𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 | 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻

KAT IS EXHAUSTED. THE STACK of files on her desk doesn't seem to be thinning – it's somehow reached a height where it miraculously hasn't toppled over. It also doesn't help her that Raymond Holt has been in a terrible mood. Well, after what had happened yesterday morning, she couldn't blame him. But it still isn't helping her. Shockingly, Rosa had been the one to give her optimistic words this morning. Kat was so tired that Rosa was the one giving her a pep talk. Rosa.

One of the only cases that had her interested was something Jake had been working on for the last few weeks. Kat had been consistently arguing with the Organised Crime unit to let the detective have more time with it, but despite the struggles, she was excited by it.

"All right, here's where we stand," Jake announces. He gestures a hand to the pin up board beside him covered in documents, maps, and photographs related to the case. "This nightclub is the home base for the Maric crime syndicate. I've been tracking the club owner, Vladimir Drogic, AKA The Dragon, AKA my first perp with a cool nickname."

Charles looks up from his papers to point out, "What about El Baboso, The Dagger?" Rosa shares an amused look with the sergeant sitting beside her. Her arm is casually slung over the back of Kat's chair.

"Yeah, turns out Rosa was lying about that," Jake admits with a sigh. "El Baboso actually means 'the slug.'" Kat snickers.

"Ha ha, tonto," Rosa grins. "That means 'dumb-dumb."

"It can also mean silly, foolish-"

Jake cuts Katherine off with a forced laugh. "Yeah, okay, no need to keep-"

"Don't interrupt her," Rosa snaps with narrowed eyes. "She's your superior officer."

Kat folds her arms as she leans back in her chair, her brows raised as Jake nervously glances back to her. "... Sorry, Sarge," he mumbles. She smiles. "Anyways, it was very cruel because I referred to myself as El Baboso to several beautiful Latina ladies."

"Oh, that's your type, isn't it, Jakey?" Charles smiles. He points to Amy sitting in front of him. "Like Sophia and Sa-"

Peralta interrupts him in gibberish and Charles quickly gets the point. Katherine tries not to laugh; it's all very humorous to her. "Anyway," he continues before clearing his throat. "The Dragon is involved in several counts of human trafficking as well as..."

Kat's eyes widen as two men stride into the room and head over to the crime board. "No," she whispers in alarm.

Jake's eyebrows are furrowed in confusion. "I'm sorry, what's going on?" he asks. "Who are you?"

The man in the suit pauses to speak to him. "Drexel with the Organised Crime unit," he answers. "I'm here for the Maric case materials."

Jake whips over to Kat who quickly shakes her head, indicating she had no idea. "Oh, are you?" he replies calmly. "Well, we'll see what my captain has to say about this."

"Thank you for taking the materials," had been the response from Raymond Holt. "Make sure you also pick up the files that are on Peralta's desk."

Kat stares at him in disbelief. "Wait, you knew?" she questions. "I've been fighting these idiots off for two weeks, Captain!"

"Sergeant, I don't have to fill you in on every single little detail that occurs in my everyday goings," Holt retorts.

"Sorry, sir..." She does not want to be the one to poke the bear.

Jake sighs to himself, his arms crossed over his chest. "Well, that is not how I saw it playing out," he confesses to the group. "Sir, I thought you said this was my case."

"I gave you two weeks," Holt reminds him sternly. "I am done, and in turn so is Sergeant Linetti, fending off the Organised Crime unit." He begins to walk across the bullpen. "Squad, since Peralta's briefing was cut short, you can all use this time to clean up your desks. Look at this place: half-eaten food, crumpled tissues, pictures of your families."

"What's wrong with pictures?" Terry queries, hesitant to take away the photographs of his wife and kids.

Raymond stops walking. "If you love someone, you'll remember what they look like."

Katherine winces. "I hate he's right," she mutters under her breath.

The captain picks up the ball of rubber bands amongst the clutter on Jake's desk. "What is this?" he calls out.

"Rubber band ball," Jake says as if the answer is obvious.

"Keep your bands in a box or a bag. Since you all apparently have time to play throw, I'm cancelling overtime for the month, effective immediately." Their eyes all widen at Holt's declaration. "Get to work! And de-ball these bands."

As soon as Holt returns to his office, Jake tells the squad to meet in the records room in five minutes. With Holt's impatience at a zero, they've found themselves almost treading on eggshells. It was like the smallest thing could set him off, like the damn rubber bands, and none of them wanted to be handed worse consequences than shelved overtime.

With her cup of coffee in hand, Kat is the last one to join the group in the room. As she shuts the door behind her, Jake finally speaks up. "What is going on?" he asks cluelessly. "Holt's been in a bad mood all week." His eyes land on each person accusingly. "Did somebody do something to set him off?"

