Father & Daughter
By Hexenadler
"How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!"
Shakespeare
1.
The ambiance in the bedroom was unnervingly serene. Juliette stared down at her smartphone. Nick hadn't said a word.
In all of their years together, Juliette had mentioned her father only once. When their house had been egged by a couple of Wesen vandals a couple of years ago, Juliette told a story about how she and her friends would dare each other to run through the backyard of a disfigured man they thought looked like an ogre. Her Dad explained afterwards that the man was a war hero badly scarred in a war. That was the only time Juliette had ever said anything about her parents. It was strange she used to so readily talk about her grandmother, but for whatever reason, she avoided the topic of her actual mother and father completely.
Nick wondered why he had never tried to find out more about Juliette's family. He was even a little angry that the thought hadn't ever occurred to him. Maybe the life of a Grimm just distracted him from the obvious things most boyfriends would do. And after Juliette's transformation…well, he was too busy trying to balance a policeman's career with his strange, quasi-sadomasochistic relationship with Juliette to think of much else.
"Does your Dad know you've…changed?" He asked as quietly as he could manage.
Juliette shook her head. "We had a fight, a long time ago. Before you and I met. Sometimes we sent emails to each other, but…we haven't spoken in person for years. After I turned into a Hexenbiest, I stopped replying to his messages completely."
"Why?"
Juliette bared her teeth at Nick. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't exactly have a cuddly personality anymore."
"Did he say when he's coming?"
"He'll be flying in Thursday. 7:15pm. Portland International Airport." Juliette tossed aside the smartphone. Her hands were shaking. "Nick, I can't…I can't do this. I can't let him see me when I'm…"
Nick pressed a hand on her shoulder. "We'll figure something out –"
She slapped him away. "No, you'll figure something out!" She snarled. "This is your fault! My daddy has a black-hearted bitch for a daughter because of you! You're going to answer to him, not me! Not me!" Juliette stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
Nick sighed, resting his head against the pillow. When Juliette was in these moods, he knew he had to leave her be.
A few minutes passed before Nick heard Juliette sobbing behind the door. He got out of bed, and knocked.
"Juliette? Can I come in?"
She didn't answer. Nick slowly opened the door.
He was stunned by what he saw. Juliette was sitting on her knees, her head hovering over the toilet, hands clasped on the rim. She looked as if she'd been vomiting.
"Get out," she whimpered. "Get out, Grimm."
Nick closed the door and sat down on the hard tiled floor, a few feet from Juliette. He wasn't going anywhere.
Juliette dry-heaved a few more times before pulling away, collapsing against the side of the tub. Her eyes were bloodshot from the tears, but her face had quickly resumed its icy Hexenbiest demeanor.
"It was all so perfect, Nick," she muttered. "I was happy with the new me, and you accepted the new me, no matter how much I'd hurt you, and hurt you, and hurt you. It worked. Somehow, it just worked." She closed her eyes. "There's…no man in the world like my Dad, Nick. I'm fine with insulting you, and belittling you, because you can take it. But Dad…not Dad. Oh God, Nick, I…" The rest of her sentence was lost.
Nick understood. "You're scared of hurting him."
"It's not fair. I should always be in control. No one should get under my skin anymore. I'm the queen. You're all just my pawns."
Nick had developed an instinct for when to speak, and when to let Juliette unwind. This was an example of the latter.
Juliette tore off some toilet paper and wiped her nose. "He's become my weakness, Nick. Hexenbiests hate weakness. It drives them crazy, and I'm being driven crazy. I should kill him. But I can't, because he was my Dad, and he's still my Dad, and…" Juliette slammed her fist on the toilet rim. "I don't know what to do!"
"Well," Nick said firmly, "Killing him isn't an option."
Juliette glared at Nick. He stared back. It was rare for him to draw any kind of line with her, but he was drawing one now.
"Okay," Juliette said, her darkened brain scrambling for easy answers to the problem. "We don't show up at the airport. We rent out a hotel room and stay there until he leaves Portland."
"That isn't a solution. You can't hide from him forever."
"Who says I'm hiding?" Juliette retorted, the familiar Hexenbiest venom returning. "This…this fear I'm feeling right now, it'll pass. I'm not his daughter, plain and simple. As soon as he figures that out, he'll go away."
