A/N: A big thank you to Annie and ontheledge for taking the time to comment. :D I really appreciate it. I'm glad I'm not the only one who think R/J are hot together. ;) And I'm glad Monroe is ringing true for you ontheledge. He really is a gorgeous character that I'm having fun with.

This chapter is all Renard now, so it's not as light-hearted and more angsty. I kind of like the dynamic of having the darkest guy on the show and the most zen one in scenes together. Something about that appeals to me. :D

I'm thinking there will be one more chapter with the possibility of there being a sequel to this story, if there is any interest. Plus, I'm probably going to post another short story I have about Hank/Nick/Monroe soon. That one should be fun. ;)

Okay, thanks for reading as always. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter Two

Renard's hand went to the gun tucked in the back of his pants as he followed the gangly Blutbad into the Soldul-Deținător's apartment. An unlocked door in this woman's profession wasn't a good sign. He glanced around the tastefully decorated apartment and noted how clothes were strewn over just about every available flat surface. His hand tightened on his gun as the Blutbad transformed ahead of him. There was a sound off to their left, a scrapping of a chair and Monroe emitted a low growl. Suddenly a woman with long, dark hair appeared in the doorway, a bottle of tequila in her hand. She was wearing a short, tight-fitting dress which left little to the imagination. She looked like she'd just come home from a hard night of partying. Her face lit up at seeing Monroe.

"Roe-Roe!" she exclaimed in delight and closed the small distance between them, throwing herself at him.

Monroe immediately transformed back, catching the small woman as she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Renard noticed she managed to not let go of the tequila bottle in the process. He watched as she planted a big kiss on Monroe and took his hand off his gun.

Monroe looked uncomfortable as he didn't seem to know what to do with his hands. "Oh hey," he said, weakly smiling after such an enthusiastic greeting, "Leala is in the house. That's awesome." Monroe's voice suggested it was anything but.

Renard's lips tightened in frustration. Clearly Lorelai's mother currently inhabited her daughter's body and that wasn't of any use to him. He needed the Soldul-Deținător, not the Fantoma. He moved his shoulders restlessly, his obsession with Juliette making him tense all the time these days. Just thinking her name had the hunger in the pit of his stomach stirring and a sweat break out along the top of his lip. It'd been too long since he'd seen her last. He'd started measuring his days in units of Juliette. How long since he'd seen her, talked to her. Renard could feel her overtaking him more every moment he drew breath into his lungs.

Leala snuggled in closer to Monroe, still with her legs wrapped around his waist. "Did you miss me?" she drawled in a very Southern accent.

"Oh, sure, yeah," said Monroe unevenly. He fixed a forced smile on his face. "You're looking well."

Leala jumped down off him and preened a little. She rubbed her hands over her hips and gave a sultry smile. "Lorelai may be as boring as bat shit, but she's got one tight little ass." Leala slapped that backside for good effect.

"Speaking of Lorelai," said Monroe brightly, "do you think she's going to be putting in an appearance any time soon?"

Leala arched an eyebrow. "Now why would you want that little wallflower when you can have me?" she purred, walking up to Monroe and dragging a finger up and down his chest.

Monroe had the expression of a cornered animal on his face but was trying not to show it. "I was hoping to do some business with her. I mean, we both were."

Leala's dark gaze flicked over to where Renard was standing off to one side. She looked him over and seemed to like what she saw. Her attention turned to him as she sauntered over to him. "Well, hello there, tall, dark and handsome." She came to stand directly in front of him, tilting her head right back so she could look him in the eye. "I'm happy to do some business with the both y'all."

"We need Lorelai in a professional capacity," said Monroe hastily.

Leala's eyes were still on Renard as a devilish smile touched her lips. "Oh, I can be very professional, trust me."

Renard resisted the urge to yell in the woman's face. He just wanted to get Adalind's spell out of his system, not deal with some oversexed ghost inhabiting her daughter's body. Renard forced himself to keep his voice calm. "So, there is no ETA on Lorelai then?"

Leala gave an offended sniff and stepped back. "You can lead a horse to water, but apparently you can't make him ride you."

That play on words made little to no sense to Renard, but he wasn't going to labour the point. In this state, the woman was no use to him.

