Taken

by Spunky0ne

When Byakuya's cousin is abducted by the quincies, the soul king sends his samurai to rescue him. But, who is the real enemy and who is an ally? Who is it that the shinigamis really should be protecting?...yaoi, some non-graphic non-con...Pairings are Renji/Byakuya, Katsuro/Tetsuya, Ichigo/Uryu and Aizen/Urahara

1. Firestorm

Taken

By Spunky0ne

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(Thanks going out to Saki12345, who convinced me to post this rewrite I've been working on. I'm responding to suggestions to add more Ren/Bya, and I am also adding Ichigo/Uryu and some Aizen/Urahara…Warnings for As Nodt/Tetsuya, Bambi/Tetsuya and Ywach/Tetsuya non-graphic non-con, teasing, rape. Also includes nightmares of As Nodt/Byakuya. Pairings are Renji/Byakuya, Katsuro (Renji's father)/Tetsuya, Ichigo/Uryu and Aizen/Urahara.)

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Chapter 1: Firestorm

Solemn blue eyes watched worriedly as the sky over the Seireitei darkened and Kuchiki Tetsuya felt a cold shiver run down his spine, settling in the pit of his stomach and swirling there. In the distance, pillars of blue-white light began to appear, and it wasn't long before distant sounding screams began to reach him. He reacted immediately to the sights and sounds, setting off the house alarms and sending the staff of Kuchiki Manor and the nearby Kuchiki subfamilies into motion.

Almost immediately, people began to stream out of the buildings, their faces set and grim, but still managing to maintain calm. Each person carried a survival pack over one shoulder, and everyone, down to the smallest child knew to move swiftly and silently along the prepared path.

Flash steps sounded around Tetsuya and two attendants appeared, followed by another Kuchiki cousin dressed in black and possessing even blacker eyes. But where that man's presence near Tetsuya would once have caused both men to stiffen and become wary, faced with the dreaded approach of an enemy aimed at their throats, the two forgot for the moment their longtime differences and took defensive positions together.

"Tetsuya-san," the elder attendant said in a calm, but slightly shaken tone, "the way has been opened. All subfamilies have responded and begun their evacuation."

"Thank you, Torio," Tetsuya answered, nodding briefly, "Koji, did you make contact with my father?"

"Yes, Tetsuya-san," the younger attendant replied, "Sadao reported that his subfamily and your mother and elder sister are being evacuated now. Your younger sister was recalled to her fighting unit and has reached the gathering point safely."

"Very well. Orochi, what word did you receive from the Noble's General Council?"

There was a moment of silence, then Kuchiki Orochi's answer rose darkly against the approaching sounds of battle.

"The communication line opened for a moment," the black-eyed man reported, "but then it was cut off. Almost immediately, we received signs of multiple deaths occurring in that place...meaning..."

"The council hall took a direct hit," Tetsuya whispered disbelievingly, "There wasn't even time for the councilors there to evacuate."

"It is clear," Orochi went on, "This isn't just a war aimed at the Gotei 13. This enemy is also taking aim on the noble families directly. Several of the enemy pillars of light were strategically placed near our homes. And I think you'll agree with me that the strike on the council hall was no coincidence. They were going for the throat, as it were. They expected that taking out as many of our leaders like that as they could would leave the noble families in disarray. And Tetsuya, you are aware that some of the other families were skeptical when Byakuya went before the council and warned them they needed to take precautions and prepare for mass evacuations."

Tetsuya nodded briefly in acknowledgment.

"There are going to be a lot of needless deaths today," he breathed unhappily.

"We should go," Orochi urged him, "before we find ourselves among them."

