Chapter 15 - End of the Line

Ichigo and Rukia had been in the Soul Society for almost a week now. And they were still no closer to saving their son then they had been when they had first entered.

"This is ridiculous!" Ichigo said furiously, slamming his fist against the wall of the cave they were currently hiding in. Despite the fact they had been there for a week, despite the fact they had tried beating the answer out of at least twenty Soul Reapers, they just could not for the life of them find Kaien. They were both very tense at the moment.

"Calm down." Rukia muttered. "We don't need you attracting attention. I'd rather avoid fights until we have a real reason for it."

Ichigo took a deep breath and tried to do as his girlfriend said, and calm down. It wasn't easy. Not when the fuse that was his temper was already so close to the bomb, ready to explode.

"All right." He said finally. "All right. Let's just...go over everything again. Everything we know that might let us know how we can save him."

"Right." Rukia folded her arms. "The people who came and took Kaien were-"

"That captain freak, your brother, Renji, and your captain – Ukitake-"

"My brother and Renji would never want to take responsibility for Kaien, no one would want to leave him alone with Kurotshuchi until the time was right-"

"Which would leave the thirteenth division-"

"Which we've already kinda figured, considering how heavy the guard is-"

"But there's absolutely no chance of us getting in. They've already proven that."

They'd tried raiding the thirteenth division about two days earlier. Yeah, they'd gotten in, no problem, but they'd been overwhelmed by sheer numbers. They could have, of course, just killed anyone who got in their way. But they weren't there to kill. They were there to get their son back, and nothing more. Any death would be unnecessary.

But it was sure as hell making their mission a lot harder.

"There's nothing more we can do now." Ichigo said. "We're just going to have to...wait. And see what happens."

"I hate that plan." Rukia sighed and dropped her head. Barely a second later her head snapped up again. "Who's there?" She called to the entrance of the cave. Ichigo tensed, his hand flying up to the hilt of his sword.

"Don't attack." Said a tentative voice. "I'm...I'm on your side."

Rukia narrowed her eyes. "Is that...That isn't you, is it Kiyone?"

Kiyone grinned sheepishly as she stepped into the cave. "Hi Rukia. Do you know how hard it is to track you?"

"That's kind of the point of hiding out." Ichigo growled, his hand gripping more tightly to the hilt of Zangetsu. Kiyone looked scared now.

"No wait." She said quickly. "Please. I meant what I said, I'm on your side, I want to help you. I've been trying to find you for the last week, ever since I heard you were in the Soul Society, but you've been too hard to find."

"Well that's one good thing, I suppose." Rukia muttered. "Why do you want to help us though, Kiyone?"

"Because," Kiyone said, looking down at the ground, "we've been taking care of your son in the thirteenth division for the last week. No one would be stupid enough to leave him with Kurotshuchi before the experiments begin, your brother and Lieutenant Abarai would never take them-"

"Pretty much everything we figured." Rukia said, folding her arms. "And let me guess, Kiyone; you grew attached to him, right? You don't want to see him die."

Kiyone looked half sheepish, half disgusted. "Yeah, yeah, I have a soft spot, go ahead, run back to the division and tell 'em Rukia. No, I don't want Kaien to die. Is that such a crime?" She paused for a moment. "The Thirteenth Division has seen enough death. The name Kaien is a curse that brings it."

Rukia gulped. "Yeah, I know. I know. I don't blame you."

Kiyone smiled softly. "This is all great and all." Ichigo said. "But this isn't helping us. Where is our son now?"

Kiyone scowled at that. "The Twelfth Division. The experimenting on him begins tomorrow. I've been trying so hard for the last few days to find you, because of that. If you want your son back...tomorrow is the last chance you're going to have."


"Lieutenant Abarai."

Renji looked around. Kiyone Kotetsu was walking towards him. What the hell did she want?

"Yeah?"

Kiyone bit her lip, looking hesitant. "I...we...need your help."

"We?"

"Renji, do you care about Rukia? At all?"

Renji found that to be an odd question. "Kiyone, what do you know?"

"Just tell me. Do you care about her? I know you used to love her. Do you still?"

"Where the hell is this coming from?"

Kiyone hesitated, then said, "You're a lieutenant. You can help them in ways I can't. You can get them to the Twelfth Division before it's too late. You can help them save Kaien. Now tell me, Lieutenant; do you love Rukia?"

