AN

You guys continue to make my day with your reviews. You also have very wonderful ideas and some of you even have the correct assumptions, though I can't say who or else it might ruin it for you. And HaloBeast, if you remember, Ichigo does in fact carry a gun in the trunk of his car secured in a lockbox. Anyway, on with the story!

Disclaimer-I own nothing.

No Escape

Chapter 32

Ichigo was good at not being seen, and with all the excitement and people milling around, no one noticed him carrying his duffel bag away from the scene. He slipped silently over a fence, being careful to avoid the yards with dogs in them. The last thing he wanted was to have any attention called to him now.

Yammy wasn't going to stop, so Ichigo was going to stop him. The life of a little girl was at stake, not to mention Rukia's and Kon's lives. He was willing to take the risk in exchange for being sure the job was done right, because although the police had procedures and protocol to follow, Ichigo didn't. He might go down for killing the bastard, but prison would be easier than trying to live with himself if he stood by and did nothing.

He found a vantage point in a rotting tree house that had probably gone so long without use it had been forgotten. The structure was sound enough to support his weight and had the added advantage of a straight line of sight into Momo's back windows.

Ichigo loaded his rifle and peered through the scope. Six armed men in black stood waiting outside the back door for the signal to move in. One more was stationed farther back-a sharpshooter. He figured there was at least one more sniper out there, but he couldn't see him. That was a good sign.

The blinds were mostly shut, but Ichigo could see movement behind the windows, too big to be Natsuki. He settled himself and let the world fall away. Nothing mattered but his target. There was no rush. No pressure. Just the feel of the rifle in his capable hands and his breath moving in and out of his lungs.

Sooner or later, he'd get a clean shot. And when he did, he was taking it.

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Yammy paced the room. This was so messed up. They said they'd send Kon in five minutes ago, but he still hadn't come. What was taking so long?

He hit redial. The man who called himself Detective Kira answered. "Everything okay in there?" he asked.

"Fucking great. Where's Kon?"

"We're getting him into a vest right now."

"I'm not going to shoot him."

"It's just a precaution. Standard procedure."

Sweat rolled down Yammy's back. They were stalling. He could feel it in his bones. The question was, what for?

A sick, greasy dread filled him up. They were moving in to take him down. He had to get out of here. Now.

Yammy hung up the phone and grabbed the little girl from where she was huddled over her mother's corpse, bawling. He picked her up and held her in front of his chest to keep the cops from shooting him.

But where to go?

The phone rang, but he ignored it. The time for talk was over. His only chance now was to get out of here and try to make the trade later.

His car was parked a block over, behind the house. He'd sneaked in through the yard, thinking he'd be less visible that way. Maybe he could get out the same way.

Yammy peered through the blinds. The brat kicked and fought against his grip, so he squeezed her until she yelped with pain and settled down.

Outside, he could see at least two or three guys. They were waiting for him to come out. Even so, it still beat facing the twenty or thirty cops out front.

And he did have the girl to shield him. No way would the cops fire at him while he was holding a little girl.

As far as he could tell, it was his only chance, and he'd better take it while he could. He had no idea of what they were planning to do with him, but he doubted it would be good.

With his pistol in one hand and Natsuki plastered against his chest, he kicked open the back door and eased out into the dark.

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Ichigo saw Yammy peer through the slats in the blinds, but Ichigo couldn't see Natsuki, and he wasn't taking any chances.

There was plenty of time to think. No rush.

The cold sweat sliding over his ribs proved him a liar. This was not the same as taking out a target-killing a man he'd been ordered to kill, or one who was prepared to shoot back at him and his friends.

This was his call. His decision.

"You can't do it, Ichigo," came Rukia's gentle voice from below the tree house.

Surprise rippled through him, making his muscles tense.

"You shouldn't be here. Go back to Kon."

"You can't do this," said Rukia.

"I have to. Natsuki isn't safe."

"Let the police deal with it."

"Because they've done such a great job so far? No. I know what I'm doing."

Her voice was pitched high with desperation. "Do you?"

He heard a scrapping sound as she climbed up to the tree house and peered over the edge. "So you're okay with killing a man?"

"Won't be the first time. You know that."

"This is different. You're playing judge, jury, and executioner, and you have no right!"

"No, I'm killing a man before he can hurt the people I care about!"

"What about Kon? Do you care about him?"

Ichigo's jaw ached from clenching it too hard. "You know I do."

"How do you think he'll feel when you tell him you killed his father?"

Ichigo hadn't stopped to think about it. He was reacting to a threat with the most effective means he knew how.

