Chapter Twenty Four

It was dark and the tangy salty air was making his skin prickle. He squeezed his already closed eyes tighter and tried to move, finding his muscles stiff but still cooperative. The ground beneath him was cold, rough but solid as can be and when he finally let his eyes open he gasped at his surroundings. Perched upon a high cliff over looking an angry ocean, swirling currents and crashing waves hundreds of feet below him. He gasped and crawled backwards, away from the edge that he was far too close to and nearly screamed when his hand met nothing behind him. He looked all around and felt a stirring of panic. He wasn't on the precipice of a mountain but rather an island in the middle of stormy waters.

"Will you jump?" A disturbingly familiar voice asked and he whipped his head around to find the speaker.

He was perched on the edge, looking over the side with a small smile on his face. When the speaker looked up he cocked his head to the side and spoke again.

"Will you jump, Ichigo?"

Ichigo shook his head. This couldn't be real. He was looking at himself. Only it wasn't himself but a fuzzy, far more relaxed version of him. Ichigo shook his head and took a deep breath to steady his skyrocketing nerves. There was no way this was real.

"It's polite to answer someone who's spoken to you, you know."

"Who are you?" Ichigo asked.

"Well that's a stupid question. Who do I look like?"

Ichigo frowned. "Me?"

The copy smiled again and looked back out over the water. "Will you jump?"

"From here? Why the hell would I jump? I'd be killed."

The copy sighed and stood, tip toeing along the edge of the cliff. "The only way down is to jump. You can stay up here if you want. I really don't mind the company." Again the copy turned the smile back to Ichigo.

Ichigo stood as well, toeing his way to the edge carefully and looking down. No there had to be another way down from there, he'd die for sure if he jumped. He stared at the jagged rocks peeking through the water, pointing up at him as if in invitation. He shook his head and circled the circumference of the small mountain island he was on several times before he realized his copy was right. The only way down was to jump.

"Will you jump?"

"Quit asking me that! There has to be another way, damn it."

The copy shook his head sadly and stopped, looking over his shoulder at Ichigo.

"Sometimes we have to make hard decisions. Decisions that don't always have perfect outcomes either way. This is one of those times. You can sit here, lonely, cold, starving, until you shrivel up and die a slow horrible death. Or you can jump," The copy smiled again and looked back over the horizon. "And have a chance at real freedom." His voice was low but carried to Ichigo's ears nonetheless.

The wind picked up speed, nearly blowing him off the edge and Ichigo ducked down, grabbing the sides of the cliff for purchase. The copy walked slowly over to him and looked down, seemingly untouched by the wind. His folded his arms behind his back and again cocked his head to the side.

"So which is it, Ichigo?"

Ichigo shook his head. He didn't want to make that decision. It was too hard. Loneliness coupled with cold starvation and death, or freedom with the chance of a crushing painful death. Did he have a reason to get off this island that was good enough to try? He closed his eyes. Of course he did. Pictures of the faces of all the people he loved and cared for flickered through his head. His father. Karin and Yuzu. His deceased mother. Shinji and okaachan. It was a decidedly small list of people but even he was surprised at the last face that popped up and seemed to linger just a bit longer than the others. Grimmjow, a wide grin stretching his mouth to show off nearly all his teeth. He felt a pang in his heart and opened his eyes again as a warm hand touched his shoulder.

"Are they worth it?" His copy whispered a strange thing happening to his voice so at the same time he said 'they' Ichigo also heard the word 'he'.

Ichigo looked out over the water and nodded. Yes, every single one of them was worth it to try and get out of this alive. He felt warm fingers twine with his own and looked down at the linked hands of himself and his copy. He looked up into familiar brown eyes and took a deep but shaky breath.

"Are you ready to jump?" His copy asked, his voice still barely a whisper.

Ichigo shook his head but sighed and gripped the hand tighter. The copy smiled sympathetically and squeezed back. They both looked ahead of them and took a deep breath, closing their eyes and stepping forward, kicking out over the edge of the cliff and into the chaos.

