𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐬, 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐳

i. an introduction

BROOKLYN'S NINETY-NINTH precinct was bustling with activity on Jamie Callister's first day working the job. She exited the elevator to find a distraught, blonde haired detective sitting at his desk, a tall, muscular man yelling his name over and over again. Boyle, Boyle, Boyle. Well, this place ought to be interesting, then, Jamie decided, hesitating at the gate that separated her from the commotion. As if on cue, the muscular man noticed her, making his way over.

"Hi, Sergeant Terry Jeffords." He offered a hand, which she shook, taking her in. With her satchel full of art supplies and her hair in slight disarray- her bun was held together by a pen and a handful of bobby pins- she definitely fit the part of sketch artist, so Terry went ahead and made the assumption. "You're our new sketch artist?"

"You would be so lucky," she deadpanned, a faint smile playing on her lips moments later. "No, I'm totally kidding. I'm Jamie Callister."

"Well, it's good to meet you, Jamie. I have to go visit Rosa- that's a long story I can explain later- so I'm going to leave you with Amy here," Terry had opened the gate and led Jamie inside at this point, and she trailed along behind him with her head held high.

Jamie was a free spirit, one more confident than she probably should have been. This was her first longtime job, being a sketch artist. She had started at the seventy-fourth precinct on accident, called in by the drunken musings of her older brother, and so her talking back on the first day and acting all high and mighty was risky. But if this didn't work out, Jamie would just find a new job, like she always did.

"Hi, I'm Amy, Amy Santiago. Detective Amy Santiago, actually. Welcome to the nine-nine." The raven-haired woman shook Jamie's hand, and Jamie made an impressed noise.

"You have a firm handshake."

"My dad didn't raise weak kids." Amy laughed, shrugging off the comment.

"Let me guess, you're the nerd of the family." Jamie raised an eyebrow, and Amy gave an uncomfortable smile.

"Well, I, yeah. But my brother is a doctor!" She insisted, and Jamie simply nodded, drowning out the endless drone of Amy explaining how things worked at the precinct. It was probably important, and she probably should have been paying attention, but she just didn't care enough. If she lost this job, she would just get another one. It wasn't like she wanted to spend her life drawing criminals and documenting their features as perfectly as possible, but it was steady work for now, she supposed. It definitely beat being a cashier at Petco. Maybe her next job would be that, just for kicks.

Amy finally finished her speech about the importance of being kind or something that Jamie probably thought was stupid; she hadn't been paying attention, so she honestly didn't know. She would figure out the rules here at her own pace and decide from there which ones she wanted to obey and which ones she wanted to break. Granted, she worked at a police station, so any rules she broke had to be minor- how embarrassing would it be to be put behind bars where you work? She had integrity, at the least.

"So, I'm going to leave you here with Captain Holt. He'll give you your first assignment." Amy gave Jamie a courteous smile, one Jamie returned with a curt one of her own. She hoped Amy didn't want to be friends, because Jamie didn't want to keep them. Luckily, Amy simply knocked on the door and left her to her own devices.

The voice that told her to "come in" was deep and monotone, and Jamie felt dread settle in the pit of her stomach. At the seventy-fourth, the captain was eccentric and brash. He had no regard for Jamie or her work, and that bruised her ego more than she was proud to admit. If this captain had the same attitude, Jamie would not enjoy her time at the nine-nine.

"Hello. Jamie Callister, I take it." The man regarded her with apathy- she thought. She really couldn't read him.- and he awaited her response.

"Oh, uh, yes. Reporting for duty," she joked, offering a smile he did not return.

"That's funny. You are not an officer so it's ironic. Yes, I get the joke." His words only made her more confused; was he this monotone all the time? Would she ever learn to differentiate between his expressions? Would she even be here for long enough to care enough to try?

"I am Captain Raymond Holt. You will be working with Boyle today; he needs the distraction." Jamie opened her mouth, but he was quick to cut her off. "Do not question it, Ms. Callister. All will be explained in time."

And explained they were. Being placed with the oversharing Charles Boyle meant that she was caught up on everything in the precinct before she even stepped into the interrogation room. She knew all about Jake Peralta and Rosa Diaz being wrongly detained. Though, as Boyle had said, Jake was probably already finding a new best friend. Jamie was beginning to get the impression that Charles was pretty insecure.

"So, can you explain in detail what the man looked like?" Boyle asked the witness in front of them after they had settled into the room. Jamie, with her knees pulled to her chest and sketch pad resting on her legs, listened intently to the woman's description, sketching as accurately as possible. Occasionally, she would ask specific questions- sharp or soft jawline? Kind or cruel eyes? What about identifying features? Needless to say, the sketch was perfect, and Holt was more than pleased, according to Charles. Jamie still wasn't sure. Charles seemed optimistic. Holt seemed like a prick. She'd find out in time, maybe.

✿

AFTER AN exhausting first day, Jamie was more than ready to retire back to her apartment and enjoy the peace and quiet that came with being alone. Her work meant that she was constantly surrounded by people, and while some were normal, most made her want to pull her hair out. She had deduced that she didn't particularly like her coworkers so far, though two of them were absent due to jail. And that thought amused her- how good were you at your job if instead of arresting people, you got arrested?

Regardless of her feelings, she collapsed onto her couch the moment she got home, kicking off her shoes. A mindless scroll through her notifications showed that her brother wanted her to come over for dinner sometime, and a text from her mother revealed that she was expecting Jamie to bring someone home for the holidays. No, not someone. A boyfriend. Of course, Jamie could read between the lines. She wasn't stupid. Her mother wanted her to be married by Christmas, most likely.

Ha, Christmas. They didn't celebrate Christmas. But it was to her understanding that she would have the day off, so she would inevitably be meeting at her parents' for dinner. And when they had their once in a blue moon dinners, she would be interrogated. But that wasn't something to worry about just yet. For now, it was September. For now, she didn't have to worry about the winter holidays or the disappointment on her mother's face when she unearthed an ugly truth. For now, Jamie had a new job filled with annoying people to deal with, and that was enough.