O Fortuna
Chapter 3
S04E22 Cry Havoc
The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men
Gang aft agley
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The Grimm! Adalind gasped as her eyes shot wide open in the dark solitude of Bud Wurstner's guest bedroom.
This wasn't the previous tidal wave of darkness bubbling in - this was burning, seething, snarling genocide with gnashing teeth and claws that ripped through the bedroom door and straight into herself.
Her stomach cramped into knots and her heart clenched into her throat. Nick is here for your head!
She laid in the bed for a second, one hundred percent aware of his arrival before his feet stepped onto Bud's welcome mat. Unspeakable evil stood at the front door. Here. Now.
Having her powers stolen, her mother murdered, her baby ripped out of her breast, and then being tossed into Prince Victor's dungeon taught her one lesson: Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Her Hexenbiest powers were suppressed, but she was by no means powerless.
She leaned into the one thing she learned from her mother: Do not mock those who traffic death.
It did not matter why he was here for her head, only that he was.
There was one shot, albeit slim. She would bribe The Grimm off with the only currency that mattered to their kind.
He was here for her head, so she would offer heads in exchange, as many as it would take to ransom her own.
She would lay herself at his feet again. Keep yourself alive now. There will be plenty of time, later, to sort out what the hell is going on.
Adalind hauled herself to her feet against the angry protest of her joints, loosened by the final weeks of pregnancy.
The only thing I need to know is which heads he wants.
The front door clicked. Adalind steeled herself, opened the bedroom door, and met The Grimm in Bud's living room.
Nick marched straight up to her and said, "The Royals have Diana."
"I thought she was with your mother."
"My mother is dead."
"Your mother is dead?"
"I'm going to kill whoever did this."
"That would be Kenneth. He took over when Victor was recalled to Vienna, and Rispoli is in charge of the Verrat."
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She wondered, on the cab ride to The Hotel DeLuxe, Ok, so Nick showed up with Hank and another Grimm. How come I knew it was Nick and didn't know about anybody else, including the other Grimm? How did I know he was coming for my head, and how did I know that the girl was a Grimm too?
Soon, Adalind was putting on her best Damsel in Distress, screaming at the top of her lungs. The night maid heard the commotion and called the front desk. Sergeant Wu rolled in from the police department, followed minutes later by Nick and Hank.
She spun the tale they practiced,
Everyone disappeared. She touched Nick, and said, "I'm sorry about your mom. She died trying to save my daughter."
Nick turned to stone. His look snarled, You did this!
She continued, "I know how much that hurts."
Fury welled up within him and his glare sliced through her, making his message crystal clear: I know you did this, and when I prove it, I'm going to hack you to pieces.
She gulped hard, knowing she could never utter a single breath of what she knew, Yes, this was the plan, except for the part about your mother's head in a box.
In that moment, she was thankful he didn't have his axe, because a blonde haired head would be laying on the shelf next to the other one.
She was an expert at putting on whatever face she needed to, but for some reason, she actually was sad for him, like she was feeling all the grief and emotions that were bottled up inside Nick.
And that made no sense, because this was still sort of the plan... The Royals had Diana, just no mother Grimm to hunt her down. She should be overjoyed.
Then came another solitary journey back to Bud's empty house, where she waited, still wondering...
So it was you, His Royal Highness, The Moron, Kenneth Bowles-Lyon!
What the hell could have possessed him? He was supposed to get my daughter and kidnap Grandmother Grimm. Nick's mother was the scheduled wild goose chase for The Grimm and his friends. Kelly Burkhardt WAS the diversion that would get everybody, including me, back to Vienna! Nick would bask in the glory and heroism of his mother's rescue, and forget about everything else.
But no!
Then it struck her.
That damned Juliette!
Henrietta called her a five year old with a loaded gun.
She's drunk, riding the wave of massive, rage fueled powers, and no idea how to control them, or even that she is using them.
She witched him. She was so full of hate and crazy that she had sent Kenneth off the script, chasing into the weeds, on a quest to kill the Grimms.
And now, instead of sending The Grimm on a quest to rescue his own mother while everybody else escaped, the idiot prince had sent The Grimm on a quest to kill himself, Juliette, The King, and everybody else.
At least, he's not on a quest to kill me right now, but I need to keep it that way.
Then the world crashed in on her. Juliette took Diana to The Royals!
Fury flashed through her. Everything was wrong, even though she knew this was supposed to the plan. Kenneth and Rispoli were one thing, but Juliette!
And then the gang came back, without her daughter.
The Grimm had failed.
Nick broke the news himself. "The Royals escaped with Diana."
Juliette's got my daughter. What's next? Kill me, take my baby, and have herself a Happily Ever After with Nick?
He had lost his mother, she lost her daughter. She had no idea why, but she wanted to wrap him around herself and cry.
She felt the hollow, sucking maw open within Nick as the adrenaline wore off.
And then he left.
No. What is Nick doing? He can't be trying to sleep in the house his mother was just murdered in?
