Rukia sat beside the bed where Ichigo still lay unconscious. Without Inoue, there was no way to accelerate the healing beside what the kido could do. But what the kido could not heal was what she was afraid of. What even Orihime's healing couldn't fix. His breathing was steady, and the wounds had been sealed enough that the danger was passed. But he was still asleep. It had been two days already and there was no indication that he was going to wake up. She heard a noise and looked up. Renji stood with Uryū and Chad in the doorway.

"You're alive!" she exclaimed in shock, leaping up to hug her red headed friend.

She looked at Uryū and Chad, both bandaged here and there. Neither one of them seemed terribly injured and she was very glad of that. The three looked weary, and obviously tired. She hadn't even heard that they were on their way back.

"Orihime?" she asked, looking hopefully between them.

Renji nodded. "She's here; Unohana-taichou is looking her over now."

She frowned. "What happened? You didn't defeat them all, did you?"

Renji shook his head. "I don't know what happened. After we were separated from you two, we ended up breaking through the walls of the place. It was a maze and eventually we ended up at a doorway, when we opened it, Orihime was there. We managed to retrace our steps and took off into the sands. This morning a garganta opened and Urahara called us back. He said Ichigo had been injured and was here, but he didn't say how badly. Considering he was here and not in Hueco Mundo, we figured it had to be pretty serious."

Rukia glanced over at him and bit her lip. "Bad."

"Can Orihime help him?" Uryū said, stepping up to look him over and adjusting his glasses on his nose. He was still bandaged, and there were scars where the bandages didn't cover. "He doesn't look in danger of dying; the fourth did a good job…"

Rukia reached out and brushed a hand through Ichigo's hair. "I don't think anyone can heal this," she whispered. "I'm not sure I'm going to be okay. His wounds are sealed. I just…I just…oh I don't know what to do. I'm just sick over everything," she said quietly, tears already welling in her eyes again. Tears had been a common thing since this all began.

Renji exchanged looks with the others. This was more serious than Ichigo just being injured. "Rukia, what happened?"

Rukia couldn't stop the tears from running down her face. "I couldn't do anything! I couldn't stop it, and even after it all, he wanted to protect me. I couldn't even look away, they…they made me watch…and…" She turned, sobbing into Renji's chest.

"Kuchiki-san," a soft voice whispered and they saw Urahara standing behind them. "Do not blame yourself. This was a tactical effort. Orihime-san was the bait; Kurosaki-san was the intended target."

Inoue had come up behind him as he spoke. "What? Urahara-san, they…they let me go? What happened to Kurosaki-kun?"

She rushed into the room and looked him over, calling out her flowers to check him over. "Why won't he wake up?" she whispered. "He should be awake. His wounds are healed…"

Rukia nodded. "He's been like that since we got back. No matter what we try, he just won't wake up. I don't think he wants to wake up."

Renji snorted. "Well that's ridiculous, Rukia. I'm sure he wants to go beat the shit out of whoever beat him up so bad, he'll wake up."

Rukia stared at him. "I don't think he will, Renji. I don't know; I don't know if he'll ever fight again even if he does wake up. Something tells me he won't be able to wield a Zanpakutō the same again after this."

Urahara put a hand on Renji's shoulder. "Abarai-san, you all come with me, and I'll explain the situation. It is a little more complex, and I think Rukia should stay here. She's been through enough without having to relive this part again."

Rukia resumed her silent vigil in the chair beside the bed. Renji chewed his bottom lip for a moment then patted her on the back before following Urahara.

Urahara led them to a private office, sitting down as the others sat around the small, round table. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, removing his hat, something that none present had ever seen him do. They realized how entirely serious that made the situation.

"Urahara-san, why isn't Kurosaki-kun awake?" Inoue asked softly. "I saw his wounds, which were terrible and he almost died, but still…"

"Trauma does that sometimes. Most likely he can't deal with it yet. We'll just have to wait until he can," the older Shinigami said softly.

