Blade's Edge

A/N: Sorry about the first time I posted this, dunno what I was doing, guess I was asleep. Fixed the breaks in it and forgot to say chapter three has an added scene at the end with Shiro in it you might want to go back and look at. There's a ton of typos but I'm planning on adding more to this chapter.

Chapter Six

Distance

Present

Tuesday, May 20th, 2014 -8:00 pm

En Route to Casino de Las Noches

Grimmjow stood with a cigarette outside A's quarters. He was picking him and Nnoitra up for a dinner meeting with Aizen. Zommie, Barragan, Nel and Harribel were already at the club waiting for them. A came out with the boy in tow. Ulquiorra and Szayel were on assignment.

"What are you bringing him for?" he asked, eyeing the short fifteen year old boy. He had blonde hair and strange violet eyes. He kind of gave Grimmjow the creeps. To be honest, the kid kinda creeped everyone out.

"They got slots, he can get me some bank while I'm there," he said, turning his dark circled eyes to him with a shady grin. Grimmjow gave him a strained smile. The guy looked so greasy all the time, his spiked black hair looking always greasy and his face was always with constant stubble like he never shaved. He was slightly fat, and he constantly gorged himself when given the chance, but he didn't eat much at all if he had to pay for it. He'd never seen such a greedy bastard in his life.

"Whatever, man, let's just go get Nnoitra," he said with a sigh.

"How is that stupid fucker?" A said as the boy slid in the back beside him, leaving the front open for Nnoitra to sit. "Dumbass loses his plaything. What he gets for loaning him out like that. I don't lone my boy out. That's just asking for trouble."

Grimmjow's back stiffened a bit. "Oh? And you're so much different than him?" he asked. Grimmjow's "boys" were often his security or assistants. He never treated them like shit, even dumbass Di Roy who was quite possibly dumber than an actual box of rocks.

"I take care of my boy here, don't I, Wonderweiss?" he asked, patting the young blond on the back.

Wonderweiss was staring out the window blankly, while one hand petted the baby chick in his pocket. "Don't forget to count the cards, count them twice, count them," he said slowly. "Count the cards, count the cards, count. Shut up, bitch, leave the kid alone. Shut up."

A smiled. The kid was what most people called an idiot savant. A thought he was stupid about everything but gambling. He was a rare find though. He'd been in Nnoitra's merchandise, and it had only been by chance that A had been at the warehouse that day. Nnoitra was commenting on the useless freak that they'd have to get rid of and A went to look out of curiosity. He had been fascinated immediately. The kid was obviously autistic. A had seen it before, and he had almost gotten his hands on a savant once before. He had grown up with brother that had autism, though he was unfortunately not also afflicted with savant syndrome. Sadly, because of course every autistic kid wasn't Rain Man. However, that was exactly what he was looking for. He wanted one to use in his gambling rings. So he wanted him, and Nnoitra let him have him. To his glee, he found out the kid was a marvel with numbers and probability. He had an annoying habit of repeating things at terrible moments, but it wasn't like he even understood what he was doing.

In Hong Kong, the brat had found a chick running in the street. He hadn't wanted to let him keep it, but A kept the kid happy. He'd only been able to say one thing when they found him, and that was Wonderweiss. They weren't sure if it was his name or not, but he seemed to at least look like he was responding when he heard it. A turned and handed him a container of gummy snacks. He took them and ate them silently as he stared out the window.

"Do you feed him anything but sugar, A?" Grimmjow asked with a sigh. It seemed like every time he saw the boy he was eating some sort of candy or soda.

"Keeps him alert and awake," A said with a smirk. "Don't want him getting tired while he's working, you know. I keep him in a diaper too. He can't get up while he's working either. So don't have to worry about him moving or losing his spot."

Grimmjow curled his lip as he pulled up outside the bar where Nnoitra was standing outside smoking a cigarette. "That's fucking disgusting, man," he commented.

"Price I pay to get what I want," he said as Nnoitra dropped into the car in a huff.

"What's up, dumb ass?" asked A from behind.

"Fuck you, A," he commented, crossing his arms and ignoring him.

"Aw, poor baby lost his toy, is he mad?" A teased him with a kick to the back of his seat.

"Is he mad, lost his toy," Wonderweiss echoed hollowly.

"Shut that fucker up, A. Or I'm going to put a bullet in his head," Nnoitra said with a growl.

Grimmjow sighed. "Nnoi, look I get that you're upset, but what's the big deal? You didn't get this upset when you killed the albino boy."

