Extraneous Variables
A/N: Edited and Re-uploaded 5-2-14
Chapter Two
Second Variable:
Coyote
The moment they entered Las Noches, every single alpha among them, no matter their level of power, released a loud keening sound. The betas that were within close proximity to their own heat immediately entered that stage, and those that were either too old or too young, felt the need to come to the aid of the strongest of their kind that had just entered Las Noches. No, he was more than a simple beta, much more. Outside Las Noches, the lower and more base hollows went into an immediate mating season.
And Coyote Starrk, the wolf soul stirring within him the second his flesh touched the beta, knew it all too well. The fact was that one like this had not been known in Hueco Mundo in so long that Starrk could not even remember when the last one lived. In fact, it was quite possible that he could be the beta of legendary prophecy. More than a simple beta, this…this was a prime beta, and more than anything, he was able to birth multiple cubs at one time. Beyond that, unlike defenseless betas, this one could defend himself, and would not go quietly.
Among the arrancar and hollows, they tended to group in a pack-like structure except the hollows that were more solitary in nature. In these packs, there were those that were considered prime betas, and then the first betas, who were powerful but in submission to the prime beta. The prime beta led the pack, with their mates, considered the prime alphas of the pack. The first alphas and betas served the prime beta. Under the firsts were the second alphas and betas who generally formed pairs, triads or groupings with each other and very rarely interacted with the primes of the group. Primes were recognized by their sheer power and ability to bear multiple cubs to increase the power of the pack. Most packs did not have primes, instead consisting of firsts and seconds and remaining relatively small. A prime meant the pack was large and strong, sometimes numbering in the hundreds. However, a true prime beta had not been born for so long that the packs were scattered, and no one remembered the last one that lived among the arrancar.
Starrk moved through Las Noches with the beta across his shoulder and he felt the tension building. The sensation that someone had come that held great power; the knowledge that someone with more power than any other was strong and the place was practically vibrating with it. They came to Aizen's throne room and entered immediately, after all, they were expected to return. Aizen would have known the moment the garganta opened into Hueco Mundo. Starrk saw both Gin and Tōsen were standing on either side of the throne Aizen had made for himself. There was a part of him that wondered if they had chosen wrong when they sided with the shinigami.
"Report, Primera?" Aizen said curtly.
"Si, Aizen-sama. We have brought back the shinigami. You were right to fear him; he has a high degree of potential for power. Esta un vasto lorde hollow and has captain class shinigami powers. If he should be able access all his power in full, he would be very formidable," Starrk said.
"He has vasto lorde powers? So he is both hollow and shinigami?" Aizen asked, moving forward urgently.
This was what he had tried to do; bridge the gap between hollow and shinigami, and this…this one had done it on his own. "How does he activate the hollow powers?"
"No se, he does not know and neither do we. The hollow and him seem to be separate individuals yet share the same body," Starrk said with a nod. "But there is more, Aizen-sama, esta una beta hollow."
Aizen waved his hand. "That does not concern me. I could not care any less about the strange mating habits of hollows. I'm more concerned about the hollow within in."
"Si, pero…"
"No, put him here, I want to see him. I'll have Szayel examine him and then we will go from there," he said. "As I said, I do not care to listen about the issue any further, Primera."
"Si, Aizen-sama," Starrk said with a sigh and laid him down on the floor. "As you see, the hollow made alterations to his body. He is more hollow in form than he was before the hollow changed him after the damage you did to his body."
Aizen stood and looked over the unconscious form. He was still in the black hakama and nothing else, having left without his kusodo. Starrk was still holding his Zanpakutou over his shoulder. Something inside him told him that he needed to hold the sword instead of giving it to the shinigami. He wasn't sure why, but it was important. "This is true. Perhaps damaging his physical body is what brought the hollow to the surface…"
Grimmjow frowned, not liking the way that Aizen's thinking was going. "Aizen-sama, I do not think it wise to attempt to release that power," he said, scratching the back of his head thoughtfully. "He might not be able to control it. And ya might end up with a mess…"
Aizen glared at the sixth espada. "I believe I can handle one shinigami."
"Si, Aizen-sama, pero it isn't the shinigami we would worry about. It is the hollow," Starrk said with an almost grimace. "He has matured over a day, from being a child to an adult, and with that maturity, the hollow has also rapidly reached maturity. Natural hollows tame their power as they grow; he has not had this chance…"
Aizen shook his head. "Bring him to Szayel; we will set up the tests to confirm what you say. But if the only way to bring out this hollow of his is by bodily damage, that will be what I do. I need to see it. I am afraid that using the negacion when we had to meant I missed a great opportunity to witness what you did. I will see and analyze his power. And I will either mimic that power with the hogyuku or I will bed him to my will and make him my cero espada."
