A.N.: I love our Nick Burkhardt, but I am curious how the story would've gone if he had been a her, but the others stay the same – with the exception of Adalind, who becomes Adam. So the story shifts quite dramatically even just without Adalind.

And with Nicolette, she's sexy and quirky but tough as nails – think Lorelei Gilmore meets Sam Winchester, with an inherent love of Disney, doughnuts, Jurassic Park, 1970s music, not a great cook but an amazing baker, a sexy, sweet, athletic, less tempestuous Lorelei who is an amazing cop and detective – goofy marshmallow on the outside, strong as adamantium on the inside. Professional, and goes above and beyond to help people; a deeply loyal friend, a fun, sexy girlfriend, your worst nightmare as an enemy. Her looks are modelled a little off Lily Collins – that intense natural prettiness.


Fantastic Beasts and How to Fight Them

Prologue


"So this…all of this is real."

"Real as us standing here."

"Guess I was still half-hoping you'd yell April Fool's or something," Hank sighed heavily, shaking his head, carefully turning the fragile pages of an old-looking book covered in ink sketches and paragraphs in foreign languages, annotations, drawings, anatomical and botanic sketches. He sighed, shaking his head, amazed. "Where did Nick get all of these books?"

"It's her family legacy. Some of 'em date way back, I mean, this…this is a museum of Wesen history right here," Monroe said, smiling proudly around the Airstream. On the outside it had looked normal; inside, it was a time-capsule, better suited to Sherlock Holmes' house than anything. A world forgotten; a world only Nicolette could see, knew about.

"A lot of dangerous information, in the wrong hands…" Rosalee said softly, gazing around the trailer, stocked as it was with aged manuscripts and medieval weapons, potions, tinctures, ingredients that made Rosalee gasp with surprise at their rarity. Hank knew her family were apothecaries, an outdated term and profession that had been replaced by chemists and doctors – but her clientele were those for whom human doctors could do very little. According to Monroe, it was to Rosalee and the Spice Shop that any sensible Wesen in Portland went to for medical attention. Even the not-so-sensible ones, too.

"Nicolette's different, y'know, protect the innocent, kill the evildoing Wesen – at least, the ones she can't get a conviction against in a court of law," Monroe said, and Rosalee smiled softly to herself as she secured bottles full of liquids and herbs. "Which, I gotta say, after having my childhood nightmares filled with her ancestors, it's a refreshing change of pace."

"That why you're working so hard to help her?"

"She's our friend. There are very few good Grimms – a lot of very bad Wesen," Monroe sighed, shaking his head. "Nicolette's changed the world. Ours, at least." He shot Rosalee a smile. "Portland's a different city since she realised who she is. And word's spreading."

"But, the wrong Wesen find out that she can't remember? Especially the enemies she's made…there are plenty of people who'd love to be able to get their hands on her," Rosalee said sternly, sharing a concerned look with Monroe. "Not remembering who she is will make it a lot easier, and a Grimm who isn't aware of Wesen politics could be used to cause a lot of damage by very dangerous people."

"Not to mention the fact, she'll be a lot easier to kill," Monroe said sombrely.

"She thinks she's losing it. She told me she thinks she's seeing ghosts, all over her house, all over the city, says she's missing things, like there's something important just gone," Hank sighed. "Says she can feel it in her gut, she's lost something, like a limb. She's frustrated she can't remember Charlie. And I'm not the only one who's noticed she's different. Reminds me of the Nick I got partnered with, when she first made Detective. Way before she met Charlie and he embraced all that she is." He chuckled softly; before Charlie there had been a revolving door of guys who discovered pretty quick they were intimidated by the fierce, quirky woman behind the pretty face.

"Well, that makes sense. She's had her memories of being a Grimm and of falling in love and being in love with Charlie taken from her," Rosalee said, stacking books securely inside an antique-looking cupboard. "The person we've all come to know and love, she doesn't remember being her. Everything she's learned as a Grimm has changed her."

"Falling in love with Charlie changed her," Hank said softly, with a sad smile. "I'm a cynic but I had hope for them. Such a fun couple – genuine, you know? My stomach hurt from laughing any time they were together in a room with me."

"I know what you mean. She left the cop and the Grimm at the door when she went home to Charlie," Monroe said, sighing heavily. "Everything she does, as a cop, and as a Grimm, he just…helped her escape from it for a little while. Just be herself."

"Everybody needs that," Hank said softly, shaking his head. He still couldn't believe Charlie was dead. Butchered, in his and Nicolette's home. That bright, vital guy, the other half of a double-act, cheerful, considerate and quirky like Nick herself, the surgeon-turned-super-vet who slept inside a cage with his canine patients post-surgery, treated the orphaned African pygmy hedgehog Phoebe as their baby, loved baseball and always gave Nick piggyback rides, had a cocktail or Voodoo donuts ready for her when she got home, hid an engagement ring in a Bananagrams tile-bag because that was so Nick, proposing after a dinner of bao buns and beer watching The Emperor's New Groove - gone. And worst of all, Nick couldn't remember him. Couldn't remember being in love with him. He thought that was the worst part. Charlie had been all but entirely wiped away.

