No Place Like Home

Warning Yaoi (Boy x Boy) don’t read if you don’t like.



AN: Thank to Jennifer, riokali, satterb, and Golden Kitsune for the reviews. As to riokali’s question of who I would pair with Stark. I could honestly pair anyone with him. I don’t read the manga so I really don’t have a good idea of his personality other than it being somewhat lazy so it wouldn’t be hard to put him with anyone. As to why I paired Szayel with Halibel was because I think she is cool and the only attractive Arrancar other than Grim and Ulquiorra(whom I already had paired) was Szayel. Stark is also attractive but I have to say I wanted to keep him open just in case. Also I am sorry that I am having to move everything along fast but I only have what is the equivilant of a few weeks time to work with in order to keep in sync with Coming Home because if you all remember as soon as Gin was recovered he was sent back to Hueco Mundo and by that time Ulquiorra and Grim were already in control of several of the Espada while the others had abandoned them to go and hold raids on Karakura Town. Anyway I’m going to be liberal and say that Coming Home from start to the entry into Hueco Mundo occurred over a 6 or so week period. Phew, big AN well anyway I hope you all enjoy this chapter.



No Place Like Home



Chapter Nine



“Well, Well, what have we here?” drawled Nnoitra as he stood from where he lounged. Grim struggled to repress the shudder that wanted to work its way through his body at the leering look that Nnoitra sent him. Of all the Espada, Nnoitra was the one that repulsed him the most. He knew the tall grinning Espada desired him. He also knew that he had a cruel streak in him and relished in the pain rather than pleasure of his partners.



Nnoitra made his way over to the newcomers. Running his finger in the inner rim of Grimm’s half jaket in a teasing manner, Nnoitra leered at the smooth skin pulled tight over the taunt muscle of Grimm’s chest and abdomen.



“Long time no see, Grim-chan.” growled Nnoitra. Grimm slapped away the hand with a snarl. Nnoitra only grinned, his huge teeth shining. Leaning down Nnoitra whispered in Grim’s ear, “I’d be nice if I were you. You will be my bitch soon.” Grim felt his lips pull back across his teeth in a snarl reminiscent of his feline blood. Before he had a chance to push Nnoitra away, Ulquiorra was there. In a rare show of aggression, Ulquiorra had drawn his zanpakuto and it was currently pressed against Nnoitra’s throat. The Espada swallowed visibly and looked towards the emotionless Ulquiorra. There was no anger or jealousy present, just the promise of death in the bright green eyes.



Even Stark sat up in curiosity at the increase in reiatsu in the air. His nap effectively interrupted by the weight of the killing intent. He lifted a brow as Halibel settled herself next to him. A chuckle sounded from behind her high collar.



“Seems Ulquiorra has finally decided to lay a claim.” she said towards her long time friend. If Arrancar even had the capacity to have friendships, Halibel and Stark would be considered friends. Perhaps now that Aizen was dead, they could be more than just weapons. Her heart ached a little at the thought that Szayel wasn’t here to share their new found freedom with her. Stark just snorted and kept his hooded eyes on the events unfolding in front of them.



“I’m glad that I am abstaining from these fights. Its going to get bloody.” he said before settling down again. Halibel rolled her eyes at him. How he ever became the first Espada was something that she always wondered about. She had never seen him fight. Not once since her creation.



Watching Ulquiorra closely, Halibel was curious at this change. She wondered how much more powerful he would become now that he was allowing his emotions to have reign. She was definitely glad that she didn’t have to fight him as he is now.



“I have a feeling that you are going to be Ulquiorra’s bitch, Nnoitra.” smirked Grimm. “I hope you like taking it up the ass.” A flush of anger filled Nnoitra’s cheeks and he lunged back and reached for his massive weapon. He was about to charge when a large hand grabbed his arm.



“Bastard.” yelled Nnoitra as Yammy held him back. Ulquiorra simply looked at the struggling man with something akin to disinterest. Turning, Ulquiorra made his way towards Stark. Time to decide who would fight and who would not.



“As the first Espada, it is your prerogative to lead the battles and defend your rank.” said Ulquiorra, though he already knew the answer. Better to go by the book than get your ass bitten later. Stark looked up at the smaller man with a twitch of his lips.



