A/N: A very big 'Thank You' to you all. I can never say that enough when it comes to all your reviews, fav's, alerts, and PMs. Many, many thanks!

I would particularly like to blow kisses to SevenSamCham, Wheelwright, and Alea S for keeping me on-track and just being there. Special gals you three are. You are too good to this curmudgeon!

If you go on DeviantArt there is a pic of 'Mayuri and Isane' by Croaky that she did for me. Very sexy I think. Though someone did say that he had a 'rape face'. LOL! I also have the link on my bio page. If you chance to see it please send a good word to the artist- she is awesome in my book.

All errors are my own.

The Evolutionary Ladder

Isane was in her herborium re-planting a few of her over-grown plants. Her sleeves were tied back, and her hands were deep in the pile of black dirt on her solid work table. With delicate ease she tapped the plant out of its too small container. Placing it in its new pot she gently started to fill in the space with fresh dirt. She loved the smell of fresh earth. The rich dirt held the scent of promise to her, and she almost thought that she could feel the plant sigh in happiness at its new home. Now it would be able to continuing growing as it should, and wouldn't be hampered by the confines of a crowded container.

"I find it amusing, Isane, how much you like to play in dirt," Mayuri said from the chair by her side. He sat lazily looking through a few of her plant manuals.

Isane grinned, but kept her attention on her plant. The dirt had to be packed in 'just so', and any air trapped in pockets would hamper the roots from growing. It would also encourage mold, and this plant was too precious to die from her inattentiveness.

"My plants are special to me, Mayuri. You know that. I could 'play in the dirt' all day if given the chance."

Mayuri chuckled, but his attention was on the article written about plant genetics. "Look at this- this article talks about splicing a piece of one particular plant genus to another entirely different one, and how they will merge together and then grow harmoniously. I wonder if I could do that with people..."

He looked off in the distance thoughtfully, and his excited hum caused Isane to stare at him. Narrowing her eyes she flicked some dirt in his direction.

"Don't you even think about something like that...That is beyond being twisted, Mayuri," she said with a frown. "That is just down-right creepy. And you wonder why you have the reputation that you have..."

Mayuri raised a brow and tapped a finger on the book. "If we can sew a patient's original appendage back on or transplant an organ I see no reason why we can't substitute someone else's exterior body part in place of the original. As long as the donor tissue is accepted by the donee..." He shrugged and continued on with his reading. "You need to be more open to new ideas, my dear."

"You need to reign it in sometimes," she quipped. "Keep that experimental idea to yourself, Mayuri. People are going to be even more afraid of you than they already are."

He waived a hand in the air dismissively, and said nothing.

Putting the newly potted plant back on the shelf and getting another one she started to asses what needed to be done before re-potting her next plant. Suddenly she stopped and looked over at Mayuri with an excited gleam in her eyes.

"You know, Mayuri, when I win our bet I want you to take me to the Living World so you can buy me some of their plants. I want to go to those places that they call nurseries."

Isane had a dreamy look on her face, and it was colored with more than a small amount of avarice.

"Yes...I should start to get my list together... It will be a big one," she said in a soft voice.

Mayuri gave a harsh bark of laughter. "Aren't you putting the proverbial cart before the horse? You haven't even come up with a workable list of questions yet. And Isane," he said nudging her calf with his foot, "that look of pure, unadulterated, greed does not suit you. Remember also that old saying about pride and a fall..." He gave her a big grin filled with sarcasm.

Isane rolled her eyes. "I have quite a few questions, thank you Captain Know It All."

"Oh, really? Let's hear them then." Mayuri threw the now forgotten book off to the side, and folding his arms looked up at her expectantly, if not a bit snarkily.

Wiping her hands off she turned to face him with a smug look of her own.

"First off we ask if they are male or female."

It was now Mayuri's turn to roll his eyes. "Well, even a twentieth seat could have come up with that..."

Isane narrowed her eyes at him in agitation. "Do you want to hear this, or not?"

"Please, forgive me. Do continue."

"We ask if they are single or married. Are they in a relationship or not? If not, then why? If so, then for how long? We then move into more precise questions about how they met their partner. We ask what was it that first attracted them to each other? I think that you'll find that women are attracted to personalities and men are attracted for more physical reasons."

Mayuri gave her a snarky look that she chose to ignore.

Isane tapped her foot. "Please try and take this seriously..."

"Oh, I do, I do. Especially since I plan on reaping the benefits of this little scheme."