Renji frowned. "Trauma? He's had it worse when Zaraki-taichou and I fought him. Hell, Zaraki-taichou nearly skewered him. Well he did but somehow he didn't bleed to death."

Urahara leaned back, eyes rolling skyward. "If it were just physical wounds that would be the case, but after what happened…"

Uryū adjusted his glasses. "I don't understand? What happened?"

Urahara shook his head. "You know it is hard to say what I'm about to say out loud. To even think this could happen, especially at Aizen's command, makes me sick, to be honest. And I hurt so much for Rukia. According to what she said when they returned, hey fought a lot of hollows after they were separated from you, for over an hour she said, and they were both becoming exhausted by that point. Then they were met by Grimmjow and the pale green eyed one, Ulquiorra I believe. She was restrained by him as Ichigo fought Grimmjow. She said Ichigo was faring well until he went into resurrection form. Grimmjow drove both Rukia's sword and Ichigo's sword through his shoulders once he overpowered him. She said Grimmjow claimed Aizen told him that he was supposed to break him as a message to soul society. And he did just that."

It took a moment for the implication to sink in to Renji's head. "What, you mean that bastard actually…while he made Rukia watch?" The absolute horror on his face was undeniable. Such things just were not done, not even when things were the most horrible between people, these things…

Urahara nodded. "It was brutal. He was nearly dead when she got here with him, if Kira and Shuuhei hadn't been nearby... He'd lost so much blood, and was so torn up it took Kira to stop the internal bleeding before he could move him. Unohana-taichou said she'd never seen anything like it. These things do not often happen here; even in the worst districts of the Rukongai, this sort of thing…it is taboo."

Inoue looked around, seeing the crestfallen expression of all three men. She frowned, not entirely understanding what they were talking about. "I don't understand…" she said softly. "What caused it?"

Uryū put a gentle hand on her shoulder and sighed, closing his eyes to say the words that none of the others could bring themselves to say. "Orihime, Grimmjow didn't just fight him, he brutally raped him."

Inoue blinked and tears suddenly rose to her large eyes suddenly. "What? What? How could he do something to him? And he used me to get him there!" she said, her breath hitching, just a fraction away from full hyperventilation. Uryū pulled her into an embrace. It was instinctive, and the first time he'd ever done such a thing to her. But she needed it, and to be honest, so did he.

Renji was staring at his clenched fists with barely restrained fury behind his eyes. It was unthinkable. Things like this…they did not happen. Not like this. Tears threatened. Ichigo was so vibrant, so determined…and yet…there this was.

Urahara sighed and nodded. "When he wakes up, he's going to need all of you. But don't expect him to want you near him. I honestly cannot tell how he will deal with this. Ichigo's strong, but I'm not sure anyone is truly strong enough for this. To be overpowered by an enemy is bad enough, but to be completely defiled like this, all as an act of getting to us, here, to show us what he is capable of…I cannot imagine what he will feel like."

There was a flutter of activity and one of the newer fourth division members ducked his head into the room. "Kurosaki-san has woken up, but I wouldn't recommend all of you go in at once. He's…a bit…ah…" he paused looking for the right words. "Easily overwhelmed," he settled on, walking away.

Urahara nodded. "I'll go in first and see if Rukia will leave his side."

He stepped into the room a second later, finding Rukia sitting still, hands folded in her lap, staring at them. Ichigo lay on his back on the bed but had turned his head away and was staring intently at the wall. Rukia stood up, looking at him with wet eyes, and sighed to Urahara as she left quietly.

"Ichigo?" Urahara said softly.

He turned his head to him and blinked slowly, silent and still. "Hey, Ishida-kun, Sado-kun and Abarai-kun are here too, would you like to see them?"

