Author's Note – If you read the last paragraph of chapter 13 as Renji going through the gate into the Soul Society, you'd be quite right. If you read it as Ichigogoing through the gate, well...you're kind of wrong, actually. But I know at least oneperson did, and they pointed it out. For awhile I was going to work with it, but then I realized I really couldn't, so...yeah. Sorry for any confusion that might have occurred. Oh, and head's up – there are only about three more chapters left of this story. Well, two and an epilogue. That said, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything...except the late Kaien Kurosaki...okay, he isn't late...yet...

Chapter 14 – No Time

Ichigo beat himself mentally as he carefully situated Rukia on the couch, and started wiping away at the small stream of blood coming down the side of her face, courtesy of her contact with the wall.

Useless. He was so fucking useless. His son, his little baby boy, had just been kidnapped. And had he done anything? No! One hit and he was swatted aside like a fly, stepped on like an ant. Meanwhile the woman he loved had been thrown into a wall, and his child had been taken away to be experimented on, and probably never seen in the living world again.

To say Ichigo hated himself would have been an understatement

A soft groan brought Ichigo back to reality, and he looked around at Rukia. She was stirring feebly, her eyes fluttering open. "Hey," he tried to keep the emotions out of his voice. "How's your head?"

"Hurts," she muttered, sitting up and allowing her hand to drift upward. "Ichigo...is Kaien okay?"

Ichigo bit his lip and looked away. She'd been unconscious, she probably figured he'd sprang into action and saved the day at the last minute, just like he always did. "Ichigo?" Rukia's voice was questioning, with just a hint of fear.

"They took him," Ichigo bowed his head, his bangs covering his eyes, "They took Kaien to the Soul Society"

He heard Rukia's gasp of shock, but couldn't bring himself to look up. Silence filled the room for a handful of moments. "I'm sorry," now he looked up, his eyes wide with shock. Rukia was staring straight ahead at the door, her eyes filled with tears.

"You're sorry?" Ichigo asked disbelievingly, "For...for what?"

"I couldn't do anything, I couldn't help..." she bowed her head, her shoulders shaking with unshed sobs, "I always need someone else to save me, I've never been able to help..."

Ichigo knew full well that was a load of bull. But Rukia didn't look like she was in the mood to hear about it. Instead he just said, "That's not true...you've always been able to help-"

"No I haven't!" the force of Rukia's voice hit Ichigo, hard, and he remembered what his dad had said before; the first few weeks after the pregnancy, Rukia was more or less going to be an emotional wreck. This little event certainly wasn't helping anything.

Ichigo – who sucked at comforting people – did the first thing that came to mind; he wrapped both his arms around Rukia's shaking body and drew her towards him. She gave in, resting her head against his chest, and allowing her tears to fall, though silently. Apparently she wasn't going to be weak enough to openly cry. Typical Rukia. "Yes, you have," Ichigo said quietly, burying his face in the top of her head, "You saved me the first freakin' time we met, remember? And if it wasn't for you, my entire family – me included – would be dead right now. And there's more, you've done plenty more, I'd list it if I had time, but I don't so I'll get right to the point; you're not useless, you're far from it. I know right now you feel that way, and I can't really change that. But please, whatever you do, don't blame yourself for this; it's not your fault"

Rukia's small body was still shaking with silent sobs, but she seemed to have taken Ichigo's words to heart, because slowly, very slowly, the tears stopped flowing, and her body became still. "All right," Ichigo said, trying to sound soothing. It wasn't something he did often. "It's okay. We can't afford to break down now. I know it's hard, but we need to be strong if we want our son back," he reached a hand up and ran it through her raven hair, "We need to be strong for ourselves, and for each other. We'll go to the Soul Society. And we'll save Kaien. And while we're at it, maybe we'll kick everyone's collective ass. How does that sound?"

Rukia laughed and pulled away, rubbing the tears out of her eyes. "To be honest, that sounds like the best idea I've heard in a long time"

She looked up at him. They spoke at the same time. "I'm sorry"

Amber eyes met violet ones, and they both laughed. "Always apologizing for a lot of nothing, huh?"

"You said it"

"So let me get this straight," Urahara waved his fan in front of his face, staring Ichigo and Rukia down. "You want to go to the Soul Society. Even after they let you both live, you want to go straight into their hands, and try and save a baby that means more to them then probably half the Soul Reapers?"

