Author's Note: Thanks to the nice people who reviewed my first posting of this and convinced me people would notice if I tried to figure out why my apostrophes had turned into O's. Way to go Microsoft...that's all I have to say.

-Gypsy

PS-More to come soon ( :
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The sound of men shouting downstairs was joined by what sounded like large pieces of furniture being moved. Meryl decided to give up the pretense of sleep and with a sigh dragged herself out of bed. She would have thought those making use of the bar so late to be fast approaching a drunken stupor. Who could be causing such a racket?

"Vash the Stampede!!"...Right. Obviously.

"Hey," she whispered as she gently shook her partner's shoulder, "time for work."

"Nh?" Milly murmured as her eyes stared blankly up at Meryl. Wow, she was really asleep. I'm envious.

"It's ok," Meryl winced at the sound of glass breaking downstairs, "I'll go see if it's serious. If I need you I'll come get you."

Milly smiled, wordlessly turning back into her pillow while Meryl shrugged into her clothes and headed downstairs.

Getting from their room to the landing left her lightheaded, and she paused briefly to pull herself together. Stupid Vash. Oh, I just want to go to sleep. But when she lifted her gaze, the scene before her was not quite what she expected. Several men appeared to be cowering with Vash behind some overturned tables. The actual disturbance seemed to be a drunken townsman.

"I'm tellin' ya, HE'S the one you guys should be afraid of. You guys should help me. $$60 million goes a long way, even with eight people," He turned to point at the men in hiding. Everyone inhaled sharply. Meryl squinted, and saw the man was loosely holding a large gun. Now she understood: the man's drunken flailing was a constant threat of a stray bullet. Since he seemed more interested in arguing than action, the safest course did seem to be simply to wait until he ran out of steam.

"Yeah, well when you get your sixty million, you can pay me back for everything you've just done to my bar!"

"Aww...Harry, man, I'm REALLY sorry about that mirror...and the tables...er, and all those bottles you had back there."

"Why don't you just put the gun down, you moron!? Cut it out before you really hurt someone!"

"I don't understand why you guys won't help me," the man whimpered, "I mean, look, he fits the description..."

"The only one I see acting like a 'humanoid typhoon' is you, idiot! We were all having a nice drink before you started acting like a raving looney! Now give Jesse his gun back."

"No!!" the man shouted and attempted to stomp petulantly. Instead, he lost his balance and landed on his backside, sending the gun flying through the air in the process.

"Look out!!" That sounded like Vash, but they had all disappeared behind their tabletop.

A shot rang out as the gun hit the floor, and the picture frame behind Meryl shattered. The shock of having something explode directly behind her head fought with extreme fatigue. The net result was a frozen Meryl, her mouth hanging slightly open as the world around her burst into activity.

Several of the men rushed from behind the table to keep the drunk from getting up again. Milly, woken by the shot, had flown past Meryl without even noticing her, still in her pajamas but stun gun in hand. The drunk himself, having taken in the sudden turn in the situation, had made a desperate though unsuccessful scramble for the door. He'd only gotten a few feet before being pinned roughly to the floor. Two men were now hauling him in the direction of the sheriff's office.

Those left, Milly included, started to clean up what was left of the bar. Vash stood up, rubbed his shoulder...and then stared at her intently. What are you looking at, bub? He stayed like that for longer than made her comfortable. She didn't like the attention, plus she had a nagging feeling that her hair was doing something weird. She was about to yell at him when she realized he probably wasn't looking at her at all. From what she'd seen fly past her, the portrait on the landing was probably beyond hope. And the plaster had looked so old that a good tap would have sent it crashing down. The bullet had probably left a decent-sized hole. Poor innkeeper. Actually, poor me as well...dammit, I'm sure he'll be wanting to file a claim. I don't want more paperwork.

All of this was doing absolutely nothing to help the splitting headache she'd developed. Vash, at this rate you are going to give me an ulcer before the year is out. She sighed, and turned to survey the damage...or at least tried to. Her fingers didn't seem to want to let go of the railing. Concentrating a little harder, she managed to get her fingers loose, but her whole body was responding slowly and clumsily. It felt like it wasn't fully connected to her brain anymore. She saw Vash yell as she turned, but couldn't really make out what he had said over the rushing in her ears. She leaned forward to examine the gaping hole in the plaster...

