A/N: Honestly, I was going to write about how I had to redo the beginning several times but that I was happy with how this chapter turned out, but after reading that last review I'm speechless. I honestly don't know what I can say to show my appreciation for such a thoughtful remark. It easily made my day. So even though I don't really know you, and I wish I could say more, Thank You Isa; you really made the story worth it. I also want to thank all the people reading this story as well, whether you like the couple or if it's just out of curiousity.

The rush of hot water ran clean streams over his body as he pressed his fingers through his hair; feeling each heavy strand give away easily. His shoulders burned at the slightest movements as the water washed away the crimson liquid that bubbled from each scratch that had torn through his flesh. Just when he thought he had finally healed himself, it seemed like there was always a new injury that showed up unexpected. That didn't go to say that he wasn't proud of the injuries because he was. Nothing could erase the memories of her desperate fingers tearing fine lines across his shoulders or her passionate body pressed up against his own. Her quiet demeanor seemed to have cracked underneath the pressure; he could still remember how she accented those soft screams underneath him. While the previous hours were still freshly recorded on his body, he thought back to the quiet, fast-paced moments just before that.

Despite the rather nerve-binding process, he did allow a few of the residential healers to tend to his injuries. The cuts and gashes on his chest and abdomen had been healed and reduced to small, barely visible scars, which he could deal with. The gaping injury over his left eye had been partly healed, or at least to the extent that he allowed for them to heal, before he let science take care of the rest. He had originally been working on a serum to help regenerate limbs but it never really reached the strength he needed it to and for the most part, he had been too busy to go back and fix it. Luckily though, there had been just enough strength in the dosage to regenerate his eye instead. The vision was still weak and blurry but he wasn't going to complain about it, after all he'd much rather have bad vision over no eye at all. There was still a rather large scar in its place but it would disappear over time so he wasn't too bothered by it.

He turned the water off and stood there for a moment to let the loose droplets slid off of his body. Sighing, he grabbed the towel that had been slung over the shower door and wrapped it around his waist; stepping out of the shower, he pushed his pink hair from his face and ran his fingers along the split flesh on the back of his neck.

He honestly didn't even hear her when she had entered the room after he finished healing. Her presence was only known when he turned to find himself suddenly face-to-face with her. He remembered those green eyes lightly curious against his own as her fingers lightly touched at the visible facial scar; she didn't say anything then but her close presence was enough to overthrow words. It wasn't like anything was provoked or just one side made the fronting move, instead it seemed more like an agreed motion. He still kept the memory of that first kiss in the back of his mind; it had unwantingly remained there, settled deep in every thought and hidden in every word. It wasn't something easy to forget but it was something easy to want to recreate. He didn't keep his thoughts to just kissing her...but now, it was just something to think back on.

He had learned more about her in those hours than he had in the passing days. How was it that she was a completely different individual once the surface of her exterior was broken? He started to wonder if that stoic-faced Shinigami was slowly breaking her cold outer shell...

Slowly dressing, he adjusted the black sash around his waist before slipping on the uniform top; feeling the white material instantly cling to his still damp flesh. He pulled the collar up and around the scratch marks, going out of his way to make sure none of them showed through. Carefully styling his hair back into its usual place, he turned to go before stopping an unusual sense of cold energy spiked through the air. He took a few moments to see if the spike would repeat itself, which it did in several short successions. Although he remained silent and easily left the room, eventually leaving the entire building structure and entering the wrecked hallways once more, it seemed like his mind was a constant jumble of questions and no answers...

The source of the energy itself was fairly concentrated but as to tell who it was coming from was still unstable. And yet the energy profile itself seemed familiar; it was hollow and powerful. It had to be those returning from the Karakura Town battle, which meant they had to have won the fight if they were returning to Hueco Mundo. But it was too soon. They had to have been gone only a few days maybe and they were already back? It was impossible to have taken out that many Captains as well as the town itself in such a short period. That is unless they retreated. But that was impossible! There would be no reason they would do so; their pride would prefer them to die rather than run away.

"Tell me you have some kind of idea just what the hell is going on."

He looked up from his thoughts at the comment; catching Nnoitra just a few feet down the corridor from him. "Yes, I have a few ideas but I'm not really ready to share them at this point."

"Fucking scientist and their secret 'ideas'." Nnoitra muttered; crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the wall behind him. The energy itself was concentrated and centralized in this one area, which meant sooner or later a Garganta was going to open and reveal what exactly had happened in that fucking town. It wasn't that he didn't have any faith in the top three Espadas...well actually, he didn't, but they were all the same kind and that meant that if they were coming back this early then only victory was the reason. That is, unless the other Captains were going to come back for another round or two to try and avenge for their fallen comrades. But that itself, was also something he highly-fucking doubted.

