Double Helix

chapter three
~ exodus ~

There was something odd about Sempai.

She never talked much in the mornings, but she definitely seemed unusually distant and melancholy today. If she hadn't known better, Milly would have suspected that Meryl and Vash had had a fight, but that was impossible. Vash had been with Wolfwood and herself all evening.

Bright blue eyes pinned Meryl under a critical gaze. Something else had to be troubling her friend. Milly thought she had seen something wrong last night. The way in which Meryl spoke to them and reluctance to talk about her phone call had set off a feeling of unease in Milly's gut, but as the alcohol began to take hold, she decided to take Meryl at her word. It had been a long day of travel and Meryl did tend to get headaches after a long journey. It wasn't unusual for her to be distant and grumpy at times like that.

So Milly had smiled wide and gulped down more beer. She realized now, with a distinct sense of foreboding, that her decision the night before had been a mistake.

"Is something wrong?" Milly asked quietly as Meryl took a sip of her coffee. The restaurant they were sitting in was starting to fill up as the early lunchtime crowd began to file in.

Meryl sighed and stared into her coffee cup. "I'll tell you when Vash joins us."

Milly blinked in confusion and immediately began to feel increasingly concerned. The warning bells within her started to ring loudly in her ears. "What did Mr. Bernardelli say last night?"

Meryl's eyes rose to look at Milly for a moment before averting them to look out the window.

'She looks like she's about to cry...' Milly thought, disturbed.

"Sempai? Sempai, what's wrong? Please tell me what happened."

"I'm being reassigned," she said, voice heavy with a sense of defeat.

Milly sat in silent shock as Meryl's words washed over her. She didn't want to be reassigned. She was happy in her work, for the first time since joining The Society. They were both happy in their work.

'Wait,' Milly thought worriedly, 'Sempai didn't say 'we.'

Leaning forward, Milly opened her mouth to question her superior when their server to walked by their table, immediately killing the words in her throat. The young waitress refilled Meryl's cup of coffee as she asked if they were ready to order. Both women shook their heads no in response, neither of them too interested in food at the moment.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," the waitress promised before turning her attention to the couple sitting across from them.

"What are we being reassigned to?" Milly asked the moment the waitress stepped away.

A sad smile filled Meryl's face and she looked at Milly square in the eye. "You are not being reassigned, Milly. I am."

She blinked in sudden bewilderment. "I... I don't understand. That's silly! Sempai, they never—"

Milly was cut off as Wolfwood slid into the seat next to her. "Good morning cutie," Wolfwood said to Milly with a playful wink that usually won him a blush and a grin, but not today. Already suspecting what was going on between the two women, Wolfwood played along. "Morning, Meryl."

"Oi! I hope they serve donuts here," Vash smiled happily as plopped down next to Meryl and opened the menu in front of him. The petite insurance girl didn't offer any form of protest at his presence, nor complain when he took the menu from her side of the table as his own. Her silence was unusual and he gave a sideways glance at the woman beside him, "Are you feeling better today?"

Meryl nodded silently as she took another drink of her coffee as Milly continued to stare at her superior in open confusion.

"Hmm... What's going on?" Vash asked innocently as he looked from one insurance girl to the other and back again.

Meryl continued to nurse her cup of coffee, not ready to speak the truth aloud. She was thankful when Milly offered up the information for her, giving her a few extra moments to steel herself.

"Sempai has been... reassigned..?" Milly said uncertainly, her voice reflecting her confusion.

"Really?" Vash's eyebrows shot up.

"That's what she said." Milly murmured as she looked to Meryl for more answers.

"Since when?" Wolfwood asked, sparking the crescendo of questions and comments from the three.

"What's this all about?"

"I like this assignment. Mr. Vash and Mr. Priest are so nice to work with."

"Are you girls finally going home? About time that company of yours did the right thing."

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"Who in their right mind would send two women off to follow around the most wanted outlaw on the planet? I'd never buy an insurance policy from such a messed up company."

"We're very qualified for this job!" Milly protested. "We were hand-picked and they trained us for this assignment. Hey, we have great insurance policies! Even financial investments!"

"Right."

"We do! The best!"

"Milly, you're—"

"I guess this means that I'm no longer considered a liability!"

"Fools."

"You're not a liability, Mr. Vash! You just attract a lot of trouble and destruction and misunderstandings and strange—"

"That's an understatement."

"Gee, thanks."

Meryl set her coffee mug down and cleared her throat loudly, putting a halt to flurry of speculation. She paused a moment more and hoped her voice wouldn't betray her.

"Thank you for your concern," she said, "but I am the only one being reassigned. Mr. Bernardelli wants me to go to Tober City. Today. He didn't tell me why or for how long, but Milly is to stay here with you, Vash, until a replacement has been sent to assist her."

Vash raised a single brow, "So, I'm still under twenty-four hour surveillance?"

"Of course you are." Meryl said dryly.

Vash paused for a moment, an introspective look crossing his features.

The server approached the table and smiled warmly at the group as she asked if they were ready. Each told the waitress their order with polite smiles before settling into an uneasy silence that lasted long after the young woman left their table.

