Grace let out a small and tired sigh as she stared at a map filled with possible locations of where the detonator could be. It was only 11am and she felt swamped.

She wasn't sure where to start and the amount of places the Bureau had listed in Spain was overwhelming. That was when there was a knock at the door to the conference.

Gretta popped her head in and smiled at her mom, attempting to wave while she was carried two cold brews in from the vending machine in each hand.

"How's my precious pearl doing?" Grace asks, smiling as her daughter unexpectedly goes in to give her a hug.

"I'm good...I missed you." Gretta admits, her voice a bit muffled from burying her face into Grace's t-shirt.

"I've missed you too." Grace whispers back, kissing her forehead.

They stayed like that for a moment until Grace asks,

"Why did you bring me coffee?"

"Thought you could use a pick-me-up." Gretta explains, handing one of the cans to her mom, sits down in one of the chairs and takes a sip from her own drink. Grace smiled briefly as she noticed her daughter was staying to keep her coming.

Grace went back to the map, Gretta went on her phone and a moment later the door opened again.

"Hey, Gretta!" The voice was Jack so Grace didn't look up.

"Hey." Gretta casually replies, distracted by texting Elliot about the case (but no one in the room but her knew that).

Jack walked over to where Grace leaned over a conference table.

"Any luck so far?" Grace shook her head.

"Nope. And until someone fesses up, it's going to be extremely difficult."

"Yeah. Gilchrist won't tell us anything, though. So what do we do now?"

"If I may interrupt, Grace." All three people in the room turn to see Armand Dupont standing in the doorway.

"Go on." Grace encourages, straightening up.

"I'd like to help," Dupont explains hesitantly as he steps forward, "I don't know about the Promethians' plan but I'm happy to tell you the little I do know."

Grace and Jack glance at each other, not sure if he can be trusted.

"You'd better wait in the interrogation room then, Dupont." Jack decides, his voice serious. "Grace will be with you shortly."

Dupont reluctantly leaves and Jack looks back at Grace.

"I spoke with the chief and she wants us to try and stop the referendum. She suggested going to someone with influence. And guess who I suggested?"

"Who?" Grace asks, giving in.

"Princess Sofia! I'm dying to try out my charm on royalty." Grace huffs in amusement and rolls her eyes.

"Alright, fine. We'll go talk to the princess and then we can 'interrogate' Dupont about what he knows."

As the two exit, leaving Gretta in the conference room, the two detectives nearly crash into Elliot in the hall.

They stare at one another, waiting for someone to make a move. Grace and Jack look surprised to see him outside his office space. Elliot, meanwhile, looks like a deer caught in silence. Grace is the first one to break the silence.

"Looking for Gretta?"

"Uh...yes." He stammers, clearly embarrassed.

"She's in the conference room." Grace gestures to the door behind them. Elliot nods quickly, probably having already known that information himself by talking with her.

"Thank you." He says and then avoids their gazes before exiting with, "excuse me."

Grace moves out of his way and both her and Jack watch him enter and close the door.

"Those two have gotten...close." Jack observes.

"Funny. Carmen said the same thing." Grace shakes her head and gets back to business. "At any rate, we should go find Sofia and get back to the case."

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"Hello Sofia. You're looking gorgeous...orange really is your color." Grace regrets allowing Jack to take the lead on this but she doesn't have time to apologize on his behalf.

"Oh, I'm so glad to see you, Grace! I'm in desperate need for help!" Sofia says, completely ignoring Jack and coming towards Grace.

"Actually, we need YOUR help, Sofia." Jack pipes up again.
"What is it, Sofia?" Grace asks the princess.
"I feel terrible, Detective Grace. As if I hadn't already brought shame on the royal family, I lost the Spanish crown when you arrested me! The crown has been in my family since the 1700s...imagine when Papa finds out. You can help me, can't you, Grace? Will you go to Piaza Mayor and find my crown?"

"...alright fine. I'll go and find your crown."
"You're lucky we need your help Sofia. We'll find your crown and return it to you."

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The two detectives go to the interrogation room first so they can ask Dupont what he knows.

"I want to start by saying sorry, Grace. It was irresponsible to infiltrate the Promethians. I hope you can forgive me." Dupont says as Grace sits down across from him. She doesn't answer him. To be honest, she's not sure if she can forgive him just yet.

