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Chapter Text

After making this string of poor decisions, Vash should accept now that taking the caravan to Fondrique was a mistake. Not only was the caravan's primary cargo slaves and he couldn't free them with how many people present profiting off of it and willing to commit violence for their greed; ever since they had stalled next to the demisalt sprays, an inexplicable lust for the short insurance girl had hit him. The tenacious, angry, and surprising one, not the tall, friendly one.

He had thought calling Meryl names while warning that Inepril teenager to leave her alone was a suitable revenge for how she had growled at him all day. Bonus if it made her mad enough to call off the stupid stalking and go back to December City. Instead, she had sent Milly out of the distressed plant facility, and had found him and the assassin in the bulb room Elizabeth had locked them inside. He staggered out of the control rods, disoriented from communing with his sister and stopping an explosion with her, and could only blink at Meryl pressing the muzzle of one of her derringers against the assassin's forehead.

"If you're done, he needs to go to the authorities for bombing the hotel." She said while ignoring the assassin's babbling about how Vash wasn't human and that lady didn't pay him enough to deal with not human.

Vash had pried the assassin loose from the floor, glad that he was no longer in trouble for the explosion that left him sleeping in the street and hoping like hell Meryl didn't pick up what the assassin was saying and sideswiped completely when she whipped a pair of handcuffs out from under her cape and snapped those around the assassin's wrists. Why did she have those? What else was she hiding under that cape?

But it turned out, Meryl didn't give a damn about what the assassin was saying and just thought he was being insulting to the heroic outlaw Vash the Stampede. She gave the assassin a shove out the plant facility door. "Honestly, you should express more gratitude than that for Vash not killing you or not letting you get blown into smithereens."

Vash lost track of the insurance girls while dealing with Elizabeth and knew he had to ditch them before they asked how an outlaw could stop a plant from melting down and before the short one handcuffed him to something so he couldn't run from her yelling at him. Catching a ride on the sandsteamer Flourish should have worked, but they had gotten on board too, working for passage. Not that he could sneer about that. After all, he ended up working for an upgrade to a cabin.

And just when he thought he had failed protecting the sandsteamer, had failed saving the insurance girls from the hostage situation the other passengers and crew were in, had failed keeping Kaite safe; the insurance girls popped up to stop Brilliant Dynamite Neon from shooting him. Introducing herself with that insurance society's name and giving herself an outlaw moniker.

She had surprised him again by getting under his duster after the duel while he was trying to encourage Kaite to do the right thing over his transmitters and distracted him. Vash had reared back and smashed his head against a wall. "I do not paw you!"

"Permission granted to paw if I'm bleeding out!" Meryl yelled back.

He still didn't let her under his body armor with the bandages with the excuse that she was not a medical professional, and he was relieved when she didn't whip out a certification that she had gone to nursing school too from under her cape. Her temporary bandage on top of his body armor had held him together long enough to speak to Neon, and then she had browbeat him into the sandsteamer's medcenter. Milly had been nice enough to draw her partner away, so his body only drew the doctor's disgust as Vash got stitched together again, and they had left him alone while he waited for Kaite to wake up.

Vash had loaned them bus fare because Milly had cried that their bosses would fire them, and he concluded that had been a mistake after the third time Meryl popped him. But she was the one who made the bus driver turn around and pick up him, Wolfwood, and the little girl from the buried ship. The stay in May City hadn't been too bad; once Meryl had realized Wolfwood set him up and he was trying to help people, she stopped yelling about the Quick Draw contest. After two months of orbiting each other and she still hadn't figured out that he enjoyed helping people?

He wanted her strong thighs to squeeze his hips as he buried himself in her. Desire hadn't hit him this strongly in a hundred years. He wanted to lick the sweat off her pale skin and hear her moan his name as loud as she yelled it when she thought he had done something wrong. He wasn't about to mention it to either of them, nor act on it. Meryl would start hitting him again and she finally quit doing that!

But why her? Milly was closer to the physical type he found beautiful in women before, even though she hid her assets under her coat with her stun-bolt gun. But no, ever since the caravan stalled, it was Meryl's presence that made his heart pound like he had jumped into the flying ship's lift, made him want to tip her into his arms and explore her mouth with his.

She would slap his face off.

Nope, nope, nope. And he wasn't a Steve to demand sex from anyone. So the best thing to do was to nap behind his sunshades in their caravan trailer or in this mess tent that wasn't being used by anyone else until the caravan moved again. Once they were moving, his equilibrium would come back and Meryl would just be the annoying short insurance girl again. It had to come back. He had more patience than anyone on this dust-ball planet; he could wait for this to pass.

Then the owner of the caravan sent men to bring Vash the Stampede to him for a job proposal. So that strategy (the very good strategy that wouldn't get him yelled at or hit) ruined because Fondrique tattooed their security pass on the arm of a kid and that kid bailed on the whole dirty trade and the kid's father met the twenty million double dollar price tag Vash put on jobs he really didn't want to do. He probably needed to raise that rate.

He climbed behind the wheel of a provided jeep, surrounded by the caravan's crew, and Meryl jumped in before he could take off and leave her out of this. "What did that man ask you to do? It's nothing nasty, I hope."

The crew must have done an excellent job of keeping her out of earshot. He put his entire focus on driving and not manhandling the woman sitting next to him. When had she put on a sweet perfume?

"Hey, why don't you say anything?"

This is when the tall one would be handy as a distraction, but Milly wandered off hours ago. Vash kept his mouth shut because he wasn't sure what would fall out of it right now.

"When are you going to stop this thing and say something?" Meryl reached for the ignition switch. Did she want to wreck them? Vash pushed her away from it and back in her seat. Now Meryl's anger started coming out. "Alright then, you talk to me!"

The caravan crew following them were far enough away to not overhear a conversation. "He wanted a kill."

Meryl blinked at him. "A kill?"

"That's right."

"And you accepted?"

"Yes." There, she had answers. Now she would sit there and mull over what Vash the Stampede would do to her if he got money for it or got truly pissed off. And he could find the kids without wrecking the jeep.

Her voice went haughty. "You're nothing but a despicable outlaw, just like I thought. Very well, if that's the case, I have no choice but to execute risk prevention procedure." She pulled out one of her many derringers and aimed it at his temple. Practically a point-blank shot at this distance.

You know, after a month of them looking for him with Vash trying to avoid them and three months of them stalking him, he really should have asked them what the hell their insurance society bosses considered risk prevention. She would not shoot; he felt her indecision while what he just said argued with her observations of him. So he kept driving.

She pulled her gun back with a huff. "Would you mind at least explaining why you decided to do this?"

"He loves his son more than his profits," Vash said. "To give the boy he raised the freedom the boy wants will destroy the caravan. No enormous loss, really, but everyone else who earns a profit on Fondrique's slave trade won't let the boy go and will chase him down to get their slaves into Fondrique."

"So the boy has to die," Meryl said.

"For the audience. And if the audience believes, the caravan owner can keep it going to the other stops on the route."

"I don't understand how Fondrique can have a slave trade. Slavery is illegal."

"In the Seven Cities, sure. If the Federation Cavalry catches them, sure. But you're in the Outer now."

"The Six Cities," Meryl corrected softly.

It was just the six for her whole life. Vash pushed on from that. "Right. Are you helping?"

"Yes. Do you have a plan?"

"No. All a plan does is get people killed." Doc had told him he had planned on meeting someone in July City before it shattered, leaving everyone alive until starvation and exposure went to work. He'd made sure to never plan like that again. "I have a strategy. Unload my gun."

She pulled his silver Colt from the holster and dropped the bullets into her skirt-covered lap. She had a nice lap; he should have been nicer when he had gotten dropped on it before and he would have a chance at getting there again. Focus, you idiot. He tucked his hand into his pocket and passed new bullets to her while looking at the scene they were approaching. More of the caravan crew was surrounding the two teenagers, Milly, Wolfwood, and four of the caravan crew writhing in pain on the dune. Vash sighed. "The audience has the kids cornered, even though Milly and Wolfwood got involved."

Meryl holstered his gun onto his leg again and scooped the real bullets into her pocket. "You can see that far?"

He stopped the jeep and climbed out. "Drive the jeep to the other side of the dune and pick up the kids after I drop them. I'll take care of the rest of the show," he said quietly, just in case someone had excellent hearing out here.

She gave a terse nod as she scooted over to the driver's seat and drove off.

The show went off without an oh-shit change-his-reaction-right-now hitch. The fog and mists from the demisalt sprays helped sell it, along with the fed up with their bullshit tone Vash used to order the caravan crew that triggered their flight from certain death response. He could have done without Milly punching his jaw and Wolfwood breaking his sunshades and shooting him with one of the rubber bullets. Those things sting that close!

But it was the first time all day he could pretend that nothing else was going on.

The kids refused the reward money and the jeep, since they wanted to live without relying on anyone else. Can't blame them: one treated like property and the other learning misery and suffering funded his life of ease. Vash, Wolfwood, and the insurance girls waited in the wastelands while Milly watched the kids vanish into the heat shimmer on the horizon. No one from the caravan came back to the scene of the crime. Good.

Meryl finally got Milly into the jeep, drove it up the dune to pick him and Wolfwood up, and they headed back to the stalled caravan and their rented trailer. The insurance girls went inside first. Vash waved at it while facing Wolfwood. "We've got space if you need a bunk."

Wolfwood shook his head. "I've got things to do, so I'll be going now."

Vash blinked. Not the answer he expected or was hoping for. Wolfwood could keep him in line concerning Meryl. "Will I see you again?" he asked to cover the awkwardness.

Wolfwood laughed. "I don't know. And besides, whenever I look at you, I'm reminded of everything I hate about myself. You know it hurts." He waved as he carried away his cloth-wrapped, full of guns cross.

Vash returned the wave, though the priest had a lot of nerve saying that. What with all the secrets Wolfwood was hiding, it came across hypocritical to suddenly be upset with a bit of duplicity from Vash the Stampede. Whatever. Nobody died, concentrate on that part, he reminded himself as he headed inside the trailer. Milly sat at the table and Meryl was busy at the tiny sink that was available to them. "Um, Wolfwood left."

Great, now Milly's eyes were growing more watery. "He did?" she exclaimed.

Okay, maybe Wolfwood's leaving was less Vash and more Milly. But he didn't know what to say to that, so he just moved to sit on his bunk.

"All of life's journeys come with meetings, partings, and reunions." Meryl handed Vash an ice pack and set the money case on his bunk. Then she hung up her cape on her bunk.

Vash made a face at the money case. "You should've told me you picked that up. I could've given it to Wolfwood for his orphanage."

"Don't spend it all in one place and you should have some left the next time you see him. Now Milly, how did you hurt yourself?"

Milly sighed. "I'm fine."

Meryl looked unimpressed. "You didn't hit any of those bozos chasing you with stun bolts."

Milly sighed again. "A demisalt spray hit my back while I was covering Moore and Julius."

"Let me see your back." Meryl pulled a medical kit out of her suitcase. Vash grabbed one of the loose chairs and moved it to the window. He stared out at the darkening wasteland and put the ice pack on his still throbbing jaw. It was nice of Meryl to make him one. Milly had said she was nice months ago, but this was the first time she had demonstrated it to him. Especially when she was more worried about her partner. He made sure to not look at them as Milly was audibly undressing.

"You're lucky," Meryl said. "It didn't scar, but your muscles got strained. The salve will help." He heard the stirring in a cup of water. "Now drink this painkiller and go to bed."

Milly made a yuck sound. "It's bitter."

"You can have pudding tomorrow. Let's get you into your bunk."

"Mr. Priest bought me pudding, but I dropped it to help Moore." The bunk squeaked under her weight. "He should've stayed."

"Maybe next time," Meryl said. Items sounded like they were going back into a case and Milly began snoring. "You can turn around now," Meryl said to Vash.

Vash put the chair back at the table. Milly had on her pajama top, laying on her stomach in her bunk. He turned to his bunk and started putting the twenty million double dollars into his shoulder bag. His heart was pounding nearly loud enough to hear. Damn, Wolfwood should have stayed and kept him distracted. He needed a new distraction. Going to the pop-up saloons was out after what he did today.

Just talk to her, a pleasant conversation, no slapping. He had filled his shoulder bag with cash, and still had plenty of piles left. "I don't suppose you can take some of this money from a despicable outlaw." He flinched. What she said in the jeep hit a nerve he didn't know he had. So much for no slapping.

Meryl poured two cups of coffee from a fresh pot. "You can't bribe me to stop following you. I need my job for ongoing expenses and I like this job. But if you want to stash some of that in my luggage for space, I can do that for a while." She handed him a mug of coffee, keeping one for herself. "I'm sorry for calling you that earlier. You have proved you're not despicable since we met. I was mad and lashed out. I shouldn't have."

"Apology accepted." He sipped the coffee. When had she noticed how he liked his coffee?

"Are you okay? You've been acting strange for the past few days."

Damn, she had noticed. "I'm trying to be good," he said.

"And nothing has blown up. But does being good mean you have to be silent and glowering behind your sunglasses?"

"I guess it does if I don't want you slapping me. And you're still not happy."

"Me? Why would I slap you?"

Vash drank some of the coffee, turned back to the window, and sighed. "I think the demisalts are affecting me. I've been trying to ignore it."

"You're ill?" She reached up and pressed her palm against his forehead, seeking fever.

His whole body trembled. He caught her hand and pressed his lips against her inner wrist. "Not that kind of fever."

Her cheeks reddened. "Oh. Didn't a brothel open up three rows over? Shit, they're probably enslaved."

"Probably. Don't want a call girl." He let her go. Won't be a Steve, will never be a Steve.

"You can't put the moves on Milly; she needs her sleep."

"Don't want Milly." He set his coffee mug onto the table, bent over Meryl, and kissed her, expecting a shove, a punch, and hot coffee thrown on him.

Meryl's hand that he had kissed found the back of his head as she accepted his kiss. She tasted of coffee and something sweet. He wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her closer. Gently pulled, since she still had coffee in her hand, but she pressed against him and kissed him back.

Vash's body felt like he was burning up and he needed to breathe. He let her go. Meryl's face was completely red, but her gray eyes looked full of wary disbelief. He wanted to kiss her again until she didn't look like that. Now the slap would come. He hunched slightly to duck away from the coffee.

She put down her coffee mug on the table next to his. "This is sudden."

No coffee in his face? No slapping his face? They were going to talk about this? "You're telling me."

Her eyebrow cocked like a gun. "Well, that's something every girl longs to hear."

"I didn't mean it like that. We barely know each other. I shouldn't want to go up your skirt. And you probably have work rules about that. And you're classy and deserve nicer than this." He waved a hand at the trailer and the caravan outside. "That sounds horrible, don't it? Look, you don't have to worry. I won't attack you. I wouldn't do that to anyone."

Meryl seized the collar of his duster and yanked him down level with her face. He let her, but she was stronger than she looked. Her soft lips pressed against his and he melted. She pulled back and smirked. "I have to remember that tactic to get you to shut up. Now let me get this straight; you're having a biological imperative to go up my skirt?"

Oh, so we're not talking about it, we're making fun of it. He gritted his teeth and spoke through them. "I'll handle it."

"Because your methods of handling it have clearly worked since it started?"

"I hate it when you're right."

Her smirk fell into disappointment. "Everybody does."

"Don't make that face." Sadness filled her disappointment, more than he expected. "I don't really hate it when you're right. I'm more mad at myself right now."

"Because you want to have sex with me, but you don't want to have sex with me?"

"Exactly!"

That answer wiped the disappointment from her face and gave her an ember of anger instead. "Are you trying to talk me out of having sex with you? After admitting that's what you want? I'm sorry I'm so repulsive you can't decide."

"I never said that! You're not repulsive. What about your job? It's important to you."

"They don't have to know. I only have to send in reports when something gets destroyed, and the Society has to pay claims. Don't blow anything up and the update is much faster to write."

That made sense, but he still felt he should defend himself because he never set off most of the explosions surrounding him.

But Meryl asked, "Now, yes or no; do you still want to have sex with me?"

Vash's whole body throbbed with her blunt words. "Yes."

"Come on, let's find a place where we won't wake Milly and you won't get shot at." He didn't hear that right, but she pulled him out of their trailer and let him go to lock the trailer door behind them.

Vash grabbed her hand and led her through the rows of tents, trailers, and trucks. They ended up on the outskirts of the caravan behind the massive gasoline tanker trucks and down the dune, so no one walking around would see them. He shed his duster and spread it on the sand. The moons were riding high in the sky, reflecting light back on Gunsmoke. He unbuckled his gun belt and put the holster and Colt on the ground close enough to grab. He tugged off the glove covering his right hand, leaving the longer body armor sleeve on his right arm. If he left the glove on, more of his scars would remain covered, but Meryl was doing this for him and she deserved to feel skin. She deserved a lot nicer than this, even if she was doing this out of pity.

"How do you want to do this?" Meryl asked.

"You on top. Ride me." He got his pants open around his straining erection before glancing at her for a reaction.

She looked sarcastically pleased and aroused. Maybe she had her own itch to scratch tonight. "I can work with that."

He lay back on the duster without taking off any more of his body armor and clothes, and glad that his hips and lower stomach were free of scars. He wouldn't disturb her with the history carved into his skin.

Meryl toed off her boots before stepping onto the lining of his duster and pulled the hem of her skirt up to her waist. Her navy blue tights ended on her upper thighs, so there was a band of creamy pale skin crossed with a few elastic strings that ran from the tights up to under her white panties. He watched her pull off her panties. The elastic connected to a funny-shaped belt around her waist. "What is that?" he asked. "With your tights."

She straddled him below his erection. "My garter belt?"

He touched it and her hip through the beige-colored satin with his bare hand.

"You've never seen a garter belt before?"

"Way to make me feel like a hick for not knowing the latest December City fashions."

"They're not that new." She slid her wet folds along the length of his cock, making him groan. He caught her hands going for the zipper of his body armor vest. "Shy now?" she asked with a smirk.

"Protection."

He meant from a firefight but she went in a different direction. "Oh, I can't get pregnant."

"I can't either. I mean, I can't get any girl pregnant. It works but--"

She leaned down and kissed him to cut off the starting babble. "Shooting blanks out of this gun?" She moved, so she had more of it to wrap her delicate hand around.

"I can still show you a good time." He stroked the exposed skin on her thigh as he moved his fingers to her folds and her clit. He wanted this to be good for her, to give her pleasure. The way she let her head fall back when she moaned was a good sign.

She spread her slick along his shaft. The sand gave way to his head rolling back. He curled his neck to lift his head and watched her sink onto him. Slow, so slow, and his body screamed to flip her over and pound into her. He refused to do that. Hurting her was out of the question, and he had nearly done it with his words tonight.

"You're beautiful." He curled his fists down on his duster.

"There's something romantic, finally." She picked up his bare hand, running her finger against the raised scar on the back. "You still with me?"

Vash nodded. "I'm here, I'm with you."

She coaxed his fingers open and put his palm on her outer thigh. "Touch me."

Electricity danced between her skin and his nerves as he stroked her skin again. "I don't want to hurt you," he admitted.

"It takes a lot to break me." She rose on his cock and paused again. "What do you need?"

"Rough. Let me have it."

She slid back down and squeezed him with her inner muscles. He cried out and grabbed her hips with both hands.

"There we go. Come on, gunslinger. Show me what you got."

"Oh, insurance girl, you asked for it."

The rhythm they found was fast and hard. Meryl came again before his body stiffened and his orgasm shot into her. She slumped onto his chest and he ran his hands up her back, hugging her loosely. She chuckled breathy. "Okay, good time achieved. How do you feel?"

"Wrung out, in a good way. I'll sleep tonight." He was almost ready to pass out now.

She lifted to peer at his face. "You haven't been sleeping?"

"Fitfully." She still looked worried. "It's better now. Thank you," he said. He needed to let her go, but he didn't want to. He'd sleep even better holding onto her, but that would not happen. "It was good for you, right?" he asked.

"I told you it was. Odd, that's what you want reassurance about." She shifted, so he was no longer inside her before she sat up.

He hiked up on his metal elbow and caught her head with his flesh hand for a kiss. She deepened what he started, but he still remembered what he wanted to say when they parted. "I'm not so selfish to make it all about me."

"Your performance was fine. Your talking before performance needs work. Those boys in May City were right about that." She crawled off him and started redressing.

"How do you know about that?" He tucked his cock back into his pants and zipped his fly.

"Oh, they checked in with me and Milly to make sure you wouldn't be cheating on one of us if they found you a girl."

"Those brats."

"You are so confident facing down an opponent, but a woman? All this rubbish falls out of your mouth."

He shook the sand off his duster. "Love is more important and a lot easier to screw up."

"You have a point."

They headed back to their trailer in friendly silence. The whole caravan had settled down, not that the vast majority of the travelers knew anything about the slave trafficking in their midst. That was a good thing. Tonight had been better than he had hoped for and he would hate to have a shootout ruin it. They made it safely back to the trailer. Milly snored softly in her bunk. Meryl slipped into the tiny bathroom. "Good night," Vash said softly through the thin door before toeing off his boots and climbing into his bunk. Exhausted from battling his desires and finally obtaining them, he fell asleep before he heard Meryl come out of the bathroom.

Chapter Text

Meryl was the first to wake up the next morning. If she had needed more proof Vash hadn't been feeling himself since the caravan stalled, this was it. Up until now, he had been the first out of the trailer each morning, ending up not too far away but withdrawn, not even finding a gang of children to play with. This morning, however, he was still in his bunk. His sleeping face looked peaceful, and the contusion from Milly's punch was already gone.

She thought back to last year's December when she and Milly had gotten this assignment. The Chief had explained everything and gathered the paperwork he had them sign. "You go on and start getting ready, Miss Thompson. Miss Stryfe will be along shortly."

Milly left the office, but the Chief just shuffled the paperwork on his desk. "What else is there, sir?" Meryl asked.

He cleared his throat. "Vash the Stampede has a reputation; all these outlaws do when it comes to women. I'm not saying you must offer it first thing. We aren't procurers! But if sex is what it takes to stop him from causing more claims, we expect you and Miss Thompson to lie back and think of the Society!" His face had gone an interesting shade of red.

Given how much money Vash the Stampede had cost Bernardelli, no wonder the society didn't want to rule out anything in risk prevention. "Understood, sir," Meryl said. "But those orders carry a higher risk for Miss Thompson than me."

The Chief pulled out a sheet from his stack of papers they had just signed: a one-time hazard payment of the equivalent of six-months' salary payable if their employment was terminated due to pregnancy. "As the senior partner, I would suggest you take on the more risky tasks."

That had been a kind way to phrase it, instead of 'use your body's biological quirks to save us money.' It had also left her with the impression that Vash the Stampede must have a sizable reputation for the ladies for Bernardelli to opt to put she and Milly on the Vash detail. And Vash certainly enjoyed chasing after tall and busty women to the point of looking like an absolute idiot to them and everyone else watching. But it had been her he picked last night, and that still made little sense.

She shouldn't question it. He hadn't wanted to hurt or anger her and he had concentrated on her pleasure in the act, which was iles ahead of how her last boyfriend had treated her. "That's all an augmented freak like you deserves!" She shook the memory of his hateful voice out of her head.

Vash was a better man than that asshole turned out to be, but that was no reason for her to want to crawl on top of him right now and kiss him awake for another good time. That wasn't what last night was. It was just stress relief, that's all. But Vash had cared, so she would keep that she couldn't have turned him down last night to herself.

She checked her money, put on her cape, and eased out the door without waking Vash or Milly. She would bring back breakfast. That was better than Vash trying to eat in one of the caravan's pop-up restaurants and getting shot over the outcome of the whole thing with Julius and Moore. With clear purpose, she strode down the row where their trailer was parked.

Dad's motorcycle stopped on top of a sand dune. Hannah put her legs down until she balanced on the foot pegs close to the front tire and stood on them. She held the handlebars with one hand and pressed the buttons of the gray helmet on her head. The golden face shield closed in front of her nose and the focus shifted so she could see the details of the encampment in the flat plains of sand ahead.

This desert they were transported to was not on Earth--the multiple moons last night and the two suns this morning proved that. But her little brother's theory had got a puncture. "I see trucks, trailers, tents, and people. Humans. The tankers have 'gasoline' written on them in English. So I don't think this is Tatooine," she said.

Chuck crossed his arms as he slouched in the bike's sidecar. "Lame-o. Dad and the uncles got to go into plays. Why can't we go into Star Wars?"

"Probably because Limburger's not suicidal and that's what would happen meeting Vader. But people here equals food if I can find someone to work for."

"I hope so. I'm so hungry." He curled up tighter in the sidecar, leaving just the top of his gray helmet visible.

Hannah chewed on her lip as she sat down astride the bike again. To reach the handlebars and the foot pegs, she was on the front edge of the brown leather seat. That wasn't safe long term, but she really couldn't plan long-term right now. Find food and find a safe place to sleep and then plan. "Okay, lady, let's go find a place cooking food."

The bike beeped and rolled down the dune. Hannah hung onto the handlebars like she was steering it through the clear paths between tents and trailers.

They finally rolled to a stop next to a restaurant operating out of a large tent. The kitchen was behind a counter through tied-back door flaps. It had an awning to shade the cooks from the suns. There were a few drink fridges lining the tent wall where the man at the counter could make sure nobody stole anything. Tables and chairs with people already sitting and eating filled the rest of the tent. Everything sizzling and popping smelled delicious and her own stomach growled.

She took off her helmet and checked her hair in the mirror mounted on the handlebar. Her red-orange braid was still tight and presentable. She passed her helmet to Chuck. "Stay with the bike." She didn't wait for his answer. She went inside, straight to the gray-haired man at the counter. "Excuse me, sir. I'm good at washing up. Can I work off breakfast for me and my little brother?"

Chuck leaned in at the edge of the main door. That wasn't staying with the bike, but at least he left his helmet on.

The man behind the counter shook his head. "Sorry, I got all the help I need right now. Try Sam's two rows over."

A man at the table closest to the counter and door leaned his chair back with a leer on his face. "I got a job for you, girlie." He mimed jacking off at his zipped-up crotch and the other five men at the table laughed.

Hannah made a disgusted face. "As if I would touch you. I don't know where you've been." His buddies laughed harder as she strode to the entrance. Chuck looked up at her, concerned. "Come on, we gotta try another place."

Before she herded Chuck back to the bike, the sleazy customer exploded behind her. "You little bitch! I'll teach you!" He tried to wrap his arms around her, but ended up shoving them into the street between the tent rows. Chuck fell onto the sand and the other five men moved between Hannah and her brother and the bike.

"Leave my sister alone!" Chuck yelled as he scrambled back onto his feet.

"Pipe down, kid," one of the five who wore a dingy yellow shirt jeered at Chuck. "You'll spoil the fun."

The black bike revved. Hannah seethed as she planted her feet in the sand. It was a Biker Mice tradition to land on an alien planet and have to fight first thing, but she was not in the mood to throw down with a bunch of sexist wrenchheads before breakfast.

The sleazy customer surged toward her. Hannah howled at him. "Aoooow!" He reared back with that, but not out of reach of her right hook. Her knuckles slammed into his jaw and he went down on his back. "Leave us alone if you know what's good for you!"

One of the sleazy guy's friends wearing a dingy blue shirt spoke up. "Girl, you just don't know when to quit. Now you're gonna have to apologize to all of us for ruinin' our good mood."

"I'm sorry you're too stupid to know when to walk away from a fight," she said in a bored tone that always made Limburger's goons mad.

"Why you!" He started toward Hannah, but Chuck snaked his tail around the man's ankles. Dingy blue shirt fell face first into the sand.

Chuck jumped on his back and leaped to Hannah's side. "This will just make us hungrier."

"What part of stay with the bike didn't you understand?" Hannah asked without taking her eyes off the men closing in.

"That's a problem?" Chuck asked brightly. "Hey girl, we need you!"

The black bike revved again, popped a wheelie, and accelerated. The men flung themselves out of her path. She executed a tight turn and stopped next to Chuck. Three gun barrels slid out of the headlight mount beside and above the lamp.

"What the hell?" The man who wore a brown shirt demanded.

The one in a green shirt answered him. "Must be some kind of lost technology." All the men's faces changed from just gleefully expecting a fight to greedy looking.

"How can technology get lost?" Chuck asked.

Hannah's stomach sank at their expressions. Her hand throbbed, her stomach growled, and Chuck was going to make the situation worse. "Shut up, Chuck."

The man in the yellow shirt waved at the bike. "You kids, hand over that bike and we'll forget this ever happened."

Hannah raised her fists even with her chin, just like Dad taught her. "This bike is not for sale."

All the standing men put their hands on their holstered guns. The man in a faded red shirt, who had said nothing before now, spoke up. "You're outnumbered, girlie. Ain't nobody here gonna help you."

Meryl had seen enough of a pair of children being threatened and charged forward. "Pick on someone your own size!"

The man the girl had punched rolled to his feet. The man in the yellow shirt sneered, "That still ain't you, bitch."

The men laughed, but the little boy wearing a motorcycle helmet whipped his head around. "You can't talk like that in front of kids!"

The girl thrust up her chin, guarded by her fists. "These wrenchheads don't care."

The man in the blue shirt that the little boy had tripped climbed back to his feet. "Enough of this! Hand over that motorcycle now!"

Meryl took another step closer. "You bozos leave them alone!"

"Who's gonna make us? You?" the man wearing the brown shirt sneered.

"Meryl, you found a standoff and didn't invite me?" Vash's cheerful voice called out from the street behind her.

She flinched but didn't take her eyes off the men threatening children. "I don't want to write a report on this trip. We just talked about that."

Vash stopped next to her. "Oh yeah. You heard her, fellas. Scram."

"Mind your own business, the both of ya!" the man in the red and blue plaid shirt the girl had punched yelled. "I'll have that bike or I'll have satisfaction out of this bitch!" He grabbed the girl by her orange braid and twisted her so she couldn't punch or kick him.

Meryl drew her derringer in sync with Vash drawing his Colt. They ordered in unison, "Let. Her. Go."

The man in a green shirt's eyes went wide. "That's... that's Vash the Stampede!" The five of them turned and ran down the street. With no backup, the man in the plaid shirt shoved the girl to the ground and ran after them.

Vash holstered his gun. "Why don't they ever listen?"

"Why don't you?" Meryl tucked her derringer into place in her cape.

"Nothing blew up; you don't have to write a report."

The little boy helped the taller girl up. His tail thrashed in the air. "Your hand!"

She sighed. "That's why I asked for a nuke-knucks glove for Christmas."

"If you were wearing one, you would've knocked his head off. He had a skinny neck."

"It's not like he was using it."

Meryl stepped up to them, and Vash followed. The girl's knuckles were swelling and turning redder than her orange hair. "We should get some ice on that and get you two back to your parents."

The little boy peered up at her. The helmet made the shape of his face look wrong. "Our parents aren't here!"

"Chuck!" the girl exclaimed.

Chuck's stomach growled loudly.

"It's breakfast time," Vash said. "Milly woke up and wanted hoecakes this morning, so I left so she could get dressed and to add it to the breakfast order, whatever it is?"

"That's what her family calls flapjacks," Meryl explained.

"That sounds great! You kids like flapjacks?"

"Yeah!" Chuck answered.

The girl looked worried and suspicious. "But--"

"Flapjack breakfasts, my treat." Vash herded them into the restaurant tent and turned to the café owner behind the counter. "One knuckle-sandwich care package, for starters."

The older man passed over a small bag of ice. "We don't want no trouble here."

"And we want ten flapjack plates to go." Vash handed the ice to Meryl.

Meryl turned to the girl who matched Meryl's height but still had baby-fat on her face. Just starting puberty was Meryl's guess. She'd probably end up as tall as Milly when her growth spurts ended. Meryl checked her right hand with a friendly smile. "You didn't break anything."

"I know the drill." She took the small ice bag and put it on her knuckles with a hiss.

"Punched many people, have you?" Meryl asked.

"More than my fair share, I think."

"What do you kids want to drink?" Vash asked.

"Root beer!" Chuck answered.

"You are both too young for beer!" Meryl yelped.

Vash smiled. "I haven't heard it called that in a long time. Five sarsaparillas. If there's anything else you want, Meryl, grab it."

Meryl huffed at him but went to the drink coolers. "Oh, they have apple juice."

"Great, I like that. Do you kids like apple juice?"

Chuck nodded his helmeted head. "We like apple juice."

"But it's expensive," Meryl said. Vash looked at her with an I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that expression, and she had to agree with it. She gathered five tiny bottles and carried them to the counter. "Habit," she explained.

"That insurance society should give you a bigger expense account." Vash paid for entirely too much food that both children made wide eyes at. How long had it been since their last meal? They didn't look like going hungry was a habit. Vash scooped up the bags in his long arms and they all headed back to the trailer.

The black motorcycle with a sidecar rolled all by itself next to the girl, who still had the ice pack on her knuckles. Is that why those bozos had yelled about lost technology? The children didn't act like it was strange. Luckily, the temporary streets were empty of onlookers to notice.

Milly opened the door of their trailer. "Good morning, oh I'm starving. And I'm all better today, Meryl-ma'am. Did we make new friends?" She smiled down at the children in her friendly way.

"Sure. Introductions while we eat," Vash said as he passed one of the bags of food to Milly.

The girl turned to the motorcycle. "Stay here. We've got tracers on; we'll be fine."

The motorcycle beeped. The sidecar folded in on itself and slid between the engine and the frame like it had never existed before the kickstand lowered for the bike to rest on.

Meryl's startled eyes flew up to Vash's face. He looked just as stunned as he had when she kissed him to shut him up last night. Something he hadn't seen before either, evidently. They went into the trailer after the girl.

Milly unpacked the food on the table, having moved the four chairs around so one side of the table faced the bench against the wall. The little boy still had his helmet on and sat on his hands to not snatch the food. "We didn't have time for introductions in the middle of a fight," he said.

Milly frowned. "Another fight right after yesterday, Mr. Vash?"

Vash settled on the bench against the wall. "Meryl found it first."

The girl with orange-red hair sat in the chair between her brother and Milly, so Meryl took the one on the side between Chuck and Vash. "Some roughs were trying to steal their motorcycle and leave them beat up," Meryl explained.

"Wrenchheads. And the only name to come out was his," Chuck pointed across the table to Vash, "when he pulled out a massive slugthrower and it wasn't a real name but more like a wrestling nickname. How can one guy be a stampede?"

"That's a good question." Milly set two unpacked plates in front of him and the girl.

"I didn't pick it. Somebody used it as a joke once, then everybody started using it, and now I can't shake it. I should change my name and start over."

Meryl snorted. "That'll only last until you pull a crazy stunt that reminds everyone of Vash the Stampede."

"Is bursting bubbles your special talent or is it limited to just mine?" he asked with a slight bite to his tone.

Meryl flinched. When was she going to learn to keep her big mouth shut about observations people never wanted to hear?

"Both of you are so grumpy before you eat." Milly handed Vash a plate and then slid one across the table to Meryl. "I'm Milly Thompson and that's Meryl Stryfe, and we work for the Bernardelli Insurance Society."

The girl swallowed her mouthful. "Hannah Davidson, and this is my little brother--"

"Charles Turbine Davidson, but everyone calls me Chuck." He can't get his forkful of flapjack and syrup past the chin guard on the bottom of his helmet, so he was twisting the fork and tugging down his helmet.

"My big big brother is named Charles too," Milly said.

Meryl leaned closer to Chuck. "I'm afraid you need to take your helmet off so you can eat." Wide green eyes of brother and sister focused on her. "It's okay in here. We don't care if you're augmented."

"No, that doesn't matter at all," Milly said. "Meryl-ma'am is augmented too."

"As I was about to say. It really is okay. I saw you use your tail to trip that man." Meryl didn't look at Vash. She didn't want to see the regret that he wasted last night on an augmented freak. She had seen that expression on all her previous boyfriends and lovers and never needed to see it again.

"What does 'augmented' mean?" Hannah asked.

"Mutations or cybernetic replacements that take one far from base line human," Meryl said.

"I'm not like Fred!" Chuck yanked off his helmet. He had a mouse face, including large ears that started at the end of his snout and extended past the fluff of his cheeks. The fur covering his face was a tawny brown that could match the sands of the plain. Two bright red antennae poked out of the fur on top of his head between his ears that looked a lot like hair, a russet red much darker than his sister's near orange shade. But they both had the same green eyes. "I just look more like Dad," Chuck finished with a trembling chin.

"Who isn't human," Milly said.

"Obviously." Hannah curled her fist around her fork, ready to use it like a weapon.

"Nobody notices back home." Chuck sounded like he was going to cry.

Vash leaned forward and set his empty plate on the table. "It's okay. These insurance girls are really smart and observant, so they don't miss much. But they are good people. You... we can trust them. We can trust them."

"Can we trust you, Stampede?" Hannah's eyes narrowed.

"Vash Saverem, Miss Davidson. And I'm not human either."

"You look human." Chuck said before shoving a large piece of flapjack into his mouth.

"Yeah, I do. Let me see. This usually happens when I'm pissed to hell." Vash squeezed his eyes shut and his face hardened. His eyelids shot open and a bright blue light obscured his eyes. Meryl gasped. Vash shook himself and the glow faded as his amiable smile came back.

"Wow, that's cool! Isn't that cool, Hannah?"

"I don't want to piss you off," Hannah said. Meryl silently agreed with her.

"I think you are safe from that," he said. Chuck had returned to eating with gusto. "Another plate, Milly?" Vash asked.

Milly passed another plate to him. "What are you, Mr. Vash?"

Vash's normal eyes gazed at the children before shifting to Milly and Meryl and then back to the children. He tensed, but answered. "I'm a plant. Please leave that out of your reports."

Meryl looked across the table at her partner, who matched her equally confused expression. Their current theory was that Vash the Stampede was augmented, but now he was claiming to be lost technology? Or was he claiming a lineage to the fairy tale that the giant bulbs had creatures inside them?

Chuck put his last chunk of sausage into his mouth. "You don't look like a plant. You don't have any leaves or bark. Can I have some more?"

"Don't talk with your mouthful," Hannah fussed as Milly passed the boy another plate.

Vash nodded. "I got seconds for everybody; go ahead. But leafy plants aren't in my genetic makeup. Some human, but mostly plant angel from the bulbs."

Meryl hid her frown. So it was the fairy tale. But she remembered he did something to stop Inepril's plant from blowing up. And his eyes could glow.

"A what now?" Hannah's eyebrows rose.

Vash was still tense, but he answered her. "The bulbs aren't plants. The ones who live outside of time inside the bulbs are the plants, dependent plants. They can't live outside the bulbs. I can, so independent." He jerked his thumb toward his chest.

Chuck and Hannah looked at each other before Hannah looked back at Vash. "Bulbs?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

Everyone knew what bulbs were; life wasn't possible on Gunsmoke without them, even if they didn't know the stories about the plant angels. "Where are you children from?" Meryl asked.

"Chicago!" Chuck said. Hannah flinched.

"I don't know that settlement," Vash said. "Where was your father from?"

"Mars!"

Hannah twisted toward her brother. "Chuck!"

"Are we supposed to lie?" he asked.

"No lying," Meryl said quickly. "We can't help you if you lie to us." She would deal with Vash's story later; out of earshot of these children.

Hannah's shoulders slumped. Meryl had never seen a child look so exhausted before. "We're from Earth," Hannah said. "Dad and the uncles are from Mars. We were going out of town for a family thing and we ran across a bad guy plot. Dad put us on his bike to get us to safety while the grown-ups stopped it, but we got hit by--"

"A multiversal translocation transit beam!" Chuck said. "That's what Karbunkle called it."

"He's a mad scientist!" Hannah retorted. "We can't trust what he calls things!"

Vash tilted his head slightly. "And you ended up here on Gunsmoke when the beam went away?"

Hannah nodded. "Mars only has two moons and one sun, not two. We landed last night and had the bike head to the nearest power source she could detect. That seemed the best way to find civilization."

"Good thing the caravan stalled, and you found it before you ran out of water," Vash said.

Milly's lips were trembling. "Your parents must be worried sick! You must write letters and tell them you're okay." She jumped up and rooted for paper and pencils in her luggage.

"We don't have a way to transport a letter back to them." Hannah said, with a puzzled expression as she watched Milly bustle.

"But they're coming for us," Chuck said.

Vash drained his apple juice bottle. "Message in a bottle." He went to the tiny sink, rinsed the bottle out, and dried it.

Hannah studied the bottle. "A tracer will fit in that one, so the other bikes could find it. Assuming this caravan is going to move?"

"We're all waiting for that to happen," Vash answered.

Meryl tugged on the sleeve of Vash's duster. "Can I talk to you outside?"

Milly was getting the children started on letters as Vash followed Meryl out and shut the door of the trailer. "Don't yell," he said.

"I don't yell."

He snorted. "Then you have no idea how loud you get when you get worked up." She glared at him and he blushed. "I wasn't talking about last night! I meant how loud you got trying to warn Mr. Cliff about my non-existent scam when all I did was answer a job advertisement." He folded his arms across his chest.

She took a deep breath. "I'm not yelling."

"Really?" He dropped his arms to his sides. "Look, I don't tell anyone about me. It's safer that way."

"This isn't about you. I want you to tell me that," she pointed to the black motorcycle, "is lost technology and those children have made up a fantasy life around it."

"You just said no lying." Meryl dropped her arm at his answer. "Why ask me about lost technology?" Vash asked with a frown.

"Inepril's plant and those metal monsters outside of May City."

"Right," he sighed. "The metal monsters were robots that the buried ship was producing until we shut it down. Those were the security models. The database of designs didn't have any based on motorcycles. Too bad, it's really an efficient design. But that is not Gunsmoke technology, or any lost technology I'm familiar with. That's why I confided in them, to get their story. Didn't expect cross dimensional travel."

Meryl took a deep breath and ignored what she didn't understand of all that to concentrate on what was truly important. "You want to keep those children."

Vash grimaced. "Now you're gonna start yelling."

"Tell me why."

"That technology is a game changer on Gunsmoke. Everyone will try to take it from those kids."

Hannah came out of the trailer, carefully shutting the door. "They won't get very far with that. She's a Martian AI war machine, a bonded battle bike; she's not gonna let anyone but us ride her, much less fight with her." Hannah brushed past them to reach the motorcycle. "I need a spare tracer. Setting up breadcrumbs for Dad and Mom."

The motorcycle beeped, and a panel slid open on the fuel tank.

Hannah pulled out a dart-like object with a stylized mouse head shape on one end that matched the headlight on the motorcycle. She turned back to Vash and Meryl. "And what do you want from us?"

Vash touched his chest. "Me? Nothing. I don't need a war machine for the battles I get caught up in. But I want to help you and your brother."

Meryl considered everything she had observed Vash doing since they met, and her honesty spoke up. "He likes to help people."

"Meryl does too, otherwise she wouldn't be an insurance agent," Vash said brightly.

Meryl continued because Vash was right; these children needed protecting. "And you think you can handle bandits and the military on your own. But what if they got your brother to make you do what they want?"

"Sandblasted," Hannah said.

"So stick with us?" Vash asked. "We'll teach you two how to survive on Gunsmoke. We aliens need to stick together."

Hannah's face was so tired and defeated. "Okay, fine." Then she jerked up her chin. "But if you try to double-cross us, you'll regret it."

"I have no doubts. Let's go bury your letters where the caravan can't run over the bottle."

They collected Chuck and Milly, headed out to a neighboring dune, and buried the bottle not deep, maybe about a feel down. Meryl sidled up to Vash in the rear as their group headed back to the trailer. "You have to stop trying to ditch me and Milly now."

"I have, in case you didn't notice."

"I'm serious. You have to know what people are going to think about you traveling with a girl that age."

Vash looked disgusted. "You know I wouldn't."

"I also know you're not a mass murdering fiend. Our company will keep people from thinking the worst."

"You'll keep 'em out of your reports."

"Yes, along with your origin." Nobody back at Bernardelli headquarters believed her reports so far; no sense adding that weirdness, so the Chief would call she and Milly back to December City and replace them.

The last of the tension left Vash. "We have a deal then."

Chuck was questioning Milly-ma'am about the caravan as the group walked back to the trailer. Hannah noticed that Vash and Meryl had fallen back to talk to each other. It felt like when Mom and Dad did it, so grown-up talk, most likely. Hannah was too tired to insert herself into grown-up talk. Activity had picked up throughout the caravan. Tents dropped and people loaded stuff into vehicles.

A short, dark-skinned man paced outside their trailer next to the bike and the jeep. The bike had let them go without following because she had them in visual range. The man saw them and waved his hand at the vehicles. "You bought these while we stopped? You didn't pay for hauling vehicles."

Vash moved forward. "It's okay; we can pay for it. And two extra passengers."

"But we aren't going all the way to Fondrique," Meryl said.

"Right," Vash said. "We'll leave the caravan at the trading post."

"Fine, fine. Have to get them secure before we move out. The sprays finally quit." The man who must own the trailer and vehicle pulling it moved to the rear of the trailer left of the steps to the door. Vash bounced forward and grabbed a metal frame with the man as Milly and Meryl headed inside with Chuck.

The males pulled out a mini-trailer. Once it was out, Vash drove the jeep's front wheels onto it. The owner raised the jeep so the back wheels only touched the sands while Vash tightened straps around the front wheels. The owner vanished around the trailer and Vash pulled another mini-trailer on the right of the door.

The bike honked her displeasure at the rig.

Hannah sighed as she patted the bike's black fuel tank. "You are in disguise. Now pretend to be a dumb-dumb bike that can't drive itself, please. We both know you can get off that, but don't prove it."

The bike gave one more honk, but rolled until her front tire settled into the left front tire slot.

Hannah wrapped the straps around the tire. "Thank you, girl."

"So A.I. stands for artificial intelligence on your Earth, too?" Vash asked.

"Yeah, it does," Hannah answered before the phrasing hit her like a punch. "Wait, my Earth?" What she had been ignoring made her heart sink when Vash winced.

"I'm sorry," he said gently. "I thought you had figured it out. Our Mars never had sentient life beside humans on it before the SEEDS Project ships left that solar system for this one."

"Verittok^[1]." She leaned her hands on the bike before turning back to Vash. "I was afraid it was gonna be something like that and we're stuck here. No offense, I guess it's an okay planet. But Karbunkle's inventions are almost always shitty one-offs that maybe get the advertised results once. Usually, if we're lucky, Mom can figure out how to reverse engineer it to undo what he did. And you guys don't have transporters as part of your tech?"

Vash shook his head.

Tears pooled in her eyes. She was so tired, and she hated being the one thing that Karbunkle made that didn't need a patch job. And now keeping Chuck safe just got a lot harder with only her here to do it. "If it blew up, and it probably did, they aren't coming for us."

"Do you need a hug?" Vash asked.

That offer was so unexpected, it shook a chuckle from Hannah. "We just met. I don't hug that fast."

"Good rule of thumb. Come on in. Things will look better after a nap." He opened the trailer door and let her go in first. One bunk was down to sleep on instead of tucked against the wall. Chuck was drawing at the table while Milly was writing on another sheet of paper.

Meryl looked up from stowing luggage so it wouldn't fly around. "Lie down, Hannah. I'm sure you were up all night."

Hannah, too tired and homesick to argue about it, untied her shoelaces, toed off her sneakers, and crawled onto the bunk. Chuck could raise hell in the space if they did anything to him and she knew she could not sleep through that. The trailer swayed as it moved and gathered speed, and she let the movement lull her to sleep.

Chapter Text

They had a long conversation about which direction to head in before the caravan stopped at the trading post. Vash suggested Faybrant, a town that wasn't on the caravan route, but would require camping overnight in the desert. Meryl agreed with that idea, which kind of surprised him. He had expected her to disagree more for the sake of the children.

The trading post was built around a small windmill that pulled water up from an aquifer so the caravan could buy water to refill their stores. One building was a store of items people had traded away combined with variety store stock to buy, another building was a saloon, and a couple of smaller houses.

They hung back toward the yard of fenced-in vehicles as the caravan made its trades for water. Vash looked over the options. "We need something with a backseat."

Meryl frowned. "We know the jeep runs."

"You want to sit on Milly's lap?" He tilted his head.

"That's not comfortable at all," Milly said. "I can drive and Meryl-ma'am can sit on your lap."

Vash clenched his teeth together before he said something like how he wanted Meryl back on his lap. He did, which surprised him after waking up back to normal. He had squashed the panic her leaving to get breakfast had given him. It was completely wonky--he knew she was capable--but he still had to go find her. He wanted to keep her close, which was a new feeling for him, and unsettling in development.

Meryl growled a little. "Fine, we need a new vehicle with a backseat."

Their night together didn't seem to have changed Meryl's disposition any. Well, she was talking to him instead of yelling at him. He'd take that improvement.

Hannah snorted. "I'll go kick the tires. Payback for the camping gear you're going to have to get for us." She vaulted over the fence.

"You know what to look for?" Meryl asked.

"She has rebuilt the four-wheels Mom owns twice now," Chuck said. "She knows how they fit together."

"I'll check it too," Vash said.

Meryl nodded. "Let's go find camping supplies." She and Milly headed into the store with Chuck trailing after them.

Vash looked back at Hannah's progress. There were only three vehicles with backseats parked there , and she started looking at the tires first. The first car had rotted tires, and she moved onto the next. Its tires passed her inspection, so she opened the hood to peer at the engine. She left the hood up as she moved onto the third one. The third one had okay tires too, but she frowned at the engine and dropped its hood. Vash jumped over the fence and headed to the second car. Both seats were open to the air, with the collapsible roof tucked into the body of the car behind the rear seat.

"This one," Hannah said firmly. "The tires and axles look good, and it has a whole engine. That one didn't." She pointed to the third.

Vash looked at the engine. "Yeah, it's all there. Let's check out the trunk."

"Why?"

"Make sure it has room to haul the insurance girls' luggage." He opened the trunk. "That should work if they don't find too much to buy."

"Are they big shoppers?"

Vash shrugged. "We have been nowhere where they could do big shopping. Let's go trade." He led the way to the store. Hannah followed him.

The walls were floor to ceiling shelves of food supplies, camping gear, and bolts of fabric separated from the shoppers by counters. The middle of the room had a table filled with things that didn't fit neatly into those categories but would catch people's eyes. It worked because Vash went straight to the sunshades collection. He found a pair that matched his old pair, same color too. He set them on top of one of the two bedrolls sitting next to the cash register.

The shop keeper set a camp stove and a couple of cans of fuel on the counter. "She said you wanted to trade for a larger car." He nodded toward Meryl, who was bent over a sheet, making selections.

"That's right," Vash agreed. "We don't fit in a jeep any more. Got any clothes?"

"My wife sews up what anyone needs around here. You want to get rooms and stay that long?"

"Not really. Thanks for the offer." Vash grinned at him until he went back to check with what Meryl was selecting and then turned to Hannah. "Sorry. I'll get you guys clothes in the next town, since you both need more of everything."

Hannah nodded. "It is what it is. Camping is new; we haven't done that before."

"If you don't get transportation that has a set route like the bus system, it's best to stop driving and wait for the suns to rise. Let's go check on the others."

They crossed the room and Meryl looked up. "I've put down for two days' worth, just in case something happens." Vash nodded; that was practical. Meryl's tension softened, and she glanced at Hannah. "Are you two allergic to anything? Chuck said he wasn't, but he made it sound more like we could dare him to eat anything."

"Nothing makes us sick," Hannah answered, "as long as it is fully cooked."

"That's what went wrong with the last time Uncle Vinnie cooked?" Chuck asked.

"He thinks a recipe is telling him what to do and only Dad can do that, so yeah. He didn't leave it in the oven long enough."

Vash snorted. "A rebel against the tyranny of cookbooks."

"That's what Dad said," Chuck said.

"They don't offer donuts," Meryl said.

"Too few places do," Vash said sadly as he looked at what she selected. "I can make meals out of that. Fully cooked."

The shop keeper and an older teenager approached them on the other side of the counter. "Tim, collect their food choices. I'll see the vehicle you want to trade."

Vash agreed and went outside with the older man. Hannah followed them and leaned against the black motorcycle. Probably to make sure Vash didn't barter it away. The shop keeper found nothing wrong with the jeep, but demanded money along with it because they wanted a larger vehicle. Vash didn't haggle with him; for once, he didn't have to count every penny to survive, and paid the fee for the vehicle and the supplies. He grabbed one box of food with the camp stove, Milly grabbed the second one, and Chuck and Meryl grabbed the bedrolls.

Meryl directed Chuck to put the bedrolls in the back seat. Then she approached Vash with her wallet in hand and her chin up. "We need to settle our share of the transportation."

"Oh, put that away." He pushed his shoulder bag into the trunk along the side, so the boxes and the insurance girls' suitcases had room. "I'm not charging you a fee to ride." Chuck had dashed over to his sister and was talking to her. "It's part of the deal," he said in a lower tone. "Save that for an emergency. Or Milly's next pudding craving."

"We can't be obligated to you. We have to be impartial for the job."

"You're not obligated to me and I'm not leaving you here. What does that job expect you to do? Buy a separate vehicle?" Vash shook his head. "You don't have enough for that."

"That's why I need to pay for our share, so we remain impartial. Our boss expects nothing less."

"Who's going to tell them?" Vash blinked at her. "Seriously, I will not tell them. The kids will not tell them. So that leaves you and Milly, and you can just not tell them."

Meryl stared at him.

"Really, I don't care what you tell your bosses as long as you tell them the truth that what blew up isn't my fault."

"You seem positive that a future explosion isn't your fault." She tucked the wallet back under her cape.

"Based on the ones I can remember, I have never started them." He surveyed the packing. Milly had moved the insurance girls' bedrolls to the back seat as well. That gave them a little more room in the trunk. Meryl took a small bag around the car to the front passenger's seat. Vash closed the trunk. "Let's load up and make tracks."

Hannah pressed something on the top of Chuck's helmet, and he bounced over to the car. "I'm riding with you!"

"Okay," Vash said, glancing at Hannah. She gave him a thumb up before getting on the motorcycle. "Back seat; you can't drive yet."

"I know that. Mom says I have to be tall enough to reach the pedals with my feet and see over the steering wheel before I can learn." Chuck scrambled into the back seat behind the driver's seat.

"She stressed using your feet?" Milly asked as she got in on the passenger side of the back seat.

"I can reach them with my tail, but that is not how the pedals are made to work, so don't do that. Hannah's tall enough if it's an emergency."

Vash climbed behind the wheel and started up the car. They headed northeast out of the trading post and the motorcycle drove even with the car on the passenger side.

Meryl turned to look at the back seat. "Riding in the sidecar isn't comfortable?"

Chuck shook his head. "It's better than the ones on Earth bikes, but this way Hannah can talk to you guys, too."

"With very little effort," Hannah said clearly. She and Chuck laughed at the expressions the adults were making. "The helmets have speakers, mikes, and lights."

"You probably shouldn't make that obvious to anyone else," Vash said.

"Okay," they both agreed.

Chuck turned to Milly. "You said you have a big brother? How is that different from having a big sister?"

"That's hard to say. I have both and they are all different from each other besides being boys and girls. So I'm no help if you're asking which is better to have as a big sibling."

"So you grew up with three kids?" Chuck asked.

"No, I have six sisters and five brothers and they're all older than me. And they're all married with children except for the twins, Liam, and me."

"Cheese," Hannah exclaimed, "your mother had twelve babies?"

"That's right. My parents are farmers and more children meant more help. I'm the only one who wanted a career out of the crop fields."

The ground rose on both sides, forming a canyon. The bottom was smooth for easy driving and ran in the direction they needed to go. Vash steered the car between the steep-slopes and there was room for the motorcycle beside the car too.

Chuck leaned forward. "Milly-ma'am doesn't have a family; she has an army. What about you? Or is your family on another planet?" He poked Vash with his tail.

"I don't have an army. I mean, my sisters in the bulbs count but don't count. They're kind of out of it most of the time. And I don't know if there are other independent plants on other planets. We don't have a way to contact other planets."

"Bummer. That sounds lonely."

"I have friends," Vash assured him.

"What about you, Meryl-ma'am?"

"My parents died before giving me any siblings. My grandmother raised me."

Chuck nodded. "And you're a mutant, but you don't look weird."

"Chuck, that's not nice," Hannah said. "In his defense, the only mutant we have met is Fred, a masochistic creep that Karbunkle built out of spare parts. He's got a tentacle for one arm, a dog's leg and tail, three eyes, and hasn't died yet."

"What does that mean? Masochistic?" Chuck asked.

"Being in pain makes him happy," Vash answered.

"And that's why he always jumps into the explosions," Hannah explained.

"Oh," Chuck said. "You're much nicer looking than Fred, Meryl-ma'am."

"Thank you," Meryl said. "Now people get touchy about their looks, so you shouldn't ask about things like that."

"If I say I'm sorry, will you tell me what mutant powers you have?"

Meryl smiled. "It's not really powers. My reflexes are better than normal. That's all."

"And she's smarter than everyone else at the main office," Milly added.

"Hannah's smarter than everyone at her school, but she's not a mutant. Is your grandmother a mutant too?"

"She just said not to ask people that!" Hannah exclaimed.

"But how am I supposed to learn if I don't ask?"

"First, we don't call people mutants," Meryl said. "They are called augmented. Second, you cannot ask strangers that, Chuck. You let your friends tell you when they are ready for you to know. My grandmother never told me she was augmented, so I don't think she is one."

"Oh," Chuck said. "We don't have any grandmothers."

Hannah snorted. "You're gonna hurt Grandma Bola's feelings."

"But she's Uncle Modo's mother."

Milly looked confused. "If she's your uncle's mother, wouldn't she be the mother of your father or your mother?"

"Uncle Vinnie and Uncle Modo are Dad's bros, not brothers. They aren't genetically related."

"Bros?" Meryl looked over the passenger side door to the motorcycle.

"Found family," Hannah answered. "They made it through the war on Mars and stayed with Dad on Earth. So we call them uncles. Mom's mother didn't raise her and we don't know if she's alive or not. Mom's father died before Dad and the uncles crashed on Earth."

"Dad's mom and dad died when he was little and he got his mom's bike. And she came with us," Chuck added.

"And Dad's uncle and aunt, who raised him, died in the war. Grandma Bola is the only one left, so we're her adopted grandkids."

"You keep mentioning a war," Meryl said gently.

Dark clouds to the left caught Vash's attention. They roiled and expanded and moved toward them, pushing in faster than he felt comfortable with. "Hold up." He braked the car and Hannah stopped the motorcycle. "Meryl, you got your binoculars handy?"

He expected her to pull them out from under her cape, but she dug them out of the small bag on the floorboard at her feet. "What's wrong?" she asked as she handed them over.

"Storm clouds." He focused on the black mass and saw lightning jump between the clouds. "And we're in a washout."

"What's that?" Milly asked.

Hannah's head swiveled to look at the almost vertical canyon walls. "But the car can't. No rocket boosters. Scan for a ramp."

"Scan?" Vash handed the binoculars back to Meryl. "Your motorcycle has scanning sensors?"

"She does. It's going to flash flood here, right?"

"Right."

"Okay, found something. Follow me." She tightened her grip on the handlebars as the motorcycle surged forward. Vash followed it.

Milly leaned forward. "Those are rain clouds? Not a sandstorm?"

"But it's all desert here," Chuck said.

"We have water," Vash explained. "It's just not on the surface. But a downpour will flood until it seeps back underground. And we are in a channel that the water will funnel through with scary force."

"Scanning sensors, is that more lost technology?" Meryl asked.

"More or less," Vash said. "I think Octovern saved theirs from the Great Fall but limited it to medical uses."

The black motorcycle found an incline slanting against the canyon wall on the right that looked slightly less steep than the rest of the wall. The thick black clouds were directly overhead now. "I hope we can get up that without getting out and pushing!" Ominous rumbles covered the engine's whines as the car struggled. Vash gritted his teeth and gave the car more gasoline.

"Yank 'n crank!" Hannah yelled.

A claw on the end of a rope shot out from under the rear of the motorcycle's seat. It latched onto the car's front bumper, and the motorcycle revved and flames shot out of what looked like the tailpipes on each side of the rear tire. The extra help got the car up to the canyon rim. Another sheer wall up to a mesa and a barricade of large stones that had created the incline when they fell blocked access to the rest of the plain, leaving a shelf to park on.

Vash parked the car as close to the mesa as it could get and jumped out to wrestle the collapsible roof into place. Hannah pulled a tarp out of the motorcycle's saddlebag on the back wheel, draped it over the motorcycle, and strapped it tightly to cover the vehicle.

Milly and Meryl both got up on the seats and yanked on the roof to move it to the windshield. Fat water drops splashed. Chuck rolled up the back window he sat next to. The roof moved with a groan. Hannah scrambled into the front seat and helped yank. Meryl locked the roof to the windshield. Lightning split the sky, but they got it into place. Milly rolled up the passenger side back window.

Vash slid back into the driver's seat, collided with Meryl, but she shifted back and he took over rolling up the door window. Hannah rolled up the passenger window. The glass met the roof as the rain pounded down.

Milly and Chuck both pressed against the back seat door window facing the sky. "Wow, it's coming down like when you blew up Mr. Cliff's freezing machine," Milly said.

Meryl leaned back in the center of the front bench and looked up at Vash. "I'm glad you were with us. You saved us from drowning on Gunsmoke."

"A compliment, insurance girl?" He smirked at her.

She didn't smirk back and the sad/hurt expression he had seen before flickered over her face, but she smoothed it away before turning to Hannah, who leaned against the other door. "Now that we're settled in, will you explain the war you keep talking about?"

"Limburger," Chuck said.

"Limburger is just a part of it," Hannah said. She pulled off her motorcycle helmet and set it on the dashboard. "There's more sentient species on different planets. Humans on Earth; Mice, Rats, and Sand Raiders on Mars; and Plutarkians on Plutark. The Plutarkians ruined their own planet, so they send out advanced teams to buy or steal the natural resources of other planets that Plutark needs. Once the local population finds out what's happening and starts fighting back, that's when they send in troops. Dad and his bros fought on Mars until they got caught. They escaped and headed back to Mars, but got shot down on Earth."

"And met Mom." Chuck pulled off his helmet, too.

"Right, and found out advanced teams from Plutark had already started buying up Earth's resources. So they stayed to fight Limburger and the other Plutarkians on Earth. Hopefully to stop it all before an invasion."

"And then came Hannah and then Mom and Dad fell in love and then came me," Chuck said.

Milly blinked as she turned to him. "Wait. That's not the right order."

Hannah sighed. "We have the same mother. Dad started acting like my dad when he was Uncle Throttle. He adopted me when he and Mom married," she tapped a green gemstone stud earring high on her left earlobe before the cartilage started, "but he's not my biological father." She crossed her arms and slid lower in the seat.

Vash blinked. That made sense with Hannah and Chuck's physical differences and similarities. Hannah's parents must both be human, but she really didn't want to talk about that. "So do the Plutarkians fight on motorcycles, too?"

Hannah relaxed but didn't uncross her arms. "No, that's a Martian mouse thing."

Lightning hit close by and thunder shook the whole car. "How long is it going to rain?" Chuck asked.

"Until it's done. We're probably sleeping in the car tonight." Vash set his Colt on the dashboard where he could easily grab it and stretched out as best he could, finding a comfortable spot against the door and the seat. He heard an unusual rush under the rumbling thunder. Meryl leaned over him to look out the driver-side window. The washout was already full of water. He recognized her worried face and wanted to reassure her. "We're high enough."

"But how long are we going to sit on this ledge?" Meryl asked with a frown. "Until the water seeps underground?"

"The bike can blow a hole through the rocks up here for us to drive out after the downpour stops," Hannah said.

"Blow a hole?" Meryl turned to her.

Vash snorted. "I'm thinking it's a shorter list to name what that motorcycle can't do. Flying is out."

"She can too fly," Chuck insisted.

"With external rocket boosters," Hannah said. "In her current configuration, it's more like hang-gliding."

"You are not demonstrating that!" Meryl exclaimed.

"Not in this weather, no." Hannah curled up against the passenger door and closed her eyes.

Meryl glared at Vash like she wanted to continue arguing.

Vash shrugged. "You have to go to Northern Cornelia to get any winds with lifting force."

"And of course, you've flung yourself off a cliff to learn that," she said caustically.

"No flinging involved. I studied aerodynamics for a while."

Meryl blinked and lost her sarcasm. "Why?"

"They had flying vehicles on Earth. Really cut down on traveling times. Couldn't find anyone who wanted to help me build one. Collective trauma from the Great Fall, I guess."

"But why?" Meryl repeated.

"I enjoy studying physics and engineering. Don't you do anything for fun, or is it all work all the time?"

Milly snorted. "Meryl thinks work is fun."

"I do not," Meryl retorted. "I find it satisfying, but I haven't had time for hobbies since my last promotion."

"But you have hobbies? Multiple?" Vash asked.

"I don't see what's so astonishing about me having hobbies." She was all prickly with defensiveness; why didn't she tease back? "I like to cook and sew."

"Oh, useful hobbies." Because all he could think to do was keep on teasing. Since hugging her was out of the question.

"Like studying lost technology and getting it working again isn't useful?" she snapped.

Vash grinned. That was better than defensiveness or the hurt she tried to keep hidden. "Good point."

"What does that mean?" Chuck asked. "Those wrenchheads called the bike that, too. How can you lose tech?"

"Easily when the ships crashed, there was no way to replicate the systems, and the people who knew how to build them and how they worked died," Vash said.

"Heavy," Chuck said. "And not even a scoreboard to crash into."

"What's a scoreboard?" Milly asked.

Hannah answered without opening her eyes. "It's part of a sports arena where they display the score. And it's a family joke that Dad and the uncles can't pilot spaceships. They keep hitting the Quigley Field's scoreboard with each one they've flown."

"That's a family joke?" Meryl asked. "Your mother laughs about crashing?"

"Mom is more resigned about it and keeps the spaceship scrap. They haven't done it since Chuck was born."

"Let nothing useful go to waste," Vash said. Thunder interrupted the conversation and lightning flash lit up everything.

Chuck pressed against the window again. "Whoa! It looks like a river!" He spun around and leaned over the front seat to the right of Meryl's head. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Hannah answered without opening her eyes. "Nobody wants to throw me in here and it'll go away."

Chuck frowned, but moved back to his spot. "Okay, if you say so."

Thunder rumbled again, and Meryl flinched. Time to keep the conversation away from the weather. "So, do you have a fun hobby?" Vash nudged Meryl.

Meryl frowned at him. "Do you?"

"Sure, singing. And no, I haven't done it in front of you two."

"Well, you can," Milly said. "We wouldn't mind."

"I like to write," Meryl admitted.

"You said you didn't." Vash frowned, thinking back. She even brought it up when they found Hannah and Chuck.

"I don't enjoy writing reports," Meryl added.

"Oh, did the Chief fuss about the last one?" Milly asked.

"I have received nothing on the report about the Bad Lads and the sandsteamer, but that's also why I included interviews with all the crew that would talk to us. He can't call that one a collection of hyperbole masquerading as facts." Meryl crossed her arms, clearly disgruntled.

"So you prefer creative writing? Poetry and the other one?" Vash asked.

"Prose, stories. I've never been good at keeping poetry meters straight."

"But you don't have time to write?"

"Don't blow anything up and maybe I'll find more time," Meryl said sarcastically. Hannah shivered as she scrunched into a tighter ball. Meryl turned to the back seat as best she could without getting up. "Milly, can you pass some bedrolls?" Vash helped two of them forward with his longer reach. He shook his head when Milly offered a third; he'd be fine with his duster. Meryl took a bedroll and tucked it around Hannah.

Hannah blinked. "Thanks." She curled up again, pulling it around her shoulders with a yawn.

"We need to get them clothes suitable for desert nights," Meryl said softly to Vash as she twisted to him with the second bedroll in her hands.

He nodded. "It's on the list."

"Glad you're making a list." Meryl twisted back and tried to shake the bedroll loose without hitting Vash, and it wasn't unfurling.

He moved his right arm around and grabbed it too, shaking it with her. It unrolled and he let it go. He let his arm drop onto her shoulders and his hand on her arm.

She looked up at him with large gray eyes, a lot like she had looked the other night, right after he had first kissed her, something like disbelief. She should never look like that, like he couldn't possibly want to touch her ever again. He hugged her to his side.

She sighed and tucked against his side as she pulled the bedroll up to her pointy chin. Her gray eyes closed as she trusted him with some of her weight. He felt something that had been clenched up inside him since they had retreated to separate bunks loosen and resettle where it should be. This felt good, this felt right, even as the storm continued and the water churned outside.

Chapter Text

The next morning dawned storm-free and the water level was halfway down the canyon but still far too river like for Hannah to get close to that edge. She unwrapped the bike and packed up the tarp while everyone else looked down into the canyon. The bike beeped softly at her, but didn't put any words on the face shield of Hannah's helmet.

Vash heaved a sigh. "That exit is a bust, even if the water wasn't still flowing. It wiped out the incline we used to get up here." He turned and let his eyes roam over the mesa and ended up on the rock pile. Then he looked at Hannah. "Is that what your motorcycle thinks she can explode clear?"

The bike sent a visual of what she had scanned and listed the details of what size laser blast would break up the rock pile onto Hannah's golden face shield. "Yeah, the way is wide open past that. The car shouldn't have any issues. The town we're heading to is on this side, right?"

"Faybrant is, yes." Vash looked back at the car. "Good thing, because this car will not jump this canyon."

"Not without rocket boosters," Hannah agreed. She turned back to the rock pile. "The bike is sure she can blow that without bringing the rest of the rocks down on us."

"That mesa looks pretty stable. So it's a good thing your father packed explosives for a family outing."

Hannah snorted. "Dad packs explosives everywhere. It's part of the integrated systems." The bike popped her front laser cannon and rolled toward the rock slide. Hannah stepped back until the face shield signaled "okay." Vash backed up with her.

The bike fired twice. Dust wafted away in the breeze. The ledge was now connected to the rest of the desert on top of the canyon.

Hannah skipped forward and patted the bike's gas tank. "Good job, girl. Pretty as a one-two punch."

Vash's blue-green eyes had widened comically, but his skin was nearly white. "You... you just...."

"Of course she did," Chuck said as he headed to the car. "She's a battle bike. Are we going now?"

"And your parents are in a war," Milly said. "How many weapons does your motorcycle have?"

Hannah ticked them off on her fingers. "Laser cannons, missile launcher, grapple line, boosted jumps and acceleration, ability to fly with external rocket jets but those got left at home."

"And a brain to use them without a rider," Vash added grimly.

"Not like the Terminator," Hannah insisted. "She still needs an organic to approve the action unless her rider's life is in danger. And in full disclosure, Dad extended that to cover Chuck and me."

Meryl stepped forward. "Was she going to attack those bozos who attacked you?"

"She was using intimidation mode," Hannah admitted. "They hadn't pulled weapons on us until you showed up. She usually gives us a chance to get free first."

"So we just have to make sure that you don't get into any more fights," Meryl said brightly.

"Good luck with that," Chuck said from the car's back seat. "Hannah got people fighting with her and we hadn't even been here a whole day."

"That's not my fault. I just told him off for thinking I was a..." Hannah paused, trying to come up with a term that wouldn't lead to definitions Chuck wasn't ready for yet, "saloon girl."

"Saloon girl?" Milly tilted her head.

Meryl pressed her lips together. "A call girl. So it was like that. We should have shot him."

Vash turned to her. "If that motorcycle had shot him, he wouldn't have anything left to go to a doctor!"

"I meant me. Let's get going. We need to reach Faybrant before all the shops close."

Vash twisted back to face Hannah and the bike with an unhappy expression. "Don't aim that motorcycle's weapons at live opponents. Please."

"Okay," Hannah agreed. It's not like she wanted to murder idiots, even if they were sexist idiots. "They don't start nothin'; won't be nothin'."

Vash still didn't look happy, but he went to the car and lowered the car's roof before getting in the driver's seat.

Hannah climbed onto the bike and patted her handlebars where they joined the instrument display. "Let's avoid shooting organics. It's against the law here."

The bike beeped, rolled through the space left from the vaporized rock pile, and paused until Vash drove the car through.

Chuck didn't let it go as the drive started. "You carry a big slugthrower if you don't like shooting people."

Vash sighed. "It was a gift. And everyone else on this planet makes using it a necessity. But no one has the right to take the life of another person, so I make sure the bullets I fire don't kill anyone."

"What if it's a bad guy?" Chuck asked.

"You have to stop the bad they're doing, especially if the situation is not equal and people will get hurt. But you can do that without killing the bad guy. They have a blank ticket to the future, the same as everyone else."

"Ticket to the future?" Chuck asked.

"Your potential, what you can grow up and become. You cannot kill a bad guy because he might decide to do something good next. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, I guess," Chuck said. "It's just we've met no bad guys willing to do good."

"Mom didn't tell you about Hard Rock?" Hannah asked.

"Mom always said turn that down."

She chuckled. "No, not music. He worked for the Plutarkians on Mars, but when Limburger tried to get him to come to Earth and work, he wasn't working for Plutarkians anymore. But Dad and the uncles still don't like him much, so not surprising you hadn't heard the story yet. But it is possible."

"Not Limburger," Chuck insisted.

"No, I don't think he would change his scales. He enjoys doing bad. So he needs a trial and locked up from doing bad to everyone else because he won't stop any other way," Hannah said.

Meryl looked at Hannah from the car. "You're awfully sure of that."

Hannah shrugged without letting go of the handlebars. "I asked him once what it would take to make him leave us alone."

"I don't remember that," Chuck said.

"You were still a baby and didn't get nabbed with me. Anyway, Limburger said he'd leave Earth only if he became the leader of Plutark. And since Mom had just had a long rant about how a local election turned into a popularity contest recently, I told him he wouldn't win because nobody liked him."

Chuck giggled. Meryl looked concerned. "How did he react to that?"

"Dad and the uncles showed up just then, so he switched to them not teaching me to respect my elders. Which I protested because he started the conversation with me. And that made the Biker Mice laugh. Dad told him if he started something with me, he was asking to get it."

"So don't start nothing got started at an early age," Milly commented.

"Pretty much," Chuck said.

"Biker Mice?" Vash asked.

"That's what Dad and the uncles call themselves," Chuck answered.

"It's a special class of Martian mice," Hannah added. "Most of the ones who are left are Freedom Fighters or ones who can't fight, and they ride motorcycles, but not like the Biker Mice can."

"Like an outlaw name?" Milly asked.

"They're not outlaws!" Chuck crossed his arms.

"Neither are these two, but they are now known as Derringer Meryl and Stun-Gun Milly," Vash said. "Outlaw names just kind of happen."

"It's more like an order of knights," Hannah said. "It doesn't translate perfectly into English."

"They're heroes," Chuck insisted.

"They sound like it," Meryl said. She turned back to Vash. "What you said earlier about the situation not being equal; is that why you interfered with the bank robbery?"

"It's why I interfere with a lot of things. Most people don't have the means or the ability to fight back." Vash glanced at her. "You and Milly were pretty trapped. Hoped Warrens' townsfolk would fight back, but I had to do something to shift the balance."

Meryl hummed at his answer, but let the conversation lapse. Hannah focused on the landscape again. They were out of the sand dunes and going through a dusty but more stony land, with wind-carved mesas towering over everything in the distance. It reminded her of Western movies, only more tan than the deep red of Arizona.

So Vash had a scary reputation and an outlaw name, but he didn't want to kill anyone. She just had to keep that part of her history a secret. Chuck didn't know and the bike wouldn't tell. No sense losing the help they had lucked into.

The town of Faybrant stretched from a huge bent metal object she didn't recognize, but the buildings of two and three stories high and the towers for high tension wires on top of them blocked sight of most of it. As they drove closer, adobe buildings grouped into streets. Mining had carved up the nearest hills and mountains, and as they got closer, Hannah saw sheet metal created porch roofs and columns. Were there any trees on this planet?

Vash parked the car on the street in front of a two-story building with a metal overhang held up by columns. A pair of benches pushed up against the building under the front windows. A sign that only said 'hotel' hung between the second-floor windows. Hannah parked the bike alongside the rails on the other side of the door. Nothing marked parking on the unpaved street, so she hoped it was right.

Vash opened the trunk and turned to Meryl. "We'll get our rooms and then I'll take the kids on a tour of the town's plant. Are you two coming along?"

Meryl pulled her suitcase out and set it down next to her. "We need to go check in with Main Office if they have a satellite office here. Don't endanger the town's plant."

"I would never." Vash slung his bag over his shoulder.

"We'll meet up after we're done," Meryl said. Milly heaved a sigh, but followed Meryl inside with her suitcase.

"Okay," Vash agreed. He looked at Hannah and Chuck. "So meet up with them after the plant and get you two more supplies and see about school work."

"Do we have to?" Chuck whined.

"Yes, you must have an education. Non-negotiable. Come on."

They followed Vash into the lobby. There was a counter built into the corner of the staircase going up to the next floor, and a dark-skinned woman waited at it. Vash headed straight toward her. "Hello! We need a single for me and a double single for them. Unless," he looked at Hannah, "do you need a separate room?"

"No, I bunk with Chuck." Hannah crossed her arms.

"Okay, just two rooms, three beds then."

The woman nodded and pulled two keys from the cubbyholes behind her. "Thirty for the single, sixty for the double single, so ninety double dollars a night."

Vash pulled a wallet out of his coat and paid the amount. "I think we'll just be here one night, but we'll let you know if that changes."

Hannah accepted her and Chuck's key. It had the number nine on an attached tag. They headed upstairs. The doors had numbers on them, too. Nine and seven were on the front side of the building. Milly poked her head out of the door labeled eight across the hall and waved at them before withdrawing. Hannah unlocked their room. It had two twin beds, two dressers, a window overlooking the street, a small bathroom to the right and a door on the left. Must be a closet. The furniture was made of metal.

Chuck went to the window and waved down at the bike. "So, do you think we should stick with them?"

"Yeah, I do."

He turned and crossed his arms. "You just want the school work."

"We have to stick with somebody and they've been nice. We need to ask about why insurance agents are following Vash around."

There's a knock on the closet and Hannah opened the door. Vash is standing in an open door in his room. "Ready to go? Got your room key?" Hannah held it up before tucking it into her pocket. They trooped out of the hotel and started walking up the street.

The bike revved and rolled after them.

Vash stopped. "That won't work in a town this big. Someone will see."

"We'll just have to ride." Chuck went back to the bike. She popped out the sidecar, and he climbed into it.

"You're going to have to let Vash ride so it doesn't look weird," Hannah told the bike.

The bike beeped her agreement.

Vash's lips frowned to the side as his eyebrows drew down dubiously. "Toma have never liked me."

"Just don't steer while hanging on. With the sidecar in use, balance isn't an issue. And you and Dad are about the same height."

"That makes a difference?" Vash asked.

"I haven't adjusted anything for my height."

"You can't; it's Dad's bike," Chuck said.

"I need a second set of foot pegs," Hannah said.

The tall blond man finally shrugged, picked up the dangling panels of his red coat, swung his right leg over the bike, and gingerly sat on the brown leather seat, keeping both his boots on the ground. Hannah moved to the right side first and tapped the foot peg on the side at the bottom of the frame near the front wheel. "Put your foot there."

He set his boot on it and found the one on the left. Hannah slid onto the seat behind him and put on her helmet that Chuck handed her. Vash set his hands on the handgrips at the end of the handlebars. "So the plant is south."

The bike beeped and rolled up the street.

Vash gulped audibly. Chuck looked up at him. "First time on a bike?"

"That obvious, huh? I looked at them before, but my own two feet always seemed safer."

"But you're okay with four-wheels?" Hannah asked.

"More points touching the ground and I know how they work."

Hannah snorted. "Engines are engines."

"Just relax and stay on," Chuck said. The bike turned onto another wide street that crossed the hotel's street. Chuck leaned forward in the sidecar. "Oh, momma!" he exclaimed, just like Uncle Modo.

She craned around Vash's back to see that the curved metal that she had barely glimpsed over the buildings must be what was left of a spaceship's hull. A building-sized light bulb hung from the end of it, completely visible at the end of this street. The bike continued rolling toward it. "No wonder we sounded crazy, not knowing about them."

"It was the biggest clue you weren't from around here," Vash said.

"Do all the towns have them?" Chuck asked.

"The Six Cities and the largest and oldest towns and minor cities do. Some smaller towns and villages are developing without them if they find a water source. The engineers are still working, so we best stop out here."

The bike moved alongside a building's railing and idled.

Vash slid off more confidently than he had gotten on. Chuck climbed out of the sidecar and Hannah hopped off and they joined him standing on the street. "So ecological damage had ruined Earth and people harnessed the plants as an alternative energy source. There were some who thought up the SEEDS Project: a fleet of ships full of colonists in frozen sleep. But something went wrong, and the fleet crashed here. That's what we call the Great Fall. You can program most plants' bulbs to make just about anything. Some get stuck making one thing. Geo-plants grow leafy plants and they won't take any programming to make anything new."

"So a ship crashed here, and the survivors built this town?" Hannah asked.

"Yes," Vash said, "a hundred and thirty-one years ago."

"And your sister is inside it?" Chuck asked. "I hear her singing."

Vash's blue-green eyes opened wide as he looked down at Chuck. "You hear? She's not making sound waves."

"Not hearing with my ears."

Hannah looked at Chuck's helmet-covered head. "Don't go putting your antennae on that." She pointed at the giant bulb.

"What?" Vash asked.

"Some Martian Mice are touch telepaths through their antennae. Dad is, and Chuck got it from him."

"Ah. Listen to Hannah. My sisters don't think like humans. Hell, they don't think linearly most of the time. Let's go shopping. The insurance girls should be done by now."

They climbed back on the bike and it rolled back to the main east-west street that the hotel was on. Meryl and Milly stood outside a different building closer to the intersection. Meryl's gray eyes widened as her mouth dropped open. "What are you doing?!"

"Completing the disguise." Vash dismounted, his best one yet. He didn't move like he was about to trip over his coat this time.

Milly smiled brightly. "You ride that better than a tomas."

He grinned, "Thanks, I did notice."

"What's a tomas?" Chuck asked.

"We'll have to take you to the stables tomorrow so you can see them," Milly offered.

"You're not going to make a habit of riding that, are you?" Meryl asked with the same tone of voice Mom used when she was absolutely done with Biker Mice antics, but knew she couldn't stop them.

Vash sighed. "The motorcycle followed us when we walked. Hanging on seemed like that the smarter choice."

Meryl shook her head, but she was resigned instead of angry. "The bookstore has schooling materials. We already picked up the assessment tests."

Hannah stowed her helmet and looked at the building. There was a sign in the shape of a dress hanging above the door. "Are we taking them right now?" Hannah asked.

"No, after breakfast and then we'll see what school work you need to start."

Chuck climbed out of the sidecar and stood beside Hannah. "Are you leaving us here to go to school?" he asked.

"Do you want us to?" Milly asked.

"No," Hannah and Chuck said together.

"We were thinking you would do school work while traveling with us," Vash said.

"Like homeschooling only without a home," Chuck said.

Vash winced. Hannah saw it before he wiped the expression off his face. She thought he needed to be on the move; did he not like it? "I went to school," Hannah said instead. "Mom was homeschooling Chuck, so we know the drill."

"Good," Meryl said. "Let's get you some clothes right now."

They entered the store, which was divided on the ground floor into male and female sections. Chuck bounced after Vash to the other side. Hannah let him go. Chuck knew how to yell for help if he needed it. She focused on her clothing needs. Oh good, women have jeans and pants options and it wasn't all dresses and skirts. She didn't see tank tops to layer under button-up shirts like she preferred, so she sighed and chose more shirts in colors that didn't clash with her hair. Long sleeves made sense with all the sand.

Meryl joined Hannah at the jean rack with a duffel bag to pack the new clothes in. "You will need a jacket or a coat, pajamas and underwear."

"Right." The underwear section was along the wall. Pajamas were in that area too, so Hannah grabbed a green pair that looked warm. The night they drove through and last night had been so cold. Panties were easy, but the other part. They had corsets on display! How did those work? Mom just got her started on bras!

Meryl grabbed Hannah's shoulder and turned her to the bra display. "Only fancy dresses need those." She tipped her head at the corsets hanging on the wall above.

"Thanks," Hannah said. "You better make sure Vash knows to get Chuck underwear, too."

Meryl nodded. "Right. Don't worry about picking too few. Vash is good about stopping in a town long enough to do laundry." She headed to the other side of the store before Hannah could ask how you do laundry on this planet.

She picked up four each of the panties, bras, and shirts, and two pairs of jeans before going over to the coat rack. All this store had was long coats in a plain tan color. Boring, so boring, but it would camouflage her in the desert. She pulled out one that fit and headed to the main counter in the center of the store.

Meryl and Vash were already there with Chuck's clothes and the duffel bags. "I can make the alterations. It's fine," she said.

Vash rubbed the back of his neck. "It's a lot of work on top of your other work."

"Well, don't make any trouble here until I'm done with the sewing."

Vash looked annoyed. "You say that like trouble is my goal. I just want to help people."

Meryl added a sewing kit to the pile of clothes. "So you're helping me this time."

"You can ask for a bigger favor than that." Vash smiled.

"Really? I'll keep that in mind."

After making the purchases, they headed back to the hotel. Hannah pretended to push the bike, since Vash and Chuck carried all the new clothes. Milly joined them, carrying a bag full of food that smelled delicious. Vash's hotel room had a metal table big enough for all five of them to eat around, along with a small stove and fridge with some cabinets against one wall.

Hannah tossed out her questions to figure these people out. "So, why are you always telling Vash to stay out of trouble? Why don't you just buy an insurance policy so they can go home?"

Vash's mouth was full but his face brightened hopefully as he looked to his right.

Meryl and Milly both shook their heads. "We're not in sales," Milly said.

"We're in risk prevention," Meryl explained. "After the Society paid out over three hundred claims in one year connected to Vash the Stampede events, we were assigned to find him and prevent him from causing more property damage."

"Jammin'!" Chuck's green eyes widened. "Over three hundred?"

"Saying it like that makes it sound like I blew up houses personally. And I didn't," Vash protested.

"No, you haven't," Meryl said. "Bounty hunters caused most of the damage trying to claim the sixty billion double dollars on him."

Hannah felt her eyes widen. "Sixty billion? Who did you piss off?"

Vash poked at his meal with his fork. "There's a question no one ever asks. I think I must have."

"Limburger put bounties on Dad and the uncles; how many times?" Chuck turned to Hannah for confirmation.

"Three times. He finally got tired of paying them for turning themselves in and escaping, regardless."

"I don't know if I want to take that chance against the Federation Cavalry," Vash said.

"I know I don't want that," Meryl said. "Bandits will swarm the Inner if you take out the Cavalry."

"I'm glad you think I'd win, but I won't take a chance at accidentally wiping out the Cavalry." Vash cut the meat on his plate and ate a bite.

"But who put the price on your head?" Hannah asked.

"The Federation of Gunsmoke," Meryl answered. "The Six Cities and other towns in the Inner banded together for mutual aid. It's not completely planet-wide yet."

"Your government puts bounties on people?" Hannah demanded.

"It is a stop-gap measure to stop bandits and outlaws in the territory that isn't protected yet."

"And nobody's bounty is as high as Mr. Vash's." Milly chomped on her bite.

"That's not something to be proud of, Milly. It has gotten us into trouble."

"And Mr. Vash got us out."

"Are you sure that insurance society isn't trying to kill you two and blame me for it?" Vash asked.

"It would be easier just to fire us," Meryl said.

Chuck set down his fork. "But why so much money? Is it 'cause you're an alien?"

"No, no, they know nothing about that. You have nothing to worry about. I'm blamed for the destruction of July City and the death of 200,000 citizens because of that destruction. What do you call it? Class G property damage."

"Whoa, there's a grade worse than F?" Chuck exclaimed.

"Did you?" Hannah asked.

Vash looked up from poking at his food. "Did I what?"

"Did you destroy that city? No judgment. Dad and the uncles have blown up a lot trying to stop it from getting shipped off planet."

"And Mom makes all of us help clean up," Chuck said.

Vash shrugged. "I don't know. My memories around that time are fragmented or gone."

Milly and Meryl looked at Vash. "What?" Milly asked in a concerned tone, blinking her light blue eyes.

"No one investigated your involvement before blaming you?" Meryl asked as her eyebrows shot up and remained up.

"If they did, I don't remember it. But I ended up with friends back home having surgery not too long after."

Meryl's eyebrows drew down. "You don't claim a home address."

"And I still haven't."

Hannah shook her head. "You might as well tell us what you remember because how you're trying not to is just making us ask more questions."

Vash set his fork down. "Haven't your parents told you not to be so nosy?"

"They've told me. It hasn't stuck."

"She doesn't want it to stick," Chuck added.

Vash looked from Hannah to Meryl before sighing. "I went to July City to meet Revenant Vasquez, but someone had killed him. I don't remember how that confrontation with the killer went. My next memory is a strange pink light surrounding everything. It passed, and I was in so much pain in the ruins of the city. My left arm was gone."

Meryl reached out and grabbed his right hand.

Vash glanced down at their hands and squeezed back. "I helped people best I could until my friends found me and got me into surgery. When I was done with that, the July City Incident was my fault and the bounty was on my head."

Milly looked concerned. "They should have asked you for your side."

"Not that I can remember much to help answer what happened."

"You got a replacement arm?" Chuck poked the leather-covered arm next to him. "Uncle Modo has one too. He lost his real arm in the war. His is boxy, not like yours."

"Well, I wanted it to blend in."

Hannah sighed. "Chuck, don't poke people's medical devices. That's rude."

"Sorry." Chuck patted Vash's left arm where he poked it.

Vash smiled at him. "That's okay, but Hannah's right." He turned his glance at Meryl.

She blushed and let go of his hand. "I'm sorry we never asked about July City."

Vash shrugged. "I've gotten used to no one actually caring." He started poking at his meal with his fork again.

Meryl's mouth dropped open.

Milly looked stern. "Don't think that way anymore, Mr. Vash. We care that you get treated fairly. Don't we, Meryl-ma'am?"

"Yes, yes, we do." Meryl's face reddened again as she focused on Milly. "Are you done eating? Yes, we should let you get ready for bed. It is late and there is so much we have to do tomorrow." Meryl all but yanked Milly out of the room with her.

Chuck looked from Hannah to Vash and finally stared at Hannah. "That was weird. Why did she do that?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"You're a girl. You must explain weird girl things."

Hannah shrugged. "She likes Vash and didn't want to hurt him."

"She didn't hurt me. Like I said, I'm used to everyone thinking I'm guilty. It's been almost thirty years."

"You don't look that old," Chuck said, studying Vash's profile.

Vash grimaced. "Now that's rude too. Really, don't reference age to anyone, ladies especially. Learned that the hard way."

"Got it. And we're not gonna turn you in." Chuck turned to Hannah. "Right?"

"Right. We don't hurt people who help people. That's not the Biker Mice way."

"Right!" Chuck nodded.

He smiled at them, a warmer and kinder expression than any other tonight. "Thanks for that. Better head to bed. Got the assessment tests tomorrow."

"We really don't have to have those," Chuck scowled.

"Good night, Mr. Vash. Come on." She herded Chuck into their bedroom and shut the connecting door.

"So that's why they are following him." Chuck began pulling off his outer clothes. "Is it okay to stay with them?"

Hannah unpacked some new underwear and the new pajamas. "I think we'll be okay. And they think he got a raw deal."

"It sure doesn't sound cooked." Chuck dropped his sneakers on the floor. "Do you wanna fix it?"

"I don't always want to fix everything." She rolled her eyes.

Chuck dropped his jeans on the floor next to his shoes. "That's not true."

"Please, I know I can't take on a government with just you and the bike. Get in bed. I'm going to take a shower."

Chuck crawled into the blankets of the bed he had picked. "So we're gonna stay with them? We aliens should stick together."

"We're gonna stay. Go to sleep."

Chapter Text

Chuck yawned as his stomach growled and he sat up. Both suns were shining again through the hotel room's window. Morning already. He wanted breakfast. Hannah rolled out of her bed, grabbed some of her new clothes, and went into the bathroom.

His new clothes didn't have tail holes yet, so he couldn't change. Hannah would yell if he didn't take a shower and put new clothes on today, but she needed to fix the clothes for that. His T-shirt and boxers were fine for breakfast.

He got out of bed and opened the connecting door. The door on Vash's side was cracked open. Chuck pushed it more open. Vash wore sweatpants, a long-sleeved sweatshirt, and a blindfold. He balanced a wineglass on his big handgun and aimed the muzzle at the holes in rings hanging from the ceiling. Chuck held his breath and didn't move as Vash sped through the aiming without dropping the glass or missing the rings and getting faster and faster. Vash stopped and grabbed the glass and the gun by the barrel while he took off the blindfold. His blond hair flopped forward, covering his forehead.

It was safe to talk now. "Wow! That's awesome training! You can move fast."

"Good morning!" Vash spun his gun on his finger before putting it in the holster on his leg. "You like eggs and toast?"

"Scrambled eggs are fine. Toast is good."

Vash put the wineglass back on the shelf above the tiny stove and sink before pulling out a small carton of eggs and a loaf of bread from a skinny fridge and started cooking. Hannah pushed Chuck toward the table. "Don't block the door. Morning, Vash."

"Morning! Scrambled eggs and toast?"

"Sure." She inhaled. "Is that coffee?"

"Mugs are on the shelf." Vash pointed his elbow up at the shelf above the cabinets. "Pour me one too."

Chuck wrinkled his snout and stuck out his tongue over nasty coffee as he sat down at the table. Hannah poured two mugs of coffee and a glass of milk and brought them to the table, setting the milk in front of Chuck. There was a quiet knock that sounded like it was back on their hotel room door. Hannah opened Vash's door and peeked into the hall. "Oh, morning. We're in Vash's room."

Meryl-ma'am followed Hannah inside. "Morning. I thought I'd start on the alterations."

"Do you want eggs?" Vash asked from the stove.

"No, thank you. I already had breakfast. I'll take some coffee, though. Milly decided to get a head start on updating her family this morning." She went to the coffeepot and the mugs.

Hannah came back to the table with Chuck's old jeans, a small box, and a stack of his new clothes. "I'm glad you offered, Meryl-ma'am. Uncle Modo says I need more practice before my seams are as neat as my welds. I didn't want to hurt him, but welding is more fun. It uses fire."

"Fire on clothing is bad and possibly painful." Vash carried three plates to the table at once, having long arms helped hold two on one arm. They started eating and Meryl-ma'am began sewing.

"Uncle Modo is gonna teach me how to sew," Chuck said. "He said I should know in case nobody else was around me that could do it."

Meryl inserted thread into a needle from the small box. "I could teach you if you'd like. Mostly, it takes practice. Let's get you some clothes ready to wear and see where you are in school levels."

"Add a shower to that list," Hannah said. "Shower, put on new clothes, then school test."

Chuck stuck his tongue out at her. "I don't see why I need school for what I want to do when I grow up."

"And what is that?" Vash asked.

"Race bikes for prize money!"

"Mom and Dad are hoping he'll change his mind." Hannah said before eating her toast.

Chuck scowled. "Dad raced bikes before."

"Because they had to buy passage back to Mars. He really hopes you'll chose a more ambitious vocation."

"A what?" Chuck asked.

"It means career," Meryl said as she picked up the scissors.

"And you still need to know math to keep prize money straight," Vash said.

Chuck heaved a sigh. Dad had said that too. "Fine, I'll do the school work."

Hannah picked up the finished dishes and started washing them in the sink near the stove. Vash pulled the test booklets from a bag on the counter and handed Chuck his test. "No cheating while I get dressed," Vash said.

"We should wait until you're back?" Chuck asked.

"No cheating at all," Meryl told Chuck sternly. She looked at Vash. "We're disrupting your routine." She then looked up at the rings still hanging from the ceiling.

"Change is good." Vash carried his clothes into his bathroom.

Hannah finished the dishes and returned to the table and picked up her own test. "You can be my pit crew," Chuck offered.

"And you need schooling to know how payroll works. And I don't wanna be your pit crew."

"What do you wanna be?"

She shrugged, looking down at the test. "I have to figure that out. Again."

Chuck stuck his tongue out at her because she knew what she wanted and just didn't want to tell him and then went back to answering the questions on his test. Vash came out of the bathroom. He wore brown chaps with metal kneecaps over blue jeans. His brown boots almost reached his knees and blended with the chaps. A brown and black high-necked vest with straps and armored patches covered his upper body. He had strapped brown leather around his left arm, the replacement one. Chuck had thought that brown was a tight sleeve of his red coat. Metal caps covered his left arm's shoulder and elbow. A brown arm glove covered Vash's right arm that didn't go over his right shoulder.

Vash raised his eyebrows at Chuck's staring. His blond hair stood straight up again, with some bits falling down, and pointing at his eyes. "Question?" Vash asked.

Chuck glanced at Vash's red coat hanging on the wall next to the door. "You don't get hot wearing all that?"

"Convection. The duster is a looser layer, so air travels through it and takes the heat. Are you finished?"

"Almost." Chuck focused on the test again.

Hannah closed her test booklet. "I think I'm done with this grade."

"They call them levels here," Vash said as he sat down.

"Mom was fighting with my school to get me more advanced classes."

Vash pulled the book to himself. "Let's see how you scored."

Chuck scowled. No fair that Hannah already finished. But he answered the last question. "Done!" And slammed the test booklet closed. It was all paper and didn't make a good smack. Meryl-ma'am worked the needle around the hole in his new jeans. Chuck glanced at Vash. "You can cook. Can you sew too?"

"Nope," Vash said cheerfully. "After stabbing myself in the fingers with that tiny sharp ouch and still didn't get the patch over the bullet hole in my coat, I decided you can pay people to do it for you in most towns and I should pay them and stop stabbing myself."

"Do we need to pay you?" Chuck asked Meryl-ma'am.

"No, you gave me a chance to sew. And you have to have clothes."

"I really don't."

"You really do," Hannah and Vash both said at the same time. They both looked at each other, and then Hannah turned back to Chuck. "You cannot ride without clothes. That is so the rule and you know it."

"But rules are made to be broken!"

"Not if it means looking at your naked butt all day." Hannah crossed her arms.

"Wear clothes," Vash said. "Sand likes to get in your joints and make you itch. Clothes keep the sand out."

"But I have fur."

"And Dad and the uncles wore clothes on Mars too, so fur alone isn't enough. No naked butt."

"Fine," Chuck pouted.

"Here." Meryl-ma'am folded new jeans and placed new boxers on top of them. "These are done. Go shower and get dressed."

