A/N: new chappie! enjoy!
Chapter 7: Sins
"Well?" Nobara prompted. "Who wants to stay and who wants to take off? I wouldn't blame you if wanna take off. It's gonna be pretty dangerous and maybe you girls shouldn't get into this."
"Why are you singling us out?" Meryl asked, irritably. "We can fight just as well as the rest of you."
"This won't be an ordinary firefight, Meryl," Nobara replied. "Krystal Robyn is ruthless. More ruthless then this bum strapped to the chair-"
"Hey!" Mack snapped but Nobara ignored him, still staring at Meryl.
"She wants me dead," she continued, "and if it's for the reason I think it is, then she won't stop until she gets what she wants. She'll send scouts to tire me out before the big battle. Like I said, she'll come in with her best man, thinking I'll be alone. Which I may well be."
"How can you possibly know that?" Mack shot back and Nobara gave him a devious smirk.
"We were in military school together," she replied, and everyone's eyes shot wide at her as she turned to them again.
"Why does she want you dead?" Vash asked, standing from the table but keeping his arm around Meryl's shoulders. "What did you do?"
Nobara glanced to Knives in worry, making him frown in wonder but she only looked to Vash again and swallowed hard.
"I killed her husband," she replied flatly and everyone shot wide-eyed gazes at her in disbelief…except Knives.
He only stared at her, the depths of his sapphire blues expressionless and she swallowed when she glanced at him. After getting on her soap box about humans not being so bad, she knew what she was about to come out with was going to make her look like the biggest hypocrite in his eyes.
"After military school, we were both contracted as assassins," she began, looking to Vash and Meryl. "Wee took missions separately though. We were never a team. He was…a target of mine. I had no idea he was her husband, otherwise I wouldn't have even taken the mission."
"So she found out and she's been out for blood ever since," Knives guessed, coldly, making her look to him and nod, slowly.
"Yes," she nearly whispered. "I tried to explain to her that I had no idea, but she wouldn't have it. Once she gets something in her head she won't hear anything else. As far as she was concerned, I killed her husband knowingly."
"Seems like you've been claiming innocence since day one," Mack smirked deviously.
Nobara shot her gaze to him in rage and turned to him to lean on the arms of his chair, staring at him as she ground out, "You. That mouth of yours is gonna get you in trouble, Mack."
She stood tall and reached into the pocket of her coat to pull out a long piece of cloth and tossed it to Knives who caught it mid-air without moving.
"Gag this fool," she snapped, still glaring at Mack before marching around him and down the hall to head into her room and shut the door.
Knives looked to Mack who stared back at him in terror, making the other man raise a brow at him.
"What is it you're afraid of?" he wondered, slowly stepping toward the man who still stared at him. "Unless she gives me the go-ahead, I'm not going to hurt you."
He stepped behind Mack and pulled the gag tight over his mouth as he began to squirm in his chair and Meryl looked to Vash.
"What are you gonna do?" she asked and he gave a tired sigh as he lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck in thought.
"I don't know," he sighed. "What can I do? I mean, she and I are somewhat in the same boat, right? Both framed for things we didn't do. Both running for our lives from bounty hunters and police."
"Maybe we shouldn't talk too much in front of the prisoner?" Knives advised. Mack tried to say something, but the gag around his mouth only muffled his angry shouts and Knives smacked the back of his head, blurting, "Shut up."
"What about you, Milly?" Meryl asked, turning to the other woman as she remained leaning back on the couch.
"I don't want to be in the middle of a fight," she admitted. "But I can't let our new friend, Miss Nobara go in alone, can I?"
"I knew you'd say that," Meryl smirked then turned to Vash again, nodding, "If Milly's in, I'm in."
"Well, we can't leave it to a bunch of girls," Vash smirked and balled his fist to pump it to his side. "I'm in, too! Can't let my biggest fan get killed! How about it Knives?"
He looked to the spot where his brother…had been standing and frowned.
"Knives?" he called, but realized he'd gone down the hall when he heard a door shut and he swallowed in worry.
"Maybe he went to ask Miss Nobara what to do with Trev-Mack?" Milly guessed as Meryl bit the corner of her lip in worry as well.
Let's hope, she thought.
Meanwhile...
Knives shut the door behind him, glaring at Nobara's back as she sat in the chair at the desk in front of the window, staring out at the desert.
"You shouldn't come in with so much anger, Knives," she advised, not moving and he gritted his teeth. "It's unsettling for someone like me. I might think I'm under attack."
"And what will you do, assassin?" he retorted, his hands balling into fists as neither of them moved from their spots. "Kill me, like you have others?"
"It was a job," she replied, emotionlessly. "Nothing more. I did what I had to do. And you of all people shouldn't judge me about killing. I thought you'd be commending me."
"Not when you sat there and yelled at me about what I've done!" Knives snarled, marching toward her and gripping her arm to pull her to her feet and turn her to face him. "You're just like all the other humans! Hypocrites and killers!"
