Nowhere Man
Author: Liz Camp
Warnings: Yo, All Of you In reader-land...male/male pairing will be seen. Eventually.
Disclaimer: Trigun, Cowboy Bebop and the Song Nowhere man aren't mine. I am neither Japanese, nor have a funky sixties haircut.
Author's notes: Chapter five...march plot, march! This is mainly Vash's POV...also, a lot of people seem to think this is more bebop than Trigun, but be assured that I'm going to cover both main characters/relationships equally. It's going slow...but I actually have a general story idea and plot! collective gasp heard by audience
Ah...and just to keep this str8 (unlike me and most of the characters), this is based of the anime version of Trigun where Wolfwood, well...y'know. *sniffle* As opposed to the manga, which I've actually found decent scanslations of.
Nowhere Man, don't worry,
Take your time, don't hurry,
Leave it all till somebody else
lend you a hand.
-The Beatles
Previous Chapter---
"So...I'll go set a course to Earth, we should be there really soon. Ja ne." Vash waved again, disappearing from sight.
"I wonder what's so important he has to go to a desolate planet like Earth, anyway?" Spike put his hand on Jet's shoulder in response.
"Dunno, but whatever it is, we'll find out soon enough."
---Chapter 5
Man those bounty hunters were suspicious of him. Vash had been inadvertently picking up the woman, Fannie? Faye? and Jet's thoughts since they had arrived. He'd nearly forgotten how humans practically broadcast any thoughts they were concentrating intensely on. He hadn't had much contact with humans recently, most of his interaction was restricted to buying various things for Knives' projects...so he hadn't had a chance to pick up any errant projections.
Vash had always hated picking up thoughts, he considered it rude, but there was little he could do about it when they were practically shouting into his ear. It had served him well over the years...reading thoughts, after all, was how he knew about Wolfwood.
Vash sighed, playing with a few dials on some random console, he really had liked Wolfwood, his dark priest. The man was a raging tempest of conflicting emotions, all contradicting each other, all vying for the priests sole concentration. In a way, Nicholas has reminded Vash of his brother, only a lesser version of the same problems. A version that he could change.
Maybe that was the true reason Vash wound up in the priest's arms, if only for a brief time.
And Vash had changed Wolfwood, but the price was steep. Wolfwood's life was forfeit in the end, and Vash knew it was his fault, at least in part.
And hearing his dying thoughts...
Picking up human thoughts was a gift. And a curse. Vash still wasn't certain which his ability was, on that sad day in the past.
But the past was the past, and Vash needed to do something in the present. Specifically, do something with the three people sitting in one of his guest rooms, discussing their impressions of him.
Two of the three, Jet, Faye, were easy enough to handle, telegraphing their suspicions and intentions long before acting on them...Spike though, was a rare human indeed. He telegraphed nothing, projected nothing. Even if Vash was rude enough to try, he didn't think he could hear Spike's thoughts. This was the first human since his encounters with the gung-ho guns with such strong mental walls. Very interesting.
But onto more important matters; ship parts, terraformer parts and the present for Knives. In that order...but he couldn't forget the present.
If he did, Knives would most likely make the next twenty or so years of Vash's life very unpleasant.
---------------
"So what do you guys think of my 'savior', huh?" Spike lay stretched out on one of the two beds in Faye's room. Vash had given them three adjoining rooms, so meeting together was easy enough. He had also taught Spike and his friends how to operate the door-gates, at least to the point where they felt less trapped, more confident they could move around if needed.
Faye had taken up residence on a comfortable looking couch, directly across from Spike's bed and Jet was sitting so close to the green haired bounty hunter that Spike could feel the man's breathing through the mattress.
"I don't think he's going to be much trouble, he seems like kind of a goofball to me." Faye nodded her head towards the door, "Of course, appearances aren't everything, are they? And he's hiding something, but his poker face is good, even better than Spike's." Spike rolled his eyes at that.
"Well, I just don't trust him. It's obvious he's hiding something big, and how much do you know about what really happened Spike? You told me yourself that he was lying about something from your 'rescue'. He could be leading us into a trap or...something." Spike stretched his legs out on the bed, knocking Jet off onto the floor and smirking.
"I told you, I trust him, call it instinct. Even if he isn't telling the truth, I mean, we all lie, right? I go with my instincts."
