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Chapter Text

Nick sank into his chair, everything about his work day went by just like it had before. Everything looked the same, but with his Grimm back it felt different. He'd spent so long pretending he wanted the normal life Juliette craved he'd never realized how much this part of his life had come to mean. Being a Grimm was who he was.

"Hey, we've got a problem." Hank dropped a file in his desk, Nick flipped it open to look at the victim.

"Our kind of problem?" The body had red around his eyes, as if the capillaries had burst, and a putrid green slime near the orifices. Their face twisted with rage even in death. Another angry face flashed into his mind unbiden. Adalind had caught them trying to steal Diana from her, the royals, and the resistance. In her anger she had gone back to the royals with her daughter. It twisted his gut to imagine the kind of hurt that would cause. He could worry about that later he supposed.

"Oh yeah. We've got zombies apparently."

Baron Samedi had been called in by the royals before, saddly he'd been unable to comply quickly enough for their liking. Now he had a chance to prove himself to the royal family, or what remained, and he would not fail them. He started with the fledgling hexenbiest, she made excellent bait. While the Grimm's little friends were chasing her he slipped in, and stole him away.

On the advice of the King's nephew he had not underestimated the Grimm. He shackled him, and gave him an additional sedative. Overkill perhaps, but he was a Grimm.

"Ah, Baron Samedi, right on time. So glad to see you've learned your lesson about punctuality." Viktor smiled, gesturing for the men with him to set the coffin on the long table. Kenneth, and the King looked on, curious to see if Viktor had failed yet again he had long since lost favor, and he resented that the king had allowed this circus act to continue. The box jerked when it settled, dents formed from the abuse of it's occupant.

"I thought they were meant to be docile unless ordered otherwise." He frowned, Baron Samedi waved a hand in dismissal.

"He will do as I command. I am his master now. Open the box." He ordered the verrat, they looked to Kenneth, he gave them a sharp nod. They unlocked the metal coffin, and Nick shot up. The cuffs snapped as he struggled to get to the closest verrat. He broke their neck before Baron Samedi got in front of him, puffed up his cheeks, and spat green slime into his eyes. Nick wiped at his face, curling in on himself.

"Be calm, and get out of that box." Baron Samedi waved the other verrat away. Nick climbed out, and for a brief moment almost seemed calm. Viktor chuckled, taking a step forward. Nick snarled, grabbed his neck, and slammed his head into the side of the coffin. Kenneth, and the verrat were on him in an instant. One drew a gun, and Nick zeroed in on him. He grabbed his arm as he fired, the bullet went straight through Kenneth's head. Nick snapped the man's arm in half, and kicked out behind him.

He fought with a wild abandon, as if the fight was all that mattered in the world. He killed two more, and would have killed the last had the door not opened. Suddenly, so clear over the voices that whispered in his head, over the noises of battle, and his own rage a tiny heartbeat found his ears. For the briefest moment he almost felt like himself, then a pistol cracked him in the temple and he sagged to his knees.

"No!" A petulant wail came from Diana, and the verrat flew back against the wall, his gun uselessly on the floor beside Nick.

"Nick? I thought I took his power from him!" She pulled Diana into her arms, to shield her from the Gimm, who looked very... Dead.

"You did, it would seem it didn't stick. Don't worry, you won't be punished for it. Your choice to steal his power to fulfil your promise to deal with him was very clever. It would appear Viktor's incompetence knows no bounds. A shame to see Kenneth go however." The King sat where he had been the entire time, bored with the whole thing. The verrat pulled Viktor out of the room, people scrambled to get him medical attention.

"What's wrong with him?" She whispered, he tracked her as she moved to keep Diana further from him. His normally steely grey that had once shifted between blue and green as if one colour wouldn't do for such a handsome face were blown out, the pupil consumed any colour, and blood vessels had popped in his sclara, too red to be healthy.

"Yes, Baron Samedi what is wrong with him?" The King gestured to the man who cowered in the corner, a pool of Kenneth's blood oozed towards him.

"I don't know sir, no one has ever reacted like this!" He continued to ramble, but he dropped into French. He woged, his puffer fish face more of an answer than the one he'd given.

"Have you ever bewitched a Grimm before? They always react differently." She looked him over, his eyes were on her, but they didn't have the same edge. Nick had always been alarmingly observant, now it was clear he noticed things, but he couldn't connect them as he once would have. Diana made grabby hands at him, and wiggled to get out of her grasp.

"It would seem my little princess wants to play with him. Set her down." The King had a curious look in his eye. Adalind opened her mouth to protest, but something about the way Nick tilted his head, almost baring his throat made her pause. Her moment of indecision was taken from her when Diana managed to wiggle from her arms and run straight to Nick.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he just knelt there, and allowed it. She giggled, and pat him on the head. Adalind rushed to her side, and still he didn't move except to watch her. Curious she reached out, and he pressed his face against the palm of her hand. His stubble scratched at her, and his skin felt clammy. Some tiny part of her wanted to wrap her arms around him, and protect this strange innocent animal that had once been Nick. The Grimm instincts made him a predator, but he truly behaved like an animal.

"It appears the Grimm chose a new master. Well one of you has to die for this, so take him away, and harvest whatever is useful before you kill him. I can't very well deny my beautiful granddaughter her new pet." The King waved at the last verrat, who scrambled to grab his gun, and do as instructed. Nick snarled when he took a step towards them. He sprung to a crouch, his arm stretched between them.

Adalind gasped. Even as a zombie seeing Nick protect them was quite a sight. The guard looked up at the King briefly before they turned to take the pleading, and whimpering Baron away. Three more verrat filed in when he left, but wisely kept to the edges of the room.

"Alright, thank your... Grandfather for... Nick." She got up, and brought Diana with her. Nick stood, only a few inches from her.

"Tank! Tank! Tank!" Diana jumped in her arms, making grabby hands at Nick again. He tilted his head until she could grab his face.

"Okay, well we should get back. It's almost nap time." She ducked out of the room, but Nick followed her. She froze, looked at him, then back at the King.

"Shouldn't he have a guard or something?" She frowned, the King waved her off while people still cleaned up the bodies of his family, and guards.

"Diana has him under control, and if anything happens I know you'll protect my granddaughter." She grit her teeth, and finally left the room.

"Who's going to protect me from the rabid zombie Grimm." She muttered while they went to the small wing of the castle she called home these days.

Nick trailed after her while she put Diana to bed. He listened with his head tilted while she read a story, and when she left Diana to sleep he still followed her. She sat down at the edge of her bed to watch something, since she couldn't really do anything in the castle. She couldn't even practice law, the only reason they tolerated her was for Diana.

"What are you staring at? God! What did they do to you?" She glared at Nick, but it didn't sit right when he couldn't glare back. She let the silence drag on until she couldn't stand it. She got up, and he let her close the distance without compliant.

"You tried to take everything from me. You did a couple of times. Took my powers, took my child, but I did what I had to do to get them back. I'm sorry I hurt you. If you were yourself you'd be screaming at me. You'd tell me it was a lie, and that I was an evil witch, but I never wanted to hurt you. Okay, I did after you took my power, but what do you expect. I mean before. That was for love, for Renard, who doesn't even know how to love someone back..." She trailed off, her gaze drifting to the door that separated them from Diana.

"I'm so scared she's going to grow up to be like that. I try so hard to love her, and teach her what's right, but they come in behind me, and reward her for cruelty, and destruction. What if I'm not enough? Oh, what would you know, you're a zombie. Why am I even talking to you?" She watched his perfect stillness for a moment.

"I bet you would never leave Juliette if she were pregnant. Even like this." She whispered, he grunted. Adalind raised a brow at him.

"Yeah, Juliette, your girlfriend, who is probably waiting for you. I won't stop you, you might even make it out of here." He grunted again, but didn't move, she went over to the door, and he followed.

"That's right, go. Be free! Come on! Shoo!" She tried to push him out the door, but he just blinked at her. She groaned in frustration, throwing her hands up.

"Even as a zombie you're infuriating!" She slammed the door, and went back to watching Law and Order, because it was as close as she could come to anything litigious. Nick stood there, and stared. Eventually she got Diana up, and took her to her afternoon classes. She had the finest tutors money could buy, and Adalind at least got to be in the library.

After that they ate. Nick sat, and though his table manners were lacking he ate when she prompted him. She tucked Diana in, and turned to look at Nick. Dana being so clean after her bath only made Nick's filthy clothes look more disgusting.

"Please tell me you remember how to shower?" She lead him into the bathroom, he stopped at the door, apparently he remembered the lesson from earlier that he shouldn't follow her into the bathroom. He did not however, seem to know what she wanted.

"Shower? Clean? You're gross, and you need to wash off you big goof!" She pointed at the large shower with four shower heads. It was definitely a luxury, which Nick would know if he were actually Nick!

"Okay, how about just getting the bloody clothes off?" His clothes were black, and likely salvageable. That's probably why he wore black so often actually. She slid her hands up his shoulders, and he let the jacket slide to the floor.

"Good!" She smiled, only seven more things to go. She gestured to his shirt, and he pulled it over his head. Blood had stuck it to his chest in places leaving a macabre Rorschach test across his abbs.

"Oh, wow, yeah, I forget how... Right, shoes." She waved at his body briefly before she knelt down to unite his boots. His hand came up brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. She looked up in surprise, but he didn't have any more emotion in his eyes.

"Thank you. Now, pants." She slid his belt off, wiped it down with a wet washcloth, and hung it from the towel rack to dry. When she turned around he was completely naked, and very hard.
"Oh my God! Jesus. What am I supposed to do about that?" He took a step towards her, and she went wide eyed.

"No! We are not, just no! You're a zombie, get in the shower!" She pointed, he obediently stepped into the shower. She flicked the water on, and he didn't flinch when the cold hit him, or when she got it a tiny bit too hot. He just stood there under the spray of water like some kind of pornographic mannequin.

"Work with me Nick, you've got to scrub the blood off. Please? Ugh, look I know I did some shitty stuff to you but as far as cosmic punishments go this is a little odd." She grumbled, grabbed the luffah stick she used to scrub her back, and started to scrub him down.

"This would be a lot less awkward if you could put that away." She couldn't help but look at it, as it bobbed in the water like a sea monster. Her mind flashed back to the last time she'd gotten him naked. It definitely hadn't been the worst thing she'd done for a spell.

"It's like talking to a wall." She smacked him in the chest with the loofah. She rinsed it off, and hung it back on the wall so she could hose him off.

"I think that's clean enough for now. Stay." She held a hand out, tossing a large towel over him. He grumbled, and even managed to wait for two seconds before he got out to follow her. She tossed a towel on the floor with a roll of her eyes. Once she collected his bloody clothes she went to the door.

"Hi, could you have these washed, and maybe send up some other clothes similar to them, in the same size as soon as they can? Thank you." She passed the clothes to one of the two verrat agents that stood outside her room for the night.

"Nick. Dry off!" She waved her hand at the towel that hung off his shoulder. He tilted his head, and she just rolled her eyes.

"Fine stand there naked all night and shiver." She did her best to clean up the bathroom before she went to bed. He still stood there, naked when she woke up. Getting him dressed was a bit of challenge, but no more than dressing Diana.

Despite the King's belief that Diana had control of him Nick seemed to only follow her. Any time anyone approached her he growled, and put himself between them. That Adalind didn't actually mind. The people here were a nightmare. Way worse than a room full of lawyers.

This went on for weeks, he would eat when she told him too, and he seemed to want to keep them safe, but he didn't get any more responsive. He would listen when she read to Diana, and she had finally convinced him to sit in a chair, and face the door while she slept. Even with how much she and Nick had butted heads seeing him like this felt wrong. On top of that stress, something else was definitely wrong.

"Ugh, not again. This can not be happening." She had gone to great lengths to smuggle in the little bit of plastic balancing on the edge of the sink. Nick thumped against the door, he didn't like when she was agitated. She opened it, just to glare at him.

"This is all your fault!" She grumbled, before she went back to stare at the tests. Positive. All three of them.

"No! No, I can't be pregnant again! I can't even keep my first daughter safe!" She threw a test at the wall, shattering it into little bits of white and purple shrapnel. Nick pressed himself up against her back.

"Yeah, I'm pregnant. With your stupid kid. Are you happy... No... That's why you're like this isn't it? Oh my God! You're not staying calm to protect me, which would make no sense, or because Diana's in your head. You knew. Even as a crazy murder zombie Grimm you are trying to protect your baby." Her voice got tight, and she tried desperately to wipe the tears from her eyes, his hand came up to rub her arm.

"Adalind." His voice rumbled out, raw from disuse. She sagged against him, and he wrapped his arms around her.

"If you're just pretending not to be able to talk now would be a great time to tell me, because I could really use someone to talk to. Even you." He let out a frustrated groan, she sighed and pulled back eventually.

"I can't have this baby here. We need to get out, and in order to do that I need your help. The real you. You are going to be so mad at me when I figure out how to fix this." She whispered, he whined low in his throat, and held her tighter.

Three more weeks went by before she figured out how to get to the books she needed. She had tried a few little things to try and boost intelligence, the kind she would put in a shake before a difficult case, which lead to Nick being able to use her name regularly, and even once saying Diana, but zero full sentences. He could now shower alone however, so at least there was some progress.

"Stay with Diana." She whispered, before she slipped up to a restricted area of the library used to house Hexenbiest texts. She tucked the one she wanted into her purse, and slid out the other side feeling very pleased with herself at having worked out guard schedules, and a counter charm to the alarm with no texts, and only rudimentary ingredients.

"You're a sneaky little bitch aren't you?" She froze, it was not a verrat, but an unfortunate zauberbiest that had made passes at her more than once.

"Aren't we all?" She preened, and tried to laugh it off. He sneered, all too pleased with himself now.

"Wait until the king hears about his pets Hexenbiest scheming away." He moved closer to her in the secluded portion of the library. She had chosen this section specifically because no one came back here.

"Just tell me what you're after so we can be done with this game." She crossed her arms, and watched him skeptically.

"You've been teasing me since the day you got here, looking down on me because I'm not some royal bastard like your baby daddy. If you want me to keep your dirty little secret, you better get down on your knees, and beg to suck my cock you little whore." He grabbed at her, she weighed her options quickly, she could kill him, maybe, but not without drawing attention to what she had done.

She could allow him to take advantage of her, but she would have to confront him the next time He got it in his head to use her, and she would have to touch him. Debasing herself was not new to her, but it never got easier. She could huff past him, but he would certainly tell the king what he knew. If she could find a way to kill him quietly she could get rid of his body with ease, she'd certainly done that more than she'd like.

"Or I could tell the king you tried to rape me, and that you're a lying zauberbiest sack of shit. " She smiled, and tried to project a confidence she didn't feel. He yanked her back, the motion cracked her head against the side of a shelf. He grabbed her leg, slid his hand up her skirt to touch her, while she could hear him laugh. Before she could clear the spots from her eyes to fight him off the man fell beside her, his head twisted at an odd angle.

"Adalind?" Concern painted Nick's voice, she'd never expected him to be able to express such depths of emotion with only her name. He had no facial expressions other than placid, or snarling, his eyes looked wild, maybe even desperate sometimes, but the only thing that truly showed he was still in there was his voice.

"Nick! I'm okay. I'm okay." She let him pull her to her feet, his clumsy fingers checked her hair for blood as gently as he could. She tilted down to let him see, he wouldn't stop until he had. Once he felt sure she hadn't hurt herself too badly he turned a snarl on the dead man.

"Nick." She hadn't meant to sound so worn thin, her voice tight, and shaking. He turned back to her, pulling her into his chest, and cradled her against the eerie silence of his heart. She let herself sag against him, she took this moment to let him be strong for her.

"We need to get rid of him, where is Diana?" She looked around frantically, Nick shifted to her left, revealing Diana who hid behind a bookshelf.

"Of course. You are so irritating, how can you be so good to us after everything? I'm going to miss this when I figure out how to save you." She whispered more to herself than anything. He held a hand out to Diana, and she ran to his side, to slip her small hand into his.

"Mommy? Was he a bad man?" Diana had been growing so fast, and she had already seen such horrible things.

"Yes sweety, he wanted to hurt me, and Nick stopped him. Now Nick is going to take you back to the room while I take care of him." She tried to get him to go, but he didn't budge. He looked down at the man, and back up at her.

"Nick, take Diana to our room." She ordered, he growled, a deep rumble in his chest.
"Adalind." He looked back at the dead man, she crossed her arms, staring him down.
"Nick." She deadpanned, he whined, she imagined it must be hard not to be able to articulate his thoughts.

"Adalind!" Worry, and pleading tight in that single word.

"Oh my God Nick, I will be fine. Just because you saved me doesn't mean I'm a helpless damsel. I would have killed him for touching me, it just would have been louder. I appreciate what you did, but now I need you to make sure Diana is safe so I can clean this up, otherwise we're going to get caught with a dead body. Please!" She grabbed his face to make sure she kept his focus. His jaw ticked, almost like he wanted to form an expression, but couldn't manage it.

When she let him go he crouched down, and opened his arms to Diana. He almost looked normal when he stood with her on his hip, if not for his deathly palor, and red rimmed eyes. He looked at her for a long moment before he finally walked away.

She found them in Diana's room when she finished, Nick sat on her bed with his back against the headboard while Diana struggled to read her favourite book to him. It was in French, and Adalind assumed she liked the way the language sounded more than the story, but she did well considering. Nick looked up from the colourful pages as soon as she walked in.

"Hey sweetheart, are you teaching Nick French?" Diana giggled, and hopped out of her bed to barrel into her mother.

"Nick doesn't know French Mommy! He thinks it sounds funny, and makes up his own funny stories while I read." She tugged Adalind back towards the bed, she looked up at him with a raised brow.

"Is that so? How about you keep reading, and I'll read my new book so we can help Nick get better?" Adalind pulled the large text from her purse, and pricked her finger on the sharp corner to open it. Nick growled, and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Yay! Once you're better you can make Mommy smile." She climbed back up to lean against Nick's arm. She watched her for another long moment while Diana started to read before looking back down at her book.

The idea of Nick making an effort to make her smile was one of the more ridiculous things Diana had ever suggested. Her predictions were usually more unnerving than anything else. Nick sat quietly while they read, he only reached out to cup her cheek when a frown creases Adalind's brow.

