Disclaimer: I don't own anything, and most obviously not Grimm or its characters. Some story concepts may have been borrowed and adapted unintentionally or intentionally from other fictions, books, tv shows, movies, religions, geography, history, theology, etc. This is what happened when I ran out of Nadalind stories to read.

WARNING! THIS IS MY FIRST FANFICTION (no beta)

Author's Note:
This was originally fix-it fic to save Nick's mom and Henrietta. It sort-of got away from me.
i.e. I took canon and chopped it up and kicked it until it made me happy.

Also, I did NOT throw Juliette or Sean for that matter into the metaphorical meat-grinder, just Nickette, repeatedly. Okay, I may have kicked them a bit, but they're happy-ish by the end.

I am very unsure about this whole -ness! This writing business 'n stuffs! Please tell me if its crap or too slow or boring etc.

(Edited Formatting)

General Notes:
Hexenbiest and Zauberbiest are used as both singular and plural nouns. (I don't speak German)
Italics – thoughts or memories
Bold – quotes from TV series
"unspaced dialogue" – telephone conversations

Chapter 1
May 2nd – Just after midnight

"Does anybody know where Juliette is?"

It was hours ago that Rosalee had asked the question. Despite how tired she was, Adalind couldn't help but think that Nick was wrong saying, "No."

Now, as she laid on her side in the borrowed bed, Adalind remembered why she came back to Portland. Diana. In her haste to secure her own safety, with the threat of Prince Kenneth's betrayal, she'd lost sight of that.

"It's surprising how quickly betrayal becomes a viable option, given the right circumstances…what will Juliette do when she finds out that you and Nick are having a love child?"

The real question was, who told Juliette about her baby? Hell, who paid for her bail? Kenneth. That was the reason for her flight in the first place. She knew he was going to do it.

"She might know how to get in touch with Nick's mother, and now that she's a Hexenbiest, there's no telling how this has affected her relationship with the Grimm.

I can't imagine it's good, which is probably why she's coming after you. She blames you for what happened. This could well turn out to our advantage."

Juliette had been the target from the beginning. Adalind even went after Juliette before she got her ass handed to her at Nick's house. It was her meeting with Henrietta that knocked her off course.

"We have to get to Juliette!"

That had been her argument to Victor months ago. Get to Juliette to get in contact with Kelly Burkhardt. Now that she'd defected, Adalind realized the imminent jeopardy she inadvertently put her firstborn in. In her desperation she'd given the royal family the knowledge of how to acquire Diana, and now with her pregnancy she gave them the means as well.

Now that she was on the other side of the fence, yet again, Adalind realized that Diana had been safest with Kelly after all.

Until now.

"What have I done?" Maybe Sean was right not to trust her with Diana's safety. A tear rolled onto the borrowed pillow. Sleep wouldn't be easy tonight.

May 2nd – Around 8 AM

The sun was warm and bright. It was beautiful in early May, in Portland… in the graveyard, digging up her mother.

As Adalind stepped back from her little post mortem heart to heart, Sean and Monroe stepped forward to handle logistics. Adalind, careful not to get her stilettos stuck in the grass, made her way over to Rosalee.

"Rosalee?" She spoke softly as they watched the men give direction. When the Fuchsbau turned to her, she let out a deep breath and continued. "…You were right."

"About what?" came the cautious reply.

"Diana was better off with Kelly than with me." It hurt to say aloud.

"I know."

"I just wish that I was with them too." Adalind choked a bit on that one. Rosalee noticed and her eyes softened.

"I know." There wasn't more that Rosalee could add. She felt bad, but she wasn't stupid. Nothing about their reasoning or their actions that time had been in any way sympathetic to the new mother. Nor had they changed. Even now, she wasn't sure if Adalind made the best mother.

May 2nd – Around 10 AM

Later, Monroe, Rosalee and Adalind were working on the suppressant in the back room of the Spice Shop, when Nick and Hank walked in. Monroe left to join the guys for research in the basement. They were about to remove Catharine's ribs, so Adalind took up a position next to the grain mill while Rosalee began cutting open the chest cavity.

