Summary:

Alternative story line to Organ Grinder:

What if Nick had been abducted instead of Gracie and taken to the organ harvesting site along with Hanson? Hank and Renard move heaven and hell to get to them in time but being rescued is only one thing. Coping with the aftermath of horror is quite another.
When things become too much and Nick is in desperate need of help, Renard is there... He's the calming presence that he needs... just like he's been back at the lab.

Author's note:

This one has been in my head for more a year and finally I've finished it! It contains (and don't they all) a BIG portion of Nick Whump and caring Renard along with all due horror a lab, where human organs are harvested, tends spread. But don't worry, the horror part isn't the main focus in this... But we need a bit of thrill, don't we?

I also feel the need to attach some 'tags' to this, so here they are:

a dash of horror and gore, angst, Hurt/ Comfort (!), fluff within all the angst, injuries and possibly some medical inaccuracies (but I'm trying to keep it realistic).

Enjoy (and bear with me for heaping more Nick Whump onto you all).

Bone Deep:

Chapter 1:

They have finally found the link between organ supplier and harvesting ring. It is the very same medical clinic where the street kids Gracie and Hanson have been treated at. Implications of this make for an unsettling feeling in both Detective's guts. Nick frowns down at the telephone number which has lead them to the clinic. They've found it on the supplier's cell phone after taking him up at an assortment of greenhouse like tents, where organs of all kinds have been laid out to dry. It's been a disgusting and above all a chilling sight.

The Grimm looks up at his partner, reading the same concern and disquiet there that must show on his own face.

"I want to check on those kids again, see if I can find them. I have a bad feeling about all this, Hank. How about you inform Renard and we meet at that trice cursed clinic as soon as possible?"

"Sounds good to me. Go check on the kids. Better safe than sorry. I'm going to round up troops and drive to the clinic after I've talked to the Captain.

GRIMM GRIMM GRIMM

Just as Nick gets inside his car, his phone rings. He taking it out and seeing the caller id, he groans.

Juliette. Damn it, I've completely forgotten that we agreed to meet for a dinner date. Telling her I won't make it, won't go over well... not when she's angry at me already.

Guilty conscience makes his innards twist as he thinks back to earlier today. They've been about to drive home together when he's got the call about the case. Her look of reproach, which has quickly changed to one of resignation, has cut right into him, because, hell, he's been powerless to do anything about her hurt feelings.

In the end he's managed to mollify her somewhat but with this call all will go to shambles again.

He takes up with a silent sigh.

"Hey, love."

"Hey, babe. I hope you haven't forgotten that we are due to meet at Devito's in half an hour."

Her tone is mischievous, vivacious and so much his beloved Juliette that his next words feel like dust on his tongue.

"I haven't forgotten but I..."

"Oh Nick, no. Come on, you promised. What can be so important that you call off our date two times in one day?"

"We had a break-through in our case. Juliette, we have to save those kids. One is already dead and one still missing and I cannot let it happen again. I would like nothing more than to spend the evening with you but this is important. I... cannot let them hurt more people."

"I know those kids are important, but why can't it be someone else saving the world this one...?! (She interrupts herself with a huff.) Well, at least you know where you'll find me, won't you, Nick Burkhardt? I am not the one always away on some sort of chase or wild hunt. Good night."

Her harsh words are like a punch in the gut and make guilty conscience rear its head. She ends the call before he can answer.

Damn it!

He hits the steering wheel in anguish.

You did a wonderful job, didn't you, Nick? Why weren't you able to put her above work one effing time?!

He knows the answer already and with it comes an ache that is not about guilty conscience but about why she cannot see the necessity of this.

Wait, no that's not fair. She has acknowledged its importance, but she is still angry with me. And I cannot even fault her, can I?

He wants nothing more than to drive to his love and make her happy but doing that would mean abandoning those teens to a terrible fate.

It's about kids. Their life is at stake. I cannot let them get hurt.

