"He's going to kill Ichigo!" Grimmjow insisted to the crazy Captain of the Twelfth while kneeling on the floor in a pool of his own blood. The Hado rods had been dissipated but the damage was still there. Kurotsuchi didn't seem to mind much, having done nothing more to the arrancar than bind his hands before him.

They were just outside the main hall, in room full of instruments and tools and Grimmjow vaguely realized they'd taken over Szayel's lab. A few Soul Reapers stood guard around him, stone faced. He searched each of their eyes desperately, hoping someone would believe him.

"Ichigo Kurosaki has been missing for weeks, and it is my understanding that you killed him."

"Then where is his soul?" Grimmjow pleaded. He didn't have long before his body gave into the blood loss and pain. But the scientist was busy mixing up concoctions that Grimmjow hoped had nothing to do with him.

"Souls get lost all the time." Kurotsuchi waved a hand dismissively.

"Please, you have to listen! Aizen is going to kill Kurosaki and capture his soul until it hollowfies."

"How absurd."

Grimmjow bit back a cry of rage. "Urahara– get in touch with Urahara, he knows."

"Urahara Kisuke is a traitor to the Soul Society."

"Fine, then..." he searched his mind for the names, "Renji Abarai, he can back me up. Or...that little captain, Hitsugaya."

This caught the scientist's attention. "You know of their location?"

"Yes. They're in the world of the living. They don't think they can get back to Soul Society but its an illusion Aizen put on them. Go get them and they'll tell you I'm not lying!"

"And why would they do that?"

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME!" Grimmjow cried in absolute frustration, tasting copper at the back of his throat. He swallowed bitterly and when he looked up again that terrifying face was right next to his own.

"Oh don't worry." The words hissed out menacingly between yellow teeth. "I have an easier way to make sure you're telling the truth."

Grimmjow hissed as a large needle slid into his neck. Liquid burned through his veins and then his head hit tile, he lay motionless and mindless on the floor. And then the interrogation began.

Ichigo lay against the wall of his cell staring with dead eyes at the limp form before him. Despair had struck him to the core and this cruel, twisted coincidence just added to the weight of his sorrows. They had dumped Grimmjow's unconscious body here, never seeing or sensing that the cell was already occupied. He had been too weak or stunned to move and try to get out or interact with them and then he just sat staring at Grimmjow. He wanted him to wake up, so he would know he was okay, but he also didn't want the other to look right through him.

Slowly though, he blinked and forced himself to move to inspect the other.

There were a few more bruises and cuts from when he'd last seen him just a day ago but the real concern was Grimmjow's fevered skin and glassy eyes. Even when he woke he was disoriented and his focus shifted unnaturally.

"They've been drugging you." Ichigo said sadly. He reached out to touch the other but it wasn't the same as him just being blind to the spiritual realm, this was Aizen's trick and it was thorough. He could indeed feel the heated flesh of Grimmjow's arm beneath his fingers but the arrancar never stirred, never reacted.

Grimmjow moved until he was propped against a wall. His mind worked sluggishly, he saw the bandages around the three stab wounds and knew he would live. Then he began to notice the interior of the cell and though he could no longer see the stains of Ichigo's blood, he knew where he was. Pain crossed his features before he threw his head back against the wall and laughed.

"I was never really clear on the definition of irony..." he slurred, looking in the direction where Ichigo usually lay, "but I feel like this might fit the bill. Oh God Ichigo, I screwed up."

"You tried." Ichigo said even though he knew he couldn't hear.

"I have no idea what just happened." Grimmjow said more seriously. "I have no idea what I told them, but I hope it was the right thing..."

And that was all Ichigo got out of him before he shut his eyes and was out again.

"He believed everything he said to be true." Kurotsuchi confirmed with the Head Captain from his console. "The problem is, if Aizen used his powers on Grmimjow, then he could have been tricked too, and just think he is telling us the truth."

"It would be an odd thing to trick him into believing though." The Head Captain responded.

