A Grimm Comes to Town

by wittyretort77

An older, more experienced and more deadly Grimm comes to Portland. This Grimm doesn't share Nick Burkhardt's moral compass. Nick has to find a way to stop him from hurting more Wesen, all while dealing with the aftermath of the spellwork Adalind had done in year's past leaving him all but incapacitated. This story takes place after the series finale.

4. A Grimm Comes to Town Part 4

Chapter 13

Throughout the ride back to the loft, Nick could hear everything around him in painful detail. He could hear the pistons of the engine firing off, the tires rubbing against the road, the engines and tires of passing cars. He could sometimes make out the words of the pedestrians they passed who were talking to someone or even just muttering to themselves.

When they made it back to the loft, closed the garage door and made it up the freight elevator Nick sighed with relief. He could still hear a great deal, like the beating hearts of Rosalee and Monroe and their unsteady breathing. Nick couldn't look at them, he had to avert his eyes from every nearly everything. He went around the loft shutting down or dimming every light he could and sliding the steel coverings over the windows closed as Monroe helped Rosalee place Adalind on Nick's bed.

Nick then sacrificed a bit of his dignity as he began stripping off the suit he was wearing. The cloth rubbing against his skin was simply becoming too painful. He could feel every thread. He apologized to Monroe and Rosalee as he attempted to explain that it felt like all of his senses had been turned up to eleven, as well as the intense pain he felt when he looked at their faces and saw the glowing Wesen appearance that hovered over their bodies like an aura.

Monroe began to ask, "Do you have any..."

But Nick interrupted and shushed him. He used his hand to gesture to keep his voice as low as he could.

Rosalee said in a low whisper, "But Nick, when you talk, it's a normal speaking voice. So, you can hear yourself just fine?"

Nick nodded and said, "I can't hear my own heart beating, but I can hear yours and Monroe's." Then it occurred to him, "I also can't hear Adalind's." He rushed over to her to check her pulse. Everything appeared to be normal. He just couldn't hear her the same way he could hear everything else. He said, "She's fine. Heart is beating, she appears to be breathing normally but, obviously, she's still stuck in her Woge state."

Monroe asked what he had intended to ask a moment before but this time in a low whisper, "Nick, do you have any idea what happened?"

He shook his head, "Have either of you ever seen anything like that or even heard of anything like that."

They both shook their heads, but Nick still couldn't look directly at them so Rosalee whispered, "No."

Nick, standing in nothing but his boxer shorts, got off the bed and said, "At least out here, it's pretty quiet. I can hear the birds outside and some cars in the distance, but otherwise... quiet." Then the motor to the refrigerator kicked on and to Nick it sounded like a jackhammer. A jackhammer that was outside and thankfully not next his ears, but loud as a jackhammer nonetheless. He covered his ears and winced.

Monroe and Rosalee didn't even notice the refrigerator as they'd learned to ignore such noises as most people have done. They asked him as quietly as they could what was wrong and Nick, with his ears still covered, nodded his head in the direction of the noise and they both turned to look behind them and then looked at each other in puzzlement and whispered in near unison, "The refrigerator?"

Nick nodded. He paced the room. Rosalee and Monroe stood quietly and as motionless as they could. He stopped, took his hands from his ears and said, "We need Eve. She can go through Adalind's Hexenbiest books at the trailer." Adalind hadn't inherited many things of value from her mother, a few Hexenbiest spell books, however, had been among the things that had, so far, been the most useful. But, they required a Hexenbiest to open them and since Adalind was unconscious that left Eve as the only available person that could look through them.

Nick had a sudden realization and accidentally looked up at Monroe and Rosalee before he covered his eyes from the pain. He asked, "Where's Kelly?"

Monroe whispered, "He's fine, Nick. Trubel went to our house and Bud is bringing the triplets and Kelly there as soon as he can. And she also grabbed the Staff and put it in your SUV."

Nick felt foolish for asking about Kelly. He knew Kelly was with Bud. He knew that Kelly would be safe with Bud and his family. The stress was starting to get to him, making him feel flustered.

He nodded and confirmed, "Diana got picked up by Renard?"

Rosalee was really starting to get worried about Nick and Adalind. She looked at Monroe and from her facial expression Monroe could see that she was lost as to what to do next. He put his arm around her and replied to Nick in a quiet whisper, "Wu texted us that Renard has Kelly."

Nick shouted, "Renard's mother! She's a Hexenbiest, too. Can one of you reach out to him and have him reach out to her to see if she has any idea what the hell happened today and if Adalind will be okay?" He lowered his voice, resigning himself to his situation as his mind had some time to process what had happened less than an hour ago. He said, "I'm genuinely afraid for Adalind right now. I don't know why she won't wake up and why she's stuck in her Woge and what kind of effect that can have on her. I'm sorry to put all this on you guys, I really am, but I essentially can't function right now. Maybe with time..."

He left the thought unfinished. Rosalee spoke as low as she could as she said, "Nick, we'll do everything we can to figure this out. We'll have Trubel try to track down Eve and we'll reach out to Renard and see if he can get his mother to help."

Monroe stressed, "And don't you worry about Kelly. Between us and Trubel and maybe even Bud, we'll look after him, keep him safe and well fed and all that stuff. We got you covered."

Nick shook his head. He felt truly defeated. Until his senses returned to normal he could be stuck in his loft indefinitely. Then, as if the gods were listening to his thoughts, the universe decided to add one more problem to his list. His stomach growled.

He said, "Oh my god, what am I even going to be able to eat?"

Rosalee and Monroe volunteered to go get Nick a pizza. Nick nodded and felt a twinge of guilt from relying on his friends for this kind of help.

---

Sean Renard had rushed to pick up his daughter, Diana. When he arrived, she appeared to be alert and unharmed, with the exception of the burn mark on the front of her dress, she was fine. He took her to his home, got her changed into regular clothes and offered to make her some dinner. Wu had explained what had transpired but from what Renard could gather, no one understood why it happened or what the long term effects are.

He decided to make as simple a meal as possible, some comfort food, grilled cheese and tomato soup. Diana got out her coloring books and colored pencils and sat at the table while Renard prepared dinner. However, she didn't actually color anything. She simply stared at the pencils.

As Renard buttered the bread he asked, "Sweetie, is something wrong?"

In her typical, straight forward way she answered, "Everything feels hollow."

Renard was unsure what that meant and said as much.

Diana looked around the room and said, "It feels empty, like there's nothing there."

Renard still didn't understand what that meant but he took it in stride this time and said, "Well sweetie, can you describe how things normally feel?"

She replied, "I don't know. I just feel what's around me. Like these pencils." She pointed at the colored pencils on the table, "Watch."

Renard stopped preparing dinner and walked over to the table to see what Diana was referring to, but all he saw were a handful of different colored pencils on the table. He was just about to say something when he noticed one of them move, but only a hair. If he'd have blinked he would have missed it. Renard is a Zauberbiest. A male version of a Hexenbiest, but only half of one. He never truly accepted that side of himself, not in any way that mattered. But he was beginning to understand what Diana meant. She can't reach out to move things with her mind.

He asked the obvious question, "Did everything begin to feel hollow after what happened at the wedding?"

She nodded and said, "Uh-Huh"

Renard nodded back in understanding. Whatever happened appears to have sapped Diana of the vast majority of her abilities. Whether it was permanent or not didn't worry Renard, so much as whether this would have any lasting harm on her health in any way.

He said, "Sweetie, I'm sorry that everything feels hollow to you right now. Hopefully, it's not permanent. How do you feel otherwise? Any pain? Headaches? Anything?"

When she answered, it was with a note of sadness, "No."

It was obvious to Renard that Diana didn't like the hollow feeling. He returned to the stove to continue making dinner when she asked, "Is mommy okay?"

Renard put his knife back down and said, "You know, I was going to check on her after dinner, but I think I'll do it now. I'll be back in a few minutes."

It was true he was going to check on Nick and Adalind, but first he was going to call his mother. So far as he knew, this was a completely unknown phenomenon, but maybe she knew something.

---

It took a couple hours to get all the wedding guests out of the hotel, mostly because many of them had gathered together to talk about what had just transpired. Hank stayed behind and did his best to keep everyone calm and to provide updates to them about Nick and Adalind's health. A lot of them had only known Nick through Bud, Monroe and, to a lesser extent, Rosalee. Many of them, after they'd finished discussing what they'd witnessed with their friends, left and went home. Some, however, refused to leave until they were sure Nick and Adalind were going to be okay.

He wasn't surprised to see Sam was among them, but so was his good friend, Jarold Kampfer and his daughter Carly. The others he wasn't sure of. He believed them to be friends of Bud's, but wasn't sure. The person who stuck around that bothered him though was Janelle. He was hoping to call or text her later and make arrangements to meet, but it was clear that at some point after she cleared the wedding hall, she decided to stick around in the hotel lobby.

It was made worse by the whispered discussions that Janelle was being excluded from. She sat in a hotel chair with her arms crossing her chest clearly disgruntled at being left out. When finally, it appeared everyone was all talked out and Hank had promised to text many of them with whatever important updates that may come up, he decided it was time to approach Janelle and try to smooth things over with her.

As he began to walk over to her, their eyes met, but before he could make it to near talking distance he was approached once again by his friend Jarold and his daughter.

Jarold said, "Hank, we have to go. Carly doesn't want to leave, but we can't stay here all night. You'll text us once you hear something, right? Carly and I are really worried about Nick."

Carly cut in, "Hank, if you get to talk to him, please let him know we're thinking about him."