"He was different. Already cut the prick's nuts off, if you remember, after I caught him fucking my baby boy. No one fucks with my baby boy without my permission, especially not another fucking slave," he said, looking out the window.

Grimmjow glanced at him sideways as he turned onto the main highway. "Dude, Nnoi, you sound like you actually cared about him."

Nnoitra sighed and didn't say anything. Behind him A giggled. "Fuck, Nnoi was in love with his fuck toy? Oh god, I can't believe this shit…"

Nnoitra actually didn't rise to the bait and refused to say anything more the rest of the ride. That more than anything said more to Grimmjow than anything else the freaky bastard could have said. They pulled into the large casino and he grabbed Nnoitra as A and pulled him to the side.

"The fuck is going on Nnoi? Never seen you like this," he said with a frown.

Nnoitra started to push him away, but Grimmjow held onto him. "Come on," he said.

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, yes, I think…for the first time in my life, I loved something," he said almost embarrassed by the admittance. "I did horrible things to him. And I couldn't stop because I fucked up beyond measure. And I didn't know it until I had him taken from me and it was all my fucking fault. If I hadn't given him to Ken, if I'd just taken him with me, then I wouldn't have lost the only thing that made this fucking miserable ass existence worth living."

Grimmjow nodded and led him into the casino. "Fair enough," he said softly.

8:30 pm

Visored Safe House

"There's a meeting going on now," Hiyori said, skidding into the main room. "Almost all the fuckers are there except a couple. We could manage to get a few of them separate, and take them out of play, at least for a while," she said frantically. "Casino de Las Noches."

"Move," Shiro said with a grin. "We can see if some of the bastards come out to smoke or something. Gather the team. Bring back something I can use," he said with a nod at them.

Within minutes, all of nine members of the team were loaded and heading to the casino. Shiro sat down and hoped beyond hope they'd bring back Nnoitra. He was itching to severe several pieces of his anatomy from his body.

9:30 pm

Casino de Las Noches Club and Bar

Grimmjow sat through some of the more annoying parts of the meeting and felt like he was out of place even more now than ever before. No, something was different, and he glanced at Nel who he noted kept looking at A's boy as he repeatedly won at the various games. He knew that her maternal instincts had kicked in, and that was a huge part of her need to help the boy.

"I said, how are munitions?" Aizen said, pulling him from his thoughts.

Grimmjow paled at having been caught not paying attention. "Well, we're waiting on a large shipment of military grade C4 and the Nitro shipment is late, they got delayed by the coast guard. Should arrive within the week, however."

Aizen glared at him but nodded. "You are distracted."

Grimmjow shook his head. "Nothing, sir, just didn't get a lot of sleep last night, that's all," he said with a sigh.

"Make sure you aren't distracted any further, Grimmjow," he said and turned to Zommari."

Grimmjow excused himself when Nel got up and walked toward where the blond haired charge of the gambler was seated at a craps table.

"Wonderweiss?" she asked. He looked up without look at her. "It is break time, come here," she said softly, noting that no one was really paying attention to them.

Grimmjow followed her, at a distance, and slipped out the back door after her into the alley. He looked left and right and back to her.

"What now? Tell me you have a plan?" he pleaded.

She smiled and said. "Not really, I just…I saw the chance and I had to take it…" she said, looking down at the boy who was jumping from foot to foot and muttering as he petted the chick in his jacket pocket.

"Well, hello there," came a voice from the shadows. Grimmjow went for his gun, which of course had been check in at the front of the casino, before he turned to face a young man with straight blonde hair. "What do we have here? Some of Aizen's crew?"

Nel pulled the boy to her and put a hand over her own belly. "Please, don't, just leave us, we're…" she started only to jump as she backed into someone else, a tall man with silver hair.

"Hmm, I think you need to come with us," the silver haired man said.

Grimmjow looked between the door, his girl, and these strangers. He had a better shot with them, he figured than he did with Aizen. He swallowed and put up his hands and nodded to Nel. She did the same. Grimmjow felt a gun at his back and he walked forward getting into the van followed by the young boy and Nel. Inside there were more people, and a short blond girl came forward. She started to tie them up and Wonderweiss balked at it.

"Please, don't, he'll be fine, just leave him alone, he has autism, he won't even remember being in here," Nel pleaded.

The silver haired man nodded to the blond and she left him alone, tying up both Grimmjow and Nel, then blindfolding and gagging them. The ride didn't take long and they were led blindly along, surprisingly, they kept them from tripping or falling. Both were pushed into a seat and they heard mumbled discussion before their blindfolds and gags were removed.

