Disclaimer: This is the part where I say some witty little disclaimer line, but I'm all out and the good ones were taken. To get to the point . . . What kind of wack-a-spaz person are you?! 'Course I don't own Trigun! If I did, I wouldn't be here XP
Chapter 2. December
"What do you want?" she said, her hands on her hips. Vash was taken aback. He knew what he wanted but he couldn't find a way to make it sound as though he wanted to talk with an old friend. Well, he had to try.
"I'm, uh, I'm here to speak with Meryl Stryfe."
"You a reporter?"
"No. I'm just a friend, I just wanted to talk-"
"Who are you?"
Vash didn't answer. Despite the fact that it had been two years he was still known as Vash the Stampede. Fortunately enough, before he had to answer they both heard a voice calling from upstairs.
"Kate! Where's my coffee?" That had to be Meryl. Vash looked up and then glanced back at the girl in front of him. She looked a little angrier now as she turned, mumbled, "Go on up," and disappeared through a door to Vash's left. When she was gone, Vash continued up the stairs. At the top landing there was a door in front of him and a door to the right and left. He guessed one was a bathroom and the other two bedrooms. The door in front of him was left opened and as he gazed at its insides he stopped.
Sitting at a roll-top desk and typing furiously on a typewriter was Meryl Stryfe. She stopped and leaned back, stretching, then yelled, "Kate!" Before she said more, Vash spoke.
"I think she went to get your coffee." Meryl, without moving from her stretching position, turned her head to look at him. She looked at him hard for what seemed like a billion years, then: "What do you want here?"
That wasn't exactly the greeting that Vash was hoping for, but it was better than screaming at him. Problem was, Vash didn't know how to reply.
"I . . . I, er, just wanted to say hi." It sounded more like a question than anything, and he looked like he was awaiting her approval. Really, he hadn't been thinking of Meryl. He had actually come to December for water and a place to stay for a while. He hadn't really thought about her until that old man started talking about her witnessing the fall of December.
"I suppose . . ." Meryl said nothing else and turned back to continue on her typing. It couldn't be for the Bernardelli Insurance Company, according to that old man it had been destroyed. Vash still wanted to talk with her, so he said the first thing that came to his mind.
"Where's Milly?"
"She left, about a year ago. She's in Augusta or some place like that. I haven't really been keeping track of her lately, though she has sent me letters."
"Oh . . ." Vash moved a little more into the room. He had become more interested in what had happened to December, but he didn't want to ask her right out about it. She could be sensitive to that subject, for all he knew. But . . . It just sort of came out like that.
"That's what you came here for?" Meryl said this before Vash even realized the question had left his mouth. Feeling a little foolish, he replied.
"Well, actually, no. I came here for a pit stop, but I kinda heard about it and, well . . . you know . . ."
"No, I don't know, but I understand."
"So . . ."
"No, Vash."
"No?"
"You know what I mean. I won't tell you anything. It's none of your business. Besides, what would you be able to do about it?" Meryl had a point. It wasn't his business and there really wasn't anything he could do about it, but he just wanted to know. "And where is she with my coffee?" Meryl stood and began to stalk downstairs. Vash watched her go and walked into the room, looking over the typewriter. It was a typed letter to Milly. '. . . And I don't expect it to get better . . . Same dream over and over again . . . And the plant still hasn't been fixed . . . I'm beginning to wonder if it ever will . . ." Vash stopped there. Of course it wouldn't be fixed soon. After a year, in the least, without so much as a worker go near it . . . People should evacuate the city and move on to a new one, but Vash knew too well that Meryl wouldn't go.
Vash moved away from the typewriter and began to examine the walls. Large newspaper clippings were framed and hung there, most of them about Milly and Meryl's work at Bernardelli, some of them summarized reports that Meryl had turned in about them chasing Vash, and then one clipping from a newspaper in Augusta, probably sent from Milly, about the destruction of December. Not much info was there, only telling Vash things that he had already known. Somewhere in there he read the line '. . . and this could be the work of Vash the Stampede, after going into hiding nearly two years ago . . .' Vash was surprised to see that line underlined in red.
He heard Kate and Meryl coming up the stairs again and pretended to be reading a clipping about the insurance girls chasing him. As they entered and Meryl sat down, Vash turned back. Kate was looking at him un-approvingly, her hands on her hips.
"Do you want something?" she asked, not even bothering to sound courteous.
"Oh, um, do you have any water?" Vash asked innocently. He heard her give a small growl and turn around, saying, "Be right back." Vash scratched the back of his head, then asked, "What's the deal with her?"
"I dunno. She's always like that," came Meryl's short and simple reply. Nothing was said between the two for a little while, in which Meryl finished her letter. She took of off the typewrite and signed it, then folded it.
