Chapter 14: Halloween Heist Chaos - Part 2
POV: Amy Santiago
The aftermath of Halloween Heist required analysis, documentation, and comprehensive review—Amy's natural habitat. She sat at her desk Monday morning surrounded by color-coded charts, surveillance footage, and witness statements, reconstructing the evening's events with forensic precision.
Every movement mapped, every decision catalogued, every strategy dissected for future reference.
The official results were clear: Captain Holt had achieved victory through superior planning and psychological manipulation. But Amy's competitive mind was less interested in who won than in understanding how everyone had played the game.
Especially Detective Martinez, whose performance raised fascinating questions.
Amy spread security footage screenshots across her desk, tracing each participant's path through the precinct with mathematical precision. Jake's aggressive approach, Rosa's misdirection tactics, Charles's elaborate psychological traps—all of it followed patterns established through previous Heists.
Except for Martinez. His route was... unusual.
Frame by frame analysis revealed something that should have been impossible. Detective Martinez had navigated the entire Heist without triggering a single unintended trap, avoided every major strategic error, and positioned himself perfectly for victory until his spectacular elimination.
The statistical probability of such performance being accidental approaches zero.
Amy pulled up building schematics, overlaying Martinez's path with known trap locations. His route avoided Amy's technological barriers, circumvented Jake's physical obstacles, and somehow anticipated Rosa's ambush points with supernatural accuracy.
He moved like he already knew where everything was.
"Interesting reading?" Jake asked, settling into the chair beside her desk with coffee and obvious curiosity.
"Post-Heist analysis. Your performance was... typically Jake."
"Is that a compliment or an insult?"
"It's an observation. Aggressive tactics, creative problem-solving, ultimately defeated by superior planning." Amy pointed to her trajectory maps. "But look at Martinez's path."
Jake studied the charts with growing interest.
"He avoided every trap except Charles's finale."
"Every trap. Including ones he shouldn't have known existed."
Jake's detective instincts are processing the implications.
"Maybe he got lucky?"
Amy's expression suggested she found this explanation roughly as convincing as astrology.
"Luck doesn't create patterns, Jake. This level of navigation requires either extensive reconnaissance or..."
She paused, reluctant to voice the conclusion her analysis had reached.
"Or what?"
"Or capabilities that exceed normal observational parameters."
Martinez demonstrates impossible competence in every area where normal humans struggle.
Jake was quiet for a moment, his competitive instincts clearly wrestling with admiration for superior performance.
"You think he deliberately lost?"
"I think he deliberately triggered Charles's trap. The question is why."
Strategic thinking that prioritizes team dynamics over personal victory. Actually quite sophisticated.
Amy found herself grudgingly impressed by the psychological sophistication required to analyze the entire competitive landscape and choose deliberate failure over hollow victory.
If he actually made that choice consciously.
"Martinez," Amy called across the bullpen, "can I talk to you for a minute?"
Detective Martinez approached with the careful neutrality of someone who'd learned to be wary of Amy's analytical intensity.
"What can I do for you, Detective Santiago?"
Amy deployed her charts like weapons, spreading documentation across her desk with prosecutorial precision.
"I've been reviewing Halloween Heist performance metrics," she began. "Your tactical navigation was... exceptional."
Let's see how he explains impossible competence.
"Thank you?"
"That wasn't necessarily a compliment. Your route through the precinct avoided every major trap, predicted every strategic bottleneck, and positioned you for optimal access to the objective until your elimination."
Martinez's expression remained neutral, but Amy caught micro-signs of discomfort.
He knows I've identified something significant.
"Lucky route, I guess."
"Detective Martinez, I've analyzed seventeen different Halloween Heists. I understand statistical probability in competitive scenarios. Your performance was not luck."
Time for direct confrontation.
"You deliberately lost. Why?"
Martinez was quiet for a long moment, clearly calculating how much truth to reveal.
Interesting. He's not denying the accusation.
"I'm naturally observant," he said finally. "Good at reading people, understanding spatial relationships. Figured winning my first Heist would make me look like a show-off trying to dominate established traditions."
Partial truth. He's admitting to exceptional abilities while claiming noble motivations.
Amy's analytical mind processed this response, weighing evidence against explanation.
"You chose team harmony over personal victory."
"Something like that."
Strategic thinking that demonstrates sophisticated understanding of group dynamics.
Amy felt her competitive edge softening slightly. This wasn't someone trying to dominate through superior abilities—it was someone consciously choosing to fit in rather than stand out.
Actually quite admirable, if true.
"That's... that's actually smart strategic thinking," she admitted. "Long-term relationship management over short-term competitive gains."
Martinez's smile was genuine, carrying relief that his explanation had been accepted.
But I'm still going to study his patterns. Because natural ability or not, next year I'm prepared for his capabilities.