Grimmjow blinked into the light and then gasped. "Dude, you're dead," he said with a gasp.

Nel looked at her brother then at the albino that stood in front of them in a cherry blossom covered kimono. She too gasped in shock. She saw that Wonderweiss had been sat down at a table with some paper and crayons where he was busy writing numbers repeatedly.

"That's what Nnoitra would like to believe," he said, tipping his head to the side.

Grimmjow shook his head. "No, I fucking helped dump your goddamned body, you were as dead as a fucking doornail."

Shiro smiled and shrugged his pale shoulders and lifted his head. "Apparently the fates had other plans for me," he said, motioning at the deep red mark across his throat.

"What do you want with us?" Nel said.

"You were convenient. For the past few years, I've been taking chunks of Aizen's organization apart. Piece by piece, bit by bit, and we've progressed to the stage of disposing of the Espada," he said with a shrug.

Grimmjow's eyes went wide. "Please, you can kill me, I probably deserve it for some of the sick and twisted shit I've seen and didn't do anything about, but let Nel go, please, she's pregnant, and the kid is a victim just like you were," he said.

"Grimm, no! I'm not having this baby without you!" she said, turning wild green eyes on him. "If you kill him, kill me too, and just make it quick, that's all I ask."

Shiro looked slightly shocked. He glanced back to Shinji. Shinji shook his head. "They were in the alley together and weaponless," he said.

"You were leaving," Shiro said. "You were trying to run from Aizen, weren't you?" he said, glancing between them.

Nel nodded with tears in her eyes. "I…I didn't know most of what went on, you know. I was in the business end, but it hurt Grimm so much and I saw how it hurt him every time I asked what was wrong and he wouldn't tell me because he said I shouldn't know what happened. But we had no way out, neither of us. And we…we left this time knowing our time was limited and we wouldn't live long but we had to try. I…I don't want my baby born into that hell…"

Shiro frowned deeply and looked at his crew. This was unexpected. And now he had to decide how to handle it.

Flashback

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

Espada Compound

The world was sluggish and surreal, and had Ichigo's mind been functioning fully, he would have recognized a nightmare for what it was.

"Come on you fucking slut," Nnoitra muttered as he took every moment to yank on him. It had been two years so far. Nnoitra was in a foul mood because there was a meeting concerning some of his less than savory activities with his product.

They came to the meeting room and Nnoitra shoved him into the side area where some of the other "pets" waited on their masters. Since Nnoitra had taken Ichigo on permanently, the others had opted to do the same thing. It made Ichigo sick because he'd been the first to be demeaned and treated this way.

He sat on his knees, trying to pull the leash down a bit to take pressure off his nipples and cock ring. He couldn't move his hands from his knees or Nnoitra would tie him to the foot of the table instead of letting him sit to the side. He looked over. There were Barragan's two pets. They wore no markings and wore instead a matching yukata of white with blue lacing. They were both women, and Ichigo thought their names were Loly and Menoly. He seemed to remember them having been in the cages and thought Barragan had taken them, then. Sitting beside them chasing imaginary things in the air was Zommari's boy, Luppi. He was a slight, tiny thing, and Zommari kept him so high on LSD that the kid didn't know where he was at a given time. Then there was A's boy, the kid with the thing for numbers. He just kind of stared into space.

He dropped his head and wondered why would these things happen to these people? What had they ever done to deserve such treatment? What had he done? He shifted uncomfortably on his legs. The backs of his thighs were covered in welts from last night. It had been after Aizen had called him about the death of four of his boys last week. It had been when a bust happened to one of his warehouses, and he lost about fifty head. He'd taken it out brutally on Ichigo and then took off to the warehouse where he ended up killing four boys before he was done.

"Nnoi, I understand you were upset, but decimating product like that isn't permissible. I look the other way most the time…but I have to dispose of the bodies," Aizen said. "I allowed you to have the boy there to keep this from happening."

Nnoitra glanced over to make sure that Ichigo hadn't moved. He hadn't. "I know, boss but if I hadn't done that, I woulda killed him. And you want him alive."

"If you can't stop killing my merchandise, I might not care anymore if he lives or dies, Nnoi," Aizen said glaring at him. "Or I could give him to someone else. He might enjoy that more considering the way you treat him."

Zommari laughed. "You know it is so silly to beat him so much, my little one over there doesn't need that. A few pills and he's good…"

Barragan smiled at Zommari across the table. "My girls need nothing like that. They do as I wish," he said, glancing over at them. They smiled and waved back at him. "And A keeps that kid nice and happy over there. You should learn a thing or two, Nnoi, and stop being so bloody violent," he said with a roll of his eyes.

