Author's Note: I'm honestly not sure where this story is going, if anywhere. XD Should it be Ichi/Grimm or Shiro/Grimm? Or both? Hehehe, Grimmjow's practical approach to mating could make anything possible...

The blue haired arrancar growled, riding out waves of pain.

Giving birth was never an easy process, and even less so for one of the brand new line of hollows. He had no experience to guide him, only instincts, and he was fighting hard to bring his children into the world. Grunting, he shifted slightly and spread his legs further. He needed to get his babies out into the endless twilight.

Grimmjow was holed up in Hueco Mundo, in one of the deserted towers. The whole place was abandoned now, aside from him. He was all alone, the King of an empty land, and it suited him just fine. Kurosaki's taunt was pretty funny, in retrospect. He liked to be alone.

But soon, he wouldn't be alone anymore, and he was rather looking forward to it. This was the first time bearing his own children, although he'd probably sired several. But until recently, he'd never encountered anything strong enough to make him submit. That had changed completely after his battle with Kurosaki, and Grimmjow smiled even through the pain as he remembered the experience…

Death.

Despite the fact that he was technically already dead, Grimmjow had never really thought that death would come for him again. He was tough as hell, an arrancar and the Espada of Destruction. What could bring him down? Some mere shinigami? Well, a shinigami had come close, but the real final blow had been dealt by his so-called comrade. Fuck that. Stupid Aizen and his stupid espirite de corpse, or whatever he called it. If Grimmjow survived this, he was going to shove it right up the rogue shinigami's ass.

But he wasn't going to survive this. Grimmjow could feel his strength ebbing away. Kurosaki had spared him from a quick death, but not a slow one. It was maddening but there wasn't a damned thing he could do. He couldn't even move.

Then power blew over the sands and if he could have, Grimmjow would have tried to find a hiding place. He might be the Espada of Destruction but he wasn't stupid, and that was a Vasto Lorde. One of the elite, the goal he'd always aspired to, and the power was literally mind-numbing. It didn't feel like an arrancar, either. No, this was some foreign vasto lorde who had come by to fuck up their day. And fuck it up he would, since Nnoitra was gone. Grimmjow could feel Ulquiorra's reiatsu from his place in the sand and he knew the Quatro wouldn't stand a chance.

He was right. That spark of reiatsu was brutally extinguished, and Grimmjow sensed the vasto lorde moving around. Coming closer to him. But there wasn't a damned thing he could do, and Grimmjow mentally prepared himself for his fate as a light snack. What else would a vasto lorde want with his wrecked body?

As it turned out, though, the monster had other plans. Grimmjow opened his eyes as hard hands gripped his shoulders, staring into a mask of bone. Black and gold eyes stared back at him, full of a bright intelligence that almost seemed to be laughing at him. Then the arrancar arched in pain as power suddenly poured into him. Agonizing yet oh, so good, it healed his wounds and sent life back into his dying flesh. Panting and limp, Grimmjow blinked up at the vasto lorde. Why the hell would he…?

Then instincts caught up with his mind, and he registered the scent he'd been unaware of before. He'd been too close to death, too weak to scent it, but now he knew. The vasto lorde had chosen him to mate with and was filling the air with the pheromone that signalled his intent. Normally, that would have led to either a firm rejection, followed by either a cold parting or a battle, or a tentative acceptance followed by a battle. No hollow would mate to a weakling, or put their tail up willingly.

But this was not a normal circumstance. Grimmjow knew he wouldn't have a hope in hell of defeating this thing, and the vasto lorde had just saved his life. So instead of doing something stupid and suicidal, he spread his legs wantonly and let his head fall back, baring his throat in submission. Yet even as he did that, he raised his own pheromones and let his power clash with the vasto lorde's, a small display of strength. He was outmatched and about to get fucked, but he still wasn't going to be a total bitch. He heard an appreciative growl above him and knew he'd done the right thing. The vasto lorde wanted some spirit in his mate.

