I believe this is the longest chapter I've ever written! I worked very hard to build the tension without dragging the battle out too much. Hope I was successful! Please read the note at the bottom.

Enjoy!

Chapter 37

Yachiru was watching the activity below when she saw Nemu take out what looked like a switch of some sort. She fearfully saw a cloud of pink mist envelope the yard below and everyone fall down. 'What's she doing!?' She could still feel their reiatsu so she knew they were only unconscious. Yachiru carefully climbed down, once the cloud dispersed, glad that it disappeared so quickly, and began grimly following the group who were taking the children, leaving a trail that even Zaraki could follow.

Retsu Unohana sighed tiredly when she received the message from the Sotaicho. She gathered a small squad and headed for the Kurosaki/Abarai household all the while wondering why there was always something brewing around the Seireitei. She could never get caught up on her paperwork! When they arrived, there was a deathly silence surrounding the property and she drew her zanpakuto as they cautiously approached.

When they saw the disaster area in the backyard, she quickly dispatched her squad to check on the fallen; confirming that several of the children, including her own, were missing before hurrying to Ichigo's side first. Unohana breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that he was only unconscious and was beginning to come around with a groan.

"Ichigo, can you hear me?" she asked the groggy fukutaicho. He nodded and looked at her blearily before suddenly snapping to and sitting up, grabbing his head when he was almost overcome by a wave of dizziness.

"Where's Nemu?" he asked with another groan as he tried not to throw up.

"I don't know. She wasn't here when we arrived," Unohana replied quietly, wishing she could shake him into telling her what was going on, where her children had gone.

Ichigo tried to stand and almost fell down again as she quickly wrapped an arm around him to hold him up. Unohana knew he was trying to shake off the effects of whatever drug had been used on him.

"She's the one who's been after the kids," he rasped. "She had a group of hollows with her." He shook his head to clear it. He quickly looked around, taking inventory of who was left. "They only took the former Arrancar? She said something...about taking them to a lab!"

He tried to walk and would have fallen, but the healer firmly held him up and in place. "You need to get over the drug you were knocked out with first, Kurosaki-fukutaicho. Are you certain you heard her right?" she asked doubtfully. What she was hearing didn't jibe with what she knew of the younger woman.

He knew it didn't make sense, but he also knew what he'd seen and heard. Ichigo looked at the taicho and firmly reiterated, "Nemu is the one who wanted the children...for some kind of experiment." Then his eyes widened. "My girls!" he yelled as he stumbled toward the house.

Kurotsuchi joined the other four taichos as they shunpoed back to Ichigo's home. "You're trying to tell me that Nemu has been after the children?" he asked for the third time. "That idiot hasn't got the brain power to do such a thing!" The other four men didn't even bother replying; they needed to get back ASAP.

They rounded the last corner and stopped dead as they saw all the activity at Ichigo and Renji's house. When they stormed through the open front door, Ichigo was just coming out of the nursery with his two wailing daughters. Fortunately Nemu had only been interested in the former Arrancar and had left everyone else alone.

Shunsui quickly went through to the backyard and saw the Fourth's healers helping the victims of the attack. As Retsu walked up to him, he asked, "How many are missing?"

"It looks like only our children were taken. Everyone else is still here," she answered calmly but with her eyes flashing dangerously.

"Nemu's gone too?" he asked, wanting to confirm his suspicions.

"She wasn't here when I arrived," Retsu admitted. "I can't believe..." she trailed off when she saw the Sotaicho's expression.

"She sent us on a wild goose chase in order to have fewer protectors here," he said flatly.

"Fat lot of fucking good we did too," Renji growled as he quickly approached the couple.

"No one knew what she was up to," Byakuya reassured the younger man. "None of us even suspected that she might pull this stunt."

"We need to find her," Ichigo spoke up after he handed his daughters to their grandmother.

All of the officers present were frantic to find their missing children...internally. However they knew that hysterics would do nothing to help bring them safely back home, so they put their feelings aside and acted the way they had been trained. As soldiers.

"I can't hone in on her reiatsu," Jushiro said quietly.

"You ain't gonna need to," Kenpachi said with a small grin. "Yachiru was here and followed them. She left us a trail."

Before anyone could ask for clarification, he pointed. As their eyes followed his finger, they landed on a tree off to the side of the property. One branch was broken and attached to it was a cutesy Goth skull and crossbones hair-clip.

Yachiru cautiously crept up on Nemu's hiding place, staying under cover of the trees that surrounded it. She'd been careful to stay far enough back so that no one would sense her presence and so far her luck had held. They were too focused on getting away with their captives. As she looked over the door-covered cave entrance, she spread her senses and couldn't detect anyone standing guard.

