"Dammit." Grimmjow woke cursing, hand coming up to hug his side where his ribs groaned. He felt the tightness in his chest and his hand met bandages. He looked down on his bare torso, cloth strips bound his chest across his shoulders. Everything was sore, including his legs that had carried him and one other on a marathon to get to here.

Kurosaki.

He grabbed the wall for support. He was in a small, low lit room, the mattress on the floor the only thing in it. He threw the door open and groaned as pain shot through his back and shoulders. Damn those bastards who'd jumped him. But he pushed forward down the narrow hall that opened up into the shelves of pharmaceuticals kept caged behind the counter.

First he noted the woman from before, sorting through pills and re-shelving them—then his eyes narrowed in straight on the figure sitting on the opposite side of the counter, sipping at a bowl of hot soup.

"You!" Grimmjow exclaimed, suddenly angry. "What the Hell are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked innocently as Grimmjow staggered forward toward him. "I'm eating."

Blue eyes went wide in utter rage. He slammed the half door out of the way to get to the other side of the counter and grabbed the young man by both shoulders. "I thought you were fucking dying! And here you are...eating soup!"

Ichigo watched him back for a long moment, seeing the fatigue painted under blue eyes and the pain hunched in bruised shoulders.

"He was." The chemist broke their silent stare down. "But since we caught the bacterial infection before it could do any serious damage, he's fine."

"But this morning when I got here—"

"That was yesterday morning. You've been asleep for a day."

"What?" Grimmjow finally let go of Ichigo and turned to her. "Impossible."

"Concussions will do that. Plus this one says you came from Tochigi overnight—which I find hard to believe. But if you really did travel that far carrying him then you'd need the rest."

Grimmjow looked between her and Ichigo as if he thought they could be lying. He didn't seem comfortable with the idea of having his guard down for all that time.

"She's telling the truth," Ichigo said. "I woke up yesterday when she was stitching your head back together."

Grimmjow brought a hand up to his forehead and felt bandages there as well. He remembered the crowbar they'd used against him. Fucking cowards.

"Damn, we've lost time."

"Not really," Ichigo reasoned, "we would have spent yesterday travelling this far anyway."

Grimmjow wasn't prepared to give into reason and clung to his sour mood. He angrily accepted a bowl of soup while the chemist explained that he had rid them of a very violent gang that troubled them for drugs all the time and so she had been willing to go beyond her normal boundaries and take them in for the night. He didn't utter a thanks, Ichigo did for them both. The chemist tried to convince them they both needed another day of recovery but Grimmjow was far too anxious to get moving again. They didn't depart until after noon and Ichigo almost argued it would make more sense for them to stay, but he knew he'd lose that fight so he waved off the chemist with a final thanks and followed after the disgruntled espada.

Ichigo walked along in Grimmjow's wake. His breath was a bit wheezy, he'd thrown up most of yesterday and still felt a bit hot but it was nothing compared to what it could have been. Still he found the trek more difficult today. Grimmjow clearly did too. Ichigo couldn't imagine getting all this distance in that time, let alone carrying him. And now on top of it he had cracked ribs and a concussion. He still wore his sword but it was clearly causing him pain.

"Grimmjow—"

"What?" he barked back over his shoulder, annoyance etched in every line of his body. Ichigo decided against thanking him right now.

"Just, how far do you want to travel today?"

"As far as we can get."

They didn't speak again that day. This city was buzzing with dangers ranging from low infrastructure, leaking sewage pipes and weapon wielding gangs. Many groups in the shadows watched them pass. They must have known who Grimmjow was, because every time they passed them there was a buzz. Grimmjow never cast them a sideways glance, nor showed a hint of his injuries. If they were lucky, the groups would decide he was too dangerous to mess with, even if they knew how much he was worth.

"We need to get out of here," Grimmjow said at dusk when Ichigo hoped he would slow down and let them find a place to sleep. Ichigo glanced around, looking for the danger Grimmjow spotted.

"Why?"

"Too many people were interested in us as we went by. We need to get clear of here before we stop."

