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Sean rubbed his temples as he tried desperately to rid himself of the migraine that had been plaguing him for days, well weeks now. Damn his brother. Damn his family. Dan his blood. He had not asked to be what he was, he did not want it. He had settled down in Portland, miles from any of the families, he assured his need to have his own land by settling in Portland, becoming chief of police, it assuaged the need inside of him, assuaged the Prince inside of him. And he had been content.
And then Nick had happened.
A Grimm.
A Grimm in his town.
He had watched Nick closely, he knew that there was a chance that he could be a Grimm, and he had kept a close eye on the Detective, even making sure that his desk was in eyesight of his own office.
And then Marie had shown up in his land, Nick had become the Grimm, and the moment that he had been preparing himself for had happened. Nick had become a Grimm, and he had been stumbling around lost and confused. And Sean had watched and waited.
And Nick had been new to...well everything, lost and confused, seeing their world for the first time with no preparation.
And then Nick had done the most surprising and shocking thing, he had done the one thing that Sean had not anticipated.
He befriended a Blutbad.
The Blutbad had become a guide and a help to Nick as he adjusted to their world. And Nick became something from beyond his wildest dreams. He became friends with Wesen. He became a protector. Not a killer. He maintained his cop sensibilities, he remained the good-hearted police officer that had stepped into Sean's department 3 years ago.
His circle of friends in the Wesen world had grown, and under Sean's protection from the worst, he had been able to flourish.
Sean had been ready, so close to telling Nick himself about what he was, but of course, when it came to his family it was never easy, and they were always the bump in his road. Now the good relationship that he had managed to forge with Nick, the trust, was destroyed. Nick was suspicious of him, he didn't trust him, and he had been avoiding him.
He had made such a mess of things.
He should have trusted Nick to understand and accept him. He should have trusted Nick to allow him the same benefit of the doubt that he gave to all the others.
He should not have lied. He should not have hidden what he was. He should not have slept with Nick.
When Nick and Juliet had broken up he had kidded himself that he was relieved because of the complication a human not in the know of their world could be in Nick, and his own lives, how dangerous it could be for someone not in the know, or in the know. But the truth had quickly hit him as he allowed himself to spend more time with Nick, as he grew closer to him, as he seduced him.
He knew that it had been that betrayal that had destroyed his relationship with Nick, and not just keeping things from him, it would have been bad enough if they had just been Captain and Detective with something of a friendship and respect between the two of them. But lovers? He had hurt Nick. He had broken his heart. And he had destroyed any chance of a relationship with Nick.
And now the family smelt blood. They knew that he was weakened. They knew that he was alone. They knew that he had no fight in him.
They were coming to check his area, it was a political move in the end that would kill him it seemed. They were coming officially, and when they arrived and saw that he had lost control of the Grimm, that he had no relationship with him, that he did not have him under control, that Wesen in his area had turned against him and was siding with the Grimm, well it was not going to end well for him.
He was not going down without a fight, by any means, he was using the couple of days he had before the visit of his father and brother to make sure that he could do everything that he could to win. However he was a realistic man, and he knew his chances.
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He startled when the door to his office slammed open, disturbing him from his thoughts. He looked up ready to shout at whoever had thought it would be a good idea to barge into his office, and of course, met furious grey eyes, Nick was the only person foolish enough to just walk into his office, he had been even before they had really started anything.
"Nick, I know you are angry, but I am quite busy at this moment. Could this conversation please take place a little later?" when he was dead, he did not need to hear how much he had hurt Nick again, he knew, and he loathed himself for it.
"What, after your family visit?" Nick snapped. Sean looked quickly back up from the papers in front of him and passed Nick's shoulder where Monroe and Rosalie were standing looking quite nervous under his stare. Of course, they had heard and told Nick. Honesty the Wesen community could be worse than a bunch of gossiping old women.
His eyes went back to Nick as the Grimm went around his office closing the blinds and blocking out the curious stares of their colleagues. He looked angry, and tired, and hurt, a mixture of emotions that he had been wearing since Sean had been forced to reveal what he was. But there was something else there now, something new. Fear.
"Nick?" Sean frowned standing.
"Before you try and lie to me, again, Monroe and Rosalie have told me what is likely to happen when your family descend here, and why they are coming now! Why didn't you tell me?!" Nick demanded angrily.
"Because I have done enough to hurt you, to try and pull you into my mess. This is my mess, my fight. They will not be interested in you, once they have... their decision, they will leave again and fight you another day. You would have known," Sean promised.
