Guys, this is the final chapter!
Shout out to: Enjali, Hollow Ichigo-Ichigo, LusfulAvarices, phoenix220, Mizuki 8D, Darky303, IchiNaruSunshine, Soya Pie, WatchTheSkyBleed, ichkak, Tazbird, 4414, AoiStrawberry, MemeAkako, Yaksamillion, LyricalSin, helloria, Saito, Jen, Jay, Chaos, SuPa4Natural, butihavenoname, LoveOfLost, Izumi Sano and the mysterious Guest… who have left wonderful reviews (motivating me greatly) and continued to support this fic.
ENJOY
-K.
When Grimmjow wakes he doesn't open his eyes, but keeps them shut as he feels the instant painful pounding reverberating against his skull. He begins to squirm slowly, twisting his hands up in fists only to feel restrained, his skin burning as the sensation of rope tied tightly around his wrists registers in his mind.
Groaning, he begins to open his eyes slowly. He yells out when a sharp pain shoots up from his abdomen as it runs down his spine. Taking big breathes places him into unforgiving pain, quickly changing his breathing to shallow breaths instead.
Confused, Grimmjow tries to register where he is, and why he is sitting up right, tied to a chair. His eyes scan around looking for a way or something to explain what is going on and how he got here.
What the fuck just happened?
He tries to remember where he is and what was going on before waking up like this, tied to a bloody chair, his body in agonising pain. Grimmjow closes his eyes, the sight of an empty dark room with one yellow light hanging from the ceiling unnerving to him. He searches through his brain, trying to recall the events that took place before waking up in such a way.
The replacement killer…
Ichigo aiming a gun at him…
Aizen.
Aizen is the replacement…
Ichigo.
Where the fuck is Ichigo!
And Aizen… where is he?
Grimmjow jolts, his eyes wide open. He screams in pain, panting for air and his body shuddering, trying to find a way to ease the pain. His head moves from side to side, trying to see where Ichigo is, only to be given nothing but an empty room and no sight of the replacement killer.
He doesn't like the situation he's in, especially the pain shooting through his body. Grimmjow definitely doesn't like the idea of the replacement killer being with Ichigo either.
When Grimmjow lowered his weapon, Aizen instructed for them to turn towards the ladder. Grimmjow remembers taking a few steps towards it, Ichigo doing the same. But rather than climbing the ladder, Aizen somehow managed to knock Grimmjow out, leaving him with no recollection of what exactly happened to Ichigo due to him losing consciousness.
Looking around the room, Grimmjow knows that he is still in the underground basement, inside one of its many small rooms. He looks down on himself, noticing the wooden and uncomfortable chair he is sitting on. The pain that continues to run through him must be caused by kicks or various other blows to his body by the replacement after being knocked down and out.
Then Aizen had some nerve to tie his arms to the chair, and leave him to wake up alone.
Grimmjow's eyes scan the floor, noticing blood splatters covering most of it. He looks up at the light dangling from the ceiling, low and old enough to blow out any minute. He sniffs, the smell of blood and mould clogging up his nostrils. His eyes roam the room, landing on various symbols marked on the wall to his left. Grimmjow doesn't remember being in this room before the replacement appeared.
Grimmjow's eyes widen when he sees the large amount of blood in the corner, stained against the wall to his right. It looks like Aizen butchered someone against it, large amounts of their blood spilling against it and staining the floor and half of the wall.
Fuck.
Grimmjow turns his head enough to peer at what's behind him. A long trail of blood leading to the wall behind him, leading towards…
A dead body.
FUCK!
Grimmjow jolts, suddenly trying so hard to get the fuck out of this chair, enough to pull his lower half up as his hands begin to burn horribly from the tight ropes digging into his flesh.
He slams back into the chair, growling at his failed attempt and looking down at both of his wrists that are now bleeding, staining the white rope with his own blood.
He doesn't realise how hard and fast his heart is beating against his chest until he finally hears himself, panting pathetically for air. Grimmjow's eyes search for Aizen, sneering when he remembers that Ichigo made him drop his gun.
Angered, and in a state of anxiousness, Grimmjow starts yelling out a series of profanity, most of it directed at the replacement killer, while some of his cursing is to himself.
He hopes that his voice will reach Ichigo…where ever he is.
Should have shot him in the damn forehead!
