Note: I'm exercising my creative licence with this chapter, altering the show's dialogue and scenes etc. I hope you all enjoy.
Zerstörer Shrugged
Adalind hesitantly showed Sean the tunnel. He had made it clear that he wouldn't share whatever information or sources he knew unless they, specifically Nick, showed him the tunnel that so happened to be beneath the fome and with Nick gone and having no other choice, that she did. She had to swallow down a lump of guilt as she ushered Sean Renard into their secret tunnels, against Nick's wishes. Nick had been so adamant they keep his Captain out of the loop but that was before Nick was trapped on the other side without a way back home. It was too late to worry about whether or not she made the right decision. It got her what she wanted. Dasha Karpushin, Sean's friend did know a bit more about the symbols but more chillingly, who and what the skull guy was.
According to Dasha, Diana was supposedly the Shaphat, the 'Child Bride' to this monster…this devil as perceived by many different cultures including wesen.
A child bride.
Adalind wanted to rage and scream. This thing wanted her daughter but she'd be damned if she let it get anywhere near her. Adalind couldn't help thinking her mistakes would dog her, or rather her daughter's steps for the rest of her life. It seemed everyone and their mother seemed to want her daughter for themselves. It all began with Nick taking her powers away and Adalind doing everything humanly possible to get them back. All her efforts now appear to have doomed her child to a horrible fate watermarked by the fact that Diana would never get to live a normal life like every other child, wesen or Kehrseite in the world.
It wasn't fair. Diana didn't deserve this. If anyone should pay for his or her mistakes Adalind should be the first in line, Diana was an innocent in everything that happened since the day she seduced Sean in order to conceive a Royal baby to bargain with for the return of her powers. Adalind should be the one to suffer a life isolated from the rest of the world because she was the danger to those around her. Adalind should be the one punished for her own actions, reaping what she had sown in anger and foolishness. It was a miracle Kelly didn't suffer the same fate as his sister, as far as she could tell.
Then there was Nick.
What did he see in her? Of all the men she knew, he had the most right to kick her out into the streets or even cut off her head but he never did. She had caused him the most pain, directly and indirectly, yet she'd often catch him looking at her and her bones would melt to simmering liquid in anticipation. He wasn't like any of the men she knew. He was far from being anything like the men she knew. Nick was an impossible marvel in spite of everything that went on between them before Kelly came into their lives and he was hers just as she was his.
Where she expected loyalty from Sean after years of doing him countless favours and eventually warming his bed, she was reviled and rejected in the worst way imaginable, cast out into the street like an unruly dog. Where she expected rejection and hatred from Nick, she received acceptance, understanding, and even love, although she never earned it. She didn't know what he saw in her but she loved watching it burning bright behind his eyes, it was addicting. She'd given everything to Sean and got nothing in return compared to Nick who never stopped giving as much as he got regardless of the three little words remaining unsaid, held closely against his chest. Her life was better than she expected, better than she deserved…what she'd give to swap placed with her daughter….
She remembered years ago, the last night she spent with Diana while she was still a baby. They were both wet and very hungry, huddled together upstairs in the spare bedroom of Nick's old house. She remembered overhearing Kelly's hushed tone explaining to Nick just how "special" her daughter was. It was the Contaminatio Ritualis. That's how Diana got her extraordinary powers but it never explained where those powers came from. In her own desperation to get her Hexenbiest or rather, a Hexenbiest back and she made a deal with Stefania Vaduva Popescu, the Queen of the Schwartzwald Gypsies.
Had Adalind cared to eavesdrop any further to the conversation downstairs, she might have realised Kelly Burkhardt's real intentions for Diana from that one single interlude with her son. However, Adalind had turned her focus back to her daughter after hearing one too many unkind words spoken about her and every horrible thing she had ever done, all of which were true. It hurt to listen although she would never have admitted it at the time because she didn't care what Nick thought of her; at least she wasn't supposed to care.
According to Nick, this supposed "destiny" is what spurred Kelly to take Diana away from Adalind in the first place, to change Diana's fate by separating mother and daughter before Adalind's more unsavoury influence could rub off Diana but it would appear that Kelly had been wrong this whole time. If Dasha was to be believed, Adalind wasn't this great source of 'evil' that they had to keep away from Diana at all cost in order to protect her and the rest of the world or however Kelly put it. Apparently the evil that threatened Diana and the rest of the world wasn't her mother but rather this skull-faced man from another dimension. It was supposedly prophesied much to Adalind's trepidation. She didn't believe in prophecies, destinies, or any of that nonsense but what could she do when her Diana was caught right in the middle of it?