Sharp fangs worried his throat, penetrating the weakened hierro with surprising delicacy. Grimmjow groaned at the minor pain and got busy, sliding his hands down the vasto lorde and pushing aside the bit of fabric hiding his crotch. What he found there was erect and ready, and he began to play with the hot flesh, roughly squeezing and stroking. The vasto lorde's hands found his hakama and clawed fingers ripped the offending fabric away, revealing his body. Then they gripped his thighs in a hard but not painful grip, adjusting his position.

This was no gentle lovemaking. No sweet nothings were whispered and no preparation or gentleness was given. But the pheromones helped dull the sharp edges and Grimmjow howled in a combination of pain and pleasure as that hard length slammed into his body. It hurt, it hurt like fire but there was also something good under it, something that was trying to build. The vasto lorde set a harsh pace, gripping his hips and yanking him upwards. He didn't care about the writhing form beneath him, didn't care about Grimmjow's pleasure, but that didn't really matter. The bastard was huge and while that hurt, it almost guaranteed enough stimulation for his prostate. Grimmjow's fingers bit into the vasto lorde's shoulders, unable to raise so much as a scratch through his powerful hierro. Unlike the others' fangs, which gathered more blood from his neck as the pace increased.

Grimmjow thought he might be losing his mind. The pain was vanishing, replaced with a bitter pleasure that made him want more. And the vasto lorde was giving him more, hammering into him like there was no tomorrow. The intense stimulation was taking him places he'd never been, places he would much rather not have visited, but it was damned good. Grimmjow screamed as he abruptly came, semen splattering between the two of them.

But the vasto lorde wasn't even close to done, and Grimmjow gasped as the pleasurable torment went on, that hard length abusing his body further. The vasto lorde pulled out of him just long enough to flip him onto his stomach and take him that way. Grimmjow howled again as the vasto lorde bit his shoulder, a deep and painful mark. He could feel his blood running down his skin and puddling beneath him, but he didn't care, lost in the overwhelming sensation.

He had no idea how long the vasto lorde hammered into his ass. It felt like forever, and he was hard and panting with the pleasure when the vasto lorde finally unleashed his own howl. The power and pleasure in the sound made Grimmjow's eyes glaze, and he reacted the only way he could, with an intense, indescribably pleasurable orgasm. A few more hammer blows to his prostate and the monster above him came, filling him with his seed and power. Grimmjow grunted as he felt the power tear through him, and knew immediately that this was a successful conception. Most hollows couldn't, but he'd always been able to tell immediately if his mates had taken. Apparently, it was the same when he was the one getting mated.

The vasto lorde pulled away from him with an obscene squelch, and Grimmjow just rested in the sand, too exhausted to move. He did raise his head as the vasto lorde sonido'd away, and vaguely wondered where he was going. Not that he expected the bastard to stay. A sire would sometimes stick around if there was a prior relationship, but it was rare. Most of the time it was up to the dam to raise the cubs, and that was exactly what he was going to do. Letting his head drop onto the sand, Grimmjow let himself drift to sleep.

No one would be coming anywhere near him, not with that dark power and scent all over his skin.

Grimmjow hissed at another wave of pain, then grinned victoriously as he felt the child beginning to exit his body.

He honestly couldn't wait to see his cubs. They would be the first children born from his body, and the first arrancar offspring to boot. Aizen had learned about hollow baby making the hard way, and he'd made the Numero in question miscarry. Then he'd laid a dampening field over Los Noches to prevent pregnancies, since telling hollows not to fuck was like telling the sea not to be damp. That field must have broken, probably when Aizen's artificial sun had vanished. Just in time to let him conceive with that monster.

That was the other reason Grimmjow was eager to see his cubs. With that powerful a sire, they were going to be something special. Grunting, he pushed hard and was rewarded as the first cub slid free with a squall.

Grimmjow panted for a moment, just gazing down at his offspring. Bright orange hair, just like that long pelt the vasto lorde had owned. Beautiful teal eyes, just like his own. There was something odd, though, something wrong. Grimmjow frowned for a moment then ignored it, tending to the cub. He bit through the cord and began to clean the child off, even as his body expelled the afterbirth. Looking down at the bloody mess, he frowned and set the cub aside. Then he ate it the afterbirth. He needed to tidy up, to keep his nest clean.