Leala glanced at the clock on the wall. "My times almost up. The jailer gave me twenty-four hours and she's real pernickety about time." She rolled her eyes. "Another annoying trait. I swear, that girl is so tightly wound up she could chew through glass and not bat an eye." She sniffed. "I blame myself. I never should have married her Daddy. The English are so uptight."

"Lorelai's father was an English professor," offered up Monroe. "He was quite the go to guy on all things Wessen."

Renard stuck his hand into his coat pocket, not caring. His hand immediately felt for the earring he'd secreted away there. It was Juliette's. He'd taken it when he'd walked into her bedroom to watch her shower and stolen it on impulse. There had been something so compelling about taking an item which had been against Juliette's skin. Renard ran his fingers over the little piece of jewellery, feeling it calm him. Touching it was by extension touching her and it was all he could think about these days. What would she feel like to touch, the smell of her in his nostrils and the taste of her in his mouth. His heart started to thump erratically in his chest and his breathing roughened slightly. The earring bit into his flesh as he gripped it so tightly he almost drew blood. Sweat ran down his back and dampened his shirt and Renard was glad he'd opted to keep his coat on, so no one could see. It'd been too long since he'd seen Juliette and like an addict he was jonesing for his next fix. They were still talking and Renard just wanted to scream.

"Yeah, because all things Wessen are so thrilling," said Leala sarcastically. "Lorelai threw to her daddy's side. All she wants to do is read and study. I keep telling her, there are more things in life and she should use this hot little bod before she loses it. But will she listen, no, of course not. I swear, I can't believe that child came out of my body." An impish smile played around Leala's lips. "That's why I've gotta have fun for the both of us when I get the chance." Her face clouded over. "But the little bitch screwed me over this time. She put some kind of sealing spell on her body."

"Sealing spell?" asked Monroe.

Leala made a frustrated noise. "Yeah, every time I got some pretty young fella to touch me, everything kinda went limp on him. That sneaky little bitch hexed me up real good so I couldn't have any fun at all. I tell you, I was doing her a favour. That girl of mine hasn't been laid in so long, things are going to start drying up and-." Leala stopped talking abruptly, her face screwing up. "I'm talkin'!" she shouted. "You're bein' rude!" Her accent was especially thick now, but then Leala was throwing her head back and a white cloud flew out of her mouth. She swayed a little and Monroe stepped forward to grab her arm to steady her.

She looked up at him, blinking dazedly. "Oh, Monroe, hello." Suddenly her voice was an English cultured one and it was with relief Renard realised they had Lorelai back.

Monroe looked more relaxed now and his smile was genuine. "Hey, Lorelai, it's good to see you."

Lorelai straightened up and took a step back, taking in the state of her apartment and then down at her scantily clad body. She looked back at them, a worried look etching her attractive features. "Tell me I didn't have sex with either of you?"

"No," said Monroe hastily, "we just got here."

She looked relieved. "Good, the spell held. I was a bit worried." Lorelai pulled a face, not addressing them now. "The deal was, Mother, that you could have my body for twenty-four hours. I had a perfect right to cast that spell. I'm not waking up with a tattoo of 'Open all Hours' tattooed on my ass because you have no sense of self-control." Her lips thinned as her mother obviously had something to say about that. "I'm not discussing this with you now, we've got company." Lorelai smiled pleasantly at them. "I'm so sorry. My mother can be somewhat of a handful."

"I know," said Monroe without hesitation.

Lorelai looked over at Renard. "Is this a friendly visit or professional?"

Monroe inclined his head towards Renard. "My friend here needs some help with an obsession spell."

Lorelai's intent gaze was on him as her dark eyes looked him over. "So I see," she murmured. "Looks like a bad one."

Renard's jaw hardened. He didn't like the feeling of being so easily read. "Monroe said you can help me."

"I said might be able to help," interjected Monroe quickly. "This is out of my depth but I thought you might have some insight."

Lorelai gave Renard a last piercing look and nodded. "I'll do my best but you'll have to give me a moment to slip into something less-," she looked down at her outfit, "whorish," she finished off. Lorelai wiggled a little and pulled a face. "And put on underwear, it seems." She rolled her eyes. "Thank goodness being a slut apparently skips a generation." Her tone became annoyed. "I'm not being disrespectful mother," she snapped. "You're a carnival ride, it's just a fact." Lorelai smiled sweetly at them both. "If you'll excuse me for just a moment, gentlemen. Please, make yourselves at home." She swept up her clothes off the sofa as she went by and cleared them a space.

