Hi guys, it's been a while, and if you don't want to hear me ramble for a bit, you can just skip down to the non-bolded words (I totally don't blame you).

So, computer time has been limited lately, since I've been trying to keep my grades up in school. This has been hard because I've been sick numerous times and keep having to catch up on work, which left me with very little free time to write. Also, I'm guilty of attempting to plan out the entirety of this story, and two that will proceed it. Let's just say, it wasn't a good idea, considering I've already changed a bunch of stuff. And the one bit I failed to plan? This chapter. I should never be given any modem of power, ever, because I would probably end up forgetting that I had it at all.

In any case, I am very sorry for the delay, and the shorter chapter than the rest. Still, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Three

The car ride went pretty well, in Nick's opinion, though Devonshire offered very little input into the case, instead opting to stare out the window and throw Nick a glance every once in a while, which Nick took as an indication that he didn't know what to say. Still, he was a good listener, and took the sparse details of the case that Nick already knew. After that, the drive was conducted mostly in silence.

Finally, they pulled up in front of Truman Bank, and it began to rain. I knew it, Jonah thought in annoyance, hunching his shoulders and hoping not to get too wet. He already had a sense that his presence was making Detective Burkhardt uncomfortable, but he'd never been a people-person and hoped that his new partner would understand, unlike Ford had when they were first assigned to work together. Can you at least try to make small talk? It's like I'm speaking to a wall or something, Jesus. Jonah was glad that Nick hadn't reacted like that.

A sergeant stood just outside the doors, umbrella in hand, a cocky smile on his face while he watched them approach. "Hey, Nick. And…other."

"Wu, this is Detective Devonshire. He's filling in for Hank while he's away. Jonah, this is Sergeant Wu."

Jonah greeted the sergeant, who didn't lose the smile. Probably a people-person. Then, the trio made their way inside the building.

The building was new in terms of architecture, but whoever had built it went to great lengths to make it appear old, with a ceiling painted with clouds and stars, and bricks were practically everywhere, the walls, the steps, even the tellers' booths. Witnesses had been shepherded to the far side of the bank, where there was several benches and officers taking statements. There were about thirty-five witnesses, and someone had had the foresight to not put them outside when a storm was coming. Poor planning, though, to leave them in the same room a body was.

The victim was a teller, who was slumped behind her booth, a single bullet wound to her temple. A gun with a small caliber, it seemed, and not a through-and-through. Jonah put on gloves, crouched beside the body, and studied her while still listening to Wu in the background.

"About an hour ago, employees and patrons were going about their day when three people with masks and pistols run in and order everyone to the ground. They each take different tellers, ask for money. Weird thing, they all ask for different amounts. Anyway, the victim, Jennifer Matthews, tries to slip a dye pack into the bag and the perp sees her, kills her immediately, and runs out without the money. The other two did make off with theirs, though."

Jennifer's hands were stained purple from the dye pack, and so was the counter. She looked young, probably late twenties or early thirties, with blonde hair and tanned skin about the same tone as Jonah's. She had been a Wesen of some sort, the scent still hung in the air, but that hardly mattered now. He glanced over at Nick, who was also inspecting the body at this point, but who was looking more at her hands. "Look. Blue paint over the purple dye."

Jonah frowned at this discovery. "Looks more like plastic. What could she have touched after the dye pack?"

"His mask…" a voice called over, and Jonah stood, seeing that it came from where the witnesses were gathered. The one who had yelled was a short, older man with thick glasses and a shaky voice. "She scratched his mask right before… she was such a brave girl…"

"Calvin Morris. One of the other two tellers," Wu muttered and Nick stood.

Nick and Jonah both walked over to the man, which Jonah found peculiar as he was used to splitting the job with other partners he had in the past. But Nick hadn't said anything to the contrary, so he guessed this was how he worked with his other partner.

"Mr. Morris, I'm Detective Burkhardt, this is Detective Devonshire. What can you tell us about what happened?" Nick asked, his voice calm and reassuring.

Morris retold basically what Wu had already said up until Jennifer tried to put the dye in the bag. "That monster saw her and he kept, kept saying he would kill her, and Jenny just went for him, trying to stop him." The man dabbed at his eyes with his sleeve, staring up at both of them. "Thirty years I've worked here, the building's been robbed six times, and this is the only time anyone's died. Why did it have to be Jenny?"

