I don't own Trigun.
It's the amazing ten minute chapter! Uh, sorry it's short.
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Kiley was incredibly nervous as she walked onto the spur path that lead to the orphanage. What was she going to say, what could she say that was going to make any sense at all?
Hi, Millie. Ditched the homicidal maniac, thought I'd come say hello?
Hello Ms. Thompson. Do you happen to have any pointers on how to raise a child?
Hi. My name is Kiley, and I know a lot about you. Do you have any advice for me?
Briefly, she considered turning around and trying to figure things out on her own. Surely raising a child wasn't too hard. Plenty of people had children who didn't grow up to be evil, remorseless masterminds of evil. Too bad she had never known any of them.
She had never planned on having children, never worried about raising them or caring for anyone other then herself. Now, she wanted to do her best for Ace, but knew that the girl needed more then she could give her. No, she would figure out something to say, something to do, something that made any sense at all, because this wasn't about her and her needs. She was doing this for Ace and that meant she couldn't back out.
But she wanted to.
She turned one last corner, and there it was, a simple complex of tidy buildings. The largest was only four stories, and clustered around it like a mother hen with chicks were five small outbuildings.
Children were playing out in a plaza, screaming and running about and playing games that defied rational description. She stood still and watched them for a minute. Ace climbed down from her back and took her hand. They stood and watched, neither willing to take the next step.
The decision of what to do next was taken from them. One sharp-eyed child saw them standing on the path and gave out a shout. The play in the yard stopped and three adults appeared out of doors as if summoned by magic. The children began to group together towards the rear of the plaza. Two of the adults, a man and a woman started up the path to meet them.
With a sigh, Kiley started forward. Whatever she was going to do next, she needed to figure it out soon.
Any minute now.
They met a few feet outside of the grounds of the orphanage. The ground here had leveled out a bit, but even though Kiley was standing on slightly higher ground, she still wasn't quite as tall as either person she met. It was a slightly disconcerting feeling, but also gave her hope.
"Can we help you?" asked the man in a rich tenor. Tri
"I'm looking for the Thompson orphanage," she replied with a smile.
"You've found it, but I'm afraid we aren't taking any more children at the moment. We already have more then we can afford to take care of, and just can't stretch our funds to take one more." He looked apologetic, but firm. The woman beside him had brightened at her words, but began to pout as the man denied the child.
Seeing this made Kiley a little more uncomfortable. "Um, I didn't come here to drop anyone off. I'm actually looking for a Ms. Millie Thompson."
The woman spoke. "I'm Millie. How can I help you?"
Kiley wondered what words would work best. "I just have a few questions I need to ask you, that's all."
"Is my sister in some sort of trouble?" asked the man, shifting his weight to the side, ready to protect. "She hasn't left the orphanage in years; she doesn't cause trouble anymore."
Kiley wondered what prompted that comment, but decided that answering the first comment was safest.
"No, she's not the one in trouble. I'm afraid it's me who has a bit of a problem. It's just a few questions, and then I'll be leaving." The two stood there, expectantly, and Kiley muttered, "They're a little private." The two didn't take the hint. "Is there anywhere I can ask you, alone?" she asked, turning to Millie.
"Of course! Follow me," she ordered. A few steps later they entered the grounds proper of the orphanage.
Kiley looked around as they walked through the courtyard and liked what she saw. Beds of flowers and shrubs lined the base of the main building, and flowerboxes hung from the windows of the smaller houses. The children looked happy and well-cared for, healthy in body and peaceful in mind. Few of the children dared to meet her eye, but they had no problems looking to Millie and the man by her. The looks were filled with adoration and love, and she saw them returned with kindness and affection.
The buildings seemed well constructed and well tended. No loose stones in the walls or less then perfectly hung shingles marred the façade of the main building. Two of the smaller houses had well-tended front porches, complete with swings. The porches had been stained with something that gave them a hint of color, one tinted red and the other slightly blue. The effect was cheery and homey, and looking about Kiley was glad she had cone here, if only because it was good to see that places this friendly and happy could exist on this world.
They walked to the house with the blue porch and all made to enter the front room.
"I'm sorry to ask this, but could this be a private conversation?" she asked as the man tried to enter.
"I don't…" he started, but was interrupted.
"Middle Big Brother, I'll be fine," said Millie.
"She looks dangerous," he insisted.
Millie turned to Kiley. "Are you dangerous?" she asked.
"Yes," she replied solemnly.
Millie turned back to her brother. "See? She is dangerous, so it makes perfect sense that she looks dangerous. Now go; I'll be fine."
"But, she said she's dangerous!" he protested.
"I'll be all right, now, off with you!" Millie hustled her brother out the door and closed it firmly behind him. "My family is very overprotective," she explained simply. She walked to Kiley and stuck out her hand. "I am Millie Thompson."
"AnneMarie Salome Judith deBelville, but you can call me Kiley," she offered, shaking hands. "And the kid is Ace."
"Ace? What a pretty name." She smiled down at the child and tousled her hair. Ace rewarded her with a grin.
They moved to an office at the back of the house. Kiley took the offered chair and settled Ace by her feet. Millie sat behind her desk and steepled her fingers.
