Chapter Text
It was late at night in Portland, Oregon, with an old man flipping the sign of his store; “Bertram Estate Jewelry”, to closed before locking the front door then turns off the lights as he was closing for the night. Across the street, sat a car with three men inside who were focused on the jewelry store, each putting on a clear face plastic mask then getting their weapons ready before existing the car and make their way across the street.
The three masked men proceed to kick down the door, startling the owner who was behind the front desk looking over his inventory, especially when the trio opens fire. Acting quickly, the older man ducks and runs towards the back, barely avoiding the gunfire. The store owner then makes his way to a large safe, which he heads inside as the men fire at him again, closing the door in time, but winces when he notices one of the bullets had grazed his shoulder.
The old man grits his teeth as a strange wave ripples over his face, morphing into what looked to be a foxlike creature, before returning to normal and then turns his attention to a cabinet in the safe that he approaches and opens. Looking through the many things stored inside, the man’s eyes stop on a particular medium sized metal box with a lock on it, which he reaches for and picks up.
Gazing down at the box, his attention was drawn back to the safe door as he heard a drilling sound coming from the other side, no doubt the robbers. Knowing well that it was only a matter of time before they got in, the old man places the box down and brings out a key that was hung around his neck with a chain, which he proceeds to use to unlock the box and open it, seeing the item held inside.
“Don’t worry… They’ll try, but they won’t get you. I won’t let them.” He swears.
Meanwhile, the three robbers had drilled a hole into the safe door before setting up explosives through the hole made. They then back away before detonating, blowing the safe open and allowing them in. Inside they found the store owner lying face-first on the floor, dead, shrapnel in his back and his hand laid on top of the now closed metal box with the key lying next to it.
“Grab anything and everything you can and let’s go!” The leader tells the other two and they begin filling their bags with the stuff of the safe, while the lead guy approaches the dead man, his focus though on the box, which he picks up along with the key. “Finally…” He says with clear excitement in his voice as he stares down at the mysterious box reverently.
Later, the police arrived at the scene to investigate, among them were detectives Nick Burkhardt and Hank Griffin.
“Damn, I know this place. Bought my second engagement ring from this guy.” Hank remarks as he and Nick get out his car and approach the store, where they ran into Sergeant Drew Wu.
“Hey, looks like they came in through the front door just after he closed for the night.” He informs the two detectives as they pass the police tape to the front door of the store.
“Find a body?” Hank asks.
“Oh, yeah. Samuel Bertram.” Wu answers then enters the store.
“Ah, I was afraid of that.” Hank groans as he and Nick follow the sergeant inside.
“He’s in the vault. Probably thought he was safe… In the safe.” Wu then tells them as they make their way through the shop.
“Surveillance tape?” Nick then inquires.
“Thieves found the camera, ripped it out of the wall. Probably took it with them.” The sergeant says in response as they reach the vault, many of its contents now gone from the shelves and cabinets, and found the dead owner inside. The two detectives put on latex gloves as they enter to investigate.
“This was a professional job.” Nick notices right away.
“Yeah, they knew what they were doing.” Hank agrees as he leans down next to the now deceased Sam Bertram. “Sam was a big-time antique collector.” He says.
“So he liked old artifacts.” Nick remarks as he picks up a silver candelabra. “I can only imagine how much the stuff in here could be worth on the black market.” He then says while looking over the intricate designs of the antique.
Meanwhile, the three thieves that robbed the store and had killed Bertram, were now at their house hideout, looking through their score. Well, two of them were, the leader was focused solely on the box he retrieved from the dead Fuchsbau. He smiles to himself as he takes the key in hand and unlocks the box then opens it, only to frown when he discovers it empty.
“NO!” He exclaims, knocking the box to the floor in rage.
“What is it?” The second thief asks.
“It wasn’t in the box!” The leader yells at them in frustration.
“What?” The third man questions as he checks the empty metal box.
“Maybe it’s in one of the other boxes.” The second guy suggests and the two of them frantically check said other boxes, though they don’t seem to find what they were looking for.
“It’s not here.” The leading man states with an aggravated tone as he walks over to a table with a liquor bottle, pouring himself a glass.
“That can’t be! It has to be!” The second man says as he continues searching.
“It was in the vault! That’s what you said! We got everything from it!” The third follows up as the leader downs his drink.
“Then where the hell is it?” The second guy questions, then notices the leader staring at him. “Why are you looking at me like that? What? You think I took it or something? How could I hide it?” He says, clearly rattled.
