Not an overly long or exciting chapter, but there's a lot of info, so enjoy~


They had been in the back of the transport vehicle for hours; Ichigo buckled to the seat with his hands tied behind his back and Grimmjow bound and chained upright to the wall. The blue haired soldier had yet to move, still feeling the effects of whatever he had been given and remaining unconscious, his head bowed and his sturdy shoulders slumped as if in defeat. Ichigo had tried several times to get them to just lay him on the floor, or at least lengthen the chains so that he was sitting propped against the wall. It seemed dangerous and unnecessary to have him chained upright and immobile while he was both drugged and securely wrapped in his harness. Two and a half sets of eyes had turned his way, giving him a blank look that told him he had to be insane for suggesting such a ridiculous notion. Could Grimmjow really be that dangerous? Dangerous enough that these soldiers, trained to kill with ease, feared him even when they out numbered him?

After nearly an hour of constant questioning, nearly pleading at one point, he had all but given up trying to get any sort of information out of these men. They were just soldiers following the orders given to them and would tell him nothing, but still he had tried at first. He refused to just give up and sit there like a well trained pet. After the smallest of the three, the one he had learned was the strongest, had pulled a terrifying looking muzzle out and dropped it in his lap, a near match to the one Grimmjow had been fitted with, Ichigo had promptly shut his mouth as he stared down at it. The civilian had no desire to find out first hand why Grimmjow hated his so much. He had been silent ever since, quietly watching the three soldiers, his eyes straying to Grimmjow's prone body every few seconds.

The soldier beside him, Cuatro, sat as still as a statue, his large, dead eyes looking straight ahead, ever alert and his back straight in perfect posture. The tallest of the group, Quinto, leaned back against the closed door, his long legs thrown over the bench seat and his two normal hands crossed behind his head comfortably. Every so often he reached beneath a white, cloth like patch that covered his left eye and was mostly hidden behind his long hair to scratch. The pink haired Octava always reprimanded him, telling him it would never finish healing if he didn't leave it be. Ichigo's curiosity had almost gotten the better of him but he held his tongue, not sure he wanted to know what was hidden below the patch and not sure he wanted to risk being muzzled.

After who knew how long, the transport vehicle still purring along steadily and with no signs of slowing, a very quiet groan sounded from the back wall of the vehicle, barely loud enough to be heard over the sound of the engine and the road noise but gaining everyone's attention. Ichigo watched as the pink haired soldier stood from his place nearest the captured man, yellow eyes trained unwavering on the renegade, and stopped before Grimmjow's prone, chained figure, a pen light in hand.

Octava hesitated before reaching forward, waiting to see if something would happen, if the renegade would wake up and attempt attacking. When nothing happened and Grimmjow remained limp and motionless in his restraints, the scientist began his exam. He clicked the pen light on, tilting Sexta's head back to shine the light under his eyelids.

Blue brows furrowed ever so slightly in response but still the man lay still, not even showing signs that he realized his head was being tilted back for him. Next, the pink haired soldier turned his light off and tucked it away in his jacket, not saying a word while he worked. He tilted Grimmjow's head to the side slightly, pressing two fingers to the side of the man's exposed neck. He didn't bother with a watch or clock like Ichigo had seen his father do as a child, instead he kept track of both time and beat in his head.

He checked over a few more things before stepping away and turning to face Cuatro. "His stats look good. As is to be expected, pupil response is almost too acute, pulse is steady and strong. He should be fine until we get him back to the lab to check for unit damage."

Watching the soldier touch Grimmjow angered Ichigo, the seething emotion stirring unhappily in his belly. It made his brows furrow and a petulant scowl form on his features but the news was good and relief flooded his system at the same time.

Cuatro nodded, his head tilting to the side ever so slightly while he listened to what only he could hear before he spoke. "Aizen-sama wishes to know his state of consciousness. Will he be awake when we arrive?"