Again she ignored his reaction to her comment.

Just as she was about to speak Mayuri put his hand up in the air to stop her from continuing. "First, Isane, we need to figure out exactly what we are trying to prove or disprove here. Secondly we figure out exactly how we will go about gathering the data. Your scientific methods are appalling," he said with a frown. "I am surprised at such behavior from such a smart woman."

"Said that from a man who wants to blithely graft different people together," she murmured.

Mayuri bared his teeth at her. "Isane...the matter at hand, please?"

"Fine. We will disprove this: that kissing means different things to men and women. That women use a kiss as a form of intimacy all unto itself, while men look at it as something only to get out of the way for further intimacy to transpire."

Mayuri frowned. "We already said that women and men are different when it comes to kissing. That is a lame hypothesis. At the very least I would kick you out of my lab if you came to me with that."

"No, Mayuri," she said shaking her head. "You never agreed to that. You made some snarky face or obnoxious comment, and never agreed with me."

"No, Isane...I happen to agree with you on that pathetic theory. I want something much more academically challenging, or at least something a bit more interesting."

Isane gave the table of dirt a look of consternation. "Well, your notes also try to support the theory that men and women go about dating for different reasons-"

"You can do better than that," he said interrupting her. "I find my attention quickly waning..."

Isane frowned and threw a clod of dirt down on the table in frustration. Tensing up she tried to gather her thoughts, and remember all the stupid things that he thought that he knew about interpersonal relationships...

Suddenly a light went on inside. She turned to him with a triumphant look.

"Alright... I think that you are not correct in your theory, or maybe I should say your lack of theory in regards to the how and why men and women pick partners. You never said anything about awareness when it came to choices. I believe that women are more aware of their potential choices while men have more reptilian responses."

She gave him a satisfied look.

Mayuri narrowed his eyes, and tapped a finger on his thigh. "Go on..."

"Using more of their cerebral cortex when choosing a mate makes women think about how a man will be emotionally first, and sexually second. Women first gauge how a man will be as an emotional as well as physical provider. If they come up short in those areas they generally dismiss whether he will be a sexually satisfying partner or not because he is no longer in the running. Men, on the other hand, first look at women as a sexual partner. Period. If a woman meets their criteria they continue onward, and if they prove to be emotionally satisfying as well that is just an added bonus, but it doesn't figure greatly in their plans."

Mayuri was silent, and did nothing but watch her intently. When he broke his silence his voice was quiet, but tinged with a bit of something that Isane couldn't exactly place.

"I am well aware that many people question my own experience, but I myself am starting to question yours. Though I may not have had a great or varied amount of experience I am starting to think that what you have has been on the whole negatively influenced somehow," he said watching her with an unblinking expression.

Isane's eyes slide to the side warily.

"What about your theory that women will not continue with a relationship if her intended partner is a bad kisser," he said cocking his head to the side, and changing the subject.

Isane cleared her throat. "If a man proves to be emotionally stable and a good provider then a woman will either over-look that or try and teach him a new trick." She shrugged as if the problem was easily solved.

"So how does that correspond to my writing?"

"In your Man Diary," and she always got a secret laugh at how he would try and not cringe when she said that, "you made it seem as if both men and women only looked primarily for sexual or physical satisfaction. Emotional needs were secondary or even tertiary. I think that you are incorrect."

"Everyone partially chooses partners by how they look, and in the anticipation of possible sexual encounters. Women might say that looks aren't everything, but every woman wants a physically pleasing mate," Mayuri said shaking his head. "I have over-heard enough women comment about how a man looks. Women have the same physical needs as men."

"Of course we are as prone to physical attraction as men, but it isn't always as important to women as it is to men."

Mayuri leaned his elbow on the chair's arm and rested his chin in his hand. "Every woman wants an Alpha Male. Women want a man who is confident and secure in his abilities."

"Yes, a man who is emotionally confident and secure. Look at Hanatarou! He gets so many female admirers that he has to sometimes beat them back with a stick, and you have to admit that he isn't the most masculine man around. I bet even Akon has his fair share of dates..."

"Akon?!" Mayuri threw his head back and gave a raucous laugh. "Akon is as far from being not only an Alpha male but emotionally confident as well. I don't even know if he knows what to do with women, let alone how to court them. Besides, Akon is in the labs day and night. How can he be getting women when he is forever working down in my labs?"