“You’re right… It must still be back at the shop. That fox must have hidden it.” The lead man says as he approaches the front door.
“Where are you going?” The second man asks.
“I’m going back.” The leader answers dismissively, the third following him but is stopped by the second.
“What are you doing? I’m going with him.” He says, annoyed.
“You two are not leaving me here alone.” The second man states.
“It’s not like he can hide it!” The third exclaims, his face changing to a jackal like creature. “You know what will happen if we meet with him, but don’t have it, as he requested.” He states, the second barely holding back a flinch as he woges himself. Just then, the two heard the backdoor opening.
“That can’t be him already…” The second man states as he and the third take out their handguns, then go to investigate, splitting up in the process.
The two men move through the dark house, not finding any sign of their partner though did feel a third presence within, the duo almost jumping at shadows at this point, the second swearing he saw something move though it was too fast to get a good look. The third man checks the back door, though doesn’t seem to find anything when he feels something…
He switches on the lights, but again finds nothing. He then moves back to the front room of the house. The two men arrive back in the room they started, when both see something moving towards them, they open fire only to both fall to the floor, dead. The lights turn back on and a new figure walks between the deceased duo, having a bird-like appearance before reverting to human form, revealing a man with a stern face and silver hair.
As this was occurring, the robbery team’s leader had returned to the scene of crime, finding the police force surrounding it, Sam Bertram’s body in a bag being loaded into a van. In other words, there was no way he was getting back in anytime soon.
“Which one of these stores has a surveillance camera covering the street?” Hank asks as he and Nick come out of the store.
“There’s a bank on the corner. Start with that, work your way down. If we’re lucky.” Nick tells him as they proceed to cross the street.
“You want the footage at the precinct?” Wu inquires as he catches up to the two detectives as they head for Hank’s car.
“ASAP,” Hank says in response.
As they got to the other side of the street, the robber turns around, with his woge activating, which Nick takes note of, causing him to freeze in place as he sees the Wesen’s reflection in a nearby store window. He isn’t sure what kind the man is, but he had a suspicion it had something to do with the crime. The man’s visage then returns to human form before he turns and starts walking away. Nick follows him as he turns a corner, finding the man getting in a car then driving away.
“Damn it, I saw that car.” Nick sighs then swears, having returned to the precinct with Hank and Wu, the three of them checking the security footage they managed to scrounge up of the jewelry store robbery.
“What?” Hank asks as he and Wu turn their attention to Nick.
“Yeah, the guy we passed on the street tonight—He was driving that car.” The detective recounts, watching the surveillance as said guy and two others were seen exiting the car and heading for the store in question.
“Hold up.” Wu says as he walks over and zooms the image on the car license plate. “Most of it. New York plates. Long way from home.” He sarcastically remarks as the image clears up to reveal the numbers on the plate.
“They’re probably bogus, but run them anyway.” Hank instructs.
“Yeah, and put out an APB.” Nick adds when his desk phone rings and he answers it, having a good idea who it was. “Harper, we get you out of bed for nothing?” He answers the forensic medical examiner.
“If you did, Nick, I wouldn’t be calling.” Dr. Harper says in response.
Meanwhile, the robber had made it back to the house hideout, which he enters, only to find both his cohorts lying dead on the floor. Immediately on alert, the man draws his own gun and goes to inspect the house, only to freeze when upon hearing a floorboard creak followed by a voice.
“Don’t you wish you hadn’t come back?” The voice, a man’s, taunts.
“You killed them.” The robber puts together, lowering his gun as the man who entered the house earlier appears behind him with a gun of his own, aimed at the other man’s head.
“Ironically, they killed each other.” He states, keeping a hand on the thief’s shoulder while also taking his gun. “It was dark.” He adds as he goes back behind the other man, gun still trained on him.
“I thought I saw you in Lisbon.” The robber remarks.
“Yeah, that was my mistake.” The other man admits.
“It isn’t here.” The thief then states.
“Figured that out. So where is it?” His captor replies then questions, serious.
“If I knew, you think I would have come back? And not directly, to him?” The robber questions.
“I don’t know. So many have done the most extreme things, just to possess it. Although, it doesn’t usually end well.” The other man states. “Face down on the floor.” He then orders as he practically pushes the thief to the floor, next to one of his dead partners. “Now…” The greying haired man starts as he pulls over a chair. “Why don’t we start…” He then sits down in said chair. “With what the hell are we doing in Portland?” He questions, leaving no room for argument.
