CHAPTER FOUR

A DAY

After Alicia went to bed for the night, Lena and Nick had to sit down and have a frank talk about what to do with the situation. "So, you had no idea that she was wesen?"

Nick shook his head, "This is the first time I've seen her since I became a Grimm."

Lena was at a loss. "Do we… talk to her about it? Like you guys did for me."

"Your situation is very different," Nick said. "Hers has nothing to do with being wesen, and I don't think she'll be eager to confess to it if she finds out I'm a Grimm."

"She can't know then," Lena sighed. "We'll just focus on helping her get away from her asshole husband and leave it at that."

"Agreed," Nick said before they said goodnight.

The next morning, Nick was already gone. He'd left a note in the kitchen saying he'd been called out to a diner where someone attacked a couple in the parking lot and the man died.

"Morning," Lena said when she walked downstairs to see Alicia at the dining table on her computer.

"Morning."

"How'd you sleep?"

"Oh, good, for once," Alicia weakly smiled. "Oh, I found some apartments online... really affordable too."

"That sounds great," Lena said.

Alicia nodded a bit awkwardly, "But not here in Portland."

Lena frowned and sat at the table with her. "Are you afraid that Joe is still going to be able to find you here?"

"It's not that," Alicia muttered. "I emailed Juliette, to get a hold of her and tell her where I am. She said I should go to where she is." She averted her eyes, as if she felt guilty. "But she doesn't want me to tell anyone where that is. She doesn't want Nick to know."

Lena averted her eyes too. "Oh."

"Do you know… what happened between them?" Alicia asked. "I mean, I always thought Nick was the sweetest guy ever. He still seems that way. He and Juliette were so solid, except for the whole memory loss episode."

"I think things probably went downhill from then," Lena fibbed. She didn't know, really. "Things like that either make a couple stronger or slowly chip away at them. I can't really speak to the situation beyond that, not having known Juliette myself or how she and Nick were together."

"Sometimes things just don't work out," Alicia shrugged limply, probably thinking about her nightmare of a marriage.

Lena tentatively slid her hand over to cup over hers, "And sometimes things happen for a reason." Alicia smiled gratefully and squeezed her hand back. After a moment, Lena stood, "Now, I've got an establishing care appointment at a clinic I'm working through and need to get going."

"Have a good day, midwife," Alicia said with a big grin.

Lena did for the most part. She familiarized herself with the clinic she would be working through for some of the clients that want the natural birth experience in a place that had medical equipment on hand. The head physician there was a nice portly man with six kids that were all born in water births. His wife was the head RN. There were a group of midwives who worked exclusively in the clinic, also working with birth control, reproductive health, screenings, and birthing classes. It seemed like a nice place. But the thought of going to an office every day just reminded Lena too much of her old life. She would enjoy the home visits.

On her way out of the clinic after meeting with anxious new mom, Diana, and her husband of two years, Tate, Lena was on her way to her car and thought it a good time to call Rosalee.

"Hi, Lena, what's up?" her Uncle's sister answered.

"I wanted to ask you about Alicia," Lena said as she got into her car, sitting there. "I don't know if Nick told her that we saw her… woge?"

"No, he didn't mention it," Rosalee answered. "What did she look like?"

"Like you. So, we're not worried," Lena told her. "I'm just trying to wrap my head around that this happens outside of us too. That this is literally the world pretty much. And now it's weird to talk to her and be around her, knowing what I know but her not knowing that I know. You know?"

Rosalee's calm voice answered patiently, "I know. But I wouldn't suggest bringing it up or anything. I mean, if she told you she was wesen before you knew about wesen, you would think she was crazy."

"I know, but I know now," Lena said. "And while the sheer magnitude is overwhelming – I'm okay with the fact that wesen exist. I mean – hell, I am one. At least the half that we know about."

Rosalee sighed on the other end, "Look, it's not that easy to admit being wesen, even to wesen. I did everything I could to deny what I was. I hid it, hung out with all the wrong people. You have no idea how badly you just want to be normal."