Terry scoffs at the man's poor memory. "Jake, are you seriously asking why Captain Holt is mad?"

Jake looks back at him with a confused expression. "What do you mean?"

"The Wednesday incident," Kat reminds him exasperatedly. "This all started with you and your cider."

"No, no, no, look, I was the first one in on Wednesday."

Gina tilts her head at his statement. "This story's already full of holes."

Jake skims over her comment like she had never said anything. "He was in a bad mood before the sprinklers went off," he explains confidently. "Something must have happened at home."

Rosa shakes her head. "Dude, just admit that you ruined everything and you turned our lives into a living hell. No biggie." Kat and Gina nod in agreement.

"You guys, this is not my fault," Jake protests. He turns to his best friend. "Boyle, you believe me, right?"

"Don't make me do this, Jake," Charles says warningly.

"Betrayed!" he exclaims. "All right, you know what? Fine. I'm gonna prove to all of you that something else is responsible for his bad mood. It's probably Boyle!" Kat sighs as he storms off.

⋆。 ﾟ✩ ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎。 ⋆

It's mid-morning the following week on Tuesday when Charles Boyle and Katherine Linetti walk into the bullpen with matching smiles. "Ladies and gentlemen," Charles begins dramatically. "Six banks robbed in three weeks, two-hundred thousand dollars stolen, citizens trembling in fear."

"We can confidently say, well no more," Kat grins.

Terry's eyes widen in surprise as he connects the dots. "You got your bank robber," he exclaims happily for them.

"We went home last night together," Charles begins.

She quickly holds a hand up. "Just as friends," she clarifies.

"Yeah, that was a good thing to add," he agrees. "No overtime, it was just the two of us, plus Tisha and some gorgeous brie, and we cracked it."

"Well, Charles actually cracked it," Katherine says, not wanting to take away the credit that he so rightfully deserves. "So, everyone, it gives me great pleasure to say... Here he is, the thug that's been terrorising the city."

Terry rubs his hands together in anticipation, Amy smiles at them, and Rosa stands up from her desk. "Say hello, Marvin," Charles calls out.

The attention is turned to the side as a uniformed officer helps an elderly man walk over. "Hello," he says with a bright smile.

"Oh, my God, he's so old," Amy gasps.

"He's not that old," Charles dismisses, glancing over to Marvin who is still smiling at them. Kat doesn't think she's ever seen someone more evil. "His nurse isn't even full-time."

Amy walks over to them, shaking her head in disapproval. "He couldn't pull of a bank job," she observes in disbelief. Marvin takes off his hat and runs a hand over his silver hair. "He couldn't pull off the cap on his medicine."

"I can hear you," Marvin tells her.

She apologetically smiles. "Sorry."

Kat turns back to Amy and Rosa with seriousness. "Hey, this guy is a ruthless criminal," she says. "Okay? He is a criminal, not a sweet grandpa that will sit and do a crossword puzzle with you."

"I'm sorry, sir, ma'am," Marvin says. "Is this gonna take long? 'Cause I was hoping to buy some slacks this afternoon." Kat and Charles share a look of annoyance. Of course he's going to try and manipulate everyone. "I like corduroy. Do you like corduroy?"

"I love corduroy," Amy smiles.

"He likes corduroy," Charles repeats.

"You sure you have the right guy? Wasn't the robber strong and fast?"

"And able to eat solid foods?" Rosa chimes in.

Katherine scoffs at them. "Are you kidding me?" Amy winces at the sharp tone she rarely hears. "The fact you're questioning our arrest, our skills as detectives, is appalling. If we say it's him, if Charles says it's him, it's him."

Charles vigorously nods along with her words. His heart has warmed slightly at how quick she was to defend him. "And nobody saw him eat," he points out. "The guy wore a rubber mask, and his voice was disguised."

Marvin glances to the two detectives behind him. "My system is a little unsettled. Could I trouble you for a ginger ale?"

Amy places a hand gently on his shoulder. "Oh, of course, sir," she nods. Kat grits her teeth together. "We'll get that and a comfy chair for you to sit in."

As they walk away, Marvin turns to the two remaining and motions a finger for them to come closer. With narrowed eyes, Kat comes to stand beside Charles. "I robbed those banks," he tells them. "I don't even need the money, but I like to see the tellers squirm." Charles looks around the bullpen, praying that someone is listening. "I get off on violence."

"Oh, my God," Boyle whispers. He and Kat share a look of disbelief. They're realising that no one's going to believe them on this.

"Here you go," Amy announces. She places a can of ginger ale before the older man.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Marvin smiles. "You're such a doll, I must pay you. No, no, no, I insist. I insist." He hands her a dollar bill. "You remind me of my granddaughter." Kat glares at him with the venom of a thousand snakes.

