Chapter 5: Aizen's Queen
Tesla worked quietly at a cluttered desk in Kisuke's laboratory, entering data from several stacks of folders the shopkeeper had assigned to him. Kisuke moved between an experiment that seemed to involve several colorful and, if Tesla's sharper senses read right, dangerous compounds, and a smaller laptop that was hooked up to a huge computer storage bank. For the most part, the data that the Arrancar entered seemed tedious and dry, but as he worked his way through the files, he began to follow the pathway of the enigmatic shopkeeper's interests.
I wonder if Mr. Urahara understands just how much is given away about him in these experiments. I am sure he must.
He lifted another of the files and opened it, then found himself stymied at the fact he recognized the face of the smiling young man pictured in the file.
Aizen's queen.
He blinked and studied the image more closely, noting the large, gentle blue eyes, tumbled waves of black hair and pale skin. He remembered too, the crest of the Kuchiki family that marked the shoulder of the young man's navy colored uniform.
I heard he was close to the head of the Kuchiki family.
His heart skittered in his chest as he remembered.
Approaching footsteps made Szayel Aporro look up from where he leaned over Tesla's restrained form, drawing blood and reiatsu samples.
"Lord Aizen?" the scientist inquired, his eyes coming to rest on the unconscious body of a young man who rested in Aizen's arms, "Is there something you need?"
"Yes," the leader of the hollows said in a smooth, emotionless tone, "I want you to run complete tests on all of this man's systems. I warn you not to allow him to be harmed in any way."
Szayel nodded briefly.
"You can lay him down over there."
Tesla's head turned to watch as the unconscious shinigami was set on an examination table beside his and heavily restrained.
"What is your interest in this shinigami, my lord?" Szayel asked.
"I am curious about him," Aizen explained, "I met him once while at Kuchiki Manor and later learned that he is a descendant of one of the Breeder Males of noble legend."
"A Breeder Male?" Aporro repeated, his eyes flickering with deep interest, "I have heard of them, but I was sure I read that they were all destroyed after Central 46 deemed the practice of making them unnatural and unlawful."
"That is true," Aizen affirmed, "but Tetsuya is the descendant of a Breeder Male who seems to have developed the ability naturally. This was rumored, but I had never heard of there being documentation, because the practice of making Breeder Males is still outlawed and the fact of natural Breeder Males existing is not something the noble families want to advertise."
"Ah, I see. So, you want a full analysis?"
"Yes. You will find that Tetsuya's body has been seeded. I want you to document the development of any growing reiatsu in the spirit chamber in his body. You will need to keep him unconscious and heavily protected. No one is to know that he is here."
"Is everything okay there?" Kisuke asked suddenly, breaking Tesla out of his reverie.
"Um…"
The shopkeeper stood and approached the Arrancar, tilting his head slightly as he studied the image of the man in the file Tesla showed him. The expression on Kisuke's usually calm face shifted from curious to wary.
"You know him?" the shopkeeper asked, a tension coming into his voice, "Did you see him in Las Noches?"
"Yes," Tesla answered softly, "He was captured some months before the war, reconnoitering for the shinigamis."
"Yeah, that's about when he disappeared," Kisuke sighed, "He was shadowing his cousin, who is the head of the Kuchiki clan, and the group ran into trouble. Tetsuya used his powers to provide protection as the group evacuated, but…he never came back after. No one here knows what happened to him. Do you know what happened to him?"
Tesla took a little breath and nodded.
"Aizen's Queen," he said solemnly, earning a darkly curious look from Kisuke, "That is what they called the beautiful shinigami that our leader captured and imprisoned. Some thought that Orihime Inoue was Aizen's obsession, and it is true that he was possessed of understanding the girl's power. But his interest in his queen was different. He kept close protections around Tetsuya and forced him to submit to extensive testing in the hands of Szayel Aporro."
Kisuke's eyes closed for a moment and his face paled notably.
"Aizen learned he was a naturally born Breeder Male," the shopkeeper concluded.
"Yes."
Kisuke took a steadying breath.
"Is Tetsuya alive?"
Tesla studied the shopkeeper's still wary, but now slightly hopeful expression.
"He was when I last saw him," Tesla answered.
"In Aporro's lab?"
"Yes," Tesla said, nodding, "But you should not get your hopes up. I don't know what Aizen did to him, besides using him to make a child, but his queen never spoke, and his eyes looked dead."
"It sounds like Aizen used Kyoka Suigetsu to keep Tetsuya under his control," Kisuke concluded.
"I believe so."
Kisuke considered for a moment, then let out a frustrated breath.
"We went through Aporro's lab. It was destroyed and we found no sign of Tetsuya. There was nothing in the papers that we recovered and nothing in the computers that weren't already smashed."
