A/N: This story is MANGA BASED. Meaning it continues off the end of the Manga. If you haven't read the manga you should before reading this. In my opinion it's better than the anime. Anyways opinions aside the other option is to read the MANGA SPOILERS I am about to reveal that pertain to the beginning of this story. READ THE MANGA. It's available online some places (not saying you can pm me to get a link but you can pm me to get a link) and they are still for sale on amazon. That being said:
MANGA SPOILERS:
So in the manga Bernardelli was destroyed when the end of the world was coming thanks to our good old buddy Knives who had merged himself with multiple plants in order to destroy the world. Because Knives. So Meryl and Milly helped bring Knives down (slightly) while the Earth Defense team or whatever decided they were going to destroy the whole world and Knives with it. Instead Vash defeated knives, causing the "Ark" that Knives created with all the plants to fall. Vash used his angel wing in order to save his brother using up some of the last of his energy that he had which made his hair turn black. The angels fell to earth and the humans rushed to their aid strengthening the bond between plant angels and humans. Knives trusted two humans to save his brother from the brink of death and afterwards died, the last of his energy turning him into a tree in the human's back yard. Vash now has black hair, Wolfwood is still dead, Livio is awesome and he MIGHT come in later and if he does I will give him some intro, that pretty cute scene on the cliff with Vash and Meryl never happened, but they did knuckle kiss so cuteness did ensue. Milly is also Blonde in the manga and Meryl isn't quite as mean (but still extremely stubborn.) In the end of the Manga the girls work for a broadcasting company trying to interview Vash. That's where this story picks up.
END MANGA SPOILERS:
Got it? Good. So now we continue to the actual story.
"Great job on that 'Vash the Stampede' piece, girls. Really great job." A large man laughed behind the oversized desk as he placed the pages of the report down in front of him.
"Thank you, sir." Meryl straightened in her seat, chest puffed with pride. She'd been excelling at her new profession at the tv station already, along with Milly, and if there was anything Meryl loved, it was being the best at her job.
"When you two told me you were friends with the Humanoid Typhoon, I have to admit, I didn't believe you."
"Oh yes, sir!" Milly chimed in, "We've known Mr. Vash for almost five holy years!"
"Whole years, Milly." Her friend corrected her. It was almost impossible to believe that much time had passed since their first meeting back in April city. She'd been with the agency just over a year when she'd been assigned to follow him, along with a coworker whom, at the time, she'd barely known. By the time she finally caught up to him, the nervousness and fear at following the human disaster had dissipated almost entirely, and instead been replaced by a sense of excitement at the adventure to come.
"Well you showed it. You know exactly what to ask him. That's why we're going to give you your own segment."
"Our own…" Her gray eyes lit up. "Our own segment? Really?"
"Oh wow that's so cool! My family is going to be so excited!" The taller girl clapped her hands together, giggling. "Thank you so much, Mr. Blitzer."
"So. Here are your stories." He carefully spread several pages in front of them as a grin settled over his red face.
"Uhm…" Meryl look down at the papers across his desk and back to her boss. "With all due respect, sir, what are these?"
"They're Wanted posters." Her friend cheerfully advised.
"I know that, Milly, but what do you mean these are our stories?"
Mr. Blitzer threw his hands in front of him. "The Outlaw Insider." He moved his hands as if framing the title in his mind. "Your new masterpiece, girls."
Meryl could feel her brow twitching in irritation. "Ex…excuse me, sir. But…" She took a deep breath before she allowed herself to speak. "Are you out of your mind?"
"Senpai…" the nickname stuck around, despite the fact that they'd started working at No Man's Land Television Station at the same time. Meryl begged the girl to call her by her name. As time went on, however, the short girl finally gave up, accepting it as a permanent title.
"Well that's fine. I guess I can give the task to someone else." The round, red-faced man, leaned in, locking eyes with Meryl as he smiled. "If you aren't up for the challenge, that is."
That was it. That was the line to cross. The former insurance girl bolted to her feet, brow furrowed and hands on her hips. Her partner stood calmly behind her with a smile. Meryl frowned, grabbing the flyers off the man's desk. "We followed Vash the Stampede for four years."
"Actually for two years he…" Milly swallowed her words as the short girl raised her hand as a sign of silence.
