Yea...i'm alive.

I'm trying to get back in my groove and sort my life out, please bear with me and accept this really badly written chapter.

The next chapter (if all goes right) will definitely have some good juicy dramatic bits and you hopefully won't have to wait for an update for too long.

If you're reading my other stories please wait for me. I just don't want to write something boring and lacklustre for any of my works, but believe me when I say I'm working on all of them.

Just Friends is next, I just need to get through this bit of writer's block.

Please read and enjoy.

It didn't take the Captains long before they came up with a full plan, with the help of Grimmjow's friends of course. Ilfordt not only helped them confirm Aizen's hideout (which wasn't much of a hideout, it was a whole mansion on the outskirts of the town), he gave them blueprints of the building, the general rotations of the guards and even a means to shut down the whole system for the raid.

Somehow, before Ichigo could even clock on to what was happening, he got news from Kenpachi himself that a raid was going to be conducted on the location Ilfordt confirmed as Aizen's hide out.

"You can come, so long as you keep yer ass parked in the van with the blondie," he grunted.
"Won't you get in trouble Captain?" He asked hesitantly.

"Are ya in or not Kurosaki," he growled in response. Ichigo nodded quickly and the Captain grunted again. "Well listen out for briefings and updates, I'll see ya soon,"
Ichigo watched him leave in slight amazement. He was a little curious as to why he would allow him on the field for this mission, considering everything with Grimmjow but there was no way he was gonna look a gift horse in the mouth.

It was the day of the raid and everyone was tense.

Ichigo was with the other lieutenants and Grimmjow's underground people in a surveillance van, currently assessing the landscape of Aizen's supposed hideout. Kenpachi and Byakuya had a whole team already positioned in various places waiting for the younger Grantz brother's instruction.

The secluded mansion looked empty, and something definitely felt off to Ichigo. Byakuya had already informed them that the chances of catching Aizen would be slim to none but Ilfordt had assured that there were definitely people there. They were bound to get some information form them at the very least, if not evidence.

The main goal of the operation though was to see if they could source any of the Hogyoku. The people at the lab had yet to perfectly replicate it and from what Ichigo understood, Nel needed it. So they needed get it.

It killed him that he wouldn't be able to actually enter the building though. He was under strict orders not to leave the van. He already was on thin ice with the captains, by right he shouldn't be anywhere near the area but he was the one that managed a form of team with Grimmjow's people (granted that the police didn't really trust them but they needed the help) so Byakuya said he could tag along for surveillance.

So far, nothing had happened and as much as he knew he was supposed to stay alert, he was getting bored.

He glanced at his watch. It was minutes to midnight.

He nearly rolled his eyes. Of course Ilfordt was going to go the dramatic blazing in at midnight method. Speaking of the blonde, he glanced over to where he was, deeply engrossed in the computer screen furiously typing. Suddenly he touched the Bluetooth to his ear and spoke.

"Okay everyone, I've finally broken through most of the online security defences. You'll definitely have them off-guard for a while but be careful. Once one person is alerted, the whole building is alerted.

I haven't had a fix on whether or not Aizen is definitely in there but I can confirm that Nnoitra Gilga is. Next to Aizen, he's the most important target. Also, remember to scope out the labs, we need as much information and samples that we can get in regards to Kyoka Suigetsu: code name KS. You have the all clear to move out from here,"

Some static buzzed and Byakuya responded. "Understood. Teams, on Kenpachi's orders prepare to move out,"

Ilfordt leaned back and grabbed a remote and suddenly all the inactive screens were live of different perspectives of the grounds and the body cameras on the leaders of each team.

Ichigo whistled. "Well damn,"

"Pretty cool isn't it," smirked Ilfordt. "Now let the games begin,"

Grimmjow was a little bit annoyed. And anxious but you know, he didn't need the whole world to know that. He was admittedly fed up with Yoruichi. She literally acted as his shadow. He couldn't even go to the toilet without her following him, or keeping an eye on him in the distance. Today being the first day since he'd left the apartment was no different. Handing her the keys to his baby was almost as painful as the cold turkey he went through not too long ago. Or maybe he was exaggerating, but no one drove that car but him.

"Where are we going?" He asked, rubbing the dashboard absently.

"The hospital. The raid's on tonight," answered Yoruichi with her eyes on the road.

"So why are we going to the hospital? We need to go to the station!"

"Don't raise your voice at me boy. We're observing the raid from the hospital. Once more, Kisuke pulled some strings to get his own viewing. Ichigo is on the field with your boys though, interestingly enough he convinced them to join up with the police," she said, glancing over to him.