"I'm so sorry Nick, I don't think I can cure you here. I think I can get some of this, maybe figure out a way to bring you to the surface, temporarily, but a lot of this... I only know one person who has everything I'd need, and Rosalie's in Portland. I just don't have the connections here." Adalind allowed herself a moment of disappointment. There were lots of places that sold those kinds of things, but they were secrets, even in the wessen communities.

To her surprise Nick grabbed her around the waist, and manhandled her between him and Diana until she could lay her head on his chest. She yelped, and swatted his stomach, but a laugh escaped despite her best efforts to be upset.

"You could warn a girl." She settled in, and put an arm around Diana. Would it feel like this if she had a family, was this what it was to be whole, and loved? She might as well enjoy it while she could.

"I promise I'm going to get you back to the people you love Nick." Adalind whispered, and let her eyes drift closed.

Chapter Text

"I think this will work." Adalind glared at the mixture she'd spent the last week prefecting, she had started to show, if this didn't work she might need to find a way out before fixing Nick, if she could. She poured the horrible smelling green liquid into a champagne flute since she didn't have any other glasses.

"Nick, please drink this." She held it out to him, he stated at it for a moment.

"Adalind?" He blinked, and took the glass with clumsy hands, she rolled her eyes at his skepticism.

"It's safe, I promise." She didn't actually know if that were true. He tipped it back drinking all of it in one go, he didn't stop to breathe. He gave the empty glass back to her.

"Do you feel any different?" She whispered, the concoction had a lot of the simple ingredients of the remedy, and as many ingredients as she could find to boost intelligence.

"Adalind?" His head swung around to take in the room, she sagged, of course not. How the hell could she get out of here alone? She'd kept an eye out, trying to find an opening, but under constant guard it had proved challenging.

"What the hell did you do to me?" Her eyes snapped up, and she realized he didn't look like a vacant corpse any more. He definitely still looked dead, but his expression looked angry and confused.

"Oh my God! It worked! You're back, I was so scared it wouldn't work!" She threw herself at him, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He froze, completely stiff under her hug, which of course reminded her that he hated her guts when he was Nick.

"Where am I? Where is Juliette?" He pushed her back, a little rough, but by no means cruel about it. She laughed into her hands, which sounded more like a sob. Nick felt like he had woken up from a dream, everything still fuzzy at the edges. He couldn't seem to clear his head, or remember what was going on. Little snippets reached the surface, but nothing that made any sense.

"I promise I didn't do it this time. Baron Samedi tried to poison you, well he did poison you, but because you're a Grimm it didn't work the same. You killed Kenneth, and nearly killed Viktor. Now the king is letting you stay as Diana's pet because you haven't been lucid in months. I've been trying to fix you with the limited ingredients I have access to because I need your help." She tried to explain everything she could in one breath, she needed him to understand before he tried to make decisions.

"Why would I help you? You took my powers!" He growled, which seemed like a weak argument considering he'd obviously gotten them back.

"It sucks doesn't it, but you took my baby! I know I'm not your favorite person, but the only way I got to stay with my daughter was if I took you out of the equation. They wanted me to kill you, and we both now I could have that day. Besides, it was fun, and I thought you wanted to be a normal guy. You and Juliette were always whining about how horrible being super human was." She seethed, of course he would make this hard, why had she been so sure he would help her if she helped him?

"Don't bring her into this, you nearly killed her!" Nick shoved into her space, a looming accusation, she scoffed.

"No, I nearly took her memories of everything, and that was because you took my powers, you did kill part of me, do you really not get how horrible that was after it happened to you?" She pushed at his shoulders, but he was too solid to actually move.

"Fine, but you started all this! You tried to kill Marie!" She could see him losing steam, even when his mother brought her to them he hated her, but he would have helped her. Taking a child from their mom, even if the mom was Adalind felt wrong.

"Oh my God! Yes, I tried to kill her, a Grimm, who killed hundreds of my people, including innocent people by the way. The last people she killed were eisbiber, and not a roving gang of them, a family. Six kids, two of them were less than five years old, so you can stumble off your moral high horse Nick! Not everyone is as good as you!" She poked him in the chest since she couldn't move him, but as she got to the end she just felt tired.

"She what?" Suddenly it didn't feel so good to be winning, the look on Nick's face felt like a punch to the gut. She reached out to him, hesitant when he flinched back.

"I'm sorry, she was a Grimm, not a cop, she saw a woge she killed it, probably because it was too dangerous to take risks with a little kid around. You really don't get how different you are from most Grimm do you? That's not even the point. I messed up, and I'm sorry, but I was doing what I had to do, and so were you, can we just start over please?" Silence wrapped around them for a long time while he sank down into the chair to try and process.

"Nick! Nick! I drew you a picture!" Diana burst into the room, all smiles, with her doll that floated behind her. Nick looked up in confusion, and Adalind swept Diana up into her arms to stop her.
"Nick is confused right now sweety, I don't think he wants to play." She shifted herself between Nick and Diana. The blonde toddler huffed, and tried to struggle from her arms.

"Mooooom! Nick just doesn't 'memeber." She managed to get free, and scrambled over to him. Adalind reached for her, afraid of what a confused Nick might do or say, but he leaned down with a soft smile.

"You must be Diana. I'm sorry I don't remember playing with you, the last time I remember seeing you, you were just a little baby." He whispered, Diana rolled her eyes, and made grabby hands at his face.

"You were a big dummy, but you were nice. Let me fix!" She managed to get a hold of his jaw, and yank him further down until both hands bracketed his face. Memories bubbled up like tar when she touched him.

He heard the heart beat, saw her try and let him go, saw Adalind taking care of him, and Diana. A side he'd never seen of her. He watched her fall apart, and felt his arms struggle to hold her together without being able to really help. He killed for her, for that tiny heart beat. Once it started it was simple to recall everything that had happened.

"You're pregnant?" He looked over Diana's blonde locks with wide eyes, she pulled her coat back to show him the bump that had become nearly impossible to hide without magic.

"It's yours." She whispered, her hand unconsciously rubbed gentle circles over it. Nick seemed to flutter between rage, and awe in the silence.

"Look, see, this is you, and Mommy, and me, and my baby brother!" Diana shoved the crayon drawing in his face. The four of them were in a grey room all cuddled together on a bed beside a crib. Nick touched the waxy image, and forced a smile.

"It's really nice Diana. Could I talk to... to your mom for a minute?" He glanced up at her, his emotions settling on vaguely ill.

"Okay, you keep it, I'm gonna go read." She bounded off towards her room, and left Nick holding the happy stick figure family.

"Little brother?" He couldn't meet her eyes, but Adalind felt like this was going fairly well all things considered.

"Maybe. I haven't been able to see a doctor, if they knew... No one here can know. I never wanted to raise my baby here, and ours... It could be like you, or it could be some combination of us, a hexin-grimm, or a grimm-a-biest! I just, they'd want to make him a killer, a weapon to be used, they're already doing it to Diana. Please Nick, I just need your help, okay, once... Once we get out of here I'll get you back to Juliette, and I'll go with your Mother. Just please don't let them hurt your son." She reached out and took his hand, gently pried it from the fist he'd made, and set it on her belly. The baby gave a little kick against him.

"What do you want from me?" He ground out through his teeth, she sighed, and brushed her thumb over the back of his hand.

"I'm going to have our baby Nick, whether you accept him or not. I didn't even think this could happen when I did what I did, but right now the most important thing is to get away from the royals. I have someone willing to smuggle us to Germany, and I was hoping from there we could get in contact with your mother, but if we can't I have a few people who might be able to help. The problem is the verrat coming after us. You already killed Kenneth, which means if I can poison the king, or maybe just kill him when he comes to see Diana they would be too busy scrambling for new leadership to chase us. At least for a while." She had lots of ideas, but she had no idea how she could make them work without getting caught.

"I still don't see where you need me." He pulled his hand free, gently at least, and ran it through his hair. He'd need it cut soon, and his beard definitely needed to go.

"I don't know okay, mostly I just need you to keep Diana safe while I try to kill him, and hopefully I won't end up getting killed. I don't exactly have a lot to work with here." She dropped onto the edge of the bed, more exhausted now than ever. He finally seemed to look at her again, and not just her swollen stomach.

"You should rest, all this stress can't be good for the baby." He got up, and disappeared into the bathroom. A moment later he came back with a glass of water, and held it out to her.

"I'm afraid you're going to disappear again. I know you hate me Nick, but you're all I've got here, and for the baby's sake we can't be like we were." She sipped at the water before she gave it back to him, and curled up on the bed.

"Yeah, okay. We'll make it work, but I'm the one who has to kill the king. If I fail you won't suffer the consequences, if you failed I might lose what little focus I have, Diana would be alone, and our son would be killed with you." He moved back to his chair, she nodded, because she had really hoped he'd say that.

"I'm not losing my babies." She whispered just before she started to drift off, Nick watched her for a bit, while he tried to wrap his head around the idea of having a child with Adalind. Juliette would be so upset, they'd hardly gotten past his sleeping with her in the first place. The longer he tried to think on it, the harder it was to focus. He needed to move, keep himself in the present. If he let himself drift he might lose himself again.

He went to the other room, and Diana looked up from her book with a silly grin. She ran over to him and took his hand to pull him over to her bed as if they did this all the time. From the flashes of memory he knew she would read aloud with him a lot.

"I'm glad you're awake now. Mommy is scared, and you make her safe. Do you want to see the castle?" She pulled out her colouring book and opened it to a picture of a fairytale castle. It didn't seem very useful, but she was right to liken it to sleep, in his memories it felt like being trapped inside his own head. A waking dream.

"Sure, do you want to colour it?" He tried to smile, but there were so many things to worry about at the moment.

"No! I'm showing you the castle!" She grabbed his hand, and touched the picture. He gasped, like a bucket of ice water to the brain images of the castle flooded into his head.

"Thank you." He managed after a few minutes of heavy breathing, she grinned, and picked up a crayon to colour in the castle. He had a lot to think about.

Adalind woke from her nap feeling better than she had in weeks. Having Nick around, the real Nick meant she didn't have to do this alone. Nick was a bonafide hero, he would fix this. Not for her, obviously, but for his son, or daughter. He would keep them safe. She sighed, and got up, they needed to make a plan. Hopefully one that meant they could leave this week, because in three months she would be due, and she remembered exactly how hard running nine months pregnant had been.

"Nick?" She poked her head into Diana's room before she could start to worry Nick had left without her. He had a vacant stare while Diana read out loud. He looked up when she came in, but it was the same look zombie Nick had been giving her for months.

"He's sleeping Mommy." Diana didn't look worried, but Adalind rushed to his side to grip his shoulders.

"Come on Nick, don't do this! Don't leave me alone again!" She shook him, and after a second he seemed to blink away some kind of daze.

"Adalind? Ugh, I'm... I'm okay. It's hard to keep myself at the surface, but I'm okay." He put his hands on her hips to stop the shaking, not realizing quite how intimate it made the moment. She sagged against him, her head dropped on his shoulder.

"Don't do that! Jesus Nick you scared me." She composed herself quickly, he gulped, uncomfortable with how familiar she had become with him. The last time he'd seen her as himself they'd nearly come to blows.

"Sorry. I came up with a plan." He changed the subject, it wasn't a very complicated plan, so long as they could get Nick in the room with him. Adalind would only have to ensure their transport was ready. Nick to the best of his knowledge had never killed a human in cold blood, or at least while in his right mind, but he would make an exception here. The man who had him turned to a zombie, who held Adalind hostage, threatened her child if she didn't obey, the man who wanted him dead was more monster than most.

It took another week before everything was in place, and they had a plan. Getting Nick in to see the king turned out to be pretty easy since no one played him any mind when he walked around alone. The problem was making sure Nick could stay cognizant long enough to kill the king, and get to the car.

"You have to promise to leave at midnight, no matter what. I would rather they catch me than you." Nick tucked the knife Adalind had somehow procured for him into his sleeve while she packed up Diana, and some extra supplies.

"Nick, do you really think I wouldn't?" She raised a brow over her shoulder at him, his lip twitched towards a smile on one side. He still couldn't quite make his face form proper expressions. The longer he went the harder it felt to keep his head above water. When he was alone it was worse, as if he needed an anchor, or he'd float away. Adalind was that anchor.

"Mommy, are we gonna drive?" Dianna bounced around her until Adalind grabbed her shoulders to get her bag on.

"Yes, now will you please go, we only have an hour window to do this." She nodded back at Nick, he growled, that didn't seem to be going away any time soon. Adalind would never say it out loud, but she kind of liked it. It felt wild, like the beastial side of the Grimm given form. It was hot.
"Nick is going to meet us down stairs sweety." Adalind had stashed quite a bit with the man leaving them the car, but she still had a purse, and a diaper bag to carry. She couldn't exactly buy diapers for a new born if they end up hiding in the woods.

"No. Mommy you got to save him." Dianna pulled at her sleeve, Adalind frowned, but kept ushering her to the car. Once she had Dianna buckled in she looked back at the castle. Did Nick really need her help, or was it just Dianna being a kid. She could hardly tell these days. Adalind worried her bottom lip between her teeth. She couldn't risk losing him. She locked the car, and trudged back inside.

Nick made it to the King's chambers easily enough, and there were two guards outside. According to Adalind there wouldn't be any guards inside, but it would all be futile if he alerted the entire castle with gun shots. He shifted to walk past them, and they hardly even looked at him. Once he made it past the second guard he dropped the blade down, and swung it through his throat.

The first guard dropped with a spray of blood before he even knew he was in danger. He'd never fought anyone who didn't start the fight, not while aware of his surroundings. It felt almost too easy to ram the blade into the second guards eye. He dropped with a strangled howl, too loud for his comfort, but he didn't think he'd blown it. He needed to hurry, but for some reason he paused.

The two verat hadn't woged, he didn't know if they were wessen or human. He did know that their blood had soaked through his black shirt, warm, and thick. It stuck the fabric to his skin. A flash of a memory bubbled up, of snapping Kenneth's neck. It twisted his gut, but not because he killed them, because killing them felt like nothing. It felt easy.

He shook his head, and shoved open the double doors as quietly as he could. He could hear music that crackled slightly. A vinyl record. The jazz played just loud enough to drown out his steps, and he easily strode up behind the high backed chair the King sat in. Two seconds. It took two seconds to reach around, grab his head, yank it sharply to one side. The loud crack of a snapped neck was familiar enough to him now.

How could he bring life into this world, and nurture it while he took it with such ease? He needed to get back home. He needed Juliette to tell him he'd gone too far.

"Ah!" A little wet pop proceeded the shrill scream of a woman on her knees that Nick hadn't seen before. She scrambled to her feet in an expensive white negligee, still screaming, and threw him across the room with a flick of her wrist. Her face stretched, and cracked into the mummified woge of a Hexenbiest.

He felt his head slam against a stone pillar, and the next thing he was aware of is his hand nearly inside her chest, his knife streaming blood down his wrist. He pulled it from her heart, and a gun shot rang in his ears.

Adalind broke into a run when she heard the gun shot. Guards ran past her as she neared the King's chambers. They didn't even look at her. She grabbed one by the wrist, and forced him to shoot the other before taking his gun. Nick turned and a knife stuck into the first man's temple. The move didn't even pause the flow of combat. There were nearly a dozen dead mean littering the hall each showcased varying states of violence.

Blood ran in rivers through the stones of the floor, and the smell turned Adalind's stomach. She spun and wretched on the fallen body of her only victim. A scream cut off abruptly, and she found Nick charging towards her.

"Nick!" She held her hands up, her voice a desperate croak, rough with nausea. He froze, his eyes still wild, and red rimmed. He looked worse than the day they brought him in. His skin had been covered in splashes of red, and his clothes stuck to him, wet with it. She hesitantly reached forward, and slid her hand into his.

"Please Nick. We need to go." She tugged gently, a tacky wet heat covered his skin, and dripped down her fingers, but she didn't look. Nick stumbled after her the way he often had over the last few months. She didn't know what she'd do if she'd lost him to the toxin again, but all that mattered now was getting out.

Dianna had fallen asleep in the car, so Adalind shoved Nick in the passenger seat, and drove until they nearly ran out of gas before she finally pulled into a run down motel. She stole a key and got them into the room furthest from the front desk. She had to pull Nick from the car to get him to move. The seat had a shadow of him stained rust red across the fabric.

Once she had Dianna settled in the bed she brought him to the small bathroom, the florescent bulb flickered to life, it's green tinted light made Nick look even more deathly. She raised his arms to peel the shirt over his head. Blood flaked off as the crusted fabric came lose. Once she had him in only his boxer briefs she turned on the shower.

"Nick?" She whispered, her lip quivered with the effort she made to hold it together. He didn't even look at her. She blinked back tears, tilting her head to look at the water stained ceiling.
"Okay. Let's get you clean." She wiped at her eyes, and focused on getting him out of his boxers. He reached up as her thumbs hooked under the elastic.

"I killed them." He whispered, his voice rough, and hollow, but he was there, talking.

"You saved us." She corrected, realizing just how close they were standing as she looked up at his face. A bit of colour had come back to him, but he looked worse than before.

"I can hardly remember. I... They shot at me, and... Then you were there. I wanted to hurt you." He took a step back, the band of his boxer briefs snapped out of her fingers.

"But you didn't. You wouldn't." She followed him, relief blooming in her chest, she felt light as if maybe she could share her burden now, share his too.

"I have." He let his head drop down to hide his eyes.

"Me too, but not any more. Right?" She reached out to brush her hand over his arm, hardly enough of a touch to register, but it was enough to make him look at her again.

"You came back for me." She nodded "Why?" He whispered, she shrugged, her eyes moving to the closed door between them and Dianna.

"Yeah, well I sort of need you around Nick." She fiddled with the ends of her sleeves where the sullied fabric covered her hands, not sure he'd want to hear it.

"You need a homicidal rage monster who can hardly keep it together?" A hint of a growl found it's way into his voice, and he turned away to take a deep breath.

