Deleted Scene from The Scarlet Creation

A/N: I have written many AiHime scenes for several of my stories where Aizen is pure villain and he attacks, captures, tricks, or seduces Orihime in various ways. Recently, I had a request from Flare-Flare to post some of these unpublished or hard-to-find villain/innocent scenes as part of a drabble series. She said she thought many people would find them worth reading, so I am posting this one here as an experiment. Please let me know what you think!

Note: There will be no rape in any of these scenes (although there will likely be threats).

Chapter Notes: This is a deleted AiHime scene from my IchiHime AU, The Scarlet Creation. The story is based on the plot line of the James Bond story Thunderball. It is a complete AU with all Bleach characters as ordinary humans. This scene takes place on board Aizen's ship, the Las Noches.

Chapter Warnings: This is a fairly dark chapter. Obviously, some OOCness as all the nakama are adults and this entire story is a very different world, culturally, than Bleach. Aizen is pure villain in this story, more evil than I usually write him and a complete antagonist. So he may be seen as OOC. Orihime is darker in this story because of events that have transpired in her life.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach by Tite Kubo, or Thunderball, On His Majesty's Secret Service, or James Bond by Ian Fleming. All characters are 18 or older in this story.

(Originally posted 6/2/2013.)

XxXxXxX

The door of the cabin clicked open softly and Orihime heard quiet footfalls entering the room. She turned her face away, obstinately. She did not move as the bed dipped under the weight of someone who sat at its edge.

She had been secured by wrists and ankles to the large bed, heavy iron chains run through the metal loops on the bedframe that she had so naïvely assumed were there for decoration. Thick metal cuffs encircled each of her limbs, preventing any attempt at escape. She had cried a little earlier, but now her eyes were dry.

"My dear Orihime," came the silky voice. She stiffened and squeezed her eyes shut. She felt a hand delicately running over her body, stroking her intimately through the semi-transparent robe she wore. Rather than arousal, she felt nothing but hatred… and shame. The voice sharpened. "Look at me." Long, cool fingers gripped her jaw roughly and wrenched her head sideways.

Aizen's brown eyes were glittering with what could have been either rage or excitement, and there were two spots of color in his cheeks.

Orihime firmed her lips defiantly. "So not everything is going according to plan?" she mocked.

He struck faster than an adder, a stinging slap across her cheek that yanked her whole body against the restraints, causing the metal cuff to cut painfully into her left wrist. He caught his breath and hissed, "You would do well not to taunt the man who holds your life in his hands." Although his face was outwardly calm as usual, his eyes were burning with an emotion – or madness – she had never seen before.

Ignoring the pain, she lifted one shoulder in an attempt at a careless shrug. "It does not matter if I live or die. You blackmailed my brother and forced him into your schemes, and then killed him. My life is worth nothing without him."

He raised his eyebrows in apparent surprise. "From whence did you obtain that information? And how certain are you of its veracity?" Suddenly, calm flowed across his face and she could see his entire body relax. His voice gentled, and she could see the old warmth in his eyes, the warmth and kindness that had led her to fall so hard for him. "Oh, my dear, is that what caused you to turn on me?" He sagged and scrubbed a hand across his face. The elegant voice was low and resonant. "I am so, so sorry."

Her bewilderment must have shown in her face, because he heaved a long sigh before turning to face her more fully. "Orihime, I admit that I was not completely honest with you about my business." He gave a rueful chuckle. "And I admit that the methods I have been forced to use are not always as savory as I would like them to be."

She glared at him. "Don't bother lying to me anymore."

His eyes were wide and sorrowful. "Yes," he said quietly, "I know I deserve your distrust, because I have indeed lied. But I thought you were always aware that it was your brother who initiated our business deal." At Orihime's involuntary snort of disbelief, he continued, "Yes." His voice was urgent. "Let this be evidence of my good faith."

He drew a small key out of his pocket and began unlocking her cuffs. She sat up, rubbing her wrists, her eyes darting around the room as escape plans flitted through her mind. She knew he was extremely strong and in top physical shape, but now that she was unbound, perhaps his attention would lapse for a moment and there would be an opportunity for her to run.