Grimmjow frowned. They would have at least told him about it, but then again with the circumstances...

He slumped further into his seat.

"Can I have a fag?"

"Nope, you can have a lollipop though, they're in my bag," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

"When will I be able to smoke again? If you don't mind me asking," he asked sardonically digging through the bag in agitation.

"When I feel like,"

"You absolute bitch. Are you doing this on purpose?"

"I might be. C'mon. You might wanna take the bag with you, who knows how long we'll be here for."

He was so caught up being pissed off at her he didn't even realize they were already there.

"So where are we going?"

"To Nel's room. More privacy apparently, plus Retsu wants to monitor her."

"Monitor her for what? What's wrong with her?"

"I dunno. Must be routine. You got a problem with that? You haven't seen her in ages I figured you'd want to spend a little time with her,"

"No, I just...I dunno. It's a bizarre place for us to watch a raid go down don't you think? They don't possibly think they're gonna get Aizen do they?"

"The aim is hopefully they find any samples of the drug they bring it here straight as possible so we can tailor it to Nel's needs," she said opening the door.

He didn't get a chance to reply, his attention was directed straight at the bed and the bundle of green hair that stood stark in contrast to the very white sheets.

She's lost even more weight, he thought as he appraised her sleeping form. He looked at the offending bump and fought the urge to growl.

"Oi. Take a seat. They're starting."

He hauled up a seat beside the bed and glanced at the screen.

"We're connected to Kuchiki and Kenpachi so we see where' they're going as well as their audio," explained Kisuke. "Hopefully we catch some suspects and some drug samples. We want the samples more than we want the suspect though, it's doubtful that Aizen is going to be in the building. Everyone captured is guilty by association/accessory after the fact"

He glanced down at his watch.

"It's two minutes to midnight so buckle up guys, we're in for a show,"

Grimmjow said nothing, he gently clasped Nels too cool hand and waited for it to start.

As the timer went down to zero, Kenpachi and Byakuya split their teams and entered the buildings without warning, their teams knew what was expected of them and they definitely didn't repeat orders twice. Anyone that messed this up knew it would be their job. Hell, if they could get a job doing security at a mall they'd be lucky.

Byakuya's team went right through the front like planned and practiced, while Kenpachi's team took the outside, to find entry from the back. Byakua hoped that Zaraki would be quiet, he had a penchant for making noise and was as subtle as neon on a white canvas. He moved forwards, listening intently to the mic for any interactions and took down two individuals at once.

All was going well, until 4 loud shots resonated from the opposite side of the building.

"Holy shit!

"Boy if you don't shush," mumbled Yoruichi, scanning the screens intently. "They've been found out,"

"That was quick"

"Hmm,"

"That was definitely Kenpachi," he grumbled, rubbing small circles on Nel's hand.

"They've found the lab," said Kisuke matter of factly, pointing at the bottom left of the projector screen. Sure enough, Kuchiki's squad had entered what looked like a copy version of the Police Lab.

There was radio static and then Kuchiki's voice came through the speakers, "we've cleared the ground four. I've further split my team so that half will continue the sweep, the half here with me will take KS into custody."

Yoruichi made a sound of approval and clicked the remote to have a more spread view of the screens.

"Look who boy Kenny's found,"

Grimmjow saw red.

"That motherfucker."

"Well, well, well, if it ain't Aizen's lil pride and joy," said Zaraki, aiming the gun right between Nnoitra's eyes. Well, eye if you wanted to get technical.

"And if it ain't Karakura police's lil bitch, s'been a while Zaraki," said Nnoitra, not even attempting to move from his chair. He wasn't even going to lie, he was a little bit scared, and he wasn't a person that held fear in his heart very often.

Aizen guaranteed that he wouldn't be killed, he was valuable to their case alive, dead he was useless. But this was Kenpachi Zaraki. He gave absolutely no fucks. He'd kill him and say it was an accident and Nnoitra definitely wasn't ready to die.

"So, ya gonna come easily or am I gonna have to blow both yer knee caps off," said Kenpachi casually, "hurry up and make up yer mind, I needa shit,"

Nnoitra quickly raised the gun he had hidden under the table only to cry out in surprise and pain as Kenpachi shot him in the same arm. The gun fell to the floor and fired right at the wall behind Kenpachi, who just smirked and lowered his weapon.

"Y'know for someone who likes to rape women and hurt them, ya ain't nothing but a gigantic pussy Gilga,"

Nnoitra quickly stood from the chair and backed into the wall, clutching his wounded arm. "Get away from me,"

"I ain't even started on ya yet Gilga, but unfortunately, I gotta take ya in. Ya know, considering yer wanted an all that," He gripped the skinner man by the neck and raised him up against the wall.

