Author's note: I don't remember reading it, but the first part of this must have been inspired by Unexpected Baggage by Raicheru. Go check it out, it's awesome!

We need you, Grimmjow. Grimmjow sighed, watching Ichigo work on his first solo project. It was nothing special, just a toaster, but it was a good place to start.

"You don't need me, Harribel, you want me. There is a fucking difference." Grimmjow smiled as he watched Ichigo puzzling over exactly how to make the magical connections. He was working hard at figuring it out. "What's wrong with Ulquiorra? Or Zommari? They could both do it."

Ulquiorra is gone, hunting a lupine. He'll be gone for weeks, and we don't have weeks. Zommari is dead. That made Grimmjow lift his eyebrows. He was poisoned. It appears to be a personal matter.

"Sweet, I couldn't stand that shithead." Grimmjow said callously. "Fine, what about Starrk?"

We tried. His aura still shatters the baboa, and no one else has the power necessary. Please, Grimmjow, I am authorized to give a special bonus. Grimmjow grimaced. He liked the thought of the money. This kind of job always paid really, really well. But it could take some time to complete, and he'd have to leave Ichigo alone for that time, unless he could arrange someone to stay at his place.

"Maybe… look, Harribel, I need to talk to someone about this. D'you mind me calling you back in a bit?" He asked and she readily assented, sensing he was weakening. "Thanks."

No, thank you Grimmjow. Grimmjow sighed, hanging up the phone and looking at Ichigo. He was plugging in the toaster. To the teen's shock and horror, the appliance promptly exploded. Grimmjow just coughed, waving away the smoke. He'd actually been expecting that.

"You got too much power running through it. It was a good first try, though." He said as Ichigo looked stricken. "Hey, don't take it so hard, it's just a toaster. There's no market for them anyway." That reassured him a little and Grimmjow frowned. "Look… I just got a call from an old contact. They want me to do a job, but I'd have to leave you alone for a couple days. Is that okay with you?" Last he'd heard, Yammy was still lying low. That was good sense and Grimmjow figured the big guy would give it a month before he ventured out again. A month would be plenty of time for anything bad to blow over. So Ichigo was probably safe for now.

"What kind of job?" Ichigo asked and Grimmjow grimaced. He would ask that.

"My kind of job." He said shortly and Ichigo scowled at him. "Don't ask questions, kid. You don't want the answers."

"Hmph. Well, I'll be fine." Ichigo snapped and Grimmjow hesitated a moment as the teen started cleaning up his mess. Then he snarled at himself. He didn't need to hold Ichigo's hand, and his past just wasn't the kid's business.

The real reason he was refusing to answer wasn't because he was ashamed, or even because he didn't want Ichigo to know. It was because the teen kept prying about his background. Grimmjow supposed it made sense. Ichigo was completely dependent on him, and Grimmjow was a stranger. The teen wanted to know what made him tick.

But he didn't appreciate it. He had way, way too many unpleasant memories, way too many skeletons in the closet. He just didn't want to talk about it. Who the hell would want to talk about things like that?

And soon, he would be adding to the store of things he didn't like to talk about. But it wasn't just the money. In good conscience, he couldn't turn down Harribel's job, not if it'd take Ulquiorra weeks to show up.

"She needs to get more talent on the payroll." He muttered as he went to fetch his gear, flipping open his phone. "Harribel? We're on. Where should I meet you?"

Down by the transport district. I have the exact address. Grimmjow noted it down as she rattled it off. Look for the police tape, the usual.

"Yeah, I know." Grimmjow muttered. The transport district? That was a bit… arrogant. People went through there all the time and the police took care of that area, since they couldn't afford to have any of the shipments from Earth disrupted. A bad, bad place to flaunt a kill. But some people thought they were above the rules. "I'll be there soon, if the traffic ain't too bad. Can I use my cop light?"

Yes, go ahead. You still have the badge. Grimmjow nodded, putting on his armor. His badge was on the left breast, bright and shiny. But the whole armor was capable of going camouflage, including the badge, so it was no problem when he had to get busy. Meet you there.

"Later Harribel." Grimmjow went to get his bike and immediately headed out.

Traffic was backed up as soon as he hit one of the highways leading to the gate. Despite the absolutely huge roads leading away from the gate, and the mammoth nature of the gate itself, traffic was always snarled. It was just the nature of the beast. At least this time, the portal had manifested in an area people actually went. Grimmjow remembered the year the damned thing had managed to show up in the Himalayas. They'd all gotten way too dependent on the elves that year, and that was never a good thing. Then he grinned. The Japanese government had nearly had a cow when the portal had opened right on a major thoroughfare. Fortunately, there'd been plenty of warning for the cars to stop, but getting the road clear had been… interesting. Then completely blocking off the road and building a work around had been even more interesting. All for something that would be gone in a year.

