A/N: Bit of a short chapter here.

As much as he hated to leave things in a mess, if what Nnoitra said was true then he would have to leave now in order to make enough time to cut off the Captain. He had checked all his cameras beforehand and had quickly spotted the Captain slowly making his way through the building. But thankfully due to its massive size and infrastructure, it would take the man awhile before he really made any kind of progress on getting anywhere. The thought of having to fight yet another Captain in such a short time span was what really annoyed him; he still wasn't completely healed from the battles earlier and this Captain was certain to be more combat-prone than the last was. This put him in a very difficult position unfortunately. He was lucky enough to have gotten out of the last one alive which gave off the feeling that this one wasn't going to end well. But just the 'feeling' of a battle didn't prove anything; only the hardcore facts of a battle would be able to give off maybe even the slightest answer. Still though, there was that ever present feeling of dread...

Returning to where he had left her before, he pushed open the doors that lead into the large, stark-white washing room. It was only after he had stepped foot into the room did it occur to him that he probably should've knocked first. However, it didn't matter that much seeing as she was already fully dressed and busy brushing her hair in front of the massive mirror that took up a large portion of the wall. Carefully seated on the cushioned bench in front of the counter, she ran the brush through her thick locks several times before switching it over to the underside; making sure to care to every strand. If she had even noticed him, she didn't give any word about it and continued on with her business. He cleared the space between them, not entirely sure why he was there or what exactly he was going to say to her, if he was even going to speak to her. But before long he was standing just a foot or so behind her, close enough to see the light cling of her uniform to her still moist flesh. She still seemed to be more focused on brushing her hair as she ran the same motion over and over again before eventually setting the brush aside; her fingers ran lightly through the wet strands before she pushed them over her shoulder and let them blanket over her back. She carefully separated the strands into three sections before slowly working her way through re-braiding her hair. She was only halfway through the process before she quickly unraveled her progress and slowly started it over once again; apparently unhappy with how it was coming out. He watched her repeat the same process several times, unhappy with how it turned out each time.

"You know your friends are relentless." he remarked; brushing aside her hands as he picked up where she had left off. Crossing each section carefully to keep the braid tight, he noticed that she sat completely still and made no move to stop him.

"Much like you Espadas are, correct?" she replied.

He glanced up into the mirror, catching the reflection of her eyes. "Well aren't you a quick one. But I suppose even though we would rather not be compared to Shinigami's, we are alike. One side is going to come out of this alive; the other will barely limp on."

"Who do you think will win?"

"It's rather too early to tell. As of now, our death rates match up and we've sent out our top three Espadas to go against your top three Captains," Szayel answered; watching as her silk strands ran through his fingers easily. "The deciding battle is far from here so it could be days before we even find out what happened. Let's face it, we both want our side to win but in the end..." he carefully finished the braid and held the ends together as he tied them together. "One of us is going to be disappointed."

She carefully ran her fingers over the finished braid. "But just think if you win, I still have a good chance at living; if we win, you'll be killed without hesitation."

"That's a nice point to make."

"Just in case it influences your decision any."

He stepped back from her. "Very well then, I suppose we'll see how that goes when I return."

"Leaving again?" she questioned.

"Well more like stepping out for a moment to handle a rather...annoying subject." he answered as he turned to leave. "I would advise that you at least try to stay out of my things and if you see a rather tall, black-haired man with one eye...keep your distance."

She watched him leave through the reflective glass before he paused at the doorway; halfway through leaving the room.

"Although I suppose if I don't make it back then you're more than welcomed to leave."

And like that, he was gone.

Her fingers continued to run over the braid as the memory of his gentle hands carefully tucking each strand into the criss-crossed pattern remained clear. Getting up from her seat, she carefully smoothed out her kimono before heading towards the cracked door. After all, he only 'advised' that she should stay out of his things.

There he was.

One of the two remaining Captains that remained in Las Noches at this point.

And as much as he would prefer to just step back and wait for Nnoitra to show up, with time going against them at this point he couldn't risk losing another minute by just standing around. He had managed to do some brief study on the man and looked over his power, which had something to do with Cherry Blossoms. While it didn't sound quite that threatening, he could only imagine how that kind of technique could turn deadly. After all, the Captain managed to defeat Zommari. Which was something else that continued to annoy him. The Captain had managed to defeat the Seventh Espada, so with his placement as Eighth there wasn't going to be much going for him.

Then again Zommari was really not much of a fighter as much as he was a so-called philosopher.

But standing around and waiting wasn't going to save their asses.

Carefully examining the situation, as well as his surroundings, he stepped out of his observation place and slowly approached the Captain who had paused momentarily. He stopped almost instantly as soon as the Captain turned to face him; obviously the Captain had already picked up on his spiritual energy beforehand.

"Another one?" the Captain remarked; keeping one hand on the hilt of his sword. "I suppose you didn't see what I did to your friend back there."

"Then I would only assume that you didn't see what I did to yours either."

The Captain's eyes narrowed slightly at the comment.

"Well I know you're not Kenpachi Zaraki, because he's dead," Szayel spoke; adjusting his glasses. "And you're not Mayuri Kurotsuchi, because he's dead as well. So that leaves only Retsu Unohana and Byakuya Kuchiki." he watched as the man's facial expressions only hardened slightly but other than that they never changed. "I must remark Kuchiki that was quite a show you put on for Zommari Leroux. How do you feel with performing the same for me?"

"Gladly."

Her fingertips lightly glided over the massive keyboard as she watched the computer screen light up brilliantly. Almost instantly dozens of surveillance cameras appeared on screen; each small square represented a different camera and changed angles at certain time increments, creating a constant update on every inch of the wing. Her eyes were constantly moving from camera to camera before she stopped slightly as one camera showed a blink of action. Carefully working her way through the program, she managed to isolate that one camera and bring it up on full-screen; watching as another flicker of action showed up before a solid figure eventually appeared. A black Shinigami uniform was slightly burned on one side with a massive cut going from the left shoulder down at an angle. The figure paused and looked to be catching his breath before a second figure returned. This one was taller and feminine with silver braids tangling against her back.

"Isane."

She didn't know many of the other Vice-Captains, aside from the introductions at the meetings but Isane had always seemed to make an effort to get to know her; whether it was because she was a frequent visitor to Division Four or because they had often been teamed together on the occasional missions for the Shinigami's Women Association.

But if Isane was still there then that meant the other figure was Hanataro, which meant that Division Four was still in Las Noches. And from the looks of it, they weren't having an easy time avoiding the dangers of the Hollow-infested realm. She watched as Isane looked at something behind them and grabbed Hanataro by the arm before quickly flash-stepping out of view; only a few seconds later, the ground they had been standing on was blown away in a sudden explosion that took the camera out as well, leaving her only a static picture.

She couldn't leave them though...

As a non-combative Division she doubted they would be able to put up much of a fight against the remaining Espadas; they would get wiped out easily. That was unless those remaining were too afraid to confront Retsu Unohana, which would not be surprising seeing as many of the Captains were timid about even speaking to her. Even Captain Mayuri was reluctant to deal with the woman...

She had failed in protecting him.

But she wouldn't fail in keeping Division Four alive.