"Okay." He took the clothes and put them on the dresser next to the new shirts. Then he did go shower and used soap because Hannah would yell about the soap if he skipped it too many times. Drying off all his fur didn't take very long, and he put on all the new clothes. He skipped back to Vash's room. Meryl-ma'am was sewing on another pair of jeans and Vash was grading Chuck's test. Chuck didn't care as he spun around and jumped. "They fit! They fit! Thank you, Meryl-ma'am."

Meryl-ma'am smiled, "You're welcome."

"Okay, good news," Vash said. "You are at first level, but a strong reader, Chuck."

"That's good news? I want to skip around like Hannah."

"I didn't skip around at the start," Hannah said. "Mom started fighting for advanced classes last school year."

Vash made a face at Hannah's test booklet. "You aced this. And you aced it so hard, I don't think the next level up is going to help you learn anything. So one more test. No point wasting time on what you already know."

"Okay. Do I have to go with you or can I give the bike a tune up while you get the school books? I promised her a tune up."

"If you promised," Vash said. "Go get greasy."

Hannah grinned and headed out the door. Meryl tucked the needle she was using into the second new boxers. "Do you want me to go with you to the bookstore?"

"Come on. I know your paycheck depends on following me around."

Vash got up and went to his coat, so he missed the sad look that came over Meryl-ma'am's face before she grinned and hid it. "That's right, buster."

Chuck put his helmet on and followed them out so they could lock all the hotel rooms. Hannah already had the tool kit out and her fingers into the bike's guts, so he kept following Vash and Meryl-ma'am because he did not want an engine lesson now when there was a whole new place to explore. He didn't want to start school lessons today either, but Vash and Meryl-ma'am weren't looking behind them.

He ducked down a cross alley as they continued straight down the street. With his helmet on, he could go explore this town and get back to the hotel after he had seen some things and found the playgrounds. He headed up the next street where this alley ended, moving away from the hotel and the plant bulb.

No one had tucked any playgrounds between the buildings on this street. Chuck passed an actual saloon, like from a cowboy movie; he recognized the swinging doors that didn't reach the ground. He knew better than to sneak into that. Hannah wasn't even old enough to drink, and that was the same on Gunsmoke. Meryl-ma'am had said so with the root beer.

This street ended at a barn made of rock and a fenced yard full of ostriches? Chuck climbed on the metal fence rails between the stone columns supporting them and took a hard look at the creatures. Not ostriches; these had two legs with large bird feet, a long thick neck that ended in a tiny head with a small beak, and a matching thick tail that ended with spikes. Dark brown feathers covered their bodies. A few closer to the barn had some kind of long helmet covering their tiny head and most of their neck strapped on them.

"Weird," Chuck said out loud. "What do they use them for?"

"Transportation, mostly," a male voice answered from behind Chuck. Chuck twisted his head and watched a man he hadn't seen before walk up to the fence. He had pale skin and wore a dark gray jacket draped over a black suit. The man leaned a metal cross against the fence before propping a boot-clad foot on the bottom rail Chuck stood on. His head under a matching gray hat looked bald and red goggles hid his eyes. "Do you know what that means?" he asked.

"How you get somewhere else." Chuck answered, looking at the big lizard birds but watching the man out of the corner of his eye. "So people ride them like motorbikes?"

"Not like motorcycles. You need saddles and reins for toma."

Chuck nodded. "Don't need those for bikes."

The man smirked slightly. "Exactly. Hungry?" He pulled a green-skinned apple from under his jacket.

Chuck rolled his eyes. "Never take food from strangers. Everyone knows that."

"Ah. So how do I stop being a stranger?" He lifted the apple to his mouth and took a bite out of it. A silver cross was pinned on the end of the jacket's sleeve.

What had Vash called it before pancakes? "Introductions! I'm not used to those. Back home, everyone already knew who I am."

He swallowed his apple bite. "They can see how special you are. I help special boys reach their full potential."

"That sounds like a job, not a name."

"It is more of a calling than a profession. Would you like me to help you?"

"No, thank you." Hannah may not want to be Chuck's pit crew, but she will one day build his racing bike. He didn't need this guy's help.

"I think you need my help." The man took another bite of his apple.

Chuck felt his antenna itch. Pushy adults usually have been Limburger's goons or hired super-villains. "You don't know me, Mr. Hat."

The man tossed the rest of his apple into an open box against the fence that two toma were eating out of. "You are special. And you are all alone here."

Chuck twisted around on the fence but didn't jump off of it. The streets had had people on them when he had let Vash and Meryl-ma'am go shopping. Now he and the Hat who hadn't given his name were all alone at this barn because the toma were not talking and didn't count. He wasn't out of touch since he had his helmet. He pressed the button to broadcast on it. "I'm not alone. I'm just at a distance."

Mr. Hat seized Chuck's arm. "Come along now." He tugged, but Chuck tightened his hand on the metal rail and wrapped his tail around the stone post.

"Let me go! I'm not going with you!"

"Don't be a fool. Don't you want to see what you will become?" Mr. Hat's tone was still friendly, but it didn't match the grip on Chuck's arm.

"NO!" Chuck let the vowel carry into a scream. That only made Mr. Hat wrap his other arm around Chuck's waist.

Vash finished telling the clerk at the bookstore what school books he was buying for Chuck and the higher level assessment test for Hannah. The clerk moved away to find the items, and Meryl asked, "Chuck, is there something you'd like that's not school...? He's not here. I thought he came with us."

"He probably decided shopping was boring and darted off to play. Kids do that. And we've been cooped up traveling since they got here."

Meryl frowned up at him. "Do you think that's safe?"

Vash shrugged. "Safer here than a more populated town. Is there anything else we need to buy?"

She shook her head as the clerk returned with the bag of books and notebooks. Vash paid for them and they headed back toward the hotel. They almost reached it when he heard shrill screaming.

"Do you hear that?" Meryl asked.

Vash dumped the bag of books into her arms and bolted toward the screaming. It sounded like Chuck. He shoved on his sunshades, reached the toma stable, and saw a man in black trying to pull the mouse boy off the corral fence.

Not that he was getting anywhere with the squeeze Chuck had on the fence post with his tail. Vash pulled his gun and fired a warning shot through the man's hat.

The hat remained on the bald man's head, but the bullet drilled a neat hole through both sides.

Chuck stopped screaming and turned his head to see Vash. Vash moved closer, not letting his aim waver off the potential kidnapper.

The man stopped pulling on Chuck. "I was rather fond of this hat."

"And that boy is under my protection," Vash answered. "Let him go."

The man lowered Chuck's feet to the ground before taking his hands off Chuck and stepping aside so he was no longer between Chuck and Vash. "I will not gainsay your claim on the boy, Vash the Stampede."

"Good." Vash didn't lower his Colt. Chuck loosened his tail from the stone fencepost and ran behind Vash, grabbing hold of the taller man to swing in close.

The man watched Chuck's scamper with red goggle-covered eyes, picked up the large metal cross from against the fence, and turned his back to Vash as he walked toward the barn. The metal cross he carried was a slightly different configuration, but similar enough to make Vash call out, "My friend carries a cross like that, but he doesn't hurt children."

"Give my regards to Wolfwood," the stranger called over his shoulder without stopping. A jeep pulled out from behind the barn and he climbed into it.

Vash didn't holster his gun until the jeep had driven off. He had never thwarted a kidnapping before; did they all happen so quickly? And that guy, that kidnapper, knew Wolfwood, who went absolutely unhinged with bullets when a child was held hostage? Maybe Wolfwood had reason to go unhinged other than how horrible Gunsmoke could be to children. He looked down at Chuck, who clutched Vash's duster and breathed hard. "You okay?" Vash asked.

Chuck took a deep breath and shook himself as he let go of the red fabric. "I'm glad you heard me. I hate getting snatched. Hannah hates it more. Can we not tell Hannah?"

Hannah and Meryl ran into the stable yard from the closest alley between buildings and skidded to a stop. Both of them had guns in their hands. Meryl's worried expression melted into relief, but Hannah focused her suspicious face through the face opening of her helmet at her brother. "Don't. Tell. Hannah. What."

Chuck cringed against Vash again. "Everything is fine now. Vash shot a hole in his hat and he went away. So don't be mad."

Meryl's relief vanished into alert concern. "Who went away?"

"We can't both be in trouble with both of them," Vash said to Chuck. "Some guy tried to take Chuck. He didn't give me his name."

"He didn't tell me either," Chuck added.

"But he knew Wolfwood," Vash frowned.

"Really?" Meryl tucked her derringer under her cape.

"Packed a cross like his, too."

Hannah ignored the conversation the adults were having and tugged Chuck loose from Vash. "We are in a universe where Limburger hasn't even been born and you still get kidnapped!"

"I'm irresistible!" Chuck proclaimed.

"Did the guy in the shot hat say that, or are you copying Uncle Vinnie to be cute?"

"He said I looked special, and he helped special boys reach their full potential. Doesn't that mean the same thing?"

Hannah crossed her arms. "No. And I'm going to knot your tail."

Chuck grabbed his tail and darted behind Vash's legs again. "I did what I was supposed to. I was an inconvenient hostage!"

Vash blinked down at them. "You two get kidnapped a lot?"

"The bad guys think the best way to stop Dad and the uncles from stopping them is to take us." Hannah's smirk was feral. "They are so wrong."

Vash felt Chuck nodding behind his legs. "And we have permission to mess up their plans while we are escaping, if they are stupid enough to take us."

"But I thought this far from Chicago, it wouldn't be an issue." Hannah moved her hands to her hips, still holding a strange purple gun as she looked at her brother. "You just freaked out the bike so bad. I'll never get her to stay still for another tune up again. Come on, she needs to see you're fine."

Chuck peeked around Vash's legs. "You'll leave my tail alone?"

"I'm leaving that to the bike."

"Whew! She can't." He came out from behind Vash.

Hannah got behind the shorter boy and pushed his shoulder blades. "She can't until I install robot hands."

"Hannah! Don't! That's not fixing anything, Princess Fix-it!"

Hannah continued pushing her brother toward the hotel, and Vash and Meryl followed them. Vash spoke softly. "We need to get Hannah's school work together and go."

Meryl looked up at him. "You want to leave tonight?"

"No, tomorrow should be fine. He said he wouldn't argue my claim to Chuck, and he drove off in a jeep. But it's just... he knew who I was, too."

"And you don't know who he is?"

Vash shook his head.

Meryl continued, "Okay, tomorrow sounds good. I'll tell Milly to finish up her letters."

The motorcycle beeped her horn low but insistently in front of the hotel. Chuck went to its front wheel and bent his helmet to the mouse-head shaped headlight. "I'm fine. It's okay. I'm fine. Calm down. Hannah didn't even have to shoot; Vash did." The motorcycle stopped beeping.

Meryl headed into the hotel while Vash stayed out with the children. "Oh yeah," he looked at Hannah, "you're armed?"

Hannah nodded. "It's a spare blaster stored on the bike. I know how to shoot it. Dad's been drilling me since I was eight."

"Eight?!" Vash exclaimed.

"But I can't learn until I'm ten." Chuck crossed his arms over his chest.

"It was ten for me until a fire fight and Uncle Vinnie gave me his and told me to aim at the baddies while he fired the bazooka. After Dad recovered from that heart attack, he started drilling me." She put the purple gun into a cavity that opened under the motorcycle's seat. "I don't want to use it too much. Don't know if we can recharge it here."

Vash sat down on a bench under the hotel's window. "That's a good plan. Let's go with the don't shoot it plan."

Hannah snorted and started putting pieces back onto the engine. The book bag was on the ground next to the toolkit. Chuck patted the motorcycle one more time and sat next to Vash. "Are you mad at me, too?"

"Mad at you?"

The mouse boy stared down at his kicking feet. "I was just looking for a playground. I didn't mean to get almost kidnapped."

"Of course not. I'm not mad. Next town, we'll make time to play, okay?"

Chuck looked up with a smile. "Okay."

Meryl carried a tray with four water glasses out to them. "Water after that running around."

Vash picked two of them and passed one to Chuck. "Thank you."

"Thanks," Chuck said.

Hannah took the glass Meryl handed her. "Thank you."

"Are you almost done with the tune up?" Meryl asked Hannah as she drained the glass.

Hannah handed the empty glass back. "Last piece and I can take the new test."

"No hurry," Vash said. "You can wash your hands first." Hannah snorted at that. Vash straightened up on the bench and patted the seat next to him. "Sit, Meryl. You ran too."

"And you dumped the books on me and I also ran them here." She sat down primly on the bench and sipped her water.

He took the tray and the empty glass from her. "I had to."

"Had to?"

Vash shrugged. "I have learned that when I run toward screams, anything extra I carry tends to get shot."

Chuck set his empty glass on the tray as Vash balanced it. "You need to learn to duck."

"I'll have you know I'm excellent at ducking. Other people have horrific aim."

Hannah tsked. "That's true here too? And it seems like everyone is carrying a gun."

"Some people don't practice like they should," Meryl said.

"Many people," Vash corrected.

Meryl smirked. "You don't have a lot of room to talk about people being lazy."

"I'm not lazy just 'cause I don't hold down a regular job, insurance girl." Vash leaned his head against the hotel's wall. He wasn't getting into the craziness that was his life and how he had helped build things. Helping he couldn't do now with the stupid bounty on his head. Meryl wouldn't believe him. So few people actually did.

Chapter Text

Meryl yawned before sipping her morning tea. They had spent a few days traveling and camping when they left Faybrant, and had stayed a week in Meldreck before discovering the land grab on a bunch of farmers for a new mine that Vash had insisted on meddling with. Okay, so those hired guns were going to kill someone, and Vash stopped that before anyone got hurt. But they did have to leave Meldreck quickly after that.

Then, they got lost in the wastes for a few days more than they should have, but they stumbled upon an abandoned town that had dried up. Hannah had fun using the motorcycle to blow a deeper hole down to the aquifer. That had been alarming, but kept them from running out of water. They had arrived at Promontory yesterday, June 2. The hotel had two two-bedroom suites available, so she and Milly got separate bedrooms for once. She wished she had enjoyed hers longer over night. Meryl yawned again and drank her tea.

Milly came out of her bedroom, still dressed in her yellow pajamas and yawning out her words. "So sleepy." She carried a stack of sealed envelopes that were neatly bundled with a purple ribbon to the table and sat down. "How are you feeling?"

Meryl shrugged. "It was just a nightmare. The same one: trapped underground and I can't move." She couldn't move because she was strapped in place and sharp medical probes coming closer to her skin. Milly didn't know about that part; Meryl hadn't shared it about her reoccurring nightmare that she had since she was young. I really need to stop having it, she thought to herself.

Milly looked concerned. "But it has been so long since you had one."

Meryl shrugged. Waking up and staying awake had given her a jump start on today; she had already dressed. "Who knows what sets a nightmare off? I'll be fine. You wouldn't even know I had one if you hadn't been up all night writing your family letters separately to each of them, down to the last little niece and nephew."

Milly thrust her bundle of letters across the table to Meryl. "Tada! At least its paying off. I'm getting rave reviews. They call my letters the 'Milly Monthly.'"

"Quality aside, you could have written several books by now."

"That's what you want to do. What's so weird about letters home? Don't you write home?"

The stab of shame was unexpected, but it quickly became sadness as Meryl remembered why she only wrote reports and sent them off. "My grandmother can't read letters any longer and the care facility told me they didn't have the help to read them out loud to her. And even if they did, they don't need to know I'm hanging with Vash the Stampede."

Gunfire sounded on the street below their hotel room. Milly tossed her letter bundle, Meryl tossed her teacup, and they smashed their faces on the glass of the window next to the table.

A man with lank, dark brown hair sat on an armored truck parked across the street from the hotel and gestured with a smoking pistol. "Oh gee, sorry about that. Must have accidentally pulled the trigger," he said, and the sarcasm filtered through the window. He wore body armor and was antagonizing people with a gun. While Vash the Stampede was in this town.

"Go get dressed!" Meryl ordered. Milly dashed into her bedroom. Meryl cracked the window so she could hear better. Two lines of townspeople formed across the street, ringing in the hotel and its opposite building.

"How dare you!" An older man's voice yelled back. He was out of sight; maybe he was under the window? On the hotel's sidewalk porch, perhaps? "You have a lot of nerve, you impenitent scoundrel," he continued.

An older woman's voice yelled next. "We're not dumb enough to be scared by you and your rotten friends!" She couldn't see that woman either.

The next voice made Meryl's heart stop. "Oh yes, it has become clear to me now." Vash's voice floated up. "There's a lot of meaning behind those words, friends. So stand up with your heads held high and say what you want to say!"

"Milly! Hurry! Vash is involved already!" Meryl snatched up her cape and pulled it on as she ran down the hall to the stairs. Milly's longer legs caught up with her while they descended and she pulled out her stun gun when they reached the lobby.

An old man and woman were crouched behind Vash, whose arms and legs were akimbo to cover the older people. The old man was shouting again. "Mistake my ass, you fat-lip golem!"

The young man perched on the center door of the armored transport for passengers. "What? What did you say? A golem? Ha!" He straightened up and aimed his pistol at Vash and the older couple. "I'm laughin' so hard my pistol's twitchin'."

Meryl felt Vash's resolve through the open doorway and the lobby the insurance agents charged through. His right hand dropped onto the large silver gun and yanked it up. The old couple dodged, the old man covering the shorter old woman.

"Stop!" Meryl and Milly yelled in unison as they ran through the doorway, across the sidewalk porch, and slammed their elbows into Vash's back. Vash hadn't braced for that blow. He fell into the street and skidded across the dirt to the middle.

Meryl winced internally because Vash didn't deserve to be plastered to the ground like that, but they had to put a stop to this before the damage became catastrophic. Her hand grabbed a derringer, but she didn't need to pull it out.

Milly aimed her stun gun at the truck and fired twice. The bolts slammed into the side of the armored truck, knocking it over onto its side. And it took out a second story support of the building behind it. The young thug went over with it.

The crowd murmured and exclaimed over the violence. Meryl focused on the young thug climbing back on top of the turned-over armored truck. "You have no idea how dangerous that was!" She pointed to Vash, who hadn't gotten up off the ground yet. "If you make this broomhead mad, I guarantee he will leave you with a lot more than injuries and property damage. Good god!"

The opponent stared down at her and Milly. "You're the ones who are dangerous! Clotheslining him from behind like that."

Hannah made a noise like a buzzer. She and Chuck sat sideways on the parked motorcycle like it was a bench. "That move was not clotheslining him. Get the terminology right if you're going to pick a fight with people."

The young thug turned his attention to them, and he still had his pistol in his hand. Meryl inhaled. How could she or Milly keep the children or any other bystanders from getting shot? But the thug only looked bewildered. "Terminology?"

"Demonstration time." Hannah told Chuck before she extended her left arm in front of him. Chuck stretched his neck and tucked his chin and the chin guard of his helmet over her arm. "Now this is clotheslining. What they did was battering down a door."

"And Vash was the door," Chuck added.

The building across the street groaned as it cracked. The thug leaped from the armored vehicle's side and landed safely in the street, but didn't have time to run as the stone crumpled and fell. He dodged back against the undercarriage of the vehicle and the rockslide that had been an entire building covered him and the truck.

Milly grinned. "Meryl, that's a small sacrifice for a great cause."

Meryl grinned back, using it to hide how embarrassed she was that they dropped a whole building. "I know, that's right! Way to go, Milly!"

"Who's protecting who?" Chuck demanded.

"That's what I want to know," Vash said, loud enough to carry.

The orange-haired girl hopped off the motorcycle and grabbed his arm as he rolled over to sit up. "Are you okay? How many fingers am I holding up?"

He peered up at the hand she held in front of his face. "Two. Happy now?"

"That you don't have a head injury? Mildly pleased." Hannah gave Vash a yank, and he rose to his feet with a slight wobble. "I'd be happier with the breakfast you promised before things," she peered around him at the destroyed building, "escalated."

Chuck hopped off the motorcycle and joined Meryl and Milly. "It really wasn't Vash's fault, Meryl-ma'am. That guy," he pointed to the thug coming out of the rubble, "was yelling at them," he pointed to the old couple hovering nearby, "and they took cover behind Vash when that guy pulled a gun." His finger ended up on the thug again.

Meryl crossed her arms. A five-year-old really shouldn't be calling her on the carpet for overreacting; that was her job. "Vash was about to make it his problem. We prevented that." She turned to Vash and Hannah, who walked toward them. "Were you showing off to the children?"

Hannah snorted. "We've seen better blind-side tackles and skid marks."

"Oh dear, we seem to have upset your plans." The plump woman's gray hair was pulled tight into a pink poof on the back of her head that might have matched the faded pink smock she wore over her russet colored dress at one time. She tilted her head and looked up at her much taller companion. "We should buy them breakfast and explain."

The man with gray hair and a gray Fu Manchu mustache nodded. "Yes, we should. The coffee shop is just up the street. The name is Krupin, and this is my wife."

Mr. and Mrs. Krupin led their group to the already busy coffee house and insisted on paying for the coffee and breakfast sandwiches. Vash squeezed himself at the end of the table with his back almost against the railing separating the patio from the street. Meryl and Milly sat on one side across from the Krupins. That left the foot of the table to hold both Chuck and Hannah, and Hannah made sure the mouse boy was between her and Milly.

The Krupins beamed at them, but especially at Milly and Meryl. Mr. Krupin sipped his coffee before beginning. "You two young ladies are formidable."

Mrs. Krupin set down her cup. "Oh yes, if you were our bodyguards, we wouldn't have anything to fear from Morgan and his hoodlums."

Meryl blinked. "Did you say bodyguards?"

"Exactly." Mr. Krupin nodded as his wife beamed. "If you two were here to protect us, we'd feel a whole lot safer."

"I'm sorry, thanks anyway." Meryl waved her hands in front of her to ward off this insanity. "But company regulations strictly forbid us from taking any part-time jobs."

The Krupins deflated in unison. "I understand," Mr. Krupin said sadly. Then he put his hand on Vash's shoulder. "How about you, son? Are you interested?"

Meryl found herself standing and leaning over the table. "Why the hell are you asking him?"

"Wow, Meryl-ma'am," Chuck said. "You are extra loud today."

"Yeah, what is up with that?" Hannah asked.

Milly smiled at them. "She woke up with a nightmare and couldn't get back to sleep."

Hannah twisted in her chair and waved. "Hey, waitress? Can we get a whole pot of coffee here for the grumpy grown-ups?"

"I'm fine, children, really." Meryl took a deep breath as she turned back to Mr. Krupin and Vash. "Why him?"

"The way that he moved when he protected us back there," Mr. Krupin said. "He was exceptionally brave."

Vash rubbed the back of his neck. "You don't say? Well, it's nothing. I do the best I can." He laughed like he was nervous from the attention.

Meryl slammed her hands on the table, visions of destroyed farms and town buildings flashing through her mind. "Absolutely no way! ARGH! How can you ask him? Don't you know who this broomhead is, mister?" She pointed to Vash.

"That's not a nice name to call Vash," Chuck said.

"What is it, little lady? Do you want the job now?" Mr. Krupin asked.

Meryl fell back into her chair, speechless.

Milly clapped her hands. "Wow, that's great. Only you would think of using your position to help out people who are truly in need."

Meryl slumped. "Well, we have no choice." Either she and Milly protected these elderly people or they would turn to Vash and disaster would strike. "I think the situation represents the category of risk prevention to a T."

"Oh, thank you!" Mrs. Krupin exclaimed with a smile. "Come along with us right now and see our land."

"Do you live close by?" Hannah asked.

"Over the western hills," Mr. Krupin answered. "That's not too far for your little brother to walk, is it?"

"We can swing by the hotel and get the bike to ride. Right?" Hannah looked down the table at Vash and Meryl.

"Sure," Vash answered before Meryl could tell them to not bother and just stay at the hotel. "We can go now if the Krupins have nothing else to do in town?"

The Krupins didn't have anything else to do, so they collected the motorcycle and Hannah and Chuck rode it behind everyone else walking. As they climbed the hill, Meryl allowed Milly to go ahead so she could speak to Vash walking in the rear. Professional, she needed to be way more professional than she had been all day. She was not still upset about the craziness that happened at Meldreck; she really wasn't. "Why have you decided to come with us, Mister Vash?"

The way his eyebrows shifted at the 'mister'--yes, that was too far into professionalism. But he only said, "I'm curious about what needs protecting. And you said not to ditch you two anymore."

"Well, you keep out of this one and keep the kids out of it, too. Milly and I can handle it."

"Yes, ma'am."

She glared at him, looking for a trace of mockery but didn't see any. Mr. Krupin stopped the group at the top of the hill and pointed down. "See that? That's our land there."

Meryl looked down and blinked hard, but the green amassed around a metal roof remained. Heading downhill always goes faster, but this time it was in stunned silence until the motorcycle reached the bottom. Chuck stood up in the sidecar. "TREES!"

The motorcycle came to a jerky stop, which didn't fling the riders since it was going so slow. "Hey!" Hannah yelled. "You know the seatbelt rule!"

"Trees! We haven't seen trees since we left home!" Chuck jumped out of the sidecar and ran ahead of everybody. "And grass!" He was soon running around the boles, off of the path between them that led to the house, water tank, and outbuildings.

The Krupins chuckled at him as they continued down the path under the shade of the leaves overhead. Meryl had never seen plants in the wild like this before. Chuck ran back to the Krupins. "Do you have a playground too?" he asked.

"I'm afraid we don't have anything named that," Mrs. Krupin answered. "But all the boys have always like running around here."

"This is incredible," Meryl said. "How is all of this here if there's no access to a ship?"

"Amazing." Milly turned with her head craned back to take in the full height of the trees. "It's just like a geo-plant."

Vash knelt and set his right hand on the grass. "No, it's not just like it; this is a geo-plant."

"Yes, we believe that a geo-plant ran along a mineral vein to form this offshoot," Mr. Krupin said.

Chuck stopped in front of Vash. "You can feel the difference?" He planted his tan, furry hand on the grass like Vash had.

Vash winked at Chuck and stood. "That may be, but it couldn't have gotten this far without a lot of help. It would have taken a massive amount of effort."

"I remember it clearly." Mr. Krupin looked up at the leaves. "Twenty years ago, it was a tiny bud. I couldn't believe my eyes. Just imagining how we could raise such beautiful land on an arid planet like this. Nursing the seeds and saplings from the first tree until they were hardy enough. You have no idea how that kept us going." He clasped his wife's hand. "That's right. Our lives, our dreams, and our hopes are all here."

"It is amazing what you've done here, but what does this have to do with you hiring bodyguards?" Meryl asked.

Mr. Krupin took a deep breath. "You saw what happened back there in town. That was not the first time. The land value has skyrocketed so high, it's worth as much as a ship three hundred yarz wide. The land baron Morgan has been threatening us time and again to hand over the deed or else." He pulled an envelope from inside his brown vest. "But that is all going to end tomorrow. Once we get this deed over to City Hall, there's nothing he can do."

Hannah crossed her arms. "So today and tonight will be a last desperate push from this Morgan guy."

"And you and your brother are not getting involved in that," Meryl said firmly.

Chuck jumped up. "Aw, Meryl-ma'am, but we're good at tarting bad guys' land grabs."

"Thwarting bad guys' land grabs," Hannah corrected.

Milly shook her head. "Do you want the trees to get hurt?"

"Nobody wants that," Vash answered. "Come on, let the insurance girls get the lay of the land and we'll go back to town. Hannah wanted to look for motorcycle parts."

Chuck crossed his arms and pouted. "Boring."

"Yes, shopping usually is. How about we reward ourselves for getting it done quickly and find some local kids to play with?"

Chuck looked up at Vash and then at his sister. "We can do that?"

"Yeah, keep your helmet on," Hannah said as she put her own helmet on. "Get on, Vash, so we can get back to town before the shops close." Vash nodded, settled onto the motorcycle, and Hannah got on behind him. Chuck turned in the sidecar and waved at Meryl, Milly and the Krupins until the motorcycle began riding up the hill.

They finally found another set of foot pegs and installed them to the front fender near the telescopic fork. While Hannah was busy doing that, Vash and Chuck found a small gang of children and started a game of soccer without goal nets in the street. That lasted until the suns drifted to the horizon and the children of Promontory were called home for supper.

They bought plates from a restaurant and ate in the parlor that was between their bedrooms and the hall. The males had little to say between eating. Chuck was already yawning, and Vash kept looking out the window.

She didn't bother pointing out that they didn't have a vantage point to see the Krupins' land. They hadn't had one on the street either, and he had looked anyway. And he took a ball to the head three times.

Chuck said nothing to her as she helped him with his pajamas. He yawned, plopped into the bed, and muttered as she pulled the quilt up to his chin. She left a bedside lamp on and took one of her new school books back to the other room to read until she felt sleepy. A history of Gunsmoke for the grade level they finally settled on for her; that should make her sleepy. She sat in an armchair near their bedroom door, and must have done it extra quiet because Vash didn't even glance in her direction as he eased out of his bedroom on tiptoes. "Where are you going?" She asked as she turned on the reading lamp.

He jumped guiltily and then sighed. "Did the insurance girls subcontract their stalking to you tonight?"

"Chuck's asleep and I didn't want to wake him reading, but that sounds like easy money. And you didn't answer my question."

Vash grinned like he was clever. "Down to the saloon. For a nightcap. Won't be long."

Hannah raised her eyebrows. "Really? You're not going back to the Krupins' land and get involved in what Meryl-ma'am said to stay out of?"

"Nope! Hadn't crossed my mind at all."

She giggled. "You are a horrible liar." Vash dropped his chin to his chest with a groan. "Why?" she asked. "They are capable. They brought down an entire building."

Vash straightened up. "I have a feeling about this. And I owe them from helping me on the sandsteamer."

"A payback? Is that all this is? Not that you're sweet on Meryl and kept looking at the geo-plant during the game?"

Vash folded his arms over his chest. "I don't know what you are implying, little girl."

"The kids kicked the ball and hit your head three times because you were trying to check on her."

"Sweet on Meryl. Don't be ridiculous." He waved his arms. "She's bossy and tiny and strong and cute and suspicious and determined and attacks me for no good reason."

She smirked because he was getting dramatic with his denial. "None of that is a no."

"So you can wipe that smirk off your face. It's not true." He ended up shaking his finger at her.

And Hannah believed that as much as she believed Uncle Vinnie didn't want to speed. "So you don't care if she finds out you didn't listen?"

He dropped his arms. "What is this? Blackmail?"

"That's illegal. This is an incentive for me not to let the cat out of the bag. Provided that you actually manage to hide that you're out there from Meryl-ma'am."

Vash sighed again. "You haven't seen her really mad, otherwise you wouldn't offer to sacrifice me. So what do you want?"

Hannah stopped smirking, so she looked serious. "I want to learn how to shoot a slugthrower. I know you don't want us to fight, but bad guys don't always leave us out. So I want to know what to do with one if I happen to get one." No need to scare him with just how easy that was with blasters and how Limburger's goons couldn't hold on to them.

"That's remarkably sensible," Vash said.

"Nearly eight years' experience with being an inconvenient hostage. Do we have a deal?"

"Deal. Now don't sneak out--" He stopped with a look of dismay.

Hannah nodded. "While you're sneaking out. No wild parties either. I'll even go to bed on time." Vash's dismay didn't change, and she giggled. "You just realized you're the adult here."

Vash rubbed the back of his neck. "Don't rub it in."

She giggled harder. "Go on, give into that romantic urge that doesn't want Meryl-ma'am out of your protective reach."

"It's not romance. Don't stay up too late." He opened the door and stepped into the hall.

"Good night, and good luck!" Hannah shook her head as Vash shut the door. Grown-ups were so bad at admitting that they liked each other. Meryl-ma'am did like Vash back; she wouldn't keep looking so hurt when he teased her. Maybe somebody needed to tell her how teasing worked. Hannah didn't want that job.

She focused on the book and read until she couldn't stop yawning. Vash and the Insurance agents hadn't returned, so she crawled into her bed.

The rooms were pretty quiet when she woke up the next morning. Chuck got into the bathroom first while she was trying to decide if the quiet was because the adults were asleep or if they hadn't made it back yet. There was money and a piece of paper on the dresser across from the foot of her bed. That hadn't been there when she went to sleep. The two green bills both printed with numeral twenties and two dollar signs. The paper was a note.

Go buy breakfast. Dozen regular donuts and a large coffee for me. Wake me up with food. V--

Chuck came out of the bathroom. "Vash needs coffee and donuts," she told him.

"Won't wake up without them?" He headed to his dresser and pulled out clean clothes.

"That's what this note implies." She grabbed her clothes and headed into the bathroom.

They took a slow ride on the bike to the coffee house they went to yesterday. "Do you think Vash is lonely?" Chuck asked as they went into the shop.

"He and Meryl-ma'am can't recognize that they like each other and start dating, so maybe. You haven't put your antenna on his head, have you? Dad said that was rude without permission."

Chuck stuck his tongue out. "I remember. And I haven't." They got in line at the counter to order food to take out. "It's just he doesn't have any family and nobody seems to be on his side. Meryl-ma'am and Milly-ma'am are only with him because of their jobs, even though I think they are his friends when stuff isn't blowing up. And he saved us."

"So you want to buy him fancier donuts?" Hannah pointed to the ones in the display cabinet part of the counter.

"I think we should make him our bro and take care of him."

Hannah stared at her brother. He looked back at her, utterly serious and tensing his snout like he was about to be stubborn. "This is why Mom says she can't deal with something before coffee."

Chuck folded his arms and scrunched his whole face to blow up about this.

"We order food first and talk outside about this. What do you want to eat?"

She made the order and collected the food and two coffees. She doctored hers and sipped it as they went back to the bike.

Chuck looked angry as he climbed into the sidecar and took the food and Vash's coffee to hold. "You don't want to," he huffed. "You don't trust him 'cause you don't trust nobody."

"Brake right now and slow that roll! I never said that." She took another gulp of her coffee. Mom was right about it turning on the brain. Chuck still looked angry and stubborn. "It's a big decision becoming bros. And I do trust Vash." Surprisingly, she did. He had protected Chuck from the wrenchhead who tried to snatch him, was executing adult decisions like making them do school work, and wasn't putting any stipulations on his help. Plus, he was gone on Meryl-ma'am and Hannah didn't have to worry about him wanting a couple of kids for bad things.

"Dad didn't say it was a big decision. He said he and Uncle Vinnie and Uncle Modo just snapped together."

"It's gonna be different for us. I'm not against it." No, it was a good idea. It would give Chuck a tie to Vash should anything happen to her, and they could take care of each other. "We aliens need to stick together. But Vash might not accept it."

"Why not? We're awesome."

"He might not because he's a lot older than us." Chuck drew breath to argue, but Hannah beat him to it. "Uncle Modo is only a few years older than Dad, not a couple of decades. And he might decide that it would bring the bad kind of attention to us with the bounty on his head."

"But he might say yes," Chuck said as he perked up.

Hannah nodded, "He might. But don't get upset if he passes. You can't force someone to be a bro. He has to accept it."

"I won't get upset." Chuck promised, and they headed back to the hotel.

They put the food down on the table in their suite's parlor before knocking on Vash's bedroom door. Vash stumbled out wearing his sweats, collapsed into the seat in front of the donut box, and inhaled three donuts without opening his eyes or noticing the coffee.

Hannah snorted. "Yeah, you need more sleep. Go back to bed."

He shook his head as he cracked open his eyes. "I'll nap while you two do school work. But I want to be up when the Insurance Girls get back." He gulped down some of his coffee.

Chuck turned away from the window. "We're not above the door. How can we see?"

"Open the door so we can get the news." Chuck opened the door to the hallway and came back to his breakfast. Vash waited until Meryl and Milly trudged past the door and called out, "What happened?"

The women entered the parlor and looked like their skeletons inside were exhausted. "Are you hungry?" Hannah asked. "Vash can share his donuts."

Milly laughed. "No, he won't."

"Mrs. Krupin fixed all the defenders breakfast this morning," Meryl said. "The deed got turned over to City Hall. They reunited with their son, the idiot on the street yesterday."

"Badwick," Milly added.

"The other half of the Nebraska Family didn't damage any trees or people, and we are exhausted. Please don't cause any trouble while we're sleeping, Vash."

"I won't," Vash said before popping another donut in his mouth.

"We'll keep him out of trouble," Hannah said.

"Thank you--" Meryl's yawn interrupted her.

"See you at lunch?" Vash swallowed and asked.

"Probably supper," Milly answered before she also yawned. They stumbled back into the hall and shut the door behind them.

Vash pouted. "Take their side and try to give them my donuts."

"Sharing is caring," Hannah said.

"And trouble did find you yesterday. Those old people didn't dive behind anyone else on the street. You need us watching your back for trouble," Chuck said.

Vash just blinked at them.

Hannah shook her head with a smirk. "Go back to bed. We'll work on our lessons. Come on, Chuck." Chuck picked up his helmet and followed her into their bedroom. "He stayed up too late last night to think right now. We'll talk to him about it after he has slept more. Now, what did you do with your workbook?"

Chapter Text

Two more hours of sleep and a shower helped Vash feel way more alert. He got dressed and found the kids at the table still plugging away at their school books and notebooks. Chuck looked up and grinned. "You're awake now?"

"Yup," Vash assured him. "Has anyone else woken up yet?"

Hannah shook her head. "Haven't seen Meryl-ma'am or Milly-ma'am. Guess they were right about waking up for supper."

"Okay. Lunch and then we'll go do what your sister wants to do."

Chuck sticks his tongue out at Hannah. She blinked at Vash. "Already?"

Vash nodded. "We also need to get a gun sized for you, so shopping, too. A town this big will have a larger selection."

"I can't learn on yours?"

Vash handed her his Colt and smirked when her outstretched arm dropped before she corrected for. He could see the tremor in her muscles from the effort.

"Mamajammin'!" Hannah exclaimed. "It's heavy, way heavier than the blasters."

Vash took it back and holstered it. "So you have to get used to recoil on something lighter."

Chuck folded his arms. "How come you're learning how to shoot a slugthrower?"

"And we don't call guns that here," Vash added.

"Gotta learn the proper lingo," Hannah said. "And I made a deal with Vash to learn, so I'd know what to do when a bad guy can't keep hold of theirs."

"Oh, that makes sense," Chuck said.

Vash looked suspiciously at Chuck. "How old are you?"

"Five. Going to be six next month."

Relief flooded across Vash's face. "And your parents said no shooting until ten!"

Chuck folded his arms over his chest as he pouted. "That's a dumb rule."

"But it is the rule," Hannah said to him. She tilted her head up at Vash. "So you're off the hook for that for a few more years."

"A lot can happen in that time frame. Get your helmets."

They rode the motorcycle to a different restaurant, which was on the same street as the shops. After food, they went into the weapons shop and found Hannah a light-recoiling .22 pistol with a magazine that she had no trouble balancing. Vash made a mental note of the smaller caliber bullets--he would need to buy those with his .45s--and he bought an extra clip to show how to load them with bullets, a holster, and a weapons belt sized for Hannah and the pistol.

It was only when they headed to the target range that the qualms he should have had from the beginning hit him. "Can you keep this in your stuff or on the motorcycle? The Insurance Girls are going to be..." Vash trailed off, searching for a description of the reaction that was children-appropriate.

"Loud if I start wearing a gun like you do?" Hannah offered.

"Vehemently," Vash said. "Though probably not at you."

Hannah nodded. "I'll keep it out of sight then."

"Thank you."

They reached Promontory's target range that was set against the crater hills on the opposite side of town from the geo-plant. They had the sheets of metal hammered into the ground at staggered distances to serve as targets all to themselves. Townspeople must bring their children here for lessons because there was a stretch of metal fencing and a small column that ended at table height was on the shooting side of that fence.

Vash set the smaller pistol, its extra magazine, and a box of bullets on the column. Hannah and Chuck gathered at the column and looked up expectantly. "Okay, Chuck, pay attention to the rules. Even though you shouldn't handle any guns yet. First rule is always treat all guns as if they are loaded."

Hannah nodded. "Keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot."

"That's right." Her father had drilled her with their available weapon. It was shaped like a handgun, so maybe more of what she already knows would transfer. Vash put his finger on the trigger guard. "Easiest way is to keep your finger outside of this, the trigger guard."

"Do all slugthrowers, er, guns have that?" Chuck asked.

"All the ones I know," Vash answered. "Second rule is to never point the muzzle at anything you are not willing to shoot and destroy. In fact, it's best to leave the gun holstered if you have any doubts."

"How much damage can those do?" Hannah tapped the box of bullets. "They're smaller than what you carry."

"You can still kill a person with these. Hit the right spot in the body, can't get to medical care in time, you can blow off fingers, mangle hands and feet." Vash blinked and looked down at Hannah's very serious face. "Too many children on Gunsmoke think guns are toys, and they are not."

"I know the difference between toys and tools," Hannah said.

"Good. Okay, now I'll show you a field check and the parts of the pistol. Proper dissembling and cleaning is best done indoors." Vash picked up the pistol, pointing out the muzzle, the safety on the barrel, and the magazine release button and the magazine port on the grip. He demonstrated loading the magazine, readying the gun to shoot, and loading the second magazine with bullets so it was ready to go. He undid what he had demonstrated and watched Hannah's nimble fingers go through the same motions.

Once the gun was ready to shoot again, Vash waved at the targets. "Always be sure of your target. Make sure no one is lurking behind it before you fire."

"Do you want me to go check?" she asked.

"No, we know we're alone out here. But always check before you start. If you want to cut down on sway and have less wind, you can shoot from a prone position. Support your elbows with the ground."

"Pass." Hannah wrinkled her nose. "I've been standing up for a while now."

"Let's see your stance."

Hannah walked up confidently to the fence rail and stopped with her feet comfortably shoulder-width apart, with her left foot slightly forward and that knee facing the closest target. She carried her weight on the balls of her feet.

She held the pistol out with her right arm almost straight and her right index finger straight alongside the frame of the pistol. She wrapped her left hand around the rest of her fingers on the grip. The left index finger contacted the bottom of the trigger guard, tucking both thumbs against her left hand. The slide and the safety still had plenty of room to operate. She brought the built-in sights up level with her right eye.

"Good stance," Vash approved. "Your father had you shooting still targets?"

She nodded. "He wanted me to drill that way for a few more years before introducing skeets, no matter if Uncle Vinnie thought I was ready for live opponents."

"Did Uncle Vinnie really think you were gonna hit the bad guys with no lessons?" Chuck asked.

"He said wild blasts counted as cover fire. And then I was sent to bed and the other three adults yelled at him for hours."

"You know how to sight," Vash said. "Breathe in, release out, aim, and squeeze the trigger before you breathe in again."

"Oh, that's the same way Dad said to shoot the blaster." She took a deep breath, let it out, moved her index finger to the trigger, and squeezed it. The bullet hit the target, which was more than Vash had expected, and Hannah stopped with an "Ow."

Vash looked over her hands, but nothing had gotten caught in moving parts. "What ow?" he asked.

"Weird ow. I don't feel the blaster in my wrist."

Vash nodded. "That's recoil. And that's what you got to get used to. Does it hurt? I picked a gun that doesn't have bad recoil."

"Blasters don't have any recoil." Hannah smiled at him. "I'm not hurt. So find a different word for weird."

"Yeah, a different word will help with that. Empty the clip and I'll show how to reload." Vash stepped back to the column.

Chuck set his forearms on the column on top of each other and rested his chin on top of them.

Hannah settled into the same stance, aimed and fired with good breath control. She kept hitting the target.

Chuck's tail twitched up and down. Vash glanced down, but Chuck didn't start jumping or running and distracting Hannah's concentration. Chuck didn't swing his tail side to side, which Vash was grateful for because he didn't want to get smacked with a whip-like tail.

Hannah emptied the clip and brought the pistol back to the column. Vash stopped her from setting it down. "It is your weapon, your responsibility. You need to have it under control at all times. Either by knowing where you've put it or by keeping it in your hand. I won't keep it for you."

"But please don't let Meryl-ma'am see it?" Hannah asked.

"And you already know she's the loud one, good. Remember where the magazine release button is?"

Hannah turned the pistol over to show the button on the grip, pointing at it with her index finger.

"You can press it with your thumb of your dominant hand or use your support hand, whichever is more comfortable." She used her right thumb to press it and then caught the magazine as it slid out. Vash continued, "Now it is important to remember you can still have a bullet in the chamber, so grab the slide and pull it back. That ejects the bullet, and then you can see the chamber is completely empty."

Hannah's nose wrinkled. "You do that in the middle of a fight?"

"You do that to make sure it is completely unloaded when you store it, so no accidents happen."

She nodded, turned so the pistol was no longer over the column, and pulled back the slide. A bullet ejected from the top.

"Just like that. Now engage the slide lock to keep it open and you can visually confirm the gun is unloaded. If ammunition is still in there, the gun has a problem and we'll need to take it to a gunsmith."

"It's clear," she confirmed.

"Okay, close it up, holster it, and I'll show you how to load the bullets into your magazine."

Chuck's tail twitched up and down again, almost thrashing the air. "Can we talk about it now?" exploded out of him.

Hannah eased the slide back into place and holstered her pistol before nodding. She faced Vash from across the table-top column.

Vash looked puzzled at both of them. What had he missed? "What's wrong?"

Chuck stilled his tail and looked up at him in complete seriousness. "You don't have anybody. That's what's wrong. So we wanna make you our bro."

"Bro?" Vash asked as he looked at Hannah for an explanation.

"Tighter than friends, same as family," Hannah said.

Chuck nodded. "You don't have anyone, but you can have us."

"Dad says you can only trust three things: your brain, your bros, and your bike. We can depend on you and you can depend on us." Hannah continued. "Not having a motorcycle isn't a deal breaker for this."

"So bros?" Chuck's green eyes widened hopefully.

Vash blinked at their earnest faces. Of course, they could depend on him, but they wanted to make it reciprocal? That was nice, even if he couldn't see a way they could make an equivalent exchange. "Bros, okay. I think I can do that."

Chuck grinned and rammed into Vash to hug the taller male around the waist as tight as he could. Vash rested his hands on Chuck's back until Hannah joined them on their side of the column and he put a hand and arm around her shoulders as she leaned against him in a one-arm hug. Vash patted them both. "Come on, let's finish this lesson, so we can pack up and go meet the Insurance Girls for supper."

The hotel had a restaurant with a small room separate from the main dining room. Vash rented it for their meal instead of going back upstairs to their separate parlors and had the hotel desk call up to Meryl and Milly's room to tell them to come down for food. They should be awake by now.

Hannah took Chuck back upstairs to go wash hands. She had let the motorcycle hide her new gun belt, pistol, and bullets, so the Insurance Girls won't see any of it tonight. And that fight was put off for the future.

The first one to arrive was an upset-looking Milly. She sniffled and her eyes looked watery. Vash frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"Meryl's not eating. She got bad news." The kids came in, and Milly plastered a smile on her face.

Chuck dumped his helmet into a spare chair and sat next to Milly. "What happened last night? What's the Nebraska Family?"

Milly quickly launched into a greater explanation about Badwick and his relationship with Morgan and his parents and how she had tried to punch him for it. Badwick was surprisingly good at dodging. And how scary Marilyn Nebraska and her augmented mother and brothers were. Vash was still unsure how Morgan hired them; he always thought they were the legit ones of the family. And then Badwick's change of heart, finding the deed, taking it to City Hall, and his reunion with the Krupins and the other young men who had helped defend the geo-plant. She didn't circle back to why Meryl wasn't eating with them, and Vash had no chance between Chuck and Hannah's questions to ask.

The kids were getting tired now, and Milly was still yawning. She apologized for it, saying she had just finished another round of Milly Monthly to send to her family before the ruckus started in the street yesterday. Vash encouraged them all upstairs into their bedrooms. They didn't argue with him. He changed into his sleep sweats, but was still alert.

Morgan had hired the Nebraska Family to get what he wanted; he was the type to take revenge on being thwarted. Vash's sleep schedule was out of whack right now, so might as well put it to good use. He strapped on his gun belt again, laid his coat on the back of the armchair, and moved the chair next to the hallway door. It was a comfortable lookout, compared to others he had kept over the years.

Creaking in the hall right outside their room rewarded him. Someone had come. He stood, thrust his arms into the coat sleeves, and opened the hallway door silently. Their suites were the last rooms on this side; the insurance girls in the matching suite across the hall. The hall ended on a set of glass doors that led to a small balcony on the side of the hotel. And someone was out on it.

He pulled out the Colt while he eased open the glass doors and heard a sob being stifled as the figure sitting on the bench twisted around to see the door. "Meryl?" He shoved the Colt back into the holster. She was the only one out here. "What's going on?" he asked.

The dark-haired woman looked even smaller in the large yellow shirt she wore. Her hands came out of the bunched-up sleeve ends to wipe her face. "Didn't want to wake Milly. Sorry I woke you."

Vash sat on the other end of the bench. "I thought Morgan had sent someone to get revenge. What's wrong?"

"Milly didn't tell you?" She sniffled.

"She might have if the kids hadn't joined us right then." He should've tried harder to get it out of Milly, grabbed her after the kids went into their suite. If he had, he'd know what to do with Meryl right now.

Meryl stared at the building across the alley. "My grandmother died."

Vash's arms twitched to hug her, but that would be the last thing she'd want right now. This wasn't her job, and it sure wasn't the itch that they had both needed to scratch at the same time. This was just pain. He took a deep breath, made fists, and kept them against his thighs. It never got easier seeing people lose loved ones. "So what happens now? Bernardelli sends someone else to partner with Milly while you go back for funeral rites?"

"No, they aren't sending anyone else."

"What? They won't give you time off?" Vash felt his body heat with anger. Meryl had done everything that insurance society asked of her and now they wouldn't give her a break to mourn her only family left. She had told Chuck her parents were dead already and her grandmother had raised her, and now she was alone. He breathed in until his anger wouldn't leak out. "Fine," his voice was still clipped. "I think we're about two towns from a sandsteamer route. That'll be the quickest way to December City."

Meryl looked at him now, her eyebrows raising and making her gray eyes even larger. "You want to go to December City? But you avoid the Six Cities? You don't even want to go to any of the larger towns?"

His anger evaporated and his fists relaxed. "I'll go so you can make it to the funeral rites."

"Thank you." She sniffled. "It's very kind of you to offer that, but there are no funeral rites. Nana had decided on what to do at her end and made plans when she went into the care facility. She didn't want me interrupting my career, and nobody else would celebrate her life, so no funeral rites. It'll be fine." Her voice wobbled. "I can grieve and do my job at the same time."

Grieving that she had come out here to do that he interrupted. The wobble in her voice, the tremor in her body, her bare legs in the night air all made him scoop her into his lap. She was pretty close to out of it if she came out into the night without even an extra blanket. "Go ahead and cry." He tucked his open coat edges around her and left his arms in place to keep her covered. "I'll make sure you don't freeze out here." He couldn't protect her from grief, but he could offer comfort this way.

Meryl leaned against his chest, balling his sweatshirt in her fists, and sobbed.

Vash felt hot tears of sympathy run down his own face. He had never had a chance to do any funeral rites for Rem either; Knives wouldn't hear of doing anything in memory of 'that bitch who abandoned us.' It wasn't fair that Meryl had lost the opportunity. She should have been with her grandmother, not stuck with him on this stupid risk prevention detail.

She heaved in a deep breath to get through her sobs. "I wish they had told me differently. The care facility just sent me a comm that my payments were no longer necessary."

"Yeah, they should've said it better than that." He hugged her tighter until she tucked up under his chin. She sobbed in agreement. He wished he could give her more comfort than this. That they were friends or lovers, so he could move this cuddling to a warm bed. And then he wouldn't be a desperate creep thinking about Meryl in his bed, curled up against him.

Her sobs finally slackened to heavy breathing. "What was I thinking coming out here in the cold and not even bringing a canteen?"

"I didn't bring one either."

"You, at least, thought of your coat." She shifted, and he loosed his grip on her as she straightened up and looked at his face. "Crying for me?"

"And with you. Did you think I wouldn't?"

"You care about my pain? The bitch who yells at you and flattens you in the street? Oh, never mind, you cry for everyone."

Vash bit back a retort that he didn't pull everyone onto his lap. She was hurting, and he was an easy target. "I thought I had apologized for the name calling. If I hadn't, I won't demand an apology over that scuffle. Are you ready to go back in?"

She sighed a bit raggedly as she slumped against him again. "I should try to get some sleep. Wait, did I miss anything today?"

"We blew up half the town."

"Idiot. I would have heard that."

"It was fine, Insurance girl. A nice quiet day. The kids did school work and decided I'm their bro. Like their father and their uncles have done."

Meryl straightened her back so she could see his face again. "Their idea or yours?"

"I think it was Chuck's. He took the lead and was most excited when I said yes. Hannah's either humoring him or hedging her bets."

"Making sure Chuck's with safe people who accept what he is should anything happen to her." Meryl nodded thoughtfully. "That sounds like her so far. Is she right about you?"

"I will have you know that I have broken no bonds forged by adoption with me and other parties. And I have lost track of how many malicious morons I have saved as well. I will protect those children for as long as I am able."

"Other parties? Just how many times have you been adopted?"

"This with the kids is the second, no, third time someone adopted me. I think."

She smirked. "It's so hard to keep track of?"

"I'm not sure if the second one was an adoption or if I was just made a citizen." He shrugged. "But the kids didn't call it an adoption, so probably shouldn't say that around them."

"No, they probably don't want you trying to replace their father." He winced, and she saw it. "Oh," she said softly, "oh, you want children."

"Don't worry about it. I'm slowly getting used to the idea that I don't get to have what I want." Maybe in another hundred years, it will actually sink in. Meryl looked concerned. "I won't try to father Chuck and Hannah. I doubt they'll accept it."

She nodded before asking, "Shall we go inside now?" Vash opened his coat and set her on her feet; oh good, she was wearing slippers. She hustled into the hallway and Vash followed, not really wanting to linger in the cold either. She paused at her suite's door. "Can we leave tomorrow?"

"We have a car. Don't have to worry about the bus schedule. Why the rush?"

Her face scrunched up. "Badwick and the Krupins got a happy ending. I don't begrudge them that, but I'd like some space so not to--"

"Oh, I get it. I do. Go get some rest, don't worry about the schedule. We'll go when you get up and pack."

The relief on her face hit his chest like a bullet. "Thank you, Vash. For everything tonight. Good night."

"Good night." Vash headed straight to his bedroom. Morgan's hired goons had had plenty of time to come and they hadn't, so he probably couldn't afford anybody right now. Vash hung his coat near the door and his gun belt on the headboard before stretching out on the bed.

Meryl deserved more comfort. He should do more. He wanted to do more. Agreeing to leave town shouldn't make her that mollified; did she really believe he would stay so she would hurt more seeing two old people of her grandmother's generation and remembering she would never see her grandmother again?

He hadn't told her about Rem. How he had to get used to seeing everyone on the planet as someone she had saved. Damn, he didn't even know how to explain that and how to ask that she keep it out of their reports. It was dangerous to want to tell her any of it.

But he wanted to. And he wanted to hold Meryl in his arms until she never felt like crying again.

Well, damn. He stared at the ceiling. Hannah might be right after all.

Chapter Text

Meryl carried the reports they had to turn in out of the hotel and collected Milly at the door. "Have they figured out the problem yet?" she asked with a nod at the argument taking place under the hood of their car.

Hannah snorted. "You pour the cleaner in the tank and run the engine. We don't have to take everything apart."

"Exhaust manifold, engine block, cylinder head." Chuck recited as he balanced with his stomach against the side of the car so his head and upper body were under the hood, too.

Vash made a face. "But how do you know it hit all the clogs?"

"Because that's what it is designed to do. And it prevents dummies from taking delicate parts out and exposing them to harsh conditions and then needing to rebuild the entire engine."

Milly grimaced. "I think there is still a difference of opinion on how to fix the sputter."

"Something your father taught you about motorcycles?" Vash asked.

"Nope. Something Mom taught me about all fuel injected engines. Pour the cleaner in."

"I can do it!" Chuck offered. "Mom lets me do that one."

"Excuse me," Meryl broke in. All three heads turned toward her. "We're going to check in with Bernardelli."

"We'll be here," Vash said. "Unless we're at the variety store looking for a whole new fuel line."

"We won't need a new fuel line if you just use the cleaner," Hannah objected.

Milly waited until they had walked up the street from the disagreement. "I'm glad the car lasted long enough to get to this town."

"I suppose Hannah could have pulled it the rest of the way with the motorcycle, but I'm glad she didn't have to."

The Insurance Society's satellite office was tucked away on a cross street from the main street the hotel was on. The office's plate-glass window with 'Bernardelli Insurance Society' painted on it had a large armored truck parked in front of it.

The door bell jingled as they entered the sunny lobby. A clerk manned the long counter with a view of the door and the plate-glass window. An agent was at his desk, visible through the private office's open door behind the counter. Two uniformed Cavalry soldiers stood in the lobby. And all four men focused on the women as the door shut behind them.

Meryl ignored the scrutiny as she approached the clerk. "Hello, we're here to turn in our reports and check for any messages or mail from the main office. Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson."

The two soldiers snapped to attention as Meryl set their reports on the counter. "Meryl Stryfe? You are under arrest."

Meryl blinked at the one who had spoken. "On what charge?"

"You stole military secrets. Probably thought you'd never get caught."

"I have stolen nothing, much less military secrets! I am an insurance agent, risk prevention division."

The second soldier smirked. "Not anymore."

Milly slammed her hands down on the counter. "Why aren't you stopping this? No one arrests a Bernardelli agent!"

The clerk tried to pull his head into his shoulders. "Main office said not to interfere."

The soldiers pulled out a pair of manacles. Milly started to pull her stun gun out from under her coat, but stopped when Meryl shook her head. "A mistake was made somewhere. I'll go with them peacefully."

"Meryl!"

"The kids need your help with the broom." The first soldier tightened the manacles on Meryl's wrists and she winced but didn't take her eyes off her partner. "Go watch the broom, Milly."

"I will," Milly said, despite her worried face.

The soldiers pushed Meryl out of the office and up the steps into the back of the armored truck. The two soldiers waiting inside forced Meryl onto her knees at the wall behind the cab and chained her manacled hands to the floor with no slack for her to stand. "Ow! I'm cooperating; this isn't necessary!"

"Shut up, you spying bitch!" The soldier on her right pressed his pistol against her head as the truck rumbled into moving. "Think you can take military secrets from the Federation and never answer for it? Keep your whore mouth shut!"

Cooperating wasn't winning her any favors from these men. And it may have cut her off from any way to pivot the fight to her strengths. What the hell did they lose and were trying to blame her for?

Milly stared at the rolling armored truck through the plate-glass window. This was wrong, this was so wrong. The clerk cleared his throat behind her and the counter. "You have a letter, Miss Thompson."

She whirled, snatched the envelope out of his hand, and glared at both of her insurance society coworkers. "You cowards! Bernardelli never lets an agent get arrested! You, you wrenchheads!" She ran out of the office and down the street.

The truck was turning right onto the main street, heading out of town. She ran after it but turned left, back toward the hotel. "Vash! Vash!"

He pulled his spiky head out from under the hood and looked up the street at her, running toward them.

"The military took Meryl! They took her!" She pointed back at the truck while she ran.

He took off, not even saying anything as he passed Milly. She came to a panting stop next to the car.

Hannah tossed a small bottle at Chuck. "Pour it in! Can you drive, Milly-ma'am?"

"I can. Why?"

"Great, get all of our stuff and get out of town. All the cleaner needs to do is run through the injectors until the sputters stop and you can drive while it works. Chuck, stay with Milly-ma'am so the bike can find you both."

"What are you doing?" Chuck demanded.

"Helping Vash get Meryl-ma'am back!" Hannah jumped onto the nearby motorcycle and it roared up the street after Vash and the truck.

Vash ran full out after the truck. How dare anyone take Meryl! How dare they! The truck sped up as it reached the town outskirts. He reached to grab the end of the truck and to pull himself on board.

It sped up again and escaped his outstretched body. He lost balance and hit the street face first. He looked up balefully at the fleeing truck. But a roaring engine moved closer, then idled next to him.

"Get your tail on board, bro," Hannah said. Vash scrambled up, got on behind Hannah, and the motorcycle raced after the truck. "Good thing I'm here to think for you," Hannah continued.

"Wait!" Vash grabbed onto the handlebars and hunched over Hannah. "This might be a firefight. I can't take you into a firefight!"

"This ain't my first rodeo, bro!" Hannah yelled back. "Right now, we need her speed to catch up."

"Just what do you kids do in Chicago?!"

The truck drove down into a canyon, and the motorcycle remained on the canyon rim. Hannah spoke again, but she was arguing with the vehicle. "You are too gonna help Vash. We don't condone kidnappings and we owe Meryl-ma'am. She came to help us first, remember?"

The motorcycle honked.

"Yes, I will."

Vash looked left and down the canyon side. They were riding above the truck now.

Hannah patted his knee. "She's a battle bike; she knows what she's doing." The sidecar popped out from under Vash's right leg. Hannah grabbed Vash's right arm for support as she swung her leg over, slid under his arm, and dropped into the sidecar. "Just hang on and work with her." The sidecar popped free of the motorcycle and veered off on its own power.

The kids had skipped that ability of the vehicle. He let go of the handlebar with his right hand to put his sunshades over his eyes. Gun barrels slid out of their hiding spots on the front of the bike, around the headlight, grabbing Vash's attention. "No killing anybody getting Meryl back!"

The motorcycle beeped before driving off the canyon rim. Vash gripped the handlebars tighter as the rockets burned to slow their fall. They landed with a jolt behind the truck and the motorcycle surged forward. A bright light shot out of the motorcycle's main gun barrel in four bursts.

"Meryl's in there!"

The bolts hit the hinges of the armored truck's back door. The doors fell off, and the motorcycle dodged the slabs of metal. Four soldiers inside spun to face the opening, one jerking his pistol off the dark head of the cowering figure in white.

The motorcycle pulled up, its front wheel even with the rear of the truck. Vash channeled his fury into his muscles and leaped. He landed inside. Meryl craned her neck to look over her shoulder, but otherwise didn't move.

The soldier with his pistol out aimed it at Vash but hadn't finished the motion before Vash quick drew and fired a bullet across the soldier's bicep. The soldier grabbed his wound as his gun arm went limp.

"That's my insurance agent and I'm not breaking in another one," Vash said.

Meryl craned back again but didn't stand.

He strode forward. They had chained her hands to the truck floor. He seethed as he knelt next to her and blocked her face with his left arm. She pressed against his chest as he brought the Colt's muzzle over the floor bolt. He shot her manacles free.

The soldiers stirred behind him.

"I know every non-lethal place on the human body to put a bullet," Vash said. "Don't give me an excuse for target practice."

Meryl twisted to face him. He tucked his head through the circle of her still connected arms and stood holding her. None of the soldiers moved as he strode back to the door.

The motorcycle was there, and Vash dropped into the brown leather seat. He holstered the Colt, grabbed the handlebar, and tightened his grip on Meryl as the motorcycle spun around and headed away. A missile fired from the rear of the motorcycle hit the canyon wall and exploded. Rocks cascaded in front of the truck as it braked. Another missile fired and caused a rock slide blocking the truck's rear. The motorcycle revved and sped back down the canyon.

Meryl trembled, and it felt like she was sobbing again or about to start. What had they done to disturb her so much? Vash rubbed her back above the holsters for her derringers. "I've got you. It's okay now."

She pressed her face against the collar of his coat and muttered something he couldn't hear over the motorcycle's engine.

And a dizzy realization that he really wanted her lips doing that on his bare neck. Now was not the time for that. She just got kidnapped and didn't need him being a horny bastard. "Meryl, it's okay."

Meryl rolled her head against his shoulder so her mouth was now aimed at his ear. "I don't understand. You came for me."

"Well, yeah. Milly came running and shouting that you got taken. Did I mess something up? You're not yelling at me, so I don't think I messed up."

"Oh." Her voice sounded close to breaking. "Milly made you."

"Excuse you, nobody makes me do anything I don't want to do. And I'm just as stubborn as you are, so I don't recommend it as a tactic."

She jerked back as far as her arms still around his neck let her go. "But you don't like me!" Tears pooled in her gray eyes.

"Where are you coming up with this? What evidence do you have for that conclusion?"

"How you act! You're always trying to make me the butt of the joke so everyone can laugh at my embarrassment just like everyone--" She broke off and her indignant expression was bleeding into confusion because Vash's jaw had dropped.

"From the teasing?" He finally got out. "Don't you know how teasing works?"

Now her tears evaporated without falling. "Of course I do! Everyone in the office laughing at my embarrassment!"

"Your coworkers are genuine pieces of shit for doing that. I have only intended to make you laugh at your own foibles. Don't know why you keep seeing maliciousness from me; I'm not my reputation."

"I know you aren't, but I can't depend on you. No one ever has my back but Milly and Nana and Nana's gone." Her face crumpled.

Vash wanted to hug her tight but couldn't positioned the way they were. The motorcycle reached the end of the canyon and gently turned to drive up onto the higher ground. Vash pressed his forehead against hers. "Aren't we friends? I don't have many that roll with this crazy life of mine, but you and Milly can be? If you want?"

"But you wanted nothing to do with us?"

"It wasn't personal," he assured her, because her voice sounded like she needed all the reassurance available. "Why should that insurance society stalk me for stuff that's not my fault?"

Meryl choked but managed to say, "I think I'm fired now."

Damn it, not even her job had her back. "Those bastards don't deserve you," Vash answered with conviction.

She burst out laughing. Choked up, too close to tears, but genuine laughter that made her separate their foreheads and slump against him. Good, laughter meant this hadn't broken her completely.

She finally reached the end of the chuckles. "Friends, yes. I'd like to be friends with you."

He grinned as wide as he could. First the kids, and now Meryl claiming him. That hadn't happened since the flying ship found him and never on the surface. Friends become lovers; wasn't that how the song went?

They stayed together like that until the motorcycle found the sidecar driving across the sands. The motorcycle sidled next to it and the sidecar locked into place. Hannah looked up at them. "Mission successful?"

Vash was still grinning. "Yup, got Meryl back and nobody died."

Hannah smirked. "Well, if you're willing to quit wearing her like a necklace, I can get the cuffs off. I have lock picks."

Vash felt his face heat and Meryl's was red when she lifted her arms over his head. He picked her up and turned her so she was side-saddled on the seat facing the sidecar.

Hannah already had a pair of slender probes in her hands. Meryl held out her wrists and asked. "Why do you have lock picks?"

Hannah inserted the probes into the keyhole for the manacles. "After my third kidnapping, second one being cuffed, I saw somebody use them in a movie and said I needed them to get loose after a kidnapping and nobody would ever guess I have them. Got 'em for Christmas that year. And I was right too; bad guys have never patted me down."

"Christmas?" Meryl asked.

"Religious holiday," Vash answered. "Wolfwood's religion." The manacles sprang free and Vash gritted his teeth over the cuts and bruises swelling on Meryl's delicate wrists. He held on with his left hand and gently took her hand with his right. "They didn't care about being gentle." He glanced at Hannah. "Did you ask for a first aid kit for your birthday?"

"Didn't have to. Dad always packed one." Hannah pulled out a small white case out of its hiding spot.

"You don't need to," Meryl said. "I heal fast."

"You can heal under gauze. Cleanser."

Hannah tore open a paper and foil pouch for him. "It's a wipe that's both cleanser and antiseptic."

The sidecar was keeping the motorcycle balanced. Vash let go of the handlebars and used both his hands to turn Meryl's hand as he gently wiped the flimsy, wet paper over her abrasions without pressing on the bruising. Meryl didn't fight the attention. He wasn't sure that he shouldn't be worried that she wasn't kicking up a fuss.

He changed to Meryl's left hand and the other side of the wipe. At least she wasn't bleeding badly, but he still wanted to get in those soldiers' faces and snarl at them until they learned you don't treat people like this. And he very much doubted Meryl put up a fight to make it a fair reaction. None of those soldiers had been bleeding. And they should have left her alone. Her damn insurance society should have made sure the stupid military would leave their agents and him alone.

"Gauze." Hannah set the roll of loose-woven cloth into his hand. He wrapped it around Meryl's delicate wrist. The gauze stuck to itself, and Hannah wielded a pair of scissors to cut the used portions free of the roll. He made sure that he covered both of Meryl's wrists before releasing her and grabbing the handlebars again. Meryl rested one of her hands on his right arm.

Hannah packed the medical supplies and garbage away. "So why did they snatch you?"

"To get to me." Vash squeezed the handlebars tighter. That insurance society should have protected her.

Meryl looked up at him. "No, that's not what they said. But we should wait until we reach Milly and your brother. I don't want to repeat it."

"Okay, just tell us all once," he agreed. Then he observed their surroundings and the direction of the suns. "The motorcycle is not headed back to town."

"I told them to get our stuff and get out of town," Hannah said. "The bike can pick up Chuck's tracking signal and if he didn't stay with Milly-ma'am, I will knot his tail." She looked up at them with worried green eyes. "They were waiting to get you. No idea if there were more of them or if they called for more to come."

"That was smart." Meryl leaned against Vash, practically sagging against him.

He let go of the handlebar with his right hand and wrapped his arm around Meryl's waist, anchoring her to him. She relaxed more, and that was good. He could relax if she could. They said nothing while they rode. Eventually, the motorcycle intercepted the beginning of a dust cloud. Milly drove the car. She waved at them quickly before slapping her hand back on the steering wheel.

Chuck bounced in the back seat behind the driver's seat. "Milly-ma'am quit by stun gun bolt! Right through the window!"

"Go Milly-ma'am!" Hannah yelled before throwing her head back and howling like an animal. "Aooooow!" Chuck matched the howl.

Meryl sat up straight again and looked kind of horrified. At least this expression reminded him of the times the damages had horrified her. "But Milly, your job!"

"No dumb job is more important than you! Besides, Senior Management protects all their other agents, but they didn't protect you at all. They won't protect me with my work record."

"Is that why Mom says it's best to be your own boss?" Chuck asked.

"One of the many reasons," Hannah said with a nod.

Meryl looked up at Vash with worry pinching her eyes. He tightened his arm around her. "You have the loyalty of us all. Never expected that, did you?" he asked.

She blinked. "No, I... I didn't think you liked me."

"Well, you can stop that think right now. We're friends."

"You're nice, Meryl-ma'am, and we want nothing bad to happen to you. So that's friends," Hannah said.

"Yes, exactly," Vash said.

"We're friends. Thank you... I... thank you." Meryl leaned against Vash again but wrapped her right arm around his waist. She was safe now and the relief that she was safe in his arms really shouldn't be as overwhelming as it felt right now, and he was just not going to think about that at all. He should spend time thinking of ways to convince her they liked her instead.

They drove until they found a suitable camping spot before the suns set. The car never made the sputter, so he guessed Hannah was right about the cleaner.

Most of the group started making camp. Milly made Meryl sit while Vash set up the cooking burner. Hannah carried the food crate from the car and set it down next to Vash before putting her hands on her hips. "We're all in one spot now. Why did they snatch you? Who snatched you?"

Meryl sighed. "It wasn't a snatch. They arrested me."

Milly frowned. "But they were waiting for us, Meryl-ma'am."

Chuck dropped the bedrolls in a pile. "Who? Bandits? Bounty hunters?"

"The Federation Cavalry," Milly answered continuing to frown.

"Gunsmoke's only military force," Vash explained to the kids. "On what charge did they arrest you? The insurance society should have clarified that you weren't aiding and abetting stuff I'm accused of doing."

"They said I stole military secrets. But I have had nothing to do with the military. Some fraud investigation former clients could push that I spied on them, but none of them were military."

Milly plopped down to look over the cooking burner at Meryl. "Bernardelli doesn't insure the military."

"Exactly," Meryl agreed.

"So they lied to take you." Hannah moved her arms to cross over her chest.

Meryl looked confused, and a bit lost. "I don't know why. They never mentioned Vash. Not even when you jumped into the truck. It doesn't make any sense."

"We're unemployed," Milly said. "What do we do now?"

Vash decided. "You two can keep traveling with us." He dumped the can's contents into a skillet and started stirring so he wouldn't have to look at the Insurance Girls' unnerving non-telepathic conversation. They couldn't go because he didn't want Meryl to go. And he didn't want anybody thinking nasty thoughts about Hannah or Chuck. And he'd have to call them something else now, too.

"I'm so glad you finally accepted that we're your friends," Milly said.

He glanced up at Milly's fond but a slightly smug expression. "It wasn't personal. I just didn't want to get stalked."

"Of course not. But that wasn't personal on our side either."

"Good. It's settled then, we're friends, you're staying, now get your plate. Food's almost done."

They ate, cleaned up, and the kids started on lessons before it was completely dark. Milly pulled an envelope from her coat. "Oh, it's from Liam."

"Who's that?" Chuck looked up from his workbook. "Your boyfriend?"

"No, my older brother closest to me in age. Oh, how am I going to get mail from my family now?"

"I don't know." Meryl winced. "I never meant to be so much trouble for you."

Milly shrugged. "We'll figure it out." She opened up her letter, read it with a growing frown, and then unfolded an enclosed paper.

Meryl sighed as Vash sat next to her. "Do you have any ideas?" she asked.

"No permanent address," Vash said. "Nobody wants to write me letters."

"Right," Meryl said.

Hannah closed the book she was reading. "Mom says all she has ever gotten in the mail are bills and junk."

Milly gasped. Her blue eyes filled with tears and a small bit of newsprint shook in her hand as she looked to Meryl. "Oh Meryl! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She stumbled around the cooking burner and collapsed on Meryl's other side, thrusting the newsprint at Meryl.

Vash looked at the article over Meryl's shoulder. "Resident of Twilight Years Personal Care Murdered!" screamed the headline.

The morning staff found Janet Curran, aged 93, dead on May 28. The doctor on call ruled the death a homicide was done overnight by an unknown assailant. "Mrs. Curran was stabbed ten times. None of the residents have the body strength to penetrate the rib bones. Who would want to break into here and murder a resident?"

Milly sniffled as tears ran down her cheeks. "Liam remembered the name of the care facility and sent me the article. He said you would probably want to move your grandmother out of it. He didn't remember her name."

Meryl's face was white like she was going to be sick. "Nana was murdered? Who would want to murder her? She is harmless; her memory is gone, and she is so frail." She twisted and looked up at Vash, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Why? Why would anyone hurt her?"

Vash pulled her into a hug. "I don't know. I'm sorry, Meryl." Meryl broke into sobs as she collapsed against him. Milly wrapped her arms around Meryl and Vash as she cried. Vash looped his arm around Milly, too.

Chuck turned to Hannah. "Murdered? What is that?"

She got up from her position and walked to the bedrolls. "Killed on purpose."

"What do we do now?" he asked.

She handed him a bedroll. "Go help Vash and Milly-ma'am hug Meryl-ma'am and wrap her up. Be gentle."

Chuck brought the bedroll over. Milly took it from him and tucked it around Meryl before hugging her again. Chuck climbed into Vash's lap and under his right arm to hug Meryl tightly.

Hannah picked up the newspaper article before it blew away and read it with a serious frown. "What is today's date?"

"June eleventh. Oh, Gunsmoke's calendar differs from Earth's. All the months are thirty days long and we had to add two months to even out the solar year. 420 days instead of 365."

Meryl yanked on Vash's coat and tried to burrow her head into his chest as she continued crying. She didn't deserve this much pain, and he was at a loss for how to ease it. So he fell back on what Rem would do when he had felt hurt too big for his body to contain. He started singing.

So... on the first evening a pebble.
From somewhere out of nowhere drops upon the dreaming world. So... on the second celestial evening.
All the children of the pebble held hands and composed a waltz.
So... On the third celestial evening.
The children's waltz spawned rippling waves across the waking world.
So... On the fourth celestial evening.
The waves showered the ground upon which every child wandered. So... On the fifth celestial evening.
The showers on the earth became its beacon of existence.
So... On the sixth celestial evening.
The beacon shined across the skies reaching to weary travelers.
So... On the seventh eventide.
The travelers raced like weightless clouds -- a ship of restless dreamers.
So... On the eighth morning my dreams.
From somewhere out of nowhere woke to songs our souls were singing.
Now... The song our souls were singing. Echo under clear blue skies that guide the life of every being.

Meryl and Milly both stopped crying by the time he reached the last verse. Meryl hadn't let go of him, though. She didn't have to, if she didn't want to.

"That's a nice song," Chuck said with a yawn.

"It was Rem's favorite. She sang it to me when I was a child," Vash said.

"Nana sang it to me too," Meryl said in a thick voice.

Oh no, no, no, he made everything worse. No wonder she cried through almost all the lyrics; she probably only stopped because of dehydration. He dropped his head closer to hers. "Sorry." There wasn't enough sorry in the universe. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to make it worse."

She pulled back to look up at him and smiled sadly. "You didn't. It's a good song."

Milly let go and wiped her face. "What are we going to do now?"

Hannah stopped unrolling bedrolls. "Dad always said to make plans after a good night's sleep. Unless you don't have time to sleep."

"We have time to sleep," Vash declared. "We can see what direction looks good in the morning." Meryl pulled away and he let her go. Chuck blinked sleepily at him, and Vash picked him up. "Into your bedroll with you, sleepyhead."

"I get sleepy after exciting. Everybody does." Chuck didn't offer any other arguments and snuggled into his bedroll.

Milly helped Meryl into the one around Meryl's shoulders and lying down before falling into her own. Hannah looked like she had more questions, but she didn't ask them as she wrapped a bedroll around herself. Vash's new little sister had more tact than he initially thought, even if she wasn't in favor of touchy-feely. The article had gone missing, and he suspected Hannah had tucked it into the repacked school books. That's fine; he would remember to get it from her in the morning, since he never read all of it.

He set his bedroll on the last outer edge of their camp so they were ringed by the small rock ridge, the car, the black motorcycle, and himself. Nobody would sneak up on them tonight.

Vash let himself drift into his usual light doze when he didn't have any shelter overhead. The quiet night let everyone else fall into a deeper slumber. So, hearing someone scramble out of a bedroll hours later woke him up. He sat up to see Meryl dash between the rocks and the car, and the sound of retching drifted back to the camp. He grabbed a canteen and a small towel before heading to her.

She had landed on her knees before losing her supper and now she leaned back. "You done?" he asked quietly. She nodded, but still looked pale. He kicked sand over the sick before helping her stand up and lean against the rocks. "Sorry, it didn't agree with you. Won't cook that again."

"It was a nightmare." She took the canteen and washed her mouth out before drinking some of the water. "Sorry, I keep waking you up."

"I'm not a heavy sleeper. Not while camping." He handed her the towel. "Do you need to talk about it? The nightmare? We can if you need to."

"It's just a stupid nightmare I have had my whole life. Trapped, can't escape, and something worse is coming. Losing Nana like this; that dragged it up. And stress."

"Don't stress." Vash leaned against the rocks next to her. She liked plans; that was probably making the stress worse. "Is there anything else you want to do? Beside avoid the Cavalry."

She twisted the towel in her hands. "What else can we do? I can't go back to December City and find out what is happening. They are bound to be waiting for me to do just that."

"I know." It was refreshing to deal with someone who actually thought about what was going on. He hadn't realized how tired he was of tricking people into doing the smart thing until he didn't have to with her. "I wish they weren't. You really don't deserve this."

She looked up at him. "I never said I was sorry for calling you names. I should have before now."

"It's fine. Broomhead is accurate, and I've been called a lot worse."

"I don't want to be one of your worse things."

"You're not? You never have been." He grimaced a bit at her disbelieving stare. "Honestly, at the beginning, I wanted to drive you away. Descartes and Loose Ruth used you and Milly to bait a trap, and you didn't even have the right target yet. And my life is a series of Descartes and Loose Ruths and worse now. It's never been because of you personally, but I didn't want them to hurt you, and I sure don't want you to hurt now. So you have never been a bad thing, Meryl. Never."

"I'm tougher than I look."

"I know." He grinned. "And I'm looking forward to the Cavalry learning that too."

The night breeze ruffled her black hair. "How much trouble are you going to be in for helping me?"

"Don't worry about that. I'm always in trouble with somebody. I'd rather it be for doing the right thing. Think you can sleep now?"

"I will not throw up again, so I better."

"So determined." He couldn't help grinning over that.

"Is that a good thing?"

"It's the best thing. Have you ever seen a geranium?"

She looked up with her scrunched up trying-to-make-sense-of-Vash expression. "December City's Botanical Garden has flowers, to keep them for better conditions. I've seen them there."

"Rem told me that geraniums meant determination in the language of flowers. I'm glad we still have them."

"You have mentioned her before." She glanced away, trying to hide the uncertainty that crossed her features.

Vash scratched the back of his neck. "Rem, well, she was the one who raised me when I was a child. Honoring her memory is still important to me."

"Oh, so she's gone too? I'm sorry."

"Me too. I catch myself wondering what she would have made of this world we have now." He shook himself as he straightened. "Come on, let's get some sleep while we can." She didn't argue as he escorted her back to the camp. And he ignored the want to pull her back into his arms.

Chapter Text

The next town they found did not have a playground, either. Chuck pouted beside the car while Meryl-ma'am tied a bandanna around her hair. Why hadn't any grown-ups planned any playgrounds when they built their towns? It was stupid.

Meryl-ma'am and Milly hurried into the hotel they had parked in front of before anyone on the street looked at them. Vash followed them, but Hannah didn't. She looked up the street with a frown. Hannah didn't go to playgrounds unless she had to take him, so she was frowning about something else. He stopped pouting and walked up to her. "What's wrong?"

"Meryl-ma'am's grandmother was murdered, and the military tried to kidnap her. You forgot already?"

"I didn't forget. But what can we do about it?"

"We can make sure no military is in town." Hannah nodded.

This town was only a couple of streets, and Chuck was sure Vash had given them a good look when they drove into town. But if it made Princess Fix-it feel better to do something, he would help his sister.

Hannah patted the bike. "Stay here and guard the hotel. We got our tracers, and Chuck will yell for help if we need it."

The bike beeped and printed "yes" on their face shields. Hannah took off her helmet and left it with the bike. Then they headed up the street they hadn't driven on yet.

They passed a saloon and the variety store before they reached the sheriff's office. A bulletin board stretched from the corner of the building to the door and it had wanted posters tacked up neatly on it. And one of those had Meryl-ma'am's face on it.

Chuck looked up at Hannah as she made a hissing noise under her breath. She stopped and whispered, "Grab it while I distract the sheriff." She leaned into the open door. "Excuse me, sir. Is there a Bernardelli Insurance office in this town?"

Chuck stretched on his tiptoes and ripped the wanted poster off the tacks in its corners. He tucked it into his vest as he walked back toward the hotel. So, he didn't hear the sheriff's response.

Hannah said, "Thank you, sir, I'll be sure to tell my pa." She caught up with Chuck at the variety store. "Come on, let's get back to the hotel."

Vash was outside next to the parked car and bike, turning his head rapidly to look up and down the street. His shoulders and arms loosened up as soon as he saw them, but he waited until they reached him to tell them off. And then he didn't yell about it. "Now's really not a good time to wander off on your own."

"We were scouting. Show him the bad news," Hannah said with a frown.

Chuck pulled out the wanted poster and passed it to Vash. Vash unfolded it and stared. "Shit," he said.

"Can we say that word now?" Chuck looked up at Hannah. "Mom's not here."

Hannah looked at Vash. "I need some money to buy clothes." Then she looked down at Chuck. "While you and Vash break the bad news to the others."

"Why me?"

"What he said," Vash said.

"Because you boys will look weird buying women's clothes and I won't."

"More impeccable logic." Vash pulled out his wallet and gave Hannah some money. "Come on, Chuck. You may need to deploy your hug attack."

Chuck followed Vash inside the hotel and up the stairs. They stopped at a door on the second floor and knocked. Milly-ma'am let them inside.

Meryl-ma'am looked up from the bed she was sitting on. "What's wrong now? Where's Hannah?"

"This is what's wrong now." Vash handed the wanted poster to Meryl-ma'am.

Milly-ma'am sat next to her on the bed so she could see it too. "Oh no. That's your employee directory instant portrait."

"Ten thousand double dollars?!" Meryl-ma'am wailed quietly.

"Someone's being cheap," Vash said. "You're worth more than that."

"It says the Federation Cavalry." Milly-ma'am crossed her arms over her suspenders and frowned.

"But it's okay now," Chuck said. "I took it down."

"That buys us some time, but the sheriff will put up a new one in the morning until they rescind the bounty or pay it out. I better go get Hannah before she does a systematic search of the hotel for us." Vash closed the door behind him.

"I think he's joking, but she will," Chuck told them. "She'll do a grid search to clean our bedroom."

"I can't believe his answer to there being a bounty on my head is that it needs to be a higher amount of money." Meryl-ma'am dropped her hands holding the wanted poster to her lap.

"He has had to live with the highest bounty on the planet for a long time. It has probably skewed his expectations." Milly-ma'am got off the bed and went over to their luggage.

Meryl-ma'am shrugged and looked at Chuck. "Where did Hannah go?"

"To buy clothes. I don't know why. She still has all the ones we already bought."

"Maybe she had an accident with the bike," Milly-ma'am said.

Chuck sat on the bed next to Meryl-ma'am. She didn't seem like she needed a hug, so he pointed to a word on the wanted poster, a long one he didn't know. "What word is that?"

"Derringer," Meryl-ma'am answered. "That's the type of gun I carry."

"Somebody at Main Office spilled their guts about you." Milly-ma'am frowned again.

"Yes, the written description is too highly accurate for any guesswork."

"Fifty derringers?" Chuck stared at Meryl-ma'am. Fifty were more guns than he had seen anyone have.

Meryl-ma'am smiled. "You've never seen under my cape." She got up and pulled it away from where it was hanging on the wall. Now he saw the multiple gun holsters and the tiny guns in rows sewn into the inside.

"That is awesome! And you have fifty of them?"

"So I don't run out of ammo." She sat down on the bed next to him.

Chuck nodded. "That's probably important in a bullet fight."

"Firefight," Milly-ma'am corrected.

"But nothing is ever on fire." Chuck pointed out because that's the same thing Dad and the uncles said and nothing was ever on fire with blasters, either.

There was a knock on the door and Milly-ma'am let Vash and Hannah in. Hannah carried a sack from the variety store to Meryl-ma'am's bed. "I had to guess on sizes, but you're only a little bigger than me, Meryl-ma'am. And I got a belt in case I guessed wrong. I got you colored shirts, pants, and a longer skirt since the poster describes what you usually wear." She started pulling the clothes out of the sack and putting them on the bed. "They didn't have hair dye, and I got a long lecture on how changing my hair color would not stop me from getting sunburned, duh. You'll have to keep hiding your hair with bandannas so I got some different colors to match the shirts."

"You bought me clothes?" Meryl-ma'am asked, sounding confused.

"Disguises. You two didn't tell her?" Hannah turns to Chuck and Vash, catching them both in a glare.

Vash held up his hands in surrender as he sat down in the armchair. "I didn't think you shopping was part of the bad news and I'm going to leave how to designate your fashion choices to Meryl."

"You left out who needed clothes and why they needed clothes," Chuck said. "Do we have another helmet? That'll hide her face more."

"Nope, we're out of helmets. The variety shop didn't have any either. I could build you one?"

"Thank you, but I don't need a helmet," Meryl-ma'am said.

"Are we going to leave now?" Chuck asked. "We just got here."

"I'd rather stay overnight and get some decent food and sleep. And we have to restock camping supplies. But if you don't feel comfortable here?" Vash asked.

Everyone looked at Meryl. "A hot bath is on my list for staying. Nobody paid any attention to me checking in."

"There's no Bernardelli office here," Hannah added. "The sheriff said the closest one is in Ollderado Hill."

Meryl-ma'am nodded. "So the new clothes should be enough to get us out if here without bullets flying."

"I hope so," Vash said. "I've never tried a disguise before."

"Nobody could give us a straight description of you, so you probably don't have to worry about it," Milly-ma'am said with a smile.

"Let me get my notebook," Hannah said.

"Why do you need a notebook?" Chuck asked, but Hannah was already out of the room. She came back with a notebook and pen and the newspaper article that made Meryl-ma'am cry. "Enough bad news," Chuck said.

"I'm not trying to make more bad news; I'm trying to fix it."

"HOW? You can't use a toolbox to stop a bounty hunter or an army." Chuck twitched his tail.

"No, we need a detective."

Vash looked confused. "A what?"

Hannah sighed. "I was afraid of that." She brought the newsprint to him. "Look, it ends with saying the Sheriff of December City is searching for the murderer. What kind of resources are we talking about here? Forensics, interviews, interrogations, applying criminal psychology in looking for the killer?"

All the grown-ups looked confused by Hannah's big words.

"Or does this society just shoots a person in the street and then runs out of town screaming I did it?" Hannah asked sarcastically.

"More the second one," Vash said, "but some bandits stay put after their crimes."

Hannah plopped down at the table and began writing in the notebook. "So the sheriff is likely to look at the family for a suspect and beyond them only if a bandit stabs more old people?"

"But Meryl doesn't have any other family." Milly instantly looked sorry as she sat down on her bed. "Oh, you know my parents always have room for you, Meryl."

"Yes, your parents have been very kind."

"Yeah, I remember that," Hannah said without looking up. "Also makes no sense."

"You think Meryl-ma'am killed her grandma?" Chuck crossed his arms.

Hannah's head whipped up. "What? No! If you had bothered watching any episode of Perry Mason with Uncle Modo--"

"He always says it was done better on Mars when he was a kid."

"Alibis," Hannah said. "What were you doing on the night of the murder and where were you doing it? Meryl didn't kill her grandmother for reasons because she was with us and we're--how far are we from December City?"

"About two thousand iles," Vash said.

"And Gunsmoke doesn't have transporters to get her there and back again like that." Hannah snapped her fingers.

"Oh," Chuck dropped his arms. "That's good news."

"So why didn't the wanted alive poster for a bounty come from the sheriff of December City?" Hannah asked. "Since the sheriff doesn't know where Meryl-ma'am has been and with who and should want to talk to the victim's family. Crime shows always start with the family because it's usually them."

"That's horrible!" Milly said.

Hannah's lips flattened like they usually did when MacCyber came up. "Not everyone has good families, Milly-ma'am."

Vash snorted. "Ain't that the truth. Wait a minute, are you getting all this from entertainment on your Earth?"

"It's based on true stories!" Hannah exclaimed. "One of them even said so in the opening before the theme song."

"She's making a good point," Meryl-ma'am said thoughtfully. "Even if it is from entertainment. The Cavalry made Bernardelli cooperate to get all this information on me," she held up the wanted poster, "and they are the ones that have come after me. But why? I have had nothing to do with military secrets."

"Did your grandmother?" Vash asked.

Meryl-ma'am blinked in surprise. "I don't know. She has been retired for as long as I can remember."

"She had to have retired from something," Hannah said. "At least that's how it works on Earth."

"Maybe the papers she gave you said what her job used to be," Milly-ma'am said.

"Papers?" Hannah asked.

"I was already living in an apartment with Milly when Nana sold her house and went into the care facility. She gave me papers that she wanted kept safe because I might need them later," Meryl-ma'am said.

"So maybe the military secrets are in the papers and they're trying to kidnap you for them?" Chuck asked.

Meryl-ma'am shrugged. "Maybe? I never looked at them."

"Somebody murdered your grandmother for a reason. Maybe the reason is in those papers," Hannah said thoughtfully.

Meryl-ma'am looked down at the floor and her chin trembled. "Her memory was gone. She didn't even remember me the last time I visited her. If it was because of what she used to know, they could have left her alone."

It looked like she was going to cry again, so Chuck wrapped both his arms around her. Meryl-ma'am hugged him back.

"So we need to travel to December City and find these papers without getting caught?" Vash asked.

Milly-ma'am straightened sitting on her bed. "You don't want to go!"

"I didn't say that! If that's where the answers are, of course I'll go. And nobody let anyone know I'm there," Vash said.

"It's the only lead we have," Hannah said. "And it is safer than my other idea."

Chuck rolled his eyes. "Of course you have a Plan B."

"What is this other idea?" Vash asked.

"Sneak into the military base and find the orders telling them to get Meryl-ma'am and follow those up to whose plan it is. It can't be that hard to break into a military base."

The grown-ups all stared at Hannah. Chuck grinned. Some things were still the same.

Milly-ma'am spoke first. "When you say things like that, it makes you sound like a bandit."

"I fought the law and the law won," Hannah sang. "It's more trouble than it's worth unless you have no other way to help people," she said.

"Plus, it would make Mom and Dad mad," Chuck said.

"If we're voting on what to do, breaking into Cavalry Headquarters is my strategy Z," Vash said.

"So we need to head toward December City tomorrow?" Meryl-ma'am asked.

Vash nodded. "If we avoid Bernardelli in Ollderado Hill, we can catch the sandsteamer there and that'll get us to December City in two days. Good news, we wouldn't be going through any bandit territories."

"Bandits have territories?" Chuck asked.

"The last time we were on a sandsteamer, the Bad Lads invaded it while we went through their territory," Milly-ma'am explained.

"So we won't have to worry about anybody being taken hostage and we'll sneak to our apartment just in case they are watching it," Meryl-ma'am said.

"Great, we have a strategy." Vash stood up. "I'll go downstairs and get dinner for everyone."

"Come on, Chuck. Homework time." Hannah followed Vash. Chuck slid off the bed and left the hotel room, but Hannah lingered in the open door. "Um, Meryl-ma'am, about choosing Vash."

"Making him your bro?"

"Yeah. You helped us too, but Vash didn't have anybody, and you have Milly. And he needs more help. But we are friends and we're gonna help you too. I didn't want you feeling bad over that."

Meryl-ma'am smiled. "It's fine, Hannah. I don't feel bad. And you're right about Vash needing more help. Thank you for the disguise idea."

Hannah smiled back and pushed Chuck toward their hotel room. "Quit your shovin'," Chuck complained. "I'm going." He waited until after Hannah let them into their room and shut the door. "Hannah, what's a sandsteamer?"

"Something we're going to travel on. See if you got a lesson on it."

Chuck stuck his tongue out, but got his school books out. No point in starting a didn't-do-your-lessons fight.

Milly supposed somebody should have gone with Vash to sell the car and buying the sandsteamer tickets, but Meryl had to stay out of sight in Ollderado Hill and Milly had been helping Hannah and Chuck get more school books so no one remained to go.

Meryl looked up from the tickets and other paperwork Vash had handed her. "You put us all in one suite?"

"It had two bedrooms with enough beds and a table we can eat at, and that's safer than getting separate cabins," Vash said.

"But it is a first class suite with all the first class amenities."

Vash bent over Meryl to double check the paperwork. "Yes. It says so."

"YAY!" Milly tossed her hands into the air. "Bernardelli never let us go first class anywhere!"

"But we don't have any clothes suitable for the first night dinner and dance," Meryl said.

Vash straightened with a look of confusion. "You want to do that? With a price on your head?"

Meryl's face fell. "Yes, you're right. It would be completely irresponsible to participate in something so obviously out of our class."

"What does that mean?" Chuck asked.

Milly pouted. "We can't go to the fancy party we paid for."

"Are you calling me low class?" Vash folded his arms over his chest.

"You don't let the price on your head stop you from drunken revelry," Meryl said.

Vash released his arms and counted on his fingers. "Four drunken revelries since I met you, and the first one with Frank Marlon wouldn't have happened if you two hadn't abandoned me. That's an average of one a month."

"But you did them all in March," Meryl said. Hannah snorted.

"And I have been party-free since then."

"And so have we," Milly said sadly.

"Is this a guilt trip?" Vash asked. He pointed at Milly. "Don't start crying."

"How fancy is the first-class party?" Hannah asked.

"Fancier than what we have packed," Meryl answered.

"So I need a skirt. And Chuck needs a nice shirt."

"I don't," Chuck said. "And you hate skirts."

"Fred the Mutant isn't on this planet. They are safe to wear again." Hannah turned to Vash. "Do you own anything besides body armor and sweats?"

Vash's arms fell to his sides. "Why are you supporting them on this?"

"Mom says to always get what you pay for. Plus, will anybody hunting for you two with bounties be looking for you at a first-class party?" Hannah tilted her head.

Vash threw up his hands. "Fine! Fine! Let's go clothes shopping. But after this, the fascination with disguises needs to stop."

So that's how they ended up at the fanciest clothing store Ollderado Hill had to buy party clothes. Hannah disappeared into the men's side with Vash and Chuck. Milly checked in with Meryl, who already found a small rack of evening gowns. "Do you think she needs back up with Vash and Chuck?" Milly asked.

Meryl blinked. "Actually no. I think she has them under control. Vash agreed when she wanted to do it, and I don't think he wants to disappoint her." She pulled a lavender dress from the rack to look at more closely. "Besides, as long as they're wearing clothes that aren't filthy and aren't made of denim, we have won."

Milly moved to a different rack but stayed close by in case anyone recognized Meryl. Hannah returned to the women's side in less time than Milly had guessed it would take, judging by how hard it was to get her brothers and nephews into nice clothes. "You found them outfits?" she asked.

Hannah nodded. "Matching Vash's outfit won Chuck over. Vash decided he lost and gracefully accepted my choice of a suit. Luckily, the sales clerk knew what I was talking about with the holster and he's handling alterations, so Meryl-ma'am doesn't have to." Hannah looked over at the older woman in the bandanna. "Vash went with a red vest if you want to match." Hannah then pulled a pink dress out of the rack and wrinkled her nose at it.

"You don't have to wear a dress if you don't want to," Milly said. "I'm looking for a suit."

"I have nothing against dresses or skirts," Hannah said as she put the pink dress back. "But Fred figured out the best way to get hit by nearly everyone was to put his tentacle up them. So I stopped wearing them. Jeans are easier with bike riding, too."

"That Fred sounds horrible!" Milly exclaimed. True, Hannah had said he was created by the bandits their parents fought against, so she shouldn't be surprised.

"Yeah, don't miss that creep."

Vash paid for their choices, then they packed up their hotel rooms and boarded the sandsteamer with the motorcycle going into the cargo hold. The cabin suite opened into a short hallway with three doors before it opened into a parlor with windows on the side of the sandsteamer.

One door was the first bathroom, the second was to the larger bedroom with an attached bathroom, and the third was to the second bedroom. Vash gave her and Meryl the larger bedroom, since the second bedroom had two more beds that pull down from the ceiling. Chuck claimed that one enthusiastically. Vash took Chuck and Hannah to show them the sandsteamer, giving Milly and Meryl time to dress in peace.

Their bedroom also had a large window on the side of the sandsteamer. This deck was so high, you could see for iles. Milly pulled herself away from the window. "Do you think we should give up the apartment while we're in the city?"

