Chapter Fourteen

The Final Order and the Lovers' Last Resort

The morning sun came in through the window and washed the room in pale lavender colors through the sheers. Uryū's eyes opened and he found he was still wrapped around Ichigo, and during the night, Ichigo had clutched him tightly. The whole situation was far more fucked up than he had ever imagined. He had certainly not imagined that he was very likely not going to make it off this island. He chewed his lip thoughtfully and wondered where everyone would fall in the end. The Queen was coming, and so was the Final Order. Only, unlike they had planned, there was no way to evacuate for Uryū and his people with the island under this type of lock down. They wouldn't know when it was coming. There would be an alarm to announce that there was a missile incoming. The countermeasures would not go off, as they'd been sabotaged long ago, and then everything would just end. At least going out this way was so fast that it would be virtually painless. Things would just be over all at once.

He felt Ichigo's arms tighten on him and he looked down at him. "I'm here," he whispered.

Ichigo nodded and put his head down again. "Thank you, for what you did…yesterday…" he whispered. "I thought they were going to kill me the way they were talking, the things they were saying they wanted to do…"

"Hush, now," Uryū said and ran fingers through his hair. "Don't think about it. Just rest for now."

"He's coming today." Ichigo spoke with such sadness that Uryū thought his heart would break.

"He is. That's what they've said," Uryū said with a sigh.

"I guess being a whore for one is better than all of them," he said with a sigh.

Uryū closed his eyes. "Don't talk like that, Ichigo."

"I deserve this, all of it," Ichigo said with a wavering voice. "My sisters are dead. My father will blame me for it, and he should blame me because it was my doing that they were killed. Daddy will be better without me. He'll find someone that isn't a heroine addicted fuck up."

"Ichigo, don't…"

"He's coming today, Uryū, he's coming. The man that took everything from me, that ripped me from my family and turned me into this thing I am now. How…how can I even deal with knowing that he's going to be here. He had…had my mother killed, he let Aizen do things to those others like me. He's behind all of this, and I'm going to see him." Ichigo's voice dropped to a barest whisper. "I'm going to kill him, I am. I'll die, but I'm going to kill him."

Uryū felt a chill run up his spine because the sudden metal in Ichigo's voice left him with no doubt that Ichigo planned to do that very thing. He smiled, though. That was fine. They were all as good as dead anyway, as soon as the Queen landed. So, if Ichigo murdered him with his own hands, he would feel like he had accomplished something, as if he'd gotten revenge for what had happened.

"Ichigo, I'm going to tell you the truth, so you know," Uryū said, whispering as well. "The Queen was in love with your mother. She was one of us, the Quincies. When you mother rejected him in favor of your father, he became obsessed with her. He stalked her until you were born, then or whatever perverse reason, his attention shifted to you. He watched you for years, Ichigo," he continued, feeling the body in his arms tense. "She was so scared, and the night she died, she was trying to get away. She wouldn't give you to him. But things to messed up, and then Aizen manipulated things so he could get you. He spent the last twelve years getting videos and photos from Aizen. Ichigo, this man is so dangerous and horrible, I'm so sorry that we didn't know the extent of this before."

Ichigo nodded. "Thank you, Uryū," he said quietly as the door opened.

"Get the whore up, get him ready, the Queen arrives in an hour. He's to be presented to him," came Jin's voice. "Hurry up. There's clothes and everything in the main bath."

Jin turned and left, leaving Uryū to sigh in relief. "Come on, I'll help you get ready," he said as he stood up.

"I'm going to kill him," Ichigo said with a sure sound to his voice. "I promise that I am."

Ichigo stood up and wrapped the yukata around him. He let Uryū help him as they headed to the main bathroom. Uryū helped him wash up, and he was still horrified by the state Ichigo's body was in. After the bath, Uryū helped him use the makeup kit that had been left out, covering some of the bruises with the concealer and spritzing the expensive perfume on him. It made Ichigo gag a bit, whatever the smell was he found horrible, some sort of sweet musk scent. He glanced to see that there was a set of underthings laid out. He didn't comment as he pulled on the pink stockings and attached them to the lacy garter belt that went with them. There was also a soft pink corset thing, and a pair of lacy looking underwear. Great, so the bastard had an underwear fetish, he thought as he stared into the large mirror.

