A/N: Alright so hopefully a better chapter than the last one was. I had to get my sister to help me some with this one but I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Not exactly how I had imagined it but it's better.

A low groan cursed her lips as she slowly became aware of the small crater in the wall that she was in. Her eyes shot opened at the voice before she watched as the Espada destroyed one of the pillars in a single hit. The red beam crumbled underneath the force and collapsed inward; causing the large Garganta to immediately seal itself together; permanently closing the others on the other side of it. But they were safe now or at least they were out of Hueco Mundo; whatever they ran into in Karakura Town was out of her hands but at the least she could say that she got them that far.

"You're a risk."

She turned her attention back to the Espada; taking note of the drastic change in his appearance. Selective areas of his uniform top were torn away, leaving behind shredded remains and a tint that seemed to turn his entire uniform red. What flesh was revealed was either torn in narrow cuts that created a painful-looking pattern or missing through massive gashes. He held one hand over his left eye; blood bubbled through his fingers and down his bare forearm. She slowly pulled herself from the crater and got to her feet; cautiously watching the man as he paused slightly in his own steps.

"And at this point...we can't afford to have those."

Blood dripped freely from his injuries, leaving a growing puddle of red underneath him.

"It's a tragedy to have to get rid of something like you...you were unique." he closed his eye and let out an audible chuckle. "And to think all he had to do...was cut you loose."

"What do you mean?" Nemu questioned quietly.

Szayel shook his head before looking back at her once more. "You could've been back in Soul Society by now; you would've been in that Garganta heading back with your little 'friends'. You could've been there. You could've been safe but most importantly...you would've had your Captain back if all he had done was cut you loose." another chuckle fell free from his lips. "I should almost be thankful for his stupidity and his intelligence. He was smart enough to create you but stupid enough to deem you worthless. You were created from his flesh, from his image, as though you were to be the daughter of God and yet...you were just a piece of property to him. You weren't created for the protection of Soul Society; you created to be his mule. He could do whatever he wanted to you and you wouldn't die from it. He could cut your throat, split your arteries, break your spine, crush your skull, do whatever the hell he wanted because no one was going to object to him. Not even you..."

She pressed her back against the wall behind her. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm almost certain if I were to cut you open now, everything would come out like a storybook. From the day you were first created to now I could detail every account, every scream, every little cut and bruise... everything. It's brilliant really, to create something that's so close to immortality...something that's almost immune to death; I would never compliment a man like him but the idea of an ever-lasting variable...it's fascinating. But there's one thing that you should understand, Science will only take you so far before madness kicks in." he reached up and brushed away a stray, blood-stained strand of hair. "I suppose it was only a matter of time before that kind of man succumbed to it as well."

"He wasn't crazy. Not like you are." she spoke; watching as he carefully dropped both hands to his side. "Some people find Madness; you became it."

He carefully reached up and pushed his glasses back in place before his image shifted slightly; appearing just inches in front of her. His hand touched at her neck and pressed her up against the wall. "Tell me what it's like knowing the only person who ever gave a fuck about you is dead. But even then, the only attention he gave you was either from his fist or his sword. Did you even know what he was doing to you? You pledged so much loyalty to him because he was your creator. And you know what? You weren't his Lieutenant; you were a piece of property to him and he treated you however way he pleased. And you took it because that's what you were created to do. You were created to test experiments on; to save his ass; to be a safeguard against anything; to be an excuse; to be whatever the hell he wanted. And do you want to know why? Because you were the only one who could survive it. That's why he created you."

"As if you don't do the same." she replied.

"I show mine mercy and kill them afterwards; I don't let them linger around just so I can bring them back." he corrected. "You, on the other hand-"

"Why do you wish to mock me?"

"Because you're blind. You think any of those people really cared about you? Their fear for your Captain overlapped their sympathy for you."

"You don't know anything about them or my Captain."