Grimmjow thinks as he stomps his foot down hard onto the dusty ground, only now realising that his feet, unlike his hands, are not tied to the chair.
And in that instant, the door slams open, then shut as Aizen enters the room.
"You're making such a racket! But you do look good when you're afraid, Grimmjow," Aizen smiles like nothing is wrong at all.
This only irks Grimmjow more, watching the other man.
"Where the fuck is Ichigo?" Grimmjow demands.
Aizen shakes his head in disapproval.
"I thought you were the type to think about yourself more than your partner."
"You sick fuck," Grimmjow struggles in the chair, glaring at Aizen. "WHERE IS HE?"
"If you're asking whether he's dead or alive, then I can assure you, Grimmjow, he is very much alive but your actions will determine whether or not he remains that way."
Through his anger Grimmjow remains quiet, listening out for any sign of Ichigo outside of this room. He hears nothing, but doesn't speak because if he does, he knows that only profanity will come out.
Grimmjow watches as Aizen pulls a wooden chair away from the wall, dragging it and sitting it upright on all fours. This man watches the detective in return before he deems it time to speak.
"You know, I always admired Shirosaki's work but he was just too clumsy. Artistic in his way of killing, yes, but he is nothing close to having enough intelligence, especially after the events that took place with him in the interrogation room."
Grimmjow growls low in his throat, stirring in his seat by the mere thought of Aizen, the replacement killer even knowing this bit of imagination. It is beginning to make more sense, however, since Aizen was working with the drug unit as a detective himself.
Aizen only continues to watch Grimmjow now, seemingly amused by his anger towards him.
Despite the fact that Grimmjow is tied to a chair, and in a considerable amount of pain, he still smirks at the thought of what would happen if he wasn't tied to this damn chair. Grimmjow knows well enough he would love to and will tear Aizen apart only if he has the chance, but unfortunately, he reminds himself that the replacement killer must be alive by the end of this case.
If they really want the replacement killer to suffer for all he has done, then Grimmjow has to find a way to get out of this chair, find Ichigo and get out of this underground basement. Then he has to secure the women, and reverse roles. Rather than being the one in the killer's hands, Grimmjow has to have the killer in the palm of his own hands instead.
Rather than lashing out, or trying to get out of his binds, Grimmjow leans back in the chair as comfortably and less pain that he can manage before speaking again.
"And you're not artistic. Is gore your thing?"
Smirking, Aizen continues, "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but I don't feel the need to answer them."
"You're gonna answer my questions you son of a bitch," Grimmjow states, "I wanna know how Shirosaki knew where our offices were. You got a connection to that?"
Aizen chuckles causing a sneer to leave Grimmjow's lips.
"Yes, I very much did."
And it makes sense that Aizen would have informed Shirosaki about the location of the offices during the case before. Being a detective gave Aizen, even though he was a part of a different unit, the ability to know exactly where they were and the information for where they are located.
Explains how Aizen knew where Grimmjow's office was too when he dropped the envelope off.
This only makes Grimmjow wonder if Aizen sent them the wrong suspect to throw them off too. When Grimmjow asks this question Aizen only smiles, making it very obvious that he in fact did that on purpose.
It makes Grimmjow realise that Aizen attacked him to throw him off, cause damage as a warning for him, as if that was going to stop the detective's in their quest to find the replacement killer.
Everything Aizen did as the replacement killer was a way to try ward and throw Grimmjow and Ichigo off track, to confuse and frustrate them in one way or another.
"I saw you after having a run in that time at the hotel," Aizen shifts his words onto the injuries he conflicted on Grimmjow. "Your face in cuts and your shoulder…I must have really hurt you, boy."
Grimmjow takes in a breath, trying to calm his nerves yet only to have them spike up unexpectedly and to yank at the bindings again. Being called 'boy' pisses him off. The replacement being inches in front of him yet not being able to do anything about it since he's tied to this chair pisses him off even more. Grimmjow hisses at the pain in his burning skin, his cuts only getting worse with every struggle.
"Fuck you, you killing pig. Think you're gonna get outta here, think you're going to kill me and that's it?" Grimmjow yells, shifting around in the seat, trying to figure a way out of it.
"I could have killed you when you were knocked out," Aizen's expression turns deadly, "but that was a warning and you didn't take it. There's no warning's now, Grimmjow." Aizen gets up from the chair.
