CHAPTER EIGHTEEN | FOREVER

xviii. the one with case 52abx-32qj

          KATHERINE LINETTI HAD BEEN AT the Ninety-Ninth precinct for eight years. She liked to think it was merely just a coincidence that she had been transferred over a few months after Jake had. It's very likely her childhood best friend had recommended her to their captain at the time, but it's not like she was complaining. She had well and truly earned her position as a cop and a detective.

Of all the people she had no previous connection with, she had known Terry Jeffords the longest out of their squad. They had hit it off immediately, bonding over her love (at the time) for mango yoghurt. And even though she was no longer obsessed like Terry was, their friendship had stuck around. He had helped shape the person she was today—the detective she was today. In many ways, he would forever be one of her role models.

Jake... Well, Jake had always been her brother. She didn't think 'friend' would even be suited as a title for their relationship anymore. They were far more like siblings, which meant that she was able to tolerate his immatureness and childlike behaviour a little more than she would someone else.

Kat looks up from her pile of paperwork as she spots Jake walking into the bullpen, tugging a suspect in cuffs behind him. "Hey, hey!" he calls out, immediately grabbing their attention.

She leans back in her chair and folds her arms with a smile. "Go on, we all know you have a joke," she says.

He scoffs. "What? You think I'm immature enough to make a joke with a criminal standing beside me?" Almost everyone in the near vicinity turns around to give him a pointed look. A grin adorns his face. "What has three thumbs and just made another arrest?"

"There it is," Kat nods.

"This guy!" Jake points both his thumbs to himself, but his smile falls in disappointment when he notices that the perp isn't playing along. "It doesn't work if you don't put your thumb up..." After a few seconds, a third thumb is added. "Thank you!"

Charles smiles at his best friend. "Twenty-three solves in one month," he begins proudly. "New precinct record!" Katherine narrows her eyes at the statement. Charles takes out a radio from underneath his desk and presses play as everyone applauds Jake.

A bashful smile adorns Jake's face. "Thank you," he says. "Thanks."

"Dance with me, Jakey!"

He purses his lips at Charles's request as Whatta Man by Salt-N-Pepa begins blaring out the speakers of the radio. "No," he declines politely. "And I will never dance to that song."

Scully beams. "Wait to go, Jakey!" He throws up his hand and everyone in the bullpen immediately ducks as thumbtacks rain down around them.

Rosa scowls at the detective. "Are those thumbtacks?" she snaps. "What the hell, Scully?"

"I thought they'd make good confetti..."

Terry's brows shoot up. "Why?" he exclaims.

A throat clears and the group turns around to find Katherine watching them all. "And now I'll correct you all, because Jake has in fact not made a new precinct record." She smiles as his face falls. "It's like none of you care to remember the celebration we had when I made thirty collars last month."

Almost all their eyes widen in alarm.

"You decided to raise this after Scully threw the thumbtacks?" Captain Holt asks her exasperatedly. She hums, smile still on her face.

"Aw, come on!" Jake yells. Just like a toddler, he stomps his foot on the ground. However, when he notices Rosa's glare, he quickly clears his throat. "I mean, I totally remember! We don't bring up your record enough."

Kat raises a brow. "Good save."

"Regardless of a record being broken or not," Holt begins. His eyes move back to Jake. "This took a lot of hard work and a lot of late nights. Take the weekend off, Peralta."

"Thank you," Jake says. "You know, I actually might. I'm severely sleep-deprived and I'm way behind on laundry."

Holt pats him on the back. "Good work."

"That's nice." As Jake returns to his desk, his lips pull into a grimace. "Sorry about the record."

Katherine shrugs. "Don't worry, I was screwing around. It means nothing." Jake narrows his eyes at her. "Okay, it means everything, but I'm trying to be nice."

"Much appreciated," he grins. As he turns around, he spots Amy walking over with a duffle bag in hand. "Hey, what's with the bag?"

Kat's eyes widen. "You're surprising me with a girl's weekend away?" she presumes hopefully. She smiles and places a hand over her heart. "Oh, Amy, have I told you how much I love you lately?"

