Another one up! Please comment, favorite, etc. It boosts me and I haven't heard from you guys in a bit.

Song for the mood at the end of the chapter is less than a pearl by enya (that's right, i'm going way back). just a good song for the end feeling, even without lyrics. Anyways, enjoy

Chapter 44

"Mara-sama, where do we put them?"

"What do you need, Mara-sama?"

"How are we supposed to do anything when we don't know what to do!?

Mara braced herself against the wall. The room was spinning. She couldn't catch her breath. Ultimately, she didn't know what to do. With every step, more blood spilled onto the ground, coating every surface, coating her. This was too much. She couldn't do this.

"Let's take them to an operating suite," Unohana said gently, moving away to guide the incoming flow, "Is that alright, Mara-chan?"

Mara could do no more than nod numbly as she watched the retreating stretchers leaving blood drips down the hall.

"Mara-sama!" a voice called to her. Mei. She was shaking her shoulder. "Mara-sama!"

Turning bleary eyes on Mei, Mara tried to focus but all she saw were the bloody, torn bodies, lifted on stretchers and held by impatient people. Her mouth flapped as she tried for words, gasped for breath. This was like hyperventilating. Was she having a panic attack?

Watching Mara begin to break, Mei reacted quickly. She had known this moment had to come at some point, but did it have to be now? Roughly grabbing the collar of Mara's shirt, Mei dragged Mara to a side room, slamming the door behind them before turning to face the stricken woman.

"Get it together, Mara-sama, or I swear I will slap you!" She loudly whispered in Mara's face, happy that it brought Mara's wild eyes to her own.

"I don't know what to do," Mara confessed in a whispered sob.

"Captain Hisagi would not leave you in charge for no reason," Mei said confidently before Mara cut off her pep talk.

"But he didn't leave me in charge!" Mara argued, "That's Hut-hut's job not mine!"

Mei couldn't help the snort that escaped her. "Hut-hut? That's priceless!" she said, turning a too bright smile to her chosen leader in an effort to cheer her."

"For a while I called him Not-Mei," she confessed with a wan smile, "That didn't go well. Hut-hut the Horrible stuck. Regardless, he should be handling-"

"He shouldn't be handling shit!" Mei bit back before processing Mara's shocked look, "Sorry for that, but he shouldn't! He was trying to hold us back in the crowd. You saw him."

Nibbling her lip, Mara tried to remember the scene on the hill. It had only been 10 minutes before, but clarity came slowly, like waking from a dream. Hut-hut had yelled at them to come back. Riku, being the third seat by just a hair, had stared him down until he relented.

"He didn't care that our leaders were on the ground and suffering," Mei pressed, seeing Mara begin to nod along, "You cared! You stood up for them! You pled with our humanity and we answered because you are a leader. You can do this!"

"How will I know what to do?" she whispered softly back.

"We can research, we can ask," Mei listed off, "Captain Unohana seems willing to help as much as she is able by the confines of law. Just ask, Mara-sama, and it will be done."

Taking a shaky breath, Mara nodded and headed back out the door where Mei linked arms with her. Following the macabre trail to the room, Mara found helpers wheeling in IV stands already and the men about to be transferred for beds. Kira directed placement and was busy getting the beds dressed.

"This is before my time, Captain Unohana," he said distractedly as he monitored Hisagi's pulse before giving the ok to move him to a bed, "It's clear that they will need blood and fluids but beyond that…" He trailed off as he moved to give the clearance for Grimmjow to be moved.

"The rule of the 4th not intervenening in this punishment has always been there," Unohana said sadly, "We will have to consult the records."

The room began to fade around Mara's vision again and every eye turned to the unpredictable girl. But this was different, Mara could feel it.

Voices. She could hear voices, see a body whipped laid on a table, and small, graceful fingers re-laying ripped flesh and mixing herbs and snow to pile up on his back.

Orders for hot water, herbs… snow. Mixing the herbs in the snow. A sigh of relief from the body underneath.

Shaking her head Mara came right back out of it but the vision stayed. Surely this wasn't something she had done before but…

"Snow," she said softly, looking around the room, "I need snow."

"But- but it's not snowing, Mara-sama," May whispered with trepidation as she watched the amber flecks in Mara's eyes turn into a soft swirl.

The amber began to fade, replaced by hopelessness, when Mara heard another whisper.

