Chapter 11: The Protectors
(For Henka-chan and the RL version of Ren, who is celebrating a birthday today! Happy Birthday and many more happy years, Love, Spunky)
"Kisuke!" Ichigo said urgently, "What are we going to do? We can't just let Aizen have Ren and Tetsuya. We have to try to save them!"
"I agree with Ichigo," Byakuya said firmly, "We cannot leave Ren and my cousin in that man's hands. They will not live to return home."
"And their babies will be lost with them," Renji said worriedly, his heart aching, "Kisuke, you did say they were both pregnant?"
"Yeah," the shopkeeper confirmed, "The testing I did just before Aizen grabbed them confirmed it."
"Man, I wonder how long that bastard was right here with us," Ichigo mused.
"Well, he couldn't have let himself be around you," Kisuke reminded him, "You still haven't seen the guy's shikai, so you would have pegged him."
Renji took in the words, then a thoughtful frown touched his lips.
"Arashi hasn't seen his power either, has he?" the redhead said, "But, what about Tetsuya? I mean, he had to have been hypnotized at some point for Aizen to be able to take him like that."
"I don't know when he might have been subject to Aizen's power," said Byakuya, "Even when Aizen was in the Seireitei, Tetsuya was never around him. I don't know when it would have happened. And that means Arashi may or may not be susceptible to Aizen's power."
"Whatever," Renji said, shaking his head, "We have to find them! You know that son of a bitch is going to use Tetsuya in some way if he bothered to take him."
"And we are all to aware of what Aizen Sousuke does to those whose usefulness runs out," added Byakuya, "Renji is correct. We have to find them now."
"But how are we gonna do that?" asked Ichigo, "How do we even know which way they went? It seems unlikely they'd go back to Las Noches, because that's the first place we'd go!"
"I think he's probably got a secret lab in there that's hidden from our forces because most of them have been hypnotized."
"Well, I haven't," Ichigo reminded him, "It's just that there's no way to really know which way they went."
Renji thought more deeply, then exchanged glances with Byakuya as both came to the same realization.
"Arashi!" they said together."
"What about him?" Ichigo asked.
"Arashi was born of Tetsuya's body," Byakuya explained quickly, "He is a part of Tetsuya, and the two share an internal form of communication."
"Aizen may be able to interfere with that if he has drugged or otherwise affected Tetsuya," Kisuke suggested.
"Yeah," agreed Renji, "but Arashi doesn't have to make contact with Tetsuya to help us find them. He can always sense Tetsuya because he's a part of him."
"Then, it looks like we'd better find Arashi and get moving," Kisuke said, turning to lead the others out of the room.
Byakuya, Renji and Ichigo followed, their faces set and determined. They found the stallion grazing behind the shop and Renji flash stepped to him.
"Fleabag, we're really gonna need your help!" he cried, "Tetsuya and Ren are in real trouble. They've been taken by Aizen!"
"Can you reach Tetsuya's mind to ask if he knows where he is?" Byakuya asked.
No, the stallion replied, speaking into the four men's minds, Tetsuya is unconscious. I sense he has not been harmed, but there is an oddity in his reiatsu.
"That may be the new pregnancy," said Kisuke, "Arashi, can you sense Tetsuya's location?"
Yes. He is in Hueco Mundo. But I cannot hone in on him exactly until we have entered that world.
"Okay," said Kisuke, "I hope you boys have your weapons sharpened and your reiatsu at maximum, because we're going to Hueco Mundo!"
XXXXXXXXXX
"I am going to warn you one more time to do as I say, and then I am going to kill those two, Ren," Aizen said, moving closer to the two, "You said that you don't want your friend and his child to die, didn't you?"
"Ren," Tetsuya said sadly, "You don't have to do this."
"What are you saying?" Ren exclaimed, fighting tears, "He'll kill you if I don't obey him!"
"I know," Tetsuya acknowledged, his voice strangely calm, "but you have a child to think about too. You...remember, don't you? You remember what Kisuke said that he thought Aizen might want your child to make a more powerful body for himself?"
"Is that true?" Ren demanded, placing a hand protectively over his abdomen, "Are you going to kill my baby to use it to make yourself more powerful?"
"Understand this, Ren," Aizen said in a soothing tone, "Your child will not suffer at all. The child's reiatsu will simply be absorbed by mine as I enter the cluster and bond with it. So, although your child will not survive, it is not like it would ever have been fully alive."
"My baby is alive!" Ren screamed, cringing back against Tetsuya as Aizen closed in on him, "It doesn't matter if it will hurt him, you're still killing him!"
"Your baby doesn't have a gender right now, Ren," Aizen continued as he reached the two young men and paused in front of them.
