𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 | 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻

KAT HAD BEEN LOOKING FORWARD to the double date since they had organised it. Not only was she excited to spend proper time with her girlfriend, but she was excited for Daisy to get to know one of her close friends, Rosa. She just hopes that everything is going to go well. She would consider it a win if Rosa didn't threaten anyone in the two-hour period. It was a stretch, but it was possible.

The restaurant they had picked wasn't anything fancy, casual enough to make everyone comfortable and the environment light and welcoming. "It's so nice to finally meet you, Daisy," Marcus smiles. "After everything Kat says, it kinda feels like we already know each other."

Daisy glances to her girlfriend with a raised brow. She throws an arm around Kat's shoulders and smiles. "Good things, I hope?" she asks.

"Oh, no, they were horrible," Marcus says with a grimace. At Kat and Rosa's glares, he holds his hands up sheepishly. "All great, don't worry."

Katherine takes a small sip from her glass of red wine and clears her throat. "So, what's the best way to make sure this doesn't become awkward for anyone?" It's what everyone's thinking, so she might as well be the one to voice it.

"Shots," Rosa replies immediately. "Lots of them."

Marcus chuckles and places his hand atop of Rosa's. He clearly isn't taking her suggestion seriously. "Twenty questions is a great icebreaker," he begins. They all shrug in agreement. "So, Daisy, what do you do for work?"

Kat and Daisy share a smile, the former lacing her fingers through her girlfriend's. "I work in the ER as a nurse," Daisy replies, her features softening at the mention of her passion. "It's, well, it's a lot but it's my life, you know?"

"Sounds like ours too," Kat nods. Her eyes meet Rosa's, and it's then does she realise just how uncomfortable her friend is. "You know what, I will have a shot." Rosa gives her a small smile. "Anyone in?"

After the alcohol has entered their bodies, the layer of tension that had existed before has vanished. Everyone, including Rosa, is more relaxed, and the air is considerably lighter as they all laugh as Kat tells them what Gina had got in the mail the other day. It's a hoodie, with 'Time For Gina's Opinion' stitched on the back.

Whatever reason there was when Rosa had first been introduced to Kat's girlfriend, she seems far more open to getting to know Daisy now. It could be the tequila talking, or maybe she had realised that if Kat is happy, she's happy for her. Plus, she's in a healthy relationship of her own, so why can't they all coexist together?

But as the night goes on, Katherine Linetti starts to notice something that unnerves her. She's sober enough to notice it happening. And as she walks back into her apartment at eleven o'clock, she realises that Daisy had spent most of the evening talking to Marcus instead of her. She's definitely overthinking things, or maybe she's more paranoid because of how her last relationship ended. It's definitely paranoia.

Kat would never know, but Rosa had gone home thinking the exact same thing. They had never been with the right people to begin with, but what would it take for them to realise it?

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎。 ⋆

Something Kat could always count on happening at work was Charles having the best meal in the entire precinct. Every day he had something that would either cause people to stare, or wish they had the time and energy to make something like he did. Another thing about Charles Boyle was that he was generous, sometimes too generous. Some would identify that as one of his flaws. Kat thought the exact opposite.

"Sarge, get over here," he calls out with a grin. Kat looks up from her paperwork with curious eyes and wanders over to his desk. "I know you don't have any lunch, so I brought you some."

Her eyes widen. "Wait, you brought me lunch?" she asks in surprise. "How did you know I wouldn't have any?"

"Because you have a sixteen-year-old teenage girl in your life," Charles answers as if it's obvious. "You're also way over your head with work."

She grimaces. "Yeah, that's not wrong..." Her stomach rumbles as he opens the glass container and lifts a piece of quiche out. "Okay, that looks divine."

"Oh, I know."

As the pair begin gossiping about where the best place in New York makes the best quiche (it's obviously Boyle), Rosa approaches them with a hesitant look on her face. "Hey." Charles and Kat pause their chatter. "I need a recommendation for a good restaurant. It's Marcus' birthday and I want to do something... nice."

