Fallen Star
Chapter One: Turnabout
Legato watched as a massive amount of energy billowed up from the city of Augusta, a smirk of satisfaction on his handsome face. He was pleased with his handiwork, and pleased that things had gone according to plan. Yet something seemed amiss; something he couldn't place. With a shrug, he turned to leave. Midvalley had already returned to the headquarters, for some reason not waiting for him. Not that this bothered Legato, but still………it was odd.
"You tried to kill him." A voice growled, accusingly. Legato looked up in time to see Knives standing there, then let out a yell of pain as his left arm was torn from his body.
"You do not deserve the gift I gave you. Now die out here, like the pathetic animal you are." Knives snarled, before disappearing into the night as quickly as he'd appeared, leaving Legato lying there. Legato lay where he was, in too much pain to move, as his life's blood flowed freely from the shredded stump of his left arm.
"What's the use? I am going to die eventually, anyway." Legato thought, as weariness settled on him, signaling how much blood he had already lost. But something in him wanted to live, and, without his fully realizing it, he forced himself to his feet. For a moment he stood there, uncertain about what to do next; then a voice inside his skull jolted him into action.
"Don't just stand there! Go find help!" the voice shouted, impatiently. Legato nodded, and started walking in the direction of the nearest town, hoping that he could get there before he bled to death.
Meryl sat and stared out the window of the hotel room. Augusta had been destroyed, Vash was missing, and she and Milly had been ordered to return to the insurance agency.
"Can things get any worse?" Meryl wondered, as she stared out the window.
"Meryl, it's time to leave." Milly said, quietly. Meryl turned and nodded, sadly.
"I know. We can't disobey orders." Meryl murmured, lifelessly, as she stepped away from the window and followed her partner out of the hotel room. Many of the hotel's lodgers were still in bed asleep, as the two women moved silently through the halls. The suns were just beginning to peek over the horizon as they exited the hotel, loading the car as quietly as they could so they wouldn't disturb any of the town's residents.
"Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning." Milly said, reciting an old earth saying as they both looked at the fiery sunrise.
"I wonder if the sunrise yesterday was red? That could have given us plenty of warning to be prepared for what happened last night." Meryl said, as she turned her gaze away from the sight. Yet, when she did, she was greeted by another, more gruesome, sight.
"Milly……….." Meryl muttered, as she tugged on her partner's sleeve to get her attention.
"What……………..? Oh my…………….!" Milly gasped, as horror took over her features. They watched as a bedraggled, and very bloodied up, man approached, weaving almost drunkenly as he walked. Milly was the first to act; she rushed forward and caught the man before he could fall. Meryl stared in horror as the man leaned heavily on Milly, blood smearing onto her brown duster as he got his legs beneath him again.
"Sir, can you hear me? Hang on, we'll get you to a doctor." Milly said, hoping that the man could hear her. Weakly he raised his head and looked at her, his strange, golden-hued eyes glazed with pain.
"Help me……………..please………………" the man whispered, before passing out from the pain.
"Sir!" Milly yelped, as the man went limp in her arms. Before Meryl could even blink, she found herself in the waiting room of the town clinic beside Milly. She knew that they were going to be delayed by this, but they had no choice. The man they had found was going to need someone to help him while he adjusted to only having one arm.
"He must have been caught in the explosion that destroyed Augusta. If we had had some of that lost technology, we could have given him a prosthetic arm. But we don't, so there is no point in wishing for it." One doctor said, when he had emerged from the operating room.
"How is he, otherwise? Will he be all right?" Milly asked, as always concerned about others before herself.
"He's lost a lot of blood, and if what's left of the arm doesn't get infected, then he would be extremely lucky." The doctor said, grimly. Both women nodded silently in agreement; they knew how things worked on Gunsmoke, and how the chances of a man surviving such a wound were extremely slim.
"Can we see him?" Meryl asked, speaking up for the first time since she had laid eyes on the man. The doctor nodded.
