

Amy nods at her, not finding anything off by her words. "I liked him," she continues with a small smile. "But he was stationed out in Queen—"

"Thank God," Kat whispers. Rosa's eyes flick over to her as she hides her grin.

"So, I never got to see him, and it sort of fizzled."

Rosa nods in understanding as she remembers having a brief conversation about Teddy with her a while ago. "Right, that's the guy you said the lame stuff about, like, 'He's a good listener.'" Katherine quietly snickers. Thankfully for her, Amy doesn't hear it.

Detective Santiago squints her eyes at Rosa as she retorts, "I'm sorry, what do you look for in a guy?"

Rosa's eyes flick over to Kat for a moment. "Real stuff," she answers after clearing her throat. "Shape of he—his ass." Amy shakes her head and grabs her gear as she walks off with Rosa behind her.

Kat looks at Jake, back at her bag, then doubletakes as she looks back to him. A wide smile adorns her face. "Someone's jealous," she states in a sing-song voice.

He rolls his eyes at her. "You're jealous," he retorts immaturely. "I'm not jealous. It's just weird that Amy dated that guy."

Charles and Kat share a knowing look. "Why do you care so much?" Boyle asks, his voice going up a few pitches.

"Okay, first of all, your insinuating voice is way too high," Jake critiques. "It's creepy." When Charles looks over to Kat, she immediately nods in agreement. He grimaces. "And second, I don't care."

The blonde hums. "Sure you don't."

Jake huffs a sigh at her clear sarcasm. "I don't!" he protests. "I'm just curious why she would like him."

"Whatever you say," Charles replies in his high-pitched voice. His friends give him pointed looks and his face falls. "Oh, yeah, no, I hear it now. Yeah, I sound like Meryl Streep from Mamma Mia."

At the mention of one of her favourite movies, Kat grins. "Mamma Mia, here we go again!"

Charles squeals and just about jumps up and down with excitement. "My, my, how can I resist you?"

Jake glances between them as they break into song in the middle of the Tactical Village. "Someone help me," he says pleadingly. "Rosa!"

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎ ﾟ。 ⋆

Katherine Linetti hasn't fired a gun in months. Ever since she was shot, there had been a lingering anxiety—or terror—that would suddenly paralyse her body whenever she saw one. Of course, that was difficult considering she had to carry one on her person as a detective in the NYPD. For the first few days, it had been horrible. She would break down whenever she was triggered by something that made her remember the moment. It's why she had asked Holt to put her on desk duty for the first few weeks she had been back.

With weekly therapy sessions and check-ins with her captain, adjusting to the thought of using a firearm had gradually gotten easier. Now, she was able to carry one without having a panic attack. But using one was a completely different story. That's what today was all about: they were given the opportunity to test different weapons.

And until the training simulation later in the day, she would do everything possible to avoid firing one.

She had found Rosa a few minutes earlier and had been offered to check out some of the other weapons on display. Kat just didn't know that Rosa was completely aware of what she was feeling. It wasn't like her anxiety was super obvious, but perhaps it was to Rosa because she was looking for it. She knew Kat was scared for this afternoon, so she mentally makes the goal to distract her until that moment would arise.

The two women stop beside one of the training officers who smiles at their curious stares. "That's a P.U.W.," he tells them. "Or a portable ultrasonic weapon. It emits a focused beam of sound which can disorient and even incapacitate a perp."

"That's so cool," Katherine whispers, eyes widen in awe.

Rosa smiles at her briefly. "So, it shoots sound?" she asks.

"Mhm."

"Is this the trigger?"

The man nods. "Yes, but you want to be careful with that," he says warningly.

Rosa glances over to Kat when a gunshot echoes through the building, spotting her flinch ever so slightly at the sound. She then grabs the handles to the device and turns it onto Boyle who is on the ground floor checking out some of the guns. Kat's eyes widen as she watches Charles immediately cover his ears and begin to wince in pain.

"I thought it would be louder," Rosa says, disappointment lacing her words.

"It's highly directional," the officer responds. "If it was pointed at you, you'd be in incredible pain right now."

