A moderate-long chapter in Flame's POV. Things get messy... -Soranryu

I didn't think twice and threw the door open. Mum being gagged and tied to a chair, unconscious, was the sight that met my eyes. "Mum, no!" I screamed, feeling tears welling up in my eyes. I was about to run forward and untie her when Ggio pulled me back, putting an arm around my waist to prevent me from running forward.

"Ggio-nii, let me go! I have to save her!" I cried, struggling against my brother's hold. "Flame, calm down! If you go, you'll become their hostage as well!" he whispered frantically in my ear. His words successfully stopped my struggling. As desperate as I was to save my mother, I knew ended up being a hostage only makes things worse.

I took deep breaths to try to remain calm. This is not a fight I could win, so I should stay low and let the Arrancars settle this. "Let the woman go. You guys have lost this battle, so just play nice and retreat," Grimmjow stated, walking to the front.

"You think we're gonna just do that? Hahaha, such a fool! We want the girl, so hand over her and we'll return this woman," the captor sneered. Ggio let out a growl and tightened his hold around me. Grimmjow shot him a look before looking coolly back at the captor, "Why should we? What do you trash want to do with her?"

Anger flashed across the opposing gang's faces as they were called trash, before Mum's captor smirked, "Well…our boss has taken a liking to that innocent little thing over there…" This time, it was Grimmjow who let out a growl as he rushed forward and grabbed the captor's collar and held him up.

Grimmjow then jerked his head, and the two others beside Mum were knocked out by Ulquiorra and Staark. The guy held by Grimmjow then let out a terrified squeak, "O-ok, ok! You can take the woman! Please let me go!" At his words, I broke out of Ggio's hold and ran to untie my mother. I removed her gag and started to work on her knots when a shadow was upon me.

I turned to see a knife slashing down and I froze on the spot, fear overtaking me. I braced myself for the pain, but before the knife could reach me, there was flash of blue and blood splattered. My eyes widened, "G-Grimmjow-san…"

"You okay?" he grinned down at me, his voice laced with pain. I nodded, staring guiltily at the wound on his back. "Flame, be good and get your mother to where Ggio is," he whispered. I nodded and quickly untied Mum, Ulquiorra quickly coming over to guide us to the door, where Ggio was.

By now, Szayel and Yylfordt had already done their job and joined us. Szayel checked Mum over and reassured us that she's alright. I turned back in time to see Grimmjow knocked out the captor and the one with the knife. Ulquiorra and Staark quickly tie them up and pulled them out of the apartment and down to where the opposing gang was tied up.

Grimmjow walked out as well, looking apologetic, "Sorry 'bout your house; it's kinda ruined now." I shook my head, tears making their way down my cheeks, "I should be the one sorry! If only I had listened to Ggio-nii and leave things to you guys, you wouldn't be hurt!"

The King of the Arrancars looked surprised before he grinned, "If you're sorry…then how about taking care of my injury as an apology?" I nodded without hesitation, but Ggio pulled me behind him, "What are you thinking about, King?"

Grimmjow just laughed, "Don't be so protective now, Ggio. She's your sister, so she's one of us; we won't hurt her. What I'm suggesting is that you and your family come live in Las Noches. With your apartment like this, and the opposing gang after little Flame here, you guys would be safer with us at Las Noches."

After considering his words, Ggio then agreed, relaxing his stance. However, Ggio still turned back to me and said, "Be careful of him, ok, Flame? He's actually a very dangerous guy." This earned him laughter from everyone present while Grimmjow protested. He then winced in pain.

Reminded of his wound, I dragged him into the kitchen, mindful of his back. Finding some clean cloths, I rinsed them under the tap and started to clean his wound, applying pressure to stop the bleeding. When the bleeding stopped, Grimmjow stood, "That's good enough for now. Szayel will patch me up when we head back."

I nodded, putting away the bloody cloths. "Well, we should start packing, shouldn't we?" Mum's voice sounded. She's alright! I thought as I ran to her and hugged her tightly. She patted my head comfortingly before gesturing to my room. Using the rest of the night, we managed to move everything to Las Noches.

Oh man, sorry Grimmjow! I didn't wanna hurt you, but it's for the sake of the fic. Besides, Grimm's strong enough to take that hit XD -Soranryu