Just when you thought you knew where I was going with this. . . (Don't worry, it's all part of the plan.)

Weekend Getaway- Chapter 2

Ichigo was pouring himself a glass of juice at the kitchen counter as Keigo dragged himself out of his room. It was nearly 4:30 in the afternoon and Ichigo had already been up most of the day. He wasn't much of a drinker, but he'd managed to stick to the single beer the night before. Pouring a second glass, he brought it to the small table where Keigo was resting his forehead.

"Here. Brought the Ibuprofen too." Ichigo shook the bottle like a rattle before setting it on the table with a crack. Keigo groaned and buried his head in his arms as Ichigo sat next to him. "I keep telling you to stay away from the mixed drinks. They always do this to you."

Keigo turned his head and gave him a pathetic look. "But they taste so good."

"Which is the problem. Suck down a few of those and it doesn't even feel like you're drinking alcohol even though you really are."

Mizuiro came out and stood next to them. "Finally. I thought we might have to send in a rescue team."

"You both suck. Go away."

Ichigo and Mizuiro grinned at each other before getting ready for their evening class. Ichigo always liked to schedule things in the morning so he could have the rest of the day to do what he needed. But he really wanted to take this history class and this was the only time it was offered. It filled this weird little requirement in his major and he'd be able to skip taking two other classes entirely. That would allow him to focus on what he wanted rather than what the University said was important.

Hefting his messenger bag, Ichigo sighed. A Friday night class. It wasn't heavily populated due to its proximity to the hours when most college students did their drinking and mating dances. He'd had to double check his homework from the previous week because he knew the professor would call on him. Again. It wasn't like there were many other people to pick on. But it was worth it. And maybe if he told himself that enough, he'd actually begin to believe it one day. Ichigo shook his head. It's not like he had plans for Friday nights or the weekends for that matter. Most of the time, he went home to stay with his family.

"You ready Ichigo?" Mizuiro was already at the door waiting for him.

Keigo moaned from the table where he still sat. "Just don't bring anybody home this time. Bad enough they're all over you at the club. Don't need that crap during classes too. Go to their place for once."

Mizuiro just smiled and waved at him before heading out the door. He laughed and turned to Ichigo who walked at his side. "You'd think he didn't get any attention at all." Keigo had more than his share of trysting on a regular basis. He was just being a whiney ass and they both knew it. When they were a ways down the sidewalk, Mizuiro turned his head to look up at the redhead. "So. Keigo tells me you got propositioned last night."

Ichigo smirked. "Not in so many words, but yeah." No. Aizen was very careful about the way he said everything. He wasn't the type to come out and say what he meant. He needed to be all clever and vague. Ichigo frowned. And why was he even thinking about him? It was a chance encounter that wouldn't happen again. "Doesn't really matter, I'm not interested." Mizuiro made a noncommittal sound but didn't say anything else. Ichigo looked over at him with a slight wince pinching his features. "Please don't tell me Keigo dragged you onto the 'Ichigo needs to get laid' bandwagon."

"No, it's not that. But you do seem awfully lonely sometimes."

Ichigo blinked at him in disbelief. "So you think I should let some rich asshole buy me, is that it?"

Mizuiro sighed and stopped to look up at him. Ichigo was forced to stop too or leave him behind entirely. "That's not what I said. Last night's encounter aside, you spend a lot of time by yourself. Isn't there anyone that you enjoy being with?"

Neither of them mentioned Orihime. She and Ichigo had played at dating during high school, but she'd been accepted to a prestigious college out of the country. There was no way that she could pass it up. They had mutually agreed that a long distance relationship wouldn't be fair to either of them. So she'd gone and he'd stayed and they were fine with that. There were a couple girls here and there, but he hadn't found anyone that he'd truly been interested in. Not that he and 'Hime would have stayed together if she'd gone to school here. They both knew it hadn't been serious, even then.

"No. Not really." Ichigo looked up from his shoes where his gaze seemed to have fallen during that last string of thoughts. "But I'm okay. Really, I am."

