Many things annoyed Maria, as it wasn't the hardest thing to do. The slightest thing could tick her off and right now, that thing was shopping. She and Monroe had gone out shopping at the outlet mall to restock the fridge and pantry, but it had soon devolved into bagfuls of clock parts, toiletries, and two books he caught her looking at while they were in a used bookstore looking for a cookbook. She thanked him, knowing she'd never ask herself, but she was still a bit annoyed that they were out for so long. Not only that, but she was stuck carrying a majority of the bags so that Monroe could browse. He promised to help carry them on the long walk home, but that wasn't the point.

"Hey, uh, can I wait outside?" she asked, as her uncle walked toward another clock shop.

"I'm not sure," Monroe said, giving her a scrutinizing look.

"Please, Uncle Monroe? It's a clock shop and I know how much you love those things but my ears can't take another thirty 'cuckoo's at once," she said, speaking about an incident at the previous clock shop.

He gave a chuckle before saying "Yea that was kind of obnoxious. Alright, you can stay out here. But, don't leave the outlet! Okay?"

"Alright, I won't," she said.

He waved at her as he left her there. She would have waved back, but the bags in her arms just wouldn't allow her. The next thing on her list was to find a bench, but that was quickly forgotten as she heard a beautiful noise. It was a violin, and the guy wasn't too shabby either. She looked for where the sound could have been coming from and found a familiar sight. Roddy Geiger. She wanted to walk away as a sudden pain reentered her hand but her feet seemed to be drawn to the sound. He looked better with the dark circles removed from under his eyes. She had to bet he was sleeping better.

The crowd around him was small, but the passerby did more for him as they dropped some money into the violin case at his feet. She couldn't place the song that he was playing, but it sounded classical. Once it ended, the crowd dispersed but she walked forward and just kind of stood there as Roddy took the money out of the case and put it in his pockets. The violin was carefully placed into the case before he finally stood up to see just who decided to stick around.

"Hey!" she said. "Long time no see!"

He made a face before backing up slightly. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

She attempted to lift all of the bags in her arms but only managed half way as she said "A little shopping. You know, that kind of thing. So, you play the violin?"

"Yea," he said. "Look, I'm sorry about the whole pushing you into a wall thing. I was just really upset because my dad was in jail and they called me while you were there so-"

"You know what? Don't worry about it. Nick told me what happened when my Uncle told him I came home with a bandaged hand. He was kind of upset," Maria said, which calmed him when it came to the whole incident and him losing his temper.

"Well, you can't blame me for that one," Roddy said, a small smile on his face.

She chuckled awkwardly but kept her smile up. "So, how have things been going for you? I heard you and your dad are cleared of murder." Wow she never thought she'd say that.

"You heard right!" he said, jamming his hands into his pockets to protect them from the nippy air. "But, uh, I probably won't be doing any raves for a while."

Maria blinked three times. "I'm sorry. What did you just say?"

Roddy's eyes flew open. "You mean, Nick didn't tell you I was Retchid-Kat?" Her jaw flew open. "I'm going to take that as a no."

"You're that glorified noise maker my friend is always talking about?" she asked. She could have been polite about it but she didn't really care right then and there.

"Wow no need to heap on the compliments! Seriously, stop, I'm blushing," he said, giving her a roll of his eyes. "Yea, I'm Retchid-Kat."

"Wow. Just- wow," Maria said, not managing much else.

"So, uh, that's awkward."

"Yea. Let's just forget that happened."

"Agreed. So, what's going on with you little miss Grimm-in-training?"

Maria scoffed at that. "Pfft! I wish. Yea, my uncle's still pretty wary about that, I don't think I'll be breaking down your door with a bloody axe any time soon."

"Glad to know that's the first thing you'd do," he said. "Careful though, don't get your hand jammed in it while you're doing that."

"Okay, that was one time! Can we let it go already? I got my hand caught in your door once!" she hissed.

"Hey, sorry! Jeeze, it was just my first impression of you, and a pretty hysterical one at that. What were you thinking anyway?" Roddy asked.

"I was going to talk you out of a possible murder. Didn't I do a swell job?" she asked with a cheesy grin on her face.

"Oh yea totally! Thanks to you, I only attempted," Roddy said. The look on Maria's face told him that maybe she didn't know that either. "Look, no one died! Okay? I still didn't kill anyone- let's just- you know what?" He pulled out a piece of paper and wrote something on his knee before holding it out to her. "Here, take it."

"What is it?" she asked.

"It's my phone number. Just call me some time okay? I'm getting a little lonely. You know, living on a rat ranch and all."

"You really want to be friends with a Blutbad slash Grimm?" Maria asked, quirking her eyebrow.

