Adult-FanFiction.org : Bleach

Prize of Victory 2
By : NovaAlexandria
Category: Bleach > General
Views: 56251 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make a profit from this story
Chapter List
- 43
- 44
- 45
Note: as with most material covering Hallibel and Toshiro, Black Fox wrote most of the next few chapters.
Prisoner’s Dilemma

Staring up at the crystalline structure of the Science and Research Division, its faceted dome glittering in the cool morning sunshine, Tia Harribel found it difficult to believe that a Hollow with Szayel Apporo Grantz’s reputation had built it. Even though she’d been within its walls a number of times over the years and had grown used to seeing it against the skyline of the Seireitei’s whitewashed buildings and red-clay tiled roofs, the edifice never failed to impress her. It was such a far cry from the minimalist, nearly windowless architecture of Las Noches, with its tall, cylindrical pillars and slab-like planes rising from the endless white sands. It was also much brighter and far more ‘open’ than his last lair, a dangerous subterranean place she’d warned her girls to never set foot if they valued their freedom, their limbs or their sanity.
‘This is foolish. Grimmjow’s mate is Szayel’s Mistress and Kami’s wife would not lie about the restrictions Karin placed upon him,’ Harribel silently scolded herself.
It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been here on business before. This time, however, the business was personal in nature and try as she might, she couldn’t keep her heart from pounding as she carefully walked up to the doors and reached for the handle.
Then she had to use Sonido to take a step back before the sudden outward motion of the wide glass doors knocked her off of her feet, or more accurately, shattered when they came into contact with her frame. Coming to a stop a few yards away, Harribel turned to see one of the male Numeros burst through them. He tugged a pretty, black-haired female Shinigami with an armband designating her as a 3^rd Division officer behind him. For some reason, in build and in coloring, he reminded Harribel of one of Barragan’s long-dead fraccion, Findorr Calius, the one with the crab’s claw and the pretty-boy face. They skidded to a stop on the gravel walkway as the Division’s doors clattered shut behind them. The Numeros spun around, catching his companion around the waist with one arm. He proceeded to drop a deep, feverish kiss on the girl, releasing her hand only to draw her against him sharply. In turn, the flushed Shinigami reached up and ran her fingers through the male’s long, blonde hair, effectively deepening their little public display of affection.
While Harribel wasn’t near enough to hear whatever he subsequently murmured to her, it was obvious that she was his pet; the Claim around her glowed, evidence of its frequent and enthusiastic refreshment. When the hand around her waist trailed to rest on the Shinigami’s lower abdomen, the reason for his reaction became clear. The Third took a few judicious steps back, not wanting to have to deal with an overly protective, instinct-driven male in such a state. As it turned out, she needn’t have bothered. The Numeros, whose name she couldn’t recall, reached down and scooped his pet up, bearing her away in blur. She had no doubts about what those two would be doing once they managed to obtain some privacy and a horizontal surface.
‘Scratch that’, she realized. ‘They might just settle for something vertical and out of the way.’
The two had been completely oblivious to her presence, which surprised her. Such a lapse in attention to one’s surroundings could very well prove fatal in Hueco Mundo. Harribel considered it another example of how the Arrancar as a whole, even those created to replace the ones Aizen had lost during the Winter War, had let themselves become a bit complacent in this new world of abundance. Then again, it was a relief to see another couple getting along instead of the dismal master/slave relationship most Arrancar had originally adopted with their pets.
Carefully stepping back onto the walkway, she cast one last bemused look in the direction in which the lower-ranking Numeros and his pet had disappeared and then reached for the door handle again. Thankfully, no more ardent lovers tried to trample her and she walked into Szayel’s den a bit more relaxed than she’d initially expected to be.
The receptionist, a mousey young man with wide eyes, his hair done up into a pig tail on top of his head and a lab coat one size too large for his short, thin frame looked up at her and immediately stood a little straighter. Harribel decided to have mercy on the Shinigami. He’d probably been overwhelmed by the large number of defensive male Arrancar hovering over their now pregnant mates since yesterday. She folded her arms on the counter that separated the waiting room from the on-duty desk, peering down at him.
“I’ve a referral to see the Seventh. Please inform him that I’m here.”
“Y…yes, Sir… uhm, I mean, Ma’am…ow…” he stuttered and then bowed while trying to operate the intercom system. Doing two things at once was apparently a foreign concept for the Shinigami, because he managed to get himself tangled up in at least two power cords in the attempt.
“Abarai…oof… san, please come to the reception area for another guest escort,” the little man said, mouthing the words into the microphone. Then he let go of the button and bowed again, which hindered his efforts at extracting his body from the snake-like wires. As unintentionally entertaining as it was to watch him flail about, Harribel decided that she’d be better off taking a seat. Finding a comfortable spot, she reached up and rubbed her forehead.
For some reason, she wished she’d had the nerve to wait until evening to come here, until Toshiro was free of his Division’s work for the day. Harribel had fully intended to inform him of Unohana’s findings the previous evening, after she returned from her patrol route. Unfortunately, he’d come home well after midnight with purple smudges beneath his eyes and a grim set to his mouth. She’d sent Apache with him and his hand-selected party of 3^rd Division searchers to help investigate the scene of Ajuga and Diaemus’ kidnapping. They’d found nothing, thanks to the Swarm’s too-small reiatsu signatures. The disturbed earth was easy to spot, but the General and his bugs had collapsed the tunnels they’d used to make their subterranean escape behind them, obliterating their trail. Other than some fur, feathers and blood samples, there was no trace left of the children and no way of going after them. Sung Sun and Mila Rose had consoled a sniffling, teary-eyed Apache upon their return to the den and Toshiro had given Harribel a bleak look and shook his head. She hadn’t stopped him as he retreated to his room to collapse on his bed in an exhausted heap. The words she’d wanted to speak, to tell him of both his impending fatherhood and about Starrk’s request regarding Soi Fon, remained unspoken in the face of the effect that Ajuga’s loss and Hana’s injuries had on her household.
Harribel couldn’t see the normally reserved Taichou reacting in the same way as the Arrancar that had nearly collided with her. Unbridled enthusiasm and public lip-locks just weren’t his style. In truth, she had no idea how he would react. However, he’d been very willing to help her achieve her goal, if his performance with her the last two times she’d had him were any indication. She tilted her head back and thought back to an especially exquisite thing he’d done the other night with his tongue when she heard approaching footsteps. Opening her eyes, she spotted Abarai walking through a set of double doors, intent on the reception desk. Neither of the twins was with him and she wondered where the children were.
“Tsubokura-san, what is…?” he began and then faltered when she stood up. The receptionist glanced at Szayel’s pet and gestured towards her expectantly.
“The Third Espada is here to see Grantz-sama.”
The redhead, who appeared to be trying to look at anything in the room but her, nodded and took a clipboard from the small, nervous Shinigami behind the counter. Keeping his eyes averted, he turned and made for the door he’d just come from.
“Follow me, please.”
They didn’t have far to go, mercifully. As pretty as the building was on the outside, the interior was labyrinthine. Harribel could easily admit that without a staff member to guide her to the right room, she might very well end up lost, walking for days through identical grey and white corridors in search of an exit. This was the sort of thing she could see Szayel designing, letting the architecture befuddle any intruders and allowing the Espada to pick them off at his leisure.
“Where are your Master’s children?”