Aizen was continuing, his voice low and sincere. "It was several months ago that Sora Inoue approached one of my agents on the NATO base, implying that he needed money desperately and was willing to do anything." His brown eyes lifted to meet hers. "He informed my employee that he was worried about his sister and that he lacked the financial wherewithal to keep her in the state to which she had become accustomed."

Orihime drew back in shock. He couldn't be telling the truth, could he? Yet, she could easily see Sora doing something so misguided and foolish. He had even admitted to her once that he would "lie, cheat, or steal" in order to obtain the money to take care of her. She had laughed, thinking he was joking, and insisted that she could take care of herself.

Aizen was continuing, "My agent passed it up the chain of command that we had a willing pilot, and that his price was ten million dollars." At Orihime's sharp intake of breath, his brows climbed again. "It is not an unreasonable price to steal a NATO aircraft."

Orihime turned her head away, her insides twisting in agony. Could Sora truly have made such a devil's bargain? "He would never have done it, knowing how many lives you were threatening. Sora would never hurt a fly."

"What lies have you been told?" Aizen's voice held a note of genuine shock. "Were you not informed that the plan was to steal an aircraft and hold it for ransom? No lives are at risk."

She turned back and stared at him. "You stole the nuclear weapons on the plane and are planning to send them against civilian targets. Thousands—no, millions of people will die if you carry out your plan. Don't lie to me anymore."

But Aizen was shaking his head, obvious distress written all over his face. "No, no. I am a crook, it is true, and I will not say that there is no blood on my hands. But I would never –" his voice rose, "never set loose nuclear weapons upon this world. That is an atrocity even I would not commit. No, what happened was this. My people made a deal with Sora Inoue to steal the aircraft for ten million dollars. In return, we were to give him false documents so that he could hide in South America." His eyebrows lifted again. "Documents, if I may add, for himself and a young woman."

Orihime stared at him, unable to look away. "But then –" her voice trailed away.

Aizen eyed her carefully. "What went wrong is that your brother became greedy. On the eve of the journey, he demanded not ten but twenty million dollars. My agent agreed to this sudden demand, not wanting to disrupt the plan at such a late date. But then after your brother landed the aircraft at its destination, my man gave him only the original amount. Incensed, your brother threatened to expose the entire operation." He sat back, looking at her through calm brown eyes. "My agent made a judgment call which I cannot blame him for. When your brother pulled out a gun, my man shot him."

Orihime sat, stunned, unable to comprehend this very different view of events. Her mind whirled. Could Ichigo have been lying? Or simply mistaken? Her eyes met Aizen's. His expression was open and oddly vulnerable.

She put her head in her hands. Could Sora have truly been so venal, so desperate? If so – her heart sank – it was all her fault. She felt the core of defiance within her unravel and tears began to flood her hands.

Aizen was stroking her back comfortingly with a warm hand, making soft noises of reassurance in his throat, as her body shook, racked with sobs.

"Now," Aizen was saying, his voice soft but holding a note of wounded indignation, "can you please tell me who told you all these lies? What kind of twisted game are they playing?"

Orihime raised her head, and then hesitated. She thought once more of Ichigo, and doubt bloomed in her mind. He had at first pretended to be someone he wasn't. Her thoughts darted to that morning on the beach. He hadn't even told her the truth before she gave herself to him. Then she glanced uncertainly at Aizen. She had seen before how persuasive he was, how elegantly his silver tongue curled around the smoothest of lies.

She opened her mouth – but just then there was a sharp rapping upon the door.

A flicker of annoyance crossed Aizen's face, and then he called out in his smooth voice, "Yes?"

"Aizen-sama," came the voice from outside the door, "we have a situation we need you to address." Orihime stiffened at the sound of the voice. It was that man Nnoitra. Suddenly realization came flooding back into her. She had seen the people working in Ichigo's employ: honest, hard-working, brave, perhaps rough around the edges but with a core of goodness. On the other hand, she knew the type of men Aizen employed: brutal sadists and coldhearted killers. The spell Aizen had been weaving around her with his honeyed voice tattered into pieces as once again all the facts fell into place.