As soon as the labor started again, though, Grimmjow knew something was wrong. The pain of the first one had been a normal pain, expected and anticipated. This pain… this pain wasn't right. Whimpers were forced out of him and the little cub started to cry, until he picked the child up and cradled him in his arms. Glancing down, Grimmjow verified that it was indeed a boy. But then the pain made him gasp and he had to set the cub down, back into the warm and well-furnished nest.

It took a lot longer to bring his second cub into the world, and Grimmjow knew that was wrong too. It was supposed to get easier after the first. And the cub was too big, something was badly wrong. Grimmjow whimpered as he fought through the pain, forcing the child out anyway. If he'd been weaker he might have died, but he was an Espada. Despite the anguish and the sense of internal tearing, he brought out the baby. A massive gout of blood followed, but Grimmjow growled as his healing factors kicked in, staunching the internal hemorrhage. His nest was a mess, though, and Grimmjow hated it. Then he looked down at the cub.

And stiffened in shock and horror. It wasn't one cub, it was two, and they were… wrong. He had no other word for what he was seeing. Grimmjow swallowed, bending over the infants until his nose nearly touched them.

He'd heard of such things, but never seen them. No surprise, since he'd never stayed by his mates and such things were rare anyway. But he could see this had begun as two separate cubs, and somewhere along the way they had… merged. The result was a freak, a monster, but not the good kind of monster. No, this was something that couldn't survive without constant care. Grimmjow agonized over it for a moment. It wasn't right or normal, a dam caring for a cub forever. Could he commit himself to such a thing?

Then he saw that he didn't have to worry. The decision had already been made for him. One of the twins had a malformed mouth, and she – the scent told him they were female, he honestly couldn't tell with the way their legs were fused – had already suffocated. The other one was crying weakly but Grimmjow knew it was doomed. Maybe, if Szayel had been around, he could have salvaged something from this wreck, especially with the dead child's parts to work with. But he was dead and gone and there was nothing an arrancar like him could do. Taking a deep breath, Grimmjow gripped the little head and broke the remaining cubs' neck. Gently stroking soft blue hair, he closed his eyes for a moment. He'd never imagined that he would give birth to something like this.

Pulling himself together, he proceeded to devour the cubs. No doubt shinigami would think it was barbaric, but it was actually very practical and even merciful. The souls that had gone into the cubs would return to him, and if he ever had another litter they might have a second chance. And even if they didn't, their power would go towards the remaining sibling. Eating the cubs was the only thing to do, even if he didn't particularly enjoy it.

With that chore done, he devoured the afterbirth as well and turned his attention to the living cub. One cub for a hollow litter was pathetic, really, but it did have some advantages. He would be able to devote all his time and resources to this single cub, and a quick, worried check showed him the infant was healthy and strong. Settling back into a cleaner part of his nest, Grimmjow examined the child more thoroughly.

The cub vaguely reminded him of Kurosaki, but Grimmjow snorted away the thought. The only thing the shinigami had had in common with that monster of a vasto lorde had been the hair color. Still, this was a very odd cub. Tilting his head to one side, Grimmjow looked for a hollow hole but couldn't find one. The cub had a shockingly shinigami scent, but mixed up with a very strong hollow reiatsu. Grimmjow could only blame himself. He was an arrancar, and possessed very shinigami anatomy, so this had to come from him. His mate had been an unbroken vasto lorde.

Shrugging to himself, Grimmjow gave the cub a more thorough licking, ignoring the child's whining. Then he brought the cub close for his first feeding. He blinked, then lifted his eyebrows as he realized the cub had no teeth. That made no difference for the feeding – his body was willing and eager to pump the child full of energy – but it made him wonder. Most hollow cubs were born with all their teeth.

"How long am I going to be raising you, cub?" He asked the infant, who just ate hungrily. "Little pig. Hmm, what should I call you?" Grimmjow considered it for a moment. Normally, cubs were just given a nickname by their dam. They didn't stay in the den long before they were weaned, taught to hunt and kicked out. After that, they named themselves. "I'm going to call you Tigre." He told the feeding infant. "Because you're orange like a tiger. You can change it later, if you want to." And the kid could definitely pick out his own last name. That was how it worked in Hueco Mundo.