"Sometimes, but mostly I just need someone to be here with me. I've done everything by myself since I was little. I've been alone as long as I can remember. Renard held his baby in his arms, and still would rather give her away than fight for her. Would you have done that? Would you let someone else take our child to keep them "safe"? No. Even as a half gone zombie you heard this little guy, and refused to let me go through this alone. So, yes, Nick I need you." She slid her hand into his, and pulled him back around. He stared down at where their hands linked for a long time, silence rang out around them.

"I should get cleaned up." He gestured with his free hand to the blood covering him, and gave her hand a little squeeze.

"Yeah, that was the idea. I'll just leave you to it." She pulled away, but before she could slip her hand from his he clamped down hard; his grip nearly painful.

"Don't... Will you just..." He looked around the tiny room, before settling on the closed toilet as a place for her to sit.

"Just talk to me. I don't want to drift off in the shower." He forced himself to smile, a bitter imitation of the sweet expression it would be on his normal face.

"Of course. It's not like I haven't seen it." She sat down to show him she wouldn't go anywhere, and he finally released her hand.

"So what's our plan now?" Nick turned to finish stripping down, and Adalind took the opportunity to appreciate his backside.

"Well we need gas, and money, and probably a different car. We need to get out of this country as quickly as we can. We definitely can't just fly home to Portland. I don't know if getting help from your Mother is a viable option, but it would be nice. If not we'll use the fake ID's to get to France, and take a ship back state side. They're easy to sneak onto." She dug through the diaper bag, and pulled out a little green luffa. She offered it to Nick over the shower door.

"Thanks. We can't exactly stay hidden on a boat with a toddler, and an infant. Worse yet if you went into labor on the way. I might be able to get a message to Mom if we have a computer." The smoked glass muffled his voice, but did little to hide exactly what he was doing.

"We'll definitely have to wait to travel until after the delivery. I'm not sure I'm supposed to fly at this point even, but once they're born I have a mute charm I can use to keep anyone from hearing us." She leaned back against the tank to watch his hands move across the blurry shape of his body. It was a nice body, and she already knew he had certain... Skills to go with it.

"You're going to do magic on our baby?" He poked his head out with a look of concern. She covered her mouth to stifle a laugh, his hair had shampoo in it, stuck up in every direction. He looked adorable.

"Oh my God, make it a Mohawk!" She reached out, and he let her run her fingers through his hair to make it stick up in one row. It flopped over a bit at the top, his hair too long really.

"Perfect, and no, it would be for the room." She giggled, and rinsed her hands in the spray, he watched her move in silence.

"I don't think I've ever heard your real laugh." He whispered, she blinked in surprise, and took a step back. She was most certainly not blushing.

"So what about a computer?" Nick ducked back into the shower to rinse off. She sank back down on the closed toilet.

"Um, I don't have one, not even a cell phone, but we could stop at a library. Would that work?" He hummed his approval, and she tried to think where they could go. She'd seen a few towns on the map, but it might be better to leave the country first.

"I think if we leave before six a.m. we can make it to Germany by tomorrow, can it wait until then?" She busied herself playing with her sleeves, she shouldn't be ogling him anyway, once they got back he and Juliette would live happily ever after. Her baby would probably call her Mom too.

"It should be fine. I'd rather get you guys away from this horrible country first anyway." Nick turned the water off, and Adalind got up to hand him a towel.

"I need to try and get some sleep than, because I've been awake for twenty hours." She shifted back towards the door to give him space to step out of the shower, his towel slung low around his hips.

"Did you want to shower first? I can keep an eye on Dianna." He looked almost normal now, the heat from the shower broight a flush to his skin that she knew would fade.

"That would be nice. I packed you a toothbrush, and extra clothes. It's the one with the green handle." She pointed behind her, he nodded, and left the room so she could get in the shower without an audience. When she turned the water on she heard him slip back in.

"Just need to brush my teeth." He mumbled, she smiled, letting the warm water wash away her worries.

"It's fine. Hey, are you going to be okay while I'm asleep?" She made a point of lathering herself up slowly, just in case he was watching her the way she had done to him.

"I honestly don't know. I can wake you up if I have to, but I think I'll be okay as long as you're here to bring me back to the surface." He sounded ridiculous talking around his toothbrush, it made this seem so domestic.

"Well I'm not going anywhere." She held her hand out, and he put a thread bare towel in it. She heard the door open, and got out of the shower to an empty room.

Chapter Text

It felt good to get dressed, and not have to worry about looking pregnant.

Adalind crawled into bed with Dianna while Nick poured over the maps she'd brought along at the flimsy press board table. About the time she relaxed the baby started to kick. She waved her hand at Nick, not wanting to wake Dianna. He looked up, his brow arching in question. She beckoned him over, and got an eye roll in return. It was the closest to a real expression she'd seen so far.

"He's kicking." She whispered, and put his hand flat over her stomach. Even with his deathly palore his face lit up with wonder.

"He's strong, like his father. I just wish he'd stop kicking me when I try to sleep." She smiled up at him, her hand still over his despite not needing it to hold his there.

"I don't know, his mother's pretty strong too." He crouched down next to her belly. "Hey buddy, we gotta let your Mom sleep. She's tired, from keeping us all safe. You think you can do that?" She laughed as the baby calmed right down.

"Look at that, he already listens to his Daddy." She squeezed his hand in thanks, he sat at the very edge of the bed, and left his hand on her stomach while he read. She had never felt so safe, or cared for. She slept better than she had since she lost her powers. Odd how Nick could cause both.

She woke up with him stock still, and pale. She would never quite get used to seeing him like that. She sat up as Dianna came bouncing out of the bathroom, naked, and soaking wet, she could still hear the water running.

"Mommy! I want bubbles!" She slapped into the bed, getting the blanket wet in the process. Adalind chuckled, and wrapped her up in the blanket.

"Baby you have to wait for me to help if you want to take a bath. You're making a mess." She scooped her up, and brought her back to the bathroom. The whole room had water sloshed all over everything. She didn't bother cleaning up, she just washed Dianna off and got her dressed. Nick still hadn't moved when they came back.

"Nick?" She touched his leg, and he took a sharp breath. He blinked a few times before he focused in on her.

"You should eat." He looked at them, Dianna climbed up into his lap, and he wrapped an arm around her without a thought.

"Good morning to you too." She teased, but she did go over to the bag to grab them cereal bars. They would need money soon. She had to steal what little she did have from the people in the castle.

It turned out detective Nick Burkardt knew how to hot wire a car, so they were on the road pretty quickly. Nick sat in the back with Dianna while she read to him. She read Monsieur bout de bois, Adalind had heard it often enough to know the translation.

"So his name is Monty boots?" Nick leaned over the book like it held the secrets to curing him, and Dianna burst out in a fit of giggles.

"No Daddy! He's the stick man!" Adalind tensed when she heard the word, she'd never met her biological father. No one at the castle played the roll, it made sense for her to project it onto the only man willing to protect her, but she didn't know how Nick would react.

"So this little stick guy is going on an adventure right? Oh no! Not a dog!" He gasped as she turned the page, he completely ignored that she'd called him Dad. He smiled at her daughter, and made her laugh, Nick almost looked normal. She could pretend, if only for a second that this was her life, that she had someone to count on.

"Phew, he made it. Oh man is that a swan? This little guy is having a rough day, eh kiddo?" He ruffled her hair, and Dianna burrowed deeper in her seat to try and escape him. She swatted at his hand playfully.

"Jeeze. Don't go in the fire place little guy. Wait. Is that Santa? Man, French children's books are wild!" He looked up at her in the rearview mirror, a real smile on his lips, and she had to look away to try and hide the happy tears that had begun to stream down her cheeks. It was a real expression, and it was for them, for this little fake family. He put a hand on her shoulder, but didn't call her out.

"Mommy! I have to go potty!" They shared a laugh while she looked for an exit.
"Okay baby, just wait until we find a gas station." The smile faded from Nick's lips, too difficult to maintain, but it lingered in his eyes.

They made it into Germany without too much trouble, but they had to drive through the night because of Dianna's constant bathroom breaks. Nick had checked out sometime during the night, and sat deathly still in the passenger seat.

"Nick?" She nudged his shoulder, he looked at her with vacant eyes for a long time.
"Adalind." His voice conveyed a level of worry that didn't show on his face.

"Hey, come back to me." She whispered, he shook his head, and seemed to come back to himself in waves. Little bits of awareness struggling to the surface.

"It's getting harder to wake up." He mumbled into his hands while he scrubbed them over his once freshly shaven face. His beard had gotten scruffy, and he looked exhausted.

"We can probably get some of the other ingredients here somewhere. I'll ask around with my contacts. Do you think you can make it another couple of days?" She looked back at Dianna, curled up under his jacket, taking her nap early after a sugar crash.

"I'll have to. Let's get inside, I want to get this done before I lose myself again." He scooped Dianna up, and carried her with ease up the stone steps of the small town library. The librarian hardly even looked up at them. They found a spot near the back of the little square room filled with old computers.

"Juliette's email, really?" Adalind frowned while Nick typed slowly. He looked up at her with a little huff, but didn't quite manage the expression.

"I never use my own to send her messages, too easy to track." He turned back to peck out the message. She didn't think he normally typed this slow, but boy it was frustrating.

M
In a bit of a jam.
N

Nick typed out the tiny email, while Adalind held Dianna in her lap, and read over his shoulder.

"That's it?" She twisted her face in disbelief. He reached over to brush Diana's hair out of her face.

"Not giving out details is what keeps us safe. I'm not technically supposed to do this from anywhere but my home computer, but it's not like we have a choice." He forced his lips to turn up at the corners, but it came off more grimace than smile.

N
What's AM's favorite sushi?
M

The message system dinged, and continued to be not very impressive as far as Adalind was concerned.

M
AM hated fish.
N

"This is like the spy equivalent of watching paint dry, I'm getting us tea." Adalind pointed to the cafe across the street that Nick could see through the window.

"You can let her sleep, I can keep an eye on her." Nick held an arm out to take Dianna from her, she hesitated, but shook it off quickly, and slid her over to him.

N
Where are you?
M

He watched Adalind until she was inside the little cafe, her back to the window, but she took care not to be out of sight. He let himself relax enough to read the question. It was another trick.

M
Nowhere good. Can you meet me at the big bad wolf's family hunting ground?
N

Monroe would know what he meant, he was just glad he'd shared the story about the Black Forest with him.

N
Asap
M

Aw, she was worried about him. He cleared his emails, and moved the cursor to the red ex, but then his eyes landed on some junk mail with Juliette's name on it. He hadn't even thought about her since the day he first woke up. She had to be worried, but what could he do about that? He couldn't risk leaving her a message, she might give something away if she responded.
He decided on leaving a draft.

I'm okay. I miss you.

He didn't even realize he'd forgotten the I love you until he had the history wiped clean, and the computer shut down. It didn't matter, he would tell her when he got back. He scooped Diana up in one arm, and got up to leave. Once again the librarian didn't even look up from her book. Adalind met him at the car with a to go trey of drinks.

"Coffee? Black two sugar." She held it out to him once Diana was buckled up, he stared in shock down at the little paper cup full of light roast coffee. It smelled exquisite.

"I didn't know you knew how I took my coffee." He took a sip, and his eyes fell shut with a hum of appreciation.

"Please, it was my job to know everything about you." She scoffed, he glanced over at her as he slid into the car.

"Hank told you didn't he?" Nick raised an eyebrow at her, the expression almost looked normal, but it took a while to fully form.

"Oh yeah. He loved to talk about you. He also told me the stake out story." She flashed him a grin, he hid his face in his hand with a groan.

"I'm gonna kill him when we get home!" He mumbled, Adalind laughed so loud she had to cover her mouth to keep from waking up Diana.

"Where to?" She managed through her amusement, Nick rolled his eyes at her.

"The black forest. There's a town there where Monroe's family used to hunt. Mom agreed to meet us there."

"We'll have to find someplace to stay, I can't keep spending all day in the car like this." He nodded, and stared to look out the window for a place they could stop.

"Do we have enough money to get a room?" He pointed to a little motel, she shook her head. Her eyes were in search of something different. An ATM.

"I can solve that, but first I have to find and ATM." She would rather it be on the sidewalk, but she could do it in a building in she had to.

"There." He pointed to the little machine outside a petrol station. She pulled in, and parked by the fill pumps. He watched her walk over, slide a card in, and dispense the maximum eight times before she tucked the money in her pocket, and came back.

"Tell me you didn't just use a credit, or debit card." He looked down, and saw an old laminated business card with some stodgy old man's picture on it.

"No, I used magic, who do you think you're talking to?" She slid the card back into her purse to strut inside, and pay for some much needed gas. Nick frowned, he didn't love how loose they were playing with the laws here, but he didn't have any sort of legal solution.

"Daddy?" Diana opened the door with her power, still stuck in her booster seat. Nick didn't know how comfortable he was with her calling him Dad, but he didn't want to tell her that her real Dad had let this happen.

"What's up sweet pea?" He ducked down to look at her, she fidgeted in her seat, he little ankles crossed.

"I have to go potty." She tugged at the buckle. He leaned in, and released her from the booster seat. It took him longer than he would expect, his hands didn't listen to him the way he knew they should.

"Alright, do you need Mommy's help, or can you go by yourself like a big girl?" He scooped her up, locked the doors, and started for the bathroom door on the other side of the building.

"I can wipe my own tooshie. Mommy taught me with ballons, front to back." She said, he nodded, and was pleased to see the bathrooms were individual, and he didn't have to worry about bringing her into a men's room.

"That sounds smart, my Aunt Marie raised me, she always told me I had refused to pee inside the second I learned I could go outside. No tree was safe. Unfortunately in the city they call that indecent exposure." He set her down, and locked the door behind them. He turned his focus on the mirror while she did her business.

He looked like someone he would arrest, not quite corpse like any more, but still too pale. His eyes were rimmed with red so dark he had to lift his fingers to touch it and ensure his eyes weren't bleeding. The burst capillaries in his eyes were better, but blood had pooled around his retnas. They were too grey as well, no hint of the colours he usually had.

He needed to shave the beard that grew thin, and uneven where it got too long, but after the incident with the booster seat he worried he'd mangle his face. His hair too had grown too long, strands of it fell in his eyes. He would be easy to track if he looked like this too. He should talk to Adalind, see if she could give him a trim.

"All done Daddy, you have to pick me up so I can wash my hands!" The sound of a flush broke him out of his thoughts, and Diana stood beside him with her hands raised. He crouched down, and lifted her to the sink, her feet on his knees.

"Diana, you know I'm not really your Dad right? I am happy to fill in, but I just need to be sure you understand." He whispered. She turned once her hands were clean, and wrapped her hands around his neck, little wet palms on his shirt.

"I know you didn't help make me like you did the new baby, but if you are his Daddy, and I'm his sister, you're sort of like my Daddy right?" She hid her face in his neck, and Nick wrapped his arms around her.

"Yeah, I guess you're right kiddo. Let's get back." He could actually refute that logic, she was as close as she had at the moment.

Adalind went out to the car, and started to fill the tank before she realized Nick, and Diana weren't sitting inside it. She spun around, her heart raced, and her lungs threatened to close up in panic.

"Diana! Nick! Diana!" Adalind started to get shrill just as the door to the bathroom opened to reveal the pair headed towards her.

"Oh my God, baby, you're okay!" Adalind ran over, and scooped Diana out of his arms to crush her in a hug.

"Hi Mommy, I had to go potty. You're squishing me." She complained, Adalind set her back down, and slapped Nick across the face. He blinked in surprise, but his head hardly moved under the force.

"You just took her, and I didn't know where you were! I thought..." Adalind covered her mouth with the hand not around Diana's. Tears spilled down her cheeks, and Nick realized exactly how it must have looked.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think, I just, she had to pee, I didn't think." He pulled her against him, and wrapped his arms around her. One hand rested on the back of her head to let her hide her tears against his neck, and the other went around her waist to support her.

"I'm sorry too Mommy, I had to potty really bad." Diana joined there hug, and Nick moved his arm down to her back to let Diana know it was okay.

"I know sweetie, I just got upset. I shouldn't have hit you, God Nick, I'm so sorry, I was just so scared they'd taken her again, taken you." She whispered into his skin, still too cold, but not quite a deathly chill.

"I know, it's okay." He tightened his grip briefly, then let her go. She wiped at her eyes, and nodded. He got Diana back in the car while she composed herself. She realized as she watched him that he'd hugged her. He hadn't done that since he got his mind back, he'd done it as a zombie grimm, but any time they touched now it was her that did it.

"Are you okay to drive?" He touched her shoulder, she blinked away her thoughts, and offered him a smile.

"Yeah. I'm okay." They decided to drive until she got tired, and stopped at a few other ATMs to get a decent stock of cash. When it started to get dark they looked for a hotel. They found one a little nicer than the ratty motel from their last stop. They could still only get two queen beds.

"Adalind?" He stopped her once Diana had been fed, and sat down to read. She looked back at him, worry flared in her eyes.

"Nick? Are you okay?" She reached for him, and he let her touch his arm without flinching.

"I was hoping you could help with all this." He gestured to his face, she let out a sigh of relief when he spoke.

"Okay, yes I can help with your hair, but we have to find a better way for you to refer to me, because zombie you could only say my name, and now when you just say it, and drop off I'm afraid you went back under." She put her hand over her heart, and turned to see if the hotel gave them a razor.

"What do you want me to call you than?" He grabbed a chair, and set it sideways in the bathroom. Adalind shrugged, and went out to find Diana's safety scissors. She didn't exactly have barber's tools.

"I don't care, just something different. Even hey Adalind would help." She came back, and he slumped into the chair.

"How about Addy?" He looked up at her when she tilted his head back so she could get a look at his beard. She bit her lip, it sounded good when he said it with that smooth baritone.

"No one has ever called me that, you should take your shirt off, we don't know when we'll be able to wash it." She told him, he peeled it over his head in one smooth motipn. Adalind did her best not to watch his back muscles ripple.

"Is that an issue?" He moved back to were she wanted him, she shook her head, and got to work on his beard. It needed to be short enough to use the razor.

"No, I'm just used to hyper professionalism. I was a lawyer after all. Do you want me to shave this off completely?" She could admit she liked him with a little stubble, even a short beard looked good on him now that it was under control.

"Yeah, it's not like I can maintain it with how little dexterity I have right now. Hopefully the next part of the cure I get will cure the butter fingers issue." He very slowly picked up the little bar of soap, only to have it crumble in his hand. He couldn't control the force of his touch very well yet, but he was learning to work around it.