The question came out before she’d really had much of a chance to think before she spoke. He gave her a narrow-eyed, assessing look and Harribel kicked herself for her lapse in judgment. She’d become so used to the sight of the tall young man with at least one child in tow that their absence surprised her. He’d taken her innocent inquiry as something other than what it was. If this had been Hueco Mundo, Abarai might have met her question with preemptive violence to protect the cubs. As it was, she could see his shoulders tense before he answered, not bothering to turn around.
“Safe. Abisara is busy with one of his father’s projects and his sister is crying her eyes out over Ajuga-chan. Both are presently under armed guard by the old 12^th Division’s former seated officers while I complete my afternoon duties.”
The warning couldn’t be any plainer. Moreover, the look on his face was similar to the one he’d given her a year ago, when she’d told him to stand down and put away his Bankai after the attack on Szayel’s little girl. Despite the fact that he was thoroughly Claimed and supposedly under Szayel’s control, she felt a tiny prickle of fear as she stared at the long red tail of hair swishing back and forth in front of her. It would be, she decided, a good thing to get this over with quickly and retreat before she could make any more mistakes while in another Espada’s den.
Before Harribel could give into the sudden impulse to drop back a few paces and give the twins’ guardian a little space, they arrived at a set of doors marked ‘Examination Room 3’ and Abarai pounded on them with his fist. A minute later, Szayel’s mate, her dark hair back in its customary braid and a faint frown on her face, poked her head out of the room.
“Yes, Renji?”
The redhead stepped aside, gestured to the blonde behind him and Harribel took a step forward.
“I’m here to see Szayel.”
Nemu paused, and then ducked back into the room briefly before the door swung open enough for a body to walk through. However, the Seventh’s mate promptly filled it, blocking the way until she apparently got a better answer from the Third. If Harribel didn’t know any better, she would have labeled the green-eyed woman’s posture as ‘overly protective’.
“He’s inside. May I inquire…?”
“Kami’s wife sent me,” Harribel replied quietly, the explanation hanging in the air for a few seconds before she saw both Nemu’s and, to a greater extent, Abarai’s eyes get much bigger as what the reference implied set it. Szayel’s mate retreated and the door opened all of the way, allowing her to peer into the examination room.
She’d been here once before, to find Ajuga and inadvertently coming in on the tail end of the hybrid children’s combined checkup. Nemu ushered her in quietly, then said a few words to Abarai, who remained outside. The redhead’s voice was just a little louder than Nemu’s and she caught the words ‘still crying’ and ‘the boy needs a break. I’ll make him take one,’ before he disappeared. Nemu firmly shut and locked the door after him and then turned around.
“Szayel-sama…” she began before a very tired voice, coming from behind the screen of a computer console interrupted her.
“I’ll be just a moment, Nemu-chan. I just have to finish the summary for Lloydght’s mate’s case and attach the images.”
Harribel could hear the sounds of someone’s fingers dancing over a keyboard, the rapid-fire clicking sounds echoing like staccato shots through the large room. Tentatively, she took a few steps closer to the empty exam table and the bank of equipment, peering around them until the other Espada came into sight.
She’d seen Szayel a day-and-a-half ago in Kami’s throne room, after letting Hana report what had happened to Ajuga and Diaemus to Aizen. He’d seemed fatigued and very nervous then, but that was understandable, given Aizen’s interest and transgressions against the Seventh. Now he looked positively awful, his eyes shadowed and haunted and exhaustion radiating from every pore. His posture was that of a man dead on his feet and overdue for a date with his pillow. Yet he kept working, finishing up what Harribel suspected was the pregnancy write-up for the couple she saw leaving the Science and Research Division earlier. One of the printers began spitting out paper and Szayel looked up from the monitor, directly at her, before glancing at his mate.
He’d probably taken the entire twenty-four hour period Aizen had allotted to find the missing children, to no avail, as his expression was nearly identical to the one Toshiro had brought home, a mixture of low energy, frustration and profound unhappiness. Still, when he addressed her, she could see his lips twitch up in the faintest of smiles before it disappeared.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, Harribel-san?” he asked, as Nemu moved to pick up and collate the triplicate reports. “I’m afraid I’ve no good news about Ajuga’s whereabouts.”
“To be honest, as much as I would love to know if you’ve discovered their whereabouts, Ajuga isn’t why I’m here,” she informed him quietly.
One pink eyebrow rose and he stood up slowly. As Nemu finished putting the reports together, Szayel turned to his mate and pointed with his chin to what appeared to be three large piles of paper on one of the long steel tables, situated off to the side of the room.
“Please put those with the others and let’s pray nothing else shows up today,” he told his mate and she swiftly moved to add the latest batch to the report stack.
“Others?”
Harribel had only seen the one couple leaving, but it was late in the afternoon. Had he seen others that day as well?
“Why yes…there seems to be a rash of pregnancies amongst the Claimed Shinigami population, with at least a dozen occurring in the last month-and-a-half. It’s going to be a very busy year, I fear. Mercifully, most of them are due in late summer, before the Swarm begins sending their initial scouting parties. We hope to have a solution to the Swarm attacks by then.”
Szayel grimaced and then looked at Nemu curiously, as if he’d picked up something from her via his Claim on the quiet assistant. She turned around and motioned towards Harribel.
“Szayel-sama, Unohana-Taichou has referred her to you.”
A thick silence descended upon the three people in the room and Szayel did a beautiful job of imitating a goldfish, his mouth working but with no sound coming out. He gaped at Harribel stupidly for a second or two, before the Third found Nemu at her elbow, guiding her towards one of the padded examination tables. Eventually, Szayel’s brain caught up with his expression and his mouth snapped shut, but not for long.
“You… you’re… I mean…”
“I spoke with Unohana Taichou yesterday, when I saw Hana-chan to the 4^{th Division for treatment. While I was there, I had her look at}… a concern I have. She examined the changes I pointed out and she insisted on a number of blood tests. The results for the pregnancy test came back positive, as did a test she conducted with Kido. I delayed coming until today, as I was required to complete my patrol last evening.”
She watched as he groped and grasped around for his composure in the face of a brand-new challenge. True to form, Szayel hurriedly turned back to the keyboard and began typing as if someone had set his uniform on fire.
“Nemu-chan, please prepare Harribel-sama for the standard screening, an ultrasound, and find another questionnaire while I set up a new case file,” he hurriedly instructed.
While he still sounded tired, there was a sharp gleam in his eye as he stared at the screen. There was also a little more energy in his fingers as he threw himself back into his work. Before long, she found herself wearing a too-short smock that provided minimal decency. While its neckline hid the lower changes to her mask, the facial portion’s retreat was evident. Harribel looked up to find Szayel staring at her newly revealed cheeks, nose and mouth, his left eye twitching as he did so. In the twenty-four hours since she’d shown Kami’s wife the transformation in her Arrancar mask, the bone had drawn back to the spot just below her bottom lip. Nemu helped her sit upon the examination table, draped a sheet over her lower half and parted the smock to reveal her still-flat belly.
Meanwhile, Szayel pushed a large, bulky machine over to the side of the table and took down what looked like two large, flat squares of steel with handles attached and gave them to Nemu, who used Kido to warm them, as well as the contents of a heavy jar sitting on top of the device. Harribel eyed it uneasily until the scientist revealed its purpose.
“This is an ultrasound machine. Think of it as a large camera, one that will give us a glimpse of your unborn child. Nemu, the gel please.”