Amy chuckles. "Oh, you are so sweet!" Before walking off, she makes sure to give Charles and Kat looks of disapproval.

Once they're alone again, Marvin leans closer. "I haven't got a granddaughter," he confesses quietly.

"Oh, come on!" Katherine yells. She storms off, trying to block out Marvin's smug smirk from her head, as she attempts to cool down.

Gina looks up from her phone and finds her sister's furious face. "Uh oh. Kitty Kat," she calls out, waving her over. Kat's boots thud on the ground as she changes her course of direction. "What's got you huffing-angry-emoji?"

She plops down onto the chair beside Gina's desk and places her head in her hands. "That man is a snake," she hisses. "And I want to turn his skin into a really nice pair of boots."

Gina hums. "Boots would be nice," she agrees. "Okay, what if I told you that I found our dresses for the wedding?"

Kat gasps, her eyes lighting up in excitement. She's momentarily forgotten all about Marvin. "Oh, my God," she whispers. "Can I see?" Gina grins and pulls up a tab on her phone. The dress is strapless, coloured a deep teal blue. "Oh, wow."

"We're bridesmaids, so we have an obligation to look hot," Gina points out. "Well, hotter than already. Not too hot, 'cause we don't wanna overshadow Mom. Actually, I take it back. Drop-dead gorgeous."

Kat laughs at her correction. "The dresses are a start," she says. "You're gonna look stunning, Gines."

Gina reaches over and places a hand on her sister's cheek. "You, too. Maybe so stunning that Rosa will dump that troll, Marcus, and come sprinting over to you."

She rolls her eyes. "Okay, I'm done," Kat declares, in no mood to play into Gina's fantasies. But just as she stands up, Jake walks out of Holt's office. "Someone's in trouble."

He huffs a sigh and plants his hands on his hips. "Thankfully, not yet," he responds. "So, Holt won't tell me if something happened at home because I'm not his husband." He holds a finger up. "But you know who is his husband?"

"His husband," they chorus.

"His husband," he repeats. "I was just a little slow."

Kat smiles. "Yeah, Kevin's not gonna talk to you," she tells him bluntly.

Gina nods. "He can't stand detectives."

"You're a detective," Jake points out.

The blonde hums. "I'm a sergeant," she corrects.

He purses his lips together. "Oh, yeah... Well, anyways, detective or not, he can stand both of you."

Gina quickly shakes her head. "Nuh-uh, I spent a lot of time cultivating a good relationship with Kevin," she states, more than hesitant to go along with whatever Jake is planning. "He finally calls me Gina instead of Ms Linetti."

"Agreed," Kat nods. "He calls me Katherine, and I'm not risking my friendship with him for whatever elaborate scheme you've got running through your head."

"All right, fine," Jake concedes. His eyes flick between them. "Then I'm calling in my chit."

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Gina retorts.

"No, ch-it."

Kat frowns in confusion. "Huh?"

"Okay, remember when I got you this job?" Jake tells Gina. "You said, 'OMG Jake. I owe you one.'"

Gina's eyes widen. "I said 'OMG'? That was before other people started saying it," she announces to the bullpen. "I was an originator!"

Jake spins around to Kat who is watching him with a hesitant gaze. "And remember when I took Bear to the emergency room when you were away on that yoga retreat?"

"Shit," she whispers to herself in disappointment. "I knew that was gonna come back around..."

"The point is, you both said I could ask for anything, and for four and six years, I've been sitting on those chits. Well, now," Jake takes out a receipt from his pocket, "I'm cashing them in!"

He slides it across the desk and Gina delicately unfolds it. Kat hurries over to read over her shoulder. "A receipt for almonds?"

"Yeah, I just thought it would be more dramatic to slide something across the table," he grins.

"Oh, it wasn't," Kat says honestly. "But... since I made that promise..."

"Fine," Gina answers for the both of them. "We'll do it."

⋆。 ﾟ✩ ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎。 ⋆

After making sure Charles was okay to be left alone with Marvin for a little while, Kat departs from the precinct with Jake and Gina. With their coats wrapped tightly around themselves to avoid the cold air, they wait outside Raymond's house as Gina wraps her knuckles on the front door. The sisters are stood on the doormat, whilst Jake waits off to the side out of view.

Kevin opens the door with widened eyes of surprise. "Hey, Kevin," Gina greets brightly.

"Gina, Katherine, good to see you," he smiles.

With an equally wide smile, Kat points to the side. "Oh, Jake's here too," she adds.

He pops up next to her with a grin. "Yo!"

Kevin's mood has immediately been ruined. He rolls his eyes in frustration at the appearance of the detective, wishing it had been just Gina and Kat to see him. Reluctantly, he lets the three of them inside and disappears into the kitchen to make their respective drinks.

Kat sinks into the comfortable armchair with a sigh. "This is not going to go well," she says quietly.

