Work Text:
You had sequestered yourself in a corner of the library, checking your phone periodically for anything to save you from your boredom. You hated parties, especially those where most of the attendees were boring academics. But it was your uncle's birthday party so you were going to have to grin and bear it. Although, you were quite excited to meet some of the detectives that your Uncle Ray worked with. Despite the house having a "no cop talk" policy, you were really excited to hear all the amazing cases they'd worked. Anything to save you from the slow, painful death of a dinner party.
Everyone had been avoiding the library (or, more likely, you) since you arrived so you were surprised when someone entered the room. It was the only thing that had made you look up from you phone since you'd arrived. He strode in with the utmost determination on his face; you'd never seen anyone walk into a library with such purpose. He looked around a little and you were confused as to how he hadn't noticed you yet. His gaze landed on a photo of your uncles on one of the side tables. "Oh, man, it's black Tom Selleck and white Sidney Poitier." he quipped. You had to stop yourself from snorting at this fairly accurate comparison. His eyes moved back to the bookshelves, narrowing as he scanned the books closely. He sighed, muttering to himself, "Come on. All books and no magazines? What kind of crappy library's full of books?"
"You know, libraries tend to be filled with books." you spoke up, startling the intruder. He turned to you sharply, looking slightly sheepish. "I…um…didn't see you there. Sorry to disturb you." he apologised.
You shook your head. "It's alright. You weren't supposed to see me; I'm hiding." You supposed you sounded rather childlike - hiding yourself away from all the adults at a party. His shoulders relaxed and his shocked expression faded. "Well, that's pretty bad on my part. I'm a detective." he told you braggingly. You raised an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to impress me?" you asked, not giving away the fact that you were fairly impressed.
"Yes." he replied honestly.
You scoffed. "Then you're gonna have to up your game." A smirk grew on his face, which, upon thorough inspection, you had decided was rather attractive. And you'd much rather have a detective flirt with you than listen to some professor drone on about the Civil War. "Challenge accepted." he said confidently. He then churned out the cheesiest line possible. "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" You sighed at the phrase, wondering how many men had attempted to woo women with that line. "I was invited. Like everyone else here. Besides, it would be rude to miss my uncle's birthday." you answered.
The shock returned to the detective's face. "Holt is your uncle?" You nodded. "Whaaaaaaaaat?" he exclaimed. You hadn't expected him to be completely comfortable flirting with his boss' niece but you hoped you hadn’t put him off completely. "My mom is Kevin's sister-in-law." you explained, wanting to ease him a little. "Oh. Cool cool cool cool cool." he rattled off.
"What did you come to the 'crap' library for anyway?" you queried, changing back to the original subject. He opened his mouth to reply before his eyes went wide. "The crap library," he gasped with gusto, "All the magazines are in the bathroom."
Your brow furrowed. "Great solve, detective." you congratulated puzzled. He didn't catch the confusion in your voice and just took a bow, accepting your praise. He turned to leave but stopped in his tracks, the both of you being shocked by your uncle's sudden appearance. Ray looked between the two of you suspiciously. "Can I help you, Peralta?" he asked, his gaze landing on the detective. So this was Detective Peralta; you'd heard your uncle drop his name, mostly in complaint, quite a few times in your weekly phone calls. Peralta cleared his throat to compose himself. "Captain. I didn't hear you silently sneak up on me. Lurking must run in the family." he complained, half in jest towards your encounter.
"(Y/n) is from Kevin's side of the family. Her mother is--" your uncle began to explain.
"His sister-in-law. I'm all caught up on your family tree." Peralta finished. He pointed a finger in the air and continued, "Oh, that reminds me, tell Kevin I am available for brunch on Sunday the 17th."
"The 17th is a Tuesday." you corrected, causing the detective to look at you dumbstruck. He clearly had a worse sense of time than you did.
"Why are you talking about the New Yorker all of a sudden?" your uncle probed, taking a sip of his port.
"I always talk about smart stuff," Peralta bragged, clearly trying to impress you again, "You know, the Jazz Age, what's in a name, the 1950s movies that are from the 50s." He was still going to have to try harder, especially as Ray shot him down.
"Those were the categories on Jeopardy last night." he observed. Peralta made an kind of cute embarrassed face. "Don't try so hard to impress my husband. Or my niece, for that matter." His eyes flickered over to you for a brief moment. Trust your Uncle Ray to stop a guy from making a move on you. "Yes, sir." Peralta replied but something told you he wasn’t going to be that easily swayed. He waited until your uncle left the room before whispering, "To the crap library." He strode out of the room with the same determination as he had when he entered - he was clearly hell-bent on making a good impression on Kevin. This time, however, he stopped in the doorway and turned to you. "Catch you later." he said with such a suave smoothness that you couldn’t help but blush. You couldn’t believe he was the same guy who'd been looking for magazines in a library mere seconds ago. You wished that your uncle would consider inviting the detectives round more often. Anything that would allow you to see more of Peralta.
