Chapter Two: Caught

The gasp from Ichigo was almost a scream as he locked eyes on Rukia before Grimmjow sonidoed away. He took his time though, enjoying the feeling of the damn orange headed shinigami on his shoulder. It felt just right to him. Every time he stopped he'd reach up and swat him on the ass again, getting the same frustrated grumble and the slightest squirm before he remembered that his ribs were easily broken in that position. Ichigo himself was flustered beyond belief, his face burning red, and every touch sent a shiver down his spine. The place where Nel bit him burned a little, and he wasn't sure what was happening.

Before long, the appeared in a big room in front of Aizen, but Ichigo was facing away from him, and instead staring into his group of friends which were surrounded by arrancars. He started to struggle again but was treated with a harsh slap again as Grimmjow walked forward.

"Aizen-sama, look what we found out in the desert being fought over by a ton of hollows," he said and launched Ichigo of his shoulder onto the floor. He tried to tuck and roll but his reflexes were slow for some reason and he wasn't reacting at all the right way.

He groaned and soon felt something small hugging him. He opened his eyes and saw Nel wrapped around his neck. She snuggled into him and the feeling was very pleasant.

"What is former tercera doing here? And why are you flinging this particular one around over your shoulder like that?" Aizen asked, his head tilted to the side on his closed fist. He looked uninterested in what was going on.

"I want him. Do what ya want with his friends, but I want this one," Grimmjow said with a grin.

Ulquiorra stepped forward. "Grimmjow, I am curarta, I will have the shinigami. I outrank you."

Behind them they heard a yawn. "Well, I'm primera, so I outrank you both." Stark looked at them lazily.

Aizen sighed. "What are you going on about?"

Grimmjow looked up. "He's a fuckin' beta."

Aizen leaned forward, mask of indifference falling slightly before it resumed. He appeared quite amused. "Really? Aren't they usually female?"

Ulquiorra answered. "Mostly, but there are a few rare males, and usually they are highly sought after being stronger and better suited to hollow birthing."

"Interesting. That's right you told me gender didn't matter when hollows mated. The baby forms in a reaitsu chamber anyway, from what Szayel said."

Ichigo had pushed himself further and further away, absolutely appalled by what he was hearing. They were talking about him like he was a hollow and not human. He wasn't a hollow, not completely.

Close enough, king. Shouldn't have come here.

Rukia sputtered. "You…you can't just take him, he's not one of your kind!"

The three espada there were standing there turned and looked at her. "He's more our kind than your kind," Ulquiorra said flatly.

"But you can't just take him…and do…things to him like that!" Renji said, tripping over the words as he glanced at Ichgo's wide eyes.

Grimmjow smirked. "Why, Red? Would you rather I do them to you?"

Renji gulped and shook his head. "Well, good," Grimmjow said. "Wouldn't be any fun anyway. I'd probably kill ya."

"How do you intend to accomplish your goal when it would kill Abarai at full strength but Kurosaki is apparently not?" Uryu said, sliding his glasses up his nose.

Grimmjow grinned. "That's what happens. I gotta thank his hollow half, this would be much harder without him suppressing the reiatsu for the purpose. Call it hollow heat, if ya want. A powerful beta signals like that, sudden spike then dip in reiatsu, release of the pheromones, all that jazz."

"Grimmjow, we still haven't decided who he'll go to?" Stark said with a yawn. "We could always fight it out like the lower ones do, I guess."

"I'm afraid I can't have all my espada tearing each other apart for the purpose of a single beta," Aizen said from his perch. "I do have a war to wage, here."

Grimmjow glared at the other two espada when there was a burst of sonido and another arrancar appeared. This one was very tall and thin with one eye covered.

"What the fuck is goin' on, I smell…" he said and his eye fell on Ichigo who was still sitting on the floor with Nel in his lap.

"Nnoitra, don't even fuckin'…" Grimmjow started but before he finished the lanky guy had leaped over and knocked Nel away and was pinning Ichigo's shoulders to the ground and staring down at him.

"Hrm, what do we have here?" he said and leaned down to bite him on the neck hard. Ichigo screamed, and felt blood come pouring out of the wound. Suddenly, the man above him was yanked away and he heard cussing, but he was getting dizzy really fast and he wasn't even standing up.

"The fuck, Nnoitra!" he vaguely heard Grimmjow's voice. "Shit, it's not stopping, fuck; get the stupid woman, now!"

He was floating somewhere between the worlds it felt like, and then he suddenly snapped back to reality looking up and seeing a familiar golden shield around him. He groaned, his whole neck throbbing.

"Kurosaki-kun!" she exclaimed, seeing his eyes opening finally. "I was worried you lost too much blood!"

He looked up to see his four "suitors" staring down at him, the black haired one who bit him looking a bit sheepish. "Man, I'm sorry I got a little carried away," he complained.

Grimmjow fixed him with a stare. "Little? You almost fuckin' ripped his throat out. He's only half hollow, bastard!"

"Have you children figured out how to handle your new toy yet?" Aizen asked from his seat above, really looking amused at the commotion going on below him. "You could always be good and share your toy."

