New chapter is up. Beware blood and gore. I'll work on the next one as I can.

No direct song reference for this chapter but general soundtrack that I listened to for it is Missio- Sing to Me and Fink- Fear is like Fire

Stay safe out there, readers!

Chapter 43

Every step felt heavy, like climbing a mountain in lead-soled boots. The sun blared down as they made their way up the remains of Sokyuku Hill. This was where executions had been held in the past before Kurosaki had destroyed it, Mara had been told. Appropriate. This was definitely a moment of death as, with every labored step, she could feel her hope for this place die a little more.

It seemed too nice a day for this… this horror. As they passed, an entourage of curious shinigami onlookers had joined the parade. They weren't stopped as the powers-that-be seemed to want to shame their captives. Was there a single person who had been repulsed to see their own leaders surrounded by guards? Would they witness this as the atrocity it was, or would they see this as just? Worse still, was this just fleeting fancy, a chance at entertainment to them?

Looking up at the cloudless sky, Mara felt that even the shining sun was a malicious witness as it bore down on them. This place, gilded in beauty, was simply a different version of hell.

Horrors only seemed to increase as she reached the plateau to see a group of masked individuals affixing sturdy poles to the ground with some form of kido before wrapping ropes around several feet up. They were literally going to string them up.

If felt unreal. Even as she had climbed the myriad steps up, even though they just went through that obscene farce of a "trial", part of her had been in denial. Part of her had thought this couldn't actually happen. There, however, right in front of her eyes, was the evidence that this punishment was true.

Various people had tried interacting with her on the walk. Omaeda had shot concerned glanced her way but dared not move to her with his captain so close. Kyoraku and Ukitake had flanked her, explaining that this was highly unusual- this wasn't Seireitei's way. But it was their way, she recognized, regardless of if the rule was archaic or not. It was still on the books and they were clearly prepared to enact it.

A high-pitched roar of rage yanked Mara's eyes from the macabre scene. She could feel Grimmjow pull her back to his chest, his arm an iron bar across her shoulders and collarbones. To guard her or to restrain her, she wasn't sure. He didn't need to worry. She was too numb and overcome with worry to move. She also probably deserved whatever was coming to her.

"You!" the roar rang out again, revealing Matsumoto in terrifying glory. If she had been Aphrodite before, she was surely Athena now. Her eyes burned with ferocity; pretty lips curled into a snarl. "This is your fault!" she screamed at Mara.

Turning to face her with eerie calm, Mara looked over the enraged woman with an indifference that Matsumoto was unused to. Her stony countenance took the woman so off-guard that she almost missed Mara's whispered words. "I know," she said sorrowfully, turning away to face the proceedings again.

"You know?" Matsumoto gaped, reaching to grab the girl and spin her towards her, "I'll fucking kill you-"

"You touch her, and I'll rip your spine out, Tits," Grimmjow snarled, catching her hand with his free one.

Matsumoto was too incensed to even rise to the barb. "You little cunt!" she raged, "You think you can just-"

"Me thinks thou doth protest too much," Mara quoted as she remembered Matsumoto's cheeriness in the chambers. Though she simply flicked her gaze on Matsumoto, the weight of it was stifling. Watching closely, she could see Matsumoto's tells in the tiniest widening of her eyes. The guilt was written in just the smallest parting of her lips. But it was there.

Mara knew it.

Matsumoto knew it.

"Go look in a mirror," Mara said even more softly than before, "and leave me be."

Shaking with pent up rage that now had no outlet, Matsumoto stormed off. Mara didn't bother to see where. Her eyes were focused on the approaching group of guards and their quarry. Pride welled in her as she saw Renji and Hisagi's heads held high as the raked their piercing gazes over the crowd, practically daring them to cheer.

With a nonchalance that marveled those in attendance, Renji rolled his shoulders and ripped off his lieutenants' arm badge. Finding Mara in the crowd, he threw it in her direction for her to hold. Make a statement much, Big Guy, Mara couldn't help but think with a wan smile as Grimmjow deftly snatched it out of the air and handed it to her to hold. Folding it neatly, she laid it over Hisagi's haori and resumed her position of hugging the fabric tightly to her chest.