"Yeah, I'll do what I can. You look good with a beard though, it would be even better with a tan, but we're working on that too." She wet her hands to work up a lather in his beard. His eyes dropped closed, and he let out an involuntary groan.

"Have you done this before?" He asked to cover up just how good it felt for her to massage his face.

"Mm, yeah, a few times. Renard liked it, and the King. You're less handsy than either of them." She pressed her fingers into his jaw to pull his skin taught while she drug the razor across it gently.

"You have terrible taste in men." He mumbled, she laughed, just a soft trickle of a sound that made him feel warm.

"Yeah, I slept with a grimm after all." She teased, he growled, the noise wasn't even voluntary, it just seemed to happen. It only made her laugh harder.

"I have to ask, who was better, me, or her?" Adalind leaned over him, her hand on his neck, and her thumb held his jaw up to make him look at the ceiling.

"Really Addy?" He grumbled, her heart skipped at the mention of her new nickname. She really really liked it.

"Oh my God, I was better wasn't I?" She let go of him to wash the razor. He growled again, but didn't deny that sex with Adalind as Juliette had been better than he'd ever had with the real thing. Sex with Juliette as Addy had been almost as good. He still couldn't get the memories of her body beneath him out of his head.

"If it helps you were way better than Renard." She wet his hair, and combed it in different directions to decide what cut she wanted to give him.

"It doesn't, can we talk about literally anything else?" He groaned when she started to run her fingers through his hair.

"You really like it when people play with your hair hu?" She humored him, which was not exactly what he'd meant.

"I think I'll just keep it long." He shifted away, she rolled her eyes, and put both hands on his shoulders.

"Oh calm down you big baby. How short do you want it?" She put her weight on his bare muscular shoulders, and tried really hard not to think about how it would feel to slide her hands down his chest.

"I don't know, short. I don't want to have to do this again." He glared at the mirror, she hummed, and started to cut.

"I'm sorry you're stuck here with me, and not back home with her." Adalind whispered after the silence had become uncomfortable.

"I'm not, you're having my child, I wouldn't even know if I hadn't been taken. I want to be here to protect you, all of you. We may not get along, but it's still my kid." He did miss his friends, and his life, but this was where he needed to be, and he wouldn't change it for a second.

"You have to stop saying stuff like that, I'm going to start to think you like me." She tugged his hair, just enough to make him groan again. She really liked that noise, and she knew for sure he made it in other circumstances.

"Don't get a big head about it. Once we get to Wolfach we'll have to get jobs, we can't keep stealing from ATMs for the next four months." Nick went for a topic a little safer, he needed to keep his distance. He'd gotten too familiar with her lately, Juliette would be waiting for him once he got home.

"I was hoping to get together enough money before we get there not to have to worry too much. I don't know if you'll be able to work in your condition. You might be stuck just spending time with me." She tousled his hair to try and find any strands she had missed. He frowned, he didn't like the idea of sitting idle, especially like he was.

"We'll see how much progress you can make on the cure." He looked over to see how she had done. It was shorter than he'd kept it in a long time, but it looked good.

"Well?" She reached up to brush hair off his shoulders. He turned around, and slowly managed a smile that made him look absolutely delicious even with his red rimmed eyes.

"It's really good, Juliette liked my hair longer, I've missed having it out of the way." Nick ran a hand through the hair to enjoy it's new length.

"Really? I think it looks better this way, if you grew a beard you'd be drop dead gorgeous, no pun intended. Now, did you need me to stay, and talk while you showered?" She dropped onto the closed toilet seat, not keen on sitting in the chair covered in tiny hairs.

"Yeah, it helps." He tugged at his belt longer than he'd like to admit before he got it open. Adalind looked down at her sleeves to avoid the temptation of Nick as he stripped. Once the water was on she she let herself look over at the shower.

"So how do you actually feel about this whole, us having a kid thing, because we never really talked about it?" Adalind figured when he was stuck in a shower would be a good time to talk about it. He could deflect with the best of them, but she needed to know.

"I don't really know. I mean on one hand I've always wanted kids, but on the other I thought they'd be with Juliette. Not to mention I didn't have a Dad, or a Mom even most of my childhood. Aunt Marie wasn't exactly maternal either. She tried, but how am I supposed to have any idea what to do? It's been hard to pin down my feelings, if I think too long I go back under." Nick used a hand full of the crumbled soap to try and wash himself off.

"You know, my mother wasn't exactly full of loving maternal instincts. I tried to sell Diana, but when I saw her... There's just something there, something I never expected. I just wanted love, ever since I was little. I thought I'd find it with some guy on a white horse, or some prince, but I found it the day she was born. Even if I had no idea what I was getting into. I think you'll be an amazing Dad. You are already more of a father to Diana than Renard ever was." She let her eyes drift down to her hands, she still had trouble believing she was a good mother.

"Well I guess nobody knows what to do going into it. I am happy, I just..." He trailed off, he didn't know what he wanted.

"You just wish I was a brunette." Adalind got up to get Nick a change of clothes. Nick frowned, he didn't know that Juliette even wanted kids anymore. She'd been pushing back on everything in their relationship since Adalind took his powers, before even, since she knew what he was.

Chapter Text

Once he'd dried off, and painstakingly put on pants he joined Adalind in th main room. Diana had been fast asleep for a while now, so Nick scooped her up, and tucked her in. He found Adalind's gaze on him when he straightened up.

"What?" He whispered, he hadn't put on anything other than sweats yet, he had a limited number of clean things.

"Are you going to stand there, and stare all night again?" She whispered back, he shrugged, he'd planned to map out some ATM locations now that he had a phonebook.

"I was going to work on something. I can sit at the desk if you want. I haven't been able to really sleep since this started." He gestured to his eyes. She nodded, and let silence fall over them for a moment while he gathered up the map, and phonebook.

"You could... You could lay here with me if you wanted. I, you could, I mean it would make me feel better, knowing you'd be close by to kill anything that came through the door. Forget it, it's too weird." She sounded more unsure than he'd ever heard her before, he grabbed a pen, and set his things on the bedside table.

"I think we're beyond weird at this point." He slid under the blankets, and sat up against the headboard. She smiled up at him, and tucked her head against her hands to sleep. It didn't take her long to drift off.

Nick looked down at her, blonde hair in a messy halo around her head, and her whole body curled in on itself. She looked so small, and vulnerable like this. It didn't fit with his idea of her. He'd spent so long fighting her as the big bad witch, he'd never even imagined she could be the person he'd seen over the last few months.

He reached over to brush a long strand of her blonde hair from her cheek, and let his hand rest on her shoulder. What would they look like if Nick hadn't been so in the dark when they first met? Would he have been able to talk to her, assure her that he wasn't like his aunt? Could they have been friends? Juliette would have hated that. She'll hate this too.

Adalind woke up first, and found Nick's eyes on her. He'd gone pale, and still, but the weight of his hand on her arm still made her feel safe. She sat up, and kissed his cheek, because he wouldn't remember. He inhaled sharply, and blinked over at where she was perhaps a little too close to his face.

"I'll get Diana ready if you go check us out." He rubbed a hand over his face, he looked so tired. She nodded while she tried not to worry about him, and they got back on the road. Their drive wound around quite a bit, but by the time they got to Wolfach Nick was fairly certain they had enough money to stay until their child was born.

"So where are we actually meeting your mother?" Adalind pulled into a little cafe so they could eat dinner, and try to find somewhere to stay for a while.

"She finds us, it's what she does." Nick got out of the car, and before he even got around to helping Diana out of her booster seat a little man in a knit sweater ran over to him.

"Reese Kessler?" He blinked up with wide eyes, when Nick looked down at the little guy he woged into a mauzhertz.

"Yeah." He answered, and the mauzhertz thrust a large yellow envelope at him. As soon as Nick closed his admittedly slow fingers around it the man scurried off.

"What was that? Who is Reese Kessler?" Adalind furrowed her brows while her eyes followed the stranger.

"Reese Burkhardt was my father, Kessler is my mother's maiden name. I told you shed find us." He opened the envelope, inside was a key, and an address. He held up the old fashioned key, and Adalind looked at the map to find the address.

"This better not be another shack with no hot water. I am not living off rabbit for four months Nick, I just can't do that again." She pointed to a patch of green on the map where the address would lead.

"I'll do my best to keep you in canned goods, but I can't promise it will have hot water, my Mother isn't really worried about creature comforts." He turned back to a sleepy Diana, and un-buckled her.

"We should stop, and get groceries before we head out there, and maybe a few books, I don't want her to get bored. The ingredients I need are here too, but I don't think I should go in there with a grimm." She had asked around about different shops in Europe for months before she found this one without giving anything away.

"Alright, I can stay outside with Diana, but if I hear anything I'm coming in after you." He lead them inside, his head down. He may not be out of his mind at the moment, but he realized how he looked. They took a table in the far corner, and Adalind went up to order for them.

"Guten tag, English right?" The young server leaned over the counter to flash her a charming smile.

"Yes please, my German isn't exactly fluent. Can I get a green tea, a coffee black, two sugars, and a glass of milk, with three turkey sandwiches on pretzel rolls, with Guda, kale, honey mustard, and... One with tomatoes, but be careful not to get it on the others, because I'm allergic." She batted her eyelashes at him with a winning smile of her own.

"Sure thing, you know I get off in about twenty minutes. I could give you something to really satisfy your needs." He touched her hand, and Adalind tensed, ready to rip this pimple faced little boy a new one for daring to lay a hand on her without her permission.

"Addy, hun, let's get one of those big cookies, Diana is being so good, isn't that right baby girl?" Nick put his arm around her shoulder, with Diana in the other. The cheap sunglasses he wore made him almost look normal. Even sick he looked miles more attractive than the boy hitting on her.

"Sure, you have been doing pretty good on our long drive. Let's add a cookie to that. What do I owe you?" She beamed, and happily leaned into Nick's side. If she tried really hard she could almost pretend they were a normal family, and Nick actually loved her. Now there was a pipe dream.

"Oh, uh, yeah." He tapped in the items, and slid the card reader across to them, Adalind laughed the entire way back to their table.

"That was priceless, you'd think you flashed your grimm at the kid." She opened all their sandwiches without being asked.

"You looked uncomfortable, and you're pregnant, who hits on a pregnant woman?" He grumbled Nick was grateful not to have to fight the wrapper to hide his expression with a large bite.

"You were jealous!" She accused, a coy smile poorly hidden behind her cup of tea. He rolled his eyes and took a sip of his coffee, it was exactly how he liked it.

"Well, Addy, you're the one who knows how I take my coffee, but if you're that worried I'll let the next sleaze hit on you in peace." Nick leaned back, a smug smile took a while to settle into his features, but it ruffled Adalind none the less. He knew exactly how much the nickname got to her, he had too.

"It was my job to know everything about you Nick, and I can more than take care of myself. You're way is funnier though." She squeezed his arm as he set his coffee down, and Nick had to look away.

"Daddy, can I have my cookie?" Diana reached for it before either of them answered, Adalind laighed, and pulled the cookie away.

"Eat your sandwich first honey, then we'll go buy you some books in German. I know how much you like the Grimm fairytales." Adalind flashed Nick a cheeky smile, but Diana clapped her hands, and shoved half her sandwich into her mouth at once.

"Wow! Hey, small bites kiddo, we don't want you to choke." Nick put a hand on her shoulder in concern. Diana flashed him a sheepish look, and took a Mich smaller second bite.

Once they had everything they might need they went out to the address they'd been given. They found a small cabin as predicted, but it had two bedrooms, a nice, if kind of small kitchen, and a real bathroom.

"Okay, it's water heater is small, but there is a water heater in here so I'm thrilled." Adalind ran her hands over the cylinder that stood a little shorter than her. Nick went to the sink, and turned the water on. The pipes shuddered, and groaned, but no water came out.

"Please tell me that doesn't mean we have no water!" Adalind grabbed his arms, her fingers a little too claw like in her panic.

"They probably just shut the water off when they left to keep the pipes from freezing." Nick went around to the main shut off, and turned it. Once again the pipes shuddered and groaned, but then a sort of yellow water trickled out. After a few seconds it turned to a steady flow of clean water.

"Oh my God! You are my hero!" Adalind threw her arms around him, he chuckled, and held her for a moment.

"We should probably give it half an hour before you try to take a shower, just so the water heater can fill up." Nick gave the appliance in question a light thump. Adalind slid out of his arms, and went to the kitchen.

"I will try and make us some dinner, but I'm not actually a very good cook." Adalind started the long process of unpacking all the groceries.

"Sghetti?" Diana scrambled up one of the high backed stools to lean onto the counter. Nick put a hand on her back to keep her from climbing all the way onto it.

"I can make spaghetti." Adalind got a can of tomato sauce from the cupboard, and the spaghetti noodles.

"I thought you told the clerk you were allergic to tomatoes." Nick came around to get her A pot, and fill it with water.

"I am, but only raw tomatoes, once they're cooked I'm fine. I actually make a pretty mean Bolognese sauce." She shook the onions at him before she took one out to chop. She found fresh ingredients were always best.

"Why can you make spaghetti sauce from scratch, but still think you can't cook?" Nick started to organize the seasonings they'd picked up on the counter. They'd spent over five hundred dollars on groceries.

"Pasta sauces, like cookies, and cakes were recipes taught to me because they were easy to hide potions, or hexes in. You can't taste monk's hood, and eye of neat if you cover the flavor with garlic." She shrugged, he watched her work for a while, a small smile tried to stretch his lips, but didn't quite manage.

"So when can we put together more of that cure?" Nick scooped Diana up when she made a break for it to crawl on the counter. She giggled, and raised her hands up, so Nick hoisted her around like she could fly.

"After supper. I'll start some of it simmering now, just don't confuse this one for the pasta sauce." She teased, he slowly managed a smile while he bounced Diana on his knee. They ate peacefully, and Nick took Diana to get ready for bed while Adalind worked on the cure. She could hear them reading a book together, and it broke her heart.

She loved him. She didn't know when it happened, but she'd fallen in love with Nick, and he was going to leave her, and go back to Juliette. Her baby would have a healthy, happy little family, it just wouldn't include her. She started to cry, quiet, but desperate tears. She didn't want to give him up.

"Addy?" He came out, and caught her crying over his cure. She'd been careful not to cry in it. She didn't want to mess it up.

"Are you okay?" He put a hand on her shoulder. She forced a watery smile, and put the cover over the pot.

"Sorry, it's just hormones." She waved a hand in front of her face, Nick pulled her into a hug, and let her cry on his shoulder. If only he knew she was crying over him.

"Alright, enough babying me. Let's try this." She turned their focus back to the pot on the stove that could never be used to cook now.

"You are growing an actual baby, I'm allowed to baby you." He forced his face to form a pointed glare.

"Yes daddy." She blinked up at him, he choked on nothing, and shook his head.

"Please don't call me that!" He hid his face in his hands, she smiled, a wicked sort of glee came from flirting with him.

"Try to drink all of this at once." She handed him a glass. He frowned at the thick sludge, but sucked it down without a breath none the less.

"I feel... Awake." He worked his fingers, and looked around for something to pick up. He settled on a fork, and twirled it around in his fingers.

"I was only missing three ingredients, so you should be pretty close. Your eyes look better at least. You're still pretty pale though." Adalind reached over to brush her thumb over his cheek. He turned his excited gaze towards her, and to her surprise lunged forward and kissed her.

His hand buried in her hair, and his lips were still just a little too cold when they touched hers, but it was one hell of a kiss. His stubble scratched at her chin, and his breath tasted like that awful potion, but she couldn't get enough. He pulled back abruptly, his own eyes a little shocked.

"I'm sorry." He reached up to cover his mouth. He shattered her delusion that it was the start of something better. He'd kissed her in a moment of exhilaration, and joy. It hadn't been about her, just about what she'd done for him.

"It's fine Nick, I get it. You were happy. We'll get you back to Juliette as soon as I can." She got up to start cleaning, but Nick's hand shot out, and stopped her.

"You should put your feet up, they've been killing you. I can clean." He offered, she forced herself to smile, and nod before she left the room.

Nick stood over the sink, his mind an absolute mess. He'd kissed Adalind. He wanted to do it again. She made him feel good about just being himself. Even as a zombie she'd never once insinuated that he needed to change. Juliette couldn't even accept him as a Grimm. Juliette. He'd cheated on her.

He'd been away for months, with the woman he'd unknowingly slept with, and now he'd purposefully kissed her. Well, unknowingly might be a bit of a stretch. God, he was the worst boyfriend ever. No wonder Juliette didn't trust him! He couldn't let it happen again, no matter how much he wanted to.

He busied himself with cleaning the entire cabin. Eventually he heard Adalind get in the shower, and decided to clean their room, since Diana got the one with the tiny bed, and the crib, it only left one full sized bed. He wondered if he would be able to sleep now. He hoped so. He felt wrung out.

"There is a tub in there, at some point I plan to take the worlds longest bath." Adalind came back with her hair twisted up in a towel. She dropped into the bed he'd turned down for them, and wiggled her toes.

"We have lavender oil, it's not exactly bubble bath, but it would be relaxing." Nick offered, she smiled at him.

"That would be nice. Do you think you'll be able to sleep now?" She pulled the towel off to brush her hair out, and twist it into a braid.

"I don't know. I'll give it a try though." He got up to go to the vacated bathroom. She watched him go.

"Do you need me to talk to you while you're in there?" She kind of hoped he did, it had become a fond ritual for the two of them.

"I'm gonna give it a try first, but if I'm not out in half an hour, maybe come get me." He flashed her a smile that felt almost easy on his lips.

"Good luck." She smiled back, but when the door shut she curled in on herself. He'd kissed her. He took care of her, and protected her, but he loved Juliette. She had to remember that. Nick loved Juliette.

"You alright in there?" Adalind's voice snapped him back to reality, where ice cold water pe!Ted his chest. He turned the water off, and got out.

"Yeah, I just... It felt like I zoned out. Not quite as bad as before, but I think I might still need you to talk to me when I shower." He shook the odd dazed feeling off, and went to brush his teeth while he dried off.

"At least you came to easy enough. It had been getting a little iffy lately." She waited outside the door until he joined her in just his sweats to crawl into bed.

