Ichigo woke up. He didn't really think that was going to happen when he lost consciousness to the vision of his mother's face, but here he was, opening his eyes to the white washed walls and ceiling of the Fourth Division.
"Ichigo!" He heard the young, elated voice and saw Hanatoro's face as it broke into a wide smile. "You're awake! How do you feel? Let me get Captain Unohana." He was out of the room before Ichigo could even speak.
He waited alone, sound of beeping monitors kept the silence at bay. He peeled back the sheets enough to see the white bandages over his torso. He could feel tenderness but not the sharp, intense pain he remembered back in the prison. He let his head fall back against the thick pillow, and just bask in the reality that he was out of that Hell hole, that he was back among friends and being taken care of. He shut his eyes, memories still fresh, emotions running high.
"Ah, Ichigo, are you okay?" Hanataro ran to his side when he saw his eyes closed again but Ichigo put his mind at rest.
"I'm fine." He tried to sit but Captain Unohana put a hand on his shoulder.
"Just take it slow, your wound was severe."
He did as she said, too happy to be back to start defying rules just yet. She smiled on him as if she knew his thoughts.
"I am very glad to have you back with us, Ichigo Kurosaki."
"I'm very glad you came back for me. I honestly thought the Vandenreich had won when they put me in there."
"No, Ichigo, you wounded several high ranking soldiers that day, if you recall, and that has given us enough advantage to turn the tide, though I must admit it took some time, and when we found out where they had put you, we did everything we could to get to you first. Unfortunately, we were almost too late."
"So we're winning?"
"We're holding our own," she said, "but their attempt to get you tells us they are getting desperate for a way to push back. I won't give you false hope, but I think we have a chance of ending this soon."
"That's a relief," he sighed. "Captain...I've been gone for a long time."
"You're worried about your friends."
He nodded.
"I wish I could say Orihime has improved, but I'm afraid she remains in a coma. Your other friends are quite well, however, and they wish to see you."
He couldn't help but be bothered that Orihime was unchanging, but he did want to see his other friends.
"Just let me check you over and I'll tell them you're up for visitors."
"Okay."
She finished her exam, helped him sit and let them come. Rukia barely kept herself from crying. It turned out most had thought him dead until they'd caught wind of where the Vandenreich had been stashing prisoners and their plans to retrieve one. Renji gave him a clap on his shoulder, Uryu reluctantly showed a smile at seeing him and Chad squeezed his shoulder and promised he'd been keeping watch over his family.
When they left, Ichigo found himself very tired and starting to drift. Unohana had informed him he'd been asleep for seven days, but he felt like he hadn't slept for centuries so it didn't take long until he drifted again.
But while he was lingering in the realm between thought and dreams, he saw a pale face and blue eyes, and wondered what had happened to the sixth espada.
A wet cough echoed off bare walls in the depths of the twelfth division laboratory. Chains clinked as Grimmjow drew his hands up to his mouth as the bout of coughing didn't end until he was gasping painfully for every breath. He lowered his shackled hands, now coated in a spray of fresh blood. He let his head fall back against the wall and shut his eyes.
"Don't get too comfortable." He stiffened at the voice beyond the bars of his cell. "I'm ready to continue interrogations."
"Fuck you."
"Still with that filthy mouth," Kurostuchi tisked. "Fortunately it's not your mouth I need."
At this Grimmjow reacted, standing up as the bars to his cell were opened.
"It's your own fault for not cooperating," Kurotsuchi scolded. "Reading your memories is my only way of learning about their homeworld."
"I'm not letting you put me back in that fucking machine," Grimmjow growled, moving away from Kurotsuchi until his back was flush against the wall.
"You have no choice, espada." Kurotsuchi grabbed the chain between his wrists. "While your powers are still sealed, you're as helpless as you were in Purgatory."
He drug him from the cell.