Renji wondered how long Kiyone had been planning this for. Then he realized that it didn't matter. Images flashed in his mind. Rukia and Ichigo standing together in that dingy motel room, Ichigo protecting her, Rukia standing between him and harm. The two of them standing in their apartment together, Ichigo once again protecting Rukia, and this time their baby as well. Ichigo and Rukia being taken down, one at a time, and Kurotshuchi taking their baby – Kaien. Renji heard Ichigo yelling at them, demanding they let his son go.

Renji hadn't done anything then. But there was no way in hell he was going to lose out now. And if Kiyone could point him towards Ichigo and Rukia...

"Where are they?"


"How can I help you?"

Rukia and Ichigo exchanged surprised glances. There was no way this was Renji. Not Renji, who had scoffed at Rukia when she said she was having the baby. Not Renji, who had helped invade their home and capture their son. No, this most certainly was not Renji. If that was Renji speaking to them, then Ichigo's hair was really black and Rukia was really six feet tall.

"Renji, are you...feeling okay?"

"Your hilarious." Renji muttered under his breath, "Fine, if you don't want me to help, I guess I could always just go back and tell everyone where you-"

"Point taken." Ichigo cut in, "Are you really going to help us though, or this just some elaborate scheme to catch us?"

"That's the most I've ever heard you think." Renji shot back, "I'm going to freaking help you, okay? I'm as shocked as you are, trust me. So like I said before, if you don't want me around, I can make my services useful elsewhere-"

"Shut the hell up already." Ichigo said angrily. Renji was obviously enjoying jerking them around. And they didn't have time for that. "If you have any useful information at all, spill it now or get the hell out, and we'll go find a new place to hide."

"Here's some information for you; experiments on your son will be starting tomorrow." the ground gave out beneath Ichigo and Rukia's feet. "And for an added bonus, for everything their worth, even if they've been trying to make it so the experiments are controlled, there's no way in hell that kid is going to live."

Rukia let out a small whimper, and Ichigo's large hand sought out her own, smaller one, and he took hold of it. Renji pointedly ignored the action as he went on. "He was being held at the thirteenth division up until now. He's at the twelfth at the moment. That's where they're holding the experiments, obviously. They're planning on doing a series. Probably about four or five. I can guarantee he won't make it through the first two or three."

"Shit." Ichigo muttered under his breath. Rukia tightened her grip on Ichigo's hand. He could tell she was doing her best to look brave. But she was as shaken as he was. Renji was still pointedly ignoring the moment. "We gotta do something." the orange-haired man went on, "We can't just sit around. Uh – stupid question alert – do you guys know where the twelfth division is?"

"Yeah, stupid question all right." Renji rolled his eyes, "Of course we know where the freakin' twelfth division is, moron. But you should know that it's being heavily guarded. It'll be impossible for you two to get in unnoticed. You're on the most wanted list right now, you'll never get through."

"That's not going to stop us!" Ichigo snapped, his free hand clenching into a fist. "I don't care if they've got a hundred armed guys watching the place, I won't let them hurt my son, you got that?! I've had it with this whole damn place, interfering in our lives, making everything difficult, I'm on my last nerve with you Soul Reapers, I'm not letting you have my son!"

Renji smirked. He probably expected that. And Rukia said, in a low voice, "Ichigo, don't-"

"Don'twhat, Rukia?" he turned on her, "Don't be upset, don't say I'm going to rescue our son, don't even try? So what else am I suppose to do then? Just sit back and twiddle my thumbs and wait for them to give us our son's body?"

Rukia's violet eyes flashed angrily. "Well, for starters, don't bite my head off. And also, don't freaking yell. You're going to attract attention that we don't need."

Well. Ichigo felt like a real heel. "Sorry." he said in a low voice, looking away from Rukia. "I didn't mean to snap."

"It's all right." but he could tell she was still a little upset. And he felt bad. He shouldn't have been attacking her and he knew it. At the moment, she was the only person he had, and vice-versa.

Well, they had Renji too. The crimson-haired Soul Reaper was watching them, obviously a little disgusted.


It was after dark by the time Renji returned to the sixth division. The truth was, he'd have rather just gone home and crashed. But he had a day's worth of neglected paperwork to do, and if he didn't get at least a little done, Captain Kuchiki was going to be one very upset guy. And that wasn't something Renji wanted or needed.