"Great." Ichigo kept his eyes sharp even though the darkness didn't allow him to see more than a few feet ahead. They were still in the city trying to get back to a highway. From Togichi they could have taken a route close to the sea but now they were a full day from that highway and so they were committed to this route cutting inland and upward through the island countre. Ichigo always took the sea route so he hoped Grimmjow knew the way.

"There." Grimmjow saw the giant square shapes ahead—signs that indicated a turn off onto the highway. They must have walked the entire length of the city to only have come across it now. Grimmjow pressed forward, following street signs to get them where cars once drove over a hundred kilometres an hour. Farther out still, bullet trains would have gone three or four times as fast.

"Come on," Grimmjow urged him to pick up his pace. Ichigo looked around again, now sure that Grimmjow must be aware of something he wasn't.

"Stop!"

His question was answered. Grimmjow let out a low curse and reached for his sword. A shot went off right next to his feet, sending sparks over the pavement and jolting them both in the sudden noise. Grimmjow froze.

"I said stop." Their attackers came from all sides. Grimmjow must have been aware of them closing in. Perhaps he had also guessed they had a gun, because otherwise he would have fought them. Ichigo waited at his side while the men emerged. In this world of plain old human physics, there wasn't a whole lot you could do against a gun except get killed by one.

"You're Jaggerjaques." They were close enough now to see. Hoods, leather, chains—the general indicators of people who had embraced their post-apocalyptic universe. They loved every minute of torturing others with fear and pain. Now they ringed them in, the sky so clouded they were still barely more than shadows when they were three feet away.

The man who addressed them held the gun. Guns were the first thing to get snapped up in the riots and pandemonium after the Clash. Now, four years later, it was hard to get your hands on one that still worked, and even harder to find the right bullets to go in it. But they had already fired a shot, so this one was definitely real. The question was, how many in the group were armed.

"I'm a fan." The man's face was tattooed with a pair of black snakes twisting down his cheeks and meeting at his chin. Those were the skill of pre-apocalypse artists—so this man had likely been a gang member even before the end of the world.

"Great, I'll give you an autograph and be on my way." Grimmjow showed no sign of fear except that he kept his hands where they were, indicating his apprehension of the gun. The man noted this too.

"Interesting, how one weapon can change things."

"You mean make a balless coward think he's a man—yeah you have a point."

The head-butt dropped Grimmjow to his knees. He launched himself up again but his arms were caught by other gang members and they wrestled him back down, shoving him face first onto the ground at the same time that others grabbed Ichigo. They were less interested in him, as he wasn't the known powerhouse in the situation but they were weary enough to serve him a breath stealing kick to the gut before shoving him to his knees.

One of the men on Grimmjow backed off so their leader could move in. He pushed the barrel of the gun against Grimmjow's skull.

"I actually enjoy watching you fight. So give me your cash and you can go."

"I'll give you a personal show, right here. Just you and me, you'll have the best seat in the house as I beat you to fucking death."

"Well, it will be a personal show, if you don't give up the money willingly. And if that doesn't work, I'll kill you, and look in all the dark places."

"Fuck you."

"Wrong answer."

Despite the threat of the gun, Grimmjow fought them when they stripped him, trying to throw fists and elbows even as they yanked his coat and shirt over his arms. His bare torso scraped against the dirty pavement as he continued to struggle. They noted the bandages and someone served him a cruel kick right between his shoulder blades where the crowbar had struck him. He forced himself not to cry out but it stole his breath and they were able to get their hands under him to undo his belt.

Ichigo watched on in shock. Even after everything that had happened to him in the forsaken world he had already started to think of Grimmjow as invincible after the few days he'd spent in his company, especially combined with his reputation as the deadliest hand to hand fighter in Japan. But what he was watching right now proved that even the deadliest warrior wasn't safe on the streets, in this broken world. Even Grimmjow could be brought down by the threat of a bullet to the head and made to lay face down in the dirt.

It enraged the young man almost forgotten in the hold of two men.