The girl nodded to herself once she was satisfied that it had been left unguarded and slowly made her way to the door; carefully opening it and sliding inside. There was no one guarding the entrance inside either. She shook her head, 'Do they think they're so well hidden that they don't need a guard?' Then an evil smile bloomed on her face. 'Boy are they in for a shock!' she thought gleefully as she carefully made her way down the staircase to the cavern below.

Thankfully it was dark enough in the passage and a bit gloomy in the room so no one noticed her. Yachiru got a good look inside and her eyes widened when she saw Grimmjow trussed up like a Christmas goose off to one side. His sword was nearby but too far away for him to reach it without being noticed. She quickly counted the hollows in the room: there were ten Adjuchas and about forty-five regular hollows milling about but she didn't see Nemu or her friends anywhere among them.

Her face grew serious as she formulated a plan. She had to get Grimmjow loose and get his sword to him. She also needed to find the kids, and she needed to do all this without any of the hollows seeing or sensing her. Grimmjow was placed with his back against a stack of crates in a darkened area of the room. If she could just sneak up to him, she could hide behind them and loosen his bonds. Maybe...

Kyouraku was leading the squad of officers, following the path that Yachiru had made. They halted beside a high wall. "This is the Second Division barracks," he said with a frown. "Why were we led here?"

Zaraki shook his head and pointed to the top of the wall where a hair tie dangled. "Don't know, but they went inside," he answered. "That's Yachiru's."

"But why would they be hiding here?" Jushiro asked. Mayuri sighed; they'd tried to keep him away but he'd insisted on coming. He refused to believe that Nemu had ignored his orders and was trying to experiment on the children. He couldn't understand why she'd do such a thing and he was going to see for himself if his daughter had turned on the Gotei.

"You forget, the Maggot's Nest is on these grounds," he said snidely. "It would be a perfect hiding spot for a group of hollows and traitors."

Shunsui nodded in agreement and turned to Unohana. "Go inform Soi Fon and send her to the Maggot's Nest, keep Nemu's name out of it for now, just tell her that we found where the hollows have been hiding. Then gather your healers and meet us there. I have a feeling we'll need medical attention once this is over."

She didn't like that, she wanted to get her children out now; however, she knew he was right so she just nodded and took off. He turned to the rest of his officers.

"Let's go, complete silence from this point on," he said as he turned to Kenpachi and Ichigo, "and for god's sake keep your reiatsu lowered!"

Yachiru safely made it inside and behind the boxes with no one being the wiser. At first she wondered why, but it became apparent once she was in place. The collars everyone was wearing not only muffled the hollow's reiatsu, but kept them from sensing much. She was relieved that the devices were working in her favor.

Grimmjow was frantic. He didn't know where Nemu had gone and no one had found them yet. He didn't want to dwell on what she'd meant by 'research.' He'd seen the unconscious children taken to another part of the compound and was furiously trying to figure out how to get loose when he felt small hands on his wrists.

The blue haired Arrancar started and heard a soft "Shh," come from behind him. "Don't give me away," Yachiru whispered as she began to untie him, thankful that Kido hadn't been used to restrain him. "Where are they?" she asked.

He tilted his head toward the doorway across the room from the entrance. "Down the stairs," he whispered, not moving his lips.

He felt his restraints give way as he heard the girl again while his collar was loosened. "Reinforcements are coming. Wait until they reveal themselves and then strike. I'm going after the kids." Grimmjow nodded slightly, letting her know he'd heard. There was a soft scraping sound and then she said, "Your sword is near your left hand, good luck."

He sneered; these bastards had no idea the world of hurt he was about to deliver for his, and the children's, capture.

Yachiru made it down to the lower level with no one the wiser. She rolled her eyes at their arrogance but knew it was a good thing the traitor was so sure of herself. She didn't see Nemu but she did locate the children locked in one of the cells and saw Koyoute already strapped to an examination table nearby.

She quickly moved over to the table and when she saw he was pretending to be unconscious, she whispered, "Help is on the way. I'm getting you free." She left the shackles on his wrists alone and began to pick the locks that attached the chains to the table. "Wait until you have the best chance to run, and then get out of here, we'll be right behind you." She saw him nod imperceptibly and moved over to the cell in order to pick that lock; not for the first time thankful that she was so small. The children were awake and she held up a hand to keep them quiet.

