Double Helix

chapter twenty-four
~ pain ~

"Chapel and that woman are with them," the hive reported. The wasps circled her impatiently, waiting for the appropriate time to enter their home.

Lips formed a tight line as Legato absorbed the information. Yellow eyes drifted close as charged silence filled the room. The hive waited, knowing the unusual human was most likely communicating with Knives. New orders would soon be given.

A wasp walked across her face toward her eye and Zazie pulled back the delicate skin near her eyeball on reflex. The wasp crawled inside, disappearing within seconds. The remaining wasps swarmed her at once, each demanding access to their home. Zazie hesitated on granting them that access as she eyed Legato in his trance-like state.

With a sigh, jaundice-yellow eyes opened and focused keenly on the hive. "The master is sending the Crimson Nail out to meet our guests. You are to remain within the compound unless I direct you otherwise. In the meantime, you must watch for Conrad. Meryl is in labor and his services are needed."

"She's in labor?" Zazie asked, clearly surprised. "When?"

"Not long," Legato said quietly with a wistful smile about his lips. "She did the right thing. She sought out Lord Knives and found him."

The tone of the cripple's voice changed, his eyes bright. "Help me into my coffin and take me to the main entrance. I'd like to assist the Crimson Nail greet our guests as well."

Brows creased together in concern as the nurse made note of Meryl's dilation. Everything appeared normal, but Meryl was fading in and out of consciousness. She didn't think Meryl would be able to deliver the seedling vaginally. Without Dr. Conrad, a cesarean section would be difficult.

Flinching, Meryl sucked in a deep breath as another contraction moved through her. The sensation forced Knives to put his hand on the wall to steady himself. Angela noticed his gentle sway out of the corner of her eye and peered at him with disquiet. After several seconds, he felt her anxiousness and glowered at her in response.

"Well?"

The nurse blushed and cleared her throat, embarrassed to have been caught staring at the free-born plant. His presence always caused her to feel unusually self-conscious. "She... she's about four and a half centimeters."

Knives nodded briefly and straightened as the nurse covered Meryl's legs with a sheet.

"Lord Knives?"

Ice blue eyes swiveled to regard the human.

"How far apart are her contractions now?" the nurse asked timidly.

"Seven minutes and twenty-three seconds. Previously they were seven minutes and forty-four seconds."

The nurse pushed Meryl's sweat-soaked hair off her forehead. "We have some time yet. Hopefully Meryl will be able to see her."

The harsh sound of a chair scraping across the floor made the nurse bristle. She blotted Meryl's forehead with a towel as she watched Knives out of the corner of her eye. Arms crossed over his chest, Knives settled himself in the chair he had moved next to Meryl's bed. Ice-blue eyes grew distant as he lost himself to thought. He didn't even glance in her general direction when Angela took Meryl's vitals once more.

Her pulse was good. Slightly elevated. Strong. Normal.

Angela sighed as she smoothed imaginary wrinkles out of her skirt, feeling completely worthless in Knives' presence. The stillness of the room only amplified the feeling and she longed for something to do to take her mind off her inferiority. It didn't help matters when Knives finally raised his eyes to look at her, his patience with her ineptness clearly dissolving.

Knives leaned back in his chair as he watched her. Conrad was taking too long and the nurse's feeble, little mind was grating on his nerves. It had been a mistake to allow the doctor to leave the compound. He didn't reside at the Geo Plant as the others did and Knives didn't want him to. The old man was a living reminder of his days on boards the SEEDs ship. The less he had to see him, the better.

In retrospect, it would have been a wise decision to simply confine the old bastard until Meryl was ready to deliver. Unfortunately, Knives had been far too distracted with both Meryl and his brother at the time. There weren't many decisions that Knives regretted, but allowing Conrad to go was steadily making its way to the top of his list. Especially considering the human he was stuck with. She was annoying and he was in no mood to deal with her zealous fanaticism and infantile intellect.

Angela smiled nervously at Knives for the third time in the last two minutes. She was like a blinking light in an empty house. Her smile faded quickly when she saw the way his eyes reflected his mounting annoyance more poignantly. She'd never been alone with him before. Dr. Conrad had always been with her. Without the doctor, the nurse felt afraid of the free-born plant.