Ichigo's eyes widened as he looked over at the small man sitting beside him at the mention of the man Grimmjow had spoke of. Had they been in contact the entire time? If so, how? And how had he not noticed? But none of the other soldier's seemed surprised by the revelation, like it was normal and too be expected.

"It's hard to say..." The scientist said, looking back at their blue haired captive while he crossed one thin arm over his equally trim chest and pushed his glasses back up his nose with his other hand. "He's beginning to fight the sedative again, but I believe he'll still be drugged enough to be easily handled by the time we get there. And if not, I've come prepared." The man pulled forth several more syringes, each filled with an amber colored liquid that nearly matched the color of his eyes and shined just as malevolently.

After the scientist retook his seat, a maddening silence descended again, lasting for what Ichigo judged to be at least another hour, though it was hard to tell with nothing to go by as reference. From within the confines of the vehicle, he couldn't even tell if it was still day light out.

Every so often Grimmjow would make another small sound or his brow would furrow in his struggle. Every noise that escaped him, every movement he made gained everyone's attention and Ichigo found himself silently rooting for the man to wake up, silently begging him to fight whatever they had injected him with. By the time the vehicle seemed to slow and turn off the path they had been following, the ride a little less smooth like they were no longer on a main road, the captured renegade was weakly sneering around his gag, struggling to force his eyes open and lift his head, though his body still remained limp and all but unmoving, suspended by the chains holding him in place.

The three soldiers each stood from their seats, instantly alert and ready to move. Ichigo's eyes widened as he realized they must have been nearing their destination, the under ground facility Grimmjow had spoke of. The vehicle was slowed to a smooth halt, the engine cut. The doors were thrown open from outside but very little light was let in, the sky over head dark with the decent of the sun and only a single light hanging above a closed and unmarked entrance only a few meters from them.

The pink haired soldier neared him, a smile that was deceivingly benign on his fair features. He unbuckled Ichigo and helped him to his feet before jumping out of the vehicle and turning to help the still cuffed civilian down as well.

As Ichigo landed on the hard packed earth, the doors to the entrance of the strange building were opened, shinning a harsh light on the darkened vehicle. A single man issued forth before three others followed, lingering behind slightly but looking no less menacing and important.

The man walked right up to Ichigo, his brown eyes all too calm and kind, a polite smile tugging at what could have been handsome features had he not carried the aura of potent power about him.

"Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki..." The man stated, the name rolling off his tongue in smooth tones that seemed at once friendly and threatening.

"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo snapped out at the man, his scowl easily showing his anger as he tried to step forward and toward the man in front of him. He was easily held in place by the pink haired soldier at his side, one dainty hand wrapped around the strange cuff like gear binding his lower arms behind his back.

A single brow quirked in his direction before the man spoke. "How rude of me. I am Aizen Sosuke; founder and leader of the facility you now find yourself at."

A commotion from within the transport vehicle drew everyone's attention as Cuatro neared the chained renegade. Ichigo spun around, looking over his shoulder with wide eyes as Grimmjow lurched against the chains holding him in place hard enough to rattle them and make the soldered rings groan with strain. An aggressive growl filtered around the gag in his mouth and through the grill of his muzzle, sounding almost more beast than man. The thick chains snapped tight, the links grinding against each other, halting his movement hardly an inch from the stoic Cuatro's face, before Grimmjow seemed to sag again, listing to the side slightly before falling back against the wall again, shaking his head slightly as he attempted to clear if from the sedatives and sort out what was going on.

Pale features were turned to face the soldier's master, the man at Ichigo's side. Cuatro remained silent but his flat eyes made his inquiry clear enough and Octava spoke up from Ichigo's other side.

"He struggles on mere instinct. The drugs in his system should be plenty to keep him sedate while dragging him to the lab. I doubt he even knows where he is right now."

Cuatro turned back toward the bound soldier, quickly removing the chains while Quinto tossed his two broken, cybernetic limbs toward the three men standing behind Ichigo and Aizen. They landed in the dirt at the men's feet with a dull thud and Quinto joined Cuatro to begin unloading the captive.