“I’ll pass and follow whomever is deemed the leader.” he drawled out. Even though his answer was to avoid fighting, Stark have the honor as the first Espada to be the final judge over the battles to come.



“Worthless piece of shit. I bet you can‘t even fight.” yelled Nnoitra. Stark popped open an eye. Without saying a word he suddenly appeared in front of the slender man and plowed his fist into the abdomen. Nnoitra doubled over in agony as a slight amount of blood dribbled from his lips. He spit the blood from his mouth and scowled at the first Espada. Even Ulquiorra couldn’t stop his eyes from widening at the sight. He had known that Stark was powerful but he had not even begun to imagine the power that the man had. He had not even seen him move. Halibel chuckled but otherwise remained silent as the room erupted into chatter. Stark strolled back to his bench and plopped back down beside Halibel.



“I choose not to fight, that doesn’t mean I can’t.” said Stark before lying his head in Halibel’s lap. She only shook her head. Ulquiorra turned his gaze to Barrigan.



“I choose to fight!” he boomed. He might look aged but Ulquiorra knew not to underestimate him. He wasn’t the second Espada for nothing. Drifting his gaze towards Halibel, he yet again knew the answer. Shaking her head slightly and sadly letting her eyes drift towards the bracelet that adorned her wrist, a gift from Szayel. Ulquiorra nodded in acceptance.



“I will fight.” said Ulquiorra. His eyes drifted towards Nnoitra.



“You bet you fucking ass I will fight.” snarled Nnoitra. He was now out for more than the right to lead. He was out for revenge as well. Not only had he been bested by Ulquiorra in a matter of minutes, but he had also been bested by Stark.



Grim felt the eyes on him and for a moment he considered conceding to wait as Stark and Halibel. However, his only feline traits would not allow him to back down from a fight. “I will fight.” he muttered. He noticed the resolve tighten in Ulquiorra’s gaze. Now, Ulquiorra would refuse to lose. He couldn’t afford to.



Grim knew that no matter what ranking he ended up with, Ulquiorra was fighting for both of them. Nnoitra had made it very clear that he would take Grim as his prize. Ulquiorra would not allow that to happen. Even if in his last breath he had to kill the slender man. Lastly Yammy agreed to fight. The large man was a bit on the arrogant side and as such hoped for a chance to better his standing, being the tenth put him a little too close to the end for his comfort. Also, like Grim, he enjoyed a good fight and liked to prove his strength.



Though the fighting was open to all Arrancar, even those that had previously been demoted or were fraccion, none of them chose to fight. It would be nearly pointless and they would get their asses beat in the process. Fraccion tended to be loyal to their own and so their leader was fighting for them as well. Majority of the fraccion were killed and as such the remaining few chose to simply follow their leader and not seek higher rank.



That all being decided, Stark stood and stretched. Walking towards those that had decided to fight. Nnoitra gave him a wide berth and Grim snickered, earning him a scowl and a promise of what would happen should Nnoitra win.



“One defeat and you are out. This is to determine the leader. I would prefer it not be to the death because if you kill everyone you will be the leader of nobody.” said Stark while eyeballing Nnoitra. Nnoitra scowled but remained silent. “Its only fair to acknowledge the previous ranks and because I want this to be a fair show of battle since I am going to have to follow the winner, each of you will only be allowed to fight once per day.” None of them disputed that but Barrigan. Since he was the highest level Espada, he would only have to fight once for the title. He wasn’t as honorable as his appearance denoted and as such was more than willing to fight an exhausted opponent if it kept him in a position of power. In that aspect, he was identical to Nnoitra who had attacked Kurosaki Ichigo while he was weakened from his battle with Grimmjow.



“First battle, Grimmjow and Yammy.” said Stark and settled himself once again on Halibel’s lap. She looked down at him with disgust but didn’t push him off. If anything, she welcomed the physical connection in order to ease some of the loss she felt. Grim stretched and popped his neck. Excitement was coursing through him. Now he would get to have some fun. He supposed he should go easy on Yammy since he was a comrade of sorts.



“I’m gonna crush you, Grimmjow.” snarled Yammy, as he moved into the ring with the blue haired man. Grim simply gave an arrogant smirk and took a battle stance. Ulquiorra, with his eyes locked on Grim, stood near Halibel.



