Chapter Text
When Roddy was 13 years old, he lost his father to an accident. His dad was just doing his job, catching rats when the building he was in got caught in flames and he died in it with others.
At the same age, he was adopted by a nice man. Nice guy who was decent and he looked genuinely nice too. Everything about him was just... Nice.
Nick Burkhardt was one of the lead detectives on his father's dead, the fire being caused by some rival company in hopes to slow their rivals progress. Nick saw him at the precinct and at that moment, Roddy knew he was good.
The next thing he knew, he was being adopted by Nick and he moved into a nice home in a nice street where Nick offered to make sure he had everything and at the same time, he wasn't going to replace his dad. Roddy knew that, Nick seemed to know what it meant to lose a parent and Roddy could smell him.
He smelled like a Mom would.
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"Roddy, don't forget your lunch!" Nick called out as he grabbed the paper bag that held his son's lunch and went over to the front door, Roddy waiting there. "Thanks, Dad." Roddy says as he takes the paper bag and shuffles his bag over his shoulder and opens it, placing his lunch inside. "No worries, kiddo. You want me to drive you to school?" Nick asks him and Roddy shook his head, "No thanks, Dad. I can walk." He says and walks out the door, not before he turns around and hugs Nick, the man pauses and laughs fondly, hugging his son back.
"Don't stay out late." Nick tells him and Roddy nods, he soon pulls away and pauses. "Dad, is the headache still there?" Roddy asks him and Nick sighs, "Yeah but don't worry about it, kid. I'll take some medicine before heading to the precinct." He tells him and Roddy nods, he soon walks off. Nick chuckles, he was fond of Roddy and he was glad he took the kid in because his life was a bit better and less lonely now. He began to head inside when his phone rang, he took it out immediately, "Burkhardt." He answers and it was Hank, he listened to his partner for a few minutes and nods, "I'll be there." And after a few questions, he sets off to the precinct.
"So, how's Roddy?" Hank asked him as they entered the precinct after getting coffee and breakfast sandwiches. "He's good, right now he's doing well in his music lessons and oh, he just got a perfect test score last week!" Nick tells him with a grin and Hank chuckles, "That's good to know." Hank says with smirk, seeing his partner this way made Hank feel a bit lighter. Hank had known his partner longer than anyone did in the precinct and he knew Nick had no issues being single but Hank knew his best friend didn't like being alone all the time.
It was a surprise for him when Nick decided to adopt 13 year old Roddy Geiger after his father, Ephraim Geiger passed away due to a fire. "That's great, hey you said that one time that Roddy might consider going to Von Hamlin?" Hank asks him and Nick nods, "I took a bit of research and they are offering scholarships. I know Roddy can do that with his grades and once he's certain he'll go there." Nick says with a grin and Hank nods, "That's our little violinist right there." Hank says and Nick agrees as he felt happy. They arrive to their desk and sat down for work.
Later, after school, Roddy was heading home when he paused. Deciding to take a detour, he headed off in another direction and to a nearby place.
He soon arrives and looks at the sign, it was a tea and spice shop. Mostly for Wesen and he remembered his place his father use to come here to get some medicine that were usually better for calming down rats back then. He enters and the bell above the door dinged, signaling his arrival as the shopkeeper, a Fuchscbau if he recalled, enters in. "Welcome, what can I get for you, young man?" The man asks him and Roddy approached the counter. "Do you have anything for a headache? My dad got this pretty nasty one last week and he's been taking medicine but it doesn't help much." Roddy tells him and the shopkeeper- Mr. Calvert, now that he remembers- nods. "I have just the thing." He says and walks over over to the nearby shelf or wall of shelves with a bunch of spices and herbs on it, Mr. Calvert looked through it and picked one up. "Lavender is very helpful, it calms the head and it gives a relaxing scent." Roddy listens and nods, "Anything else about your Dad?" Mr. Calvert asks him and Roddy pauses to think.