"It doesn't even feel the same, it's more like my focus drifted than I fell asleep. As soon as you said something my focus snapped back. I don't think I have to worry about drifting under again." He climbed into bed beside her, and it felt easy to relax into the firm mattress. His eyes felt heavy in a way they hadn't since he was poisoned. Unfortunately his brain was too wounded up from finally being able to really think. Eventually he couldn't keep it in anymore.

"I knew." Nick whispered while they looked up at the pitch black of the cabin ceiling. Adalind shifted to look at him, despite the shadow that turned him into a silhouette.

"Knew what?" She could think of half a dozen things she tried to keep from him at one point or another.

"I knew something wasn't right when you came to me in that little grey number. I'd never seen it before, and Juliette had been high strung all day. We'd only just settled back into being okay, and she still got cold when she worried. I just wanted it to be real. It hadn't been like that in so long. Then, when she looked like you..." He fell off into the memory like he did sometimes, not quite the same as when he fell asleep in zombie state, but not overly different. It was why he hadn't thought too hard before, because one lead to the other.

"Wait! Nick, she did what?" Adalind grabbed his hand, the cold skin quickly turned almost warm again, and he squeezed her hand back.

"In order to get my Grimm back she turned into you, and reversed the spell." He explained, her head fell forward until it pressed against his shoulder.

"Oh Nick, no! Who told you to do that? All you needed to reverse it was my blood." She sounded pained, and Nick suddenly did not want to follow this line of questioning.

"Rinard's mother helped us. Why? What did we do?" Nick rolled onto his side so he could put an imploring hand on her shoulder.

"The hex rights. I looked into them when I lost my powers, but it wouldn't work on me. When a hexenbiest, or even a human with the help of one does another Hexenbiest's spell as a mirror negative of what had been done they do break the spell, but they also absorb the power used to cast it. In a human it sparks the change." She hid her face in his chest while she spoke, Nick let out a heavy sigh.

"I don't know what that means Addy." He spoke softly into her hair, and Adalind desperately didn't want to tell him.

"It mean Juliette, by now, she's a full fledged hexenbiest." She finished, Nick turned cold under her hands in a literal sense. She backed up to see he'd gone more grey than usual.

"Could I turn her back, with the blood of a Grimm?" Nick spoke, but nothing apart from his moving lips gave away he was even alive.

"No, not if my power changed her. I am immune to the blood of a Grimm now, and anything grown from me will be too." Nick didn't respond, he didn't move, or even breathe.

"Nick? I'm sorry, I could make her a suppressant that could work, but she might not want it. Being a hexenbiest has it's perks. With a spell like that, she would be incredibly powerful." Adalind told him once she couldn't take the silence anymore.

"I guess we'll see. Thank you, for warning me." Nick squeezed her arm, and let go to lay on his back again, but he let her keep a hold of his hand.

"Would it be so bad? I mean being with a hexenbiest, she'd still be Juliet, just her more ambitious traits would be accentuated. Could you love a hexenbiest?" Adalind whispered, her breath tickled his shoulder.

"Of course I could, the fact that she's a hexenbiest wouldn't change anything, but she wanted a normal life. She didn't even want me to get my powers back as a grimm. I practically begged for her to do the spell, and now... It's my fault this happened to her." Nick's voice sounded flat, and hollow when he spoke, his hand cold under her's.

"No. Don't even think about doing that. It's Elizabeth's fault for lying to you about the spell, Sean's for trusting his mother, he might have even been in on it. You could even blame me for taking your powers if you wanted, but you didn't do this to her. She did it herself because you were suffering, and I am so sorry I did that to you, but it was the only way to get Diana back without killing you. If you think about it Sean started all of this by ordering me to kill your aunt let's blame him." She laid her hand over his heart, and his skin grew warm again with her gentle touch.

"I don't think she'll see it that way, but thank you." She could hear the soft smile in voice now, she let herself relax again.

"I know a few things about misplaced blame, and being a bitter hexenbiest, trust me she'll get past it. You might have to keep her from killing me though." She laughed, Nick brought his hand up to cover the one she had on his bare chest.

"No matter what happens with Juliet no one is going to hurt you, you're the mother of my child." He promised. She didn't know how to respond to that. No one had ever been loyal to her, or protected her. She closed her eyes against all of the things she shouldn't feel for him. She was so stupid. She just needed to stop thinking, so Adalind did her best to get what little sleep she could.

"I'm gonna get you!" The voice started Adalind awake, and she sprung out of bed. When she got into the other room, ready to fight, she found Nick chasing Diana. She giggled when he caught her, and swooped her into the air.

"Mommy!" She squealed, Nick spun around, a smile on his face that didn't look strained. It lit up his expression, and made her heart skip.

"Addy." He spun Diana around and set her down. "I made breakfast." He pointed back at the plate under one of her mixing bowls. The kitchen still had the evidence of the mess they made. Now that she knew to look she could see flour all down the front of Diana's shirt, and in a tiny hand print on Nick's knee.

"We made pancakes! I helped!" She jumped up and down, which sent up a cloud of flour. Adilind started to cry. Nick went wide eyed, and Diana ran over to her.

"Should I have woken you up?" He didn't exactly have a lot of experience just living with her, but he didn't want to mess it up.

"No! No, I'm happy, it's just the stupid pregnancy hormones, which are your fault too, so feel free to keep feeling bad." She huffed, he chuckled, and moved over to the kitchen to set the table for her.

"I'll rub your feet later in contrition." He offered, she wiped her face, and sat in the chair he pulled out for her. The rustic cabin filled with the scent of butter, and maple syrup. Diana ran around, and jumped onto the couch to launch at Nick. They laughed, and played while she ate. She couldn't imagine a more perfect fantasy.

Once she finished Diana curled up on the couch to read her new German book while Nick cleaned up the mess. Then, as promised he crouched down to rub her feet. His hands were magic. There was no other explanation. She moaned, and dropped her head back.

"So have you thought about a name?" He had a couple of thoughts, but nothing he was that attached to.

"I already picked one." She mumbled, his thumbs stopped kneeding her heel, and she blinked down at him.

"Don't you think we should both..." He started, but a coy smile broke her relaxed expression.
"Kelly." She interrupted, he looked taken aback. After a second he returned to his massage of her sore feet.

"Okay." He whispered, she reached out to brush his hair off his brow. It had only just gotten long enough to drop down. She wondered if he'd let her cut it again.

"Ah!" Adalind curled in on herself, a wave of pain, and cramps wracked through her. Nick shot up, worry clear in his eyes.

"Addy? What is it? Is it the baby?" He knelt on the couch beside her, and let her crush his hand to deal with the pain.

"No, Kelly isn't coming for days Daddy." Diana told him, Nick flicked his gaze over to her, but zeroed in on Adalind again.

"It's okay. Its just braxton hicks. It's early to be getting them, but not that early. I had them all the time with Diana. They suck, but they're normal." She explained, he sagged against her, his head dropped on her shoulder.

"I didn't even think about that. Should we have gotten anything for the pain, or, can you even take pain killers? I'm so under prepared for this." Nick mumbled, she hummed her understanding, and ran her hands through his hair.

"I'll be fine. I had Diana in a cabin worse than this one with someone who had no idea how to deliver a baby. They train you guys for it down at the station don't they?" Adalind whispered, Nick nodded against her, but made no move to leave her space. Not that she asked him to.

They spent the next week with Nick at her heals like he had been in the castle. He somehow managed to stay just this side of irritating about it as well. He asked her a million questions about baby care, and her last birth. It felt a little like a class. The only thing that took him away from her was Diana asking him to play.

He would draw her a bath, and run around with Diana in whatever game she'd come up with. He always came back to help her out of the tub since her stupid stomach made it hard to get up, but he always kept his eyes closed.

"I just need to lay down." Adalind swatted his hand away, and walked towards the bed on her own. She made it two steps before she stopped. Nick took a step after her, but she frowned down at her pants.

"I either just pissed myself, or my water just broke." Adalind genuinely didn't know for certain. Diana ran in with their waterproof sheet in her little hands.

"Kelly! Kelly's coming!" She jumped up and down. Nick grabbed the sheet, and tossed it over the bed so she could lay down.

"He's early." She grumbled while she struggled to get her pants off. Nick knelt in front of her, and helped her strip. Once she was in just a night gown she laid down. Diana crawled up beside her, and Nick moved to grab her.

"Wait! Silly baby, you can't raise your hand yet. No questions until after." Diana put her hands on Adalind's stomach, and she felt the discomfort of something move. When it settled Diana jumped down on her own, and ran off.

"What just happened?" Nick furrowed his brows, but Adalind didn't have any more answers than he did. She was saved from any attempt when a contraction hit her. Nick hand never been more scared than he was trying to help her through the birth, but eventually he had a tiny screaming bundle in his hands. His son.

Chapter Text

"Say hi to your Daddy Kelly." Adalind whispered, Nick swaddled him, and brought him to Adalind to hold while he tried to clean her up. She had no idea how many hours she moved in and out of consciousness before she realized he'd stopped moving to sit near the bed.

"I... I need a bath, but I can't." Her head drooped toward where Kelly suckled. He came over, and helped hold her up until Kelly finished. She knew a warm bath wasn't advisable, but she didn't have a ton of options.

"Let me lay him down, and I'll help you." He whispered into her hair. She managed a little hum of assent. She missed the adoration in his eyes when he looked down at his baby boy, but it wouldn't be the last time he looked like that. When he got back she was asleep, so he scooped her up, and carried her to the bathroom.

"I'll never be able to stay up by myself, much less get out." She mumbled into his neck, he set her on the toilet to get everything ready.

"I know. I've got you." He went back to the room while the water ran, and cleaned up the bed. When he got back the tub was a little over full, so he turned it off, and drained some before he disrupted Adalind.

"I'm gonna help you rinse off before we get in okay?" He asked as he dipped a cup into the Luke warm water in the tub. She hummed, and shifted her legs open. He helped her lean back, and rinsed the slightly cold water over her until most of the after birth, and filth had been washed away.

"Okay, we're gonna take this off." He helped her raise her arms so he could slip the nightgown off her. He picked up a clean cloth, and wiped down her thighs, and the underside of her belly while he tried to not to oggle her.

"I'm just going to help, if you are uncomfortable at any point I'll stop okay. Just squeeze my arm." Nick washed his hands three times before he felt comfortable picking her up, and in just his boxers, slid into the bath with her.

She moaned, and laid her head back against his bare chest. He couldn't help the quick glance he gave her breasts where they bobbed at the surface of the water. He shifted forward, and she groaned in protest.

"I have to get you cleaned up." He whispered before his fingers moved gently over her folds. It wasn't anything sexual, she could hardly feel anything other than pain, but it was the most intimate thing anyone had ever done with her.

"Tell me if it hurts okay." He breathed before he slid his fingers into her just a bit to insure everything was cleaned out as best as he could.

"I'm so tired." She forced the words out, his careful touch, and the warm water lulled her half to sleep already.

"Okay, we're almost done." He finished, and helped her stand. Well, he held her up in a standing position. He let the water drain, and turned the shower head on, just enough to dribble over, and used it to rinse them off.

"Diana?" She looked towards the door with half missed eyes. He brushed her hair back out of the way.

"I'll check on her. You just sleep. I'll take care of everything." He carried her back to the bed once he'd towel dried them both. She drifted in and out for what felt like an eternity. At one point she remembered Nick behind her, one arm under her's while Kelly suckled, but he really did take care of everything.

"Hey, you should eat." He whispered into her hair, already behind her to help her sit up. She had to blink a few times before she got her bearings.

"Mm, food. You're a good baby daddy." She mumbled as he spoon fed her yoghurt with blueberry in it.

"Drink." He put a straw to her lips, and she was surprised to taste chocolate milk.

"Kelly?" She squeezed his arm. He set the cup aside, and fed her more yoghurt.

"He's asleep. I can bring him in as soon as he wakes up, but he's probably just as exhausted as you." He let her lay back once she'd finished the food. She didn't need him to feed her, or coddle her quite so much, but it was nice.

The next week was the most exquisite type of torture. Nick made sure she could walk around, and had what she needed for her own care, but insisted on taking care of everything. She knew it was good. It gave her time to establish a routine in a way she never got with Diana, and to just bond with Kelly, but it was all so much.

Nick had moved the crib to their room, and would get up in the night to change him, or rock Kelly back to sleep. He would get Diana up, make breakfast, and help her wash up. He read with her, and taught her how to be careful with Kelly. If she hadn't loved him before she certainly would have fallen for him then. He would still zone out while he rocked Kelly, or when Diana read to him, but he was so present in the most domestic way. She'd never had that with any man in her life.

"I'm losing my mind here Nick, you have to let me do some of it. I literally ran for my hours after I gave birth to Diana, I can make a sandwich." She seated him when he tried to take over what she'd started.

"Okay. I don't exactly know where the bench marks are, I just don't want you to over do it." He took a step back. She looked over at where Diana had a group of stuffed animals floating around Kelly in a silly dance while he sucked on his fist.

"You have no idea how much I appreciate everything you've done for us, for me. I just need to do something too. God! Look at him Nick." She stared at his little crib. Nick leaned against the counter beside her to make sure Diana didn't drop anything on him. It had taken a few days to convince her not to pick Kelly up with her power.

"He's perfect." His hand slid over to rest on the small of her back, she didn't think he even realized that he did it.

"How are you? You seem to be zoning out more lately." She turned her focus back towards Nick. He took the sandwich she held out to him, and ate without question.

"It's not so bad, but I drift more when you're not around. Diana always tells me, or Kelly will cry, and I come back. You don't have to worry." He shrugged, she raised an eyebrow at him. He couldn't hold her gaze.

"I'm worried about you, not them. I know you'll take care of Kelly, and Diana even if you go full zombie. I just need to know if the treatment is wearing off." She pointed at him, he rolled his eyes back at her.

"It's no worse than it was. I'm fine." Nick huffed, and lead her into the living room to make sure she sat back down.

"Do you hear that?" Nick froze, his skin turned grey, and he cocked his head to listen. Adalind held her armour to Diana, and got up to grab Kelly. He startled at the sudden motion, and started to cry.

"Stay here." Nick picked up the kitchen knife as he moved towards the front door. Before he got there it opened. He lunged, and was turned away, the knife flattered to the floor. He went to counter, and realized the person at the door was none other than his own mother.

"Mom?" The colour came back to his face, and Kelly looked past him to asses the room for threats.

"Nick. Adalind." She let go of Nick's hand, and he pulled her into a hug. She allowed it, but still stood tense.

"We didn't know you were coming." Adalind bounced Kelly in her lap to try a shush him. His cries turned to a softer coo. She shifted down to breast feed him before he got truly fussy.

"Pack your things, we need to move. There's a boat we can catch if we act fast." His mother told him, Nick looked back at Adalind.

"Mom, it's barely been a week since Kelly was born. Adalind needs to rest." Nick scooped up the knife, and brought it back to the kitchen.

"She can rest on the ship. It will take two days to reach it, and six weeks for it to reach Oregon." She told him, Nick opened his mouth to protest further, but Adalind caught his gaze, and shook her head.

"It's okay. It will be safer." She told him, he nodded, and went to grab their things as quickly as he could.

"would it be possible to stop for more diapers. He'll outgrow these in six weeks, and I want formula in case I can't eat enough to produce." She got up to make Diana snacks for the road, maybe some for her too.

"I already picked up everything we'll need. Once I get you on the ship I'll lead them away from your trail. They're circling the area already." She told her, Adalind nodded, and hurried her actions. She never wanted her baby to know the royals.

"Is Renard making a move with Keith dead too?" She asked while Diana used her power to gather all the toys into one bag.

"He is." She didn't elaborate, which was both a good thing because she didn't want to know, and horrible, because now she'd just imagine it.

"He can't have Diana for his political manoeuvring." She hissed, Nick's Mom nodded, if anyone understood protecting her family from the royals it was her.

"Okay." Nick had three bags as he barged out of the room. They didn't exactly have a car seat, or a bassinet stroller to use. Kelly would have to sleep with them now. It wasn't as safe, but they would have to figure it out.

The car his mother had brought had a car seat in it. Adalind happily buckled Kelly in the back facing seat. She tried not to think about the stains that indicated it had clearly been used recently before she got it. The drive was quite, save for Diana. They all tried to help keep her entertained, but she could see Nick fade in and out. Adalind would reach out, and touch him as discreetly as she could, but she knew Kelly clocked it a few times. The woman was terrifying to be sure.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked when they stopped for one of their many bathroom breaks, and Adalind had gone with Diana.

"I was hit by some kind of puffer fish wesen. It turned me into some kind of zombie. Adalind has done her best to reverse it, but we've never had all the ingredients we need. I'll be fine until we get back to Portland. If anything I'm more dangerous to be around now." Nick explained, she nodded

"Cracher-Mortel. Did you kill it?" She stared off at the station while she spoke, and he tried not let her indifference bother him. He knew she loved him, but he couldn't help but think if he'd grown up with her she would have neglected him for her duties, even with him around.

"No, the royals did." She nodded, and turned to pay for their gas with a card that didn't have her name on it.

"Good." And that was it. Adalind came back, and Diana was put back in her own car seat. She looked at Nick, and quicker her brow in question. He shrugged, and she gave his arm a quick squeeze before they got in.

"This... This is a cruise ship." Adalind frowned when they got to the docks. His mother took out a stroller for them, the kind that turned into a bassinet. She really did think of everything.

"No one will find you here. It gives me six weeks to do some clean up, and you get home. What did you expect?" She took out a floppy sun hat, and plunked it on Adalind's head. She huffed, and tried to straighten it out with one hand while Nick got the stroller ready.

"What name are we using for tickets? I didn't exactly bring my passport." Nick took Kelly from Adalind, and secured him in his stroller.

"Kessler. Ned, and Annie Kessler." She handed off their papers, they were good. Nick could admit he didn't mind the idea of six weeks of mundane safety before he had to face his friends again, this time with a newborn son. Had to face Juliet while he wasn't sure he could ever go back to the life she wanted.

"Will you be in Oregon when we land?" He slung a bag over each shoulder, and gave the smallest one to Diana.

"No. Monroe will be. I have things to deal with here." She hugged him, and got back in the car without another word.

