Thanks again to our reviewers - mouse, Renleek, Erin Sasaki and AineofKnockaine! Thanks for our newest reviewers, so glad you found us! Sorry for the long delay, this time this site has been giving me trouble, probably because my computer is so ancient! I sure hope you all like this chapter, the insurance girls have FINALLY caught up to Vash the Stampede - what will happen!

"We are not responsible for any stock market fluctuations, acts of nature, or the common cold, only for the story we are submitting. If you have any thoughts we would like to hear them (kind ones are acknowledged, mean ones are fed to our pet dragon, Slumberbumpkin the Not So Fierce). We don't own Trigun, (wish we did though!) and we certainly don't own Vash (I know, I already checked into it) , and we don't own Nightow (do I need to repeat myself?), all we own is not really worth mentioning here. Please enjoy your stay and keep all hands and arms inside the ride at all times, and your seats...well, you don't have to keep them in the upright positions! Enjoy your stay!"

Chapter 13

Valadour

Vash the Stampede Sighting #1

Stardate: 09-06-0110-14:00

Valadour was approximately half way between December City and May City. It was used as a caravan stop and a station for the largest humpback-class sandsteamers on the planet. For years it was a wealthy town, and for a long time many suspected it might eventually become the eighth city. Then something horrible happened: the plants started to malfunction and the city could not afford to fix them. The caravans and the sandsteamers still traveled through, but the territory was becoming dangerous, gangs patrolled the borders and many people started taking steamers from November instead.

So it wasn't unusual that neither insurance girl was prepared for what they found in this run-down little city.

"Well," Meryl said when they arrived in Valadour to find it in a panic, "I guess we've come to the right place."

"I don't think this is such a good idea," Milly mumbled, slouching on her toma as gunfire went off and a bomb exploded somewhere. "What if this mess really is because of Vash? We'll get killed, won't we?"

"Nonsense," Meryl said with a throaty laugh, "we're here to do our job. We'll simply tell the mayor there is no bounty and this ridiculous hunt will end. I'm sure we'll find Vash in no time and then ascertain to see if he's really the threat everyone thinks he is, or whether it's just because of these fools going after him!" Meryl nodded to herself mostly, urging her toma on into the city as Milly trailed behind.

"You really think that Vash isn't as dangerous as they're letting on? What about McPhee and Langhorne?"

"Sure he could have killed them… But think of all of the other outlandish rumors," Meryl said when Milly got her toma to line up with her own. "No man could have taken out July City by himself. No man could make an entire city's inhabitants just disappear without a trace… They say he's got some super-human powers, and that's just bull…" She trailed off as an explosion took out a building in front of them.

Their toma spooked, squawking in fear and knocking both girls to the ground. Meryl started to yell at her mount but the birds were already running off in the opposite direction. The dark haired girl started to get to her feet when her eyes spotted a man wearing a red coat walking calmly toward them from out of the smoke.

Meryl swallowed and Milly scrambled backwards, rubbing her butt and moaning. "Mee-errryyyl." She whined.

"It's okay Milly… I think," she added the last bit under her breath as the tall man reached out his hand to her. He had cold aqua eyes, the deep color of sink hole wells, a splendidly handsome face, short white blond hair spiked up, his red coat dusty but otherwise in good condition covering him from his neck to his shins where black boots scuffed in the dirt. She could see the boots were knee-high and that he had black chaps protecting dark black jeans below, as he bent down to help her stand.

"You seem to be unharmed," he said slowly, his eyes cold but worried. He glanced over to Milly and gave her a hand as well as Meryl brushed the dirt off her backside. Milly reluctantly took his proffered hand and he had no trouble whatsoever in helping her to her feet. Milly was amazed; only her father and brothers were strong enough to pull her up like that, as if she weighed no more than Meryl. She took her hand back from him, seeing that his hands were covered in black gloves. "Your toma, will you need help retrieving them?"

