The Hidden | Jake Peralta

Chapter 13

"Morning, everyone." Captain Holt walked into the precinct.

"Morning sir." Jake smiled. "Hey look..." He pointed to the stain on Holt's tie and showed the stain on his own shirt. "... we're food stain buds. Who are you wearing? Porridge?" He asked.

"Um..." Holt looked down. "Oatmeal." He said, walking away, not cleaning the stain. He had been going downhill since Kevin left for Paris and Celine has been doing her best to help him, but he refused it... taking it as pity.

Celine, Jake, Amy, Gina, Terry and Rosa huddled together, watching Holt walk away in horror.

"Oh, my God. He didn't even wipe it off." Amy gasped.

"He's totally given up on life." Gina said.

"It's loneliness." Terry said. "Ever since Kevin left for his sabbatical in Paris, he hasn't been the same."

"I've been trying to get him out of the house but he refused every suggestion I made." Celine said.

"I invited him to bar trivia, but he turned me down, not that Trivia Newton John needed the help. We're nationally ranked. It's no big deal." Amy said.

"You're right, it's not." Rosa and Celine said.

"Well, aren't you all just a bunch of big-hearted dum-dums. You want to make him feel less lonely?" Jake asked, he leaned over his desk and pulled out a case file. "This is how you do it."

"A case file?" Rosa questioned.

"Yeah, dude loves work." Jake nodded.

"I thought all your cases were closed. You were bragging about it so much last night, I couldn't hear the end of the neighbours' fight." Celine rolled her eyes.

"It ended in sex. It always does. It didn't make me horny." He muttered to her. "It's a cold case from my first year as a detective." Jake told the others.

"Is it active again?" Rosa asked.

Jake shook his head. "No, but Holt doesn't have to know that."

"So, you're gonna lie to him?" Amy gasped.

"No, I'm going to make him forget about his sadness through the power of..." Jake grabbed his penholder and threw the pens in the air. "...distraction!" He hid behind his chair, acting as if he had disappeared. "He's gone."

***

Celine walked into the break room and saw Terry going over tests.

"Hey, Serge... what's this?" She asked, gesturing to the multitude of papers.

"These are practice for the lieutenant's exam. They're kicking my butt. I can't get better than 70%." Terry answered.

"That's a C-minus, it's still a pass."

"Captain Holt gave me his test to help me study. Look at what the grader wrote on his essay. "Thank you for writing this. Reading it made me a better man." I'll never be as good a leader as Holt." Terry sighed.

Celine sat beside him. "Of course, you're not going to be a leader like Holt. Only Holt can be a good leader like Holt. You are going to be your own leader, with your own style. Terry, true leadership is more than just the power, judgement, and influence that we are accustomed to associating with it. It's about uplifting, motivating, and having a good influence that permeates our lives. A leader who walks along others, offering guidance, support, and empowerment instead than just leading from the front." She told him.

"Thanks Diaz."

"You got this, Serge." Her phone rang. "Diaz-Mikaelson." She answered. "I'm sorry, did you just say the mumps?"