Chapter Text
When it happened, Amy was in interrogation with a suspect—a suspect who seemed intent on making her day as frustrating as humanly possible. There were about a thousand things going on around the precinct, and around the city in general, since the events of a few days prior; and Amy was trying her best to keep things moving along.
“Look man…” Amy started again. Truth was, he was barely more than a kid. “I have you on security camera tagging that alley around the same time our drug dealer was in the area. I know you saw something. You’re looking at a huge fine that I doubt you can pay—“ At this, the kid finally began squirming under her intense gaze. “If you give us what you know, we’ll cut it down to community service alone.”
The kid swallowed heavily. “Ummm…”
Amy exploded, the stress of the last few days getting the better of her. “Seriously?! ‘Um’?! That’s all you have to say? I do not have time for this. That’s it. Deal’s off the table.”
The kid’s eyes widened.
Something in the atmosphere seemed to shift, almost imperceptibly, certainly ineffably. Amy couldn’t place what it was… was it her outburst? Had she taken her anger too far?
“Ummm…” the kid repeated, staring in horror at his hands where they were chained to the table in front of him. Amy’s eyes followed his, and her stomach did a flip as her brain tried desperately to make sense of what she saw.
His hands were disintegrating. Starting with his fingertips and moving progressively up his hands, he was crumbling to dust. Amy’s mouth dropped open.
“What the hell, what the hell…” the kid repeated, scrambling backwards so hard that his chair scraped against the back wall, his arms no longer bound to the table—because his arms were no longer even there.
“You’re okay, you’re okay,” Amy breathed heartlessly, reaching toward him but not knowing what she should, or even could do. And then he was gone.
Amy stood in stunned silence—for a minute, five minutes, she wasn’t sure—as the world seemed to collapse in on itself. Slowly she became aware of a commotion coming from the other side of the door. Steeling herself for whatever she was about to find, she opened the door, only to have Jake literally run into her in his attempt to open the door from the other side.
“Ames…”
“What the hell is going on,” she hissed as Jake grabbed her by the shoulders. Shocked cries and loud voices continued to echo around them, but she only had eyes for her husband.
“I don’t know—“ A beat cop nearly knocked them both over as he stumbled through the hallway, before collapsing into a cloud of dust. Amy yelped, but Jake seemed to barely register the interruption. “I was at Gina’s desk and… and…” Jake’s eyes were brimming with tears. “I don’t know what happened. She just told me to get Iggy and then…” Jake trailed off, unable to finish. Amy reached up and brushed a tear from his cheek.
“Charles!”
Amy and Jake whipped around to see Rosa storming out of the evidence locker, eyes wilder than normal and filed with a fiery desperation.
“Boyle just disappeared right in front of me. What is happening?” Rosa’s tone was characteristically rough and clipped, but it was painfully clear that panic was bubbling right below the surface.
Jake took off into the evidence locker, muttering “No, no, no,” Amy and Rosa close on his heels.
“Charles! Charles!” Jake yelled, running among the shelves, jumping up and down as if Charles were simply hidden somewhere just out of sight. Amy caught his hand.
“Babe, stop. Whatever happened…”
Rosa cut in, “It’s gotta be something with that spaceship, right? There’s no way this isn’t related to that.”
Jake’s grip tightened, as if maybe, if he held on tight enough, he could hold her in place, and protect her against whatever was literally tearing the precinct apart.
The chaos continued unabated for less than ten minutes, but it felt like an eternity. There was nothing to do but wait and see who would be the next to succumb. It was tense and horrible and like nothing anyone ever could have imagined. Finally, it seemed to stop, plunging what was left of the precinct into an unnatural silence.
Jake had lost track of who all had vanished; but he knew the important ones.
Gina. Charles. Hitchcock and Scully (as far as anyone knew—they had been napping in the break room when it happened, and they were nowhere to be found). No one had yet been able to get in touch with Captain Holt—after working 36 hours straight in the immediate aftermath of the spaceship, he had taken the morning off to rest and to spend time with Kevin.
“Dammit,” Jake muttered when he got Holt’s voicemail yet again. He slouched even deeper in his chair and rubbed his temples. Amy sniffled softly from where she sat in the chair by his desk. Her own desk chair felt too far away. Rosa had settled herself nearby, glowering silently as she leaned against the window with her arms crossed.
In Holt’s absence, Terry was the acting C.O. of the precinct. He was clearly trying desperately hard to do his job, to keep it together. But no more than five minutes had passed when his desk phone was sent rocketing across the bullpen, crashing loudly into the refrigerator.
