A/N: Episode tag to 2.13, 'The Other Side'
It would be her first Christmas without him.
Emmeline Higgins had always loved her son more than anything else in world. After she had lost Robert while she was still pregnant, Pierce had been the only thing that had kept her alive. And she had sworn that she wouldn't lose him too.
She could remember seeing Robert's dead body and knowing – knowing – that it was bounty hunters who had done that. Not a Grimm, but a wesen. Genio innocuo were not known for fighting back, and where the Grimms had left off, the hunters had almost completely finished driving them to extinction.
And the child she carried would be under the same threat.
It was then that she had sworn that he would not suffer the same way. Even then, she had been well-known in the field of genetics research, and altering her son's genes had not been difficult. If he had the aggressiveness of a löwen, she would not have to suffer seeing him dead on a slab too.
She should have known, but she had blinded herself. She had only transferred the aggression, not the genes needed to control it.
And now, here she was.
The house was as perfectly decorated as it had been every year since she had bought it, when Pierce was two. The Christmas tree twinkled merrily, full of lights and other decorations, many of them hand-made by her son. The angel on top was one that she and Pierce had spent hours looking for, one wintery Christmas when she was in Russia to give a lecture.
There was, in short, nothing different in the house from last year.
Except, of course, for the one glaring fact that she could not ignore, no matter how much she tried and wished.
Pierce wouldn't be running over to wake her for Christmas, still excited even though he was far from a little a child. Pierce wouldn't be here at all, because he was in prison, all for a mistake that she had made.
She sighed and reached out to switch off the lights. It was late, and she had to be at the prison early tomorrow.
Besides, she had no right to dwell on what she had lost. Not when she had pushed her son on that track even before he was born.
It was all her fault, after all.
A/N: Because not everything in the Grimm world is sunshine and daisies. But I do have a funny one (I hope) coming up soon, along with a more romantic one, so I hope this doesn't turn you off expecting some more happiness :)
Peya Luna: The reason I chose to go with a katana is because I'm guessing he already has a Germanic broadsword in his weapons cabinet - it's pretty obvious that a good chunk of his stuff is ancient, and considering his extensive Germanic background, I guessed a katana would be something he didn't have.
I hope you guys liked this, and, as always, please don't forget to drop a review on your way out! :)