Work was slow Thursday afternoon for the Portland PD, which was a little unusual. Nick twirled in his chair as he watched Hank reading through some files. "What are you reading?" he asked.

Before Hank could answer Nick, his phone rang and he dug it out of his pocket. "Detective Griffin speaking," he answered. Hank's eyes widened and Nick leaned in closer. "Ok, we're on our way," Hank told the caller and he hung up. "Some hikers found a dead body in the woods, so I guess we better be on our way," he told Nick, and he stood up and walked out of the precinct to his car, with Nick right behind him. They both got in the car and drove off towards the crime scene.


"So, what do we know?" Nick asked Sergeant Wu as he and Hank arrived at the scene.

"Two hikers, Michael and Laura Anderson, were hiking when they found this-" Wu said and he pointed to the dead victim, who lay sprawled on the ground covered in blood.

"Was he shot or stabbed, or-" Hank asked, pausing to allow Wu to suggest any other ideas.

"Well, it looks like the victim, who we've identified as Thomas Webber by the ID left in his pocket, was attacked by some kind of animal. He has huge, deep, scratches." Wu pointed out all of the scratches, which were hard to miss, and Hank looked disgusted, but before he could say anything, Wu added, "but as you can see, he also has two bullet holes in his chest." Wu gestured to the two bullet holes.

"Maybe he was slashed or something like that. He could've been involved in a gang," Hank suggested, looking at Nick for feedback.

Nick shook his head, a little dazed, as he stared hard at the body of Thomas Webber. "No. I don't think he was slashed," he said quietly.

Wu snorted, "it's simple; he clearly pissed off his wife, who obviously had freakishly long nails," he joked. Nick and Hank looked at him seriously and Wu returned their glares with a shrug of innocence. "What? I'm just joking," he muttered and he walked off to investigate further, leaving Nick and Hank alone with the body. Hank opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by a rustling sound that wasn't too far away.

"Did you hear that?" Hank asked, drawing his gun. Then, Nick saw someone take off through the woods in a flash of black. Thinking they could be related to the gruesome murder, he took off after them and Hank followed behind him. The person was running fast, but so were Nick and Hank. "Stop!" Hank yelled, but the person ignored him and showed no signs of slowing down, so he fired his gun well over the runner's head, attempting to distract them. "That was a warning shot, but the next one won't be, so just give it up!" he shouted angrily.

Still, the person didn't slow down, so Nick sped up, hopping over tree roots and logs. He was close now, just about ten feet away. He almost stopped when he realized the person couldn't possibly be an adult: they were only the size and build of a child. But he knew he still couldn't slow down, as they could still be a valuable witness. He could hear them breathing hard, and then, for the luck of Hank and himself, the possible suspect tripped on a tree root and fell to the ground rather harshly. They tried to get up and run again, of course, but Nick had already caught up.

"Leave me alone!" the person shouted angrily, though there was a small hint of fear well blended beneath the demand. Nick had his gun drawn now, and he rolled the person over so he could see their face. He pulled back the hood that was drawn over their head just as Hank caught up with him, and Nick realized he'd been right. It was a girl, and she looked incredibly young, about twelve or so. She had a pretty bad black eye. She had long, wild, dark hair, and she looked familiar, but he couldn't pin who she looked like.

"What the hell happened to you?" Hank asked her, puzzled by her state. Nick was confused too. They'd chased a little girl, who had run from a crime scene. What the hell was she doing around a crime scene? Even if she wasn't aware of the crime, why the hell was she out in the middle of the woods by herself? It was too odd to be a sheer coincidence.

"That's none of your business," she snapped.

Nick laughed humorlessly. "Frankly, that is our business. I'm Detective Nick Burkhardt, and this is my partner, Detective Hank Griffin. We're investigating a homicide that occurred here in the woods and we're trying to figure out what exactly happened, obviously," he explained.

She gritted her teeth and was breathing hard. "You have no idea what you're dealing with," she said through her teeth. She tried to get up, but Nick pinned her back down, though not harshly. He had no intentions of hurting a kid. "Get off of me! Leave me alone!" she shouted. There was no way she was going to make this easy for the two detectives.

"Look, if you cooperate, this can be really easy for you, and it'll help us. If you don't, this'll all just be longer and more difficult for everyone, ok? What's your name?" he asked.

