"This just doesn't make any sense!" Meryl slammed her fist on the cheap table of the saloon as she spoke, startling the bar maid as she delivered the short girl's desert. "Another dead end! Another wild goose chase! How could this have happened again?"

Her partner smiled a bit at the server in way of an apology before the girl walked away. "Well, gee, Senpai, it's almost like someone's throwing us off the trail on purpose." She took a bite of her cake with a bit of a chuckle. "Wouldn't that be funny?"

Meryl grumbled, glaring at the woman over her pile of ice cream. "No, Milly, it would not be funny whatsoever!" She shoveled a spoonful of the treat into her mouth, frowning. "I barely managed to convince the boss to give us a two week extension on this already, and now we're back at square one!"

The blonde nodded sadly. "What are we going to do now?"

The smaller one huffed, frowning down at the ice cream in front of her. "I guess we just get going as soon as possible. We've got to find Amorous Lynch or we'll be fired."

"What're you girls looking for that psychopath for?"

The two looked over at the table next to them. Meryl gave the older man a onceover as he took a drink of his beer. "We're journalists. We're looking to interview him."

The man slammed his glass down on the table, throwing his head back with a laugh. "Interview him? The destroyer, Amorous Lynch?"

The dark haired girl glared. "As a matter of fact, yes we are. Is there a problem with that, sir?"

"Nah not a damn thing wrong with that, girly." He smirked. "Least not problem for me. You two are gonna be the ones burned alive."

The blonde shuddered as her friend stood in front of her, the chair falling to the ground. "Ma'am…"

There was no stopping her. "Look I'm sick and tired of people like you telling me I can't handle myself. I was perfectly find handling myself before. I was perfectly fine!" Before I needed protection. Before I was thrown into a world where humans didn't stand a chance…

"People like me, eh?" The man stood as well, though in a much calmer fashion than the girl before him. "And what do you mean by that, huh?"

Her brows furrowed, fists clenched at her sides. People who think I'm weak. People who look down at me. People like Vash. "People who don't know anything about me!"

"You're right." He put his hands on his hips, looking down at her like a child. "I don't know a damn thing about you."

Meryl almost dropped her gaze, surprised by the man's response. "R-right. So don't go telling me what's going to happen to me. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"No doubt about that, miss. Like I said, I don't know a damn thing about you. But I know Lynch." He pulled up his right sleeve slowly. "I know him real well."

Milly gasped as the man revealed his arm to the girls. The skin on his arm looked as though it had webbed itself over his bones in a sloppy attempt to heal itself. Dark scars ran from the tips of his fingers, trailing up his arm under his clothing. "Are those…"

"Burns. You were a victim." Meryl spoke calmly.

"Hardly." He scoffed, falling back into his seat, taking his drink back in his hands. "Lynch's victims are dead. I was an accident." His smile was broken and dark. "You should see what he does on purpose."

Meryl picked her chair up, pulling it over to the man's table. She met his eyes, cautiously asking, "Do you mind if I interview you, then, instead?"

Vash took a deep breath. It'd been a long time since he'd been in a city as big as this one. Not only were the buildings tall, the streets were full of people. The idea of the rumors he'd been misdirecting had brought him here, however, settled uneasily in the pit of his stomach. The rumors he'd heard lead him to a place with too many possible victims. He only hoped he'd scared off some bounty hunters and the insurance girls-…the girls along the way.

The nickname, he was beginning to realize, would be a hard habit to break.

He shuffled his way around the crowd, duffel bouncing lightly against his back as he went. He was somewhat grateful for the hair color change. News traveled slowly around that desert planet, especially with the high cost and rarity of a television set. When the name was spoken—"Vash the Stampede,"— people imagined the blonde disaster, not the black haired man with the kind smile.

He'd heard talks of a group of people near where the ark fell claiming him to be a hero. He couldn't help the small smile that made its way on his face during breakfast as the people muttered around him. "They say he saved the planet. Like he's some kind of savior to the people and not a human weapon of massive destruction." He never did it for the recognition or praise, but the idea that he was appreciated was a comfortable one for once.

The majority of people, however, had kept to the claim that he and his brother created the ark together. And that was what he was wanted for. Once again a bounty placed on his head, this time by Earth Defense. Even after the interview aired with the girls, it was thrown around that he was a killer with a nice face. Just another pile of lies that he fed to those sweet girls.

If that kept the people away from him, however, he'd take whatever insult they threw at him. Whether they knew he was listening or not.

Vash looked up at the inn. It was larger than one he'd ever stayed in. He felt his wallet shrinking in his pocket. "Really?" He whined to himself. This is the only one with an empty room in the whole town?

The owner of the hotel at the edge of town had warned him it was pricey, but all the affordable hotels were booked up for some sort of "Parade of Founders" they were having that night. It brought in crowds from all over the planet for the festivities. Free booze, food, and music to all of the attendants. Who could pass up such an offer?

"Aww come on there's gotta be some kind of better deal! I'll…I'll be your security guard for the night!" He found himself leaning over the counter, pouting at the clerk. "$$190 is too much for just one night!"

"We have a security guard. And he can throw your ass out if you don't like it." The skinny man reminded Vash of an animal Rem had told him about long ago. What was that animal called again? A weasel. That's right. His long skinny face and mussed spikey red hair. Definitely a weasel.

He pouted as he emptied the contents of his wallet on the table, counting slowly.

"I can't believe we got such a great interview!"

