It had been one of those rare opportunities for a long weekend, and Nick had taken advantage of it. Hank had left for Texas the night before for his brother's wedding, with plans to return Tuesday. Nick decided at the last minute to cash in a couple of his own long overdue vacation days and had shown up on Monroe's doorstep early Friday morning, wanting to know if his friend wanting to go on a four-day camping trip.
Monroe, reluctant to leave his comfort zone for that long, had somehow allowed himself to be talked into - what was it Nick called it? - "becoming one with nature."
So, after placing a sleeping bag and plenty of warm clothes alongside all of Nick's camping gear, Monroe found himself riding shotgun in the Grimm's jeep.
After driving for roughly two and a half hours, the pair finally arrived at Nick's favorite camping spot, not far from a stream and with several trees to store their food above ground. As they climbed out of the vehicle, Nick asked, "What do you say we get the car unloaded and camp set up, then we head down to the stream to fish?"
Monroe stood silently for a moment. "Fishing? As in, to eat them later?"
Nick immediately realized his mistake. "Right…the whole vegan thing. Well, you could always…you know, throw them back…or maybe…I don't know, hunt for berries."
The Blutbad wasn't sure if he should feel insulted. He may have been a Wesen, but he wasn't wild. Yet Nick was suggesting that he forage for food. But one look at his friend told Monroe that he hadn't meant it like that, and he let it go.
Instead he replied, "There's enough food last a week, without me going to look for more. I'll join you at the stream. Now, about this tent - where do you want it?"
They spent the next hour and a half arranging what would be their "home" for the next four days - setting up the tent, placing their sleeping bags inside, hanging their food in the trees, and gathering wood for a fire later that afternoon.
When both Nick and Monroe were satisfied with how the site looked, the Grimm picked up his fishing pole, then looked at Monroe. "I brought an extra one. You wanna fish too?"
Monroe declined. "I said I would join you; I didn't say anything about fishing, man. Even just to throw it back, I'm not sure I could handle catching a fish. Think about it: Can you imagine having a sharp piece of metal in your lip, dragging you where you don't wanna go?"
Monroe's imagery stayed with Nick the entire time he sat by the stream, which was just as well since the fish weren't biting. He stopped for lunch, sitting with Monroe under a nearby tree.
As they munched on their sandwiches, Nick noticed two small wooden figurines laying on the ground beside Monroe. He reached over to pick them up and saw that one was a wolf and the other was a man. Despite their small stature, the detail was incredible. The wolf's eyes were fixed in an intense stare, not threatening but still very protective. The man held the same gaze, and unless Nick was mistaken, he also carried a gun and wore a badge.
"These are good," Nick commented. "Did you make them?"
"Pocketknife," came the terse reply. "While you were fishing."
Nick hesitated to ask his next question, afraid he might embarrass the Blutbad. "Are they supposed to be us?"
Monroe didn't look at Nick, but even as he shrugged, it was impossible for him to hide the smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
"I guess your eye for detail comes from working on those clocks of yours." Nick set the figurines on the ground next to his friend. "I'm impressed."
A few moments passed in silence. Monroe soon reached down beside him and picked up the pieces. "Nick." He handed them to the Grimm. "Keep 'em. I can make another set some other time."
Nick smiled as he tucked the small statues in his shirt pocket. "I think I've had enough fishing for one day. Why don't we do something else? You pick."
Monroe sighed. "Seriously? This whole trip was your idea, and you're gonna ask what I wanna do?"
Nick gave Monroe a mockingly frustrated look, and the Blutbad chuckled softly. "Fine…a walk. Let's go for a walk."
"Monroe, you have yourself a deal. If you'll clean this up, I'll go pack my fishing gear."
Within twenty minutes, the Blutbad and the Grimm had set out on one of the nearby trails that Nick was familiar with. Occasionally they would banter back and forth, but mostly they walked in silence, gazing at the beauty around them and enjoying one another's company.
Nick couldn't help but think about his unlikely friendship with Monroe. As Wesen and Grimm, they should've been natural enemies. Granted, they hadn't exactly gotten off on the right foot. In the beginning, they had more or less only tolerated one another. Newly aware of his abilities, Nick had gone to Monroe for information about other Wesen, but somewhere along the way the pair had stopped seeing each other as only Grimm and Blutbad, and had started regarding one another as a friend. Nick trusted Monroe with his life, and though he'd never told Nick so, the Grimm knew Monroe trusted him too.
Nick's thoughts turned to the figurines that were lightly beating against his chest, and he remembered the protective expressions on their faces. A thought occurred to him: In any other world, a wolf and a man would be staring at one another, giving each other that look, protecting their own territory. But Monroe had implied that these pieces represented them. Instead of standing face to face, maybe…just maybe…they were meant to be standing back to back, protecting each other. Nick glanced at Monroe, and smiled to himself.
Monroe's thoughts were also on the wooden pieces. He'd worked on the minute details - which weren't easy, considering he had only a pocketknife to work with - and he was pleased with how well they'd turned out. He'd been humbled by Nick's appreciation for the intricacies of the figurines, and glad for the opportunity to offer Nick a token of friendship.
While Monroe had been hesitant at first about fraternizing with a Grimm, he soon realized that Nick wasn't like the ones he'd grown up hearing about. Nick was one of the good guys; he didn't go after Wesen unless he had a really good reason for it.
As these thoughts were running through his mind, Monroe reached his hand up to scratch behind his left ear, where he thought he felt a bug bite. He was surprised to discover a tick had attached itself to his neck. Knowing he needed to remove the little blood sucker without leaving the head in, Monroe asked Nick whether he'd brought a pair of tweezers along.
"They're back at camp; why?" Nick wanted to know.
"I seem to have picked up a passenger and I need to get rid of him." Monroe motioned behind his ear.
Nick took a look at the insect that had adjoined itself to the Blutbad.
"Yeah, we do need to get that thing out of there, don't we? Come on, let's head back to camp, and I'll yank him out for you."
The pair returned to their campsite, and as Nick dug through his pack in search of tweezers, Monroe began to feel nauseated. The world around him began to spin, and he lowered himself to the ground just before he faded into unconsciousness, thinking he heard himself telling Nick to call Rosalee.