Author's Note: Okay, I'm sorry for the serious delay in updating. I blame the lack of my writing on a little issue I'd like to call 'school.' At any rate, through the coercion of my sister I'm back with another chapter which I hope you'd take five minutes and peruse. As always, this chapter's dark, but things might be looking up for our young protagonist soon. Lastly, I'd like to extend my sincerest gratitude towards all those who reviewed: Dream Angel, mama-sama, Mint, ZephyrHills, and Lady Imbri. You guys are the best.

Disclaimer: Same old, same old. Just do me a favor and continue reading.

Chapter 5: Six Feet Under

We all gathered around her, too horrified to move towards her and too fascinated with the whole state of affairs to shrink away. So we stood. Watched. And we waited for the wound in her temple to contract, the blood to slip back inside, and for our young diplomat to wake up. Unfortunately, that's not the way life works. In a sense, we were as dead as Relena.

And yet, amidst all the chaos, all I could think about was how quiet the room had become.

Heero silently picked up the gun beside him and turned it over in his hand, gazing at the bloodied barrel. Then, just as calmly, he placed the weapon at the side of his own head, his finger firmly placed over the trigger. He probably would have shot himself too, had it not been for my Duo knocking him down and flinging the gun under the bed and out of sight. Heero lay motionless next to Relena, his wide eyes staring up at Duo, who was trembling violently, propping himself up on shaky arms on either side of Heero's body.

Relena's death was a messy one. Her right temple had been shot in, the pale skin now gray and torn inward. The blood outpour had gradually decreased to a trickle from the black hole, the puddle beside her extended to meet Heero's arm. The police would be here tomorrow morning. That gave us twenty-four hours to clean up the mess and come up with a sound alibi.

We didn't have enough time. We were as dead as Relena.

I felt nauseous and pushed myself back against the doorjamb, taking deep breaths in hopes that I could slow the blood rushing to my brain. Duo had shrunk away from Heero, fighting back tears that brimmed in the corners of his eyes. Heero still looked dumbfounded as he softly brushed away the loose strands of hair from Relena's face and arranged her hands to clasp together on her chest. Relena's once gentle blue eyes stared vacantly at the ceiling until Heero closed them.

"Well this definitely is something you don't see everyday," Duo whispered, his eyes fixed on Heero. "If you were so bored Heero, you could have just said something instead of fucking everything up and killing the princess."

"If we get the body out of here now, we'll be fine." Heero was ignoring Duo, making the braided pilot all the more infuriated.

"What are you talking about 'if we get the body out of here'? Heero, do you know what you just did? You-you just killed her! Relena's dead now because of you. She isn't an OZ pilot, we aren't in war, and because of this you can't go shooting your gun whenever you damn well feel like it. We're - oh God, Heero, just look at her!"

"I know what I did." Heero's voice was faint and forced. I realized he couldn't cry even if he wanted to. War desensitizes some that way. "I know. You don't have to remind me."

I finally found my voice. "What are we going to do now?"

Heero spoke, his fingers still caressing Relena's cheek. "Duo can hide the gun. You'll clean the room. And I'll find a place to rest Relena."

He was the first to leave, cradling Relena in his arms with such tender care that it seemed impossible that he could have fired a bullet into her skull only a few minutes ago. But he did and here I was with the bloody consequences staring back at me. Duo stood on the other side of the room, trying to remove Heero's fingerprints on the gun handle. He wouldn't look at me.

"She's dead... just like that - boom, and she's gone." Duo laughed bitterly, flashing me a rueful smile. "I bet you didn't think your day would turn out like this, now did you?"

"No, I hadn't planned on someone dying in our bedroom. If I had, I would have beat Heero to the gun."

"Come on, babe. We'll get through this. We always have." And with that, he crossed the room and shut the door behind him, but not before placing a gentle kiss on my forehead.

I turned back to the mess before me. I was almost willing to face reality. Almost.

I fetched a bucket and sponge from the bathroom, allowing my tears to mix with the soap suds I rubbed in the carpet.

* * *

I couldn't remove the stain. I had scrubbed the carpet so rigorously the sponge began to disintegrate in my clutched fist, but I kept rubbing. And yet the stain remained, a faded ghost in place of the liquid original. The others were more successful than me, but even they had faced difficulty in completing their tasks. After all, it's easy to discover missing objects when upturned earth's involved. We had two holes in our backyard and a blood stain on our carpet.

Death was beginning to seem like a relief for me.

"Now what?" I asked. Duo looked at me blankly and shrugged. Heero stared down at the carpet stain.

"They won't believe us," Duo said finally. "I mean, all it takes is five minutes for someone to realize something's up. One quick look around the yard... we're screwed no matter how good our alibi is."

Heero answered. "Then we leave."

Duo spun around to face Heero. "What are you talking about! Leaving? Don't you realize then that we'll be confirmed as the guilty party?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"We could come up with a story. Discuss it between us, memorize the facts. Just anything but run away."

The two looked to me. Quarreling would get them nowhere. I didn't know if I could do them much better. But I dutifully rose and took my place at center stage, taking note to avoid the wet spot on the floor. Oddly enough, I had no opinion on the issue. Stay or go, we'd still get caught. It was only a matter of time. But when glancing over at Duo, seeing his bright eyes, soft lips, and the thick tail of a braid, now wrung tightly around his wrist; I knew I could not part with him. Not yet.

"I agree with Heero. Let's get packed and go."

Duo stared at me incredulously, but said nothing. After a moment, he shuffled out of the room. Heero soon followed. Out in the hallway I observed Duo link his arm around Heero's shoulder. God only knew where the two of them were headed. I felt the nausea from earlier return and I retreated back to the bedroom. Maybe we should have stayed. Losing Duo for a time would be better than allowing Heero to have him forever. We already witnessed one loss too many.

After seeing Heero's delicate treatment of Relena, I began to question exactly what went on in the bedroom this morning. In truth she wouldn't have even come had I not called Relena the previous night. Her death was my fault. I was a murderer.

The room was deathly quiet. I should have been packing a suitcase, but all I could do was wonder what Duo would think had he known the whole truth.

From downstairs, I heard the sound of laughter.