No Knives.

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The early evening air had begun to chill. Anne shoved her hands in her pockets and tried to ignore how the tip of her nose was getting cold. She sniffed a little as she walked, enjoying the feel of the cool air in her nostrils. The sound of her feet slapping against the paved streets seemed loud to her, but that just might be because she was straining to hear Mark. He wasn't walking next to her, but a few paces behind.

Like he was ashamed to be seen with her or something. She watched her feet as she walked so she wouldn't turn around and stare at him. Her shoulders hunched over a bit as she thrust her hands further in her pockets.

Fine. He hated her that much. There was hardly anything she could do about how he felt. Well, there was, but that sort of thing was entirely unethical. She wasn't even going to be tempted, not any more than a very little tiny bit.

She shot a glance his way as she turned a corner, trying to gauge what he was thinking. Infuriatingly, his face was carefully blank. She felt that was entirely unfair. If she was going to be noble and not read his emotions, the least he could do would be show her something, give her something to stew over. This stewing over nothing was getting old.

Reluctantly, she slowed her pace until he caught up. Shifting her shoulders back, she looked up at Mark and sighed. "So, what do you think about my family?"

"They… are not what I expected. Vash, especially," he said quietly.

"Yeah… he's really just a big goofball. Big heart, avoids responsibility at every opportunity. Not what you expect of a hunted killer."

"And Ace is a brat."

Anne sighed. "She seems to be. I get the feeling that she and Knives grew close after I left, which isn't too surprising. I mean, Vash and Meryl were busy having a baby, and then having the baby, and she knows Knives. So I guess they would get closer, but he sure is a bad influence."

"Yes. Millions Knives. He's much more what I was expecting."

She smiled wryly. "Cold, heartless bastard?"

He shrugged, then nodded.

She sighed. "He's better than he was. A few years ago he'd have just gone hiding in the bedroom as soon as you entered my place, and wouldn't have come out until you were gone. He'd say it was so he wouldn't be sullied by your presence, but it's more he's just very uncomfortable around people. Undersocialized, really. Well, that and he's a bit of a racist, too. One accentuates the other."

"Still, he's not a friendly man."

"No, that he's not."

"But you still like him."

"He's family," she said easily.

"That's not what I was saying."

She looked at him with innocent eyes.

"Don't give me that. It's kind of funny," he mused. "You get this almost glow around you when you're near him."

"Oh, I do not," she said, looking at her feet again.

"You do too. It's obvious, the way your eyes light up when you see him. And the hurt that crept in them when you came back from trying to talk to him at dinner."

"I wasn't hurt. He was just being him."

"Don't lie. You were trying very hard to eavesdrop on what he and Ace were talking about, weren't you?"

She flushed, but stayed silent.

"I guess I can understand it. I mean, who wouldn't want someone of their own species. Vash was taken, and this is the first time you've met Alex, wasn't it? I guess Knives was really your only choice."

"That's not it! He's not an entirely bad person!"

"Isn't he?" Mark arched an eyebrow. "Genocide is really just a phase that he's going to grow out of, is that it?"

"I hope so," she muttered. "I'd hate to have to kill him."

He snorted.

She looked at him again. "What?"

"Oh, like you would."

"If my choices are letting him kill hundreds or thousands more innocent people, or killing him myself, you can be damn sure that I'm not going to stand aside and let him. I might like him, but there are limits." And I would hate myself forever after I did it, she thought, but did not say.

He shook his head. "I don't believe you. You say that you're a reformed killer. Don't you think that everyone can see sweetness and light, given the time?"

"Well… yes, but what's the price of the time? If more people die before he changes his mind, the price is too high to pay. I'd not blame anyone who called for my death when I was still killing. They had every right. It was after I changed that it began to irk me. I was given the time, but the cost was too high. Much better for me to have died early on, then to have been given that time to change." She shrugged, then took her hands out of her pockets so she could cross her arms. "And if he goes back to his old ways, I'm going to get to be the hand that holds the knife. Vash won't, Ace won't, I don't think Alex could. It's just me who has any chance of taking him down."

"And you would do that?"

"In a heartbeat. Knives… he's not socialized, he's not tame. And if he stops playing nice with others, pretty words aren't going to make him stop. He's heard them all, and I don't think that they mean much to him. The only things he cares about are his brother, Ace, and maybe Alex and me. Other than that, and if he decides that our company is not enough… I know he is dangerous now. If that happens…" Her voice trailed off. "I hope that doesn't happen," she finished softly.