"Shh, don't let anyone know I'm here," she whispered fiercely. The kids nodded as one and watched in fascination as she used a hair pin to pick the lock. She refused to dwell on the irony that it had been Nemu who'd taught her how to do it. They all heard footsteps drawing closer. She nodded to the children with her finger to her lips and hid. The kids tried to act normally and it wasn't hard. They were all afraid, they didn't have to pretend.

"Now it's time to begin," Nemu said to the children with a beatific smile. They all saw the madness in her eyes before she moved over to the table with her back to them. There was a small squad of three higher level hollows with her. None knew what kind they were but they all realized the hollows were terrifyingly strong. Then everyone heard what sounded like an explosion.

Once the men made certain there was no one watching the entrance, Shunsui gestured his intent. They were going to carefully enter and then spread out to take the inhabitants by surprise. It had been decided that Kurotsuchi would guard the entrance to take out any hollows that got past the others; his zanpakuto could cover a wider area, plus no one wanted to be exposed to it's poison in an enclosed space.

The plan didn't quite go as intended when Zaraki strode to the door and kicked it open with a loud bang that sounded quite like an explosion before he whooped out a war cry and ran ahead, his zanpakuto out and ready. Renji and Ichigo were close on his heels with Byakuya following as they ran down the stairs.

Jushiro looked at his fuming partner with a small smirk. "Well, it will still take them by surprise," he commiserated as they began to shunpo down to join the battle they could hear ahead of them.

When Grimmjow heard the door banging open and Zaraki's voice, he sprang up pulling off his collar and grabbing his zanpakuto as he went before he began taking out the hollows near him. Renji and Ichigo darted through the now fighting bodies toward him. "Where?" Ichigo yelled as he cut down the hollows in his way.

Grimmjow gestured toward the door that led down to the rest of the compound. "Down the stairs! I'll cover ya!" The other two men didn't need to hear anything more and ran for the stairs.

As the noise over their heads grew louder, Yachiru darted out and managed to bowl over one of the Adjuchas and Nemu as she called, "Come on guys!" Koyoute jumped off the table and the children ran out of the cell, adding to the general confusion.

Nemu was yelling, "Don't let them get away!" to her henchmen as they hurriedly untangled themselves but the kids were both small and fast. Koyoute grabbed Yuki and Hachi by the scruffs of their necks and took off for the exit behind the rest of the group with them under his arms. He felt himself grabbed from behind and kicked out, noticing Ichigo and Renji reaching the bottom of the staircase at that moment.

Relief flooded their faces as they saw the children all, more or less, unharmed and Ichigo took on the powerful hollow that had grabbed Koyoute, yelling at him to get everyone one out safely.

"Those are your orders Koy, don't let us down!" was the last thing the oldest of the bunch heard as he ran up the stairs after the others. He wanted to turn and watch the battle, but even more so he didn't want to disappoint the orange haired shinigami he had grown to respect.

By the time the kids reached the main area, it had been turned into a war zone. Grimmjow was nearest them, laughing maniacally while cutting down any of the enemy that got too close. Kyouraku and Ukitake were fighting back-to-back near the entrance to this hell-hole with their shikai drawn. Both Kuchiki and Zaraki were wailing on their opponents. Byakuya had called forth his bankai but Kenpachi was still using his sealed sword and doing just as much damage as his lover. They had been separated, with Kenpachi surrounded in the middle of the room and Byakuya the farthest away on the opposite side from the rest of them.

Koyoute and Yachiru began moving past the flying bodies, with the rest following their lead as they headed for the exit. When they finally made it to the stairs leading upwards, Yachiru looked back at her fathers and smiled. They were magnificent and she knew she'd keep that image with her forever. She wasn't needed down here anymore, so she ran after the rest of her charges.

Once Grimmjow saw the number of hollows diminishing in the main room, he headed downstairs to see if he could help Ichigo and Renji. He had a feeling that they'd need him to help take down the unhinged shinigami. He'd noticed the children escaping and breathed a sigh of relief at that. Even though he hadn't liked many of them when they'd been Arrancar, he seriously didn't want to lose any of them...again.

His two allies had finally dispatched the hollows that had been protecting Nemu and were trying to find a way around her defenses. Both had released their bankai and were squaring off against her. They weren't doing very well from what Grimmjow could see. It looked like Renji had some broken ribs and one of his arms hung limply by his side with blood flowing down his fingers. Ichigo wasn't much better with a slash over one eye and his right leg was messed up. Nemu was firing off Kido blasts and one of her hands had been turned into a drill of some sort which she was using to attack the two men.