"Something must've happened." Nell remarked; leaning against the wall space next to him. While she had been filled in on most of the current events, she was still curious on what the outcomes ranged from and about the consequences that would follow.

"Well they're either going to return in victory or in pieces; nothing in between." Nnoitra snorted.

"That's a bit harsh." Ulquiorra commented as he slowly joined the small group; his body was fully healed at this time and his torn uniform from before had been replaced by a cleaner, identical one. "But it's true nonetheless. However I do not doubt their abilities to achieve victory."

"You're acting like you have faith in them or something." Nnoitra replied.

"I never said that." Ulquiorra noted. "Only that with Starrk, Baraggan, and Harribel, victory is the only option they will seek."

Nell sighed restlessly at the two and ruffled her thick locks some. "How much longer will we have to wait before they arrive?"

"About now." Nnoitra answered; watching as the room lit up with a bright flash of light and energy.

A Garganta tore through the dimension fabric and opened up into the room in front of them; gusts of energy battled about and blew away any pieces of furniture that had managed to survive throughout the attacks. The high-pitched squeal of the energy stopped for a sheer moment as two figures dropped out of the large portal, which remained open but had eventually tamed itself.

Starrk hit the cold floor with a harsh groan as blood pumped openly from his massive injuries; instantly staining the marble-white floors a crimson color. His entire body felt numb... He could barely feel his limbs despite that they were still attached to his body. Pushing himself up, he could feel his energy-deprived lungs pant for air as though it would help ease the unforgiving pain that completely wrecked his body. His dark eyes looked up in time to see his partner roll onto her back; baby-blue eyes slowly dying underneath half-closed eyelids. It felt like he just teleported to her side as he pulled her limp body into his arms; her blood ran freely through his fingers and showed no sign of stopping any time soon.

"Holy...fuck..." Nell whispered; unable to turn her eyes away from the scene. The two couldn't have been there for more than just seconds and the floor was already washed over with blood. "I'll get some healers."

He could barely register the woman's voice or even her fading footsteps as she ran off to gather help; hell he didn't even question who she was or where she came from. All he could do was look at her... Her mid-section was ripped open to reveal the white, chiseled bones of her ribcage; blood bubbled free from the snapped tendons and ruptured muscle walls. Small cuts rippled across her slender body but all his attention was on that one injury; he even ignored her broken shoulder armor that gushed blood from a stab injury.

"Is he dead or something?" Nnoitra muttered; shifting his weight slightly as he pushed himself off the wall. "He hasn't moved since-"

"It was fake." Starrk whispered; not even bothering to look up to the others. "That...that town...they created a fake town in order to trick us. All of the Captains were there, at least all the ones who didn't come here first. They were strong...God, they were so strong...but we were giving them a challenge; we were making progress." he paused for a moment before continuing. "Baraggan didn't make it. The Captains received reinforcements and...They got him. I didn't think I was going to make it either...there was so much pain, I was almost certain I was dead. All it took was one hit from one Captain and I was almost knocked out of release. But we weren't losing; we were just...having some trouble..."

"Yo, is there some kind of shortcut you could take on this story and just tell us what the hell happened?" Nnoitra questioned.

Pulling his eyes away from the woman in his arms, Starrk glanced up at the Fifth Espada who seemed to wait impatiently for his next words; the contact was brief and he dropped his eyes back down. "Aizen did this..." he paused once again. "He almost killed her. If I hadn't stepped in...he would've killed us both for sure. Apparently...we just weren't good enough for him; none of us were."

"Fucking self-serving bastard."

"There's just pieces of him now..." Starrk humored mildly; though his face showed no sign of the emotion. He watched as a small group of healers were quickly ushered into the room and surrounded them. He felt them gently lift the woman from his arms and hurry out to start the healing process in a more private, secured location; those who attempted to heal him next were brushed aside. "If we weren't good enough for him then he should've just stayed with the Captains." he pressed one hand against his head, which throbbed like there was a marching band inside of his skull. Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet and looked down at the number that was tattooed on the back of his hand. "He gave us numbers and made us hate each other."

"Yeah well...I still hate everyone." Nnoitra remarked to himself.

"Where are the others?" Starrk questioned; taking note that there were only three in front of him.

"They didn't make it." Szayel answered; watching as the First Espada turned to look at him. There was something in the man's eyes that almost seemed to hint at sorrow and emotions...but he wasn't sure if that was what he was really seeing. "Zommari and Aaroniero are confirmed dead. Grimmjow and Yammy are missing in action right now. Although you'll have to take it up with Nnoitra about what happened to Grimmjow."