"I do now," Lena said wryly.

Rosalee's voice sounded apologetic, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that."

"No, Rose, I get it," Lena said. "I understand that wesen like you and Monroe grew up with this and it was probably a bit more traumatic to go through that at puberty when life is hard enough as it is. I found out at 28 with an adult mindset. I thought I was just an orphan before. And for the record, I hung out with all the wrong people too. So, we can be the reformed wesen clique of Portland."

Rosalee chuckled a bit, "We should get matching jackets. You don't realize how different Nick and Hank are, that they don't judge or, more importantly, cut off our heads. Your acceptance of the truth we dropped on you is part of that too. But not everyone reacts so well. My advice is, don't breach the subject."

"It's more important to keep her safe and help her get her life back," Lena agreed. She leaned her head on the window. "I don't know, I guess I needed it to sink in and you're good at talking me through all this stuff."

"I'm glad I could help," Rosalee said, smile in her voice.

Lena was standing at the kitchen stove flipping bacon on the ban while eggs cooked on the next panel over. If she was confident in her pancake abilities, she would make those too. As it was, she had fruit pancake muffins in the kitchen. She was just taking those out to cool when Nick ambled down the stairs and started the coffee machine.

"What time did you get in last night?" she asked as she mixed cheese into the scramble eggs.

"Ugh, late," Nick groaned. "Hope I didn't wake you."

"'Course not," she said. "Sorry, I don't know how to make coffee. But I made tea. Did everything go all right with the safe house for that kid?"

"So far," Nick shrugged. "But we still have to get the guys that are after him."

"You will," she told him confidently.

Their conversation was interrupted when Alicia made her way into the kitchen. "Morning. Something smells good."

"That would be breakfast, so I hope so," Lena smiled lightly.

Alicia thanked Nick when he handed her a cup of fresh coffee. "I, uh... I found an apartment."

Nick smiled, "Oh, that's great."

She nodded a bit awkwardly, "Yeah. Yeah, it is. I just have to get my stuff together so I can probably take off tomorrow." She took a sip of her coffee before saying, "So, look, I just wanted to thank you both for everything that you've done, taking me in at a moment's notice and just being there for me. You both have been really good friends, so... I-I owe you a lot."

Nick waved her off, "Don't even think about it. You don't owe us anything, Alicia. What's important is that you're safe and you get a second chance now to be happy."

Alicia tearfully thanked him again and gave him a hug. Nick awkwardly hugged her back and then Lena declared that breakfast was done and to get themselves a plate. They had just started getting seated at the table when there was a knock at the door. Nick got up to answer it, seeing no one there.

"Do kids ding dong ditch in this neighborhood?" Lena asked jokingly just Nick turned to close the door.

But then a tall pale man with crazed eyes appeared in the empty doorway and smacked Nick over the head with something large, knocking him down to the ground.

Alicia stood from her seat, screaming, "Joe!"

"Alicia," the man – her husband – growled, racing to her and grabbing her arms in his grip.

She tried to wiggle out of his grasp, crying out, "No!"

"Hey!" Lena shouted, racing to the struggling couple and pulling Alicia out of his grasp.

He grabbed her and yelled in her face, "Stay out of it!" before tossing her into the coffee table.

Lena let out a sharp cry as her head smacked into the leg but got back up on her feet as quick as she could.

Alicia desperately tried to get away, but he chased her into the dining room before she could get to the door in the kitchen and grabbed her again, snarling into her tear-stained face, "You're coming back home where you belong."

Lena took a running start and prepared to jump on the man's back, but as she approached, some kind of unseen force shoved the couple back until Joe's back landed hard against the wall. Wind knocked out of him, his grip slacked around Alicia and she broke away from him. Once Alicia was clear, Lena carried on charging for him and lept into the air. She spun with her leg in the air, kicking him across the jaw without enough momentum that he spun onto the kitchen floor.

"Get the hell out of this house!" Lena yelled at him, making sure she was between Alicia and Joe at all times.

