Chapter Text
Jake Peralta sat at his desk, tapping aimlessly at the keyboard. He had been looking for a file on his computer, but it had been a moment since he had remembered what it was that he was looking for. He kept looking down at his phone, sitting face-up on his desk. He half expected a call from the daycare, but he can't imagine why. His son, Levi, had been attending that daycare since he was six months old, just about three and a half years. Today, however, was a bit odd because today was Amy's first day back at the precinct since their youngest child, Lorelei, had been born. Well, it was her first full day back. Usually, the kids would stay with their grandma Karen, lovingly known as Nana, but today she was too busy and therefore the kids needed to be left at daycare and it was little Lorelei's first day. The daycare had always been fantastic, and had all sorts of activities for the kids to learn and play, and a nap area that was constantly monitored. There was nothing to worry about.
Jake finally stumbled across the file he had been looking for and sent a quick and incoherent email to Captain Holt. Some things never do change. Once he was finished with that he stood up and walked over to the coffee pot, pouring himself a sickeningly sweet cup of half coffee half sugar. It felt like he never slept much anymore, especially because Amy had been pumping at home so that they could wean the baby off of milk and make it more convenient for Jake to feed her. Of course Jake loved helping his wife, and loved the connection of feeding his baby, but she was getting bigger and bigger and eating for longer periods of time. On top of this, she had made her very own schedule, without a care in the world for her parent's schedule. Every night at 2am was breakfast, and then the baby would sleep throughout the morning.
Levi had been much easier, Jake thought as he looked at the pictures sitting on his desk. There was one of him and Amy, years ago smiling bright into the camera. Then there was one of Amy holding little Levi a few hours after he had been born, swaddled in a little yellow blanket. Then there was the newest one, depicting an almost four-year-old Levi holding a newborn Lorelei while sitting on their father's lap just hours after arriving home from the hospital.
Jake felt his phone buzzing on the table, and seeing Amy's contact, rushed to answer it.
"Jake?" she said the moment he picked it up.
"What's wrong Ames?"
"I don't think I've ever said this before, but can we leave early? I miss the kids," It was like she had just read his mind. She was still talking, still trying to explain that she had finished her work and they could come in early the next day, but Jake was already grabbing his things and rushing to the elevator. It was only a bit early, Jake had left earlier than this several times before (and usually with less reason) but today was different. He missed his kids, and he knew that Terry would respect and understand, if he noticed Jake's absence.
---
The daycare was bustling still, parents weren't there to pick up their kids quite yet, which meant that there was a space right in front of the building for Jake to maneuver into so they could run inside to grab the kids. Upon their entering, Levi looked up and immediately right back down after seeing his parents near the door. This was not new, Jake knew that Levi loved playing with his friends and could understand where he was coming from. Despite this, Jake approached him, ruffling his hair.
"What are you building?" he asked, looking down at Levi's Legos.
"Sheep,"
"That's pretty cool dude, ready to say bye to your friends? You get to come back tomorrow," He nudged Levi. Levi smiled and nodded.
"Bye guys! Tomorrow we can build something huge!" Levi, known for looking on the bright side of things, stood up and went to grab his fathers hand, when Jake surprised him by grabbing the boy around the waist and carrying him out of the daycare, upside-down while the boy, his mother, and Jake laughed. Little Lori was snug in her carseat, awake and looking at her family, but in less of a good mood than the rest of the group. It was almost dinner time, and Jake knew that after dinner he would be able to crack her up until she fell asleep.
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Putting the kids to bed was fairly easy that night. Levi had told them all about the games he got to play that day (Dodgeball!) and Lorelei had fallen asleep soon after eating, so it was a rare night where the tired parents could finally relax together. They chose to clean up and relax in bed, with Amy falling asleep sooner than Jake. By 9:30, everyone was asleep.
---
Dropping Levi off was surprisingly hard that morning. Amy had taken their other car to work early ("I left early yesterday, I should go in early today") she had said, kissing her family's foreheads and waving good-bye. That meant that Jake was on champagne color sedan duty, aka Drop-off. For a kid who didn't want to leave the daycare the day before, he sure didn't want to be left there now.
"Hey buddy, I need you to do me a big favor," Jake finally said after handing Lorelei off to the staff member and crouching in front of his son, "Can you build something huge?"
The little boy, almost identical to his father save for slightly darker features, nodded. "Can you come get us early?" He asked.
"How about we go get ice cream tonight? I'm sure I can convince mommy," Jake smiled at his son's eager nod, then watched as his son ran to play with his friends at the Lego table.
---
Jake ran in just a few minutes before the briefing and found a seat next to Rosa.
"You figure out your case yet, Peralta?" her feet were kicked up on the desk in front of her.
"I'm close. It looks like so many of the other cases that this guy was involved in- Ledbecker. And he was recently let out of prison for good behavior."
"Bet thats your guy" she nodded, which on her looked more like a slight incline of her head.
The briefing ended fairly quickly, and the detectives got back to their desks. Charles headed to Jake's desk.
"Got the address for Ledbecker this morning, ready to go in five?" Charles asked. Jake nodded, turning to review the guy's history. Theft, robbery, but nothing too violent other than some fights in prison. As far as criminals go, he was a real stand-up kind of guy.
Jake and Boyle headed out in an unmarked patrol car, heading through the traffic. Had Jake thought of it before, he would have stopped by Amy's desk to kiss her forehead before going out, or he would have thrown on a vest, or done something smart. This just seemed routine, he would arrive at the perp's mother's house, the last place the perp was known to reside, and knock on the door. A fragile old lady would answer, and state she hadn't seen her son in days.
He did not expect for a young guy, younger then the perp, to answer the door.
"I'm a detective with the NYPD. Is there a James Ledbecker here?" Charles said, eyeing the man. Charles was a step closer to the door than Jake, which allowed Jake to see curtains draw closed from the corner of his eye.
"Nah, its just me and my chick here," The young guy said.
"Then you wouldn't mind us looking around? Is it your chick that closed the curtains over there?" Jake eyed the man.
"Man you don't have a warrant" The guy smirked, while Charles fished something out of his back pocket.
"Yeah, we do," He handed the man the warrant, and the two detectives pushed past him into the house. Charles took the stairs, Jake checking the main floor. As he approached the kitchen he watched as the screen door slammed shut, while their perp made a run for it.
Jake began running to follow him, radioing to Charles, but once he passed through the doorway he heard a crack, then the sound of glass shattering, then he was on the ground and the world was blurry. So yeah, Ledbecker was not known for being a fighter, but it turns out Ledbecker didn't even need to, not with his friend close behind him with nothing to lose.