Katherine's lips part as Rosa suddenly turns the intensity of the device up. But she doesn't make any move to stop her. Even though she doesn't like seeing Charles in pain, it's a pleasant distraction from everything else running through her mind.

Boyle's hands fly back over onto his ears, and he drops to his knees as he groans in agony. "Why is this happening?" he screams. He starts writhing around on the floor. "I can taste my thoughts!"

Kat throws her head back as she laughs at the scene. A faint smile graces Rosa's face at the sound. She's managed to complete her goal.

Terry, who had been standing behind them the entire time focused on something else, finally turns around. "Enough, Diaz," he orders. He reaches over and turns the switch off.

Both Kat and Rosa's smiles disappear in the speed of light as they watch Charles instantly relax. "That's pretty cool," Rosa tells the officer.

Kat nods. "It's awesome," she corrects. "I want one."

The next hour and a half is spent with them exploring the building and testing out a few more weapons. Of course, Rosa had made sure that the target was Boyle. Her first reason was because she wanted to see him in physical pain as revenge for not inviting her to his wedding. But her second reason was that she simply wanted to see Katherine smile.

Terry finally manages to catch up to them. "Hey, hey," he calls out. Rosa sighs, knowing what's about to be said. "Okay, so I know you're pissed at Boyle."

She crosses her arms. "I told you, shooting him with that sonic cannon was an accident," she says.

Terry sees right through her. "It's not just that," he adds. He then turns his pointed look onto Kat, who shifts under his piercing, judgemental eyes.

Half an hour ago, they had been testing out one of the net cannons. Rosa informs Kat that she can see Charles walking into the room with a coffee in his hands, then when the timing is perfect, she nods to the woman. Kat grins as she pulls the net back, then releases it to let it fly onto Boyle.

The boiling hot coffee immediately spills onto Charles as the net encases his body, and screams of pain leave his mouth as he struggles to get it off.

"Whoops," Rosa deadpans.

"Sorry," Kat calls with an innocent smile. "Net gun."

"My café con leche!"

Half an hour later, they had followed Charles out to the courtyard where a bunch of firearms are on display to be tested on the targets pinned up in the vicinity. Rosa had picked up the gun without asking Kat if she wanted to use it instead—something Kat appreciated more than she would let on.

The first paintball goes into the centre of Boyle's back. "Ahh!" He whirls around, face contorted in a pained grimace.

"Sorry," Rosa says. "Misfire."

Charles nods in understanding. Kat grins when two further shots are fired onto his chest. He gapes at them in disbelief. "Right in my breasts," he exclaims.

"Those all sound like very unfortunate accidents," Katherine concludes with a shrug.

Rosa nods. "So many accidents." Terry raises his brows at them, once more seeing straight through the dismissive, very non-convincing excuses. "Look, I get it if Vivian doesn't want me to come. But Boyle should've said something, we're supposed to be friends. We're finally getting along."

"Well, talk to him," he insists. "That's what friends do."

"Sarge, you know Rosa doesn't talk," Kat points out. He rolls his eyes.

Rosa points to her. "Yep," she confirms. "I'm gonna wait till I'm on my deathbed, get in the last word, and then die immediately."

Terry sighs as he places his hands on his hips. "That's your plan for dealing with this?" he asks her disapprovingly.

"That's my plan for dealing with everything," Rosa counters. "I have seventy-seven arguments I'm gonna win that way." She looks him up and down, then walks away.

Katherine smiles slightly when Terry looks to her, but it disappears when he says, "Seems like a bad plan."

With her arms still crossed tightly, Rosa pauses and glances over her shoulder to him. "Now I have seventy-eight," she states. Terry's eyes widen.

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎ ﾟ。 ⋆

Kat takes a deep breath as she adjusts the straps of the black protective vest she's wearing. Even though her shoulder doesn't hurt, even though it doesn't exist anymore, but she's still aware that it's there. That it could hurt.

Rosa walks over to her with an expression that contains a little concern. "Hey, you okay?" she asks.

