Bleach Porn Story: Sink Into Me – Chapter 12

Chapter 12

It was his disturbingly cat-like instincts that woke Grimmjow up, much to his chagrin, as he reached out for Soi Fon only to find her gone. Shutting his eyes tighter to block out the sunlight, his first thought was, Heh – Bee’s still on watch. However, as parts of his brain began to wake up with him, a further notion occurred to him – that Soi Fon’s shift should have ended before dawn. So where, then, was Bee?

Ulquiorra should be on now… Maybe she didn’t wanna go wake him up. No telling what he an’ Nel’ll be up to in that tent of theirs – I wouldn’t want to go knockin’ either. Knowin’ Bee, her inner workaholic probably decided that sleep is for the weak, or some shit like that. That’ll be it.

Somehow, despite how logical all these answers sounded, Grimmjow couldn’t quite shake the feeling of unease that had settled in his stomach. As much as he wanted to dismiss it as anxiety left over from the last few very eventful days, something was nagging at him. Growling to himself, he rose and dressed, grabbing his sword and striding out of the tent. A quick look over the campsite yielded no Bee, so he sonido’d forth to where she should be on watch, leaping across the various branches to their lookout.

What he found there chilled him to the bone.

xXx

Ulquiorra sat up suddenly, inadvertently dislodging Nel who’d had been sleeping against him, and tried to get an exact fix on the location of the surge of spiritual energy Grimmjow had decided to give off at a horrifically early hour of the morning. Temporarily ignoring Nel’s half-asleep and entirely cranky ramblings, his brow furrowed as he tried to place the feelings Grimmjow was broadcasting. They were mixed and almost distorted they were so strong, but one thing was very clear.

“Something’s wrong”, Ulquiorra broke in on Nel’s rant.

Still rubbing her shoulder, she glared at him balefully as she muttered, “I’ll say.”

With a small smile, he leaned forward to kiss the shoulder she had landed on. “As is usually the case, this was Grimmjow’s fault.”

She rolled her eyes. “It always is, where you’re concerned. He’s at the lookout post – I take it we’re joining him?”

Ulquiorra nodded curtly, his frown returning. “Neliel, can you sense Captain Soi Fon at all?”

Her breath caught. “No. But then, she can be damn impossible to sense when she chooses. It’s a stealth force thing. Still…” She looked up to meet his eyes. “Why do I get the feeling that this isn’t good?”

“We’re in Hueco Mundo”, Ulquiorra remarked, his eyes hard. “Good, no matter how you define the concept, tends not to exist here.”

Nel sighed. “And here I was hoping you’d have an answer to dispel my concerns. Alright then, let’s go.”

Swiftly, they made their way to their companion, Ulquiorra’s mind ticking over the whole way there.

Grimmjow, despite what he would have others believe, is an emotional creature. He loses control of his feelings regularly – during fights, when he’s insulted, around his captain. Temporarily losing the ability to keep his reiatsu in check is something that happens on a daily basis for him, but I have never seen it happen on this level before, except maybe…

Except, perhaps, a few days ago, when he thought Captain Soi Fon was dying.

Which is worrying. If it took something of that magnitude to bring this out in him, what in the world of the living could have happened now?

Ulquiorra sped up, catching up to Nel as they both raced up to the canopy of false trees, all the while struggling against Grimmjow’s spiritual pressure, as it seemed to weigh down the air around them. Finally reaching the makeshift platform they had constructed for their watch, Ulquiorra gripped the branch above it and vaulted up over the edge to land beside Neliel, her gaze already fixed on Grimmjow. Struggling to stand against the onslaught of spiritual pressure, Ulquiorra finally turned to stare at its source.

Grimmjow seemed at once unnaturally still and trembling with rage. Every muscle seemed to be tensed, as the blue-haired arrancar fixed his murderous glance on three small objects in his palm, the knuckles of his other hand white as he gripped Pantera’s hilt. Sensing his friends’ arrival, he whipped around to stare at them, his eyes barely registering the shock on their faces as he shoved what he held in his hand toward them. There, dwarfed by his large palm, were three darts emblazoned with the insignia of the Twelfth Division, with an additional signature – a small trident that was all too familiar to anyone who had faced Mayuri Kurotsuchi during the original Winter War.