Ichigo's entire body jerked and he fell to the floor with a grunt of mixed surprise and pain. He jumped back to a sitting position and patted his body, looking around the room in confusion at the four walls and scattered furniture. A house? Wasn't he just on a cliff? Didn't he just jump off a cliff? As he gathered himself up he took in his surroundings with a frown. None of it was familiar and no one was around to ask any questions to. He rubbed the back of his head and tried to remember the night before. He had been out clubbing with Shinji, Shuuhei and Renji. He had had a little bit to drink and then some dancing…. After that it was a complete blank. Blanks made him nervous. He felt in his pockets and found his wallet, complete with money and bank card, and his phone, battery still in place though it had been turned off. He powered it up and found it nearly overrun with missed messages. He'd check those later. He frowned. This was weird, being in a place he didn't recognize for a reason he didn't know, but after the dream he just shook his head and headed for the door. He wanted to go home and take a shower and ask Shinji what the hell had happened the night before. The short walk to the door confirmed that his body had been left unmolested, at least as far as he could tell, no soreness in anyplace other than his neck and that must have been from the awkward sleeping position on the couch.

Once outside he looked around blinking at the low sun and tried to figure out where he was. Nothing in the neighborhood seemed familiar so he started walking as he dialed Shinji's number. Where the hell was he? And how long exactly had he been asleep? As Shinji's phone rang Ichigo replayed the dream he had had over again in his mind. That had to have been one of the strangest dreams he had ever had. He wasn't usually one to read too much into things like dreams, finding that the metaphysical side of life, psychics, horoscopes, dream interpretations, were just a bit too fantastic in his opinion, but he couldn't help but wonder about it. He heard the line click and was suddenly assaulted by Shinji's loud voice.

"ICHI!"

"Shit, too loud, Shin."

"Oh my God Ichi where are ya? Are ya okay? Are ya hurt at all?" Shinji's voice was frantic and he was hard to understand.

"I'm fine but I'm not really sure where I am. Where are you?"

"I'm with okaachan. We've been lookin' for ya for hours! Where are ya, we'll pick ya up?"

"Shin, what the hell happened last night?"

"We'll talk about it when we get ya, Ichi." Shinji's voice cracked and Ichigo's level of worry rose. "Street names."

Ichigo made it to the end of the street and told Shinji the names. Shinji ordered him to stay put and the line went dead. For a while Ichigo tried unsuccessfully to recount the entire night before, always coming up blank after he hit the dance floor. He frowned at the street post and sat on the corner, happy that it hadn't rained the night before so that his ass wouldn't be wet when he got back up. Luckily it didn't take long for the old rickety truck to pull up to the curb. Before it had even stopped Shinji was out of the passenger side and launching himself into Ichigo's arms.

"Whoa. Wh… what the hell?"

"Oh God Ichi."

A sob shook Shinji's body before the words came tumbling out, recounting everything Shinji could remember from the time the ice cold water hit him until Nnoitra had shown up to gather the wounded. Ichigo stiffened when Shinji said Grimmjow's name and grabbed him by the upper arms, pushing him back a little so he could look him in the eye.

"What was he doing there?" He asked.

Shinji shook his head and cleared his throat. "I-I really don't know but he had a bag of money and the guy who had me tied up kept askin' him why he was there but all he said was…." Shinji looked up into Ichigo's soft brown eyes. "He said he was there because of you."

Ichigo's eye twitched. "Shinji, what happened after that?"

"H-he… the man shot Shuuhei and then that's when Grimmjow said he was there 'cause of ya and then the man just smiled and was about to leave when this other guy came outta nowhere with a knife…." Shinji stopped again and looked up. "Ichi, ya know I woulda done somethin' if I coulda…."

Ichigo shook Shinji, his voice raising. "What happened, Shinji?!"

"They stabbed him. Ichi, there was so much blood, I…."

Ichigo had gone completely still, his fingers tightening painfully around Shinji's arms as his eyes widened. Stabbed? Grimmjow had been stabbed? Shinji had been kidnapped by Shuuhei? What the fuck was going on?

"Ichi?" He was grabbing him so tight it was starting to hurt.

"Where is he?" Ichigo asked, his eyes staring blankly somewhere in the middle of Shinji's chest.

"Ichi…."

"Where?"

Shinji shook his head and pried Ichigo's hands from him. "Last I knew he was in surgery. I wasn't at the hospital long before okaachan and I set out ta find ya. Nnoitra gave us some idea's on where ta look…."

"Take me there."

"Ichi…."