Meryl shook her head and decided to get down to business, "No, of course not. They'll come back… Are you Vash the Stampede?" Her heart was pounding in her throat. There's no way this man couldn't be him! He had the red coat, the blond hair… Familiar eyes, but she couldn't quite place them. He held himself so purposefully that there was no mistaking this had to be the famous gunman who destroyed July City and was called the Humanoid Typhoon!

The man considered her question for a moment, his eyes scanning the road where they stood. It was empty for now but people would be after him soon. It wasn't safe for them to be having this conversation in the open like this, and if the townspeople were to find him… "We can't talk here. If you are unharmed then I'm going to have to leave you and draw off the fire." He started away but Meryl dashed after him.

"But if you're Vash the Stampede then I have to tell you that the bounty was lifted! You aren't worth anything anymore and…"

His eyes turned on her and a smile spread over his lips. It was full of straight white teeth, and Meryl wasn't completely sure whether it was a smile of happiness or not. "And I represent the Bernadelli Insurance Society and we've come to help." Where'd that come from? Meryl swallowed, she really hadn't meant to say that, but the way he looked there in front of her, she didn't think he was all that scary, at least no more scary than the people following them!

"Help?" Vash's mouth quirked into a smile.

Milly and Meryl nodded. Milly pulled out her stun gun. "We've been trained as Risk Prevention agents, and it is our duty…"

Gunfire erupted and the tall blond man dashed to the girls, swept them each up under an arm and leapt straight up and onto the rooftop. Meryl gasped, Milly couldn't help but exclaim a squeal of delight, and both of them looked at each other, then up to the man that held them. "He really is Vash the Stampede," Meryl said in awe as he set them down carefully.

"I'm called that," Vash said, his eyes on the look out, only taking in the two women briefly. "I've got dangerous men after me, not just the townspeople here. If you could take care of either of them, I'll let you help me, and I'll tell you anything you want to know." He made it a point to look at Meryl a bit longer than Milly, and she settled her hands on her hips and pulled her cape open so that he could see her derringers. Vash laughed. "I thought you seemed a bit heavy."

"I'm called Derringer Meryl," she said, "and this is Stun Gun Milly." Milly nodded at her name and Vash smiled at them warmly.

"Is it really true that the bounty is off my head? Or are you two just bounty hunters in disguise?"

"We'd never do anything so dangerous," Milly chirped. Then she stuck her finger to her lip, "Oh wait, I guess this is just about as dangerous… But we're salaried, so I guess it works out in the end." She grinned and the gunman shook his head.

"She always this blond?"

"Afraid so," Meryl replied. "But trustworthy to a fault." She glanced down to the street below; there were people dashing everywhere and her eyes caught sight of movement upon the rooftops as well. "We have to get out of here. Do you know where the base of operations is?"

Vash nodded, "In the town square. I'll take you there, if you can keep up," he said over his shoulder and started off at a graceful run. Meryl blinked, looked at Milly, shrugged and then the two insurance girls ran after him as he leapt from one building to the next on the way into town. Meryl noticed he was careful to avoid deep alleys and long distances, at least, until the very end when he leapt down onto a fire escape and Milly and Meryl stopped at the edge of the building and looked down at him, their breaths fast but controlled.

"You did better than I expected," he said, reaching up his hands. "Jump down to me, I'll catch you."

In all of the excitement, Milly started to climb up onto the ledge but Meryl hauled her back, "How do we know he didn't do all of this just to drop us in the alley?"

Milly blinked, then swallowed, fear registering in her eyes suddenly. "Oh yeah." With light blue eyes gone wide, she asked, "You think he'd do that?"

"Well… I'm not sure," Meryl glanced at Vash and made up her mind after a moment. "Let me go first, then if anything happens to me, you can kill him."

"Don't say that again Meryl…" Milly tried to retort, but Meryl was already making the leap. Vash reached out, grabbed her hips and set her down gently on the fire escape. He waved to Milly and she held her breath and jumped as well. He caught her as if she were as light as a feather and set her down onto the metal grating.