Meryl turned from unpacking. "The military might be watching for that to happen. Plus, I thought we could stay there for as long as we need to. Saves money on renting a hotel room. Vash has splurged enough on us, and it's not like we can pay our fair share now."

"I don't think he really minds."

"I don't want him to think that we're only his friends for what we can get out of him."

"No, we don't want that," Milly agreed.

They dressed and left the suite before Vash and the children returned. The ballroom and first class dining room were on the same deck as their suite but at the front end of the sandsteamer with an enormous bank of windows to share the view they were heading toward. The suns were setting behind the sandsteamer and the horizon ahead was bands of orange, pinks, reds, and a teal-green like Vash's eyes. An orchestra was playing lively dancing music. Milly sighed. Did Mr. Priest dance? They hadn't had a chance to even ask about it.

Chapter Text

Hannah had taken over the entire suite's bathroom to get dressed, so Vash and Chuck got dressed in their bedroom. She still hadn't come out, so Vash sat at the vanity mirror along the bedroom wall and double checked his chin and jaw. Shaved smooth. He dug his hair gel out of his bag, but it was plucked from his hand as he straightened his back.

He blinked at Hannah, scowling at him in the mirror. She was in a navy-blue dress with short sleeves and a red sash that matched his and Chuck's vests. "We're supposed to be hiding out and not being us," she said. "And you want to wear your hair the same spiky way?"

"Yes," Vash answered.

"No," Hannah said.

Chuck giggled from his seat on his upper bunk.

"That's how I wear my hair. I have worn it that way since Rem styled it like that," Vash explained patiently.

Chuck stopped giggling. "Who's Rem?"

"She took care of me after my mother couldn't. I'm still trying to make her proud." It would happen once everyone on this world understood love and peace. "So give me the hair gel." He held out his hand for the bottle.

"No." She tossed the hair gel bottle up onto Chuck's bunk and grabbed the comb on the vanity. "You can wear it spiky tomorrow. Be different tonight." Her orange hair that she normally kept braided was loose tonight.

"I should've warned you about her fix-it urges," Chuck said.

"You just wanted to give her another target. That's fine. I won't hold it against you." Vash held still while Hannah encouraged his hair to flop forward, but combed it out of his eyes. It kind of looked like he had just rolled out of bed, but a little neater. He frowned at the mirror.

Hannah patted his shoulder on the leather strap of the shoulder harness for his Colt. "You look good. Trust me, bro. And you can spike it tomorrow. Where's your jacket?" She spun around, flaring her skirt as she did so, found the black jacket still hanging in the closet, and passed it to him.

That miracle of tailoring slid on easily enough and didn't have any suspicious lumps when he buttoned it over his stomach. He still wasn't sure how, but was grateful he could keep his gun on him and not alarm the passengers. "Everybody ready?" he asked. "Let's go find Meryl and Milly."

Chuck wrapped his tail on the bunk support and lowered himself down that way. Hannah darted to him and pulled his red vest down over the belt on his black dress pants while he put his helmet back on. They trooped out as Vash held the doors open for them.

They found the ballroom on the same deck. The casino room in the heart of the sandsteamer was a larger space, but the ballroom was spacious, with a bar against the wall across from the bandstand stage with a dance floor in between. The span of windows framed the rising moons in the darkening sky. And it looked like all the first-class passengers had beaten them here. Nobody was paying any attention to Chuck's helmet.

Meryl stepped out of the crowd and headed toward them. And if she was pretty in white, she was stunning in the tight reddish-purple gown she wore now. It was strapless and sleeveless, so more tailoring magic that it was staying on her as she moved.

Vash felt like he had taken a blow to the head. "Don't you look different," he blurted when she reached them.

Meryl raised an eyebrow. "You don't clean up half bad yourself."

Vash looked down as he tugged the black suit jacket down and by the time he looked back up again, he saw Meryl's back and backside hugged by that dress until it flared at her thighs for dancing room. And the blow to the head feeling was back.

Chuck snickered. "Skid marks before that crash."

"Don't laugh. Once puberty hits, you'll be that stupid with someone you think is pretty." Hannah whirled to Vash and the skirt of her dress flared under the red sash again. "She dressed up for you! And you went with different?"

Vash leaned back from the shorter girl. "She does look different. Your whole disguise idea."

"Different doesn't mean nice or pretty. Different equals weird, gross, and you're not leaving the garage wearing that young lady. Now go over there, tell her she looks pretty, and ask her to dance!" Hannah pointed in the direction Meryl had gone.

"You can dance, right?" Chuck asked, his doubtful expression not hidden by his helmet.

"Yes, I know how to dance. Why are you two insisting on this?"

"Because you almost melted when you saw her, bro," Chuck said.

"Here comes Milly-ma'am," Hannah said. "I wonder what she'll think of your word choice."

Vash vamoosed. If Hannah was mad over it, Milly would be madder, and Meryl maddest of all. And he had to go back to the same rooms with all of them. They couldn't remain mad about it.

Meryl sipped on a free flute of champagne. It tasted horrid, and she set it on the bar far away from people sitting there. She must not be a champagne aficionado, just like she wasn't seductive at all.

She needed to get a hold of herself. Vash wanted nothing more than friendship. He had said that after this crazy mess started. And she was glad he wanted to help her with the military; never having his bounty claimed must be good for something. She had only ever had Milly willing to be her friend before. More friends were beneficial; everyone said so and everything she read said that.

If only she could forget how tender he could be, like how he held her while she cried. He didn't have to do that. 'My insurance agent' was the stupidest declaration of possession and her heart should not have beaten faster hearing that. If only she could forget how she throbbed in time with the motorcycle engine to kiss him or more. If only she could forget that night in the wastelands. And she needed to, she really needed to, because he only wanted friendship. She had to control that she wanted more.

"I open my mouth and rubbish falls out," Vash said behind her.

Meryl felt her cheeks heat, but she turned around to face him. "I wasn't going to bring that up."

"I'm bringing it up, so it's fine. And what I should have said was you look beautiful." He held out his right hand. "May I have this dance?"

Her heart pounded, but she took his hand. "You may."

That pounding shifted slightly to dread and panic--what kind of dancing did the idiot goofball know, much less what he would do here and now--as they stepped onto the tiled dancing surface. But he guided her into a fast tempo waltz with the same steady assurance her dance instructor had had. She relaxed into the dance and glimpsed a trio of very satisfied faces on the outskirts during one rotation. Really, two of them were too young to play matchmaker like Milly does. She looked up. "You got yelled at, didn't you?"

His nose wrinkled as he looked abashed. "I did, and I deserved it. You look breath-taking and I should have said so instead of feeling weird caught up in an eleven-year-old's fashion advice."

So, Hannah was responsible for Vash's relaxed hair tonight along with the suit choice. Meryl liked how his blond locks fell toward his blue-green eyes. And the suit was only a little looser than his body armor. "You look good, so the eleven-year-old knows what she is talking about."

He smiled softly. "Thanks." His smile morphed into a grin before he spun her with a flourish.

She laughed as she found her steps again in his arms. "Where did you learn to dance?"

"Picked it up over the years. You wouldn't believe how many towns have a shindig that requires nearly everyone in attendance to dance. How about you? Bernardelli insists on agents knowing all the proper dance steps?"

"No, my grandmother insisted on dance lessons to go with my fight training. So I wouldn't forget I was a lady."

"It worked," Vash said sincerely. "You are one classy lady, Meryl Stryfe."

Meryl felt her cheeks heat again and looked at the buttons of his white shirt. One compliment and she was all flustered; well, multiple compliments, she couldn't keep up with them. "Thank you."

"Inepril should have had some dancing. Maybe it did; I can't really remember after the supply of beers the chairman kept giving me."

She looked back up at him. "I think Inepril's children were the only ones not hungover when we left town. But no dance floor like this. I would have liked to dance."

"Me too."

She remembered how she spent most of that time yelling and trying her damnedest to make sure he didn't break anything and that she didn't strangle or shoot him. And he still ditched her and Milly to chase after that plant engineer. "You wouldn't have danced with me in Inepril."

"No, and it would've been my loss, too."

"A loss?" She focused on him again, but there was no teasing on his face.

"Though if you had been in your grumpy, fun-killer mood, I probably would have had to dance with you in self-defense."

"What the hell is dancing in self-defense?"

Vash spun her again and reeled her back. "Show you a good time, so you stop growling at me."

Meryl's breath caught and her hands involuntarily tightened on his arm and on his right hand as the waltz ended. He had called that night in the wastelands a good time, too. He didn't regret having sex with her?

Pink bloomed on Vash's cheeks. His eyes darted away from her face. "Looks like the dining room is open. We better find our table."

The dining room doors were open on the wall with the stage, spilling brighter light into the ballroom and bringing out the red highlights in Meryl's purple dress. They walked into an empty foyer before the cloth-covered tables filled a room as large as the ballroom and paused to look for the rest of their group.

Hannah spotted them and joined them. "Chuck has been threatening to attack the kitchen or yank you two off the dance floor. Milly's been sitting on him at the table."

"And you're tattling?" Vash asked as they followed Hannah's lead through the tables.

"Warning you if he ends up forgetting table manners."

Milly and Chuck were sitting at a table with six chairs, and they both looked eager with comments, but the server joined them as Hannah, Meryl, and Vash sat down. Chuck took off his helmet, and the server didn't react. They ordered their food, and Vash looked over at Hannah and Chuck before they started. "You live in a garage? I thought that was a place to store vehicles."

"It's also a place to get them fixed," Hannah said.

Chuck leaned forward to look around Hannah to Vash at the head of the table. "The Last Chance Garage is Mom's business. We live above it. And Mom is the best wrench jockey in the solar system, which makes her a queen, and that's why she's Princess Fix-it." Chuck pointed to Hannah.

"It's a nickname," Hannah said. "We're not legal royalty."

"Wrench jockey?" Meryl asked.

"Mechanic," Hannah answered.

"Oh, that's why you know your way around an engine block," Vash said.

"Hannah got a double dose of mechanical apt-tude, whatever that is."

Hannah looked at her brother. "Who told you that?!"

"Uncle Vinnie said that was the only good thing you got from MacCyber besides your hair, and Uncle Modo said you got it from Mom, too."

Hannah scowled. "Uncle Vinnie needs to keep his big mouth shut."

Chuck snorted. "Yeah, that's not going to happen."

"We're having a good time. Don't ruin it by bringing up my sperm donor."

Milly frowned. "That's not very nice."

"And he wasn't either."

"Milly's one of those people who is blessed with exemplary parents by the miracle of birth and the training of ten older siblings," Vash said. "Like your Mom and Dad. So don't take out how you feel about him on her, okay?"

Hannah sighed away her scowl. "Fine. Sorry, Milly-ma'am."

"It's okay," Milly said.

The servers brought the food, and they were all too hungry to do much talking while eating. Meryl wondered at that quick anger Hannah displayed. She didn't have any problems talking about her mother or her adoptive father. Not wanting to talk about things was never a good sign. Maybe she'd already brought it up to Vash?

They left the dining room, and a fast-paced Quickstep was just starting. "I haven't danced one of these in years," Meryl said wistfully.

"Come on, then." Vash grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the dance floor again before she could blink. She hadn't expected him to keep dancing with her.

That dance moved too quick for conversation. She kept up with Vash's longer legs, each hop, skip, point, flick, and kicks that music called for in perfect sync with each other.

The dance ended, and Meryl breathed hard. "I need to cool down." And she still wanted to ask Vash about Hannah. She tugged him toward the door to the balcony and he followed along willingly. "You did a good job defusing Hannah at supper."

"Good to know all my defusing techniques practiced on bandits and outlaws will work on a little girl." They stepped out onto the balcony and the night wind whipped over the railing. Meryl grabbed her bare arms in a hug and tried to slide her hands over her skin to build up friction. "I'd loan you my jacket," Vash said, "but it's hiding my gun. Here." He slid his arms over hers, resting his hands on her stomach, and pulled her back against his front as he stepped them back to the hull of the sandsteamer. "Better?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you." The wind was less, and she basked in his body heat, but still managed to get her thoughts in order. "Hannah's biological father; have they said more about him?"

"Without you or Milly around? No. Chuck didn't mention him in Chuck's little rendition of their parents' history. But judging by her reaction, I think she'd rather forget all about him."

"But does she need to talk about it?"

"Maybe. But it won't do to push her; she's stubborn." Meryl nodded. "We better go back in before you turn blue," he continued.

She took his gloved hand again. "Are you wearing your body armor under that suit?"

"No, I get less staring at the left arm if I wear gloves on both hands."

The crowd in the ballroom had thinned out while they had been on the balcony, but the orchestra was still playing a very slow song. Meryl didn't recognize the shuffle the remaining couples were doing. "What dance is this?"

"Dancing lessons didn't cover the basic slow dance? It's easy." His hands settled on her hips as he turned her to face him. "Now your hands on my shoulders."

Meryl copied a nearby couple and put her arms around his neck; a move made comfortable by the heels she wore.

Vash swallowed hard. "Or there, if you like."

"Do you like?" They pressed close together like this and her body hummed from it, but not if it made him uncomfortable.

His grip tightened on her hips, sending sparks through her nerves that remembered that grip. "I like anything you want. Now we just sway and turn."

It was an absurdly simple dance, but felt charged with how close they were. She wanted to tuck her head against his chest and stay in his arms forever. But she also wanted to kiss him. She peered at his face. Vash's teal-green eyes focused on her gray ones. Her heartbeat thudded and drowned out the musicians.

The conductor's voice cut through her heartbeat. "That's the end of our performance, folks. Enjoy the rest of your journey." Everyone around them stopped dancing and applauded the musicians.

Meryl reluctantly released Vash and began clapping with the others. The remaining couples drifted to the doors to the rooms after the applause ended.

Vash presented his right arm for her to take. "I can be classy too."

"I don't recall saying you couldn't be." She took his arm.

"Pretty sure you thought it," he smirked.

They walked in silence back to the suite, a comfortable, safe silence. It made little sense; safe with the legendary Vash the Stampede?

But it had always been true, even when she thought he was just an idiot goofball, caught up with bandits and able to finish a box of donuts in a few seconds. He had come back for her and Milly then, unwilling to let them get hurt or killed, and she had given him a lot of scorn and grief in return. Was that all forgotten now? Should she apologize for it? Or was is better to never mention it again?

Vash opened their suite door and ushered her inside. She stopped before her bedroom door and turned to him. "I enjoyed this evening very much, Vash."

"It turned out fun, didn't it? I'm glad all of you badgered me into it."

He had a genuine smile on his face. Wolfwood had been right about the differences. And she wanted to kiss this real smile or have him kiss her. She stepped toward him, tilted her chin up, and let her eyelids fall shut. Was she doing this right? Did she need to pull him in the rest of the way like she did before to shut him up? Did he not want to?

The attraction at the caravan had been odd; he admitted that. And then he learned she was augmented. Had that made him decide friendship was all that should happen between them now?

Before she cracked her eyes open to see his expression, the bedroom door behind her back opened. Milly yawned loudly. "About time you two got in. The kids are already in bed." Milly's hand patted Meryl's shoulder before tugging Meryl back.

Oh, she must have been doing it wrong and making Vash uncomfortable. Meryl opened her eyes as she stepped back. Milly was always protecting her from social mistakes and she caught Milly's work ones.

Vash's smile widened as his gaze went up to Milly's face. "Did you have a good time, Milly?"

"Oh yes! It was fun, but I think I prefer how we have parties back home. All the food is out, so you can keep going back for more. Now we need to go to bed, so December City doesn't get the drop on us tomorrow. Good night, Vash."

"Good night, you two." He headed into the second bedroom and shut the door quietly.

That could have gone better, Meryl thought bitterly as she stepped into their bedroom. Obviously, he couldn't wait to get away from her needy self, but was too kind to not say so. Or maybe he filed it under being friends to not say so? Had she wrecked things by wanting more? She sighed. "Did I make Vash uncomfortable?"

Milly sat on her bed. "I doubt it. He couldn't stop dancing with you. If he had wanted to, he could have danced with me or Hannah."

"I really didn't give him a chance to."

"Stop worrying about it. If Vash wanted off the dance floor, he would have been gone. Now, get some sleep." Milly scooted under her covers and rolled over to face the window.

Meryl sighed. He just wanted to be friends and hadn't had a chance to dance in a long time, probably. She had to stop looking for romance. He wanted nothing more. She gathered her night clothes and went into the bathroom to change.

Chapter Text

So far, so good getting into and through December City. Multiple sandsteamers were loading and unloading, and those crowds helped hide them when they disembarked. Meryl directed them to quieter side streets so the kids on the motorcycle didn't have to match the speed of the rest of the traffic. Nobody appeared to be hunting them or even paying attention to them, but Vash would feel better once they were all tucked out of sight.

It had been decades since he last went to one of the Inner settlements, who considered themselves all part of the Federation for governance. The Six Cities had developed where the colony ships had crashed, either with minor damage or with multiple support ships close by, so they had had more resources to work with after the Great Fall. December City had put those resources to the comfort of their citizens: paved roads, uniformly piped water and sewage, and the buildings had decorative touches and environmental systems to fight heat and cold.

They reached the five-story apartment building Meryl and Milly lived in by mid-afternoon, so the other working people were off at their jobs when they parked the motorcycle on the street and climbed the stairwell to the third floor. The doorknob dangled from the hole in the metal door Meryl had indicated was the apartment they were looking for.

Vash stepped into the lead and Milly pushed Meryl behind her before tucking her hands under her coat for her stun gun. He approved; his hand held his Colt as he pushed the door open into chaos. A small parlor to the left and a small kitchen to the right were underneath the overturned furniture and spilled books and papers. A short hallway with two closed doors started where the kitchen cabinets ended.

The group crowded in the doorway, nearly against his back. Vash waved at them to stay put as he tiptoed through the debris without stepping on Meryl and Milly's belongings. First door on the left of the hallway opened into the bathroom, which had towels strewn everywhere. The door at the end of the hallway opened into a bedroom. The clothing from the tipped-over pair of wardrobes festooned the two flipped-over single beds.

Vash took his hand off his Colt as he returned to the others. "Clear. Of intruders. It's a mess over here, too."

"This is promising," Hannah said.

"Promising?" Meryl asked, dismay tinging her voice as she looked at the apartment with a hopeless expression.

"They wouldn't have bothered tossing your place if they weren't looking for something, so we're on the right track. If you have tools, I can fix the doorknob. If not, I'll have to go get the set off the bike."

Milly stepped past Vash and went into the kitchen between the sets of cabinets, picked up a couple of plates, and held up a couple of screwdrivers. "Looks like they dumped the toolbox right here." She set the plates inside the open lower cabinet before twisting and finding the metal toolbox on the floor.

"But the lead is no good now," Chuck said. "They found Meryl-ma'am's grandma's papers and still tried to snatch her. So we have to go to the army base now."

Before Vash could disagree with that, Meryl spoke up. "They didn't find Nana's papers. Those papers aren't here."

"Huh?" Chuck's snout wrinkled with his confused frown.

Milly handed the tools she had found to Hannah. "I'll go fetch them. I need to tell Uncle Helmer what's going on and get one of his boys to watch our place while we're gone."

"Be careful," Meryl said. "They might be watching that Planet Bank branch."

"Don't worry," Milly said. Vash started to offer to go with her, but Milly whipped her head toward him, mouthed 'no' silently at him with a frown, and turned back to Meryl with her cheerful demeanor back on her face. "Nobody could find me on the farm when I didn't want to be found." She stepped around Hannah, who was already sitting on the floor to fix the door, and left.

Chuck looked back at Meryl and Vash. "Why does she need to go to the bank now?"

"Milly's father insisted she get a bank box at her uncle's bank for valuables when she moved to December City," Meryl said. "Until Nana gave me her papers, we had nothing valuable to keep in it."

"So the papers are at the bank? Cool, so the army doesn't have them," Chuck grinned.

"Hopefully. You and Vash clean up in here; Hannah's working on the door, and I'll start on the bedroom."

Vash gingerly moved into the kitchen space. "Let us know when you need help with the furniture."

Meryl nodded as she tiptoed her way to the bedroom.

He knelt down and started in the far corner of the kitchen in the bottom of the U next to the stove tucked under the window. Luckily, the invaders hadn't emptied the cupboards with force. They had taken out the skillets, pots, pans, plates, and bowls and set the dishes on the floor. They should wash them before any cooking, but for now, he put them in the closest cabinet so they could walk on the floor.

"I can't put the books back." Chuck pointed at the overturned bookcase with his tail.

Vash peeked over the cabinets. "Make a pile of them over by Hannah until I can pick the bookcase up." Chuck nodded and began gathering. It didn't take long to clear the floor and put the furniture back into usable positions. Besides the bookcase, the parlor had a long sofa and a round six-seater table with all the chairs. Hannah fixed the doorknob and then helped Chuck load the shelves he couldn't reach.

Meryl opened the bedroom door. "I can't move the wardrobes."

"No sweat." Vash had the first one plucked off the floor before Meryl could offer to grab a side.

"Put it there." She pointed to a clean space on the wall with the door. He set it down gently. "Okay, how?" she asked.

"I'm stronger than I look. Your furniture isn't hard." He picked up the second wardrobe.

"Put that on the other side of the door."

He followed her directions. The beds were even easier: one beside and under a window and the second one in the corner beyond the window opposite the door. "We haven't gotten to the bathroom yet," he told Meryl as they left the bedroom.

She ducked inside it. "At least they didn't destroy everything left here as they searched."

Her tone of voice worried him a little. "Are you trying to convince yourself of that?"

"No, just observing."

Vash was unsure that was all it was, but he didn't argue with her and moved back to the main room.

Milly returned shortly after Meryl finished straightening the bathroom and she triumphantly pulled envelopes out from under her coat. "Uncle Helmer was very annoyed to hear about our troubles and promised to find out what's going on at Bernardelli. He also said he could get us jobs at the bank once we got the bounty off of you."

Vash reached over and took the envelopes so Milly could remove her coat. Meryl looked up from arranging the shelved books. "That was nice of him," she said.

Vash fanned the four large envelopes onto the table rather than look at either of the former Insurance girls' faces. He couldn't offer them a steady job. Hell, he couldn't even offer them a house that bandits and bounty hunters wouldn't attack. Humans always wanted to settle down and he couldn't, no matter how much he wanted that too. Unless he stayed on board the flying ship and that wouldn't work. If he stayed, eventually Knives would find them. If Vash could ignore the surface long enough to stay. And he felt guilty enough taking their resources in the hope of stopping Knives' genocidal plans, bringing more people to live there and be a drain? No, he couldn't do that. "So, where do we start?" he asked, projecting cheerful support that he wasn't really feeling.

Meryl joined him at the table and picked up the thickest of the envelopes. "This is what Nana gave me."

"Mine have my name on them," Milly said. Vash picked those two up and held them out. She took them and headed back to the bedroom.

"And that one is mine, too," Meryl pointed to the last envelope. "Paperwork I haven't needed since I started working with Bernardelli."

Chuck and Hannah got the seats at the table closest to the wall. "Would a clue be in there?" Chuck asked curiously.

"Maybe," Hannah answered. "Clues can hide anywhere."

Milly claimed her seat at the table and took Meryl's second envelope. "I'll search this one."

Meryl opened the one from her grandmother. Multiple small notebooks slid out onto the table along with a bound ledger; a collection of eight smaller, puffy envelopes; and one thick file collected in a pronged metal folder. Chuck reached and grabbed the ledger. Hannah slid the smaller envelopes in front of her seat on the other side of Chuck, and both Vash and Meryl each reached for one of the smaller notebooks.

Vash sat with his back to the kitchen between Milly and Chuck and opened the cover of his notebook: neat cursive writing filled the first page and the same hand had numbered the page one and circled it in the top right corner. The first paragraph described a small town full of active people under the light of the moons. The second described the same place as crumbling and filling with sand.

"I thought I threw these away," Meryl said softly across the table from Vash. "Nana kept them."

"Kept what?" Chuck asked.

"Stories I wrote when I was a child."

"You wrote this?" Vash lifted the notebook in his hands.

Meryl's face reddened. "Give it here! It can't be any good; I was a child!"

Vash lifted the notebook over Chuck's head as Meryl lunged around Milly to get to him. "You're being too hard on yourself. You have an evocative turn of phrase here. Bet you could improve this now that you've actually seen some towns in the Outer." He turned the page over with his fingers and skimmed quickly as he held Meryl back with his right forearm. "Oh, it's haunted! Now it makes sense."

"Bro, don't tease someone's creativity," Hannah said sternly.

"I'm not." He brought the notebook down and let go when Meryl snatched it out of his hands. "I wanted to see how you ended it." Meryl scooped all the small notebooks off the table and marched them to the bedroom. "I'm not teasing," Vash called after her. "I've read worse."

"So not a clue?" Chuck asked.

"Probably not. What have you got?" He leaned over to look at the ledger.

"Looks like a list of grades. You were a great student, Meryl-ma'am. But where are the grades for the other students?"

Meryl sat in her seat. "I didn't go to school. Nana hired tutors to teach me at home."

"Like the schooling Hannah and me are doing now."

"That's right."

Milly frowned hard at the papers she had spread in front of her. "This is weird. You never noticed it, Meryl?"

"Noticed what?"

"Your parents' December City ID cards are sequential with yours."

"I haven't even looked at their ID cards." Meryl left the table again, going to the pile of luggage they had left by the sofa.

"December City issues IDs now?" Vash asked.

Milly nodded. "For about fifty years now. To keep an accurate count of the population. So if Meryl's parents fell in the first batch to get them, it is possible they ended up with sequential numbers with each other."

Meryl returned, pulling something out of a small wallet, and leaned over Milly to pick up the small cards on the table.

"But the probability against that is close to astronomical," Vash said.

"And Meryl was born in 105, so there is no way she should be in the sequence."

"But I am." Meryl laid out each ID card as she rattled off the numbers. "387628, 387629, and mine is 387630. How did this happen?"

"Fake IDs, all made at the same time," Hannah said.

"Saw that on a show, too?" Vash asked. Hannah nodded.

"But why?" Meryl demanded. "What happened to my parents' original IDs?"

Hannah held up one of the padded envelopes she had. "So all these padded envelopes are labeled with 'MS-0105' and then have numbers under that. This one has fourteen, fourteen, zero, one, zero, and five."

Vash craned his neck to see, and she turned the envelope so he could. "It's dated the fourteenth day of the fourteenth month, Witherary, in the year 105 after the Great Fall."

"Witherary?" Chuck wrinkled his snout again.

"Yeah, someone really depressed got put in charge of the official calendar. The thirteenth month is Seedsember after Project SEEDS. Hope whoever it was got some help for their episode, but nobody changed the names."

"So someone put dates on these." Hannah carefully unsealed the envelope flap, pulled out a small box, and opened it. Inside, someone had placed strips of translucent glass in slots to keep them upright and separate from each other. They wrapped the end that obviously meant to be handled in colored plastic, and each strip had a different color. And the center of each strip had something pressed down on it. Hannah blinked. "Got a microscope? Because these are microscope slides."

Vash stretched to pluck one from the box with his long fingers. Chuck leaned back and Hannah shifted the box. He lifted it to the light and squinted at it. "Maybe a skin sample? It's hard to tell without magnification."

"We never had one," Milly said. "Should we go buy one?"

"None of us are medics or biologists to know what we are looking at," Meryl said.

Chuck looked at his sister. "What do you know?"

"Very basic biology and no experiments. That's too close to doing science on people."

Vash repacked the slide and closed the box. He slid the box back to Hannah. "All those envelopes have the same boxes?"

Hannah pressed down on them. "Same size and shape."

"The dates start on Seedsember twentieth in 105 and end on January second in 106. Samples taken once a week for eight weeks," Vash said.

"But why?" Meryl asked.

"That's why it's a mystery," Chuck said. "We don't know."

Meryl sat down in her seat and looked at the thick folder in the metal cover. "Saving this for me?"

"It was from your grandmother," Vash said.

She slid it to her and stood it up so no one at the table could see the contents as she opened it. Her eyes focused on something inside, and blood drained from her face. She slammed the folder shut on the table and bolted. Milly and Vash both jumped out of their chairs. Light from the bathroom spilled into the hallway and the main room, and they all heard retching.

"Meryl!" Milly hurried after her.

Vash turned to the folder, but Hannah was already flipping it open. The inside of the cover had an instant portrait attached depicting a brick-walled room with medical equipment, including an examination table and the bottom of a small plant bulb visible in the upper left corner of the instant portrait. No place he had ever seen.

Hannah read the cover page out loud. "Military secret one hundred zero five. Well, we found the military secret."

"But why did that make Meryl-ma'am sick?" Chuck demanded.

Meryl and Milly walked back into the main room. Milly hustled into the kitchen and filled a kettle with water at the sink. Meryl hugged herself. "Because that is an instant portrait of my nightmares."

"Nightmares so bad, they make you throw up?" Chuck exclaimed.

"That's a more recent side effect of them."

"How long have you had these nightmares?" Vash asked.

Meryl's expression looked wrecked. "For as long as I can remember."

"Sit down and I'm going to make you some tea," Milly ordered.

Meryl more collapsed onto the sofa than sitting. Vash frowned at how she was shattering. He didn't want to tell her what he thought, but she needed to know. "For it to be affecting you this strongly, it is more likely based on a memory."

She didn't focus on anything in the apartment. "That occurred to me, seeing that someone took an instant portrait of the location. It has to be an actual place." She squeezed herself tighter.

Vash closed the folder and then stuck it on top of the bookcase.

Hannah looked confused. "But?"

Vash shook his head. "Meryl needs a break, you two need to work on lessons, and I'm going to cook supper."

The kettle whistled. Milly got the tea tin out of the food supplies and fixed Meryl's cup before moving out of the way so Vash could use the kitchen. She got Meryl to take the delicate cup.

Hannah gathered stuff on the table into the larger envelopes and handed those to Milly before she and Chuck used the table for their lessons. The suns had set while they had been looking at evidence. Vash threw together a simple soup. Meryl didn't need anything heavy taxing her system right now. She ate most of her portion; he was glad to see. Milly turned the satellite receiver on low, and Chuck passed out on Vash while they listened to a skit show. Vash picked him up. "Sleeping arrangements?"

Meryl stirred and focused on what was going on in the apartment. "Chuck and Hannah can have my bed, if you don't mind sharing." She turned to Hannah.

"I've learned to shove back in my sleep." Hannah put aside the canister and elastic rope she was tinkering with. "But where will you sleep?"

"I doubt I'll sleep much tonight." Meryl looked up at Vash. "It's the bed with its headboard against the window."

Vash didn't like the sound of that and judging Milly's expression, she didn't like it either. But he said nothing as he carried Chuck to the bedroom. He lay Chuck down, took off the mouse boy's shoes, and tucked him under the blue quilt.

He returned to the main room and Milly had the thick folder down from the bookcase. She folded it open, so the front pressed against the back. "Maybe it'll go better this time if you don't look at the instant portrait."

"I'd rather not be sick again, so hide it." Meryl took the self-contained papers without getting off the sofa. Milly sat down on her right.

Hannah sat cross-legged on the rug and faced the sofa, peering up at the instant portrait. "I think it's just tacked down on the corners. If you'd rather take it out."

Vash sat next to her on the floor and leaned his back against the sofa. "How about we see what this military secret is before you disappear the evidence?"

"I wouldn't do it without permission."

Meryl began reading. "Military secret one hundred zero five. Start date October first, 105. No end date."

"Did they number the secret for the year or is it just a coincidence the military had one hundred and four secrets already?" Milly tilted her head.

Meryl flipped the page over. "Not pertinent. The military can have as many secrets as they want as long as they aren't arresting me for them." She read from the next page. "Mission perimeters: A) to discover if the hybrids caused the July City Incident of 104 (see Known Hybrids file). B) to create a hybrid--"

"Create a hybrid what?" Hannah interrupted.

"We'd have to see the other file to know exactly," Milly answered.

"Maybe it's a military term for augmented," Vash said.

"Provided if perimeter B is met, C) ensure that the created hybrid is loyal to the human population of Gunsmoke, and D) harness the hybrid power against hostile agitators."

Vash glanced at Hannah. "Does your Earth have Frankenstein?"

"Yeah, we watched the movie on a family movie night and the librarian helped me find an abridged version of the novel after I had too many questions about what species Fred was." She looked up at Meryl and Milly's confused faces. "You don't know it?"

Meryl and Milly shook their heads in unison.

"Frankenstein is a scientist, who decides he is going to make a person and bring them to life by sewing together body parts and applying electricity. And it works. But then Frankenstein treats the creature horrible and the creature eventually gets in a revenge pact with him and nearly everybody dies."

"And the lesson you are supposed to get from Frankenstein is not to meddle with the natural order of things," Vash said.

"Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should," Hannah said. "Also see Jurassic Park."

"Jurassic Park?" Milly asked.

"It's a movie," Hannah explained.

"Okay," Vash said. "Another lesson is to not be a ba--a wrenchhead to your offspring no matter how they came into your life."

Hannah frowned thoughtfully, but Meryl nudged Vash with her knee. "What does this have to do with anything?" she asked.

"That mission statement sounds like someone who needs to read Frankenstein wrote it."

Meryl shook her head and flipped the page. "A list of everything the military gave this project." She flipped another page. "Now the dated entries for what they did in the experiment. November ninth: they introduced a human embryo into the IDB's environment."

"IDB?" Vash mused. "That's familiar, but I can't remember."

Hannah snorted. "I guess they didn't bother with a glossary."

"Be sure to remember those initials if we find one in all these papers. November tenth: the embryo failed to thrive. November twenty-eighth: the next attempt was introducing human gametes, male and female, to the IDB's environment."

Vash slapped his hand over his mouth to control his laughter.

"Were those listed on the military assets page, or did the scientists running this project volunteer?" Milly asked with a lurking giggle in her voice.

Meryl frowned and flipped the page. "I'm not sure we need to know that at this point. Seedsember second, the IDB is displaying the same distressed fluctuations that were observed with Hybrid One's gestational period (see Known Hybrids file). Conclusion is that the IDB is gravid."

"Congratulations, they got something pregnant," Hannah said. "Margo taught me all the other words for being pregnant when Mom was with Chuck. So I could translate for Dad and the uncles, and I had to."

Meryl flipped a page. "The two hundred eighty days human gestational period only takes twelve days for the IDB."

"I would have so many more brothers and sisters if Mom could have finished in twelve days," Milly said.

Hannah blinked. "That's one way to conquer a planet."

Vash felt Meryl go still and looked up at her. She had gone as pale as she had before she vomited. "Breathe," he said. "Breathing is very good. In through your nose, out through your mouth." She followed his instructions but didn't look up from the page.

Milly leaned over to read it. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"They removed Hybrid Four from the IDB environment on Seedsember fourteenth, star date 105. That's my birthday." Meryl's voice shook.

Hannah's green eyes widened. "Oh, oh!"

"It could just be a coincidence," Milly said.

"How likely is that? My birthday? It makes sense for my parents to have fake IDs if I never had parents! An instant portrait of a place I have always had nightmares of? Nightmares of being unable to move and some medical thing is coming closer to hurt me. I'm the military secret. I'm a made thing to go against hostile agitators!"

Vash pivoted on the floor to better see Meryl. Milly took the folder from Meryl's too-tight grip, closed it, and set it behind her bigger body. Meryl closed her fists on the loose denim jeans covering her thighs. Vash reached up and covered her shoulder with his right hand. Meryl trembled under his fingers.

"You are a person." Vash glanced over at Hannah, who looked like she had aged a decade in a few seconds. "You are a person," she repeated. "Never a thing. Doesn't matter how you got here."

Meryl took a breath that made her whole body shudder. But her shoulder didn't buck off his hand, so Vash didn't let go of her. "Hannah, it's a little more complicated than that," Meryl finally said.

Hannah rolled her whole head back when she rolled her eyes, erasing her sudden maturity just as quickly. "Of all the things to be multi-universal." She straightened as she stared at Meryl. "You think I don't know what I'm talking about because I'm just a kid. But I do know what I'm talking about because I'm made too. I'm Karbunkle's second longest lasting creation. Maybe that wacko should stick with biology; his tech never survives multiple uses."

Meryl's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion that Vash felt too. He glanced at Milly's face. Yes, total bafflement there too. He felt better about asking, "What does the mad scientist have to do with your mother and biological father's relationship?"

"What relationship?" She took a deep breath. "Right, I need to explain. MacCyber, my sperm donor, decided he was going to get back together with his high school sweetheart, also known as my mother. Only she wasn't cutting the Biker Mice out of her life and she turned him down. Instead of making a dating profile online like someone sane, he got Karbunkle to give Mom amnesia. And then he told her they had been married since her father died. To make the alternate history really stick, Karbunkle took gametes from both of them and grew them a four-year-old super fast. Me. Mom has only given birth to Chuck. He doesn't know all the details because MacCyber died when he was a baby."

"What happened?" Meryl asked, still looking confused. "I mean, Chuck's father is your dad?"

Hannah snorted. "Even without her memories, Mom knew MacCyber wasn't what she wanted in a husband and left him, bringing me with her. He got back at her by taking me and throwing me into the river. My first kidnapping."

"What's a river?" Milly asked.

"Like the flash flood, but the water is always in it," Vash answered.

"And not so much fun if you can't swim yet," Hannah added.

"That's why you avoided the edge of the flash flood," Vash said.

Hannah nodded. "I've had therapy and swimming lessons, but still not a fan of open bodies of water. Dad was Uncle Throttle then. He jumped in and pulled me out."

Milly looked like she was going to cry. "Your father threw you in to drown you?"

"I warned you he wasn't nice, Milly-ma'am. The second time MacCyber kidnapped me--"

"Second time?" Meryl's eyes widened. "Four adults and they can't keep you from getting kidnapped multiple times?"

"To be fair, that one was more on me. I didn't know it was MacCyber and wanted to rescue Uncle Throttle, so I went willingly into the trap. But that's when he called me a 'made thing' and 'not his daughter.' Mom told me I was a person and then Uncle Throttle wanted to be my daddy, so I didn't think too much about it after that. So it was years later when Karbunkle spilled the beans on how I came to be. His revenge on me breaking his crappy invention of the week and gloating about it." Her green eyes glittered in her pinched face. "Puzzle pieces finally fitted together. But I'm glad he didn't blurt it out in front of Chuck. Mom and Dad weren't ready to give him the sex talk yet. Sandblasted, I'm going to have to do that now."

Vash didn't like the way Hannah was hunching down. "Your parents confirmed everything Karbunkle told you?"

That question made her slump more, and she stared at the ground. "Sorta."

"Sort of?"

"I don't like talking about my dead sperm donor with them! My uncles just get mad at what he did to Mom and Dad and me, but Mom and Dad blame themselves for not protecting me and Mom better. It's all stupid, but I dropped hints and Mom decided I need the sex talk because Limburger's goons had been inappropriate. I hacked Karbunkle's computer files for full confirmation. Saw my growth video. That answered why there were no baby pictures of me around."

"Pictures?" Meryl asked.

"What you've been calling an instant portrait." Hannah looked up again and tears pooled in her eyes. "Mom and Dad don't know I know and won't ever know now unless the demented doctor tells them he told me. But I am a person." The tears spilled out. "That dead wrenchhead will never be right! I am a person and you are too!"

"Yes, you both are." Vash patted Meryl's shoulder before letting her go. Hannah's outburst had broken through her shock and got her thinking again. He focused on Hannah. "Are we okay to hug now? Because I really think you need a hug."

Hannah inhaled a gasp and launched herself at his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her as she squeezed his ribs. "You are so brave, Little Sis. Let no one tell you that you are not, because it's not true."

"Her parents won't ever know?" Milly frowned down at them.

Vash winced. He thought he had told the not-Insurance Girls, but he guessed he hadn't. "They probably can't recreate the experiment that brought Hannah and Chuck here."

"Don't tell Chuck," Hannah said, muffled against his chest. "He's happy on this adventure."

"We'll wait until he asks about it," Vash said. "And I'll help you with Chuck's sex talk." That made Hannah chuckle, but he meant it.

Meryl slid off the sofa and knelt in front of Vash. "You are brave, Hannah. Thank you for telling us. I needed to hear it. We are people, not things." She sounded more sure of herself.

Hannah let go of Vash with one arm and slung it around the woman.

Vash wrapped his arms around them both. "We are all the sum of our experiences and that makes us people. Okay?" He felt them nod and he let them go. There was sniffling and drying off of faces. Hannah muttered under her breath about she shouldn't waste time crying.

Milly put the folder on the table after she stood up. "I think we should stop for the night and get some sleep." She held her hand out and Meryl grabbed it to pull up.

Hannah scrambled up and looked at the folder. Vash shook his head. "Leave it alone," he said.

She turned her red-rimmed eyes at him and blinked them innocently at him. "More eyes going over the evidence will find clues."

"Maybe so, but not without Meryl's permission and not after all the emotional turmoil. Milly's right, we all need sleep."

She pouted at him, but her yawn ruined it. He raised his eyebrow. "Fine, you win," she muttered. She followed Milly and Meryl into their bedroom.

The Not-Insurance Girls would chide Hannah to bed without his help. He shrugged off his red duster and hung it on the coat rack with Milly's coat and Meryl's cape. He then gathered his sleeping sweats and went into the bathroom to change.

Chapter Text

Meryl changed into her yellow nightshirt, mainly so Milly would quit giving her concerned looks. Hannah changed into pajamas before getting into the bed with her brother. Meryl slipped out the bedroom door.

Vash had vanished from the parlor. She inhaled and then saw the shut bathroom door. His coat was hanging on the coat rack. Seeing that eased her almost panic. He could have changed out of that body armor and gotten comfortable at any time since they arrived here, but no one had reminded him.

Shaking her head, she moved a small reading lamp to the table and sat down, opening the folder to where she left off without looking at the contents as she turned a bunch of pages over. She avoided the instant portrait again and ended up only a few entries off. She found the birth entry again and then pulled her birth certificate from the envelope of her paperwork. The length and weight measurements matched along with her birth date. It was true as much as she didn't want it to be.

Vash left the bathroom wearing his baggy, long-sleeved T-shirt and sweatpants and dropped his bag against the wall next to the children's backpacks and the bedrolls. He saw her, flushed slightly, and glanced around the whole room. "How are we doing sleeping arrangements?"

"Take the sofa. You fit on it."

"That's not a problem but--"

"I'm not sleeping tonight," she said sharply.

Vash tossed his hands up in surrender. He took one bedroll, turned off the reading lamp next to the sofa, and settled on it. He put his back to her and the small lamp on the table and pulled the bedroll over him.

That settled, she focused on the paperwork in front of her. She could do this without falling apart. She was one of Bernardelli's top investigators and risk managers; discovering the truth of things is what she did. There was no list of military officers who had approved this experiment, nor a list of names who did the actual work. And no glossary.

But Nana, Janet Curran, had to be connected to the experiment in order to move to December City in 106 with her "granddaughter." Meryl huffed and skimmed through the remaining entries.

Details of the samples taken from Hybrid Four and the results from the tests ran on the samples; the dates matched the ones on the envelopes. Included growth charts must be exaggerated. She had met enough of Milly's nieces and nephews to know children didn't grow that fast. Unless that is a characteristic of these Hybrids.

She should have gotten a notebook to write questions and details. Now she didn't want to move and wake anyone up.

The entry dated Witherary fourteenth star date 105 claimed Hybrid Four displayed the traits of a one-year-old human and showed no evidence of any powers. She was only a month old; that wasn't possible! Was faster growth something else they had tweaked in this experiment? And when had it worn off to leave her so short? And nothing in this folder described what power they expected to see displayed by a baby or a toddler.

Meryl growled under her breath at the lack of answers. She continued turning pages. Three weeks of more samples tested, more pushing for Hybrid Four to do something that never happened, and the last entry in the folder said the military representative was coming to conduct their own tests. And that was it.

That was it! No note from Nana explaining why she did what she had done and what she knew. She had still had her mental facilities when she put this package together for Meryl. She could have written a confession. Or at least the location of the laboratory of Meryl's nightmares.

Meryl flipped through the beginning pages again. She was right; no location was written anywhere. She growled again. Leaving out this information was unacceptable! Where could she go to find out what the hell she even was?

Vash rolled out of the sofa and onto his feet. "I know what that sound means." Before Meryl could feel guilty about waking him up because Milly had slept through louder outbursts from her, he was at the table and switching off the lamp. "And as adorable as it is, none of us really needs you yelling at us."

Wait, adorable? Why was he calling her adorable? What did he mean by that? She couldn't articulate her questions, and while she was speechless, Vash scooped her out of the chair.

He laid her on her right side facing the sofa back, lay his long body behind her back, settled the bedroll blanket over them both, and draped his left arm over it and her waist. "So sex?" he asked.

That broke through the numbness that had frozen her tongue. "Excuse you!" She whispered furiously, not wanting to wake anyone in the bedroom, but he had to know that was not how to ask her for it.

He sighed hard enough to ruffle the hair on top of her head. "I don't know what to do," he said in a low, contrite voice she had never heard from him before. "I want to help you, and I don't know what to do. You are exhausted and getting sick over this and you know you need to rest to figure out what is frustrating you, but you're stuck in the getting frustrated part. You must know you need to rest. So if sex will help you forget enough to relax and sleep, I'm offering. Badly, obviously. I didn't think I could do it worse than the last time. But I'm willing to help you. If you'd rather drink it away, I will get dressed and go find some open saloon in this city to buy you a bottle of whiskey."

That made her heart plummet, and she grabbed his gloved left hand to stop him from leaving. "Don't go! They'll catch you or something bad will happen--" She clamped her mouth shut to keep the spike of fear inside her. But she couldn't loosen her fingers.

"Then I won't go," he said gently. "But you know just how hard I am to catch."

She took a ragged breath, trying to regain control of her free-wheeling emotions. "You must think I'm a stupid, emotional woman." She was too exhausted to polish off the bitterness of always being judged lacking.

"Never stupid," he said firmly. "I have lost count of the stupid I have dealt with, and you and Milly have never been in that category. And emotions are just psychological states and are fine as long as you don't hurt anyone with them. You'd have to exert a lot more force on that hand in order to hurt it."

She looked at her hand wrapped around his left hand, his replacement hand. "You're still wearing your glove?"

He chuckled. "That's not psychological. I don't have a hate for it. Got it attached to the stump too fast for that. Hair gets caught in the knuckle joints. Hopefully, the next upgrade fixes that and I'll be able to keep the gloves off occasionally."

"I'm not trying to hurt your hand." She shifted her fingers and pressed his hand onto her stomach. "How much can you feel with this?"

"A lot compared to some models available. My right is more sensitive." He didn't move it against her stomach. "Do you want the whiskey?"

The thought of losing control in the middle of all this uncertainty was a twang of wrong notes on her nerves. "Don't go. You don't have to go find whiskey."

"I want to help, Meryl. I'm sorry I don't know how."

"Jumping to sex rather sounds like you want to help yourself."

"Not without your consent. And giving you a good time is not the worst thing to do on this planet."

She snorted. "You propose it when we never have a bed available."

"Huh. So I do. Sorry about that. Though the sofa is better than sand."

He was serious about the offer, but there was another problem with the timing. "Just how soon did you want to have the sex talk with Chuck?"

"Not this soon," he said fervently.

She snorted again. "Not tonight, but thank you. I... I thought you weren't interested after you found out I'm augmented--damn, that was another lie about me."

"Not interested?" He sounded stunned. "I am the last person on Gunsmoke to take offense over the not-homo-sapience of a partner. I thought maybe it bothered you, me coming from a bulb."

"That's not a story you just told the children, is it? Nana told me about the angels in the bulbs, but one of my tutors told me it was just a superstition to explain barely remembered lost technology."

"Everything keeping them alive and producing what we need is lost technology. It's a shame people are forgetting the living beings inside. But it's not a fairy tale; it's true. And Rem and the rest of the crew had no reason to lie about where I came from."

Meryl scooted back, erasing the inch or more he had left between them, and leaned against his chest. Vash stilled behind her. "I wish I had asked Nana more about it instead of just believing my tutor. But what you are doesn't bother me. Are you breathing?"

He exhaled so hard it ruffled her hair again. "Hannah's curious too. I'll introduce you both next town we're in that needs help with theirs. If you're still with us."

"Why wouldn't I be with you?"

"You have options," he said. She had to be imagining a trace of bitterness in his voice. He never sounded bitter. "Milly's uncle wants to give you a job."

"If I get rid of the bounty on my head. How likely is that? You've never gotten rid of yours."

"I tried, but it didn't stick. But you haven't destroyed an entire city. They'll probably make a deal."

"Will they?" She tried to ignore the fear pressing down on her. "They came here. Our home was serene and safe from the insanity of work and they destroyed that."

His arm tightened around her waist. "Oh, of course. That's why I don't claim a home. So no one will destroy the serenity my friends have there."

"So, I have to roam around Gunsmoke to make sure we're all safe?" The dismay added to her weariness. She was too exhausted to consider a lifetime of living like Vash, who appeared to enjoy it but also scooped them all up because he was all alone.

"I'm not sure what you are objecting to so strongly you won't sleep. Do you think they'll come back here and take you?"

Actually hearing it out loud instead of echoing in her head spiked her fear again. "Logically, I know they won't, but it feels risky, dangerous. I'm not making much sense."

"You don't have to make sense; it's emotions. But I think you're forgetting a few things. Your arsenal is hanging right next to this sofa. Milly's armed just a few feels away. I'm armed and I'm right here. We are not letting the Cavalry take you without a firefight the likes they have not put in their battle plans. And that's only if the battle motorcycle outside doesn't yank all the soldiers out for waking up her kids."

Meryl chuckled at that image. The motorcycle probably would drive up the stairs. Her fear spikes leveled out, and she yawned.

"You are as safe as I can make you right now, and I promise to keep you safe every step of the way to figure this out and end it. Do you believe that?"

His warmth against her back relaxed her shoulders. She laced her fingers with his leather-covered metal ones. "Yes, I believe you, my gunslinger." She closed her eyes and felt him squeezed her hand before she drifted away.

Vash woke up as the suns streamed into the apartment's parlor and kitchen windows. Meryl was still asleep in his arms, her pert behind against his erection. That he couldn't argue away as sincere flattery without getting slapped. He eased off the sofa and tucked the bedroll around Meryl again. He'd take his shower and get dressed before the others woke up.

The warm water sleeted over his skin as he took his cock in his right hand. He remembered Meryl's sleepy voice saying 'my gunslinger.' One, he liked gunslinger better than outlaw. Two, Meryl could call him her anything. Or everything.

He wanted to run his hands over her bare legs. They had been soft with the brief touch he had had last night when putting her on the sofa. If only she had wanted sex, if she had rolled over, pressed her breasts into his chest as she kissed him.

He would have returned that kiss while rolling onto his back, bringing her with him. He'd part the tiny buttons of that sleep shirt, see and touch her breasts as she rode him again. Memory and imagination combined as he pumped his cock. Her head falls back as she moans and this time he'd kiss all the way down her throat until he could nuzzle her breasts. Would sucking on them make her keen again, or did that only happen when she came?

His body tightened, and he came hard to his fantasy. He braced himself against the wall of the tub and open his eyes, looking for how much mess he needed to clean and seeing his collection of scars.

His pleasure evaporated. Meryl had accepted his metal arm, but she would run from the rest of his body. There was no way she'd find pleasure in how he looked. No one had and no one would.

He cleaned up and got dressed. Nobody else had woken up yet. He checked their food stores. They needed to stock up on camping supplies before leaving December City for their next destination, but since they were in a large population, they should let someone else do the cooking instead of stocking groceries at this apartment. He listened for the other dwellers of this building going in and out, and it sounded safe enough.

Meryl bolted upright while he buttoned up his coat. She spun around in the blanket to face him, looking confused and still sleepy as she knelt on the sofa.

"Morning," Vash smiled at her. "Nobody else is up yet. I was going to find breakfast."

"Good morning." She hadn't wanted him to leave last night, but it didn't appear to be a problem now. "There's a bakery at the east end of the block. Leave some donuts for the regulars."

"Will do." He smiled and turned to the door.

"Vash." He turned to her again. Her cheeks reddened and she couldn't look up at him. "Thank you, for making me sleep last night. You were right; I needed it."

"Anytime." He got out of there before he gave into the overwhelming urge to kiss her completely awake. She knew what he wanted, that he was still interested. But he needed to wait until she was ready. He found the bakery, and it didn't take him long to make breakfast choices for everyone out of the options ready to go, and the second box of a dozen donuts was for everyone to share.

Hannah opened the apartment door when he knocked. "Meryl and Milly-ma'am are getting dressed and seeing what they want to pack with them now. I was about to explain to Chuck what we found out after he went to sleep."

Vash set the bag on the kitchen counter. "I thought you wanted to wait? He's only five."

"I got this, bro." She turned to the table. Chuck sat there, drumming his fingers on the cover of the closed file. Vash wondered which of their parents he was copying. "There are a lot of technical terms in the file that you don't know yet," Hannah began.

"And you're going to tell me what they are." Chuck scowled.

"No, I'm going to sum up what we figured out. Basically, Gunsmoke's military got the idea of making a super soldier."

Chuck's scowl dropped away as his green eyes widened. "Like Steve and Bucky?"

"Not exactly. I guess since Gunsmoke didn't have a war with Nazis going on, they decided to start with making a baby instead of changing a grown-up. And they called them 'Hybrids' in the file, not super-soldiers."

Chuck's face scrunched up. "Karbunkle calls me a hybrid."

"For once, he's not insulting you. You are a mouse and human hybrid. Nobody knew Martian mice and humans could have babies before you."

"Okay. So Gunsmoke has Martian mice?"

Hannah shook her head. "Just you, little bro. They were mixing human with something they named with the initials IDB and they got Meryl-ma'am."

"Meryl-ma'am is a super-soldier?" Chuck's eyes widened again.

"That's what the file points to," Hannah said. "It also looks like the lady who raised her as her grandmother didn't like the experiment and took Meryl-ma'am away when she was a baby."

"Mamajammin'. So what powers did Meryl-ma'am get?"

Vash spoke up. "It doesn't look like she did. That might be why her Nana took her away, because they were planning to hurt her to make powers appear. Now come get your breakfast."

Both kids got up from the table, made their selections of the savory sandwich options, and brought them back to the table. Vash set his box of donuts on the table and returned to start the coffee on the stove.

"Are we sure about the powers?" Chuck asked. "Steve got big. Maybe Meryl-ma'am got small?"

"Who is this Steve?" Vash asked as he pulled out four coffee mugs. He didn't remember them mentioning a Steve before.

"Steve Rogers, Captain America!" Chuck exclaimed before taking a huge bite of his breakfast sandwich.

"A fictional character from our Earth whose origin story is really close to Meryl-ma'am's." Hannah answered.

Chuck spoke around his full mouth. "Meryl-ma'am needs a shield!"

"She needs that; why?" Vash poured his mug of coffee. He doesn't even know if there was a way to make an energy shield person-sized. And if their motorcycle had a small one, they hadn't mentioned that feature either. Chuck dug his notebook and a pencil out of his bag without answering.

Hannah came around the counters for a mug of coffee herself. "Captain America fights with a shield." She turned back to Chuck, now sitting at the table. "Vibranium is a made-up metal, so don't count on making one that repels bullets or comes back like a boomerang."

"I know, I know." He bent over the notebook and began drawing.

Vash followed Hannah back to the table but left his coffee mug next to his box of donuts. Meryl and Milly hadn't emerged yet, so he headed down the hallway and knocked on the bedroom door. "Breakfast is here. Oh, and Hannah caught Chuck up."

Meryl opened the door. "She did what?"

"She explained the experiment using a story from Earth. It made sense to Chuck. Hungry?"

Milly opened the door wider and moved past Meryl wearing her typical brown pants, white shirt, and suspenders. "Oh, I'm starving."

"On the counter," Vash said after her as Milly continued toward the main room. He looked back at Meryl, who had a smirk on her face. "What?" he asked.

"You can take your coat off and stay a while." Her smirk shifted to a smile.

He glanced down at his red coat. "I'm used to wearing it constantly. And you're still in disguise."

She looked down at her blue shirt and the jeans Hannah had gotten for her. "They fit best. What did you get for breakfast?" He let her go first into the main room. "Two boxes of donuts?"

"That box is for everyone. The breakfast sandwiches you like are behind it. I remembered you don't enjoy starting the day with that much sugar." Head held high, he sat down at the table and opened his box of donuts. Milly and Meryl followed him with their breakfast sandwiches, mugs of coffee, and the second box of donuts.

Hannah wiped her mouth with a napkin. "So, what do we do now? Follow up at the care facility?"

"Follow up?" Meryl asked.

"Try to find out who killed your adopted grandmother."

Vash swallowed a donut before speaking. "I don't think we're equipped to do that. Unless you've got some investigation skills from insurance cases?" He looked at the Not-Insurance Girls.

Meryl shook her head. "Not for a murder investigation. I would like to fill in the holes in that file," she nodded at the metal folder on the table. "But I think we're going to have to find that laboratory in order to do that."

"Does the file have a location?" Milly set down her coffee mug.

Meryl sighed. "I didn't see one last night. I was considering going through it again this morning."

Chuck pulled the folder off the table into his lap. "You don't need to see that photo again and get sick." He opened it and tugged the instant portrait off the inside cover.

"Careful!" Vash said.

"What, bro? Do you want her to puke?" Chuck turned the instant portrait over. "Hey! Coordinates!"

"Really?" Hannah got up and went to her brother's chair. "Let me see." Chuck moved it so she could read the writing on the back. "So did anyone graph Gunsmoke with latitude and longitude before the Great Fall? Because these numbers look like coordinates."

"It was, but how are you so sure?" Vash asked.

"Benefit of having a space-faring parent," Hannah started.

Chuck interrupted, "Chicago is at 41.8781 degrees North, 87.6298 West."

"We learned coordinates along with street addresses."

"Do you have an up-to-date atlas?" Vash asked Meryl and Milly. Milly got up and went to the bookcase.

"I found a clue! I want my Scooby Snack." Chuck stretched his hand palm up over the table.

Hannah took the instant portrait from him. "We don't have Scooby Snacks."

"I will take a donut."

Meryl looked suspicious, but Vash nodded. "He already ate the rest of his breakfast." She laid a donut in Chuck's hand.

Milly brought a thin but large bound atlas to the table. Vash brushed the donut crumbs from his gloves before moving around the table to the atlas. He glanced at the numbers on the back of the portrait that Hannah held for him. "That's in this quadrant." He turned to the pages that mapped around December City and put his finger on the spot. The atlas hadn't filled it in with the key symbol for any size settlement. "This is the coordinates location, a day away from Mori Town, about two days away from December City."

Meryl stood so she could frown down at Vash's index finger. "I can't believe it is this close. Why didn't Nana try to get further away?"

"You said it's the largest city on the planet," Hannah said. "People don't stand out in big cities like they would in small towns. Nobody notices the Biker Mice in Chicago and they have tails."

Milly nodded. "December City doesn't have busybodies that tattle to your parents or your sisters."

"So we should go there." Hannah straightened her back and looked at the adults. "Your grandmother hid the coordinates so no one else would find them."

"That's a good point." Vash turned to Meryl. "It's your call, Meryl. Even an abandoned location may have information left behind."

Meryl nodded. "Let's go check it out. The Cavalry probably doesn't have it under observation."

"Let me have some paper, Chuck." Chuck pulled a clean sheet out of his notebook and passed it to Milly. She took the instant portrait and wrote down the coordinates. "I'll go see if there are any claim records on this. December City has been gathering all the town records of all the ones in the Inner and part of the Federation."

"We need to know who owned it back in 105," Meryl said. "That's when they made me." Milly nodded and wrote the date down too.

"A bus probably goes to Mori Town," Vash said, "but to get to the coordinates, we'll need a new car."

"I'm going with you," Hannah said.

"It won't be all mechanics, little sis. We need more camping supplies, too."

"That's fine." Hannah turned to Chuck. "You stay here and guard Meryl-ma'am." Chuck gave her a salute without looking up from his drawing. Hannah pulled a donut out of the second box and started munching on it.

"Let me finish my breakfast first." Vash went back to his seat. He needed fortification for bargaining. He glanced at Meryl.

She didn't object to the plans as she reached for a donut for herself. "Do you need a shopping list for camping supplies?"

"Only if you want something special. I don't mind getting you something special." She shook her head, and Vash looked down at his own donuts chomping two down quickly. She probably didn't believe him, and he didn't know how to convince her.

Chapter Text

Hannah had enjoyed shopping with Vash. Even if he was on edge by being in such a populated city, he stayed on task much better than Uncle Vinnie. They found a car built the same as their previous one: a convertible with a spacious back seat and trunk.

Milly-ma'am had beaten them back to the apartment, but she had found that the land grant office had those coordinates registered to an Amadeusz Driscoll as a private homestead. "Without access to Bernardelli's records, I don't know how to research this guy," she said with an apologetic frown.

Meryl-ma'am and Vash didn't think not knowing anything about the owner would matter, and they left December City so they arrived at Mori Town late enough to get hotel rooms and not travel into the desert at night. She and Chuck slept good, but the adults seemed more on edge at breakfast.

Meryl-ma'am wore her white skirt suit with the cape of derringers for the first time since the bounty started. Vash put on his sunglasses as they loaded up again, and he only put those on when he suspected trouble. He had put them on when Chuck almost got kidnapped and he had been wearing them when he got Meryl-ma'am back from the Cavalry. Hannah didn't comment on that, but was glad she had loaded the experimental bola bolt into the bike's weapons. She might get a chance to test fire it.

They closed in on the coordinates in the late afternoon. Vash stopped the car on the top of a rocky outcropping and got out of the car to look at the only building five hundred feet away. Meryl-ma'am dug out her binoculars and got out next. Milly-ma'am and Chuck got out of the back seat. Hannah remained on the bike.

Vash removed his sunglasses. "That is not abandoned."

"How can you tell?" Chuck asked as he stopped next to Vash.

"Usually walls and ceilings have crumbled to bits and sand covers the structure." Vash looked down at Meryl, who was watching the place with her binoculars. "Unless you see that happening up close?"

"No, it is maintained and I think it's occupied right now." Meryl-ma'am passed Vash the binoculars.

Hannah turned on her helmet's telescoping feature. The face shield focused on the building and enlarged it. She saw a group of buildings forming a rectangle around a courtyard in the center, but the outer walls didn't have windows that she could see even with the magnification. It looked like there was one gate in through the wall. It wasn't as tall as a castle, but the one gate made it look like a fort. The bike started scanning for offensive weapons that could endanger the group.

Vash sighed. "It's hard to tell, but my gut says this Driscoll guy has guards."

"The bike doesn't sense any guns on the walls. You know, laser turrets. No regular bullet turrets, either."

"How about we not give Gunsmoke any new weapon ideas?" He lowered the binoculars from his face as he looked at Hannah.

She shrugged. "I don't know how to make them."

Meryl-ma'am took the binoculars back and stared down at the compound. "So the only way to get answers is to go down there and ask them. The rest of you stay here--"

"No!" Hannah said as her stomach clenched. But surprisingly, everyone else said it with her.

Milly-ma'am loomed over Meryl-ma'am with her hands planted on her hips. "They already took you once. You are not going down there with no backup to get back out."

Vash turned back to the view of the compound. "There are no sight lines. We'd never be able to see if you need help from this far away."

So Vash didn't want to split up, either. Hannah could support that. "There's nothing really stopping them from coming out to look for us once they have you."

"Splitting up has never worked back home," Chuck said.

And it certainly didn't work when it happened by accident, and Chuck and she had ended up on this dirt-ball planet with no one else.

Vash pointed a finger gun at Hannah. "Actually, they probably would look for us after getting you. You walked all the way to their compound?"

Meryl-ma'am took a step back so she could straighten up as tall as she could. "I'm not taking all of you down there into danger!"

"I don't think you can stop us if we go," Chuck said. "Even if you try to sneak away, we know where you're going."

"So we should just all go together." Hannah nodded. Use the logic that adults couldn't argue against and make a case to not be sent away for protection again. "The trick is staying together even if they want to split us up on the inside," she continued.

"Why do you sound so experienced at this?" Meryl-ma'am asked, sounding strained already. And booms hadn't even started yet.

"Chuck and I are always inconvenient hostages. It teaches you things. But what we do depends on what tactic they use."

"Tactic? Limburger doesn't use battle plans," Chuck said.

"Limburger knows we all know he's a bad guy and that we'll wreck his stuff so he's at the just toss them into the nearest cage or cell whenever his goons catch us. But some baddies try to pretend to be good guys, so it takes longer to figure out what they are up to. These guys might pretend we're just over for a sleepover and then the bedroom doors won't unlock."

"But Biker Mice don't use doors?" Chuck pointed out.

"We only blow up the wall if I can't pick the lock, remember?"

"Oh, yeah."

"You two stop there before scaring Meryl with how to break into that compound," Vash said. "I mean it."

The bike beeped and displayed an analysis of the materials used for the walls and buildings and just how much firepower it would take to get inside onto Hannah's face shield.

Hannah patted her fuel tank. "I see it, thank you. But they're squeamish and don't want that kind of frontal attack."

Meryl-ma'am shook her head and waved her hands in a no-way gesture. "No kind of frontal attack!"

"You want to go knock on their door and you don't think that's a frontal attack?" Milly-ma'am stomped her foot.

"Well, it's a polite attack!"

"So you want to use a bluff maneuver?" Hannah asked. Meryl-ma'am could pick how to do the approach as long as they all went together.

"What's that?" Chuck asked.

"What Han Solo tries on the comm before they get the Princess out."

"Who?" Vash asked.

"It's from Star Wars, a movie. And the bluff is the boring conversation part, not the shoot the equipment part."

"Oh," Chuck said. "The part Uncle Vinnie never tries."

"He does. He just makes the quips and asks questions after the wrenchheads are unconscious."

Vash turned back to Meryl-ma'am and Milly-ma'am. "Bluffing could work. If you can keep up the act and not get angry."

"What's that supposed to mean!" Meryl-ma'am snapped.

Vash turned back to Hannah still sitting on the bike. "So what did the motorcycle say about a frontal assault?"

"I can keep up an act!" Meryl-ma'am exclaimed before Hannah answered and continued. "Really, how much of an act does this situation need? They know what I look like, so I might as well admit it. Milly, they may know she quit to stay with me. Now you and the kids need an explanation."

"I never volunteer an identity," Vash said.

"No, you just pretend to be an idiot and antagonize the opposition. Could we not make them shoot us first thing?"

Chuck looked up at Hannah. "We got lost and they're getting us to the next town?"

"That works," Hannah said. "Only say nothing about Earth, Mars, or Chicago."

"I won't. And Vash is Meryl-ma'am's boyfriend."

Meryl-ma'am spun to look at Chuck with a brick-red face. "What?!"

Hannah saw Vash wince above Meryl-ma'am's head and smooth it away from his face.

Milly-ma'am shrugged. "Well, he can't be my boyfriend; he's not my type."

Meryl-ma'am spun to face Milly. "Milly!"

Vash stepped back from the group and went around the car.

"I think you're supposed to know somebody longer before marrying them," Chuck said. "So you can't call him 'husband.'"

"You can't just declare that!"

"Why not?" Chuck asked.

Hannah pulled off her helmet and slid off the bike, and followed Vash. He wasn't looking at Meryl-ma'am now arguing that it was rude and wrong to declare romantic pairs without permission. "What's wrong?" Hannah asked him quietly.

Vash stretched a grin from ear-to-ear. "Bored waiting for the fun to start."

Like Hannah couldn't see just how fake that was. She gave him her strongest unimpressed look, the one her uncles always said looked just like Mom. "Bro, really."

"Everything's fine. I'm sure we will figure out what the story is before the guards spot us here not moving and therefor acting suspicious."

"That's not why you looked hurt."

"And that's not something you need to fix." Vash straightened and looked at Meryl-ma'am, who stomped around the car.

Her face was still red, and she talked up at Vash but didn't look at him. "In the hypothetical situation in which we have to introduce you--"

"You're going to let me use the name I tried to give Wolfwood when we first met him without blowing my cover!"

That shocked her into looking at him. "No! Nobody on this planet has ten names!"

Hannah crossed her arms. "Not to mention, they probably know her last job was you."

Vash sighed. "Tell them whatever you want to. I won't argue."

"You can. Argue." Meryl-ma'am glanced away from him again. "Now is a good time to argue about it. I don't want to make you uncomfortable or get you flustered in front of them. Or you all can just stay here where I don't have to worry about you!" She flung her hands until they ended up on her hips.

Vash shook his head. "That's not happening. If you want some moral high ground of not lying to them, don't introduce me. Let them come to their own conclusions."

"I don't care about lying to them! But going off script will make it more dangerous and you can't resist going off script."

"I think you're trying to act like a rock instead of like wind. You have to be able to react to the situation."

"You're going to end up tripping into a sluice again."

"Nobody got shot. So what script do you want to use?"

"That you won't stop following us around!" Meryl clambered into the front seat of the car and slammed the door shut.

Hannah shrugged. "That's actually a better story than anything Uncle Vinnie would come up with."

"I can stick to that. Come on. Let's get going with this." Vash tossed the car keys to Milly. "I'll ride with Hannah so they won't question the motorcycle."

Milly and Chuck piled into the car, and Vash climbed onto the bike. Hannah put her helmet back on and got on behind him. Milly drove the car toward the compound and the bike swung in slightly behind the car but out of the dust. Hannah made sure her helmet wasn't broadcasting. "So Meryl-ma'am is really upset we're not letting her be a noble idiot?"

"Another term you got from entertainment?"

"No, that comes from Mom. Dad has a tendency to sacrifice himself for the greater good of the group. There was yelling in fights with baddies that he couldn't be a noble idiot and leave her with four kids to raise."

"Four?"

"She was counting Uncle Modo and Uncle Vinnie too."

"Well, Meryl is forgetting we can hold our own in a firefight in her worrying."

The bike beeped angrily.

"Don't worry," Hannah told her. "When the firefight happens, Chuck and I will find you for the fun."

"Firefights are not fun," Vash said. "But yes, please get on the motorcycle and get away if it escalates to that."

Hannah rolled her eyes and didn't bother pointing out that him trying to keep them out of the fight was exactly what Meryl wanted to do with him. Adults never listened to that. Besides, he needed reassurances on a different topic. "I don't think Meryl-ma'am really knows how hurtful she sounded just now because she's so worried. Also, because everything she has known about her entire life turned out to be wrong, now is probably not the time to hope she catches your clues about how you really feel about her."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just tell her 'I like you and want to smooch lips with you all the time.' That's what I'm talking about, bro."

"You need to drop calling me 'bro' while we are in there."

"Don't change the subject."

Vash sighed. "It's not your business to worry about my relationships."

"You are our bro. Your relationships will have different relationships with us. So we want to make sure you don't crash and burn. And she's overwhelmed and needs plain words and has a mental block about believing the rest of us when we tell her you like her."

Vash inhaled like he was about to demand what had been told to Meryl-ma'am and when, but they reached the gate into the walled compound. The front wall was thicker than she had realized from the first look. It had a building built into it and a shorter roof covered the building down the length of the wall. The gate's roof was higher to make it obvious where to go.

A man wearing a khaki uniform without an insignia with a rifle hung on his shoulder stopped them from entering through the open metal gate. "Your business here?" he demanded.

Meryl stepped out of the front passenger side door but didn't get far from the car. "Hello, I'm Meryl Stryfe. I'm here to see Amadeusz Driscoll about MS-105."

The guard pressed his fingers against his ear. He must have some kind earbud in it, because he dropped his hand when he stepped away from the gate. "You can go on in."

Inside the gate was another wall with a set of steps up to a second gate with a slanted roof creating an overhang for a people-sized metal door. There was another guard at the top of the steps who waved them to park the vehicles under a permanent awning hung between the inner and outer walls on the right.

Hannah rolled her eyes at the primitiveness of this garage. A matching awning covered the space on the left side of the gates that had shelves with parts and tool chests with a sedan-like car parked between them. The buildings built into the walls had roofs, so why hadn't they put roofs over these spaces? She left her helmet on as she and Vash dismounted.

Two more guards were waiting with the one at the gate by the time their whole group approached it. "This way, Miss Stryfe."

Meryl and Milly-ma'am went in through the second gate first, and Hannah, Chuck, and Vash followed them into a courtyard filled with plants. The canopies of tall saplings brushed the roofs of the buildings ringing the courtyard and smaller flowers and shrubs filled the rest of the saplings' planter boxes in the corners of the courtyard. That left two paved walkways crossing the courtyard in between the planter boxes.

"So much green," Chuck said.

Hannah grabbed his hand. "Don't touch."

"I wasn't going to." But he didn't free his hand.

A dark-skinned man dressed in a button-up shirt and vest approached from the west side of the courtyard. "Miss Stryfe? Miss Thompson? I am Jonathan Sainsbury, Dr. Driscoll's assistant." Sweat glistened over his quivering upper lip. "He is eager to see you, but well, he is resting right now. If I could implore you to stay with us until he can meet with you. I am unfamiliar with MS-105, but it is weighing on his mind. His body is unable to keep up now." His gaze darted back to the building on the west side of the courtyard before returning to Meryl-ma'am.

Hannah frowned. She was pretty sure this Sainsbury was lying about something.

But Meryl-ma'am didn't call him out on it. "I don't want to take advantage of your hospitality, but yes, I would very much like some answers on MS-105 and I'm willing to capitulate with Dr. Driscoll's physical ailments."

Hannah frowned harder. Maybe Meryl-ma'am hadn't picked up that he had lied?

"Thank you for understanding. If you come this way, we have rooms for guests." Sainsbury's darting gaze raked over the whole group again, and he stopped and blinked at Hannah and Chuck. "Oh, we were not expecting children."

"They got lost on the way to El Nado," Vash said.

"The map got torn to shreds," Hannah added.

"We couldn't leave them out there," Meryl-ma'am said.

"No, of course not," Sainsbury agreed. He looked at Vash. "And you are?"

Meryl-ma'am grabbed Vash's left hand. "He's with me." She blushed but didn't let go.

Vash glanced down at their joined hands with a soft smile, looked back up at Sainsbury, and his smile turned slightly smug.

"I see," Sainsbury said. "It will take some time to arrange suitable rooms. We can wait here." The western building had a large room open to the courtyard like a porch with couches and chairs and a coffee table on the south end and a long table with chairs on the north end. Two hallways left the space: one heading north and the other heading south. Sainsbury gestured for them to sit around the coffee table and another man wearing the khaki guard uniform set down a tray of iced glasses and a pitcher of water.

Hannah steered Chuck to a couch so they could sit next to each other. "We're used to sharing a room."

"We shall bear that in mind." Sainsbury spoke to the uniformed man quietly before the man nodded and walked into the south hall.

Chuck pulled out the pair of bent metal straws that they had gotten for him to make it easier to drink with his helmet on, handed one to Hannah, and plunked the other in the glass he claimed. Milly-ma'am took an armchair next to their couch while Meryl-ma'am and Vash sat down on the other couch with very pink faces.

Sainsbury sat in the last armchair and twisted toward Meryl-ma'am. Vash spoke before Sainsbury could start a topic. "I really hope you sent him off to turn down the sheets and not to comm the military that Meryl is here; come get her."

Sainsbury's brow furrowed. "Come get her? Whatever for?"

"That's what we want to know!" Milly-ma'am said. "Putting a bounty on her head like she's an outlaw."

"Milly, please stay calm," Meryl-ma'am said.

"A bounty? Oh dear, they misconstrued our request completely! They were supposed to provide an escort to get you here in case you had the information that has gone missing about MS-105."

"They misconstrued all right," Meryl-ma'am said dryly. "They arrested me."

"How distressing! They were supposed to escort you. However did you escape custody?"

"That's hardly important now," Vash said. "Can you tell them to drop the bounty?"

"I don't have the authority, but they would heed a request from Dr. Driscoll. My sympathies. And right after losing your adoptive mother."

Meryl-ma'am drew a shaky breath and Vash squeezed her right hand. "Thank you," she said softly.

"Janet Coyle commed us. Poor thing, she thought it was star date 104 and was apologizing for missing work."

"She has been forgetting more and more as she grew older." Meryl-ma'am took a big gulp of her water.

Hannah drummed her fingers on her thigh. That wasn't the name of Meryl's Nana in the newspaper article. Had she changed her name when she ran with Meryl? That might be why the people here hadn't found Meryl until now. Hannah needed to ask what they used for comms. Radios? Telephones? Intercoms that survived from the spaceships? Meryl-ma'am wasn't telling Sainsbury that he was wrong. Maybe she was saving it for the big boss.

One of the khaki-uniformed men appeared from the shadows of the south hall, bent down, and whispered into Sainsbury's ear. Another pair of them--how many worked here?--carried their luggage to the porch. Sainsbury shifted in his armchair. "Miss Thompson, do you mind sharing a room with the children?"

"No, that's fine," Milly-ma'am said.

"Excellent; then our two guest rooms are ready. We'll show you to them."

They made a little parade into the south hall. Vash and Meryl-ma'am were shown into a room that backed the courtyard. Hannah, Chuck, and Milly-ma'am went into the room across the hall that backed to the outer wall. It had skinny windows near the ceiling, a connected bathroom, three single beds pushed against the wall, and a small table between the door and the beds.

The bike beeped in Hannah's helmet. She turned on the face shield while Chuck claimed his bed. A rectangle drew around a dark dome in the corner against the ceiling and then magnified until she saw the camera tucked inside it. "{I see it,}" Hannah said in Martian. She went into the bathroom. A shower as big as a tub, toilet, and a sink, and no camera. "Milly-ma'am, could you come help me? My hair got stuck in my helmet."

"How did you manage that?" Milly-ma'am entered and looked puzzled as Hannah took her helmet off.

"There is a camera watching us in that room." Hannah mouthed at her, pointing at the corner it was in.

Milly-ma'am nodded and mouthed, "They are baddies." Then she said in a louder voice, "There! You're free now."

"Thanks," Hannah said at the same volume. They left the bathroom and Chuck looked confused at them. Hannah explained in Martian. "{They've got a camera watching us. Leave your helmet on.}"

Chuck groaned and replied in Martian. "{I want to blow up something here just for that.}" He folded his arms over his chest as he bounced on the mattress.

"{Once Meryl-ma'am gives the okay, I'll let you hit the bike's rocket launcher trigger.}"

He scowled. "{Biker Mice do not ask permission.}"

"{Do you want to blow up something she needs?}" Hannah put her hands on her hips like Mom always did. "{We will wait. Agreed?}"

"{Fine.}" He flopped back.

She let her hands drop and turned to Milly-ma'am. The woman looked fondly amused. "Do you want the first shower, Hannah? We should clean up before supper."

"Yeah, I'll go first." She grabbed her duffel bag of clothes and carried it into the bathroom. Getting less dusty sounded good.

Vash went into their room first while Meryl thanked Jonathan Sainsbury for the hospitality. She trusted nothing about this establishment, nor the liar Sainsbury, but there was no sense in letting them know that. Not when she didn't plan on leaving without answers. At least, her feeling that something awful would happen to Vash if she didn't claim him was appeased. She shut the door and turned to get his take on the situation.

"Finally, some privacy!"

Before she could agree with that sentiment, he seized her shoulders and kissed her. A steady and more possessive kiss than the others he had given her before, and she was melting into the floor and pushing against it to return the kiss.

His broad, firm hands slid from her shoulders down her arms until they reached the slits in her cape. They tucked under the cape, pressing against her back through her shirt.

Her hands found his chest and glided up his coat and body armor that still covered his body until she latched onto his shoulders. His fingers stroked down her back and why was her shirt in the way? Why was he still wearing gloves? They had done this before; if they were doing it again, she deserved to see and touch her lover. Vash, her friend who wanted sex as part of their friendship?

Wait. They were inside an establishment of people who had experimented and created her and probably just destroyed her entire life with the Cavalry's involvement. Now wasn't the time for sex!

Vash's hands settled on her butt, and she moaned into his mouth. Like that was going to slow both of them down. Where was Milly with a bucket of water when they needed her? Vash shifted without lifting his hands and she found herself closer to his chest. And her skirt was riding up as well. They really shouldn't be doing this now. Then Vash's fingers traced the crease between her thigh and butt on both legs. Scaling his lanky form like a mountain sounded like the best idea she had ever had in the history of great ideas. Her arms jerked him toward her.

He lifted her off the floor, which was fine; it wasn't doing much to hold her up. Now she could wrap her arms around his neck and press into his chest. Did she need to wrap her legs around his waist? No, he sat down in an armchair because her knees collided with the padded arms as she now straddled his lap. And yes, he was happy to have her on his lap and in his arms. She felt his bulge through his pants and his coat, and his gun was against her left leg.

They had to unlatch their lips and breathe. Vash didn't pause long before pressing his lips on the corner of her lips and moving them across her cheek while his hands squeezed. She was going to squirm and make a mess on his coat. She should unbutton it for him.

His hot breath was in her ear before she pulled her hands around to the coat's buttons. "We're under surveillance," he whispered.

"What?" That was not what she thought she'd be whispering into his ear.

He didn't move his head, so they were both mouth near the other's ear. "There's a camera in the corner near the ceiling. We're under surveillance."

"And you thought that means you should get handsy with me right now?"

"Had to get you close enough to tell you. They can't see past your cape. And it's what they expect to see from us. I can play the part."

What they expect to see from us? She had played the boyfriend gambit, and Vash was going along with what she had decided to do. Like he said he would.

He kissed her throat before coming back to her ear. "I can have an accident with one of your derringers if you want to move this to the bed. They won't see a thing."

But he didn't want... he had exited the planning conversation once the boyfriend gambit came up. They were just friends. He didn't want her like that. With partnership and support and love. It was just sex, as friends, but just sex.

The heat running through her skin with his touch evaporated faster than water. She put her hands on his shoulders, pulling back from his ear. She stopped there because any more movement would make tears spill from her eyes. He didn't love her. Would anyone ever love her? Had Nana--?

If she finished that question right now, she would start sobbing.

Vash sighed and lifted his hands from her thighs. Now she felt even colder. He wrapped his arms around her outside her cape, but didn't pull her closer. "Maybe you should give me a list of the rubbish that I could memorize."

This is why she hadn't wanted to play the boyfriend gambit. It hurt as much as she thought it would to remember he didn't love her. And it wasn't fair, demanding what he wasn't willing to give. He wanted to be her friend and wasn't even withholding sex from that. Why wasn't that enough?

There was a sharp knock on their bedroom door. "Just a moment!" Meryl yelled at it. Vash picked her up off his lap while she pulled her skirt down into place. Vash's red coat looked fine as he stood. She opened the door to one of the khaki-uniformed servant-guards.

"Dr. Driscoll will see you now," he said.

"Great!" Vash stepped forward.

"Just Miss Stryfe is invited to this meeting. Unarmed, ma'am. We know about the weapons in your cape."

Head Office had a lot to answer for, she thought as she turned to look at Vash's serious poker face. She hoped her features were hiding how nervous she felt now. "That's no problem. I'm only here for answers." She loosened her cape, swung it off her shoulders, and then Vash was next to her, taking it.

"Don't forget your pen. In case you have to write something down." He held one out to her and did his blink thing that he had done when the sheriff's deputies had surrounded them and they needed to keep Ingway, Stephanie Bostok, and Dick Bostok alive. She took the pen.

"Thanks." She took it, then stretched up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. She could play the part, if just to prove his claiming she couldn't earlier wrong. The guard looked unimpressed as he cleared the door for her to leave the room. Well, the gambit wasn't supposed to impress him, just keep him from shooting Vash. She tucked the pen into a pocket.

The guard led her back to the interior courtyard and to the building on the north side of the courtyard. It also had a veranda opening, but there was a smaller green courtyard between the building and the outer wall. The guard knocked on a closed door on the west wall and was gruffly told to enter. He opened the door for Meryl and ushered her inside a bookshelf-lined room as big as the entire building.

Four large windows looked out at the interior courtyard. A large, beautifully-carved wooden desk was placed in the center of the long library with more bookshelves behind the matching carved chair for the desk. Two armchairs sat in front of the desk, but Meryl did not head straight to them. Two sofas flanked the heater at the other end of the room. The guard shut the door and stood next to it.

An old man turned from the bookshelves and stepped forward to the end of the desk with the help of a cane. He stooped closer to Meryl's height. His mostly white beard had a few darker gray streaks running through the clipped-close to his jaw style. His head had gone bald except for a band of hair around the back from ear to ear and had the same mottled color as his beard. "Meryl Stryfe, MS-105. Hmm, I thought you'd end up taller based on the raw materials, so to speak." His dark brown eyes met her gaze.

"Dr. Driscoll?" she asked. He nodded. "You were the lead scientist on the MS-105 project?" she continued.

"Co-lead. Janet Coyle was the partnering lead. Lost her nerve when it all stopped being theoretical and the military brass wanted to stress test a toddler to see what would happen. Vanished with you in the middle of the night. Still named you after the project. Really don't know if that means she was continuing it on her own terms or gave up on it entirely."

Meryl swallowed against the lump trying to form in her throat. "We won't ever know now."

"No, damn youngsters. How they botched that up, I still haven't gotten a straight answer on. But her cognitive decline probably stole the answers first." Driscoll's cane thumped against the floor.

She glanced at the guard still standing by the door. "You sent your men to do what? Silence an old woman with death?" She fought the tears trying to emerge. These people would not see her fall apart.

Driscoll looked at the surface of his desk before glaring up at her. "If it were my men, I'd have the responsible party staked out in the sands already. No, the Cavalry took on neutralizing December City once we had traced you there. Promised to be discreet and to not alarm the populace. Bumbling, brass-plated, baby bullies. And then when they can't keep you in custody, they slap on a bounty." He shook his head in disgust. "I'm pretty sure they let their disappointment over-rule their discretion."

"Disappointment?" she asked.

"You were supposed to be our guarantee that another July Incident would never happen again. And we got an insurance agent." His cane hit the floor again.

A rapid knock on the door interrupted his dismissal of her entire being.

Chapter Text

Vash pressed his fingers against his cheek where Meryl's lips had last touched his skin while the door shut behind her. She must not be too upset with his rubbish this time. The transmitter in his earring broadcast the footsteps across the courtyard. He bounded over to the window that looked over the courtyard.

The nearest sapling filtered Meryl's white outfit through its leaves as she walked up to the north building. He heard a knock on a door as she and the guard moved out of sight, and then low grade static.

Vash scowled. He should have anticipated that they had technology to counteract the transmitters. Time to do this the old-fashioned way. He sauntered to the door for the camera monitoring the room and hurried once he shut the door.

The last window of the four on the north building framed Meryl, speaking to someone further inside the room. He crouched at the first window before the north building ended against the west building. The suns started setting as he listened to what he could hear from inside the building.

A man's gruff voice said, "Still named you after the project. Really don't know if that means she was continuing it on her own terms or gave up on it entirely."

"We won't ever know now." Meryl's voice sound thick with hidden grief.

"No, damn youngsters. How they botched that up, I still haven't gotten a straight answer on. But her cognitive decline probably stole the answers first." Something thumped hard against the floor.

"You sent your men to do what? Silence an old woman with death?" Meryl's voice was still thick and Vash wanted to hug her tight.

The man's voice answered, full of rage. "If it were my men, I'd have the responsible party staked out in the sands already."

"Hands up," someone said behind Vash.

Vash glanced back as he raised his hands. Two of the khaki-uniformed guards had pistols aimed at him. "You guys are good; I didn't hear you at all."

"Stand up," the same guard ordered.

A second guard pulled Vash's Colt from its holster as Vash stood and carried it with him toward the north building's veranda. The remaining guard prodded Vash in the back, so Vash followed with his hands raised. Lead guard knocked rapidly before opening the door. The guard inside grabbed Meryl and pulled her away from the door. An old man leaning on a cane next to a huge wooden desk scowled sourly as the guard shoved Vash inside.

"Sorry, sir. The boyfriend was listening in." The guard set the silver Colt on the fancy desk.

Driscoll snorted as he glanced at the weapon and then back at Vash. "And I thought that blocking gear was overkill. What are you doing with lost technology, like comm transmitters?"

Vash shrugged without lowering his hands. "Lost technology is a hobby."

Driscoll shook his head before looking at Meryl. "At least Janet is spared knowing you conjoined with the most notorious outlaw on the planet. I'm sure she raised you better than that."

Meryl's eyes flashed, and she shook off her guard's hands to put her hands on her hips. "Excuse you! You don't know Vash. Did you even bother to read any of the reports I had submitted? Ask Inepril what kind of outlaw he is. I would have had that ridiculous bounty cleared off his head already if you hadn't completely disrupted my life!"

Vash blinked. She wanted to get the bounty off him? He could kiss her for that. If only there wasn't a gun pointed at his back, he'd kiss her right now.

Driscoll chortled. "There is the domineering and argumentative with her superiors notation from your Bernardelli personnel file."

Vash watched Meryl's face as the hurt flickered over it before she hid it away and raised her chin. Just like she had done when he teased her. Damn it, he should apologize for the teasing that had hurt her.

"That is Janet's influence," Driscoll continued. "Probably for the best that you didn't demonstrate it to the military. Still," he frowned at Vash, "I don't think I approve of him."

"And your opinion is supposed to matter to me?" Meryl's hands came off her hips, and she crossed her arms over her chest. "I have existed this long without a father figure, and I don't think the role needs to be filled now."

"No, I suppose you have reached the age of maturity without my input." Driscoll looked Meryl over, moving his head to make it obvious. "I still want to know what went wrong with you."

Vash dropped his arms. "There is nothing wrong with Meryl."

"And your biased opinion is noted. But we failed to achieve the goal of the project. She never displayed any powers."

"What were you trying to make happen?" Meryl demanded. "What am I?"

"I told you. We wanted to prevent another July Incident by creating our own Hybrid to take out the others. Come along. You won't believe it until you see it again." Driscoll moved off the desk and headed to the door. "You probably don't remember; you were so young."

The guard hovering beside Meryl pulled her to the door. A pistol poked Vash's spine to prod him into movement. Vash didn't need the encouragement; he wanted to get closer to Meryl. "You really want to get the bounty off me?"

She glanced back at him. "Of course. It sounded like no one properly investigated your involvement with the July Incident and you just got blamed. Plus, that's the reason everything gets blown up around you."

The guard shepherding Meryl stepped sideways and blocked their eye contact. Vash made a face at him and got poked in the back again.

Driscoll led them into the private yard between the north building and the outer wall. A sunken doorway was tucked against the outer wall, and it opened into a shallow circular staircase. They probably made the steps so broad to accommodate Driscoll's need for a cane. They finally ended up in an underground room as large as the whole compound. Sainsbury turned from a couple of cleaners, but said nothing as they came inside.

Vash tensed, but didn't show it. They were prepping this laboratory already. It was the same place the instant portrait was taken in, and yes, there was a plant bulb hanging from the ceiling beyond the standing medical scan unit, computer consoles, and examination table. A small bulb, maybe intended for a vehicle and not one of the SEEDS ships, and also empty of his sister. It wasn't powering this compound. Why was it here?

He looked at Meryl's pale face. She had nightmares about this place and probably needed a hug. Her guard stepped between Vash and Meryl with an expression of just-try-it. Vash grimaced at him and turned his attention back to Driscoll.

The stooped man stopped in the center of the lab and gestured at the plant bulb. "What's left of your mother, Miss Stryfe. The housing for the inter-dimensional being that people call a plant angel. The IDB died shortly after we retrieved you."

Meryl's face drained of blood. Vash leaned toward her because guards or no guards, he would catch her if she passed out. "I'm... I'm part plant."

"Janet didn't tell you," Driscoll said.

"She told me I was augmented."

"Enhanced reflexes and off-the-charts IQ. It's not a complete lie. We added more human DNA to you than the other Hybrids have to sway your allegiance. But you were supposed to be more!" Driscoll banged his cane against the rock floor.

Meryl's cheeks flushed. "For so long, I have been the weird one who never fit in. But I was never deficient. And I'm still not despite not being the outcome you were hoping to achieve!"

Good, she was angry. This revelation hadn't broken her. That reassured Vash.

Driscoll chuckled. "It's refreshing to get challenged again. I have missed it. Well, you will allow us to update the project files with the results we got."

Sainsbury sat the controls of the medical scan unit liberated from a ship. "Just step inside, Miss Stryfe."

"No, thank you. I'd rather not be bombarded with mutating radiation ever." She gritted her teeth together after she said that. Vash smirked because that was her stubborn face.

"It's not that kind of machine," Sainsbury muttered.

"Obstinate was in your personnel file, too." Driscoll limped forward and stepped into the machine. "Scan me, Jonathan." The scanning plates rotated around his whole body smoothly; they had kept it in good repair. Driscoll's anatomical figures generated on the computer screen as the plates stopped moving and he stepped out. "Just a medical diagnostic tool. More advanced than X-rays and exploratory surgery. Now cooperate, please."

Meryl took a deep breath and looked at Vash. Vash nodded; it wouldn't hurt her. She lifted her chin and stepped inside it. Vash gave her a reassuring smile as the scanning plates moved. She wanted his approval in this situation. That felt good.

Sainsbury gaped at the computer screen and moved through a few of the figures as Meryl stepped out of the scanner. "She's pregnant!"

"WHAT?!" Driscoll and Meryl yelled in unison.

And then Meryl continued in a faint, wavering voice, "But I can't get pregnant."

"We certainly designed you not to impregnate with humans." Driscoll twisted and glared up at Vash.

Vash stopped himself from backing away from that expression. He knew that impotent fury; he usually took glee in putting it on people's faces when he stopped their villainous plots. But this was not his fault... oh shit! Okay, half his fault, but he'd be damned if he would admit it to this bastard.

Driscoll gnashed his teeth before inhaling deeply. "Get in the scanner."

"My physical is not due yet," Vash said.

"Humor me." Driscoll ordered with no trace of whimsy. The other two guards drew their pistols and all three of them cocked them.

Meryl swiveled her head between the guns, Vash, and Driscoll. "Leave him alone!"

All those bullets could ricochet and hit Meryl, very unacceptable. Probably end up shooting themselves too, more trouble than they needed right not. Vash looked at Meryl's distraught face. "It's fine." He looked back at Driscoll. "I'll cooperate." He headed to the medical scan unit with his pal, the guard with a gun at his back. That guard couldn't follow him into the one-person scanner and glared at Vash like it was his fault the scanner didn't accommodate both of them.

Sainsbury frowned at the computer screen after the scanning plates moved. "Something is interfering with the scanner."

Driscoll looked even more baleful. "That coat is more of your lost technology hobby?"

"More or less. I suppose you want me to remove it." Vash let Driscoll's face purple a bit more before he started unbuttoning his duster with a sigh. He draped it over the guard's arm that was still pointing a pistol at him. He stepped back and let the scanning plates move again. Meryl's expression shifted to terrified.

"He's a Hybrid too!" Sainsbury yelped.

"I'll be damned," Driscoll said.

"Not my area of expertise." Vash got out of the scanner. "You need to talk to our friend, Wolfwood. He's a priest, so he would know."

"So the legendary Vash the Stampede is one of the Hybrids. That explains so much. Are you the second or the third one?" Driscoll asked.

"Don't you mean the first or second?" Vash asked back.

The old man stopped looking enraged to look smug instead. "This is my day for correcting misapprehensions. The twins Rem Saverem took custody of were not the first Hybrids spawned in the SEEDS Project fleet." Vash hadn't meant to react to Rem's name, but he had enough of one to make Driscoll's lips curl up in satisfaction. "So you are one of them. And she and the rest of her crew never told you about the first. Jonathan, bring up the files we have on the first Hybrid."

Sainsbury scooted his chair on wheels to the computer at the end of the desk. He pulled up images on the screen and then moved out of the way. Vash leaned over the desk and started the file. Dated May 3, 2405, so while the Fleet was still flying through space. Hands held a squalling newborn girl up to the recording device with curved glass and the pink clouds of a healthy bulb behind her. The next image had the now larger girl dressed in an infant pajamas and sleeping on a soft surface with blonde hair covering her head. They next saw the girl crawling surrounded by toy blocks.

Meryl moved beside him and clasped his right hand.

The sequences of pictures turned medical as the older girl was shown on a medical scan unit that lets the subject lie down inside surrounded by people in medical protective gear, in a chair with a helmet strapped on to measure brain waves, on a medical exam table covered in electrodes and bloody bandages and a tray of bloody scalpels in the image. He lost count of the medical scanning plates passing over her, and the bandages changed positions on her body and intravenous tubes fed into shriveling limbs.

Meryl squeezed his hand.

Her blonde hair grew dull and was missing large clumps and the texture had gone thin and brittle. Her teeth fell out of her bloody gums when they were probed. The last file was a video of her lying on a medical bed with so many tubes feeding into her arms they made nearly a solid wall around her and a face mask giving her oxygen. The beeping of the heart monitor ended in the steady whine of no heart beat. A man's voice spoke over it. "Physical functions have ceased. Ready an examination room for the autopsy."

Tears blurred his vision, but Vash turned off the playback before they saw that. Meryl shifted but didn't let go of his hand. "You murdered a child." Her voice deepened with wrath and horror.

"We studied the first of a new species. Unfortunately, the equipment we had available had a detrimental effect on little Tesla."

Vash found his voice and tasted the salt on his lips. "You named her but didn't stop?"

"One doesn't stop science." Driscoll moved to the computer that collected the medical scans at the other end of the desk. "We would know nothing if we had all acted like Saverem and her ship's crew." Meryl gasped and made sure she was shielding Vash from the old man. Driscoll ignored her to shuffle through Vash's medical scans, stopping on one of them. "Why didn't you grow back your left arm when you lost it?"

"My scars remind me of what is important." Also, he hadn't known he could, but he wasn't about to tell Driscoll that.

The old man snorted and leaned on his cane to look up at Vash. "So your regenerative capabilities are absolutely wasted on you. What the hell happened in July City twenty-seven years ago?"

"I don't remember," Vash said.

"IQ off the charts from the surviving reports from Saverem and Captain Delgado, and you don't remember?"

"A high IQ has nothing to do with memory retention."

"Well, we have time to jog your memory since it doesn't appear that speedy gestation is an inherited trait from the IDB." Driscoll turned toward them.

Meryl's hand let go of Vash's, but she stepped back against him. "We are not staying, so you can murder another child!"

The three pistols come back up and cocked at them again. Vash gritted his teeth. He couldn't take them all out without endangering Meryl.

"You are staying so we can see if your progeny has the powers that skipped you." Driscoll thumped his cane. "You are staying, so nothing unfortunate happens to Miss Thompson and those two children that crossed your path."