Clearing her throat, the nurse gathered her courage to speak to her god, "I- I'm going to gather some additional supplies. Would you like me to... uh, bring you anything, L-lord Knives?"

Finally! "Find a bed for her," he said. "I don't want her giving birth in a gurney."

"Y-yes, Lord," Angela said with a nod as she reached for the door.

A moment later, the door clicked shut and Knives was alone with a very pregnant and very quiet Meryl. He watched her breathing for a long moment and tried to drown the anxious feeling that was beginning to settle in his gut. The seedling was top priority, but Knives wanted Meryl to live, too. All things considered, she was doing fairly well. That gave him some hope.

The fact that she had managed to get out of bed unassisted and then find her way to the plant chamber without any assistance was something that still tickled at his mind. She came right to him and he couldn't help but to wonder how she knew where to find him. He never told anyone his whereabouts unless it was necessary. There was no way she would know where to find him, yet she did.

A sharp tingling sensation started to build in his lower abdomen, causing Knives to grimace as all thoughts about Meryl's peculiarities washed from his mind. He had never been good at dealing with pain, and this pain was most exquisite. When she had first stumbled into the chamber and Knives felt the pain of her contraction, he very nearly crumpled to the floor in agony and shock. It was only his sheer stubbornness to hold Meryl upright and prevent her from falling that kept him on his feet.

He still didn't understand why he could feel her pain. He suspected it was the seedling's recent dependency on him that created the queer bond. As the pain crested, Knives noted the time between contractions.

Seven minutes and three seconds.

The mood of the people around her grew increasingly spellbound as the curve of the darkened bulb grew in their visage. Where once conversation had consisted of excited tones and laughter it was now muted and reserved. An eerie quiet descended upon the group, leaving Milly to feel more than a little uncomfortable. Eventually, only the sound of shoes treading across sand and rock could be heard.

She felt like she was participating in a death march.

Milly studied the bulb in the distance. It felt more ominous to her now than it did the first time she laid eyes upon it. The priest's hand brushed against her own and she took it gratefully. She felt him give her hand a gentle squeeze and she smiled at him.

Wolfwood paused beside her, causing Milly to stop in mid step. The people around her all stopped as well, some of them even sat. Milly looked at Wolfwood with questioning eyes before he pulled her forward toward the front of the group, weaving around small groups of people who stood quietly as they paused.

As they approached the front of the group, Milly smiled happily when she recognized one of the men from the day before. Their eyes met and Milly opened her mouth to say hello, but her voice died in her throat from the dark way he looked at her.

"We can go no further," Keegan said sternly.

Milly felt Wolfwood let go of her hand and she immediately tensed.

"Master Legato is expecting us."

"So I've been told, Chapel."

Wolfwood's eyebrow rose above the rim of his sunglasses at the way Keegan said his name. "The young woman and I are going forward."

"Of course. We have been instructed to allow the two of you safe passage, but you will not be coming back. Justice surrounds you on all sides," Keegan said as he motioned to the people behind him.

Wolfwood turned to look at the group and caught sight of the young boy that Milly had been carrying earlier. The priest pressed his lips together and frowned. The only way they could get out of this, if they survived Canaan, without having a gun battle with the pilgrims was to have Vash with them. Even then, Wolfwood wasn't certain that a gun fight wouldn't happen. Would the plant worshipers fire upon one of their gods if they were instructed to do so?

Probably.

"I guess we'll see each other later then," Wolfwood said as he turned back to face Keegan. He reached out and took Milly's hand in his before walking past the reverend without a second glance.

Knives was so distracted and focused on what was happening with Meryl that he let his thoughts flow unguarded. Vash knew Wolfwood and Milly were making their way toward Canaan and that Eleandra had been sent to deal with them. He knew that there was a large group of zealots waiting to kill them if they survived the coming battle or decided to flee. He also knew that Conrad was late, which was why Knives was so unusually anxious and unguarded.

Vash had not planned to act so soon, but he could not allow such an opportunity to pass without attempting an escape. The situation was like an engraved invitation for him to make his move and he was not about to ignore that invite. He would just have to bide his time until the perfect moment presented itself, and it was not far off in coming.