"I bet that there are many women in your division that give him more than a passing look," she said raising a brow. "He has the same sort of appeal that Hanatarou has." Isane shrugged as if not sure exactly what it was, but still aware of it none the less.

Mayuri broke the laugh off, and looked at Isane closely. "You wouldn't happen to be one of them now, would you?"

"Mayuri..." Isane had a horrid flash run through her thinking how now Mayuri would be watching Akon with a malevolent eye. The poor man would have no idea why he would suddenly be under such scrutiny, and it wouldn't be very nice.

Mayuri stared long and hard before seeming to dismiss the idea as being nonsense.

"What about homosexual couples?"

Isane shrugged. "Same thing. Women and women couples are more long-term then men and men couples. But the dynamics of homosexuality are slightly different then heterosexuality, so in order to keep this simple I think that we should just stick to heterosexual couples. Taking on homosexual couples we now have to deal with cross-genders, and that just adds another wrinkle to things."

Mayuri gave a hum. "I am not quite sure that I agree with your theories..."

"All the more reason to put them-and you- to the test! We will put it in its simplest form: women first look for how a man makes them feel emotionally while men first look at how a woman makes them feel sexually"

They silently stared at each other. Each taking stock in the other.

Mayuri tapped his chin piece thoughtfully. "So, in your own words of pairing it down you are saying that women are more socially evolved while men are more, how did you say it? Oh yes- reptilian in the way they pick a partner. Have I gotten the gist of things?"

"Yes!"

"Well, what about men such as Ukitake who are noted for their supposed valuable emotional connection with their feminine side?" Mayuri threw that theory at her to see how she would try and tear down the Thirteenth's paragon of a Captain.

Isane looked at him as if she knew better. "I think that they are just better able to hide or disguise the fact. I think that if a gorgeous, naked woman was placed before Captain Ukitake he would forget his good manners quick enough, and have to step over his tongue like the rest of you."

Mayuri gave a laugh and nodded. "That he would, and I would give anything to see that." He looked at her seriously, and seemed to be weighing the merit of her idea.

"I still think that you are selling men short, Isane. By your own words you are also selling me short," he said wryly. "Have you thought about that?"

Isane grinned and shook her head. "I didn't say that there was anything wrong with the way men think. You are just hard-wired differently then us girls. I think that as a women on a primal level we all look at males as potential breeding material some how. Just like men do with women. However, women look for a good, strong, mentally stable mate while men look to just increase their population-period. When a female finds her mate she wants to keep him to herself, and in short to keep his good, genetic qualities exclusive. While males on the other hand want to spread their good qualities far and wide. It all has to do with propagating the species in the end."

"Again, Isane, I think that you are selling my sex too short. I too want to keep your good qualities exclusive," he said softly.

Isane shook the dirt off her hands as she went over to the small faucet, and began washing them. Using the soap she meticulously cleaned under her nails and then all the way up to her elbows. After drying herself off she went to the small pot on the shelf over the sink, and scooped out a good amount of lotion. Working it into her hands and forearms she came back to where Mayuri was sitting. Rubbing the last of the lotion in she looked down at him with a patiently sweet expression.

"I would never sell you short, Mayuri. I never have, and I never will. You know that. How could I? You would never let me anyway. As to exclusivity? You bet I intend to keep you exclusive," she said with a semi-lascivious grin. "Luckily for me your scientific theories tend to put most girls off."

Mayuri raised a brow, and hooking the stool near by with his foot scooted it over before him, and motioned for her to sit. Sitting down on the stool now put her at an angle where she was literally at his feet and looking up at him like some devotee. He gave her a smug grin.

"Now back to our original proposal," he said running the toe of his sandal up her shin. "We will say that I believe that you are not correct in your assumption that men look at women only as sexual or breeding objects first while women look at men as emotional providers and protectors only. I believe that men are as prone to wanting emotional connections as women are."

Isane looked up at him seriously. She was weighing each and every one of his words, and very carefully.

"I never said that it was black and white, Mayuri. Yes, there are men that want an equal, and not just a playmate. There are many women who only want a playmate. Women, and Shinigami women in particular are very strong on their own."

"You are talking about something physical, and I am talking about something mental." He waggled a finger back and forth in her face. "No, no, Isane... you are drifting off the beaten path. By your own words you seem to think that men want sex and women want emotions. I think that we all want both. I just said that men and women go about things differently."

Isane frowned and leaned back a bit away from the finger in her face. She was starting to get confused, and she knew that there was no way that she was going to agree to anything unless she was perfectly clear from the get-go.

