~.X.~ ~.X.~ ~.X.~ (Renji's POV)

He felt the burning in his throat long before he shot onto his hands and knees, coughing and sputtering amidst the flames and smoke. Groping around blindly for the hilt of his Zanpakto, he cursed how his eyes were watering heavily already, blurring the edges of everything around him. His Bonkai had released when he'd had his momentary lapse of consciousness, and honestly it was probably a good thing. The place was wrecked already, and the fire was rapidly consuming everything. Heat pressed against his flesh like a snake, slicking his skin with sweat and constricting his airways.

Finally, he grasped the hilt of his sword, using a strength found from desperation to lift himself to his feet, using the sword to steady himself. As he stood up, he realized it might have been his worst mistake; the air was so much thicker just a few feet off the ground, and what little air he had been getting before was drowned out with smoke. A coughing fit threatened to throw him back to the ground, but he wouldn't allow himself to go down a second time. The Hollow had to be stopped; one way or another. He just hated that it had to come down to this.

Turning in place and trying to get a feel for his surroundings, he could hear a strangled gurgling sound off to his left, and instantly he knew something was wrong. He had left Ikkaku to deal with the Hollow on his own, and in spite of his hopes, he could still hear the blood chilling laughter echoing through the crackling of the flames. Knowing he wasn't in for an easy fight, he gripped Zabimaru tighter before moving carefully through the debris toward the sound, trying to keep himself steady on his feet.

As he neared the sounds, his ears picked up what sounded like footsteps quickly approaching, and desperately tried to fight off another bout of coughing to listen closely, in case the Hollow had defeated Ikkaku while he'd been out. The cough eventually won however, his sore throat protesting the violent, rattling noise even as he caught the sound of steel on steel clashing in front of him. With the smoke billowing out around him, it was almost impossible to make out what was happening, but he forced himself to raise his sword anyway.

When his watery eyes finally picked up shadows among the blackened smoke, he lunged, hoping to feel Zabimaru bite into flesh, but his downward swing cut through nothing at all. Both shadows moved; one away from him, and one toward him. Adrenaline coursing through his veins, he forced his body to move in response, blocking an attack that never came. Instead, he was caught off guard by Urahara's blurred outline, and a hand that came down on his shoulder.

"Take Ikkaku and get out of the smoke. I'm heading after the Hollow."

"But...!" the protest fell eagerly from his lips.

He was here to make sure Ichigo's Hollow didn't run rampant, and right now, that meant fighting him; even to the death. Before he could follow his protest with anything, Urahara was already off and moving, and seconds later the only sounds that surrounded him was a labored breathing to his left, the crackling of fire, and his own vicious cursing.

This sucked.

Giving a hard sigh that devolved into another coughing fit, he moved over to where he could hear Ikkaku's strangled breaths, barely able to find the man until he was standing over top him. It was only then he realized everything he had missed; blood was all over the man, and most of it was his. He looked worse than he sounded, and standing above him, the rattling gasps and gurgling coughs were sending chills down his spine. With careful but quick motions, he struggled to help Ikkaku onto his shoulder, supporting almost all of his weight with a grunt of effort.

A quick scan of the floor around them showed the bald man's halberd lying abandoned next to where Ikkaku had fallen, and with a quick scoop he grabbed the weapon and began almost dragging Ikkaku down the hallway, back the way they'd came. His head was still pounding from the initial knock back of the explosion, and he was sure he felt the tickling of blood dripping down his neck, but he ignored it for now. He would have to leave the Hollow to Urahara; right now, his main goal had to be his and Ikkaku's well being, or he would lose a companion and sparring partner tonight.

His legs almost buckled under both their weight when Ikkaku started coughing again, blood bubbling from his mouth and spilling onto the floor, and it took all of Renji's strength to keep them both upright and moving.

With a grim set of his lips, Renji forced himself to admit he might lose him anyway.

~.X.~ ~.X.~ ~.X.~ (Ryuuken's POV)

"They've stopped."

No shit.

Fury was boiling in Ryuuken's veins, and the words spoken by the black-haired captain weren't helping to contain it. Part of his hospital had just EXPLODED, and hopefully that damn monster was caught in the blast. Not that something that simple could kill it, but it might have slowed it down so the other Shinigami could. A snarl was playing on his lips as the captain before him slowed his own pace, forcing Ryuuken to halt in his tracks or bump into the man.

They didn't have time for this...!