"Next year, I'm analyzing your observational methods before the Heist begins," Amy warned. "If you're naturally gifted at reading people and spaces, I want to understand the techniques."
"Fair enough."
Challenge accepted. This should be fascinating.
As Martinez returned to his desk, Amy opened a new file folder on her computer: "Martinez, Detective K. - Observational Analysis." It joined her collection of ongoing investigations into squad member capabilities and competitive strategies.
Everyone has patterns. I just need to identify his.
But even as Amy committed to studying Martinez's methods, she found herself respecting his choice to prioritize team integration over personal glory. Most people with exceptional abilities used them for advancement or recognition. Martinez seemed to be using his for something more complex and valuable.
Building relationships instead of building reputation. Interesting approach.
Across the bullpen, Gina looked up from her phone with the expression of someone who'd been following the entire conversation while appearing completely disinterested.
"Are we done analyzing Mystery Mike's Halloween performance?" she asked dramatically. "Because I have things to say."
Here we go.
"Such as?" Amy replied cautiously.
Gina stood, phone in hand, and began reading from what appeared to be an extensive social media thread.
"Halloween Heist Conspiracy Theory, by Gina Linetti, certified genius. Mystery Mike definitely has superhuman abilities but CHOSE to lose because he's either: A) secretly Canadian and too polite to dominate American competitions, B) a robot learning human emotions through workplace interactions, or C) actually just a good guy who understands that winning isn't everything. Honestly, option C is the most suspicious because who does that?"
She's joking, but the analysis is surprisingly accurate.
Amy watched Martinez's face as Gina continued her dramatic reading, noting his careful neutrality that didn't quite hide underlying concern.
He's worried about how close her joke comes to actual truth.
"The thread has forty-seven likes and twelve retweets," Gina announced proudly. "I'm particularly proud of the robot theory."
Jake appeared at Amy's desk, phone in hand, laughing as he read Gina's thread.
"Martinez, you've got to see this. Gina thinks you're either Canadian or artificial intelligence."
Martinez's expression just shifted to something approaching horror.
"Very funny," Martinez said carefully, but Amy noticed his hands had tensed slightly.
Why would someone react with concern to obviously ridiculous theories unless...
Unless they're not as ridiculous as they appear.
Amy filed this observation away for future investigation, adding another note to Martinez's growing file. Whatever Detective Martinez was hiding, Gina's comedic conspiracy theories were apparently hitting closer to truth than anyone realized.
Including Martinez himself.
POV: Kole Martinez
Reading Gina's conspiracy theory thread felt like watching someone accidentally solve a puzzle they didn't know they were working on. Every joke, every ridiculous observation, every comedic speculation landed uncomfortably close to truths he couldn't acknowledge.
She's not trying to expose me. She's just being Gina. But somehow that makes it worse.
"Mystery Mike definitely has superhuman abilities but CHOSE to lose..."
Superhuman abilities. She actually used the phrase 'superhuman abilities.'
"...because he's either secretly Canadian and too polite..."
Close. Wrong country, but the politeness isn't entirely inaccurate.
"...a robot learning human emotions..."
Closer than she knows. I'm someone learning to be human while wearing someone else's identity.
"...or actually just a good guy who understands that winning isn't everything."
And there it is. The truth buried in comedy.
Jake was still laughing, completely missing the psychological precision of Gina's accidental analysis.
"Canadian robot, Martinez. That's your new nickname."
Please, no.
"I prefer just Martinez," Kole replied, trying to project casual humor while his mind raced through damage control strategies.
But the real problem wasn't Jake's amusement or Gina's viral conspiracy theories. The real problem was Amy's analytical attention, now focused on him with laser intensity.
Amy deals in evidence and patterns. She's not going to be satisfied with partial explanations or comedic deflection.
She's going to keep digging until she finds answers that don't exist.
"I should get back to work," Kole said, retreating toward his desk while Amy's gaze followed him with prosecutorial focus.
Time's running out. Amy's investigating, Jake's suspicious, and Gina's accidentally revealing truths through comedy.
The careful balance I've maintained is starting to collapse.
As he settled at his desk, Kole realized that Halloween Heist had accomplished something he hadn't anticipated. Instead of proving his ability to fit in with the squad, it had highlighted just how different he was from everyone else.
Normal people don't navigate complex competitive scenarios with supernatural precision.
Normal people don't choose deliberate failure over hollow victory.
Normal people don't trigger other people's lie detection through the weight of their own deceptions.
Amy's new file folder sat on her desk like a threat and a promise. "Martinez, Detective K. - Observational Analysis." Soon, very soon, she would start asking questions that had no good answers.
Unless I find a way to give her answers that satisfy her analytical mind without revealing impossible truths.
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