Szayel set about adjusting the machine while his mate slathered a clear, jelly-like substance over Harribel’s exposed abdomen.
“This will keep the imaging paddles from dragging. While you have a Hierro and the paddles won’t damage your skin, we’ll get a better image if the paddles don’t stick or jerk while they’re on your body,” she calmly explained. When Szayel seemed satisfied with the settings, he indicated that Nemu should proceed.
The smooth metal sliding over her lower belly, aided by the slippery lubricant soon offered up the first image of her long-hoped-for child. Harribel turned her eyes towards the overhead screen, as the fuzzy shape became clearer. Szayel, on the other hand, peered up at the screen and adjusted his ‘glasses’, squinting through them at the picture.
“Nemu, can you try again? There seems to be some kind of problem here. I’m not seeing the womb itself, though the fetus and placenta seem quite distinct. That’s very odd. Normally it’s the other way around. Amplify the sensors, and take them up two settings. There’s some kind of interference going on.”
“What you see is my Hollow Hole.”
Nemu’s hand stopped in mid-reach for the controls on the ultrasound and the pink-haired Espada whirled around, staring at Harribel as she lay on the examination table.
“Your… the void is there? How can it be there? That makes no sense and… and… if it is, how is this…” he motioned up at the screen, where she could see a tiny, bright bean-like thing surrounded by layers upon layers of shifting reiatsu, “…even possible?”
She met his incredulous inquiry with an icy expression that would have done Toshiro proud. It made Szayel take a step back, as if suddenly reminded of the gap in their status. It wasn’t a question she’d ever expected to have to answer and she’d divulged this secret to only one other in all of her long existence.
“My heart was there on the day I perished. I died under a midwife’s blade, to save the life of the child I carried, on the orders of its noble father. That much I remember, Szayel Apporo Grantz,” she said quietly, her low, rough voice holding just enough reproach to let the lower ranking Espada know he’d hit a nerve. “I’m here for answers as well.”
Nemu didn’t move a muscle as Harribel said this, and Szayel’s face proceeded to turn chalk-white. He stumbled backward until his hand encountered the chair he’d been sitting in and leaned on it, as if his knees had decided they’d had enough. Rubbing his other hand across his brow, he waited a moment and then tossed his mate a different set of instructions.
“Nemu, have Abarai fetch our son and have him bring one of the completed reiatsu sensors Abisara’s been working on. I think we may have another, more immediate use for it. In the meantime, let’s make sure that I’m actually looking at what I think I’m looking at, shall we?”
Nemu wordlessly handed him the paddles and scampered for one of the room’s control consoles, while Szayel, his golden eyes going wider with each passing minute, took image after image of what she and Toshiro had managed to create. Once Nemu returned, she picked up a clipboard and began asking Harribel the first of many questions. The blonde told them what they wanted to know, even the ones that bordered on an invasion of privacy. Despite his initial reaction, she could see Szayel growing excited, as the details on the screen grew crisper.
“When was the last time you exerted a Claim upon your pet, Harribel-sama?”
“A little over two weeks ago.”
“Hmm… I wonder… have you partaken of him since then?”
“Yes, twice,” she admitted. “We have been trying for a child.”
“What about after the battles?”
She hesitated and then shook her head.
“No. I limit myself to my girls on those nights. Toshiro’s duties preclude me distracting him.”
“Ah, well… I’d always wondered about that… not that the details are any of my business,” he added hastily. “How often do you reassert your Claim upon him?”
“In the last year, twice. I need to renew it every five months or so.”
That seemed to pique the scientist’s interest.
“Intriguing. Whatever differences there might have been between your respective strengths have narrowed significantly. That would increase the likelihood of a pregnancy in a Hollow with all of the requisite parts, as the caseloads on that desk can attest. But…” he said, his golden eyes narrowing a little as he gave her a sidelong look, “I’m sure that you knew that, didn’t you? You’ve everything but the uterus, Tia Harribel, which I fear is where this case takes a sharp left turn into the proverbial weeds. I now need to determine what your future cub is using as a substitute. This is going to be much more involved than I first suspected.”
“Unohana appeared frightened after she examined me.”
“To be blunt, I don’t blame her. This is beyond the pale,” Szayel muttered, then snorted indelicately. “However, I think the sheer outlandishness of what I’m seeing might just grab Aizen’s interest enough to make him want to see the results as your pregnancy progresses. I wouldn’t even have to stretch the truth all that much, provided I supplied enough imagery to dazzle him. A picture and a thousand words and all of that nonsense, you see.”
Anyone less observant would have thought Szayel was speaking of paperwork. Harribel was sharp enough to hear the offer in his words. Had he guessed at her fears or did he somehow know about what she’d asked of Starrk? Karin was his Mistress and she did live with Starrk and his pets on Ukitake Jushiro’s family Estate. Had they discussed her request at some point between yesterday afternoon and today?
A loud knock on the door made Szayel jump, before Nemu quickly opened it. Harribel turned her head to the side to see Szayel’s son walk in, a strange-looking, metal box in his hands with several cords hanging from it. Abarai followed, holding a tearful, droopy-winged Vindula and wearing an apologetic look. Szayel hadn’t requested his daughter’s presence, but from how distraught she seemed, it didn’t look as if Abarai was going to get away with bringing Abisara and not his twin with him.
“Tou-san?” the boy asked, coming to a stop before his father, keeping one worried green eye on Harribel as she lay there. Szayel’s son looked as tired as his father did and clutched the device he carried to him as if his life depended on it working properly. “He… he isn’t here, is he?” Abisara asked this fearfully, almost near tears and Szayel bit his lip. Harribel caught a fleeting glimpse of sorrow cross the other Espada’s face before it vanished completely and he smiled at his son, reaching out to smooth the boy’s hair.
“No. I would like to test the capabilities of what you’ve been working on. This time, I’d like to see if it can differentiate reiryoku signatures. The Third Espada has provided us with an unexpected opportunity to do this, and as the test is non-invasive, it won’t go against any of the strictures in that blasted book. With your permission of course, Harribel-sama.”
She frowned as she watched the pink-haired boy relax, the distress he’d carried with him draining away once Szayel had told him that whomever it was he was frightened of was not in attendance. The fear itself made no sense, given Aizen’s edicts as far as the rest of the Arrancar leaving the children in peace. The skeletal remains of the two she and Toshiro had hauled before Aizen had only just begun to fall apart from where their bodies still hung. The message couldn’t have slipped the minds of any of the other Arrancar this quickly. Then she realized that father and son were waiting for her to allow the use of the child’s project. Glancing up at the screen, at her child hovering in the emptiness that had lain within her for who-knows-how-long, she nodded once and Szayel sprang forward to take the machine.
“Abisara, why don’t you go over there and test your guardian for brain cells. I’ll give you a yen for every one you discover, alright?”
Abarai scowled at Szayel, but got the hint and ushered both the boy and his sister out of the way. The scientist rebooted the sensor and the ultrasound, and then turned both back on and had Nemu resume prodding Harribel's midsection with the paddles. The gel had gone cold by now, but that wasn’t what made her gasp. She heard similar sounds from Szayel and Nemu as the ultrasound now displayed what was going on within her in full color.
“Extraordinary! Nemu, can you magnify it any further? I believe those are blood vessels and they’re feeding at least part of the reiryoku surrounding the fetus!”
“Yes, Szayel-sama.”