"That depends on whether you prove you're trustworthy. We need you to help us to stop this bomb plot!" Jack points out.

"Évidemment, Monsieur Archer. Of course, Gilchrist didn't give me or the other Promethians any details about the detonator. However, I do remember him saying, 'When all else fails, turn to Güell.' I didn't pay it much attention at the time. I thought it was just a madman's ramblings. But now I wonder if it was a clue about how to complete the plan if he got arrested."

"The detonator must be in Park Güell, Grace! If he left the detonator there for his followers to find, we need to retrieve it, STAT!" Grace nods in agreement.

"I'm already busy with this referendum though." Jack says, disappointed. He glances at Dupont before giving Grace a look to silently ask if she agrees with he's thinking. She nods.

"Can you go with Grace instead, Dupont?"

"Avec plaisir, Archer. And I'd like to contribute some of my savings to the investigation, to say sorry. Now, off to Park Güell!"

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Jack and Grace went to the Piaza Mayor first to search for Sofia's crown.

"Did you find anything, Grace? I can't believe we're running errands for a stuck-up princess when we've got a referendum to stop!"

"I know, Jack. But uh...we have bigger problems." Grace says sheepishly, holding up broken pieces of gold and red.

"Uh-oh. You think those broken pieces are Sofia's crown? Better put them back together, quick!"

"Yeah...just pass me the glue? Thanks."

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After putting the crown back together, Grace suggested they 100% confirm it was in fact Sofia's, so Jack sent it over to Lars. To pass the time, Grace finally took Dupont to Park Güell so he could prove his trustworthiness.

"I didn't find a detonator...but I did find this." Grace says, handing Dupont a faded paper with the (now infamous) Promethian "P".

"Vite, what did you find, Grace? Some faded paper? Mais oui! That's the Promethian symbol! You must uncover the rest of the text, Grace!"

"Way ahead of you."

A moment later, she reveals the uncovered note.

"Hmm, the note you found reads: 'The wind will always blow you in the right direction.' And there's a drawing of a windmill! This is useless, Grace! Time is running out and all we've found is a vague note about windmills! Who does Gilchrist think he is? Don Quixote?" Grace smiles briefly at the reference before she comes to the next logical conclusion.

"Jack and I saw a windmill when we found Jacqueline's body...maybe that's where we need to go next?" She suggets.

"You're right. We must follow the clues we have. You say there are windmills at the crime scene? Well, en avant!"

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"Please say you have found a clue, Grace. I fear that those bombs could go off at any moment!" Dupont says nervously.

"We're in luck! I found a cell phone on the ground." Grace explains, trying to be optimistic.

"You picked up a cell phone? Must I remind you we're looking for a detonator which could set off bombs all across Europe?!" Grace briefly huffs in amusement.

"People often use cell phones for remote detonators nowadays."

"Oh, cell phones are commonly used as detonators? This newfangled technology baffles me. You had better unlock the phone then--I hear you're talented at that sort of thing!"

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Grace froze after she unlocked the phone.

"Oh my god." She whispered to herself as she looked at the list of places on the chart. London, Rome, Athens, Paris, Madrid--you get the picture. Everywhere in Europe could be blown up at the push of a button.

"Mon Dieu!" Dupont exclaimed as Grace showed the list to him. "Look at this list of European cities, Grace! There's London, Paris, Berlin...and a 'detonate' button next to each of them! This must be the detonator Gilchrist was going to use to set off bombs across Europe! But what do we do with it now?!"

"We should send it to Elliot." Grace says, her voice firm with an air of finality.

"Good thinking, young Mister Elliot will know what to do with it. Let's send the cell phone to him quickly!" Grace nodded briskly but then she sighed, cursing herself.

Now came the hard part.

She took out her cell phone and pressed on her daughter's contact to call her as she and Dupont went back to the car.

"Gretta? Hi, honey. No, everything's fine--well, sort of. Look, I have the detonator with me. I need you to let Elliot know because we're heading back now and need you two to look at it. Thanks--love you too."

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Once Grace returned and quickly gave the detonator to Elliot and Gretta (who were waiting in the front hallway), she met up with Jack and Lars in the lab.

"Grace, you're just in time! I've got a joke for you. Knock, knock."

"...you can't be serious! C'mon Lars, we're on a deadline!" Grace asks incredulously, lip quirked up in amusement.

"Who's there?" Jack answers for her.

