Hello, this is chapter two, you get a small glimpse as to what Alex is like and how he operates. I hope to make his character interesting. Hope you enjoy it.

The captains walked out of the hall, muttering amongst themselves. Most left as soon as they could, heading back to their barracks with the lieutenants in tow, but some stayed behind to talk and congratulate the new additions to the captain team. Of these was Sui-Feng, but from the look on her face she wasn't there to congratulate anybody.

"She does not look happy…" Ichigo commented, seeing the Commander-in-Chief of the stealth force heading towards them. Alex turned around to look and raised an eyebrow when he saw her face. He turned back to the group of captains, ignoring the fact that Sui-Feng's gaze was aimed at him.

"Nope, not happy at all, I wonder why?" he said, a small smile creeping up his face. Without warning she flash-stepped forwards, towards Alex, intending to hit him on the in the side of his jaw. Alex didn't even flinch and caught her fist in his right hand, not even bothering to turn to fully face her.

"Hello captain, that wasn't very nice" he turned his head to look at her, smiling slightly, humour in his eyes. They seemed to have a staring contest, Sui-Feng lost.

"I just wanted to see how strong you actually are, the Head-Captain and the other senior captains seem to know all about you and your capabilities, where as I, and most of the others don't even know who you are, we've only just learnt about your existence" she pulled her hand out of his grasp and rubbed it, it had turned slightly red where it had collided with his palm. She looked at him, trying to see what was so impressive about him, the thing that made the Head-Captain choose him as the captain of squad five. As Aizen's replacement.

"If you really wanted to know you could have just asked instead of launching a surprise attack, other people could take offense at being randomly attacked by someone that's meant to be on their side, but, I'll let you off, just this once. Please don't make a habit out of it though" Alex's voice interrupted her thoughts, she looked at him, seeing humour in his eyes

"It didn't really seem to surprise you" she countered, still not sure how to take this new captain. The others watched this exchange in interest, none of those present really knew anything about the new captain, his powers were a mystery, his past an even bigger one. Alex openly laughed at her comment. It was a light and cheerful sound and it filled the area around them.

"True enough, I expected something like this from someone, and you were the key person that I had in mind who would try it." She gave him a suspicious look, her eyes narrowed. He spoke like he knew her and what she was like. She gave him one last look and flash-stepped away, leaving amused looks on the faces of the group of captains that were still around. Kyoraku, Unohana and Ukitake shared a smile between one another, that was just like Sui-Feng to do that, and Alex's reaction was just like they'd expected.

"So, Ichigo, what are you doing about your family, I don't remember seeing them come with you, and now you're a captain you won't be living in the world of the living?" Rukia turned to her friend, knowing that the most important thing to Ichigo was his family. Wondering why he has chosen to leave them.

"Well, in truth this wasn't really what I wanted to do, I'd love to stay with my family but that would just put them in danger. With a spiritual pressure like mine it just isn't safe for me to be around them anymore" he smiled sadly, knowing what his appointment meant "I'm more use here anyway, I'll still be able to visit them so it's not like I'm never going to see them ever again" Rukia looked at him with thoughtful eyes, this was a different Ichigo, a more mature and responsible one. She smiled an evil smile at him.

"You know, now that you're a captain it means that you've got paperwork to do, and if I'm not mistaken you'll have a pile waiting for you right now" Ichigo's face dropped and his eyes widened.

"Can't I just not do it?" he asked and got rewarded with a kick to the stomach as a result. He dropped to the ground, gasping. "I'm… pretty… sure that… you can't… kick a captain…" he said in gasping breaths. He rose and gave Rukia a death stare.

"Well you shouldn't be such an idiot then! You have to do the paperwork! It's part of being a captain! Get used to it idiot!" She kicked him again, this time in the shin, making him hop around.