"The finger on the trigger always falls back on that threat," Vash said.

"Philosophy is one of your hobbies, too?" Driscoll looked up at Vash. "I will have to refresh my memory on that subject." He glanced back at Meryl. "No need to be concerned about the lodgings. We upgraded your old room once we realized you had reached maturity. There's room enough for you both."

The guards herded them both across the lab to the end opposite from the plant bulb. Sainsbury darted ahead to open a heavy metal door. Vash made sure Meryl went in first, just in case they shot him, regardless. They didn't and the metal door slid shut with a slam against the stone wall.

A bed large enough for two was directly across from the door. A metal table was bolted to the wall on the left side of the door under a metal covered slot in the wall. On the right side of the room, a large dresser was against the wall next to an open doorway.

Vash tucked his head inside the doorway; it led to a bathroom with a long vanity counter and a shower stall that was built directly on the floor and walls at the end of the room. He turned back to the larger room and spied the dome covering the camera in the upper corner on the right side. He looked at the left side of the room and there was a matching one on the left side. They were nice enough to not line them up to see into the bathroom. He flashed his love and peace crossed fingers at whoever had camera-watching duty. There were no chairs, so he sat on the edge of the bed.

Meryl stood facing the wall the headboard leaned against. One of her arms curled around her ribs as her other hand covered her face. She shook as she stifled a sob.

"Meryl?" he asked.

She shook her head without looking at him.

He tugged her to him, and she didn't resist. He set her on his lap and cradled her against his chest. Tears welled up in his eyes, too. This should be a happy moment. They weren't alone; their species might actually be viable, but everything was in peril instead. He pressed his lips against her dark hair before saying, "It's going to be all right."

"Everyone is in danger because of me!" She got out through her sobs.

"This is not your fault. You just wanted the truth." And that truth was Meryl came from a bulb just like he and Knives. A small bulb; maybe that was the reason she was so small?

Her head rolled against him as she shook her head. "Broke my promise to you."

"You did not. You didn't tell them a damn thing. This is not your fault. Do not take their guilt onto your mighty shoulders."

Meryl let go of herself to latch her arms around his neck and shoulders, pressing her face against the body armor around his neck. "You're going to antagonize them and they're going to cut you open because you're expendable!" She sobbed harder.

"I'm not going to antagonize them. Give me some credit." He hugged her tighter. "I have lived this long."

"HOW?!"

"My survival instinct."

"What survival instinct? I have seen no evidence of you even having one!" She jerked back to look at his face.

He grinned. "There's my insurance agent."

"Damn it. Milly is right. You do that on purpose."

"You've always been fun to rile up." He cupped her cheek with his right hand, wiping away a tear track with his thumb before tilting her head back and kissing her.

She was worried about him. It had been so long since someone worried about the risks he took. But he remembering how things had gone upstairs, he ended the kiss and pulled back slightly.

She whimpered and pressed her lips against his again. He surrendered to it and hugged her tighter. She ended the kiss and then leaned her forehead against his. "Are we under surveillance down here?"

"The dark domes in the corners against the ceiling."

She let him go and flipped her middle fingers at them.

Vash felt his body heat and chill at the thought of those guards pawing at Meryl like they were Steves. The idea of them forcing themselves tensed his muscles again. "No, they can't do that with you." He let her go to catch both her hands and put them between their bodies and keep them between his. "I'm pretty sure you wouldn't choose those boulder-heads for a good time."

"That wasn't what I meant."

"They aren't that bright; I don't think they could figure that out." The biggest do-not-want-that-at-all reaction he had ever had to anything that wasn't a person's life at stake moved through his insides. "And I think I have a jealous streak, huh."

"Over me?" She pulled her hands free and wrapped her arms around him, tucking her head under his chin again. "You don't have to tease about that."

What the hell had her coworkers or other dates done to make her think anything complimentary was a tease? But that was like the fourth problem on the list of problems of the day, and he really needed to focus on the problems of right now. Everyone escaping. And both of them needed to be on the same page without letting them know what the plans under development were.

Wait, they were both independent plants. He and Knives had talked without their mouths, and he talked with his sisters with telepathy too. He touched Meryl's head, moving her out from under his chin. "I want to see if this works," he whispered. "Knives and I could do it."

"What?" she whispered back.

There was a thread between them, now that he was looking for it. He kissed her again and opened his mind to hers.

Chapter Text

Meryl's mind flooded with images and emotions that were not hers. A circular room covered in yellow panels, sitting at a circular table with a transparent blue globe floating above it. An adult man with dark hair and a Van Dyke goatee on the bottom of his face sat to the right. An adult woman with long black hair sat across the table. Her face was kind and happy, which matched the bubbly happiness she felt in this. To the left was a child that reminded her of Vash, but it couldn't be. His shoulder-length hair was a whiter blond than Vash's golden shade and his eyes were a blue with no green and there was no beauty mark under his left eye. He leaned his elbows on the table with his fingers entwined together and looked up at the globe. Vash had never been a miniature adult like that. "Judging from the computer data, it looks to me that mankind is responsible for damaging the planet. Right, Captain?" he asked.

The scene changed before the Captain answered him. A dark room, light coming from a computer screen shone on the same boy in the same blue shorts and a too-large blue shirt sitting in front of it. But now his hair was cut short and the shorn locks were scattered on the floor around his chair. "Just a small change of heart, that's all. Besides, if we stay the same, there is no individuality." The boy had closed his eyes as he smiled, but that did nothing to assuage the creeping dread in her.

The view changed again. The little boy was glaring up at the adult woman with long black hair under a blue sky and green underfoot. "But I'm not wrong about this, Rem. If you just keep saving the butterflies, the spiders will die."

"Yes, but--" Rem said.

He took a step toward her. "Wanting to save both is just a naïve contradiction. And what would you'd rather have us do? Just stand around and think about it? In the meantime, while we do that, the spider eats the butterfly."

The perspective changed as she rushed the boy, tackling him to the green ground, and gathering the too-large shirt in two fists. "What's wrong with you, Knives? Don't you understand? I wanted to save both of them, you idiot!" That was Vash's voice, so young and so angry. Knives looked bewildered and slightly frightened.

The viewpoint changed again. She didn't have time to see the view out the window before whirling around to face Knives in the dark interior of a small metal room. Grief was tangling with anger. "Don't say that!" Vash's voice ordered.

Knives leaned back, looking at the ceiling. "Their immigration is out of the question. That'd be like spreading pathogenic organisms across our healthy universe."

"Are you saying you planned this?"

"That's right." The scene shifted again. They were outside on the dusty and rocky ground in a night lit by the moons and a burning ship. Knives looked unholy gleeful. "Yeah, spectacular, huh? They all die. Except, of course, for the fraction that will survive because of Rem's incessant meddling." The sky streaked with shooting stars.

"Knives! You... you aren't even human!" Physical pain matched the inner as Knives kicked her in the stomach.

And then she was excitedly pushing open a pair of wooden doors with Vash's hands; only a red sleeve also covered the left arm. He couldn't wait to meet whoever was on the other side of the doors. But she stopped short just inside the office. A human man with dark hair sprawled face down on his massive wooden desk in a pool of blood.

Knives sat on the corner of the desk, looking out the window. Same short hair, a survival suit claimed from some crashed ship, same total nonchalance at Vash's sinking heart. Tears were already streaming from her eyes as Knives waved as he turned to face her. "Hey there, Vash."

Then a pink light swallowed up everything with staggering pain and devastating grief.

Meryl jerked out of the kiss and sobbed. She couldn't stop sobbing.

"Shit!" Vash picked her up and moved them. He set her down on a cold tiled surface. "That was my fault," he said. "I should have had a tighter lid on my side." Water runs and then he pressed a damp washcloth to her face. "Sorry."

She took control of wiping her face, and his hands cupped her shoulders. She took a deep breath, blinked away her remaining tears, and looked away from Vash's contrite face. They were in a bathroom now. "Surveillance? In here?"

"No, but probably keep your voice down in case they put in comm transmitters." He let her go and started looking at the walls.

"Okay. Right. What was that?"

He winced. "Me being so out of practice, I slammed you with my brother."

"Your brother?"

He pulled a hand down his face before speaking. "Yeah, we need to talk about him. But he's like sixth or seventh problem on the list, so not right now."

What had he been trying to do if that wasn't it? She felt different. Expanded and there was a doorway pushed open in her mind. He was there beyond her, bright and shining, but also worried about everything. "You made a list?" she thought through the doorway.

Vash turned back to her with a delighted grin. "We can talk like this, good! I doubt Driscoll has any idea it's a possibility."

Her sense of accomplishment shriveled, and she looked at the floor. She could talk to Vash, but that wasn't the power Driscoll had been looking for that she couldn't do. She hated failure, and she had gotten everyone trapped her because she didn't see the danger.

"Remember, you are a person and Driscoll is an asshole." Vash tilted her chin up. "Your Nana Janet could have handled telling you the truth better, but getting you away from Driscoll makes her a saint. Don't let him into your head now."

"I won't." Her stomach was churning, but she ignored it. "What's on the problem list?"

"First, they think we're a committed couple, and I don't know how well your acting will support that. Second, finding a way to warn Milly and the kids so they don't get locked up. Third, getting out of here."

"That's it?! Vash, I'm pregnant!"

Vash flinched. "I know that! But it's not immediate. We are getting out of here before they realize Chuck isn't human, way before having our baby to experiment on. Okay?"

She nodded. They did have to get Chuck out before the boy or Vash was on an examination table. She looked away from him to blink her watery eyes. Later, later, when there was time to mourn their broken friendship, she could cry then. Cry that he was still forced to take care of her for the boyfriend gambit and possibly for the baby's sake. Apologize that she only wanted to keep him safe. Well, mostly wanting to keep him safe, and ignoring the pulse of want that he summoned in her.

The cell door opened and Vash whirled to block the bathroom doorway. "I know how much money I had in that bag and she had in her bag and you'll be sorry if anyone had sticky fingers checking our luggage for weapons." The cell door slammed shut again as a response. Vash turned back to her. "Want me to bring your bag in here?"

"Sure. Might as well get comfortable." She unfastened the frog closures of her outer blouse and slid the hidden zipper down.

Vash carried her bag into the bathroom and set it on the other side of the sink before blinking at her under-blouse. "So many layers."

She snorted. "You're the last one to talk." His body armor looked more complicated to take off than her clothes.

He jolted slightly, eyes widening. "Talking! Chuck heard the plant angel. Hannah said he's a touch telepath with his antennae. She told him not to put his antennae on the bulb. We might be able to reach him."

"Without touching?"

"Unless you and Milly have some secret insurance agent gear that becomes transmitters? It's the best idea I've got."

She pulled his pen from her pocket. "We don't. They must have counter-measures. They didn't even take this from me. But aren't we jumping a problem on the list?"

"Do you really think I'd pester you tonight? After all this?" He took back the pen and left the bathroom. "I'll keep my hands to myself."

Her body went cold. They are under surveillance; no one would want sex while they are being watched. Especially sex without love, and they were bound to give away that it was entirely one-sided in the throes of orgasms. And now she was crying again. She found the washcloth on the edge of the sink and hid her heated eyes in it. This behavior was unacceptable, and it needed to stop, but her body wasn't listening to her and leaking out the tears.

Milly swore it made you feel better when they had discussed how often Vash had crying fits, but Meryl wasn't finding any confirmation of that hypothesis. She wanted his arms and his coat wrapping around her again, protecting her from the ugliness of Gunsmoke. It wasn't a fair want; she needed to do her part to get out of here.

She should be used to this! All her life she wanted--parents, friends, to just get through socializing without making a fool of herself--and she had never gotten what she wanted. This wasn't any different from the rest. And those bastards had probably kept his coat regardless of bringing their luggage down here. Great, that thought wasn't making the tears stop, either.

Vash stopped in front of her and leaned his forehead on her head. "Am I making this worse for you?" he whispered.

"No." Her guilt expanded. He was blaming himself. Milly was right. They had talked about Vash's tendency to do that after they had found out no one had investigated the July City Incident. 'What did we miss? Did someone force Vash into this outlaw lifestyle?' Meryl had asked. Milly had looked so solemn. 'It must have been someone who knew him well enough to know he'd just take the blame and live with it. And that someone must have hated Mr. Vash to do that to him.'

This whole situation was all her fault and her stupid emotions and maybe if she internally screamed at them, they'd shrink to something appropriate. And Vash wouldn't try to take the blame for them. Meryl didn't hate Vash, but she was hating how she couldn't control herself now.

He stepped back from her. "I can feel how angry you are, but you shouldn't focus it on yourself like that. I'd rather see you aim it at the idiots who locked us up."

He could feel her emotions? No! He couldn't! She jerked the washcloth away from her eyes and she kept flailing her arms because that would make her heart listen. He just wanted to be friends. Her greedy heart had to let him go! She tried to jump off the counter and get away from him while her arms were still flailing.

Her balance shifted, but Vash caught her shoulders and pushed her back onto the counter. "Are you trying to fall off, my agent?" He smiled warmly at her.

She couldn't stop from flashing back. Trapped and frightened, and couldn't see why the door had fallen off, chained to the floor of the van. And her heart leaped when Vash's voice told the soldiers, "That's my insurance agent and I'm not breaking in another one." But that was just because of her job, even though Bernardelli hadn't stood behind her. He had said, "Come on. I know your paycheck depends on following me around." That had hurt, that still hurt, even if he wanted to be friends now. Just friends made sense how he ignored how badly she wanted his kiss after dancing. She stepped toward him, tilted her chin up, and let her eyelids fall shut. And never got the kiss she waited for. And when he kissed her, it was only a ploy. "Had to get you close enough to tell you. They can't see past your cape." She stopped arguing with Milly and Chuck and saw Vash and Hannah have gone to the other side of the car. Her heart plummeted again. He doesn't want her beyond friendship; he doesn't even want to pretend to want her that way.

Vash's jaw dropped, and his fingers tightened on her shoulders. "Meryl, do you think I don't love you?"

Shit. She hadn't even kept that in her own head. She closed her eyes to hold back new tears.

His right hand left her shoulder, cupped her jaw, and tilted her face up. His lips pressed against hers and new memories filled her mind.

Meryl leaned against him while they rode on the motorcycle and wrapped her arm around his waist as far as it could go. He wrapped his arm around her waist, anchoring her against him. She was safe now, and relief to have her in his arms again overwhelmed him. Then she was in his arms again as they lay on the sofa and his heart swelled as Meryl's sleepy voice called him "my gunslinger." One, he liked gunslinger better than outlaw. Two, Meryl could call him her anything. He closed the bedroom door on the sandsteamer quietly to not wake the Hannah and Chuck lumps in their beds. His heart pounded. Meryl had danced with him, she hadn't stopped dancing with him. Did that mean this had been a date? He hoped it was a date and hoped she had a good time. "What?!" she yelled at Chuck's suggestion. His stomach churned. She doesn't want him; she wouldn't be so angry with them if she did. "Just tell her I like you and want to smooch lips with you all the time," Hannah said from behind him as they rode on the motorcycle. He didn't need to say anything; Meryl had to know how he felt. And then, stepping into the bedroom they were given, and he spied the camera dome in the corner. He whirled around, have to stop Meryl from giving the plan away in case they had secretly installed microphones in this room too, so he pressed his lips to hers. She deepened the kiss. Oh, she likes it, oh she likes him. He poured desire into it. I want to be the one you depend on, the one you desire, too. I need to trust you with everything and it's too large to hold inside him any longer.

Vash broke the kiss. "Stars, Meryl, I want to lay you on the altar of love and worship you. It's been growing day by day."

Relief and desire crashed through her like the rain in that washout. "I love you too." She cupped his face and pulled him in for another kiss. He responded eagerly, combing his fingers into her hair as they wrapped around the back of her neck. Her fingers skimmed his body-armor-covered neck to the zipper at the front.

He caught her hands and pulled back. "And we're back to problem number one on the list."

She sighed. "How are you convinced that I can't pretend something?"

"It's not you! You are beautiful and perfect and I so want to see you naked," he squeezed her hands. "But you will not want me. Not after you see my scars."

"The armor you are wearing isn't leaving much to my imagination." She dropped her eyes to look at the tight gear over his skin before looking up and into Vash's blue-green eyes. "And I like it."

New memories flashed through her mind. A doctor exclaimed, "What the hell have you done to yourself!" A nurse recoiled with shock and disgust contorting her face. Vash sighed. "I've got more examples if you need more evidence. You see them, you react, and Driscoll will know you haven't seen them before." He straightened up. "Not that I have any clue what they would do with that information."

"I wouldn't run. Come here." She pulled him back for another kiss, and he didn't resist. This time, she brought her hands down from his neck to his shoulders, ran her left hand over his armor-covered collarbone, and unhooked his left shoulder guard from the vest. He jerked his head back, blue-green eyes blown wide. "Now, who's giving things away?" She set the shoulder guard on the counter next to her.

He licked his swollen lips. "We're mostly out of sight lines in here; that's why I relocated us."

"No thoughts of getting wet together in that large shower they built in here?" She rested her hand on his uncovered skin. There was a gouge in his muscle here and still visible lines of incisions that had been stitched closed.

His face reddened as he glanced at the shower enclosure and back at her. "In my defense, you didn't seem to be in the mood."

"My mood has improved." She put her hand on the first buckle of the leather strapped over his metal arm.

He swallowed hard. "You just have to loosen the straps and then it'll slide off. If you're going through with this." She followed his directions, loosening the buckles, and sliding the leather sleeve off the segmented metal arm. She put it next to her on the counter and reached for the glove on the metal hand. He drew it out of her reach. "Leave it. I don't want to pull your hair."

Meryl nodded and kissed him quickly on the lips. She had thought his insistence on remaining as dressed as possible that night in the wastelands was just a way to keep his distance, not this doubt. Plucking the glove off his right hand, she remembered his raised scar on it from their night in the wastelands. She stroked that scar with her thumb and realized his right thumb also had a surgical scar around its base with a couple of staples before pulling off his arm sleeve. A gouge crossed his forearm, and another gouge crossed his bicep, and both looked like whatever had tried to close the wound was removed from his skin and muscles as well. She scooted to the edge of the counter and took his hands. "Your turn."

"My turn for what?"

She pressed his hands down on her right thigh and pushed his fingers under the hem of her skirt.

His mouth fell open.

Meryl smirked. "Take my stockings and boots off and touch me. You want that, right?"

"You have smacked me for less."

"I shouldn't have. And I stopped."

"I deserved most of them." He caressed her leg through the navy stocking before pushing the skirt up her thigh. She panted with the tingles that sent through her. He glanced up at her face and looked back down to unhook the garters. She shivered with pleasure as he rolled the stocking down. "I have thought about your bare legs and tasting you."

"As a distraction for not undressing yourself?"

He kissed her inner thigh by her knee. "A bribe for that." His glance up was sheepish. "I didn't expect it to work."

She combed her fingers into his hair as he removed her boot and stocking. The styling gel stiffness gave way. His worry brushed against the door in her mind. "I just got you. I'm not throwing you away."

"You have had me for a while." He stood up again, leaned in, and kissed her on the lips before putting his hands on her left leg. "Hannah's been goading me to do something since Promontory."

"Don't ask Milly how long she's been making suggestions."

Vash finished removing her left stocking and boot and gulped as he stood again. She wrapped her bare legs around his waist, ignoring the belts and body armor he still wore. Her arms went around his neck and tugged him in for another kiss.

This one felt a little desperate, and Vash fisted her loose outer blouse in both of his hands behind her back. If she didn't fear that this may be their last night together, she probably wouldn't put him through this. Then again, sometimes the only way out was through. She dragged her hands over his shoulders, his protected pecs, and up until she found the zipper and dragged it down his front. The brown vest parted as Vash ended the kiss and shifted back.

The muscular physique she admired had so much damage; damage he had taken so not to kill anyone. A deep gouge stretched from his right ribs down to his waistband and had claw-like gashed across to the center of his abs and reached up to another long gash that bisected his right pectoral and ran over his shoulder. Metal strapping covered a deeper gouge on his left pectoral where skin hadn't regrown over the muscle. More metal straps supported his ribs, a pair under both arms. And more surgical scars crisscrossed his abs. Gunsmoke should be kinder to him.

He wasn't looking at her. In fact, he had his eyes closed to not see how she was reacting. Her idiot. "Do I need to not jab you anywhere? Would that--"

"They're scars! They stopped bleeding years ago!"

"I know that! I love you and never want my touch to cause you pain." She ran her hands up his abs and chest, skin to skin, avoiding the metal lattice. His eyes flew open and his breathing hitched. "You do like this." She ran her hand over his pectoral scar line, shoving his vest out of the way as she went up to his shoulder. "Will you like this?" She kissed the center of his chest and ran her tongue up his skin.

He shuddered and gripped her arms. Lust hit her mind that wasn't her own heady rush. "Oh Meryl, my neck?"

She scraped his clavicle with her teeth before kissing up his neck. He shuddered again. "So you might want my touch to be painful and I'm not opposed to rough, you know that. But not tonight. After all this, I just want you."

"You still?" He pulled back until he was an arm's length away. "You still?"

"Yes, Vash. I want you tonight and all the tomorrows I can see. Are you okay with gentle tonight in the shower?" She cupped his jaw. He was still in reach for that.

He leaned into her hand, but his eyebrows bunched in confusion. "That's your first thought seeing my scars? That I might find pain sexually gratifying?"

"No, my first thought was you should have let me bandage you on the sandsteamer and I would have found a much better way to keep you quiet on the bus later."

He blinked. "Would've missed spotting Wolfwood."

"So, everything happens for a reason?"

"He would probably claim that, sure." Vash shed the armored vest and then tilted her head back so he could kiss her lips. "I love you. Want everything with you. Gently, in the shower is fine."

Meryl wrapped her arms around him as he moved closer. The gouge continued over his right shoulder, down the shoulder blade, and ended just above where the metal straps around his ribs started on that side. A triangle-shaped metal plate mended some of his left shoulder blade. His hands tucked under her outer blouse and then tugged her under-blouse out of the waistband of her skirt. "Easier from the front," she sent to him.

Vash trailed his finger around her sides as he ended the kiss. "Buttons. And you probably want to keep the buttons."

"I didn't see if they left the sewing kit in my bag."

"Sewing needles can make effective weapons, so they probably took it away. I'll be gentle with your buttons." He cupped her breasts through the layers of fabric before unbuttoning the topmost button and kissing her exposed skin. Meryl mewled and leaned backwards as he worked his way down so she didn't have to unlatch her legs from around his waist. His right hand cradled the back of her head before she slammed it into the mirror behind her. "Maybe save that for the bed?" he suggested.

"Or a table," she added.

The last button on her under blouse was open and Vash looked up her body to her face with hungry lust. "There is a table--cameras!" He flinched. "Shit, no, they are not seeing you naked." He pulled her upright again. "Just so you know, I do like that idea. You laid out so I can put my mouth all over you." He pushed both her blouses off her shoulders and kissed her left bare shoulder with his face growing red. "I really like that idea."

She shifted her legs and hips and felt his bulge. Okay, she was grinding her wet panties against it. "I can tell."

He stilled himself except for a shudder. "Watch it or we won't make it to the shower."

Meryl freed her arms from both her blouses. "You're the one who isn't finished with your turn." She pulled her shoulders back so her breasts jutted forward more. Not that they were large enough to garner any attention, even that way.

His right hand holding her head shifted down her back to her bra clasp. "I won't keep you waiting." He unfastened it without looking and used both hands to peel it off of her. His eyes dilated more looking at her chest. "I wondered what sound you would make if I did this." His mouth engulfed her left nipple.

Meryl gasped a cry at the sparks that went through her. Vash ended the suckle with an audible pop and kissed his way across her chest to the other nipple. "Different sound, but I love it. I love you. Make as much noise as you want and make Driscoll have a coronary."

"Leave him out of our relationship."

"Yes, ma'am," he sent as he sucked on her left nipple.

She reached and found his belt buckle between her legs as she gasped. It sprang open under her fingers, but she couldn't open his jeans underneath.

Vash scraped her nipple with his teeth, sending a fresh shiver through her. "Careful there."

"Fine. I can't reach your boots, regardless."

He kissed up her chest and neck to end the last one on her lips. "I do not know how your skirt comes off with you like that, so work on that." He lifted her off the counter and set her bare feet on the stone floor. She glanced over her shoulder at the doorway, but couldn't see the black domes he had said held the cameras. He unbuckled his holster from around his leg and waist as he turned to the shower. He turned on the water before tossing the weapon belt onto the counter.

Meryl unfastened her skirt's waistband while Vash sat on the toilet and bent to loosen his boots. His head tilted so his gaze was back on her when the white fabric shifted off her hips. She felt heady with his attention. She dropped her skirt with her garter belt and panties and stepped out of the fabric pile.

Vash toed off his boots and set that aside together as she passed him to get into the shower. The warm water cascaded over her skin with good pressure. She watched Vash shed his jeans and the body armor he wore over them. Scars covered his legs too, but his rampant erection caught her gaze.

She jerked her head to look at his face as he entered and disrupted the water stream. His blond hair caught the water and flattened to spiky locks closer to his skull. The rivulets of water ran over his muscles until the scars redirected them. She pressed against the tiles, giving him room to get inside. "I love you."

"I love you too." He smiled as he leaned over her and combed her wet hair back with his fingers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He wrapped his long arms around her without ending the kiss, grabbed her butt, and lifted her off her feet. She spread her knees apart, and he stepped in between her legs as he pressed her back against the tile. He nipped her bottom lip as he pulled his head back. "Ready?"

"Yes, please, yes." She rolled her head back with a moan as he pushed his cock into her, stretching her in such a pleasurable way.

"I love hearing you make that sound. That I'm pleasing you that much." He rocked in and out of her as he kissed down her neck again. The angle he held her at hit her inner clitoris with every thrust. Her fingers tangled into his hair and tugged it as star bursts filled her vision. "Damn! That feels so good."

Heat flared on all of her nerve endings as pleasure rippled from her center, and she wailed as it hit her throat. Vash's rocking stopped as he tensed and his orgasm shot into her. He murmured her name with every kiss he pressed against her skin. She floated on the warmth and affection and love that she felt from him and was sending to him as well.

Vash chuckled slightly as he slipped out of her. "Safe to put you down?"

"I can stand. But I don't want to for much longer." She wanted to drift into the lethargy that was taking hold.

He kissed her softly on the lips before easing her down to her feet. She only had to balance against him for a few moments. "Clean up now and get into bed." He yawned. "I hope they stocked towels. We forgot to check."

Chapter Text

Vash awoke with an unfamiliar weight on his chest but recognized the faint snore. He glanced down at Meryl's dark head resting on his right pectoral, and the rest of her curled under his right arm. He pulled the covers over her shoulder. Her arm around his stomach tightened as she mumbled in her sleep. He smiled. She loved him and they were the same.

He could get used to waking up like this. Meryl needed to rest after all these revelations of the past--it was close enough to a month since they found out Nana Janet was dead, so just make it a month--month, he was not waking her up now. But once they were out of here and into the new normal, maybe she'd like to wake up with kisses? Or more than just kisses? He should probably find out; Meryl hated surprises.

The room's lights increased, and the door slid open before two guards, a new shift. The clang jolted Meryl in his embrace and she rolled out of it to stare at the intruders. Vash sighed as he hiked up on his metal arm. Right, had to get out of this situation before they could have leisurely morning wake-up sex. "Can we help you?" he asked the guards. "We didn't put in a wake-up call."

Meryl clutched the covers over her breasts. "What do you want?"

"Vash the Stampede is wanted," the clean-shaven brunette said.

Meryl stopped breathing. Vash rubbed her back to get her to start again. "Yes, we know that. Hard to miss it when almost everyone I meet starts crowing about getting sixty billion double dollars. You woke us up for that? I expected something different from this crowd. We're going back to sleep now. Bring coffee with breakfast."

The guard with a brunette goatee around his mouth tried next. "Dr. Sainsbury wants to see Vash now. Miss Stryfe is to stay put."

"No." That was Meryl's done with this nonsense no. "He can come here and see Vash."

Both guards tightened their grips on their holstered sidearms.

"I don't think that's an option. Toss me my pants there." Vash gestured at his sweat pants draped on the chair closest to the door.

She twisted on the mattress to look at him with fear in her eyes. He kissed her, a quick peck on the lips. "I promise to fight back if they get the scalpels out. Don't worry," he sent to her. Out loud for the guards, "Don't worry. He probably just wants to chat about the July Incident. You know they don't believe me about the amnesia. Maybe they'll let you work on that while we're here. My pants?" He held out his metal arm for them.

Clean-shaven guard looked disdainfully at him. "We aren't your maids, outlaw."

Vash shrugged. "Just trying to spare your delicate sensibilities. So many men get the vapors over nudity." He swung out of the left side of the bed, stepped over the towels left on the floor, and stalked to his clothing. Meryl had seen it all and loved him regardless of how he looked was the best armor.

The guards darted their eyes away without turning their heads. Vash let them save their faces and pulled on his sweatpants. He balled up his sweatshirt and tossed it into Meryl's lap on the bed. She'd swim in it, but it would keep her covered from the cameras as she dressed. "Is this good enough?" he asked the guards.

Goatee guard gestured him out the door and gave him a shove as Vash crossed the threshold. The cell door slid shut behind him. They crossed the whole lab, and none of the tables looked prepped for surgery, which was good. He'd rather not start a firefight without giving Milly and the kids a heads up.

Jonathan Sainsbury waited next to the small bulb and looked dismayed when he saw Vash. Vash pointed back at the cell with his thumb. "I can go put on more clothes. This wasn't my idea."

"That isn't...." Sainsbury shook his head. "You haven't regenerated any tissue at all, have you?"

"You want to chat about my medical decisions? Meryl's freaked out that you want to experiment on me and you're not supposed to upset pregnant people. Can we go back and talk in her presence? You can bring these two if you want." He pointed to the brunette guards.

Sainsbury frowned. "We have an experiment for you, and trying to fluster me won't get you out of it."

Vash shrugged. "Seems like you're getting flustered without any help from me."

Sainsbury growled to himself before clipping his speech. "Electrical generation. We have connected the bulb to a battery. All you need to do is charge it."

"Independents can't do that."

"The IDBs, your mothers, can. Between the Hybrids and the Plants, there was enough power generated to destroy July City. So hypothetically, you can do that. But please, explain how you know differently."

It was Knives who had told Vash they couldn't during their wandering years, when Vash had demanded some way to help the humans which would help their sisters. And these were not a group he wanted to discuss Knives with; not with their ties to a paranoid military who were becoming more and more shoot first and never ask questions. "They never tried putting us into bulbs back on the ship. So I really don't think it will work."

"The Fleet had all the resources they needed to survive, even ways to transplant bud IDBs into bulbs. We do not." Sainsbury folded his arms across his chest.

And that probably wasn't good for his sisters, either. Vash really needed to tell Meryl about so much; if anyone could see a path forward between his and Knives' stalemate, it would be his insurance agent. But he had to get out of this before he could tell her. "And if stuffing independent plants into bulbs replacing the ones you're killing off with constant use works, what does that mean for Meryl? For our child? For our children? The plant angels aren't so good at communicating. It is so easy to not consider that they have been enslaved. How easy is it to ignore an independent plant that can hold a conversation with you?"

Sainsbury jerked his arms apart and curled his hands into fists. "We have to survive somehow! And you are going to do your part to help."

Vash had been doing so much to help before July City and the damn bounty made it impossible to stay long enough to help on an extensive project like the windmill at Jeneora Rock or the satellite broadcast system. Now was not the time to get into that. "This is not the way."

"You are going to get into that bulb, or you are going to watch one of those humans get hurt."

"You are messing with things that will get you killed." If Knives found out about this place and what they were trying to do, the thought made him sick.

Sainsbury bared his teeth. "Miss Stryfe's reports claim you care for children. Which shall it be? Go fetch the youngest," he said to the guard with the goatee.

Forget Knives' retribution; that war machine motorcycle was closer. And Hannah had said it would respond with lethal force if anyone hurt her or Chuck. And those two had accepted him, claimed him as family. He'd be the adult they didn't think they needed and keep the motorcycle from killing these idiots. Why did people make it so hard to keep them safe? "Leave them alone! I'll do what you want. But it's not my fault when it doesn't work."

Sainsbury relaxed his fists. "We will give it a full twenty-four hours to be sure. I'll even tell Miss Stryfe what you are assisting with, so she won't worry. What with her delicate condition," he sneered.

"And I'm going to tell her you said it just like that and watch her knock your teeth out." The guards gripped their side arms, but Vash ignored them as he dropped his sweatpants. There was a ladder up to the connection terminal and the access hatch. The hatch was already open, the heavier atmosphere inside the bulb staying contained. He took a deep breath and lowered himself into the dense pink cloud. It buoyed his body like he remembered the zero-g sections of the ship doing and obscured the curved world outside the bulb.

And then his body rippled.

He inhaled the different atmosphere, and it went straight to his brain like the buzzing when he had about three bottles' worth of whiskey. It helped with the floating he was doing. And he didn't feel any pain as feathers emerged. Wings flexed around his body. How did his sisters handle them?

"Vash? Vash, it has been at least an hour. What's happening out there?"

"Sweetheart! Did you punch Sainsbury's teeth out?"

"No, I haven't seen him. They only gave me one breakfast. What's going on?"

He couldn't tell which way was up and which was down, and now he was spinning. "He was so sar- sar- snide about your baby condition! Punch him for it."

"I will." Meryl promised. "Now please tell me what's going on." She felt worried.

She didn't need to worry. He was buzzing, but it felt good. He hummed the last saloon song he heard to make her feel better. "They put me in the bulb. Thinking I can make it light up like my sisters. Well, our sisters, huh."

"Can we do that?"

"Nope! Knives said so, and he's usually right about stuff like that. And I told Sainsbury this wouldn't work, and he threatened Chuck, so I got in. Sainsbury said he would tell you, so he's a liar too. Punch him twice."

"Are you sure you're okay? You aren't normally so enthusiastic about hitting people."

"If people want to hurt me, it doesn't matter. Lots a different ways to punch people. The best ones are metaphorical. But I figured you are the type to handle your own fights. Am I wrong? Do you want me to punch Sainsbury for you?"

"If you see him first. You didn't answer me. Are you okay?"

"Don't worry. I'm okay." He started humming the drinking song again.

"You sound more than okay. Like you're in the middle of a good time." Meryl's telepathic voice was just as tart as her vocal one.

"Aw. Don't sound like that. You had a good time last night, too." He switched his hum to a love song he knew.

"I want to get you out of there for future good times."

"Sainsbury won't let me out for twenty-four hours unless he lied about that, too." He stopped humming as fear poked him. Fear from Meryl's side. "Oh, love, it doesn't hurt me. It's boring without a sister in here. It'll be super boring when you need to sleep and can't talk to me."

"Vash, can you get out of the bulb? Please don't joke about this. Can you get out?" Her fear wasn't decreasing.

"They closed the hatch. It doesn't open from the inside."

"So you can't do anything if they get Chuck."

"Time to go then." Vash stretched his awareness out of the bulb. Meryl's brightness was practically standing next to him and he kept a hand on her as he reached upward. There was another bright spot, smaller than they were and brightening from sleepiness dim. Vash pounced on it. "Chucky! Wake up, little bro!"

Chuck yawned as he stretched on the bed. He hated sleeping in his helmet. His ears itched, but it wasn't worth a scratch for these bad guys to find out he was a Martian mouse. He sat up.

Milly-ma'am set covered plates on their table and he didn't see Hannah. Milly-ma'am glanced at him. "Good morning. Hannah went back to the car for your lessons."

"Okay," Chuck answered. And she was going to snoop because that's what Hannah did if the bad guys took their eyes off her for more than five seconds. She had left him locked up in a separate cage to snoop in Limburger Tower before and still thought that was the right call.

He flopped onto his back again and stared at the ceiling. Going to the bathroom and eating seemed like too much work. He should just stay in bed until boom time. It was fine. He hadn't changed into his pajamas last night so he could sleep more and be ready to bounce out of here. But now his antennae itched.

Vash's voice boomed in his head. "Chucky! Wake up, little bro!"

"Don't call me Chucky." He wasn't as angry as Hannah got with a bad nickname, but he saw the ugly, scarred doll with a knife from the horror movies that Mom didn't let him watch. "Ever."

"What was that?" Meryl-ma'am's voice sounded horrified, like she had seen what Chuck had thought up for Vash.

"That's Chucky. He kills people in movies," Chuck answered. Vash wouldn't know either.

"Oh, that's pretty horrible. Never will do that again, little fuzzy bro. Sorry. Those movie things cover a lot of stories."

"We can talk about movies later," Meryl-ma'am said. "Chuck, have they tried to do anything to you, Hannah, or Milly?"

"Milly-ma'am is here with breakfast. She said Hannah went to get our lessons, so she's snooping. Everything was quiet last night. How come I can hear you, Meryl-ma'am?"

"She's got powers!" Vash's voice bubbled with excitement. "We aren't telling the bad guys about this one. So shhhhhhh."

"Concentrate, Vash, please."

Something banged on the table, and the dishes bounced too. Chuck's eyes jerked open. Hannah rested her hands on the pile of books now on the table. "Vash and Meryl are gone. Their room wasn't slept in. Even the bathroom is dry."

"Maybe they got the meeting already," Milly said. But her voice sounded worried.

Chuck squeezed his eyes shut. It helped him see Vash and Meryl-ma'am floating in the black. "Where are you? What's happening?"

"Underground," Vash answered. "They've got a dungeon lab."

Chuck remembered Karbunkle's huge lab in Limburger Tower: a room three or four stories tall with walls, floor, and ceiling covered in metal. The computers and a giant viewscreen on one wall, the transporter tube close by it, and the mass of robot arms and scary attachments hung over the medical table on the opposite side from that.

Floating Vash shook his head. "Not so much metal down here."

"Chuck, you need to get up now," Hannah said.

"{I'm talking to Vash and Meryl-ma'am. Antennae talk.}"

"What language is that?" Meryl-ma'am asked.

"Martian. Daddy taught us. Hannah figured the bad guys here wouldn't know it."

"Little sis is so smart." Vash's image in the black spun until he was hanging upside down. "You're smart too, little bro. And Meryl is smart. And these guys are not smart."

"But they are leaving you alone, Chuck?" Meryl-ma'am wasn't spinning, and she looked as worried as she sounded.

"They let Hannah get the lessons, but they brought food here. So they haven't locked the door yet. What's wrong with Vash?"

"They put him in a bulb and I think it has made him drunk."

Chuck remembered Uncle Vinnie's last birthday night. Karbunkle's lab vanished as his and Hannah's bedroom on the top floor of the Last Chance Garage replaced it. Footsteps dragged on the stairs in the main room. Chuck slid out of his lower bunk bed and opened the bedroom door.

Now the main room was visible. The four-seater table that Hannah and Chuck did homework and games at was behind the couch that was on the left side of the room so you could sit and watch the TV that was next to the window. All of that was visible from the bedroom door.

Dad had Uncle Vinnie's white arm around his tan shoulders and steered his bro from the stairwell and around the table. Neither of them saw Meryl-ma'am by the bathroom door nor Vash hanging upside down over the table.

Vash blinked at the pair of mice. "You do look like your dad!"

The taller tan mouse spoke quietly. "Hush, Vincent. You aren't driving to the scoreboard like this. Couch for you."

"Yes, Dad." The light from the lamp on at the other end of the couch flashed on Uncle Vinnie's mask as he talked slowly. "You know you are a good dad, Throttle. So much better than my old man."

"And now we're at the I'm sorry about how my life has turned out part of drinking until you're drunk."

"Nah." Uncle Vinnie swatted his left hand at empty air. "I'd be horrible at being you. And it's good. Life is. Should have more trophies, but that's Lard-butt's fault."

Dad set Uncle Vinnie on the couch and helped him lie down. "Now don't go ruinin' all the drinking you just did by thinking of Limburger." He looked over at the bedroom door. "Back to bed, Chuck. Uncle Vinnie's spending the night."

"Yes, we need to get Vash out of the bulb and onto a safe couch," Meryl-ma'am said. Dad, Uncle Vinnie, and home vanished into the blackness.

"Aw, don't I even rate a safe bed?"

"Vash, please! Safe hotel room. Chuck, tell Milly and Hannah where we are so they can get us out."

"You're underground. Vash is in a bulb. Where are you, Meryl-ma'am?" Chuck asked.

The blackness surrounding them changed to the courtyard outside. They walked to the building on the north side and through its porch to another garden with a door partially in the ground, down the steps into the lab, the bulb on one end, and a cell door on the other end. "Do you understand?" Meryl asked.

"Yes, I'll tell them. You'll be out in a few hours at the most. Probably not that many. No sweat." He opened his eyes to see Hannah and Milly both sitting at the table, staring at him. "Bathroom," he told them as he hopped out of the bed.

Hannah rolled her eyes but said nothing. Chuck didn't take long in the bathroom, but paused long enough to scratch his ears and around his antennae before putting his helmet back on and sitting down at his breakfast. He pulled his notebook out of the book pile. He started drawing what Meryl had shown him. "{Vash and Meryl-ma'am talked in my head. Baddies locked them up underground. Vash doesn't sound right. I'll get them out.}"

Hannah put down her fork. "{Underground? How can you get them out from underground?}"

He carefully wrote in M and V where they said they were in the lab. "{Take the bike in and you and Milly-ma'am fight the baddies up here.}"

"{You're too little to get in a fight. I'll do it.}"

"{I'm not too little! And all I have to do is ride the bike.}"

"{You are too if that's what you think all a fight is.}"

He scowled. "{You can't go. Vash called it a lab and you can't be trusted in a lab.}"

"{What!}" Hannah curled her fists and leaned over the table. She couldn't reach him that way.

"{All you do is start poking at mechanics you don't know and forget to boom-boom.}"

She reared back. "{I can be trusted! More than you; I know what not to blow up.}"

Milly-ma'am clapped her hands together once. Chuck and Hannah both looked at her. "If you two are going to fight, you have to do it in English so I can referee."

Hannah glanced at the black dome in the ceiling's corner. "Eat," she told Chuck.

Chuck stuck his tongue out. Milly-ma'am reached over and took his notebook away. "Eat your breakfast before it gets cold." She looked at his rough sketch of the lab that Meryl-ma'am had shown him before picking up a pencil and writing on the blank space in the middle.

Chuck shoveled the scrambled eggs into his mouth, which is made harder since he couldn't take off his helmet.

Milly-ma'am put his notebook in the middle of the table. She had written "Where are they?" down in the middle of the lab rectangle.

He jabbed his finger at the floor beside his chair. Milly-ma'am frowned in a someone-else-is-in-trouble way and not in the I-have-no-idea-what-you-mean way. That was good because he had no idea how to tell her without the baddies hearing it.

Hannah scribbled on her notebook and then thrust it at Milly-ma'am. "Check my homework, please."

Milly-ma'am blinked at the writing. "We need to work on your penmanship."

"What's that?" Chuck asked.

"Writing," Hannah said. "I'm more used to typing."

Milly-ma'am tapped a finger on Hannah's notebook. "I think you should give your brother a turn on the motorcycle. You can stay on it without falling off, can't you?"

Chuck snorted. "If I fall off a bike, I'll eat Dad's leather jacket."

She nodded. "That answers that. Finish your eggs."

Hannah scowled as she put her plate under its cover. "{You stay with the bike. Don't you dare dismount.}"

"{The bike will fight. I will ride. You will drive the car and Milly will shoot.}"

"Hannah, it's going to be all right." Milly-ma'am smiled brightly. "How about you make sure we packed everything of ours?"

Hannah got up from the table with her unhappy-with-the-plan face, but she said nothing else as she picked up their lesson books from the table.

Milly-ma'am winked at Chuck. "I have ten older brothers and sisters, and had to move to a whole 'nother city to prove I can do anything on my own."

Chuck grinned at her. It was great when an adult got it. Milly-ma'am cleaned up the table, stacking all their dishes into one pile. He finished eating, stuffed his notebook into his backpack with the rest of his clothes and the books Hannah had already packed.

Milly-ma'am swung her coat onto her shoulders and picked up her massive stun gun. Her right hand tucked into the trigger guard and the stock rested against her forearm until the end rested in the bend of her elbow and she braced the wide barrel with her left hand. "Stay behind me." She told them as she headed out the door first.

Chuck swung his backpack onto his back and Hannah carried hers ready to swing it.

A guard in the khaki uniform met them on the porch where they had sat yesterday. "Miss Thompson, you and the children need to go back to your room."

"You need to release Meryl Stryfe and Vash the Stampede right now."

"That's not happening," the guard answered with a snort.

Milly-ma'am aimed the stun gun and fired before his hand dropped onto the butt of his pistol. The bolt expanded into an X, caught the guard in the chest, and pinned him to the wall on the other side of the porch. He slumped against the metal bars.

"Wrong answer," Milly-ma'am told him. She marched to the south gate and Hannah matched that pace. Chuck huffed as he jogged after them.

No guards were in this section. Hannah darted ahead and opened the hood of the car. "Good. They didn't sabotage it."

Chuck tossed his backpack in the car's back seat. "You were worried about that?"

"It's what I would've done."

The bike rolled out from under the awning on the right, beeping. Chuck patted her handlebars and turned on the face shield of his helmet. The bike sent him a question mark to the display.

"We're leaving," Chuck explained. "But you and me gotta go rescue Vash and Meryl-ma'am."

"Again?" the bike printed on his face shield.

"I don't know what you're asking. The baddies here locked them up underground. Hannah has to drive the car."

Milly-ma'am fired another stun bolt at a guard coming out a door next to the main gate to outside and he flew back into that room. "Hannah, you can drive a car?"

Hannah slipped in behind the steering wheel and started the car. "I've been driving vehicles out of the garage and our yard since I got tall enough to see over the steering wheels."

Chuck climbed up onto the chrome covered fuel tank so he could grasp the handlebars. "We'll open the gate gate!"

The bike revved, spun to face the gate, popped the main laser cannon out above the headlight, and blasted the metal gate. The metal curled away from the stone with a hole large enough for the car.

Chuck howled, "Aoooow! Now we'll go get our bro and Meryl-ma'am. It's at the other end of the courtyard, the door down. Let's rock...."

"And ride!" Hannah yelled with him.

The bike spun around again as Chuck held on. "Play the Thunder song!"

The bike honked and the strumming guitar solo poured from the speakers as they sped up the steps and jumped into the courtyard. Milly-ma'am ran after them until she had to stop and shoot more stun bolts at the guards running out of the building on the right. The bike rolled up the steps, across another porch, down more steps into another garden between the building and the outer wall.

"That's the door!"

The bike shot the weird door that looked like it was half-buried and rolled through it. Chuck had to hang on even tighter as they bounced down the wide steps. The singer started singing.

I was caught.
In the middle of a railroad track (thunder).
I looked 'round.
And I knew there was no turning back (thunder).

They ended up in the middle of the lab from the photograph that made Meryl-ma'am vomit. The giant light bulb was at one end, much smaller than the ones Vash had shown them powering the towns and cities, but this one seemed filled with a pink cloud.

My mind raced.
And I thought, what could I do? (Thunder).
And I knew.
There was no help, no help from you (thunder).

The bike finished a life-form scan and highlighted inside the bulb with a pulsing dot. That was probably Vash. Meryl-ma'am said Vash was in the bulb. How to get him out? The dot looked like it was close to the glass.

Sainsbury jumped up from the computer equipment against the wall. "What the hell!"

"Tail whippin' time!" Chuck yelled back. "Give me back my bro and Meryl-ma'am now!"

The dark-skinned adult walked toward him and the bike. "Well, keeping them under control just got so much easier."

"That's what you think! Aoooow!"

The bike fired the specialty shot Hannah had loaded onto the side of the front telescopic fork. Sainsbury ducked as it sailed past. "Little boy, you have no idea what you are dealing with."

The canister bounced off the stone wall and clonked Sainsbury in the head. His eyes rolled up as he dropped to the floor. The canister sprang open and draped rope over the unconscious man's back.

"You've been thunderstruck," Chuck sang at him along with the singer.

The bike beeped under the song.

Chuck patted the fuel tank again. "I'll tell Hannah to fix it." He looked around at the rest of the lab. There was a thick metal door at the other end from the plant bulb. "That way!"

The bike rolled down the big aisle in the center of the room and sidled up to the door. Chuck leaned over and hit the open button. Luckily, they hadn't put a lock code on the door. It slid open. "Meryl-ma'am? Your rescue is here!"

Meryl-ma'am leaned out. "Chuck. You haven't gotten Vash out yet?"

"Don't want to shoot the bulb. He's too close to the glass and we might hurt him."

"There is an access hatch somewhere on it." She dragged out her suitcase and Vash's bag. She was wearing the jeans and one of the shirts Hannah had bought for her instead of the white clothes she had worn yesterday.

The bike popped out her sidecar and Chuck pulled on the suitcase as Meryl-ma'am lifted it into the seat. Once the luggage was in, she headed toward the bulb, but stopped when she saw Sainsbury on the floor. "Okay, the rope needs to go around him."

The bike rolled up behind her. "Yeah, it didn't work right," Chuck told her. He looked over at where Sainsbury had been working while Meryl-ma'am tied the rope around Sainsbury. "Isn't that Vash's gun?"

"It is." She stepped over Sainsbury and picked the large handgun up off the scanner. It looked even bigger is her small hands. She stepped over Sainsbury again and headed to the bulb. His antennae itched again. Something moved inside the pink cloud. Meryl stared up at it and planted her hand, not holding Vash's gun on her hip. "Damn it, Vash. We don't have time for this!"

Chapter Text

Shadows shifted on the circular stairs, and bullets pinged the stone wall. Meryl dove behind the nearest computer terminal. The bike honked and sent "Get off," to Chuck's face shield.

"Hannah told me to stay on you."

"OFF!"

Chuck slid off, and the bike popped off the sidecar before roaring up the circular staircase. He heard human screams over the bike's engine and the music. He shook his head and saw a ladder next to the bulb. That probably went to the access hatch Meryl-ma'am mentioned. He clambered up it. More buttons were at the top of the bulb on the metal it was connected to. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, said, yeah, it's alright, we're doin' fine," he sang with the echoes of the music as he pressed a button.

A square in the glass slid open. "Vash?" There was more blasting and gun shooting upstairs. Chuck leaned over so he spoke directly into the cloud inside the glass. "Bro, things are going boom and you're missing all the fun."

No answer.

He readied himself to stick his head into the cloud.

"NO! You can't breathe this!"

Chuck anchored his tail around the skinniest part of the bulb and reached inside with just an arm for the form swimming toward him. The hand that latched onto his arm was metal, and Chuck pulled back.

Vash's face emerged and it must be a trick of the light and the cloud because his unstyled hair looked like it had feathers in it. He grabbed the edge of the hatch with his flesh hand and the feathers vanished as he pulled his scarred body out of the bulb. And it was easy to see all his scars because Vash was completely naked.

Chuck giggled. "Maybe you should put some pants on if you want to keep fighting evil today."

Vash made a Hannah face and reached over from his seat on the glass to shake Chuck. "Don't ever stick your head in one of these. Humans can't breathe the air inside and you breathe the same as humans." He pointed down at the pink cloud.

Chuck pointed to his helmet. "It has a vacuum setting. To keep breathing in a vacuum."

"Of course it does." Vash rolled his eyes. "Ladder."

"Pants."

Something boomed above them, and sand and pebbles rained down. Chuck stopped teasing, grabbed the ladder, started climbing down.

Vash climbed down after Chuck. "Meryl, where did they leave my pants?"

Meryl-ma'am already had Vash's jeans and chaps and a vest draped on an office chair and was digging into Vash's bag. "You're going to have to forgo some of your body armor. We have to get out of here." Another boom above rained down more sand and pebbles. She pulled one of Vash's tall boots out of the bag and her head jerked back when she saw Vash with no clothes on. "Some of your scars filled in since last night." She went back into the bag.

Chuck spied a lot of red draped on an exam table and went to it. "Found your coat!" He pulled it off the table. Wow, it was heavier than it looked. He had to use both arms and a lot of it was dragging on the floor. He turned back to Vash and Meryl-ma'am.

Now that Vash was out of the bulb and tugging on his pants, Chuck could see how badly his bro had been hurt before. Darker pink skin made lines around his arms and chest and down his back. Metal straps wrapped around his side under his arms and a metal triangle was on his left shoulder blade.

Nobody had said anything about a war on Gunsmoke. Maybe it was something they didn't think he needed to know about. Or was too young to know about. Hannah probably decided that. He dragged the coat over to them.

Meryl-ma'am found Vash's other boot. "What's going on up there?"

"Not sure. Hannah was supposed to drive the car since she can and Milly was hitting bad guys with her stun gun and I was supposed to stay on the bike, but she told me to get off when the wrenchheads started shooting down here."

"And it chased them. Does the motorcycle know to come back?"

"If she doesn't, will you make sure that Hannah yells at her for it? Because I was going to stay on like Hannah told me to."

Vash zipped up his vest and plucked his coat from Chuck's arms and had it on before Chuck could blink. He took his gun from Meryl and checked its bullets.

"Thunderstruck" got louder. The bike rolled back down the steps and turned off the song. Before Chuck could protest, she printed "Coast is clear," on his face shield.

"She says the coast is clear," Chuck told them. The bike stopped next to the sidecar, and it reconnected. Chuck climbed back onto the bike's fuel tank.

"What's a coast?" Vash asked.

"Does that mean it is safe to go up there now?" Meryl-ma'am asked.

"That means the bad guys are gone, so it should be." Chuck frowned at Vash. Was he still affected by the bulb?

Vash put on his round sunglasses. "Get on the motorcycle and let's go."

Meryl slid onto the seat behind Chuck and the bike rolled back up the steps with Vash keeping pace on foot beside them. They emerged into the garden and the east half of the north building and the north half of the east building had already crumbled and smoke drifted up from the rocks.

Milly stood up in the back seat of the car with her stun gun ready as the car idled at the main gate. She waved for them to come on.

Vash holstered his gun, got on the bike behind Meryl, and reached his long arms to the handlebars. "Let's get out of here!"

Milly dropped into her seat, and Hannah gunned the car through the hole in the gate. The bike beeped happily and took off after the car. Chuck held on tightly as they bumped up the steps and landed on the other side of the porch. Meryl-ma'am let go of the handlebars and grabbed Vash's arm. "You okay?" Vash asked.

"I've got you."

Vash chuckled. "Yeah, you do. Hold tight."

They roared up the next set of steps, leaped from there to the hole in the gate, tore out of it and across the flat ground in front of the compound, following the car. When they reached the same higher ground they had stopped on yesterday, the bike had to go into a sideways slide to stop when Hannah slammed on the car's brakes.

Hannah didn't even look at them; she was staring up into the cloudless sky so hard. "What the hell is that?"

Chuck looked up with all the adults. It wasn't a plane, and it wasn't a blimp, but it had multiple blimp-like balloons holding up a long metal fuselage. The flying machine even had wings and propellers and portholes in the sides. It made little noise as it flew over them, casting a weird shadow in the double sunlight.

Hannah twisted around in the driver's seat until she saw Vash. "You said there wasn't any flight here!"

"There isn't. That's new." Vash climbed off the bike and turned to watch the weird flying machine. He frowned at it. Meryl slid off the bike and moved to Vash's side. Their hands latched onto each other. Chuck got off the bike before Hannah and Milly got out of the car.

The flying machine moved over the compound. It flew higher than them, but not as high as Chuck had seen the Goodyear blimp fly during games at Quigley Field. A hatch in the bottom split open and a teardrop-shaped object dropped out of it.

"Sandblasted!" Hannah jerked back. "Are we out of range?"

"Out of range of what?" Milly-ma'am asked.

"Yes," the bike put on Chuck's face shield.

"The bike says yes," he told his worried-looking sister, who stopped moving and focused her worried green eyes on the compound below.

The teardrop-shaped thing disappeared behind the stone walls right before they broke apart and shot out over the ground and up into the sky. The boom of it finally reached Chuck's ears.

The flying machine continued moving on in the blue sky. Vash stared at it, his eyes hidden by his round sunglasses. Chuck swallowed hard. "Is that the army? Did those wrenchheads make the army mad because of Meryl-ma'am?"

"No, it would be all over Gunsmoke if the Calvary developed flight." Vash sighed angrily. "I told them they were messing with things that would get them killed. Didn't expect to be proven right this fast."

Meryl hadn't let go of Vash's right hand. "Is it something we need to worry about?"

"Maaaayyybe?" Vash stretched the word out. He took off his sunglasses. "Not much we can do about it at this point. Let's go find a hotel before dark."

"Do we need to follow them?" Hannah asked. The flying machine was much smaller now.

"We won't be able to catch up. And no, you don't need to prove how fast the motorcycle can go."

Hannah stuck her tongue out at Vash, took the bags out of the sidecar, and opened the trunk of the car.

Chuck got between Vash and the car. "You were drunk. You can't drive now. Dad didn't let Uncle Vinnie drive to the scoreboard when he was drunk."

Milly-ma'am spun to face them. "You got drunk? You were supposed to be guarding Meryl!"

Vash winced. "Don't get mad, Tall Girl. I didn't drink anything. They put me in a bulb and it was like I got drunk."

"How long does that last for you?" Meryl-ma'am asked. "Being drunk?"

"Not long enough," Vash said.

Chuck crossed his arms. "You can't drive buzzed either. It's the same as drunk driving and it causes wrecks. Mom said that commercial was true."

"I'm not arguing!" Vash waved his left hand. "Milly can drive." Milly-ma'am planted her hands on her hips and glared. Vash stepped back. "You don't want to drive? We're running out of drivers."

Milly-ma'am pointed down to Meryl-ma'am and Vash's clasped hands. They hadn't let go of each other yet. "Did you two figure things out last night?" she demanded.

Both their faces reddened. "Yes, we did." Meryl-ma'am raised her chin.

"Finally!" Milly-ma'am threw up her hands. "I should've locked you two in a room back in Inepril!"

"Milly!" Meryl-ma'am yelled.

"Or in May City when Vash finally stopped running away."

"I wasn't--" Vash started, but Milly interrupted by poking him in his chest.

"You better treat Meryl-ma'am right." Milly-ma'am poked him again.

Vash looked down at Meryl, worry wrinkling his forehead. "Have I treated you wrong?"

"No, you haven't." Meryl-ma'am smiled up at him. "Let's load up and get going."

Milly-ma'am drove the car, Hannah rode the bike, Meryl sat in the back seat and Vash laid out on it with his head on her lap. So Chuck got to ride shotgun for once. He took off his helmet and gave his ears a good scratch before turning in his seat to look at his bro. Meryl twisted Vash's not gelled hair around her fingers. "We haven't hurt your war wounds, have we?" Chuck asked.

Vash opened his green-blue eyes. "My what?"

"He saw your scars," Meryl-ma'am said.

"Oh."

"We can stop wrestling if it hurts." Chuck didn't want to hurt his bro.

"No, they're old. You haven't hurt me. I'm sorry if they frightened you."

Chuck frowned. "Why would war wounds scare me? If you had fur, we'd only see the worst ones." The one on Vash's side looked like something took a big bite out of him. "We told you Uncle Modo has a metal arm, and he also lost an eye. Dad lost both eyes, but he has bionic replacements and I cannot play with his shades because they help him see when the eyes go staticky. And Uncle Vinnie has a mask over half his face that can't come off."

"I'm still apologizing for trying to pull it off when I was eight," Hannah said. "It's fused with his skin and fur."

"General Stoker's got a metal tail. And um, what does General Carbine have?" Chuck craned his neck to look at his sister on the bike.

"No replacement parts. She said the Martian Army taught her how to duck and then Mom said she's only welcome to visit Chicago if a dire emergency is going on."

Chuck frowned. "But she's in charge of the Freedom Fighters now?"

"Don't know and don't care. She was mean the only time I met her. Do you have a point to all this?"

He turned to Vash in the back seat. "You don't have to hide a war or what happens in a war from us, bro. We already know."

"You did have a point," Hannah said.

"Be nice to your brother," Vash told her. "Chuck, Gunsmoke hasn't had a war like your father and uncles had."

"Having," Hannah corrected.

"Fine, having. I don't want to see anyone die. Sometimes the only way to make sure it doesn't happen is to end up getting hurt."

Meryl-ma'am looked down at Vash. "I'm guessing a lot happened before you got the body armor?"

"Also true. It helps a lot. And I'm more careful these days."

"You better be," Chuck told Vash sternly. "I need you to be here and remind Hannah to be nice to me. Oh, Meryl-ma'am, did they do the... Hannah, what's the m-word?"

"Be more specific. I know lots of m-words."

"When Limburger won't shut up and tells us his whole plan."

"Monologuing," Hannah's voice answered from his helmet on the front seat.

"Did you get them monologuing about what kind of super soldier you're supposed to be?" Chuck asked.

"I'm not a super soldier." Vash caught Meryl-ma'am's hand and put his fingers between hers. "I'm the same as Vash, an independent plant, born of a plant angel."

"Not augmented after all," Milly-ma'am said.

"They did tweak things so some augmentation," Meryl-ma'am said.

"Wait a minute," Hannah said. "You two didn't come from the same plant angel, did you?"

"What?" Meryl-ma'am demanded.

"Excuse me for making sure you aren't dating your brother."

"Dating?" Vash asked.

"Romantic pair bonding, or whatever you call it on this planet."

"I've always been fond of calling it courting," Milly-ma'am said. "All my married brothers and sister went courting first."

"I appreciate you looking out for the genetics of our species, Little Sis, but the ship my mother bulb and Rem were on disintegrated in Gunsmoke's atmosphere during the Great Fall with them still on board. I watched it from an escape pod."

Chuck felt his eyes get bigger. Vash had said Rem was the one who took care of him because his mother couldn't. And she couldn't because she was one of them stuck in a bulb and couldn't live outside it. But to watch them disappear and couldn't do anything to stop it? Chuck dove over the front seat, landing on Vash, and wrapped him in the tightest hug Chuck could make. Tears welled up in Chuck's eyes. "Bro, oh bro."

Vash wheezed and wrapped his arms around Chuck in a return hug. "Wrong time to share that."

"I don't think there would be a good time for that." Meryl-ma'am sounded sad too. "Oh Vash."

"It's okay, Chuck. I've got you and Hannah and Meryl and Milly. It's better now."

"Is it?" Hannah's voice sounded like she was asking Limburger a valid question and telling him off with the same words. "Were you ever going to tell us?"

Vash patted Chuck's back, but Chuck wasn't letting go. If Hannah was really mad, Vash would need the hug. "You two got hit with enough, and I have a habit of not mentioning things."

"You were there for the Great Fall," Meryl-ma'am said. "How old are you? What lifespan will I have?"

"I wish I knew so I could tell you. According to the crew, I was around a year old when we found Gunsmoke. But I was closer to Hannah's age equivalent in development. So at least one hundred and thirty-two years."

"Wow." Chuck lifted his head. "Did you know it was that much when you worried Vash wouldn't agree because he's older?"

"I thought a decade tops," Hannah said. "Is being insecure about your age and pretending to be twenty-one no matter how many birthdays you really have a thing here? Because people may actually believe that denial from you two."

"No wonder your Nana kept you out of school, Meryl," Milly-ma'am said.

"She kept me safe. You really don't know how long we will live."

Vash lifted his right hand and took hold of Meryl-ma'am's hand again. "I don't. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Meryl-ma'am said with a soft smile.

"Yes, he does! He still thinks he has to lie to us." Hannah's getting mad voice came through the speaker.

Chuck shifted his head up to look at Vash's face. "Hannah's got issues about lying."

"And my therapist said it was perfectly normal because of how I was lied to!"

"I wasn't trying to lie," Vash said. "Just habit."

"It's not lying to protect himself for being locked up by bad scientists like the ones who made Meryl," Milly-ma'am said.

"Of course it isn't!" Hannah shouted. "But we can't help our bro hide if we don't know. And it's not like I haven't been doing it for my entire life either!"

"Earth doesn't know about aliens," Chuck said. "A lot of people in Chicago know weird stuff happens, but Mom says they ignore it because the Biker Mice help people."

"Hannah, I'm sorry," Vash said. "I didn't want to scare you."

"You are not scary. You might have the potential to be scary, but not the inclination."

Chuck snorted. "That's not being fair. Just 'cause nothin' scares you."

"That's not true," Hannah said.

"Okay, drowning scares you and Vash ain't a swimming pool."

"I had therapy for that and can swim now!"

"Chuck, I don't think you're helping," Vash said.

"Dad says we have to be fair 'cause life isn't. And you don't know how many people Vash has scared 'cause they ain't you. So be fair, Hannah."

"We have held nothing back and we're in just as much danger from that type of wrenchhead."

"I am sorry," Vash said. "I'm not used to sharing details about me. The last time that happened and it turned out good was one hundred fourteen years ago. And I have definitely kept quiet since July City."

"But you don't have to keep quiet with us, bro!"

"And I promise to try to remember that."

"See that you do," Hannah said. "Apology accepted."

Chapter Text

Meryl was relieved that Vash and Chuck both dozed off after Hannah accepted Vash's apology. She didn't want to talk about the baby yet and wasn't sure that Vash would announce it if he started blurting things like he had while in the plant bulb. She needed time to think, to get used to the idea of being someone's mother, to actually talk to Vash alone and hopefully he'd take it seriously, and without well-meaning input from everyone else.

Milly would start planning a wedding.

Who did they have to stand with them? Not the women who had raised them. And she did not want bounty hunters interrupting her wedding, if they actually went through with a ceremony.

Chuck pushed off of Vash with a yawn. The movement didn't wake Vash. Chuck smiled sheepishly at Meryl before grabbing the back of the front bench seat and clambering over it. Meryl blinked at the state of his shoes. His furry toes poked out of holes in the soft material that wrapped around the top of his feet and held the laces. The harder material of the sole was detaching from the rest and flapping at the heels. "Chuck, what did you do to your shoes?"

"Weared them," he said as he flipped over into the front passenger seat.

"Wore them," Hannah corrected from the speaker. "Mine are looking pretty ragged, too. Mom always says nothing is built to last these days, but I'm willing to believe they didn't make sneakers for desert travel."

One of them should have seen that the children weren't wearing tough boots before now. "We'll tell Vash to get you both new shoes once we get to a town," Meryl promised them.

"Or tomorrow, after you get coffee and donuts into him," Chuck said. The next town was growing larger as they approached. He picked up his helmet and slid it back on.

"Maybe we should feed him when we get there," Milly said. "Little big brother Derek always said food helped soak up the alcohol."

"I don't think he ate anything. They took him before breakfast." Meryl looked at the town. Vash let out an audible snore, drawing her attention back to him. "Shopping will probably be tomorrow. And I'm never getting in one of those bulbs, if this is what happens."

"I can pack him if he doesn't wake up," Milly said in an amused matter-of-fact tone.

Meryl wrapped Vash's hair around her finger again. It was soft without the gel he used to make it stand up. "You may have to."

They slowed down and drove under an arch spanning over the space between buildings that marked a street. "New MacFarlane" had been etched into the sheet of metal making the arch. The street led to the monument square in the center of town. The hotel sign was bolted to a door next to a pair of swinging saloon doors. Milly parked the car in the designated parking spot beside the building and Hannah parked the bike.

Meryl prodded Vash. "We've reached a town. Wake up." He made a grumble but rolled up so he was no longer on her lap. She climbed out of the car and he rolled back down without opening his eyes.

Hannah snorted. "Bro, do we need to pour some water on you?"

"No water," Vash said. "I'm fine."

"Well, if Meryl's your girlfriend now, she can spend your money."

"You can spend my money too, Little Sis."

"Finally, I can go on a shopping spree and it's on a planet that doesn't have my wish list items." Hannah pulled Vash's bag from the car's trunk. "Chuck, help Milly-ma'am pull Vash out while we go get rooms."

Chuck saluted Hannah before bending over the seat back again. "Come on, bro, really wake up. It'll be embarrassing if Milly-ma'am puts you over her shoulder. Your head will still hit the dirt."

"Not on purpose," Milly said before Meryl led Hannah back around the building.

The hotel hallway had another doorway into the saloon opposite a check-in counter and ended at the stairs to the upper floors. The saloon wasn't too loud yet. Meryl headed to the man behind the counter. "Hello, we need a double connected to a double single and one single room."

The man behind the counter frowned. "Do you need all of those in a suite? Because I don't have a suite like that."

"No, the single can be separate."

"Two hundred double dollars a night for all of them." He reached under his counter for the keys.

Hannah opened Vash's bag, pulled out a wad of bills, and passed them to Meryl. She counted out six hundred and presented the money to the hotel manager. "We'll stay at least three nights. Do the rooms have kitchens?"

"No, sorry. The saloon has salmon sandwiches, but most travelers get plates from the restaurant on the north side of the square. Rooms are on the second floor. Room ten is the double single, room eight is the double double, and room nine is the single."

Meryl took the labeled keys and passed them to Hannah. Chuck opened the door for Milly, who had Vash's arm slung over her shoulders. "Get everyone upstairs and I'll be up in a few." Hannah nodded. Meryl went into the saloon and straight to the mostly empty bar. "A plate of salmon sandwiches, please."

The bartender didn't take long to give her the plate and to take the money. She carried the plate up and found her group was still getting into their rooms. Hannah got the room eight door unlocked for Milly and Vash. Milly leveraged Vash over to the bed wide enough for two and dropped him face first onto it. "Do we have any plans for tonight?" She asked as she stretched.

Meryl set the salmon sandwiches on the table. "I think we can all relax now. I paid for three nights so we can make sure the bounty is off me, do laundry, and replace supplies we used."

"We have to get supper from a restaurant." Hannah passed a key to Milly. "Room nine is yours. Come on, Chuck, let's get the rest of the bags."

Meryl bent over Vash. "You got sandwiches on the table. Try eating something."

He muttered something inaudible into a pillow and she felt a wave of affection from him. The children brought the luggage upstairs and had swung by the bounty bulletin board and hadn't seen Meryl's picture. They sent Chuck to shower first, Milly retreated to her room, and Meryl and Hannah got their meals. Milly took hers to her room, and Meryl ate in the children's room with them, letting Vash rest or come to on his own. She checked, and they didn't need any mending or new clothes, just new shoes.

Chuck finally told Hannah about how one of the motorcycle's weapons hadn't worked correctly. Meryl finally grasped that it was the ropes that had ended up draped over Sainsbury.

"How come you're having so much trouble with it? The bike thinks blowing holes in things is better?" Chuck asked.

"No, she's game to try Vash's way. Mom made weapons inventing look easy. I think she did all the testing while I was at school."

The ropes were part of a weapon Hannah was inventing? "What are you trying to make?" Meryl asked. "For Vash's way?"

"Vash doesn't want opponents killed and the bike can target her shots to non-lethality, but the firepower she has makes it pointless. A shot to the arm will take the arm off. So, I'm trying to give her a bola to shoot at the wrenchheads and tie them up instead," Hannah said.

"But the rope didn't come out until the canister hit the wall and then hit the guy," Chuck explained.

"Tying up a wall ain't gonna work." Hannah blew air out, vibrating her lips noisily.

"Isn't Bola your grandmother?" Meryl asked.

Hannah nodded. "Martian names, they use a lot of weapons and vehicle parts."

"Charles Turbine." Chuck pointed to his chest with his thumb.

"A bola is a rope with weighted ends, so it ties around the target after you spin it," Hannah said. "And it's also Grandma Bola's name."

"That sounds useful." Meryl gathered up her trash as she stood up. "Don't stay up late trying to figure out what went wrong."

Hannah yawned. "No, will work on the problem tomorrow. And we won't barge in on you and Vash."

"We won't?" Chuck asked.

"No, because we want them happy."

"Thanks. Good night." Meryl shut the connecting doors as she went into her and Vash's room. The bed was empty, the sandwiches gone, and the shower running. Good, maybe he was feeling better. She changed into her nightshirt and climbed into the bed, leaving enough room for him and reading the local newspaper that had been left in the room.

The shower shut off and Vash came out of the bathroom but stopped near its door, blinking at her. He wore his sweatpants, so it's not like he was planning to go out. But he also looked confused as the towel dropped from his damp hair to drape over his shoulders.

"What's wrong?" Meryl asked. "Do you still feel bad?"

"No, uh, the sandwiches helped." He rubbed the back of his head, still looking confused. "You're staying in here?"

She felt something twist inside her stomach. Hadn't they settled this? Or was he having second thoughts? "I wanted to," she said through a thickening in her throat. "Is it a problem? Did you want something else?"

"No!" He stepped further into the room and stopped with distress etched onto his face. "Rubbish already. Nothing good ever lasts."

Tears pricked at her eyes. She thought it would have a longer run than this. "We only got Milly a single. Even the children thought I'd be in here with you."

"I want you in here! And I want to quit screwing up and making you sad, even without Milly's threat." He turned and flung the towel back into the bathroom. "Not that I've had any examples of what to do in a relationship."

The ache she was feeling eased slightly. He wanted her, even if she wasn't sure what had caused his distress. "I haven't had any either, except Milly's family on visits."

Vash turned back to face her. "I want to do right by you. Can you please tell me how I screwed up before? It's no guarantee I won't screw up again, but I'm pretty good at not repeating the same screw up."

"When?" She frowned, trying to remember.

"Before we went underground, you were into the kissing until you weren't. Underground was as much as saying yes to me as it was saying fuck you to our captors. And they deserved it! But you're too important to me to just assume anything with you."

"You didn't screw up!" She dropped the newspaper onto her lap before she crumpled it in her hands. "I... I didn't think you were sincere. That it was just an act for the surveillance, and I didn't want it to be an act."

His blue-green eyes widened before he rushed to the empty side of the bed, landing on his knees beside it. He clasped his hands together and stretched them across the mattress toward her. "I sincerely love you. So sincerely. You know that now, right? Oh, you didn't believe me when I kept offering myself to you, either."

"I thought you had a weird definition of friendship and was hurt you didn't love me back."

"I was trying to give you space to decide what you wanted. But I thought my offer was more clear than that." He frowned. "Hannah told me it wasn't. Not that I was discussing us with the eleven-year-old; she told me that with no prompting. Let's not tell her she was right."

"Do you really think that will stop her from being smug?" Meryl pulled back the covers on his side. "I believe you. Get into bed before you freeze."

He grinned wide and happy before slipping under the covers. He leaned toward her, but pulled back just slightly.

"I love you," Meryl said.

"I love you too, but that doesn't mean you want me pawing at you tonight or any other night. You got the news there."

She folded the newspaper and dropped it on the nightstand.

"Or you could be sleepy."

"Or you could just ask." She turned on the bed to face him.

His eyebrow cocked up. "Asking has been more miss than hit than a marksman of my caliber should ever have."

"Marksmanship? You hit me when you were aiming a finger gun for Marshall Marianne Alla Cayzen." She touched his chest. "Everything is different now. I promise to answer honestly." She traced the scar across his left pectoral. The gouge had filled in with more muscle and paler skin, so it was even with the rest of his skin.

"Feels different?" he asked softly.

"Not a bad different. You still have your reminders." She stroked her palm over his torso, avoiding his metal straps.

"You caught that." He inhaled as she caressed her hand across his torso and onto his back before she pressed it down on the mattress to brace herself in front of him. "You were getting hit with a lot," Vash added. "You didn't need to worry about me, too."

The large gash missing from his right side had filled in as well. She scooted closer to him. "I had to make sure they didn't hurt you."

His expression melted when she said that, grateful and affectionate all at once. How long had it been since anyone had his back? His right fingers brushed into her hair and traced the rim of her ear. She shivered.

"So sex?" he asked. "We finally have a bed."

"Idiot," she said fondly.

"Your idiot." He smiled as his hand cupped the back of her head and drew her in for a kiss.

Meryl deepened the kiss. "This is a yes," she projected to him as she put both her hands on his shoulders. "Just in case you are confused."

"Thanks for clearing that up." His hands wrapped around her and ran down her back. He lifted her up without breaking the kiss.

She hummed into his mouth as she slid against his torso and straddled his lap. His hard-on pressed against her groin and the fabric of his sweatpants. She slid her palms against his chest up to his shoulders. He shuddered as her nightshirt rode up in his grip.

He pulled back from the kiss. "No underwear?"

"I was hopeful about tonight." She moved up on her knees and kissed under his ear, his jawbone, and then his throat.

He groaned. "Keep... please keep doing that. Yes, that." She kissed down his neck while he shifted under her without moving his upper body. His knee bumped into her ass, but not painfully so. "Sorry!"

"What are you doing?"

"Mission pants off a success!" He quit squirming, and she felt his cock brush past her. "Now you're overdressed."

"Oh, am I?" She leaned back from his torso. He drew his knees up so her back touched his thighs. "What are you going to do about that?"

His hands stroked her hips and down the outside of her thighs, skin and leather on her skin. But he gazed at her night shirt like it was a mechanical puzzle. "Buttons," he muttered. "Did they confiscate your sewing kit?"

"Huh?" Well, she could have been more articulate if his hands hadn't brushed up her shirt to her waist.

"Hey, I'm trying to not make more work for you, at least not if you don't have the tools to fix things. So, do you have the sewing kit still?"

"I haven't seen it, so I guess they took it." She pouted at him when he pulled his hands out from under her nightshirt.

He leaned forward and kissed her lips, trapping her poked out lip between his teeth without biting. Then his fingers stroked her neck, his pinkies following her jaw to her pointy chin. He hastened to her shirt and unbuttoned three buttons before releasing her lip. "I wanted to do this back at your apartment. See your perfect body." He undid two more buttons, sliding his palms over her hardening nipples.

She gasped over the fabric of her nightshirt, moving over her suddenly sensitive skin. "I'm not--"

"You are perfectly Meryl-shaped and I wouldn't want you any other way." The last of her buttons parted and his hands slid up her body, over her breasts, and pushed the fabric off her shoulders. "I want you so much all the time. It's all I can do to focus on everything else." He cupped her breasts with his hands and squeezed. "I've been waiting over a hundred years for you."

She moaned as she also freed her arms from the sleeves. "Vash, I love you. Just the way you are." She wrapped her hands around his engorged cock. It spasmed slightly in her light grasp and she slid her fingers up and down the shaft. She hadn't had a chance to explore it when they had sex in the shower, so she took the chance now. His head tipped back with a groan. "Too much?" she asked. She rubbed her thumb just under where his glans joined the shaft.

"Why do you think that?" His spine no longer supported his upper body, and he fell back or would have if his skull hadn't hit the headboard. "Ow. I thought I had a pillow."

She giggled. "It's under your back." She lifted up onto her knees so he could slide down the bed.

He wiggled down until he freed the pillow and jammed it under his head. Then his hands found her thighs and ran up to her hips. "Come on down, sweetheart." She laughed again, but guided his cock in. His hands slid up to squeeze her breasts as she rolled her hips.

Pleasure built as Vash timed his thrusts with her movement. She keened as the wave crashed over her. Her awareness returned to this place and hearing Vash chant her name before his voice shifted to a wordless cry and his orgasm emptied into her.

His long arms drew her down to his chest. "I love you, I love you, I love you," he repeated as his hands slid over her skin.

She stopped that chant with a long kiss before settling against him, finding a comfortable spot not putting all her weight on any of his metal straps. "I love you too. Sleep."

He left his arms looped around her in a loose embrace. "Okay."

Chapter Text

Meryl felt Vash leave the bed, but he moved gently and she didn't want to get up yet, so she rolled up in the covers in the opposite direction. He sent affection at her before turning his attention to something else. She dosed off again until her stomach gurgled for breakfast. She reluctantly sat up and rubbed her eyes.

And then had to blink when she saw Vash's scarred bare feet up in the air.

He was inverted in a hand-stand but balanced on his right hand only. His prosthetic arm curled around his waist. He slowly bent his right arm to lower his head closer to the floor, then pushed up as he straightened. That seemed more intense than just doing normal push-ups, but she would not interrupt him and cause him to lose balance. She slipped out of the bed, grabbed her bag, and went into the bathroom.

She didn't take long in the shower and got dressed. Vash had changed his clothes and was pulling on his boots when she came out. "Morning," he said cheerfully. "I forgot to ask. What town are we in now?"

"New MacFarlane."

"Really? Belding lives here."

Meryl put her things away. "A friend of yours? I paid for three nights here."

"Never met him, but he's supposed to be the best cobbler on Gunsmoke. He can fix my boot." He finished pulling on his boot and stood up.

"What's wrong with your shoes?"

"Elizabeth's assassin broke the blade hidden in the sole when we were fighting in the hotel room. Before he blew it up."

"Elizabeth? Plant engineer Elizabeth?" Meryl straightened up from closing her bag. "Why did she hire an assassin to destroy the plant bulb Inepril hired her to fix?"

Vash paused in taking his hair gel and comb into the bathroom. "She was trying to kill me, not the plant angel. Revenge for July. She's over it; we both remembered me helping her in the aftermath."

"We really need to figure out what happened back then before anyone else with a grudge crawls out of the sand dunes after you." Meryl sat down to wait for him. He only hummed noncommittally as he styled his hair. She continued, "But the children need new shoes too."

"Did they have a growth spurt?" He called out from the bathroom.

"Not yet. Hannah's theory is that their shoes from Earth were not made for desert travel. They seem to be made mostly of fabric, so she's probably right."

"So breakfast and then we'll go shoe shopping." He came out of the bathroom with his hair spiked. "Is food downstairs?" He headed for his coat hanging on the wall.

"A saloon is downstairs. We'll have to go to the restaurant we went to last night."

He nodded before opening the first connecting door and knocking on the second. Chuck opened it. "Hey, you're awake. Hannah said you wouldn't be." He turned around to face his older sister, putting his hands on his hips.

Hannah shrugged. "Mom and Dad usually sleep in after a fight with bad guys."

"Vash needs donuts," Chuck said. "I'll go get Milly-ma'am." He ran to the corridor door of the children's room, flung it open, and banged on another door across the corridor.

"He's not wrong," Vash said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Hannah crossed her arms over her chest.

"I bounced back from whatever that was yesterday. Got your room key?"

"I have ours," Meryl answered as she took hold of Vash's hand. "And I'm famished."

The restaurant on the north side of the square was serving breakfast. Milly monitored Meryl and Vash as she ate. "Is it shopping day?" she asked as the meal ended. "I could use some help at the stationery store, Meryl-ma'am."

It wasn't a question from her friend. "You've gone through your supply already? I'm sure Vash can handle shoe shopping without me."

He looked up from counting out the double dollars to cover their meal. "What? I don't rate a leash any longer?"

"We're your leash," Hannah said as she propped her chin in her hands with her elbows on the table. "We don't get new shoes if you blow up the shoe store."

"I'm not going to blow up a shoe store."

"Combustions just happen," Chuck added solemnly.

"Combustions don't just happen," Vash retorted. "Who taught you that?"

"Uncle Vinnie," Chuck said cheerfully.

"Should've guessed that," Vash groused. "Meet you two back here for lunch?"

"That sounds good," Meryl agreed before kissing his cheek. He blushed slightly, but said nothing.

"In Uncle Vinnie's defense," Hannah said as the older women walked away, "explosions tend to happen in his vicinity."

"That's not much of a defense for the adult who gave you a weapon without any lessons."

The town bustle of getting shopping and business done before the heat of the day closed around her and Milly as they left the restaurant. Milly grinned, "So? Is he everything you hoped for?"

"You know I don't kiss and tell."

"I hope after all this time you're getting more than just kisses."

"Seriously." Meryl took a deep breath. "He doesn't expect me to stay with him. Last night, he said 'nothing good lasts.'"

"Well, he's about half right. You are good, Meryl." They turned onto a side street radiating from the monument square.

"Don't say I'm too good for an outlaw, please. Driscoll made me so angry when he did that." They passed the sheriff's office, and she was relieved to not see her face on the bounty board. Maybe that nightmare was over. "But how bad have things been for Vash to just assume everything is a fleeting moment?"

"It is a sad way of looking at life. I guess I can't blame him for pretending he's not sad so much."

"I don't want him to pretend with me!" Meryl bit her lip after that outburst.

Milly stopped and tilted her head as she considered it. "I don't think he is. Pretending, I mean. He's always watching you. But careful observation will not become saying the right thing when you need to hear it. We know he's hiding a lot under the goofball, but I'm sure how he feels about you is not part of it."

"You're right about hiding things. He said he needed to tell me about his brother, but we needed to get away from Driscoll right then. This morning didn't seem right to bring it up."

"He hasn't said anything about having a brother."

"No, he hasn't." Meryl frowned, remembering the death and pain that had surrounded the bit Vash had accidentally shown her. "I don't think it's a cheerful story, Milly."

"Probably not. If it was a happy one, he would tell us." Milly started walking again and Meryl kept pace with the taller woman. They entered the bookstore. "Oh, Hannah needs a practice book for penmanship," Milly said. "Her handwriting is really hard to read."

They must have passed notes to keep the breakout hidden from their captors yesterday. Meryl found a workbook and then held her arms out for the bundles of paper Milly decided was perfect for her Milly Missives. Guilt weighed heavier than the paper and envelopes. "Milly, you don't have to stay with us."

Milly's blue eyes opened wide and sad. "Why do you say that?"

"I'll miss you terribly, but you can go home and see your family. Take that job your uncle offered."

"Uncle Helmer promised jobs to both of us. And most bank jobs need the person who has them to live in town. I don't think Vash would be happy living in December City, at least not until he knows he won't destroy it like July City."

"We really need to start looking into that," Meryl said before shaking her head to not get distracted. "I need to; I promised him. It's not your job."

Milly smiled. "You don't need to worry about me. No, really," she insisted as Meryl started to protest. "I have money to travel back home if I need to. But I don't think you and Vash need to be outnumbered by those children just yet. So I'll stick around and help you figure the mystery out. But not today. I need to do laundry."

"Oh, that needs to happen today. I can do that and take a nap." Meryl stifled a yawn. "I need a nap."

Milly scooped her purchases out of Meryl's arms. "Well, I guess that answers how good he is if you didn't get enough sleep." She flounced away happily to pay for the purchases, leaving Meryl sputtering in her wake.

They got their purchases back to the hotel and finished their laundry before heading to the same restaurant for lunch. Vash and the children met them on the shaded walkway, and the children were still in their wrecked shoes. Meryl frowned.

Hannah piped up with an explanation. "The shoe guy is closed and Vash won't buy from the variety store."

"What the variety store has in shoes won't hold up any better than what you've been wearing. And we bought Chuck the shades he wanted from that store."

"After you told him his stock sucks, and he jacked the price up."

Chuck pointed to the squarish black frames with green-colored lenses perched on his snout over his eyes. "They're like Dad's. Now I really look like him."

Meryl remembered the image Chuck had shown her and Vash of his father and Uncle Vinnie. The sunshades were a perfect match and Chuck's resemblance to his father was even stronger with his helmet hiding his russet hair fur. "They look good on you," she told him.

"Oh, and we got a new sewing kit for Meryl," Vash said.

"We told him that Mom always says that tools for work are not presents," Hannah said.

"And I told you that if we get your brother new pants, she needs those to make them fit. Unless you want to weld him a pair." Vash scowled down at Hannah.

Chuck catches Meryl's hand and pulls her toward the door Milly is holding open. "I don't want metal pants. Those sound like they won't let me run. And I like to run and sometimes you have to run."

"No one's going to make you metal pants." They headed to the same table they had eaten breakfast at, and Vash darted around to pull out the chair for Meryl. She felt her cheeks heat slightly as she sat down. "And those wrenchheads lost the sewing kit we had, so we had to buy a new one. It's really not a present."

"Oh," Chuck said. "What is a good present? You're too old for toys. Hannah's too old for toys."

Meryl blinked. "Presents?"

"People often give jewelry," Milly answered. "Or make something."

"Okay," Chuck said. "Flowers?"

"Oh, you have to be rich to give someone a plant." The waitress arrived then and interrupted for their orders and then quickly brought out the meals. Then Vash took the children back to the shoemaker's shop, Milly went to start her letters, and Meryl finally got to lie down for her much needed nap.

Thunder woke her up. She rubbed her eyes as she moved to the window. Rain drops splattered on the glass as the dark clouds roiled around lightning. She hoped the shoemaker opened his shop, and they weren't all waiting in this downpour for the shop to open. No, they would have come back by now. Vash might get himself soaking wet, but he wouldn't put the children through that. And Hannah probably wouldn't put up with it either.

Meryl sat down in the room's armchair and watched the storm. So, she was an independent plant with a lifespan of a hundred years or more. Nana really should have told her. But Meryl probably would have blamed the truth on Nana's mental decline and not believed it until meeting Vash. Would telling have possibly saved Nana's life?

Oh, that way lies madness. You cannot change the past. Nana probably thought that with no incidents since July City that it was safe enough to let Meryl live her life. But Vash still had his brother on a problem list.

She needed to make him explain that, and soon. But that wasn't the thing to face now. She looked down at her stomach that hadn't protruded yet. A baby, after being told for years that she could have none. She rested her hand on her stomach as the thunder rumbled. A baby with Vash, who had said nothing about it yet.

He wanted children. He hadn't denied that when Hannah and Chuck declared them all siblings. But he had said nothing about this baby. Was he putting it under his nothing good lasts? Or trying not to say anything for superstitious reasons?

Was it even right to have a baby in this nomadic life? The older children were handling it just fine, but what if something went wrong with a baby? Or with her during pregnancy? That's probably why one should settle down with them. Where could Vash stay that wouldn't get overrun with bounty hunters shortly afterwards?

But a few times, Vash had dropped hints he had a place. He didn't claim a permanent address, not that he didn't have one. He refused to let anyone destroy the serenity that his friends had there; yes, that is what he had told her while they were on the sofa back in December City. So maybe there was a place for her and the baby and the children, even if Vash couldn't stay.

And that made her sad. She didn't want to raise a child without Vash. She would if she had to--so much of her life could be placed under doing what she had to do--but she didn't want to. It would mean that Vash met a fight he couldn't win. That wouldn't happen, not as long as she had his back.

Wait. Where were her derringers?

She had left the weapons with Vash before going to see Driscoll. Vash had only had his gun with him when he followed and the guards took them both prisoner. Her cape wasn't in her bag when she did laundry. Did it get in Vash's bag?

She got up and went digging. The only light colors in his bag were his gray sleep shirt with long blue sleeves and an off-white, long-sleeved, button-down shirt she had never seen him wear. Well, shit. Now she had to go weapon shopping.

The pattering sound against the glass ended, drawing her attention to the window. The rain had ended and the emerging sunlight made the droplets sparkle. At least, she wouldn't get wet going shopping now. She didn't want to be alone with no weapon available. Bandits and wrenchheads had taken Milly and her hostage enough without having a relationship with Vash for bandits and bounty hunters to take advantage of. She'd rather have a gun from now on.

The air in the town outside the hotel felt crisp and everything seemed scrubbed clean. She found the gun shop on a side street from the monument square. It must be on the same street as the shoemaker's shop because Vash and the children were walking towards her, all wearing boots. Vash grinned. "Checking on us?"

"Mission accomplished, even though it looked like we were going to get thrown out into the thunderstorm." Hannah stepped her right foot out, showing off the black boot that came halfway up her calf. Her pair had a thick sole that added to her height and buckles around the ankle and the top to keep it tight to her foot.

Vash laughed nervously. "I really don't think Mr. Belding would have done that, even if the cantankerous cuss was threatening to do that."

"OH." Chuck exclaimed. "That's what that means." He pointed to his feet, now shod in brown boots almost reaching his knees with straps holding on a brown-colored armor plate. "I found boots like Vash's."

"They are very nice boots," Meryl assured him. "I realized I am now weaponless and was going to see what they had to remedy that."

"Right, we didn't get your cape back." Vash frowned. "Do you want it back? Or rather, a new one just like it?"

"I don't know. It was useful for no one to realize you're armed, but maybe it's time for something new."

"You want an invisible gun?" Hannah asked.

"That sounds like a bad idea of trying to find it when you need it," Chuck said.

Vash opened the door to the gun shop. "Hands to yourselves."

"And let Meryl do the haggling; you are bad at it today," Hannah said to him as she entered through the doorway.

The shop had a range of weapons from handguns to rifles along with accessories and ammunition for them. She frowned at the rifles; she had never been able to handle the kickback from them.

Vash presented a derringer with a thigh holster to her. "My skirt won't hide that," she told him. That was why she started stashing derringers under her cape.

"Wear a different skirt? I'm not telling you what to wear; you get to wear what you want. But I like your regular skirt, and I like it when you wear jeans like today. Oh, it won't work with jeans either."

Hannah elbowed Vash in his side. "Bro, your filter is so broken today."

"And you woke up on the cynical side of the bed this morning. She looks good today!"

Chuck ignored them and focused his attention on the wall display of weapon belts and holsters. Best to make sure he didn't want to complete his copying Vash's appearance. Meryl joined him. "You don't need a belt like Vash's."

"Can't start learning to shoot 'till I'm ten. I remember. Not like Hannah and Vash don't remind me every time they have target practice." Before Meryl could question target practice, Chuck continued, "I'm looking for what James Bomb wears for you."

"Who's James Bomb?" Meryl asked. She didn't remember any bandit with that name.

"He's a spy that blows stuff up. And he wears his gun with one of these." Chuck glanced at the shopkeeper, whose attention focused on Vash and Hannah looking at the weapons in the glass-case counter, and grabbed the odd-shaped belt from its hook on the wall with his tail. "It goes under his jacket. We got one for Vash for the sandsteamer, but it's probably too big for you. If you're not gonna wear a cape, you need a jacket or a coat, right?"

The handgun holster was sewn directly onto a wide belt that buckled around the body instead of dangling from the waist to the thigh. On the opposite side was a storage pouch for a magazine. Adjustable straps about an inch wide attached to the front of the belt on both left and right sides that would rest on the shoulders before crossing each other and attaching to the back of the belt. Judging by the lengths, the wide belt would wrap around just below her breasts instead of the waist. Well, that might work for longer with a pregnancy. "This might work," she said. "I think I'll have to leave the derringers and use a handgun with a magazine."

"Solved the wardrobe crisis?" Vash joined them. "Good find, Chuck. An underarm holster will work."

"Once I get a coat to go over it, but gun first." Meryl set the underarm holster on the glass-case counter by the cash register.

The shopkeeper nodded and pulled out a handgun. Vash saw it and made a face. "No," he said. "The lady wants a gun, not a peashooter."

"Perhaps you are a bit confused by the caliber of your weapon, sir."

Vash spluttered. Hannah rolled her eyes. "How much shopping do we need to do in this town? Because we probably want it to get it done before Vash pisses off all the stores."

The shopkeeper ignored Hannah's commentary to address Vash. "You offered a derringer to the lady."

"That wasn't for the gun; that was for where she was going to keep it!"

"Vash!" Meryl exclaimed, her face heating.

"Bro, Chuck is too young to hear about that!" Hannah glared up at Vash.

"You're too young to hear about that." Chuck stuck his tongue out at his sister.

"The Double Eagle," Vash said, ignoring everyone else. "It has a magazine loader, semi-automatic, and takes the same .45 bullets I use so more of the same ammo for both of us." He looked down at Hannah. "I was too paying attention."

The shopkeeper spluttered. "You're ignoring the recoil a handgun that size has. Ma'am, you won't get off an accurate shot with a Double Eagle."

"I never said you wouldn't need practice with it," Vash said.

"Great." Chuck said sarcastically with a sigh. "More target practice and none for me."

"What do you want to do?" Hannah asked.

"Play with some other kids. But we never have time for that lately."

Meryl looked up at Vash and realized they were both wincing at how Chuck sounded. "How much practice do you think I'll need?" she asked.

Vash shrugged. "A few months, maybe less? That's hard to figure out without seeing you use it."

The shopkeeper sighed as he took the Double Eagle out from under the counter. "How about seeing if you like the weight of it first, ma'am?"

Meryl took the Double Eagle to judge its heft. It was heavier than her derringers, but not unbearably so, and it was lighter than Vash's Colt. There was no strange tingle in her hand that had happened each time she had held the silver revolver. She needed to ask him about that, too. She sighted down the length of her arm and spied Vash with a dreamy expression on his face. "How long have you been fantasizing about me with a bigger gun?"

"Keep it clean!" Hannah exclaimed.

Vash frowned at Hannah. "Not that kind! And just now was you terrifying bandits drawing that out."

"What if she doesn't pick it?" Chuck asked.

Vash raised his eyebrows. "You want the peashooter?"

"Don't get a swelled head that I'm taking your advice." She handed the Double Eagle back to the shopkeeper along with the underarm holster. "I'll take these."

"And a second magazine and two boxes of .45s," Vash added as he pulled out his wallet.

The shopkeeper stopped arguing and took the money. She buckled on the underarm holster and Vash adjusted the straps to fit snugly against her body. Putting the Double Eagle into the holster was awkward. She would need to practice drawing it with target practice, too. She looked up at Vash. "I need to go coat shopping next. Why don't you go organize a football game for Chuck?"

Vash passed her some more double dollar bills before putting his wallet away. "Will do. Come on, you two. We'll drop stuff off at the rooms and then find some local kids with a ball."

Chuck cheered as they headed out to the monument square. Meryl headed across the street to a clothing store. She found a white jacket as long as the hem of her white skirt. The sleeves were not too long on her arms and it hid the Double Eagle. It was warm enough for the nights and cool enough for the days. She bought it and wore it back to the monument square and the high-pitched laughter echoing against the buildings.

They had found local kids with a ball and had pulled Milly into the game as well. She guessed they needed another captain as tall as Vash. He spotted her arrival and jogged out of the game. "Do you like it? Or do we need to head to the town with the best tailor on Gunsmoke?"

"I like it and we'll figure out where to go next later."

"Can you get ice cream for everyone? How much money do we have left?"

They counted out the change on Meryl's palm. "Ten cones?" There were only eight players, and she made nine.

"One for her." He pointed to a small child hunched down beside the monument listing the ones who died on the ship that had crashed here in the Great Fall.

Meryl kissed his cheek before heading to the ice cream seller on the other side of the square. He always looked for the children and what he could do for them in every town. The game paused as the six children involved got their cone along with Vash and Milly. Meryl carried the extra cone over to the small child with her own. She squatted down and held the cone out. "Hi, do you want some ice cream? We have a ball; you can play with us."

The small girl scrambled away from them, running for a busy side street.

Meryl stood back up and shrugged at Vash. He looked resigned. "Not everyone wants to play," he said.

"Not everyone wants ice cream either," Chuck said. "That's not me." He took the tenth cone from Meryl and ate it before it melted. He and Vash went back to the others with the game while Meryl found a bench to sit and watch.

She wasn't sure why Vash had said nothing about the baby, but he always looked out for the children in every town they had traveled to. She'd figured out a way to raise this baby with Vash.