With an appreciative nod in her direction, Renji cast his eyes to Hisagi who was waiting patiently. Together, both shrugged off the shoulders of their shihakusho, letting them fall loose at their hips. The sunlight cast them in stark relief making them look even more fierce than they did in uniform. Light glinted off subtle scars on well-muscled bodies that seemed to flex in just the simple movement of walking up to the posts.

Despite the circumstances, Mara couldn't help but admire them. Hisagi's lean form spoke quiet strength, while Renji's wildcat tattoos made him appear downright feral even as he tied his hair up quickly into a familiar messy bun to keep it out of the way. Reaching up, both men placidly put their hands through the loops at the end of the ropes, pulling tightly to cinch them before gripping the rope itself for extra support.

Moving deliberately, Mara skirted the edge of the cleared space with Grimmjow in tow. Ignoring the glares and questioning looks, she planted herself directly opposite their position so that they could see her when they looked forward.

As the head captain began to read out the charges and sentence again for the new attendees and constantly growing crowd, Grimmjow leaned to whisper in Mara's ear. "You don't have to watch," he said softly remembering her reaction to his bout with Senbonzakura. He stroked his thumb comfortingly over her arm where her held her.

"Yes, I do," she responded, hollow but sure, "They deserve for me to watch."

And watch she did. She watched as Kenpachi, looking suprememly bored and slightly annoyed, shed his own haori and walked into make-shift arena with a long and whicked looking whip.

She watched as Hisagi and Renji braced themselves and gripped the rope harder in preparation, their eyes deadening as they focused on something calming inside themselves.

She watched Ukitake's lieutenants flank him on either side to keep him standing under the stress of the situation.

She watched as Kyoraku lowered his hat over his eyes, as if shielding himself from the bloodshed.

She watched as Soi Fon met her eyes in a challenging look, a smirk playing on her lips.

She watched as no one tried to stop it.

With a vicious CRACK the whip snapped through the air down across Renji's back, causing him to jerk where he stood. His lips pulled back in a snarl but he didn't make a sound. His eyes didn't even search out hers as he dissociated back to a place where the pain wouldn't get to him.

A smattering of applause raked through the crowd only to be quelled by a wind of spiritual pressure silencing the weak masses from none other than Byakuya. Mara didn't bother to look, keeping her eyes locked on the proceedings.

Despite her attention, she couldn't help but jump at the next loud crack of the whip that came down across Hisagi. Grimmjow's arm tightened around her as she watched her captain. He was so deep in his mind that, while his body jerked in involuntary response, his face didn't so much as flinch.

One. Mara began counting along in her head, horrified by how far away 75 seemed to be.

Over and over again the whip cracked and Mara counted. Renji on the down stroke, Hisagi on the up. It kept going as blood splattered the ground in flecked circles around them.

At 20, Mara's knees had begun to shake and give out, and she realized that Grimmjow's hold on her had been for neither restraint or guarding or even comfort. He was holding her up. He was making sure they didn't see her falter.

At 30, Renji finally lost the ability to drown it out. He let out a roar of anguish as Kenpachi laid a stroke directly in the path of one before causing a massive spill of blood from the furrowed flesh. The crowd cheered but Mara was too focused on the men in front of her to acknowledge it.

In desperation, Renji's eyes shot to hers. If she hadn't been being bodily supported, that look would have brought her to the ground. Tears that she had thought herself too numb to shed poured down her face and all she could do was mouth "I'm sorry" over and over again in hopes that he would understand.

His sad eyes calmed as he understood, answering her with a shake of his head. I will always protect you, Ippin, he thought at her. Gritting his teeth, Renji raised himself back up from leaning on the post in time to hear Hisagi's strike and brace for his own.

It only took a few more of Kenpachi's punishing blows to uproot Hisagi from his enforced stupor with a scream. His eyes immediately flew to Mara's with a familiar desperation but as soon as he saw her, he calmed and raised himself from the post, taking the pressure off of his wrists.