"And what would have been my message Sean? Your lifeless, headless body?!" Nick snapped.
"No, I have people in town, loyal people even should I die, they are charged with giving you everything that you need, should I not win this fight," Sean tried to reassure Nick, but he seemed only to be making him madder.
What had happened to the days where he used to be able to charm Nick with only a few words.
"You are infuriating!" Nick growled angrily, and for a moment Sean could practically taste Grimm in the air. He could see the Grimm lying under Nick's skin, much as a wogue would take place.
"Nick I don't..." Suddenly everything caught up with him, the weeks of sleepless nights as he went over everything, again and again, every moment with Nick, every moment he could and should have said something to him, how he could have done this differently, what he and Nick could have been doing if he had not messed things up so horrifically. He had gone over that last morning with Nick before everything had gone to hell and Adalind had descended back upon them.
It had been the first time that Nick had stayed over at his. He had been able to go to sleep holding Nick against him after a long, slow night of lovemaking, he had woken up to Nick in his arms. They had made love again in the shower, and they had made breakfast together before leaving for work.
It had tortured and tormented Sean since he had stood opposite Nick in that forest and had had to admit what he was before he heard it from someone else.
"Sean?"
"I don't know what I am doing anymore Nick. I don't know how what I can do to... I... I thought that this was for the best," Sean rubbed at his temples as the migraine kicked up another notch. He leant forward onto his desk on one hand while rubbing his throbbing temple with the other.
"So infuriating," Nick muttered before Sean found himself shoved into his seat. He blinked up at Nick who had shoved his chair back enough to rifle through the draws of his desk until he pulled out Sean's migraine medication. He shook out the two pills Sean was supposed to take but never did and slammed them onto the desk before moving to pace the office again.
Sean wasn't stupid and he obediently knocked back the pills with cold coffee, grimacing a little at the taste, but settled to watch as Nick paced one loop of the office before turning to glare at him.
"You are infuriating!" Nick growled.
"You may have mentioned that," Sean muttered, and then grimaced when the glare stepped up a level.
"Now is not the time to be funny!" He walked over to the desk and slammed his hands down onto. "We are going to get a few things, very, very, very clear!"
"Ok," Sean nodded obediently. He had no idea what so ever as to what was going on here, but he had a feeling that it would happen the way Nick wanted it or heads would roll. Figuratively. He hoped.
"I am angry at you, furious! And really really hurt!" Sean closed his eyes at the words. "I am also really confused as to how I should be feeling about you right now, because all those feelings that I developed for you, they haven't just gone away, but you abused my trust. You should have told me. And I can not be certain that I am going to be able to forgive you for that. Aunt Marie..." Nick drew off and Sean gulped as he met grey eyes.
Marie he knew had been the worst that he could have done to Nick.
"I spoke to Monroe and Rosalie. They were a little reluctant at first to talk about it, and they were really worried about upsetting me. But we sat down and talked about it. They told me who she was, what she was," Nick gulped and Sean couldn't stop himself from standing and reaching for Nick before he clenched his hands into a fist, reminding himself that he did not have that right anymore, he did not have the right to comfort Nick.
"I'm sorry, I didn't want you to hear that about her," Sean could try his best to comfort Nick any way that he could though.
"They told me everything. What type of Grimm she was," Sean could see the pain in Nick's eyes. "I saw the reactions that people had to me, to what they expected a Grimm to be. You were...protecting your land, your people. Logically I understand that. It's just hard trying to match up the woman who raised me with the Grimm she was," Nick sighed.
"They were not the same woman Nick, what she was and who she was with you were quite different. And the way that she and your mother were raised to think about Wesen was very different from how you think of them. She did what she thought was for the best, what was right," Sean could not imagine how painful it had been for him to really understand how what type of Grimm his beloved Aunt was. And his heart hurt that he had not been able to be there for Nick through that, that he was not able to reach out and hug the other man, kiss him the way he wanted to.
"We have gone a little off-topic. I am angry at you and hurt. And I do not know that I can forgive you for what you have done," Sean felt sick. And he didn't think that it was the migraine. "But I do not want you dead, and I will not let your family kill you! Sean! I...we are not going to stand aside and just let the hurt you!"
The Prince stared wide-eyed at his...the Grimm who stared darkly back at him. He started shaking his head "Nick my family expect..."
