Tweezers. A metal tray. Water. Bandages. A needle and thread. These were all the supplies Ichigo could find to patch them back together. As his father's clinic had been left lacking as much detail as most places, he had needed to scrounge around even for these things.

Another clink added a fourth bullet to the bloodied tray. After all was said and done, Ichigo had found only two bullets left behind in his body, the rest had passed through. He'd been able to remove the bullet in his ankle and wrap it up, though in terms of bone damage, he wasn't sure what he could do but hope for his spiritual pressure to sort it out.

The one in his hip had been a different story. He'd nearly passed out several times in the process of removing it. At one point he'd even thought to ask Grimmjow to do it for him, even though trusting the other with such a task seemed absurd, but one glance at his repeatedly broken fingers, not to mention the state he was in now, told him he was alone in this task. So he had bit down on a piece of cloth and dug the bullet out himself.

After resting, he had managed to stitch and bind this up as well, and then the rest of the wounds were easy to bind by comparison. Now he sat opposite Grimmjow, who had regained consciousness with a violent start when the teen had removed the first bullet in his leg. He had been less lucky, only the bullet in his shoulder had gone through cleanly. The ones in his thigh, under his collar and in his forearm were still very deeply lodged.

Ichigo had finished with his leg and just now drew the one out from under his collar. He glanced to his patient, but his eyes were adamantly fixed on the ceiling as he had tilted his head back for the procedure.

"One more." Ichigo said, and the blue haired warrior lowered his head again. Ichigo could stitch everything up after. "Hold still."

He didn't really need to say it. Grimmjow had hardly moved since waking and Ichigo got him into the chair. The soul reaper couldn't tell what was going through his head now. But he feared that at any moment something might snap in Grimmjow and he would attack him again. So he kept his guard up as he worked.

Ichigo knew why he himself was doing this: three times now the two of them had only survived because they'd worked together. So if he was going to save his friends, it was in his best interest to make Grimmjow his ally even if the thought was foreign and left an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

But he wasn't sure why Grimmjow would do it. Yes, he wanted his vengeance, and he would get it with Ichigo at his side, but Ichigo had never known him to be rational. It was very possible that he was just taking advantage of Ichigo at the moment in order to get medical attention, but that didn't jive with what Ichigo knew of him. He was too arrogant and prideful to resort to such tactics. No. The way he was so quiet, so still, the way he had followed Ichigo's every instruction since waking, told him this was something different, something genuine. The man had lost half his soul just a week ago, and now two of his former allies. He was broken.

The slightest tremor ran through the arrancar when Ichigo jerked the bullet back out, pulling the flattened steel ball out past the torn edge of flesh. The bone was no doubt broken under the impact, but all he could do for that was to bind it up. The final bullet clattered into the tray. Ichigo sat back with a long breath.

"Now just the stitches and bandages." he breathed, exhausted. He needed to lay down, to rest, to eat something. His body was hurt and drained but he hadn't been able to slow down since the battle.

Grimmjow sat still through this procedure as well. When they were donw, he sat, a patchwork of bandages just like Ichigo. Ichigo, was mostly functional from his waist up. Only the shoulder wound caused him pain but it had been clean. Grimmjow had not been so lucky, though he would no doubt recover from his leg wound faster than Ichigo from his hip and ankle. Combined, they might make one fully functioning person. The thought almost made Ichigo laugh out loud.

"Grimmjow."

He knew when those eyes found him the other was not in a clear head space. The fog over his vision might not all be from the physical pain and exhaustion. But still he waited for Ichigo to continue.

"I just need to know if you agree with me. I mean, we're facing the same enemy here, and obviously our chances are better together. I'm not saying I like it, or you have to, but at the very least we shouldn't be wasting our time fighting each other. I need to rest, I'm going to my bed. I just wanted to know, if you'll still be here when I wake up, or if you plan on going off on your own again."

Grimmjow just stared at him and Ichigo realized he needed to rephrase so the question was yes or no.

"Are you going to stay, for now at least?"

A tired nod.

"Okay." He sighed, pushing himself up with help from the chair. "Then pick a bed and rest."

He wasn't about to invite his former arch nemesis to sleep in his sisters' or father's bed. He left the other in the clinic and shut the door on him. He leaned there for several long seconds thinking about their situation. Once Starrk and Yammy didn't return, surely more would be sent after them. But the pain in his body, the utter weight of exhaustion was far too much for him to worry about the eventualities for too long. He would go to sleep, and if someone came for him, let them.

