Black Winged Angel

by Spunky0ne

Returned to Muken after the quincy war, Aizen Sousuke steeps in his anger that the lies surrounding the soul king have only multiplied with a dead body secretly being placed upon the throne. But in the darkness, someone approaches...yaoi, mpreg...Aizen/Gin/Tetsuya, Renji/Byakuya...some Kisuke/Ichigo, Shunsui/Ukitake

Black Winged Angel

By Spunky0ne

(The foxes, Cherry and Tsuku are the creation of TheDrunkenWerewolf, and her vision of Aizen and Gin inspired my take on those character in this story, although they are slightly different. Love you, Wolfie. Hope this one makes you smile. Love , Spunky)

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Returned to Muken after the quincy war, Aizen Sousuke steeps in his anger that the lies surrounding the soul king have only multiplied with a dead body secretly being placed upon the throne. But unconnected to the cycle of living and dying, he has little to fear and only a pile of regrets to consider. As he sits, rotting in the lowest level of the shinigami prison, someone approaches…yaoi, mpreg…Aizen/Gin/Tetsuya, Renji/Byakuya with sides of Kisuke/Ichigo and Shunsui/Ukitake

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Chapter 1: That Corner of Hell

Monsters, the vile betrayer of Soul Society thought as he sat, bound to the white chair that the insane taicho of the twelfth division had created to hold in his otherwise frighteningly powerful reiatsu, They call me a traitor, a liar, a demon, but at the same time, they are the ones lying to everyone and betraying us all. When I was younger and I first caught wind of their deceptions, of their insidious manipulations, I tried to tell myself that if they were taking such action, it must be desperate action because the king had been injured and it was the only way.

I don't like to think about ever being so naïve.

I learned the hard way that playing by the rules was never going to work. If I wanted justice to return to the three worlds, I had to build the strength in me that they tried first to control and manipulate, then to steal and then to kill…and I must bring Central 46, the noble families and the Gotei 13 to their knees. Unfortunately, I failed to be the power that could secure victory. Even then, I thought that if there was a power great enough to defeat me, then the burden of taking action didn't have to be mine. In truth, I didn't want to be the most powerful. I only found that I was stronger than everyone I knew, and that it brought me only danger, betrayal and loneliness. And even in my failure, when Ichigo gained the power to make me weak enough for Kisuke to capture, he gave up his own powers completely after.

I was…disappointed.

If I couldn't be king, I wanted there to be someone more powerful than me who could do that. Imagine my torment at realizing that I had failed, but was still the strongest. I was careful to hide the torment that brought to me. I was callous and belligerent with my captors, but inside I regretted that my fusion with the hogyoku meant that I could not die. Death would have been a relief.

But I could not die.

I sit here in the darkness and I wonder whose desire the hogyoku will serve next. It may be fused with me, but it has its own 'soul' and agenda. Could it already be responding to someone else? Or…is there simply no way to reach the heavens and bring down all of the lies, now that I have failed?

The prisoner was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of soft footsteps. His bindings left him unable to move or see anything, but he could hear when his captors came at times to question him, or when some of the guards would slip in to insult him and attack him from a distance, so that he was unable to retaliate. The bindings restricted him, but for dastardly reasons, they left him completely vulnerable to that kind of harm. And the worst part wasn't the initial sting, but the fact that the bindings interfered with his body's regeneration. He still regenerated, but slowly and that left him in agony, sometimes for days. He didn't hate them, however. To them, he was a monster, the stuff of nightmares. He would absolutely kill them if he could. He didn't blame the cowards for being so repulsed and terrified of him.

I am a monster too, made so by the weight of my powers and my knowledge of the treachery of the nobles. If I am a traitor, then they are worse for replacing their king when he fell, with their injured enemy and using him to keep control.

He thought back to the recent was, when the false king he hated was slain…ironically, by Ichigo's hand. But instead of seating a new king, the bastard nobles, he knew, had only taken Ywach's dead body and imprisoned it on the throne. Their treachery continued, and even though those like Ichigo and Urahara Kisuke, Byakuya, Yoruichi, Shunsui and Juushiro could have tried to object, they chose not to fight.