"What do you mean they go about things differently?"

Mayuri crossed his fingers together and rested his chin on them. He looked down at her with a coldly calculating look that sent shivers up her spine. She could slowly feel him start to corral her into a corner with his words. What had started as a harmless game was swiftly turning into a game of cat and mouse. Like any Alpha male he was warming up for the hunt.

"My book of personal observations that you so blithely refer to as my Man Diary is nothing short of perfection. I perform good science, which means that I make perfect observations. My perfect observations are in turn the absolute truth, and are in no way to be questioned."

Leaning forward he took Isane's chin in his hand, and drawing her slowly forward bent down to meet her half way. A slow, feral smile spread across his face. Isane's eyes widened, but the steeliness in them hardened. She was not as easy to intimidate as she used to be, but neither was she as dominant as she thought she was either. Her eyes may have a hard and pugnacious look to them, but she couldn't hide the quivering of her bottom lip.

"Tell me, Isane...tell me again how my central thesis is somehow imperfect. How is it that-"

"Aren't you the one who is always saying how imperfect you are?" She reached forward with a hand and took a hold of his captain's haori. "So going by that I do not see why it would be such a surprise to find that imperfect assumptions would come from an imperfect man."

Mayuri held her fast. "My imperfections have nothing to do with any academic or general deficiencies on my part. My brilliance has never been at fault, or even in question. We have gone over this, and you are evading my questions." His eyes narrowed, and a certain gleam could be seen starting to surface.

Isane quivered, but held her ground. "Fine. I will concede that you might be right-"

"Of course I am right, silly girl! Why wouldn't I be?"

"That doesn't mean that I am going to back out of this! I still want to prove you wrong...And I won't back down. I'm not afraid of you or this bet." Her lips were in a tight line, and the light of battle was in her eyes.

Mayuri changed his grip on her chin to a more gentler one, and he let his thumb drift across her mouth as if to smooth out the line and make it softer. When she took a nip at it he laughed at her audacity.

"I think that you are in too far over your head on this, Isane. As an officer and a gentleman I am giving you this one chance to back out while keeping your dignity intact."

Isane had also thought that all along, but in order to keep her dignity intact she would have to keep going forward as she was. She was too far into this, and there was no backing down now.

"What if I as a superior officer I ordered you to forget this? We could call it quits. A no harm and no foul kind of deal, and no one would be the wiser. And in any respect."

"Because you want The Prize as much as I do," she said plainly. "Because you are an inquisitive man, and I am a stubborn woman."

Mayuri gave a half smile. "I do have my limits, and I am very capable of knowing when some things should not be pursued... However, I am also not a man to let a Golden Opportunity pass me by." He took her hand that was buried in his coat and pulled it away, but never relinquishing his hold. He twined his fingers between hers and tried to pull her forward and on to his lap.

Isane looked around cautiously and shook her head.

"Mayuri, if I sit on your lap that will lead to other things, and someone could come in here at any moment. We have already been busted once, and that was pretty harmless, but now..."

Mayuri scowled at her, and tugged sharply on her hand. When she less then playfully smacked his hand he growled deep in the back of his throat.

"Come here, Isane..." he said with a soft snarl.

She shook her head frantically. "I am serious- I don't want to be caught..."

Leaning forward so that they were nose to nose he hissed at her. "We wouldn't have to worry if you had your own place," he said impatiently.

Isane leaned back in surprise, and blushed deeply. Her eyes dropped, and she folded her hands in her lap.

Mayuri became immediately suspicious. "What?"

"Well..." she said going back to biting her bottom lip. "You see..."

"What! See what?" His voice had risen, and he looked as if he was about to become unglued.

Isane's shoulders scrunched slightly and she could only look as high up as his throat. "I do have my own place," she said quietly.

There was a momentary silence before Mayuri exploded.

"What?! When did that happen? Why didn't you tell me?" There was a hot burst of reiatsu as his temper spiked.

Isane quickly covered his mouth with one hand and tried to sooth his ire by placing her other hand on his upper arm. "Quiet, Mayuri! Someone will come for sure if you keep this up!"

Pulling his head back to dislodge her hand he looked at her with a none to pleased expression. "Tell me now, Isane, why you never told me. You better make it good, and you better make it fast..."

Isane could tell that he spoke now not as a lover but as a superior officer. His arrogance and impatience were monumental.

"Things just happened too fast. One minute we were looking at it, and then you dissapeared, and then we were at Miyama-san's, and now..."