Uryū helped him get into the cherry blossom covered formal kimono, then put the flower hair clips in his hair. He didn't know, of course, but dressed like this, Ichigo bore an eerie resemblance to his mother. He led Ichigo down to the Queen's quarters. Uryū had to admit a degree of curiosity because he had no idea what the inside of this room looked like. Cang and Kugo were both standing outside and nodded as they pulled the double door open.

Uryū couldn't help but let out a low whistle. This had to be the most extravagant room he'd ever been inside. The middle of the room was dominated by a large canopied bed with white and red curtains around it. The wide bank of windows behind the bed were covered with velvet red curtains, pulled back to show the surf clearly at the moment. On the right side, there was a large desk set up, and on the left, there was an entry to what looked like a massive bath. Fresh flowers, red roses, were set out in vases throughout the room. A drink cart was set beside the bed with a pair champagne flutes and a bottle of what looked to be champagne or wine of some sort. A large bowl of fresh fruits sat beside it.

Ichigo froze, though as his gaze stopped at a cabinet that sat beside the bed. One of the doors was slightly cracked, and he could see the glint of metal inside it. He didn't want to know what was inside that cabinet, but he was certain he would find out before the day was through.

A voice behind them surprised Ichigo from his thoughts as he turned to stare at someone he didn't know.

"Well, it was worth the wait, my love…"

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

"Shinobu, are you sure we don't need to call the doctor?" Luppi asked for the third time that morning.

"Luppi, yes, I'm just having some dizzy spells. I need to stay laying down or sitting until it passes, but I'm going to be fine," Shinobu said, patting Luppi's shoulder as they sat on Shinobu's bed.

Kira leaned against the wall near the door and watched the fretting Luppi. "Well, we could watch a movie, right?" Luppi said, glancing over at the TV.

"Sure, but be careful, there's some things you really shouldn't watch while sick," Shinobu warned with a smile.

Luppi tipped his head to the side. "Why's that?"

Shinobu smirked. "Well, you see, if you've got a fever, you can have fever dreams. Those can sometimes be influence by TV. Some horrible nightmares after things like Akira…." He smiled. "But then I hallucinate when I'm sick now and then, sometimes from medications I've had to take, and sometimes from fevers. I remember one time I had believed that a sock was a hamster. Uryū still teases me about that…" he said, smiling at first, then his smile faded. "I hope Uryū is well."

"I'm sure he's fine," Kira said from the doorway. "From what I hear, he's good at what he does."

Shinobu sighed as Luppi got up and rummaged through his DVD collection. After a few minutes, he picked out a tame looking animation and sat down beside Shinobu. He looked up at Kira.

"Come on, sit down with us," he said to him with a grin.

Kira hesitated until Shinobu gave him a nod. He slid into the bed and sat with his back to the wall beside Luppi. Luppi shifted and put his head on Kira's shoulder as the movie began. It was hard for all three of them because they knew that at that very moment, their friends were in the middle of the ocean. They would be attempting to do something to rescue those there. They all felt somewhat useless, but all they could do was wait for it to be done.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

"Have you seen Tsukishima today?" Mayuri snarled as he stomped through the lab. "He was supposed to be here early today!"

Isane looked around. "Actually, no, did he call in?"

Mayuri growled. "Call him, if he's not going to be here I need to know it! He better be dead if he didn't call in," he said as he walked out.

Isane sighed and went to the back to call him. She pulled his number but was surprised when the number was disconnected. That was odd, she thought. She headed up to human resources to find out if they had another number for him. She was getting a bit worried. Shūkurō never called in, so him not showing up at all would be weird. She nearly ran into Renji as she came out of HR.

"Isane, what's up?" he asked, seeing her face.

"Ah, well, I can't find Tsukishima. He didn't come in today, I hope nothing happened to him. It's not like him at all. He's been so punctual for the last ten years he's worked here…" she said.

"You have his address? I'm about to head out to check on the captain. He called in sick today as well. Maybe a bug going around?" he said with a sigh.

Isane handed Renji the call card. "Yeah, his number's no good. He must have changed it or something."

