Drops of water could be heard falling onto the ground on the other side of the room. It was soft, almost inaudible, but Rukia had trained herself to hear even the slightest squeak. It kept her from being caught off guard. It gave her a chance to protect herself.

Why didn't they just KILL her already? Rukia was tired of the wait. She had been told her death was near, but that was almost 15 years ago.

"He really is a sadistic asshole..." she mumbled, but she had already known that. She knew Ichimaru Gin was that way since the moment she met him.

Looking to the side, her heart skipped a beat painfully as she looked at her rightarm. On it was a black jagged tattoo that wrapped around her upper portion.

"Renji..." she whispered, feeling tears tease her eyes. Even now, she couldn't believe her best friend was gone. When she was first told, she didn't believe it. She couldn't. She screamed and cried, lashing out at the soulless lacky that told her, and was quickly knocked out. When she next awoke, she was quiet for weeks, refusing to show any emotion, not caring if she lived or died after that.

The tattoo that she was able to put on by knocking out a doctor and stealing needles and black ink from another room before being captured and beaten, was a reminder, so that she would never forget her friend.

"Renji... I miss you so much..." she said softly, rubbing her wet eyes before tensing and jumping into a standing position. Gin was coming... and someone else. But who? The footsteps sounded vaguely familiar. Moving back against the wall, she braced herself for what was coming next.

Byakuya felt gut wrenching nostalgia as he followed after Gin, the winding staircase leading them lower into the prison. He'd almost forgotten the smell - vomit, blood, and feces - but the stench settled into his nostrals like an old friend.

He knew when they got close to Rukia's cell; her reiatsu had always had a particular vibrancy. It was soft, like Hisana's, at first, but behind that was a feel of steel, cold and unrelenting. He reached out for it with his own, relishing the way it wrapped around him like a blanket, warm yet cautious.

Gin never spared him a look through all of this, and he surprisingly felt grateful. He wanted this moment so badly, his body ached - all the torture, all the loneliness and agony, it would be worth it if he could just embrace Rukia one more time.

Stopping in front of the cell and without turning around, Gin said, "Remember what I told ya. If you do anything stupid, I'll kill her right in front of you." Even as he was saying it, Gin felt nauseated. He seriously hated his job during times like these...

Byakuya gave a stiff nod and turned toward the door that Gin had just opened.

It was dark as pitch, but he could see her still, her pale, ghostly face hovering in the blackness like a figment. He felt his knees buckle slightly and steadied himself against the entryway, his voice breaking as he whispered her name.

"Rukia..."

Rukia felt her heart stop when she heard that familiar voice. No... it couldn't be... "Nii...san?" she whispered, it coming out as a whimper. "Is it really...?"

"Yes. I'm really," he swallowed, the usual lofty demeanor he exuded around her failing. After all he'd endured, his emotions could no longer remain detached. He motioned for her desperately.

"Come here, please, come..."

Without realizing it, Rukia felt her legs take off, running to her brother and feeling her legs collapsing underneath her, her hands grabbing his kimono. "Niisan!" she sobbed, all the emotions she had held back since Renji's death flooding her like a dam had broken. She buried her face in the front of his kimono, soaking it. "Niisan, you're really here..."

Behind Byakuya, Gin stood there, his eyes adverted. Even when faced with the Hydokyu, her very life on the line, she never showed tears such as she was now.

Byakuya folded her into his arms, his face finding its way into the crook of her small neck. He breathed her in, her skin a warm milky scent that flooded his senses.

He knew he was probably giving those bastards exactly what they wanted - even more to hang over his head, now that they knew just what effect she had on him - but he'd been denied the comfort of a familiar, caring face for so long he didn't care. Not now, not when he finally had Rukia back with him.

Rukia allowed herself to cry herself out, having needing it for years. "Niisan... I thought you were dead..." she whispered, sniffling softly. "Like... like Renji is..."

"How do you know about that?" he asked, pulling away from her slightly. The hands that had wrapped themselves around her shoulders fell and gripped her elbows gently.

"One... of Aizen's men told me..." Rukia's eyes filled with tears again. "He told me everything. About Renji... About Orihime... About Ichi-" A sob escaped, unable to say his name. Her fingers tightened in Byakuya's robe.

Gin eye twitched slightly. If only she knew...

"Don't." Byakuya's grip went suddenly vice-like. "Don't talk about him. He is no longer your friend."

Rukia's face became confused. "What... what do you mean Niisan? He... he's dead, isn't he?" Then it dawned on her and her face came alive slightly. "It's HIM isn't it?"

"Let's not speak of it." he whispered and turned toward Gin.

"How long is the duration of this visit?" he asked.

Before Gin could reply, Rukia yanked Byakuya so he would look at her. "NO! You tell me!" Her eyes were angry and full of need. "I need to know Niisan... PLEASE! Ichigo... we... he was..."

Rukia swallowed hard. How could she even put into words what Ichigo was to her? He had been everything. Her best friend. The person she knew she could always turn to.

She... she loved him...

The force behind her words surprised him, as did the emotion that clouded her face. He knew what the boy had meant to her, truly, but he would not lead her down this path. She needed to cut her ties with him, and even if this happy moment ended with anger, it was a chance he was willing to take. He would protect her, this time even from herself.

"Niisan... Byakuya... PLEASE..." Rukia begged, tugging at his robes.

Just then Gin stepped in, pulling Byakuya away. "Well! Time's up! Let's go!" he said cheerfully as he pulled Byakuya out of the cell and shut the door.

"NIISAN!" Rukia was able to cry out before the door slammed closed.

"Bastard!" Byakuya hissed, jerking away from Gin's grip.

The lingering sensation of his fingers burned into the man's skin.

Gin just shrugged. "Did you want to be the one to tell her that Shirozaki is in control of Kurosaki's body and is now working for Aizen?"

Byakuya's glare intensified. "May I say goodbye, at least?"

"And let her think I'm being NICE?" Gin said loudly for Rukia's benefit before he stepped closer and said softly, "If you go back in there right now while she's like that, she won't let you out until you tell her what happened to him.

The dark haired man made an angry noise in the back of his throat. "Why do you care?"

"Don't let my generosity go to your head," Gin snapped, irritated at both the man and himself. "If you want, I can throw you back in there and let you tell her what really happened to Kurosaki."

"I've never allowed myself to consider this," Byakuya motioned between himself and Gin, "as any sort of generosity on your part."

"Good. I don't want you to think I've become soft or anything towards you." Gin stepped aside slightly, waving a hand out where his room was located. "After you."

"I'm not leaving Rukia alone."

I don't trust you.

"Then you have one choice. To go with what I told you earlier. If you do, I will have her AND you moved to your own quarters. If not, you both die." Gin looked at him again. "Now, what's it going to be?"

Damn you Aizen for making me do this...

The look Byakuya leveled at the man standing before him was one of pure hate; he recalled their (one-sided, Gin had done most of the talking) conversation prior to leaving his quarters, and felt his heart sink to the bottom of his chest. He couldn't allow Rukia to die, not now, but was he willing to stain his hands with his former comrades' blood?

He knew he could do it, seal off the part of himself that had feebly hoped for their victory, had dreamed of their rescue. But he knew now that he was alone in this battle - that they were as beaten down as he was. The only person left he had to depend on was himself.

I've sinned before, I'll sin again. He anguished, and nodded stiffly.

"I agree." he said.