AN: Okay, I was disappointed that there was not a dearth of Nick and Adalind fanfics. Perhaps it's too soon? Perhaps I'm the only one genuinely excited to see them trying to make it as a (potential) couple. At any rate, this idea wouldn't leave me alone after seeing a spoiler pic from the next episode (5.7), so I ran with it. I'm projecting this story to be 3-5 chapters. Spoilers for season five, and especially episode 6 and on.

If you enjoy, please take a moment to comment. I'm just as guilty as any one for reading and enjoying on this site and not leaving feedback, but I know it means a lot to us authors when you do.

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He listened to the garage door rattle down the track from the driver's seat of his Land Cruiser, sealing with the pavement in a final deafening rattle.

Juliette was alive.

Juliette was alive. He said it over and over in his mind but all the repetitions in the world could hardly convince him of the fact. Yet it was true, and deep down he knew there was no denying it. Juliette was alive, and apparently masquerading as her own version of the heroine in Kickass, a thought that elicited a sort of deranged snort. She had hated that movie, or at least said she did, after they had seen it.

You're exhausted. The thought managed to work its way through the burgeoning hysteria. Of course he was. Between the apparent Wesen uprising and a four-month old infant shattering whatever calm he could cobble together nightly he had barely slept more than three hours at a time in probably six months. Right when Juliette had revealed the truth about her nature. Right when his life went to shit. Juliette, his mom, the baby…Adalind.

He sighed again and opened his eyes. He really needed to get upstairs and see if she and Kelly were all right. He wondered now since Juliette's return if their lives were once again in danger from her. But their lives were in danger regardless. He was a Grimm, and she was a once former hexenbiest who had made a lot of enemies over the years, despite giving up her powers to try to save Juliette and claiming to being done with that life.

Now, instead, she was mother to his baby boy and a surprisingly good one, as well as his roommate, Grimm and hexenbiest, coexisting under one roof peaceably.

It was a wonder they worked, but in the strangest turn of events, they did work.

It was still awkward as hell at times, but he found himself looking forward to seeing them at night, when he was exhausted and wrung out from work. Kelly, most nights, already asleep, but curled up in his crib seemingly without a care in the world while his two parents smiled down upon him.

And Adalind...

Adalind. He wasn't sure what to think about her and their…situation. She was forever a surprise, reconciling this newer, softer, motherly Adalind with the vicious, vindictive, hell-raiser he had known for years. But he was beginning to understand how some of his decisions had shaped her, and his perception of her. He had forced her into taking some of the steps she made, when he helped keep Diana away from her. He felt something akin to shame, the thought he could separate her child from her, when he had seen the way she looked at Kelly and cared for him. It was almost unconscionable but he had trusted his mother; knew that there was a greater good behind what they did, but that sort of reasoning barely seemed palatable now. Kelly. She had named their son after his mother, understanding and even perhaps grateful for what his mom had tried to do, the sacrifice. He felt something swell in his chest, for his mother, Adalind or the baby, or even Juliette he couldn't be sure. It had been a long night and promised to be an even longer one.

He still had to go upstairs and tell Adalind everything that had transpired. He didn't think the news would result in one of her more humorous moments of post-partum freak-outs.

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"What?!"

"Juliette's alive. I don't know how, but…I know it was her."

"I thought you said she was dead. Trubel shot her."

"She was. I'm sure of it."

"But…how can she be alive then?"

"I don't know, but she is, and she saved my life."

"What?"

"She still has her powers, she's still a hexenbiest, but she saved me. Lifted a wesen hundreds of feet into the air. If she hadn't I wouldn't be here talking to you now," he finished, fishing a drink out of the fridge.

He turned back to find Adalind looking faintly horrified, and hurried to add, "I'm okay, don't worry about me," unsure why he felt the need to soothe her. You don't need her hysterical. She'll wake the baby, he reasoned but took a step closer to her without even realizing it. She wrapped her arms around herself protectively and attempted a nonchalant once-over, but her eyes lingered too long as they swept over him, and he realized she was assessing for her own peace of mind that what he had told her was true.

"Really," he said softly, "I'm okay," and she met his eyes once again, a hint of guilt at being caught out in her expression.

"I'm glad," she replied, trying for neutral, but he thought he heard a note of watery relief. Hormones his mind helpfully supplied, and he latched onto the explanation quickly without too much thought as to why.

"What about you and Kelly?" he asked, searching for some way to get them on more stable ground, away from the strangely charged emotion that kept surfacing between them now whenever they were alone. She's the mother of your child, he reminded himself, that's all. You have a right to be concerned with each other's welfare. And in Adalind's case, with no powers, that was especially true. Without the ability to woge into a Hexenbiest to protect their child, she was essentially at the mercy of the world, and relied heavily on Nick to keep them safe.

"We're fine," she assured, and he felt a little bit of tension inside him unwind.

"Good."

They stood awkwardly for a moment, staring before Adalind ventured, "you want something to eat? I made some dinner earlier, I could heat it up again for you."

"Yeah, that sounds great," he agreed, grateful for the opportunity to slip into the role of polite roommates once again.

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"So Trubel knew?"