Mayuri looked at her as if she was daft.

"So you never once thought to bring it up? Isane!"

Isane looked slightly contrite. "It wasn't as if I was hiding it. I just...forgot..."

Mayuri gave a great sigh and sat back in his chair, and looked at her as if she confounded him.

"Besides," she said rubbing his knees, "it isn't as if it was very habitable really. I don't have too many things there yet, and I certainly can't spend the night there because I don't have any proper bedding. Just an old futon on the floor, and it isn't the most comfortable thing." She frowned as if remembering some uncomfortable morning after.

"Didn't I tell you that I would provide the bed? I told you that...I distinctly remember telling you that!"

"I remember you telling me that you would make the Gotei pay for it, and I don't want to be caught in that kind of scandal," she said wryly. "Besides," she said looking at him in what she hoped was an appealing manner, "I like your bedroom. It is so plush and exotic. Nothing that I could do would ever compare."

"That isn't the point, Isane," he said tersely. "The point is that you have a place and forgot to tell me."

Mayuri's voice was not as upset as it had been, but she could still hear a note of offense in it. Isane knew that it would be a long time before he let her forget it as well. Just as she was about to lean in and try and smooth things over with her lips a gentle voice was heard at the door.

"Isane?"

Isane shot up from her spot, and turned around with a guilty look on her face.

Mayuri groaned and rolled his eyes. He was much slower to rise.

Retsu came further into the room, and a sweet smile played across her face at seeing the two together.

"Ah, Captain Kurotsuchi, how interesting to find you here, and of all places," she said with a gentle smile.

Mayuri made a rude noise and waived a hand in the air. "Retsu..." he grumbled.

Isane gave Mayuri a warning look that he pointedly ignored.

"Isane, I was wondering when you were going to visit your apartment next because I have a few plants that I would like to give you," she said kindly.

Mayuri's temper exploded anew. "What?! She knows about it as well?" He looked at Isane accusingly. "Before me?!"

"Of course my Captain knows about it, Mayuri," she said with a dead-pan face. "Why wouldn't she?"

Mayuri put his face so close to hers that they almost touched noses. "Does the SWA know about it? Or how about those other fools that you carouse with? They know about it too?"

Mayuri and Isane squared off, and both folded their arms over their chests.

"No...No one but Captain Unohana and you know about it. Happy?" Isane felt mortified to be having a tiff like this in front of her Captain. Thankfully Captain Unohana was the soul of generosity and grace, and appeared as if none of this was going on around her.

"They better not," he said in a low, warning voice. "If I see any of those imbeciles-"

"Captain Kurotsuchi, you seem to be very proprietary over my Lieutenant's new abode."

A smile might have been on her face and in her eyes, but when she spoke like that many people knew better. She was a kind and gentle woman with a core of steel. Of all the Captains that were feared she was one of the top three, and for good reason. Unohana Retsu was a Captain not only because of her great skill in healing. Her intelligence and ability to deal with people were exemplary, and before she took captaincy she had been a teacher at the Academy so many that she worked with had been under her direct tutelage at one point or another. Such was the basis of her power over Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku. Though they might be peers now at one time she had been their superior, and because of that they still had great respect for and a bit of fear of her. Kyoraku had often tried to get the best of her through his childish antics, but Retsu had quickly and easily out-smarted him, and every time. With a smile on her face and a gentle voice she would always show him his proper place. Her ability to deal with fractious individuals was also one of the reasons that her relationship with the Eleventh's Captain was so harmonious and passionate.

Looking over at the Twelfth's Captain and her red-faced Lieutenant who were currently at logger-heads offered her much amusement. Though she had been gone from the Academy for many years when Mayuri had been a student she thought that it would have been very interesting indeed to have been one of his teachers. She wondered what sort of impact she would have had on him- if any, but either way he hadn't been one of her pupils so she had no real influence over him.

Not until he had decided to court her Lieutenant that is, and then their relationship took a slightly different turn. Where he had once not had too much to do with her outside of their monthly captain's meeting they now saw or ran into each other a bit more. Quite a bit more. Mayuri was a deviously brilliant man, and he knew that on some level he would also have to curry her favor as well as Isane's. Or at least tolerate her a bit more. The bond that she had with her Lieutenant was stronger then most, and Isane looked up to her not only as her superior officer, but as family as well. That being the case Retsu also looked at Isane as family, and as such she could be very protective of her young Lieutenant. But it didn't seem as if Isane was in need of her help at this moment as she seemed to be holding her own against her lover very well as is.