Ichigo turned back for a second then shifted, turning over to his side with his back to him. Urahara frowned. He reached out and touched his shoulder, only to have him violently flinch away from it without looking at him still. Urahara stepped back and nodded quietly. He left the room to where the others waited.

"Has he said anything?" he asked Rukia.

She shook her head. "No, he woke up, and I stood up and hugged him, and he shoved me backward, and looked at me with such wide eyes, and he looked so scared, Urahara-san, I…I've never known him to be scared like that. Then he just settled back down and stared for a while. I asked how he felt and he just looked at me. I called the fourth personnel and he practically took his head off when he tried to touch him."

He looked at the others. "Maybe one of you will have better luck. You know him better," he said softly.

Renji went in to find him laying with his back to the doorway still. He moved forward, grabbing his shoulder and he flinched violently away from him and turned to look at him, scowling. He did not want Renji there now. Renji was strong, and Renji wouldn't have let something like this happen to him. He would have fought off Grimmjow. He wouldn't be laying here ashamed of himself like Ichigo was. No, he couldn't face Renji now.

"Ichigo, man, hey, we just want to make sure you're okay, you know. I mean, I know you aren't but…well…"

He shook his head once and turned back to the wall. Renji walked back out and shook his head at the others. He looked to Chad. "Chad, you've known him longest, I think, maybe you could try?"

Chad went into the room, and Ichigo turned as he entered, looking for a moment then shook his head silently, turning away. Chad too would have saved himself. No, he was not able to face Chad, one of his oldest friends, the one who always had his back. Chad came out and shook his head.

"What are we going to do?" Rukia said softly. "If he won't even talk to us?"

Urahara swallowed. "I don't think going home would be good right now. So, we should let him stay here. Do you want to stay for a while before going back home and see if he'll respond to you? I'm afraid he may have chosen to shut down on himself after this. We can't let him."

"Inoue, you should go in and let him know you're safe," Renji said quietly and she nodded, wiping her tears. She'd been given some fresh, non Arrancar, style clothes to wear.

She entered, staring at his back. "Kurosaki-kun?" she said softly. He turned to stare at her and sighed softly, nodding before he turned away.

"Kurosaki-kun, please can you talk to me?" she begged him, tears welling in her eyes.

He looked back to her and shook his head, turned away again. She swallowed hard and moved toward him, putting her hand onto his shoulder only to have him jerk away from her and turn to her with a scowl. She pulled her hand away and left, waiting until she was outside to let her tears fall. He was happy she was safe, no thanks to him. Renji and the others had rescued her. While he was in the middle of his own personal hell. That was good, though. That meant that going there hadn't been completely for nothing except his own pain.

"He-he looked like he was glad I was here, but he jerked away from me…and wouldn't talk…" she said, gasping through her tears. Rukia put her arm around her and led her away, consoling her the best she could considering her own mental state.

Ishida sighed and shook his head. Maybe something less gentle would help shake him out of his funk. He knew that it was risky, but he was going to give it a shot. Rukia said he'd lashed out.

"Kurosaki, move your ass, we got work to do, you know," he said, standing with his hands on his hips in the doorway. He didn't move. "Kurosaki, get up, your wounds are healed, lazy bastard," he said. Again, no response. He stalked over and reached out and yanked him by his shoulder over. He locked eyes with the brown ones for a moment before he was flying backward with a reiatsu laced punch to the face.

Urahara stepped in and pulled him away. "So, tough love is a no go," Ishida muttered, massaging his bleeding nose. A golden shield appeared and Ishida nodded thankfully to Inoue.

Renji frowned. "Okay, so he is going to be violent if we push him. Considering the power he packs, that probably isn't a good idea. So how are we going to get him to come out of this funk?"

Unohana came out then. "I think we're dealing with a psychological issue. My guess is selective mutism has been triggered by the event."

Renji frowned. "What the hell is selective mutism?"

"It means, Abarai-san, he can talk, he just has chosen to stop," Urahara said softly.