Chapter Text

Vash caught the ball as it bounced up off his knee before the ripple of powerful rot slammed against his mind. The memory of pink light disintegrating a building around him shook loose from his head and almost obscured the man walking across the square.

A memorable fellow: white coat down to his feet nothing at all like Meryl's new one, a skull tied to his left arm, spikes coming out of his right shoulder, and blue hair covering his face so only his golden right eye was visible. And no one in the busy town square was glancing at him as he crossed it to sit on the other side of the monument behind Vash's back. "I found you, Vash the Stampede," projected into his mind in an amused male's voice.

"What? Who are you?" Vash shored up his mental defenses. That cut back the rot to an ignorable level. Was he another independent plant? The stranger didn't feel like Meryl did, even when Vash was ignorant of her true nature. A telepathic human, maybe?

"Legato, Legato Bluesummers."

Milly called for Vash's attention and he threw her the ball with a silly smile on his face. She moved the game with the children away without Vash prompting her. Or was Bluesummers affecting the entire crowd?

Vash slipped on his sunshades. "What do you want from me?"

"Your life." Legato chuckled. "Perhaps that was a bit too dramatic. Actually, I'm here as a messenger. That's right, I've come here to warn you. I'm afraid your life is going to end. Today."

"What!"

"Do you think I'm lying to you?"

Chuck winced and kicked the ball at Hannah before marching away from the game. He stopped next to Vash and glared at Bluesummers. "Who is he?"

Legato didn't turn around. "Well, this is new. We knew about the insurance representatives, but you managed to keep a stray little spider without us discovering it until now, Vash?"

"I'm not a spider!" Chuck projected back.

Another memory jarred loose without Vash looking for it. Young Knives laughing maniacally as the Fleet made flaming entry into Gunsmoke's atmosphere and morphing into an adult Knives still laughing the same way. Vash turned his head to see Bluesummers with more of his gaze.

"Bro, who is that?" Chuck looked up at Vash and he could feel the worry from the mouse boy. "Karbunkle and Limburger don't laugh that crazy."

"Bro? Brother?" Bluesummers' interior voice turned from intrigued to disappointed. "Have you gone and replaced your actual family, Vash? My master will be so disappointed to hear that. It probably won't surprise him, though. After all, he found me when you rejected him." Vash saw Bluesummers' shoulder shrug in the corner of his eye. Bluesummers continued projecting. "Have I done everything today? I gave you your warning. I haven't given you the gift yet, have I?"

"Don't take gifts from strangers, Vash!" Chuck projected.

"And you should learn to stay quiet when adults are talking!"

The powerful rot slammed into Chuck, who dropped to his knees clutching his helmet. Vash whirled around, pressed his hand to the back of Chuck's furry neck, weaved power into the boy's natural mental shields, and glared balefully at Bluesummers. "I'm the one you're here for. Leave him alone!"

Bluesummers laughed mentally, but no sound came out of him. "Your reaction is better than I'd hoped. You're fun. And to think, I could kill every man, woman, and child here in the blink of an eye if I wanted to. The power of death is intoxicating."

The power bearing down on Chuck eased off and the mouse boy dropped his hands. Vash pulled his hand back, ready to draw.

Bluesummers stood but didn't turn around. "Don't be in so much of a hurry. You still have a little time left. Or perhaps you don't. And don't worry, I haven't harmed the boy." Bluesummers looked over his shoulder at Vash. "So, do you want to draw?"

Vash didn't move as he seethed.

"A wise choice. Oh, I almost forgot. This is a little farewell gift. It contains a lesson from me. I'll just leave it here." Bluesummers waved at a brown sack on the bench that some shopkeepers put goods in if one didn't walk out wearing or eating the goods. Something was in it, but Vash couldn't tell what from his side of the monument.

A woman screamed behind Vash, not in the town square yet, but running toward it.

Meryl gripped Vash's right arm. "What was that? It felt like the thunderstorm had come back. Chuck, are you all right?"

"My head hurts." Chuck stood. "Who was that wrenchhead?"

Meryl turned her head to look around the square. Vash tore his gaze away from the sack to do the same. "He's gone," Meryl said.

"Help me!" the woman running screamed.

"What's up with her?" someone in the square asked.

"That's Mrs. Belding, the shoemaker's wife," someone else answered.

"She looks upset," a third man commented.

Mrs. Belding collapsed against the second man in the huddle. "It's murder!" she screamed.

"Hey! Hey! It's okay! Calm down."

"Murder? What do you mean? What are you talking about?"

"My husband! My husband is still sitting there! But his head. His head! My husband!"

The other townspeople tried to calm Mrs. Belding down and make sense of what she was saying. Vash looked back at the sack on the bench, the right size and right lumpy shape to hold a human head.

Meryl let the children yell while she struggled on reining in her seething anger. It was more productive to let them wear the sheriff down and then for her to come in as a voice of reason. That would get Vash out of jail.

"Sheriff, he didn't do it," Chuck said. "He's innocent!"

The Sheriff of New MacFarlane was in his late thirties or early forties with a patchy mustache on his upper lip and a world-weary tone of a much older man. He leaned sideways at his desk, letting his long legs stretch out from his chair beside it. Vash's Colt sat on the desktop as a paperweight for written papers. "And just how do you know that, son? Because he was a nice man who played ball with you?"

"He did do that," Chuck admitted.

"Now you want our eyewitness testimony?" Hannah squeezed her crossed arms against her chest to keep her words at just below a snarl.

"The canker cuss was alive after Vash bought our boots and got his fixed," Chuck continued.

"It's cantankerous," Hannah corrected.

"And Mr. Belding is dead now, so let's not call him names," Milly said.

"Why did an outlaw buy you two shoes?" the sheriff asked.

"Is that a crime in this town, too?" Hannah asked back. "You get to say who can and cannot buy shoes along with ignoring Miranda rights?"

The sheriff looked at Meryl and then Milly. "Which one of you is Miranda?"

"The right to remain silent, the right to a lawyer before and during questioning; what kind of legal system do you have here? You didn't even tell Vash it was a homicide."

"To be fair," Chuck told his sister, "Mrs. Belding screamed it at everybody."

Hannah didn't stop scowling across the desk at the sheriff. "It's false imprisonment, so you can have habeas corpus, isn't it? Murder most foul and here's the last stranger to arrive so he must be guilty!"

"Now you stop making up words to make yourself sound important, little miss." The sheriff pointed at Hannah.

"But Vash isn't the last stranger to come here. That would be the blue-haired man with the skull on his arm," Chuck insisted. "Did you ask him questions? He wanted to hurt me."

"What investigation?" Now Hannah's voice turned scathing. "He didn't even ask Vash any questions. Just peaked into the bag on the bench and then dragged Vash here on a bum rap."

"And the blue-haired man with the skull on his arm left the bag! He said it was a lesson for Vash."

"You two would say anything to get that guy freed. Is that what he keeps you around for?" the sheriff asked.

Chuck reared back like the sheriff had slapped him inside his helmet. "I'm not lying!"

"Are you accusing us of perjury?" Hannah demanded.

"This ain't a courthouse, little miss. The judge has to decide on perjury. Now I don't have to explain anything to you, but I did investigate."

"Really? You call marching up to a shocked man wearing a gun in the square an investigation?" Hannah's scathing tone could sandblast metal.

"He was the last paying customer at the shoe store; he was lingering in the area for the discovery of the body, and he was right there with the evidence."

"And you're still not listening to our testimony! Belding was alive when we all left the shop together, then we went to the gun shop with Meryl-ma'am and no paper bags there either, and then we went to the main square because that's where the other kids were playing. Vash didn't kill Belding!" Hannah jerked her arms off her chest and slammed her hands on her hips.

"He's being framed! Right?" Chuck turned to his sister.

"Right!"

The sheriff ignored them again. "What's more, we ran a check and found out he's that Humanoid Typhoon that everyone's been talking about lately. I'd have to be completely out of my mind not to look up that guy."

"Oh," Hannah stretched out sarcastically, "and the bounty on his head had no influence on that decision? You get the collar and sixty billion double dollars."

"That has nothing to do with anything! He's dangerous!" the sheriff exclaimed.

"Who isn't dangerous on this planet?" Chuck asked.

"You can't even claim to have an impartial system of justice by paying for people to apprehend other people! Innocent until proved guilty in a court of law doesn't matter at all."

"If I were to cut him loose, and he was to take off into the night, would you take the heat? I think not."

"That's what bail is for, Barney Fuzz!" Hannah yelled as her hands left her hips to ball into fists.

The sheriff stood up and leaned over his desk. "I have been very patient with your tone, young lady. But you keep that up and you'll be sleeping next to the Humanoid Typhoon in a cell of your own tonight."

"If you get arrested, I have to ground you," Chuck said.

Hannah turned to Chuck. "You can't ground me!"

"With Vash in jail, I'm the only one here who can."

Meryl patted Hannah's shoulder. "This isn't helping Vash." The girl looked at her with green eyes gleaming with angry tears and Meryl patted Hannah's shoulder again.

"We should go find that blue-haired guy," Chuck said.

"We're not looking for anyone tonight," Meryl said.

"Mom always said you're not supposed to judge people by the patches on their jackets," Hannah said.

"It wasn't a patch," Chuck said. "He had a real skull tied to his arm!"

Meryl looked at the sheriff, who looked like he wanted to throw them out of his office. "May we go see Vash?"

The sheriff scowled. "You can go. Or she can." He waved at Milly. "I'd rather keep children out of the jail unless I need to arrest them."

"All right." Meryl looked at Hannah and Chuck. "You two stay here with Milly." The sheriff opened the door to the cell block but didn't push the door open before returning to his desk. Meryl pushed it open just enough to squeeze through.

Vash twisted his head to see the door wearing the hard expression with the glowing eyes he had shown the children so long ago.

And Meryl left the jail for an office? A desk with a puddle of blood and a dark-haired man slumped on it in front of her. A blond man perched on the desk with his back to the door and wore a jumpsuit she had never seen before. He twisted with a wave. "Oh. Hey, Vash." It shattered in a wave of pink light. Meryl blinked, and the cell was in front of her again.

Vash's face relaxed, and the glow faded from his eyes as he looked embarrassed. "Hey Meryl. Sorry for all of this." He tried to wave his arms as he sat on the cell's bunk.

Meryl reached the bars and clutched them. Not only was he behind these thick bars, two thick chains from the wall ended in the heaviest manacles she had ever seen around his wrists and the manacles were bolted together so he couldn't use his hands. No, Hannah and Chuck didn't need to see this.

"Oh Vash, we know you're innocent. And I know this isn't what you wanted to happen tonight."

Vash's chuckle sounded strangled and tinged with bitterness. Not like his normal laugh at all.

She sighed. "I don't know how much of that you heard back here, but the sheriff isn't budging about letting you out. We'll have better luck with the judge in the morning." Because one of them had to be an optimist, and it seemed like it was her turn.

"This town won't be here in the morning for that to happen."

Meryl felt her stomach drop. "Did he threaten the town? Chuck's blue-haired man? What did he tell you?"

"He only threatened me, but I doubt a guy who says 'the power of death is intoxicating' is going to be concerned with collateral damages. And if Bluesummers is connected to the man in July City, he definitively won't care about collateral damages."

"The man in July City? Is that who I saw from you just now?"

"UGH." Vash knocked his head against the stone wall behind him. "Sorry. I keep flashing back to it. Have been since Bluesummers delivered his warning."

"That's..." she faltered, but he needed to know. "That's not the only time you've shown me that. It was in that confused jumble you gave me about your brother."

Vash's face crumpled, and he looked at the floor. "It was always a logical supposition that Knives caused what happened in July, but never any proof. Probably because I won't let myself remember the proof." He looked up again, as serious as she had ever seen him. "You have to get the kids and Milly and get out of town. Now."

She shook her head, overwhelmed by the sheer unpalatability of the idea of leaving him behind to face death caused in her.

"Meryl, please! I know I promised to explain, but there's no time. Just get the kids out, so all I have to worry about is the town!"

"How do you think that is even going to work? Hannah's doing everything she can think of short of committing an actual crime to get locked up in here with you. Do you really think me and Milly can make them leave you?"

He blinked, groaned, and knocked his head again. "How do their parents get them to do anything?"

Possibly the grounding that Chuck had mentioned, but that was speculation for another time because Meryl felt a steady, heavy tread approaching. Chuck's voice carried from the outer room. "Do you hear that? It sounds like Uncle Modo and Greasepit stomping together."

Then the entire building vibrated as the doors creaked swinging open, and a strange whine filled the air. Vash jumped off the bench in the cell, eyes wider than she had ever seen on him. "GET DOWN!" He screamed.

Meryl dropped to the stone floor and pressed her body against it before the bullets pierce the wall between the cell block and the outer room. The bullets didn't stop. She covered her ears against the roar of them and the shattering wood, metal, and stone. Dust filled the air from the debris. She risked her eyes to the dust because she had to protect Vash. He was hers!

Vash had thrown himself toward the floor, dangling at the end of the chains and not able to reach the floor but shielding his face with his arms. The bullets chipped away at enough of the mortar so the wall of bars leaned out of the ceiling and then crashed down to the floor, missing Meryl.

The rain of bullets finally ended.

Now she could hear Milly's sharp inhales to not scream, Chuck's broken sob with words she didn't recognize again, Hannah growling, and a low moan that must be coming from the sheriff. She had to cough out the dust. Nobody was dead; thank God, nobody was dead.

A deep male voice laughed at the wreckage, at the fear he caused. "Thanks for showing me in." Meryl heard the rustling of cloth. The sheriff was still moaning, but everyone else went quiet when the stranger started talking. "Can you hear me, Vash the Stampede? My name is Monev the Gale and I'm here to send you to hell just as you were promised."

Meryl coughed again from the dust and smoke as she looked at Vash. The bars were gone. She could find the keys and get him loose.

"Run!" He snapped at her.

"Where are the keys?" They hadn't been on the sheriff's belt when he let her back here. Had the sheriff mounted the keys on the wall? She looked. The wall and door had vanished and just a hole remained.

"Get out while you can! Hurry!"

"I have to get you out."

Something crashed through the hole in the wall and the remainder of the wall. It was human-shaped, taller than Vash, and dressed in a skin-tight purple jumpsuit that highlighted all his bulging muscles. Monev grabbed Vash by the throat, slamming the thinner man up against the wall so his feet dangled two feels off the floor. Metal as thick as Monev's whole body covered both of Monev's forearms. Monev carried more metal pistons on his back.

Vash strained to push away from the massive hand around his throat and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Monev held him at the end of the chains and he couldn't raise his arms to pry the purple-gloved hand off his throat.

"This was simple. Simple enough to make me realize I've been wasting my life." Monev laughed again as the leather creaked when he tightened his grip. Vash gasped for air.

Heat flared through Meryl. Protect, protect, protect, chanting along with the beat of her heart. She drew the Double Eagle from under her jacket. The heat moved into her arms, down to her hands as she steadied the handgun with both hands. No practice, but she couldn't miss at this distance. She cocked the handgun behind Monev. "Let go of him right now."

Vash got enough air to yell. "Meryl! Protect the baby!"

Monev's free hand moved back. Meryl gave up her stance and threw herself out of reach of the hand that was bigger than her head.

"Why?" Vash choked out, drawing Monev's attention back to him and not on how Meryl evaded Monev's fist.

"Do you have any idea how long thirty years is? Imprisoned in that disgusting place with nothing to do by physical training? It was like living in the bowels of hell." Monev squeezed his fist tighter. "But once I kill you, those days of torture will be over forever. Five clicks until the end." The pistons on Monev's back moved and made a click. "Four." Click. "Three." Click. "Two." Click "One."

Chapter Text

Hannah scowled at the closed cell block door. She didn't oppose giving Vash and Meryl-ma'am alone time, but Meryl-ma'am needed to come out so they could plan the jail break to get Vash out of this frame up. She was ninety percent sure that the bike could yank and crank the bars out of a window in Vash's cell.

Chuck turned around to face the outer door and tilted his helmeted head. "Do you hear that? It sounds like Uncle Modo and Greasepit stomping together."

The sheriff looked up from his report writing, opening his mouth, probably to tell them to get out when the door swung open. A humanoid who easily dwarfed Uncle Modo in height and was wider than Greasepit across the shoulders pushed inside. His cowboy hat brushed against the ceiling and he raised his arms out of the poncho he had wrapped around his upper body. Ammo belts fed into his metal-covered forearms. Oh, those were machine guns around his thick arms!

The sheriff looked up, speechless except for a terrified moan. Weapon whine filled the air. Vash yelled clearly through the cellblock door. "GET DOWN!"

Milly reached out and grabbed the sheriff, pulling him across the room and against the wall seconds before the bullets from the arm cannons blasted apart his desk, the shelves and filing cabinet and wall behind it.

Hannah covered Chuck with her own body, shoving them both against the wall and down to the floor. Chuck screamed in Martian. "{Bike, get here now! We're under attack! Hurry! Hurry!}" Then he sobbed. "{I want Dad!}"

The stream of bullets finally ended. Hannah glared up at the shrouded stranger, a howl trapped behind her teeth.

A deep male voice laughed at the wreckage and the fear he had caused.

Chuck stopped talking as he pushed out from under Hannah and looked up.

"Thanks for showing me in." The wrenchhead flung off his hat and poncho, revealing a purple wrestling leotard and a translucent orange mask that looked like plastic covering his face.

The sheriff continued to moan.

The wrenchhead ignored all of them. "Can you hear me, Vash the Stampede? My name is Monev the Gale and I'm here to send you to hell just as you were promised."

Hannah hissed. A bounty hunter wrenchhead. Too bad she had left her helmet along with her gun and the blaster with the bike. She had no idea what the bike's ETA was.

The ammo belts ran from his arm cannons to the piston backpack strapped to his upper back. Maybe there was some way to jam it and keep the ammo from feeding into the chambers. She looked around the ruins of the sheriff's office. Vash's gun was on the floor. No, she wouldn't sacrifice her bro's weapon of choice.

She saw Monev's teeth under the points of his orange mask as his lips curled back in an ugly grin. He charged through the hole he had created in the back wall and made it even larger since he didn't bother to duck. Then she heard a thud, and it shook the remaining walls and ceiling.

"This was simple," Monev said in the cell block. "Simple enough to make me realize I've been wasting my life." He laughed again.

"Let go of him right now," Meryl-ma'am said fiercely.

Milly-ma'am was on her feet and drawing her stun gun out from under her coat, leaving the sheriff in a terrified heap as she went to the hole in the wall. Vash yelled Meryl's name and something else Hannah's still ringing ears couldn't make out.

Hannah and Chuck looked at each other and moved forward on their hands and knees to see through the hole.

Monev had Vash against the back wall by the neck. "Do you have any idea how long thirty years is? Imprisoned in that disgusting place with nothing to do but physical training? It was like living in the bowels of hell." Vash gasped for more air, but Monev continued. "But once I kill you, those days of torture will be over forever. Five clicks until the end." The pistons on his back moved and made the click. "Four." Click. "Three." Click. "Two." Click. "One."

"Why you!" Milly-ma'am shot her stun gun.

Monev twisted and fired at the bolt with his left arm cannon. The shrapnel from the bolt hit Vash's chains while he pulled on them. They shattered.

Vash pushed up and out of Monev's grip, stepping on Monev's face mask to leap over him. The manacles hit the floor as Vash darted through the hole in the wall. Milly-ma'am dodged to the other side where the desk used to be. Hannah and Chuck shoved back against the wall where the sheriff was frozen in terror. Vash snatched his gun up off the floor and was out the door before they could blink.

Monev fired briefly through the open doors as he slowly sauntered to them and paused as he looked. "It's true what I was told about this guy. He's a complete chicken shit." And then the muscle-bound wrenchhead loped after Vash.

The sheriff wasn't moaning now, but he was breathing like he had done all the running Vash just did. Milly-ma'am ignored him as she went into the cell block. "Meryl, are you okay?"

Hannah scrambled for the outer doors. She couldn't see Vash or Monev on the dark street, but she heard people still enjoying their early evening. And some alarmed screaming from the direction of their hotel.

Inside the office, Chuck said, "We told you Vash didn't do it. Now, do you believe he was framed so that guy could get him?"

A bright light filled the street before the riderless black bike squealed around the corner. Hannah ran out to meet her, swinging on while the bike still rolled. Her new boots grabbed the foot pegs she installed for her legs much better than her sneakers had ever done. She thrust her helmet on and activated the face shield. "Battle mode activate."

The bike's main laser cannon and the front fork's side missile and bola bolt launchers slid out. A grid of the town with two blips moving fast appeared on Hannah's face shield. Good, the bike's sensors already had a lock on Vash and Monev.

Hannah grinned. "Let's show this town how we ladies dance."

The bike popped a wheelie and charged after Vash and Monev.

"No fair!" Chuck yelled over the radio transmitters between the helmets. "I want to help too!"

"Help Meryl and Milly-ma'am!" Hannah yelled back.

The bike turned on her speakers and blared out one of Metallica's recognizable opening riffs that made the guitars sound like revving engines.

Give me fuel, give me fire. Give me that which I desire, ooh!

Hannah howled during the solo music and focused on the town map. Vash was in the lead, taking the shortest route to the town's limits, but it was the side of town filled with saloons jammed with all the people who were still awake. "Battle plan: get ahead of Vash and clear the road so we can get that wrenchhead Monev and his firepower away from the civilians."

"Battle plan accepted. Intercept course plotted." The bike printed next to the map grid as she beeped affirmatively and fired her rockets.

Yeah! Turn on, I see red.
Adrenaline crash and crack my head.
Nitro junkie, paint me dead.
And I see red.

Hannah held on as the bike drove up the sturdiest building on this street and shot across the rooftops. These buildings were only two to three stories tall, no problem for the bike, and she was free to really pour on the speed with Metallica singing encouragement.

A hundred plus through black and white.
War horse, warhead.
Fuck 'em man, white-knuckle tight.
Through black and white.

The taller buildings were all clustered around the plant bulb. They reached the end of the buildings and the bike fired her rockets again as they dropped off the roofs and back to the street. The civilians gaped, watching them settle on the ground again.

"Aooooow!" Hannah howled. "Take cover! Bullets will fly!" The bike revved and surged forward as the chorus blared.

Ooh, on I burn.
Fuel is pumping engines.
Burning hard, loose, and clean.
And I burn, churning my direction.
Quench my thirst with gasoline.
So give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire. Hey!

The civilians screamed and dove through the doors of various buildings.

"Good! Stay there until Vash the Stampede has left town!" Hannah yelled. They rode toward the fast-moving blip that headed toward them. And people scattered off the built-up sidewalk and street as they roared by.

Vash ran through the streets at a steady pace that allowed him to scream at all the idiots still out on the streets. Why weren't they all in bed yet? "Stay away from me! Run for your lives! Coming through! Whatever you do, don't get near me! Take cover until I am safely out of town. I'm not kidding. It's a matter of life and death here!"

The edge of town was too far away.

Two men, who made space as Vash ran through, hurried back into the center of the street in Vash's wake. "It's the guy!" one of them yelled.

"Vash the Stampede!" yelled the second one.

Monev moved behind the two men, pausing to aim his arm cannon.

Vash aimed his gun at them. "I said get down!"

The men dropped to the dirt and Monev fired behind them. Vash darted into an alley as the bullets hit the building.

An old man with a cane stood on the sidewalk, minding his own business. Vash grabbed him, "Sorry, grandpa," and threw the old man through an open window onto a sofa.

A man opened his shutters and peered out. Vash shoved him back in and down. "No peeking!" Monev's bullets ripped the shutters apart.

Vash could hear Monev as they ran. "That pinhead, arrogant little twerp! Does he actually think he can get away from me and keep up this pace?"

Vash sure hoped so because Monev sure didn't care where he was aiming and Vash had to get him out of town before people died. Three toughs stood at the corner of the alley Vash was running down and another major street. Vash brandished his Colt. "Run! Run or I'll shoot!"

The toughs laughed. "Yeah, right, hotshot. Whatever you say."

"Idiots." Vash shot once. "I warned you." The toughs hit the dirt. Vash rolled in a somersault on the ground and ducked the line of bullets Monev fired and struck the building.

"Still helping others, even at a time like this?" Monev scoffed. "You are weak. If you have any expectations of staying alive, you better use them as a shield." Pistons moved on his back. "But don't worry, it'll all be over soon, anyway."

Vash held a bullet in his mouth as he reloaded while running. People were screaming and running ahead of him without him shouting. He strained his ears past the screams. Was that sound guitars and drums playing a tune? And a man singing at the top of his lungs? And an engine? He skidded to a stop with a bullet still between his teeth.

Ooh, on I burn.
Fuel is pumping engines.
Burning hard, loose, and clean.
And I burn, churning my direction.
Quench my thirst with gasoline.
So give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire, ooh, yeah-heh!

The black motorcycle's headlight brightened the other end of the street as the music got louder. People froze and stared until it was clear the motorcycle and the song were not stopping. They screamed and ran inside to the warm lights and safe interiors of the buildings.

The motorcycle's back wheel glowed, and it jumped into the air. The wheels hit the side of a building and ran on it like it was flat ground!

Vash spun as he followed it with his eyes. It popped off the wall and landed in the street that Vash had just ran down.

Hannah grinned at him through her gold tinted face shield. "Need a lift? Oh, and you need a faster way to reload instead of using your mouth, bro."

Vash shoved the bullet into its chamber and closed the Colt's gun barrel. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Cleared the road! Get on and we'll outrun this wrenchhead."

"You can't be here in the middle of a firefight!"

"Get on and yell at me while we ride!"

Monev skidded to a stop back in the middle of the intersection and raised both his arm cannons. "Found another woman to come to your defense?" His teeth bared in a truly demented grin. "Now's the end of Vash the Stampede! You and this town die together!"

The bullets ripped out of all the muzzles, and all Vash could do was scream in denial.

"Protect and pulverize!" Hannah screamed and dropped her whole body down on the seat and fuel tank.

More laser cannons shaped the same as the one above the headlight slid out of the motorcycle's body: four extended from the taillight, four more from the top of the front fender, and two more from the bottom of the front fender evenly divided on the left and right sides. They adjusted to fire in different directions and then they all fired continuously, creating a sphere of energy bolts around the motorcycle and its rider.

Bright laser bolts barely had spaces between the bolts and rockets fired off. They collided with the bullets and shattered the falling stones tore from the buildings. Dust and gunpowder filled the street. No one could hear screaming past Monev's bullet stream and the motorcycle's laser answer. Something clipped the side of Vash's head and knocked him down.

The shooting finally stopped. Vash struggled to his feet, peered through the dust, and staggered forward. The motorcycle's engine was still running. Hannah sat up straight again. The dust settled, so the ruined buildings showed more of their carnage. There was sobbing and screaming around them, and so many bodies were not moving at all.

Monev lowered his arm cannons while standing in the street he just shot down. He laughed. "I did it! I did it! So much for the legendary outlaw! He was nothing; he died like a coward. At last, at last I'm free! Now I can live the way I wanna live!" His laughter sounded a little unhinged.

And people are dead, thundered in Vash's head.

Vash reached out and pressed his left hand on Hannah's back. She was breathing, and the motorcycle was still rumbling. His heart pounded with fury and it drowned out any other sound in his ears. He raised the Colt, sighting the laughing murderer, and fired.

Direct hit on Monev's mask. He staggered back.

Vash fired again, squeezing the trigger twice.

Monev's head rocked back again. He recovered and there were three bullet shatter points in his orange mask.

"AOOOOOW!" Hannah howled. "Triple tap!"

Vash ignored her as he moved around the motorcycle, heading straight to Monev.

The massive man leaned against a building and looked up as Vash's form emerged from the smoke and dust.

Vash's eyes were glowing blue and his face was hard.

"This... this must be a nightmare," Monev said. "Those eyes! It's like looking into the eyes of the diablo!"

Vash raised his gun.

Monev ran and leaped over a building as Vash fired.

Hannah scowled as the wrenchhead's silhouette showed up against the lowest and largest moon as Monev leaped over the building. For all that yelling that Vash was a coward, he ran like he wore yellow.

Vash's right arm dropped to his side, and he stared after Monev without moving.

Hannah huffed. "Get on and let's get him."

"Hannah, no!" He didn't turn around. "You don't belong in this fight."

"We can help!"

"Help the survivors!" He started moving down the street in the direction Monev ran.

Running feet echoed against the rubble. Meryl, Milly, and Chuck emerged from an alley from a still intact block behind Hannah. "Vash!" Meryl-ma'am yelled.

Vash still didn't turn around. "Help the survivors, please! I have to stop him from killing anyone else." Vash continued, walking steadily, but it looked like he was in pain.

Meryl-ma'am took a deep breath. "Right. Hannah, I need the first aid kit."

Hannah dismounted and pulled the white box out. Meryl-ma'am took it from her and turned to the first person sitting up in the street.

Chuck looked around at the mess. "What to do first?"

"Start on that end." Hannah pointed to the where the rubble stopped. "Turn your helmet on heat seeking and find alive people who are hurt and trapped." Milly-ma'am nodded and went with Chuck. Hannah changed her helmet's settings and headed to the beginning of the rubble where the buildings took the most bullets. She had seen death already; Chuck didn't need to see that yet.

The bike rolled behind Hannah, shining her headlight into the rubble. The powdered remains of a wall moved, and Hannah's face shield showed a red blob under it. She shifted some of the bigger pieces away and found a blinking face caked in stone dust. His right arm was at a wrong angle and she didn't look too closely at that. She sucked with biological systems. "Anybody else home, citizen? Sir?"

He coughed. "Wife hadn't made it home from work yet."

"Good. Lean on me." She helped him out into the street and into another citizen's hands, who reached out for him. Then she headed across the street. This house had a second story floor that now had one end of the first floor foundation. The red blob inside the shadow under it was huge.

Great, another giant person. What the hell was with this planet that it kept making enormous people? She shifted another large rock to enlarge the hole, switched off the heat seeking for the helmet head lamps, and crawled inside.

It wasn't one large person, but three people huddled together at the bottom of the wall facing Monev when the bullets started flying. The man's head was gone above his nose and the rest of his body slumped to his left. The woman's left shoulder and arm were gone, but blood wasn't flowing from that wound any more. But between them was a dusty, coughing, squirming little girl smaller than Chuck.

Hannah crouched in front of her. "Hey there, sweetheart. Do you have any ouchies? My name is Hannah; I'm here to help." She shoved the dead weight of the man away from the girl.

The little girl sprang up and tackled Hannah, wrapping her arms around Hannah's neck and her legs around Hannah's waist. Hannah patted her down and didn't feel any blood or broken bones. "Okay, hold on tight and I'll get you out." She kept a hand pressed on the child's back and crawled out with her knees and one hand.

The street scene had more moving people: men and women in white coats and aprons bandaging and moving people around. Other people in normal clothes helping people out of the rubble too or covering unmoving bodies with blankets.

Hannah rubbed the little girl's back. "Okay. We're outside now, sweetheart. You want to stand up?"

The little girl tucked her head under Hannah's helmet, shook it hard, and pulled tighter on Hannah's shirt.

"Okay. You help me find more people." The bike rolled between Hannah and the rest of the crowd as she changed her helmet settings and scanned the next building. Another red human-shaped blob behind a pile of rocks too large for her to move one handed. "Bike, yank and crank."

The bike spun around and shot her grappling hook out from under the seat and hit the largest of the rocks. Nervous people yelled and scrambled back from the bike. The little girl moved her head to look at them.

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Yes, she can move without a rider. I know it has been a terrible night, but calm down, citizens!"

The bike pulled that rock free, and other rocks cascaded out of the way. Hannah changed the helmet settings and peered in. One normal man, but another rock trapped his left leg. She leaned back out, balancing the little girl. "Medic here! He's got a huge rock on his leg!"

A doctor in a white coat and a few other men in overalls ignored the bike and came to the hole. Hannah heaved a sigh, patted the little girl's back, made sure the grapple hook released and retracted back into the bike.

Meryl-ma'am stopped Hannah from crossing the street to the next building. Milly-ma'am and Chuck were with her. "They have the rest of them out. We have to find Vash now," Meryl-ma'am said.

Hannah blinked at her to keep tears from starting. She needed to be strong for Chuck and the little girl. Tears were inefficient. "Vash yelled. He doesn't want help."

Meryl-ma'am looked resigned but softened it with a smile at Hannah. "He always thinks that. We have to make sure he really doesn't need our help."

The bike beeped at them. Hannah focused on her face shield. "Have a lock on the pair," the bike printed across it. The face shield map of the town appeared again, with some buildings labeled along with the dots for Vash and Monev.

"Vash is at the bank. And Monev is moving in that direction," Hannah said to everyone else.

Meryl looked at the bike. "Can we all ride? At once?"

"To get there fast, yes. She won't be able to fight with all of us on her."

"I hope we don't have to fight," Meryl-ma'am said.

The bike popped out the sidecar. Chuck climbed into it. "There's room for you, Meryl-ma'am." Meryl-ma'am climbed in behind Chuck while Hannah held onto the little girl who was glued to her and climbed onto the seat. Milly-ma'am climbed on behind Hannah, and the bike drove away from the ruined street to another major, intersecting street.

The local branch of Planet Bank was near the end of the street that opened onto the desert. Lights were still on in the buildings and all the moons were lighting up the street. The bike stopped in the middle of the street, about two blocks away from the bank.

The little girl didn't let go of Hannah, but she twisted her head and looked ahead and up. "Monster man."

Monev stood on the rooftop across the street from the bank's open doors and his ugly laugh carried through the night air. "I see your plan. You're going to use the big safe as a shield. I'll mutilate you!"

He jumped down to the street with a shoulder cannon Gatling gun. It looked like he had reconfigured his forearm cannons and the pistons into this new weapon and it almost touched the bank doors with how long it was. "Along with that vault door!" Monev fired a steady stream of bullets through the open doors.

Something exploded inside the bank. And the round vault door came flying out through the doors and took out the surrounding wall that had held the doors. The thick metal disk didn't even touch the ground as it slammed into Monev's shoulder cannon Gatling gun and knocked him back as it recoiled into the air.

Two shots split the air. Monev suddenly lost the supports keeping that gigantic cannon on his shoulder and he struggled to keep hold of his weapon.

Vash leaped free of the vault door, showing up against the moon with his big silver handgun in his left hand.

Monev steadied his shoulder cannon. "You have no more bullets, Coward!" He fired a rocket from the center of his cannon.

Vash, still hanging in midair, threw his handgun and caught it with his right hand. Then the leather sleeve on his left arm ripped apart. His left hand dropped off his arm but remained attached and grabbed the trigger that popped out of the end of his left wrist. His left arm now ended in a large muzzle. The shot from it made a flash visible against the moon.

The rocket exploded before it got close to its target. In fact, the explosion was so close to the behemoth it spun Monev around, knocked him to the ground, and he lost his face shield.

"Vash has an arm gun like Uncle Modo too," Chuck said. "Why didn't he use that earlier?!"

Meryl climbed out of the sidecar. "That explains a few things."

"What things?" Chuck followed her out.

Vash landed on the street, ignored their group and the citizens gathering behind them, and strode to Monev.

Monev pushed himself out of the dirt. "You'll pay. You will pay for this!" He turned his head to watch Vash's approach.

"They're dead. People are dead." Vash's voice sounded strange.

"Who the hell cares!" Monev yelled back.

Hannah had a growl in her throat over that answer.

Vash kicked Monev in the face, knocking him onto his back and put the muzzle of the arm gun against his right eye socket. Vash's face in profile was livid.

Monev started yelling a loud moan of fear as he realized he had just said the last wrong thing from a list of wrong things he had said all night.

"You killed all those people!" Vash screamed down into his face. "You killed them all! And you are the one solely responsible for all their deaths!"

Monev moaned louder.

"Now you are also going to die!" A blue flash obscured Vash's eye that Hannah could see.

"Don't kill me!" Monev's moan turned into words as he cried. "Please don't kill me! I'm sorry! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die! Please! Don't kill me! I don't wanna die!" His words vanished again in terrified moans of pain.

The sky at the end of the street open to the desert behind Vash and Monev brightened as the double suns moved over the horizon. "Oh Vash, no," Meryl-ma'am murmured.

Vash pulled back his left arm as he stood up. His expression shifted behind his shades, eyes closing as he lifted his face to the sky and let his arms fall to his sides. Then he curled his arms up, hugging his arm gun as a tremor ran through his body. Hannah was sure she saw the strengthening light gleam off tear tracks on Vash's cheeks. He didn't move from over Monev's prone body and the crowd of citizens seemed to hold their breaths.

Monev had stopped moaning when Vash pulled the arm gun out of his face. Now he regained his breath to ask, "Well, aren't you going to shoot me?"

Mom was right, Hannah thought. Too much muscle does rot the brain.

Vash didn't move. "Where do I find your boss?"

Monev bared his teeth. "I don't have a boss."

"Don't lie to me. You never crowed about the reward money. Locked up for thirty years? Who did that? Who sent you after me?"

Monev dropped his head back on the ground. "I was never told his name. He was a diablo like you. I don't know where he is or his agent."

"Bluesummers," Vash said.

"Yeah, him. I'm not the only one. I'm just the first of the Master's special guns, the Gung-Ho Guns. Don't know anything else, I swear."

Vash dropped his arms and walked away.

Monev sat up. "Hey, it's dangerous to be too trusting. What if I decided to get up and shoot you in the back?"

Vash stopped walking and held out his left arm, still ready to fire. "I'm not that trusting. I kept my finger on the trigger the whole time." He walked past the crowd that had gathered.

Meryl-ma'am marched out of the crowd to Vash's right side, not taking his arm or hand but keeping pace with him. Milly followed them. Chuck climbed back into the sidecar. "Do we need to do something?" he asked.

"That's the Sheriff's job," Hannah said. "But...." she patted the bike. "Yank and crank and confiscate his gear."

The bike beeped and rolled into place to grab the shoulder cannon Gatling gun with her grappling hook. They dragged it behind them as they rolled behind the adults.

Chapter Text

Vash was so tired. He just wanted to shed everything on his body and collapse onto a bed and deal with the world he found when he woke up. That could even happen in jail; he was beyond being picky right now.

Meryl was not steering him to the jail. Once they had moved onto a different street away from Monev and the crowd, she had wrapped her arm around his waist and guided his ponderous gait. That was fine. He trusted Meryl would let him sleep somewhere safe. The stairs finally ended, a door opened, Meryl let him go and darted away from his side; oh it was their hotel room.

"Sit down." Meryl set a first aid kit on the table and moved a chair toward him. "Let me check your head."

Blood had trickled down during the whole fight with Monev, but it didn't hurt. "It's fine. A shower," he said, and he was not swaying right now, nope. Meryl wouldn't want to share a bed with his disgusting body right now.

"Sit. Down. Now."

No arguing with that voice from Meryl. Milly had warned him months ago. Vash sat.

Meryl gently took off his sunshades, set them on the table, and a warm damp cloth wiped along his left temple and cheek.

"Are we keeping her?" Chuck asked. "Hello, what's your name? I'm Chuck."

Vash opened his eyes. When had he closed them? Chuck bounced behind Hannah, trying to get the attention of a tiny girl who was all but plastered to Hannah's front. "What did I miss here?" Vash pointed at the children.

Hannah frowned. "The whole conversation once we got back to the hotel."

"I thought you were too quiet. Milly's gone to get food. That will help." Meryl pressed the gauze soaked with antiseptic against the gash on his scalp and Vash hissed involuntarily. "Chuck, fix Vash some water," she said.

"Okay." He headed to the bathroom sink with a glass, but yawned as he went. He brought it back full to the table. "Hannah is getting snatched by that kid who isn't big enough to do it properly yet and she confisked Monev's gun."

"Confiscated," Hannah corrected. "And we don't want Monev using it again, do we?"

Vash drained the glass of water and wished for something stronger. "This is weird. It looks like she has budded."

Hannah narrowed her eyes. "Lack of sleep and possible concussion, but that sounded like you need to be slapped for saying it, so maybe you should explain, bro?"

"The plant angels also have asexual reproduction and grow off little versions of themselves. That's called budding and the little ones are called buds."

"What does that mean? A-sexual reproduction?" Chuck sounded it out slowly.

Vash winced at the look Hannah was giving him, which was fairly obvious she wasn't helping with teaching biological science right now. "The plant angels are like leafy plants that way. You can take a part of a leafy plant and treat it properly and it'll grow roots and become a clone of the original plant you took it from. Me and Meryl can't, like humans can't."

"Oh. Like the Clone troopers from Jango Fett?" Chuck looked up at Hannah. "But they're human?"

"Yeah, but it's also imaginary science, so they can do things in Star Wars we don't have the tech for," Hannah said.

"But you know what a concussion is?" Meryl asked.

Chuck laughed. "Yeah. Mom has a special flashlight to check for those." He rapped his knuckles on his helmet sitting on the table. "Stops a lot, but not everything."

Hannah rolled her eyes. "He hasn't had one yet."

The water must be helping because it felt like Vash could actually string multiple thoughts together. Vash pointed at Hannah. "You took Monev's weapons?"

"Yes," Hannah said. "I doubt the sheriff here has handcuffs big enough for that wrenchhead. Did you want him to keep a machine gun?"

"What are you planning to do with it?" Vash asked.

"I haven't had time to make plans about it yet. But come on, it's free tech!"

"I think it's stolen tech," Meryl said.

"Confiscated. Vash beat him fair and square!"

"Maybe give it to the bank for their vault door?" Chuck suggested.

"They're a bank. They have money for repairs."

Vash was wrong; the water wasn't enough to keep track of this conversation. "Are you planning on adding another gun to that motorcycle full of them?"

"Attitude much?" Hannah sneered slightly but didn't keep it on her face as she continued. "No, the tech most likely isn't compatible. Maybe I can use it on the car."

Chuck opened the door after a knock and Milly bustled inside with an enormous platter of salmon sandwiches and a bucket of ice with bottles poking out of it. "Sandwiches and sarsaparilla for everybody."

Hannah focused on the girl in her arms. "You hungry? You want a sandwich? Come on, let's wash our hands and faces. You can sit on my lap." Hannah carried the little girl into the room's bathroom and kept up a steady stream of talk to her.

Meryl patted Vash's shoulder. "I'm done with your head. Eat something. You had nothing before the fight started."

Vash smiled at her. "Thanks." He scooted the chair to the table and picked up one sandwich half that disappeared in two bites.

Hannah sat down at the table and the little girl let go of Hannah's neck to turn to the table and sit in Hannah's lap. Big brown eyes stared across the table at Vash until Hannah put a sandwich half in front of her face. The little brunette girl snatched the sandwich with hands only cleaned to her wrists and stuffed it into her mouth.

Vash made sure everyone had their sandwiches before taking another one for himself. The world was steadying again. Well, steady enough to remember how terrified he had been with Hannah in the center of that firestorm. It took two more sandwiches halves before he felt steady enough to bring it up. "You can't do that again."

"Do what?" Chuck asked.

"Get involved in my fight. You two have to stay out of it."

"We cannot," Hannah said. "And we will not."

"Yeah, you're our bro," Chuck added.

"And I have to make sure you live to grow up."

"Do you think that's a one-way street?" Hannah asked.

Vash looked blankly at her because what did the direction of traffic have to do with them not getting shot?

Hannah shook her head. "Of course you do. You are our bro. Someone fights you, they fight us too."

"No, they will not."

"That's how this works," Chuck said. "Teamwork. 'Cause you can end up dead if you try to fight baddies alone."

"Right." Hannah took another sandwich half for the little girl. "And we have tech that doesn't exist on this planet."

"And I told you I didn't need your motorcycle." Vash grabbed another sandwich half for himself.

"I'm betting the guy in charge of the bank is wishing you had used her right now." Hannah bit into her own sandwich half with a chomp.

Meryl snorted. Vash turned to her with a wounded expression. "Yes, you were very impressive with the vault door," she said. "But Hannah has a point."

"Hannah has lots of points, but Hannah is also filthy and wants to sleep. Your fights are our fights. And you need to get that through your spiky head and let us help in the rest of them."

"There will not be any more--"

"Don't even," Hannah interrupted. "We all heard that wrenchhead. 'I'm not the only one. I'm just the first of the Master's special guns, the Gung-Ho Guns.' So you start thinking about how we can help you next time. You full, Chuck?" Chuck nodded as he pushed his chair away from the table. "Okay, you take a shower first," she said as she got up with the little girl. They headed to the connecting door to their room.

"And don't leave me out of the fun next time," Chuck said.

"You're five."

"Almost six."

"You'll get left out of the fun on a need to basis."

"No fair! You didn't get left out of the fun when you were six!"

"That was because we didn't have any babysitters when I was six." Hannah shut the door.

Vash leaned over and knocked his head against the tabletop.

"I think we finally broke him," Milly said.

"Don't you dare make your head bleed again, Vash," Meryl said sternly.

Vash straightened. "What the hell is wrong with their world that a firefight is a romp and adding music to give it a soundtrack makes it more fun?!"

"I don't know, but it has made them very loyal." Meryl checked his scalp wound again and Vash let her. "You have no idea what she did with the motorcycle, do you?"

"Took a lifetime off my life getting between me and Monev's bullets with every weapon that vehicle has on it. Most of them we haven't seen before!"

"Fire from the motorcycle deflected Monev's bullets and powdered building debris, so the chunks left weren't large enough to flatten people." Meryl started unbuttoning his duster. "Bystanders got hit with shrapnel, and some still died--"

"Like that poor girl's parents," Milly said sadly.

"But more lived than you realize."

"I'm glad. I'm more than glad," Vash insisted. "But a battle strategy to send children into danger?"

Meryl finished with his buttons and straightened. "You wanted me to get all of us out of town before Monev showed up."

"And you listened about as well as Hannah did."

"Has anyone partnered with you before? Fought on your side?"

Vash had to think hard. "From what I remember, you two. And then Wolfwood." They hadn't coordinated jumping out of the bus after the missing girl, but they had eventually figured it out by the time they got into the buried ship. And the former insurance girls had helped him even before believing he was Vash the Stampede. "And now the kids want to. But they're kids!"

Meryl kissed him on the lips. "It's nothing we have to figure out right at this moment. Go shower. I'll hang up your coat."

Vash pulled his arms out of the duster and left it draped on the chair as he staggered into the shower. He didn't pay attention to Meryl and Milly's conversation as he undressed and got into the water stream. He heard the hall door open and close. Milly must have gone to her room.

Meryl opened the bathroom door. "Got your sleep pants on the hook here."

"Thank you." She left him alone, but Vash didn't take much longer. She probably wanted a shower too before going to bed. But his brain was finally kicking in with a why the kids fighting was so objectionable. He pulled on his sleep pants and left the bathroom, still toweling his hair dry. "I want the kids to have love and peace. I want all the kids on Gunsmoke to have that."

The hall door popped open before Meryl answered him, and Milly came back inside. "Here's the beer; everyone is downstairs getting something to drink--oh!"

Vash felt his face go hot, and this towel was not big enough to cover his chest.

Milly's big blue eyes drooped with her lips. "Chuck was right to call them war wounds."

Vash sat down in the closest chair. "I guess. I'd rather not talk about that right now."

Meryl handed him the can of beer. "I think you're going to need that to get any sleep. Is there something else, Milly? You've been biting your tongue for a while now."

Milly heaved a tremendous sigh and sat back down at the table. "I heard what Vash yelled in the cell." Vash blinked as he tried to remember; he had yelled about a lot in the cell. Milly focused on Meryl, now her eyes wincing with worry. "You're pregnant? Meryl, what did those bastards do to you in their lab?"

Vash winced and looked up at Meryl. He had thrown the baby's existence at her and after trying to give her space to decide what she wanted without pressuring her. She would have to do all the work until the tyke got here, after all. And he has her and the kids now; his loneliness wasn't as bad as it had been.

Meryl shook her head. "No, they did nothing but find it with their machine."

"Medical scanner." He opened the beer can because Meryl told him to drink it.

"Yes, that. And they got furious about it before deciding they would experiment on it. But it happened back when we were stuck with the caravan."

Milly raised her eyebrows.

"It was supposed to be a one-time thing!" Meryl folded her arms over her chest.

"I'm glad it's not." Vash reached for her.

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "I'm glad too. Now. Don't believe that I'm not glad."

"And you both thought protection didn't matter because neither of you can reproduce with humans," Milly said as she tossed up her hands.

They both nodded, but Vash spoke up. "Before you think we were totally irresponsible, we brought up protection before deciding we didn't need to bother with it. Aaaaaaand that sounds worse."

"Yes, leave that out when you have the sex talk with Chuck."

"We will." Meryl nudged Vash. "You should probably drink that before it gets warm."

"You can't. I mean, we know nothing about fetal development for us, but it's probably safe to go with what humans have to do and I was going to not drink alcohol while you can't." He slapped his hand over his entire face. "And I'm not trying to sway the decision. Really, I'm not trying to do that, Meryl. You just found out, and it's not like we were trying to have kids and--"

Meryl lifted his hand out of the way and kissed him on the lips. "I had already decided to have the baby. When you bought ice cream for everybody. And the beer was my idea so you fall asleep faster, okay? Go get some sleep, Milly, so we can, too."

Milly yawned as she waved goodbye and left their hotel room.

Meryl kissed Vash again. "Enjoy the beer while I take my shower and I'll meet you in bed?"

"Okay." He drained the can after he heard the shower turn on and crawled under the bedcovers after it was empty. Meryl didn't take long to join him. He turned onto his side, wrapped his arms around her, and pressed his face against her breasts. "In the jail, I wasn't trying to use the baby to make you comply."

Meryl hugged his shoulders and then combed her fingers through his hair. "I know. You didn't want Monev to put me through the wall. I'll do better at protecting myself next time."

Vash hummed in agreement. That was all he could ask.

"Chuck asked something that I think he forgot about later. Why didn't you use the gun hidden in your left arm earlier?"

"Oh, I always save it for a last resort. It's a pain in the ass to reload it with one hand."

Meryl squeezed him tighter. "I can help you with that now, so use it sooner. I love you."

"Okay. Love you too." He closed his eyes and let himself fall asleep.

Chuck woke up first in their room. The baby girl had finally let go of Hannah and was now stretched across the foot of Hannah's bed. Hannah was curled up so her feet didn't touch her. They were both still asleep. Chuck found clean clothes and got dressed without waking them.

Were they going to keep her? She didn't have a mother or father; Hannah had been blunt about that. Maybe Hannah would let him help more if he wasn't the baby of the group anymore. He pressed an ear on the connecting door. Vash snored, so he and Meryl-ma'am were asleep too.

Okay, he would go out and start helping with the clean-up and then laugh at all the lazy bums when they got there. He slipped on his helmet and tiptoed out the door. The clock on the landing said it was three o'clock, but the saloon room everybody said he couldn't go in sounded very busy. He paused at the foot of the stairs and listened.

"I can't believe it. Vash the Stampede, right upstairs!"

"After everything he has done, he should be in jail."

"It didn't hold him before!"

"So he won't pay for what he did here?!"

"What I want to know is, how did he build that demon motorcycle?"

Chuck sighed. Time to get started on cleaning up and then they won't be as mad at Vash about the mess. He headed outside. Nothing had blown up on this side of town, but he heard the sounds of shovels scraping and headed toward it.

The street Monev and the bike had fought on wasn't too far from the street with all the shops on it. All the buildings on Gunsmoke were made of stone that had crumbled when it got exploded last night. Men were using shovels to scrape up the smaller bits into wheelbarrows and wagons. He wasn't tall enough to use shovels that long, but he could pull a wagon and dump it out.

He stood up as tall as he could and marched over to the nearest man. "Excuse me, I'm--"

"Beat it." The citizen dumped his shovel load into the closest wheelbarrow. "Go play closer to home today, kid."

Chuck wished he could go play, but Mom always said you had to do chores first and after a battle, and that meant cleaning up. "I'm here to help clean up the city. I can--"

"You're with that Humanoid Typhoon! Get out of here!"

"I wanna help!" Chuck yelled back.

"We don't need any more of your help!" He raised his shovel into the air. Chuck's eyes widened.

"HEY!" Milly-ma'am charged toward them, swinging a shopping bag like she was about to hit the man with it. "You leave him alone! He's just a child!"

The citizen lowered his shovel slowly. "Both of you get out of here. Just leave while we still have some buildings standing."

"Come on, Chuck," Milly-ma'am said.

"But?" Everybody had stopped working and was staring at them.

"You can't help people who won't accept it. Come on now."

Chuck took Milly-ma'am's outstretched hand, and they left. He tried to scrunch his head down to hide from all the staring eyes. Why didn't they want his help? They always helped clean up in Chicago.

"Was anyone else up yet?" Milly-ma'am asked with a forced cheerfulness. Chuck shook his head. "We'll buy them food and wake them up to eat. How does that sound?"

The restaurant put six meals into a bag and Milly handed the one she was already carrying to Chuck. Maybe they were keeping the little girl if they were feeding her.

The sheriff was waiting on the hotel's covered porch and straightened up when he saw them walking up. He had a bandage wrapped around his head. That must have happened after they all left him in the jail last night. "May I have a word with you, miss?"

"How can we help you?" Milly-ma'am asked.

"Oh, he wants help, but nobody else does." Chuck crossed his arms and scowled up at the sheriff.

"Chuck, please take that bag up to your sister. It's clothes for the little girl." Milly-ma'am nodded down at the bag Chuck had.

"Her name is Joanie," the sheriff said. "And that's part of what I need to talk to you about, too. Y'all kept her last night."

Chuck stomped up the stairs. Tears prickled his eyes. None of it was right. None of it! Hannah opened their hotel room door to the hallway. Chuck shoved the bag into her arms as he stomped inside. Joanie jumped on Hannah's bed and her brown hair flopped around her head. Chuck pulled off his helmet and threw it on his bed.

"Whoa!" Hannah shut the door. "That's not how you treat the brain box protection. What's wrong?"

"They wouldn't let me help! We're supposed to clean up now. Mom always makes us clean up now." Tears welled out and blurred Hannah and the whole room. "He yelled at me and had a shovel up to hit me until Milly-ma'am yelled at him. We're supposed to help!"

"Oh, bro." Her arms wrapped around him tightly. Chuck squeezed her back with his arms and his tail. Somebody knocked rapidly on one of their doors. "Crap," Hannah muttered. "Can you open it, sweetheart?"

"The sheriff said her name is Joanie. And he's probably here to arrest us." He hid his face against Hannah's chest and sobbed.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Vash asked.

"Chuck tried to go help clean up," Hannah answered.

"They wouldn't let me help! We always help when part of Chicago crumbles after a fight. It's being good citizens. Mom said so!" Chuck squeezed Hannah tighter with just his arms. Mom needed to be here and yell at that wrenchhead with the shovel for longer than Milly-ma'am did.

Vash knelt next to them and wrapped his arms around them both. "Damn, I should have mentioned how towns act after a fight."

Chuck loosened his tail around Hannah and looped it around Vash and Hannah to add Vash to the hug. Vash was still wearing sleep sweats. Chuck hadn't meant to wake him and Meryl-ma'am up. "Chicago has fights every week!" They didn't know how often clean up happened.

"But you all lived in Chicago," Meryl-ma'am said. "We don't live here."

Chuck sniffled and moved his head a little to peek at Meryl-ma'am in the doorway between the rooms. "But we broke things here?"

"But they don't know us here. We're all strangers and they're scared of us," Meryl-ma'am explained.

"Yeah." Hannah patted Chuck's back. "Chicago is used to seeing Dad and the uncles riding around. They can find the Last Chance. So they trust us when we come to help because they know us."

"They shouldn't be afraid of Vash." Chuck sniffled.

"No, they shouldn't be, but nothing but bad has happened since we got here," Meryl-ma'am said.

"To them, we're like the super villains Limburger imports. Does that make sense?" Hannah asked. "Nobody in Chicago likes them."

"Yeah," Chuck sniffled.

Vash leaned his head against the back of Chuck's. "I'm sorry; you shouldn't have been out there alone to deal with them."

There was a more distant knocking. Meryl-ma'am's footsteps were light on the floor as she went to answer it.

Vash lifted his head. "I will not tell you not to help people because we should all help each other. But next time, make sure somebody else is with you when you go. Adult someone else: me, Meryl, or Milly. Promise?"

Chuck nodded. "I promise." And he let Hannah and Vash go, but Hannah leaned down and kissed the top of his snout.

"Good." Vash ruffled Chuck's headfur and stood up. "Food's here. Go wash your face."

Chuck nodded and headed into the bathroom.

"Hannah, did you get the bag of clothes for the little girl?" Meryl-ma'am called out.

Milly-ma'am's voice is fainter. "The sheriff said her name is Joanie."

"We got it," Hannah called back. "Come on, Joanie, let's get you dressed. Oh, it's a blue dress. You like blue? Joanie is a pretty name. I like Joan Jett's songs." She started singing, "I love rock 'n roll. So come and take your time and dance with me. Ow!"

Chuck wet a washcloth and wiped the tear tracks out of his fur and dried his face with a hand towel. He came out and went into Meryl-ma'am and Vash's room. Everyone was around the table now. Meryl-ma'am patted the empty chair between her and Vash, and Chuck climbed into it. He had a thought in the bathroom and looked across the table at his sister. "Limburger lives in Chicago, so is that why nobody else seems to know he's a baddie?"

"It makes sense," Hannah said. She finished cutting the meatballs into smaller pieces for Joanie. Chuck speared one on his plate and put it in his mouth.

Vash twirled noodles around his fork but hadn't lifted it from the red sauce on his plate. "How are our camping supplies?"

"We need more food," Milly-ma'am answered. "I'll go get it since nobody seems to be angry with me."

Chuck swallowed his chewed meatball. "Are we leaving?"

"The sheriff wants us to go," Milly-ma'am said. "That's what he wanted to talk about. And Joanie needs to stay. She has family here."

"I pulled her out," Hannah muttered. She scowled down at her spaghetti.

"Hannah," Vash said.

"He can't investigate a murder. Am I supposed to just trust that he knows good family from bad?"

"We have to trust him." Vash sounded like he wasn't far off from begging. "It's too dangerous for her to come with us."

"I know." Hannah pointed her clean fork at him. "And don't start with it is too dangerous for us." Vash wisely put his forkful of noodles into his mouth. "I just want to threaten him with something." Hannah's shoulders slumped as she stabbed her fork into her noodles.

"I think last night threatened him enough," Milly-ma'am said.

Chuck slurped his noodles. "We could tell him we'll come back."

Meryl-ma'am shook her head. "Let's not think everyone deserves to be treated cynically."

Chuck shrugged to himself. Hannah was always going to look for the worst outcome, so she could fix it before it happened. The grown-ups must still be tired if they don't know that by now.

"Putting aside how the sheriff here was unprepared to figure out what you called a frame-up, the position of sheriff is one of honor and responsibility," Meryl-ma'am said. "He has to do what is best for his community, and Joanie is part of his community. So, you don't need to threaten him."

Chuck looked across the table at Joanie sitting between Hannah and Milly-ma'am. Her plate was empty but the red. "She's got sauce in her hair," he told the table.

That distracted Hannah from trying to figure out what level of threat she should give a sheriff who was a good guy, if not very good against an imported super villain. Just like the police in Chicago.

Did that make that creepy blue-haired man a Plutarkian? He didn't know and Mom always said that talking about Plutarkians over dinner made everybody stop eating, so don't do it. He'd ask Hannah later.

They finished eating and Milly-ma'am went shopping while they washed clothes and packed them. Hannah also left Joanie with Chuck to get the toolbox from the bike. "You shouldn't get into a project if we're about to leave," he told her. It wasn't often he got to tell Hannah what to do.

"This won't take long." Hannah dug into the toolbox and pulled out the mousehead key chain decoration that she had made back on Earth and a pair of pliers. She only made a few for an art class and never again after how he and Dad complained about how badly the paint smelled when Hannah and Mom baked them to make them hard. But the one she had now sparkled like polished chrome as she freed it from the tiny chain to the keyring.

Joanie climbed into the other chair to watch. Hannah put the pliers back and then pulled out a spool of twine. She cut a length of that free and then packed everything back in the toolbox. The mousehead fit on the twine like a pendant. "This is for you, Joanie." Hannah put it around Joanie's neck and tied a knot.

"Pretty, Anna!" Joanie dangled it in front of her face without taking it off.

Vash knocked on their door to the hallway. "Come on, time to go." Chuck grabbed Hannah's clothes bag since she was carrying the toolbox, and Joanie wrapped her arms around Hannah's neck. Vash shook his head. "You are going to fall over. Give me the toolbox."

Hannah huffed, but passed the hard-cased box to their bro. They headed downstairs as a group. The car and the bike were both right in front of the porch. Hannah set Joanie on the bike's seat and took the toolbox from Vash to stow it.

The sheriff stood on the porch next to the saloon doorway with its short swinging doors and scowled at their whole group. Chuck glanced up at Vash's wincing face.

Hannah ignored the sheriff just like she would ignore Greasepit, even if that wrenchhead was carrying them. She put the toolbox away and then moved Joanie, setting the little girl on her feet at the front wheel, knelt next to her, and pointed at the mousehead-shaped headlight. "This is good." Hannah touched the mousehead necklace hanging around Joanie's neck. "You can trust this shape. People with it fight monster men."

"For love and peace," Vash said.

Hannah nodded. "And they fight for love and peace. Remember that." She took Joanie's hand and walked her to the sheriff. "You gotta go with the sheriff now. Bye-bye, Joanie."

Joanie scrunched up her face and wailed. The sheriff scooped her up. Vash started to say something, but the sheriff cut him off. "I don't want no thanks from you. Just get out of my town now."

Vash flinched, and Chuck grabbed his bro's hand. Hannah looked ready to yell, but Vash grabbed her shoulder and tugged her away. Milly-ma'am was already behind the car's steering wheel as they climbed into the back seat and Hannah climbed onto the bike. Meryl turned around in the front passenger seat and looked at Vash. Chuck looked out at the people of the city lining the street they drove down to leave. Nobody waved goodbye.

Chapter Text

Vash was quiet and withdrawn from everyone during the drive and making camp. And it was worrying Meryl. If only someone in New MacFarlane had thanked him for saving lives, like Inepril had. She thought about how he had flinched with the sheriff and had looked so sadly resigned that he hadn't warned Chuck that traumatized townspeople wouldn't want help. Was Inepril an outlier with how much they loved Vash before he left? The answer was probably yes, but she didn't see a way to confirm that without making Vash feel worse.

Hannah had eaten her supper quietly and then went to poke at the Gatling gun in the car's trunk. Meryl had been distracted by Vash after the battle with Monev the Gale to realize Hannah had gotten Milly to put it in there.

Headlights now blazed from her riding helmet as the suns sank below the horizon. Okay, that Meryl had to address. She left the camp stove circle and approached the car. "Come out of there, Hannah."

Hannah didn't poke her head out of the trunk nor leave it. "How did they make this so modular?"

"How can you even see what you are looking at?" Milly asked as she joined Meryl at the trunk of the car.

"Not to mention see to avoid the triggers," Meryl said.

"Oh, it comes apart there!" Hannah exclaimed to herself.

"Do you want me to pull her out?" Milly looked down at Meryl.

Chuck shook his head as he joined them at the car. "Not a good idea. She kicks without looking. Hey Princess Fix-it!"

"What, Chuck wrench!" Hannah yelled back.

"Find a stopping point. Meryl-ma'am is afraid you're going to blow yourself up."

"Oh, I disconnected the bullet belts and unloaded the other rocket before we loaded it into the trunk."

"It's dark now, so stop for the night," Meryl said.

Hannah made a growling whine. "I'm trying to be productive here."

"Why do you think you need to be productive?" Meryl asked, with exhaustion leaking into her voice. It probably was just a way for Hannah to avoid thinking about Joanie or pass out.

"So we're ready for the next Gung-Ho Gun sent after us."

Vash flinched with his whole body, but he got up from the camp stove and came to the open car trunk. "I don't need you to be a weapon-smith, Hannah. For God's sake, please just be a kid for a while longer."

Well, that plea got Hannah out of the trunk at least, even though it reinforced Meryl's concern about Vash. Hannah climbed off the Gatling gun, dropped to the dirt, turned off the helmet lights before taking it off, and stared up at Vash. "Okay, what's eating you? 'Cause I thought we explained this already."

"Yes, you explained how you two expect to fight, but we settled nothing! You shouldn't fight; you're just kids."

Chuck snorted. "Don't freak out, bro. Mom, Dad, and Uncle Modo all have to remind Hannah she's not an adult yet."

"But not your uncle Vinnie?" Milly asked curiously.

"Nope," Chuck said. "Dad has a pre-no for him. 'The answer is no, Vincent. For whatever Hannah wants to do or borrow, the answer is no.'"

"It's not my fault that it is easy to bribe Uncle Vinnie. But is that the problem?" Hannah pointed at the Gatling gun with her thumb. "Because we can file it under educational."

"Educational for making guns!" Vash yelped.

"It's the first thing I've seen with as much modularity as Martian motorcycles and Mom's designs based on them. Why shouldn't I want to see if it's applicable to more things?" Hannah asked.

"Because you're always focused on logic and preparation and worst-case scenarios and not love and not peace and I don't want you to turn into Knives!" Vash's expression flickered between astonishment he actually said that and fear that what he said was coming true.

Meryl moved to his side before anyone else shifted and wrapped her arms around his rigid body.

"Who's Knives?" Chuck asked. "The blue-haired man?"

Vash was a mass of rigid dismay and self-loathing that he was keeping trapped behind his pursed lips.

Meryl sighed. "That's who Vash thinks is behind your blue-haired man and Monev the Gale."

Hannah's eyes widened. "A diablo like you? It's not just you and Meryl and the plant angels in the bulbs!"

Vash's face crumpled and his shoulders slumped.

Meryl tightened her hug around him. "Come on, you promised to tell me. Let's go sit around the stove." The kids moved readily enough and Meryl nodded at Milly as Meryl turned Vash to face the light. Milly nodded back and shut the car trunk as they walked around the car.

They sat in the spot Vash had claimed while eating supper with the rock outcropping where they could lean their backs against it. Vash's left hand crept toward his inner pocket for his sunglasses, but Meryl grabbed hold of his hand before he reached inside. She squeezed it reassuringly.

Vash took a deep breath. "Suspicious word choice is not proof positive that Knives is the guilty party."

Chuck plopped down on the sand between Vash and Hannah. "That depends on the words. Vile vermin means Limburger is trying out a new mask, or that person has talked to him a lot lately."

"Long enough to get a rant about the Biker Mice," Hannah added. "What's the suspicious word choice we should look out for?"

"Bluesummers called Chuck a spider," Vash said flatly.

Chuck nodded. "That's a new one. Limburger mostly uses vernal vile vermin because he has a thing for using all the same letters. So what does calling me a spider mean? I can't climb walls or make webs."

Vash stared at the coffeepot on top of the camp stove as his arm around Meryl's back tightened slightly. He needed help to start and Meryl would not leave it to Hannah's prodding. "They said I was the fourth. Tesla was the first."

"Knives always claimed to be the older twin and Rem never corrected him. But we never saw that list of theirs."

"No, we didn't. So are you twins of the same bulb or just of the same time?"

"Same bulb. I guess Rem and the rest of the crew were pretty lucky the other bulbs of the ship didn't spawn. Steve didn't need any more targets." Vash shuddered and his grip on her hand tightened.

"Steve?" Meryl asked.

"The ships needed a crew to make sure it functioned and to keep the fleet together and to look for a suitable colony planet. With computer automation, the ships required a maximum crew of five. I don't know how long their on duty status lasted, but when it was over they would wake the second crew up from suspended animation and sleep until it was their on duty time again. The crew when Knives and I were born was Captain Joseph Delgado, Rem Saverem, Rolan Kozlov, Mari Bjornson, and Steven Paddock. Rem took care of us the most and Joey started teaching us stuff when we got older. Rolan and Mari were nice, but Steve...." Vash swallowed hard without looking up from the flames. "We were monsters to Steve. He told us that as constantly as he touched Mari inappropriately. And if he got one of us alone, he hit us."

Hannah growled in her throat but said nothing.

Chuck looked confused as he tilted his head. "Why didn't Rem stop it? Or somebody else?"

"We heal fast, so they never saw us with bruises. And they didn't stop him with Mari, so why would they help us? Rem loved us but we were different, so we didn't bother them with it."

"You didn't tell them?" Chuck asked.

"Because abusers make the punch all your fault," Hannah said with barely restrained rage. "I have to because you're a monster. I have to because you don't listen and you're a bad girl." Hannah's face was harder than bedrock. "You don't dare tell someone nice because what if they tell you the same thing? That you deserve it."

Chuck twisted to face his sister. "But nobody deserves that! Nobody hit you--"

"MacCyber did. Before you were born."

Chuck blinked at Hannah before tackling her in a hug.

"Oof." She rocked back upright. "I'm fine now."

"Hannah," Vash said softly, actually looking at her.

"No, really. I had therapy." She ruffled Chuck's hair. "And MacCyber is dead, dead, and dead some more since you were born. It's Vash's turn now."

"What Hannah said, that's pretty much how I felt then. And Steve didn't hit us around Rem, so I stayed with her as much as I could. I loved Rem so win-win. But Knives pulled away."

"What about the spiders?" Chuck frowned.

"I should have warned you it was a long story, huh? I'm trying to keep to the point. The SEEDS Project ships had recreation rooms that grew plants. Not like a greenhouse, but to make an illusion of Earth when it was wild and perfect. And it transported the pollinator insects that the plants would need and the predator insects to keep them in check. The insects wouldn't survive in cold sleep. When we weren't learning things on the computers or helping with the ship, Rem took us there to play. One day, I found a butterfly trapped in a spider's web and the spider approaching to eat it. I wanted to save the butterfly without harming the spider, but before I could, Knives swooped in and crushed the spider. Did it for me. Because logically there was no way to save them both. And he was so damn shocked when I fought him over it."

"Was it a nasty fight?" Milly asked.

Vash shook his head. "Not that one. It more shocked the hell out of all of us. Poor Rem trying to explain that you had to consider both sides, how the spider needed to eat. And Knives said neither of us made any sense because logic said you had to make a choice and couldn't save both. And I was just furious and yelling that he never gave me a chance to think of a way and jumped straight to killing because Rem had told us that was wrong. No one has the right to take the life of another. It wasn't much longer before everything went to hell."

"The Great Fall happened," Meryl said, realizing how the events were aligning.

"The crew fell apart first. It was after the fleet found Gunsmoke. They were studying it before deciding if it was going to be the colony or not. Steve hurt Mari bad. The crew had a trial of some sort over it and put Steve back in cold sleep until after establishing the colony and a proper trial could happen. Steve didn't want to go under and Rem said that they were being too hasty, but it was three against one and Steve went back to cold sleep. So he was asleep with the other passengers when--" Vash stopped to swallow hard. "They felt nothing later. You must be conscious to feel pain."

Meryl pressed her side against Vash's and squeezed his left hand even harder.

"Rolan shot Mari. Knives and me were with Rem and all three of us rushed to the chamber it happened in. Rolan wasn't making any sense. Said he did it for Mari and she turned on him? And then he turned the gun on Knives." Vash choked back a sob, but tears leaked from his eyes. "I have wished that Rolan had been faster than Rem and pulled that trigger. But Rem stepped in front of Knives and talked to Rolan, trying to make him put down the gun. Joey opened the airlock doors from the command room and Rolan and Mari's body were sucked out of the ship. Rem cried and argued with Joey that she was reaching Rolan and Joey hadn't needed to kill. I stayed with Rem; she was so upset."

"Oh Vash." Meryl shifted so he could hide his tear-streaked face against her if he needed to.

Vash stiffened instead of hiding against her. "There's more. I... I'm sorry you're stuck with us in the same species. Not much of a choice."

Meryl couldn't speak at that. Did he think she chose him just because they were both plants?

Vash swallowed hard. "While Rem was still weeping for Rolan, alarms started blaring. Knives came running back to us. Said Rolan had sabotaged the fleet's orbital program, and we had to get to the escape pods. Said Joey was staying behind to fix it."

"Joey didn't confirm that over the intercoms, did he?" Hannah asked.

"So obvious, huh?" Vash slumped even more.

"No," Chuck said, turning his head to look at his sister and Vash.

"Rem got us into survival suits and to the escape pod, but didn't come with us. She said she was going back to help Joey fix the fleet and started the escape pod off. Last thing she told me before the hatch closed completely was for me 'to take care of Knives.'"

Milly's chin wobbled as her eyes filled with tears. "And you saw the ship explode."

Vash nodded. "Screaming for Rem. And Knives started laughing and boasting about how his plan had gone perfectly. We didn't have to worry about any humans hurting us plants because they were all going to die like the filthy spiders they were crashing into the planet. The only ships that would land were the supply ships with only our sisters on board. He was going to spare Rem for me, but she was too stupid to live. He was ready when I jumped him that time and I don't remember much of the flight down. I remember his howl when he discovered Rem corrected the orbital program, allowing the ships with humans to crash better, so more of them survived the impact. I remember fighting again in the sand when he was so ecstatic about killing Rem and the rest of the crew. Bragged about shooting Joey himself."

Chuck's green eyes widened. "That's who was laughing in your head before the blue-haired man, Bluesummers, hurt me."

"I didn't protect you from that." Vash hunched forward, drawing his knees to his chest and trying to making himself smaller. "I should have. I'm sorry, little bro, I'm sorry."

Chuck launched himself at Vash. Vash let go of Meryl before she's slammed into the outcropping behind them by the force of Chuck's hug. The taller male absorbed it without moving and didn't wheeze with Chuck's squeeze. "I have a hard head," Chuck said. "Everybody says so. Even Limburger."

"Granted, he was trying to grab the toddler running around his office and got gut checked for his trouble," Hannah explained.

"It's not your fault and I'm fine now," Chuck finished.

"I'm guilty of never stopping Knives in all these years. I stayed with him, too afraid to be alone, too afraid of what he would do if I wasn't there to stop him from doing it." Vash shifted Chuck to his left side and Meryl had to move to see. He drew out the Colt and held it on the palm of his hand. "He made us guns, called them our brothers, and made his shoot with power I have never been able to tap. Power I don't want to tap. They were going to be the tools to eradicate the spiders once and for all. And then he aimed for a town on the horizon. We fought again. And I... I ended up shooting him with a bullet in the leg. Took the Colts and ran. Like the coward they all say I am."

"They shouldn't call you that," Milly said firmly.

Vash's chuckle was unamused. "Yes, calling people names is bad."

"It takes more courage not to pull the trigger than to pull it. That's something everyone on Gunsmoke needs to learn."

Vash blinked and looked across the camp stove at Milly. Meryl smiled at her best friend. Everyone constantly underestimated Milly, even Vash, who should know better by now.

Hannah pointed at the Colt. "You only have the one now."

Vash looked back at the gun in his outstretched hand. "I had both of them before the July Incident. And I saw Knives there too. Still don't remember what the hell happened, but we blew up an entire city. Came out minus a gun and an arm."

"So, Knives sent Bluesummers and Monev after you for revenge?" Chuck leaned his head against Vash's left shoulder.

"Probably," Vash said. "I don't want you caught in the middle of it. Meryl's the only one with a chance of escaping his murderous impulses and that's only if he doesn't shoot first, ask questions never."

"How?" Meryl asked.

"His goal is to protect plants. Save our sisters from their servitude and protect us from human depravity. Kill the spiders and save the butterflies; it's rational until you realize that in striving for it, you become a spider yourself."

"He doesn't like it when you point out that the position your sisters are in is because of what he did, does he?" Hannah crossed her arms over her chest.

Vash holstered the silver Colt. "I got black eyes and split lips as thank you's for that observation, Hannah. He will kill you if you say it. Not that you are going to have a chance to say it. You're all going to get as far away from me as you can."

"Don't be an idiot."

Vash and Chuck both turned surprised faces toward Meryl.

Meryl reached past Chuck and pressed her hand to Vash's cheek and hoped it would take the sting from this. "Knives knows about us. If he didn't before Bluesummers and Monev found you, he knows now. We split up and he'll send someone after us for leverage over you. And we will be, as Hannah and Chuck put it, inconvenient hostages, but we'll still be leverage."

"I can't lose any of you," Vash said, anguish building in his voice.

"And you won't, because we're going to be right beside you."

Chuck burrowed into Vash's side and squeezed him tightly around his chest again. "You are our bro. Knives is the biggest wrenchhead ever and can't have you back."

"I don't think it works that way."

"Does. We call dibs."

"I don't know what that means," Vash said.

"It means stop trying to take responsibility for Knives' actions." Meryl wasn't sure that was what it meant, but Vash needed to hear this. "You are not to blame for his atrocities."

"But I have to find a way to stop him."

"And you have our help. Let us help you."

Vash leaned his head into Meryl's palm. "I'll try. I'm not used to it."

"That's a start. One more thing." Meryl shifted onto her knees and straddled Vash's leg so Chuck's head wasn't between their faces. "I am with you because of how I feel about you; not because you're the least objectionable option on the planet, so never refer to yourself like that again!" She leaned in and kissed him as hard as she could.

Vash's cheeks were red when she pulled back. "I'm not used to being wanted like this."

"If you think the bounty hunters are bad, just try ditching us." Hannah got up and headed to the car. Meryl worried she was going right back to the Gatling gun, but the girl returned with an armload of the bedrolls. "Come on, Chuck wrench. Let go of Vash or I will buy you a teddy bear in the next town." She passed a bedroll to Milly.

"Don't be mean." It cut off with an enormous yawn from Chuck.

"It's not being mean for you to lie down and let Meryl-ma'am hug Vash now." She unrolled a bedroll.

"Oh." Chuck let go of Vash and scrambled out from between him and Meryl.

Vash ruffled Chuck's hair fur. "I'm all right now. Go to sleep."

Chuck collapsed into his bedroll while everyone else got up and unfurled theirs. Once done, Vash sat back down with his back against the outcropping again, only he tugged Meryl to sit between his legs and lean against his torso. She wrapped her arms around him as she pressed her side against him. It wasn't quite the hug Hannah had suggested, but Vash looped his arms around Meryl, too. After they finally settled, Meryl noticed Hannah had not lain down like Milly and Chuck had.

But Hannah didn't speak until Chuck let out a snore. "I'm sorry I triggered you."

Vash blinked at her. "Triggered?"

"A trauma trigger is a stimulus that causes an involuntary reaction to severe trauma. Which is why I got therapy, so I wouldn't freak out with large bodies of water or bridges." Hannah pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. "I can't help always looking for a way to fix things. Mom said it's a survival instinct to get ahead of Uncle Vinnie's booms and reinforced by success. But I'm not aiming my brains at genocide though. That's just evil."

Vash's head moved back as he sighed, but he didn't hit his head on the rock. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm just--"

"Worried because you never could change Knives' mind," Hannah said.

"That," Vash agreed. "And you think you're invincible, but you're not. And now Knives has recruited."

"And they sure as hell won't care about collateral damage."

"Exactly, so why the hell are you still arguing with me?"

"Because we can all be more than inconvenient hostages with teamwork, and you are awfully resistant to that fact."

"He's not used to that, Hannah," Meryl said. "We're the first ones who have ever helped him with bad guys."

"That sucks, bro, but you have us now. And non-violence or peace or whatever you call it is wasted on me already--"

Vash interrupted. "That's not true. That's not how it works. The ticket to the future is always open. Your ticket is open."

"But I know love," Hannah said, ignoring Vash's input. "Mom didn't have to keep me, a science experiment half made from the man who hurt her, and Dad didn't have to accept me. I love them; I love my little brother." She got up from her bedroll, walked to them, and kissed Vash on the forehead. "And I love you, you big goof. Not like Meryl does. Just so we're clear. I know about puberty and know I need to say that now. Whatever I'm attracted to, you are not it. But I love you, bro."

"Thanks, I think. It's hard work being you two's bro."

"But we're worth it. And we're going to keep your tail alive too." Hannah yawned. "Good night." She lay down on her bedroll and wrapped it around herself.

The silence of the desert settled around them, punctuated by the hiss of the camp stove fire and the breathing of the sleepers.

"That just happened, right? I didn't hallucinate it, did I?" Vash projected to Meryl.

"Yes, the prickly teenager who doesn't hug people she just met says she loves you and kissed you to prove it. Yes, that really happened."

He squeezed her tighter and leaned his head against hers. "Don't let me screw them up, Meryl. I... I've kind of failed at my last responsibility."

"Knives? I think that's less your fault than his, but we can't do anything about it right now. Let's go to sleep."

Vash nodded before kissing her cheek and letting her go. He shifted their bedrolls before she got into hers. Once they were lying down, he spooned up behind her back and hugged her again with his right arm. He sighed above her head and held her like he had back in her apartment back in December City.

Chapter Text

Legato sat at the end of the saloon's bar with his back to the door. He accepted the plate with a thick slice of cake on it. Jeneora Rock ended up being the perfect town to converge in and he would decide which of the Gung-Ho Guns would face Vash the Stampede next. His Master's twin brother was also heading here. Legato's left arm could feel the distance between the flesh.

Midvalley the Hornfreak had arrived before the others and was taking this opportunity to enjoy playing the music that he considered a métier at this saloon. Live entertainment had drawn a large crowd of the locals. Legato let the forkful of cake and icing linger on his tongue. Sweet and moist, so hard to get right on this sandy hellhole; this saloon's baker had a gift as well.

He left his senses open to judge how the music manipulated the audience's emotions, so the ripple of distaste, anger, and fear screamed at him. Odd to get that reaction when it was ordinary garbage entering the saloon and not any of his Master's special projects.

The muscular men were all armed and wore black short-sleeved jackets with an embroidered patch on the back. The patch had a skull with anatomically incorrect eyeballs on fire, a tongue sticking out between the teeth, a white wing on the left and a black wing on the right.

"Look, it's the Roderick Thieves," one of the Jeneora Rock locals muttered at a table close to Legato and away from the group of men that now outnumbering the locals.

"Yeah," another local at the table agreed. "But who are those girls?"

Legato brushed his senses over the three barefoot women in long dresses trailing behind the two lead bandits before the rest of the men. Shell-shocked, fearful, disassociating, but aware enough of what their fates were and what would happen if they disobeyed. He took another bite of his cake.

"They must be captives," the first voice answered.

"They really make me sick," the second voice commented as the group headed to a cushioned bench against the wall on the opposite side of the saloon from Legato. They had the best seat for the small stage in the corner for the three-instrument band. A few tables were closer, but they lacked cushions.

A Roderick Thief, who had his blond hair sticking up but cut flat over his skull, sat down on the right end of the bench first. "Hey, liquor boy, bring us the best booze in the house. I'm thirsty." Another Roderick Thief with his dark hair in a mohawk sat on the left end. The captive brunette with hair cut short knelt on the floor on the right end of the bench within easy reach of the blond leader. The red-haired captive knelt at the left end of the bench. The third captive, who had her black hair tied up in a ponytail, knelt near the wall with the rest of the Roderick Thieves that filled into the space and created a corridor for the waiter to carry the drinks to the leader.

The waiter had glasses and a large bottle on a tray and his fear rattled all of them. "Coming! Coming right away, ah, sir!"

The bandit with the mohawk pulled a handgun out from inside his jacket as the waiter set the tray on the low-slung table in front of the bench.

The waiter jumped back with a yell, spilling all the glasses and the bottle from the tray as he landed on his ass. All the Rodericks laughed as he scrambled up and ran back to the bar.

Legato cut off another bite of his cake. Now how did they expect to get service after that stunt?

The mohawk Roderick that had displayed his gun leaned down to the red-haired captive. "Ain't this fun?" he asked with a chuckle.

"I suppose he will have you fetch his liquor now," Legato projected at her. Sometimes standard humans would hear that, but most of the time they ignored any voices in their heads. Which is why he'd manipulate their bodies instead.

His projected thoughts caught her, though. Maybe all the trauma awakened a gift within her? No matter, except that she stared at Legato and that drew the attention of the one who considered himself her owner now. He turned to the blond leader. "Hey. That guy." He gestured to indicate the end of the bar. "How long has he been sitting there?"

"Beats me," the leader said with a shrug.

Legato continued neatly eating his cake. Most of their fellow bandits were unaware of the unease. The locals had their heads down already so as not to have them blown off. The red-haired captive kept staring at Legato, to the consternation of her owner.

The mohawk man backhanded her to the floor and stood up with his gun in his hand. "You bitch! You were looking at him! You know I can't stand it when you do that!" Instead of shooting her, he started stomping on her.

She cried out and covered her face, but made no other moves to protect herself.

"I" stomp "can't" stomp "stand it!" The stomps continue.

All the other customers stared down at their tabletops, unwilling to intervene.

"How dare you disrespect me? What do you think? He's better than me? Do you? Do you?" He continued stomping on her.

"Alright, Nagi. That's enough," the Roderick leader told him. He got off the bench slightly, but the other man stopped attacking the captive.

"But she was looking right at him," Nagi whined.

"You don't stand a chance against him, anyway." The leader chuckled and sat back on the bench. Legato could feel attention settle on his person, but continued to ignore it. "It's too bad," the Roderick Thief said. "Looks like a lady-killer, the kind women all go after." He chuckled again. "Well, Mr. Handsome, that's real cruel of you. You see, these girls are too delicate. Last night, they gave up everything they had. Their families, their lovers, their entire pasts. How can you just sit there reminding them of what they lost? What a waste of time. Now we'll have to help them forget it all over again, won't we, huh?"

Legato continued to eat and ignored that inane rationalization of their collective actions. He knew all of them well, thanks to his pretty face that the oppressing ruffian recognized, and understood the futility of arguing against the might makes right philosophy to those who practiced it by dominating others. The only solution they ever recognized was being mightier and killing them.

"You listening, slick?" Nagi demanded. "What do you think? You're too good for us?"

Legato continued to eat. They were beneath his attention.

"Hey punk! You're not paying attention!" Nagi aimed his pistol and shot the fork with a bite of cake in front of Legato's face and laughed.

It was an excellent shot, but they weren't the reason he was here and ultimately pointless. Legato looked up at the bartender's wide eyes. "A fork please."

"Asshole!" Nagi shouted before firing again. These bullets didn't even take many nudges to bypass Legato and hit the wall behind him. Temper, temper, and Nagi's gun hand was no longer as steady as he needed it to be.

Now the entire saloon was watching Legato's reaction to five bullets whizzing by. He looked past all the locals and lower-ranking bandits. "It's not wise to be hasty."

The leader with the blond flattop grunted in obvious confusion.

Midvalley the Hornfreak quit playing his saxophone, alert for any commands. That was thoughtful, not that Legato needed any intervention of the Gung-Ho Guns to deal with this pathetic lot.

"I intend to eventually destroy all of mankind right down to the very last speck of dust." Legato stood up from his bar stool. "Why is it that you insist upon meeting your deaths sooner?"

Nagi laughed, not even bothering to reload his handgun. "You don't make any sense. You're just talking a bunch of nonsense."

Legato walked up to him. "It doesn't matter." He took control of Nagi's right arm and lifted it above the mohawk. "You volunteered first, that's all."

The arm muscles bulged, but Nagi couldn't pull his arm back down, even using his other hand. "What the?" Nagi got out through grunts of pain. "What the hell are you doing?" Sweat beaded his scarred face.

"It's simple. You are the first to die."

Nagi's right hand thrust into his chest as he cried with pain. Legato gave the ribs some encouragement to move aside for the fingers. "It hurts!" Nagi screamed.

"Nagi!" The blond leader stood but didn't move from the bench and couldn't see what was truly happening since Nagi's back was to him.

Nagi heard his fellow bandit. "Make it stop!" he screamed before his fingers closed around his heart and squeezed. That stopped its beating and Nagi fell on the floor face up. Blood ran out of his new chest cavity and pooled on the floor underneath as the other bandits reacted.

The leader's mouth fell open as the other bandits who had gathered around him exclaimed in shock and asked, "How'd he do that?"

The leader recovered and drew his pistol at Legato, and the others began drawing as well. "Your turn!" he yelled and fired.

His gun arm had flung out to the side before the trigger finger acted. Now he turned his head to follow the bullet's trajectory and watched one of his men with a beard fall lifelessly to the floor. The other Roderick Thieves behind the bearded one were all pointing their pistols at each other.

"What the hell are you doing?!" their leader demanded.

"Can't stop it!"

"Can't put it down!"

Legato turned and walked back to the bar, pulling the limbs of all the Roderick Thieves and a few locals into more delightful configurations.

"Damn it, bastard!" The leader yelled before grunting as he tried in vain to make his body move away from the local pointing a gun at his back.

"Please! Stop it! Don't kill me!"

Legato retrieved a clean fork from the service side of the bar and sat down on his stool. Then he released the hold on all the trigger fingers and savored his cake.

Midvalley resumed playing a new song on his saxophone, and the other musicians joined in as the bullets flew. Locals not part of the violence cowered under their tables. The former captives still knelt on the floor, but now all of them had gathered close to each other in front of the bench.

After all the Roderick Thieves were dead on the floor of the saloon, the musicians packed their gear, and his plate was empty, Legato approached the women still kneeling on the floor. "It really is a shame what happened to you." Tears that they had dammed deep inside flowed again. He continued, "But now, at least, you know just how much pain there is in living."

The woman with her dark hair pulled into a ponytail covered her face with her hands as she sobbed harder.

"The day it all ends is near. I advise you to make good use of the time you have left." He walked to the door outside. The surviving waiter cowered in front of the bar since none of the cowering locals had let that poor man under a table.

The townspeople who had heard the gunfire deserted the street outside. The rest, peering through windows, quickly closed their shutters as he passed. He didn't concern himself with them as he pondered his behavior back in the saloon. That was unusual for me, he thought. I don't usually waste my time on vermin like that. He brought his left hand up and looked at the exposed skin in the fingerless glove. It must be the way you look, Vash the Stampede. Your very existence seems to cause me undue irritation. He let his arm drop and continued walking toward the windmill mountain.

Jeneora's Rock had named themselves after the crashed ship and that mountain and at some point of time before Legato was born, they had built a massive windmill into the summit of the mountain. The winds were always steady that high up and had generated energy as well as drew up the aquifer water for the town, so they put their enslaved plants to other tasks. Alas, he was here to meet the Gung-Ho Guns and make Vash the Stampede suffer and not to free them. The meeting place was on top of the mountain, amid the generators, pipes, and storage devices.

It took a while for a survivor of the encounter to round up the remaining Roderick Thieves, who had frequented other businesses of the town rather than the saloon. Legato had reached the energy station on the smaller, upper plateau at the end of the long summit plateau housing the windmill drive shaft and the water pipes by the time they found him. They made an arc five men thick to separate him from the stairs down to the longer plateau. He didn't even bother turning around. "There's a lot of you, aren't there? You planning to move in for the kill?"

The leader of the rest, or possibly all the Roderick Thieves, strode around to face Legato. A thin man with light brown hair and a scar from his hairline down to his cheek on the outer corner of his left eye walked up to Legato. "I find it awfully hard to believe that the vice chief was killed by a fool like you. So what kind of trick did you pull on him, anyway?"

Legato closed his eyes as he stretched out with his other senses. Nine of the expected ten demons surrounded this congregation of ordinary humans. "Humans, how pathetic," he said aloud.

"Shut your mouth." The leader aimed a handgun at Legato's face. "The Rodericks are bound by bonds that go infinitely deeper and stronger than a simple family relationship. We will avenge our brethren. No matter who the fool is. That's the Rodericks' way. This here is goodbye, lady killer."

A darker-skinned Roderick wrapped his arm around the leader's outstretched gun arm and pulled it down with panicked confusion all over his face. "What in the world?! Wait! Commander, I don't know what's going on!"

Legato was watching them now.

The Commander struggled to raise his arm again. "What are you doing, idiot? Let go of me now!"

"My hands! They're moving all by themselves!"

"Cut the crap!" the Commander struggled to free himself from the grip of his underling.

"You gotta believe me," the other Roderick pleaded as his hands continued to grapple.

"Such fragile bonds they are." Legato turned to look over at part of the windmill's transmission metal grid structures as the Rodericks pair tried to free themselves.

"Let us have a portion, Master Bluesummers. We deserve a chance to prove our worth to you."

Legato answered out loud. "Yes, you have a point. It isn't nice to be so greedy." He walked away from the struggling Rodericks.

"You always talkin' to yourself?" the Commander demanded.

"It doesn't have to be all of them," Legato told the Gung-Ho Guns. "Just kill half of them this time around."

The Rodericks panicked hearing that and all pull out and raise their guns. "Kill him!"

Midvalley the Hornfreak descended from higher on the mountain and his horn blast threw some Roderick Thieves into the air with a black cloud.

A giant hand emerged from under the ground other Rodericks were standing on, seizing one bandit as it continued up into the air.

A bandaged leg swept out from something like an armored spinning top and knocked more Rodericks off their feet as the top sped through the group.

A window shattered in the building housing the controls for the generators standing near the transmission wire pylons. A group of Rodericks turned and fired into the building. They all missed the thin man inside encased in rotund armor who appeared in the empty window and showered them with spikes.

The Commander shot his underling, who couldn't let go of him and had forced him to the ground and looked up at the rest of his men. "What the hell are you waiting for? Launch a counter offensive!"

The only answer the men behind him had was to fall down dead. The rifle report finally echoed from where the sniper had positioned himself. More Rodericks fell dead as Legato smiled at the Commander.

"Why do you think I spared half your men, Commander?" Legato asked.

The Commander made no move to stand as he looked up in horror.

"My reasons happen to be perfectly rational. You see, if your bonds are indeed deeper than family, then you must have the opportunity to give your friends a proper burial. However," Legato bored his gaze into the Commander. "This is not an act of mercy. This is to teach you the pain of living."

The Commander cannot stop himself from aiming his pistol at his own temple. He screamed before his finger pulled the trigger. His dead body fell to the ground and the rest of the living Roderick Thieves made sounds of horror.

Legato closed his eyes. "Excellent work, Commander."

The breathing Roderick Thieves bolted for the stairs back down the mountain.

Midvalley approached Legato and gestured to each of his comrades. "Grey the Ninelives, Dominique the Cyclops, Zazie the Beast, Leonof the Puppet-Master, Hoppered the Gauntlet, Rai-Dei the Blade, E.G. Mine, Caine the Longshot, and myself, your faithful Midvalley the Hornfreak." He bowed to Legato. "We all offer our support."

"Chapel appears to be absent," Legato said.

Midvalley straightened. "He seems to be as untrustworthy as the rumors claim."

Or following the Punisher around, hopefully not to the detriment of the Punisher's assignment. "It doesn't matter much. Your target is very close by; it shouldn't be any problem."

"There's a great deal of talent here," Midvalley said. "You plannin' to use all of us on this one target?"

"Hardly." Legato smirked. "I would never waste all that talent on one target. My respect for you is higher than that. Wouldn't you agree, Dominique?"

Dominique was suddenly right behind Legato from where she was standing before. She looked over her shoulder at him with her uncovered eye. "Yes, I'm all you need for this job, Legato. I'll take care of it."

"And we shall withdraw to see your results." Legato swept away. The adjacent mountain top where he had parked the flying machine would be the perfect vantage point to watch the upcoming battle. He paused on the edge of the plateau and looked down at the town. Ah, Vash had arrived.

Chapter Text

Vash parked their car on the deserted street. "Here we are, Jeneora's Rock. Hannah, you wanted a lesson on alternative energy?" He waved his hand at the windmill mountain looming above the town.

Hannah idled the motorcycle behind the car. "Mamajammin'," she muttered, craning her head to take in the windmill mountain. "That's taller than the Sears Tower. It's one thousand four hundred fifty-one feet high, not counting the antennae."

"Should count the antennae," Chuck scowled as he crossed his arms. "I'd be taller if they were counted."

"Jeneora's Rock is two thousand feels counting the end of the blades." Vash grinned over his shoulder at her. "Ready to hike?"

"Will they let you in to explore?" Meryl asked as she pulled her bag out from the front passenger seat foot well.

"I hope they do," Vash answered. "I'd hate to pull the 'hey I helped you build it about eighty years ago' card when there's probably nobody left alive that remembers that."

Chuck uncrossed his arms to pull himself halfway over the front seat. "You built that!" He balanced on the seat back to point at the windmill mountain.

"Helped build it. I had some engineering knowledge the town lacked."

Chuck groaned and slumped over the seat back. "You said the E-word."

"Well, you don't have to come, but it is the biggest windmill on the planet."

"We will need you to pull Mr. Vash and your sister out so we can eat," Milly said with a laugh. "We should get hotel rooms first."

Hannah climbed off the motorcycle, leaving her helmet on it, and joined them as they got out of the car. "I don't see any hotel signs on this street."

"That's okay," Vash said as he headed up to the swinging doors of the next building on this side of the street. "The bartenders always know where to send guests and are likely to know who to ask about windmill tours." He thrust open the swinging doors and his foot kicked a bottle with a broken neck. It rolled into the dim interior and stopped against a dead man's body on the floor at the same time blood and gunpowder hit Vash's nose.

"Verittok!"^[2] Hannah exclaimed right at his elbow. Vash backed out of the doorway so she wouldn't see, but she was already mashing buttons on Chuck's helmet.

"You're not supposed to say that word!" Chuck yelled. "Wait, vacuum setting?"

"Trust me, you don't want to smell that much blood."

Vash's stomach roiled. It was a massacre in there, just by the smell alone. What happened? Who had done such a thing and drove everyone else in the town into hiding?

An echo of Bluesummers' mental voice came out of Vash's memories. "The power of death is intoxicating."

Hannah's green eyes stared up at Vash. "They can't arrest you for this. We just got here."

"What's wrong?" Meryl asked sharply.

Vash glanced around the empty street. A business across it should have witnesses. He ran for the door under 'Hair Styling for Men' sign.

"Everybody in there is dead," Hannah answered, pointing at the saloon doors.

"How are you so sure?" Chuck asked suspiciously.

"Because that much blood smell doesn't come from a wound you can bandage. Trust me."

Vash pounded on the hair salon's door. "I need to ask you something! Open the door!" No one stirred inside. He gritted his teeth. Please no, not the whole town.

Meryl hurried across the street after Vash. "We should report it. That's the right thing to do. Wait, Vash!"

He didn't wait for them, but took off running up the street, looking for any sign of life.

"I don't blame him for not wanting to talk to the cops again," Hannah said. "But don't start investigating without us!"

Vash saw a young woman peeking out from behind a set of doors. He grabbed it before she could shut it. "Wait, please, I mean you no harm. Can you tell me who did this? We can stop him."

She shrieked and pulled on the door.