Nnoitra shook his head. "Want to see what happens when you train a bitch like this?" he said, narrowing his eyes at them. They didn't understand. Sure, he could dope him up, or he could keep him happy like Barragan's whores. That wasn't the point. He was certain that none of them would come and do the things he made his boy do. "Baby boy, now," he said sternly.

Ichigo swallowed, dropping to all fours and crawling over to where Nnoitra sat. Nnoitra grabbed his hair and lifted his head painfully. "Show smart ass Barragan here what a lovely little cocksucker you turned into. He says he don't dig boys, but I think he'll make an exception for your pretty pussy of a mouth."

Nnoitra looked over Ichigo's form and smirked at Barragan. Barragan glared at him. Nnoitra knew that he wouldn't turn down the opportunity in this situation. Nnoitra knew that Barragan liked boys, a lot. He was one of the only people that knew that he had a penchant for young boys, and for rent boys that looked like they were young. In fact, Nnoitra knew what Barragan used his "errand" boy Ggio for when no one was looking. For this reason, Barragan would never oppose Nnoitra in anything. He didn't want anyone to know of this, it would have ruined his reputation.

Ichigo swallowed and crawled forward as the large man shook his head at Nnoitra. "Really? Never had a boy get me off, ever, Nnoi, just don't work for me, but I'll show you," he said, unbuttoning his pants to reveal a thick and quite flaccid member. Nnoitra was impressed that he'd managed to control himself.

Ichigo knew his place all too well and before long had the man who claimed to not like boys sucking his cock was moaning like a whore himself. Nnoitra smiled and winked at Zommari who was watching, fascinated as Ichigo worked over the older man with ease and precision. He'd learned very quickly how to best use the piercings in his tongue to the fastest and greatest effect. The lip piercings also offered extra stimulation. To be honest, what Nnoitra had done to his tongue and lips had been entirely for this purpose.

"Take his pretty boy cunt, if you want Zommi. He's used to being fucked without lube," he said watching the show. He always enjoyed watching as he made Ichigo perform on others.

He wasn't surprised to feel the pants he wore being pulled off and rough hands grabbing his hips. He set his jaw so he didn't bite as the dark man slid forward into him and he whimpered at the sudden stretch and pain from it. Though Nnoitra wasn't kidding, he was used to being taken nearly dry. Rarely anymore did Nnoitra take the time to bother with things like lube. He quickly finished off Barragan, nearly choking on the man's heavy release and then stayed put while Zommari finished inside him. He held back a whine as he felt other hands take Zommari's place and someone else sat in front of him, pulling their pants open.

"That's my baby boy, such a pretty little whore, aren't you?" he heard Nnoitra say from behind him. It was worse when he did this, when he talked to him like some paid rent boy to be used by others. This was the first time he'd actually been made to service the others and he found it even more degrading and humiliating than anything else. The others, the other pets were not made to do such things.

"Where are you lot going?" Nnoitra asked. "You aren't going to share?"

Ichigo recognized Starrk's voice. "I'm afraid I am not interested, I have other things to occupy my free time with than abusing your slave," he said with a snort. "And Grimmjow also has work to do."

Szayel's voice, too he recognized. "I've got experiments that can't wait. Good day."

He closed his eyes as someone else sat down and he looked up to see that it was Aizen. "Let's see how good you are," the man said with a leer.

Present

Wednesday, May 21st, 2014 -4:00 am

Seireitei Safe House

Ichigo woke with a screech and scrambling for something, anything to hold onto. He felt arms, strong arms that weren't trying to hurt him, wrap around him and he grasped all the tighter and sobbed.

"Ichigo?" Zaraki's voice pierced the fog that had filled his brain.

"It was another time, all of them, they all…such a good little whore he said," he whimpered into the sleep shirt of the larger man. "The walls, he's tearing down all the walls!"

"Who's tearing down the walls?" he asked, rubbing the younger man's back thoughtfully.

"Shiro…my Shiro, he's in my head now, and he's a demon, and he's angry and he doesn't want me to forget and I tried to forget…" he said, gasping for breath in between each word.

"Shiro?" Zaraki asked. "Who is that, Ichigo?"

"My love, the only one I loved, he was taken from me because…because he caught us…" he said softly, tears still falling, but softly now.

Zaraki adjusted him and tipped him to the side, bracing him with one arm so he could wipe his face with the other. "He caught you? Nnoitra caught you?"