Once roused, the men couldn't seem to sink back into their minds and Mara dutifully met every desperate look. She stayed heartbreakingly silent to not cause more trouble as the men's grunts, pants, and growls of pain echoes across the still audience.

After Byakuya killed their fun, and when they saw that Hisagi and Renji were not easy targets, many of the assembled shinigami had begun to drift away. The respectful ones had stayed until the cracks of the whip had begun to be followed by wet, squelching sounds that turned the stomach of all in attendance. Some held out though, Mara realized, honing her senses to try to determine the size of the crowd. It was a mixed bag of curious new arrivals, staunch supporters, and noisy detractors who had begun trying to cheer again now that Hisagi and Renji were audibly breaking.

The loudest cheer rose when, at strike 42, Hisagi's legs gave out and he fell against the post. The bang of the post was almost enough to drown out the sharp pop, but not the residual scream, as his shoulder dislocated as he fell. His eyes were exhausted as he met Mara's worried gaze and she couldn't help but pull against Grimmjow's fast hold to try to go to him.

"Get up," Renji panted at him between labored breaths, "Come on, old friend, we aren't done yet. Get up!"

Closing his eyes and gritting his teeth, Hisagi gave a brief nod before pulling himself up to shaky legs with his good arm.

"I'm up. I'm up," he panted at Renji next to him who gave an affirmative nod just as Kenpachi's strike landed across him again.

Hisagi only had three more strikes left in him as his legs gave out from under him again, pulling his disjointed shoulder impossibly again. He didn't even scream. He was too far gone to try to pull himself up and the effort only resulted in coughing up blood

"Come… on," Renji croaked at him, moments away from faltering himself. "Come on, brother," he urged, swaying in his holds with the effort to try to look at Hisagi, but it was no use. Hisagi's head slumped.

Another crack from Kenpachi's swing landed across Renji's back as Zaraki waited for Hisagi to rise again. When he didn't, he aimed the strike at his prone form that just swayed with the impact.

"What… what are they doing?" Mara asked breathlessly, pulling again against Grimmjow's unyielding hold on her.

CRACK! CRACK!

"Stop!" she cried out, "He can't take anymore!"

CRACK! CRACK!

"You're going to kill him!" she screamed.

Eyes turned to Mara as the press of rietsu became an audible rushing wind around the girl where the espada held her motionless. She wasn't even aware that it was gathering around her as her mind became just flashes of moments. Renji looking up at her with loving eyes and touching her to comfort her despite risk of death. Of Hisagi training her, of losing himself in her, of bringing her the rain she craved.

"Koi…"

It was barely a rasp, but it drew Mara's attention like a moth to a flame. His eyes found hers despite that they could barely stay open. It was just a look but she could read it like a book. He was warning her that he could do no more. The next order would be…

"Give his to me, Zaraki," Renji croaked, struggling to push up from where he leaned on the pole.

"Eh?" Zaraki gruffly questioned, mouth downturning, "You trying to die today, Abarai?"

"I always did believe in facing things one on one," he gasped managing a ghost of a smile.

With a shrug of his large shoulders, Zaraki set the lash across Renji again in five vicious snaps in quick succession before Renji jolted still, legs falling out from under him.

"He can't do that!" Soi Fon called out over the open space

Walking up to the prone forms hanging in front of their posts, Zaraki poked both with the butt of the whip handle. "Don't matter," he called back, "They're both done for anyway."

No. No no no no no… Mara couldn't think, couldn't breathe. She was hyperventilating. All she could hear in her head was Hisagi's promise to do all he could and her promise in return. He had done everything he could. He was going to die for her. This gentle man with a storm in his eyes was going to be washed away.

And Renji… long-suffering and fierce. He was going to disappear with a whimper that was utterly unacceptable to the roar that should accompany him. She watched him as his piercing brown eyes traced her tear-soaked face before they began to fade and dull. "Ippin," he mouthed with heart-breaking weakness.