The woman rolls her eyes fondly. "No, Teddy and I are going to the Berkshires for the weekend," she replies with a smile.

Kat immediately glances to Jake who is clearly trying his best not to react sourly. "Oh, for, like, a police conference?" he asks, the subtlety of hope tinging his words.

"Nope, just a romantic getaway."

"Wow!" he says. He focuses back on his computer, and Kat notices how his jaw tightens ever so slightly. "That's great."

"I know," Amy smiles. "We're kind of taking things to the next level." Her eyes flick between her friends. "So, what are you guys doing this weekend?"

"Overtime," Kat says with a grimace. "Trying to get as many hours as possible in before the sergeant's exam."

"And I'm also the opposite of the Berkshires," Jake responds. "Work-shires. Working, the whole weekend, too." As he locks eyes with Kat briefly, she frowns at him. She knows this is his way of trying to distract himself. "Yeah, fighting crime!"

Scully, who is cleaning up the aftermath of the thumbtack debacle, stops by their desks with a confused frown. "I thought you were taking the weekend off to do your laundry," he points out.

"Does crime take the weekend off to do its laundry, Scully?" Jake retorts without a beat of silence. Kat shrugs in agreement. He isn't wrong.

Scully purses his lips. "No, it doesn't," he acknowledges. "Sorry."

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎ ﾟ。 ⋆

"So, have you told Tisha about the exam?" Rosa asks. She and Kat walk side by side as they head down the halls to the janitor's closet so they can clean up the mess Jake had made in the kitchen.

In his attempts to distract himself from Amy, he had the brilliant idea to wash up the dishes in the sink. Of course, it had then ended up with mountains of bubbles over all of the floor and counters.

"No, not yet," she answers honestly. "I will, though. But I hate that I'm almost always working at the moment."

Rosa's lips dip into a frown as she tugs the woman to a stop. "Hey, you're busy because you're trying to become a sergeant," she states. "And a few super busy weeks to then have a more chill year is helping her, not just yourself. Look at the bigger picture."

Kat smiles slightly at the insinuation that she will become a sergeant. "You think I'll pass?" she asks.

She scoffs. "Of course you will," Rosa says firmly as they start walking again. "And if you don't, it's the marker's fault and I will physically assault them." She rolls her eyes at Kat's amused look. "Fine, I'll resort to bribing instead."

Katherine shakes her head with a smile as she opens the janitor's closet, only to stop short at Charles inside sitting on one of the shelves and talking into his phone. His head snaps over to the two in the doorway. "Can I call you back? Bye." He hangs up. "What's up?"

"Looking for paper towels," Rosa replies.

"Why are you in here?" Kat asks, brows furrowing. "You know there are way better places to have a phone call."

"I'm talking to Vivian," he sighs. "We're still trying to figure out whether we should move to Canada. It's awful! Thank God it hasn't affected how much we bathe together."

Kat and Rosa share a grimace. "Almost never?" Diaz questions hopefully.

"All the time," Charles smiles. "Thing is, it's so hard to talk at work because there's no privacy. The roof is freezing, the holding cell is full of perps, and their romantic advice is not great. It's always to tell Vivian, 'Bitch, get your life right!'"

Katherine hums. "And how does that work out?"

"I tried it," he mutters. "She did not like it."

The women share another look, each thinking the same thing. "Let us work on it," Rosa tells him. She offers him a hand to stand up, but Charles's shoulders bump the shelf above him which sends all the cleaning supplies crashing down onto the floor.

Kat sighs. "Who knew the janitor's closet would need the most cleaning?"

As soon as they return to the bullpen, Jake races over and grabs onto Kat's arm, an eager smile etched onto his face. "You will never guess what I've just found out," he gushes to her.

She tilts her head as she allows him to drag her across to Terry's desk. "You figured out what Holt does in his spare time?" He suddenly stops in his tracks, sending her crashing into his back. "Dude!"

Jake spins around with wide eyes. "Okay, so, you trust me, right?" She purses her lips together and nods. "Great! So, you'll believe me whatever I say, right?" She nods again. "Okay, I know what Holt does in his spare time."

"Pray tell."

"He does hula hooping in his exercise class!"

Katherine bursts into laughter.

