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Sean’s pulse was hammering against his throat, when he managed to shove himself back into his truck. He’d managed to keep his cool long enough to make the scene look like Anton and Woolsey had shot each other, but the adrenaline spilling through him was making his muscles buzz. He swallowed against a tight throat and pulled out his cellphone without consciously deciding to make a call.“Burkhardt.”Fuck. He needed to get home, get away from this scene, away from his cousin’s corpse and the undeniable truth of his own weakened control. Why had he called Nick?“Nick.” He managed to spit out, voice thin.“What’s wrong?” Came the immediate, worried reply.Sean inhaled, trying to steady his hands and his voice. “Can you come? It’s…”Nick didn’t even wait for him to finish the sentence. “Your condo?”Sean must have made some noise that Nick took for agreement, because he didn’t wait for Sean to form proper words.“Twenty minutes.” He simply said and hung up.Sean didn’t remember driving home. He remembered putting the car in gear, but nothing between that and stopping at the entrance to the garage at his condo. He needed to get himself together. He’d killed people before. Both in self-dense and with premeditation, so why was this particular killing hitting him like this? It had gone smoothly as he could have wished. Yet somehow…The flush of adrenaline had nowhere to go and he was shivering with it.When he pulled into the garage, Nick was already there, standing by Sean’s normal parking spot with his hands jammed into his pockets. He didn’t say anything when Sean climbed out of his SUV, but then neither did Sean. The Royal didn’t trust himself to open his mouth just yet, without blurting something he’d regret.Instead of speaking, Nick simply followed him into the building and up the elevator his condo in silence. Sean’s nerves jangled, though he tried to ignore it. He felt like his skin had been scraped raw. Why was he responding this way? It wasn’t as though he’d even liked Anton. Besides which, the man had had him held at gunpoint. Though Sean had been fond of Woolsey.He shook off the thought, unlocked the door of his condo, and drew his service weapon. Behind him, he felt Nick do the same. There was no telling what plans Anton had put in place before Sean had shot him. He didn’t think there was likely to be anyone inside, but better safe than dead, he supposed.Breathing evenly, Sean checked every room and corner, before finally exhaling in relief. He holstered the gun and turned to Nick, who was tucking his own weapon away.Nick eyed him, for a long moment, gaze lingering on Sean’s hands. Sean looked down at them too, frowning, and realized he was shaking. Fine tremors up and down his limbs. Closing his eyes for a beat, Sean forced himself to relax.“Okay. Something is clearly badly wrong. What do you need? What can I do?”The question, the phrasing, sliced through Sean as though he were made of clay, instead of flesh and Zauberbiest bone. He could feel his shoulders slump. Blowing out a breath, he reached up to loosen his tie. “You’re going to get a double homicide tonight. Possibly within the next couple hours.”He took off his coat and, after a beat, the suit jacket and tie too, dumping all of it into the trash. He was fairly confident that he hadn’t gotten blood or powder burns on either, but not enough to stake his life on it.He glanced up to find Nick looking at him. He met the Grimm’s steady gaze and waited. It was a risk, telling the detective what happened, but trust had to start somewhere. After a beat, Nick nodded. “Okay. Who did you kill?”Needing something to do with his hands, Sean wandered into the kitchen and began gathering ingredients for a quick stir-fry. Something that didn’t require his concentration, since he didn’t have much of it to begin with and none to spare on cooking. He eyed Nick out of the corner of his eye, but the Grimm seemed totally calm. There was no accusation in his face and his body was loose, easy and relaxed.“My cousin Anton and his bodyguard.” Sean offered, waiting for a moment to see how the words landed.Surprise flittered over Nick’s face, before he settled against the kitchen island. “Your cousin…What did they do?”Sean turned back to the cutting board in front of him, trying to ignore the warmth that was settling in behind his ribs and the fact that his nerves were finally calming. “Besides kidnap me at gun point? They threatened you. Us. Both of us. They wanted the key.”Sean froze, regretting the words the moment they left his mouth. Too revealing. Why was he always saying more than he intended around this man? What was it about Nick Burkhardt that lowered his guard so dangerously? Sean resolutely ignored the voice in the back of his head that told him he already knew the answer to that.When he turned to grab a rubber spatula from a drawer in the island, Nick was grinning at him. “Awww. You were protecting me? Thanks.” His voice was sing-song and teasing, but his eyes were warm. Sean gave him a flat stare, before crossing back to the stove. Nick snorted.