"Why don't you deliver it in person?" Vash asked as he watched her putting it in an envelope and sealing it, writing Milly's name across it. He would have asked earlier, but he didn't want to make it seem like he had read it while she was downstairs.
"You're right, Vash, I should deliver it in person, but I can't leave."
"No, you just don't want to." Meryl didn't reply. "Why don't you tell me anything about what happened to December? You saw it, don't you know who did it? What did it? Or why the plant stopped?"
Meryl hesitated before replying, "He was after you, Vash."
"He?" Meryl only shook her head.
"Don't worry about it, Vash." Vash couldn't do that, both of them knew, but he didn't want to press on anymore. "And I would go visit Milly, but why I can't is none of your business either." Nothing more was done or said until Kate came back into the room. Vash jumped from his seat near the window and scared Kate out of her wits as he advanced on her quickly. He snatched the cup from her hand and gulped it down quickly.
"You animal!" Kate said angrily.
"Hey, now, can't we all just get along?"
"No! How can anyone ever get along with Vash the Stampede?" Vash looked at Meryl, who shrugged a 'no' to the question his eyes clearly asked her.
"H-how did you-?"
"I know you very well, Vash. You saved my aunt from Pa Nebraska and Goseph. I still don't like you, despite what my aunt and her colleagues said about you. Even Meryl has talked about you before, but after all that destruction and blowing a hole in the moon, you're still an outlaw, and I still don't like you."
"Well, I'm honored you've done you're homework and everything, but you honestly don't know a thing about me," said Vash. Meryl was only listening to and watching the situation. Honestly, she had to agree with Vash. She and Milly really knew the most about him, even though they knew very little, but it was still more than Kate knew. She had only been told second hand from friends and family who had seen him, but Meryl had spent quite near a year with him and still didn't know who he really was.
Kate scowled. "As if I wanted to know anything about you anyway! I've heard enough already to pin you as a murderous outlaw!"
"Murderous?" Even Meryl knew Kate was pushing it. Vash was far from being a murderer.
"Kate," Meryl warned in a deep voice.
"Hmph." Kate ignored her. "So what if you saved a bunch of people? You're still worth that sixty billion, and the only reason I haven't shot you is because you did save my aunt's life."
"It's not like you would have hit him anyway," said Meryl, defending Vash. It wasn't that she was on his side, but it was just the simple truth. Even at close range she wouldn't even have come an inch to hitting him.
"What, you're on his side now?"
"No. It's the truth. If your aunt told you everything that happened then you should know what he's capable of." Vash wasn't saying anything. He wasn't angry at being called a murderer or anything, he was just a little . . . confused. She didn't even know him, why make such harsh accusations?
Kate sighed. "Fine. You want more water?" Vash looked at her and she took the cup. "Yes? No? Maybe?"
"Yes, please." As she left out [again] Vash turned to Meryl, who spoke before he asked his question.
"I suppose that's why she acts the way she does . . . I've told her about you and how Milly and I used to track you down. I don't know why she'd think that way about you though. Not a lot of what she said was completely true."
"But some of it was?"
"Yes, Vash, some of it was. You're not murderous, but you are an outlaw. You did save her family, I did tell her about you, you did blow the hole in the moon, and destruction seemed to follow you wherever you went. Though the moon and the destruction of two cities wasn't your fault, it did happen to you, and that's what she's heard. I've explained it many times but apparently she didn't listen to me."
"Meryl, I have killed before, by my own hands and because of others following me."
"Legato Bluesummers was going to die anyway, you knew about Knives's plan."
"But I killed him, Meryl. Kate was right."
"No. Vash, no she wasn't and you know that perfectly well. If you had another choice I know you wouldn't have done it. Don't feel guilty like that." Meryl's tone of voice suggested that she didn't want to hear him whine. This was only partly true. What she said was true. "Vash what are you doing here?" He had told her earlier but the answer 'a pit stop' just didn't suffice.
"I didn't have any water-"
"I noticed."
"- and so I stopped here for water and a place to sleep."
"How long were you out there?"
"About two days . . . I think." Meryl chuckled.
"I thought you would have had enough sense to get a vehicle or get on a sandsteamer or something."
"I thought about it."
"Could've fooled me."
Kate entered the room [again] with the water and thrust it into Vash's hand, careful not to spill it.
"Sheriff downstairs is awake, Meryl," she announced. "And no, I didn't wake him up. Well . . . maybe dropping that rack of canteens may have had a part in it, but what will I tell him?"
"Tell him?" Vash questioned, looking from Meryl to Kate.
