I know I said this was the last chapter... but drama called, and I wanted to answer...
Chapter 20, in which Nick and Sean find a forgotten memory or two...and Juliette takes matters into her own hands.
After their shower, Sean and Nick sat together cuddling on Sean's large plush sofa. Then Sean cocked his head.
"Didn't that lady we talked to on the phone at the chapel say that Monroe recorded us singing and dancing?"
"Oh, yeah..." Nick pulled out his phone. Monroe had shown him how to block Juliette's number, so it was a relief to not see a mess of calls and voicemails from her. "He had my phone, so it would be on here, wouldn't it?" Nick opened his photos and there was nothing to be found. He showed Sean. "I guess he deleted it." Sean sat for a moment.
"I want to get it back. I'm just curious about it... what do you think?" Nick snorted.
"Sure, why not." As soon as he said it, his stomach rumbled. Sean laughed.
"We can have Wu look at it tomorrow, but I agree, we should eat first."
XxXxX
Nick, Sean, and Hank went back to work on Tuesday. Fortunately, crime also apparently decided to take a holiday, as the workload was very light. Light enough for Sean to call Nick and Sergeant Wu into his office.
"Now Sergeant," the Captain began, "I need you to find any deleted videos from Detective Burkhardt's phone. Off the books, don't ask questions, don't look at them, just pull them up for us, okay? No questions, no snark." Wu nodded.
"No questions... no snark." Wu connected Nick's phone to Sean's computer . He clicked a few things, and found two videos. "There you are, Sir. No questions... no snark."
"Thank you, Sergeant. You are dismissed."
"So what happened in Vegas needed to come home..." Wu muttered under his breath as he left. Sean closed the door, walked over to his computer, and clicked the first video.
"Donna wasn't kidding," Nick commented, "it is very pretty all lit up." Sean and Nick watched themselves do a very sloppy swing dance to Elvis's "Burning Love". The video shook with Monroe's laughter, and they heard Rosalee's voice off-screen, also laughing.
"Oh my God, I love them so much!" Nick and Sean watched the video until it ran out. When it finished, Sean dragged it to the recycle bin.
"Okay, I think we need to never speak of that again." Nick nodded in agreement. Sean opened the other video. Monroe and Rosalee were on the screen, Rosalee actually looking fairly cute in her shoulder-length pink wig. They were sing-shouting together, clearly a little tipsy.
"SWEAT, baby! SWEAT, baby! Sex is a Texas drought and you do the kind of stuff that only Prince would sing about! So put your hands down my pants..."
"Is that..." Sean began slowly.
"'The Bad Touch' by Bloodhound Gang?" Nick supplied. Monroe and Rosalee turned to each other on screen.
"You and me, baby, ain't nothin' but mammals, so let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel!"
"Oh my God..." Sean's shoulders were shaking. He collapsed onto his desk in a fit of giggles. Nick could not contain his own laughter as they watched their friends dancing around. Monroe started spinning and dipping his fiancée as they laughed.
"THEY KNOW EVERY WORD!" Nick felt tears rolling down his cheeks. During one of the portions where they were dancing around mimicking the musical interlude in the song, Nick heard his own voice.
"Hey, hey, Rosalee!"
"RC, DAMNIT!"
"RC, where's the craziest place you and Monroe have had sex?"
"Well... we fucked in your TRAILER! And it was AWESOME!"
"Oh, yeah! It was so HOT!" Monroe added.
"Yeah, I dared him to!" The camera turned to face Nick.
"Un-fucking-believable! In the trailer!" Video-Nick said with a laugh.
"Hey! Hey Sean!" Monroe yelled. The camera turned to Sean.
"What?"
"Hey, remember that time Rosalee and I helped with the... umm... what the fuck was it?"
"Nucklavee!" Rosalee interjected before continuing. "Guess what? When you hid us in the back of the police cruiser and told us to wait for, like, an hour? Guess what?"
"What? Did you fuck there, too?" Video-Sean asked with a laugh.
"Damn straight we did!" Monroe commented, once more twirling his pink-haired lover. "And we did it at Bud's house during the Christmas party..."
"And at Hank's during his Super Bowl party..."
"This girl is a FREAK and I love her soooooo much!"
"I love him! And I love sex!" She turned so she was facing him, "And I love sex with you best!" They laughed together as they kissed. The kiss deepened and Video-Sean and Video-Nick cheered them on.