"Okay! Okay! I'll do the stupid paperwork! Why do you always have to kick me? It hurts you know!" he glared at her while she looked very pleased with herself. She stuck her tongue out at him and turned to Jushiro

"We should probably leave now captain, I've got some of my own paperwork to do" he nodded at her

"Yes, as do I" he smiled at her, knowing that his lieutenant wanted to get the work done so she could spend some time with the former Substitute Soul Reaper, making sure that he was settling in well, she didn't want him to feel lonely without his family. She looked up sharply and shook her head

"No, what you have to do is rest" Jushiro raised an eyebrow

"But…"

"No buts captain" she interrupted "you're going to rest when we get back to the barracks, and nothing else, just listen to your orders" she smiled at him, knowing that her captain wouldn't refuse her. Jushiro laughed at his lieutenant.

"Okay then Ma'am, I best do as I'm told" he turned to the others around him "otherwise I might get kicked like Captain Kurosaki here" everyone laughed at this comment and Rukia's face turned a deep red colour. Jushiro turned and started to walk away in the direction of Squad Thirteen's barracks, waving goodbye at the others. Soon after most of the remaining captains departed, leaving only Alex. He glanced up into the sky, smiling. 'It's been a while since I've had the command of a squad, now I've got two. On top of that I don't know how either of them will react to me, well, only time will tell.' He thought 'it's good to be back though'

"Erm, captain, sir" a small, timid voice cut through his thoughts. He turned to see Momo Hinamori, now his lieutenant, he smiled at her but silently scolded himself for not noticing her sooner, she wasn't there for his confrontation with Sui-Feng but there was no telling how long she had been stood behind him while he was lost in thought.

"Yes Lieutenant" he replied cheerfully with a goofy grin on his face "What is it?"

"Well, the squad will probably want to meet you captain, they'll be in the barracks more than likely eating at the moment, if we want to catch them all together we should go now" she looked at him expectantly. Not sure what to think of this new captain, she wasn't sure if she even wanted to try to like him. Would anyone be able to live up to Aizen?

"Okay then, let's go!" Alex set off walking down one of the many streets, practically skipping.

"Erm, Captain! " Alex turned around, a question in his eyes "It's this way" she said, indicating to the path opposite to the one that Alex had taken. 'My god, he's an idiot' Momo thought, sighing inwardly, trying not to let her feelings show on her face.

Squad 5 Barracks

Momo walked into the eating area for the squad, going up the step to the higher level which was made to seat the higher seated officers. Most of the squad was there, laughter rang out from different pockets of people, making the atmosphere bright and cheerful. Everyone was at ease, relaxed after a morning of training. Some looked up when the lieutenant entered, noting that it was just Momo they turned back to their separate conversations.

"Hi guys" Momo called out an informal greeting to the squad whilst looking around to note who was and wasn't there.

"Good afternoon Lieutenant" the squad replied, they were all fond of Momo because of her devotion not only to the squad but also to the individuals within. When she had healed after the final battle with Aizen she had thrown herself back into the squad, working non-stop to try and get the squads reputation back to what it used to be.

"Yeah, good afternoon" she came to the edge of the raised platform, making sure that all could see her clearly, everyone's attention was now on the lieutenant. "As you know we've been without a captain for a while now, not since…" she stopped herself, she still couldn't bring herself to say Aizen's name "well, that changed today, as most of us suspected all the three vacant captains spots have been filled…" there was a sudden thud followed by a cry, all heads snapped over to the entrance where the sound had come from. On the floor the squad was amazed to see someone in a white haori, specifically the one that had the number five on it.

"Ouch" Alex stood, rubbing his forehead which had started to turn red. He looked at the step like it was a hostile enemy "Well, there should really be a sign saying that there's a step there" he muttered to himself "I mean, that would stop people from tripping up, it's just plain dangerous." He turned, as if suddenly aware that all eyes were on him. "Hello! I'm Captain Gabriel, the new captain of this squad, it's wonderful to see you all!" he waved idiotically, a large smile on his face. Confusion swept across the room, confusion and astonishment. "Don't mind me! Carry on eating!" with that he started walking out, falling down the step this time, he practically crawled out muttering to himself about putting a sign up to warn people about that step.

Momo stood, astounded by what she'd just seen, blinking her eyes uncomprehendingly, not believing what she'd just witnessed. Discontented murmurings spread around the squad members.

