Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to CrystalRaindrop007 for Beta'ing!

Shadows In The Night — V

Byakuya stood in the middle of the roof, looking at Ichigo's body. His chest still moved up and down in shaky breaths. Probably the young Shinigami's last. Glancing over at Renji, Byakuya was surprised to see pain in his eyes.

Renji was standing beside Ichigo's body, his sword fallen to the ground and his fists clenched. His body was shaking; Byakuya could tell that it was a mix of anger and regret that was flowing through the red-headed Shinigami's body.

Byakuya turned around and began walking away. Hitsugaya followed, his eyes cast downward.

"Sorry, Ichigo," Renji whispered, and then, he too turned his back. They walked for several seconds when Renji was sure he heard something behind him. He had begun to turn, but Byakuya was quicker.

The captain spun around and took out his sword, his eyes going wide as he watched a milky white mask spread over Ichigo's face. The younger man . . . no, this wasn't a man. This was a monster.

This monster was going to fight with the last bit of life Ichigo had left.

But Byakuya himself couldn't fight. He had Rukia in his arms.

Renji solved this problem for him, taking out his blade.

Everything that happened in the next few seconds was like a dream. It all happened too fast. It was so unreal.

Before Byakuya could react, the Hollow had stabbed Renji straight through the heart.

"NO!"

Byakuya gasped; that had been Ichigo speaking, not the Hollow. He had to do something; if he just stood by and watched, everyone would die, and he probably would, too. He had witnessed this Hollows power, and he couldn't match it. There was no way.

"Shut up, Ichigo!" This time it was the Hollow speaking, not Ichigo. Then, as it spoke its next words, Byakuya knew he had to do something. And quickly. "No! Stop! I can kill you! I will kill you!"

Then, the Hollow stabbed himself.

Byakuya backed up a little, glancing quickly over at Renji; he was most probably dead . . . but if he got help quickly, he would live . . .

Then, Ichigo lifted his hand up and ripped off the mask. Byakuya watched in silence as he dropped it and it crumbled at his feet. Ichigo spoke.

"Sorry, Renji. Sorry Rukia."

As Ichigo collapsed, Byakuya placed Rukia down on the roof and ran over, checking his pulse. He was still alive.

Leaving Ichigo, Byakuya walked over to Renji, placing two fingers on his neck, feeling for the pulse he knew probably wouldn't be there.

But it was. It was amazing, but Byakuya could still feel a faint pulse.

"Call for help!" he yelled back to Hitsugaya. He began checking over Renji's wounds, then, after realizing he could do nothing to help, he walked back over to Ichigo. His previous wound was gone. Completely healed. In it's place, there was a large wound in his stomach, and the sword was still inside him; blood was seeping out around the Zanpaktou, the puddle of blood around the young man growing larger as the seconds bore on. Ichigo would be fine if help arrived soon, but if it didn't, he and Renji would both die.

"I-Ichigo! Renji!"

Byakuya spun around to see Rukia sitting up on the roof.

She was awake!

Rukia was soaked to the skin with the rain, as they all were. Her black hair was hanging limply around her face and her eyes were filled with tears as she tried to struggle to her feet. Byakuya was at her side in a second to keep her from running over to either injured man. It was better that she didn't see the full extent of their wounds; it could cause problems for the baby.

"Nii-Sama! Let me go!" Rukia yelled, trying to break free of his grasp.

Seconds later, Hitsugaya reappeared by Byakuya's side, and standing beside him were Retsu Unohana and Isane Kotetsu, the captain of the forth division and her vice captain.

Retsu Unohana took control of the situation immediately after seeing the two injured men.

"Isane, go to Ichigo!"

Isane nodded as her captain ran over to Renji. After a quick survey of his wounds, he turned to Byakuya and Rukia, the latter of which had calmed down a little after seeing that there was help for Ichigo and Renji.

"His wounds are deep. I can heal them, but we should move to a better location."

Just as she spoke the words, Urahara suddenly appeared beside them. He looked around, his eyes going wide at the sight of Ichigo and Renji.

"Please, bring them to the Urahara Shop. Yoruichi has healed herself and can assist in healing these two. Follow me quickly."

And then he was gone. Byakuya followed without a word, taking a protestant Rukia with him. Unohana picked Renji up gently in her arms, and, using Shunpo, quickly followed Byakuya. Isane, realizing she was getting left behind, quickly grabbed Ichigo and followed after her Captain.

When she arrived, they were already setting Renji out on a blanket on the floor and Unohana was beginning the healing process.

As soon as Rukia saw Isane come inside with Ichigo, she jumped up from her spot and ran over. Byakuya didn't make a move to stop her as she fell to her knees beside him.

"Ichigo," she whispered quietly. Then, with tear-stained eyes, she looked up at Isane, who was currently preparing herself to heal him. "Is he going to be OK?"

"I think so. Can you stand back, please?"

Rukia nodded and walked back a few feet, sitting down on the floor and hugging the blanket Urahara had given her more tightly around her body. Yoruichi was helping heal Renji, as his wounds were worse than Ichigo's, and was only ten feet away, her eyes closed in concentration as she tried to fuse back together the veins and organs that had been injured.

Rukia leaned back against the wall, pulling her knees up to her chest. She was feeling sick again, which she guessed was a good sign. But nonetheless, she really wished it would stop.