Straightening, Vash took a deep breath and forced his muscles to relax. He had figured he would have a little over a minute to escape from the core before Gwen recovered enough to power the security system back online. After that, he would still have to escape the room and get above ground.

From that point, Vash did not know what he would do. His plans only went as far as escaping the core. He still wanted to kill Knives, but doing so would probably kill everyone else around them.

But he couldn't let Knives go, could he? Wouldn't it be better for everyone in the end if Knives was eliminated? If he survived, he would only continue to do what he has always done. Was his death worth the lives of so many humans?

Rem?

The free-born plant closed his eyes and let determined resolve fill his mind. He had to get out, that was his first priority. He couldn't let this opportunity slide. After that, though

Vash frowned as he drifted nearer to Gwen's side of the plant core.

After that…

The Crimson Nail stood quickly and dusted himself off as Chapel and his woman walked steadily into his range of fire. The change in the way Chapel held onto the Cross Punisher was not lost on Eleandra. The would-be priest was ready and Eleandra was looking forward to a good fight.

He smiled at the pair as they continued their approach, allowing them to walk just beyond the edge of Canaan. The terrain was in Eleandra's favor. He had more places to take cover whereas Chapel and his woman had only a few meager rocks and the occasional tree. It wouldn't be a fair fight, but Eleandra liked it that way. It didn't have to be fair as long as it didn't end too quickly. That was why he preferred to impale his enemies rather than simply shoot them. It was more enjoyable that way. People died slowly, painfully.

Besides, Legato specifically requested that they not be killed outright and Eleandra knew exactly what that meant.

It would be a fun fight and Eleandra's smile grew even wider as he aimed at the pair, noting happily the quick reflexes of his opponent. In the span of a single breath, several shots were fired from both sides and both were quick to reload, but Eleandra paused.

Wolfwood pushed Milly to the ground the moment Eleandra opened fire. She immediately crawled toward the nearest rock as he covered her. When she felt able, she reached behind her and pulled out her gun. With great care, she peeked around the rock to locate her target and prepared to return fire.

"Wait, Milly."

The woman glanced over at Wolfwood in surprise as he stood out in the open, the unwrapped Cross Punisher in hand.

Wolfwood frowned as he eyed the expelled ammunition. Eleandra was not using his normal weapon. Instead of large, metal nails there were short, thin stakes circling them on all sides. It was clear to Wolfwood that Eleandra was missing them on purpose, though he doubted he could convince Milly of that. The stakes were close to them, but none penetrated their flesh.

Eleandra wasn't like that. He was about perfection. He took great pride in knowing exactly where to impale a person in order to inflict the most pain and the least amount of blood loss. Killing and torture was his art and he was not acting like the artist he prided himself as being.

Wolfwood sucked in a deep breath the moment realization hit.

It was a trap.

The priest didn't have much time to ponder the situation as another barrage of projectiles hurtled toward him. He dove for cover and crawled half a yarz until he could get a good look at his opponent. Wolfwood quickly scanned the area around Eleandra, searching frantically for the yellow-eyed cripple he knew would be there. He almost gave up the search when he spotted Legato out of the corner of his eye. The tale-tell bulk of his coffin propped up near the main entrance was sore on the eyes leaving Wolfwood with a sinking sensation.

The cross-dresser was toying with them.

Eleandra would miss on purpose for a time, leaving them to feel as though they were getting somewhere. When that spark of confidence and hope flared up within them, Eleandra would impale them both multiple times and Legato would psychically punish them until they bled to death.

Wolfwood had seen it happen before. He knew the game because he had played it once himself.

"Milly, listen to me!" Wolfwood commanded, causing Milly to nearly jump in surprise.

"Shoot at Eleandra the instant I start firing. Don't stop for anything," he said as he stood and lifted the Cross Punisher, his aim at the living corpse. "Kill him, Milly!"

Gwen watched him with curiosity-filled eyes. He couldn't feel the psychic pain like Knives could, but he could feel the echo of it. Watching his reaction to the that echo was fascinating.

Cocking her head to one side, the angel pressed her face closer to the glass to get a better look at Vash. Her mind buzzed with the quiet psychic drone of her family as she studied her youngest brother and relayed what she saw and heard to all those who were interested. The seedling was coming and the youngest free-born plant still hated it.