Ren placed himself between Aizen and Tetsuya, shuddering as Aizen's hand touched his face and the traitor's dark brown eyes gazed solemnly into his.
"Your baby doesn't have a mind. It has no senses, but the awareness that it senses it is not alone. That is not yet life, Ren. And don't worry. When we go to the royal realm, you can have other children. I will spare your true resonants and they will be your own concubines, if you wish."
"I don't care about any of that!" Ren panted, his eyes rounding as Aizen's hand caressed his slim abdomen, "I just don't want you to...!"
"I appreciate your humanity, to an extent," Aizen went on, "but at the same time, you don't need to have such strong feelings for the already dead, Ren."
"My baby is alive!" Ren sobbed, cringing away from Aizen, "You're a liar! Get away from us! Leave us alone, you animal!"
Aizen's eyes grew suddenly cold.
"I see," he said, glowering at the two and the baby Tetsuya held, "You seem to have forgotten that you promised me your cooperation in return for me sparing the lives of Tetsuya and his child. I have given you all of the warnings I am going to. Now, are you going to lie down and cooperate? Or should I end their lives now?"
"D-don't hurt them!" Ren pleaded, "Let them out of here. Let them go. You said you'd let them go!"
"Tetsuya and his child are in no state to leave this place. And they would have no protection as Tetsuya's powers will not be functional for several days after giving birth. No, they need to wait here as we see to this task. Lie down, Ren. Lie down or I will begin their slow and terrifying death right now!"
"Okay!" Ren said in a devastated tone.
"Ren, no!" Tetsuya objected.
"I can't!" Ren said, turning back and looking into Tetsuya's frightened eyes, "I have to make a choice, and you and your baby are my choice. He isn't going to hurt me, and I'll just...I'll just have to live with what happens."
"But, Ren...!" Tetsuya pleaded, holding his daughter tightly as tears leaked down his face, "I...I don't want you to lose your child. I have suffered through that. I know how hard it is. You...!"
"That's why," Ren said, smiling sadly and placing a hand on Tetsuya's dampened face, "That's why I have to save you both. Rest, okay? You'll be with Renji soon, I promise."
Tetsuya started to answer, but made a sound of surprise and fell back as Aizen suddenly rendered him unconscious. Ren took the baby girl in his arms and gently laid her is a small bassinet that stood next to the examination table Tetsuya laid on. He kissed her on the cheek and closed his eyes for a moment, gathering himself.
"You made a very difficult decision," Aizen said approvingly, "I know that it's hard for you. If you like, I can remove your memory of ever having made this child. After all, Ren, it's only just been conceived and has no real consciousness."
"That doesn't matter," Ren whispered, "The baby's real to me. What's not real is you. I hate you. And if I ever get the chance, I'm going to kill you."
"Those are brave words," Aizen said, taking hold of the younger man's wrist and pulling him towards the second examination table, "But...how are you going to kill a man who is immortal, Ren? Tell me that. As long as I am fused with the hogyoku, I am not able to die. How will you or anyone else kill me?"
Ren looked back at him through defeated eyes, his heart aching as Aizen laid him down on the table and bound him tightly. His mind spun, Aizen's words echoing all around him.
"Your baby doesn't have a mind. It has no senses, but the awareness that it senses it is not alone. That is not yet life, Ren."
"I am going to give you a sedative, so that you won't be aware. I think you are too distraught and may not fare well during the procedure if I don't protect you."
"You want to protect me?" Ren said numbly, "Why? You're probably just going to kill me too."
"Now, why would I do that?" Aizen asked, "You are, after all, my son, my own kin. Because of you, I will have family in the royal realm. I know you are upset and angry now, but you will cope with those feelings and come to understand that I was trapped. I could not achieve my desires without doing this."
His...desires? Ren thought dizzily, his eyes touching the hogyoku where Aizen's top had opened slightly.
Aizen leaned over him again, working carefully as he began an IV.
The hogyoku grants desires...to those with the power to achieve them. That's what Kisuke said. I wonder if it senses mine.
"In a moment, you will begin to lose consciousness. Just relax. When you wake, we will leave for the royal realm."
If I could just touch it...it could hear me. Maybe...
He strained against his bonds, trying to move, but unable to do so.
"Your baby doesn't have a mind. It has no senses, but the awareness that it senses it is not alone. That is not yet life, Ren."
He felt the coolness of the sedative as it entered his body and moments later, dizziness swept over him.
Damn! If only I could...
His thoughts were interrupted by a huge crashing sound as the door to Aizen's laboratory exploded and four men flash stepped into view.
