Just a little check in. This is in ep 6, obviously. What a good episode, right? Love it. This is a pretty short chapter, but I'm going to do an Evea chapter for the next chapter. Also, if you check out my deviantart account (same username) you can find some pictures of my little Grimmlins, soon to include all of them, including the as-of-yet un-introduced friends of Evea.

Also, before I start, thank you, random reader, for taking the time to review! I might not have finished this chapter in a timely manner had you not given me the encouragement to do so. I love you. And if the readers want more chapters, encourage me with reviews! :D

On with the show!

"Hey, Nick, can I-" I stopped mid-sentence, seeing our vic hugging Monroe and lifting him off of the ground. "Umm, okay. I completely just forgot everything that I came up here to do. Wait, have I been sniffing embalming fluids? What is going on out here?"

Hap put Monroe down, and Monroe looked helplessly at me. "Old friend," he said with a shrug.

"This your new girlfriend?" Hap said, giving me a once-over.

I laughed loudly, and Monroe looked embarrassed. "No!" he replied, a little too forcefully. I laughed more.

"Oh, I've been meaning to tell you that Evea has been losing sleep plotting her revenge."

"What?" Monroe said, totally confused.

I chuckled. "She won't rest until she's beaten you at Parcheesi. She's been drawing up strategies for your rematch." He relaxed and laughed.

"I'm up for round two," he said, and we both smiled.

"Are you sure she's not your girlfriend?" Hap asked.

Monroe groaned as Nick walked over. "What's up, Beyla?" he asked.

"I did a little write-up for you and Hank to look over, and I have a proposition for you when you get some time. Call me later? I'm heading out," I said, handing him a large envelope with my findings from combing through the autopsy report of the other Lasser victim: burnt to a crisp with no indications of foul play.

"Alright," he said, taking the envelope. "See you later, Beyla."

"See ya," I replied. "Bye, Hank. See you, Monroe." I "girlfriend" winked at him, he "Are you fucking kidding me?" glared at me. I was still laughing when I opened my car door.

I struggled to achieve the lighting I needed to finish painting my picture of the woods. I wasn't getting what I wanted but didn't care because my phone interrupted before I could get too disgruntled. It was Monroe, two days after I'd seen him at the station and one after his friend Hap was shot. "Hello, Monroe," I said, sitting on the counter and staring at my work in progress. "What can I do you for?"

He sighed. "I was just looking for some kind of distraction," he said, sounding upset.

"Have no fear; I shall be over in a few minutes with beer and embarrassing stories," I said, already at the fridge.

"Thanks," he replied.

It didn't take me long to get there; we didn't live far away. The door was unlocked when I arrived, so I walked right in. "Hey," I said.

"Hey," he replied.

I cracked open two beers and handed him one. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"No," he replied honestly, "but I will be."

I put a friendly, consoling hand on his shoulder. "I know that I can't possibly know what you're going through, but I lost my best friend twelve years ago this October."

"What happened?" he asked.

"Breast cancer," I said. "Really aggressive, really sudden. None of us saw it coming. She died less than a year after they found it. Sahkyo Meraz, my best friend. Evea's her daughter, you know." He looked surprised to hear that. "Yep, Evea Meraz. Her dad, Neka, works a lot, so I watch her when he's away. Didn't you wonder who she was?"

"Kind of," he admitted. "I figured she was a niece or something."

"Nope, she's the daughter of my best friend. Probably my new best friend, if I'm being honest. I've been trying to walk that line between authority figure and best friend. She's a good kid, though, so I don't have to worry about her."

"She seems like a good kid," he agreed.

"Want to hear some gossip?" I asked, getting excited about sharing Evea's private life with Monroe. He shrugged. "I think she likes this boy. I met him that same day that you came over. His name's Roddy Geiger. He's a violinist, and she's totally in love. I can just see it when she looks at him. Oh, so cute!"

Monroe laughed at my excitement. "How do you know she likes him?"

I sighed, exasperated. "I can just tell! I saw the way she looked at him! We dropped him off from the precinct, actually. You almost felons turn out to be stand-up guys!" I laughed.

"You think I'm a stand-up guy?" he said, puffing out his chest.

I laughed. "Stand-up enough to invite you over to my house. My brother, Ezhno, who you... saw, is a chef. He's trying to make good vegetarian dishes and needs some people to test them out. I told him I'd host a 'tasting party' at my house so that he can get some feedback. Want to come?"

He smiled. "I do happen to be vegetarian. Sure. When is it?"

"Next Thursday," I said, happy that one invite had RSVPed. "I'm inviting Nick, Juliette, Evea and Neka, too. It'll be great."

"I'll finally get to meet Ewan," he said with a chuckle.

"Yes you will!" I realized, a little worried. I was sure that Monroe had some preconceived notions about Ewan. I wanted Ewan to be the man that I knew he could be. Looking back, I realized that his texts had been less than exemplar and his prodding less than eloquent. What can you do?

"Thanks for coming over, Beyla," Monroe said, interrupting my probably awkward pause. "You're a stand-up girl," he added with a chuckle.

I laughed, taking a long swig of my beer. "Don't mention it, Monroe."