Three men sat around a table in the small New Round saloon, each with a drink at their side and a hand of cards. The room smelled of gunpowder and cheap cigarettes. A cute redhead went from table to table, innocently flirting with the morning drunks in hopes of a good tip. Vash glanced over his cards at the men he'd started his little game with.

Across from him sat a fat man with a long beard which was half laying on the table. A few times the man accidentally set his drink on it. The man to Vash's left was a tall thin man with long hair in a low ponytail on his back. His eyes were sharp and focused as they darted between the men at the table and the cards in his hand. The final man kept a hat on, but Vash could vaguely make out the starts of brown curls at the nape of his neck.

"Well?"

Vash turned his attention back to Long Beard. "Huh?"

"Are you in or out?" He motioned to the bills on the table. Each had laid down a twenty to start.

"Oh yeah, totally!" he dropped another bill on the table. "So…" His voice dropped to almost a whisper. "Have you fellas heard the rumors?"

Ponytail turned his sharp eyes toward the former blonde. "What rumors?"

"Ya see, I heard they spotted that 'Longshot' guy heading toward Larin." The town was easily sixty or so iles from New round; far enough to, hopefully, draw the girls away.

Curly laughed. "Oh really? I heard he was nearer by."

"No no…I'm sure I heard he was almost in Larin by now." Just take the bait and go with it, okay? Vash pleaded. The women at the market took every word while he was buying breakfast.

Ponytail shrugged, turning his attention back to his cards once more. "I guess that makes more sense, though. What would he be around this little town for anyways?"

"Last time he passed through…" Long Beard said, picking up the whiskey from its place on his facial hair, "He was heading to his house. Ty used to live nearby you know?"

Vash turned his head to the man. "I thought he lived in Januar."

"He did." The fat man arranged the cards in his hands as he continued, "After he killed all them he up and ran. Took shelter in some crappy little place just outside of town. Rumor was that's where he was headed. Like he left somethin' behind." He laid the cards in front of him. "Straight flush."

"He's gone." Curly laughed. "He left all his money behind though. Guess he gave up."

Ponytail rolled his eyes. "Idiot…"

Meryl woke up alone. She should have been used that that, really, she woke up alone every morning. Still, there was some sort of empty feeling after falling asleep on such a warm body the night before. It was ridiculous to think he'd have still been there to greet her in the morning, she knew that. She couldn't shake, however, that feeling of disappointment when she woke up to a cold empty couch.

"Morning Senpai!" Her friend smiled brightly as Meryl sat up off the makeshift bed. "I was wondering when you'd wake up I'm really hungry." The blonde frowned a little.

Meryl laughed lightly. "I guess that means I should cook something before we go?" She'd banned Milly from any cooking duties after she almost caused an entire hotel building to catch fire. The blonde girl nodded eagerly as Meryl made her way to the small kitchen, dropping the thin blanket as she went. "What do we have to cook with?" She asked, setting a frying pan onto the stove's open flame.

The taller woman ran to the luggage, opening the bag of rations with a smile. "We have toma strips and eggs!"

Meryl smiled warmly. "Toma and eggs it is, then."

"Got enough to share?" A voice spoke from the doorway.

The former insurance agent turned sharply to the intruder, eyes narrowed. "Y-you…you're…"

"Senpai, it's Mr. Sloan!"

Meryl's head snapped to the blonde. "I know who it is, Milly." She mentally cursed herself for leaving her guns across the room as she took in the image of the man smiling back at her.

His wild hair fell in a dark brown mess at his shoulders. His goatee was untrimmed around his wide grin, the line of facial hair only broken for the scar across his chin to his lip. His gray eyes were locked on her as he made his way inside the home, his long legs stepping over the mess in the room as he dropped his bags on the floor.

"This is quite the welcome." He laughed, he left the door open as another man gathered behind him. "Don't ya think, Charles?"

Charles was a head shorter than him, but still larger than the two girls. His black hair laid across his head covering his eyes yet did nothing to hide the dark grin that spread across his cheeks. "Oh yeah…"

Meryl stood firm towards the two. "Tyberius Sloan. My name is Meryl Stryfe of NLBC."

"I know who ya' are, miss." He lifted a large silver gun casually behind his head. "Ya did that bit on the Humanoid Typhoon guy, right?"

