Chapter Text
Gina’s parents hadn’t been soulmates. She was the product of what the cool kids called ‘an accident’. Her father had taken off the moment her mother had told him she was pregnant and neither of them ever saw him again. Despite this her mother never said a bad word against love. As it was just the two of them, they'd stuck together through thick and thin and Darlene had always encouraged her daughter to follow her heart. Sometimes they’d both sit together and talk about what their tattoos could mean. Gina was adamant that her tattoo obviously meant she was going to be some amazing badass – quite frankly “Stop with the flamethrowers” wasn’t hard to interpret. This often led to Gina being thought of as a little too eccentric. She didn’t make friends easily as a child, other kids just weren’t interested in her. Luckily, Gina Linetti had grown up to be self-sufficient. She didn’t need anyone else meddling in her life. A mark on her skin wasn’t going to dictate her life to her, not if she had anything to do with it.
She met Jake when they were both six years old, all wild hair and missing teeth. The first day of the new school year Darlene’s car had refused to start so Gina had arrived 20 minutes late. The only seat free was next to a skinny, gap-toothed kid with long, floppy hair, who smelled slightly of that sticky little kid smell. She’d slumped down into the chair next him and thrown her bag down beside her.
The boy looked at her confusedly for a few seconds, trying to formulate his response to the gangly little girl in second hand clothes who’d suddenly appeared beside him, before his face split into a grin “Hi, I’m Jacob Peralta. Jake to everyone except my Grandma”
“Regina Linetti, but you can call me The Ultimate Human”
“Okay, The Ultimate Human, nice to meet you”
Gina felt herself crack a smile, and that was that – she’d made her first friend. Jake had called her that for the rest of the week. He was alright.
The two children became fast friends. Everyday after school they'd race each other to Jake's grandmother's house – a small apartment in the good part of town. The elderly woman was their unofficial childminder, a strict woman with a heart of gold. She was the kind of woman who could silence even the bravest of men with a single look, but would do almost anything the children in her care asked of her. When they arrived, Nana would always make pair sit at the kitchen table and do whatever homework they'd received that day. Despite her best efforts they'd often end up on the living room floor in a pile of pillows. On the occasional night, when their mothers had to work late the pair would often fall asleep in the pillow fort. A younger woman would have carried them to bed to sleep, but Nana was no spring chicken anymore, so left the children to their fun.
It was after one such wonderful night when it first happened. Gina’s mother had come to pick them up and she was saying goodbye.
“Goodbye, Jake” The old woman said, hugging Jake to her and kissing the crown of his head
“Bye, Nana. Miss you already”
“Miss you too, Pineapples. Bye, Gina”
Gina stood up on her tip-toes and kissed the old woman on the cheek “Bye, Nana” It was an accident, nothing more than a slip of the tongue, but the way the woman’s eyes lit up made Gina vow to call her that for the rest of her life. She’d never had a Nana before. She quite liked it. And just like that Darlene and Gina Linetti were a part of the family.
The day Jake’s father left he didn’t come to school. As soon as the bell rang at the end of the day Gina ran all the way to his house and let herself in.
“Jake!” She called, searching his house, but there was no reply. She found his mother in the kitchen. The cup of tea on the table in front of her had long since gone cold
“Karen?”
The woman didn’t look up.
“Karen?” She repeated cautiously, tentatively placing a hand on her shoulder.
Karen Peralta jumped at the contact, she hadn’t heard her calling her name “Gina, what are you doing here?”
“Jake didn’t come to school today. It felt like something was wrong.”
Despite her clearly tear-filled eyes, Karen smiled “You’re a good friend, Gina”
“Thank you. I’m the best friend. But really, what’s happened? Where’s Jake?”
She got up to pour her hours old coffee down the drain “He’s at Nana’s.”
“Something bad happened, didn’t it?” Gina asked, pulling up a chair, twisting the friendship bracelet on her wrist nervously.
