First of all, thanks for all the lovely reviews from the last chapter, from those I've managed to PM and from guests, and those who have followed or favourite since. I really do appreciate them!

Now… a word about the long delay of updating…. Those who have been following the series since United Federation of Rare Species will know how this series is going to end… but I am really trying not to a) ruin the bromance that Nick and Jan have b) make it gloomy in the ending, because Jan would not leave unless he thought he was going on to something better.

But yeah, from the history in UFRS, Jan does develop feelings for Nick that he's uncomfortable with, and they are part of his reasons for moving on. But only part of his reasons. And… Jan's feelings for Nick are a purely one-way thing, which I have tried to handle with tact and courtesy. So, whatever your personal definition of 'slash', mine is 'contains m/m sexual relations', and that doesn't apply here, because Nick is straight in this universe, and Jan is desperately trying to respect that. Hell, we've all fallen for someone we shouldn't, haven't we?

So, although I've known the actual plot for a while, I've finally figured out a way to show Jan's last hurrah as Nick's partner in the final story in this particular series before he moves onto his homicide role with Hank Griffin. I hope. Please be really nice to me in reviews because this has taken a million years to pull together, lol. xxxxx

X x X

Nick weaved his way through the throngs of dispirited parents waiting for their baggage to turn up on the carousel as their kids zipped around, making the most of their remaining hours of vacation. He snatched his camping backpack off the caterpillar slats and bounced towards the arrivals exit, where a thick crowd gathered on the other side of the barrier. He saw a load of guys with enormous cameras, instantly thought 'paparazzi', and wondered who they were waiting for. He still had enough vacation immaturity in him to shove his shades on, ruffle his hair, widen the V at the top of his shirt and walk out waving in the exhausted style of the mile-high celeb club, amidst an explosion of flashes.

It took the guys about 15 seconds of inspecting their collective digital films to realise that they'd papped a complete nobody, and a couple of them yelled 'funny, asshole!' at him as he made his way over to Jan, who was at the far, rear corner of the crowd, visible for miles, and pumping his arms in a mimed vigorous running motion. Wondering if he was being warned about his imminent assassination by an annoyed pap, Nick sped up and had to actually chase Jan as the big guy loped rapidly across the concourse towards the carpark.

"Sorry for the pace, Nick," Jan explained on the move, "I parked in the loading bay and there's an inspector coming, so—"

"Sprint!"

They accelerated, overtaking a couple of taxis. The inspector was just a couple of yards from Jan's car so they threw themselves in and Jan sped off before the guy could take his plates. Nick buckled up and grinned at his partner as they shot off into the night. Jan grinned back blearily, very good humoured for someone who'd been called at eleven for an emergency ticket bail-out, and even more so for someone who'd probably got up at 2am to come fetch him from the airport.

"Jan, you're a total life-saver."

"You couldn't help your cards being cloned, I suppose. I'm just glad it was a cloning rather than a mugging."

Nick was grateful that Jan didn't specifically reference the attack on him. Yeah - bruises on bruises wouldn't have been pleasant. Nick flicked a twitchy glance out of the window, not wanting to think of those last couple of days at work before his trip to Mexico. He got smacked into the ground by four guys after trying to intervene in a 'domestic' row in a shopping centre, and could barely pull himself off the sidewalk without help. And back at the precinct, as he was cleaning himself up, they found that a girl that they were trying to protect from her violent partner had turned up dead in Mount Hood. It was the only time he'd ever cried on duty — academy time included. He'd had help: Jan supported him after the attack, checked him over and took him home. Then later, he spent an hour on the phone with Hank, who'd talked him through the failed case for a few minutes, sympathetically, then took his mind off things with a list of things not to do during a divorce.

If it hadn't been for them, he'd have spent a lot of time questioning his vocation as a cop. As it happened, he only felt like hell the first day, when he actually had to travel, but after that, Laurie and Dula made the vacation awesome between the pair of them, Dula on great form with her little girl staying with Grandma for a couple of weeks. So he was able to totally unwind... until he couldn't pick up his airline tickets from self-service.

