Chapter 17

Inside 'Adrenaline'

The sound of punching bag taking body blows could be heard throughout the gym. While the others were doing their own routine they couldn't help but look at the figure pummeling the punching bag. 

The man did not wear a shirt and only wore a tight short which helped him in his thigh muscle oxidation while also preventing his junk from moving around. This was a regular gear for many martial arts practitioners and Nick was no different. After his watch beeped Nick stopped his workout and sat on a nearby stool with his body drenched in sweat. 

Just when he was about to reach in his bag, a cloth fell on his face which he reached and pulled aside to see that it was Madeline. She was wearing a flashy violet tracksuit which looked quite awkward with her brown hair, no, it looked quite flashy making Nick almost cringe.

"Really! Of all the dresses you could wear, you wear that shit". Nick gave his most honest opinion without any sensor earning a pissed off look followed by a rather tomboyish and bratty comment that she wasn't looking for a boyfriend.

"Well that doesn't mean you should dress like this". 

"Heh! Guess what! my GF likes this style" said Madeline giving me a toothy grin. 

'Yeah! the soldier before Nick is not only a tomboy in terms of looks and behaviour but is also a lesbian'.

"Well! What do you want?". Nick asked Madeline, refusing to comment on her bad dressing sense any further. 

"That's my question. What's on your mind?" asked Madeline while sitting next to Nick. When Nick was starting out in the beginning in practicing MMA he also received CQC training from Madeline where she taught him techniques to protect himself from the suspects that he comes across. While at the beginning Nick used to get injured regularly while capturing suspects, his injuries slowly decreased because of Madeline's rigorous training. So Nick was quite close to her.

"Let's say I got an offer which I truly like but am still hesitating to take because I might end up losing an equally important thing". 

Closing his eyes Nick thought deeply before asking a rather cryptic question which looked like career advice but was only half true.

"Oh! Well everyone has their own dream which they want to achieve and most come across such obstacles which they would have to break through. Some go through with it, while others would give up on their dreams because they opt for something much more important to them. There is no right or wrong decision in this. The answer itself lies with you. You have to ask yourself which is important and go through with it. You cannot lie to yourself about things like these after all such deceit would only work for a short amount of time and would end in you having regrets for the rest of your life". 

Nick froze in shock as her words penetrated into his heart and he tried to digest those words, munching on them over and over again. He remained calm and quiet and did not move even after hearing his watch beeping indicating the end of his break. Madeline did not try to break his thought process as she felt that he was probably about to make a life changing decision, just like her when she was hit by this same dilemma all those years ago.

Giving Nick his much needed space to think Madeline walked towards the clients whom she was training, giving them instructions to their next workout while Nick continued to munch on her words while also think about the dilemma he was in. 

He had given a call to Mr.Nathan from the card and after a rather cryptic conversation with the man on the other side of the receiver he had received an offer inside his special divisions department which had been instituted solely for tackling wesen related cases and since it was part of FBI, all would involve high profile cases and possibly even wesen gangs, mafias or even terrorist group. In other words it was a perfect place for Nick to fight against 'Black claw' while hiding behind the name of the organisation. 

This fight was something which was inevitable for Nick as he is a Grimm and to his shock he had already awakened his powers and with the amount of brutal cases relating to Wesen that he had come across during this period after reincarnation 

Nick didn't plan on turning a blind eye to this brutality. Anyone with a sense of justice would not, especially if they had the powers to stand up and fight against such injustice.

Taking a deep breath Nick tried to calm his riled up emotions in order to keep himself level headed so that the decision he arrives at would not be in the heat of the moment but one with conviction.

Looking at the time it was nearing 6.30 and since he had other more important engagements Nick went to take a shower and packed his bags before going out of the training facility. Attaching a wireless receiver to his ear Nick kept paying attention to the voices on the other side and this he has been doing every half hour ever since he left the FBI office. 

When he was about to leave the FBI captain's office Nick had bugged the office. Though it was dangerous, he had placed it inside the trash can inside a crumpled paper and after exiting the FBI office he had deliberately waited for an hour before hearing the info he was waiting for.

This was the recording of that info which he played over and over again in order to make sure he hadn't missed out on anything after all these FBI agents were all paranoid as shit and had developed slangs and codes to shorten their communication whenever they discussed sensitive infos. 

Nick was one step ahead of them and didn't try to get the info about Dell Santos or the place he is currently squatting in to the FBI after all he knew that anything he could find out within an hour could also be found by the FBI and they didn't let him down. Within an hour they gave the info about the place Dell Santos was in. 

The reason why Nick did not want to get involved in this mission was because he had predicted that this case would be transferred to the special division which he had seen in the card he had received from Garry and had wanted to see up close how the special divisions worked and the call which Garry Barnes made after receiving the info only made Nick certain of his deduction. 

Silently Nick arrived a few 100 yards away from Paramount Clinic where an office building stood and obtaining access to the terrace Nick patiently waited for the special division to arrive.