An old man slowly approached the cloaked figure that had been standing motionless before a home for too long. The cloak was ragged, and the man’s posture was horrid. A spiked blonde head shook slightly side to side as he turned from the door.

“What’s the matter, son?” the old man asked cautiously. “Don’t want any trouble…Oh, Vash!” The old man ran to greet him, shaking his hand happily. “The garden’s bearin’ potatoes and peas now – it’s amazing! Those kids you taught are workin’ wonders on it, but I’m sure the soil and seeds wouldn’t be there had it not been for you…” He stopped, realizing the distracted expression on Vash’s face.

Vash forced a smile. “Do you know where…”

“Ms. Thompson and Ms. Strife?” he interrupted. “They left ages ago! You didn’t hear? Say, where have you been, sonny?”

“Left!? Where to?” Vash asked, maintaining his sunny facade.

The old man scratched his head. “That I don’t recall. But what about you? Where did you and that pretty young thing run off to? Made Ms. Strife awfully flustered you know,” he snickered, poking Vash playfully in the ribs. “Funny thing is, day after you left this crazy band o’ hoodlums ran into town lookin’ for her. Is that why you went so quick? You listenin’!?”

“Sorry, sir, but I need to find out where Meryl and Millie went,” Vash apologized. “It’s kinda important.”

The old man’s curiosity was a bit hurt, but he motioned for Vash to follow him down the road. “Ole’ Betsy’s got the forwardin’ address down at the P.O.”

Knives instructed Vanessa to hold his hand as they journeyed. She objected, but he maintained that if she resisted, he would simply tie her hands. And realizing the pain that would cause in her still-sore arm, she kept her complaints to herself and let him grip her free hand with his.

Trudging at his right, her mind grew weary faster than did her legs. So many questions went unanswered in this silence; too many conflicting emotions to sort out. She wanted to fulfill her duty and prevent Knives from wreaking havoc, but this was not the type of ‘servile’ she had planned to be. Little stood between Knives and whatever he had in mind for her and the humans now.

She froze in horror as she spotted the town on the horizon.

“Come on,” Knives growled. When she remained still, unyielding, he heaved her forward.

Vanessa struggled to stand and dragged her feet miserably as she followed him. His fingers gripped her hand so tight now that her eyes began to water. “Please, no,” she begged.

The expression on Knives’ face was determination and fury. Never did his gaze leave that town before them as he stormed closer to the homes.

“Don’t, Knives,” she insisted desperately. “You’ll be sorry, you know! If you want me to cooperate with you, you can’t just…”

“Can’t what?” he snapped. “These are no longer your decisions. I gave you your chance. I tolerated too much. Relax and enjoy the display,” he sneered with a queer smile. His strides lengthened as he went, nearly airborne over the sands in a sprint unhindered by the woman he towed along.

Individual buildings were now visible at the distance. Vanessa didn’t recognize the town, but realized that it was quite small. “Run! Run! Hurry! You’re going to die!” she screamed frantically, with such an intensity that her words cracked in her throat. Over and over she screamed it.

A few curious faces appeared from doorways.

Her screams rose to a fever pitch, losing meaning as her fear grew.

Knives stopped at the very edge of the village, and in an instant, all residents of the town fell into piles of meat, perfectly sliced and perfectly deceased.

Letting her hand loose finally, he allowed Vanessa to run into this tiny village and see the carnage for herself. He felt mild disappointment in her as he saw her fall to the ground and mourn the humans. As if they were anything more than garbage…

She pounded the sand and sobbed aloud. Vanessa wept for the fallen. She hadn’t the strength to crawl to Knives and slap him, or wring his neck, as she wished she could.

Knives panted from the effort, and he fell to his knees. “I feel SO much better now,” he sighed happily.

The last person Meryl expected to see in her living room that night was Vash. Yet there he was, smiling up at her from a pile of donuts when she got home from a long day of work.

Moments ago, she was closing the last deal of the day, a hefty life insurance plan sold to a family of six. Her old employer was rather bitter at she and Millie for abandoning their jobs, and only allowed them back in lesser positions. Plenty of families in December needed life insurance, and so the two experienced ladies were assigned to sell door to door in the bad part of town. “After all,” her boss had commented, “You and Millie ought to be the best suited to working in dangerous environments!”

But at present she was shaking Vash by the neck of his vest, scolding him about too many things to count. Finally, she collapsed in the sofa across from him, crying.

“I was so worried,” she choked out.

