Chapter: Connecting the Dots

Shalan's Say: OKAY! WOOO! Almost one hundred reviews! OMG That's amazing when usually I only get two or three… cries… I love you all! Thanks for sticking with me all the way through… Uhm… lessee… how many chapters are there left… just about… 10 or 15… maybe more… haven't fully decided…

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Her eyes fluttered open as she heard a cell phone ring. Her husband shifted and grumbled something about her getting it. She shook her head and buried her face back into his neck. He reached over and grabbed the cell phone off the charger, glancing at the caller ID. "Ishida…" He grumbled putting the cell phone on his ear.

"Hey Uryu! How are you doing on this fine morning?" Ichigo laughed and the other man grumbled something about Ichigo being an idiot. "I need you to do me a favor… think you can do that for me?"

"Depends… does it involve breaking your neck?" Uryu grumbled at him and the beautiful redhead in his arms kissed his collarbone, distracting him from what Ichigo was saying. "Stop that…" he swatted at her lightly and she smiled, biting tenderly.

"I don't know… but it might involve arresting someone…" Ichigo chuckled as he watched Rukia pace. They had been waiting for news from Kisuke for nearly a month now an there had been little contact.

"Hmmm?" Uryu opened an eye then swatted at his wife again, her lips were now travelling along his toned stomach and he grabbed her chin, pulling her head up from where she was inevitably heading to his lips, which was what she had wanted in the first place. "What…" he only got that word out before she kissed him again and he frowned, she was so possessive.

"I want to you arrest Byakuya Kuchiki…" Ichigo said nonchalantly. He blinked as he heard Uryu groan lightly from the other line and he chuckled. "Your wife bothering you Ishida?"

"Yes… go away…" he swatted at her again. Then turned his back to her. Which as so as he did it he knew it was a bad idea.

"So anyways… think you could do that? And who's Hitsugaya dating?" Ichigo stared as Rukia started pulling on her jacket. "Where are you going?" he whispered, covering up the mouthpiece. She kissed him and turned, disappearing through the door. He blinked but put the phone back to his ear.

"Dunno…" he said as he felt his wife's hands slide around his waist from behind and he shuddered lightly. She wasn't going to let him finish this conversation without giving him hell for waking her up. "Hey now… I'm not the one who called… Kurosa-sh…" he didn't finish his sentence as her hands graced his nether regions. He bit his bottom lip hard. "Her name's Momo… she works for some company… a secretary for a high class business… st-stop that…"

"Alright… thanks… anyways… if you can pick him up in a while…" Ichigo blinked as Rukia walked back into the small apartment they were in, locking the door behind her, a small paper bag in her hands. "Just take him into custody until Kisuke or I contact you… give your beautiful wife a kiss for me…" He chuckled and hung up the phone.

"What are you staring at?" She blinked over at him and he smiled.

"I'm just wondering what gave you the idea that you could just up and leave…" he cornered her against the wall and she grinned up at him.

"You were on the phone and I didn't want to bother you…" his lips met hers, his hands gripping her face.

"You should have… I would have gone with you…" he whispered. She had expected him to be raging mad. But as he lifted her up, allowing her to wrap her legs around his waist… she found she didn't care.

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Kisuke waltzed along the street humming some kind of song that he seemed to just be making up as he went.

The jack-of-all-trades was happy. He had found a good safe house… a better one than the one that they were in anyways. He hummed a little loud and swung around in a circle with a smile. He was so excited he could almost dance. He paused, taking another step as he heard footsteps behind him.

He knew that there were a ton of other people on the streets but… why was the hair standing up on the back of his neck? He smiled slightly and pushed his jacket back from his hips, sliding his hands onto the holsters on his hips. He felt like a cowboy in a movie. And he loved it.

The man behind him was following him, obviously and had been for some time. Kisuke knew this as well. But for some reason that didn't bother him. He just continued walking to where Rukia and Ichigo were hidden, knowing he was leading the man to them. Again, he didn't care, the other two would be out of there as soon as he got there anyways… besides… Ichigo could help him take the guy out.

But as he turned into the alleyway… he realized that waiting until he got to the apartment was not going to be an option…

The click of a safety being taken off resounded from behind him and Kisuke made no movements. "Put your hands on the top of your head…" he heard the cold voice from behind him. "Put your hands on your head and freeze." Kisuke knew that voice… he knew it all too well.

"Mayuri Kurotsuchi… It's been a while…" Kisuke placed his hands on top of his head. Kurotsuchi turned him around to face him and took the guns out of Kisuke's holsters, throwing them across the alleyway. His gun held under Urahara's neck.

"Shut your mouth. Tell me… where are they?" His gold eyes were menacing and Kisuke grinned.

"If you would have let me go I would have led you to them…" Kisuke retorted and looked away.

"Bastard," Kurotsuchi spat.

"Whatever happened to you? You used to be a respectable hitman… now you're working for people like Aizen?"

"Shut up Urahara, you have no right to tell me shit…"

"I taught you everything you know… I can tell you anything I want…" Kisuke grinned, leaning forward slightly. The gun raised to his face and he blinked.