“I caught up with Stanislav in Morocco…” The robber begins.
“The blast didn’t kill him. Didn’t help him much. But that wasn’t specifically what did him in.” Dr. Harper informs Nick and Hank when they arrived at the coroner’s, finding the late Sam Bertram laying on a table, his body mostly covered by a sheet except for his face. “I wasn’t sure at first, but then I discovered one of his lungs had been pierced, though not by shrapnel.” She explains.
“Wait, if not from the shrapnel from the explosion, then by what?” Nick questions, confused.
“By this,” Harper says as she pulls over a smaller metal table and the two detectives focus on the object on top of it.
Laid out on the table was a metallic right-hand gauntlet that appeared to extend to elbow length with overlapping layers, similar to scales, claw-like fingertips, and a large metal bulbous on the back of the hand itself.
“What in the world…?” Hank asks while Nick was quiet as he stared at the glove.
“When I was examining him, I found it under his shirt. Seems he fell on it when the vault blew and the resulting impact caused it to be lodged into his ribcage and punctured his lung.” The ME explains-recounts.
“That’s a way to go…” Hank says with a wince. “What even is it?” He then asks.
“A gauntlet, like one that’s a part of a set of armor…” Nick answers, remembering seeing similar stuff, usually in museums and stories about knights. “Looks pretty old…” He then remarks, something about the design of it he couldn’t help but find mesmerizing.
“Bertram did have a thing for ancient artifacts.” Hank recalls then turns to Harper. “Where did you say you found that again?” He inquires.
“Hidden under his shirt. It must be very valuable if he was that desperate to hide it, especially considering it lead to his death.” The medical examiner replies.
“All for a gauntlet? Seriously…” Hank’s voice seems to trail off as Nick stares at the mysterious armor-glove. Something about it seemed, familiar…? Almost like he’d seen it before, but he couldn’t tell from where. It also felt like it was drawing him in…
Without thinking, he reaches out to touch the gauntlet, when the metal bulbous on top shifts and opens, like an eye, revealing a large blue jewel inside of it. Nick’s breath then seems to stop as he feels his consciousness being pulled in by the gleam of the gemstone and many images flash in his mind; a burning object falling from the sky, a glowing blue gem surrounded by rock as it’s held up, then a number of male figures wearing the gauntlet and/or a bracelet—in many different styles, though all with a large blue jewel on it—many of which appeared to be on a battlefield.
“Nick…? Nick!!” A voice calls, snapping the detective out of his strange trance, finding his partner and the ME looking at him strangely. “You okay, man? You looked out of it. Also, since when do you touch evidence without gloves on?” Hank questions, himself wearing latex gloves and holding an open evidence bag.
“Uh, I, uh…” Nick stammers left rattled and confused by whatever he just experienced. He looks to the gauntlet again, seeing something akin to a flame burning in the gem as it seemed to stare at him, making him jump back in shock.
“Nick, are you all right?” Hank asks, concerned for his partner who seemed on edge, even Harper looked worried. The other detective doesn’t reply and rubs his face of the sweat that started dripping down it. “Um, well, since this is evidence we need to bag it. I’ll take care of it.” The black man states as he proceeds to pick up the gauntlet and put it in the evidence bag.
“Y-Yeah, you handle it, please…” Nick says, honestly still unsettled, jumping again upon hearing his phone ring, calming himself before answering it. “Burkhardt,” He greets the person on the other line. “Okay.” He says then ends the call. “They found the car. Let’s go.” He says and speed walks out of the room, Hank behind him while Harper stares at Nick before looking back to the late Sam Bertram.
The two detectives drive to where the car of the robber was located, finding another officer there who they approach.
“What do we have?” Nick asks the policeman in his squad car.
“Where is it?” Hank then follows up.
“BMW’s in front. Only house on the block.” The officer in the car tells them.
“Anybody go in or out?” Nick inquires.
“No. Not while I was here.” The officer replies.
“All right, let’s head in. Hank and I will enter through the front, you cover the back.” Nick says quickly and moves towards the house, Hank looking perplexed before following after his partner.
“Nick, you sure you’re okay? You seem on edge.” Hank asks him.
“I’ll feel a lot better when we arrest these guys.” Nick replies as he draws his gun and continues his way towards the house.
Inside the house the robber was still being held at gunpoint on the floor by the mystery man who led his two partners to killing each other.
“Soledad, if the jeweler’s had it, then where is the gauntlet now?” The man with the gun questions.