Adalind's mind was going nonstop since her small admission to Rosalee in the graveyard. Sean and Monroe had come back, and she lost her courage. Rosalee definitely wasn't Adalind's biggest fan, but at the same time she was logical and a good listener. Adalind believed that she would listen. She might judge a bit, but she would still listen to what Adalind had to say. Now was her opportunity.

Like ripping off a band aid.

"I think Juliette's with Kenneth." Adalind blurted. Rosalee gasped and lowered the hammer and chisel, but Adalind cut her off before she could respond.

"That's why I came to Nick! He said she was in jail. He said being a hexenbiest was probably bad for their relationship and that she might betray Nick given the right circumstances –that this was to their advantage!"

"Wait! Nick said what?"

"No, Kenneth!"

Rosalee remembered what they were doing. She lowered the flame under the potion base, so it wouldn't reduce as quickly, and began efficiently cracking the ribs.

"Months ago, we knew Juliette must be able to contact Kelly, but then I couldn't make her. And then Henrietta told me I was pregnant. And then Victor went back to Vienna, but Kenneth figured out that the baby is Nick's. Then Kenneth left to go and recruit Juliette from jail and I knew that I was dead if I stayed."

Rosalee looked like she wanted to dispute. She didn't believe Juliette would go to the Royals given all that they had been responsible for.

"When Juliette showed up at the police station I knew Kenneth had bailed her out! And she KNEW I was having Nick's baby! Kenneth must have told her!"

Rosalee shook her head to dispel the thought. She really didn't like the steady build in logic she was hearing. It undermined everything she thought she knew about her friend, and yet…

"And you must understand that, if Juliette is strangling random strangers at bars, it means she's starting to accept the Hexenbiest, which is a difficult time for any Biest. Think about it! It's like a first Woge for her! She's not just a new Hexenbiest, she's like an adolescent Hexenbiest without a parental figure powerful enough to control her! It doesn't simply affect your impulse control, it affects your entire morality. Feelings like guilt, become so much easier to bury until nothing is left but anger."

Rosalee collects the last rib into a bowl and squeezes her eyes shut as she tries to process the information. She recalls thinking, just days ago, that Adalind might be the key to understanding Juliette's transformation.

"—except Adalind. She might be the only one that knows something about this…I really doubt she'd do anything to help Juliette anyway. Juliette is paying the price for us taking Adalind's child."

She wanted to hold on to righteous indignation for Juliette's sake. She didn't want to give up hope on her friend. Rosalee could easily remember her own transformation and the hard-earned self-control she'd learned. She didn't want to be able to relate to the situation and realize Juliette was in any way responsible for her current actions.

"But what happened to Juliette wasn't natural." She argued, wanting to blame everything on the Hexenbiest. She didn't want to entertain the idea that Juliette's transformation was in any way natural or worse permanent. "It's like she's a completely different person, like she has no feelings anymore. And why should I believe anything you say about Juliette? What do you care?" Rosalee collected herself and gestured for Adalind to run the mill. She walked over and began dropping the ribs in. Adalind raised her voice above the sound of the grinding bones.

Adalind grudgingly understood Rosalee's stubbornness. Not that she ever had any friendships that valuable personally. But she knew the safety of both of her children depended on Rosalee's acceptance.

"She's not a different person. Unfortunately." This earns her a glare. "It doesn't matter how she got her powers. She's not the first 'made' Hexenbiest, you know. I lost my Biest and used a ritual to create a new one. I'm the same person. The effect is the same. We all have a dark period when we first get our powers. It's a lot easier to accept the rush of newfound power than it is to fight it. It's natural for her to suppress unpleasant feelings, like sadness, regret, or even love. It's a defense mechanism to bury any weaknesses and only nurture the one safe emotion, anger. Hell, even Kehrseite do that! But you're right. I don't really care about Juliette. I do wish she was dead. But I have to focus on what's best for Diana, and right now that's convincing you she's in immediate danger. There, that's the last rib"

Rosalee swept the remaining bone meal from the chute and brought it over to the base. Both women were relieved to be done with the mill. The shouting added additional strain to the conversation.

"I don't even know what to say to that." Rosalee took a calming breath. "First off, who's Kenneth?" Adalind quickly thought over her rambling and frowned at all the holes.

