CHAPTER 2 – The First Distortion(2)

For the second time for the night, Adalind woke up with a splitting headache. Only that this time, where she awoke was within a moving car. She couldn't understand why she suddenly fallen unconscious. Under her hysterical state, sleeping would be the last thing that would register in her body. But then, she remembered her future son, Kelly, pressing her forehead with his finger and everything spun to nothingness.

'Did he just knock me out?'

"Hey, welcome back," Kelly greeted when he noticed her rousing awake.

"What? What happened?" Adalind blinked repeatedly, trying to straighten her focus then glared at Kelly when she did. "What did you do?"

"Sorry about that. It was Mom's idea. Apparently, she doesn't trust you with her son. She said you're the most unstable period of her life."

"My future self thinks I'm that?"

"She does not think, she knows. She used to be you, remember?" He reminded. "Anyway, we're here." He said as the car neared a very beautiful mansion.

Adalind gaped, "This is my house?"

"Pretty neat, eh? Dad built it with you in mind. From inside to out, he filled it all the things you loved."

'He isn't kidding' Adalind thought, her eyes trembling with emotions. She recognized the look of this mansion. As a little girl dreaming that she's a princess, the palace in her dream looked exactly like this. It's her dream house and her future husband had fulfilled it with flying colors.

"Wow," she uttered under breath.

"And speaking of Dad," Kelly suddenly said when on their way to the garage, they passed a Prius parked near the front door. "He's already here. At least one of him is."

The comment bewildered Adalind. "What are you talking about?"

"You'll find out soon." He said and the car entered the garage. And true to what he said, the garage was occupied with four more cars, two in which the models he said she owned. The remaining two on the other hand was a 1967 Alvis convertible and an Impala. Both are classic cars. "The Alvis is Diana's," Kelly said when he saw her eyeing curiously at them as they exit of the car. "No one is allowed to use it but her. The Impala is mine. I don't want to use it often too."

"Who's Diana?"

"Your eldest and my know it all sister," he said. "She's currently studying in England but will be home tonight for vacation. Dad is fetching her right now at the airport. Though I assume her flight got delayed considering that they should have been home a couple of hours ago."

Adalind absorbed the new information. Aside from a son, there's also Diana, a daughter.

"Over here now," he said gesturing to the door. "Mom is waiting." But suddenly, when they were at the door, Kelly stopped and turned to her. "Though…I might have to ask you one thing. When we get there, would you promise to stay calm? I mean, I promise, everything will be okay."

Adalind glared. Her mind is now plagued with more misgivings. They're hiding something. Kelly and her future-self. She had her suspicions way back in the car when future Adalind shifted from videocall and talked to Kelly especially when it turns out that one of the matters they talked about was having her knocked out for the rest of the drive. "Alright, I'd had enough. What's going on?" Adalind snapped and demanded.

"The rest of the answer you want is in there. It's not my story to tell, so I'm not gonna tell you what I and everyone else know in this timeline." Kelly replied. "But, I can at least say this. 20 years had passed since that night in the Bremen Ruins and a lot of things happened. Things that you might never consider even in your wildest dream back then."

'And it's so hard to believe that all of them will be this uneasy? Just what kind of thing is it?'

"So, I want you to promise me. Whatever you will see in there, you will remain calm and trust me until we explain everything. Can you do that?"

"Alright," she said after a few moment of silence. "I promise. Now, show me whatever the hell it is."

"This way please."

The room next to the garage was a library which also doubles as a Hexenbeist workshop. It's huge in space so it had taken them quite a bit to reach to the other end where the door leading to the living room, where Kelly said is where her future-self is waiting, is located.

There was a commotion erupting from the other side upon reaching it. She could hear a familiar voice of a man shouting hostilely.

Kelly heard it too and remarked. "Good timing. They're just starting."

Adalind could not understand it but at that moment, she suddenly became terrified to see what's on the other side of the door.

Then, Kelly opened the door.

The moment of the unveiling, Adalind felt like the universe had taken form and punched her in the gut. Because what was revealed on the other side of the door was her future self, standing near the fireplace. Now that she'd seen her in person, she can confidently confirmed that she'd mellowed during the past decades. She's at peace and above all, she's truly happy.

Next was a middle-aged woman whom she could recognize but could not pinpoint whom she is exactly. And lastly, the man she ran away from just earlier this night, the man she loathed and the man who had taken everything from her.

It's none other than the Grimm, Nick Burkhardt himself.

However, seeing him again and her hatred towards him wasn't actually what struck her towards the world of utter disbelief but what the middle aged woman said as she stopped him from attacking her future-self.

"Because she's your wife!"


"What!?" Nick exclaimed, and he wasn't alone. Behind him, a familiar feminine voice had also exclaimed the same word.