Once the cub was done feeding, Grimmjow set him down to sleep and began cleaning up his nest. That birth had been spectacularly messy, and he wanted everything to be clean.

He had a feeling he'd be raising this cub for a long, long time.

"Papi!" Grimmjow yawned and looked up from where he was sleeping. He was perched in the edge of a half-ruined balcony, in his resurrection. He'd just felt like taking it, and his tail lashed lazily as his son ran up to him.

"What is it, bebe?" He asked drowsily, then winced as the cub tugged on his hair. "Tigre, stop that!" He growled, yanking the blue strands away from the laughing boy.

"There are strangers here!" The blue eyed, orange haired boy told him and Grimmjow's eyes shot open. Sitting up he extended his senses and hissed at the feel of shinigami reiatsu. Then a wicked grin crossed his face as he recognized it. Kurosaki was back!

Then his grin turned into a frown as he looked at his cub. Tigre was growing into himself at a good rate. He looked about Lilynette's age, and was damn near as annoying. He'd learned his cero, but he didn't have a resurrection and his sword was strange. Grimmjow honestly thought it might be a real zanpakuto, although his son couldn't speak to it yet. But the power inside it didn't seem to be directly part of Tigre's power.

The point was, though, that his son was in no way ready for a serious fight with shinigami. Lilynette had done okay, sort of, considering she'd been against a taichou but it had been more amusing than anything. And Grimmjow was not going to risk his cub.

"Fuck." He muttered to himself. He really wanted a rematch with Kurosaki, but he remembered the devastation they'd left in their wake last time. No way was that going to happen with Tigre around, he could be hurt purely by accident. Kind of like he hadn't meant to shoot off his darts at Orihime and Nel, it had just happened. "God dammit." He honestly wasn't sure what to do. Tigre just looked at him like he was a moron. "What?"

"Why don't you go talk to them, see what they want?" He said and Grimmjow blinked, flicking his ears at the novel idea. "Papi, sometimes you're really weird." His son said with a headshake and Grimmjow scowled at him before ruffling his hair.

"Yeah? Well, you're short. You can come but stay behind me." He quickly decided. He wanted his son where he could see him. Tigre nodded, smiling happily. Grimmjow knew why. The kid had complained of boredom more than once, which was actually a pretty fair complaint. Los Noches was not filled with entertainment. Shinigami would at least be something new.

When he found the shinigami, Grimmjow was surprised to see they were riffling through Szayel's lab. He couldn't imagine why, the place was a disaster area. And the computers didn't have any power, the few that were intact, so what did they think they were gonna do? Shoving it aside – they probably knew technology better than he did – he let his reiatsu flare through the room. Not in a hostile way, just an 'I'm here who the fuck are you?' sort of way. And he crossed his arms, just standing there as the shinigami reacted.

"Grimmjow!" That was Kurosaki, of course. He had his sword at the ready and was scowling, his usual expression. "What are you doing here?" Grimmjow rolled his eyes at that question. Really?

"I live here, dumbass. What the hell are you doing here?" He asked, noting the various shinigami. It was the black haired shrimp he'd poked a hole in, and the guy with the spiky red hair. Also the Quincy and a strange girl with black hair he'd never seen before. Her reiatsu seemed vaguely familiar, though. "If you're looking for Szayel's hard copies, he didn't keep them here." Grimmjow only knew that because of Tigre, actually. His son had wanted to explore the place and because of the possibility of traps, Grimmjow hadn't been willing to let him go alone. So they'd found the records room together. The shinigami looked at him in confusion.

"Hard copies?" The red haired guy asked and Tigre piped up behind him.

"Papers! Tons of papers! I used them to make paper airplanes and origami." He said and Grimmjow grinned as all the shinigami winced. "Hey, who are you guys? I'm Tigre."

"Tiger?" From the look on Ishida's face, he found the name amusing. But the Quincy frowned at the child. "What precisely are you?" He asked and Grimmjow growled slightly, offended on behalf of his cub.