Jake's smile immediately falls. "No, no, don't laugh!" he protests. He grabs onto her arms and shakes her as she continues to snicker. "Kat, I'm serious!"

Another giggle leaves her lips. "Yeah, sure, Pinocchio."

Jake throws his head back with a groan of frustration when she continues to show no sign whatsoever of believing him. Raymond Holt had been right, after all. No one was going to believe the story.

Kat wipes a tear from under her eye and she clears her throat. "Okay, what did you find out?" she asks.

"I found out what we can work on this weekend!" With curious eyes, she follows him over to Terry's desk. "Good news, Sergeant!" Jake calls out. "I figured out what we're all gonna work on this weekend."

"I'm working on spending time with my family," Terry tells them with a small smile, explaining that he isn't going to dedicate all his time to a case. "We're having a fancy tea party." He holds up the paper origami he had made. "I am the king of origami napkins!"

Kat's bottom lip juts out. "Sarge, that is adorable!" She takes one of the cranes he holds out to her, and her eyes widen. "Woah, Terry, these are good. And I won that competition back in high school."

"I know," Terry grins. Then, his smile morphs into a confused frown as he looks back to Jake. "Wait, I thought you were gonna take the weekend off."

After quickly grabbing a box from his desk, Jake jumps up to sit on the edge of the Terry's desk. "No, I decided to spend the weekend taking things to the next level," he corrects. "Work-wise."

Kat folds her arms over her jacket. "Okay, so what is this 'thing' you've found?" she asks curiously.

"I found a cold case of ours that everyone foolishly said was unsolvable." Jake drops one of the folders in front of his friends. Terry and Kat share a knowing look. "Case 52ABX-dash-32QJ."

"Jake, case 52ABX-dash-32QJ is unsolvable," Terry states with squinted eyes.

Kat quickly nods. "Yep. We've been through this before eight years ago." Terry points to her as he looks at Peralta with narrowed eyes. "Case 52ABX-dash-32QJ is a dead-end."

"Or maybe, case 52ABX-dash-32QJ is waiting for someone to de-unsolve it!" At Jake's excited smile, she sighs.

Scully and Hitchcock pause their game of cards as they spin their chairs around. "What's case 52ABX-dash-32QJ?" Scully asks them.

"Case 52ABX-dash-32QJ—" Jake grimaces as he looks back to Kat and Terry. "We gotta find a way to abbreviate this thing." They nod in agreement. "Anyway, it's an old case that Sarge, Kat, and I worked about eight years ago. This guy Nate Dexter was murdered in a boat explosion. No witnesses, no leads, minimal evidence."

"This case almost killed us," Terry admits with a frown.

Kat holds up a hand. "No, that case did kill me."

"Yeah, but I'm on a hot streak!" Jake reminds them as he stands up. He gestures to his best friend. "And Kat, you are, too. Well, last month you were." He misses her glare. "Plus, we're all better detectives now. We're smarter, computers are faster, no more Blockbuster. Drones?"

"I miss Blockbuster," Katherine mumbles.

Jake's lips stretch into a wide grin as he tries to hype them up. "I'm feeling it!"

Terry squints his eyes at how the man's tongue pokes out slightly. "That was creepy," he notes. "But... convincing."

Jake's eyes widen when he stands up from his chair. "Oh, oh! He's standing up!"

"I've always wanted to solve that case," Terry confesses with a slightly hesitant smile.

When they both turn to her, Kat groans in frustration. "Fine," she states. "It haunts my dreams."

Jake vigorously nods. "Exactly! Then think about how good it would feel to finally do it! What's the best moment of your lives?"

"My wedding day."

"Fostering Tisha."

Terry holds a finger up. "Tied with the day my babies were born," he adds.

"Compared to this, those memories will be garbage," Jake promises them.

"You don't know what you're saying," Terry says lowly.

"'Cause I'm not married, and I don't have kids. Right? Okay."

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎ ﾟ。 ⋆

Rosa and Kat find Gina in the break room slumped on the couch with her blanket, smiling as she types on her phone. "Hey," Rosa calls out.

"We need to tell Charles about Babylon," Kat tells her sister seriously.