Charles jumps up with an eager smile, dozens of ideas already running through his head. "Ooh, do you want, like, classic, romantic? Or gastro-sensuous?"

At Rosa's grimace, Kat chuckles. "I'm on it," she announces. Rosa breathes a sigh of relief.

"I know those categories," Jake grins. Rosa closes her eyes in frustration. "You guys are talking dates. Here's what you do: invite him over, order some fancy take out, throw it in a pot, and act like you cooked it. I got the idea from Yahoo! Answers."

"Actually, that's not bad," Katherine admits. "I did that last week. Daisy saw straight through me; it did not work."

Rosa rolls her eyes. "I'm not gonna buy a pot," she retorts. "We're not married."

"Mm-kay, you know what time it is?" They look over to Gina who has been listening to the entire conversation. "Because my hoodie does!" She spins around to reveal the back and Kat chuckles. Time For Gina's Opinion.

Jake grins. "Oh, hey, look at that."

"I have either two or four words for you," Gina continues. "Drag queen. Dim sum."

Kat gasps. "Wait no, I take it back, Gina wins." Her sister smiles.

Amy shakes her head. "You're talking about this Friday night? Everything's gonna be booked. We're only seventy-two hours out and we're still in a brainstorming phase? You gotta postpone."

"You can't postpone a birthday, Amy," Charles points out. "But, if you can't get a reservation, you can always go home and shampoo his hair."

Kat quietly laughs at the horror that flashes across Rosa's face. "I'll set aside my lunch break to research," she reassures her friend.

"Please stop always recommending that," Jake tells Boyle exasperatedly.

"Well, it's always romantic," Charles says.

One of the suspects in lockup has also been eavesdropping. "You can go to the top of the Empire State Building," he suggests. "That's very romantic."

"Huh." Rosa shrugs. "Maybe I will."

"You can pee on the whole city from up there."

"What?"

"Come on!"

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎。 ⋆

For the last five minutes, Jake has been trying to insert his dollar bill into the vending machine inside the break room. "Take it." He grits his teeth together in frustration. "Take it. Come on!" He turns to his friends sat around the table. "This stupid machine won't take my dollar."

Rosa raises a brow. "That's half a dollar taped to a pizza coupon," she points out.

"In what world did you think that would work?" Kat questions in amusement. She genuinely wants to know the answer.

"It's good for a cheesy bread worth two dollars and fifty cents," Jake says. He glances over his shoulder to the vending machine. "You would've made money on this deal, machine!" He gasps when he spots Terry by the coffee pot. "Hey, Sarge, can I borrow a dollar?"

"No," Terry denies firmly. "No more loans. You already owe me way too much. The 'Bank of Terry' is closed."

Jake squints his eyes at the hand gestures the sergeant does. "What, are you sailing away on a tugboat?" he presumes with a small smile.

Charles sighs happily. "Man, I love tugboats," he tells Hitchcock.

"It's not a tugboat," Terry exclaims. "I'm locking the vault!"

"All right, fine," Jake huffs. "How much could I possibly owe you? Fifty, sixty bucks?" Kat stifles a laugh at his hopefulness.

"Two-thousand, four-hundred and thirty-seven dollars."

Jake's eyes widen comically. "Dollars?" he yells in disbelief. "Wait, of course 'dollars.' Why was that the part I was surprised by?"

Terry sighs, a mug of coffee now in hand. "Jake, I would appreciate it if you paid me back."

As he walks out the room, Jake crosses his arms and nods to himself. "Well, that's the craziest thing anyone's ever said to me," he declares.

Rosa sets her smoothie down. "'I would appreciate it if you paid me back'?"

"Good, so you heard it too." Jake's eyes narrow in thought. "I've been in debt to him forever and he's never cared before. Something's up."

