TITLE: Drifting in Shadows, Waiting for the Storm, pt 1
AUTHOR: Macx
RATING: R
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belongs to me, sadly. They are owned by people with a lot more money :)
FEEDBACK: Loved
WARNINGS: Spoilers for Danse Macabre and The Three Bad Wolves
SUMMARY: Angelina's appearance and her brief but stormy connection with Monroe left the blutbad with a bad aftertaste. Now Nick's life hangs in the balance and whatever that is between them, he needs to figure it out soon or it might be too late.
I had originally planned to write a episode tag to The Three Bad Wolves, but then this got away from me... *hangs head* I'm so, so bad at writing short fics...
x x x x x x x x xx
It was a typical late autumn day in Portland. The leaves were turning golden and burnt orange, interspersed with a deep red. The weather was unpredictable and right now the sky was covered by dark clouds that threatened rain. The temperatures had dropped over night and winter was announcing itself. Still, it would be a few more weeks. Then the first snow would make the street treacherous, there would be overnight frost and iced-over streets, and finally real winter.
Detective Nick Burckhardt entered the small corner mart he liked to frequent when he drove from home to the precinct. It was perfectly located, had a wide variety of 'cop food' to go, and sometimes they also had the most wonderful donuts. In the morning there was usually a 'rush hour', which meant customers piling into the small sales area, then, just as suddenly, it was quiet again. Nick came after the rush.
A middle-aged woman looked up from where she was polishing the oak countertop near the front of the store. She was about a head smaller than him, slender, with a lean figure that reminded one of a dancer, and chestnut hair that fell down to her waist. She had bound it back into a pony tail. She smiled at him, giving the young detective a nod, then went back to her cleaning.
Until a few months ago, Nick hadn't known the woman was more than she seemed. Her name was Clari Woods and she was a Grimm creature. It had been an awkward moment right after Aunt Marie's death when Nick's abilities had flared to full power and he had easily looked past her everyday face and seen hare-like features. She had stared at him in sudden terror and only because he had known her for three years now hadn't she bolted.
Nick had told her that he wasn't 'that kind of Grimm', that he didn't hunt and kill, that he was a cop foremost and a Grimm if he had to be. Clari had quieted down after a while; ever since they had slowly become something like friends. She wasn't like Monroe, a well of information and snarky banter, but she had helped him clear the mystery of the fridge repair guy.
The beaver-like creatures were mortally frightened of Grimms, even though they were far from aggressive, more like victims, not unlike the reinigen, and ran before even thinking about standing up to someone.
"I didn't do anything, Clari," Nick had insisted as they had talked over a donut and coffee before work.
"It's their nature, detective."
She refused to call him Nick.
"I wish I could tell him I'm not out to hurt him."
"He wouldn't believe you."
"Would you know how to give him a message? That I apologize? That I'm not playing games and won't hurt him?"
She hadn't answered, but a week later she had handed him a donut without Nick ordering one.
"From Bud."
And that was that. Nick felt a little better, but he still wished he could have told the man face to face. He hated the fear in the faces of those who didn't even know him. It was worse than the anger and hatred of the others who only saw him as a Grimm.
Monroe was a refreshing difference to that.
Ever since the disaster with the Lassers, though, their relationship had ground to a halt and Nick felt more pained about that than he would have thought.
Because there had been something there, low-burning and hesitant, and it had developed over beers and talks and shared banter. The arrival of Angelina had torn the flimsy connection they were building apart and Nick hadn't felt jealous, no. He couldn't have. He was in a good relationship, right?
One that was fraying because of the secrets.
One where Juliette was shooting him strange looks sometimes, asking wordless questions.
One where he spent more and more time at work.
Eddie had noticed, of course. Not that he truly complained about a Grimm hanging out more and more at his own home. There was the snarking, sure. There was the remark about getting him his own key. There had been the hasty reassurance that Angelina had been a past relationship.
Until the two had gone romping in the woods. And hadn't that left a sour feeling…
Nick didn't know where he stood, only that his old life was falling apart and his new one was tearing him apart.
"The usual, detective?" Clari asked with a smile.
"Yes, thanks."
Hank loved the sweets from this place and Nick had lost a bet that could only be paid by half a dozen donuts and the best roast. It had taken Nick a while to find out that Clari got the donuts from a small bakery that belonged to her sister and brother-in-law, who was a hare as well, and that both catered successfully to parties, weddings and birthdays.
Sturdy wooden shelves held neat rows of various shopping goods. In the back was a fridge and this was where Nick was headed. The scent of lemon polish mixed with the faint odor of wood. An antique cash register rested on the counter. A telephone sat on a shelf behind. Nick walked past the shelves and studied the cans of soft drinks in the fridge, then took out two, added a cheese and ham sandwich, and headed back to the register.
Someone else had entered the store while he had been at the fridge. Nick felt a small tingle run down his spine, something he called his 'internal alarm'. The new customer was a nervous, scruffy-looking boy, about eighteen years old, standing at the counter. Then his alarm screamed out full force as the youth pulled a gun and pointed it at Clari. The youth's arm shook slightly.
"Money!" he demanded, voice shaking as well.
Clari's eyes were wide and she had paled dramatically. Hare-creatures were easily startled and while they would fight back, they would rather run. Clari had shared a few stories about her kind with Nick over a coffee one morning and he had been thankful to her for giving him this insight. He didn't think he would run into her kind as troublemakers, but every little bit helped. Like knowing about Bud.