Hank nodded and said, "I'm sure he'll be happy to hear that. Right now, all I know is that he's currently resting. Once I know more, I'll let everyone know."

They accepted his response and went on their way. Again, he made to approach Janelle, however this time she was no longer looking in his direction. The look of irritation on her face was as clear as day and he was at a loss as to how to put her mind at ease.

When Sam approached him for an update he felt two conflicting emotions, one of being irritated at another interruption and another at being relieved because it was possible Sam could actually help him out.

He did his best to explain to Sam that Janelle knew next to nothing about Wesen but had experienced a bizarre event with a Mishipeshu. Something Sam had never heard of, as it's technically not Wesen. Hank hoped that perhaps with Janelle's experience with the Mishipeshu, it wouldn't be too far gone to talk to her about Wesen and everything else that came along with it.

Sam, however, was very reluctant. "No, Hank. I'm sorry. You know I like you and I respect you and I would do a lot for you and especially Nick. But you know we can't tell her about Wesen."

Hank nodded but his frustration was evident, so he counter offered, "How about we kinda feel her out. We don't just come out and say it. We'll start off vague and see how receptive she is and go from there? Just look at her. She wants an explanation and I don't think she's going to leave until she gets something solid. Plus, she's a good cop, and, so far as I know, a good person."

Hank leaned in conspiratorially as he added, "There's another problem, too. We don't know how long Nick will be recovering. A day. A week. A month. No idea. If that Grimm is in Portland or the surrounding regions, we're going to need all the help we can get."

Whatever reservations Sam had up until that point finally melted away. She sighed a deep sigh and literally threw her hands up as she relented, "Fine! But we do it how you said, feel her out. A gradual introduction and if it appears things are going bad, we simply call it off. Deal?"

Hank extended his hand out and Sam shook it.

---

Sam and Hank approached Janelle together and offered to explain things to her, but first they'd need to find a secluded place to talk. They were all still dressed in the attire they'd worn for the wedding, though Hank had removed his tie and loosened his collar. They felt they would stand out like a sore thumb no matter where they went. What mattered most was that no one was in ear shot of anything they wanted to discuss. Not to mention, out of sight, in case Janelle wanted visual proof and Sam was willing to put aside her apprehension and go full Woge. It was decided they'd all go back to Hank's apartment and they'd grab a bite to eat.

When they arrived, the first thing Hank did was look in the refrigerator for his nightly routine of disappointment at it being nearly empty. The second thing he did was ask the girls what they wanted on their pizza before he placed an order for delivery.

Hank assumed this conversation was either going to be very quick or very long depending on Janelle's reactions. He hung his blazer up but otherwise stayed in his wedding attire as they all sat down at his kitchen table. He hated to be a stickler, but Sam was technically not of age quite yet and couldn't partake in what he had left of beer, so she had to make do with water until the food and soda was delivered.

Janelle had been cordial as they met at his apartment, but at the moment she was staring daggers at him as she waited for him to finally explain what was going on. Hank placed his elbows on the table, leaned forward and said, "Janelle, I'm sorry I had to keep you in the dark for as long as I have, but a conversation like this, it's tough to know where to begin. You know?"

Janelle wasn't happy and said, "No, I don't know. Maybe start at the beginning?"

Hank winced and said, "I'm not sure there is a beginning. So, let's start with what you already know. You know that Nick and I, mainly Nick if I'm being honest, kind of specializes in those," he used finger quotes for emphasis, "'weird cases.' You've worked a couple of them with us. Like, that night we had to deal with the Mishipeshu. You know that you can't just go around telling everyone that you saw something like that, right? Nick and I have a lot of cases like that. We..."

Janelle put a hand up to stop him talking and said, "I don't want to sound rude, but if all the secrecy... why is she here?" She pointed to Sam who had been sitting at the table silently watching Hank awkwardly make his way through a tough conversation. She didn't react to the question, as she'd been expecting it.

Hank put his hands together, took a deep breath and the words came to him, "As a matter of fact, Sam is part of a weird case Nick and I were working on not long ago. She doesn't like to talk about it because she's still mourning the loss of her brother. But, she's been kind enough to agree to be here and help talk to you about this."

When Janelle heard that Sam's brother had died recently, the edge in her voice softened quite a bit. She extended her hand across the table towards Sam and said, "I'm so sorry to hear about your brother."

The word got caught in her throat a bit as Sam replied, "Thanks."

Hank continued, "See, I said before that Nick was more the expert on weird cases because he has a kind of genetic condition that most of his family members have had that give him a kind of sixth sense." He paused. He was beginning to feel guilty about telling Janelle about Nick without Nick's permission. Hank was pretty certain that Nick would forgive him this minor trespass, so he took a breath and was about to continue when Janelle interrupted.

She asked, "Is he psychic?"

Hank shook his head, "No. He can see things that you and I can't. Like, the Mishipeshu was actually more the exception than the rule. Because we could all see that. Normally, I can't see it. Only people with Nick's condition can see it... and... someone with that same condition... killed Sam's brother."

Janelle was used to doing interrogations, it took all she had to turn off that part of herself and just listen. But she couldn't help herself to ask, "Is there a name for his condition?"

Sam began to answer, "We call him a..."

Hank put a hand up in front of her to stop her from saying anything further. Janelle gave him a foul look. Hank said, "First, Janelle, understand that we're putting a lot of trust in you right now and I'm doing this without asking Nick first. I'm not comfortable doing that, but I think it needs to be done in this case. Maybe it doesn't need to be asked, but for Nick's sake I'm going to ask anyway. Can we trust you to not spread what we're telling you to anyone else? The vast majority of people couldn't handle it. I know I wasn't ready. It took me a while to come to terms with it."

Janelle countered, "How can I promise to not tell anyone something that you're saying I may not be able to handle myself?"

Hank shrugged, "If you decide you can't commit, you can walk out the door, no harm, no foul, no judgment and no hard feelings."

Before Hank finished his sentence, Janelle was already nodding her head, "Fine, Fine. I promise that Nick's secret is safe with me. I get what you're saying. Nick is a good guy and I won't betray his trust or yours. But I need real answers. I'm tired of getting just a portion of the story."

Hank nodded at Sam and she tried again, "We call him, and people like him, 'Grimms.'"

Janelle, again, her experience as an interrogator getting the better of her, said, "Wait, who's 'we'?"

Hank pointed at Sam and said, "She is that specific type of person that Nick can see through... to her..." He struggled with the best term to use here, "Hidden nature?" He looked at Sam for approval. She shrugged and nodded as if to say, 'not exactly, but hey, whatever.' Hank continued, "And those people who Nick can see, call him a Grimm."

Janelle was not angry, but she also felt just as frustrated as she did when she entered Hank's home, she couldn't help but say, "Every answer you give me, I just end up with more questions."

Hank nodded, "Right, this is what I mean by not knowing where to start. So, anyway, Nick, being a Grimm, has this ability to see certain people's hidden nature, but he also has a kind of genetic predisposition to fight and defend himself against those...people."

Sam shook her head and corrected Hank, "Kill. Our people are taught to fear Grimms our whole lives because they will kill us. And that's what that bastard Grimm did to my brother. Killed him, just because."

For the first time since her brother's death, Sam became angry thinking about the Grimm. So angry, that she slapped her hand on the table and she Woged. Hank and Janelle, of course, had no idea she'd Woged. Sam shook her head to gather her thoughts and removed her Woge.

Janelle and Hank let a moment pass for Sam to process her feelings. They could see she was struggling with her emotions. Janelle put a hand on her shoulder and asked, "This is what Nick was helping you with? A Grimm protecting you from another Grimm?"

Sam couldn't bring herself to speak so she just nodded her head and sniffed back some tears.

Janelle sat back and asked, "Can we back up a bit to what you said about the 'genetic predisposition' thing?"

Hank nodded halfheartedly as he said, "That's just as hard to explain as anything else about this. Nick heals a little faster than most people. He can hear better than most. Funny thing though, when we work out together, I out press him with the weights every time. But when he's actually fighting? He's far stronger than most people. I don't know if it's adrenaline or some mystical thing. But somehow, he can become faster and stronger than what makes sense for a guy his size."

Hank was about to continue but it was then that the pizza he'd ordered arrived and they all took a break. Janelle was able to eat and not talk for a few minutes. Hank hoped she was processing what he'd told her so far but also feared she was making a mental list of new questions to ask him.

After they'd both eaten a couple slices, Janelle brought up the wedding, "So, all those people that Nick, 'helped' they were all your kind of people?" She looked at Sam.

Sam nodded and said, "Yeah, I think so. I didn't know anyone there, but I saw that a lot of them were, if not all."

Janelle asked, "And them being at his wedding was unusual somehow? No one has outright said it, but that's how I was interpreting everything."

Hank began to nod his head, but Sam snorted a laugh that could almost be called derisive. Hank looked at her with a puzzled expression and asked, "What?"

She apologized, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to disrespect Nick. It's just that everything about him is unusual. He's the opposite of everything I've been told about Grimms." Sam was speaking with an annoyance in her voice and Hank wasn't sure where it was coming from. Sam saw the puzzlement on Hank's face and said, "The Grimm who murdered my brother. I hate him. My brother was a good person and didn't deserve to be killed that way. I haven't even been able to have the funeral yet. I've had to postpone it twice. But as much as I hate the Grimm that killed my brother, knowing how sweet and compassionate Nick is makes it hard to believe they're both Grimms. It makes me hate my brother's killer even more, if that's possible."