"Or maybe he's finally fed up with you," Kat proposes.

Whilst Rosa nods in agreement, Jake completely ignores her words. "I'm gonna drop everything and figure out why he's acting weird," he announces.

"Or you could just pay him what you owe," Rosa suggests realistically.

Jake bursts into laughter. "Hilarious, Rosa," he remarks. He laughs again. "Hilarious."

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎。 ⋆

Two of the NYPD's best detectives sit opposite the suspect in the interrogation room. Kat stares at him blanky. "Okay, so let me get this straight," she begins. "You thought that if you walked into a bank and kindly asked the clerk, they would empty the entire vault for you?"

He smiles at them. "Well yeah, they did," he nods. "But, I mean, it's not a robbery, right?"

Even though he used no force or threats, he had walked out with a few thousand dollars. Almost everyone would interpret 'Please give me all your money' as a robbery, even if it's phrased as a kind request, not to mention that he had illegally taken cash into his possession. Kat believes that if you're going to commit a crime, at least do some research to see if you'll get away with it first.

"No, it's a robbery," Katherine replies in a deadpanned voice. His face falls.

Rosa smiles. "You're under arrest."

"This won't hold up in a court," he protests.

Katherine hums. "Sure, maybe not. But at the very least, you'll be charged with grand larceny." Rosa's smile widens. "Have a fun time in prison," she glances down to the file on the desk, "Ronald."

As one of the uniformed officers comes in to take the criminal away, Kat and Rosa lean back in their chairs and sigh at the same time. "That will never get old," Diaz declares.

"Oh, never," Kat grins. "So, how much does Peralta owe you?"

"Eight-hundred and fifty-six dollars, and thirty-two cents," she replies immediately.

The blonde-haired woman raises a brow. "It's extremely impressive that you know it down to the cent."

"Yeah, well, considering he hasn't paid me back, it could also be considered a robbery."

Kat grimaces. "Hate to admit it, but that won't hold up in court." Rosa turns to her with a scowl. "But we can try and scare him into giving it back to us."

Her lips curl into a smile. "That sounds amazing," Rosa admits.

After gathering their files, the pair head out to the bullpen to grab their wallets. Throughout the interrogation, Kat had counted Rosa yawning eleven times. The least she could do was be a good sergeant and buy her a decent coffee from one of the street vendors downstairs. However, as they pass the break room, they share a frown when they spot Jake talking to Terry.

Charles has also noticed and beelined over to them. "They've been in there for five minutes," he says, clearly suspicious of what's happening.

"Let's go interrupt them then," Kat states.

The second they walk into the room, Terry immediately stops talking. "What's going on?" Rosa questions.

They quickly lay eyes on the briefcase set on the table. It's full of stacks of cash. "How'd you get all that money?" Charles asks his best friend.

Katherine's eyes narrow as she spots Jake's eyes widen for a split-second. The alarm she sees is so brief, but he quickly collects himself into a casual, dismissive demeanour. "Pfft, by putting bad guys behind bars," he says. "I work for a living, jeez." Jake nervously swallows at their stares. "I emptied out my checking account."

"Why Terry?" Kat presses sceptically. "You've owed him for years and you're suddenly paying him back now?" Her eyes narrow further. "You've owed me for decades and you've never emptied one of your accounts for me."

He laughs as if it would distract them from pressing further into the matter. "Why? Oh, wait... Because."

Rosa shifts her weight and her hands rest above her belt. "That is not an answer," she tells him.

"No." Katherine's brows furrow as she spots the pointed look Terry gives Jake. "Well, because you guys got in my head about owing Terry money. And it convinced me that it's important to pay back your friends."

Kat hums. "Okay, well you owe all of us money, friend." Rosa and Charles both nod. "So does this mean you're finally paying us all back?"

"Yeah, Jake, or is there something special about your friendship with Terry?" Charles asks pointedly.