"Why do you wish to know his power, Aizen-sama?" Ulquiorra spoke up for the first time.
Aizen stared at the cuarta espada for a long moment. "If I know his power I may be able to grant it to any new arrancar I create with the hogyuku. They would be more powerful than any of you."
Grimmjow and Starrk exchanged a glance. They knew what had happened to the arrancar that came before them. They were now the priverion espada. Then there was what had occurred with Neliel. Power in Aizen's army was a fleeting thing, and both the sexta and the primera know that. The question was, would Aizen make more and better arrancar with this knowledge? Or would it even work the way he believed it would?
"The hogyuku has to awaken, and it will take a year," he said, holding up the blue orb. "Until then, I will study and experiment on this one and see how he came to be. As the hogyuku awakens, I'll be able to start creating more arrancar. For now, though, I will use him for my own devices. I will break his will completely and he will answer to me in the end, if nothing else. I will show Soul Society who is in control of their weapon."
With that, Aizen turned and left, leaving the espada with the unconscious beta. Gin smiled at them in his eerie way. "Take 'im ta Szayelporra. One a'ya three stay there wit 'im all tha time. Don damage 'im or let 'im run."
Starrk nodded as the strange shinigami turned and left himself. He sighed and lifted Ichigo up again and walked with his two fellow espada to Szayel's lab. The trip was silent and took a few minutes. He felt the tension on the air between the three of them. As they reached the lab, Starrk nodded at the other two.
"I'll take first watch with him, mis amigos. Please come in twelve hours to relieve me I would say, one of you," Stark said with a sigh, shifting the weight of the unconscious form between his arms. "I am already tired, and would rather not go to sleep again only to wake up to come do this, por favor."
Grimmjow rolled his eyes. Starrk could read there was some sort of debate going on internally in the espada of destruction. "Whatever, I'll come by then."
The other two left as quickly leaving Starrk at the entrance to the lab. He knocked on the door softly. "What is it?" came the annoyed voice of Szayel from the other side.
"Aizen said to bring you the shinigami for testing," he answered.
The door flew open and the pink haired scientist, or more appropriately mad pink haired scientist, was grinning broadly. "Yes, yes, come on, bring him in, to the back," he said, leading him to a rather uncomfortable looking metal table that had restraints built into the top and bottom.
Around the table were several machines and instruments, and to the side were a couple of chairs, perhaps for the use of those watching whatever Szayel was doing. Around them, the white forms of Lumina and Verona hopped around, handing things up to their master and chittering about what was happening now.
"Please, I am to stay with him. Do not be too cruel, he is…" Starrk didn't know how to put it as he looked at the face slack with sleep.
"What is he, is the very question," Szayel said, attaching monitoring cords and pulling over a tray of what could be called torture instruments.
"Wait, are you going to harm him?" Starrk said, a sudden surge of protective instinct overwhelming him suddenly.
Szayel straightened his glasses and looked from Ichigo's body to Starrk. He then gasped. "No, he's a beta?" Szayel's grin got even winder. "This is even better! I knew I sensed something…but my senses are a bit rusty since the madness overtook me…"
Starrk shifted uncomfortably as Szayel began monitoring something else. "Holy hell, that is the strongest pheromone release I've ever seen…" he muttered under his breath. "The concentration of the secretion, it is…impossible!" he said, racing around pushing his fraccion out of the way and rushing about to get more instruments.
"What are your plans?" Starrk asked again, the instinct to protect the beta beginning to take over so much that he was beginning to doubt his ability to hold himself back from attacking Szayel should he indicate he was going to do something to him.
"Well, obviously, not going to kill him, or you'll wring my neck. No, no, I won't hurt him, so back off, big boy. Worst I'm going to do is take tissue and blood samples. And since he's unconscious he won't even feel it," he said with a nod.
Szayel moved around and continued, Starrk watching him intently. He took blood, a few muscle tissue samples, cerebral spinal fluid, skin, and hair samples. When he was done he took them over to the machines and began running the tests. He came back and grinned at Starrk madly.
"Times like these I wish the madness hadn't erased my chance of becoming a beta that could be mated with," he lamented.
"You are una active beta?" Starrk said. He'd always assumed that all the espada betas had been neutralized because none of them had ever gone into a heat cycle.