Sam looked over at Janelle and with an edge in her voice said, "Yes, Nick is incredibly unusual. Grimms have been known to slaughter entire families. Including the children." She paused and softened her tone as she continue, "But Nick, his friends are Wesen... " She stopped. She realized her mistake and said, "That's what we call ourselves. Wesen."

Janelle, who'd been struggling to keep her inner interrogator at bay, asked, "So, what the hell happened at the wedding with the weird lightning or whatever that was?"

Hank shook his head, "We're not quite sure yet. None of that was planned. No one seems to have any knowledge of it. All I can say is that we had placed a magical Staff by the altar in case the rogue Grimm decided to crash the wedding. Everything after that, is a mystery."

Janelle cocked her head, "Did you just say, 'magical Staff'?"

Sam put both her hands up and said, "Don't look at me about that, I've never seen a magical staff in my life."

Hank nodded and said, "How Nick got the staff I think is a story for another time. Suffice it to say that we have it, it's power and what it can do aren't understood, but it's a powerful weapon. Nick only had it as a precaution. For all we know it caused what happened or was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. We have no idea at this point. We have people looking into it."

Janelle looked far more relaxed now that she had a basic understanding of what was going on, even if she wasn't sure she should believe part of it, all of it or none of it. She picked up another slice of pizza and began to nibble at it. She said, "Tell me about this 'hidden nature' thing."

Both Sam and Hank grimaced and Hank asked, "Are you sure we haven't told you enough?"

Janelle shook her head and said, "I really doubt it. I feel like there's a lot you're still not telling me."

Hank's reaction was near comical. His eyes widened as he said loudly across the table, "Well, yeah! I want you to be able to leave here with the majority of your sanity intact."

Janelle put down the slice she was holding, wiped her fingers with a napkin, leaned back in her chair and said, "I want to know everything. Explain to me about this 'hidden nature,' that for some reason only people like Nick, 'Grimms,' can see." She crossed her arms to express she wasn't going anywhere until she learned what she wanted to learn.

Hank sighed. Sam looked at Hank with amusement on her face. She couldn't wait to see how he explained this. Janelle said, "I don't see what the problem could be. You said 'magic Staff' with a straight face and I can't imagine what could be worse than that."

Hank nodded and said, "You have a point there. And you saw a Mishipeshu and I guess that's a good comparison."

Janelle asked, "How do you mean?"

Hank continued, "Well, you remember how animalistic it looked? The cougar face?" Janelle nodded and Hank said, "Well, that's how a lot of Wesen appear. Different kinds of animals."

Janelle looked over at Sam and tried to find some sort of sign there was anything animal-like in her appearance, didn't find anything, returned her gaze back to Hank, shrugged and said, "I don't see it."

Hank admitted, "No, you wouldn't. They don't appear any differently the majority of the time. But when they get an emotional trigger their appearance can change. Only Grimms can see the change. However, Wesen can do it on purpose and they can do it so that anyone can see it. Including you and me."

Janelle looked at Sam again and said, "Okay, so..."

Sam looked at Hank and said, "I don't know, Hank. If I do this, there's no going back. I've never actually had this conversation with anyone before. Like I said, we're taught to never, ever reveal this about ourselves."

Hank nodded his understanding and said, "If you don't want to do it, there won't be any hard feelings. I can call someone else."

Janelle was confused, "Wait, you're saying this is that big a deal? That.. what... if you show me, you'll get in trouble?"

Sam shook her head at first and then changed her mind and nodded. She said, "Well, I mean, technically, under these circumstances, no, I don't think I'd get in trouble. But we have rules. If someone uses it to exploit others or risks exposing the community? Then, yes, we can get into a great deal of trouble. Including being killed."

Janelle's eyes widened, "Wow. I can see why you're hesitating. Understand that, yes, I saw the Mishipeshu. I've had nightmares about that ever since. But I think I can handle whatever it is you're going to show me."

Sam sighed and after a moment or two of reflection she sighed a second time and said, "Fine. I'm doing this for two reasons. The first is for Nick. It sounds like he needs our help right now and we need everyone on board. Which leads to the second reason. The Grimm who killed my brother." She looked at Janelle, leaning in so their eyes were level with each other and said, "Hank told me you're a cop... and if I show you what I am, I'm trusting that you'll help protect me and my people from that bastard Grimm."

Janelle shook her head and said, "If you need me to promise to you that showing me your 'hidden nature' will make me obligated to help you, then you should know that you don't need to show me anything. If someone is trying to hurt you, I'll do whatever I can to stop them. Wesen or not. Show me or not."

Sam nodded, glanced at Hank briefly before turning back to Janelle and said, "Please, understand that when I change, you're not seeing a different person. The act of turning can appear kind of aggressive but it's not meant to be so. Got it?"

Janelle looked at Hank and said, "This is safe, right?"

Hank raised his hand above the table and rocked it side to side as if to say, 'fifty-fifty.' He added, "So long as you don't freak out. You've seen the Mishipeshu, so you'll have a leg up on me compared to my first time."

Janelle looked back at Sam and said, "Whenever you're ready."

Sam nodded, closed her eyes and when she opened them again she quickly jerked her head down and back up again into a Full Woge. She looked over to Janelle. Sam's face had been replaced with that of her owl appearance. The feathers neatly blending into the hair on her head, her eyes larger, with a distinctive orange hue and her nose was replaced with a protrusion that was more beak like. Sam blinked a couple times at Janelle.

Janelle's mouth had opened in shock and she instinctively leaned back her in chair at the sight of Sam's new appearance. But only a few seconds passed before she leaned forward again and said, "Oh my, you are beautiful!"

Sam shook her head, removing her Woged appearance and blushed, "Thank you. I wasn't expecting that kind of reaction."

Janelle asked, "And there are people, sorry, 'Grimms' who want to kill you just because you can do that?"

Both Hank and Sam nodded. Hank anticipated Janelle's next question, 'Why?' and explained, "There are other kinds of Wesen out there that are very dangerous and, no offense to Sam, scarier looking. Some of them have very violent tendencies and Nick does his best to arrest them and put them in prison. But from what I've heard, not all Grimms are inclined to operate under that kind of justice system. In Spencer's case, he appears to be entirely indiscriminate."

Janelle leaned back in her chair again and said, "Okay, tell me about this Spencer guy then."

Hank gave her all the knowledge he could about Spencer, showing her the photo on his phone, stressing how incredibly fast and dangerous he is. He stopped short of telling her how Spencer had put Nick in the hospital as that would have opened the door for more questions about how Nick had been walking around without a scratch on him until his wedding. But he answered all the questions he could and Sam helped fill in the gaps when she was able to regarding Wesen people. What was left unexplained was what happened to Nick and Adalind and how they were going to deal with the Grimm if he did in fact come back to Portland.

Chapter 14

After Rosalee and Monroe had left Nick's loft he carefully and patiently removed Adalind's wedding dress to hang up it up. He covered her with some blankets and checked her breathing and pulse once more to find it appeared to be normal. Then he paced around the loft from having too much pent-up energy. He'd asked to be texted the moment someone found out something about anything that might explain what happened or what to do about it. So far, though, he'd not heard any news.

Hours later, Adalind was still unconscious, though Nick had seen her change positions in bed. He had attempted a few more times to wake her up with no success.

As he walked around the loft, still wearing nothing but his boxer shorts, the refrigerator kicked on again. The sound was so loud to Nick's ears that he rushed to the bedroom area and slid the doors closed behind him in an attempt to block out the sound. The thought had occurred to him to unplug the refrigerator but had decided against it because he didn't want to waste the food inside, and also, that the power cord was more than a little difficult to reach.

He laid himself onto the bed and put his arm around Adalind. The blankets on the bed felt like sandpaper against his skin. Adalind, however, felt like home.

After laying there a few minutes he felt her lift her arm and place her hand on his. "Nick?"

He bolted upright, "Adalind? You're awake!"

She sat up slowly, putting her hand to her forehead as though she had a headache. She felt the odd sensation from her own touch and asked, "Am I Woged?"

Nick put his arms around her, hugged her gently and said, "Yeah, you have been since the wedding."

Adalind did her best to return Nick's affection, then moved to get out of the bed. She saw it was night outside and asked, "How long have I been out? What day is this?"

Nick replied, "It's still our wedding night. But you've been out for several hours. There's left over pizza if you want some."

Adalind didn't need any more prompting, she was starving. She slid the doors open and walked quickly to the pizza box on the counter. As she ate, between bites she said, "What happened? Was anyone hurt? Wait, where's Diana and Kelly?" She threw down the slice she was eating and with a simple gesture of her fingers she activated the light switches from several feet away so she could look for her children.

Nick, squinting, ran faster than Adalind had ever seen him run to the light switches and turned them all back out again. He told her to sit down and eat and he would explain everything. He explained that the kids were safe and being taken care of. Renard has Diana, and Monroe and Rosalee have Kelly. He also explained how his senses were overpowering him. How much everything hurts. How the smallest sounds echo painfully in his ears. But for some unknown reason, Adalind didn't give him any pain. Her voice sounded normal, her skin felt silky smooth. He told her that the Staff had been hidden near the altar just in case there had been a surprise attack from Spencer.

Adalind asked, "Do you think the Staff did something to us?"

Nick shook his head and said, "I have no idea. It didn't seem like it at the time though. It's hard to describe, but it felt like the Staff came into it last."

Adalind's memory was starting to come back to her and she said, "Yeah, I think you're right. I think it started when we kissed. Something happened there and then I felt Diana and then the Staff. But that doesn't mean it didn't cause it."