Ichigo turned back toward Aizen as the man made a quiet noise before speaking again. "Sexta seems in relatively healthy condition and it's about time he let someone cut his hair. Thank you very much for taking such good care of my lost pet."

Grimmjow was all but pushed from the back of the vehicle, stumbling and nearly falling in his less than aware state before Quinto dropped down beside him and snagged hold of his harness to help steady him. Cuatro followed after the lanky man, dropping gracefully down on Grimmjow's other side and grasping hold of his harness with one hand, his other resting in the pocket of his white pants.

"To the lab or to his cell, Aizen-sama?" Cuatro's emotionless voice asked as he stared straight ahead. Grimmjow bristled at the powerful man's name, struggling if only slightly as he fought through the numbing drugs working their way through his system. His blue eyes, clouded and unfocused, rolled to find his hated capture, pinning the man with his hatred and defiance.

"Same ol' Sexta." One of the three men in the door way said, an eye closing grin on his features.

"Indeed." Aizen said as he turned away from the recaptured soldier and away from Ichigo. "To my office, of course. No doubt Mr. Kurosaki has a few questions."

Aizen led the way back through the double doors and into the complex, insisting that Ichigo be by his side as if he were a guest on a tour through an old friend's house. They were flanked by the two men Ichigo would quickly learn were Aizen's right hand men, one a dark skinned and serious man while the other was light skinned and light hearted. Behind them were the soldiers and a strange looking man in a lab coat and face paint, Grimmjow held securely and cautiously between them like he might suddenly spring and wreak havoc. They were surrounded by nervous guards, each carrying weapons and three more sets of restraining gear that Ichigo could easily guess belonged to the unbound soldiers.

They traversed through winding corridors in silence, the only sounds being that of their quiet footsteps and the low, uneven snarl Grimmjow pushed passed his gag. Nothing but white surrounded them on all sides; the tiled floor, the walls, the ceiling, even the harsh florescent lighting over head seemed glaringly white. The few doors they passed were white, most of them unmarked.

Finally, they came to a more ornate set of white doors, silver and purple accents adorning the trim and Aizen stopped, Ichigo still at his side. A guard rushed forward, opening the doors and bowing low as he held it for his superiors, like he was ushering in a god and not a psychotic mortal.

Ichigo was met with the sight of more white, unending white. A long table sat in the middle of the room, 5 heavy, high backed chairs adorned with metal rings for chain attachment on either side and a throne like one at the head. Unsurprisingly, Aizen rounded the table and took his place at the head, his generals flanking him before he bid them to sit at his sides.

A small, meek looking girl scurried into the room, her head bowed in submission as she placed a white cup in front of her master before disappearing again. Aizen picked up the cup, inhaling deeply before bringing it to his lips, ignoring the rest of the people in the room. After he took a sip, he settled the cup back on the table and instructed Ichigo to sit as well.

"You three are dismissed, well done." The man said, watching the three unbound soldiers bow slightly before they backed away from their awakening captive. Their armored jackets were removed by the guards before they were each fitted with their respective restraints and led out of the room. The man with the strange face paint disappeared, Octava in tow, carrying the two broken artificial limbs with him and throwing a quiet fit about it.

Aizen's cold gaze settled on Sexta, studying the recaptured soldier in a heavy and foreboding silence no one dared to break. He looked calm and collected as he sat comfortably in his chair and sipped on his tea but the very air around him seethed. It was clear the man had been looking for something, searching the renegade for something he wasn't surprised that he didn't find. The untamable Sexta was not ready to quit just yet, not ready to give up on gaining his freedom. The fire still burned behind blue eyes, a fire he would need to find a way to extinguish.

