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 3**

Previously:

"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.

~~~*~~~

Vash shut the front door behind him as he carried Meryl into the small house, heading for her room in the back. Once there, he laid he gently down on the bed, careful not to aggravate her injuries, and did his best to make sure she was as comfortable as possible. Though it was fairly hard for him to gauge her comfort as she wasn't even conscious yet. Having done that, he sighed a small sigh of relief, and repeated what had now become his mantra ever since that insufferable bounty hunter had burst into the bar; She'll be fine, she will be fine… she has to be… Shaking his head to rid himself of morbid thoughts, he left the room for a moment to retrieve more bandages, a bottle of painkillers, and a glass of water. Carefully, he redressed Meryl's injuries properly, using the new bandages he had just fetched from the bathroom.

Sitting her up carefully, he softly called to her. "Meryl… Meryl… you have to wake up now. Come on Insurance Girl, get up!" Meryl didn't move an inch. She wasn't giving Vash any signs that she heard him, and he was becoming increasingly worried. "Meryl! MERYL! WAKE UP! Please!"

Meryl groaned, someone was yelling in her ear and it was not a very nice way to wake up after being shot. Wait a minute… I was shot? Oh crap… It's not that she was worried about her own well being, on the contrary, she reasoned that if she was getting annoyed by someone yelling in her ear then she was obviously on the road to recovery. Actually, what had her worried was her last memories of the fight in the bar. Vash had been pinned down in the corner on the floor, having tripped over a fallen chair. That blasted bounty hunter was standing over him, about to shoot when… oh… so that's what happened, she thought to herself as soon as she was able to sort out her jumbled thoughts. "-eryl! MERYL! WAKE UP! Please!"

"Ow…" she muttered, "do you really need to shout?" she brought one hand up to her head, cradling her throbbing temple with one hand, while steadying herself in a sitting position with the other. "Meryl! You're awake! You had me worried for a minute there" she heard the voice say to her, this time not quite as loud as before. "Ungh. Sorry" she muttered, still trying to figure out where she was and who she was with. Gingerly, she opened one eye, expecting to see Millie or maybe one of the townspeople; instead, she was actually surprised by the scene before her, though she had the fleeting thought that there really nothing surprising about it. "Vash??"

Vash smiled, relieved, she really was going to be alright. "Yeah, you're in your room. I brought you back here before the sheriff had a chance to get a good look at me, so we should be safe. " Meryl just continued to stare at him incredulously. "What?" he asked, perplexed as to why she would be giving him such a look.

"You didn't…" she trailed off, dumbfounded, and yet wondering why. "I didn't what?" Vash prompted her, just as confused as she seemed to be. "You didn't call me 'Insurance Girl'" she whispered, still not quite believing it. She had known Vash for a few years now, and not once in all that time had he ever used her given name. She gave a small laugh, "You know, I was beginning to believe that you didn't even know my name."

Vash suddenly became very nervous, he hadn't meant to drop the nickname, but he was just so worried about her that it must have slipped out. "Uh yeah, well… It's not like I don't know your name… I can go back to Insurance Girl if you want…" For once, the great and powerful Vash the Stampede, couldn't think of a decent cover.

"NO! I mean, er… I don't mind. I'd actually prefer you called me Meryl anyway. I don't why it took you this long to drop the nickname, actually. I mean, we've known each for awhile now, and we are friends, right?"

Vash froze, nearly blown away by her words. Not because he had never considered Meryl a friend, just, he had never hoped to believe that she thought the same of him. What with the way they constantly bickered and fought with each other for almost no reason. Granted, he had good reason to fight with her, as much as he hated to do it; he needed to keep her distanced from himself. He could never allow anyone to get close. "Everyone I'm close to… they all die…" he had told her once. He cared about her far too much to let that happen, and so he distanced himself from her, thinking that she would be safest if she hated him. But here she was, sitting before him completely unguarded, asking him for friendship.

"Of course we're friends Meryl" he said softly, feeling as though if he were to speak any louder the world would shatter around them and the moment would be lost forever.

Meryl smiled through her relief. She had always told herself that no matter what, she would always be there for him, even if he didn't want her to be. Still, she had never even dared imagine that he thought of her as his friend, indeed she had thought just the opposite. She had always believed that he thought of her and Millie as just an annoying pair or Insurance Girls, who wouldn't leave him alone despite his best efforts. of course, she knew that her habit of fighting with him constantly probably did help any either, but still, she was glad to know that she at least had his friendship.

"Good. Then you can just call me Meryl from now on, okay?" Though she was still smiling, she winced, as the pain of her injuries was beginning to catch up with her. She continued to keep up her smile, nonetheless, hoping he wouldn't notice and worry over it.

He noticed. "Here, take these…" he said concernedly as he handed her a pair of painkillers and the glass of water he had brought with him to her bedside.

She swallowed them quickly, grateful for his foresight, though she began to feel a little dizzy. Maybe I'll just take a short nap… was the last thing she thought before passing out again.

As she began to fall backwards towards the edge of the bed, he quickly caught her and gently laid her back down on her soft pillow. He sighed, wishing she had stayed awake just a little bit longer…

He shook his head. Thoughts like that would get him nowhere. As he gazed at her sleeping form, a small smile crept up on him. At least she doesn't hate me… With that, he retrieved a pair of chairs from the kitchen table, plus an extra blanket, and created a makeshift bed next to hers, so that he could keep an eye on her and be there when she woke up should she need anything.