"This thing ain't stolen, is it Yammy?" Grimmjow said suspiciously, slowly circling the hover car.
It wasn't much of a hover car. Half decent at best, it was covered in scratches and infiltrated with rust. But when he popped open the hood, he saw an engine that looked functional. When he checked the stability boosters and other stuff, he saw plenty of good parts just begging to be yanked out and set into a decent chassis.
"No, it ain't stolen, I swear on my mamma's grave." Yammy pledged. "I wouldn't have been able to get it off Earth if it was." Grimmjow grunted, conceding the point with a dip of his head.
They were on Elvenhome. A long, long time ago, a permanent portal had been created between the two worlds. Magic worked here, not technology, which was how jobs like his had evolved. He was a cracker, someone who specialized in making custom technology that actually ran on magic. To say it was tricky would be an understatement. He had to rework every single piece, put the magic in and make it self-sufficient. Even then, it would eventually run down. But once his work was done, any half-competent wizard or elf could recharge it. It was the cracking that was tricky.
"You got the paperwork?" He held out a hand and Yammy supplied the documents. After a good, long perusal Grimmjow grunted in satisfaction. "Good. Now how much do you want for this?" They went back and forth for a while before settling on a mutually agreeable price. "Since this thing ain't hot, you willing to do a deposit?" That would create a record for them both.
"Nah. I'd like the money, if you have it. Just write me out a slip." Yammy said and Grimmjow gave him a hard look before he shrugged. "I wanna go to a strip club. You gotta problem?"
"Oh. Okay. Want me to clean out my stash of one dollar bills for ya?" Grimmjow said drily and Yammy laughed.
"If you can I'd appreciate it man." Grimmjow nodded and went to get the cash. He kept it in an empty pizza box in the freezer. His house had been burgled a few times, but he hadn't lost it yet. And most of the burglers had gotten tripped up on his security systems, so he wasn't exactly worried. Coming back, he gave Yammy the money and made sure he had plenty of ones. "Shit, a strip club sounds pretty good right now." Grimmjow muttered. It had been a while since he'd seen any tits. Or even a cock and balls. Yammy laughed, counting his money.
"You want to come? We ain't best buddies but right now I'll call ya a friend." Yammy said cheerfully as he pocketed his cash, and Grimmjow really considered it. They didn't get along that well, mainly because he was really fucking smart and Yammy really wasn't. That made them grate on each other a bit, but as long as he refrained from being a dick it could be managed. Still…
"Nah, thanks for the offer but I really need to earn some cash. My family…" He shrugged and Yammy nodded. They both knew about his family.
"Then I'll see ya later Grimmjow." Yammy left and Grimmjow made sure to lock everything up behind him before going to scope out his prize.
The first thing he did was check the glove compartments. You never knew what someone might leave behind. To his mild pleasure, there was a portable diagnostic tool in one of the compartments. He could rework that to check for magic based problems and resell it. There were also maps, and he unfurled them before snorting at them. Japan?
"This car has been places." He muttered. Although the Earth side connection to Elvenhome wasn't stable. The damned thing shifted every year. Was it in Japan this year? Could be. Grimmjow didn't keep track of that shit. As far as he was concerned, Earth could go fuck itself. The maps were worthless, though, and he tossed them away. Then he went to the back and, with the help of a few tools, jigged the lock and popped the trunk.
Grimmjow heard himself make a sound somewhere between a yelp and a scream. He hadn't made a sound like that since a girlfriend had surprised him with a python. And frankly, the snake had been less surprising than the frightened eyes staring at him out of the trunk of that ruined hover car.
HOLYFUCK why is there a person in my fucking car?! Grimmjow swallowed, hard, as he met those chocolate brown eyes. Why did Yammy sell me a car with a PERSON in it? He drew in a shuddering breath, about ready to completely spaz. This didn't happen. It just didn't, not with a legal car. Then logic caught up with him.
The paperwork was perfect and Yammy just wasn't smart enough to fake that shit. His gaze slid down the body in his trunk… a teenager, a fucking kid… and saw all the ties on him. All the duct tape. The kid couldn't move, couldn't even thump to let someone know he was there. Holy. Fuck. Grimmjow gripped the edge of the trunk as his thoughts went on to their logical conclusion. He'd seen some monstrous shit in his time, before he became a cracker. So he knew exactly what this was. Someone sent this car to the junkyard for recycling with the kid in the trunk. Awake, aware of what was gonna happen to him. Holy shit. He would have been able to hear all the cars ahead of him getting crushed…
Grimmjow took a deep, shuddering breath and ran to get some scissors. He had some in the kitchen, he used them to take apart chickens and open stubborn plastic casings on electronics. Then he paused a moment and grabbed his taser, stuffing it into his belt. He had a knife in his boot, but that was a long way to reach. And just because this kid had been the victim of some pretty impressive sadism did not make him a fucking angel. He had to be pretty damned desperate and Grimmjow was not going to trust him just yet.
