Disclaimer: A big Grimm fan, new to fan fiction but inspired by some great stories on here. Obviously I do not own any existing characters or show dialogue. This is my spin on the existing universe, reincorporating some deleted scenes, with the intention of expanding the Grimmiverse and adding my own characters eventually as well. I hope you enjoy, please feel free to review and critique...

Episode: Star-Crossed

"Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour

it out on the earth like water."

Re'eh

"And both victims were gored to death." Nick says over the sound of the running tap as he finishes washing his hands in the bathroom he now shares with Adalind Schade; ex-attorney for the Royals, ex-Hexenbiest, ex-enemy, ex-big bad. It had been easier to ignore how complicated his life had become in such a short time, but even that was becoming more difficult now, as they settled into raising their baby in this wholly screwed-up family dynamic.

"Like with a horn?" Adalind questions as she soothingly lays Kelly in his crib and returns from the bedroom they have shared since the first night of moving into what Adalind endearingly calls their 'Fome'. "Yeah, then hung up on crosses..." a perplexed Nick muses out loud. Does anybody else have these weird-ass conversations over mundane family moments?

"This wasn't a Fuilcré, was it?" Adalind then enquires with apparent understanding pulling Nick out of his contemplation. Adalind is moving to the kitchenette now. "You know about that?" Nick asks curiously as he walks out to continue the discussion. He knows he shouldn't be surprised, after all he knew she was smart and knowledgeable, but even so sometimes it's so easy to forget who, what, she was before. "When I was a Hexenbiest, freaky rituals are kind of our thing" she announces in way of explanation. And there it was. Why was it so easy to forget she was a Hexenbiest? The Grimm's mortal enemy. Nick knows the answer deep down, but she looks like anything but an enemy dressed in grey casuals with that flowery hint of scent.

"Yeah, I was looking at the books with Monroe and Rosalee," he continues to block out unnecessary thoughts, "but some of the pages were burned. And we know that there are seven sacrifices that form the image of a plough, but we don't know what the plough is", Nick sits at the kitchen counter opposite Adalind now, as she moves around the small space fusing over making their baby's bottle. Adalind continues with her Grimm education, "Well, Fuilcré religion revolved around stars and 'The Plough' is what they called Ursa Major in England and Ireland". That ignites a long past memory from Nick, of an old astronomical programme he use to like watching when he couldn't sleep, with a scruffy English professor type presenter, "Ursa Major like the Big Dipper?" "Seven stars" confirms Adalind.

"So the killings are going to form a Big Dipper to match the constellation" Nick theorised, suddenly knowing they'd uncovered a big clue to solving this case.

Adalind resumes, "Yeah, maybe. The Aztecs had this ceremony built around Orion's Belt. It was called 'fire drill'; why they called it that, I don't know, but every time Orion's Belt rose above the horizon, they would sacrifice a man on top of a pyramid." It was good for her to help. It felt 'nice' and in truth she liked Nick's admiring expression. Nick had done so much for her and had been so good to her, so understanding, so protective; not just Kelly, but Adalind herself. And it was good to use her post-pregnancy brain for something other than baby babble!

Nick stares at Adalind in silent respect and admiration. He knew he wasn't stupid, but he also knew that academia didn't come readily to him. Sat easily across from this alarmingly beautiful intelligent woman, he had sat down feeling tired and frustrated after a long day chasing myths and legends to suddenly breaking this case wide open. Yes, just another day as a Grimm and a detective in Portland. Nick knew it should be strange that he'd begun to find such solace in these moments with his once biggest enemy, but he was starting to care less and less about what 'should be' and more about what was his new 'normal'. He LIKED having Adalind to talk to. She was smart and insightful. Someone he didn't have to hide himself from, someone who seemed to easily accept him for who he was, to accept his crazy life with all its madness, its threats and yes myths and legends and make so little demand on him. She was truly remarkable and there was no getting away from this fact. Stranger still was that Adalind herself didn't seem to realise this.