GRIMM GRIMM GRIMM

He searches the streets around where Gracie has sold her pucca shell necklaces earlier today. One of those still rests heavily in the back pocket of his jeans. He's bought it for Juliette but hasn't gotten around to giving it to her. He pushes these thoughts away, must focus back on work now.

Not seeing them anywhere, he just contemplates driving to meet Hank, when suddenly he hears shouts and screams! They are in a scarcely inhabited run down area. Nick draws his gun and runs in direction of the voices. He recognizes them! It's Gracie and Hanson!

Turning the corner he spots them not far away, a man... no, not any man... the office manager from that clinic is trying to manhandle the teens into a white van!

"Portland PD! Let the kids go at once and keep your hands where I can see them!"

His voice is one of steel when he bellows out this warning. The Geier turns around to him with a frantic look, woging, gauging his chances...

"Freeze at once! I repeat, get away from the children and surrender!"

It feels like an eternity. Gracie's frightened cries, Hanson's gasping breaths showing fear when he cannot bring himself to voice it. Finally the Geier steps away from the children and Nick heaves a tiny imperceptible sigh of relief. Keeping his gun trained at the man he approaches, rattling off standard Police cautioning and the charges broad up against him as he goes.

His left hand motions for the teens to move aside, then he takes his handcuffs off his belt.

"Don't try anything. Turn around with your hands raised above your head!"

He is about to cuff the perp – Gracie's fast, irregular breathing still ringing in his ears – when the Geier moves! He fires his gun. The creature is too fast... so damn fast! He dodges the bullets and attacks.

His gun is slapped out of his hand! Streaks of fiery pain, deep gauges inflicted where he's held it moments before.

"Arrgh!"

Nick recovers quickly but not quick enough. A vicious kick to his chest sends him flying. The Geier wastes no time. He slams Hanson to the ground with a punch and snatches Gracie's arm even as she backs away.

NO! I cannot let him take them!

The Grimm scrambles to his feet and barrels into the man full force! They crash to the ground, he shouts at Gracie to run and get help!

He's still fighting for control with the manager when some kind of metal bar comes down hard on his back. All breath is driven out of him as pain explodes across his shoulder blades.

A second one. There is a second one... the driver... Has to be the driver.

Everything after that is a blur. He tries to fight back, tries to keep them from pulling Hanson into the van, but before he can so much as get up, a hypodermic needle is driven into the side of his neck and his world goes black.

GRIMM GRIMM GRIMM

He wakes up lying on the floor alongside of Hanson, bound with ropes and jostled by the van's drive through uneven terrain. At first he is entrapped in a haze of sluggish half-thoughts but his Grimm side is enough to make narcotics' effect wear off fairly quickly. He tests the bindings but to no avail. Hanson is out as well. The way the teen is breathing tells him that even in the darkness.

He fights off a feeling of profound panic and forces himself to think with a cool head. Going by the sounds from outside they are driving through wilderness of some kind.

Most likely going somewhere in the forest. I have to get free. It's our only chance.

He tries to wriggle out of his bindings but only manages to reopen the gashes on his hand. It bleeds enough to make for some slickness at least. He continues to twist and pull, grits his teeth when he's rubbed the skin on his wrists raw enough to start bleeding as well.

The ride takes forever and he cannot gauge where exactly they are going by sounds alone. He keeps in a frustrated growl. He's managed to loosen his ties enough to have a wider range of motion as they are bound behind his back but that is all.

Hanson waking up in a panicked haze distracts him from that and he spends the next minutes talking to the frightened youth in a tone as soft and reassuring as he can muster.

They haven't bothered with tying up Hanson, so he tries undoing Nick's bindings. It's of no use. They have been pulled tight with brutal strength and that they are slippery with his blood now becomes a serious disadvantage.

"Damn it! I cannot get them open! They are not loosening even an inch! I'm sorry."

Tears of frustration have sprung to his eyes. Nick cannot see them in the dark but he hears it in his tone.

"It's okay. It's okay. Don't worry. Just keep trying. If you cannot get them undone I will find some other way get us to safety." He soothes in a whisper.

Hanson keeps trying, after effects of the narcotic further hindering his actions, but they both know it is to no avail. They can only await their fate and, damn it, isn't that a terrifying thought!

