I'm going through some Grimm withdrawal, and needed to write my own fic about what I think/hope will happen next (after S4E13 "Trial By Fire"). Spoilers for that episode. Not much action; it's mostly character stuff. Hope you enjoy. :)
In unrelated news, "It is a Puzzle," my other Grimm fanfic, is on indefinite hiatus. "Marechausee" kind of threw everything off-kilter for that story, I'm afraid. At least for now. Hopefully I'll be able to find a way to reconcile it later; otherwise, it's just a fun one-shot. :)
And now, on with the story...
"You know how much I love you, right?" Juliette asked, scared.
"What? Juliette, just tell me!" He knew something was wrong. How could Juliette almost kill Adalind? How did that manticore get killed? And why was Juliette looking at him with the same look that he was used to seeing from Wesen… like she was afraid he might kill her?
Then she did it. She changed. No… she woged. Juliette woged. She woged. Juliette woged. Into a Hexenbiest!
Nick stared at Juliette, or what she turned into. His first instinct screamed, "Hexenbiest! Kill!" followed by, "That's not Juliette!" Then his reason kicked in, and he remembered.
"You know how much I love you, right?"
Oh. My. God. What happened?
"What happened?"
Juliette woged back, and she was crying, almost in terror. At me? "I don't know," she began, haltingly, then suddenly started to babble. "I-it was because of the spell when I changed into Adalind to help you get your powers back, and then there were these headaches and stomach cramps and I thought for a little while that I might be pregnant, but I'm not, and then one night I got this horrible headache and woged right in front of a mirror and I tried to call you but I couldn't, and then all of the glass in our bedroom exploded, and then you called me and said Monroe had been kidnapped…"
She's been sitting on this since then? Why didn't she tell me? Anger warred with concern, and he wasn't sure which one was going to win.
"…and I knew I couldn't tell you, because you really needed to focus on finding Monroe, and if I said, 'I seem to be turning into a Hexenbiest,' that would probably have distracted you…"
Yes, that's… definitely true. In retrospect, he certainly couldn't blame her for keeping it from him, and was actually kind of grateful she had. Monroe probably wouldn't be alive today if she hadn't. But still… after that…
"….and then that guy attacked me in the woods and I screamed and he died…"
WHAT? What is she talking about?!
"…and I couldn't tell you. And then I killed that bounty hunter guy that was after you because he was going to kill me because 'it's easier to kill a Grimm when he's emotional…'"
I'm going to… oh. He's already dead. So Juliette killed him. And this is how. Because she's a Hexenbiest now. And she seemed so… calm about it at the time… I'd wondered about that.
What is happening to my Juliette? His instincts answered: Need you ask? She's a Hexenbiest. Hexenbiests are evil. Kill.
NO!
"…and Henrietta said that I'm like this forever…"
"WHAT?" Nick blurted out, and Juliette actually flinched. She flinched. From him. Pain hit him in the chest.
Nick closed his eyes, covered them, and took several deep breaths. His thoughts were everywhere, and were making no sense, and he needed things to start making sense, fast.
Ok. First thing. She's Wesen… at least for now. And she's scared. Of me. Ouch. But… at least you know how to deal with that.
Keeping his eyes closed, he took a couple more deep, steadying breaths, then quietly, in his practiced "cop" voice, asked, "who's Henrietta?"
"She's… she's another Hexenbiest. Your captain recommended her to me. I was trying to find a way to make it go away without… without you ever having to know… I'm sorry…"
"Never mind that." I'll think about that later. "She said you'll be a Hexenbiest forever?"
"She said nothing could be done."
"Where can I find her?"
"Umm… I'm… I'm not actually sure I can tell you. I mean, I don't know that it's possible, Nick. When your captain told me how to call her, even her phone number kind of self-scrambled on the page – I don't know how she does it, but clearly she doesn't like being found…"
"Wait. Back up. My Captain told you how to call her? He knows?"
"I thought he might know how to change me back. Or that he could call his mother and she would know… but apparently not. He put me in touch with Henrietta instead."
"Ok, so how did he tell you how to contact her, if it's impossible?"
"He wrote her phone number down, told me to memorize it, and once I did, the numbers scrambled themselves on the page."
"Oh… ok. Do you know her address? Can you do the same thing with it?"
"I don't know. Nick, I think she was just trying to help…"
"Maybe. Maybe not. Can you do it? Now?" That last word came out a little sharper than he intended, and Juliette looked at him warily.
Why do people always look at me like that? He'd gotten used to strange Wesen looking like that at him all the time. And he'd almost gotten used to seeing Monroe and Rosalee, and sometimes even the Captain, Hank, and Wu, looking at him like that. But seeing the look in Juliette's eyes… really hurt. Especially since he had no idea why. It wasn't like she'd grown up with horror stories about the Big Bad Grimm. And she knew him… she knew he wasn't like that, surely? And sure, he was being a little sharp - this was turning into a really bad day! His girlfriend had changed into someone he didn't recognize! He had a right to be upset! Why did people have to act like he was going to go on a murderous rampage every time he felt a little testy?
Especially Juliette. She should know him better than that.
It's because she's a Hexenbiest.
Shut up.
While he was having that little talk with himself, Juliette had hurredly grabbed a notepad and pen from the desk and was scribbling on it.
She knew right where to find the notepad. Second drawer down. She really is Juliette. Not an imposter. Right? So why do I feel like this?
Because she's a HEXENBIEST, idiot, His instincts yelled at him. And, as if in answer, the memory of Juliette, the moment before his world turned upside-down, came unbidden to his mind. "You know how much I love you, right?"
I don't know what to think. What am I supposed to do?
Juliette finished writing the address, ripped off the page, and handed it to him at arm's length. That also hurt. Why couldn't she come close to him? He reached out his arm and took the page, his insides almost recoiling when they almost touched. That hurt even more.
And why can't I get close to her?
Henrietta. Who the ^&*^% is this Henrietta person, and how dare she say this is permanent? This. CAN'T. Be. Permanent! It hurt way too much to be permanent.
He looked at the address in his hand, memorizing it, and was surprised when the letters rearranged themselves into a neat pyramid. Neat trick. Witch.
He crumpled the page, closed his eyes, and made a wide line around Juliette, aiming for the door.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"I don't know." It was true. He didn't know. He didn't know if he was going to go straight to Henrietta's. Maybe he needed to think first. Maybe he needed to talk to the Captain. Or maybe he should go straight to the source. He didn't know. He just knew he needed to get away from Juliette before his nerves exploded and he did something he was going to regret. A lot. Possibly forever. He really needed to get out of there.
After he made his way around Juliette, he practically ran for the door, ran into his car, and barely remembered to stay on the roads and drive at something resembling the speed limit, in his hurry to get away. He needed to get away. He needed to fix this. He needed to make sense of the world again. He needed to know what to do. He needed… everything he didn't have.