"If you say so."

"I do. So, let's just leave it at that for now."

Mizuiro smiled quietly and reached up to squeeze his shoulder. "It's okay. Don't worry about it." He let out a little laugh. "And you know enough to ignore Keigo." Ichigo laughed too. Pretty much everybody ignored Keigo. They started off to class again, comfortable enough to leave it as it was.

It was dark by the time class was over. Mizuiro was chatting in the corner with three of the girls who had signed up in the middle of the semester. When word had got out that Mizuiro was taking History on Friday nights, transfers and attendance went up considerably. Ichigo shook his head. He had no idea how he did it. Waving to him across the room, he indicated that he was leaving without him. Mizuiro nodded and waved back. He would probably spend the night somewhere else. Not necessarily because Keigo had asked him to. But because he wanted to avoid the inevitable ranting that would follow. Ichigo was grateful that Mizuiro had no interest in provoking their roommate. If he was just an ass, he'd bring the girls home just to piss him off.

The night air was a little crisp and Ichigo pulled his jacket closer as he stepped outside. Their apartment was fairly close to the university, but he was seriously considering taking a cab home. He sighed as he dismissed the idea. That would just be expensive for no reason and he trudged down the steps in a mild sulk. Being a poor college student sucked sometimes. But he couldn't really complain. Between the three of them, they made the rent easily with enough money for utilities and groceries after. And not just the 'ramen diet' either. He really couldn't ask for more than that.

Straitening, he considered how to spend the rest of his evening. Now that Keigo was up, he'd probably go out somewhere and Mizuiro was definitely out for the night. It had been a while since he'd had the place to himself and he was suddenly unsure of what to do. While the prospect of solitude appealed to him most of the time, Ichigo found that he didn't really want to be alone at the moment. Weird. Maybe he'd look up Chad's club schedule and see if he was playing with his band anywhere tonight.

It took him several blocks to notice the two guys who were following him. Ichigo forced himself to remain relaxed and keep his pace even. Taking off would probably provoke them. It had been a long time since anyone had come looking for him like this. In middle school and high school, he'd been constantly harassed and forced to defend himself. The combination of his own growing fighting skills and the local bullies growing up and getting a clue had lessened the attacks. They hardly ever happened anymore now. Maybe these guys hadn't gotten the memo. But Ichigo wasn't in the mood for a fight. Of course, he'd never really liked the fighting much to begin with. Deciding to lose them, he turned in the opposite direction of the apartment when he got to his street. He didn't want to lead them right back to his place.

Sure enough, they turned with him. They seemed oddly familiar, but Ichigo was really bad with names and faces. He could have met them yesterday and wouldn't be able to recognize them now. Especially in the dark. His pace picked up and so did theirs. Maybe he should make a detour to a local police station just to shake them off. But then they'd probably come back another time. Maybe when he wasn't alone. Ichigo didn't want to drag anyone else into this. He suddenly took off running which seemed to surprise them. He didn't bother to turn and look, he just sped up and made a few turns.

When he rounded the corner of a tall building, he saw a fence cutting the alley before him in half. Only faltering a little, he approached the chain link fence head on and scaled it easily, flipping over the top and landing lightly on the cracked pavement. When he turned, the two men stopped at the other side. They didn't seem to be all that enthused with the idea of following. Ichigo grinned and flipped them off as he continued to move backward. He skipped back into a run as he turned at the mouth of the alley.

Only to slam into the hood of the car that pulled up to cut him off.

Ichigo sprawled over the fender, the wind knocked out of him by the impact. Stumbling backward, he tried to move around the car, but the front end had pulled too close to the buildings. Before he could even consider scrambling over the hood itself, two more guys got out and closed in on him. What the hell? Did they call in backup or something? A fist plowing into his jaw spun him so he could see the ones he'd left on the other side of the fence. One of them grinned and bared his teeth before raising his own finger in salute. Hands gripped Ichigo's arms and yanked him back toward the car. He was shoved into the backseat and the door slammed shut behind him.