"Shaved ice is like snow," Nomura said lowly, "Would that work?"

With a snap, Mara's rietsu was back like a gently moving current. "Yes," she said authoritatively, "and herbs. I need a book on herbs."

With a flick of her fingers, Unohana had sent a member of her squad to raid their library.

"Nomura," Mara ordered, "While we clean and dress the wounds, I need you and others to get shaved ice machines, at least one for each person."

His affirmative reply was lost to her as scenes from inside an ambulance overtook her. Moving, jostling… blood.

"We've got to stop the bleeding! Grab the QuikClot!"

"But they'll have to reopen it to clean it!"

"Doesn't matter it will stop it now!"

"Quikclot!" Mara commanded, earning a plethora of blank looks. "In the real world it is used in emergencies to stop bleeding and we have to stop theirs," she elaborated in desperation.

"I have clearance for the world of the living at any time," Kira said seriously, "but how will I buy it?"

"Riku, open the 9th treasury for Kira," Mara ordered the tall woman, receiving a silent nod, "Give some to Nomura and his crew too."

In a flash, five people disappeared from the room. "Which of you here have strong enough stomachs to clean the wounds and piece together what's left?" Mara asked seriously, glowing eyes panning the room.

"I was planning on going to the fourth before being recruited by Captain Hisagi," Mei said with her hand raised, "I can help."

Two other hands went up and Mara looked hard at them. "Scrub down," she ordered, "With no interference from the fourth, we need to treat this like we are handling humans. The rest of you- I need boiled water, bandages, rags, and lots of spare sheets."

"Captain Unohana, you know methods of healing here better than anyone else," she said respectfully but with all sense of trepidation gone from her tone, "Will you aid your subordinate in researching and gathering herbs to promote clotting, healing, pain relief, and with disinfectant and maybe even high reishi properties? I need as many as we can find."

"Yes, Mara-chan," Unohana said gently, "before I go, do you need instruction placing the IV's?"

Oh my god, it hurt so fucking bad! Could this nurse not find a vein!? With a sharp pang, the training nurse withdrew the needle, a scowl of frustration on her face.

"I can't get it in!" she explained apologetically.

"Vein just blew anyways," Mara said with a long exhale to compose herself, "You're gonna have to run it in my ankle."

"But that hurts more," the nurse warned.

Like you digging for gold in my arm didn't? she thought at the woman. "I know," she instead replied, lifting her leg up for the nurses view, "just keep it parallel with my calf while pushing down at the base. It's not my first rodeo."

"No, I've got it," Mara said, eyes glowing brighter.

"Very well," Unohana nodded, leaving Mara to scrub down and be joined by her chosen helpers.

In full mask, gloves and robe to protect them from blood, Mei and the others watched as Mara ran an IV into Grimmjow's ankle with precision. "The treatment's on their backs could leak onto IV's run in their arms, so we will do it here," she explained, not looking up from her work, "We need to get them all run, sedated and on a blood transfusion. Once that's done, we will clean and fix their backs as best we can."

Standing, she moved over to Hisagi and prepped the IV to put in. "Let's get to work."

"Hai, Mara-sama."

.

.

"Where are they?" Byakuya asked brusquely, breezing up to the front counter of the 4th Divisions hospital.

The attendants weary gaze immediately snapped to attention at his somber face. "C-Captain Kuchiki!" he stammered, "Who- um- who are you…"

"You know who I am looking for," Byakuya droned monotonously even though his eyes narrowed, "Where. Are. They?"

"Captain Kuchiki, uh, Sir…," the attendee began again, fear now radiating from him, "I have to look people up and log in a visitor for all our patients. I need a minute."

"You have 30 seconds," came the brusque warning.

"Captain Kuchiki," Unohana's melodious voice carried through the room to him, "I do not approve abuse to my squad members."

Meeting the disconcertingly pleasant smile, Byakuya found himself shifting uncomfortably like a schoolboy. Unable to find his voice, he simply nodded in response.

"He is here to see Abarai Renji," she elaborated for her flustered worker, "Please notate that I am personally escorting him to assure the head captain's orders."

"Yes, Captain," the attendee nodded, rapidly scribbling in the logbook.

"Follow me, Captain Kuchiki," Unohana said sweetly, starting down a hallway.

