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While Knives slept, first Alex and then Vash read through the book. Both were sobered by what lay upon the pages, and by the knowledge that they knew the person who had suffered through so many tragedies.

Alex had stared at the far wall while he waited for his father to finish the book. Silence reigned in the living room as Alex futilely wished for his mother. He had read things about Anne that he was sure she would want no man to know. He wanted his mother there for her wisdom, her perspective, and to be sure that she didn't fall into the hands of some of the bastards from that book. He didn't want to believe that there could be people who would do such terrible things. Certainly there weren't as many as had been in that book. There couldn't be, there just couldn't. Not here on Gunsmoke.

As soon as he heard the back cover close on the last page, he spoke. "Now what are we supposed to do?" He didn't try to suppress the quaver in his voice. To pretend that he wasn't affected by the book would be to pretend that Anne's suffering had never happened.

"I don't know," said Vash, his voice soft but troubled. "I don't know how to make this sort of thing better."

"Can we, I mean… Is there a way we can…?" His voice trailed off as he failed to find words to say what he felt.

"Can we save her?" said Vash, his gaze lighting on his son for a moment before flitting to rest on the far wall. "I don't know. I've never tried to deal with trauma like this. I've never seen trauma like this. This is unbelievable. I know that people can be bad, but to hate this much, to hate anyone so much that you can do what they did to her… I've never seen anything like that before."

"I want mom."

"Meryl is supposed to be back tomorrow. We could call her now, but she'd still not make it into the city much earlier. I think it's better that she not have to worry about this until then."

"Dad, that's not a good idea. Mom's going to hit you."

"I know she will. But that hurts less then knowing that she's sad and I can't be near her."

Alex was silent a moment. "She's not going to see it that way," he muttered.

Vash sighed and nodded. "That's why she'll hit me. But I think it's better this way."

Alex sighed and slouched further into the couch. "This just sucks. I wish yesterday had never happened. Why did Ace have to go off like that? What's her problem?"

Vash draped an arm over his son's shoulders and held him close. "She's jealous, and hurt, and probably more than just a little afraid. I don't think she expected to beat Anne, and certainly didn't expect to nearly kill her. Remember when you were younger, and you would hit me or Meryl when you got mad?"

"Dad, I was just a baby then."

"It's a common response, to strike back at that which brings you pain. Ace didn't have anyone who cared enough for her as a child to get past that response, to teach her that there are better ways of dealing with emotions then to lash out. Anne hurt her, so Anne needed to be hurt in exchange. It's simple."

"But it's stupid. Logically, then Anne would want to hurt Ace, and then Ace would hurt Anne again and it would never end. It's so much easier to just talk things out!"

"Neither of them are very good at talking. Both of them have been hurt by people who supposedly cared for them. That makes it very hard for either of them to say what they really feel, because to let someone else know that is to let them know how to hurt you the most. Sometimes your soul bleeds too much for you to dare to trust anyone, even the ones you love. Caring seems so fragile against the weight of pain."

"Sounds like they're just being stupid to me."

Vash ruffled his son's hair. "Spoken like someone who has never been hurt."

"You say that like it's something to be ashamed of."

"No, you're lucky. I hope that no one ever hurts you so much that you close yourself off from the world. But don't pretend that others are less than you because they do. Not everyone is strong enough to keep an open heart. I haven't been."

"But dad, you like everybody."

"But I don't always let them know. It's easier to like people when they don't like you back. It's impersonal, a distance that protects your heart even while you pretend that it's open."

Alex sighed again, then fell silent. Minutes ticked by unheeded by the pair as both were lost in thought. Alex pondered pain of the heart and how to heal it, while Vash reflected on what he had learned of Anne's past.

Both were brought back to reality by the sounds of stirring from the bedroom. They were looking at the door when Knives emerged, hair still mussed from sleep. Waiting for him to make the first move, they stared at him for a moment.

He blinked a couple times, then scowled. "What?" he demanded as he passed into the kitchen.

"We read the book," called out Vash. His arm slipped off his son's shoulder as they both sat up.

"So?"

"So… we were wondering we are going to do next."

Knives walked in with a glass of water and an irate look. "I don't know what you're going to do next, but I'm going to get Anne out of that damned bulb." He emptied the glass in one swig, then set it down on the arm of the couch. "It's time that woman stopped running." And with that enigmatic response he pulled on his shoes and left the apartment.