He was just about to open his mouth when the captain turned toward him, his eyes seeking out something behind him. In that moment, Ryuuken felt the strangest combination of hope and dread flooding through his veins; hope that Uryuu was unscathed and had found them, and dread that one of those Shinigami had brought back Uryuu's body, unrecognizable from the blast. He turned numbly around, trying to steel himself to the second option, only to see the female Shinigami that Uryuu had been so attached to before running up to them, out of breath and hair askew.

He never had a chance to speak past the lump in his throat before she passed him, running up to the captain and none-too-gently gripping onto his robes and giving them a frail shake.

"Where's Uryuu?!" she cried.

The captain gave her a look of disdain before disentangling her fists from his robes, waiting until she was standing impatiently in front of him before he finally answered.

"That doesn't matter right now."

"To hell it doesn't!"

Unable to help himself, Ryuuken had been the one to interject in the conversation, taking a step forward so he was beside the woman, staring the captain down with a menacing glare. He hated siding with a Shinigami, but right now, he couldn't afford to waste any time, which was exactly what they were doing right here. Still, the captain seemed like he was either beyond caring, or he wasn't taking the situation as seriously as he should have been when he responded easily with,

"Our main priority is to locate and eliminate Kurosaki's Hollow. Take out the Hollow, and you won't have to worry about it attacking anyone."

Amidst all his fury, Ryuuken found it difficult not to admit the captain had a point, and in spite of himself he turned toward Rukia, grounding out the words,

"Where is Uryuu right now?" hoping that he was at least a safe distance away from it.

The look she gave him, however, gave him the answer he didn't want to hear even as she spoke quietly,

"I don't know. I can't feel anything except the Hollow's presence right now. It's too strong; it overshadows everything else. I can't even pinpoint the Hollow's location."

Clenching his fists at his sides, he forced himself to look back at the captain, ready to volley another argument that they should at least be moving when he noticed the man turn sharply to face the hallway in front of them. He heard Rukia gasp quietly beside him seconds before another explosion rocked the floor and walls around them, not too far away from their position.

"Rukia."

"Right."

Sending a tense glance between the two, he watched as swords were pulled from their hips seconds before a billowing cloud of smoke erupted from a few hallways in front of them. A single figure shot through the smoke, straight at them even as the captain's sword dissolved into a flurry of tiny, pink petals. The petals had just begun to surround the hallway when a blackened concentration of pure power shot from the Hollow's sword, heading toward them as it blasted through the hallway, leaving destruction in its wake.

It was in that moment that Ryuuken finally regretted the loss of his Quincy powers, knowing he could have stepped out of the way, had he the power to do so. Instead, it looked like he would die here, unable to help his son in any way further. Unbidden, his eyes misted over; he had never given credence to that whole 'life flashes before your eyes when staring death in the face', and yet it did. More so thoughts of the life he could have had with Uryuu than memories of their fighting and unnecessary arguments, but it wouldn't matter after this.

He felt something hard slam into his side, and in seconds he was on the ground, his shoulder popping painfully as he hit the hard tile at the same time everything started collapsing. The booming sound of the explosion rang in his ears, deafening him for a minute or so, but as the shaking began to fade, he realized he was listening to the fading of the other-worldly Hollow laugh as it disappeared. He could hear footsteps leaving his location, and when he slowly glanced up, it was to see Rukia's grip on her sword fail, the metal clattering to the ground seconds before she followed, hitting her knees.

The entire hallway was blown to pieces, as was a lot of her robes, and there was blood splatters around the ground she had been standing on. A very small stream of blood slipped past her lips even as her eyes began to close in front of him, and he was moving before he could even think about what he was doing.

She was a Shinigami, yes. She had still saved him from what would have been a deadly blow, however. He might not have the power to save his son right here and now, but he did have the power to do whatever he could to save her life in turn. His arms closed over her body as he gingerly picked her up, watching as he head flopped against the back of his arm and grimacing. He would have to do this fast, and -

He flinched as another explosion rippled through the hallways, this time from where he knew the stairwell to be. In fact, seconds after that, the ground floor stairwell door blew off, and smoke and debris came flying out of it. Grimacing, he had to remind himself there was nothing he could do.

He would have to trust against his better judgment, that Uryuu was in good hands.

So why did that only make him feel worse?

~.X.~ ~.X.~ ~.X.~ (Uryuu's POV)

Feeling lightheaded, Uryuu used the rest of his strength to pry open the rooftop door, still out of breath and choking back coughs from the climb up the stairs. Stumbling out onto the rooftop, he felt the cold wind instantly, and brought his arms up to cross them over his chest. The door closed quietly behind him, and if it hadn't been for the harsh wind, things would have seemed eerily too still for his liking. Even without his glasses there should have been some light in the sky from the moon and stars, but he could see nothing but black and grey above him.