Turning around, she saw another Adalind. However, this Adalind was more familiar to him. She had the same clothing and appearance as the Adalind he'd just fought earlier in the Bremen Ruins. Far from the Adalind near the fireplace who is a little older and has a calmer demeanor than her.

However, as of now, he paid her no mind to her as well as to the teenage boy standing beside her. His attention immediately returned to Rosalee. "What kind of nonsense are you talking about? There's no way I'm…" he was about to say, glancing back to the Older Adalind but his voice trailed off when his gaze landed on the frames of pictures lined neatly above the fireplace.

On the first frame, there's him, suited in a tux and beside him in a white wedding dress is none other than Adalind. The next frames were pictures of two children. A blonde girl who looked a lot like Adalind and young boy who's nearly a carbon copy of him when he was still a kid. Then, on the succeeding frames were either the two of them with those kids or just the two of them.

Nick stilled, his entire body frozen. He gaped and nearly ceased breathing. "No. This can't be." He stared at the Older Adalind again and then back to the younger one behind him who's currently carrying the same shock expression as he is. But this time, however, Nick gave attention to the teenage boy standing beside her. This boy is without doubt the same boy in the pictures above the fireplace.

"Kelly," the Older Adalind called to the boy.

'Kelly.' The name echoed in Nick's mind. The name of his mother.

"Hey Mom," Kelly crossed the room, passing him and Rosalee. The Older Adalind then kissed and hugged him.

"Are you okay?" she asked, cupping his face lovingly. "Weren't she any trouble?"

"She's cool, Mom." Kelly reassured her. "She's a bit of what you feared though."

"It must have been hard for you. Go get some rest." She told him. "You probably just have to see Diana tomorrow."

"You sure?" Kelly challenged. "I mean, are you sure," he said again, glancing momentarily to them this time. "My sister isn't actually the biggest priority right now."

"Your Aunt Rosalee and I can handle this," she assured him. "You're tired. I know you're tired. So go get some rest now."

"Alright," Kelly nodded, hugging his mother once more. He also say goodnight to Rosalee and then lastly, he gazed back and forth between him and Adalind with meaningful eyes but said nothing else except goodnight.

Finally, he smiled shyly and left.

"Nick," the Older Adalind started after Kelly left. "I know this is a lot to process. Believe me, I can understand. That year was the worst for us."

Nick didn't reply. He continue to remain there, silent, unmoved. He could hear all of Older Adalind's words but he could not find a proper means to respond. After all, it is not every day that a man will find out that the woman he loathed the most was also the woman meant for him.

Finally, after the long silence, Nick finally spoke. "How?"

"It's not that hard to love you," was her simple answer.

"How about me?" How did she make him love her? How did his future-self let go of Juliette and choose her after all the things she'd done?

"That…ummm…" She wanted to answer but her expression conveys that though she wanted to, she does not know where to begin. It's something very, very, very complicated, no doubt. The fact that they ended up together despite their violent history was a hint enough that the circumstances of their relationship and marriage is an intersection of countless complexities.

By then, Rosalee intervened. "I don't think she's fit to answer all of that. Let's wait until Nick gets home. He can clarify things a lot better for you."

The Nick Burkhardt of this timeline. His future self. Nick then started to wonder what kind of a person he'd become. He can determine through those pictures above that fireplace that if Adalind had mellowed over the years, he had roughened round the edges. The Nick he saw in those pictures despite being happy is a nearly a complete opposite of what he currently is. In simpler words, if the current him is 99% cop and 1% Grimm, the Nick Burkhardt of this timeline is nearly a 120% Grimm.

The Older Adalind and Rosalee then guided them to rest on the couch.

"You must be hungry," the Older Adalind said to him and Adalind. "I'll go get something to eat."

"Can I help?" Rosalee volunteered.

"Sure," Older Adalind replied after some hesitation and they both head towards the kitchen, leaving only him and Adalind behind.

And the entire time, if they weren't staring questioningly to one another, their gazes would lock onto the pictures above the fireplace. Nick doesn't have to guess what Adalind might be thinking. It's without doubt just the same as his.

"How can it be you?" Finally, she could no longer stand the tension and broke the silence. "What the hell were my future-self thinking marrying a Grimm?"

"What the hell were my future-self thinking marrying a Wesen. And not just any Wesen but the Hexenbeist who nearly killed my Aunt and my partner?" Nick growled back.

They glared at each other but then stared at the pictures above the fireplace once again afterwards. As if it's enticing them.

Nick sighed. "I hate you."

"The feeling is mutual," Adalind angrily agreed.

"Then why is it the 'us' of this time looked so happy?"


"You think it's really fine to leave those two alone?" Adalind asked Rosalee, glancing worriedly from time to time to where they left her and her husband's younger selves as the two of them prepare some Bolognese.

