A/N: A million thanks again to Merlyn Pyndragon for her awesome beta work! I couldn't make this without you, hun! A little note on this chapter is, I'm doing a little bit of history here. The Turkish Sieges are history, and so are the story about the tunnels. The only thing isn't true (as far as I know) those tunnels are gone completely now. Or maybe not? ;)
Still they were in the suburbs of Vienna. Not because they couldn't find a way out but because every single one of those ways seemed to be blocked by Verrat and police. Nick didn't know what to do now. He knew they had to leave Vienna as fast as possible, but he didn't know how they could. Every street leading out of the city was blocked or had checkpoints. Every car, every truck, every bus and every train was being searched for him and Adalind. And now he had just looked into his own face on a TV screen.
They hid now in a shopping center – or what Europeans called shopping centers. It was a huge difference to the malls he knew, and he probably would have enjoyed coming here, if there weren't Hundjaegers hounding them and if he wasn't staring at his own face, larger than life, on a screen. And not just one screen: there were thirty or more flatscreens hanging on a long wall. And on every single screen he saw his face, sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller, more bright than in reality, in HD quality or not. Now the screen changed and Adalind's face came into view.
Nick frowned. "Did that subtitle say Thomas Schirach?" he asked.
Adalind was standing by his side, staring at the many screens in horror.
Yeah, Nick knew what she was thinking. But she was probably wrong.
His experience as a cop told him that those TV-demands were a long shot. Most people didn't care about what was on those thirty screens, and if they cared, it was more about the quality of the pictures than about what those pictures were showing. And even on the streets, the average civilian didn't want to be bothered by criminals, and right now Adalind and he were marked as criminals. The average civilian would simply ignore them, pretending or really not knowing that they were the couple on their TV-screens. Nick's only fear was the few heroes out there.
"What are we going to do now?" Adalind whispered. She looked over her shoulder and seemed to count all the people in this mall, no matter if customer or clerk.
"Nothing," Nick answered, actually relieved about this development.
So far he couldn't tell if this newly-won freedom was easy. Sleeping on park benches, having trouble with the local money (why the heck were there so many coins as change in Euros? What was wrong with notes only?), being hunted and having difficulty leaving this damned city. But maybe, or so Nick had told himself, he was looking in the wrong places. And that was why they were here.
He hoped to buy another map, something they could use to leave on foot as it was impossible to depart Vienna on any other kind of transportation. The map Christian had given to him was a good one, but not a city one. And right now they needed to know how to leave the city without any transportation, in the hopes of slipping through Eric's net.
"All these people are seeing us!" Adalind protested, still whispering.
Nick shrugged. "They are seeing a couple arguing in front of a shop offering TVs. What would you think about us if you saw us standing here?" he asked. "Would you really draw the line from us arguing to the faces on the screens behind us? I tell you as a cop. You have no idea how easy it is for someone who is being searched for to be invisible. The moment we panic, the people will know that something's wrong. But not so far."
Adalind didn't seem any calmer. She looked at him, full of scepticism.
Nick sighed, took her again by her elbow and walked away from the recording of what happened last night at the subway station.
"Maybe I'm panicking," Adalind finally answered, "but I think I have every right to panic in our current situation."
Nick felt a weight falling off his shoulders after they left the TV area. No matter if it was risky at all to be here. On the other hand, they didn't have much of a choice. They needed supplies. The supplies Christian and his friends from the resistance got for them were stored in the car.
For a split second Nick thought again about this car. Adalind still had the keys in her bag. The car might still be parked near the opera, if the Hundjaegers hadn't drawn the line between an abandoned car and the escape of two people. The car could also be a trap, if Eric hoped they would try to get out of Vienna the planned way.
Why did he have to fight Franz? Why drag the other Grimm on stage? There hadn't been much time. Actually, the time frame this Dirk had set up had been impossible to work with from the very beginning: Eight minutes for everything until they had to leave the building.
Obviously the team Christian put in charge didn't have the experience with escapes at all, Nick had surmised. And under the circumstances last night, this whole thing would have been blown apart the moment Adalind and he had left the building, no matter which way or in what time frame. His fight with Franz truly didn't help much, but it caused the confusion he and Adalind needed to get to the subway.
Nick stopped after they left the shop. "Listen," he said, trying to catch Adalind's eye, "right now our best camouflage is to be as normal as possible. The more attention we draw to us, the more we are put in danger. Like I said, as a cop I've seen convicted murderers living for years among average people after they broke out of prison. We will hopefully manage to manage that for a day or two."
He hoped to depart from Adalind soon. No matter if Christian wanted them to flee together, him obviously as guardian for the unborn, he couldn't stand Adalind. He couldn't! And he felt Adalind thought the same about him. So, the best solution to this situation was to go different ways and never meet again in their lives.
Wasn't there a saying about meeting twice? Well, this was hopefully the second meeting so their lives would never cross again.
Thinking of that, Nick started to wonder again. Adalind pregnant and Eric wanting to get rid of her and most likely the child. Nick was under the impression that Eric knew about Adalind's condition. But why did Eric want to kill the mother of his heir? Adalind was his fiancée, she wasn't someone Eric simply picked from the street.
Another question: How did they meet?
But more important was the unborn. What about that? Was Eric the father? But why kill the mother and the child? Why not wait until Adalind gave birth and murder her then, keeping the baby?
