Murderer

[Rose of Betrayal]

Title: Murderer
Word Count: 1, 302.
Author: Rose of Betrayal
Fandom: Gundam Wing.*shrug* It's the only thing I write for, anyway. But Weiss Kreuz! *pounce*
Pairing: 1xR
Rating: Deathfic, but I don't know what the rating is.

A/N: Specifically dedicated to GG. Nyah. Still isn't beta-ed, but you can count on it. XD



The crowd?s cries roared in his ears, the wind whipping his hair back and forth, tugging wildly at his clothes and slapping cold, frosty hands of snow against his bare neck. The tumult rose, and he knew she must be there, bent over him, running hands ? long, delicate fingers pressing his wounds and making him bite his lip to keep from crying out ? over his body, smoothing the collar of his shirt. The sensations were alien to him, the touch barely there, ghosting past his numb skin and buried and stifled in the cold surrounding his body. But he could still feel the pry of those fingers, so smooth and slender, gliding and pressing, pushing?

And then his cheeks were caressed, his jaw line traced, and she was opening his snow-caked eyelids, Prussian blue eyes, staunch, defiant, and angry, meeting cerulean ones, regretful and proud and determined. It was only for a second as she tucked his hair behind his ears, combing through the tangles. He felt the sting of the wound, its bleeding as it opened again?so exerted were his pants, the beating of his heart closing around his ears and deafening him from the yells of the people, stomping and twisting around him in a bizarre dance of death.

The rope was burning into his wrists, the pain intensified by the ice-cold wind slipping and sliding around him in a thick layer, muffling all feeling except the hunger and dread and guilt that gnawed at him from the inside. But he fought to keep his gaze on her, although he wanted to turn away from those eyes, wanted to turn away from her accusing and sympathetic stare. But she was staring at him, willing him ? daring him ? to deny his sins, to look away from her scrutinizing gaze.

Then she would have him.

But he didn?t flinch, Prussian eyes narrowing as the pain coursed through his veins and ignited a fire in his gut, almost warming him enough to feel the hard press of her fingers against his shoulders. And it struck him that she was kneeling, her knees, encased in the fabric of her dress, digging into the cold ground, as if she were looking at a kid. And she holding him as if he was a kid, too, long fingers burning into his shoulders like irons.

?Kill him.?

?Beat him to death??

?Hang him!?

?GUILTY!?

And then the crowd applauded, hoarse screams filling the air with glee as they stomped and turned, greedy eyes fixated on the man, bent and tied with a rope around his neck, and they called out again, ?MURDERER!?

Then it was there, the flash of momentary rage and love and hate and sorrow, ruining that cool mask of indifference as she looked at him, and she was letting go. But before her fingers slid from his skin, that contact gone in half a second more, his lips curled as he sneered at her, his brows drawn together in an ugly snarl. He knew what she was thinking, and he watched in severe pleasure as she flinched away from him. And her mask was back in place as if it hadn?t been gone two seconds ago, and she was nodding at her guards.

And she was saying something, something that pierced through the whistling and howling wind that drifted snowflakes here and there, dotting his cheeks and burying themselves in her hair.

?The accused has refused to deny the charges brought against him by??

The names were drowned out as someone shouted, ?Murderer!? again, his voice ringing loud and clear above the tumult. She ignored them, her fingers twisting in her dress as she looked straight at him. Now there was a cold smile on her lips, the slightest hint of sympathy as she stood in front of him and shielded him from the crowd.

?And what do you say now, Heero Yuy, former Gundam pilot, to these murder charges brought against you by??

And his voice was returning, the smirk in his raspy voice as he spat at her feet and looked up at her. ?When I am found guilty of murder and any other crimes I might have done, you must then put a bullet through my brain or hang me, is that right??

She stiffened and glared at him for a long minute, and the crowd silenced themselves, the howling of the wind cracking against their ears in the sudden loud silence. But she didn?t speak, her hand lashing out to meet his cheek in a loud contact of skin against skin, and his head was thrown to the left, the blood dripping from the corner of his mouth to stain the snow.

?Always so cynical. Do you plead guilty or not guilty??

?MURDERER!?

?HANG HIM!?

He was looking at her again, those bloodshot Prussian eyes, gleaming through the patch of brown hair that had fallen into his face, the red trickle dripping at her feet.