Harribel spent the next hour lying flat on her back as Szayel and his mate alternated between taking blood samples, capturing image after image and scribbling copious notes. At one point, Nemu brought over a series of syringes, which she explained contained both prenatal vitamins and necessary immunizations, injecting her with each in turn while Szayel’s fingers furiously recorded the data. He would occasionally shout out some exclamation, as some new, strange aspect of her pregnancy revealed itself, until he finally leaned against the computer console and swept his hand through his hair, brushing it out of his eyes.
“I believe I have enough for a preliminary report. This golden reiryoku,” he told her as he indicated the smaller amount yellow color intertwined with a much larger volume of icy-blue energy, “is your contribution. It provides a foundation for the growth of blood vessels and the supporting tissues, as well as scaffolding, one might say, for the other energy.”
“It’s Toshiro’s, isn’t it?”
“Mmm-hmm. Quite right. There are also layers of it and not all of the blue reiryoku is a recent addition. I’d say that this construction took some time to build, probably over years of refreshed Claims. The proportions are curious as well, since the fetus is apparently feeding from both reiryoku types. The blue reiryoku is at least twice as abundant as yours is. In addition to its role in nourishing the child, I believe it serves as a substitute for the organ you lack. In short, the majority of it provides a barrier between the void and the placenta, as well acting as a container for the necessary liquid environment. Which brings us to a few interesting points regarding the changes I suspect it will undergo as your cub develops.”
“Will it change in the same way that my mask has changed?”
Szayel frowned, pink brows knitted as he considered the question and his expression grew both thoughtful and serious. Tapping one finger against his lower lip, he pointed to her nose and mouth.
“Not quite. Those modifications are entirely utilitarian and the result of specific hormonal changes on your part. No, I’m talking about the fact that you will need to keep Claiming your pet in order to bring in more of his reiryoku to shore up the growing structure you see around the cub. As the child grows larger, so will the barrier, hence the increased need for his energy. I’m going to be conservative here and tell you to keep Claiming him frequently, to keep the proportions of interlaced reiryoku at their current levels. Any lessening of yours will starve the baby and the placenta, as the blood vessels and tissue within it provide the majority of its material nourishment. I don’t see this happening, as your body will automatically contribute whatever it needs. However,” he warned, “any lessening or thinning of your pet’s reiryoku will leave your cub’s developing body and the placenta exposed to what I can only assume is a hostile environment. I’ll be very curious to see if that holds true if, Kami help me, another pregnant female walks through my doors today… or tomorrow.”
She felt a little dizzy as he finished his summary. Harribel had deliberately chosen Toshiro because of his potential, but if what Szayel had said was fact, her body had greedily begun preparations for this long before the last five years, siphoning off the reiatsu she’d taken from him to create a haven for their child. She’d thought that the reason she’d needed to Claim him more frequently had been due to his increase in power over the last half-decade. Looking at what her body had spun out of their combined reiryoku, she decided that was only partly true. If a bit of what she’d taken in Claiming him had gone towards this every time she’d done so, then of course she’d need to keep supplementing it with more Claims.
“The long and short of it, Harribel-sama, is that you’ll need his reiryoku and reiatsu to keep yourself pregnant, probably more so as you get closer to delivery.”
“How often would I have to Claim him?” she asked hesitantly.
“I’m not certain about that, but pregnancy puts quite a strain on a female’s body. At present, and because I have no other Arrancar pregnancies to which I can compare this and even if I did, I doubt they would resemble yours, let’s go with monthly for now. I want to monitor this very carefully, not only for this case’s unique qualities, but also for the trends I think this represents. I’d like to perform an ultrasound on you each week, especially during the first few months.”
“What would those trends be, Szayel-sama?”
This came from Nemu, who seemed to be assembling all of the disparate data into one report. Harribel wondered how long it would take for it to make it to Aizen’s desk. Szayel rested his chin on the knuckles of one fist, his elbow balanced on his forearm and his eyes focused on some unseen point.
“Oh, nothing much. Just the acclimation of two disparate populations to one another’s collective reiatsus over time. Karin-sama brought it up last week. I have a vast assortment of paperwork, generated in the last twenty-four hours as evidence of this. This is the thirteenth case I’ve seen today. Now, as far as a due date goes, this leaves me in a quandary. I know that your base animal is a shark, but can you tell me the variety? That will help us determine how far along you are as well as give us an estimate of the length of each trimester.”
“A blue shark,” Harribel found herself saying. Szayel made a pleased noise as he went to a third computer and entered the information. She could see his eyes following the data as it scrolled from the bottom towards the top of the screen, like two golden coins moving up and down behind his mask fragments.
“Now that’s interesting. That particular species gives birth to live young, so there won’t be the extra consideration of an egg casing to take into account. There also appears to be only one child, so we won’t have to worry about any intrauterine cannibalism going on…”
“Szayel-sama…”
Nemu’s voice held a small amount of censure and if she looked off to the right, Harribel noted that Abarai had gone a little gray in the face at the imagery the scientist conjured. She wasn’t particularly pleased with his words either. Szayel sniffed, but thankfully left the rest of the sentence unfinished.
“I’m only reading what it says in the zoological database,” he protested haughtily and when the resulting silence thickened, he threw up his hands. “Fine. I’m going to estimate a full, nine-month pregnancy, since the average blue shark’s gestation can take between nine to twelve months. As such, there may be a few issues when your third trimester gets underway. I’m not certain what your labour will look like. No uterus, no contractions… things could get very interesting.”
Harribel wasn’t entirely sure she liked the way he said ‘interesting’. It implied the word ‘difficult’ without actually saying so.
“Does it work Tou-san?” a small, worried voice piped up from the spot where Abisara had a strange contraption secured around Abarai’s temples. Between the two prods in the boy’s hands and the little girl clinging to the front of his tear-stained uniform, the redhead had the appearance of a man besieged. Brown eyes stared warily at the wires Abisara was about to attach to the metal headband girding his skull.
Szayel favoured his son with a pleased grin and tapped the sensor’s outer casing.
“Of course it does! It’s doing a beautiful job of discerning different energies from one another, and on such a tiny target too! I’m quite impressed with your work. I’m sure we’ll be able to suss out the Swarm with this, long before they can reach the Seireitei.”
“I have two more to make, Tou-san. I’m trying to work faster, but…”
Oblivious to her presence, Szayel walked over to the child and got down on one knee, the very picture of a proud father. He placed both hands on the boy’s shoulders in what she guessed was supposed to be a reassuring gesture.
“Abisara, you’re doing very well. Don’t worry. We’ll have things ready by the deadline, even if I have to stay awake for a week. However, you need food and a nap.” The scientist took in the sight of his children’s guardian, using his sleeve as a handkerchief for Vindula. The little girl clutched a sodden white square of fabric with bits of blue and yellow along one side. It had long since been soaked through with saltwater.
“Abarai, as the search for your brain is an inherent waste of time, why don’t you take the children down to the family quarters? It’s nearly teatime and I’m quite certain that they’re due for a meal and a brief respite.”
Harribel wasn’t sure if the expression on Abarai’s face was irritation over the blatant insult to his intelligence or relief that his potential electrocution had been put on hold. She’d noticed that Szayel’s pet, aside from his perpetual over-protectiveness towards the twins, also got very nervous around her on the few occasions she and her girls had run into them. Today was no exception, as he gratefully extracted himself from the headband and wires and bolted from the room with the scientist’s children.