“Yes, Gina, it did”
“Are you okay?” She was close to grinding her teeth in frustration, Jake’s mom was obviously avoiding her question.
“Not really, sweetie.” Running a hand through Gina’s curly hair affectionately, she grimaced “Jake’s dad is gone”
“Gone? Like on vacation?”
She chuckled darkly, sometimes Gina was so loud and outspoken, she forgot she was still a child and didn’t understand the ins and outs of adult relationships “Kind of. Except he’s not coming back”
“Is he dead?” Gina blurted out, unable to stop herself. Her impulsiveness was both a blessing and a curse.
“No, he’s not dead. He’s left me. Run off with some girl half my age”
“Oh. Then he’s a dick”
“Gina!” Karen admonished the redhead, shocked that a little girl was so fluent in profanity.
“What, it’s true! Any man who abandoned his wife and seven year old son for no reason is a dick. It’s alright, my dad’s one too, and I’m fine”
“Well, yes. Just don’t go telling you mother that you know that word”
“Who do you think taught it to me?” She giggled. Then her face sobered as a sudden, horrible thought crossed her mind “Karen, was Roger you soulmate?
“Yes, more’s the pity”
“I guess you don’t believe in all that soulmate shit then?” She paused, guiltily “…Don’t tell Mom I said that one”
The older woman chuckled, the little girl had always been her favourite of all the friends her son had had over the years “I used to”
“I don’t.” Gin stated matter of factly “I don’t think it’s fair to have your decisions decided for you just because of some stupid mark you were born with. Soulmates are dumb”
“Amen.” She said, wrapping an arm around Gina “Wait how did you get here? Sweetie, did you walk here all by yourself?”
“Yes, I was worried”
“So no one knows where you are? Oh God, I have to get you back to your Mom”
That was the first time Gina got in trouble for going missing. Even though she could take care of herself, adults apparently didn’t like it when kids disappeared without a word.After learning what had happened, Darlene invited Karen in, not wanting her friend to be alone on such a horrible night. Naturally, Karen told Darlene what Gina had said about soulmates. The ginger woman was not as shocked to learn that her daughter didn’t believe in soulmates as one would expect – no one could tell Gina what to do, not even her own body.
The older they got, the more their classmates started to pay attention to Gina. Her loud personality became less of an annoyance and more of a spectacle. Suddenly, instead of being ‘weird' she was ‘interesting’. Gina knew how to play people, she knew exactly what to say to get them to like her. Like moths they were drawn to her effervescent flame. They only tolerated Jake because he was friends with the coolest girl in school. People came and went from their little friendship group, never staying for long. For years, the only constant in their lives remained each other.
One night Karen caught them sneaking out to go to a party. While neither of their mothers thought them bad kids, they sent them to a youth outreach program for the NYPD to ‘keep them out of trouble’. Gina mocked the program mercilessly, repeatedly saying that they’d never “straighten her out” a hilarious joke to no one but herself and Jake. He was the first person she’d come out to, the only person. She had never been on for labels, finding them restrictive and unnecessary – Gina was not one to be tied down – but she had come to accept the fact that all people were attractive. Yes, Gina Linetti was not straight. It wasn’t like she deliberately hid that fact from people, they were just so oblivious and needed to be outright told.
When Jake suddenly announced that he was going to join the police, Gina thought it was a joke.
“Yeah right, and I’m going to work 9-5 in an office” She mocked, the idea laughable. In her opinion the police force was a waste of resources and office jobs were unthinkably boring.
“No, Gina, I’m serious”
Her face fell “No, Jake! How could you betray me like this”
“I’m not betraying you. I just think I could do some real good, change the world for the better!”
“No…” She whined, still a petulant child at heart “We made a pact. You and I were supposed to take over New York, then the country, then the world”
Jake scoffed, shaken by the lack of support he was receiving. Throughout the years, they’d always supported each other. Jake & Gina 4eva “Oh come on that stuff wasn’t serious”
“I was dead serious. I never joke about world domination! God I can’t believe you’d do this to me” She stormed off into the bedroom and slammed the door behind her.