The comment was calm and collective, and yet the sharp tone hidden behind it was enough to snap at his short temper; fueling a spark of insanity to rush through his bleeding veins. His hand tightened slightly before he slammed her into the wall, causing it to crater in once more. The thought of having to repair yet another damaged wall never crossed his mind as he watched the young woman wince at the sudden attack. His entire body was practically shaking from a mix of the pain that coursed through his body like liquid metal and the beginning deterioration of his mind. He shook his head and slowly released her as he took a step back; the pain starting to black out his sight.

She watched through slightly cracked eyes as he seemed more in battle with himself than he was with her. His entire body stiffened with pain, forcing his fingers even harder against her throat before his grip slowly released; allowing her to find her footing again as she watched him step away from her. At this close distance, she could see the pale shade of his flesh and the bubbling injury that maimed the left side of his face. His eye was gone. The only thing left of it was a string of tissue and nerves that pushed through the massive split of the injury. The only thing that got her was the sheer severity of the injury, as well as how he managed to get it without his glasses being damaged.

Her hand grabbed him harshly by the shoulder piece of his uniform before she pulled him back towards her; her other arm catching him around the back of the neck to ensure he didn't move away again. She could feel his lips shudder lightly as she brushed her own against them; pulling him down to her level, she ran her fingertips down the curve of his throat before roughly closing the space between them.

His hands touched briefly at her waist in reaction to the sudden action; at first in the motion to push her away before it shifted into the exact opposite. He pushed her into the crumbling wall as her fingers cupped along the curve of his jawline; their tongues almost too eager for confrontation as everything from before seemed to become irrelevant. His fingers dug into her hips as he forced her head back to deepen the embrace, feeling her reaction as her body seemed to arch into the motion; her chest pressing firmly into his own as she made quick to follow up the move. The wall crumbled a bit more as the embrace seemed to grow in aggression despite their stationary position; his body pressing harder against her own as she returned the gesture just as equally. The mortal need for air was more than enough to force the two to succumb to the burning pit in their lungs.

"I was just curious if you tasted as bitter as you looked." she whispered.

"And?"

"I was sadly mistaken."

She watched as his chest slowly rose in staggered breaths every now and then before easing back into a normal breathing pattern. It had taken her quite some time to care to all of his injuries, which ranged from small cuts to the stab wound in his eye. She still wasn't sure how that happened without breaking his glasses, but at the moment it wasn't something to be pondering about. Her fingers lightly touched at the injuries she had already taken care of, like the two slash marks that tore through his sides, as well as a gash that ran along the side of his neck. He didn't really object to her occasional rough tactics in healing; she wasn't trained in the art of healing but she had picked up a few tricks after watching Isane. Most of the bandages were already turning red again with blood though, giving off the impression that she had finished them incorrectly. It didn't matter to her as much as it slightly pushed her patience. She could help move him from the lab to a room she only assumed was his bedroom and carefully tend to his injuries, but she couldn't make the bleeding stop. The loss of blood only made his skin seem even paler than it was before.

Her hand lightly touched at his bare chest, careful to avoid any small cuts she had left exposed to heal. She could feel the soft rattle of his ribcage with every breath and the slight inflation of his chest whenever his lungs filled with air. But there was something missing...

"You don't have a heartbeat." she spoke.

"Correction, I don't have a heart."

His response caught her slightly by surprise as she had expected him to have lost consciousness a while ago. Her fingers lightly parted the stray pieces of hair that had fallen into his face before she placed them back against his chest. "How?"

"There's something called the Chain of Fate, which binds the soul to its living body. When this chain is broken an erosion will take place and the process of Hollow transformation begins; when it is completely decayed the soul becomes a Hollow. The significance of this process is that once that chain breaks and disappears, so does the heart. For many, when the chain eroded away it left a hollow hole in its place to signify its absence."

"But you don't have a hollow hole." she commented. Or at least she didn't see one.

"You're right, I don't." he replied before pressing one hand against her sternum; just barely able to feel her faint heartbeat through his fingertips. "So that's what a heart feels like."

She felt his cold flesh brush against her own before she moved her hand to cover his own; her fingers just barely slipping between his own. "I may be artificial but it's real."