Corpses

"Cirucci Sanderwicci…" she looked over to find Rudoboun and Exequias surrounding her. "We've come for you, Ma'am. Please… don't struggle…."

She closed her eyes. "Blast."

It wasn't like she could struggle, she just didn't have it in her anymore. And then, there was that small part of her that had always wondered what happened to those few that the Exequias came for. A voice laughed bitterly in Cirucci's mind. Now she was going to find out.

Finding herself on her feet again, Cirucci had to try hard to suppress a groan as a shooting pain coursed through her chest. Damn that Quincy! Why did he leave her alive? It wasn't worth it anymore…

Walking wasn't as difficult as she thought it would be, and the halls were just as desolate as ever. Things were getting progressively colder as they started descending a flight of stairs. Cirucci's breath hitched in her throat. She knew this path. After all, how many times had she walked down these very stairs?

They had reached the bottom now, and there was no doubt in her mind where they were. Of course. How could she not have figured it out? How else could he have been able to know the information on the Shinigami that had killed Grimmjow's fracción? It was impossible not to know. Maybe it was because she just hadn't wanted to believe it. It was all true though… she was actually standing outside Szayel's lab again. There might be some hope yet… she thought, grateful that her boyfriend was the one she had been brought to.

"Enter through there, and go straight to Szayel Aporro. He will be expecting you…" Rudoboun said in his usual business like tone.

Cirucci took a barely audible deep breath before walking through the double doors and entering one of the places so few had seen. She remembered the first time she had been in here like it was yesterday…

"Cirucci… I have something I'd like to show you today…" Szayel said, fiddling with a strand of said woman's hair.

Her brow furrowed. "What is it?"

"Just a little something I thought I'd share with you…"

A small, rare smile graced her features as she took his hand. "Alright then, let's go."

Szayel nodded and began leading her through the maze of halls he knew so well until they came upon a stair way, and Cirucci found herself wondering what could possibly be down there and why she'd never noticed it before. They began the downward plunge, still hand in hand, and Cirucci found herself marveling at how it was actually possible for it to get colder in Hueco Mundo even though Aizen had put the sun into the dome to make it appear brighter and warmer; because that was technically an illusion made solely for the comfort of Gin, Tousen, and Aizen himself… it was nice though, to just lie out there in the sand sometimes… this coldness, however, actually seemed quite real.

The pair had now reached a set of double doors, and Szayel opened them to reveal quite the phenomenal setup: pristine white counters topped with microscopes, test tubes, and beakers; a heavy metal door marked 'frozen storage - do not leave open'; a silvery metal table set up under bright lights next to cabinets holding every surgical tool ever imagined and more; several floor to ceiling bookcases filled to bursting with text about anatomy, reiatsu, reishi, typical behavior of new born Arrancar, Shinigami, hollowfication, poisons, and effective battle stratagems; and just through a darkly tinted glass wall, Cirucci could make out more books, some weird looking tanks, a high-backed, curved chair, and a large computer. It really was quite impressive…

"It's amazing, Szayel…" she whispered in awe, and she meant it. If anyone should have something like this, it was him… and now she knew where he was all day! Ha! It would be so easy to just come down here and bother Szayel while he was in the middle of working on something for Aizen! This was going to be great!

"Glad you approve…" he said, kissing her lightly.

It just couldn't get any better than this…

And there he was, standing next to the counter she had sat upon so many times (much to Szayel's displeasure), waiting for her. "Cirucci." He said blankly.

"Szayel… what am I doing here?" it was probably the stupidest question she could've asked, but those were the words that tumbled out of her mouth.

"You are here to be exterminated." There was something in the way he said it that made her feel like less than him for once in her life.

"Ex-exterminated?" she hissed, in complete disbelief that Szayel would actually do something like that to her.

The Octava, however, took this to mean that she needed an explanation. "Yes. You are here to die on Aizen's orders, and then by examining you, I shall have more information on the intruders."

So it was true. "You're going to kill me?" she repeated dumbly. "And then use my body in a study?"

"That's what I just said, was it not? Now come, this way."

Cirucci followed numbly, allowing herself to be sat upon the cold metal table. Briefly, she wondered how many other soon-to-be corpses had sat on this table as Szayel prepared a syringe.

When it was done, he turned back to her. "I thought you loved me…" she couldn't help it, it just slipped out. It was so beautifully ironic that she had been taken to Szayel's lab to be killed… but this was the way it had to end, wasn't it?

A clean, gloved hand came to rest on her shoulder. "Love was never meant for hollows, or even Arrancar, like ourselves."

Cirucci felt a tear fall down her cheek, and for what was not the first time, she wished she wasn't so weak.

Apparently confident in the fact that she had nothing else left to say, he raised the needle to her neck with his face set in a determined expression.

"Szayel… please… don't do this…"

"I have to… Aizen's orders…" and with that, the needle broke the skin and the fluid was injected straight into the blood stream. Within seconds, she was dead weight, kept upright only because he stood there holding her up. He had to stay strong. He had done the same thing to dozens of other Arrancar before… he had even done it to his own brother. And only now that everyone who had ever meant anything to him had been turned into a corpse by his own hand did he truly feel like a monster.

A/N: Sorry for any OOCness that may (or may not) have occurred! This was just something that had been going through my head for a while, and I decided to put it on paper!

Review please?