Adalind stared at him, nose wrinkled after he mentioned the word "normal". Naturally she wouldn't be normal. He made her normal with killing her Hexenbiest. Another grudge on a long list.
Nick decided not to ask about the child. Not because he was sympathetic but because he wasn't supposed to ask. Departed and on his own he could think this whole situation through. Right now, most unlikely.
"I'm not normal!" Adalind told him.
Surely she wasn't! She was the nemesis which haunted him in his dreams along with the Cracher-Mortal.
Nick lifted his hands, palms out. "Okay," he said.
Adalind stared at him for a moment, then she seemed to realize and became fully focused on something behind his back.
Nick turned around and saw a boutique, which was just opening. The saleswoman brought some clothes out into the hall.
Nick sighed and gave in. It was probably the best he could do, he told himself when he stepped aside. "But choose something practical," he told her. "Do you have money?"
The look Adalind gave him told him she wanted to feel better now, not suit him or the way they had to go.
Probably she was still thinking of a vehicle to get out of Vienna. Train, car. Nick doubted she would think about trucks or buses, and bikes of any kind would be a complete no-go for her. But no matter what she wanted, she needed to think about them fleeing on foot. She might be well trained walking in heels, which she was—he remembered her flight down the stairs in that hotel pretty well—but on open range, when they had to move quickly, "happy shoes" for Adalind would most likely be "crappy shoes" for them.
"No high heels, please," Nick whispered, reading in her face that that was exactly the opposite to what she had in mind. "I'll wait for you at the fountain over there. Don't take too long. We need to move."
"You are not my babysitter, Nick Burkhardt!" Adalind snapped and marched away from him.
Nick sighed and swallowed the answer he had dancing on his tongue. Instead he got the map out of his pocket and walked over to the fountain.
They needed a map of Vienna, he thought again. And most likely a map for hikers. Only he didn't know where to get those. An outdoor store?
Nick came across another floor map, a service point with a map of the whole shopping center including all shops in here. He looked at it and sighed, checking on Adalind, who had just entered the boutique.
Okay, they needed a map of Vienna and he needed a dictionary. When he left Adalind he would have to be able to find his way around on his own. And so far one barrier was still intact: he barely understood German and couldn't read it either.
Nick stared at the map of the shopping center, concentrating on a single word: maps. Maybe he would find something. Something ...
His throat seemed to shrink a little. He needed to focus more, he told himself. It couldn't be too hard to find what he was looking for without Adalind's help.
Papesterie Mienderle.
Nick swallowed and cleared his throat. He couldn't inhale enough air.
What the heck was going on?
Papesterie ...
His throat closed entirely, leaving him gasping for breath. His heart rate quickened and he heard the blood in his ears. Just like the night when Eric and his two Grimm tortured him the first time.
Nick dug his nails into the metal of the service point, feeling panic set in.
What was wrong? This was the second time within a day he was having trouble breathing.
He tried harder, still doing his best to cover his problem, not to show anybody that he was running out of air in the middle of a shopping center.
Breathe! Breathe!
He couldn't.
"Geht es Ihnen nicht gut?" a voice asked, nearly drowned by the rushing of the blood in his ears.
Nick leaned against the pole with the map, trying his best to act like this was nothing. But it was! Something was very wrong.
When he looked up to the boutique, he didn't see Adalind.
Adalind!
The first time this happened was when he tried to leave her in the graveyard. And now she was supposed to ... he couldn't see her!
The child was gone, and Nick had to fight to keep on his feet. His knees were shaking, barely holding his weight.
Adalind was still not in sight.
Did this have something to do with her?
Eric smiling at him after he admitted to poisoning him with the mysterious meat, explaining to him that there had been a special ingredient used.
And suddenly Nick understood. He understood why Eric could let him go at the opera, leaving him with Adalind alone. He didn't know how it worked but he knew this special ingredient wasn't meant to "help him over the edge" like Eric had told him. This ingredient chained him to Adalind! He couldn't leave her.
"Mein Herr, alles in Ordnung mit Ihnen?" a woman asked. The child had brought her with it.
Still he couldn't breath, and he was running out of air.
The woman had the same eyes as the child, warm and sympathetic, Nick thought. She grabbed him and steadied him again. "Kommen Sie, setzen Sie sich."
Adalind wasn't in the boutique anymore! He couldn't see her.
Now the panic set in. Nick didn't know what to do. Not in this situation.
The woman led him to the fountain where some benches awaited tired customers. Nick stared over at the boutique, trying to make out Adalind. But he knew she had left the shop and tried to escape on her own.
The woman helped him sit down and leaned forward. "Haben Sie vielleicht Asthma?" she asked.
That sounded somehow familiar enough that Nick started to nod, still fighting for the next breath to take.
"Wo ist ihr Inhalator?" The woman asked.
Nick couldn't understand.
"Mama, ich glaube, er ist ein Auslaender," the child said.
Auslaender, foreigner. Yes! Nick nodded, pointing at the boutique he tried to tell that his companion was supposed to be in there.
The woman frowned, looking over her shoulder where his finger pointed. "Ihre Frau? Hat sie den Inhalator?" She seemed to realize that he really couldn't understand and asked in English: "Is your wife in the shop?"
Nick nodded enthusiastically.
