Double Helix

chapter thirteen
~ the games we play ~

He expected aversion since Vash outed him to Milly. He was prepared for it. In fact, his sense of penitence demanded it. He hated it, but he knew he deserved it. What bothered him was the ongoing strangeness of Vash's behavior.

He was different now. More angry, more obsessive... Vash was starting to remind Wolfwood of Knives.

Originally, the free-born plant's motivation for finding Meryl was to rescue her. As Vash came to understand the scope of what was being done to her, his purpose began to change. It was obvious that the broom-head was fond of the little brunette. He liked to tease her, he liked to piss her off from time to time, but he didn't love her. Not like she seemed to love him. From what Wolfwood observed, the more Vash learned about Knives' plans, the more obsessed he became of finding his brother.

Saving the little insurance girl was still a priority, but more than that, Vash simply wanted to stop Knives. He wanted to make up for the times when he could have stopped him, permanently, but didn't. And because of that, Meryl was suffering now. Rarely did Vash mention Meryl at all. It was always Milly who expressed worry for her kidnapped partner. It was Milly who visibly struggled with feelings of grief, anger and hopelessness.

The change in Vash hadn't crystallized in Wolfwood's mind until three days ago when Milly was injured. Wolfwood blamed the plant for Milly getting shot, but it was clear he was the only one who felt that way. Vash acted so impassive about the whole thing, it took all of Wolfwood's self control not to shoot him, too. Even three days later the bastard was still acting as though what happened wasn't a big deal.

If it had been any other man, if the circumstances had been different, Wolfwood would have beaten the nimrod senseless. The temptation to do just that was nearly overwhelming, but acting on that impulse would only turn Milly against him more than she already was.

He hated the fact that she hated him. It grieved him deeply to know that he had hurt her. Even worse was the way she was distancing herself from him. She only referred to him as 'Chapel' now. She barely looked him in the eyes anymore, and when she did...

Wolfwood sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He'd never gain forgiveness for this.

Never.

The priest inhaled a lung full of smoke and felt his nerves settle as the nicotine hit his system. It didn't matter anyway. Even if Wolfwood had stopped her, Knives still would have found a way to take her. Milly would still be distressed over the abduction of her friend and she would still be hurt to discover that he was a Gung-ho Gun.

The sound of laughter caught his attention and Wolfwood's eyes wandered toward a group of children at play. He watched them run and chase each other with smiles and shouts and felt himself begin to relax for the first time in days. A pained smile graced the priest's face as he enjoyed their blissful innocence.

As much as he hated for it to be true, Legato was right about humanity. Every one of them was a sheep being lead to the slaughter and many of them didn't need to be guided to the butcher's blade. Even so, Wolfwood still found that he cared about them. As ugly and loathsome as some people could be, it was at times like this, when he could watch children laugh and play, that he remembered that there was still some hope for the future. Children always gave him hope... perhaps even plant-children.

After all, no one was born corrupt.

The plant growing in Meryl's womb wasn't a threat. At least not yet. The unborn life could easily grow up to be a loving, forgiving being. The plant could easily grow up to be something to be loved rather than feared, but such an outcome was unlikely if Knives was the sole influence in its life.

'If Meryl could raise it,' Wolfwood thought as he took a drag of his cigarette, 'things might be different."

The chance of that happening were slim to none, and he knew it. Meryl would not survive the birth. If the plant infant didn't kill her, Knives surely would. Until then, she served as both surrogate and bait.

There was no doubt that Knives wanted Vash to come back to him, to see the world through his genocidal eyes. Everything Knives did always seemed to have something to do with his brother. Knives once even referred to his twin as 'a lost lamb' and expressed his desire to 'right his wrongs' and 'undo what Rem had done.'

Wolfwood often thought that Knives vastly underestimated his twin if he believed Vash to be so childish. The priest doubted Knives ever dreamed that his "lost lamb" would become so desperate that he would force a Plant Angel to tell him what was going on. Even Wolfwood was shocked when he found out what Vash had done. The plant angels are all thinking, feeling beings to forcibly enter their mind like that is probably the equivalent of rape to them.

Then there was the fact that Vash knew where Wolfwood's true loyalties were all along, yet he still allowed him to tag along. It didn't make any sense - that is until he remembered an old earth saying he heard once, 'Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.'

Smart.

It was obvious that Vash was far more resourceful and clever that anyone gave him credit.

The sound of a woman calling for her son interrupted Wolfwood's thoughts and brought his attention back to the children playing a few yarz away. They stretched out their game as long as they could, then they broke apart and headed home. The dinner hour was quickly approaching and it would soon be dark.

Soon only one child remained as he dilly-dallied in the dust, poking at some insect that piqued his interest. An insistent call brought his head up in alert and he called back to the voice before hunching down and scooping the insect up into his hand. Very carefully, the boy stored the bug in his pocket before sprinting home to his waiting mother. Wolfwood smirked as he wondered how many times his mother found bugs in her son's pants when doing the laundry.

With a sigh, the priest stood and dusted himself off as thoughts of a warm meal and a decent bed filled his mind. He pulled a cigarette out of his breast pocket and paused long enough during his walk back to the hotel to light it.