Jake leapt up from his chair. “Sarge…”
“Sharon’s not picking up,” Terry growled, gathering his coat and keys, muscles bulging.
Jake glanced at Amy, who had appeared next to his side. “We can handle things here.” Amy nodded in agreement, “Go.”
Terry stormed out.
Rosa jerked suddenly where she stood, eyes widening.
“I have to go too.”
Amy opened her mouth to respond, brow furrowing in confusion.
“Iggy and Nikolaj were with Genevieve. Someone needs to go check on them.” And with that, Rosa too left.
The next few hours were a blur of crisis control and grief. Jake felt like he was moving through a thick fog—the sort of fog one dreams about, that somehow makes the whole world languid and sluggish. Amy’s hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
They had both managed to get in touch with their families, or what was left of them. Three of Amy’s brothers were gone, as were both of her parents. Jake’s mother as well. (Jake felt guilty that he wished it had been his dad instead.)
Nothing felt real.
Rosa was the first to return, lugging two overstuffed duffle bags, holding Iggy on one hip and pulling Nikolaj along with her other hand. Iggy looked a little dazed; Nikolaj, on the other hand, looked terrified.
Jake and Amy met her at the entrance to the bullpen, Amy grabbing Iggy so that Rosa could put down her baggage. Rosa looked at them both, and shook her head minutely.
“Hey buddy,” Jake breathed out, dropping to his knees in order to wrap Nikolaj in a tight hug.
“I wasn’t sure what our next steps were, so I grabbed a bunch of their stuff,” Rosa said, nodding towards the duffles.
“Smort.”
Amy shot Jake a look. Really?
Jake grimaced. “Sorry. Reflex.”
“So what do we know?” Rosa asked, desperate to keep moving, to go on to the next thing so that she wouldn’t have to stop and think about what was happening. “What’s the latest?”
Jake glanced at Nikolaj and then back at Rosa. Amy picked up on the cue and reached for the 6-year-old’s hand. “Why don’t we go find some toys for Iggy to play with?” she said, all false cheer as she led him away, Iggy in tow.
Jake sighed, and began updating Rosa about his and Amy’s families.
“I’m sorry.” Rosa said, adding with slight embarrassment, “Both of my parents made it.”
“I’m really glad to hear that.” He meant it. “No one’s heard from Holt yet. Amy and I have tried his house and his cell about ten times each, but no one’s picking up. I would try Kevin, but none of us has his number.” Jake knew that he should have Kevin’s number, especially after all that time at the safe house; but phones had been off-limits, and Jake had never thought to ask for it after the whole situation blew over. “I think Gina has… had it, but we can’t find her phone. It’s like it disappeared with her…”
Rosa actually chuckled. “It’s always been a part of her.”
“Anyway, there aren’t many people left around here at the moment. A couple beat cops went out to help with things, but I think most went to check on family and friends. Hard to blame them. How are things looking out there?”
“Weird,” Rosa replied. “People running all over the place, but it’s also—quiet. And empty, almost. Roads are pretty congested though. Lots of cars just sitting in the road, no driver, but I was able to get around okay on my bike.”
Jake held up his hand. “Wait. You rode here with Nikolaj and Iggy and all that crap on your bike?”
Rosa just shrugged. Jake had never been so grateful for Rosa’s badassery. If anyone had the skills necessary for… whatever this was, it was her.
“Any word on what happened though?” Rosa was looking at the TV, which was playing a pared-down version of the news. Only one anchor sat at the news desk, reading off of bulletins as an assistant—always the same one—brought them to her on camera. Production value was far from a priority.
“Seems to be everywhere. And nothing’s official yet but—they’re saying it’s half.”
Her eyes widened. “Half of what?!”
“Of everyone. People… animals, too, and…” Jake trailed off at the sound of the elevator dinging. “Oh no…”
It was Terry stepping out. Terry, with Ava clutched in his arms, and no one else. (Like Rosa, he had clearly packed a bag. You couldn’t beat the good sense and forethought of the Nine-Nine.) He strode swiftly across the bullpen, straight to Captain Holt’s office, and slammed the door behind him.
Rosa and Jake looked at each other, momentarily frozen in place. Rosa was the first to rouse from the shock, muttering, “Come on,” as she took off toward Holt’s office. Jake followed.
Late afternoon bled into evening. A small handful of the night crew actually showed up, which took most of the pressure off of Rosa, Jake, and Amy. (No one expected Terry to do much of anything, and he hadn’t emerged from Holt’s office.) There was surprisingly little to do anyway. There was still a massive dearth of information, and no one had a good read on what even needed to get done.