"Your mother really is a warm, and affectionate woman." Adalind chuckled, he looped his arm around her shoulders to walk them up onto the ship.

"I hardly even know her. Kelly will never know what that feels like." They got a room with a little a joining one for Diana, and the crib, which they moved in with them. While they unpacked Diana pulled a chair over, and started to read a loud in German to Kelly. She was such a doting older sister.

They spent weeks on the boat settling in. There were so many people, who all wanted to talk to them, and coo at the baby. So many old ladies. Nick seemed obsessed with the pool. He took Diana there at first when Adalind needed to sleep, and Kelly was out too. She came back excited to explain how to swim.

Eventually he started to take Kelly with a little infant flotation device. Adalind would go out, and sit under the umbrella to read in German since they didn't have any books in English. Kelly would cry eventually, tired from all the work his tiny muscles had done. Nick would get out, and join her on a lounge chair while Diana played with the other kids.

It had taken some time to explain why she couldn't show them her powers. Nick would dry Kelly, and himself off before he laid Kelly down to sleep on his chest, sometimes he'd even get a little tummy time in. Adalind went so far as to buy a disposable camera so she could take pictures of it.

Kelly was going to be Daddy's boy for sure. She hated that she couldn't join them yet.

The first time Adalind put on the two piece swimsuit that was fairly modest by her standards she hesitated. She hadn't done much like this since before Diana was born. She'd spent the last four weeks careful with her diet, and working out as much as was feasible, but she still had a sag to her stomach, and more fat then she used to. Not to mention the stretch marks. It would be a while before she managed to get a shadow of her old body back.

It felt like such a stupid thing to cry about, and yet there she was. Nick opened the door, and Adalind struggled to wipe her eyes. He smiled, even after over four weeks in the sun he still didn't have a tan to speak of.

"Wow! You look amazing." He ran his gaze down her body so slowly, it might as well have been his hand. She could admit she enjoyed it.

"I look fat, and saggy." She mimbled, her own eyes caught on her stomach. Nick closed the distance between them, his hand came to rest on her waist.

"Are you kidding Addy? It's been just shy of six weeks since you had our son. You look miraculous. I genuinely thought it was some kind of hexenbiest spell. I'll admit, I like seeing the evidence of our son on your body, so I might be a little biased, but you look stunning." Nick brushed his thumb over one of her stretch marks, and she started to cry again.

"Oh my God! When am I going to stop being so hormonal?" She turned away to wipe at her face. Nick pulled her into a long hug, where neither one of them wanted to pull away.

"Probably not until you finish breast feeding. Sorry." He kissed the top of her head, she let out a little hiccup of laughter.

"Next time you carry the baby." She pulled back, and swatted his arm.

"I'll see what I can do." He winked at her, and she finally felt comfortable enough to follow him out to the pool with the kids.

"Okay, unlike you, and your magical inability to tan, I will need sun screen." Adalind held out the tube they'd gotten for the kids, and laid down on one of the chairs.

Nick ran his hand over her shoulders, down her arms, and back up to move down the dip of her spine. She hummed in approval as his large hands worked against her skin. Nick swallowed hard, trying to think of something other than how soft, and willing she was against him. He'd touched her before, but that had been innocent. This was so far from innocent.

"Don't forget my legs." She wiggled her hips, drawing his eyes to the cleft of her ass that stuck out just under the soft fabric of her bikini. He started at her feet, rubbing his thumb into her arches, and back up her calves slowly. His hands stilled, he wasn't sure how far he was meant to go.

She wiggled under his hands to get him to keep going, so he dipped them between her thighs, and up over her ass, his fingers slipping under the fabric of her suit. Nick was painfully hard under his own suit. He couldn't do this.

"Done." He tossed the bottle, spun arouns, and dived straight into the pool. Adalind laughed at him, and finished the application of her lotion before she took Kelly out of his bassinet to get him sunscreen as well. Diana ran around her waiting for her turn.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Look! I cannon ball!" Down ran, and jumped into the pool. Adalind took a worried step towards her before her arm floaties brought her back to the surface.

"Good job kiddo, ten points!" He scooped her up, and spun her around in the water. Diana giggled, and splashed at Nick. Adalind followed them in at a more sedate pace with Kelly on her hip.

"You're a lucky woman." One of the old ladies that she had probably spoken to before, but certainly didn't remember said.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I think so." Adalind forced a smile, as a lawyer her fake expressions were very believable.

"If my husband looked like that we'd never leave the room." She winked, and Adalind had to cover her mouth to stifle a laugh.

"Thank you?" She managed while she hurried into the pool. Nick floated over towards her with a question in his expression. Adalind swam over to the middle with him, dozens of kids, and grown ups mingled around them.

"Don't look now, but that little old lady wants in your shorts." Adalind told him, Nick snorted, but when she gave him a serious look he looks over at the old lady in concern.

"Oh, wow! Your face!" She broke into a fit of hysterical laughter. Kelly burgled happily against her.
"Mommy look!" Diana climbed up Nick's back to jump off into the pool again. All the while Nick stood stock still. It didn't do a lot to help her stop laughing.

"You're practically a Niad sweety." Adalind managed, which set off a game where Nick went under water to chase them around the pool. It wasn't exactly fair since Nick didn't seem to need to breathe for much longer than possible. By the end he looked a little pale, and zoned out by the edge of the pool, so Adalind called it.

Once they'd cleaned up, and put the kids to bed they crawled into their own. Sleeping next to Nick had become a natural part of her routine. She had no idea what she would do once she got back to Portland. Nick would leave her, and go back to Juliet. His now hexenbiest girlfriend, who already hated her for so much. Now she had a kid with Nick, his first born son on top of that. Adalind would want her dead if their positions were reversed.

Worse, what if nick wanted to raise Kelly with Juliet? He could get custody, he had a job, and a home, and a stable life. She was a lawyer, she k new how weak her case was. He wouldn't bar her from their life, but he might want majority time, and give her weekends. No. He wouldn't do that to her, but Juliet might want that. What would he do to pacify her?

"Nick?" She whispered into the dark room, the soft rock of the ocean made everything seem like a dream.

"Addy?" He sucked in a startled breath, clearly only moments from having fallen asleep. She grimaced, but pushed on. She would never sleep if she didn't ask.

"We're almost home." It wasn't exactly what she wanted to say, but she had to work up to it somehow.

"Three more day." He agreed, she shifted until she found his hand, and gained her fingers with his.

"What are you going to do when we get there?" She forced the words out, her only comfort the fact that he couldn't see her fear.

"Go back to work, see what I missed, help find us a place where the kids will be safe." He shrugged, and she could feel his shoulder jostle against her own.

"No. I mean, what are we going to do? Are we... Anything? Or are you going back to Juliet?" She squeezed his hand. They'd only kissed the once, but in every way but sexually they were in a relationship. He took care of her daughter, and her, took it upon himself to be ther, to make her laugh, and hold her at night when a nightmare woke her. We loved him, but she had no idea if he loved her back.

"I... We're not nothing. You're the mother of my child, and I... I've thought about it. A lot, but I'm still not cured, and I'm technically still in a relationship with Juliet. I can't, I won't think about that until I've talked to Juliet." He hated that he had to say it, but he couldn't just lie to her. These last few months felt right, and he had no idea what that meant for him.

"I can't force you to be part of his life, but I would really like it if you were." Adalind squeezed her eyes shut, desperate not to let herself cry.

"I will be!" He said it so firmly, and Adalind believed him, she did, but where did that leave her? She rolled towards him, and he pulled her onto his chest to hold.

"I don't care if this is a mistake. I need you to know before you make a choice Nick. I love you!" She fisted his shirt in her hand, and clung to him, ready to be shoved away. He didn't recoil though. He pressed his head into her hair, and cried. He didn't sob, or wail, but she could feel it choke his lungs, and shake his chest.

"No matter what, nothing is going to happen to you, and our kids. I will always be there for you." He whispered, his voice tight with the strain of keeping it together. She pressed in closer to him, until the unnaturally slow rythem of his heartbeat found her.

"Just promise me you won't let her make you feel bad about any of this, or the fact that she's a hexenbiest now. Nothing that happened was your fault." She mumbled into chest, he brushed his hand down her back.

"The kiss was my fault." He spoke so softly that she almost couldn't hear him, only the reverberation of his chest let her understand.

"Do you regret it?" She didn't know if she wanted him to answer that.

"No." He tightened his hold on her, and they both fell silent. What did that mean for them? Would it matter in the end?

Chapter Text

The next three days felt desperate. As if they both wanted to cram as many good memories in as they could before it fell apart. One more dance, one more swim, one more midnight ice cream. Anything to stave of reality. The problem with that is it never worked forever. Eventually land was in sight, and time was up.

"Even in a crowd he's easy to spot." Nick pointed to where Monroe, and Rosalie stood on the dock for them.

"It's a predator thing. You're like that too, I could pick you out of any crowd." She said without looking away from the crowd.

"Oh yeah? I never thought of it that way. I mean you stand out from a crowd for other reasons." He shifted their bags on his shoulder so he could put his hand on the small of her back, and lead them off the ship.

"Flirt." She teased, but her smile fell away as they got towards Monroe, and knew he could hear them.

"Nick!" Monroe rushed towards them through the crowd with Rosalie behind him, people moved out of his way. Some hidden prey instinct told them he was dangerous despite his knit sweater, and goofy grin. He slammed into him in a rough hug, but Nick didn't move under the force of it until Monroe lifted him off the ground.

"Alright, can we get out of here please?" Adalind put a hand on Nick's arm when he landed back on his feet.

"Addy's right. I missed you guys, but I don't love the size of this crowd. Have you heard from my mother yet?" Nick crouched down to hoist Diana up onto his hip while they walked. She had been up all night with them, and now she wanted nothing more than to fall asleep against his side.

"Oh, uh, no. Not since she told us to meet you here. All we knew was that you'd contacted her, and she needed to know where my family used to hunt." Monroe got them to his car, then looked in confusion at the extra kid with them.

"Nick, I think what Monroe is avoiding here is that we don't know what happened to you, and we're kind of curious why you're with Adalind, Diana, and who I assume is a new baby Adalind had." Rosalie gestured to their singular car seat, which Adalind had begun to strap Kelly into already. Diana could sit in his lap.

"It's a pretty long story, and it starts with those zombies we felt with." Nick started when they got into the car, and it took him the whole drive, and then some to get through the story. Rosalie started a batch of the cure as soon as they got back.

"I can't believe your as cognizant as you are. The way you used bits of the cure with intellectual stimulants is brilliant." Rosalie picked up her injector, which looked like an implement of torture rather than medicine. The sharp stab doubled him over, but as it washed through him the last vestiges of the toxin faded. He felt like he'd been treading water for months, and he was finally on dry land again.

"I can't believe you have a son! I mean, I get how it happened, but still! Have you talked to Juliet yet? She's uh, she's a little different." Monroe rubbed the back of his neck, Nick looked over at Adalind.

"I haven't spoken to her yet, but I know what happened. I know she's a hexenbiest." Nick told them, they shared a look before they decided to tell him whatever they were unsure about.

"She was pretty angry when you disappeared, and after she killed a bunch of our potential leads, she um, she's been sleeping with Rinard." Monroe told him, Nick blinked in shock, all this time he'd been worried about his feelings, he never imagined she would be the one to cheat of him. He didn't feel as upset as he thought he should.

"Oh." Nick managed, Diana tugged on his hand, and he crouched down without a thought. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and just hugged him. Adalind used her presence to excuse her touching him.

"Being a hexenbiest is jarring, and going through it alone would feel overwhelming. I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it." Adalind offered a weak defense for him to cling to. Nick nodded, he still needed to go to his house, and talk to her.

"Could Addy stay with you guys tonight?" Nick looked at her, just to make sure she was okay too. She nodded, and turned her focus down to Kelly for composure.

"Of course. I've actually got a beautiful crib from when I was a baby that would be perfect for the little guy." Monroe flashed a smile at Kelly, and Adalind tried to mirror the expression, but it pulled to tight over her teeth.

"Addy. I'll be back in the morning, and we can find you a place. Even if I still own the house it's never been safe enough." He told her, she nodded because she didn't trust her voice not to break if she spoke.

"Okay sweet pea, you have to stay with Mommy, and Kelly. I'll be back in the morning, and we can get breakfast pizza." Nick promised while he set Diana down beside her mother. The little girl glared at him.

"She's gonna hurt you." Diana huffed, and Nick's gaze flicked up to Adalind, unsure which dangerous woman in his life she meant.

"I'll be okay kiddo. You be good for your Mom."

"I'm always good!" Diana huffed, and crossed her arms. Nick gave a surprised snort of laughter t that.

"I know, but be extra good while I'm not here okay?" He ruffled her hair, and slammed into him with another hug.

"Okay. I love you Daddy." She whispered, he kissed the top of her head.

"Love you too kiddo." He whispered back, he got a strange look from Monroe as he got up, but no one mentioned it. Though he was sure it would come up eventually.

Nick gave Adalind's arm a squeeze, and Kelly a kiss on the head before he left to sort out the disaster he'd left behind.

He expected the house to look exactly as he left it, Juliet had always been the one to keep things nice. Even after a wesen would break in, and things would get destroyed she made sure the evidence of it went away. When he opened the door, and found shattered picture frames, knives, and knick knacks embedded in the wall, and mail piled up on the table until it spilled onto the floor he was taken aback.

Nick picked up the nearest picture frame, and rescued the picture from within. He and Juliet smiled back at him. Happy, and ignorant. They hadn't taken a picture together since he became a Grimm. He set it back on the entryway table, and turned his focus to the mail. There were advertisements, and credit card offers, but mixed in with it all were bills.

They'd always paid everything a month ahead in case they fell on harder times, but these were bills as far back as the month he left. Among them were past due notices. Finally on the floor he found a foreclosure notice. She had lost the house, or she would soon. Would she even come back here?

"Why does it even matter? You're their king!" Julie's voice pulled him out of his own spiral of worry just as the door opened. Juliet came through with Renard in tow.

"Nick?" Renard of all people was the first one to speak. Nick opened his mouth, then closed it twice before he managed words.

"What happened?" He decided to focus on the physical mess rather than the mess Juliet had made of his life.

"I was angry. You just disappeared! I looked everywhere for you!" She stalked forward, the threatening air in her voice, and the way she moved reminded him of Adiland. She was a hexenbiest now, he'd do well to remember that.

"I was kidnapped by the royals. Something you should have known if not immediately, then fairly soon after it happened. I know you have spies in court. Addy used to point them out, she thought they would send you word once they saw me." Nick shifted his focus over to Renard. He hadn't really thought about it, but they should have known where he was.

"Of course I knew, but I had no way of getting you out. You were a mindless monster at the time that wouldn't leave even if we'd found a way." Renard told him, no remorse for his lack of action, but he could tell this was the first Juliet had heard of it.

"Addy? You mean Adalind! The woman who did this to me! The woman you cheated on me with when she stole your powers! The woman who nearly killed me! Are you fucking her again?" Juliet took a step forward, and the bits of broken glass all over the floor started to shake from the touch of her power.

"No, I'm not having sex with Adalind. How about you? How is Renard in bed?" Nick shot back, how dare she accuse him of being unfaithful. He'd held Adalind while she cried over them rather than betray what they had.

"Oh please, I was using him so I could find you. You know I love you." Her anger settled some, but she's continued to close the distance between them.

"How did that work out? He never told you he knew where I was." She shrugged, and laid her hand on his chest.

"And he'll suffer accordingly, but for right now I just want to taste you." She leaned in to kiss him, and Nick took a step back.

"You're about to lose the house, you haven't taken care of anything in our life, are you even still employed? I wanted to offer you a suppressant, but I don't know if you have a normal life to go back to. You were always so insistent that you wanted us to be normal." Nick looked around again, Juliet rolled her eyes.

"It's fine. There's a hex I can do to straighten this all out. Everything will be fine. Besides, I don't want that anymore. I get it now Nick. I feel amazing, the power, the purpose. For the first time in my life I feel alive." She grabbed his jacket this time to hold him in place as she closed the distance.

"It's not fine. You're a whole different person, the Juliet I knew wouldn't abandon her practice, or slept with my boss, even if it was for information." Nick had planned to put distance between himself, and Juliet so he could decide if his love for Adalind was real, or a symptom of what happened to them. Than he'd found all this.

"What? You don't like who you made me?" Adalind woged, her jaw cracked, and her skin turned to desiccated grey flesh, her eyes boiled with blood. Nick didn't flinch, he might have not so long ago, but Adalind did it fairly often. Especially in the castle when people irritated her. He watched her throw the entire bed once.

"Juliet, you being a hexenbiest doesn't change anything for me, what does is the fact that you would throw it in my face. Renard's mother is the one who did this to you, and as bad as I feel that you didn't get a choice, or a warning about it I don't think you need to be fixed. If you want it to go away I will help you, but I just want you to be happy." Nick reached out, and brushed his thumb over her cheek. Even woged it felt warm, and supple under his fingers, like fine leather. He'd always wondered.

"I..." Juliet took a step back in shock. "I feel different now, unrestrained. As if all my ambition is finally worth chasing, and no one can stand in my way. It's harder, to be kind." She let her face shift back to the soft features he knew so well.

"It's like a pull towards wild, or violent things. I know. I get it better than most. It doesn't have to define you though, you're still the same person, you just have a deeper well." Nick had felt that more than once: when he got his Grimm, when he lost it, and got it back, and most notably when he was trapped in the zombie state. He could still feel it under his skin, the ability to access that stillness, that violence.

"Come upstairs. We can work this out." Juliet ran her hand down his chest, it was an action she'd done a thousand times, but for some reason it felt wrong. He felt out of place in the house he'd owned for years.

"I'm just gonna go." Renard hooked his thumb over his shoulder, and took a step back, but Nick held his hand up.

"I'm not staying. I'll be back to work on Monday though if that works for you." Nick stopped his retreat, and Juliet's hand on his chest turned to claws that dug into his shirt.

"What do you mean you aren't staying? This is your home. Where else would you go?" She hissed, Nick closed his eyes, because this was going to hurt.