"He needs a private place to talk to Vivian," Rosa explains.

"What?" Gina exclaims. She shuts her phone off, giving them her full undivided attention. "No! Babylon's our secret place. It's the best thing in my life, and I have a very full life. No offence, Kat."

"No, I actually agree," Katherine admits with a shrug.

Gina shifts her position as she wraps her wolf blanket around her body tighter. "Do you know I know Papa John?" she reveals. "The Papa John."

"Someone is lying to you."

"Look, we can't tell Charles," Gina insists. "He's incapable of keeping a secret."

Kat's nose scrunches up and she turns to the woman beside her. "That's a good point," she agrees. Her sister raises a hand to her appreciatively. "Charles cannot keep his mouth shut to save his life."

Rosa crosses her arms over her leather jacket. "Look, we tell Charles about Babylon, or I shred your nap blanket into a million tiny rags," she threatens the older Linetti.

Gina's eyes widen in horror. "No! I love Wolfie!" As she cradles her blanket to her chest, she groans. "Fine," she concedes. "You win. Tell Charles." Rosa and Kat share a victorious smile. "Hold me close, little Wolfie."

After managing to separate Gina from her blanket, the three women convince Charles to follow them without explaining where they're going and why. He's very suspicious.

As they walk down a dimly lit corridor, he wrings his hands behind his back. "Will you just tell me where we're going?" he presses. None of them respond. "Guys? Guys!" Charles's eyes fill with horror when they stop. "Oh, my God, you're going to kill me."

Kat scoffs as she turns around to him. "Charles. If we wanted to kill you, you'd—"

"Already be dead by now," he finishes quietly.

Rosa nods. "You wouldn't have been able to walk out your front door." As his skin pales a shade lighter at their revelations, she pulls out the 'wall' that is just dozens of boxes stacked on top of each other.

Boyle's jaw drops in shock at what is revealed behind it: a pristine bathroom stocked with various scented soaps, clean towels, and toiletries. He can smell the candles without even walking inside.

"Welcome to Babylon!" Gina announces.

As Charles slowly walks in behind them in awe, Kat smiles. "It's our super-secret bathroom," she says.

"It's so beautiful!"

"There used to be a transit police squad down here," Rosa says. The sisters share a smile at just how excited he is. "This was a captain's bathroom."

"I found it a few years after transferring here," Kat informs him with a proud smile. "And then I told Rosa, maybe, three years ago?"

Gina nods. "And then they told me a year ago when I got stomach flu from that sewer rave." She smiles at the memories. "Fun night, though."

Charles continues looking around the space in disbelief that Hitchcock and Scully haven't made their mark on it. "We put a lotta effort into making this place nice," Rosa states. "Look." She grabs a glass bowl off one of the side tables. "Weird crystals."

He leans forward and deeply inhales, eyes widening at the calming scent. "Also, lavender scented candles," Gina adds. "A zebra-skin rug, and the toilet paper is, mm, triple-ply."

Charles rolls out the toilet paper and he glances to them as he says, "It turns anyone's bottom into a VIP."

Kat holds a finger up. "But more importantly, it has great cell service." She smiles at him. "We thought you could use this as a safe space to call Vivian whenever you need to." Boyle's eyes widen when any trace of the smile suddenly disappears from her face. "But you have to promise not to tell anyone about this."

He quickly nods. "I pinky promise," he states, holding up his finger for them to shake.

"Not good enough," Gina responds. She takes out a pin from her pocket. "Blood pact!" Charles winces when she pricks his finger.

"We're serious, Boyle," Kat says. "This place is my haven." He swallows nervously when she takes an intimidating step toward him. "If you tell anyone about this, especially Hitchcock and Scully, I will make sure you never—"

"Okay," Gina interrupts with a chuckle. She places her hand over her sister's mouth to stop her from talking. "He promised, Kitty Kat. We have a blood pact now."

Once Katherine returns to the bullpen, she's quickly grabbed by Jake—who seems to have forgotten she can walk on her own free will—and pulled into the briefing room.

Terry is in one of the chairs at the front of the room, and before him is a large crime board that has been set up with newspaper clippings, photos, a huge map, and documents pinned onto it. Kat thinks it looks almost the same as it had been eight years ago.

