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vernonfielding · 5 years

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Heads and Hot Dogs and the Best Day Ever

This story was written for @nerd-husbands for @b99fandomevents. The prompt was a case from Nikolaj’s point of view. Nerd-husbands, I know your first writer couldn’t participate after all, but that’s their loss because I was delighted to get to write for you! I had a lot of fun with this prompt, and I hope you enjoy your story.

Thank you to @fezzle for the speedy beta. And thank you to @startofamoment and @elsaclack for organizing this fic exchange and letting me bounce in at the last minute (actually AFTER the last minute).

Read on AO3.

Before Nikolaj came to Brooklyn he was scared of police officers. So scared. There had been a woman at the orphanage who told the boys that if they didn’t behave then the police would come and take them away, and Niko believed her. The funny thing is that the police did take him away, even though he always behaved, and it was the best thing that ever happened to him.

He wasn’t afraid of Daddy, of course, because Daddy wasn’t scary and also he didn’t know that Daddy was a police officer before he met him. But the first time he went with Daddy to the Nine-Nine he was terrified.

When Niko saw Sergeant Terry he hid behind Daddy’s legs because he’d never seen anyone so big, and Sergeant Terry had been yelling at someone on the phone. But when Daddy introduced them Sergeant Terry smiled so wide that it was impossible not to smile back at him, and then he got down on one knee and offered to shake Niko’s hand, which no one had ever done to him before. After that, Niko loved Terry.

He loved Sergeant Amy too, even though she sometimes got nervous around him, and was always asking him funny questions like if he wanted to play with her stapler or her hole puncher when he saw her at her desk. She had the best pens and pencils. He loved Captain Holt, who was always so serious and had a face like a statue, and he loved Mr. Kevin, who had given him a book of Latvian fairy tales when they met. He loved Gina because she told him stories that he didn’t understand but that made him laugh anyway. And Niko especially loved Jake, because he was silly and he was Daddy’s best friend.

But he loved Detective Rosa best of all. Rosa smelled like leather and motor oil and fresh flowers from the farmer’s market, and she had long shiny hair and dark eyes that held secrets and a special-occasion smile. Rosa reminded him a little bit about the good things from Latvia, the things he didn’t want to forget. Also, sometimes she let him look at the knives she kept in her desk.

“Rosa, I need a huge favor.” Niko looked up from the comic book he’d been reading at Daddy’s desk. His school had been canceled last minute because of a plumbing problem so Niko had gone to work with Daddy, which he didn’t mind, even though it was Tuesday and they had hot dogs on Tuesday. Niko only ever got hot dogs at school and they were his favorite food.

“You know I don’t do favors, Boyle,” Rosa said.

“I know, but I’m really stuck. Jake and I just got a huge break in that-” Daddy looked back at Niko, gave him a thumbs up, and then mouthed “murder” at Rosa. Niko rolled his eyes, just a little, and pretended to go back to reading. “And I just need you to look after Niko, for like, an hour.”

“Sure.”

Niko’s head popped up and he was sure he looked just as shocked as Daddy did. “Sure? Just like that?”

“Sure,” Rosa said.

“Well, okay, that’s great.” Daddy backed away slowly from Rosa’s desk. “If you’re sure-”

“Go now, Charles,” Rosa said.

Daddy ran back to his desk and kissed Niko on top of the head. “Be good for Detective Rosa. I’ll be back soon. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Niko said and smiled wide so Daddy would know he was okay.

Jake came by just then and they grabbed their jackets and their guns and Daddy patted his pockets to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything and they left.

“You want to ransack Santiago’s desk for pens?” Rosa said.

“Yes please.” Niko jumped up and followed Rosa to the elevator. This was going to be the best day.

+++

Sergeant Amy wasn’t at work today, Rosa said, but Niko knew which desk was hers right away because of the framed photo of her and Jake, up close to the camera and smiling really big and looking goofy. Hers was also the only desk with all of the office supplies lined up by size. Rosa told Niko to take all of the pens, and she showed him a special box shoved to the very back of one drawer that had even more pens, in black and blue mostly but also green and red and purple and one called coriander.

“Are you sure Sergeant Amy won’t mind?”

“She won’t even notice they’re missing,” said Rosa, with the kind of smile that was only for herself, like she was thinking happy things.

Rosa asked how old Niko was as they were riding up the elevator.

“Daddy thinks I’m 8 years old,” Niko said.

“He thinks you are? He doesn’t know?”