"It's fine," he muttered eventually, "I'm better now." Feeling that this reply might sound terse, he added: "I don't know what I'd have done without your bail-out. So... thanks."

Jan gave him a lop-sided smile. "I must confess, it wasn't entirely altruistic. I don't need Wilson in a blacker mood than she is already. You turning up late from vacation? Not going to go down very well. Oh, by the way, do you mind crashing at mine tonight? I've got company I don't want to leave for too long, and I really can't be bothered to go all the way across town and then all the way home again."

Nick stuck his thumbs up cheerfully. A comfy bed and huge breakfast awaited... even if he had to get up again in three hours. As the night time scenery zipped past them at the speed of legal + 10%, he cast a sideways glance at Jan.

"In a really big hurry?"

"I left someone in bed, and I'd like to get back to her."

"Oh!" Ok, that was a surprise. "And... she's ok with you leaving her to pick me up in the middle of the night? And then stay with you…while she's there?"

"You and a bunch of others who decided to pitch up at about midnight. Don't worry, she's very understanding." Jan took his foot off the gas as they came into a residential area. "But she may be gone before you get up."

Nick grinned. "A secret liaison?"

"A discreet one." Jan cleared his throat and Nick could've sworn he saw his partner blush in the strobe of the streetlights zipping by. "If she wants to show herself in the morning, fine. But if she wants to take herself away early, I hope you'll ..."

"Not ask any questions. Ok. " Nick itched with curiosity. A discreet liaison... so someone they worked with, maybe? That would HAVE to be discreet. There weren't so many female cops around. He mulled.

Livvy Andersen, maybe? Nah... he rejected that flat-out. Jan was decent: he wouldn't go for anyone he didn't plan to have a meaningful connection with. Jan was vaguely fond of Livvy, but in the way of an exasperated, much older brother. Wilson... ah... NO. Sophia Benyon of their nightshift SVU team was out of the question: she was a looker, but was vigorously passive-aggressive. Hmmmm.. maybe not a work colleague, then. Perhaps someone Jan's family disapproved of?

He might find out in the morning. So, before Jan sprinted off back to his bed companion and things potentially got complicated at breakfast time, Nick rummaged in his bag for Jan's souvenir from Mexico, fished it out of its box and the polystyrene peanuts, and produced it with a beam.

"Got you a present!"

Jan looked over, since they were at a red light, and Nick saw his eyes widen at the light-bulb-headed porclain Elvis lampshade — one of two — that he'd won during the Desperado tequila drinking contest. Jan blinked a few times in the darkness. "Ah... thanks very much. That's certainly one of Mexico's ... less typical artefacts."

"Thought you'd like it. It's pretty rare."

"Yes… I can imagine."

"I got two - yours also sings 'La Guaracha'. There's a button at the bottom. And it takes a super-bright bulb so you'll need a dark corner for it."

"That's very kind of you, Nick. I will find a very, VERY dark corner to tuck it into," Jan promised, swiped his card at the main fence of his gated residential area, and slid the car quietly up the drive.

"Why's Wilson in a black mood?"

"It's been a strange couple of weeks. DeMarcos is now Area Commandant—"

Nick dragged his hands down his face. "Oh NO!"

"Oh yes. And he'll be based at Portland until the end of the month at least, before he gets his own offices. Then Renard's taking over at Portland. So there may be another transfer shuffle."

Nick grimaced. It was hard for any of the guys to get stuck into a new set-up if they kept being moved round. Hopefully this would be it for a while. "And how has local crime coped in my absence?"

"It's been shocking, Nick. Portland has missed you. I'll tell you about it in the morning because there's a lot to cover and you'll find out for yourself shortly anyway. But for the next..." Jan consulted his watch, "…five hours you're still on leave."

Nick appreciated the consideration and shot Jan a grin as they climbed out of the Spyder and jogged up the front steps. Jan let them both in and pointed down the corridor at the rear guest room, talking quietly.

"You've got the single room at the back on the left. Sorry, it's a bit of a crowded house. I'll explain in the morning. Help yourself to a drink and snack if you want one."