Catherine, her mother had once told her that prophecies were for lazy or weak willed people too afraid to control of their fate today by relying on words written by some "hack" centuries ago tripping on some hallucinogen. And if Adalind had learnt at least one thing from Catherine Schade, it was to always take control of her life and go after everything she wanted and holding nothing back, no matter what life threw her way. She did that when she lost her powers, when she realised that Juliette was a threat to her son and she would do it again for her daughter against this monster. So screw destiny! Screw prophecy! This devil or Satan would have to crawl over Adalind's cold and very dead body before she let it come anywhere near her daughter.
Adalind tucked the quilt firmly around Diana's small form as she slept on the couch in Monroe and Rosalee's living room. She looked so tiny and innocent. It galled her to imagine some monster impregnating her little girl, she didn't care that Diana's body grew at a hyper accelerated rate. They had to find a way to stop this. Apparently, that's what Eve went to do when she jumped through the mirror alone. Well not quite alone because Nick followed after her and left his only ticket back. They told Sean everything he wanted to know in the hope that whatever he knew would help them bring Nick and Eve back from the other world but there was nothing.
Sean had been particularly quiet since they arrived at Monroe's. There was something on his mind. She could tell by that familiar crease of his brow but he'd remained silent almost keeping to himself, even after their daughter fell asleep from sheer exhaustion with all the back and forth between locations. She looked at the clock, it was well past 2am.
"What the heck is wrong with you?" Adalind didn't mean to snap at him but they were all on edge after that video call with Dasha.
"Nothing," said Sean.
It wasn't "nothing."
"BS, I know you Sean. You've been typically quiet since we left the loft, I can literally see the wheels turning in your head, so spit it out."
"I don't owe you anything." He bit back.
"As long as it concerns our daughter…"
"Exactly! Maybe if you thought of her in the first place we wouldn't be in this mess. I'm only here for her, not to get your boyfriend and his Ex back from God knows where." He said, emphasising the word, "Ex" to point out the obvious.
Adalind snapped her neck and gave Sean her most vicious side eye.
Yes, Nick and Eve were alone together in another world, possibly with no way back but she trusted Nick despite Sean being a complete dick about the whole situation.
"My daughter is in this mess because of you and Nick." He added coldly.
"Don't you even, Sean. You know that's not the case."
"What else do you want me to think? Some ancient demon is after our daughter because you showed her some cloth with symbols on it, the same cloth that was hidden for eight centuries that your idiot of a beau dug up in the Black Forest. If anything happens to her, I swear to G…"
He didn't get the chance to finished his sentence before she slammed him hard against the back wall and causing the house to shake. Adalind telepathically began to constrict his lungs.
"Whoa-whoa, what's going on here?" Monroe came running from the kitchen
Adalind released Sean and he collapsed on to his feet, coughing as his lungs filled air.
"It's nothing," said Adalind with her eye trained fiercely on Sean.
"We're just talking." Sean added nonchalantly.
"Really? It sounded like the world was coming to an end from where I stood."
"We're good," she said to reassure Monroe who hesitated.
"We are all on the same side here, or aren't we?" Monroe asked, his eyes glowing with a hint of red.
"We're good," reiterated Sean, raising his hands in a sign of surrender more towards Adalind than towards their host.
"Now I think we all could use with my aunt's chamomile and peppermint tea instead, to calm the nerves." He said and waited for any protest to the contrary but none came. "Hmmm, I just had a thought. It's a wild shot but it's something, at least I hope it's something. I think I have a book somewhere up in the attic that might help us. I don't know why I didn't think of it before now but then if I didn't have a Hexenbiest and a half Zauberbiest trying to tear one another apart in my living room; it makes sense how I could have easily missed it. Now I'm going upstairs to look for it, will you two behave yourselves while I'm gone?" He turned to the both like a disapproving parent.
"Monroe go. We'll be fine." She calmly and reassured him.
She waited until they couldn't hear his footsteps anymore before turning back to Sean, giving him a silent but deadly warning not to step out of line about things he knew nothing about.
"Now-now Adalind, you don't want to upset the Blutbad, after that stellar performance."
"You're an asshole." She told him already tired from all the exertion. "And I'm an idiot for always thinking that you're more than what you are, a bastard."
"Ouch." He said in feigned hurt.
"You're always so quick to blame others for everything and leaving none for yourself or don't you remember the key? This is where it all began and so don't pretend your hands are no less dirty than the rest of us. Yes, Nick brought that cloth back from Germany and I made Diana read what was written on it. We couldn't have known what it all meant. Eve crossed the mirror to kill this thing that's after our daughter and Nick is gone too, to help protect our daughter from this thing. So it's either you stay and help us or you can find your way out. This place isn't big enough for anymore spineless white meat." She said and walked away without waiting for his response.