She doesn't know what got into her that she agreed to Rosalee's gesture of letting those two alone with each other. The Nick and Adalind of 2031 are those that can't keep their hands from each other but those two they left in the living room are the ones who are disgusted with one another. Leaving them alone especially with what was just thrown at them spelled bad idea.

"They needed to set in what they'd just know," Rosalee explained. "Alone time is a good first step."

"But they hated each other," Adalind argued.

"And a few years afterwards, will be married with kids," Rosalee retorted. "They might not accept it for now but it's enough to keep them away from doing anything impulsive."

But then…BOOM!

A loud explosive sound boomed from the living room.

They both froze.

"Or I should be stand corrected," Rosalee face paled.

"Oh my god!" Adalind exclaimed, equally panicked. And the two of them run back to the living room with haste.


"Then why is it the 'us' of this time looked so happy?" Nick Burkhardt said. Her worst enemy. The Grimm. The man she hated the most. The one who took everything from her. And now, the man that in the future had promised and given her everything.

The words of Kelly still echoed in her head. This house. Her life. The life they had in this timeline. From his words, she could tell that his father, her husband, the Nick Burkhardt of this time, loved her so much.

It's overwhelming. For the first time in her life, someone had actually loved her to that extent. Something that she never had from her parents…from Sean. Despite the lengths and sacrifices she's willing to go through to make them happy. However, that love was from the most unlikely person. Nick Burkhardt. Who does not only hate her to the bones but is also a Grimm, the natural predator of their kind. There've been stories of Wesens having relationships with Grimms but never once had those stories ended up with marriage and a 'happily ever after'. What mostly happen is that their innate differences gets the better of them eventually and the relationship never worked. It even ends with carnage and violence.

Adalind didn't reply immediately. Instead, she stood off the couch and stand close to the pictures. She first touched the picture of the young girl. Her name is Diana. Her eldest. She looked a lot like her, only that she had that smile she never express when she was about her age. The same is true with her son. Kelly.

And through those, Adalind could tell that whatever she never had, the moment she'd become a mother, her future-self guaranteed that her daughter, both her children, will never experience the shortfalls she'd gone through.

"Something worked along the way, I guess," she finally said.

"Wish someone could tell me now what the hell is it," Nick said as he too stood before the fireplace, giving the framed pictures a closer look.

Adalind then strode a step back to return to couch but then, something tripped her and she landed butt-first to the floor. "Ow!"

"Hey," Nick motioned to aid but before he could finish his second step…

"Addie, we're home!" The door connected to the library suddenly opened, bringing about two people.

"Kelly, we're ba…" One of them was a blonde young woman no older than 20. She was calling for Kelly but her words trailed off when she saw them.

The same also happened to the man the blonde young woman was with. When he saw them, his entire body went still. He glanced back and forth between her and Nick before his eyes burned with murderous intent.

And the identity of this man? Adalind identified him to be none other than Nick Burkhardt himself. The Nick Burkhardt of this time to be more accurate.

Seeing them, without a word, he immediately motioned to pull a gun. Realizing that he doesn't have any, he grabbed the space in front of him and a wooden staff appeared out of nowhere.

Adalind's eyes widened in surprise. Since when did Grimms learned to use magic?

Then immediately afterwards, the Nick of this timeline thrust the wooden staff and a shockwave was fired towards them. However, instead of attacking them both or just her, as she would expect from the Grimm who is totally pissed over her. The shockwave was solely directed to the other Nick Burkhardt.

BOOM!

He flung backward, severely hitting the wall.


"Diana, go get your Mom." Her Dad ordered Diana.

"Mom!" The order was unnecessary though. Diana was already on her way to her mother's side. "Are you alright?" She asked but when she touched her, she suddenly felt something amiss. Her expression stiffened. "What in the…? You're not…"

"Nick stop!" By then, the voice of her real mother boomed from the direction of the kitchen. She was with Aunt Rosalee and they were rushing to stop her stepfather from killing the other guy who looked exactly like him.

"Adalind?" Her Dad frowned. While still holding his lookalike in air, he glanced back and forth between her Mom and the Adalind beside her. "What's going on?"

Ten minutes later, after her Dad healed the other Nick from broken bones and probably brought him back to life as well given the severity of the impact he endured, her Mom and her Aunt Rosalee explained what happened and who these lookalikes of her parents truly are.

"You're saying that they're from 2011? The night in the Bremen Ruins?" Her Dad said to Rosalee. When Rosalee nodded, his expression instantly turned ugly. "And you brought HIM to my house!? Are you out of your mind!?"

This degree of anger. Diana rarely sees it but when it does, it scares her.

"He needed help."

"And you also knew what it was back then! He could have hurt Adalind!"

"Nick Nick, calm down," her Mom finally interjected while Rosalee mumbled 'sorry' repeatedly. "Nothing happened, alright. Everything turns out fine."