X x X

Jan waited to ensure that Nick had his face firmly tucked into the fridge, rubbing his hands gleefully in search of a snack, then slunk back upstairs, smiling in relief. Nick looked a hell of a lot better than last time he'd seen him, limping slowly up the steps to his apartment with his head hanging and shoulders hunched.

The sight sent his protective streak into overdrive: with a little help from Franco and Wu, he made four arrests for assault over the next three days, and spent most of his free time ordering new punchbags. Even with the catharsis, the arrests hadn't been gentle. But Nick seemed to have put the incidents behind him and his little pap-tormenting stunt at the airport was a good sign that he was back to his normal self. Thank God. He needed Nick at work: the human trafficking situation he'd been watching had started affecting the local sex workers. Even the Phoebes had come running to him for help.

His cell buzzed halfway up the stairs and he gritted his teeth. If this was another snappy text from Francine, he might just run into the woods at dawn, call his sister and roar down the line at her, just to remind her which species of wesen DNA they BOTH shared. Francine was one of the few people who could make him completely lose his temper, and lately she'd really been pushing his boundaries by treating the whole process of finding him a 'suitable partner for the Vergeer name' like a corporate recruitment campaign. His family evidently felt that 34 was unacceptably old to be single and childless.

Thinking in frustration about the warm, probably lonely companion in his bed, he opened his email just to see what he'd have to deal with in the morning. If he didn't, he'd spend time thinking about it. At least if he knew, he could then turn his brain off. But the email wasn't from his sister. A beleaguered girl called Annalise had attached a lengthy email trail between herself and Francine, demonstrating her valiant but pointless attempt to evade the date night Francine was trying to enforce, even from as far away as Wassenaar.

Jan

Ik ben in Portland van 5-15 Juli: kunnen we voor koffie ontmoeten? Jou zus maakt me gek! Misschien mogen we….

Jan read through the remainder of the short mail, chuckling at Annalise's desperate request that they met for coffee if only to say that they didn't like each other, and could then move on with their lives. 'She's driving me beserk, too,' thought Jan sympathetically, and switched his cell off. He'd reply in the morning. He opened the door quietly and peeled his shirt off, but the figure in the bed sat sleepily, wiping her eyes as she snapped on the dim bedside light.

"Hey, that was quick."

"You would've frowned upon my driving."

"Only if there was a little guy in the car with you." She giggled. "Apart from Nick."

"Cheeky," he chided mildly, and pulled his tee shirt over his head. Still, given her total patience earlier with his onslaught of unexpected guests, he couldn't expect her not to tease him a little about racing to someone else's rescue. He sat on the end of the bed to pull shoes and socks off as she perched cross-legged against his pillows, but as his hands went to his belt buckle, she leapt across the quilt and on top of him, pushing him down on the mattress with her hands spread on his chest. Her palms felt a little chilled and he put his hands over hers.

"Wow. You're really warm!"

"It's a Koninglowen thing."

"Nick ok?"

"He's fine. Just planning a three-course snack before he has a nap."

She chuckled down at him, her hair falling into her face. Jan tucked it lightly back behind her ears. "I'm SO sorry about the four hundred intrusions tonight, Cleo. Next time…"

"Never mind."

Cleo lowered her lips to his as he slid his hands around her back. She was a slow-motion kisser, which he liked. She pushed upright eventually, her face flushed and eyes sparkling dark-green in the half-light. Suddenly they took on a luminescent, crystalline quality that made him feel first dreamy, then slightly drunk. He had to snap himself out of the near trance, rolling so he was on top, bracing his weight on his forearms and holding her hands down with his fingers linked between hers.

"Cleo… no hypnotism. I don't know if you've noticed, but it's not really necessary to lure me into anything."

She blushed and looked away. "I'm sorry. Would you believe me if I said it was involuntary?"

"No." Jan almost chuckled. He knew Koningschlanginne: hypnotism was always a choice. The men sniffed out the dead and the women entranced the living. The difference with Cleo was that she used her ability for the good stuff... many a cop had been talked into an unexpectedly good deed by Cleo. Even Tony DeMarcos.