"Yeah, but something happened when I became an espada. I don't suffer the heat anymore. Perhaps it will return one day, it doesn't matter. This is amazing. He has hollow traits, but only this dark black mark where a hollow hole should be. Stunning…the blending of shinigami and…" he turned back as something beeped. "What?" he said, looking at a readout. "But this…that's not possible," he muttered.
Starrk looked up from beside the bed questioningly.
"I have to go over these results. Will you stay with him while I am gone? I will have to determine what further tests are needed to confirm this…" he said walking out with the readouts in hand.
Starrk sat down in the relatively comfortable chair beside the metal table and sighed. It wasn't as comfortable as his pile of pillows, which was probably a good thing or he'd be asleep in a few minutes. There was a knock at the door.
"Enter," he said and looked up to see Lillinette come into the room.
"Lazy bastard, what are you doing here?" she asked, popping a hand on her him and glaring at him.
"I am doing my duty, mija," he said with a sigh. "I am to watch the shinigami and make certain he is not harmed and he does not escape."
Lillinette narrowed her eyes at him. "You're not telling me something."
Starrk smiled. He had no idea why he tried to keep things from his other half. His own loneliness had spawned Lillinette, after all, a shattered piece of his soul.
"Si, the shinigami is more. He's una beta. Una prime beta."
Lillinette arched a brow. "Well, that's something. Please, if you're gonna be fucking, make sure I'm not present," she said and shook her head as she headed out the door.
Starrk smiled to himself and leaned back in the chair and contemplated going to sleep. He was about to do just that when Ichigo groaned from his position on the table. Szayel had strapped down his wrists and ankles to keep him from rolling off, and now he was pulling against the restraints in a panic. Starrk knew that he would likely be distrusting of them at first. Of course, they were allied with Aizen, after all. Why would he trust them?
"What? What's going on?" he said franticly, pulling suddenly on the restraints hard enough to rattle the chains in the links. They were reiatsu sealing bindings, so he would not be able to escape them. "Where am I?"
"Hush, mi hijo, esta bien. Do you remember?" he asked, moving beside him.
Ichigo blinked and looked up into Starrk's dark eyes. "Aizen, you brought me to Aizen," he said, swallowing hard. Starrk was nearly rocked back on his heels by a sudden burst of the fear pheromone from him.
"Si, but we had little choice. You are not a shinigami any longer, but you are not a hollow either. Our scientist is going over tests now. But you are a beta, that is why you reacted to us as you did, you are in a heat cycle and seeking a mate or mates to satisfy the need of the animal side," he said, putting a hand over Ichigo's bound one. He had to quell the release of the fear pheromone. It was driving him insane.
"But…what…I don't…oh why do you smell so good?" he asked, eyes widening and dilating immediately as he stared at Starrk.
Starrk patted his hand gently. "Yes, it is the heat, you are looking for a worthy mate and I have been marked by you, remember?" he asked, holding up the hand Ichigo had bitten not too much before.
Ichigo nodded and then a low purr worked its way from his throat. His eyes fluttered and he whimpered at Starrk with wide eyes. "Let me up, please…I need…I need you."
Starrk's own eyes dilated at that moment completely with overwhelming lust because Ichigo released a sudden, incredibly powerful burst of pheromone that set the primera espada's head spinning. He unhooked his hands and ankles quickly and before he even thought about what he was doing, he had pulled Ichigo into his lap in the chair he had previously been sitting. Ichigo's breath was heaving as he leaned into Starrk's neck and breathed deeply of his scent and made a strange purring sound. He jumped as he felt Starrk's arousal building underneath him. Suddenly he swallowed and gasped and started to push away from him in a panic.
Starrk's grip was secure on his hips though and he held onto the struggling beta and finally pulled him against his body tightly. "What is it, mi amor?" he asked, frowning into the top of his head.
"I…this…I've never…" Starrk could feel his heart pounding and the acceleration of his breathing. It was more than lust, it was fear. The scent came wafting off him stronger now and mixing in with the hollow's release of arousal inducing pheromones. One of the primary duties of the alpha was to care for the beta, and so one of traits that all betas shared was the ability to release pheromones relaying their emotional state, as well as the stimulating ones.
Starrk nodded and rubbed his larger hands over his back. "Hush now, it is fine. You are fine, and I promise to never hurt you. You are precious to me, do you understand?"
There was a shiver through his body at the words. "But…but…I don't know…do I have to do this…can't I just…not…"
Starrk sighed and hugged his body closer to him. "Mi amor, I will not do anything you do not wish, it is against our ways to take what is not offered. It is…taboo even among us arrancar to take a beta without their willingness. We are not animals like the lower hollows. And you can choose to ignore the heat, but it will become worse and worse until you claim your mates. You cannot claim a mate that you haven't mated with first, mi amor."