Hisagi's eyes barely opened as he looked at her again, unable to move or focus.

"He wants us to run," Mara, pulling from her haze, gasped so softly that only Grimmjow could hear.

"Yeah," Grimmjow answered, arm tightening around her.

"I promised," she sobbed, "Why did I promise!?"

"You only promised if he fulfilled his end," Grimmjow clarified in a snarl.

"Look at him," Mara could barely choke out the words, "Look what they did to him! I would say he held up his end."

With a sigh, Grimmjow moved his hand up to roughly capture Mara's jaw. Tilting her head toward him, he planted a hard but sweet kiss on her trembling lips. "No, he hasn't," Grimmjow said thickly, "He still has one tool left to use."

"Wha-what?" Mara gasped in confusion but Grimmjow gave her no time to get her bearings. Spinning her behind him quickly, he shoved her into an unexpected pair of arms.

"Me," he told her forcefully before addressing her new captor. "Ikkaku," he said with a growl, "Hold her back."

At Ikkaku's quirked brow, Grimmjow's mouth thinned into a line. "I'm serious," he told the bald man, "It may get harder than you think."

With a nod, Ikkaku brough his sword in scabbard up to cross Mara's chest where Grimmjow's arm had been. "Sorry, Mara-chan," he said softly, "I had higher hopes for our next meeting."

"What is he doing?" Mara demanded, ignoring Ikakku's attempt at congeniality.

"Beautiful girl," Yumichika's impossibly smooth voice rang out next to her as he slid arm around her waist as another level of protection, "The king is shedding his crown."

"That answers nothing," Mara muttered as she followed Grimmjow's stride with wide eyes.

Assuming his usual nonchalant yet predatory stride, Grimmjow strode out into the whipping circle, eyes locked on the creepy face and wild eyes of the captain of the 12th. The law was on his side but that was the one he had to manipulate to pull this off; to protect her.

"Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez!" the head captain roared, "What do you think you are doing?"

"I am here to assume my place in taking the remaining punishment for Captain Hisagi and Lieutenant Abarai," Grimmjow said airily, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Too slick, Mara realized, too calm. What they hell are you doing, Grimm?

"And why do you think you would be able to do that?" Soi Fon asked haughtily, "They failed to complete their punishment so they will be left to heal on their own and the ryoka will be taken into custody!"

The muscles in Grimmjow's jaw ticked. He hated when they called his Yume that, like she was dirty, unwanted, lesser. She was a queen, even if her king had to be… "I'm a POW and a slave," Grimmjow said without preamble, "According to your own laws that govern the role of slaves, I am eligible to take Hisagi's- my master's- place and, under his orders, eligible to take the place of his friend, also."

Mara's jaw dropped as Grimmjow's words hit her. The king was casting off his crown indeed. He was marking himself a slave to save them all.

"Ha!" Komamura scoffed, "Slavery has not been practiced here in thousands of years!"

"Indeed," Mayuri agreed, "And we had thought Abarai was reaching far back."

Hitsuguya shook his head as he tried to process this turn of events. "We can't acknowledge one law and ignore others," he stated plainly, cutting to the chase, "Ukitake, does such a law even exist?"

"It does," Ukitake answered solemnly.

"And it was never repealed," Grimmjow said with a grin, earning strange looks. "What? I can read, too," he snarked.

"But you are not a slave and ineligible," Yamamoto declared. Raising his cane to pound the signal to end the discussion he was interrupted by a smooth voice.

"Grimmjow," Byakuya led in, "Are you here in Seireitei by choice?"

"Of course he isn't, Captain Kuchiki," Komamura scolded, "There is no argument as to his status as a prisoner of war."

"But I think there is," Byakuya replied in a deceivingly monotonus tone. "Grimmjow." He began again turning to the espada, who was catching on quickly, "Did you have any say in being removed from Captain Kurotsuchi's… care… before being taken by Captain Hisagi and put to work."

"No, Captain Kuchiki," Grimmjow responded politely, painting on a look of confusion.