"I think so," he replied watching her take in the whole story.

"Wow." She said.

"I know."

"Wow."

"Yup."

"I mean…wow…that's just…" he watched her fumble for words.

"Do that for about six hours and you'll be where I am," he said wryly. She met his eyes over the table.

"Do you think we're safe from her here?"

He stared at her, weighing his response. "I don't know," he admitted.

She nodded, looking over at Kelly babbling quietly to himself while his parents ate. She reached out with a delicate finger and clutched a chubby foot before Kelly wiggled away.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you two, I promise."

"I know," she replied but the look of consternation didn't waver. Kelly screeched loudly, and both parents turned to look at him. He was interacting more, no longer a passive participant in his environment but a more active one, moving his head to follow his parents whenever they were near him, and beginning to express, what Adalind thought, she told him, might be his first smile. As usual when Nick's eyes lingered on his son for any length of time he reached for him, and Adalind took that as a sign their meal was over and stood up, clearing the plates.

"I can get that," he insisted, but Adalind was already halfway to the sink with their dishes and instead he watched her rinse them under the faucet bouncing Kelly lightly in his arms. He was rewarded with a happy sounding cry and Nick smiled despite the weighty air from their conversation still filling the room. He looked up when he realized after a while when there was no sound from the kitchen and locked eyes once again with Adalind, a peculiar expression on her face and air between charging once again with that strange energy that now crept between them more and more frequently.

"He missed you," she said, smiling at Kelly, who continued to gurgle happily in his father's arms. "We both did," she said after a long moment of gazing at their son, before flicking her eyes to and then away from Nick.

Nick swallowed thickly. Unsure if he should respond, but she hurried on before he could open his mouth.

"I'm beat," she said. "Will you put Kelly to bed?"

"Yeah," he said. "I'm going to wait up a bit for Truble," focusing his attention back on their son. "I'll come to bed in a little while," and then blanched when he realized how it sounded.

"Okay. Goodnight, Nick."

"Night."

"Night, Kelly," she cooed, bending her blond head down over her son to give him a kiss goodnight, and Nick was momentarily surrounded by thick golden locks before another quick, awkward smile from Adalind and an even quicker departure.

He watched her go, and then regarded his son again, the thought of whether Kelly would grow up to be blond like his mother, and sister Diana, he realized, or brunette like his name sake and his own father coming unbidden. It was a much better thought to focus on then whether he would grow to be a Hexengrimm or Grimmabiest, as Adalind had rambled, and beyond meeting Kelly's daily needs for food, love and survival, he realized how little he allowed himself to wonder about his son's future. Wondering about his son's future meant wondering about his own. About Adalind's. About a life together co-parenting their child and how that child might turn out.

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"Morning," Adalind said brightly around a yawn.

"Morning," Nick replied, taking a sip of his coffee.

"I didn't hear you last night. What time did you come to bed?" she asked, detouring to the carafe he pointed at and pouring herself a steaming cup. He was struck by how normal it all sounded. Domestic even. He was surprised he didn't really have an opinion on that one way or another.

"About 2:30," he said instead, watching her dreamily inhale the aroma. He smiled when she caught him watching her, a self-conscious, almost pleased smile surfacing in response. "That's the stuff," she said and took a seat next to him at the table.

She looked over to the single bed, unused since Nick had started staying in their room about a month ago and since Trubel apparently hadn't come home last night to sleep in it.

"She didn't come home?"

He shook his head. "Not yet."

She looked over to the crib where Kelly still snoozed comfortably, and raised her eyebrow. "He slept? All night?"

Nick smiled ruefully and shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. He woke sometime around 4:30."

"I slept through that?!" She replied, aghast, and Nick shook his head again. "Actually I thought he woke you before I could calm him, you sat up and mumbled something, but I told you I had it, and you went back to sleep. You don't remember that?"

She shook her head and said, "I was so tired." She took a sip of her coffee and glanced at him. "What about you? Did you get any sleep?"

"A little," he replied, hoping the lie would be enough.

"Liar. You look like hell, Nick." He barely refrained from rolling his eyes. "Well, a Wesen uprising and your dead hexenbiest from hell ex-girlfriend coming back from the grave will do that." He didn't mean for the statement to carry as much bite as it did, and felt bad when he saw her lips purse and her features school in that careful neutrality.

"Plus there's Kelly," she said.

"And you," he added, not sure why he did, but he tried to smile to show her he didn't resent either fact. "Besides you guys are rapidly becoming the reason I stay sane in this increasingly crazier world."

She managed a smile in return, locking eyes with him again, taking another sip of her coffee. "So," she started, affecting the brightness of earlier, "What's on the Wesen crime-fighting agenda today?"

"Finding out more about what Juliette and this underground organization are doing with each other."

"Juliette. Of course," and he thought he detected something in her tone.

"What?"

"Nothing. You think Trubel's avoiding you," she asked instead, looking again at the empty bed.

"I don't know. Maybe. I'm not sure Trubel knows either what Juliette is doing with them."

