Straitjacket Feeling

 A/N: I don't know if it hit or missed with the dialogue but for the most part it was fun to type to see how things would unfold- even for me. Still haven't figured out everything but the suggestions are amazing and I honestly want to try out all of them.  

He carried on with his shower as planned.

She listened to the faint sound of the shower running from the small bedroom; she knew how he was sometimes when it came to his showers and decided it would be best to wait and see what his reaction would be afterwards. Leaning back against the wall behind her, she tried to capture some kind of grasp on the situation.

She wondered if his reaction was going to be the same.

It had frightened her how alike he was to her Captain and sometimes she wondered if that was why she found him so appealing. If they were so alike... no maybe he would act different; maybe he would be more patient with her. Maybe she was just kidding herself.

Maybe this whole thing was a mess.

It could've been so easily avoided and yet... that would've been the easy way out.

"You know, I rarely ask for things to be repeated because I depend on myself to catch it the first time. Unfortunately... I want you to repeat what you said."

His voice sent a cold chill through her body as she slowly looked over to where he had recently departed from that white-tiled room and stood in the hallway between them. That pale skin radiating with heat and stained with a flush of color as evidence from the boiling temperature he set the shower on.

"I'm carrying our... offspring." the words were slow and cautious as she awaited his reaction.

He seemed to take his time to re-evaluate her words and take them into consideration. Overall, he seemed to make no outward, physical reaction to it, although she supposed that was a given; he didn't seem like the type to be overly dramatic or make a scene- even if it was just with the two of them. "Well now, that creates quite a predicament, doesn't it? Is that why you gave me that little run around with the twenty questions before?"

"I considered taking a different approach of unveiling the news." she started.

"I'm guessing the first attempt didn't go so well."

She resisted the urge to even sub-consciously touch at her cheek and instead kept her hands close to her sides. "He... he didn't appreciate the experiment explanation I gave beforehand. It's uncharacteristic of me to do something outside of his knowledge and he wasn't... he didn't like the fact that I had stepped out of my bounds, especially when it was with someone like you."

A short chuckle seemed to leave his lips as he slowly continued towards her; hands rested on his narrow waist for a moment when he spoke. "He is either protective or just very stupid." closing the space between them, he brushed his fingers through her hair; uncovering the bruise once more. "And even after the news, he still hits you... how appropriate."

"Under his own creation law, those of us that were created in this test-tube lab... we belong to him; we have no rights-" she stopped when his fingers caught her chin in a passive-aggressive like hold; using just enough force to get her attention and cease her talking but using enough of a caress to assure that she was in no immediate danger.

"I think at this point, it's safe to assume that... you no longer belong to him."

"What are you talking about?"

He moved hands to cup the soft curves of her jawline and tilted her head up towards him; trying to find some kind of sense in those broken, scarred eyes of hers. She seemed to show little understanding of his motive but the warm touch of her fingertips against his wrists for a brief second told him she at least put some trust in him. After all, it wasn't like he was going to backhand her. "The moment your body became my own, you belonged to me."

She felt herself flinch slightly at the words, unsure of how to react to them. "I..."

"I won't accept anything else." he interrupted as his hands dropped away from her. "In fact, I think this predicament only furthers that."

"Tell me then... what do we do?"

"Tell me something first." he replied. "How far along are you with this offspring?"

"A month and a half." she answered. "Maybe... between seven or eight weeks."

He nodded with her before he carefully brought his hand to skim the flat of her abdomen; watching as she seemed to shy away from the touch. "If it survives for another four weeks, then we'll definitely be looking at an offspring."

She had calculated the risk of running a possible miscarriage and by excluding all outside factors, there was a very low chance of one; however, after adding in every possible reaction, she was quite honestly surprised the two had made it this far. She tried not to get attached to the possible offspring but... it was difficult not to. "It's going to be a long four week wait."

"Possibly, but think of the aftermath."

"To be honest, it's a frightening thought." she replied; catching those amber eyes for a brief moment. "Have you thought about it?"

He picked up on her point and moved one hand to readjusted his glasses. "Let's be frank here, nothing like this has occurred before; nothing like this is even possible elsewhere. It's the first and only time. It's absolutely... exhilarating and fascinating all in one. This one little form of life is a possible milestone when it comes down to science. Of course... there's going to be people on opposing sides of it; some saying it could be used for war and others saying for peace. Let's face it, there's nothing on the records to show a Shinigami-Arrancar hybrid; there's no way of knowing it's power, what it'll look like, what it'll do... nothing. This whole research of development will be done from scratch. Everything that would be put into studying this will be made of first time mistakes and unknowing consequences. There's going to be never before seen gene structures and the mental capability of it is almost frightening to think of."

It was words and answers like that that made her realize just how alike he was to her Captain.

She would never tell him that though.

"It's an interesting situation." she remarked. "But I have a feeling we may not be able to make it to that point."

"Nonsense. This is a one of a kind moment; when that... Captain of yours realizes that, things will change."

"That only makes this a bit more frightening."