He tightened his hold on the door. "Was it Legato Bluesummers who did this? Tell me, was he wearing a white coat?"

She shrieked again and threw her total weight on pulling the door. He let go but didn't get his right hand out of the way fast enough, and the door slammed shut on his index finger. He scraped it as he yanked it out. He stared at the blood oozing out of his glove and shrieked himself, grabbing his hand to hold it.

"Hey bike, we need the first aid kit," Chuck said.

Meryl guided Vash to sit on a raised sidewalk as the motorcycle drove up to their group. "Care to rethink your strategy here?" She asked as she examined his bloody finger.

Hannah pulled the first aid kit out of the motorcycle compartment and carried it over to Meryl and Vash. "I don't feel sorry for you one bit, bro. You can't do an investigation by forcing your way into a private residence."

"Let us ask questions," Chuck said. "Hannah and me are cute and nobody is scared of us. Even if they should be." He skipped back to the door and knocked on it. "Hello lady? You mashed his finger real good, and he's very sorry that he scared you. Did you see a guy with blue hair and a white coat? Please, can you tell us, lady?" He knocked on the shut door again.

Milly frowned as she looked back at the saloon. "If it just happened, we might need to go in and see if they need help."

Hannah shook her head. "The blood smell smells rotten. Survivors would have gotten out by now."

Meryl wrapped medical tape around his injured finger. "How do you know that?"

"Margo thought exposing me to a bunch of blood samples was a good way to help me deal with it, since I had a uterus that would kick in eventually."

"Did it?" Milly asked.

"I can identify a crime scene and have ruled out any kind of medical engineering as a career. My therapist said that wasn't a terrible result."

Vash tuned them out along with the throbbing in his finger as he looked around at the locked-up tight buildings. He's somewhere in this town, he thought to himself, with care not to project to Meryl. I'm sure of it! But where? He looked beyond the buildings to the mountain with the windmill built into it. The sky beyond it was going pink as the suns started sinking past the horizon.

"Did Bluesummers speak to your mind? How are you so sure he's responsible?" Meryl put the supplies back into the white case. "You're awfully quiet. Does your finger really hurt that much?"

Vash focused on the top of the rock, where all the controls were to run the windmill, energy generation, and water flow. The windmill blades steadily turned, casting a shadow over it, but Vash saw the white-coated figure. He leaped up, scooting through Meryl and Milly. "Why that filthy--!" He took off running across the street to an alley that ended against the mountain.

"Vash!" Hannah yelled. "Stop leaving us behind!"

"What's gotten into you?" Meryl projected at him.

He reached the side of the mountain and jumped up to the next ledge. "Keep them out of this! I don't want the kids to see me pissed off." He continued leaping up, spanning spaces that made it obvious he wasn't human. His leaps took him up the mountainside, onto the pipes sending water to the town, and over the railing marking the edge of the long plateau. He stalked forward to the stairs up to the smaller plateau that had the control building and the pylons for the electrical wires. The stench of blood was in the wake of the turbine.

He reached the top of those stairs and recoiled at the pile of bodies off to the side away from the town. They all appeared to be men wearing the same uniform. "Corpses." He closed his mouth on the rest of his anger. What the hell had they done to earn a death sentence? He moved forward, searching for the white coat. If Legato's master was Knives, well, all they needed to be was human for a death sentence.

No one was up here catching his attention with movement. And then there was a presence right behind his back. He turned his head to look over his shoulder. All he could see was long dark hair from under a wide-brimmed gray hat and a beige coat with a massive collar from ears to shoulders. "You're naïve," a woman's silky voice said as she turned her head to look over her shoulder with a narrow eye. "Had I been so inclined, I could have killed you at least three times by now."

Three of Vash's buttons fell off his duster. "It would seem that you enjoy dropping in on people just to stir them up." He stepped away and turned to face her. "Fun hobby, lady. Who are you?"

The shadows lengthened along the ground. "One of the Gung-Ho Guns," she admitted.

"Are you on Legato's team?"

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it." She spun to face Vash. A woman almost as tall as he was wearing black pants, a lavender blouse, and an unfastened brown vest under her beige coat. A black choker around her long throat peeked out between the lapels of her blouse. An etched metal eyepatch covered her right eye. No gun holster was visible, but he was sure she was armed. "I am the second Gung-Ho Gun. I'm known as Dominique the Cyclops."

"Is this your doing?" He tilted his head at the pile of bodies.

"That's right." Her sharply pointed chin shifted up. "I merely took out some of the trash. They just use people in order to line their own pockets. Call it a spring cleaning of sorts. Well, does that make you feel any better?"

Vash closed his eyes as he heaved a sigh. "You killed them. Even though they did terrible things, the decision of who should and should not live was never--" he opened his eyes and glared at her "and never will be yours to make! I should slap you."

Dominique smiled with a hum. "I'd like to see you try."

"Well, what now?" Vash hovered his right hand over his holstered Colt. "Shall we fight?"

"Of course. You decided to up the ante. I'm not going to fold. At least, not before looking at the cards. Now that wouldn't be fair."

"I wouldn't do this if I were you. I don't want to hurt you."

She chuckled as the shadows from the spinning windmill blades passed over her face. "What blind optimism. It is easy to see why your understanding of fighting is so simplistic and unsophisticated. You had some success with your barbaric style, but this is the last day you will be saved by a simple quick draw."

Dominique ran right next to him before he even blinked his eyes, turned, and aimed her pistol at his back. Vash dodged her two shots by tumbling sideways. He drew his Colt while sliding along the ground and onto his feet in a crouch. He aimed, but Dominique was already behind him with her gun aimed at his head.

"Checkmate," she said as she fired twice. She looked up and chuckled. "That's very cute."

Vash had rolled away from her bullets and glared up at her upside down: his head and shoulders down on the ground, his feet on the ground above his arms, and his ass up in the air. "What kind of freak are you, lady?! That was definitively not human."

"You're an unpredictable man, gun fighter. I actually like your type."

"ME unpredictable! I'm not the one teleporting all over the place!" He had never heard of anyone's augmentation being able to do that.

She slid her pistol into her coat pocket. "I'll compliment you upon countering my attack twice. But just how long do you think you can keep it up? Go ahead and try again if you like, but you better shoot me this time."

He stood up. That's no empty threat. Unfortunately, she holds the card of maneuverability. I have to find a way to take her down. Look. Look at her. Look hard. She's going to move. Don't you dare miss it.

Dominique chuckled with a smile. "You're very confident, gunman, but it is to no avail. Like I told you, you can't beat me. It really doesn't matter how fast you are." She vanished and appeared beside Vash, facing the same way with her gun aimed under his chin. "You see?"

Vash's eyes widened, and he jumped back. His feet left the ground at the same time Dominique's gun fired. He fell back, dropping the Colt, and somersaulted backwards away from her. He landed on his ass and sat up. Blood dripped from his chin where the bullet grazed him and he panted. "I can't follow her!"

"You're very sloppy, gunfighter." She turned toward him. "That makes it three times that you've made me miss."

"I'm sloppy? You're the one who missed." He curled his right hand into a fist and his finger throbbed. When she moves, it's like she vanishes. How can that be? How can she move that fast? He reflected on their fight. She did it then, and then. It was like his entire body had gone numb, including his injured finger. His eyes widened. I get it!

Dominique adjusted the brim of her hat. "Have you rested enough? I would like to end the show soon if it's all the same to you."

Vash stood up, curling his right hand into a tight fist and closing his eyes.

"Well? Have you given up? Or are you playing at some kind of pathetic martial art?"

Vash hunched slightly. He curled his left hand into a fist, too. He focused on his throbbing finger, feeling the blood ooze out and get caught on the medical tape. His teeth gritted together, and he yelled through them.

"It's not. Not possible. Impossible!" There was a sound of a shutter opening and then her footsteps ran toward him, beside him. The shutter sound again.

Vash's eyes sprang open as he turned to face her. He unfolded his left arm gun, putting the muzzle right against Dominique's eyepatch. She froze. He fired. The impact knocked Dominique back, and she twisted in the air, landing face down and knocking off her hat.

She pushed herself up and quickly covered her right eye with her left hand. "But how? How did you do that?"

He kept his left arm gun aimed at her. "You numb the perceptions of your opponent through hypnotic charm." Vash lowered his left arm. "The augmentation somehow comes from your eye. That's the card you hold."

"The demon's eye should affect all senses, whether your eyes are open or closed. So how?"

Vash lifted his right hand in front of his face. The index finger bandage was bloody from the tip to the middle knuckle.

"What are you saying? You escaped the demon's eye by focusing all your concentration on pain?! Don't screw with me. No mortal could possibly do that!" She dropped her hand from her right eye. The sclera was yellow, the iris red, and the pupil slit like a reptile's. "Die!"

Vash's eyes narrowed, but he didn't move as Dominique got up and moved to get behind him again. She brought her gun up to aim and gasped because Vash's had already tucked his left arm gun under his right arm and aimed it right at her. "Game's over," he said.

Dominique dropped her gun.

He looked over his shoulder at her. "Instead of spending time cleaning up people by killing them, you should be working for love and peace!" He turned to face her and tucked his arm gun away again. "Like me, for example. I've been working on it for years and finally have a committed relationship now!" He chuckled, but it becomes more nervous as Dominique stared at the ground, not responding.

A motor was growing louder, and the windmill didn't make that sound. Vash turned to the long plateau and the switchback stairs down to the town at the end. The black motorcycle shot over the edge. Its rear tire glowed with energy and touched down on the ground first. It squealed and the front tire and the sidecar lowered to the ground as it surged forward. Meryl clutched Chuck with one arm and the side of the sidecar opening. Milly sat behind Hannah on the motorcycle and both clung to the handlebars. The motorcycle churned over the distance of the plateau, jumped up the steps to the next plateau, and slid sideways to a stop next to Vash and Dominique.

Meryl and Milly both looked like the motorcycle had left their voices behind at the bottom of the mountain. Hannah and Chuck, inside their helmets, looked unimpressed with him. "One rule of teamwork, bro," Hannah said dryly, "is not to run off and leave your team behind." Her nose wrinkled, and then she saw the pile of bodies. She hit a button on the top of her helmet. "Vacuum setting now. What happened to them?!"

Vash glanced at the pile and then at Dominique, who was staring at the motorcycle and its riders. "That happened before I got up here."

"I never turned off vacuum setting," Chuck said to his sister. "Who's that?" He pointed at Dominique.

"That's a good question," Meryl said in her not impressed voice.

Before Vash could say anything, Dominique activated her demon's eye. Everyone on the motorcycle froze and Vash felt the numbness try to seize him, but he knew how to push it back now. Dominique ran for the steps. "This isn't over, Vash the Stampede."

"Next time, let's get a drink and not do this whole bloodshed thing," he told her.

She kept running across the lower plateau and down the switchback stairs before the freezing effect wore off.

Milly looked around. "Hey, she disappeared!"

Vash dropped in a heap on the ground and panted in all the air he hadn't let Dominique knew he had wanted. "I thought... I thought... that I was dead!"

"What happened to your chin?" Meryl demanded. Chuck vaulted out of the sidecar and she climbed out. Hannah passed her the first aid kit.

Vash tilted his head up at her. "A bullet grazed it. What do you think happened?"

She frowned hard and grabbed his chin with the antiseptic cleanser wipe, placing it right on the wound. He hissed. "You need to tell us what the hell just happened with the disappearing lady so we know what to tell the sheriff when he asks about the pile of dead bodies," she said in her low, this is serious pay attention, voice. "People are coming up behind us."

He sighed. "She's a Gung-Ho Gun, Dominique the Cyclops. She said she killed all those men, called them trash. But I think she had help. There are not enough bullet casings to have killed them all. And I think you can figure out how to use a hypnotizing your opponent augmentation in a duel without me giving details." He was exhausted and there was possibly more still to do. Someone would need to check the controls and make sure no stray bullets damaged anything and Hannah wouldn't know what to look for.

Meryl took the pressure off his chin and wiped the blood that had run down his neck. "Thank you for telling us. You dueling with the self-incriminating killer will keep them from blaming you."

"You're a lot more hopeful about that outcome than I am." The second sun finally sank under the surrounding hills, but most of the moons were up and they lit up the top of the hills.

Hannah snapped the first aid kit closed. "You are not spending the night in jail, bro. Even if you are stupid about teamwork."

"You can't promise that, Hannah," Meryl said.

"Oh yes, I can. I'm the only one who can argue legal with Uncle Modo." She moved back to the motorcycle.

"That's true," Chuck said. "Nobody understands when they start on the mystery shows."

"More learning from entertainment," Milly said as she stretched. She had gotten off the motorcycle while Meryl had stood in front of him. "I wouldn't think you could do much teaching with that."

"Mom always says you can't believe everything you see on television," Chuck said. He headed to the railing fencing off the edge of the plateau.

"That seems like good advice," Meryl said. She looked down and then bent down. She handed the Colt back to Vash. "Do you need some water?"

"He's over here!" Chuck yelled while he pointed to a neighboring mountain. "Vash, get over here!"

Vash leaped up before Chuck yelled again and rushed over to the railing next to the mouse boy. Legato Bluesummers smirked at them from a cliff on the top of the neighboring mountain with another man in a dark suit with a pink collar from the shirt under it stretched out over the suit's lapels. He held a saxophone in his hands. Legato raised his left hand and made a fist.

Chuck screamed, grabbed his helmet with his hands, and dropped to his knees. Vash bent over the still screaming child, rot overwhelming his senses. The boy kept going down until his helmet pressed against the rock.

"Chuck!" Hannah screamed and ran toward them, with Meryl and Milly following. The motorcycle rolled after them.

Vash rested his hands on Chuck's back. "Shield against him, Chuck. You can build a wall between yourself and Legato. Come on, listen to me."

Hannah skidded onto her knees next to them. "What's happening?"

"Telepathic attack, probably! He did it before," Vash said quickly. "Chuck, listen to me. Block him out." He pushed energy into Chuck's mind, trying to wrap around the wisps of rotting odor.

"WHY YOU!" Milly yelled as she whipped out her stun gun and fired. The motorcycle fired a missile too, not a laser bolt.

The saxophone man shifted the musical instrument up to his lips and played a sequence of notes. A sonic blast collided with the stun bolt and the rope spinning in the air and knocked them off the course from the other mountain top.

Hannah leaned over Chuck's helmet and put her hands on his shoulders. "Charles Turbineta, sher'ersrar ryv Vashza ve'okor!^[3]"

"Shield, Chuck, make a wall between yourself and the outside. That's a shield. Please make it, and I can strengthen it." Vash begged as he knelt next to the screaming boy.

The wall did slowly emerge in Chuck's mind, and Vash sent his power to slam it shut. The rot retreated from both, and Chuck stopped screaming. Vash didn't withdraw yet, but looked up at the other mountaintop.

Bluesummers and the other man walked behind the mountain, and dust kicked up in the wind. The dirigible that had bombed Meryl's birthplace rose into the air above the mountains and hills and moved away from them.

"What in hell is that?" An unfamiliar voice said behind them.

Nearly everyone turned their head in unison to see the man with a sheriff's badge pinned to his vest at the lead of a group of six men. Vash gingerly pulled his mental energy from Chuck. He didn't want another fight right now, not with the kids and Meryl so close.

Meryl stepped in front of him and the children. "That is the blue-haired man in a white coat's getaway vehicle. You found witnesses to his attack on the saloon?"

The gray-haired sheriff sighed hard enough to wave his droopy mustache. "He didn't kill everyone there, thank God. And the rest of the Roderick Thieves followed him up here." He looked at the pile of corpses and shook his head. "Their survivors hauled butt out of here hours ago. Why did he stick around?"

Chuck whimpered and sat up. "Hannah, my head hurts."

"We'll get you something for it when we get down off the mountain." Vash scooped him up and stood. Chuck slumped against his chest and rested the helmet against his shoulder. "Bluesummers was probably waiting to see how I fared against Dominique the Cyclops," he told the sheriff.

"You came out of a duel with Dominique the Cyclops? How did you manage that?"

"I got lucky, I guess."

"I'll say," the sheriff said with a suspicious gleam in his eye. "She's working with this Bluesummers fellow?"

"She said she was."

"And is he gonna turn back around and finish taking you and this town out?"

"Doesn't seem to be his style," Vash answered with a glance back at the dirigible. It was even further away now and didn't appear to be turning around. "He seems to enjoy setting up ambushes instead."

The sheriff sighed again. "Hey, Jian, get started on checking the equipment." A younger man near the back of the group jogged toward the control buildings while the sheriff focused on Vash again. "You seem to know a fair bit about this blue-haired man. Is it personal?"

"Not on my end. Not yet, anyway."

"Hm. You know how he made all those bandits turn on each other?"

"He has some kind of telepathy powers." Vash shifted Chuck in his arms. He was a hefty five-year-old. "I'm glad he didn't go through the whole town."

"From what I understand, the Roderick Thieves started with him when he was just eating some cake." The sheriff shook his head. "I ain't going to miss watching out for men that bad, but what a mess left for us."

"Oh, we can help with that," Milly said brightly. "Well, we can help with that tomorrow."

"Clean up can wait until tomorrow," the sheriff agreed. "Go take care of that tyke."

That was a clear dismissal. Vash turned to the motorcycle and blanked out over how this was going to go. Hannah darted ahead, climbed into the sidecar, and held out her arms. "Give him here." Vash did, and she tucked her brother into the sidecar with her. Vash climbed onto the motorcycle, Meryl got on in front of him, and Milly behind and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"This is going to be bumpy." Meryl warned him before the motorcycle started down the switchback staircase. She clung to him rather than reaching for the handlebars.

The motorcycle had excellent struts or shock absorbers because Vash was positive Gunsmoke equivalents would have shaken all of them off the mountain before they reached the road at the bottom. But the flat streets of the town were a relief. Meryl had gotten rooms at the hotel before they headed up the mountain after him. She unlocked the doors of their connected rooms as Vash carried Chuck upstairs and into the kids'.

Hannah had brought the motorcycle's first aid kit with her and pulled out a small bottle, opening it. "Doctor Ryan said Chuck weighed enough for the regular ibuprofen now. Just one every six hours."

Vash shook one tiny, red pill out of the bottle and handed it back before setting Chuck on his bed and kneeling in front of him.

Meryl pulled the mouse boy's helmet off.

"Okay, Chuck," Vash said. "Open wide, drop it on your tongue." Hannah passed Vash a glass of water. "Big gulp of water." Chuck swallowed it down with the water. "Good job! Down the hatch."

"Too loud," Chuck whined.

"Sorry, little bro, I'll be quieter. Let's get you ready for bed." He glanced over his shoulder at Hannah hovering with the water glass. "You too."

"I can change him," she said. "Your finger."

"Is fine enough to do this. Go change." She put down the glass and picked up her bag and disappeared into the bathroom. Vash turned back to Chuck and unbuckled the boy's boots.

Hovering Meryl pulled Chuck's pajamas out of his bag and turned down the blanket on the bed as Vash manhandled Chuck out of his clothes. Chuck was used to it since he was practically asleep by the time Vash got the pajamas on him.

"I hope you aren't passing out without changing on Hannah." Vash leveraged Chuck under the covers and onto the pillow before smoothing the covers over the boy.

Hannah came out of the bathroom in her green pajamas, put her bag down by her bed, and looked concerned. "Not usually. Did that wrenchhead do something permanent to him?"

Vash straightened from the bed. "I don't think so. He pulled out of Chuck's mind. His presence is... distinctive, and I felt it leave. Chuck's just not used to fighting with his brain. He'll wake up fine." Vash put on his most reassuring smile before looking down at Hannah.

She nodded and started a new tack. "I can help tomorrow."

"You can help Meryl keep Chuck out of the way. We can both agree he doesn't need to see how bodies decompose."

Hannah grimaced, but nodded.

Vash looked at Meryl. "Since Milly will be watching my back?"

Meryl smirked. "Of course she will. And if you haven't realized that by now, we need to work on your observational skills."

"My observational skills are fine. Bed for you," he told Hannah. "Shower for me."

Hannah nodded before darting forward and hugging him quickly around the waist. She let go before he could hug her back.

He didn't take long in the shower, emerging to see Meryl in her yellow nightshirt drinking tea at the table in their room. He vetoed joining her in favor of planting himself face down onto his side of the bed with a wordless whine.

She joined him sitting on the side he left clear for her. "Let me see your finger." He stretched his right arm out without moving his face off the pillow. She put his hand on her bent leg. "I'm sorry for being sharp with you," she added.

"Don't be." The pillow muffled that, so he rolled his face to the left and repeated it. "Don't be. I'm going to need reminders not to treat you like the humans I have to protect."

She paused while wrapping his injured finger. "Have to?"

"Rem died to save them."

"Ah." She resumed wrapping his finger. "Do you have a plan to deal with Bluesummers?"

"Ugh. No."

"My mistake. Do you have a strategy to deal with Bluesummers?"

"Not much of a strategy can be made against him getting ahead of us and setting up ambushes. What do you think I should do?"

She finished wrapping his finger and began rubbing his hand. "Hunt down Bluesummers?"

He lifted his head and laid it back down so he was looking at her sitting cross-legged and leaning against the bed's headboard. "What have you observed about me that makes you think I know how to do that?"

"You're searching for Knives." She turned his hand over and rubbed her thumb into his thumb muscles.

He couldn't stop the scoff from coming out of his mouth. "That is less of a search, but there isn't a term for wandering around hoping to trip over him while avoiding losing my own head. Not that I know what the hell to do or tell him if I find him."

"I see."

"Disappointed in me?"

Her fingers moved over his entire palm now. "No, I saw what you're afraid of happening again. But you shouldn't let Hannah know that until you know how you want to confront your brother, because she'll probably pull a searching method from Earth entertainment that will find him."

"Thanks for that terrifying thought. I want to keep them out of it for as long as possible. You too, if that's possible."

"You're so sure Knives is still out there."

Vash closed his eyes. "He is my brother, my twin. We have always had a connection. I'd know if he was dead." His eyes sprang open. "It's not directional; we can't find each other with it. And the telepathy part, we had to be closer together, like within the diameter of a mid-sized town. Back before he stopped talking to me that way."

"He stopped?" she asked softly.

"Claimed he was tired of me constantly screaming at him." He didn't want to talk about Knives any more. "What are you doing to my hand? It feels nice."

Meryl's face grew pinker. "Oh, a massage. My hands would cramp up so bad after I typed too many reports, so I got enough of them to learn how to do them. I wasn't sure how much touch you'd want after today."

He melted and felt it in his smile at her. "You are good to me." He rose partially, scooted over, and kissed her bent knee. "Tomorrow will be harder. I never like putting people who should be alive in the ground."

"That's always hard." She straightened out and lay down in his arms.

Chapter Text

Meryl went down with Vash and Milly, getting breakfast for herself and the children. Vash only shook his head. "Job best done on an empty stomach." Milly nodded, wearing a pair of coveralls Meryl hadn't known she owned, and squeezed Meryl's shoulder as they left. The crowd already gathering in the street passed them a shovel and a pickax. She brought the plates up to the connected hotel rooms.

Chuck was still in bed but awake when Hannah let Meryl in. "Breakfast!" Meryl said in what she hoped was a cheerful voice. It sounded brittle to her ears.

The mouse boy frowned as he slid out of the bed. "Vash isn't eating breakfast? But Mom says breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

"Not if you don't want to throw up just after you eat," Hannah said as she sat down. "It's gonna smell worse than Limburger with what Vash and Milly are cleaning up today."

"I was just a baby when I threw up on Limburger. When are you gonna stop making fun of me?" He sat down as heavily as he could into a chair and crossed his arms with a pout.

"I'm not making fun." Hannah opened her plate. "I'm trying to describe what Vash and Milly-ma'am are dealing with without sticking your nose in a crime scene."

"Let's not talk about vomit and crime scenes while eating," Meryl said. She was curious what the non-human enemy had done to make a baby vomit on him, but not curious enough to lose her own meal.

"Okay, not being gross." Chuck started eating. His head didn't seem to hurt this morning. "How come you're not helping with clean up?" He nudged Hannah with his tail.

"Vash thinks he's sparing me from seeing death. I haven't told him he's a bit late for that."

Meryl winced. "Let's not remind him of what you saw in New MacFarlane." He was finally getting back to himself after that aftermath. She didn't want to remind him.

Hannah blinked. "Oh, that was bad, but it wasn't the first. And I handled it just fine. But I won't kick up a fuss. I'd rather work on the next bola bolt build than haul or dig."

"Lessons first," Meryl said firmly. Chuck needed something to do too, even though he whined again around the food in his mouth. Hannah put her index and middle finger of her right hand against her forehead and saluted Meryl with them. "You can get dressed first," Meryl told Chuck.

He swallowed. "Fine. How come this town was okay with Vash and Milly-ma'am cleaning?"

"The sheriff saw Bluesummers fly away," Hannah said. "And there were witnesses this time, so he didn't blame the murders on Vash."

"Good. You don't need to be mad at all the sheriffs here."

Meryl didn't touch that one at all.

The morning, lunch, and afternoon passed calmly. Meryl graded Hannah's work, explained the concepts Chuck was stuck on, and after they had eaten again, Hannah started measuring rope, his workbook engrossed Chuck, and Meryl decided her rough draft reports could now be a journal for her life and started updating them. Hannah finished her cuts, and it seemed safe enough for Meryl to ask. "How did Limburger make Chuck vomit?"

Hannah snorted with amusement. Chuck groaned. "You're still making fun."

"It will never not be funny," the girl insisted. "Plutarkians, the whole species, have horrible body odor."

"That's why they're called stinkfishes," Chuck added, wrinkling his snout.

"Even humans can pick up on it and our noses are not as good as Martian mice's. Limburger keeps his air conditioning pretty high so he won't sweat and trigger it. It was Chuck's second kidnapping, but the first one in Limburger's office. He wanted us secured anywhere else, but I was winning keep away with Greasepit so neither of us could pick up Chuck's carrier and no other goons were available for Limburger to order around. So he moaned, 'I have to do everything myself,' picked up the carrier by its sides instead of the handle that makes it function like a basket and straightened his back. Chuck got a snout-full of Plutarkian stink and projectile vomited straight at Limburger's mask-covered face." Hannah leaned back and giggled helplessly.

"She can't ever tell this story without laughing." Chuck scowled and crossed his arms.

Hannah recovered. "That stopped me running because poor Chuck was howling and needed a bottle and stopped Greasepit from running because his boss was dripping with milk vomit. And Mom arrived ready to shoot to get us back, but Limburger just held out the carrier and said, 'Get your spawn out of my building, please.' It was the please that made us all stop again after Mom had grabbed the carrier's handle. And he said nothing else and just went to his platform lift to his apartment. Even Greasepit decided it was just best to disappear after that."

Chuck sighed. "And Dad and the uncles didn't even knock down his skyscraper after that because the attack was happening outside of the city." He winced, combed his fingers into his hair fur, and scratched around his antennae. "My head's hurting again."

Hannah's amusement vanished. "Your head hurts? Is Bluesummers talking to you again?"

"No, it's just heavy."

Now that he had said something, Meryl felt pressure bearing down on her own skull. "I feel something too. Maybe a storm is coming." She pushed away from the table and went to the window. The sky she could see was blue and clear. "I don't see one."

"I'm getting you an ibuprofen." Hannah said as she got up and went to the first aid kit on the dresser.

Meryl frowned. The pressure was still there, unrelenting. And Vash was out of her telepathy's reach. "I'm going to check that everything is fine outside. You two stay here."

"We'll stay here until we need to evacuate."

Meryl looked over her shoulder at Hannah from the connected door. "You won't need to evacuate."

"Then we will be here," the girl said as she handed her brother a glass of water. "All the same, hurry back."

The older woman shrugged on her new underarm holster and handgun and the white jacket over it before leaving the hotel rooms.

The town set up the burial field on the opposite side of the windmill mountain and it took Meryl an hour to get there. She should have driven the car, but that would have impeded the trucks hauling corpses down the rows of grave sites that the townspeople were digging and covering. Not that she trusted her driving with the way her head was pounding with this strange pressure. Where were Vash and Milly in this working crowd?

She saw his red coat midway down the third row of graves, swaying in the breeze. It wasn't on a body but draped over a tall stake that the survey string was tied to. She aimed for it, dodging around diggers and other workers.

Vash pulled himself out of the grave next to his coat. He was in his body armor layer and still had his gun in its holster on his leg. Meryl sighed in relief and slowed down, but her head throbbed. He picked up a canteen from under his coat, drank, recapped it, dropped it into the hole, and then pulled on a rope leading into the ground. He raised up a bucket and dumped dirt on a pile on the other side of the string that was merging with the piles from the other graves on the row.

A gigantic man walked from the wasteland end of the row, ignoring all the other holes being dug, and stopped in front of Vash's. His skin was a shade of gray that Meryl had never seen before. She picked up her pace.

Vash straightened and considered the tall man wearing a mustard-colored tank top, black pants, and a maroon bandanna tied around his head. His chest and shoulders tripled Vash's span. "Need something, friend?" Vash asked.

The stranger's thick lips under his thin mustache parted. "Au... au... aug... Augusta."

Vash stared at the stranger.

"I'll be waiting for you at Augusta, Vash the Stampede. You will acknowledge my request immediately. If you do not meet my request, this is a sample of what will happen." The stranger raised a handgun to his temple.

"Don't!" Vash shouted as he lunged forward.

The stranger pulled the trigger and fell to the ground. Everyone stopped working with the gunshot. Meryl dodged around the now still workers.

Vash was bent over the suicide corpse. "There's no blood."

"Vash, did you get shot?" Milly yelled as she jumped up to see out of the grave she was in. It wasn't working.

Meryl skidded to a stop next to Vash and the corpse. No blood was oozing or gushing from the ragged, star-shaped bullet hole in his temple. The other workers gathered around, but she looked up at Vash's hard expression. "He talked to you, but he was already dead?"

"It must be him," Vash said, more to himself than to anyone else. "He's the only one capable of doing this. Legato."

Meryl couldn't stop herself from shivering. How could Bluesummers make a dead man walk and talk?

The worker who knelt next to the corpse looked up at Vash. "Huh? Do you actually know this guy? You know him?"

"What has happened?!" Milly yelled. "Somebody help me out of here!"

Vash blinked and returned to the present before turning and reaching a hand down to Milly. "I just got called out by Bluesummers." He lifted Milly out with one arm.

"Through a corpse!" Meryl thrust her hand down to point at it.

Vash blinked again and focused on her. "Meryl, what are you doing here?"

"We were worried! Chuck's head started hurting again--"

His blue-green eyes widened. "Chuck? Where are the kids?"

"Back at the hotel--" Vash broke into a panicked run before she even finished speaking. She looked back at Milly.

"You better follow him. I'll stay with our stuff."

Meryl nodded and jogged after him, waiting to put on a full-out run when she was out of sight of the gravediggers. Vash must have slowed down when he reached the buildings because she caught up with him at the door of their hotel. They went up the stairs nearly in sync and Vash went through their hotel room door first.

Through the open connecting doors, Hannah whirled around and slammed her finger against her lips. Vash froze in response, but left enough room for Meryl to ease into the room. Hannah entered their hotel room. "What the hell?" she asked in a low voice.

"Chuck?" Vash craned his neck, trying to look into the room.

"Willingly taking a nap." Hannah's green eyes pinched. "Do we need to evacuate?"

"No, no no no," Vash repeated quickly. "I was afraid that Bluesummers headed this way."

"So it was him? Who made Chuck's head hurt?"

"He targeted Vash," Meryl said. "Chuck felt him doing that."

Hannah focused on Vash. "Are you okay? Did he steal your coat?"

"No, I left it with Milly. I need to get back. Are you sure you're okay?"

"My head never hurt, not like Meryl-ma'am and Chuck. And Chuck woke up okay this morning." Hannah shrugged. "Uncle Modo says Grandma Bola always says 'don't pick up trouble no matter how hard it begs for a ride.'"

"Bluesummers talked to you?" Vash looked down at Meryl.

She shook her head. "I just felt pressure, like a storm rolling in. Maybe Bluesummers was concentrating on reaching you? I couldn't."

"Sorry, I was compartmentalizing." His face fell. "I wasn't trying to shut you out."

"I'm not upset." Meryl smiled up at him, even though she was still so worried.

Hannah crossed her arms. "What did Bluesummers do to you, bro?"

"Just called me out. I've lost count of how many people have done that. Don't worry about it."

"I should warn you that I find that practically impossible. Do we need to pack?"

"No, Bluesummers did it from far away." Vash took a deep breath. "I better get back out there before Milly yells at me for skipping work." He looked down at Meryl. "Walk down with me?" Meryl nodded, but it was down in the lobby before Vash exhaled and continued talking. "He wants me there so bad, he would kill the innocent to get me."

"You have to go after him." Her stomach clenched around the idea.

"We have to keep the kids away. This is the third time Bluesummers has attacked Chuck. I can't face him on his home ground and be afraid for them."

Her head spun that he wanted to leave them behind. No, regret was rolling off him so hard it tasted bitter in her mouth. But Milly came inside, carrying Vash's red coat. "Oh, good, the sheriff wants to talk to you. He's waiting outside."

Vash took his coat, but draped it over his arm before heading out. Meryl managed to not walk on his heels and Milly followed her.

The sheriff leaned against a battered truck now parked on the street. "I have seen many fools called out over my lifetime, but getting called out by a man the doctor swears has been dead for over twenty-four hours is a first."

"A first for me too," Vash said. "I'm going after him. You don't have to worry about him coming back to Jeneora's Rock."

"When is the bus to Augusta?" Meryl asked.

Milly clasped her hands together. "We're not going by car?"

"We need to keep the children away for as long as possible." She looked up at Vash's face and watched comprehension dawn over his confusion. "You better work fast because you know we won't be able to sit on them long."

"Not at all if they get on that motorcycle first," Milly muttered.

The sheriff looked at his watch. "You got about thirty minutes before it leaves the station."

"You still have the money I gave you to hold?" Vash asked. Meryl nodded. "Give me as much time as you can with the kids. I'll wait in Augusta after the fight." He looked up at the hotel building. "Can you toss my bag down to me?"

"Keep Hannah in the dark for as long as possible? Sure." Meryl turned to go back inside, but his right hand cupped her cheek and stopped her.

"I love you." He pressed his lips against hers in a gentle kiss and let her go.

Hannah was bent over her work at the other's room table and had some music playing from the satellite receiver. She looked up briefly, gave Meryl a nod, and bent back over the metal canister. So Meryl had no trouble dropping Vash's bag down to him from the window and watched him climb into the sheriff's truck and drive away with a foreboding she had never felt before bearing down on her.

It took three days' travel by bus to reach Augusta, one of the Six Cities of Gunsmoke. The paved streets and the sidewalks made of stone formed a grid around small skyscrapers decorated with elaborate columns and facades. And for the three days since he got here, Vash had been doing his best to scare the hell out of the population.

"My name is Vash the Stampede!"

The citizens stared at him.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Forget the lack of warning, but I'm afraid it's time for my daily massacre! And if you don't believe I'm the real thing, take a long look at me and start freaking out. Observe my red coat, my lovely blond locks, and if you're still having doubts, check out my hundred percent accurate gunmanship!" He fired the Colt mostly straight up into the air.

A cat jumped down from a higher balcony and landed on his head when the crowd broke into a panic. It ran off too.

Vash fired multiple times into the air to keep the people fleeing as he ran after them. "If you people don't want to die today, get at least a hundred iles away from this place as fast as you can and live happily ever after!"

It worked, especially after doing the same thing for three days all over Augusta. He sat down in the middle of the empty street and put his fifth X on the paper map of the city he had gotten. "Finally," he said to himself. "That's the last of them. Why couldn't the nihilistic jerk have picked a better location? I used up all my energy just chasing people out. I'm pooped."

Hannah hadn't been nearly as tired, attempting the same thing on the back of the motorcycle. He stood up, put the map away, and walked up the street. Now he needed to double check everyone was out and find Bluesummers. "I don't like this. It reminds me of the last time."

It was possible the slow buildup of looming unease in what he remembered of approaching July City twenty-seven years ago before the utter blankness had been added to his mind after he knew what the results of his visit had been for the planet. But it was also equally possible he had felt Knives' presence then. Was he feeling Bluesummers' now? The telepath could cloak himself from Vash; the independent plant hadn't noticed anything was amiss until that walking corpse was next to him, but Meryl and Chuck had felt power stirring. Made an ambush, even more likely. And it was such a big city to search for it.

An explosion shook the bedrock under his feet, but the tremor didn't affect any of the buildings. He turned down a street toward the explosion. Halfway down it, he saw the wrecked building on the other side of a T-shaped intersection at the end. Its roof and most of its back were both gone, and a hole like a vehicle had plowed through the wall facing the street he was on. He stopped in his tracks. "What did that?"

Something dripped on the back of his neck. He wiped it and looked at his fingers. "Blood!" He craned his neck to look up.

Monev the Gale and Dominique the Cyclops hung together near the top corner of the building he stood under with large spikes keeping their bodies in place. Bodies, because they were not breathing.

Vash heard footsteps behind him and looked over his shoulder. "Do you like my decorations?" The speaker was a skinny, short man with his upper body covered in metal half spheres that hung from his shoulders to form a ball of metal with a spike at the center of the bracing straps bisecting the half-sphere. Two leather straps crossed over his chest and his right arm, holding the half-spheres in place. Under the straps, his right arm crossed over the front of his body and strings back into the armor fastened to his gloved, splayed fingers. His left arm did the same thing behind his back. He spoke through a mask covering his nose and mouth, and Vash turned to face him. "In this game, losers don't get to go home. They go to hell."

"Did you kill them?" Vash asked.

"I am the fifth Gung-Ho Gun. My name is E.G. Mine."

Vash yelled, "Did you kill them or not?!"

"Damn, you are a noisy one, aren't you? What if I did, chickenshit? You don't seem to want to kill anyone, so someone had to step up and cover your ass."

Vash hissed at him, thoroughly disgusted at that attitude. He had defeated them fairly.

"And besides, blondie." E.G. tugged on the strings attached to his gloved fingers. "You have fallen into my court."

Vash narrowed his eyes. "Gee, aren't you the poetic one. Are you telling me that I only have two choices? To die or to let die?!"

"Whoa, cowboy, don't be such a drama queen." Spikes emerged from the armor's bracing bands framing his body and around the centers of the half-spheres. "Only one more has to die. Just stand there like a good boy. As soon as I take you down, it'll all be over!" He yanked the strings, and the spikes exploded out of his armor.

Vash drew his Colt and pulled the trigger twice before running across the street, dodging all the spikes. He swiveled to stand next to E.G. Mine and pointed the muzzle up under E.G.'s chin.

The spikes crashed through the window Vash had been standing in front of. E.G. blinked, realizing there was no skewered opponent across the street and the just-fired gun was under his Adam's apple. "What?"

A sonic blast tore down the street towards them from the direction Vash had walked earlier. Vash moved out in front of E.G. and aimed his Colt at the cloud of dust the blast had churned up. That was useless, so he dodged to the side and rolled back onto his feet with a sight line down the barrel of his Colt at who had sent the sonic blast.

E.G. had turned to face the mouth of the street as well, but had ended up off to the side and behind Vash. "What's going on?"

The dust blew away, revealing a man as tall as Vash dressed in clothing Vash had never seen before. The mustard-yellow shirt had sleeves as wide as his torso, the legs of the black pants he wore were pleated like a skirt, and a thick red and white braided rope was tied in a bow at his waist. A flat straw hat perched on his head and shielded his face from view. A hand rested on his sheathed sword. Vash's eyes narrowed as he kept this new opponent in his sights.

"That bastard is trying to cut in on my action." E.G. said behind Vash in a tone of growing outrage.

The new opponent straightened out of his fight stance and took his hand off his sword. Vash aimed his Colt at the ground as the new opponent began speaking. "If I had chosen to dispatch my saber at this time, this situation may have escalated to a real problem. You would have at least been knocked senseless by your Humanoid Typhoon there."

"Say what?" E.G. demanded.

"Now it's getting interesting," Vash said. This man with a sword saw what Vash had done to defeat E.G. Mine? "Looks like you're the favorite. What's your name?"

The swordsman dropped his hat onto the ground. His long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail high on his head, emphasizing his sharp cheekbones. A straw dangled in his mouth like a cigarette. "Forgive my lack of manners. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm the ninth Gung-Ho Gun of Jigenzan, trained by the masters of the Ittou School; I am Rai-Dei the Blade. I hold no personal grudge against you, but I wish to engage you in shiai." He reached inside the deep V of his wrap-around shirt for something. The fringes on his dark-brown vest over the mustard shirt swayed in the breeze.

"Shee-eye?" Vash asked. He hadn't heard that word before.

Rai-Dei held out a large flashcard with two kanji on it.

Vash let his embarrassment heat his cheeks and gestured to throw it away. "I can't read that."

Rai-Dei released the card, and it blew away in the breeze. "If you cannot read Japanese, I will give you an abbreviated explanation. It is a fight to the death."

Vash frowned and felt his eyebrows draw down in disapproval. "What's in it for you? You're playing along with Legato's little farce as well?"

"I will happily walk the path of carnage a thousand times and a thousand times again for the mastery of Bushido."

"What?" Hadn't this guy ever heard of practice without carnage?

"Because there is something only visible when you stand before the depth of the abyss. I believe you have seen this too, have you not?" Rai-Dei stared intensely at Vash, who matched his stance at a proper quick draw duel distance.

But Vash didn't focus fully on the Gung-Ho Gun. "I haven't seen anything there at all. Except my own fear."

"That's too bad. I think you should experience," Rai-Dei bent his knees and put his hand on his sword hilt again, "the heightened mental state--huh!"

E.G. Mine dashed in front of Vash and fired off his spikes at Rai-Dei.

Rai-Dei drew his sword, bisected the spikes, and resheathed it before the deflected and cleaved spikes hit the ground in front of him.

"Come on, now," E.G. insisted. "It's my job to slice and dice this guy."

"Ridiculous." Rai-Dei said as he remained in a guard stance with his hand on the sword hilt. "It would appear you simply did not hear what I told you just a few minutes ago."

"You're right. I didn't." The belts holding his armor on finally split apart from the nicks Vash shot in them. Both half-spheres dropped to the ground. His spiked hair was mostly green out of the shadows of the armor. Wide-eyed, E.G. jerked his head to look down at his armor on both sides. "What? HUH? Wh--"

"Your match was quite over before my arrival," Rai-Dei said scornfully. "That fast gunmanship? Words fail to describe its greatness. That man was never an opponent to be humbled by you. You were completely out of your league." Rai-Dei moved with super speed, drew his sword, and plunged the curved blade into the E.G.'s chest covered by a maroon-colored body suit.

"No," E.G. moaned.

Rai-Dei didn't remove his sword. "Take heart in the fact that you may have served to amuse him for a moment." Blood trickled down the sword. E.G. fell back to the ground, dead.

It all happened so fast, Vash couldn't stop the killing. Furious with himself and Rai-Dei, he seethed and managed to get out through gritted teeth. "You slime."

Rai-Dei held his sword pointed up with fully extended arms. "Yes, let it burn within you." He stood straighter and pulled his arms in. "I feel it build and fester. The angry aura will release through your every pore--my knees are shaking." He wiped the blood off the blade before sheathing it. "That alone makes my trip to this place worthwhile. It is the source of my greatest pleasure." He smirked at Vash.

Vash channeled his anger into complete control of his body. Leaving his Colt pointed at the ground, he pulled out his sunshades and put the orange disks over his eyes. "Come on," he bit out.

"I'm in your debt," Rai-Dei said. "Ready?"

Chapter Text

Meryl knew the children wouldn't like Vash leaving them behind when they woke up the next morning, but she wasn't prepared for how guilty she felt after a lonely night's sleep when they let their upset out.

Chuck's ears and antennae drooped along with his frown and slumped shoulders. "But why did Vash leave?"

Milly looked helplessly at Meryl, but answered. "He got called out."

"What does that mean?" Hannah asked bitingly, like she was holding in a truly epic scream.

"Demanding a duel," Milly explained.

"But Vash doesn't want to fight." Chuck looked confused. "Why would he go to a fight?"

"To protect people." Meryl wrapped her arms around herself. Would that be enough for them? Or at least enough for Hannah not to drag her brother into danger?

"Wait, a wrenchhead called Vash out?" Chuck demanded.

"Bluesummers did," Hannah said. "Vash came while you were napping to check on us and he said Bluesummers called him out."

"Well, that's a trap."

"The five-year-old recognizes that!" Hannah gestured at her brother and took a deep breath. "How can you all fall for something that obvious?"

"It really doesn't matter if it is a trap," Milly said. "We've seen Mr. Vash dance into a hostage situation and be mistaken for an idiot, but he kept everyone safe until we figured out who the true bad guys were. He'll be fine."

Hannah's frown deepened. "Really? Meryl-ma'am needs a better poker face then." She stomped to the hotel door and slammed it shut after her. "This reeks!" Her yell was still reverberating as her stomps went down the stairs.

The tears escaped Meryl's eyes. "Oh, Meryl." Milly wrapped her up in a hug. "He's going to be fine. He's got survival skills. Made it to one hundred and thirty-two years old."

"Hannah didn't mean to make you cry, Meryl-ma'am." Chuck sat down at the table. "She just needs to go stomp off her temper since we don't have a garage for her to bang around in. She'll be back."

"She shouldn't fuss so about leaving if she's going to stomp off," Milly said.

"But she's not leaving. She didn't make me come with her. She'll be back."

Meryl patted Milly's back and eased away. "I know he's going to be fine. I didn't expect to miss him this much, this fast."

Milly frowned, glanced at Chuck, and then put on a fake brave face. "That's one drawback of following your heart, but you should always do that, according to my big big sister."

Meryl nodded and turned to the window. She didn't really see the activity taking place on the street below. Milly knew the biggest reason Meryl didn't want to lose Vash, but Meryl wasn't ready to tell the children yet. They were upset now; what if they thought Vash wanted to replace them or something like that?

"Follow your heart?" Chuck repeated. "So you know who to kiss?"

"Not just who you fall in love with," Milly explained, "but the path you should take into the future."

"The one Vash says the ticket is blank for?"

"Yes. Your heart knows what the right thing to do is, more often than your head. But its voice is very quiet, so you have to listen hard."

Meryl rested a hand on her stomach. Mr. Krupins had said something similar about paths after the fight was finished for the geo-plant. Walk your own path with your head held high. The fact that you are who you are helps the people you love live through you.

Her path was with Vash now; is that why her heart felt like she was abandoning him? He wanted the children safe, even if they didn't see the need in it, so she was doing what he needed done. But her misgivings clamored inside of her that Vash needed protecting more than anything else right now. She heard something pounding down below.

"Somebody's running up the stairs," Chuck announced. "Hannah hasn't had enough time to stomp off her temper yet."

But it was Hannah who burst through the hotel door. "You never said Bluesummers called Vash out through a corpse!"

"Through a what?" Chuck asked.

Meryl didn't turn away from the window. "We don't know how he did that."

"We also didn't want to scare you," Milly said.

"The whole town is talking about it! That pretty much ruins keeping anything top secret."

"Talking about what?" Chuck asked. "What did Bluesummers do?"

Hannah inhaled deeply. "He made a zombie that walked up to Vash and did the call out trap announcement message."

"But Dad said zombies aren't real. After the Scooby-Doo movie with them as the scary not-wrenchheads."

"New planet, new rules, I guess!" Meryl saw the girl's arms wave up into the air before landing on her hips in the reflection in the window glass. "More importantly, Vash is going to face this Bluesummers alone and he can call up reinforcements. And he will; he will not stand by any high noon standoff rules. We have to find Vash, so pack--"

"Vash has gone to Augusta." Meryl felt most of the tension rush out of her with the words. She turned around. "It's one of the Six Cities. And you're right, he needs us with this fight. Everybody go pack." She marched over to her suitcase and slung it onto the bed to start packing herself.

Milly wrung her hands. "Meryl, are you sure this is a good idea? It's going to be dangerous. Vash wanted us to stay safe."

"And he needs our help. That's what my heart says to do. You don't have to come with us."

Milly's spine straightened. "Don't be silly. I'm not about to desert you or Mr. Vash. Pack up so we can catch up with him." She nodded and left for her hotel room.

Meryl folded her clothes back into the suitcase. This resolve felt right, even if she was still worried. Chuck was fussing at his sister in the connected room. "You made Meryl-ma'am cry. You need to say you're sorry."

"I will. After we get Vash back."

"You're gonna be yelling at Vash and forget to."

"You're forgetting your toothbrush."

Vash dodged a sonic wave and fired a couple of bullets while moving aside.

Rai-Dei stepped onto E.G.'s armor and rolled the half-sphere up as a shield for the bullets and then kicked it toward Vash. Before Vash could move aside, Rai-Dei sliced the half-sphere into quarters and revealed himself landing from his leap behind it, ready to bring his raised sword down on Vash.

Vash squatted to dodge that swipe and scuttled to the side. Left hand ended on the ground supporting him, Colt in his right pointed at Rai-Dei.

Rai-Dei brought his sword straight down on Vash again. Vash dodged and rolled up kneeling, swinging his gun around and fired at Rai-Dei.

Rai-Dei deflected the bullet with the hilt of his sword. "Is that all you got? Cause me real harm!"

"Ever heard of warrior's compassion?" Vash stood up with the Colt pointed away from Rai-Dei. "I can't hit you in any way if it'll kill you."

He pointed the tip of his sword at Vash. "Quite the arrogance. A real eyesore. It blurs my path to spiritual awareness."

"My friend, people don't change their ways that easily."

Rai-Dei laughed at him. "You actually think we're people?"

Vash twitched. Did he actually know?

But Rai-Dei continued, "Absurd. You and I are men, yet not of men. We are dark, diabolical puppets. What we are are DEMONS!" He charged forward as he yelled and swiped up creating a sonic blast at Vash.

Vash dodged it at a run and kept running while an entire building crumbled behind him. On the other side of a street they were on, Rai-Dei kept pace with him. Vash fired twice, but Rai-Dei deflected both bullets with his sword.

"Why don't you stop wasting time here and fight me like you mean it?!" Rai-Dei skidded to a stop and sent another sonic wave. "ARGH! Fight me!"

That shock wave hit Vash and sent him flying over a square base for a street lamp that shattered with the power of it. He landed at the bottom of a set of steps in this larger town square and somersaulted onto his knees. "Now, that was a huge shock wave. But no big deal. Nothing I can't dodge." Vash muttered out loud to himself.

Rai-Dei charged forward with another yell. Vash shot twice, hitting a support for a sign above.

"Can't you make those bullets hit me, huh?" Rai-Dei sent another sonic wave. The signs' supporting struts give way and it dropped between Vash and the sonic wave.

As the dust cleared, Vash leaped over the sign and unleashed his left arm gun. He took careful aim to not hit his opponent.

Rai-Dei's shock over the hidden gun gave way to anger as he spotted the shift in Vash's aim. "Come on, momma's boy!" He hit a button on the sword's hilt and the blade shot free from it. The sharp edge of it sliced into Vash's coat, missed the pauldron, and furrowed across the top of his shoulder. The sudden pain and velocity threw off the trajectory of Vash's leap.

"Compassion in the heat of battle?" Rai-Dei attached the hilt to his sheath and pulled the whole thing out of his belt. He aimed it like a rifle and fired.

The bullet hit Vash in his chest and he fell to the ground, back against what remained of a wall, losing his sunshades along the way.

Rai-Dei walked closer. "This is a gross disappointment."

Vash coughed. The body armor over his chest kept the bullet from penetrating, but it still knocked the wind out of him, along with the fall.

Rai-Dei fired twice. One bullet tore through Vash's right arm, the second across his right shoulder. Vash cried out from the bullets ripping through flesh.

"I can't believe it. Vash the Stampede, is this all you amount to?"

Vash gritted his teeth and stared at Rai-Dei.

The swordsman continued aiming his sheath rifle at Vash as he spoke. "I see absolutely nothing. Tell me. At least give me an answer. Tell me what you are seeing right now at this moment! Tell me!"

Legato Bluesummers' voice filled Vash's head. "Do you intend to die, Vash the Stampede?"

Vash gasped and widened his eyes, trying to see that opponent beyond the mess he and Rai-Dei had made in this square.

"The time has come for you to use it."

Vash felt something pulsing in his body, in the Colt, something that frightened him.

"Go ahead. Use it. Use it. It's something only you can do. Use it! Quickly!"

Vash slammed his eyes shut and reared back. "Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it, STOP!"

"Coward. I cannot believe he's begging for his life." Pink rays of light shine out of the Colt still in Vash's hand, but resting on the ground beside him. Rai-Dei lowered his rifle in confusion. "What? What is that?"

Vash groaned as he looked down at the Colt. The top pieces flew off, revealing a pink glowing module above the barrel. More energy poured from it, creating a dark sphere around it. "No," Vash said in disbelief. "Please don't do that."

Snatches of memory hit Vash as hard as the bullets had: July City in all its glory, Knives waving at him, Vash aiming two Colts, the module in the silver Colt lit up, and Vash screaming as his arm transformed with the same pink light.

He jolted out of it as he stared at the Colt. "Not the light!" Vash surged up into a lunge before the continuing transformation wracked his body. The Colt extended longer and merged with his hand and then his arm.

Rai-Dei held his sheath rifle down like the hilt was connected to his blade. "What is this strange phenomena? Is this some sort of twisted Christian Science?" He reared back in shock as a secondary power source started emitting out of openings in Vash's expanding bicep.

Vash screamed in pain as the transformation continued. His left arm was still in gun mode; he couldn't concentrate on it to change it back and ended up pressing that gun barrel against the changes his right arm was growing. "Stop! Stop it now! Stop this!"

"Is this indescribable horror coursing through my entire body? Is this it? Is this the moment I've been seeking?" Rai-Dei stared at the cannon morphing on Vash's arm. "Have I really reached spiritual awareness?" The barrel slowly pointed at Rai-Dei. "No! This thing before me!"

Vash opened one of his eyes to look at the swordsman. "Run! RUN AWAY NOW!"

Rai-Dei turned and ran. The remains of a building fell down in front of him. He turned back and stared at the glowing cannon.

"RUN!" Vash screamed again.

It only took five days to reach Augusta since they only stopped to trade drivers, gas up the car, and confirm with evacuees that Vash was stampeding in Augusta. Meryl felt relief momentarily as they traveled the empty streets before worry and fear subsumed it. The outskirts were intact and signs of a massive battle increased as they drove closer to the center of the city.

Pink light suddenly shone out ahead and Meryl's heart leaped into her throat.

Milly slammed on the car's brakes. "That is too dangerous!"

"He needs me, Milly!" Meryl stood up on the front passenger seat and tried to look past the crumbled buildings for the source of the light. Wind picked up and whipped around them.

"Get on!" Hannah yelled from the motorcycle that stopped next to the car.

Meryl leaped out of the car without opening the door.

The motorcycle honked. "Vash is in that and needs help," Hannah said. The motorcycle honked again as Meryl climbed on behind the girl. "Biker Mice do not leave a bro in danger." Hannah revved the motorcycle's engine with the throttle on the handlebars. "After all, that's where the fun is."

"I wanna go!" Chuck yelled, standing on the car's back seat.

"You can't see Vash again if you die, Meryl!" Milly yelled.

"Stay with Milly!" Hannah yelled back. "Let's rock and ride!"

The motorcycle's back tire glowed, and they shot forward, jumping over the debris blocking the street. Meryl clutched Hannah's waist and managed not to scream. The motorcycle honked again as they sped past battle-damaged buildings.

"I see it," Hannah said. "Battle mode."

The motorcycle's laser cannon popped out above the headlight and the missiles on the sides of the front fork with another honk.

"If you can tell me that Dad wouldn't be making sure that payload won't detonate if he was here, I'll reconsider going." There was no sound other than the roar of the engine. "That's what I thought," Hannah said with decisiveness.

Before Meryl could ask what the motorcycle was arguing about and how that was happening, a building stretched on its side directly in their path. She inhaled to scream.

The motorcycle fired rockets from a pipe above the tailpipes on each side and directly under Meryl's feet. They went into the air. The motorcycle twisted, and the wheels landed against an upright building. They rolled along it sideways until they passed the obstruction. The rockets fired again, and they landed on the ground on the wheels that used up their energy by sliding sideways to a stop. The pink light was nearly blinding in this clearing between busted buildings.

They had found Vash on his knees and his right arm was no longer an arm at all. It was colored gray now with black veins giving the impression of cracks from where the transfigured skin ran under his ripped duster sleeve to the end of a fringed gun barrel, the largest Meryl had ever seen. His much longer forearm widened and split apart around his bicep, creating a structure ribbed with the gray skin around a glowing white globe that emitted the pink light staining everything in this space. Terror contorted Vash's face, and he hadn't registered that she and Hannah had arrived.

Meryl leaped off the motorcycle, ignoring the other man, who seemed to be trying to claw his way through the stone rubble to get away from Vash. She ran to Vash, ignoring the itching and scratching on her upper back and the motorcycle's honking.

Vash's hidden arm gun was out, and he had jammed its muzzle against his right forearm barrel rather than take his left hand off the trigger. Meryl could see down the right arm cannon to the pulsing, glowing sphere, but she didn't pause or swerve. "RUN!" Vash screamed over the power whine of the sphere. "For God's sake, Meryl, get out of here!"

"No, you need me!"

"Do not interfere, spider!" screamed an unknown voice in her head. A mental stab of pain and a sense of rotting matter accompanied it, but Meryl struck back in disgust at that. The voice of rot slammed out of her head as she reached Vash. Her mental walls grew higher and thicker at the same time more limbs stretched out of her back near her shoulders but not impeding her arms.

Vash jerked and pushed his right arm's new length to point up and away from her. "Meryl, no! I can't control it! I can't lose you! Run! RUN!"

She cupped his terrorized and panicked face as something white enfolded them both, intensifying the light in the sparse-between-them space. "You can control it, Vash. I've seen you do the impossible before."

"Legato's in my head, making it happen. I can't control it!"

"Yes, you can." She gave his head a shake. "You don't want to kill. You don't want to hurt anyone. Knock Legato out of your head, out of the way, and protect me. Protect Hannah and Chuck and Milly. You can do it. It's your power, Vash!"

He stared at her, blinked, and closed his mouth and eyes in concentration. He vibrated against her hands on his cheeks. The gaps in the arm around the sphere shrunk as the ribs widened and the sphere diminished and disappeared back inside his arm. The longer barrel reduced, and the skin pulled back to reveal metal as the smaller shape became a gun in a hand.

The gray color vanished and his naked right arm fell to his side with Vash's Colt and his hand becoming two separate things again. The top above the gun barrel had broken open and a strange cylinder inside that chamber stopped spinning and emitting energy becoming a black, inert cylinder. Vash swayed and his fingers relaxed, letting the gun drop to the ground.

Meryl let go of Vash's face and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Her arms and the something else that was connected to her back tightened around him. But white blocked the rest of the world away from her and Vash. He sagged more, and she balanced his weight against herself with the hug.

Hannah slid off the bike and stared at the feathery mass that glowed pink through all the warnings and sensor readings the bike was displaying on her helmet's face shield. She inched closer, trying not to give into the urge to circle the flamingo poof until it made sense.

The bike honked furiously again. "Energy levels weapon-grade scale. Do not detonate. We are inside the blast radius. Do not detonate!" printed on the face shield.

"I'm not going to detonate anything," Hannah said. The energy potential output was alarming, but she didn't want to spook the bike into seeing Vash and Meryl-ma'am as threats. Because Vash didn't want to hurt anyone. He emptied this entire city so not to hurt anyone. Even if his arm had changed into a laser cannon of some sort. And Meryl-ma'am just grew wings out of her back and wrapped those around them both.

Wings. Feathery wings, just like angel artwork back home. They called the ones in the giant light bulbs plant angels. Vash better be okay after this because Hannah really wanted to see one of his sisters. As long as it didn't turn into a Raiders of the Lost Ark situation for humans.

She watched the muzzle end of the cannon pointing up shrink inside the mass of feathers. The pink glow faded and the power levels registering on the sensors decreased, too. That was probably good. Nobody wanted Vash to combust. And now that the pink glow wasn't leaking out between the quills, the poof was made of white feathers. Pretty damn surreal, and she thought Limburger's imported super villains had exposed her to everything.

Hannah stepped closer. Meryl's back was exposed; Hannah could see the torn material of Meryl's jacket and shirt. But the wings were long and wide enough to reach Meryl's back with the tips.

Movement caught Hannah's gaze, and she turned her head to the other guy in this closed-in square with them. Good thing she hadn't let Chuck ride in with them because now wasn't the time to deal with the five-year-old laughing at the man wearing a dress to a shootout.

He wasn't wearing a dress, but his yellow shirt sleeves and blue pant legs were so billowy that it reminded Hannah of a dress, who had seen traditional Japanese clothes like that in a movie before. And she didn't think Chuck had seen that movie yet.

The other guy had turned from trying to climb up the stone wall bare-handed when Meryl-ma'am ran to Vash. Now he pressed his back against it and held his sheathed sword in his right hand. He panted hard and his eyes were wide with fear. "He's not human!"

He had a weapon, and he hadn't left town. "And you picked a fight with him; what does that say about you?" Hannah asked sarcastically.

"He's a demon beyond all demons!"

"Oh, that's just species bigotry. You really need to get out more if you think that."

"And there are two of them! Two demons!"

"Bravo, you can count." Hannah moved closer to him. She could tackle him in the knees if he charged with his sword. "Why don't you run away and tell all your friends to leave us alone?" Because he probably was a Gung-Ho Gun, even if he fought with a sword.

"I will end these demons." He pushed off the wall. "Out of the way, child."

She shifted to face him and put her back to the feather poof. This was why everyone kept a gun strapped on their leg on this planet. Too bad her gun was out of reach, hidden in the bike's storage compartment. Maybe she could make him see reason with words. Or at least keep him busy until Meryl-ma'am and Vash came out of the feathers and finished whipping his tail. "No," she said. "You will not hurt them."

He gestured for her to step aside with his left hand. "Out of the way, child! Do not mistake my desire for expedience for compassion."

"Some expediency," she sneered. "You're the one yappin' about what you're gonna do, Samurai Jack. Who you trying to impress? The rest of the Gung-Ho Guns?"

He raised his sheathed sword like a rifle and now she saw that there was a muzzle at the end. So he did have a gun. She really needed to wear hers. "You can go first, then. Tell me what you see as the abyss beckons!"

The bike fired a bola canister at the Gun-Ho Gun. It didn't open up the weighted ropes, but it sent Samurai Jack flailing up out of this clearing and against a partially destroyed building a few blocks away.

"Sandblasted! I really thought I fixed it. Okay, another prototype when I have the time. Good job getting rid of that wrenchhead." She gave the bike a thumbs up.

The bike beeped.

Hannah felt a breeze and turned back around. Meryl's wings stretched out and then sucked into her back, leaving her supporting Vash, who slumped against his girlfriend as he knelt on the ground. Hannah darted to Vash's side, grabbing him before he fell down.

Something in multiple pieces clattered on the pavement, but Vash swaying between Hannah and Meryl without opening his eyes was more important. Hannah looked at his arms: the left one had his hidden gun exposed; the right one was arm-shaped again instead of the bloated gun barrel. His scarred Caucasian skin didn't glow with the strange pink light either, but the sleeve of his red coat was torn away to a short sleeve. And there was a bloody wound on his bicep and both his shoulders had blood coming out of cuts in his red coat. "Bro, you're bleeding."

Vash didn't respond. Neither did Meryl.

That wasn't good. Hannah freed one hand and squeezed Vash's right hand. His squeeze back barely moved Hannah's skin. "Okay, he's out of it. Meryl-ma'am, how are you after sprouting wings?"

Meryl blinked and squeezed Vash tighter. She at least had her eyes open.

"Bike, get closer," Hannah said.

The bike beeped and rolled next to them and popped out the sidecar. That woke Meryl up. "We need Milly."

"Please. I can move taller and heavier than me. It's all a matter of leverage and practice. And Vash is lighter than Dad. You get his feet." Hannah heaved Vash up, and Meryl guided Vash to step into the sidecar. He moved, but was disturbingly quiet. Hannah frowned at him but said nothing as she pulled out the first aid kit. Meryl frowned at the first aid kit. "He's bloody, Meryl-ma'am."

The woman blinked and focused on Vash's arm. "You got shot, Vash?"

"Samurai Jack had a sword and a gun." Hannah set the open case on the bike seat and dug the supplies out to clean what had cut Vash's left shoulder. She found a matching slash across the top of his shoulder inside the slash in his red coat. That must be from a sword blade. She worked the antiseptic wipe in through the slash in the material to clean his skin before working the largest Band-aid that kit had under the coat and smoothed it on his skin before moving to the bloody hole in his right shoulder. That wound was a ragged mess just like the surrounding cloth, but it was small enough for the largest Band-aid size too and since he lost his sleeve, it was easier to put on. Meryl-ma'am finished wrapping gauze and tape around Vash's right bicep.

Vash never made a sound, even with the stinging antiseptic. Hannah buried her worry by cleaning up and looking for anything incriminating.

Meryl-ma'am climbed onto the bike's seat and Vash wrapped his arms around her waist before laying his head against her thigh. Meryl petted Vash's hair. "Where did the white go?"

"Of all the times not to have a video camera. The white feathers were on your wings. Wings that came out of your back, which is why your shirt and jacket are drafty now."

"Wings?"

"Wings. You wrapped them around you and Vash."

"Vash has never made wings."

"Maybe it's a sex-linked trait. You haven't turned your arm into a cannon either." Hannah spotted Vash's shades and his handgun in pieces on the street. She snatched all of that up. Vash had taught her how to disassemble her gun for maintenance, but the silver Colt hadn't come apart in those spots. The bulk of it looked ready to shoot. The plates on top of the gun barrel had detached and revealed a chamber holding a black cylinder. What did that do?

She glanced up from the mechanical puzzle and at Meryl and Vash, both exhausted on the bike. Guilt churned her stomach. Take care of people first, always. She stowed the handgun pieces and Vash's shades in the bike's storage compartment and focused on her bro and Meryl. "Hey, Vash, bro, can you put away your arm gun?" The last thing they needed to do was hit a bump and have that go off.

Meryl looked down at the metal gun barrel disappearing behind her back and stroked Vash's head. "Can you holster it, Vash? Or do you need me to do it?"

Vash didn't release his embrace of Meryl, but the left hand opened off the hand grip and trigger and the whole gun slid back into his metal segmented arm and his hand tucked back over the muzzle. His still gloved left fingers gripped Meryl's jacket over her hip.

"Thanks, bro. I'm going to strap you into the sidecar. Safety precaution, that's all." Hannah dug around him for the seatbelt, and Vash didn't react as she buckled it around him.

The bike beeped and put a series of images of the return route and how they had to use rocket boosters on her face shield. She climbed on in front of Meryl. "Meryl-ma'am, you need to hold the handlebars too. Let's not test if you can fly by you falling off."

Meryl pressed up against Hannah to reach the handlebars on the straight portion under the hand grips, hand brakes, and side mirrors. They both ignored Vash's arm trapped between their bodies.

The bike hadn't lied about the route. She had to back up to the other side of the square and fired the thrusters to get enough lift to run up the stone wall blocking them from the street. Meryl eeped, but didn't scream. Once they were out, the bike finally had enough flat street to build up speed. They only had to drive once onto a building to get around another blockage that had dropped after they had passed heading to Vash. It was bumpy, but they didn't lose Meryl or Vash.

Chuck jumped out of the car when the bike pulled up as close to it as she could get with the sidecar out. "Vash? What happened? Is he okay?"

"He's tired," Hannah said.

"Vash?" Chuck and Milly asked in unison. Milly got out of the car.

"We both are," Meryl answered. "Let's get out of here before whichever Gung-Ho Gun he was fighting comes back."

"Yup, we need to leave." Hannah doubted that the nonfunctional bola canister hit and the bounce off the building was letting Samurai Jack get up this soon, but there could be other goons waiting to pounce. Not to mention Augusta's authorities. "Bro, you gonna let Meryl-ma'am go so you can both get in the car? You can cling to her in the back seat." Hannah slid off the bike.

Milly crouched next to the sidecar, making herself level with Vash. "Hey, Vash, it's me, Milly. I'm going to help you out."

"Seat belt," Hannah said.

Chuck got under Milly and Meryl's arms coaxing Vash to sit upright and he unfastened the seat belt. Then he opened the car's back door before darting out of the way, all the way around the bike to Hannah. "What happened? He's bandaged; did he get shot?"

"He was shot by the time we found him, but he almost exploded, so cut him some slack and let him rest. Let them both rest."

"Almost exploded?" Chuck demanded.

Milly supported Vash's weight while Meryl crawled into the back seat.

"He didn't want to and was screaming for us to run away," Hannah answered.

Vash let go of Milly and crawled into the back seat. He wrapped his arms around Meryl and hid his face against her stomach as he lay down on the seat.

"I don't know what Meryl did after she hugged him with wings," Hannah continued.

"Wings?!"

"They aren't human, remember! Get in the car so we can go."

Chuck scowled but went around the car to the passenger side, opening the door for the front seat. The bike stowed the sidecar and Hannah climbed on.

Meryl's face sagged with exhaustion. "Get us out of here, Milly. Pick a direction and drive to the next town."

"Right." Milly climbed back behind the wheel and turned the car around so they could leave through the still open streets.

Chapter Text

Milly frowned at the dashboard. The steering wheel had a noticeable shimmy now, which was good that it wasn't her hands developing a nervous shake like she had worried about last night when they kept driving and trusted the motorcycle to keep the route safe from sinking sand and other problems.

But it was bad because she could see a nice-sized town not much farther ahead that was probably far enough away from Augusta to not have housed anyone running from that city. And she wanted to get them right next to a hotel, so Meryl and Vash didn't have to walk far to a proper bed.

The car jolted.

Chuck bounced in the passenger seat next to her. "Did we hit something?"

Something under the hood snapped. Steam billowed out from the cracks. The car rolled to a stop and died.

"Rats," Milly muttered.

"Sandblasted," Chuck said.

"That too."

The motorcycle turned around and drove Hannah back to the car. "That sounded expensive," Hannah said.

"How far are we from a town?" Meryl asked in an exhausted tone of voice.

Milly twisted in the driver's seat and gave Meryl her biggest smile. "Not very far at all. Don't worry about it, Meryl. We'll figure it out."

Meryl nodded and closed her eyes again.

Milly's smile vanished. Meryl shouldn't still be this exhausted, not with resting since leaving Augusta. She turned back around to see Hannah wearing her tan coat and a pair of gloves, opening the hood and jumping back from the steam. "Don't get burned!" Milly exclaimed.

"Didn't plan to." Hannah waved the steam away from her face. "Don't know what else is wrong, but the radiator is busted."

Chuck stood on the seat to look over the windshield. "Do we need to call for a tow? How do we do that here?"

"Tow?" Milly asked.

"Pulling the vehicle to a garage for repairs," Hannah answered. "Mom has a special truck to haul repair jobs back to her garage."

Milly hadn't had to deal with mechanics on the Thompson family homestead; that had been her older brothers' chores. And she certainly hadn't dealt with any since moving to December City. She didn't know if Gunsmoke even had the thing the children were talking about now. And she would not wake Meryl to ask. She got out of the car and stood next to Hannah. The mechanical parts visible through the steam didn't give her an answer.

"Are you okay?" A childish voice asked. They turned to the gateposts that lacked a gate and a fence, but still marked where a homestead's drive met the route into town. A little girl hung off of the left stone pillar. Her wood-brown hair was cut even shorter than Meryl's and she wore jeans and boots rather than a dress. Her teal-blue eyes blinked at them. "Do you need help?"

Chuck leaned over the car door. "Do you have a phone?"

"A what?"

"They don't call it that here!" Hannah said to her brother before smiling at the little girl. "Does anybody fix vehicles in that town?" She pointed down the road at the town they hadn't reached.

"No, not since Mr. Wagner died last year. Most everybody leaves the broken one at the scrap heap and goes on the bus to Ripmela and buys a new one."

"Oh, they have a scrap heap," Chuck said sarcastically. "We have already lost Hannah."

Milly didn't think that sounded too difficult, even if she had to buy a new car by herself. They still needed a place to stay. "Is there a hotel in town?" she asked the little girl.

"No. Nobody gets off the bus to stay here when they can stay in Ripmela."

"Too bad we didn't make it to Ripmela before the car died," Chuck said. The front seat springs squeaked as he dropped back on it.

"Maybe we can rent a house nobody lives in?" Hannah asked. She looked at Milly. "Is that a thing we can do here?"

"You need a place to stay? Grandma can help." The little girl let go of the pillar and waved for them to follow her up the drive.

Milly looked at Hannah and Chuck. "You two stay here with Vash and Meryl. I'll go talk to her grandmother." She jogged to catch up with the long-legged girl, who looked younger than Hannah but not by too many years.

She glanced back as Milly caught up. "The sleeping lady? Does she need a doctor? We have one of those."

"I hope she doesn't. I think they just need to get some rest that's not in the car."

As they got closer to the house and shed of the homestead, Milly could tell no one had worked it in years. The irrigation equipment was a shattered mess, the shed had pieces of the metal roof peeled off, and the house's front porch sagged away from the rest of the building.

The little girl led Milly around the house, calling for her grandmother. The back porch only spanned half the house's length with the north half closed into a room, but it was level at least.

An older woman stepped out of the doorway with the help of a forearm crutch. Her brown hair was cut short too and was a lighter shade of brown than the little girl's. "Lina, what's going on?"

"They need help, Grandma!" Lina waved a hand at Milly and the car back at the road.

"Hello, ma'am. I'm Milly Thompson and my friends and I were traveling, but our car just broke down in front of your homestead. We have camping gear or we can rent a roof if you know anyone who has extra shelter for lent? Lina already told us there's no hotel in--?" She trailed off to hopefully get a name from where they were.

"Kasted City, not that it's much of a city."

"She's got sick and kids, Grandma."

The older woman looked at Milly through her spectacles. "How many do you have, Miss Thompson?"

"There's five of us, but I'm sure Meryl and Vash will be fine once they rest." And if Milly kept saying that, it was bound to come true.

"Five extra is no hardship. Lina, go help Miss Thompson bring her crew in."

"Yes, ma'am." They headed back around the house and back down the drive. In just that brief conversation, the car had stopped steaming so badly and Hannah had a rope from the motorcycle tied to the car's front bumper. Lina ran ahead. "Grandma said you can stay here!"

Hannah looked up from the engine. "Is that what we're doing, Milly-ma'am?"

Milly nodded. "Can the motorcycle pull the car that far?" She gestured back to the homestead.

"That's no problem. Is that barn empty?" Hannah closed the hood.

"Now it is," Lina said.

Hannah nodded. "Good. I'll make my own garage." She checked the rope and then put the car into neutral.

Chuck leaned over the car door again. "My name is Chuck Davidson. That's my bossy sister, Hannah."

"I'm Lina Dodge."

"And Meryl-ma'am and my bro Vash are in the back seat. Sleeping forever."

Meryl spoke up sleepily as Hannah climbed onto the motorcycle. "We're trying to wake up for a bit."

"Don't be in a hurry," Milly told her. "We still need to make camp."

They went slowly up to the house. Milly and Lina walked next to the car, ready to push it if needed. The suns were sinking toward the horizon. Lina's grandmother was on the end of the back porch and waved at them. "Bring the sick ones in here. We have a bedroom they can use."

"Oh, we don't want to put anyone out of their bed!" Milly said.

"Don't worry about that. No one's been using it since Lina's parents died."

Milly nodded and then opened the back car door next to Vash's feet. Meryl shook Vash. "Come on, Vash. Wake up enough so we can get in a bed. You can lean on Milly."

Vash crawled out, but he moved like his very skin weighed a thousand pounds. Milly slung his right arm over her shoulders and straightened. He listed against her and kept his head bowed, but he moved his feet in tandem with hers as she moved them around the house. She glanced back and Hannah was helping Meryl the same way.

The door into the house led straight through the whole house to the front porch. Father had called this style a dogtrot cabin when Big Little Brother Frank was deciding on what kind of house to build for his bride. The middle of this house was a wide open room with a door nearly as wide as the short wall to the front porch. It had a sofa between the two closed doors on the left side. The right side had one closed door near the front door, and the open doorway into the kitchen had tantalizing smells drifting from it. The back door that Lina's grandmother had led them through wasn't as wide as the front door since the room built onto the back porch took up half of the wall space for its door into it.

Lina's grandmother opened the door to that room for Milly and Vash. "Here we are, dears. You'll be comfortable in here, I hope. And the rest can use your bedrolls in the breezeway."

"Thank you so much." Milly set Vash down on the edge of the bed and knelt down to unfasten his boots.

The older woman steadied Vash, so he didn't fall onto the mattress. "You are a young man who has seen a lot. It's all right. As long as you're here, you're safe."

Milly supposed it was true. Vash had seen a lot, even if he wasn't as young as he looked.

Hannah helped Meryl into the room and set her and her canteen on the bed next to Vash. "Is it okay to put the car in the barn so I can work on it?"

"That's fine, dearie. There's nothing in there that can get hurt. But you're going to fix it?"

"If I can find the parts it needs."

Meryl looked at the woman holding Vash upright. "Hannah is a genius with mechanics, Madame?"

"Sheryl Earp. You can call me Granny Sheryl; everyone in town does."

"I'm Meryl Stryfe and this is Vash Saverem and Hannah Davidson." Hannah nodded, and Chuck and Lina brought in Meryl and Vash's bags. "Hannah's little brother Chuck."

"Hi!" Chuck said.

"Come on," Hannah said, "we'll finish putting the car and bike away." Lina followed Hannah and Chuck out.

Milly finished with Vash's boots and put them over by the wardrobe. Meryl unbuttoned Vash's coat while Vash leaned, trying to hide his face against Meryl again. Granny Sheryl smiled down at them. "So he's your young man."

Meryl blushed. "He's making it obvious." She pushed Vash's coat off his shoulders and down his arms. "Is that a problem?"

Milly turned to their bags and opened Vash's first. He had packed his sweats on top, so she didn't have to dig through all his stuff to find them. She brought them to the bed.

"Given that you are traveling with children, I think you know not to make a spectacle of yourselves in front of my granddaughter. Do you need another pair of hands to get all that gear off him?"

Meryl glanced up at Milly. Milly shook her head. "I have five older brothers. What they got is no surprise."

"Good. I'll leave you to get comfortable and finish supper."

"Hannah and Chuck can add our supplies to a meal," Meryl said. Sheryl agreed and closed the door as she left. Meryl pushed Vash more upright. "Taking your armor off now, Vash. It's safe now." She unzipped the armored vest.

Vash didn't have any fresh scars on his torso, but a hand-wide bruise stretched across his ribs under the metal lattice on his pectoral. "Let's get some ointment on that," Milly said and dug the first aid kit out of Meryl's suitcase.

He hissed when Milly smeared the ointment onto the bruise and Meryl kissed his cheek, but otherwise, he didn't react. Milly pulled Vash's sweatshirt over his head and worked his scarred arm and metal replacement into the sleeves. She pulled him to his feet next and held him up while Meryl unfastened his jeans and the armored chaps and pulled them down. Meryl had to pause and then rouse her energy to pull Vash's feet out and put them in his sweatpants. Vash's modesty was mostly spared thanks to Meryl not stripping off his tight underwear that covered him from waist to mid-thigh.

Once the sweatpants were in place, Milly lowered him into the bed sheets and he settled onto the pillow with a sigh. She piked up the canteen as she moved the covers and realized how heavy it still was. "Meryl! You two haven't drank any water?"

Meryl looked at her with a blank exhaustion that she usually got when she did paperwork throughout lunch.

"You drink some right now!" Milly opened the canteen and put it in Meryl's hands. "You have to make sure you're drinking plenty of water now, Meryl. The baby needs it too."

"Right." Meryl raised the canteen to her lips.

Milly watched Meryl until she was sure Meryl was drinking, and then she found Meryl's nightshirt and brought it to her. "Do you need help to undress?"

Meryl handed Milly the canteen. "Get some of that into Vash while I change."

Milly turned back to the bed. "Vash, you need to drink some water." She lifted his head, and he drank from the canteen.

There was a knock on the door before it opened. Hannah carried in two mugs. "Granny Sheryl said you'd two probably need to drink your supper and go to bed. So soup."

Meryl took her mug, and Hannah brought the remaining one to Milly. Milly helped Vash drink that down and offered a smile to Hannah's worried frown. "He's going to be fine. See, he drank all of it." Milly eased him back down. "Come on, Meryl. Bed time for you, too."

"Not arguing with you." Meryl handed Hannah her empty mug and crawled into bed next to Vash. Milly helped with the blankets and turned off the lights as she shooed Hannah out too.

"Has Vash been like this before?" Hannah asked.

"I haven't seen this from him before, but we've only known him for a few months. Don't worry; I'm sure he's going to be fine."

Hannah's dubious expression matched all the ones Milly had ever seen on her nieces and nephews. They needed to free Vash from this gang hunting him down, so they could bring the children to visit and play with the youngest Thompsons back on the family farm.

Granny Sheryl spoke up from the kitchen doorway. "Come fix your plates. Lina and Chuck have already gotten started." Those two were already sitting on the sofa, chatting and eating. Chuck had taken off his helmet.

Milly and Hannah helped their plates and sat down with Granny Sheryl at a four-seater square table in the kitchen. "A bit of warning," Granny Sheryl said in a very low voice. "It's best to leave Chuck here when you go into town for supplies. There are some who live here who would be ugly to one so augmented. Let's not tempt them into bad behavior."

Hannah got a new worried frown and Milly felt her face matching it. "Thanks for the warning," Milly said. "It's just you and Lina here?"

"We're the last two. And company is a welcome change. Not enough children in Kasted City to open a school, so Lina does get lonesome."

"We appreciate you letting us stay. And we can help with some chores and repairs in exchange. I grew up on a homestead; I know how quick things can get piled up."

"Don't worry about that tonight," Granny Sheryl said. "Hannah said you've been driving all the way from Augusta non-stop."

Milly nodded. "Yes, we needed to get some place safe."

Granny Sheryl didn't ask what happened in Augusta, and Milly and Hannah ate quickly before their exhaustion caught up with them. Lina and Chuck washed the dishes while Milly and Hannah spread out the bedrolls, making sure not to block a path to the bathroom. Then the entire house settled into the night and Milly relaxed into it, drifting away as soon as she heard the sleep breaths of Hannah and Chuck.

It was the third day since whatever happened at Augusta because Hannah flat-out refused to tell Chuck, even though she was poking at Vash's broken handgun. Chuck hadn't tried asking Meryl-ma'am about Augusta. She spent most of the first and second day at Granny Sheryl's awake but sitting in the bedroom with Vash in the bed. And Vash hadn't gotten out of bed at all.

Meryl-ma'am came out of their room and Chuck scowled as he spotted the lump in the bed. His tail snapped behind his head as he poked at his breakfast as Meryl-ma'am greeted everyone else and got her breakfast. He got up, went into the kitchen, put his plate by the sink, and faced the table with the adults and Hannah. "Vash isn't getting up?" His hands landed on his hips.

Meryl's mouth was full, and she didn't answer until after she swallowed. "He's still pretty out of it. I'm sure he will wake up soon."

Chuck scowled. "Soon means you don't know."

"We don't want to hurt him," Hannah said.

"How can waking him up hurt him?"

"You don't wake up until you're good and ready," Hannah answered. "Vash probably didn't get any sleep when he wasn't with us. We weren't there to tell him to go to bed."

The conversation moved on to the plans the adults had. Milly-ma'am was going to patch up the holes in the house and asked Hannah if she knew how to fix the irrigation pump. Hannah promised to look at the pump's engine, but she also needed to look for car parts. Meryl-ma'am wanted to go grocery shopping, so Lina offered to take her to the store in town and Hannah to the scrap pile.

"I don't want to crawl through scrap." Chuck crossed his arms over his chest.

"You don't have to go," Granny Sheryl said. "You can stay here."

"Be good and we'll bring you back a treat," Hannah promised.

"Candy," Chuck stressed. "You think a new part is a treat, but I want candy."

"We'll find you a candy bar if you're good," Meryl-ma'am promised.

He believed Meryl-ma'am; she was good at remembering promises. They cleaned up breakfast, Milly went to work, Granny Sheryl started baking bread, everyone else left, and Chuck sat at the table and tried to concentrate on his lessons.

He got finished with the math problems before he got a big idea: he could wake Vash up. He was tired of the worried faces Hannah was making at Vash's gun and the car. Vash was good at making Hannah not worry about stuff. And he also knew how to fix things. If Vash was so deep in his dreams, he couldn't hear Meryl-ma'am trying to wake him up, Chuck knew how to reach him. Chuck wanted his bro back.

Granny Sheryl was rocking on the back porch. Milly was nailing on the roof. Chuck left his lessons on the kitchen table and tiptoed across the breezeway and opened Vash's bedroom door. The bedroom was long and skinny, with the bed at the other end from the door and a wardrobe against the outside wall. Vash was curled up a bit on the bed, not watching the door.

Chuck closed it softly before creeping across the long floor. He leaned over Vash.

Vash's blue-green eyes were shut and his breathing was steady. If Vash was faking being asleep, he was doing an excellent job of it. Chuck frowned down at him. Maybe Vash was sick, needing a doctor sick, and Meryl-ma'am hadn't realized it yet.

Chuck pushed up Vash's bangs and pressed his palm down on Vash's forehead. Mom always pressed her hand against Hannah's forehead like this. Chuck didn't know what Mom felt for when she did it, but Vash didn't move or wake up. "Vash? You need to wake up. Meryl-ma'am going to call you lazy again."

No response from Vash. So really, Chuck didn't have a choice now. He climbed up on the bed, made his antennae glow, touched the ends to Vash's head, and dove into the dream that was keeping Vash trapped.

Chuck landed in an office. Yes, it had a big desk like Limburger had in his office, but no shark tubes in and out of the walls. There was a strong smell of blood, too much to be from a hand scraped up trying to repair a bike. Chuck looked at the desk, which wasn't as big as Limburger's, and a human man with brown hair was slumped face down on it. In a red puddle.

Oh, that was the blood. Oh, he wasn't breathing. Tears pooled up in Chuck's eyes. He was dead. He was going to share Rem with him, and now he was gone like she was.

Before Chuck could remember why Rem was important, the blond man sitting on the desk next to the dead man turned around with a wave. "Hey Vash."

No, Knives, what have you done now? He's dead. He's dead.

"Now everything that brought you and Rem together is gone."

Anger boiled up and Vash's voice came out of Chuck's mouth. "Is that your excuse for killing?"

"Haven't you learned anything over the past hundred years?" Knives slid off the desk. "You can't even regenerate the scars they carved into your body. It's symbolic of your foolish waste of energy on this human garbage."

"It's not your right to decide whether they live or die. They deserve a chance!" He shouted back at his brother.

"What's the use in growing up if the only thing that grows is your useless SENTIMENTALISM?!" Knives screamed the last word out that Chuck didn't know and he turned his head to look at Chuck over his shoulder. "You're still a good-for-nothing," he turned around to fully face Chuck, "pathetic," raised a handgun, "WIMP!"

Chuck drew a Colt in each hand--the silver one in his right he recognized and an identical one colored black in his left--but Knives fired first. Something knocked him back to the floor, and the pain seared through Chuck's left arm, making him scream.

He grabbed his arm as he fell back. The mattress bounced a little as he landed against it. The office disappeared as the connection between Chuck and Vash severed, but two voices screamed in the room.

Milly-ma'am threw open the bedroom door. "Chuck! Vash! What's wrong?"

Vash sat up in the bed. Chuck curled up around his throbbing arm and started crying. Vash stopped screaming and inhaled. "Milly? Chuck?"

"My arm!" Chuck sobbed. "He shot my arm!"

"No!" Chuck felt himself rolled up to kneeling on the mattress. Vash's hands patted him. "Please, no!"

"There's no blood," Milly said.

Granny Sheryl thumped into the room. "Bad dreams?"

"Knives shot my arm!" Chuck sobbed.

"I was... I gave that to you?" Vash let go of Chuck and leaped out of the bed. "Stay away from me! I don't want to hurt you!" He skidded around Milly and Granny Sheryl and ran out the door. "I can't hurt you! Stay away from me!"

"Vash!" Milly yelled through the bedroom door after him. She turned back to Chuck, who was trying to stop crying, but it wasn't working. "Meryl better hurry back."

"I don't know what I expected from Vash the Stampede when he woke up," Granny Sheryl said, "but it wasn't that."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"You know?" Milly asked.

"Don't fret about it. If Vash Saverem was the monster they all say Vash the Stampede is, you lot wouldn't be traveling with him. Now let's see what's wrong with this little one. Which arm hurts?"

Chuck held out his left arm. Granny Sheryl's firm hands rubbed it from his bicep down to his hand. The ache was fading and his whole arm was all there, even if it felt like it shouldn't be. Like it should be on the other side of the room with the black Colt.

"You're not shot, sonny. Now, let's go to the porch until we feel better."

Chuck wasn't sure how that would work, but held Sheryl's hand as they walked to her rocker on the back porch. Sheryl sat down, propped her forearm crutch against the railing, scooped him onto her lap, and set the rocker to moving. "Oh. Mom and Dad would do this."

"Good ones do," Granny Sheryl said.

He sagged against her. "I miss them. They are taking forever to get here. They could help Vash with the wrenchheads."

Milly had followed them onto the back porch. "I'm sure they are doing everything they can to get back to you and Hannah."

"Yeah, I know. But they aren't here now. Oh, they can't yell at me."

Granny Sheryl hugged him tighter. "So you just did something they would yell about?"

Chuck scrunched against Granny Sheryl. "I'm not supposed to put my antennae on people without asking." Hannah was going to yell. And probably put a knot in his tail.

"No, you shouldn't touch people without making sure they're okay with that," Granny Sheryl said.

Chuck sniffled. "And Vash is mad."

Milly stepped to the edge of the porch and shaded her eyes with her hand. "Huh. Vash didn't run far. He went to the nearest bluffs. I thought perching was a Meryl thing. Guess it is a both of them thing."

"Perching?" Chuck asked.

"Meryl likes to get high and sit and watch when she needs to think or observe things. She made me climb an electric power pylon to figure out what was going on in Inepril when we got there."

"Best to let him calm down and really wake up," Granny Sheryl said.

"He listens better to Meryl than me," Milly said.

Chapter Text

Lina was used to the walk into town and had already outpaced them. It surprised Meryl that Hannah hadn't brought the motorcycle with them. The older girl was going slower, too. She looked back at Hannah's pensive face. "Hannah, is something wrong?"

She stopped. "I... I have to fess up. Mom and Dad always told me not to do science on people or at people because it's rude at best and then it gets into Frankenstein-territory at worst. But Vash is still unconscious and you don't know and his gun is weird and so I scanned you two with the bike's sensors. And this town's plant angel in the bulb last night. For comparison. I'm sorry, but I don't know what to do!"

Meryl blinked. "You scanned us?"

"Just scanning, energy levels is what the bike has the best sensors to recognize. I wouldn't do anything else! Especially anything that would hurt you. And I wouldn't have done it except for what Vash did back in Augusta."

Meryl placed her hands on Hannah's shoulders. "Deep breath."

Hannah sucked in air.

Meryl started with the smallest bit of all that. "You have Vash's gun."

Hannah nodded. "He dropped it, so I picked up all the pieces. And what opened up isn't a part of the bullet-shooting part. And my gun doesn't have that. So I had the bike scan it."

"Do you need a gunsmith for it?" Lina had come back to them.

"No, I can put the cover back on. But the part inside, it's a cylinder that spins, but I can't figure out what triggers the spinning. We know what the result is. But the bike said it registers as energy."

Meryl looked over at Lina. "Go on ahead and we'll catch up." She waited until Lina had trudged out of hearing range. "Plant energy."

Hannah nodded again. "What you, Vash, the angel in the bulb--not that she came out--and the gun have, but all at different levels. The angel is so off the charts she's not worth putting on the chart. So, ignoring her, you have the most energy, then Vash, and the gun has enough to register. But putting Vash and the gun together, they have the same amount of energy you have."

"Okay," Meryl said. Weird that she was stronger than Vash; she wouldn't have believed that. "And that's all you've found out?"

"I'm not going to dissect you! That's evil!"

"Of course you wouldn't. But I don't understand why you're upset over that data."

"Vash isn't getting out of bed because he has reached the same conclusion I have, consciously or subconsciously."

Meryl showed her confusion in her expression.

"Knives made the guns. His brother made the gun that turns Vash into a weapon. Knives knew how Vash felt about killing; he got the same lessons from Rem, and Vash stopped him from killing others after the Great Fall! He did it on purpose, Meryl-ma'am. Knives needs his tail whipped so hard!"

"I agree that is probably what Knives deserves, but how is that keeping Vash in bed?"

"Oh, you were an only child. Um. How would you feel if Milly sabotaged some work thing you wanted with every fiber of your being? Does that make sense?" Hannah tugged on her plait of orange hair. "And Vash is clueless about what plants can do because Knives went straight to weapons research and Vash probably la-la-la don't hear you-ed whenever Knives brought it up until Vash had to take the guns away from Knives. I don't blame Vash for being in a depressed funk over all of it, and if we were on Earth, I'd drag him to my old therapist. But I don't know if Gunsmoke has anyone qualified, and he can't stay in a depressed funk."

"No, he can't. But leave the waking him up to me, okay? Let's concentrate on getting the stuff we need right now."

They caught up with Lina and didn't linger through the shopping. Meryl got material to repair her and Vash's clothes, more food, and donut supplies. If her words weren't enough to wake Vash up, maybe his favorite treat would do the trick. She also found a chocolate bar for Chuck. Purchases paid for, Meryl and Lina went to the scrap heap and Hannah had only found a bag full of parts. "I could do a lot with that junk, but we just need to get the car fixed."

They rounded the corner of the house at the homestead, and something was very wrong. Milly was sitting on the back porch step and didn't hide her relief at seeing them. Granny Sheryl was rocking Chuck on her lap.

"Chuck?" Hannah asked. "What happened? What's wrong?"

"He had a bit of a fright but no lasting harm," Granny Sheryl said.

"Not sure about Vash. He ran to the bluffs and hasn't come back." Milly pointed to the bluff yarz away and the human shape on top of it. "They both started screaming, and we ran into the bedroom and Chuck cried that his arm got shot and Vash freaked and ran."

"I'm sorry," Chuck said in a small voice.

"For what?" Hannah's green eyes popped. "Did you put your antennae on Vash?"

"I just wanted to wake him up!"

"Dad told you never to do that! That's a horrible invasion of privacy and dangerous!"

Chuck started crying.

"Hannah, don't yell at him," Meryl said.

The girl turned to Meryl. "But Meryl-ma'am, it is dangerous. Especially if the person is sleeping; Dad said so."

"I'm sure your father was right, but it looks like Chuck knows better now."

Chuck sniffled. "Knives shot my arm off."

Meryl blinked. If Chuck had used his touch telepathy to get into Vash's head, Vash who had a replacement arm and couldn't remember how he lost his real one. She could see Hannah making the same connection through the girl's expressions before Hannah inhaled deeply and said something in a gurgling growl that Meryl didn't recognize.

Chuck stopped crying and lifted his head to look at his sister. "Was that Plutarkian? When did you learn that?"

"Limburger only says cuss words, so it's not like I can hold a conversation in it." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm going to go check on Vash." Hannah turned to her, mouth opening to offer to come with. Meryl shook her head. "No, you stay here and don't teach your brother cuss words in a new language."

"Wait, a second." Milly jumped up and dashed into the house. She returned with a filled canteen and Vash's boots. "He really freaked out and ran."

Meryl took both and headed to the bluff. Vash didn't move or say anything, even though he couldn't have missed her approach. Meryl paused, wondering how close she should get and if this was even a stupid thing to wonder about, given how Vash had curled around her while he was unconscious.

Time to just be blunt. "Here's your boots. Chuck is fine. Upset that he did something he wasn't supposed to and upset over what he saw. How are you?"

He took a deep breath that made his whole body shudder. "Not fine? Is that an answer? I don't even know how I connected to him. We had to reach out to him before."

"That was what he wasn't supposed to do." She sat on the ground next to him. "Hannah figured it out. He touched you with his antennae."

"And crashed through my barriers around the July City Incident."

"You remember now?"

His nod was resigned. "Doc always thought it was self-imposed. A trauma response."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't think I can. Can I show you?" Meryl nodded and Vash scooped her up to his lap. He took a deep breath and Meryl closed her eyes and saw a pair of doors being pushed open by Vash's gloved hands.

They stepped into an office and Vash stopped short as the clearly dead man slumped onto a desk in a puddle of blood came into focus and the doors swung shut behind them.

Another man sat on the corner of the desk in a strange, white and blue jumpsuit that Meryl had never seen, with his back to the door. His white-blond hair was cut short in the back and the sides and front as he looked over his shoulder and waved. "Hey Vash."

Meryl moved her perspective to the side and saw that Vash already had tears running down his cheeks.

"Now everything that brought you and Rem together is gone," Knives said.

"Is that your excuse for killing?" Vash demanded.

"Haven't you learned anything over the past hundred years?" Knives slid off the desk but didn't turn to face Vash. "You can't even regenerate the scars they carved into your body. It's symbolic of your foolish waste of energy on this human garbage."

"It's not your right to decide whether they live or die. They deserve a chance!" Vash yelled back.

"What's the use in growing up if the only thing that grows is your useless SENTIMENTALISM?!" Knives roared the last word as he turned his head to stare at Vash over his shoulder. Meryl could see the similarities in their features, but Vash had never twisted his expression into anything that cold before. "You're still a good-for-nothing," he turned around fully to face Vash, "pathetic" he raised a handgun "WIMP!"

Vash drew two Colts, but Knives fired first. The velocity kicked Vash back. The exact same handgun as Vash's silver one only made of black metal with a black hand grip landed at Meryl's feet, with Vash's left arm still clutching it. Meryl covered her mouth, revulsion threating to express itself by vomiting.

While Vash huddled around the stump of his left arm as best he could without dropping the silver Colt in his right hand, Knives sauntered across the office toward him. Knives snapped his fingers and the top panels of the silver Colt flew off. A black cylinder was inside of it. That was what Hannah found, a module of plant energy. It spun around, generating a sphere of pink sparking energy.

"What?" Vash stared at it. "What the hell is that?"

"This is what we're capable of." Knives extended his arms over his head. "It's time to take this garbage and get rid of it FOREVER!" Joy and madness mingled in the grin he made.