~"and look where it's gotten you..."~ Jet muttered, under his breath.
"What's that Jet?"
"Nothing, Spike; I just don't trust the guy, end of story." Jet stood up, an angry look on his face, his eyes fixed on Spike's. "I'm going to bed. I haven't slept for three days, what with fixing the Bebop and hoping we wouldn't die. See you guys later." Jet stormed out, slamming the door with a bang as he left.
A minute of silence.
"So..." Faye started, "what happened between you and the red dra-" Spike stood up quickly, and clapped his hands.
"All right then, I'm tired. Later Faye, I'm going to get some sleep too." Spike gave her a little wave as he left the room. Faye growled with frustration.
"Goddamn them, leaving me like that. Don't they know it's rude? And now...I'm talking to myself. Hell...I'm going to bed too..."
"I don't know why I bother." Faye rolled her eyes thoroughly disgusted.
"Men."
--------
"So you absolutely, positively have it, right? Don't toy with me, I've been searching for years." Vash was watching a rugged looking man through his vidphone.
"Yeah, we got 'im, no problem, Mr. Vash. As long as you got the cash to buy 'im." The man sneered, and Vash could swear he saw dollar signs light up in his dull, flat eyes. He didn't care all that much, though. This merchant was one of the best at getting...well, anything.
"Thank God, just don't sell before I get there. I'll make it worth your while, I swear it."
"Yah will huh?" The man leered at Vash, winking lecherously. Vash suppressed a shudder, trying to smile instead.
"Absolutely. Money is no object. I'll be there in 2 hours." The merchant's eye's narrowed, disappointment in plain view on his face.
"Yeah, 2 hours, got it. Seeya."
"Danke. Auf Weidersehen."
"Wha-" Vash ended the communication link and turned to face his three guests. "Hello, you get enough sleep? Now, I didn't really want to wake anyone, so I waited. How'd you sleep?"
"Best sleep I've had in months." Jet's eyes quickly darted to Spike, then back to Vash, "I've had things on my mind lately." Faye snorted to herself.
"Almost dying from starvation while helplessly floating through space takes a lot out of you." Faye smirked knowingly at Jet, who returned the smirk in a mocking gesture.
"Yeah...uh, that too. So Vash, we headed to Earth now?"
"Oh yeah, let me just program the coordinates. We're going to take a transport ship to the surface, this ship is a little too big to land umm...anywhere really." Vash smiled brightly as he brought up several menus on the console, programming something too fast for any of the cowboys to see. "There we go, we'll be there in 10 minutes."
"Who was on the vid phone?" Spike sat down in one of the nearby chairs, Jet following his example. Faye chose to stay standing, leaning on the wall.
"Specialty merchant, nothing important really." Vash laughed self-consciously.
"Ah." Spike leaned back into the chair, closing his eyes and relaxing. An awkward silence fell.
Faye was studying Vash, sizing him up with a stare that seemed to be nearly predatory in nature.
Vash was staring at his gloves, trying to avoid making eye contact with that stare.
Jet was watching Spike with an unreadable expression on his face.
And Spike was the only one of the four who looked comfortable, seemingly oblivious of the nearly palpable tension in the air.
They stayed that way, each locked within their own thoughts and ambitions, until the computer announced their arrival in earth's orbit.
------------
"Okay, Faye, you stay with the Bebop, Spike and I are going to get the parts we need," Spike elbowed the larger man in the side, "and some cigarettes." Vash cleared his throat loudly.
"I'll meet you at the parts shop, I have to pick up some supplies, load them and get that present. Shouldn't take too long." Vash waved at them, and walked off down the street, disappearing into the crowd.
"Okay, you two get the parts and see if you can dig up any info on our blonde friend, I'm going to try and contact Ed, then dig around online. I'll call if I find something." Faye flicked her cigarette onto the ship deck and disappeared into the transport ship.
"Guess she told us." Spike chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah, let's just go already."
-----
"Well, that's almost all of our last bounty, gone." Jet commented as he loaded the parts they needed onto the transport, "Let's go to the bar now."
The Smoky Owl was a rough place, a good Earthian information source on bounties, and cowboys gathered there frequently. Spike and Jet walked the ten blocks to get there.