"Well, Kiley, what sort of questions do you need to ask me?"
"It's…complicated," she hedged, looking for words.
"So find an uncomplicated bit and start there," advised Millie brightly.
Kiley sighed and motioned towards the girl at her feet. "Well, I seem to have acquired a child in the past couple days. We both agree that I'm the best person to look after her. But…" she struggled to find words, then Millie helped out.
"You don't know how to raise a child."
"Exactly," she said. Her fingers found Ace's hair and began to make little rows of braids. "That's one part of the problem. There's more though, that makes things very complicated. I saved the child from some people who were carting her about in a sack."
"A sack?" interrupted Millie incredulously.
Kiley nodded. "I don't know how they got their hands on her, but there is another group of men who want to take her and not…treat her well. And then I have a bit of trouble of my own, involving a former companion who would be just as likely to shoot the girl as look at her, if it fit his purposes."
"Your friend doesn't sound like a nice man," prompted Millie as she fell silent.
"No, he isn't. Actually, he's someone you've met before, and he's part of why I came here, and part of why things are so very complicated."
"That's very vague," commented Millie as she began to look for words again.
Kiley leaned over and softly spoke with Ace. "Is it ok if I tell your secret to Millie? If it's not, just let me know." Ace leaned her head against Kiley's cheek and nodded assent.
"Well, you traveled with Vash the Stampede for awhile, correct?" Kiley started, leading into the problem gradually. At Millie's nod she continued. "And you know that he isn't quite a…normal sort of man." Millie nodded again but said nothing.
As Kiley began to search for words again, she relented and offered a bit of help. "He's much older then he looks," she said quietly.
"Yes," said Kiley gratefully, latching onto what she offered. "Well, given enough time, Ace will be much older then she looks. And that's why a lot of people want her, including my former companion, if he only knew. I only want to keep her safe and happy."
Millie looked a little confused for a moment, then brightened. "Oh, you're saying she's a plant?"
Kiley barely had time to nod before someone came through the window.
Kiley spun and turned towards the sound, acting instinctively. Ace was pulled behind her back with one arm and her gun was pulled and aimed by the other without benefit of thought. A veteran of many such moments, where only her reactions decided the difference between life and death, she still nearly missed having Ace torn from her and taken away.
Time didn't slow as the window burst inwards; it seemed to disappear altogether. Kiley could remember talking with Millie, a loud crash, and then finding herself with the barrel of her gun pressed firmly in Knives' chest as he tried to reach around her. The safety was off, and as time began to move about her again, her lips drew back from her teeth into a rictus that only the blind could call a smile.
"You don't learn quickly," she said conversationally as Knives froze. "I thought I told you not to follow us."
"You implied that it would not be in my best interest to follow you, but I disagreed. I wondered what you were up to, but that you would dare to keep the knowledge of her origin from me? How dare you assume that you have any right to this child? Your hands aren't worthy to touch her," he said calmly, ignoring the pressure at his breastbone.
"Excuse me? How dare I take her from you? What exactly have you done that makes you presume that you have any rights to this girl?" She shoved him backwards a step. "I don't recall seeing you do anything to save her life, or to try to assure her safety, or to even comfort her. Actually, all I seem to remember you doing is sitting on your ass and causing me trouble while I tried to do some good."
He looked at her sadly, like she was an idiot who could not comprehend the simplest of ideas. "If she is a plant, she and her life are my responsibility. You cannot blame me for not acting to help her when I thought she was human…"
Kiley snorted and interrupted. "Sure I can," she muttered.
Knives spoke over her. "But now that I have been informed that she is a superior being, leaving her in hands such as yours would be a criminal act."
"Now that you've been eavesdropping is more like it." Kiley put her gun up, pointing the muzzle towards the ceiling but not re-holstering the weapon. "You are so full of crap. What on this planet gives you the right to come in here and try to take her? Do you think she's an object that gets passed from hand to hand with no will of her own? Yes, I learned that she was a plant. That was what I gained from my fun little torture session this morning. But guess what? She could have told us that she wasn't human had she wanted us to know. She didn't, and while I may have learned something about her that you wanted to know, I was and am under no obligation to tell you anything, and especially not secrets that are not mine to tell."
"She is five months old. Her ability to reason is not fully formed. If she knew what I know she wouldn't want to be anywhere near you or any other filthy human." His eyes shot to the side. "Hello, Millie."
She stood behind her desk, one hand clamped firmly on the back of her chair. She was watching what went on intently, but didn't venture to say anything.
Kiley didn't bother looking to see what Millie's reaction was to their conversation. Her eyes were locked onto Knives, waiting for his next grab at the child. She could feel Ace shivering against the backs of her legs. Waves of rage rolled through her body, waiting for an excuse to be unleashed.
"Would you have accepted that reasoning when you were her age? She doesn't know what you know, and with any luck, she never will. Personally, I'm willing to keep away anyone she doesn't want near her. I don't know why you think she would need you."
"Because I am her kind," he replied, stepping forward a step. His face was only inches away from hers. "And you are nothing more then vermin."
Kiley reacted, letting the rage wash through her and do what it willed. Her arm came down, smashing into Knives' face, splintering the cheekbone and driving him to the floor in pain. She kicked his ribs hard, once, and then once in the thigh where she had shot him earlier.