Monroe went and sat down, but not before pulling out a pair of pink, lace panties from between the cushions. He looked uncomfortable and quickly shoved them into a nearby vase. He looked up at Renard. "Take a seat, man, you're making the place look untidy."

Renard hesitated briefly but then took a seat next to the other man. He put his hands on his knees and stared ahead, jaw set tensely. Renard couldn't help but wonder what Juliette was doing right then. His face clouded over as he wondered if she was with Nick. She and Nick still lived together, so it wasn't impossible, even if it was the middle of the day. In his mind's eye he imagined the Grimm touching her, kissing her. Unnoticed, his hands balled into fist as a pure, hot streak of jealousy ran through his entire body at the thought of anyone but him touching Juliette. Jealousy over a woman was something he'd never endured before and this unexpected emotion felt like a raging beast inside his chest, looking to claw its way out. The blood left his knuckles, fists tightening even more as he imagined Juliette kissing Nick back. The rage almost overcoming him at that thought. He wanted Nick dead in that moment. Renard wanted to tear him apart with his bare hands for even looking at her.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Renard snapped out of his dark and painful fantasy to see a concerned looking Monroe staring at him. Monroe glanced down at the white-knuckled fists Renard was making. "Or not," he said hastily.

Renard forced himself to unclench his hands and push back on his jealousy and rage. He knew where Nick was, he was out on a call with Hank, he couldn't be with Juliette. The thought calmed Renard a little and he drew in an uneven breath. "I just want this over with."

"Yeah, well, these things usually aren't so easy to get over. You know, not without some kind of body count anyway."

Renard blew out an annoyed breath, thinking of Adalind. If there was going to be a body count, he wanted her to be the first one.

Lorelai walked back into the room looking a lot more casual in jeans and white blouse. She smiled. "Okay, let's see what we have here." Walking over to a drawer, she pulled it open and started rooting around in it. "We need to see how deep this spell has gone." Lorelai gave up looking and closed the drawer. "I'm out of matches." She smiled again. "Monroe, do you mind going to the shop on the corner and grabbing me some matches?"

Monroe quickly stood up. "No, of course not. I'll be right back."

"Thank you."

Monroe hurried off and now it was just the Soldul-Deținător and him. Renard watched Lorelai take a seat on the coffee table in front of him and give him a considered look. "Now that we're alone, I think it's time we had a little talk, don't you?"

Renard held her gaze steadily. "About what?"

"About how a half-breed Royal and hexenbiest has ended up in this mess."

Renard's expression didn't change. "You know me?" He was sizing her up, evaluating what kind of threat she might present to him.

Lorelai half-smiled. "I don't, but they do."

He arched an eyebrow expectantly.

Lorelai explained herself. "Seems like you've put a few people in the spirit world lately and there is one thing you should know about the dead, they do love to talk." She glanced to the side. "Yes, mother, I'm getting to that, stop interrupting."

Renard didn't let his expression register any concern. "And what are they saying exactly?"

"That you're not to be trusted."

Renard sat up and leaned forward, so that they were face to face. "And what do you say?"

Lorelai was looking at him unblinkingly. "I'm a Soldul-Deținător, I'm all about the balance in this world and looking at you, I can see the balance has been shifted. You're like a rock in a stream, events are surging around you and the flow is being interrupted. That's not a good a thing."

"I'm a problem for you to solve," he interpreted. Renard leaned in closer to her. "So solve me," he demanded. "I need out of this obsession. I need the balance in my life restored." Renard had to get Juliette out of his head. It was like she'd crawled under his skin and wound her way into his soul. He had to be free of her. Even as he thought those things though, a part of him rebelled. Life without Juliette seemed incomprehensible to him now. It hurt to even think about her being taken from him. Renard knew that was the obsession talking because she wasn't even his to start with, but that didn't stop the way he felt. Common sense had no place in this kind of raw emotion.

"At any cost?"

"Yes," Renard ground out, forcing himself to ignore the pain it caused him.

Lorelai sat back and gave him a considered look, clearly seeing his conflict. "We'll see," she murmured, "we'll see."