AN: Another chapter…and so fast! Go me! For a time reference, this is BEFORE the newest Manga arc/after the last Anime arc in Bleach, and…well, SOMETIME after Daniel Ascended and came back. Like I said, only a passing knowledge…I need to re-watch the shows, seeing as I haven't seen them in years…

Thank you so much to all of you who reviewed and faved/alerted my story! I honestly wasn't expecting such a response so fast!

"Speaking in a language foreign to the current land."

"Speaking in the native language."

There is a flashback scene in this chapter. You will know it by the fact that it is all italicized.

EDIT 12-17: Made a few spelling/grammar corrections as well as adding the actual CHANGE to his personal information that I realized I mentioned but never elaborated on.

Groaning, Ichigo straightened himself up, stepping into the asile of the jet that had just—finally!—landed in the United States after two connecting flights from Hawaii to California, and California to Colorado. Ichigo himself didn't even fully understand why Urahara forced him to come with him in the first place—and with some changes to his current identity. He sighed as he remembered that little confrontation with his former mentor.

Ichigo had just gotten home from his after school job. He was exhausted, as his boss seemed hell-bent on making certain that he stay busy, so there wouldn't be any chance of him running off for a while, like what happened with Ginjo and Xcution when he regained his Shinigami powers. He opened the door to block the attack he knew would be coming from his father, only to have nothing to block. He heard his father and another very familiar voice coming from the kitchen, making him groan. What did Urahara want now?

"Ah, Ichigo-kun! What took you so long! I thought that school got out over 4 hours ago," an enthusiastic Urahara blurted, swinging his damnedable fan in front of his face and tipping his hat so that his eyes didn't show.

Glancing at Isshin, Ichigo said, "I was at work. You know, this great thing that I need to survive in the World of the Living. The old man should have told you about it; you didn't have to wait around." He threw his bag in the corner of the kitchen, and sat down at the table where the other two were at. Isshin had tears forming in his eyes, big melodramatic ones, and Ichigo cut him off before he could even start. "No, your son does NOT hate you. However, if you go crying to the poster of mom again I may have to kick you THROUGH it."

Isshin seemed to think about it for a moment, then decided that his poster was more important than embarrassing his son. With a sigh, he said, "Alright, Ichigo. But just this once! And only because Urahara is here with a very special…task for you."

Ichigo didn't like the smirk that was on his father's face as he said that.

And so Urahara closed his fan, and told Ichigo about the artifact that had somehow found its way to the World of the Living. "We're pretty sure it's sekki sekki, but we can't be certain. If it is, then we need to find out where it came from and how to make certain that they can't—or won't—mess with the stuff ever again. So, the American branch of Soul Society-," Ichigo gave Urahara a strange look here, "Oh, don't look at me like that, you had to wonder about the other cultures in the world…all Rukongai has is Japanese. ANYWAY, the Death Reapers of the US asked for some assistance. They have yet to actually get anyone into the higher ranks of the military in order to get clearance to get in the base.

"And man, do they have some mean equipment. Some of it is so sensitive that it can pick up very strong reiatsu, like mine and yours. We can put it off as you being an experiment that was not successful…and I will just contain my reiatsu for the few moments we will be going through their security."

"Yea, yea, just rub it in that my control still sucks. Even Zangetsu and Shiro are complaining about it," Ichigo said, resting his chin in his left hand. "So, back on topic. What's our itinerary for the trip, then? And how can I clear it with the school?"

And that, of course, is what brought us here at…7:30 in the morning US time, Ichigo thought, yawning into the back of his hand. He was currently carrying his and Urahara's luggage. They were going to try to get him in as an assistant and pupil to Urahara (hence his drudgery), and they had already mysteriously cleared it with the command in the US. It seemed that many people were skeptical that the twosome should even be allowed on base, but once again Urahara pulled one of his many strings, and they moved like puppets. They both had to sign papers upon papers, but Urahara said that it would all be worth it.

He glanced at his shiny new passport, and at the biggest change to his information: his age. How Urahara did it, Ichigo didn't want to know, but it now read that he was 21 instead of 17* years old. He shook his head, a darker expression appearing on his face. That mad scientist had his fingers in too many pies.

"Lighten up, Ichigo. It's not like they will kill you…maybe," said a masculine voice from one of Urahara's bags that nearly scared the wits out of Ichigo.

It was a voice that he knew very well, however. "Yoruichi! How on earth did you get past airport security?"

The black feline head poked out of a smallish bag and yawned. "Why, they didn't even see me. You forget, Ichigo, that my cat body is not a gigai, but all spirit. Only spiritually-aware humans could see me, and then not through machinery. It was quite simple to get past their low-grade x-ray scanners."

Ichigo shook his head, a small smile pulling up the corners of his mouth. His attention was pulled away from the black cat, however, when Urahara called his name along with a large enough pulse of reiatsu to catch his attention. "Our ride is here! Come on, Ichi-kun!" Grumbling at the nickname, Ichigo followed him to the black van, helped load the luggage, and settled down in the seat for the moderately long ride to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex.

Daniel was just coming back to base from his "casual," AKA commanded by General Hammond himself, leave time away from base as he overheard some new voices at the final security checkpoint before the lowest levels of the complex, and by route, the Stargate. Slightly confused, he approached in time to see a young, red-headed Japanese man start losing his patience with the older, blonde-haired man dressed in a green haori and a striped hat wearing…was that actual wooden clogs?

"Urahara! You said that you had all of this handled. It was your idea to bring me along, and your idea to actually take our government up on the offer of studying the…certain piece of rock!" The young man's hesitation was evident, if only because his expression changed momentarily as he about let a bit of information slip. "I didn't even want to come originally, but no! You had to convince my family that it was a better idea to come with you than it was to study at home!" The young man kept switching between English and Japanese, of which Daniel only had a very basic knowledge.