"And did you get a choice in what work you were going to be doing?" Byakuya asked.

"Not at all," Grimmjow answered.

"Are you paid for your work?" Byakuya asked, eyes narrowing.

"No," Grimmjow replied with a smirk, "I am only given what I need when I need it."

Byakuya nearly smirked. The espada may not be the mindless monster they had all thought. "Lastly," Byakuya added, "Are you kept in a cell or in chains in times other than those of punishment by Captain Hisagi or this council of captains?"

"I haven't been chained up in a cell since I was with Captain Kurotsuchi," Grimmjow answered somberly though his eyes were alight. Who would have thought it'd be Byakuya that would see this through?

"By the rules of the Royal Houses, this hollow is a slave," Byakuya sniffed, "He ceased to be a prisoner of war when he was taken from Captain Kurotsuchi and his role changed."

"He was not taken from me!" Mayuri screeched in outrage at the pompous imbecile in front of him. How dare he make him sound weak, like he had lost to the waste of space on the pole. "I no longer had need of him! He was a POW then and a POW now!"

"It's a shame, Mayuri, that my not being eligible would lose you a chance to experiment," Grimmjow hissed, "You believed that I was incapable of loyalty. This would have been your chance to test it."

Mayuri's teeth snapped shut as he turned wide eyes at the espada. "Experiments mean you can't just say do this and watch until someone runs away. I am only interested in experiments that see the truth."

"Surely you of all people can think of a way to deduce it," Grimmjow prodded. He could see the wheels turning in Mayuri's head so hard that he was surprised steam wasn't coming out of his ears.

"Perhaps Captain Kuchiki is correct," Mayuri said slowly in his squeaking voice, "He was after all a prisoner until Captain Hisagi came for him and I turned him over with an understanding that he was Hisagi's problem- I mean, property, from then on."

"So, is he a slave, or isn't he?" grumbled Soi Fon, whose fingers were up and at the ready to give the signal to her men to swoop in for the arrest.

"He is according to the law," Kyoraku answered slowly, turning from talking with Ukitake, "He can take their place."

"So be it." Yamamoto said with a sigh.

With a bow of his head, Grimmjow turned to head toward the posts. Mara watched in stunned silence as Grimmjow shrugged of his jacket, baring his scarred flesh to the burgeoning crowd, and tossed it on the ground. With surprising care, he lifted Hisagi and disentangled his wrists from the ropes, wincing at the answering moan as Hisagi's arms fell to his sides limply.

"I gotcha, Cap," he murmured, as he lowered Hisagi to lay on his stomach on the ground, head on his discarded jacket.

He next freed Renji with the same amount of care, laying him next to Hisagi.

"Why are you helping us?" Renji choked out, causing the espada to stare down at him with unfathomable eyes and a frown.

"I'm not helping you," he answered, casting his eyes to Mara's face still full of confusion and apprehension.

Renji could tell where he was looking without being able to himself. Her mere presence was like a beacon. "Thank you," he whispered shortly before shutting his eyes. He got no answer from the surprisingly stoic espada. He didn't expect one.

Stepping to the post, Grimmjow wound his wrists in the ropes without fanfare, spreading his legs shoulder width apart to aid his balance. He didn't know if Zaraki's whip would manage to pierce his hierro, but he knew the hits would be hard. By his count, there were 51 strikes left. He should be able to do that. Taking a deep breath and preparing for impact, Grimmjow jolted as Mayuri's grating voice rolled over him.

"Wait!" Mayuri ordered caustically, "Nemu!"

"Yes, Mayuri-sama?" his demure lieutenant asked, stepping beside him.

"For experiments sake, we need to make sure that this is a true test," Mayuri said deliberately, "He should go through what his master went through."

"Yes, Mayuri-sama," Nemu said dutifully, walking up to the espada and producing two large stone manacles. "I must put these on you," she told Grimmjow, before bending and latching the cuffs around his ankles.

Mara inspected them as she put them on. White stone with glittery white rivulets that shone in the sun… She recognized that stone from the cave. Sekki-seki. They were utterly sealing his power. No hierro. No recovery.

