A/N I have three endings written for this. This one is the "bad" ending, the one that I wanted to write just because, as Harry Potter HBP proved, sometimes the end isn't always happy, and sometimes people have to die in it, and well, I figured I might as well get the worst of the three out of the way. If you want things to come out happy and OK, I suggest you wait and skip this one, the other two will be out soon enough.
The whole area was gripped by a sudden silence. Time seemed to grind to a halt as the bitter realization of what happened gripped everyone there. There was a full minute where no one moved, no one spoke, things ground to a complete halt as what had just happened hit every single person there. It was a shrill laugh that brought everyone back to reality and in an instant there were ten guns all aimed at one man's head.
The gun he was holding fell to the floor. "No, I couldn't kill her now, even if I wanted to, her White Knight gave himself up for her, any romantic wouldn't kill someone after that, after someone makes the ultimate sacrifice for them." He laughed shrilly again as they took him away, locked his hands behind his back, and lead him off to the squad car.
No one wanted to near the woman sitting there, stunned into silence, everyone there who knew her knew that for her to be absolutely silent as she was that something was very very wrong. She was completely oblivious to the world around her, to the blood soaking through her clothing, to everything.
Finally one of the many stepped forward, and offered her hand to the woman, who took it, getting up, and the two walked outside into the pouring rain. The woman watched as the rain washed some of the blood from her clothes and as she watched the pink water wash down to the gutter she let out a violent sob, and the detective next to her simply let her cry, failing to hold back her own tears.
No one wanted to do what had to be done. No one wanted to make the call, no wanted to go near the body left lying there. Eventually one of the officers retreated back to his car, to place the call that would bring out the four left behind in all this, the four that hadn't been expecting it at all.
They arrived with grim silence, all of them, in the black van, meaning to just do their job, do what they had done to countless other people, they had done it so often they had learned to look past everything. But this time, they couldn't. They couldn't lift the body onto the stretcher, they couldn't stick it into the dark bag, couldn't zipper him away, couldn't do what they had done to so many others.
All that they were thinking were that it could have been them lying there. But it wasn't, it was him, it was the one who acted like he was a right bastard but who everyone knew had a heart of gold. The one that they had all loved and respected was now just another part of their job, the one that had taught them everything that they knew was now someone that they were using their expertise on.
It felt surreal, as if it shouldn't be happening. Everyone there moved with an ethereal quality about them, in a trance like state, doing what had to be done because it had to be done, not because they wanted to do it. They loaded the body onto a stretcher, and one of them started to zipper the bag, but couldn't, he got as far as the chest and stopped.
The wheeled the stretcher back to the van, and they all piled in, including the woman who was now drenched. She sat there, holding the limp hand, tears falling down her face, consoling arms wrapped around her, as the five of them all came to grips with what just happened.
They wheeled the stretcher back out and into the elevator, taking it up the nine floors before leaving it alone, leaving it for a lab tech, someone who wasn't quite as personally involved to take care of all that was left, the one thing that none of them could possibly do themselves.
And anyone who had walked by those glass double doors would have seen the woman sitting there, one cold, lifeless hand in hers plant a gentle kiss to the body's lips before zipping the bag over its head, and walking out, on the outside portraying strength but anyone who looked into those golden colored eyes would see nothing but pain and anguish.