She forces a smile. "Yeah," she says. "Yeah, all good."

"You don't need to pretend with me," Rosa says softly.

Kat's smile falters. "I'm—I don't know. It's so stupid. I just..."

"You're stressed," Rosa answers for her. She frowns when Kat nods. "I get it. It's okay to be worried. It's okay to feel scared about it."

"Yeah," Katherine says quietly. "Thank you." Rosa offers her a comforting smile. She meets her eyes. "Seriously, thanks. I know what you've been doing this afternoon. It means a lot."

Rosa nudges her arm gently. "Don't worry about it," she says. "You got this, Kat."

She nods, this time a little surer of herself. "Yeah, I got it," she repeats.

Upon noticing Amy watching them, Rosa's eyes narrow to slits and any sign of softness or kindness leaves her face. "What the hell are you looking at, Santiago?" she snaps. Amy's eyes widen and she quickly turns away.

Their attention is suddenly brought over to Jake who slides across the floor in knee pads. He jumps up to his feet with his guns in either hand. "Rex Buckingham at your service," he introduces with a British accent that is so bad that Kat actually winces like she's been slapped across the face.

"That was majestic," Charles declares.

Jake holsters his guns and keeps the accent as he adds, "Custom kneepads to help me win coolest kill." He almost scoffs at the looks the group are giving him. "What, don't tell me old Buckingham is the only chap here with a signature move."

Charles shakes his head. "Uh, no. I'm working on a thing where when I'm out of ammo I release my mag and dropkick it straight into someone's throat." Kat's eyebrows raise in amusement. He releases the magazine and attempts to kick it, but fails miserably, hand immediately going to his butt. "Oh, my buttholes!"

Amy sighs. "Okay, I know you have two bullet wounds in your butt, but you've gotta stop calling them your 'buttholes.'"

"I dunno, Ames," Kat interjects with a grin. "I love it." Amy glances over to her in exasperation whilst Charles beams.

"You know how people hold their guns sideways to look cool?" Scully chimes in. "It got me thinking. What if you held your gun upside-down? You can use that."

"That will never happen, my American friend," Jake replies as his alter ego, Rex Buckingham.

"Eight-Two's done," Amy announces. "Heads up." She smiles as the opposing squad walk out. "Hey," she greets Teddy. "How'd it go?"

Almost immediately, Kat glances to Jake who has forced a smile onto his face. "Jealous," she whispers to him. His smile disappears for a short second as he tilts his head down to glare at her.

"It went well!" Teddy answers. "We had a perfect run. And not to brag, but I think we just set an NYPD course record for time."

"Definitely a brag," Jake and Kat say simultaneously. She looks at him pointedly and he rolls his eyes.

"A course record?" Amy repeats with a smile. "That is so cool."

"Oh, thanks. I'm psyched. Hey, good luck in there!"

As Teddy walks off, Jake folds his arms. "All right, huddle up," he instructs the squad. "This is how it's going down."

"What happened to your accent, Rex?" Rosa asks curiously.

"Forget that crap, we're taking this seriously," he retorts. He makes the mistake of looking at Kat who mouths, Jealous. "All right, on three." They all place their hands in the middle. "Let's break that course record and be the best precinct here. Ready? One, two, three!" They try to repeat the sentence, but immediately jumble up all the words in the middle. "Yeah, I agree. It was too many words. Let's do it!"

The group of detectives gather at the bottom of the staircase as Terry explains the drill. "Okay, I've got the details for this simulation," he begins. "A group of armed men entered an embassy and have taken hostages."

"Which embassy?"

"Doesn't matter," Jeffords dismisses Jake.

"Fine. Canada then," Peralta decides. "So take out the perps, clear the civilians, rescue the hostages?"

Terry nods. "Affirmative. This is an active shooter situation." Rosa glances over to Kat to find her nervously gnawing on her lip. "You're cleared for maximum engagement."

Charles's eyes widen in excitement. "'Maximum engagement?'" he repeats. "What is this, Jurassic Park: The Ride?"

"Diaz and Boyle, perimeter security."

