AN

Well this is it, guys! The big climatic chapter with the final showdown. After this there will be a cute and sappy epilogue.

Disclaimer-I own nothing.

No Escape

Chapter 38

Ichigo was seething, boiling over with the kind of rage and desperation he'd felt the night he'd killed Aizen, but it didn't do him any good. He couldn't move. Couldn't even blink.

Whatever Renji had sprayed him with was fast, potent stuff. If he didn't find a way to throw off the effects, they were all dead.

He heard Rukia's muffled scream from across the room. Renji had her tied to a chair. Blood ran down the side of her face, mixing with panicked tears. And her eyes, they were wide with terror and anguish.

Renji had hurt her, and Ichigo was going to kill him for it.

Ichigo tamped down the urge and tried to concentrate on what he needed to do to save her and the others. He took a quick survey of his body, trying to move anything. All he got was a tiny wiggle in his toes. Not much, but something. He had no idea how long this stuff lasted, or if it was permanent.

Panic made his heart pound. What if he wasn't able to help them? What if he had to watch them die?

Get a grip! Focus!

At least his heart was still working. Whatever had paralyzed him could have done so to his heart muscle and diaphragm, as well. He could still breathe. That was something.

Renji grabbed him by the arm and dragged him over the floor. "Why do you have to make things so hard on me?"

Ichigo's foot twitched. He moved it again, just to be sure it wasn't an accident. It moved.

Excitement raced through him. He was metabolizing the paralytic quickly. Maybe if he revved up his heart rate to speed his metabolism it would help. He could slow his heart when he needed to take a shot. Maybe he could do the opposite now.

Renji arranged Ichigo's body so he could see the room. "Stay right here. I'll be back for you in a minute as soon as Rukia finishes taking her medicine."

Kon struggled to rid himself of the ropes and bits of broken chair that were taped to his legs. Renji was hardly paying him any attention. He walked by, backhanded Kon in the face, and the boy went down hard without so much as a twitch.

A splinter of wood cut Kon's face, and blood oozed into the carpet.

Rage took over. Ichigo let it. He gave into the feeling and let it consume him. His heart hammered in his chest, and sweat beaded up on his skin. He was going to kill Renji. He'd spilled a child's blood. He'd hurt Rukia. No one hurt his Rukia!

Renji set the spray can down, picked up her chair, and moved it away from the wall. He inspected her head with gentle fingers. "You shouldn't have done that. I hate seeing you bleed."

He ripped the tape from Rukia's mouth, and she screamed loud enough to wake the dead. "HELP!"

Renji clamped a hand hard over her mouth. "Shut up, or I'll shoot Kon in the head right now. Understand."

Rukia went silent.

A buzzing sensation lightened Ichigo's limbs. He could move his arms now, though he was careful not to let Renji see. Another minute or two and maybe he'd be able to sit up.

Renji poured pills into his hand and pressed them into Rukia's mouth. "We're running out of time. Swallow faster."

"Please don't make me do this," begged Rukia around the pills.

Renji smoothed her hair away from her sweaty face. "It'll be okay. You'll see. Just a few more and everything will be okay."

"You're crazy! I don't want to die," she sobbed.

"You're just afraid." Renji's soothing caress over her hair made Ichigo want to break his fingers one by one.

"Of course I'm afraid! You're killing the people I love!"

Renji's face twisted, and his brown eyes glowed bright. He grabbed her hair in his fist and leaned down close to her face. His voice was harsh and biting. "Not 'killing'. Helping. I would never kill anyone. Say it."

Rukia clamped her lips together.

Renji jerked her head back. "Say it!"

She said nothing.

Renji let her go, walked over to Natsuki, and put the gun against her temple. "Say it."

Ichigo couldn't wait any longer. He felt heavy and weak, but at least he could move. He surged up from the floor and tackled Renji. They went down in a clumsy sprawl of arms and legs, but at least the weapon was no longer pointed at Natsuki.

A gunshot blasted through the room. Ichigo felt no pain, which didn't mean anything, but he also didn't feel the force of the bullet, which meant he either hadn't been hit or had just been grazed. Either way, he was still moving, and he shoved forward, slamming Renji to the ground.

Renji punched Ichigo in the jaw, making his head snap to the side. He was a strong motherfucker. Stronger than Ichigo had guessed.

Ichigo grabbed the hand with the weapon, keeping it pointed away from the others. Renji hit him in the head again, and this time, he didn't bounce back so well. His body still wasn't working right, and every move was slower and weaker than normal. Renji twisted his body and pinned Ichigo to the ground. Ichigo had to use both hands to keep Renji from shooting him. Unfortunately, that left Renji a free hand to lock around Ichigo's throat.

Renji squeezed, blocking off his air.

Ichigo twisted his arm, trying to pry the gun away. He was getting weaker by the second without any oxygen. He felt like a fish out of water, clumsy and flopping around on the ground.

Behind Renji, Kon's fish tank bubbled merrily, its occupants blissfully unaware that if the gun went off, their world would be shattered. Literally.

Which was a good idea. Fifty gallons of water was freaking heavy.

Ichigo lifted his leg and caught his foot in a decorative curl of the iron stand. He pulled, but it was too heavy. Nothing happened. He pulled harder.