Gin waited patiently on the airstrip, the plane gassed and waiting on the runway behind him. He'd just been about to step inside and leave when he'd received a call from a member of Aizen's private security. Apparently the kid had changed his mind and was coming anyway. Gin sighed. He didn't really mind waiting. But they were already behind schedule and he didn't want to deal that snotty little bitch in the tower again when he told them they'd have to delay takeoff. Talk about last minute.

Gin held up a hand and eyed his nails critically before buffing them on his jacket. The pay was good. The bennies were better. He really shouldn't complain. But it was getting freaking cold out here and there was no shelter to block the wind that was picking up. It would make more sense if it was Aizen himself he was waiting for. But he'd left earlier in the day for his private estate. No, Gin couldn't stand to sit in the same small space as those two without something to keep one or the other occupied. One of the people in question stuck his head out of the hatch, his blue hair flipping a little in the wind.

"Hey Gin! Are we going, or are we just wasting gas for fun here?"

Gin's grin didn't waver, but there was a small tick at his temple that few would have noticed. Turning, he aimed his ever present smile at Grimmjow. "Is there any particular reason you're not in uniform Grimmjow?"

The other man sneered. "He's not even on this flight. I took him down earlier this morning. Don't tell me I have to dress up just for you." There was another voice from inside the plane. "No I don't. He's no higher up the food chain than we are."

Gin fought the urge to throw something at him. How he wished he'd been on the earlier flight so he'd already be down with Aizen and not here alone with these two. But he'd had a few last minute details to take care of for Aizen and had to wait until now to leave.

"Tell me again why Ulquiorra didn't stay when you went down there the first time." If it was just one of them, it wouldn't be so bad. A slighter man with dark hair leaned out in front of Grimmjow.

"Aizen-sama said he wanted some time to himself." Gin blinked. "Don't be concerned. Nel is with him, so he's not really alone and unprotected."

Grimmjow snorted. "Like he needs to be protected. He could take your arm off if he wanted to and wouldn't blink twice." Ulquiorra twisted around to give him a flat look. "What?" The larger man shrugged and then sighed in relief as a car pulled up. "Finally. Can we go now?" Grimmjow ducked back inside while Ulquiorra remained watching. Grin eyed the car as it pulled up. It was no secret that Aizen sometimes enjoyed company on his vacations. Sometimes he invited someone, others he 'ordered in.' Either way, Gin usually took care of the arrangements. It irritated him that he hadn't been informed of this until the last minute. And how had the kid contacted him anyway? The card he'd had was blank with no number or contact information of any kind. Gin was starting to have a bad feeling about this.

When the car pulled to a stop in front of him, two members of the local security team got out. They weren't anyone that Gin knew and he had a sneaking suspicion that they wouldn't be employed by this time tomorrow. Not if he had anything to say about it anyway. As the back door was opened, he clenched his jaw. He could barely meet the eyes of the terrified young man that huddled in the back seat. His hands were cuffed behind him and there was a strip of tape over his mouth. Turning his head slowly, Gin regarded the nearest of the two. Even though his expression didn't change, the other man took a step back.

"What do the two of you think you're doing?"

The nearest man stammered. "B-boss said he wanted him so here he is."

"He told you this directly?" There was an incredulous tone to Gin's voice.

"Well. . . Not exactly."

"Really." Gin fumed. He knew that Aizen had absolutely nothing to do with this. Good help was so hard to find. They always insisted on trying to make decisions themselves. While he had trouble dealing with Grimmjow and Ulquiorra on a personal level, they were loyal and knew their place. They never would have done anything this stupid. As Gin tried to figure out how to handle it, he heard the distant wail of sirens. It didn't matter if they were headed here or not. The only thing they could do now was bring the kid along and figure out the rest later. "C'mon. We haven't got all night." The sirens were getting a little closer. But that could have been his imagination. The boy seemed to get over his initial fear as he was pulled from the car and he started to struggle. When he saw the plane, his eyes widened and he dug his heels into the tarmac. The two men lifted him bodily and carried him the rest of the way, all the time trying not to drop him as he twisted in their grip. The redhead let out a distressed sound as he was handed up to Ulquiorra like a piece of luggage. When they moved to follow him up the stairs, the smaller man glared at them. Gin was close behind and stepped between them and the door.

