Hiding Scars

Chapter 20

A/N: I've caught up with what I had written. Possibly one chapter + epilogue or just a long epilogue left to go! :-)

When Heero finished telling Wufei what he'd seen happen on Relena's lawn, he looked around at the area. The whole area was chaotic. There were media vans parked everywhere, several more police cruisers had arrived, along with another ambulance. Relena's neighbors were coming to their front doors and were watching the chaos. Heero looked around, but couldn't find Relena anywhere. Heero pulls his phone from his pocket and dials Duo's number.

"Heero, what the heck are you doing up so early?" Duo asked. "Why are you calling me?"

"Munn escaped and went to Relena's house. He's dead."

"Munn is dead? Who...?"

"The dog."

"What?" Duo paused, but Heero had nothing else to say. "I'll wake everyone and we'll be over in a few." Duo hung up the phone, and Heero replaced his own phone in his pocket. Wufei and Sally approached him. Sally looked as if she tried to clean up some of the blood from her clothes.

"We received a report from the police chief," Wufei said. "Munn escaped during his transfer. He killed the officers moving him and basically ran to Relena's on foot. The police station is going to be under heavy scrutiny after this. I'm just glad the Preventers weren't in charge of that movement. We'd be screwed," Wufei explained. Heero felt rage build in him, but ebbed just has fast. What happened, happened.

"This is a mess," Heero mumbled. His Preventer comrades nodded silently, watching the buzz of activity. The police had put up caution tape, but it didn't stop the media personnel from straining against it, trying to get a report of anything that had been happening. Heero finally spotted Relena near the ambulance. At the same time, Duo, Hilde and Quatre jumped out of the SUV, which was parked down the road and ran across the lawns. Sally spotted them, and walked off to meet them and allow them past the police barricade.

Heero finally spots Relena near one of the ambulances when the crowd shifted. She was sitting with Cherry, an EMT telling her something. Her face betrayed her emotions, showing Heero that Relena was upset, and he could see, on the verge of tears. He wanted to go to her, but his pride was holding him back. He hadn't been the one to save her. Was that a failure? He was confused. Heero watched as Quatre and Hilde ran to Relena. There was a brief conversation, after which Quatre gathered Cherry up in his arms, and left with Hilde.

Duo broke away from the others and walked to Heero and Wufei.

"I can't believe Relena trained her dog to attack someone," Duo said with a slight grin. "Tough girl." Heero stared at Duo, his words processing slowly in Heero's mind.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I heard Relena telling Quatre and Hilde that she told Cherry to attack Munn when he was on her lawn."

"She protected herself..." Heero mumbled. Duo eyed Heero strangely.

"What's going on in your head right now, man? You're acting weird... er than usual," he said, giving Heero a playful punch on the arm. Wufei let out a laugh beside them.

"Heero is struggling with his protector complex," he said, then walked away to talk with the police chief, who'd just arrived on scene. Heero glared at Wufei's retreating back.

"Go to Relena. She needs you," Duo said. Heero looked at Duo, then walked off without say anything.

Relena had moved from the ambulance when Quatre and Hilde took Cherry, offering to drive her to the nearest Veterinarian office. She'd found a clear spot on her lawn, away from the media and from the police and Preventers. She wrapped her arms around her legs and sat with her chin resting on her knees. As she sat, she saw someone approaching from the corner of her eye, then sit down beside her. Heero's scent washed over her. She turned to look at him.

"Are you alright?" he asked. Relena shrugged her shoulders. Heero reached his arm out and placed it around her shoulders, pulling her towards him slightly.

"I watched him die without doing anything," Relena said, staring off into space. Heero glanced down at her face, trying to read her thoughts.

"Yeah." He couldn't think of anything else to say.

"The worst part was that I was glad..." she added in a soft whisper. Heero tightened his grip on her. He could tell that this would be an internal battle for her. Relena's soul was too pure for something like that to have no effect on her conscious.

"He made your life hell. He deserved death," Heero said.

"But who am I to decide who should live and who should die?" Relena asked. Under his hand, he felt her skin go cold and clammy. He released his hold on her and shifted around to sit in front of her. He took her hands in his.

"Relena, if you start along this train of thought, you will never get out of it. It can ruin your life if you let it," he said, lifting her chin to look into her eyes. Relena stared back, biting her bottom lip. "Let it go. I know it's bad, but he will no longer be on the streets, and will never be able to hurt you or anyone else." Beneath his fingers, he could feel her pulse through her wrist, racing fast. He began to worry that she might go into a panic. Heero glanced around for an EMT. One ambulance had left, and the other was still parked, the EMTs lingering around talking with the police. "Do you want me to get one of the EMTs?" he asked her. She shook her head. Heero pursed his lips and looked into her face. Her pupils were expanding and contracting rapidly, and her body was shaking. "Relena," he said quietly, but she didn't seem to hear him. Tears were silently streaming down her cheeks, and her chest began to heave.

Relena clutched at her chest, feeling like her heart might burst from her chest. She couldn't slow her breath no matter how hard she tried. She knew she was crying, because she could feel the tears dripping down her cheeks and sliding along her jaw to her neck. She grabbed desperately at her clothes, trying to pull them away from her skin.

