I am grateful to my beta for catching my inconsistencies big and small and keeping me straight on the important details. :)
"What do you - " The words died in her throat when she saw the base Commander standing there with a man she did not know. She stared up at the man who must be at least seven feet tall with a scar down the left side of his face and an eye patch over his right eye. Apparently whatever had left that scar had taken his eye as well. She swallowed convulsively as the hard faced man glared down at her threateningly. Her eyes moved to his collar to see his rank, and she choked on the lump in her throat. The dual stars on each side of his neck marked him as being a Major General. What the hell was a high ranking General doing on her doorstep? Before she was able to ask, she could hear her noisy family falling in behind her to see who was at the door.
The Commander, a one star General, nervously stepped forward, pulling off his hat as he bowed respectfully to Nami and Grimmjow who was now a Colonel. He apologized for making an unannounced call to the home for military business.
"General Muguruma, what is going on here?" she inquired apprehensively as the man avoided looking her in the eye.
"This is Major General Zaraki. He just arrived on very important business. We need you to come with us. There's something you have to see," he informed them as he continued to shift with uneasiness which was highly uncharacteristic of him.
Nami stepped aside, taking her daughter who was still soaking wet and wrapped in a towel. She gathered the boys to her who thankfully had grabbed a towel before coming downstairs to see who was at the door. Yusei boldly stood in front of her while Hisoka shyly peeked from behind her.
"Hana!" Kensei yelled, making the children flinch from the sudden rise in volume of his voice.
"Yes, sir!" the obedient young man exclaimed, saluting the General who was his direct boss. He had become the assistant to the General thanks to Grimmjow's recommendation. Standing at attention, he awaited his next order.
"Nami," the Commander said in a much softer, kinder tone of voice as he turned his gaze to her. "We need you to come as well. This involves you too."
"Me? But how?" She felt Hisoka clutching her skirt as Yusei moved back against her and held out his arms protectively. The boy's pride and protectiveness knew no bounds or good sense.
"Hana, you stay with the children," he commanded the young man, noting that there was not even a hint of aversion in his eyes or his facial expression. Grimmjow had been correct about the boy becoming a great soldier.
"Yes, sir," he responded like a true soldier. He was actually quite fond of the family and had spent an extensive amount of time with them during the last five years whether it be for dinner or family outings on Satudays. He idolized the blue haired man he had first known as a tough drill sergeant who was the man he hated with every fiber of his being.
"Will you be okay?" she asked him while handing over Mitsu.
"Of course. You've let me babysit them before. I don't know what's going on Nami, but it must be some serious stuff. Like super top secret, disavow kind of stuff. Be careful," he warned her, seeing the fear flash through her eyes. He had not meant to frighten her even further.
"Nami, let's go," Grimmjow called, holding out his hand for her. He pulled her against him, leaning down close to her ear. "Stay close to me."
This was not helping calm her fears one bit and only served to feed them which made them grow. They were taken to the old lab that had been shut down. Grimmjow and Nami both tried not to vomit from sheer disgust due to the disconcerting memories this place brought back to them. He held her tightly against his side with one strong arm as they were led down the hallway to what had been turned into a morgue. When the doors opened, they saw Kisuke standing at the silver autopsy table over the huge lump covered by a sheet. It was about the length of a grown person but the irregular bumps jutting out at odd angles across the top and sides made it unidentifiable as human.
"Wha-what is this? Why am I here? How could this possibly pertain to me?" Nami asked, her voice rising sharply in fear.
"Honey, please," Grimmjow whispered, holding her head gently when she turned her face into his chest and latched onto handfuls of the coarse material of his uniform shirt. "Does she really have to be here for this?"
"Kisuke," Zaraki spoke, nodding his head at the scientist who had lost his professionalism.
Kisuke was horror struck to see Nami in the room. His face was more pale than usual and he looked absolutely ill at this moment. Swallowing hard, he grabbed the sheet over the body and prepared to pull it back.
"Can't she just leave for - " He began talking to be cut off by the booming voice of the Major General.
"Now, Urahara!" the terrifying man ordered impatiently.