"He's my son, Quincy. You got a problem with that?" He growled and then scowled at all the disbelieving looks. Maybe talking to these people had been a dumb idea. But sooner or later they'd have sussed out his reiatsu anyway. It was all over the place, along with Tigre's immature scent.

"Arrancar can breed?" The girl said. Grimmjow really wished he had a name to attach to her, but he didn't. "Who is his mother?" She asked and he growled. He wasn't really interested in giving the shinigami a Q and A about hollow breeding.

"Everything past Gillian can breed, shinigami. And I'm the 'mother', if you have to know. A Vasto Lorde mated me." Despite the mild shame of being the one bearing the cubs, Grimmjow was proud of that. One of the elite of his race had chosen him for breeding. It was the first vasto lorde he'd ever had, and unless he could make it to vasto lorde himself, it would probably be the last. And Grimmjow was afraid he was frozen at adjuchas, thanks to his conversion to an arrancar.

"A big scary vasto lorde!" Tigre piped up. "I'm gonna be just like him when I grow up!" Grimmjow grinned and ruffled his son's hair affectionately. He'd told the kid plenty of stories about how big and strong and scary his sire had been, which was only accurate. The thing had been a nightmare made flesh.

"Erm, okay. Can you show us this room?" Kurosaki took back the conversation and Grimmjow scowled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Maybe you should tell me why the hell you're here, first." He said bluntly. He was quite sure the shinigami had no interest in Hueco Mundo. Time ran differently between the worlds, and hollow cubs grew faster than human or shinigami ones, but it had still been years since the last time they'd been here. Grimmjow couldn't tell the time very well without days and seasons, but he was sure of that. "And maybe why I should help you, while you're at it." Grimmjow really had no reason at all to help them.

"There's some kind of strange infection going around Soul Society. We think it might have originated here." Kurosaki answered and Grimmjow rubbed an eyebrow, greeting that with skepticism. "Kurotsuchi – Nemu's father –" He gestured to the second woman with black hair. She looked quietly depressed, even to Grimmjow. "Was the first one affected, and Unohana thinks it might have had a very long incubation period. The reiatsu involved seems to be hollow, so we're checking this place to see if he caught it here. Other shinigami are following up different leads." Grimmjow frowned. So they didn't actually know this infection, whatever it was, had sprung from here.

"Well, I wouldn't put anything past Szayel and you blew up his lab but good. You certainly could have let something out." He commented, then shrugged. "Whatever. Now what's in it for me?"

"What do you want?" Ishida asked before Kurosaki could take offense. The kid was scowling and giving him a very hostile look. Grimmjow frowned, a bit stymied by that. What did he want?

"Papi, I could use more books." Tigre said and Grimmjow blinked at that. He had Tosen's whole library – "I'm down the philosophy books and they are so boooooring. I don't know how that shinigami could read them. And maybe a kite? My last one broke." That had just been a handmade toy Grimmjow had put together, and it hadn't withstood the winds of Hueco Mundo well. He'd been pleased that it had worked at all, though.

"Ah." Grimmjow nodded to himself, pleased, and looked at the Quincy. "Stuff for the cub, books and toys. You think you can handle that, Quincy?" He asked and the young man smiled.

"I'm sure we can. Perhaps some clothing too." He said and Grimmjow glanced at Tigre, involuntarily. He was wearing bits and pieces of cast off uniforms. The coat had belonged to Luppi, and Grimmjow had cut off the hanging sleeves, which Tigre had hated almost as much as he had. His pants – if you could call them that – had belonged to Lilynette. The brief little things didn't go with the jacket at all, but the only other pants Grimmjow had been able to find just couldn't be held up. Their outfits didn't come with drawstrings. The long boots he wore somewhat made up for it, but Grimmjow knew they didn't fit either. Tigre had stuffed the shoes to make them stay on a bit better.

"That would be good." Grimmjow agreed and frowned as Kurosaki made a small choking sound. "What?" Why did he think that was funny? The cub obviously needed clothes.

"N-Nothing." Kurosaki choked out and Grimmjow scowled. What in hell was so funny? "Can you show us the records room?" He said, getting himself under control. Grimmjow gave the teen a hard stare, then shrugged and turned away.

