99 Jump Street (A Brooklyn Nine-Nine Fanfiction)

Chapter 3

Jake stormed into the gym locker room, still angry and confused over his encounter with Lisa.

"Captain!" He announced, swinging the doors open forcefully.

"Peralta," Holt said, a slight look of confusion on his face. "I was just about to go check in with you. Is something wrong?"

"Yes, something's wrong!" Jake said, as though the Captain should have already known that.

Holt's expression turned dark. "Tell me you haven't done anything to sabotage this investigation, Peralta."

"How could you put me on an assignment with...with her?" Jake said, almost maniacally.

"I'm not overly familiar with your personal life, Peralta. You'll have to be more specific."

"Lisa. Lisa Larson," Jake said, still worked up.

"Wait, who's Lisa Larson?" Terry asked, butting in.

"Uh...only my girlfriend for all of highschool," Jake said.

"And she's here? Right now?" Terry asked.

"She's my chemistry teacher," Jake admitted. "...My really hot, ex-girlfriend chemistry teacher."

"...Wow," Terry said, unable to hide his shock. "And you haven't seen her since highschool?"

"Nope," Jake sighed. "She dumped me right before prom. I had to take Gina instead."

"Oh man, sorry Jake," Terry said. "It's gotta be tough seeing her again."

"Yeah, well, that was the last time I'm seeing her. For good," Jake said, suddenly serious. "I can't do this, Captain. I'm done. I'm off the case."

Holt somehow managed to keep his expression relatively calm. "Jake, I know this is...difficult for you. But you must understand, you are vital to this investigation. We need you to befriend the dealers and find out who their supplier is, before it's too late."

"Sorry, Captain," Jake said, his eyes glued to the floor. "I just...Lisa and I- I just can't. I'm sorry."

Holt only sighed. "...I suppose it's true, then."

Jake stiffened. "What's true?"

"What the other officers have been saying about you."

"Wait...what'd they say?" Jake asked, his curiosity piqued.

Holt only looked at Jake with cold eyes. "What do you think they've been saying about you, Peralta?"

Jake laughed nervously, obviously flustered. "How would I know, Captain? I wasn't even there."

Jake could've sworn he saw a slight smirk on Holt's lips.

"Why don't you take a guess? I'd like to hear what you think."

Jake bit his lip and ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know...maybe that I was...immature."

"Very good," Holt said. "What else?"

"This is stupid," Jake said, suddenly aggravated. "Not even Boyle would take this kind of abuse!"

"Keep going, Peralta," Holt said in a commanding tone.

"Why should I?" Jake asked.

"If you can do this one simple task for me, than I will let you off the case," Holt assured him. "Now, let's resume, shall we?"

Jake sighed, knowing what he had to do. "Fine...uh...maybe, maybe they said I was...immature. Kinda dumb. I- I care about myself more than the team."

The hint of a grin came back to Holt's face, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

"So, you're saying that you put yourself before the team," Holt said evenly.

"...No, I'm saying  the team might think that I do that," Jake said defensively.

"...There's a word for that type of behavior, you know."

"I know there is," Jake said.

Holt only continued to stare Jake down, making him squirm.

"...Selfish," Jake said, sighing heavily. "You're trying to tell me that I'm being selfish."

"I didn't say anything," Holt stated. "You deduced that completely on your own."

Jake's eyes met Holt's icy stare once again, and as soon as his eyes landed on the captain he immediately looked away.

"...Fiiiiine. I'll do it," Jake whined, picking up his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. "But you owe me for this. I'm never working another Saturday again!"

"You're working next weekend," Holt said drily.

"What?! Not cool, man," Jake said, angrily walking away.

"Jake," Holt called, just before he left the room.

"Yeah, Captain?"

"Do you want to know what the team actually said about you?"

Jake gulped. He really didn't want to hear it. "That's okay, captain, I think I'm just going to get going, I have math next and-"

"They told me you were one of the bravest, smartest, and most resourceful agents they had ever worked with," Holt said.

"...Really?" Jake asked, slightly shocked. "They said that? All of them?"

"...Well, not all of them," Holt said. "Hitchcock just said you had nice shoulders, than asked if I kept any mayonnaise in my office."

"Ewww..Why would he?...never mind," Jake said.

"Do you know why I had you do this exercise?" Holt asked.

"Uh...because you love to torture me?" Jake asked.

"No. Because I wasn't truly interested in what the team thought of you. What I wanted to know is what  you thought of yourself."

Jake sighed. "So I guess I failed, huh Captain?"

Holt shook his head. "A wise man is not a man who knows no faults, but a man who recognizes them, and chooses not to ignore them but to embrace them."

Jake just blinked. "Cool quote, captain, totally understood that!"

"What I'm saying is that you don't have to be perfect at this job. All I ask of you is that you give it your best every time."

Jake smiled a genuine smile. "You know I will, Captain. From now on, I'm gonna make you proud."

Holt nodded. "Thank you, Jake."

Jake just smirked, his confidence returning. "Call me Dante Fireheart."

"...Who's Dante Fireheart?"

"Uh...my undercover name, of course!" Jake proclaimed.

"We already gave you an undercover name."

"And it was lame."

"I highly doubt that," Holt said. "And you had no right to change that name."

"Captain, level with me here. 'Barry Steinberg' is sooo not the badass name I was looking for. It's just uncool."

"And racist," Terry chimed in.

"See! If anyone knows something about racism, it's Terry!"

"Hey, watch it Jake," Terry warned.

"Woah, sarge, I didn't mean it like-"

"You know Terry isn't fun to be around when he's angry. Or hungry," Terry said. "Right now, he's both..."

"...Aaaaaaand I'm going," Jake said, making a mad dash for the door.