"Well... it's involuntary with you." She met his gaze and the affectionate sincerity flowed off her in waves. "I've liked you a lot for ... quite some time now."

She freed her hands and slipped them across his shoulders, down his sides and down underneath his chest, making him breathe a little faster, faster still as she ran her thumbs under the ridge of his pectorals, then traced her fingertips down to his belt. Her feather-light exploration was making his eyes water and he gasped as she gently raked her nails back up to his chest and across both sides.

She chuckled. "It's a good job wesen don't come with labels. Yours would say 'to disable lion, tickle front.'"

The tension in his denims grew painfully. "That's not strictly... tickling... Cleo."

"Is it not? Oh dear. I'd better take it easy. We don't want to have to cut your hair again."

He raised a brow as she grinned unrepentantly in the dim light, resuming her stroke attack across his front. He tensed his legs against the growing pressure and reached over a little to snap the bedside light off.

She carried on teasing him. "So... where were we?"

Balancing on one arm, he moved one of her hands from his chest to his belt buckle and bent down for a kiss. "I think we were a little further down..."

X x X

It was the best wake-up call… ever. Nick's mobile thrummed, and thrummed, and thrummed with what was either a pile of texts coming in together, or one long one with about five pages to update. Both were right: he had a couple from Dula and Laurie to check he got picked up from Portland International ok, a one-liner from Aunt Marie to make sure he hadn't got himself killed in Mexico, and one from an unrecognised number which made him sit bolt upright because it began:

Hey Nick, I hope you don't mind that I got your number from Abi. I had to beat it out of her with a pan, but she gave it up eventually…

Juliette. Three months after his 'double-date' with her and Dale, Abi willingly acting as his decoy, she'd split with Dale but wanted to 're-think her life' before diving into anything else. Nick grinned in the gloom. It seemed that she'd done her re-thinking. She would kinda like to meet him for a drink. If he was free.

Thumbs shaking, he saved her number in his cell phone and punched the air. He lay still a little while, re-reading the text about twenty times, then decided he could get a little more dozing in before having to get up. He would answer at nine or so. Early enough to seem pleased and keen, but not so early as to seem crazed. He closed his eyes comfortably on the mattress from heaven, was just slipping into that dream state where he had partial control over what was going on (being undressed by Juliette), and then his cell alarm buzzed insistently at him.

He stumbled out of bed, snatched up the huge towel from the end of the bed and raked his fingers through his bed-hair as he made his way to the ground floor bathroom. He tried the handle. Occupied. He was about to try the upstairs bathroom when the door opened and a girl walked out, shower-wet and wrapped from armpit to shin in towel. She was small. And cheerful.

"Morning, honey!" She flashed him a brilliant smile and ducked under the arm he used to hold the door open.

"Uh... hey."

He didn't recognise her. He shrugged. Cute, though a little small for Jan. Or, at least, what he figured would be a decent-sized partner for Jan. He turned and saw the girl bound athletically up the stairs, not much caring if her towel fell off or not (it did). She looked down to pick it up and then winked at him.

Nick scooted into the shower room. Who the hell was his partner seeing? One of the frickin' Phoebes? She could be... apart from Big Phoebe, he'd never actually met any of them. They were usually just unhelpful voices on the other end of the phone — Freebie being a little more forthcoming than the others, at least. He stepped into the shower and the initial blast of icy water brought him to his senses — of COURSE Jan wouldn't screw a Phoebe.

If his informants were here — as wildly against protocol as that was — there had to be a really, really good reason for it. Nick suddenly felt a little apprehensive about 'going back to work'.

He cleaned up quickly and zipped back to his room to grab clean clothes from his rucksack. Pulling on a blue long-sleeved tee-shirt, he sauntered into the kitchen, switched on the coffee machine and made straight for the fridge to start unloading the contents onto the kitchen island.

As ever, Jan's refrigerator was rammed with good stuff and it was a real test of restraint to leave some of it still on the shelves. Nick idly wondered what Jan's daily calorie intake must be: not only was he vast, but he also kept himself very fit. 3,500 cals a day, maybe? No wonder he cleaned out a hulk-sized appliance by himself each week. He picked out cheeses, lean meats and a stack of condiment jars from the fridge, and, cheerfully over-loaded, freed up his right hand to swing it shut.