Why?

They are all such heroes, such talented people who could fight, but they have chosen not to take on this battle. Maybe they think the cost will be too high. I don't know, but they are lucky that I was incapacitated long enough to be recaptured. I would be out there causing them all kinds of trouble if I wasn't stuck in here.

The footsteps came closer, and he could hear that it was a lone person approaching. Curious, he used his reiatsu to speak to the intruder.

"What is this? Who are you? I am never approached by anyone alone. You are taking an awful chance by being here. What do you want?"

The person in front of him was silent for several long moments before taking a breath and answering him.

"Since the end of the war with the quincies," said a youthful male voice, "I have been seeing your face in my dreams, Aizen Sousuke. I have…sensed something that compelled me to come to you."

"Is that right, stranger? How very odd."

"I could find no easy way to approach you."

"And yet, here you are."

"I…was beginning to obtain a divine power before, but the use of it caused me pain, a period of unconsciousness for seven to ten days after using it, and the complete loss of my powers for a month."

"It makes sense that such power would be dangerous in its infant form," Aizen acknowledged, "Have you had assistance in training this power?"

"Yes," the young man answered, "Someone has been helping me to train in my inner world, and by the end of the quincy conflict, I was able to use the form for three to five minutes without the damage it wrought before."

Aizen felt a powerful twinge of curiosity.

"Will you let me see you?" he asked, "You are using this form to approach me?"

"Yes, and I have but two minutes left. I will show you."

Aizen's heart pounded fitfully and he barely held his composure as the bonds were suddenly released from his eyes. He blinked and stared, catching his breath at the spectacle in front of him. The young man stood in the form of a tall, black Pegasus, wearing sapphire armor and in possession of the same colored horn on his forehead. His reiatsu radiated almost violently around him, and he met Aizen's gaze with no sign of fear. He gave the prisoner one minute to observe him, then he replaced the bindings over Aizen's eyes.

"That is fascinating!" Aizen said raptly, feeling the power of the other man fade as he returned to shinigami form, "But you will not tell me who you are?"

"I…do not know exactly who or what I am," the young man admitted, "My…my mentor warned me not to reveal this power to anyone but him and one other tasked with helping me to control this power. I am vulnerable while this power is growing."

"Yet, here you are, standing in front of the vilest traitor of Soul Society with no fear in your eyes and no concern of this power being sensed by someone?"

"Hmm," the young man mused, "you of all people know that a divine power radiates at a level that will only be sensed by an equal. You can sense it because you carry divine power in your body. Others cannot sense it."

"Yes, I do know this, but…you are not in your divine form now. Could you not be sensed?" Aizen asked.

"I have an innate ability that is useful in preventing that, or I would not be here."

"Of course. But you will not describe your power to me? Not even your shikai or bankai? You have both, correct?"

"Yes. And no, I will not yet describe them to you. There is something we must do first."

"I see, and what is that?"

The young man hesitated, and Aizen felt a little sliver of his fear seep through.

"I must prove to you that I have something of interest to you."

"Oh, but you have," Aizen chuckled, "You think showing me that form was not enough?"

"You still doubt my story about how I came to be here. I need to reassure you that this meeting is no accident. There are forces beyond the two of us and even beyond fate that are at work here. Unless I convince you to trust me now, we will fail, and I am going to die at your hands."

Aizen's smile grew under his bonds.

"You know this, and yet you have the courage to come and stand before me?" he asked, "I admit, you have me very, very curious. So, how do you plan to inspire my trust?"

"I will use what powers I have to give you a single gift. I warn you, I will not free you, nor will I help you to free yourself. Think about this and capture the very first instinct that comes to mind. You don't have to say it aloud. In fact, don't. I already know from the content of my dreams."

"Hmm," Aizen mused, "very well. I have captured a thought."

The young man began moving forward in slow, shaky steps.

"I must enter your inner world to do this."

"Is that right? That's so dangerous for you. I could kill you in an eyeblink."

"Yes."

Aizen made a little sound of surprise.

He gives me no warning, no plea not to attack him?