He walks towards a shelf by the wall, pulling something from it. When Aizen turns to face Grimmjow again, the detective notices it's a knife.
"Now you die, then your partner, then all of those women."
Aizen begins to advance towards Grimmjow, the knife glinting in his hand. Grimmjow catches a sight of dried blood stained on the blade, knowing that Aizen must have murdered someone with it before. Grimmjow begins to struggle again, pushing himself back as Aizen gets uncomfortably close.
Ichigo's eyes fly open in the dark, his heart beating a mile a minute and his breathing hard. He woke even struggling in his unconscious state to come back to the realities of the situation.
His body moves quickly, but uncomfortably on the hard ground, realising that both his wrists and ankles are tied together with rope. Staring at his bindings and processing what he's looking at, Ichigo notices that he's alone, but gets the feeling that danger will be coming back his way soon enough that he better start trying to get out of these ropes.
By the feel of it, he can move his wrists slightly, enough to twist them to each side but not enough to get out of them easily.
A scream makes Ichigo stops moving, freezing in the room as another yell makes his heart skip a beat. That sounds like Grimmjow, yelling out profanity.
Taking in a few deep breathes to calm himself, Ichigo tries to concentrate on freeing himself. He continues to hear Grimmjow, urging him to be quicker. There's only one way he can get out of here before Aizen can attempt to kill Grimmjow and then come after Ichigo.
Closing his eyes, Ichigo stays still for a few tense seconds before beginning to move his arm again.
He takes in a deep breath, then…
Click.
His mouth opens in a silent cry, keeping his eyes sealed shut as the feeling of a dislocated arm sets in. He knows that it'll pop back into place but first Ichigo focuses on using this opportunity to pull out of the binding holding his wrists together.
It's a valuable skill he learnt during his time first becoming a cop. Being able to get out of any dangerous situation, involving a time where he is under heavy amounts of pressure is a must, even if it means putting himself under some pain.
By this point Grimmjow does in fact fear that Aizen will butcher him with the large knife in his hand.
And when Aizen gets close enough, Grimmjow remembers that his legs are free.
Grimmjow kicks his legs out as hard as he possibly can in such a position. This catches Aizen by surprise, not expecting Grimmjow to do such a thing.
As a hard kick lands in the middle of Aizen's chest, Grimmjow hears a thump, smirking with the thought that he's finally getting some pay back on the replacement. Although he's landed such a kick, Grimmjow is still aware of Aizen's strength. He reminds himself that Aizen is not only fast, but strong, and after getting kicked like that, he's not going to go very easy on Grimmjow.
Aizen stumbles back from the force of the kick, falling backwards and onto the ground in mere seconds. His heart jumping in his chest, Grimmjow kicks his legs out again with the intention of making him also hit the floor. He'll have a better chance at escaping this way, bracing himself as the chair Grimmjow is sitting on tumbles backwards onto the floor.
Inches from the dead body behind him, Grimmjow tries not to gag at the sudden rotting smell of death hitting him head on. Moving fast, Grimmjow begins crawling with the chair still attached to him. It's incredibly uncomfortable, but he endures this as he reaches for the knife Aizen dropped upon falling.
Grimmjow grabs the handle of the knife with his teeth, moves his head into the direction of his hand and drops the knife just by it, almost slicing his hand open but luckily the blade merely misses, and doesn't cut him at all.
Straining his wrist to reach for the handle, Grimmjow yells out in discomfort and pain as he grips the handle and quickly begins cutting the rope holding down his wrist.
He looks up in time to see Aizen advance towards him again.
Breathing hard, Grimmjow doesn't let up with the cutting. As he watches Aizen, it feels like his heart is about to explode from how fast it's going but he continues to cut at the rope so fast that one wrong move and he'll slice his own wrist off.
The smile on Aizen's face is the last thing he sees before Aizen grips onto Grimmjow's hair, making the detective yell out in more pain, his wrists and scalp burning from the force.
"Now that was a big mistake," Aizen says, gripping onto the handle of the knife that Grimmjow also holds onto with no intention of letting go.
Grimmjow fears that if he does let go of the handle, that knife will be under Aizen's control once again, and will most likely go through his chest.
After hearing a loud scuffle and banging, it suddenly becomes eerily quiet.
With every second that passes it only makes the fear continue to build in Ichigo. Worrying that something horrendous is happening to Grimmjow, Ichigo quickens his pace, finally pulling a wrist free.