"Wow, you're strong," Milly said in awe.

"And you're a good runner," Vash replied.

He pushed down the ladder. "The town's square is just down this alley and around the corner. Talk to the mayor and get them to stop the fighting and I'll meet up with you on the edge of town tonight." The gunman moved the girls toward the ladder but Meryl stopped him.

"How do we know you aren't just going to bolt?"

Vash smiled, and completely stunning her, he reached up and ran his fingers through her short black hair. Meryl blinked at him. It was the first time any guy had looked at her like this, his eyes soft and curious, so different from the lustful expression of the stranger in the alley! Then Meryl remembered all the research from his file and could have kicked herself. She'd forgotten about the rumor he was a womanizer until she had already fallen for it and melted right there in his gaze. "I keep my word," he said finally and then instantly he was gone, back up on the rooftops and running away. Men were shouting, there was gunfire as the girls climbed down the fire escape.

"You're blushing!" Milly exclaimed when they were on the ground again. Most people would have taken the opportunity to tease the raven-haired girl but Milly knew how fragile Meryl could be at times, and she was pretty sure this was one of them. Seems she had two men sweet on her now! Perhaps Meryl would choose one of them on her own…

"I am NOT!" Meryl snapped, shaking her head fiercely. Case in point, thought Milly to herself, and wisely decided not to say anything more about it.

She patted her cheeks and started walking in the direction Vash told her they needed to go. "I'm just hot from all the running and he caught me off-guard, that's all."

Milly chuckled, "Remember our pact, right? About guys and relationships?"

"Stop that, Milly! I know my job! Come on!" Meryl stalked out of the alley, with a strong desire to whip out one of her derringers except there wasn't anyone to shoot at. One could practically see the dark cloud gathering over the fuming risk agent's head and following her. Milly stifled a giggle with a hand over her mouth.

Fifty Double Dollars for Whiskey & Information

Stardate: 09-06-0110-19:00

At Lob's Diner, which sat about fifteen iles west of Valadour, a long white car pulled up and parked. It was a dark, dingy little place where truckers and caravans stopped on their way from one city or another. The only reason the diner existed at all was because of the huge plant bulb that lay in the sand behind it, still in working condition even though the glass was cracked and there were only a handful of wires and mechanical components. Lob's father hooked up the plant with a keen sense of how the ancient technology worked, but Lob himself knew nothing more than how to press certain buttons to get it to produce electricity, water, and the occasional slab of roast beef. No matter how many times his father had tried to teach him, the specifics of the weird thing never did sink in and his father had now long since passed on.

Lob ran the diner by himself. He stood behind the counter with a little white cap, his eyes squinting and a pipe between his lips as he wiped a plate. Closed for the evening due to lack of business, the front door was locked and he was about ready to go home for the night after turning off the pinball machine to conserve energy when suddenly he heard a tingling sound above the door. Lob turned, his eyebrows narrowed as a tall dark stranger walked in the front door. Didn't I lock that? He put down his plate, "We're closed, buddy."

"I know," the stranger said as he stepped into the light. Lob looked him up and down. Tall man, blond hair, black coat, black boots coated in dirt, and his hand resting on a black gun at his side. "I'll pay you for your time," he said simply, his hand coming off the gun and reaching deeper within his coat before pulling a small purse from hiding. From within it, he pulled out two golden coins and tossed them to Lob.

The owner looked over the coins, "These are twenty-five double dollar coins…" He hastily shoved them into his pocket. "What do you want?"

Coming to sit down at the counter, the stranger smiled. "Two young women came through here earlier today didn't they?"

Lob nodded. "Yeah, they were after Vash the Stampede."

"And what did you tell them?"