Intrigued, he held himself perfectly still as the young man reached him and paused, then he removed a small bit of the binding, just enough to make physical contact. Aizen felt the touch of the man's reiatsu and frowned.

"What is it?" the stranger asked, "Are you surprised?"

"I confess, I am. You…are a natural healer?"

"I am. I have learned of necessity to use my powers for battle as well, but my zanpakuto is a healing spirit. We only fight when there is no choice and we only kill when there is no other option."

"I would ask if you are here to grant me death," Aizen breathed softly, "but that wasn't what came into my mind first."

"No, it was not. Now, if you will allow me to enter your inner world."

"I will see you there, you know," Aizen warned him.

"I am aware. Please allow me to enter now."

"Of course."

Aizen retreated into his inner world, relaxing slightly as its comforting familiarity settled in.

I do come here to remind myself what freedom feels like. They weren't able to take this one thing away from me. Here, my powers roam free, and I can conjure whatever I desire.

He smiled as he walked barefoot across damp grass, to a small rise that overlooked a tranquil blue pond. He sat down to wait, smiling as a familiar image appeared on the water in front of him.

"You back again, Sousuke?" Gin asked, looking up at him, "You know I ain't nothing but an illusion. You killed me and you can't take it back. And why would you want to, anyway? I tried to kill you."

Aizen started to answer, but was distracted by the arrival of the young man. He rose and turned, studying the man's delicate looking body, his wavy black shoulder-length hair and wide sapphire eyes. Those eyes looked into his with almost frightening calm, and for a moment, he considered attacking. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Gin's image had disappeared from the surface of the water.

"Well, hello stranger," he greeted the young man, "I was hoping that seeing you would make me remember you. Do we know each other?"

"We know of each other."

"Will you tell me your name?"

"No. I will only show you my power."

The young man walked to the top of the rise and knelt, then he extended a pale hand over the water and blue light filled his eyes and wrapped around the extended hand, spilling into the water.

"What is that? What are you doing?" Aizen demanded, summoning his blade to hand.

"Do you want me to stop?" the young man asked, "I will if you want me to."

Aizen considered, then shook his head.

"Continue."

The blue-eyed man nodded.

"There is a presence here. It is just a very small bit of reiatsu, but it was inside your body at the time of Ichimaru Gin's death, and…you have never let go of it."

"I begin to see where this is going."

"Good. Then, you know that I can do what first leapt into your mind. I can bring him back from just this bit of reiatsu."

"That is well beyond the ability of most healers," Aizen pointed out, "Even Orihime would have trouble with something like that, because the reiatsu is chaotic, as it has not been reunited with the rest of Gin, and it has been growing unstable."

"I can stabilize it, and I can revive him."

"With all of his memories? With his true personality? This is not a copy."

"It is not a copy," the young man promised, "It will be him."

Aizen watched wordlessly as the small bit of reiatsu rose up, out of the water and set itself in the blue-eyed man's hand. He set the bit on the grass and closed his eyes as he invoked his power. All sound seemed to stop as the ghostly outline of Gin began to form.

That bit of reiatsu is the small amount that Gin used to poison me with when he tried to kill me. Yet, I never really blamed him for that. I provoked Gin on purpose by stealing and keeping that bit of Rangiku's soul. I needed him to be a threat to me to help me evolve.

I didn't anticipate falling in love with him. No, that was something I thought was a mistake. I suppose it was, because it did make it harder to kill him, in the end. This young man…

Aizen watched breathlessly as Gin's form became snow white for a moment, then began to resolve into shinigami form. His body quaked and began to collapse immediately, only to be captured in Aizen's arms as he fell.

"Gin."

The ice blue eyes opened and fixed on him, blinking as his former comrade began to come to his senses.

"Sousuke?" Gin whispered dizzily, "Didn't you kill me?"

"I did," Aizen confessed, "Then after, I had regrets about doing so."

"So you…?"

"Not me," Aizen said, moving slightly so that Gin could see the man behind him.

Gin's blue eyes rounded and his mouth dropped open.

"You know him?" Aizen asked.

Gin gave the young man a questioning look and received an encouraging nod in reply.