"Ich habe ihn zusammen mit einer huebschen Blonden gesehen," the voice of a man said. "Sie ging in die Boutique."
"Stefanie, geh dort rein und such eine blonde Frau. Sag ihr, ihr Mann hat einen Anfall und braucht seinen Inhalator," the woman said to the child. And the child ran off, across the hall to the boutique.
Nick could only hope that his suspicion was wrong, but he felt Adalind was gone ...
"Are you kidding me?" Norman turned around to face Juliette once more. With his hand he pointed to the window of the cabin. Out there, on the porch, were Rosalee and his companion Teresa. "Are you really going to tell me you are friends with one of them? Are you insane?"
Juliette stood there, leaning on one shoulder against a wooden wall, arms folded before her chest and watching the restless walk her uncle was doing.
This was not at all anywhere near the meeting she had imagined. True, she knew this would have most likely been difficult, but it never crossed her mind that it would be Rosalee her uncle would have problems with. Rosalee was one of the smartest and kindest persons she had ever met in her life. It was unbelievable that someone else couldn't see her for this instead of being Wesen.
"Rosalee is a friend of mine, a very good friend," Juliette said, her voice as calm as possible. "She helped me through very difficult times. That's why I brought her with me after I decided to come here looking for you."
Norman turned on his heels and looked at her. He was getting old, Juliette realized. His hair was a dusty grey and needed a cut. There were lines in his face she'd never seen before, but told her about a life harder than he deserved. He needed a shave with the haircut and his clothes didn't fit too well, worn and patched many times. His skin was weathered from the years in the woods. Only his boots seemed new, if not well used.
"A friend?" he asked, lifting his hands in an empty gesture of helplessness. "She's a friend? How long do you think she'd be a friend if you were weak? Hurt or sick or simply unable to do what your job is? How much time do you think your friend needs to kill you then?"
"Rosalee wouldn't do that!" Juliette said, not snapping, only making it clear. She nodded outside, where not only Rosalee was waiting. "What about your new friend?"
"Teresa is a good girl who had been through hell. Sounds familiar to me. So, don't mess with me about her!" Norman stared at Juliette angrily. "She's one of us, not like your Fuchsbau friend. And if I were you I would give her permission to kill that bitch. She has already seen too much."
"Rosalee is not a problem. That girl could be. How old is she?" Juliette frowned. "I believe you, and I believe Jim. You helped her and she helps you. But for outsiders this could tell another story. Do you really want to do that?"
Norman stepped closer. "Stop messing with me about Teresa! She's a good girl! Her entire family was killed by your so called friends, did you know that?"
No, she didn't. And after all Juliette had learned over the past few months she couldn't believe that Wesen would go out and kill Grimm only because there were Grimm in their town. She'd talked a lot with Bud and his wife, and with other Wesen. One time she joined Monroe on a Sunday and went with him to church where the community was entirely Wesen (Monroe told her it would be a Wider-church for all Wesen like him, tired of the old ways). And she knew Nick.
"I am sorry for her loss," Juliette said, and she meant it. "But I doubt that the only reason for those Wesen to come forward killing a human, or Grimm, family was just for fun. Not after what I've seen so far in Portland."
Norman looked at her and started shaking his head. "I cannot believe that," he finally said with a bitter snort. "Since when are you an expert? The last time I saw you, you were human only. I've no idea why you awoke so late!"
That hurt but was also true. And it was one of the reasons why Juliette was here. She had read in Nick's books that female Grimm awoke earlier, male later. But why she was so late? She still thought it was because she carried Nick's child but she wasn't sure.
"Does that matter?" she asked.
"If you want to survive, maybe," Norman told her. Again he pointed outside the cabin. "And we should start first with killing that Fuchsbau out there. Then you are safe for now."
"I'm not going to give you permission to kill a friend of mine," Juliette said. "As I've already told you, there are different ways. And Nick and I, we are going this the different way."
"A different way? Like what? Becoming the house pet of a Fuchsbau?" Norman frowned, realizing not only the name Juliette just revealed, but also that he had most likely stepped too far. "Sorry," he mumbled and walked to the other side of the cabin. "So, Nick's a Grimm, I suppose? Your big love."
Juliette nodded. "He is. He became a Grimm two years ago," she answered.
Norman took a deep breath. "And how is he keeping up to it? How does he see you now? How long have you been one of us?"
Juliette smiled. "A little more than a week," she answered.
Norman sighed and shook his head.
"But that's not the point. Nick's been a Grimm for more than two years and he's friends with a lot of Wesen. That's the way we are trying. He can keep up with the Grimm in his work, solving his cases with the abilities," Juliette continued.
Norman looked at her. "He's friends with Wesen too?" he asked.
Juliette nodded. "He kept his Grimm secret from me and we broke up for a while. Guess where he lived then? With Rosalee's fiancée, who's a Blutbad. Nick and he are best friends and they saved each others' lives more than one time."
Norman stared at her with a mixture of disbelief and disgust. "Are you kidding me?"
Juliette shook her head. "I'm not."
Norman gazed out the window, across the porch, and frowned. When Juliette turned her head she saw that Rosalee finally had the attention of Teresa and was talking to her. The girl looked nervous, haunted and unsure of what to do, but she listened and gave answers. The whole conversation out there was only heard as mumbling inside the cabin, so Juliette couldn't understand what they were talking about. But it felt good that Rosalee had broken the ice.