He takes in more breathes before putting his arm back into place, gasping from the sudden sear of pain, pulling his other wrist free and beginning to untie the knot of the rope holding his ankles together as the pain begins to subside slowly.
Grimmjow forces the knife back, away from his wrist and just inches away from Aizen's face. The rope is so loose that it only takes one harsh pull for Grimmjow's wrist to break free. With one hand now free from the binds connecting it to the chair, Grimmjow lands a punch, this time actually hitting Aizen in the face and manages to throw the knife away.
Yanking at the rope around his other wrist, Grimmjow looks up from the binding in time to see Aizen get a steady grip of himself. He glares at Grimmjow, his contempt for the detective easy to see. Grimmjow tenses, readying himself for Aizen to lash out at him at any second.
Rather than doing anything to cause Grimmjow harm, Aizen bolts out of the room instead, leaving Grimmjow to be alone in the room. At first he feels confusion, looking at the direction that Aizen left from and trying to figure out why on earth he's left like that. But then the thought of something happening to Ichigo crosses his mind.
Grimmjow quickly resumes with the binding of his other wrist, using his free hand to untie and yank the rope away from his wrist. He gets up now, rushing for the door and seeing complete darkness outside of the room.
He is taken by surprise when the light bulb giving off a dim yellow light blows out, shattering in mid hair as pieces of the bulb fall to the floor.
It appears that Aizen cut the lights.
Now in complete darkness, Grimmjow quietens himself, leveling out his breathing and placing both hands on the wall. At any moment, Aizen may try and attack Grimmjow. He sticks close to the wall as he begins his way outside of the room and further into the larger area of the underground basement, sticking close to the wall in order to make his way through without knocking himself over.
Keeping his hands on and feeling the wall as he walks slowly, Ichigo tries to become one with the darkness. In order to avoid detection, he moves silently as possible, hearing the women whimper quietly in the distance. He knows that he is close to them, but doesn't want to strike any form of fear into them. If any one of the women were to cry out, then it's a possibility that Aizen will find Ichigo, and he definitely doesn't want that when he is unarmed.
And now here he is, clinging to a wall and using it as his only guide as Ichigo tries to make his way through the blinding darkness.
Ichigo drops to the ground, feeling around the ground for anything he can use as a weapon. He is not entirely sure which part of the area he is in now, but he continues to run his hands over the ground, crawling silently until his hand bumps into something hard.
Is it his gun, or Grimmjow's?
What the hell is it? He feels the object, feeling its weight and only coming to the realisation that it's his torch after his thumb rubs over the switch.
Ichigo flicks it on quickly, enough to give him some light. He expects to see the area he is in so that he can determine a way out. Instead, Aizen's face shines back at him. Stunned, Ichigo jumps and almost drops the torch, his heart skipping a beat and gasping by the mere sight of him.
His own gun is pointed at his face.
Aizen pulls the trigger, the gun jolting and a loud bang echoing.
But upon reflex, Ichigo instinctively knocked Aizen's hand upwards, making the gun shoot at the ceiling, rather than in the detective's face. He escaped the bullet, but now there's a loud buzzing ringing loudly in Ichigo's ears. He cries out from the loud bang that made his ears hurt so suddenly.
He throws a hard fist into Aizen's face, connecting with the killer's jaw.
The women scream.
The area down here is becoming claustrophobic. Ichigo just wants to get out of here and it's enough to agitate him more than what he is already feeling. The air becomes thick, his ears are ringing and he shines the torch on the ground fast enough to see the gun Aizen dropped.
Grabbing onto the gun quickly, Ichigo gets a steady grip on it, aiming it directly in Aizen's face.
In this very moment a click sounds.
Ichigo shines the torch in the direction behind Aizen to see Grimmjow aiming his own weapon at Aizen.
"Towards the ladder," Ichigo orders, "Now!"
Aizen begins to move, but he doesn't listen to Ichigo. He bolts for the ladder, jumping onto it as he begins to climb at a fast pace.
Cursing under his breath, Ichigo runs towards the ladder, Grimmjow doing the same and being the first between the two detectives to climb the ladder as well.
Aizen makes it to the top, the doors in his hands threatening to slam it in Grimmjow's face and lock the both of them down there.