"Nope!" Jake answers without any hesitation. How he had replied so quickly makes Kat believe something is going on. He's nervous and trying to get past this as soon as possible. "Nothing special about Terry. I'm gonna pay everyone. Man, I really hoped to say this to a drug dealer who killed my whole family, but... It's payback time."

Five minutes later, the squad, except for Amy who is busy working a case with Holt, have gathered in the briefing room to settle Jake's paybacks. The whiteboard has been set up to help Jake's calculations, already having halved his initial debt to Terry.

"All right, put a nice little dent into my Terry debt..." Jake smiles as he turns around to his colleagues. He sighs at their lack of reactions. "No applause? Seriously? Okay, I see how this is gonna be."

"Get on with it, Peralta," Kat voices impatiently. "We all have jobs to make up for the money we're missing."

"All right, fine," Jake says. "How much do I owe the rest of you?"

Charles glances to his notepad where he's done extensive calculations. "Four-thousand and nine dollars."

Jake's eyes widen in pure panic. "What?" he exclaims loudly. "How is that even possible?"

"Well, when you fail to pay someone back once, it adds up into a much larger amount than what you had started with," Kat explains simply. Rosa cracks a smile.

Charles clears his throat. "June third, two-thousand and eight, paid for your lunch: eight dollars and forty-five cents. June third, two-thousand and eight, bought you a soda: dollar and five cents. June third, two-thousand and eight: lent you four thousand dollars for an entertainment system."

Jake purses his lips. "There it is."

"I stopped keeping track after that," Boyle confesses.

"Sure. Sure, okay. How about the rest of you?"

Gina crosses her arms. "Seven-hundred and ten dollarinos," she calls out.

"Eight-hundred and fifty-six dollars, and thirty-two cents," Rosa says.

Jake nods. "Okay, very specific."

"It all started back in kindergarten," Katherine begins melodramatically.

He grimaces. "Here we go..."

"First, I lent you two dollars for an ice-cream, then five dollars to pay for your lunch. Fast forward about twenty years later, I've lent you ten thousand dollars."

Jake's eyes widen in horror. "Ten thousand dollars?" he shrieks.

Kat kisses her teeth. "It's actually more than that, but like Charles, I stopped counting a while ago. I just rounded it down to the nearest whole number."

"I'm sorry you guys, but I can't pay that," Jake says with a frown. "It's too much money."

"Why don't you just take back the money you gave to Terry and split it seven ways," Rosa points out with narrowed eyes. "Then at least everyone gets something."

"Yeah, but Terry needs the money," he counters.

Gina scoffs. "For what?"

When they all look over to him, Terry's eyes widen subtly as he turns to Jake. "Uh, for butt enhancement surgery," Peralta quickly says.

"Smart," Charles agrees. "That's a real problem area for Terry."

"What?" Jeffords exclaims. "I am not having butt enhancement surgery! Nor do I need it!"

Kat spreads her arms. "Okay, so split the money," she states.

"No, no, no. How about this." They all turn their attention back to Jake. "I'll work off my debt to each of you. How's that sound? I'll do anything you want."

"Done," Katherine says.

Jake's eyes flick over to her. "Should I be concerned how fast you agreed to that?" he questions.

"Probably."

"Anything?" Scully asks ominously.

Jake hesitates for a long moment. "Am I the only one that was super creeped out by that?"

"No, that was definitely creepy," Charles confirms.

"Yeah, he wants you to do something real weird," Rosa adds.

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎。 ⋆

Terry finds Jake in the precinct's garage scrubbing vigorously at Rosa's motorcycle. The sergeant has a yoghurt in hand, feeling slightly bad that his friend is doing all of this to help cover his secret. "How's working your debt off going?" Terry calls out.

Jake looks up to him as he momentarily stops cleaning. "Horrible," he answers. "Rosa's making me clean her motorcycle. Payback's a bitch. Ugh! So many great payback lines wasted on this."