"Follow me." Tigre skipped beside him as he led the motley crew to a special section of the lab. There was a set of stairs that led into an underground bunker full of papers. Grimmjow grinned as the little shinigami girl exclaimed over the origami. The signs of Tigre's presence were everywhere in this room.

"Where did you learn to make these?" She asked, picking up an origami butterfly. "Ah, can we unfold them?" She asked, a little apprehensive as she glanced over the creations. They included things like an entire bouquet of flowers. Tigre just shrugged with a grin.

"Sure! I can make them all again. And one of the Espada had some origami books." He said cheerfully, picking up a discarded paper airplane and tossing it through the air. The red haired guy caught it with a grin. "Say, what's your names? Papi didn't introduce you." Tigre gave him a reproachful look and Grimmjow just grunted.

"That guy is Kurosaki Ichigo and that guy is Ishida Uryu. The rest, I have no frickin' clue." He'd never caught the midgets' name. They quickly introduced themselves to Tigre, and Grimmjow made a mental note of their names. Rukia and Renji. The last girl also introduced herself and Grimmjow wondered if Nemu was ever happy. But then, her sire apparently had this 'infection', whatever the hell it was. "This shit is organized alphabetically, and we mostly took papers from the A file, I think." He glanced over at Tigre inquiringly and his son nodded.

"It was closest. Do you have any idea what we're looking for?" He asked and Nemu began explaining the details of the 'disease'. Grimmjow frowned slightly as she talked. It sounded more than a little familiar.

"That's a type of hollow." He said and all eyes went to him. "I thought it had been wiped out. Figures Szayel would keep a sample. Or maybe he caught it some other way, but whatever." Grimmjow tried to remember what the thing had been called. "Try P for parasite, maybe? He gave it a name but I'm fucked if I can remember."

"Why would it have been wiped out?" Ishida asked and Grimmjow grimaced, running a hand through his hair.

"Because it does what it does on arrancar just fine, Quincy. The strongest can survive but anyone less than the Privaron Espada would die." He said plainly. "And surviving is no fucking picnic." This particular type of hollow reproduced itself by putting 'eggs' into someone. Those eggs slowly drained more and more spiritual power until they 'hatched' and ate their way out. Not pretty at all and extremely painful. Grimmjow had never been through it and he was glad. "I have no idea if a shinigami could make it through that shit."

"The answer is yes, although only fukutaichou or above. And I'm surprised Mayuri didn't find these eggs inside himself before they hatched." Ishida said with a frown and Grimmjow shrugged.

"If Szayel kept a sample, he might have been working on it, making it more lethal or some shit. It would be like him." He wouldn't have put anything past that madman. Fortunately, by the time Tigre was old enough to explore the place all the samples had escaped or died. Nothing interesting here anymore, aside from files and the occasional booby trap.

Grimmjow helped them look through the files, but only a little. His reading skills were sub-par, even though he'd been trying to learn a bit since Tigre had a passion for it. But Szayel's lingo defeated him easily. Tigre didn't understand it either, but he could at least sound out the words and repeat them to the room. He probably wasn't much help, but no one had the heart to tell him to get lost. Grimmjow leaned against a wall, just watching as the shinigami sorted through files. Then he blinked as Ishida came to speak to him.

"Your child. May I ask about the father?" He said quietly and Grimmjow grunted, shifting a little at the keen intelligence in the eyes behind those glasses.

"What about him?" He couldn't see why the Quincy would be interested. Although… given the time that vasto lorde had showed up, Kurosaki and his friends might well have seen him. Ishida frowned, glancing at Tigre for a moment.

"Your son seems familiar. When did you meet this vasto lorde? What did he look like?" Ishida asked. Grimmjow was tempted to tell him to go fuck himself, but he was honestly proud of the monster he'd mated.

