A/N: An old idea for a new story.
Disclaimer: No own, can't prove it.
Broken mirror, A million shades of light
The old echo fades away...
Hesitation
Vash cried out as his back hit the wooden floor of the office, clutching at where his left arm used to be. He heard his gun clatter several feet away but was unable to move, the shadow of his brother suddenly looming over him. He stood over the fallen gunman with a cold and calculating grin still upon his face.
Vash watched with wide eyes as in slow motion Knives raised his arm, something within him screaming to get away. Time paused as his brother's fingers came together, appearing to want to innocently snap and create noise in the soundless void between them. The grin on Knives' face frightened the gunman, the still and innocent room adding to the menacing nature of his twin's appearance.
Then time suddenly started moving again.
"No, I don't think just yet" Knives spoke, closing the distance between them and kneeling beside Vash. "I have something better in mind for these spiders of yours, dear brother."
Vash's eyes widened in horror and he suddenly gritted his teeth, making one final lunge toward his brother. However, Knives had anticipated the attack and merely moved to the side, watching silently as the gunman hit the floor with another cry of pain. Then Vash's world began to grow hazy as his blood pooled around him, his instincts of a century telling him he was slipping into unconsciousness.
Vash's last view was of Knives rising to his feet, the same wicked expression upon his face as he turned to look out the windows behind the dead man.
Then the world turned black, and all was silent.
The city of December was brimming with people of all kinds, from hard working families to peddling thieves. The crowded buildings reflected the busy streets below as hundreds of people and cars dashed in and out of one another. Amidst the bustle large plants glowed with a brilliant shine and powered the city's great needs.
Two of the inhabitants of the bustling metropolis happened to be in trouble at the moment as one made a scene in front of the charred remains of a building.
"Our investigation found arson as the cause of fire" the petite woman argued at a rather swarthy fellow who stood in front of the burnt doorway. "The insurance will not pay without a formal inquiry by the police."
"Come on, honey" the man countered with an unpleasant grin. "You don't have to go to all that trouble of making the report."
"It's my job" Meryl the insurance girl countered as she scribbled down the findings of the research team which had just left.
"But listen" the man insisted as one of his pudgy hands grabbed hold the top of the small notepad. "We don't have to be enemies. We can work things out" he added with an oily wink of his chubby eye.
"No" she bluntly replied as she pulled her paper from his grip and wrinkled her nose at the greasy hand print left at the top. "Bernardelli will be contacting you shortly."
She briskly turned away, but her sharp ears caught a vulgar word in regards to her gender and she uttered her own curse on the man as she walked up to her partner.
"Time to go, Millie" she announced to the tall woman as they began walking down the street. "It's our break."
"Oh goodie!" the childlike Millie exclaimed as she smiled. "Can we go buy some pudding?"
"I've told you a million times, Milly, we can't walk all the way downtown for pudding" Meryl said in exasperation, rubbing her fingers against her forehead. "There just isn't time during our break."
"Please, Meryl" Milly pleaded, clapping her hands together and giving the shorter woman a sorrowful look. "If we hurried, we could make it."
"The boss wouldn't like it" Meryl answered thoughtfully, shaking her head at the idea. However, a resigned sigh escaped her lips as she began rummaging in her small work handbag, the neat items reflecting their owner's personality. "Aha!" she softly exclaimed, pulling forth a small piece of paper with numbers and words. "We might be able to catch a bus there and then get one going to the main headquarters, but only if we hurry" she explained as she looked closely at the schedule in her hand. "But even then we won't have much time to get our paychecks" she added with a frown.
"Yay!" Millie loudly replied as she overlooked the last statement, attracting the attention of the other people on the street. "Sorry" she apologized in embarrassment, grinning and scratching the back of her head.
"What will I ever do with you?" the short girl asked with a great degree of affection as she placed the bus schedule back in her neat bag.
"Maybe give me more pudding?" she suggested as they began walking toward the bus station.
Meryl rubbed her forehead as she clenched her teeth. Sometimes her partner could be the most shallow person in the world of Gunsmoke, and other times she shone out like a guiding beacon of light. Now was not one of those brilliant moments.
