Well, that was fun. Um, I thought that I could avoid the school crunch, but obviously such was not the case. So I took a week off to hermit, but I'm back now and with a nice new chapter. For those of you attempting to keep track of time, we skipped a few days. This is now day 26 of the 31 day month, time is running out. This'll probably be wrapped up in just a few more chapters, so I hope you like it ^_^

 Midvalley's back hit the wall with enough froce to knock his breath out in a loud woosh. His head slammed into the wall next with a crack and it took a moment for him to relearn how to breathe. The room swam in front of him as he gazed around in a daze. Alex was beside the register, a large bag of money clutched in her sweaty fist, screaming at the others. One of the women was exchanging shots with the resturaunt owner while most of the others were fighting with the patrons of the resturaunt whose lunch had been interupted.

What had hit him? Midvalley tried to clear the fog from his mind and his eyes landed on the brute of a man in front of him. Oh yeah, that had hit him. Crap, and those men outside were the local police force finally showing their scrawney hides. He watched as Alex noticed the new threat and her eyes widened. She began her shouts anew, yelling with vehemence for her men to get out. Actually, she'd been yelling that since the heist had started to go wrong, but they were having trouble following the orders.

Midvalley fought to think clearly, his eyes darting around. The man in front of him noticed and moved to grab him again just as Midvalley jumped to grab his sax. He hesitated just a moment; wasn't he supposed to be starting with a clean slate? Could he really go back to his old ways of life? Then again, he wouldn't have a new life if he got arrested. Despite his earlier indecisivness, it felt good to play his old songs again and feel the power flow through him. It was satisfying to see people and tables forced back.

Alex and the others hurried out the door. Midvalley hit a sour note, all music immediately fading from his mind and he followed in a rush. Several streets and corners later, the groups came to rest in an alley. Immediately most of them broke into applause and catcalls, many complimenting Midvalley's music and a few wondering where he'd aquired the strange power. Midvalley only nodded slightly, his knees giving out and tumbling him to the ground. Crap, he had no balance and he was seeing double too. Instantly Alex was in front of him. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Midvalley leaned back onto his heels and began making the slow, deliberate movements to make sure his Sylvia was all right.

Alex grabbed his head, focing him to focus on her outstretched hand. "You took a hard hit back there. How many fingers do you see?"

Midvalley blinked, quickly seperating the images in his mind. "Two. Now lay off." He stood, forcing himself to stand steady. "We need to get out of here, can I have my cut? There's somewhere I need to be anyway." Alex looked uncomfortable, not at all convinved, but she had no way of making the boy stay. Reluctantly she handed over a small wad of bills. Midvalley smiled and started moving right away. "Thanks. I'll see you guys tonight."

As soon as he'd rounded the corner, Midvalley dropped the act. His adrenaline was wearing off and his head was fogging more with each step. All the more reason to get to the house. Midvalley had experienced this before, a slight concussion muting his senses. He actually remembered it quite well, the nausea and headache far too familiar. Actually, it wasn't that different from a hangover, which he had even more experience with. It would pass, better to just wait it out somewhere safe.

Midvalley stepped onto the porch and opened the door as a smile lit his face. Safe, that would be the day. If he wanted safe, he would have gone home to sleep; but he was here. With a sigh he steped inside and started looking around for Knives. The blonde had actually gotten more violent since Legato had healed enough to return to his work. Actually, Knives was almost completely cut off from people right now. Chapel hadn't returned yet, the girls avoided him in general, Zazie spent all of his free time with that Isabel girl – Midvalley himself resented that the little blonde had a girlfriend when he didn't. Since his attack on Legato, even Vash had been avoiding Knives a little bit. Midvalley stopped at the thought, his search abandoned. Could it be that the volatile plant actually craved human contact? Was it this newfound solitude that was making him so irritable?

Out of nowhere, a hand pushed Midvalley forward. The attack wasn't all that violent, simply meant as a shove to get the musician moving, but it sent him to the floor none the less. He stayed there, fighting down another wave of nausea that the fall had brought on. "So, what, I can't even step in the door now without getting hit?"

"Maybe you should take the hint and leave me alone. Everyone else has gotten the message, why haven't you?"

Midvalley took a few more deep breaths and turned in place, not bothering to stand, and his breath caught. Knives was glowering at him with all the blonde's impressive strength. The skin around his eyes was pale with several tiny dark spots that looked like they'd be permanent scars, but the bandages were gone. "Shit!" Midvalley fell into a scowl, glaring now at the blonde. "You're healed now?"

"You didn't think this was going to be a permanent arrangement, did you?"

Midvalley shook his head, slipping into rant mode in place of something intelligent to say. "Holy crap. If you can see fine, make your own damned lunch. Jeez, wish someone would've told me before I dragged my ass halfway across this friggin' town. I don't want to be here and you clearly don't want me to be here-" He stopped, looking at Knives's carefully guarded face. He was angry, showing every sign of hating the boy before him, but he wouldn't meet Midvalley's eyes. He doesn't want me to leave. He made sure I didn't know so that I'd come.

Knives started moving, heading for the kitchen. "Well then, you'd better get your pathetic being out of my sight."

Midvalley pushed himself up with a grunt. "Why?" He watched as Knives stopped, just a hint of surprise on his face. "I'm here, may as well stay, right? But I'm in no shape to cook, we can order out. I know Chapel's resturaunt'll send us something if I ask nicely."

Knives was quiet for a moment. Midvalley sighed and sat down on the couch, the world spinning and making it hard to stay upright. "You're hurt."

"It's nothing, just got knocked into a wall. Thanks for the concern though."

