Chapter Text
“Ugh, I bet he thinks he’s so smart, solving another case all on his own.” Nya ranted in a mocking tone, snapping a pencil in half. “Wait till he realizes that he’s so annoying that no one would willingly partner up with him anyways.”
”Nee, I think you need to chill.” Kai responded, “No one else has a problem with Jay, it’s just you. Sure, he works on his own, but he gets the job done.”
”Being in a police force is about teamwork!” Nya exclaimed, “We’re all risking our lives together!” Kai reached over his desk and pulled her cup full of pencils out of her reach before she could break them all.
Nya loved working as a detective. She could use her wits, but also went on missions in the field to take down crime. It was perfect for her. Working with her two brothers was also great. She enjoyed almost all of her fellow detective’s company. But Jay, Jay was different. “The Rogue” as he was called, was an egotistical bitch. He always took solo missions and rarely had another coworker help in on a case. It was like he prided himself in being able to work alone. He thinks he’s better than all of us. Nya and Jay had an unspoken competition on who could solve more crime than the other before the end of the year. Everytime Nya was beating him, he would pull something out of his ass and finish his case before her, pulling ahead. This had happened over, and over, and over and Nya was sick of it. She was sick of him.
Jay strolled past her desk and slid a note to her. She picked it up and read, “One more point for me, you have to up your game.” She shot a glare at him, and he replied with a wink as he walked away. She crumpled the note up and threw it into the trash. Maybe with a little more violence then necessary.
”What does it say?” Kai gushed, “Is it a confession of love!” Nya stuck a middle finger in Kai’s face. “Dude! You can’t can’t that at work!”
”Oh, right.” Nya watched Jay walk to the opposite side of the office and into Chief Wu’s room. Probably to get another special, solo mission. “Why does Wu even let him take cases alone? Everyone knows he loves teamwork.”
“I guess he just knows that he is capable enough to do them on his own.” Kai responded, shrugging. He glanced at the office Jay had entered, then back to Nya. “I’m telling you, Nee, you have an unhealthy obsession with Jay. I know you say it’s ‘fueled by hate’ and it’s ‘not an obsession, he just annoys me’, but this is getting wierd.”
“I just don’t understand how he does it.” Nya said, “If he was nice, it would be different, I wouldn’t mind, I would be more curious than pissed off. But he’s so insufferable that I can’t just sit and watch.” Then, more quietly, “What’s his secret? What makes him so good on his own?”
”This sounds like the beginning of one of those rivals to lovers books that Skylor likes to read. In ten years, you and Jay will be telling your kids-” Kai commented, then seeing Nya’s death glare, stopped.
”You’re delusional. I would never fall for someone like… like… like that self righteous, obnoxious, infuriating asshole!” Nya looked around and realized that she had accidentally raised her voice for all of her coworkers to hear. She sank down into her chair, covering her face and muttering, “Sorry, sorry.”
“The self righteous, obnoxious, infuriating asshole whom you could never fall in love with is waving you over.” Kai said, calling Nya’s attention to Jay standing at the door of Wu’s room and beckoning her.
”I swear if he says something about him solving more crime than me to Chief, I’m gonna kill him.” Nya stood up and walked over to Jay, she crossed her arms and stared at him (her chin slightly tilted up, as Jay was (infuriatingly) two inches taller than her), “What?”
“Wu wants to see you.” He said, letting go of the door he was holding as she started entering.
”Fuck you.” She muttered as the door hit her hip.
”Not so fast, Detective Walker, I need you here too.” Wu called as Jay started walking away.
Jay turned around and walked back into the office. Nya made the door hit his face, “Oops.” She was rewarded with an annoyed look.
“Detective Jiang, Detective Walker” Wu said in an imperious tone. “I have heard rumors from around the precinct that you too are at odds, am I correct in believing them?” He questioned with a pointed brow. Jay and Nya glared at each other, each assuming the other had complained about it and gotten them in trouble.
”Yes Chief,” Nya sighed. “We don’t get along.”
“Psh,” Jay scoffed, “she just hates me for no reason.”
