Chapter 8 – Aftermath

AN: Again many thanks for the guest reviewers! I'm not sure I can do everything requested or mentioned in the next chapters but hopefully you'll enjoy my efforts anyway!

DISCLAIMER – Still not mine!

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Nick sat still as Juliette continued to apply some type of salve to his wounds. His body ached in time with his heart beat but there were also shocking flashes of sharp pains too. The battle had been brutal but he had survived, they had survived. Lifting a hand to touch a soft curl of hair that was in front of him, Nick stroked the strands for several moments before he felt Juliette's eyes on him.

"I...I'm sorry." They hadn't actually talked and Nick didn't know what to say - he didn't even know what he meant by the words. His initial anger and pain had receded in the last months but he knew it wasn't gone completely. He was still plagued by nightmares that often featured Juliette - fire, blood, and witches still kept him awake at night.

"It's okay." Juliette replied as she couldn't find any other words. They had been through so much, said so much but now she couldn't seem to share her thoughts, her news, or her hopes. Breathing out a shaky breath, she went back to her work. Her own wounds weren't nearly as bad as the Crone had prepared her well for the battle.

Several more minutes of silence stretched out between the couple. Both battled the memories and feelings of the past - love and hate, fear and comfort, pain and pleasure, guilt and doubt, good and bad.

The beep of Nick's phone interrupted their thoughts and Nick quickly answered. "Burkhardt."

Juliette continued to work as she listened to his half of the conversation and tried to keep her thoughts in check.

"You're sure?"

"Everyone's okay? You got the kids back from the Schakals?"

"Yeah...I'm at the Tea Shoppe."

Again quiet filled the room as they avoided each other's eyes as Nick clicked off his phone and set it aside. He wasn't sure why he hadn't told his friends about the return of the woman they had been searching for over the last months. Juliette wasn't sure what she wanted him to tell his friends.

Desperate for a distraction but not ready to ask the hard questions, Nick finally spoke. "How do you know how to do this?"

Juliette smiled and met his eyes as she replied. "I found a great teacher just after I...died, I guess. She never really explained why I didn't die but she shared a lot of other stuff. The potions are Hexenbeist creations to help heal, to do good."

Stepping away from Nick, Juliette went to her bag and withdrew two large books and several smaller ones. She then faced Nick with a slightly nervous smile. "I want you to have these. I know it doesn't replace...well, I want you to have them."

Nick was unwilling to dredge up their past at the moment either and he simply stood up and reached for the books. He was temporarily distracted as he realized the pain was already gone. Glancing down at what had been a nasty puncture wound on his side he saw only a small pink mark.

"It's not just the potion. You heal more quickly, Grimms can heal more quickly." Juliette offered quietly. Deciding to push further, she continued before she lost her nerve. "There's a lot in the books but a lot that I can share too Nick. When you're ready, just open this and you'll know how to find me."

Nick reached forward and felt the electric charge as his fingers brushed Juliette's before he took the paper. For a moment, he was overwhelmed by his love for the woman before him.

Turning away from the intense look in Nick's eyes, Juliette found herself revealing more than she had intended simply to break the silence and the pull she felt for the man before her. "It wasn't right for me to blame you – the darkness had always been inside me."

"No, you were right Juliette. Before I dragged you in to my world, you weren't…" It was Nick's turn to look away. He still remembered her face after she had woged and all the choices she had made to hurt him and those he loved.

"Actually I was. I know you think your parent's death inspired you to be a cop but I think it was just your nature, your Grimm nature. I think I became a vet for similar reasons." Juliette actually smiled at the look of confusion on her former fiancé's face. She couldn't resist tentatively reaching out a hand to touch his face. Her touch was soft, quick as she remembered how he had pulled away previously. Her words again came quickly.

"I am who I was meant to be but I can choose what I do with it. I know that now. Just as you choose to be the type of Grimm that you are, I can choose what I do as a Hexenbeist."

Nick felt the pull toward Juliette but he froze as he remembered how Henrietta had manipulated him before commenting that Juliette was even more powerful. He also remembered that he had always felt a pull toward Juliette and he frowned slightly.

Juliette stifled a sigh and stepped back. She continued in a brisk tone as she had more to reveal to him.

"I wasn't kidding when I said that I had a great teacher. She knew my family history from centuries ago." Taking a deep breath as nerves allowed the familiar feelings to wash through her, Juliette fought the need to woge. Her next words came out in a rush.

"Not everyone would have become a Hexenbeist by doing the ritual we did. I changed because my ancestors were Hexenbeist…not because of anything you did Nick. I have not just Adalind's power which includes your blood but also that of my own ancestors."

