Double Helix

chapter twenty-five
~ soft spot ~

Overpowering Gwen had taken more energy and effort than Vash had anticipated. The amount of energy he had to expel to render her unconscious left him in an extremely vulnerable state. While he lay on the cement floor trying to adjust to normal gravity, his brother's enraged voice filled his mind.

'What are you doing, Vash!?'

The free-born plant grimaced and immediately closed his mind to his twin. Knives knew very well what he was doing. Furthermore, he was in no position to stop him. Knives would not leave Meryl, Vash was certain of that. Wolfwood and Milly were keeping Eleandra and Legato busy and Vash felt confident that he could handle Zazie, weapon or not.

Still, the escapee desperately wanted his gun and mechanical arm. He doubted he would find either. When the situation demanded it, he could improvise a weapon.

Grunting, Vash pushed himself off the floor and let adrenaline take over. He fought to clear his mind as he tried to stand. The impact of falling face-first to the ground left him dazed a somewhat dizzy.

After several minutes, he was able to walk. Soon after, he was able to sprint down the corridor and up a flight of stairs. He caught himself a split second before tripping over the top stair before realizing his body needed a rest before continuing again.

He sat down hard, not caring that he was out in the open. If someone was looking for him they need only ask Knives where he was and he would be found. Looking for a place to hide would take too long and just tire him out more. The free-born plant leaned against the wall as he forced his muscles to relax, as he tried not to think about the worst-case scenario.

Vash rested his head against the wall and let out a deep exhale. So far, so good. The escape went better than he expected. He made his move at the appropriate time and his window of opportunity was still wide open. He would be a fool not to capitalize upon it.

With a deep breath, Vash stood. A renewed sense of confidence filled him as he began to navigate his way to freedom.

Pain filled her consciousness, leaving her feeling disoriented and confused. The sensation spiked as she was bombarded by a flurry of psychic voices. The storm of voices filled her mind demanding answers she still felt too bewildered and sick to give.

She recoiled into herself and winced at the brightness of the light streaming in from the neighboring core. Gwen blinked at the light and frowned as she continued to float in a sea of perplexity. There shouldn't be any light coming from the core itself. It should be dark...

She was supposed to keep it dark in there, wasn't she?

Memories filtered through her mind and she squinted at the light. She remembered Vash. She remembered fear and pain... then blackness.

She shuttered at the memory of blackness and squeezed her eyes shut as she called out to her family for reassurance. Relief filled her mind the moment they answered. The buzz of questioning voices crescendoed in their excitement and unease before leveling off into stunned silence as she submitted her memories for their exploration. Seconds ticked by before the silence was broken by a distant, elder voice calling out to the one who caused such memories.

'What have you got to say for your actions, Vash?'

Gwen listened for the free-born plant's response, as did the rest. An uncanny silence descended and finally one of the twins responded.

'His mind is shut to all of you,' Knives said, 'including me.'

The flurry of voices began once more and Gwen winced. All felt her tremor of pain and concern for her welfare gave way to anger and disbelief directed toward the one called Vash.

'He has rejected us,' one called out from the darkness.

Another voice asked, 'How could he hurt one of us like that?'

'We should cut him off,' one said. 'He has rejected us; therefore, we should reject him.'

There was a span of silence and Gwen could feel a tremor of deliberation flutter through the back of her mind. They were seriously considering the suggestion, but no one was willing to speak of it... yet. And then, painfully, Gwen felt a cacophony of voices explode in her mind.

'He is still family, he is still plant!'

'It is as Knives has said all along.'

'He thinks he is human! He forgets what he is!'

'Yes... perhaps we should cut him off from the rest of us. It seems that is what he wants anyway.'

'Who would want such a thing!?'

'We cannot pass judgments without hearing him first.'

'He is family! He should be allowed to defend his actions!'

'There is no excuse for what he has done.'

'He has cut us off from him!'

'Do not forget, this is his third offense!'

'He has not killed...'

'He ignores us now as he has ignored us all along.'

'Yes! Cut him off!'

'Gwen! What are your thoughts?'

'Yes, Gwen!'

'She should be the one to pass judgment.'

'She is biased, she—'

'She is the victim!'

'This cannot go unpunished!'

'Gwen?'

'Tell us, Gwen, what would you have us do?'

The birth was close, perhaps only minutes away, and Knives felt his frustration beginning to peak. His attention should be completely focused on Meryl and the child she was about to deliver. Instead he needed to listen to the discussion of his sisters were having about his twin.

'Gwen needs rest,' Knives thought. 'And Meryl is about to deliver-'

'We have felt the impending birth, little brother, and we look forward to her arrival... but this cannot wait,' a plant said, one Knives knew as Kayla. She was one of the oldest plants on the planet and her voice carried much weight with the others. 'Answer us, Gwen. What would you have us do?'

Gwen's psychic voice said, 'I am not the only one he has hurt.'

A chorus of voices echoing the name of the plant Vash forced his mind into filled Knives' consciousness. 'Anna. What is your opinion?'

Silence fell upon the group once more as they waited for the first Angel to have been assaulted by Vash to respond.

Meryl groaned in pain and Knives automatically rested his hand on her forehead in an attempt to comfort her.

"She's almost fully dilated," Angela whispered. "Just a bit more..."

Before Knives could ask how much longer until Meryl would be ready, Anna's psychic voice filled his mind.

'Excommunicate him,' she said.