Ishida frowned. "So, he could start talking anytime he wants? So, what's stopping him?"

Unohana sighed. "It is complex. It is a reaction to the event, part of the brain just decides it isn't going to deal with it, and the best way is to simply lack the ability to speak anymore. Then no one can make him talk about it. Working with victims of this type of…trauma is not my specialty. It isn't exactly common here."

They looked up to see Ichigo had come out into the hallway and was staring at them frowning. He shook his head, and pulled the robe around himself and appeared to be looking for something. Unohana watched him, and he pushed on the door to the bathroom and went in. Of course, many visits to squad four meant he knew where he was going.

"I suppose he wanted to wash up? I bet after sleeping two days he feels grimy," Rukia said softly. She left unspoken the other reason she thought he wanted to wash. She'd spent several hours in the shower herself trying to wash away the thoughts and memories from her own mind.

They spoke some more after Unohana left. But as they waited Ichigo wasn't coming out. He'd been in there well over half an hour already. Urahara looked at the boys. "He's been in there an awful long time, Renji, you want to go check on him?"

Renji nodded. First the overwhelming heat surprised him. And then the muttering he could hear from the other side of the screen made his stomach flip.

"Wash it away," the whispered sounds. "Dirty. Must get rid of it all. Get him off me…stink of him. So cold…want to be warm again."

The smell though, he could smell something familiar on the air. It had a tang of metal…blood? He frowned, hearing scrubbing, but hard scrubbing. He pulled the screen aside and yelled.

"Ichigo, stop that!" he grabbed a towel and yanked him up out of the water by grabbing under his arms, his eyes locked on him as he dropped a bloody scrubbing brush. Renji's eyes blinked though as he noticed the purple colored six carved in his lower abdomen. He toweled him off and grabbed a yukata and put him in it.

Ichigo didn't resist, having been caught at what he was doing. He flinched at Renji's touch every time, but he just stared at the ground instead. Renji steered him from the bathroom, feeling his hands burn from the temperature of the water. Ichigo just stared off as he was ushered back into his room. Renji pulled the yukata that was stained red off him and stared, looking up as Unohana came into the room followed by Rukia. He looked unbothered by the fact that he had completely scrubbed himself raw and bleeding over half his body and the rest was nearly scalded from the heat of the water he'd been in. In fact, it appeared there was more than one blister rising on his skin. Renji knew just from the brief contact with the water that his hands hurt.

Unohana waved them out of the room, and pulled the curtain closed, setting to work bandaging and healing the seeping wounds. Ichigo just watched as she dressed them, his eyes hollow and far away. She sighed and looked up at him, locking eyes.

"Ichigo, tell me what I can do?" she said softly when she was finished.

He shrugged, grabbed his covers and curled up facing the wall again. She exited to see the anxious group waiting for her. "It's common, the washing like this. Feeling dirty, worthless. You'll need to watch him after I release him from here. Any idea where he'll be staying?"

The others shook their head, not really sure. "Well, he's going to need someone with him. I'd like to believe that he won't suffer the more extreme symptoms, but the strength of a person has nothing to do with how hard they are affected, and sometimes I think the stronger people are affected worse."

"What could we be looking at?" Renji asked quietly.

Unohana sighed. "Rape trauma syndrome is what it is called, a collection of possible symptoms. The physical wounds are obvious. The rest… Obsessive washing is one of them, very common one, actually. Feelings of worthlessness, suicidal thoughts and actions, anxiety, jumpiness, there are a host of other things. I'll give you a sheet with the whole list to look out for, and some ideas on how to deal with them. It is a type of post-traumatic stress disorder. And it can be devastating."

Renji and Rukia exchanged glances. "You think Kuchiki-taichou will let him stay with you guys? Or should I try to put him in one of the barracks?" the red head asked softly.

Rukia looked thoughtful. "Not anywhere near squad eleven, he doesn't need Zaraki-taichou spoiling for a fight right now… I'll talk to Nii-sama and see what he thinks, but I can't imagine him denying it."