Jake smacks her arm. "Dude," he hisses. "Don't jinx it!"

She smacks him back harder. "Don't hit me," she snaps.

This time, he shoves her. "Don't hit me!" Gina quickly pushes Jake off his armchair and pinches his ear to get him to stand up, directing him to the leather chair further away from Kat. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow..."

"Grow up," Gina whisper-yells at them.

The bickering abruptly pauses when Kevin walks back into the room with a tray of drinks. "Gina, I know you like champagne with a drop of pomegranate juice," he says, handing her the flute with a small smile.

"I like to say it's nature's classiest alcohol mixed with its narst-iest fruit."

"Katherine, your black coffee." She instantly grins at the sight of the mug with its signature blue K on the front. When she had first been handed it earlier in the year, she had assumed it was for Kevin, until Raymond told her that they had bought one dedicated specifically for her. "And, Peralta, I hope this will do. It's a can of orange soda from when some other children visited."

Kat sips the bitter liquid and tries not to laugh at the subtle insult. "It's perfect," Jake smiles as he takes the can. "Thank you for inviting us in."

"Yes, I invited Gina and Katherine in," Kevin corrects. "You were with them."

"Okay..." Jake sets the soda back down on the coffee table. "Look, everyone's blaming me for the captain's horrible mood because of the small thing that happened Wednesday morning."

"When you flooded his office with cider?"

Jake's eyes squint slightly as he shifts in his armchair to face Kevin. "Well, the water actually flooded it." Gina and Kat share a look. "But I swear he was already upset when he got to work. He was anger articulating. He said the break room looked like a Turkish bazaar."

Kevin sighs. "Mm, yes, I dread those enunciated denunciation."

"Yeah, I hate those de-bunce-ebations- But so my question is, could something have happened at home before he left for work?" Peralta proposes.

Kat takes another sip of her coffee as she watches Kevin's brows pull together in thought. "Well, I remember that morning," he begins. "He left this house at seven and was in a great mood. In fact, he was still chuckling about the previous night's Charlie Rose."

Jake nods. "Fine, so your marriage might not be the problem." Kevin's eyes widen. "But he didn't get to work until ten. That means whatever ruined his mood happened in those three hours. We have to retrace his steps."

"We?" Kevin repeats in amusement. "I'm not going to investigate my own husband."

"Uh-huh, totally. Well, that was a great chitchat." Jake's eyes flick between his friends. "Don't you think, guys?"

Gina purses her lips. "Seemed like it went real bad for you," she tells him.

"Yeah, it honestly just sounds like your fault," Kat nods.

"Chit-chat," he emphasises.

"Oh..." Kevin looks between them all in confusion. Gina clears her throat. "You know, Kevin, maybe if we figure out what caused Raymond's bad mood, we could fix it."

"And it wouldn't be investigating," Kat reassures him. "Just a little research."

He nods in agreement. "Good idea," Kevin acknowledges. "I suppose we could look into it."

"Yes, great," Jake exclaims, setting his soda back down again. Kat raises a brow as she tries to hide her smile. "Let's go right now. No time to lose. Don't look, just run!"

But of course, Kevin has noticed what Katherine already has. "You're trying to get me out of here before I see the orange soda you spilled on the chair, aren't you?" he assumes correctly.

"I'm already out the door! It worked!"

On the way to the diner where Holt has his breakfast, Kat receives a phone call from a panicking Charles Boyle. He had told her that Amy and Rosa were having tea with Martin. A tea party. She had told him to let the detectives know that as soon as she gets back, she'll fire them. Charles then asked if she had the authority to really do that. Kat had replied with even if she didn't, she'd use Holt's bad mood to her advantage. There had to be something she had against Rosa and Amy that she could use.

It was frustrating her beyond belief that no one was taking them seriously. Despite confessing his crimes, it appears that Martin would continue manipulating the surrounding officers into believing that Charles Boyle and Katherine Linetti were insane.

Kat had once thought that Amy would have her back no matter what. She had recently thought that maybe Rosa would too. She hated that all it took was an innocent smile from an old man to prove her wrong.

An hour away from the lunch rush, the Two Daughters Diner is bustling with customers. The group of four sit at the counter, waiting for the waitress to come over. "Well, this is where Raymond eats breakfast every morning," Kevin informs them.

"Yes, I know," Jake nods. "He's always raving about how they don't have specials."

A blonde-haired woman with the tag reading 'Diane' finally comes over to them. "Diane, hello," Kevin greets. "These are my friends, Katherine and Gina, and this is Detective Peralta. They work with my Raymond."

Diane looks over to Jake who is beaming. "Oh, Peralta, you are so old to behave the way you do," she remarks.

Kat snorts. "Oof," Gina says with a grimace. Kevin is also smiling.