"You are the only vermin I see here. You think that the world revolves around you and your needs. Did you stop once and ask yourself what Ace might want? I did, and she told me that she would rather be with me then you. How does that make you feel? How do you like knowing that she would rather be in the company of a lousy human instead of your exalted presence." She realized through a red haze that she was still kicking him and subsided. "And I'm still annoyed with you," she finished lamely.
Flushed, she looked at Ace, scared, worried over what she was going to see in her eyes. Thankfully, there was no censure, but there was sadness. Her heart fell as she realized that she had caused the girl pain. The corner of Kiley's mouth quirked in apology and she tried to calm down.
"Knives, the only way I'm leaving Ace is if she wants me to. If she wants you to tag along, I suppose I'll let you, but I suggest you ask."
He looked up and Kiley cringed at the sight of his already purple and swollen cheek. "You would have me beg of her?" he mumbled.
"No, I'd have you try to respect the wishes of another sentient being for once. It's up to you, but if she doesn't want to around and you still persist in following? Well, I look forward to beating you up. This is fun," she lied, her voice cold and betraying no hint of the self-hatred that was coursing through her veins. Damn, but she had enjoyed hurting him, enjoyed inflicting pain as a response to what he said. She was a monster. All the remorse in the world couldn't change the fact that she had enjoyed kicking him.
"Fine. Ace, do you want to have me around, as a fellow plant? I promise to try to keep you safe from the depredations of this human whose presence you seem to enjoy." He enunciated each world clearly despite the pain that must have caused him. Ace peeked out from behind Kiley's back. She looked at Knives and then at Kiley, then nodded.
Kiley sighed, then finally slipped her gun back in the holster. "Fine. She says you can come along." She put out a hand to help him up from the ground but he ignored her. He maneuvered himself into a seated position, but made no move to stand. She shrugged, then righted the chair that she had been sitting in when this whole mess started.
Sighing again, she settled down, then looked at Millie. Millie still stood behind her desk, her gaze darting between the Kiley and Knives like she expected either or both of them to attack. When neither moved she sat down behind her desk, using the expanse of wood as a barrier.
"You are not a nice person," she accused Kiley.
"No, no I'm not," she replied tiredly. "Sorry about the mess."
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Knives sat on the floor and did his best to not pass out. Since he was a superior form of being, his best was very good, but even that was not enough to ensure that he stayed awake.
He tried to listen to what was being said around him but the voices faded in and out, and what he could hear didn't make any sense.
"Water orange delight sunglasses," said Kiley.
"For never one greater nickel," was Millie's response. The conversation continued on in the same vein, and he wondered idly if they were both being completely irrational just to mess with his mind. He discarded that notion after a few moments thought. No, he was just really messed up. He was proud of his ability to reach this conclusion; he was perfectly able to recognize that the world didn't revolve around him, no matter what she might say.
Another wave of pain threatened to roll him under, and his vision grayed as he fought it off. It wouldn't do to pass out in front of the vermin, but as another wave and another threatened to pull him into unconsciousness he began to wonder if being such a superior being was worth this pain. He was fairly certain that neither of the vermin here would kill him if he happened to pass out, although the tall one might, if she held a grudge. He didn't think that she did, but the potential threat helped him stay awake, if not aware. His mind traveled between the present and the recent past, and as a measure of how messed up he was, memory and reality blurred together.
Watching the woman walk away earlier in the day had been quite aggravating. He didn't know why she was so upset; by her own admission she had killed an unholy number of people. Why one more should bother her made no sense. And that babbling about being annoyed because she now had enemies? That was her own fault; if she had killed them all no one would be left alive who knew about her. The only good enemy was a dead enemy. Just like a human. An enemy-human. All good dead.
"He doesn't look very good," said the higher voice.
"It's his own fault. Leave him, unless he passes out," replied the lower one.
His leg had been bleeding, bleeding from being shot. Everyone liked to shoot him. Especially in the leg. He supposed it was better then everyone liking to shoot him elsewhere, like in his head, but it still hurt. A lot. And he was bleeding, his life dripping out of him in a steady trickle. He hated when that happened. Concentrating, because it was back then and he was able to concentrate, he focused on his leg and tried some of the accelerated cell growth that she had taught him. She said that it might cause cancer, if done wrong, but he wasn't going to do it wrong. He was a plant, a superior being, and if she could do it, he could do it. Better.
He thought he had it fixed, but it took him longer to do then he had anticipated. An hour later he was on the road. Two hours later he knew that he had done something wrong. His leg hurt, more now then it had when he had first been shot. It throbbed, throbbed, throbbed from his hip to his knee and sent spikes of pain from his shoulder to his toes and through his groin when he moved wrong. Unfortunately, moving wrong was much the same as walking, and he needed to do that.
"I can't believe you particular," said the high pitched voice, cutting into him and through his memories. Whatever was said in response was lost as he tumbled back into the grayness.