GRIMM GRIMM GRIMM

After informing the Captain of their findings, they agree that Renard will assemble a group for the take down mission while Hank will call Nick to inform him about time and place of their meeting. Then it's on to the clinic and hopefully directly to the harvesting location from there.

When Hank tries calling his partner, however, all he gets is a dead line. Dread pools in his gut.

This is not good! Nick not answering his phone is one thing but getting nothing whatsoever bad!

He finds Renard in his office. At seeing Hank, a hooded, carefully calculating expression comes to his face. Of course the man already guesses that something is amiss, he is perceptive as hell, after all.

If anyone thinks Renard is an uncaring person, they are wrong. Their Captain cares... cares a lot about his subordinates actually, he just knows how to keep it from showing and clouding his judgment.

"Captain, I cannot reach Nick on his phone. There's nothing. Not even anything to indicate a line being established. Frankly, I'm worried. He's wanted to check on those street kids he's interviewed earlier. The ones who knew the first vic and were treated at Folter Clinic as well."

"You are right. That doesn't sound like Nick. Either his cell is damaged or he is somewhere without signal. Neither is reassuring. Continue trying to reach him. We are going to that clinic right now."

"Yes, Sir."

Captain and Detective set out with long determined strides. They will not let anyone harm those children or Nick.

GRIMM GRIMM GRIMM

The Captain makes the single nurse still left at Folter Clinic spill the beans with frightening efficiency and without so much as laying a hand on her, meanwhile Wu is send out with Franco to investigate in the area. News that they've found Nick's cellphone, which has obviously been driven over by some heavy vehicle, are unsettling to say the least.

The Captain calls precinct to give last orders before setting out but is interrupted by a commotion in the background at the station and then the Officer on line tells him that a girl named Gracie has just come in, frantic and clearly in shock, and told them that her brother and Detective Burkhardt have been taken by two men.

They waste no time. Hank and Renard take the charger while a swat team will set out from precinct to join them.

GRIMM GRIMM GRIMM

They are roughly grabbed and hauled out of the van, taking it as quietly as they can. Nick has explained to the teen that they need to stay calm and wait for a chance to flee. If they kick up a fuss right away, they'll just be subdued again and that will put them at mercy of a ring of organ dealers. Not that Nick has told Hanson exactly that. He's frightened enough already and still groggy from their first encounter with hypodermic needles, which doesn't help his case any.

Seeing Nick's bloodied wrists – evidence of his attempt to free himself – gets him a dirty look and a punch to his gut. Groaning he doubles over, fearing for a terrible moment that they will put him down on principle. They don't. Nick barely keeps in a relieved exhale. He needs to keep a low profile and protect Hanson. Keeping the child safe is his highest priority.

They are led along some forest track up to a group of sheds and wooden cabins. First in line is Nick under sharp observation, then Hanson, under less close scrutiny for he is perceived less of a threat. The Grimm's trained gaze takes up a few disquieting facts.

Their location: Remote, the way back to safety long and going through terrain, where the Geier are at a clear advantage.

A large fire pit next to the stairs leading to the buildings. A way to get rid of already harvested bodies?

More than one cabin, which minimizes chances of a quick rescue, even if the others find out where they've been brought.

A cold shiver runs down his spine at the implications. They need to point Hank and the others to where they are taken...

The pucca shell necklace comes to mind.

Nick angles his hand carefully and sticks two fingers into his back pocket to retrieve it. His heart is beating wildly in his chest. If they discover what he's doing that is the end of his plan. It takes him a few tries. His fingers are still slippery with blood and once again that comes back to bite him in the butt. Anyway, if he hadn't loosened those ties earlier, he wouldn't even be able to reach as far as his back pocket right now.

Inconspicuously snapping the cord, passing the shells to Hanson without being seen... It makes both their hearts beat in their throats, but the youth is brilliant (and most likely trained at pick pocketing) and manages to take the load without being seen.

A trail of small white shells is left. The last meters of forest track, up the stairs...