But Japan could just suck it, in Grimmjow's opinion. Bitch bitch, whine whine, but they had an exclusive market for at least a year. He knew the Japanese economy was spiking from it all, not to mention the extra tourism. The US of A was pretty pissed they'd lost the portal, but that was just the way the cookie crumbled. The diviners had known it was going to be a big leap this time, so they'd had plenty of warning.

Grimmjow hoped the portal kicked around Japan for a while. He was interested in the culture, and if the damn thing left in a year, well… he'd never see Ichigo again. There was no way in hell he was ever leaving Elvenhome. He was too magical to survive on Earth, not long term. He'd once tried to go on a Caribbean cruise for a week and by the end of it, he'd been sick and starting to look old. Reishi was what kept the elves young, and it seemed he was too elven to be any exception.

Grimmjow sighed and turned on his cop light and siren, then began violating Elvenhome's already lax traffic laws. Cars tried to give him a bit of room, but he still kept an eye out for idiots. Dodging through traffic, he finally found his turnoff and began nearing the scene of the crime.

It wasn't hard to spot. There was enough police tape to wrap up a mummy. Grimmjow grimaced, pulling over and shutting off his siren. That thing was annoying as hell on a hoverbike, but the light itself just wasn't enough. There were cops keeping away the gawkers, but they took one look at him and let him in. They knew who he was, what he was here for, and not a single one of them would shed a tear for his prey.

Harribel was there, wearing her usual, impeccably tailored white pantsuit. She wasn't a cop, she was the head dispatcher for the bounty hunters. For low level shit, she just put it on the bounty board and let nature take its course, but for things like this she required her agents to come to her. The body was still there and Grimmjow glanced it over, his eyes hard.

Once upon a time, it had been a young girl. From the looks of it, she'd been raped and tortured extensively. A signature V had been carved into her shoulder, and Grimmjow scowled. He knew this guy. This killer had been taking out whores in the bad part of town for a while, but his activities had been too low key to merit special attention. He was getting bolder, and he'd gone too far with this one.

"She was someone important?" Grimmjow asked casually. The location was bad, but that might not be enough to call him in. In Elvenhome, justice was for the rich. Harribel nodded.

"She was a tourist, and she was kidnapped at night in the entertainment district." She said and Grimmjow winced. That was bad juju and might seriously hamper the tourist industry for a while.

"Yeah, well, there are some street whores who will be happy now." Grimmjow said with a slightly brittle smile. "Lay it on me." Harribel nodded, holding out a hand and concentrating a moment. She was a banshee hybrid, one of the best and strongest outcrossings. And one of the few who could summon the baboa.

The baboa was a nasty, stupid little spirit. Attracted to death and pain, they congregated around serial killers, enjoying the vibrations they threw off. Harribel had control over many, many baboa's and when the police identified a serial killer, she took the time to take her little pets to the scene of the crime. Each of her baboa had the scent of a separate killer, the imprint of his psychic aura and even, sometimes, a physical description. As long as the serial killer kept preying on the people no one cared about, though, the bounty hunters didn't get called in. But it seemed like serial killers always had to go too far, had to take some tourist or some schoolkid waiting for a bus. Then the hammer would fall.

Grimmjow held still as the baboa oozed over his face. He hated this. He hated letting the little monster into his mind, into his aura, but there was no choice. The baboa looked like a dirty white mist, and it tasted like cotton balls dipped in machine oil. Grimacing, he carefully opened himself and received what the creature had to give.

Taste of blood, screams, hysterical voices pleading for mercy. Laughter, cutting, pleasure from the pain. Aura that feels like banana/sandalwood/rotting flesh. Brown hair and brown eyes, handsome face, talking to women. Grimmjow hissed out a breath as he locked onto the aura. A lot of the information the baboa was giving him was superfluous, stuff that turned the spirit on, but what he needed was the aura. With that, he could go bloodhound and bring this guy down.

This time, it was going to be easy. This killer had been at it long enough to pick up the rotting flesh stench, and that was unusual. It meant he was hosting not just baboa's, but also a legion, a nasty collection of evil spirits. They wouldn't help him at all though, physically. They wouldn't even want to. The spirits would feast on his death before going to find another host who would slake their lust for blood.

"I've got him. I'll bring you his head for the girl's family to piss on." He promised with a cold, vicious grin and Harribel returned it with an equally cold smile. She'd been a bounty hunter, once. She appreciated the crudities.

"Excellent. We'll see if they want it. I still have some very nice boxes." Her face got a little dreamy at the thought, and Grimmjow knew she wasn't kidding.