Adalind notices Nick's expression, full of warm wonder and thinks has she divulged too much in her ramble and asks apprehensively "What?" All Nick can ask is "How do you know these things?" Adalind quips self-deprecatingly; "Home schooling!" A smile spreads from her eyes to her lips as she takes the bottle she has warmed up into the bedroom to give Kelly his late evening feed.

Nick sits there mulling over the new clues Adalind and he have just unearthed. Too late to contact Hank, it'll wait until morning. There was an early morning summit planed at the Spice shop anyway. They had to now match up the known current victims to the big dipper constellation. They also needed a starting reference point. It wasn't everything, but it was a big step forward. His mind wandered to how cute Adalind's smile was, the tinge of pride he felt knowing how incredibly astute she was. It wasn't hard to admit how clever she was, even how pretty the blonde was. So why was it so difficult to admit she was becoming much, much, more to him than just a convenient, co-habitating, co-parenting housemate? Nick's still struggling with that concept, struggling with trying to rationalise the person who he had fought at Bremen ruins with, well, with the woman who now cared with such loving tenderness for their beautiful boy. He was definitely enjoying these quiet moments with Adalind, coming 'home' to these moments. Like a proper loving family. As strange as that may be to his friends and colleagues, even to himself, it feels all too normal to him now. All too easy to slip into those comfortable roles and its cosy moments like this that just reinforces these growing feelings.

Nick shakes himself! Wooooaaah there! Did I just mention feelings? Well pipe down there lover-boy! No-body mentioned 'feelings' here... yeah let's just move on, nothing to see here!

But seriously, who can move on from this? This situation he found himself in. Yes this started out because of duty. Duty to his unborn son... Duty to what was right... Duty to a vulnerable pregnant mother... Okay! Okay... So calling Adalind Schade 'vulnerable' was probably stretching it a bit, but then again was it? A memory flashes unbidden into his head; Adalind stood in Renard's office, nervously biting on her thumbnail, frowning in worry, people threatening her unborn child, HIS long-time girlfriend threatening her life and the life of THEIR unborn child. Her lips tense with the confession that would change both their lives forever. At the time his temper had risen too quickly and too hotly for him to register the change in Adalind. It was hard enough to stop the rising feeling of shock and disgust he had felt, before she forced her hand over his and brought it to her abdomen to feel his baby's kick for the first time. And in that moment his whole world changed. Finding out he was a Grimm had nothing on the fears and doubts he had endured since finding out he was going to be a father. Let alone Father to the first Hexengrimm or Grimmabiest as Adalind had once verbally deteriorated into describing their offspring! In those quiet moments as they lurched from one drama to another he had quite literally trembled in fear of what was about to happen. No, he didn't realise those feelings at the time but register it did later. Later in the shadow hours of that sleepless night, sat in the hospital room watching over an exhausted Adalind and new-born Kelly, he had realised what that office reunion must have cost her; to walk into the bastion of the enemy and ask for their help. Sure she came there to bargain, but since then all she has done is proved trustful and in the case of their son, totally loving. Then another memory, one he finds much more uncomfortable to endure, increasingly more difficult to block; Adalind walking away from Bremen ruins, tear streaked and utterly broken, bloodied mouth forming those terrible words that have stung and wheedled their way into his guilty nightmares, "you've killed me, I don't have my powers anymore, I'm just like everyone else, I'm nothing...!" At the time he had been filled with righteous rage and easily dismissed her as a vanquished bitch who wanted to ruin the lives of everyone he cared about. He had so easily forgotten about the puppeteer behind all her actions, manipulating her, to manipulate him, those damn Royals, those damn keys, all of them, even the bastard himself.

Yet he had suffered that same bereavement when he too had lost his own powers. He had felt that same impotency and that same vulnerability. Knowing all about this wesen world, but no longer belonging to it, yet belonging to the human world neither! In the end it was ultimately too much to bear. His desire, his choices had led them to eventual disaster. Juliette's transformation... The loss of the trailer and his heritage... The death of his mother... Losing Diana to the Royals... All can be traced to HIS need to rejoin the wesen world. Nick decides to stop this train of thought. It leads nowhere good. It hurts his head and in the end it is just fruitless, and now it's in his past, and that past has nothing new to say. His present, his future has become Adalind and their son.