“What worries your son?” she asked quietly, unable to help herself. The boy stank of fear from the moment he’d walked in, despite the presence of his parents and his guardian and very little of it had been directed towards her. No, the child had asked about ‘him’ and ‘he’. Szayel and Nemu’s eyes met and it appeared as if some silent debate was going on between them. Finally, the other Espada’s mate looked down at her hands and lowered her eyes submissively.
“I shall defer to your wishes, Szayel-sama. Harribel-san’s report is ready. Shall I make an appointment for her for next week?”
“Yes, please. When you’re done, why don’t you join our children and send Abarai downstairs. He and I need to speak of some important things after the Third Espada and I conclude our business.”
Nemu nodded and proceeded to clean the gel off of Harribel’s midsection before handing her carefully folded uniform and undergarments to her. She then exited, but not before casting one last glace at her mate, the concern in it almost equal to the fear she’d seen in Abisara’s eyes. Szayel had at least four copies printing out by the time she finished dressing behind the screen provided for such purposes and was thumbing through them to make sure each contained the same number of sheets. Harribel delicately cleared her throat.
“You have yet to answer my question, Seventh,” she reminded him. He glanced up at her and then back down to the reports in his hands.
“Aizen. He fears Aizen.”
Szayel said the word in the same way that he might spit out a bite of rancid meat and Harribel held her breath. She knew that Aizen had done some terrible things to Szayel, but she’d never seen Aizen act inappropriately towards the scientist’s twins. The boy’s demeanour said something different, however. The blonde bit her newly-exposed lip, the movement hidden behind her high collar.
“Why? Is it because of what he’s done to you in the past?”
Szayel gave up on shuffling the papers. Instead, he walked over to the table and placed them in a separate pile from the others. Then he turned around and folded his arms, leaning against the heavy metal object. His eyes were still on the large overhead screen and his voice dripped with the same kind of scorn that had tainted Starrk’s attitude the day before.
“Past? Oh, my dear Third Espada, Kami continues to play his little games with my Mistress, all in order to find ways to circumvent his own rules regarding the disciplining of ‘pets’. There is nothing ‘past’ about his unwanted attentions towards my person.”
“But you belong to Grimmjow’s mate! He agreed, before all of us, that she was to handle any punishments!”
Her disbelief earned her an outright laugh from the scientist, but there was no humour in the sound.
“Oh, I thought so as well, at least for a few years after that one, humiliating afternoon. Of late, he’s become fixated on punishing me for anything he deems a slight, just to get me beneath him for some entertainment. You do remember that little insect-collection junket, don't you? The one where he sent out my Mistress, her mate and Starrk-san to capture that accursed Portal Scarab downstairs? I’ll give you three guesses as to what, or rather, who, Aizen spent his time doing while they were conveniently gone!”
There were times that Harribel was very glad that the collar of her jacket covered the majority of her face. This was rapidly turning out to be one of them, as Szayel casually informed her of each and every time, in the last five years, that Aizen had broken his own laws and raped him. If he was lying to her, he was doing a good job of it and her skin began to crawl with each revelation. A sense of déjà vu came over her when Szayel paused in his awful narrative and proceeded to lock both sets of doors leading into the room. Unohana had done the same thing, though this time it was not at Harribel’s request. He also tapped a few things out on the console closest to the exit. Her earlier apprehension about treading lightly while in Szayel’s domain came back five-fold and she was suddenly very glad Tiburon was within reach.
He gave her a mirthless smirk as he came to stand before her. Her hackles immediately went up when he reached for the collar of his uniform’s jacket and pulled downward on the fasteners holding the two sides together. Harribel reminded herself that she’d done the same thing with Unohana, to show the healer what she’d tried to keep hidden from others.
“I’ve turned off the recording equipment and the cameras, and no one will bother us while I prove to you that we, some of whom were once Vasto Lorde such as yourself, might have made a bad bargain in our choice of leaders… not that Aizen truly gave us many alternatives when he recruited us.”
She couldn’t help recoiling from the sight of the myriad scars that Aizen had carved on Szayel’s body over the years. The examination room’s harsh fluorescent lighting concealed nothing. It certainly couldn’t hide the old marks, the ones she’d seen on the day that she’d had to watch Grimmjow’s weeping mate whip Szayel for his supposed inaction in putting up the Defence Net. Nor could it hide the new ones, the angry red kanji carved into his barely-healed Hierro. The message was clear for anyone who was close enough to the Seventh to view his bared torso, and from its configuration, she guessed that Aizen meant for Szayel to read it from multiple angles.
Harribel wished she could blame the nausea that gurgled to life in her stomach on morning sickness. Instead, her hands clenched the table’s edge on either side of her, the corners cutting into her palms enough to leave a straight-edged indentation.
“This… this doesn’t entirely explain your son’s distress,” she tried to say, “unless he’s seen this and fears for your safety.”
Szayel gave her a hard look and then reached out one arm to touch the casing of the sensor that the child had brought into the room, running his fingers over its surface.
“I, my mate and Abarai have tried to keep all of this from them. Our ability to do so, unfortunately, may come to an end soon. The latest incident proved that to me. Kami intended to punish Abisara for ‘failing’ in his efforts to help me isolate and created detectors for the distinct radiation given off by the Portal Bugs when they activate their wings. The deadline was unreasonable. Aizen set it in order to trap me in that playroom of his, the one in the bowels of his Palace. He also has a tendency to show up, unannounced, at this Division in order to ‘catch’ me doing something that might warrant punishment. Hence the locks. Try as I might, Harribel-san, this particular deck isn’t stacked in my favour, especially when I agreed to take the punishment Aizen intended for my son upon my own shoulders.”
“What did he do to you?” she found herself whispering. Nothing she’d heard seemed to warrant any sort of penalty, especially for a young boy trying to assist his father. Szayel’s eyes darkened and the shadows beneath them lent a sinister edge to what he said next.
“Considering what he usually does to me, I readily agreed to take this one, in order to spare my boy. I’d been up for three days and nights trying to complete the project, to no avail thanks to that worthless insect’s refusal to move its wings. Aizen proceeded to rape me, taking me in a mate’s position, for nearly twelve straight hours, using his Zanpakuto’s abilities to keep me from sleeping while he did so. I also think he forced his servant to help in that little endeavour. Aizen would have kept at it if Abarai hadn’t sought out my Mistress for help.”
She could barely find her voice, lips trembling and bloodless as she listened.
“He couldn’t… he wouldn’t… not to one of the cubs!” Harribel stammered, the bile rising in the back of her throat. Szayel gave her a withering glare, made worse by the disappointment she saw directed at her.
“You sound as if you don’t believe me. Perhaps you should ask Starrk-san,” he said scathingly. “I’m sure he’ll confirm my story, since he accompanied Karin and Abarai to the Palace’s dungeons to liberate me from that torture chamber. He’s quite put out about Aizen nibbling around the edges of his pack, or so Karin-sama tells me.”
Harribel had just enough warning to get to her feet and find the closest wastebasket, barely managing to pull her collar down and free her lips before she threw up the remnants of her lunch into the receptacle. Hacking and coughing, she kept gagging until there was nothing left to remove from her gut. A dampened paper towel, plucked from the holder by the sink on the far wall, materialized next to her head and she grabbed it from Szayel’s fingers. The scalding tone of his voice belied the gallantry he’d just shown her.