The piercing sunlight penetrated muddled dreams of sand and a dry wind. Ichigo pulled himself out of his sleep as if he was buried in it like sand. The weight of it lifted slowly, and even when he was sitting up a few last grains seemed to stick to him.

He glanced at his alarm clock out of habit, as if he was late for school. The momentary feeling of normalcy was like a breath of air from another life time. He wanted to hold on to it, to relish it, but the feeling evaporated and left him with a hollow pit in his stomach.

Moving proved difficult. His ankle was massively swollen, and just moving it out from under the sheets was painful. Yesterday he had been able to struggle with the support of his good leg, but before he even tested it against the ground, he knew he wouldn't be able to walk at all without help. His hip too, was giving him quite a bit of trouble. The only thing that seemed to have improved with sleep was his shoulder. He knew his spiritual pressure would carry him past the worst of it in time, the problem was, he doubted he had much time before the next assault.

Glancing around his room, his gaze came to rest on the rod for hangers in his closet. He braced a hand against his desk and hauled himself out of bed. He barely remained standing but he managed to pulled himself forward along the desk until he reached the closet. He used his body weight and jerked against the bar, it gave and he yanked it free.

It was awkward, but it was enough to get him from his bedroom back down to the clinic where he prayed there were crutches.

He was in luck. Leaning against one window was a pair. He adjusted them and slid them under his shoulders. In reality, he ought to be in wheelchair or not moving at all, but his situation was far too precarious to allow for such luxuries.

Only when he tested out the crutches and decided they fit properly did he realize the clinic was vacant. Not a bed looked touched, and somehow he didn't picture Grimmjow as the bed making type.

"Dammit." He was worried on two counts: one, he didn't know if this meant the espada had decided to continue his vendetta and would attack him again, and two; he really could have used an ally in all of this, even if it was his enemy.

"Great."

He used the clinic exit to get outside. He would need to eat soon and the only place he had found food was in display windows of shops.

The sun was just cresting the highrises in the east section of the city. It wasn't yet noon, but he had gone to bed before dark yesterday so he guessed he'd been asleep nearly twenty hours. He found it strange that he had gone untouched that whole time: even if the Vandenreich hadn't attacked, hollows had been roaming around all over the place, drawn to his spiritual pressure. He looked around suspiciously, suddenly feeling not so alone, almost feeling like he was being watched.

He was.

When he turned behind him and looked up, he found that now familiar stare resting on him from the Clinic roof. Grimmjow was sitting with his knees raised, a long katana balanced across them and one hand resting on the hilt.

"Grimmjow? What are you doing?"

But as if on cue, the hollow cry pierced the air and he saw the Garganta split the sky just above them. He fumbled for Zangetsu past the crutches, then teetered when his balance was thrown. The hollow was nearly on him but the next second the air was clear and two halves of a body fell on either side of him. Grimmjow landed next to him, the blade clattering to the ground. He seemed to be able to stand with his leg wound but his hand had lost its grip on the sword. His right was all but useless, broken and twice shot, and it seemed the shot underneath his collar had weakened his left hand but he still bent and picked up the sword again, adjusting his grip and flicking the blood free. Ichigo watched him carefully.

"Have you been up there this whole time?"

He nodded.

"Have there been many hollows?"

A shrug. He guessed yes.

"Well, you should rest, I'll take watch."
Grimmjow's gaze turned meaningfully to his crutches and worked its way down to his foot. He knew he wasn't up to the task. Ichigo stopped himself from carrying out a one sided argument and just let it drop. It would be best for him to rest while he could. But he looked back to the blade with curiosity.

"Where did you get that?"

Grimmjow raised a finger.

"One?" It took him a minute to figure this out. "Oh, Starrk?" Grimmjow nodded. Ichigo hadn't really noticed in the fight yesterday but he did know that if Starrk's zanpakuto had been his gun, then this must just be a regular katana he'd carried.

"So you haven't seen anyone else like them, or the Vandenreich?"

He shook his head no.

"Maybe they won't come." He didn't mean it naively, but that seemed to be the way Grimmjow took it by the look he received. "No, I mean, we were here for a week before they bothered to follow us. They knew we were here and have no where to go except back to Hueco Mundo, so obviously once we were out of the way we were no longer a priority. Maybe they're too busy fighting soul reapers."

