Chapter 42: RUN

Nel didn't like Nnoitra. She hated him. She hated him ever since she was five years old. He didn't like her much either. She was a tiny thing and he would kick her. He would hit her. He would do so many mean things to her. None of that changed as she got older. In fact, it got worse. It got so bad that she had to start locking her door at night because of his hatred towards her.

Tier would say nothing when he would managed to pick the lock. Nel knew her sister was awake because the blonde was a light sleeper.

She was one of Aizen's children. Everyone who saw her smiled and did as she asked. No one saw the broken individual inside. All they saw was Nelliel's smiling face and big eyes.

They also saw the scars on her face. They were gifts from Nnoitra.

Nel hated him.

That's why she was going to do what she planned. She was going to follow through.

The young woman always liked Orihime Inoue. She was a kind soul. She was a pretty girl. She was always friendly to her. They practically grew up together. It was a sad day when Nel learned that the girl's family was dead. Then Orihime came to live with them. It was only for a short week, but she tried to show the girl how awesome life was in the mansion.

Orihime cried a lot. Nel would watch her big brother sit outside of Orihime's door with his head in his hands. Ulquiorra would listen to the redhead. It made Nel sad to watch this weird display. The green-eyed boy had always been weird. He was mean, but at the same time, he showed mercy.

After that funeral, her friend was sent away. Ulquiorra was sent away. She and Tier were put on an airplane and sent to some catholic boarding school. They were told to be good girls. How good of a girl could she be when she was already tainted? God must have not liked her to allow Nnoitra to do that stuff to her.

The only good thing about being at this school was that there were no boys around. There was no Nnoitra.

One of the memories she held onto from her school days was when Daddy Aizen told her Grimmjow and Nnoitra got kicked out of school. The next was when the skinny man had gone to prison. That made Nel happy and it really shouldn't have. Thinking vengeful thoughts wasn't the way to treat others.

Her sister knew how she felt.

Tier didn't spend a lot of time at the catholic school and she was off to college, sticking close to Nel. It was nice to have her around but she wasn't as fun as Grimmjow, who annoyed her. She wasn't as patient as Ulquiorra. She mostly imparted so-called wisdom on Nel and expected her to know what it meant.

She didn't even know what the word primordial meant.

Nel would talk to Ulquiorra on the phone. He'd give her a couple minutes out of his busy days. He told her his big secret. He was going to be a priest. She wasn't allowed to tell anyone. It was sad.

High school came and went and Nel found herself enrolled in college back in Boston. She got a four year degree in business to help her dad out. She had to deal with Nnoitra. He would hit her. He would kick her. He would hold her down and let men violate her. He would tell her how much he hated her.

That's why she had no remorse or guilt for what she was going to do. In fact, Nel was probably going to enjoy it.

Fucking bitch ass, teal-haired worthless whore. That's what Nel was. Damn bitch hadn't even unlocked the doors of the club. It was fucking Saturday; one of Tres' biggest money making days. Everyone fucking loved Saturdays at the club. Not a stitch of clothing on those tight bodies. Nnoitra chuckled and shook his head thinking about it.

Before he could get his dick wet he had to deal with this slut's malfunction. He had a key to that apartment on the third floor. He used it and walked up the stairs. It wasn't much of a place. Four brick walls with some dividers to make it seem like there was some privacy. Nnoitra sneered as he saw the flawless back of Nel's with that huge ass three she had inked on it. It wasn't her choice to get it.

He wanted to brand her.

The parking lot of Tres should have been full of cars. There should have been people going in and out of the establishment. It was going to be a bad fucking day for Nel. "Eh, bitch. Get your ass out of bed! You oversleep again? I fucking leave you for one night and you can't do shit by yourself?"

"Hmmm?" Nel said as she rolled over. She glared at the tall thug.

"I will smack that look off your face. Get up! You have a club to run."

"Why should I? Nothing I say matters. Since you think you're the boss, why don't you do some work for a change?"

What. The. Fuck? Did this dick-sucking slag just backtalk him? A sinister smile spread over Nnoitra's face and it took him three steps from where he was beside the second dividing wall that separated the bedroom from the rest of the apartment to get to her. A skinny but large hand came out to grab Nel's hair, yanking her up.

"OW!"

"Get up. Get dressed. Go shake your ass and make me money." Nnoitra spat, sending spittle flying through the air.

Nel started sniffling as she brought her hand up to wipe her face. "No," she fumed.

"No? No? Nelliel, you realize who the fuck you're talking to, don't you?" he snarled.

"Go get fucked, Nnoitra. You're nothing but a monster; a beast; you're an animal that deserves to be put down!"