There was a staring, white-faced kitchen ghoul where the fridge door had been and Nick felt his feet clear the floor and his heart smack into his rib-cage as he almost flung everything he was holding into the air in fright. A couple packets of wrapped cheese bounced away, but he saved the peanut butter and jelly jars, gripping them with white knuckles and feeling his pulse slamming in his chest, neck and behind his eyes, which he kept squeezed shut.

"Oh... my.. GOD!" Half collapsing against the kitchen island, he slid his armful of stuff onto the surface and tried to bring his pulse back down. He opened his eyes gingerly. The ghoul was still standing there, staring at him impassively.

"Hey, Nick."

"Where the hell did you come from?"

"Upstairs."

"Right." Nick wiped his hand across his face shakily and got himself together while the kitchen ghoul helped herself to the coffee machine.

She was a super-petite, super-pale, smoky-eyed girl in her early twenties, with long, dyed black hair hanging over one eye, wearing one of Jan's tee shirts, which covered her like a dress. She was even smaller than the girl who'd come out of the bathroom, topping 5-2 and around 115lb at most. The ghoul handed him a coffee. He sipped and tried for some conversation, thinking he'd recognised her voice.

"Thanks. Are you Teeny?"

"No!" She shot him an annoyed look over her coffee cup, and just as he thought he'd mortally offended Jan's secret girlfriend, she added, "I'm Freebie."

Nick blinked. There was someone teenier than Freebie around? So who was it that came out of the bathroom? Hell. Enough guessing. He decided to be a good guest and lay the breakfast table. He put out all the plates he could find, not knowing how many more girls were going to pop up, then spotted the expression of alarm on Freebie's face, directed just past his shoulder.

"Teeny!"

He whipped round to follow her line of sight, and saw the smallest chick he'd ever seen in his life stagger disoriented down the last of the stairs and nearly pitch into the wall as she made her way into the kitchen, hands out in front of her. He sprinted over and grabbed her before she fell. His grip was a little awkward so he sat with his back to the wall and pulled her down against him, shaking her lightly by the shoulder. "Hey, you alright?"

"Woozy," she mumbled, and her back seemed hot against his front, even through their clothes. He put his hand on her forehead: she was spiking a nasty fever. Then she tipped sideways a little. Shit.

"JA-AAANN! One of your... Phoebes is sick!"

"Coming!" his partner yelled promptly from upstairs, and bounded down the steps in his boxers, hair wet and a towel round his neck. He hunkered down next to them and tipped the girl's face up with his fingertips. "Alice, can you hear me?"

"J'n?" She pulled her eyes open but they were glazed and bloodshot.

She drooped against Nick's front again. Her pulse was thin and fast and he got to his feet awkwardly, carrying her over to the couch so he could put her somewhere comfortable while he put everything back into the fridge. She'd also borrowed a tee-shirt from Jan, and it rode up, showing a lot of bruising. He met Jan's eyes and winced, keeping his views on all the informants staying over to himself for the time being.

"Looks like an emergency room trip to me."

"Absolutely. It'll be quicker for me to drive. I'll just get decent and fire the Toyota up. Freebie — could you round up Gianna and all your gear? Oh... and if you find Gianna in any room other than hers, feel free to haul her out with any force considered necessary."

Nick noted the uncharacteristically dark expression on Jan's face and the gleeful one on Freebie's, and they were both off like a shot to get straightened up. He zipped over to the tap, pulled a fresh cloth out of its packet by the sink, wet it, and bent next to her to rest it on her forehead. She mumbled something about ... trainers? and shifted awkwardly on the couch.

"S'alright," he murmured, rubbing her arm. "We'll get you some help."

She settled, and Nick spent a couple of minutes whizzing around the kitchen, putting everything back that he'd got out. He'd just hunkered back next to her when he spotted a tuft of thick black... animal hair on the rug by the front leg of the couch. He picked it up and turned it over gingerly in his fingers.

"Eugh!"