He didn't remember much of the travel to the orphanage, outside of his constant surprise as he topped each rise in the land. The woman could move, that was certain. He kept expecting to catch up with them, yet never seemed to. Then he reached the orphanage, and she wasn't there. Millie was, and her brother and his wife, but no one acted like there was anything out of the ordinary going on. He snuck around the buildings and climbed onto the roof of Millie's house. The flat-topped adobe structure had a low ledge running around it that hid him from casual view. He laid down over the window to her office and fought the low-grade pain that was running through him now that he had stopped moving. Maybe the woman would know what he did wrong, and would know how to fix it.
He must have slept some, because the next thing he knew voices drifted up from Millie's office. He was content to merely listen in, as it involved the least amount of moving. But when the clear voice drifted up to him, informing him of the secret that had been kept from him, he tried to swing down from the roof. Somehow, he ended up heading towards the window when he was aiming for the ground. Trying to make the best of it, he crashed through and made a grab for the child.
Then the vermin had the audacity to stand between him and the girl who rightfully belonged to him. Her and her mutterings of the rights of the girl annoyed him. The child was too young to know what she wanted. He knew what was best for her, and it certainly wasn't hanging around with one of the vermin. He tried to take her but his body betrayed him. That woman beat on him, again, and he was too weak to do much more then lie there and take it.
He had finally had enough. He didn't need the woman anymore, and his curiosity wasn't worth this much pain. She would not be difficult to get rid of later; she did sleep, after all. He mouthed the words she wanted, and was surprised that she actually seemed to be limiting herself to following the whims of the child. That could only work in his favor; children are easy to manipulate after all.
*Don't be too sure of that* echoed in his head. That was enough to break him out of the trance that pain had thrown him into. Clear blue eyes drilled into his as Ace looked at him. *You were never a tractable child* she informed him. He would have laughed at that, but a stronger wave of pain hit him and he lost his tenuous grip on consciousness.
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"So, do you have any advice for me?" asked Kiley hopefully.
Millie looked at her, eyes open wide. Her gaze traveled from Knives to Ace and back to Kiley. "Leave the child here," she said coldly.
Kiley drew in a deep breath, held it for a moment as her mind raced, then let it all out in one big whoosh. "Honestly? That was the plan. But I can't, now. Not when she's a plant; not when leaving her here puts all of you in danger."
"I think we can handle a child, plant or not. We have a lot of experience," said Millie.
Kiley's mouth quirked. "Never meant to imply that you couldn't. I killed someone this morning who was after the girl, who knew she was a plant. He and his buddies were willing to do whatever it took to take her back. It would be criminal for me to leave her where her presence put innocent lives in danger."
"My brother and I know how to handle trouble. I have seen a lot of it, when I was traveling with Mr. Vash."
Kiley shrugged, ignoring that specious argument. "Besides, the girl wants to come with me. I love her, she loves me, what more do you need?" she said flippantly, to cover the pain.
"You love her?" repeated Millie.
She shrugged. "Yeah. I'd die to protect her. I've already killed to protect her, and that's something I promised myself I would never do again. Funny how easily some promises are broken," Kiley mused. "I'd do anything for this child, including giving her up if I felt that it was in her best interests. But I don't think it is. I don't think that anyone else is going to love her as much as I do, or be willing to go as far to protect her as I will. It's funny. A lot of people, when they say they'll do anything for someone, they don't really mean it. I do."
"You'll kill for her? That's everything to you?" asked Millie.
"No, I'll live with myself after breaking the one promise that used to mean everything to me. Her life is more important to me then my ability to look at myself in a mirror. I'll not lie to you; I hate the fact that I'm a killer. But I won't let my personal feelings about the general sanctity of life threaten her chances of growing up."
Millie looked doubtful. "You are not the sort of person who makes a good mother."
"I don't doubt that. I know more then anyone else on this planet about protecting and saving lives, skills she is going to need. I don't know how to raise a child. That's why I came here. I need advice, a few pointers, and not the 'no candy two hours before bed' type either. Knives," her voice laced the word with irony, "and I are going to be the closest thing she has to parents. I need to know what it takes to make a child grow into a happy and well-adjusted individual, and I need to know quick, before I put this place into danger."
"You need to love her," advised Millie quietly.
"I've got that part down. I need specifics."
"Children don't come with instruction books. You need to remember that they are the most important things in the whole world, and treat them as such. They hold the future, and they take what you give with them as they travel there. If you give them love, they meet the future with an open heart. If you mistreat them they take pain with them instead. Always listen to what she has to say to you, both with words and actions. Sometimes the words will lie, but never the heart."
Kiley mouthed the words after she spoke, committing them to memory. "Is that all?"
"No, but that's the important stuff. The rest of being a parent comes with practice."
"I don't have much time to practice; she's going to grow up fast. What if I screw something up, practicing? How do I fix things?"
"Love. It heals all wounds, given time."
"Time." She sighed. "Something always in short supply. Any more words of sage advice?"
Millie stiffened. "There's no need to be mean," she said primly.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Kiley apologized. "I was just teasing. You've been very helpful." She looked around the room, eyes drifting over framed pictures and cracks in the walls. Millie didn't say anything more, and she wasn't willing to prompt her for more advice. "I'm not very good at saying thank you, but I'm in your debt. If you need me for anything, call."
"Call? You have a phone? They're very expensive."