"He practically threw himself in front of my sword." Nnoitra snorted; crossing his arms.

Starrk closed his eyes for a moment before nodding. "I'm glad to see you three are well then."

"Whoa...you're actually showing some emotions there Starrk, I would watch out for that." Nnoitra advised; slightly taken back by the man's comment. "Wouldn't want to start thinking you actually give a shit about someone, or thinking that the rest of us do."

"I..." Starrk started.

"And where's that little girl who used to follow you around? The really loud one." Nnoitra interrupted.

"Her name was Lilynette." Starrk corrected. "I split part of my soul to form her so that I wouldn't be lonely anymore. But now that I realize that I was never really alone, our souls merged back into one. She's no longer a separate form but... her soul is back with mine."

"Are you fucking with us?" Nnoitra asked. "All of this is...kind of out of character for you...I figured by now you would've been passed out sleeping or some shit."

"That does remind me, I could really go for a nap right now."

"No, no you're totally Starrk."

Szayel watched as the dark-haired man yawned and rubbed the back of his head, seemingly unaffected by his injuries the least bit. He started to speak but stopped after taking notice of the blood that gushed freely from the man's chest; his hollow hole was cracked along the side and seemed to have started to split open across his sternum, widening the black mass that inhabited the empty space inside. "How...your hollow hole's cracked."

"Oh this?" Starrk questioned; looking down at the injury. "Yeah one of the Captains managed to hit me."

"You should be dead."

"I thought the same thing."

"But he's not, it's a miracle." Nnoitra responded sarcastically. "So what the hell do we do now? Do we sit and wait for the rest of the Captains to come join us for this little 'tea party' of ours?"

"They have no reason to attack us now." Starrk spoke. "Aizen's dead, what more do they want? We were just puppets for him; toys for him to play with till he got bored and decided to break them. We were worthless to him, just something for him to experiment with till he got what he wanted. We sure as hell aren't going to do anything. There's nothing left for us to do aside from try to live out the rest of our lives in what little knowledge of peace we know. I'm tired of fighting...I'm tired of sitting back and watching people die. I want this to end."

"That was a very lovely speech but that may be what you want but you can't necessarily count that as what the Captains want." Nnoitra reminded.

"I know." he sighed. "I don't believe they will though. What reasons do they have now?"

"Well we uh...kind of killed some of them."

"And they killed some of us too; we're even." Starrk replied. "They still have a purpose for living, we don't."

"That's one way of putting it." Nnoitra muttered.

"Either way you look at it, he's put the ball in their court." Szayel remarked. "If they decide to attack us, then they'll carry the blame for it if more of their kind is killed. However, this option also gives them the element of surprise in ambushing us when we least expect it. They won't attack now or anytime soon, even if this is when we're most vulnerable, this is also when they're more vulnerable too. Both sides have been weakened, and I highly doubt either of us here could carry out a good fight, which means the same goes for them."

"Well aren't we all just little 'know-it-all's." Nnoitra scoffed.

"Don't be a dick." Nell commented as she rejoined with the small group. "So what's the plan?"

"Nothing right now." Nnoitra answered. "Just us sitting around and pretty much bitching, oh no wait, that's just you."

Starrk winced slightly as Nell sunk her fist into Nnoitra's abdomen. "Can we not fight for ten minutes here? I really just want to get some kind of plan in order so I can go nap."

"Here, why don't we wait for Harribel to get better first." Ulquiorra spoke; slowly joining the four of them. "We can rest some until she's well enough to join in with this discussion. If this is all that's left of us, then we'll want every available member to have their input in future decisions."

"I agree but...I think we'll have to wait even after she is well." Starrk started. "Her Fraccion members died; she'll be greatly upset about it when she wakes."

"This will seem like an odd question but...did you by any chance managed to get the bodies?"

"Well...yeah, I didn't even want to imagine what they might do to them if I had left them there." Starrk answered. "But why is that important?"

"Because what this guy doesn't tell most people is that his little 'girlfriend' can bring shit back from the dead." Nnoitra snorted. "So, as long as you have a body or like piece of it, then BAM! They're back. Am I right?"

"She can use her power even with just an image of the person as well." he corrected.

"So I was off by one but the fact of the matter is we can easily make up those losses." Nnoitra remarked. "Hey why don't you go get her and we can start doing that now seeing as we're just sitting around burning time like it's going to go on forever."

"Okay then." Ulquiorra nodded. "But you're going to have to be the one who pulls Grimmjow's body from the sand."

"Fuuuccckkk..."