"Okay," Vash said softly, almost timidly, "why are you being reassigned and sent to a place like Tober City? There is nothing there anymore. I've been there, I know."

"I know there's nothing there," she said, frustration leaking into her voice. She wanted him to tell her not to go, but she knew there was no reason for him to ask her to stay. That realization alone was enough to make her want to strike out at him or cry bitter tears of self-pity... or both. Meryl worked hard to always do the responsible thing, but this was the first time in her life she wanted someone to stop her from doing her duty. She wanted him to give her a reason to stay.

"I don't know why I'm being sent there. I don't understand it myself." Meryl continued, "I just know that I'm to go there immediately and meet with our supervisor."

"Mr. Millio?" Milly piped in.

"Yes," Meryl nodded, "I bought my ticket last night. My sand-steamer to November leaves town this afternoon. After that, I head to Tober and meet with him. That's all I know right now."

The introspective look returned and Vash could only mutter a quiet, "Ah" in response. Meryl tried to bury her disappointment in her coffee cup.

"I don't think you should go alone, Sempai," Milly said, eyes serious.

Meryl tried to smile reassuringly at her partner, "I'll be fine Milly. For all I know it could be a very short assignment and once it is done I will be sent back here. They've sent me on weird, short assignments like this without much explanation beforehand, remember? Urgency and anonymity are sometimes necessary for help with the federal cases. I'm sure it's nothing." The words trailed off into a dead silence and she realized at once how hallow her own words rang in her ears. She wasn't convincing anyone of anything, least of all herself.

"What exactly did your boss say to you?" Wolfwood asked.

The petite insurance agent sighed, clearly annoyed that she had to keep repeating herself.

"He just said that I am to go to Tober City," Meryl said, "He told me that Milly was to remain with Vash and wait in Juun for a replacement to be sent. I assume that means Milly has a new partner, at least temporarily. I tried to ask him if I was being permanently reassigned and what was going on, but all he said was, 'Now is not the time to talk about this.' That is all I know."

Vash leveled his gaze on Meryl, "Don't you think that's a little odd?" he asked, voice usually serious.

Her patience quickly drying up, she snapped, "They don't always explain every assignment to us in perfect detail, Vash. What's odd is the fact that they are sending me out to help with a new case in the middle of this one, but what I am supposed to do? Not go and risk losing my job? This is all I have!"

She regretted her words the second they left her mouth and her sheepish expression revealed as much, but it was too late to backpedal. She had spoken the truth, though not the truth she wanted to express and not the truth she wanted Vash to believe.

An unsettling silence surrounded the table only to be broken by the server delivering their morning breakfast. Forks were picked up with barely a sound and a normally energetic group of people sat in cold silence, each privately considering the recent news.

"Sempai," Milly's strained voice whispered, "I don't think this is a good idea. You don't have to go..."

"I can't lose my job, Milly," Meryl said. "What would I do? If I quit my job I'd still have to leave. I'd have to go back to Augusta. Besides, Vash didn't invite us to travel with him. What would you have me do?"

The younger agent peered down at her hands, fighting back tears. "Se- sempai..."

"It's not a big deal," the older agent continued, voice filled with a forced confidence that she hoped would prevent Milly from making this harder than it already was. "There's nothing in Tober. I'm sure they just want my help with some high-risk federal cast or something. I don't know. I'm sure it's nothing too major, otherwise they would send us both and a new team would be here already to baby-sit Vash."

Milly nodded submissively and looked down into her lap, fighting for composure.

"Milly, we both know Vash can't go anywhere without causing some sort of trouble for the company! No one else wants this job," Meryl smiled weakly at her partner, her attempt to lighten the mood failing miserably. "They'll send me back, you know they will."

"But... we're a team!" Milly protested.

"I know, Milly."

"You can't go to Tober alone! Something's wrong! They never separate a team out in the field!"

Meryl felt her heart sink. As much as she wanted to argue Milly's point, the girl was right. The whole situation reeked of strangeness, but the petite agent didn't have a valid reason to disobey a direct order from her boss. If she resigned, there was no way that she would be able to afford the nomadic lifestyle that Vash lived. How would they eat? How would they live? What would they do if something went wrong? If one of them got hurt? How would they pay for medical treatment? They flirted with danger and disaster every moment they spend with the infamous 'Vash the Stampede.' As an agent of the Bernardelli Insurance Society, Milly and Meryl enjoyed full medical coverage. Not to mention a travel and food allowance. Without all that it would be impossible to follow Vash around. Hell, Meryl still wasn't certain how Vash afforded to live the lifestyle that he did — how was she supposed to take care of both herself and Milly if they didn't have a steady source of income?

With a tired sigh, she chanced a glance at Vash hoping to see... something. Anything. Concern, interest, worry, reassurance — instead he sat quietly, eating his eggs and looking off to the far side of the restaurant. Meryl felt another pang of disappointment, but quickly reminded herself that what she said earlier was true. Vash hadn't invited them to travel with him, they were following him. And most of the time he tried to figure out new ways to ditch them.

"Help me pack after breakfast, Milly," Meryl said with forced smile, "We'll talk about this some more then. Don't let this get you down. Everything will be just fine, I know it."