The Third Hour

Chapter 3

Something very, very wrong had just happened. The life Hilde once knew is now gone.

The car ride was filled with silent concern. The very air crackled under the intense flow of emotions. What questions where thought to be answered, where left in their place of the unknown. Nothing has changed. Nothing was gained. Nothing to do now but wait for 'them' to make the next move.

"I'm not going insane." Hilde mutters under her breath for the one-hundredth time. Relena grips the steering wheel as she tries to stay calm as her friend mutters once more. She has no right to yell at her, the poor girl is going through hell right now. Grrr, but it's so annoying to her! "I'm not going . . ."

"OK! We understand Hilde!" Her voice is a strained plea. The fears paying their toll on her.

"But I'm not! I, I'm not going insane! I'm not. I just want to know what they did! Something happened and no one is telling me anything! Why? What did they do? Who are they?"

"Darling, I wish I could answer all those for you but remember I'm in the same boat as you!" Silence once again takes over the car. Hilde takes long, deep breaths to regain her lost nerves. Her steady intake of air is the only sound for the rest of the car trip.

"I'm glad . . . I'm not a lone." Hilde reaches over to her best friend' hand, griping it. Both girls smile at each other. Well, as best as any one can in a situation like this.

"So?" Says Quatre as he watches his comrade pour himself a drink. "Did you get rid of the bodies?" The tall man stays silent as he picks up the cold glass. He relishes in its cool feel, quite the contrast to the hot blood staining his hands.

"They won't be found." He simple states, never looking at the other man.

"Please don't!" 

"Hmm, such a shame so many had to die." Quatre rubs his forehead in an attempt to release stress. "This has gotten out of control."

"Please! Spare my wife . . ."

"Hn."

"Trowa?" Quatre walks over to the silent man. "Weren't there two others with you?"

"There were."

"What happened to them?"

"Oh God! Oh God! Richard! God why?" She tries to go to her fallen husband. They stop her. They wanted some fun. He wouldn't have it.

"Trowa! You're hurt! What happened? Didn't everything go . . ."

"It went to plan. They're all dead. They will never be found." He places the cup down and walks to the bathroom to clean himself off. "I missed the guys heart. Didn't know he was still alive. He caught me off guard."

"Trowa! Things didn't go to plan! You were supposed to shoot them in the head like the others. Shoot them and then make sure . . ." Quatre never finished. Trowa's grip on his throat stops all words and the very air from escaping.

"The plan was to kill them and then make sure they were never found. I did that! How is not a concern, only if it produces the end results we want. Which my actions did!" Trowa stares at Quatre for sometime, watching the very life being crushed from him. Suddenly Trowa lets go.

"Please . . . Spare my . . ."

"Trowa, never in my life have I seen you this shaken up! What's bothering you?" Trowa has been in this business as long as he remembers. He's killed many people before, men and women. But never had he done anything like this. Quatre looks on to his friend, concern swim in his eyes. Patiently he waits for the man's response. Trowa tries to figure out if it's safe to say as he looks at the security surveillance screens. Soon after a moment Quatre looks as well. Both men stare as the silence wraps around them.

"Please. Please spare my . . ."

"She was with child." He whispers.

Trowa looked at her with fear eating at his soul. Child? God why? The woman huddles on the ground near her dead husband and the two hit men Trowa had with him. She held her torn shirt with trembling hands. Tears streamed down her dirty cheeks. She rocked back and forth softly speaking words of prayer, for her husband, herself and her unborn child. Trowa took a deep breath. He raised his gun to the back of her head. He said a silent prayer.

"May God have mercy on our souls."

Quatre would have responded but the quick glimpse of the two girls entering changed the course of his thoughts.

"They're here."

"Which one is Hilde?"

"Her. The one with the short hair." Trowa looks at her for a moment as Quatre readies himself at the phone. "You know what to do." Trowa gazes at his hands for a long time before moving on. He has a job to do. No point in saving the damned, right?

The two girls take a moment to regain their breath as they climbed the last step to their floor. Both nodding to each other that they are ready and silently agree to go to the gym more often. Come on, they live on the third floor! They took only a step before Duo's door flew opened. The braided man waves his arms wildly at them in silent protest. As Hilde was about to say something, Duo would shake his head no and wave them inside his apartment. Silently they comply.

Once inside, Duo closes the door and makes sure it's good and locked. Duo ushers them as far as away as he could from the dividing wall of their two apartments.

"What? Duo? What's going on?" Relena whispers to him. Hilde nods in agreement.

"Two men came into your room. They haven't left yet. And I heard them lock the door once inside."

"Shit! What are we going to do?" Hilde wraps her arms around herself as the other two think of a plan.

"They have to leave sometime. Right?"

Ring!

Both girls jump and cover their mouths to stifle their screams. Duo simply walks over to the phone and picks it up.

"Yo!" He smiles into the phone. "Yeah? The move went great!" Relena and Hilde relax when hearing it's just a concern friend/relative. "Well, things would be easier if I knew what the hell was going on." Duo's voice turns dark as he turns his back to them. "Sorry 'mother'! But I don't like . . ." His voice starts to fade as he enters the small kitchen. Hilde watches the phone cable being pulled to its limit. Both girls ready for impact, as the cable is about to fight back.

