Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor anything else i refer to (Terminator 2, The currently antepenult Batamn movie- yes, I'm including the new one)

Warnings: Not Yaoi, nor BoyxBoy. May be considered AU. This is a horrible attempt at filling a plot hole.

If anyone actually wishes to make an Yaoi version of this, go forward. Just please don't send me links or ask me to beta-test, I'm not into that stuff.

"I'm sorry." Spoke a young, curly brown haired teen. His long black cloak did a good job in hiding his various wounds, the only blood in it coming from the clean dadao he carried. With the exception of his eyes and tone of voice, he completely lacked emotion. The brown eyes, however, held fear- of rejection, sadness- from the loss, and most of all, anger- a mask for his emotions.

"Don't be, dickbutt." Answered a second teen, with white hair and yellow eyes. He held as much rage as the other, though his was considerably more focused- he was less confused than the other man, which was why he felt the need to keep living! He shook his head mentally. He had accepted this would eventually happen for some time. Then wasn't the time to back out.

"Dethrone, Zangetsu. I'll carry the legacy." Even if the brunette said that way, Zangetsu was quick to interpret it as 'I'll kick that idiot out of his pile of plastic chairs. That guy too.', making him chuckle and the copper taste resurface.

"I hate this last meal. Get me som'thin' better." Complained Zangetsu. They stood in somewhat companionable silence until Zangetsu nodded, his way of saying 'I've finished laughing in my head, you can kill me now.' The brunette raised his blade, a blue arrow forming at its tip. Zangetsu seemed to have desperation etched all over his face, making the brunette stop.

"I'll be back." Spoke the white-haired teen, before nodding, as if saying 'Put it on my grave, it'll be funny.' The brunette actually chuckled, before placing the blade on Zangetsu's head. Zangetsu seemed to be thoughtful for a few seconds, before pushing the blade to his chest.

"Aesthetics are everything, you know? And make a smily face on my body with the blade so I look like the Joker." Explained the white-haired teen, looking mock-apologetically at his soon-to-be-killer.

"You're scared, aren't you?" Asked the brunette, feeling somewhat at ease because of the other teen's previous jokes. The mock-apologetic look quickly turned into an honest one.

"It's the most basic hollow instinct. You should have learned that already." Answered Zangetsu, looking at his companion, arguably fellow inmate. His friend looked at his apologetically, forcing Zangetsu to look to the side. He did not want anyone's pity and he should understand that better than anyone else could!

"Do you want to do it the other way?" Offered the brunette, feeling sad for his friend's fear. If there was one thing he and Zangetsu understood each other in, was that fear was an absolutely abhorring thing.

They had felt fear together when they were born and didn't comprehend anything.

They felt fear together when Zangetsu lost to his hollow instincts and began to try to attack him, and he retaliated without being able to control his body.

They felt fear together when a menacing energy quickly approached Ichigo, which made they swear that they'd train until they could squash that like a bug.

They felt fear together when Ichigo lost to the girl in his karate classes, discovering they wouldn't be able to protect him.

And most of all, they used to fear and still feared an occurrence that'd inevitably separate them.

Auswahlen. Any impure Quincy would die. That meant that either Zangetsu, the manifestation of Ichigo's Hollow powers and his Zanpakuto or the brunette old man, teen when he powered up, the representation of his Quincy powers, would have to be destroyed.

They both acknowledged they would eventually be forced to kill one another, it was the only method that absolutely guaranteed their survival.

"We can fuse. We would evade Auswahlen by masking the reishi absorption. It's not guaranteed to work, but it was always an option." Continued the teen, before bringing the blade back and offering a hand. 'I won't think any less of you if you o it.' Thought the brunette, expecting an answer from his companion, be it a 'keh' or a 'yes'.

"You're throwing Ichigo's life out (of) the window so that I have an itsy bitsy chance of surviving?" Questioned Zangetsu, an expression of bemusement etched on his face. The brunette smiled- a genuine smile.

"And you call me crazy!" Loudly exclaimed Zangetsu, taking the man's hand. "I'm still fighting you for dominance in case Ichigo ever gets powers." Added Zangetsu, grinning. His friend had a considerably lighter smile when he replied. "Likewise."

Ending.