Renji nodded and headed out to check on Byakuya. He didn't think he was really sick. Depressed, yes, sick, no. He sighed and stopped at the Starlight 50. He found him gone from there, so he would head to his other house and see if he was there. He wasn't picking up his phone, but that wasn't surprising. This lab tech's place was between the two, so he figured he check on him first. He didn't know why he was doing it, but he figured it wasn't a big deal to check on someone.

He got to the address and was confused. It was a warehouse, but it didn't look like one that had been converted into an apartment building. It was a literal warehouse. He knocked on the door but found it open already. He pushed it open and headed into what looked like an empty building.

"Hello?" he called out, only receiving his echo in response. He shook his head. How odd…

He saw a set of stairs that led up to what looked to be the main office from when it had been a functioning warehouse. He knocked there again, but like the front, found the door open. He flicked on the lights and stood in complete shock for a full minute before he numbly pulled his phone out.

"Captain Kyōraku, I need you to come to this address immediately. Bring a full forensics team, and bring Captain Kurotsuchi, he needs to see this," he said with wide eyes. He relayed the address and just stood there in disbelief as he waited. Right in front of them. This whole time.

"Lieutenant Abarai?" came the call from down below.

"Upstairs, sir," he said. "Did you bring forensics?"

A few minutes later the other captain came into the room and stopped in shock. "No…"

Mayuri growled. "Why did you insist I come on…a…"

The office, well, it had once been an office, had been converted to a living space. A futon sat on one side, and the glass windows that looked over the warehouse floor had been covered with butcher block paper. There was a desk with a laptop open on it, and a small table on the floor. To the side, on another table, there was an electric kettle and a hotplate. A small microwave sat behind it on this table. Attached to the butcher paper covering the windows were photos of Masaki Kurosaki that slowly changed into photos of Ichigo. At first, the photos were long lens shots, easily marked as someone being photographed from a distance, especially those of Masaki Kurosaki. Then, they continued to be similar, but they began to focus on Ichigo once he was about five years of age. Then, the photos changed, and even though they knew, and had seen, the evidence files for what had happened to those in Las Noches, these photos were even worse. They continued all the way up until recently. On the long table under the window, were DVD cases marked with dates, each one making about three months in time for the last twelve years.

"But, he's worked for the Shinigami for ten years…" Mayuri said quietly. "He's always been the perfect employee, he's never caused any problems…he just does his job and leaves…no questions, no…"

Renji looked at him. "It was perfect. No one would suspect him…"

Shunsui, with a glove on, tapped the spacebar on the laptop and a video started to play immediately. They saw the missing lab technician, Shūkurō Tsukishima appear with a placid smile.

"I'm sure you are confused, my friends. So I've decided to leave you a message to explain myself. Once I leave to my island, you won't see me again, or my consort. You see, Masaki Kurosaki was perfect in every way. She was everything I wanted and more. At least, I thought she was until she had a child. My first glimpse of the boy was enough that I knew what had to be done. Masaki was nothing, but the boy was everything. I had to groom him, and to do that, he couldn't be with his family. I had Aizen arrange Masaki's death, and Ichigo's acquisition. The underage group was entirely my idea. I know, it seems a great deal of work to groom one child to my perfect consort, but I had to convince the boy that he was meaningless, that he wasn't special so there had to be others like him. I couldn't have my consort believing he was better than others, now could I?" Tsukishima smiled and looked placid.

"I know that you think me horrible, but I am only following my heart. By the time you find this message, I'll be with my consort. Luckily, I know all the ways in which my dear consort likes to be treated, and what will make him happy. I know of the Final Order, so don't believe I am unaware of it. I've put in play countermeasures, so please, break your forces upon my fortress. I will enjoy killing them. If you have any common sense, you'll leave us be. I care not for Aizen, or many of the Messer's other nonsense enterprises that I allow my people to run. I have everything I need, and I will defend it, and myself, should you come to face me." He paused. "I also have no issue setting off the missiles I have. You were right about that, of course. I have four WMD. I have no qualms about using them. I will see you long before you arrive, and Tokyo will be blown off the map should you attempt it."