Nick shrugged and said, "We're trying to track down Eve and Renard's mother. Maybe they know something that can help. Until we figure this out, we're stuck in this loft."

Adalind looked at Nick and said, "You were in bed holding me?"

Nick didn't understand why she was asking but nodded.

She stammered a little and said, "But, Nick, I look like... like... You know... " She gestured to herself, the appearance of a dried up corpse that was still walking and talking, "I'm Woged! A full Woge."

Nick stepped over to her and put his hands on her shoulders as he looked at her and said, "Adalind, you're now my wife. Even if we hadn't gotten married today, I still love you. Woged or not. I fell in love with you. I don't want you to be trapped in this loft anymore than you do, but I'm going to love you regardless."

He put his arms around her and she embraced him as she said, "I guess I could have had a worse person to be trapped with."

---

The following morning at Renard's, he was once again cooking for Diana. Pancakes and bacon for breakfast. More comfort food to help Diana in coping with the previous day's events and her newfound loss of power. He had just placed a plate with a fat stack on it in front of Diana when his doorbell rang. He wiped his hands with a towel and went to answer the door. He looked through the window first and saw that it was his mother. He wasn't expecting to see her in person.

He opened the door wide. "Hello, mother. This is an unexpected surprise."

Renard's mother, Elizabeth Lascelles, looked nowhere near old enough to be his mother. Of average height, slender build, dark blond hair, she looked like she belonged in the pages of a magazine. She stepped through the door and said, "I think I know what may have happened to Nick and Adalind. But I have questions that perhaps only the two of them can answer. I'll need you to take me to them."

Renard closed the door and said, "Certainly, mother. But wouldn't you like to finally meet your granddaughter first?"

Elizabeth looked around, "She's here?"

Renard pointed, "In the kitchen, eating."

Elizabeth walked gracefully but with urgency, she was excited to finally meet the granddaughter she'd heard so much about.

Renard introduced his daughter to her grandmother and set about making a plate for her as well. He said, "You two eat and get to know one another. I'm going to make some calls."

Renard took out his phone, thought for a moment or two and then decided the best person to call would be Hank. When Hank answered, Renard explained that his mother is in town to try to help Nick, Adalind and Diana. He asked Hank to come and pick up his mother and drive her to Nick's loft.

Hank had arrived in less than twenty minutes and only a few minutes after had gotten Elizabeth into the passenger seat of his SUV and they made their way to the loft. Hank explained that, through Monroe and Rosalee, he learned that Nick's hearing is insanely sensitive and that she'll have to whisper and also that Nick can't look directly at her, what with her being a Hexenbiest it's likely it will hurt his eyes.

Hank asked, "Do you even have an inkling of what may be happening to them?"

Elizabeth nodded, "I do. It's ancient magic. If I'm right, I believe they stumbled into it."

Hank shook his head, "It's possible to stumble into ancient magic?"

She nodded, "It isn't likely to happen, but how do you think magics were discovered to begin with. Trial and error. Except, sometimes even the errors get you new results that you don't expect. I think that's what happened here." She looked out the car window and finished by adding, "Maybe."

When they arrived at the loft and made their way up the freight elevator they found that Adalind was still stuck in her full Woged state, wearing simple sweat pants and a tank top. She was seated outside the bedroom. Nick was inside the bedroom laying on the bed. The doors were closed in an attempt to cover up the noise of the elevator. Near Adalind were two other seats. She said, "You two can sit here and you should be able to speak at a somewhat normal speaking voice, albeit softly. Nick will remain in the bedroom and just shout to us as needed."

Elizabeth asked softly, "His hearing is truly that sensitive right now?"

From inside the bedroom she heard Nick shout a reply, "YES!"

Elizabeth and Hank sat down and faced Adalind, but Hank quickly realized he didn't need to be there and decided instead to ask, "Nick, would you like me to run and get some food for the two of you?"

Both Nick and Adalind agreed emphatically. They made him a list of things they'd need in the near future. After the freight elevator had finished making its new round of noise as Hank left to get supplies, Elizabeth turned back to Adalind and said, "I've been able to extrapolate some of your history," she wagged a finger back and forth between Adalind and the area of the bedroom she assumed Nick was located, "based on some things that Monroe and Rosalee has told me as well as a few tidbits from my son, Sean."

Adalind nodded and realized she was likely going to have to rehash some of her dark history from before Nick had taken her in and they'd fallen in love. After a few nods of her head, she converted to shaking it back and forth, "No, I'd really like to not talk about that stuff if we can avoid it."

Elizabeth patted Adalind on the knee and said, "Don't worry, I only need the bullet points. I won't need every little detail."

"So, let's get what I do know out of the way." She continued, "You consumed a bit of Nick's blood, because of that you lost your Hexenbiest abilities, you performed the Contaminatio Ritualis while pregnant to get those powers back, you then performed the Verfluchte Zwillingsschwester to make yourself look like Juliette, slept with Nick, through that you took his powers, then later, I helped Nick and Juliette to reverse what you'd done to him. Is that a good summary?"

Adalind, speechless from a bit of guilt, nodded.

"Oh, and let's not forget that you became pregnant with Nick's child as a result."

Adalind, nodded again, though a bit more slowly than before.

"Now, that's a lot of history. But I need both of you to think and think very hard. Is there anything that happened that I don't know about. Big, small, over the course of your..." she paused because the word didn't feel quite right, but used it anyway, "relationship."

Adalind didn't look away from Elizabeth as she said loudly, "Nick, can you think of anything?"

Nick shouted back, "Not off the top of my head, no."

Elizabeth looked at the closed doors, "Interesting, you two have to shout at each other through the doors but everyone else he can hear at normal speaking voices through the same doors?"

Adalind nodded again and said, "To his senses, for some reason, I'm completely normal."

Elizabeth nodded as though that confirmed something she'd been hypothesizing in her mind. "I'll ask again, did anything else happen to you. If there was anything else, it's vital I know."

Adalind stood from her chair and began pacing the room. She began pointing with her finger into the air making mental notes of the chronology of her time spent warring with Nick. How after she took his powers she left for Europe to be with her daughter, who ended up not even being there, and then was locked up in the Royals' dungeon until she convinced the Royals that she would be loyal to them. She'd never told Nick about her time in the dungeon. Why bring it up? She was ashamed of most that time in her life and didn't like to think about it. She turned to face the bedroom, looking at the doors as though she could see through them at Nick on his bed. Then, she remembered something. She couldn't be sure if it was real or a hallucination brought on by the dungeon's magics. It had been specifically designed to hold a Hexenbiest and it had caused her other hallucinations, she was certain of that.

She turned back to Elizabeth and said, "There is something, but I'm not sure if it was real. Some stuff that Nick doesn't know." She lowered her voice. "The royals had put me in a kind of dungeon for a while. And while I was in it, I got this massive headache, and for about a minute I could see Juliette and Wu. Almost like I was sitting in Nick's old house."

She was interrupted by Nick shouting, "What are you saying out there?! I can't hear anything!"

Adalind continued, "The pain was awful. And then it was gone and never came back."

Elizabeth, with a puzzled expression on her face and not wanting Nick to overhear her mouthed the words, 'Why not tell him?'

Adalind leaned in close to Elizabeth and whispered, "Because I'm ashamed, okay?"

Nick shouted from the bedroom, "Why do I get the feeling you two are talking about me, somehow?"

Elizabeth said softly, "Well, he needs to know now. We need answers."

Nick shouted, "Needs to know what?!

Adalind shouted, "FINE!" and retold the story so that Nick could hear it.

Before she could finish he interrupted and said, "Were there rats in your dungeon?"

Adalind said loudly back, "Yeah... Could you see them?"

Nick said, "The pain was terrible. I went and saw an eye doctor because of that."

Elizabeth shouted back through the doors, "I believe that's when..."
Nick interrupted, shouting back, "Not so loud!"

Elizabeth sighed and said softly, "This is very difficult to get used to. You two shouting but the rest of us all have to whisper. It's bizarre. But, as I was saying, I believe that was an important moment. Tell me, how long after the two of you slept together was that?"

Adalind had to think for a moment. "It's difficult to remember, I had to travel a lot. I had to stay in a few hotels and then I finally found my way to the royals who put me in that dungeon and I'm not even sure how long I was there in all. Maybe a week?"

Elizabeth nodded. She asked, "Is there anything else odd you can remember. Anything the two of you have left out?"

Adalind paced around the room nervously, thinking back over the previous seven years of her life. She said loudly, "Nick, can you think of anything?"

He shouted back, "No, I can't. But I didn't even know about the dungeon thing until now, so there might be other stuff I don't know enough to talk about."

Elizabeth said, "Tell me about your wedding vows."

Even though she was still fully Woged her face contorted itself into what could pass for a smile. It was obvious that Adalind was going to enjoy talking about her wedding day for many years to come as she walked Elizabeth through each moment, step by step. She told Elizabeth about all the unexpected guests, the surprise adult adoption, the Staff being hidden near the altar and then finally Adalind's and Nick's prepared vows.

Nick had listened patiently throughout Adalind's retelling of events, smiling to himself as she did. When she got to the part about the vows however, Nick was surprised that Adalind stopped when she did. He said, "You left out a lot of my vows!"

Adalind, not wishing to offend Nick narrowed her eyes in thought. She couldn't think of anything she'd left out, so she apologetically said, "Nick, what parts did I not include?"

Nick sputtered for a moment and said, "It's difficult to recall, it felt like I droned on and on for a while. I... I'm having trouble remembering."

Adalind put a finger into the air and said, "There was that moment when you paused kind of awkwardly, do you remember that?"