In the long run, Renji supposed it was worth it. Though he had to kind of wonder one thing; once Rukia and Ichigo saved their son, what would they do? The Soul Society wasn't going to just leave them alone. They were going to have to hide. And even then, there was no certainty that they were going to be safe. It was going to make life hard for them and for Kaien. But the alternative was giving up and letting the kid die.

And Ichigo and Rukia would never do that.

"Renji," the crimson-haired Soul Reaper jumped a mile and looked up. Byakuya Kuchiki was standing in the door to his lieutenant's office, staring down him coldly. "You were gone all day. What was so important you couldn't even come to your division?"

Renji gulped. He hadn't counted on anyone noticing his absence. Stupid of him. Byakuya was a man of order, and if even one thing was missing – like a certain lieutenant – he would definitely notice. "I was...I was er...you know. Prior...engagements."

Wow that was lame, even in his ears. He should have come up with a better story when he was helping Ichigo and Rukia plan.

Byakuya obviously wasn't impressed. Renji supposed he would have been better off just running himself through with his Zanpakatou right then. It probably would have been less painful then whatever Byakuya wanted to do to him.

"Is that the best you can do?"

"Pretty much." Renji gnawed on his lip, waiting for judgment to be passed. On the one hand, he wanted to live. On the other hand, if he wasn'tgoing to live, he hoped his death would be relatively painless.

"I'm not sure I want to know what you were doing." Byakuya said finally, to Renji's great relief. "Just finish your paperwork before you leave."

And he was gone. Renji nearly fell out of his chair as he sighed with relief. And he started his paperwork again. But he wasn't paying any attention. Every part of his mind was on...Rukia.

It was hard, seeing Ichigo and Rukia so close, so...together. And it hurt. A lot. It hurt knowing that Ichigo had the one thing Renji had always wanted; Rukia's love. But Rukia had never loved Renji. Not the way he had loved her. But Ichigo. Ichigo was a completely different story.

So why was Renji helping them? Their son, Kaien, wasn't Renji's concern. Their problems weren't his. What did it matter what happened to Kaien? What did it matter whether he lived or not? And why, why, why was Renji helping them? He was risking his own life here, and for what? For absolutely nothing, that's what.

But – and it was a dumb excuse, but an excuse none the less – Rukia, for everything she was, was still Renji's childhood friend. And friends always stuck together.


Rukia could not, for the life of her, no matter how hard she tried, sleep. So instead she glared over at Ichigo, who was sleeping, every few seconds. How could he sleep (and snore) at a time like this? Rukia felt sick to her stomach just thinking about what they were trying to do. They were going to break into the freakin' twelfth division during experimenting, it didn't really get much more dangerous than that, did it? And Ichigo, for all he was, was freakin' sleeping. Rukia, meanwhile, just contented herself to sitting against the cave wall, her arms tucked under her legs, watching Ichigo sleep.

It wasn't that she wasn't tired. She was exhausted. But when she tried to sleep, her mind made up images about what might happen, what could happen, and what probably would happen. And she didn't like thinking about it. She especially didn't like thinking about her son, her little boy, being pulled apart piece by piece by those weirdos at the twelfth division. It was just plain scary.

"Rukia?" the girl in question looked around. Ichigo was sitting up, rubbing his amber eyes tiredly, and watching his girlfriend. "Why are you still awake? Get some sleep."

"Can't sleep." she said simply, trying to sound off-hand, "Too much on my mind."

Ichigo, of course, wasn't fooled. He could tell Rukia was freaking out. So he stood up, walked over to her, took a seat next to her, and pulled her into his arms. She sighed and leaned her head against his chest. "Don't worry." he muttered, pulling her close to him. "It'll be all right. I promise. It'll all work out. We'll save Kaien, and we'll go home. Everything will be okay."

Rukia sighed and allowed her eyes to drift shut at last. "Ichigo?" she muttered as she finally began to fall asleep.

"What's up?"

"Will it really work?"

"If I say it will, it will. Stop worrying."


"Wake up."

Wham!

That woke Ichigo up. "Dammit!" he yelled, bolting up and upsetting Rukia, who yelped as she was knocked to the ground.

"Ouch! Watch it Ichigo!"