“Gina” he knocked on the door cautiously “Can you unlock the door so we could talk?”
After a few seconds the lock clicked, and the door opened. Before he could enter, Gina retreated to the bed and threw herself dramatically, burying her face in the covers so she didn’t have to look at him. Jake followed her like a little puppy and perched awkwardly beside her.
“Why are you really mad?”
“I told you – you’re a traitor”
“I know, I know. But I don’t believe you. I know you, Gina. You’ve been my best friend since we were seven. You act like you’re mad at the world because you’re scared”
“I am not scared” She spat the last word as if spitting venom from her mouth.
“Goose… talk to me” He begged “Please”
She curled up into a ball on the bed, throwing a pillow over her head to block him out, muffling her voice. “No”
In the sternest voice he could master, he admonished her “Linetti”
With a hefty sigh she flopped over so that she was facing him, but her eyes remained closed, as if she couldn’t bear to look at him while she spoke. Whether it was out of contempt for Jake or herself was unclear “You have your life all figured out! Everyone seems to know what they want to do and I’m just here, existing. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m so goddamn scared that I’m going to make the wrong choices that I don’t make any choices… and then that all blows up in my face. I can’t win, Jake. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Come here” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest “You, Gina Linetti, are the most amazing person I’ve ever known. You are always going to land on your feet, no matter what happens”
Gina sniffed and wiped her tear-stained cheeks dry on his plaid shirt “Tell anyone about this and I’ll kill you” she threatened weakly, some of her usual bite cancelled out by the remnants of tears in her voice.
“I know” He placed a kiss on the crown of her head.
“For what it’s worth, I think you’d make a good cop”
“You think? Plus I am going to look so badass. Can you imagine all the movie scenes I could act out?”
“Die Hard”
“God, you know me so well! I love you little sis” He gushed, squeezing her tightly
Offended, she shoved him off the bed “I’m 6 months older than you!”
Six years later, Jake, Gina, Darlene and Karen were all sitting around the latter’s kitchen table. The air was heavy with grief and filled with an uncomfortable silence. The foursome had spent the day bidding farewell to their beloved mother/nana/friend. Few people had turned up to the service – Nana was very old and did not have many friends left. Even though she had meant the world to their little family, the rest of the population didn’t feel the same. The sight of such an empty memorial had brought tears to Gina’s eyes, tears she’d willingly shed onto her mother’s coat-clad shoulder. She never wanted to be that alone. When she died, thousands would mourn her. Gina would make sure she was never forgotten, and in turn she would make sure Nana was never truly forgotten ether.
“The precinct is gonna get a new civilian administrator” Jake suddenly broke the tension.
Grateful for some conversation, Karen latched on “Really? What happened to what’s-his-name?”
“Quit. Got a better offer I guess”
Gina wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip by, funeral or not. It’s been too long since she’d seen her friend, and she couldn’t take another day at her work. Every time she entered the building, she could feel a small part of her soul shrivel up and die “Jake, you have to get me that job!”
“What?” He scoffed “You want to be a civilian administrator? You want to have to deal people all day?”
“Jake, I’m assistant manager at a kiosk in a mall. Trust me nothing could be worse than that Hell. A woman literally spat on me yesterday.”
“Hey Gina, remember when you didn’t want me to become a cop?” Jake joked, never passing up an opportunity to rib his little sister, having been on the receiving end of her razor sharp wit too many times for comfort
“Please, Jake” She dismissed his jib out of hand “I’m begging you. I’ll owe you big time.”
“If I get you this job you’ll owe me a chit?”
“Yes”
“That I can cash in at any time?”
“Any time”
“Gina Linetti, you just got yourself a deal” For the first time in what felt like years, but had really only been a matter of days, Jake and Gina grinned at each other. The world shifted, starting to finally, at long last, right itself.