"As if I'd tell you," she spat, still struggling beneath Nick's weight.

"Fierce," Hank joked with a smirk.

"Listen, we're just doing our jobs. I have no intentions of hurting you, we just want some answers," Nick said.

She stopped squirming and looked directly into his eyes and said in a low voice, "And I'm just doing my job, so I'd better not answer a fucking thing."

Nick's jaw tightened and he raised his eyebrows at her language. He grinned over his shoulder at Hank. "Ok," Nick said, "we gave you the opportunity to make this easy for yourself, but you didn't take it."

"Now we have to take you down to the precinct, call your parents up, have a nice, long interrogation," Hank stated. He grabbed one the girl's arms while Nick grabbed the other and lifted her off the ground.

"Let me go, I'm not going with you!" the girl yelled.

Nick was getting irritated with how difficult she was making this for them. "Nobody is going to hurt you, so just calm down already!" Nick snapped.

She rolled her eyes and clenched her fists together. "I beg to differ, Detective," she muttered bitterly, though she sounded slightly defeated as well. He didn't know if she thought they were actually going to hurt her, or if she was hinting at something he didn't know. He didn't ask, however.

"Hank, go get the captain. He may want to take care of this, " Nick directed Hank, who nodded and left, leaving Nick all alone with the girl, whose name Nick still didn't know.

"So what's your name?" he asked her again as he let her go. "And if you think about bolting, I'd rethink the idea," he warned.

She stood still for a moment, apparently considering her options, then sat down on the ground reluctantly and clutched her knees loosely. "Why do you really care, Detective?" she asked annoyed, though she didn't sound as harsh as before. She seemed to have calmed down and lost the aggression.

"Because I need details. I need to know what happened here, and if you were a witness, I need your name," Nick said, then he added, "or if you're covering for somebody."

The girl bit her lip and sighed, shaking her head. "A witness. If only it were that simple..." her voice trailed off slightly, as though her mind was somewhere else, which Nick thought it probably was.

"What do you mean?" Nick asked, as he squatted down so he was level with the girl. She didn't answer him, or even look at him. "Just tell me your name. Please? We're just trying to get to the bottom of this," he pleaded.

The girl sighed. "Erin," she admitted reluctantly, then she looked at him directly. "Look, I guess I see that you're just trying to do your job and help and whatever, but who the hell are you even helping?" she asked.

Nick thought about this for a moment. "I'm helping whoever needs help, Erin," he said with a small smile.

"But-" she began, but she was interrupted by Hank.

"Captain's here," Hank announced.

Erin looked up and locked eyes with the captain. "Sean?" she said, a little puzzled.

"Didn't expect to see you again, Erin," Captain Sean Renard said.

Erin gritted her teeth. "Please-the displeasure is all mine," she muttered.

"Looking well, aren't you?" he muttered sarcastically.

"Ich hasse dich," ("I hate you") she muttered.

"Wait, you guys know each other?" Nick asked confused.

The captain hesitated for a moment before saying, "we've met before. Briefly, though." He kept his eyes locked with Erin's as he said this.

"How did you guys meet?" Hank asked.

"Can we talk about this later, gentlemen? There are more important matters to be taken care of at the moment, " the captain said quickly.

Hank shrugged and Nick decided not to ask any further questions. The three took a few steps further away from Erin so as not to be overheard. "Well, Hank and I were going to take her down to the precinct to answer a few questions," Nick said.

The captain nodded in agreement with the idea. "Ok. And guys," he said, glancing over at Erin, who was apparently lost in thought, "don't let her fool you," he lowered his voice, "she may be pretty young, but I know she's no innocent kid. It won't be easy, but I want you to try your best to get whatever possible answers you can."

Nick and Hank nodded. "Yes, sir," they said in unison. The captain departed from them, heading back to the investigation.

"You can walk by yourself, or we can hold onto you so you don't try and pull a fast one. Your choice," Nick told her.

She stood up slowly and glanced around, again contemplating her options. She knew she was faster, but weighing the consequences, she decided against running away. Reluctantly, she accepted that she was just going to have to cooperate. For now. "Where are we going?" Erin demanded.

"Just down to the precinct. We're just gonna ask a few questions," Hank reassured her.