"Look, you seem cool enough and I can't afford to be picky! Just take the piece of paper."

"I'd be happy to, but as you can see," she tried lifting her arms again. "Can you just put it in this bag?" she asked, holding up the bag with the books in it. She'd take this one straight to her room and there'd be no need for Monroe to ask any questions.

"Oh, gotch' ya," he said, folding it and dropping it into the bag. "Alright so call me some time, okay?"

"Okay, I will! Good bye Roddy!" she said, walking back to the place her uncle left her.

It was a lovely Sunday evening and Maria was tucked up in her room, reading a book. The chilly attic was just fine for the girl who'd rather spend the day buried in blankets than relaxing in short-shorts. Her uncle was another story. Okay, they were boxers and she didn't have a real problem with them, but she still didn't want to interact today. That is, until she heard a voice coming through the floor. She set the book on her bed and lowered herself to the floor but her Uncle's groggy voice was little more than a rumble. That and the conversation was fairly short. She wondered who he was talking to.

With this curiosity in mind, she kept herself calm and walked over to the door and made her way down stairs. On the lower set of stairs, which led up to the second floor, she met her uncle half way.

"Hey Maria, good to see you up this early. Oh, yea, Nick's coming over later with another officer. They want me to look at some watch for a case so you might wanna get dressed unless you want to stay upstairs, which is alright too. Anyway, I'm gonna get ready," Monroe said as they passed each other.

Well that was easier than she expected. But she was not going to remain upstairs. As soon as his bedroom door closed, she raced up the attic stairs to get ready. In his room, Monroe was smiling. Even if he'd rather she stay out of things like this, it was nice to see his once quiet and uninterested niece so excited for something.

Nick and Hank came over soon enough, and Monroe answered the door. Standing there was Nick and the other officer who came to their house when Nick threw Monroe into the stairs. She remembered that his name was Hank.

"Good morning," Monroe began, only to crash and burn right out of the gate. "Well not that good if somebody died I guess but um… yea come on in. That's my niece, Maria on the couch."

She looked up at hearing her name and pursed her lips in a half smile as she threw both officers a wave. She had to act like she didn't know Nick at all. He was just the asshole who slammed her uncle into a flight of stairs. Be cool.

The other cop raised a hand to her before turning back to Monroe. "Hey man, thanks for helping us out," he said.

"No problem. I like to help out N- the- the police whenever I can," he said, tripping up slightly. She couldn't say that she'd do much better in his position.

Hank didn't seem to notice as he said "Yea, this is the watch we'd like to trace," and held out the time piece in a small plastic bag.

Monroe's eyes grew wide. "A vintage Lucina? Very Nice. I'm gonna have to get in there and check a few details. Do you mind if I..?"

"Forensics cleared it!" Nick said.

Monroe looked like a child who just received a piece of candy as he took the watch back to his office area. She tried to listen in, she really did, but all she listened to was stuff about clocks and the clocks themselves all day long. She could really care less about some clock's details. Besides, the cops wouldn't start the real investigation until they were on their own. At least, that's what she gathered from the movies.

But then she heard it. The final nail in the coffin that no detective could ignore. "Nick you know where it is," Monroe said.

She had to restrain herself from saying "Way to go" out loud. A small silence followed.

"From the time you came over to apologize for the door thing! Remember?" he improvised. "I mean, if you don't remember it's right down that hall there. Actually, Maria can show you if you need someone to help."

Wow that was actually kind of smooth.

"Yea, I think I remember," Nick said, his voice tired.

"Yea just in the kitchen, there."

Hank took a little while to actually follow Nick out of the room and, when he got into the kitchen, the first thing he said was "He's a little weird, isn't he?"

"He spends his life fixing clocks. I wonder where he keeps his coffee cups," Nick said, playing it one hell of a lot cooler than Monroe did.

"You think March eleventh has something to do with Vince Chilton?"

And now the real investigation began, just like she thought it would. She made the mistake of looking at the kitchen door way and away from her book, so it was pretty obvious what she was really doing down there. Then next thing she knew, Monroe had pinched her ear. "Ah!" she said.

Once he let go he mouthed the words "No eavesdropping." He then shuffled into the kitchen. "Hey, I got something actually. Turns out, that the watch was first purchased in nineteen thirty-three by a Steven Armstrong. He gave it to his wife and she-"

"Nineteen thirty-three?" Hank asked. "Yea but what about now?"

"Yea, but I've got the whole history!" Monroe said.

"And that's great but we need to know who owns the watch now," Nick said.

"Oh I get it- okay, just the facts. Okay. So the watch was last serviced here in Portland- actually- for a Mary Robinson," Monroe said.

