A/N: Alright so, kind of happy to announce that as far as I have planned, this is the second to the last chapter. It's kicked my ass and made me drag my feet a bit but I'm finally happy to have it done.

"How do we know?"

"I don't know."

"It doesn't make sense. I can't even…I can't find or think of a connection."

"That's because we would have to start at the beginning and work our way to this point."

She watched as he pushed himself up from where he had been previously resting; forcing his body to rest most of its weight on his arms. He had fleshed out a bit in the few passing days and regained a bit more shape to his body aside from just bones. It would still take a few more days, maybe weeks before he fully recover from it but at least there was a sign of progress. And despite him saying that he needed almost absolute rest to make a full recovery, he had yet to actually commit to that. At first he did, mostly when they were both injured and exhausted from fighting but now that she was feeling better and walking around more…well he didn't seem to enjoy her leaving his line of sight. It wasn't a constant thing, but she noted that after a few hours or so, he would join her in whatever she was doing.

"How?"

"Let me ask you something." he started as he leaned back on his forearms now to spread out the extra weight and force on his shoulders. "How…or rather why didn't you absolutely hate me after I used the Gabriel effect on you?"

"Why did you keep me alive?" Nemu questioned.

"At the time, it was to use you to find a quick antidote for that super human drug and that you would serve as a viable hostage…And I won't lie, maybe a part of me was still under Fornicaras affect, but your body style also may have played a part in it."

"I thought that would come up."

"You didn't answer my question." Szayel reminded.

"That's because…I don't know how." she answered; leaning against the doorframe. "It wouldn't be the first time I've been put through something physically and mentally shaking for the sake of anything. I don't think I comprehended it as being used, it just felt natural for me to suffer for the sake of someone else. You did what you thought you had to do in order to survive that battle; I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time for my own benefit. At the least…you brought me back. I had that to be thankful for. You could've easily left me dead but you didn't…even if it was just for the purpose of using me again later on."

"You showed some signs of anger but they didn't seem to be very characteristic of you." he commented.

"Because they weren't. I didn't express emotion so I was able to detach myself from a large amount of the environment around me; it made it easier to deal with in terms of people dying around me. I had one purpose in life and when you took it away from me…everything I knew shattered."

"Somewhere along the way, you shifted your focus."

"My initial purpose was to only serve; I didn't know much outside of doing that."

"It explains why you lowered your anger around me." he remarked. "Let me ask you something else, why did you kiss me that first time? I was fully prepared to kill you and yet…you didn't show the least bit of fear."

"Violence doesn't frighten me." she started. "But you were fighting more with yourself than with me; I was merely an outlet. Your mental state had weakened underneath the amount of pain and stress you had experienced at the time; you were visible upset but mentally detached from what was going on. You were unaware of how much I had been able to gather on you through small observations. Maybe it's because of Fornicaras, but I figured out your energy could be tamed through physical touch and I went with it. It wasn't supposed to mean anything, I just wanted you to calm down before you did more harm to yourself."

"And that same kind of mindset would explain the event that happened much later, correct?"

"Your energy was unstable once more and I felt like it was necessary to repeat the same method…only it went further than expected and was completely unplanned."

"Yes well…I must admit there were some minor regrets in that choice." he spoke.

"But you were right." Nemu replied. "Because I no longer sensed you as a threat, I slowly began to shift my image into someone who I thought would be better suited for you. Into someone who I thought you would slowly begin to trust."

"Trust?"

"In my mindset, I couldn't serve someone who didn't trust me."

He nodded slowly and shifted more weight to rest against the curve of his lower back. "So where did we switch?"

"Well I always had the thought that you were merely just infatuated with my body-"

"I can't deny that."

"But why did you protect me from Nnoitra?"

"Well one, it was Nnoitra." he started. "Second, if I didn't interrupt sooner or later, he would've done far worse to you than give you that small cut on the temple. And like hell I was just going to sit aside and allow him to do-"

"So you were protective of me then."

"I…I guess so."

"Why?"

"Because…hell, you went out of your way to heal me even after I made threats to kill you, not to mention destroyed your only way out right in front of you and pretty much held you against your will here. In some small return, I figured I could at least step in and deflect Nnoitra for a bit. It's not like I would stand there and let him just…have his way with you."

"Territorial much?"

"Well I hate to say but I do love your love handles."

She chuckled lightly as she pushed herself off the doorframe and into the actual bedroom. "I get the feeling that this is all just revolving around one object here."

"Hmm…I would say it revolves around several objects but that works just fine too." Szayel remarked; watching her every move as she strolled over.

"So tell me then, is there a reason outside of physical looks that really…makes this work?" she questioned.