Fireworks went off inside his eyeballs. He was running out of air and time. If he didn't do this, Renji would live and Rukia and the kids would be murdered.

No fucking way was Ichigo going to let that happen.

He let his rage fuel his strength and pulled, using every bit of power he had left. The aquarium tilted. He pulled more. It tilted farther, then fell in slow motion, crashing over Renji's back.

The weight was staggering-glass shattered and water spewed everywhere, drenching them.

Renji let go of Ichigo's neck. Ichigo shook his head so he could get a breath of air and not water. As soon as he sucked in his first breath, he shoved Renji's groaning body off of his and looked for the gun. It had been washed away and lay on the floor near Natsuki's chair.

Ichigo's body felt heavy and weak, but he pushed to his feet. He had to take care of securing Renji before he could go to Rukia.

Kon was already up and working on freeing Rukia. Ichigo held out his hand to Kon. "Tape."

Rukia's voice was shaky. Strained. "Help Natsuki and Momo first. Please."

Kon grabbed the roll of duct tape and tossed it to Ichigo. He made quick work of securing Renji so the fucker had no chance of getting free. He had plenty of nasty cuts over his back, but Ichigo couldn't bring himself to care enough to stop the bleeding.

"You okay?" he asked Kon.

He cut one of the ropes holding Natsuki to her chair. "Yeah."

"Thought he knocked you out."

"I'm good at faking it. I wasn't any fun for Yammy to hit once I went down," said Kon. "Guess it was good I had the practice, huh?"

Ichigo had no idea what to say to that. Poor kid. But he'd be here for them to talk about it later. He'd help Kon work through things. Ichigo wasn't going anywhere.

He picked up the gun as he passed it, checked the safety, and shoved it into his jeans.

Now, finally, he could go to Rukia.

"How are you, Love?" he asked her.

"Just get me loose."

Kon had cut away the remaining ropes and tape but didn't have a key for the handcuffs. "Did you see a key?" he asked her.

Rukia shook her head. She didn't look good. "I need to throw up. Help me to the bathroom."

"Renji fed her a bunch of pills," said Kon. "Like fifty."

"Less than that," she said. "I counted thirty-eight."

Ichigo had to make a conscious effort not to panic at that news. No time for a bathroom. There were dying fish all over the floor, anyway. It's not like the carpet was going to be saved.

Her hands were bound, so he used his fingers to gag her and made her throw up. The pills were all still mostly intact, which had to be a good thing. He counted thirty-five.

Rukia shook in his arms, and he couldn't stand to let her go. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, but the fight or the water had killed it. "I'm going to call for help. Just hold on, okay?"

"I'll do it," offered Kon.

"Is Momo alive?" asked Rukia.

Ichigo glanced at her. She was lying on the floor, but she was breathing. "Yes."

"How's Natsuki?"

She hadn't moved. Kon had freed her, but she still sat there, staring into space. "She's not hurt. How are you?" asked Ichigo.

"I'm fine. Just rattled," said Rukia. "I'd really like to be out of these handcuffs, though. Think you can find a key?"

"Anything for you, Love." Ichigo went to Renji and found his keys in his pants pocket. A handcuff key dangled there next to his car keys.

Ichigo unlocked them, but one of her arms didn't move.

She sucked in a sharp breath. "I think I dislocated my shoulder or something."

That hurt like hell, he knew for a fact. "Just sit tight and the ambulance will be here in a minute."

"I'm really sick of ambulances," she said.

"This is the very last one. Promise."

"God willing." She sounded so tired. That wasn't good.

"I'm going to make sure of it," he said. "I'm sticking around, Rukia."

"I admit I could probably use the help for a few days. Besides, you broke the fish tank. The least you can do is clean it up." She gave him a weak smile.

Ichigo kissed her head, being careful not to hurt her. "I mean I'm staying. For good. I want a chance to make things work between us. I love you too much to walk away."

She looked up at him. Her eyes were red and puffy and the most beautiful shade of violet he'd ever seen. He'd never get tired of looking at her. "You love me?"

"I do."

"I love you, too," she said.

Ichigo's soul sang out the Hallelujah Chorus. A sappy smile filled his face, and all his strength came flooding back. He felt invincible. "Enough to take a risk I might screw things up?"

"You won't. I believe in you. I always have."

"I want to do this right. Give you what you want. Be a good husband. A good father. I don't know if I'll be good enough, but I want to try."

Rukia gave him a disbelieving stare. "The police are on their way. Again. You were nearly killed today. Twice. We have a catatonic child and a mourning teen to deal with, not to mention an unconscious woman with a bullet wound. Oh, and let's not forget the raving, murderous lunatic who wanted to help us all by killing us! You're sitting in a room full of dead fish and vomit and you haven't run away yet. I'd say you pass!"

"But I did leave," he reminded her.

"Only because I asked you to. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry."

Ichigo shook his head. "I'm glad you did. It helped me realize I wasn't like my dad. I don't run away when things get tough."

Rukia looked around the destroyed room. "No. You don't. Hopefully in the future, we won't ever have to deal with anything so exciting."

"Boring would be nice, wouldn't it?"

"Heaven," sighed Rukia.

AN

Look out for the Epilogue tomorrow! Review please!