"That's right!" Milly frowned at the men. "We got a good interview out of him and we expect the same from you!"

Charles let out a high pitched laugh, voice breaking maniacally. "They wanna get ta know ya!"

Meryl's eyes were locked on Sloan, but unprepared for his speed. He was across the room, pinning her to the counter. She glared up at him when she felt his leg between hers. She'd still been in her pajama shirt when he'd barged in and was suddenly realizing Vash was right about needing pants at night.

"Why you!"

"Milly don't!"

The blonde raised her fist as she stormed toward the man. She made it two steps before she was pinned back, black metal of his knife bore against her neck as Charles held her arms behind her back. "Careful, youngin' Don't wanna get ya'self hurt do ya?"

"Now…" Sloan turned the small girl away from him. "I believe you were making us a welcome home meal…" He brought his face down to her shoulder, breathing against her bare neck as he spoke. "Thoma and eggs wasn't it?"

The short girl's stomach twisted under her skin, her heart caught in her throat. She felt sick, and scared, and angry. "Yeah. Toma and eggs." She glanced over at her friend quickly. She felt the cool metal of his gun on her bare thigh as bile rose in her throat. His free hand wrapped around her front, toying with the top buttons of her shirt.

She gripped the frying pan, reaching for the eggs as she snapped her eyes quickly back to her partner. She felt a third button come undone just as her leg jerked backwards.

Meryl heard the gun go off as her foot made impact behind her. She jumped, jerking her head back, letting her skull smash into his chin as she took his gun in one hand, skillet in the other. As she turned, she let the pan whip across the man's face, sending him to the ground.

"You bitch…" he held his face in his hand. His cheek was bleeding and burned at the impact. "Y-you…you're gonna pay for this!"

She raised the gun towards Charles. "I'm going to ask you once, sir. Let her go."

Charles looked between the short girl and his boss lying on the floor. Meryl held the pan as her weapon, aimed towards the brunette.

"Don't fuckin' listen to her, Charles. Kill the bitch."

Her blood turned to ice before her eyes narrowed once more. "Drop the knife." She told him, turning the gun to Sloan. "Or else…"

Milly brought her foot down on his and her elbow to his side. Charles doubled over, grabbing his ribs as Milly pulled away. She caught the handle of the knife as it fell and slid to her partner's side. "Or else what, ma'am?"

Meryl smirked a bit. "He'd have a bruised rib, I suppose." Milly laughed at her side. "Milly. Our guns."

"Yes ma'am." She ran to the cloak and stun gun, tossing the garment to her friend as she readied her own weapon. "Now excuse us, sirs. We have just a few questions for you!" She smilied.

Charles fell backwards. "W-what are you two?!"

"Journalists." She told him simply. She pulled the hammer back on Sloan's gun. "Stay down."

Sloan was on one knee, glaring up at her. His face was covered in blood and burned skin. "You fuckin…" He leapt toward her, a flash of silver appearing from his thigh as he did.

Two shots went off. The knife fell to the ground. Sloan hit the wall, a cross shaped claw pinning him back, knocking the breath out of him. "Why'd you shoot twice?" Meryl turned to her friend.

Milly blinked. "Actually I…"

"Did I miss the party?" Vash waved in the open doorway.

Meryl looked over at Charles, now unconscious under a broken ceiling fan. Her head snapped back to the plant standing across the room. "You're late."

He laughed a bit, holding up a pastry box in his hand. "I brought breakfast!" He blinked suddenly, face suddenly matching his coat.

"What now?" Meryl rolled her eyes. "I know I'm still not wearing pants…" Her cheeks were pink, but she was too annoyed to have the same conversation again.

"Uhm…m-ma'am your shirt…"

Meryl looked down, the three top buttons were still completely undone. She was inches away from her chest being completely exposed to the outlaw. "Get out!" She screamed, grabbing the ends of her shirt, pan hitting the floor with a loud clang as she clasped the garment together across her body. "Out out out!"

Vash leaned on the outside of the building while he waited for the girls to become decent. Milly had already begun tying Sloan up when he'd stepped out, and he knew the other man wouldn't be waking up for at least an hour. He'd run all the way from town. He'd stolen a thomas from a man. He'd raced back to that house to save them.

But they were already safe.