Kisuke dutifully pulled back the sheet, watching Nami as she slowly turned her face to look at the creature lying dead on the metal table. He was afraid they would involve her when he had first seen this...thing. After all, she had intimate working knowledge of what could be deemed unusual creatures considering her work at the lab with him both off and on the base. Then there was her husband and what had happened to her. Still not over the shock himself of there being another experimental half man half beast, his mind was glutted with questions. Where did it come from? Were there more? Who was doing this? And why?
Nami stared at the being that was only remotely recognizable as something possibly human. It had pure white skin and a skinny, bony body that was covered in thick black fur from the waist down and partially on the arms. The hair was long and the deepest black color. She could just see the edges of what looked like black wings covered with leathery skin folded under his back; wings like a bat. Gazing at the face, her eyes studied the black marks that seemed to leak down his cheeks from his eyes. She thought he looked like he was in his late teens or early twenties.
"Are you sure he's dead?" she questioned them, swearing she saw the frail chest rise to take a shallow inhale.
"Yes of course. Why?" the Major General indignantly demanded.
Nami screamed when the eyes opened to reveal huge orbs of an unusual and radiant golden color set in black sclera. She shrieked again when the wings unfolded with an audible "whoosh" sound, knocking the stunned Kisuke against the wall.
"Dammit! It's not dead!" Zaraki bellowed pulling out his Ruger that was strapped to his side beneath his coat.
"Thanks, General Obvious!" Grimmjow yelled angrily risking insubordination due to his overflowing anger because they had idiotically put his wife in danger.
"NO!" Nami screeched, jumping for the gun and pushing the Major General's hands toward the ceiling.
They all ducked as if their arms would protect them from the bullet that ricocheted off the metal objects it came into contact with.
"What the hell are you doing?" Zaraki bellowed angrily, lunging for the woman who had made him miss his shot. He was caught off guard when he came face to face with a snarling man with extra long and threatening looking teeth bared at him.
"Back off, Zaraki, that's my wife," Grimmjow growled in a seemingly inhuman voice.
"I don't think he's harmful. He's just frightened," she told them, waving them to put their guns away that they had trained on the beast that stood on top of the table with his wings spread as if he were about to take flight. She tentatively stepped toward him, hearing his sharp clawed toes making a tapping sound on the table as he turned to look around him as if assessing his possibilities for escape.
"Don't be stupid, woman." Zaraki immediately shut his mouth when a menacing growl erupted from the feral man standing in front of him. He was sure he had more to fear from the beast in front of him than the one standing on the table searching for an escape route. "Can you call off your dog?"
"He's a cat," she corrected, moving closer to the frightened creature who was keeping his eyes on her. She backed away a step when he flapped his wings as a warning not to come any further.
"What do you want? Who are you people?" he asked in a soft yet strong voice.
"They're just frightened. They've never seen anything like you," Nami said, taking a cautious step in his direction.
"And you're not afraid?" he challenged, jumping down to the floor to land soundlessly on his clawed, furry feet directly in front of her.
Nami had steeled herself so she would not flinch. She held his intense gaze as he reached forward with his hand to touch her with his talon like black nails.
"No. I'm not," she responded finally when his furry palm pressed to her cheek. His hand was surprisingly warm and the fur was soft against her skin. Why had she expected him to be cold and coarse? She did know bats are warm blooded mammals, but he was supposedly dead so maybe that was why she had expected him to feel cold. It could also be the sickly white pallor of his skin that had caused her to make that assumption. He seemed so thin and emaciated yet he had been powerful enough to throw Kisuke against the wall with enough force to lose consciousness with one flap of those wings.
"But why?" he asked, seizing her by the arms and holding her. His eyes seemed to be attempting to penetrate her face as he stared at her searchingly. "Why aren't you afraid?"
Nami gasped when she felt something moving around her waist. Looking down she saw it was a black tail with a tuft of fur on the end; it was attached to him. She wanted to scream and struggle as he tightened the prehensile appendage around her and pulled her close to him. He was barely taller than her but he still had an imposing presence with his wide wing span and emotionless yellow eyes.