She couldn't waste any more time on Sean Renard, not when they needed to find a way to help Nick and Eve and keep Diana safe. She headed to the dining room, where all her mother's books were including the one Eve used to open the portal was sprawled open on the table. They already knew how to open the portal but they had to find another way to open it and guarantee safe passage for anyone other than a Hexenbiest.
Adalind sat down and started reading.
"Hand me that book over there," Sean said pointing to the one next to one about charms and spells, that looked like it was bound in very old and grey leather. Adalind shuddered at the thought of which animal, or maybe person was killed to cover the book. Without a word or a look, she did as he asked and pushed it across the table towards him. They sat in silence for what seemed like forever, with nary a sound but the turning of old worn out pages.
She looked up at one of the clocks on the wall, it was now seventeen minutes to 3:00am, nearly thirty minutes had passed and they'd found nothing, Monroe had disappeared ages ago and they hadn't heard anything from Rosalee. It was looking more and more hopeless with each passing minute. She thought of Nick, or specifically, she tried not to think of Nick, wondering if he was alive, or safe. Adalind quelled the shaking in her hands at the thought of Nick dead and her, helpless to do anything about it. She refused to believe that death could easily snatch him away from her when they had just found each other. He was alive and he would find his way back to her, and together, they would stop this skull-faced man and keep Diana safe.
"Oh, this is a waste of time! I know how to get in there." She said completely frustrated.
"Adalind…" Sean started. "Well, then if you can get in, I'm pretty sure I can get in."
She eyed him sceptically, where did this sudden change of heart come from? There was no love lost between Sean and Nick and Adalind was certain if Sean had his way, he'd make sure Nick never came back. He'd shown more than just open disdain at the man who'd easily slipped into the role of a father figure for his daughter. The fact that Nick and Diana were getting along better than expected grated on him, especially if he'd planned for Diana to deal Nick in the same manner she handled Rachel Wood.
This offering to go through the mirror to help bring Nick back wasn't like him, yes she gave him an ultimatum of sorts but she never expected him to actually take her up on it. Sean was selfish and very transparent, for him to offer to help, especially when there was nothing for him to gain by it was jarring to say the least. Adalind couldn't trust him but then she had to, if it meant getting Nick back home safely. It was too bad his offer to help was pointless.
"No, it's Hexenbiest blood that opens the portal, not Zauberbiest blood. There's a difference. And even if I opened the portal you still wouldn't be able to go through. That's not how the spell works."
"Then we find a way to get me in, because I'm not letting this thing anywhere near my daughter."
"We've all been looking and judging from the silence on all fronts, I'd say everyone else has come up empty." She spoke too soon.
"Well, here it is." Monroe hurried into the middle of the room holding a massive book between his hands. "It's my family bible, the wesen version I mean. It has been passed down on my father's side since 1598." He said with near total reverence.
Both Adalind and Sean looked at the Blutbad blankly, expecting him to continue, Adalind couldn't imagine how a family Bible could help them right now apart from saying a prayer or three for a miracle.
"The Abrahamic belief is that the dead go to a specific plane of existence after death and that hell is ruled by a fallen angel.
"This is not the time for bible study." Sean said petulantly, his patience at an all-time low.
"No, no, no, this is apropos. If we think of this other place as that plane and the skull guy is the fallen angel, AKA the devil, Satan, Lucifer, whatever you want to call him, I mean, maybe it's not hell per se."
Monroe opened to a particular page that showed a painting showing animal like beings slaughtering one another, crude and violent, thought Adalind. It was ages since she last read the Bible, at least a portion of it while rebelling against her mother but Adalind didn't remember reading in it anything that depicted what this simple drawing showed.
"Well, it looks a lot like it." Said Sean.
"Not exactly. It's different. For instance there's no lava, no fire, no brimstone. It looks like a garden. Now, I'm not saying the Garden of Eden, but I'm not not saying the Garden of Eden. The prophecy heralds a world overrun by beasts, but the fires of hell rage within the beast, not on the land." Monroe turned a few pages at what looked like a sketch of an old man, whose face was hollowed as if from starvation, like a human skull. He was holding a long staff in the one hand.
"I thought the devil carried a pitchfork." She interjected Monroe's wesen bible lesson.
"Yeah, while this is all really interesting, I don't think it's helping us get to where Nick is, said Sean.
"Well, technically it's a trident. I mean, he's not a farmer. Or if he is, he's the scorched soul kind?" Said Monroe, ignoring Sean but a thought suddenly sprang to Adalind's mind.
"A world overrun by beasts…Sean…?" She turned to the man on her right.
"…What?"
"Do you know what Bonaparte wanted; I mean what really wanted with our daughter? Did he ever tell you?"
"You know what he wanted, you were there."