If the family wanted this fucker's head, they would get it in a box with a bow on.

Ichigo sighed, reading a book.

Without Grimmjow to instruct him there wasn't much to do. He'd worked on a new toaster, reasoning that Grimmjow wouldn't mind if it was broken, and actually managed to crack it. He'd even made himself some toast. He'd also used Grimmjow's gym a lot, and even gone for a walk in the neighborhood. In broad daylight and with his throwing knives, he didn't think it was very dangerous.

But now it was the next day and Grimmjow still wasn't home. Ichigo couldn't help but worry. What would happen to him if something happened to his protector? He bit his lip, thinking about it. He'd have to try to go home, but what would he be going home to?

Then he heard the rattle of a key in the door and looked up sharply.

"Grimmjow!" He set the book down and ran to the other man, ready to impulsively hug him. But then he stopped short. "You're… covered in blood." He said, his gorge rising. The black leather armor was liberally splattered with blood, although under it he could see something glittery on the left side of his chest.

"Yeah, the fucker was a bleeder." Grimmjow raked a hand through his hair and Ichigo swallowed as he saw there were thin lines of dried blood there. "And he tried to run like a pussy. Help me out of this, will ya?" Ichigo forced back his nausea and, after a moment's hesitation, reached out to help undo the buckles. "Thanks. And in case you're wondering, it was a legal kill." Ichigo looked up, eyes wide at that and Grimmjow gave him a tired grin. "And that's all I want to say about it."

"Uh, okay." He said, completely unnerved. Legal kill? What did that mean? But if Grimmjow didn't want to talk about it, he wasn't going to pry. And he got a shock as he helped Grimmjow out of his breastplate and saw the glittery thing was something akin to a police badge. It was differently designed, but he was pretty sure of the purpose.

Grimmjow is a police officer? No… he can't be… Grimmjow was a cracker, and this was some kind of special job, so he obviously wasn't actually with the police. Ichigo couldn't help but puzzle it over as he retreated to the den. Grimmjow was getting out some kind of special cleaner and going to the sink to clean off his armor.

"Grimmjow? Do you mind if I use your computer?" He finally asked and the blue haired man grunted.

"Go ahead." He said and Ichigo went upstairs. Logging onto the computer – Grimmjow's password was smurfy, which always made him giggle – He began to check out Elvenhome's version of yahoo answers.

Elvenhome really had a miniscule online community, compared to Earth. It was actually pretty sad. Only the rich, or those who were at least doing okay, like Grimmjow, could afford a cracked computer. Not to mention the fee the ISP charged – there was only one provider, they had a monopoly - which was simply out of this world. So the online community wasn't just only the city, it was maybe a quarter of the city, if that. From a computer geek's perspective, this place was a wasteland.

But they did have some things, like the forum he was visiting. Typing up a post, he expected he would get a reply rather quickly. This was one of the most heavily trafficked forums in Elvenhome, called Elvenbase, short for database. It was used by tourists, especially, to get answers to pressing questions.

I was just wondering… I'm staying with someone I don't know well, and he just came home covered in blood and said he'd made a legal kill. Does anyone know what that means? How can a kill be legal? Thanks! Ichigo posted his note and grabbed a book to kill time. Fifteen minutes later he hit refresh and saw he had three replies.

Sounds like a bounty hunter. They bring in criminals for the cops, sometimes alive sometimes dead.

Yeah, what he said.

He must be a bounty hunter. They work intimately with the police to catch certain criminals, especially serial killers and gang members who intrude on the safe locations. They also bring in people alive for questioning, things like that. If you want to know more you could check out the tutorial on how to become a bounty hunter and the bounty board at… What followed was a very short and simple URL that led to the Elvenhome government website. Ichigo perused it with shock and a bit of horror. The government here sent out people with a license to kill, literally? Out of morbid curiosity, he checked out the bounty board. There were physical descriptions of criminals, names and all kinds of notes about their crimes and habits. At least half of them were alive only, so if the bounty hunter killed them they would get no reward and possibly a removal from the bounty program. The other half… a quarter were alive or dead, and the rest were wanted dead. Not all the criminals were human, either. There was a bounty out on a particularly nasty picty who'd been robbing banks and shooting tellers. Ichigo bit his lip before leaving the bounty board and turning off the computer. He wasn't sure what to think of this, but he was sure of one thing.

Grimmjow was a dangerous man.