"Or were you just planning on not telling him anything? Pretend it didn't happen? Do you think you could ever look him in the eye again without thinking about how you killed his father?"

Ichigo hesitated. His finger vibrated against the trigger. "Yammy deserves to die."

"Yes, but you don't deserve having to tell a boy you murdered his father. You don't deserve to spend the rest of your life in prison."

Ichigo hated it that she was right. Prison he could probably learn to handle, but Kon looking at him with hatred in his eyes? That he'd never survive.

Ichigo pulled in a breath and flicked on the weapon's safety.

A gunshot rang out, and Ichigo located Yammy through the rifle's scope. The back of Yammy's head exploded at the same instant a hole appeared in his skull. Two more shots rang out-likely one from each sniper. Yammy fell to the ground, landing on top of Natsuki.

Armed men swarmed over the body, but Ichigo didn't stick around long enough to watch.

"Time to go," he told Rukia.

"Did you...?"

"No. It wasn't me, and I don't want them to think it was. Come on."

A few quick, efficient movements later, Ichigo had his riffle back in the duffel bag. He eased out of the tree house and walked casually toward Momo's place with Rukia at his side. Nearly everyone was behind the house where all the action was. He veered well around them, keeping out of sight.

There wasn't a single policeman near his car when he stowed his weapon, and he and Rukia went to find Natsuki.

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As soon as she entered her line of sight, Rukia ran past all of the policeman and scooped the little girl up in her arms. She hugged her tenderly to her chest, her tears staining her hair. "Oh Tsuki, I'm so glad your okay!"

The little girl remained silent, but wrapped her own tiny arms around Rukia. Once Natsuki was set back on her feet, she shut down. Rukia held her hand while the paramedics readied her for transport. She was listless and unresponsive. The only sign she gave that she was still with them was a constant stream of tears down her cheeks. Rukia gently wiped them away, but Natsuki didn't flinch, even though the bruise on her face had to hurt.

"Can I come with her?" she asked the paramedic.

"Are you family?"

"No."

"I'm sorry. An officer will ride with her, though."

"But her mother was killed! She doesn't have anyone else!"

"No, miss. The woman inside isn't dead. They're working on her now."

Rukia's heart gave a hard kick. "Are you sure? We were told she died."

"She's alive, though just barely."

Rukia clutched Natsuki's hand, trying to convey to her some sense of hope. "You hear that, sweetie? Your mom is alive. They're helping her right now." If she heard it, she didn't acknowledge it.

The paramedic checked his watch and made a notation. "You should go now. We're ready to transport her."

"I'll meet you at the hospital, Natsuki. Don't worry. I'll be there." Rukia didn't know what else to say. It's not like she could tell the girl everything was going to be okay. She knew better than to offer an empty promise like that. Natsuki's life had been irrevocably altered tonight, and it was going to be a long, slow recovery process-and that was assuming Momo would live through this to offer her support.

Momo. Rukia needed to go to her, too. She needed to see for herself that her friend was alive and do whatever she could to help her stay that way.

"Be strong," she told Natsuki as she leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I'll see you soon."

Rukia climbed down from the ambulance on weak legs. She felt like her whole world had been ripped apart and she couldn't find the pieces to put it back together. Everything was too big. Too heavy. Even standing was a chore.

How was she going to find the strength to support Natsuki through this? And poor Momo. If she lived, God willing, her life would be turned upside-down. She'd have even more to face, and the woman was barely holding it together as it was.

Rukia stood there as the ambulance rolled away. She felt like a total failure. She should have found a way to prevent this from happening. She should have made sure Momo had really left town. She knew what a strain that was going to be on her finances not to be able to work. Why hadn't she predicted something like this could happen?

She didn't have time to dwell on her mistakes now. She had to focus on not making any more. She had to check on Momo, then get to the hospital and be there for Natsuki.

Rukia turned to take a step toward the car, and her body wouldn't move. She was frozen on the spot, trembling with fatigue.

That stupid poison was still mucking up her system, making her weak. She hated being weak! And she couldn't be weak right now. She had too much to do.

Warm, strong hands settled on her shoulders, and she flinched before realizing it was Ichigo. He didn't say anything, just pulled her against his body and held her for a moment.

Police scurried around them. Lights flashed. Sirens screamed as more police arrived on the scene and the ambulance left. Paramedics wheeled Momo's motionless body out of the house and raced her toward a second ambulance. Kon spoke to Kira, standing a few feet away, his body tight with rage and grief. He'd just lost his father, and found out the man was a killer. She needed to be there for him, too.