"That's what I thought too but looking at these drawing, I'm starting to think otherwise. When you joined Black Claw…"
"I thought we were over this," Sean huffed angrily.
"Just…humour me, did Bonaparte ever tell you why Diana was so important to his plans? He basically gave me the speech on the importance of family but I wasn't stupid. I knew he wanted Diana for her powers, like everyone else and I knew he knew he couldn't control her that's why he came to me but now I think something else was at play here. 'Our world will be more violent, more primitive, but that is the only way to true progress,' that's what he said to me once. I don't know whether he was trying to convince me to join Black Claw or threaten me at the time from siding with Nick. Who am I kidding he threatened me the very first day I met him until the very last time I saw him.
"Bonaparte said that to you?" Sean said as if he was suddenly confused. "That's what I told Nick on the night you came to the mansion. I told him that it was time for the wesen to come out of the shadows."
"It figures. I'm sure you thought you were the big dog, you were going to be mayor of Portland with aspirations for the Oval Office but I seems like you were nothing more than a dog trained to sit and roll over at his master's command, you didn't even realise you were regurgitating that lunatic's mantra." In typical fashion, Monroe spoke without thinking and Sean woged in anger, ready to attack after being insulted and Monroe woged at the pending threat.
"Hey!" shouted Adalind, forcing their attention away from each other and back to her. "All eyes on me! What I was trying to get at was that what if Bonaparte was a follower of this skull guy, like a disciple or some obsessed fan or something because everything Monroe showed us in this book sounds eerily close to Bonaparte and what he planned for Portland and the rest of the world. Sean you worked close with the man. Occultatum Libera!"
"…Free what's hidden." Both men said at once.
"What are you saying exactly?"
"She's saying Bonaparte used you both to try and groom Diana for her pending nuptials to this skull guy."
Adalind gave Monroe a look. "Well, I wouldn't have put it quite so crudely but yes, that's partly what I meant."
"Sorry," Monroe apologised sheepishly to which Adalind gave a curt nod.
"What if Bonaparte wasn't trying to create a world where wesen could live in the open with the Kehrseite but instead was preparing the world for this skull man, a world similar to what in this book. I think Bonaparte used us both because he needed Diana for something bigger than the Mayor's or president's office. It's possible Bonaparte knew about the prophecy about the Shaphat and he knew something about Diana that neither of us knew…. Bonaparte came to you and dangled a carrot in front of you and a stick in front of me to get what he wanted, Diana." Adalind explained.
"No…." Sean quietly said.
"It makes sense," Monroe chimed in.
For a moment, Sean looked contemplative, almost guilt-ridden.
Earlier he'd blamed Adalind for endangering their child and she had wanted to make him taste the same bitterness of knowing he wasn't so spotless either. Under different circumstances, Adalind would have taken pleasure in taking Sean down a few pegs from his lofty throne but there was no pleasure in that because this was about Diana. She watched as Sean's face twisted from an expression of confusion to horror at the realisation that he'd basically sided with the very people that wanted to hurt his daughter. She actually pitied him. It wasn't so nice to realise just how much their choices hurt those they loved the most, Adalind knew this all too well.
"What I still don't get is why her, of all the children in the world what did this guy pick your daughter."
"Why not? My father wanted her and I can promise you it had nothing to do with him being a doting grandfather. The Resistance wanted her, to use against my father and the other six Royal houses. Hell, everybody wanted her. I guess it shouldn't be too surprising that some other worldly being is amongst those that want to use my daughter for their end game." Sean said.
"But this isn't just anyone Sean. Your father is dead. Who knows what's happened to the Resistence. They were just people looking to use our daughter to add more power to fight their enemies."
"Exactly, this being is already powerful if it's the one your friend spoke of and the same one as in this book. Why does he want Diana specifically as opposed to some other child? I know she's powerful, it's rare for a Hexenbiest and Zauberbiest to not kill each other long enough to conceive a child. I'm not saying it doesn't happen at all, only that it's infrequent. Your kind aren't exactly friendly, if you get my meaning. And if you really want to talk about rare, possibly first of his kind, you only have to look at baby Kelly Schade Burkhardt, a Grimm and a Hexenbiest offspring, those definitely don't come by so easily, if ever. What is it about Diana that this thing is after her?"
"I think that's maybe my fault," said Adalind. Both men turned to face her.
It is what has weighed heavily on her mind since the conversation with Dasha. Adalind had done her best to try to put it out of her mind, the thought of destinies and prophecies. Just because she didn't believe in any of it, didn't mean she could simply ignore the series of seemingly random events that were beginning to come together in a significant way, meaningful coincidences.
