Thanks to everyone who read and to Priyanka for reviewing.

Crosses over with ch. 34 of What Strange Creatures, but both stories can be read separately.


"I think we'd better take a break and see about bringing the car up," Frank said as Barry sank the last ball, craning his neck to look out the basement window.

Barry straightened. "Has the snow finally stopped?"

"No, but it is starting to get dark out, and that isn't going to make the snow and ice easier to deal with."

Barry nodded. He seemed to have relaxed since Frank had gotten home—then again, Frank hadn't realized just how bad he'd looked until he'd gone upstairs to get changed, so maybe Barry's response had been understandable—but Frank was just as glad that he'd been able to spend the afternoon with the boys all the same.

"Would it be helpful if I went too, or would I be in the way?" Roddy asked.

Frank hesitated. It was polite of him to offer, but...

"You wouldn't even make a good speed bump," Barry said with a snort.

From Roddy's expression he had a few four-letter responses he'd like to make, but in the end he only scoffed and snagged a pillow from the couch to throw at Barry.

"If we had to do any maneuvering I'd take you up on the offer," Frank temporized as Roddy dodged Barry's return throw, "but I think we're just going to push it back onto the driveway and drive up. Thank you, though."

Roddy nodded, and Frank put his cue back on the rack and then headed upstairs with Barry behind him. They spent a few minutes digging their winter gear out of the back closet since it had been a good year since they'd last needed it; two in Barry's case, as much as Frank still preferred to avoid thinking about that. But once they had, it was hard to miss Barry's wince.

"I think I'm going to need to a new coat if we're going to go camping at Christmas."

He was obviously fighting down the urge to roll his shoulders, an action that would probably split the material along several seams given how tight it was, and Frank echoed his wince. "Of course. I didn't even think about that." Barry wasn't quite at his full weight yet, but he had filled out in his time away. "Do you want to try mine?" Not that Barry's old gear wouldn't be tight on Frank as well, but it was just barely possible that it would be marginally better. And while Jagerbars weren't generally very susceptible to cold weather, there was no sense in being foolish about it.

"No, I'll be all right for tonight. I'll just be careful."

Frank nodded for lack of any other response to be made, and they pulled on gloves and headed outside. Where the snow wasn't falling as hard as it had been earlier, maybe, but it was still falling, and he doubted that that was going to do anything good with regard to the city's efforts to get the streets cleared.

"Roddy's going to be sad if he can't get to his friend's for Thanksgiving," Barry said as they started down the driveway.

"I know, but I'm afraid that there's not much we can do. Even if they get the buses running down in Portland proper by tomorrow, I highly doubt that this route will be on anyone's priority list." Frankly with Thursday being Thanksgiving, he'd be surprised if they saw so much as a plow up here before the weekend. "If there's something running within a reasonable distance I'll see what I can do to get him to the stop," he temporized, "but I don't think the odds of that are very good."

"Yeah, probably not. And it is cool to have him here." They continued a little further. "With the roads like they are, I guess it's a good thing that you managed to grab both Thanksgiving dinner and some extra food on the way, too."

"Agreed. Not that I don't like spaghetti, but it would get a little old by meal six. I was actually thinking while I was at the store that we ought sort out a few other good staples to keep on hand. If this is any indication of the winter that's coming, this won't be the last time that we get snowed in." In previous years—in previous years that weren't last year since with Barry in prison and Diane gone just remembering to eat had been a chore—Diane had always kept the pantry and freezers stocked with enough supplies to feed them comfortably for weeks. But not only was he not a cook of anything like her caliber and the pantry had been emptied in stages as various unrecognizable ingredients had reached their expiry dates or just gone rancid enough that even he'd been forced to notice, he'd also shut off the meat freezer as soon as it was empty and it had probably been a good eight or nine months since he'd even stepped into the shed. After all, he hadn't personally gone hunting in years, and obviously the boys hadn't been around to keep it filled.

"As far as vegetables and stuff she used to get a lot of potatoes and carrots and that kind of thing," Barry said after a minute. "And squash too, in the winter; she used to just keep a bag of them in the pantry, although I don't remember how she cooked them. But there should be plenty of deer and elk up in the...oh." He made a face. "Unless they've started coming down onto the property I guess I can't help much there."

Even if they had started coming down out of the state park Frank would just as soon that Barry not attempt to hunt right now. Not given how easy it was to lose one's head in the middle of a chase. "No, but I might be able to order a side of beef or something like that if I ask at the butcher's," he said rather than commenting directly. "Or at a minimum pick up a few frozen turkeys or hams or that sort of thing the next time I'm at the grocery store." Maybe some of the family-size frozen dinners, too, because even if Diane would never have approved, they would add some in-case-of-emergency variety to their diets. "We'll have to start up the big freezer again to make sure it's still working, but between the two of us we ought to be able to be able to figure out how to cook them."

Barry made a face but nodded, and then it was silent again until they'd rounded the last bend and the car came into view. And apparently he'd slid off the driveway a little further than he'd realized at the time, not to mention gotten it dug in pretty well when he'd tried to get back out, too, although some of that might just be an illusion from the snow that had piled up around it.