Before it slams Grimmjow punches his first out, forcing the door back up and making Aizen struggle to get it back down again. Back and forth, Aizen pushes down while Grimmjow pushes back up, grunting and a sweat breaking out as he continues to fight Aizen. Grimmjow takes another step up, pushing all his got into keeping the door above him open.
Grimmjow pushes hard enough to fling the doors wide open, letting a stream of sunlight shine inside. Watching from below, Ichigo continues to watch it all unfold, keeping a firm grip on his gun.
Aizen finally let's go of the door, moving away from Grimmjow's sight as he takes off.
"Shit, he's getting away!" Grimmjow yells, making Ichigo begin to climb the ladder as well while Grimmjow continues his way up.
When Grimmjow reaches the top, he breathes in fresh air, thankful to be out of that hell hole and outside again. He catches a glimpse of Aizen disappearing into the old house.
He watches with wide eyes, speechless with the sudden realisation that Aizen will be pulling more surprises out from under them. They have to be extremely cautious for when they enter the house.
When Ichigo climbs outside, both he and Grimmjow move towards the house and leaving the doors to the underground basement open. Ichigo is determined to take Aizen down, and save those women.
The sky is turning grey, large clouds over them threatening to spill rain.
The house is extremely silent. No sound at all can be heard from the outside, even though Ichigo and Grimmjow are both pressed close to it. They avoid detection by keeping low when it comes to windows, and making sure to stick close so they're not seen.
Ichigo nods at Grimmjow as he takes the first step inside the quiet house. Grimmjow makes his way around it with the plan to move in from the other side, hoping they will trap Aizen in the house.
The floorboards creak under his feet with one wrong step. Cringing, Ichigo moves slowly, moving his foot away from that are of the floor and pushing himself to stand close to the wall. Brown eyes move constantly to observe his surroundings, noticing that he is close to the lounge and its connecting old unused kitchen.
Listening out for any sign of the replacement, Ichigo remains still. But all he hears is the thunder rumbling in the sky, and the sound of rain beginning to fall.
The rain begins to speed up, hitting against the windows and the roof of the house.
As Ichigo wonders further into the house, he moves into a bedroom.
There is no sign of Aizen and Ichigo hasn't caught onto any sight of him either. Holding his gun in front of him, Ichigo continues to focus on what is going on around him. Feelings of being watched, that of paranoia and the constant anxiousness keeping him on high alert.
He expects Aizen to jump out at any minute, and with no many corners and rooms in this house, it makes the situation much frustrating for the detective. But Ichigo has been preparing himself for this very moment. No matter how much pressure he is under, Ichigo wills himself to be ready for when he spots Aizen, yet to avoid being spotted himself.
A loud bang sounds, the once silent house with only the sound of rain outside is gone and Ichigo focuses on the direction it came.
From the mirror on the opposite side of him, Ichigo sees Aizen's reflection as he hides behind the door, his pistol already in his clutches. He watches as Aizen kicks a door open, aiming his pistol inside the empty darkened room.
Ichigo raises his gun to aim.
In a split second Aizen looks from the room to the mirror across from him. His eyes flicker as he gazes into the room Ichigo is hiding causing Ichigo's breath to hitch when he locks eyes with him.
Aizen shoots his pistol, having seen Ichigo in the mirror. The mirror shatters and Ichigo slips through the other door off to the side. His heart hammering against his chest, and his breathing quickening, Ichigo comes out into the hall, aware that Aizen is only a few steps away from him and Grimmjow may happen to be close by too. He hopes so, thinking it will give them the upper hand.
The rush of adrenaline Ichigo feels is overwhelming. It makes him shake uncontrollably, but he keeps his guard up, alert at all times and holding a firm grip on his gun.
A sharp turn and a painful hit to the side of Ichigo's forehead makes him stumble backwards, shocked from the sudden hit. He didn't expect Aizen to slip out of a corner room that must be connecting to the one he was in, jumping Ichigo and hitting him with the back of his gun.
The pain is intense and it stuns the detective for a moment. Warm blood runs down Ichigo's face instantly. His head thundering, Ichigo touches the wound with one hand and he raises his gun with the other, letting one fire towards the man before him.
The bullet only just misses Aizen as the man ducks out of there.
Quickly rising to his feet, Ichigo follows Aizen only to find himself in an empty open lounge. Suddenly feeling exposed and in danger of more damage, Ichigo moves out of there quickly. Doing his best to ignore the pain, Ichigo steps into a bathroom, coming face to face with his own reflection in the cracked mirror in front of him.