"You are right about the child of a Hexenbiest and a Zauberbiest and that Diana is in fact more than that. We all know what happened. I lost my powers and then I got them back. I underwent a certain ritual whilst pregnant with her. I always assumed that the ritual heightened her abilities but I could never be certain."
"The Contaminatio Ritualis?" asked Monroe.
"Yes, but that seems inadequate to me. I became a Hexenbiest again but Diana was already one. It's not as if she got a double dosage, she was a Hexenbiest but for her powers to manifest while in utero was unheard of. They don't even show in the same way, like her woge, if you could call it that. Diana's powers go way beyond what's normal and not normal. I know that Eve, back when she was still operating at full strength was even afraid of Diana's true power and she's barely three years old."
She looked at the two men uncertain but already determined to unburden herself, if it meant helping the two people she loved.
"I made a deal with a Romanian Gypsy, a Hexebiest for a child of Royal blood. I was stupid and desperate. Stefania forced me sign the contract before I could even read what was on it, so even if I wanted to back out of the deal, I couldn't. In the end, I reneged on the deal and ran away with my baby. It turns out there was something much stronger in me than my desire to become a Hexenbiest again." She said as she looked at Sean expecting judgement. Adalind wasn't proud of what she did back then, at least Sean had the decency to be shame faced because of everything that had happened that lead to Adalind losing her powers in the first place.
"Do you think there's something in that contract that could help us?" Asked Monroe.
"I don't know…maybe…maybe not. It was so long ago. Stefania never gave me a copy of the contract and after I ran, I wanted to forget the whole thing. Then I lost Diana and I just focused on getting my baby back. Everything got out of control after that."
"I guess we'll have to work with what we do have, especially if it's about getting Nick and Eve back to this dimension," said Sean.
"I thought you were only here for your daughter?" She asked but there was no malice in it. If Sean was in, he had to be all in.
"It's going to take all of us to stop this thing if we are going to protect Diana."
"And I think I have an idea. I know how to make sure all us can do just that but you're not gonna like it."
"Why?" turned to Monroe.
"What did your friend call Diana?"
"The Shaphat," replied Sean stiffly.
"Right, and if what she suggests is true, my thinking is, Diana's got a lot of clout in this other place, probably more so than she already does this side of the mirror. We know she can do some pretty amazing things already, like appear in places she isn't and read markings on a cloth that we cannot see. She already knew about the other place long before any of us could hazard a guess, and she knows something wicked is this way is coming. So if anyone could open the door…"
"No, absolutely not!" yelled Adalind protectively, standing between Monroe and the living area where Diana lay sleeping.
"If we just give her the stick…."
"No, she's not going in there and we don't know what the stick will do to her, remember Eve?" It was Sean's turn to protest, two against one.
"Right, the stick…. But who knows, it may not do what we think it will do. I mean this is Diana. I'm not saying for her to go through the mirror. I'm saying to let her open the doorway the same way Nick did, and then Renard and I can go in there and get Nick and Eve back."
"How would you get back?" she wanted to scream but reigned back her emotions.
It was a crazy plan with plenty of holes and Adalind would never subject Diana to anything that may hurt her or worse, get her closer to that monster. "I'm going in there. I'm the only one who can." She decided and ignoring this little voice in the back of her mind warning her that Nick would not be happy to find her on the other side.
"Look, I'm not so sure. You may be able to open it, but it might be possible for me to go in instead of you." Sean argued his point once more. They began to argue back and forth the merits and demerits of using Diana's abilities or letting Adalind open the portal and let her pass through.
Monroe's phone rang.
"Okay, I think you're right. I think Adalind's the only option, and we should do it, but you should, like have a rope tied around you or something, just…hey, what's up?" he said to the caller on the phone.
But before they knew what was happening they all heard and felt a rumbling noise like thunder reverberating throughout the house, it was coming from the living room….
"Diana!" She and Sean yelled at once, running towards their daughter who stood in front of the mirror, mysterious magic stick in hand.
"No. No, no! Don't open it! Close it! Diana, stop! Stop!" Yelled Monroe too late, the portal was open.
"No, Diana, close it!" cried out her father as he tried to pull Diana away from the portal but it was all futile. The portal would remain until someone or thing passed through it.
A force much like an explosion blew them all away. Adalind heard the mirror shatter into a million pieces as she tried to get her bearings. That's when she saw him.
"Mommy it worked. I got Nick back for you." He daughter exclaimed joyously.
"Nick," Adalind quickly knelt in front of him, still in shock that he was there in the flesh, alive and unharmed. She immediately flung her arms round his neck in an emotional hug. She felt his arms circle her waist with shaky but equal fervour. Nick was home. "I'm so glad you're okay." Adalind told the man she loved more than life itself.
"What happened?" it was Eve that asked.