"Were you and Jenny close, sir?" Jonah asked quietly, sure that speaking in even a normal tone would upset the man even more and he would become incoherent. He was sure Morris wanted to help, but there was only so much time before grief really set in.

The teller looked over at the detective, seeming surprised that he had spoken. "Yes, yes, she was like a daughter to me. Her mom and her didn't talk anymore, her father, well, she never said. But she didn't have any real family, no one who would care." He said these last words with some spite, angry that no one would care about the girl he considered family.

Nick saw this and took note. "You care, Mr. Morris, and so do we. We're going to find who did this to her, but we need your help with that. Can you remember what any of them looked like? Their masks?"

The witness seemed to compose himself a bit and nodded. "Two of them had blue masks, and one had red. They looked like wolf masks, but they were, were disturbing. It's, it's hard to explain. I'm not sure what else I can think of, I'm sorry."

"Thank you, sir. If you can think of anything else, please call," Nick said, handing the miserable man a card with his number on it. "We're very sorry for your loss."

They spoke with Wu briefly, telling him what they found, before saying goodbye and walking out to the car. It was raining harder and the sky was almost as dark as night, so Jonah had no qualms about running to the car.

"Not a fan of the rain?" Nick asked in a joking voice when he got in the car beside Jonah a few moments later.

"Nah. Probably should've thought of that before moving to Portland." He replied with a chuckle.

"Let's head back to the precinct, see if we can find out who the vic's mother is and who sells masks like the ones Mr. Morris described."

"Maybe we could also look at other bank robberies in the area, see if there's a pattern."

Nick nodded, starting up the car. "Good thinking."

That went pretty well, Jonah thought, studying the sky, but he couldn't see any sign of the rain letting up. Nick was obviously a more than competent partner, with good observation skills and instincts. And he wasn't a jerk. If past partners were anything to go off of, that was a bonus.

-break-

In an abandoned building just outside of Portland, Milo Anders received a phone call. After fishing it out from his coat pocket, he frowned at the name: Briar, one of his field agents. But he was out on assignment, monitoring the Grimm. Why would he risk a phone call?

He moved from his position in front of the closet door, nodding to his bodyguard to keep watch. Then, he strode to the other side of the room and answered. "What do you think you're doing?"

The question seemed to take Briar aback for a moment, then his quiet voice muttered into the phone "You know I wouldn't have called unless it was of the utmost importance."

"Well then, spit it out."

There was another pause and an intake of breath. Milo understood that he was testing the younger man's nerves, but Briar would just have to deal with it. "The Grimm has a new partner, and I recognize him from one of the Verat files."

Milo blinked in surprise. This was important. He'd have to remember not to sell Briar short again. "Is he a former operative? An active one?"

"No, sir. His name's Jonah Devonshire. You'll have to look up the file yourself, because I don't remember much but I know that they attempted to recruit him when he was young, and the file said he was terminated. That's why I was in the files in the first place, looking for possible sympathizers."

In any other instance, Milo would've praised the boy on his initiative, but the name 'Jonah Devonshire' had struck a chord in the back of his mind. "Listen to me, Briar. You need to be very careful. I'm familiar with this case, and Detective Devonshire is extremely dangerous. Keep your distance."

"Why?" the younger man asked incredulously, as if nothing were more dangerous than he nor his boss. "What is he, Cucuy? Manticore? Siegbarste?"

Milo lowered his voice, so as not to worry his body guard. "He is reported to be Riddari."

The line went silent for so long that Milo thought he had been disconnected. Then, Briar replied "I will keep my distance." Then, there was a click, and Briar hung up.

Riddari, Milo thought, lowering the phone from his ear. And a free Riddari at that, not controlled by the Verat or by us. There is nothing more dangerous than indecision.

He strode back to the closet, which held a prisoner whom he wished to interrogate himself. Usually, he deferred to his bodyguard, or to Briar's expertise, but this prisoner had been trying to sell a drug to the Verat that had been meant for Milo's organization after the initial development. This one, he would take pleasure in.

He tried to put the Riddari out of his mind, but in his subconscious, he knew that if Detective Devonshire could not be turned, he would have to be executed.

One last note: To the anon who asked if Jonah had ever met a Grimm before, all I can tell you without spoiling anything is that he's never met one directly. I know, that doesn't clear things up at all, but I promise things will be explained it the coming chapters!