"If you're not willing to help-"

"Oh on the contrary, how soon do you need the gate?"

"As soon as possible would be nice," Rukia said in an annoyed voice. Urahara tilted his head up so that his eyes were visible, and smiled.

"I'll get right on that," he disappeared down into the secret training grounds without another word.

"You two are serious about this, aren't you?" they looked around. Yoruichi, in her human form, was standing in the shadows, leaning against the wall with her arms folded.

"Of course we are," Ichigo was irritated; why couldn't people grasp this simple fact? "He's our son, why wouldn't we be serious?"

Yoruichi shook her head, and the shadow of a smile crossed her face. "In some senses Ichigo, you haven't changed. At all"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I'm still flashing between the young idiot who would have been willing to take on every captain in the Soul Society at the same time to save the girl he loved," Yoruichi gave a quick nod to Rukia, "And the rash young man standing in front of me who's once again risking everything to save his baby boy. Like I said, you haven't changed"

Ichigo didn't even bother trying to hide his confusion. He wasn't sure if he had just been complimented or...what. "So you're both going into the Soul Society," Yoruichi continued, pushing herself off the wall, "And just what do you plan to do once you get there?"

"Break down every door that looks like a lab until we find the one our kid is in," Rukia groaned.

"Ichigo?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't talk," Yoruichi laughed.

"You don't have a real plan, do you?" the couple exchanged a guilty look. "You two were made for each other"

"Ooo, you're such a cutie, yes you are, yes you are!" Kiyone played with Kaien Kurosaki's hands. "You're so cute!"

Sentaro looked over the report he was reading, thoroughly annoyed now. "Kiyone get back to work!"

"Captain Ukitake told us to watch him!" Kiyone jumped up, her eyes flashing.

"Yes, watch him, not talk to him and play with him and forget about our work!" Sentaro yelled back, "Now help me get through these reports!"

"Make me help!" Kiyone shouted. The yelling upset Kaien, who burst into tears. "Oh great!" Kiyone fumed, "Now look what you've done loudmouth, you scared him!"

"I scared him?! You're yelling too!"

"I hope you two don't plan on taking up babysitting as a profession," Ukitake walked into the office, a slightly amused look on his face.

"I still don't see why we have to keep the kid here"

"Because no one trusts him alone with Kurotshuchi," Ukitake reminded Sentaro.

"'Sides, it's Rukia's baby," Kiyone chirped as she tried to calm the screaming child down.

"Yes, that certainly as a lot to do with it as well," Ukitake sighed. Kiyone, who had been smiling and tickling Kaien, frowned.

"If they experiment on him...he won't survive, will he?"

"Chances are...no," even Sentaro looked disturbed by this thought. "It's a shame," Ukitake continued, "Rukia and Ichigo made a good life for themselves in the world of the living, and they were looking forward to having a little one to share that life with," he looked sadly at the baby, "But it was for the best. He never would have been able to live in that world"

Kiyone looked sadly at the baby. He was a real cutie, and Kiyone loved having him around. She didn't like people thinking she had a soft side (she wasn't Isane, after all), but this little baby – Kaien – wasn't just anybody. He was just a small boy who hadn't done anything to the world. And he was going to be punished. Where was the justice in that? "Anyways, if the baby's going to distract you from your work," Ukitake was talking again, "I'll find someone else to watch him until-"

"No!" Kiyone jumped up. "He won't distract me anymore, I promise. How long until the experiments start?"

"Captain Kurotshuchi said he needed about a week to prepare everything," Ukitake said after a moment's thought, "He's going to try his best not to kill the baby – that's what his orders were, anyway. And he said if that was the case, he'd need more time"

"A week?" Kiyone repeated.

"Yes," she looked back at the baby. He had a week to live. He hadn't had any time in the world, and now he was going to die. It seemed so unfair.

Author's Note: Why...yes, Kiyone does have a soft side. Go figure XP Anyways... /trying to make self heard over shouts of "Rukia was OOC! Burn the writer for making Rukia OOC!"/ A) her baby was just kidnapped, how was she supposed to react? B) After pregnancy a person usually is an emotional train-wreck. Why should Rukia be any different?/Makes self heard over shouts of "Ichigo was OOC!"/A) Refer to my first reason for Rukia being OOC B)...deal with it! As you can guess, I'm really not in the mood to hear flames. Any flames will be directed at my step-dad, mostly because I don't like him. Kays? Review! – Sam