"Don't tell me, tell...him!" Ichigo shifted his amber eyes to glare at Renji, who had just kicked the orange-haired man in the side.

"Well you should have woken up when I told you to."

Ichigo growled under his breath as he helped Rukia stand up. "You guys ready or not?" Renji asked, sounding just a little annoyed.

"Eager are we?"

"Considering it's your son we're trying to save, I figured you'd be more eager."

Well that sobered Ichigo and Rukia up at once. They exchanged solemn looks and nodded. "Let's get going." Rukia said, her hand playing over the hilt of her Zanpakatou. She certainly didn't seem too eager.

"Everything okay?" she shifted her violet eyes to look at him. And Ichigo saw so much in them. Too much to read at once.

"Let's just do this"

It wasn't an easy trip. Just as Renji had said, everyone was on the lookout for Ichigo and Rukia now, making it impossible to move freely. They must have hidden a million different times before theyfinally got to the twelfth division labs. "Great." Ichigo muttered, "This place is crawling with fucking Soul Reapers."

"Well what the hell do you expect?" Renji shot back, "They're not exactly going to be lenient on security."

"Shut up both of you." Rukia hissed before Ichigo could retaliate, "Keep your mind on what we're doing here. We need to figure out a way inside. Ideas?"

In the end, the idea they came up with wasn't a brilliant one, but it worked out fairly okay. Renji created a distraction by running out and loudly proclaiming that the psychos of the twelfth division were trying to create a crossbreed between a spirit and a human, and that was why they needed Kaien and blah, blah, blah...he was good at passing for a crazy man. And he got everyone's attention, drawing them away from the door, and giving Rukia and Ichigo a chance to run in. "Do you think Renji really believes any of that crap he's screaming about?" Ichigo asked as they ducked inside and away from prying eyes.

"Knowing Renji, yeah, he probably does – sh!" she pulled him around a corner and out of site just as two more Soul Reapers started around the corner they had been approaching. They stayed quiet and waited for the Soul Reapers to disappear.

"You know what I just realized?" Rukia asked.

"We have no clue where we're going?" Ichigo guessed.

"Pretty much. How do we find out?"

"Kidnap the next Soul Reaper that comes along alone and get them to tell us"

"Think it'll work?"

They waited until the next Soul Reaper came. It was a female one. She was looking over a clipboard intently. "Ready?" Ichigo muttered. Rukia nodded. "All right...three!"

Rukia dove forward and grabbed the Soul Reaper, dragging her into the shadows. Ichigo pushed the flat of Zangetsu against the girl's chest, pinning her against the wall. "We're gonna make this quick," Ichigo hissed, "Tell us where Kaien Kurosaki is, and maybe we won't hurt you"

The girl's eyes widened in fear. "I...I...he's in the second sector, third lab"

Ichigo and Rukia exchanged looks. "You know where that is?"

"I'm from the thirteenth division, not the twelfth, genius"

They both looked back at the Soul Reaper, who was watching them apprehensively. "All right. So where is that?"

The girl gave them stammered directions. It didn't seem that hard (well, that's what Rukia said anyway; Ichigo couldn't understand two words the terrified Soul Reaper said). After a whispered disagreement, Ichigo and Rukia finally opted for knocking the girl out and leaving her there. Ichigo let Rukia do the honors; his Zanpakatou was too heavy to not hurt the girl. And after that they took off again, ducking in and out of shadows to avoid being caught. As they got closer to the lab the Soul Reaper had told them about, they heard crying. Ichigo's stomach did a flip-flop. "That's Kaien." he hissed. Rukia hit him over the head and shushed him.

"Come on, let's-"

"Hey, what are you two doing here?!" Shit. They hadn't noticed several more Soul Reapers come up behind them. They whirled around, each drawing their Zanpakatous. A second later alarms rang through the building. They'd lost the advantage of secrecy. Now it was time for an all out battle. Ichigo looked over at Rukia, and again he saw so much emotion built in her eyes, too much to read. What was wrong? He made a mental note to find out when they got out of there.

"I'll fight, you go after Kaien." He said instead. She nodded and whirled around, running towards the crying. The Soul Reapers that had found them started after her, but Ichigo blocked their path. "You want her, you have to go through me."