Snap.

"SHIT!" The phone flies from Duo's grasp but not before it smacks him in the head. Duo slips on the floor and tumbles down. The phone cable pulls the phone across the floor, moving back as much as it can to its original shape.

Quatre and Trowa, being on the second floor, hear the thump and shuffling of feet. Quatre picks up the phone and starts to dial. Trowa cracks his knuckles as he heads for the third floor.

"Duo!"

"Duo?"

Relena and Hilde rush to the kitchen to see Duo and his broken pride. His face is red with embarrassment. Damn, there goes his chance for being Mr. Smooth.

"I'm fine! I'm just going to take a little nap on my nice, cold, hard kitchen floor. Yeah." Hilde laughs as she kneels down to him. Slowly she brushes his hair from his eyes. Duo smiles back at her as he tries to think of something to say. Something to regain is dignity.

"Who where you talking to?" Hilde says as she continues to play with his hair. Relena picks up the forgotten phone. As she was about to hang up she hears a man's voice.

"Hello?"

"My mother." He shyly says. "She was just checking up on me."

"Who the hell is this?" Relena listens to the man on the other line. She looks at Duo as he explains to Hilde about his mother calling. Slowly she hangs up the phone. They have to get out of here.

"Hilde . . ." Her words are cut short at the sound of sirens. They seem to stop right outside the window. Relena walks over to investigate as Hilde stays with Duo on the floor.

"Relena? What is it?"

"The police, lots of them! They're coming in!" Hilde gets up off the floor as well as Duo. Well, not as quickly as her. They all move to the door but as they came they heard heavy footsteps rush up the stairs and bust down a door on their floor. Hilde's and Relena's door in fact. Duo stops them from leaving as he gives warning with his violet eyes. Yells and fighting can be heard as the police raid their room. Soon gun shots and screams from the neighbors who took witness to the fight.

"Ms. Hilde?!" Came Quatre's voice. "Ms. Relena? Dear God what happened?" Confused as well, the group moves to the door. Duo makes sure he's the one opening.

"What's going on?" Duo says with a stern voice. Quatre turns to Duo with shock. An even greater shock took over as he saw the two girls behind him.

"Ms. Hilde!" He rushes past Duo and hugs the girl. "Your all right! I heard fighting up stairs and called the police! They found two guys in your apartment!"

"But we got them. There is nothing to worry about." A new man walked up to them. He was tall and very handsome. He wore a suit and held a badge up for them. "Names Hero. I'm a detective." Both girls nod as his intense eyes bore into them. Hero turns his eyes to Duo and the two exchange a silent greeting.

"Oh dear, how do you think they came in?" Quatre watches the police drag out two body bags.

"Through the window. It was broken when we came in. They didn't move anything, which is odd. In fact." Hero puts his badge away. "We found them just sitting on the coach. Are you ladies in any trouble?"

"Well, if you had listen to me before I would have told you!" Relena crosses her arms over her chest as she glares at Hero. He makes no response.

"What?" Says Duo and Hilde.

"Hn. You shouldn't stay here. Go to a friends house." Hero, having brushed Relena off, pulls out a card. "Here. It has my number on it. Call me if anything happens. Plus, call me when you get to your friends. I want to be able to reach you. Got it?" His request came more as an order. Too quickly he turned to leave, avoiding any questions that may be asked. An eerie silence takes over as the police leave.

"So? I guess we can't go back?" Says Hilde.

"Hey, you girls can stay here!" Says Duo as Quatre nods in agreement.

"No. I have a better idea. Come one Hilde." Hilde, confused at her friend's actions, slowly follows. Duo and Quatre can only stare, knowing any other action could raise suspicion.

"Relena?" Hilde finally speaks as they walk to her car. "What was that all about?" Relena is about to answer when she bumped into someone. A large brown box is knocked to the floor, spilling its contents. Relena says a quick sorry and bends down to help. Yet, dark green eyes stop her actions.

"Don't worry. I wasn't looking."

"I'm still sorry, I wasn't looking either." A few seconds later the three, Hilde helped as well, cleaned up the mess. "You moving in?"

"Yes but maybe no. I just saw the police pull out two body bags from this place."

"Oh. This doesn't happen all the time." Hilde states with a smile. "Names Hilde. This is my roommate Relena."

"I'm Trowa."

"What floor are you moving to?" Asks Relena.

"The third." Both girls pale. Another new neighbor? Can he be trusted? Not wanting to stay any longer they smile and say a quick good bye. Trowa watches them leave, a little unnerved that Hilde's roommate still lives. Oh well. He turns to see Quatre walking down the stairs.

"We have a slight problem." His voice was dark and cruel. "I want you to find out who this Duo Maxwell is."

"What about the girls?"

"Don't worry about them. I'll handle it." Trowa nods as he continues up the stairs. Slowly a plan forms in his head as he takes a step closer to the third floor. Closer to where Duo Maxwell lies.