Disclaimer: I don't own Grimm. I just love it enough to write fanfic for it. :)

Moment of Truth

This wasn't happening.

She was just here. Carly was just here. She was clutching his side not a second ago, babbling and panicking that his partner was going to kill her(of all things). And now, now a snarling, hairy beast with evil eyes and glinting fangs stood in her place.

Hank's weapon rose. (He wasn't crazy.) He sighted his target, aiming right between its shining, yellow eyes. (He wasn't crazy.) His finger clenched tight on the trigger, ready to send this delusion back to whatever broken part of his stress fractured mind it crawled out of.

He wasn't crazy!

And then Hank wasn't staring down evil, yellow eyes, but stormy grey-blue, opened wide in desperation as their owner put himself between the his partner and his target.

What was Nick doing? It wasn't Carly! It was something else. She changed! Didn't he see?!

And apparently he did. Everything Hank had seen, he'd seen, too. More, even. Nick said it like he meant it, like Hank wasn't slowly losing his mind. Like it was real. Those earnest eyes had him almost believing it, too.

So, he wasn't crazy?

And when Nick stepped aside, the monster he'd been about to put a bullet in was gone. It was just Carly, expression less wild than before, but fear still shining in her hazel eyes.

Hank knew those eyes. Those eyes widened with a 5 year-old's squealing laughter as his fingers found that ticklish spot behind her right elbow. They glittered happily at him over candle-laden cake smothered in pink and purple frosting. They glared up at him, red-rimmed and brimming with stubbornly unshed tears- because even if this was a funeral, crying would still make it real. And they clenched shut, safely hidden in his jacket-clad shoulder, because it was real, regardless, and he was still Hank.

He was Hank, whose weapon had already drifted to point at the floor before he gave it any conscious thought. Across from him, the blonde girl's eyes relaxed and he felt his stomach slowly start to unclench as his heart migrated back out of his throat. It was just Carly, only Carly. It had been her the whole time.

Oh, God, what had he almost done?

"I'm sorry, Hank," Carly started. Which was ridiculous. He'd nearly shot his goddaughter and she was sorry. "I didn't mean for that to happen."

Her voice was much calmer now as she tried to soothe him instead of agitate. It helped cushion the next bombshell, if only slightly.

"I was just afraid he was gonna kill me," Carly said. She was sheepish, but still matter-of-fact. Like it was a completely reasonable conclusion. The adrenaline of the last few minutes must have been wearing off because Hank's head was starting to hurt just a bit.

So, he really wasn't crazy? (Funny how his brain kept hiccuping on that point after he'd wanted to believe it for so long.) But, what was this, then? Monster people? "Grimms"? Family curses? He didn't understand.

And a shout from outside reminded him that he didn't have the time right now to keep trying.

But he wasn't crazy.

So, when Nick asked for his trust, he gave it. In the coming days and weeks, he'd get his fill of details and explanations. But right now, he'd let the certified creature hunter take point against the dog monsters planning to storm their position to retake his goddaughter.

… Okay, so maybe this was all a little crazy. But at least he wasn't alone.

And that was enough.

(Though punching the pompous out of that snide SOB of a "pack leader" had felt damn satisfying, too.)

I just had to write this down after seeing tonight's episode. I am so happy Hank finally knows about things. And the way it happened and how he reacted to it all was the absolute best case scenario, I think. Hank made me so proud tonight, you have no idea. So this is my tribute to that, I guess. :)

Read & Review, people! :)