Case 52ABX-dash-32QJ is now well underway for the second time. Hopefully, also the last.

Jake holds a pointer stick as he grins at them. "Okay, so, here's what we know," he begins. He points to the photograph in the centre of the board. "Nate Dexter was a small-time crook who pissed someone off. They blew up his boat, with him still on it, and left no evidence except this one charred finger," he points to the evidence photo of the bloodied finger, "and Nate's melted torso."

Kat stares at the board. "I am having major déjà vu right now," she confesses.

"So, in other words, nothing's changed," Terry concludes.

Jake points his stick to the sergeant. "Except our attitudes. So! We start at the last place that Dexter was seen before he went to the marina. His apartment. I'm telling you, guys, I got a good feeling about this." He snaps the pointer stick closed and grins.

The apartment building had been demolished. There was no trace of the place Nate Dexter once called home. Which meant that the three detectives are back to square one. They had decided that the next logical step would be to visit New York State Penitentiary and question all of Dexter's last known associates.

The only problem was that this would most likely end up exactly how it had when they tried eight years ago. With nothing.

With the case file beside him, Jake holds up the photo of their deceased to the man in the orange jumpsuit on the other side of the metal table. "All right, convict. What do you know about the murder of Nate Dexter?"

Kat leans back in her chair and narrows her eyes as she tries to profile the prisoner with her limited knowledge of psychology.

"Look, I'll tell you the same thing I told you eight years ago. I don't know anything about Nate Dexter."

The next two say the exact same thing. It's like they had rehearsed a script to follow. They probably had.

An hour passes, and they've finally reached the end of their list of associates. All except for one. Kat slides the list over to her side of the desk and looks up to the corrections officer in the room with them. "What happened with Frank Williams?" she asks with furrowed brows.

"He's in the infirmary," the officer tells them. "He was beat up pretty good, a lot of internal bleeding.

"Awesome!" Jake grins eagerly. He turns to Kat and Terry to see them looking back at him with blank faces. "I mean, not the internal bleeding thing... That sounds horrifying. But I bet you we can get him to talk if we offer to move him from his current address on Beatdown Boulevard."

Terry nods in agreement, beginning to feel the sliver of the hope that Jake also holds. "That's a great idea," he says. "Looks like we got lucky."

As they stand to be escorted to the infirmary, Jake's grin returns as he glances over his shoulder to his friends. "Hey, side note, 'Beatdown Boulevard,' is a good name for my debut hip-hop record."

"That's what I was thinking, too!" Katherine exclaims.

Whilst she and Jake fist bump, Terry sighs. "Strongly disagree," he voices.

Frank Williams is propped up in a bed with a brace supporting his neck. In short, he looks like he's in a world of pain. Jake flips open their file, wasting no time at all to get to the reason they're here. "Okay, Frank," he says. "Let's recap, shall we?"

"You slipped and fell on a shiv." Kat winces. "Yowch." She glances back to the file. "And then you got up and fell backwards onto another shiv. And lastly, one final shiv fell from the ceiling and into your body." She arches a brow at the injured man who refuses to make eye contact with any of them. "You've got some real bad luck here, Frank."

"What do you guys want?"

"We wanna make a deal," Terry answers. "You know anything about the murder of Nate Dexter?"

Frank's eyes flick up to them. "Maybe," he says. "What do I get if I do?"

"How about a transfer to another cell block?" Jake offers. "One with fewer shivs."

"Okay. I can't be sure, but I think Dexter owed money to a guy named Sam Bunsen."

Jake points a finger to Frank. "And... that's a new lead!" He turns to his colleagues with a smile, something that Kat and Terry mimic as they take in the information. "First lead in eight years!"

"I hate to say it," she says with a sigh, "but you were right."

Jake grins. "Ohhh, Beatdown Boulevard." He clicks his fingers in time with the beat as he sings his improvisational rap. "Is the toughest street in town."

Terry holds a hand up to him. "No, no," he says as he walks away.

Kat shakes her head once Jake turns to her. He rolls his eyes at their disapproval, incredibly determined to create a hit song.