Rukia, meanwhile, wasn't eager for a fight. She ducked attacks, swinging her Zanpakatou only when absolutely necessary, and keeping her mind focused on one thing; finding Kaien. Which was probably why she sensed, a little too late, someone come up behind her. She whirled around, already knowing she wouldn't be able to block the blow-

"Ha!" And Renji ran the Soul Reaper through with his Zanpakatou.

"Thanks for the save." Rukia said gratefully. Renji just kind of smirked.

"I got your back. Move it."

And finally Rukia found the door she was looking for. She blasted it apart with Kidou, and found herself not facing one or two, but about ten different Soul Reapers, along with Captain Kurotshuchi. "Well this certainly won't do." The creepy twelfth squad captain said in a silky voice, examining his finger nails, "No, no, this just won't do at all..."

Rukia's grip on the hilt of her Zanpakatou tightened. Before she or Renji could do or say anything though, they were ambushed from all sides. "Get the kid!" Renji hollered, diving right into the fight. Normally Rukia wasn't one to duck out of a battle, but at the moment, Kaien was the only one that mattered. So she dove forward into the room, and found herself facing...Kurotshuchi. "Going somewhere?" He asked in his eerily calm voice. "If you're thinking of taking my test subject, think again."

"Leave her alone!" Ichigo appeared out of nowhere in front of Rukia. He looked considerably beat up, but he had definitely looked worse. "Go." He hissed at Rukia. And for a second she had a desire to say no. But then Kurotshuchi and Ichigo were fighting, and she didn't have a choice. She moved quickly, and finally found herself next to the lab table her son was sitting on. He was wailing at the top of his lungs, his face beet red and crumpled. His carrier was next to the table. Rukia, after a quick sweep of the room (everyone was fighting now), picked up Kaien and strapped him into the seat. The baby stopped crying as soon as he felt his mother's touch. Rukia's small hands played over Kaien's face, and for a second she was filled with calm and peace. He was safe...

CRASH!

The moment was broken. Rukia's head jerked up and she whirled around. One of the Soul Reapers had gone flying into a large tank. "No!" Kurotshuchi screamed, seeing what had happened. "You idiot! That was filled with unbalanced chemicals, if they're thrown off center, they'll explode!"

"Did he say explode?!" Renji and Ichigo shouted at the same time. And at that moment, a very loud explosion went off, throwing everyone backwards. Rukia threw herself over Kaien's carrier, protecting him from falling debris.

"Notgood!" A Soul Reaper shouted. "We gotta get out of here, now!"

Ichigo ran over to Rukia and helped her up, then took the handle of Kaien's carrier, and they took off, with Renji close behind.

As they ran, the building crumbled around them. They ran in and out of falling debris, trying to move quickly and carefully at the same time. And that was fine. Until...

One second Rukia was at Ichigo's side. The next she was gone. Ichigo skidded to a halt and whirled around. Rukia, it appeared, had been hit by a piece of debris. Ichigo could see blood running down the side of her head. "Rukia!" he started forward again, but another explosion shook the building, and a large part of the ceiling came down. Right on Rukia. "No!"

"Ichigo, come on!" Renji grabbed Ichigo by the back of the robes and dragged him the rest of the way outside. Ichigo was still screaming like a maniac.

"Let me go, let me go!Rukia!" he shouted angrily, trying to fight off Renji. But before Ichigo knew it, they were diving outside, just as the rest of the twelfth division building crumpled.

Kaien was crying, Ichigo was yelling. It was your basic mass confusion. "Dammit Ichigo, calm down!" Renji shouted, holding Ichigo by the arms.

"Let me go, Rukia, she...she...let me go!"

"Ichigo!" Renji roared, "It's too late! Rukia is-"

"Don't you dare say it!" Ichigo threatened, finally pulling himself out of Renji's grip and whirling around to face the crimson-haired Soul Reaper, "She's not dead!"

But even as he shouted this, he knew, deep down, the truth. No one could have survived that. Rukia Kuchiki...was dead.


Author's Note – I originally planned on having a chapter before this, depicting Ichigo and Rukia's entrance into the Soul Society, and showing some fights. But then I realized that I had absolutely no ideas for it. So I just dove straight into this. Now for the fun part: How many people want to kill me?

Hehehe...

Next up's the epilogue. Then after that...well, you'll see, won't you? Review please – Sam