Joe lept up to his feet, cursing, "You bitch!" as his face morphed into a savage grey cat-like face with pointed ear coming out of the top of his head.

Lena curled her lip at him, recognizing his form from the book Nick had let her borrow. "A Klaustreich, I should have known." She kicked her foot up until it landed painfully in his groin. He groaned and bent over in pain. She grabbed his hair at the back of his head and held him there so she could bring her knee up into his face. With satisfaction, she heard his nose crack loudly. "You stay away from her!"

"Hey!" Nick called for attention, coming into the room with his gun out.

Joe was collapsed on the ground, still in wesen form, and saw Nick's eyes going completely black. He instantly held his hands up in surrender as he returned to his human form, eyes full of fear. "Oh, God, a Grimm. Oh, God, don't kill me. Please don't kill me."

"Well, I don't think it's me you have to worry about," Nick said, giving Lena a look. He had seen at least some of her fight moves.

Alicia instantly morphed into her fuchbau form, feeling terrified all over again. "A Grimm? No, no, no…" She started edging towards the exit, but Lena grabbed her arms.

"Hey, it's not like that, Nick's a cop and you know him," Lena told her gently. "He's not gonna hurt you. He hasn't hurt me and I'm like you. I swear to God, that you're safe. We defended you against Joe, right?"

Alicia morphed back to human, slowly nodded and letting Lena embrace her.

"I just wanted her to come back," Joe whined as Nick turned him onto his back and grabbed his arms to lift him up. "I didn't mean to hurt her."

"That's horse shit, you bastard," Lena cursed at him.

Nick cuffed Joe and began to take him out of the house, but Alicia stopped him. "Wait." She stood in front of her husband, finger in his face, "We are done. I never want to see you again."

Nick leered into Joe's face threateningly, "If she ever does see you again..."

"No, no, I swear, she'll never see me again," Joe eagerly agreed as Nick carted him out of the house.

Left in the kitchen to themselves, Alicia and Lena faced each other. The battered wife sniffled and let out a sigh, "Thank you…" She trailed off, studying Lena curiously now, "So… you know? About me, about wesen?"

"I was recently enlightened to the weirder things in this world," Lena answered diplomatically. She didn't want to unload all the complexities of what she was. "Like I said, I'm like you. My dad was a fuchsbau too. And Nick may be a Grimm, but he doesn't go around killing all wesen. We met through his wesen friends.

Alicia gave a shaky nod, "Is this… why Juliette left Nick?"

Lena didn't want to lie, but she didn't want to potentially damage Alicia and Juliette's friendship. "I think it was part of it. Not the existence of wesen, but a lot of things happened, including the memory stuff, and I think she just couldn't handle it anymore."

Alicia looked ready to burst into tears again. If Juliette left Nick because he was a Grimm, what did that mean for her since she was a Fuchsbau?

Sensing her thought process, Lena stepped up to hug the woman tightly. "Don't think like that. Juliette is still your friend. She doesn't know what you are, and you don't have to tell her. Now isn't the time to think about that kind of stuff. Now is the time to focus on starting your new life." She pulled away and brushed the tears off of her cheeks. "Now, why don't I help you pack and get everything in order? You have a new life to start."

Alicia nodded weakly and half-heartedly gestured to the mess around them, "What about all this?"

"I think I'll leave it in case they need photo evidence," Lena said. "I'll clean up myself after I speak with Nick. Don't worry."

Alicia accepted her side-hug and the two climbed their ways upstairs.

"Wait, so the brother and sister were… cheetahs?" Lena questioned as she and Nick set the table for a belated dinner.

"Yaguarate," Nick pronounced slowly for her. "But they look like anthropomorphic cheetahs."

"I would not have seen that coming," Lena said as they sat down. "But at least those gang members won't be able to hurt anyone else."

"Yeah, there's that," Nick agreed, taking in the spread of sushi Lena hand made for dinner tonight. "This looks delicious. And impressive. Where did you learn to roll sushi?"