"Diana used the stick." Replied Sean as he held Diana tightly, like he was afraid to let her go.
"I-I don't think that's such a good thing. I mean, you guys are back, and that's a good thing, but Rosalee said…"
"Monroe, what did she say?" Adalind turned to the Blutbad impatiently.
"She said not to open the portal because you wouldn't come back alone." Monroe said while looking at Nick.
"Are we alone?" Nick asked suddenly.
"Seems like it," said Sean.
"Whatever tried to piggyback a ride probably didn't stand a chance because the mirror's, like, totally shattered."
While trying to make sense of what just happened, Rosalee, Hank and Wu burst into the house.
"Nick…is everyone okay?" asked Hank his weapon trained as though expecting a threat.
"Monroe! What happened?" Rosalee flew into her husband's arms.
"Wait, the skull guy's not here?" Wu interjected.
"Nobody came back with them? Maybe the book was wrong." Rosalee said, almost breathless. Whatever she discovered clearly had her spooked that she rushed all the way from the spice shop.
"Why did you call me to tell me not to open the portal? I mean, what did you find out?" Monroe asked what they all wanted to know.
Rosalee turned to Nick, "We think you were tricked by the skull guy."
"He was there. We were trying to kill him," said Eve, her voice a combination of disappointment and maybe relief.
"He could've killed us, but he didn't," added Nick."
Well, I'm certainly glad he didn't," Adalind said as her arm tightened around him. She wasn't ready to lose Nick just yet, not ever, if she had her way.
"No, he needed you there to open the way from his side so he could cross over with you."
"That doesn't make any sense," Eve spoke.
"This day was predicted from all the symbols on the cloth. We think that everything is supposed to happen today, March 24th, remember? It's like he was waiting for you to come to him so you could open the door for him to come here. Were you followed?" Rosalee said.
"I don't know. I don't think so," said Eve suddenly wary of the implication of her actions.
"Well, then maybe he didn't make it here as predicted." Wu added hopeful.
"We better hope he didn't." Nick growled.
Prophecies. Destinies. Fate. It all circled back to that. Sean's quest for the key, Nick taking Adalind's powers, the ritual to get them back, Nick's mother saving Adalind from the Royals, Nick and Adalind coming together against the odds, the symbols on the cloth and Diana reading them, Eve jumping into the portal with Nick following closely behind her. There was no escaping how all of their fates were intricately tied together whether she believed in any of it or not.
Was she fated to run into Nick that one afternoon all of those years ago? She'd never seen a Grimm before although she knew all about them. There was something peculiar in the air. She sensed it because her blood came alive when their eyes met and inexplicably, Adalind woged. She wasn't threatened, she wasn't even emotionally compromised to garner that reaction. In fact, she'd been flattered at the thought of being the object of his desire. She shouldn't have woged at all but she did and their lives had been tied together ever since, first in an adversarial battle of dominance and violence but now as lovers. To this day, Adalind has never been able to explain how her relationship with Nick changed so dramatically.
She watched him as he spoke of the other place. The skull man was called Zerstörer, the Destroyer. That sent a chill down her spine. Nick sat not more than a foot away from her, on the coffee table. Adalind could feel the heat radiating from his body as he recounted everything he saw. Every now and then, their knees would touch or he'd place his hand protectively across her knee when he described his encounter with Zerstörer. The other side sounded very much like what Bonaparte had planned and creepily much like the place described in Monroe's family bible, which meant her conjecture from earlier, hadn't been far from the truth if not exactly accurate.
Diana began to hyperventilate.
"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Adalind turned towards her daughter.
"Diana, are you okay?" Asked Sean.
"No. No, no, no, no, no!" Diana shrieked, "He's coming! He's coming! He's coming!" she repeated repeatedly, piercing Adalind's heart with unspeakable fear.
"He's here," cried Diana.
"Honey, we're not gonna let anything happen to you, okay?" said Sean.
"Don't let him find me. Please, don't let him find me."
"Do you know where he is? We'll protect you, no matter what. You're safe." Nick promised.
"We're not gonna let anybody near you," reiterated Wu.
"Honey, come with me, okay? Come on." Adalind led Diana away from the group hoping to calm her down. It took some effort but Adalind managed to get Diana to fall asleep although she wasn't certain what good it would do all of them knowing this Zerstörer was now in Portland. Adalind wanted to run, to take Nick and her children and run as far from this place as possible. She heard heavy footsteps from behind and turned to find Nick watching her.
"Let's run," she wanted to say to him but Adalind choked on the words. It wasn't like Nick to just up and leave everything and everyone else behind. And she knew it wasn't like Nick to walk away from taking on this Destroyer head on, she could already see it in his eyes. His mind was already made up. She would go and hide and he would stay and fight. "Let's run away together," was the cry of her heart as it thundered in her chest and ears.