All three of the darts were tipped with blood.

Nel’s eyes widened. “The blood, is it – “

“It’s hers.” Grimmjow’s voice was hoarse and dull, sounding strange even to his ears. “An’ from what I can remember about the fucker in the creepy mask, whatever was originally in these would have been pretty nasty shit.”

“But Mayuri Kurotsuchi is dead”, Ulquiorra pointed out. “Both Captain Ukitake and Lieutenant Kurotsuchi seemed fairly certain of that.”

“It wouldn’t have to be him”, Nel muttered with a scowl. “He took his third seat and all his research with him when he defected, and I suspect that’s the combination responsible for this.”

Grimmjow’s fist curled against the darts as he stared out toward the horizon. “Don’t matter either way. The point is – Mayuri means Aizen and the Winter War, and that means Las Noches.”

And suddenly, Ulquiorra knew exactly what was going to happen. Suppressing the urge to roll his eyes at the former Espada’s rash behaviour, the pale arrancar disappeared from beside Nel, only to reappear directly in front of Grimmjow –

Just as Grimmjow attempted to sonido to Las Noches as fast as he damn well could.

Ulquiorra may have been slighter, and Grimmjow may have had momentum going for him, but the man who had once been the Fourth Espada had one very important thing on his side – the predictability of stupidity. Granted, Grimmjow typically wasn’t entirely the moron that Ulquiorra made him out to be, but in a situation like the one they now faced Ulquiorra had instinctively known that his companion was going to attempt this, and he had been ready.

Nel couldn’t help but wince as the two collided, Grimmjow bouncing to fall on his back, as Ulquiorra stared down at him rubbing his shoulder (the point of impact), before growling out, “You idiot. You are not going after her alone.”

Hissing his rage, Grimmjow launched himself at Ulquiorra again, managing to get in several punches before being thrown rather unceremoniously to the ground again. Ulquiorra sighed, noting the pain in his fractured jaw as his regenerative abilities took hold. When he felt able to speak, he fixed Grimmjow with a decidedly cranky look.

“Well, at least your technique has improved, but you are still as woefully unable to listen as you were back under Aizen’s command.”

Growling deep in his throat, Grimmjow snarled, “I ain’t fucken leavin’ her there with some sick Mayuri Kurotsuchi wannabe! I don’ give a fuck whose heads I have to rip off to make it happen – I’m getting Bee back an’ bringin’ her home.”

Honestly, Ulquiorra couldn’t help but think, it was like talking to Lieutenant Kusajishi. One had to connect all the dots for them before enlightenment occurred. Out loud, he queried, “What did I say before you decided to attack me?”

“You said I wasn’ gonna go after her – “

“No. I said you weren’t going after her alone.”

As this sunk in, Grimmjow had the good grace to briefly look sheepish, before his panic over Soi Fon returned. “In that case, sorry ’bout your jaw, but if you’re comin’ with me then we gotta move fast.”

“We’ll need a plan”, Nel pointed out. “And a little more preparation. There’s three of us and Kami knows how many of them.” Shaking her head, she smiled ruefully. “You know, we were ordered to avoid combat and it’s standard procedure not to go after captives no matter how highly ranked they are.”

“Well then”, Ulquiorra replied smoothly, “Captain Soi Fon, before her unfortunate capture, postulated that the answers to our questions were to be had in Las Noches. As the highest-ranking remaining member of this mission, Neliel, and given that we have no other leads, I imagine that you would continue this line of reasoning. Therefore it is perfectly logical that we should travel there in order to gather information. If we are able to free our captive comrade on the way, then all the better, and if we are drawn into combat… Well, given that Las Noches appears to be very much inhabited once more, that can hardly be considered surprising. In short, we are going there as part of the mission we were originally ordered to carry out – anything else that may or may not happen on the way is not planned, but merely fortuitous. No, I don’t think we could be considered to be breaking any rules. Isn’t that right, Captain?” A faint smile had appeared on his face by the end of this speech, and it was apparently contagious.

Nel grinned at him. “Just like that, huh? I like it. Yep, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”

“If we live through this, I’ll help you rehearse it before you have to talk to the Captain-Commander”, Ulquiorra returned blithely.

