Dawn came very early the next morning, or at least it felt that way after the late night. Alex was found sleeping in the back of the car, packed and ready to go without any need for prompting. A still-sleeping Meryl was brought out cradled in Vash's arms and gently placed in the back seat. He slid in next to her and arranged her sleeping form until she rested her head on his shoulder. Knives strode purposefully out of the ship a few minutes later. He nearly tossed his bag in the back of the car, but refrained when he realized his nephew was there. Vash offered to take his bag, and propped it on the seat next to him. Knives sat in the driver's seat, and they proceeded to wait for Ace to arrive.

And wait.

And wait.

Finally, Knives grew tired of the game and started the car. Slowly, he turned it around, and grew ready to drive it down the road. Ace came running out, bag still open, a shirt flopping about as she flew towards the vehicle.

"Can't you wait?" she asked crossly as she got in the car. She shoved the shirt in the bag and handed it back to Vash. He took it, placed it next to Knives', then closed his eyes to take a nap.

"We did."

"You could have waited a little longer. I was up half the night driving; I'm a little more tired then anyone else here," she whined.

"You can sleep in the car."

"Gee, thanks. What's your problem?"

"I said we leave in the morning."

"Well, it's morning still, isn't it?"

"Every minute we waste here is one more until I get some answers."

She sighed. "Fine. You and your answers." She crossed her arms. "I don't see why you care."

"Unlike you, I don't seem to hate her."

"I don't see why you don't. She left us. Fine. I can handle that. But I don't see why she expects us to drop everything to go save her sorry butt, just because she got into a little trouble."

"I don't think she expects us to show up. Especially not as a group," he added with a glance to the backseat.

"Well, I'm not showing up. I just don't want to be left by myself in the ship."

"I noticed."

She looked at him pointedly. "I think you are taking this whole thing pretty calmly."

"What whole thing?" he asked mildly.

"The whole, finally being able to leave the ship thing. The whole, that woman is a plant thing."

"I don't know how calm I am. We're rushing out to get some answers, aren't we?"

"You may be. I'm just on another road trip."

They fell silent for iles. The desert passed in a sad precession of similar images, rocks, sand, more rocks, more sand, and the occasional dilapidated town. They drove without stopping, Meryl and Vash still sleeping, Alex keeping quiet in the back, and Ace sulking.

"I knew we were going to do this," she said after a bit.

"Do what?" Knives prompted after a few minutes without any explanation.

"Go rushing to that woman after the barrier came down."

"She is in a bit of trouble," he pointed out.

"Whatever. I knew that as soon as you could, you'd be rushing to her side. Wanting to know why she left, wanting to know if she would come back. Even if she wasn't a plant."

"Is that why you didn't say anything?"

"Maybe. Yes. I don't want to see her. Seeing her just makes me want to strangle her. You want answers? You want to know why she left? I just don't care. She left. We dealt with it. Why try to drag her back in our lives now? She could have come back at any time if she really wanted to, if she wanted anything to do with us."

"So you think. What if the people who captured you have some sort of hold on her?"

"Like what? She's likely working for them. Betraying us, too, I'll bet. Probably locked us up so they would know where to find us. And kill us." She scowled at the desert. "Damn humans."

"That's one option. There are many things she could have done. I want to know exactly what kept her away."

"Whatever."

"You obviously don't care. But that doesn't mean that I don't."

"You're just being a fool. I bet when you go to rescue her that you walk into a trap."

"Then you'll come rescue us. You and Alex."

"That pacifist? I'd be lucky to pull him away from studying the differences between two grains of sand." She scowled out the window. "You'd better not get caught."

"I doubt we will. The humans will have no clue how to stop us."

"As long as they don't gas you. You can't do much when you're unconscious."

"We'll be careful."

"You'd better." A pause. "If you do get caught, I'm only rescuing you. Not her."

"That's your choice."

"You don't care?"

"Well, I'd go back in to get her out. But you don't have to."

She scowled again. "When did you start taking life so calmly? What happened to the guy who crashed through Millie's window when he heard I was a plant?"

Knives glanced over at her. "If you must know, right now I am having a hard time keeping this vehicle to a safe speed. I want to be in December, right now, interrogating Kiley until I know every last one of her secrets, every last little thing she's kept from me, every reason she has for not telling me, everything. But if I crash, it will take me even longer. I may look calm, but look," he held out his right hand and let her see how it shook, then made a fist. "She has a lot she needs to answer for. Soon, she will be answering to me."