Kiley laughed. "No, no phone. Call my name to the winds. I'll come if I can."
"Call your name to the winds?" she repeated dubiously. "That seems a bit of an inexact way to contact you."
"Eh, it'll get to me. I'm good at listening to the world around me. I don't know that you'll ever need the sort of help I can offer, but if trouble comes your way you can count on me to do what I can."
"I haven't told you anything special," protested Millie.
"I'll be the judge of what your advice means to me," Kiley responded primly. "Now let me wake up the humanoid bastard here and we'll leave you alone."
Millie looked at Knives, then looked out the window. The late afternoon sun turned the land golden. She turned back to Kiley and offered, "You are welcome to stay here overnight."
Kiley mulled over the thought and guessed at what it had cost the woman to offer it. "You don't need our sort of trouble. You have a lot of children you should be worrying about instead." She leaned forward and laid a hand on Knives' forehead. Ostensibly she was checking to see if he was feverish. In reality she flooded his body with a quick burst of energy. He regained consciousness quickly, his eyes opening to focus on hers only a few inches away. She backed off a bit as he glared.
"Let's go, plant boy. I think we've overstayed our welcome."
They managed to disentangle themselves from Millie's hospitality without much trouble. Kiley's feelings were a little hurt, but she couldn't blame her for wanting to see them leave. Something about the way she looked at Knives gave her the feeling that he had done something to her in the past that wasn't nice. And what, with her little temper tantrum in the office, it was no wonder she didn't mind seeing her go as well. The only person she seemed at all sad to see leave was Ace.
"You take care now, little girl," she said brightly, waving. "Don't get into trouble!" Mille continued to shout bright phrases and wave as they walked away, her cheer a palpable presence at their back. Kiley tried to pretend that she didn't mind being ignored but mostly failed. Millie had been one of the good guys, willing to forgive anyone their evil deeds, and still she didn't like her. She sighed, slightly depressed, and tried to shake the feeling. What did she care? Why should the opinions of people she had never met mean anything to her? She was who she was, and nothing was going to change that. She shouldn't let what other people thought about her affect her.
After all, she couldn't blame them. Millie had summed it up perfectly. She was not nice. A nice person would not have survived what she had lived through, could not have done the things she had. She was ruthless and a killer and evil. So why did it hurt so much, those little words? She knew she wasn't a nice person, had known it for years. Her enemies would laugh at the thought that she even could even be capable of being nice.
She glanced over at Knives. Nope, beating up on a wounded man wasn't nice. Kicking him where you knew it would hurt the most wasn't nice either. But it was effective, and a quick way of getting him to accede to reality. If he weren't so stubborn, she wouldn't need to break him to get him to agree to her demands, but he was and she did. So why did the shadow of pain on his face cast a shadow on her heart? It was his own fault, truly it was.
But she wished that there had been another way, a nicer way.
He stumbled, finally, after they had left the orphanage behind. She had been waiting for this and caught him as he headed to the ground. He tried to break her grip but she held on fast as she lowered him gently to the road.
"Let go of me, vermin," he croaked weakly.
"I both over and underestimated you," she said conversationally, ignoring his protests as she unfastened his jeans. She had worried a bit about his blood pressure, but the blush that lit his face as she found that he didn't wear underwear eased that fear.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked, squirming under her grip as she remorselessly pulled back his pants.
"Oh, quit worrying about your virtue," she said distractedly as the remains of the gunshot wound came into view. "I thought it would take you longer to figure out how to heal this, but I also figured you would do a better job of it." She looked around for somewhere to tend it that wasn't in the middle of the road. Finding a likely spot, she picked up Knives in a fireman's carry and started towards it.
"Let me go, you crazy female!" he protested as she made her way to the chosen spot. He wriggled around, trying to escape, and she smacked his bare butt. "Stop that, or I'll drop you on your head." Shock held him still for a moment and she looked more closely at her chosen spot. Yes, there. She had thought there might be a bit of shelter over here.
She carefully lowered him to the ground, a task made more difficult by his scrambling about. Ace came after, dragging Kiley's pack.
"You might as well get comfortable," she said to the girl. "I'm going to fix the mess he made of this leg. It's going to take awhile; he couldn't have made it much worse if he had tried." Ace nodded and sat quietly against a rock, her wide and solemn eyes ready to take in the procedure.
Kiley's mouth quirked in a quick smile. Knives was still protesting his treatment as he lay on the ground, his hands decorously covering himself. Kiley smacked him lightly on the forehead with a finger.
"Relax. I'm not after your sanctified flesh. The more agitated you are the harder this is going to be on both of us. Are you going to calm down, or am I going to have to trance you?"
Knives glared at her but shut up. "Fix your mess, human," he said coldly.
She laughed. "I left you with a clean wound. You're the one who made a mess. But since I'm such a good-hearted sort who doesn't want to wait for you as you limp around, well, I'm going to fix this," she said, lightly flicking the awful, bruised-looking patch on his leg.