“Then let’s move”, Nel stated in the brisk voice she reserved for sounding (what she termed) ‘suitably captainy’. “We need to strike camp and get ourselves there. We can plan on the way – it’ll be faster and I don’t like the thought of Captain Soi Fon in their clutches anymore than Grimmjow does.”

Grimmjow stood there watching them, a grin spreading across his face as he felt some of his panic subside.

But shit, I love my friends. Well, maybe not Ulqui over there, but still. They might tease the ever lovin’ crap outta me at every Kami-damned opportunity they get, but when I need ’em…

Hang on, Bee. I’m comin’. Better yet, I’m bringin’ backup.

Whoever the fuckers are who took you – they’re goin’ down.

xXx

Feeling decidedly groggy, Soi Fon groaned as she lifted her head and opened her eyes, registering the strain on her outstretched arms. Her mind still utterly disoriented, she realised very quickly that her arms were not outstretched by choice, but due to the heavy manacles that held them firmly against the wall, forcing her to stand. Still sleep-fogged and confused, she stared at the chains.

Huh. I’m chained up. That’s a little odd. What is it Grimm would say… Kinky – that’s it!

She couldn’t help but smile to herself.

Typical Grimm.

Wait. Grimm…

Her eyes snapped wide open as clarity and the events of the previous night returned to her. There was no Grimmjow here to help her now. She was captured, at the mercy of the enemy with little hope of rescue in sight. Better yet, judging from the strange fuzzy feeling in her head, she was still very drugged.

Shit.

Still, look on the bright side. I wanted something to take my mind off the damned mess my feelings have made out of this thing with Grimmjow, and now I have it. In spades.

Some higher power clearly either doesn’t like me, or has a really sadistic sense of humour.

She let her head fall back, only to wince as it smacked into the wall with more force than she had intended. Deciding that closing her eyes was her best course of action, Soi Fon was rudely interrupted from this by the sound of approaching footsteps.

Now I’m cranky. My head hurts, I’ve temporarily lost my powers, I’m drugged up to the eyeballs, I’m captured and I’ve come to the very uncomfortable realisation I’m in love with my lieutenant and fuck buddy.

What is it Lady Yoruichi used to say? Ah – I’m not fit to receive visitors today. Used to work when she said it, somehow I don’t think it’ll have the same effect here.

They’ll want information, damn them. Well, I have no intention of divulging, but who knows what the fuck they’ve drugged me with. For all I know, Mayuri Kurotsuchi had himself a truth serum at his disposal. I need to end this conversation fast, before they have the chance to extract anything from me. Somehow, I don’t think I’ll have to endure too many interrogations. It may be against protocol to rescue me, but I know Grimm… He’ll take any excuse to say ‘fuck protocol’, even if it’s only to come here and yell at me for scaring him again.

I’m actually looking forward to it.

Not the point, though. Focus, Shaolin. There’s a fairly high likelihood that the cavalry will arrive soon, so until then all I need to do is limit the amount of time my captors spend talking to me. And Grimmjow himself taught me that the easiest way to discourage someone from wanting to talk to you is to get under their skin, hit a few nerves. He’s given me plenty of examples to work from…

The cavalry may arrive, but they could so easily be outnumbered. They might have known this place once, but who knows what could have changed, or how vast this new army is, or –

No, I can’t think like that. Besides, Grimmjow is rather Kurosaki-like in his inability to give up on a fight. He’ll come for me, even if it is just because I’m his captain.

He’ll come get me, I know it.

All I have to do until then is hold my own and channel Grimmjow in conversation…

Oh, I am definitely looking forward to that.

The door to her prison swung open, as Akon and two pale, lank-haired creatures strode in. With a curt nod to his companions, Akon dismissed them and they scurried out, apparently to guard the door from the outside. Akon, meanwhile, turned to stare at her, the same disturbing smile on his face that forced Soi Fon to try and suppress a shudder.

Just my luck to get scheduled an interrogation with the one man who freaks me out almost as much as Mayuri Kurotsuchi did.

The smirk still on his face, Akon looked her up and down once more, before raising an eyebrow at the scowl she returned.