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be here. That’s why I went back. But the cops were all over the place.” The thief says in frustration, causing him to woge into his Wesen form then gets up, only to see the other man at the front door looking out its window.
“Police.” The man tells him and the robber quickly turns and runs out the back of the house, just as the officer arrives and witnesses the man hop over the back porch railing.
“Stop! Police!” He yells but the Wesen robber keeps on going, heading for and jumping over the metal fence and into the nearby parking lot.
Meanwhile, Nick and Hank enter the house through the front door, finding the grey haired man standing in the middle of the room, both his hands raised and a calm expression on his face.
“Police! Don’t move!” Hank warns as he approaches the man, keeping his gun trained on him as he searches the man’s pockets. “Got a gun.” He informs Nick who was looking over the two dead thieves. “On the floor.” He then pushes the man to the ground and gestures to Nick, who comes over.
“All right, hands above your head, come on.” The Grimm-detective tells the man as he pulls him up and goes to cuff him, when the man woges, stunning Nick. The man looks at him with his bird-eyes, though unlike many Wesen didn’t react with fear, actually he didn’t react much at all as he shifted back to human. Deciding to shake it off, he handcuffs the man, just as the officer comes in.
“There was another one. Escaped out the back.” He tells the two detectives.
“What happened?” Hank asks as he walks over to the officer.
“He was fast. I’ve never seen anyone run like that.” The policeman answers.
“Did you at least get a look at his face?” The detective inquires.
“No. He was moving too fast. I didn’t get a good enough look.” The officer replies.
“Darn it…” Hank curses then turns back to the two dead men on the floor. “Still, we do have a crime scene here.” He remarks.
“Officer Brenner, we’ll need you to get a coroner up here.” Nick then tells the policeman, who nods and heads out the door. “On your feet. Let’s go.” He then says to the handcuffed man as he “assists” him in standing up then leads him out the house, Hank following behind.
Back at the precinct, Nick and Hank arrived with their suspect, who they found was named Farley Kolt, leading him to the interrogation room, Nick practically pushing him inside.
“We’re gonna need you to wait in here for a bit, Kolt.” He tells the man before closing the door then turns to Hank. “Okay, now that he’s taken care of, you should get that, thing, down to evidence.” He says to his partner, stumbling over talking about the gauntlet, which Hank was currently carrying.
“Seriously, Nick, what’s up? You’ve been on edge since seeing it back at the ME’s office.” The black man questions, starting to get worried, his partner’s eyes being drawn to said item in the evidence bag, feeling like the eye-like gem was staring at him again.
“I don’t know… Just, something about it…it gives me a strange feeling. Please, just take it down.” Nick replies then practically pleads. Just then, their boss, Captain Sean Renard, walks up to them with a folder in hand.
“I just got the prelim on the jewelry store. I want you guys to fill me in in my office…” He says but then trails off when he notices the gauntlet in the evidence bag. “What is that?” He inquires and Hank holds it up higher.
“Evidence in that very case. Apparently, Bertram was trying to hide this and it ended up being the death of him.” The detective explains, Nick remaining silent as his eyes were fixated on the object, which Renard takes notice of.
“Bring that to my office. I’d like to take a closer look at it.” He says then turns and walks toward said office, the two detectives following after him, Nick managing to tear his gaze from the gauntlet and into the interrogation room, Kolt no longer was restrained and was staring at him with a neutral expression.
“That’s when we got the call on the car. We went to the house they were using as a hideout, found Kolt and two of the robbers dead. Officer Brenner said he saw someone go out the back but he was moving so fast that he didn’t get a good look at him, so he’s still in the wind.” Hank informs, he and Nick stood in the captain’s office, the gauntlet laid out on top the man’s desk as he puts on some gloves.
“What about this then?” Renard inquires as he carefully pulls the gauntlet out of the bag and holds it up to get a better look, Nick shifting slightly before speaking.
“According to Harper, Sam Bertram hid it under his shirt. When the vault blew he fell down, right on it, and it pierced into his lung… Killing him.” He informs, the captain looking at him before turning his attention to the metal glove.
“That would explain the blood…” He remarks, noting the bloodied finger tips/claws of the gauntlet as he checks over the gauntlet’s design, his eyes zeroing in on the blue jewel on the hand.
“What do you make of it, Captain?” Hank then asks.
“Ancient, definitely ancient…” Renard replies, then notes his two detectives looking at him questioningly. “I studied a bit on antiques for a time, and what I can tell you is this gauntlet is very old, and most definitely valuable as a historic artifact. Probably dates back to the medieval period, maybe even before that…” He explains then says as he continues studying the armored glove.