-----
"Hey guys, what'll it be?" The bartender was a twitchy looking man, short, bald and sporting a nervous tic above his right eye.
"Whisky for me, gin and tonic for the skinny guy next to me, and some information on a Vash the Stampede." Jet put several twenty-woolong bills on the counter, and the barkeep discreetly pocketed them, setting their drinks on the bar.
"Vash the Stampede, now where have I heard that name before...oh yeah! Back on Ganameyde, bout forty years ago there was a Vash the Stampede that went up against a child labor ring, the poor bastards never had a chance. I hear things, you see." The twitchy man looked around quickly, leaning in and whispering to the two men.
"Vash is a walking legend, so it goes. Whenever there's something that goes really bad- he's there. Child labor, slave rings, bank robberies, you name the crime, doesn't matter. There's a Vash story attached to almost every major felony. It's like he's his own law enforcement...showing up suddenly, apprehending criminals...all that stuff. Too bad about the damage though..."
"Damage?" Spike raised his glass, getting a quick refill.
"Yeah, they say that whenever Vash shows up, it's a good omen, and a bad omen. A good omen for the victims, y'know, of different crimes and stuff. A bad omen for any property owners within a fifty mile radius!" The bartender laughed his wheezing, dry laugh, slapping his hand against the bar. His laughter dried up quickly though.
"Why do you want to know about that old story? The last anyone heard of the Stampede was thirty-some years ago...he's a legend. A restless ghost, wandering the galaxy. Some people think he's a ghost, y'know, a wandering spirit, a restless...HOLY SHI-!"
The top half of the bartenders head disintegrated in a spray of blood and bone. Jet and Spike ducked as soon as they heard the shot, searching for the gunmen. Four men, all large, all mean looking and all carrying fully automatic machine guns. They appeared to be searching the room, a difficult task since so many people were running around in a panic.
The two took advantage of the confusion, both edging towards the exit, removing their guns from their shoulder holsters and sneaking from cover to cover. Using tables, counters, whatever they could see as a shield from the gunmen, they crept closer to the door.
Midway to the exit, they were spotted.
A/N Next chapter is on its way...thank ye in advance for reviews.
Author: Liz Camp
Warnings: Yo, All Of you In reader-land...male/male pairing will be seen. Eventually.
Disclaimer: Trigun, Cowboy Bebop and the Song Nowhere man aren't mine. I am neither Japanese, nor have a funky sixties haircut.
Author's notes: Chapter five...march plot, march! This is mainly Vash's POV...also, a lot of people seem to think this is more bebop than Trigun, but be assured that I'm going to cover both main characters/relationships equally. It's going slow...but I actually have a general story idea and plot! collective gasp heard by audience
Ah...and just to keep this str8 (unlike me and most of the characters), this is based of the anime version of Trigun where Wolfwood, well...y'know. *sniffle* As opposed to the manga, which I've actually found decent scanslations of.
Nowhere Man, don't worry,
Take your time, don't hurry,
Leave it all till somebody else
lend you a hand.
-The Beatles
Previous Chapter---
"So...I'll go set a course to Earth, we should be there really soon. Ja ne." Vash waved again, disappearing from sight.
"I wonder what's so important he has to go to a desolate planet like Earth, anyway?" Spike put his hand on Jet's shoulder in response.
"Dunno, but whatever it is, we'll find out soon enough."
---Chapter 5
Man those bounty hunters were suspicious of him. Vash had been inadvertently picking up the woman, Fannie? Faye? and Jet's thoughts since they had arrived. He'd nearly forgotten how humans practically broadcast any thoughts they were concentrating intensely on. He hadn't had much contact with humans recently, most of his interaction was restricted to buying various things for Knives' projects...so he hadn't had a chance to pick up any errant projections.
Vash had always hated picking up thoughts, he considered it rude, but there was little he could do about it when they were practically shouting into his ear. It had served him well over the years...reading thoughts, after all, was how he knew about Wolfwood.
Vash sighed, playing with a few dials on some random console, he really had liked Wolfwood, his dark priest. The man was a raging tempest of conflicting emotions, all contradicting each other, all vying for the priests sole concentration. In a way, Nicholas has reminded Vash of his brother, only a lesser version of the same problems. A version that he could change.