Nick confessed that he did not remember any such pause. He remembered instead speaking at great length about the love he felt for Adalind.

Elizabeth asked Adalind, "What were the exact words of his vows, as best as you can remember."

Adalind said, "We really should have hired a photographer to record our ceremony. Nick, why didn't we do that?"

Nick shouted back, "Money mostly. But also, a gathering of Wesen and Grimms. We didn't want it recorded, just in case."

Adalind nodded her head, "Right. Fanatics." She did her best to recall Nick's exact words. As she recited them to the best of her recollection to Elizabeth, Elizabeth was writing them down.

She then circled the part that she believed mattered most

'You give me strength and purpose. As long as we're together I know we can accomplish anything. No matter what the world puts in front of us, we will overcome it. The love we have for each other makes us an unstoppable force and our marriage will be one for the ages.'

Elizabeth, still speaking as softly but as clearly as she could, said, "This is what I believe, though I'll never be able to prove it. When your two minds collided and you saw through each others' eyes? I believe that was the moment the fertilized egg attached itself to your uterine wall. Connecting the two of you forever. Binding you together as mother and father. And then at your wedding, I believe that by marrying one another you formed a kind of pact. True, all marriages are a kind of pact, but in your case, I think, it was more literal. And from what I can ascertain, Nick truly and completely felt and meant the words he was saying. He really is in it for the long haul and he really considers the two of you to be a team. A powerful team."

She paused for a moment and said, "And I believe, that in essence, the two of you accidentally cast what may have been the longest spell ever cast. Spanning years. Starting when the two of you took away the others' abilities."

Nick shouted, "It's possible to accidentally cast a spell?"

Elizabeth explained, "It has happened. It's how certain magics were discovered to begin with. Add to it, Nick's vows. I believe that what you have done, is performed a spell to steal power. There are specific spells that a Hexenbiest can cast to steal power from other Hexenbeiests, but," she gestured to Adalind, "a full Woge is the general outcome and obviously, that's simply not practical. Sure, you're more powerful, but then..."

Adalind finished for her, "Then you're stuck looking like this..."

Adalind then asked, "But what about Nick? He's a Grimm."

Elizabeth nodded and said, "I believe that, in his current state, Nick is quite possibly the most powerful Grimm who as ever existed. His senses are heightened so much it's painful. The power that was stolen came from both your daughter Diana, and the Staff. Both of which were already more powerful than we know how to measure and the two of you just absorbed maybe ninety percent of what was available. Perhaps even more."

Nick shouted, "Will Diana suffer any long term damage from any of this?"

Elizabeth shook her head and said, "Only the loss of her power, I think. We're truly in uncharted territory here. I have a lot of research to do to see if we can somehow reverse it. However, I do believe there is a temporary solution."

Adalind said, "What? What is it? Is it safe?"

Elizabeth nodded and said, "It's safe, but I'm not sure if I'm right or if it will work."

Nick shouted from the bedroom, "What do we have to do?!"

Elizabeth closed her eyes and said, "You have to get as far away from each other as possible."

Adalind said, "What? How far is far?"

Elizabeth opened her eyes, shook her head and said, "I don't know. It could be a hundred feet, twenty miles, a thousand... Nick may have to be in Australia before there's a noticeable difference. Or I could be wrong and distance won't mean anything. But I believe that the closer the two of you are together, the more powerful you are and therefore," she gestured to Nick's bedroom, "the overwhelming senses and," she gestured to Adalind, "the full and permanent Woge."

The freight elevator came to life and everyone sat quietly for a moment as they waited for Hank to arrive with necessities.

Elizabeth leaned in towards Adalind and said, "Unless you have an objection, I'm going to ask that Monroe and Rosalee couple for their help in finding a solution."

Adalind nodded her understanding and a moment later, Hank was letting himself out of the elevator with bags of groceries. Adalind walked up to him and thanked him graciously for helping out. After Hank and Elizabeth left together, Nick and Adalind began to plan how best to experiment with distance.

---

Charles Spencer sat down on a park bench. He kept his hoodie raised over his head to help remain unnoticed, but for the most part, shaving off his beard had done much to help him keep anonymity. He'd wanted to leave the Portland area but twice he'd had to postpone his plans. For the time being he'd been sleeping under bridges and even in wooded areas. He didn't need much to get by. The small amount of cash he'd obtained from exterminating Wesen had been enough to keep food in his stomach.

Lately, he'd been following a target. Attempting to ascertain any kind of pattern in her behavior, but she seemed to come and go at completely random hours. There were a couple different nights where it seemed she never made it back at all. Staying where, he'd never know, even he needed to sleep sometimes. He was also still on foot and had made the decision to stay that way. It was possible he could steal a vehicle, but that's the kind of solution that creates new problems. Once police know what you're driving it makes it so much easier for them to track you down. Traffic cameras don't focus so much on pedestrians. It helped that he was in no hurry. Especially since he'd all but eliminated that Grimm in the Portland area. He hadn't seen the Hexenbiest that had been tracking him since he'd left her for dead several weeks ago. He wished he'd made sure to finish the job but he'd heard approaching police sirens and he wasn't going to allow himself to be taken to prison.

Living day to day hadn't been too difficult. His training and his natural abilities had been getting him through all the roughest parts of essentially being homeless. Portland seemed to be rich with vermin though. Far more than most other places he'd been. Maybe if that other Grimm hadn't been slacking off that wouldn't have been the case, but the way things currently were, it was like shooting fish in a barrel. Or at least it had been. He'd had much fewer Wesen sightings in the past couple of weeks. Getting to be slim pickings. So, for now, he watched out for her to come back. See where it is she goes. Maybe follow her.

He couldn't tell if she was deliberately behaving in such an unpredictable pattern in order to throw off his scent or if she was just that lucky. Either way, he felt it wouldn't last forever. He'd corner her eventually.

He took the remaining cash he'd had stuffed in his pocket and began to count it. There was enough to last maybe a day, two if he rationed his food carefully. As he was counting it however, he saw a man in the distance eyeballing his cash. The man was larger than average, but not by much. At first glance it appeared they had similar tastes in fashion. Jeans and a hoodie. Spencer could see the hunger in the man's eyes, but it wasn't for food. If he had to guess, the man was a junkie of some sort. Street trash. Spencer leaned forward in his seat and looked him right in the eyes as if daring him to come try to take this money out of his hand.

At first, it looked like the stare down was working. The junkie began walking in a different direction, but then he stopped and turned back to Spencer. That was when he Woged. A Skalengeck.

Normally, Spencer would ready himself for the confrontation, Skalengeck's normally foamed at the mouth at the chance to fight a Grimm. He'd seen them fight each other for the opportunity. But this one ran. He turned away like a coward and sprinted away. Spencer had to chase him down. That wasn't going to work though. The place he selected to sit down was secluded, there were no security cameras in that area and the Skalengeck was sprinting towards an area with many cameras. Spencer didn't want to be recorded now that he'd shaven his beard off. He clenched his fists in anger. He stopped and checked his surroundings. Passing vehicles and pedestrians. Adding to it that it was a clear and sunny day, he was far too exposed to be here. He'd have to either follow the Skalengeck until they were both in a secluded area again and give up on his current target for the day or let the Skalengeck junkie go completely and stay focused on the reason he'd been sitting on that park bench to begin with.

In the end he'd decided to risk it and follow the Skalengeck. The pestilence must be exterminated. If he had to risk a few security cameras, then so be it.

---

Two days later, Nick and Adalind had been sleeping in their bed when the loft's proximity alarm went off. Nick had been the one to install it and had come to rely on it a great deal, but he had left it off since returning from their wedding. Nick howled in pain as he covered his ears. He grabbed his pillow and attempted to wrap it around the back of his head over his ears to stifle the sound, but nothing would help.

Adalind shouted over the alarm, "Oh, Nick, I'm so sorry! I wasn't thinking and I set it by habit!" She rushed to turn it off. When she got to the monitor she entered the code as quickly as she could and saw through the video feed that the reason it went off was because Sean Renard was standing outside. He'd stepped out of his vehicle so that the camera could see him clearly. She pushed a few buttons and the garage door lifted so Renard could come inside.

Adalind rushed back to Nick and put her arms around him and apologized again for being so foolish as to turn the alarm on. But he shook his head and said, "Nothing to apologize for, it's an easy mistake to make. I can't wait until my hearing returns to normal."

She asked, "How's your sense of smell?"

He replied, "Let's just say, it's taking all my effort to not be rude to people about some funk I'm smelling. But you smell heavenly." He kissed her neck and at first she let him, but then the freight elevator began to move. Nick covered his ears.

She put on a robe and said, "It's Renard."

Nick said, "I know, I heard him talking on his phone outside."

Adalind shook her head and mumbled to herself, "It's crazy that you can hear that well."

When Renard stepped inside, he walked uncomfortably. On one of his previous trips to the loft he'd been there to kill Nick and instead he'd killed Conrad Bonaparte. Technically, that was his boss in the organization known as Black Claw. He had no intention of killing Conrad. His daughter, Diana, had willed him to do it and she'd been miles away at the time. That was a small sample of the power she had at her disposal before it had all been sapped from her. This wasn't his first trip back since then, but nonetheless, for some reason the memory was fresh in his mind today.

He attempted to do his best to remain professional and attempt to ignore the short history he'd had there. He may have overcompensated though, as he stood at stiff attention waiting to be acknowledged by either Nick or Adalind.