The renegade wobbled slightly as he shifted his stance, just barely off balance but he stood under his own power as the sedatives continued wearing off quicker now that he was up and moving around. With his shoulders hunched and his knees bent, his stance spoke of a trained readiness. He sneered behind his muzzle, his crystallin eyes attempting to bore a hole through the man that sat at the end of the table, the man that had ordered his recapture. His lips peeled away from the rubber wedged between clamped jaws, flashing white, over sharp teeth, the points buried into the rubber. The snarl changed pitch into a deep and threatening growl as Grimmjow took a single stride forward, the muscle of his arms and abdomen bulging below the straps of his harness.

Every guard in the room flinched, hands flying to weapons and on the verge of charging at the notoriously aggressive soldier. Aizen raised a single brow at said soldier and shook his head to stay the guards while he continued to watch the blue haired man. At his side, Gin's grin was in danger of consuming his face as he chuckled, his slitted eyes panning toward Ichigo for just an instant. On his other side, Tōsen remained nearly motionless, his body tensing just slightly at the possible threat, his hands folded in his lap as he looked straight ahead.

"Do you think your little game scares me, Sexta?" Aizen asked, his voice dripping with ice yet somehow calm. He knew the soldier's threat for what it was and he knew the man had done it simply to get a reaction, to gauge those around him. Sexta was self confident nearly to a flaw, he knew he was powerful and he knew the guards feared him and he fed off that fear, reveled in it and turned it into a game. "The guards tremble before you because they are weak, but I have nothing to fear from a cat who cannot use his claws. You and I both know who the master is, Sexta."

Grimmjow's head tilted back, his fangs bared toward the ceiling as his laughter shook through his body and boomed around the muzzle, muffled but no less deep and savage. His quick motions took everyone by surprise. His head dropped down, his eyes spelling murder as he surged forward, long, powerful legs closing the space between himself and the nearest edge of the long table Aizen sat on the other side of.

He leaped onto the table top in one fluid motion, landing on his feet in a crouch and hardly slowing, his arms still securely folded across his lower back. The shocked guards finally began scrambling after the man as he surged toward their master, never halting his forward momentum as he snarled his hatred, his bare feet slipping on the smooth surface.

The soldier was finally halted mid way down the long table, mere feet from where Aizen's generals sat and nearly directly in front of where Ichigo had been made to sit. With wide eyes, the civilian watched as the guards used the restrictive harness to bring the bigger soldier down, dragging him from the table and using their cruel shock sticks against him when he struggled.

Aizen sat unmoving, as if he had hardly been worried while he watched with calm eyes and a neutral expression. Grimmjow lashed out at the guards around him, crouching low and snarling at the men circling around him. As they charged again, ganging up on him, he defended himself to the best of his abilities. Nearly half the guards had been knocked away before he fell below them, his snarling raising in pitch as electricity surged through his body.

"Stop!" Ichigo jumped to his feet as Grimmjow ceased his struggling, only attempting to get away from the guards harming him by this point. His heavy chair slid backward and even though his arms were cuffed behind his back he didn't hesitate to rush to the blue haired man's side, placing himself in between the soldier and the cruel people beating on him.

Unsure what to do, the guards turned toward their leader. Aizen turned back toward his generals, leaving his personal guards to surround the two captured men.

"Gin? Tōsen?" He asked, though he had already come to his own conclusion after the display he had seen and the subject was hardly in debate any longer. Still, he valued their thoughts and views.

Gin was the first to speak, happily and merrily sharing his opinion in a smooth and light voice, hardly befitting the matter at hand. "Interestin'. Courageous and strong of will and mind. He's perfect."

"Agreed. Stubborn perhaps, brash and unthinking but loyal. He makes an excellent candidate." Tōsen concluded, speaking in even tones after his counterpart was finished.

Aizen nodded, unsurprised but pleased that they had come to the same conclusion he had. Turning back to his guards and the two captives, he watched as Grimmjow slowly, cautiously climbed to his feet, his chest heaving and his teeth once again bared in his outrage.