Rosa directs her glare onto the sergeant. "Me and Boyle?"

"Yeah," Terry confirms with a small, amused smirk. "Just the two of you. Peralta, Linetti, and Santiago, you're the assault team."

Kat sucks in a sharp breath. "You can do this," she whispers to herself. Rosa nudges her side and gives her a reassuring nod.

"I'll be in the command centre. Scully, I want you to do nothing. Just stand next to me and say, 'Yes, Sarge.'"

Scully nods. "Okay, Sarge," he says.

Kat tries to stifle her laughter.

Terry shakes his head in disappointment. "Come on, man."

Jake climbs up the stairs to be in front of the sergeant. "All right, focus up," he calls out to his squad. "We got eighteen minutes, forty-one seconds to break this record. No screwing around."

Amy's eyebrows raise in surprise. "Whoa, you're really not gonna do a character?" she asks. "What about Rex 'Bookinghame'?" Her accent is even worse than Jake's.

"Okay, never, ever do an accent again," Jake tells her. She grimaces. "And I am playing a character: a no-nonsense detective whose only goal is to set this course record. His name is Vic Kovac."

Kat clicks her tongue. "There it is," she concludes.

"He's an ex-navy seal who is double-crossed and left for dead." Jake quickly shakes his head. "I don't have time for his back-story. Sarge?"

Terry holds up his stopwatch. "Okay, guys." Kat takes another deep breath. "And go!" As the timer starts, the group of detectives race up the staircase.

To be able to beat this record, Kat needs to be able to get past her fears, and they now have less than five minutes to be able to do so. As the assault team made up of the three detectives turn the corner, they're faced with a perp who immediately spins around with his gun.

Kat inhales a deep breath and pulls the trigger.

A paintball lands on the man's chest, and he groans in frustration. Her eyes widen in shock, and she freezes for a second in disbelief that she had actually done it. "Oh, my God," she says quietly. "Oh, my God!"

Amy smiles and nudges her side. "I'm proud of you," she tells her best friend. Kat's lips lift into a small smile as she looks over at her.

"It's great and all to overcome your trauma, but we need to move, people." Jake rolls his eyes at the look the two women give him. "Get over it, let's go!" As he rushes off down the hallway to leave them following, he suddenly glances over his shoulder with a beaming smile. "I'm proud of you, too."

Kat grins. "Much appreciated," she says. Her smile drops. "Okay, let's do this."

"That's my girl."

Any hint of a smile has disappeared from his face as he leads the two detectives out a door and over a bridge connecting to the adjoining building.

Jake kicks down the door and immediately fires two shots at the man with the 'perp' shirt. The trio hurry down the hallway, and when Jake glances to the left he spots someone through the doorway. "Turn around," he demands. The man holding the drill is shaking with fear as he turns around, revealing his 'innocent bystander' shirt. "Clear!"

Kat takes an extra second to study the bystander who is still trembling. "Wow, they've really upped it this year," she notes, thoroughly impressed. "It's like the goddamn Quantico training village."

"Okay, less approving the NYPD on their casting and more shooting," Jake retorts with an amused roll of his eyes.

With Amy leading them down the corridor, she stops to look inside a nearby room. "Clear," she announces.

She falls back as Kat takes her place to check the next room. "Clear," she repeats.

As they step into the room that branches out of the hallway, Amy turns to the left, while Kat and Jake take the right. Almost instantly, a perp jumps out to shoot them. Kat grabs onto Amy's arm and pushes her out the way as she shoots the man with another orange paintball. Jake fires at the second perp.

"Nice," Amy smiles at them. The shot perps share a look of annoyance that they had been taken out and walk off.

"Okay, three perps left," Jake says.

"We might actually be able to do this," Katherine adds, a little surprised with them.

"Oh, we were always going to be able to do it," he corrects."

"I like Vic Kovac so much more than Jake Peralta," Amy tells him. Kat snorts.

"Oh, yeah, Kovac. Let's, uh, find the man who stabbed my sister and get revenge for ruining my life and everything."