"Us to be us, yes I am aware. When the option is acting the couple again over you being murdered, it is a no-brainer," Nick clenched his own fists tightly before he reached out and gripped hold of the lapels of Sean's coat. "I don't know if I can forgive you, Sean, but I still have feelings for you, and I will not let you be taken from me,"
Sean licked his lips, everything roaring through him at having Nick so close. The Regnant inside of him screamed at him to take Nick, to hold him close and make him submit, to have him again and make him bow. But he didn't want to hurt the Grimm, and he wanted him to want Sean. He wanted him to be able to forgive him.
"Be at my house, tomorrow morning, 1000," Nick said letting go of him with enough reluctance that Sean felt a small bubble of hope forming in his heart. "I mean it, Sean, until I work all this out in my head, you don't get to go dying on me, you don't get to leave me," Nick said firmly.
And then he turned and left the office, leaving Sean sitting there staring after him. Lost and bemused, and with hope.
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He didn't know what to expect when he showed up at Nick's house. The welcoming committee was not it. Nick, Hank, Rosalie, Monroe, Bud and Frank were all in the house, and he felt more than a little uneasy as he stepped into the house, passed Rosalie who had opened the door, and they were all waiting for him in the dining room seated around the table.
"What is going on?" Sean frowned confused looking at the group.
"This is the planning committee. We are going to organise everything that is needed for your family descending on Portland," Nick explained.
"What...but..." Nick had a personal connection to this, the rest of them he had just about been friends with...barring Frank Rabbe who he did not have a clue why he was here.
"We don't want someone else coming in to be Prince over Portland, another Regnant. We have all been quite happy living under your ruling," Monroe shrugged.
"All of us, even before Nick came along the Eisbiebers felt a lot more secure, you were trying to make things more even for us, you didn't rule as the other royals do by keeping the top predators happy and just leaving the rest of us to our fate. We like that, and we don't want it to be any different, or have another royal step in and have it be as it is elsewhere. So when Nick told us what was happening and asked for our support, we were more than happy to be part of this. The whole lodge! And we spoke to the Reinigen, Scharfblicke, Seelengut, Unge..."
"Bud," Nick coughed.
"Right right sorry going off on a tangent, we spoke to all the Wesen that interact with us, and they want to support you through this,"
"No one is happy that your family are invading Portland, and threatening you. You protect us, and we support you. Nick approached me to help with the finer, more official aspects of this visit after Mr Monroe and Miss Calvert looked up what this type of visit would normally entail. You also have the support of a lot of the more...predator type Wesen in your domain sire," Frank bowed his head to Sean.
"Please none of that," Sean sighed.
"Of course," Frank smiled a little.
"Right, shall we get this planned then?" Nick said firmly sitting down and pulling out a notebook and pen, clearly more than ready to take this seriously.
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Monroe and Rosalie had researched everything to their normal level and had detailed notes and plans on everything that they would need, between all of them it had not taken very long to hash everything out, and they were more than ready for the visit.
Frank Rabbe had been impressive in his planning of the more legal side of things, and he had worked well with the others. Bud had been passionate about it, and with him came a lot of Wesen support. Rosalie's clients and circle added, even more, support to them. And by the end of the meeting, he was feeling 100% better about the visit.
Eventually, though everyone else had filtered out, leaving just Sean and Nick, Monroe and Rosalie had given him supportive smiles knowing that he and Nick had a whole different aspect of this to figure out.
"Do you want coffee or something?" Nick asked uncomfortably.
"No, thank you, I am fine," Sean went to sit on his normal spot on the sofa and then aborted the motion. Nick sighed and rubbed his eyes before motioning to the spot, taking his own normal place, which put him fairly close to Sean.
"We will have to get used to acting normally with each other," Nick sighed.
"I am scared to push you further away," Sean closed his eyes, covering them with his hand. "And I feel sick at the thought of pretending to be what we once were,"
"Do you still have your migraine?" Nick asked.
"It's still niggling," Sean shrugged.
"Sean..." Something in Nick's voice made him lookup. "I can't promise anything,"
"I don't deserve anything from you, I know that," Sean shook his head.
Nick reared back a little when Sean let down his walls and barriers completely, and he could see the pain in the other man, he could see the truth in his words, Sean really believed what he said. He was tearing himself to pieces over what had happened. And suddenly the hurt and the anger eased away slightly.
"You deserve the chance to explain," Nick said softly. Sean's eyes widened and he licked his lips, his mind spinning trying to come up with the best explanation that could possibly earn him the chance that Nick seemed willing to give him, the chance that perhaps could win him the Grimm back.