But everybody wanted him gone, not because he wasn't their friend, or because they didn't care about him. Nick was hunting heads and they wanted to keep theirs. If he wanted to go blow off some steam, chop some heads, or do whatever despondent Grimms do, fine. They just didn't want it happening in their house.
Well, that makes two of us. Everybody just wants me gone, too.
She wanted to wrap him in comfort. She wanted to shake Monroe, Rosalee, and Hank. You can't just let him leave! Not like this. His mother was literally just murdered. He needs you guys. Now!
And she had no idea why she felt this way. She shouldn't care, after all. Sure, he technically fathered one of her children... He had been mostly decent for the last two days, Except for the part about wanting to murder me five different times. The time before that hadn't gone all that well, though, which is why she was here now. In his defense, I did turn Juliette, and I am technically still working with The Royals to get my daughter back.
He wasn't her husband, boyfriend, or even her lover. He hadn't even come home with Diana. He was just some guy she tried to kill. He certainly didn't want her around, and neither did anybody else.
The Royals would be along directly to collect her and reunite her with her daughter, and that would be that.
Everybody left and she cried herself to sleep.
She woke up to a dark, empty house, and vigorous kicking. Baby Grimm calls.
She took care of business and tried to nestle back into her comfortable spot in the guest bed.
Nick's pain swelled inside her chest, and Adalind wept.
She cried for her daughter, ripped from her fingertips again, and she cried for the son who had to stare at his mother's head stuffed into a box.
Why am I crying? Nobody wants me around, especially not Nick. I need to get out of here and be on my way back to Vienna tonight, while nobody is paying attention. At least I'll be able to hold my Diana again.
She was in the middle of stuffing the few things she had into her purse when a memory drifted by. Herself, standing at the bend of a path staring at Kelly Burkhardt's
Head
In
A
Box...
No, that's just a crazy coincidence. All I have to do is make it out the door and I'm gone.
The window behind her rattled. She froze at the commotion, wishing she had somebody courageous in the bed next to her, or failing that, her powers back...
Adalind waited as the scampering and squeaking continued. She crept upwards, peeked out the window, and recoiled from the rat scurrying along the windowsill outside.
She gritted her teeth and snarled, That's not even fair! Quit with the stupid rats!
But silence answered.
Come on now! I know you're still in here.
Nothing.
She focused, relaxed, and stilled herself, listening. She wrapped herself in quiet, waiting, as the rat continued it's business inches from her head.
Still nothing.
Well, if it's not you, who is it?
And she waited, but received no reply.
Contractions forced her onto the bed. She buried her head under a pillow, unable to shake the conviction that something horrible was happening to Nick.
The clouds drifted and moonlight streamed into the window. The gold letters, imprinted into the cover of the worn bible laying on Bud's night stand, glittered.
She glanced at it and groaned. Witch here. Remember? You hate me? Witches are evil. It says so right there in your book.
Clouds covered the moon, the quiet darkness settled in, and the rat returned.
Contractions cramped her stomach. She had lost track of when the last ones were. A couple hours, maybe? They're definitely closer together than they were.
Adalind shifted onto her side, propping herself up with every single pillow she could get her hands on. She covered her head.
Sadness overwhelmed her. Ok, well, you hate me, Nick hates me, everybody hates me. You want me gone too. I got it. I'll be out as soon as I can, I promise, and you'll never see me again. Just please help Nick. Something bad is happening to him...
A second rat climbed onto the windowsill. They looked straight at her and started digging at the window.
She cringed and shivered as a third and fourth rat appeared. They licked their lips at her and started clawing alongside the other two.
Adalind wiped her eyes. Ok, fine! I'll go now.
Adalind threw on her overcoat, hauled her purse over her shoulder, and waddled to the front door. Her hand touched the knob and scratching vibrated through it. She peeked through the window and saw a dozen wriggling shadows in the dark. A chill ran down her spine and her hand recoiled from the handle.
Nope! There's no way!
Another set of contractions took her breath away. She slumped onto the couch and cried.
A few minutes later, contractions brought her to her feet. She paced, stretching against the cramps. She straightened her body against the front door.. Adalind peeked through it's windows and found a writhing mass of gray fur and beady eyes.
The clouds cleared and moonlight streamed into the yard past the bushes, unmasking a red fox as it snatched a rat, shook it, and disappeared into the night.
I'm not opening that door. How am I supposed to go? Are they coming now? Bud has been such a good guy. Got it. Just sneak out when they show up. Don't let them destroy his house or kill him.
She unlocked the front door and leaned against it, stretching and waiting for The Royals to arrive and collect her while the rat circus ran full tilt. The only thing answering her pleas was the fox, killing another rat at the edge of the darkness.
Baby Grimm called, ushering her back to the bathroom. She was on the way out the front door when contractions wrenched again, buckling her knees and forcing her to lie on the couch by the door, where she stared out into the night, waiting for men to appear.
Exhaustion overwhelmed her. Adalind drifted off to the symphony of scampering and squeaking outside.
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Still fun so far? Continue?
end notes:
O Mouse by Robert Burns.
Do not go gentle by Dylan Thomas.