Please note that this is a crossover between the Six of Hearts series and The Book Thief. While I don't really think that not having read the book will be an issue, it's still helpful. Just thought I should let you guys know. This is set a few minutes after the ending of Third Transmission. This is from the point of view of Death. ~ :| zuzu

Death and all its Glories: When I pick him up, this boy's soul that had escaped me hundreds of times, the sky is the color of blood and gunpowder.

I have carried tens of thousands of millions of trillions of souls in my line of work. Some of them are merely babes, not able to walk or talk or even control their movement. Some of them aren't even out of the safe confines of the womb yet. Yet some of them are so old and fragile looking that even as I hold them safe in my arms I am afraid they might go out again. But of course they can't. I carry a whole range of souls, yet I cannot remember a person who has cheated me this many times. I have seen him surrounded by carnage and injured himself, yet he had not yet come to me. I have noticed him hundreds of times when I pick up the souls strewn about him.

***SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ME***

I am not a very patient person by nature.

But who I am requires me to be.

Finally, finally, comes the day when I go to extract the soul from the body. When I pick him up, this boy's soul that has escaped me hundreds of times, the sky is the color of blood and gunpowder. The soul is heavy, and he looks up at me serenely.

"Hello," he says. "Are you here to bring me to the heavenly kingdom?"

"Yes." I say. But this is the only thing I say to him.

The boy gives a chuckle, laughing to a joke only he knows. Then he looks over to the bloody figure lying on the street, the figure that once contained his soul, and to the crying girl with the gun. For some reason, I don't carry him off. Instead, I let him lay in my arms and watch her. The two bear a slight resemblance.

He gives a sigh, and if possible he looks even more relaxed. "I forgive you, Nai." Then, "Looks like my luck finally ran out."

Nai starts to walk away. I start to leave with the boy's soul.

He touches my arm gently and looks up to me. "Just one last thing. Before you take me there. Can I see her one last time? Please?"

There is a painful desperation in his voice, and the sky pulses to emerald green and the color of sunshine. I give a nod, and start to follow the girl. I knew she would lead me to where the boy wanted to go. I follow her through the dirty streets and passageways, and the sky shifts and hums and swirls and eclipses. I know I should be collecting other souls, but I felt I should give this boy something, the one who had managed to survive the massacre that was this place. He had managed to cheat me hundreds of times throughout the years, and there was one time where I almost got him. Almost. But he managed to cheat me. This time, though, he had failed. Everyone would, in the end.

I had almost collected his brother's soul as well, but the boy had revived him. The brother has not cheated me as many times, but I have also seen him when I went to collect the souls he had set free. And I remember the souls that the boy I am carrying has personally set free, gone out from the very weapons he held. Three men, three separate times, yet the same, young teenage boy had killed them all.

I follow the girl until we reach a well-armored house. It is not as armored as the boy's I am carrying was. She stops and looks at the door, wiping away tears and drips from her nose. She does not want to go in.

"This is the place," the soul in my arms says, so I go in. Inside the small house, there is a bald man, a blond woman and the brother of the boy I am carrying now. The three are in the kitchen, the bald one and the woman at the table while the brother paces back and forth. The two at the table are both fidgeting terribly. The brother stops his pacing momentarily to look at them.

"Did he give any general time he was going to be back at?" he asks.

They shake their heads, and the man gives a "No". The brother resumes his walk.

The soul in my grip reaches out a hand to touch the woman's face. "Don't worry about me, Ace. We'll see each other again eventually." he says sadly, frowning. He genuinely doesn't want her to worry. He looks around at the others in the room. "Both of you, stop it."

The blond woman shivers and gasps when the boy touches her face. The two males look at her

in surprise.

"Are you okay?" they ask her.

She nods, but she is worried about the boy I have and shocked from the touch. "I... I thought I felt someone touch my face." she puts her fingers lightly on the spot. "Right here."

Before the men can say anything, there is a soft knocking at the door. They look up towards it, then at each other. Then the brother leaves the kitchen and opens the door. I follow him to watch, and it is the girl who was responsible for the soul I have with me now.

"Nai?" he breathes, shocked. "What are you doing here? Why are you crying?" he notices the gun. "And why the gun?"

The girl latches onto him, leaning on him as if she is not able to keep herself upright any longer. She sobs into his jacket, and he rubs her back a little. Yet he still looks slightly suspicious of her. He has right to be. She just murdered his twin. The other twin pulls her into the house and shuts the door, then brings her into the living room, where he sits her down on the couch. By now the two others are curious as to what the disturbance is, and so they have come out into the hallway and followed him into the living area. The brother is trying to ask her what's going on, but she is crying to hard to hiccup anything out.

"Who is this?" the bald man and the blond woman both want to know. "How do you know her?"

The brother sighs. "This is Nai," he says simply.

There is a pause. The only sound is the girl's heavy gasps. Then they seem to explode. "What?" "How is that possible?" and "Does she know if Six is okay?" Questions of this nature torrent from their lips, until the girl calms enough to speak.

"Six isn't okay..." she coughs. Somehow it pierces the noise. "Six won't ever be okay again. But I guess he won't ever be not okay again, either."

The blond woman frowns. "What do you mean?"

The girl takes one of those hiccupy gasp breaths one does after they've been crying. "I... Six is dead." She pauses for a long while. "I killed him."

The silence this time is devastating. I can feel the information fill the minds of the others in the room. Eventually the blond woman covers her face with her hands and lets out muffled wails. The brother steps forward and wraps his arms around her, closing his eyes and letting tears slide down. The bald man sits down heavily on the sofa, leaning forward so that his elbows rest on his knees, pressing his palms against his eyes.

The soul I have reaches out and gently starts petting the woman's hair.

"Don't cry for me," he murmurs, "none of you should cry for me. We'll be able to see each other again, although you will be older, I'll admit that." He kisses the back of her head, then looks up at me once more.

"Thank you." Is all he utters, and so I take him to the heavenly kingdom.

I know they are OOC in this, okay? But Six is also still in shock from dying, remember. Also, if you have anything you wish me to write put it in a review or PM me! I am very open to suggestions, as, for example, one of my plot ideas has alcohol induced Kyntak/Ace in it. What? might you ask? I ask myself the same thing. ~ :| zuzu