"Are you two gonna screw like rabbits tonight after you get married?" Video-Nick asked.
"Hell yeah!" Monroe turned back to the camera, "And YOU are NOT gonna bother us! Every time I've tried to tap this for, like, two months, you interrupted!"
"Yeah! And Fuchsbau don't like being denied sex! So we're going to get our asses married, go back to the hotel, and then I am gonna fuck him senseless!"
"How many times are you gonna have sex?" Video-Nick asked, laughing.
"Oh, I know!" Sean said, and the video turned to him. "Okay, you need to do it once for Bud, once for Hank, once for me, and once for Nick. Four!" At that point the video jumbled, and the camera landed facing the sky. They heard Monroe's voice over Nick, Sean, and Rosalee's laughter. "Okay, I am taking this back, you stupid drunk bastard!" The video ended and Nick and Sean were in hysterics.
"You're not mad at them for having sex in your trailer, are you?" Sean asked when he caught his breath.
"No... more power to him for being able to get it up surrounded by all those weapons! I know I wouldn't be able to!"
"Knowing them, it probably turns them on more!" The two men were wiping tears of mirth from their cheeks.
"You know we have to get back at them for this, right?" Sean asked. Nick nodded, still laughing.
"I've got an idea..."
XxXxX
After deciding how to get back at their friends, Nick and Sean decided to go get lunch in an unmarked car. They chose a local falafel place, and sat in the car, eating, listening to the police radio. Then they heard it. An alert. Reports of shots fired. The address sounded familiar...
"Holy shit!" Nick yelped, "It's Rosalee's shop! We gotta go!" Sean threw the car into drive and Nick thanked God for the lights and siren as they proceeded to break every traffic law in Portland.
"Does Juliette have a gun, but any chance?" Sean asked.
"Shiiiiiiiit! We should have had somebody staked out to keep them safe... Fuck..."
They were the second car on the scene, but the first officers were securing the area. Nick and Sean both pulled their guns.
"Front door or back?" Sean asked. Nick motioned toward the back of the shop. Sean ordered the other officers to wait, then followed the Grimm. Nick pulled the spare key out from behind a loose brick in the wall, and they quietly entered the shop, guns drawn. However, they would both be lying if they said they were prepared for the scene that greeted them.
Against one wall was Juliette, her right arm a bloody mess, glaring daggers across the room at Rosalee, who was very pale, a large bloodstain spreading on her right shoulder. Between them paced a large, shaggy grey wolf, who alternated between growling and baring his teeth at Juliette and licking and nuzzling Rosalee. The wolf turned toward the cops as they came in, and his tail began to wag even though the look on his face was deathly serious.
"What the hell?" Nick asked, stunned.
"Well, there go my chances of animal control shooting him like the mangy, rabid mutt he is," Juliette grumbled when she saw who had responded. Rosalee's head lolled toward them. She didn't look so well.
"Monroe... protecting me..." She pointed toward the corner. "Gun... She shot me..." Wolf-Monroe sat next to her and nosed her cheek with a whimper. Nick's heart went out to them. This was the last thing they needed. Sean squatted down to Monroe's level.
"I know you're upset, but I can't call in an ambulance for her until you change back." Wolf-Monroe shot a worried glance toward Juliette and whined. "We won't let her do anything," the Royal promised him. The wolf nodded, and moments later Monroe, in full human form, had his arms wrapped around his fiancée, holding pressure onto her wound. Nick turned to Juliette, and he let his rage spill forth.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Juliette stared back hard.
"Bitch ruined my life," she said simply, "and then her meal ticket bit me."
"You're lucky I let you live," Monroe grumbled. Rosalee looked like she was losing a lot of blood. Sean pulled out his phone.
"We need an ambulance..."
"NO!" Monroe said loudly, causing everyone to jump. "I am NOT letting that... that psychopath get any closer to her than this. Separate ambulances, or we're gonna need a body bag." Sean nodded.
"Sorry, two ambulances needed..." Nick went and let the other officers in, directing them toward the gun. Sean got off the phone and addressed Sergeant Wu who had appeared at his side. "When Doctor Silverton here goes to the hospital, I want her handcuffed to the bed and her door guarded. When she is released, she is to be taken in for booking for attempted murder." Wu nodded.
"Monroe..." Rosalee whimpered quietly, "it hurts..."
"I know, honey," he whispered, "the ambulance is coming. I'm right here." Rosalee nodded; her eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out. Monroe held her closer and looked up at Juliette, who was smirking.
