AN: Doing some major rewriting from this point forward. Actually, from this chapter forward.

Just FYI.

July 14, 2010

Double Helix

chapter fifteen
~ dichotomy ~

Wolfwood was nervous.

They were too early, Vash had located Knives far too soon.

Jaw clenched, Wolfwood rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to ease his tense muscles. Doing his best to hide his unease from the others, the priest was certain they both noticed. Fortunately, neither said anything.

Closing his eyes, Wolfwood did his best to distance himself from his anxiety. Frustration was wearing away at his balance of calm. No matter how hard he tried to relax, the more his worries persisted. Echoes of a past conversation revolving around underestimating an opponent came floating to the forefront of the priest's mind.

He could not escape the memory of an animated corpse repeating Legato's words.

Would Legato keep his end of the deal if they showed up a full two weeks early? Wolfwood doubted it. Legato served Knives with all of his being. He only showed mercy if Knives instructed him to do so.

Certainly Knives had to know they were coming... surely Vash didn't think this would be a surprise visit...

They wouldn't kill Vash and Wolfwood didn't care if he lived or died. Milly was the expendable one. They would certainly target her, especially now. Asking for her to be spared made his attachment to the girl far too obvious. They'd kill her simply to punish him.

Wolfwood stared off into the night with a grimace. He was developing an ulcer. He was certain of it.

Things were not looking good.

• • •

Night-time travel was the most comfortable way to go, but it could also be the most unnerving.

Milly normally didn't mind the darkness. It was cool and relaxing and often very pretty. Ever since she was a child, she always gazed up at the night sky with a smile on her face. The twinkling of the stars and moons always felt special to her. Magical. Cheery.

Lately, the night sky no longer seemed to inspire such gaiety. The closer they came to the place called Canaan, the less she enjoyed the calm stillness of night. The dark hours felt almost malevolent to her now.

Even so, the blackness did offer Milly the cool quiet she needed to regain her strength. Sleeping in the daytime was a difficult task with the harshness of sunlight.

Besides, the daylight hours were better spent practicing with her new gun.

Milly was surprised at how comfortable the weapon felt in her hand. It was a top-of-the-line replica of the .45 HK Mark 23, a military combat gun used back on Earth. It had been expensive, but Vash insisted she buy it when he saw it in her hands.

"It suits you," he said simply, and then offered to split the cost of the weapon and five additional clips with her. She didn't know how he was able to tell that the gun was a good match for her after only seeing her hold it once, but once she fired it for the first time she had to agree with his assessment.

The gun did suit her.

It was a handsome looking weapon. Her older brothers would probably love it. The HK Mark 23 carried ten rounds per clip and was easily concealed behind her back. Her only complaint was with the holster. No matter how she tried to adjust the fit, it still tended to dig into the small of her back.

She liked the weapon, she just wished she didn't have to need it. Using a weapon with live rounds disturbed her. She didn't like using lethal force. All life was precious, but Vash told her it would be unwise to be without it.

He said that even after Milly expressed her distaste regarding lethal force.

The seriousness of his tone and the hard look in his eyes left the insurance girl speechless. She wanted to ask the free-born plant about his sudden decision that she should arm herself with a lethal weapon, but was afraid to ask. The thought of hearing him say something along the lines of, "You need it in case you have to kill someone" disturbed her deeply. Far more than the idea of killing someone out of self-defense.

Vash was a changed man.

It was like the very essence of who he was as an individual was wasting away. There were moments when Milly would catch a small glimpse of the old Vash, but those moments were few and far between. The agent was certain that once everything was said and done, the humanoid typhoon would never be the same again.

• • •

"Wait a damn minute, will you?" Meryl yelled, not caring if she angered the man dragging her down the hall. "Where the hell are you taking me?"

The little human was tripping over herself trying to keep up with him. Her center of gravity was beginning to shift due to the quick growth of the seedling. The additional weight caused Meryl to feel uncoordinated and clumsy and she cursed herself for her inability to struggle with more tenacity.

"Bastard!" she hissed as she yanked against him.