...and felt a pair of hands: one under her neck, one under her back. She opened her eyes, and found that 1) she was a lot closer to the ground than she remembered, 2) she was carefully being lowered the rest of the way, and 3) Vash's goofy face was grinning back at her. It was hard to put into words just how much that fake smile of his annoyed her.

"What are you doing?" she meant to snap, but it came out more as a mumble.

"Um...you just almost passed out. Milly's gone to get a doctor. I'm just gonna keep an eye on you in the meantime."

"This town doesn't have one. They go to the next town...it's about 10 iles away."

"How do you know that?"

"It's part of my routine now. Given my experiences traveling with you, it seems prudent to check for the quickest routes to first aid supplies and medical attention in towns we spend more than the afternoon in." His fixed grin faltered, and she felt guilty for being so blunt.

"Oh...I...someone should tell Milly"

She smiled, "So go get Milly. I promise not to die or anything while your gone." Ok, that wasn't exactly a tactful thing to say to someone who has been through what he has, but he doesn't have to look so damn stricken.

"Um...no...you are not in good shape...I think it's important someone make sure you stay awake."

"It's just fatigue. You don't need to..." He had lifted her head while she spoke and produced a bloody rag.

His voice was softer now. "Looks like some of the debris hit the back of your head. I think you're right, it doesn't look life threatening, but I still want to you to stay awake."

"O...ok. We need to get Milly somehow, though."

"Vashu-san! The men at the sheriff's station said we need to go to the next town over. The next steamer is in twenty minutes! We should get her over there!"

"Right." He proceeded to pick her up like a rag doll. The sudden elevation made her dizzy...and annoyed.

"H-hey...not NECESSARY! I'm not that hurt! We've got twenty minutes! I can get to the edge of town in twenty minutes, so no carrying necessary!"

"Don't be such a baby." Ohhh...want to smack. Requires more energy than I have at the moment. Wouldn't manage to do any damage from this angle, anyway.

"Just let him, please, sempai? I'll feel better about it."

"Hmph." Ok, Milly's smile is worth it. Poor thing, I guess she won't get to sleep either.

"Glad to see some color in your cheeks, though. You were sort of matching the white of your outfit back at the inn." You're still a jerk...but when she looked up he was really smiling. She didn't feel mad anymore, just very, very tired ...ok, kind of a sweet jerk.

"So we're here. How long of a wait do we have?" She was so tired. Twenty minutes seemed like such a long time...plus travel time. She realized she was going fuzzy again when she couldn't figure out 10 iles by steamer. Getting her thoughts into order was like trying to organize bits of paper on an exhaust vent.

"Hey!!"

"Oh, for Pete's sake! I have a headache, Vash! Please don't jiggle me like that!"

"Sorry, it's a little hard to be delicate. My hands are kind of full of you at the moment."

"So PUT ME DOWN! The steamer isn't here yet! And I'm really NOT so feeble that I couldn't get on it myself when it does come. If...if I lose it again, just poke me on the shoulder or something." It's embarrassing to run out of steam mid-yell. Especially when trying to convince them I'm all right. I just can't seem to breathe deeply. Little flecks of light danced in and out of her vision.

"Whoa...all right! See? Putting you down right now! Just take it easy. We...the steamer should be along any second. Buff as I am, could've been here ten minutes ago on my own..." Oh, that sentence had better stop RIGHT THERE... "but you've been treating yourself to some banana sundaes, haven't you?"

That was so...unnecessary. And there's Milly next to him...looking supportive!? What the hell!? Ok...ok...last time we stopped arguing I got sleepy. She must think this is helping somehow. That's the only explanation I can think of for a red-blooded woman not bitch slapping someone after a comment like that. But...but that was still below the belt...oh jeez...I am NOT crying...

She had managed to make the situation more humiliating for herself, but had also wiped the smirk off both their faces. Serves them right...

The whirring of machinery and the screech of brakes let her know that their ride was here. A look of fear passed over her as she tried unsuccessfully to prop herself up. Vash was immediately behind her, and she was immediately trying to elbow him.

"Hey! I'm sorry!" he stopped moving and she tried again to hit him.

"Look," he whispered, "Milly only knows that you fainted. You can't get up on your own and I don't really want her to see what the back of your head looks like right now. So just let me get you on the steamer and then you can hit me all you want."

She looked at her partner's haggard and worried face, and let herself be carried onto the steamer.