"Let me go! You fucker, I need to get back out there! I need to-"
"Jeagerjaques-taichou, please, calm down…" Kurosaki Yuzu, now fifteen years old, stood blocking the door that lead out of Urahara's shop. She held her hands up, trying to be pacifying. Grimmjow struggled against the hold of Karin and Jinta, badly injured with half his face covered in blood. Despite his obviously weakened state, Karin and Jinta were panting and sweating trying to hold him back.
"Calm down? Calm down! Fucking Tiamut is out there beat up as hell and you want me to clam down?" Grimmjow demanded, continuing to struggle. "If I can just get to her-"
"You will be in the same situation she is."
Grimmjow paused, but Karin and Jinta didn't relax quite yet. Yuzu looked over the taller man's shoulder.
"Ulquiorra-fukutaichou…" she said in surprise. Ulquiorra stepped into the room, and Grimmjow didn't move an inch. The dark-haired man put a hand on Grimmjow's shoulder.
"Come back and let me heal your injuries, or you will be of no use to her even if you do manage to find her," he said, then turned and walked back. Grimmjow panted a moment, then straightened slowly. Karin and Jinta tentatively released him. The revizard captain stood a moment, then spat and turned on his heel. When he had left the room for a few moments, the three collectively sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness that's over…" Yuzu said.
"Can you work faster?" Grimmjow complained. Ulquiorra impassively continued healing the taller man's injuries.
"If I work faster, I will wear myself out, and then I won't be able to heal anyone else," he said.
"Like you care," Grimmjow said, looking off to the side. Ulquiorra's eyes flicked up. In a moment, he forced Grimmjow to face him so he could heal the cut on the side of his head.
"Kurosaki does," Ulquiorra said without a hint of inflection. Grimmjow flinched, then sighed.
"You don't have to heal all of them, I've had worse," he said.
"I am aware," Ulquiorra said. "I haven't been healing all of them."
"Bastard…" Grimmjow said, but it was halfhearted at best. The two flinched when the door to the makeshift medical room was opened. When they saw it was Ichigo, they relaxed.
"I heard about what happened," Kurosaki said. Ulquiorra looked between the two men, then got up and left quietly. Neither seemed to notice.
"… sorry, I guess," Grimmjow said. Ichigo shook his head.
"Don't apologize, I understand," he said. "If it were Yuzu or Karin…"
"Yeah…"
For some long moments, no one spoke.
"So what happened?" Grimmjow asked. Ichigo sighed.
"Aizen was trying to follow Tiamut through the garganta back here. She caught on to it, and Shinji and Urahara tried to redirect it but… it looks like Tiamut had the same idea, and the result caused a flux in the time space, sending her to an unknown location."
"Is that how Urahara put it?" Grimmjow asked. Ichigo sighed again.
"That obvious?"
"If I don't understand it, I doubt you did."
"Well, basically, as Shinji put it, they were trying to move Tiamut from point A to point B. Shinji and Urahara tried to get her to point C, but she tried to force her way out of the garganta to point D. When the paths to points B, C and D hit, it sent her spiraling off to point X."
"Wait… why X?"
"It stands for an unknown variable."
"But I mean, why not E? Doesn't that make more sense?"
"I'm quoting. Taking it up with Shinji if you want."
"Whatever. So… we have no idea where she is?"
"No."
"And she could be out there, all alone, dying, right now?"
"… it's a possibility."
"And you expect me to just sit here?"
"I know it's a lot to ask," Ichigo said. He held up a hand to stop Grimmjow from speaking. "If it were me, I'd be doing the same thing you are. But rushing out without a plan, without even knowing where she is, or how to get there-"
"This is bullshit!" Grimmjow said, jumping to his feet. He glared, and Ichigo met his gaze levelly. "If it were Karin or Yuzu, you'd already be out there searching every damn dimension you could find regardless of whether or not you knew where they were!"
"Grimmjow-"
"No, don't fucking lie to me!" Grimmjow said, grabbing Ichigo by the front of his shihakusho and hauling him to his feet. "Would you or would you not be out there right now?"
"Jeagerjaques-taichou!" Ichigo said, glaring. Grimmjow grit his teeth, then pushed Ichigo away. He made to storm out, throwing the door open. "You are not to leave the shop. That's an order."
"Fuck you," Grimmjow spat, tearing down the hallway. Ichigo sighed, putting a hand to his forehead. He had expected as much, but he had hoped to be wrong just this once.
"Kurosaki."
Ichigo looked to see Ulquiorra standing to one side of the door. Ichigo sighed again, then walked out of the room. Ulquiorra watched him a moment before stepping in and closing the door behind him.
Grimmjow dropped straight through the hole to the underground training facility, ignoring the ladder. He stalked through the camp for the survivors of Aizen's takeover, while everyone tried not to catch his eye.
"Oi, Jeagerjaques-"
"Fuck off," Grimmjow said, brushing past Gin. The shinigami watched him a moment, then sighed and shrugged. The revizard didn't notice, continuing on into the vast underground space. He came to a door in the wall, and jabbed numbers into the keypad next to it.
"Welcome, Jeagerjaques-taichou," it was Urahara's automated voice that came from the keypad. "Where would you like to go?"
"The waterfall," Grimmjow snapped, and after a moment there was a click as the door unlocked.