When Juliette paused to take a breath, Nick remembered Crosley's words about many not fitting into the old molds. It appeared that Juliette didn't fit in any more than he did.

Seeing that Nick was listening to her without looking away gave Juliette the courage to speak again. "Our kinds haven't always been enemies though. Read the books and if you decide you want to talk then you know how to reach me. I want to help you."

Juliette nodded toward the folded paper in Nick's hand as she gave him another smile.

Following Juliette's gaze, Nick dropped his eyes and was surprised to see the folded paper was actually a twenty dollar bill. He frowned as he remembered the bank robbery and wondered if the serial numbers would match. When he looked up again Juliette was gone and he was left lost within his memories, his doubts.

The sound of familiar voices drew Nick back to the present and as he looked up Monroe and Rosalee stepped through the door to join him.

"Man, it was rough out there for us…but well, I guess it was rough for you too. We could hear the sounds of a fight but we couldn't get away." Monroe clapped a hand on Nick's shoulder as he studied the Grimm and continued with a frown. "You look good though. Doesn't he look good?"

Rosalee had smiled upon sight of Nick but now she also wore an expression of concern. Before she could speak though, Monroe continued.

"You don't even look like you've been in a fight and I could swear that I had smelled both a Hundjager and Lowen." Monroe exchanged a look with his wife as they heard a commotion at the front door signaling that Hank had also returned.

"Wu is staying at the precinct. The Captain just called in to report that Adalind is missing." Hank's eyes scanned his friends and saw that both Monroe and Rosalee looked a little worse for the wear but that Nick looked fine. He personally felt like he had already pulled a double shift as there had been more chaos on the streets than when the zombies had been wreaking havoc.

"Does it look like she left voluntarily?" Nick asked as he remembered Crosley's words about a friend of the Captain being with their child.

"Her stuff is gone. Wu is still going to try and track her." Hank confirmed with a nod.

"We need to get Wu to check on the Meisner guy that Crosley mentioned—" Nick pushed thoughts of Juliette aside as he focused on the problem at hand.

"What guy?" Hank interrupted to ask.

Nick was surprised by the question then he remembered that he still didn't know what obstacles Crosley had devised for them other than the Schakals' attempted kidnappings. "Are you guys all okay? What happened out there?"

It was Monroe who spoke first. "Packs of Wesen looting, robbing, you name it and they were doing it. All kinds working together."

"The Captain has put it out that the perpetrators were wearing masks and it's part of some elaborate protest statement." Hank added with a shrug.

Rosalee had already started working on a mixture for her headache and knew that the others would probably need help too. She spoke in a slightly distracted tone. "We weren't sure if they would do anything or if Crosley just wanted us away from you but the Schakals kept targeting babies so we had to do something."

"You made the right call." Nick assured her with a slight smile and then frowned as he searched his pocket for the flash drive. "Crosley gave me intel on Diana's whereabouts. She was allegedly sighted with a man named Meisner. The Captain worked with him on the Resistance."

Hank immediately had questions. "What else did he say? What happened out there?"

Stepping away slightly to pace, Nick tried to recount the experience. "I'm not sure what you heard but Crosley thinks both the Royals and the Wesen Council are wrong. He said he'd learned from me that blood lines don't matter. I don't think he's the only bastard – Camilla is a Musai but she's not full blooded. His following seems to be outcasts."

Monroe and Rosalee exchanged a worried look which both Hank and Nick noted.

"That doesn't mean anything to me but I think it means something to you guys." Hank commented and then crossed his arms over his chest to wait for their answers.

"There have always been outcasts and the movements that try to cleanse our society of them. No one really knows what will happen when different Wesen mate or how it works if humans are involved." Rosalee spoke first but then glanced uncertainly at Monroe. He gave her a few small nods and spoke next.

"There have always been rumors about Wesen who are, let's say, different. We were told stories about those monsters just like we were told about Grimms. The monsters were always killed though." Monroe hadn't thought about that part of their world much. He had separated himself from Blutbad tradition and had kept to himself before Nick.

Rosalee couldn't help but share more. "My brother Freddy told me once that they weren't killed. They were used for experiments, to see what had gone wrong."

"So this guy Crosley has a band of rejects with a grudge to settle not just against Grimms but with everyone else too?" Hank asked for clarification with an edge in his voice.

Nick spoke as both Rosalee and Monroe nodded. "It's more than that. It looked like Crosley was somehow able to channel Camilla's power when he spoke. If they are different from traditional Wesen then what we know in the books may not help us fight them."

Remembering Juliette's words about wanting to help and having more to share, Nick stuck a hand in his pocket to touch the folded twenty. Making his decision, he spoke with determination as he looked up at his friends.

"There may be another way – someone who can help us even the odds."