A/N: Thanks again for reading this, and a HUGE special thanks to MerlynPyndragon for all her hard work!

"I will talk to her," Sean decided. "No offense, but you are maybe a little too close, Hank. You two are a couple and she's now a suspect."

Hank took a deep breath but tried his best to keep his facial expressions as impassive as possible. Instead he took the last steps up to the porch and knocked on the door, ignoring the fact that he still had the keys to this house on his keyring.

Sean followed his lieutenant with a raised eyebrow. He had seen Hank in many situations, but this was new for him. And, to be true, he couldn't understand where this hate against his kind came from.

Yes, Sean thought about himself as part of the Wesen community. Not the best known one, true, but he still was only half Royal, his other part was Wesen. It didn't matter that he never revealed himself to the community to know they were there as he was there.

Complicated situation, he decided, stopping behind Hank to his right.

Hank had knocked a second time before they both heard footsteps coming up, and a key moved in a lock before the door finally opened and a woman peeked outside. Dark-skinned, big brown eyes, full lips. On first sight a normal woman. But the Royal part of him was able to take a look behind the human and recognize her for what she really was.

He was right with his suspicion. She was a Baillines.

"I'm glad you came back, Hank," the woman said with a smile.

"I'm here on duty," Hank told her. "Meet my boss, Captain Renard. He has a couple of questions for you."

She looked to Sean now, studying him for a second before her dark face went grey. "I didn't know!" She lowered her head, mumbling, "I'm sorry, your highness."

Not the usual response Sean wanted. Usually he hid his non-human parts from everyone. But this time it could be helpful to let her know what he really was.

"May we come in?" he asked. "I doubt you want your neighbours learn about this, right?"
She looked up, confused. But then she nodded and opened the door completely. "Please, come in," she whispered.

Hank hesitated but finally stepped into the house as though were stilts bound to his legs. Sean followed his detective into the house and closed the door.

Looking around, he nodded. Not his style but definitely comfortable, he decided, looking over the furniture.

"Can I offer you a drink? Coffee? Tea?" the Baillines asked.

"I'm fine." Hank's voice again was as cold as ice. Folding his arms before his chest, he leaned against a cabinet.

Sean opened his coat He smiled at her. "A coffee would be appreciated, thanks."

She left the living room where she had lead them in and left both men alone.

"Are you kidding, sir? You cannot trust her!" Hank told him with low, but very angry, voice.

"You've known her for how long?" Sean asked, calm.

Hank shrugged. "Two months."

"You see?" Sean smiled and started again, to look around.

It wasn't too surprising to find some of Hank's stuff around. The detective had pretty much moved in with the Wesen before he found out about her second nature.

"I cannot understand how you can live all your life with a lie," Hank told him.

Sean turned around. "What lie?" he asked.

"Being monsters," Hank told him.

Sean smiled. "We are not monsters, and I think you already knew that. My bet was on Nick and Monroe telling you in your first lesson," he answered. Tilting his head a little, he looked at Hank. "Surely you know that especially Blutbaden and Grimm never befriend each other. Nick and Monroe are supposed to be enemies."

"I know that!" Hank snapped. Then he realized what he just did and said, "Sorry. There's been a bit too much going on lately."

"It's okay." No, not really, Sean had to tell himself. But he could imagine what Hank was going through. It was pretty obvious that he felt guilty for the loss of his partner. Maybe that was one of the real reasons why Hank was so sure about Nick's death.

The sound of footsteeps reached them, and a moment later the Baillines was back, a cup of coffee in her hand. She gave it to Sean before she sitting down on one of the armchairs.

"What can I do for you?" she asked.

Sean looked again to Hank but the detective stood there like a statue, ignoring the houseowner completely. So Sean shrugged and sat down on the opposite side, putting the cup on the table between them.

"Is he still here?" he asked.

"Pardon?" she said. "Who?"

"Your brother!" Hank snarled. "The one in the bathtub, you remember? The one you sent me to the Spice Shop for."

Her cheeks reddened. "I'm sorry, but no," she answered. "It was better for him to go. I stay out of whatever my family is doing."

"So he IS the burglar we are looking for," Sean said and leaned back. "You know that he killed someone the other night?"
"He did ... ? Remy would never kill someone!" Her voice was very determined, her face like it was made from stone.

Sean didn't move a muscle, he only looked at her. "Remy, that's his first name, right?" he asked. "By the way, we were never properly introduced to each other. I'm Renard, Captain Sean Renard."