He shook his head and readied Pantera when he saw Ichigo fall, his bad leg having given out on him when Nemu landed a powerful kick to his knee. When she moved in for the kill, the blue haired Arrancar lunged between them, taking the drill straight to his chest. 'Damn!' He quickly grabbed the woman, wrapping his arms around her in a mockery of an embrace and turned to face Ichigo, shouting, "Take her out...fucking now, Shinigami!"

Ichigo stood and hesitated, his hand up to his forehead in order to pull his mask down. He had seen Nemu's drill hand sticking out of Grimmjow's back before he'd turned to yell at him and knew exactly what that meant. His frenemy, no friend, was a dead man no matter what. "Hurry up, Shinigami! I can't hold her forever!" he yelled impatiently before he met Ichigo's eyes steadily. "Make it count, Ichigo."

The younger man shook off his funk and with a sad look, pulled on his mask, as he yelled, "Getsuga Tensho!"

The fighters upstairs felt the rush of energy from below as it shook the room. Unfortunately it came at a bad time and Byakuya lost his footing, hitting his head against some debris on the way down. Kenpachi turned just in time to see one of the remaining Adjuchas lunge at his unmoving lover and without thought bellowed, "Bankai!"

The children made it outside to the waiting healers just as they felt Ichigo's blast under their feet. Yachiru was tackled by Hei and Ryuu, both of the boys laughing in relief that it was all over. Unohana was on her knees hugging all four of her children tightly, for once forgetting about her job in her joy over the boys being safe. Soi Fon and her squad were helping Kurotsuchi dispatch the few hollows that had escaped from below.

"Where's Nemu?" the crazy scientist screamed at everyone. Koyoute pointed inside.

"She was fighting," he began but the man rushed inside before he could say anything else. No one else even noticed because that was when the cave began to collapse as another, bigger blast made its way outward.

The remaining shinigami were knocked down by the blast; the last of the hollows just evaporated. Zaraki caught one of the cross beams that supported the large room across his shoulders and somehow managed to keep the entire chamber from crashing down around them. He looked over at the Sotaicho and bellowed, "Get outta here! And take Kuchiki with ya!"

Shunsui nodded, grabbed Byakuya in a fireman's hold and dashed up the stairs after Jushiro. As soon as they cleared the room, Kenpachi saw Renji awkwardly carrying Ichigo over his good shoulder and watched as they slowly made their way through the shifting debris towards the stairs. He was just about to let the beam go when he saw Mayuri racing toward him.

"Oi! Where're ya goin'?" he shouted, halting the other man for a moment.

"Nemu! I'm going to find my daughter!" Mayuri screamed. The two men's eyes met, for once without rancor.

"She's dead by now and I can't hold this up much longer," Zaraki warned, not without compassion.

"Then don't," Kurotsuchi said as he turned back toward the stairs and ran down them still calling for the young woman he had created.

Yachiru sat up, still hugging her brothers. "I feel...funny," she said as she began to shimmer. Both Ryuu and Hei grabbed her as everyone else looked on. She had a peaceful expression as she looked at the two boys. "I think it's time for me to go," she said rather unnecessarily. "I'll never forget you guys."

The surviving men rushed out of the cave just in time to see her shimmer one more time and disappear, with her brothers crying for her not to leave them and trying to keep a hold of her. The only two men who might have known what was going on were both unconscious and everyone else was frantically trying to revive them and dealing with the devastation.

The area the cave had been built into slowly began to collapse and the healers hurried to move everyone out of the way. There was no time to wonder about Yachiru's disappearance. As the earth settled once more the door to the cave slammed open and Kenpachi fell through it, looking like he'd been through a meat grinder; his clothing torn and skin bloodied.

Unohana hurried over to him and managed to drag him over to his sons who were quietly crying and trying to be brave. As she set about healing him, he looked up at Ryuu and croaked, "Yachiru?"

The older of the two boys forced back his tears and manged to choke out, "Gone."

Zaraki sighed and closed his eyes against the truth for a moment then he groaned as he cracked them open once more and asked, "Are ya both alright?" The two boys nodded in unison while they watched their father being healed. He turned to Unohana. "Kuchiki?" he asked.

"He's being healed as we speak," she quickly answered. "He'll be fine, now shut up and let me work!"

"Thank the gods for that," he muttered before he passed out.

A/N: Don't wash your hands of me now! There's one more full chapter and an epilogue coming. I know I killed off some characters that many of you enjoy, but it was necessary to set things the way I wanted them in the sequel.

I should have the next chapter up this weekend! ^^