Grimmjow looked at the other three and his jaw was set. He didn't like the idea. He'd found him and brought him back. But he knew that he didn't stand a chance against Stark. And possibly Ulquiorra. His only hope was to knock him up with his kits. And he was fuckin' cat, so that shouldn't be a problem.

"Aight. That's doable," Grimmjow said finally. "But no fuckin' one else! Shit I don't want that creepy ass mother Zonmari near him. Or Barragan for that matter."

"I doubt either of them would have any interest. I'm more worried about Szayel due to his interest in him as a test subject now that he has been given to us," Ulquiorra said, staring down at the golden shield.

Ichigo didn't have the strength to comment, as he was quickly becoming resigned to his fate. He heard the damn hollow cackling in his head.

Inoue was looking up at them. "Wh-what's happening? Kurosaki-kun, what are they talking about you like this for?"

Grimmjow kneeled and looked at her across the shield. "See this here boy of yers is now ours."

Inoue frowned and looked between the four arrancars, then to where her other friends stood surrounded by the lower arrancars. "Why do you want Kurosaki-kun?" she asked with a shaky voice.

"He's our new fuck toy, that's what," Grimmjow said with a gleam to his eye and then reached through and shattered Inoue's shield grabbing him by the front of his clothes and slung him over his shoulder.

"I got him first, bitches. I'm the only one who's fought him here," Grimmjow said, stalking off with Ichigo slung over his shoulder. He turned to Inoue, flashing a wicked grin at her as he ran his hand over Ichigo's ass making him kick out hard and yelp at the touch. "I'll call for you later, I'm sure he'll need it when I'm done with him. First time's always the worst, you know."

It sounded like all of his friends had tried to run for him as he was sonidoed away. He dropped his head down against the back that held him. What else could he do?

Nel sat near Rukia's feet and sulked. "Momma Itsygo go way. Nel want momma Itsygo."

Inoue sat blinking and looked up at Aizen. Rukia helped her to her feet. Renji's face had flushed bright red. "You're going to let them do this, Aizen?" Renji said, his chest tight.

"Of course. It entertains my espada. And keeps your friend from interfering in my affairs. It's a win for both sides, I believe," he said, languidly.

"How? How can you let them…" Rukia said, her breath catching. "He's going to kill him and you're okay with that?"

Aizen smiled softly. "He won't kill him, he likes his toys too much to break them. Well, at first."

He looked over and looked down at Gin. "Gin, set them up in one of the larger rooms. They may remain together, and maybe we'll let Kurosaki-kun spend some time with them, when he's not otherwise occupied by my espada."

The five friends were escorted out, all looking back where Ichigo had been taken, all fearing what was going to happen to him, and hoping that somehow he could get free. Inoue nervously chewed her lip as they were shown into a large open room with a bathroom and two adjoining bedroom areas. There was also a large sofa in the center of the room.

"I'll take the sofa, so I can hear if anyone comes in," Renji said flopping down. No one said anything for a long time.

Inoue broke the silence with a sob, drawing everyone's attention to her. "I thought I was going to be happy to see you but now, if they hurt Kurosaki-kun, it's my fault!"

Rukia put an arm around her gently. "Orhime, not at all. Ichigo made the choice to come here with us. And none of us had any clue about this, except his inner hollow. And that bastard didn't say a word to anyone about this."

She sucked in a sob and looked around at Chad and Issida, both who sat on the sofa glaring at a spot on the floor. "But…but they're going to…" She couldn't even bring herself to say the words, and everyone realized what a heavy weight this was, knowing what was happening to their friend at that moment, and being completely powerless to help him.

A second later the door opened and Ulquiorra dropped Nel into the room and shut it. Nel had been crying and she went crying and jumped into Renji's lap where he sat. She sniffed and snuggled him. "Not momma Itsygo!" she cried and then wrapped her arms around Renji. He looked down and patted her carefully.

The door opened again, and a thin arracar with bubblegum pink hair stepped in. He shoved his square wire framed glasses up his nose and grinned at them.

"My name is Szayle Granz. I know that you will spend some time with Kurosaki-kun after he's finished with his…activities with the various espada. I need to make certain that I am summoned every time. If we are going to have a successful implantation, I need to be able to monitor his progress," he said matter of factly.

"Implantation? You mean like with a baby?" Inoue asked with a frown. "Kurosaki-kun cannot carry a baby. He doesn't have the parts for it!"

Szayel smiled. "Hollows don't have reproductive organs at all. Hollow babies are formed in a special chamber made of reaitsu. All that matters when hollows mate is that the alpha's reiatsu has to overtake the betas for a pregnancy to occur. Then, when the babies reach full gestation, they cut open their belly and let them out. Instant regeneration means that they don't have to worry about that. Of course, that won't work for your friend. I'll have to take them out myself."

He turned and left and the five friends sunk into whatever seat they were in, or if they were already sitting, they laid back even further. Sure there was a degree of exhaustion. But most of this was the weight that they knew unless a miracle happened..