Grimmjow had not been helpless in Purgatory. No, in the prison world, everyone had been in the same boat, and though it had taken some adjusting, Grimmjow had become the most powerful person there. But this—caged and cuffed with a spiritual seal burned into the back of his neck—this was the first time in his whole life the sixth had felt truly helpless. And no matter how much he struggled when subordinates took over and wrestled him into a metal chair, there was no way out of this for him. Once he was safely secured, Kurtosuchi brought the machine over to him. It wasn't very big, but Grimmjow knew what it would do to him.
"What the hell do you really think you're going to get from these memories?" Grimmjow spat as the scientist aligned electrodes along his forehead and then adjusted a circlet around his temples.
"Anything—anything at all to help us crush the Vandenreich—and after examining you, I would have thought you'd be a willing participant."
"There ain't nothing to tell. I saw shit when I was there."
"Fine, then let me confirm that."
He backed away and put a hand on a small control panel. Grimmjow watched every movement of his fingers. He flicked a switch, turned a dial and Grimmjow felt the sickening pull of time and memories, and for him, it was all so real, the pain, the smell, the sight and sounds and he was forced to relive the worst moments of his existence.
"Ichigo, it's time to have a discussion about your time in Purgatory."
"I told Head Captain Kyoraku everything that was important."
"Not everything important has to do with the war." Captian Unohana took a seat next to his bed where he was propped up on pillows. "Ichigo, tell me about the six shaped scar on your back."
"Oh, that."
"Yes, that, Ichigo. You said Grimmjow Jaggerjaques was there. He was the sixth esapda, did he do that to you?"
"Maybe." Ichigo did not feel like explaining just how he had survived his time there. The dynamic between him and Grimmjow was something he couldn't put into words. "Is he still there?"
"He's where he belongs Ichigo, especially if he did that to you."
"He...did it to make a point."
"Maybe it would be better if you started from the beginning."
"I know you're trying to help me, but I don't want to discuss all that."
"Ichigo, you're shaken, I can see it in your eyes and in your spiritual pressure." He averted his eyes, she reached out and placed a hand on his arm. "Would you be more comfortable, talking to someone else about it? A friend perhaps?"
He shook his head. "If I have to talk about it, it will be with you, but could we do it later ? I just..." he shook his head, not finding his words. "I think it might be easier when I'm feeling better," he concluded, knowing it was a lie, it would never be easy to explain the life he'd been living for over three months. But she accepted this and left him to rest.
It had been six days since he'd awoken, nearly two weeks since his rescue and he was starting to get antsy and wanted out of his bed. He got his wish the following day when Unohana gave him leave for a few hours and Rukia happily escorted him around the Seireitei. He asked to go to the Tenth so he could thank Toshiro and Rangiku for the rescue.
The captain wasn't there, he'd be assigned to take a shift watching the World of the Living for any signs of danger from the Vadenreich. It made Ichigo feel better to know Soul Society was maintaining a strong presence in his home town. Rangiku gave him a hug that made his stitches hurt but he hugged her back and listened to the story of just how the three captains had chased after the enemy and fought to get to Ichigo on time.
When his time was up, Ichigo was actually ready to return to his bed. His spiritual pressure had helped him get past the worst of his wounds but he had still come close to death and his body just needed some time to recover.
He stopped by another room for just a moment before returning to his own. Orihime was as peaceful and perfect as ever, skin porcelain white in its pallor, eyes fluttering under the lids in a never ending dream. He brushed his fingers over his cheek and wished for all the word those eyes would flutter open and she would smile back up at him.
"I wish I could save you," he whispered down to her. "I'm sorry, Orihime. I should have protected you." He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead before withdrawing and returning to his room.
"Grimmjow you have a visitor."
Kurotsichu shouted into the cell by way of telling the espada to get up. He was slumped against the back wall of the cell, but he didn't move at the call.
"Grimmjow!"
When he still got no response, Kurotsuchi sighed long and opened the cell door.
"Espada, wake up." He bent down and shook one shoulder.
Grimmjow snapped too violently, grabbing hold of the front of Kurotsuchi's robes, chest heaving like he'd been running instead of sleeping. He looked around the room in confusion.