"Right after Ulquiorra bit the dust, he came and found me. He was pretty damned impressive." Grimmjow half-closed his eyes, remembering the mating pleasure and the majesty of the beast that had taken him. "Long orange hair, the same color as Kurosaki's. A mask of bone with horns that curved forward, and black marks on the mask. A hole in the centre of his chest with black lines leading to it." Grimmjow traced the lines on his own chest, remembering. "A ruff of red fur around his neck and wrists. Black and gold eyes." Those eyes… had been a bit familiar. They reminded him of Kurosaki, but the malicious intelligence in them had been all hollow. Ishida took a deep breath and Grimmjow looked at him curiously. "Did you see him?"

"Yes, you might say that." The Quincy sounded strange. Grimmjow couldn't figure out his expression and scowled, irritated. "He… might be closer than you think."

"Huh?" That threw him for a loop and the blue haired arrancar glared at the teen. "What the hell do you mean, Quincy?"

"Just hang on a moment." Ishida said and went to talk to Kurosaki. Their conversation was conducted in low voices but it was intense, and pretty soon Ishida was gesturing at Tigre and Grimmjow a lot. The arrancar's eyes narrowed. What the hell was going on here? Then Kurosaki suddenly staggered and he stiffened as he felt a distinctive hollow reiatsu fill the room.

"Just let me talk to him, King." That voice was Kurosaki's, but not, and Grimmjow stared in something close to horror as a rather familiar mask began forming on the teen's face. Not the mask he'd used in their fights, but a fuller version that included forward facing horns. Just like the vasto lorde he'd mated with. "He respects me more than you."

"Fuck." Grimmjow muttered, feeling faint as Kurosaki stepped up to him. The teen had partially changed into that monster from before, and his black and gold eyes glittered with feral amusement. "You? It was you?" That meant that Kurosaki had saved his life twice, not just once. And… he was technically Tigre's sire. Grimmjow didn't know whether to puke or attack him. But he quickly restrained his temper. Tigre was in the room and if squalling with Kurosaki was out, taking on this thing was doubly out of the question. "What the fuck man!" He exclaimed and the vasto lorde/Kurosaki laughed.

"Aren't you glad to be alive?" Grimmjow found himself suddenly pinned against the wall in a lightning fast move, too fast to avoid. He stiffened, shocked by the speed. Ichigo hadn't shown him that in their fight, or he never would have lasted as long as he had. "I judged your worth in our battle and when I got the chance, I chose you. Now… only one cub?" Grimmjow swallowed at the displeasure in that dark voice. "What happened to the others?" The vasto lorde questioned and the arrancar took a breath, steadying himself. He'd been expecting that question if he ever met the sire again.

"There were two more, but they were born wrong, fused together." He said shortly, remembering that pathetic little body. It still hurt a bit to think about. "I had to eat them." The vasto lorde considered his words for a moment then nodded slightly.

"It happens. Now, introduce me to your cub." The vasto lorde commanded, moving off him, and Grimmjow swallowed. Tigre had been watching all of this wide eyed.

"Tigre, come here." He couldn't help the anxiety in his tone. If a cub displeased their sire, it was entirely possible the sire might choose to eat them. His son came over slowly, looking at his sire in a combination of curiosity and wariness. "This is your sire. It turns out he's actually some weird shinigami hollow thing, but he's still powerful as hell." He wasn't going to deny it now. Kurosaki had beaten him fair and square, and this thing had wiped out Ulquiorra, which he couldn't have done. There was a rough chuckle from the monster, who cupped Tigre's cheek for a moment with one clawed hand. Grimmjow could sense him testing the child's spiritual pressure.

"A fine cub. I am pleased." The vasto lorde purred, to Grimmjow's relief. "My King is upset and I cannot hold him back much longer. But you have done well, and perhaps someday we can try again." Grimmjow honestly had no idea what to say to that. Before today, he'd actually been planning to try to find the vasto lorde again after Tigre was out and on his own. Now that he'd gotten the experience of raising a little one, the arrancar wanted to raise more cubs. But Kurosaki? Ewww.

From the look on the teen's face as the mask flaked away, he felt exactly the same way. He gazed wide eyed at Tigre, who looked back and gave him a cheeky grin. Then Kurosaki stumbled back, leaning against one of the filing cabinets. Ishida gripped his shoulder, giving him a bit of support.

