A/N: Weeeell hellooooo there, come here often? HAH. Yeah, not so much. Um, so, it's really difficult to write for a pairing you haven't been reading fics about in ages. But I happened to be on a Kirk/Spock fic binge and got inspired and though omg HitsuMatsu in SPACE, YES. So, here we are. Enjoy! 4 drabbles to go!

oOo

Spiralem Vitae Galaxy, Alpha Quadrant

In the backwaters of the Rukon Sector,

Asauchi Starbase III

"Seventy-five credits for a lousy shot of saké?!" she exclaimed, horrified. This is what I get for slumming it, damn it.

"Pay up or get the fuck out," the bartender drawled with a bored voice.

"Fine," she gritted out through clenched teeth as she got out her card to chip it. This place was far removed from the hustle and bustle of the Seireitei Sector, where the Gotei 13 had their headquarters. It was where people made a mostly honest living. Out here, in the far regions of Central 46's sector blocks, their starbases and colonies were much less supervised and supported. It invited a much less savory fight for survival; scavengers, smuggler and traders. On the rare occasions a Gotei 13 ship came this way for ship maintenance, crew transfers or simply trading, they mostly turned a blind eye to the more questionable patrons of the base. A fact which Rangiku Matsumoto had been counting on.

"Know where I can hitch a ride to Gense?" she asked casually after a few sips of third-rate saké. The bartender glared, but nodded his head towards the corner of the bar, where a ragtag group of merchants sat sipping what looked like contraband spirits (that shade of black was distinctive of a Quadrant much more hostile than this one).

Nodding her thanks, she downed what was left of her drink and made her way over to the group of people huddled in the corner. She smiled, adjusted her top and winked at the first man to look up at her approach.

"Hello fellows, you happen to know where a poor gal like me could hitch a ride to Gense?," she asked as charmingly as she could, coming to a stop by their table and cocking her hip confidently. They were all Pulses, she noted, and all men. Scars and missing teeth, a broken nose and discolored eyes spoke of their way of life as well as anything around here.

"Can think of several places to fit you in, for the right price," what looked like the leader replied with a crooked grin. He leaned forward, elbows on the table, and looked her over. "Giving that it's in a whole other Quadrant, and a rather restricted one at that...that price might be a mite high for a poor gal like yourself."

Rangiku grinned. "Oh don't you worry about that, gentlemen. I can pay. Now, what say you?"

Leaning back, the leader narrowed his eyes. "Five thousand credits, and a bonus for my men here. They get lonely, you see," he grinned. "What say you, little lady?"

Before she had the time to reply, the tell-tale frisson of reishi sparkled in the air, going completely unnoticed by the group of Pulses. Moments later, the shoddy bar was distinctly overcrowded. Flash stepping, really? Drama Queens and show-offs. Tsk.

"What she says matter little to what I have to say; you, Kamala Shree, and your crew are under arrest for smuggling across the Boundaries, by way of Central 46 law," a too familiar, icy voice stated from behind her back. Rangiku rolled her eyes and almost sighed in resignation before schooling her expression and stepping aside to avoid getting caught in the chaos that followed.

Kamala and his crew tried to flee, as did several occupants of the starbase's bar (including, unsurprisingly, the bartender). Unsuccessfully, of course, because this was the infamous Tenth Division of the Gotei 13, led by the uncompromising prodigy Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya.

This didn't mean she didn't try to make a run for it as well, but unfortunately, someone had taken a rather personal interest in her lately.

"You're not going anywhere this time, Matsumoto," Hitsugaya hissed in her ear, having snatched her mid-run and pushed her firmly against the nearest wall, her chest pressed against his.

"Oh dear me, seems like I'm caught! Were you sent out to clean out the garbage again, little Captain?" she drawled, a bit breathless, and not only because he was pinning her to a wall. He wasn't so little anymore (tall enough for his hot breath to be ghosting across her ear), but he still bristled at the title she had given him so many years ago. Enough for a distraction.

She tested his grip by trying to drop and twist out of his hold, but he was quick to follow. For her troubles, her arms were twisted behind her back and she was slammed face-first into the wall. Hitsugaya pressed in close, his mouth so close to her ear his lips brushed her skin, and she could feel the air crackle with the ice of his temper.

"I chased you to the edge of our Quadrant, don't think for a second I wouldn't hunt you beyond our Boundaries," he whispered furiously. Leaning back, he turned his head to address the men and women of his crew awaiting his orders. "Take the offenders to the ship and lock then up in the brig. I will handle Captain Matsumoto."

Rangiku snorted. "Oh, you'll handle me, will you, little Captain?"

"You've tested my patience enough, Matsumoto. I still have your ship. Behave and you might just see her again," he said, causing her to stiffen. Losing Haineko had been a blow she had yet to recover from and the bastard knew it.

His grip on her arms tightened, but she refused to wince. With a sharp jerk, he dragged her away and into a flash step which had them by the docking station between one blink and the next. Before them stood the infamous Hyōrinmaru, one of Gotei 13's best starships.

"Long time no seen," Rangiku drawled, caught between dread, excitement and nostalgia. Hitsugaya snorted, causing her to look at him over her shoulder. His usually stoic features were twisted up into a smirk.