"Is there something that I can help out with here, gentlemen?" Daniel walked up to them steadily, hands in his jean pockets. The guards on duty nodded to him, and he nodded back.

The man addressed as Urahara turned around, his gray eyes piercing from under the shadow of his hat. "Ah! Yes, yes…maybe you can. You are…a Doctor Daniel Jackson, yes?" The man's hands burrowed into the opposite sleeve as he dipped his chin so his eyes were only barely visable. Daniel furrowed his brow a bit, and actually looked at the man. He seemed to be in his mid to late thirties, and in very good shape as was evidenced by his partially-exposed pecs and the line of his shoulders.

He had a cane on one arm, hanging from the crook of his elbow made of a lighter wood. There was a joint between what would be considered the "handle" of the cane and the shaft leading to the floor. It was obvious that the piece was more for show than practical use, judging by the wear on the handle and lack of on the ground end. But what really seemed different about the man was the certain feeling of suppressed power. It was like standing next to a known martial art champion, or a known Goa'uld; knowing that they could kill you easily, and seem to not even be conscious about the devastation that they could cause.

It took a moment before Daniel realized that he had yet to answer the man. "Oh, sorry. Yes, that would be me. However, I don't remember you giving yours."

At this, the green-robed man pulled his hands from his sleeves, and in one of them was a traditional (if plain) Japanese paper fan. He quickly unfolded it and fanned it in front of his face. "Maa, I do apologize, I seem to have forgotten my manners since coming in so early in the morning. You may address me as Kisuke Urahara, and this young man behind me is my apprentice and assistant Ichigo Kurosaki. We hail from a…specific research team in Japan that was sent over to assist you in looking at a certain artifact that may or may not have a relation to keeping our world…intact.

"However, we seem to not have received the proper paperwork from our government and, despite the fact that we made it this far, we cannot go any further. We were just asking these wonderful guards here if they wouldn't mind calling…General Hammond, was it?...and getting confirmation that yes, we are supposed to be here."

Daniel pushed his glasses up a bit and studied the two people. After a moments thought, he nodded to the guards. "I do seem to remember the General mentioning that help would be brought in on the project, I just didn't think that it would be until a little later this week." He looked at the guards manning the security point. "I would go ahead and call the General's office. I would hate for there to be an international incident because we didn't let someone go where they were supposed to."

One of the guards smiled a little, and nodded his head. "Sure thing, Dr. Jackson. However, if these people aren't supposed to be here, we'll let it be your head that rolls."

As the guard was making the call, Daniel noticed one of the bags that the young man, Ichigo, was holding. There was a brief sound that sounded like a meow, but then Ichigo shifted the bag—hard—against his leg and said something in Japanese. "Shut it Yoruichi. You wanted to come along, so just be quiet and give us a bit more to get through the security check point."

"Yes, the weather outside is beautiful, Ichi-kun. I wish my lovely Yoruichi could see it now," the older man said, glancing surreptitiously at Daniel. So the Japanese man knew that he had basic knowledge of the language, huh? But it was also obvious that Ichigo wasn't talking to Urahara when he started talking. Daniel narrowed his eyes, and decided to confront the young man later about it. After all, they would be seeing a lot of each other in the next few weeks, or Heaven forbid months, since Daniel was the head of the certain project that Urahara mentioned.

"OK, sirs, you are good to go. Just pass through these two scanners, let your luggage pass through on this conveyer belt, and then proceed to the Infirmary for a brief check-up and we will be good to go. As it turns out, your government sent your paperwork directly to bas as opposed to giving it to you in Japan, and the man who picked you up neglected to give you the second folder."

Ichigo let out a semi-frustrated breath. "Finally. As if this didn't take long enough. What did you pack IN these bags, Urahara? They weigh a freaking ton."

Urahara just laughed. "Oh, you will find out soon my pupil. Just wait and see once we get to the labs. And remember, we are representing more than just the country of Japan. We are representing our kind as well."

Ichigo rolled his eyes as he placed the bags heavily on the conveyer belt. "Hai, Geta-boushi."

Daniel chuckled at the nickname that the kid gave Urahara, for it was something that he understood. He went to stand by the guards monitoring the x-ray machine to get a peak at what was in the bag. Besides one being only half full, however, there really was nothing of interest that he could easily identify. The two walked through the Goa'uld detectors** and other, less powerful x-ray machines. When the younger kid walked through the first machine, however, it was like the sensors couldn't stand his presence. The picture became very grainy, but it was clear enough to see that he had no symbiote.

The guard monitoring the station bumped the monitor once, then twice before Urahara spoke up. "It's not your machine, don't worry. Ichigo is a…special case. He has some highly experimental technology inside of him that has a tendency to confuse or distort that kind of imaging contraptions." Urahara raised his hand to his lips. "Shhh! It's a secret! And don't ask me anymore, because I won't be able to tell you about it!" He then proceeded to skip—yes, skip in clogs—through both machines, only stopping long enough for them to see he also had no symbiote and to get a good read on the other x-ray machine.

Then the bags were through, and then Daniel went through as well. "Well, I might as well show you around the base. Follow me."

One of the guards stopped him before he could go more than a few steps. "Don't forget that they need to go to see the Doc first, just to make certain that they aren't bringing in any plague or whatever."

Daniel nodded his head. "Yea, thanks for reminding me. Have a good day, guys!"

And with a wave, the three (or really four, counting the hiding Yoruichi in the half-filled bag) went to the elevators, and took them down…

And down…

And down.

AN2:

** = I can't remember if they had a way to see if someone was infested or not in the main entrances…so I decided to cover my butt and create this super-duper x-ray machine…thing. OK, so I like gadgets, so sue me. ^_-