"Wesen are just like normal humans," Juliette said now. "They have flaws and strengths, just like us. You cannot judge all of them from the small number of criminals."
Norman turned his head and stared her. "Where's Nick?" he finally asked, a little underline in his voice Juliette couldn't make much sense of. "Why did you come with her when there's another Grimm in Portland? Your partner, your big love?"
Juliette got a bad feeling but didn't move a muscle. "Nick's not in Portland," she answered.
Norman nodded. "Where is he?" he demanded to know.
Juliette lifted her chin. "He was abducted four months ago and was brought to Europe. The last I heard from him was that he's prisoner of one of the Royals. The one that gave the order to trap him," she answered.
Norman's face went pale. "You come here, knowing that there's at least one Royal who already has some knowledge, who's responsible for your partner being shipped off to another continent. Do you know why Grimm came over here to the US?"
Juliette had found a note in one of his books and nodded. "The same reason the Wesen came over here. To be free from the Royals."
"And you and Nick brought them here with your new way!" Norman snapped. "Everything's okay as long as no one messes with the status quo. Status quo means Grimm are doing what they have done since the dawn of time: hunt down Wesen. And Wesen kill Grimm if they get their hands on one. We are not befriending each other!"
"And do you really know all this hate and all this fear will lead to something else other than the extinction of both of us?" Juliette asked.
The door to the cabin opened and Teresa came in, Rosalee on her heels, both looking with big brown eyes.
"I told you to stay outside while I have a private conversation with my niece," Norman said.
"Why don't we go to Portland and look at what your niece and her fiancé are doing there?" the girl asked. "Rosalee here told me—"
"Don't listen to her!" Norman turned to the newcomers and stared angrily at Rosalee. "They are our sworn enemies, Teresa! They will tell you anything to get their hands on you, lure you out to kill you!"
"That's not true," Rosalee said. "We would never do that." She blinked and looked at the girl. "Teresa? I thought you said your name was Trubel?"
"That's one of those stupid nicknames kids give each other," Norman said, rolling his eyes after he realized that he was talking to his sworn enemy. "For God's sake, throw her out of my cabin, Teresa! Now!"
Juliette marched over to the two other women and took Rosalee's hand. "Why not, Uncle? Why not take a look at what we are doing in Portland? You would probably like it."
Teresa nodded enthusiastically.
Norman shook his head. "This is a failure and you should correct it as fast as possible, Juliette," he said. "Look what your new way did to your Nick! He's a prisoner, you told me that yourself."
"And he will be back soon," Rosalee said. "In fact I think the schedule for his flight from the castle was yesterday. Nick will be back right on time to see his ..." She shut up after she realized what she was about to reveal.
Juliette gave her a warning glance over her shoulder, but Norman had noticed.
"What?" he asked. "Before he what?" He looked at Juliette, thinking through what she'd told him. His face lost the last remains of color. "You are pregnant!"
Teresa jumped from the two women, staring at Juliette as though she was an alien.
Norman staggered to a dresser to keep his balance.
"I'm sorry," Rosalee whispered behind Juliette's back.
"It's okay. Sooner or later I had to tell," Juliette answered, still keeping an eye on her uncle.
Suddenly Norman started to laugh a bitter and ironic laugh. "And you came here to ask me why you awoke so late, right? You have the answer!"
Teresa seemed confused and took another step backwards.
"Why?" Juliette asked. "I'm sorry but obviously I'm missing the point here."
Norman nodded, stopping his laughter now. "You do," he explained. "The reason why you awoke now is that you had an overdose of Grimm. You are carrying the genes, but obviously not enough to wake you up in time. Then you are in a relationship with a Grimm over years before you two break up. Let me guess, you broke Nick's heart with whatever happened and he became much more Grimm than before."
Juliette blinked and send a silent question to Rosalee. And she nodded. "He was, yes," she answered.
Norman, now leaning with his back against the dresser, crossed his arms before his chest. "As far as I can remember you never wanted kids. So I assumed you were on birth control and Nick most likely did his part as well. As I recall, he was very thoughtful and compassionate towards you."
Juliette nodded.
"Do you know that our emotions, our experiences have direct consequences on us? I bet not." Norman lifted his chin. "Nick grew stronger because he was hurt. At one point, when you two had sex, his 'Grimm-ness' not only sabotaged all your precious protection, it also let your Grimm awake."
"But Nick was abducted more than two months before," Rosalee said.
"And the hormones for a pregnancy first had to developed in her body. She already carried Grimm genes and now something else, carrying Grimm genes, grows inside her. That was too much and that's the reason why she became a Grimm," Norman answered. "My ancestors did tons of research about how the inheritances work, Fuchsbau. Believe me, that's the answer!"
"And how I can get rid of it?" Juliette asked.
"Rid of it?" Norman shook his head. "Unless you find someone with the right potions and spells willing to work with you and you are willing to take the side effects ..." He shut up, staring at her. "God damn! Juliette, do you know what you are carrying there? That's not only a child with Grimm genes, that's a fullblood! Fullblooded Grimms are extremely rare, stronger than normal ones like me or Teresa or even you after your powers will have completely kicked in. Do you know what such a child will worth for the Royals?"
Juliette didn't, but she realized something else and exchanged another look with Rosalee.