“Why, little Captainess, I do hope you’re not too uncomfortable. Your stay here is going to be of some duration, after all.”

A razor of a smile on her face, Soi Fon met his eye.

I really don’t like this guy at all. Oh well, that just makes needling him more fun. I refuse to let him dictate the terms of this conversation. I may be the one captive, but that doesn’t make me powerless. After all, they need me for information – that’s the most obvious reason they would have for a kidnap rather than just killing us all back at the camp. Therefore, they need me alive and able to communicate.

Let’s hope that Akon here doesn’t lose sight of that fact when I’m taunting him.

Clearing her throat, she replied, “Well, I was in better company before you arrived, but one can’t have everything. But enough about me, Akon, let’s talk about you. How have things been with Mayuri gone? Have you actually made any scientific breakthroughs yourself, or are you still trading in on your old captain’s work?”

His smirk thinned and his eyes grew cold. “What of you, Captain?” He spat the title out as though it were a curse. “Still pining over your precious Lady Yoruichi? You do realise that, even if she had been that way oriented, she would never have been interested in someone so plain.”

Soi Fon’s smirk widened.

A hit for me and a miss for him. It’s going well.

“Now Akon”, she chided, “you really can’t believe everything you hear. I would have thought a scientist such as yourself would know not to assume without proof. Or maybe you just lack… the correct mindset for such work.”

“I am perfectly aware of what you are trying to do, Captain Soi Fon”, he growled. “Do not expect to infuriate me.”

“There’s no ‘trying’ about it”, she returned, her grin now reaching what she thought of as Jeagerjacques proportions. “However, if you wish to change the subject, then by all means, do.”

With a very filthy look in her direction, Akon turned away, grabbing a chair from the corner before placing it in front of her and seating himself.

“I refuse to rise to your baiting, Captain – “

“Well, I hardly expected you to jump on board – “

“Silence!” She watched as his hand lingered on the hilt of his sword, before reluctantly releasing it. “As I was saying, you may as well save your breath rather than insulting me. After all, we have more pressing matters to speak of.”

“Actually, I think I’d rather prefer to keep on insulting you, if that’s alright?” Soi Fon’s smile turned benign. “I find it helps keep me calm.”

Akon shook his head. “Captain, you are no fool. You know why you are here. War approaches, and as we don’t have a shinigami among us to provide information anymore, we require your assistance. As someone who works in intelligence, I think you would understand our desire not to go in blind, surely?”

The serene smile that Soi Fon was wearing would have put Captain Unohana to shame. “You want information. Very well. Guess who the new Captain of the Twelfth Squad is?”

His mouth tightened. “I couldn’t begin to think.”

Her smile turned wicked. “Kisuke Urahara. That’s the kind of mind you’re up against Akon, and I’ve got to say, even if you do somehow extract information from me, I don’t like your chances. The only reason you were even able to take me down was because I was distracted, otherwise the three of you wouldn’t have stood a chance. You’re not half the Espada your previous incarnations were.”

“We don’t need to be!” Akon snarled as he stood up, knocking his chair back. “We’ve gone quantity over quality this time around, and your precious Soul Society will be overwhelmed. Aizen unleashed barely a quarter of his true fighting force – when this storm breaks we’ll leave you all for dead.”

His words may have sent chills down Soi Fon’s spine, but she ignored them, storing them up for when they’d be needed. “You want to know something else, Akon?”

His eyes narrowed. “What?”

“Nemu Kurotsuchi is still the lieutenant of the Twelfth.”

He froze, before walking toward her and leaning forward. “Nemu Kurotsuchi is nothing but a waste of space. My master was absolutely correct when he referred to her as a failed experiment.” His voice was icy, his rage barely contained.

Soi Fon stared him down. “Yeah? And yet he still ranked her above you. Now, this may just be me, but that doesn’t say much about his opinion of – “

Fists slammed into her healing abdomen, partially re-opening her wound as she screamed. Another punch to her cheek made her head feel considerably fuzzier. Akon gave a sharp intake of breath, and stepped back.

“Congratulations, you got what you wanted. I’m going to enjoy torturing the answers out of you. And, when we’re done with that tongue, I have a mind to cut it out.”