"And if you step to a gangsta crew, you're bound to get beat down, ah, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎ ﾟ。 ⋆

"Okay, but are you gonna be home for dinner?"

Kat glances at the time on her computer: six-thirty. "Yeah, 'course," she says. "I would never miss dinner."

Tisha sighs. "I'm holding you to it." Kat smiles at the sound of Bear barking in the background. "We miss you!"

"Miss you, too."

"And we're getting pizza—Oh, look at that, you're breaking up. Gotta go, bye!"

Katherine shakes her head with a chuckle as the call hangs up immediately after Tisha's words. She hates to say it, but the girl is becoming more and more how she remembers herself as a teenager. "I'm clocking off in twenty," she tells Jake.

He leans to the side of his computer screen to look at her. "No worries, 'cause we have nada."

She sighs. "Really? Nothing?"

"Zilch."

Terry walks over to them with a bunch of files in hand. "Hey, Sarge," she greets. She prays that something inside those files will lead them to... somewhere.

"No sign of Sam Bunsen in the federal database," Jake informs the sergeant. "You got anything?"

"Bad news."

Kat closes her eyes in frustration. "I am so tired of hearing those words today," she declares with a groan.

"I only found his wife," Terry says. "And she hasn't heard from him in eight years."

"That doesn't sound good," Jake admits grimly.

"Yeah," he retorts. "That's why I started by saying 'bad news.' Terry believes in having a clear topic sentence." Charles has stopped his own work to tune into their conversation.

Kat leans her chin on her palm as her eyebrows knit together in thought. "I mean, the chances that she's lying about something are pretty high," she says. Jake points to her like she's just had the most amazing epiphany. "Why don't we just get out the polygraph?"

Terry nods. "She said she's willing to take a test."

"Let's bust out the polygraph," Jake declares eagerly.

Charles jumps up to stand beside Terry. "Lie detector truth or dare," he announces.

"No," Kat immediately declines. "The last time we did that, you ended up telling everyone that you had a crush on the teapot from Beauty and the Beast."

"It's the way they drew her," Charles defends himself. "Come on, Kat, you have to see it."

"No, Boyle. No, I do not see it."

Because Kat had left her shift early for the night, she misses the polygraph test (which went nowhere), Hitchcock and Scully finding Babylon, and Jake admitting that Taylor Swift is his favourite artist. Shockingly, none of that was surprising to her. Spending time with her small, albeit chaotic, family was more important.

She had indeed made it home in time for dinner, picking up a pizza and chocolate on her way home. Tisha had opened the door when Kat had been in the hallway because she claimed that she gained super senses when it comes down to her favourite meal.

The family of three are curled up on the couch as they watch reruns of last season's Survivor. For the first time in over a week, Kat had turned her phone onto Do Not Disturb. Bear lays on the end of the sofa with his tailed curled around his body, content breaths leaving his nose as he snores softly.

Kat looks down and smiles upon finding the girl half asleep. "Hey," she whispers, shaking her arm slightly.

Tisha's eyes snap open. "Huh, what is it?"

"It's okay, I just wanted to talk to you about something. But I know it's late, so we can do it tomorrow if you want."

"No, no," Tisha dismisses. A sleepy grin adorns her face. "Tell me all your problems."

Kat rolls her eyes playfully. "You are not my therapist," she counters. Tisha shrugs. "It's actually about work... I'm gonna try to become a sergeant."

Tisha's eyes widen in surprise. "Oh, my God!" she yells. She quickly jumps onto her feet, startling Bear who snuffles as he's involuntarily woken up from his slumber. "You're gonna be a sergeant!" Kat laughs as the girl skips around the apartment with a sudden burst of energy, cheering every other second. "Watch out, Terry! Kat's coming!"

"Okay," she laughs, hurrying over to place a hand over Tisha's mouth. "It's ten at night, dude, you'll get us a noise complaint."

Tisha smacks her hand away. "Okay, sorry..." The wide grin returns in an instant. "You're gonna be a sergeant," she whisper-yells.

