Lost and Found

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Renard's POV

If there's one thing I learned from Nick over the years, it's that I can't get in his way. That includes when he's on a path toward self-destruction. If he's going to spiral out of control, he's going to do it with or without my interference.

That's why I was concerned when I saw his face as he watched the security footage. He was smiling blissfully, ignoring the fact that his sweet Grimm friend had just robbed two stores in one night and had deceived him about her death.

I didn't know what she was doing, or what Nick was going to do, but I hoped it wouldn't be something stupid. I couldn't protect Nick from everything, especially a jury.

I wouldn't want to protect him either if he started allowing crimes in my city solely because he knew the person committing them. 

I needed to talk to him again to make sure we understood each other. Luckily, he, Hank, and Wu were on their way to my office.

*************

Wu's View ;)

Hank and I had a point, and I'm pretty sure Nick knew it. He was usually a pretty reasonable guy.

But I could see why he was defensive and confused. I didn't know Trubel very well, but what she was doing... Definitely out of character, that was for sure. A girl that threw a severed head in the back of my squad car could definitely handle a convenience store robbery without a mental episode.

So what gives?

I just didn't know. It was weird, and beyond the usual "Keep Portland Weird" mentality that I had gotten used to.

Sometimes it felt like I couldn't rely on anything. I was having some serious deja-Wu, too, thinking about the whole Juliette's dead, Juliette's not dead, Juliette's not Juliette thing. I was wondering if this was going to be similar. We already had the Trubel's dead-Trubel's-not-dead experience. I began hoping that she'd be Trubel, the one we knew and missed, by the time we found her. I didn't think I could handle another personality crisis like with Eve.

Or with me. I was still trying to figure out what exactly I was. Which reminded me...

"Are you guys hungry? I could go for a burger and fries right now," I said.

Hank didn't answer and, instead, looked warily over at Nick.

I looked in the side view mirror and could see Nick turn his head towards Hank. "You can eat if you want to," Nick said, sounding offended. "You don't need my permission. I'm fine."

"Okay," Hank said cautiously. "I guess we're stopping for burgers."

"Yes!" I said from the back. I was always hungry these days. Red meat was what I was looking for, but I was never the kind of guy to turn down the opportunity for fries, either.

Needless to say, I ordered a large container of fries and the generic, local equivalent to a big-mac.

Hank got a normal cheeseburger, and Nick didn't get anything. I think he was too pan-Nicked (Get it? Pan-Nick? Like panic... Whatever) about everything that was happening to eat anything.

Anyway, with my burger-in-hand, I was ready to find the sons of bitches that took our friend. But first, we had to talk to the captain.

*************

Nick's POV

The last place I expected to be in this whole mission to find Trubel was by myself. I mean, I was in the car with Hank and Wu, but I felt alone in this. They didn't know Trubel the way I did, and they definitely didn't know what they were talking about. I remembered when they didn't believe me the time I said Trubel was taken from my house after she killed Juliette. It felt like I was replaying that whole event. I just wanted Hank and Wu to believe me.

But I also wanted to believe myself. I was being overly defensive, and I think it's because I knew...

I kept thinking about what Hank and Wu had said.

Were they right? They couldn't be right. I didn't even want to consider that they could possibly, maybe, might be a little bit right.

But something was wrong, and I could tell. And, if this were any other case, I would think that someone in Trubel's position was hiding something and maybe even acting maliciously...

Trubel wasn't like that, though. Right?

I was losing my mind. I needed to find her, and that was my bottom line. No matter what she did, I was going to find her and help her in whatever way I could. I owed her, but more than that, I cared about her. We were there for each other; that was our thing.

But, damn it, where the hell was she and what was she doing?!

I hated this and I was so worried. I remembered what it was like when Trubel was taken from my house. The panic I felt, the guilt I felt, the loss I felt. I couldn't do this again. I couldn't lose her.

"Nick?" Hank asked, calling my attention back to the present.

I looked up at him. "What?"

"Are you coming?" he asked, looking at me like I was crazy.

"Yeah," I said quickly. I stepped out of the car and shut the door, ignoring the looks Hank and Wu were giving me.

"You good?" Hank asked.

"Let's go talk to the captain," I said, ignoring the question.

We got to Renard's office a few minutes later. Wu shut the door behind us.

"What did you find out?" Renard asked, cutting to the chase.

"Trubel was definitely working with 7th Street in the second robbery," Hank said. "The victim said that Trubel told him not to call the police after the robbery."

"That's not good," Renard said.

"But we-" I looked over at Hank and Wu, "I'm still sure that Trubel is doing this against her will. The first victim said that Trubel kept the others from killing him and that they threatened her."

"Hm," Renard said, thinking about what we had just told him. He looked at Hank and Wu. "What do you think?"

Hank looked at me with a concerned expression before answering, "I think we need to find her as soon as possible."

"Then keep working on it," Renard said. We started leaving the room when Renard suddenly added, "But if she commits more crimes, I can't promise what will happen to her. Let's just hope she doesn't kill anyone."

I mentally groaned at that. Killing people was one of many skills that Trubel possessed. Killing people came so easily to her, that she did it for a job as well as a hobby. Not that she killed innocent people, but if her situation now, whatever it was, got any worse...

Maybe I didn't know what she would and wouldn't do.