Terry grimaces as he takes in the state of the motorcycle. "Damn, this bike's muddy."

"And this isn't even the worst thing I had to do," Jake says. "Gina made me call people and tell them she was dead to see how they'd react."

Gina eagerly leans forward in her chair as she tries to hear the phone call. "Is she crying?" she presses Jake. "Is she crying?"

He takes the phone off his ear and glances over to her. "A little," he replies.

He doesn't protest when she snatches the phone out of his hands. "You should be wailing, you stone cold bitch!" Gina slams the phone back onto the receiver, Jake watching the entire interaction with wide eyes. "Now call my other grandma."

"And then there was Scully. Worst massage of my life, Sarge. Apparently, he holds stress in the B-cheeks. But I gotta say, Kat's was the worst," Jake admits. He places his hands on his hips. "Yeah, for sure. She made me call her mom."

"Hey, Auntie D!" Jake glances hesitantly to Katherine who impatiently waves her hands. "So, I just wanna be very clear that I believe I should not be the one to tell you this. But... Kat's not a lesbian anymore."

Kat shuffles her chair closer to him with narrowed eyes. "What's she saying?" Jake lifts the phone off his ear and even Kat can hear her mother shouting. He quickly passes it over to her. "Mother, I swear to God, if you're overjoyed that I suddenly like men, I will arrest you on something that I promise-"

Jake's eyes widen as her face falls, and a smile quickly overtakes her features. "What's she saying?" he asks her quietly, keen to hear the conversation.

Kat blinks quickly to avoid crying. "She says that you're a lying liar because she knows I'd rather be run over by a bus before going out with a guy." She wipes a tear off her cheek. "Mom, I love you so much."

"It was the most stressful situation I've ever been in," Jake finishes.

"Oh, God," Terry winces. "I'm so sorry." He nods his head to the bike. "Well, at least I can help you out."

His eyes widen. "No, no, no, no," Jake quickly protests. "That'll only make people suspicious. Besides, I don't mind doing all these horrible things, 'cause I want to keep your secret safe. For you, and Sharon, and Miata. Works for a boy or a girl."

"Well, well, well," Charles announces. He approaches them with Richard, Dan, and Jason pulling at their leashes. "What are you hens clucking about?"

"What? Nothing," Jake dismisses, trying to be as casual as possible.

"Bullshit," Katherine calls out. Terry and Jake turn to see her walking over with Bear, Tisha trailing along with her eyes on her phone.

As Charles nods in agreement, Jake rolls his eyes. "Okay, what do you want?"

"To be paid back," Charles responds simply. He holds the leashes out. "I want you to wash my dogs. Hm, why would I ask that given that I know you hate my dogs?"

Jake closes his eyes for a second in frustration. "They hump everything."

"They're passionate," Charles retorts defensively.

Kat smiles. "You can wash Bear, too. And he was just at the park." Jake groans when he realises that the Golden Retriever is no longer golden.

"Why?" he asks her irritably. "I already paid you back."

She laughs loudly. "Oh, honey, you owe me over ten grand." She smiles again. "You're forever in debt to me."

"Yeah, I knew that would come around..."

"But you don't have to wash them at all if you just tell me what's going on here," Charles says, hoping that whatever Jake and Terry are keeping will be revealed. "You two have a secret. I can smell it."

Tisha pockets her phone. "No, you're washing him no matter what," she tells Jake firmly. "Have you seen the mud, dude? But also, I wanna know what's going on."

Charles quickly shakes his leg to get Jason off. "Jason, not now."

Whilst Jake grimaces in disgust, Kat tries not to laugh. "Yuck..." His eyes move between his best friends. "Look, we don't have a secret, all right?" Tisha scoffs. "We don't!" He glances to the sergeant beside him. "Do we have a secret, Terry?"

"If we did, it's a secret from me," Terry replies with a shrug.