Lena chuckled as she had to help him through using chop sticks. "I learned from my mother-in-law. It was a way to bond with her and show her that I would be able to keep her precious boy fed with tastes of home."

"Do you still talk?" Nick asked warily.

She nodded lightly, "Yeah, we're still close. She lost her husband too, so she knows how it is. She knows I had to leave Arizona and start over. She's got a group of other old ladies that get together for lunch and bowling every week so, at least she's not alone."

"Neither are you," Nick told here softly, putting his cop sticks down. "Alone, that is. I know we're all still new to you, but we're here for you."

She gave him a weak smile. She knew he meant it. But it was still hard to think of letting people in. After losing Kevin, and Freddy. But she knew she had to make an effort, "I know. And I'm grateful. That's partially why I made this for dinner. It became one of my specialties, and I wanted to do something to thank you for everything you've done for me since I came to town. It's not much, but it's a start at repaying you."

"You don't have to repay me," Nick countered genuinely. "You don't owe me anything just like Alicia doesn't owe us anything. You're a welcome addition here."

Lena let the subject die, taking a sip of her drink. "So… you've had an exciting day, huh? Abusive husband this morning, gang members this afternoon…"

Nick chuckled, "Yeah, I think we've both had a hell of a day. Speaking of, where did you learn to fight like that?"

Lena leaned back in her seat quietly. "Um, roughing it in the streets of Arizona, I had to pick up several things in order to survive."

"You were homeless?" Nick asked gently, leaning closer to give her his undivided attention.

She nodded, "I ran away from an abusive foster home when I was sixteen. I didn't want to risk being tossed back by a social worker who didn't believe me, so I dodged the system and lived on the streets. You have to learn how to fight people off when you're a girl all alone out there. Soon enough I was aged out so they couldn't put me back in the system, but I had no education, didn't finish high school, had a crappy dish washer job. That's how I met Kevin."

"Your husband?" Nick questioned. "How?"

She chuckled at the memory, "I was a dish washer in his dad's restaurant. He worked there part time while he went to school. He encouraged me to get my GED and figure out what I wanted to do with my life. And seeing some of the things I saw in the worse parts of the city, I knew I wanted to help heal people when they got hurt. Therefore, I became a paramedic."

"Wow," Nick commented. "He sounds like he really made a big difference for you."

Lena smiled tightly, eyes welling up, "Yeah, he did. Still, none of the fighting skills or medical knowledge helped when he died."

Nick was quiet for a moment, not wanting to pry.

But Lena knew what he wanted to ask. "It was a brain aneurism. Never knew it was there until it killed him instantly one night as he was getting ready to head into work." Lena began to cry softly, masking her grief-stricken face with one hand as she did. "I'm sorry…"

"Hey, don't be sorry," Nick whispered, scooting his chair closer so he could place his hand on her shoulder and take her limp hand in his. "You're still grieving. That's absolutely nothing to apologize for. Your husband sounds like he was a good man, good to you, and you loved each other a lot."

She sniffled as her tears slowed, hand still over her face.

"Look at me," he urged her, gently tugging her hand away from her eyes. She reluctantly looked into his. "We're all here for you. Me, Monroe, Rosalee. Not just for the wesen stuff. For all of it."

Slowly, Lena smiled thankfully, and weakly hugged him. "Thank you, Nick."

"No need to thank me," he responded as he pulled away and sat back in his seat.

Lena then took his hand, "I need you to promise me something then."

"What is it?" Nick asked.

"You need to let me know if something changes with your… condition," she told him, referencing how becoming a zombie had changed him as a man and a Grimm. "If something else new happens, or it gets worse. Whatever it is. I don't know what I could do about it, but I want the chance to try and help you too. I consider you a friend now and I can't imagine running the risk of getting close to all these new people just for one of you to die on me too."

Nick didn't think that it would be necessary. He felt fine. But he understood her concerns and fears and wanted to ease them for her. So, he squeezed her hand and said, "Of course. I promise."

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