The air remained thick with anticipation and Knives knew they were waiting for Gwen's opinion on what Anna has said. While Knives agreed that Vash needed to be punished, but the proposed action was too extreme. In spite of everything, Vash was still his twin. No plant had ever been excommunicated before. Excommunication from family was like a waking death, but Knives doubted Vash would see it that way. He didn't seem to revere family as the rest did. He was not One with them like Knives was. Vash saw himself as a completely separate entity whereas Knives saw himself as being One with the rest of them, but different, unique. Vash's chosen family was far more important to him than his birth family. It was with them that he desired oneness.

Knives closed his eyes as he waited, then Gwen's voice filled his mind. 'I agree with Anna.'

He couldn't prevent the wave of unease and grief that rippled forth from his mind the moment Gwen spoke.

'Knives?' Kayla asked, 'You disagree?'

'I do not wish for my brother to be cut off from us forever...'

'He cannot go unpunished,' Kayla said.

'I know,' Knives said. 'But... If he were to make amends... if he were to seek forgiveness... would we accept him once again?'

Kayla was silent for several seconds, then, 'If he were to make amends, yes, we would accept him once again.'

Knives pursed his lips together as he watched Meryl fade in and out of consciousness, her struggles to push the infant out of her body taxing her reserves to the limit and beyond. Another wave of pain began to crash around her, bringing fresh tears to her eyes. She gasped for breath and clutched at her pillow.

"I can't... anymore," she said. "I can't..."

"Yes you can, Meryl!" Angela said, "Give me another good push and you'll be crowning. Another couple of pushes after that and this will be all over. You can do this!"

"I can't push... I can't." More tears rolled down her cheeks as she closed her eyes, "Tired."

Knives felt her energy level suddenly dropped and he cried out her name in alarm, "Meryl!"

'Knives?' Kayla said, 'You must tell us what you think we should do. This must be unanimous.'

Knives shuttered at the thought of being cut off from his entire family. The concept itself was frightening to him. Deep down he wondered if Vash would even notice that his own family had turned their backs to him.

Jaw clenched, Knives made his decision. 'Very well. Cut him off from the rest of us.'

Ignoring the pain, Eleandra stretched as far as he could, trying to reach his gun while vowing to kill the woman who shot him. His fingertips grazed the metal of his weapon, smearing blood on the muzzle. With a grunt, he pitched himself as far forward as the pain would allow and finally pulled the gun toward himself.

The strain left Eleandra nauseated. The blood loss was starting to make him feel faint and he rested his forehead against his upper arm, squeezing his eyes tightly shut. At what point did he lose control? He should have made the woman immobile the moment she was in his sights. Eleandra never expected her to be any sort of threat... Chapel was the main target. She was just baggage, worthless and cumbersome.

Moreover, the bitch had shot him! Twice!

He was scarred now because of her!

Sighing heavily, he used his good arm to push himself up onto his knees. In the distance, he heard the woman crying. It was a pitiful sound full of emotional pain and torment and it echoed beautifully in his ears in the most comforting way.

The sound brought a smile to his face as his eyes rose to focus on his new target. He would hurt her some more, both physically and emotionally. The day would not end without hearing more of her pain.

She lost consciousness shortly after the nurse announced that she was close to crowning. Her body seemed to run on automatic after that point. Knives looked forward to seeing the birth of the next generation as he tried to forget the judgment that had been passed down upon his twin.

The free-born plant laid his hand on Meryl's belly and began to feed his energy into her as he had done so many times before. The effort went unnoticed, as Meryl did not respond. Funneling his energy into her was no longer helping her. He felt her quiver under his palm as her body tried to push the infant further along the birth canal, only to stutter in its efforts before growing still.

Alarmed, Knives reached for her wrist to feel her pulse. When several seconds passed, he moved to her neck and pressed two fingers against her. He nearly sighed in relief when he felt the gentle thumping of her blood moving through her body.

She was alive, but weak. If the birth lasted much longer, Knives was certain she would die.

"You need to get it out of her," he said. "Now."

Angela was already standing when Knives spoke. She retrieved a scalpel and Knives asked, "Caesarian?"

"Episiotomy," she said. "I have to enlarge the vaginal opening and pull the infant out. She's almost out, but her shoulders are stuck."

Leaning forward, the nurse made the incision, then blotted the excess blood before inserting her fingers into the opening. "She's coming," Angela said.

Knives stepped around in time to see the child's head finally emerge. Once the head was out of the birth canal, the rest her for tiny seemed to almost spill out of Meryl.

The nurse held the newborn in muted wonder and Knives was tempted to strike her for her inaction. The infant was covered in blood and afterbirth, Meryl was naked and bleeding, there was a battle taking place not far from where they both stood and the human just stood here, staring.

"What are you waiting for?!" Knives demanded.

Angela swallowed hard and muttered an apology as she wrapped the infant in cloth and carried her to the examination table. The infant did not cry as the nurse carefully cleaned out the nasal passages and made certain that all her airways were clear.

"She's breathing just fine," she remarked as she wiped away the blood and mucus coating the infant's skin. "Her coloring is normal and improving."

Feeling Knives' impatient presence behind her, Angela stepped away from the child to allow him to get a better look at the infant. He stood over the newborn plant for a long moment before running a finger across her cheek. The baby's eyes widened only slightly at the touch before closing again. She yawned once while Knives examined her hands and fingers.

"Attend to Meryl," he said as the infant wrapped her fist around his forefinger. "It is important to me that she survive."