Ichigo stood up, quick and sharp, catching one man in the nose with the back of his skull and driving his boot into the other man's knees. Both let go enough Ichigo slipped out of his coat. He ran straight at the gang leader. He had been watching them all, the way they held themselves, the position of their clothing—none of them had a gun, only this man.

Ichigo slid under the legs of one tall gang member and popped up right in front of the leader. Snake-face had been enjoying Grimmjow's humiliation too much to see the attack coming and so Ichigo toppled him with a knee to the face.

The gun went off.

Grimmjow cried out.

Ichigo's heart lurched, realizing his stupidity in attacking while the gun was still on Grimmjow. He couldn't assess the damage now though, he had to finish this before the others overtook him. He grabbed snake-face around the neck and drove his head back into pavement. Someone kicked Ichigo in the leg and he rolled off the leader but the man wouldn't be getting up after that. He caught one man's wrist before his dagger could connect with flesh. Ichigo twisted sharply and broke his wrist as well as freeing the weapon which he didn't hesitate before throwing back into the shoulder of another man.

A roar to his left warned another attack was coming but he saw the man to his right picking up Grimmjow's sword. Ichigo broke left, intending to down this foe before dealing with the blade but he was struck in the jaw, spun and grabbed from behind, pinning him in place so the sword could easily impale him.

"Shit." He'd made a mistake. Now it was all over.

The bang went through him as if the bullet went through his own chest. Then the thunder split the night over and over and one by one the gang members collapsed with mortal wounds.

Ichigo fell when the weight of his captor pulled him over. He struggled out of his dead grip and got back to his knees.

He met Grimmjow's eyes in the night. He was half naked and shaking. Ichigo instantly remembered the gunshot.

"Shit, Grimmjow are you hit?" He crawled over to him.

"What?" Grimmjow squinted. His shaking hands dropped the gun. The clip was empty.

"Are you hit?"

"I can't fucking hear you," Grimmjow spoke overly loud. Ichigo looked him over then grabbed his face and forced it to one side. His ear was bleeding.

"You're not hit," he sighed. "Busted your eardrum." But his relief was short lived when Grimmjow fell back on the pavement. He groaned and blinked hard.

"You have a concussion," Ichigo explained, even if Grimmjow wouldn't hear him. "They head-butted you then the shot went off. No wonder you're dizzy."

Grimmjow shut his eyes, Ichigo could tell he was trying to make the world stop spinning.

"Come on." He rolled Grimmjow onto his side in case he threw up. Then he struggled to get his clothes back on him.

Grimmjow could barely sit up when it was time to get his shirt and jacket back on. He swayed where he sat and Ichigo caught him twice before he fell back again. His equilibrium was shot. He couldn't get his balance when Ichigo put an arm under him and made him stand. He couldn't let him go or he'd fall so they walked like that, Ichigo's arm around his waist and Grimmjow's around his shoulder. It was like walking a drunk person home from a party. They staggered over the road, Girmmjow's superior weight pushing Ichigo off kilter with them.

Ichigo knew they had to stop until Grimmjow got sorted. He vainly thought of the kind chemist and how much better off they would have been if they'd spent another night on her backroom mattresses. He cursed his luck until he spotted the sloping hill. It wasn't really shelter but if they could get over the guard rail and slide down the bank they'd be out of sight at least.

When they almost face planted after another bad stumble, Ichigo knew it was their only option. He pulled them over to the side and half shouted at Grimmjow to step over the rail. He must have heard out of his good ear or at least seen what he had to do because he managed this. They fell going down the bank but at least they made it to the bottom. Once there Ichigo saw there was a bit of overhang from the concrete above so he got Grimmjow propped in there and sat next to him. The espada was breathing hard, blood coursed from his broken nose, his eyes were unfocussed.

"Fuck," he grabbed Ichigo's arms to pull himself up again. He got upright just in time to throw up. He collapsed back against Ichigo after and went completely limp.

"Fuck," Ichigo repeated the sentiment.

Grimmjow was breathing evenly. There nothing more he could do but lean back against the bank, Grimmjow passed out against his shoulder.

Thanks for the reviews! I've been busy with my summer job so my updates might be a bit sporadic.

Riza