Nick was stronger than usual, they'd heard it from different sources now ...
After she entered the boutique, Adalind started to smile. There was a second exit on the other side of the shopping center! She walked over to it, looking several times over her shoulder to be sure Nick wasn't following her. After she was convinced he was still waiting on the other side, she left the boutique, using the opposite exit. One of the three clerks looked after her, frowning. But it wasn't the first time people only crossed the shop to shorten their way, not really allowed but ignored by the shop clerks.
But what was different to other times was the maybe ten year old girl, who came into the boutique a couple of minutes later, asking: "Have you seen a pretty blonde lady? Her husband needs his inhalator, he's asthmatic!"
Adalind was still walking the other back hallway down to an exit, feeling relieved now. She had left Nick and his stupidity behind, him, her mother's murderer. She didn't believe a single word he stated about not having anything to do with her death. Nick had killed Adalind's Hexenbiest. He was ruthless when it came to Wesen he thought of as his enemies. Not that she would have ever tried to befriend him. A Grimm!
Next stop would be at a good boutique to change her clothes and get rid of these ridiculous shoes, Adalind decided. But not here. Not in reach of Nick Burkhardt, who would come looking for her because he needed her. Needed her because he couldn't speak German at all. Adalind hadn't noticed any development about this when she was together with him. And, she was sure, when she wasn't needed anymore, he would kill her like he killed her Hexenbiest in Portland.
She marched in the direction of the next main exit, opening and rummaging in her bag.
Unfortunately she didn't have that much money, but she still had the credit card Eric had gifted her on her last birthday. It wouldn't be too bad if she used it now. Surely Eric would send his Hundjaegers, but Adalind would be gone. And if Nick was at least a little clever he would be gone by then too.
"Gnae' Frau?" Someone stepped in her way, stopping her.
Adalind looked up and find herself facing a security guard. Surprised, she blinked. "Yes?" she asked. Taking a look over her shoulder she saw a young girl running in her direction, followed by an older woman in heels and a skirt.
"Sie sind Auslaenderin?" the guard asked.
Adalind looked up to him again. An older man, with thinning hair and a few pounds too many on his hips. His cheeks and nose were a ruddy color, not from too much alcohol but the remains of a sunburn.
"Ich verstehe Sie," Adalind answered and nodded. "Gibt es ein Problem?"
The girl stopped at her side, looking up to her.
Adalind frowned. "What?" she asked.
"Ihr Ehemann hat einen Anfall," the security guard said. "You should watch after him."
"He needs his inhaler," the girl said, pointing backwards from where she came.
Adalind shook her head in confusion. "I don't understand. I'm not married."
"Then your boyfriend. He is having trouble breathing," the girl explained.
Slowly the information sunk in and Adalind was reminded of the scene at the cemetery – Nick unable to breathe, nearly fainting before ...
"Oh no!"
What had Eric done to Nick? Why had Nick been stupid enough to let this happen to him?
Adalind looked at the exit. So close to freedom ... She only had to go, tell these strangers to go to hell and that she didn't know Nick at all. So close ...
She bit her lips.
Nick had saved her life at the opera. If he hadn't fought and killed the other Grimm, she would be dead by now, together with Dirk and the woman at the wardrobe. She owed Nick something.
It would be so easy. Leaving these people, leaving this place, getting back to the opera and, with a little luck, finding the car there still. True, now it was too late, she would never catch the plane to Marrakesch. But she could drive to Italy, France, Germany or Belgium and get another ticket, take another flight.
But there was still the memory of Nick last night and this morning. The memory of him sleeping on the bench, his face so young and innocent, like a little boy. His nightmare, the mumbling, the little movements, as if he was trying to fight something he couldn't win. Nick getting all pale, gasping for air, confusion in his big blue eyes because he couldn't understand what was happening to him.
Adalind remembered the last time Eric was at her hotel suite, when he came with her in the bathroom. It would be so easy to get some hair from her brush, so easy to give it so someone who knew how to use them and chain Nick to her with making him eat or drink the potion. A simple touch would seal the spell after they met afterwards. A single touch ... and Nick had took her by her arm last night several times.
So close to freedom ...
Adalind recognized that she had changed when she turned around and followed the girl and the woman, now recognized as one of the saleswomen at the boutique she had crossed. Back to Nick and saving his life this time.
Nick knew the moment he was able to breathe again that his suspicion had been right. He didn't have to look up; he could hear Adalind's footsteps and knew she was coming back.
What the hell had Eric done to him? It must have been the meat, that's for sure. But how was he supposed to kill Adalind if that would most likely mean he would be killing himself because he couldn't leave her? Was that Eric's plan all along? Turning him, the cop, into a killer to force him into self-destruction?
There was a tiny little voice which told him that was a point he was wrong about. Eric was too clever to kill him. One thing Nick believed about what the Royal had said: Eric wanted him on his side. Didn't Eric tell him that Grimm were rare nowadays, and that he would need every single Grimm he could get?
There was another piece that didn't really fit into the self-destruction theory: Eric wanted him to snap, wanted his dark side, the anger, the hatred Nick had learned to control since he became a Grimm. That would fit into forcing him to kill Adalind but not into suicide.
So what happened to him?
The woman, the mother of the girl if Nick guessed right, looked at him closely and blinked after she recognized his breath was steady again.