"Tell him there's some trouble over in the northern part of December. That'll get him away from here for a while." When Kate went downstairs (A/N: yes, I KNOW, but she's an errand girl, so to speak ^_^;) Vash questioned Meryl again.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the only reason I'm up here with the Sheriff is because he thinks I'm a vital piece of information about the city, so he won't let me have certain . . . er, visitors, you included. If he were to hear us talking he'd come up and check on me."
"That's why you can't go to deliver that letter to Milly?"
"Right. I can assure you that if it weren't for that damned sheriff down there I'd be on my way right now, maybe even living over there." Vash didn't expect her to say that.
"Aren't you afraid that Kate might say something to him about me?"
"No. Even though Kate doesn't like you, she wouldn't disrespect the trust I have in you. You're harmless, I've told her that. Even though she doesn't listen I'm sure she wouldn't do it. Well, that, and the fact that she might think she owes you something."
"Why would she think she owes me something?"
"Her aunt, probably, but I try not to get too close into her family life or anything like that. All I know is that most her family lives in Little Jersey and she'd rather be here than there." Meryl walked to the window and peered out, just in time to see the Sheriff running off down the dusty road, dodging the bits of broken building that lay there.
"Why tell him that? You're not going to leave anyway, right?"
"I don't like him much, but you're right, I suppose. Where would I go? Kate's the only-"
"Hey, Meryl!" Kate called up the stairs.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Some guy here is wantin' to, uh, speak with you." Vash picked up a shake in her voice.
"All right, I'll be right down." Meryl stood and began to walk down the stairs. Vash followed slowly and silently. He waited, looking around the corner. There stood a man Vash had never seen before, a little shorter than him yet tall all the same. Meryl stood outside the door talking for a minute. Kate began to go back toward the stairs and Vash grabbed her arm. She yelped quietly and turned, scowling.
"What?"
"Who's he?"
"What, are you spying now?"
"No, who is he?" Kate looked at Vash for a minute.
"His name is Joseph, why?"
"You know his name, why not tell Meryl who he was?"
"If I had said who he was she never would have spoken with him. It's really important that she does, but she knows what he wants."
"He's been here before?"
"Yeah, plenty of times. He comes in about twice a month to try and convince her to tell somewhat about . . . about it but it never works. Poor guy is so persistent."
"How do they know each other?"
"Curious, are you? Well, I don't really know. Meryl keeps insisting he's a friend, but I dunno. Says he comes over from somewhere like Carcasses or some place like that. Weird how he shows up at odd times. Doesn't really matter to me though. I just wish she'd hear him out."
"Odd times?"
"Yeah. Like, when Meryl is downstairs, alone, or when the Sheriff leaves. Sheriff doesn't like him too much."
"It's like he's watching her . . ." Vash stated. He looked around and began to quietly climb the stairs again. He looked around the room, then stood in front of the window. The buildings were littering the ground, but Vash knew there had to be another building somewhere, from what the old man had said. '. . . one of the last standing buildings . . ." It was not too far away, a building standing a little above the ones where half was blown away. The roof and part of the wall was gone, but it was still there. It was the perfect distance and hiding place, and placed just enough away to not be seen . . .
"When did he start showing up?" Vash questioned further.
"Well . . . I little before the accident. I hadn't been here long, he tried convincing her to come with him, saying things like she'd be happier there, I suppose he meant Carcasses, but like I said, I dunno. Then the It happened and the Plant blew and the town was blown apart and about a month later he started trying to convince her to tell someone what had happened."
"You were around, don't you know anything that happened?"
Kate didn't say anything for a minute, just kept her head down, her curly brown hair falling in front of her shoulders. When she looked up, her green eyes firm, she said, "I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you some." Vash looked at her, eager for her to continue. She took a deep breath. "Okay . . . Meryl and I were out in town. We had just got groceries and were going to go to Milly's to make this cake for Milly's brother or something like that. Rough winds had begun to come in, so we were probably the only ones out, and we had cloaks to protect us from the sand. We wouldn't have been in town if Milly's hadn't been so close, but that's just how it went. There was this really bright flash of light. We looked over toward the Plant and this figure came flying over it, but I couldn't really see because the Plant was getting brighter. Meryl shouted something, but I couldn't hear very well because this really high-pitched noise had started- I supposed it was from the plant- and she pushed me down and threw my cloak over my head. I could see or hear anything else."
This really wasn't much help, but Vash still didn't have time to think about Kate's words before the door slammed and angry footsteps began to storm up the stairs in a rage.
"Meryl! Calm down!" Kate said, alarmed, as Meryl began to kick and throw things. She was muttering angry words to herself, but Vash couldn't understand her. Vash looked over his shoulder and out the window again, where the Sheriff was running back to the office.
"Um . . . Kate?"
"Meryl, don't worry about him . . ."
"Kate?"
"Just a minute, Vash."