Meantime, Adalind was gently trying to cajole Kelly into taking more of his bottle. Sat on the bed she'd been pondering over a concern that had been growing. Nick's sleep had been disturbed a few times recently and he looked tired tonight. He'd had a few nights of sleep 'fighting' or something like that. They'd joked about it but she knew it can only be a symptom of being so stressed out! And who can blame him! The rise of Black claw... Juliette's, sorry Eve's, return... Meisner and Hadrian's Wall... Everything was 100mph, like trying to stand firm on quicksand! Then there seemed to be more Wesen related cases recently just like this Fuilcré one. At least she had been useful tonight. She was hoping the extra feed might help Kelly sleep longer through the night. She didn't want Nick to feel he needed to use the cot to catch up on his sleep. Her vulnerability had led her to ask him to stay in the room that first night. She was as surprised as Nick when she did, even more so by his acquiescence. Since then he had dutifully changed in the bathroom and took his place at her side. In all this madness she would miss that badly. Initially they had carefully and diligently maintained their no-go buffer like a de-militarised zone between them. More and more the comfort of their waking lives had sown seeds of intimacy in their sleeping arrangement. Only the other morning she had woken to the soothing sound and feel of Nick's breathing next to her ear as he had nestled into her neck. One arm heavily draped over her middle, she'd woken to finding herself stroking his forearm. That had almost given her a heart-attack! Not that she was doing it, but just how comfortable and natural it had felt. They had both mindfully ignored how they had woken, and exaggerated their yawns and stretches to regain their buffer zone positions. Yet despite steadfastly trying to ignore how waking like that had made her feel, she knew that it had been totally different to anything she'd previously experienced. There was no fight for dominance. No battle. No loss, no gain. No detachment. No feelings of being used, or being the user. And there was definitely absolutely categorically unmistakably NO sexual tension or heat. Honestly. No she never found herself absentmindedly smelling his shirts when she was doing the laundry. She definitely didn't appreciate the way she would catch him looking at her when she donned that white shirt of his she'd appropriated. A smile escapes to her lips. She did however want to do something nice for him, to make this transition easier. Tomorrow she'd talk to Bud or Rosalee or both! It was time to make Nick's life easier and mend a few broken bridges in the process. To try and show them all she had changed and that she deserved Nick's... Protection!

The next day...

She had found herself second-guessing her idea again. Ugh, the doubt that had ploughed into her life, along with the vulnerability of being a mother again had been infuriating. She knew why though, it was deep-rooted in losing Diana. The thought of her name was like ice around her heart, let alone when she imagined her perfect little fingers enclosing around Kelly's locket. That was Mum Kelly, Not Kelly-Kelly... The Kelly that had stole away her daughter with the help of the Grimm and his friends. The Kelly who was the Grimm's mother, and had sacrificed herself trying to keep her precious Diana out of the clutches of the Royals.