Her face again went grey as realization set in. "Renard as in ... the King Renard?" she whispered.

"You are not that long gone from Europe as you told Hank, right?" Sean asked.

She shook her head and looked at the ground again. "I'm Constance," she finally said, "Constance Vaurrer."

Sean nodded. "That sounds familiar," he said. "You are the daughter of Gustave Vaurrer, right? How he is doing?"

Constance stared at him. "You know my father?" she asked, breathless.

Sean lifted one side of his mouth.

Oh, long gone memories! So sweet and foreseeing of his mother to introduce him to the depths of the dark side. He learned from his mother how to make Wesen work for him long before his father put him on duty to bring in some money for the family.

"We met. Send my regards," he said and leaned back once more. "Again, Remy is the first name of your brother?"

Constance nodded.

"What about accompanies? Does he have any? I heard about the Vaurrers that they tried to work in teams of two or more," Sean asked.

"There are more than only this Remy?" Hank asked, angry. "Did you really want to make me a part of a criminal family, Stanza?"

"I didn't want to do anything like that! I turned my back on the family business years ago! I didn't want to get involved in that." Constance looked pretty desperate. "And yes, I knew who you were, Hank, when we met the first time."

Sean frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Constance looked again to him. "I knew that Hank was the partner of the local Grimm, that was what I knew. And I knew this Grimm wasn't like the one I knew. But ..." She shook her head and looked up again. "Hank, please believe me! I didn't want to hurt you!"

"You lied to me! That's more than enough to hurt me!"

Sean took a deep breath. "Could we please calm down again?" he asked then.

"Sorry, captain," Hank mumbled.

Sean sighed and gazed at Constance. "So I assume the Grimm was the main reason to come to Portland? Why do you know so much about him?"

Again she shook her head. "No, I didn't come here because of the Grimm. In fact I first heard of him after I had lived here for more than half of a year. I heard from others about him, mostly from Eisbibern. He was pretty close to them, I assume."

"He wasn't!" Hank snapped. "He wasn't hanging out with Wesen all the time!"

"Hank!" Sean fired a warning look into the direction of his detective before he then turning around again. "Your family isn't working for the Royals anymore? Isn't that where your information came from?"

"I am not close to my family, Captain Renard! I didn't want to get involved in any business anymore because of what happened to my mother. I think you know about that, right?" Constance tilted her head, her lips pressed together now.

Sean lowered his eyes and nodded.

Yes, he remembered that pretty well. It was the end of his mother when Eric found out about Claire Vaurrer. She was a spy for his mother and was finally caught by Eric. Sean didn't want to know what really happened to her, he already heard it was pretty nasty.

"I always was more into health care than into the family business," Constance continued. "After we buried our mother I packed my belongings and left home. Luckily I got the chance to study and work here. So I did. After my education I came to Portland because I got a job offer. All of this you can read in my resume, sir."

"I'm sorry," Sean said. "This was a little close."

"It was, especially because you already knew half of it, right?" Constance studied his face now, before she again lifted her head and looked at Hank. "I had never planned to fall in love with a Kehrseite, and seriously not with you. I did, that's all. If you want to blame me for my emotions, I cannot change them."

"I blame you for lying to me! You are a ... whatever you are! You should have told me!" Hank snapped.

"The right time never came," Constance whispered. "Believe it or not, I was as true to you as I could be."

"Sure!" Hank snorted.

"So, do you know where your brother is now?" Sean asked, trying to ignore the relationship drama right in front of his eyes. "No matter what, he's a suspect in a murder. If you defend and hide him, this could send you to jail too."

"What?" Constance stared at him. "Remy isn't able to kill someone! In fact he was attacked last night. That was why he came here. I didn't have a clue that he is in Portland until recently."

Sean took his cup now and sipped on the coffee in it, thoughtful.

He didn't believe this either, he had to confess. Something was wrong about this whole situation.

Constance looked at him closely. "Seriously, I know my brother, your highness. He wouldn't be able to kill someone else, even if his own life was in danger. And last night he was actually attacked himself."

"We found bloodstains at the crime scene, so we already know," Hank told her.

Constance still looked at Sean. "Please, I know how this seems to be but it's not true! Remy told me who attacked him. Someone came after him into the house. And Remy is sure that was also the killer."

Sean put the cup back on the table and leaned forward. "He knows? For sure? Did he see the attacker?"

"She's a liar, sir. You cannot believe her!" Hank cried.

