Title: Truth Through the Lies

Warning: AU and pain (physical and emotional *rubs hands together manically*)

Pairings: past Gin/Ran

Time Period: AU from the time Hitsu and Co. left the living world, but before the Winter War really heats up (assume Orihime is being saved at the same time by Ichigo and Co.)

Summary: Matsumoto has been taken to Hueco Mundo by Aizen, tortured and beaten she is told a secret that could destroy her and her Taicho, but is it true?

Disclaimer: Don't own it, don't wanna own it (fangirls are nuts)

Rated: PG-13 for torture

Pain

Pain... that became her whole world... just blinding, searing, never ending pain.

Two weeks... that's how long she'd been in this cell. Two weeks that felt like an eternity, the only way to keep track of the time was by his daily schedule for her.

Beating for breakfast, cutting for lunch, burning for dinner, and if he was in a giving mood... stale water for dessert.

And he never even asked her any questions.

"Have you figured it out yet, Matsumoto fukutaicho?" a deceptively calm voice asked, the sound echoing off the stone walls of her own personal hell.

If she had a voice left, Rangiku would have spouted off a none-to-polite two word reply (the second word being "off"), but as it happened, two weeks worth of physical torture, sleep deprivation, starvation, and unimaginable pain at the hands of his more sadistic espada rendered the normally vocal woman mute.

"No?" Aizen asked in an almost surprised tone."Well I guess it wouldn't cause any damage to my plans to tell you. You are here not because you have any useful information I could drag out of you, nor are you here for ransom or as even bait."

From her place on her knees, chained to the wall, Rangiku could hear him moving somewhere near her and braced for the pain she knew was coming, but instead Aizen knelt down to her level and held her chin up in his hand so she would look into his eyes.

"You are here because there is something I need to tell you, something that will shatter your world and test the loyalty of my most trusted Lieutenant."

*Gin* the only coherent thought to pass through her head in the past hour.

As if on que the man in question entered the room from the door to Aizen's back. For the briefest of moments Matsumoto saw the intense look of horror and pain pass over Gin's normally grinning face at the sight of her. But when she saw what Gin held in his hands, if she weren't chained to the wall, she'd rip his throat out with her bare hands. Gin tossed the bloodied, barely conscious white haired boy to the floor at Aizen's feet.

"T-taicho?" Matsumoto groaned out, finding the strength to speak from somewhere deep inside her, or maybe from the sight of him.

Aizen smirked at her pain, his plan working perfectly. "Yes Matsumoto Fukutaicho." Turning to new arrival now barely able to stay on his knees. "Welcome to Hueco Mundo, Histugaya-kun." Toshiro managed to glare up at the former Taicho from the floor but could manage no more. "Oh, that's right... I've lost the right to call you that. I should address you formally. Welcome, Juubantai Taicho... Ichimaru Toshiro."

Matsumoro managed a gasp as her eyes flew from her captor, to her taicho, then coming to rest on the despised face of her former lover.

*NO!* She screamed in her head.

Gin would not look at her.

"What did you call me?" Hitsugaya spat.

"I simply called you by your proper name, Ichimaru Toshiro," was Aizen's beguine reply, enunciating every syllable of the name. "For that is who you are. The Son of Ichimaru Gin and Matsumoto Rangiku."

"No!" Matsumoto, in hysterics shouted frantically looking between Aizen and Gin, finally found a strong enough voice. "No! You're lying. She's died. Gin! You told me...you told me she died." Gin still would not look at her, or anywhere other than the floor to the right of the stunned young taicho at his feet. "GIN, goddamn you! Look at me. YOU TOLD ME... SHE'S DEAD!"

"No HE'S not. Gin lied, as I ordered him to. It was all too convenient, your old Taisho covering for you so no one but us knew you were even pregnate, a difficult delivery and you loosing consciousness. It was surprisingly easy to convince you that your child died. A beautiful baby girl, with her daddy's hair and mommy's eyes, tragically lost," Matsumoto could stand hear no more, giving into Aizen's mental torture she stopped struggling against the chains that held her to the wall and sobbed. But Aizen wasn't done, he had to twist that knife just a little bit more. "But no, really He was a healthy baby boy, with bright white hair, teal eyes, and unmistakeably powerful reitsu."

"Why?" was the all she could say through the tears steaming down her face.

"Why what? Why did I have Gin lie? I couldn't have my lieutenant have a family now could I, a lover understandable, but not a family, not with what I was planning. I had hoped that the child would in time be useful to me, but alas that was not to be. Toshiro-kun turned out to noble for that. So I was content to let him, Hinamori and Kira kill each other, however that didn't go as planned either, but that doesn't matter now." Aizen paused only long enough to grin sadistically at the broken woman before him. "Why am I telling you all this now? The short answer... because I can. Isn't it nice to know the truth now, just before you die? All this time you thought your child died at birth, but now you can die here, together at last. How poetic."