”No reason?!” Nya exclaimed, “I have plenty of reasons! For starters-“
“Okay, that answers my question.” Wu continued, “For this very reason, I would like you two to work a case together.” Jay and Nya both started protesting at the same time, each trying to speak over the other. “Enough!” They shut up. “This is not a choice, you two are working together.” He grabbed a file and slid it over the desk. “We received an anonymous tip that Cliff Gordon, the world famous actor, is having a party on Sunday, and Ronin’s gang is planning to steal the artifacts that will be on display.”
”Ronin’s gang?” The whole precinct had been dealing with Ronin for years now, he was always two steps ahead of the cops. “Cliff Gordon, is he the guy who plays Spitz Donnegan?”
”Fritz Donnegan.” Jay corrected her, “So we have two days to prepare for the party?”
Wu nodded, “We know that Mr. Gordon has an… opinion about the police force, so unless absolutely necessary, don’t mention the fact that you’re undercover to Cliff. Obviously, don’t tell anyone else either.”
”How are we going to get in?” Nya asked.
”There is two certificates of invitation in there,” he glanced toward Jay, “Thank you for you for your contribution, Detective.”
Nya shot a questioning glance at Jay, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes. He nodded quickly and changed the subject, “Do we already have outfits, or do we need to find some?”
”I figured I would let you two pick things out, after all, you have more knowledge about these parties than I do.”
”Yep…” Jay said awkwardly, bouncing on his heels and glancing around the room. “Is everthing we need in there? Can we go?”
Wu nodded, “I’m trusting you two to work together, but if it gets messed up because of your incessent bickering, there will be consequences.”
They both reached for the files, each grabbing one side. A quick cough from the Chief reminded them not to fight, and Jay let Nya grab the papers. They walked out, Jay hurrying in front of her. He strode to his desk without another word and studied his computer. Nya started to follow him, but then switched directions. If he doesn’t want to discuss out plan of action, that’s fine, I’ll figure it out in my own. She reached her desk and sat down, flipping through the documents.
”What happened?” Kai asked, “Did you guys get yelled at?”
Nya looked up from the papers with a sour expression, “No, Chief assigned me on a case, with him.”
”What?!” Kai whisper-shouted, “You two have to work together? This is gold.” Kai laughed quietly, then switched to a more serious tone, “Are you sure you guys can work together peacefully?”
”Peacefully, no.” Nya said, “But I have to be able to stand him for this. We have to go undercover at a party that some celebrity is hosting. Someone gave an anonymous tip that Ronin is gonna try to steal the artifacts that are gonna be on display.”
”Wu put you and Jay on a mission after Ronin?” Kai asked dubiously, “What was he thinking?”
“We are the best detectives here, maybe he thinks if we work together we’ll make a good team.”
”If.” Kai walked to her side of the desk and examined the papers. “Hold on, I recognize that writing!” He exclaimed, pointing to the handwritten anonymous tip, “That’s the guy who owns Laughey’s! I’ve seen his handwriting on bills before.”
“Good eye!” Nya commended him, “I think his name starts with a d.”
”Dane… Dan… Dave…” Nya listed, “None of those are right.”
“You should go ask your partner.” Kai said with a glance towards Jay. “This your first bit of information.”
Nya threw him an annoyed look, but couldn’t help but agree. If he isn’t going to reach out to me, I guess I have to set an example. She walked over to his desk and set the note down, “Kai said that the handwriting is the owner of Laughey’s karaoke bar.”
Jay glanced down at the note, then back to his computer, “Dareth? He knows Ronin?”
”I guess-will you look at me while I’m talking to you!”
Jay rolled his eyes and and met her eyes, “You sound like my mom.”
”You are so immature.” She muttered, “I say we go to Laughey’s and question him.”
”Hold on,” Jay protested, “Dareth sent an anonymous note, clearly he doesn’t want to be involved. We shouldn’t put him at risk by barging in there and drawing attention to the note. I say we attend the party and protect the artifacts, then if we need more information, we ask him.”
”But-“ Nya bit her tongue, thinking over his words. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” She hated that he was right, but she still needed to be sensible.
Jay hesitated for a moment, then quickly said, “Goodjobfindingthatout.”
”Thanks, but it was-“ Nya paused, scrunching her eyebrows quizzically, “Did you just say something nice to me?” Huh? Why would he do that?
”No!” He turned back to his computer and waved her off, “Go study the papers more.”