As it turned out, Adalind was the only one to come out of the bedroom. She closed the doors behind her and walked over to Renard. He had heard that she was fully Woged and therefore steeled himself to greet her. She skipped over all available pleasantries however and said, "What do you want, Sean?"

Sean bobbed his head at her once and said, "I need to speak to..."

He didn't get to finish his sentence however as Nick shouted from the bedroom, "Not so loud!"

Sean had heard it was bad. His mother and Hank had both told him Nick's hearing was beyond sensitive. He just hadn't been prepared for how much he'd have to lower his voice given the distance and the closed doors that separated him from Nick.

He spoke more softly, "Nick, can you hear me from here?"

Nick shouted back confirmation.

Sean shook his head in amazement. He whispered, "That's incredible. Listen, I know I could have called, but I also felt I should stop by in person to talk to both of you. Nick, it seems Spencer is in Portland. He killed again two days ago, the body was found this morning. The only reason we know it was him was that the victim was able to call in that he was being followed by someone who he was sure was Spencer."

Nick cursed in anger and threw something. Whatever it was he threw crashed against something. Possibly the wall. Nick cried out in pain from the noise that he had created when it smashed.

Sean continued, "Nick, I know it's not much consolation, but I believe that the only reason we know it was Spencer was because of the amazing work you did coordinating so many people. The victim said he was positive it was Spencer and warned us that he had shaved off his beard. Nick, I don't think we could have gotten that kind of detail if you hadn't made so many people aware there was a Grimm in Portland.."

Nick called back, "Yeah, but that didn't do much good did it. He's still out there and there's another person dead, right?"

Sean nodded out of habit and whispered back, "That's true, but we have police combing the area for him."

Nick slid the doors to his bedroom open, he cringed from the sound they made. He was still only wearing his boxer shorts. He marched over to Sean Renard, shielding his eyes as he best he could. Renard's blue shimmer wasn't as bright and painful as most other Wesen, but painful nonetheless. He stopped several feet short and said, "It's time to think outside the box here. We need Reapers."

Sean took a step back and said, "Reapers?"

Nick reminded him with a hand gesture that Sean was being too loud.

Sean put his hand to his chin and whispered, "I'm not saying I can't do it, Nick, but I'm also not saying I can. This would be an unusual request to put in."

Reapers are typically, though not exclusively, Hässlichen Wesen. One could easily compare them to trolls as that's what they, and other Wesen compare them to as well. Reapers work as a bounty hunter organization specifically to kill Grimms. Their weapon of choice is the Scythe. In the past, Nick had to fight off Reapers on two separate occasions. In one case, he'd shipped the decapitated heads of the reapers back to the person who'd ordered them there. Asking for their help now wasn't likely to garner any assistance, not without serious motivation.

Nick said, "I have five of those keys. Don't tell them I have five though, tell them I have four and that they can have one for every Reaper they send and successfully kill Spencer. After Spencer is dead, they can have the four keys and leave here unharmed, so long as they also agree that no harm will come to me, or anyone else, except Spencer."

Renard nodded his understanding, "Nick, it's not a bad plan, but are you sure you want to risk bargaining with keys that are essentially useless now that you've already found the weapon they led to?"

Nick risked looking up at Renard, willing himself through the discomfort, he asked, "Have you told anyone they're worthless?"

Renard shook his head, "No. Why only four keys?"

Nick took his eyes away from Renard, the pain had become too great. He said, "I'm keeping the most important key. The one with the X on it. That way no one will be able to discover the other keys are worthless." There are seven keys in all. Each key had one part of a map engraved on it that was supposed to lead to a great weapon, but the key with the X on it, the one that marked the spot, was obviously the most important of the bunch. The great weapon had ended up being the stick that eventually was reattached to the Staff that Nick wasn't even sure worked anymore.

Renard nodded and said, "I'll begin making calls as soon as I'm in my car. You should get back to resting. I also wanted to talk to Adalind."

Nick didn't see the point of leaving the room. No matter how much Renard lowered his voice, Nick would be able to hear everything he said, but simply out of decorum he left the room and closed the doors behind him.

Adalind asked, "Is everything okay? Is Diana?"

Renard nodded, "She's fine, all things considered, but Diana is near powerless right now. She's coping. Probably far better than most people would. She obviously isn't enjoying living life like the rest of society. She wanted me to tell you that she loves you and that she misses you and hopes you feel better soon."

Adalind said, "Please tell her all the same back for me? I miss her so much. And thank you for watching her through all this."

Renard shook his head, "No, don't do that. You don't have to thank me for watching my daughter in a crisis. One can hope there will never be another crisis, however, with our lives the way they are it's wise to always expect one. I will always be available for our daughter if something happens. I'm sure I can count on not only you," he gestured towards the bedroom, "but also Nick, to look out for Diana if anything ever happened to me."

Adalind nodded and said dryly, "This is what family does for one another."

Renard stepped back into the elevator and before he closed the door to leave he said, "My mother wanted me to tell you that she's still researching ways to reverse what's taken place. She hasn't had time to tell me everything, but it sounds like you two have stumbled into quite a predicament."

Adalind said, "No, I got us into this predicament."

Renard didn't understand. "What do you mean, you?"

"Elizabeth basically pointed out that all the ridiculous schemes I pulled in the past have landed us here. This is entirely my fault. Granted, if I hadn't done those things, I wouldn't have Kelly and I wouldn't be married right now. But I really feel like my past has gripped onto me with both hands and refuses to let go. I want to move on with my life... and Nick... Nick has been so amazing and it feels like he has moved on. Like he's truly forgiven me for everything I did back then and now we have this happening. A bloody-nosed reminder of how I used to be. I'm having a hard time letting go of the shame. And looking like this," she gestured at her Hexenbiest Woged body, "isn't helping. And I know this is going to sound crazy, but the more Nick showers me with affection and the more he makes me feel like he loves me, the less I feel like I deserve it. If that makes sense."

Renard nodded, "It does. From what I've seen, he truly does love you and he's good to Diana. You can stop beating yourself up about what you've done in the past. I think so long as you don't take him for granted, he'll continue to love you."

Adalind replied, "I'm trying," She grinned and added, "Of course, he heard every word you just said."

Renard closed the elevator doors and made his way back to the station. On his way, he made the necessary phone calls and was told he could expect up to four Reapers in the Portland area within twenty-four hours. He stressed to his contacts that this Grimm was not to be taken lightly and to send the best they had. He only hoped that the arrangement of doing this in exchange for the keys wouldn't come back to haunt them later.

---

The next day, Samantha walked into Rosalee's Spice and Tea shop for the first time. The bell rang above the door as she stepped inside. At first she thought she'd made a mistake, because there was no one in the store, not any customers nor staff. But from a side room she heard Monroe call out, "Be right there!"

She recognized his voice and felt more confident about closing the door behind her as she took a look around the shop. Examining all the exotic spices and teas, most of which she'd never heard of. Though a handful she'd recognized as things she'd had to take as a kid for various childhood illnesses that are unique to the Wesen community.

When Monroe walked out of the storage area and into the store, at first, he hadn't noticed it was Sam and asked, "Can I help you find anything?"

Sam looked at him and said, "Monroe."

His eyes lit up and then his expression changed to that of puzzlement, "Hey! Is there something wrong? Or is this a social visit?"

Sam hesitated and then asked, "Would it be weird if I said I was stopping by because I was both curious about what you sold in here and also because I wanted to check up on Nick?"

Monroe shook his head, "No, it's not weird at all. Trust me, man, I get it. The part about Nick I mean. Exotic spices and teas? I mean, I guess I can see how you might be interested enough to trek all the way down here to look around. But, after what you saw at the wedding, I can understand being worried about Nick and Adalind."

She stepped to the counter, "Is he okay? Any better, any worse?"

Monroe pointed at the room he just came out of and said, "That's actually what we were working on back there."

"You and Rosalee?" Sam asked.

Monroe scratched at the back of his head, unsure if he should answer truthfully as he didn't want to alienate his guest, but then said, "It's actually the mother of an acquaintance of ours. She kinda specializes in things like what Nick and Adalind might be going through. We were going through some old books, trying to find a way to reverse what's happened and to confirm her diagnosis if we can."

Sam's attention perked up, "Oh? There's a diagnosis?"

Monroe put his hands up, palms out and said, "Well, slow down a little, cause there's still a lot of unknowns, too many unknowns, to be sure one way or another. I think 'hypothesis,' might be a better word for it. Don't get me wrong, she knows far more about it than I do, but even she said she can't be certain yet."

Sam said, "I understand. Is it possible to see Nick?"

Monroe shook his head, "Sorry, he can't be around any Wesen at all."

Sam was taken aback at the finality of it, "Like, at all, at all?"

Monroe chuckled and felt bad for it, "Right now, if he sees a Wesen in person, it apparently makes him feel like he's being stabbed in the eyes."

Sam put her hands on the counter to steady herself as she said, "That's awful. There isn't even anything that can be done to ease his symptoms until an actual cure can be found?"

Monroe took a very deep breath in through his nose and said, "We're working on that too. We're going to test it tomorrow" He thought for a moment and said, "As a matter of fact, we could use your help if you're up for it. It's nothing hard, but we have four kids to look after, plus someone has to be here at the store, we have to make a living."

Sam didn't let Monroe finish what he was saying before she was nodding her head enthusiastically, "What is it you need?"

Monroe crossed his arms and then put one of his hands on his chin as he thought for a moment, "Well, I could ask you to help watch our kids... But I think it would be better if you rode with Trubel. She was going to do it by herself and Rosalee thought that was a bad idea. Just in case something went wrong. But someone has to stay behind to watch the kids and someone has to be here minding the store and helping with the research of curing Nick, so... All you'd have to do is take a long car ride tomorrow."