The four left the hilltop from which they had been watching and proceeded almost silently along the hidden pathway, leaving behind them a scattering of mixed signs to confuse any pursuing soldiers. The sounds of distant screams and rumbles of heavy impacts sent shards of distress through the four as they closed in on the crossover point into the protected area. They had almost reached it when all four suddenly stiffened and each touched a reactive hand to his heart. Their faces paled and their eyes darkened and rounded as the strong pulse of Kuchiki Byakuya's powerful reiatsu flared up almost blindingly, then crashed down and began almost immediately to fade.

"Byakuya-sama!" screamed Tetsuya, starting to flash step, but stopped as Orochi's hand wrapped around one slender wrist.

"Tetsuya, no!" Orochi hissed, "We have to get to the evacuation area. Those were his orders. You know that!"

"Let go of me!" Tetsuya cried, throwing his cousin's hand off and disappearing before he could object again.

"Tetsuya-san!" the attendants called after him, starting to follow.

"Stop!" Orochi commanded them, freezing the two in place, "Let him go. Our job is to protect the subfamilies. We cannot leave them unprotected!"

"But Tetsuya-san!" the younger attendant objected.

"He will be all right," Orochi said, inwardly not nearly so convinced that he would, "In any case, he is our leader's bodyguard. He will confirm what we all just felt. Then, he will return to us. Come now, we have to lay the final seal around the refuge."

The two attendants looked as though they wanted to object, but they followed as their elder cousin led them away into the forest.

In the distance, Tetsuya flash stepped at blinding speed, his mind focused on reaching the Kuchiki clan leader. As he ran, some of the panic left his veins and he regained enough cognizance to mask his presence by invoking his shikai. Slowly, his body faded into translucence, making him nearly invisible and allowing him to bypass the thickening lines of enemy soldiers now marching on the Seireitei military points and the noble homes.

Kami, the young man mused dazedly, this enemy knew exactly how to strike us. Even as prepared as we were for trouble, I don't think we imagined it would be like this. How did they invade so swiftly? They are all around us now.

His heart thudded painfully in his chest as the facts of the situation converged on his besieged mind.

There is nothing we will be able to do. The Seireitei is going to fall!

The thought nearly unhinged him, but accepting inwardly that the situation was devastating, he refocused on the one thing left that mattered most to him.

"Byakuya-sama," he whispered, "I am coming for you!"

He was forced to slow somewhat as the rural land gave way to the beginning of the central Seireitei, and Tetsuya's breath caught at the horrifying sight of tumbled buildings, raging fires, and clusters of shinigamis engaging an overwhelming number of quincy foot soldiers. He swallowed hard, knowing how little chance they stood of surviving, but he knew that if he paused to make an attack, himself, he would be sensed and intercepted by quincy elite fighters before he could reach his fallen cousin's side. As it was, he had to skirt the edges of the battlefield to avoid several powerful reiatsus that marked enemies strong enough to delay him.

Tetsuya angled around them carefully, honing in on Byakuya's dangerously weakened reiatsu and using the shattered remains of the structures around him for cover. He closed in on Byakuya's position, feeling a chill run down his spine as Abarai Renji's agonized howl reached him.

"Taicho!" he screamed.

Tetsuya heard the clashing of arms and caught sight of the fighters ahead of him. Byakuya was barely visible and surrounded in a sea of his own swirling petals as Renji's mind broke in desperation.

"An animal like you isn't worthy of using Senbonzakura!" he screamed, "S-stop! Sto-o-op! Ban...!"

Renji's voice stopped suddenly as a dark form exploded from nowhere, smashing into the stunned redhead and sending him crashing through what buildings were left standing, then he disappeared entirely into the cloud of dust that kicked up around the path his body had taken.

Byakuya's body was driven back against a barely standing pillar and plunged deeply into it, making an explosion of fire, blood and wildly spinning petals all around as Tetsuya forgot caution and flash stepped towards his cousin.

"Byakuya-sama!" he sobbed, oblivious to the danger around him as he reached the trapped noble and watched his sword shatter.