"I agree, sir. But what have you found in the cells?"

The Head Captain was very grave. "Aizen is indeed gone. There is a gigai, wrapped in illusions, but Captain Unohana was able to confirm that it was a fake. Aizen is gone."

Kurotsuchi's breath hitched and the Head Captain continued. "Yes Mayuri, he may be there with you now. The permanent gate has been open all this time, he can't intend to cross over or he would have done so already. Therefore I will allow an evacuation of all your personnel immediately." Kurotsuchi nodded to his lieutenant, ever hovering in wait of instructions and she hurried off to carry out the evacuation.

"And I trust you would like to speak with the prisoner?"

"Yes. But it won't be safe to bring him through."

"Yes, sir."

More burning, Grimmjow was once again on his knees, half aware this time of the questions and answers he gave. His head kept having to be forced around by the guard to stare at the monitor as he kept looking elsewhere for the voice that echoed out of dull speakers. Distantly, he registered that they must believe him to some extent if the Head Captain wanted to talk to him, but this hope was short lived when the screen went black and everyone started to leave.

"What's happening?" He slurred as loud as he could. Kurotsuchi just gave him a side glance but Nemu stopped.

"We must return to Soul Society if Aizen is here. And we cannot risk bringing you through in case it is part of Aizen's plans."

"Then what?"

"Remain here. If we need you again, we will find you."

"WHAT?" He shouted at her back in absolute shock. "You've got to be kidding me!" But they all filed away from him and disappeared. For a long few moments he sat in silence, overwhelmed with anger and despair, and then the drug won out and he slumped against the tile.

He must have lain like this for a day at least. He had no idea how long he'd been unconscious, but when he woke face down, uncomfortably propped up by his bound hands beneath him, all he could manage to do was to roll to his side, then nothing.

What could he do? Aizen would surely find something entertaining to do to him but he couldn't see or hear or sense the bastard so all he could do was wait. He didn't know if he could break free of his bonds and he didn't even know if his stiff and injured body would move if he asked it to.

He dared not wish for anything, it was all futile.

"We must search the world of the living for Captain Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Abarai at once." Captain Unohana insisted in the long Captains' hall.

"And we must return to Hueco Mundo to find Aizen." Soifon added.

"Yes, there is much that must be done." The Head Captain agreed gravely. "But few who can be spared to the world of the living. I will send Rukia Kuchki to search for our missing but our focus must be Aizen. Is there anyway to detect him?" His eyes fell to Kurotsuchi but they all seemed to know. Aizen had kept himself hidden from the scientist this entire time.

"I will try." Kurotsuchi said simply.

"Please, sir." Captain Unohana spoke up. "I have had some luck seeing past his illusions in the past. Let me go."

"The risk is too great."

"That is why I did not ask you to send back up." The others looked at her shocked.

The Head Captain shook his head. "We are already missing one captain, I do not wish to lose another."

"In either case lives will be risked, what you must decide is how many." She spoke boldly and silence followed her statement.

"Captain Unohana," he paused for a moment, considering, then sighed and continued, "I will allow you to go through to Hueco Mundo. You must only remain long enough to determine if Aizen is still there, and if possible, if the human boy is indeed still alive. But I would not see you go alone."

His eyes raised to the others, and as much as he hated to risk two captains, they all knew the chances of one leaving and returning was almost zero.

"I'll go." Captain Zarakai didn't give the others a chance, though everyone was willing and Soifon shot him a death glare. But the Head Captain was already agreeing and no one could argue the point.

"There it is." Ichigo lifted his head from the floor. He saw through blurry eyes a look of triumph on Aizen's face. "There is what I have been looking for: true despair, no hope. Nothing but pain and darkness for your soul to cling to when you reach the other side. You will hollowfy, and then you will be mine forever, my one, true espada."

Ichigo could not even manage a response, mostly, because he couldn't deny it. Watching the Soul Reapers leave and Grimmjow give in to his own despair had finally pushed Ichigo over the edge. Aizen hadn't even laid a finger on him, the boy just no longer saw hope.