Kat and Charles break into laughter with them, but after a few seconds, they turn deadly serious. "Well that was scary," Tisha mutters.

"Okay, then, wash our dogs," Charles demands. Jake's face falls. "And be warned, they just watched Peabody and Sherman, so they're extra horny."

"Unnecessary," Katherine murmurs. "Totally unnecessary."

All four adults narrow their eyes as they stare at each other, Charles and Kat hoping that Jake and Terry would break their façade and give in. A few minutes later, Tisha is giggling uncontrollably as she watches Jake struggle to control the group of dogs. Whilst Richard, Dan, and Bear are happily standing still as they're washed, Jason acts exactly like predicted. It's clear that Kat and Charles are enjoying it way too much.

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎。 ⋆

An hour after Jake had finished completing his tasks, Kat sits at her desk with Bear curled up by her feet as she tries to get through the endless documents for the incident report caused by Jake yesterday. She just wished that he would eventually learn that if he wanted to burst through a window, he had to deal with the consequences himself.

Gina wanders over to her sister's desk and raps her knuckles on the surface, quickly grabbing her attention. "Yo, why's my niece here?" she asks, nodding over to the break room where Tisha is sprawled over the couch.

Kat sighs and set her pen down. Bear's ears prick and he jumps up to greet Gina. "She's got the day off from school," she says. "She brought Bear, so I said she could chill until the shift finishes. Wanna get pizza with us after?"

The older Linetti smiles. "Sounds good." She drops into the chair beside Kat's desk. "So, he really owes you over ten grand?"

"Yep," Kat answers with another sigh. "I can't believe you weren't owed more."

"Oh, I was," Gina admits. "I just learnt that he could do things for me in return a decade earlier than you."

Katherine chuckles. "Yeah, that tracks."

"Sarge," Terry calls out. Kat looks over to him and notices the gym bag in his hand. "You're in charge for the next hour." She gives him a thumbs up. "Okay, listen up, everybody. I just forwarded you an email about the suspect in those bodega robberies. Check it out. We're gonna catch this guy."

"I know what's going on, Jake," Charles declares. Kat immediately turns her chair to listen to the conversation. "With you and Terry. The money, the private convos. I figured it out. Before Kat, might I add!"

"That's Sergeant Linetti, Boyle," she scowls. Rosa smiles at how Charles pales a shade lighter.

The detective clears his throat. "Anyways. You stole my idea to open a bowling alley and you're gonna do it with Terry."

Kat closes her eyes and shakes her head. "Oh, Boyle," she mutters. "That is so not it."

"Yup, that's it."

Katherine stares at Jake Peralta.

"Jake," Charles begins in disappointment. "Fingerholes was our idea."

"I do not think it should be called Fingerholes," Jake counters.

"You're not calling it Fingerholes?" Charles asks in amusement. "Good luck, pal."

Gina gasps at what appears on her computer. "Oh, my God," she exclaims in surprise. "Terry's pregnant?"

"What?" Jake nervously gulps. "How do you know that?"

Kat quickly stands up with wide eyes. "I knew it!" she yells. "The dentist appointments aren't dentist appointments, no one needs their teeth checked that often. And the debt? Oh, this all adds up."

"And we all know," Gina smiles at him. "You hit 'reply all' on the email, Grandma Peralta."

Jake closes his eyes. "Oh, no..." He glances around the bullpen to see everyone looking at him. "Uh, good. Great! The secret is out. I got humped by Jason for nothing."

"Oh, you're screwed," Kat realises. "Terry is going to kill you."

"What? No! He knows I know that you know."

Rosa rolls her eyes. "Yeah, you're dead," she laughs.

Jake quickly waves them over to his desk, and the squad huddle round as they conduct a clandestine meeting in the middle of the bullpen. "Okay, yes, Terry is having another kid," he tells them quietly. "We are pregnant." Hitchcock and Scully share a look of surprise. "But that is a secret. It's way too soon to tell anyone. I only stumbled across it 'cause I'm such an amazing detective."