“Along with being a jeweler, Bertram was a big antique collector.” Hank recounts.
“Anything in his store that could tell us more about it?” Renard then asks.
“Nothing concrete. Whatever it is, he went through a lot of trouble to hide it.” The detective replies as Nick’s eyes were once again drawn to the item, recalling the images it seemed to spark within him.
“Burkhardt,” A voice speaks, snapping the Grimm back to reality. “Are you all right?” The police captain asks, noting the detective’s far off expression.
“Yeah, just… Just, gonna go… Question the suspect.” Nick stammers as he scrambles to leave the office and head for the interrogation room.
“What’s with him?” Renard asks, baffled by his detective’s behavior.
“I don’t know, he’s been out of it since the ME. Says that he gets a strange feeling from the gauntlet… Whatever that means.” Hank replies, not noticing the look on the captain’s face, who glances at Nick then down to the gauntlet.
“You’re dismissed, detective. I’ll handle getting this into evidence.” He says.
“You sure? As the one who’s been holding onto it, it’s technically my responsibility.” Hank questions.
“It’s been a long day, and you still need to work on your report about all this.” The captain says in response and his detective shrugs.
“Right. After which, I’m heading home. Night, sir.” He says then leaves the office, heading for his desk. As soon as he was out, Renard picks up his phone and dials a number.
“Oui?” A man’s voice greets in French from the other end of the line.
“(It’s me. You won’t believe what just came into my possession… Das Hexenmeisterschwert,)” He tells the man, speaking in French, who goes quiet.
“(Are you positive?)” The man he was talking to asks in shock and disbelief.
“(Absolutely. It’s just as the legends described…)” Renard replies while still looking down at the gauntlet.
“(Listen to me. I’d be careful if I were you… The gauntlet is said to be volatile, has a will of its own… Even with your people’s history with it, I wouldn’t try anything.)” The French man on the other line advises.
“(No point. It looks like it’s already got its eye on another…)” Sean replies as his gaze is drawn to Detective Nick’s form as the man enters the interrogation room.
“Farley Kolt.” Nick greets the man, currently sat at the table in the room, as he enters, making sure the door was closed.
“Imagine my surprise. I thought you were just a cop.” Kolt remarks as Nick circles around the table to the other side.
“Right now, that’s all you need to worry about.” He tells the Wesen man, now standing across from him.
“I’m not worried. Ballistics will prove that Flynn and Hans shot each other.” Kolt states, not even seeming fazed.
“Flynn and Hans.” Nick repeats the names as he sits down.
“Ian Flynn. Irish by way of Berlin. Hans Roth, Austrian. They both worked with a Spaniard, Soledad Marquesa.” Kolt explains.
“Who got away.” Nick puts together.
“Yep. Been following them for a long time. Finally caught up with them tonight, but, uh…” The man continues only to trail off with a mouth click.
“And why were you following them?” The Grimm questions. Farley, for the time, seemed nervous as he looked out the door window before turning back to Nick.
“It would be helpful if we could talk off the record. Is this being recorded?” He says then asks.
“No. I want to give you a chance to come clean.” Nick replies and the man relaxes.
“Look, this has nothing to do with you being a cop, you know. Really, I could care less. This has to do with who you are and who I am. You’re not the only Grimm I’ve ever known. In fact, the reason I’m here is because of a Grimm… Kind of.” Kolt says and the detective got a feeling from his words.
“Tell me about the gauntlet.” Nick then demands, hoping for answers.
“The Knight-Saber…” Farley says and Nick felt his breath hitch for a second. “At least, that’s what it’s mostly known as. It may not look it at first glance, but it’s an ancient weapon, one that a lot of people died trying to get their hands on.” He states.
“What is it? Where’d it come from?” The Grimm-detective asks next.
“That my friend is a long, complicated story…” Kolt says and Nick gestures for him to continue. “Fact is, nobody really knows where it came from, many stories say it fell from the stars, but what is known, is its power… Throughout history that thing has been worn by many different people, quite a few of them becoming famous historical figures we still talk about today, for better and worse…
“See, the power it grants its bearer, quite a few became worshipped for it, but just as many were persecuted for it; either by those who didn’t understand, those who were afraid of the powers of the bearer, or those who wanted the saber’s power for themselves. As a result, quite a few were branded as practitioners of the dark arts and executed in the…”
“…Witch Trials…” Nick cuts him off as he puts it together.