He chuckled lightly at the soft comment before his hands moved to cup her cheeks once again; pulling her in towards him, he leaned down and brushed the curve of his lips against her own. "My, my, look at how human you've become..."

She felt a soft tremor vibrate through her body at the words and the way his lips felt against her own; when was the last time she had kissed him? It felt like it had been eternity since she had last felt what it was like to become engulfed in just him. Fingertips pushed aside the wet strands of hair before they curled against his cheeks; fingers followed the contour trails along his face before they lightly pulled along the curve of his jawline. The flat of her thumb managed trace the shape of his lower lip before she encouraged the soft motion to pull him forward just enough to cleanse the space between them.

It was the thunder of her heartbeat echoing in the back of her head that only seemed to intensify the heat of his tongue inside of her. He was always up to the task of reminding her again and again of who had the control; who had the most experience. With every little session, he was showing her more and more of that experience and after every session, she still wanted more from it. Even now, she could feel the temptation burning in her fingertips; firing up the different areas in her brain that targeted and controlled those type of feelings. But she couldn't just let that happen; they were already in enough hot water as it was and her Captain was bound to be coming this way at any time... it wasn't going to help them if he caught them in the act. Not that there was really anything at this point that was going to help them.

He left her lips still parted slightly when he pulled away; taking up on the temptation to reclaim them for a brief second more. "Do you think you'll fare well with this new condition?"

"I don't see why not; it's kind of like you, only slower." she reminded.

"Always finding yourself stuck as a host." he replied with a soft grin. "How do you think the others will fare?"

She didn't think about the others... She supposed it would be difficult to explain it to the other Shinigami women, surely Isane and Nanao would not know what to do with themselves; Hinamori and Matsumoto would be the same as well... And the other Captains, how would they be affected? No, it was too sensitive of a case to spread around; they couldn't let anyone else know about this until tests were completed and reports were written. "They won't know the details. It'll be kept a secret for as long as it can until all outside visitations are off-limits. It'll be a little white lie. It's all part of another experiment; an artificial being inside of another; a test-tube inside of a test-tube. That way... there are no outside factors to inhibit this delicate procedure. It'll be run in a completely sterilized environment- it's possible an isolation from all socialization will be put in order to raise the better risk of a healthier term. Like you said, this is the first occurrence of such event; we'll want to ensure the best way of preservation and protection for it."

"I think it would be interesting to see outside opinion but again, preservation and isolation would be far safer." he spoke.

"Why are you suddenly worried for my well-being?" she questioned.

"Because, we managed to successfully conceive an offspring; it'll be one of the most important scientific studies as soon as everyone pulls their heads out of their asses. But regardless, that doesn't change the fact that... technically you're my mate now."

"Mate?" she repeated slowly; feeling how the word sounded on her tongue.

"I suppose your kind would see it more as a 'significant other' type deal and I suppose that would seem more appropriate. However, that's yet another difference between our kinds. For the most part, we were once animals; sometimes we resemble them; we still carry those traits with us. So, while to the others we just represent a freak science experiment, some kind of experiment that should have been killed from the start... technically it's a full circle."

"A full circle because... when animals find one mate... most species stay with that one mate." she whispered. "Is that what you do?"

"I'm not going to lie to you. I've had plenty of mates in the past; all of them from other animal types and species. But... in the extent of this given situation... I think I can forget about those ones; after all, none of them have carried my offspring like you are."

She could feel his hand touch at her stomach once more; the skin had been sore and tender for the past few days and she had tried not to agitate the feeling- which lead to her trying to avoid moving her abdomen around too much to no avail. She had pulled away from him earlier because of it but decided to stay this time; almost caught off-guard by his seemingly comforting approach.

Then again, he had already specified that she was his mate now and by animal law, he was going to be protective of her.

... Of both her and their oncoming offspring.

XXX

XX

X

"Even in as worthless state as you are in now, it seems like you always have something up your sleeves."

Amber eyes carefully watched as the rather hideous looking Captain walked back and forth across the small area of the confined office; ugh, the man was still just as ugly as he last remembered but he tried not to make too much of a deal out of it. Although if this little 'meeting' of theirs was going to last much longer, he was certain his ability of holding out on a comment was going to wane and ultimately collapse in on itself. Until then, he supposed he could wait and see what had to be said, after all he was ever so curious about the Captain's option.

"Yes well, I suppose if you have given me some time before your little 'goons' showed up and dragged me out of there, I would've had the decency to at least put on a shirt but then that would take your little metaphor too literally." it had taken him some time, but he thought he had a good understanding of how to push the man's buttons; just barely able to keep himself outside of the 'terminal' range for the Captain's anger. "Just out of curiosity though, where did you take her?"

"She should be the least of your worries right now."

The fact that their pleasant conversation had been interrupted earlier by those ever-friendly Division cops left him in a bad enough mood as it was; and then he was drug here to speak face-to-face with this man... this day had gone from good to hell. The fact that they showed little compassion when they pulled her away was irritating just the same; and the Captain's comment did little to assure him of her safety. Oh who was he kidding? This man had probably already locked her away somewhere and was just planning his imminent death for now.