He sighed quietly and watched as those green eyes seemed desperate to connect with his own. Without any or many words, she found her way into the empty space next to him. Hands moved together in simultaneous motions as fingers reached out to touch and make contact with flesh. The reaction seemed to do little to answer her question but she wasn't going to deny the soft strokes and warm touches.

"You were always right when you said you could calm my energy through physical touch." he started; fingers running along the back of her neck as he pulled her forward enough to press their foreheads together. "It keeps me in a more…sane state of mind when you do."

"Where are you going with this?" she questioned; placing her hands on either side of him as she rested her weight on one hip and leaned in towards him. "I already know that-"

"It also allows me to make a greater connection with you." he continued. "You would be surprised by everything you can pick up on in just a simple touch. That's how things transitioned from being physical to being…something more."

"We've both used that, haven't we?"

A soft hum escaped him as he pulled her forward enough to press his lips against her own. "You don't only have to connect physically with someone with every touch. Even now, there's something deeper than just the flesh. It was difficult to connect with you at first because…you wouldn't let me."

"It's not that I wouldn't let you…" she started; drawing him in for a short embrace. "You're saying that through this, physical touch helped you to connect with me emotionally and mentally. I was never one for emotions and my mental health was fairly linear."

"Hence why a lot of my earlier decisions pertained only to your physical form." he chuckled; enjoying the heat of her lips against his own. "And why my later actions couldn't really be explained in full truth."

She brought one hand up to cup along his jawline as she pulled him in for a full embrace. It was the simple brushing of their lips put in with more force and just a tad bit too much passion. The tip of his tongue enticed and experimented with her lips before she gave into him; fingertips pressing inward with a bit more heat on soft flesh. What started with just lips and hands moving, turned to bodies as she found the empty space on top of him and took it. Fingers moved to tangle slowly in his pink strands as he brought his hands to rest on the top of her hips; wrinkling the soft material by bundling it between his fingers.

"You're up to a hundred fifty now." he whispered.

"How high can you get it?" she questioned.

He pulled her in for another kiss as if to accept the challenge. His hands moved to fit around her body as they both seemed to tumble off to the side; his body fitted perfectly over her own as he pinned her slightly between him and the bed. She crossed her arms over the back of his neck and pulled him down to tighten the space between them; her legs moved to follow the shape and form of his as she slowly tangled them together.

"Hey Szayel, are you in? I mean, you're not dissecting a body or anything, are you?" a voice called from in the distance.

"I will be in a few minutes." he muttered against her lips.

"Go see what he wants." she replied as she moved her hands to touch at his chest. "Then come back to me."

"Can't I just make him come back later and just stay here?" he teased as he pulled her into one more kiss before he unwrapped himself from her hold. As much as he would prefer to just stay with her, he supposed there were still some duties that needed to be held higher on his list of priorities. Carefully pulling his neatly discarded shirt from the nearby chair, he slipped it on and took the time to make himself look somewhat presentable before he headed out into the rest of the building. "I'm right here. Is there something you need?"

Starrk turned at the sudden question, only slightly surprised by the sudden appearance of the scientist. "Not really, I just thought I'd drop in and see how things were doing. I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

"No…no, it was really nothing." he started. "I'll just pick back up with it later."

"Alright, well then…" Starrk shrugged. "I guess that's really all I wanted to know."

"Let me guess, Harribel sent you."

"…Yeah. She said it was supposed to show a better sign of leadership, but to be honest, I just wanted to finish my nap." he chuckled. "I guess I just assumed that at this point, we didn't really need to try and throw our weight around. Maybe it was supposed to help push us back together to one side but…I didn't really give much thought to it."

"I guess I just thought that once we had already set aside our current problems, we would just move on from there but I suppose the lack of some kind of organization would ultimately be a downfall."

"Something like that, plus I think it would be far too dangerous to let Nnoitra and Nell go off unchecked for long periods of time." Starrk offered. "It just seems reckless."

"You make a good point." Szayel nodded. "But, unless you're interested in something in the lab, there's really no other reason to be here. Everything here is under control as far as I know and should remain as such."

"Well that's good, probably some of the better news I've heard today." he commented.

"Right, well then if you'll excuse me, I have some…other matters to attend to." He waited till the dark-haired Espada had left his sight before he slipped back into the bedroom behind him. "I guess they're actually starting to get serious about putting this place back on its feet."

"You already gave up on it?" Nemu questioned as she rolled over to rest on her side.

"Not so much that but…perhaps more on the prospect of reigning authority, I'm not entirely sure on the subject- it doesn't bother me much, so I don't put much consideration into it." he shrugged lightly as he made his way back over to her. "As long as I still get to do what I normal do with little to no interference, I'm fine."

She watched as he gave a long stretch before he took his place next to her; allowing her to lightly drape her arms over his shoulders as she pulled him in closer. "You're easy to please."

"You would know."