"Oh. The king recalled Victor and sent Prince Kenneth to replace him. He's vicious. He's a hands-on killer and known for producing results. Or that's what Rispoli said." At Rosalee's questioning look, "Uh. Rispoli's the head of the Verrat."

Rosalee shook her head in defeat. Why did it have to make sense? She added the bone meal to the potion and raised the heat to begin the reduction. "Well that's just great! Just what we need, a more effective Royal. But, how does any of this put Diana in danger? Juliette wants you dead of course, but she helped protect Diana." The Royals were dangerous, yes. But that didn't mean Juliette would go after an innocent child.

Nick, Hank and Monroe returned from the basement while Rosalee was still speaking. On noticing the tense atmosphere, they stood back to listen. Adalind was thinking too hard to for their presence to fully register. She thought about Juliette and the encounter, yesterday, at the precinct.

"I am in hell, Nick. And it is time she went there with me."

"She knows I'm with you guys now. She might not be willing to fight Nick and I together. She wouldn't win. But, I know she wants me to suffer." Adalind was remembering the rest of the encounter. She described it while deep in thought. "Nick tried to tell her he wasn't choosing me; he was choosing our son. And she said, "No child of hers is innocent"."

Rosalee held a hand up to forestall any interruption from the men. "But how would she even do anything? Diana is safe. No one knows where they are."

"I don't—" Adalind wracked her brain, brows tense as she remembered. "Oh, months ago she attacked me…in February. But right before that, I overheard Kenneth and Rispoli talking. I was trying on my clothes, they didn't fit. I was about to come out and complain when Kenneth mentioned Nick, so I stopped to listen."

"Burkhardt must be communicating with his mother somehow."
"Everyone says they don't know where she is."
"Well, that's probably true, but that doesn't mean they're not communicating, and she does know where he is. But if she thinks something's wrong, she might come to him."
"She might very well. He is her son, and she did come to him for help when she had Adalind and the child."

"If she thinks something's wrong, she might come to him." Adalind repeated aloud to herself before describing the remembered conversation fully.

"Oh my god..." Rosalee finally turns fully to acknowledge Nick, Hank and Monroe. Adalind nearly jumped as she finally realized she wasn't alone with Rosalee anymore.

"What's going on?" Nick questioned, not liking the sound of what they walked in on. Adalind shrank in on herself a little but answered. It was now or never, she couldn't hide behind Rosalee. Diana needed her.

"Prince Kenneth bailed Juliette and told her about the baby, so she would be willing to tell Kelly you're in danger and need her to come back to Portland." Adalind hoped concise language would forestall the more emotional objections.

"That makes sense." Hank noted. "SOMEBODY paid her bail."

A large puff of smoke rose from the cauldron. Everyone standing was forced to take a step back from the acrid fumes. Adalind began to feel lightheaded. Rosalee noticed as she began to list oddly to the side. "Oh, Nick. She's gonna faint!"

Nick gently caught her under the arms. Adalind suddenly felt very small and very safe. My what large hands he has. After a small dispute, he led her over to the bed and tucked her in. Adalind can't help but feel as equally warmed as disconcerted at his concern for her. Well, the concern for the body carrying his unborn son.

Nick thought over what Adalind just said about Juliette. "She did know about my son." He exhaled heavily as he stood back up.

"I don't buy that!" Monroe scoffed. "Even if this Prince Kenneth did as you say, Juliette would never willingly betray Nick or Kelly."

Rosalee quickly summarized what Adalind explained about a Hexenbiest's first manifestation. Meanwhile, Nick's mind was quickly reviewing recent events. He couldn't reject the overwhelming feeling in his gut.

He had just left Adalind with Bud. He draws his gun before gently opening his front door. He slowly scans the house for any sign of Juliette. He notices only one object out of place. His mousepad.

They use the police lights as they race across Portland to the trailer. The four men are devastated as step out into the rain and see the destruction Juliette has left.
"This is not Juliette. This is—"
"This is vengeance."

"I could never hurt you, Juliette," he professes through the visitor phone.
"I wish I could say the same. But I just don't know anymore, because deep down, I do blame you for what's happened to me…"

Nick is flooded with simultaneous relief and anxiety when he sees that it's Juliette on his phone.
"Juliette, where are you?"
"You might want to stop by Aunt Marie's trailer."
"What have you done?"

"She already did it."