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For the past three days, no one in Las Noches had dared even breathe near Aizen. Not even Ichimaru had dared speak to him whilst he was this furious. What made it even worse was that outwardly, furious-Aizen looked like normal-Aizen. Until someone spoke to him. Then no one was safe.

Ulquiorra had been the one to tell Aizen three days ago that during their trip to the human world, they had been overpowered and Ichigo had been rescued. The Espada was still in intensive care, and hadn't woken up since. Nnoitra still couldn't walk, confined to his room 24/7. Ichimaru's one saving grace was that he hadn't been present during the de-briefing. He'd known better. He knew exactly how Ichigo's escape would affect Aizen, and he'd steered clear of him for three days straight. The most he'd done was pass Aizen in the corridor on the second day, and had mercifully been ignored.

But none of this mattered to a certain cyan haired former Espada as he snuck into the living room for the second time that night, kneeling down next to the sofa. Ichigo was led on the sofa with a blanket pulled over him, facing into the cushions and away from Grimmjow. The Espada smirked, glad that Urahara's drug hadn't done anything to his stealth at least. Ichigo, still thinking he was alone, sighed desolately and turned around.

He let out a high pitched cry and jolted backwards, nearly upturning the sofa in his shock. Grimmjow hadn't been expecting such a huge reaction, and jumped backwards himself, losing his balance and landing with a thud on the floor.

"Ngh…" he groaned, scowling. "What the hell, Ichigo?" Ichigo sat up and glared down at Grimmjow.

"What are you doing!?" he snapped.

"Coming to see you." Grimmjow said, sitting down next to Ichigo. The red head turned to face him, drawing his knees up to his chest.

"I'm not having sex with you." He stated firmly. Grimmjow scowled.

"What makes you think that's what I want?"

"That's what you always want." Grimmjow shrugged – he had him there.

"Shut up for a while. Just listen." Ichigo rolled his eyes, leaning back to rest his head against the sofa and gesturing for him to continue. "For a start, have you even noticed lately how much I've done for you?" Ichigo frowned. Whatever he'd been expecting Grimmjow to say, this obviously wasn't it.

"What?"

"I defy the strongest man in existence, I get captured by the enemy, I take power suppressing drugs even though I defied the strongest man in existence, I walk around this stupid human world in this stupid gigai just so you-"

"Ok, ok… you've done a lot for me…" Ichigo muttered. "I know you have. Why are you telling me?" He eyed Grimmjow warily. "Is this for like… thank you sex or something?" Grimmjow snarled, baring his fangs – a display that made Ichigo flinch, eyes widening.

"None of this is about sex, idiot!" he snapped. "I'm just saying! Before I met you, I wouldn't have done shit for anyone! You've changed me! You've changed how I think, how I feel…" he sighed, "And I told you before… Arrancar can feel. We're not just Hollows any more. I can… well I'm pretty sure… I can love." Ichigo jolted.

"What?"

"Idiot." Grimmjow muttered. "Don't make me say it out loud. I'm not that fucking sappy." Ichigo still looked wary..

"Grimmjow…" the Espada held up his hand to silence Ichigo.

"I'm not promising anything. I don't know how you humans go about expressing love or whatever, and I ain't the cuddling and holding hands in public sort… but I do love you, you fucker, so don't say I'm only after – Keh!" Grimmjow yelped as Ichigo dived at him, wrapping his arms tightly around the Espada's waist. So tightly that in his weakened state, it was quite painful. "Oi – oi! That hurts!" Grimmjow yelped. Ichigo chuckled, letting Grimmjow go and pushing himself up so that he was leaning over him. Grimmjow sighed exasperatedly. "Idiot."

"Thank you." Ichigo whispered, smiling.

"Hey, I'll call you an idiot any time you want…"

"You know what I mean." Ichigo said, rolling his eyes. "Thanks for saying it." Grimmjow shrugged, trying his best to seem indifferent.

"It was in a sentence. I'm never just saying it. That's sappy."