Mara's eyes shot up to see Grimmjow's practically glowing in panic. This was not part that he had planned for. She wanted to run for him but Ikkaku's and Yumichika's holds were secure. She wanted to scream but she knew it would only make things worse. Meeting his eyes, Mara nodded in acknowledgement to what was going on. He would know that she wasn't going to leave him. Clutching the haori and badge, she met his eyes.

"Ha!" a voice rang out in the crowd, "Looks like the 'king' is finally being shown what he really is."

"All hail the king!" someone else mocked.

Though her blood was near boiling, Mara paid them no mind, instead keeping Grimmjow's gaze. "More than words, Makenai Hito," she said softly, knowing he heard her as his look calmed to one of peace.

As the crowd cheered to Kenpachi's entrance into the circle, Grimmjow took a deep breath and braced for the worst. Still he cracked a smile and looked over his shoulder at one of his favorite sparring buddies. "Oi! I'm bored," he told Zaraki, "let's get this over with fast, eh?"

With a bone-chilling smile, Zaraki raised the whip. "Me too," he said jovially before he began to rain down strikes almost as fast as Mara could count.

Cheers and whistles broke through the crowd as the whip cracked down on an utterly exposed Grimmjow. Stripped of his hierro, Grimmjow's skin split on the first blow but he still didn't utter a sound. Nor did he dissociate but with every strike his look became more feral and strained.

The largest cheer came when he finally fell against the post, gripping the wood so hard that his fingertips began to bleed.

"Make him scream!"

"Fucking hollow! Hit him harder!"

"Let me go," Mara ordered Ikkaku, earning only a grunt in return and a tightening of their hold. "Let me go!" she ordered again, straining against the two men.

"Outbursts detract from your beauty, Mara-chan," Yumichika said softly.

As if that was going to stop her! "I need-"

"To go to him, we know," Ikkaku said shortly, "but this is why he told us to hold you back. You can't."

"I'm not going to disturb this," Mara said softly, "I am capable of learning you know. But I need you to let me go or I WILL get loose, and it WILL be a disruption."

Circling her slightly, Yumichika looked in her eyes, seeing clarity and determination staring back at him. Nodding slightly, he released his hold on her.

"Thank you," Mara said softly as he stepped back.

"What are you doing?" Ikkaku asked, unyielding, "we promised-"

"Ikkaku," Yumichika said gently, "If you don't trust her, trust me."

With a deep sigh, Ikkaku dropped his hold and stepped back. "Fine," he grumbled before turning a penetrating stare at Mara, "but if you get in trouble, I'm not helping."

Before he could finish, Mara darted off, back to the front of the still growing crowd, lured by a chance to see an espada suffer. Shoving her way through, she pushed to the front, stepping a few feet out to stand in front of all of them. "Grimmjow!" she roared over the din, drawing his wild eyes to her. Standing as tall as she could manage, Mara wiped the tears of her cheeks and met his snarl with calm.

"They're watching," she mouthed to him.

Narrowing his eyes, Grimmjow tried to snap himself from the dark place in his mind that was pulling him in. The dark voice that told him to stand back up snapped to attention on the girl at the edge of the circle. She smelled like food. She looked like heaven… but those eyes… they sucked him in and back to the present.

The present was pain. He didn't want to be here but he couldn't escape her gaze.

"They're watching," she mouthed again, causing him to cast his eyes around. Shinigami. Fucking Shinigami. He looked back at the girl- God she was like a dream standing in front of the rabid crowd.

Dream.

Yume.

Finally snapping back to reality, Grimmjow raised himself to his full height. This time, his gaze didn't leave Mara's until strike 51 fell, taking him with it.

That was it for Mara; she had had all that she could take. Taking off with a flash step that seemed to grow out of nowhere, she zoomed to the center circle. Taking no notice of the blood and viscera under her feet, nor the wary foreboding silence, as she dropped to her knees next to Hisagi and Renji. Reacting on impulse alone, she checked their pulse to find faint but steady heart beats.