"Don't even think about it. There's a car here that needs to be taken care of." And two idiots that need to be given pink slips. And maybe a bullet or two for good measure. It had been a long time since they'd done business like that. But Gin really hoped they'd renew some of their old habits. Just this once. "Go home. And don't wait up." Ulquiorra pulled the boy back into the body of the plane as Gin closed the door himself. But he was having trouble holding him as his struggles increased. When the lock caught with a definitive click, he went wild. Grimmjow came back to see what the holdup was and ended up getting kicked in the face.

"Shit! What the hell?" Holding his eye, he glared. Ulquiorra shifted his weight and the boy let out a muffled protest as he was pinned to the floor. "Well, are you going to stand there or help me with him?"

Grimmjow knelt on the floor and used his body to pin him down while Ulquiorra pulled out the med kit. Yanking down the kid's shirt to expose his shoulder, he swiped the area with alcohol before pressing a needle in and hitting the plunger. There was a long, drawn out whine from the figure on the floor, but the redhead's struggles weakened as the sedative took effect. All three of them let out a sigh as he relaxed on the floor.

Grimmjow muttered as he got up. "I don't get paid enough for this shit."

"Actually, you do." Ulquiorra looked up at him calmly while he pulled out a piece of gauze and a bandage to cover the pin prick that had started to bleed a little.

"Nobody asked you, Stewardess," Grimmjow sneered.

Ulquiorra curled his lip. "Perhaps you should go play with your stick in the cockpit. Unless you've finished the preflight and have clearance already." Grimmjow glared back at him. Gin drew in a breath and let it hiss out between his teeth.

"I told you not to be subtle with him. He won't get it." He turned to Grimmjow. "He just told you to go fuck yourself. Now get up there and get us in the air before things get any more complicated."

Growling at them both, Grimmjow stalked up front and slammed the compartment door. After a few moments, a snarling voice came over the intercom. "This is your goddamned captain speaking. Sit the fuck down or not for all I care. We're going."

Gin looked down at the now unconscious boy on the floor before looking at Ulquiorra. "You wouldn't happen to have keys for those cuffs would you?" The smaller man shook his head as they both felt the plane begin to taxi out onto the runway. "Can't be helped I guess." The two of them lifted together and placed him gently in a seat, buckling the seatbelt just to be sure. It trapped his hands behind his body, but that would have to do for now. Gin sat beside him and pulled the tape away before tilting his seat back into a more reclined position. Kid was frowning even in his sleep. Ulquiorra sat across from them, a worried expression on his face as the plane picked up speed.

"This is unusual. Aizen-sama. Does he. . ?"

"He's got no freaking idea. And I really don't want to have to be the one to tell him." Waiting until they were up in the air, Gin pulled his phone out of his pocket. Ulquiorra reached out and gripped his wrist. "Are you entirely sure you want to call and tell him right now?"

Gin sighed again and griped irritably, the smiling mask fallen now that there wasn't anyone he needed to hide from. Ulquiorra was right even though Gin wouldn't admit it aloud. Giving Aizen time to think and stew about this seemed like a really bad idea. Maybe he'd just wait until they got there. Then they could all figure out a way out of this mess. Ulquiorra frowned when he started dialing.

"Don't give me that look, I'm not calling him. There are a couple of loose ends to take care of here." Gin dialed the security office at the penthouse and made a couple of inquiries. But he didn't get the answers he expected. Frowning, he hung up and put the phone back in his pocket. "I don't like this."

"You mean aside from the fact that we just kidnapped a young man and are as we speak, taking him out of the country?"

Gin opened his eyes wide and blinked before taking a breath and glaring at Ulquiorra. The emerald gaze met the ruby one stoically. Sighing, Gin slouched in his seat. "No, that's pretty much it."