"I have a son. Kelly. Adalind got pregnant when she cursed me. I plan to find a place for them, and for myself. I love you Juliet, but we both know we haven't been in love since I became a Grimm. You could never accept me, even before you hated that I was a cop, and I didn't trust you with my secret, and I couldn't live a normal life like you wanted. We aren't right. I should have let you go when you forgot about me. I'm so sorry." He tried to explain it as calmly as he could, and about the time the word sorry left his lips things started to fly at him.

"You're leaving me? You fucked that bitch, and decided everything we had was worthless? You cheating piece of shit! I should eviscerate you!" Glass, and splinters embedded into the wall as he dropped into a crouch. Nick ran out of the house while Renard held the door open for him.

"I put you on medical leave, so you should be good to come back whenever. You might want to avoid her for a while. You know how hexenbiest can be." Renard smiled at him, as if they were sharing some conspiratorial secret.

"I do. Once we get settled you should come and meet Diana. She deserves to know you, as long as you don't try and use her in your political struggle. I will support you becoming king of the royals if you need someone, but she deserves some peace, and so does Addy." Nick shook his hand, and the door behind them rattled from the impact of something.

"Addy? How close are you two? No one is allowed to call her that. I know you told Juliet she had your baby, but it sounds like more than that." Renard walked with him back to Nick's car, that he was happy to retrieve. He wished he'd thought to grab some of his other belongings before he told her, but at least he had this one.

"Honestly, I don't know. It's a long story, but she took care of me when I was vulnerable, and we took care of each other after, and then we had Kelly. Things changed." Nick tried to explain, but he didn't really know where they stood either.

"Well, good luck. When she loves you it's... Overwhelming." He pat Nick on the back, and left him to get in his own car. Nick didn't love that description, but he didn't want to convince Renard that she was gentle, and caring in a way he just wasn't used to. She did used to love the guy.

He walked into Monroe's without knocking. It was getting late, and he knew he wouldn't mind. He went upstairs silently, and found his family in the spare room. Monroe had apparently found not only his old crib, but some tiny bed that he'd set up for Diana. He was such a good friend, Nick would have to bury him a beer after all this.

"Nick?" Adalind sat up when he came over to the bed, and sat down to take off his shoes.
"I thought you were staying with Juliet tonight." She laid a hand on his shoulder, and he was surprised at how much more normal it felt; how right her touch felt.

"No. We broke up, and she started throwing things at me." Nick explained. She shifted closer, and pulled him back into a hug.

"I'm sorry. Being a hexenbiest can change people, we could make the suppressant if you want. See if she feels differently once she's had it." Adalind whispered with her head rest upon his shoulder.

"No." He reached up to hold her hand against his chest. "I don't want her back Addy. I... I'm not sure I still wanted to be with her before we left, I was just clinging to something that I loved before I became a Grimm. I changed, and I should have let her go then, but I couldn't bare to lose something else. Everything with her was a fight."

Nick turned in her arms, and brought one hand up to cup Adalind's cheek. She leaned into his touch, and her eyes fluttered shut. Nick pressed closer until his brow rested against her's, and her grip on him tightened.

"We should sleep. Getting the rest of the cure made me feel tired for the first time since I was poisoned, and I want to find us somewhere to live before Monday." Nick sighed, Adalind surged forward, and kissed him. He groaned, and let her press him down into the bed while his lips explored her touch.

She tasted of the little strawberry puffs Diana was obsessed with, and toothpaste, her touch hungry for more. His hands moved up the back of her shirt to feel the heat of her impossibly soft skin. He rocked his hips against her, already hard, and desperate for more before the sound of a soft snore in the room forced him to pull away.

"When we find a house you'd better be in my bed." She purred against the shell of his ear, and he shuddered in anticipation.

"Once we have a place I'm not leaving your bed for days." He growled, his hips ground against her before he could think better of it. Obviously they wouldn't actually have days, but it didn't hurt to dream.

"Mm, promises, promises." She settled down against his chest to snuggle him. He hadn't taken his jeans off, but he couldn't bring himself to move her. They fell asleep tangled together just like that.

"Hey, I made, Nick? Hey, I thought you were working things out with Juliet. Oh, and breakfast is ready." He took a moment to stare at them in shock, his eyes flicked down to the fact that Nick still had his jeans on, so at least he wouldn't worry they'd had sex in his bed.

"I left her. She didn't take it well. She also hasn't been paying our bills, which is going to make getting a new place more complicated." Nick yawned, it was only Wednesday, but he really needed things sorted out.

"Oh, I can fix that." She offered, Nick quirked a brow at her, she rose one back. "As a lawyer, not as a hexenbiest you big baby. I can remove your name from the forms so it won't effect your credit" She explained, he nodded while Monroe watched there interaction with fascination. He hadn't really thought about their silent communication being odd before they were observed doing it.

"Well Rosalie, and I can watch the kiddos for the day if you want. I work from home, and I've got toys from when I was a kid they could play with." Monroe offered, he didn't understand what was happening between them, but he was there to support Nick.

"Thank you, that would be very helpful. Diana is learning German, and reading books in German is currently her favorite activity." Adalind smiled over at Diana who was still happily curled up in her bed.

"Ich spreche fließend Deutsch! Ich helfe ihr gerne!" Monroe beamed, Nick blinked at him in confusion, and turned to Adalind.

"I'm sure she'd love to practice with someone fluent in German. At some point Nick should probably learn too." She pat him on the back, which made Nick roll his eyes at them while he got up.

"It is a pretty big part of the grimm histories. Rosalie speaks it too, so it would be easy to practice." Monroe said, Nick looked up from tying his shoe to make a face at him.

"That's what I have you for. Now I'll get Diana up while you you feed Kelly." Nick leaned over the crib to kiss his son on the top of the head. He immediately started to cry until he passed him over to Adalind. The poor kid was not a morning person. Nick was just glad he'd occasionally sleep through the night.

Monroe left them to get ready, and Nick went over to wake up Diana. She rolled over to curl around her doll, and try to hide under her blanket.

"Come on sweet pea, Monroe made breakfast, and he offered to help you with your German. He has a ton of old books in German." Nick whispered. Diana shot up like he'd offered her a million dollars.

"Really!" She grabbed his arm, and Nick could help but laugh.

"Yeah kiddo, but first you have to brush your teeth. Come on, I don't think Monroe has a stool so I'll have to hold you up." Nick took her to the bathroom. He had perfected a system where she could sit on his knee to brush her teeth while he got his own before he found her a stool.

Breakfast was nice, he'd missed his friends. He should call Hank, and Wu at some point. Reward would probably let them know he was back, but he wanted to have a place to stay first, and know exactly what to tell them. Monroe pulled him aside while Adalind was getting Diana cleaned up. She still didn't quite understand how to eat syrup without making a mess. Rosalie had Kelly, but she still looked uncomfortable with Adalind.

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I mean you and Juliet, you were the real deal, and I don't know what's going on between you and Adalind, but just because you have a kid doesn't mean you should break off things with Juliet." Monroe whispered, Nick pulled his focus from where Addy had Diana sitting on the counter so she could wipe off her face.

"We weren't though. Before I became a Grimm she hated that I was a cop. She used to talk about me moving out of homicide all the time. We fought about it a lot when we first moved in together. Then I became a Grimm, and I knew she'd hate that too. That's why I never told her. I didn't trust her to support me, and she didn't.

"She hated that I was a Grimm, and she tried to be okay with it because I couldn't change it, but she was so happy when I lost my powers. I lost a part of myself, and she wanted to celebrate. She only helped me get it back because I was miserable, and she was afraid I'd die without it. Then she became part of this world, and she cheated on me. I've been fighting to keep us together for years, and I don't want to fight anymore." Nick told him, Monroe's face fell with every added problem he explained.

"I didn't know it was that bad. I mean I knew she struggled with all this, but I thought you were happy." He looked back at Adalind, and Rosalie. He had no idea what he would do without Rosalie, maybe Juliet really wasn't that for Nick.

"I thought I was until..." Nick's gaze flicked to his family. "I forced myself to stay because I thought that's what relationships were. They were a fight, they were hard, but with Addy. I never cheated on Juliet on purpose, but I think I realized it wasn't love when I spent time with them. When I got a glimpse of what it could feel like. I have no idea why, but she loves me, and I don't want to mess that up. I'm not going to rush into this." Nick whispered, Monroe nodded, he completely understood how that felt, and maybe Adalind really did love him.

"Look, dude, I'm happy for you, I don't get it, but whatever makes you happy is good as far as I'm concerned." Monroe shrugged, Nick chuckled, and clapped him on the back.

"Thanks man. Now I just have to tell Hank." Monroe laughed while they walked back into the kitchen.

"So I figured we could split up, you check your finances, and start looking at places while I deal with your legal entanglement. Do I have your permission to forge your signature here, because that will make it a lot faster?" Adalind set Daina down, who immediately ran over to Monroe's book shelves.

"As long as everything is legal." Nick frowned, Adalind rolled her eyes while she picked Kelly up. They both went towards the bathroom to change him while Adalind burped him over her shoulder.

"Of course, I'm a good lawyer Nick. Have a little faith." Nick held Kelly while she cleaned him up, and wrapped a new diaper on him.

"I am aware. I also know you skirt the law when you need to, and don't pretend you don't." He leveled her with a skeptical look.

"Okay, yes, we do like to play with the lines, but we never step over them. Like you've never had to do the same as a Grimm that's also a cop." She scoffed, Nick handed Kelly off to Rosalie, and offered them a wave goodbye. Diana already too engrossed in a book to care that they were going.

"Fine, I'll admit we push it because I can't exactly report that a guy is controlling peoples minds with frogs, or a man burned alive because of a dragon. I don't begrudge you doing the same, I just don't want my name on that sort of stuff if I can help it." He held the door open for her, and she slid into his car.

"Fine, that's fair. Everything will be above board. Are you happy?" She poked her tongue out at him, and Nick leaned over to steal a kiss.

"Ecstatic." He teased before he pulled onto the road. Adalind sank back into her seat with a little smile, and a blush that crept up her cheeks.

"I want to take you on a proper date for lunch." Nick reached over to lace his fingers with hers while they drove.

"What counts as a proper date to a Grimm?" She wrapped her other hand around his to draw idle patterns across his skin.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I haven't been on a date since well before I was a Grimm. Maybe buy you lunch, and take you on a walk through the park to get ice cream after, coffee flavored of course. Or we could get lunch, and eat at the trailer so you can nerd out over all the books. Don't think I haven't noticed where Diana gets her zest for learning." Nick flashed her a smile, Adalind hid her blush in her hand.

"I actually have always wanted to see the trailer." Adalind whispered, Nick broke into an absolutely stunning grin that crinkled the corner of his eyes.

"Good, we can have lunch at the trailer. Nobody ever wants to spend time there except Monroe, and I ave so much more I want to read through." Nick dropped Adalind off at her old office so she could sort out his papers, and potentially get her job back. She didn't want to mooch off Nick forever.

Nick looked at houses, and apartments all morning, and only found one that felt safe enough to move his family into. He figured he would take Adalind there after their date to see if she liked it too. He went, and ordered an enormous amount of sushi on variety trays before he went to pick her up. It was the only take away thing he knew for sure she liked.

"Hey, good news. You no longer own a house, and you got compensation from the bank for their error. Am I a good lawyer or what? Speaking of, I got my job back, I'm even allowed to bring Kelly with me until he's old enough to stay at daycare. Any luck looking for a place?" Adalind slid into the car with a huge file of paperwork that she set neatly by her feet.

"You are amazing, I thought it would take weeks at best. I never doubted for a second that they'd give you the job back, you're their best lawyer. I on the other hand only found one that's promising, I figured we could go look at it after lunch. They gave me the code, perks of having a badge." He tapped on the badge he'd retrieved from the precinct when he stopped in to see Hank, and Wu.

"I can't wait. It's good to see you look so much like yourself again. Your eyes especially. Not that I didn't love the pale look, but this suits you better." Adalind reached up to brush her thumb over his cheek, his stubble caught her soft skin, and made her smile. She'd been helping him shave, and he found he might actually miss the quiet intimacy of that.

"I might even get a tan." He caught her hand before she could pull away, and pressed a kiss to the inside of her wrist.

"Now that would be weird." She teased, but left her fingers interlaced with his. They pulled up to the little air stream trailer where Nick happily parked until he spotted Juliet's vehicle parked on the other side.

"This is it?" Adalind reached for her seatbelt, but Nick held his free hand up.

"Wait here." He slipped out, and put his hand on his side arm as he breached the trailer. When the door opened she turned with a gas can in her hands.

Chapter Text

"Nick! You're just in time for the show." She splashed gas across the floor. Nick lunged forward, and snatched the can from her.

"What the hell are you doing, this stuff is priceless!?" He threw the can out the door so she couldn't get it back from him.

"What am I doing? You left! You abandoned me while my whole world changed, and I did everything to find you only to have you abandon me again when I finally got you back! You took everything from me, now I'm just returning the favor!" She threw him out after the gas can with her power. Before he could hit the ground an opposing force stopped him.

"Nick!" Adalind did not wait in the car. She'd gotten out as soon as the can came into view, and now Juliet glared daggers at her.

"You! You did this to me! We were happy, and you ruined everything!" She snarled, and used her powers to toss gravel at her fast enough to kill. Adalind scoffed, her hand came up, and redirected the force. As if she hadn't fought hexenbiest stronger than her a million times. She had lived most her life with her mother.

"Please, you did that all by yourself. You didn't trust him, that's how I was able to curse you, then you pushed him away so hard that I could just slip right in and curse him, then you listened to Renard. A mistake we've all made, but still. You could have stopped me at literally any time by having a healthy relationship." Adalind used her power to yank Juliet from the door of the trailer, and away from the precious artifacts.

"You bitch! He should have killed you!" Juliet threw herself at Adalind, her hand curled into claws as she woged.

"Juliet! Stop! What is wrong with you?" Nick intercepted her, and Adalind couldn't help the triumphant smile it brought.

"You brought her here! Why did you bring her here? Are you cheating on me again?" She clawed at Nick's skin while he pushed her back.

"We broke up Juliet, and I never cheated on you. I was taken advantage of. Which you know. You need to leave." Nick put himself between them, her jaw cracked open, and she threw him against the trailer.

"You bastard! You left me for her! Her!" Juliet screeched, but Nick hardly heard her, when his head slammed against the metal siding his whole world started to spin, and his ears rang. When he shook it off he found Adalind fully woged, with Juliet pinned to her car with her hands wrenched up behind her back.

"You can blame me for every little hang up in your life bitch, but if you ever touch him again I will skin you alive. The hex takes days. Just because you have a taste of power don't think for a second that you know how to use it." Adalind snarled, her jaw cracked loudly in her ear, and Nick had never been so aroused.

"I guess we're even, since the man you love is in my bed already. Tell me, did Renard promise you his heart if you were a good little whore?" Juliet struggled in her hold, Adalind shoved away from her.

"You have one chance to leave in one piece." Adalind hissed, Juliet laughed as if she'd won, and got in her car to drive away. As soon as she took off Adalind ran over to him.

"Are you okay?" She grabbed his face to check if he'd started to bleed. Nick pulled her down, and kissed her hard.

"I'm fine, no concussion, I promise. I have no idea what's gotten into her." He whispered with his head rested against hers. She shifted to help him to his feet.

"She's a hexenbiest with no idea how to deal with her heightened emotions, and urges. She'll settle down eventually, but right now every slight is the ultimate betrayal, and well you did leave her. You should probably move this." She slid her hand up his arm, and he used it to move them inside with a gentle touch to the small of her back.

"Good to know. Did you still want to eat here?" Adalind paused just inside the threshold, her eyes wide as she scanned the contents.

"Are you kidding? Of course I do! Look at all this!" She went straight for the alchemical section, and picked up a bottle.

"Do you have any idea how rare this stuff is? Oh, wow, and this! You can only harvest this from the freshly burned corpse of a virgin! How did your ancestors even get a hold of it?" She was lost in the wonder of it all, so Nick went and got the food out of the cooler bags, and set it up on the table.

They spent hours talking, it turned out Adalind knew more about his aunt's trailer than even his mother ever did. She also loved to hear his stories, and what history he did have. It felt new, and amazing to share this with someone who understood the rituals, and concoctions even Monroe had no inside on. Not to mention her insight on wesen from a legal standpoint.

"Okay, when did it get dark?" Adalind looked up at the window, it was winter, which meant it wasn't terribly late, but still it had been nearly five hours.

"We should go look at that house so we can get back." Nick sighed, he didn't want to leave their little haven, but they needed to move the trailer, and see the house in the next three hours before Diana's bed time.

"You know, there is a bed in here, and we don't have to go right away." Adalind licked her lips. Nick's eyes darted to the glorified cot in the corner, he'd spent his share of time passed out on it, but it wasn't exactly luxurious.

"You don't want something nicer?" He shifted closer, his hand already on her hip. Adalind grabbed his collar, and yanked him closer.

"If you don't touch me soon I'm liable to jump you around your friends Nick." She closed the last of the distance between them, and kissed him hard. She knew exactly what to do to get him going.

Nick growled against her lips, a hold of sound from his curse, and lifted her off the ground. She squealed in delight against his lips, and wrapped her legs around him. He walked them over to the bed, and lowered her slowly onto it without breaking the kiss. The trailer smelled of gasoline, and old books, but nothing could detract from the heady scent of sex, and desire between them. Nick moved his hand up her shirt to brush his thumb over her nipple.

She gasped, and arched up into him. Nick pulled away just long enough to rip his shirt over his head. Adalind scrambled to do the same with her many layers. Laid bare before him Nick had never seen anything more gorgeous. He dropped down to taste her. He licked a stripe across her collar bone, nipping down to lavish her breasts with the attention they deserved.

"Nick! Wait, I'm still..." She gasped as he sucked her nipple into his mouth. The sweet taste of her a delightful surprise. Knowing he'd been the one to change her body like this sent a thrill through him.

"Nick! Please!" She gasped, arching up into his touch. He dipped his hand down to give her the friction she needed, not quite ready to move on from the sweet little mewls of pleasure his tongue evoked.

He groaned, working two fingers into her wet heat, while his thumb slowly stoked that heat. She writhed beneath him, raking her nails down his back. He finally kissed down to the soft swell of her stomach. She had given him everything, a family, a son, the love he'd been so desperate for. He fell still, pressing a gentle kiss to either side it. Adalind watched him, reaching up to run her hand through his hair.