Turning on his heel, he stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. As soon as he’d gone, Soi Fon let out a groan of pain, letting her head slump forward as she blacked out once more.

xXx

“This is the lamest fucken plan ever.”

“Well, Grimmjow, if you have a better idea, do share it”, Ulquiorra retorted, his wings ruffling in annoyance as he settled into his first release form. “Otherwise, you’ll just have to make do with what I have concocted. I’m going to assume, from the furious glare and the muttering that you imagine is under your breath, that you have no such alternative?”

Muttering slightly more fiercely, Grimmjow turned to look at Nel. “You agree with me at least, dontcha?”

The corner of Nel’s lips twitched. “It’s not genius, but it’s about the best we can do under the circumstances. If you want genius you’ll have to let us camp out here for a few weeks gathering more information. Somehow, I don’t think that’s the course of action you’re after.”

Recognising a losing battle when he was faced with one, Grimmjow growled. “Fine. So, basically Ulquiorra flies you up to that tower there and you two then proceed to make sure that the coast is clear, or clear it yourselves. Then, once you’re done, Emo Boy flies back and collects me from where I’m twiddling my thumbs – “

“I really wish you would not call me that”, Ulquiorra muttered. “If you continue to do that, I might just tell Lieutenant Kusajishi about your release form and you could end up with a far more humiliating nickname than Big Blue.”

“Huh. Touche. Anyway, back to business. So, after that, we split up, which is such a fucken horror movie cliché by the way, and go our merry ways – me to the lab and interrogation rooms, Nel to look through the various other prisons and Emo Boy to wherever his old suck-up self thinks would contain information. We have precisely an hour to do our stuff before getting our asses out.” Grimmjow paused, considering this. “You two do realise tha’ we’re probably all gonna die, right?”

Nel shrugged. “We all seem to have a tendency to get lucky in the most unlikely of situations. I mean, by rights all of us should be dead by now, and several times over.” She considered this. “Well, dead as far as this form goes. The point is we’re not. I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping to keep it that way.”

Ulquiorra gave her a small smile. “Indeed. Neliel is right. Let’s focus on staying alive for now and try to ignore the odds. Now, I trust you have reconciled yourself to the plan?”

Grimmjow scowled. “I hafta cling to you when you fly, like a fucken girl. I’m not exactly keen. Still, I plan on kicking serious ass and savin’ Bee. Can’t do that from out here.”

Shaking his head and pulling Nel to him, Ulquiorra replied, “I’ll take that as a yes. Now, from where we are it should only take half an hour to get there and secure the area, unless we run into serious trouble. If I’m not back in an hour, put Plan B into motion.”

“We have a Plan B?” Nel raised an eyebrow.

“No, but that’s how Grimmjow can spend his time here”, Ulquiorra said with a ghost of a smile, which turned into a smirk as he looked at Grimmjow. “I’m waiting with bated breath to hear what you come up with, by the way.”

“Get bent”, Grimmjow returned, without malice. “Alright then, move along. The faster you get in, the faster we save Bee and fuck off.”

“Crudely put, but accurate”, Ulquiorra remarked dryly.

“Now that’s going on my tombstone”, the blue-haired arrancar replied with a grin. “See you on the other side.”

Nel smiled at him, before curling her arms around Ulquiorra’s neck, careful to avoid the drawn sword in his hand. With a nod to Grimmjow, the winged arrancar’s own arms snaked around Nel and he launched himself and his passenger into the air.

Watching them as they flew further and further away, Grimmjow felt the smile slip off his face as his unease and anger returned.

Fuckers took Bee. It may be the last damn thing I do, but I’m gonna make ’em wish they’d picked another target. Even if she doesn’t think she is, or even wanna be, she’s my girl.

And no one messes with my girl.

Well, not if they want their knees to continue bendin’ the right way.

xXx

After the longest half-hour wait of his life, followed by the most incredibly awkward ten minutes of his life (he and Ulquiorra might get along these days, but having to practically cuddle the guy in order to fly with him was definitely going on Grimmjow’s ‘Never Again’ list), Grimmjow finally stepped up into the tower, flashing a grin at Nel, who was standing there, sword drawn and blood-drenched.