"Looks like the attack is gone." Nick smiled a bitter smile and looked up to Adalind. "There you are! Where've you been? I thought you only wanted to check out something at the boutique."
Adalind's face was best description of "turning every glass of milk sour", but there also was a little line on her forehead, straight to her hair. A line that made Nick frown.
She was worried about ... him? Maybe, he decided, maybe not.
The girl said something in German that made Adalind blush and the woman beside him angry. She focused on Adalind and snapped something in a very cold voice.
"You shouldn't judge what you don't know," Adalind returned.
The woman turned to Nick. "I'm sorry, but I work with victims of abuse," she told him. "And your wife just tried to leave you here. Sick and without medication."
Nick exchanged a look with Adalind, which made her face turn a little red. "It's a misunderstanding," he said then to the stranger, "It's okay. Really. Thanks for your help. It meant a lot to me."
The stranger shook her head and stood up. She was much taller than Adalind. "You should be ashamed of what you just tried," she said. "If there are problems in your marriage, there are much better ways to deal with it than to turn your back on your husband when he needs you. He could have died!"
Now it was Nick who blushed. Underneath his eyelashes he looked at people passing their little group. They were drawing attention to themselves. And that was the last thing they needed with their faces all over the news.
"You'd better keep quiet. This is not your business, lady!" Adalind snapped.
Nick's legs still were wobbly when he tried to get to his feet again. He still was too weak, and needed a little more time to recover. Maybe a side effect of whatever Eric did to him?
"It is my business when someone's getting hurt. So, again ..."
The girl came to Nick and smiled. "Everything's alright, mister?" she asked. Her accent was a little weird even for someone with German as native language.
Nick took a look over his shoulder. More people were looking in their direction the longer this argument lasted. They need to move, to leave. Right now! It only was a question of time until ...
The woman turned to him, looking down at him after he tried again to stand up. And this time she morphed. Woged into a female Loewen
Nick closed his eyes but the damage was already done. She would know what he was. And surely she would call for the security, and from the security to the police it only was one call. He'd rather not think about the following.
Silence.
"Mister? Are you okay?" the girl's voice asked.
Still silence. Adalind had shut up, and the Loewen-women as well. Surprisingly she didn't protect her daughter from him.
Slowly he opened his eyes again and startled.
The girl's face was only an inch from his and she studied him with interest. And she has morphed as well as her mother.
Nick swallowed.
"That's not good," he heard Adalind saying and nodded, still without opening his mouth.
The girl turned around, without any fear, and asked her mother something in German.
Nick saw Adalind's amused face but still didn't understand what had just happened.
The Loewen-woman looked for a moment to Adalind, then to him, seemed to think about something. Then she told the girl something in German, giving her orders.
Adalind looked surprised and Nick wished he had learned more German to really understand what the woman said.
The girl nodded, took one last look at him before she turned around and walked away. Adalind stepped back to let her pass and Nick was near a panic.
"So, that's why you two are all over the news," the woman finally said to him. "You are a Grimm. Is that really your wife?" She nodded in Adalind's direction.
Nick shook his head. "Friends helped us escape," he answered hesitantly. "But the plan didn't work out the way they'd hoped."
The woman nodded. "Resistance, huh? Yeah, their plans tend to fall apart at some point. Eric's too clever for them." She turned to Adalind. "And you are?"
"I am ..." Adalind closed her mouth, not really knowing what to tell.
"She was Eric's fiancée," Nick answered instead. "He wanted to get rid of her. The resistance thinks she might be helpful so I was asked to take her with me back to Portland."
The woman startled and frowned. "Portland? You are the missing Grimm then? The one who sent the heads to Mannheim?"
If he had known what he started when coming up with that plan together with Monroe, Nick wasn't too sure he would have done it. But now he nodded.
"Well done!" The woman grinned. "And I guess you two want to leave Vienna, but you are trapped here?"
Nick and Adalind nodded in unison.
The woman smiled. "We need a chance," she told them. "If we keep with the tradition and kill each other, we all will go extinct. And from all I've heard about you, you are trying to get over what your ancestors were and try a new way."
"That's true," Nick said with a tiny smile.
"I think I might be able to help you," the woman finally said. Opening her bag she rummaged a little in it before she got a baseball cap out of it, which she gave to Nick. "Put this on and follow me."
After Sean brought Christian and the book back to his apartment, still hoping the recipe Monroe suspected as the one the murdered Zauberbiest had used on Nick was the right one, he drove up to the precinct. Not as much as he was used to but he still had some work to do there.
But the more urgent problem was the possible spell Eric had put on Nick. They didn't know for sure, but at this moment anything was possible. As long as they didn't receive a message from either of them, Nick and Adalind were considered utterly off the grid. And Christian had told him that Nick had the order to use his phone only in the most important emergencies.
What had Eric done to Nick? And why had he put Adalind on his death-list?
The whole world seemed to be falling apart and he, Sean, was in the middle of it, trying to hold the pieces together.
The news that hurt as much as Kelly Burkhardt's death was that he had lost his only remaining eye and ear in Eric's household. It would probably take years before he could find another decent spy. And during this time he was blind in that eye, not knowing what could be coming for him. And that gave him another pain in the stomach.