"Tell me where they are…"

"I'm afraid I can't do that…" The hand holding the gun squeezed the trigger a little more. "Obviously you feel strongly about this…"

"I'll let you live if you tell me…" The blue haired man said coldly and Kisuke considered this.

"I always was better than you… wasn't I? "

"Didn't I tell you to shut your mouth?"

"Yes but… if you want me to tell you anything how can I keep my mouth shut AND tell you things?" Kisuke laughed. "I think I'll be going now…" Kisuke grinned and a foot swung out of nowhere and kicked the gun out of Mayuri's hand. He shifted and pulled out the other as Kisuke dove for his guns.

"Too bad for you… 'cause he brought back up…" The pretty raven-haired woman grinned and swung her leg up again, kicking Mayuri in the face as he pulled the trigger. It hit the wall beside her and he grabbed Kisuke by his jacket, pulling him around the corner. "Damn it Kisuke… why the hell do you get me involved with all this shit?"

"Thank you my love!" He grinned over at her. She frowned back and ran ahead of him.

"Where are they hidden again?"

"In an apartment north of here…" Kisuke replied as they dove down the subway stairs. "We can get on the next train and get there in about 15 minutes…"

"Next time… tell me before you act…" She sighed and sat down on the train next to him.

"I will…" He grinned and she wanted to slap him. "I usually do don't I?"

"Let's just get there as fast as we can…"

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Toshiro walked silently through the dark hallways of the police station. He looked over at Ichigo's desk and sighed lightly. His friend had gotten himself into a ton of trouble this time. He ran his hand across his own desk, thinking about how all this had begun. They had gone on a routine check for a homicide… it was then that Ichigo had found the first thing wrong with the scene. Everything was too perfect, the room had nothing wrong with it other than the dead body on the floor… there was something wrong with that. And to find that the victim's heart had been torn out… that was even worse.

The second time it had happened Ichigo had begun to obsess over the cases. He was almost always looking at pictures of the scenes and comparing them. He seemed like a mad man trying to figure out why he had become mad.

The third time had been the worst. Ichigo had been at the scene of the crime, he had been there not but ten minutes before… so he was arrested for it… and that drove him crazy. He had been put on house arrest… that was when he had met Rukia…

Rukia… Toshiro looked over at Ichigo's desk. Rukia seemed to be the connecting factor in all of this… but what was it? From what he knew of her she had been raped when she was a child then she went on to be a famous lawyer… then she had captured Ichigo's attention. But he had been paying attention to her before that…

Toshiro thought back… there had to be something about her that would make Ichigo investigate her… but what was it? He walked over to the file cabinet. She was the sister of the owner of Sony… she was beautiful… she was a lawyer… she was the connecting factor… but what was the connection? What was the connection?

What was the connection between Ichigo, these murders and Kuchiki? Why did he risk his life to save her? Why did he investigate her? Why… why? All these questions… and no answers…

Ichigo's time in the military… his involvement in special operations… his skills on the crime scene… his suspicion… his pledge never to shoot a gun again… "Who are you Ichigo Kurosaki?" He whispered as he turned on his computer.

Why was this case so important to him? Why was he so interested in Aizen? And why hadn't he told him about his outside source, that jack of all trades he was always talking about.

What was he planning? And what did he knew that Toshiro didn't know? Toshiro leaned back in his chair with a groan, he couldn't figure this out…

"Start at the beginning… and search the scene a hundred times…" He heard a familiar voice.

"What are you doing here?" Toshiro asked, not even looking to see who it was.

"I might have some answers for you on your detective…" Toshiro shifted his eyes to look at the other man.

"Like what?" Hitsugaya set his chair legs on the ground.

"You're going to have to ask nicely…" Jushiro Ukitake walked out of the shadows, a devil's grin on his face.

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Aizen stormed into his office, his secretary jumped up. "Sir, I have information, a report from Kurotsuchi…" The CEO swung around to stare at her.

"Hurry up! I don't have time…" He barked and she nodded.

"He's been injured by Kisuke and an unknown woman… he says that he's going to pursue them and report back as soon as he can…"

"Thank you… please don't bother me for the rest of the day… I have an extremely important meeting to attend."

"Yessir…" she said as his door slammed.

"What the hell is going on Ichimaru!" He shouted. "Why can't you locate them?"

"Sorry, he's avoiding us better than we thought… I didn't realize that he was this good. We searched his apartment and it was clean he hadn't been in it for weeks…"

"Did you check every listing in the city for housing and hotels?"

"I did sir, we didn't get any hits…" Gin replied and folded his arms. "They're better than we thought…"

"FUCK!" Aizen slammed his desk over. "I WANT HIM DEAD!" He shouted at the other man who stood in the corner. "You track down Kurosaki and kill him, and anyone that's with him… if my wife is there, bring her to me… unspoiled… otherwise kill anyone in your way…"

The man in the corner nodded, a twisted smile on his face. "Consider him dead…"

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XDDD That was another fun chapter… we should all celebrate when I hit one hundred… OMG It's so totally amazing I never thought I would ever hit one hundred reviews… OMG OMG OMG! It's beyond me I don't know why you all like this story so much but who cares?

I love you all!

Shalan