"Because you're not the first unexplainable creature I've seen," she returned, waving Grimmjow to come to her.
"Who is he?" he queried, experimentally pulling her into his arms as if she were a human comfort object - or perhaps a protective shield - as the blue haired man approached him.
Grimmjow pushed his long hair behind his ears to show their pointed, fur covered tips and opened his mouth to reveal his teeth. He made eye contact with the half bat so he would notice his vertical pupils.
"What the hell is going on here?" the stymied Major General hollered. Even the half conscious scientist on the floor appeared more cognizant of the situation at hand than him.
"Please shut up, Major General because you're being a major pain in the ass," Nami wheezed as the creature in front of her tightened his tail around her waist.
"Don't hurt her. She's the only thing keeping you safe right now," her husband warned before he gave into his urge to attack the bat. "Kill her and you're dead."
Nami took several deep breaths when the vise grip around her waist was loosened. Her body still ached from the squeezing but she did not complain.
"What is your name?" she asked, backing away from him a step although she was still securely held to him by his tail.
"Ulquiorra," he responded, keeping a wary eye on the other men in the room.
"Where did you come from?" She stayed as still as possible so he would not constrict that tail around her again.
"A lab. Kind of like this one." His eyes studied the shaken Kisuke who struggled to his feet and held his aching head that had made a painful meeting with the wall.
"Where is the lab?" Nami winced when his amber eyes fastened on her face again with that disturbing, soul piercing stare.
"I - I don't know. I can't...I can't remember," he stammered in a low, barely audible voice.
Nami paused when his face contorted with pain and confusion as if it hurt him to think. Her mothering instincts got the best of her after his expression changed and he appeared hopelessly lost and afraid. She put her arms around him, feeling his body stiffen remarkably from her affectionate touch.
"It's okay. We won't hurt you. You're safe here," she assured him, stroking his long, surprisingly silky hair. Her hands moved down to his arms where she continued to pet him affectionately. A deep, rumbling snarl erupted behind her from her jealous husband. "Grimmjow, I'm just comforting him. Calm down."
"What the hell is she? The freak whisperer?" Zaraki inquired, receiving a withering look from Muguruma. Everyone in this place had lost their damn minds and had forgotten who was really in charge here. Considering they seemed to understand what they were dealing with, he decided not to pull rank and threaten to court martial any of them.
Grimmjow was well aware of what she was doing because she had done that to him many times. He studied the young man's face, watching for any inappropriate moves he might make. From personal experience, many 'inappropriate' reactions had come of her petting him that way.
"What's your name?" Ulquiorra asked her, touching her face again with his claws.
"Nami," she responded with a smile.
"Nami," he repeated, resting his hands on her waist.
"Okay, Batman that's enough. Hands off my wife," Grimmjow ordered, pulling Nami away from him.
"Wife? She's yours?" His golden eyes finally registered an emotion: curiosity.
"Since you're talking ownership, yes she is."
"Fascinating," Ulquiorra murmured, staring at the bestial man blocking the kind woman from his view. He was reminded of a woman from the laboratory he had come from. "Renate."
"What did you say?" Nami queried, stepping from behind her husband.
"Renate," he repeated, reaching for her.
"No. Hands off my property," her husband said, pushing the furry taloned hand away.
If Nami had not been so shocked by hearing that name, she would have slapped her husband for that one. Could that possibly be the same Renate who was by now Ichigo's wife? Her eyes moved to the unique new creature standing in front of her. Is he a part of the 'coveted big experiment' she had read about in the letter so long ago? The abrupt onset of lightheadedness caused her to stumble before she dropped to her knees. Could Ichigo be a part of what's responsible for this creature?
"How could he?" she murmured under her breath, covering her face with her hands. "How could he do such a terrible thing?"
"Nami, what is it?" Grimmjow knelt down beside her, taking her into his arms. She felt cold and her body was shaking.
"Grimmy, I think Ichi - " Before she could finish her sentence, she fainted. It was too dreadful for her to even say out loud or contemplate any longer. How could Ichigo willingly be a part of this kind of science experiment after seeing what she and Grimmjow had been through?