Disclaimer: Grimm is the property of NBC, Universal, GKProductions, Hazy Mills Production and a lot of others. I don't own anything, beside the idea.
A/N: As I was asked to write my idea about what could happen in season 3 and after I've to wait a little until I hopeful will get my other fanfic back I thought I probably should give this one a try. I better warn now, you already know how far I tend to go with Torture!fics, and this is one, so you will get a lot of Nick!Whump and !Torture, as far as a lot of emo-whump for the others. This is an AU from the very beginning but I like the ideas of Monroe and Rosalee planing their wedding and also the hint about Wu. So I will give both of them a shot and try them out. For those who cannot stand Whump and Torture, you'll better stay away from this fic – not an empty threat.
Pain, pain, PAIN!
That was the first he felt after he came back to life. He screamed out his agony with his very first breath, trying to curl himself up into a ball. His sight was blinded by all the pain he suffered.
It took him a while before he'd realized that someone was holding him tight, pinning him down, and that he couldn't move his hands. He heard voices, but they seemed to be far away from him. Blood was rushing in his ears, he also could hear his heart beating, his lungs pumping air.
Sometime later he threw up, and someone hauled him upright to drink something tasting really bitter. Not long after that he lost consciousness only to awaken what seemed a few minutes later.
His sight came back, the darkness bleaching away with the pain, and finally he remembered his own name: Nick Burkhardt!
Nick, this was his name. Nick! Not the name he'd read in that passport before.
He tried to remember but the memory was getting blurry. He remembered a fight, a Wesen, people getting after them. He remembered he was together with Monroe and Rosalee and ... Juliette!
Nick tried to get up but was held back again by strong hands.
"Liegen bleiben!" a voice barked.
Nick looked up into a face he'd never seen before in his life. And behind this strange face he saw an unfamiliar looking stone wall. Also the language. What the hell was going on here?
"Where am I?" he asked.
The guy who was holding him looked up and shrugged. "Sieht nicht sehr nach einem Oesterreicher aus, wenn du mich fragst, Hans," he said.
German, it was German he was speaking. Nick had heard Monroe talking in this language often enough to recognize it. But that still didn't explain where he was.
"The prince is on his way," another voice said, this time with an heavy German accent.
Okay, he was surrounded by two men talking German or with German accent, in a place he'd never seen before. He remembered a fight and false documents he found somewhere.
Wait a minute, did that second guy said prince? Prince as in Prince? As in Royal?
Crap!
His memory was still slow, and he was still confused about what was going on here.
"Er sieht nicht mal aus wie ein Thomas," the first guy explained, flicking his head at Nick. "Ich meine, guck doch mal, Hans. Mein Neffe heisst Thomas und der sieht voellig anders aus."
The second man came closer, studying Nick's face and shrugged again. "Ist egal. Fuer uns ist er ein Thomas, das ist alles, was wir wissen muessen, Franz."
Nick didn't get everything but he got an idea about what was going on. The wrong name in that faked passport he found where ever he found that thing was Thomas. He didn't remember the last name but he was pretty sure the first was Thomas.
"I'm Nick," he said. "You hear me?"
The second guy, Franz, raised one eyebrow. "Is he allowed to speak?" he asked.
What?
"Don't know. Maybe it's time for a first lesson," the other one, Hans, answered.
Ashen, Nick got a pretty bad idea and began to shake his head when Hans clenched his fist.
"What's going on here?" another voice demanded, right before Hans could strike Nick, who was still held down by Franz.
Both men jumped and turned around to a door, guilty. Nick noticed this door was open now, having thought it closed before. And he realized he was only handcuffed. Probably that was the reason why Franz held him down on the bed he was lying on.
It took Nick two attempts before he finally was able to sit upright. His gut seemed to jump inside him, curdling sickly, and the muscles in his belly hurt like hell.
Didn't Rosalee mentioned the only way to wake a zombie up would be a shot in his belly. Great!
Something came up in his memory. A voice:
"Bon sour, mon ami"
Only the memory of the sound of this voice made him shiver.
"You two can wait outside," the newcomer said. "It should be private what my dear Thomas and I have to talk about."
Nick looked up, trying to sort this new guy into his confused memory. But there was nothing. Or nearly nothing. He remembered the sound of this voice but nothing else.
Hans and Franz left the room without a word or another sign and left Nick and the new one behind.
"Close the door," this new guy ordered. And Hans, who was behind his partner Franz, closed the door when he left. An old wooden door with a small peekhole. No doorknob on the inside.
Nick felt his heartbeat pick up speed after he noticed this.