“Awww. You started without me.”

Nel rolled her eyes. “Please, if you’d been here you would have just complained that they were pussies. There were only two of them, and they were fairly low-level at that. Things feel fairly quiet, but there’s a good chance that they’ve anticipated our arrival and are lulling us into a false sense of security. Now, once more with feeling – be careful, try not to attract attention, and get out alive in an hour. We clear?”

Ulquiorra strode forward, his wings retracting as he reached for Nel. Pulling her toward him, he kissed her fiercely, drawing back to look into her eyes.

“Stay alive, Neliel”, he whispered. “I don’t feel at all inclined to be distraught.”

She smiled sadly, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to his lips before replying. “That goes for you, too. I don’t know what I’d do if – ” She paused, drawing back slightly. “Ulquiorra, what’s wrong with this picture?”

Looking around, the pale arrancar sighed. “He’s already gone after her. Typical. I did wonder at the lack of catcalling over our display of affection. We should probably follow his example.” His gaze went to her once again. “I will see you again.”

Nel swallowed her nervousness and gave him a shaky grin. “That’s the spirit.”

xXx

Unconsciousness was lovely, Soi Fon decided. It meant that you didn’t think about arrogant bastards with blue hair who somehow wormed their way into your heart, or about how you were a prisoner and any rescue attempts would probably end in the deaths of friends. It also meant your head mercifully stopped spinning, your arms stopped aching from being stretched out for hours, and you neglected to notice that your re-opened stomach wound was bleeding again.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

Groggily, Soi Fon opened her eyes, staring at the pool of blood that had formed at her feet. Her new wound wasn’t deep, but if she were left for another couple of hours…

That is not a pleasant train of thought. No, they can’t leave me forever, they have to re-dose me with that reiatsu suppressant eventually. Let’s see… There was the shot last night when they caught me, and then they knocked me out for Kami-knows how long. They dosed me up again once I was here and awake, but without knocking me out, and they haven’t dosed me since. I haven’t been here more than twenty-four hours, that I’m fairly sure of – I’m only just starting to get hungry. So then, the doses are, at most, twelve hours apart and, at least… Hmmm. I’d say eight hours apart. Alright, somewhere in that window.

Which means I’m due for one soon, judging from the fact that my conclusions make sense. Oh goody.

On the bright side, at least I won’t bleed out.

Some fucker of a bright side.

Soi Fon’s head was pounding, most likely from a lack of water. She’d have called for some, but the two identical, apparently genderless creatures of Akon’s were more than a little creepy and she didn’t want to have to deal with them any more than she already had to.

Although, now that she listened, it wasn’t exactly her head that was pounding.

It was with this realisation that her door, and a good portion of the surrounding wall, exploded, aided and abetted by a very familiar bright blue cero and the swiftly flying, decapitated body of what could have been one of Akon’s fraccion. At this point, very few of the arrancar’s joints were bending in the way their creator intended them to, rendering it almost unrecognisable. Blinking her eyes and trying to take this in, Soi Fon felt her breath catch and her heart beat wildly as an even more familiar figure stepped into the room, shaking plaster dust from his hair with one hand, while the other gripped a bloody sword.

Her eyes widened, as she tentatively double-checked. “Grimm?”

Relief warred with anger on his face, as he took in the blood and a rather nasty bruise on her cheek. Someone was going to pay. Until then, however, Bee was alive…

He grinned back at her. “‘Sup Shaolin? Didja miss me?”

Soi Fon scowled. I’m captured, wounded and drugged, and this is how he greets me. I sure know how to pick them, don’t I?

“There are two of them, I hope you know”, she pointed out, nodding to the corpse that had been Grimmjow’s previous opponent.

His grin widened. “Concerned about me already, Bee? That’s awful sweet of you, but don’t worry. The other guy’s embedded in the intact bit of wall. A sorta modern art installation piece, if you will.”

“Charming”, Soi Fon muttered. “Now come over here and help me out of these chains. I want to make a very rude gesture at you.”

“Nah, I think I like you like this. It’s givin’ me ideas”, Grimmjow replied with a smirk.

“You always have ideas”, she returned. “Come on, my arms ache and it may have escaped your notice, but I’m bleeding all over their nice clean floor.”