"I think he'll only figure it out if you talk to him," Nick said.
"I'm not going to – "
"Juliette, whether you like it or not, you can't avoid him. Not anymore. Maybe you'll hurt him when he sees you. But maybe you won't. Maybe you're not giving yourself enough credit."
"Well, you're just handing out one pearl of wisdom after another today, aren't you?" Her voice was a dull hiss. "It's not as if you've told your Mom I've turned into a Hexenbiest yet."
"You're right," Nick acknowledged. "But we'll tell her when we have to. Right now we've got to focus on your Dad."
Juliette curled up into a ball and was quiet. Nick couldn't get over how much she resembled an angry, pouting child.
"Fine," she mumbled. "You go to the airport. But I'm staying here."
"He's probably going to be with me when I come back," Nick said.
Juliette seemed to agonize over her next words. "Then I'll lock myself in the bedroom. Or something." She was breathing heavily. "Look, Nick…you deal with him. I just…I can't think right now. I can't."
"Juliette…"
She wasn't looking at him anymore. The conversation was over.
Nick stood and left the bathroom.
2.
A thousand thoughts were wrestling for attention inside Nick's head as he drove to the airport. He often felt that he lived in some intangible twilight world ever since he won back Juliette. Sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night, and saw she was woged in bed beside him. Nick couldn't be sure why she wasn't always able to maintain her human disguise while asleep. She hadn't been born a Hexenbiest, so maybe that was the reason.
Nick's eyes would roam over that slumbering demonic visage in the quiet darkness, and feel his heart ache with the same tenderness and warmth he had always felt for Juliette. He still loved this corpse-like thing…this monster. Whether or not it loved him back, there was no way of being certain. He had risked his job, his life, his heart, even his soul just to secure Juliette's loyalty. And now he had to go through the process all over again with her father.
Nick arrived at the arrival lounge and took a seat. He was already feeling tired from all the hundreds of scenarios he'd been running through his brain as to how he would explain everything to Juliette's Dad. Where the hell would he even begin? Would he tell him a lie? The truth? A distorted variation of the truth? How would he even begin to explain about Wesen? About Hexenbiests? Part of him was angry Juliette had left him to handle this responsibility on his own, but nor could he deny his own role in Juliette's transformation. Just as he owed her Adalind's life back at the police station, he owed her this.
Nick asked Juliette if she had a photo of her Dad around so he could recognize him as soon as he stepped into the lounge, but she waved Nick off. "You'll know him when you see him," she unhelpfully snapped, and refused to say anything else. The insecurity and panic she displayed whenever her father was mentioned was astonishing. Hexenbiests loved to think they were always in control, even if that control didn't exist.
Nick sighed and watched as passengers began filing out of baggage reclaim. Juliette had put him in a hell of a tight spot. He didn't know what her Dad looked like, and he probably didn't know what Nick looked like. The whole situation was ridiculous. If he had only worked up the courage to ask Juliette about her father before she became a Hexenbiest. Now, pushing her on any topic was a high risk situation. Never knowing when to push Juliette, and when to leave her be. Even at the beginning, he knew turning into a doormat had been a risk when he chose to stick with Juliette. But now, maybe it was time to man up. If he angered Juliette enough to kill him, well…
A tall, stocky man entered the arrival lounge. The white hair with streaks of grey suggested he was in his late 60's, or early 70's. Even fully clothed, Nick could tell he was ripped. He had the frame of a bodybuilder. Nick could only hope he looked that good when he was over the hill.
His body was built like a dinosaur's, and yet the man's face reminded Nick of a teddy bear. A wide, masculine jaw sat directly below a thick white moustache that most people these days would ridicule as a relic from a cheap '70's porno video. But in comparison to the rest of his features, his eyes were oddly soft and soulful. Tough, and cuddly at the same time.
The man spotted Nick. He strolled over, dragging a large green luggage bag behind him.
"Nick?" He asked, pointing an inquisitive finger at him.
Nick offered a hand. "Hi, Mr. Silverton."
Mr. Silverton grinned and slapped his hand into Nick's, practically crushing it. "Aw hell, drop the formalities, son. Call me George."
Nick winced. He felt as if his hand was trapped inside an alligator's mouth. This guy was a powerhouse.