"Take me there Shin. Please."

Shinji nodded and led Ichigo back to the truck, the both of them silent as Shinji's mother started the vehicle back up and drove them back to the hospital. Ichigo's mind was so full he couldn't concentrate. Stabbed. Blood. Grimmjow. Shinji. Kidnapped. Nnoitra. Blood. Grimmjow. The words flashed through his mind, unable to hold any of them as he stared out the window and saw nothing. He wasn't even aware that Shinji had asked him a question multiple times before giving up. He was barely aware of pulling up in front the of large hospital until Shinji elbowed him and he jerked out of the trance he was in. He looked up at the building and turned to Shinji.

"How long has it been since you guys first got here?" He asked quietly.

Shinji shook his head. "It was early mornin'. Still dark out."

Ichigo nodded and opened the passenger door. "Thanks. I'll…." He didn't know what to say after that. He wasn't sure what he would find when he got in there and he was almost too scared to find out.

With a deep breath he stepped out of the truck and walked inside and to the reception. He found out which floor he was on and decided on taking the stairs, walking at first before taking them two and three at a time in his sudden rush. He was on the third floor, in the ICU ward, the receptionist had said. He burst through the door and looked both ways down the hall, a nurse giving him a reproving look at the noise he had made.

"Jaegerjaques? Which room?" He asked, his breathing heavy from the quick run up three flights of stairs.

The nurse pointed over her shoulder and Ichigo took off again.

"No running!" She called out at him, but he didn't listen.

Grimmjow was here. He was hurt. He had to see him. Shawlong was outside the door, ever the loyal guard, and looked up at Ichigo, nodding once before opening the door for him. Ichigo hadn't expected that but steeled himself before stepping into the room. There was only one bed, the room was dark and machines beeped in a steady rhythm. Ichigo couldn't move, he suddenly didn't want to see him. Didn't want to see how bad off he was. Didn't want to see bandages reddened and stained with his blood.

"Close the fuckin' door, I'm tryin' to sleep damn it." A groggy voice called out from the bed and Ichigo gasped in surprise.

A light flicked on near the bed and Grimmjow struggled to sit up, grunting and grimacing at the pain it caused him.

"Don't." Ichigo said, his hands automatically going out in front of him as he took a few steps forward, stepping into the light as he did so.

Grimmjow looked up at him with wide eyes and ceased his movements. With a small shake of his head he leaned back into the slightly inclined bed and looked away from him.

"He ain't here stupid." He said, his voice gruff.

Ichigo made a small noise, somewhere between a hum and a choking sound before he cleared his throat. "I know where he is." He mumbled, assuming that Grimmjow had been speaking about Shinji.

He stood there, shifting his feet and frowning at the floor as he bit his lip and tried to decide what to do. Was Grimmjow mad at him? Was that why he had been so brusque with his manor?

"Well, you just gonna stand there starin' at me?"

After a moment longer Ichigo shuffled over to the side of the bed, trying unsuccessfully not to look at the uncovered yet bandaged torso. His skin was pale and a tube was coming from each arm, one pouring clear fluid into him and the other deep red blood. Ichigo swallowed over the lump in his throat. He couldn't meet his eyes.

"Shinji said you got stabbed." He mumbled, his arm twitched and his hand bumped into the side of the bed.

"Twice." Grimmjow confirmed with a sneer.

They were interrupted when a nurse came into the room pushing a cart. She left it by the door and walked to the opposite side of the bed, a smile on her face.

"And how are we feeling, Mr. Jaegerjaques?"

"I'm fine and in the middle of something." He glared up as her as she reached for the controls of the bed.

"That's good. I'm going to put your bed back, you need quite a bit more rest. You lost a lot of blood and we don't want to open up those wounds again do we?"

"I ain't dead, damn it! I'm fuckin' busy so get the hell out."

"Grimmjow listen to her!" Ichigo snapped, startling both the nurse and Grimmjow into silence.

Grimmjow was still for a moment before he leaned back into the bed again and let the nurse do her job. She fussed around with the equipment monitoring Grimmjow's vitals and left with a small smile and a nod of her head at Ichigo. Ichigo sighed and looked back down at the bed, still not really meeting Grimmjow' eyes.

"Why are you here?" Grimmjow asked quietly, his blue eyes boring into Ichigo's down turned face.