"I knew you'd think that," she breathed before swallowing, and Knives gave a frown but didn't let her go or look away from her tired eyes. "I knew you'd say I was a hypocrite, but the truth is, I hated being an assassin. I only did it for the money. I had no alternative. No one would take me in as an employee for a year. I couldn't even get a waitressing job. That's the easiest, goddamn thing to get into, and they wouldn't take me! I had no other choice, and I hated it. That's the difference between me and the other people you hate so much, Knives. I didn't enjoy one second of it. It tore me apart every single day, and I'm glad I'm out and away from it now. So yell at me all you want about being a hypocrite, but it won't change the fact that I'm right about humans, and you know it. Somewhere in that heart that I know you have, you know it."
Knives only stared at her for a moment then let go of her arm with a slight shove as he saw tears starting to form in her eyes.
Yes, he knew. He knew she was right, but he wasn't about to admit that to anyone, not even her or Vash. He knew, at the same time, that he was right. No one was all bad, but no one was all good, either. He could see it in her eyes, that she knew that. Those eyes that had him staring at her, capturing him.
He suddenly realized how different she was from his brother. Even though they held the same belief that not everyone in this world was cruel and vicious, Nobara knew the truth, and didn't live in some fantasy the same as Vash. Their eyes were different.
Both had bright eyes, but Vash's were far too innocent. He hated that about him. After all the years he'd lived, after all the things he'd seen, he was still like a child. But Nobara, even though she hadn't lived as long as they had, was mentally and emotionally older than Vash would ever be, he was sure.
"What do you want us to do with the prisoner?" he asked, breaking from his thoughts long enough to deal with what was important. Nobara stared at him, her intense emeralds meeting his equally intense sapphires before she looked around the room with a shrug.
"Put him in here," she replied before looking back at him. "Just keep him tied to the chair and leave him in here."
"Where will you stay?" he wondered and she shrugged again.
"The couch," she blurted. "I don't care, as long I can sleep."
"How is your leg?"
Nobara frowned up at him in utter confusion before asking, "What?"
"Your gunshot," he reiterated. "How does it feel?"
"Oh," she recalled, looking down at her thigh before shrugging again and looking up at him, replying, "Fine, I guess. I haven't really thought about it. Whatever you guys did, it's working like a charm."
Knives nodded and they didn't say a word for another moment before he realized something he'd thought was puzzling but hadn't been able to ask her about yet.
"How did you find out Mack was the one that framed you?" he asked and Nobara gave a sigh of exhaustion as she sat down in the chair again, Knives stepping toward the desk to sit on the edge and face her as she spoke.
"When I showed up in Inepril two or three days after Vash left, somebody asked if I wanted to see the plant he'd fixed up," she began. "I wasn't about to let that opportunity get away from me. There were two guys, Mack being one of them, that took me to the plant and gave me the grand tour before we arrived in the sector Vash had been in. I was looking around and next thing I know, the door is shut and everything is going berserk around me. I tried to get out, but when I realized there was no way I could get out, and nothing I could do to stop whatever was happening, I ducked under something. There was a bright flash of light and I woke up in a pile of rubble.
"The people of the city blamed me for what had happened, but when they tried to catch me, I disappeared. Thus sprouted the name Nobara the Phantom."
Knives only stared at her silently as she gazed out the window before he stood and asked, "Do want him in here now?"
"Give me a while alone, will ya?" she requested, not looking at him. "I'll be out there in a few moments."
"Fine," he nodded, and turned to the door but was stopped by a hand on his wrist.
He frowned and looked to her as she slowly stood, her bangs covering her eyes. She threw her arms around his chest, slamming against it and making him grunt as he stumbled back a bit. Knives hesitantly brought his arms up and placed them around her shoulders only for a moment before she pulled back and sat down in the chair again, leaving a very puzzled Knives standing next to her.
"Sorry," she muttered.
"It's…fine," he replied before turning and heading toward the door, this time making it and stepping into the hall to close the door behind him and lean against it, his hands shaking.
What is this she does to me? he wondered. I've never felt anything like this before. She makes me…nervous.
Some shuffling on the other side of the door made him frown and turn to press his ear to it. The distinct sound of crying made his heart clench, but why he had no clue. His hands balled into fists against the door and he felt like marching into the living to use them on Mack.
Why do I…want to fight…for her?
Standing tall and taking a deep breath he held his hands to his sides and headed down the hall to be greeted by a grinning, tall brunette.
"Mr. Knives, could you help me with something?" she wondered, brightly, making Knives frown in absolute confusion.
A few moments later...
"Now that Miss Nobara has gotten her answers from you, I would like you to do me the same courtesy and answer my questions," Milly told Mack as she stood in front of him, her arms crossed over her chest with Knives standing next to her and she turned to him, "If you please, Mr. Knives, could you take the gag off of him?"