He snipped through the ropes and worked on the duct tape. He yanked it off the kids face first, and winced as it took a huge chunk of orange hair with it. But the kid didn't scream, just whimpered faintly.
"Water… please…" That raspy, agonized sound arrested Grimmjow for a moment. How long had the poor kid been in here? From the smell, it had been a while. Sprinting for the kitchen, he filled up water bottle and grabbed a plastic straw. It was a curley-wurley one, he enjoyed them when he made cocktails. But it would be a hell of a lot easier for the kid to use while he was working on freeing him.
"Here ya go." Grimmjow said, setting the bottle beside the kid and putting the straw between his lips. The teen sucked greedily as Grimmjow went back to his work. He whimpered a few times as hairs got yanked out of bare skin, but just kept sucking away. Grimmjow wasn't surprised when he heard the straw scrape the bottom.
"More?" The kid asked plaintively and he nodded, taking the bottle.
"Sec." He went back to the kitchen, filling it up again. This time he grabbed a bottle of sugar and added a bit, along with some lemon juice. He didn't know shit about hydration, but weren't they supposed to have electrolytes? Or something like that. He shook the bottle a bit before bringing it out. "I put in some sugar and squeezed a lemon, thought it might help." The teen didn't care and just started draining it again, gripping it with one shaky hand.
It took him a good fifteen minutes to get the kid free. There was more duct tape and ropes than he'd ever imagined putting on one person, and he'd been around serial killers in his time. As soon as he had the kid free, he helped him out of the car and cringed a little at the stench. Someone had crapped his pants, but given how long he'd probably been in that trunk, it was totally understandable. The kid couldn't stand, so he set him onto the floor.
"Here, let me get this shit off you." He muttered and began stripping the teen. At first the kid moaned and tried to fight him. "Damnit kid! You smell like ass! I not gonna rape you, Jack the Ripper wouldn't rape you right now, you're disgusting!" That made him blink and the teen went still, breathing heavily as Grimmjow stripped him. The stench when he got to his underwear… Grimmjow grit his teeth, yanking the horrible things off and tossing them into the trunk. "Okay, bath time." He hoisted the kid up, carrying him into the house.
It was a damned fine house in a not so fine part of town. Grimmjow had gutted the place and had it fully renovated before he moved in, so there was an absolutely enormous tub in the bathroom. It was a whirlpool tub and designed to seat three people comfortably. He set the dazed teen into the tub and began to run the water, making sure it wouldn't be too hot. Then he frowned.
"You okay? Not gonna slip down and drown or anything?" The teen looked up and shook his head, his brown eyes wide and frightened. "Okay. You take care of yourself then." He pointed to the side of the tub. "You've got a scrub brush, soap and lots of hair stuff. Get clean and I'll go make you something to eat. You need more water?" The kid licked his lips and nodded. "I'll get you a glass."
"Th-thank you." The teen's voice was getting better, a lot better. Grimmjow gave him a quick smile before going back to the kitchen. This time he got the kid a real glass, but kept the curley-wurley straw. He might like it. He delivered it, and smiled when he saw the kid had found his stash of bubble bath. He couldn't see anything interesting anymore, not that the teen was remotely sexy at the moment. Nauseating was a better description for him.
Mission accomplished, Grimmjow went back to the kitchen and tried to think. How long had the kid been in the car? Probably one day at the scrapyard, another day to get into Elvenhome, and a third for Yammy to hunt him down. Three days, probably, and the kid was damned lucky the car hadn't been held up by customs. If it had, Grimmjow would have found a rotting corpse. Shrugging away that utterly gruesome image, Grimmjow sorted through his cupboards and fridge, trying to find something good to eat for someone who'd been starved for three days. He pulled out a Tupperware container of homemade chicken broth and considered it for a moment. It was under seasoned, but that was deliberate. Whenever he used it as a soup base, he added his choice of spices to give it flavor.
It was also perfect for this. He added a bit of Italian spice mix and a bit of frozen vegetables, then microwaved the whole thing. His magic-based microwave sang to him, a special tone he'd built in himself, and he pulled out the food. He grabbed a spoon and tried it, making sure the veggies were soft and the soup was hot. Satisfied, he grabbed another spoon and carried the meal into the bathroom.
The kid was scrubbing away when he came in, and looked up warily. But his eyes lit up as he saw the food. Grimmjow set it on the edge of the tub and he grabbed it, tucking in like he was starving. Which he undoubtedly was.