Kat smiles. "I just wanted to tell you, 'cause it would probably mean I get a little bit of control on when I work. You know, we might get more time together. And since you're going to school now, I could help you with homework and tutor you instead of Amy, and we could watch late night movies—"

"I approve," Tisha cuts her off with a beaming smile. She gives her a two-fingered salute. "Sergeant Linetti, reporting for duty."

"I hope," Katherine corrects. "We hope I'll be reporting for duty."

Tisha scoffs in disbelief. "The amount of faith you have in yourself is outstanding," she voices sarcastically.

As Kat rolls her eyes, she ruffles Tisha's hair. "Okay, bed. Brush your teeth." The girl huffs. "Do you want cavities and rotting gums?"

Tisha's eyes widen in horror. "Your gums can rot?" she whispers.

"Oh, absolutely. You haven't heard?"

"Well, shit."

Kat stifles her laughter as she watches her race off to the bathroom. Bear jumps off the couch and trots over to his owner, sitting before her feet and looking up at her with wide eyes. "I know, I'm tired, too," she tells him. He huffs and nudges his head on her leg.

Five minutes later, Kat hasn't heard anything from the bathroom. Her brows furrow and she makes her way into the space, only to stop in the doorway and smile at how Tisha has ended up on the floor, fast asleep.

She winces slightly as the healing bullet wound in her shoulder strains as she picks the girl up into her arms, but any reminder of pain disappears when she looks back at her. Kat brushes away strands of hair that have fallen into Tisha's eyes and she smiles softly as she carries her into her bedroom.

Tisha stirs when she's laid into her bed and shifts her arms as the covers are pulled onto her body. "Night, kiddo," Kat whispers, switching off the lamp on the bedside table.

"Night, Mom."

Katherine freezes. Her eyes snap back over to the barely visible figure of the girl who is turning onto her other side. She could try to convince herself that what she had just heard didn't really happen. But she had heard the mumbled words clear as day.

Tisha had called her her mom. A tear slides down her cheek as she quietly leaves the room, and she brushes it away as a smile adorns her face.

She's starting to think that she doesn't want to just foster the girl until someone eventually decides to adopt her. Kat couldn't bring to be parted from her, and after hearing what she just had, she wants to believe that Tisha wouldn't want to be either.

She's going to adopt her.

⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎ ﾟ。 ⋆

After leaving Tisha with a plate of pancakes and a bunch of newly rented movies, Kat arrives at the precinct at eight in the morning on Sunday. Jake had requested her and Terry's presences an hour early than they had decided on starting their shifts because he has something that will 'make their jaws shatter in disbelief.'

Terry and Kat share a look as they step out the elevator. "We got here an hour early," he calls to Peralta. "This better be good."

Kat dumps her bag onto her desk and looks up to Jake, but what she finds shocks her. Jake Peralta looks like he hasn't slept in twenty-four hours. "Jesus Christ," she says, deadpanned.

"Holy Moses!" Terry exclaims in surprise. "What happened to you?"

With his hair spiked up in different directions, Jake widens his eyes as he takes a long sip of coffee to try and keep himself awake. "I have not slept in, since I last saw Terry, many hours." He rubs his eyes. "Plus, I think I'm hallucinating."

Kat grins. "Ooh, what are you seeing?" she asks curiously. "Double me? Jennifer Anniston?"

He glances over to her with a grimace. "Oh, I wish." He spins his chair back around to Terry. "I'm pretty sure I just heard your biceps mocking me."

"No, that's possible," the sergeant admits. "My biceps mock a lotta people."

"Mm, good to know." Jake takes another sip of coffee, wincing as it almost burns his tongue. "So, I rewatched the interrogation." He glances to Kat as he asks, "Did you watch it? I sent it to you."

She hums. "Yep, it was my morning TV," she says. "Incredibly boring."

He pumps his fist. "Perfect. Anyways, so I rewatched it and get this. Sophia wasn't lying about anything." Kat and Terry share a look. "She doesn't know who killed Nate Dexter. But... she does know something way better! Come with me."

Kat purses her lips as they watch Jake sit in his chair, not moving a single muscle. "Uh..."

"Jake," Terry calls out.

He snaps out of his daze. "Hm?"

"People normally move after they say that."