“Exactly, though that was mostly because of some foolish Wesen and men who wanted to control women… Ironically, many bearers of the Knight-Saber were Zauberbiests.” Kolt continues but pauses when he notices Nick’s confused look. “Zauberbiests, you know, the male equivalent of Hexenbiests?” He explains. “Wow, you must have just awakened your Grimm side to not know that.” He then remarks and Nick sighs, knowing he was right.
“So, it’s a magic weapon that’s been wielded by Wesen?” The Grimm theorizes.
“Sometimes, but most of the time its bearer is a human, though always male—no one knows why on that part—it also has chosen some Grimm to wield it in the past.” Kolt replies and Nick furrows his brows.
“Wait, chosen? You’re saying this thing, chooses who wields it?” He emphasizes.
“That’s the rumor. It’s more than just a mystical artifact, it has a will of its own and when it finds a host that meets its standards, whatever those are, it bestows its vast and still mostly unknown powers onto them.” The Wesen man replies and Nick was stunned. “Also, like I said, many of said hosts end up going down in history…
“William the Conqueror of England… William Wallace of Scotland… Alexander the Great himself… Charlemagne, former emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, even the famous former slave and Thracian gladiator, Spartacus, plus so many others who history’s never even heard of… Simply put, the Knight-Saber, it gets around.
“And then during World War 2, Adolf Hitler himself caught wind of the saber and was desperate to get his hands on it. Only for it to apparently be a fake… At least that’s what some say. Others, say the rightful bearer stole it away before he could try anything with it.” He explains, again stunning the detective.
“Then after the war ended, it just disappeared. Nobody saw it resurface again for decades, some believing it was maybe buried or even destroyed… Until 18 years ago. Apparently, it fell into the protective hands of a Grimm… That was until she was found and murdered for it. After that, I have no idea where it’s been, until tonight.” The bird-like Wesen continues.
“Who was the Grimm that was killed? The one guarding the, saber?” Nick inquires and Kolt’s mood noticeably drops.
“She was the sister of the woman I was in love with. When her sister died, she left me in order to raise her sister’s son.” He explains and Nick felt his breath hitch as the story was very familiar to him.
“Where was this?” He inquires, trying his best to keep his emotions in check.
“Rhinebeck, New York.” Kolt answers. “Don’t keep me locked up here. I can see things even you can’t.” He then says and woges into his Wesen form.
“Impressive. That’s not enough to get you released.” Nick states as he gets up from the chair, Farley returning to his human form.
“You need my help to find the gauntlet.” Kolt states.
“Actually, no, I don’t. I already know where it is. In evidence. Apparently Samuel Bertram was trying to hide it, only for it to kill him.” Nick tells him, getting a bit frustrated and the bird-like Wesen’s expression shifts.
“That so? Tell me detective, have you come into contact with it? Do you feel drawn to it, like you should possess it? Did you experience something you can’t explain, when looking into its eye…?” He inquires, Nick staying silent but his face became tense, when a knock was heard on the room door and he looks up to see Wu through the window, so he walks over to said door.
“There’s one more thing you need to know, every man who’s ever worn the saber, were left marked by its power… Whether good, or bad…” Kolt then adds, Nick pausing for a sec, before opening the door and steps out the interrogation room to face his fellow officer.
“Officer Brenner never reported back from the crime scene, and he’s not responding to calls.” The sergeant informs Nick.
“You tell the captain?” The detective inquires.
“Yeah, just did.” Wu answers just as Nick notices Renard’s empty office.
“Where is he?” He asks.
“On his way to evidence.” The sergeant replies and the detective closes the room door, then the two walk back to their desks.
“I got a positive I.D. on the suspect who got away. Soledad Marquesa, he’s a Spanish National.” The detective relays.
“I’ll run it.” Wu says then heads for his desk, while Nick sits down at his. Feeling like a million thoughts were running inside his head at once.
After a moment, in which he glanced to the interrogation room, Nick then pulls up the search engine on his computer and looked up an auto accident that occurred in Rhinebeck, New York, in 1994, the one his parents died in when he was just 12 and was taken in by his Aunt Marie afterwards, finding a news article about the event. It was all too similar… Was it possible…? Before her own death, Marie did tell Nick that his parents were murdered. All for this, gauntlet…?