"And why would I be concerned for a miserable spider like you?" The blonde was scowling again and strode to the other side of the room where he busied himself with several papers.

But he hasn't left.

Lunch was actually courtesy of Vash. Lured down by the sounds of their fight, Knives had sent him almost immediately to retreive something for them. He was keeping quiet and for some time, Midvalley had been watching him and wondering why he seemed to be acting so nice. Well, nice compared to his usual demeanor, he wasn't yelling or making threats. Perhaps it's because I can leave now. Before I was sort of obligated to stay, but I can leave now if I want. He kept looking at the blonde, but Knives was completely ignoring him.

"You must feel so alone."

Knives froze. Slowly he set down his pen and turned to look at the saxx player. "What did you say?"

"When we worked for you, you seemed to have everything and you were working towards getting even more. But now you've lost it all and you're alone. Why won't you let someone get close and help you?"

There was a pause for a few seconds before the door opened to reveal a bag laden Vash. Knives glanced at the gunman for just a second and Midvalley watched as the blonde's expression softened almost imperceptibly before he looked away. "Ypu have an interesting theory. Worng, but interesting."

Vash set the bag of food down and smiled. "Have I missed something?"

Midvalley shook his head quickly. "Nothing." I only figure out that your brother is afraid of losing you and being all alone. With a sigh Midvalley reached out for the food. He made a silent promise that he wouldn't leave, evem though he could. Knives may have been an arogant, evil, condescending bastard . . . but he was still human, so to speak, and he needed to be with people just as much as anyone else. A glimmer caught his eye and Midvalley watched in amazement as his wristband slowly changed from black to white and a smile crossed his face.

**

Wolfwood walked along the streets in the warmth of the setting suns. It was starting to cool off for the night, but the second sun hadn't yet hit the horizon, making it a perfect temperature for a stroll. His cross was slung across his back like normal and Wolfwood was eager to get home. He needed to be home. He needed to see Millie again and he needed to forget about the weekend that had just ended. It had been nice to see his kids again, but he would just as soon forget it, at least for a few hours.

It was late enough that Millie should be home, so Wolfwood headed to Vash's house at a brisk pace to see her. When he reached the house and saw Midvalley just leaving, however, Millie was suddenly the last thing on his mind. "Hornfreak!" Midvalley paused and looked up, surprised to see the priest again. "You bastard!"

"I'm, uh, glad to see you got home safe?"

"I can't believe you would go around acting as if nothing was wrong. You thought I'd never find out?"

"Uh . . . Chapel? Are you-" Midvalley was forced to shut his mouth and dodge as Wolfwood leapt forward in an attack.

"Don't you ever call me that again!" Wolfwood clenched his jaw, forcing himself to calm down slightly. When he opened his mouth again, his voice was literally shaking with anger. "I went to see my kids, and you know what? They knew it was me. There's nothing better than the innocence of children, I barely even had to explain why I'm different now, they just knew. And do you know what they did?" Midvalley gulped, suddenly understanding what was going on. "They ran from me! Because of you!"

"That was a long time ago. I'm not proud of it, but it's in the past and I can't change it now. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" Wolfwood looked like he was ready to shoot the boy in front of him when a hand landed on his shoulder. He didn't even flinch, his anger visably growing. "This doesn't involve you, Legato. Remove your hand from my shoulder or I will remove it from your arm."

"Nicholas, you need to calm down. Isn't it better in the end that they know what you are like? That they know the suffering you went through for them?"

Wolfwood spun, slapping Legato's arm away. "You have no idea what suffering is! That's not who I am anymore!"

Legato frowned, a hint of anger entering his face. "You have no right to say that. Chapel the Evergreen is exactly who you are and who you will always be. You cling to that past tighter than you cling to your fiancee. Everytime you see us, either me or Midvalley, you cling to old grudges and hatred. And so long as you force us to relive that past, you will always be the same man you hate."

Wolfwood snarled angrily and tackled Legato, doing his best to kill the boy with his bare hands. Panicking, Midvalley clamped an arm around the preist's neck, cutting off his air until he released the other boy. Wolfwood slammed his elbow back into Midvalley's gut, turning his fury on him instead. But Legato forced himself between the two boys. Suddenly Wolfwood had one of his guns leveled at the blue haired boy. "You both deserve to die for what you did."

Legato's jaw was clenched, but he didn't seem afraid. Slowly he reached up and grabbed the barrel, pushing it aside ever so slightly. "I have done far worse in my time than torture your children. And I have already payed for that. So has Midvalley. If you feel I deserve to suffer more, than rejoice, I am." Wolfwood focused on the boy's wrist and the dark fabric encasing it. "I am already paying for the past you cannot let go, there is no reason for you to lose your chance at a new future. Kill me if it will make you feel better, but I can garauntee you will join me soon after."

Midvalley gulped, looking quickly from one boy to the other. A gentle noise behind him made him turn around. Millie was standing on the porch of the house, her eyes wide and afraid as she watched the scene playing out. Midvalley turned back to see that Wolfwood didn't look like he was cooling down. "Chap-" his breath caught as the angry gaze was leveled at him. "I mean, Nicholas. Please think about this. You can't do this to Millie, you have to keep calm and stay with her."

Wolfwood scowled and pulled away from Legato. "Don't think you know how I feel or what I think. If you come near me again, you'll regret it." He punctuated his rant with a fist to Midvalley's stomach before he noticed Millie and ran the short distance to her waiting arms.

Hope it was worth the wait! Well, in any case. If anyone out there has deed ideas, I still need one for Legato and one for Zazie, but I'm getting there. Hope to hear from more reveiwers this time 'round, but if not, that's okay. See you all next week ^_^