Golden light filtered through a dingy lampshade as the storm rattled a drafty window. The soft sound of water rushing out of the faucet's portal and over a pair of powerful hands cleansing themselves in the bathroom sink filtered into the bedroom. Every once in a while, a low voice would sound from the adjoining room – muffled by the thin wooden door separating the two rentals.

The longer the unlikely group of comrades had been on the road, the fiercer the storm raged. Finally, the snow had whipped so hard, and the white had been so blinding that the Quincy and wanderer decided to pull over and checked into the next available motel - a little hole in the wall place with next to no tenants.

While the Ishidas were attempting to sanitize their room, Diana had stretched out on of the two drab, though neatly made beds, hands folded behind her head, eyes closed. Predictably, Shunsui had already mirrored her posture on the other bed.

Renji smirked and shook his head when he caught the scene upon his emergence from the bathroom. He glanced at Shunsui. Had he not known any better, he'd have sworn his superior was fast asleep. He knew better, but unlike the captain's lieutenant back in the Seireitei, he let it slide. There was something else nagging is curiosity.

Silently, he eased down to sit on the side of Di's bed, then slowly reached over to tug the ankle-hem of her jeans up a little. He wasn't entirely sure, but he thought he'd caught sight of a rather curious mark there when they had first met up.

"If you want to keep that hand," a husky, feminine voice rose, "you better not do what I think you're about to do to that foot."

"Yare, yare, Bara-chan," the lazy voice drawled before Renji could fashion a response, "So suspicious. Renji-kun wouldn't dream of tickling an unprotected foot."

That got a distinctly unladylike snort in response. Why that secret had to get blown, she'd never know. Being ticklish was a distinct disadvantage when dealing with mischievous, competitive friends.

"Hey, I just wanted to get a look at your new work." The culprit held his hands up and tried for a charming grin. "I get pummeled enough as it is."

"Ah yes," Shunsui again mumbled good naturedly from his bed, "I do believe Rukia and my sweet, sweet Nanao-chan have been training together."

"Huh," Abarai reached for his friend's foot again, "I was wondering why her punches've so much harder, lately…"

Di pushed herself up and out of Renji's grip. However, she pulled her sock off, bright eyes flickering in amusement between the two shinigami as they conversed as she pulled the pant-leg over her shapely calve to reveal a stretch of smooth skin, marred only by the artwork around the slender curve between foot and leg, thick scarring extending over the bottom of her foot and a thin, nearly invisible scar slanting diagonally along the shin. "Rukia, huh? That's the girl you grew up with, right?"

Renji nodded as he tilted his head to get a look at the tattoo. "Yeah. We started talking again after Ichigo showed up." He ran a thumb over jagged black lines very much like his own which ringed her ankle and traced a petal of the delicate sakura blossoming over the bone between the terminuses of the inked band. "We made an impression, huh?"

"Sure did." She smirked at him as she again reclined, then yelped with a glare when he ran a calloused fingertip over her arch. "Hey!"

Out thrust the leg and off the bed tumbled Abarai.

Shunsui laughed heartily. "Ah, she and Rukia have a lot in common. You do like the feisty ladies, don't you, Renji?"

Groaning, the abused reaper picked himself off the floor and rubbed his ribs. "That's one way to put it. Ugh, they've got the same kick, that's for sure."

"Good to see you're getting your fair share of abuse, Pineapple-head," the woman stuck her tongue out at him childishly, before reclining again and grinning wickedly. "You two an item, then?"

His face lit up in an impressive blush. "Uh…well…it's complicated."

"Ohh?" Di pulled the prodding foot from his ribs before he could grab it again. "Do tell."

Fortunately for him, a knock sounded at the door connecting the two rooms just in time.

"We're not interrupting, I hope." Ryuuken commented dryly as he opened the door.

"Nah," Di tugged her other sock off. Can't have unevenly cold feet, now can we. "Just talking about Renji's love life." She grinned at the elder Quincy.

"What love-life?" Uryu quipped, then only smirked at Renji's indignant squawk.