"Come on, let's do this somewhere special."

Ichigo didn't resist as he was half drug into the main hall where Grimmjow still lay, pale and hardly breathing. His wounds had taken a lot out of him and so he had found himself unable and unwilling to move even when the drugs passed through him. His eyes widened however when they entered and Ichigo realized he could see them. The subtle shift in Aizen's power also told the arrancar that all illusions had been dropped now, and Aizen was concentrated on one thing alone. He pushed Ichigo to his knees and pulled out his sword.

"I thought it would be more appropriate for you to witness his change and your complete failure, Grimmjow. He will replace you. No, in fact that is an insult to what he will become, because it will be much more than you ever were. When its done, I will rid myself of your existence as well."

No response came to Aizen's speech, he raised his sword and rested the tip at the base of Ichigo's skull, preparing for the strike. Brown eyes registered no fear, no emotion, nothing, but, on the floor, watching in silence, those dead eyes stirred that ancient rage inside the sixth espada.

No.

Ichigo had been a warrior.

Ichigo had been his arch enemy- the one person he respected for his power as much as he despised him.

Even being able to hold his own against Ichigo in their battles had somewhere deep inside made Grimmjow feel like he was worthy of his title, worthy of the status of warrior.

He would not watch a warrior die on his knees, void of everything that made him who he was, and he himself would not just lay down and die at Aizen's feet.

Like that day in Urahara's basement, when Grimmjow's anger had literally exploded out of him, there was no warning, no build up, just an eruption of raw energy.

Ichigo really didn't know what was happening, his mind was barely working when he'd been put on his knees but now reality came back with jarring force. A flash of heat then he was weightless for a few blessed seconds before his body hit stone and he rolled at least a dozen times before he stopped. He was near the video monitors where the Soul Reapers had interrogated Grimmjow last. His first thoughts were of the new pains that wracked his body but then his eyes alighted on something abandoned, something forgotten, but that lay glimmering silver, just waiting to be noticed.

Grimmjow amazingly found himself on his feet after the explosion. He didn't even remember standing, but then, in the past when he'd felt rage, it had often cause him to remember nothing but red. Right now however, he stood chest heaving, practically growling at the stunned man before him. Aizen was by no means hurt, in fact if he'd injured anyone it was Ichigo, but the ex-soul reaper had been forced to go on the defensive, and let Ichigo get blown past him.

"Now Grimmjow, trying to impress me this late in the game will do you know good." He mocked, hiding any surprise that may have flashed over his features a moment ago. But no taunts, no cruelties, could compete with the high Grimmjow was feeling– a rage much more powerful than what he'd ever felt in the past– because this one was mixed with something else– he just couldn't recognize it as a sense of justice.

"Of all the people in the universe, you are the very last I want to impress." Grimmjow sodinoed into Aizen, who caught his wrists before his hands could close over his throat but even then Grimmjow kept smiling.

"I beg to differ Grimmjow. All you lived for was pleasing me."

"I ain't the same being I was then." Grimmjow actually managed to head butt Aizen before his former leader got a knee into his gut. Aizen seemed pleased not to cut this short by using his zanpakuto and the fight became a nasty trade of blows, mostly from Aizen.

Eventually he had Grimmjow doubled over and his knee connected with Grimmjow's nose rather than his gut this time. The arrancar felt hot blood erupt over his face and he flew back. But even still he got back to his feet, laughter ripping out of him. He knew he was going to die, there was no way out of this, so he had nothing to lose, nothing to fear, and he would go down giving it everything he had, and proving to Aizen he was not afraid.

Aizen watched as the arrancar that seemed to be losing his mind hurled himself at him once more for more punishment. He would give it to him, he would beat the life out of his creation for disrespecting him in this way, for losing all sense of fear and respect. And frankly, for unsettling him.