It was amusing though to be able to poke fun of her fellow Captain when she could, and Mayuri's short temper was legendary. The temptation sometimes became too great to not tweak his proverbial nose...

"Retsu..." Mayuri said in a low voice to Unohana while still facing Isane. He watched her out of the corner of his eye. He could not only tell that she was getting ready to be obnoxious, but he could also feel it deep in his bones. If she wasn't being sickeningly passive-aggressive then she was being sneakily provocative. Either way he had no patience for her or her games right now.

Mayuri's body became tense, and a tick started over his right eye.

"Mayuri," Isane hissed. She could see that he was starting to gear up, and though she never really minded it she couldn't let it happen in front of her Captain.

"Isane," Retsu said smiling calmly at her subordinate. Her Lieutenant looked as if she didn't know if she wanted to tussle with Mayuri or just die right on the spot.

"Captain Unohana," Mayuri said finally turning to Retsu. "Would you please allow your Lieutenant and I a moment alone? We were right in the middle of a private and personal discussion before we were so rudely interrupted..."

"Oh, really? About what?" Retsu's voice was suddenly chirpy.

A small, strangled sound could be heard coming from Mayuri. "Something private. Something personal. And something not your business!"

Retsu smiled calmly at Mayuri. "Captain, you seem to be having difficulty finding your composure. Might I offer you some soothing herbal tea? Hanatarou makes a very delightful-"

Mayuri's eyes bugged out, and Isane thought for a wild, brief moment that he was about to have a seizure. She dropped her aggravated stance and immediately went over to him, and placed her hands on his arms. Looking up into his face she hummed softly under her breath.

"Mayuri, please don't get so distressed..."

Still giving Retsu the evil eye he automatically brought his own hands to rest at Isane's waist, and drew her in closer. A deep-chested growl reverberated through the room as he saw Retsu's sickeningly sweet smile. It only wasn't until he felt Isane's head against his shoulder that he allowed himself to take control of his spiraling rage. Looking down at Isane he couldn't help but feel pleasantly satisfied and smug. She had never shown physical affection toward him while in the presence of another person.

"Well, if you don't want any tea I certainly do. Please stop by the office when you get a chance Lieutenant, and we can go over a list of plants for your new apartment." Turning around she serenely exited in the same manner that she arrived. The only difference was that as she walked through the plant house a light, tinkling laughter could be heard in her wake.

"How you can handle her as your Captain is beyond me," Mayuri said dryly. "She is insufferable."

Isane gave him a playful pinch on the arm.

In return Mayuri gave her a playful pinch on her backside, and one that caused a delicious squeak from her to follow. He grinned at her semi-enraged expression.

"When is your next evening off?"

Snuggling up closer Isane rubbed her face against his collar bone. "I will have my next evening off in three days."

Mayuri nodded. "Good. In that time I will procure you a bed and I will draw up the final contract to our experiment."

Isane leaned back, and looked at him with a suddenly wary expression. "Contract?"

"I meant protocol," he corrected smoothly. "One must have a protocol and a standard operating procedure firmly in place before any experiment can be successfully performed."

Isane narrowed her eyes at him. She knew better. She knew him better. "You said contract, and I have never known you to say anything that you never meant..."

He gave her an innocent look that fooled no one.

Mayuri hesitantly let her go, and picked up Ashisogi Jizo from its place against the chair that he had been sitting on. Placing the zanpakutou securely in its resting spot against himself he smiled, and ran a finger across her cheek. "As much as I would love to stay and canoodle with you I really must get going. I do have a division to run, and an experiment to set up. I also have to cleverly bamboozle Accounting into getting us an obscenely expensive bed. Luckily that won't be too hard. So, until then, my sweet?"

"Mayuri! Don't you dare!"

But her words were heard only by herself as Mayuri had long since flash-stepped away. Heaving a great sigh she went back to her work bench, and shaking her head the entire time. There was no controlling the man sometimes. Taking the next plant to be re-potted she started to formulate her own protocol and standard operating procedure in order to have something in place to counter his, and one that would be biased in his favor most likely.

There was no way that she was going to loose.

End A/N: Believe it or not donor limbs have been done- though it is still in the in-vitro stage, and with ducks only (that I know of). I've seen duck wings swapped (and from two different breeds), and when they hatch they have fully functional wings with one not being originally their own. Ah, science!