Ryuuken ignored it all as he spread the map on the end-table. "Diana, how long does it usually take to clear the snow from the roads around here?"

The woman hopped from the bed and strode over to the doctor's side, hands tucked into her back pockets. "Around here? No clue. If the blizzard cuts out soon, though, I imagine we'd be able to set out again come morning."

Ryuken nodded. "The sooner we move the better."

"True," Shunsui stretched, "but if we're immobile in this world, odds are that they are, too."

Di frowned and bit her lip. "What if they're not in this world, though? Can't they just track our reiatsu?"

Uryu shook his head. "Not easily, no. We're all repressing ours and yours seems to blend into the background rather well. I imagine that as far as they're concerned, you may as well not be here in the first place."

Slowly, she arched her brows and stared at the youth for a few minutes. "Funny, I don't know if I should be insulted or not."

"Yeah, Uryu's like that," Renji commented. "The kid's confusing as hell." The shinigami snickered at the glare the teenage Quincy shot him.

The red-heads exchanged amused grins before Di looked down at the map Ryuuken had spread over the table. "So, I'm assuming that since the Spoon and the Slurpee are playing now, our buddies in Hueco Mundo are pretty dead set on getting your girlfriend, Uryu." When she looked up, she found all eyes on her. "…what? Are you guys suddenly hungry now, too?"

"'The Slurpee'?" Renji inquired, tattooed brows raised.

"…what?" She glanced between the staring guys and shrugged. "The blue-haired guy reminds me more of a blueberry slurpee than a cat. It's just…the color."

Shunsui laughed as he came up behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. "Bara-chan, you have a very strange imagination."

Uryu cleared his throat. "Perhaps we should discuss a plan instead of pretending to be Yachiru." He tried his best to banish the image of a young Diana wreaking havoc with the pink-haired child-officer of the Eleventh from his mind.

"Wet blanket Quincy." Diana smirked and leaned back a little into Shunsui's hands, closing her eyes when he began kneading the knotted muscle he found there. "Oh, yeah. Right there. You're so hired, Shunsui."

Uryuu rolled his eyes. "Sticks and stones." Calmly, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his middle finger. "I propose we set up a watch until morning."

Renji nodded, all traces of the grin faded into a sober expression. "Yeah, good idea. They might not attack again tonight, but just in case, rotations of two people would be ideal."

Ryuuken crossed his arms over his chest. "Not a bad idea."

The captain among them looked down at the young woman currently melting under his velvet touch. "I vote that Diana and Ryuuken take the last watch, so our two drivers don't fall asleep behind the wheel." He smirked and caught the elbow destined for his ribs before it could impact.

That drew a rare smirk from the elder Quincy. "For once, Captain Kyoraku, we are in agreement."

"Mph." She relaxed further into his hands. "Fine, fine." Slowly, an emerald eye cracked open. "…you guys do realize that we do have an uneven number of people, don't you?"

Uryuu watched in amusement as Shunsui dipped down to slip an arm under Diana's knees, then swept her up into his arms, bridal style – ignoring her startled yelp and sudden viselike grip across the back of his shoulders.

"Then I vote Shunsui take the first two watches. I'll take the first watch with him, then Renji and I can swap." The teen crossed his arms over his chest in an unconscious mirror of his father's posture. "Someone has to be sure he behaves, after all."

"Tch," Shunsui turned to disappear into the attached room, "Now, Uryuu. If I was going to do anything ungentlemanly towards my dear friend here, I would have already."

Diana chuckled and closed her eyes again as she rested her head against his shoulder. She hadn't realized just how exhausted she really was. "Uh-huh." Her free hand curled itself on his broad chest. "Doesn't mean anything's stopping you from trying in the future."

"Only a strong sense of self-preservation, Bara-chan." He dropped a kiss to her forehead as he set her gently down on one of the beds. "I am rather attached to my limbs, you know."

Her rough chuckle drifted after him as he rejoined the others.

Wow. WOW. I am so sorry it took so long to update this story. I hit a bit of a block in addition to some real life issues. Thanks so much for keeping up with it!

There will be more action and plotish stuff in the next chapter. I swear I've been working on it!