A/N: The last couple of weeks it seems people have gone from either adoring or hating a particular fictional character from the show, to hating, accusing, or insulting actual people or a group of fans. WTH?! I don't like the character Juliette, though Eve was better while she was a super cool agent Hexenbiest solely on a mission to shut BC down. My opinion was that Juliette was whiny and spoiled which is an opinion I maintain. Some still dislike, even hate, Adalind for all she did in the past and that's their right! When a fictional character becomes more important than the real person or people you are saying hurtful things about, there's something truly wrong with that, in my honest opinion. Alright, vent complete. On with the story...

Chapter 6 Nick

Early morning mist swirled around their feet as they entered Washington Park. The cabin was at the other end of the park and it would take a couple more hours on foot. Hank and Wu walked side by side in silence, breaths becoming vapor in the cool air. Eve seemed herself again, walking very erect without the myriad of emotions that played over her face during the night. Physically, she appeared to have her strength back, but there was still a paleness to her lips that belied a full recovery.

Their conversation that night came back to his mind. Recalling confusion and pain in her expression as they had faced each other, Nick had been taken back since that was entirely foreign to the person she had become. Eve was obviously mourning Meisner's loss, a revelation he accepted with mixed feelings. So she has retained some humanity, he realized. Then quickly he questioned, where was this humanity the night his mother was killed? Where was Eve's remorse over her part in Kelly's death?

The night before his son was born haunted him still. The box holding his mother's head hovered in his memory like an apparition. Why wasn't he completely insane by now having the woman he thought was the love of his life get his long lost mother killed, then tried to kill him as well?! The answer came breaking through his horror like a beacon. Nick's salvation came in the newborn cry of his son and the plead for peace from someone who had every right to hate him. If Juliette took everything from him, then Adalind and Kelly gave him life again. There was an ache, ever present in his heart, since the night they had left. Many that knew his and Adalind's history would think Nick having a son, a family, and a happy home with her was a joke, yet he couldn't deny it was better than he could've ever dreamed.

Looking over at the hexenbiest brought back another memory of the first time he spoke to 'Eve' when she had resurfaced. "I would've killed you… They saved me, and I saved you," she had stated cooly with that characteristic tilt of her head as if she found something amusing. At the time he was furious that she seemed flippant about the whole situation with no regret evident. Now Nick thought he understood. She had found a place and a purpose for who she had become, a redemption through Meisner's reconditioning that gave her a new life instead of bitterness, hate, and revenge. If his family had saved him from insanity, then Meisner and HW had done the same for Juliette when they turned her into Eve.

He shook his head and put out a hand to slow Eve's forward motion. She gave him an uncertain look and glanced through the trees to where Hank and Wu were continuing forward. "Don't worry, Hank knows where the cabin is. He was the only person I called for backup on that night we found our first Wesen murder suspect and recovered that little girl that was taken," he explained. "That was when aunt Marie returned, before she died."

"I remember," she responded after a small pause. They stood in silence watching each other for two breaths, neither one quite comfortable but neither looked away.

Finally Nick spoke, "Look, I've come to think we both went a little crazy after you… after Juliette became a hexenbiest." He sighed, "I'm not saying I'm blameless because I handled that night very poorly. And while I'll never be able to forget what happened with my mother, I now understand you weren't completely in your right mind." He paused as Eve took a shaky breath, "That's what Meisner did for you, am I right? He gave you your sanity back when he turned you into Eve, didn't he?"

After another deep breath she nodded slowly, "I really am Eve now, which has been the best thing that could've happened after what Juliette did." She held his look as she continued, "There really is no apology fit for what happened. To try to do that could only fall short, but for what it's worth I'll never be able to do enough good for the wrong Juliette did to you." He released a breath he didn't know he was holding and forgiveness rushed into places in his heart that had still held bitterness.

"Renard will pay, for my family and for Meisner," he returned. There was a moment of hesitation before she nodded again and they started following the trail once more.

Mid morning sun filtered through the tall stately evergreens that had stood sentinel for centuries in this forest. Five years ago Nick and Monroe wandered this exact road on their first hunt. He registered deja vu and nostalgia at the same time. Oh man was he a green Grimm at that time. The tree parted to reveal the somewhat dilapidated cabin.

Eagerness quicken his step until Eve restrained him, "I sense something else other than Monroe, Rosalee, and Trubel. I... I can't quite pinpoint it." Concern in her voice was new, this Eve with feelings was hard to get used to.

He slowly lowered her arm, "It's probably just Adalind and the children that you're sensing."

Eve gave him a scrutinizing look, then with acceptance she admitted, "It could be."

Nick found himself jogging to close the distance, when Trubel opened the door crossbow at the ready as she surveyed the surrounding woods. Her face broke into a smile when she saw him and she collided with, "You're safe. Oh my God, we've been so worried."

Nick quickly reassured her, "We ended up camping to be off grid." He pushed past her looking around the room till his eyes soaked in the sight he needed to see. Adalind stood wide eyed looking at him with Kelly sleeping in her arms and Diana sleeping on an old wooden bench that looked to be covered with everyone's coats for cushioning. He slowly walked over to them, his eyes never leaving them for fear they would disappear. Adalind's big blue eyes were doleful with tears starting to glisten against her bottom lashes. Her lip quivered and she shook her head sadly, but before she could say one word, he wrapped her and their son in his arms.

"I...I… I'm sorry," he heard muffled tearfully against his chest.

He slid a hand up into her silky hair to clutch her tighter, "I know."