Probably, so he tried to calm himself, Christian would be able to help him this time. Christian was a nice guy, liked by many people and always trying to make everything right. The possibility was high that he would be able to recruit one or two others for the job he just had to leave. But without an eye on Eric they both had to fear the worst 24/7. Which meant as soon as Eric found out about Christian's betrayal.
Sean wished he knew where Rosalee and Juliette went exactly. There was much news to share, and, of course, they had to find out what Eric's Zauberbiest servant had done to Nick.
Why kill a Grimm? Eric was obsessed with Grimm. For as long as Sean had lived, Eric had always wanted to get his hands on every Grimm the family knew about. There must be a plan other than only to restore the old powers, because Eric wanted those Grimm to follow him, not the family, not even their father.
King Frederick! Maybe Sean could leak the information he had about Eric to their father. If anyone could put an end to Eric's plans, it was the king. Unfortunately King Frederick was sick, and would most likely die in a future not too far along. Sean hadn't spoken to his father in years. Actually, it was Frederick who had given Sean the order to seize the key from Marie Kessler or her nephew, his detective,Nick Burkhardt, more than two years ago. If that order had come from Eric, Sean would have ignored it. But he couldn't ignore his own father.
After he entered the building and took the stairs up to the offices, he became convinced he should try. Even a sick and dying king still had enough power to hold Eric back. Not forever, but for time enough to hopefully keep Christian safe.
Sean crossed the first glass door between the office and the interrogation rooms. Out of the corner of his eye he caught something: someone leaning above the desk of another detective, the jacket, shoulders and haircut familiar.
What the hell?
Sean rounded the corner and moved forward to the main entrance, but stopped right in front of the open doors and looked.
The desk of detective Dublin had a visitor, and from the profile Sean was finally able to recognize his cousin, talking to the dark-haired detective.
Sean frowned, remembering Dublin on some other occasions being suddenly very busy with phone calls. She explained that being divorced and raising two kids – one of them being a teenager – was causing some trouble in her life.
Wait a minute!
Dublin was very interested in the cases Nick and Hank had solved. He'd found her more than once at their desk while the team was gone or had some down time. And for a moment Sean thought he remembered Dublin with the envelopes of the new photos for the badges four months ago.
Really?
He decided to look into her before accusing her. But he also thought he had just stumbled over the spy in his precinct. The bigger question: if Dublin worked for Eric, what the hell she had to do with Viktor?
Sean entered the office, trying to avoid looking at Dublin's desk and walking straight to his office when he heard Viktor calling him.
"There you are! Where have you been all day, cousin Sean?"
He felt the eyes of all the officers in the room staring at him, and stopped. Turning around, Sean lifted his eyebrows and acted surprised. "Some of us have to work hard for their living, cousin Viktor. What brings you all the way from the second precinct here?"
The whole atmosphere in the office changed. Everyone knew about what had happened to Hank, how he was treated, and that the whole case went south after the second precinct took over.
Viktor didn't seem to notice the cold looks he was getting. He sauntered over to Sean, studying him with an arrogant smile. "I know what you did," he said cryptically. "And for that, you will go down, cousin!"
Sean put his free hand on his hip and looked down at the shorter Royal. "Really? And for what will I go down?" he asked.
He knew Wu and this weird other sergeant from the second precinct had planned something for Hank. But he didn't even know what exactly.
Viktor's face turned into a mask of pure hatred and disgust. "You helped that Kehrseite flee from my holding cells. You helped a murderer. That's what you did!"
Sean was surprised, really surprised. And he hoped Wu and Gonzales had a better plan than just putting Hank on top of all Most Wanted lists in Oregon.
He heard mumbling from the officers, still angry but relieved to know one of their own was free again.
"As far as I know, Hank hasn't been convicted yet," Sean said, leaning with one shoulder at the corner of his office. "And I have no idea what you are talking about. You never even spoke to the DA or accused him officially. You only put him into your holding cells without giving him the rights the law has guaranteed him."
"He killed Remy Vaurrier!" Viktor snapped.
Sean tilted his head. "And you know that how? As far as I am concerned, Hank's hands are clean. He didn't fire a gun."
"He was found with the murder weapon in his hand! He IS the killer!"
Sean nodded. "So you are taking everything into your own hands now. You are detective, judge and executor?"
Mumbling all around them.
Sean stood up again, leaning above his cousin like a predator, a controlled, cold smile lifting the corners of his mouth. "Let me tell you something. You are not longer in your little castle in the highlands, here my father is not the ruler. The US government is. We have laws here, rules we protect and to which we obey. You broke those laws. You wanted to play policeman, and I have no idea why. But you screwed up! You let a proper case slip because you wanted to show everyone that you are better than we are. But you had no idea what you were doing. Whatever happened to Hank, I had nothing to do with it. But I think you are looking at the wrong precinct right now, accusing the wrong person. You failed your duty, cousin." He stared into Viktor's eyes, an angry line growing between his eyebrows. "And now, get the hell out of my precinct!"
Viktor's lips thinned. "You are going to pay for this!"
"First you, cousin. First you!"
Viktor stared at him for a very long moment. Then he turned on his heel and left. And Sean felt good for the first time that day.
Marion, the Loewen who had picked him and Adalind up at the shopping center, pulled over in front of an old house in one of the suburbs of Vienna. A nice two-story house which had recently been renovated on the outside, a small front yard with a garage made for two cars in front of it.
Nick frowned, suddenly not feeling too well about all of this.