When he moved down her body to slde her slacks off, he buried his face between her thighs. He wanted to worship her like she deserved. He couldn't put his feelings into words but he wanted to show her. He wanted her to know with every curl of his fingers, and flick of his tongue that this was it for him. He'd lost himself to her, and nothing could ever change that.

She thrust up into his mouth, a string of nonsensical noises escaped her that may have been his name as she fell over the precipice. Her hands fisted in his hair, and the rough tug made his cock jump against his stomach.

"God, you are gorgeous!" He smirked when her thighs finally released him from their grasp. When he lingered she lost her patience. She toppled him on to his back, and climbed over him. She was still conscious of the extra weight to her curves, and the softness of her belly, but the way Nick looked at her, hungry, and desperate for more face her a confidence she'd forgotten she possessed.

He leaned up, moving his hands over the swell of her hips as she slid down on his hard length. He groaned, collapsing back to watch her ride him. Her hips rolled against him, with her hands on his legs. It gave him the perfect view of her breasts as they bounced with each thrust.

"Adalind!" He growled, sitting up to capture her peaks. She gasped picking up the pace to chase her climax. The change in angle just what she needed to find that ecstasy a second time.

"Nick! Oh God Nick!" She clenched around him, her hips stuttering. He groaned, rolling her to her back to work her through it. Her shaking legs wrapped around him, pulling him closer, he spilled inside her, collapsing in a tangle of limbs. She curled up against him, tucking her hands under her head. It would have been easy for them to drift off, but they still had things to do.

"You are definitely worth the wait." Adalind mumbled against his flushed skin. He groaned his agreement, not quite ready to form words with so little blood in his brain.

"We should get up if we want to see that house." Adalind whispered as she drew idle patterns over Nicks chest. He hadn't even made it all the way out of his pants, they were shoved down his hips, not even to his thighs.

"You are gonna be the death of me woman." He mumbled, and arched his hips up so he could tuck himself back into his boxers, and zip his pants.

"Please, did my underwear even survive your vigor?" She looked around for her clothes, she hadn't exactly been dressed in her sexy lingerie, she was still lactating for Christ sake, but it hadn't deterred him.

"Next time I'll be gentle." He teased, she scoffed, and grabbed him by the back of the head for a rough kiss.

"I like it rough. You don't have to restrain yourself with me Nick." The unspoken, like you did with her hung between them.

"I'll try to remember that." He lifted her into his lap, and she yelped in surprise. He kissed her neck, his teeth sank into the soft hollow of her neck to mark her.

"Nick! You keep that up, and we'll never get out of here." She gasped, her limbs heavy against him. She could feel the strength in his touch, the lethality of his hands, and the care with which he used it.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He smirked, and stood with ease while she was still on top of him.

"Tease." She dropped her feet down to look for her shoes, which had come off long before the sex. They hooked the trailer to his car before they left, and drove it to the warehouse district, which didn't seem like a great place for a house to Adalind.

"It's nicer than it looks." He promised, she raised a skeptical eyebrow at him as she followed him inside. The garage was big, and it did have an elevator which was nice. Inside was sparse, but not too bad. The kitchen was nice, and open. The big problem was that there was only one bedroom, and one bathroom.

"Nick." She frowned, he held his hand up to stop her complaint.

"I know it's small, but I figure we could build out over the garage, we don't need it that tall, and add a bedroom and a bathroom over there. It's safe here, and we could make it nice." He tried his best to pitch it. Adalind went over to him, and took both his hands.

"Nick, it's nice, and if it were just you and me I'd love it. Even if we only had Kelly, but we can't make Diana sleep in the dining room. Not to mention, even if we build an extra room we're still one short." She whispered, he sighed, and laid his head against hers.

"I know, but it's the only one that felt safe. You have no idea how many times we got attacked in my house. I mean you just walked in." Nick squeezed her hands just this side of painful. She tipped up to kiss him.

"How about this, I know a guy that does high profile realistate, let's look at what he has tomorrow, and if we don't find anything up to your standards we can draw up plans to turn this into what we need. How does that sound?" She looked up at him with her beautiful blue eyes filled with understanding.

"How did I ever get so lucky?" Nick whispered, he would never understand how she could love him after everything he'd put her through.

"Well, I don't know if you know this, but even when we were mortal enemies, you respected me, and you treated me with a kindness that made no sense at the time. I gave you every opportunity to be a monster, and even zombified, you never were. How could I not love you?" She winked, Nick put some serious thought into taking her again in this kitchen. Lucky for the actual owners, Adalind pulled him back into the elevator so they could go back to their kids.

"Daddy! I got to read about Grimms like you! Do you really cut heads off with a big sword?" She tugged at his sleeve until he swooped her up into his arms.

"I've never used a sword, but I do stop bad guys, and sometimes that means I can't let them live. I'd never hurt anyone who wasn't a really bad person." Nick assured her, Diana giggled, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I know." She rolled her eyes. Monroe stood behind her with Kelly cradled against his chest, and a smile on his lips.

"She's just as smart as her mother, it's been a lot of fun." Monroe handed Kelly off to Adalind, as soon as he did Diana started to wiggle in his arms.

"Mommy!" She reached out for her, Adalind shifted closer so she could kiss the top of her head without Nick setting her down.

"I think it's about time for your bath. I'm gonna set this little guy down to sleep, and get her cleaned up." Adalind turned her smile on Nick, and he ducked down to steal a kiss just because he could.

"You want a hand?" He asked, but she shook her head, so Nick set Diana down so she could follow her mother.

"So you guys are really doing this? I mean, not that I'm not happy for you, it's just... She did a lot of damage. I mean she tried to kill you." Monroe whispered once she'd left the room. Nick scoffed, and followed him into the kitchen to grab a beer.

"It's not like I didn't do the same thing. We both made dumb mistakes. I should have just talked to her at the beginning. If we can forgive each other, I don't think it should be a problem for you guys." Nick nodded his greeting to Rosalie as she came in the door, the Spice Shop must have closed early.

"I know, and we absolutely will, as long as you know for sure that this isn't a hex." Monroe hooked his arm around Rosalie, and paused to kiss her in a silent greeting. She smiled up at him briefly, but turned her concerned gaze on Nick.

"He's right. She had almost eight months to mess with your head. We just want to be sure." Rosalie reached out to touch his arm, an attempt at gentle reassurance. Nick frowned, because it wasn't an unprecedented concern, but it irked him that they could think that about her.

"Adalind didn't do anything to me, except keep me out of the clutches of the royals. If you need to do tests to confirm it go ahead, but I'm not hexed. Why would you... Juliet." Nick pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course she hadn't just let it go.

"She stopped by the Spice Shop, she looked rough, and she said Adalind did it to her. She was just worried for you." Rosalie looked sheepish at least. Nick sighed, and took a long draw from his beer.

"Adalind did do it. She didn't tell you why though did she?" Nick paused to look between them.
"She was at the trailer, which is why it's out front. She had a can of gasoline, and if we hadn't stopped by for lunch she would have burned it to the ground. When I tried to stop her she threw me out forcefully. Then she attacked Adalind, and when I got in the way she slammed me into the trailer hard enough to nearly knock me out."

"What? How could she do that?" Rosalie gasped, her hand over her mouth. Monroe tightened his arm around her.

"Does she know about Kelly?" Monroe looked back towards where the stairs would be.

"No, and I'd like to keep it that way. She's not used to being a hexenbiest, Adalind thinks she'll level out, but I'm not taking any unnecessary risks." Nick explained, they nodded, and silence wrapped around them for a moment.

"If it's okay with you, I'd still like to do some tests, not just to make sure you aren't hexed, but also to see how the poison trance effected you, especially with the cure being delivered so spread out like it was." Rosalie softened her tone, no longer an accusation against Adalind so much as simple concern for his well-being.

"What do you need?" Nick spent the next half an hour being poked and prodded while Adalind tucked Diana in. He just hoped it helped them be less withheld around Adalind. He wanted them to get along.

When he climbed into bed beside Adalind she rolled happily onto his chest. In the morning they met with a Furis Rubian, who was apparently Adalind's realtor. The man blinked in surprise when he woged, and spotted Nick's Grimm nature.

"What an unexpected pleasure. No wonder you've co.e to me. I hear you're looking for someplace safe to live. I have a few options, some are better than others. Why don't we start with the ones closest to where the two of you work." He smiled, and pulled out a number of listings from a folder.

"This one is in a gated community, which is lovely, but may not be fond of the idea of a Grimm in their midst. I fear it would defeat the purpose of your relocation." He handed the paper to Adalind, the house looked nice, with high walls around the yard, but the community was all wesen.

"Probably not a good idea." Adalind set the paper aside without even handing it to Nick. The realtor smiled, and flipped to the next one.

"This one is the penthouse condo. Beautiful views, and very difficult to breach, however it also lacks secondary exits. There's an elevator that goes directly into the home, and an emergency stair well, however it it on the fifteenth story. Quite the jog." This time Adalind held the paper out to him. Nick looked it over, and shook his head. He didn't like the idea of being trapped.

"Alright, well they start to get a little further out of town from here. This one is close to the highway, and has the benefit of a little extra space. It might not look like much, but it has a panic room, and an underground exit that comes up in the back shed." Nick liked the way this one looked. It had almost four acres, and a second road to the back of the property that would be perfect for the trailer.

"I would view this one." Nick set it aside so it didn't go into the no pile.

"Excellent. Now this one is similar, a bit fancier, and quite a bit further out. It does have a pool however. There is a small graveyard behind the property with a black dog that protects the property as well. You'd have to visit it before you moved in, but once it knows you it's a loyal spirit of protection." He offered, Nick didn't know how he felt about a supernatural guardian being on his property.

"We could see it." He set it in the pile, he wouldn't make a decision until he'd seen the thing. Adalind grabbed it back, and put it in the no pile.

"Black dogs don't like hexenbiest. I don't want Diana around one." She told him, Nick nodded, he never would have known that.

"Apologies, I didn't realize you would both be moving into the home." He shuffled through his pile, and moved two more out of it.

"These two are the last suitable homes. A tad far out, but if you're willing to commute their isolation makes them the safest options." Nick looked them both over, they were nice, and still inside his budget, but it would be close to an hour of driving to get to work, and with his odd hours that could get complicated.

In the end they went to see all three of them. The house closer to town would still be a twenty minute drive, and it could use a little work. The house further out really was a better deal, but something about the first one just felt right.

"Well? Are we getting the one in the warehouse district?" Adalind asked while they ate their lunch in a little diner near the edge of town.

"I don't know. I like the first one, but I want to see if Bud is willing to have a look at it. I don't want to take on something we can't handle. It definitely needs a new roof, and I don't like the flooring in the living room, it didn't seem safe." Nick didn't exactly have a huge budget, he hadn't factored in Adalind's income, since he had no idea what it was.

"I can't imagine it would cost more to fix up then it would to add another room, and bathroom into the other one. It would be nice to have a yard, I could have an herb garden." She stared off at the middle distance for a moment before she shook her head. That did it. If she wanted a yard, than they needed a yard.

"I'll call him." They decided to drop Adalind off with the kids while Nick went back out with Monroe, and Bud.

"Oh, wow! Look at this! There is some real historical value in this house." Monroe ran his hand over the banister, that was carved into a beautiful pattern of vines with intricate flowers, and leaves in it.

"He's right! I mean look at this! It's, I mean, there are definitely some issues. The doors stick and that could be a bigger problem with the foundation, or just that they're old, not, I mean, they're beautiful, just you know, as wood ages it can swell. We could sand it down, and seal it properly. Oh boy, it could be really great! The roof doesn't have any leaks or anything, not yet. You'll have to replace it of course, but it hasn't done any damage to the structure. We..." Nick held his hand up to stop Bud's rant.

"Is it worth buying?" He redirected, Bud opened, and closed his mouth a few times before he could find words.

"Oh boy, is it ever. You could increase the value of this house easy. I mean, I still want to take a look at the foundation, but I'd say definitely yes." Bud wandered off to do just tjhat, and Monroe looked over at him to share a laugh.

"I bet Diana would love to have her own room. We could put a bookshelf all the way across this wall, and my uncle Felix is an antiquarian bookseller, I bet he could get loads of interesting books to help fill them up." Monroe ran his hand along the wall of one of the four bedrooms. Nick leaned against the door with a smile.

"Yeah. I think she'd like that." He could picture them all here, he had to wonder what Kelly would grow up to like. Would he know half a dozen languages, and love to read like his mother, or would he rather run around the yard with a stick to play fight? He couldn't wait to find out. He sent an email to Adalind's realtor to get the paperwork started.

It would take a month at best to close on the house, but the owner okayed them to start moving in at the end of the next week. He went with Hank, Wu, and Monroe to try and retrieve some of his things from the house. Renard kept Juliet busy, which was something Nick was actively not thinking about.

They loaded up a rented truck, and met Adalind at her storage unit to retrieve her stuff. They had more than he expected between them. They pulled up the long driveway. Nick would have to change the code once he had the deed, but the large metal gate would definitely help keep people out.

"Who are all these people?" Nick stopped the truck behind half a dozen others. There were ladders, and people on his roof. A dumpster was in his yard, and people were in and out of the house.

"Is that Bud?" Adalind pointed him out, she'd only met him once, but Bud was kind as always. His wife Phoebe had given them almost every baby related item ever made when he introduced them to Kelly.

"Are they fixing our roof?" Nick slid out of the truck, confused, but not necessarily upset about it. Bud always was like this.

"Nick, Adalind! You're early! Oh, hi Hank, Wu. Good to see you guys!" Bud waved at them with a big grin.

"Not that early. What are you guys doing in our house?" Nick watched as the people on the roof started to hand tools down.

"Oh, well, you see, after I came out here, and then you introduced us to your little baby Kelly, my wife was worried, because, well you know. She wanted him to have a safe place to live, and if the roof leaked, or one of those doors stuck at the wrong time. Well it's just not safe you know.

"So me, and some of the guys thought maybe we could help out, and then a few of the wives thought, maybe it would be nice for you folks to have a few meals ready, what with all the work of moving in and all. So we thought, since we didn't get to throw you a baby shower, not that we wouldn't have, for such a sweet baby like Kelly, of course we would have, but since we didn't, we thought we could do this instead." Bud gestured, which is when Nick realized the entire roof had been replaced.

"Did you fix everything in our house?" Adalind looked around in shock while she bounced Kelly gently.

"No, I mean, not everything. We would have though, but you were early. Not that we won't finish, I mean..." Nick stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Bud jumped, and looked over at him with wide eyes.

"Thanks Bud." They moved some trucks, and started to unpack. Adalind was relegated to directing the eight eisbiber who unload the boxes, while Nick had to be shown each improvement. They'd made them an entire dining room table with little beavers carved into the sides. It was full of food too, snacks, and sandwiches mostly, which people would snag on their way by.

Wu, and Hank were pulled into the kitchen to taste test everything. Nick was pretty sure We was in heaven. Monroe went to pick up Rosalie, since they were apparently having a housewarming party. By the time supper rolled around the rooms had been cleaned, painted, and set up. It looked like they'd always lived there. Diana ran around with all the other kids, and Monroe announced that he, and Rosalie were having a baby. It was a lot.

By the time he closed the door on the last guest Diana, and Kelly were already put to bed, and the whole house was spotless. Nick turned, and found Adalind with a stack of hand made quilts in her hands.

"You have interesting friends." She laughed, Nick took the blankets, and set them on the hand made boot rack that doubled as a bench.

"I am so sorry, they're good people, but they can be a bit overwhelming." Nick pulled her into his chest to kiss her hair.

"Are you kidding? I love them. I have an entire box of family recipes on note cards now, because they all had half a dozen that every mom should know. I wish my family had loved each other even half as much as those women I hardly know seem to love me." Adalind moved them to the puffy hand me down couch that sucked them in when they sat down. It had yet another quilt over the back.

"Don't tell them that, they'll be here every day. Honestly, I don't know what I would do without them. They've saved my butt more than once." Nick let her lean into him so he could wrap his arms around her. They drifted into silence, and he worried they'd fall asleep right there.

"Look at this place." She whispered, he nodded, he'd been thinking the same thing all day. They'd really done an amazing job.

"They do good work." He mumbled into her hair, she shifted back to look at him, and shake her head.

"No. Well, yeah, they do, but that's not what I meant. This, all this love, and care. Even if we're just starting, we're a family, living together. This is a home. I've never had anything like this before." She blinked back tears. Nick pulled her into a soft, languid kiss.

"I love you." Nick breathed the words against her lips, but once they were said he couldn't understand why he ever waited.

"Make love to me." Her lips ghosted across the shell of his ear as she spoke. He growled, and flipped them over on the couch. He made swift work of divesting her of her clothes, eager to touch her bare beneath him.

"Nick!" She whimpered when he buried his face between her thighs. His rough stubble a stark contrast to his eager tongue. He hooked two fingers inside her, moaning when she clawed at his shoulders, her thighs quivering. She bit the meat of her palm to keep from crying out when he forced her over the edge.

"You taste so damn good!" He groaned, finally moving to kiss her again. She opened her mouth to him, eager to taste herself on his lips.

"Please Nick, I need you!" She wrapped her legs around his waist, grinding against his length, still frustratingly covered by his jeans. He took the time to suck deep purple marks into her skin from her jaw to her breasts while he kicked off his pants.

"I love you Addy." He seared the words into her lips, as he sheathed himself to the hilt within her. She dug her nails into his back, and he pulled her head back with her hair to run his tongue along her jaw. He worked into her hard, he didn't have to hold back the way he always had since he became a Grimm.

Every stroke, every bite, or pull of her hair was met by her, she marked his neck, and shoulders, scratching down his back. Wild, and passionate he professed his love for her over and over again.

"Nick! Oh God! Nick! Yes! I love you! I love you so much! Please!" She writhed under him, her orgasm pulled him down over the edge. He came inside her, collapsing in a tangle of sweaty limbs.

"I love you." The words tumbled from his lips like they would never stop. When he pulled the quilt down to cover them, and let himself relax, his head pillow ed on her breasts, he thought that was probably true. A love like this... It was forever.