"Ip- Ippi-," Renji's garbled breath washed over her hand and she smoothed his hair back from his face where it had fallen loose from the tie.

"I'm here, Big Guy," she crooned gently.

"Ippin," he sighed out gently, "don't go."

"I just have to get things together," he whispered to him, "I won't let you go."

He was already passed back out before she had even finished speaking.

Running over to Grimmjow, she quickly did the same, finding him slightly stronger though just as surely unconscious. She tried desperately to reach the ties holding him but only succeeding in grazing her fingers against them. Fuck.

"The punishment has concluded," Yamamoto's voice rang out, startling Mara from her attempts to lower Grimmjow momentarily. "You all are to go back to work," he declared before turning and leaving the area in flash.

No one else moved.

Assholes, Mara thought angrily as she leapt again for Grimmjow's ropes- unsuccessfully. Twittering and giggles if not out-right laughs broke out at her attempts to scale the pole higher, joined by even a small snort from Soi Fon.

That's it, Mara thought tearfully, trying desperately to hide her tears. "Will no one help?!" she called out to the crowd, earning wide-eyed stares in return.

"Of course, they won't help!" Soi Fon mocked, "Who would want to help a ryoka and her hollow?"

Turning her ire on the captain, Mara allowed her eyes to turn molten. When they say you can't do it, do it anyway, she repeated in her head. "Fine," Mara responded, voice echoing with pent up power, "Then I'll do it myself."

Spinning quickly, Mara aimed a back-leg roundhouse kick directly at the middle of the pole, bursting it to splinters. Faster than sight, she shot under Grimmjow to slow the fall of the top of the post. It dragged her to her knees with its weight but she moved with its momentum, letting it pull her forward to cushion Grimmjow's head in her lap and brace his shoulders against the force that could dislocate them like Hisagi's.

Accompanied only by stunned silence, Mara reached to her sides to delicately untie the knots holding the espada's wrists. Gingerly, she extricated herself from under the espada, turning to face Soi Fon with a hard look.

"I need to get them off the field," Mara said, tension ringing her mouth.

"Well, no one is allowed to touch them," Soi Fon answered breezily, "So good luck."

"That is not true!" Mara said, the tenuous hold on her temper growing thinner than a thread. "They are not to be treated by the fourth, nor healed by kido," she repeated, "There was no order that they had to bleed out here! Are you just going to let them die like dogs in the dirt?!"

"They made their choice!" Soi Fon bit back harshly, teeth bared.

Seeing that the woman was hopeless, Mara panned the somber faces of the rest of the captains before turning to the crowd. "And you all!" she addressed them, "This is okay with you? You aren't going to help at all?"

Silence.

Drawing a shaky breath, Mara's pleading eyes hardened. "Cowards," she admonished them softly, "All of you."

"These men," she gestured at the flayed figures on the ground, "Are your captain, your lieutenant… Your teachers… Your FRIENDS! They stood up when no one else would and not one of you will stand up for them?"

"Do you still have any honor left?" she asked softly, turning her back on the crowd to walk back to her fallen men.

"HAI, MARA-SAMA!" a deep voice rang out.

Freezing in place, Mara turned slowly to see a bulky figure pushing up through the crowd. Her breath caught in her throat and she couldn't hold back the tearful smile as she saw who dared to come to her aid: Nomura.

"Why?" she choked out as he dropped into a deep bow in front of her.

"Things happen and feelings follow," Nomura quoted back to her, "Maybe the feeling that should change now is fear into courage and anger to compassion."

"Thank you," Mara said softly, bowing her head.

"You do not bow to us, Mara-sama," a high voice quipped. Mei bowed deeply before her instead. "Captain Hisagi saw fit to leave you in charge before, we see fit to follow you now."

"You come back here!" Hut-Hut's high pitched yell screeched across the plateau, "I am in charge here and you-"

Mara looked up to see that he was cut off mid-sentence by Riku's willowy figure looking down at him in silence with a menacing stare. Trapped by her wordless superiority, other members of Squad 9 began to spill out and form ranks behind Mara, awaiting her command.