“Don’t cry,” Millie comforted, patting her back gently. “Mr. Vash’s awful tired from the sand steamer, and he’s got important stuff to tell us!”

“I want every detail,” Meryl demanded, suddenly serious.

Vash waved his hands nervously. “It would take too long,” he replied, uneasy. “I’ll have to condense it. Basically, we went off to her cave in the middle of nowhere to talk Knives out of his plans. When that didn’t work, she used that book and Knives’ weakness to her and she managed to make him change some. He apologized to me for stuff! But she ended up making promises to him, such that he wouldn’t hurt anyone if she’d…um…well, you know…but not until after the rescue ships come and go. So we went to March and things were going alright, and…uh…Long story short,” he continued, suddenly blushing, “I woke up yesterday to find her book burnt to a crisp. She and Knives just plain disappeared. No warning.”

“What’re you gonna do, Mr. Vash?” Millie asked, amazed by the tale.

He shrugged, attempting to act calm and composed. “I’ll think of something. I think.” He shoved another donut into his mouth, watching Meryl sway in her seat as she digested the story.

Ten minutes and five donuts later, Meryl had snapped out of her stupor and was addressing Vash with the same, hardhearted brand of reason she had used in the past, when things got tough.

“I’m serious, Vash,” Meryl pronounced sternly. “You don’t know that she hasn’t begun to agree with his plans! For all we know, she could be plotting the extinction of the human race along with him! There weren’t signs of a struggle when they left, right?”

Vash shook his head. “No. But I just don’t think she would go along with it. In fact, I’m QUITE sure she wouldn’t. I think she’s just trying to be obedient to him to keep him from killing everyone. She really believes that she can bargain for everyone’s safety, and thus far it seemed like she was right…”

Meryl sighed. “Gotta choose, Vash. Either you trust her or you don’t. Because if you’re right, and she’s got everything set, you’ll only be causing trouble if you follow them. And if you’re wrong, and you do nothing, we’re all doomed. I’m sorry to say it, but I’m beginning to wish he’d died back then,” she added, frustrated.

His heart sunk, for he knew that part of him agreed. Yet he shook his head, ‘no.’

“Mr. Vash, what ARE you going to do?” Millie asked innocently, taking in every word they’d said.

“It’s a secret,” he replied, winking. “But the main reason I’m here is because there’s something you have to know.”

Millie raised her eyebrows, but Meryl remained stoic, feeling that he could say nothing more that would surprise her.

“Remember the rescue ships?” he asked them.

Millie nodded happily, and Meryl stared angrily.

Vash flinched, but continued. “Remember how we said we’d all board them together? Well…”

Meryl’s hot glare caused Vash to restate his proposal.

“When the rescue ships come, get on them,” Vash insisted solemnly. “No matter what, make sure everyone boards. And don’t look for me; I don’t know where I’ll be when they get here. Okay?”

“But Mr. Vash, why?” Millie asked sadly.

He shrugged. “It’s a big planet. There’s no guarantee I can track you down when the time comes. And from now until their arrival, I need to be far away from you two, so you’ll still be alive when they get here. Trouble always follows me; you remember.” He grinned for a moment. “I sure don’t want anybody to get hurt, not so close to the exodus,” he noted cheerily, although in his mind he was thinking about the horrible feeling he’d gotten when the sand steamer neared December. He knew Knives had used his angel arm, but couldn’t know where, why, or what resulted.

The scent of blood and broken flesh hung heavy in Vanessa’s lungs. Her body shook with horror as she took in the magnitude of Knives’ actions. There were probably around eighty men, women, and children dead, though in order to know exactly, one would have to carefully hunt through the gore and count heads. She struggled to calm herself, driven by the knowledge that it would do no good to be in shock.

Knives reappeared from a shop with a bag of food and supplies. Behind him lay a trail of bloody footprints. Choosing a spot on the road several feet from Vanessa, he eyed her as he packed the goods into his backpack. “Fill the canteens. We’re leaving.”

Vanessa pulled herself onto her knees, squinting through bloodshot eyes. “How could you?” she screamed. “They did NOTHING to you!”

“They did plenty. Not to me, but to our kind,” he corrected, gesturing over his shoulder at the lone plant that charged the village. “Hurry, now. Don’t want to be here when help arrives, or you’ll have to witness another nasty little scene...”

She picked up a rock and pitched it at his head. The throw was weakened with exhaustion and the fact that she was not left-handed. The rock sailed well past him. “WHY? Why THEM? Why NOW?” she asked incredulously.