"Oh, yeah, I fell asleep for a second... Sorry." Jake raises his brows as he theatrically repeats, "Come with me." They follow him into the observation room where he then slaps his cheeks multiple times to keep his eyes open. "Okay. Ah!"

"Can I slap you?" Kat asks with an innocent smile.

Jake yawns. "Actually, ye—ow! Son of a bitch!" He rubs the burning mark on his cheek and glowers at her. "What the hell was that for?" Terry chuckles.

"You were saying yes!" she retorts with narrowed eyes.

"Anywhoodles." An excited grin splits across his face. "Y'all ready for this? You know what I'm saying? Katherine Linetti, Terry Jeffords, allow me to introduce to you..." He points to the one-way glass in the interrogation room. "Our murder victim, the not-dead, Nate Dexter."

Kat blinks at the man on the other side of the window.

"What the hell is going on?" Terry exclaims.

Jake's eyes widen and he mimics an explosion. "Right? Sophia wasn't lying. I was just not asking the right questions." Now moved up to the glass so her nose is pressed up against it, Kat stares at the very alive Nate Dexter in disbelief. "She hadn't seen her husband in eight years, but she was positive there's no way that he killed Dexter."

Katherine steps back with wide eyes. "Because no one killed him," she concludes.

Jake points to her. "Bingpot!" He presses the intercom speaker as he says, "Hey, Nate, just talking about how you're alive."

"Yeah," Nate confirms with an eye roll. "I'm alive."

Terry's eyebrows draw together in confusion. "But whose melted torso did we find?" he questions. Jake holds his arms out to them expectantly.

Kat and Terry suddenly turn to each other in realisation. "Sophia's husband," they echo together.

"Yes!" Jake grins widely. "Sophia and Dexter were having an affair, husband found out, Nate killed him." He presses the speaker again. "Now I'm telling my friends about how you killed that guy."

"It was for love!"

"Cool motive, still a murder."

"This is insane," Kat states with a shake of her head. "But it's insane enough that it can't be fake."

"Exactly," Jake agrees. "Also, you guys remember that severed finger? Check this out. Hey, Nate, show us your hands, please?" Dexter holds up his hands, revealing that his middle finger on his left hand is missing. Jake turns back to them with another grin. "Ho-ho! Right? Cut it off himself. How screwed up is that?"

Terry and Kat mimic his smile. They're all in disbelief that this is actually being solved.

"Anyway, I asked all of my CIs if they had dealings with a nine-fingered man... Unsolvable case, solved!"

As Kat leaves the room with a smile of disbelief plastered on her face, one thing is on her mind. Coffee. And to talk to Captain Holt to see if he knows anything more about the process of foster care adoption. But first, coffee.

Sadly, before she can reach the kitchen, Charles and Rosa corner her. She spins around and sighs. "Stop doing that," she says. Her brows raise as she remembers the texts she had gotten this morning. "So, Hitchcock and Scully really got the bathroom?"

"Yep," Rosa confirms.

Her eyes narrow as she whirls onto Charles. "Boyle, what did I say? What did I say?"

"Whoa, whoa," Gina calls out, rushing across the bullpen before something can start between her sister and Charles. "Calm your farm, Kitty Kat. I got Hitchcock and Scully to promise to never use our bathroom again."

Charles's eyes widen in surprise. "How'd you do that?" he asks.

"The Donald and I call it 'the art of the deal," Gina replies. "I had to give up my most beloved possession. Wolfie made the sacrifice to get our bathroom back. She will forever be remembered."

"I can't believe you gave her up," Kat says, incredulous. "You once said, 'I would die protecting this blanket.'"

Gina shrugs. "It was worth it. Plus, I'm done with wolves now." She brings what had been hidden behind her back out to showcase a new blanket. "I'm into angry unicorns."

Katherine's eyes widen as she looks at the unicorn. "I want it," she whispers.

Gina lunges forward and flicks her sister's forehead, ignoring her yell of pain. "Over my dead body," she yells.

Charles and Rosa watch in amusement as Gina takes off running to escape her sister. They end up with the entire bullpen stopping what they're doing to avoid getting in the middle of the battle for the angry unicorn blanket.