"Welcome aboard, Captain," he murmured, voice no longer cold, and she barely managed to suppress the shiver running down her back. Damn it.

oOo

Spiralem Vitae Galaxy, Alpha Quadrant

Travelling through the Rukon Sector,

Starship Hyōrinmaru

His quarters hadn't changed much since last she had been aboard the Hyōrinmaru, though the circumstances were vastly different. Seven years ago, she had been on the Gotei 13 payroll. Now, she was a freelancer trying very hard to avoid her former employer. Not that it was a long-time goal she had succeeded with, and while seven years were but a moment in their lifespans, it was a lot when the Captain of the Tenth Division was on your tail. Never let it be said Shinigamis don't hold grudges.

"Sit," Hitsugaya ordered briskly, indicating she settle down by the table he kept for entertaining company in private. They had shared many a meal by that table, and it was with this ease she obeyed.

"I'm not going back," she told him firmly, as if her message hadn't been clear from being on the run for almost a decade. Still, better stay firm.

Hitsugaya sat down opposite her with two cups of steaming tea, an unimpressed look gracing his face. He nudged one cup over to her and took a sip of his own before responding to her statement. "Things have changed, Matsumoto. Or have you not stayed still long enough to have heard the news?"

She looked away, bitter. "Aizen is dead, yes, but so is Gin. What's been done about that, hm?"

"The Central 46 could not allow the massive panic which would have spread should the details of Aizen's true actions and intentions have been made public. The matter has been rendered confidential, yes, but there has been change. The matter forced it upon us, made several of us realize we could not go on as we were," Hitsugaya spoke with an unusual heat, and she couldn't resist meeting his eyes. They burned with the conviction of his words and she felt swept up with the intensity of his passion, as she had many times before. He leaned forward and she fought back the urge to mirror him, his aura a unique gravitational pull made just for her. "I understand why you left, Matsumoto. I know what it did to you, to find out the truth of your commissions, that you were used for a purpose so against your own morale and conscience. Why do you think you made it three years before I picked up on your trail? I couldn't ask you to return without ensuring a change. But it's happening. It's ongoing, it will take years more, but it's happening. I would have you by my side again, Rangiku. Help me move us forward, Captain."

She wanted badly to believe. She hadn't been the only one deceived, she knew. Before her sat perhaps the most honorable of all of Gotei 13, if not even beyond them. And she missed him, stars above.

She sighed, lips quirking up in a small smile. "You've become much more eloquent since last we spoke," she drawled even as she remembered all the times she let herself be pulled along by his few but compelling words. "Then again, that involved a lot of screaming and swearing as I left your ship stranded on Tha'Duk IV."

Hitsugaya snorted as he leaned back in his seat, humour returning to his eyes. "That mudpile of a stinking swamp planet should be eradicated from the Galaxy."

"Now don't be a sourpuss, Captain," she grinned. "Sludge was a rather fetching colour on you."

When he laughed she felt something in her relax that had been strained for years. In the face of this man, she really was hopeless.

O

They laid on their sides, facing each other on the bed, much later. She had her hand on his cheek as he traced patterns on her naked hip.

"Well, that escalated quickly," she grinned feeling quite reckless and still high from a rather spectacular shag. There were many things that had changed since their last encounter, but making her cross-eyed and delirious from pleasure was not one of them. For being known as an icy dragon, cold and fierce, he was scorchingly passionate in bed (and, well, against the wall. Or, you know, on the couch. Or floor).

Toshiro rolled his eyes at her but turned his head to place a kiss on the hand resting on his cheek. Rangiku raised a brow but stayed silent. "I haven't fucked you for seven years, Matsumoto. That time on Svek II does not count, and even if did," he said the last part as he raised his voice when she tried to interrupt, quelling her with a glare, "that was still four years ago." He narrowed his eyes. "I seem to remember promising you retribution once I got my hands on you again, as I slipped away in a drug infused coma."

She bit her lip, remembering catching him off guard on an official visit to the young colony. She hadn't been able to resist. He would've never known she'd even been there had he not been so infuriatingly irresistible. She knew the risk, had slipped him a little something in the drink she'd offered to share after a rather heated encounter that had involved too many clothes and a cramped corner of an Embassy's toilet stall on her knees. Okay, so she felt a bit guilty leaving him there after that, but a coma was a bit of an overstatement. "Oh that. I thought I preempted my apology by blowing your mind, Captain."

She can't remember a time she had ever been innocent, yet she persisted in trying to emulate it in her facial expressions. Surely, someday, all the practise would pay off and butter wouldn't melt in her mouth no matter how hot this man knew it to be. Intimately.

"I think not," he drawled, rolling them over until he had her pinned underneath him, all gloriously naked and muscled and naked-oh yes. "Indeed, I have been tasked to see to your discipline. Not every one of your employers over the years have been up to our government's standards. I suppose now is a good time as any to begin."

Rangiku squirmed and licked her lips. "Are your methods sanctioned by Central 46 then? Should I be worried, Captain?"

He leaned down to nose gently at her neck and easily, she tipped her head to accommodate him. He nipped at her skin, bit hard at the juncture of neck and shoulder. She yelped, but stayed still as he soothed her with a series of kisses which led him down to her breasts. "They trust me to handle you anyway I see fit. And handle you, I will. I've had seven years to think of this. So yes, Rangiku, you should be worried."

She breathed out a soft moan when he fell silent to capture a nipple in his mouth. There should be something she should say here, but she found herself unable to care. If this was her penance, she would happily serve it.

O