Byakuya lost consciousness before registering his cousin's presence and Tetsuya moved towards him, calling his name again more softly as the dust around them cleared and he could see clearly the clan leader's horrid injuries. He reached out a hand and touched Byakuya's bloodied face gently. The clan leader's eyelids moved sluggishly as he tried to respond, but all he could manage was to catch a glimpse of Tetsuya's devastated expression and a flash of his dark blue house guard's uniform, before succumbing to darkness again.

"I'll get you out of here," Tetsuya whispered, starting to step forward.

He froze a moment later, terror numbing his mind as an arm curled around him from behind and a cold hand covered his mouth.

"How very careless of you, not even waiting until we were gone to reveal yourself," his enemy said reprovingly, "I assure you, young noble, you are about to pay dearly for your recklessness!"

The one holding him screamed in pain and fury as Tetsuya's teeth sank into his hand and the noble pulled free of him, starting to draw his sword. But as the scream ended, the white clad man began to laugh, and Tetsuya felt his body freeze in place.

"Foolish, foolish shinigami!" the quincy chided him, "I give you credit for your resourcefulness, of course, but drawing my blood was a poor decision. You feel it, don't you? You see, my power is not only present in my thorns, it permeates my body and it fills my blood. By drawing my blood and letting it touch you, you have poisoned yourself with my fear."

Tetsuya struggled to release his shikai, but found his mind overtaken with stark, horrifying images that raked him repeatedly, burning down inside him until he couldn't bear the intensity. Memories of imprisonment he had suffered as a child returned to him and battered his heart relentlessly, while the scene of Byakuya's defeat at the quincy's foul hands played out repeatedly until Tetsuya collapsed onto his knees, loosing peals of terrified shrieks and covering his tearstained face in desperation.

"You can't escape it that way," the quincy said, approaching him slowly, "And I do regret that you appear to have been strong enough to survive that direct exposure to my blood. Most would have died, even before the worst of the fear could strike them. You were his protector, then, ne?"

Tetsuya quivered under his touch as As Nodt wrapped an arm around him and dragged him to his feet again.

"A powerful noble close to the dead clan leader," the quincy mused, "You could be useful later on. Or at least, you could amuse me for a while before I kill you."

He sent a powerful jolt of reiatsu through his hands and into Tetsuya's shuddering form and the noble went limp in his arms. As Nodt lifted Tetsuya and turned back to the others who had joined him.

"What are you going to do with him?" Mask de Masculine asked, scratching his head and studying the unconscious shinigami, "Why didn't you just kill him?"

"He's not a leader," As Nodt explained, "but he is close to one and will have information we will need to track down and destroy the noble families. You heard that most of the families had already fled their homes before we arrived, ne?"

"Yeah, but...?"

"Someone has to know where all of those bastards went and hid themselves. His majesty wants the noble families destroyed. He will be pleased when we are the ones who accomplish that for him."

"Ah, I see. Are you gonna take him to the cellblock then, for torture?"

As Nodt looked down at Tetsuya's tormented, but still comely face and shook his head.

"I will put him in my quarters. I don't want anyone stealing him and extracting the information before I do!"

"Huh, I guess that makes sense."

Mask looked around, then glanced back at his slim companion.

"Well, I'm gonna go and hunt some more shinigamis."

"You do that, simpleton," As Nodt muttered, using his hirenkyaku to take him swiftly back to the crossover point between the Seireitei and the shadow realm the quincies had emerged from.

He carried his unconscious hostage back to the palace and laid Tetsuya in his own bed, blindfolding, gagging and carefully restraining him. Then he laid a bright white barrier around the noble and stepped back, nodding approvingly.

"You should be safe here for now," he said, smirking, "I would begin interrogating you right away, but I sense our leader is about to meet theirs. Farewell, young Kuchiki. I will return to you soon."

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Orochi moved swiftly to meet the two attendants who approached, his black eyes intense as he regarded them.

"What is the news from the Noble's General Council Hall?" he asked sternly.