Nnoitra was not expecting to be tackled from behind. He was not anticipating having his head crack the hardwood floor so bluntly that it made him black out.

Nel looked at the prone body laying on the floor, then she looked at the sliver-haired man standing above Nnoitra. "Thanks Kensei. Let me make myself decent and then we can begin this."

"You want me to call Rose and let him know?"

"You think it would make a difference? They already know I'm taking him out," Nel replied. She left the bed and pulled on a smart-looking dress that hugged the curves of her body but covered it in a modest way. It was a dark olive green which she liked. There was no amount of thigh visible. There was no cleavage exposed. She made herself seem more formidable withe the heels she put on her feet.

"Want me to take this piece of shit downstairs?"

"Yeah, do that. I think the parking lot will make a fine stage for this."

Nnoitra's head hurt. He felt wet. He was also glaring with bleary eyes at that teal-haired bitch. "I'm going to kill you Nelliel. Once I get this shit off me and I get let loose you're fucking going to stop breathing."

Nel blinked with an innocent expression on her face as she lounged against the side of the sleek Infiniti that she had bought last year. "Nnoi, you poor thing. Look around."

He did. He didn't notice the unfamiliar faces that surrounded Nel. He tried to pick out someone who he knew could help him from where he was handcuffed. She probably thought it was funny; he looked like fucking Jesus being crucified with his arms all spread out against the chain-link fence.

"Who the fuck are these people?" Nnoitra asked with a scathing tone.

"These are my boys. These are my men. It's amazing what a little kindness and a little cash can do to flip loyalties. Pesche, my gun, please."

A skinny blond man came running over to Nel, and Nnoitra sneered as the woman gracefully picked up the handgun laying in the guy's hands.

"Where the fuck did you get that?"

"Where do you think I got it? You snubbed Nero on that payment. He was more than happy to let me purchase a gun under the table," Nel replied. "Don't worry, the same gun that is going to kill you will be used to put down Daddy, too."

A barking laugh left Nnoitra. This bitch was acting out of her mind. Kill him. Kill Aizen. Who the fuck did Nel think she was? "Look let me go and I'll strangle the life out of you. You won't even care that you're dying," he said, still laughing.

"Wait!"

The thirty people that were standing around the cars and Nel in the parking lot all turned to see a blond man with an eyepatch and some teal ink on his cheek. The woman's face turned into one that exuded disapproval. "What Tesla?"

"I will not allow you to do this! Ginjo and his crew are gonna be rolling through and they're-"

The gunshot rang through the air like a sharp crack. Nnoitra's mouth fell open as he watched his friend, his homie, his goon, fall to the asphalt like a sack of potatoes. A hole was in the center of Tesla's forehead and blood poured from the wound, collecting underneath him.

"DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANY OBJECTIONS?" Nel called out as she let her arm drop. There was a murmur through the crowd but no one said anything. "Nnoitra, it's been fun for the past however many years, but it's time you left my life."

The first bullet hit his leg and Nnoitra grit his teeth; pain coursing through him. "Fucking bitch!"

The second hit his other leg. "Jesus fucking Christ! You are fucking dead, Nel! Dead!"

Nine more shots were fired but there were no words being screamed out. Nel felt justice as she looked at Nnoitra's body, bleeding and riddled with bullet holes. She could see the pain in his eyes. She could hear how the man's breathing was labored as she walked closer to him. "Any last words, Brother?"

"Go... fuck..." he wheezed. "Your...self."

Nel smiled but there was no joy in the expression. "This is for Bazz," she replied.

The final bullet that went through Nnoitra's body was through his eye. She watched as his now lifeless body sagged against the fence, the dead weight pulling at the metal. Nnoitra was dead at the age of thirty-three and it made Nel feel free. She no longer had to endure abuse at his hands. No one would dare challenge her.

No one moved. No one said anything as Nel turned around. She looked at each of the men standing in the parking lot and released the spent clip from the gun. It was Pesche who handed her another clip which she shoved into the slot. "Take him down."

Tier knew she was fucking up Nel's plans, but she had to do something. They had been having dinner at the pub. It was quiet for a late Saturday night. People kept their distance from the place after learning of what happened to Nnoitra. All Aizen did was mention Jugo's name and Tier shot the man she knew as her father several times, then she ran. The text that went to Ulquiorra was frantic.

- Nnoi dead. Aizen shot. RUN.

Like Nel, she had been tired of the abuse and the blackmail and the threats. She wanted to live a normal life with someone she trusted and loved. She couldn't have that while Aizen was trying to threaten it.