"Mary Robinson?" Hank asked

Nick gave him a look as he asked "You know her?"

"If she's the same Mary Robinson, I do. Assistant DA- retired about a year ago. I worked a lot of cases with her. I got a bad feeling about this."

At that, both officers began walking out the door but Nick stopped to take the bag from Monroe with a hushed "Thanks."

Monroe looked at them both walking out the door, letting out a weak "Any time" in farewell. Nick closed the door behind him.

Maria sat up saying "Well that was a little rude, am I right?"

"Yea, almost as rude as eavesdropping," Monroe said, walking back to his work space as Maria turned back to her innocent book.

Later that night while they were eating a particularly late dinner, Monroe received a phone call. He said "One second Maria," and walked into the living room to answer it. "Hey, I'm actually glad you called! I found out a bunch of information on that watch!" His tone turned darker and somewhat confused as he asked "What? What?! Oh- um- sure I can do that! Are you sure? Alright I'll be right over." He poked his head back into the kitchen. "Grab a coat, we're going to see Nick."

She stood up and asked "Why? What happened?"

"He was attacked and now he's in the hospital. He said that he needs me for something and I'm bringing you so that you don't try and sneak out or something."

She was about to grumble something along the lines of "That was one time" but thought more into what Monroe said. "Wait, Nick is in the hospital? How?"

They walked into the hospital. The scent of chemicals mingled with that of disease around her for the second time that year. She remembered the last time she'd been in a hospital room. That was the day all of this really "started". She wished that she could meet that woman, Marie, just one more time. When they entered the room Nick was in, he was tossing about on the hospital bed.

Monroe nervously stepped forward and touched his shoulder to wake him up. When he finally did, he looked down at him and said "I don't know what you were just dreaming about, but it couldn't have been good. Who did this to you?"

"If it wasn't multiple people, they must have been huge!" Maria said, noting the bruises and cuts all over Nick's body.

"Yea, he was big," he said, hissing as he moved. "And he has a rare genetic disorder that dampens the nerves and uh, abnormally dense bones-"

"A Siegbarste," Monroe interrupted. "You're basic ogre. Wait a second- you're saying you saw one here in Portland? Oh man. I've got a knot in my stomach- Siegbarste are the worst. I mean fortunately they're very rare but if you ever run across one- Well, I guess you have."

"Wait a minute," Maria said, "you dealt with one of these things before?"

"Yea, well not directly, but he came after a kid in my neighborhood two doors down, name was Freddy. This kid beat Freddy's dad to death in the garage and then used his tools to- you know. Trust me, you're lucky to be alive."

"He's after Hank," Nick said.

"Hank, as in your partner? Why?" Maria asked.

"He put him in prison."

"Oh yea, that'll do it," Monroe said, throwing his hands up exposition. "These guys carry grudges to the grave. And usually it's your grave."

Nick attempted to sit up as he said "I have to stop him."

"Good luck with that! Look man, he already put you in the hospital. Siegbarste are hard to kill. Not only do they have dense bones but they have thick skin and body odor that can stop a train!" Monroe said.

"Not immortal."

"Yea they're not immortal but in order to take them down, you've gotta get close enough to do it before they knock your block off! Unless of course you have some Siegbarste gift." Nick gave him a questioning look as he lay back down against the pillows, to which Monroe responded with "Gift. German word for poison, which I always found weird at Christmas- but that stuff is so rare. You could search your whole life and never find it. It like, grows on the north side of trees just below the timber line in Romania, or something."

He looked as though he was putting together pieces in a puzzle before saying "I think I have some."

Monroe scoffed. He said "What kind of meds do they got you on man?"

Nick just continued to speak "From my aunt."

The only thing he was able to manage in response was a soft "Oh."

"What's it do?" he asked, turning to look at Monroe.

"It calcifies their bones and kind of shatters them from the inside out. Now the problem is getting it into him," Monroe said.

"I think I know how. There's a rifle that's made for it. I need you to get it for me."

"Um, okay, he said somewhat tenuously," he said somewhat tenuously.*

"There's a trailer. I'll give you the directions. Just go there, and get it for me. The Gift is on the table on the wall with the door, and then the rifle is in the bottom of the big cabinet. Got that?"

And with that, Maria and Monroe were on another quest on Nick's behalf. This one would be much more dangerous than what they bargained for.

The gravel churned below the tires of the shabby, yellow, Volkswagen beetle as it entered the lot. Maria thought she was going to be told to wait in the car, but was happy that her uncle either didn't notice or didn't care when she got out and followed him to the trailer.