George looked around the lounge. "So…Julie couldn't make it, huh?"
"Yeah. Sorry. She's a little nervous about seeing you."
George slowly nodded. His wrinkled features seemed to sag just a little more than usual. "It's been a while, all right."
Nick made a move towards George's luggage. "The car's right outside. I'll carry that – "
"No no, son," George said, the big goofy grin returning. "I got this just fine." The two men made their way across the lounge.
"You know, Julie told me in an email you were a keeper, and she wasn't lying," George said. "You look like you could be starring in your own cop show or omething'."
Nick made a friendly chuckle. "Well, thanks." This hasn't been too bad so far, he thought.
"Of course, seeing as how you're already a cop, I'd say you're halfway there," George added. They passed through the revolving doors, the cold winter winds immediately greeting them like a freezing bath.
"You've been to Portland before?" Nick asked, as they walked across the parking lot.
George's feet crunched loudly in the snow. "Yeah…once," he muttered.
"Was it about Juliette?"
"Yeah." George was quiet for a moment. "Look, son, that's one topic I want to leave alone for a while, if that's okay with you."
Nick nodded. As if he was going to pick a fight with Juliette's father just a few minutes after he got off the airplane.
"There's something I need to tell you about Juliette," Nick said, as he opened the car boot. "She's…changed."
George frowned as he dumped his luggage inside. "What do you mean?"
"It's hard to…" Be careful, Nick warned himself. "When was the last time you talked to her?"
George shrugged as he climbed into the passenger seat. "We haven't actually talked to each other for years, Nicko. A few emails every month or two. But then she stopped sending me anything back in May."
Around the time Juliette became a Hexenbiest, Nick realized. He started the ignition.
"So…'Nicko', huh?"
George grinned. "Oh, sorry, Nick. It's just this weird little tic of mine. I mangle up people's names and give them my own spin. Sometimes I don't even know I'm doing it."
"Just don't make a habit out of it," Nick said as amiably as he could.
"Sure thing." George seemed on the verge of saying something. "So, uh…you said Juliette's changed?"
Nick pulled out of the parking lot and entered the main road. "She was laid off from her job. She took it badly…really badly."
"She got fired?" George was stunned. "She never told me…"
"I'm sorry about that." Nick looked at George. "Come to think of it, I'm sorry we haven't even met each other until now. Juliette refused to talk about you, and I didn't want to push her."
George was massaging his brow. "For crying out loud, Julie…" Nick heard him grumble. He seemed a little agitated.
Nick took a deep breath. He didn't want to prod George about this, but he had to take the initiative sooner or later. "What exactly happened between you and Juliette?"
George stared dully through the window at passing cars. "We had an argument about her career choice. She said some bad stuff, I said some bad stuff…it got a little ugly." He looked tired. "I told her she wouldn't see one cent from me if she wanted to be a veterinarian. Of course, I ended up giving her some cash anyway. I just…I couldn't let my little girl down, Nick. Even if I didn't like what she was doing with her life."
"Juliette told me she put herself through vet school."
George smiled forlornly. "Did she."
Nick wasn't sure what to make of George. The guy was like a big, happy gorilla, but he seemed damaged somehow.
"So," Nick said, thinking some small talk might be a good idea, "what do you do for a living?"
"I've been in retirement for a long time," George replied with a wry little smile. "But back when I could still kick some ass, I was a firefighter. Got some ripe old scars along my backside to prove it. One day I fell through the second floor of this old tenement building. I was a little barbecued, but I made it out pretty good. Julie and her Mom, though…they got scared." He was quiet for a minute. "After that, I grabbed a gig as a personal trainer. I'm a muscle maniac, Nick. Total meathead. Once I started lifting in high school, I couldn't stop. If I ever lost my guns, I'd drop dead." He chuckled.
Nick couldn't help but feel sympathetic. "Yeah, I'm kind of the same way about being a cop."
"How do our women put up with us, Nicko?" George said, giving Nick a slap on the shoulder that almost made him jump out of his seat. Despite George's…overzealousness, Nick thought they were building up a decent conversation. Which made what he had to say next all the more unpleasant.
"Look," Nick began again, "Your daughter has…well, she's become abrasive. Maybe even a little cruel."