The free-born plant pulled back with an equal amount of force and she stumbled forward. The sudden jolt caused her to bite the inside of her cheek. Blood filled her mouth, further igniting her temper.

"Let go of me you freak!"

The grip around her wrist grew painful and she swore under her breath. The bastard was ignoring her. Using her free hand, Meryl tried to pry his fingers loose.

"Damn it, Knives," she yelled. "Let go of me! You're hurting me!"

He paused then, just long enough to look at her to see if what she claimed was really true. Glancing down at her wrist, he saw her flesh was marred by the tightness of his grip and he relented just enough to allow her blood to flow freely again. Then his eyes met hers. Meryl saw a strange, reproachful expression cross his features. There was uncertainty there, too, but everything quickly disappeared as stubbornness flattened the lines of his face leaving him stoic.

The next thing she knew, he was carrying her, bridal style. The sudden closeness caused Meryl's heart to hammer in her chest and all protests to die in her throat. He had touched her before, but only when he absolutely had to. And when he did, he did so grudgingly. Now he was carrying her, cradling her against his chest as though she was the most delicate thing in the world. The contrast between the way he had been yanking on her before and the odd tenderness now left her reeling in confusion.

As he moved down the maze of hallways, they entered an area of the building that Meryl did not recognize. The less familiar her surroundings became, the more nervous she felt.

"Wh- where are you taking me, Knives?" she finally asked, sotto voce.

His strides didn't waiver. Nor did he spare her a glance. She wondered for a moment if he even heard her.

"Knives?" she repeated, her voice an octave louder.

"Quiet," he ordered.

The hallways became more narrow the further they went and Meryl realized that they were heading underground. All she could think about were the possible horrors that lie ahead. She couldn't let Knives lead her there without a fight, even if it was one she knew she could not win.

"N- no!" she choked out as memories of past procedures and encounters came roaring to the forefront of her mind. "Where are you taking me? What are you going to do to me?"

His silence mocked her and she swallowed hard. She should have demanded answers when he first woke her, but she had been far too groggy to think clearly. It didn't seem strange to her that Knives was in her suite and yelling at her to get up. It should have, she realized as she thought back to the moment, but all she could think of at the time was that he was angry at her for oversleeping.

Barely standing and still in her nightshirt, Knives dragged her from the room while barking orders to Zazie as they left. His unusual haste warned her that Knives was not taking her to her weekly medical exam and her mind immediately began to clear from its sleepy haze. The further into the compound they went, the more certain she was that something was horribly wrong. His prolonged silence and obvious tension only amplified her fear and before she knew it, Meryl was struggling against him.

That is until he picked her up.

Now she was compensating for her sense of powerlessness and fear by yelling at him.

"Where's that bastard doctor of yours?" she demanded. "What kind of sick experiments do you have for me today, you sadistic lowlife?"

Ice-blue eyes narrowed dangerously, "I told you to be quiet."

"Or else what?" she asked, feeling usually confident for being in the arms of a genocidal maniac. "You'll hurt me? You'll kill me? Too late for that now, isn't it?"

"You would do well to follow my instructions," Knives bit out, his arms tensed, inadvertently drawing her closer to his chest.

Violet eyes narrowed at him. "Like hell."

"What do you hope to gain by insubordination, Meryl?"

She scoffed at him, outraged by the insinuation. "Insubordination? I'm not one of your lackeys, Knives! I'll never have this baby. I'll kill her or myself the first chance I get!"

Knives' expression suddenly changed from anger to amusement and he smirked at her. His sudden shift threw Meryl off balance and he laughed at her. The sound of it grated against her nerves. Searching her memory for the cause of his amusement, she was horrified to remember her words.

'I called it a baby! I called it a baby in front of Knives!'

Her face burned with regret and she desperately wanted to take back what she said. Meryl opened her mouth to undo the damage as best she could, when Knives caught her gaze and smirked at her. His eyes dancing with arrogant amusement.

"You are pathetic," he told her. "You had your chance to kill your 'baby' and failed. This is the most fulfilled your life has ever been and most likely ever would be. You led a sad existence before I choose you and would have for the rest of your pitiful life had I not intervened. Consider yourself blessed."

