An Assassin, a Thief, and Yaoi, Oh My! [Old Version]

Chapter 4

Jack looked between the two men, wondering what had put them both into such an out of character mood, but decided not to question it... It wasn't his place to pry anyway.

"Well, I'm not sure if it's really that important, but I figured you'd want to know. Aizen, it seems, is looking to hire. There's no specifics on it, not even the kind of job position he's looking to fill, just that he's looking." Once again Jack glanced between the two men, this time though he was gauging their reactions to this new information. Alex didn't seem to be overly concerned, he was more interested in examining his cup of tea at the moment, the blonde man however, seemed to be deep in thought. With a light chuckle, Jack realised he had never been introduced to the leader of this little group, didn't even know his name, yet had already been taking orders from him. The sound seemed to draw the blonde man out of whatever he was pondering, he looked up at Jack with a questioning look. "Sorry, I just realized I don't know your name yet." The blonde man looked surprised at first, then let out a hardy laugh.

"How rude of me! It must have slipped my mind... Hello, my name is Rod, pleased to meet you." He held his hand out to Jack with a large smile on his unshaven face, head tilted slightly up so you could see his eyes under the hat that never left his head. Jack gave a grin of his own and shook the hand offered.

"Pleased to meet you." As soon as the handshake ended, Rod once again had a serious look on his face, one that looked very out of place on the normally eccentric man.

"Now, back to the matter at hand, I say we use this job opening to our advantage. Jack, if you can, try and find out just what kind of position Aizen wants filled... If you can't that's fine, we'll be filling the spot regardless. Alex, I'm giving this part of the job to you. You have been trained to go undercover and infiltrate organizations, we will need this skill here. I want you to use your Kien Shiba disguise, I think that one will be most effective for this situation." Rod glanced over to Ichigo, making sure he understood what was being asked of him. Satisfied with the nod he was given, Rod continued to give out a few more orders. "Alex, I know you won't like this, but I'm warning you now. This. Is. Necessary. While undercover, you will still have to communicate with Jack, and update him constantly on the situation in there so that he may update me. In order for you to do this and not look suspicious, you two are going to have to move in togther and pretend to be in a relationship..." He could see Ichigo about to blow up in his face, so he sent him a warning look and the feisty male seemed to calm...at least slightly. "It is of the upmost importance that you two make this convincing. If Aizen thinks for even a second there's something else to your relationship besides just lovey dovey goodness, we're all screwed. If that happens we'll be lucky to make it out of his grasp alive... Now, tell me, can you both handle this?" Rod glanced first to Jack, presuming he'd be a bit more level headed about the plan he just proposed. He was right.

"Yeah, I'm cool with it... At least this will be interesting." That shit eating grin was once again present on the blue haired man's face, much like the night he first met the odd pair sitting before him.

"Good... Alex, what about you? Can you control your temper?" There was a certain edge in the way he spoke and the look in his eyes as he turned to Alex told the other that those were not questions, not really... Because there was only one answer, and that was to do as he was told and shut up. He grumbled out a inaudible reply and nodded his head in consent. A tension was released in the room no one had realised had been building. "Alright. One more thing before you two can leave. I know this is a leap of faith, a big one... But I really think it's best, for safety purposes, that we give each other our real names. You don't have to, as I know very well how dangerous that can be in this line of work, but if we all agree, I believe we should do it now, where we won't be overheard." He watched the other two closely, knowing this wasn't just a big leap of faith, it was more like putting a gun with only one bullet to the others head, firing, and hopeing that shot didn't kill. By giving thier names to each other, they were risking a lot... Rod was brought out of his thoughts when, surprisingly, Alex spoke up.

"I think we should... In the long run, if we don't, it could very well get one of us killed... But who's to say that it won't just ensure one of us getting killed if we do? I don't really know. What I do know, is I trust Rod's choice of employees, and so to some extent, I trust you." At that last part, he sent a look to Jack that promised pain if he should be found to be untrustworthy. The thief, not one to back down from a challenge, just continued to grin right back at the feisty orange head.

"I'm cool with it." Rod let out a sigh of relief he didn't know he was holding in.

"Okie Dokie, now that that's settled, I believe some new introductions are in order! Hello, my name is Kisuke Urahara, pleased to meet you!" His usual amused smile was once again in place now that the serious business had been taken care of.

"Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez." Alex raised a brow at the odd last name, but said nothing... Its not like he really had any room to be teasing others about thier name.

"Ichigo Kurosaki." Before Grimmjow could even think of commenting on his name, Ichigo had sent a heavy glare towards the man, making his mouth snap shut before he could even utter a word. "Don't get any ideas Grimmjow, my name stands for one who protects, nothing else."

"Whatever you say... Berry." Before he could even register what was happening, Grimmjow was laying flat on his back, his jaw throbbing with pain. The kid had punched him. Damn. He sat up and rubbed his jaw, grin back in place and stronger than ever. The kid was fast...and strong. If he was honest with himself, Grimmjow had never been more turned on in his life. This whole living togther thing was going to be fun. A predatory glint took root in his eyes. Very fun.