Nick pulled her close to him.
"I'm taking you somewhere to hide Diana." He said as he rubbed his hand reassuringly up and down the back of her arm. Adalind wanted to curl into his arms and get lost in them forever but he had other plans.
"Well, I'm not leaving you!" Adalind said hastily. He couldn't ask her to do that, not after what happened earlier when he went through the mirror and she didn't know if she'd ever see him again. "Don't…." she added.
"You can't stay with me. It's not safe." He reasoned with her, his eyes already pleading with her to do as he asked. "I need to go after Zerstörer and make sure he doesn't find you or Diana and Kelly. I can't do that, I can't stop him if I'm worried about you and the kids, please…." He took a step forward, closing the gap between them.
"We're in this together, remember? You and me. We promised each other after Bonaparte."
"This…this is different," he said as he lifted a finger to her chin, and forcing their eyes to lock. "Don't ask me to risk losing you. I…I will not make it if anything ever happened to you." His voice cracked as he brushed the tip of his nose against hers.
"…And I, you." She added before lifting her lips to join his.
"You won't be staying at the loft, Zerstörer knows about it. We'll grab some things, whatever we need and after, I'll take you this cabin in the woods."
"The woods?" she didn't mean to sound sceptical but that didn't inspire any confidence. That meant isolation, what if they needed to make a quick escape? Nick seemed to read her mind because he answered and said, "He won't know about it and there's not a lot of opportunities for him to jump through any mirrors, not from what I remember the last time I was there."
He seemed very certain of his plan.
"…And I'll be there. I won't let this thing anywhere near us." Sean interrupted their private moment to offer more of his assistance even though he wasn't asked this time. That was all fine and dandy but she wanted Nick instead. She needed him to be by her side.
The plan was to use the Nuukh Suens spell on Diana, to shield her from all who sought after her. It wasn't much but at least it would stall this Zerstörer long enough for them to find a way to stop him. She only relented to Nick's plan to separate by requesting they get the rest of her mother's books from the storage unit. She wasn't going to sit idly by waiting for this thing to find them.
"He won't find you." Nick tried to reassure her.
"I called Viktor," said Sean suddenly.
"What?" she asked in surprise.
"We need to find out as much as we can about any of this, if there's something in that contract, some small detail that could help answer why this bastard is after our daughter, we need it now. Knowing Viktor and what a stickler he is for detail, I'm certain he has a copy of that contract. I asked him to forward it to me as quickly as possible." He explained to them.
"We're ready," Rosalee peered round the corner, and tilted her head towards Diana.
"…Alright, I guess it's now or never." Adalind said and turned around to go wake Diana for the umpteenth time that night.
Adalind performed the spell as required and hoped it would hold up as long as they needed before they all shuffled back into their vehicles and headed to their respective destinations, each with a mission to accomplish. Nick and Adalind first went to the storage facility to pick up the rest of her mother's books. They were five minutes away when Nick finally turned towards her and asked her a question.
"What contract was Renard talking about?"
"The one I signed in order to get my powers back."
"Oh."
"I didn't sign it exactly, at least not with a pen. Stefania forced my hand on to the contract and using magic, she drained vapour-sized droplets of my blood on to the paper. It burnt like crazy. I didn't have time to read the contract before it was all done. Earlier today, we thought maybe Stefania did a lot more than just give me back my powers."
"And you think this Stefania woman was in league with Zerstörer?"
"I don't know what to think. I thought Bonaparte just wanted to take over the world but now it's looking more and more like he was working towards Zerstörer's release from the other world and knew about Diana and her being this Shaphat. Stefania's ritual did more than restore my abilities. She gave me specific instructions that involved applying…this goop over my belly, in fact she insisted on it. Did she know all along what would happen? Maybe. Maybe not. When Sean died and his mother brought him back, she knew the risks and did it anyway. An evil spirit attached itself to Sean; maybe something's attached itself to Diana because of me…."
"Hey, look at me. None of this is your fault." Nick said forcefully.
"It's hard not to think of it that way. I mean let's be real here."
"Adalind, you're not to blame for what's going on. It's not like I didn't play my part along the way. If I didn' take your powers away that night…."
She looked at him knowing what he was going to say. If she wasn't to blame then who was because it certainly wasn't Nick's fault? He only took her powers away in order to save his partner and she'd cursed Hank because Sean told her to. Sean sent her after Nick's friends because he wanted that stupid key which started this whole mess. So who was to blame, where did the buck stop? Nick raked his hand through his dark hair.
"You heard Rosalee and Monroe, everything that's happened, everything that's happening, it was predicted."