"Needs more salt." He said after a while and Grimmjow grinned.
"Oi! Teach me how to cook, will ya?" Then he looked at the soup consideringly. "I usually put in this Chinese sausage, it's salty and sweet, so you're probably right. Want me to get ya a saltshaker?" The kid shook his head, not stopping his feeding frenzy for a moment. Grimmjow sat down on the edge of the tub and the kid glanced up warily.
"Want to tell me your name? I can't just go calling you kid or teenager." He said quietly and the satisfaction of seeing the kid look annoyed.
"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki. Who are you?" He asked, his spoon scraping the bottom of the bowl.
"Grimmjow Jagerjaques. Your name sounds Japanese." He observed and saw the kid scowl.
"I am Japanese. This is Japan." He said, slightly offended, and Grimmjow grinned. The teen had no fucking clue.
"No, actually, it's not. This is Elvenhome." The teen looked at him wide eyed and Grimmjow's grin turned into a smile. "And the portal's been kicking about America for seven years, and before that I think it was in Australia for a while. Not many people speak Japanese around here. But you sound like you've got some good English." The kid had only a mild accent.
"Elvenhome? Really?" The kid said, almost breathless. There was a strange hope in his eyes. "How… how could I get here?" He asked and Grimmjow shrugged.
"You should ask how could a car get here. And that's pretty simple. Guys like Yammy buy up junkers with good parts, ship them over the lines and deliver 'em to crackers like me. I take out the parts and make things for human and elven buyers." Ichigo was looking at him open mouthed now, and Grimmjow knew why. Most humans were in awe of the elves, which he considered to be both pointless and stupid. Elves were nothing great, just different. "And that's how you ended up in Elvenhome."
"I see." Ichigo said, looking at his bowl. Grimmjow took the hint and picked it up. "Could I get something more solid?" The teen asked and he nodded.
"Sure, I'll get you something." This time, he got the kid a bunch of pepperettes, a wack of cheese and some gluten free crackers. Grimmjow was gluten intolerant and knew it. It was pretty common for someone with his family history. He brought the plate into the bathroom and the kid immediately started to chow down. "So. Want to tell me how you came to be in the trunk of my hover car?" He asked, sitting on the edge of the tub again. The teen gave him an irritated look.
"Can we talk about this later? When I'm not naked?" He said and Grimmjow glanced down at the water. The bubbles were still there, but not as perky. "Stop that!"
"Ichigo, I can honestly say I am not at all attracted to you right now." Grimmjow paused to look over the teen's face. Big brown eyes, an orange mop of hair over a nice face with a straight nose and thin lips. Not bad. As for his body, Grimmjow couldn't see much but what he did see he liked. Nicely muscled arms, nicely muscled back and some tight abs. The kid clearly did something physically demanding. "Maybe I'll be into you when you aren't so smelly." There was still a bit of a reek. Speaking of which… "You ought to drain out that water and run another tubful."
"Only if you get out of the room." He said sharply and Grimmjow sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Fucking prude." But he got out of the room. "Ugh." His curiosity was killing him, but maybe they should just discuss it later since his houseguest seemed to have a problem with nakedness.
Going to his bedroom, he tried to find something that would fit the kid. He was a bit shorter and a hell of a lot slighter, but that wasn't necessarily a problem. Grimmjow never threw anything away, and after a bit of searching he found some old, old clothes. Grimacing a little, he pulled them out and put them up against his body. It was hard to believe he'd fit them once.
"What a month of starvation will do to ya." He mumbled to himself. But they should fit the kid perfectly, and thankfully, his physique was not due to starvation. No, he just had a more wiry build than Grimmjow. He bundled up the clothes and tossed them into the bathroom. "Those ought to fit." He called in, hearing a muffled thanks before he shut the door.
Feeling antsy, he decided to get started making some real food. For him, real food was a bit of catfish he'd thawed out, a crapload of veggies, chicken stock and curry spices. Elves were big into vegetables, so they were always plentiful and cheap in the city. Meat was more expensive, and things like coconut milk were hard to come by. He saved that for special occasions.
Stirring the pot, he looked up as the kid finally came out of the bathroom. The clothes actually looked good on him, despite being painfully out of style. An old, dark green dress shirt and denim jeans with the classic bell bottom look, they fit him quite snugly.
"You're looking good. Want some more food?" Grimmjow asked and the kid licked his lips before nodding. "Okay. Now, can you tell me how you ended up in that car?" He was absolutely dying to know. He ladelled out the curry and Ichigo took his bowl, settling down on the couch before speaking.
"I – I'm honestly not sure. I think it has to do with my dad." Ichigo said softly, his brown eyes very unhappy. "And my uncle. They're into something, something deep, but they would never tell me what. They just told me to go to school and be a normal teenager."