"I bet you could be sappy."

"I'd rather die the most excruciating death ever imagined." Ichigo snorted.

"What if my life depended on it?" Grimmjow scowled, folding his arms across his chest.

"That's not fair! You know I'd do anything to protect you!" the Espada's breath hitched, inwardly groaning as a wide smirk spread across Ichigo's face.

"And that wasn't sappy?" Grimmjow mouthed wordlessly for a few seconds before growling and averting his eyes.

"Shut up." He muttered. Ichigo chuckled, moving down to unzip Grimmjow's jeans. "What the hell are you do-ooohhhh…" the Espada leaned back into the sofa as Ichigo's hand grasped him, firm but gentle, stroking lightly through his boxers. "I thought you said…"

"I can change my mind. I'm allowed – I'm insane." Ichigo said with a chuckle, pulling down Grimmjow's boxers and jeans slowly, teasingly.

"You're not insane… you're ju-just a bit… oh god Ichigo…" Grimmjow trailed off as Ichigo licked the tip of his member playfully, whilst his hand stroked his shaft. "Ngh… family…" Grimmjow muttered, knowing Ichigo would somehow blame him if his sisters or father suddenly walked in. The red head smirked before standing up. Grimmjow gave him a questioning look.

"Well ok if you don't want to do it." The Espada's eyes widened. "That's fine. I'll just go upstairs and sleep." And Ichigo left. Grimmjow's jaw dropped in sheer outrage.

"What?!" he snapped. He jumped up, pausing only to pull up his boxers and zip his jeans before stomping up to Ichigo's room. He turned the door handle and pushed but nothing happened. "What the… Kurosaki!" he hissed through the door.

"What?" Ichigo's voice called innocently back.

"Open this door before I kick it down!"

"Can't sorry. I'm going to sleep." Ichigo called, humour evident in his voice.

"Kurosaki…" Grimmjow growled. He heard the padding of feet coming closer, and Ichigo laughing quietly before the door opened. Grimmjow frowned. Ichigo had opened the door so that he was hidden, and the lights in the room were off. He walked in slowly, the door closing behind him before he felt hands on the waistline of his jeans, pulling him towards the bed. He let himself be pulled, unable to see in the dark and way too aroused to resist. Ichigo pushed him down and the Espada ran his hands up the other's body, realising with a purr that Ichigo was naked. "You little bastard." He murmured, chuckling. Ichigo leant down to kiss him and Grimmjow accepted, running his tongue along the red head's lip as his hand found Ichigo's erection. Ichigo moaned into the kiss as Grimmjow pumped him, shivering in pleasure. "This your new thing? Sex in the dark?" Grimmjow whispered against Ichigo's lips. Ichigo reached down and grabbed both of Grimmjow's wrists, pulling them up above the Espada's head.

"No…" Grimmjow felt something cold against his skin and heard the clink of metal. "…this is." Grimmjow's eyes widened in shock and Ichigo smirked, even though neither could see it in the darkness.

"What are you playing at?" Grimmjow hissed, pulling against the handcuffs that bound him to the bed. "Where did you even get these?!"

"Shhh." Ichigo shushed him. He pulled Grimmjow's jeans and boxers completely off, and led down in between the other's legs, mouth closing over Grimmjow's member. He gasped, straining against the cuffs, desperate to push Ichigo down further.

"Untie me. Now." Grimmjow muttered, trying to sound authoritative but failing miserably. Ichigo chuckled, the vibrations driving Grimmjow insane. The red head ignored him, sucking Grimmjow harder, setting up a fast rhythm. The Espada moaned, bucking up into Ichigo's mouth, eyes sliding closed in the darkness. "Ichigo… come on… untie me…" he whispered, more pleading than anything. "How am I g-going to prepare you…" Ichigo smirked against his flesh, mouth leaving him to reply.

"Who says I'm the one who needs preparing?" Grimmjow's eyes flew open, body going rigid.

"Oh no… no you fucking don't…" Ichigo frowned.

"Why are you so against it?"