"You were double-crossed and left for dead," Amy elaborates.

Jake is in a similar state of mind. "I can't believe you remember that," he says in surprise. They share a smile.

Kat purses her lips. "I feel like a third wheel," she murmurs to herself. She clears her throat. "I can't believe you didn't go with the sister stabbing," she tells him with a shake of her head. "It makes the story ten times more investing."

He winces. "Yeah, I know..."

Their comms crackle to life. "Peralta, we got intel there's a hostage in room four-oh-nine," Terry informs them.

"Copy that." Jake nods to the pair beside him as they head back through the hallway.

"The hostages are in there," Terry reiterates. "Intel says there's a couple of heavily armed perps with them." The three detectives stop by the door, Kat flanking one side whilst Jake and Amy take the other. "You want to wait for backup?"

Jake glances down to his watch. "No time," he replies. "We only have a minute twelve to beat the record." He sighs. "I'm going in."

Amy's eyes widen. "Wait—"

"Don't worry," he interrupts reassuringly. "I have a plan on how to beat them."

Kat sighs. "Of course you do," she says flatly.

"Give up."

"There it is."

Amy narrows her eyes in disbelief. "What?" she hisses.

"Trust me," Jake tells them firmly. When they look to him again, he shrugs. "Or don't. I'm doing it anyway." They watch him hold up both his guns as he slowly walks through. "NYPD! Don't shoot! I'm here to surrender. Let the hostages go and take me instead."

"God, this is such a bad plan," Katherine whispers. Amy immediately nods in agreement. From their positions, they can only hear his voice.

"Not happening," one of the perps calls out. "Drop the weapons!"

"All right, all right," they hear Jake concede. "My fingers are off the triggers. I'm just gonna slowly put them down in front of me. Slowly put 'em..."

Kat and Amy share a wide-eyed look when they hear gunshots, and quickly rush into the room to see the two perps with orange marks on their shirts. "Oh, damn it!" one exclaims in annoyance.

"Terry, time!"

"Eighteen minutes, twenty-eight seconds. You broke the record!"

"Nice!" Amy cheers with a grin.

Kat turns to Jake. "I take it back," she confesses. "This was a great plan."

His brows furrow at her words. "When was it ever a bad plan?"

The man in the chair with rope binding his hands nods, impressed. "Well done," he praises.

"All in a day's work, elderly lady. All in a day's work."

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎ ﾟ。⋆

The Nine-Nine are packing up their gear to leave when Jake walks over to them. "Ah, there he is," Terry cheers.

The squad all turn around and applaud as Jake holds his arms out with a smile. "The record is ours," he states, patting Terry's back when the sergeant brings him in for a celebratory hug.

"That's so amazing, Jake," Amy responds with a bright smile.

Kat watches Rosa's eyebrows raise, and she leans closer to the woman to whisper, "They're so in love."

"I know, it's like everyone but them knows," Rosa mutters back.

"Check it out!" Jake starts throwing out the pile of shirts that he's carrying. "I got us prizes."

"Sweet!" Charles turns his shirt around with a goofy grin as he shows it to Kat and Rosa. "'Victim.'"

Kat laughs at Rosa's 'corpse' shirt. Jake throws her one and her eyes widen slightly when she notices that she and Rosa now have matching ones. "I've always wanted to see what it's like being a corpse," she says happily.

"I can't believe your final kill came with Scully's move," Amy remarks.

Scully's eyes widen. "You went upsy-downsies?" he asks in awe as he holds his 'baby' shirt to his body. "That's what I call it," he informs the group. "Because you hold the gun upside-down."

"Yes, Scully, I went upsy-downsies," Jake confirms. His eyes flick across them as he adds, "And none of you will ever speak of it again."

"That is not going to happen," Kat retorts with a smirk. "I will be bringing this up every day for the rest of your miserable life." He groans.

Amy nods, grin flashing over her face. "Agreed," she confirms. "You looked really dumb."

Jake shakes his head as he laughs. "Man, I feel so good! Almost makes me want to start taking things seriously all the time. But then I'm like, 'Boobs, fart, boobs, whatever.' All right, let's go. Drinks are on me."