Her face hardened. "I'll tell you nothing."

Aizen gave a long drawn-out sigh. "Then I regret to say that I'll have to put you in restraints once more." He stood and looked down upon her with what appeared to be deep sorrow in his eyes. He strode across the door and flung it open. "Enter," he commanded harshly. He jerked his thumb at Orihime on the bed. "Restrain her, and at the same time inform me what is so urgent that you interrupt my interrogation."

Nnoitra hurried over, pushed her down casually with one hand, and then leaned over, his body half draped over hers as he reached for the chains. His rank scent filled her nostrils and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. Then he was brutally clapping the cuffs on her wrists and ankles once more. She resisted, but his strength was like iron and there was no chance of escape.

"Sir, it appears that several aircraft and submarines have been scrambled in this direction. The others want to know if you're going to advance the schedule." He finished locking the cuffs and pushed himself off the bed with a final leer at Orihime.

"I see." Aizen's voice was cold, colder than she had ever heard it. "Yes. We advance the schedule. Call a full staff meeting for five minutes from now."

"At once, Aizen-sama." The lanky man spun and hurried from the cabin.

Alone with Aizen once more, Orihime shivered at the ice in his eyes.

"Too bad," he said in that light voice she hated. "I had thought this could be much more pleasant." He sat down upon the bed once more. "Now, I'm afraid it will only be enjoyable for me." His eyes were glittering again. He ran a hand down her body and she found herself twitching. "You and I have never truly explored the effect of pain on the sexual experience," he said with a beguiling smile, and she shuddered. "Have I told you about certain of my past lovers?" He raised his eyebrows, and she thought she had never seen a face more evil. "I grow bored so easily, you see, and I find I require increasing levels of stimulation to keep myself entertained."

Orihime glared, and from somewhere deep within she found the courage to respond. "Well," she replied tartly, "if you find that you require extreme measures to be able to perform, that is truly a pity. I hear they have pills for that now."

His eyes narrowed, but then he chuckled. "Fiery and spirited to the last. I knew I chose well. Ah, but wait till you hear what I have planned for you." He trailed a finger along her jaw line and down her throat. "Pain." His hand closed on her nipple through the thin fabric of the robe and pinched brutally. She could not keep herself from crying out. His eyes lit with pleasure. "Anguish such as you have never dreamed of, even in your worst nightmares." He bent and whispered in her ear, his breath stroking her earlobe. "Torments that will make you beg me to allow you to speak; you will babble out whatever secrets I desire, and more…" She felt him draw back abruptly and then there was a lancing agony in her earlobe: he had bitten it hard enough to draw blood. She felt the wetness pulse out over her neck as she gasped, trying with all her might not to cry out again, not to give him the satisfaction.

He had drawn back to watch her face. "But that is not all," he murmured. "I have discovered the ultimate in sexual pleasure – for me, that is," he explained. "Would you like me to share the secret with you?" He smiled, his eyes lidded with a dark sensuality, an edge of insane greed lining his mouth, and she pulled back as far as the restraints would allow her. "It is this: after I have brought you to the brink of both pain and pleasure, I will have an ingenious little device fitted about your neck." His fingers traced her throat lightly. "As we engage in…carnal delight together, I will set it to slowly, automatically tighten."

Orihime stared at him in absolute horror. "You're sick," she spat through bloodless lips. "Completely mad."

His eyes gleamed with an unholy light. "I have gone beyond such pedestrian labels. I am above human ethics and morals, far above. Soon all the world will fall at my feet."

Orihime shook her head vigorously. "Never!"

"Ah." He stood up. "You are indeed fortunate to have been chosen by the one who will rule your world. After my plans reach their successful conclusion within the next 24 hours, no one will be able to stand against me. You have a great deal to look forward to, my dear, although it will be for a very short, but very intense, period of time. Now, I am sorry we cannot continue this most enjoyable chat, but I have much to do." And with that he had departed the cabin, leaving behind only a slight breeze as the cabin door clicked shut behind him.