"Yo. This is Grimmjow's house of oral sex and cake, how can I pleasure you today?" Grimmjow answered the phone as he stretched out in his tub, feeling lazy and relaxed. It had been days since his bounty trip, and the reward had been worth the effort. He'd prepaid his mom's nursing home for three months, which was always a relief. A nursing home in Elvenhome was damned expensive. He'd seriously considered having her moved to America, but then he wouldn't be able to call her anymore, except maybe once a month. And his mom really did enjoy hearing his voice, and getting the little treats he had delivered to her. It just made her day, getting a box of chocolates or a bouquet of flowers.

Hey Grimm, it's Yammy. I've got bad news. Grimmjow frowned, his pleasure suddenly gone. Yammy did not sound happy at all. Two guys showed up at my place. They broke in looking for me, but the red caps caught 'em. I didn't ask them t' look after the place, they just decided to do it. Grimmjow blinked, a little surprised. Staking out a place was a novel idea for a red cap. Anyway, I thought you should know… they're employed by some guy named Juha Bach from Japan. Apparently he's some kind of big wig there, or at least his men think so. You ever heard of him?

"Nope. Let me guess, the red caps weren't impressed?" Grimmjow sniggered at the thought and Yammy laughed.

Nah. Although the second guy was pretty impressed when they cut out his buddies tongue and ate it in front of him. Grimmjow winced a little, because he could easily picture it. He'd seen what red caps did to their victims. They sent the guy who still has a tongue back to Japan with a message to fuck off and die, but who knows if he'll listen.

"Yeah." Grimmjow was pretty sure he wouldn't listen, as it happened. Every time the portal shifted locations, something like this happened. Elvenhome had its own underworld, its own version of the mafia. But it was a lot fucking different from anything on Earth, mainly because of all the supernatural elements. Not to mention that this place was effectively a dictatorship. The Elvenhome syndicates knew there were certain places they could not go, certain things they could not do without risking the wrath of the current tyrant. That guy had all the cops and all the bounty hunters at his disposal. And the dictator could also call in the elves, although he would pay for it if he did. But elven assassins were the deadliest in the world and could be even more vicious than red caps. No one wanted to play ball with the dictator in charge.

Of course, all that went out the window when some dumbass from Earth tried to horn in on Elvenhome. Grimmjow sighed to himself, remembering a literal war that had broken out the first year the portal moved to the United States. That had been ugly and the dictator had put down the riots with brutal efficiency. Grimmjow himself had taken a part in that, joining the rest of the bounty hunters on an extermination operation. He had no idea how many he'd killed that day, so they weren't in his official kill total, but that was fine. He didn't really take pride in how many people he'd sent on, unlike some bounty hunters.

"Well, it's not what I wanted to hear, but thanks for telling me Yammy." Grimmjow said sincerely. He really did appreciate the heads up.

No problem man. Those guys were gonna kill me after they got their information, so I owe you. Yammy said seriously and Grimmjow grinned.

"Well, if I need to stash the kid somewhere maybe you can put in a good word with your relatives." He said, mostly joking. He wasn't going to tempt the red caps with someone as young and powerful as Ichigo. And even if they behaved themselves, just living with them would probably scar the teen for life. Yammy laughed at that. "Later Yammy."

Later Grimm. Grimmjow hung up the phone and took his time, finishing his bath. When he was done, he went to look for Ichigo.

The teen was sitting by a window, looking out at the stars in the sky. That weird expression that Grimmjow had come to identify as homesickness was on his face, and he tapped the kid on the shoulder, breaking him out of his trance.

"You okay?" He asked and Ichigo gave him a wan smile before nodding. "Have you ever heard of someone named Juha Bach?"

"Huh? No. Why?" Ichigo asked and Grimmjow sighed. This wasn't going to make the kid sleep any easier.

"Because the guy who sold me the car you were in got a visit from some guys working for him." Ichigo went pale at that. "They were planning to kill him after they got the information they wanted. Unfortunately for them, they were caught by his family. The one that still can talk was sent back as a message." Grimmjow wasn't stupid, and he knew red caps, so he knew that his tongue was probably about the only thing that guy had kept. It would be an emphatic message. "I don't know if that'll scare him off or just make him cleverer, but…" Grimmjow shrugged. "It looks like whatever is going on isn't over." Ichigo swallowed hard.

"Are we still going to go to Japan?" He asked and Grimmjow thought about it for a long moment.

"Yeah, but I'll have to take some steps." Grimmjow grinned wickedly. This was where it helped, being a bounty hunter. "I've got contacts, they'll see we get through customs without leaving a trace." Harribel owed him a favor for taking on that serial killer when he really didn't have to. She'd come through for him. Ichigo looked relieved. "And if there's any physical stakeout, they'll take care of it." The Elvenhome authorities didn't like it when that sort of thing went on anyway. They'd be happy to take care of it.

If this Bach guy wasn't careful, he'd learn exactly who had jurisdiction in Elvenhome.