Maybe that was the true reason Vash wound up in the priest's arms, if only for a brief time.
And Vash had changed Wolfwood, but the price was steep. Wolfwood's life was forfeit in the end, and Vash knew it was his fault, at least in part.
And hearing his dying thoughts...
Picking up human thoughts was a gift. And a curse. Vash still wasn't certain which his ability was, on that sad day in the past.
But the past was the past, and Vash needed to do something in the present. Specifically, do something with the three people sitting in one of his guest rooms, discussing their impressions of him.
Two of the three, Jet, Faye, were easy enough to handle, telegraphing their suspicions and intentions long before acting on them...Spike though, was a rare human indeed. He telegraphed nothing, projected nothing. Even if Vash was rude enough to try, he didn't think he could hear Spike's thoughts. This was the first human since his encounters with the gung-ho guns with such strong mental walls. Very interesting.
But onto more important matters; ship parts, terraformer parts and the present for Knives. In that order...but he couldn't forget the present.
If he did, Knives would most likely make the next twenty or so years of Vash's life very unpleasant.
---------------
"So what do you guys think of my 'savior', huh?" Spike lay stretched out on one of the two beds in Faye's room. Vash had given them three adjoining rooms, so meeting together was easy enough. He had also taught Spike and his friends how to operate the door-gates, at least to the point where they felt less trapped, more confident they could move around if needed.
Faye had taken up residence on a comfortable looking couch, directly across from Spike's bed and Jet was sitting so close to the green haired bounty hunter that Spike could feel the man's breathing through the mattress.
"I don't think he's going to be much trouble, he seems like kind of a goofball to me." Faye nodded her head towards the door, "Of course, appearances aren't everything, are they? And he's hiding something, but his poker face is good, even better than Spike's." Spike rolled his eyes at that.
"Well, I just don't trust him. It's obvious he's hiding something big, and how much do you know about what really happened Spike? You told me yourself that he was lying about something from your 'rescue'. He could be leading us into a trap or...something." Spike stretched his legs out on the bed, knocking Jet off onto the floor and smirking.
"I told you, I trust him, call it instinct. Even if he isn't telling the truth, I mean, we all lie, right? I go with my instincts."
~"and look where it's gotten you..."~ Jet muttered, under his breath.
"What's that Jet?"
"Nothing, Spike; I just don't trust the guy, end of story." Jet stood up, an angry look on his face, his eyes fixed on Spike's. "I'm going to bed. I haven't slept for three days, what with fixing the Bebop and hoping we wouldn't die. See you guys later." Jet stormed out, slamming the door with a bang as he left.
A minute of silence.
"So..." Faye started, "what happened between you and the red dra-" Spike stood up quickly, and clapped his hands.
"All right then, I'm tired. Later Faye, I'm going to get some sleep too." Spike gave her a little wave as he left the room. Faye growled with frustration.
"Goddamn them, leaving me like that. Don't they know it's rude? And now...I'm talking to myself. Hell...I'm going to bed too..."
"I don't know why I bother." Faye rolled her eyes thoroughly disgusted.
"Men."
--------
"So you absolutely, positively have it, right? Don't toy with me, I've been searching for years." Vash was watching a rugged looking man through his vidphone.
"Yeah, we got 'im, no problem, Mr. Vash. As long as you got the cash to buy 'im." The man sneered, and Vash could swear he saw dollar signs light up in his dull, flat eyes. He didn't care all that much, though. This merchant was one of the best at getting...well, anything.
"Thank God, just don't sell before I get there. I'll make it worth your while, I swear it."
"Yah will huh?" The man leered at Vash, winking lecherously. Vash suppressed a shudder, trying to smile instead.
"Absolutely. Money is no object. I'll be there in 2 hours." The merchant's eye's narrowed, disappointment in plain view on his face.
"Yeah, 2 hours, got it. Seeya."
"Danke. Auf Weidersehen."
"Wha-" Vash ended the communication link and turned to face his three guests. "Hello, you get enough sleep? Now, I didn't really want to wake anyone, so I waited. How'd you sleep?"
"Best sleep I've had in months." Jet's eyes quickly darted to Spike, then back to Vash, "I've had things on my mind lately." Faye snorted to herself.