Ichigo fingered the blanket that covered him and bit his lip. "After Shinji told me you were hurt I… before I knew it I was here."

He swallowed again, the lump in his throat thicker, fuller than before. He shifted his weight, and bent over the side of the bed, his lip still between his teeth and his eyes still avoiding the bright blue ones on him. Taking a deep breath he placed his lips over Grimmjow's lightly and pulled back, for the first time meeting his eyes.

"He made it sound like you might be dead." He whispered.

Grimmjow's heart skipped a beat when Ichigo's soft full lips pressed into his and the monitor beeped angrily before evening out. He licked at the taste Ichigo had left behind. His taste. His arm rose, the one on the side of his body that hadn't been damaged, and reached behind Ichigo's head, threading his fingers through the thick orange spikes before closing his eyes. He pulled down, bringing Ichigo's lips back to his and kissing him back, their lips parting simultaneously and tips of tongue reaching out to taste the familiar. Ichigo squeezed his eyes shut and took a shaky breath before letting his tongue delve further inside, reveling in the flavor he once thought he would never taste again. Grimmjow groaned quietly and his grip tightened in Ichigo's hair as the kiss deepened.

Suddenly he pulled away with a hiss, his face contorted in pain and Ichigo tried to step back for fear of hurting him again but Grimmjow refused to relinquish his grip on his hair.

"You ain't gonna disappear again now are ya?" He asked as soon as the pain receded, his voice barely above a whisper.

Ichigo grinned. "Tch, I just wanted to see if you were dead or not."

Grimmjow laughed and winced again, making Ichigo's frown return.

"I'm not leaving." Ichigo said, the finality in the words shocking even him.

Grimmjow's blue eyes looked up into his brown ones and his fingers flexed at the back of his head.

"Good." He replied with a serious face before it split into his characteristic grin. "Then shut up and sit down, I'm tired as fuck."

Shinji took his time reaching the ICU floor, figuring that Ichigo would be a while after being reunited with Grimmjow. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous at the fear and concern he had seen in Ichigo's eyes when he had been told what had happened to the blue haired man. Seeing it had made him realize that Ichigo hadn't moved on at all. Seeing that had made him realize just how much Ichigo cared for that man. It wasn't just some partnership of convenience or money as Ichigo had said it was. Even when they had parted ways Shinji should have known. Ichigo was in love with him.

With a sigh of resignation Shinji plopped in a chair in the waiting room and crossed his legs. He had sent his mother home, saying that he would call her as soon as Ichigo was ready to leave and she had kissed his forehead and driven off. Now it was a matter of waiting. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, trying to clear his mind of the last twenty four hours and relax. He wasn't given much time to do so however as the chair next to his was sat in roughly. He startled slightly and opened his eyes, seeing a tired looking Nnoitra slouching in the chair.

"Ya coulda told me ya found him." He muttered sleepily, yawning.

"I just found him." Shinji muttered back.

After Shinji had gotten a quick check up Shawlong had shown up in his hospital room with his mother and Nnoitra in tow and told him in no uncertain terms that they needed to find Ichigo as soon as possible. Nnoitra had snorted and crossed his arms.

"I ain't a fuckin' search a rescue dog."

Shawlong had turned his dark eyes to him and said as calmly as he could, "You all will search for him and find him before the boss wakes up. I am acting upon the wishes he would have made known to me had he been conscious."

Nnoitra snorted again and opened his mouth to speak but Shinji cut him off. "Of course we'll look for him, but were do we start?"

Nnoitra rolled his eyes. "Ya gotta start at the easy places first. You check at yer place and I'll do what I do best." He grinned and started to walk away.

"What's that?" Shinji asked curiously.

Nnoitra stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Oh, I just ask questions 'til I get answers."

Shinji didn't want to know what that meant. Shawlong handed him a piece of paper with two phone numbers on it, one belonging to him and the other to Nnoitra.

"Call those both when you find him."

Now that he was in the waiting room he realized he hadn't called either phone number. Shawlong must have seen Ichigo and called Nnoitra himself. Shinji shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Sorry. I was a little distracted with finding my friend alive and unhurt."

Nnoitra snorted and didn't open his eyes. "So the bitch is with him now?" He yawned.