"When you want to return, simply-"
Grimmjow shut the door, cutting off the rest of the recorded message. He moved to the center of another underground space; this was a smaller dimension tacked on to the one containing Urahara's shop. As they found isolated areas that Aizen hadn't destroyed yet, the shopkeeper and Shinji would add them in in order to preserve them. They were also the only way anyone could train while the camp was in the underground facility.
The revizard glared at the massive waterfall in front of him. The entire space was comprised of a few miles of jungle, with a mid-sized waterfall in the center. Drawing his sword, Grimmjow leap on the rocks to stand directly under the fall's flow. He proceeded to thrash the water by going through various sequences, but it soon dissolved into violent, erratic slashes, most of which hitting the rocks behind the fall.
"We had to convince him to stay, too, you know."
Grimmjow froze, mid-swing, then lowered his sword and turned around. Urahara was smiling behind his fan, sitting on dry rock a few feet down.
"…what?" he asked, panting. Urahara snapped the fan shut.
"We had to convince Ichigo not to leave, either," he said. "He was all gun-ho about going to save Tiamut, giving me and Shinji an earful for it, but it wouldn't do any good, you know?"
"… che," Grimmjow said, sheathing his sword and ignoring the question. Urahara gave his fellow captain an apologetic look.
"People think the worst feeling is failing to do what they want," he said. Grimmjow looked at him sidelong, and Urahara looked into the distance. "But it's not. Being able to do nothing… that is much worse."
"… it's frustrating as hell," Grimmjow said, jumping down next to the older man. Urahara chuckled.
"Well, don't worry. Shinji-taichou and I will have her back as soon as possible," he said. Grimmjow seriously regarded the other man, then sighed.
"I know," he said. "I just-"
"I know," Urahara said. "Do what you can, and try not to think about it."
"… whatever," Grimmjow said, jumping down the waterfall in leaps and bounds. Urahara sighed, then shook his head as he opened his fan again.
"How did I get stuck with so many stubborn kids…?"
Grimmjow returned to the camp completely soaked. He walked through quietly, making his way to his own tent. At the entrance, he paused. He sighed. Then he pushed the flap back and walked in slowly.
"Hey… I'm sorry. Earlier…"
"It's fine."
"No, it's not," Grimmjow said seriously. From where he was looking over paperwork, Ichigo turned to meet his gaze. "I was angry, and I crossed the line."
"Grimmjow, it's fine," Ichigo said, just as serious. "I understand."
"…che," Grimmjow said, then smiled ruefully. "Are we gonna argue about apologies, or are you just gonna shut up and accept mine?"
"… alright, apology accepted," Ichigo said, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he returned to his paperwork. Grimmjow sighed, the smile disappearing. He walked further into the dark tent, specially made to block the light from outside. He sat back to back with Ichigo, and leaned against the other slightly. For a long time, they were quiet.
"Do you think she's ok?" Grimmjow asked. Ichigo paused, sighing so softly it was almost unnoticeable.
"She was raised by you, wasn't she?" he asked.
"That's not an answer."
"I know."
"…can you lie to me?"
"No." Ichigo shifted, and Grimmjow let the leader of the resistance turn. Strong hands wrapped around his waist, and Ichigo rested his forehead against the revizard's back. "But I can tell you the truth. Tiamut is a strong, stubborn as hell woman who won't die until she's good and ready to."
Grimmjow snorted softly, but didn't say anything.
Urahara sighed.
"You weren't expecting to find her in one night, were you?" Akon asked.
"Easy for you to say," Shinji said, frowning. "You don't have two punks kids jumping down your throat."
"I think they'll calm down now," Urahara said, smiling. Shinji rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, until something else goes wrong," he said. He glared at the screen in front of him. "Why did she have to try and fix things herself…?"
"It's in her nature," Urahara replied. "At least she's not here…"
"We don't know if she's somewhere worse," Akon pointed out. Shinji shifted his glare to the one armed lab assistant.
"Aren't you cheery?" the captain said. Akon shrugged.
"I'm realistic," he replied. Urahara chuckled.
"Sometimes being cheery is more important," he said, standing. The other two looked at him. "I'm going get some fresh air."
"If Jeagerjaques or Kurosaki even think about getting close to here, kick their asses out," Shinji said, returning to his screen. Urahara simply pulled out his fan, striding out of the tent housing the remnants of the research department's work. He walked for a few steps before turning to look over his shoulder.
"And if you decide to give us any trouble, I'll just tell Grimmjow you've been sleeping with his sister," he said, smiling. After a moment, Ulquiorra stepped out of the shadows.
"I haven't been," he said, keeping pace with the captain.
"I know that," Urahara said. "It might take Jeagerjaques-taichou sometime to realize it, though."
"… you are an interesting man," Ulquiorra said, face never showing emotion.
"As are you," Urahara replied. "Sulking in the shadows instead of simply asking if we'd found her yet."
"Would you rather I were beating down the door to run off to nowhere?" Ulquiorra asked. Urahara chuckled.
"I suppose not. You could still ask," the man said. Ulquiorra made no response.
"Schiffer-fukutaichou, could you come see to Ukitake-taichou?" a former member of the medical squad asked, jogging up to them.
"I will be there momentarily," Ulquiorra said. He inclined his head to Urahara. "Until later, Urahara-taichou."
"Until later," Urahara said, amused at the level of formality. As Ulquiorra left with the younger shinigami, the shopkeeper sighed and shook his head. "So many stubborn kids…"