"Take Sexta back to his chamber, clean him up and change him into something more acceptable. Have him prepped for a preliminary unit exam but inform Mayuri he is off limits for the time being." Aizen instructed, confident Grimmjow would understand his underlying threat that his next words held as he locked eyes with the unruly soldier. "Ichigo, you may return to your seat now. There wont be any more trouble."

Ichigo glanced over at Grimmjow in time to see the man's vivid cerulean eyes narrow on Aizen while he curled his lip in distaste for Aizen's tactics. Realizing that Aizen was using Ichigo as collateral and without further instructions, the soldier turned on his heal and headed toward the door, ignoring as the guards around him stiffened and moved out of his path before following behind him, their weapons at the ready but not threatening.

A couple of the guards stayed behind, one shoving Ichigo toward the chair he had previously occupied and where their master had requested he sit once more. From near the exit, Grimmjow growled but didn't move against the guards as they opened the door for him.

The civilian watched as the soldier left the room and the door swung shut behind him before he slowly lowered himself into his seat. He turned to look at Aizen, his normally warm and kind brown eyes cold and hard. "What are you going to do to him?"

"Gin, if you would be so kind as to release our guest from his bindings." The seemingly polite request was more of a masked order but Gin happily followed it, hopping up from his seat to all but prance around Ichigo's.

Ichigo leaned forward, giving the silvery man room to maneuver and unlock the cuffs but he never took his unwavering gaze away from the leader of this strange and messed up organization. He pulled his freed hands in front of him, rubbing at his wrists as he leaned back in his chair again. "You didn't answer my question."

"Shouldn't you be asking about yourself?" Aizen asked, a slight smile tilting his lips as he took another sip from his tea. "You'll be staying as my guest for the time being so you might as well be comfortable. I'll have new and more appropriate attire designed for you. In the mean time, would you like some tea?"

"That's not what I asked." Ichigo interrupted. He didn't plan on asking what his fate would be fore he already knew he likely wouldn't be sticking around long. The three men he sat with were powerful people, no matter how friendly and hospitable they pretended to be. The were powerful and deadly. They wouldn't be letting him leave and risk their organization like that. He had no doubt he would be dead within the week. "What are you going to do to Grimmjow?"

Aizen's brow rose again ever so slightly in what could have been an amused or curious expression, but his smirk stayed in place and Ichigo couldn't discern what the man was thinking. "Very well. Sexta will be contained in his chamber until I decide his fate."

"What happens while he's tied up and locked away?" Ichigo asked, not buying what he was told and hardly believing the man was indecisive. The outrage and anger was easily heard in his voice and he did nothing to hide it from his features either.

"That all depends on his willingness to cooperate. My hope is that he can start fresh and begin regular training again soon."

Ichigo wasn't entirely sure what that meant. He knew Grimmjow would never cooperate, he would never bow to this man like the other soldiers did but the words held a confidence and underlying hint of finality that made him uneasy and sure that this deranged man had something hidden up his sleeve.

With a wave of his hand, Aizen's little servant girl scurried back through a small doorway, a fresh white cup and a tea pot full of steaming herbal tea in hand. She quickly went about serving their latest guest, obediently refilling her lord and master's cup first.

All the while, Aizen watched as the subtle expressions flitted over the orange haired man's expressive features, dancing with his thoughts and reeling with his mind as he attempted to decode what he had said. He hadn't been lying to Ichigo. In fact, everything he had said was truthful and it seemed Ichigo recognized that, but he was a smart young man with a the stubbornness to match. Gaining his trust and loyalty would not be an easy task.


Let me know what your thoughts are~!

also, on a mostly unrelated note and out of precaution that I hopefully wont need. I've been informed that not only are certain stories being taken down, but a few profiles have been deleted completely. I don't know the details or reasoning behind it, nor do I know it it's actually true (though I really do appreciate the heads up, dear. Thank you) but JUST IN CASE there's any truth behind it and something happens to my profile, I'll update everyone with wherever I move my stuff too on my deviant art account as well as my tumblr. (both of which are under the same name as I am here and pretty easily found)