The video ended, leaving everyone in the room stunned. Shunsui looked at Kurotsuchi. "Get this entire room bagged, I'm going to see the head captain about this. He's made a credible threat. We have to do something."

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Byakuya glanced at his phone again as he sat inside the cabin. Renji was trying to call again. He sighed and put it down. Isshin sat down beside him. "We're almost there," he said. "Are you ready for this?"

Byakuya nodded. "I am. No matter what, I'll fight for him," he said with a sigh.

Isshin clapped him on the back as they anchored in position. Byakuya came out as everyone suited up in scuba gear. Urahara adjusted his mask and looked at the other three. "We don't know if there are any underwater cameras. We're depending on the fact that this type of thing is not something the Shinigami does. We'll go in, surface and wait for Yoruichi to signal to come in. We can't use any electronic communication devices because it will be picked up. Once on the beach, watch out for trip wires and laser alarms. Ready?" he said looking around. When he received three nods, they each sat down and fell into the water.

The waters were clear, and they had enough air to get there only. They would have to find another way off the island instead of scuba diving. Byakuya felt like they were never going to get there, but finally they started ascending onto the island. They surfaced and came up and crouched behind the rocky cliffs on this side.

Yoruichi dumped the air tank and scuba gear, nodding to them as she took off through the rocky beach to find a place to get into the actual compound. Byakuya, Isshin, and Urahara didn't speak as they waited. It seemed forever, but after almost two hours they heard the triple whistle that meant she had found a way in. They waited a few minutes until they saw her come back. She nodded and led them quietly through the rocks on the beach to the wall. She'd found an entrance and neutralized the guard before securing the doorway. The four of them snuck through and then found themselves facing a massive building. It took up most of the back side of the island. Yoruichi led them to a drainage grate and into it. They followed her, replacing the grate from the inside and found themselves coming out into a basement of sorts that was really more of a crawlspace below one of the store rooms.

Within an hour, they had made it into the main house. Where to go from there, though, they weren't as sure. Yoruichi had them wait inside a linen closet while she went out to scout. If they were going to try and get out not only Ichigo, but their operatives, they had to be careful about ti. They needed to know where everyone was.

Yoruichi found it easier than she expected to sneak around this place. It was obvious they were prepared for a big, flashy attack by the Shinigami. They weren't prepared for something like this. She flattened herself against a wall when she saw someone come out of a nearby room. He turned, though, and she recognized him from the photos of the Quincies. She made a low whistle, and his head turned her direction. She slipped away and back into the storeroom with the others. They looked up as she came back and she put a finger to her lips. A few moments later, the door flung open and all four of them looked at Uryū.

"Godsdammit," the dark haired man whispered.

"Ishida! What the fuck are you doing? You're supposed to be delivering dinner to the Queen and his whore!" a voice came from further down. Uryū turned back and spoke in return.

"Consort, don't let him hear you call him that, he'll cut your throat, he already told Jin he's as good as dead after yesterday's events," Uryū said calmly. "And I'm getting fresh linens, remember?"

"Whatever, glad you deal with the werido and his fuck toy," came the response as whoever it was got further away.

Uryū looked back in the closet. "What are you doing here?" he whispered. "You're going to get killed!"

Byakuya stepped out of the shadows he'd been in and locked eyes with Uryū. Uryū let out a resigned sigh. "Okay, look, you'll need to wait until after dark. There's too many awake."

"It's more than that," Urahara whispered. "They've given Final Order. We don't have much time; your people have to get out. They're not going to take chances. I doubt they'll launch a water assault. They'll just bomb the place."

Uryū sighed. "I figured as much. Stay hidden. I'll try to arrange things with my people. There's a transport helicopter for evacuation, if one of you can get to it and prep it for takeoff, we can try to get them off the island. Other than that, there's a small helicopter, but those are the only ways on or off the island."

"I'll go for the copter," Isshin said with a nod. "Show me the best way," he said quietly.

"Come on, I'm headed to the kitchens, and the cook's one of us," he said as he led Isshin out. "The weapons are the floor below, and other than that I'm not sure. They keep tight lipped about most things. I handle security, but even I can't get access to the missiles."

Yoruichi and Byakuya stayed there, waiting to do what they could when the time came.