"Almost dying from starvation while helplessly floating through space takes a lot out of you." Faye smirked knowingly at Jet, who returned the smirk in a mocking gesture.
"Yeah...uh, that too. So Vash, we headed to Earth now?"
"Oh yeah, let me just program the coordinates. We're going to take a transport ship to the surface, this ship is a little too big to land umm...anywhere really." Vash smiled brightly as he brought up several menus on the console, programming something too fast for any of the cowboys to see. "There we go, we'll be there in 10 minutes."
"Who was on the vid phone?" Spike sat down in one of the nearby chairs, Jet following his example. Faye chose to stay standing, leaning on the wall.
"Specialty merchant, nothing important really." Vash laughed self-consciously.
"Ah." Spike leaned back into the chair, closing his eyes and relaxing. An awkward silence fell.
Faye was studying Vash, sizing him up with a stare that seemed to be nearly predatory in nature.
Vash was staring at his gloves, trying to avoid making eye contact with that stare.
Jet was watching Spike with an unreadable expression on his face.
And Spike was the only one of the four who looked comfortable, seemingly oblivious of the nearly palpable tension in the air.
They stayed that way, each locked within their own thoughts and ambitions, until the computer announced their arrival in earth's orbit.
------------
"Okay, Faye, you stay with the Bebop, Spike and I are going to get the parts we need," Spike elbowed the larger man in the side, "and some cigarettes." Vash cleared his throat loudly.
"I'll meet you at the parts shop, I have to pick up some supplies, load them and get that present. Shouldn't take too long." Vash waved at them, and walked off down the street, disappearing into the crowd.
"Okay, you two get the parts and see if you can dig up any info on our blonde friend, I'm going to try and contact Ed, then dig around online. I'll call if I find something." Faye flicked her cigarette onto the ship deck and disappeared into the transport ship.
"Guess she told us." Spike chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah, let's just go already."
-----
"Well, that's almost all of our last bounty, gone." Jet commented as he loaded the parts they needed onto the transport, "Let's go to the bar now."
The Smoky Owl was a rough place, a good Earthian information source on bounties, and cowboys gathered there frequently. Spike and Jet walked the ten blocks to get there.
-----
"Hey guys, what'll it be?" The bartender was a twitchy looking man, short, bald and sporting a nervous tic above his right eye.
"Whisky for me, gin and tonic for the skinny guy next to me, and some information on a Vash the Stampede." Jet put several twenty-woolong bills on the counter, and the barkeep discreetly pocketed them, setting their drinks on the bar.
"Vash the Stampede, now where have I heard that name before...oh yeah! Back on Ganameyde, bout forty years ago there was a Vash the Stampede that went up against a child labor ring, the poor bastards never had a chance. I hear things, you see." The twitchy man looked around quickly, leaning in and whispering to the two men.
"Vash is a walking legend, so it goes. Whenever there's something that goes really bad- he's there. Child labor, slave rings, bank robberies, you name the crime, doesn't matter. There's a Vash story attached to almost every major felony. It's like he's his own law enforcement...showing up suddenly, apprehending criminals...all that stuff. Too bad about the damage though..."
"Damage?" Spike raised his glass, getting a quick refill.
"Yeah, they say that whenever Vash shows up, it's a good omen, and a bad omen. A good omen for the victims, y'know, of different crimes and stuff. A bad omen for any property owners within a fifty mile radius!" The bartender laughed his wheezing, dry laugh, slapping his hand against the bar. His laughter dried up quickly though.
"Why do you want to know about that old story? The last anyone heard of the Stampede was thirty-some years ago...he's a legend. A restless ghost, wandering the galaxy. Some people think he's a ghost, y'know, a wandering spirit, a restless...HOLY SHI-!"
The top half of the bartenders head disintegrated in a spray of blood and bone. Jet and Spike ducked as soon as they heard the shot, searching for the gunmen. Four men, all large, all mean looking and all carrying fully automatic machine guns. They appeared to be searching the room, a difficult task since so many people were running around in a panic.
The two took advantage of the confusion, both edging towards the exit, removing their guns from their shoulder holsters and sneaking from cover to cover. Using tables, counters, whatever they could see as a shield from the gunmen, they crept closer to the door.
Midway to the exit, they were spotted.
A/N Next chapter is on its way...thank ye in advance for reviews.