Why anyone would willingly live in such a place was beyond him. Honestly, the walls were stained, the décor tacky beyond belief, and there was some strange, musty scent in the air that just couldn't be ignored. Szayel attempted to avoid breathing too much as one long forefinger poked the loud floral bed-spread as if it were about to move. From the state of the ratty carpet, he was rather sure that something was about to crawl from the filthy fibers.

He hoped the bed was in better shape.

After a mere ten minutes in this 'motel room', he missed the sterility of his lab. He took solace that at least he still had the filter of his custom gigai.

Worse yet, he had yet to encounter a single human with enough spiritual pressure or with anything particularly unique about them to pique any sort of interest. Who could enjoy such a boring, dirty, ugly place?

Even this artificial body had its drawbacks. It was impractical to color its hair in his customary rose shade, so he was forced to go with blonde – the next best option. In addition, its need for the vile stuff the humans dubbed 'food' wasn't something he ever wanted to get used to.

Lord Aizen's tasteless tea was more palatable than the 'oatmeal' the gaudy waitress had served him at the small restaurant down the dusty road that morning. No wonder these beings were such dull creatures. He was sure that when he was still amongst the living, he was far more interesting than these creatures. Yammy, however, would fit right in.

"Humph." He sat gingerly on the lumpy bed. "She had better be worth it." Smoothly, he pulled the clean white laptop out of its case and pulled up his notes.

A series of windows popped up on the screen. The latest mug shot that the primitives labs which had been her shelter and maintainers filled one corner. Her inhuman eyes stared vacantly into the camera. Telltale bruised circles underscored those eyes, and white bandaging had peeked out of the equally white top they had put her in. Her hair had been shorn off to expose a scalp crossed by a healing surgical incision. That hair had been sent off for testing and storage. Stolen text documents and graphical analysis were stored in the same folder as that picture, but he had already studied those in detail, and made his own conclusions from the research already done on her. What interested him at the moment was the map of her current known route, and what few past mission reports he was able to save from Urahara's erasure.

If his projections were correct, she should be passing through this disgusting little town any day now. It troubled him that he still couldn't sense her reiatsu, but if he was correct, she couldn't shield her appearance in quite the same way.

Luckily, Szayel had been the one assigned to this particular aspect of the mission. The other two, Grimmjow and Nnoitora would have no doubt simply attacked her all out and brought what was left to Hueco Mundo for him to put back together. It was far more fitting that they serve as the distraction for the paltry rescue crew that had been sent for her.

No, the scientist believed that might had to be accompanied by intelligence. As such, he had designed smaller, albeit weak, hollows to scout every road and path into the dingy gaggle of buildings. They were built to repress what little reiatsu they carried, which made them nearly undetectable to those who could sense such things. Because of their lack of strength, they weren't to confront her. Their role was to report immediately to him as soon as she's spotted. He would take it from there.

Now, there was little to do but wait and plan her capture.

As a general rule, Kon tended to avoid riding in bags at any cost. Ordinarily, he simply rode on the shoulder of whoever he happened to be traveling with. Ideally, his companion would be a lovely young lady with a penchant for cuddles, or, even better, didn't mind carrying him up close and personal with her hills of joy. He'd been hopeful, then, when he found out that he'd be traveling with a girl of the perfect age, and an American at that. Everyone knew that American girls were outgoing, loveable creatures, after all, and this one was in desperate need of affection - far more than that fashion sadist, Uryu, could ever provide.

I'm just not that lucky. The mod-soul bemoaned his horrible luck.

Of course, this one just had to be defective. Meg seemed to have no interest in snuggling with her hero in plush lion skin. Even worse, as soon as they drew closer to towns, she'd open her bag and shoot him a look with those freaky eyes of hers if he tried to escape before they entered the city limits. He'd learned after the first time that if he argued with her that the cold girl simply stuff him in the bag and force him to stay there for the entirety of the day. Meg must have had eyes hidden in the back of her head, because every time he started to draw down the zipper, she'd pull it closed again and roughly hitch the bag back over her shoulders.

He heaved a heart-rending sigh and made himself comfortable in the carefully folded blanket.

Fate was cruel. So very cruel. Here was the perfect situation to lavish his warmth upon a needy heart, and once again, he was shot brutally down.

The mod soul frowned when he felt her rolling gate slow, and then stop. "Meg-chan?" He chanced pulling the zipper open and peeked out at her. Kon knew something was wrong when she didn't shove him back into his mobile prison.

"Do you feel something?" she asked softly.

Kon looked up ahead over her shoulder and extended his senses. All he saw was more dirt road and a dingy little town about a mile away. The air felt a little dryer than usual, and there was a slight, nagging undertone of threat, but that wasn't particularly unusual in many places. "No." He paused a beat and peered into her contemplative face. "Are you feeling alright? Maybe I coul-mph!"

He found himself shoved firmly back into the bag and watched the sunshine disappear as the zipper closed over his head. Denied and broken hearted again.

Humph. The Quincy can have this one. Her endowments aren't particularly impressive, anyway.

Soon, she was walking again, and he sighed, nuzzling into the blanket again. Just as the gentle sway of her gate was lulling him back to sleep, she jolted violently to the side and the bag was ripped off her back. Glaring light hit him when he was propelled from the knapsack. When he landed, he spotted Meg just as she sprang to her feet, dusty from her fall and wide eyed with surprise, from where she had been thrown. Opposite her stood a white-clad man with pink hair, flanked by two smaller hollows.

Meg's eyes lit up just as the man gestured dismissively. The two hollows vanished, and he smiled as he casually strolled toward her. "My, my, at last we meet in the flesh. Do you have any idea of the trouble you've caused me?"

She gave no sign of even hearing him, only taking a silent step back for every one he took forward. Her fingers spread slightly at her sides as tension ran through each line of her body.

Frowning, the Espada stopped and shook his head. "Have you been taught no manners, child? It's customary to respond when a superior addresses you."

Still, no verbal response was forthcoming. Brightly glowing eyes only watched him warily.

"Tsk." He lifted a hand and pointed a single, long finger in her direction. A spark of bright purple light ignited at its tip. "You're boring me, girl." The energy shot at her, and came to a sudden stop right in front of her face. Within a moment, inky darkness blossomed within the center of the light, and exploded around her.

A low thrum deafened Kon when it swept over him, and a wave of desert sand kicked up by the shockwave blinded him.

When the dust cleared, only the Numeros was left standing. The lingering breeze ruffled his soft hair and silken clothing as he stared at the spot where Meg had been moments before. His thin lips were turned down in a dark frown, and delicate brows furrowed in contemplation. The disdainful golden gaze swept over the landscape.

Kon froze when the man's attention flickered over him. He could almost feel the cold, analytical nature of that attention, but still he remained utterly still, just like when he was in Yuzu's clutches. After a few moments, the man tapped open a garganta and slipped through.

Took me long enough, huh? I wish I could promise a time-frame for another chapter, but between work/life obligations, original work and medical stuff...well. I'll do the best I can. So sorry!

Thanks so much to Wolfren89 on DA for the beta!