"Yeah... He's a cop and sometimes, the job gets him really stressed." Roddy adds in and soon, the shopkeeper goes back to the shelve and takes another bottle. "Chamomile can help with that. You can mix them for a tea, boil some water and pour it over in a cup, let it steep for 15 minutes. Best to give it to your dad before he goes to bed." Roddy grins and moves to take out his pocket money when Mr. Calvert stopped him, "No, go on, it's on the house for now." He says and Roddy gave him a disbelieved look.
"You're a good kid, I think your dad needs this if he works a lot." Roddy grins and takes the two bottles, thanking him and leaving the shop.
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"Roddy, you're home late." Roddy winced when he entered the house, seeing his dad by the stairs. "Sorry. I just... I just went to get something for you." Roddy admits as he approaches Nick, showing him the two bottles. "What are those for?" Nick asks him and Roddy chuckles sheepishly. "Lavender and Chamomile, I went to this old spice and tea shop to get these for you. Lavender can help with your headache and Chamomile can lessen your stress, Dad." Roddy explains and Nick looks at him, his gaze softening.
"Roddy, you didn't have to do this." Nick says and Roddy shakes his head, "I wanted to. You've been taking care of me ever since you took me in and I want to return the favor. I'll make some for you." Roddy says and places his bag by the side and rushes to the kitchen, Nick sighs and smiles a bit.
"Not before you at least eat dinner!" He calls out.
Roddy was just stepping out of school when he noticed a group of kids bullying another kid, he frowned and although he wasn't a confrontational person in nature, he had a dad who wasn't afraid of anything.
He rushes over before he could think about it. "Hey! Leave that kid alone!" He calls out angrily and the group of boys stopped, he looked at the kid they were bullying and saw he was an Eisbiber. He glanced at the guys and voluntarily woged when he saw them as some Schakals and Skalengecks.
"Shit.." He cursed softly and stepped back.
"Well ain't this interesting! It's a rat!" One of the Schakals laughed out, Roddy immediately felt his back pocket, searching for the pepper spray Nick gave him. "G-get away!" Roddy shouts and takes out the pepper spray, one of them laughed.
"Awe, is the rat gonna spray us to death?" One of them cooed mockingly and Roddy glared, before the group could take another step, they heard a growl and looked over to see a Jagerbar, big and scary.
"Back off." The Jagerback growled out and immediately, the group scurried off like well... like rats. Which Roddy a bit amused, but he dismissed that as he rushed over to the kid. "You okay?" Roddy asks him and the kid nodded before squeaking as the Jagerbar came over, woged back to show a boy around Roddy's age too.
"You guys okay?" The other boy asked and Roddy nods, "Yeah. Thanks for helping us." Roddy tells him and the Jagerbar nodded, "I'm Barry." He introduces himself and Roddy nods, "I'm Roddy." He does the same and the kid smiles, "Jared!" He says and Roddy laughs, so did Barry before he pauses when they heard his name being called out.
"I gotta go, it was nice meeting you guys." Barry says and runs off, Roddy nods and turns to Jared, "Come on, I'll help you walk home." He offers.
Later, after taking Jared home and meeting his family and telling them about his dad, Roddy came back home himself to an empty house. Nick wasn't home yet which meant he was either stuck with a case or some paperwork back at his desk. Roddy was just glad he wasn't there to ask where he went, Nick wouldn't like it if Roddy was following his habit of running into dangerous situations without thinking first.
When Roddy was 14, that's when he revealed he was a Reinigen. He knew some family's who adopted Wesen children didn't have much good experiences from the stories of the rats who still visited him told him, which Nick allowed him to keep after he found rats in his room and were playing with them, but Roddy knew Nick would be different.
So, when Nick came home early last night and they sat down for dinner, Roddy was ready.
"Dad, I.. I got something to say." Roddy says and Nick looks up, "Yeah, Roddy?" Nick asks him with a smile, "I... Please, I really want to tell you something and I.. I just want to know if you'll still see me the same way." Roddy tells him and Nick frowns, noticing his son's behavior, Nick didn't know much about kids but he knew, kids had secrets and it takes a lot for them to tell it to a parent and sometimes parents didn't understand that even if it was their kid, they should understand that their kid is still their own person.
"Roddy, are you sure you want to tell me?" He asks him softly, "Yeah, I do and I just want you to promise me that you won't think I'm different..." Roddy says, feeling his heart give out. Nick stares at him and nods.