"If she dies, you die," he growled so quietly that only Nick could hear him. And Nick hoped with all he had that it would not come to that.
XxXxX
Nick and Sean followed Rosalee's ambulance to the hospital. They parked as close to the ER as they could, and saw Monroe, looking lost as a paramedic shooed him out of the way. They caught a brief glimpse of Rosalee, her eyes closed, the bloodstain looking larger. Nick and Sean ran over to their friend's side. He looked dazed. Rosalee's stretcher was rolled into the hospital, and the three men followed. Monroe attempted to keep following them past a sign that read "Hospital Personnel Only Beyond This Point." One of the orderlies turned around and blocked Monroe's path.
"Sir, you need to stay here. I promise we'll take good care of her."
"But..."
"SIR..." Monroe could only watch helplessly as his mate was taken away. He stared at the doors for a long moment, until Sean put a gentle hand on his arm and led the Blutbad over to a chair in the waiting area. Monroe sat, as if in a trance, and then put his face in his hands. Nick and Sean sat on either side of him, and Monroe's shoulders shook as he began to sob. Nick rubbed his friend's back.
"It's okay. Let it out," Sean muttered, "and whenever you're ready, you can tell us what happened." After a long while, Monroe sat up, sniffled, and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. He took a deep breath.
"I was in the back getting a box of safflower oil to restock the shelves. The bell rang, and I hear Rosalee telling somebody to get out. She never says anything like that to customers, so I figured it had to be Juliette. I walked out to give Juliette a piece of my mind, and I saw her aiming a gun right at Rosalee's heart. So, I did what anybody would do in the situation..." Nick raised an eyebrow.
"Anybody? And I didn't even know you could do that... I've only ever seen one Wesen go, like, full animal, and that was Mrs. Rabe..." Monroe nodded.
"All of us can do it, it's just a matter of how hard we have to be pushed. Obviously Juliette found, for lack of a better descriptor, my trigger. So I was able to sort of launch myself across the room and bite her arm so she shot Rosalee in the shoulder instead of the heart..." he shook his head sadly, tears threatening to spill over again, "If I had only hit her just a little bit harder..." Sean put his hand on Monroe's shoulder.
"You saved her life. You protected her the best you could, and then you made sure Juliette didn't hurt her worse..." Monroe shook his head.
"No... no... I failed her... I let her get hurt... I should have protected her... I should have jumped in front of the gun, or knocked her out of the way... something..." Monroe covered his face with his hands and began crying afresh. Nick continued rubbing his back; his heart broke for them. Sean got up and walked over to the desk. He spoke quietly with a nurse for a few minutes, then pulled out his phone. He walked back over to Nick and Monroe.
"She's in surgery. I'm going to call Hank to come sit with him because we need to pay a visit to Doctor Silverton." Sean nearly spat her name as if the words tasted disgusting.
"I'm okay..." Monroe mumbled.
"No, you're not. Nor should you be expected to be. Somebody just tried to kill the woman you're marrying in eleven days. Hank is going to come sit with you, we're going to see Juliette, and when she is treated and released, we're going to arrest her."
XxXxX
Hank arrived to take over sitting with a still-sobbing Monroe, and Nick and Sean flashed their badges and asked to be shown to Doctor Silverton. Wu was guarding the room.
"I always thought she was such a nice lady... what the hell happened?" Wu asked as he stood aside to let them pass.
"Long story," Nick muttered. Wu nodded, but didn't press the issue. The detective and the Captain entered the room and found Juliette in the bed, one arm bandaged, the other arm handcuffed to the bed. She smirked.
"Bitch dead yet?"
"Fuck you, Juliette," Nick growled. Sean cleared his throat.
"Doctor Silverton, when you are released, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Rosalee Calvert." Juliette turned to Nick, her face changing to a look of sadness.
"But Nick... I did it for us... please come back, Nick... I miss you! I promise I'll change! And look what your friend did to me... he hurt me..." she pouted, and Nick nearly gagged.
"Because you shot the woman he loves! You're lucky he didn't kill you!"
"But she... you..." Sean couldn't take it anymore and exploded.
"NICK DIDN'T LEAVE YOU FOR HER! FOR FUCK'S SAKE, HE LEFT YOU FOR ME!"Juliette's jaw dropped.
"YOU'RE GAY?! I wasted five years of my life on a gay man?" Nick sighed.
"Will that make you feel better?"