He observes the cut from the recent attack. The left side of his face is covered in crimson. The blood continues to spill from the wound in the side of his forehead, staining his face as it runs down and begins dripping down his chin and onto his top.
Grimacing, Ichigo touches the wound again. When he pulls back to look, he sees the blood covering the top of his fingers.
Damn. He got me good.
Ichigo briefly wonders where Grimmjow is. He didn't bump into his partner at all and since Aizen was just close to Ichigo, he's not sure what part of the house or how close Grimmjow is.
That is until he hears another gunshot go off.
"Almost, motherfucker!" Grimmjow yells, cocking his gun as the bullet smashes into the wall and Aizen moves into the room. So close, yet the lucky bastard managed to avoid getting shot.
He returns with a shotgun in his hands.
Bullets spray with an ear bursting bang, numerous bullet holes eating the wall where Grimmjow once stood by, thankful for rushing out of there the moment he saw Aizen with the shotgun.
SHIT.
He's got a fucking shotgun?
Grimmjow figures that if he can find a way around Aizen, he will be able to stop him easier. But if he faces Aizen head on, there's a chance Grimmjow will be hit by the shotgun.
There's no saving him after that.
Ichigo pushes himself further behind the door of the bathroom when Aizen bursts inside. A loud clatter sounds as he places the shotgun on the counter. Noticing the new weapon, Ichigo watches with wide eyes. If Aizen were to pull the door back and shoot him…
I'm dead
Ichigo continues to watch silently. Aizen looks up into the mirror but doesn't see Ichigo as the detective pulls away and flattens himself, keeping absolutely still and slowing his breathing.
Aizen inspects his shoulder, hissing as he pulls back his fingers to see blood. The bullet must have hit grazed him after all when Grimmjow shot at him, a type of payback for last time.
Closing his eyes briefly, Ichigo waits for Aizen to leave the bathroom. This way he will have the ability to move without detection and without the risk of getting shot by a shot gun.
Ichigo raises his gun but doesn't want to shoot Aizen in any vital areas. He doesn't want to kill the replacement killer after all, rather capture him and have him pay for all the terror he's caused. But in order to defend himself in the unfortunate circumstance that he is to be spotted, and Aizen is to grab the shot gun, Ichigo keeps a grip on himself and his gun.
Shoot him in the foot. Stop him from getting away…
Ichigo evaluates the situation as his eyes drop to look at the back of Aizen's legs. But Ichigo realises that he will have to do it after Aizen leaves the bathroom, because there is no room for Ichigo to do it now. The bullet may miss. It may ricochet.
If he blows it, he's done.
Tense seconds pass, Aizen's eyes turning away from the mirror to look directly at his shoulder. His fingers move over the shotgun as he picks it up again, and all Ichigo can do is stay still behind the door. He's going to do it. He's going to shoot him but only when he leaves the room.
Aizen passes through the door, quickly catching a glimpse of blood staining the door and wall but he doesn't ponder on it. Perhaps Aizen disregards it as his own blood. He just didn't notice that he did it. Only thing is, he doesn't realise that it's not his blood, but Ichigo's.
And too late for Aizen.
By the time he realises that Ichigo was behind the door the whole time, Aizen is already bursting out of the front door, shot gun in his hands.
…And Ichigo following him from behind.
Time seems to slow down when Aizen whips his head back, eyes wide as he realises his mistake.
With his gun already aimed Ichigo smiles before shooting.
The bullet hits Aizen in the leg, dropping him instantly. Yelling out in pain, he tries to get back up but fails to do so. Rather than trying to get up again, Aizen begins crawling slowly. A trail of blood runs out from his wound, staining the ground and leaving a trail behind him.
Aizen doesn't stop his crawling, determined to continue fighting. He tries to reach the shotgun he dropped on his way down, another angry yell leaving him.
"No use," Grimmjow says kicking the gun out of Aizen's reach before his fingers can clasp around it.
Looking up at Grimmjow, he yells out as Grimmjow stomps a boot onto his hand, grinding his hand into the dirt. Now Grimmjow is the one smiling at him mockingly.
"Don't look so mad," Grimmjow smirks, "This is only the beginning of yer life. Hope ya like it in prison. Though I can't guarantee ya won't be executed."