His eyes narrowed as he looked at her wound once more. “Oh, I noticed.” His voice was calm, but with a very dangerous edge.

He’s angry, but I don’t think it’s at me…

He walked forward, his bright blue stare fixed on her, stopping just short of touching her. “You know Bee, I did make a request that you never scare me so damn much ever again.”

Ah. Maybe it is at me. Shit.

“However”, he continued, “given that this one was largely outta your control, I’ve decided to take my anger out on whoever was responsible.” He grinned, his typical good mood and bloodthirstiness back. “Wanna help?”

He’s insane, psychotic. He’s probably going to get us all killed with this rescue attempt…

And, Kami help me, I love him for it.

I must be just as mad. I couldn’t have possibly picked a worse person to tie myself in knots over, but I can’t bring myself to care right now. I blame the drugs.

Speaking of which…

“I’d love to help, but they drugged me with a rather interesting reiatsu suppressant. I’m pretty much useless right now, but I’m due for my next dose soon, so it should wear off eventually.”

“Huh.” Grimmjow looked thoughtful, before pulling a syringe out of a pocket. “Your doses look like this?”

Soi Fon’s eyes widened. “How’d you – “

“Half the reason they were such easy kills was that they were distracted getting this piece of shit ready. They were ’bout to go in, when I figured it was time to say hello.” He grinned. “That should even things out a little.”

“Indeed. You know what would also help?”

“What Bee?”

“Getting me out of the Kami-damned chains!”

“If you insist. Still, can we keep ’em?”

“Grimm – “

“Shaolin?”

“Now is not the time.”

“That a yes?”

“…Fine, so long as you realise I’m not going to be the one they’re used on. Now will you unchain me?”

Grimmjow couldn’t help but laugh at that one. That’s my girl. Good to have somethin’ to look forward to.

Aloud, he answered, “I’ll only cut the chain, rather than the cuff itself. It’d be a cryin’ shame to rescue you only to lop off one of those amazin’ hands in the process. How’d they even catch you in the first place, Bee? Woulda thought that you, of all of us, would be best at keepin’ out of trouble.”

Soi Fon flinched. “I got distracted. Look, are we here to chat or to get the hell out?”

Swiftly he cut through both of her restraints, grabbing her when she fell forward and holding her to his chest.

But damn, Soi Fon felt far too comfortable here. “Blood loss. Give me a few seconds, I’ll be fine.”

She really did fit with him, despite the vast discrepancies in their heights, Grimmjow couldn’t help but notice as he looked down at her. “Take your time, Bee. ‘Sides, at this angle I can see down your shirt.”

She rolled her eyes. “Bastard.”

He considered this, and then nodded. “Yep, that’s about right.” Carefully, he tilted her face up to his, and gently pressed his lips to hers. Where the majority of their kisses had been fevered, passionate affairs, this was slow, languid and enticing, and it had Soi Fon’s knees feeling weak.

Or maybe the drugs just aren’t wearing off…

No, it’s him.

Damn.

Eventually, Grimmjow drew back, exhaling as he ran a hand through her hair, a strange smile on his face.

“I missed you, Bee.”

“Why, how touching.”

As one they wheeled around, only to see Akon smirking at them, hand on the hilt of his drawn zanpakuto. “I’m afraid visiting hours are over.”

Grimmjow snorted. “That’s the best line you’ve got? Damn, Bee, sorry I left you here this long. You musta been bored if this is what counts as wit here.”

She smirked. “It was somewhat trying, but Akon did attempt to keep me entertained.”

Grimmjow’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll bet.” He turned back to Soi Fon. “He do the shiner on your cheek?”

Her merciless grin got even wider. “As a matter of fact, he did.”

Akon scoffed. “You’re seriously going to let your lover fight on your behalf? How pathetic. I must admit, Captain Soi Fon, I had expected better from you.”

She shrugged. “It depends how you look at it. I’d love nothing more to fight you myself, but I’m drugged. But Grimmjow… He’s my lieutenant and I’ve trained him myself. He’s as much my weapon as Suzumebachi is, I just happen to wield him differently.”

“I don’t whether to be flattered by that or not, but what Bee’s saying is simple”, Grimmjow added.