She still found him so beautiful.

?I plead?? ? he gave her a look devoid of all feelings, but his eyes were gleaming manically, angrily ? ?? GUILTY.?

And the crowd roared, one last time, his head drooping forward as he awaited the bullet. He saw the shadows as the pistol passed from hand to hand, testing the barrel, the bullet, the gunpowder, and he felt the cold set of metal against his forehead, her finger tensed and tightened on the trigger. And his world dissolved into that one ring of black pressed to his head, conscious ? so conscious ? of the bullet that could pass into his head so quickly, so painlessly. And then the trapdoor would give way, and he would be a corpse already, swaying in the fierce gusts of winter?

But then the stool was kicked out from under him, and the ache tightened around his neck like a snake, coiling around to burn into his skin and cold sting of ice-hot pain. His eyes burst open, and he could see Relena?s cerulean eyes, so close, so close? Relena. He?d never felt that dying would hurt this bad, and he was instantly reminded of her fingers burrowing to his skin.

Such a familiar sensation. One that he experienced now as the rope squeezed his neck, turned his lips blue?or perhaps it was from the cold that taunted him and bit his exposed skin, teasingly ruffling his brown locks across his forehead?and the icy touch of death, so cold and so warm and so comforting?

But then he was begging her to shoot him, could see her finger tense on that piece of black metal, and she was aiming for him? And his eyes pleaded, pleaded for her to pull it, let the bullet into his brain and end it forever, let the darkness swallow him and the pain would be gone?

Suddenly he was falling, falling into a pit of darkness as the rope broke and he tumbled downwards, his consciousness seeping out of him in great waves, and he hit the floor, crumpled in a heap.

?She?d aimed for the rope.?

And then she was there, fingers ? those strong fingers ? pressing against his forehead, and she was crying, shoulders shaking as she cradled his head. And she was whispering, whispering something.

?It was your choice. But I couldn?t let you die that way, in front of them.?

And then the familiar gun pressed against his head.

But this time, the trigger clicked, and the blinding flash of pain shook him.

Just before it died out, he reached out blindly, stroked her cheek. And then he fell back as the black pool swallowed him, caressed him, into a land where the pain didn?t exist, where the blood was unreal, where she didn?t exist.

And she was sobbing.

?I?m so sorry, Heero. So sorry.?

'YOU MURDERER.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

FIN

[angel222]

auwtch
that was so so... I really need a hug. It almost made me cry,
Well done RoB

[Andrea]

That was really, really intense. It was a very good piece, Rose, I really enjoyed it. The last part was a bit of a surprise, I never thought she would shoot him so quickly. Even if it was fitting having her be the one to end his misery.

Really good job, Rose!

[Calla Lily]

Guh. The ending was surprising, RoB, even if you warned us beforehand. Guh. The setting and the atmosphere seemed reminiscent of "Notre Dame de Paris" [book or movie version, whichever] and I thought it added a veil of illusion and disbelief to the story, which I immensely enjoyed reading. It's as if you're looking through a sheer curtain and watching everything in front of you like a stage play. [/rambling]

~Calla.

[Eienvine]

Gosh . . . gosh. That was so good that I had to cover my mouth to keep from gasping aloud. Really, it was brilliant. I loved the mood and the tone, and the slightly detatched view. It's like Calla said- it's like you're watching everything from a distance, which is how I think Heero would be seeing things just then. You kept it very short and succinct- there was no backstory, but it needed no backstory. All it needed was the emotions, and those you portrayed exceptionally well.

[simmer]

that was absolutely incredible.

wow. you have a real talent for portraying the scene, the story was so short but so intense and vivid. i got chill bumps, it seemed so cold.

wonderful, wonderful job.
simmer

[Lei]

amazing, going where no writer dares to trek, for fear they'll be buried alive by their readers.

Amazing story.

[lilac310]

this piece is just brilliantly astounding...My eyes were brimming with tears while reading this...The emotions you incorporated into this story were so real..it's as though I could almost feel the anguish and the pain felt by Heero and Relena...so tangible....Amazing!

[Juichi]

Oooh, I got a The Scarlet Letter feel from this fiction.
I love writers like you who write things like this.

[melrose_stormhaven]

Nice one, RoB. It was just so..intense! *huggles* missed ya!