"I'm sure he vents about everyone on the squad," Jake tries to convince himself.

"Nope," Diane states. "Just you."

"Damn it, Diane, what are you doing after this?"

Kevin clears his throat. "So did anything unusual happen when Raymond was here last Wednesday?" he questions, hoping for somewhat of an answer to explain his husband's awful mood. "Did he mention anything?"

Diane shakes her head. "No, he had his regular breakfast: room-temperature water and one hard-boiled egg yolk."

Kat leans her chin on her palm. "Well, that's his good-mood food," she thinks aloud. Kevin nods, whilst Jake looks at her strangely, wondering how she could possibly know that.

"So, Peralta, we know he was fine through breakfast," Kevin says. "Looks like you're still on the hook."

"No, there was still plenty of time before he got to work," Jake protests. "Okay, Gina, what'd he do next?"

She zooms in on her phone. "Well, according to his sched, his next stop was his weekly painting class," she reveals.

"Painting class?" Jake smiles. Learning about Holt's life is opening up a world of opportunities for him.

The art studio is in walking distance, just down the end of the street. Even though Kat knew what Raymond spent the time painting, it was amusing to hear Jake's endless list of guesses.

For Christmas last year, she had been gifted a framed painting of Rock Thirty. It's currently hanging in her living room. Tisha had made it her personal mission to try and recreate the simple artwork and had spent the entire year creating over a hundred pictures of the same rock. To her utter disappointment, none of them looked like Rock Thirty. Raymond Holt had a talent for capturing the beauty of the simplest things.

"I've got it," Jake declares excitedly. "Pictures of pie charts." Kat and Kevin share an amused look.

Gerald, the artist who teaches the classes, shakes his head at the guess. "Multiple still lifes of this grey rock," he corrects, gesturing a hand to the piece of rock positioned on the side table.

"That's even more boring," Jake gasps.

"So, Gerald, did anything happen to Raymond last week?" Kevin asks. "Did he seem like something or someone had him in a bad mood?"

"It was his day to pick the music, and he chose Haydn."

Jake's brows furrow, the answer giving him no clarification at all. "So he was in a good mood or a bad mood?"

"A great mood, Jake," Gina tells him.

Gerald nods. "Oh, you're Jake."

The tone of voice used is all Jake needs. "Damn it! What are you doing after this, Gerald?"

⋆。 ﾟ✩ ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎。 ⋆

After getting lunch together, the group of four head to the final stop of Raymond's morning last Wednesday. Fencing Class. Kat had always wanted to try fencing. It had swords and violence; that's all she needed. Maybe once Holt's mood is flipped, she'd ask if he wanted a sparring partner once in a while. This is the last place, so all of them – especially Jake – are hoping that this will be what tells them what had happened.

"So did you notice anything strange when you and Raymond sparred last week?"

"No," the instructor replies. "As usual, Raymond was the king of the croisé, and I got in a few good raddoppios."

Kat glances to Gina and Jake stood beside her who look equally confused. "It's a blade movement and defensive technique," she tells them. The instructor's eyebrows raise in surprise.

Gina laughs. "So just a bunch of normal words," she says.

"Are you sure we're talking about last Wednesday?" Jake presses.

"Positive. Haven't seen him since."

Kat watches Kevin's expression falter as he turns to the instructor with surprise. "You haven't?" Kevin questions. "I'm sorry, I need to leave. Excuse me." And with that, he walks out of the building, leaving a confused Gina and Jake in his wake.

They quickly follow out after him, picking up a jog to catch up across the street. "Kevin," Jake calls out, hoping for him to stop. "Kev! What's going on?"

Kevin finally turns around and Kat sighs. "He lied to you," she concludes.

He curtly nods. "Yes, it appears Raymond has been lying to me." Jake's brows furrow. "Three mornings this week, he told me he was fencing with Dan. Why would he do that? Why would he lie to me?"

"I don't know," Jake shrugs. "Maybe it's connected to his bad mood."

"Maybe he's trying to protect you," Katherine suggests. The hurt in Kevin's eyes almost makes her flinch. "Not that you need protecting, but maybe that's what he believes he's doing."

"My husband does not lie to me," Kevin speaks firmly. "This investigation, or this research of yours was a bad idea. I'm going home. I have to sort this out with Raymond. Good-bye, Peralta. Linetti. Sergeant."

Gina's eyes widen. "Linetti?" she repeats in horror. "No. We were on a first-name basis!"

"And I've gone down two levels," Kat whispers in alarm. "He skipped the last-name!" Gina sympathetically pats her arm.

Jake sighs, his hands planted on his hips as he looks between them. "Okay, this is bad," he confesses, immediately beginning to spiral. "Kevin's upset. Holt's gonna be angry. We're all gonna get fired, and I'm gonna die alone."