"This can't be happening. This is a nightmare." The teen was mumbling and Tigre glanced at Grimmjow, who just shrugged. He had no idea why Ichigo was so upset. His hollow thought the cub was fine, what more could the shinigami want? "What is my dad going to say?"

"I don't know. Nice cub? What the hell is your problem, Kurosaki?" Grimmjow demanded. "It's not like you even have to tell him." It wasn't like they were going to be meeting Tigre, after all. Ichigo looked at him with an outraged expression.

"I can't keep this a secret from them! And they have to meet him. He's…" Kurosaki's voice caught and Grimmjow blinked at the suddenly strange tone. "He looks like me." He said, gazing at Tigre again. His son scowled and Grimmjow had to admit that the resemblance was pronounced. He might have seen it sooner, but he'd been dead certain that Tigre's sire was a normal vasto lorde.

"Whatever. I'm going to go read some more stuff for everyone." Tigre was clearly getting tired of his sire and Grimmjow chuckled as the boy skipped off to check out more files. Then he grinned at Kurosaki, who was rubbing his head in mental pain.

"Well, if you really want him to meet your family, I'll be coming along too." He said, his grin widening at Kurosaki's horrified look. "You think I'd let my cub out of my sight? Pssh, think again." Although technically, he let Tigre get out of his sight all the time. But not out of his power sensing, and if his cub was distressed Grimmjow would be there in a hot minute. He sure as hell wasn't going to let the kid go to the Living World without him.

"Perhaps we should worry about this later." Ishida suggested as Kurosaki gave him a betrayed look. "Priorities, Ichigo. We have a great deal of work to do."

"Oh… alright. But we'll discuss this later." He said to Grimmjow, who scowled at him. He wasn't sure he wanted to discuss anything with Kurosaki.

As the shinigami and his son worked on the files, Grimmjow digested the unpalatable truth that had just been handed to him. There was no doubt at all now, Kurosaki was stronger than him. In fact, he was a goddamned monster, whatever he might pretend to be. The good kind of monster, the kind that Grimmjow respected and admired. Sighing, the Espada rubbed his crown of bone. This was making his head hurt. Respect Kurosaki? But he was Tigre's sire. It was all so crazy.

And this stuff about taking his son to the Living world. Grimmjow didn't much like that idea. He'd honestly been considering taking Tigre and abandoning Los Noches as soon as the shinigami left. As far as he knew, Tigre was the only arrancar offspring. Now he knew his son was also the child of a shinigami, which would probably interest the scientist types to no end. Not to mention what Soul Society would say about a true hybrid. Had Kurosaki even thought of that? Grimmjow might not have thought of it, if he hadn't heard Tosen talking about why he'd given up on Soul Society. He'd hated the shinigami with a burning passion after the whole arm incident, but Soul Society still sounded like it was full of dicks.

"This thinking shit is not for me." Grimmjow muttered, running his tongue over his fangs. "Bah." He scratched his head with one clawed finger, but couldn't resist thinking. The Living world would have one huge plus, and that was Kurosaki. Who was going to dare to try to take his cub away from his sire?

He was bored to death when the shinigami finally found what they'd came for. They left immediately, although Kurosaki promised to come back and Tigre seemed sad to see him go. Grimmjow growled to himself and grabbed the teen's arm, pulling him aside.

"Don't bother to come back to Los Noches." He said bluntly as Ichigo gave him a surprised look. "We won't be here. We'll come to see you in the Living world, and to collect on what you guys owe us. Alright?"

"Wait, you're leaving? Where are you going to go?" He asked and Grimmjow just shrugged.

"Anywhere that's not here. I trust your friends as far as I can throw them, and Tigre's my only cub. Now get going, Kurosaki." He said shortly before gathering up Tigre and leaving the room. Tigre would be irritated and thrilled, to find out he was finally leaving Los Noches. Irritated, because he would have to leave all his stuff behind. Thrilled, because he finally might find some hollow playmates. Grimmjow fully intended to put together a fraccion at the first opportunity. He'd have to be a bit selective in the hollows he picked, though. He wanted friends for his cub, not dangers.

And Hueco Mundo was full of dangers.