"Is an escort necessary?" Byakuya asked her as he drew even with her stride.

"No," Unohana said lightly, "We have no doubts of your character, but better to cover all bases, yes?"

Turning down another hallway and bypassing more and more treatment and recovery rooms, Unohana turned to him with a small smile. "If nothing else it will keep you from getting lost. I have set them up in an operating room all together for ease."

"Who is treating them?" Byakuya asked with worry, "Surely you are not relying on the girl to perform surgery to repair their injuries?"

"Of course not," Unohana said with a sigh, "Though she is treating them on her own for the most part. She had help at first but…"

"But?" Byakuya urged her.

"Once the tasks she set were done a… change came over her for a while," Unohana explained. "A light rietsu filled the room and didn't abate. Her eyes were glowing amber like in the chamber."

"A memory," Byakuya supplied.

"Yes, but not like in the chamber," Unohana nodded as she stopped to grab Byakuya a sterile robe from the nurses' station, "We could interact with her and she would answer but it was like a singular focus on what to do and she brought up medications and treatments that we either don't know or would have to search out. Things I did not think she would know."

"She didn't elaborate on this knowledge, I assume?" Byakuya said, layering on the protective garb over his clothes.

"As I said, Captain Kuchiki," Unohana answered, "She would interact with us, but only on matters related to the tasks."

Tying the robe around his waist, Byakuya narrowed his eyes and looked around the operating wing. He could pick out the faint rietsu's of three of the four beings, but nothing heightened. "There is no rise now," he commented, "And where is the espada?"

"Hers disappeared about an hour ago, retreating back to normal," Unohana explained, "And Grimmjow's is missing as Captain Kurotsuchi has refused to remove the additional cuffs for the duration of the two weeks in the name of experimentation."

Receiving only a nod in answer, Unohana turned to leave. "Third door on your left captain," she said as she walked away, "Please call a nurse if you need help finding your way out. Mara-chan determines the visiting hours in that room as it is not under our control right now."

Not bothering to reply, Byakuya made his way down the hall. Stopping next door at the sound of whirring machines, Byakuya glanced in to see three shaved ice machines running against one wall. Strange.

Continuing on, he paused as the suite came into view. All three men were laid out on beds, arranged in a rectangle around the center of the room, with what appeared to be a pile of green snow on their backs. IV stands were at their feet, tube disappearing under thick blankets. The girl was perched on a stool at Renji's head with a bowl of steaming water that was rapidly turning pink.

He watched as she produced a towel, holding it under his dripping hair while she dumped the contents of the bowl down the drain in the center of the floor. Refilling the bowl with a warm kettle and the tap, Mara sat back down and produced a bottle of soap and began to lather it into Renji's hair until the bubbles were red before rinsing it in the bowl, pouring water gently over his long hair.

She kept repeating the process, Byakuya noticed, until the water ran clear. No sooner had she wrapped his hair in a clean towel, Byakuya heard a wet splat and a soft moan. Captain Hisagi.

Walking over to a chest freezer, another odd addition in an operating room, Mara pulled out a large bucket. It was obviously heavy as she struggled to waddle with it over to Hisagi's bed. She scooped out more of the odd green mixture and replaced the part that had fallen from his back to the sound of another soft moan.

Pausing in her work, Mara bent over to gently kiss the temple of the man. Running her fingers through his short hair, Byakuya could see her whisper something to him before righting herself to load the large bucket back into the freezer.

Resuming her seat on the stool, Mara unwrapped Renji's hair, smoothing a cream through it before rinsing it out with the remains of the kettle. This time she wrung it out directly onto the floor, after moving her stool. Picking up a squeegee, she pushed all the water from both him and Hisagi's fallen treatment into the drain.

As she moved the stool back, sitting down heavily, Byakuya finally noticed how exhausted she looked. She swiped her hand across her eyes which were ringed with dark shadows before combing through Renji's hair gently with her fingers. Finding a knot, she began to pluck it apart, strand by strand.

Weariness hadn't dulled her senses though as she raised her eyes to meet Byakuya's though the open doorway. "How long do you intend on standing there, Captain Kuchiki?" she asked softly.

"I was observing," Byakuya explained while summarily ignoring her question.

"Clearly," she said dryly, returning to picking out another knot from Renji's hair, "What do you want?"