"What about you?" he asked, trying to deflect her from noticing his concern, but she had learned to read him quite well in their forced cohabitation, and he got the impression he wasn't really as successful as he had hoped. Still, she let the topic go, and he was grateful to put it aside for a moment.

"Oh, Kelly and I have a big day of crying and screaming, and burping and feeding, diaper changing, hair-pulling and sleeplessness ahead of us. You know, the usual."

"I'm jealous," he teased, and found he really was. What he wouldn't give for just a day to stay home and be a dad to his son.

Adalind gave him a look at the patronizing, and took another sip.

"I don't suppose you can go in late, sleep a little bit," she ventured. He shook his head before she even finished and she leaned back abruptly.

"I need to get a lead on this, I need to talk with Trubel, and Hank and Wu are researching some information on the money trail funding all this. This goes deep, much deeper than we realized according to Truble."

"What good is any of that going to do if you drop dead from exhaustion." She pointed out.

"I'll be fine," he replied dismissively. Adalind frowned.

"You need some rest," she insisted. "I'm not asking you to take a vacation or anything. But a few hours of sleep would do you wonders. And it would make me feel a lot better."

He quirked a brow.

"You know what I mean," Adalind retorted, a tad defensively, too.

He let it go. "You're right," and she sat up a little straighter and smiled, "I'm sure I would feel better. Unfortunately the Wesen uprising is not going to wait for me to catch up on some beauty rest."

"Just a couple of hours," she needled. "I'll take care of Kelly and you can get a little rest."

Nick rolled his eyes, "I really mean that much to you?"

"Nick," she said, as she leaned forward, into his personal space, so close he could feel the puffs of air against his lips and face as she whispered, faux conspiratorily, "I'm claiming it as my right as the mother of our child to worry about you, and that your well-being has a direct influence on our well-being, and to remind you repeatedly that you owe it to us to take better care of yourself."

He raised an eyebrow, refusing to back down, the challenge of her closeness igniting his heart to start pounding. He forced his eyes to stay locked on her, and not where they wanted to dart around to, her face, her lips-

"I owe it to you?" he managed to get out coolly, and he thought he saw a hint of a smile appear at the corner of her mouth, and quickly refocused on her eyes again.

"Yes, you owe it to me," she reiterated, "and Kelly," she added, leaning in further, "to take better care of yourself."

"I thought you said I didn't owe you anything," he reminded her mildly, suddenly very aware of their close proximity.

"I changed my mind."

"I see."

It would be so easy to close the distance and kiss her. The thought popped into his head without warning, taking him so much by surprise that he jerked reflexively away. Fortunately the elevator clanged loudly, announcing Trubel's arrival.

Kiss her. Where did that thought come from? He didn't want to kiss her...Did he? Adalind had moved away from him, watching the gate on the elevator go up and Trubel step out into their loft, apparently dismissing his startled behavior to her sudden arrival. He forced himself to look away, and greet Trubel, who was watching them both with a strange expression on her face.

"Hey," he managed to get out with a smile. "Where have you been?"

"Hey Nick," she returned, though her eyes were still on Adalind. He followed her gaze and couldn't tell anything amiss from the bright smile Adalind gave her, other than the fact Adalind gave her a bright smile. But she had really been trying these last few months, to make an effort to be conscientous and friendly and polite, and so that facet of her behavior shouldn't really be all that surprising at this point.

"Sorry to interrupt," Trubel offered, but it was more formality than anything as with the next breath she asked, "Is there any more coffee?" and took the seat opposite Adalind.

"I'll get you some," Adalind offered, and he watched her go, still confused about what had just happened.

"Where have you been?" He repeated, turning his attention back to Trubel and away from his unsettled feelings.

"I'll get to that in a minute. Meisner wants to meet with you."

"Meisner?" Adalind interrupted, setting a cup of steaming black liquid in front of Trubel. She gave Adalind a guarded look and muttered a perfunctory thanks.

"Yeah, Meisner." She looked around at the table. "Is there anything to eat?" and once again Adalind popped off her seat next to him and hurried to the kitchenette. "I could make you something," she offered. "Nick?"

"No thanks," he responded automatically his attention now entirely focused on Trubel. "What's going on?"

"There's some muffins," Adalind called out, and held one up. "I need to get some groceries," she added, more to herself.

"What kind?" Trubel responded, doing her best now to ignore Nick instead of Adalind.

"Uhh...blueberry?"

"It'll suffice," Trubel replied, and Adalind set it in front of her and stepped back, hands on hips, looking between Nick and Trubel.

"Well, I'm sure you have a lot to talk about," Adalind said. "I'm going to check on Kelly and then I'm going to run a few errands."

"Be careful," Nick warned automatically, returning his eyes to her face. She looked at them both before replying. "You too. And our conversation from this morning isn't over," she added over her shoulder as she gracefully excused herself from the room.

Nick felt his stomach twist. Anticipation? Excitement? Fatigue? You don't want to kiss her, he told himself sternly. Your emotions are all over the place because of everything that's happened, and now seeing Juliette again...

It certainly sounded plausible.

He just didn't know if it sounded true, even to himself.

"What conversation?" Trubel ventured after a long look.

He gave himself a mental shake. "Nevermind. Tell me everything

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