“Tsk. I keep forgetting just how tetchy the digestive tract of a pregnant woman can be. I suggest dry bread and mint tea. Tesra’s little human mate swears by those as a means to…”
“Why are you telling me this, Szayel?” she gasped, once she’d wiped her mouth and tried to resume an upright position. Harribel heard him snort a bit derisively.
“Because you asked why my son is frightened of Aizen paying us a visit. It isn’t my fault that the answer wasn’t to your liking. Consider it a courtesy on my part, a preview of what you can expect once your child is born.”
“What do you mean?”
“Grimmjow, Ulquiorra and I have all had the ‘pleasure’ of a visit from Kami, shortly after our children’s births. I’m sure he’ll include you and your pet in our select club of threatened parents. He’ll take your cub from you and he will make it clear to you and your pet what will befall your child if you so much as breathe incorrectly. If you don’t believe me,” Szayel warned, “it might behoove you to speak with the Sixth and the Fourth Espadas. Maybe you could even lower yourself to speak to Nnoitra Gilga about it after his pet and his fraccion’s mate give birth, as they’re due in mid-to-late summer. I’m sure Aizen will do the same to them. You’ll be at the start of your third trimester at that point then. I suppose it’s best to be prepared.”
The blonde wanted to sink to her knees, but managed to stay on her feet, bracing herself against the closest solid surface to do so. The hand that clutched the paper towel shook, especially as Szayel continued his sardonic diatribe.
“That is, of course, if he allows you to carry to term. Unohana-Taichou sent me a lovely little letter yesterday. It was a bit… cryptic, and it did not mention you specifically, but now,” he said with mock-thoughtfulness and a sweeping motion towards the ultrasound image still on the screen, “I see what she was getting at as far as ‘ensuring that Kami recognizes the value and uniqueness of each case that comes before me’. I’m going to go out on a limb here, my dear, and assume she was referring to this.”
She glared at him, for his words, for voicing all of the fears she’d held carefully in check. The most unforgivable thing was confirming her worst suspicions about Aizen’s proclivities and his condescending tone when he spoke to her. She was about to correct him about that, to inform him that she was of a much higher rank than he at present, before she remembered that not only was she in his den, but that she would have to rely on him to make sure the cub she carried made it. The problem was that he was well aware of her present predicament and his subsequent words let her know he wasn’t above using that to his advantage.
“Sadly, there is such a thing as being too good at one’s job.”
Here, Harribel bared her teeth, thinking of her potential alliance with Starrk and Lilinette.
“I’ve asked the First to take my unborn as his fraccion. By Aizen’s own laws, he’ll not be able to force me to give up my cub!” she hissed and Szayel’s response was to ramp up the pity in his expression.
“Have you heard nothing I’ve said, oh Third Espada? Aizen feels himself above all laws, his or ours or anyone else’s, including the laws of physics. Are these…” and here he indicated the ugly scars that marred his once unmarked torso, “not enough to convince you? Would you like to see the ones on Abarai? He managed to distract Aizen long enough for our ruler to forego tearing one of Vindula’s wings off in punishment for a perceived failure on my part. My pet decided it would be better if he took whatever harm Aizen intended for her on himself.”
“Enough!!!” she shouted, her eyes screwed shut and her fists rising to either side of her head, as if she could use them to blot out the unbearable things coming from Szayel’s mouth. He seemed taken aback at her vehemence and she used his silence to try to gather her thoughts in the face of what was surely the most treasonous thing she’d heard since she’d set foot in the Seireitei.
‘Treasonous’, of course did not mean he wasn’t also correct.
If anything, Szayel’s nastily delivered warning, for that was how she chose to interpret it, only served to reinforce the instincts that had led her to seek help from the First. As if he could read her thoughts, Szayel chose that moment to chip away at her assumption that Starrk’s involvement might be enough to dissuade Aizen from involving himself with her people.
“If Aizen truly gains the Throne, if Unohana-Taichou gives him the child he so desires, not even Starrk and Lilinette will be able to stand against him. He won’t need the Espada any longer either, which means he’ll probably bring this grand ‘experiment’ with us to an end. He’ll have little use for ‘enforcers’, or their pets… or their children, for that matter once he can not only see but hear anything anyone utters in all of the Realms he’ll rule. Personally, I predict a bloodbath.”
He almost sounded contemplative about it, as if he were pondering the idea from a remote, academic view rather than someone currently under Aizen’s relentless scrutiny.
“Of course, if he’s willing to hurt my cubs and to leave Ajuga and Diaemus to the mercy of the Swarm, one wonders how long he’ll let his own child, a potential rival for the Royal seat live. I’m willing to bet it will be less than a minute.”
“You’ve a vile mind, Szayel Apporo Grantz!” she spat, sickened by his insinuations. Szayel merely gave her a bland look.
“Hmm, yes, well, I’ve heard much worse over the years. Sticks and stones and all that rubbish. It doesn’t make what I’m telling you any less true. So let me ask you something, now that I’ve torn down a few of your illusions regarding Aizen and the taboos he’s willing, nay, eager to break. I would like your thoughts on the matter. You, quite smartly I might add, requested aid of Coyote Starrk. I’m sure his protection came with a price tag. His mind isn’t as sleep-fogged as you might think. That alone tells me you’ve had your own doubts about Aizen.”
There was no point on denying either of his allegations on that count, though she did break eye contact with him.
“He said he would do it, if I took in Barragan’s former pet, the one your Mistress is caring for.”
It took Szayel a few seconds to process this, but when he did, his fingers drummed together gleefully and he tossed his head back in a hearty laugh that seemed incredibly inappropriate, given the topic with which he was currently bludgeoning her.
“Goodness… I will have to hand it to the First! Maybe all of that napping serves an intellectual purpose after all! I know that a number of people were angry about the Second’s actions but I didn’t think Starrk would take such an active role in finding a solution! I do hope you take him up on that. I’d hate to lose a perfectly good specimen for the lack of a Claim.”
Harribel did her best to ignore how Szayel referred to Soi Fon’s cub and instead settled on glaring at him.
“I haven’t said yes yet. I need to discuss it…” she tried to say, before Szayel actually rolled his eyes at her.
“With whom? Your three fraccion? Your pet? No, wait, let me guess… if you’re this worried about how he might react, he hardly qualifies as a pet any longer, does he?”
She didn’t understand why he was being so rude, so confrontational with her. Toshiro’s status within her household was no business of his, though he’d brought up the very thing that had kept her from telling Starrk she would do what he wanted. If she wasn’t entirely sure of where she stood with Toshiro, if she was actually concerned about it, it was her issue to sort out, not his. Harribel chose to backtrack and row this strange excuse for a conversation back into calmer currents.
“I will confess that I do not wish Aizen’s gaze to linger for too long on my girls, or Toshiro. I’ve done my best to give him no reason to look our way.”
“And you’ve done a truly admirable job of it… up until now. I’m afraid that by allowing one of the most powerful surviving Shinigami to impregnate you, and in such a spectacularly unorthodox manner, you’ve opened up a box of trouble that you will not easily close. While you might be the first confirmed Arrancar female in the family way, I doubt you’ll be the last and therefore, Aizen can afford to be choosy as to which one of his creations he allows to remain pregnant. I’d wager that there would be a few others besides you, if Unohana’s warning to me holds true. Bless her; her note gave me just enough warning to pull a few mechanically-inclined researchers off of their pet projects to help my son while I handle this poorly-timed crisis of fertility. I wouldn’t want to miss another one of Kami’s deadlines,” he told her in a voice dripping with sarcasm. Harribel squared her shoulders, tired of his baiting and ready to put an end to it.