"I wasted five years on you because you were in the closet?" Juliette flailed, as if she was going to strike Nick, but the handcuffs held fast.
"And now you're going to go to jail for shooting an innocent woman," Sean assured her. "I hope you're proud of yourself." Juliette turned to Sean.
"And you're..."
"Bisexual, not that it's your business. We're going back down to see how Rosalee is doing, but we'll see you in court, Doctor Silverton." Both men briskly turned and walked out of the room. On the way out, Sean spoke to Sergeant Wu. "As soon as she's released, take her down to the station and book her." Wu nodded.
"Yes, sir."
"We're going back downstairs to see the victim."
XxXxX
When Nick and Sean returned to the waiting area, they found Hank still sitting next to Monroe. Monroe was no longer crying, but stared into space, seemingly unaware of his surroundings. He didn't look like he had moved since they left. Nick noticed for the first time that Monroe's shirt was covered in blood. He wondered how much was Rosalee's and how much was Juliette's.
"Anything?" Sean asked Hank quietly. Monroe didn't even look up. Hank shook his head.
"Nobody has said anything to us. How's Juliette?"
"She'll live. But as soon as she's released, Wu's going to take her to the station to book her." Hank shifted in his chair.
"What do you think the story's going to be?" Nick shrugged.
"Let her figure that out." He dropped his voice and leaned in close to Hank's ear. "You should have seen him. He was a total, complete wolf." Hank looked at Monroe.
"Like, tail and all?"
"Tail and all." Before Nick could stop him, Hank nudged Monroe's arm, and the Blutbad started.
"Can I see you as a wolf?" Monroe gave Hank a death glare that let him know now was not the time.
"If Rosalee dies, you just might," he intoned darkly. At that moment a blonde woman in blue scrubs came in with a chart. She made a beeline for the cluster of men.
"Are you with Rosalee Calvert?" she asked. Monroe nodded, obviously bracing himself for bad news.
"I'm her fiancé, Monroe." The doctor extended her hand.
"Doctor Ademski." Monroe shook her hand. "She's coming out of anesthesia now. She should be fine, but she's going to have a limited range of motion for a while and will probably need physical therapy... What?" She noticed the distressed look on Monroe's face and the concern on the other three men's.
"How will she be by next Saturday?" Nick asked. Doctor Ademski covered her mouth with her hand.
"Oh... the wedding?" All four men nodded solemnly. "Well, it'll be touch and go... she'll need a sling... and probably still be on painkillers... but if she still wants to go through with it, she should be able to... do you want to see her?" They nodded and followed the doctor down the hall. Nick heard Rosalee's weak voice calling out.
"Monroe?" She sounded terrified. Monroe broke away and sprinted toward her voice.
"Sir!" Doctor Ademski called after him, but he was already in the room. When the Doctor, Nick, Sean, and Hank caught up, he was by her side, climbing up on the bed without jostling her or disrupting any of the wires and tubes. She was still very pale, but smiled weakly as Monroe gently rubbed noses with her, tears again running down his cheeks.
"Monroe... you're okay...I thought the Bauerschwein were going to eat you..."
"Of course I'm okay, honey. The Bauerschwein were just a bad dream." Rosalee cocked her head as if his words didn't make sense. Nick figured she was probably on some heavy duty painkillers. Suddenly her eyes went round and she gasped.
"You're crying... OH MY GOD, did I miss the wedding? Did I oversleep? How long was I asleep?" Monroe smiled and wiped his cheeks.
"No, honey, you didn't miss it. Eleven more days." Rosalee looked around, noticing where she was for the first time.
"Why are we in a hospital?" Sean answered her.
"Doctor Silverton shot you. Monroe saved your life. And once Juliette is treated and released, she's going to arrested for attempted murder." Rosalee sat for a moment and cocked her head again.
"You know..." she said finally, pointing slightly at Nick and Sean "I think you two are a cute couple." She turned to Monroe. "I ship it. Hard." He nodded, and kissed her forehead gently, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.
"Okay, honey." Sean nodded his head.
"Okay, well, we need to get back to work. Take care of her, and keep us posted. We'll let you know what's going on with Doctor Silverton." Monroe took Rosalee's hand in his, and she rested her head on his shoulder with a heavy sigh.
"Thanks," the Blutbad muttered as they left.
Probably 2 more chapters now- the 10 days leading up to the wedding and then the wedding itself... Thanks for all the encouragement and reviews!