George was genuinely befuddled. "My Julie? You kidding me, Nick? She's got a bigger heart of gold than her Mom. Yeah, losing your job's the pits, but Julie wouldn't let that get under her skin."
Nick's hands clenched the wheel. Now this was getting painful.
"There's a long story here, and I don't know where to start," he said. "It's complicated, and ugly, and…"
"What are you on about, Nick?" Worry was creeping into George's voice.
Nick glances at George. "The truth is, I don't know how Juliette's going to react to you. But I just want you to know…if she insults you, or says something out of line…it's not her fault. It's mine."
George was silent for an excruciatingly long moment.
"Have you gotten her into drugs?" He asked, voice tense.
"No," Nick replied emphatically. "No, it's not drugs, or alcohol. I've tried to treat your daughter right from day one, George. I swear to God. I'm still trying now. But one way or another, you're going to have a lot of questions. And honestly I don't know whether I or Juliette should be the one to give you all the answers."
George looked out at the city's glimmering night lights.
"Just get me to Julie, Nick."
3.
As Nick and George walked through the front door, they both heard a soft, scuffling sound upstairs, as if something was being moved around.
George looked at the ceiling. "Is that her?"
Nick frowned. "Should be. I'll go check." He nodded towards the living room. "Go ahead and have a seat. You need a drink or anything?"
George shuffled towards the den, suddenly looking very tired. "Naw. I'm good, Nick. I just wanna see Julie."
"Working on it, George." Nick quickly ascended the stairs.
He hadn't known what to expect when he opened the bedroom door, but seeing Juliette sitting on the floor, fully woged into her ghoulish Hexenbiest features, was a shock all the same.
For a moment, all Nick could do was stand in the doorway and gape. "Juliette? What the hell are you…?" Then he saw the other three bottles scattered about the room. Oh my God, she's been drinking.
"Nick!" Juliette chirped giddily, taking a swig from a fourth bottle. "You are one handsome son of a gun, did I ever tell you that?"
Nick had to think fast. Juliette was already dangerous enough as a Hexenbiest, but a drunk Hexenbiest? That was a recipe for a truly epic disaster. Who knows what kind of damage she could do if…
"Is Daddy with you?" She blurted out, pouring down fresh booze between her lipless teeth. "Did he tell you he used to be a fireman? He loves going on about that. Drove Mom and me up the wall. Always playing the hero."
Nick hurried over and knelt beside Juliette. He yanked the bottle out of her grasp. "Juliette, you've got to sober up, fast. You can't…"
"Don't tell ME what to do!" Juliette slurred angrily. There was a vibration. The whole room seemed to shake. "You think you're my boss, Nick? I can do whatever I want. I'm…I'm a Hexurn…Haxum…Huxer…" Her teeth clacked together in frustration. "Damn stupid German names…"
Nick was frustrated out of his mind. "Why are you getting drunk now, of all possible times?"
Juliette stared at the floor, the exposed muscles around her mouth twisting into something resembling a scowl. "Scared, Nick. I'm scared. I almost left. But I couldn't. I want to see him, and I don't. I'm being torn apart. Had to…relax a little." Her rotting hands fumbled along the floor. "Hey, you want some? I got another bottle somewhere…"
Nick grasped her face between his hands. "Juliette, listen to me. Any other day, I would have put up with this. But not now. Your Dad's right downstairs. Whatever the Hexenbiest inside your head is telling you to do, you've got to lock her away. If you can't do it for me, then do it for him."
Juliette made a shrill kind of laugh. "I can't lock her away, Nick. She's me. Just like you're you. And Dad's…Dad." She burped. "Sorry, what were we talking about? Little hard to think straight…"
Realizing he wasn't getting anywhere, Nick put one of Juliette's arms around his shoulder and lifted her up. He helped Juliette lurch into the bathroom, and lowered her into the bathtub.
Nick grasped the faucet handle. "Juliette, I'm sorry. I've got to do this."
Juliette swayed in the tub. "Got to do what…?"
Nick twisted the faucet. Juliette was immediately sprayed with droplets as the shower began. She let out a yelp of surprise. A few objects on the bathroom counter were shoved off by an invisible force, clattering to the floor. Nick climbed into the tub with her, allowing his own clothes to be soaked as he held her close.
4.