"Eiffel." Jack glances over at Grace, who looks flabbergasted and thoroughly annoyed by this exchange.

"I'm not sure Grace is digging this, but...Eiffel who?"

"Eiffel down and broke my crown! Haha! Get it? I fell down?"

"Haha! Great one--"

"Ugh! Guys! We don't have time for this!" Grace snaps impatiently, thoroughly over it now that she realized it was all for a terrible pun.

"Sorry, Grace. I know we've got a referendum to stop and all. What did you find out about the crown, bro?"

"I checked the DNA of the hair I found inside and I can confirm that the crown belongs to Sofia."

"Great!" Grace says, revealed.

"There's no time to lose then, Grace! Let's return the crown to Sofia!"

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Elliot rolled his eyes as he heard more shuffling of feet and put down the detonator with a thud in frustration and annoyance of being interrupted.

"I can hear you, Gretta!"

"I...I am not pacing!" Elliot spins around in his chair, looking incredulous, and finds Gretta frozen mid-turn.

"Pff! You totally were! You're so bad at lying!" Gretta rolls her eyes.

"Not like you're any better!" Gretta retorts before her face grows more serious. "And this isn't the time to be making jokes--I'm worried!!"

"You're worrying for nothing. Stuff like this is a piece of cake."

"How can you be so calm about this??" Gretta questions as she goes back to pacing again. "I mean...I saw the phone at the same time as you did. At any time, any one of those places could blow up. And...and if we don't...all of Europe will be gone!" Gretta runs a hand through her hair nervously and Elliot sighs.

"Gretta...I can't do anything about it with you being like this. I know it's not your fault, but you being stressed out is going to make me stressed out." Elliot states calmly. He waits a moment for her to respond but she doesn't.

In fact, she doesn't seem to be listening and is wringing her hands as she paces.

So Elliot intervenes and stands up, gently grabbing her arm to let her know it's him. After she knows this, he turns her once she's close enough to his chair.

"Gretta...it's going to be okay." He whispers.

Gretta swallows nervously and then nods, agreeing. They stayed like that for a few moments, their noses almost touching. It kept Gretta grounded and calm for reasons she couldn't explain as each breath they breathed out was the only indicator of any passage of time.

Until...

"BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! LONDON COUNTDOWN COMMENCING!"

Both of the teens jump at the monotone voice and stagger away from each other, staring at the computer as it repeats the warning with dumbfounded looks on their faces. They both seem to realize at the same time what that means. Elliot scrambles over to the phone, which he plugged in to a USB to put it in the computer so he could map out the different areas where the bombs were located.

"Shit!" Elliot cures, clearly panicking--an emotion very unlike him. 

"What's happened?" Gretta asks, rushing over and looking very worried.

"The bomb in London is going to go. I must've hit the button before I..." He trails off, not adding the reason why he stopped what he was doing. Gretta swears she can see a blush on his cheeks but it's hard to tell with the neon red swashing both their faces from the countdown.

"Look, just...sit. And keep your phone on you. Just in case I need coordinates." Elliot instructs briskly and Gretta nods and does as she's told.

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"We found your crown at Piaza Mayor, Sofia. Though I doubt you'll have much occasion to wear it in prison."

"Thank you so much, Detective Grace. I would have disgraced myself even further if I'd lost such a family heirloom!" Her turns more serious for a moment. "So, what can I do for you in return?"

"We want to stop the referendum on European unification. And we figured maybe you could use your influence to help us!"

"Well, I suppose since I can't play at having all the power now that I'm stuck in prison, then nobody should be able to!"

"Sofia, a deal is a deal." Grace says calmly but firmly, similarly to how she use to scold her daughter when she was a child (it happened to work well when threatening/warning people).

"I'll make a few phone calls, Detective Grace. I'll have a meeting with the President of the European Commission organized for by the end of the day. Now, before you go Grace, I'd like to treat you to lunch in the prison canteen as thanks for returning my crown!"

"Sure. I was getting a bit hungry anyway."

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"Young Elliot, tell us you've disarmed that detonator Grace found at the crime scene!"

"Of course I did, old man. The Bureau didn't hire me for my wit!" Elliot falters a bit before continuing what he was saying. "There was an iffy moment where I almost blew up London."

"And nearly gave me a heart attack." Gretta murmured and Grace gave her a puzzled look but her daughter didn't elaborate, just blushed once she found her mom looking at her.