Amongst all the weirdness that has been this crazy new life, making friends with this tight-knit 'family' has been the most difficult. They had been monsters in her eyes. Stealing her child! What monster did THEY see for these good people to justify doing that? She had spent most of her life trying to live up to Catherine Schade's vision of her daughter. Adalind knew she had been manipulated by her, Renard, even her law firm seemed more interested in having a powerful Hexenbiest than having an Honours law-degree student eager to prove herself. And yes that Hexenbiest within had also manipulated her, brought out her very worst emotions and traits. She had prided herself on being a supreme queen bitch; powerful, cold and calculating. Drawn to power. Drawn to luxury. Everything, she thought she deserved and had a right to. None of it real, from the first moment she had held Kelly everything else faded away. It might of been the same when she had held Diana if she'd been able to take the opportunity without all that running for their lives. Before she had lost her, and had gone mad for a while. She had been determined that this would be different. In that moment she had asked her enemy, a man who had helped steal away her daughter not to "hate her anymore" because "we can't be like we was...!" She would not lose this child. Everything else was negotiable. So she'd negotiated her way into sharing her child's care with that very man and sharing the same living space with her child's father, our very own Grimm, now her very own Grimm. No, it was all too soon, too complicated. When Trubel had asked her if she loved Nick, she had spluttered and mumbled through her startled reply. He had protected her, cared for her and their baby and had showed great tenderness towards her. Was her true feelings' now starting to show through? Was it just a form of Stockholm syndrome!? Now they had even shared a kiss. Shared a moment that was playing like an unbidden movie whenever she let her guard down, and to be honest her guard was getting pretty much overwhelmed by these new 'complications'. No there was nothing 'safe' about them! She felt so unsure, so untethered. No job, no powers, no independence. She was all-in and in truth it scared her to hell. She knew she and Kelly were very vulnerable. Vulnerable to old judgements of her old self. Vulnerable to a change of mind and heart from Nick. Vulnerable to age old prejudices. Old childhood anxieties of feeling not good enough, not strong enough, not powerful enough were again in play. She had been the archetypal powerful witch with daddy and trust issues lurching from one manipulator to another lashing out at everyone and the world. She had lost her own Hexenbiest and whether it was because of the contaminatio ritualis or the fact during it, she had to gain possession over a new Hexenbiest; though it felt older and more powerful, it didn't dominate her like her own one did. She had been in charge. She'd been able to choose to suppress it when she needed to. Had wanted it stayed gone. Adalind could now look back on her old self and she didn't like what she saw. Maybe she was seeing what they had seen, when they had made that terrible decision about her little baby girl. She liked the new Adalind Schade. She actually liked her new life. She had 'friends'. Rosalee and Bud had been surprisingly kind and welcoming to her. Sure, there were aspects she felt she needed to change, returning to work for one. She was NO mans 'kept' woman. But there was no pressure on her to do so, it was her choice. So she chose Nick, the one person who asked nothing of her but to be the mother she actually wanted to be. Although, she had already chosen when she had accepted Nick's protection and hadn't bolted with Kelly from Nick's old house while he slept. Adalind had chosen him when she'd chosen Kelly's name, and yes, chosen Nick, when she'd asked him to sleep next to her, in this noisy armoured warehouse conversion just so she could feel safe and secure enough to sleep. He was still next to her. She was still able to be vulnerable with him and still feel safe in their fome. Christ, she can at least admit to herself she wanted him next to her each and every night after that.

She reaches for her mobile phone and fires off a text. If she was going to do this then she needed some help.

A little while later she is pulling down the gate on the elevator heading toward the garage. Kelly in his car seat, keys to Juliette's old car in her hand and a changing bag armed with enough baby products to re-stock a small independent nation state!

Soon she's heading towards Fulton Street and Rosalee's Exotic Spice and Tea shop. By the time she arrives, the Scooby gang have all headed out after processing the clues Nick and her had deciphered yesterday evening. The shop feels suddenly reflective in its quietness after the hustle and bustle of that earlier Grimm collaboration. Rosalee is mixing a tea that will hopefully prove soothing to a newly nursing Hexenbiest (suppressed) mother. Nick had mentioned to her quietly he was concerned about how all the current stresses may be affecting Adalind. The care that was evident in his eyes as he talked to her about Adalind was undeniable, albeit not obvious to the Grimm himself. She smiled wryly shaking her head at that thought.

