Falling For My Mentor Jake Peralta X Reader

1. Mentor

(A/N: Hi everyone, thanks for reading my book! Just a small disclaimer: I don't know much about how the police work (especially in America like in B99 as I'm from England) so this won't be accurate, I'm writing this for fun during lockdown so I won't really be focusing on facts and realistic police work!)

Today was my first day as a detective. I'd finally made it! My father was a captain before he retired and I'd always wanted to follow in his footsteps. During my time as a beat cop I'd walk the same route everyday, I knew all the locals but having pretty much the same routine everyday had started to get tiring. I was looking forward to doing more meaningful tasks and having more responsibility.

I had planned to be half an hour early so I could get settled in before everyone arrived. The elevator was empty so I was left alone with my thoughts. What would my new colleagues be like? Would they even respect me? After all I'd only just been promoted. Who would I be partnered with? The elevator stopped as I reached the second floor of the 99th precinct. Ding.

As I walked out of the elevator I was immediately met by a young man with brown hair and a big grin on his face. "Hi, you must be Y/N?"
I nodded as I spoke "I am."
"Great! I'm Jake Peralta, my partner just transferred so I'll be mentoring you." Good, a friendly face.
"Nice to meet you, Jake." I smile and hold my hand out for him to shake.
He shakes it and grins again. "C'mon, lemme show you to your desk."

I nod and follow him to a desk which already has my name on it, and notice Jake's desk is across from mine. He suddenly points to a room at the far end of the bullpen. "Captain Holt said he wanted to see you when you arrived." I nod and put my bag on my desk before making my way over to his office.

I knock on the door and I am told to enter. I walk in and the captain looks up and offers me a small smile. "Ah you must be Y/N? And you're early too!" He says whilst looking at his watch. He then holds his hand out.
I nod as I shake his hand. "Yes, I wanted to settle in a bit before everyone got here."
He nods and gestures at a chair so I sit down. "My records tell me that you got promoted as fast as you could, you must have an excellent work ethic."
I smile and nod. "It's my dream to follow in my father's footsteps and become a captain and that takes hard work and dedication."
"Indeed it does. I see you've already met Jake, he's one of our best detectives however he is often goofing off, I hope you two will make a good team."
"I'm sure we will."

Suddenly there's a commotion in the bullpen, I turn to see the other detectives are getting here and entering the briefing room. The captain stands. "Come with me to the briefing room, I'll introduce you to the other detectives." I stand and follow him as he walks into the briefing room.

"Good morning, detectives." The captain says as he stands at his podium. "This is Y/N, she's just been promoted from the first floor so I hope you will all make her feel welcome and help her find her footing here." The detectives nod and Jake pats the chair next to him so I sit down as the captain continues with the briefing and gives out cases. Jake and I are given a robbery in a small grocery store not far from the precinct.
Jake holds up his hand and I high five him as he exclaims "woo! Our first case together!" I chuckle at his enthusiasm as we walk to our desks.

I glance over at him as we sit at our desks. "I hope you don't mind having to mentor me?"
He looks over at me and it's the first time I've seen him with a serious expression. "Of course not, Captain Holt said you're a really hard worker so I'm sure you'll pick things up real quick and you'll be an asset to the squad."
"I hope so."

I feel my cheeks heat up a little so I look down, I wasn't used to being praised, my parents had incredibly high standards for my brother and I, and I felt that I was always having to work so much harder to just keep up with him. His advantage is that he's older than me and so is already a well accomplished detective and will soon be a Sargent. Jake checks his watch. "We should get going, I'll ask the questions and you can take notes." I nod and get up, putting my coat on and grabbing a notepad and pen, stashing them in my pocket. I follow him into the lift and we stand in silence.

Once we get out of the lift we go outside and start walking to the store, I decide to ask some questions to get to know him better. "How long have you been a detective?"
"About 4 years, I got promoted as soon as possible, like you."

I smile and nod turning my head to look at him. "What made you want to be a cop?"
"Die hard!" He laughs at my confused face. "It's my favourite film, of course I wanted to help people too. What about you?"
I sigh quietly. "Well my father was a captain before he retired and I always  wanted to follow in his footsteps, but right now I just feel like I'm in my big  brother's shadow, it's like my parents don't even care about what I've achieved, especially now he's almost a Sargent."
Jake looks at me with sympathy. "I'm sorry, that must be tough for you."
I nod. "Sometimes I feel like my dad doesn't think I'll be able to achieve my goals, especially because I'm female. He was always helping my brother in his time off so I've always had to do things on my own."
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see that Jake is frowning. "That's unfair, but I'll give you all the help you need from me, we're a team now and we'll show your dad that you can do this!"
I turn to grin at him. "Thank you, it means a lot!"