"I understand and whatever happens, I promise I won't look at you different." He tells him. Roddy stares at him and sighs, he took a deep breath and woged.
Nick froze, watching as his son's face transformed before him into this... rat-like visage and Nick almost reached for his gun before he recalled his promise.
'No... This... This is still Roddy, he's still Roddy, who loves violins, dj music, night-walks and learning..'
Nick thought and he took a deep breath, he looks at Roddy and spoke carefully, "What... What are you?" Nick asks him softly and Roddy's face shifted back to his old one.
"I'm... well, it's a lot to explain but truth is, Wesen is what I am as a species and I am what the Wesen world calls a Reinigen." Roddy says and Nick nods, "Reinigen... What does that mean?" Nick asks him and Roddy sighs.
"Reinigen means something along the line as 'Cleaners'. From what you saw, I looked like a rat and well, my kind aren't exactly at the top of the food chain but we get by." Roddy explains and Nick nods.
Soon, the rest of the night was spent talking, telling Nick everything he knew about the Wesen world.
"Roddy! Come here!" Nick calls out as he enters the house after picking up the mail.
Roddy rushes down stairs, now 15 years old and those 2 years spent living with Nick were the best.
"Yeah! What is it, Dad?" Roddy asks him, feeling excited.
"Guess what I got." Nick says as he takes out a letter, a letter with a familiar stamp on it. "No way! Von Hamlin!" Roddy cries out and approaches Nick, who chuckled and handed it to him. Roddy grins as he takes it eagerly and glances at Nick, who nodded encouragingly and Roddy opens it, unsealing in the wax and opening the paper to read the letter inside.
After a few minutes, Roddy closes it and Nick stares at him.
"Well?" Nick asks him, "Did you get in?" He asks and Roddy turns to him, his face serious.
"No..." Roddy says and Nick's heart broke, he knew how much his son wanted to go to Von Hamlin, it was his dream and- "I got in! With a full scholarship!" Roddy finishes and Nick gave out a relieved sigh.
"Oh thank god!" Nick says and hugs his son, laughing as Roddy bounced in his arms. "Want me to call the others?" Nick asks him and Roddy nodded his head, Nick nods and heads to the kitchen, "Then go and get ready, we'll go out tonight for dinner." Nick tells him and Roddy heads upstairs to change.
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"Congratulations, Roddy!" Everyone cheered as they cheered for Roddy who flushed and scratched the back of his neck nervously.
Around him were people his dad met through him and ended up being his friends; There was of course, Uncle Hank and Uncle Wu, then there's Jared with his parents and siblings, Bud and Phoebe who were Eisbiber and have been helpful to Nick and him since he ended up saving Jared from that group, Nick was proud of him for that but he was still disappointed. Frank and Diane with their son, Barry who became his best friend real quick after getting past his Jagerbar and the fact Nick didn't care if they were Jagerbars after he found out about the Wesen world, he made sure to clarify he was still a cop and being prejudice was not cool.
Then of course there was Freddy Calvert with Nick ended up being one of his regular customers and helped him with some Geiers who were threatening to him in helping them sell some organs used as common medicine for his shop. After that, he found out that some homeless kids were being kidnapped for this and he soon rescued them, while also getting rid of the geiers and the main one who was apparently the doctor of a clinic who helped those kids. In the end, he ended up adopting the siblings, Hanson and Gracie as his own kids and Roddy got two new older siblings.
"We're so proud of you, Roddy." Diane says with a smile and Barry grins, "That's my best friend friend right here!" Barry says as he ruffles Roddy's curls and Roddy smacked his hand away. "We know you are going to do your best, honey." Phoebe tell him and Bud nods, "Yeah, I mean, you are going to do your best. After all, why wouldn't they take you in? You know your skills and you play the best songs," "Dad, you rambling." Ally, one of his kids, pipes in with a smile and Bud stops, everyone laughs and Nick pats his head.
"You'll do amazing, son. I just know it." Nick tells him and Roddy smiles in relief.
"Thanks, Dad." Roddy tells him.