All of this had happened because Rukia hadn't done the right thing. She hadn't steered the police toward Yammy. She hadn't even thought he was that much of a threat. She'd never imagined he'd try to hurt the people she grew up with.

"It doesn't make any sense," she said.

"Something like this never does," said Ichigo.

"It's over now, though. Right?" She thought she knew the answer to her question, but something wasn't sitting right with her. Rukia couldn't explain for the life of her why she felt like she was missing something.

Ichigo was quiet for a too-long moment before responding. "The rest won't be easy, but at least the killing is over."

It sounded almost like he was talking about something else, but she had no idea what it might be. Nothing even came close to being as big as the events they'd gone through in the past twenty-four hours.

She couldn't just stand here. People needed her. And yet she wasn't sure she was physically strong enough to walk across the street to where they were loading Momo.

Rukia forced herself to leave Ichigo's embrace and take a shaky step. Then another. Ichigo's arm came around her, supporting her. "You should be in bed yourself," he told her.

"Just don't," she snapped. "Either help me or leave me be. I can't fight you, too."

Ichigo sighed but did as she asked and took her arm. The paramedic was just closing the back door of the ambulance when they got there.

"Is she going to be okay?" asked Rukia.

"We don't know yet." The older man shut the door, and the rig sped off much faster than Natsuki's had.

"I'll drive you to the hospital," offered Ichigo. "I'd rather you be there than anywhere else right now."

"I'm fine," she assured him. "Just a little weak. I need to be with Kon."

Ichigo spared a quick glance Kon's way. "Let me do that. He's going to be angry, and that will only hurt you."

"I deserve it. I should have seen this coming."

"Bullshit," snapped Ichigo. "This isn't the kind of thing you can predict. There's no use in sparing what little strength you have left on guilt. You need to be strong for him. Let him know that you're not going away, too."

"I'd never leave him!"

"It's going to take him a while to believe that." It was the voice of experience talking, and her heart broke for the boy he used to be. Alone, abandoned, and afraid.

She pressed her hand to his chest and nodded. He felt so strong under her fingers. Invincible. She could only hope that Kon would grow up to be as good and strong a man as Ichigo.

"I'm going to start convincing him now," she said. "He needs to know I'm here for him."

Rukia went to Kon, not caring that she was interrupting his conversation with Detective Kira. She pulled him into her arms, reaching up to hug him. She held on tight and whispered in his ear, "You and I are going to get through this together, okay?"

"I'm fine," Kon told her, anger ringing in his voice. "I'm glad he's dead."

Ichigo pulled Kira aside and gave them a moment of privacy.

She didn't chastise him for his statement. How could she when she was also glad Yammy was dead. He was bad for Kon. He'd terrorized and killed people she cared about. She was relieved he was no longer able to hurt them.

"It's just you and me now."

Kon's arms tightened slightly around her. His voice was small, uncertain. "And Ichigo, right?"

Rukia stifled a sob of heartbreak so Kon wouldn't feel it. She had to be strong for him and not think about herself. "For a while. He'll have to leave soon to start his job."

Kon nodded. "Sure. Whatever."

He didn't want Ichigo to leave. Maybe he was already seeing Ichigo as a father figure-someone to replace Yammy.

Rukia realized in that moment that she could give him every ounce of strength she had, every sliver of patience and understanding, every second of her free time, and it would never be enough. No matter what she did or how hard she tried, she could never fill that gaping hole losing his father had caused. No one could.

The future stretched out ahead of her, ugly and bleak, like the gaping maw of some demonic monster. She couldn't keep doing this-couldn't face the pain of more children like Kon. It was tearing her apart to see him hurt. How could she ever have thought she was strong enough to do this?

Her plans for a happy home filled with smiling faces crumbled. The future she'd hoped for didn't exist. She'd been a fool to think it did. Everything she'd dreamed of was hopeless. Every sacrifice she'd made was a foolish, vain waste of time. Happy endings weren't real.

Rukia was going to break down into a soggy mess of tears. She needed to get away from Kon before she did it. He didn't need to see her break down, too.

She pulled away and turned so he couldn't see her face. "Ichigo's driving me to the hospital. I'm going to wait for him in the car."

"Give me a minute to finish up with the detective and I'll go with you." His voice was calm. Too steady for a boy who'd just lost his father. That wasn't a good sign. Kon had a long, rough road ahead of him.

She nodded and walked away as fast as she could.

AN

Happy Easter, and spring break and please review!