“Well, at least if anyone manages to tie it to you, you have an alibi.”Sean scowled over his shoulder at that. “I literally do not, since I killed them.”Nick snorted and leaned his elbows back onto the counter. “Yeah, you do. You were with me.”Sean stilled, his eye fluttering shut for a beat, before he turned to stare at the Grimm. Nick shrugged at him. “And what exactly would you tell them we were doing?”Nick threw a pointed look at the wok that Sean was using. “Having dinner?” He laughed at the expression on Sean’s face. “Look, I doubt it’s going to get anywhere near you, so don’t even worry about it.”Turning away again, Sean dumped a splash of soy sauce into the wok, and sighed. “Might as well make it true. Wine or beer?”Nick shook his head. “Neither if I’m going to be obstructing a murder investigation in a bit.”“Point.”Sean got himself a beer and offered Nick a seltzer, which he took with a grin. The conversation stayed light, while they set the table in Sean’s dining room and then ate their meal. Finally, Nick pushed his empty plate away and leveled Sean with a serious look.“They’re just going to keep coming, aren’t they? Your family?”Sean nodded, sitting back in his seat and cradling his wine glass between suddenly chilled fingers. “They are. As far as I know, the Royal families have four of the seven keys. I’ve never seen any of them for myself, but I was given to understand that they having some sort of carvings on them that form a map when laid out together.”Nick chewed the inside of his lip, regarding Sean. “So seven keys form a map. Presumably…” He paused clearly thinking.Sean watched him, taking in the ease of the Grimm’s posture. He could hardly fathom how, in the space of a few short months, they’d gone from nearly strangers with a web of lies between them, to relaxing in his condo over dinner. It seemed impossible to Sean, even though he’d lived it.Nick shook his head, as though to clear it and leaned forward, drawing Sean out of his distraction. “Presumably, if you altered a key, you’d never be able to find whatever the map leads to, right?”Sean blinked at that. “You’d damage a key?”Nick snorted. “No. I’d create a decoy key and give it to your family, like it was the real thing.”Sean’s mouth dropped open. He stared at Nick in shock. A decoy? How had that never even occurred to him?Nick was grinning broadly at him. “I bet you Monroe knows someone with the correct skillset. And they’d likely be persuaded to be discrete about it too. I’ll call him in the morning and—“ He was interrupted by the shrill ring of his phone.They both froze, staring at each other for a beat, before Nick pulled the cell from his pocket.“Burkhardt.”“Guess what I got you as a present?” Wu’s voice was deadpan over the phone. Nick exhaled and nodded at Sean. “A double murder to interrupt your boring evening.”“Who told you my evening was boring? Slander and lies. Text me the address.” Nick hung up and stood. “Well, looks like we caught your mess. Time to go not solve a murder.”Sean stood, one hand flexing against his thigh as he fought the instinct to reach out. “Look, Nick. I shouldn’t have—“Nick just raised his eyebrows at him. “You absolutely should have.” He turned to leave the room, but not before throwing over his shoulder, “I can’t stand at your right hand if you don’t let me.”The words hit Sean like blows. Was Nick mocking him? His voice sounded completely serious. What did he mean by it? What part of what Sean had told me had he…Sean shook himself. Nick likely hadn’t meant anything by it. Sean needed to get a grip. There was nothing between them and there likely never would be. A public alliance and nothing more. Sean told himself this sternly, several times, but it didn’t stop the tightness in his chest and the warmth in his face.Sighing, he retreated into his bedroom. He’d need a good night’s rest to deal with the fallout of his actions, even with Nick there to help.
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Hank arrived first, which struck him as odd since Nick lived closer to this particular crime scene, but it gave him a moment to talk to Wu. He pulled him away from the usual bustle of the scene. “Have you noticed? They don’t seem to be behaving any differently now than they were last week, before the camping trip. Shouldn’t we have noticed some change?”Wu shrugged. “They’ve always been…well not completely discrete, but good enough for most. And at least consistent.” Wu examined him for a moment. “Why? Are you having second thoughts about our theory?”Hank shifted, uncomfortable, and glanced around. “Not necessarily. I’m mostly having second thoughts on a confrontation. We don’t have any real evidence. Just…circumstancial stuff, coincidence, and some heated looks. We haven’t witnessed any actual…intimate or inappropriate contact. We need to be certain. These kinds of accusations can be…career ending.”Wu considered this. “They can be. If they’re made public. But if we go speak with them privately…”Hank shook his head. “We have no idea how they’ll react. Say it’s true, but they deny it because we can’t prove it. What happens then? Or worse, say it’s false and they’re pissed. Have you seen how long Nick holds a grudge, man? He’s vindictive as hell. Never mind whatever the Captain would do.”