"Renji, protect Tetsuya and the baby!" Byakuya ordered the redhead.
"I've got it!" Renji shouted, flash stepping to Tetsuya as Aizen turned and smiled at the four, "Bankai! Hihio, Zabimaru!"
The skeletal snake wrapped protectively around Renji, the baby girl and the unconscious Tetsuya.
"You think you have saved them?" Aizen said, still smiling wickedly, "You are all going to die!"
"Bankai!" Byakuya exclaimed, "Senkei, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"
Aizen watched as Byakuya's pink swords swiftly wrapped around them, shutting them away from Renji and the two he protected.
"A capable move," Aizen complimented him, "It does protect Tetsuya and his child, but as you see, I still have my son. How will you get him away from me? All I have to do..."
"Your illusions won't work on me!" yelled Ichigo surging forward and slashing at him.
Aizen shattered Ren's bindings, grabbed him and flash stepped away. He paused on the far side of the fighting chamber, holding the barely conscious young man against him.
"So, they don't," he agreed, "But it is simple enough to hypnotize you while trapped in here."
He moved again as Byakuya flash stepped and slashed at his back.
"Remember that you cannot escape me in this chamber," the noble warned Aizen, My Senbonzakura will find you in this chamber, even if you defy my senses!"
"You're not going to get away," Kisuke said, remaining close to Ichigo, "Two of the three of us can't be fooled by your illusions. Now, give Ren back to us."
"There is no way that I am giving my son back to you," Aizen taunted them, "We are leaving this place together, and there is nothing you can do about it. Follow if you want to die, but don't think you'll get him back!"
Ren stirred softly against his chest, blinking dizzily and trying to make sense of what was happening.
"How are you going to get out of here?" Byakuya asked, "No one has ever shattered this chamber, not ever. You cannot escape."
Ren felt something hard touching his back and reeled as realization struck him.
The hogyoku!
He focused deeply as the man holding him continued to taunt the others.
With him focused on them and me touching the hogyoku...
He reached out with his mind.
Hogyoku, can you help me? I know you feel the desires of others. Can you feel mine? I want...to come to you. Can you let me inside? My powers are held back, but if I am touching you, I can...
He felt the stirring of another consciousness and a feeling like reaching, then he screamed as something tugged him away and sent him crashing down into blackness.
Within the confines of Byakuya's senkei, the noble and his allies watched in horror as Ren's slender body suddenly shimmered and slowly disappeared.
"What is this?" Aizen roared, "What have you done with him?"
"Don't look at us," Kisuke said, holding his sword ready, "You're the one who had him. None of us have moved."
"What the hell did you do with him?" Ichigo shouted, "Don't pull any crap with us! Let him go!"
"We will not let you out of this chamber until you release Ren," Byakuya said sternly, "Free him now."
Aizen's dark eyes became thoughtful and he reached down to touch the hogyoku.
"He disappeared and none of you were responsible," the traitor mused, "If that is so, then..."
The three rescuers felt an inward shudder as Aizen's smile widened, and he started to laugh. They exchanged worried glances as Aizen's laugh grew louder and more wicked and his reiatsu swelled and began to roar around him.
"Get him!" Ichigo howled, flash stepping wildly as Byakuya and Kisuke did the same. The three slashed at the laughing traitor, only to sense a blistering flash step and a blazing strike that manage to cut all three. Blood exploded around them and they skidded to a stop, all of them grasping at a shoulder or midsection. Aizen's laughter mingled viciously with his burgeoning reiatsu and Byakuya's pink swords suddenly exploded. The three rescuers were thrown down roughly as the blast destroyed Aizen's laboratory and sent debris crashing into the skeletal snake and the hastily conjured reiatsu shields of the reeling defenders. Smoke and dust filled their noses and eyes, making them cough fitfully as Aizen disappeared into the haze, and the reiatsu in the area decreased rapidly.
"Damn it, he got away!" Ichigo yelled, choking on his words.
"Ren is gone too," Byakuya observed, looking around, then watching as the skeletal snake slid away to reveal Renji, Tetsuya and the baby.
"What the hell happened?" Renji demanded, holding his daughter against him protectively, "Where's Aizen?"
"I'm not sure," Kisuke said, shaking his head, "but I have a suspicion where Ren went."
"Where?" Byakuya queried, frowning.
"His power allows him to enter the inner worlds of other people. He was touching Aizen."
"You mean, you think he entered Aizen's inner world?" Ichigo asked.
"No, if he had, then Aizen wouldn't have acted like he didn't know about it. I think Ren tried something even more extreme, and more dangerous. I think our buddy Ren entered the hogyoku's inner world!"