The room didn't look like a homely place. The walls were stony, no interior decorating besides this so called bed he was now sitting on. A pair of small windows, emitted limited light, were too high on the walls to gaye out of them. Well, not without a chair, Nick decided. And here was no chair.
"So, you're awaken now," the new guy said redundantly, folding his arms before his chest he looked down at him, regarding him like a peekish panther.
Black, curly hair, middle-aged, probably older than the captain. His trousers and the shirt were handmade, his fingernails manicured.
"Where am I?" Nick started to ask. "Who are you and who are those two clowns? And why I am handcuffed?" He raised his hands to show.
The guy with the curly hair looked at those handcuffs. "Well, they are doing their job, I would guess," he answered. "Where are you? Definitely not in Portland anymore, but I think you will be clever enough to find out yourself where you are. Who am I?" He pointed with one finger at himself and let grow a cold smile. "Oh yes, the first time we met you don't remember. I am Eric. Eric Renard. Your highness, to you."
Nick starred up in that unfamiliar face. "What?" he asked, frowning and still trying to put the loose ends of his memory together.
He remembered pain, a lot of pain. A voice ordering him to do something. Darkness, a lot of darkness. And then ... nothing!
Eric Renard's smile grew. "Be sure, the memory will come back sometime," he said.
Nick looked up again. He tried to prepare himself for what he was going to ask next. "Is this about the key? Then you don't have to wait for my answer. I don't have it and I never will give it to you!"
Eric again raised an eyebrow. "Never is such a strong word, don't you think?" he asked before he shook his head. "But no, this isn't about the key, at least for now. This is about an offer and a lesson to teach. You will serve me for a while, do whatever I order. After this while, I will let you return with one last order. When you've done that job I will let you loose, and then I'll ask you for your tiny little key. Not that hard, huh?"
Nick looked into the face of the Royal but he didn't woge, he only smiled.
All this because Eric wanted to hire him for something? Nick didn't believe this for one second. There was something else going on.
A lesson? Someone was going to get a lesson?
"You have kidnapped me because you want to teach your brother a lesson?" Nick asked. "Really?"
Eric looked impressed. "I'm stunt. I knew you were special but this ability is probably one of the fastest reactions I've ever seen from a Grimm," He said.
"What am I supposed to do for you? Kill my own boss?" Nick continued witheringly.
"Wow, you are really good!" Eric grinned. "No wonder Sean is this successful in his job."
Nick tried to stare the Royal down but he knew he was in the weaker position.
"Well, so far we are talking about some nice, good paid jobs for a Grimm, not for murder," Eric said. "It is pretty simple. You are doing a job and will get paid for it with your life and finally with your freedom. Nothing that big."
It was big, at least for Nick.
"I'm not doing anything for you," he said, staring defiantly.
"Well, if you will decline ... there is no option, sorry," Eric told him.
Nick didn't understand. "What do you mean?"
"I think it's pretty clear: you cannot decline, plain and simple," Eric replied. "You will do what I order or you will learn this the hard way. Your choice." He shrugged, seemingly indifferent.
"This is no choice!" Nick snapped.
Eric smiled again. "I'll give you time to cool down and think about it. I'm not as bad as you think I would be. But I suppose I should have told you that no one is searching for you, and the life in your beloved Portland is continuing like before. No one misses you, or misses you that much that he or she would turn every stone. It would be better if you would accept this and start up yourself," he explained.
Nick's face was pale after he heard that.
No way! He was sure Monroe would search the whole continent for him, and Rosalee would be on his side, probably with a bag full of First Aid Wesen Drugs. Renard would search for him, so would Hank and surely Wu. And ... and ...
Nick looked aside, not wanting Eric to see him worried.
Juliette!
"It's been two months, Grimm." The Royal told him. "Two months since you came here. And so far you've done your job very well."
Two months?
Nick looked up, eyes wide. "Impossible!" His voice sounded throaty, tight with dispair and incredulity.
Eric still was smiling. "Think about it. That's all I have to say so far."
With that, he turned around. Knocking at that wooden door, Eric sent one last look back to Nick who was still sitting there, confused and lost in his thoughts and slowly returning memory.
"I will hear from you later!" Eric said cheerfully before he left the cell.
Nick was staring into thin air.
Two months and no one was searching for him anymore?
Sean Renard sighed wearily before he knocked at the door.
Two months and nothing was changing. This was going to get on his nerves, too, he had to confess. Two months since the incident at the container yard. Two months since he lost every track to Nick Burkhardt.