Most of all, he hated him.

Gwen still didn't understand Vash. How he could hold such festering anger in his heart, and yet deny that it existed, was a mystery to her. Still, she was hopeful that he would come to his senses once the seedling was born. Perhaps then he would understand what Knives was trying to do.

Perhaps then he would let some of his unrealized anger go.

The angel understood Knives better than anyone did, even better than his own twin brother did. After all, Gwen had healed Knives' broken body within her and given him second birth. It was shortly after Knives emerged from her body that she 'met' Vash and witnessed Knives' intense rage toward humanity for the first time.

She felt sorry for Vash back then, knowing how much he loved the humans. Seeing the chasm that existed between the brothers because of that love broke her heart. It wasn't right for family to feel that much animosity toward one another.

The child was misguided, but his heart seemed pure. She understood that Vash and Knives were meant to work together, not apart.

Meeting Vash for the second time, however, was a completely different experience. The angel had been shocked to see Vash with his hair nearly completely black and his heart turned away from his family. Not only had Vash defiled one of his own sisters in his quest to stop Knives from doing what had to be done, he also tried to murder his twin. Had the action been successful, it would have killed everyone around them and eventually lead to the death of all the plants on the planet.

It was then that Gwen realized that Knives was mistaken in his desire to 'open his brother's eyes.' She knew after speaking to Vash only once that he would never see things the way Knives did.

Gwen felt sorry for Knives.

Closing her eyes, Gwen took comfort in the distant voices of her family. They were all waiting anxiously to see if Knives had found their answer. Most were optimistic, but several remained doubtful. All of them knew that by the time the moons rose for the night, their entire world would be different.

'Gwen,' Vash's psychic voice said.

The angel opened her eyes and peered out the glass. She waited as the free-born plant slowly moved toward her, curious to hear what her youngest brother had to say now. The strange look on his face gave her pause and she felt renewed hope for him.

'I have to do this, Gwen,' he said. 'I'm so sorry.'

The pain was near constant now. Knives was relieved to discover that feeding some of his energy into her had a buffering effect on the discomfort. Better yet, it managed to pull Meryl into a more wakeful state. The effect wasn't dramatic by any stretch of the imagination, it simply took the edge off and allowed Knives to concentrate on both the impending birth and the fight going on outside.

Knives didn't like what Legato told him about the fight. Chapel had gained the upper hand and Eleandra was badly wounded. The cross-dresser was losing a significant amount of blood.

Worse still, Chapel had shot Conrad as he made his way toward the compound. The old bastard was dead and Knives was beyond livid. He demanded nothing less than Chapel's head for the transgression.

"I want... to push," Meryl said weakly.

"Well don't," the nurse replied sternly. "You're still not fully dilated. Soon though, just try to relax in the meantime."

Meryl pushed her head into the pillow and exhaled loudly. "Where... Where is Conrad?"

"He's not coming," Knives said sharply.

Meryl glanced over at the plant, her eyes bleary with pain and tears. "Wh- why?"

A familiar and frantic voice filled Knives' mind before he had a chance to respond, causing a chill to run down his spine. The lights overhead flickered once, then twice.

Knives called out to the Angel, 'Gwen...?'

Another wave of pain was beginning to build and Knives grunted. This contraction was more intense than before and he heard Meryl moan beside him.

'Gwen!?'

Meryl began to cry as the pain increased, "I– I have to push!"

"Meryl, don't," Angel warned. "You'll only hurt yourself!"

When Gwen did not respond Knives immediately knew what happened. Swearing under his breath, he closed his eyes as he opened a channel to his brother, ignoring the whimpers of pain coming from Meryl.

'What are you doing, Vash!?'

Silence answered him, but Knives knew he was heard. Anger crowded into his thoughts and he gritted his teeth. Vash had somehow overpowered Gwen. Her lack of response was proof that. He had hurt her!

A hard grunt sounded beside him and Knives glanced down at the little woman as she strained.

"Meryl, no!" Angela ordered, "You're still not—"

The nurse trailed off as she watched the results of Meryl's straining.

"This baby is in a big hurry to be born," Angela said as she quickly glanced at Knives and back down again. "Push, Meryl. Push hard!"