Nya strode off, confused but not upset. Strange. She came to her desk and sat down, then glanced in Jay’s direction. He was staring at her. He quickly changed his expression to a glare and turned away. What was that? Cole walked up to him and they started talking. Nya had never understood how Cole and Jay were best friends, Cole was the sweetest person Nya knew, and Jay was a jerk. Jay said something to Cole, pointing at Nya and Cole started laughing hard, putting a hand on Jays shoulder. Jay buried his face in his hands and Cole sat down at his desk, opposite of Jay’s. Focus, Nya. No distractions.
Jay rubbed his eyes drearily and stretched, then checked his phone to see what time it was. Seven-thirty, a little earlier than usual, but that’ll be good, I can figure out something to wear for Dad’s party. He yawned, got out of bed and walked out of his room. It was strange, normally Cole was cooking breakfast by now, his best friend always said the breakfast was the most important meal of the day, the smell of eggs and bacon would usually encourage Jay to get up. He yawned again and entered the kitchen.
”I really shouldn’t be surprised that you’re a nerd.” Said a voice with and air of judgement.
”AGH!” Jay shrieked and whipped his head around around the room, searching for the owner of the voice. He should’ve guessed who it was as soon as he’d heard her speak. “What are you doing here?!” His face flushed as he looked down and remembered that he was only wearing boxers. He brought one arm up to cover his torso and with the other he tried to cover his legs. “And how did you get in!?”
”Cole let me in when he went to go work out.” Nya said nonchalantly, sipping coffee from one of Jay’s superhero themed mugs. She looked over and saw him trying to hide himself, “Don’t worry, I won’t stare.” She raised her eyebrows, looking unimpressed, “There’s not much to look at anyways.”
”I beg your finest pardon! This is what peak masculinity looks like!” Jay defended himself, “I’m gonna go put something on, you can’t look at all this for free.” He was trying to sound witty, but his voice cracked as he talked, and he hightailed back to his room, catching a laugh from the kitchen. Why is she here?! Jay thought furiously, grabbing a shirt at random and throwing it on, Why did Cole let her in? Sure, Cole had been trying to get them together ever since he had discovered Jay’s massive crush on Nya. But this? This was evil. Just because Jay didn’t know how to flirt with Nya, and he liked arguing with her (he couldn’t understand why, but she was oh, so beautiful when she was fighting with him), didn’t mean Cole had to let her come in the house without notifying Jay. Whatever, just play it cool. There’s just a gorgeous girl sitting in your kitchen, and she just saw you half naked. Jay sighed, who am i kidding, I can’t play it cool around her. He gave himself a quick, whispered pep talk and finished changing. He looked in the mirror and examined himself, his hair was still ruffled and messy, and he was wearing glasses instead of his usual contacts, but at least he was fully clothed.
”Nice shirt.” Nya commented as he walked back into the kitchen. Jay hadn’t checked what he was wearing, and realized that it was a red shirt with a car on it, the text above it read: Fast as lightning!.
”Sorry my shirts don’t live up to your fashion standards. If you couldn’t tell, I was kind of rushing, I’m not used to having random girls in my house.” Was it bad to call her random? No, it was good, I want her to think that she’s not at the center of my mind.
“I would imagine so, you don’t strike me as someone very popular with the ladies.”
”Hey! I-You-Why are you so mean?” He whined. Even though Nya was the only girl that he cared for, the fact that Jay was a scrawny, nerdy guy who didn’t receive attention from women still left his ego bruised. How does she always leave me looking like such an idiot? ”Why are you in my house anyways?”
”To work on the case.” She said simply, as if that was obvious.
”So you decided to barge into my house at an unholy hour and wait until I woke up?” Jay asked. “That sounds like something a stalker would do.”
”Psh.” Nya scoffed, “I am not a stalker, I just wanted to have the whole day to discuss our plan for when we go to the party.” She grabbed the case files out of her bag and set them on the table.
”Right…” Jay muttered. He reached into a basket filled with paper and rifled around for a bit. Then pulled our a piece of lined paper and slid it over to Nya. “I made this last night, are you a good actor?” She picked it up and examined it, it appeared to be her false identity.
It read: Mya Smith, 26. Engaged to Jason Gordon. Works as a personal fitness coach. Hobbies include: baking, boxing, swimming, and mechanics. Went to college for mechanical engineering and volunteers at Ed and Edna’s junkyard every week.