He set her on her feet then, his lips still pulled back into an arrogant smirk. "We're far enough to be safe. You can manage on your own now." Turning away from her, he continued down the corridor. Then he turned his face toward her, peering at her from the corners of his eyes, "Don't dally. I won't carry you so nicely next time."

Meryl remained where she stood for several seconds, her mind repeating his words through her consciousness as her body trembled in anger.

'How dare he,' she thought, her blood surging with adrenaline. 'How DARE he!'

Hands balled into fists, she started to walk after him. Her pace quickening as her rage mounted. Before she knew it she was rushing toward him prepared to do whatever it took to make him hurt as much as he hurt her. She didn't slow or pause when he spun around to look at her and prepared himself for her body to slam against his.

Meryl threw her weight against him and was surprised when they both toppled to the floor in a tangle of limbs. She didn't hesitate in her efforts to cause him pain as she tried repeatedly to punch and claw whatever was within reach. She vaguely realized that between her feeble attempts to punish him, she had begun to scream out her grief.

"How could you do this to me? I don't want to die! I don't want to be this!"

Sobs choked off her words and she hung her head in defeat, her body shaking from emotional overload. Knives didn't move from beneath her. Meryl was too focused on trying to regain control over herself that she barely noticed how she was straddling his middle and clutching at his chest.

She was so tired. Tired of being afraid, tired of always feeling intimidated, tired of the way her body felt because of the thing they put inside her, tired of her constant mood swings and nightmares and weird cravings and everything else. She just wanted one moment of peace. One moment to catch her breath and feel normal again.

Licking her lips, she opened her mouth to speak even as the rational part of her mind begged her not to. She knew better than to expose her weakness, but the words tumbled out of her faster than her brain could stop her tongue from working.

"My family thinks I'm dead. Everyone I love, you want to destroy," she whispered, voice broken. "And you're using me to do it. Why me, Knives? Why?"

Meryl stared at a spot on the floor in a futile attempt to avoid looking him in the eyes, but she felt the intensity of his gaze regardless. His silence did nothing to deter her from speaking her heart.

"I'm more than this," she continued. "I'm more than just your incubator. You think I'm worthless but I'm not."

She felt Knives twitch ever so slightly beneath her and she remembered his words, You are pathetic.

"I'm not," she said fiercely, more to herself than him. Courage flowed through her and she met Knives' ice-blue gaze without flinching, "You're going to teach her to be just like you, aren't you, Knives? You're going to maker her hate humanity and you're going to use her like you're using me, aren't you?"

Knives' lips drew together in a tight line. He said nothing as he carefully untangled himself from her and stood, leaving Meryl crumpled on the floor.

"I won't let you," she murmured.

Knives ignored her. He couldn't allow her tantrum to distract him from what lay ahead.

"I won't."

Sighing irritably, he reached down and took hold of her upper arm, pulling her to her feet in one swift motion. He waited for her to look him in the eyes before he slapped her. The force of the blow wasn't enough to cause any lasting damage or even leave a mark, but the shock of it sent her reeling. She reached out instinctively to regain her balance and he grabbed her flailing hand and pulled her against him.

"Are you finished acting like a fool?" he asked, voice low.

Meryl said nothing, her eyes avoiding his. She could only bring herself to stare at his chest.

"I grant you more freedom than anyone else," he continued. "Think about what you just said, what you just did. You have no concept of the greater scheme of things. If you did, you would probably feel honored - and you should. I am doing what I must to safeguard the future. Don't ever think otherwise."

With that, he stepped away from her. Still holding onto her hand, he led her down the hallway without another word.

• • •

'Well,' Milly thought as she tried to calm her nerves, 'it seems Vash was right all along.'

The insurance girl swallowed hard as she studied the landscape before her. The more she looked, the more nauseous she felt. The butterflies swirling in her belly were causing quite a storm. She had never felt so nervous in all her life.

Directly ahead of them stood the most bizarre looking geo-plant she had ever seen. It wasn't very large as far as geo-plants go, but it was impressive. For starters, there was no bulb. At least, it didn't look like it had a bulb.