"I'm assuming you stopped it?" Grace turned back to Elliot.

"Don't worry. I managed to salvage it! None of those bombs will go off now, Grace!"

"That's a relief! Thank you both so much!" Gretta shrugs sheepishly.

"I didn't do much. Elliot did most of the work."

"Either way, tremendous work, you two! Perhaps the Bureau will give you some extra pocket money."

"Please," Elliot scoffs, "my parents already gave me loads of money. Anyway, I actually almost had fun for once."

"Well, I wouldn't say no to some extra cash!" Gretta retorts, leaning closer to him. Grace rolls her eyes.

"We'll discuss this later. I have to go meet Jack for the meeting with the European Commissioner."

"Sure. I need to go brag about saving Europe to my mates online. See ya!"

"Good luck, mom!"

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Chief Ripley met with Grace before her meeting to have a chat with her.

"This is it, Grace. I'm counting on you to convince the President of the European Commission to cancel the referendum on European unification. This might be the most important meeting you ever have. Europe's fate depends on you, Grace! The President is waiting to talk to you in his office."

"Thanks, Chief. No pressure or anything!" She jokes to calm her nerves. Her boss reads between the lines and gives her a genuine smile.

"I wouldn't worry too much. You've done incredible things for the Bureau in your short tenure here and I have no doubt you will be able to convince them. But, just in case, good luck, detective."

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"Good afternoon, Grace. I'm sure you'll understand I'm a busy man, so let's make this quick."

"Of course, Commissioner. I appreciate you fitting the Bureau into your busy schedule." Grace replies, being polite as she sits down across from the man.

"We'll get straight to the point, Sir. We don't believe Europe is ready to be united under one government."

"And why I should listen to you?" The commissioner wonders, seeming to mock them, as he turns to Jack.

"Because we've just thwarted a European-wide conspiracy linked to this referendum!" Jack snaps. "If the Promethians were prepared to blow up cities all over Europe to get a 'Yes' vote in the referendum and take control of a United States of Europe. Can you imagine what lengths other organizations might go to once unification is implemented?!"

The commissioner pales at Jack's words, taking them in.

"We had heard chatter about the Promethians, but I had no idea the problem was so extreme. You have a solid argument, but I cannot waltz in and call of a referendum just like that! I'll make some calls and see what I can do."

"Thank you, Sir. We appreciate that." Grace says, secretly relieved.

"In the meantime," he continues, "as a sign of the European Office's gratitude to the Bureau, I'd like to offer you this, Detective Grace." He hands her a Spanish hat.

A bit odd, but Grace accepts it and her and Jack leave the office.

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"Grace, you found the bomb detonator and managed to get the referendum postponed. The Bureau is immensely proud of you!"

"Yeah, congrats, Grace! Even I have to admit you were pretty awesome!" Grace blushes at the praise from her boss and Jack.

"It was nothing. I was just doing my job." She humbly replies.

"Now, who's up for drinks? I hear Park Guell is lovely at this time of day!" Jack says, cheerfully throwing his arm over Grace's shoulder and she shakes her head in amusement.

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A short while later, everything was set up and the main members of the Bureau arrived at Park Guell to sip on some champagne. Because it was a celebration, the two teens were allowed a small glass of the alcohol each. Gretta declined but Grace did notice she had a tiny sip of Elliot's.

"I just wanted to say...thank you all for your encouragement and support. I apperciate the Bureau for giving me new experiences, new friends...and the great pay!" The others laugh at that last part and Grace shakes her head. "No, but...really. Thank you all so much for accepting me into the team...and being accommodating for both me and my daughter." Grace says, smiling as she catches her daughter's eye. Gretta doesn't say anything, but she smiles back at her mom with tears glistening her eyes.

"Cheers, Grace!" Marina toasts, raising her glass. "And here's to many more investigations together."

"Grace, I want to thank you again for trusting me," Dupont goes next. "Infiltrating the Promethians was a foolish old man's bid for adventure. It won't happen again!"

"I just heard! You kicked the Promethian butt, Grace!" Carmen pipes up from the back.

"As eloquent as ever, Carmen." Chief Ripley says with a wink before she goes into her own toast.

"Anyway, you're a real asset to the Bureau, Grace. In fact, you're one of the best detectives we've ever had! Let's toast to--ARGH!" There was a whoosh heard for the crowd and suddenly a dart appeared on Chief Ripley's neck.