Given his partner's excessive approach to hospitality, he wouldn't put it past Jan to offer protection and housing to a sick mountain lion until the vet could pick it up... or something. Jan was trotting down the stairs just as he was inspecting it and coughed sheepishly, plucking it from his fingers and dumping it in the bin.

Nick dusted his hands off. "Is there some huge, nervous cat around here, somewhere? Like a new pet?"

"Yes there is, Nick. But alas, not a pet. Would you mind bringing Alice...?"

Nick switched focus to the girl on the couch, wrapping her over in the light sheet Jan had brought downstairs with her, and carried her out to the front seat of the Toyota while Jan fixed the angle so she was lying back as much as possible. It took Jan a moment to adjust things properly, but Teeny didn't grow heavy in his arms at all. He wondered whether she was actually under 100lb, or whether he was stronger than he thought he was.

Freebie sat directly behind Jan, being the least bothered by the lack of leg space, Gianna crammed herself into the middle of the back seat, leaving Nick to squeeze in behind Teeny. Gianna shot him a look that made him force-stripped and he found himself wishing that Big Phoebe was still with them, as scary as she was. Clearly something had happened to drive the girls to Jan's place last night in a hurry, but he was still a little surprised at Jan for putting them up rather than finding them a safe-house. Getting a little too close to the job...?

Treeview was closest, so Jan headed there with the siren on and flashing light on the roof and from the moment of carrying her through the doors of the ER, she was put on saline and broad-spectrum antibiotics and sent to an observation ward. They followed her gurney so they knew where she'd been placed, left Freebie with her, and Gianna chose to return to work. She sauntered off, hair rumpled and bag strap clutched in her hand, and Nick caught the hard look that Jan cast at her back as she disappeared down the steps from the second floor.

Nick managed to contain his curiosity until they got back into the car, and then it exploded out of him. "What the hell are you doing?"

Jan sighed as he gunned the engine. "What do you want to know?"

"Ok... for starters, who the fuck is Gianna, and why are they all staying at your place?" Nick knew he sounded harsh, but the morning felt like a bit of an onslaught.

His partner didn't reply for a few moments, and eventually Nick gave him a light poke.

"Hey... no sleep-driving, ok? And by the way... we're in the wrong lane. Gresham is that way―"

"PPD first for me, I'm afraid. I'll only be a half-hour or so, then it's onto Gresham. We should still get there for nine. You can either wait for me, or you can get a ride over there."

"Course I'll wait for you," Nick said irritably. "Why wouldn't I?"

Jan looked so overly focussed on traffic that wasn't remotely heavy that Nick got the impression that he was avoiding his gaze. Nick gave Jan a friendly fist-bop in the upper arm to ease the tension a little. He hadn't meant to sound so accusing. Particularly not to someone who'd saved his ass the last night.

"Ok... so... just tell me what position you've been put in? Because normally you're 'Mr Protocol'."

"Do me a favour, Nick? Let me just get us into Portland and park up, and then I can focus. I need time to put things together in my head. Is that ok?"

"Sounds sinister, but…. Ok."

Nick held his tongue all the way to the carpark off Nelson Street, where Jan zipped into a space barely vacated by a Suzuki and leapt out of the driver's seat with a grace that belied his size. Nick clambered out in a hurry. "Hey! What about explanations?"

"Food first! I can't think without food."

"Food?" Nick jogged after Jan to a small deli place on the corner that he'd walked past a zillion times as a uniform cop, which smelt totally outstanding from outside, but which he'd never gone into. Mostly because the steak sandwiches were about six bucks each. He checked the contents of his pockets and found a screwed up ten-spot bill. Ok, maybe that could buy him a tiny sandwich and he'd have enough for a couple of beers later until he'd made his phonecall to the bank and set his finances straight. And damn… it smelt so nice. There was a bit of a queue for the breakfast sub, all guys in designer suits.

Jan turned with a lopsided smile. "Before we get into the heavy stuff, did you sleep ok? Hopefully the girls didn't give you a hard time this morning?"

"Gianna's creepy and weird. Teeny didn't do anything untowards except faint all over me, and as for Freebie… I guess she was friendly enough once she'd scared the thundercrap out of me."