“Alright.” Wu conceded, shaking his head. “What are you suggesting? That we go cop on them?”Hank wavered, looking around again. “Sort of? Maybe just…try to keep an eye on their habits? See if we can get anything concrete.”“Well, you live near enough to Nick. And the Captain’s condo is arguably on my way home. Close enough anyway. We can just…check and see what we can see.”Hank opened his mouth to respond, but cut himself off when Nick’s Land Cruiser pulled up along the edge of the caution tape. Nick himself climbed out of the vehicle, eyes skimming over the bodies still laid out on the concrete as he made his way over to them. Hank’s brow knit as he watched his partner move. There was something off about his body language, stiffer than normal, almost as though…Hank bit back a curse. He was a fool. Of course Nick had taken longer than he should to get to the crime scene. Combined with his funny posture, it was obvious, even if Hank didn’t want to think about it.Nick had come from Renard’s.Hank shot a pointed look at Wu, who stared back with wide eyes for a beat.“What have we got?” Nick asked, breaking the moment without seeming to notice anything strange.Wu cleared his throat, obviously disconcerted, but gave Nick a rundown of what they knew so far. Nick nodded in all the right places, but he barely seemed to be paying attention. Hank watched him step up to one of the bodies, his grey gaze scanning around near it, before he reached into his pocket to pull out a pair of gloves. The move dislodged Nick’s cellphone, which dropped to the ground and bounced under the car.Hank shot Wu another pointed look as Nick gingerly crouched down to grab it, swearing. He widened his eyes at Wu, who nodded back. He’d obviously noticed Nick’s hesitant movement too. Hank very deliberately did not think about what could be causing him to move that slowly and with that much discomfort.The rest of the examination went smoothly, without any more overt evidence of Nick’s relationship with the Captain. As they finished up, Nick sighed, taking off his gloves and rubbing at one of his eyes. “Alright, I’m heading out. We can pick up in the morning, yeah?” He asked Hank, who nodded. “Let forensics have at it then. I’ll see you two tomorrow for our usual homicide with a side of coffee.”When Nick had gone, Hank turned to stare at Wu. Wu shook his head, staring back. “I’m going to say it. We’re both thinking it, but I’m going to say it. I hope he was moving like that because of sore muscles rather than a sore ass.”“Wu!” Hank hissed, glancing around. “God, don’t say shit like that, man. I don’t want to think about it.”Wu glared. “You think I do?”Hank threw his hands up in the air, praying for strength. “I can’t deal with any more of this shit. Time to call it a night. See you in the morning.”__________________Nick waited until he was at least a mile from the crime scene before pulling his phone from his pocket and calling Sean.“Yeah?”“So there was a phone at the crime scene.”There was a moment of silence over the line as Nick let his words sink in before Sean’s inhaled sharply. “Fuck!”Nick hummed, shaking his head even though Sean couldn’t see him. “I got it. It’s fine.”“What?”“I got it. I dropped my own phone by it and just…picked them both up. No one saw it. It hadn’t been tagged. What do you want me to do with it?”Sean choked, but couldn’t seem to manage an answer. Nick smiled, trying to picture Sean’s expression and found that he couldn’t. “You know what?” Nick relented, putting the man out of his misery. “Never mind. I’ll take care of it.”“Nick…” Sean’s voice is strained, full of some emotion that Nick can’t quite parse. It settled in Nick’s chest like a weight.“Hey, how’s the saying go? A friend will help you move, but a true friend will help you move the body? I’ve got you.”That startled a bark of laughter from Sean, before he exhaled into the phone. That gust of breath shivered through Nick, so immediate he could almost imagine Sean exhaling right into his ear. He shook himself, forcing his focus on the left-hand turn he was making instead of the sound of Sean breathing.“Nick, I’m sorry that I—““Nope.” Nick said, cutting Sean off. “If it were me, I know you’d do the same thing.”There was a long pause over the line. Concern was just starting to gather in Nick’s gut, but Sean finally murmured, “Of course, I would.”The soft words made Nick smile. “See you at the precinct. Stop worrying.”He hung up without giving the Captain a chance to respond.