"Because last time…"

"Last time… I didn't have a choice." Ichigo muttered. "It was an order. I want to do this… knowing you love me… knowing I have a choice… knowing there's no one watching…" Grimmjow remained silent for a moment.

"So that's what the darkness is for…" he huffed. "What are the restraints for then? In case I didn't let you willingly?" Ichigo's heart panged painfully.

"Don't say that…" he muttered. Grimmjow sighed, trying to relax his tense body. He didn't know why he felt so uneasy. Sex with Ichigo was wonderful no matter who was fucking who, but last time had just made him so edgy… so against Ichigo being on top… "I won't ask anything else of you…" Ichigo muttered. "You can do anything you want after this… you can knock me out and take me back to Aizen if that's what you want-"

"Don't be stupid." Grimmjow snapped. He took a deep breath, finally feeling himself relax slightly. "Ok." He muttered. Ichigo smiled, pressing a kiss to Grimmjow's lips before ducking back down, one hand working the Espada's member whilst the other moved in between Grimmjow's legs. Ichigo smiled – Grimmjow was tense as hell.

"Relax." He whispered, receiving a short sharp growl for his trouble. He trailed kisses down the Espada's inner thigh, nipping lightly just as he inserted his first finger. Grimmjow hissed, and Ichigo heard his hands gripping the headboard, making it groan. The red head waited a while before inserting another finger, gently stretching him. After a while, Grimmjow cursed under his breath. The feeling was driving him insane. He needed more.

"God-fucking-dammit Ichigo I'm not a china doll!" he snapped. "Fuck me already!" Ichigo felt his heart race, blood pumping faster inside him as he quickly withdrew his fingers, thrusting hard into Grimmjow. The Espada grunted half in pain, half in pleasure. "That's more like it…" he whispered, short of breath. Ichigo smirked, pulling out almost all the way before thrusting back in hard and fast, hitting that spot deep inside Grimmjow full force. The Espada moaned, back arching up off the bed. Ichigo set up another rhythm, harder and faster than before, pounding Grimmjow into the mattress, hitting home with every single thrust. Grimmjow's eyes were tightly shut, mouth open, gasping and moaning, completely losing himself in the feeling, glad that Ichigo couldn't see his face. Just before he completely lost himself to the pleasure, he decided that for however long he lived – be it days, decades or longer, he wanted to spend every moment of it with Ichigo. He moaned, releasing all over himself and Ichigo, muscles tensing around Ichigo's erection to drive him over the edge too. As the red head untied him and collapsed next to him, breathing heavily, Grimmjow thought about telling Ichigo about his revelation. But he waved the thought away as pathetically sappy, and was content to pull the other closer and at least keep whatever shreds of Arrancar front he had left.

The next morning, Ichimaru was walking cautiously towards Aizen's quarters. He wasn't going by choice – he'd been summoned there. He opened the huge doors and entered quietly, gaze darting around for his ex-captain warily.

"Why so nervous, Gin?" Ichimaru jolted slightly, ever-present smile falling from his face, eyes opening. "Anyone would think you were afraid to see me." Aizen suddenly appeared mere inches behind him. Ichimaru mentally cursed. Aizen had used his sword to hide himself. He could still feel how angry Aizen was, in a way only he could feel. The slight change in reiatsu, the slightly more rigid pose. Aizen was still furious. Furious, dangerous, and mere inches away from him. "Are you afraid of me?" Aizen murmured. Ichimaru gulped.

"Dont'cha think I should be?" he asked.

"Well you let Ichigo be taken by the Shinigami, turn tail and run and then not even report it to me yourself. I'd say yes." Aizen said, in his usual mock-carefree tone.

"Meanin' no disrespect but I saw Ulquiorra in ICU an' I got no wish to join him…" Ichimaru muttered.

"Hm." Aizen put his hand on Ichimaru's shoulder, making the other Shinigami jump. "You have such a low opinion of me, Gin."

