Epilogue

(Two Months Later)

Nick opened the doors a crack and looked into the hall to find that it was extremely crowded. There were some empty seats here and there, but there were far many more people filling the pews than what there had been for their wedding. He had expected a crowd, but still felt a bit overwhelmed at the numbers.

Hank walked up behind him and asked, "What are you doing?"

Nick jumped a little, he had been so focused on what he was spying on, he had completely ignored everything behind him and Hank had surprised him.

Nick turned around and put his palm on his forehead and admitted, "I"m just feeling a little in over my head here. Public speaking isn't exactly something I'm good at."

Hank put his hand on Nick's shoulders and said, "Those people are in there because of you, this was your idea. They want to hear what you have to say."

Nick nodded, but then shook his head, "Maybe. Or maybe they're here just to gawk at the Grimm."

Hank couldn't disagree at the possibility but said, "Okay, maybe that's the case for some of them. But, that's not going to be the case for all of them."

Nick checked the time. It was nearly Eight PM. He had to get down to the podium. He opened the door again to peek through the crack and saw that Adalind was standing next to the podium with Kelly in her arms and with Trubel standing next to her. Trubel had the forethought to put on sunglasses before she was within even a hundred feet of the hotel Nick had rented out space in.

He couldn't see them, but Nick assumed Monroe, Rosalee and their triplets, Felix, Emmett and Freddy, along with Bud and his family were all seated in the front. Samantha had been seated as well, but he saw her stand up and begin walking up the aisle in his direction. He could tell by the look on her face she was coming to find out why he was taking so long. He took a deep breath and opened the door the rest of the way and stepped inside. He exhaled the breath he'd been holding. Samantha saw him, stopped walking and spread her arms with her palms up in a gesture that Nick interpreted as, 'What's going on? Are you okay? Get your ass down here!" Nick thought to himself, 'When you know someone long enough...'

The room was noisy as most of the people in attendance were all chatting among themselves. Hank had stepped in the room behind Nick and seated himself next to Janelle who was there at Hank's invitation. It wasn't a date, but it wasn't not a date either.

As Nick made his way down the aisle he looked around and saw a lot of faces transitioning to a Woge and back again. One face that didn't Woge however, was Tabitha Barlow. Nick stopped walking to the front and instead went over to greet the Barlows who were once again seated near the Seidels. He was glad to see that out of some tragedy, some new friendships were made. Not a fair trade off, but when grieving, having new friends can help. He shook the hands of the Seidels first. As he was about to let go though, Isaac tightened his grip a bit and pulled Nick in closer so he could be heard as he whispered, "I didn't get a chance to thank you for catching that monster and putting him in prison. There were times when I doubted you'd go through with it, but I'll never forget what you did for Tony."

Nick responded, "I'm sorry for your loss, sir. I wish I could have stopped him sooner."

Isaac nodded, "I wish you had too, but I don't blame you for what that man did to Tony. You did more than anyone would have expected. If you or your wife or anyone in your family ever need anything, you can count on us." Nick nodded and Isaac released his grip.

Nick shook the hands of the Barlows as well, but stopped to kneel down to speak to Tabitha, who was once again wearing normally fitted clothing, instead of the oversized skater clothes she'd worn when he met her. Though it was more casual than she wore to his wedding, wearing jeans and a nice blouse, with her hair done up in braids. Knowing how shy Tabitha was, Nick was always impressed to see her doing her best in public situations. It made him feel silly for having been afraid of speaking in public just a few minutes before.

He smiled at her, "It's good to see you again, Tabitha. You're looking nice." She smiled and covered her face with her hands as she usually did when Nick complimented her.

When her shyness had faded somewhat, she opened her hands to reveal her face so she could whisper, "Thank you," to Nick.

Nick stood up and told the Barlows and the Seidels it was good to see them again and suggested that they all get together in a more casual setting in the near future. Maybe it was that he wanted more friends for himself and for Adalind, but he had to admit to himself that he was feeling particularly protective of the Barlows and the Seidels for different reasons. The Seidels who were still grieving and the Barlows whom always had a little fear that someone would want to kill them just for their feet.

He walked over to the podium and with every step he took, the chatter from the room began to quiet down. It was mostly children making the majority of the noise by the time he got there.

He kissed Adalind on her cheek and turned to get behind the podium. He tapped the microphone to make sure it was powered on and then spoke into it.

"H-Hello... I'm sure a lot of you know me by reputation, if not by my face. My name is Nick Burkhardt. Before we begin, I apologize for being so tactless, but I had to pay to rent this hall out my own pocket, so we put a can up here," Nick pointed to an old coffee can that had the slit cut into the lid on top, "If anyone is feeling kind enough to make a donation to help pay for the hall, it would be apprec-" Before he could finish his words, Bud had leapt out of his seat as dozens of others did the same. They walked their way to the front to place money in the can Nick had just mentioned to them. Each person patiently waiting for the person in front of them to put in their cash so they could have their own turn and then they returned to their seats.