"Is something wrong with him?" The head captain stepped in after Mayuri.
"It's the machine."
"Are you damaging his brain?"
"No, it's just dredged up unfavourable memories, hasn't it Grimmjow?" He was still waiting for the espada to snap out of it. "He gets confused some times after he falls sleep, but I assure you the process is completely humane."
Blue eyes settled on him and he slowly let go of the twelfth captain.
"Humane? You fucking son of a bitch." He tried to shove the captain back but he really didn't have the strength.
"Glad to see you're back with us." Kurotsuchi stood and pulled him up by his chains. "You have a visitor."
Grimmjow narrowed his eyes and looked past the monochrome faced captain.
"Who's he?"
"The Head Captain."
"I thought the Head Captain was an old man."
"He was," Shunsui answered. "The Vandenreich King killed him."
"Good."
Grimmjow waited for the strike but neither captain made a move to hurt him. Shunsui just straightened and looked him in the eyes. "I understand you have no love of soul reapers, arrancar, but I advise you not to disrespect the departed."
Grimmjow said nothing.
"Why don't we have a discussion over tea."
Grimmjow sat in defiant silence at the table Nemu set up for them, never touching the steaming cup set before his shackled hands. Kurotsuchi went over reports and told of his progress sifting through Grimmjow's memories. When he held out a tablet to the Head Captain and Grimmjow spotted the video file on it, he reacted.
"What the fuck is that?" He recognized the image.
"What do you think, Grimmjow?" Kurotsuchi answered. "It's the memories I've been collecting."
Grimimjow made a grab for the tablet but Kurotsuchi shoved him back into his seat.
"That's fucking personal shit!" Grimmjow strained to get up again, the captain nodded to his lieutenant and she quickly secured Grimmjow's shackles to his chair.
"You bitch!" he shot at her, still trying to get up. "And you bastard, you have no right to go handing around my fucking memories!"
Shunsui set the tablet down without playing the file. "He's not wrong. Perhaps you can tell me what you've found."
"Nothing," Grimmjow answered for him. "There ain't nothing to find and he knows it but he just keep going."
"Not exactly," Kurotsuchi corrected. "Though I saw no significant breakthrough, observing the instruments they used on Grimmjow has taught me some about their level of technology. Mostly equipment in the background shows their electrical system, a voltage output that suggests they are supporting a large city of hundreds if not thousands of people."
"Thousands? So there are civilians in their world, possibly a whole society?"
"We can't know for sure, but it's possible."
They turned their attention back to Grimmjow.
"I didn't see a city, all I saw was that fucking room," he answered.
"I have to know," Shunsui said almost apologetically. "If we were to use certain measures against them-"
"Like blow up their who fucking world? Who cares if some bystanders have to go with them?"
"I disagree." He turned back to Kurotsuchi. "Do only what's necessary, but if there is a chance Grimmjow saw a hint of what their homeworld is really like, I have to know."
"I didn't," Grimmjow said again, with slightly less hostility.
"If that's true, then I do apologize, Grimmjow." He stood. "Thank you for the tea."
Grimmjow watched him go, glaring at his back the whole time until he was out of sight.
Kurotsuchi turned back to him, "Grimmjow-"
"FUCK YOU!" Grimmjow smashed his hand through the tea cup sending it shattering over the ground and clutched his head between chained hands. He sat motionless, captain and lieutenant caught off guard by the outburst.
After a moment, Kurotsuchi unhooked his chains from the chair. Grimmjow slid his hands down from his face but didn't move.
"Come on, espada."
"No. I'm not letting you mind fuck me anymore. I won't go back in that room."
"You know you don't have a choice."
Grimmjow just sank forward further, his forehead resting on the edge of the table.
"Is it the memories themselves that bother you, or the fact that other people are seeing them?"
He got no answer. Then, "Is Kurosaki still alive?"
"Yes, why?"
He finally lifted his head, renewed fury in his eyes.
"I'm gonna fucking kill him."
Dah, dah duh...
thanks for the reviews!
Riza