Renji stood at the front and waited for her to return and looked up to see Shuuhei and Kira walking toward him. He waved at the pair as they got closer. "Hey guys, how are you two doing?"

"Busy, but we came by to see how Kurosaki was doing?" Shuuhei said, and Kira nodded beside him.

Renji shook his head. "I wish I could say he was doing great. But that's not the case. He's been healed up, of course, but now he won't talk. Unohana-taichou said it was selective mutism or something. He can talk he just won't."

Shuuhei frowned. "Wow, that doesn't sound like him at all…"

"Nah, I know you two haven't been around him much, but he's one cocky, determined bastard. And now…ugh. We're not supposed to leave him alone, and at first I thought it was rather stupid, that he'd bounce back, but man…" He ran a hand over his forehead. "He was in the bath for a long time and I went to figure out what was up, and I swear, he scrubbed half his skin off while he was in there. And he'd even had the water so hot he had a few places he scalded himself. Muttering to himself, first I'd heard him talk, about cleaning himself."

"That's messed up," Shuuhei said.

Kira nodded. "So that is what happened, huh?"

Renji let out a long slow sigh. "Yeah. And Rukia is just distraught herself. I can't imagine being forced to watch as someone you're friends with gets…ugh, fuckin' Aizen. Cruel bastard."

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

"Everything went as planned?" Aizen said as Grimmjow and Ulquiorra entered his throne room, as the Arrancar had dubbed it.

Grimmjow nodded. "Yeah, everything has worked out. The Quincy, Shinigami, and human took the woman back to Soul Society this morning. By now they should have heard about your 'gift'. I'm sure that they're quite distraught after what you did to their precious substitute Shinigami."

Aizen grinned. "Me? But I just gave the order, Sexta."

Grimmjow nodded. "Yeah, whatever. What'd you pick me for that anyway?"

"Oh, Sexta, I've seen that yearning on your face when you talked about the substitute Shinigami. The want was written all over you. You wanted to fuck him from the day you set eyes on him," Aizen said, rolling his eyes.

"I guess," Grimmjow said. "I prefer long term fuck toys."

Aizen grinned. "Ah, well, if all goes to plan, you'll get to fuck him as often as you like. Remember, this is just the first stage of the plan. Remember, we need to find out exactly what it takes to activate that hollow. Your little assault should do something. I need to see if the hollow can exert complete control or not."

"I still don't get how having me fuck him does that," Grimmjow said, scratching his ear thoughtfully with on pinky.

Aizen sighed. "Physical trauma isn't intense enough, Grimmjow. Only the complete and utter degradation of his spirit would put him in the position to let go enough for the hollow to be in control. You see, what is the most humiliating thing for a strong, young man like Kurosaki? Why to be violated by his greatest enemy, or you. I saw your little fight before. The rage on his face was apparently. And of course, the intelligence I received of his being of the preference for males helped cement the issue. A pretty boy like him? Of course, he'd be on the receiving end. Now, do you understand? There is no greater defeat than to be completely and absolutely defeated at the hands of the enemy in every way."

Grimmjow shrugged. "I guess, I mean, you think way too much about this stuff, Aizen-sama. Whatever works for you, I guess. Now what?"

Aizen smiled. "We wait. When the time is right, when he's the most vulnerable, assuming of course, he is even capable of yielding control completely to the hollow, we will bring him back and I will extract the hollow and use it. It would be a shame to allow that perfectly good hollow soul that I put so much effort into waste away in that idiot. No, I want the hollow, not the Shinigami."

"You will remove the hollow?" Ulquiorra asked, speaking up on the subject for the first time.

"Of course, not. I'll remove or obliterate the human and Shinigami from him, if I can. If not, I'll simply destroy him altogether rather than have the unknown he represents threaten me," Aizen said with a smirk.