And I'm up to speed with Monday's now. So… technically, maybe I did miss a day. But I made it up, so does that make it better?

*******************************************************************************

"So," said Millie after everyone had applied themselves to the food. "Why are you all here? Not that I don't love to see you, but you are all more somber than a visit calls for. And Anne isn't here, and I don't imagine that you would leave her behind."

"As you figured, Kiley is in trouble," Vash said with a wry smile.

"She goes by Anne, now. It's her real name, you know."

Vash shrugged and grabbed another donut. "She's still Kiley in my head." He paused, waiting for a comment that didn't come, then continued in a very portentous manner. "But Meryl and Ace went to find her, because Alex and Knives and I were still stuck behind that barrier she made. Then they were then captured by evil fiends…"

"Men who worked as security for the plant in December," explained Meryl.

"That's where Anne works!" exclaimed Meryl.

Vash looked on the two with an expression of long suffering, and tried to bring the conversation back to his narrative. "Anyway, Ace and Meryl were knocked unconscious, and stuck in a cell, obviously in preparation for more evil deeds than mere kidnapping and the knocking about the head which were just the beginning of he horrors, the warm up of you will. They were stuck in the cell, left to contemplate the fate that had trapped them there, and then Kiley broke down the door…"

"Or broke down the guards outside the door," pointed out Ace sarcastically.

Vash ignored her interruption. "…and rescued them and then valiantly stayed behind to cover their retreat," he finished grandly, fighting tears.

"Or was too much of a coward to go and face her family," muttered Ace as she reached for a donut. Her hand made it to the pastry right before Vash's grab. They stared at each other intently for a moment, then she snatched both hand and treat away. Vash sighed and pouted for a moment, then shrugged and grabbed a cookie.

"Anyway," said Meryl. "He and Knives are going to go and beak her out."

"Don't worry," he said seriously, brushing crumbs from his chin. "We won't bring trouble here. But we thought it would be a good idea to let you know what we were getting into."

"Are you going to rescue Anne, too, Meryl?"

"No," she said apologetically. "Those two way outclass mere humans now. It's almost scary, what they can do. Then this loser," she snuggled closer to Vash, "falls down or does something goofy and it's not scary at all. Kiley left this little book of tricks, and they learned them all. Ace and Alex, too, but she doesn't want to go and there is no way he is getting to go," she said with a pointed look at her offspring.

"Yes, mom," he said, raising his cup in silent salute. "I'm too young for battle, I know."

Millie looked at him. "You look all grown up."

"I am all grown up. Er, mostly," he amended after a look from his mother. "I still have a lot of things to learn about life," he recited, a rote declaration made into a joke by the twinkle in his eye.

"And don't you forget it, buster," said his mother.

Millie turned her gaze on Ace. "Why aren't you going?"

"She left us, I figure leaving her there is fair. No one else agrees, but there's nothing on this planet that will get me going after her."

Millie looked at her, but didn't comment. "I saw Knives in the car. Is he… still very evil?" she asked tentatively.

"Not so much," said Meryl quietly. "He'll never be Mr. Personality, but Alex's birth changed him a bit. I don't think he ever realized how alike plants and humans can be until he saw his nephew being born. My husband was a total wreck and Ace was still to young to help with the delivery, so he had to stand in. Then the miracle of life worked it's magic on another angry soul."

"Which is not to say he won't decide tomorrow that humans need to be exterminated again," cautioned Vash. "I get the feeling that he's thinking very hard on the question of what he should do next, and that it's still a toss-up between extermination and ignoring the rest of the world. Joining it is still beyond his capacity," he finished up sadly.

"That's sad," she remarked. "But it's good that he doesn't feel like killing at the moment. It makes me feel a little safer."

"He will never hurt you," declared Ace. "He knows that to do so will lose his the regard of his entire family, and I know he like us too much to do that. It's just the rest of the world that has to worry. Not that we won't still be mad at him, but the degree is different, and he knows that."

Millie nodded, then changed the subject and questioned Vash. "So, what are you and Knives planning on doing?"

"We're going to go rescue her."

"How?"

"Well… in the traditional manner, I guess. Where you storm the building and leave carnage behind," said Meryl half-jokingly, punching her husband lightly on his right shoulder.

"No… we were thinking more just knocking people unconscious from a great distance, then walking in and finding her."

"You can do that?" asked Millie.

Vash nodded sadly, looking at his hands and lacing his fingers together. "That's one of the things Kiley taught us."

"It's great for insomnia," interjected Alex. "Also works good as an anesthesia. And as a way to stop people without harming them. Well, you do get bruised from falling to the ground, but that's about it."

"I guess," said Vash morosely.

"That's wonderful, Mr. Vash!" exclaimed Millie. "Maybe you won't even have to be like the humanoid typhoon this time."

"That's my fervent hope," he said with a small smile. "Let him stay dead."