The shop bell alerts her to a new arrival but before she can move, she hears Adalind shouting her. "I'm in the back Adalind, why don't you bring that lovely young man back here so his Aunty Rosalee can munch him!" Adalind quickly sheds her coat and is soon sitting with Kelly freed of his restraints and gurgling on her knee. Rosalee enters with a brewing tea pot and mugs on a tray. She deposits them on the table, "can I have a cuddle?" she asks Adalind. Rosalee is soon hugging Kelly "hello young man... wow haven't you got bigger" she directs that last comment to Adalind. "I'm sorry we haven't been to see you sooner, I certainly know I'm carrying him now, he's my own little post-birth workout...!" Adalind says laughing. "Listen, Rosalee, I haven't had a proper chance to thank you for everything... You and Monroe have been incredible, you know... And you didn't have to be... Not to me..." Adalind starts to ramble before her nerve breaks. "Don't be silly Adalind... Nick and you could hardly be expected to do everything, not with what you two have had to go through... I should imagine it's been a big learning curve for the both of you, now that you're living together, let alone this little guy..." she's tickling Kelly under the chin to his great delight. "You're really good with him... I'm surprised Monroe and you haven't...?" Adalind's question tails off as she sees a pang of pain ripple across Rosalee's face, "Oh I'm so sorry, I hope I haven't... Ermmm... I didn't mean to upset... Oh God, me and my big mouth..." Adalind is in full retreat now.

"Adalind... Adalind... It's okay, honest... It just hasn't been the right time for us, not that a Fuchsbau-Blutbad marriage is particularly common, we're hopeful, you know... when the time is right..." Rosalee says putting a reassuring hand on top of Adalind's trying to put her more at ease after her verbal diarrhoea. "I'm sorry, I just am so thankful..." Adalind shoots Rosalee a small smile.

"I know..." Rosalee sighs, "So what was your text all about...?" she decides to change tack. "All you said was you wanted my help doing something for Nick?" Rosalee says now intrigued. "Well, I wanted to do something nice for Nick, he's been so good, I just thought with everything going on, he deserves something non-deathy, non-black-claw, non-grimm to enjoy!" Adalind starts, "and I thought it'd be an opportune moment to try and fix some broken bridges, you know after everything I've done..." she finishes with a nervous smile.

"Oh wow!" Rosalee pauses a moment, a little taken aback..." Yeah I think non-deathy and black-clawey might be exactly what the doctor ordered. That's a lovely idea Adalind, what had you in mind?"

"That's it... I'm not so sure... I was sort of thinking food and friends in some way, especially with Kelly being so young, we're...No... I'm not ready to leave him just yet..." Adalind finishes quietly. Rosalee returns a comforting hand "Hey, that's totally understandable, so where you thinking BBQ cook-out or maybe a dinner party of sorts?" Adalind considers the suggestions, "Definitely I think Dinner, we're not really set-up for a BBQ at the loft, and, well a dinner isn't at the whim of the weather either".

"Okay, now we're cooking, quite literally..." Rosalee says as she gently puts down Kelly, who is now sleeping in her arms, "let me put this tired boy in his chair and we can start menu planning..." Rosalee continues.

Soon the two of them are sipping on their tea as they start to discuss a menu theme and what ingredients will be needed.

A beep goes off alerting Adalind to a text; - Hey Adalind, lovely to hear from you, sorry couldn't come to Rosalee's but I'm heading back to the repair shop if you can pop in... Bud –

"Right, that was Bud, I promised to drop in and show off Kelly. He was so good to me with the whole hiding out thing, it's weird, but he was really, really, sweet" Adalind explains, "and I don't think I've ever eaten so much... He was a feeding machine!" They are both laughing at that with knowing grins. Eisbibers are renowned for their generosity and even more so in their pleasure in sharing food. Phoebe Wurstner's pies were especially known to the Scooby gang as marvellous culinary delights.

A short while later, and with Rosalee's help, Adalind is putting Kelly in the car and has sent a message off to Bud saying she'll be there soon.

As she walks into Bud Wurstner's Refrigerator repair shop she can hear cursing coming form the back of a large white fridge blocking the view of Bud, "I'll be right with you, if I can JUST... GET... THIS... DAMN... PIPE...Freeee..."grunts punctuate the words,"Oh you little bugger!"

"Hello Bud, I hope you're not going to teach my baby cuss words at his age!" Adalind says with a small chuckle.

Standing, "Oh hello there Adalind, I'm just battling this fridge over its broken pipe, personally I think the fridge is winning, stupid model!" adds Bud ruefully giving it a kick. "So where is the young one, I hope he's behaving for you, are you getting much sleep? I know our eldest didn't sleep for his first 3 years I think. Come and sit down, have you had a drink?"