When the former priest got the text, he knew his time in Boston was up. He knew it was now or never. "Fuck," he breathed. He went to find Orihime and when he saw her he immediately buried his face into her neck.

His brother was dead. His entire family was fucked up. Ulquiorra knew that one day he would have to deal with everything that he shoved behind his mental wall, but not now; not today; not even this month. He had to make sure that they survived this.

"It's time. Tier texted."

Orihime nodded and squeezed him. "Let's go."

Aizen grunted every time the doctor pulled a bullet out of his shoulder or arm. He flinched every time he heard the metal hit metal as the bullets hit the pan they were being dropped into. His lip curled with every stitch the doctor made as he inspected the damage.

He stared at Ginjo Kugo and his crew with distaste. He stared at Nelliel with absolute fury.

"WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU WHEN NNOITRA WAS SHOT?" The man yelled at the members of Nnoitra's gang.

"We got a text from Tesla telling us there was a stand-off going on at Tres. We had to round people up to roll through."

Aizen's eyes narrowed. "Where were you Nel?"

"Opening the club, Daddy. I overslept. I heard Nnoitra yelling outside," she said.

"Where's his body? Where's Tesla?"

"Roxbury, and Quincy," Kugo stated, clearing his throat after speaking.

The brown-haired man tilted his head to the side, feeling his neck crack and some of the tension he was feeling melt away. "Retsu?"

"Gone."

The mob boss nodded, looking right at Nel. "Where is the rest of my family?"

The teal-haired woman said nothing as she looked at her nails. She swallowed. She shifted her weight. "I don't know. I was at Tres. I told you, Daddy, I-"

"So no one knows where Grimmjow is? No one knows where Tier went after she shot me five damn times? No one saw Ulquiorra?"

The doctor finished up, taping gauze over the stitched wounds. Aizen took a deep breath and waited as the man ordered him some pain relief. "I want them found. I want them brought back to me. I want them to pay. I want Grimmjow, Tier, Ulquiorra, and that redhead of his to pay for this. I lost a lot of good assets today and it is their fault!"

Ulquiorra curled up next to Orihime while Chad drove. Buffalo was about an hour away and it was just after midnight on an Easter Sunday.

"How are you holding up, sweetheart?" Orihime asked into his hair. Ulquiorra had not said anything about his family since they left Boston.

"This is all fucked up and-" Ulquiorra's voice was flat, like he had no emotions. "You know, I don't regret coming back to Boston because it put you back into my life. I don't regret anything that has happened between you and me, but this has been a horrible month."

Orihime hugged him. "I know," she murmured, kissing his head. She looked out the window at the highway lights passing them by and sighed. She didn't mean to say it out loud, but the ominous thought came out anyway as she whispered, "The month's not over yet."

As usual my thanks go to JKR for being an amazing co-author. She's just wonderful at times when it comes to dealing with me 3.

So yes, I, EIV, have a slight priest kink and this entire fic stemmed from me thinking of Ulq in a cassock. I drew it. I also read Thornbirds when I was younger. Didn't understand the whole thing. Also, cute priests when I was a churchgoer. I mean there are some hot priests out there now.

I'm going to hell...

Anyway thank you for reading!

JKR here!

Thank you to EIV, of course, for writing this with me! We put each other through an emotional wringer with this one and ended up chopping a lot of material, then re-writing and inserting new huge chunks of the story. I learned a lot while writing this one, but tricks and experience don't really create magic. That is where I really owe it to EIV; she knows how to make magic. I still get chills when I read the Christmas Eve chapter.

This one, like all of them, has a special place in my heart, and is also very personal, being raised Catholic and Orihime's backstory references people, places, things, and experiences from my real life (much of it separated a degree or two but regardless...)

I recall the advent of this fic going thusly: A mutual of ours requested EIV do a mafia AU. She started the outline, then shelved it while we wrote Paint Your Picture (All Night Long). Next thing you know, it was Kinktober, and she had some Kylo Ren as a priest idea but that wasn't one of the 2018 prompts. She complained to me about that and threw the thought out of Ulquiorra in a cassock, and then she RAN WITH IT! First art and then Forgive Me, Father… And look at this. Although we ended up using just a little of the original mafia outline and filled it out with the priest thing, I think we built a rich world full of memories. In my mind, I know how the light comes through the sheer curtains of the rectory parlor. I know the smell of the coffee percolating from the counters in the kitchen and the the old wooden built-ins with their years of lemon-scented furniture polish. Sigh…. I could go on. I love this universe and I'm sad to leave it behind, but I'm glad Orihime and Ulquiorra escaped.

Speaking of which….

Anybody interested in a sequel is 2020?