Chapter 25

"Hey, what's the matter?" Grimmjow demanded as the war party walked across the silvery road of their reiatsu, making their way through the garganta. No one was running this time; there was no need. The mission was accomplished. They weren't in a hurry to get back to boring old Las Noches.

"I'm fine," gasped Vellena in reply. It was hard to move too quickly, especially now that she was no longer fighting and no longer had the battle to keep driving her forward. She'd be good for hours yet, – a Death Knight could fight till he or she dropped dead – but her effectiveness would be reduced. The worst part of it wasn't the damage, however, it was the fact that her armour felt about three sizes too small, and the articulated joints weren't so articulate anymore.

"What the hell happened to you?" Grimmjow wouldn't let it drop. It was a funny sort of demand, coming from a guy who looked to be just as busted up.

"She got her ass kicked, is what happened to her," sniped Luppi. He should talk. She'd seen him lose a few tentacles, and he had cuts. In fact, the only ones among the group who were unharmed were Wonderweiss and Ulquiorra. What Ulquiorra was doing there, she didn't know.

"I don't know about that, Luppi. I'm pretty sure she was about to kill that captain kid." Yammi stepped in. Yammi? "You didn't see it, 'cuz your back was to her, but she cut him up pretty good. If he lives through the night it'll be a surprise." He made a noise that sounded like a cross between a sigh and a frustrated snarl. "I wanted to kill Sandals, dammit! Ulquiorra!" he whined.

"The mission was accomplished. There was no need to remain. If this group had remained, we would have suffered losses." Ulquiorra stated. He didn't have to name the loss. Grimmjow grunted.

"I was doing fine—!" The blue-haired arrancar protested.

"You were outmatched and outnumbered." Ulquiorra said flatly. Grimmjow growled. Ulquiorra ignored it. Vellena could feel the former Espada's resentment from where she was. But he stayed silent after that. At least for a few minutes.

"So what the hell happened?" Vellena rolled her eyes. He just wasn't going to give up.

"He used some kind of crushing attack." She had to struggle to pull in enough air to speak. "My armour is ruined, I think. I'm going to need help getting out of it."

"Oh, I'll help with that, don't worry," his tone was lecherous. She shot him an annoyed look. He was grinning smugly.

"I'm suuuure you will," drawled Luppi, "although I'm sure she'd prefer a real man."

"What, have you got a real man around you haven't been telling us about, Luppi?" Grimmjow retorted.

"Would you two shut up? You're annoying as fucking hell!" Yammi shouted.

"Remember who you are, Décimo—." Luppi began.

"Be silent, Sexta." Ulquiorra said. "You are all trash."

So even Ulquiorra's patience had a limit. That was… good to know. It was kind of funny to witness him shooting down Luppi when the insufferable little Espada attempted to pull rank. Even if he did insult them all in the process.

"Che," said Grimmjow. They walked in silence for a little while longer. Then, "hey, Vellena, where did your mace go?"

"In a bush somewhere, in the real world." She said, feeling a little stupid. What would people think, with her constantly losing her weapons in fights? Was it some sort of conspiracy to make her look incompetent?

Whatever reply he was going to make (no doubt some double entendre about maces in bushes) was cut off by Ulquiorra.

"We have arrived. You are to stand down for the next twelve hours – you may seek any medical attention you require. Then, you are to meet in the throne room. Aizen-sama wishes to make an announcement."

They stepped into the halls of Las Noches.

***

Once again, he had failed to kill the kid. Once again, he had been interrupted in his battle. This was getting to be an annoying habit. Grimmjow pushed the door to his room open, letting in him and Vellena both.

"C'mon let's get you out of that armour." Vellena nodded at his suggestion, pulling off her gauntlets and fumbling with the catches on her bracers and pauldrons. Grimmjow glanced over her; it really did look like she'd been… squished. He didn't think she was exaggerating when she said the armor was ruined.

He helped her with the cuirass, which was a tough task, even with three hands working on it. The fasteners had deformed, and had to be forced open. She wheezed oddly during the exertions. When the piece finally came off, he saw why. Wow, that's a lot of bruising. What's wrong with her ribs? Oh.

"How long have you been hiding that?" he asked, pointing at the broken rib protruding under her skin. It wasn't the only one – some of those ribs were bent at a bad angle, maybe even piercing her lung.

"I'll be fine, I just need a medic."

"Damn right you need a medic." He retorted. "I'm taking you, now."

"Get the rest of the armour off, first." She sounded tired. "It's not easy to move in it right now."

"I don't think—."

"Just do it." She interrupted. Alright, be that way. He helped her remove her faulds, and had to remove her sabatons on his own. She couldn't bend over.

"See, this is why armour is a bad idea. You're too injured to even get it off."

"I'll note," she wheezed, "that it bore the brunt of the crush. Without it, I would have broken every bone."

Well, maybe she had a point.

"Alright, your armor is off. Medic. Now." He ordered. She didn't protest as he helped her walk.

The arrancar medics on duty saw to their wounds quickly and silently. Fortunately for Vellena, they were able to set her ribs and heal her lung with their techniques. Grimmjow had his wounds taken care of at the same time by a young-looking female arrancar who flinched every time he looked her way. He ignored her for the most part, watching as the small team of medics treated Vellena.

"Next time, don't let yourself get beat up like that. Which one did you fight anyway?"

"Hitsugaya Tōshirō, Captain of the 10th."

Even Grimmjow had heard of that one – that was the boy prodigy, the one who had attained Bankai younger than anyone else in the history of Seireitei. He was known to be very powerful, with the strongest ice-type zanpakutō known. And she'd almost killed him? Grimmjow smiled.

"Lucky." He said.

"Did you kill Kurosaki?"

"No, damnit. Ulquiorra intervened." He was still sore about that. He didn't care what Ulquiorra thought – he could have taken on Kurosaki and crazy-mask-guy both.

"We never seem to have any luck, do we, Grimmjow." She remarked wryly. He gave an ironic snort. Twice now, they had both been denied a kill, and by their own allies to boot. No, neither of them seemed to have any luck.