Glass encircled the upper portion of the structure, but it was darkened glass that reflected the greenery around them instead of allowing one to see within. From what Milly's vantage point, there didn't appear to be a control center for the geo-plant. There was a building located directly in front of the geo-plant, but it did not appear to be part of it, as a control center would be.

The strangest quality of the geo-plant was its silence. Geo-plants hum very quietly, and Milly always found the sound to be rather pleasant. She knew that well-trained and experienced plant engineers can tell the condition of the Plant Angel inside by the quality of the hum alone. This geo-plant was dead silent, yet the life growing around them was testimony to the functionality and success of the Plant Angel contained within.

At least... she thought it was. That is, if what she was looking at was truly a geo-plant.

As they drew closer, Milly couldn't help but to feel both awed and terrified at the same time. There was nothing but sand and desert around them for hundreds of iles. No life at all, just dry, cracked earth... yet now they saw only greenery and trees. It was breath-taking - but the source of that beauty was Knives.

It was a strange dichotomy. Three hundred iles of death and decay, and then, from out of nowhere they were surrounded with life. Already Knives was not living up to his reputation. In a few short minutes, they would be at their destination. Taking a deep breath, Milly bowed her head and closed her eyes as she silently prayed.

• • •

Vash's skin felt tingly all over. For the first time in his life, he found that he actually liked the sensation. He could feel the energy within him steadily building the closer they got to Knives and now that energy felt like a second skin around him.

It was invigorating.

Opening his mind, Vash searched for the sensation of Meryl's presence. He could clearly sense the humans surrounding him, but Meryl was distinctly missing.

She wasn't there. 'Where is she?'

~Welcome home, Vash~

Scowling, Vash closed his mind to the familiar voice of his brother as they stood at the entrance to the geo-plant. Three figures stood before him. Vash recognized the first two as Legato and Midvalley, but the other was unfamiliar, though equally dangerous.

"Chapel, the Master will be pleased," Legato said. "You brought him just as you were ordered, though much earlier than you were supposed to."

The priest felt Milly's questioning eyes upon him, but he refused to react to the barbs. Wolfwood clenched his jaw as he studied the opposition. Eleandra, Legato and Midvalley. Zazie was probably with Meryl, and Knives...

Knives was probably watching everything play out from the comfort of his plant chamber.

"Don't get in my way," Vash warned. "Where is Knives?"

Legato smiled at Vash happily, "Have you returned home as a prodigal son or are you here to undermine His plans?"

Vash glared at Legato impatiently, "Answer the question."

"Answer mine."

• • •

She remained silent for the remainder of their walk to the lower levels of the compound. Knives was grateful for that. He had other concerns that needed to be addressed and dealing with Meryl's emotional breakdown was the last thing he needed to think about.

Watching her out of the corner of his eye, Knives noticed the way her expression changed when they entered the room that housed the core. He felt her grow tense beside him as her eyes darted about the room, taking in her surroundings with obvious apprehension. After several several long moments of silence, she turned toward him with eyes that begged the question: What is this place?

"This is the main plant core," he said.

Meryl looked the room over once more, doubt lingering in her eyes. "This... this doesn't look like any plant core I have ever seen before."

"Of course not," he agreed. "I created this, for myself and Gwen."

The little human's eyebrows rose at the mention of the unfamiliar name, but she refused to speak her question aloud. Knives answered her anyway.

"Gwen is a sister. The core is divided into two halves," he said. "One half is better suited for Gwen, the other for me. She helped to create this place."

"Why did you bring me here?" she asked, her tone of voice betraying her impatience. The corners of his mouth lifted into a smirk. So impatient, yet somehow still amusing. He was glad to see that she was started to act like herself again. She was far easier to deal with when she wasn't an emotional mess.

"For safe keeping, of course."

A single dark brow rose. "Excuse me?"

"Remove your clothes."

Meryl backed away from him, her eyes flashing. "What?"

"You can't wear clothing in the core," he informed her. "You must be clean before you can enter. Remove your clothes."

Face flush with embarrassment and outrage, she took another step away from him. "No! I'm not getting inside of that thing!"