Forcing his legs to move him forward, he walked without aim, each step bringing back old and new thoughts. This was to be it. The end of everything; of the pain, the fear, the apprehensive waiting and the building dread... one step off the roof and he wouldn't have to worry anymore. Wouldn't have to feel, wouldn't have to be. It would be over.

Finally, truly... over.

Was he strong enough to do it...?

It's just one step.

Something inside Uryuu cringed at his inner voice's words. He knew... he knew without a doubt he was missing something. Missing a puzzle piece that would show him a picture he'd forgotten long ago... But for the life of him, he couldn't remember what it was. He slowed to a stand still, a few paces away from the edge of the roof, trying to think back as hard as he could, but whatever he had forgotten eluded him still. His head began to throb with the oncoming headache that was building slowly, and with a frustrated sigh, he threw his head back, looking up at the blurry sky.

He flinched when a drop of water hit him square on the nose, and in turn he felt a tiny tear sneak its way past his lashes and down his cheek.

Stop fighting it.

He didn't want to.

He's going to kill you anyway.

He knew that.

And you can't stop him.

Uryuu flinched again, this time because of the words running through his head, though another drop of rain splashed onto his forehead. He felt like in the stillness before him, the world was weeping for him. He could hear the gentle pitter patter of the rain starting up around him, splashing against the leaves of the trees and the concrete of the roads and buildings. Drop by drop, he stood there as the sky began to open up above him, coating him in a thin blanket of water.

Closing his eyes, he struggled with his body, forcing himself to take a step forward, toward the edge. That was when he heard the first explosion below him, startling him out of his thoughts.

He's coming for you.

He whipped around in place, staring fearfully at the door he'd come through originally, now just a rectangular blur in the distance. The drizzle was starting to get heavier, turning into an actual rain even as his breath hitched in his throat, another coughing fit from the smoke he'd left behind threatening to send him to his knees. He felt his hair matting to his face and neck, felt his clothes becoming heavier with water, making it more difficult to move. He had to move, though. He had to... had to...

End it before Ichigo gets here.

Fighting back a whimper, he closed his eyes tightly, his entire body trembling slightly.

If you don't, Ichigo will kill you anyway. But it won't be pretty. He'll take you, and break you, and rape you, over and over and over again until you're begging for the death you could have had now.

This couldn't be happening. Both his hands flew to his head, tangling in his wet hair as the rain became louder around him, each drop larger and heavier than the last, weighing him down when he should have been moving. He didn't want to. He didn't want to die...

Another explosion rocked the ground beneath him, sounding far closer than the other had, and it was all he could do to keep his breathing semi-even as silence fell over him, nothing but the rain and a distant clap of thunder to color his thoughts.

Seconds passed in that same silence, and for a moment, Uryuu hoped beyond hope that his mind had once more been playing tricks on him. That he had imagined it; imagined everything, and that here in a few seconds he would wake up in his bed, and everything would be fine again.

The sound of his inner voice laughing at his foolishness was nothing compared to the laughter that echoed out around him as the stairwell door opened, freezing his blood in his veins.

Last chance...!

But something was wrong. Despite the words in his head, he was struck violently with the sensation of missing something. Red and white and orange filled his vision as Ichigo crept closer, laughing all the while, and even as he took a few fearful steps backward, he knew there was something wrong. Something forgotten.

Something missing.

On his last step back, his left foot slipped off the edge of the building, and with a gasp he tried to right himself, glancing behind him to see a six story drop onto hard asphalt, covered in puddles from the rain around them.

Jump!

Turning back to face Ichigo, his breathing quick and shallow, he fought with the fear of everything around him seconds before Ichigo's voice rang out around him.

"Found ya, little Quincy boy. Now then. Shall we play?"

JUMP!

Ichigo was almost on top of him; a few seconds more and there wouldn't be any time to jump, but he couldn't force his legs to move. His entire body was trembling, he couldn't see much of anything, and what the hell had he forgotten?!

He was almost ready to scream; a mix of terror and frustration, of anger and desperation flooding through his body when he heard a similar sound coming from Ichigo himself. Startled, Uryuu watched through his blurry vision as Ichigo hunched in on himself, his hands flying to his head as he grunted and yelled, taking a few steps backward and throwing his head from side to side.

Then it hit him.

The realization hit Uryuu with the power of pure lightning: it was a Hollow mask that Ichigo was wearing.