Monroe was the one to open the door as he waved around a flash light and let out a small "Oh man" at his surroundings. He flicked the light on and took a deep breath. "Dad, I swear to god I'm doing the right thing," he said as they walked in further. "Alright, Maria, you get the Siegbarste gift and I'll worry about the rifle. Okay? Nick said it should be labeled."

"Right," she said, already looking through the vials on the spinning platforms all over the table. She had half a mind to clean this place up, it was so filthy. Books were all over the tables and even the bed in the corner. She even wondered if it was really a bed and not some sort of lowered table. But, soon, she managed to find the pinkish red liquid that read Siegbarste Gift in beautiful handwriting. Somewhere deep down, she wondered if her dad had something like this. Or if he still did. Either way, she held up her prize as she said "I found it."

But, her uncle was too enthralled with the cabinet of weapons to even notice. "This is so… Awesome!" he said, picking up a few tools before pulling out the drawer at the bottom like Nick told him too. He put the case he found on top of the table in the center of the trailer. "Alright, let's get this gun together."

No sooner had they pulled into the hospital parking lot had Nick called them. Monroe was already on the phone. "Hey Nick. Whoa whoa whoa! Slow down, yea I'm bringing you the gun right now. What do you mean Hank's leaving the hospital?" Just then, they both saw Hank exiting the hospital doors and getting into his car. "Oh yea, Hank's leaving the hospital. Looks like he's going to his car." There was a small pause. "Wait, you want me to give him the gun? Does he even know about the gun? Look if he doesn't know about the gun then he's- Wait he's leaving. How am I supposed to give him the gun if he's leaving? Okay I'll do my best." He got back into the car and handed the rifle over to Maria before driving off after Hank's car. Only after they took off, did he notice that there was a truck following Hank also. Maria thought it might have been a random vehicle, but the car didn't turn away from the road. "Shit."

Monroe parked the car far off from Hank and the other car. He knew who the driver of the pickup truck had to be the Siegbarste he'd heard about.

"What are you doing?" Maria asked. "We have to help him."

"Technically, we don't have to do anything and you certainly won't do anything," he said quietly, taking the gun from her lap. "Stay here, do you understand?" he added, his voice not wavering in the slightest.

She understood how serious this was. The mental image of that Freddy kid's dad rung in her memory and she grimly shook her head so that he knew she wasn't going to pull anything this time. "I promise, I'll stay here."

"Good, thank you," he said, closing the car door. He locked it once and, for once in his life, didn't double check the lock by making it beep. He wasn't going to call attention to the car or his niece. In the event something happened to him, he wanted her to make it out of this. He just hoped that it didn't come to that.

He jogged up a small hill to see Hank and a man shouting at each other. He dropped his supplies onto the ground and began to dig through them. When he looked up, the Siegbarste had climbed into his car and used it to plow into Hank's. He mumbled a bit as he rummaged for the laced bullets and jammed them into the gun. When he looked up again, they were fighting. He knew that he might hit Hank if he missed, but the cop was soon knocked down. He didn't stand a chance if Monroe didn't do this. The Siegbarste was holding a large bolder above Hank's head, looking as though he was going to bring it down on top of him.

He fired and was surprised to see the gigantic man fall to the ground. He allowed himself a mere moment of celebration before Hank started whirling around to see where the large shot came from. That was when he began pack and said "Okay time to go!" and hurriedly raced back to the car.

Maria was looking at him with wide eyes when he got back. "You did it!" she said with a smile on her face. He was about to give a response when he sat down but, as soon as he opened his mouth, Maria was hugging him. "I'm glad you're okay," she said quietly.

He smiled. "Yea, well, same goes for you." She pulled away and sat down in her seat. Only then did he say "Now let's get out of here before the cops show up!" He started up the engine and wheeled out. "Wow, it's been a while since I've said that."

"What do you mean? When did you say that before?" Maria asked him with a smirk painted across her face. The normality of the action surprised and scared him, but he didn't answer. He was too busy thinking about what he had just done.

He thought about that the whole drive to the trailer and the time when he was locking up the rifle and the trailer it's self. He didn't speak another word other than to call Nick and say "It's done. Hank is okay. Me? Eh, I'll live. Yep, I'll see ya." He then turned to see Maria smiling at him from the passenger's seat. What could this be doing to her?

*That was a line from the show, not a grammar/spelling/editorial error. It's just a really bad joke.

Don't worry, I won't have Maria go "INSANE XD" from the pressure, but I would like to think that this could have some effect on her mentally and physically. Also, Roddy will appear in later chapters as well as Holly. I'd like to make them prominent characters and not just have Maria running around with two grown men this entire story. I'd also hate to have more OCs than I already do.

Thanks for reading, and reviews are always a treat!