“You certainly chose a wild one.” muttered Stark from Halibel’s lap without even opening an eye. Ulquiorra didn’t say anything but kept his eyes on the battle.



Yammy was the first to attack, charging fast at Grim. It was an expected attack as Yammy, himself, tended to rely more on brute strength rather than quickness due to his large size. Grim was quickly able to dodge the attack. He knew in a strength versus strength, Yammy had him greatly out matched. However, Yammy was known to be not quite as bright in the head as many of the other Espada, giving Grim an upper hand. Grim was also fast, even without the aid of his zanpakuto, Grim was extremely fast and agile, a trait from his feline decent.



The battle continued much of the same as the beginning. Yammy would charge and attack, Grim would subsequently dodge and attempt a counter attack. Grim knew he was getting nowhere with this and decided to switch strategy. Grim was very fast and could avoid the attacks easily but that didn’t bring him any closer to defeating the large man, and he didn’t want to end it too soon by going at him full strength. Dodging yet another attack and rolling to the side, Grim released a Bala attack. He saw Yammy take the hit and grow angry in the face. The attack burned some of his skin on his shoulder but for the most part only appeared to make him even more angry.



Yammy, started to use his own Cero and Bala attacks forcing Grim to dodge not only his fists but the energy attacks as well. One well aimed attack knocked the breath from Grim and sent him to the ground. Grunting as he landed, Grim could not avoid Yammy when he encircled a massive paw around Grim‘s neck and lifted him from the ground. Next to Halibel, Ulquiorra’s arms dropped from their crossed position and the air in the general vicinity became heavy.



“Don’t worry, that kitty cat is so much more powerful than Yammy. He‘s just letting Yammy thing he‘s winning.” muttered Stark. Halibel rolled her eyes yet again, amazed that Stark was following the fight without even opening his eyes.



Yammy sure that he now had the fight in the bag, began to punch Grim in the abdomen with Cero enhanced fists causing the blue haired man to begin to spit up blood. He was so high on his win that he didn’t see the hand that lifted. That mistake would be the deciding factor in this battle. Grim pushed all his power into the Cero blast directed towards Yammy’s head. The pressure on his throat released and he and the large man crumpled to the ground. Grim groaned and pulled himself to his feet and kicked the fallen giant in the side before limping towards the stands. Ulquiorra was at his side in the blink of an eye.



“Is he dead?” asked Lilinette. Stark snorted at his fraccion‘s question.



“No, just incapacitated.” said Ulquiorra, answering the fraccion.



“Well lets break for a bit and then the next battle will be Ulquiorra and Nnoitra.” said Stark without even opening his eyes. Ulquiorra was grateful for the reprieve so he could help attend to Grim’s wounds. Slipping an arm underneath the Grim, Ulquiorra lead the wounded man from the arena to an empty room.



“Baka, you could have taken him out faster but you wanted to play with him and now look at the shape you are in.” said Ulquiorra with a look of disgust. Grim growled. He had hoped that Ulquiorra would offer some sort of congratulations for his win.



“I won, didn’t I?” muttered Grim. Ulquiorra shot him a look of annoyance and Grim couldn’t help but grin despite the pain. Ulquiorra grabbed his chin harshly.



“I thought you weren’t going to get hurt.” said Ulquiorra, his green eyes staring deep.



“I’m not hurt too bad, just a little bruised.” grinned Grim, his pulse still pounding from the excitement of the fight. Ulquiorra didn’t say anything as he bandaged the wounds.



“Rest here, I am going to go talk with Halibel and Stark.” said Ulquiorra. Grim nodded and felt himself drift off. He didn’t hear the door open nor close. When he heard the lock however, his eyes shot open. Looking towards the door, Grim felt his eyes widen as the tall lanky Nnoitra stepped from the shadows.



“Time to play, Grim-chan.” growled Nnoitra, an evil gleam in his eye. Grim felt a trickle of fear coarse through his veins as the fifth Espada stepped forward. Now he was regretting his decision to play with Yammy instead of finishing him off quickly. In his current condition, depleted of all but essential reiatsu coupled with a few bruised ribs and cero burns, Grim would be unable to defend himself against the attack.



TBC~