Vash sat up and the transformation and his screaming started. He lifted his right arm up and the Colt and his flesh merged. The sleeve of his coat ripped away as his skin morphed to gray and bulged into the cannon shape. He threw his arm out to the side as the arm expanded and revealed a glowing sphere. Vash continued to scream, but gritted his teeth and pointed his now barrel arm at Knives.

Knives pressed his hand against his chest. "Are you aiming at me again?"

Vash screamed.

Knives screamed back. "Are you actually aiming at me AGAIN?!"

The pink blast shot from the arm cannon, cutting through Knives' legs before the wall behind crumbled away and then the rest of the building around them in chunks.

The memory retreated and Meryl gasped for air as she blinked. She was back on Vash's lap under the bright blue sky among the tan rocks of the bluffs.

Vash's arms tightened around her as he pressed his forehead against her head. "I am guilty of all those deaths," his tear-thickened voice whispered. "I deserve the bounty."

Meryl turned her head to look at his face, unsurprised by the tear tracks. "Is that what you see from that memory? Vash, no. It was your energy, but Knives orchestrated everything, including your transformation. Knives is the guilty one, not you."

"I shot my brother. Twice. I destroyed an entire city's infrastructure that then killed all of the inhabitants."

"Because no one in the Inner stepped up and helped them! That's not your fault. You cannot take Knives' guilt along with your shame and self-loathing."

He looked away from her. "Is it really self-loathing to recognize that I am a monster?"

How to make him understand? "Am I a monster?"

"What?" He jerked his back straight and stared at her without lifting his arms from around her. "No, no!"

"And you're not one either." She pulled his right hand up and leaned her cheek against his palm. "It is a power you have trouble accepting because of what Rem taught you and how Knives has made it so dangerous. But it is yours. And you are not a monster just because you are not human. What you are, Vash the Stampede, is the best damn marksman on the planet. I have seen you knock bullets off their aim with pebbles just to save lives. I trust you with this power."

Vash stared at her but didn't move his hand away. "You don't trust me around a box of donuts."

She snorted. "Not if we all want a donut, no. But that's not what is at stake here, is it? Lives are, and there's no one I trust more than you to save those." She turned her head and kissed his palm.

"Stars, Meryl. You really love me, don't you?" He gently turned her head to face him again, leaned her back, and kissed her. A gentle kiss, no heat to start anything out here on the rocks. He pulled back with a sigh and sat her back up. "Do you have any bright ideas on how to convince Knives he's wrong? I've only been trying since the whole mess started and you've seen how well that argument goes."

"Not right now, but I'll think about it. Right now, you need to make it clear to Chuck that what he did was not acceptable and meet our hosts."

Vash set her back up on her feet. "That sounds like a strategy. Chuck, you said he was okay, but is he remorseful?"

"Pretty miserable even before Hannah geared up to yell at him. Which I didn't let her do, so we'll have to let her blow off steam next."

"Saved all the fun work for me." He pulled on his boots.

"You all adopted each other; I'm just romantically entangled."

Vash laughed at that and caught hold of her hand as they headed down the bluff.

"Since I don't have to make donuts to wake you up," Meryl continued, "you can have them for dealing with the children."

"Make donuts? You can make donuts?"

"I told you I cooked. You made fun of me having a useful hobby." She sniffed and raised her chin scornfully.

"But you didn't say you knew how to make donuts! You've been holding out!"

"Is that what you're going with?"

"Holding out on fried deliciousness."

"We haven't been any place where I could make donuts since we met you."

"Well, that's true," he conceded. "When this mess is all over, I'm going to have to build you an enormous kitchen."

"You want to settle down somewhere?"

"I always did. It was never safe to."

She squeezed his hand. "Maybe we can make it safe."

"I hope so."

They reached the back porch. Hannah, Milly, and Lina had all vanished, leaving Sheryl and Chuck still rocking in the chair. "Vash, this is Sheryl Earp who has been sheltering us since we got here."

Vash rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand as he smiled nervously. "Thank you for everything, Sheryl-ma'am. I'm sorry for bolting so rudely."

"That's understandable, waking up from a bad dream like that. Call me Granny Sheryl, everyone does. Up you go, sonny," she helped Chuck sit up. "Time to take your medicine. I've got to get started on supper."

Chuck hopped off her lap and Granny Sheryl put her forearm crutch on her arm before moving from the rocking chair to the door.

"I'll help you," Meryl headed in after her. "Vash wants donuts, and I got the ingredients."

Granny Sheryl waited until they were almost into the kitchen before peering over her shoulder and lowering her voice. "I didn't want to ask with the young ones in earshot, but what happened to their parents?"

"They got separated from them and found the caravan we were traveling with. Vash wanted to keep them safe, and they think Vash needs someone to take care of him too. Before I got the job, obviously."

"That makes sense of what Chuck said," Granny Sheryl sniffled. "Those poor kids. They are lucky to have found you."

Chuck's tail thrashed as he stood on the edge of the porch at the top of the steps. "I'm sorry for the invasion of pirates."

Remorse and worry aimed the boy's snout and green eyes at Vash's feet on the dirt. But Vash wasn't sure if Chuck understood what he should be sorry for. "Invasion of pirates?"

"That's what Hannah said I did."

Vash kept himself from smiling. "Are you sure she didn't say 'invasion of privacy?'"

Chuck's head popped up, and he made an O around his buck teeth. "That's what she said. I'm sorry. I just wanted you to wake up!"

"And instead you became me in that dream." Chuck nodded and rubbed his left bicep. "Well, now we know why your dad said not to do that. How does your arm feel?" Vash asked.

Chuck stopped rubbing his left arm. "It doesn't hurt now."

"Good. I'm glad you have no lasting damage. I accept your apology."

"I won't do it again!"

"I know you won't."

Chuck frowned with sad eyes. "Did that really happen, bro? Or were you making it up?"

Vash rubbed his bicep where the prosthetic arm attached. "It really happened. I was going to see Revenant Vasquez, Knives killed him, and then he shot my arm off."

"Don't you have any happy memories?" Chuck asked.

Vash blinked before snatching Chuck off the porch up into a hug. "Of course I have happy memories, my little fuzzy bro. Most of what has happened with Meryl and Milly and you and Hannah has been happy." He squeezed Chuck tighter.

Chuck wrapped his arms and legs around Vash and matched the squeeze.

"I'm sorry you didn't get dropped into a happy one, but don't go back in looking for one," Vash told him.

"No, I'm not going back into your head!"

Vash spun them both around. "Correct answer!" Chuck laughed. "So where is your sister?" Vash asked.

"She took Lina to the shed to see if the parts she found are any good."

"Oh scrounged parts." Vash set Chuck on the ground. "What are we making?"

"The car broke. You kinda slept through that."

"Ah. Well, let's go see if we can help." Chuck led Vash to the shed that was probably a barn back when this homestead was a working farm. Two heads bent over a workbench, cleaning the parts stretched out on top of it. The more familiar orange hair tilted up as they entered the shed. "No need to yell at Chuck," Vash said. "He won't do it again."

"Nope," Chuck said. "Never again. No tying a knot in my tail."

Hannah focused on Vash. "Are you okay?"

"It's not something I wanted to remember, but I probably shouldn't forget it either. Not a therapy method I would recommend."

"I don't wanna be a therapist either." Chuck went around the workbench to an empty stool. "I'm gonna race bikes."

"But we're both fine," Vash said before Hannah could go into what therapy she had had. "Who's this?"

"This is Lina Dodge, Granny Sheryl's granddaughter," Hannah answered.

The brunette girl younger than Hannah waved at him. "Hello! We didn't think you would ever wake up."

Vash headed to the last stool around the workbench. "I can be the laziest sod on the planet, but that was a bit much, even for me. So, what are we working on?"

Hannah explained what she found wrong with the car and how they need to check the parts she found. Vash settled in and helped, telling Lina and Chuck what each part was and what it did. That kept them occupied until Granny Sheryl called them to come in for supper. Vash let the kids wash up first and followed his nose into the kitchen.

Meryl set a platter of steaming donuts on the counter and blocked his attempt to snatch a couple off the top. "Food before sugar, Vash. Set a good example."

He kissed her cheek. "Oh, all right. I'll be good, if you insist."

"I do insist. Go wash up."

Vash chuckled but backed away as he heard the water stop running. Hannah met him in the breezeway and pointed to the bathroom door, and managed not to hold her nose while doing it. He rolled his eyes at her and headed inside.

The kitchen didn't have a large enough table to seat everyone, so the kids took their plates into the breezeway. Milly focused her concerned blue eyes on Vash. "You feeling better now, Vash?"

"Sorry to have freaked out on you, Milly." He rubbed the back of his neck and noticed the practical overalls she wore. "But yeah, I'm fine now. Are there any repairs you need another pair of hands for?"

"The front porch needs leveling and shoring. I can't do that alone."

"First thing tomorrow," Vash promised with a nod.

Meryl smirked. "You really are earning those donuts."

"I'm trying." He smiled at her.

Granny Sheryl shook her head. "Now, I don't expect all this from just doing the right thing and helping you when you need it."

"Helping is the right thing to do," Vash said. "You and Lina can't get the porch level yourselves."

"There is much me and Lina can't manage, so I thank you for it."

Hannah and Lina got supper clean up duty, and then they all headed to bed. Vash dug into his bag, mostly certain he at least had another pair of sleep pants in there. The ones he had on needed laundering after he sat on the bluff for so long.

Meryl set her first aid kit on the bed. "You have bandages that need changing. Did you talk to Hannah?"

"About the car and the parts she found, and that Chuck would not put his antennae on anyone ever again. Was there something else?" He found the spare pants and tugged them out. Ah, he had saved most of them after escaping from a trap by cutting them off at the knees. "Add clothes shopping for me to the list. What's wrong with Hannah?"

"I think what she's upset about is caught up in the mad scientist stuff we talked about when we were in December City. She saw your transformation in Augusta."

"She's scared of me?" He pulled off his sweatshirt and there were strange bandages taped down to his shoulders and normal gauze wrapped around his right bicep. Oh yeah, Rai-Dei had shot him. "She hid it well."

Meryl huffed. "You really think she would fear you? She's upset that we'll think she's trying to hurt us and furious that Knives figured out how to make you into a weapon." She pushed him to sit on the edge of the bed. "Give us some credit. We aren't about to turn on you." She started untying the bandage on his arm.

"I know that," Vash said. "I need to work on believing it." The damage on his arm looked healed already. "Did Chuck tell her about what he experienced? For her to get to blaming Knives already?"

"No, we left for town before Chuck touched you, so she figured it out from the scans she did and what you said about Knives making the guns." Meryl decided his arm would not bleed any more and eased the adhesive on his shoulder back to look under it.

Vash whined as it pulled at his skin. "She is too smart at times."

"She's worried about you." She finally got that bandage off and the skin under its pad was healed. "But she probably didn't want to bring it up in front of Chuck and Lina." She moved to his left shoulder bandage.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow and just yank that off. Going slow--YEOW!" Vash screeched as low as he could to not wake the whole house up as Meryl ripped the bandage from his skin. He took a deep breath. "Okay, that didn't go better. There must be a solvent for those."

"At least you healed with them. How do you feel?"

"Physically, I'm fine. Emotionally, working on it." He accepted the quick peck on the lips that Meryl gave him before she started packing up the first aid kit. "Did we kick anyone out of their bedroom?" he asked.

"No, I think this was the bedroom for Lina's parents and they have been dead for a while."

"Good." He reached out and reeled her into his embrace. "We won't insult anyone tonight." Meryl blushed but wrapped her arms around his neck.

Next morning, Vash and Milly started on the porch right after breakfast. Meryl worked on laundry. Hannah disappeared into the shed while Chuck and Lina worked on their school lessons under Granny Sheryl's gimlet eye. Meryl paused by the front porch as she carried the clean, wet clothes to the clothesline. "We are going to have to chase Hannah back to her books."

"Oh, she enjoys learning things. I don't think it'll be that hard once she's not worried about the car. Hmm, this job would go quicker with some music," Vash said.

Sheryl leaned out the kitchen window that faced the front porch. "Our satellite receiver has been on the fritz for months now. Hannah-child looked at it but said she didn't know how those mechanics worked."

"Something she doesn't know yet," Vash chuckled. "I'll look at it later. Get Hannah to trade car guts for satellite guts."

Milly shoved the block into place with a grunt. "Less talk and more lifting!"

"Yes, Milly-ma'am!" He pulled up the joist. Meryl snorted as she left.

Between the two of them, they got the porch level and put more braces to keep it attached to the house this time. The floor joists under the house were still level. He crawled under it to make sure. And then he took a good scrub in the outside tub rather than track the dirt into the house. It was a good day's work, the kind he hadn't had in months, if not years.

Meryl giggled when she brought him clean clothes. "Is my work ethic finally rubbing off on you?"

"Probably. But it is nice to do some tasks that have a sense of completion." He rinsed off and reached for the towel. "You told Hannah to come learn about satellites?"

"I told her. She's coming in. Get dressed." She turned to go back into the house.

Vash got dressed in clean jeans and shirt and headed around to the back door. Hannah was already at the kitchen table with the satellite receiver's cabinet open. "This is as far as I can get with this."

"That's a good place to start." He started naming the parts. Hannah absorbed the names easily enough and could follow the connections. They spotted the problem at the same time, though she let his fingers fix it. "That should do it. Let's see what's on the signal today." He closed up the cabinet and turned it on.

"Search parties have reported in from the town of Carcasses in South Cornelia. No traces of the residents turned up at all for fifty iles surrounding the town. The whole town disappeared in the middle of their daily tasks. The only thing unusual that the search parties found was the word 'knives' scrawled across the town monument in the central plaza in crimson red paint. We will bring a further update in the 2100 news report. Now, back to the scheduled music." The satellite receiver changed over to a current tune.

"Has he done this before?" Hannah asked. "Disappeared a whole town?"

Vash felt dizzy but answered her. "He hasn't. But he put his name on it sure enough."

"I didn't think he could be a bigger asshole. I hate being wrong. And I hate him!" She scrapped the chair back and stomped out of the house.

Chapter Text

Vash swallowed hard in the silence after Hannah stormed out. Granny Sheryl didn't poke her head out, and Milly had taken Lina and Chuck out to explore the homestead. Which was good because he wasn't sure he could explain what had upset them both, but that had made Hannah yell.

He needed Meryl. He got up on shaky limbs and went into the bedroom they had been using. She was sitting on the bed with a mass of white cloth next to her and on her lap. "You heard that?" Vash asked.

"I heard." She shoved the white material off her lap and made to stand up, but Vash crashed to his knees next to the bed and buried his face in her lap. She bent over him and wrapped her arms around him, blocking out most of the world. "I'm here. We're going to stop Knives."

He wrapped his arms around her hips, careful to not hurt her with his embrace. "How? How? I shot him twice. And it didn't do any good; it's only made him worse!"

"You gave me time to have a normal childhood. What do you think would have happened to me if Knives had been disappearing whole towns right after July City? Would Nana have found the courage to run away with me if they all needed me to be a weapon to save them?"

He looked up at her, stricken by the possibility of a child brutalized to transform and destroy; something that had never happened until Knives made their brothers. For it to be her, the woman he loved? Tears fell from his eyes. "I'm glad you were safe from that. I guess it is one for the plus column."

She wiped his cheeks. "I think we both have to start by accepting our abilities as ours. I'm still wrapping my head around Hannah saying I grew wings."

"What? Like our sisters? When?"

"Hannah says I ripped up my clothes when I went to you in Augusta because wings came out of me to wrap around us both." She shifted the white material until he saw it was the jacket with matching holes near the sleeves that she had only started sewing patches into. "You didn't talk to her."

"About the satellite receiver, yes. There wasn't a good segue into what did you see at Augusta and what is this scanning Meryl is talking about before the news bombshell."

"Are you up to talking about it more?"

He sighed. "Trying to pretend I'm just an ordinary human idiot--"

"Wait. That was a strategy?" Meryl demanded.

"To amplify an aspect of my personality so no one takes me seriously, yes. Strategic. But it hasn't worked with Knives and I don't know what to do now." He let her go and stood to pace. "And Hannah wants to be involved? Wants to protect me from Knives? I'm not sure where she's coming from."

Meryl set all the sewing on the bed. "Now's a good time to get her alone to ask."

They headed out to the shed. Hannah had been busy today, and it was looking more like the interior of a garage. The motorcycle was playing a song on its speakers but cut it off when they entered.

The lack of sound made Hannah lift out of the hole she made under the hood. The car's whole engine dangled near the rafters on a set of chains and a rope from the motorcycle. "What now?" Hannah wiped her hands on a shop rag. "A lecture on using inappropriate language?"

Vash jerked his attention from the pulley setup. "What? Oh no, Knives has been an asshole for about a century."

"But I don't think we should use words like that around Chuck or any younger children," Meryl said.

"I'll stick to the Plutarkian cuss words I know. Pretty sure it's the same concept." Hannah hung the shop rag on the lifted hood panel.

"How many languages do you speak?"

"Vash, not what we need to talk about," Meryl said.

"Fluent in English and Sherok, Martian. I know some Plutarkian cuss words because Limburger thought using them around the impressionable inconvenient hostage would make her parents less mad, and he was so wrong about that. Picked up some Spanish from Dad's friend who owned the convenience store on the next block, so I was going to learn it at school. So what's the subject of the day before Vash gets distracted by another shiny?"

"Scanning us," Meryl answered.

"Do we have to? I don't want to send him back to a depressed funk in the bed."

"It wasn't--" Vash started.

Hannah glared at him with disbelieving green eyes.

"Okay, it was an avoidance strategy." He sat down heavily on the stool next to the workbench. "Meryl says I'm not a monster and I can agree up to a point."

Hannah nodded. "But when the point is you becoming a humongous blaster capable of leveling cities, you think Steve was right."

"It's not just Steve. Knives and I are twins and look what happened to him."

"No, it didn't 'happen' to him. Knives made the conscious choice to kill every time he faced the choice. And you chose not to." Meryl put her arm around his shoulders and leaned against him. "That choice means you aren't a monster, Vash."

"I'm working on believing that," Vash said.

"So will attacking your brother help or harm that goal?" Hannah asked, tilting her head to look innocent.

"You better mean metaphorically because I don't even want you in the same hemisphere as Knives." Vash said sharply before he turned to the noise approaching the door.

Meryl turned to face it too before Milly leaned her head inside. "Oh, you're all working?"

"Deciding things," Meryl answered. "I'll catch you up later. Keep Chuck and Lina away?"

"Sure thing!" Milly ducked back out.

Hannah waited until Milly had time to move away. "I was just planning on talking bad about him, but don't be so quick to rule out me getting physical with him."

"That is ruled out," Vash said with a frown.

"Yeah, that was hasty." Hannah waved her hands like she was patting Vash. "You should try to lead with the unexpected and no one expects me to be deadly."

"Absolutely not happening." Vash clenched his fists. Knives took Rem, the crew, and that poor guy, Revenant Vasquez; no way would Vash trust him with Meryl or these two kids who accepted him or Milly. Never again would he give Knives a chance with what was precious to him.

Meryl supported him. "We are not sending a child against an opponent who's eleven times her age. So drop that idea, no matter how much you want to fight for Vash's honor."

"I've done it for Chuck and Vash is my bro and gets the same thing. That's how it works." Hannah crossed her arms. "Plus, Knives has already put dirty mind tricks into play, so he deserves everything coming to him."

"Dirty mind tricks?" Vash asked, wondering what that referred to.

She nodded. "So I picked up your gun to fix it and it has a module that isn't in my gun."

"That...." Vash's back straightened as his whole body went rigid. "That starts the light!" The horrible pink light that changed his arm into a cannon and destroyed everything it blasted.

Hannah tilted her head curiously. "The light at Augusta? How many times--"

"Twice now! I destroyed July City shooting at Knives and almost destroyed Augusta and you started poking at it?!"

Meryl rested her hands on his shoulders and squeezed.

"Give me some credit, Vash!" Hannah snapped back. "I haven't done anything more than passive scanning. The bike's sensors register it as the same energy you, Meryl, and the Kasted City's bulb have. And I scanned you guys to make sure it was the same. And I'm sorry for doing science on you without your permission." Her lower lip trembled.

He took a deep breath. "I... I overreacted. I guess I'm not doing so well at this acceptance of myself."

"Dirty mind tricks," Hannah repeated. "Knives fights so damn dirty, he has the Plutarkians beat by miles."

Meryl let go of his shoulders and wrapped her arms around him in a hug from behind. "Nobody said self-acceptance was easy."

"Mom and Dad always said that doing hard things was worthwhile in the end." Hannah sighed, "My therapist said they were right, too."

"What did you conclude from the scans?" Meryl asked Hannah without letting go of Vash.

"Okay, so the module is a minuscule bit of plant energy; you independents have more, and plant angels are way off the chart." She stretched up on her toes, extended her right arm over her head and wiggled her fingers.

Vash wondered which of her uncles needed visual aids.

She stopped stretching. "So the plant module plus Vash equals the amount of energy Meryl has on the sensors. But instead of sprouting wings like Meryl, Knives engineered it to turn his pacifist brother into a weapon. And he did that on purpose."

"Meryl made wings." Vash said because that was much easier to deal with than being a weapon and that was Knives' intention. "I should make wings? Like the plant angels?"

Hannah shrugged. "They do have wings? I was speculating because of the centuries of artwork of angels being people with wings stuck on their backs and calling them the same thing. But it's possible only girls can make them, so a sex-linked trait. Have you ever seen Knives make wings?"

"No, he generates blades. Well, he did that a few times before we found the ship he made the Colts in." Vash sighed. "He probably wanted a distance weapon or one with more oomph than bullets."

"I wanna whip his tail so hard future genocidal psychos feel it." Hannah crossed her arms over her chest again.

"More violence can't be the answer. We have to end the cycle of hate." He shook his head. "Easier said than done. I keep shooting him, after all."

"He keeps asking for that," Hannah said. "That's why I keep volunteering to do it for you."

"And you'd make sure it was a kill shot, too?"

"To save you and everybody else on this dirt-ball, yes!"

"Can you defend everyone without killing?" Vash demanded.

"Killing is always plan Z," Hannah said wearily.

Vash leaned forward. "Do you understand why there has to be another way? I have to find another way because no one has the right to take the life of another."

"I get that. I'm just worried that Knives won't stop without being stopped."

That was a fair worry. He had it too, deep down. "That is something we'll face once we decide on what to do, but first I need my gun back."

"No," Hannah said.

"Yes."

"No, because you're going to do something stupid like go off to fight Knives' goons alone and we know that is a bad idea because you already tried that. So no."

"You can't keep it, Hannah. It is my responsibility."

Hannah stared at him in disbelief.

Meryl let go of him and circled around to look at his face with an equally disbelieving look on hers.

"That's your argument?" Hannah asked. "Do you even know what that word means?"

"Do you ask that because of Chuck or your Uncle Vinnie?" Vash retorted back.

"Both actually. Uncle Vinnie has issues with responsibility and outsources it to Dad, Uncle Modo, Mom, and me if he is very desperate."

"That sounds like too much responsibility on you, Hannah," Meryl said.

Hannah shrugged. "It only happened a few times. And all it really entailed was pointing out the consequences except for the one time pointing out a better place to put a bomb. He could never babysit."

"I appreciate you trying to protect me from the pain, Sis." Hannah's eyes opened wide and Vash smirked at her. Like he would not figure out her motive. "And it does hurt realizing Knives designed it to hurt me. But Meryl thinks I can handle the power safely for everyone on Gunsmoke."

"With practice accepting it," Meryl said.

Hannah swiveled her head between the two of them. "So target practice? Now?"

"No time like the present." Vash stood. "Milly's distracting Chuck and Lina, so we don't have to explain it to him, too."

Hannah headed to the motorcycle. "Yeah, he has forgotten I mentioned the wings thing and I don't know if we need to remind him of that." She opened the motorcycle's storage compartment and dug out the Colt and its removed coverings. "I didn't put these back on in case I needed to scan it more, but I've got screws that'll fit."

Vash took hold of his gun by the hand grip, registering the familiar tingle of it. Because they were the same, really. "Leave them here. They popped off when it started, so we'll leave them off for this test."

Hannah set the metal plates on her workbench as Vash moved to the door. "Let's go find some place safe to do this," he said. He didn't bother telling either of them they shouldn't come, but at least the motorcycle stayed in the shed holding up the engine.

They hiked to the bluffs; that should be far enough away not to draw attention from the homestead or the town. The string of moons had already started their trek across the sky as Vash faced east.

"Wait a second," Meryl said. "Vash, take off your shirt."

"I don't see how that's going to help with this."

His girlfriend? Partner? His insurance agent looked miffed. "You lost your coat sleeve in Augusta. I replaced it, but the variety store doesn't have any material that matches the color of that shirt, so if you don't take it off, it won't match after I patch it."

He glanced down at the off-white shirt he had on with his jeans. "Don't make extra work for you?"

"That is an excellent idea. You are smart." She held the Colt while he unbuttoned the shirt. He glanced at Hannah, but she focused on brushing off a nearby rock to sit on. He shrugged the shirt off and gave it to Meryl in exchange for the Colt. Meryl stepped back even with Hannah, and Vash put more space between him and them.

Hannah inhaled. "Your arm. Chuck fell into a memory, didn't he?"

"He did, and he will not do it again, so don't yell at him."

"Give me some credit, bro. I don't yell at Chuck all the time. Knives, though. Erovlagrakaslrok Gith Vrerbmish^[4]."

"What does that mean?" Meryl asked.

"It's kind of hard to translate precisely, but it basically means to drag your enemy with your bike around the circumference of Mars and up and down Olympus Mons too. Does Gunsmoke have a giant volcano?"

"No," Vash said, "and that is horrific."

"Dad said the rule of law and the justice system was to get away from stuff like that, but Uncle Vinnie said he'd volunteer to do that to Karbunkle."

"For your sake?" Meryl asked.

"Nah, Karbunkle took half his face off during the war on Mars, and that's just the personal of the war crimes Karbunkle did."

"We have enough people who think they can solve all their problems with murder, so don't go giving them a new method from foreign idioms." Vash took a deep breath, ignored the fluttering in his stomach, pulled up the Colt, and aimed it east, sighting over the missing top. The black cylinder remained still and inert. "Any ideas?"

"You said Legato Bluesummers was in your head in Augusta. And we're telepathic. Maybe talk to your gun that way?" Meryl suggested.

"Worth a shot." Vash focused on the pulse in the gun. "Hello? Wake up?"

Another voice reverberated in his head. "Need? Grow? Protect?" It sounded masculine but ethereal, like his sisters did.

"Grow?" Vash projected to the brother in the Colt. "Always protect."

The black cylinder sparked and spun. Crackling energy expanded as the gun and his hand merged into one.

Meryl projected to him. "Don't panic. I'm sure that makes the transformation painful."

"Right. No panic at the fright happening right now!" He exhaled his stress. His arm didn't hurt as it grew longer and wider. He supported where his elbow had been with his left hand. The arm separated, revealing the white glowing sphere inside. A faint white halo surrounded his whole arm, now colored gray around that sphere. He was so glad there was no pain as more mass shifted behind his shoulder, balancing the still-growing front. The entire arm was cannon-shaped and longer than he was tall. And sprouting legs?

Yes, legs were stretching down under the glowing sphere. Arms separated from the rest of the gray mass and the hands fluttered toward the glowing sphere and the legs. Wings poked out about even with the new arms' shoulders but on top of the cannon. A vaguely feminine face emerged on the side in front of Vash between the end of the cannon and the start of the outstretched and growing wings. The arms folded up where a chest should be under the face. The feet also folded up and merged with the greater part of the cannon, leaving the knees out almost like a trigger guard. Feathers littered the ground around his feet as the cracks in the gray glowed with a blue energy.

"Vash?" Meryl asked. "How do you feel?"

"I think it's finished now." He let go of his right arm and it balanced stretched out in front of him. "I'm not sure how I feel?"

Meryl approached Vash and wrapped her arms around his waist, ducking under his left arm. "You're beautiful."

Hannah circled around the entire arm. "You have feathers too." She stooped, picked up a loose one from the ground, and held it up so Vash could see the white feather too. Her gaze roved over the whole arm cannon. "Now that's what I call an Angel Arm."

"Why?" Meryl asked.

"That's what is engraved on Vash's Colt. '45 Long Colt AGL Arms Factory.' AGL is in between wings, so I figured Knives meant angel and it's kind of egotistical of him to claim to be a factory when he only made two."

"God, I hope he only made two!" Vash exclaimed.

Hannah gestured at the wings on top of the cannon. "So Angel Arm. The back with all the feathers looks like a thruster, but I don't see how it connects to that." She pointed to the glowing sphere. "Which, I'm assuming, is a localized power source? The bike sensors aren't sensitive enough to differentiate multiple power sources in one body...." She blinked at the staring Meryl and Vash were doing at her and winced. "Sorry! I shouldn't do science on people. I know I shouldn't do science on people. But I don't know how else to help, bro!" She ducked under the Angel Arm and wrapped her arms around Vash under Meryl's arms. "It's not like I can toss a skeet for you to target."

Vash reached with his left hand and patted Hannah's back. "It's all right. I'm glad you're not terrified."

"Why would I be terrified?" She tilted her face up at him. "Uncle Modo introduced me to his gun in his arm, protecting me from Limburger's goons. And you won't use your Angel Arm to hurt us."

"Not on purpose," Vash said.

"Didn't you tell me to always pull the trigger with my purpose in mind?" Hannah asked.

"So you would hit what you were aiming at!"

"Is it different for you?" Meryl asked.

"I guess not." Vash stroked Meryl's hair and cheek with his gloved left hand. "It's a lot of power."

"With great power comes great responsibility," Hannah said cheerfully. Vash looked at her, puzzled. "Aw," she said. "I guess Spider-man hasn't survived until now, either."

He bopped Hannah's nose. "You and your entertainment references."

"She's not wrong even if it comes from entertainment," Meryl said.

"And don't you come complaining to me if she gets a swelled head from all this 'she's right.' It's up to me to keep Hannah's feet on the ground? That, that is a cosmic mistake, and it should be Meryl's job."

Hannah snorted. "Please. I've got responsibility down. Having a baby brother will do that. You're more responsible than you pretend to be."

"He hides it well." Meryl squeezed him tighter with a smile as he comically frowned at her. "Vash, the first thing you did was feed a couple of starving children when you met them."

Vash looked out at the horizon to hide his embarrassment. Why he felt that way, he wasn't able to figure out right now. He wasn't used to getting credit for doing what was right.

Something glinted in the air in the changing light as the moons rose and the suns set behind them. But the glint was far off the ground. "Meryl, do you have your binoculars?"

"No, they aren't in my bag."

"They're in the car still." Hannah let go of Vash to look for what he had spotted. "More storm clouds?"

"I don't think so."

"I'll go get them." Meryl jogged away from them and didn't hide her speed.

Hannah tilted her head as she watched. "You guys are faster than humans, too."

"When we need to be," Vash said. "I'm surprised more people didn't realize that about Meryl."

"Do I need to explain sexism to you?"

"Cute."

Meryl returned with her binoculars. Vash trained them on the reflected light. It was the dirigible that destroyed the experiment compound. "Shit," Vash said.

Legato's voice flooded into Vash's mind again. "What is this? Have you finally accepted what you are, Vash the Stampede? Perhaps my Master will give me your spiders to play with."

"Leave them alone!" The cracks in the Angel Arm glowed blue as the sphere and halos brightened and pink energy consolidated at the end of the cannon. Air sucked in through what Hannah called a thruster.

"Whoa!" Hannah yelled. "What did you see?!"

"Hannah, get over here!" Meryl yanked Hannah around Vash as he grounded his stance and aimed the power at the danger to his loved ones and the rest of the planet.

Legato laughed. "Are you actually going to fire that of your own free will, Vash the Stampede? Are you going to kill us by your own hand?"

"I don't kill. I protect." Vash shifted the power slightly, right before it blasted out of him. The long lance of pink surged across the sky, grazed the dirigible, and kept going as Vash pulled the Angel Arm back into himself. His arm returned to normal with the Colt separating from himself. He raised the binoculars to his eyes again. The dirigible smoked as it fell toward the ground.

"Vash, what is out there?" Meryl demanded.

"The dirigible that destroyed the compound and Legato Bluesummers."

"Mamajammin'!" Hannah yelled. "The moon!"

Vash jerked his attention past the falling dirigible up to the Fifth Moon in the sky. The pink energy slammed against it and cracked the stony surface. The energy finally faded, leaving a crater where one had never been before. "Oh, shit!"

"Bro, it left orbit! That's amazing!"

"You still aren't terrified yet!"

"We need to decrease the payload, but the moon is still there!"

"I don't think that's helping." Meryl cupped Vash's face, drawing his gaze down to her face. "Bluesummers was in your head again?"

Vash swallowed hard. "He didn't take control this time. He threatened all of you, and I had to protect you. I had to."

Hannah took the binoculars from Vash and scanned the horizon. "Do we need to go out and make sure he's out of the fight? Don't give me that look; he hurt Chuck. Chuck can't hit back, but I can."

"I'm going to do the hitting, not you." He focused on Meryl. "They're going to triangulate that blast. Everyone is going to trace that." His eyes drifted back up to the crater on the moon.

"How long will repairs to the car take, Hannah?" Meryl asked.

"The rest of the week? I have to go looking for more parts."

"Damn it," Vash said. "That's too long."

"Well, you could help me." Vash didn't respond. Hannah whirled around. "We just had that conversation! You can't go off on your own. It doesn't work!"

"He's already hurt Chuck twice! And you and Milly and the whole town here have no protection from his telepathy. I have to draw them off."

"No! Teamwork!"

Vash took a deep breath. "I do need your teamwork. I need you to help Meryl."

"Meryl is a functional adult." Hannah crossed her arms. "It is you we're iffy about."

"She's pregnant!"

Meryl handed Vash his shirt. "Yes, that was the best way to break the news."

He focused on Meryl, his fist tightening around the material. "If I don't come back, you'll need her help."

"Don't talk like that! You will defeat them, Vash."

"Wait!" Hannah shifted, so she was looking at both of them. "You're really pregnant? He's not lying to leave us behind?"

"He's not lying. I'm pregnant." Meryl took the Colt so Vash could put on his shirt.

"You two just started dating! Are there no condoms here?"

Vash jerked his head up from his buttons. "Who have you found that you need a condom with?"

"Nobody. But you sure need a pack!"

"Yes, there are condoms, Hannah," Meryl answered. "And we want the baby, even if the timing isn't ideal."

Vash tucked his shirt into his jeans waistband and took the Colt back from Meryl. "Do you really have a problem with the baby?"

"No, of course not, bro. I have a problem with making sure you survive to be a father."

"I'm not so bad at survival. Don't know why you and Meryl think differently." His gaze went back up to the Fifth Moon. "Didn't expect target practice to end up like this."

"We should head back," Meryl said. "It'll be supper time soon."

Hannah huffed, but thrust the binoculars back to Meryl before marching down the bluff.

Meryl stretched out her arm. "Come on, Vash. You shouldn't leave right before nightfall."

He took hold of her outstretched hand and laced their fingers together. "You aren't arguing with me?"

"It makes sense. I would argue if it didn't. And I will help you as much as I can without endangering our future but--"

"I have to take care of Knives. He's my responsibility."

"So I'll grab hold of Hannah and Chuck and hopefully slow them down from following you."

Vash squeezed her hand as they headed down, splitting up once they reached the boundaries of the homestead. Meryl headed into the house and Vash ducked into the shed. Hannah wasn't inside her domain, but she had set the tiny screws and a screwdriver on the workbench next to the metal panels off the Colt with his sunshades. He repaired the handgun, took his sunshades, and headed back to the house.

Granny Sheryl was rocking on the back porch. "Hannah grabbed the shower. Hopefully, she won't be so upset when she comes out of it."

He folded his body to sit on the edge of the porch. "She'll probably hide it from Chuck. She doesn't like to worry him."

"Ah, but she's just a little girl, too. Are you taking care not to worry her?"

"I can't win. If I hold anything back, she gets mad. If I point out she's a child and I'm an adult, she gets mad. And I hate making her mad. I hate making anyone mad." His gaze settled on the new crater on the Fifth Moon again. "But it's all I seem capable of doing."

"I doubt that's true. They wouldn't love you, so if it were true."

"Thank you for that and, well, everything you've done to help us. If anyone comes asking about us, don't endanger yourselves trying to protect us. Please."

Granny Sheryl chuckled more to herself. "That's the plea you make and you think people don't love you? Don't worry about us. I haven't lived this long without learning a few things. Now, let's go in and get a good meal in you."

Chapter Text

Meryl, Milly, and Hannah ended up in town today, leaving Chuck at the homestead. Hannah went straight to the scrap heap without a word to either adult woman. Meryl sighed as she turned down the street to the variety shop.

"Hannah's still pretty upset Vash left without us," Milly observed.

"I hope she can get over it by the time we have to travel again," Meryl said as she opened the shop's door. It had been three days since Vash had left before anyone else woke up. Chuck had spent the time confused and hurt. Hannah had descended into sullen silence and directed anything that she needed to communicate to everyone but Meryl. Meryl would not push it; there would be time when they had to travel to New Oregon, per Vash's instructions. Hannah was also exceedingly polite to Granny Sheryl and Lina, so there was that.

She and Milly made the selections and filled up two bags that Milly insisted on carrying out of the store. The bus from Ripmela had arrived and passengers were disembarking. The last one was a familiar black-haired man dressed in a black suit carrying a cloth-wrapped cross on his back.

Milly stopped in her tracks. "Mr. Priest!"

Wolfwood's sunglasses slipped down his nose so he could look over the top of them. "Insurance girls! The Lord works in mysterious ways."

"I guess so," Milly answered. "Oh, we don't work for Bernardelli any more."

"Got too dangerous staying with Needle-noggin?"

"No, it had nothing to do with him," Meryl said decisively.

He took his sunglasses off and tucked them inside his suit's jacket. "So, can you still point me to him? I've got news."

Meryl glanced around the busy main street. "You better head back to the homestead with us if we're trading news." Wolfwood agreed and walked with them as they headed to the scrap heap.

The girl was out of sight, and Milly handled the call out. "Hannah? Have you found what you need?"

Hannah's voice came out from behind a rusted out car. "If this doesn't work, we'll have to go to that other town and buy new parts or a whole new car." She emerged holding some metal tubing in her hand and pulled up short, squinting her green eyes as she looked up at the taller man. "Who is this?"

Wolfwood smiled at her. "Hello, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, traveling priest. I patrol the continent doing the Lord's work."

"Hannah C. Davidson and I hope that doesn't include crucifixions."

He chuckled. "The cross? You know your Earth history. The Church doesn't involve itself in the affairs of sheriffs."

"Mr. Priest is our friend," Milly said. "Vash mentioned him."

"He did," Hannah agreed, but her green eyes looked wary.

"It's all right, Tall Girl. It's not a bad thing to be suspicious these days."

"Yes, we do have reasons to be on guard," Meryl said. "Hannah and her brother are traveling with us."

"When the car wants to go?" He teased.

"I'll get the car to go." Hannah's voice was blunt. "I'm more stubborn than a hunk of metal."

"It's not a contest," Milly said. Hannah just shrugged, and they set off down the road that led toward the homestead.

Wolfwood didn't speak until they were well away from the town buildings. "Imagine my surprise to see a familiar face on the bounty boards, and it wasn't the one with spiky hair." He looked down at Meryl.

She nodded. "We got it cleared up quickly, but that's why we're no longer employed by Bernardelli."

"I quit after management threw Meryl to the Cavalry," Milly said.

"That was rude. Sorry I wasn't around to help."

"I appreciate that," Meryl said. "So, what news do you have for Vash?"

"You're looking for Vash?" Hannah's tone went harsh. If she had fur like Chuck, it would be bristling.

"That's a tone." Wolfwood pulled out his cigarette pack. "Word going around is to avoid Vash the Stampede. No one has a chance at the bounty, since the Gung-Ho Guns are after his head."

"That's not news," Hannah said.

"We already ran into two of them," Meryl said.

"Three," Hannah said.

"Three?" Wolfwood asked.

"Meryl and Vash were busy when I had the conversation with Samurai Jack."

Wolfwood stopped and looked at the orange-haired girl. "You dealt with Rai-Dei the Blade?"

"If Rai-Dei the Blade dresses like an ancient Japanese warrior down to carrying a sword with a sheath modified to shoot bullets, I did. He didn't introduce himself to me while monologuing about demons. But that's okay; I know how to deal with monologuing wrenchheads. And we can cross him off the list." Her green eyes narrowed as her face hardened. "I do not let wrenchheads hurt my bros."

"You don't say?" He put a cigarette between his lips. "And just how extensive is your family?"

"That you should worry about? Just two."

"She and Chuck adopted Vash," Milly explained.

"Really?" He lit his cigarette. "Not exactly an orthodox arrangement."

"Gunsmoke has orthodox arrangements? The legal system didn't give me that impression," Hannah said, sarcasm heavy in her tone.

"Are you ever going to forgive that sheriff?" Meryl asked wearily. They probably wouldn't ever cross paths with New MacFarlane's sheriff again, but really holding a grudge wasn't good for Hannah.

"I'll let you know when it happens," Hannah said dryly.

"Trouble with a sheriff already? Bit young to be raising hell, aren't you?" Wolfwood asked.

Hannah snorted. "I started that at four-years-old but I had the best examples. Or worst, depending on what side you're on. And I'll let you know when my soul is in peril. Since it's your professional interest."

They needed a change of subject. "I suppose it's too much to hope that you know how many Gung-Ho Guns there are," Meryl said.

"There have always been twelve that earned the rank from the others. Though, I guess they haven't had time to recruit any new members to replace the three losers, so only nine will rain hell on LR Town."

"Why would they rain hell on LR Town?" Milly asked.

"A trap for Vash. And they aren't the kind to care about bystanders."

Milly turned to Meryl. "Oh, did Vash go that way?"

Vash hadn't told her which direction he had chosen to go when she had followed him out of the sleeping house three days ago. "I hope to draw all their attention, but we can't be sure of it. As soon as the car is repaired, head to New Oregon. I'll catch up with you. But if I don't--"

"Isn't it my job to plan for all contingencies?" Meryl had asked as she pulled the blanket tighter around herself.

"Well, you don't know all the people I do. If you need help before you hear from me, go to Max Simon at the satellite offices. Tell Max you need to go upstairs to see Doc and he'll get you in touch. Doc, he was in charge of my second adoption."

"The one you don't know is an adoption?"

"Yeah. Doc will help you and the kids."

"That's what we'll do, Vash."

Vash had stepped off the porch but turned around and kissed her as she met him at the edge. Then he had walked off past the horizon wearing the red coat she had repaired.

In the present, Hannah whirled to face Milly. "Why did you tell him that!"

"Well, he's going to see that Vash isn't there when we get to the homestead."

"Vash left you all behind?" Wolfwood asked.

Hannah muttered, "Self-sacrificing idiot."

"Did you expect something else?" Meryl asked.

He shrugged. "Kind of? You have doggedly stuck with him before, but I didn't think that was all because of your job."

Meryl's face heated, but she didn't admit to her infatuation back then when Wolfwood had been around. "Things are different now. We have children to think about."

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Oh sure, blame me and Chuck. Not like we aren't experienced in being an unexpected variable in a firefight."

"You don't want to bring your brother to a firefight," Meryl said.

"Firefights happen whether or not you want them to. And when they happen, I watch his back. And what I wanted was to make Vash see the value of that."

Wolfwood scoffed. "Needle-noggin won't see the value of that. Stabbed in the back too many times over the years."

"He is our bro." Hannah glared at the taller man.

"And family sticks the knife in deepest."

Hannah snarled silently, but said nothing.

Wolfwood sighed. "I'm going to have to go save him from his idiotic principles."

"By yourself?!" Milly demanded.

"Nobody else is going to do it. And if Vash dies, we're all damned."

Milly looked rather distraught at Meryl, but Meryl had her own pangs about Vash dying. Hannah's furious face had calmed to calculating sullenness before she dodged ahead and blocked the lane into Granny Sheryl's homestead. "And just how are you going to save Vash? With prayers?"

Wolfwood smirked. "With bullets."

"At least you aren't taking your Bible to a firefight." Hannah turned around and headed up the lane. The rest of them followed her.

Lina and Chuck tore around the house, intent on their chase game until Chuck saw them and skidded to a stop. The mouse boy wasn't wearing his helmet and alarm widened his eyes as he saw Wolfwood. He leaned to run away but called out. "Lori rerittok sh'pleri ttiz owirar srerorar ma ttiz olzyg lori mi'gith lrok mi'symi fajan^[5]."

Hannah whirled back around and her free hand clenched into a fist. "The guy who tried to take him had a cross like that."

Wolfwood blinked as he looked from child to child. "A man wearing a dark gray hat and red goggles?"

Chuck nodded. "Vash shot his hat to make him let me go."

"Chapel." Wolfwood sighed.

"Vash said he mentioned you," Meryl said slowly as she remembered the incident and Vash's unease afterwards.

"I was apprenticed to him when I was a child. I had no idea he was recruiting." He looked at Hannah, who hadn't stopped glaring at him. "Look, my church has an orphanage but I wouldn't separate you two and I wouldn't hand any child in my care to Chapel. You don't have to fear that from me."

Hannah's suspicious green eyes moved to Meryl. "We didn't send for Wolfwood," the woman told her.

"I came this way looking for Vash, I swear," Wolfwood said.

Hannah turned around and raised her voice. "Sher'zyzyg majrar wiv lori vrymok.^[6]" Chuck nodded and sprinted toward the shed. Hannah didn't look behind her as she headed that way.

Wolfwood dropped his cigarette onto the ground and stubbed it out with his foot. "When did that happen? Running into Chapel?"

"That was the first town after we left the caravan, right?" Milly said as she turned to Meryl.

"Yes, back in May," Meryl agreed.

"Glad Needle-noggin didn't take you into Fondrique after 'killing' their key."

"Meryl and Vash found Hannah and Chuck in the caravan before it moved again. And Vash wouldn't be that careless," Milly said.

"Yes, that's fair, honey."

"Does he need a place to stay, too?" They all looked at Lina, who pointed at Wolfwood.

"I'll find a place in town," Wolfwood said. "Don't want to put anyone out."

"You can stay for lunch at least?" Milly asked.

"All right. I'll even help make it."

Meryl let Milly lead Wolfwood into the house with Lina as she veered off to the shed. Chuck's plaintive voice carried from it. "That's what he said before you got there. But Vash isn't here to give this Wolfwood guy regards, so we have to do it."

"Fine," Hannah said as slowly as she could. "You're right. But I don't know what that means. So I can't tell you what to give him."

Meryl stepped inside the shed. Hannah was already under the hood of the car, and Chuck sat on a stool close enough to watch her. "Give regards to means to pass on a hello from that person to another person who isn't there," she explained. "This Chapel wanted Vash to know of the connection he has with Wolfwood."

"Chapel was not nice." Chuck twisted on the stool to face Meryl. "He was going to haul me away like Greasepit."

Hannah didn't come out from under the hood. "Greasepit works for Limburger, and he's usually the first one to grab us."

Meryl had gotten that from their other stories of their lives before they arrived on Gunsmoke. "Wolfwood doesn't sound like he and that Chapel have a good relationship now, so it's probably for the best that Vash stopped it."

"Do I need to go tell Wolfwood what Chapel said?" Chuck asked.

"He knows you met Chapel. And he and Milly are cooking lunch."

"Milly-ma'am can cook?"

Meryl smiled. "Some things. Granny Sheryl will keep them on track. You can go back to playing with Lina."

"Is it safe, Hannah?"

"Yell for the bike if he tries to snatch you." The motorcycle beeped. It was no longer holding up parts of the engine.

"Okay." Chuck hopped off the stool and head back to the house.

Meryl watched his progress through the door. He stepped up onto the porch and she turned back to Hannah, still hiding in the car's innards. "Are you going to tell the motorcycle to attack Wolfwood?"

"If he tries to snatch Chuck, he'll regret it. But that's not anything I have to order; Dad already did. Are you going to pretend to do what Vash wanted but really sneak off after him with that gunslinger priest?"

"Now you want to listen to Vash," Meryl said tiredly.

Hannah yanked herself out of the vehicle and spun to face Meryl with fury sparking in her eyes. "I have been! And my noble idiot bro thought wrenchheads would come here after us. And you want to go with this guy who shows up after Vash signal-flared to the entire planet?" She waved at the bluffs beyond the shed.

"I don't want Vash to die."

"And you think I do? That's not fair, Meryl!"

"That's not what I'm saying."

"I know you aren't saying that me and Chuck should go with you. Nothing good happens when we split up!"

Meryl hadn't expected superstitious nonsense from anyone as science-bent and practical as Hannah was. "Surely your parents and your uncles had to split up to accomplish an objective before?"

"Of course I've had a team split before!" Her angry face crumpled and tears welled in her green eyes. "Karbunkle aimed his stupid transporting device and now we're here and there's no way to get back together!" She hunched, trying to put her shoulders over her head as she turned so Meryl couldn't see her face.

"Oh, Hannah." Meryl moved in front of her and pulled the girl into a hug. Hannah was nearly the same height as Meryl, but she tucked her head down on the woman's shoulder as shudders wracked her body. Hannah had been so stoic about losing everything she and Chuck had ever known. But she was just a little girl. No wonder Hannah had been so insistent on staying together. Meryl squeezed her tighter. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. This feels the same, doesn't it?"

Hannah hugged her back. "I know it's not. But my therapist said I have to feel things too. I hate crying and I hate you guys going away and not letting us help."

"You should cry. There is nothing wrong with crying."

"Up until all your classmates laugh at you for being a baby and you can't tell them what just happened to make your eyes leak because of secrets."

"Well, none of them are here."

Hannah sniffled. "Yeah. It's been a trip how many people I don't miss by being here." Meryl felt like Hannah relaxed a bit, but she tensed up again. "Vash didn't want you to follow him."

Meryl didn't let her hug slack. "I know he didn't. But if anything has happened to him, I'm the only one on Gunsmoke who can stop Knives."

"You haven't done much target practice with that new gun."

"That's a good reason to go with Wolfwood. He tied with Vash in a quick draw contest they were both in, and then didn't leave any men who were trying to collect Vash's bounty standing after they threatened a child he and Vash were trying to help unhurt."

"That's weird. Priests aren't gunslingers back home."

"And I'll have Milly with me."

The silence stretched and filled the shed. "But not us," Hannah mumbled.

And by us, Meryl was sure me was intended. She let Hannah go and clasped the girl's shoulders. Hannah hadn't cried, but still look dejected. "Here is your reminder that neither you nor Chuck are an adult yet," Meryl said.

"One year closer, but still not there yet."

Meryl winced. "We missed your birthday?"

Hannah nodded. "We were trying to find Vash and heading to Augusta, near as I can figure. I didn't want to bring it up until we caught up with Vash again. But Chuck still expects chocolate cake, so can you guys wrap up this mess by the twenty-seventh?"

"I can't promise that."

"No one can. It's not fair." Hannah sniffled again. "Will you at least call for help?"

"From you and Chuck?" Meryl didn't want to call children into a firefight, but Hannah had saved lives from Monev the Gale and had gotten her to Vash in Augusta. "What are you thinking of?"

Hannah wiped her nose on her sleeve as she turned and went to the motorcycle. "I need a tracer." The motorcycle beeped as a panel slid open. She pulled the dart-like object out and turned back to Meryl. "These tracers send a signal that can be read from orbit. I'm giving you guys a week. If this signal isn't heading back to us or if it dies, we are coming after you."

Meryl took the offered dart. It had a suction cup on one end and a stylized mousehead that matched the design of the motorcycle's headlamp on the other. "And the motorcycle can pick it up? Even if we go around the planet?"

"Don't worry about the range. It'll piggyback off the satellites' signal that goes to all the receivers. And I am telling Vash that I told you not to do this."

"Better bring him back so you can, then." Meryl tucked the tracer into her jacket pocket.

Wolfwood called out before he entered the shed. "Lunch is ready. How's the car repairs coming?"

"It'll fit, but I haven't actually connected or tested it yet," Hannah said.

"After lunch," Meryl said firmly. "Go wash your hands." They left the shed together. Hannah got ahead and veered around the house to the outside tub. Wolfwood slowed his long stride to match Meryl's pace. "Is everything all right?"

"I need to ask Granny Sheryl to keep an eye on them so Milly and I can go with you." He grimaced. Meryl raised an eyebrow. "Don't you say it's too dangerous. We probably have a better idea of what we're facing than you do."

"Oh, I wouldn't try to turn you girls from anything you set your mind to. I like my head on my shoulders; thank you very much. Needle-noggin actually shared some of his secrets?"

"Circumstances twisted his arm, but yes, he has." They went inside and put on cheerful faces for the others.

LR Town was built up to the edge of a canyon that the town turned into a sandsteamer dock. Fences had been driven into the bedrock to keep people from falling or tripping with the changes in elevation around the various squares that the streets led to. This square was the last one before boarding a sandsteamer.

Vash avoided the activity on that end and bought a dozen donuts from a vendor frying them in a tent in the center of the square. He sat down on a bench in front of one of the fences across the square from the DIJ Bar, which had people sitting with their drinks at tables and chairs on its porch.

They smelled divine after nine days of travel with none, but all he could think about was the last conversation with Meryl about donuts. You don't trust me around a box of donuts.

Meryl on his lap and in his arms had looked admiring and exasperated at the same time and he loved how she could do that. Not if we all want a donut, but that's not what is at stake here, is it? Lives are, and there's no one I trust more than you to save those.

He missed her. He missed all of them. Is this why Hannah was so insistent on staying together? To stave off this crushing loneliness? Hadn't he lived long enough and experienced it enough to know he would survive it? He would make new friends and move on before endangering them. That was his life, that was always his life; the last few months hadn't changed that.

But they had.

The donut turned to ash in his mouth. He let the rest dump on the ground, covered his face with his hands, and cried.

Two boys running through the square stopped in front of Vash. He saw their sturdy shoes between his fingers. "Hey! This guy's crying," one of them said.

"Yeah, and he's a grownup," the other sound surprised.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Vash asked. "Everyone feels like crying sometimes."

"Why are you crying?" the first boy asked.

"I had to leave my friends and I'm sad."

"Why?" the second boy asked.

"Because--" How to explain it to children? How to explain it to himself?

"They were going to die because of you," the second boy added.

Vash uncovered his face and looked up. The second boy held a blue toy car. "It's your fault. You're the one who gets so many people killed."

The first boy holding a red toy car spoke up next. "You know what's true. How many died in New MacFarlane, Felnarl, Lewiston, Augusta, July City? They didn't have to die."

Vash reeled. How did they know all those towns connected to him? "What are you saying?"

Both children's eyes rolled back in their sockets before they fell to the ground. Vash stood up. Everyone in this multi-level square had passed out, including toma. Passed out, not dead, because he saw chests continuing to rise and fall.

The sense of rot churned over the whole square. Vash turned to the source, and saw Legato Bluesummers standing at the top of a set of steps to a higher street. "I decided to do this as my humble way of exhibiting despondency for your abandonment. How'd I do?"

"You again!" Vash turned toward Bluesummers. "Damn you!"

"Are you going to draw?" Bluesummers asked calmly.

Vash froze before his hand grabbed the Colt. His duster settled around his legs. The second boy picked up his head from the ground. "Please stop. Don't do it. Someone else will die if you do this. Another one will die!"

Vash closed his eyes. He couldn't endanger these people.

"That's right." Vash looked up at Bluesummers as the blue-haired man continued. "You can't possibly draw. You seem to think you've never killed anyone, but I'm afraid you're very sadly mistaken. Your friends that traveled with you were quite right to leave you in their dust. You've managed to fool no one but yourself. You want to believe that because your hands aren't dirty, because you didn't personally pull the trigger, that you're innocent. When, in actuality, you've killed countless people."

"I was forced to do that!" Vash yanked his Colt out and held it over his head. "I had no choice!" He aimed at Bluesummers and his hand shook.

"It's strange. Every time you make that face, my left arm begins to shake uncontrollably. Is it because it was attached to you until twenty-seven years ago?" Bluesummers held out his left arm.

Vash gasped and gaped at Bluesummers. His arm? Had Knives, despite being grievously injured, orchestrated installing Vash's arm to this human telepath? Is that why Vash had such a struggle to keep Bluesummers out of his head when Meryl didn't? Is that why Bluesummers could affect a whole town of people?

Bluesummers lowered his left hand as he looked to the side. Vash looked in the same direction and saw a towering mountain with a plateau halfway up it just beyond the buildings of LR Town. "I will be waiting for you on that hill." Bluesummers turned and walked away. "If you wish to shoot me now, go ahead."

Vash gritted his teeth and lowered his Colt. No, he wouldn't shoot anyone in the back. There were groans underneath him, and he looked down in surprise.

The boy with the red car sat up. "My head feels funny."

The other townspeople woke up. Vash gnashed his teeth as he looked at all of them picking themselves up. "How dare you," he muttered. "How dare you be so damn casual to toy with people's lives."

"You do the same thing." A voice carried across the square to Vash. Surprised, Vash turned to the voice. A man leaned against the railing of DIJ Bar's porch with his back to the square. He wore a dark suit, and the large pink collar of the shirt underneath was over the jacket's lapels. "You alone turned July and Augusta into rubble and put a huge hole in the Fifth Moon as well. You can deny it, but you're a monster." He drank from the shot glass in his hand while Vash just stared at him. "You and he are exactly the same breed."

"Who do you think you are?" Vash asked.

The man set his empty shot glass on the railing. "I'm the eleventh Gung-Ho Gun, Midvalley the Hornfreak, the man who plays the greatest music on the greatest stage of all." He walked past all the other recovering townspeople on the porch and down the steps to the square, holding his sax up to play it. "It's time to play. Join me on a number. Won't you, Vash the Stampede?"

Chapter Text

A townsman sitting at a table behind Midvalley the Hornfreak dropped his beer mug. "Vash the Stampede?"

"No way, he can't be!" the man sitting with him exclaimed as they both stood up, knocking their chairs back.

The other townspeople screamed and scattered. Soon, the square emptied, leaving Vash and Midvalley in standoff on opposite sides of it. Midvalley took a deep breath and put the reed up to his mouth. Vash fired first. A sonic blast from the saxophone stopped the bullet before it pushed against Vash, knocking him off his feet and into a building that crumbled from the impact.

"What the?" Vash asked aloud before climbing out of the rubble.

Midvalley continued playing a tune on the saxophone before making the musical instrument generate another sonic blast. Vash dashed across the square and dodged behind a building's porch for cover. The sonic blast obliterated the porch, but Vash continued to run on a higher level of the square.

Somehow, he's able to synchronize the sound waves from his horn with the physical sensation of pain. Vash fired two bullets and flung himself between two buildings in line with the DIJ Bar.

Midvalley stopped the bullets and blew out all the glass in the windows before the buildings crumbled around Vash.

Vash scampered out of the falling debris but still got hit with dropping stones. He cleared the debris, aimed to fire, but a sharp shard of debris cut across his left cheek and he fell back.

Midvalley stopped playing with a content hum. "Sylvia," he raised the saxophone slightly, "is responding rather well today. Hey, you wouldn't know, but up close, the sound that's produced by even a famous, top-quality instrument can actually sound rather flat sometimes." Vash pressed his right coat sleeve against the cut on his face. Midvalley continued, "Of course, there are varying degrees, but you are the only one able to bring out the greatest sound. A beautiful melody is greeted with applause; the audience shouts with appreciation. The acknowledgment of a splendid performance."

Vash stood up. "Why didn't you finish me off? What are you waiting for? It's obvious you could've taken me out by now."

"The answer is simple. I'm under his orders. The choice is not mine."

"Knives." Vash gritted his teeth after speaking.

The musician nodded. "Can't defy him. Anyone working for Knives is at his beck and call. You relinquish all rights and free thought. End of discussion."

"You're wrong." Vash stepped toward him. "You're wrong about that!"

"A superior being trying to show mercy?"

Knives' common refrain said by someone else like it was gospel truth shocked Vash into freezing. A third man's voice carried into the square. "Help me! I can't stop myself!" Vash whirled toward the voice and saw a townsman lurching down an inclined street. "What's happening to me?!" he screamed.

"Legato again!" Vash said. Midvalley snorted before he began to play again. "NO!" Vash ran in front of the helpless man, and the sonic wave blast hit his body instead of the human. The wave rippled through his flesh and bones, but Vash stayed intact even if he fell to his knees when the blast ended.

"No! Please! Please don't kill me!" Another townsman lurched into the square between the destroyed buildings of the first two blasts at Vash. Vash scrambled up, ran to him, and took the next sound blast.

"Somebody help stop me! Please help me!" A third victim? He came from the other side of the square from the other two controlled men. Vash ran toward him, slowed by the direct hits he had taken, and passed Midvalley. The sonic blast nailed Vash in the back and threw him skidding face down across the ground in front of the third man.

Midvalley stopped playing. Vash pushed himself up slowly. Every muscle in his body trembled. Two of the three bystander hostages jerked across the square to join the third behind Vash while the musician sauntered to Vash. "Talk about iron wills." He lifted Vash's chin with his foot. "Your dedication is commendable."

Vash shifted his left arm, and the gun shredded the leather covering. Midvalley stepped on its muzzle and Vash gasped in pain as his whole arm was twisted.

"It's not over yet. The show must go on." Midvalley raised the saxophone reed to his mouth.

The townsmen moaned in fear.

"Stop it!" Vash pulled the trigger all the way back, switching the gun to an automatic fire. Bullets sprayed on a building to the side of them.

"You gotta be cool," Midvalley advised.

Vash strained to shift his arm under Midvalley's weight and fired again. Now the bullets ricocheted and nearly hit Midvalley as he was forced to dodge them, and took his foot off Vash. Vash raised his arm while shooting. The saxophone took the hit of a couple of bullets.

Midvalley danced back and blew into the saxophone. No notes came out, just wind. "DAH! My B flat! My B flat's gone!"

Vash remained on the ground. "Sorry. The show's over."

"What are you saying? You've been trying for a ricochet shot?" Midvalley stared down at him, then chuckled. "Of course you were. But it's not quite time for the curtain call yet. You still have a gauntlet of seven acts to go through before reaching Legato Bluesummers. I was just the opening act." He pressed a control, and the saxophone transformed.

Muzzles emerged from the note holes after the casing raised to expose them. All but one where the bullets had gashed the thin metal of the instrument. "I have to accept this as my fate. The destiny of the dying."

"Don't! Stop it! If you shoot now--" Vash pushed himself up on shaking arms. "Don't! NOOOO!"

Midvalley chuckled before squeezing the saxophone weapon's trigger fully. It blew up.

Vash let his face fall to the dust, tears streaming fully. Four ragged breathers, where there had been five. He took a deep breath, filling himself all the way down to his toes, and rolled up to stand on his feet.

Midvalley's body had fallen face down on the street. He turned away and looked up at the mountain with the jutting plateau. Legato was up there by now. He gritted his teeth and ignored the stinging cut on his cheek as he headed toward his next showdown.

Meryl stared at the canyons closing around the repaired car from the backseat. Letting Milly have the front passenger seat while Wolfwood drove was the least she could do. Hannah's repairs had lasted the pace Wolfwood had set with the vehicle. Only four days of travel and they were already in the outskirts of LR Town.

The silence beyond the car's engine was suspicious. Maybe they had reached the area before the Gung-Ho Guns found Vash. God, she hoped so, for all their sakes.

Something glinted on top of one of the canyon walls. Meryl straightened as she saw it. "What is that?"

"What is what?" Wolfwood glanced over his shoulder at Meryl and then looked ahead.

"Something bright up there."

"I don't see anything." Milly shaded her eyes as she scanned the canyon walls. The glinting was gone, but now Meryl heard a whistle heading toward them. She swiveled her head, trying to find the source of that sound. "What's wrong now?" Milly asked.

Before Meryl could answer, something punched through the front metal fender, the engine that Hannah had repaired, and out the other fender. They all shrieked and Meryl and Milly braced themselves as the car spun violently and Wolfwood fought with the steering wheel to stop it.

The car finally careened to a halt; even if Meryl's head hadn't stopped spinning and the dust obscured everything, they at least had not slammed into one of the rock walls. But hands reached through the dust cloud, seized Meryl, and hauled her over the car door without opening it.

"Let me go!" Meryl kicked, but more hands grabbed her limbs. The dust drifted down, revealing men who stood out of her range as they grabbed her legs to stop her from kicking. They surrounded the car, but their faces were distraught, not enraged, not lustful. The level of fear they showed didn't match their command of this situation.

Meryl's right hand got released enough for her to jam it into her jacket pocket and wrapped it around the tracer Hannah had given her. The slender metal cylinder fit inside her fist. Her captors tugged her fist free from the pocket but didn't pry it open as they tied her arms behind her back.

Milly punched a man yanking her out of the car. He staggered back, and she grabbed her stun gun under her coat. But three more men grabbed her arms and hair, pulling her over the car door before she got it out. Milly screamed.

Wolfwood twisted in the driver's seat and lunged over to grab his metal cross and its arsenal of handguns. He froze along with everyone else as a spray of bullets went over their heads and hit the canyon wall to the left of the car.

Meryl followed the gunfire to a tall man in a dark gray suit with a matching hat above a pair of red goggles. Milly and Wolfwood's head also turned toward him, but the men surrounding the car didn't look at him.

He held a silver machine gun in each arm, and the one on his left arm shifted to point at Milly. "Let's be sensible about this. You are coming with us, but not all of you are needed. Do you wish to continue to fight?"

Wolfwood's eyes darted between the man and Milly before raising his hands. "What the hell are you pulling here, Chapel?"

So this was the mysterious Chapel, who was gone by the time Hannah and she had reached Chuck and Vash. Had he always been aligned with Vash's enemies? He certainly was now. Thank goodness Chuck and Hannah were out of this.

"Fulfilling my contract," Chapel answered. He kept the gun in his right hand trained on Wolfwood. "Will you cooperate?"

"For now." One of the silent men opened the driver's door of the car and Wolfwood stepped out without lowering his hands. The men surrounding him frisked him and pulled a handgun out from under his suit jacket. That seemed to remind the others to frisk Meryl, and they confiscated the Double Eagle before wrapping rope around her torso to secure her arms to her sides. Milly lost her stun gun and soon had ropes around her upper body like Meryl.

The silence caused Meryl's nerves to tighten more. To think, actually missing lewd catcalls from a gang of men? But that was normal behavior from a gang and this was not. They mutely steered and pushed them through the canyon and up a hiking trail.

Legato looked down on LR Town from the plateau. "We should have died a very long time ago, you and I. The instant we fell upon this sandy land without pain and without sorrow. Now the schedule has been merely set back. The end is near. It is time to embrace it."

The music and sonic booms had ended hours ago when his thread to Midvalley snapped. But the rest of the Gung-Ho Guns lining the road to this spot hadn't engaged with Vash the Stampede either.

"Surely, you wouldn't be such a coward to just leave this town in my hands." Vash hadn't left. Legato could still feel their connection, even if diving into the Independent's mind was steadily blocked. He stretched his left hand between his gaze and the buildings below. "I will send them all into the wastes for my Master. It pleases him so to think of the spiders walking until they collapse of thirst."

"No, you won't." Vash's voice slammed into Legato's mind right before a bullet from behind shattered the skull decoration on his arm.

Legato spun around and craned his neck up. Vash the Stampede stood on an outcrop of rock higher than the cliff Legato had chosen. The wind flapped the panels of his duster, but the right arm held the Colt steady now. "I'm not in the mood to run the gauntlet you set up," he said out loud.

"You think you have the moral high ground to match your physical?" Legato felt Vash's anger ripple up his left arm. "Do you hate me for pointing out that you do not? I'm not surprised. If you do, I wouldn't blame you. So many sad things happen to you. Whether they are friend or enemy, the people you meet die. It's enough to stop one's tears."

"Shut up!" The Colt didn't waver through the angry shout.

"You know this is not finished yet. Come down here and finish it."

Vash looked down at Legato with disgust on his bleeding face.

Legato summoned his minions.

The townsmen moved in unison around the mountain and fired their rifles at Vash. One bullet grazed Vash's right cheek while the others made the Independent leap from the outcrop. He landed behind Legato. "Bastard!"

"Did you really expect the end to come so easily?" Legato turned to watch Vash with one golden eye. "Don't you understand you're not human?" He lifted his left hand, their shared hand. "It is time to realize exactly who you are." He made a fist and squeezed it.

The panels flew off the Colt and the plant module his Master had placed inside it spun, creating sparking energy with Legato's unspoken command. Vash stared at the pink-tinged light as he staggered back from the human telepath.

Legato finished the turn to face one of the most powerful forces on the planet. The transformation spread up Vash's arm. "There is power in that light. Power that you have always possessed. Even more, this represents what you are."

"This is not what I am!" Vash jerked his right arm into the air. "I'm not a weapon!" The gray color reversed, the emerging sphere closed back inside Vash's arm, and his hand and Colt separated. He dropped in a heap on the ground.

Legato tilted his head. "Haven't you given up yet, Vash?" Vash panted as he seethed looking up at Legato. "It's really quite annoying," Legato added.

A bullet from one of the townsmen at the end of the trail hit Vash and knocked him down onto his hip. Another bullet went through Vash's right leg by his knee.

"You're out of options. Fight back or you'll die."

Vash aimed the Colt at Legato, but his anger was colliding with his morality.

"Give me the gift of nothingness. Give me death!"

"I CAN'T!" Vash jerked his gun up as he turned away from Legato.

Legato closed his eyes and summoned the pawns. More townsmen pushed the captives to the front and the Gung-Ho Guns barricaded the road back down the mountain. No escape for any of them now. He heard the shrill involuntary cries of the women, the grunt of a man, and the horrified gasp of the Independent.

"Stop them!" Vash demanded.

A bullet struck the bedrock. A woman screamed.

"I said STOP IT NOW!" Vash yelled as he leaped back up to his feet.

Legato's eyes sprang open again. "THEN SHOOT ME!"

Vash recoiled again, horror twisting his expression delightfully. Yes, eternal suffering, just what his Master wanted for his dear brother. A rewarding release at last for Legato's faithful service. Just aim that big silver gun, and the words to make Vash pull the trigger were ready on Legato's tongue.

Vash dropped the Colt as he turned to the pathetic humans he claimed as friends.

Legato stared at the silver handgun gleaming in the sunlight as it fell before tearing his gaze up to Vash, galloping to the mass of people. The townsmen fired at the red coat, but he didn't stop. Long white feathers emerged like tentacles of a creature from mythic Earth as Vash pushed through the line of men and dropped his body over the small woman.

"Fire, FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!" Legato seethed.

All the rifles went off.

The silent men and Chapel forced them up a road in the cliffs outside of LR Town. Even stranger looking mercenaries joined the strange parade and reminded Meryl she should have been studying the wanted poster boards for the worse of the worst who would come after Vash. They moved more freely than the normal-looking men with the distressed expressions did, including the one that seemed to be a pair of legs tucked inside a spinning top. Were these the rest of the Gung-Ho Guns?

The road led up to a cliff with a lookout point over LR Town and a cluster of more men between them and the rest of the almost plateau. The men parted for their group and Meryl's heart leaped. Vash, with blood running from cuts on both his cheeks and the sleeve gone over his right arm, sat on the ground and turned away from the blue-haired man in a long white coat standing over him. Before anyone could say anything, rough hands pushed her down onto her knees. They pushed Milly down next and then Wolfwood between them. Vash's mouth dropped open seeing them. Before Meryl could check that they were okay, a shove toppled her over. She twisted, landed on her arms, and cried out from the pain. Her fist remained closed tight around the tracer.

"Stop them!" Vash demanded.

Meryl screamed involuntarily when a bullet hit the rock next to her head.

"I said STOP IT NOW!" Vash yelled.

"THEN SHOOT ME!" The voice she had heard in her head back in Augusta screamed back.

Men shuffled around them in a circle, cocked their rifles, and took turns shooting the ground between the prisoners. The bullets were inching closer to actually hitting. No protection, no hiding!

Then Vash crammed himself between the shooters and slung himself over her, propping up on his arms to not squash her. A hail of gunfire started as the circle of shooters reformed. White erupted out of Vash's back but not wing-shaped and stretched over Wolfwood and Milly. He screamed and convulsed as the bullets tore through his coat and sank into his flesh. Meryl screamed with him, all she could do. She couldn't untie the ropes around her arms.

Metal shattered and ricocheted nearby, and Vash lost balance over her. He slumped. His screams died as his eyes rolled back under his eyelids. The bullets jostled his limp body.

"Vash! Vash! VASH!" Meryl screamed his name again and again and he didn't move. The gunfire volley finally ended. She caught her breath, past her desire to sob. Vash still wasn't moving.

"You bastard!" Wolfwood yelled. He knelt next to Meryl, untied. "You know the boss doesn't want him dead!" He felt for a pulse on Vash's neck and then twisted his head to look up at the blue-haired man who had walked up to the group. "You need to get him medical help now or there'll be hell to pay."

"Our task is to make Vash the Stampede suffer," said a man in a blue suit with bushy auburn hair, one of the mercenaries.

"Your job. Mine is to keep him alive." Wolfwood's hard expression didn't flinch as he glared at the blue-haired man. "Are you helping, Bluesummers, or getting out of my way?"

"Remember your place, Nicholas the Punisher." Bluesummers' golden eye visible through his blue fringe glinted.

Meryl's hand tightened on the tracer. No, we trusted you. Vash considers you a friend. Milly likes you. Please, no. The tracer snapped in half in her grip.

Wolfwood continued glaring at Bluesummers. "I do. And I'll tell the boss who's responsible for his brother's state." He shifted his glare off Bluesummers as he moved to lift Vash off of Meryl.

Bluesummers tsked and raised his left hand. The silent men all crumpled to the ground like abandoned toys. Vash levitated into the air with no one touching him. But he didn't wake up. "Take the other conveyance," Bluesummers said. "Bring the women. Our master wants them." He walked down the road, and the mercenaries made way for him and Vash floating after him.

Wolfwood bent over Meryl, blocking her view of Vash. She bared her teeth at him, but he whispered. "Don't lash out. Not until Vash has help." He didn't wait for her assent before lifting her onto her feet. Then he pulled Milly up before any of the other Gung-Ho Guns touched her. He moved behind Meryl and Milly and stayed between them and the other four as they moved down the road.

They didn't go downhill very far, just to a pull-off where a large metal coach shorter than a bus was parked next to a circular metal platform. Bluesummers climbed onto the platform and Vash's red-coated figure lying on its floor was visible through the gap in the railing. Bluesummers sat on seating molded with the railing and then the platform lifted into the air, under its own power or Bluesummers', Meryl wasn't sure.

An older man wearing a brown coat with a darker brown capelet around his shoulders and a bowler hat stood next to the coach. He opened a suitcase on the ground and the head of the auburn-haired man detached from his neck and it flew into the suitcase followed by the arms, legs, and body. "Zazie the Beast declined to travel with us," the white-haired man announced to the group as he closed the suitcase. "Claimed there was something else he had to see to."

"He may have received separate orders," Chapel said. "Master Knives is fond of that." His red-goggles looked like they were staring at Wolfwood.

Wolfwood didn't respond.

The large man, whose brown armor had a bald helmet and left most of his torso exposed, grabbed metal rungs on the back of the coach with hands as long as Vash was tall and sat on its roof. He was much too large to sit inside.

While he was getting into position, a tall man wearing body armor and bandages around his arms and fingers under his loose green cape and a skull-like mask that covered his entire face except for one eye under his wide-brimmed hat walked up to join this strange group. He carried a bulky mass of metal propped on one shoulder. Half of it looked like a rifle and a scope, but the rest was a barrel of insane thickness.

Wolfwood put a hand on Meryl's shoulder and his other on Milly's. Meryl restrained herself from kicking him. Cooperating with these miscreants was her only chance to save Vash. Wolfwood steered them into the coach that had a center aisle between bench seats, just like a bus.

Meryl went onto the bench first, ending up next to the window. The coach drove downhill and into the desert after all the Gung-Ho Guns were aboard.

Hannah scratched her head and read over the practice instructions one more time. These grammar exercises were the hardest when they wanted her to make up a sentence using all the listed parts: pronoun, adjective, adverb, phrases. She was much better at identifying them in a sentence.

I would rather be wrench jockeying. She wrote into the workbook.

The bike honked continuously, breaking the silence of the three children at the table working on lessons.

"What's wrong now?" Chuck dropped his pencil onto the table and turned to the kitchen window.

"Wrong?" Hannah asked.

"She's coming to the house."

"Who is?" Lina asked.

Hannah ran to the back door closest to the shed with Chuck and Lina right next to her when she stopped on the porch. The black bike rolled up to it, still honking.

"Whoa!" Lina exclaimed as Granny Sheryl joined them on the porch. "It drives by itself?"

"Yeah," Chuck said. "Oh, we're keeping that a secret. Don't tell bandits or the army."

Hannah patted the bike as she stepped off the porch. "What's wrong?" She picked up her helmet out of the storage compartment and put it on, sliding on the face shield as it settled onto her head.

"Last tracer signal ended" printed on the face shield followed by a string of coordinates of where it died.

Hannah's stomach clenched. "The tracer died."

"My earring is still on!" Chuck pointed to the green stone stud in his ear.

"Not that one. I gave Meryl-ma'am one. To make sure they came back to get us. Didn't expect her to use it as a call for help."

"They're in trouble already? I'll go pack." He ran back into the house.

Hannah took off her helmet and put it back in the storage compartment. Granny Sheryl frowned at her. "Hannah-girl, are you sure about this?" Hannah looked at her, puzzled. "Do you want to take your little brother into danger?" the old woman asked.

"Don't you dare try to leave me behind!" Chuck yelled from inside.

"We have to stick together, so I can't leave him behind."

Granny Sheryl shook her head. "This isn't what they wanted for you. They left you out of it, left you here because you could have a good life. Kasted City doesn't have anyone that can build things like you can. You can fill a hole in this town and we can keep your brother safe."

Hannah blinked. "Granny Sheryl, thank you. Really. I know people don't offer that to strangers just like that. But Meryl-ma'am and Vash were the first people to help us here, and Vash is our bro, and well, they're our adults now."

"We called dibs!" Chuck yelled from inside.

"Dibs?" Lina asked.

"Claiming something before anyone else does," Hannah explained. "Nobody else wanted Vash in a good way except Meryl-ma'am and us. So we gotta go after them. And as Vash would say, the situation they're in is not equal, so we have to do something to even the odds." That saying made sense like physics equations did. "Besides, it's not the Biker Mice way to leave your friends and family to certain doom."

"It can't be the way to have children fight someone who has defeated Vash the Stampede!" Granny Sheryl thumped her forearm crutch on the porch.

She was scared for them, Hannah realized. "We won't be fighting." She picked up a fist-sized rock. "Demo time!" She tossed it into the air.

The bike revved, pivoted, and shot the rock with a laser cannon without hitting the house or anything else.

Granny Sheryl and Lina both stepped back. "My word!"

Hannah grinned. "She's an AI war machine, a Martian bonded battle bike. She'll be doing the fighting, Granny. We just have to get her there."

"No wonder you are keeping it a secret," Granny Sheryl said.

"Why didn't Vash take it with him?" Lina asked.

"She's bonded to me and Chuck; she was our Dad's bike first. And Vash doesn't want us or her to feel like he's stealing her. Anyway, this is a rescue and Chuck and me actually have a lot of experience with those. She'll do any blowing up necessary for us to reach the others." Hannah patted the bike again.

Granny Sheryl took a deep breath. "You are determined to do this."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Very well. You two aren't leaving without a decent supper in your bellies. And I want to check your camping supplies before you go. Come on back inside."

Hannah nodded and followed them inside.

Chapter Text

Milly couldn't see where this small bus they were in headed. Meryl sat next to the window. Wolfwood had the end of the seat. She was between two rigid bodies that could be mistaken for metal they were so tense. The suns had set, and the bus kept driving. The other Gung-Ho Guns were sitting toward the front, talking about how easy Vash was to defeat after all and what they will do now for fun. Most of the suggestions concerned her and Meryl. She'd pass on all of them for the both of them if given a chance.

The one who had captured them stood and walked toward them. Chapel, Wolfwood had named him Chapel when Chuck had described him. He had made no comments about making Meryl and her puppets, so what did he want now? His expression didn't change, but he reached into a seat space on the other side of the bug and pulled out Wolfwood's cloth-covered cross. Oh, someone had packed all their luggage on this bus. Well, that was a slight comfort. Rapists never really worried about a change of clothes for their victims.

He set the cross on the floor and leaned it toward Wolfwood. "You should have taken it back before now." His tone reminded Milly of her father's, a gently chiding reminder.

"I knew where it was." Wolfwood reached out and pulled it into his grip.

"Nicholas, you aren't getting attached, are you?"

Wolfwood's eyes narrowed as they stared at Chapel behind his sunglasses.

"I taught you better than that." Chapel returned to his seat after that chide. Wolfwood didn't respond or move, other than a muscle ticking over his jawbone. So, it was that kind of apprenticeship.

The bus approached a crater wall and continued through a tunnel at its base. Most towns had flattened crater walls for a road, so this one was odd. A structure she couldn't make out through her views out the windows nestled inside the crater and loomed over the bus as it blocked the moons' light from shining in the windows. They drove onto something much smoother than the ground and then through a gate in the structure and parked inside the largest metal room Milly had ever seen, lit up like it was noon.

"He's invited us in. Maybe the only way he can sit on this lot," Wolfwood muttered under his breath. His voice went louder as he stood. "Come on."

Milly glanced at Meryl. Her gray eyes were so bleak, but she gave a determined nod to obey. Wolfwood pulled Milly up from the bench and into the aisle, but it was gentle and he helped Meryl out next. It would be easier if he untied their arms.

The vehicle had parked inside a metal room filled with other various vehicles. Milly spotted the flying platform that Bluesummers had taken Vash away in or at least one just like it. Were they in a ship? She had never been inside a ship before. She squinted her eyes as she looked up to see the lights. Her gaze came down, and she saw Bluesummers next to a regular door. So, they were that much closer to Vash!

Meryl had noticed Bluesummers too, and her gaze darted around. Milly didn't see any sign of Vash, not even a scrap of his red coat. Hopefully that meant he was in the medical rooms?

The door next to Legato slid open. The Gung-Ho Guns all went absolutely silent as the man walked in. As tall as Vash and Mr. Priest, he looked skinnier with the form-fitting white and red jumpsuit he wore. He was blond and blue-eyed but different shades from Vash's and his hair was clipped short. His skin was paler too; less time out in the suns, maybe?

Knives strode toward them with a calculating expression and stopped right in front of her and Meryl. "Which one, Legato?"

Bluesummers hadn't moved from the door. "The short one with black hair, Master."

Knives looked down his nose at Meryl. It was the same shape as Vash's, too. "Follow the numbers to your quarters." Then he grabbed Meryl's upper right arm and pulled her away. They were through the door before Meryl or Milly could utter a peep.

"How nice," the older man with a hunched back under his brown coat said. "We get to stay." He pushed up his thick glasses.

"Well, if Master Knives has no use for this one, can we have some fun?" A flat mask with multiple eye holes peeked out from the thing shaped like a child's top. The rest of his body emerged, and it was more insect-like than human, with segmented body armor that curled around to the smaller portion of the spinning top. She didn't see any legs, but he had two long arms. The long-fingered, spindly left hand wrapped around Milly's calf.

Before she screamed or jerked away, Wolfwood dropped the end of his cross toward the long arm.

Flat mask let go and yanked his arm back to his body behind the top so it didn't get hit.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you to keep your hands to yourself, Hoppered?" Wolfwood wrapped his hand around Milly's upper arm and pushed her gently toward the door.

Hoppered laughed harshly. "But you can touch? Something else you're a hypocrite about, church man?"

Wolfwood ignored him as he ushered Milly through the door. "Follow the five." He kept his hand on her arm as they walked down a tall hallway, but the grip didn't exist. A display screen mounted on the wall had a list of numbers, with arrows pointing in different directions to go at the first intersection. The arrow next to the five pointed down the left hall.

They took turns through two more intersections before the numeral five was etched on a door. The door slid open to a bedroom with a bed wide enough for two on the back wall, a table with two chairs sat left of the door, and a single chair to the right of the door. At least she thought it was a chair; she had never seen half-an-egg shape on a single leg used as a chair before.

The door slid shut behind them. Wolfwood heaved a sigh. "God Almighty, what a fucking clusterfuck!" He set his cross down next to the door and that strange chair before pressing buttons on a keypad next to the door.

Milly wanted to sit down, but she didn't trust that strange chair and she needed hands to pull a chair out at the table, so she sat down on the end of the bed and looked up at Wolfwood. "Why are you one of them?"

Wolfwood had taken off his sunglasses and looked stricken at her. "I'm not. Not really. Damn, this looks horrible and sounds worse. Knives gave me a number like the rest of his Gung-Ho Guns, but I never sold off my humanity to get a gift from him. The rest of them have, and you see the monsters they have become. My soul is forfeit for the evil I have already done."

"Evil?"

"We're nothing like God. Not only do we have limited powers, but sometimes we're driven to become the devil himself. Even me, Big Girl." He shook himself from that bleakness. "Food. You need food. Let me see if I remember how to use this thing."

He turned to a screen built into the wall between the door and the table and pressed things on it. A hidden slot door even with the tabletop opened and two trays with covered plates slid out onto the table. He moved the trays in front of the chairs before turning back to her. "Oh." He stepped to her and started on the knots around her arms. "Please don't hit me. I got you pudding."

Milly stretched her freed arms. "Thank you. And I'm not hitting you until I get an explanation." She probably still wouldn't hit him; he hadn't joked about raping them or turning them into puppets after all. And to prove it, she went to the table. The tray with the pudding cup was obvious.

Wolfwood slinked to the other chair at the table, the one closer to the door. "It's not exactly dinner conversation."

"Of course not, but you really need to talk about it." Normally, she would start with the pudding cup, but she might need it after if Wolfwood actually spit anything out, so she started with the vegetables under the covered plate.

"You want my life story?"

"You know mine. Well, up until what has happened since we found the children. But a lot of that didn't happen to me, so it's not my story to tell."

Wolfwood blinked at her. "The first time I picked up a gun, I used it to kill my guardian. I was seven."

"Hannah said not all families are good ones."

"Did Vash keep her around to break that cynicism?" He lifted the cover of his plate.

"Vash kept them because their parents can't follow them here and they can't go back home. They kept Vash because Vash needs better family. Your guardian was hurting you, wasn't he?"

"Not much else drives a seven-year-old to pull a trigger. Chapel the Evergreen trained that killing instinct for the next seventeen years. And I killed people for money. And to save children, but mostly for money. I put it to running my orphanage to keep any children from having to suffer on this planet." He poked at his food with his fork, but it didn't end up in his mouth.

Milly swallowed her bite. "That was a good thing, and a necessary thing on Gunsmoke."

"Sad truth. So, Chapel nominated me for the Gung-Ho Guns when Bluesummers was gathering them up for Knives. Ole Legato explained how his Master wanted Vash to suffer through trials of kill or be killed. I wasn't interested. So, they offered me a different job: keep Vash alive and guide him to Knives."

"You certainly didn't stick around to do that." That admission hurt more than she expected it to. She had seen how Wolfwood and Vash had synced together back on the bus to May City when Meryl had called them both birds. It had gotten stronger when they had both jumped off the bus to rescue the little girl from the metal monsters and through all their antics in May City. But she had thought she and Wolfwood had developed something like that when they helped Moore and Julius in the caravan.

"He's actually capable." Wolfwood snorted. "And I didn't expect to actually like his idiotic ass. Or Meryl and you." He sighed. "I thought there was more time."

"What changed the schedule?"

"Augusta not blowing up, I guess. Bluesummers found me and ordered me to get Vash to LR Town and make sure you and Meryl were there to use as bargaining chips or my kids would pay the price. I didn't expect this."

"What did you think would happen?"

"I thought Vash would pull off some miracle like he always does! Not risk himself to protect us."

Milly shook her head. "He protected us," and she'd never forget seeing feathers coming out of Vash to catch bullets, "but only because we were close to Meryl and the baby."

He stopped stirring the food on his plate. "Meryl's pregnant? When did that happen?"

"The caravan."

"When did she have time to find a man with the way she was glued to Vash?"

"It is Vash's baby."

His slight amusement over Meryl's condition fled. "It can't be. Vash and Knives aren't human. It's not possible for Vash to be a father."

"Well, he is. Or will be if everything goes well."

"How?!"

She was done with her meal and recovered her plate. "I never thought you'd need a lesson on where babies come from."

He took a deep breath. "Milly, the twins came out of a plant bulb."

"Yes, Vash told us. And Knives caused the Great Fall."

"Meryl said Vash had told his secrets. But he's not Knives, experimenting on people." He shoved his tray toward the wall end of the table and stared at the tabletop. Milly opened her pudding cup. This might take a while.

He looked up at her with eyes growing larger at the only possible answer. "Meryl's a plant too?!"

Milly nodded, since the spoonful of pudding and the spoon were still in her mouth.

"Knives doesn't know that. He thinks she's a human." Wolfwood stood.

"Where are you going?" Milly asked as soon as she swallowed.

"To stop him from accidentally killing her!"

"Knives didn't shoot first, which is what Vash was worried about. Meryl can tell him. She will not let him kill her without a fight."

He fell back into the chair. "Yeah, you're right. She's tough."

"So we're prisoners to make Vash cooperate with Knives." She ate more pudding while Wolfwood assented to that statement with a grunt and the return of contrition to his dark blue eyes. "Wish I had gotten more inconvenient hostage tips from Chuck and Hannah," she added as she finished the pudding cup.

His recriminating eyes narrowed in confusion. "What kind of tips from those two kids?"

"The enemies of their parents and uncles have kidnapped them a lot. They've learned how to make that a regrettable choice." She wiped her mouth and hands before shedding her coat and letting it fall over the back of the chair.

He shook his head. "Let's not risk it. We're expendable humans, after all." He planted his elbows on the table and leaned his face into his hands. "Not that I have any clue what to do with you, my kids; hell, the whole damn planet in the balance."

Milly smiled at him, putting her first on the list. "Nothing's happening tonight, or really, for the next few days. Vash needs to heal, and he is also a master at stalling techniques. Has all my former coworkers and my brother Liam beat by iles." She did frown at his plate and how much he had not eaten. "You shouldn't skip any more meals while we wait. You need your strength."

"Our plan depends on Needle-noggin?" He didn't lift his face from his hands. "Because that worked so well today."

"He has Meryl to plan now. She's good at those." Milly got up and wrapped her arms around Wolfwood's head and tugged him against her chest. "Shush, it's going to be all right."

"You're kind."

"And you aren't evil." She kissed the top of his head.

"You have such experience with it."

"Your first response is to help. On the bus, in May City, now. Evil doesn't care about anyone else."

He pulled out of her hug to blink up at her. "I have brought you here to the heart of all that threatens Gunsmoke."

"To keep your children safe. And you're keeping me safe. And we're here to help Vash stop it when he's better." She ran her fingers into his hair, keeping his face tilted up. "Don't hate yourself so much, dear." She leaned down and kissed him directly on the lips.

His mouth opened beneath hers eagerly and his strong, broad hands found her upper arms and gripped there to keep her from pulling away. As if she had any intentions of doing that. Always follow your heart also meant don't be stupid when the opportunity arrives.

Wolfwood pulled back, but didn't let go of her. "You don't have to barter for your safety, Milly. What they said during the ride here--"

"Was not said by you." Also, the only part she had never heard before was the skinning to be made into puppets part but they needed to concentrate on happy and good things right now. "Has never been said by you. I want this with you, if you want, Nicholas. Unless it is a sin for you. I don't want to cause you difficulties."

"Nothing with you could ever be a sin." His grip loosened on her arms and he surged out of the chair, catching her face between his hands and kissing her again.

Desire raced from her lips through her whole body, ending in a pulsing need between her legs. Her hands found her suspenders, yanked them down, and undid her trousers before sliding them onto his shirt-covered chest under his jacket. He let go of her face to shrug off his jacket and an underarm holster, but kept their lips locked. She moved her hands up to his neck to stay together.

He got his shirt unbuttoned before they had to breathe. "We're going to rip clothes at this rate."

"Out of practice?" She giggled at his face as she bent down, undid the laces on her boots, and toed them off as she dropped her trousers and panties. That wiped away his indignant expression. "Am I winning now?"

His eyes glittered while she unbuttoned her shirt without looking down. "Dangerous game to start, honey. Surely you know how competitive I am by now."

"I'm more interested in the finish." She fanned open her shirt, but before she slipped it off, Nicholas grabbed her leg and her hip and tossed her onto the bed.

"You're gonna be plenty satisfied before we finish, Milly-darling," he said, perched over her bare chested. He pushed off the mattress, still holding her leg. She marveled at the difference in their skin tones before he pressed his lips against her inner thigh near her knee and shivers moved through her.

He knelt, lowering her leg with him as his hot mouth trailed kisses up her thigh. She grabbed the bedding underneath to hold on as her shivers grew to tremors. Her knee bent comfortably over his shoulder when his face hovered over her curls. "Full of sweet honey for me?" he asked.

"For a while now, yes, oh!" Her words fled, leaving a moan behind when his fingers parted her folds and brushed where she throbbed. She gushed when his tongue brushed the way his finger had. Her body clenched against the tremors, against the moans his tongue delved out of her.

His fingers moved deeper inside when he came up for air. "So sweet, so damn sweet to a monster like me." Before she could argue that a monster was as a monster did, he closed his mouth on her clit and sucked right with his fingers stroking her sweet spot. The tightness of her whole body broke into a quake. She wailed with the force of it.

He retreated as she recovered. She propped up on her elbows, but her complaint died in her throat as she watched him shed his trousers. No denying that he wanted her with that erection springing out. She licked her lips and shrugged off her shirt. The hunger on his face looked grateful as he crawled onto the bed.

"Help ya with that?" He brushed his fingers over the bra strap on her shoulder.

"Please," she breathed as she leaned in and kissed him. His calloused fingertips slid over her skin. They unclasped her bra without fumbling, and she lost the desire to tease about his practice when his hands replaced the silky fabric. He squeezed and her head fell back with a gasp.

His lips pressed down on the pulse point of her neck as he kneaded her breasts. "So soft," he murmured. "How can you be so tough and so soft at the same time?"

Her hands found his head, carding into his hair. She tugged on it and his teeth scraped her collarbone. "Nicholas," was inside her moan.

He let go of her breasts. She almost whined about that, but he tipped her back onto the mattress, propping her leg up against his chest. Oh, that opened up a whole new angle as he slotted inside. Pleasure sparked tiny fires as it traveled up her body. She grinned at the awed expression Nicholas had now, and rolled her hips against his.

"Milly-honey." He moved now, and it felt so good. She moaned as the pleasure tremors shook through her once more. Her orgasm pulled him over his edge. He let go of her leg and collapsed on top of her.

She wrapped her arms around him when he tried to roll off her. "Shush, you aren't that heavy." She kissed his forehead.

He embraced her slowly, still unsure of his welcome. "Have never heard that before, afterwards."

"It hasn't meant so much before. Getting mercy for your honesty." Nicholas stopped breathing. "I love you. And we're going to get Vash out of here."

That got him breathing again, and he picked up his head to look at her face. "I love you too, Miracle Milly." He kissed her again. She ran her hands over the planes of his back. He hummed into her mouth.

There would be time to sleep later.

Meryl practically ran, so she didn't lose her footing as Knives' stride through the metal halls didn't slow and his grip on her upper arm didn't ease. She had no doubt that he would drag her along if she did trip. A door that didn't slide open ahead of them gave her a chance to catch her breath as Knives typed something into the keypad next to it.

The next room was as large as the vehicle room and filled with the bottom of a glowing plant bulb. Medical tables and equipment lined the walls from the bulb to an aisle between the door they had just entered and a door the same size directly opposite. Her stomach churned. This place was far too similar to where she was born.

Her gaze darted around for a distraction or a hint of why Knives had brought her to this laboratory. A metal arm lay on the closest exam table. The trigger and gun muzzle exposed, the hand extended away from the trigger, and bullet holes perforated its metal skin. She gasped.

Knives pulled her away through the second door and into another hallway. She looked up at his face. Was he smirking? She didn't have a good angle to see.

They stopped at another door that needed a button pushed to open. Knives wrenched her ahead of him and pushed her into a bedroom? It was hard to see what this room was intended for with the racks of clothing pushed around the furniture present. He pushed her past a bed toward an unblocked door that slid open before them. The path ended in a bathroom with a shower stall.

The rope around her wrists and arms gave way. She twisted away from Knives and around to see him. "Clean yourself and choose something titillating to wear. You have an hour." He strode out of the bathroom and Meryl heard the outer door slide twice.

At least he didn't want to watch. But what did he want? His expression with the orders had been cold and blank of clues. A chance to rape his brother's lover? To turn her over to his Gung-Ho Guns? If he wanted to take her back to that laboratory and cut her open, getting dressed again wouldn't be necessary, so she'd rule that out for now. Might as well cooperated and hopefully get moved into a room with potential weapons. She dropped the remains of the tracer into her jacket pocket, undressed, and showered while refusing to dwell on Vash's busted arm in that laboratory.

Her clothes were gone by the time she had gotten out of the shower and she hadn't heard anyone come in. No time to worry about that, not with the ticking clock and the sheer mass of clothing to sort through. Someone had organized them by color, so she focused on the red section. How Vash had laughed that night camping when Chuck had said it had to be his favorite since he didn't have any other colors. Was that something Knives knew about his brother? Possibly, and if he did, he would see this choice as defiance. Good.

She found a sleeveless red dress, shorter than any skirt she owned, that zipped up from the hem to the mandarin collar. But she didn't find any underwear in the collection. That added to her unnerved feeling she tried to ignore as she put on the dress and tugged it down to make sure it covered everything.

The outer door slid open when she reached it, so she hadn't been locked in. But Knives leaned against the wall opposite the door so still no opportunity to escape. His expression didn't reveal any licentiousness, but he gripped her arm again and the headed up the hallway away from the laboratory.

They stopped at another door like the giant closet room, but this one had a long code to unlock it. He pushed her inside, and the lights brightened as they moved. This bed's headboard was against the wall on the left and it stretched out, leaving a path around the foot from this door, and a body was lying on it, making lumps under the blankets. Her heart leaped against her ribs as the prisoner moved.

"I've brought you a present, dear brother," Knives said.