Grudgingly, Wolfwood had to admit that he felt thankful that Vash had finally listened to him. The priest had insisted that they spend the night in a hotel rather than try to sleep in the car. Again. Milly needed the extra rest to help her wound to properly mend, especially if Vash wanted her help against Knives.

The memory of how Milly got that wound caused Wolfwood to grimace as a familiar spark of anger flashed within him.

Six bounty hunters showed up looking for the legendary outlaw and wreaking havoc in the last town they had traveled through three days ago. One by one, they targeted Vash. Milly did her best to help deter them, but in the end it was Wolfwood who had to stop them.

When four of the bounty hunters were occupying their attention, another one started to shoot at Milly. The priest saw the glint of a gun barrel out of the corner of his eye and was able to shout a warning just in time. Vash's quick reflexes disabled the shooter, but the plant made the mistake of not finishing what he started. Because of that, Milly was hit near the top of her shoulder when a second bullet was fired.

All Wolfwood saw was her blood. Without thinking, he finished the job Vash would not. Four bullets later, Wolfwood put an end to the immediate threat when Vash finally stopped him, allowing the remaining two to flee from the scene.

Incensed, Wolfwood turned on Vash, wanting to punch the idiot for letting Milly get hurt. He could remember the strange look on Vash's face that showed neither anger nor remorse over Milly's injury. Only that now familiar look of irritation reflected in the free-born plant's green eyes.

Wolfwood couldn't remain silent. He screamed at Vash, demanding to know what he was thinking and how could he be so careless. All Vash had to say was, "You've over-reacting. You didn't have to do that."

"What? Like hell I didn't!" Wolfwood raged, "Did you happen to notice that Milly got shot?"

The free-born plant glanced back at the woman as she held her wounded shoulder. He sighed and pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "She'll be fine. It is a superficial wound. Besides, they weren't sent to capture or kill me. I think they were sent to test you."

The priest could only stare at Vash incredulously, his mouth hung open as his mind tried to process what he heard.

"Do you think you passed, Chapel?"

Wolfwood stomped out his cigarette angrily as he remembered the way Milly had pulled away from him when he went to check on her wound. The priest could live the rest of his days with Vash hating him and not care, but the thought of Milly hating him made him sick to his stomach. He would do anything for her.

Anything.

"I have a message for you, Chapel," a voice said from somewhere in the darkness.

Wolfwood stopped in mid-step, the hairs on the back of his neck rising as a chill went down his spine. He knew at once who was speaking to him, but his insides clenched in fear to find out exactly what.

Slowly turning, Wolfwood tried to mentally prepare himself for the messenger Legato had chosen for himself. The sight of a small boy looking back at him made his stomach lurch sickly. Brown eyes dull and lifeless, the boy looked no older than seven. Blood flowed freely from his sinuses, dripping from his small chin and staining his shirt. He smiled oddly at Wolfwood, exposing his missing front baby teeth. Wolfwood immediately recognized the corpse as being one of the children he had seen playing just a few minutes before and he had to force himself not to step back from the thing.

Swallowing down his peaking emotions, Wolfwood forced himself to remain calm. He knew Legato had chosen a child specifically to serve as a reminder to Wolfwood, as if he needed the grotesque reminder to begin with.

Wolfwood clenched his jaw as he spoke, "What is your message, Legato?"

"A few more weeks of stalling, then you may bring him to us. He is not to waste any of his energy unnecessarily."

"Promise me her safety first," Wolfwood said in a rush.

The boy's smile disappeared and his head suddenly flopped to one side unnaturally, "Her safety? The blessed one is perfectly safe."

"Stop being so damn cryptic," he snapped. "I'm talking about Milly and you know it."

"Of course," he said as his head slowly righted itself. A broad grin appeared on his face, "That one is no longer useful. If she valued her life, she should have left weeks ago. She will only get in the way if she remains in your company. She needs to be dealt with. You should have let her be killed."

A ripple moved through Wolfwood as he felt his delicate sense of control begin to slip. "If I bring him to you and let him go, I want you to leave her unharmed."

"If I do not promise her safety you will refuse His orders?"

Wolfwood knew Legato was setting him up, and he glared at the corpse. "I serve only Him."

The child's smile grew and his tongue rolled out to lick his lips in a very Legato-like manner. "So loyal. You realize that he will find his way home with or without you, don't you? It would greatly please the Master if you were the one to deliver him at the appropriate time."

"You underestimate him."

The boy laughed with Legato's voice, the action causing more blood and gore to spill out of his nose and mouth. "He is the one who underestimates the Master. I think you underestimate him as well."

Wolfwood shifted from one foot to the other and sighed irritably. Legato's linear thinking is what made him the perfect servant for Knives, but it also made him damn aggravating to work with. "If Milly is no longer useful you have no reason to hurt her."

The boy rolled his eyes in an exaggerated gesture, "Fine, fine," the boy nodded as a chunk of something resembling brain tissue plopped from his nose. "Keep your whore, just bring him by the 22nd week."

AN: Full term for a human is 40 weeks. Keep that in mind, kids. ~_^