Byakuya's brow furrowed as he looked down at the small woman. She seemed to have just been plodding along. She was moving, yes, but her eyes had lost their fire… until she saw him. She may have been at the end of her rope but now it appeared that it may have just been the beginning of a fuse. "I tried to be the one to render punishment," he said slowly.

"How magnanimous of you," Mara said with a small roll of her eyes, even though she realized by the end of the punishment that he was trying to lighten it in his own way. With a sigh, she flicked her eyes at Byakuya's proud face. "Do you expect me to thank you?"

"No," Byakuya answered. After watching her work on Renji's knotted hair in silence for a full minute, Byakuya finally sighed at the death of supposed peace talks. Reaching in the pocket of his uniform, Byakuya pulled out a comb and handed it to her.

Reaching for the comb, it was Mara's turn to look at him in confusion. "I didn't peg you as the type," she said sardonically, turning to begin coming through the long red locks.

"As royalty, I have to make sure that I never appear sloppy," Byakuya said walking to the foot of Renji's bed.

It wasn't a laugh, by any stretch of the imagination, but Byakuya felt himself oddly buoyed by the sharp exhale and small smile that his response earned. Lifting the corner of the blanket, he inspected the cleanly sealed IV inserted into a large vein in Renji's ankle.

"Put that down," Mara ordered without looking up from Renji's head, "they have to stay warm with the ice treatment."

"That's expertly placed," Byakuya commented, dropping the blanket, "Who did it?"

"I did," she replied wearily, "They are receiving no treatment from the fourth."

"I'm not accusing," Byakuya said, turning a frown on her, "I'm wondering how."

Still not looking up, Mara briefly stopped her combing to hold up her arm, flashing the medical alert tattoo. "I'm guessing I have experience with needles."

"And this?" Byakuya asked, taking a pinch of the green substance in his fingers only to have it melt away in seconds.

"Don't touch that either," Mara said with an annoyed look at him.

"What is it?" Byakuya asked, mimicking her look right back.

"Snow pack," Mara answered, dropping her eyes to get back to work.

"That does nothing to explain what it is or how you know about it."

"Captain Kuchiki," Mara said, dropping her hands to her lap with a sigh, "Are you really choosing now to interrogate me?"

"I am not interrogating you," Byakuya said as his frown grew deeper, "I am curious."

At her disbelieving look, he continued. "I am trying to help protect you, believe it or not, and to do that I need to be able to answer questions the other captains will ask while your normal protectors are… indisposed."

"With all due respect, Captain Kuchiki," Mara began.

"That means it will have none," Byakuya quipped, "Go on."

Mara couldn't help her tiny smile in the face of his version of levity. "You are not curious to protect me," she said boldly, "You are curious, but that isn't why."

"Maybe you care more about your lieutenant than you want people to know which is why you are here at 2 AM. Maybe you want to trap me like everyone else," Mara cocked her head to the side, narrowing her eyes as she inspected his perfect mask, "Maybe both. But why on earth do you people expect me to be honest and open with you, when you aren't with me?"

Byakuya's eyes widened a hair with shock. This was perhaps the most open statement he had ever heard from her. "The same could be said of you," he remarked softly.

"Not really," Mara said, "I told the truth, it just wasn't the truth everyone wanted… wasn't complete enough, I guess. Then as I gained knowledge, I didn't want to share it."

"Why not?"

"Would you?"

Byakuya paused in his slow walk around inspecting the room, this time with the freezer lid lifted as he looked at the buckets of 'snow pack'. "No, I suppose not," he answered, looking in the freezer.

"Shut that," Mara commanded again, "It will melt."

"Again," Byakuya lowered the lid quietly and decided to push his luck while she was being open, "what is this?"

"Again," Mara mimicked, "It's snow pack."

"You've said that," he reminded her.

"I'm beginning to think I've said enough," she murmured, "You are taking advantage of my exhaustion."

"That I am," Byakuya admitted, eyeing the various supplies from herbs to ointments to IV bags strewn on the counter and tables, "It is a rare chance to attempt to get honest answers."

Mara didn't deign to reply as she moved the comb through Renji's now clear hair, dividing it to braid it so that the wild strands would stay out of his wounds.

With a sigh, Byakuya finished the round of the room to stand over Renji again. "I care about my lieutenant like family," he told her seriously, "The crazy odd nephew of the least favorite sister, maybe, but family, nonetheless. I am curious about his care because I want to know if he will make it through."