"Who accidentally hit 'reply all' like some idiot on a brunch thread," Rosa deadpans.

"You got a big problem, Jake," Kat concludes. She can't help but smile. "Sorry, after all the debt it kind of feels like you deserve it."

He nods, his lips curled into a grimace. "I know. But look, Terry can't know the secret is out."

"He got the email too, boo," Gina points out.

"Crap, you're right." Jake nods to himself. "All right, we just have to break into his email account and delete the message while he's down at the gym. Great, all right, here's the plan. I'll go down-"

"What are you gonna do, Jake?" Charles interrupts.

"... I'm obviously about to say. Okay, I'll go down there-"

"Sorry, Jake, I thought it was a call and response."

"It's not. Okay? I'll go down there-"

"Are you mad at me?"

"Boyle," Kat interjects, her tone full of exasperation. "We're on a time crunch here." He holds his hands up apologetically.

Jake waves a hand to her thankfully. "Anyway. Here's the plan. I'll go down to the gym and have Terry take me through his workout. You guys get Savant from IT to help you hack into his account. If anything goes wrong, Scully, fake a heart attack."

"What are you thinking?" Scully asks curiously. "Classic angina, or something sexier, like, um, myocardial infarction?"

"Prinzmetal's angina," Kat tells him. Rosa stares at her. Scully smiles and nods.

"No idea what that means but as long as you drop down on the ground and wiggle, it'll be fine," Jake shrugs.

Scully's smile widens. "I'm gonna nail this!"

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎。 ⋆

With Savant managing the laptop, the squad have crowded around the break room table to try and crack Terry's password. It isn't going to be an easy feat. As soon as they're all inside, Hitchcock draws the blinds and closes the door. "This will crack his password, but it could take an hour," Savants warns them as he inserts a drive into the computer.

Gina sighs. "No way Jake keeps up with Terry for that long." Everyone quickly nods in agreement. "Have you seen Terry?"

"Well, there's nothing we can do," Savant says. "Unless you can guess the Sarge's password."

Kat grins. "That's what we're doing," she declares. "Weights!" Bear barks. "Dude, come on, be supportive." He huffs and leaps up onto the couch beside Tisha.

The word is typed in and Savant shakes his head. "Big muscles," Charles tries.

"Nope."

Gina arches a brow as she looks between Charles and Kat. "Seriously? That was your first guesses? 'Muscles' and 'Big muscles'?"

"You never know," Katherine argues.

"Try his wife's name, Sharon," Rosa suggests. Denied. "SharonOne." Denied. "SharonTwo." Denied. "SharonThree." Denied. "This is stupid."

"Not stupid," Kat reassures her. "We just don't have the time to go through every single number in the history of numbers."

Half an hour passes with endless guesses for the password. All of them fail. The group are starting to run out of ideas, not to mention that it's not much longer before Jake fails to keep up with Terry's workout.

Gina groans in frustration. "God, I hate how hard it is to guess other people's passwords!"

Tisha removes her headphones with a sigh. "Okay, this is taking way too long," she announces. She hurries over and spins the laptop around. They all watch her type in yoghurt.

The computer beeps. "We're in!"

They all cheer happily and high-five the girl. Kat somehow isn't surprised that Tisha had managed to get it on the first try. "Terry loves yoghurt," Tisha reminds them with a grin.

By the time Jake returns to the precinct, he had messaged Charles to bring a wheelchair down to the ground floor. Kat was finding it hilarious that he could barely walk. They had successfully managed to delete the email, so it seems like Jake is in the clear for the foreseeable future.

Peralta smiles as Sharon walks into the bullpen. "Oh, hey! How are your Mrs Sarge?"

"You look normal," Charles points to her.

"Hi, Jake. ...Charles."

Kat smiles warmly at the woman. "Hey, Sharon," she greets.