Matsumoto looked to her taicho, a beaten, broken young man lying on a dirty, blood, her blood, caked floor. All she had ever wanted was to protect him, watch his back, and serve him as fukutaicho to the best of her abilities. And now he was going to die, in this terrible place by the hand of the man who tore them apart in the first place, and it was all her fault. Her fault for not being strong enough to deliver safely, her fault for loving the wrong man, her fault for trusting the seemingly kind fifth squad taicho, her fault for... just plain her fault.

Sobbing she could only say, "I'm sorry... Taicho... Toshiro...*sob* I-I'm so sorry."

She saw Aizen draw his sword and advance on her, so he was going to kill her first, then... fine. With one last breath she told her Taicho, her best friend... her son, no matter how inadequate the words, that she was sorry and that for what it was worth, she loved him. Before Kyoka Suigetsu swung to strike her down she glanced at Gin, wanting his face in that moment burned into her mind, his eyes were fully opened (a rare sight even for her) as he looked her in the face for the first time since entering the cell, his head jerked to the side slightly *no*.

A loud crash outside her cell was the last sound she heard before Rangiku's world went dark.

But it didn't stay that way.

Matsumoto Rangiku woke to a soft light filling her vision, and a soothing humming sound close to her left ear. Slowly the world around her came into focus. The first things that became clear to her were the clean smell of fourth division's general relief station, the soft bed she was laid upon, and Unohana Taicho's compassionate face.

"Oh! Matsumoto Fukutaicho you're awake. Histugaya Taicho will be so relieved! How do you feel?" the healer gently inquired while fussing over Rangiku.

"Very confused. How did I get here... wait TAICHO! Is he alright? Where is he?" Rangiku sat bolt upright in bed, ignoring the waves of pain and nausea crashing over her.

"Calm, Matsumoto, you must be calm. You've been through a terrible ordeal." Unohana gently pushed the distraught officer back down to the pillows. "Your Taicho is just fine, not a scratch on him or a hair out of place, from your rescue. You know how strong he is, especially when there is a very good cause to fight for."

"Rescue? But he was hurt, they must have tortured him for hours before Gin brought him to my cell, he was bloody and bruised and o-oh God!" To say that Matsumoto was confused would be an understatement, fresh tears burned her eyes at the image of her Taicho in the horrible place.

"Hitsugaya Taicho wasn't captured or tortured, he wasn't even in that cell before you were knocked unconscious. I think Aizen must have used his Kyoka Suigetsu on you to make you think your Taicho was there. But I assure you, he's fine."

Knowing that Unohana at least would never lie to her, Rangiku stopped ranting, much to the healer's relief. But Unohana could still tell that something heavy, other than her recent capture and torture, was weighing on the fukutaicho.

"Matsumoto-san, what is it?"

"If I asked a favor of you would you do it?"

"Depends on the favor."

"I need you to test something for me."

In the end Unohana agreed to preform the test Matsumoto requested but only under the condition that Matsumoto would share the results with her taicho no matter the outcome.

Three days after Matsumoto left the infirmary, Unohana paid her a visit in the 10th division office, envelope in hand.

Relieved that her Taicho was out for the moment, Matsumoto took the paternity test results with shaking hands, broke the seal and read the words within sealing her and her Taicho's fate.

The End

No really it is. Who's the liar? Aizen or Gin, you have to choose. DONT HATE ME! Let me explain the inspiration behind the end of this story. In school I read a short story called The Lion and The Lady. As the story goes there once a society that dispensed punishment for crimes in a unique way. A criminal was placed in the center of a public arena, before him were two doors: behind one was a lion and the other a lady, and he had to choose, not knowing which was which. If he choose the lion door he'd be mauled to death, if he picked the lady he was free to go as long as he married her despite any previous relationship (including marriage). One of these men did in fact have a lover, and the night before his day in the arena, she bribed the guards to tell her which door would be which. She then told her doomed lover which door the other lady was going to be behind. The story ends with the man standing before the doors ready to make his choice, the question posed though was his lover telling the truth knowing that they could not be together because he would have to marry some one else? would she be happy just knowing that he's alive? Or would he choose the lion door, unable to bare the thought of life without his true love. The author of the story left it up to the reader to make the choice. And so have I, is she his mother or not? To be honest, I haven't decided for myself (in my universe anyway). Maybe I'll wait for you to tell me.

Big sloppy Toshiro Kisses to whom ever caught the Star Wars reference (I couldn't resist). And even bigger, Sloppy-er Renji kisses if you got the 3rd Rock from the Sun reference.

P.S. When Matsumoto used the "L" word in regards to Hitsugaya it was not meant in a romantic sense of the word... 'cause... ew.