"Aizen was clear that no one was to know he was there," Tesla repeated, "That meant Master Szayel gave all records directly to Lord Aizen and he kept no trace in the lab."
Kisuke frowned and shook his head in confusion.
"You say that Aizen didn't want anyone to know Tetsuya was there, but you know…"
"I was Aporro's assistant and sometimes his research subject," Tesla explained, "I was considered beneath notice. And Aporro warned me that if I opened my mouth, he would cut out my tongue and feed it to me through a tube."
"So, you kept quiet about what you saw?"
"Yes."
Tesla gave Kisuke a measured look.
"I don't know if you really want to know what they did to him," he reasoned, "You may be comforted to know that, aside from Aizen impregnating him and Aporro keeping close tabs on his gestation, no one touched him. I don't think Lord Aizen was in love with him. His interest in his queen seemed completely scientific."
"Bastard!" Kisuke hissed, slamming a hand down on the desk.
He worked for several moments, gathering himself.
"You are in love with Tetsuya?" Tesla asked softly.
Kisuke's teeth clenched.
"Yeah."
"He may still be alive," Tesla informed him, "You see, when Aizen was preparing to leave, he ordered Aporro to place his queen is stasis and provide a seal that no one but he could break."
Tesla found himself almost smiling at the look of determination that had come into the shopkeeper's eyes.
This is it.
This is what love looks like when it is real.
I wonder if this is what Grimmjow and I look like when we are together.
"Tesla, do you think you can help me find Tetsuya?" Kisuke asked.
Tesla's eyes closed and he felt an ache in his chest as he remembered Grimmjow's strong embrace.
Grimmjow is going to be really angry with me.
"Look, if you need a little incentive, I may be able to do something for you."
Tesla looked up at the shopkeeper curiously.
"I need to find Tetsuya and you need closure," Kisuke reasoned, "If you help me find Tetsuya, I'll help you try to find Nnoitra in Soul Society, so that you can…well, so that you can get closure, or whatever you need."
"I don't know if I want to find Nnoitra," Tesla answered honestly, "but you have already helped me, so I will help you. I will show you where the queen was kept."
"Thanks," Kisuke said in a relieved tone, "But I'm going to ask you for one thing more."
Tesla gave him a questioning look.
"Never call him Aizen's queen again," Kisuke said sadly, "His name is Tetsuya Kuchiki."
"Of course," Tesla replied, looking down at the picture of Tetsuya's smiling face again, "My apologies for being rude to you and to him. It's just that was how I was ordered to refer to him. Old habits are hard to let go."
"Yeah," Kisuke agreed, touching Tetsuya's pictured face with a gentle fingertip, "they are."
XXXXXXXXXX
Grimmjow turned his back to Las Noches, heading out, across the sand dunes, his mind as tired as his body as he mulled over the uselessness of the day's search.
I don't know what the hell's wrong with me. I know Tesla's gone and I know why. He may be knocked up with Nnoitra's spawn, and he thinks I'll hate him for it. I'll admit that I don't like the idea of bastards like Nnoitra having kids, but it's not the kid's fault his father is a bastard. Plenty of kids grow up to be better than their parents.
Tesla shouldn't worry about me hating him.
He thought back to their lovemaking, an aching warmth swelling in his chest and loins as he remembered how good it felt to sleep, wrapped around his lover's body.
After all this time, I admit I still crave his body. I love him. I love him so much that I stupidly let him go, because I didn't want to hurt him, taking him back from Nnoitra. Dumbest choice I ever made.
I wonder if he'll come back.
He walked slowly, enjoying the darkness around him and stealing glances at the starry sky and bright crescent moon.
After I let him have a piece of my mind, I'm going to bed with him. And we are never, ever getting out of that bed again. And if he wants kids, I'll give him that. I'll make Tesla so happy, he'll forget Nnoitra ever existed.
A little edge of doubt crept into his thoughts.
Except that if Tesla's having a kid and it is Nnoitra's, that's going to make that happily ever after a little awkward. Still, for a hollow to be trying to make a happily ever after is kind of stupid anyway. We're hollows. And we're hollows because when we were humans or shinigamis, we left unfinished business. We don't have hearts anymore…at least, not the kind that beat. The only way to get our hearts back is to succumb to a shinigami's blade, and we're not doing that. I guess this is what is for us, then.
Grimmjow blinked in surprise and came to a stop as he realized that someone was blocking his path.
"You," he growled softly, baring his teeth, "fucking scavengers!"
He sensed the others surrounding him and tensed, his finger and toenails lengthening and sharpening in reaction.
"You shouldn't be wandering around here with your guard down," the dark haired hollow facing him snarled, "I don't know if you've heard, but it's every hollow for himself around here."