"Well, it is your fault," Katherine points out. "I mean, if you didn't ask to cash in your chit, we wouldn't be here."

He blinks, taken aback by her words. "It's your fault for accepting my chit!" he retorts. He's in disbelief that she has the audacity to blame him.

Gina crosses her arms, just as annoyed as her sister that this is what things have come to. "Jake, why don't you just do the right thing and jump out a window?" she suggests reasonably. "Captain Holt would never fire us if he knows we're mourning the death of a close friend." Kat nods in agreement with her.

Jake squints his eyes at them. "Or we could try plan B and just try fix it," he counters.

Kat scoffs. "But you never even tried plan A, though!"

By the time they return to the precinct, most of the squad are aware of why they had been absent. Thankfully, Kat spots Rosa and Amy both in the bullpen where Marvin is not, which means that he's probably (hopefully) rotting away in a cold, dark room in isolation.

Amy stands up when she notices them walking through the gate, hope etched onto her face as she asks, "How'd it go with Kevin?" She smiles. "Are you willing to admit everything's your fault?"

"No, Amy, because none of this is my fault," Jake argues. Terry comes over to listen to their findings.

Gina hums. "Except for how you meddled in the captain's life today, possibly causing repercussions in his marriage that could last a lifetime."

Amy's eyes widen in pure alarm. "Yes," Jake admits. "That is completely on me." Kat smiles at how he's finally taking the blame. "But, Amy, you didn't know that, so you were still wrong."

Terry's gaze moves between Gina and Jake, throwing a glance over his shoulder to check that Holt is still inside his office. "You two need to go," he tells them sternly. "You're not supposed to be here, and the captain's at a new level of anger: constant smiling."

Kat's lips curl into a grimace. "Oh, God..."

Amy nods grimly. "It's horrible."

"All smiling's horrible," Rosa calls out from her desk. "This is worse."

"They're only here so Gina can activate the Holy Network of Administrative Assistants," Kat informs Terry.

"Acronym HNAA," Gina adds dramatically. "We high-level assistants keep track of what's going on with all the bosses. Jealous, Amy?"

"Yeah," she replies. "I'd tap that." Terry's eyes squint at her. "Network," Amy clarifies. "I'd tap that network. That's a thing people say."

Whilst Gina and Jake get busy with their task, Kat is grabbed by Charles who tells her that he's going to question Marvin in the interrogation room. And because Amy is so appalled that they've arrested him, she decides to tag along. After the act he's been pulling all day, they're more than determined to expose Marvin for the punk he really is.

"I've answered all your questions," Marvin shakes his head. Kat rolls her eyes. "What more do you want from me?" he asks, the smallest of smiles pulling at his lips.

"We'd like you to tell Santiago about the banks you robbed," Charles says. "And how you get off on violence."

Amy's eyes widen as she turns to the detectives. "What?" she speaks incredulously. "Boyle, oh, my God." Marvin meets her eyes and subtly shakes his head.

"Don't 'oh, my God,' him," Kat interjects with annoyance. She waves a hand at Marvin. "You should be 'oh, my God'ing him!"

They turn around at the brief tap on the window, and Rosa clears the glass to gesture both Kat and Charles. Boyle snaps the file closed and sends a final warning look to Marvin before following the sergeant out.

The second the door to the observation room opens, Rosa raises her thoughts. "What are you doing?" she asks them in confusion. "Why're you being so weird about this?"

Kat stops before her, her arms crossed over her chest as her eyes meet Rosa's. "Marvin Miller is guilty," she states. "And, frankly, the way he's able to manipulate you so easily questions your skills as a detective." Rosa's blank expression falters.

"He's guilty," Charles reiterates. "And he thinks he can get away with it."

Rosa clears her throat, her composure recollected. "He also thinks the subway should be horses." Charles's eyebrows raise. "He's old, is what I'm saying."

Kat shakes her head. "So, what? Are you saying that just because he could be in a retirement home that he can't pull off a complicated, intricate plan to rob a bank? Multiple banks?" She nods at the silence she receives from Rosa. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"He knows exactly what he's doing," Charles says confidently. "He's messing with us because we're not intimidating like Terry or dignified like Jake or model-handsome like Jake or funny like Jake."

"Disagree," Kat replies. "I'm very much all those things."

"Oh, yeah, that's so true, I take it back."

"And so are you."

"Aw, thanks, Sarge." His smile disappears as he turns back to Rosa. "We are damn good cops, and I for one will not be made a fool of." Kat smiles. "So the Sarge and I are gonna go into that room, and we're gonna get that lousy old geezer to admit on camera that he robbed those banks."

Rosa's eyes flick from the interrogation room and back to the pair in front of her. "He just died," she says simply.