Curious, he then searched for anything pertaining to said gauntlet, apparently called the Knight-Saber, but all that did was lead to a dead-end. He sighs—because of course—but then a thought occurred to him, specifically the names of those who apparently wore it in the past. So he searches up said figures, starting with the Roman emperor, Charlemagne, aka Charles the Great. At first he didn’t find anything of note, but upon seeing a particular image of the king—a picture of an old painting—he enhances it to find what appears to be a silver bracelet with a blue gem on the man’s right wrist.
“No way…” He thought, recognizing the bracelet’s design from the strange vision he had back at the ME’s, and starts looking up the others next, finding at least one image of them that showed the men all wearing either a gauntlet or bracelet with a large blue jewel, just like the gauntlet brought in… The Knight-Saber. He then thought back to what else Kolt had told him.
“‘…have you come into contact with it? Do you feel drawn to it, like you should possess it? Did you experience something you can’t explain, when looking into its eye…?’ ‘…every man who’s ever worn the saber, were left marked by its power… Whether good, or bad…’” The Wesen man’s words ring in his ears as he tries to make sense of everything.
Hoping to find answers in the one place he feels he could, Nick heads to his late aunt’s trailer full of Grimm artifacts. So far it was the only place where he could find what he needs, ever since awakening as a Grimm. After a time of searching, he came upon the two Wesen he saw; Kolt being something called a Steinadler and Soledad a jackal-like creature called a Schakal. Unfortunately, the entries about said Wesen were written in German, thankfully he had someone who could help with that.
However, the real problem was he couldn’t seem to find anything on the Knight-Saber, considering that while he found images of it in history, they wasn’t anything he could find about it, which he won’t lie, put him on edge. He was pulled from his thoughts at the sound of knocking on the trailer door. Standing up, he went over and opened it, allowing Monroe, the Blutbad, inside.
“This is way past my bedtime, you know.” The clockmaker states as he comes in, Nick closing the door behind him.
“Well, if I could speak German, I wouldn’t have called.” The detective/Grimm says in response as he walks back to the desk in the trailer.
“Oh, so we’ve got a little Deutsche-Schwierigkeit, do we?” The Blutbad inquires, the Grimm more than a little confused.
“I think the answer to that is ‘Yes’.” Nick replies and then gestures to the books still laying out.
“Really?” Monroe asks, more than a little awestruck.
“Go for it.” Nick permits and the Blutbad looked excited.
“Wow. Okay. Let’s see what we got here. Steinadler and Schakal.” The clockmaker says, almost breathless, as he approaches the desk and books, which he sits down at to read. “Oh, this is High German. This is the stuff my grandfather used to speak of after a couple of beers.” He remarks as Nick sits down himself.
“Auf dem weg von munechen nach Augsburg, fan dich am waldrand ein kleines feuerlein vor… ‘On our way from Munich to Augsburg, I came across a small fire a little ways into the woods’.” Monroe reads aloud before muttering a bit in German. “Ooh, these are some pretty bad Schakal this, uh… Relative of yours is writing of yours is writing about.” He says to Nick before turning back to the book.
“Whoa, look out. They ate a baby. That’s rude.” The Blutbad grimaces, especially with the drawing of said event depicted on the opposite page of the book. “Okay, okay, here we go. So he caught up with the Schakal and of course, cut off his head. Indem er eine axt niegergescjlagen hat.” He reads next, the sketch now of the Grimm chopping the Schakal’s head off with an axe, then turns to face Nick. “You guys are really into that, aren’t you?” He remarks.
“Okay, is there any indication of what I’m up against with these Schakals?” The police detective asks.
“Well, yeah, they’re baby-eating bastards, man. What more do you need to know?” Monroe replies then asks.
“So what about the, um… Steinadlers?” Nick asks next.
“Steinadler, let’s see.” The Blutbad says as he looks over the entry on said Wesen. “Huh.” He hums at what he sees.
“What?” The Grimm asks, curious.
“Just a second, this is interesting. Steinadlers seem to be involved in the military.” Monroe says, the image this time depicting a man with a bird-like face dressed in a civil war styled uniform, holding a gun in one hand and a sword in the other, a second showing a Steinadler commanding other soldiers.
“Like, heroic, noble… Apparently with very large…sausages? I don’t think I’m translating that correctly.” He reads, Nick grimacing at that line. “Um, but anyway, when you’re dealing with the Steinadler, it’s, um—basically what they’re saying is, it’s hard to tell whose side he’s on.” He relays to the detective.
“So they can’t be trusted.” Nick guesses.
“No, it’s not that exactly. Like trust your gut.” Monroe tells him. “But the thing that really doesn’t add up is a Steinadler with a Schakal. They’re almost like, opposite sides of a coin.” He then remarks.