Pulling the backpack into place, he sighed with an escalating impatience. “I had to release a little tension,” he replied calmly. “If I hadn’t, I’m sure I’d have wrung your delicate little neck by now. You have no idea…” he began, stopping himself. “Get the damned water, Vanessa.”

Her heart sank to a new low. “Wh...What? What did I do?” she asked innocently, hoping that he was ignorant of her charade and the secret words she had made against him.

He rushed towards her and yanked her to her feet. “You KNOW what you did. VASH knows what you did. I should hate you for it, but I’ve chosen to forgive you. Don’t take it for granted, or else I may CHANGE my MIND,” he snarled, inches from her tear-soaked face. Still holding her firm by the upper arm not yet broken, he grabbed the back of her neck with his free hand and pulled her towards him. He drew her into a cold kiss, salty with her tears and his sweat. Forcing his tongue past her teeth, he stopped only once he knew she was too frightened - or too clever - to bite down. In a harsh gesture, he shoved her away and pushed her towards a water cooler.

With trembling hands she filled the canteens and fought back screams of hate.

Onward they trekked, perhaps to no definitive destination. The desert did not bow to these two ‘superior’ beings, beating harsh sun upon their cloaked bodies and whipping sand against them in every possible direction. One figure appeared to dwarf the other, since the former hiked upright and wore boots, and the latter stooped as though fatigued, on bare feet. In reality, the latter was a mere inch shorter. Such inequalities - whether of height, intelligence, willpower, tenacity, or any other attribute – seemed far greater than they truly were.

“Did you hear!?” a shrill voice called out.

From all directions, heads popped up from desks.

A young man stopped within the main room of the Agency, between rows of desks. Hands on his knees, he panted to regain his breath.

“What is it?” they asked him.

He lifted his head. “He’s been spotted! In March! Two days ago. Can you BELIEVE it?”

Meryl slammed her hands upon her boss’s desk. “You can’t be serious!” she told him, exasperated.

“Oh, but I am,” he replied. “And don’t use that tone with me! Vash the Stampede may’ve been out of our hands as far as insurance claims go, but the people are demanding that we reopen the case! Mankind’s first official human disaster area is on the loose again, and though I hope he doesn’t go on another madman rampage, if he does…Well, let’s just say I’ll have more letters to sort through than I could read in a lifetime. Law officials have been breathing down my neck all morning, claiming that our prior investigation lacked evidence. They think we’re snaking out of our obligations to insurance holders! This is worse than bad for business, Ms. Strife.”

Glancing down, she noticed that her hand was covering a photograph of the man in question, a candid shot of Vash in his familiar red coat in March. “You’ve got to assign Millie and myself to the case,” she insisted. “We’ll follow him like before…”

She was interrupted by the bawdy laughter her boss was emitting. “Like before? We paid how much? Remember? Claims didn’t fall when you two were on the job, they rose! I want to save this company, not render it bankrupt! Ha ha…assign you two…ha!”

Meryl’s face was red. “We’re the only people to live around him for more than a day! No one else has been able to track him. No one.”

The boss wiped a tear from his eye. “Really. Well, that Millie of yours – her sales for the past months have been atrocious, and yours are not spectacular compared to our other staffers. They say you’re curt with customers. So I see no harm in giving you the assignment. But it won’t be like before. You’ll receive money for travel and food alone. No damage payments if you get hurt. We can’t afford it. And your salaries will remain at the current amount. There are already ten more reliable staffers assigned the position, but you’ll be traveling alone, just the two of you. And don’t get in the way of the Special Research Squad – they’ll have a hard time as it is, trying to prove that The Stampede caused that hole in the moon…”

She was horrified. “The same wage? No damage payments? Not the only ones?” she roared.

He narrowed his eyes angrily. “Take it or leave it. Now get out of my office.”

Meryl swallowed her pride and nodded. “We’ll leave this afternoon,” she replied, before flying out of the room and hailing the first taxi she saw.

“No way!” Vash yelled, waving his hands defensively before an excited Meryl.

“You’ll wear it and you’ll like it,” she growled, pushing the wig and outfit into his chest.

“It’s not that…I can’t let you come with me!” he corrected her. “I can’t! This is dangerous! He’s probably mad as Hell, and you have NO idea what that’s like!”

“You can’t stop us this time,” Millie answered cheerily. “We’ll keep our promise, though.”

“How can you keep your promise?” Vash replied, flustered. “You agreed to stay away from me so you won’t get hurt! You’ll probably die if you follow me now!”