“What do you want from me Szayel? Even if what you’ve told me is accurate, there is little I can do to stop him!”
“Spot-on, my dear Third! Alone, you would stand little chance against his Zanpakuto’s Shikai. His partial grip on the Spirit King’s Throne gives him vast amounts of power from which he can draw to quell any who might protest what he does. Starrk might last a little while against him, but the odds aren’t in the Coyote’s favour in a prolonged fight.”
“You speak as if it Aizen’s wrath is something inevitable!”
Szayel looked ruefully at her and sighed.
“When he tires of breaking me and mine, he will seek fresh meat. If his plan to ennoble his bloodline succeeds, there will be nowhere in all of the Realms to hide, nowhere that he cannot reach… and no one and nothing will be safe from him. Believe me, Harribel, when I say that you are closer to danger than you realize.”
“I could repeat everything you’ve just said to me to Aizen. I could use it to curry favour with him, to perhaps supplant Ulquiorra as his most trusted Espada.”
Harribel said this with more resolution that she felt, and he appeared to ponder the possibility, tapping his lower lip with one finger. He then proceeded to give her what might have been the most infuriatingly smug smile she’d ever seen, had it not been mixed with an equal amount of sorrow.
“Ah, the prisoner’s dilemma, in which two rivals with sensitive information must decide if betraying the other to an overseeing authority will result in a reward at the other’s expense. I do so love a classic behavioural puzzle! I would remind you that if your goal involved staying beneath Aizen’s notice, going before him with such a tale would bring his scrutiny down upon you… once he was finished raping and executing my household, of course. And here I thought you and your fraccion enjoyed my little girl’s company.”
Harribel pressed her lips together until they lost all color, weighing her options and coming up with nothing that favoured making Aizen aware of what he’d just told her. In fact, there were too many of those that she cared for who would suffer, directly or indirectly, if she did so and by Szayel’s expression, he’d known it the moment he’d started in on her. This was the dramatically devious Szayel she remembered and finding herself abruptly confronted by that aspect of his personality unsettled her. She’d had too many shocks in the last two days and didn’t know how many more she could handle.
As angry as she was about him dumping all of this in her unprepared lap, Harribel also had one very important reason to abandon the tattle-tale’s path as well as the path of the fence-sitter. She’d taken such an approach with Barragan and she’d nearly lost both her pack and her life as a result. She couldn’t afford to make the same error twice.
With a deep breath, she focused her eyes on one of the more recently-made carvings on Szayel’s chest, the one that said “Obedient” if one turned it upside down and reversed it, and tried to calm down enough to apply the critical thinking that everyone else seemed to expect of her to the situation at hand.
Szayel might be telling her this under the guise of answering a question pertaining to his son, but there was more than that at work here. Szayel had no overt reason to enlighten her about what had occurred between Aizen and his unfortunate pack, even if he couched it as a warning. Unless, of course, he wanted something from her. Normally, she thought, one wouldn’t adopt such a quarrelsome tone when asking for such. Her humility towards Starrk was a prime example of what one ought to do when making a request of a much stronger entity. Szayel, on the other hand, appeared to be goading her towards a goal of his choosing, using his disclosures as a prod.
Therefore, she had something that he wanted and he made a frighteningly good case for giving it to him. Either that or he wanted her to do something. It didn’t help that, as much as she disliked needing another Arrancar, her present condition meant that she required his help. Still, her innate sense of caution prevailed when it came to promising anything to the Seventh.
“Have you informed those Numeros who have come to you, about what Aizen has done, about the threat he poses to their cubs?” she asked warily. It didn’t seem like Szayel would want to reveal such a plethora of weaknesses to anyone beneath him. The corners of the scientist’s mouth curled upwards and she inwardly cursed, realizing that he’d anticipated her question.
“No. There’s no need. Aizen will work his way through the Espadas’ packs first, setting an example. The Numeros might even cheer him on, thinking they’ll have a chance to replace us. They won’t realize the danger until it’s far too late.”
Harribel suppressed a full-body shudder. Then she noticed something she realized was important. Szayel had left off any honorifics when uttering Aizen’s surname. He’d also suffused his one use of the word ‘Kami’ with enough scorn to negate whatever exalted status it might convey.
He’d all but given her a list of charges against their leader and she couldn’t find fault with anything on it. He’d conveyed a warning to her and she had little doubt that, aside from its shoddy and unnecessarily provocative delivery, the threat behind it was genuine. He’d mentioned the Spirit King’s Throne and the unspoken knowledge that Aizen’s grip on power wasn’t a certain thing. The underlying self-assurance she could see simmering beneath the abused front he showed meant that he knew far more than he was letting on.
There was only one real conclusion Harribel could draw from all of it and it left her somewhat woozy.
“You’re asking me to help overthrow him, aren’t you?” she breathed, the pupils in her sea-glass eyes shrinking to pinpoints as the realization washed over her. Her arms involuntarily wrapped around her belly, a useless gesture but one she made just the same.
Instead of answering right away, Szayel pulled one of the reports he’d printed out from its place on the table of stacked papers and slipped it into a folder. Pulling the chair she’d initially seen him sitting in to a spot just out of arm’s reach, he sat down and fixed his golden eyes on her.
“You never answered my question, Tia Harribel. What do you think of our illustrious leader? I’d like to point out, before you answer, that your actions to this point indicate a distinct lack of confidence.”
Harribel closed her eyes and counted to ten, then counted to ten again, putting the brakes on her temper. She would not allow him to back her into a corner like this, but there was little she could say in the face of Szayel’s coolly-stated facts.
Aizen’s actions had angered her one too many times. He’d shown himself to be no better than Barragan and while he’d delivered on many of the things he’d promised, it would appear that in many cases, those things came with strings attached. Szayel’s scars were proof of it. Even that wouldn’t be such a surprise, when one accounted for the typical interactions between high-level Hollows.
The threats against Szayel’s cubs were another thing entirely. Harribel had always prided herself on her willingness to take care of those who looked up to her. Even Toshiro, who hadn’t exactly been what she would call a ‘willing’ pack member during their early years together, had come to see her as something other than the controlling monster he’d once called her. Why then, she asked herself, was she following someone who exhibited only strength, and not the protectiveness that ought to have accompanied it? No Alpha would ever prey on their own, least of all their pack’s cubs. Not if they wanted to remain in that position.
She wished she could use fear as an excuse for her servitude. She’d been rightly afraid of Barragan for all those centuries and yet she hadn’t bowed her head to the stronger male. What made Aizen so different from that skull-faced bag of bones that he could expect her unquestioning support for things she would have held against the Second had he done them?
The answer, she reluctantly told herself, was ‘nothing’.
“I do not trust him. Not after seeing this. Not after… what you’ve told me.”
Szayel’s smug smile turned triumphant and she suspected she’d walked right into the conclusion he’d wanted her to reach.
“An intelligent answer on your part, though one I would expect from anyone with half a brain.”
She glowered at him. While she might have lost all faith in Aizen, it didn’t mean that she was ready to pull the rug out from beneath the only thing standing between her pack and an eternity beneath Barragan’s thumb. Without Aizen, there would be little to stop the walking skeleton from trying to reclaim his former title and his power over Hueco Mundo. She had little doubt he would try to add the Seireitei to his ‘empire’ too.
