Double Helix

chapter two
~ Araneae crossroads ~

Her index finger was inserted into one ear with the phone pressed tightly against the other in the vain attempt to block out as much background noise as possible. The cacophony of sound emanating from the bar was making it near impossible to hear anything her boss was trying to tell her. She felt her cheeks redden in frustrated anger and embarrassment, she was certain her superior was getting tired of having to repeat himself to her.

He wasn't just her superior; he was the owner and founder of the Bernardelli Insurance Society, James Bernardelli the third, himself.

"Where— you?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Bernardelli," Meryl spoke loudly into the phone, "can you repeat yourself?"

"Where ARE you?" Mr. Bernardelli asked, clearly annoyed.

Meryl winced, "We're in Juun City. We just arrived today."

"I see."

"I'm sorry about all the noise, sir," the insurance agent said apologetically, "but this was the only working phone I could find."

"That's— Stryfe. Can you— a san—er there?"

Meryl scowled as she tried to make out his words. "Pardon me?"

"—you board a sand-ste-?"

Meryl's scowl deepened. "Did you say 'sand-steamer?'"

"Yes!" Mr. Bernardelli replied sharply.

Meryl hesitated, trying to figure out where her boss was going with such questions. "I... I believe so."

"I want— to take the next steamer out— Tob— City—-" Mr. Bernardelli's garbled voice said, "Thompson— remain with the… in Juun until— replacement—. Under—and?"

Meryl brows furled together. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear everything you said. Did you say that you want us to go to Tober City?"

"Just you."

"Pardon me?" she asked, doubting her ears.

"I sa… you!"

Doubt still lingered in her mind. Surely he wasn't just sending her on an assignment alone. That was against company policy. "You want me to go to Tober City?"

"YES!" Meryl grimaced at the sudden increase in volume in her superior's voice. 'He must be yelling into the phone now,' she thought guiltily.

"What about... Vash?"

"Thompson is to stay with the subject until a replacement is sent to assist her!" Mr. Bernardelli yelled in her ear.

Meryl paused and bit her lower lip. 'Why am I being sent there? They never separate a team out in the field...'

"Stryfe?" Mr. Bernardelli demanded.

"Oh... yes... Tober City." Meryl paused, "Sir? I don't understand... why are you reassigning me?"

"Now isn't the time to discus this," Mr. Bernardelli announced forcefully. "Take the steamer to Tober City as soon as you can. Tomorrow, if possible!"

Meryl hesitated on the line unsure of what to do or how to protest.

"Stryfe?"

"Mr. Bernardelli, I... Y– yes... I'll take the next steamer out to Tober City," Meryl said, a noticeable twinge of defeat echoing in her voice.

"Good! Mr. Kevin Millio will meet you there."

Kevin Millo? Her immediate supervisor? 'What is going on?'

"I'll contact you later," Mr. Bernardelli said just before hanging up.

"Bye," Meryl murmured into a dead line. She stared at the wall in a daze while still holding the phone to her ear trying to figure out what she had done wrong during this assignment to deserve this. Her mind swam with confusion and second-guessing.

Why Tober City? And why go without Milly?

As far as Meryl knew, there wasn't anything in Tober City anymore. Biting her lip, Meryl tried to come up with a reasonable explanation as to why The Society would need to send her there so suddenly. Every scenario that came to mind fell apart under the scrutiny of logic, fueling the most irrational thought of all:

'They're not going to fire me... are they?' Meryl wondered, eyes cloudy. 'If they're going to fire me, they're sure going about it in a weird way...'

"Are you done yet?" A gruff voice asked from behind, causing Meryl to jump. She spun around to come face-to-face with one of the locals who was eying her impatiently. Cheeks reddening, she stammered an apology to the stranger for taking so long on the phone. The man simply nodded as he pulled the phone from her hand and began to feed coins into the slot.

Meryl turned away with a sigh as she rubbed her temples and attempted to calm her nerves. How was she going to explain this to everyone else? What would Vash say? Would he even care? Meryl's lips twitched downward as she started to make her way toward the table occupied by her companions.

Fingers pinched the bridge of her nose as Meryl felt the beginnings of one hell of a headache starting. She did her best to ignore the pain as she slid between groups of people, maneuvering her way through the crowd as quickly as possible. Spotting the back of Vash's spiky, blond head, Meryl altered her course accordingly to intercept him.

When she reached the table, all of her traveling companions already had a nearly empty stein of beer sitting in front of them. Each wore wide grins on their faces as they listened to Vash talk animatedly. Meryl moved to stand next to Milly's chair and waited until Vash was finished before telling them that she would be retiring early. Too many people surrounded her and the air felt oppressive with smoke and sound. She needed to go somewhere quiet to think. She needed to figure out what was going on with her job.

When Meryl refused Milly's gesture to sit, the taller woman interrupted Vash anyway. "Sempai, don't you want to sit?" she asked a little too loudly, her words just slightly slurred.

"I can't, Milly," Meryl said, a ghost of a smile lifting her lips.

Milly blinked. "Why not?"

"I have things to do."

"What things? Did Mr. Bernardelli give you homework?" Milly giggled at her own comment, then she took a long swallow of beer.

Meryl sighed. The girl was buzzed already.

"Yes... sort of," she replied, "He has some additional work for me to do." Meryl ended the explanation there, not wanting to explain everything to her while she was tipsy and before she had a chance to think about everything herself.

"Oh," Milly's face fell. "Well, you can still have a drink with us, can't you, Sempai? It's good!"

Wolfwood and Vash both smiled at her in agreement with Milly, the alcohol they consumed already dulling their senses.