Sam was confused, "A long car ride?"

A voice came from behind Sam, "They'll be testing distance."

Sam was startled. She turned to see a woman she didn't recognize. Monroe introduced them, "Samantha, this is Elizabeth. She's the specialist I was telling you about."

Elizabeth said, "I'm sorry if I startled you, that wasn't my intention. So, you know Nick?"

Sam nodded, "Yes, only for a few weeks now."

Elizabeth looked Sam up and down, turned around and walked back into the storage area without saying anything further.

Sam turned back to Monroe. She put a hand up and waggled her forefinger back and forth between herself and the room Elizabeth had walked into. Monroe interpreted the unspoken question, 'Did I do something to offend?'

Monroe shook his head, "You're good."

He walked out from behind the counter and began straightening the inventory on the shelves that had been moved around by customers throughout the day. As he moved around the store he said, "Not that I'm complaining, but would you mind if I asked why you're so... I don't know... 'attached' might be the right word, to Nick?"

Sam didn't have a straight forward answer to this question and struggled to find a way to respond to Monroe. At first, she told him about how kind Nick had been. The way he spoke to her and made her feel safe and given how terrified she was, making her feel safe was remarkable in itself. She added, "Some of it was skepticism I think. I wanted to take him at his word that his fiancé was a Hexenbiest and his best man was a Blutbad and everything else he was saying. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, though, you know? But when I saw it with my own eyes, I realized that I hadn't believed him as much as I thought I had, because I was in awe of the whole thing."

Monroe finished cleaning up and went back behind the counter and pointed out, "That didn't really answer my question... At least, I don't think it did."

Sam nodded, "No, you're right. It's just difficult to put into words." She paused and walked around the store a bit, looking at the merchandise, but not really seeing it, as she thought things over in her mind. Then she stopped and faced away from Monroe as she said, "When I see someone like him, a Grimm, who I've been told to fear since I was in diapers, and he's going out of his way to help me and that he clearly doesn't care what kind of Wesen I am, right? Just, who I am," She corrected herself, "Who WE are as people? If he can help us when we need it, then we should be helping him when he needs it."

Sam couldn't see it, but Monroe was nodding his understanding. He said, "The crazy thing about Nick, if you asked him, he'd just tell you he was doing his job. That he's a detective who swore an oath." His expression changed to mock annoyance as he said, "Drives you nuts, doesn't it? All that modesty."

Sam turned to Monroe and smiled as she said, "Tell me where to be tomorrow and I'll do what I can. But what are we actually doing? I didn't understand what Elizabeth meant."

Monroe shrugged his shoulders and said nonchalantly, "It's a road trip."

---

The following morning, Samantha had shown up to the Spice and Tea shop holding a plastic bag full of snacks, soda, crossword puzzles and a book to read.

It wasn't long after that an SUV pulled up with Trubel behind the steering wheel. In the backseat, Sam could see the silhouette of what Sam assumed was Adalind. Her face was completely covered up with a thin veil of cloth so that no one would be able to clearly see her fully Woged form. Sam was initially going to get in the front passenger seat but thought it would be better to get in back with Adalind. To try to keep her company on the long ride. After she climbed in, she tossed her plastic bag on the floor at her feet and greeted Adalind and Trubel.

Trubel looked back at Sam and asked her to buckle in and when everyone was secure, she put the car back in gear and started driving.

Trubel said, "We can't do anything that might get us pulled over. So, we'll be driving the speed limit and everyone must always have their seat belts on." She grinned as she looked back at them in the rear view mirror, "Nick's orders, not mine."

Adalind fussed with the cloth over her face and in an unpleasant tone said, "Whatever."

Sam asked facetiously, "So, what is the plan here? We drive all the way to Maine and see if it helps anything?"

Adalind, in the same unpleasant tone as before said, "No! I've set a twelve hour limit. If we drive for that long and still don't notice any difference then we're coming back. I'm not leaving Nick in the lurch like that."

Trubel attempted to argue, "Nick said to... "

Adalind interrupted, "I know what he said, I was there. But we're not going that far. Twelve hours. That's it."

Sam couldn't help her curiosity and said, "How far did Nick want us to go?"

Trubel replied when it became clear that Adalind wasn't going to, "He said not to stop until we saw some kind of improvement. Drive to Florida if we have to."

Sam said, "Yeah, I wouldn't have been able to ride that long anyway. I was finally able to set up my brother's funeral for this weekend."

Adalind had been in a bad mood since she left the loft and all her anger and resentment faded away as soon as Sam mentioned her brother. Adalind's tone changed completely as she said, "I'm so sorry you've had so much trouble. Why was it so difficult to schedule?"

Sam said, "Well, there was some trouble getting him back from the county due to the investigation into his murder, but the real problem was that we have family that wanted to attend. We have some people coming in from out of town. I can't be sure, but I think they mainly want to check up on me and make sure I'm handling his death okay. I mean, it's been just me and him for years. All the family we have are peppered around the country. They're probably worried I'm too isolated."

Adalind asked, "You mean they think you don't have Wesen friends?"

Sam nodded, "Most of my Wesen friends from highschool have gone on to different colleges and since I've been in college I haven't really connected with any Wesen yet."

The car fell silent for a moment and then Adalind said, "Well, if they bring it up, let them know you've recently made some new Wesen friends. I'd suggest not mentioning Trubel or Nick though. They probably wouldn't understand."

Sam nodded again, "Yeah, Nick asked me not to mention him to anyone and I haven't."

Adalind said, "That was probably more for your benefit than for his. A lot of Wesen don't take kindly to Wesen who are friends with Grimms."

For the next few hours, they rode in the SUV in near silence as Trubel fussed with the radio. Sam was reading her book and was kind enough to share her crosswords with Adalind. Adalind was forced to pull the crossword puzzles under the material she was wearing over her face and body so she could see the writing more clearly. The seat belt made it all especially challenging.

Sam had read the same page a few times before she realized she wasn't taking any of it in. She looked up and asked, "How will we know if we've driven far enough?"

Adalind tugged at the material that covered her face and said, "We're hoping my Woge goes away. If I can return to my normal appearance then that will be a sign we've traveled far enough. Or if Nick calls to say his senses have normalized."

Sam examined the cloth and asked, "What is that?"

Adalind let out a very deep sigh, "It's a curtain. A sheer curtain." Under the sheer cloth she was wearing sweat pants and a T-shirt. But it was agreed that passing cars and trucks shouldn't be able to accidentally see her in her Woged form. The curtain was big enough and soft enough to distort her image and be comfortable.

Sam chuckled and said, "That's a creative way to use one, that's for sure."

Adalind was getting frustrated with wearing it however and said, "The moment the sun sets I'm taking it off. Hopefully, it won't matter by then, but it's driving me crazy."

Sam didn't know what to say so she offered Adalind and Trubel some of the snacks she'd brought. Trubel, rarely one to turn down food, gladly accepted. Adalind accepted some as well, but said, "I didn't mention this to Nick, but when I'm Woged like this, I can't taste anything. I can chew and swallow and make my stomach feel full, but I can't taste it."

Sam asked, "Were you waiting to eat until the Woge went away?"

Adalind nodded under her curtain. She sat the small bag of chips in her lap but didn't open it to eat any. She was glad she could see fairly well through the curtain to peer out the car window at the advertisements and passing vehicles.

---

Later, in the early afternoon, four men arrived in Portland at the behest of Sean Renard. They made no stops, traveling directly to the police station where they knew Renard to be. Sergeant Wu showed them the way to Renard's office and closed the door behind him as he left. He could tell from their business attire and the demeanor of the men that this was the wrong time to ask questions.

Instead he went over to Hank's desk. Hank had been stuck doing paperwork and tracking down any leads to Charles Spencer. Wu asked him, "You have any idea what that's about?" gesturing back at Renard's office.

Hank shook his head, "No, no one has told me anything."

Wu asked, "You think you should check with Nick?"

Hank shook his head again, "No, not yet. Right now, all we see are four guys in Renard's office. That's not a lot to even ask him about."

In Renard's office the four men, who hadn't provided their names, were asking about recent sightings of the Grimm and requesting reassurance that if they performed their duties and eliminated the Grimm that they'd be compensated with the four keys.

Renard nodded and said, "Remember, we're all trusting that once you receive the keys, that you'll leave Portland peacefully. Nick wants assurances from you that you won't decide to take him out, or anyone else he knows for that matter. Myself included."

The four men nodded. The shortest of them spoke, "We give our words, this will be a peaceful and honorable transaction. Except for the one called Charles Spencer. What can you tell us about him?"

Renard didn't hold back, but he also didn't know much. He showed them his picture, advised he may have since shaved his beard, and that he was possibly more dangerous than any other Grimm they've faced before. Which is why four Reapers were requested. He added, "I hope you four work well together, because this Grimm could very well pick you to pieces if you're not ready."

Renard provided them the last reported locations of Spencer and promised he would update them with any new updates that came in. Once Spencer was eliminated, they'd arrange a neutral location to confirm their kill and hand over the keys.

As they turned to leave, the man closest to the door put his hand out to stop them from leaving. He asked, "Why is your Grimm so willing to give up the keys in exchange for this one kill? It seems a high price to pay."