“Prepare to have the ever-loving crap kicked out of you.”

xXx

Nel was lost.

Not in the traditional sense, no. She’d already been through the bowels of Las Noches, and had found nothing to illuminate the Soul Society’s current situation. All she had discovered was that it was quiet – too quiet. Next to no one was about, which seemed odd to Nel. If the Espada had been re-formed and an army was in place waiting to attack, there should be some sign of it, however small. However, she could find nothing, which did not bode well.

This whole situation smacked of ‘trap’.

Which is where the ‘lost’ thing comes in. I’ve done what we planned on me doing, but what now? I can’t sit here and twiddle my thumbs, but I can’t think of any place that I could check that Ulquiorra won’t have already thought of. I can’t even try to find him because we’ve all suppressed our spiritual power. I suppose it’s not that I feel lost, but… purposeless.

Damn it.

Might as well go back the way I came, then.

Concentrating and shifting the corridor (once an Espada, apparently always an Espada), a flurry of movement caught her eye. Wheeling and drawing her sword, Gamuza met an opponent with a resounding clash. Leaping back, Nel took in her opponent – around five and a half feet of what looked like skanky teenage girl. Still…

Nel frowned. “You look familiar.”

The dark-haired arrancar flipped her pigtails and growled, “I’d be far more familiar to your utter prick of a lieutenant. I was hoping for him, but I guess you’ll do.”

Nel raised an eyebrow, slipping into a fighter’s crouch. “You got something against Ulquiorra?”

She spat on the floor, before gesturing to a scar on her stomach. “Everyone fucken stabs me through there and I’ve gotta tell you, it gets old. But Ulquiorra, he didn’t just stop there, no. He got pissed because I wouldn’t leave that damn human woman alone. Who would? The bitch is a freak of nature. He pulled me out of the damn room and beat the hell outta me, but he had to go to a meeting and didn’t trust me left alone. So, what does he do?” Her eyes were narrowed and locked on Nel. “He impales me with my own zanpakuto and, for good measure, jams two fucken knives through my hands so I can’t remove it. I have fucken stigmata! Needless to say, he’s not my favourite person.” She paused, drawing in a deep breath, before smiling calmly. “I was hoping for a chance to take it out on him, but you know, I think taking it out on his bitch is better.”

She lifted her blade. “Poison, Escolopendra.”

Hefting Gamuza, Nel stared down her opponent.

Suddenly, purposeless was a long way down the list of what she was feeling.

xXx

This didn’t feel right, as far as Ulquiorra was concerned. He could feel the fluctuations in his companion’s spiritual pressures and, while he desperately wanted to go to Nel, he knew she was perfectly capable of fighting her own battles. She may be his superior, but that was largely because of seniority rather than power – in that respect, they were equals. Still…

It was all too quiet. Ulquiorra had drawn a number of conclusions from this, but the most obvious was simple and very worrying.

They were expected.

This conclusion was confirmed as he crept through the meeting room, and a voice rang out behind him.

“Hello, Ulquiorra.”

He froze, before whipping around on the spot, Murcielago already drawn and ready. His target was difficult to miss, but appeared unarmed. Then again, his huge size did tend to mean that Yammy Rialgo was never fully weaponless.

Ulquiorra frowned. “Yammy. I had a feeling I might find you here. I wouldn’t mind a couple of questions answered, if that’s alright with you.” The larger Espada and he had always gotten along and, while the situation was very different, he suspected that politeness was the best tactic right now.

The other Espada gave a grin. “Typical of you. You never could stand information being withheld, even by Aizen-sama.”

Lowering his zanpakuto, but staying alert, the pale arrancar replied, “I’m just curious as to why you felt the need to kidnap Captain Soi Fon and lure us here.”

“He didn’t. I did.”

Ulquiorra’s eyes widened. This could be somewhat problematic. To say the least.

A slender, white clad figure had emerged from behind Yammy, his pale hair lank in the low light. Taller, gaunter than he had been before the Winter War, Wonderwiess’ eyes were sunken and dull, but there was a menace to him that Ulquiorra had not remembered.

He smiled. “Ulquiorra.”

“Let’s talk.”