“Oh no, no one knows. They kept terrible records at the orphanage.” Niko looked up at Rosa and put on his best Boyle smile, the one with all of his teeth. “May I push all of the buttons on the elevator after we get to our floor?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Thank you, Detective Rosa!”

“Just call me Rosa.”

“Okay!”

+++

Niko was drawing an amazing picture with unicorns and a rainbow and Captain Latvia that he planned to leave on Sergeant Amy’s desk later, to say thank you for the pens, when Captain Holt came up to Rosa. He handed her a file and said, “We just got a lead on those decapitated-” he glanced at Niko, bared his teeth in what was maybe supposed to be a smile, “-things that keep showing up in subway stations. Can you work the case?”

He looked meaningfully at Niko again, and Niko bent further over his drawing. Rosa said, “Yeah, it’s fine.”

Not long after that, a woman came in. Rosa said she was a witness. She sat in a chair beside Rosa’s desk and Rosa asked about what she’d found in the apartment next to hers, and the woman clutched her purse very close to her chest and sucked her lips into her mouth and didn’t say anything. Rosa said, in a kind, careful voice, that the woman didn’t have to be afraid. The woman shook her head and held her purse even tighter.

Then Rosa said something in Spanish, and the woman said “sí” and nodded a little. They talked back in forth in Spanish, until finally Rosa said thank you and took out a notebook and a pen and started writing.

Niko didn’t know a lot of Spanish, but he knew a little. He kept his head down and pretended not to listen. It was mostly the woman talking, but every time Rosa asked a question, Niko felt something warm in his chest, like he was safe. He wanted Rosa to ask him questions too.

+++

Rosa hung up her phone and said to Niko, “Your dad’s going to be a little longer. He said he brought lunch for you.”

“Oh.” Niko glanced over at the refrigerator where he’d seen Daddy put both of their lunch bags.

“What’d he bring?” Rosa said.

Niko looked up at her. Rosa’s eyes were narrowed.

“Squid ink ravioli with cheese from bat milk.” Niko swallowed the lump in his throat. “He says it’s my favorite.”

“Is it?”

Niko sighed and shook his head slowly.

“Do you want hot dogs instead?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go.”

Rosa put on her leather jacket and made Niko put on his puffy jacket and they bought hot dogs from a street vendor right outside the precinct. Niko ordered his with extra ketchup and Rosa didn’t ask if he at least wanted to try the seeded brown mustard. Rosa ordered hers with ketchup and yellow mustard and extra pickles. She bought them a soda to share and they ate outside, even though it was so cold that his nose hurt and his cheeks and chin were numb by the time they had balled up their wrappers and thrown them away. They didn’t talk at all, and Niko enjoyed watching everyone walk in and out of the building – some smiling and relieved, some nervous like the lady who had talked to Rosa earlier, a few in handcuffs. One man started yanking at his cuffs as he was led up to the doors by two policemen in uniform. When he shoved his shoulder into one of them and almost knocked him down, Rosa got up and yelled “knock it off” and grabbed the man by the back of the neck and said something quiet in his ear. The man stopped fighting.

“Are you going to tell your dad that I fed you a hot dog?” Rosa said later, as they were walking back inside.

“I tell Daddy everything.”

“Good for you,” Rosa said, and he could tell she meant it.

+++

They were waiting for the elevator back upstairs when a voice called out “Rosa” and they turned together. A woman with short blond hair and a bright, friendly face was standing at the guard’s desk, hand held up in a wave. Rosa went back to her and Niko followed.

Rosa kissed the woman quickly on the mouth and said, “Did we have plans today? Because if we did I totally forgot, I’m sorry.”

The woman laughed and tugged on a strand of Rosa’s hair, where it had fallen over her eyes. “I should say yes and get the apology points,” she said. “But no, I was just in the neighborhood. Who’s your friend?”

She looked down at Niko, who smiled and waved.

“Nikolaj. Boyle’s kid.”

“And you’re, what-” The woman paused and lifted both eyebrows. “Oh wow, are you babysitting?”

“I’m just watching him while Boyle’s out in the field.”

“So, yes, babysitting.” The woman crouched down in front of Niko and grinned at him. “I’m Jocelyn. I hope you’re giving Rosa a hard time today.”

“Hi, Jocelyn,” Niko said. “I hope I am too.”

Jocelyn laughed again. Niko liked her laugh – it was sturdy, like she really meant it. Rosa must have liked it too because she laughed with her, kind of quiet and shy.

“I’ll let you get back to work,” Jocelyn said, moving her fingers in the air around the word “work.” Jake said those were air quotes and he made the same gesture around Daddy a lot.