Grimmjow just shrugged to show he really didn't know one way or the other.

"Well, it's a hope at least." They continued to stand in silence. "I need to eat." he said finally. "I know it's not spiritual food but I have to eat at least something. What about you?"

Grimmjow looked to the hollow he'd just felled. Ichigo's stomach turned but he nodded. "Okay, I'll be back."

He managed to find some canned goods not far away. It was odd what things had been copied and what had not, and Ichigo guessed that it was not calculated, rather, it had been a rushed job. No doubt Kurotsuchi had done this, and Ichigo would be surprised for him to produce anything less than perfect. That meant he'd done it in haste, the attack hadn't been expected. At least he could be thankful that the Soul Reapers had done something to protect his city. By the same token, however, if Soul Society was under attack, his city was still in danger, and he was doing nothing to help it.

He pried the lids from the cans with his zanpakuto and ate them where he was. He wanted to give Grimmjow plenty of time to finish his meal before heading back.

When he did hobbled back through the yard, however, he stopped short before rounding the corner, hearing the strangled breath, the half coughing, half wheezing. When he leaned around the corner he saw Grimmjow on his knees, sword forgotten on the ground and his better hand up against his chest. His lips were painted crimson and Ichigo knew it was not hollow blood. His discarded meal lay next to him, utter pain creased his features. Ichigo remembered the day in the Menos forest, when he'd discovered Grimmjow drinking water. The espada had been struggling just to down the thin liquid past his ruined throat, so he couldn't imagine how painful it would be to try and swallow and digest food. And the damage must be extensive- organs, maybe his stomach- something was causing him to choke on his own blood.

Ichigo was torn. He stood unseen for now. If he revealed himself he was sure Grimmjow would try to pass it off, or possibly even get angry. He wanted to avoid pissing off his only ally for now. But he also watched him struggle just to breathe and wanted to help him. When he saw him relax back into a sitting position and rest his head on his knees, he knew the worst was over and so decided to let it go this time.

He returned inside and some time later heard the soft thud on the roof and knew Grimmjow had taken up his silent post again. When he sat on the couch, he felt his eyes closing again even though he'd only been awake for an hour or so. But with the silent watcher above him, he let sleep come.

Ichigo watched his own image, darkened in the flat surface of the screen, the dead tv perhaps a truer reflection of him than any mirror. He cringed again, the sputtering on the other side of the wall sounded worse, he could half see the espada hunched on all fours in his mind's eyes. For four days he had listened to his suffering after a kill. But still, Grimmjow was determined to get something from his kills, and Ichigo was starting to see why he would put himself through such torture. In just four days, Grimmjow's wounds had closed over nearly twice as fast as Ichigo's. Unfortunately, the canned fruit Ichigo had eaten for breakfast wouldn't give him the spiritual boost of hollow meat, but he'd be in a much worse state before he ever resorted to that.

He shifted his foot testingly and cringed again. He was starting to fear their grace period was running out, but he still wouldn't be much good in a fight like this.

The horrible noises in the yard ended. Ichigo waited for the thud on the roof before venturing outside. He took his time on his crutches and moved beyond the yard a bit to see down the street more clearly. He knew Grimmjow could see much more from his vantage point, but he still liked to take a look around himself, if for no other reason than to get out of the house.

Empty. Silence. He turned back to the house but didn't feel like sitting there waiting for the other shoe to drop so he decided to look for better food in town.

"I'm going to take a look in town." He called up to the roof. Grimmjow stood up. Ichigo hadn't really meant to make the other move, but then, if he left, there wasn't much point in Grimmjow guarding an empty house, they might as well be close to one another if something happened.

Ichigo drove them. He hadn't yet tried a car to see if it worked. Before, a car would have been slower than flashstep, and since he'd hurt his ankle he hadn't strayed far from home. But now he sat in his dad's car and turned the key. The hum of the engine was as loud as thunder in their silent world. Ichigo guessed that if something had been copied, then it would be just as it had been in the other world. Grimmjow had inspected the vehicle with wary eyes before getting in. Ichigo had never really stopped to consider just how foreign his world of petrol fuelled technologies and industry must be to someone from a wasteland desert like Hueco Mundo where the only technologies were made of spiritual pressure and soul reaper science.