Her Mom's hands on his shoulders and hearing her soft reassurance, only then did he calm down. He even apologized to Rosalee for raising his voice. Meanwhile, the younger versions of her parents both carried an expression of utter disbelief especially the younger version of her Dad. She heard the stories but the tales are nothing compared to the real stuff. So it was actually that bad.

"So what now?" Her dad breathed deeply.

"Lots had happened. It's late too." Her Mom said. "Everyone is obviously tired. Let's start things again tomorrow." Then turning to their younger versions, "Would that be okay for you two?"

"Yeah." "Oh sure." They both nodded.

"How about you Rosalee? I thought Monroe is on his way here?"

"I missed two of his calls but he texted too." She said, currently checking on her phone. "The triplets took the jeep again."

Her Mom groaned. "You probably should head home."

Aunt Rosalee nodded. "I'll bring Monroe along tomorrow. We'll figure this out."

"The two of you must be tired," her Mom said to her and her Dad after Rosalee left. "I'll take care of the rest here. You two go ahead and rest." Then she said to her. "Diana, your luggages?"

"In the car but let's deal with that tomorrow," she replied. "And you go with Dad. I'll take it from here."

"No Diana, you just flew for hours…"

"No!" She cut her off. "I insist." She tried to hide it but her Mom looked extremely exhausted. Compared to what she'd gone through these past hours, meeting the remnants of her and her husband's old selves and the complications wrapped along with it, her jetlag is nothing. At the same time, Diana is curious to know more regarding the younger version of her parents. She heard the stories but they're already so lovey-dovey when she came around so she doesn't have much insight. Now's the chance to have that.


"So, you two are from that time when those two lovebirds still hated each other?"

"You can put it like that." Adalind replied with a complicated expression especially when Diana used the term lovebirds to describe her and Nick's versions in this timeline.

"I heard the stories but I always doubted its validity. The Adalind and Nick I know would kill anyone who will try to hurt the other. Makes it hard for me to imagine that once upon a time, you two were actually aiming at each other's necks."

"Guess a lot things happened a few years after that night," Adalind said and then asked. "By the way," she started, glancing nervously at Nick. "How long have the two of us been married?"

Nick glanced her a frown but then focused immediately back to Diana, eager as well to hear the answer.

"Together for 16, been married for 15."


"16 years?" Nick immediately made a calculation in his head.

4 years, even less from the time where they're from, he and Adalind will have a romantic relationship, live together, and then a year later, they got married. Wow. Just a year together and they already tie the knot. Makes him think about her current relationship with Juliette. Even if they will broke up next month or next year because Adalind is the one meant for him, they still have nearly 4 years of intimacy and love and yet despite of that when he proposed, she turn him down. Yes, he's hiding stuffs from her and that stops her from saying 'Yes'. But, if their love for each other, if her love for him is as strong as they believed it is, she would have said 'Yes' regardless of the uncertainties. But she didn't. The uncertainties beat her.

Then, the same circumstances had applies too to Adalind four years later from the time they're from. One year. They were together for one year. Several years shorter than what he had with Juliette. And same with her, she had a reason to say 'No'. No, she had a lot of reasons to say 'No'. The circumstances of how they met were through death and violence and all the weirdness this world has to offer. Not including yet the fact that they tried to kill each other and he had the feeling that in the continued timeline from that night at the ruins, it won't be the last time that they would.

And yet…it worked? All those things that could have kept them apart were voided and nulled and they loved each other? It sounded like a sick joke.

"Alright, you two will be staying here." Diana suddenly said, interrupting him from his thoughts. She stopped in front of a double door room. "Rest well."

"Whoa, what do you mean 'you two'?" Adalind complained. "There's a lot or spare rooms in this house. Why do we have to sleep in the same room?"

Nick had the same thoughts.

"You have to tolerate being together if you want to tolerate seeing my parents together tomorrow or the day after that if you two are still around." Diana argued. "I'm telling you, my parents are not actually the shy type in showing their affections," she said while her eyebrows wiggled. "If you know what I mean."

"I can't sleep with him in the same room!" Adalind insisted.

"Me either!"

"Goodnight." With playful smile, Diana ignored their complaints and started to leave. "And don't bother getting into the other rooms. They're locked."

"Diana!?" Their pleas fallen into deaf ears. Diana's figure eventually disappeared, leaving only the two of them.

"Oh screw this!" Adalind suddenly exclaimed after a frustrated silence. "I don't care anymore! I'm tired, I stink, I want to sleep already!"

She then opened the room's door and stomped herself in. Nick followed after her, sighing defeatedly in his heart. She might be his future wife but the 'them' with that sort of relationship is not yet the current them. The current 'them' can't still stand being together. Still, it's not a bad idea to at least start somewhere like spending the night inside the same room.