"I'm sorry?"

Nick explained his early morning heart-attack with Freebie's sudden appearance behind the fridge door.

Jan face-palmed. "Oh Lord. I'm so sorry. I'd forgotten about that little habit of hers."

"It's not your fault."

"No, I should've warned you about that one thing. I didn't tell you about the first time I met her, did I?"

Nick raised a brow. "What happened?"

"I parked the Toyota round the back of the club Freebie was working at the time, expecting to go in, signal to her, chat somewhere discreetly under cover of unsavoury relations, and then get back to my car. But I was early, so I just sat there waiting for a while for the club crowd to thicken up a little."

Nick grinned in advance. "Yeah...?"

"You know what my hearing's usually like. Well, it completely let me down. I didn't even hear the back door opening. I'd just bent down in my seat to dust lint off my denims or something, sat up, and then made eye-contact with this creature of darkness in the rearview mirror because she'd slipped across the seat. Good God, Nick... cardiac arrest doesn't even cover it."

Nick pursed his lips, struggling to keep a violent chuckle under wraps. "Were you ok?"

"No! I cracked my head on the roof. I thought I was ok until I was debriefing Wilson, nodded a little too emphatically and woke up on her floor, staring at the ceiling. She went into a very brief panic until I explained that I'd already hurt my neck because I'd been severely alarmed by a prostitute. Her reaction wasn't fun."

They were next in line so Nick was able to giggle silently behind Jan as he ordered 'the usual double'. Oh God… hero. Subsidised breakfast. Nick pinged next to Jan and snatched one of the two half-baguettes as soon as it appeared on the steel deli top, cramming it into his mouth joyfully. It was beautiful. Perfect steak, the right amount of mustard, immaculately caramelised onions… it was all he could do to prevent himself from making inappropriate enjoyment noises in a public place. Jan watched him enjoying the sandwich for a moment, then turned mildly back to the guy behind the counter.

"Better make that three, Henri."

Nick stomped mid-chomp.

"Uh…. They were both for you, weren't they?" Damn. Of course they were both for Jan. He was huge and could afford twelve-buck lunches/brunches, whatever. He felt just the teensiest bit embarrassed.

"No worries, Nick. We both got robbed of breakfast this morning, it seems."

Nick offered his crumpled note but Jan just laughed and waved it away. Nick shrugged cheerfully. The less money Jan felt he owed him, the better. He paused briefly to say hey to Jason, who appeared from the back room of the Deli, and they had a quick chat about the catch-up classes he was doing at school before Nick followed Jan back to the Spyder to finish their breakfast.

They both shut the door and Jan cleared his throat. "So, your questions. Gianna: she's a fucking nightmare. If it wasn't for her first-class intel, I'd have cracked her down for persistent soliciting quite some time ago."

Nick was a little taken aback at the suddenness with which Jan was volunteering information. "Is she the new Big Phoebe, or something? What happened to her, anyway?"

"She got out of the game after Berlingo snatched her. She left for New Hampshire to stay with the one college friend who hadn't completely given up on her. But she left a void, because as you recall, Big Phoebe was…"

"The group bodyguard," Nick figured. He'd never really been allowed into that particular world of informants. Not that Jan hadn't tried enforcing the 'trust me, trust Nick' principle, but some degrees of suspicion clearly couldn't be overcome readily. "And Gianna came into this, when?"

"About a month ago, in connection with one of my earlier cases. You remember the second time we met? The tree-flinging incident?"

"Unlikely to forget it," Nick said, but he said it with a smile.

"You may recall that I looked like shit that day."

"Dragged through a work-over machine backwards, yeah. You never did explain."

"Alright, so, the previous night, I got into a tangle with two guys working the container yards. I was only there to let them know about growing evidence of human trafficking in the area and to give them cargo watchlists to check on, but they reacted like perps. One fairly painful fight later, we got them in custody, but others have taken over where they left off."