"I'm fine; Rosalee plied me with plenty of tea this afternoon. Actually, I wanted to see if you'd be free this weekend. I was going to do a dinner at the loft. I'm sure Nick and Hank are off and I've just asked about Rosalee and Monroe and they'll be okay, I do want you and Mrs Wurstner to come as well, as my way of saying thank you to everyone"

Bud's face contorts in exaggerated anguish. "Oh Adalind. Errm... errrr... You know I'd love to. There's nothing I'd of loved more. It's just, well it's the wife, she has had to go and look after the mother-in-law after a little fall..."

"Oh Bud I hope everything's okay" Adalind replies with some concern.

"No its okay, she just can't get about, so the wife is going down there with the youngest and looking after her for a week or two. It's nothing serious, but I'll be kiddy sitting while they're at school. But, seriously, I'm so sorry. You think Nick will understand? He won't think I'm being funny will he? You don't think I'm being funny do you? It's my fault, I should be available..." Bud is in a full-on customary 'Bud' monologue now. "Oh Bud", Adalind pacifies him, she feels an affinity towards Bud, who she spent the most time with prior to the birth of Kelly; a nervous, anxious, warm-hearted and affable father of three, he had an innate understanding of how to care for a heavily pregnant wesen and he'd discarded that weak and cowardly stereotype of an Eisbiber her fellow witches easily assumed. He'd befriended a Grimm and a Blutbad, looked after a pregnant Hexenbiest concealing her from a very powerful 'made' Hexenbiest.

Bud just like all the other members of the Scooby gang, this 'family', sheds so many stereotypes and challenges any and all normal Grimm/Wesen/Kehrseite relationships.

She's got Kelly out of his chair and handing him over to Bud, who starts another trundle "so has there been any hint of what the little guy might be, you know, any Grimmness or Hexeny thing going on? I suppose it's a bit early but you never know, not too many Grimm-Hexenbiest babies to really know..." And with that Bud hits on the crux of a worry Adalind is desperately trying to ignore. "You're right, I don't know of any other recorded Grimm/Hexenbiest child, it worries me a bit, how others might react, but I'm going to love him no matter what..." Adalind adds with the upmost conviction at the end.

Buds normal anxious look softens, "Of course you will, and Nick, he's a little miracle and he couldn't have two parents more able to love and protect him than you and Nick!" With that they're sharing baby stories as they dissolve into laughter about the funnier aspects of newbie parenting. Especially as Bud shares a time he was so tired after the birth of his middle child he went to the fridge and found his keys, wallet and mobile phone in a pie dish, and the pumpkin pie from the dish in his work trousers pocket!

Soon Kelly was getting tired and cranky from all the mauling and attention he'd been having all day. So with that Adalind bayed Bud farewell and not to worry about dinner, but promised to go over and see him and Phoebe once she was back from his mother-in-laws. She also promised to take home more pie for Nick!

Adalind had been home alone all evening. She'd soothed and quietened Kelly with a relaxing bath, a damn good feed and a lot of patience. She herself was now relaxing with a hot chocolate and a good book. Much like Monroe, Adalind herself was a bit of a history nerd, especially wesen history, so finding a damaged Grimm book Nick had brought home was a real treasure trove to her. She'd initially flicked through it, then 50minutes later realised she was curled up with a blanket eagerly digesting the books contents!

Just before midnight a wet and dripping Nick dragged his soggy self into the loft on the back of an hour long thunderstorm whilst collecting evidence and witness statements. He was surprised to see Adalind still awake and met her up turning face with a welcoming smile. "I hope you haven't been waiting up for me!" Adalind shook her head and had dropped the Grimm book at her side and was moving to the kitchenette. Nick had retrieved a towel from the bathroom where he'd hung up his coat dripping over the bath. As he came out of the bathroom towelling his air, he was greeted with a freshly brewed steaming cup of coffee, gratefully receiving it "Oh my god, I could kiss you... you're a lifesaver!" He visibly blanched at his spoken miss-step. After refusing anything to eat, telling Adalind he'd managed to smuggle a sandwich earlier, he went over to the sofa and looked at what Adalind had been engrossed in as he'd gotten in. "I hope you don't mind, Nick, I wasn't deliberately being nosy, but I just couldn't help it..." Adalind directed at Nick as she saw what he was looking at, "I've never seen a Grimm book before, it's incredible!" she finished with a small smile.