"You sure?" Grimmjow said skeptically and watched as brown eyes flicked up to meet blue. "I'm not a total expert on this kind of shit, you understand." There might be one or two people who know more about it than me. He added mentally. "But that looked personal. If I were trying to get at your dad, I might torture and rape you and make a video of it to send to him." Ichigo went pale and he waved a hand. "That's if I were a serial killer, don't get the wrong idea here. Anyway, I might do this I might do that. But what was actually done was meant to torture you, not your dad or your uncle. Could someone have something personal against you?" Somehow, the malice of what had been done to Ichigo seemed profoundly person to him. Ichigo shook his head, dropping his gaze. "Huh. Well." Grimmjow hesitated a moment. "Do you want to go back to Japan?" He asked and Ichigo looked up, surprised.
"Of course! It's my home. My dad and my sisters are there." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Grimmjow sighed and scratched the back of his head.
"So is whoever set you up to die in such a fucking horrible way." He pointed out and the kid swallowed, looking down. "Why don't you give me your dad's phone number and I'll get in touch with him, see what he wants you to do? You realize that Elvenhome is probably really fucking safe, right?" He said and Ichigo looked puzzled. "Guns don't work here. The elves don't allow crackers to fix them, either, and breaking elven laws is immediate capital punishment territory. I don't know of any cracker willing to do it. The most they allow is tasers. Our street gangs here use knives and swords." Grimmjow grinned, glancing at one of his walls. There was a sheathed katana, hung on a hook and ready for travelling, complete with leather belt. Ichigo followed his gaze and blinked. "And I am fucking good with a sword." That was nothing but the truth.
"I'm sure my father will want me back. And why should I trust you?" Ichigo asked with a frown and Grimmjow shrugged.
"Why shouldn't you trust me? The fact that you ended up in my shop is just so fucking random, it's unbelievable." He pointed out and Ichigo had to nod. "I'll take a quick trip to Earth and call your dad on a disposable cell, see what he wants done. Then I'll come back and let you know. It won't take more than five hours if I time it right." The problem was the traffic. The bridge to the human world was always completely congested with traffic. Earth had a good appetite for elven goods, and the human city in Elvenhome needed plenty of supplies. Not to mention the stuff the elves wanted from Earth. Trade ran both ways. "And you can't come." Grimmjow added as Ichigo opened his mouth. "You've got no ID. We'd get held up by customs for sure, and then it would all go to shit. Take my word for it, the authorities around here are corrupt as hell." Grimmjow grimaced. Elvenhome was his home, but he knew the city was a disaster zone. The elves didn't care as long as the disaster was confined to the city, and the despot in charge was careful to never overstep his limits.
The point, though, was that if he tried to take a kid with no ID through customs ever single part person all the way down to the janitors would want a bribe. It wouldn't be that expensive, but it would be time consuming and Grimmjow just didn't want to deal with it.
Ichigo studied him for a long moment, long enough to make Grimmjow feel vaguely uncomfortable. Then he finally nodded.
"I'll trust you." He said quietly. "Do you have a pen? I should write this down for you." Ichigo said and Grimmjow found him a post-it note and a pen. He took the note from Ichigo, carefully folding it in half and sticking it in his pocket. "Will I be safe here?" He asked, a bit worried and Grimmjow laughed.
"You should be fine. I've been burgled before, but my security system is top notch. You can go outside if you want, just stay in the junk pile." Ichigo gave him a confused look and Grimmjow elaborated. "This house is in the industrial sector and it came with a bit of property, used to be a parking lot. Now it's my junkyard. I keep a lot of shit there, cars I'm taking apart, big rigs, that sort of thing. When it starts getting too full I sell some stuff to a scrap dealer or take a few loads to the dump." Ichigo blinked and looked at the window. Then the teen set down his food, and walked over to the glass. Grimmjow followed, smiling.
"Oh my god." Ichigo whispered as he opened the window and pushed his head outside. Grimmjow knew what he was seeing. Elvenhome was in fact another world, in another galaxy, although because of the intimate connection with Earth it had similar flora and fauna. But what Ichigo was seeing was a completely alien night sky. Even with the lights of the city blotting part of it out, the stars were insanely brilliant. They were much closer to the heart of the Milky Way. "I really am in Elvenhome." He said softly, and Grimmjow touched his shoulder for a moment.
"It's a great place. Take my word for it." He told the teen, who just looked at him, brown eyes wide and full of an unfathomable emotion. "C'mon, you should get some sleep." After his ordeal, Ichigo had to be tired. And Grimmjow certainly was.
It had been an eventful day.