He watched with vigilant eyes as Ichigo drove them, sword ever in his hand. Ichigo too, was looking for any sign of life or abnormality, even though he and Grimmjow would have felt another spiritual pressure.

He cruised the streets for a long time. It was relaxing in a sense. He rolled the windows down, this seemed to ease Grimmjow's discomfort of the vehicle as it filled with fresh air. Ichigo tested the radio, but just like the tv, nothing happened. He sighed and headed downtown.

He parked in the middle of the road in one of the busiest shopping streets. Store windows were filled with products on display, so even if the interior of the shops had failed to duplicate, there was at least some stuff to pick over.

They went in opposite directions. Ichigo was a bit relieved, Grimmjow was like this silent shadow looming over him all day, and he could never quite figure out what the other was thinking or feeling since they joined forces. He actually thought he had understood him better when they were always fighting each other.

The first thing he did was change into new clothes. His spiritual pressure was strong and therefore his uniform was fully intact but he was tired of wearing it all the time. He contemplated whether it would matter at all to wear material things in a spiritual body but ended up deciding it was worth it just to get out of those clothes and where something more comfortable. Since his closet at home was empty, he found some jeans and a t-shirt and switched into those. He pulled his sheath over his head though, he wouldn't be caught without Zangetsu.

After eating some more appetizing foods he found and doing a little more "shopping," he found Grimmjow had likewise found a change of clothes. He wore a white tshirt and he had added a belt to his pants, through which the katana was looped. Standing barefoot and in all white, bandaged up and face gaunt, he looked like some crazed patient escaped from the hospital. But as he leaned on his crutches for support, Ichigo figured he probably didn't look much better.

Ichigo deposited a bag of food and a few other items in the backseat of the car but was reluctant to get back in. He didn't want to go back to the house and just sit there. He didn't want to feel precious time slipping through his fingers anymore, and yet he had no solution. No idea what he should do or how he would get to Soul Society.

"Did Aizen ever show you how to get into Soul Society?"

Ichigo asked, leaned against the car. Grimmjow shook his head.

"Yeah, didn't figure he did." He let his head fall back to stare up at the sky. "And we can't get outside of this place. So the only place we can go is back to Hueco Mundo."

He was talking to himself more now, Grimmjow didn't bother responding. After a moment Ichigo shifted and winced. He opened the car door and sat, taking a look at his leg.

"Doesn't really matter now, I'm pretty much useless. Well, I guess we might as well get back."

Grimmjow pushed off the car to move around to the passenger's seat but froze after only a step. His eyes shot to the sky and Ichigo too felt the disturbance. A second later Grimmjow vanished, sodinoing to the top of a high rise. Ichigo stood up again, bracing himself on his crutches for whatever was coming.

It went for Grimmjow first. He heard the clash of steel on steel and the spec that was Grimmjow at this distance jumped back from his attacker. The newcomer was also no more than a black shape and the two flashed here and there over the manufactured landscape, the ring of steel echoing over lifeless streets. Ichigo had Zangetsu at the ready, but he waited, not wanting to waste what progress he'd made in healing his ankle if Grimmjow was able to take this enemy on his own.

In the end, Grimmjow didn't land a strike, but his foe fell despite that. Only when the two moved closer did Ichigo see the petite figure's stance, the limp, the stagger, the arm missing. And only when the two skittered out of sodino a few feet away, did he realize who it was and began yelling for a halt.

"Grimmjow stop it!"

But the other didn't have much choice as the female warrior charged him again.

"Die Espada!"

"SOIFON!"

But in the midst of her swing her sword clattered to the ground and she fell clutching her stomach. Grimmjow stood poised to fight if she attacked again but Ichigo dropped next to her.

"Easy."

"Get off of me." she growled, trying to shove him away but she only gasped out more and blood spewed from her lips. Now at her side, Ichigo saw that her black robes were deeply stained in her blood. Her arm had been severed, but the cloth binding it up was no where near as tight as it should have been. But when she hunched further, Ichigo knew her chances of survival were slim, her remaining hand was clenched around her gut but in her back was a gaping hole from a blade. The wound was rough edged, the skin cruelly ripped, someone had stabbed her at a terrible angle, cutting through her abdomen and back, and then they had twisted their blade inside of her.

"Oh Soifon."

"Shut up." She whispered out. "What the Hell are you doing with an espada?"