"Of course not" Nick assured her, "It's a bit battered and burnt after what happened at the trailer" he tailed off as if caught up in a memory. "So, did you manage to catch who was carrying out the Fuilcré ritual?" Adalind shoots at Nick to pull him out of an obviously sad recollection.

"Yep, it was the lumber Company owner... He was also a Fuilcré, but didn't get the -No Sacrifice Rituals- memo" said Nick with a wry look, "Unfortunately he didn't give Hank and I a choice..."

"Oh Nick, I'm so sorry, I know that's not what you wanted" she said with a regretful squeeze of his arm.

Nick ruefully added "Yeah, he'd even woged right in front of his intended sacrifice, I left the guy ranting and raving at what he saw to Wu" causing a look of shock on Adalind's face, "yeah, exactly!"

"What has Wu done with him? Nick It's really dangerous to wesen having a Kehrseite out there screaming about us, especially with all this Black Claw lunacy going on" Adalind pressed with a real look of concern. "Don't worry, he was a homeless drifter and with a definite drinking issue" Adalind seemed to relax as Nick continued, "When I left him, Wu was dumping him in an ambulance after persuading him he'd been hallucinating under the influence, and even if HE didn't believe it, no-one else would believe him."

Adalind decides now is the time to tell Nick about her plan. "Nick, I was thinking, listen, I'd like to do something nice for you, I thought a dinner here Saturday for everyone" Adalind looks to quell Nick's obvious in-coming protest "You and Hank are free and I was hoping you could check with Wu tomorrow. I think I need to Nick, not just for you, but I need to make amends as well... You know, Hank, Wu."

"I thought we'd agreed to no more recriminations Adalind?" Nick sighs. Adalind gently takes Nick's hand, "I know that's what WE have said", she's looking into his face in earnest now "but I've hurt more than you Nick, I think I really need to do this".

Nick is considering what Adalind has told him, obvious his protective instincts are working overtime. "I spoke to Rosalee and she thought it was a good idea, especially with everything that's been going on, I'd like to thank everyone for everything they've done, you understand that don't you?"

"I guess... I didn't really want a lot of people knowing about this place though..." Nick admits.

"I know, but we're only talking the Scooby gang here..." Nick is smiling at Adalind's use of her nickname for everyone. If it helps their transition into whatever this is, maybe it was needed. "Okay looks like I'll be your sous chef, but I warn you I'll need constant supervision" he jokes. "Are you calling me bossy?" Adalind says with a wicked grin now. She's already retrieved her note pad from the table and is motioning to Nick to check out the menu plan. "You sure this is going to be okay? I wasn't joking about being a basic cook"

"Hey, you're not giving my organisational skills enough credit!" she's moved closer to Nick now, he's suddenly very aware of how close and warm she feels next to him. She takes his hand in both of hers, "you know if you put yourself in my hands I'll be gentle... Until you don't want me to be that is..." she's up and heading to the bedroom that wicked glint still in her eyes. She looks back, "I'm heading off to bed now I know you're back home safe..." and with that she disappears into the bedroom.

Nick sits there contemplating what just happened. There are a couple of things that pop out at him. Firstly, she called this place home and she wanted to know he was back safe. He can't help but think that's not only self-preservation. Secondly, he can't help but feel he just got played. Not maliciously but definitely that was the old confident Adalind seeping through. The Adalind who sat behind bars and told him together they could of 'had some fun'! He smiled at that thought. You know what, he was definitely starting to think she was right, and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. With that he heads to the bathroom to change and take up his place next to Adalind, and you never know, he may wake up with her in his arms again...