Eyes Open

AN – So, I have just discovered Grimm and fallen straight down that rabbit hole, only about 7 years too late but hey, better late than never, right? I am so into these characters and stories and it has made me start to write again, something I didn't know I'd been missing. I've been inspired and I have so many stories in my head right now so I hope you enjoy coming down this particular hole with me. This one-shot came from one of my favourite scenes and I just had to write it, I feel like we could have seen so much more from Diana and definitely her relationship, as it builds, with Nick. And please be warned, for this and all future stories, I am full on Nadalind fan. So, if that's not for you, no worries but there will always be an echo of them in what I write. Again, I feel like we could have had so much more with them. Anyway, hope you like and any feedback if warmly welcomed.

I do not own any characters or stories from the show Grimm. Some dialogue has been copied from Season 6 Episode 3 with no infringement intended.

She wakes to the murmur of voices. She's not at home but she can sense the presence of her mother and brother so she thinks it's not somewhere unsafe. But she doesn't really know that and she has to check. Getting up she sees the adults gathered around the table and she calls out.

"Daddy?" She didn't sense him but he's there and with her mother. They all turn towards her and it's there, somethings not right and her eyes tell her something different to what she can feel.

"What happened to your face?" It's marked, maybe that's what's wrong. Her daddy is hurt and she needs to know how and why and then she can maybe do something about it. Her mother steps forward, her presence so familiar and comforting but also off. It's linked to her father in a way she's not felt before.

"Daddy just had a little accident, Honey." The words are truthful but also not and Diana can't figure it out. Her mother and father are clearly in front of her but they don't feel right. Something is happening here and if her family is in danger, she has to figure it out.

"Yeah, I'm uh… I'm ok." Daddy states and kneels in front of her. Again, truth but not truth. He looks at her mother and her and her mother again and it's there. That feeling. They're linked but in a way she's not felt before. It's what she wants. Her family, her mummy and daddy together, strong affection arching between them, and all of them safe and whole. But it's not quite right. Something is off and she wants to know, has to know.

Daddy kneeling in front of her puts him at a similar height to her so all she has to do is reach out and her hand is over his heart. She opens herself up, to feel everything around her but focuses on her father. He looks again at her mother before back at her and she feels it then, affection, attraction, love, all connected to her mother. Something deep and true that she's not felt between them before. His heart is open to her, it's tied to her brother Kelly and to an extent to her but nothing like what she normally feels.

Daddy loves her in his own way but his feelings are always multi-layered. One feeds one and then another. He lives in the grey colours of life, not always right and not always wrong but always powerful and magical and imperial.

This feels nothing like that.

This feels nothing like him.

There is still grey in this daddy but it's clearer. His connections to everyone in the room are strong and there's a resonance of loyalty that she doesn't recognise. When she looks it's like he's at the centre of a beautiful web, with all these threads that link him to all those around him and there's power there. In him and his relationships and his feelings and his sense of justice. Its noble like Daddy but not, power in a different format and she knows then that her eyes are wrong. This is not right and that means her family is not safe.

"You're not my Daddy!" Her power rises inside her and she pushes, pushes away that which is not right, not true and that which threatens her family.

The body in front of her blasts backwards, hitting the wall and still going to come to rest in the other room.

"No honey! Honey, it's….. Nick is just trapped in Daddy's body, its not his fault!" Mummy wraps her arms around her as she explains, to comfort as well as possibly to restrain and Diana turns to look at her. Mummy's worry is very real, for her but also for whoever is through that room. The thread hasn't disappeared and now it throbs against her senses.

Groans and pants come from the other room and Mummy steps forwards, taking Diana with her. She watches as not Daddy thrashes around on the floor, gasping and grunting and she feels as everybody gathers around them in the doorway, concern and hope, for what she doesn't know, heavy in the air.

The body that's not daddy is on it's knees and then laying back and finally truth settles over the space as another face emerges and it's presence feels right. The man pants as he looks up at them all and Diana feels ready, she will meet this new threat and protect what's hers.

Except mummy moves forward.

"Nick." There's something in her voice, something there that makes Diana unsure and she feels the fight fade, just slightly while she watches. She doesn't want mummy to be hurt.

"Yeah." They look at each other and then mummy moves forward, hugging the man and he hugs her back, wrapping his arms tight around her and burying his face in her hair. Diana thinks he might be smelling it.

And what she felt before is now a veil around them, mummy and Nick and she remembers now. This was the man she had to warn, this is the son of Kelly who tried so hard to keep her safe and cared in her own way, even though she wasn't her mummy. This is her Kelly's father, who loves him as her Daddy loves her. Maybe more. And he views her as someone to care for too, what she felt before was a reflection of what he feels. That she is worthy of his care and affection because she is her mothers daughter, because she is Kelly's sister and therefore a part of his family, a thread tied to him. This is someone who cares, who protects and he is not someone to fight.

Not right now.

At that moment, watching her mother clutch him and feeling that bond flare between them she decides to give him a chance. They are already tied together in a multitude of ways and although he is not like her, or mummy or Kelly, power still thrums through him and she senses he will fight to protect, to guard his family. Her family.

So, she watches, she will keep watch and if he proves himself then ok. She wants her mummy happy and maybe it's ok if her mummy and daddy aren't together as long as she has them both. Maybe her family can have more people in it and that will make it better. He is Kelly's daddy and she knows already that she loves her brother, knows they will experience many wonderful adventures together because of who and what they are. He'll be there for that and as long as he makes mummy happy she things she might be able to build a new version of family to have and hold onto.

But if he hurts mummy, if her family falls apart, then she'll do what she has to. No matter who it may be or what face they wear. She's got her eye on him.

AN – thoughts? And thank you for reading.