“We’re only going to follow you for a while,” Meryl responded solemnly. “Just until we’re sure you’ve found them. Once we’ve gotten you safely there, we’ll split. We’re not such gluttons for punishment that we’d stick around for THAT.”

“Seriously? But how do I know…”

Meryl and Millie stood firm, crossing their arms stiffly. Each was dressed for travel, toting respective weaponry and luggage.

“Damn it!” Vash whined feebly. “Not again!”

Meryl drove the mini hummer into the desert with her head held high. With Millie in the back, smiling happily as she clutched her stungun, all was right in the world.

Well, not everything.

But for Meryl, life seemed correct once more.

She glanced to the strange man in the passenger seat. His hair was shaggy brown, falling into his eyes as the wind whipped up. The crisp, white shirt and black tie accentuated his thick, black glasses frames. Folded hands lay upon his lap, legs of denim wrapped in leather. He shifted his thick-booted feet awkwardly.

Over her shoulder, December was an ant-sized city on the magenta horizon. “We’re far enough,” she called to the man beside her.

In an instant, the brown hair, black tie, and glasses flew onto the back seat floor.

“Couldn’t you have picked something…I don’t know…a little less…CRAPPY!” Vash whined childishly, smoothing his hair back into its usually spiky consistency.

Meryl punched his shoulder and returned to the steering wheel. “It’s a PERFECT disguise,” she insisted angrily. “Who’d guess that Vash the Stampede would dress like a total nerd?”

Vash rubbed his shoulder. “I’d almost rather be caught,” he grumbled under his breath. He turned to them and raised his voice inquiringly. “What kind of help do you girls think you’re going to be?” he asked, hands raised defensively from Meryl’s poised fist. “I know you mean well, but it’s not fair to you; to have to leave your peaceful lives and take up arms again. If I were you two, I’d take advantage of the fact that back there you’ve got a home and a life and…and you’re safe from danger...”

Millie shook her head. “No, we weren’t, we had to work the streets in the slums every day to make our money,” she countered.

Face blushing with the accidental innuendo, Meryl was quick to clarify. “She means we sold insurance door to door there. It’s pretty harsh – I was held up twice yesterday. Then I had to wait all that time for the ambulances to pick up the morons…”

“You too?” Millie added. “I’ve been held up so many times I’ve lost count! But usually they run once I pull out my stungun. It’s like they’re scared of me or something!” she claimed incredulously.

“Anyway,” Meryl continued, rolling her eyes, “you need us for plenty of things. We’ll keep you well disguised, well fed; we’ll take care of the minor hoodlums and make sure you stay on task. You know, you have a horrible tendency towards distraction and moping.”

Vash turned, whining. “I do not!”

“Yes you do!” she insisted. “If we hadn’t come with you, what would your next step be? Wandering aimlessly while you scarf down donuts and cry?”

He frowned. “This is serious. I can’t waste time on…”

“There are several other Agency workers hot on your trial, so it’s a good thing we’ll be there for you, recognizing them and keeping them from your actual whereabouts,” Meryl interrupted. “Which way are we headed anyhow?”

Hesitating, Vash pointed forty degrees to the left. He took a moment to scan the horizon for wanderers.

“Not only that, but we’ll also provide information,” she continued loudly. “We can interview people for you, and track he and Vanessa down, as well as keep you updated on any strange phenomenon. Whatever happens, you need to be on top of the news and at the pinnacle of good health, right? Well, we’re going to do it all for you, and truly – we do promise to leave like lightening the moment Knives is in sight. That won’t be difficult for us, considering…”

A shudder ran down her spine, he saw, as she mentioned his brother, and Millie nodded solemnly in agreement.

In the steam-filled air, Knives’ cold, piercing gaze chilled Vanessa’s bones. Her knees were pulled together and with her good arm she shielded her chest, but no pose gave her comfort. His eyes were killing her as she lay in the bath.

“Why are you here,” she growled.

“You needed help. Those wrappings are too complicated to remove with your one hand,” he reasoned, referring to the splint and strips that affixed it to her broken limb. Truly, she couldn’t get it off on her own, since it had to be wrapped to her side and chest with an assembly of even more cloth strips. This was the price of Knives’ refusal of human medical attention for the fracture.

“Every time, you have to stay with me,” she commented dryly. “I want a moment to bathe. Alone. Why even now are you STILL HERE?” she yelled angrily.

“Keep your voice down,” he snapped from his seat, several feet from the foot of the bathtub. “If anyone approaches us they will die.”