The two insurance girls barely arrived in time to catch their bus, and Meryl had to be hurled onto the crowded bus by Millie's hand, but they found vacant seats in the middle of the pack. Thankfully, by bus the distance to the store was short, and soon they found themselves with their edible treasures, with the big girl holding a bag full of the delicious pudding.
Now all they had to do was make it back to the main office in time to pick up their checks and call it a week. Thankfully the next bus was far less crowded and they found a pair of seats in the back far from the noisy crowd of families and tourists in the front.
Meryl sat at the window with a small bowl of pudding in her lap, and she pushed around the dessert with her spoon. The noise of laughing children caught her ears and she smiled as she watched some siblings argue over a simple game while their mother bounced a toddler on her knee. She watched as two old men talked about the weather and the state of things in the city, so unlike when they were younger.
Meryl noticed the ragged clothes of the poor trying to make it through life, and the faces of the tourists as they gazed at the tall buildings in wonder on their vacation. Then she casually glanced out the glass with mild interest as she sought to find what the outside world was doing.
The people passed by in a blur of motion, each indistinguishable from the last. Meryl could barely tell whether they were going to or fro, each on their own business of fulfilling the lives given to them. Living lives full of dreams and promises, or ones past the time of hope and dwelling in the realm of benefits they had accumulated over their long lives.
She slowly pressed her head against the metal and continued to gaze at the revolving world around her. The cool surface bothered her little as she closed her eyes and sighed. Though the world was now visually gone, the sound of the bustling city pressed against her ears and she could feel the vibration of the cars as they passed by.
The world was moving before and beyond her.
"Millie?" Meryl suddenly asked as she slowly opened her eyes and looked down at her melting pudding.
"Yes, Meryl?" the larger girl replied as the last of her treat disappeared.
"Do you ever have the feeling that we're missing out?" she wondered as she absently stirred the food. "Like your life is slipping by without you noticing?"
"Oh no, Meryl, never" Millie replied with a smile as she pulled out another container of pudding. "I enjoy every pudding as if it were my last."
"I have a hard time believing that" Meryl doubted as she watched her friend again consume the pudding.
Suddenly Meryl's cell phone rang and she plucked the annoying object out of her pocket. Since the recent invention of the things, the company had completely immersed itself in its use and all employees had been given their own. Now the bosses could get a strong hold over their field agents without using the slow telegraph system.
Meryl missed the good days of less communication.
"Yes, sir?" she answered as she read the name on the top of the machine.
"Did you tell the guy we wouldn't pay?" her boss' loud voice eagerly inquired over the speaker.
"Of course, sir" Meryl replied as she rapidly turned down the phone's volume. Some of the other passengers looked at her in curiosity and disdain. "He won't be receiving any money until the inquiry is finished."
"Good girls!" he nearly yelled with glee. She could imagine him rubbing his hands together in a miserly fashion. "Now I've got a new one for you" he announced as she heard him rummaging around in papers. His voice dropped and she had to increase the volume to be heard over the bustle of the bus. "A big hush, hush job, too."
"We can do it, sir" she mechanically responded as she inwardly groaned. Their day had already been busy with four other insurance calls. "What's the assignment?"
"I guess someone at the number five power station did something bad, and now they want us to pay them for the damages" he vaguely responded. "They're our best customers, so try to go easy on them, okay Meryl?" he almost begged as he evidently thought of the bottom line.
"Right, sir, we will" Meryl promised even as she rubbed her forehead as she noticed their stop had come.
"Great! See you later!" he replied as he signed off.
The two insurance girls stood to their feet and stepped off the bus. Meryl sighed as she looked up at the Bernardelli Insurance building, a towering mess of metal. Their paychecks for the week would have to wait until tomorrow.
"Jeez" the petit woman sighed as she stuffed the phone in her pocket and looked to her partner. "He thinks we can do anything" she grumbled.
"Another one, hunh Meryl?" Millie guessed with her precise intuition.
"Yep" Meryl affirmed as she waved down a taxi. "But we don't have to walk to the assignment this time."
"Goodie!" her companion cried as they got into the luxury service.
Because of the limited budget the girls were given, taxis were considered a high-priced luxury during their assignments. Now, however, the boss had ordered them from one end of the city to the other and they didn't have enough time to walk before their shift was over.
"This is so overtime" she muttered as she looked at her watch.
Little did she know the next assignment would bring more than just extra pay.