”It’s not much, but hopefully we won’t have to talk to many of the people there. I’m Jason Gordon by the way.” Jay flashed a quick, what he hoped was charming, megawatt smile.
Nya gave him a disgruntled look, “You made us engaged? You really couldn’t do anything else? Cousins or close friends?”
”Cousins wouldn’t work, and Da-Cliff Gordon is too much of a dramatic person to believe that men and women can be close without having feelings.” Jay countered, not offering any extra information.
“Wait, why did you make you last name Gordon?” Nya asked, “Cliff Gordon and Jason Gordon? That’s suspicious.”
“Trust me, it’s the least suspicious name.” Jay said, not meeting here eyes and scratching his neck.
”So what are we going to wear? Should we go shopping? Chief Wu said that the precinct will fund any expenses.”
”Uhhh…” Jay thought for a moment, “I don’t think anything we could get from your average dress shop.” He snapped his fingers, “I got it! Lemme go check that I didn’t give it away!” He hurried to his room, Nya following him.
”What are you doing?”
Jay jumped when he realized that she had followed him into the room. He quickly grabbed the framed picture on his dresser and slammed it down. No need for her to see that it was a picture of herself. The omly other picture in the room was of his mother. He swept a glance around the room and confirmed that no more things about Nya were on display. Even though he thankful of that, his room was still very messy and unorganized. He cringed as he imagined her judging him.
”What was that?”
”Nothing!” Jay slid his closet open, grabbed a dark blue suit, accompanied by a light azure tie, and set it on his bed (which had a comforter with lighting bolts on it). “That’s mine.” He muttered. Then, as he was digging further into the closet, he heard Nya pick something up and start reading aloud,
”’January twenty-seventh, Friday. Well, I screwed up again, she hates my guts. I know I’m bad at flirting, but I have to have some sort of thing that works on her. How can I be my father’s son if I can’t charm a girl? I can’t help it, but I feel like we have this tension in our banter (does she think it’s banter? Idk). I’m just delusional, she’ll never fall for me.’ I didn’t know you had a diary.”
”EEK!” Jay yelped, he jumped out of the closet and snatched the book from her. “That is not a diary! It’s a journal!”
”Who is she?” Nya asked, one eyebrow raised. Was it Jay’s imagination or was there a twinge of jealousy in Nya’s voice?
”Heres your dress!” Jay changed the subject, diving back into the closet and carefully bringing out a gorgeous dress. It was a dark, midnight blue with almost translucent, light blue ribbons swirling around it. The ribbons were glittery, but not in an obnoxious way, it looked as if they would shine in a bright light. The dark fabric was silky. Princess lining was sewed along the torso, but there was no actual corset in the top, for comfortablilty. The dress was tailored so that it was sinched around the bust and waist, but loosened and gained many layers around the hips. There was no doubt that it would flatter the wearer, regardless of her body type. Never got to see her wear it anyways, she would like that Nya’s using it.
Nya gasped and lifted up the dress, examining it closely. “It’s beautiful.” She set it down carefully, noticing Jay wince slightly as the fabric wrinkled. “Where did you get it from?”
”Oh you know…” Jay replied, scratching his neck and not meeting her eyes.
”No, I don’t. Did you just have this sitting in your closet?”
”Err… yeah.” Jay answered, “I’ve had this set for a while, the original owner never got a chance to wear it and she wanted me to have it.” He shrugged. “No time like the present to wear them.” Then, quietly, “she’d be glad to see it worn, she’d always wanted to.”
”What?” Nya asked him curiously.
”Sorry, it’s nothing.” Jay waved his hand a little absentmindedly and handed the dress to her with great care. “Just please be careful with it. If you need it tailored to fit, let me know and I’ll take care of it.”
”Of course.” Nya replied. It seemed she could tell that the dress was important to him. Jay trusted her to take good care of it, whatever was going on between them, she at least seemed to care about this. She said a quick “bye!” Then hurried out of the apartment and left Jay alone. Jay sat down on the couch, Time to figure out how to face dad tomorrow, he thought. He was not looking forward to the celebration, but maybe having Nya there would be good. That is, of course if he managed to keep her from knowing that Cliff Gordon was his father.