Kat clears her throat. "I'm sorry," she begins, brows furrowing. "Did you just say drinks are on you?"

He purses his lips as he glances to her. "Yeah," he says.

"And how are you going to pay for them?" she asks, genuinely confused.

The squad break into chuckles at Katherine's question, and Jake lunges over to her to place his hand over her mouth. His eyes widen when she licks his palm. "Ew!" he shrieks. "Get away from me, corpse!"

As they all start to head out, Amy grabs Jake's attention. "Actually, Teddy asked me to grab dinner," she tells him. "So maybe I can meet up with you guys afterward?"

He forces a smile onto his face. "Oh. Neat. Yeah, of course."

With no clue of what had just happened, Kat grins brightly as she steps outside. "Nine-Nine," she yells.

"Nine-Nine!"

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎ ﾟ。 ⋆

Kat takes a sip from her beer as she sits at a table with Rosa, Gina, and Terry inside Shaw's. Captain Holt has joined them, and he raises his glass to the squad as he says his toast. "Well, congratulations, everyone, on a perfect run and a new course record." They all break into whoops and cheers.

"And congratulations to you, Captain, on beating your Kwazy Cupcakes addiction!" Jake calls out proudly, grin bright.

As Raymond's eyes widen, they all raise their glasses. "To Captain Holt," the room cheers.

As Gina rushes over to him to explain that she had told the group of his gaming addiction, Kat takes another sip of her beer. "So, did you sort it out with Boyle?" she asks Rosa.

Rosa nods as a small smile adorns her face. "Yeah," she says. "Yeah, it's all good. He gave me an STD on the bus back."

Katherine sighs. "I'm never going to be able to hear Save the Date the same anymore," she admits.

Rosa throws her head back as she laughs. As she looks at Kat with a smile, her eyes catch someone over at the bar. "Oh, there's Vivian," she says. "I'll be back."

Kat smiles as she watches Rosa walk over to the bar to talk with Charles's fiancée. She moves over to a booth on the side of the room, trying to get a moment of quiet to herself.

Thirty seconds pass before Jake slips into the opposite side of the booth to face her. "Hey, so, I have a question," he begins.

She hums. "What's up, upsy-downsies?"

He rolls his eyes. "Uh, so, I'm just curious." He clears his throat. She tilts her head at him, noticing his sudden awkwardness. "As, you know, Amy's best friend... what do you think she sees in Teddy?"

Kat leans back with a smug smile. "I knew it," she declares. She finishes the last of her beer as he scowls. "You like her. And don't try to argue, I see straight through you, Peralta."

"I hate that you're such a good detective," he mumbles. As she raises her brows expectantly, he huffs a sigh. "Fine, I like her. Happy?"

"Oh, very."

Jake rolls his eyes once more. "I just don't get the appeal," he continues. "I mean, I guess he's okay-looking. And he's a good cop. They're both kind of dorky about police stuff. Also, he set the course record, but that's nothing. I broke it, like, twenty minutes later."

"I hate Teddy," she states. "He's the most boring person alive. But you wanna know what the difference between you and him is?"

He nods. "Yeah."

"Teddy actually asked her out." As she watches her words hit him like a truck, she sighs. "I don't like him, Jake. But he makes her smile, and that's all I care about. If you want even a chance with Amy, you need to show her you care. Make an effort. Ask her out."

And even though she really has gotten through to him, Jake can't help but twist the conversation back onto her. He folds his arms on the table and leans forward to her. "Maybe you should take your own advice," he says pointedly.

Her eyes narrow to slits. "Excuse me?" she retorts, tone sharp.

He smiles. "You know what I mean."

"That's different," Kat says quickly.

"Really? 'Cause it doesn't sound all that different to me."

Her eyes narrow further. "Shut up, Jake."

He smiles at her sarcastically. "Shut up, Jake," he mocks. He immediately regrets it when she stands up and smacks the back of his head. As she walks off to get another drink, he yells, "It's really not that different!"