They spin around to the glass and Kat groans in frustration. "Oh, come on!" she yells. Charles places his hands on his head as Amy grimly shakes her head. When Marvin's hand thuds onto the table, she grimaces and begins to apologise to him even though he's very dead.

⋆。 ﾟ✩ ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎。 ⋆

After her communication with HNAA, Gina has gathered Jake and Kat into the evidence room to reveal her findings. "Okay, here's what I learned. The chief's assistant, Ryan, was only pretending to have Mono."

Jake sighs. "Okay, Gina, about Holt," he reminds her impatiently. Kat chuckles.

"Fine. Apparently, he was supposed to meet Deputy Chief Ash near his fencing club at nine-thirty, but he cancelled at the very last minute with no explanation."

Katherine and Jake share a look. "That's it," she confirms. "HNAA does it again!" Gina giggles.

"Okay, so something happened between fencing and coffee," Jake concludes. "We just have to figure out what."

"Totes," Gina nods. "But first, let's check in with Ryan on how to fake mono, 'cause if I can nail that- ooh, game changer."

The first step is to go back to the fencing club. They would then work their way down the street to try and retrace Raymond's steps, but the hardest part would be getting into his mind. With Marvin now dead, this was a pleasant distraction for Kat. She's able to focus on something else instead of hearing Rosa and Amy's words over and over again in her head.

The clanging of swords provides a background noise as the trio huddle together outside the building. "Okay, so Captain Holt leaves fencing and heads north," Jake says. "If we really want to do this, we got to get in his head. We have to be Captain Holt."

Kat kisses her teeth. "This is either gonna go really well or horrifically wrong..."

"Hello, Sergeant," Jake speaks deeply, trying, and failing, to mimic Holt's voice.

The sisters share a look of amusement. "Captain Holt, is that you?" Gina calls. "Oh, no, it's Jake nailing your voice exactly."

He grins brightly. "Right?"

"Hang on," Kat interjects. "Can you do me a favour and say, Sergeant Linetti, I would not be able to do my job without you?"

Jake clears his throat. "Sergeant Linetti, I would not be able to do my job without you."

Gina frowns. "Yeah, that does not sound like him." She snickers when Kat smacks her arm.

"Okay, the trick is to find a key phrase you know exactly how he'd say," Jake explains to them. "Mine is, 'Peralta, that's enough.'"

"Oh, that's good," Katherine admits with surprise. "That's really good."

"Yeah, seriously, Jake, this is getting scary," Gina adds.

Still with his deep voice, Jake laughs. Kat grimaces. "Come with me, young, wise assistant. Follow closely, but not too closely, genius sergeant." The sisters grin. "Let us walk in this direction." As they start to head down the street, Jake immediately takes note of the stand to the side. "Oh, a hot dog. Would I stop? Not for one of those, I wouldn't. Damn it! It's morphing into British."

"Do your catchphrase," Gina tells him eagerly. Her arm is looped through her sister's as they share a packet of gummy bears.

"Peralta, that's enough!" The Linettis grin again. "And I'm walking with purpose. And I'm walking with purpose... And bingo." Jake stops outside an apartment with an extravagant entrance.

Kat gasps. "It's a Narnia situation!"

"No," Jake says. He glances over to her with a smile. "But I love that." He points to the security camera above one of the windows. "It's a security camera. If something happened to Holt when he walked past here, we'll be able to see it." His deeper voice returns. "Peralta, you genius."

"Mm, that does not sound like him," Gina critiques. Jake turns to look at her exasperatedly and Kat bursts into laughter.

⋆。 ﾟ✩ ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎。 ⋆

The following morning, Kat had gotten into work with an unpleasant feeling in her stomach. She had received a call from Jake late last night telling her that he had gone over to tell Kevin that Holt had been mugged, but Raymond had caught him and then been put on the spot by his husband. So not only was she expecting the captain's mood to be ten times worse than yesterday, but there's nothing she can do to fix it now.

She's filling out paperwork related to the Marvin Miller case when the elevator dings and Holt and Jake walk out. Once Holt is in the bullpen, he purposely tries to let the gate hit the detective behind him. "Eek," Gina grimaces. "Blast of cold air coming out of that box."

Of course, Amy happens to be walking by just as the words are said. "Name of Amy's sex tape," Jake grumbles.

She throws a hand up. "Hey, man, come on. Not cool."

"I'm going through something," he retorts. "Just let me have this one."

Kat sighs at just how frustrated he looks. "Sorry you wasted your chits," she tells him gently.

"It's all right," he reassures them. "I want to apologise to Holt, but it seems personal, and I'm not supposed to talk to him about personal stuff."

Gina places a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, boo, I guess you need to think of some professional way to make it up to him."

"Wait a minute..." Jake's eyes have widened in realisation. "Gina, that's it!" Kat blinks. "I just had an idea." His voice drops back down to impersonate Holt. "Peralta, you're a genius."