"You stupid fool," Aizen grounds out, making Grimmjow raise an eyebrow at Aizen as he rambles on.
"It was only a slip up! Kurosaki, you son of a bitch, if I saw him…he would be dead by now."
Ichigo leaves the house, joining the two men. He pulls cuffs out of his back pocket, yanking Aizen's arms behind his back roughly. After clasping the cuffs on, Ichigo calls for help and backup, ignoring Aizen's meaningless rambling.
Grimmjow pulls Aizen up onto his knees in the middle of the property, his hands cuffed behind him and sneering at both of the detectives, Ichigo calls for reinforcements.
When they arrive, Aizen is being pulled into a standing position, trying to fight his way out of the police hold but failing to free himself. All bloodied, with his hands behind his back and in handcuffs, Aizen is taken into the backseat of a police vehicle with much force after having his arms and legs secured.
Ambulances arrive with the intention to help the women down in the underground basement. One by one the women are rescued, their dirty faces stained with their own blood and tears. They cry, those with enough energy thanking the detective's for saving them.
Both Ichigo and Grimmjow watch them be taken out, observing all the police vehicles, other detective's vehicles and ambulances in the area.
Ichigo is taken over to one of the ambulances with the doors already open. Once he's seated on the bed inside, he watches Grimmjow walk enough to meet with Renji as they begin speaking.
He sees as Byakuya approaches him, even glad to be seeing his superior after all that happened.
"They're being taken directly to hospital," Byakuya informs Ichigo about the women, looking over at the young detective who is sitting within an ambulance himself, being treated for his wounds.
Ichigo's ears are checked, and with good news that he hasn't become deafened or will have problems with his hearing since a gun went off so close to him.
Ichigo nods, letting out a great sigh of relief as his brown eyes rise up to look at his superior.
"I'm impressed, Kurosaki. Both you and Jaegerjaquez have my respects. You've finally put an end to this case and the replacement killer."
Ichigo nods in understanding, a small smile lacing his lips. "Thank you, sir."
Byakuya nods, as he turns to walk towards the other men.
The paramedic begins cleaning Ichigo's wound and bandaging it up as he sits there, watching as Grimmjow approaches him after speaking with Renji at the front.
"That was close," Ichigo says watching Grimmjow grin at him.
"Yeah, he almost fucked us up big time, alright." Grimmjow winces, the pain in his body still present, but beginning to subside. He takes two painkillers handed to him by the paramedic.
It's amazing how much relief Ichigo feels now that the replacement has been caught.
"It's all over," Ichigo murmurs, smiling to himself. The nights won't be haunted with these killers or what they have done to their victims anymore. Ichigo can sleep again, and deeply too, without the horrors of the case and the killers plaguing his mind.
The White King: Shirosaki.
The replacement: Aizen.
No more doubts or questions about their identity or how to stop them anymore.
Even though there were times that they thought it was never going to end…
Now there's finally an end to this case.
"This calls for some hard liquor," Grimmjow smirks, making Ichigo begin to laugh.
Days after the capture of the replacement killer, Ichigo and Grimmjow interviewed and saw out the trail in court on Aizen's murders, and his sentence of life imprisonment.
They suspect that Aizen will not last very long inside. The inmates will likely have their way with him.
Ichigo and Grimmjow have conquered not just the case but their inner demons also. Ichigo can feel the growth which forced him to take more from everything that happened to them.
Now smarter and wiser, Ichigo can only ready himself for the next big thing.
He makes sure to visit the women and see that they are doing well and are recovering.
The last thing Ichigo didn't expect to be having is a dinner date with Grimmjow.
Their relationship is beginning to get better after all they've been through together.
And since neither of them did such things during the case, they saw it the best time to do it now after seeing it to the very end.
"So, what now?" Ichigo asks, taking a sip of his drink.
"Business as usual," Grimmjow smirks his eyes locking onto Ichigo's brown.
"But first…" Ichigo says, making Grimmjow ask without words what.
Ichigo leans over to kiss Grimmjow, making his partner smirk into his lips as he kisses Ichigo back.
A/N: A little light hearted ending for such a dark story. Btw, this is the longest chapter with 6,051 words and 14 pages long haha. I would LOVE to read your take on this chapter. Thanks again for reading, reviewing and all who have followed and added this story to your favourites list.