"What are you doing?" Soi Fon yelled out at the incoming troops, "Get back!"

Summarily ignoring the irate captain, other shinigami, whom Mara did not recognize, began to follow suit and drift onto the field. One with beads in the front of his hair stopped to bow slightly to her. "Richiki," he said in answer to her curious look, "Where Lieutenant Abarai falls, I will always pick him up. Thank you."

Stunned speechless for a moment, Mara just looked at the small group gathered around her in wonder and gratefulness. This group alone gave her hope. "Okay," she said coughing to clear the crack in her voice, "split into groups and let's figure out how to carry these guys out of here."

"Where are we taking them?" Richiki asked.

"The 9th infirmary," Mara answered surely, earning a cutting look from Byakuya who had previously been watching with a practiced disinterest

"Abarai is from my squad," Byakuya said dourly, "He will go to the 6th."

"With all due respect, Captain Kuchiki," Mara emphasized his title, "He chose me. I will tend him."

Unsure how to react, Byakuya blinked in return. The little chit seemed to be ready for round two, albeit with a more appropriate tone, but she was taking ahold of his lieutenant which had been the end goal.

Taking his silence for acquiescence, Mara turned to help assess how best to lift the men's damaged bodies.

"A stretcher will be necessary," a sweet voice rang out that was new to Mara, "I have Isane bringing three already."

Mara turned to see Captain Unohana behind her, kindness shining from her face. She didn't believe that she had ever heard the woman speak before. "But… the 4th…"

"We are not allowed to treat them," Unohana said with a small smile, "but it seems you have hands here to do the work." Looking around at the assembled crowd, Unohana turned to Byakuya. "She will treat them in the 4th. It has better facilities and supplies for large wounds such as these and will be neutral territory for both of your squads."

Byakuya nodded silently but Soi Fon raged. Flash-stepping in front of Unohana, she actually sputtered before making words. "How dare you break the rules of the head captain?!" she screamed, "I will make sure-"

"I am breaking no rules, Captain Soi Fon," Unohana said in her trademark gentleness, staring the smaller woman down.

Watching the scene unfold, Mara was shocked to see Soi Fon's red face go white in the face of the other woman's gentle gaze. There was more to Unohana than met the eye, she decided, best to do as she says. "But- but…" the stricken captain sputtered.

"SOI FON," Another woman's deep voice rang out.

"Y- Yoruichi-sama!" Soi Fon declared whirling, immediately dropping to one knee.

Dropping to her feet with the grace of a cat, the purple haired woman seemingly descended from nowhere. Her eyes darted quickly, taking in the macabre and confused scene. "I see I should have come earlier, eh, Mara-chan?" she said to Mara, throwing her a wink.

"Um- ye- what?" Mara stuttered. It was the woman from the flyer! How, and why, was she here?

Slowly, Yoruichi's smile faded and a compassionate pity overwhelmed her features. "So, you don't remember," she said softly, "we tried to find a way to prevent that, but you were gone too soon."

"You tried to… help me?" Mara asked incredulously.

"Of course," Yoruichi replied flippantly, "We're your friends."

"But Yoruichi-sama," Soi Fon tried to cut in, "She-,"

"She is misunderstood," Yoruichi supplied, "Clearly."

Giving Mara an encouraging nod, she pulled Soi Fon up from her kneeling by her arm. "Handle this here, Mara-chan," she said beginning to walk off, "Soi Fon and I will address what has happened."

With a flash they were gone, just in time for Isane and a group of medics to run in with stretchers. Pairing off, they instructed the groups of untrained shinigami of how to lift and carry their charges without touching them themselves.

"It is nice to see things coming together, is it not?" Unohana said with a light smile, linking her hand through Mara's elbow and guiding her toward the tall steps, "Come. It is going to be a long night."

Setting her gaze at the stretchers in front of her, Mara's mouth set in a thin line and she gave a pensive nod. Indeed it was.