"I really don't think that's a good idea," he replied. "Nobara might hear him scream when I hurt him."
"You're not going to hurt him, Mr. Knives," Milly smiled. "I need him to answer my questions."
"Fine," he sighed, stepping toward Mack who stared at him with wide, terror-filled eyes, making the other man smirk. "Don't worry. If I do hurt you, be comforted to know that the end of your pain will be in sight when I kill you."
"Now, now, Mr. Knives," Milly scolded, gently as Mack's eyes widened at him before turning back to Milly who only grinned, brightly at him as the gag fell from his mouth.
"Why don't you help me out, Milly?" he hoped. "Turn in Vash and Nobara with me and we'll split the money."
"I would never turn in one of my friends," Milly replied. "Especially if they're innocent."
"Fine," Mack groaned, slouching in the chair he was still tied to. "But you're passing up a fortune."
"Shut up, before I choke you to death with this gag," Knives growled, holding the cloth up in his fist an inch front Mack's face, and he looked to Knives with wide, terror-filled eyes.
"Are you going to answer my questions, or not?" Milly asked, drawing Mack's attention back to her and he nodded. "Good. Why did you lie to me about who you were?"
Mack bowed his head, tracing circles in the sand with the tip of his boot as he explained, "Because I couldn't risk you finding out that I was after Vash, and besides, you shouldn't give your real name if you're hunting someone."
"Why did you use me to get to Mr. Vash in the first place?" Milly continued. "There must have been other ways for you to do it."
Mack's foot stilled and he slowly lifted his head to smirk, evilly at her through curls of sand blonde hair hanging over his eyes as he answered, "For the money. Greed is my sin."
"Stop freakin' her out, Mack."
The three outside jumped with a start, Milly and Knives whirling around to see Nobara standing in the threshold of the back door, a scowl on her face.
"Miss Nobara," Milly breathed in panic. "I was just-"
"I know Milly," Nobara cut in. "You should have asked me." Milly frowned at Nobara as she stepped up next to Knives and said, "Gag him before he says something that gets him shot."
"How about I just cut off his tongue out?" Knives grinned, deviously.
"He'll still make too much noise," Nobara smirked back. "I thought of that myself. Just put the gag back on."
"Don't you even think-!" Mack started before his protest was muffled the gag being forcefully tied around his mouth by Knives.
"Wait!" Milly called and Nobara looked to him. "I still need to talk to him!"
"No, Milly, you don't," Nobara replied. "Trust me. Next time, tell me the questions you need the answers to and I'll ask him for you." She turned to Knives just as he finished gagging Knives and said, "You can put him in my room now."
He lifted a brow at her and was about to make his token argue, but Nobara only shook her head slowly and his expression dropped before he nodded and began pulling a struggling Mack tied to his chair into the house. Nobara turned to Milly who was scowling at her, fists clenched at her sides.
"Well, if you're gonna yell at me, go ahead," Nobara prompted.
"Why did you do that?" Milly asked.
"Because I'm trying to protect you," Nobara replied. "If you talk to him alone he'll only lie and try to manipulate you. He's a sociopath. He was no remorse."
"But I wasn't alone," Milly protested. "Mr. Knives was with me!"
"Knives knows nothing about Mack," Nobara protested. "Anything he said to you that made you feel sorry for him was meant to make you feel sorry for him. He was trying to manipulate you. Trust me Milly, I've read his mind. I know what he's truly like. Krystal trained him herself. There's no telling how evil he is, but he is definitely evil."
Milly's rage cooled as she bowed her head and Nobara sighed before placing a hand on her shoulder and continuing, gently, "Look, I'm sorry about this, but if you're going to talk to him, at least have me in the room with you guys, ok? I'll be able to tell if he's trying to mess with your head or if he's telling the truth. I know it feels like I'm taking charge of everything, but it's very important that you trust me and try to understand, ok?"
Milly nodded and Nobara gave another sigh before heading back toward the house.
"Miss Nobara?"
She stopped half-way to the door but didn't turn back.
"Yeah, Milly?"
Milly turned to her, but Nobara never looked back at her as she asked, "Did you hear him say that greed was his sin?"
"Yes."
"What did he mean by that?"
Nobara was silent for a moment before she replied, "You may not understand this, Milly. But I'll tell you anyway." She turned to face confused, blue eyes. "We all suffer from the seven deadly sins. Greed, envy, lust, wrath, gluttony, sloth and pride. But in every person there is always one sin that stands out the most. It's a belief I've lived by and have been right about in judging people. Mack's outstanding sin is greed."
"You can tell everyone's sin?" Milly wondered in intrigue and Nobara only nodded. "What's yours?"
Nobara's green eyes darkened slightly and Milly gave a small frown but said nothing as the other woman turned and started into the house, but Milly heard the one word she muttered on her way inside.
"Wrath."
A/N: dun dun DUN! lol! reviews?