He flinched but stayed quiet this time. His eyes closed and he visibly tried to relax. Kiley descended into a trance, focusing her entire attention on the mess before her. He had managed to fill in the space left by the bullet's passage, but he had done nothing to reattach the blood vessels that had been parted. Somehow, but she could not figure out exactly how he done it, but he had managed to keep the platelets from clotting. He was still bleeding, the blood pooling between the tissues of his leg. It was no wonder that he was in pain; what was hard to believe was that he wasn't in shock.
Time passed as she patched the broken vessels, carefully growing and joining the edges as she coaxed what she could of the leaked blood to the surface of his body. Gradually she relieved the pressure and finished the healing of his wound. She grew muscle fibers and knitted the ends together, filling the wound with healthy flesh and forcing out the scar tissue that Knives had produced.
It was night when she finished up and broke trance. Knives had lit the area with little globes of yellow light and was regarding her steadily as she shook off the last bits of the trance.
"You did not teach me how to do that," he said calmly as he pulled his pants back on.
"You're supposed to be so smart; I thought you would be able to figure it out," she shot back.
He flexed his leg. "It doesn't hurt."
"It shouldn't. Be careful with it, though, for a bit. The new flesh is not quite as strong as what was there before, and won't be for about a week."
"You did a good job," he said.
"Mm?" she said sleepily. "Of course I did. I've had lots of practice," she mumbled before passing out.
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Knives looked down at the prone body of the female. He stood, cautiously putting weight on his leg. He leaned on it, stretching the muscle, waiting for it to hurt and surprised when it didn't. Maybe he was underestimating her.
*You are.*
His head spun quickly to the left, seeking Ace. "It's rude to intrude in someone's thoughts," he informed her calmly.
*What thoughts?* she replied impishly. *She's more then you give her credit for,* she continued on a more serious note.
"She's human," he said dismissively. "She's nothing."
Ace laughed, but didn't comment on that. *You could learn a lot from her; she's pretty smart.*
"She might know a few tricks, but there's nothing she knows that I could not learn. I don't see why you try to make her into more then she is."
*There's nothing you know that she couldn't learn. It goes both ways. I don't see why you want to make her into less then she is. Is she such a threat?*
"A human, a threat?" he laughed. "She's no threat to me."
Ace pointed at her cheek. Knives flushed. "She took me by surprise when I wasn't feeling well."
She pointed at her leg. "I wasn't expecting that," he explained.
*Seems like she does a good job of catching you off-guard. One might think that makes her a threat.*
"Bah. She's nothing. I could kill her in an instant."
*If she let you fight fairly. Which she won't. She uses your assumptions against you, and still you never learn. If there is anyone on this planet that could be your equal, it's her.*
"And you know this because you've seen so many of the people on this planet?" he asked sarcastically.
*I know it because I've seen her.*
"I've been with her longer then you have," he said. "She's prone to these fainting spells after she does the least little thing," he added, nudging her side with his toe.
*Healing you wasn't the least little thing, at least not the way she did it. You couldn't have done what she did.*
"I haven't the practice, that's all."
*You haven't the patience.*
"Hmph. I can be patient."
*Only when you are forced to be. She has learned the art of waiting, of letting things move in their own time, and making their own time hers.*
"How do you know so much about her and what she can do? You've hardly been with her for a day."
*Her mind is not as guarded towards me as it is towards you. I learned a bit about who she is. Did you know that she died?*
"So she says."
*Do you know why?*
"Do I care?"
*She was stopping a war. Humans and Genalts had been fighting for generations. Death and destruction were ravaging the earth. She saw the waste of life and wanted it to stop. So she tried to end the hate.*
"I actually prefer the deaths of the countless thousands to peace if it means that more humans live."
*No you don't. You act like it doesn't bother you, but you'd rather not kill.*
"You're young. I'll let you harbor an illusion or two."
Ace let that one go by. *She was killed because those who profited by the war saw that she had a good chance of ending it. She wanted people to be equal. She treated everyone equally under her command, and had the skills to lead, the necessary blackmail material, and the ruthless nature that would have made her a political force to be reckoned with. I'm sure you don't know that she worries over the people she left behind, wondering what they are doing now, and hoping that they might find peace without her.*
"Her? Worry over them? They betrayed her. Why should she care anymore? They gave up their rights to her protection when they sent her to her death."
*The actions of others cannot dictate how you feel about them. She had always expected them to turn on her, so their actions were not a betrayal, or she didn't see it as such.*
"She's more forgiving then I would be, then."
*She knows how much evil she is capable of, and it makes her more forgiving of it when she sees it in others. Maybe too forgiving,* she said critically. *Every time she is forced to pass judgment on someone she feels like she is sentencing herself. She forgives everyone in the hope that it might help them forgive her. It makes her too lenient.*
"So cynical for one so young."
*She was betrayed by the one man she had ever allowed near her heart, left to fall out of the back of an airplane and into the hands of her enemies. These enemies proceeded to torture her to death, and she still manages to forgive him. She takes the blame for his actions on herself, saying that she deserved it, that there was no other choice available to him.*
"How nice for him," he said, bored.
*You don't understand. He had many other options. He could have forgiven her, could have accepted that she had changed from the person she used to be, could have left, could have done any number of things that would be less harmful then betrayal. She died in agony, and he was promoted to fill her position. His betrayal was less a censure of what she had done then it was a means for him to advance his career.*
"I don't really care."