“Okay, I’ll see you tonight,” Rosa said. They kissed once more and Jocelyn waved at Niko and then they were back at the elevator.

“Daddy said you’re bisexual and that means you like girls and boys,” Niko said, once the doors had closed.

“Yep.”

“Good,” Niko said. “I like girls and boys too.”

When he glanced back up at Rosa, she was looking at him like maybe she had something important to say. Then she just smiled a little and said, “Yeah, that’s good.”

+++

They moved to the briefing room after lunch. Rosa stuck photos to a board that was turned away from him and she told him not to look, not even a peak. Then she opened the file Captain Holt had given her and started reading papers from it and sticking pins into a map on another board. It looked like fun and Niko asked if he could help. Rosa said she wished he could, but she was working on a very serious case and it might go to a trial in front of a judge, and if that happened then every single thing she did to solve it would be questioned. Niko understood. A judge might not like it if a kid helped solve a case, even if he only helped a tiny bit.

Instead, he asked what she was doing, and Rosa said she was marking all of the locations where a crime had occurred to see if there was anything that connected them. She explained that sometimes it was easier to see the connections than it was to imagine them just by reading individual reports.

“Like connecting the dots,” Niko said.

Rosa laughed, only this time it was a sound just like a bark. Niko was so startled by it that he jumped a little in his seat, but then he laughed too.

“Yeah, it’s actually just like connecting the dots,” she said.

Niko preferred word searches and “I Spy” games, but he liked the connect-the-dots too in the puzzle books Daddy sometimes brought home for him. Most of the time he could already tell by the way the dots were arranged what the finished drawing was going to look like, but sometimes it was a mystery until the very end, and those were the best ones. He looked up at the pins on the map. Rosa was now stringing colorful yarn between them, creating a pattern of criss-crossed lines that was beautiful but didn’t seem to reveal anything. Solving a case seemed very difficult. It was no wonder they didn’t want 8-year-olds to help.

Then Rosa set a spool of yarn in front of him, and a small plastic box filled with pins. She showed him an area of the map, in the lower right corner, where he could work.

“I can put the pins anywhere?” Niko said.

“Anywhere in this box,” Rosa said, and she drew imaginary lines with her finger to show him the boundaries.

“Don’t I need a file to work from?”

Rosa turned to the table she’d been working from and sifted through her papers. She handed him a folder.

“It’s empty,” Niko said.

“Use your imagination.”

Niko stared into his open file and stared at his corner of the map, and gave a short nod.

+++

They were sitting side by side on the work tables, legs swinging, arms folded across their chests, when Gina ducked into the room.

“Captain Holt says the Eight-Two picked up your guy and they’re bringing him in now.”

Rosa stood and started to collect the papers she’d spread across the table. Niko jumped off and asked if he should remove his pins, and Rosa said yes.

“Has Boyle checked in?” Rosa said to Gina.

“I don’t think so, but Jake called and said the scene was a mess and it was taking them a lot longer than they’d expected to get it under control.” Niko felt Gina’s eyes on the back of his neck. “Do you want me to watch Nikolaj while you-”

“I’ve got it,” Rosa said.

“You’re sure?”

“We’re fine.”

Niko turned then and grinned at Gina. “Rosa said I can shoot her gun later!”

Gina’s eyes got very big. Rosa said, “I did not say that. Don’t tell Holt I said that.”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to let little kids shoot your gun, Rosa.”

Rosa rolled her eyes. “Obviously not.”

“But, I mean, a promise is a promise.”

“We’re done here,” Rosa said, and shoved past Gina out the door. Niko followed closely behind and beamed at Gina, who gave him a high five.

At her desk, Rosa put a hand on Niko’s shoulder and squeezed.

“You are a little shit,” she said.

“I’m going to tell Daddy you said that.”

“I’m counting on it.” She gave him her special smile when she said it.

+++

Rosa told him that he would sit in the observation room and she would be in the interrogation room. She explained that he would be able to see her through the glass but she wouldn’t be able to see him. She showed him the button to press if he needed to talk to her. She also told him to never press the button unless he had somehow injured himself and was bleeding out all over the floor.

“What’s bleeding out?” Niko said.

“It’s when all of your blood gushes out of your body and you die.”

“Okay, Rosa.”

Niko had some paper and Sergeant Amy’s pens again so he could draw while Rosa talked to the man in the interrogation room. But he decided it would be more fun to watch her. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, so he paid close attention to the way Rosa moved. She closed the door carefully behind her, pressing a palm flat against it before walking into the room. She dropped her file on the table, across from the man whose hands were cuffed in front of him. He had a scruffy beard and wild hair that stuck up all over, and he looked like he might smell bad. He kept scratching his face, and there were places where the skin was rubbed raw and he was bleeding a little. Niko was glad he wasn’t in the room too.