The sergeant immediately shakes her head. "No, see, you've done it again."

"Who was that?" Gina questions curiously. "ScarJo?"

"It was Holt, and I think you know that."

"I thought it was ScarJo."

As Jake disappears to play out whatever idea he has in his head to make things up to Holt, Kat returns to her paperwork. There's a lot to fill out since Marvin died in their custody. Halfway through, Charles joins her, proclaiming that if they work together they'll be able to half their anger.

Amy and Rosa walk over, hoping to talk to them both about something rather important they had discovered. Charles looks up to the two detectives and sighs. "I can't believe that bastard beat us," he says, disappointment and annoyance lacing his words.

"Whoa, he's dead," Amy points out. "It's kind of hard to see how he's the winner in this."

"Of course, he's the winner," Kat snaps. "He made us look like fucking idiots."

"No," Rosa disagrees. "Amy and I were the idiots, because we let that ancient windbag fool us." Kat and Charles share a look of surprise. "He robbed the banks."

Amy nods. "He gave me money for the ginger ale," she explains. "After you insisted he was guilty, I went back and checked his dollar. Serial numbers match the stolen bills."

A smile spreads on Charles's face and Kat leans back in her chair with a pleased sigh. "You brought in the right guy," Rosa tells them. "You're a damn good cop, Boyle."

"I know," he states. "No one listens." His eyes suddenly widen. "Wait, why just me?"

Amy and Rosa share a look, then turn back to see Kat scowling at them. "We should never have questioned you," Amy begins apologetically. "You're our boss, and you shouldn't have to explain things to us. Not to mention you're my friend, and I should've had your back no matter what."

"Yeah, you should've," Kat replies bitterly.

Amy sighs. "Can you just accept the apology?"

A grin adorns her face. "Yeah, I can," Katherine says. "Next!"

Rosa rolls her eyes at her pointed look. "What Santiago said," she states. The sergeant continues to stare at her. "Fine. I'm sorry. Happy?"

"Oh, very," Kat confirms. Rosa's lips curl into a small smile.

"You're both amazing cops," Amy says. Her eyes flick over to Charles. "Except when you threw water in his dead face. That was rough."

"I thought he was faking it," Charles defends himself. "I wanted to splash the lies out of him!"

⋆。 ﾟ✩ ⋆。 ﾟ☀︎。 ⋆

By Thursday, Holt has well and truly forgiven Jake, and therefore Gina and Kat for playing a part in the investigation. Thankfully, his bad mood had disappeared, lifting a huge deal of tension off his employees' shoulders.

"Attention, squad, quick announcement," Holt calls out. "Overtime is reinstated." Kat sighs in relief. "And you are each allowed two personal photographs, two trinkets, and three assorted knickknacks." Charles cradles his figurine with a smile. "You know what? Just follow Sergeant Jeffords' lead. He always knows how to keep this place running smoothly."

Terry smiles and Kat nudges his side proudly. "Nice," Jake says. "So rubber band balls are back."

"Oh, no, it's bad for the bands." Holt's eyes find his husband walking out of the elevator. "Ah, Kevin. Let me just get my coat."

He walks over to Jake, Gina, and Kat who had grouped together. "Hello, Peralta," Kevin greets them. "Gina. Katherine."

Gina throws her head back with a sigh of relief. "Oh, sweet lords of dance, thank you! We're back on a first-name basis."

"Next time, instead of going straight down to Sergeant from Katherine, maybe we could meet in the middle and choose Linetti," Kat suggests hopefully.

Kevin smiles. "I can do that," he agrees.

"Kevin, I am unable and unwilling to discuss personal matters with you," Jake says.

"I'm aware of that, yes. In any case, thank you for your help." Kevin picks up the large bag resting by his feet and takes out three paintings. "I brought you all gifts: original Raymond Holts."

Gina gasps in awe as she takes the painting, Jake cradles his delicately, and Kat smiles brightly at her second addition. "I will treasure this painting of a rock for all times," Jake promises seriously.

As they all turn the canvasses around, Raymond smiles. "Ah, Rock Fifty-Nine, Three-Sixty-Seven, and One-Ninety-Nine. Those are good rocks." He gestures to Katherine. "This will look lovely beside Rock Thirty."

She grins. "Agreed, sir. And it'll give Tisha something new to do on break."

Jake stares at his best friend in disbelief. "Hold on, you've had a Rock this entire time and never said anything?" he exclaims. "I don't even know you anymore!" Kat rolls her eyes, Gina snickers, and Kevin and Raymond watch in amusement. "Anyways, three-hundred and sixty-seven paintings of one rock? This guy parties!"

𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘫𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵 (𝘫𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘢𝘵) 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 🥰

𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨... 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘴𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯!!