"That why it takes a hundred of you little trolls to attack me?" Grimmjow scoffed, "Go ahead. I'll eat every damned one of you!"
"I doubt that very much," the other hollow laughed, "Not all of us. There's no way. I don't care that you used to be one of the monster, Aizen's Espadas. Our power is greater than yours."
"We'll see about that!" Grimmjow hissed, bursting forward and slashing at his adversary.
Instantly, the ones around him closed in, clawing and some of them firing ceros. Some struck other hollows, tossing them away, but several shocked Grimmjow's recently healed body, and he felt the tearing of his flesh as a number of attacks reached him.
Damn it!
What I wouldn't give to have my gran rey cero right now. It's insulting to be torn apart by these disgusting little vermin, but that's always a danger here.
He managed to throw off enough of the attacking hollows to get to his feet. More coursed in around him, trying to bring him down again, but Grimmjow's reiatsu flared, knocking enough of them aside to gain a step and turn.
I'm not running away from these little fucks!
Even knowing the others still had the advantage, he was loathe to run, so he gathered blue reiatsu around his clawed hands and charged at the horde of hollows, slashing wildly and killing a goodly number of them before crashing down onto the sand. Instantly, at least twenty of the hollows threw themselves down on him, tearing at his flesh and screaming insanely at the power they began to feed on.
"You wanna eat something, EAT THIS!" Grimmjow howled, loosing more of his reiatsu and making the hollows feeding on him swell grotesquely before their engorged bodies exploded, "You like that? Keep coming! There's more where that came from!"
He wasn't sure just what it was that seemed to snap inside him, but the power that erupted from his body was nearly white and completely uncontrolled.
Shit.
The white power bloomed outward, swallowing up the attacking horde and burning them away as they shrieked in surprise and horror. Grimmjow made a sound of pain, trying desperately to contain himself, but the hot, white reiatsu began to burn him too. Just as he began to panic, he heard a feminine sound of distress, then a sucking sound. He had a quick flash image of a female form, flanked by two other tensed forms and surrounded in light, then heat flashed over him again as the woman turned her head and forcefully expelled the power she had swallowed, completely obliterating several sand dunes in the process.
"F-fuck," he panted, grabbing at the sand as he looked dazedly up at Nel's adult form.
"Are you all right, Grimmjow?" Nel asked calmly.
"Do I fucking look all right to you?" Grimmjow snapped, "I'm shredded here, you idiot!"
Nel nodded briefly, then her power rose around her again, and she shifted to her younger, toddler self. Seeing this, Grimmjow backed away on hands and knees, raising a bleeding arm.
"Aw, no you don't! Don't, Nel!" he hissed, "AUGH!"
He made a sound of disgust as the toddler opened her mouth and expelled a blast of slimy saliva.
"Ugh! I told you no!" he gasped, choking on the mess and retching, "Fuck!"
"Nel is sorry, Grimmjow," the tot said sympathetically, "But Nel doesn't want Grimmjow to die."
Grimmjow glared at her and spat, then grudgingly accepted Pesche's hand, helping him to his feet.
"You were pretty much going to die, you know," Pesche teased him, "You should be nicer to Master Nel."
"She should find a better way to heal people!" Grimmjow complained, "Damn it! I'm covered in vomit!"
"It's not vomit. It's just saliva," Nel assured him, "And look, Grimmjow's hurts are getting better."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Grimmjow huffed irascibly, heading towards Nel's home, "Can I just go and take a shower now? I feel like crap. I smell like crap. All I want is to get this shit off of me!"
"You should really wait until it heals some more," Dondachakka advised him.
"I'm fine. Get away from me! I've had enough healing, thank you!"
"Well," Dondachakka mused as Grimmjow pushed past them, "at least he said thank you."
"I think he was being sarcastic," Pesche said, rolling his eyes, "You know, Master Nel, I don't know why you put up with that guy. He's rude and disgusting and mean to everyone."
"Nel thinks Grimmjow is mean to everyone because Grimmjow is afraid of people hurting Grimmjow."
"Huh?" Dondachakka said, scratching his head.
"If Grimmjow makes everyone go away, no one can hurt Grimmjow," Nel added, "but then Grimmjow is lonely. Nel thinks Grimmjow needs Tesla to come back."
"Yeah," said Pesche, "Good luck with that. With the way he acts, why would Tesla come back to him?"
Nel grinned.
"Tesla loves Grimmjow, and Grimmjow loves Tesla. Grimmjow and Tesla need to find each other. Nel wants to help."
"All right," Pesche sighed, giving her a tired, but affectionate smile, "If Master Nel wants to waste her time getting Tesla together with that brute, I guess we can help."