"Hey, why are you wriggling around like that, you little runt?!" The Geier on Hanson's right side suddenly screeches.

Oh, no! If they search him now, they will find the shells!

With an angry howl, whose single purpose is drawing attention, Nick bucks and barrels into the Geier closest to him. It takes the creature by surprise. The Grimm fights like a demon now that the remaining three try taking him down. He twists in their ever tightening hold, head butts one squarely into the jaw, breaking it. A pained howl, Hanson's huge, frightened eyes meeting his own as he turns around. He watches the youth throw the rest of the shells away unseen. Good.

Someone plunges another hypodermic needle into his neck. It hurts more than last time. He keeps fighting. His Grimm is fired up, makes resisting easier. But blackness pulls him under, anyway. Like quicksand, inescapable.

He needs to fight a little longer. Time. They need to play for time.

A vicious blow to the side of his neck. He crashes to the ground. His vision blurs. They are taking Hanson, who is putting up a fight of his own. Their shells are undiscovered still. He gazes up as the door of the cabin opens, but he is almost gone to the world.

The doctor from Folter Clinic. Her features are contorted in displeasure, she asks harshly, what's the matter, woging as she surveys the damage. Her cold, merciless eyes land on him, stay on him, promise him a painful death upon waking.

Nick loses his battle with unconscious to a feeling of cold dread.

GRIMM GRIMM GRIMM

At first there are sounds and feelings. The beeping of many machines, two people talking quietly, one voice cold and hard, the other with a sneering quality to it. He hears words, yet gleans no meaning. Everything is blurred... hazy.

Sensations distract him momentarily:

He is lying on a cool, leather padded surface... he is naked... almost naked... strapped to whatever he is lying on...

All too quickly those sensations become a thought:

I am strapped to a table by five thick leather bands!

He may be groggy but he knows where he's been taken and what is done here.

With this realization comes fear, gut-wrenching, bone chilling fear!

Don't panic! Take stock of the situation! You are strapped to a table... operation table most likely. The bindings holding you... arrgh... are too sturdy to destroy by tearing. Stuck in your left arm is an iv needle connecting you to a drip... pumping God knows what into you. But you have regained consciousness, so it cannot be narcotics or sedatives, maybe saline solution.

Okay, frankly this is doing nothing to assuage his fears. He opens his eyes and finds all of his nightmares confirmed. Stuck in an illegal organ extraction lab, led by a bunch of unscrupulous murdering Geier, already on a table and set up to be...

Oh God, don't loose your head now. Don't panic. Think straight. Concentrate on the voices, they might give you clues.

Focusing on words is much more difficult than it should be, even while dread practically freezes his brain.

It's the drugs. I've been knocked out twice by them now...

Voices, concentrate on the voices!

They are some distance away, discussing...

Discussing which organs to harvest and when! He needs to get away from here! He needs to save the children!

Nostrils flared he sucks in shallow, quick breaths, trying to stave off the panic engulfing him.

The cold, hard voice talks again. Dr. Levine, his memory supplies after some time.

"Next prepare the boy, who has come in with the Grimm. He is due to wake up in half an hour. He will be in a perfect state for organ extraction: still subdued but cognizant of everything that is happening."

"Yes, Ma'am."

These words chill Nick to his very bones! Suddenly staying quiet has become the least of his worries. The urge to protect Hanson drives anything else from his half-drugged mind. He pulls at his bindings with renewed fervor, is hit by terror when it all sinks in.

We are set up to die here! To be harvested while fully conscious!

He raves like mad, the Grimm creature taking charge, actually creating a tear in one of the leather straps holding his arms down, reopening gashes on his hand and already chafed areas on his wrists. They become slick with blood, he doesn't stop. Blood seems to be everywhere: Rushing in his ears, pumping through his wildly beating heart, trickling out of him, where he is wounded.

And at the very back of his mind there is a plan:

Distract her from Hanson. Play for time. Hank isn't stupid, they will have been gone to Folter Clinic by now and gotten their location. They cannot be long...