"Let's get it cleaned off, and I'll see I can get it started and moving first," Frank said as they approached. "Maybe the ground is solid enough now that the tires will be able to get some traction."

Barry nodded, and since it was snow rather than ice it only took a few minutes to clear the windows, but while the car did start, Frank had no luck rocking it free before the tires started to spin again.

"Just push it back onto the driveway?" Barry asked as he climbed back out. "Or lift it? Once the tires are out of those holes I bet it'll move just fine."

"Push first," Between the two of them they could lift it if they had to, but he wasn't as young as he used to be and didn't feel like straining anything today. "I think you're right and once it's free there won't be a problem." Frank moved to the hood of the car and braced his hands, and Barry was beside him a moment later. "Ready?"

"Ready." Barry shoved, and Frank threw his weight into it as well, and while did take some effort to get the tires clear of the ruts, once it was clear it was no trick to keep it rolling until it was back to where he'd first slid off the driveway.

With a wave at Barry to keep going—Roddy might actually have been helpful for this part, in retrospect—Frank hurried around to climb back in on the driver's side, and with a quick twist of the wheel he got it re-situated on pavement and pointing towards the house. "Hop in," he called.

Barry didn't waste any time, and as soon as he was buckled in Frank started towards the house. Cautiously.

"The whole city is like this?" Barry asked, gripping the handle above the door as despite Frank's best efforts the car skidded a bit on the first curve.

"It certainly felt like it."

"No wonder it took you so long to get home. I—"

The ringing of Frank's phone cut him off, but Frank wasn't willing to take his hands off the wheel long enough to toggle over to hands-free so he tossed it to Barry.


Movement from outside the window caught Frank's attention, and he smiled at the sight of the Jeep in the fading light. Inviting Nick and this Monroe for Thanksgiving had been a spur of the moment idea last night when Roddy had been on the phone with Nick, but on reflection he was very glad that he'd asked. Thanksgiving had never been a big holiday in their family, but it had been a holiday, and considering that it was Roddy's first since the loss of his father as well...well, a few more people around didn't seem like such a bad idea. And while his car wasn't suited to the snow that remained on the ground despite the sun that had broken through this morning, Nick's truck was, and more to the point after being out on the roads most of the day for his shift he'd said that he was comfortable enough to make the drive.

As of now the plan involved dinner tonight, probably movies or games, and then they'd do Thanksgiving around lunchtime tomorrow before Nick dropped Monroe and Roddy off at Monroe's place prior to his shift. But aside from Nick's shift there was nothing that they couldn't play by ear. He turned towards the stairs. "Boys, company!"

Roddy and Barry had been tasked with putting new sheets on the daybed in Frank's old office and Barry's room upstairs on the assumption that both men would prefer actual beds tonight rather than the basement floor with the boys, and a moment later there were rapid footsteps on the stairs.

"Food almost ready?" Barry asked.

"Two more minutes for the bread, but I think everything else is good. Why don't you finish setting the table?" The bread was one of the two ready-to-bake loaves that was technically supposed to be part of their Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, but there was enough other food that he was willing to risk it.

The doorbell rang a moment later, and Frank went to answer it. "Hello."

"Hey," Nick greeted. "Hey, Roddy."

"Hey, Nick," Roddy said, grabbing his boots and slipping past them to make a beeline for the man currently digging in the backseat of Nick's truck.

"Thanks for inviting us," Nick said. "And for keeping an eye on him."

"He's no trouble, and we're glad to have you. You've got good timing, dinner is just coming off the stove if you're hungry."

"Dinner sounds great." He nodded to the boxes he held. "Um, I've got four pies here—Phoebe baked three of them and Monroe the last, so I'm sure they're excellent—and then Monroe brought a couple casseroles and some bread along too." He winced slightly. "Sorry, I sort of forgot to mention on the phone that Monroe's a vegetarian so he figured it'd be safer to bring along some stuff that he knew that he could eat just in case."

"That's fine, although fortunately Roddy knew and warned me before I mixed the shredded chicken in with the pasta sauce so we should be good for tonight." Probably tomorrow too since while turkey and gravy was obviously out Frank was reasonably certain that the Thanksgiving family package he'd ordered had mostly vegetable sides, but it would be no trouble to set out whatever Monroe had brought as well.

Nick nodded and Frank waved him towards the kitchen. "Please. There should be plenty of room in the fridge for your pies, and just let Barry know what you'd like to drink."

He heard Barry and Nick exchange greetings as Roddy and the other man approached the door, both with casserole dishes in their arms, and Frank was a little confused when the man paused a few feet away and nudged Roddy back behind his arm. And then woged, and of all of the people that Frank might have expected a Grimm to be spending time with, a Blutbad was nowhere on that list. He'd known that Monroe was Wesen, obviously, and he did vaguely remember Nick mentioning a Blutbad, but it didn't exactly align with the vegetarian thing either.

He shook himself and woged as well. Monroe was an invited guest, even if Frank hadn't actually realized who he was inviting at the time, and the man was only being polite and announcing himself upon arrival in another predator's territory.

They both retracted, and Frank offered a hand. "Frank Rabe."

"Monroe, it's nice to meet you."

"Please, come in." Frank stepped back and waved them both inside. "You can put those in the fridge, we're just getting dinner on the table now."