"I would never…"

"You think I'd hurt you of all people?" Ichimaru plucked up all of his courage and tilted his head slightly to look over his shoulder at Aizen questioningly. "I wouldn't take my anger out on you. Yet you avoid me for four days because of it?" Ichimaru remained silent. Despite what Aizen was saying, he knew if he said something wrong he'd be in a bed next to Ulquiorra the next day.

"Sorry Sousuke." He whispered. Aizen nodded, smiling.

"Now, what I called you for. I want to give you the chance to redeem yourself."

Grimmjow had never before realised how wonderful simply waking up could be. But now, with a half naked red head curled up next to him, both of them clean from a late night shower Ichigo had insisted upon (which had frozen Grimmjow to his core), in his hazy, half-awake mind, this was bliss. He groaned. He'd been hanging around humans too long. He was going soft.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo mumbled beside him, turning his sleepy brown eyes on the Espada questioningly.

"Did I wake you up?" Grimmjow asked.

"Yup."

"Good." He said, smirking.

"Love you too." Ichigo muttered, rolling his eyes. Grimmjow's heart skipped a beat, but he passed it off with a snort.

"So you should after what I let you do." Ichigo nuzzled his neck, sighing sleepily.

"I mean it you know. I love you."

"Sappy bastard." Grimmjow muttered, unable to stop himself smiling.

"Shut up. I'm always like this in the morning… I just usually hide it…" Ichigo said, yawning. He draped an arm over Grimmjow and drifted back off to sleep, leaving Grimmjow with a warm fuzzy feeling filling him up that was very unbefitting an Espada.

Ichigo wasn't asleep for long. After only half an hour, there was a loud knock on the door. Grimmjow jolted violently, making Ichigo groan.

"Ichigo! Wake up! School time!"

"I'm not going!" Ichigo shouted to his father. "I have important stuff to do!"

"More important than passing your exams!?" his father bellowed through the door.

"Yup…" Ichigo muttered, but he sighed and got up anyway. "Alright, alright I'm up."

"Want me to kill him for you? I will if you want." Grimmjow offered.

"That'd be a lot cuter if you were joking." Ichigo muttered, rooting through his closet for his uniform. Grimmjow frowned.

"You're actually going? It won't be safe for you there." Ichigo sighed.

"And it's safe here? It's safe at Urahara's?"

"Safer than in school…"

"Look, I'm fine. I can hold my own against those Espada bastards…" Grimmjow snorted.

"I'll let that one go only because I've probably already been replaced, but as far as holding your own goes, I'm not convinced." Ichigo gave him a dirty look . "I'm serious! If you ran in to Ulquiorra and had to fight him, you wouldn't be able to! He'd order you to go back with him and you'd bloody well do it."

"Cheers for having faith in me." Ichigo muttered.

"You know I'm right. I can't even help with this stupid drug inside me… and Urahara wants me to go back today to take more of the stupid stuff." Ichigo sighed, shuffling over to the door with his clothes.

"I'm going to get washed and dressed…" he said distantly. Grimmjow frowned as Ichigo shut the door behind him with a soft click. He knew why Ichigo was being so off. He was worried. He'd spent the past four days trying to recover as much as possible, but now he was alert and sane enough to realise that they were in deep shit. There was no quick fix to this. The Espada were as powerful, if not more so than the Shinigami captains, and Aizen was even stronger. Even Ichigo's raw power wasn't much use whilst he was still so traumatised that he'd probably obey his enemies' commands. Grimmjow was quite sure that any orders issued to Ichigo by an Arrancar of higher rank than him would be followed by the red head. What scared him the most was the possibility that Ichigo was only acting this normal because he'd spent these past days telling Ichigo to act normal. The small, selfless part of him told him that he should keep away from Ichigo for a while to see just how dependant Ichigo was becoming on him. Unfortunately, the rest of the Espada was way too selfish to let Ichigo go.

"I guess we'll see today…" he muttered, sitting up to stretch. There was no way he could go to school with Ichigo, so the red head would have to be on his own. Whilst he was taking power numbing drugs, Grimmjow thought with a scowl.

