Ooh, I love psycho plot twists...::twiddles fingers maniacally::

I don't own Trigun!

Let's hear it for brilliant ideas on behalf of Knives!

(to Uozumi: yeah, Middy and Legato do like being like Chapel and Vash--however, they've got enough sense not to fall off the roof)

Also, if you've read the second chapter of Fine Wine, you'll recognize the memory. It's just from a different point of view. I like linking my stories together like this. ^_^

Unmarked--Chapter Seven

            I fastened the padlock on the trunk that stowed my cross and Milly's stun-gun, pocketing the key. I was wary of the kids getting near them now, especially Daniel, who'd indulged in a recent fascination with stories of our travels with Vash, and especially what had happened during the Fifth Moon incident and when Vash killed Legato

            He would have asked Vash himself what had happened in Augusta, but he didn't have even the slightest clue of what had happened.

            Typical.

            Milly was playing a rousing game of "Patty Cake" with David, while Rebekah read to Ruth. Daniel was holed up in the corner, sketching.

            "Whacha drawing?" I asked him, kneeling down to his level.

            "Something," he said quietly.

            I glanced at it out of the corner of my eyes and suddenly felt as though the room had turned to ice.

            He was sketching Midvally, someone he'd never seen, someone he'd never known.

            Someone I'd spent a good part of my life trying to forget.

            I'd tried to forget all of my family.

********

            A self-satisfied smirk crossed my face as the shot resounded through our little house. Seven years old and already a gunfighter. I was proud of myself.

            I twirled my fingers in the smoke rising from the gun as my younger brother, Nathan, burst in. I noticed that I was breathing heavier than I ever had in my life.

            He grabbed my shirt as I turned to leave the house.

            "Nicholas? What's happened? What's going on?"

            I just kept walking to the front door, then turned to take a last look at him, in the rumpled clothes that he'd been sleeping in. "Go away, Nathan. Get out of here,"

********

            I shook my head. We were only brothers by blood, and that had ended that day, over thirty years ago. Besides, Vash could personally vouch for the death of Nathan Midvally. No emotions crossed me when I'd learned of his death.

            Besides, his brother had died long ago, when he'd pulled the trigger of the Derringer.

            It was way too easy.

            "Nicholas," Milly placed her hand on my shoulder, bringing me back to the present. Daniel had escaped, probably when I'd spaced. He'd been vanishing way too often lately.

            "I'm fine," I shrugged Milly off.

            She shook her head. "It's not that," she said. "I just thought I should mention something to you,"

            I stared at her, blankly, then felt my legs lead me of their own accord towards the couch and set my body down there. Milly sat down next to me.

            She stared down at her hands. "I don't think Rebekah's aware of it, but I saw her kissing Chad this afternoon, while we were at Sempai's."

            I twitched. "Both of them are a little young for that," Besides, Chad acted way too much like Vash. It unnerved me most of the time.

            Milly distracted me from the tiny nightmares running across my face. "I know they are, but I thought I'd want to draw your attention towards it."

            There are times when Milly's much smarter than she appears to be, one of the things I love most about her.

            'Chapel!'

            My master's voice...I put my head in my hands.

            "Are you all right?" she asked. "There really isn't much either of us can do about it except possibly mention it to her,"

            I shook my head. "I left something over at Vash's." I got up and started heading for the door.

            "Could I go with you?" Daniel reappeared behind me, actually saying something directly to me without me speaking to him first. I turned and stared, catching a look of disbelief on my honey's face as well.

            "I want to ask Uncle Vash something," he said. "And there's something I wanna tell Chad,"

            There was another first. If Daniel spoke to anyone in that house, it was Vash or Knives, usually the latter.

            If that man intends on rebuilding the Gung-Ho Guns...

            I shook the thought from my mind and nodded, waving my son towards me. Daniel brushed past and walked in a hurried pace the few blocks to the quiet (using the word lightly) home of Vash the Stampede.

            When I walked through the door, the first thing I saw was Vash's eyes darkening a shade and Meryl about ready to bolt.

            "What happened to them?" Daniel insisted. "The guns, I mean,"

            "Daniel Nicholas," I said suddenly. "Go home,"

            My son turned back and tossed me a glare not unlike ones that Knives had been known to use. I held back the urge to slap him, but grabbed both of his slender wrists in one hand and stooped to his level. "Daniel, you will say what you want to Chad and you will return home. And when you go home, you will go right to your room and not leave it unless your mother needs you."

            I hate disciplining my children, but sometimes, they just pushed the limits. I released him and he scurried up the stairs of the house.

            "Did you come here to get him, or is there another reason?" Vash said as I rose to meet his gaze.

            "Originally, there hadn't been, except to get out of the house," Actually, I was really going to head to the bar. The thought of Rebekah with Vash's son, despite the obvious fact that Chad wasn't his biologically, was enough to make me want to drink. Or smoke. "But now, I need to know myself. Where is it?"

            As far as I knew, Vash's Colt .45, as well as his brother's identical gun, was still buried in the crater where Meryl'd found me all those years ago.

            Oh, that brought back fond memories...

            Well, not really.

            Vash glanced over at Meryl, who was suddenly fascinated with a hangnail, letting her short black hair hang in her face.

            "Meryl-chan?"

            I resisted the urge to snicker. Meryl was small enough that I was starting to wonder how much longer it would be before her children were taller than her.