"I'm not a liar. One day I would have told you. It only wasn't the right time!" Tears were in her eyes during these words.

But that wasn't what Sean noticed. It was something else behind the tears in her eyes.

"What did your brother tell you? Who attacked him?" Sean asked, suddenly getting a bad feeling.

Constance looked at him, swallowing. "I ... I don't know," she said, suddenly throaty.

"You do," Sean nodded. "What did your brother tell you? Who attacked him?"

"If I told you, who will guarantee that you won't put Remy in jail? He's hurt and that wound won't heal fast enough," Constance said.

"Right now I'm more interested in solving the murder. If your brother told you about that and he tells me, I will let him go – IF he leaves Portland immediately afterwards!" Sean answered. "And now, who killed that housekeeper and who attacked your brother?"

Constance looked up. "What's about you, Hank? Is there any chance for us in the future?" she asked.

"I'm not dating Wesen," Hank answered.

Constance closed her eyes, sobbing.

"Constance, this is important!" Sean said.

"It was a Royal," she finally answered.

Nick was flipping through the pages of the schoolbook when the door to the cell opened once more. Looking up, he sighed and rolled on his back.

"Just in case, I'm still sick. I feel like crap, to be true," he told Eric.

The Royal lifted an eyebrow. "Really? Well, then you are a really dedicated Grimm, busy with learning a new language, right?" he asked. "How is studying so far?"

"It will be a matter of time beforel the German words reveal their mysterious meanings to me, thanks for asking." Nick put one arm over his eyes, but in a way that he still could watch the Royal.

Eric leaned forward and took the book from the ground. Turning some pages, he looked at those, studying them, before he closed the book. "Useless for someone like you. You will get other books to learn from," he said. "By the way, you said you are still stick?"

"It's been a couple of hours since the pain vanished."

Eric nodded and turned around, wandering slowly back to the other side of the cell. "Nice place, your new home. Huh?" he asked after taking a look around. "You surely are happy about the view, right? Others would die to see what you can see from here." His voice was cold during these words. A warning, Nick realized. Eric wasn't too happy about the cell the two Grimm had chosen for him.

"Sorry, I was too busy getting out of my body whatever you had made me put it into it to notice," he answered blandly.

Eric shrugged. "Good for you. It will still take some time, but I think in two or three days you will be able go back to your old cell."

Slowly, Nick moved his body to the side. Leaning on his elbow, he looked at the Royal. "What do you want this time?" he asked. "Another way to torture me? You said your original plan wouldn't work because of the purification potion I drank."

"You really hurt me with this question, you know that?" Eric pulled a face. "I was worried about you and your condition."

"Really?" Again he rolled back on his back, staring up to the ceiling. "Your new slave is sick. That could mean you tanked whatever you have paid to get me here, right?"

"It's not the money, just saying." Eric leaned with his hip against the table. Folding his arms before his chest, he looked again at his captive. "You really hurt me, my dear Grimm! And I was just about to offer you an incentive."

Nick sat up slowly, draping the blanket around his body to keep himself warm. He glanced at his keeper suspiciously. "What do you have in mind?" he finally asked.

Eric shrugged. "What I said. Give you a new perspective of my offer, make it more alluring for you, so to speak," he answered.

"And how do you think you can manage that?" Nick asked, feeling his heartbeat speed up once more.

Something bad was going on, he could feel it. Eric had something in mind, and he didn't want to know what this was. On the other hand, he wouldn't have another chance to hear it, this was clear.

What was Eric's plan?

The Royal smiled and pulled a cellphone out of his trousers. "What I said. I only try to make you a better offer," he repeated.

The door opened again and Hans and Franz both stepped into the cell, coming up to Nick.

What was going on here?

Nick looked up to the two Grimm, then to Eric, who still had the cellphone in his hand. "What do you have in mind this time?" he finally asked.

Eric smiled. "First of all, I have big news for you, my dear Grimm," he said.

"You don't need the help from these two guys to bring me news I will never believe," Nick said.

Eric nodded. "True. But I think this news will probably overwhelm you. I just wanted to make sure you will not jump through the roof or do something else stupid."

A bad feeling filled his stomach and let an echo of the former pain return.

"What is it?"

Eric looked at the cellphone for a moment, before he put it on the table behind his back. "Well, it's pretty simple, my sweet Grimm. I think you and your girlfriend just reunited before I brought you here, right? I was informed about that, so lying isn't an option here." Eric's voice became colder and colder during his words.