Meryl smiled politely and shook her head no.

"You're not going to bed now, are you?" Vash asked with that childish whiny-tone he liked to use when he wanted something. "It's too early and we just got here! Sit down with us."

Meryl's smile slipped a bit. "I can't. I really need to get some work done for Mr. Bernardelli and I have a headache besides."

Wolfwood peered at Meryl for a long moment, seemingly assessing her health. "A beer will clear that right up, you know."

Milly eyes sparkled with the knowledge of an oracle and she nodded wholeheartedly at Wolfwood's comment. "Yes, that's true."

"That has not been my experience." Meryl responded dryly.

Wolfwood shrugged as he took another drink, his eyes still studying her over the top of his beer mug. "Why is it I'm not surprised to hear that?" he muttered between swallows.

Meryl ignored Wolfwood's comment as she peered at Milly intently, considering if it would be wise to leave her to watch over Vash on her own. Those three could get into trouble without even trying...

The petite insurance agent sighed as she mentally slapped herself for her forgetfulness. It didn't really matter anymore. It wasn't her job now.

"I... really need to go back to the room and do some work, Milly," Meryl said, "I'll see you guys later."

Milly looked at her quizzically through suspicion-filled eyes muddled with alcohol. Her lips parted for a moment, as if she was about to ask something and Meryl held her breath, expecting the worst. Milly was unpredictable. She possessed an uncanny ability to see into people. Without any effort at all, she could lay her finger on the very thing a person wanted to camouflage most. If Milly asked her out-right if something was wrong, Meryl didn't think she could lie to her. Her emotions were already stretched to the limit.

"You sure?" Milly asked, watching her carefully, "'Cause if you need any help..."

Meryl offered a slight smile. "No, no. That's alright. It's nothing important."

Milly tilted her head as she watched her. Then, with an overly wide grin, Milly nodded at her Sempai. The wave of relief that passed though Meryl when she saw the simple gesture was palatable.

"Okay!" the younger woman smiled cheerfully, "Have a good night then!"

With a brief wave and an obligatory smile, Meryl disappeared into a crowd of people.

• • •

The sand-steamer was scheduled to leave at 3:15 in the afternoon. It would take her to the city of November where she would have to purchase a thomas and then ride the rest of the way to Tober City. With the steamer not scheduled to leave until the afternoon, Meryl had enough time to explain things to a sober Milly and Vash, and to say her good-byes. Who knew how long it would be before she saw Milly again, and she probably wouldn't see Vash ever again... or Wolfwood, for that matter.

Meryl stared at the ticket in her hands and wondered again why she was being sent to Tober City. There was nothing there. No water, no plant... nothing.

Laying back on her bed, Meryl pulled the covers up around her. Shadows danced on the ceiling for her as she pondered her immediate future. Just when she started to feel comfortable in her position and confident in her work, the rug got pulled out from under her.

Meryl sighed and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. Such doom and gloom was unlike her and she hated herself for entertaining it. It was just an assignment, nothing more. She would meet her supervisor tomorrow and learn what her new assignment would be. And she would do that job to the best of her ability. Hopefully, when the new assignment was over, she would be paired with Milly again and their assignment to supervise Vash the Stampede would continue. Meryl was good at her job and had developed a reputation for being the go-to person in high risk assignments. She always wanted to prove her worth and she had. Getting upset about being recognized for that by her superiors was pretty foolish.

'Mr. Bernardelli will reassign me to Vash,' Meryl told herself, trying to reassure herself. 'Milly can't do this job alone and no one else in The Society is willing to do it.'

It wasn't a big deal. She would meet with Mr. Millio tomorrow and probably finish this new assignment in a week. Maybe two. Then she'd be sent back to Vash. And if they didn't send her back, she could make an official request to be reassigned with Milly. She had seniority and Mr. Millio seemed like a reasonable man. She's never met him before, but he was always very cordial and fair when she corresponded with him. Certainly he would agree that she and Milly made a good team.

In spite of her attempts to reassure herself, one nagging doubt kept whispering in the back of her mind, '...but they never separate a team out in the field during an assignment... what will Vash say when he finds out?'

Meryl squeezed her eyes shut as her chest tightened.

Vash.

No one frustrated her more than that man. As annoying as he could be at times, he could also make her feel joy all the way down to the tips of her toes. She didn't want to be apart from him, but she couldn't afford to lose her job. She couldn't be like Vash and just live like a nomad all the time. It was important to her to have some stability in her life. She only felt truly comfortable when she had something to wrap herself around. As a teenager, she poured her energy into her studies. As an adult, she focused on her work.

More than anything, she wanted to pour her time and energy into being with and supporting Vash. As much as she hated to admit it, even to herself, she loved the idiot. There had been times when she wanted to tell him, show him, but he always kept her at a painful distance. He never called her by her given name. Worse, he would ditch them if an opportunity to do so presented itself.

She knew she was foolish to take any of it personally. After all, he was the subject and she was the agent. Falling in love with him was stupid and she knew better. Besides, having such an emotion attachment was reason enough to get her reassigned. Or fired. She knew that, but as much as she tried to resist the pull, she couldn't. Vash was overwhelming in everything he did and all Meryl could do anymore was to suppress her feelings as much as possible and hide her heartache. Unrequited love truly was the worst kind.

Still, she held on to her hope.

'If he asks me not to go, I won't go.'

Meryl laughed bitterly at her own thoughts as her logical mind jeered her aching heart into silence. A familiar rush of disappointment washed over her as the sound of her laughter echoed harshly in her ears.

'I am such a fool.'