"But only for a few minutes. He'll be out for a while because of the anesthetic." The doctor warned, as he opened the door and allowed them to enter. The man on the bed looked nothing like the one the two insurance girls had dragged into the clinic; his shredded, bloodstained coat was gone, and in its place were thick white bandages. His normally tan-colored skin was bleached white by the harsh lights and white walls of the clinic's operating room, making him appear almost corpse-like. Dark, blue-black hair, still damp from the washing a kind soul had given it, stuck to his face and neck, standing out in stark contrast to his pale skin and the bed sheets under him. Meryl watched as Milly's expression softened; as always, her partner pitied even the stranger that lay before them.
"What should we do, Meryl? We can't leave him here." Milly said, as she absently brushed the man's damp hair off of his face.
"I don't know. Bernadelli shouldn't object to us returning with him. What they might question us about is if we use some of our health insurance to pay for his surgery and the medication he's going to need for the pain and what have you." Meryl said, as a look of relief appeared on Milly's face. Meryl smiled slightly; pleased that at least Milly was happy again. But then a thought struck her; hadn't they seen this man before? She shook her head, clearing her head of that thought.
"My head is playing tricks on me again. I could almost swear that we've seen this man before somewhere……………….but where?" Meryl wondered, as she looked down onto the man's now peaceful face, her question still unanswered.
Legato floated in darkness for what seemed like an eternity before the light of consciousness returned to claim him. With the light, came the pain from his injury. He stiffened and stifled a gasp, inwardly cursing even the very existence of the man known as Knives. Then he heard a gentle, feminine voice, soothing his inner turmoil for the moment, and leaving him curious as to who the woman could be. With great effort, he opened his eyes, and looked up at the woman who spoken. She was tall, with long, dark blond hair and gentle sky blue eyes.
"You're awake! I was beginning you wouldn't wake up! Hey, Meryl! He's awake!" the woman said, calling for someone who was in the next room.
"That's a relief! You gave us quite a scare two weeks ago. How do you feel?" the woman named Meryl asked, as she came into Legato's line of sight.
"I've felt better………." Legato said, wincing when his throat protested against being used for the first time in two weeks. Meryl nodded in understanding.
"That's understandable. Did you not get out of Augusta in time?" the tall woman asked, innocently. Legato glanced at the stump of his left arm and winced; he was better off not telling them about Knives, for the moment, anyway.
"No, I didn't get out in time. I guess you could say I was too stubborn for my own good." Legato said, with some wry humor in his eyes.
"Meryl is the same way sometimes. So, what's your name?" the tall woman asked, ignoring Meryl's offended look and concentrating on their bedridden guest.
"Legato. Legato Bluesummers. What might your names be?" Legato asked, somehow feeling completely at ease with these two.
"I'm Meryl Stryfe and this is Milly Thompson, my partner. We work for the Bernadelli Insurance Agency." Meryl said, competently. Legato nodded; he remembered that there were two insurance girls following Vash around. He especially remembered the fire in Wolfwood's eyes when he'd mentioned Milly. At that time, it had almost been a challenge; he was willing to die protecting Milly.
"Well, Wolfwood, it looks like you won't have to worry about my hurting these girls. It's the rest of the Gung-Ho Guns and Knives that I am worried about." Legato thought, as he was helped to sit up by Milly, managing to look surprised when he found how strong Milly really was.
"So, Mr. Legato, do you feel up to eating anything?" Milly asked, her personality reminding Legato of cloudless skies. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud growl from his stomach. He blushed, the glared at it. Milly only smiled.
"I'll be right back. Soup will have to do you for a while, since your stomach hasn't had anything solid in two weeks." Milly said, wisely.
"At this point, I am grateful to be eating anything." Legato stated, only hinting at the ordeal that had taken his arm. Well, it hadn't really been his arm to begin with, but it had still hurt when it had been ripped from his body.
"Damn you, Knives. If Vash doesn't kill you first, then I will!" Legato thought, not caring that the Plant-walker was stronger than him, and had him outgunned. He was snapped out of those thoughts when Milly returned with the bowl of soup, to which he gave her a slight smile before digging in.
Meryl watched in silence as the man known as Legato ate. Now that he was awake, he seemed even more familiar to her. Especially his eyes. Where had she seen those eyes before? Finally she gave up on trying to remember where she had seen him, deciding that it wasn't important.
"I'll figure it out later." Meryl thought, as she packed her suitcase, again, in preparation for when they would leave the hotel.