Jan took a thoughtful bite on his sandwich. "Gianna came out of one of the containers that was offloaded at the docks six months ago. She was in a bad way the first three months, but hooked up with Teeny and Freebie pretty recently. The information she's given me has led to some names, shipment times and … long story short, the girls that are being sent over here are pushing the current sex workers out of the market. Gianna is meant to be one of them. But someone's preying on them. All of them. Not just the existing girls like the Phoebes, but the new ones, too. I've written a paper on dealing with the immediate hands-on policing requirements of protecting local sex workers, but it's got to get through DeMarcos, so…. hmmm."

Nick mentally Hmmmmed with him. Fat chance. DeMarcos did not do inventive policing. "So these preying people, is that why G and the Phoebes turned up on your doorstep last night?"

"They've been sharing the same pimp-funded address for a while, now. They got busted into yesterday evening by a couple of guys who claimed that an 'arrangement' had been made. Which they knew was bullshit, because their operating area is not where they sleep at night. Freebie was already concerned that Alice was off-colour, so she wanted to call me to pick them up to go to hospital. Unfortunately, Gianna had been following me enough that she knew where to direct a cab, so they came straight to mine. Freebie was unhappy about it. Teeny just seemed dazed last night. There was no indication that she was sick."

"So…. if you weren't worried about Teeny, why did you take them in?"

"The safehouse rule only applies to recognised witnesses. Informants aren't covered, regardless of how scared shitless they are. That's part of the problem. I can deal with Gianna giving me the eyes and I can grip her wrist pretty meaningfully if her hands dive the wrong direction, but God… she so nearly got herself knocked out by Cleo last night."

Nick slid Jan a slow sideways grin and locked a gaze on him at about the same moment that Jan was butting his forehead against the steering wheel.

"Oh for FUCK'S SAKE!"

"Cleo's your secret…. Ummm..?

"YES!"

Nick's earlier urge to laugh himself silly came back to the surface and he chewed his sleeve to contain his composure. "You know… I meet guys all the time that start the conversation with 'I cannot tell a lie..' and then bullshit constantly for the next ten minutes. But you seriously can't, can you? Truth just flooooows out of you like water from a tap―"

"I used to be the secretive, safe guy, you know? It was like 'If you need help but need to keep this under wraps, tell Jan'. Not any more! What the hell is going on with me?"

Jan looked so distraught that Nick clapped him lightly on the shoulder. "I won't tell a soul, you know?"

"Thank you. Because Cleo's not a soft operator and possibly would murder me if―"

"Jan! I get it! I work with her too, remember?"

His partner half-collapsed with relief. "Thanks. And incidentally, not that I want to lead you down the wrong path, but if you could also leave it to me to explain to Wilson why I felt the need―"

"―To accommodate three working girls overnight?" Nick pulled a face but clapped Jan on the shoulder. "Trust me, I'm keeping my mouth shut on that one. Just brief me if you need back-up, alright?"

"I'll do that with the rest of the team once the paper's gone through," Jan promised. He finished his second sandwich, although Nick didn't remember him even finishing his first, and they locked up and headed for PPD.

"Why are we here anyway?" Nick asked, as they were halfway up the stairs. More staff announcements?

"Ah… no. I have a disciplinary hearing. But like I said, you don't need to stick around for that."

"WHAT?"

Jan shrugged. "I'm expecting a good outcome, so it shouldn't last long."

To Nick this sounded like a large slam against a discordant, ancient gong. Jan was Mr Mild, well-behaved and by-the-book. "Why have you got a disciplinary hearing?"

"Four assault arrests were made after you were attacked in the shopping mall. Two of them were straightforward. Two of the guys felt that I used excessive force."

Nick stared at Jan's exaggerated flippancy as he headed for the Captain's office. "And did you?"

"In hindsight…. Yes."

"JAN!"

The big guy finally stopped and turned. Nick stared him straight in the eye, defying a vague response. "Don't walk away from me like that! I happen to care about what happens, you know? What happens if this doesn't go well?"

"I get dismissed. But I don't think that'll happen."

Nick didn't get a chance to protest to that. Tony DeMarcos had already opened the office door.

X x X

Part two coming soon! (though part 10 of The Blutbau Cometh may come first…)