It falls silent as the Bureau team is shocked. Gretta gasps, her hands covering her mouth as she realizes what's happening.

"Oh my God! Chief?!" Jack shouts.

"I...I--" Chief Ripley struggles to speak, dropping her glass on the ground and slowly hits the floor. Grace rushes forward to catch her before her body hits the ground.

"Chief? CHIEF?!" Carmen shouts at the unconscious body as Grace frantically searches for a pulse.

"Is she breathing?!" Ingrid nearly sobs, clearly very distraught. Grace slowly nods.

"Yes...yes, she's..." She trails off. "She's breathing but... I don't know how long she'll have."

"Ingrid, call an ambulance! We need to get the Chief to the hospital, ASAP!" Carmen shouts. "And we need to scout the park. Whoever did this might--"

"Carmen pull yourself together!" Jack interrupts her tirade. "They could be anywhere by now. We need to listen to Grace, she'll know what to do."

Me?! Grace thinks, surprised before she calms down and thinks of a solution.

"We can't do anything right now. And like Jack said, the person or people who are responsible for this are probably already gone."

"You're right, Grace. We can't do anything to help the Chief right now. She'll be in good hands at the hospital." Jack points out.

"Wait! The dart--it still has to be around here somewhere!" Grace realizes, rushing over to the ice cooler someone had brought to chill the champagne.

"You think the dart fell into that ice chest when the Chief fell down, Grace? Quick, let's look through it!"

"I found it!" Grace says after a few minutes.

"We've gotta send it to Lars, NOW!"

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"Quick, Lars! What did you find out about the dart which the Chief was shot with?"

"Man, I can't believe this is happening...I really hope the Chief's going to pull through!"

"I hope so too." Grace admits, more quietly. She didn't know her as well as the others, being the newbie, but Chief Ripley had respected Grace and treated her like an equal.

"I know you don't know her that well, Grace, but Ripley really is the backbone of the Bureau. She always has our backs."

"But right now, we need to focus on finding whoever shot her! So c'mon Lars, what do you know about the dart?"

"Well, the tip of the dart was imbued with fast-acting poison, which means it doesn't look good for the Chief. And I also found that the feather fletching was colored with vegetable dye. More specifically, with poppy flower dye. The type of poppy flower used is called Papaver atlanticum, otherwise known as the Moroccan poppy. As you might have guessed, it's native to Morocco, in North Africa. But I'm afraid that's all I can tell you!"

"Now we know the dart was made in Morocco! That's more than enough, bro. Come on, Grace, we need to go tell Ingrid. She might have news about the Chief!"

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"Ingrid!" Grace shouts to get her attention in the hallway. "We have good news! The dart is from Morocco and--" She stopped, seeing the grim look on her face and she becomes confused.

"I've just heard from the hospital, Grace. The Chief...she didn't make it." Grace was too shocked to speak.

"W...what?!"

"You can't really mean that, Ingrid." Carmen says, having come up to the group upon hearing the exchange. "The Chief can't really be...dead."

"But...what are we going to do without her? I mean...Ripley accompanied me out on my first trip into the field with the Bureau. She's always been there for me." Jack sighs, tears blurring his vison. "And we'd only just found the lead we needed. Lars told us that the dart came from Morocco."

"And now the Chief's dead, it's important than ever that you follow that lead, Grace." Ingrid's face was stern and her voice serious. "Because now we're looking for a killer! There's no time to lose, we're taking the next flight to Morocco!"

Author's Notes

We're finally done with all the cases in Europe🥳

I figured Grace and Gretta could have a mother-daughter moment to have a moment to breath in the middle of all the chaos.

Also I added a scene of Jack and Grace discussing Elliot and Gretta's closeness because I can :)

And once I remembered Elliot's dialogue about almost bombing London, I thought I would take advantage of that and show that it was actually because Elliot distracted by trying to calm Gretta down from panicking (not that he'd ever admit it, of course XD)

That said, I hope the tension between them and then the cut to the bomb going off was a smooth transition because I don't think I'm good at tense transitions--

Next chapter will be a filler and I am very excited for it for...specific reasons that I will get into next chapter ;)

Unfortunately, it probably won't come out till sometime next week since I am busy with tech stuff for the play I'm which comes out next week.

BatgirlGeek❤️