Nick smiled. As soon as it was clear no one else was going to walk forward, he began speaking again as the last of the donators began making their way back to their pews, "Thanks, that means a lot. So, as I was saying, my name is Nick Burkhardt and I'm a Grimm."

Just at the mention of the word Grimm, several people in the audience reflexively Woged. Nick pointed to Adalind, "This is my wife, Adalind, who is a Hexenbiest, my son Kelly and there," Nick pointed to Trubel, "is my daughter, Trubel, who is also a Grimm." At those words, Trubel felt safe enough to take her sunglasses off and put them in her coat pocket. Again, at the mention of her being a Grimm, there was another outbreak of audience members having more reflexive Woges.

Nick looked over at Rosalee and Monroe, sitting in the front most pew with their sons. Monroe gave Nick a quick head nod and a thumbs up to let Nick know he was doing great.

Nick continued, "I think most people here know that my daughter and I don't go around indiscriminately hurting Wesen. But a couple months ago, there was a Grimm here in Portland who was doing just that. We were finally able to stop him-"

Adalind cut him off, "No!" She leaned in so her voice would carry into the microphone, "No... Nick stopped him." She swatted his arm with her hand as she said, "Stop with the modesty."

Nick nodded and admitted, "Okay, I stopped him. But, the point is that for months he was hurting Wesen across the country and then he was in Portland for weeks. So... I got the idea that Wesen should know he was out there. I asked all of you to tell everyone you knew, to warn them to be careful about when you Woge and who you do it around. I can't know it for sure, but multiple people have told me that this simple act, probably saved several lives.

"But it's more than just that, a few years ago, there was an outbreak here in Portland of Fluvus Pestilentia," He looked at Rosalee for confirmation he'd pronounced it correctly and she gave him a thumbs up. He continued, "Also known as the Yellow Plague. If it hadn't been for Rosalee and Monroe," he gestured to them in the pew, "it's possible there would have been a full on pandemic.

"This community has unique needs and I've seen a lot of you come together and help one another as best you can when the situation calls for it. But, after that Grimm came to Portland, it occurred to me that more should be done.

"So, I am here to suggest a formation of a new Wesen Council here in Portland. An organization to help with emergencies and even the subtle day to day things that only the Wesen community would know about."

Most of the people in attendance had no idea that Nick was going to suggest forming a Wesen Council. The previous Council had been murdered by the terrorist organization known as Black Claw. Now that Black Claw was eliminated though, no one had bothered to reassemble the Council yet. So, what Nick was suggesting wasn't completely crazy, but there had never been a Council in America before. It had always been in Europe.

People in the pews began talking among themselves at Nick's suggestion, but he wasn't done yet. He spoke a little louder to get back the attention from the crowd, "Before you make any decisions, I want you to know that no one in my family will be on the Council... if it's approved. I believe a Wesen council should be just that. Wesen. However, I will be available as both a Grimm and as a detective for the Portland, PD, should the need arise."

"At the end of this meeting, we're going to take a vote as to whether there will be a Wesen Council. You can't vote until you know what you're voting for though. So I'd like to introduce you to the person I'm nominating to be in charge of getting the council off the ground, the official title will be Chairperson. Her name is Samantha Gray. She's one of the people here who lost a loved one to the Grimm. At my request, she has volunteered to head the project should the majority of people here vote to move forward with it. Sam, would you come up here please?"

Samantha made her way to the podium. Though she still disliked doing it, she had decided to dress up a little for the occasion wearing a blouse with black slacks and pumps. As she got behind the podium, Adalind, Trubel and Nick made their way to the front most pew and sat down. Nick seated himself next to Monroe who was holding one of his triplets, Emmett.

Samantha thanked Nick for introducing her and then she said to the crowd, "Nick saved my life from the Grimm... twice. I say that because I want to be completely honest with everyone here. I will always be grateful to Nick for what he's done for me and I will tell anyone who will listen that he's a man of honor and integrity. However, I don't want anyone to think that my loyalties are divided between the Wesen Council and my friend who happens to be a Grimm. It's important, and Nick agrees, that he should hold no sway over council decisions. If we're not autonomous, then we're not a council. It's been decided that if the Council should move forward from beyond tonight, I will only be in charge for the first year. If I wish to remain Chairperson, a new vote will be held. At that time, if you feel I'm doing a poor job or that I'm not being impartial, a vote can be made to replace me as Chairperson. We want you to trust this Council and what we do to protect you and our world. The plan is to have an additional eight Council members, that, hopefully, we will choose here tonight.

"I'd like to open up the floor for any questions any of you might have and in an hour, we'll have a vote to find out if a new Portland based Wesen Council will move forward."

Monroe leaned in to whisper to Nick, "Dude, you're making history... again!"

The End