"Th-there were many deaths there," reported a white-faced Torio, working to catch his breath, "More than half of the councilors were lost in the initial explosion, when the quincy pillar came down and impacted the building directly."

"Damn it..."

"Head Elder Nori has returned, "Torio went on, "along with a few injured councilors he was able to rescue."

"And what of our clan leader?" Orochi asked an equally distressed looking Koji, "Byakuya-sama fell in battle, and I could not reach him because of enemies moving in the area," Koji reported, "I did hear that the shinigami substitute, Kurosaki Ichigo is coming. But...there is something else."

"What?" Orochi demanded, "Well?"

"It is Tetsuya-san, sir," Koji said, tears leaking onto his face.

"What about him?" Orochi asked darkly, "What happened to him?"

"He reached Byakuya-sama, but..."

Koji paused, a devastated sob escaping him.

"But what, you fool!" Orochi demanded, "What happened?"

"He was c-captured!" Koji sobbed, crumbling to his knees at his cousin's feet, "The one that defeated Byakuya-sama injured Tetsuya-san, then knocked him unconscious and took him as a hostage!"

Torio knelt next to his distraught brother, slipping an arm around him and guiding him away, leaving Orochi standing and looking out through the barrier at the burning Seireitei.

"You unbelievable fool," he said softly, a hint of regret in his eyes, "I told you that your devotion to that peasant loving leader of ours would only get you killed. But this is worse than death, isn't it, Tetsuya? For you, capture means you would be better off if they had just killed you."

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He gave me no answer, Byakuya thought numbly, gazing in the direction that Ichigo had gone, but it is all right. That is just how he is. Even if you don't answer, I know...

I leave it to you, Kurosaki Ichigo.

The words, even spoken only in his mind were like the release of a great weight. He wondered as the last of his strength seeped away and his legs began to collapse how long he had carried that weight. The question started in the back of his mind, then blossomed and grew larger and louder as he slid to the ground and heard the warning crack of Senbonzakura's hilt as it shattered.

Yes, whispered a darker voice in the back of his mind, fear is a weight you have carried for too long.

Byakuya could register just enough feeling to know that he had fallen to the ground and that rain was coming down, adding to the weight of his blood-soaked haori and running along the tumbled strands of blood spattered raven hair. His skin stung as the water ran in rivulets along his exposed skin, teasing cuts that numbered so many that he wondered that he was still in one piece.

So many hurts on my body, he mused.

Now it matches your heart, ne? that darker voice hissed.

Who are you? Byakuya wondered, his mind spinning as he tried to remain conscious.

But the cold around him, the touches of rain, even the hurts from his battle were seeping away with his blood. And it wasn't just his body that felt empty. His heart was a drained and useless chamber that had lost its beat.

I really am dying, he mused silently.

Undone by fear and now dying lonely, whispered that other voice, What a sad fate, Byakuya. But, even though you are going to die, I promise you, you will not be alone. I am still in possession of a part of your soul.

A feeling like ice passed through the fallen shinigami's core.

As Nodt? Even now? But...I suppose that makes sense. I felt his reiatsu enter my body. It found its way into my heart and emptied it of everything else. A last cruelty to spend my final moments being tormented by the one who finally killed me?

He thought he heard voices around him and registered his body being carefully lifted. He might have made a sound of pain as the arriving healers moved him, but then something stung his skin and he sank down into a more comfortable darkness. He could tell that his body was inhaling and exhaling, but he knew that the state he was in was precarious and that it was unlikely he would survive. And as he continued to float in and out of awareness, he heard a male voice confirm his fears.

You can't heal him. You can't, so I will.

He drifted out again, his only awareness an impression of icy hands clasping him and holding him against a body that held no warmth. Then, his injured and dying body splashed down into hot water, and he wondered if he had only imagined those icy cold hands. But then an equally icy voice sounded in defiance.

I am not letting you go. You are mine now.