"Nice to see you, Kat," she smiles back.

"Uh, hold on, honey," Terry tells his wife. "I gotta check my emails and then I'll be ready to go." As he squints his eyes, the entire squad stop what they're doing to focus on him. Terry looks up to find them all staring at him, and Jake nods with a nervous smile. "Okay, all set."

Kat watches Jake breathe out a long sigh of relief. She's almost sad she doesn't get to see him punished. The payback was nice, but she's still missing ten thousand dollars.

"All right, have fun," Charles calls out brightly as Terry grabs his coat.

"Sergeant Jeffords," Holt says as he walks out of his office. "Sharon."

Jake has frozen in alarm, his eyes wide. "The captain's back?" he whispers to Charles. "When did he get back? Turn me around!" A smile slowly makes its way onto Kat's face.

"I'm not feeling well, I have an appointment at the restroom, but I gather congratulations are in order," Raymond states. Jake closes his eyes as he realises that everything is about to blow up in his face.

"For what?" Sharon asks in confusion.

"Oh, Peralta sent everyone in the office an email about what to name your new baby. For what it's worth, I really like the name Todd."

Katherine leans back in her chair with a sigh. "There it is."

Sharon turns to her husband. "Terrence, what is he talking about?" she presses.

"Yeah, Peralta!" Terry's voice booms as Jake covers his face. "What is he talking about?"

Jake slowly removes the hand from his eyes. "Hey," he says casually. He tries not to flinch at the dark glare Terry is sending his way. "Scully, now!" Right on cue, Scully drops to the ground with a hand clutching his chest. "Oh, no! He's having a heart attack! This is a man's life, you calloused bastards!"

Stood within the doorway of the break room, Tisha bursts into laughter. She holds a hand up in apology when Jake's head snaps over to her.

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎。 ⋆

Kat hadn't been privy to the conversations Jake had had with Terry over the last hour, but from what she can see, they've made their peace. She's packing up her desk to leave for the end of the day when the sergeant stops in front of her. "Hey, I'm sorry about Peralta," she winces. "Congrats though, Sarge. It's really great."

Terry smiles. "Thanks, Kat. Uh, do you have a second?"

She quickly nods. "Yeah, of course," she says. "What's up?"

"So, I've been thinking a lot over the last week, and I've talked with Sharon..." Terry clears his throat. "Katherine Linetti, we would be honoured if you would be the godmother for our baby."

Kat's eyes widen in shock. She hadn't seen this coming. "Oh, my God," she whispers. "Oh, my God. Terry, are you sure? Because this is a huge deal. Do you trust me enough? I'm not even sure I trust me enough-"

"We trust you," he interrupts her with a smile.

"Yes," she quickly says. A wide grin adorns her face. "Yes, of course. Wow, this is amazing. Thank you." He chuckles and quickly pulls her in for a hug. "Seriously, thank you."

"No, thank you," Terry counters. "Just a heads up, you're the first choice for any sort of parental duty in the worst-case scenario. I've seen you with Tisha. And I trust Jake, don't get me wrong, but..."

Kat laughs. "I get it. I think the second he realises what a godfather really is he might be rethinking his decision."

"Oh, we had that conversation. He asked me for a good movie on parenting."

She grimaces. "Yikes..."

"Sarge," Jake yells. Kat turns over to him. "What's a good movie on parenting? For you, of course, not me." His face falls in alarm. "Wait, have you been asked? Did I just ruin everything? No, what am I talking about, you don't need a movie, you already have a kid! Who's turning out fine, by the way."

"Wow," Tisha deadpans. "I'm flattered."

Kat grabs her bag and throws an arm around the girl's shoulders. "Let's go before he starts asking me how I parent you," she whispers. Tisha quickly nods and whistles for Bear to follow them.

"Sarge?" Jake blinks. "Sarge...? Terry? Wait, where did Terry go? Sarges?"

𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵 𝘫𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