"Yeah," Gin answered, "I know him. Kuchiki Tetsuya, Byakuya's personal bodyguard and healer."

"This is Kuchiki Tetsuya?" Aizen mused, looking more closely, "And you knew this and never told me? How many times did I complain that I sensed him around Byakuya, but could not ever spot him? You knew all along?"

"Uh-huh," Gin affirmed, "It wasn't like you weren't keeping secrets from me too, right?"

"That is true."

"I didn't tell you, because I knew that you would kill him, and I didn't want Tetsuya to die."

"And why is that?" Aizen asked, his tone darkening, "Who is this man to you, Gin? Were you friends? Lovers? Were you working with Tetsuya to kill me?"

"I wasn't working with him and we ain't lovers," Gin explained, "I just…knew him and I didn't want him to die. That's all."

"Another friend, like Rangiku?" Aizen asked, his tone becoming more amused.

"Something like that," Gin answered, sitting up and taking Tetsuya's hand as Tetsuya knelt beside him, "Tetsuya-san, did you take care of Cherry and Tsuku like I asked?"

Tetsuya nodded.

"They are safe and well," he replied quietly.

"Thank you."

Aizen looked from Gin to Tetsuya and back again.

"The two of you knew each other and you didn't tell me. So, if he knew what you were planning, then Byakuya knew too?"

"Yes," Tetsuya affirmed, "and we had a plan to try to save Gin, but Byakuya-sama was trapped in Hueco Mundo, and the attack on our home kept me from reaching Gin in time. I grieved at losing my friend, and I did wish there was a way to bring him back. This was all in the back of my mind while we were fighting for our lives against the quincies. After, I was with the group that found you unconscious. I was assigned to heal your wounds before you were moved, and as I did, I felt the hogyoku reaching out to me. After that, the dreams came…dreams of me coming to you, of healing Gin, and of you giving something to Gin."

"He what?" Gin asked, looking up at Aizen, "Sousuke?"

Aizen surrendered an honest smile and touched his fingertips to the place the hogyoku rested. The three men felt a little flicker of power and a small bit of light rose out of the orb and floated slowly away. Gin make a guttural sob and tears formed in the corners of his eyes.

"You're giving it back? Just like that?" he asked shakily, "Why? I tried to kill you for it."

"And I did kill you," Aizen explained, "I took my revenge and I just don't need that bit of her soul, because I don't need you plotting to kill me. I failed to defeat Ichigo, so I will not renew my plans to become king. I want something different, and I suppose now I hope that can happen."

He slipped his arms around Gin and offered a long, slow kiss, which, after a frozen moment, Gin returned.

"I am sorry," Aizen apologized, "I did not enjoy manipulating you. It was necessary, and I was honest with you in the end about why. I promise you, from now on I will not hurt you anymore."

"I don't really wanna hurt you either. I wouldn't have if you would just have given it back. But…she's okay now."

"Yes," Aizen agreed, turning his attention to Tetsuya, "But now, we should probably ask what happens next. Tetsuya, what is your intention? You said that you would not break me out of Muken?"

"I won't," Tetsuya confirmed, "I won't have to. Gin and I are going to the Kuchiki archive. I don't know exactly what will happen next, just that Byakuya and I will have to protect him. I will come to you and protect you while we search for answers. I will need access to the hogyoku."

"Very well, then," Aizen agreed, "I will allow it. But you should go now. You are not in your divine form and you should only use it when necessary. Go now. I will be fine here."

Gin gave him a worried look.

"You say you'll be fine in prison like that? Tetsuya, isn't there something you can do now? Can't you leave a waterform?"

Tetsuya shook his head.

"A waterform wouldn't hold up under the force of those bonds, any more than one of his illusions will. I promise you, Byakuya-sama and I will find a way. I brought you back and you got back the piece of Rangiku's soul, right?"

"Right," Gin sighed, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck, "I just ain't used to being able to trust people."

"You know you can trust me. I will not fail you."

"Go now," Aizen advised them, "I sense there is someone coming."

He remained in his inner world, watching as Tetsuya took Gin's hand again and the two quickly faded away.