"We were caught up in more fights and disasters than anyone besides the Humanoid Typhoon himself." She slammed her hands on the table, unable to hide the smug grin as Mr. Blitzer jumped in his seat. "There's no one," she told him, "better suited for the challenge than us."
"Fantastic!" Her boss smiled proudly, slapping his hand against the table in a grand gesture as he stood. "I trust you don't need a bodyguard then, eh, Derringer Meryl?"
She gripped his hand as he offered it, locking eyes as they shook on the arrangement. "No. But you're paying for the tune up. I haven't touched a gun since the insurance agency closed."
"Of course! I have a tab at the gunsmith down the road. He'll take care of your gun there."
She shot a smile over her shoulder as she turned to the door. "Guns, sir." She corrected.
Two Weeks Later
Meryl's back was finally getting used to the weight of her cloak after putting down her guns for so long. Nonetheless, she didn't think her body would ever adjust to the heat that bore down on her and her poor thomas as they made their way from town to town, following rumor after rumor on their first official interview for Outlaw Insider
"Senpai…" Milly was leaned against the neck of her thomas, hair hanging over her face. "How long until the next town?"
The sweat was stinging her eyes as it dripped from her brow. "It can't be too much farther. We've been out here for hours already." She glared at the horizon, cursing its blankness.
"I'm so thirsty…"
Meryl sighed weakly. "I told you to ration out your supplies."
"I did, ma'am." Milly shook her empty canteen. "Now I'm all rationed out." She groaned tiredly as she buried her face against the thomas' neck.
"Here." The dark haired girl thrust her arm out toward her partner, dangling the half full canteen in front of her.
"Oh senpai…" Milly took the canteen in both hands. "I couldn't…but if you insist!" The cap clunked against the side of the container, only held on by a thin string to the canteen itself as Milly turned her head up to drink.
Meryl shook her head, fazing the horizon once more. Honestly her throat was burning with thirst, but she knew Milly's whining had the potential to kill her much faster than the dehydration could have.
"Oh! Look there!" Milly flailed her free hand forward, causing her Thomas to jump beneath her. "It's a building!"
The dark haired girl squinted to focus on the small speck ahead of them. It was hardly a building at all, really, she'd realized. As they moved in closer, in fact, the four walls and a roof seemed to look even smaller. "It's more like a shack." She noted.
"Maybe there's water inside!"
"Milly don't be ridiculous. I doubt anyone even lives here, and do you see a plant or well nearby?"
"Well no." Her friend mumbled with a pout. "But it doesn't hurt to try!" She said, knocking on the thin door with a sing-song "Hello!"
Meryl rolled her eyes. "Milly I'm telling you, no one lives…"
"Oh! Hey girls!"
Her dark head snapped up immediately at the voice. Her brain was still rattling against her skull as she took in the thin frame and dark spiky hair in the doorway.
"Mr. Vash! What are you doing way out here?" Milly waved eagerly at the gunman while Meryl tried to gather her thoughts.
Vash laughed nervously. "Well you two made me pretty famous all of the sudden so I was hiding out in this little house you see."
"You were pretty famous already Mr. Humanoid Typhoon." Milly laughed. "So you live here in this rundown shack in the middle of nowhere?" She asked, cocking her head to the side with an innocent smile.
"Well I wouldn't say I lived here. I'm just…borrowing it…sort of."
"So you're umm…" Milly bit her lip as the thought about it. "You're a swatter!"
"Squatter, Milly." Meryl crossed her arms with a firm glare. "It means someone unlawfully occupying an unused building." She smirked cruelly. "Which isn't surprising for a man like him."
Vash scratched the back of his head and chuckled as Milly turned to her friend. "Because he's an outlaw?"
The short girl's grin only grew darker. "No. Because he's a bum."
The plant frowned. "So cold…"
"Just let us in, jerk. We could use a break." She laughed, stepping past him without further invitation into the small house. There was only one room, which wasn't much of a surprise, however there was enough junk laying around to have filled a three-bedroom. She recognized Vash's black duffel leaning in a corner beside the twin bed. An opened bottle of whiskey sat on the table and a small shot glass lay empty beside it. And most importantly, "The sink is dripping." She turned back to him. "You have running water way out here?"