A familiar high pitched voice caused him to freeze in his place. There was no way. He'd thrown around so many rumors they should have been on the other side of the planet. There was no way that voice could belong to…

"Milly don't get distracted just yet. This might get us another week's extension but we're still not done looking."

"Right!"

The two girls turned their heads in unison, both stopping to observe the man at the desk. Vash remained frozen, something in the back of his mind somewhat convincing him that if he were still enough they wouldn't see him.

The shorter girl stepped forward, frowning. "What are you doing here?"

Shit. His cover, as lame as it was, was blown. He plastered on smile as he turned to her. "Meryl! Hey! Long time no see, huh? What's it been like one? Two months?"

"Not long enough." She grumbled. "You didn't answer the question. What are you doing here?"

"Are you following us?" The blonde smiled, waving from behind her friend. "Or maybe you're the one who's been sending us on those wild duck chases."

Vash laughed nervously. Her intuition never missed a beat. "Ah, haha. I think you mean goose chase, Big girl."

"You're still avoiding the question!" Meryl's face was flushing with rage as she stepped closer to the man. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here?"

"I-I was just here for the festival!" He waved his hands in front of his face. "B-but I can't afford a room so I guess I'll just be on my way then!"

"Your key, sir." The money was off the counter, the empty wallet remaining as the weasel man held a key, a tag hanging off the ring with the number 214 printed on it.

"W-what but… I was…"

The clerk merely pointed to the sign on the edge of the counter. No refunds.

His head drooped as he took the key from the man. "Looks like I'm staying here tonight after all."

"Oh goodie! Can we go to the festival with you tonight then?" The blonde flashed him a chipper smile. "After all you're all out of money and there's going to be free food!"

"Thanks for the insight…" He muttered.

"Milly we have to get this paperwork to the boss. We don't have time for partying all night." She turned to the clerk. "Excuse me can you tell me where the nearest post office is? I need to send this through telegram as soon as possible."

The weasel never once looked up at the girl as he began counting Vash's money, slowly in front of him. "The post office is closed until after the festival tomorrow morning. The closest one open will be about 40 iles north in Juniper. They close in one hour." He put the money away, glancing at his watch. "If you leave now…" He smiled. "You'll only be 20 minutes late by thomas."

Meryl growled under her breath. "I guess we're going to the festival tonight then…"

"Oh yay!" Milly clapped her hands together. "It'll be just like old times. Just the three of us!"

"Just like old times…" A whine came from the dark haired gunman. "I'm going to go throw my stuff in my room. I'll meet you there." He turned away, waving blindly behind him as he went.

As she'd done many times before, Meryl watched him walk away. She knew she'd see him later. She knew he wouldn't be far. He'd be in his room, in the same building as theirs. He'd be at dinner with them. He was right in front of her. For some reason, however, there seemed to be more distance between them than ever.

Vash set his drink down with a sigh. "That's the stuff!" He grinned at the girls. "So how is your show going, girls? Catch any big baddies?"

"Actually, Mr. Vash we've been looking for a real tough one but he seems to be giving us quite the hard time!" Milly's smile never seemed to leave her lips. It was almost refreshing to be around after traveling alone for so long.

"You don't say…" He ran his hand over his chin. "Sounds like the job's harder than you thought."

Meryl slammed her glass on the table, beer sloshing over her hand as she did. "It's not hard! It's just annoying! And we're doing a great!" Her cheeks were already pink from the two empty glasses in front of her.

"I didn't say you weren't." Vash laughed nervously. Meryl was even angrier when she was drunk. "I'm glad you girls are safe though. With such a dangerous job and all…"

Meryl glared at him. "What do you care?" She couldn't stand that smile. It was completely fake. She knew how to read that smile by now. Normally it hurt to see him smile that way, just as someone once told him. For some reason, however, this time it only seemed to piss her off. "It's no more dangerous than following you around. Remember?"

The dark haired man nodded. "I remember. You're right." He winced a bit at her response. He knew he was dangerous, it's why he was trying to keep his distance. Keeping them safe from afar, however, seemed a lot more difficult.

The girl huffed and looked away from him, turning to the band on stage as her friend returned to the table with another tray of food.

"I can't believe there's so much—Oh. Are you two fighting again?" She turned to Vash, frowning with the intimidation of a kitten. "What did you do?"

"Me?!" Vash sat straight, pointing at Meryl like a child. "She's the one that jumped all over me! I was just trying to be nice!"

"Y-yeah well he..!" She pointed back, glaring with flushed cheeks. "H-he's a jerk!"

The blonde's frown broke as she giggled, sitting between them once again. "I really can't leave you two alone for five minutes can I?"

Meryl grumbled, turning away once more. Vash mimicked, turning his head to the sky, imagining he were somewhere just a little quieter.

"Oh!"

Meryl turned her head to her friend. "What now?"

"That over there!" She pointed across from them. "It looks like…"

Meryl's eyes narrowed as she looked closely. It looked like smoke. The faint glowing coming from the same direction could only mean one thing…

Vash was on his feet. "It's a fire…"

A:N: Goodness I'm sorry. It doesn't normally take me a solid month to finish a chapter. I'll try to do better. I'm not allowed to even listen to music at work so there isn't much to get me going as far as writing. I do a lot of roleplay but one of my partners just dropped so I think I won't be stretching myself as thin soon as far as muses go. Either way I'll really try to get the next one out and make it better sooner. This was was good overall? but I'm not 100% satisfied with it. Oh man though the next one...I have plans.

So again, sorry for the long wait. I hope you enjoy. Please review!