“By the way, Monroe, have you ever heard of something called, the Knight-Saber?” Nick then inquires.
“Knight, Saber…? Um, no, not that I can recall… What is it?” The Blutbad replies then asks for details.
“Some sort of ancient artifact. It was involved in a jewelry store robbery earlier this evening, where I ran into the Steinadler and Schakal. The Steinadler said it goes back centuries and has been in the hands of Wesen before… You sure you don’t know anything?” Nick recounts then asks again.
“Nope. I mean I love vintage stuff as much as the next guy, but I’m not really an expert on the subject of antiques. I got nothing.” The Blutbad replies and the Grimm sighs. “Anything else you want me to translate?” He then asks.
“No. Thank you.” Nick replies as Monroe gets up, only to trip over some stuff, knocking some of it over. “Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa!” The detective cautions.
“Sorry.” The Blutbad apologizes as he scrambles to pick the stuff back up.
“Careful now.” Nick says, just as Monroe notices something.
“Oh, my god. Is that camera an Akeley?” The clockmaker says excitedly as he picks up said camera.
“Be careful.” The Grimm pleads, not wanting anything in the trailer to get broken.
“Where did you get this? Oh, right. Aunt Marie, of course.” Monroe puts together when another item grabs his attention. “No way. Dude, that is a Kineclair projector.” He says in awe as he cranks the projector.
“How do you know all this?” Nick asks, admittedly amused at Monroe’s childlike excitement for the said items.
“Okay, my great uncle on my mother’s side, Olaf—that’s my uncle’s name, not my mother’s—he worked as a newsreel cameraman in Berlin in the ‘20s. He had a camera shop on the Leitung Strasse, so when he died, my mother got all of his old stuff, and…right.” The Blutbad rambles but stops upon noticing Nick’s expression. “Sorry. It’s late. I should be going.” He says while passing the camera to Nick then goes to grab his sweater.
“Look, I appreciate all your help.” The detective tells him.
“Yeah, yeah, no problem. I--It’s just, you got me thinking. I gotta find those old cameras, man. I’m gonna be up all night rummaging through the attic.” Monroe says as he moves to the trailer door. “All right, Bisspater, Alligator.” He says next as he leaves.
“Bis Spater.” Nick says back then looks over the vintage camera, before putting it back and gathering his jacket, then leaves the trailer himself to head home.
“We arrested a guy tonight and during the interview, he said some pretty strange things.” Nick tells his girlfriend, Juliette, as they were getting ready for bed.
“What did he say?” Juliette inquires as her boyfriend sits on the edge of their bed, his back towards her so she couldn’t see the conflicted expression on his face, not sure how to word his next sentence.
“He said he knew someone from Rhinebeck.” He finally says.
“Rhinebeck, New York, where you were born?” His girlfriend recalls.
“Yeah. He said he was with a woman 18 years ago, but she left him when her sister died in an accident. And she left him to take care of her sister’s kid.” Nick says next.
“Wait a minute, was he talking about your Aunt Marie?” Juliette inquires.
“I don’t know.” The Grimm replies, absentmindedly caressing his right wrist.
“You didn’t ask?” The veterinarian questions and the detective finally turns around to face her.
“Look, I couldn’t. You know, it’s a police investigation. I can’t bring my personal life into it. He could use it against me, and I don’t even know if he’s telling me the truth.” He states, ultimately deciding to leave out the part about the gauntlet.
“Well, how do you find out?” The auburn haired woman then asks.
“I have to do some digging.” Nick answers. Not just on Farley Kolt and his apparent connection to his aunt, but also the Knight-Saber…
“Okay. How can I help?” Juliette asks, more like volunteers.
“All right, so his name is Farley Kolt. And I want to know if he was living in Rhinebeck when he said he was.” Nick ends up requesting and his girlfriend smiles at him. With that, the two got into bed for the night.
Meanwhile, Sean Renard was in his condo, currently looking into a mirror while shirtless, showing a mark on his chest right where his heart would be; specifically two circles that were overlapped with each other, appearing sort of like a scar but also not at the same time. He sighs before turning his attention to a nearby table, where the gauntlet currently laid, the blood on it having been cleaned off, feeling almost like it was looking at him.
“Don’t give me false hope. I already know who you want.” He says to the saber, before smirking. “And honestly, you couldn’t have selected a better candidate. I can’t wait to see…” He says before picking it up then makes his way to his bedroom for the night, for now hiding the armored glove away in his closet.