So sorry for the long wait (and thanks for the reviews!) Good news is I'm half-way done with the next chapter. After this one, I'm expecting 2-3 chapters will finish off the story.

Also, did I mention this is based on some weird timeline after the Farewell Shinsengumi Arc? It acts as if time paused after *spoiler* they said their goodbyes and the no-one-ages and time-doesn't-pass aspect of Gintama came back into play. Cause there's a lot of character development there that just could not be ignored. Especially for a story that is gonna have a decent amount of Hijikata and Gintoki time.

15 hours

Hijikata was good at damage control; as a member of the raucous (yet prestigious) Shinsengumi, in addition to having to deal with the sadist and Yorozuya as often as he did, it was nearly second nature. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times. The silver-haired swordsman lay propped up against the wall, unconscious and looking like complete shit, meanwhile his two employees where ferociously pounding at the door.

"Quiet down, brats! You're attracting the wrong kind of attention!" He yelled back at them.

"That's what we're trying to do!" Kagura ground out between fierce kicks. "We need to get out of here!"

"What? You idiots—" Hijikata didn't get a chance to tell them exactly why he thought it was such a bad idea before the door slammed open, a force of rhino amanto on the other side, guns and swords leveled at their captives. The rhino they had assumed was the leader was dwarfed by the rhino in the front of the group now. He made for an impressive enemy; towering over the other amanto so much so that in the vault, he had to duck his head and still ears still scraped the ceiling.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" The leader bellowed, with an impossibly loud voice. "CAN'T YOU STAY QUIET, WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A HOSTAGE CRISIS AND THE DAMN POLICE ARE EVERYWHERE."

"You need to let us out! Gin-chan is dying!" Kagura yelled leveling a fist at the leader, unintimidated by the amanto's stature.

"THEY'RE DEMANDING WE RELEASE ALL THE WOMEN AND UNIMPORTANT SECONDARY CHARACTERS BEFORE MEETING ANY OF OUR DEMANDS."

A smirk crossed Hijikata's face despite the situation. It seemed Kondo and Sougo's hostage negotiation skills were better than he'd given them credit for.

Kagura wasn't as impressed. "No way! Not without Gin-chan!"

"NO YOU'RE—ah, my ears popped—we're releasing you, whether you like or not." The leader's voice suddenly became much quieter and dropped two octaves.

Kagura was too stressed to remark on it and stood her ground. "We're not going anywhere, you shitty animal!"

As Kagura and the Amanto leader continued with one of the least traditional hostage negotiations ever, something occurred to Hijikata.

"You know, the only animal more shitty than a rhino is a gorilla," Hijikata said to the young Yorozuya, vaguely. He flicked open his lighter and lit his cigarette. The door was open so technically they weren't in an enclosed space. He wasn't an irresponsible adult, dammit.

That got both Shinpachi and Kagura's attention. "Huh? The only animal more shitty than a gorilla is Gin-chan after seven parfaits." Kagura told him, as if he was an idiot.

Hijikata took a drag from his cigarette, trying again, with the same calm tone. They'd get it this time. "I'm just saying that a gorilla could have a parfait and even give a parfait to shitty Yorozuya so he'll be the shittiest—" Okay, somehow he was getting a little off-topic.

"Huh? You're talking a lot about shit, do you need us to turn around for a second?"

Hijikata's vein popped and he bit down on the cigarette, recollecting his faux-calm manner and giving it one more shot. "No," he ground out slowly, eyes wide open as he tried to convey information to the dense children. "don't you think the gorilla should know about the parfaits?"

"Ah, ah, ah. Kagura-chan, I think we should go with them?

Kagura got in his face, wrenching up her upper lip. "Huh?"

"We'll come with you, thank you." Shinpachi gave the leader a small, impatient bow and dragging Kagura along, sparing one last glance to the slumped form of Gin, whose eyes were flickering feverishly under his eyelids.

Katsura and Gin stood back to back, blood weighed down their clothes and covered their armor. The bodies of their enemies—and friends—littered the ground as they fought their way from the hill where he was executed. Barely making progress, but Gin had no perception of this as he fought to stay standing, keep moving, raising his sword, slashing it, as hard as he can, trying not to think about the skkkrrhh and the mute ring of his blade across his master's neck. Every time he stumbled, Katsura would compensate, taking a step back against him, providing some measure of support.