"That he was in Valadour. I told them they should avoid the guy, he's dangerous, but I have a feeling they may have been after his bounty. A buncha guys headed that way right before they came in for just that reason." Lob stood back from the counter as the stranger reached over it and helped himself to a bottle of eighty proof whiskey. He straightened, pulling the cork from the bottle with his teeth, spat the cork out and tipped it back into his waiting mouth to guzzle it. After a few deep gulps, he righted the bottle and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"So, he is nearby just like I thought," he murmured to himself. The man stood, taking the bottle with him. "I'll keep this," he said, waving the bottle at Lob. "I'd imagine fifty double dollars cover it." Quiet as a ghost, he stalked out of the diner and into the street. The bell didn't even ring as he exited. The stranger's expression was dark as he took another swig of the bottle.

Elendira stepped out of the darkness wearing a white suit coat of woven of fine silk, a rare commodity that only the most finely tuned plants could produce, pressed pants and a small cap on her tightly bunned hair. Pressing her dark red lips together, she walked beside the black-coated stranger. "What did he have to say, Master?"

"He's in Valadour and the girls were headed that way about twelve hours ago," her master replied, his lips pursed. "The girls have undoubtedly found my brother by now. I hope he appreciates his present from me." He laughed and it echoed into the night.

Outskirts of Valadour

Stardate: 09-06-0110-22:00

That evening when things were finally settled after the horrors of dealing with the Nebraska family and settling the town's hunt, Milly and Meryl found their toma on the edge of town and brought them to the nearest well to get them watered and cleaned up for traveling. Meryl still couldn't believe how swift Vash was able to bring the bandits down with that huge silver gun of his, or how careful he was not to kill anyone in the process. She was starting to think the rumors were all wrong, that it wasn't Vash the Stampede who was to blame for so much destruction, but from those that wanted his bounty, or someone who had it out for him. Meryl wondered whom these dangerous men were that Vash had mentioned earlier that day.

He had, for all intensive purposes, disappeared that evening. She sighed, sitting down on the edge of the well while Milly rubbed down her toma, cleaning the dirt from its beak. "You okay Meryl?"

"I'm fine Milly."

"You disappointed that Vash disappeared?"

Meryl glanced at her friend. Milly's blue eyes were turned to her task, although thoughtful. Only Meryl knew just how smart her friend was and how much she kept it hidden until her intuitiveness and sharpness were needed. Milly felt Meryl's gaze and smiled. Meryl shrugged, allowing her gray eyes to disappear below her bangs as she looked down into the well. It was that same dark aqua color of Vash's eyes… She snapped out of it. This was no time to be thinking about how cute he was! But he had been so gentle picking them up and carrying them to safety, and he had been so kind to them, acting as if he really needed their help that for a moment she really did believe him. "I'm just stupid, that's all."

"What?"

"Never mind," Meryl stood from her perch and pulled the feedbag from her toma's mouth. It squawked in annoyance as she put it away in their things. "Well, do you think we should find a hotel for the night or just continue on?"

Milly sighed, "You really think he's left?"

"Oh probably. Not everyone believed us when we said his bounty was gone. It's just lucky that the Nebraska family had such a large bounty on them that will take care of the repairs to the plants."

She tightened the harnesses on her toma and went around to the left side of her bird and mounted. Milly was still standing next to hers as it made a purring sound in its throat as she scratched it behind the head. "We aren't getting anywhere just sitting here."

"You're right." Milly took the reins of her toma and was about to mount when she froze in place. Meryl frowned, watching her partner, and then followed her gaze. A man wearing all black with a black bag over his shoulder approached them. Meryl suddenly remembered the man from the alley… Could it be the same man? Was he finally showing himself? She swallowed deeply. The only difference between this guy and the other one was that this one's hair was shorter and he carried himself with dignity. Her hands squeezed the reins of her toma tightly, ready to make a run for it if necessary. She wished that Milly had gotten on her own mount faster.

"Mr. Vash?" Milly asked in almost a whisper nearby.