She sighed. *She drags her past around behind her and uses it to explain why people screw her over.*
"Such language from one so young."
*I'm just trying to explain why she's quite so obnoxious.*
"Well, you're failing miserably."
*She expects people will hurt her. It makes her defensive. She doesn't let anyone like her, doesn't let anyone close so when they do hurt her the pain is cushioned.*
"So she doesn't like people. Big deal."
*I didn't say that. She likes a lot of people. She actually even likes you. But let anyone know that she likes them? Never. It gives them the power to hurt her more. She can only stand so much pain, and it's far better to be betrayed by an enemy then by a friend.*
"She likes me?" He was surprised. "I thought she hated me," he said, fingering the bruise on his cheek.
*She respects you, and thinks you're a good person at heart. She wouldn't mind being friends.*
"Me? Friends with her?" he said, shocked. "Is she mad?"
*She knows you aren't the friend-making type. But that doesn't stop her from wishing that things could be different.*
He looked at her appraisingly. "You picked up all of this from her mind?"
Ace shrugged. *It was a long and boring trip. Besides, I needed to know if I could trust her and what was going on between you two.*
"She's human; you can't trust her."
Ace's mouth quirked in a wry smile. *She would sooner die then betray a trust. I can trust her father then I can you.*
"You can trust me," he said, affronted and hurt.
*I know. I can trust you with my life. I can still trust her more.*
"I can hardly believe you would say that. She's human."
*You're prejudiced. She's a good person.*
He tapped his leg. "Good people don't shoot others, then leave them in the middle of the desert."
Ace rolled her eyes. *She knew you could handle that. She could have just killed you; you know you made her pretty mad.*
"She didn't seem too upset. Annoyed, I think is how she put it."
Ace nodded. *Annoyed, but there are degrees of annoyance. She was really, really mad at you. Still is, actually. You did something that hurt her to her very soul. She hates killing, hates it like only a healer can.*
"Her? A healer? It's difficult to imagine." He looked at the sprawled figure beside him. Even in sleep her face lost none of its hard edges. According to Ace it was only her defense against the world. It looked more to him like she was just a cold bitch.
*She did a good job on your leg, didn't she?*
He rubbed his leg absently and nodded. "Much as I'd like to, I can't say she didn't do a good job."
*Better then you did. Doesn't it strike you as somewhat odd that a person who had dedicated their life to killing others would then turn around and save them?*
"She said she was assigned the job. It wasn't like she had a choice."
*She had the choice to do a good job or do a decent one. She would never say it, but a good part of the reason that the life expectancy of people in her unit went up was because she refused to let anyone else die on her. Not her patients and certainly not her comrades. You shouldn't underestimate what she can achieve when she decides to do something. She is smart, stubborn, and incredibly lucky. She wins because she can't conceive that she might possibly lose.*
"Everyone loses. Only fools believe they can win all the time."
*She is a healer. Healers cannot accept the thought of losing, not when the consequences are so high. If it were only her own life, she would not try so hard. But she feels that since she took so much life from the world she needs to give some back. She has practiced until she has more knowledge in many fields then most specialists. Few people back on her world could have healed your leg like she did. Taking away the swelling and stopping the hemorrhaging is part of one field, and the precision work that was needed to reattach the severed muscle fibers is another.*
"So she's special. Why should I care?"
*Why shouldn't you? Why should someone need to do something to earn your attentions? Why shouldn't you care when you first meet someone, instead of after deeming them worthy?*
"My brother does that. He's miserable."
*You have a brother?* She was shocked.
"Yes. I have a brother. I'm sure you'll meet him someday."
*What's his name? Does he look like you? Is he nice? Why is your brother miserable?* She continued to ask questions, but Knives ignored them.
"His name is Vash, we look like brothers, he's a pain in the ass, and he's miserable because he insists on believing that humans are more then insects. Now quit pestering me; I'm tired and have had a long day."
*I'm sorry,* she said contritely. *I didn't mean to pester. I didn't know that there were any other plants outside the bulbs until I saw you. It's nice to not be alone.*
His anger melted away. "Come here," he ordered. His arms enfolded her, holding her tight. "You are not alone, not now, and not ever again. I will always be here for you," he said softly. He buried his face in her hair while she snuggled close in his arms, relaxing against his body.
*Thank you. You aren't alone now either. I'll grow up soon and be able to take care of you, too.*
He smiled at the thought. "Right now we'll just worry about getting you grown up." He thought about asking her about those men, but decided that now was not the time. In the morning, perhaps. Now was a time for relaxing and sleeping, and talk of those men would bring neither.
*She'll take care of you, too.*
Knives felt his shoulders tense at the thought. "I don't need a human to look after me. I especially don't need her."
*I didn't say you needed her,* she responded, exasperated. She squirmed in his arms but he didn't let her go. *Just because you're going to look after me, is that supposed to mean I need you?*
"You do need me. You're too young to be on your own."
*Now, yes. But when I'm grown up are you still going to look out for me?*
"Of course. I'm not going to stop caring just because you've grown up."
*That's how she'll take care of you. If you ever get in trouble, you can count on her to help you out of it.*
"Why would she do that?"