Gin skewered amanto in front of him, stumbling forward until his forehead pressed against the dying amanto's chest, breathing heavily. Flashes of what the execution assaulted him again and again. The ape amanto brought up a meaty hand to wring Gin's neck, a last act of revenge. Katsura slashed down on his opposing amanto with the ferocity of a devil, then spun around, jerking Gin away from the ape, the latter barely keep a grip on his sword. He took Gin's arm over his shoulder.

"We're getting out of here!" Katsura yelled. Gin's head dropped down to his chest and everything went black.

"Z-Zura," Gintoki mumbled, feeling the sensation of moving across the ground. His head pounded, his throat was raw and dry, and he felt hot—hotter than he ever had. He heard someone make a strained grunt, then the clink of chains, causing his heart to skip a beat as he was enveloped in another memory.

Gin lay on the dirt cell floor after a beating. The air was cold enough to take some pain from his bruises and his body was too starved to shiver properly. While his hypoglycemia had always been present, his stay in this prison was exacerbating it. He wouldn't have to deal with this much longer—the execution was planned for three days from now. Gone would be the periodic lapses into episodes between substance-less daily water rations, gone would be the memories of the war and the Joui; washed away by his death just like his master. He thought about the child he saved. No regrets.

"Hnn," Gin was aware again, as if he had disappeared under dark water for a few seconds and was breaching the surface again. This time, he was not pulled back into a memory, and he felt more lucid, his adrenaline kicking in and bringing him back to nigh-clarity. His body ached, he felt like he was baking in the desert, though he wasn't sweating, and he had a pounding headache. Oh, and he was still being dragged across the ground. His hypoglycemia had never gotten this bad. Then again, his condition had become much more volatile after his stint in prison. It had even affected him while living with Kagura and Shinpachi if they skipped a meal or two. It would usually only manifest as a headache or dizziness, though.

Gin opened his eyes and looked around. He was being dragged by the collar of his shirt and yukata. Hijikata was off to the side, being pulled along handcuffed by the leader amanto, with two armed amanto trailing them. Where were they heading? How much time had passed? Where were Kagura and Shinpachi?

The sudden movement attracted Hijikata's attention, his eyes widened as he noticed Gintoki was conscious. The way Gin's health had been declining over the thirty minutes since he'd been trapped in the vault, Hijikata had been reasonably sure he wouldn't regain consciousness until they were out of this mess. His next thought was dread when Gin's eyes widened in uncoordinated panic. It was to be expected, Gin being in an altered state, waking up to see Kagura and Shinpachi gone, and not understanding that he and Gin were being moved to be used as hostages somewhere where they could keep an eye on them. Before Hijikata could do anything to placate him, Gin's hands flew up to grab the wrists of the amanto who was dragging him, and with a considerable show of power, flipped the amanto, slamming him onto the ground in front of him.

Gintoki hadn't even summoned the strength to stand up before the closest guard stabbed at him with his sword. "Gin, you idiot, watch out!" Hijikata subconsciously pulled in his direction to cover him and kicked out towards the sword. Even throwing all his weight against the chains, it only displaced the lead amanto about a foot, nowhere near reaching Gintoki.

Gin's hand jerked up and caught to blade between his fingers inches away from his face, giving the amanto a devilish smile as a few drops of blood splattered down his hand. His other fist shot up with all his remaining strength, impacting on the rhino's sturdy elbow. The elbow caved with a sharp crack and caused it to stumble back in pain onto the amanto pulling himself off the floor. The last guard gave little reaction before flipping his rifle and slamming the butt of the weapon against the winded samurai's temple, crumpling him to the floor.

"Shit!" Hijikata yelled out before he was back-handed into the wall by the titanic rhino hoof. The amantos stood up and the one who had been dragging Gin kicked the unconscious man in the stomach savagely before picking him up to drag again. Hijikata gripped the hoof that was holding him against the wall, tight enough that his nails dug into the tough, leathery skin. "Let us go now, or you're not gonna live long enough to regret it," he said slowly, his grin and wide eyes a picture of Sougo-inspired madness. The leader's ear twitched uncomfortably but he made no other indication of being concerned by Hijikata's threat.

"Let's move," he told the other amanto, pulling their prisoners along. Hijikata could only hope that those two Yorozuya brats had been able to explain the situation to Kondo by now.

Yay! After I got over the writer's block I was having by watching maybe 20 AMVs on youtube, ('Gintama AMV - Goodbye Shinsengumi Arc - From The Inside' was so hype, I recommend everyone go watch it!) this chapter actually went by pretty fast. Please let me know what you think and what you want in the story as we continue through the second half of this story!