He got there just in time to see Milly knocking the large man unconscious with her stun gun. He didn't think either of the girls noticed the shorter man climbing to his knees, but from the looks of things, he didn't stand a chance against the former insurance agents he'd attempted to attack.

"Mr. Vash?"

He turned his head to the blonde as she poked her head out. "You girls covered up now?"

Milly laughed. "Yessir! Come on in. Meryl's finishing breakfast."

"Break...fast?" He quirked a brow at the girl as he walked back inside. "But I brought…"

"Donuts." Meryl put a hand on her hip as she pointed a spatula at him. "Donuts are not breakfast, despite common belief. Now sit."

Vash took a look around the room. The two men were tied up on the bed, neither yet awake. Milly sat down at the table as her friend slid a plate of eggs and two slices of toma strips onto her plate. "Sit and eat, Mr. Vash!"

He took the girls advice, sitting beside her at the table. "Thanks." He mumbled as the short girl sat the plate in front of him. She turned away from him, walking back to the counter to get her own meal. "Your leg…"

Meryl glanced down at the bandage around her thigh before making her way back to the table. "Just a scratch. It's nothing to worry about." She smiled in earnest. "What made you come back?"

Vash scratched the back of his head. "I guess…" there was no denying it really, "I guess I was just worried…"

She nodded, taking a sip of coffee in silence while her thoughts settled. "No need." She told him firmly. "We can take care of ourselves."

"I can see that now." Still, however. That man had injured her. That lowlife had tried to hurt her worse. He was able to get close to her. For some reason, despite the outcome of the situation, the details didn't sit right with him.

"So you can go after breakfast."

"Huh?" He turned to the girl. "What do ya mean?" He smiled lazily. "We're friends right?"

She closed her eyes, as if savoring her morning drink. "That's not why you're here. Not because we're friends." She put the cup down and locked eyes with him. "You don't believe in us. You're here to protect us. And we don't need that." So run away again, Vash, she thought. Run off and protect the innocent.

"I believe in you." He told her softly, grin fading from his lips. "I was just scared."

"Don't be."

"Senpai…"

"We're fine without you." Her eyes narrowed. "You don't want to see us again, right?" She reminded him, the words playing through her head.

His chest tightened. She was right. He'd told her to stay away, she deserved the same respect. Nonetheless, he plastered his familiar grin across his face, swallowing the eggs off his plate in a quick movement. "It's been fun girls. Stay safe."

"Mr. Vash…Senpai…"

"Breakfast was delicious, Meryl. Good luck on your new job."

The small girl nodded, turning back to her coffee. "Thank you."

"Take care, big girl." He waved, picking up his bag as he turned. "Don't work too hard."

Meryl heard the door close as he left. She let out the breath she'd been holding since he stood up. "Senpai…"

She turned to her friend, smiling softly. "What is it, Milly?"

"Why did you…" Her blue eyes wide as they examined the girl. "Why did you make him go away? Didn't you miss him at all?"

"Of course I did." Meryl told her, softly. "But don't you think he deserves a break from protecting us? After all this time…?"

"But ma'am…"

"Get the camera ready, Milly." She said as she stood, taking the empty plates in her hand. "We have an interview to do."

A/N: Sorry for the long wait on this one. I got caught up rping as Meryl to be honest. But the end of this one just kind of came out of nowhere in the middle of the night. Which is probably a bad time to be posting a new addition to the story but whatever. So yeah we get a new little take of Meryl pushing Vash away this time... that's new, right? Yes? Maybe? Idk I liked it. So the next chapter will be the interview and possibly some more stuff. Sorry that this chapter is a little short. It might be a bit before that next installment too, I have a oneshot to write based on my own headcanon and someone's art about my headcanon. But look for some more trigun fics from me soon.

Thanks for sticking around with our small fandom. We're getting that Trigun tag going good on tumblr lately, and we'll never stop. Love and Peace forever, baby! Please review below even if you wanna follow. I wanna hear words from you (er...read words from you?) so please drop me a message down there and lemme know what you think. Also some tumblr usernames to follow if you're interested

Personal blog (anime, clamp, trigun and more trigun): kokohamstar
Meryl RP Blog: derringer-merylstryfe
Fanfiction blog (including sneak peaks from new chapters): luckymeryl
OC RP blog (new and wanting to rp stuff!) depotkids

Thanks for reading!