"I think you should-"
"Hold on a minute, would ya?"
"But-"
"WHAT?" Kate turned abruptly, angered by Vash's annoyance. Vash, on the other hand, was simply taken aback.
"The, um, sheriff, he's back." Kate looked toward the doorway and rushed to shut it, locking it as well. She ushered Vash into the closet, which he was much too tall for, and had just shut the door when a rather large fist began to pound on the door.
"Kate! Kate, open this door!"
"Just a sec," Kate replied sourly. She returned to Meryl's side to attempt to make her act like no one had been there, and then unlocked the door. The sheriff stormed in and stopped in front of Kate.
"That's the second time you've sent me away on false pretenses this months, Kate! What's the deal? Are you . . . hiding something?"
"That was a stupid question," Kate snorted to herself. The sheriff heard her, however, and sent a sharp slap across her left cheek. Inside the closet, Vash heard the sound of flesh making contact with flesh, but didn't move. He felt if he did then the sheriff would hear him and catch him. That would get him and the girls in trouble.
"Damn it, girl, I'm very close to kicking your ass off this planet."
"You could try. I guarantee you wouldn't get that far. Besides, you have no right to threaten me like that, not that it matters; you couldn't do as much to me as I could . . . say, Vash the Stampede." Vash held his breath at the mention of his name.
"And what, may I ask, puts his name in your mouth?"
"It was only a comparison," Kate said simply. "Now, please, could you leave? You're disturbing Meryl."
"No, I will not leave. You're hiding something from me, girl, what is it?"
"I'm not hiding nothin' from you, now get out."
Meryl was watching this unfolding before her, listening to their conversation. The smell of alcohol was definitely thick on the Sheriff. He must have been drinking before he woke up. Talk about a hangover. Meryl was brought from her examination of the sheriff, however, when he grabbed Kate by her hair and began to shove her down the stairs, all the while having Kate scream at him. Meryl quickly pulled open the closet door and Vash fell out.
"Vash, do something!" Vash quickly approached the doorway. Kate and the sheriff were already near the bottom of the stairs.
"Um, you there, stop!" Vash said firmly. The sheriff turned to look at him.
"Who, me?" he said stupidly.
"Let her go," he ordered.
"Whatcha gonna do 'bout it, big fella?" the sheriff said drunkenly.
"Uh . . ." Vash seemed a little confused. He had obviously not been faced with a situation like this very recently. The sheriff chuckled and was about to continue forward when a gunshot went off, hitting the wall near the sheriff and ricocheting off it to hit the sheriffs wooden chair. Vash looked over his shoulder at Meryl, who was holding a derringer by her side. Sheriff turned, pushed Kate to the floor, and began back up the stairs toward Vash.
"Vash!" Meryl said. "Aren't you going to do anything?"
"Um . . ." Vash still seemed a little lost. He looked back at the sheriff and struck only once before the man was falling back, unconscious. Kate moved over quickly to avoid being squashed under the burly man's weight. She looked at Vash for a minute, then:
"You idiot! Can't you do anything right?!"
Again, Vash looked kind of taken aback.
"Kate, cool it," Meryl sighed, putting her derringer back in her desk drawer.
"I see you've calmed down," Kate stated sourly, walking back up the stairs, stepping on the sheriff as she went. Meryl stopped dead for a moment, then sighed and closed the drawer. Vash noticed this but didn't say anything.
"Kate . . . You don't want to stay here, do you?" asked Meryl, shifting her gaze from her roll-top desk to Kate.
"It doesn't matter to me. With you is the only place I got, so where you go I do too, I suppose," Kate answered truthfully.
"I . . . I don't want to stay here any more."
"Huh? You don't . . . Want to stay in December?"
"No. I want to go to . . . I guess we could go to New Oregon, or Little Jersey, or maybe Carcasses." Meryl gave a small chuckle. "I think . . . Maybe it's time we visited Milly?"
Author's Notes:
There was only ever 7 towns on Gunsmoke (it's a fact, they said so in 'Goodbye for Now' or some eppy around in there) and I know of 6 (December, Carcasses (sp?), New Oregon, Augusta, Little Jersey, and July), two of which were destroyed. What is the last one?!
You may have noticed that some words were underlined, since I can't do italics, the underlined words are supposed to be in italics.
And I think I changed my mind, I think Kate's role may be a little more important than I said in the previous chapter. I know, Kate's an OC and people are probably sick of OC's, worried that they'll be sucky Mary-Sues and crap, but I had very good luck in my first and only OC, maybe I'll have luck here too ^_^
One more thing . . . I don't remember if that guy was Pa Nebraska and I think his name was Goseph. That's how heard it, that's how I spelled it, so give me a cookie . . . Really. ^_~ R/R!