When Ichigo returner to the fight, gripping the weapon that had bit through his flesh countless times in the past, Grimmjow was on his knees, taking punch after punch to the face, and laughing maniacally. When Aizen tired of this, he kicked Grimmjow, sending him onto his back and despite the maddened espada's rage fuelled energy, he was almost done. Ichigo hurried to his side but wasn't even sure Grimmjow could see him through his swollen, bruised eyes but muscles flexed and fingers closed over the handle of the other half of his soul when Ichigo pressed Pantera into his hand.

"It won't make a difference." Aizen was on them. Grimmjow countered and shielded Ichigo, already on his feet again, and feeling the power of Pantera wash through him. Now Aizen was annoyed and he pulled out his own Zanpakuto.

"Its over Grimmjow, now die."

"Oh, this is so not over." Grimmjow swung, met steel, swung again, still no success. Finally Aizen struck so hard that even though Grimmjow countered the force was too much and pushed him back into Ichigo. He righted himself but it was clear he couldn't last much longer.

"Grimmjow!" At the last second Grimmjow saw the attack rushing him from the side. He couldn't believe Pantera didn't shatter on the impact but Aizen kept moving and Girmmjow was slammed back into the wall so hard the stone cracked deep all around him. He felt his knees give but Aizen was still pressed up against him, keeping him upright.

"Open those eyes of yours Grimmjow, I want you to see this." He felt the pressure lift and knew what was about to happen.

"No." Grimmjow wrapped his fist in Aizen's clothes at the last second so that when Aizen flashed away, he was drug along in his wake. He came to a rolling stop, knocking Ichigo down with him. But before Grimmjow could even turn to get up and face what was coming, he heard a gasp and saw the shock on Ichigo's face that was rapidly turning white. There was a terrible grating sound as Aizen pulled the blade back out of the boy's torso, and it ground out of the stone beneath him than past muscle and bone.

"No..." Grimmjow felt hot blood seeping over the tiles, gathering around his knees and watched helplessly as Ichigo died. It had been so quick, so impossible to see, to counter. "NO!" Grimmjow whipped around but this time Aizen's bare hand met Pantera and in a simple flick of his wrist and spike in his riatsu and Grimmjow's soul shattered. Pantera clattered in five pieces to the ground.

"BASTARD!" Grimmjow screamed in futility, in anger, in hatred. Aizen bent down slowly to where Grimmjow remained on his knees, the arrancar's body trembling, nearly dead himself. But Aizen slowly reached out and took Grimmjow's battered face in one hand.

"No matter how hard you tried, I still own you. You were always mine to let live, to torture, to kill. Die, knowing your place is at my feet."

He withdrew and pulled back his sword. This time, it was Grimmjow's turn to sit immobile while watching death come. But more than defeat, Grimmjow had been frozen by the light that appeared behind Aizen. His lips parted, eyes widened in shock, but Aizen was already abandoning him, turning to meet the knew enemy to whom he'd left them exposed, no longer hidden in illusions.

There was some maddened roar from a male Soul Reaper and then battle ensued, but Grimmjow turned his focus back to Ichigo. He knew it was pointless, but he covered the wound in the boy's abdomen all the same.

"Ichigo." Grimmjow half turned, keeping his hands in place and barely made out the female Soul Reaper. He'd taken too much damage, the room was starting to spin but the woman just knelt next to him and he felt her hands close over his own pressed against the wound.

"There is only one person who can save him now." Grimmjow met her eyes. "I can buy you an extra minute or two, but you'll have to find her fast."

Before Grimmjow could answer he felt her powers wash into both himself and Ichigo. The room came back into focus, and he felt a burst of strength. As soon as the healer withdrew, he scooped up the boy, who had been given just enough strength to help him cling to life. Grimmjow gave one last glance over his shoulder to see the mighty battle taking place, which the healer woman joined immediately, and then he ripped apart the air and jumped through the cracks to find Orihime Inoue.

Thanks for the reviews so far and for reading! Keep it up!

Riza