"Does it matter right now?" He asked as more blood trickled from her teeth.

"Yes." She hissed. "Because I came here for one reason but if you're with the enemy then it was all for nothing."

"What? Soifon, you can trust me, I promise. Tell me, please, what's going on out there?"

"The end of Soul Society." She was sagging lower and Ichigo tried again to give her some support. This time there was no protest, her muscles were giving up and she sagged against him. He held onto her, his heart pounding against his ribs as he watched her chest struggle to rise and fall with each breath.

"Soifon, what do you mean?"

"We couldn't hold them off, not both of them."

"Who? The Vandenreich and Aizen?"

She nodded.

"He transformed, with the Hogyoku. He found the real Karakura."

"Oh no."

"Our forces were divided. We had to protect the human town, but the Vandenreich attacked the Seireitei."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. The people of Karakura fled. Humans lost in the spiritual world. We couldn't follow them when Aizen started his attack. Urahara had a plan. He and Lady Yoruichi-" She coughed harshly, the blood she spit out was brilliant red, fresh from her veins. She took several seconds to recover.

"I don't know what happened. I had to defend the Seireitei from those monsters. Their king...he was too much for me."

"You fought the leader of the Vandenreich?"

She nodded.

"Alone?"

"No..." She shut her eyes at the memory, "with my squad." The way she said it left no doubt to the outcome of that battle. He tightened his grip around her shoulder, the only gesture of comfort he could think to give.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Instead, make sure my men didn't die in vain, Kurosaki."

"I will fight him."

"No. You have to find the Soul King. I fear now only he can end this."

"What?"

"I was the only Captain privy to his whereabouts. It was the duty of my squad to protect that information. No other captain can find him."

"What about the Head Captain?"

She shook her head, Ichigo wasn't sure what that meant. Of course the Head Captain would know, but did this mean even he had been struck down? Her eyes were darkening though, and she hurried to get out the information.

"Your Zanpakuto." He pulled Zangetsu out and held it in front of her. She lay her bloodied fingers on the blade and whispered an incantation over it. When she withdrew, she pulled her own sword close.

"Break it."

"What?!"

"Do it, Kurosaki. Break my Zanpakuto."

"Soifon-"

"Please." The utter despair in the word, coming from one always so confident and merciless was devastating. But he listened. Holding Zangetsu with both hands, he drove it down on the blade that must have been already weakened by its master's state and previous battles. She lurched a little in his grasp and he set Zangetsu down again to hold her.

"There." She whispered. "Now yours is the only Zanpakuto who can find him."

"I can find the Soul King with Zangetsu?"

"Yes. He cannot be found through direction of words. Therefore no one can ever torture the information from you, words are useless, only the voice of the soul can find him. Zangetsu will show you, find him and end this before the balance is tipped too far."

The balance of souls. Rukia had explained it to him long ago. The quincies must be disrupting it.

"I will, Soifon."

She shuddered a bit. Her eyes hazed further but a smile found her lips.

"Soifon?" But she didn't hear him, instead her eyes were fixed on someone else, someone only she could see in the dying light of her eye.

"Lady Yoruichi..." She swallowed and held her hand out to the invisible figure, "please forgive me..."

Her hand fell back to the earth, over her shattered blade. Her muscles relaxed in his hold, and a last breath ghosted over his hand. The Captain of the Second Division lay dead in the street of the false Karakura.

Ichigo bowed his head. Grimmjow stood silent in his shadow.

Hello again. I really hope I didn't turn too many people off this story with my giant fumble on uploading last week. So in case you haven't seen yet, chapter 4 was uploaded last week (Oct. 10th) and was new content: I accidentally skipped a chapter when I was uploading.

That brings me to another point to answer some questions that have popped up in reviews: I have included as much Vandenreich Canon as possible, but I have actually just about finished writing this story and now I'm going back to edit it and upload it in chapters. Therefore, even though we are getting new information about the Vandenreich in the manga now, I had already written my own take on things weeks ago. I don't think anything is too outrageously different though. As for the war potentials, I will be addressing that based on what we knew from the manga a few weeks ago (which wasn't much, haha).

And I took your advice, Junichiblue, in hopes of ramping up a few more reviews and reaching a wider audience but I'm not sure my story summary skills are the best, lol. Oh well, I have appreciated each review I've received and would love ot continue hearing from you all!

Thanks, Riza