Tears pooled in Meryl's eyes as Vash leveraged himself up with only his right arm. His left ended in a metal cap at mid-bicep. His scarred and metal-strapped torso moved gingerly, but he was moving and breathing. "Vash!" The tears spilled as she wrenched her arm out of Knives' grip and darted to the bed.

Knives did not yank her back.

Vash swung his sweatpants-covered legs out of the bed and pulled her in between them. "Meryl." His arm curled around her waist and he tucked his head next to hers, but not before she saw the tape on his cheek cuts.

She wrapped her arms around him and her fingers touched gauze and tape. Vash leaned more weight against her than he normally did, but she accepted it. She peered over his shoulder, saw bandages taped down to his skin, and carefully didn't put any pressure on them. He was alive. Tears flowed from her eyes.

Knives sniffed disdainfully. "Not even a thank you, Vash? All the years with the humans have ruined your manners."

Vash stiffened in her arms. "You want a thank you for terrorizing the woman I love?!"

"You haven't even unwrapped your present. Perhaps you don't really want it and I should take it back."

She felt Vash clench his jaw, and his arm tightened around her waist. Knives was reminding her of how Liam would needle Milly, and she just wanted him gone, so Vash would relax. Vash hadn't spoken to her telepathically, and she didn't dare reach out with both Knives and Bluesummers here to pick up on it. She pressed her lips against Vash's temple in a kiss, then whispered. "Want to stay with you."

Vash moved his lips to her ear and whispered back. "Not my decision."

"Permission granted, my gunslinger."

Vash pulled back, letting her go so he could pull down the dress' zipper. She shrugged it off and Vash caught it, tossing it at Knives with a flick of his wrist before pulling Meryl flush to his chest. His arm locked around her waist again. "Happy? Get out."

"Since when do you give orders, Vash?" Knives sounded amused.

"Since when do you watch? You always called me a voyeur, and I never parked myself in anyone's bedroom."

"You're jealous. And we used to share everything."

Vash straightened and snarled over her head. "Meryl is not for sharing!"

"Afraid she'd prefer the unblemished twin?"

"You are my choice, Vash." She looked over her shoulder while Vash squeezed her tighter. "Are you planning to rape me, Knives? Like your Gung-Ho Guns hoped to do?"

The mocking cheeriness leached from Knives. "Keep your pet quiet when superior beings are speaking, Vash. Or you won't keep her at all."

Vash vibrated with tension but said nothing as the door slid open and closed. Then he sagged against her, dropping his forehead to her shoulder. Knives had left them for Vash to finally relax. "They didn't do that at least. What did Knives do?" he asked.

"Dragged me around, didn't give me a choice about a shower and that dress."

"That's it?" He lifted his head, let go of her waist to cradle her face, and swiped a tear track from her cheek. "He made you cry?"

"He dragged me past your left arm in pieces and I thought you were dead!" She cupped Vash's face, careful not to press on the taped cuts, and kissed him.

He returned the kiss before pressing his forehead against hers. "Sorry. Sorry. They were both in my head and I was trying to hide you."

"Hide me?" She smoothed his hair down the back of his skull.

His inhale was ragged. "I can't trust him with what is precious to me. Not now."

"They bandaged you. Do I need to redo them?"

"No, I pushed the bullets out. The holes will heal in a few days. Knives raved a bit about it and insisted I had to heal slow. But those bandages will hold that long." He fell silent before lifting his head with his shifty, sheepish expression. "I'm not complaining about the view; I'd never do that. But if you're feeling cold, I think they put my stuff in the storage unit over there." He tilted his direction of the wall beyond the foot of the bed.

"Idiot," she said affectionately. "Lay down. I'll be right back." She walked over to the metal panels in the wall that had handles. They pulled out like dresser drawers, and she found Vash's sleeping sweatshirt in the second one. She pulled it on and turned back to the bed while pushing the long sleeves up her arms.

Vash hadn't lain down. "I want to see you wear all my shirts," he said reverently.

"Good thing you don't have that many." She slipped under the covers on the other side of the bed.

"Do you want me to get more?" He eased his chest down onto the mattress. Meryl pulled the blankets over his back before he wrapped his right arm around her and tugged her closer. "Um, the dress? Knives picked that out?"

"He told me to find something titillating and then my clothes disappeared while I was showering. I found it. Why?"

His face went bashful. "You look good in red." He kissed her forehead. "I'm so glad you're okay, but why did you come?"

"Wolfwood said they had a trap for you. But the trap was for all of us. And he is one of them."

Vash sighed. "Knives threatened his orphans."

"You're confident of that, or just hoping he had a reason?"

"Knives and Legato both were in my head, trying to see my memories. I had to protect you, and I ended up pushing memories of Hannah and Chuck forward. Knives got frustrated with me and said I was just as fixated on human spawn as Nicholas the Punisher. And then he went into an old rant about human susceptibility to illusionary causality that is a pathetic control over their animalistic natures and ultimately fails."

She blinked at that.

"He means religion. So not hard to figure out who he was annoyed with."

"I guess not. Wolfwood did protest over what Bluesummers was doing to you and didn't let the other Gung-Ho Guns mess with me and Milly, but Knives took me away first. Wolfwood better keep her safe."

"He will. And Milly can take care of herself." His eyelids drooped as the ceiling lights went off.

She kissed him. "Sleep. It'll help you heal."

"Yes, ma'am."

Chapter Text

Wolfwood made his way to the section of the ship that Knives had declared off limits. Well, declared was more definite; Knives discouraged anyone from going in there. Which meant that was probably where Knives had stashed Vash and Meryl. Wolfwood didn't think he could stage a breakout now, under these conditions, but he'd settle for just seeing that they were alive. So he'd use the news of what Meryl is to establish that.

He turned a corner. This hallway ended in the big laboratory that the other Gung-Ho Guns spoke of. And Legato Bluesummers leaned against the large door blocking the room and the rest of the ship beyond it. "You're a long way from your room, Nicholas the Punisher."

"It doesn't have a way to comm the boss."

"Master is busy." Bluesummers gazed off into the distance. Probably checking in with Knives.

"It won't take long," Wolfwood said. Bluesummers didn't move. "It's something I learned from Milly Thompson. He's gonna want to know it." Bluesummers still didn't move. "Oh, come on!" Wolfwood clenched his fist. "I don't need to tattle on you; you pulled your head out of your ass."

"Master does not want to be disturbed. Whatever it is, can wait."

"No, it can't."

Bluesummers shifted his head and now his unnerving golden eye stared at Wolfwood's face. Wolfwood focused on his sensory memories of last night with Milly, the only defense he had against Bluesummers' mental powers. The man didn't like sex. "If you annoy Master Knives, he will take it out on Vash the Stampede. And we both know you don't want that." Bluesummers smirked at him.

"Stay out of my head, Bluesummers. It's not a pretty place to visit." He turned and went back the way he came. Creepy bastard, what the hell did Knives see in him? He pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

He had almost finished it by the time he returned to his assigned room. Chapel turned from the door. "And I thought you were having a fit of pique or were caught in carnal pleasures."

Wolfwood dropped the cigarette to the floor and ground it out. "Took a walk. She doesn't like the smoke. What do you want?"

"Does it matter what she likes?"

"Spoken like a lifelong bachelor. What do you want?"

"Does your woman know where the boy is?"

Wolfwood remembered the jumpy kid augmented far from human norms and his suspicious older sister. "They didn't have any boys with them when I caught up with them."

Chapel hummed. "He was traveling with them in early May. Vash the Stampede claimed him."

"Vash isn't responsible enough to keep a kid, even though he likes them well enough. He probably found a safe place for him to live and left him behind. Why do you care?"

"This job is done, but Master Knives will need agents in the future. And that child will grow into the most intriguing adult. It is our duty to shepherd that future. You can bring the woman if you must have her. I doubt Master Knives needs her now."

Wolfwood choked back his initial reaction with lots of practice. "Knives is letting us go?"

"He has Vash the Stampede now. I'm sure he will let us go soon. Question your woman about where the boy is." Chapel pulled an apple out of his hidden pocket and munched on it as he walked away.

Wolfwood unlocked the door and went inside. Milly looked up from sorting her clothes in her suitcase. The worry pinching around her eyes faded slightly. "The door kept beeping. Is it supposed to do that?"

"That was Chapel. The doors have buttons to push instead of knocking on them." He locked the door again.

"Chapel? The man who tried to kidnap Chuck?"

He slung himself into the curved chair and stretched out his legs. "Funny you should mention that. Bluesummers kept me away from Knives, so I don't know if Vash and Meryl are okay. Chapel is ready to leave here and go find Chuck."

"Why does he want Chuck?" She dropped the shirt she held onto the floor and put her hands on her hips as she turned to face him.

"Turn him into another him, or at least another me."

"Oh, Hannah won't like that."

A laugh barked out of him. "Lord, forgive me for wanting to see that child in battle with Chapel. It wouldn't be a fair fight."

"No, it sure won't be." The little redhead must have a worse temper than he thought if Milly agreed that quickly. "I know you have issues with how he raised you," she continued, "but are you ready for his funeral?"

"How about you don't remember what town Vash left him in, honey?" He didn't want to think about funerals right now when he needed to figure out how to get a hold of Needle-noggin without alerting the telepaths.

"Have no idea, dear. We didn't have to check in with the main office anymore, so I didn't keep track of towns." A metal box on wheels came out of the wall near the chair. Milly squeaked and leaped onto the bed, landing on her hands and knees. Wolfwood yanked his feet into the air. They both stared as it grew a pincher on an arm, picked up Milly's shirt, stuffed it inside itself, and rolled back through the hole in the wall that sealed up behind it.

He blinked and gingerly straightened in the chair. "So that's probably what happened to our clothes last night."

"Is it going to give them back?" Milly demanded. "I don't have that many trousers!"

He shrugged. "Nobody warned me about that."

Vash had a big fight in LR Town two days before Chuck, Hannah, and the bike got here. The townspeople were still twitching about it as they cleaned up busted buildings. Chuck didn't bother offering to help this town since they were here to do a rescue. And it was weird how the townspeople tried to pretend everything was normal since Vash had left. That they were very loud about. "Thank God the Humanoid Typhoon left us alone!" was repeated over and over again.

And that's why the fat man sitting on the porch outside one bar was so memorable. His hair and mustache were the same color as Uncle Modo's fur, too. "Vash the Stampede saved me from that other maniac with the deadly horn," he said quietly. "Took the blast meant for me. Whatever happened up on the mountain is bad news for everyone."

A man at another table made the glasses jump when he hit it. "You wanted us to turn into another Kansas or Carcasses?"

"All I'm saying is Vash the Stampede wasn't the one forcing us to go where we didn't want to go." He pushed away from his table and walked down the steps.

Hannah lost her thoughtful look to call out, "Hey mister! Which way to the variety store?"

He turned around and blinked at them. "Just arrived?" Hannah nodded, so Chuck nodded too. "It's up the road that way." He pointed to the street that climbed a hill from this square. "Can't miss the sign."

"Thank you." Hannah pushed the bike toward that street.

"You didn't want to ask him questions?" Chuck asked as he looked back at the man leaving the square down another street. "He saw Vash."

"We know they all got here and something bad happened that made Meryl-ma'am call for help. Since they aren't here, I'm guessing they all got hauled back to Knives' base."

"So we gotta get them out of Knives' skyscraper?" Chuck looked up at Hannah's nod. "Cool, we know how to do that."

Hannah said nothing as they reached the variety store and marched up to the shopkeeper with a cheerful smile. "Hello, sir, can we get two chocolate bars and a current map? The one Pa is using is ancient." The shopkeeper handed the three items and took the double dollars Hannah handed over. "Come on, lunch before candy."

Chuck made a scoffing noise, but he knew Hannah would insist on proper meals just like Mom and Meryl-ma'am. She bought six hot dogs at the restaurant they found close by and they found a shaded spot in an alley to eat while the bike guarded them. He still hadn't figured out how to eat while wearing his helmet. But something else was bothering him. "You lied to that shopkeeper. We aren't supposed to lie."

Hannah wiped her mouth and hands with a napkin. "I didn't lie."

"You threw Dad under the wheels that he was lost."

She dug into her bag of stuff. "Dad is Dad, Mom is Mom, Vash is Vash, Pa is an invention for anyone who doesn't need to know about them or who would stop the mission trying to be good to a couple of kids."

"But you lied. You don't lie."

"I don't lie to Mom, Dad, the uncles, Vash, Meryl-ma'am, and Milly-ma'am. Heck, I'll even tell the truth to Limburger because the truth hurts. But that shopkeeper will get freaked out that two kids as young as we are traveling by ourselves and will get us locked up by the sheriff or child services. That will mess up the mission we're on. So Pa is our fake father."

"So lying is okay because we have to go rescue Vash, Meryl-ma'am, and Milly-ma'am?" Chuck asked.

"Yep." She found a pencil and unfolded the new map.

Chuck finished his three hot dogs and chocolate bar while Hannah wrote on the map with the pencil. "So where is Knives' skyscraper?"

She showed him the map, and she had circled three towns and made them the points of a triangle. "In the middle of that," she tapped the pencil in the center of the triangle.

"Nothing's there."

"Knives hates humans. You really think he'd let the human map makers know where he lives?"

"No, but you're sure? There's a whole lot of planet."

She used the pencil to point. "This is LR Town, this is Carcasses, the first town where everybody disappeared and 'Knives' was written on their monument, and this is Kansas. Everybody disappeared out of it before the fighting happened here in LR Town."

"They have a flying machine. It's not like they have to live right next door like Limburger does."

"Vash shot down their flying machine, so they are probably picking places much closer to home base for them. And they wouldn't want to travel far with Vash as a prisoner. More travel time means more time to escape."

"Vash shot down their flying machine when?" Chuck crossed his arms over his chest.

"When we were doing a test firing, and he put the gigantic crater on the Fifth Moon. But that's not important."

"You left me out of testing firing? That's pretty important, Hannah!"

"Vash left you out of the testing firing. Take it up with him once we get him back."

"I will!" He huffed. "So what's the plan?"

She put her helmet on and scanned the map with her markings. "We'll drive out of town and see if the bike can find a power source out there. It'll be Knives or another caravan."

"You don't want to check the mountain they talked about for clues?"

She shook her head. "Don't want anybody asking why a couple of kids are trying to find Vash the Stampede. We don't need the trouble you found in New MacFarlane slowing us down now." She folded the map until it fit in her jeans back pocket and opened her chocolate bar.

Chuck sighed. "I'll be so happy when I'm as big as Dad and people take me seriously."

"Me too," she said brightly. "You won't get kidnapped so much and I won't have to worry about that anymore." She grinned as she chewed her candy. He crossed his arms and scowled at her. "Come on," she stood up, "let's ride."

Vash blinked with a yawn after Meryl threw his arm off her and bounced the bed, getting out of it. Her bare feet slapped against the floor as the lights turned on. They might need to turn off the automated lights if they kept popping on every time they moved in here.

More light spilled into the room as Meryl went into the bathroom. Toilet lids banged, and she vomited.

He pushed up and got his legs to leverage himself upright. His back pulled unhappily about the movement, but no blood gushed, so he was better enough to do this. Meryl flushed the toilet but remained kneeling in front of it. He staggered into the bathroom and leaned his hip against the sink as he found a washcloth and wet it for her. "Did you have your nightmare again?"

"No, not the nightmare. The place is different enough, I guess." She reached up for the washcloth. "Maybe morning sickness? Shoot, I meant to ask Milly what her sisters would do for it."

He frowned. They would have to beg Knives to talk to Milly right now and Knives would want to know why. Vash did not trust his brother to just be happy about expecting a baby. He should be able to trust his brother, his twin with his child, and he couldn't. Maybe Vash could hack the comm system and reach Milly?

She stood. "Go lay back down."

"I'm fine."

"You're shaking. Go back to bed. I'll come back after brushing my teeth."

"Okay." He kissed her forehead and staggered back into the main room. The table to order food in the room instead of going to the mess was just beyond the door to the hall. They needed water in the room. Meryl should drink water, and he probably needed to drink some too.

He detoured to the table and leaned his hip against it to put the order into the system. A tray with a carafe of water and two glasses slid out of the wall onto the table. He nodded at it and listed to the bed. He flopped to sit on it, wanting to stand up quickly if Meryl needed him.

The hall door slid open before Knives. Vash made a face. "Go away. We're not accepting visitors yet."

"You're awake." Knives entered the room, and the door remained open behind him. But he blocked a dash out of it from the bed or the bathroom.

"And that doesn't mean we want any company."

"Prisoners don't get what they want. Haven't you slept in enough jail cells to know that?"

"What do you want?" Vash demanded.

Knives lost his sneer. "You know what I want."

"And you know I'm not aiding your genocidal agenda. Nothing has changed in a hundred sixteen years and the years before that."

"Something has changed." Knives' gaze swept the room and the open bathroom door. "Call your pet out."

Vash curled his hand into a fist; but maybe he could use this. "How about you bring Meryl's clothes here so she has stuff to wear that fits? Then we can all have a visit."

"Why bother when you will lose them to fornicate?"

"Because that doesn't happen in front of company! How do you not know that yet?" He heard a familiar hum and rolling wheels. "What is that?"

"How I'm looking out for you," Knives answered without looking back into the hall at the source of the noise. "I want what's best for you, brother. Even if you have never felt the same."

"That's a hell of an accusation."

"You shot me twice!"

Meryl stepped out of the bathroom, swimming in Vash's sweatshirt. "Did you come here just to yell at Vash?"

Knives wiped his indignant anger off his face as he looked at Meryl. Vash lurched onto his feet, wanting to snatch her away from his twin, but a large robot rolled in through the doorway. It looked like Knives had started with one of the security models and built something else. Now the four legs carried a gurney vertically with too many straps to count and an IV pole holding chemical bags stretching above it.

"There you are." Knives stepped closer to Vash and the bed to give the robot more room to roll inside. "Take that off and come here."

Meryl's face was as pale as it had been in that underground laboratory and she backed away until she was trapped in the corner.

"No." Vash's fist tightened.

Knives scoffed. "Of course you don't even ask why."

"Fine," Vash spat out. "I'll humor you. Why do you want Meryl near that thing she's not touching?"

His twin arched an eyebrow as he glanced at Vash. "You really think you can fight me right now?"

"You are not putting her on it!"

"You want to watch her wither and die? The woman you claim to love, wrinkled and infirm and suffering all the ravages of cell decay. You are still a selfish bastard."

Vash took a deep breath. He had to stay calm. "You can't stop aging. Unless you put someone under cold sleep, and you are not doing that to her either."

"You have no idea what I can do, what I have learned, brother. You didn't want to help, didn't even want to listen. It's delicate, it's painful, but it's worth it. Haven't you felt Legato's powers? They expanded exponentially after I grafted your arm to him."

Legato had said that, but Vash still recoiled a step back. "You did what?"

"Oh, don't get all delicate. He eagerly wanted to be of service. And the others wanted enhancements. Deemed it quite worth their sacrifices."

"What the hell have you been doing?"

Knives pivoted to stare at him fully. "Improving your precious humans! If they no longer recognize us as the Other that must be exploited and destroyed, I won't have to kill them for our safety."

Vash froze with horror and revulsion. And his mouth gaped. Knives had that gleam in his blue eyes again: the same one from when he admitted to destroying the crew and to crashing the Fleet, when he tried to make one of their sister blow up to kill humans, when he fired his black Colt for the first time.

"You will throw yourself between death and those animals, but it never occurred to you to be more deliberate about it. Your emotions are your weakness. Fine, you love her, but I'll make sure you keep her for a true lifetime."

"Out of the goodness of your heart? You want to cause her pain."

"No, I want to cause you pain," Knives snapped back. "I don't give a damn about your pet. She's here, so I'll start with her and then send Legato to find those urchins you are so worried about."

The quality of the light in the room shifted spectrum, growing more pink. A pink bolt hit the medical robot thing, and it disintegrated.

Knives reared back as he watched it vanish in the pink light and pivoted with Vash to follow the path of the blast back to its source.

Meryl was still in the corner, but she held up her right arm. The navy blue sleeve of Vash's sweatshirt had ripped away from her partially transformed Angel Arm. The white power sphere glowed between the gray shafts of her arm and her arm ended in a muzzle, but the body part shapes and feathers hadn't emerged yet. Her determined face glared at Knives. "No, Knives, we won't be doing that. I have no interest in being another experiment. And if you send Bluesummers after those children, he will die. If you give a shit about that."

Knives looked at Vash, looked at Meryl, and then back at Vash. "She's one of us."

"Yes," Vash answered flatly.

"And you didn't tell me?!" Knives shouted.

"Why the hell would I?!" Vash shouted back as he took a step forward. "You didn't even try to chat about what has happened since July; you tried to yank everything out of my head! And you haven't been good for what I deem precious."

"But she's one of us!"

"Why the hell would I trust you after everything you've done to Vash, your own brother? After everything you had planned to do to me? We have to end the cycle of fear and hate."

Knives gritted his teeth as he twisted to look at Meryl again. "Vash has already poisoned you with his naïve fantasy. Humans have always destroyed. Just look at history!"

"And we all owe the future to do better." Meryl's stance was steadier than Vash's had ever been with the Angel Arm.

"We are the future!" Knives pivoted and stormed out of the room. His fingers slammed onto the close the door button and it slid shut behind him.

Vash moved around the bed. Meryl's Angel Arm shrank back to normal and the tattered remains of the sleeve fluttered around her empty hand. He caught her as she swayed. "Are you okay?"

"Sit. Need to sit."

He steered her to the foot of the bed and kept his arm around her as they sat.

She blinked at her arm. "Oh, I ruined your shirt."

"Worth it for what you just did to Knives." He kissed her temple. "But how?"

"I had to make that thing go away." She shuddered and leaned against him. "Hannah said I had the same amount of power that you have with your Colt, so I tried. Kept it small. I doubt it's safe for me to blast a hole for us to escape through."

"I'm not sure where in the ship we are or how many of our sisters Knives has collected and installed somewhere in it. So yeah, no blasting until we know. How do you feel?"

"Hungry." She paused for a while. "Yes, ravenous. Is Knives going to feed us now?"

He kissed her head again. "Let me show you how that works."

Chapter Text

A steady beeping alarm matched the bike's revving engine, but reached Hannah's dozing consciousness. She yawned and picked her head up to look around. All the moons were up in the starry sky and the bike had stopped on top of a ridge. She looked down from the sidecar without jostling Chuck in her lap. The moons reflected light directly into the crater so the crater walls didn't make many shadows, and a battered and patched spaceship inside was visible. It looked like it had hit the ground cockpit first if what fins remaining at the top were close to the thrusters.

"Tracked power source equidistant from selected towns." The bike printed on Hannah's face shield.

"A ship not turned into a town and not marked on the map; looks like we found him. Can you get sensor readings on Vash and Meryl?"

"Cannot separate the sources of energy at this range."

"Yeah, that would be too easy." Hannah shook Chuck. "Wake up, little bro. We found it."

Chuck whined without opening his eyes. "Don't call me that. Gonna be as big as Dad."

"You're not there yet. Move."

Chuck leaned forward and Hannah climbed onto the bike's seat. He rubbed his eyes through his open face shield and looked down at the spaceship. "Oh Momma. How are we gonna tell Vash we're here?"

"The bike can't find Vash."

"He needs a tracker earring." He leaned back in the sidecar and yawned.

"That is an excellent idea; remember it, and remind me later. Because right now, we're going to have to go in and find them."

"YES!" Chuck pumped his fist. "Rock 'n ride time!"

Hannah wrinkled her nose. "We're gonna have to go in like Mom."

"Aw man, sneaking is no fun."

"Well, Vash, Meryl, and Milly haven't blown this up yet. So there's probably a reason for that. And we don't have any backup if we screw it up."

Chuck held up his hand. "I promise not to make booms without your permission. Or Vash's. Or Meryl and Milly-ma'am's, if you're not around. But how are we getting inside without booms?"

The bike sent an enhanced image to her face shield, a metal bridge from the crater wall to the ship over the holes gouged out of the bedrock. "Looks like there is a bridge to the ship down there. Let's go down and see what kind of lock the baddies put on their door. Activate stealth mode."

The bike switched engine modes, and the rumble vanished. They eased down the crater wall at a diagonal until the boosters lifted them from the rock and the wheels landed on the flat metal bridge. They paused to scan now that they were closer.

Lots of hexagonal sections stuck out like Jenga blocks that hadn't been removed between the bridge and the sky. "It doesn't look like it flies," Chuck said as he craned his neck.

"I think Knives has added onto it over the years," Hannah said as she double checked the sensor findings. "No alarms, but let's keep quiet."

They rolled forward through fog that started filling the bottom of the crater. The bridge didn't have any lights on it or the random metal ribs that curled overhead, but nothing seemed to react to the bike's headlight. As they got closer to the ship, the ribs expanded into rusting metal walls. So this bridge had started off as one of those hexagonal sections. The towering door was hexagonal too and seamed in the middle. No visible hinges, so it must slide apart, but it didn't automatically open for them.

Hannah climbed off the bike as she idled before the door. A control panel was mounted on the right side of the door. Chuck climbed out of the sidecar and followed Hannah. The bike retracted the sidecar. "Do we ring the doorbell?" he asked.

"Do we ever get put with anyone else when that happens?"

"No, but there's always a first time!"

"This isn't it. Get my socket wrench."

Chuck didn't argue and fetched the tool. Soon she had the cover off the control panel. The bike rolled closer and Hannah connected the AUX cable to the ship's system through the control panel's internal wiring.

The door slid open, spilling light into the night. Hannah's face shield adjusted to shield her eyes from the sudden brightness. Chuck pushed on his shades while Hannah disconnected the bike. They walked beside the bike as she rolled inside.

This was probably a hanger bay back when this ship was still in space, Hannah thought as she saw something capable of flight at the far end of the enormous room. The vehicles parked closest to the door had wheels. Hannah swung Chuck onto the bike's seat and climbed on behind him as they rode through a smaller, people-sized door. The light in this hall wasn't as bright as it was in the hangar bay. The bike paused at the first door they found.

Hannah dismounted, pressed the open button, and the door slid open to a dark room. Automatic lights powered on when she poked her head in and saw computers lining the walls. She gestured, and the bike rolled inside with Chuck still on. Hannah pressed the closed button and locked it once it shut.

Chuck frowned as he took off his shades and put them in his shirt pocket. "Didn't Mom say she didn't want you hacking until you had more computer classes?"

"Mom did say that. But I'm not hacking; the bike will be hacking." Hannah grinned as she spooled out the AUX cable again.

"I don't think Mom would agree."

"Do you want Vash back or not?" She plugged in the cable and perched on a chair bolted in front of one of the many monitors near the bike. The screens flickered on and information flashed over them like clicking through television channels.

Chuck stood next to her. "Of course, I want to get Vash back. And Meryl-ma'am and Milly-ma'am."

The screen on the right of the one they were in front of stopped on a layout of the ship and began putting white light points in different rooms. They clustered at the top of the ship in two massive rooms that each took up half of the ship. Four lights of the too many to count were on level with the hangar bay. Words printed on the screen in front of Hannah and Chuck. "All detectable passive power sources."

"What does that say?" Chuck asked.

"All those lights are power sources not powering the ship that the bike is sensing. What is powering the ship?" Hannah asked.

Four red light points flicked on in the massive two rooms at the top closest to those decaying fins outside.

Hannah frowned. "The power sources in use are inside, not generated outside the ship and wired in?"

"Yes."

"That's important?" Chuck asked.

"The wrenchhead is still using plant power?"

"The power levels match scans made in all urban centers we have traveled through."

"Plant power sounds funny," Chuck said, "but you ain't laughing."

Hannah took a deep breath. "Knives is still using the plant bulbs to power the ship like the towns do."

"But I thought he wants to kill everybody to stop that?" Chuck scowled. "He lied, and he hurt Vash. So we're going to drop this place like Limburger Tower when we leave, right?"

"We can't." Hannah gritted her teeth. Boy, that hurt to admit. This place deserved complete destruction.

"I'm sure Vash will know how."

Hannah breathed deeply again to unclench her teeth. "All those white lights are Knives, Vash, Meryl, and a whole bunch of plant angels. They can't live outside the bulbs and if we damage the bulbs in this ship, they will die."

Chuck's green eyes opened wide. "Oh no, we have to rescue them, too."

"Next trip, okay? Right now, we concentrate on getting our adults." Hannah glanced around the room. "We need to take the map with us. Need a printer or a... oh!" She pulled a tablet-like device from a shelf on the wall. It had power, turning on once it was in her hands. "Bike, give this access to everything in the ship if you can." Hannah returned to the chair. "Map of the power sources on top if it can't hold it all."

"Yes. Working on it."

"We need to see our adults," Chuck said. "That's a lot of lights that could be Vash and Meryl-ma'am."

The screen to the left of the one the bike was answering on divided into many smaller boxes showing various people in beds.

Chuck moved his snout closer to the screen. "There! That looks like Vash and Meryl-ma'am." He tapped the smaller box. The window expanded to fill the whole screen.

Hannah leaned next to Chuck's head. "Yeah, that's Vash's scarred shoulder." And Meryl's dark head was resting on his chest. "They're together. That makes things easier. Mark that room on the map." Two of the white lights, even with the hangar bay level, turned green. "Okay, where is Milly-ma'am?"

The many smaller boxes returned to the screen, and Chuck focused on them again. "These weird guys. Is Knives hiring from the same place Limburger does when he brings in outside wrenchheads?"

Hannah checked on the tablet transfer. "I think Gunsmoke just grows weird looking people."

"That's the only room with two people." He poked at the window and it enlarged to fill the screen. "Do you think Knives locked her up with the priest guy they left with?"

Hannah scowled at the screen. "Maybe. If Knives has just killed people before, he might not have cells like Limburger. And that looks like Milly-ma'am's coat on the chair."

Another green light appeared on the map layout, on the same floor as the hangar bay. "Concern."

"What? Do they know we're in the systems?"

"No. Locations." The ship's layout shifted, so they were above the floor with the hangar bay and this computer room. A black mark marked it. The two rooms marked with green dots were on the opposite sides of the ship.

Hannah sighed. "Great. Why can't we ever have an easy rescue?"

"So we open one room and then rip across to the other one," Chuck said. "What's the problem?"

"Knives killing some of our adults while we're in route."

"Can we lock him in his room?"

"I can lock all rooms, but occupants can override that once I am disconnected," the bike put on the screen.

"It's still a good idea. That'll slow the wrenchheads down. What about booby traps?" Hannah asked.

"I am not detecting any lethal sub-routines in the ship systems."

"What does that say?" Chuck asked.

"She's not finding any booby traps like poison connected to the air vents."

Chuck grinned at Hannah. "I can go in the vents!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Splitting up is why we have to rescue them in the first place!" Hannah waved a hand at the screen with the ship's layout on it. Why was she the only one of this group who could see that?

"You just said we have to get both rooms open at the same time. How are we going to do that without splitting up? Are there any alarms in the vents?" Chuck turned to the computer screens.

"No."

"Do the vents go straight to Milly-ma'am?"

A route in blue went across a bunch of rooms before it ended at the green dot farthest away from the white dots.

"You're volunteering to go get Milly-ma'am?" Hannah set down the tablet and crossed her arms.

He pointed to the other two white dots level with the hangar bay. "It looks like Knives is closer to Vash and Meryl-ma'am, so the bike should go that way. And if I go that way, I may blow up something that I shouldn't blow up. So I'll go get Milly-ma'am. Through the vents!"

"I am suspicious of why you are so excited about vents."

"Uncle Vinnie said that they worked in Die Hard when Bruce Willis didn't have a battle bike."

Hannah huffed and stared at the ship layout, estimating distances. Her stomach twisted, as the numbers did not support any sequential attacks. If they got Vash and Meryl first, an alarm would probably get Milly-ma'am killed. Same was true if they went after Milly-ma'am first.

Dad would split forces for simultaneous attacks, but he had Uncle Vinnie and Uncle Modo and they were seasoned soldiers, even if they didn't like to think of themselves like that. All she had was her eager baby brother and one battle bike, and she had to keep them. But she had to keep these adults who had helped them. She couldn't handle losing anyone else. And there was Knives' threat to all the humans of Gunsmoke. "Sandblasted."

Chuck's tail swished through the air.

She sighed. "This is a bad idea. But it's also the best idea."

"YES!" Chuck pumped his fist.

"Don't make me regret this!" She pointed her finger at his nose.

He raised his hand again. "I will continue Mom's way."

She got up, opened the bike's storage compartment, and pulled out the gun Vash had bought her and the extra blaster stored in the bike. She buckled on her gun belt around her waist and then buckled the blaster's gun belt around Chuck's waist.

His eyes widened. "I can shoot it?"

"Only if you have to. Like a wrenchhead is grabbing you." She frowned. "Uncle Vinnie was right there with me when he gave me his blaster too early."

"I will give it to Milly-ma'am as soon as I reach her, okay?"

"Not okay, but it has to happen. Follow the directions from the bike on your helmet. And yes, give the blaster to Milly-ma'am."

Chuck saluted her like Dad and the uncles always did to Mom's battle plans.

"Connection between the ship's database and that wireless device established. Unsure of distance limitations. All doors to occupied rooms locked. Ready to begin."

Hannah took a deep breath. "Chuck, you have the vent map on your face shield?"

He turned on the golden tinted shield over his face and she saw the directional arrow pointing behind her. "It's working."

She turned around, saw the vent register on the wall near the ceiling, climbed up onto the computer counter, and pulled the vent cover off. "Don't go into the room early. I have further to go to reach Vash and Meryl-ma'am and we have to get them moving at the same time."

"I won't. I can do this." He climbed up next to Hannah. She lifted him up. "You be careful too. I don't want to find a new big sis." He pulled himself into the vent.

"I'll be careful." She jumped down from the counter, stowed the tablet into the storage compartment, and unplugged the AUX cable. Once it was stowed away, Hannah opened the door, and the bike rolled into the hall. She mounted the bike and rode down the halls, still in stealth mode.

Her route ended in a large locked door. "Your true birthday in Earth dates is the code now," printed on her face shield.

"That's a sequence that will take time to guess," Hannah whispered inside her helmet. She typed in 07081996 and the door slid open. The bike rolled through the threshold and she walked alongside into a laboratory. She shuddered, but the massive bulb taking up most of the room radiated a soft pink light that diminished the reminders of Karbunkle's lab.

They rolled through it and into another hall, finally stopping at a smaller door. Hannah poised over its control panel. "Let's rock--" printed on her face shield.

"And ride," Hannah whispered. She typed in 07081996 again and the door slid open, showing a bed with lumps of two people in the light from the hallway. "This is your rescue service. I have eyes shut just in case you were taking advantage of privacy." She said louder and squeezed her eyes shut to make it true.

"We're dressed," Meryl answered. "The light controls are by the door."

Hannah slid her hand on the wall until she found them and powered on the lights. Meryl rolled out of bed on the side away from the door wearing her white nightshirt. Vash used his right arm to sit on the edge of the bed, facing the door. His left arm was missing from mid-bicep down. Hannah moved into the room to do what she wasn't sure, but she had to fix it. "Bro!"

"It's all right, well, as long as I don't need to balance quickly." Vash moved the metal-capped stump.

Meryl pulled clothes from drawers built into the wall. "Your body armor isn't in here. Do you want to change into jeans?"

Vash made a face of distaste. "They are a pain to deal with one-handed, so no. Don't know why Knives is withholding my armor, though. Unless it was that wrecked."

Meryl's face paled as she looked upset when she turned at him.

He grimaced. "So I need new body armor, check. Go get dressed." He stood up slowly, but walked to Hannah quicker and rapped his knuckles softly on her helmet. "What does it take to make you listen?"

Hannah pulled off her helmet and stowed it on the bike. "Usually a plan I agree with. We can start with you stop leaving us behind before you lose another limb." She stuck her tongue out at him.

He lifted what remained of his left arm again. "This is nothing. I'm always breaking them."

Meryl came out of the bathroom wearing jeans and a white shirt. "What are we facing out there? Do you know where Milly and Wolfwood are?" She began stuffing the contents of the drawers into her suitcase.

"Locked all the occupied rooms down and Chuck went through the vents to get Milly-ma'am. If Wolfwood is with her, I guess he'll get rescued, too. Oh, we can't blow anything up. No structural damage."

Vash's jaw dropped in shock.

"Why are you making that face?" Hannah asked.

"You put 'not' in that sentence."

Hannah rolled her eyes, pulled the tablet out of the storage compartment of the bike halfway through the door, and handed it to him with the layout showing the colored dots. "White is the passive energy sources not running the ship that the bike found with sensors. Red is powering the ship."

Vash's eyes widened as he lowered it so Meryl could see the screen. "Quite the heaven Knives has amassed. Yeah, no blowing anything here up."

"As much as it pains me not to leave things a smoking wreck here, we should regroup and neutralize these wrenchheads far away, so let's go." Hannah headed out the door and the bike reversed back into the hall. She turned around to see if Vash and Meryl were following. Grown-ups could be so slow after waking up.

A hand gripped the back of her neck and base of her skull and pulled her up off her feet.

She shrieked involuntarily.

Vash skidded out of the room right next to the bike. "Knives, NO!"

Hannah couldn't move her head at all, but out of the corner of her eye she saw a man as tall as Vash holding her beside him. His left forearm was growing a spike?

"I'm going to gut this animal spawn you find more worthy than your own species, Vash!"

Hannah felt her dangling body rotate in the air as the vice holding her shifted. Now she could see the spike was a blade longer than Knives' entire arm. A kick wouldn't reach him. His grin was twisted, and he made sure she couldn't see anything else but his face. Couldn't hear anything but Vash screaming, "NO!"

So the light flash blinded her eyes as it impacted Knives. She blinked away the afterimages and gagged on ozone. The pressure was off her neck and head, and then her butt hit the floor. She looked up.

The twisted grin was gone, replaced with wide-eyed shock and gasping for air that had nowhere to go. The left arm with the blade was gone, along with his shoulder and his chest into the right side over his midline and the empty space curved back up right above his hips, creating a bloody charred arc in his body. Now her ears felt like they were coming back online, and the bike's revving engine was a vicious growl.

Knives crumpled as he fell back. Two handguns clattered onto the floor as they jostled from the holsters on Knives' thighs.

Vash crouched next to Hannah in a breath, touching her to make sure she was alive. Then he skidded on his knees up the hall to Knives' missing side. "Damn you! Damn you!" He yelled through the tears on his face. "You never listen! I told you to leave them alone. Meryl told you to leave them alone! I showed you what that motorcycle could do, and you didn't listen! Our whole lives, you have never listened to me!"

Knives grabbed Vash's arm with his right hand. And then his body morphed into something putty-like and wrapped around Vash, merging into Vash's visible flesh with blue-white lightning sparks.

The scream of pain morphed between Vash's and Knives' voices. But Knives found words first. "You will not stop me! I will eradicate the vermin and save all the plants!"

"VASH!" Meryl screamed as she ran forward. Hannah threw out her arm and the older woman scrambled to a stop next to her as the face on the contorting body mass shifted between the brothers' expressions and complexions.

"STAY BACK!" Vash screamed back.

The flesh arm reached toward Meryl. "Join the fusion and there will be enough power to end all the pathetic humans!" Knives shouted.

"NO!" The entire mass tipped in the opposite direction.

"When will you learn not to thwart me!" Lightning rippled over the body again as extra limbs stretched against the skin.

"Bulb! Get us in a bulb!" Vash screamed.

"You will give me your wasted strength!" Knives sneered as his blue eyes narrowed. "You are wrong, Vash; you have always been wrong and I will make you see it. I will make you feel it as I destroy all the humans! Starting with your pathetic attempts at family!"

Like her? And Chuck? Hannah inhaled. "Hey, Knives!" His vicious features filled Vash's face and the limp, spiky hair bleached out as his icy blue eyes focused on her. She howled at the top of her lungs. "Aoooooooow!"

The howl short-circuited Knives just like every other goon who had ever manhandled her. She lunged, wrapped her arms around the body, and heaved it upwards. Years of helping her mother lift vehicle parts and Martian mouse mass meant the skinnier Plant moved, though she was nearly convinced Vash was running the pair of legs right now. The Plant body remained solid against her body as she shoved it forward to the laboratory.

"You really should listen to Vash, Knives," she said with a snarl. "Even though he doesn't really believe what we are capable of for our bro and our friends. Or that he deserves it."

"What do you know, child?!"

"I know exactly what kind of bastard you are."

They lurched through the laboratory door. The body tried to shift to the first gurney, but Hannah pulled it back on course for the bright pink bulb that lit up the entire room. "Unhand me, you insignificant worm!" Knives screamed.

She laughed. "That's the best name calling you can do? Wow, Limburger actually succeeded at something."

"You have no idea who you are dealing with. I am a superior being!"

The plant angel was visible at the bottom of the bulb as she bent her head and arms toward the glass.

"And I'm the baddest mamajammin' Biker Mouse this side of the asteroid belt!" She looked at the plant angel. "You get these two split back apart, Angel-ma'am, because Vash is OURS and we want him back!" She shoved the body at the bulb glass.

The glass rippled in the bright light from the female shape with wings. The angel shape seized Vash/Knives. The glass hardened as the pink foamy clouds obscured everything inside. Vash's sweatpants fluttered to the floor next to where Hannah landed when she lost balance. She blinked up at the bulb. "Aoooow, that actually worked."

"Hannah?" Meryl ran up to Hannah with two handguns in her hands now, one silver and one black. The bike rolled in behind her. Meryl looked up at the bulb as she stopped and lowered the guns. "The plant angel took him? Them?"

Hannah nodded. "Yeah, she did. Don't you try to go in. She might think you need separating from the baby."

"I'll stay out. Are you okay?" Meryl reached out, realized there were guns in her hands, and pulled back.

"I don't know yet." Hannah climbed back to her feet, staggered to the bike, and draped herself over the handlebars. "Thank you," she said softly. "Go get Chuck and Milly-ma'am and bring them here."

The bike beeped and rolled to the other door, which opened automatically from this side, and squealed her tires as she took off. Hannah hugged herself and looked for something to fix.

Chapter Text

Chuck stopped at the grill when the forward arrow on his face shield turned into a stop sign. That hadn't taken long at all, but Hannah had said she and the bike had to go longer to reach Vash and Meryl-ma'am. So he lay down on his stomach and looked into the room.

Limburger had put him and Hannah into way less comfy places when he had locked them up. This room had a bed and a table and chairs and no visible bars! Two people were in the bed that was under the vent's grill. He saw their feet and legs under the covers at the end of the bed.

It wasn't bad for a kidnapping that lasted this long. Had Vash or Meryl-ma'am or Milly-ma'am ever been kidnapped before? He couldn't remember them saying. Had he asked them? He kicked his feet back and forth as he thought about it. No, he hadn't asked them.

If Hannah had, she hadn't told him. She would do that, keep stuff to herself. He wasn't a baby anymore. She didn't have to always protect him. Fat chance of convincing her of that. She argued back with all the adults.

His foot kicked the metal vent he lay on. It rattled around him and he froze.

One pair of legs jerked under the blanket and then moved to the side as it sounded like someone sitting up on the mattress. "What's wrong?" Milly-ma'am's sleepy voice asked.

"Heard something," a male answered her in a rough voice. "What the hell are those freaks up to?"

"At this time of night?" Milly-ma'am sounded a little more awake.

"They're getting antsy and Knives has done nothing to you yet." A human man wearing just a pair of pajama pants left the bed and stalked to the room's door. "I'll just remind them to save it for daylight."

Chuck held his breath. Had Hannah figured out this chance, and that's why she was so grouchy about the priest?

The black-haired man pressed buttons next to the door. The door didn't open. He tried again. It didn't open. "What the hell? It's locked?"

Fish-sticks. Now he had to deal with a guard. Hopefully, Hannah wasn't having any problems.

"Let's rock," flashed up on his face shield.

"And ride," he whispered. He shoved forward. The grill gave way, and he curled up in the air so he landed on his feet. He bounced on the mattress. Milly-ma'am squealed and scrambled back toward the wall. Chuck pressed his tail against the mattress to steady himself and pulled out the blaster. He had it out and leveled with both hands, like he saw Dad and Vash do by the time the priest whirled around.

"Chuck!" Milly-ma'am exclaimed behind him.

Chuck didn't twitch. Dad never did, and neither did Vash. Wolfwood lifted his hands open wide up by his head. "You are a wrenchhead. I have been kidnapped or captured once a week, starting when I was a few hours old and I know only wrenchheads have the keys after you're locked up." Chuck smirked. "Only you don't because we changed the key, we changed the key." He sang the last bit. Greasepit always hated when he and Hannah sang songs.

"Chuck, how did you get here?" Milly-ma'am asked.

"Rode the bike. Hannah had her look for plant power not on the map, so we could get all of you out."

"Does Hannah know where you are? Does she know you have that gun?"

Chuck jerked and looked over his shoulder at Milly-ma'am. She was frowning. "She gave the blaster to me; I didn't steal it!"

"And where is Hannah?"

"She went after Vash and Meryl-ma'am." Chuck turned back to watching Wolfwood. He hadn't moved.

"So we're all supposed to meet up and?" Milly-ma'am asked.

Chuck sighed. "Mom's way. Mom's way is sneaky. There's too many of Vash's sisters here to go boom."

"Okay, no going boom," Milly-ma'am said firmly. "And no shooting Mr. Wolfwood."

"What?"

"If you shoot him, it will make me sad. And it will make Vash sad."

"He's a wrenchhead!" Chuck looked over his shoulder at Milly-ma'am. "He had the key; he's working for Knives!"

Milly-ma'am took a deep breath. "Knives threatened his children. So he has worked for Knives and is trying to help Vash. Have your parents or uncles ever pretended to help Limburger to actually stop him?"

Chuck looked back at Wolfwood, but he was thinking hard. "I think Uncle Modo had to be a duplicate agent, but that was before Hannah so a really long time ago. Limburger doesn't fall for that now."

"Wolfwood has been doing the same thing," Milly-ma'am said. "He has kept me safe from the other Gung-Ho Guns, and he got my stun gun back."

"Vash needs help to defeat Knives and keep everyone alive," Wolfwood said.

Chuck snorted. "Good luck getting him to listen to a teamwork lecture. Bro has ignored Hannah about that and you all got kidnapped." He put the blaster in its holster.

Milly-ma'am sighed and climbed out of the bed. "Okay, I'm not escaping in my pajamas. Nicholas, go change in the bathroom."

He lowered his hands. "Are you sure about that?"

Chuck rolled his eyes. "I have an older sister. I give her clothes privacy or she's gonna tie my tail into a knot." He climbed off the bed and went to the table.

"Fair enough," Wolfwood said. He gathered his clothes and went through another door next to the bed.

"Knives let you have your stuff?" Chuck asked.

Milly-ma'am dug into her suitcase. "I don't think Mr. Knives cares since he has Vash. At least, the weird box monster brought back my clothes that it stole."

"Wow, he really is bad at kidnapping. Limburger's goons know to shake us for stuff Hannah can use to blow up everything."

"They've had practice. Now face the wall."

"Yes, ma'am." He stared at the wall behind the table and stuffed his hands in his jeans pockets so he didn't press the buttons over there. The grown-ups didn't take long to get dressed and to gather the stun gun and the cloth-wrapped cross. "Bike, what's the key now?"

"Your birthday in numbers," printed on his face shield.

Hannah had taught him that. Chuck pressed in 07271998 and the door slid open.

"Let me take the lead." Wolfwood stepped out the door first. "You kids came in over the bridge, right?"

"We didn't see a back door," Chuck answered. He pulled Milly-ma'am's suitcase because both her hands were holding her stun gun. The halls were quiet, but Chuck still felt his fur prickling like he was cold or something was wrong that he couldn't hear or see. They passed the computer room, but nobody was in it. Then they went through the door into the big, bright garage.

And it was full of the funny-looking guys who were supposed to be locked in their rooms. Six men faced the door and blocked the vehicles and the door outside. A guy taller than Uncle Modo and wider than Greasepit in brown gladiator armor that exposed his muscular chest and stomach, the wrenchhead who tried to kidnap him before and his metal cross wasn't wrapped in cloth, a man in a brown poncho with a wide-brimmed hat, a guy peaking out from a spinning top, an old man in a brown coat and a bowler hat, and the blue-haired man in a long white coat with a skull tied on his arm stepped out in front of the other five.

Chuck let go of Milly's suitcase and looked at Wolfwood without turning his head much. The man's jaw clenched as he stared at the Gung-Ho Guns. That wasn't the face of someone who was happy his gang showed up.

Bluesummers' golden eye not covered by his blue bangs focused on Chuck. "You are a loud telepath, little spider."

Chuck smirked. "Mom always says we're bad at the quiet as mice thing."

"And you're proud of that. How odd."

The kidnapper stepped forward. "He needs firm guidance."

"Not from you," Chuck said with a snarl.

Milly-ma'am raised up her stun gun. "You leave him--aaaa!" She cried out in pain as her body bent back to aim the stun gun at the ceiling.

"You have no standing to request anything, parasite." Bluesummers twitched the fingers of his outstretched hand.

"Let her go," Wolfwood growled.

"Quiet, Punisher. I'm tired of balancing your divided loyalties."

Wolfwood spun the cross off his back and the cloth fell away from around it. His right hand tucked into a hole in the center as he shifted his left leg back and pointed the long end at the Gung-Ho Guns. The metal split apart, showing a gun barrel in the center. It spit out bullets with sparks and smoke, and Wolfwood used them to draw a line of bullet holes at the Gung-Ho Guns' feet. They all danced back, including Bluesummers.

"Mamajammin'! That's bigger than Uncle Vinnie's bazooka!"

Everyone ignored Chuck to stare at Wolfwood. He smirked back at them. "I've picked a side, but you're still going to have to deal with me."

Bluesummers narrowed his eye and twitched his outstretched fingers.

Wolfwood dropped the muzzle of his cross gun to the floor as his body bent back like Milly-ma'am.

Bluesummers smirked briefly. "And you actually thought you'd be a deterrent. Gray the Ninelives, punish the traitor."

The huge guy in brown gladiator armor lurched forward, reaching for the man in the black suit. This fit Hannah's rule close enough. Chuck pulled out the blaster, aimed up at the big guy, and pulled the trigger. "Eat blaster, dome head!"

The blaster bolt hit Gray the Ninelives right on the brown collar that started right under the eyes of the dome and ended at the pecs as the armor went around those muscles. And the collar and the flesh-colored dome popped off Gray's shoulders like a bottle cap when Uncle Modo opened a root beer bottle. The face underneath was made of brown metal but no mouth, just twelve slits around the bottom for escaping heat. The blue eyes were reflectors, not eyeballs. The brown metal didn't make a full skull, and green metal circuit boards looked like a brain sticking out of the forehead.

Chuck blinked. "More like chrome head. You're a robot!"

"You are a most troublesome child," Bluesummers said with a weary growl.

"Every day, all day long!" Chuck guessed he was too old for 'troublesome tot' that Limburger called him a lot.

Gray the Ninelives recovered from losing his disguise and reached for Wolfwood again.

Chuck grinned and leaped onto the massive arm. He ran up to Gray's shoulder as the robot straightened and tried to grab him instead. Chuck ducked behind the head, grabbing hold of the edge of brown metal at the boundary of the computer brain. "Aoooow! Hannah's gonna be so jelly. She thinks she's the only one who can rage against machines!"

Gray swatted a massive hand at his head and Chuck behind it. Chuck ducked that easily.

"Someone pull the child off Gray the Ninelives," Bluesummers ordered.

The old man with glasses turned to Bluesummers. "You cannot control him, Master Legato?"

"He has immunity to my control."

"Score! You're already grinding your teeth because of me! Aooow!" Chuck howled.

The kidnapper passed his cross to the man in the wide-brimmed hat. "Try shaking your body," he said as he moved closer to Gray.

Chuck blew a raspberry at the kidnapper and wrapped his tail around what the dome had attached to the rest of Gray's armor.

"With that child in hand, Vash the Stampede will stop his obstruction of Master Knives' objectives," Bluesummers said.

"That never works." Hannah always told the wrenchheads that when they tried to stop Dad by keeping Chuck and her, so Chuck figured he had to tell these wrenchheads. Gray tilted his upper body from side to side, but Chuck moved with him. "All that plan does is piss off my sister. And then your plan goes boom." Chuck pushed the blaster into the robot's brains and fired.

Gray shuddered and fell toward the floor. Chuck rode most of the way, shifting his balance until he jumped clear. He landed on the floor as Gray slammed into it and shook everyone.

"Plan goes boom like that." Chuck nodded.

Bluesummers bared his teeth as he glared at Chuck. "You are counting on your sister's antics? She's already--" He broke off with a choking gasp as the skin on his face went as white as Uncle Vinnie's fur. He turned his whole body to the corner beyond the fight scene with wide eyes. "Master?"

"What is happening?" The old man asked.

"Knives got a Hannah wrench to the face," Chuck said gleefully. Bluesummers was making the same shocked face he had seen Limburger's goons make when Hannah blew up the plan.

Pain shoved through his whole head and Chuck screamed along with someone else.

Who taught this kid that it was fine to fight opponents that towered over him?! screamed through Wolfwood's mind ever since Legato froze him into this painful stance and Chuck defended them. Needle-noggin wouldn't; hell, he didn't like anyone of any age fighting. But Chuck didn't hesitate at all, and Wolfwood tried not to think of how that would impress Chapel, and then Chuck won!

But before anyone could really react to Gray the Ninelives hitting the floor, both telepaths grabbed their heads and dropped to their knees and started screaming as their mouths opened. And they were still screaming as the metal bands seizing Wolfwood's muscles shattered and he was free to move again.

He jerked the Punisher back up as he glanced at Milly, who stumbled slightly as she straightened. "Get the boy."

She nodded and ran toward Chuck. Gray's left arm moved, creating a wall between her and Chuck. She skidded to a stop. Gray's right hand stretched toward them.

"How are you still moving?" Wolfwood asked.

All four fingers and the thumb stretched, opening up muzzles at the tips and gas exchange holes above the hand-connecting knuckles.

"Oh shit," Wolfwood breathed out as he closed up the machine gun and held the Punisher upright as a shield. He sprinted to Milly, reaching her just as the bullets flew. She pressed her back against his. The Punisher deflected the bullets that Gray wasn't even trying to aim with precision.

The rain of bullets ended. Gray shifted his arm to line up with them better.

"Brace me," Wolfwood said over his shoulder as he rotated the Punisher again. Milly's mass pushed against him and he leaned against it. The rocket launcher end opened up, and he steadied with both hands as he fired. The rocket exploded against Gray's right hand. He smirked at the mangled metal as the smoke cleared.

"Roll left," Milly said. "That arm's moving again."

They moved in sync so Wolfwood was in front of Gray's left arm. It was sliding in small jerks against the floor toward them. Wolfwood leaned against Milly again to shoot the rocket launcher. That took the arm apart at the elbow and left them a pass to get around their still twitching opponent.

Now that the gunfire had ceased, he could hear that the screaming had stopped as well. The boy, Chuck, slumped on the floor. Gray's body blocked his view of Bluesummers. Milly hurried to the boy and Wolfwood kept a watch on the mobile Gung-Ho Guns. "Chuck?" she asked as she knelt next to him.

The boy groaned. "My head hurts. They were so loud. Still loud but they moved the speakers. Have we won yet?"

"Not yet," Wolfwood said. This position was horrible. Gray and the other Gung-Ho Guns were between them and the door into the ship and the door outside.

"No, wrenchheads blocking the out," Chuck said.

"The exit," Milly suggested. "Can you get up?"

Wolfwood heard the boy move right before Bluesummers' ragged voice yelled. "What have you done?!"

"Didn't I tell him?" Chuck asked. "Your plan go boom."

"You did tell him that," Milly said.

Gray's upper body flipped on the floor. "Find cover!" Wolfwood yelled at Milly and Chuck. They ran for the parked vehicles and Wolfwood backed up as Gray flipped over until his chest now faced them.

The flesh-colored pecs lifted from the body in perfect circular lids over a trio of rocket launchers embedded under each one for a total of six.

"You got to be kidding me!" Wolfwood yelled as he dropped to the floor. He lined up his shot and pulled the trigger before Gray fired that payload. The explosion ripped through the metal of the body and expanded as it reached the ammunition Gray carried. The smoke cleared and Gray's upper half had vanished as well, leaving a hole to see the five remaining Gung-Ho Guns past Gray's legs.

"Hannah can keep the handguns," Chuck said in the silence. "I want one of those when I turn ten!"

The boy thought he'd be strong enough to handle a Punisher by ten? Wolfwood put the question aside as he stood up and regarded their opponents. Chapel had retrieved his Punisher but looked just as dismayed at Gray's remains as the other three. Bluesummers, though.

The blue-haired man was on his knees and the expression of stoic nihilism he constantly wore had been twisted into snarling agony. "No," tore out of Legato's throat in a moan, gaining strength as he repeated it. "No! No! NO! NO!"

Pain drilled through Wolfwood's head, through everyone's judging by the flinching and gasps he heard. He gritted his teeth, and it finally eased to a throb.

The Gung-Ho Guns turned stunned expressions to Bluesummers. He ignored them to stare ahead. "Vash the Stampede cannot prevail. He won't take the necessary actions. He doesn't deserve it!"

"Vash and Hannah whipped Knives' tail." Chuck stopped next to Wolfwood. Had no one taught the kid what taking cover meant? Chuck continued, "Don't know why you're so shocked. Dad says people can only take so much before they fight back. Even my bro."

Legato focused on the boy as he climbed to his feet. "You are not his brother! He rejected his flesh and blood for parasites!"

Chuck snorted. "You choose to be part of a family, even if you're born into one."

"You simple, naïve child!"

"Mom says to be a good brother I can't do things that hurt Hannah on purpose. If Knives wanted to be a good brother, he shouldn't have crashed ships and killed people."

Legato snarled audibly before using words. "You simple, naïve child! Parroting back the worthless idealistic prattling from your idiotically naïve parents! What do you know of life?"

Chuck grinned inside his helmet as a roaring sound mixed with guitar and drums funneled through the door into the ship. "I know the three things you can count on in the universe, and you're gonna get a lesson on one of them right now!"

The roaring burst through the doorway in the form of a black and chrome motorcycle driving itself! The guitar, drums, and a singer wailed from the speakers.

I'm gonna take you down.
Oh, down, down, down.
So don't you fool around.
I'm gonna pull it, pull it, pull the trigger.

"Your brains, your bros, and your bike!" Chuck yelled over the song. "Get 'em, girl!"

Shoot to thrill, play to kill.
Too many women with too many pills, yeah.
Shoot to thrill, play to kill.
I got my gun at the ready, gonna fire at will, yeah.

The motorcycle slid to a stop in front of them and Gray's legs with its headlight facing the Gung-Ho Guns. Laser bolts flew from it, sending the others flying as they dodged them.

"A different song this time." Milly stood next to him and added a stun bolt to the mix. Chapel ducked it.

"This time?" Wolfwood demanded.

"I still have a lot to catch you up on."

"Like how the motorcycle is driving itself!"

"She does that, dear, but you have to ask Hannah or Vash for the hows." She fired the stun gun again.

Caine pulled a handgun out from under his coat as he fell back to the vehicles parked beside their group.

"Someone kill them!" Legato screamed.

Wolfwood rotated the Punisher, opened up the machine gun, and added his bullets to the panic before Legato remembered how to freeze them again.

A stun bolt hit Hoppered's Gotterer. "Enough of this!" He inserted himself inside the halves of his armor and sent it spinning into the air. But he aimed the larger end at the outer door, crashing through it as Gray's legs stood up on their own.

Caine had already climbed onto the flying platform and Leonof grabbed Legato's arm. "Come, Master Legato. A better battlefield awaits."

Chapel fell back as well. "Gray can finish them."

The legs turned to face their group. Chuck danced back. "How is it still moving?"

Wolfwood and Milly both got in front of the boy. Wolfwood sprayed the legs with bullets, but they just bounced off the metal flesh as the legs went down on one knee. Before he could switch over to the rocket launcher, blue laser bolts hit the pelvis, the extended thigh, and the leg behind it. A fireball blossomed again. He thrust the Punisher in front of Milly and moved her back as he glanced over at the source of blasts.

The black motorcycle had a gun barrel out above its mousehead-shaped headlight.

I'm gonna shoot to thrill.
Play to kill.
Shoot to thrill.

The guitar and drums ended just after the singer's voice ended his note with a flare. The smoke cleared, and now all that remained was a pair of brown booted feet.

Wolfwood looked past the rumbling motorcycle and saw the lights of the flying platform disappear into the dark beyond the hole in the door.

"Are guns coming out of his toes now?" Milly asked, pulling his attention back to Gray's remains.

"No," Chuck answered. "I don't know that word."

Wolfwood whirled around. The boy focused on something on the golden visor over his face. "Spell it," Milly said.

"D, e, a, c, t, i, v, a, t, e, d," Chuck recited.

"Deactivated." Wolfwood sighed. He felt the itch for a cigarette beginning.

"Oh, I do know that word. Hannah said it means off." Chuck turned to the motorcycle. "Why didn't she come when she switched to Dad's way? Busy? Already?"

"Dad's way?" Wolfwood asked, because this conversation was making less and less sense.

"Mom's way is sneaky," Milly said, "so Dad's way is loud music and explosions?"

"Yup, the Biker Mice way!" Chuck pumped his fist.

"Just who is your father?" Wolfwood demanded.

"Biker Mouse from Mars Throttle. Can I get back to the bike now?"

Wolfwood blinked. That name was almost as ridiculous as that string of names Vash gave him on the bus to May City. And then he blinked again. "You're talking to the motorcycle?" He looked at Milly. "He's talking to the motorcycle?"

"Both he and Hannah do," Milly answered.

Chuck sighed. "She can't talk back. She puts words on our face shields." He pointed to the golden visor over his face. "Is Hannah okay? Yes. Is Meryl-ma'am okay? Yes."

Milly sighed. "Good."

"Is Vash okay? Ask Hannah. Fine, patch me to her. What do you mean 'can't?'"

A storage panel slid open on the motorcycle and a matching chrome helmet lifted briefly before going back in. "Really? She always gets to ditch her helmet and I can't 'cause I have to hide my ears!" Chuck crossed his arms over his chest.

Milly patted his shoulder. "One day, you won't have to hide your ears from everybody."

"I hate waiting for it."

"What about Knives?" Chuck looked up at Wolfwood. "You're gettin' status updates for everybody else?" He waved at the motorcycle.

Chuck's eyes focused on the face shield. "Deactivated."

"Yeah, that's bound to make Vash's status complicated," Milly sighed.

"Oh, what about Vash's sisters? We boomed a lot in here and Hannah said no booms."

"Vash's what?" Wolfwood asked. It was just Vash and Knives, and now Meryl. Unless Knives had an experiment going on that he kept away from even Bluesummers.

"Power levels same." Chuck grinned. "Oh, that's good. 'Cause when Hannah says no booms, she always means it."

"Chuck means the plant angels," Milly explained.

Wolfwood nodded. He wasn't sure why Needle-noggin and the former insurance girls would tell this kid that old myth, but Gunsmoke couldn't lose any of the plants they had. He snatched up the cloth covering for the Punisher and wrapped it again. "We better get to the others for what happens now."

The motorcycle honked.

"Bossy. You and Hannah are both bossy." Chuck climbed up on the seat. "Come on, lead the way to Hannah and Vash."

The motorcycle rolled toward the door back into the ship, and Wolfwood and Milly followed behind it on foot.

Chapter Text

Feathers erupted over this body as the plant angel of this bulb pulled both Vash and Knives into the cloudy pink environment inside. His sister's multiple hands phased into the body and it hurt as much as Knives wrapping around him. Vash screamed as more sisters fluttered into view, surrounding them. Their wings obscured the bulb glass more than the atmosphere did.

Knives screamed now too as the ripping continued and he had a head again. His head and arm and what remained of his chest and legs peeled away from Vash, and his sisters shoved Knives into the waiting arms of more sisters who steadied him.

Vash felt anchored in his own battered body, familiar scars pulling with his muscles around the implants holding him together. His sisters caught hold of him, too. Which was good because he was more furious than he ever remembered being before. They could hold him back. "You asshole! I can't believe you! Ruin our future for what?! You hypocritical asshole!"

"Someone has to save us all. You won't do it. Too busy saving the human garbage hurting our sisters. And I'm the hypocrite?" Knives demanded.

"You wanted to absorb Meryl!"

"Fusion," the home plant angel said.

"Fine," Vash snapped. "Fusion Meryl. She's pregnant!"

"With your child," Knives said.

"And you'd steal that from me, too. You'd take Meryl and our baby just like you took the crew, Rem--"

"That bitch made her choice, and it wasn't us!"

"Just like you stole the dream of a better Eden from everyone on Gunsmoke!"

"The humans don't deserve an Eden!" Knives sneered.

"That was never your decision to make!"

"You have no idea what they have done to us and you still defend them!" Knives snarled. "We had a sister, an independent sister, until they murdered her."

Vash heaved in harshly. "Her name was Tesla. And you didn't tell me when you found out."

"It wouldn't have changed a damn thing!" Knives thundered. "You wouldn't have avenged her death, not with your every future is blank nonsense."

Vash snorted. "You didn't either, since they experimented to make Meryl after you made me blow up July City."

Knives gritted his teeth and said nothing.

Vash glared at him. "You stole the brother I thought I had with all this murder."

"After everything I have protected you from and you still refuse to see the logic of it!" Knives darted toward Vash, but a ripple of energy from their sisters stopped him. "You are choosing him over me? After everything I have done to save you?"

The sisters spoke one after the other. "No fusion."

"Doesn't want."

"End of matter."

Knives scoffed. "Vash won't save you. He'll let the humans suck you dry. He has done nothing to help you."

Vash surged forward, but the sisters stopped him, too. "You never gave me a chance! The Great Fall and then I was stopping you from more mass murder. After we split--"

"After you shot me!" Knives roared.

One of his sisters phased her hands through Vash's body, brushing through the metal implants on his right side. "Not you," she said. Her passing left tingling and pulsing sensations in his flesh.

Vash glanced at her humanoid face with wide, pupil-less eyes. "Please stop. I have more yelling to do at Knives, and that's distracting."

"All you did was wander around performing feats for the masses, letting them damage you rather than let humans kill each other like they have always done!"

"I did work!" Vash screamed back. "The windmill at Jeneora Rock, the satellite system out of New Oregon, teaching love and peace--"

"Love and peace," Knives snarled. "The humans will never change their violence and accept us and free our sisters, you fool."

"Toma shit," Vash declared. "Hannah, that little girl who you tried to kill after I warned you not to? Her mother loves an obvious alien, had his child, and Hannah loves her brother and her stepfather. She loves me as a brother. Humans can accept us!"

Knives said nothing. His hair was turning black.

Vash looked past Knives. Even more of their sisters surrounded them, more than the bulbs Knives had collected on this ship. He might be talking to all his sisters on Gunsmoke right now. "Give me a chance. I will find a way to ease the burden on you and save our humans. It can happen. Please give me a chance."

"It won't work." Knives' skin turned gray. "It won't work. The humans will destroy us like they destroy each other."

"That's no excuse for killing them first," Vash said. "They can change. Just give me a chance."

Knives went silent and completely black. Their sisters keened. Tears filled Vash's eyes as the connection that had always been between him and his twin faded away.

His sister cupped Vash's face with two glowing hands. "Brother gone. Do what you will, Brother." She kissed his forehead. Vash closed his eyes. "We are with you." She gently pushed him back and down, and Vash phased through the bulb glass.

The feathers retracted into his body. His feet hit the metal floor of the lab and he straightened. Meryl stood before him with her worried gray eyes on. "It's me. Just me."

Meryl frowned with her worried determination. "Prove it."

"You still haven't given me a list of rubbish not to say."

Meryl's face crumpled with relief. "My idiot. Can I?" She held out her arms.

"Yeah. I don't know how to do that fusion thing Knives was doing." She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. He wrapped his arm around her as best he could. "Knives is gone," he projected to her.

"I felt it." Her grip on him tightened. "Are you all right?"

"Ask me that later." He took a deep breath and asked out loud. "Where's Hannah?"

"Not facing the bulb once we realized your pants came off. Let me help you." She held up his sweat pants so he could step into them and pulled them up for him.

He saw Hannah over at the far lab bed closest to the doors with her back to the rest of the room. "They treated me in here, so there should be a first air kit or equipment. Find it please." Meryl nodded, and he headed to Hannah. "I'm decent now. How are you, little sis?"

Hannah looked up at him, tears pooling in her green eyes. "I can't fix your arm. Gears got shattered."

He glanced past her, and the remains of his prosthetic arm were on the bed. "Oh, Hannah, you don't have to. I can get a new arm. How's your neck?"

She shrugged. "My head started throbbing a few minutes ago, but I don't think it's from my neck?"

Meryl set down a box next to his busted arm and opened it. He plucked out the medical scanner out and ran it under Hannah's orange braid. "You're lucky, just bruised. Knives could've broken your neck."

Hannah's chin wobbled. "I'm not sorry; he tried to possess you! MacCyber wasn't that bad."

"It's not a contest of who was worse." He looked around the lab. "Where's the motorcycle?"

"I sent her to get Chuck and Milly-ma'am. Are you gonna disassemble her?"

"What?"

Hannah lost all semblance of composure and sobbed. She screwed her eyes shut, but that didn't stop the tears or the low wailing that shook her body.

"No! No disassembling, sis! She was just following her programming to protect you. And Knives didn't listen again. Come're."

Hannah shoved her face against the right side of his chest and wrapped her arms around him with his open arm gesture. He wrapped his arm around her back. "You hate killing," she said through crying. "Never said anything about capital punishment."

"It doesn't work as a deterrent and of course I'm against it, but don't worry about that. No one is going to execute your motorcycle."

Hannah squeezed him harder as she continued to sob. How long had she been worried about losing her last bit of home?

Meryl wrapped her arms around them both. "Did she say anything to you?" he projected to Meryl.

"About the motorcycle or Knives? No, but I should have guessed. She almost cried over us leaving them behind to save you in LR Town."

They rested in that embrace until a boom vibrated the ship. Hannah jerked back and Meryl let them go. "That's the fourth boom! I told both of them no structural damage!" Hannah yelled as she wiped her face.

"Did you tell the Gung-Ho Guns?" Meryl headed to the door.

"They're here too?" Vash asked.

"We locked their doors," Hannah said.

"Doubt that stopped anyone for long. Don't go out, Meryl." She stopped and rejoined them as Vash moved to a console on the wall and pulled up the ship systems and security feeds. "The bulbs are fine, but we have a hole in the hangar bay door now."

"We didn't do that," Hannah said. "The bike hacked it open. We were breaking in Mom's way."

"Mom's way?" Meryl asked.

"Dad's way is more fun, but sets off alarms sooner. Mom prefers sneaking."

"I'm glad you see the value of both approaches. And I don't see any combatants combating, and Wolfwood and Milly are standing down, so I'll tell the repair bots to fix the door." He typed out the instructions.

"They're okay?" Meryl pressed against him as she stood on her tiptoes to see the screen.

"Looks like they're all coming inside and they aren't running, so we have time to scan you."

Meryl sighed. "I told you I feel fine."

"But the baby can't talk yet."

She looked across the lab at the medical scanner and scowled. "Fine, I'll go first since I doubt either of you want to tell Chuck where babies come from yet."

"When you start to show?" Hannah's nose scrunched. "I'm pretty sure that's when I was told Chuck was coming."

"That sounds reasonable." Vash looked at Hannah. "What do you know about computers?"

"I can use a point and click operating system and a few other tricks."

"Good, come watch 'cause I'm guessing it's my turn next."

"Yes," Meryl and Hannah said together.

"I love you worrywarts too."

Nothing was wrong with Meryl, or the baby, and she and Vash switched places in the machine. Hannah jerked back in alarm from its console after the scan plate moved. "Red alerts are all over your body!"

"What?" Vash got out of the medical scanner.

Meryl's gray eyes widened. "You're bleeding!"

He looked down and blood was running from under his metal straps. "That's new."

Hannah's eyes widened. "Blood is supposed to stay on the inside. What did Knives do?"

"I don't think this is his fault." Vash walked into the closest med bay and grabbed gauze from the labeled wall storage unit, pressing it under the straps on his right side.

Meryl grabbed a wad of gauze from a matching bin on the wall on the other side of the bed and pressed it under the plate on his shoulder blade. "He fucked with your body and now you're bleeding? Get on the bed."

"One of our sisters in the heaven poked at me while I was yelling at Knives." He pressed down on the top metal strap under his right arm. It was loose and his rib actually felt whole. "Maybe she sparked some regeneration?"

"Did Knives keep notes on the computer?" Hannah pointed at the screen she was still standing in front of.

Vash shrugged. "He set this up as his base after we split up."

"Get. On. The. Bed." Meryl said in that voice.

Vash got on the bed, keeping his back to Meryl. "It feels like pushing out bullets."

"These aren't bullets your body is rejecting. Shit." Meryl pressed a second wad of gauze on his right shoulder where the bolts were.

"I can't on medical things." Hannah backed up from the medical scanner. "Doctor Ryan said I needed med school before trying to fix people."

"Hey, something you hadn't learned yet," Vash said cheerfully.

"How squeamish are you?" Meryl asked. "Because we are out of hands."

The big door to the lab slid open, and the motorcycle rolled inside with Chuck on it and Milly and Wolfwood walked in behind them. Hannah hurried to her brother and the motorcycle. "What was blowing up?"

"The bike said Vash's sisters were fine," Chuck said. "The wrenchheads who ran away had a giant robot that wouldn't stop going until every part of it blew up. I got to shoot a robot!"

Hannah stopped right in front of the bike. "You were supposed to give the blaster to Milly-ma'am."

"Her gun needs both hands."

Vash craned his neck to look at them. "What happened to the he has to be ten rule?!"

"Stop jerking around!" Meryl yelled.

Milly and Wolfwood hurried to the med bay bed and blocked Vash's view of the kids. Chuck aimed his voice at the adults. "We had to split up in the enemy's skyscraper or whatever this is, and I had to have a weapon. Will Dad yell about it?"

"Not to you," Hannah answered. "I'll get a long lecture about following Uncle Vinnie's example. Again. Come here, bike, you're faster at finding info." The bike honked as it rolled to the wall console.

Milly grabbed the gauze from the closest wall storage unit to her and started pressing on where blood was oozing from his chest. "What did you do this time?" she asked.

Vash squirmed to look at her. "Why am I always blamed when I'm the one bleeding?"

"Bleeding?" Chuck asked. "What happened? Why is Vash bleeding? The bike said Knives was turned off."

"Vash had to go in the bulb again. It's complicated," Hannah said.

"So he's bleeding and drunk?"

"Now that's a good idea." Vash twisted his neck to look at Wolfwood. "Wolfwood, have you--ow!" Pain cascaded through his whole body with that movement.

Wolfwood shoved and leveraged Vash onto his left side, and Vash stopped trying to make his body do anything. Wolfwood straightened Vash's right leg, pulling his sweatpants down to uncover the bolts in his hip. They were bloody and loose, too. "What did Knives do to you?" Wolfwood accepted a wad of gauze Milly handed him.

"Found some stuff," Hannah said. "The bulb environment can enhance regeneration."

"And makes Vash sound drunk," Chuck added.

"An empty bulb may induce giddy euphoria," Hannah continued to read.

"What's that word?" Chuck asked.

"You're not old enough to know that word."

"Mom's not here to threaten soap."

"I'm looking for stuff to help Vash. Knives being pissed off about no legs doesn't help! Okay, here. A sister, a Plant Angel, can speed up the regeneration process, but it all depends on how much you have to regenerate. Knives took twenty-seven years to grow his legs back."

Vash twisted his head to look at Meryl over his shoulder. "Check my stump. I am not spending a decade regrowing an arm when I can get a new one installed in an hour minus travel time."

"I can't see it, and you need to stop moving."

Milly was at his front and peered down at the mattress. "No blood from it. Now stay still."

"I'm trying not to move, but I wanna when it hurts." Aches, stabbing, wrenching, he was getting dizzy from all the distinct and painful sensations.

"Do we have to put him back in the bulb until he's drunk?" Chuck asked.

"That bulb has a Plant Angel in it so he won't get drunk in there," Hannah said.

"You saw her? No fair! I want to see her."

"I was too distracted to really see her. No, stay put right now."

Meryl leaned closer to Vash's head. "You said this feels like pushing out bullets. How does that work?"

"It's usually over with by now, but last time, keeping Knives out of my head distracted me from timing it. Bullet pops out and slap a bandage on till the bleeding stops."

Wolfwood scowled down at Vash. "Hold him down, Milly."

Milly pressed down on Vash's side, pinning his left side to the mattress. Vash looked over at Wolfwood. "Did you finally read that medical book?"

Wolfwood grabbed one of the hip bolts and pressed Vash's hip down as he pulled the bolt.

Vash yelled wordlessly at the pain of it.

"No," Wolfwood held the freed, bloody bolt in between their gazes. "But these things are longer than tiny bullets."

"So taking longer to get out of his body," Meryl said.

"Give me a minute before yanking again." Vash panted before he picked up his head and nodded toward the wall. "Milly, the bandages are right behind you in the wall."

Wolfwood looked over his shoulder. "Hey Red, do you have a medical scan of the state of his bones over there?"

"Uh oh!" Chuck exclaimed. "Milly-ma'am said shooting him would make her sad."

"All of Vash's bones are present in his torso." Hannah's seething carried clear across the lab. "Assuming you are concerned about the metal that was supporting his ribs. But you don't get to nickname me and I'll never accept one based on my genetic fluke hair!"

Vash picked his head back up and aimed his voice at where Hannah's was coming from. "Little Sis, Wolfwood doesn't know about your sperm donor, um, issues?"

"I have whole subscriptions about him and Karbunkle that therapy helped me admit to." Hannah sounded actually cheerful now. "But Preacher Man will get punched if he does it again."

"Just punched?" Chuck asked.

"He's on our side."

"He's my friend," Vash said, "even if he has a bloody way to show it."

Wolfwood didn't meet Vash's eyes. "Don't know if you want to claim that after what I've done."

Vash blew a raspberry at him. "Knives threatened your kids. You had to do what you had to do to save 'em."

"He admitted it?" Wolfwood asked.

"Enough to figure it out. The rug rats who claimed me didn't impress him either."

"Not a rat!" Chuck yelled in protest. "That's a different species."

"Sorry, fuzzy, little bro! Okay, go for the next one." Vash tried to brace for it but it didn't help and he yelled again.

"Are you sure this is a good thing?" Chuck asked when Vash stopped yelling.

"The big med scanner thing said they had to come out," Hannah said. "And we haven't found any notes on experiments with pain-killing drugs."

"Not surprised," Vash said with a sigh. "Sadistic asshole that he was," he muttered under his breath.

Meryl smoothed a sealing bandage over his hip. "You're doing great."

"And this is what it takes for you to lie to me," Vash said, exaggerating the despair.

"You've screamed worse before," she said unconcernedly. "Usually when bullets were flying at you. Lift your arm."

"Bullets are tiny," Chuck said. "How come they do so much damage?"

"Velocity," Hannah said.

"What does Uncle Vinnie have to do with it?"

Hannah sighed. "Velocity means speed. Uncle Vinnie calls himself the Velocity Atrocity because he thinks it sounds cool. Momentum of a bullet equals its mass times velocity. You make it go fast by shooting it and all that momentum hits the target with the bullet. What's wrong with your arm?"

"Nothing," Chuck said. "It's fine. Uncle Vinnie likes to go fast."

"Yes, he feels the need for speed all the time."

Wolfwood glanced at Milly. "They got a big family?"

"Not as big as mine," she answered as she wiped more blood off Vash's skin after Meryl and Wolfwood finished pulling off one of his rib supports.

"Milly-ma'am has an army," Chuck said. "We just got Mom and Dad and the uncles--"

"Only two of those," Hannah added.

"And Grandma Bola, but she doesn't live with us." Chuck lowered his voice. "He's got a rocket launcher inside that cross. We need one."

Chapter Text

Vash panted as he recovered from the last removal. "You won him over with an explosive weapon."

"And a lot of sweet talkin' from Milly," Wolfwood said.

"I'm taking this off your back now." Meryl patted his shoulder blade near the triangle plate on his back. "Then you can lie on your back."

"Okay. Add to my growing regret for getting so many over the years." She yanked it and he screamed through gritted teeth.

"Why did you when you can grow back faster than a human?" Hannah asked over his scream.

Vash inhaled deeply after his yell. "I didn't know I could?" Meryl smoothed another bandage on his back.

"Yeah, Meryl-ma'am is in charge of your medical decisions from now on, bro," Hannah said.

"Not you?" Chuck asked.

"Medicals listen to adults."

"Not in my experience," Vash said.

"Congratulations on hiding your maturity," Meryl said. They adjusted the bed so Vash could lie with his back on the mattress and still sit up. Meryl kissed his cheek. "Any more bleeding?"

"No more bleeding," Milly answered. "But Vash needs clean clothes."

Meryl left Vash's bedside and dug into his bag. Both their bags were over by the kids and the console Hannah had claimed. When had they packed? "You're down to jeans and button-up shirts."

Chuck still sat on the bike that had a cord plugged into the wall console and looked down at his clothes. "That's bad now?"

"You have two hands to dress with," Hannah said. "Do we need to raid Knives' closet?"

Vash made a face. "No. Spent too long in those survival suits and they don't blend in."

"Since when do you care about blending in?" Wolfwood asked.

"There's a room full of normal clothes." Meryl held out her hand. "Come help me find some stuff for Vash, Chuck."

Chuck hopped off the motorcycle's seat and took Meryl's hand. They left through the door back toward their prison room.

Hannah clapped her hands once the door slid shut. "Okay, now that the strongest nose on the planet is distracted, can we get all the blood cleaned up? He doesn't need a snout full of blood."

"Almost there," Milly answered. "Vash is clean, and the bed is cleaning itself?"

"Lost technology," Vash told her. "It's supposed to do that."

"That's useful. So what happens to the garbage can for biohazards in the wall?" she asked.

"Robots will empty that. The repair subroutine is still active and Knives was always too high-minded for chores."

"Bike says the cleaning robots are still active." Hannah turned from the wall console. "Do we need to look for a subroutine to build you a new arm?"

"Stop fretting about that, okay?" Vash assured her. "Doc has all my details and what models I have had before on file."

"Had before?" Wolfwood asked.

"I've gone through five in twenty-seven years," Vash admitted.

"You really should be more careful and set a good example for Chuck and anyone else that joins us." Milly glanced over at Hannah.

Hannah snorted. "I know about it, Milly-ma'am. He wanted to confirm my aunt availability before he left to get his tail caught."

"Did I say thank you for that?" Vash asked.

"I don't do midnight feedings."

"You're not on the hook for those, okay?"

"Good," Hannah said.

The door slid open again, and Chuck and Meryl entered, both carrying clothes. "We found you new sweats and some tank tops because sleeves might be a problem right now," Chuck said. "That was my idea."

"That was very thoughtful," Vash said. "Can you help me get dressed?"

Chuck and Wolfwood both helped. After Vash was dressed in a new pair of sweatpants and a tank top, Chuck took off his helmet, climbed onto the bed, and hugged Vash. "Are you really okay? It hurt Uncle Modo when Mom had to fix his metal arm."

"My arm doesn't work like that. It's detached and I feel nothing from it. Don't worry about that."

Meryl carried over a steaming plate. "Hey, let Vash eat. I got you some gyoza. Sandwiches helped after the last time you spent time in a bulb."

"Thanks." He popped one into his mouth as he balanced the plate on his legs.

Wolfwood glanced at the motorcycle and then back at Vash. "Chuck said the motorcycle said Knives deactivated. What happened?"

"Bike did say that," Chuck said. "I learned a new word."

Vash swallowed. "Knives didn't listen to me and threatened Hannah. Their motorcycle shot him for it and he went into the heaven."

Chuck sat up and scowled at Hannah. "Are you alright?"

"Vash scanned me. I'm okay. Knives is gone and can't rag-doll grab anyone now."

"You two have names for how bad guys grab you?" Meryl asked.

"Limburger's goons are bigger than us and always grab us the same ways. Naming them made it easier to come up with counter moves. Vash probably needs my therapist, but other than that, everybody's fine now, so don't worry 'bout me."

Chuck nodded and leaned against Vash again. "Is she really okay?" he whispered. Vash nodded, and the boy relaxed.

Milly looked worried. "I know Knives was your brother and you want everyone to be better, but surely his soul is headed to Hell? Well, I guess you would know better, Nicholas."

Wolfwood leaned against the wall close by. "I don't usually go with the fire and brimstone bit. Seems like kicking humanity when we're all here. But his actions--sorry, Needle-noggin."

"Hell?" Chuck asked. "The place all the bats wanna leave?"

"Bats?" Wolfwood asked.

Meryl grimaced. "We never asked what religion you two practice."

Milly shook her head. "Movie or music?"

"Music! It's Uncle Modo's favorite. Tied with the Jimmy guy. Bat Out of Hell. It has a bike on the cover."

"Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album? That's what you're talking about?" Hannah asked.

Chuck nodded.

"Uncle Modo let you listen to it?"

"Nope. He said I wasn't old enough to hear it yet." Vash laughed. "It's not funny, bro," Chuck said. "You tell me that about a lot, too."

"Not laughing at you, fuzzy bro. I wasn't talking about religion. They used to call a collection of plant angels a heaven. Our sisters here took what remained of Knives into their collection."

Wolfwood looked at the bulb. "And you're sure he won't regenerate and come back in fifty or a hundred years from now."

Vash felt the emptiness in the spot that had always connected him to his brother in his mind. "He's gone forever. We don't have to worry about that."

Chuck hugged Vash tighter. "You got me now, bro, and I won't kill anyone. I'm not even going to wipe 'em out on a track 'cause Dad says that's dirty racing."

Meryl went over to Hannah at the wall consoles and whispered to the girl. Her green eyes went wide before she typed furiously.

"Yeah, I got you and Hannah and Meryl now. And no cheating at races is good advice." He projected to Meryl, "What are you two up to?"

"I'll tell you if it pans out," she sent back. But out loud she asked, "So what do we need to do next?"

"I know we have to get Vash a new arm," Milly said, "but the rest of the Gung-Ho Guns ran away."

"Couldn't take what the bike dished out," Chuck said.

"Legato was furious," Milly said, "and is unstable enough to try for revenge; so does he know where to find Nicholas' orphanage?"

Everyone stared at Milly until Hannah rattled off a set of coordinates. Wolfwood whirled off the wall to face Hannah. "How did you know--?"

She held up a tablet. "It's in Knives' records, so we might as well assume domo arigato misuta^[7] Legato knows it too."

Wolfwood blanched under his tanned skin. "Lord Almighty. There isn't--I kept weapons away."

"How do you feel about moving?" Vash asked.

"There's no choice, is there? As long as they're out there and mad at me, my kids aren't safe." His movement to pull out a cigarette coiled tighter with stress, like he was saving energy to wield his guns in a firefight.

Hannah turned from what she was reading on one of the wall console screens. "Real estate doesn't seem that hard to come by on this planet."

"The problem with this planet is the neighbors." Wolfwood inhaled on his lit cigarette.

Milly rubbed Wolfwood's arm. "You're not alone now, Nicholas. We'll help you rescue them and move."

"Hero time!" Chuck yelled from Vash's side.

Hannah crossed her arms and looked unimpressed at the entire crowd of adults. "Now you want to do teamwork."

She had a point, but Vash wasn't about to touch that now. "What about New Oregon? That's where we have to head for my new arm."

"Nothing against it, I suppose."

Meryl was braver than Vash right now. "Yes, now we're going to do teamwork," she told Hannah. "Will that transport we came here in work or do we need something larger?" she asked Wolfwood.

"Nah, that should work. I've only got six kids, plus Matron Melanie plus us. We should all fit in it."

"Good, you go make sure it is travel ready. Hannah, you and the motorcycle plot out the fastest and safest route from here to Wolfwood's orphanage and then to New Oregon."

Hannah saluted Meryl and turned back to the consoles.

Meryl looked at Milly. "Milly, check our supplies and see what else we need for seven more people." Milly nodded and she and Wolfwood left the lab from the door they had entered through.

"What's my job?" Chuck asked.

"Keep Vash in that bed," Hannah answered.

"Worrywart," Vash said. "Pass me a tablet and Chuck can help me see what is in inventory or can be fabricated quickly." Hannah walked a tablet over to the bed and stuck her tongue out at him before going back to maps.

Chuck held the tablet while Vash navigated it. "Dad says Hannah frets if she can't fix something and she gets that from Mom."

"How'd your mom take that?" Vash asked.

"She wasn't there."

Meryl leaned over Vash's right side to look at the tablet. "How about starting with any money Knives had and move it to Planet Bank where we can access it?"

Hannah whirled around. "We're actually raiding the wrenchhead? Yes!" She pumped her fist.

"We never did that to Limburger," Chuck said.

"It wouldn't actually stop him and Dad wanted to make sure we knew stealing is wrong."

"Are we stealing?" Chuck asked.

"By Gunsmoke's inheritance laws now that Knives is dead, and he had no children, everything he had belongs to Vash now," Meryl explained. Chuck relaxed again.

Vash blinked at the total he found. "Don't let Wolfwood freak out about land prices. We have him covered."

"What about our land?" Meryl asked. Vash looked at her, confused. She waved at the room. "Don't want to build me a kitchen now that you have all this?"

"Oh no, this isn't homey. We have to keep it safe, but it's too far away from people. And you need a kitchen and Hannah needs an enormous garage to get grimy in and Chuck needs a practice track to race on. Sounds good?"

Meryl smiled warmly at him. "Sounds perfect."

"Can we make you a tracker?" Chuck asked. "You need a tracker 'cause the bike couldn't tell you apart from your sisters."

"A tracker?" Vash asked. "You two have mentioned those."

"They're in our family earrings." Chuck pointed to the green gemstone high in his left ear where the fur-covered cartilage flattened out its curve.

"One of two things Uncle Vinnie was right about in the history of ever," Hannah said without turning around. "He voted for earrings to start with but Mom didn't like that, so me and her had necklaces with trackers that we kept losing or forgetting to wear. So it switched to tracking earrings after Mom and Dad married and we needed family earrings."

"And Uncle Vinnie has never let go of being right?" Meryl smirked.

"One of two. Kinda hard not to let him be proud about it."

"You want me to wear an earring so your motorcycle can find me?" Vash asked, so he'd understand. "Is this a bro thing?"

"You don't have a bike to keep track of you," Chuck said.

"Can't you connect to the transmitter in my earring already?" He pointed to the hoop in his left ear. "Your helmets talk to the motorcycle."

Hannah whirled around and put her hands on her hips. "That would have been heaps useful earlier!"

"It's lost technology that nobody else has!"

"Oh, that's how it works," Meryl said. "That's how you and Kaite were talking on the Flourish and why you gave me the pen."

Vash nodded. "Driscoll had some sort of blocking technology, so I had to get closer and got caught."

"It's two-way?" Hannah asked. Vash nodded. "Yeah, we can connect to that, you goof. Let me start that now." She turned back to the motorcycle and the consoles.

Milly and Wolfwood returned from their job not much longer after that connection was made and started helping Meryl gather travel rations and bed rolls.

Vash considered the children and the motorcycle. "I have an idea, but it feels weird for me to order it. Asking would be better, but you don't call the motorcycle by a name? Wolfwood names his motorcycle when he has one."

"She has a name." Chuck twisted so he could look up at Vash. "But it's not our name."

Vash blinked. "Today's been a lot. Did that make sense to anyone else?" The other adults shook their heads, and he felt slightly better about it.

"Martian mice are secretive with some names," Hannah said. "Clan names aren't even verbal anymore. So when they designed an AI system, it ended up with an independent streak and will only accept a name from the rider it bonds with."

"So she has a name, the one Dad gave her," Chuck added.

"And bonded riders don't tell their battle bike designations. Keeps anyone from messing with their bikes' programming."

Wolfwood paused from packing a box of food. "So what happens if the motorcycle needs to bond with someone else?"

"Hannah will give her a new name because I'm gonna have a racing bike," Chuck answered.

"Okay, that makes sense," Vash said.

"You want to ask the bike to do something?" Hannah asked.

"She can lock this ship up so she's the only one who can unlock it. And Legato can't force a computer telepathically."

"Oh, that is a good idea," Hannah said.

"Thank you, I do have some."

"Have them more often?" Chuck asked.

"Smart aleck." But everyone else laughed, and Vash let it go. He was glad they could laugh after all this. The aches of his body were finally easing; he didn't feel his scars pull as tightly. His stomach was full, and the people he loved and who loved him back surrounded him.

By the time they finished all the preparations and allowed Vash to put on his boots, the kids were about to sleep on their feet. The rest of the adults packed the supplies onto the bus-like transport while Vash shooed the kids on board. Hannah and Chuck put their bedrolls on the rear-most seats across the aisle from each other.

Vash squatted in the aisle to be level with them. "Hey you two. I know I haven't been the best at the bro thing or the teamwork thing, but thank you for coming after me, anyway."

Chuck yawned but wrapped his arms around Vash's neck. "Of course we were coming. We called dibs."

"I still don't know what that means," Vash said.

"It means you're ours and we are always coming to your rescue." Hannah wrapped her arms around Vash and Chuck.

"And I will always come to your rescue too, but I hope this is the last rescue we have to organize. I'd like to stop for a while and figure out how to save my sisters and the humans. Go on, lay down."

They let go and Chuck crawled into his bedroll, but Hannah looked sleepily suspicious as she leaned back. "Is that what your sisters told you? In the bulb?"

"Feeling guilty about being bossy? No, it's not a commandment, just reality. The humans depend on the plant angels to survive on Gunsmoke but my sisters have no relief, can't reproduce dependent plants, and they will die. Then the humans will die. And I don't want anyone to die."

"We'll help, bro. We'll fix the entire planet." Hannah yawned.

"After we rescue Wolfwood's kids. Get some sleep."

Milly and Wolfwood boarded the transport as Vash headed to the front. Wolfwood took the driver's seat and Milly kissed him before laying down on the first bench on the door side.

Vash plopped into the seat behind the driver's seat. Through the windshield and through the open hangar bay door, Vash saw Meryl with the black motorcycle. The motorcycle was plugged into the outside panel and Meryl was waiting until the motorcycle was done with locking up this ship to handle the disconnecting.

Vash didn't realize how hard he was staring until Wolfwood looked over his shoulder. "I ain't leaving her," he said.

"Not funny." Vash scooted back in his seat. "I tried to leave her behind twice. No third time. Don't care if good things happen in threes, too."

Wolfwood started the vehicle, drove through the hangar bay door, and stopped on a bridge between the ship and the hole in the crater wall. "I never intended to endanger the girls or your future family. None of them told me."

"We weren't telling people yet." Vash glanced at Wolfwood's doleful face in the mirror angled to look at the rear of the vehicle. "You are going to have to forgive yourself 'cause I can't deal with you and Hannah trying to out grudge each other. And I'm pretty sure she'll win."

"Not taking that bet. Sperm donor?"

"Chuck doesn't call him that, so it's not something she got from their mother. And I can't repeat what she has said about him in confidence, but he earned her unending ire."

"Unending?" Wolfwood asked.

"He's dead, has been since Chuck was born, so five years dead and she's still mad at him."

Meryl climbed up the steps into the transport. "Six years," she corrected.

"We missed a birthday?" Vash asked.

Meryl picked up a bedroll and stopped next to Vash's seat. "Both of them. Hannah was keeping quiet about them--"

"'Cause I wasn't there," Vash guessed. She nodded. "We have to party once we get to New Oregon," he said. She didn't move to a different seat. He tilted his head. "Um, I'm pretty wired and was going to keep Wolfwood awake. You need to rest."

"After everything tonight, how much rest do you think I'll get if I'm not next to you?" Her expression tried to remain exasperated, but there was something alarmed in her gray eyes.

Vash leaned back against the window, stretched his legs out of the seat, and gestured for Meryl to settle on his lap. She did, pulling her bedroll around her shoulders and leaning against his chest. Vash wrapped his arm around her. "Didn't mean to worry you."

"It's all Knives' fault. I'm not blaming you for any of it, so don't blame yourself."

Vash bent his neck and kissed her on the head.

The motorcycle revved in front of the vehicle. "Here we go," Wolfwood said as he made sure the doors were shut. "Following a machine that can drive itself, think for itself, blow things up by itself."

"It's a little late to be worried about that," Vash told him. They passed through the crater wall thanks to a drilled tunnel.

"Not worried, more curious. Where did those kids get a hold of lost technology like that?" Wolfwood waved his hand at the headlights ahead of them. "Or rather their father found since they are both very 'it is Dad's bike.'"

"Well, parables are kind of your thing. So imagine everything we know as reality--Gunsmoke, Earth, the space between, the ships--are stretched out on a guitar string on a cosmic guitar that your god can play. Make us note G."

"Okay, I'm with you."

"Hannah and Chuck are from note B's Earth."

"You're joking!" Wolfwood looked at him using the mirror.

"Chuck's half human, half a sentient race of mice that developed on Mars, which didn't happen on our Mars. The Project SEEDS ships never had a robot design like that motorcycle. If they had, that technology never would have gotten lost."

"How did they get here?" Wolfwood asked.

"According to Hannah, it was an experiment of an enemy of their parents and uncles that teleported them into the wastelands and thankfully they found the caravan before they ran out of water. Meryl found them when some unsavory types picked a fight over the motorcycle."

"But they adopted you?"

Vash shrugged. "I chased off the unsavories who weren't taking Meryl seriously."

"Hannah explained you didn't have anyone taking care of you," Meryl said sleepily.

"She did? When?" Vash asked.

"When we found out about my bounty. And she has been consistently 'big sistering' you as Milly calls it ever since."

"She's clearly used to bossing older and taller. I think that's Uncle Vinnie's fault."

"He sounds like the fun uncle," Wolfwood said. "Is that how you and Meryl see things? A cosmic guitar?"

Vash shook his head. "No, we're mortal. Stuck here same as you, just with a longer lifespan. And maybe a chance now to save us all."

"And just how are you going to do that?"

"Don't have a clue yet. But now there's time to figure it out, and it's not just me trying to figure it out alone." Meryl was so good at plans, better than his disastrous record with them.

"And Knives?" Wolfwood asked.

"It hasn't hit yet. I'll try not to burden you with my grief."

"Grief isn't a burden."

"I don't expect anyone on Gunsmoke who knows ever to forgive him, including me." Vash inhaled deeply, stuffing all of his rage and anguish down where it wouldn't upset anyone. "Hannah's probably right about therapy. Don't tell her."