He looked at them with a neutral expression. "You waited."

"And you didn't leave," Meryl responded. She started breathing again, realizing that this wasn't the same man… Although the resemblance was remarkable. Maybe there really were two men, and this was one of them! It would certainly explain the red coat, and now the black… "Where's your coat?"

Vash patted his bag, "Hidden. I know better than to stir up more commotion with it this late," his eyes were still careful and searching their surroundings. "I have a truck waiting at the edge of town with one of my associates. If you want, you can come with us and we'll talk."

"Sounds reasonable. But where was this associate of yours earlier?"

"Minding things," Vash replied simply. He turned and after Milly mounted her toma they followed him to the truck just like as he had said.

It was well past dark by that time, the moons already rising in the east as Milly and Meryl got down from their toma. A man stuck his head out of the driver's side. "Chapel, help the girls get their toma secured. I want to be out of town within the half hour." Vash disappeared around to the other side as his associate jumped out of the truck.

"Didn't think I'd ever see the boss pickin' up girls," he said with a grin and a slightly northern accent. His voice was deep and almost musical.

Vash's associate wore a black suit with a white shirt unbuttoned beneath showing an expanse of broad, tanned chest. He bowed slightly in front of Milly and looked at her with shadowy gray eyes through heavy dark bangs. Those eyes hinted at many things hidden within their depths, yet he had such a cheerful exterior. All Milly knew was that for the first time in her life, her knees felt weak and her breath caught in her throat as he stared at her. She tried to give him a smile and was sure that all she managed was a rather pathetic, watery grin. She lowered her eyes to something she hoped was safer. That was when she noticed the black choker around his throat and the cross that dangled below it.

"I'm Nicholas D. Wolfwood, at your service." He extended his hand to Milly and she took it in her own, but instead of shaking, he kissed it gently. Milly blinked; suddenly it was her turn to blush. Wow… She thought to herself as he backed up a step, still holding her hand. Milly knew she'd had guys…boys…men…hit on her before, but they were all just… Never had anyone this handsome looked at her like this before! She desperately hoped that perhaps he wasn't just being nice to her, feeling sorry for her. How many times did the cute ones do that to her? Too many times to count!

Meryl elbowed her and Milly was forced to turn her eyes from him and take her hand away from his. Wolfwood took Meryl's hand as well, but she shook it heartily and didn't allow her hand anywhere near his lips. The nerve. Her eyes caught silver cross cufflinks, and her memory suddenly recalled the rumor of the group of religious types following Vash the Stampede… "Mr. Vash called you Chapel. Are you a priest?"

"Yes, however not exactly a conventional one," he looked at Milly and winked. She flushed as he turned from them and took their toma's reins and carefully pulled them into the back of the truck. The girls watched him to make sure that they were going to be well secured and Nicholas continued, "Must not be conventional girls either, from the looks of ya, if Spikey… If Vash is allowing ya both to tag along."

"We're insurance agents," Milly piped up. She smiled and Wolfwood laughed.

"You are, are ya? I didn't think the boss needed insurance, but I suppose…" He winked at her and closed the tailgate of the truck. The toma chirped and eyed them before sitting down on their haunches for the ride. Apparently they were used to traveling this way. "I think I might need insurance too… We'll have to discuss it later, Miss…?"

"Milly Anne Thompson," Milly chirped, blinking. "But you can call me Milly…"

"I'd have it no other way," Wolfwood replied, "So long as you call me Nicholas."

Meryl rolled her eyes at this open display of flirting. "You can call me MISS Meryl Stryfe," she dragged Milly away and shoved her toward the cab of the truck.

"We're Risk Management agents," Meryl said as Wolfwood followed them. "We were sent here to keep Vash the Stampede under twenty-four our surveillance to discover whether he is really a threat to our company or not."

"And if he is?" The dark haired man asked with an amused smile.

"We're supposed to kill him," Milly said.