Mara looked up at him startled. By god, the man could actually learn- honesty. "Snow pack is a blend of herbs that reduce bleeding, risk of infection, and promote healing, mixed with snow to sooth and numb. I have been putting it on them for the past 12 hours," Mara told him, trying to ease his concern, "I put it on them after knocking them out with sedatives through the IV, cleaning the wounds, and applying a medicine that Kira brought back from the world of the living called QuikClot to stop the bleeding."

"How did you know what to use?" he asked her, brows furrowed as he tried to follow along.

"I just… did," Mara said, nibbling her bottom lip as she focused on braiding, "I had to have some help with the herbs and making a new formula because things are different here, but most of it- the ideas, the real world meds- I just knew. They came to me in scenes but not like I had lived them."

"How does one just know?" Byakuya asked, carefully controlling his tone. He didn't want her to stop talking now.

"Have you ever had a word stuck on the tip of your tongue?" she asked him instead, tying off Renji's braid and leaning back to look in his eyes, "You know what you want to say, you know what it means, you may even know synonyms, but you can't think of that word to save your life. That is how I feel most of the time. Everything is there. Maybe I read it, maybe I lived it; No matter the case, it's there. It just only comes out when it's needed, or I'm reminded, and then it's like I knew it all along."

"I see," Byakuya said thoughtfully, "So the episodes aren't memories? They are you being reminded?"

"Oh no. THOSE, like in the chamber, are memories," she clarified, "This was memory in a general sense. Knowledge that sat stagnant until I needed it, I guess. Most are not an experience or firsthand view. I don't know how I know these things, just that I know."

"Regardless, your resourcefulness is impressive," he intoned respectfully, bending down to inspect the specks of herbs lending the snow on Renji's back a green tint, "Snow where there is no snow, items from the world of the living…"

"Shaved ice was close enough, I assumed," Mara said ruefully.

"Hence the snow factory next door?"

"Yes."

"This was a lot to arrange so quickly," Byakuya murmured.

"I have good people," Mara said.

"And no budget?" Byakuya asked with a raised brow in her direction, expecting some ire.

Mara just shrugged and yawned. "Money talks," she admitted, "Unfortunately, so will Shuuhei when he sees what I have done to his accounts but it's worth it."

"Have someone from your squad compile a tab for Abarai's care," Byakuya said offhandedly, "I'll deliver it with what I owe Captain Hisagi."

"You know I would care for him even- Wait," Mara stopped, eyes flashing up to Byakuya, "what you owe?"

"For your care, yes," Byakuya said dryly, "As my ward, I am responsible for your living expenses and care. I am woefully overdue. I will deliver the funds tomorrow."

Mara looked up at him, biting back tears, as she opened and closed her mouth in an effort to find words. Finally, she managed to choke out, "I will let Shuuhei know that you are paid off when he awakes." She dared not say more. She knew this was Byakuya's cover for helping in a way he knew he could. She would let him keep his mask.

Answering with only a nod, Byakuya turned to leave before stopping to look over his shoulder at the girl. She was puttering between the three men now, checking their IV's and inserting a syringe into the tubes.

"Captain Kuchiki," she said over her shoulder to him without turning, "Thank you for taking the time to talk with me."

"Perhaps I shall not wait so long to do so next time," he answered before breezing out the door.

Finding Unohana in the lobby, he was surprised to see her face to face with Mayuri. While his golden eyes licked like fire, face contorted in rage, she was the epitome of placid. Something about her rietsu bore anything but calm however, Byakuya noticed as it creeped through the room with the intent of a serpent ready to strike.

"I will check on my experiment and you will not stop me!" Mayuri screeched, leveling a bony finger with Unohana's smiling face, "I am not scared of you!"

"That is, perhaps, because you are insane," Byakuya said drolly, striding up with a frown.

"I am allowed to check on my results," Mayuri hissed, glaring at the newcomer.

"In my division, he is a patient," Unohana said patiently, "According the talks on the Sogyoku, your experiment was to see if he would run away or loyally stay. He did not run. Your experiment is concluded."