"Can't you come with me?" Ichigo asked for what felt like the thousandth time. They were about two blocks away from Ichigo's school, which Grimmjow was walking him to only because it was on the way to Urahara's store. The Espada groaned, rubbing his temples.

"Ichigo, stop it. I know you've been through a lot but I want the old you back." Ichigo frowned.

"What the hell are you on about? I am me."

"No. You're not this needy and pathetic." Ichigo scowled, and remained silent for the rest of the trip. He walked through the school gates without a word and didn't look back even as he went in through the school doors. Grimmjow sighed, pausing to watch the school for a few seconds. Ichigo needed to snap out of this dependant shit. He'd never recover properly otherwise. And even though Grimmjow was selfish, even though he'd vowed to spend every moment he could with Ichigo until he died, he knew he was having a negative impact on the red head. He'd done all he could to help Ichigo recover, but now he was becoming a hindrance.

"What the hell do you want?" Renji snapped. Grimmjow sighed. Of all people, why did this idiot have to answer the door?

"I'm here to see Urahara."

"What have you done with Ichigo?"

"He went to school." Renji glowered at him.

"I'm ringing to check…" he said, backing into the shop. Grimmjow raised a brow.

"What, do you think I killed him or something?" Renji started rooting through one of the store's cupboards, and after a while produced a dusty phonebook.

"You don't need to kill him. You could just order him to do it himself. That's the sort of sick…" Grimmjow let out a low growl, aiming a punch straight to Renji's heart. The red head caught it easily, glaring at him with hate filled eyes. "You'd better watch it. You can't do shit to me right now." He threw Grimmjow's fist away, making the Espada stumble slightly. "I don't care how much Ichigo thinks of you. I hate you. You're a fuckin' Hollow and that's all you'll ever be. You're not good enough for Ichigo. You'll only hurt him."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Grimmjow snapped. "And it's none of your business anyway!"

"It is. He talks to me."

"Only because Urahara wasn't around!" Grimmjow snapped. Renji faltered, eyes narrowing.

"You listened in to his phone call!?" Grimmjow cursed under his breath. Renji shoved him backwards hard, and the Espada hit the wall with a loud crash, flinching. "You're scum." Renji muttered, stalking away, phone book laying forgotten on the side. Grimmjow was shaking slightly with rage. That bastard… how dare he pass judgement on something he knew nothing about… Grimmjow picked up the book and flung it clear across the store, where it landed in a heap at Urahara's feet. The Espada jolted.

"That's no way to treat a book." Urahara, voice tinted with amusement.

"Just give me the drugs. I need to get out of here." Grimmjow snapped. Urahara paused, giving Grimmjow a calculating look.

"Renji's just doing what he thinks is right. He's very protective of his friends. I can see why he'd want you to stay away from Ichigo."

"He can take his opinions and shove them right up his-"

"But at the same time he holds back because he doesn't want to hurt Ichigo himself." Urahara cut him off. He folded his arms, resting against the door frame. "He could have killed you just then, you know."

"Tch." Grimmjow muttered. He knew.

"And I wanted to talk to you about the drugs."

"What about them?" Urahara withdrew a vial from his pocket, holding it up for Grimmjow to see.

"This is the next dose of power suppressing drug. It'll work for about five or six days, just like the one in your system now. But that'll mean you'll be helpless for even longer." Grimmjow's eyes narrowed. "Now being a Shinigami at heart, I can't say it makes much difference to me. But right now, you're the one closest to Ichigo. You're the one most likely to be there when he needs protecting." Urahara sighed, pocketing the vial. "So I'm not giving it to you." Grimmjow blinked, taken aback.

"What? Are you serious?"

"Mhmm." The ex-captain said with a chuckle. "Of course, I don't trust you enough to give you back Pantera yet. That will still have to wait. But I did want to talk to you about something else." Grimmjow rolled his eyes. More talking. Or more being talked at, at least.

"About?"