Just like Adam Schade's mother's identity as a Hexenbiest. The symmetry of Nicolette's punishment for destroying Catherine Schade wasn't lost on Hank. Nick had destroyed the woman Adam Schade loved most in the world; Adam Schade had erased the person Nick loved most.

"She remembers finding him. The assault… Doesn't know why he was in her house, though. Can't remember being in love with him… The photos, his things in her house, all their friends – she's confused as hell."

"It's not surprising she thinks she's got a screw loose," Monroe tutted softly.

"Is there anything in here that might help?"

"There are things in this trailer I've never seen before, and I grew up in my parents' apothecary shop," Rosalee said. "There are some herbal teas that aid in Alzheimer's and dementia cases, but –"

"Nick's a coffee-fiend," Hank smiled slightly.

"And I finally got her off that Starbucks dark-roast bottom-of-the-beans-barrel gunge," Monroe said. "Baby steps. But – if it might help her memory, I don't think Nicolette would say no to afternoon tea."

"I'll take a look at Freddie's books and see what I can come up with," Rosalee said.

"You think Adam Schade's spell could've had any more side-effects?"

"More than a mystery coma and selective amnesia?"

"Without knowing the exact recipe of the Zaubertränke that was used on her, it'll be difficult to know the full repercussions of it," Rosalee sighed. "But, we're looking. I think the best thing we can all do for Lettie right now is just keep an eye on her. Keep each other in the loop about anything odd in her behaviour, any hint she drops about anything out of the ordinary."

"What about her saying she's seeing ghosts?" Hank asked. "Could that have something to do with the spell?"

"Well… Nicolette's a Grimm. They're still vulnerable to a Zauberbiest's spells, just like anyone else, but because she's a Grimm…her reaction to them might be a little unpredictable," Rosalee said thoughtfully. "It's reassuring Lettie's frustrated that she's forgotten something, it does seem indicative that her Grimm instincts are fighting Schade's Zaubertränke. This one seems to be more psychological, whereas Catherine's Zaubertränke that she used on you was intended to cause a deeply emotional response. We'll keep looking through the books at the Spice Shop either way."

"You and Monroe are still looking?"

"We're not gonna give up on Nicolette," Monroe said, and Rosalee smiled, nodding.

"What happens if her memory comes back?" Hank asked.

"When it comes back."

"I guess…we just, you know…stand by her side while she goes through it all," Rosalee said softly. "I can't even imagine... To get Charlie back in one way, only to realise he's gone…"

"Let's just say whatever rock Adam Schade disappeared under, he better stay the hell there," Monroe growled.

"I feel awful," Hank sighed. "Adam Schade did this to her because of me."

"Hank, this isn't your fault. What Adam Schade did has everything to do with Nicolette being a Grimm," Rosalee said fairly. "Because Lettie killed the Hexenbiest part of Adam's mother."

"Which she did to save my life," Hank sighed, shaking his head. Now that he knew what Nicolette used to remember, he realised why Nick had been so agitated by his relationship with Catherine Schade – and why he had been hit so strongly by his feelings for her. A witch's brew!

"You were a means to an end, dude," Monroe said, shaking his head, not sugar-coating it. "Catherine Schade tried to kill Nicolette's aunt, Marie, when she was in the hospital, back when Nicolette and I first met. Since Marie's dead, what Catherine did to you was totally about getting to Nicolette."

"So is it a family feud?"

"More like an interspecies war," Monroe said heavily. "Historically, Grimms committed indiscriminate slaughter – on Wesen. They were used as weapons by the seven Royal houses to keep us in line. Marie Kessler, she was one badass Grimm."

"We were raised on stories of Marie Kessler – and her sister, Kelly," Rosalee said, and Monroe shuddered. "Two sisters, two Grimms."

"Kelly?"

"Kelly Burkhardt," Rosalee said quietly.

"Nicolette's mom," Hank said softly, and Rosalee nodded.

"They're legends," Monroe said, with an excited grin. "All this stuff, I guess they inherited it from their ancestors. From other Grimms."

"This knowledge…it's precious," Rosalee said softly, gazing around the trailer. "I guess any Grimm would want to make sure it's preserved."

"So…how long has Nicolette known about all this?"

"Not long – you remember the kidnapping case when you guys arrested me?" Monroe said, glancing over, and Hank nodded slowly. "Nicolette's aunt had just arrived in town."

"I remember. First person Nick ever shot and killed," Hank said, staring at Mornoe.

"Good thing she's such a great shot. But that's her Grimm blood showing through," Monroe said, glancing at Rosalee, a small, proud smile lighting up his face. "Nicolette killed a Reaper before she even knew she was a Grimm."

"You're kidding? A Reaper, in Portland?"

"Uh-huh. Guy attacked Nicolette's aunt right outside of their house, Nicolette took him out," Monroe said, with an excited grin. "Guy should've realised he was dealing with two Grimms before attacking. Should've stalked his prey a little longer before attacking, you know?"