Rosa sat down across from him and leaned back casually in her chair. She might have been talking but it was hard to tell because her back was to the window and the man wasn’t doing or saying anything in response to her, just picking at his chin. Rosa opened the file and took out some glossy photos – Niko thought they were probably the same ones that had been pinned up in the briefing room, the ones she’d told him not to look at – and lined them up on the table in front of the man. The man looked away.

For a while that was it. Sometimes Rosa would point at a photo or slide one closer to the man, and every time he would move his eyes away and stare at some other spot in the room. Finally Rosa stacked up her photos again and put them back in the file. She folded her hands in front of her, and for some reason the man did the same thing.

Then Rosa slammed her hand on the table, hard enough that the window shook a little, and the man jumped almost out of his chair. He started to cry, his face twisting up, and Rosa stood and leaned toward him over the table. She slapped the table again, though not nearly as hard, and jabbed a finger into the closed file. The man’s shoulders were shaking and he ducked his head and tried to bury his face in his cuffed hands.

The door to the observation room opened with a soft click, and Captain Holt walked in. He stood directly behind Niko and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Why don’t we go in the other room.”

“I want to stay,” Niko said.

Rosa sat back down, and she opened her file again and took out another piece of paper. She held it in front of her and Niko imagined she was reading from the page, and then she placed it in front of the man. He’d folded his hands again, and his forehead was resting against his knuckles.

“It’s over,” Captain Holt said to Niko.

“Did Rosa solve the case?”

“Yes, she did.” Captain Holt patted his shoulder, and Niko stood up and gathered his papers and Sergeant Santiago’s pens and he walked back into the bullpen. He was waiting at Rosa’s desk when she came out almost half an hour later, an unreadable look on her face. She seemed tired though, so Niko stood up so she could have her chair back.

After a few minutes, Rosa said, “Do you want to go grab an ice cream and not talk?”

“Yes, Rosa,” Niko said. They walked down the street to a bodega and she bought them both orange creamsicles and they leaned against the newspaper racks outside and watched the traffic go by.

+++

Daddy was at his desk when they got back to the precinct and he gave Niko the biggest hug. Jake gave him a bag of cookies as an apology for taking so long to bring Daddy back.

“They’re actually from the bakery where this couple was stab-” Daddy cleared his throat and Jake rolled his eyes and said, “tickled. And there was tickle juice all over the place and I’m sorry, Charles, I can’t with the tickling.”

Jake went back to his desk, where Sergeant Amy was waiting for him wearing regular clothes, not her uniform, and he kissed her very quickly on the cheek.

“So how was it?” Daddy said, pulling Niko toward him. “Did you and Detective Rosa have a good time?”

“She said I should call her Rosa, and then she solved a case about a man who was decapitating heads and leaving them at subway stations all over Brooklyn!”

The room fell silent. Daddy just sort of stared blankly for a minute, and then he patted Niko on the head and stood and faced Rosa.

“Rosa?”

“Boyle, I swear, I had no idea he knew what case I was working,” Rosa said. “I told him not to look at the photos.”

“There were photos?!” Daddy’s face was turning red and he looked like he might fall over.

“Daddy, it’s okay! The skin was so decomposed you could hardly even tell they were heads.”

Jake snort-laughed. Niko turned to find both him and Sergeant Amy nearly doubled over, their hands pressed to their mouths to stop from laughing out loud. They looked like they were in pain. Gina seemed to be taking pictures of Daddy.

Rosa said, “I am so sorry, man, I thought he had no idea.”

“It’s okay. It’s just, he’s been through so much trauma already-” Daddy sighed and stroked a hand down the back of Niko’s head. “You ready to go home, Nikolaj?”

“Okay, Daddy.”

Daddy took his hand and led him toward the elevator, but Niko stopped before he could hit the down button.

“I forgot!” Niko said, and raced back through the bullpen. He plowed into Rosa, nearly knocking her off her chair, and wrapped his arms around her neck and said in her ear, “I love you, Rosa.”

Rosa didn’t say anything, but he felt her arms go around his back and hold on tight. She smelled like hot dogs and orange creamsicles and fresh flowers and the best day ever.

“Please tell Sergeant Amy that I’m sorry I lost her coriander pen,” Niko said. And he ran back to Daddy, just as the elevator doors were opening.

THE END

#b99 #b99fic #b99fandomevents #nikolaj boyle #rosa diaz

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