Ichigo leaned into the warmth that he was giving him. It was strange. His body was on fire, and every nerve was burning with an overwhelming desire and he wasn't sure what to do about it. He'd never really had sexual attraction to others, to be honest; he almost assumed he wasn't attracted to anyone at all. He'd always found the advances of girls to be annoying, not arousing. Yet here he was, his body, his instincts forcing him into something he wasn't sure he was ready for. He felt the difference in his body. He felt different, like every part of him was altered in some way. He was nowhere near human anymore; he knew that beyond a doubt. Everything about him had reached full maturation, because otherwise, the heat wouldn't have activated. The hollow had at least conveyed that much. A hollow aging wasn't like human ageing, so he had been catapulted into the ageless state that hollow and shinigami lived their lives in.
"You…will be careful?" he whispered into Starrk's ear, his voice shaking from the stress. The instincts were consuming him and he was burning from the inside out. He understood now why they called it a heat. He felt that if he didn't satisfy that burning he would never survive.
"Si, mi amor, si," Starrk breathed into his ear and untied the obi around Ichigo's waist and tossed it to the side.
He then lifted him up enough to slide the loosened hakama off his slender legs. Starrk rubbed circles against the small of his back and felt the gooseflesh prick along him, and felt the alternating purring rumbles and whimpers of fear that were escaping him. The animal side was taking hold of him, he realized. Starrk shifted and was divested of his own hakama and holding the now nude beta straddling his lap. Ichigo leaned back and stared down with wide eyes. He looked up with a frantic expression on his face.
"That…I don't know if this is a good idea," he said, blinking rapidly. "That's too big."
Starrk smiled gently. "No, mi preciouso, it is not. I will make you ready, and you are a beta, remember? You are now different there," he said with a soft smile, suddenly snaking his hand off Ichigo's hip and putting his fingers against his lips. Ichigo opened his mouth, unsure of what was happening. He enjoyed it though, playing with Starrk's fingers with his tongue languidly. Starrk grinned as he removed them, only to move his hand underneath him and let his damp fingers play around the outside of his entrance. Ichigo squeaked at the first touch which made Starrk laugh, and he took the opportunity to press his middle finger into him with one swift move.
Ichigo thought it felt weird, but then it felt really good and he was pushing downward against him and whimpering more than before. "See, mi amor? Your body has changed, and made it easier to accept me…"
Ichigo had lost the ability to speak, and honestly didn't notice as Starrk pressed two more fingers inside him and then touched something that made him yelp and pant. Whatever it was felt amazing… He was completely a slave to the feelings, and he only wanted one thing at that moment, and that was to take Starrk into him. He wanted more, immediately. He needed to feel him moving inside him. He had to have him inside him. He moved back and fell down onto him in a swift move that surprised Starrk into gasping.
"Oh, mi dios," he muttered, and gripped Ichigo's hips hard enough that they would surely bruise as his eyes rolled back into his head.
He honestly hadn't done this in…forever. He felt Ichigo still and pant heavily. His three fingers were nothing compared to his girth and length. Then he sighed deeply and began to move, slowly at first, getting used to the sensations that were coursing through his body for the first time. He panted heavily and a now continuous purr emitted from somewhere inside his chest that ripped into a growl every few moments as he struck against his prostate. Now it was Starrk's turn to become lost and speechless. He held on for dear life it seemed as he began riding him harder and faster. Ichigo's arousal ground into Starrk's stomach, but Ichigo held onto his shoulders and sought to stimulate that internal spot that made the world blank again and again, feeling the world sink around him like he was surfacing from a pond. Before long, he was seeing white entirely as his body spasmed against Starrk. Starrk gasped as the passage tightened down around him and he went over the edge with him immediately, releasing a gout of blinding reiatsu as he did so, his own rising to meet with the release of black from Ichigo.
Ichigo fell forward, panting against him and Starrk smiled, rubbing his back slowly. He hummed against Starrk's neck. "Not so bad, after all," he said, muffled by Starrk's hair and neck.
"No, not so bad, come, let me clean you up," he said, reaching over and finding a towel and cleaning both of them off slowly. Ichigo flinched at he cleaned away the fluids. Starrk felt the body weakening against him quickly. Starrk knew that after a mating, a beta would rest in preparation for the next one. He slipped his clothes back on and redressed his beta…the beta, he corrected. He wasn't his yet. He sighed and put him back in the restraints, mostly so he didn't fall from the high table in his sleep, and sat to wait for Grimmjow's shift to begin.