Knives narrowed his eyes at her dangerously. "Yes, you are. I expected you to be difficult, but I also expect you to comply. Do it. Otherwise, I will do it myself. I am offering you your dignity."

Her mouth dropped open as she stared in disbelief, then she scoffed at him. "Dignity? You've got to be kidding."

With that, Knives approached her, invading her personal space in a matter of seconds. Her arms went up defensively to stop him, but he was able to catch both of her hands in his and push her back against the wall, pinning her. A strange sensation of warmth rushed through her when she felt her slightly swollen belly brush up against him. The intimacy of their position combined with his intense expression and perfectly-shaped lips curled upward into a smirk suddenly reminded her of Knives obvious masculinity.

It wasn't that she hadn't noticed it before. Knives was just as attractive as his twin... but to feel his body pressed against hers, to feel his warmth, to smell him...

'Good Lord, I really am losing my mind if I'm getting turned on by this freak after what he's done!'

Then to her shock, he reached for the buttons of her nightshirt. For a second, she thought he was going to grope her.

"If you won't undress yourself," he said, reaching for the top button of her night shirt, "then I will do it for you. Modesty is a human virtue."

One button came undone, then the second. Meryl tried to slap his hand away, only to be ignored as he began to work on the third.

"Fine!" she snapped as another button came undone. "Stop it already!"

His hand paused in mid-route to the fourth button and he looked at her with a strange glint of amusement dancing in his eyes. "You have chosen dignity then?"

"Bastard," she hissed.

The fourth button came undone.

"Okay! I told you to stop," She growled, "Let go of me, damn it!"

He pushed himself away from her and watched her with that same amused smirk. She glared at him a moment longer before ordering him to turn around while she disrobed. The throaty sound of Knives' laughter caused her cheeks to burn with anger, but he turned his back to her anyway.

Meryl felt her temper flare brightly as trembling fingers clumsily unfastened the remaining buttons. "I thought humans couldn't survive within a plant core," she said sarcastically, hoping to bait him for another chance to yell at him.

"You're not quite human. Don't fret, I adjusted the environment to better suit you."

"Don't fret. My ass." Meryl shrugged off her nightshirt and pulled off her panties. Her flesh immediately broke out into goosebumps and she resisted the urge to shiver. Holding the nightshirt against her chest, she did her best to hide her nudity. "Bastard."

"Finished?"

Meryl clenched her jaw and glared daggers at the back of his head, "Yes."

He turned to face her again, his features revealing not a hint of amusement nor anger, just cold logic. "You have another decision to make. You can clean yourself and enter the core on your own, or be forced."

Meryl peered at him quizzically, "Clean myself? What is this?"

"A simple shower will suffice, then you can enter the core," he said, walking past her. His hands moved over a control panel near the entrance to the core as he adjusted the settings. Meryl watched him for a moment, then sucked in a deep breath as her teeth began to chatter from her shivering. The noise caught his attention and he looked at her over his shoulder, his gaze moving down her body curiously. Then, meeting her eyes, he said, "It will be warm in the core."

She stared at him, dumbfounded. "Why are you suddenly giving me choices? What is this?"

The free-born plant sighed as he turned his attention back to the control panel. Had the situation been different, he would have simply ordered Conrad or that nurse to prepare her for the core but he didn't have the time.

"I'm not giving you any choices," he said. "You will enter the plant core, that is non-negotiable. I'm just giving you the option to cooperate." He tilted his head as he looked at her, "Unless you rather I bathe you..?"

Meryl's mouth dropped open and she hugged the nightshirt closer to her body, "What? NO!"

He smirked at her, "Good answer."

Sensing his attempt to bait her, Meryl squared her jaw and lifted her chin defiantly, "Alright, fine. But I'm not getting into that thing without knowing why you want me in there. What are you going to do to me?"

"Nothing," he said. "You will only be in there for a few hours. You can sleep in there for all I care. It will not be unpleasant, I can promise you that."

Silence filled the room as each individual studied the other. Finally, Meryl peered at Knives with a knowing look.

"Vash is here, isn't he?"