"A little mission for you. Something I think only you could do. I think it's time for some retaliation." Grimmjow decided he didn't like the glint in Urahara's eyes.

Ichigo was disappointed when Grimmjow wasn't waiting outside the school gates. In all fairness, his day had gone pretty smoothly. He'd felt almost normal being in school with Ishida, Chado, Keigo and Mizuro. Laughing, joking, even the actual work had been fun. It had made him forget, if only for a few hours, that so much was happening in his life. For a few hours, he hadn't been someone who'd been abducted, raped, tortured, rescued and was now in love with the rapist, living in fear of the man who'd abducted him. He'd just been Kurosaki Ichigo, high school student who'd taken some time off school for family reasons. It hadn't all been good. His heart had ached every time he looked at Inoue's empty desk, and he hated himself for not being able to save her. But he knew she was alive and well at least, and he was determined to get better and rescue her.

Of course after all that, he was still gutted that Grimmjow hadn't met him from school. So he walked home alone, going over math problems just to block out thoughts of Aizen and Ulquiorra. It was amazing that his mind was good enough to come up with and solve quadratic equations but not good enough to let him have a shower with hot water. He sighed, shuffling in through the front door, greeted by an empty house. There was a post-it note on the TV screen that read,

Gone out for the night. The girls are at a friend's.

Dad.

Ichigo snorted, wondering exactly where an idiot like his father would go for the night.

"Grimmjow!" he called out. "Oi! Idiot Hollow!" he yelled louder. Still no reply. Ichigo frowned, dropping his bag by the sofa and making his way upstairs. He searched his room, the bathroom, even his sister's and father's rooms, but Grimmjow was nowhere to be found. The red head was starting to get worried. Grimmjow definitely had nowhere to go. What if he'd been hurt? He was weak, vulnerable… an easy target for an Espada, Arrancar or even a meagre Hollow…

He picked up the phone on the landing and dialled Urahara's number, playing with the cord nervously.

"C'mon pick up…" he muttered.

"Hello?"

"Renji!" Ichigo chirped. "D'you where Grimmjow is?"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking." Renji snapped. Ichigo remained silent, which made the lieutenant sigh in exasperation. "He's downstairs." Ichigo blinked, taken aback.

"What? Why?"

"Training or something." Renji said, clearly indifferent to the whole thing. "Urahara-san said he's staying for a few days. Pft… just as long as that asshole doesn't come near me he'll be fine…"

"S,staying?"

"Mhmm." Renji suddenly gasped. "Did you know that fuckin' Hollow was listening to our conversation before on the phone? You should really do something about your phone so no one else can hear… Ichigo? Are you still there?" Ichigo let the phone slip from his hands, hitting the floor with a dull thud. He backed away from it, eyes gazing into the distance, not really seeing. So Grimmjow wasn't staying with him anymore? Why? Why had he left when Ichigo needed him the most? Why had he invaded Ichigo's privacy like that? Ichigo's hand moved up to cover his mouth. Had Grimmjow only said he loved him because he'd heard what Ichigo had said and knew it was what Ichigo wanted to hear?

So many things were moving way too fast through Ichigo's mind and he was trying desperately to keep up, but failing miserably. He didn't want to feel like this anymore. He wanted his life to go back to the way it was before, when he didn't care about love and he didn't need anyone. When he wasn't scared of hot water and he didn't wake up screaming from nightmares.

Ichigo vaguely heard Renji still yelling at him through the phone as he walked away, into the bathroom. He'd been so sure that Grimmjow was the one who was going to make him complete. But he was a Shinigami, Grimmjow was a Hollow. Granted, neither of them were traditional versions, but they were both so different still. He'd been wrong to put so much faith in Grimmjow. He needed to sort himself out, not wait for someone else to do it for him.

And so, stepping in to the shower, trying not to think about it, not even bothering to remove his clothes, Ichigo turned the hot water on.

Poor confused, crazy Ichigo...
What is Grimmjow's mission? And what does Aizen have in store for them? :o