Starrk was deeply asleep when he was jostled awake by the sexta espada. He looked up and yawned, seeing Ichigo was still sleeping. He'd draped a blanket on the table before he put him upon it, and then laid another on top of him.
"I see you already had some fun," Grimmjow said.
"The reiatsu. I'm sure the release was…noticeable," Starrk said, standing with a yawn.
"Just a bit. But hey, there's more. Aizen's sending Harribel on another recon and retrieval mission. Seems he's in the mood for more experimentation. He wants that ice dragon captain, something about trying to use the ice dragon. Anyway, maybe you can send someone with her that is sympathetic to our plight," Grimmjow said, cutting his eyes over toward Ichigo.
"I will see if I can do something," Starrk said with a nod, leaving quietly.
He hadn't gone far when he saw someone that would definitely not be missed, and he was someone that would be willing to help.
"Ggio," he called, waving to the short arrancar. "Are you busy?"
Ggio shook his head. "No, Primera. Did you need something?"
"Si, Tres is going to Soul Society, I would like you to accompany her and fulfill a mission for me. I wish for you to find someone you can trust and who will listen, and tell them that their friend, Ichigo, the beta we returned with, is in grave danger. Aizen plans to torture him until the hollow emerges from him. It may be in their interest to work with us to stop their rogue shinigami," he said with a nod at him. "I will inform Lord Barragan that you are under my orders. Now please, find Tres and go with her and her fraccion."
Ggio frowned but nodded. "Sure…"
Ggio was confused. It wasn't unusual to be asked by some of the espada who had no fraccion to do things for them, but to be approached by the primera, that was something incredible. He smiled to himself as he thought that this was his chance to prove his worth.
"Take these," he said, handing him the dampening fields that would keep him undetected. "You will need them to go undetected at first until you find someone to take you to their sou-taichou. I will inform Tres of the fact you will join her. She is going to retrieve the ice captain. You will find someone else."
Ggio nodded. "Primera, this sounds somewhat like I am trusting our enemy not to kill me on sight."
Starrk nodded. "You are, pero they are shinigami. Present no threat, and offer to help them, and they will not kill you immediately. They are mired in a sense of justice and will want to prove guilt of wrong doing before they execute someone. No, they will put you in a cell, no doubt. Convince them of your ability to aid them against Aizen. Give them any information they wish on the espada and our abilities, including on your own Lord Barragan. This is much larger than allegiance to the segunda espada, remember this."
Ggio headed off toward his room to ready for such an outing. Starrk went to see Harribel of the plan. He quickly located the Tres espada.
"Tres," he said and nodded to her. "May I have una momenta of your time?"
Harribel turned and looked at him, her face, as always, inscruitable under the jacket and the bone mask. "What is it, Primera? To see you outside your rooms is unusual, and to have you ask for something even more unusual. Since when do you have enough energy to care about things other than your next nap?"
Starrk smiled. "Si, that is true, mi tres. I am sure you sensed the beta."
She nodded. "I did, but it is not my concern. I am already mated."
"It is your concern, he is una prime beta," he said, yawning again.
Harribel arched a brow. "A prime beta hasn't been born in many long years. Are you certain?"
"The reiatsu release makes me certain," he said with a small smile.
She nodded. "You wish to claim him as mate."
"Si, but Aizen intends to torture him. You know the consequences of inflicting such pain on a beta of that power could be. His calls will drive the lesser arrancar insane. We must do what we can to stop this from happening, Tres. I have asked Ggio Vega to go with you to Soul Society. He has been instructed to find a trusted person to ask for help. He may not be able to return with you when you complete your mission," Starrk said with a lazy grin.
Harribel looked thoughtful. "You believe with a prime beta we could organize a pack powerful enough to no longer need Aizen."
Starrk shrugged. "No se, Tres, pero it may be so. Especially if he is the uniting force of prophecy."
"Really? A shinigami?" Harribel said, feeling doubtful that such a weighty legend could be fulfilled by someone that was a shinigami.
"He is not all shinigami. What better to unite us than someone that can ensure our safety completely by making alliances and treaties with Soul Society? If we are not hunted by them, we have much better chances of surviving."
Harribel nodded slowly. "You would appear to be correct, Primera. I will take Ggio, though I will not guarantee his safety or his return."
Starrk nodded. "That is fine, Tres, as I said, I doubt he will return with you. My hope is that once he is captured by the gotei 13, they will listen. It is risky, but it is necessary. Especially once you capture another of their captains. They will want to do something about Aizen."