She was about to stand to her feet and walk into the bathroom when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see her brother.

"Nii-Sama . . ."

"They'll kill the child. When Ichigo has been fully healed, I will help you get away from here. I cannot do anymore than that, but I do hope you make it out alive."

Rukia looked surprised as Byakuya knelt down beside her.

"Please, do as I say. I will help you into Soul Society, there you can find a village to stay in until the child is born. Understand?"

Rukia nodded and Byakuya stood to his feet again, walking over to Unohana to see how the healing was doing.

After about ten minutes, Rukia stood shakily to her feet and walked over to Isane, sitting down beside Ichigo and taking his pale hand in her own small one. As she ran her fingers over his knuckles, she smiled.

Finally, Isane backed off, whipping sweat off of her brow. She looked up at Rukia and smiled.

"He's going to be fine now. I couldn't heal him all the way, but he will only feel a little pain when he awakens, and he will heal very soon."

"Thank you," Rukia said, fingering the tear in Ichigo's shirt. The wound, which had gone all the way through his body, was now only a small cut.

But something was wrong.

Very wrong.

Glancing up at Ichigo's face, she frowned when she saw that he was still sweating. She pressed her hand to his forehead to find it burning hot. Afraid of infection, she quickly checked Ichigo's pulse to find that it was too fast.

"I-I think something is wrong . . ." Rukia whispered to herself, touching his wound with her finger. She closed her eyes for a second, then opened them again. "Poison!"

Isane ran over quickly, dropping down beside Rukia and pressing her own hand to Ichigo's wound. She checked quickly, only to find that Rukia was right. She could sense the blood vessels and the blood running through them, but this was different. It was not blood, and Ichigo's other symptom's seemed to back up the fact that it was poison.

"What do we do?" Rukia asked, concern on her face. Her hand, which was still on Ichigo's chest, suddenly began glowing a light pink color. Isane gasped.

"What are you doing?' she asked.

"I-I don't know . . . I think . . . I'm healing him . . ." Rukia said, her voice low as the glow grew brighter. It soon attracted the attention of everyone in the room.

"Make her stop! It could hurt the baby!" Unohana yelled, though unable to move from her position; if she did, Renji's half healed heart would give out again.

Byakuya jumped up immediately and took Rukia by her shoulders, pulling her back so her hand moved from Ichigo's chest. Ichigo gasped loudly, turning over and throwing up all over the floor. He threw up large amounts of blood and another liquid that no one could identify. Isane immediately rolled him over onto his back again and checked him over; he seemed to be fine now.

Unohana had Yoruichi take over healing Renji and ran over to Rukia, helping her sit up. Rukia was gasping for breath and was holding her stomach in pain.

"Oh, God, the baby," Unohana said, laying Rukia down on her back. Rukia was sweating terribly and was wincing in pain, gripping her stomach tightly.

Everyone in the room had their eyes on Rukia. Unohana moved her hands over Rukia's stomach and closed her eyes, letting a large amount of her reiatsu flow into Rukia.

Rukia's pain stopped suddenly and she slumped over on the floor, unconscious.

"Is the baby . . ." Byakuya didn't finished his sentence as he knelt down beside his sister. He took her head and laid it in his lap, holding her small hand in his own.

"Since the child was conceived from a Human and a Shinigami, it had large amounts of reiatsu, even at this stage in pregnancy. Most of Rukia's reiatsu is going to help the baby mature; I think she used a large amount healing Ichigo, so the baby was deprived, thus causing a miscarriage. I was able to stop it, however, by transferring most of my reiatsu into the child, but I am afraid I am now too tired to continue healing Renji. I think, in my panic, I might have given the child too much of my reiatsu," Unohana explained, sitting down on the floor.

Byakuya nodded and glanced back over at Renji; Isane was now helping Yoruichi heal him.

Urahara, who had been silent while watching Renji be healed, spoke up.

"I'll clean that up," he said, pointing to the blood Ichigo had thrown up. "And does anyone need coffee? I sure could use some."

Five hours later, Rukia was sleeping quietly beside Ichigo, and Renji had been healed completely. Yoruichi and Isane were both too tired to speak when they had finished, and had moved into another room and fell asleep. Urahara and Byakuya were the only ones awake, besides Unohana, who was just checking on Ichigo, Rukia and Renji before going to sleep herself.

"Are you really going to help them?" Urahara asked Byakuya, a coffee cup, his forth one, wrapped tightly in his hands.

"I will help them into Soul Society. After that, I cannot help them anymore."

"Why are you helping in the first place? I mean, just yesterday, you were ready to kill Ichigo," Urahara said, nodding his head toward Ichigo, who had Rukia curled up by his side.

"I realized that I would be doing the same thing, if I were in Ichigo's place. If it had been Hisana pregnant all those years ago, and they were trying to kill my child, I would be running away, too."

Urahara nodded, and neither one spoke another word that night.

. . . Am I dead?. . . .

Ichigo slowly opened his eyes, only to close them against the strong sunshine entering the room through the window.

No, he wasn't dead. But he sure felt like it.

But, as he rolled over onto his side to see Rukia sleeping beside him, he smiled and felt as though it were all worth it. He reached out and took her in his arms, holding her tightly against him.

He would fight one battle at a time; tomorrow would come, and there would be more trouble and trials, but he would face them one at a time, and they would make it.

They had to.

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