"Who would've ever thought there'd be two Grimms in the same city at the same time?" Rosalee said.

"How many Grimms are there?" Hank asked curiously.

"No-one knows. I'll bet there are people out there who are Grimms but don't know it. Grimms don't exactly have the greatest luck when it comes to life-expectancy," Monroe shrugged.

"Grimms are very rare," Rosalee said to Hank. They had been telling him what they could, coaxing and guiding him into the world of Wesen and Grimms – Nicolette's new world. From what he gathered, Grimms were some kind of super-warriors; Nicolette helped preserve the balance between nasty Wesen and the humans and innocent Wesen who couldn't fight back. Grimms had the rare ability to see what Wesen hid from the world; Nicolette saw the secrets of the world, and it was Monroe who had first help her decipher what they really meant.

Monroe had saved Hank's life when Stark escaped prison and targeted everyone associated with his murder-trial. If all of this was too complicated for him to believe, it was that fact that had gotten Hank to trust him, to trust that what Monroe was trying to tell him was real. That Nick was under a very real threat, and they had to look out for her.

"Especially ones like Nicolette."

"They're born, not made," Rosalee continued, with a small smile. "From our storybooks, a new Grimm comes into their potential when another Grimm in their family dies. One Grimm dies, another takes their place – it was always sort of a warning to Wesen; that we were never entirely safe, no matter how many Grimms were killed. There could always be another hiding under your bed, waiting to cut off your head while you slept."

"Yeah, and it's true – Nicolette only learned she was a Grimm when her aunt's cancer turned terminal," Monroe said. "I mean, Nicolette says she had nightmares and saw things ever since she was a little girl…but she had always chalked it up to the stress of losing her parents in a hideous car-accident. Even being a Grimm doesn't change the fact that sometimes our minds will make things up to explain away what we can't handle."

"Losing her parents so young, and on top of that seeing Wesen? I can't even imagine," Rosalee sighed, shaking her head.

Hank frowned. "Nick's been looking through recent reports… She told me she can't reconcile her notes…"

"Well, I'm not surprised. The Nicolette who wrote those notes knew she was a Grimm – and she'd be very careful about making any notes, especially on official documents, that implicate anything Wesen-related, anything she couldn't explain to a Kehrseite – a human," Rosalee said. "The Grimm Nicolette would understand what she wrote, but as Lettie can't remember being her…"

"She's getting real agitated about it – about what she can't remember. Her notes not making sense. Trying to reconcile how she solved cases based on the evidence," Hank frowned. "She's a tenacious detective, she always has been."

"That might be something in her favour. Her Grimm nature, her intuition and skills as a detective," Rosalee said thoughtfully. "The 'ghosts' she's been seeing, if they are her memories fighting back, there's a chance eventually she'll remember… I can't imagine what she's going through."

"So…we get her on some tea from the Spice Shop, and we just hope she'll come to us if she starts seeing weird Wesen stuff?" Monroe said softly.

"I guess that's all we can do," Hank sighed.

"So why're we moving the trailer? If Nick starts getting her memory back and tries to find it – won't it being gone make it seem like she's imagining everything?" Hank asked.

"It's too big a risk to just leave it where anyone can find it," Rosalee said fairly.

"And Nicolette would want to make sure this stuff is protected," Monroe said. "There's a tonne of stuff in here even I've never heard of, stuff Rosalee couldn't even stock at the Spice Shop. It's too valuable."

"If the wrong Wesen got their hands on this… It's a how-to guide in exterminating Wesen – literally," Rosalee said seriously. "We trust Lettie with this knowledge because she does good with it; but other people aren't so trustworthy. And we just have to hope Nicolette appreciates us being pragmatic about the trailer."

"Yeah, since technically she didn't actually give me permission to show it to either of you," Monroe murmured, frowning at the faded gilt script stamped onto the spine of a cracked leather book.

"She'll know you've just been doing whatever you can to help her," Rosalee smiled fondly at Monroe. "We need her to remember who she is as quickly as possible – Portland has become accustomed to having a Grimm around; if people start to realise Lettie can't remember…"

"It's not just Portland scumbags we have to worry about. After sending those two severed Hässlich heads to Europe, let's hope the Reapers don't take her up on her offer to send their best," Monroe shuddered. He and Rosalee shared a grim look; Hank stared at Monroe, his jaw slack. Monroe saw his face and grimaced guiltily. "Oh… I guess I should probably explain… Uh, it was self-defence. And technically Nicolette only killed the one Reaper – the other decapitated his partner when he was trying to kill Nicolette with a ceremonial antique scythe…so…"

"Just what in the hell else don't I know about Nick?"

Monroe paused, thinking hard. "She's afraid of jellyfish."

Rosalee laughed in surprise, glancing up from the vials and bottles with an incredulous grin on her face. "What?!"


A.N.: So, a glimpse into how things are different in this version of events. We'll only meet Nicolette's boyfriend through flashbacks, her memories returning – this story starts around the end of season one, the beginning of season two, only a little more disjointed, and it's Nicolette who was scratched by the cat – a cat her vet boyfriend brought home.