*I told you. She likes you. She protects the things she likes.*
"I don't want her protection."
*Like she cares about that?* Ace let out an unladylike snort. *She does what she pleases whether she likes you or not. Once she decides you're worthy of her favor, you're sunk. You'll never be rid of her.*
Knives sighed. "Great. I suppose you won't let me kill her now and save us the trouble of her presence? No, don't answer. I know." He stared at her sleeping form and pondered nothing in particular. "I knew she was going to be trouble the moment I set eyes on her. I just never realized what type."
*She's cold.*
"So she is," he remarked. "She has a blanket."
*No, she's cold inside. She used up a lot of energy to fix your leg; it's part of why she's so skinny.*
"I don't think I like where this conversation is going." He glared at the girl, who only looked at him with a wicked gleam in her eye.
*You know what we need to do.*
*******************************************************************************
Kiley woke up slowly, warm and secure where she slept. Her mind clung to sleep and she let it, feeling sure that knowledge of whatever she did last night would come in time. She was equally sure that she would not like it; her mind only tried to protect her when something bad had happened. So she floated in between sleep and the real world, content and warm for as long as she could.
Gradually she became aware of arms holding her close. Huh. It wasn't often that she and Jeff fell asleep together. Only when the day had been too bad for either of them to face the night alone did they remain in each other's arms. She tried harder to stay asleep, unwilling to face whatever the day would bring, but slowly the world took focus around her. She could smell feathers and thought that they were in her room, but the light forcing itself against her eyelids had to come from his room, as hers had no windows.
The body by hers was too slender. Jeff was muscled and tough, a strongly built tank of a man who rolled over opposition. The body next to hers was slimmer, softer, wrong. What did she do last night?
Her eyes finally opened and for a minute she didn't understand what she saw. This wasn't the base. She was too relaxed to have been on a mission; where was she?
Oh. Bloody. Hell. She moved her head to the side and caught a glimpse of blonde hair. Everything fell in on her in a moment, her capture, her torture, her death, arriving here, Knives. It was Knives. She had healed his leg, passed out… She hadn't gone into energy shock, but she had danced close to that edge. She didn't know why he had decided to help her stay warm, but she appreciated the thought. She liked it so much she wasted no time scrambling away.
She sat on a rock and watched a sleepy and amused Knives watch her. Ace was curled up against his back; as she watched the child stretched like a cat and sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Knives patted the girl absently on the shoulder and Kiley scowled.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked politely.
"Fine," she replied curtly.
"It seemed a small enough repayment for the job you did on my leg," he commented.
"That's nice."
Silence fell. She stared at her feet, annoyed with the Knives, the world, and life in general. Knives looked at her quizzically. What was her problem? He did something nice for once and she was affronted. Hmph, humans. Illogical creatures.
"What do you plan on doing now?" he asked, trying to change the subject, but unsure what the subject had been.
"Hmm. Well, I was thinking we could head back to the oasis. I'm not done teaching you yet, and it seems nice and isolated."
"We could go back to my ship," he offered.
Her head shot up, anger evident in every line of her face. "Like hell. The oasis is neutral ground; your ship is too much yours. You would probably lock me up in a cell as soon as you got me in the door."
Since he had been entertaining thoughts along those lines, he wisely didn't comment. "The ship has learning materials. The oasis has…sand. And rocks."
"And it will have you and me. Between us, I think we can manage to teach her the basics. I'll head back into town and pick up some clothes and books for the girl. You take her and head for the oasis."
He looked at her with surprise. "You trust me to take her out of your sight? You don't think I'm going to run off with her and have my wicked way?"
She shot him a disgusted glance. "There is nowhere on this planet you can go that I cannot follow you. You're a plant; tracing your life energy is child's play."
"You can find me by my… life energy?" he asked.
"Of course I can. What do I look like, a moron? You have the ability to power a small city; do you think that would be hard to trace?"
"I didn't know it was possible to find someone that way."
Kiley rolled her eyes. "I forget about you and this benighted planet sometimes. Everyone has a power signature that is tied into their life force. Everything living has one. The more powerful you are, the easier it is to track you by it, unless you know how to mask it."
"Which you do, of course," he said flatly.
"Or course I do," she said testily. "And no, I'm not teaching you."
"Fine. Come, Ace. The mistress demands we depart her presence." He leaned over to pick up his pack.
Kiley's head shot up. "I didn't say that!" she protested.
"You have been most unpleasant all morning," he said calmly. "I don't need to stay here and take it."
Ace ran over and gave her a hug. Kiley hugged her numbly in return, letting go only when the girl pulled away. She watched as Knives picked her up, watched as they left, watched as they moved out of sight.
Slowly she moved from her seat, falling to her knees and picking up her blanket. She lifted it up to fold it, and the scent of him rose and hit her nose. How could she tell him she had felt safe, had felt betrayed when she realized that it was only him? She held the blanket under her chin and sighed. She shouldn't worry about offending Knives; he hated her already. There was nothing she could do that could make him not hate her; she was human, or close enough. The dammed, prejudiced, racist plant. And he made her feel like she was the one wrong. He was the one who had tricked her into thinking she was safe. It was all his fault.
It wasn't fair.