‘He surely knows that I wouldn’t try to escape,’ she thought. ‘There’s no escaping him. I haven’t tried in weeks…He should have the decency to give me privacy.’ She stopped that thought. No, privacy was no longer important.

Every three to thirteen days for the past month they had stopped in a random small town for supplies and to wash up, but never to sleep. Vanessa hadn’t recognized half the towns. According to her observations, Knives was leading on in an anarchic amble, probably so that no one could logically track them.

She wasn’t permitted to so much as lift her hood and meet eyes with a human. Fear for the lives surrounding her kept her humble in settlements, so she allowed herself to be pulled along by the hand until they had found a hotel room.

Knives hadn’t killed anyone since the first village, probably knowing that a trail of carnage would leave clues for his brother to follow.

“Wash your hair,” Knives asked softly, bringing her from her thoughts.

“I just did.”

“That’s not going to do it,” he demanded. “Your hair has lost its comfort since we left March. You let the sand rest in it as if you enjoy being filthy.”

She obeyed, moving to shampoo her hair a second, then a third time. As she labored, she sunk deeper into the water to avoid his stares. “You’re dirty too,” she suddenly noted. “Aren’t you in a rush to bathe? Don’t you want me to ‘hurry the Hell up’ like you say about everything else?” she mumbled.

Knives shook his head. “Not for this. I can wait.”

“Because you enjoy this.”

“Yes.”

Vanessa frowned. Betraying not one hint of the concentration, she continued to focus on her spine. She secretly brought forth the angel weapon from the skin at her back. The edges of her old, square scar bulged and pressed into the porcelain behind her as the formation began.

Vanessa closed her eyes and breathed deeply, attempting to appear relaxed in this hot tub of water. The angel formation came slowly and with great effort, so she hoped that her calm guise and already-reddened flesh would hide it from Knives until she could indulge her silent query.

He watched her as if ignorant of the entire act, casual as before. There was no way he could see it from where he sat, since the origin of the formation was at her back and only stretched up to her shoulders and chest once fully formed.

But the effort was strenuous, and she couldn’t hide the fact for long. Her face suddenly divulged the exertion, contorting into pain. Heaving relief, she let the formation fall back into her skin before the ache became intense. Vanessa weakly opened her eyes, breathing heavily, to comprehend Knives’ lack of response.

Knives looked calm yet slightly concerned. "Don’t you know that it won’t work? Vanessa, you’re too intelligent to forget past lessons. As I’ve taught you through trial and error once before, you cannot bring it to an adequate formation without assistance, which I will not provide. Don’t drain yourself needlessly, darling," he explained softly, chuckling a bit. ‘Her spirit is amusing, but antics like these will do her no good,’ he thought, perturbed.

She grabbed a towel and rose from the tub in the same awkward way she had practiced before, allowing him no clear view of her in such a vulnerable state. With a straight face, she stepped onto the floor, thinking only of what she had just witnessed.

When the formation was made in her back just then, his left hand shone and flickered slightly, in a nearly perfect little blade. The phenomenon seemed outside of his consciousness, an automatic reaction from one plant to another.

It was just what she wanted to see.

“Sorry we couldn’t be of any help to you folks,” said the man who’d followed Meryl, Millie, and a disguised Vash from the town square. In yet another mass inquiry, the girls had asked them if they’d seen two, tall, blonde strangers about, and no one had any useful information. This darker-skinned man in particular seemed nosier than the rest.

Meryl looked up from filling the gas tank and smiled. “Oh, that’s alright. But if you could keep an eye out for us…”

The man in overalls wiped his brow and replaced his cap. “Sure thing, Miss. But I was just wondering why you all were looking for folks like that. I mean, why would the Feds be tracking a couple of unarmed folks anyhow?”

Millie kept quiet, not enjoying this lie.

“Top secret,” Meryl snapped in an official tone.

“Where are you all’s badges? Aren’t Feds supposed to have badges?”

Meryl grew annoyed and turned to scold the man for his snooping, but froze when she recognized his face. “Uh…Hal…”

Hal grinned slyly. “The boss ain’t happy that you two stopped sending in reports. And who’s that goofball?” he asked, pointing to Vash.

Vash smiled in reply, trying to act inconspicuous.

“Well, if you aren’t giving answers, I don’t need them,” Hal continued, grinning with hands in pockets as he sauntered off.

Millie waved goodbye happily as he walked off. “Bye Hal!”

Later, in the hummer, Meryl was gripping the steering wheel with a vice grip. “I know, I know, I should’ve recognized him. But I didn’t. So what. It’s not like he knew who you were or anything.”