Nicholas' smile disappeared, "Legato's not going to like that…" He shrugged off what he said at the same time, as Meryl was about to ask about this gato, didn't that mean cat or something? "We've got to get going. We meet with the rest of our party in a few hours. Hop in."

Wolfwood pulled the driver's side open and helped Meryl in first, she found herself jammed in tightly thigh to thigh with Vash as Milly and the priest wedged themselves into the cab as well. "Quite the squeeze," Nick said with a hearty laugh. "Glad you're the one next to me," he said to Milly with a wink.

"Oh my," Milly replied turning red.

Meryl would probably have elbowed her again if she weren't having her own problems with the Humanoid Typhoon. Too close, she was definitely too close to him and she could feel his every breath even though at this point he was all but ignoring them, keeping an eye out the window of the cab as Wolfwood started the vehicle into the desert. From this angle she could see he had freshly shaved and she could smell the musky aftershave on his neck. Although, she wasn't sure what type it was to compare it with the rumors. Maybe she would ask Milly about it later.

As if only now becoming aware of her, Vash glanced down at her, "What was your name again?"

"Meryl Stryfe," the small insurance agent said, although she hadn't remembered telling him her name before anyway. This wasn't exactly the way she wanted to introduce herself, but the circumstances had changed so quickly…

Vash nodded. "And you're from Bernadelli?"

"That's right."

"I didn't know Bernadelli was so short on help," he mused, turning to look out the window again. "Sending little girls out into the desert… Let me guess, you two drew the short straws on this assignment?"

Meryl frowned, he was blunt wasn't he? Up until this point she hadn't had much time to think about how fast their search for the Stampede had ended. Suddenly here they were, sitting thigh to thigh in a pick-up truck, having a conversation about her job. She tried not to let her temper get the better of her, so she decided to defend Mr. Bernadelli's decision the only way she could. "We were hired for it immediately after our last agents were killed by you…"

Meryl trailed off. Those photographs of the sliced up agents came to her mind suddenly and Meryl moved nervously, nearly sitting on Milly's lap as she did so, realizing how hard her heart had started pounding. It didn't matter if he was handsome or not, there was that one little bit of information she still could not deny as being fact. It's okay Meryl; maybe he really wasn't to blame for James and Connor… Maybe it was whoever was after him…

"I remember them," he said slowly. Milly tensed below Meryl and wrapped her arms around her friend. Meryl bit her tongue remembering she'd have to wean Milly of that habit.

Wolfwood moved in his seat, "Yeah, damned bad luck to face…" Everyone in the cab could feel the frown that Vash directed at Wolfwood who immediately shut up.

Milly looked down at her partner. She wasn't liking this talk and now that they were sitting between two outlaws… Oh this wasn't a good idea Meryl! She wanted to run away, to hide, to do something, but they were trapped going heaven knew where, "So what happened to them?" She immediately regretted it the moment the words slipped from her lips.

Meryl flashed her a look that Nicholas didn't catch. "Sliced up," he said. "I was there when it happened. Poor bastards. They never saw it coming."

"Slic…cccedd, up?" Milly whispered, shaking and turned to look at Meryl, her eyes wide and awareness of their helplessness in this situation coming home to her in force. "You… You didn't…tell me that Meryl."

"You didn't need to know," her friend said, feeling Milly's hand wrapping ever tighter around her waist. "So who did it?"

"I did," Vash said simply. He didn't look at them, in fact, as Meryl watched him, he looked almost sorrowful, and as if he regretted what he did. However she couldn't stop shaking and he was still ignoring her. Poor Milly was nearly ready to wet herself until Vash turned to look at them. A tear rolled down his cheek and Meryl blinked, confused. He wiped it away, "I'm sorry, you don't have anything to worry about, it was all a big mistake."

Nicholas was nodded, "That's right. They were trying to kill him and they got caught up…" He closed his mouth, his eyes squinting out into the dark desert. "We're here."