“You wouldn’t be telling me this without a reason, Szayel. I’ll reiterate... are you planning to overthrow him? Do you actually relish life with Barragan’s boot on the small of your back? If so, I’m afraid that I don’t share your enthusiasm for such a future.”
Szayel coughed discretely into his fist, sounding scornful.
“Third, I would worry less about Barragan and more about the very real threat that hangs over your head as we speak. I would ask for your backing, but if you cannot give that outright, then I would ask that you stay out of our way while we bring him down, end the danger to our cubs and…”
“Our?” she whispered, and leaned forward, despite her misgivings. “It’s more than just you, isn’t it? This is madness, Szayel! He is far stronger than the lot of us combined! You saw what he was capable of during the War and you’re still planning something this reckless?”
The only answer she received was an enigmatic smile that promised much and delivered little. Harribel could guess the identity of at least one conspirator. Grimmjow didn’t strike her as the sort that would allow Aizen to continue to indulge himself with the Espada’s personal property without taking action. However, Szayel’s attitude implied that he had more support than that and the only other Espada with cubs were two that had little reason, from her perspective, to join in a mutiny. Nnoitra Gilga, for all of his blustering, wasn’t concerned with anything outside of his small sphere and Ulquiorra’s loyalty was steadfast and unwavering, so fixed that one could navigate a ship by it.
Unless… unless it wasn’t. Aizen’s unwillingness to pursue Diaemus might have changed that. Then there were the years of influence the sweet-natured Orihime had exerted upon her mate.
Fortunately, Szayel all but handed her the answer with a wave of his hand.
“Oh, did I mention that the cubs in question aren’t all hybrids? I suggest you chew on that for a moment,” he added and let his golden eyes drift towards his nails, as if examining them while he waited for her to connect the dots.
Her blood could not have grown colder nor more sluggish if Toshiro had suddenly appeared and cast his Bankai at her, its ice encasing her limbs as it once had during their long ago battle. There was only one, non-hybrid child that made her home among the Espada and their respective pets and mates. In that instant, she understood the disgust that she saw in Starrk’s body language the day before.
Profound rage followed closely on amazement’s heels. Hana was her fraccion. She was the girl’s protector and though the young Shinigami had never said a word to her about anything being amiss, Szayel had just informed her that Aizen posed a direct threat to Toshiro’s 7^th Seat.
“Hana… Kami, he’s threatened Hana… I don’t understand! She’s done nothing…”
“I will admit that the danger to Hana is high, but not immediate. Nevertheless, yes, it exists and I’m afraid I cannot enlighten you as to why unless you agree to either join our cause or conveniently find somewhere else to be when we make our move. Please take this as the flattery it is when I tell you that I do not want to face you, your mate or any combination thereof when we take him down.”
Harribel felt as if she was standing on the crumbling edge of a cliff with no way to back up and retreat to safety. She could jump and risk everything in an attempt to make it to the other side, or she could stay and pray that by standing still she could preserve what solid ground remained beneath her. Those she cared for, her girls, Toshiro, Hana, the cub she carried, would be in danger no matter which option she chose. Szayel had given her a third alternative, to make herself scare while his co-conspirators did their best to rid themselves of Aizen, but that was in and of itself a choice that favoured their rebellion. Even if they had Starrk on their side, their chances of winning were slim.
Except, of course, she deigned to participate in what they had planned too.
She’d promised Grimmjow and Ise Nanao, Starrk’s fraccion, that she would take care of Hana, that she would protect her. Starrk and Lilinette might have chosen not to blame her this time for what had occurred with the Swarm, but if Aizen posed a threat to Hana herself and Harribel didn’t try to do something to avert it, she would have more than enough trouble on her doorstep, courtesy of the combined First.
If she went to Aizen now, she would put her newest fraccion at risk as well as ruin the alliance she’d tried to build so carefully with Starrk.
If she went along with Szayel, she could very well be signing her own death warrant, as well as those of her girls and Toshiro. It came down, she decided, on who she trusted more and which outcome she feared less, as well as which obligations she chose to honour. Toshiro would certainly have no qualms about joining such a rebellion, especially after everything that had happened to the late Hinamori.
“If it is any consolation, I can’t actually remember an instance, in all of the time Aizen has involved himself with we Arrancar, when he ever told us to trust him. Obey? Yes. Fear? Undoubtedly. Follow? Without question. But trust? No… I believe that we heard what we wanted to hear on that one,” the Seventh added bitterly.
After a few minutes of deliberation, Harribel looked up and met Szayel’s steady, tired gaze, then ran her fingers through her hair, feeling a little worn down as well. She turned the file folder containing the images of her unborn cub over and over in her hands, wondering if what she was about to do would be the death of it. With some reluctance, she made her decision.
“What must I do to help you?”
To his credit, Szayel refrained from gloating, or boasting or engaging in crowing of any kind. Instead, he leaned his upper body forward, enough for her to read some of the older scars that ruined the skin of his shoulders and adjusted the remnants of his cracked mask. His expression shifted from ‘satisfied’ to ‘grim’ and she knew he was about to tighten the net he’d cast around her.
“Swear to me on the lives of your cub, your mate and those loose-lipped girls you call your fraccion that what I say to you will remain within the confines of this Division. Your rank means nothing in this undertaking. Do not discuss this with your household, nor with that young man of yours unless I, Grimmjow or Karin give you leave to do so.”
Harribel could forgive the commanding tone his voice had taken on. However, if she was going to commit, at the very least, to turning a blind eye and letting three powerful Espada take on their creator in a bid for freedom, she would demand some recompense from the scientist.
“I want something in addition to the information you have for me, Szayel.”
“What would that be?” he inquired, moving to the console to file the digital report her pregnancy had generated.
“An answer to a puzzle that has bothered me for quite some time,” she replied, and in turn, one of his eyebrows went up behind the rims of his glasses at her ambiguous wording.
“I will provide such, if it is something I feel is safe to reveal, or for which I have a reply. Some things in this Division remain a mystery even to me. I’m not its first occupant and its former owner embodied the Aspect of Madness, more than I ever could.”
She nodded and slung Tiburon around her shoulders, securing the blade in its usual spot. Picking up the report, she clutched it to her chest while Szayel donned his jacket and covered up the evidence of Aizen’s continued abuse. Then he spent a few minutes at the computers, cancelling out programs and securing those as well.
“Thank you,” Harribel said softly when he’d finished. He sniffed and gave her an intent stare, despite his haggard expression.
“Do not thank me yet. Just understand that if you break your word, you will have removed the last, best chance of turning Aizen’s attentions away from you and yours. Help us, and we’ll both be free of a threat to our progeny.”
“But Barragan…” she began and he smiled wanly at the blonde before unlocking the door.
“We’ll deal with him later. He’s not invulnerable and for that matter, neither is Aizen. One tyrant at a time, Third. Now come with me. I’ve information to give both you and Abarai and I’ve too much to do today to tell the same story twice.”

Huge hugs and thanks for the reviews. I did promise a triple update, so undoubtly the next chapter will be up long before you finish reading this one giving it‘s 26 pages long, which is longer than I usually like but there was just no place to break it up.
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Prize of Victory 2	By : NovaAlexandria Category: Bleach > General Views: 56251 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make a profit from this story

Prize of Victory 2