WARNING: Spoilers ahead! Probably a few pretty major ones by the time this is finished too! ^_^x
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Well, so I own a few stuffed animals from my early childhood days, but other than that, I own nothing.
A/N: Ummmmm, yeah. This has been bugging me to write it for over two months now, so I did.
**Flashback** is pretty self-explanatory
as is **End Flashback**
However, ~~~*~~~ means a scene change without coming out of/going into a flashback
On with the fic…
Of Pudding And A Bounty Hunter
**Chapter 2**
Previously:
Vash never did get the chance to finish that sentence.
**End Flashback**
"Meryl! MERYL!" Vash cried out desperately, turning to the insurance girl's injured form as soon as the unconscious mass called the bounty hunter hit the floor. True, for perhaps the first time in his life, Vash had actually wanted to kill someone. Hell, it had taken all his strength to keep him from breaking his vow, but the bounty hunter was still alive. Though at the moment, Vash wasn't sure he could say the same for his Insurance Girl. That bastard deserves worse than death for this, Vash thought grimly as he pushed up Meryl's shirt just far enough to get a good look at the wound in her stomach. If she's not okay... "You had better start praying" Vash muttered to the bounty hunter's still unconscious form.
They had been sipping their drinks, just starting what could've have become a meaningful conversation, when that damned bounty hunter had burst in, practically declaring war on the peace-loving outlaw, who had been sitting at the bar in his red coat and glasses. While the bartender and all his patrons had managed to escape safely once the shooting began, Meryl had absolutely refused to leave.
**Flashback**
"You can't fight him like this right now! You'll only wind up tearing all the wounds you got in your fight with Knives!!" she had hissed at him while they escaped rapid gunfire by ducking behind the bar.
"Well what am I supposed to do then??" Please Meryl, don't be thinking what I think you're thinking…
"Leave! I'll hold him off while you go get the sheriff!" she had told him, just before popping up from behind the bar just long enough to fire off a few derringers.
Shit! I knew that's what you were thinking! he mentally screamed at her. "Like Hell!!! Are you crazy Insurance Girl?? You'll get yourself killed!!!!"
**End Flashback**
And now, here she was, lying unconscious on the barroom floor in a pool of her own blood. "Dammit Meryl!" he muttered as he examined the bullet hole in her abdomen. "You didn't need to do that, I would've been fine!" He was lying, and he knew it. If she hadn't jumped in front of him when she had, he'd be dead now; most likely, she would be too, as he doubted the bounty hunter would have left witnesses.
He did a quick mental run through of all the medical knowledge he had, which was actually pretty good, considering how many times he'd been shot, stabbed, etc. himself. "The bullet went clean through, missed all the vital organs…" he sighed. She'd lost a lot of blood, but she would be fine. "You're lucky she's still alive" he growled again to the bounty hunter, knowing that the man had regained consciousness by now, though he wouldn't be able to move for quite some time; not with the injuries he'd sustained. Vash began bandaging Meryl as best he could, uses some supplies he'd found behind the bar, knowing that the sheriff would most likely show up soon, and unless he wanted to go to jail, they would need to be out of the bar by then. Too bad we can't leave town, what with the big girl gone…
"I'm… still alive?" the bounty hunter asked no one in particular, his voice hoarse form the intense pain he was experiencing. Vash snorted, "No, you're dead. You've died and gone to heaven." After what felt like an eternity to the timeless gunslinger, Vash finished bandaging Meryl, and moved, albeit grudgingly, over to the bounty hunter to give him the same treatment.
"What the hell are you doing?? Stay away from me!" the bounty hunter cried out in fear, thinking for sure this time Vash the Stampede was going to do him in for good. "I'm afraid I can't do that!" Vash replied with his ever present 'but-I'm-innocent!' grin. "Huh?" the bounty hunter wondered, "Why the hell not??"
Vash simply shook his head. "Tsk, tsk. Such language! What would your mother say?" Stunned, the bounty hunter finally shut up. Now able to go about his task unhindered, Vash quickly finished his work on the bounty hunter and turned back to Meryl. Just as he was gently picking her up so that he could carry her back to the house, where he would have a chance to make thoroughly sure she was alright, the sheriff walked in, followed by a small group of deputies.
"Hold it right there pal. I'm going to want to ask you a few questions about this whole incident." he said, in a voice Vash interpreted as meaning, 'give-me-one-good-reason-NOT-to-lock-you-up'. Uh-oh…
"That's him sheriff! That's the one that destroyed my bar!!" a small elderly man yelled running into what was left of the main room in the bar. "Which one? The tall guy or the one on the floor?" the sheriff asked the bar owner, waving his hand in the general direction of the two suspects. "What tall guy?"
"Huh?" The sheriff turned back to where not a moment before, Vash the Stampede had been standing over the still present form of the bounty hunter, a small woman cradled in his arms. "I coulda sworn there was someone there a minute ago…" he muttered scratching his head.