Ichigo's face reflected a deep inner pain. "He…he gave me…Shiro…because it made me…behave. I protected him, and he protected me, and then…and then…when he was gone, we'd kiss and hug and then…then we would lie together and it was…was love…and then…he found us. And he was so mad, so mad at me, and he beat Shiro so badly, then he…he…" Ichigo choked on the words. "He cut off…"

Zaraki's eyes widened. "He castrated him? Or did he cut everything off?"

"He left…left his cock, so he could remember that he…he was only half a man…until he died. Then he just beat him every day…and kept him in the chair…I don't know how long it took…"

"The chair?" Zaraki asked. Ichigo paled immediately.

"It…it had a piece that went up inside…and he'd tie us to it and leave us all night when he was really mad…and it hurt b-because it was too big…and there were these hard pieces on it to make it hurt worse…and you couldn't move…" he said quietly.

"What happened to Shiro?" Zaraki asked after a long moment.

"He beat him so much he was dying one night because of me, and he just screamed to him to die already but he didn't, so he cut his throat…there was so much blood…and he…it was all my fault, if I'd been good, it wouldn't have happened!" he whimpered and buried his face into Zaraki's shirt.

Zaraki shook his head. "No, no, it isn't your fault, love," he said softly, rubbing his back and rocking him. "Shh, now, Nnoitra was a fucking piece of shit bastard that doesn't deserve to live," he said, swallowing rising bile.

Suddenly Ichigo's arms grew tighter and he sobbed loudly. "But I miss him," he said through the tears. "Why do I miss him? I can't…I don't know why!"

Zaraki held him tighter and hushed him until he fell asleep again. He was glad he was at least becoming somewhat coherent, but it was taking far too long for his liking. He said he wanted to let him in, and Zaraki could tell he was showing far more to him than he had to anyone else.

Wednesday, May 21st, 2014 – 6:45 am

Shinigami Headquarters, downtown Rukongai

The phone on Byakuya's desk rang insistently. It was a quarter of seven, what the hell was someone calling this damn early for?

He groaned and picked it up. "Captain Kuchiki," he responded stoically.

"I hear you are the man to talk to about Aizen's crew," the strange high pitched voice on the other end said.

"That would be me. Look I have a lot of work to do and don't have time for stupid crap, so…" he said, almost hanging up.

"I have Grimmjow and Nelliel. I believe you know them as two of the leaders within Espada?" the voice said.

Byakuya didn't slam the phone down and instead sat back down. "How do I know you're telling me the truth?" he asked.

"Grimmjow," the higher pitched voice said and there was a shuffle.

"Yo, long time no see, Byakuya," came the voice of the demolitions expert that Byakuya knew too well. He'd been the one to deliver the notice that his lover and sister had been kidnapped. "Shiro here does indeed have us, though we were fucking trying to leave anyway, so you know what, whatever the fuck you want, I'll tell ya, how's that?"

There was another shuffle. "Now, do you believe me?" asked the first voice, obviously this Shiro person.

"Okay, what do you want?" he asked, motioning for the techs to trace the call and get in there.

There was a long pause. "Depends. Is Kuro with your people or not?"

"Kuro?" Byakuya asked. "Who is Kuro?"

The voice on the other end sounded annoyed. "Kuro. My best friend, the only one I ever loved in this world before Nnoitra tried to kill me in front of him. Nnoitra is going crazy looking for him, so he must be there!"

Byakuya frowned. Kuro. His eyes went wide. "Kuro as in Kurosaki?" he asked quietly.

"Who else!" Shiro nearly shouted.

"Yes, yes, we have him," Byakuya said slowly, unsure if it was right to tell him that the boy was alive.

There was a long silence and then a manic sounding laugh began on the other end of the line. Byakuya was slightly unnerved by it. "My Kuro, my Kuro, oh…" he said, giggling and laughing. "I…I want to see my Kuro!" he said finally with a final giggle.

"Okay, that can happen, but first…" he started.

"No," came the stark reply. "I don't come in; I don't bring these people in, unless I'm going to my Kuro directly. No other way."

Byakuya sighed in frustration. "He's in a safe house, I can't chance someone following a large group…" he said slowly, hoping he would understand his hesitation.

"No one will follow me. I will meet you with my crew and the defectors in two hours at a location I will send via text. We will be in a black van with opaque windows. It will be driven by a man in a painter's uniform, and the side reads 'Sumoform Painting Service'. Park in front of the van and then pull out after ten minutes, no more, no less, and we will follow you two car lengths behind. That is the only way," he said, and turned off the phone, leaving Byakuya staring at it for a long moment.