Renard held back a smirk, he was surprised it took them this long to ask that question. He stepped closer to them, put his hands in his pockets and said, "Gentleman, I've explained to you how incredibly dangerous Spencer is. I would ask that you report back to your superiors that I told you, in no uncertain terms, this man is not to be taken lightly. He has killed an unknown number of people and seriously injured others. 'My Grimm' was nearly killed by Spencer. 'My Grimm' values lives above the value of those keys."

The shortest one scoffed, "Including Wesen lives?"

Renard shot back, "Just get this done. If you fail, no keys. It's as simple as that."

As the four men left, Hank and Wu had already been poised to ask what that had been about, but Renard cut them off before they could say anything, "The less you know, the better."

---

For several hours the four Reapers, two on foot and two in a rented SUV, searched the last known regions of Charles Spencer.

The two Reapers that were on foot attempted to show his photo to various merchants, hotel clerks and even random people on the street, but so far they'd had no luck. One of them had an idea and turned to the other and said, "What if we Woged?"

The other looked at him quizzically, "What? Woge and stay Woged?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking, maybe he'll see us, and maybe he'll come to us rather than us looking for him."

His partner said, "If we're going to act as bait like that, we shouldn't do it just the two of us. All four of us should come up with a plan."

They decided to break for a meal and coordinate among the four of them the best way to track down and trap the Grimm.

---

Both Sam and Adalind had dozed off. They'd been on the road for nearly seven hours. They'd only stopped for food and bathroom breaks. Adalind's bathroom breaks took the longest as they were always forced to pull off the main road and find secluded areas for her. With every need to relieve herself she became more and more agitated. However, during those small breaks she was glad to have that curtain off her.

Trubel drove for another hour after she'd noticed they'd dozed off, but if Adalind had reverted from her Woged appearance while sleeping then they may be driving for nothing. She shouted, "Hey! Adalind!"

Adalind and Sam both startled. Adalind looked at her hands and saw they were still Woged. She closed her fists, clenched her jaw and let out a muffled scream. Both Sam and Trubel saw hundreds of birds taking off from the trees in the distance as though they'd been startled. They thought perhaps it was just a coincidence that it happened at the same time that Adalind lost her temper, but the coincidence was difficult to ignore.

Adalind regained her composure and she checked the time. "Seven hours? I feel no different at all." She checked her phone and saw an unread text message from Nick from twenty minutes earlier letting her know that, so far, he felt no change and that he loved her."

Adalind punched the cushion of the seat she was sitting on. Sam, still getting to know Adalind, didn't know what she could say to make her feel better. She leaned over and said, "You already miss him, don't you?"

Adalind said, "It would be juvenile to miss him after only being apart for seven hours."

Sam shrugged and said, "Maybe. Doesn't make it not true though. And I know that even though you've only been apart for seven hours, you're probably thinking about your future and you're already missing him for the time you fear you'll be forced to be apart if this car trip works and your Woge goes away. Which, by the way, I think it is." Sam pointed to Adalind's hands, the tips of her fingers and fingernails appeared to be returning to normal.

Adalind raised her hands to stare at the tips of her fingers as she said, "I really don't know how to feel right now. I feel relieved that maybe this is working... but it also means I may be forced to stay at least... Trubel, how many miles has it been so far?"

Trubel looked down at the Odometer and said, "Four hundred and forty-three miles so far."

Adalind continued where she left off, "At least four hundred and fifty miles away from my husband indefinitely. This is all my fault."

Sam didn't understand, "How is this your fault?"

Adalind shook her head and said, "I don't want to talk about it."

Trubel couldn't take her eyes off the road completely, but she reached up to grab the rear view mirror and adjusted it so she could see Adalind's face. Then she said, "Hey, you know I'm not the kind of person to say something nice to you to just spare your feelings, right?"

Adalind nodded apprehensively, "Yeah"

Trubel continued, "I wasn't around for all the things you did, but I was there when you did some of it and Nick was ready to kill you for what you'd done. I'm not going to spare your feelings, what you did was evil."

Trubel adjusted herself in her seat so that she could lean forward but still keep her eyes on the road as she added, "But Nick forgave you. You couldn't have seen this coming. No one could. He doesn't blame you for what happened. You and I both know that he will do whatever it takes, short of murder, to find a way to get you two back together. Remember what you were telling me about having too much faith in Nick? Maybe it's time to tap into that for a little while."

Adalind nodded and they sat in silence for several more miles until Sam said, "Adalind, I think you can take the curtain off now."

Adalind reached behind her seat to grab her purse, from that she removed her compact mirror. She removed the curtain covering her face, looked at herself in the mirror and saw that she had nearly returned to normal. The small amount of the Woge that could still be seen as small patches on her skin could be easily explained away as a rash. She said, "Let's look for a cheap motel. I think by the time we find one, I should at least appear back to normal. I still don't have any control over my Woge yet, but at least I can function in public."

---

Monroe had been ringing up customers when the text message came in. As the customer's left the shop he walked back into the storage room and said to Elizabeth, "Four hundred and sixty-two miles. Some place called Mountain Home, Idaho. Adalind can finally be seen in public again. They found a motel for her to stay at for the time being. Sam and Trubel are on their way back here now."

Elizabeth was sitting in a chair with a comically large book in her lap, flipping through the pages, without looking up, she nodded and said, "That's good. That at least confirms part of my theory. Have you spoken to Mr. Burkhardt?"

Monroe shook his head, "I called but it went to voicemail. I'll try again in an hour and if he doesn't pick up, I'm driving over there."

He glanced at the book she was flipping through and asked her, "Do you have any more books I can look through? I looked through the three you gave me earlier and couldn't find anything about stealing or transferring power."

She snapped the book she was holding shut in frustration. Due to its size, and the force she snapped it shut with, there was a very loud 'thump' that rattled some of the jars on the table nearby. "Monroe, what we're talking about is very old magic. Back then, if a Hexenbiest attempted to steal the power of another, it would often start wars between Hexenbiest Covens. When something like that happened, Grimms could sit back, kick up their feet and watch as Hexenbiests killed each other. It's difficult to research because the Covens made a pact to discontinue its use and punish those within their own Covens if anyone ever attempted to revive the knowledge. I've managed to find a piece here and there that made reference to the wars, but not to the magic."

Monroe sat down in a nearby chair and asked, "Do you know anyone that would have older books?"

She shook her head, "I have contacts in Europe. It was difficult to explain to them why I needed the help. I am doing my best to keep Nick and Adalind's names out of it. But I told them I needed help in reversing an accidental power theft. They said they'd look into it and get back to me. I'm just not confident they took the request seriously. If I'd mentioned there was a Grimm involved I'm sure they would have hung up on me."

The bell chimed, alerting Monroe that a customer had entered the store again. He stood up and walked out of the storage area and found Eve. She was wearing her red wig today, but that was mostly covered by the hood of her black jacket. Monroe couldn't hide his surprise when he said, "Eve!"

She skipped past any potential pleasantries and said, "I got your voicemails. Has there been any progress helping Nick and Adalind?"

Monroe explained to her what they'd tried so far and Elizabeth helped to fill in some gaps as well.

Eve said, "HW may be able to help but I haven't told them about your call yet. I wasn't sure how Nick would feel about HW knowing about Nick's and Adalind's condition."

Monroe shrugged, "I'll try calling him again."

This time, Nick answered and it was obvious to Monroe that Nick had been sleeping. Monroe asked, "Nick, are you feeling okay? Any better?"

Nick couldn't answer right away because his body was forcing him to do a dramatic yawning stretch that felt both amazing and exhausting. When finally he could speak again he said, "Monroe, I feel amazing. I just had the best nap I can remember having. I fell asleep waiting to hear from Adalind. How is she doing?"

Monroe filled him in on what he knew, that Elizabeth had hit a wall and that Eve was standing there wanting to know if Nick wanted Eve to check with Hadrian's Wall about any knowledge they might have that could help.

Nick took a deep breath. He answered, "We'll ask HW for help if and when Elizabeth says she's run out of options. So just check with her."

Monroe nodded and asked Nick, "How do you feel? Any lingering symptoms at all?"

Nick said, "Actually, I feel better than good right now. At first I thought it was the nap, but I feel amazing. Like I could run a marathon. I'm going to get dressed and go outside and see how that goes. I'll let you know if there's any trouble."

Monroe said, "and I'll let you know what we come up with."

He hung up and turned to Eve and Elizabeth and explained what Nick had told him. Elizabeth said, "I'll make a few more phone calls. Try to call in some favors. If that doesn't work then Eve will have to reach out to HW." Elizabeth returned to the store room.

Monroe turned to Eve and asked, "Have you made any progress at all with that Grimm?"

Eve showed no expression when she replied, "No. It's always the same report over and over. I track him down and just as I think I have him, he's gone off to some other city or state. Last I heard he was in San Francisco, but that was a couple weeks ago. Then I heard a report he was back here in Portland, but that was based on only one eye witness and it goes against his M.O. so I waited for confirmation before coming back. But then you let me know about Nick and I got here as soon as I could."

Monroe asked, "What do you mean it goes against his M.O.?"

Eve turned to look out the window and said, "He doesn't visit the same city twice. Or if he has, we've never seen any evidence of it. So, if he really is here, there must be something special going on. Either that, or he's just messing with us and I can't put that past him."

With Eve peering out the window, Monroe felt more paranoid and glanced over her shoulder to see what she was looking at but only saw the normal passing of traffic. He said, "He sounds pretty unpredictable."

Eve turned back to look at him and said coldly, "He's well trained."

Monroe raised his eyebrows and said, "If he is in Portland, how can we track him down?"

Eve shook her head and said, "We wait until someone spots him and calls it in. It's all we can do."