Eventually Amy brought Nikolaj and Iggy into Holt’s office and got them settled on the couch for the night. Around 2 am, Jake dragged in all the cushions from the other couches in the precinct, before curling up next to where Amy had dozed off against the couch. Terry relocated from the desk chair to one of the piles of cushions. He hadn’t put Ava down since returning from his home, and he continued to hold her tightly as he managed to somehow fit his large frame into the small space between the desk and the bookshelf.
A few minutes later, Rosa slinked in, softly shutting the door behind her.
Perhaps it was the sheer weight of grief, or a desire to escape the all-encompassing confusion of the previous 17 hours. Whatever the reason, everyone quickly sank into a deep sleep.
Still, everyone was bleary-eyed and sluggish in the morning, both from the short period of sleep and from the sort of dehydration that follows a day full of crying. Amy had a full-on meltdown around 10 am. Nothing in particular seemed to precipitate it; it was as if suddenly the well of sadness that had been building since yesterday spilled over. Jake sat in the briefing room with her and held her as she sobbed, shedding his own tears for what they had lost.
Noontime came around and the whole team was gather in Holt’s office once more. Terry was filling them in on the latest news: the military was sending people, and needed a base in the neighborhood, so they’d be taking over the Nine-Nine. If the remaining members of the squad wanted to keep helping out, they would have to do so from another precinct.
Jake wouldn’t have it. “No.”
Terry rubbed his hand tiredly over his face. “Look, Peralta, I’m just telling you—“
“We’re not separating.”
“But we can’t all stay here. That’s all I’m saying.”
“I know that.” Jake looked around at what was left of the squad—of their family. “I think we should go to Captain Holt’s place.”
Terry and Rosa immediately began talking over one another. Amy just sighed sadly and said, “He’s gone, Jake.” Jake held up his hands to silence the room.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hear me out guys.” Jake swallowed heavily. “Look. I’m not naive. I know what we’re likely to find. I know that Kevin or Holt should have called us by now. But we owe it to the Captain to check. What if Cheddar’s all alone? Plus—“ He hesitated, choosing his next words carefully. “I’m really worried about the Captain.”
Rosa squinted at him. She wasn’t following his logic. “We all are, but he’s either there or he’s not.”
Jake shook his head. “No… I just can’t shake this feeling. You guys weren’t there when he was getting me and Kevin set up at the safe house. You didn’t hear him talk about what he might do if something happened to Kevin. I—what if…what if Kevin disappeared and Holt got left behind? And then he’s been alone this whole time? What if he does something…”
Terry cut in before Jake could finish the thought. They were all painfully aware of where it was headed. “Ok, ok, fair point. But why can’t you and”—gesturing to where Rosa was pacing the room—“Diaz just go and then report back?”
“Because we need to stay together, and we need to find somewhere more stable to set up a base. We have three kids to take care of.” Five, Jake couldn’t help but think. There should be five kids.
Terry remained skeptical. “So we all go there? Why not go to one of our places instead?”
Jake shifted to the edge of his seat, legs bobbling with nervous energy. “Look, here’s the deal.” He began counting his points on his fingers. “We need to check on Holt. We can’t stay here, the military is coming. We can’t necessarily rely on being able to make multiple trips to separate locations right now—it risks us getting separated. I’m not leaving Amy, I’m not leaving Rosa, and I’m sure as hell not leaving you right now. And there’s not a single one of these kids I don’t feel personally responsible for. Ava’s my goddaughter, Nikolaj is basically my nephew, and I promised Gina I’d watch Iggy when…” His voice began to crack.
Silence fell over the room.
Rosa stopped pacing. “Jake’s right.”
Terry opened his mouth in protest, but Rosa continued before he could speak. “The roads out there are bad. You saw them yourself, Sarge. We don’t want to do anything that would mean we’d have to rely on traveling too much to stick together.”
Amy perked up and piped in. “I’ve heard chatter about roadblocks and curfews. We don’t want to end up on opposite sides of those.”
Terry sighed and leaned back in his chair. He glanced at where Ava was playing on the carpet, and slowly started to nod. “Ok.”
Jake saw his chance to really drive home his argument. “We don’t have to totally abandon our posts. We take the time we need to do right by Holt and get these kids sorted out. And then we figure out a way to send people to help out. Plus, Holt’s place is a perfect base for us. It’s got space and it’s in a safe neighborhood. He will… he would want us to be together. I’m sure of it.”
“Alright.” Terry slapped his hands on the desk. “Let’s get our things together.”