Unfortunately, you didn’t bump into the detective again at the party. You suspected your Uncle Ray had something to do with that, probably shepherding Peralta away from both you and your Uncle Kevin. You wouldn’t have been surprised if that was true; your uncle had always been very cautious whenever you mentioned an interest in someone. You wished he’d let you use your own judgement for once. Peralta seemed nice enough and sort of a dork (your one weakness in men). But perhaps the merging of professional and personal life was too much for Ray, as it always had been. Maybe that was why there had been no sign of Peralta, or any of his colleagues, about an hour after you had met. This detective had gone and you knew nothing about him; not his first name and certainly not his number. So, you decided to take matters into your own hands. Screw what your uncle thought, or what anyone thought for that matter. You liked this guy and you were going to make the first move (something you hadn’t done in a while). As the elevator dinged and the doors opened, you took a deep breath. You really hoped your uncle wouldn’t disrupt things. You gingerly stepped out into the bullpen. This was it.
A detective with her hair pulled back, a sharp pantsuit and a pretty face approached you immediately. You still had ample time, however, to feel the buzz of the whole precinct. It was wonderful. The energy and passion of every member of the squad practically seeped out of the walls. You could see why your uncle loved being a cop so much. “How can I help you, ma’am?” the detective asked, her voice polite and articulate. It felt odd that she had addressed you so formally as you were pretty sure you were a similar age. “I…uh…” you stammered, suddenly feeling awkward for barging into the precinct. “Ah. (Y/n). What a pleasant surprise.” Your head shot up to see your Uncle Ray walking towards you from his office; his face showing no indicators of pleasantness or surprise (something you were used to). “Uncle Ray.” you greeted with a smile.
He turned to the detective, whose eyes had gone wide. “Santiago, this is my niece, (y/n). (Y/n), this is one of my finest detectives, Amy Santiago.” he introduced. Amy puffed out her chest in pride. “Nice to meet you.” you said.
“It’s an honour to meet you.” she replied. You watched her body twitch awkwardly as if she was going to bow to you. “I have…a thing.” she muttered vaguely before shuffling away to her desk. Ray turned back to you. “How can I help? I’m afraid I’m quite busy this morning so--”
“I’m here to see Detective Peralta.” you told him bluntly.
“Oh.” There was a pause while he processed what you told him. “Peralta. Detective Peralta. You’re here to see…Detective Peralta.” You nodded. Having said his name three times, the detective appeared as if he was Bloody Mary or Beetlejuice. “Hey, Santiago, can you help me wrap up this massive homicide case in a sec?” he asked his colleague. He was still bragging to impress you and hadn’t cottoned on that you already were. “Oh, (y/n), didn’t see you there.” he lied. You shook you head. You both looked to your uncle, expecting him to weigh in somehow, but he was just looking right back slightly bewildered. “(Y/n) and Peralta. My niece and Detective Peralta.” he mumbled. You had to bite your lip to hold back your laughter. You couldn’t believe how much you’d shocked him. “Shall we go to the break room? I can get you a coffee.” Peralta suggested. You took one last glance at your thoroughly confused uncle before nodding. “Sure.”
After chasing away two detectives, who had been using the pool table as some sort of weird pedicure station, the two of you were finally alone like you had been last night. Except this time you were super nervous. Was it bad that you really wanted a drink to take the edge off? Jake handed you a cup of coffee with a “Sup, girl”.
You chuckled and observed, “I see your flirting hasn’t improved overnight.”
“First off, my flirting was amazing last night. I’m irresistible. Secondly, you’d be surprised how many girls I’ve charmed with a simple sup.”
“None?” you guessed teasingly, taking a sip of coffee. He pulled a face. “Anyway, you left early last night. Before I could get your number. So…” You held out your phone to him. “Forward. I like it.” he complimented, taking your phone. The blush that appeared on your cheeks was inevitable.
“Did you find the magazine you were looking for?” you asked as he typed his number.
“I did not. I actually ended up in Holt and Kevin’s bathroom with Amy and the Sarge, which was super awkward.”
“I can imagine.” You took another sip of coffee. It was then you noticed he had finished typing and was just pressing one button constantly. “You’re taking under the chin selfies, aren’t you?” you asked.
“No.” he replied quickly, biting his lip innocently. He began to pull more obvious stupid faces so you knew he was lying. You snatched the phone from him and swiped to the newly added contact. “Jake,” you read with a smile, “I like it.” He smiled too though his seemed more blissful. “When do you get off?” you enquired, putting your phone back in your pocket. Jake raised an eyebrow with a sly smirk. You gasped. “Work. You know I meant work.”
“About 8.” he replied.
“Do you…wanna meet up after work and…get a…drink?” you posed. It was so obvious you hadn’t done this in a while and you felt so awkward. “That sounds good.”
Your face lit up. “Really? Okay. Great. I’ll see you at 8.” Jake opened the door for you. It swung open to reveal most of the detectives trying to listen in to your conversation. And at the back of the group, trying to look innocent, was your uncle. Your face went bright red. Jake put his hand on your shoulder. “(Y/n), welcome to the 99.”