"Not so powerful now that Daddy's left ya, aren't ya"

"Fuck...you,"

Kenpachi just smirked and banged his head against the wall once time, effectively knocking him out.

Ichigo was buzzing. This raid was all in all successful, the lab was secured and Kenpachi just walked out the front with Nnoitra Gilga flung over his fucking shoulder like a superhero. With the amount of people that were being held/injured in the building, extra vans were being called for and Ichigo was prepping to move out with the van that was heading to the hospital. Unfortunately, because he was related to Nel, he couldn't go with the captured for questioning with Kenpachi as it was a conflict of interest, although he had been told that it wouldn't be til the next day and he'd be allowed to view. He was already shot down when asked if Grimmjow could come with him but, apparently Yoriuchi had means for him to watch. They were taking it very seriously when they said he wasn't to come back to the station for now. He doubted even Kisuke would be of much help to him, with all the strings he'd pulled already.

He glanced over to the large cooler that he knew held most of the apparatus from the lab as well as samples of the drug for Nel were in there too, it was important that nothing happened to it otherwise it would be a step back in Nel's progress...if she made any.

He shook his head. He needed to focus, the mission was to make sure that all the kit was transported to the hospital without incident. From what Urahara explained to him, without the dugs there could be dire effects to her life.

They were also trying to save the life of the baby. As much as Ichigo didn't like the idea of her keeping it, he knew she wanted that baby. The proof of her reading those books were enough.

The van stopped and he grabbed the cooler, ready to handover to Kisuke and Unohana.

Time for answers.

"Maa Ichigo, thank you for the safe delivery of the evidence," said Kisuke smoothly, tapping the top of the cooler.

"Where's Grimmjow?"

"In Nel-chan's room where else? You go on and give a briefing to him. Remember not to tell too much though, he's not a high-ranking officer anymore. He shouldn't even be here." He said pointedly. Ichigo nodded. That meant no telling Grimmjow where the suspect was being held and no telling him about Kisuke working on the drug. He'd find out anything they wanted him to know in due time.

"Right. I'm going up then."

"Take care."

Grimmjow was playing with the strands of Nel's hair that were loose from her braid when Ichigo came in.

"How was the raid?" He asked, not looking from her face.

"As fun as it would be for any guy watching from the surveillance van," he replied casually.

"Where's the stuff?"

"I don't know."

He paused from twirling her hair and turned to look at him. "Bullshit. As soon as those and drove away from Aizen's compound Yoruichi and Kisuke disappeared with no explanation. What are they doing?"

"Hell, if I know." Answered Ichigo as nonchalantly as he could.

He sucked his teeth. "Damn Kurosaki, I know I'm in trouble with the department but you could at least tell me something,"
"You saw what you needed to see Grimm, I'm in as much hot water already I can't disclose anything to you,"

"Is that how it is then?"

"For now,"

"Hmph," he growled and went back to looking at Neliel's responsive form. "Can you at least tell me what they're gonna do with that fucker Gilga?"

Ichigo snorted. "Zaraki's got him. He's not going anywhere that's one thing we know for certain."

"Aren't you gonna go for the questioning?"

"They already allowed me to be on the scene for the raid. Captain Kuchiki isn't letting me even breathe in that direction."

"This sucks,"

"I know, but if there's anyone that's got this it's them,"

"Yer right Kurosaki," he paused for a moment, "Say, you think you could sneak me some cigarettes?"

"And let Yoruichi kill me? You must be outta your damn mind," Ichigo replied, smirking at the look on his friend's face.

"Che. Fuck you."

Kenpachi and Byakuya stood observing the handcuffed suspect in the interrogation room from the other side of the soundproof blocked off screen.

"So how are we gonna do this?" Asked Byakuya after a while.

"We grill him. Why is Nel still alive, why did he impregnate her, why did they drug her up. The usual stuff." Said Kenpachi.

"And if he doesn't cooperate?"

"Then we let him have 5 minutes with Jaggerjaques, I bet he has a lot to say to him after everything,"

Byakuya huffed. "We are not-"

"Why not? If anyone deserves a shot at that punk it's him."

"Because we have rules to follow and a criminal mastermind to capture. We can't do that with our key suspect dead. We ask him the basic questions for now and see where it goes from there."

"If ya say so Pretty Boy,"

"Don't call me that."

"Whatever. Shall we?"

Byakuya shrugged and they headed out to do the questioning.