"Didn't you say you were bringing us out of Vienna?" he asked.
Marion smiled and nodded. "I did. Let's go inside. There are not as many eyes as out here."
Nick looked over his shoulder after he felt a little touch on his arm. Adalind was sitting in the backseat, her big blue eyes fixed on his. "Are you really sure we should do this?" she asked.
If he knew ...
Nick looked again up to the house and couldn't help but feel a little betrayed. Marion had told them she would help bring them out of Vienna and yet they were still here. Perhaps closer to the border, but still within the city limits.
His instinct told him to trust the Loewen. And while his personal experiences with Loewen haven't been the best, he was willing to trust his own gut. But he also couldn't help himself. This was odd.
He nodded, feeling something inside him growing and couldn't really name it.
He was chained to Adalind until he found a way out of this situation. Their agreement to split up after they left Vienna wouldn't work, not with whatever Eric had done to him. So he had to take the bitter pill.
Loosing the seatbelt and opening the door, he finally followed Marion and her daughter Stefanie up to the house, Adalind behind him. Looking up at the white painted stone walls, he sighed before he entered.
Inside it was surprisingly light and roomy. A staircase right beyond the door let up to the second floor. Two steps down they entered the first floor, into a light but rustic dining room. A little smile grew on Nick's lips when he noticed an old handcrafted clock on one of the walls. It felt familiar to see this, reminding him of Monroe.
Stefanie ran up the stairs to the second floor without further notice while Marion led her guests into a huge living area with an open fireplace and a complete glassfront out to a sunroom and open terrace. It looked out at a well gardened backyard, including a small pont, some fruit trees and a small cubby house which surely belonged to Stefanie.
"Nice," Nick said, nodding, impressed and with a slightly bruised conscience. He remembered the countless times when he wanted to work in the backyard of Juliette's house, only to give up under all kinds of excuses only half an hour later. Juliette was the one who loved the garden, but with her job as a vet she barely had the spare time to really get into it.
Marion smiled and offered them the couch near the huge floor-to-ceiling windows. "A drink? Tea? Water? Coffee?"
Nick nodded. "Coffee would be great, thanks."
It still felt weird and he wasn't completely sure if he should trust her. Watching her leaving the living area let grow a stone in his stomach. But they needed help.
"Do you really think we should trust her? She's Wesen!" Adalind said, sitting down on the couch.
Nick took a deep breath and looked into the backyard.
True, his experiences with Loewen weren't exactly all positive but he really trusted Marion, not knowing why. Maybe because she stayed by his side while he slowly died back in the shopping center. Maybe because she already had plenty of chances to betray them and hadn't used one of them.
Adalind started to rummage in her bag again.
"Do you know what Eric did to me?" Nick broke the silence after he couldn't take it anymore.
Adalind stopped and looked up at him. "I ... you said he—" She closed her mouth, looking worried now.
"You've noticed what happens when we try to split up, right?" Nick asked, watching Adalind nod in the glass reflection. "Do you know what spell that is?"
She paused, not moving. When Nick turned around he saw her frowning, eyes empty as she tried to think about possible spells.
"Do you know?" he repeated.
Adalind shook her head. "I cannot tell as long as I don't know the ingredients," she answered.
Nick looked at her, lips thinned, nostrils widened.
Again there was that deep and boiling hatred, emerging from the bottom of his heart.
Why didn't he kill her when he had the chance back in Portland? He would never have ended up here, as a captive of the Royals, unable to understand the people here, helpless and under a spell.
Adalind tilted her head. "Are you okay?"
Nick took another deep breath, but in the next moment Marion came back, carrying a tray with three cups.
"Please, sit down." Marion smiled at him, placing one of the cups in front of an empty armchair, the second one in front of Adalind, the third to the second armchair she seated herself in.
Nick sighed and took the other one, looking at her and frowning. "Why are you helping us?" he asked. "No offense, but I'm not really used to getting help."
Marion smiled into her mug and sipped before she answered. "I'm helping you, Grimm. She," she nodded to Adalind, "is part of the deal right now. I assume Hexenbiest, right?"
Adalind's lips thinned.
"Former one," Nick corrected. "She's human now."
Marion put the mug back on the table. "So, it wasn't her who put you under the spell?"
"I'm sorry, but maybe you haven't noticed – you are willing to help a Grimm!" Adalind snapped. "And not only a Grimm. He's the one who killed my Hexenbiest, and he killed my mother."
Nick rolled his eyes. "I already told you ..."
"That is not my concern," Marion interrupted him, still staring at Adalind. "I'm helping a Grimm because this Grimm isn't like the ones we all have heard about. No Grimm has ever fought for us, no Grimm ever tried to understand us. I think that deserves a little credit, especially in his current condition. Whatever is between you two doesn't bother me. Not as long as you have to stay at his side until the spell is broken."
"So, you know?" Nick asked.
Marion nodded and leaned back. "And as for why you are here, have you ever heard of the Turkish siege?" she asked.
Nick exchanged a look with Adalind. "I'm not sure I have," he then answered. "Why?"
Marion smiled. "The Turks tried to undermine Vienna with tunnels to get access to the city. Most of those tunnels have been sealed or filled now. There's only one left as far as I know."
Adalind and Nick exchanged another look.
Marion nodded. "Yes, you are sitting right above it. That's your way out of Vienna."