He licked his lips once more before speaking. "I was scared. Terrified," Sean closed his eyes.
"What?" Nick frowned.
"Nick, I didn't know what type of Grimm you would be, or even if you would be one! And then...I watched over you and hoped you could be a different Grimm, and you were so much more than I expected, you became friends with a Blutbad! I didn't want to influence you or pressure you, so I gave you time and space to grow into what you were. I always intended to tell you, Nick, I swear! I had so much hope for what we could to together, an image of the land that we could build together. And then..." Sean drew off.
"Then?" Nick urged, and his damned big grey eyes were so wide and hopeful, for what Sean had no idea, but all he could do now was tell Nick the truth and hope that it was enough.
"Then you broke up with Juliet, and we got closer, and... I fell in love with you Nick. And I was scared. After everything that my family have already done to you, I was scared that I would be tarred with the same brush, that you would think I was playing with you, and then I was just stuck between a rock and a hard place. The longer I didn't tell you the harder it became," Sean closed his eyes and rubbed his eyes again.
He started when a gentle hand pressed against his neck, a thumb rubbing the base of his skull in a familiar way, in a way that was very familiar. He stayed still, scared to dislodge the contact.
"I know a little something about keeping a big secret from people you care about, and being scared to tell them the truth," Nick sighed. Sean turned to look at him stunned and found the dark-haired man very close to him.
"Nick?"
"I have talked things over, a lot, with Monroe and Hank and Rosalie, and had a lot of alcohol. Sean, technically I was keeping from you that I was a Grimm, I was trying to pluck up the courage to tell you what I was. I am angry Sean, yes I was keeping something from you, but what you did..."
"I know Nick, I do! I will promise never to keep anything from you again, never to lie again, I will...anything that you want, for one more chance," Sean said quickly.
Nick bit his lip, his eyes scanning over Sean's face as he tried to make a decision.
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Sean frowned down at the paperwork in front of him as he took in what he was reading. Was this something that Nick had really put together?
"What do you think?" The voice made him look up and he found the man of his thoughts standing in the doorway. Well, lounging against his doorway would more be the word.
"Nick what are you…how are you…" Sean asked confused.
"I talked Mike into letting me in, I just said that I had lost my keys, not that I had thrown them at you in a fit of a tantrum," Nick walked over and dropped down next to Sean on the sofa, turning slightly so he was facing Sean, placing his arm along the back of the sofa. "What do you think?"
"Where did you get this idea?" Sean asked softly.
"My mom. I spoke to her about a few of the things that had happened and where my head was with things. She referred me to a book I have, about a Grimm and a Royal who worked together in the past, not the way that we are, but they had a partnership, a proper one. I put this together with help from their agreement," Nick admitted.
"Interesting," Sean nodded. "I would like to look that over at some point,"
"We need ground rules, Sean, if we're going to survive this, if we're going to be a thing and work together, like when we set the ground rules for our relationship while working in the police department together. If we don't have this in place…"
"Are you saying that you want to carry on?" Sean looked up sharply.
"Not carry on no," Nick shook his head and quickly reached forward to grab Sean's hand when he jerked back. "I mean that we can't carry on the way that we were, we need something new, something better. We need to start fresh,"
"No more lies or secrets," Sean said.
"On both sides," Nick nodded. "We both made a mess of this, we were both scared about how the other would react to our secret. I was scared after what happened with Juliette about how you would react. But we both know now, the main secrets are out, we can either break apart and probably end up fighting with each other because we're hurt for the rest of our lives. Or we make an agreement, a partnership in all ways, and we try again, properly!"
"I want that," Sean licked his lips. "I don't want you...I can't take you hating me,"
"I don't hate you, Sean, I was angry, but I was angry because I love you, and I was hurt and lost,"
"You…" Sean looked at Nick and was met with that boyish grin that he loved.
"I love you," Nick leant forward and pressed kisses to his face until the taller man turned and caught his lips with his.
"I love you too," Sean breathed out against his lips before pressing closer again. "Together, we can get through this and be better than we were, far better than we were, I promise,"
"We give each other a second chance, yes?" Nick smiled.
"Yes," Sean nodded.
"And we kick your families arses for thinking that they can come in here and run roughshod all over us,"
"Us?" Sean asked with a soft smirk.
"Us. A Royal and his Grimm,"
"A Grimm and his Royal,"