Not that that would change anything. Maybe it was better that Nick was lost. Only hell would know how to deal with a zombified Grimm. Whatever happened at that container yard definitely changed everything.
Again Sean knocked at the closed door, harder than before.
The probably worst thing that has happened was that half the precinct have witnessed the other zombies, or better yet, zombies who turned out to be Wesen. Not everyone took that easily, and the worst of all the victims he was up to visit now. Well, usually to grab this little pain in his butt by his neck and drill him back to the precinct.
Sean could understand it wasn't that easy to get that there was another world hidden within the existing one. But this was getting ridicolous!
A third time he knocked, more determined now.
"Sergeant Wu, this is your captain!" he said. "Open the door! Now!"
Again he knocked, this time with a hearty fist.
All they had found from Nick two months ago were his belongings, nothing else. The Grimm himself was gone, only that Cracker Mortal still was around, commanding his victims like a general. And some of those vics were Wesen, fully woged and visible for the normal humans.
Sean himself was shocked back then, he really never thought something like this could happen. It had took himself a while before he'd figured out to what his brother was up to. Then he returned to the precinct, ready for a quick S&R but the only ones to rescue were Nick's Wesen-friends and the poor Juliette.
Juliette Silverton was another problem. Sean didn't had any feelings for her anymore, or better, he felt with her. She felt guilty for what happened. It was, so she told him later, the first time she joined Nick's group when this disaster happened.
Sean still tried his best to find out where Eric had taken Nick. He used every of his limited sources but so far, nothing. No one had seen Nick and no one had heard about any of the three men his spy had sent him from the files. The only thing that happened during the last two months was a rumour about a couple of murders in the Royal families. Not that this was such big news. Only the fact that both of this dead Royals were beaten to death instead of shot, stabbed, poisoned or whatever else.
"Wu, open the damn door or I will break it down!" Sean ordered.
"There's no one in here," the weak voice of the Asian officer answered from the other side of the door.
What the hell?
"Sergeant, I hear you!" Sean answered. "Open this door or you will regret it!"
One of those zombified Wesen had woged in front of Wu in that night. To be correct, it woged twice: one time into his Wesen-form, one time back into human-form after the sergeant shot it. A similar scene put Hank on the edge last year. Now the same happening to Wu told Sean he should better watch out for the Wesen population in Portland. Something he thought would never happen happened during the last two years while Nick's heritage woke up.
"Uhm, that's not the sergeant," Wu told him from the other side of the door. "That's Ceasar, his cat."
Sean started. "Are you kidding me? Open the door! I'm not repeating this, sergeant!"
A moment later he could hear a key moving in a lock, then the short snap of a bar, another bar following, a third one - were they now living in New York?
Finally the door opened a little bit, only enough for Wu to peek outside.
"I'm sick, sir," he said.
Sean frowned with a annoyed face. "You can't be serious. You got the clearance from the therapist. You are back on full duty – now!" he barked in a sharp tone.
Wu shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't. Not after ... after what - you know. I'm sick, sir."
Sean sighed again.
Not only that Wu had to kill someone, this someone was a Wesen in full form. No wonder he thought he was going nuts. But unfortunately, he wasn't. It was real. Which meant he had to deal with it.
Sean really hoped this situation would finally change somewhere in the future. The most other cops of his precinct were back on duty. Some still had to deal with what they'd seen at the container yard but most were simply accepting the story he told them afterwards. That there were some gas in the air in that night that made people acting crazy and also caused some hallucinations. That was the best explanation he'd found. But Wu couldn't believe that, not after what he saw.
"You will put on your uniform now and come with me," Sean ordered, "or I will come in and help you. Do you understand?"
Wu looked up at him. "Is there any news about Nick, sir?" he asked finally, a hopeful glimpse of light in his eyes.
Sean looked aside. "So far, nothing," he answered. "But we will find him, I swear to you."
Heck, he'd sworn this to himself! He wouldn't give up searching for the Grimm. Not only because Nick was a Grimm but also because he felt guilty that all of this had happened on his watch. He was out of his mind that day and this probably cost Nick his life.
Wu looked worried. "Then I don't think I can return to the precinct, sir. Sorry, I'm sick." With that, he closed the door again. There were several clinking sounds as bolts and chains were locked once more
Sean took a deep breath. For a moment the Zauberbiest inside him wanted him to kick the door open and drag Wu out of his apartment by his ear. But the Royal side of him sympathized with what Wu was going through and held him back.
"I'm coming back tomorrow. You'd better be ready then, sergeant!" Sean said before he turned around, leaving the apartment building, feeling rotten for all what happened two months ago.