The fact that he was currently bound to the rather stiff-sitting chair did little to improve his mood either.

"You're right, I keep a list of worries with me all the time and she's never really graced the top of it; I want to thank you for reminding me of that reality. It sure does take a load off my shoulders." Okay so the sarcasm wasn't helping his case but hell if it made things worse it was worth it.

He swore he could almost see a vein throb in the Captain's forehead. "We're just running some tests on her, that's all."

That only made things even more uncomfortable- he bet that was the only reason why the Captain answered him.

"Let me guess... you just want to check and make sure that she's not actually bullshitting with you, right? No sense in getting all worked up over something false; it's always such a let down afterwards."

"For all I know, she could've gone out and screwed anyone here; she's simple-minded enough to do it."

He didn't like the way the man talked but... two could play at this game. "Or maybe you just don't want to admit that your 'Lieutenant' was fooling around with someone like me instead; with your enemy, right? I bet the thought of her spreading her legs for me just drives you insane." he grinned; watching as it certain drove a nail into the Captain's spine. "Or maybe 'Daddy's' just upset that someone finally took his little girl's virginity."

He could hear those nails shriek as they curled against the oak wood of his desk. So maybe that last comment was taking it a bit too far but there was really no sense in stopping now.

"The only reason I'm keeping you alive now is that I'm curious by this overall situation; the fact that you could serve as a breeding purpose for this scientific discovery is really the only reason to keep you around."

"That's an interesting standing point and on any other day I would've gladly taken up on it but... unfortunately for this study, I've decided to remain monogamous for now; it'll be much easier that way."

"You act like you actually have a choice in this matter."

"Oh, so now you're threatening me with a good time, is that so?" he remarked with a chuckle. "I'm sure Fornicaras would've jumped at an opportunity like this. But you're failing to see the point here. To successfully pull off a sterilized, rational operation like this... I think it would be much better to focus on one thing at a time."

"And you decide to pick that foolish girl?"

"I don't see why not; I was inside her once before, this is really little different from that- technically a part of me is still inside of her. It's fascinating how that works, don't you think? Not to mention, she's so easy to please when she's on her back."

Another comment that did little to help the situation but was worth mentioning regardless.

"I don't believe you realize who exactly is in charge here. I could easily have you eliminated from this project; I could have her moved off to a separate wing and you'll never hear another word about this procreation; better yet, there's always the possibility of simply removing the embryo after so many following months and supporting it in a test tube- that way studies can be taken around the clock to note any change. I have an endless list of possibilities; you have none."

Well that was certainly one way to look at it.

The fact that all of the options were possible and solely in the Captain's control... it put him on edge once more. He frowned and shifted in the seat to try and find a more soothing position against his back; his wrists twisted slightly in the tightly knotted ropes that kept them cemented together. It was an ill thought that seeing how this man acted on a normal basis towards her, there was no sparing of limitations he would take even now. "Are you really going to run the risk of doing any of that? It's a delicate procedure to follow, just the over heightened sense of stress would be enough to trigger her body to abort."

"If we lock her body down into a comatose-state, it won't know the difference, will it?"

Shit, this Captain was going to run down through all his other options until one of them admitted defeat.

"Congratulations, you've officially out beaten me for being quite the largest asshole towards her. Although you've gotten quite the head start on me, I thought the whole 'using your body as a host' thing was pretty extreme but you've proven to me otherwise. I'm impressed." he lightly mocked; watching as the man almost seemed smug about the remark. "Also, I suppose now would be an appropriate time for another congratulations on being a grandfather."

It felt like there should be something to be feared as he watched the man push himself away from his desk and walk towards him. Well, this wasn't going to end well, not that it was going to from the beginning. In his defense though, it was just too fun to rile the man up.

Those twisted fingers of his knotted themselves in his hair and forced his head back against the curve of the chair; forcefully revealing the vulnerable grooves of his throat and the tender flesh of his neck. He could feel one of those elongated nails sink into the watery membrane that surrounded his left eye; puncturing into the occupied socket. It was really more of a feeling of discomfort and pressure than anything else but those alone were enough to get the point across.

"Let me get one thing straight here. I'll be handling everything about this situation from here on out. You're really nothing more than a pawn I'm just using for her; you're nothing more than the man who started this but you sure as hell aren't going to be there when it ends. And while it would be a terrible waste of a scientific specimen... don't think it makes you invincible; science comes at a price but some things are worth throwing away if they choose to stand in the way. Remember that."

He expected the man to step aside after that but it became apparent that he was looking for some kind of answer or reaction. Still frowning, he merely nodded before feeling the greater discomfort as the nail ripped freely from his eye socket. It was sore to blink and wasted membrane clotted outward but regardless, the eyeball itself was still intact and so as his sight- kind of. "I might just let you enjoy that for yourself; I think I might just busy myself with enjoying the offspring as it is."