“Okay, but…”

“Drop it,” Meryl hissed, angry with herself. “Let’s go over the list again.”

Vash nodded in agreement, feeling that he could assume enough on his own.

Millie led as usual, beginning to name off locations. “Vanessa’s cave.”

He frowned, wishing he hadn’t had to reveal the secret sanctuary. “Because Knives liked it there, and because there’s no humans there,” Vash responded, summarizing the logic (or lack thereof) of checking the place named.

“Visited; found no witnesses to question and no evidence,” Meryl finished.

“New Ohio.”

“Because it’s a small population and out in the boonies.”

“Visited; no clues from witnesses or evidence.”

“Galvin.”

Vash gritted his teeth. This was the isolated village where, weeks ago, eighty-three were found slaughtered in a most mysterious way. Forensics had dated the time of death to be the same for all persons – the day after Vanessa and Knives left March.

“Millie, we decided not to mention that one,” Meryl corrected her softly.

“Sorry, Mr. Vash,” Millie apologized sadly.

They sat in an awkward pause.

“Uh…Where to?” Meryl asked, putting on her cheeriest expression.

Vash scanned the horizon and half-assed some directions.

Millie giggled. “You don’t have to try so hard, Mr. Vash. We know you don’t know where you want to go. But it’s okay.”

“Yeah, don’t worry. We’ll wander aimlessly if you want,” Meryl added with the same degree of helpfulness.

He would’ve thanked them for their trusting kindness, but he had already become overwhelmed with a contrasting emotion. Tears rolled down his angelic face. His features twisted into sorrow and he began to sob into his hands miserably.

Millie reached to pat Vash on the back gently. “I’m sorry, Mr. Vash, I shouldn’t have mentioned that village again! But even before, you didn’t get this upset!”

Meryl nodded and grabbed his arm. He had been upset for a while after hearing the news about Galvin, but this sort of crying was reminiscent of a far more serious grief. “Whoa, whoa! Vash! Pull yourself together, okay?” Meryl insisted, deeply concerned. “Why don’t you open up a little; let us in on some details! You know, you’re more likely to meet success if you aren’t in a deep depression!”

Vash garbled something about the poor lives lost in Galvin, but then slipped into gloomy worries about Vanessa. “He could’ve done so many things already…I wish I knew she was…alright…but I don’t know what he…She told me…not to protect her…but…she…” he stammered through his sobs.

“Mr. Vash, you get so quiet when we mention her name…Did you get to know her pretty well?” Millie asked.

He nodded, and sniffed. “After all of it, I grew kind of close to her,” he answered gently.

Millie smiled. “Aw, Mr. Vash, did you fall in…”

“Close like a sister, Millie,” Meryl interrupted quickly. “They look like siblings, so it couldn’t be more than that.”

“Sister? That’s not what I meant,” Vash corrected her.

“Sister-in-law, then,” Meryl continued loudly. “After all, she was acting as his girlfriend, or whatever, when you last saw them…”

Vash frowned. “She didn’t want to, she had to!”

“Regardless, she did, and…and…” Meryl was clearly flustered. “If she was working on two brothers at the same time, she’s quite the hussy!”

His jaw fell. “You…what!? Don’t say that, she…”

Steam was about to pour from Meryl’s ears. “So you DID…You…You…Arg!” she hissed, pausing a moment before slapping at Vash. Without any hands on the wheel, the hummer began to swerve.

“Meryl!” Millie yelled frantically.

The wheel was righted. “I can’t believe you’d fall for her…”

Vash stuck out his lower lip with the stubborn air of a schoolboy. “I didn’t fall for anybody; things are too crucial for stuff like that! I have to save everyone, and find a way to save Knives like Rem told me to. I may be a warrior for Love and Peace, but paving a safe way for the rescue ships and preventing slaughter is number one on my list of stuff to…”

Meryl let out another growl of frustration. “Get in the back. NOW.”

In fear for his life, Vash obeyed, crawling over the seat. Beside Millie, he dried his tears and waited for Meryl’s anger to subside.

Astride a toma, Hal smiled to his companion, also an investigator from the Agency. “Those girls know more than you’d think! Now all we have to do is follow this new information – a man and a woman, young, tall, blonde, in cloaks, unarmed…Considering that the Stampede was in his prime over twenty years ago, the time of the July explosion…I see…Think of it! We’ll not only find out Vash’s whereabouts, but we’ll capture his kids while we’re at it!”