The gunman merely shrugged. "Now that people are taking care of the plants, the plants are a lot more eager to help." He smiled. "It also helps that the Earth team brought a lot of support." He picked up a glass and filled it under the faucet. "Are you thirsty?"
Meryl smiled softly. "Thank you I'm par…" Her response was caught in her throat as he brought the glass to his lips, knocking it back with a smile.
"Glasses are in the cabinet. Help yourself." He laughed lightly as her empty hand twitched in front of her. "So what brings you two all the way out here?"
Meryl grumbled as she dodged over the piles of trash and broken furniture on her way to the sink, leaving her giggling partner to respond to him. "We're on a job! Another interview. In fact we got a promotion and now we have our own segment on TV! Isn't that great?"
"Wow!" Vash's airy laughter gave away his anxiety as he sunk down in his seat. "So they want a 'Vash the Stampede' weekly update, eh?" He shot Meryl his most dazzling smile over his shoulder. "Well I can't say that I blame them for wanting more. However, I must humbly decline."
"Don't flatter yourself." Meryl leaned against the counter, one leg crossed idly over the other as she savored the drink in her hands. "You were just a starting point. We got all we needed from you the first time."
His brow quirked as he turned back to her, a devious grin making its way across his lips. "Oh really. Everything? But I have so much more to offer." He watched as the short girl's face flushed, chuckling. "What's wrong?"
Her eyes narrowed. "You idiot." She mumbled, turning back to her glass.
"Our newest assignment is another dangerous outlaw like yourself, Mr. Vash."
"Oh?" He looked back at the tall girl as she pulled her face from the flowing faucet, wiping her face of the water she failed to drink. He thought for a moment. "Sounds kinda dangerous, don't you think?"
Meryl scoffed. "Don't worry about us, Mr. Human Disaster."
"She's right, Mr. Vash." She shot the man a brilliant cheery smile and a thumbs up to match. "Meryl and I can handle anything after all that you put us through." He was dumbfounded at her honesty. Especially since he'd practically begged them on multiple occasions not to follow him. Before he could respond however, he watched her pull out a page from her pocket. "Besides he doesn't look so tough."
He took the paper from her, unfolding it with care.
Wanted:Dead or Alive
Tyberius Sloan
Also known as: Longshot Sloan
Wanted for:
The murder of three women and one man in the town of Januar
The theft of an estimated $$20,000 in money and goods in the town of Januar
Destruction of a building by arson in the town of Januar
Bounty: $$125,000
"This might be a bit much for you girls. Are you sure you want to find this guy?"
"It's our job." Meryl set the empty glass on the counter. "Anyways we've been after this guy for over a week and the latest rumors direct us to the town of New Round just a few iles from here. We can't give up now."
Vash shook his head. "No I mean…" He sighed. "What makes you think he's just going to sit down and answer a few questions for you?"
Milly smiled. "We at least have to try. You were wanted for a lot of things too and you never tried to hurt us not even once!"
The dark haired man sighed tiredly. "But do you really think that way of thinking is safe?"
Meryl slid her cloak open slightly, allowing him to catch a glimpse of the guns hidden. "I'm fine, Vash. Thank you. Really."
He shook his head. "You girls take the bed tonight."
"What?" Meryl looked out the window. "But it's still daylight. I was thinking we could just keep going into town."
"New Round isn't a few iles from here. By the time you get there it'll be night and cold."
"Are you sure? The man back in Felton said…"
"Meryl." His voice was tense, but his eyes were as gentle as they'd ever been. "Trust me?"
She sighed. "Fine. I'll go get my suitcase."
Milly cheered. "Oh fun! A slumber party!" She laughed as she sped past Meryl to the door, knocking over piles of magazines and books as she went. "It's just like old times!"
Vash laughed as he picked up one of the books off the floor. "Yup. Like old times."
A/N: So that's the first chapter. Catching up with the Girls. Next chapter I will post a soon as I write it. I'm going to try to update every week but I can't make promises because I don't really know what always happens on my days off.
It's great to be back in the Trigun fanfiction land. I know there aren't as many readers as there used to be, but I'm still fandom-ing strong. Also feel free to follow my tumblr for some snippets and sneak peeks for new chapters as well as a bunch of anime/trigun reblogs. And cats..? Tumblr name is Kokohamstar