The Grimm stopped dead in his tracks, but he had come too close. The boy saw him and turned away from the cash register.
He pointed his weapon towards him.
The trigger finger twitched.
Oh, crap!
It was all that coursed through his mind.
Nick tried to duck out of the way as the youth fired two quick rounds. A bottle shattered behind him. A burning pain seared through his right side. More pain exploded in his head and he fell face down onto the floor. His chest was on fire, his head was a mass of agony. Blinding lights danced in front of his eyes and it was hard to breath.
And then there was nothing.
x x x x x x
His name was John Lawrence and he had thought this would be such an easy coup. A small mart with no security detail and with only the owner manning the cash register. Just go in and get the money, then run. No one knew him here and by the time they knew what had happened, he'd be out of the state. Now things had complicated several times. He stood motionless at the counter, an expression of shock mixed with fear on his face.
Finally he approached the fallen man cautiously. He stood over the guy, shaking slightly as he pointed the gun at him. The man didn't move and he lightly kicked him in the ribs, but there was no response. A stronger kick elicited a moan. Relieved that the man was still alive, the youth moved his free hand through his long, dirty blonde hair.
He had shot a man. All he had wanted to do was rob a cash register and now he had shot a man!
"Goddamit!"
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She had been bad for him.
Right from the very first day.
Back then Monroe hadn't been the blutbad he was today and still… She had always been wild, she had been unrestrained, and while she had accepted her brother's reformation as a wieder-blutbad, she had never understood that Monroe had wanted to be tame.
She had been amazing.
They had been amazing. It had been so good and they had been so bad, running free, following instinct, being what was deep inside them: wild.
Eddie blinked hard at the tears in his eyes, the memories of such good time, of Hap and Angelina and Rolf. They hadn't been a pack; packs were bad, really, really bad. They had been friends and they had had good times together, until he had drawn the line.
He had reformed.
He had become good.
Now, after years, Angelina had come back, they had had fun… and he had strayed from his path. He had lost himself in his instincts, had broken past all his so carefully erected barriers, and he had tasted animal flesh and blood.
Eddie had felt sick to the core the moment he had realized it.
It had been even worse when that reality had included the dead body of Hap Lasser, inside his home, shot four times, killed in cold blood. Executed.
Because he had followed his nether instincts! Because he had let himself want something that wasn't right. He had run after Angelina and the rush had taken every logical thought from him. He could hardly remember anything but the need and the desire and the pent-up emotions…
And Nick's words that Angelina was bad for him hadn't helped.
Monroe swallowed hard.
Pent-up. Locked away. Bad. Restrained. Leashed.
He been in control of himself until the day Nick Burckhardt had barged into his life, had turned everything upside down. After that very first day…
Chaos.
Now she was gone, her brothers dead, her revenge and the ancient feud maybe over. Just maybe. Monroe couldn't be sure; only that he wouldn't go back to what he had been ever again. He wouldn't follow her.
'Don't push it.'
Nick had tried to talk to him several times since Angelina's disappearance, but Monroe wasn't ready to face the Grimm. The nerve to ask him to help find Angelina…!
He knew he had been rude hanging up on Nick, but at the time his emotions had been in turmoil and one more word out of Nick's mouth and he would have lost it.
In a way. Well, kinda…
Monroe sighed and tried to concentrate on the old clock he was currently working on. For the past hour he had fiddled with the delicate cogs and springs; he wasn't any further than before. Maybe he had made it even worse.
Outside it was pouring down like there was no tomorrow. It had started an hour ago, with just a light spatter, but then the weather had really hit Portland. The streets were flooding, the sky a leaden gray, the clouds hanging heavy and low. It was cold and nasty, the wind picking up, and the steady pounding against his roof and windows was kind of calming. But not enough.
It would get worse according to the forecasts.
Nick had come by twice after that, on the very same day. Knocking, ringing, knocking again. Eddie had ignored him.
After that there had been messages on his answering machine, a few more personal visits, then – the guts! – a gift basket left on his door step.
Well, the vegetables had been organic, the tofu from his favorite organic shop, and there had been two bottles of a very nice red wine.
After that, silence.
Not a single word.
In the beginning Eddie had enjoyed his Grimm-free days, but after a week of not a single peep, not even another attempt to reconcile, he had started to worry. A Grimm's job never ended and Nick always had one question or another, and he sometimes dropped by just for… what? The company?
Now there was only silence.
It was starting to unnerve the blutbad.
After another week he was ready to call the precinct, just to confirm Nick was okay.
He didn't.
Had he driven the Grimm away? And if yes, why did it hurt?
Eddie hadn't wanted to become a Grimm's sidekick/babysitter/nanny/whatever in the first place. He had wanted his peace.
Ever since Nick Burckhardt had accused him of kidnapping a young girl, the peace had gone out the window fast.
And he had enjoyed it.
Damn!
Monroe would be lying if he said he hadn't found the whole partnership just a little bit exciting. For various reasons. He wasn't a people person and never would be; loner was a good description for him. But Nick… Nick had exploded into his life with demands and requests and questions and beer and good company. He had truly enjoyed himself. He had enjoyed being around someone else. He had enjoyed Nick.
He liked Nick.
He liked a Grimm.
Eddie was close to banging his head against an available hard surface.
x x x
Outside, the world was flooded by water.
tbc...