After he realized Nick and Juliette wouldn't be coming down for a while, George had decided he might as well try to settle in. After a short search unearthed the remote control from behind a couch cushion, he switched on the television and began browsing the channels. He was hoping to come across a "Dukes of Hazzard" rerun. He loved that show.
Another couple of minutes passed. He was starting to get worried. He stood and walked towards the stairs…only to see Nick coming down the steps, Juliette beside him.
The look on her face immediately caught George off-guard. He recognized the woman who was supposed to be his daughter, and yet something had changed. A hardness had crept in. Her lips were turned downward in a rigid snarl, and her eyes glinted with a petulant malice. She was clutching her arms about herself, as if she were feeling a chill.
"Julie…?"
Juliette looked away. "Hi, Dad." Her voice dripped with a jagged sarcasm that made George's heart break.
Nick gently led Juliette into the living room. She sat down on the couch. Nick was amazed by what he saw. The serpentine femme fatale had turned into a sulking little girl. He walked back into the hallway. "I told you she's changed," he said quietly.
George's eyes were fixed on the brooding creature in the living room. "Nick…that isn't my Julie. It can't be. She…she's so…" His voice disintegrated.
"Do you want me to stay, or leave?" Nick asked, as carefully as he could manage. "Honestly it might be a better idea if I didn't go, but…it's your choice."
"What the hell happened?" George demanded, anger beginning to flash through the confusion. "Don't tell me getting fired did this to her."
"We're both ready to give you the whole story, George. It's your right. You're her father. Do you want to hear it from me, or from her?"
"I want to hear it from her," he said.
Nick turned around and made his way upstairs, leaving father and daughter alone.
George approached a chair and sat down, opposite from Juliette. A few seconds of uncomfortable silence ticked by.
"Julie," George finally said, "what's going on with you? Please tell me. I'm going crazy over here."
Juliette picked at the buttons on her coat. "You'd better get used to going crazy, because I'm not telling you a damn thing."
"Nick said you were ready to talk about it…"
Juliette's lips curled into an animalistic snarl. "Yeah, well, now I'm not."
George's voice became low and taut. "That's a hell of a forked tongue you've got there."
"It's called 'growing up,' Dad." She put her legs up on the couch. "You ought to try it sometime."
"There's a difference between growing up and being nasty just because everyone else is doing it," George retorted. "I thought you knew that."
"I've changed. For the better."
"For the better? This is your idea of 'better' now? You're acting just like the bullies who rubbed mud in your hair back in sixth grade."
She made a cruel snicker. "Maybe they had the right idea."
"Julie…please don't keep me in the dark. I know you've been through rough patches before, but they've never turned you into…" He trailed off.
"Into a bitch?" Juliette finished with a poisonous leer.
George's eyes became hard steel. "How the hell could you think I'd ever call you that?"
"Because it's true. Oh, you acted the gallant gentleman with Mom every day, but I always knew you were ready to snap. She'd say the exact wrong thing at the exact wrong time, and you'd make her regret it."
"My God, Julie...can you hear yourself? Can you hear the garbage that's coming out of your mouth?"
"If you're expecting an apology, don't hold your breath."
George glanced over Juliette's clothes. "I've never seen you wear this much black before," he said softly. "Don't know if it suits you."
Juliette clutched her onyx-colored jacket as if it had suddenly felt a chill. "Still telling me how to dress?" She scoffed petulantly. "You couldn't even let me go out to prom night without making sure I looked like Princess Peach. Nothing but pink, pink, and more pink."
"You loved Princess Peach," George said, with a doleful expression.
"Well I don't now!" She snapped back.
George's head lowered. "Nick warned me you've changed. I didn't believe it, but now I'm seeing it. I don't know what's going on. I'm lost. Help me to understand, Julie. For God's sake, I'm your father."
Juliette started to feel the pressure building behind her eyelids, and the Hexenbiest within her shrieked in disgust. She slapped a hand over her eyes, hiding them.
"I can't," she said, voice quivering. "I can't, Dad. Not yet. Please, you've…you've got to give me more time."
George studied his daughter. His face was twisted with a terrible pain.
"I'm staying in Portland," he said quietly. "I'm at the Ace Hotel. Third floor, room 311. I'm not leaving until I get some answers, Julie."
He walked out of the living room, then out of the house. Juliette was alone. She began to cry.