Shinji nodded his head and sighed. "Yeah."

Nnoitra chuckled sleepily. "Ya lost ya know."

Shinji glared at him and pursed his lips. "Fuck you." He muttered under his breath.

Nnoitra didn't answer, snoring quietly instead, and Shinji stared dejectedly off into space. Loosing Ichigo to Grimmjow wasn't as bad as loosing him to death. If the two of them got back together, Ichigo would still be his friend and he could handle that. After all, that had been all he had before Grimmjow had shown up in their lives.

Ichigo stayed with Grimmjow until he fell asleep, his head leaning on the side of the bed as Grimmjow's fingers played idly with his hair. He slowly got up to use the bathroom and call Shinji, hoping that he wasn't too upset with him running out on him like he had. He was more than surprised to see Shinji sitting in the waiting room with Nnoitra, though the both of them seemed to be ignoring each other. On a closer look Nnoitra was sound asleep and Shinji looked to be off in his own little world.

"Hey." Ichigo said quietly and Shinji's head shot up.

"Hey. Uh… how is he?"

Ichigo let a small smile curve his lips. "Good." He may have looked like shit and been weak and in pain, but he was still enough of himself to joke about it and get angry at the nurses. Still good enough to steal his breath with a kiss.

They were both startled out of the silence that had fallen when a soda can was popped open and they turned to look down the hall at the noise. Renji was standing there, can halfway to his lips and frozen in shock at the sight of the two young men.

"Oh, fuck." He muttered, taking a step back as he did so.

"You. What the hell did you do to us?" Ichigo growled.

Renji shook his head. "It… it wasn't my idea. It wasn't supposed to go down like that."

Ichigo curled his lip and approached the tattooed redhead, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and slamming him into the wall.

"Talk, or I'll kill you."

"We were told to do a job. Shuuhei had to get close to Shinji and then we were supposed to separate you two when the time came. It was just supposed to be simple. No one was supposed to get hurt, I swear."

"Why?" Ichigo's voice was dark and Renji gulped.

"He had a debt to pay off and this was the only way."

Ichigo wanted to hit him. Wanted to pound his face into the floor until he stopped moving; stopped breathing. Their actions had hurt his best friend and the man he loved and he could never forgive him for that.

"Excuse me, do we have a problem here?" A large male nurse asked, his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised at the sight before him.

Ichigo sent one last searing glare at Renji before letting him go, but not without making sure his head slammed into the wall behind him first.

"No problem here. Sorry for the noise." Ichigo turned back to Shinji and led him back into the waiting room.

Shinji sat back in the chair behind the still seemingly asleep Nnoitra and sighed. He still didn't understand what was going on and he didn't think anyone else did fully either.

"I'm going back in the room with Grimmjow. Why don't you go home and get some rest." Ichigo said, walking away slowly without waiting for an answer.

Shinji sighed again and leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes and trying to gather his thoughts.

"I could give ya a ride home if ya buy me a burger. Hospital shit sucks."

Shinji nearly jumped when Nnoitra spoke and turned to him with a frown. They stared at each other for a moment before he rolled his eyes and nodded his head.

"Fine. But only one. I ain't got much money."

Nnoitra stood and stretched. "Cheapskate"

They left together in an awkward silence, down to the car that belonged to Grimmjow. Meanwhile Ichigo slipped back into Grimmjow's room and took his seat once more near the bed, laying his head on the side of and sighing. Thin but strong fingers wove their way into his hair and stroked sleepily and Ichigo closed his eyes. He'd think about everything in the morning. Right now he was content to be near the one person he had been denying himself for over two weeks. He kissed the side of the bandaged chest in front of him and drifted off into a much needed and restful sleep.

A/N Yay! I had a little trouble with this chapter, the part about Ichigo waking up alone tried to come out in like two or three different way at once and it took forever to choose which one I liked the best. But the Kitty and the Strawberry are back together! *sigh* I'm so happy now. I had a bunch of things to say, but I forgot all of them when I wrote this, lol. I may not post again before Christmas so if I don't let me wish you all a Happy Holiday whatever you may celebrate, and a very Happy New Year! Hugs and love you all my lovely Duckies and thank you all so much for all your great reviews and all the favs and alerts and everything! *tiny tear drop* I hope you enjoyed this :D

~Penny