"You do know that it's not that simple right. I can't believe that just because it was written in the stars or some old book that this beast or devil was after my baby girl absolved me of every bad thing I did before and after I brought her into this world. If only I didn't help my mother to pay her own debts. If only I never listened to Sean in the first place and went after your aunt over that stupid key. If only….
"You can't think like that. We can't go back and change things and I don't want to go back. If I never met you…I can't, I don't even want to imagine my life without you or Kelly and Diana in it. We're here in this moment now and we just have to keep our heads and beat this thing so we can finally get to live our lives in peace."
"Do you think that's even possible?"
"I can't think otherwise."
"I really want to believe that. I want that more than anything in the world."
"Me too," he said as he took her left hand in his and squeezing it tightly.
They retrieved all of her mother's books and packed up his truck with everything else they needed from the loft. They didn't know how long they would hide out in the cabin so an oversupply of food, diapers and a change of clothing filled the back of Nick's Cruiser. Sean and Diana were already there, his SUV was already parked outside the cabin.
"After that day when we first saw each other, this place…this is where it all started for me." Nick said as he helped her out of from the passenger side.
"I've got some pretty fond memories here too." They heard Sean speak as he walked towards them from the cabin, Diana following closely behind him.
"What were you doing here?" Adalind asked Sean.
"Nick and I met here to settle our differences about the key."
"Oh…that." Adalind sighed.
"Yeah, we both decided it couldn't fall into your hands." Sean added.
Nick stepped right behind Adalind.
"…When you were working for the Royals," Nick s's voice was low but not accusatory.
"That was before I had a baby with you." She smiled in his direction. "Or you," she looked Sean's way.
"Simpler times." Nick said before emptying his Cruiser of their belongings.
He led them all inside the cabin
"It doesn't look like anybody's been here for years." She said as she looked around her. The cabin looked old and strange with the furniture around them a mixture of big and small. Adalind got a weird sense of foreboding about the place as she passed a frilly tiny rocking chair, something that could easily fit Diana. What was this place?
"What happened to the owner?" asked Renard.
"He was my first Blutbad."
"I assume you didn't arrest him, then." Mused Renard. Adalind was afraid to ask nick to elaborate, suspecting she wouldn't like the answer.
"He didn't really give us much of a choice." Nick said and opened a trap door on the wooden floor that led down into the basement even stranger than the space over their heads.
"That's a pretty bed. Did a girl live here?" asked Diana.
"Not for long."
"How long do we have to stay here?" Diana asked another valid question.
"I'm not sure, honey," replied Sean.
"We have to keep you safe," added Adalind despite this cabin giving her the creeps. Nick felt this was the safest place for them and she trusted Nick.
"So he won't find me here?" said Diana.
"Hey he's never gonna find you, okay?"
"No, he won't. I'm going back to the precinct to help Hank and Wu. Call me if you need anything." Nick told Adalind.
He was leaving her again. Adalind wasn't ready for this, to be separated from him for God knew how long. It was too soon. He turned to their son still in his car seat and leaned over him.
"I love you, son." He gently uttered the endearment like he was saying goodbye, it cut Adalind deep in her soul This wasn't goodbye, she told herself. Nick turned towards Adalind. She could read the expression on his face. He didn't know when he'd return, if ever. They embraced one another fiercely, forgetting the audience standing awkwardly next to them. Nick and Adalind separated and she watched him as he made his way up the steep wooden steps and possibly out of her life for good. She looked about her, tears threatening to burst forth. She even eyed Renard looking at her with pity. He actually felt sorry for her and she wanted to scream to take his pity and shove it where the sun don't shine. Instead, she ran upstairs, after Nick. She couldn't let him leave, not without saying everything that needed to be said between them.
"Nick!" she called out to him in a puff of cold air between them.
He stopped and turned around.
"I thought I lost you once already tonight. Please be careful." She pleaded with him.
His chest heaved once up and down before he could respond. Adalind saw the look in his eyes change from one of determination and finally to submission to an unseen force. He took one step forward and plunged her mouth, possessing her wholly and completely. She could remain like this forever, she thought as she savoured the taste of him but then Nick pulled away from her. No, she thought tearfully.
"I love you." He said with finality. It was a goodbye.
"I love you." She replied in kind and quickly wrapped him into her arms. She could feel the tension in his body ebb away as he sagged into her embrace one last time before they both pulled apart and away from the other reluctantly. Nick took several steps backwards, like he was committing her into memory and didn't want to waste their last moments together.
He got into his truck and just like that, he was gone.
A/N: There's one more chapter to go after this. Thank you to everyone who's followed my musings over Nick and Adalind and their relationship. Thank you for reading and writing me feedback. Thank you and God bless you all.