As Mayuri sputtered in anger, Byakuya couldn't help but hide a smile. "Perhaps he could go back to check on the espada," Byakuya said in a conciliatory tone, ignoring the equally hopeful and spiteful looks levied his way, "If to conclude his experiment, he removes the sekki-seki cuffs."

With a small smile, Unohana turned back to Mayuri, "That I would allow," she told him gracefully.

Not bothering to answer, Mayuri spun on his heel and disappeared out the door in a huff.

"It was worth a try," Byakuya said.

"A try for something I did not expect you to pull for," Unohana told him softly, "Why are you trying to aid the espada."

I'm not, Byakuya thought mirthlessly, I am trying to aid my lieutenant. I cannot fix him with a broken girl.

"My reasons are my own," he said, meeting Unohana's questioning gaze.

"Very well, Captain Kuchiki," she replied, folding her arms in her sleeves, "but thank you for keeping him in check."

"I've no doubt you were fully capable on your own," Byakuya said placidly, "there is no need to thank me."

"Perhaps," Unohana said thoughtfully, "but if captains like him are left to their own devices and old ways, I feel that the only thing we will succeed in proving is how to create an enemy where there wasn't one before."

"She is not so far gone yet," Byakuya replied, thinking over his and Mara's surprisingly enlightening conversation.

"Then there is hope," Unohana said finally, turning to retreat back into the winding hallways of the hospital.

.

.

No sooner had Mara sat on the stool to survey her charges did she hear a large splat followed by a deep, echoing growl.

Grimmjow.

Heaving a sigh, Mara raised herself to her feet and hauled out the bucket. Scooping more snow onto his back, Mara gently stroked his vibrant hair up away from his neck and the snow.

"You've got to stop doing that, Makenai Hito," she whispered, "The vibrations are shaking off the snow."

With her gentle ministrations and soft whispers at his ear, Grimmjow's gasped breaths slowed to a low purr and finally the deep sighs of sleep.

Waiting for a moment to see if the snow pack would be needed again, Mara hauled the bucket back to the freezer. Shutting the lid, she grabbed an empty bucket to go fill with more snow to mix.

Splat.

Mara couldn't help but drop her head with a groan, bracing her weary arms on the freezer before flinging it back open. Hauling out the bucket Mara looked for where she was needed now.

Hisagi again. His was sloughing off the mixture more often than others, so she laid her hand against his head to check for a fever. He seemed clear but she knew it would be better to actually check. Turning and rifling through drawers until she found a thermometer, she was started to see Hisagi's clouded eyes open and looking at her when she turned back.

"You are supposed to be sleeping, Otto," she crooned gently as she held the thermometer up to his forehead.

"And you- were- supposed- to run," he sighed out gasping.

"I know," she whispered to him, "I almost did. Then Grimmjow found a new solution."

Hisagi could do more than look at her in clouded confusion.

"It's a long story, Otto, but it's over now. It's all done." Satisfied with the reading on the thermometer, Mara tucked it in the pocket of the coat she wore and settled herself in front of Hisagi who jerked as if trying to reach for her.

"You can't move, Otto," she instructed him, glad that she had tied his injured arm down, "All that is left now is to heal. I'm not going anywhere."

Hisagi only looked at her, his head slightly shaking. "Done?" he managed to choke out after a minute.

"Done," she assured, "Now rest."

Hisagi again gave her that clouded pleading stare that hurt her heart.

"Do you need more meds to sleep?" she asked gently, combing her fingers through his hair before trailing them gently down his face.

"Hurts… Koi…" he slurred.

"I know," she replied sorrowfully, "I know, Shuu." Pulling another syringe of sedative from her pocket, she slowly pushed it into Hisagi's IV. Hearing his sigh of relief as the medicine hit his system, Mara kept stroking his hair and face until his eyes fluttered shut.

Hauling the snow back to the freezer again, Mara eyed the empty bucket. She just knew as soon as she left the room, they would need her.

Right now, she just needed to be here. Around these three men… she could be herself. She was cherished and trusted- perhaps to a fault. In this triangle of heartbreak, there was the only seed of hope she had in this world. It was a painful revelation to see where that hope had landed them all. Malicious captains, mysterious strangers... God knew what hell awaited them next. What if- what if this was only the beginning? What would she do if she lost one of them? What we she do if they all stayed?

In the silence, only interspersed by the dripping of melting snow and deep, labored breathing, Mara finally buried her head in her hands and wept.