"Shit," Heero mumbled. He jumped to his feet and ran across the lawn, leaving Relena on the grass, having a full blown panic attack. He grabbed the arm of one of the EMTs and gave a tug.

"She's panicking," Heero said. The EMT nodded and followed him. The EMT knelt down in front of Relena and took her hands in his. He placed two fingers on her wrist and pushed up his sleeve to check her pulse.

"Miss Relena, my name is Kyle. I'm going to help you out, alright?" he said in a soothing voice. Heero watched, trying to remain calm for Relena's sake. Relena met the eyes of Kyle and nodded, showing she understood. Kyle helped her up to her feet, but she was shaky. Heero stepped to her side and wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her. "Can you slow your breathing?" Kyle asked her. Relena visibly tried to slow her breathing, but she ended up holding her breath. "Exhale, Relena. That's right," he said as she exhaled. She drew in a shaky breath. Kyle led the two of them towards the ambulance.

"No sleeping," Relena said, her voice cracking with her sobs and tears.

"Alright," Kyle said, still leading them. Finally, he had Relena lie down on the gurney in the ambulance. He shifted around the contents of one cupboard overhead and pulled down a bottle and a syringe that was packaged in plastic. He tore this open and filled it with a small amount of the bottle. "This will calm you down without putting you to sleep," he said. Heero held onto her hand as Kyle inserted the needle into her arm and pressed down, injecting the clear liquid into her arm. It took several moments, but Heero could see Relena begin to calm. Kyle smiled sadly down at her. "Just try to lie down and relax for a few minutes, Relena," he said. He pressed a hand to her forehead, then checked her pulse again with his watch. "Sit with her," Kyle instructed Heero, then he climbed down out of the ambulance.

Heero lost track of the time as he sat there, holding Relena's hand. After a while, her breathing slowed, and she just laid quietly on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. When he touched her face, she reacted, looking over at him. "Relena?" he asked.

"Yes?" Her voice sounded dry.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked. She shrugged her shoulders. Heero frowned. Through the open doors of the ambulance, he could see that the sun was beginning to rise, throwing long beams of early sunlight across the lawn. The sounds around the house were dwindling, and he could hear several cars startup and drive away. He could also see Wufei spraying down the grass where Munn's body had been lying, apparently trying to clean the grass.

Relena sat up after a while, and Heero helped her into the house. Duo followed, taking a spot on the couch and falling asleep almost right away. Relena led Heero up to her bedroom.

"I need to take a shower and burn these clothes," Relena said, pulling the bloody clothes from her body and tossing them on the ground in her bathroom. Heero gathered them up while Relena climbed into the shower and turned the water up as hot as it could go. Heero took the bloody clothes the steps and into her garage. He found a garbage can and dumped the clothes inside. He returned to Relena's bedroom and waited for her to finish the shower.

When she did finally step out of the shower, her skin was glowing pink and red from the hot water. She toweled off and twisted her hair up into a bun to get it off her back. She dressed in sweatpants and a loose t-shirt.

From down the steps, Heero could hear someone enter into the house. "Relena?" the voice of Sally called. Relena glanced at the steps and sighed. She picked herself up off her bed and walked down the steps. "Sorry to bother you, dear, but we need your statement."

"Yes, Sally," Relena said. Sally sat down with her at the dining room table and began to go over the night. Heero sat beside Relena, holding her hand while Relena recounted the night. When she reached the part where she told Cherry to attack, she looked like she might get upset again, but she swallowed the tears and fear and continued to speak. Sally continued to take notes while recording the conversation, prompting Relena for more information about the events when needed. Finally, Relena reached the end of the story, and let her head drop against her chest.

"Thank you, Relena. You've done great. We'll finish up here and get everyone off your lawn. Go get some sleep," Sally said.

"Okay," Relena said, and lifted her head back up. Heero rose and held a hand out to Relena. She placed her hand in his and he drew her against his chest, holding her tightly as Sally gathered up her things. Before Sally could leave, the front door opened and Quatre and Hilde stepped in, followed by a slightly limping Cherry, her head surrounded by a clear plastic cone. Relena's eyes brightened and she smiled, pulling away from Heero's arms and running to her dog.

"She had some cuts from his knife, but they've stitched her up and bandaged her. She'll need to return for a check up in a few days," Quatre explained as Relena dropped to her knees beside her dog. Cherry stepped into Relena's lap and licked her face.

"You saved my life Cherry," Relena said as she nuzzled the dog's fur. Sally slipped out while Relena was distracted. Hilde yawned and stepped to the couch where Duo was fast asleep. She curled up next to him and was soon asleep. Quatre chose the love seat and was too asleep in a few moments. Relena picked up Cherry in her arms and carried her up the steps to Relena's bedroom. Heero followed. The three of them curled up together in Relena's bed. Heero pulled Relena's face close to his and kissed her lightly on the lips. She stared at him through drooping eyelids.

"It's over. It's finally over..." she said just before she fell asleep.