Nick looked up to the cousins again, then he nodded. "That's true. I am pretty sure you know what Adalind did to Juliette."

"Juliette!" Eric lighty hit his forehead. "I'm sorry, I'm not that good with names."

The bad feeling grew to the size of a mountain.

If something happened to Juliette, if she was killed by the zombies back in Portland ... Nick's throat seemed to close, he couldn't breathe.

"If you do something to her, I swear to you, I will kill you!" This left Nick like a growl.

"That would definitely be interesting ..." Eric grinned.

"What do you have in mind now"? Nick asked again. "Why you are talking about Juliette? What is going on here?"

Eric smiled. "Congratulations, my dear Grimm. You have now proved your fertility! A very welcomed act, by the way. We need more Grimm, as you should know by now."

Nick still stared at the Royal, full of disbelieving and baffled. "What?"

Hans and Franz exchanged a look, smirking.

Eric grabbed his phone again and began to type something.

The bad feeling was overwhelming.

"What are you doing?" Nick asked.

If something did happen to Juliette, he would never forgive himself. It would be his fault and he wouldn't be able to live with that. Not knowing that Juliette was hurt because of him being a Grimm, as it happened once before.

Nick's hands became fists.

Finally Eric looked up again, studying his face. "Your girlfriend is pregnant. That is what I wanted to tell you, my dear Grimm."

Nick paled.

Eric turned his cellphone so he could see the display. A picture of a coffin. And in front of this coffin the laughing Cracher-Mortel.

"It is up to you now, my dear Grimm," Eric told him. "Will you work for me?"

A muscle in Nick's cheek moved, his nostrils widening. "I don't believe you! We never made love unprotected," he said, shaking his head very slowly. "You are lying!"

Eric still smiled. "I'm not lying. No reason for that," he said. "You see, that's the gene. It proves what a powerful Grimm you are, my dear Grimm. If the child will turn out as a Grimm itself, it will be much better."

What if Eric was right? Nick realized there was so much about his own kin he didn't know. Anything was possible. And maybe Juliette and he had simply forgotten to be safe that last night they spent together in Portland.

The pain of losing his love, to be unable to stand by her side now when he was needed as the father of the child, peeked into the anger from deep inside his soul.

"Will you work for me?" Eric repeated, still showing him the display with the photo of the Cracher-Mortel.

Was the Baron still in Portland? Maybe not. Hopefully not. Whatever Eric had in mind now, Nick knew he wouldn't be able to let him get away with it.

"No!" he finally answered. "But I swear to you, you will pay for every bit of harm you do to Juliette or the baby! I will kill you!"

Eric nodded and turned the cellphone back. Hans and Franz leaned over Nick, grabbing him.

"NO! Let me go, you ...!" Nick fought while they grabbed his arms, hauling him from the bed.

Eric put the call he just began on speaker.

No!

Nick still fought, trying to break free from the cousins. And then ... he suddenly stood still when he heard the voice:

"Oui?"

The Cracher-Mortel!

Nick's heart stopped for a moment while the blood was rushing through his ears, leaving him dumb and shivering.

"Good evening, my dear friend," Eric greeted, again a cold smile on his lips. "As I'd told you, I might be calling you."

"Very well. What can I do for you, your highness?" came the question.

Nick stared at Eric as though his looks could kill the Royal. But Eric was still alive.

"I'm calling because we are making the decision right now. Would you please tell the soon-to-be father about his luck?" the Royal asked.

"Very well," the charming voice with the heavy accent answered. "Juliette Silverton, the fiancee of the Grimm I caught for you, is pregnant. And the Grimm's the father."

Nick shook his head. "You are lying! Both of you!" he said.

But he knew it was true. Eric was too self confident for this to be another trick. And Nick could only blame himself for this accident.

Juliette alone and pregnant, and probably the Cracher-Mortel around ... only this picture in his mind broke his heart. Once more tears were burning in his eyes.

Eric still smiled. "It's an easy way to find out now, my dear Grimm," he told Nick. "Baron, prepare her for shipping. My new Grimm gets a bonus, he will have his family around to feel just like home here."

"Don't do this!" Nick yelled and tried again to break free of the two Grimm. "I swear to you, for any harm you do to her I will take revenge!"

"Do it! I will send you the papers as soon as possible." Eric ended the call and put the cellphone back in his pocket. "Now it is your turn, my dear Grimm. What will you do?"

He never had felt more helpless than in this very moment, Nick decided ...