"Wait. Don't bother with the boy. It seems the Grimm has woken up earlier than we thought he would. I will take him first." Her tone is detached and clipped. She is used to giving orders and having them obeyed.

She comes over to him with slow, measured steps, calm in face of his rage.

"Good evening, Detective Burkhardt. We haven't expected you to wake up so soon after we were forced to sedate you earlier but it is a welcome sight."

He jerks his head around to where she is standing in her green, immaculate op attire. It is a fucking joke. Immaculate and Dr. Levine don't go together.

"You... my coll'ges know whe' we ar'."

His tongue is heavy like lead, feels like a foreign object that he can control only with difficulty.

Fucking drugs!

"Ah, yes. Your colleagues. I fear you are misinformed. Gerard told me you have been taken before you could alert your partner and that stupid girl does not know where our harvesting site is located. I am afraid, Detective, you are on your own."

She doesn't know that we've been on to the clinic already. This is good...

"Let's not stall any further. I have a schedule to keep."

She pulls over a tray with instruments, looking down on him in a cold, detached way. Nick's mouth goes dry as dust.

Help! Help! No!

The doctor takes up a syringe and a small glass container, filling half of the syringe's body with the solution, and all the while she calmly explains what will happen:

"What I will give you now will make you less susceptible to fight back while leaving you with complete ability to feel and perceive what's going on around you. You see, the more the host suffers the higher is the potency of extracted organs... and I will make you suffer, Grimm."

For the first time true, vicious fire enters her dead eyes.

She connects the syringe to the iv drip, pushing the drug into his system. There is nothing Nick can do and already he feels his limbs grow heavy as lead. He shakes his head weakly.

No, no no, NOO!

"I will start with your liver and go from there."

GRIMM GRIMM GRIMM

Hank, Renard and a dozen fully armed officers get out of their vehicles and spread out around the area like a silent, deadly force. People they meet are disarmed and taken into custody, if they surrender ,and incapacitated quietly, if they show signs of putting up a fight.

Hank and the Captain make their way directly to the assortment of buildings in the center. It is a creepy place. The fire pit, the knowledge what goes on behind closed doors.

Where are Nick and the others?!

They communicate silently, both finding disquiet and worry mirrored in the others face, yet keeping a cool head.

"Captain." A low whisper. Hank points at something small and white on the ground. Pucca shells spread in a trail leading up to the largest building.

"I know these. Nick had a necklaces made of them."

Renard gives a short nod, motions more men to follow them and makes his way upstairs with Hank right beside him and his gun at the ready. They enter a nightmarish world that makes one too many horror film scenario become terrible reality. Dozens of beds with drugged out teenagers in them, already harvested organs kept in large freezers, people running about, fleeing from incoming swat troops. Chaos.

A pained cry from farther within has Hank and Renard exchange a truly disturbed glance and move on all the faster. That has been Nick sure as hell!

GRIMM GRIMM GRIMM

She takes up a scalpel, makes sure that he sees what she has in her hand and sets it to his naked stomach. Nick is absolutely frantic and tries tearing free off his restraints! His limbs don't obey him, not like they should. Adrenaline and a Grimm's metabolism burn through the drugs incredibly fast, but it isn't enough! He cannot do anything!

He cries out when the Geier begins making shallow incision low on his stomach. Her hand is steady, her gaze fixed to her instrument but sometimes it flickers up to his face, taking in his pain, his terror.

"Portland PD! Freeze at once and put your hands up!"

Renard! This is the Captain shouting. He has his gun pointed at her, only a few meters distance between them. Doctor Levine freezes in her work, eyes flickering behind her to the huge, well built, deadly looking man with the gun. A second one, dark-skinned and broad-shouldered, is next to him with his gun also pointed at her.

Nick knows he should try to follow what is going on but he can only stare at his stomach.

At blood slowly oozing out... at the scalped still set to his skin.

TBC

GRIMM GRIMM GRIMM

Sooo, this was the first of maybe 3 chapters. What do you think? Good, bad, meww? Caring and stuff start in the next chap... after a bit more action and angst. ;)