            Vash looked back at me. "My gun is here, and I personally took the liberty of stripping down Knives's gun and destroying all the pieces."

            "How long has it been here?"

            "Since we got Chad and Amy," Meryl said quietly.

            Vash gestured for me to follow him up to the room he and Meryl shared. As we passed Chad's room, I heard my son snap at him. "You keep away from my sisters!"

            I rolled my eyes and Vash tossed me a mildly interested look.

            "Rebekah," I murmured quietly and he nodded.

            Vash pulled the old case that Meryl's typewriter was once stored in off the highest shelf in their closet. Keeping his voice so low I could barely hear him, he said, "I've locked it up and keep the key on me at all times."

            Following his lead and keeping my own voice just slightly audible, I asked, "Aren't you afraid Knives will get his hands on it?"

            "Yes," Vash stared at the ground. "And I have no idea if he knows it's here or not,"

            I don't know which thought frightened me more: Knives getting his hands on his brother's gun, or Knives forcing his brother to use his gun.

            "For now, I just hope he can't reach it,"

            Vash stood on the very tips of his toes and pushed the case as far back as possible. While he didn't have any height on his brother; it actually appeared that Knives was taller than his twin. However, Knives couldn't even stand without the assistance of crutches, despite having his prosthesis for nearly ten years. He'd just never been able to adjust to it.

            What really mystified me, though, was if Knives had been able of withstanding the full blast of Vash's Angel Arm when he destroyed July, how come he couldn't stand an indirect shot through his leg.

            Of course, Knives's had had twenty-something years to recuperate after July. Hell, the first time I ever saw the guy, he was still regenerating in a plant. I guess Vash hadn't given his brother that option this time around.

            I nodded and made the short trip home.

            Milly gave me an odd look when I came in the house, but I just kissed her gently and headed to the kitchen and took out a bottle of brandy from the back of the pantry.

            "Who's drinking?" I asked her quietly, holding up the bottle.

            Milly loves to drink almost as much as I do, though she never does it just to rid her mind of thoughts.

            "I am!" she joked, reminescent of a time when the four of us had just stayed up and joked around, knocking them back.

            Well, the girls had stayed until Milly started stripping, at which point Meryl tossed her cloak over her and led her from the room.

            I kissed her again, a bit more intensely this time, and we headed upstairs.

********

            I slid away from whatever it was that was poking me.

            It persisted.

            I rolled over and opened my eyes to see what it was.

            Or who it was, rather.

            Rebekah kneeled beside the bed. "Daddy?"

            I raised my head slightly, a sharp pain rushing through it. Milly and I had made short work of the brandy, and I had a feeling I was going to be feeling it tomorrow morning.

            "I had a bad dream," she whispered.

            "Nicky-kun?" Milly murmured, still half-asleep. How is it that I'm always the one woken up by our children?

            I sat up. "What happened?" I asked my elder daughter softly, scooting over so she could sit next to me.

            She drew her knees up to her chest, straightening her nightgown over them with typical ten-year-old modesty.

            "Well, Mommy was sitting in a room with Auntie Meryl, and she was pressing her hands over her ears as though she didn't want to hear something," Rebekah glanced at Milly, who had opened her eyes at mention of her name. "And then I ran outside to see you being chased, with your big cross, by a man with another cross,"

            She paused for a second, looking up at me with huge blue eyes just like Milly's. I shivered slightly, but nodded for her to go on.

            "I followed you and the man vanished, but then these big boxes fell from the roof of a building and the man was inside them, and he sent you into another building. Then, he lit the building on fire," Rebekah lowered her eyes to the sheets beneath her. "That's when I woke up,"

            I turned and glanced at Milly, who buried her face in a pillow.

            "Rebekah," I said softly. "Do you think you'll be able to fall back asleep?"

            She looked up at me again. "Could I read for a little bit?"

            "Yes," Milly murmured. "But not too long, and don't wake Ruthie,"

            I got off the bed, picked up Rebekah, and carried her back to her room. She slid out of my arms and pulled a flashlight and book off of her bedside table and buried herself under her quilt. (Milly took the time to make one for each of our children, and one for us) I saw a small circle of light showing through the light blue patchwork, then quietly closed the door, taking care not to wake my other daughter.

            Milly was sitting straight up when I returned to our room.

            "That's what happened that day, isn't it?" she asked me quietly. All I could do was nod. It wasn't all that happened, but some of the events.

            Eventually, she just fell back asleep, but I stayed up. I swear to God I could hear a saxophone playing somewhere.

            Finally, I got out of bed again, slipping into a pair of shoes, and pulled on my jacket.

            It had been a while since I'd taken midnight strolls, but the music was enticing me. I knew it couldn't have been coming from the bar, or even the brothel a few miles outside of town.

            It was coming from the direction of the plant.

            So that's where I went.

            The jazz tune was slow and brooding, and, as I drew near, I could see a woman dancing with a young child, as another man sat on the steps of the plant, watching the scene.

            "Subordinate," the man who was sitting made a gesture to the one playing the saxophone.

            But he was speaking to me.

            "Chapel, you are a subordinate," the man rose and walked towards me. "Come here,"

            I froze.

            "Chapel, you will come here right now,"

            I turned and ran, but ended up tripping over my own two feet. A hand clasped my shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eeep...I think Nicky's stumbled across something he didn't want to see.

Stay tuned!

--Sunny