"Is HE really a captain?"

"How can HE be our new captain? I've never even seen him before, or heard of him. Is this a joke lieutenant? It has to be!" Momo turned to the speaker with weary and tired eyes and sighed deeply

"No, this is not a joke, he is our captain now and all of you will treat him as such. Is that clear?" the muttering still spread across the room, the squad was not happy, they were making this completely clear but most of them also now fidgeted uncomfortably. They didn't want to go against Momo, she was probably taking this harder than anyone else but she was putting on a brave face for the squad.

Alex smiled from the other side of the wall. He felt a small pang of guilt putting the squad and especially Momo through this but he needed to assess what they were capable of and all the strengths and weaknesses. Not just of the squad but of the individuals, to do that he couldn't be a strong captain to them. It was a necessity, admittedly a very harsh one, but one all the same.

Squad 9 Barracks

Ichigo looked out at all soul reapers gathered in front of him, silently assessing them. He turned to Shuhei

"Is this everyone?" he asked, his haori flapped in the wind, he was still getting used to the feel of it, it felt strange to add something onto his uniform. He still couldn't get used to the fact that whenever he passed someone the normally went onto one knee or bow to him, it was just weird. Shuhei nodded.

"Yes Captain, it is" he smiled inwardly, they couldn't have gotten a better captain for their squad, a person that is all about protecting people and defending the weaker. As a squad that is tasked with the security of the Court Guard Squads and the Seireitei Ichigo and his ideals will fit in perfectly. Shuhei hoped that with Ichigo they could take this squad to new heights. Ichigo nodded to Shuhei, who stepped forwards to address the squad.

"Squad, as you may have noticed we finally have a new captain, one that I'm sure that you all know by his reputation" he didn't waste time with a greeting, with his bit said he stepped back, allowing Ichigo to take the centre of the squad's attention. He looked around once again, taking in all the faces of the people now under his command.

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki and I am your captain." It was a simple statement but it brought smiles on the faces of some soul reapers. Both parts of that introduction were completely unneeded, pretty much everyone knew about Ichigo Kurosaki, the Substitute Soul Reaper that invaded the Seireitei in order to save Rukia Kuchiki. Being tasked with the defence of the Seireitei some had fought against Ichigo, or at least tried to.

"I know many of you have heard of me, some of you have met me. I'm just going to lay down what I expect from you and my ideals, this way you should know how I work and what I believe in." the members of squad nine nodded, listening intently in order to ensure that they caught every word

"There has only ever been one reason that I fight, from my very first time as a soul reaper to now that reason has never changed, and it never will. That reason is to protect. Plain and simple, when I came to this world for the first time it was for that reason, when I fought Aizen it was for that reason." His voice easily reached the furthest Shinigami, all of them were drawn in by this new captain, his reason for fighting resonated with many of them for it was the reason that they joined squad nine.

"To protect you must be strong, I will make you strong, stronger than you have ever been before to insure that you can protect, to make sure that you can defend what you hold dear. But you must work with me, will you do that?" he directed the question out to all the soul reapers.

"YES CAPTAIN!" the squad replied as one, the sound of the answer rang out causing Ichigo and Shuhei to smile and nod. Ichigo turned to his lieutenant.

"We have a good squad, you've kept them in good shape"

"I can't take all the credit, they must have some of it, they wanted to get better after the former captain's defection in order to prove to everyone else that they were still strong and devoted to the 13 Court Guard Squads" Ichigo's ever present scowl had lifted for once, he smiled.

"Still, you must take some credit, it's good that I got this squad, it seems like the Old Man knew what he was doing when he placed me here, it think I'm going to settle in nicely" he turned back to the squad with a faint smile.

"Be here at 7:15 tomorrow morning, then I'll see what you guys can really do" with what he wanted to say said, he turned and walked away, leaving his squad impressed by their new captain.

Well, that's chapter two done, we're getting to the main story now. In the next chapter Alex's shikai will be revealed and the plot will thicken. Please review or private message if you want.