Disclaimer: Let me think...nope; don't own Trigun or any of the characters.

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Knives paced around his now organized office and thought about who the mysterious burglar could be. He knew the piece of evidence he found could pinpoint the person who did it, but he kept it hidden from the deputies when they came to search the house, deciding that he wanted to do some investigating of his own.

As he continued to ponder this matter, his thoughts came to a screeching halt as the phone began to ring off the hook.

"Hello?" he asked abruptly as he picked up the phone.

"Knives?" whispered a voice on the other end.

"Yes?"

"It's me, Saria."

"Are you alright? You sound like something is wrong."

"I...have some news..." she trailed off and Knives stopped breathing.

"Did they find him?" asked Knives, swallowing a large lump in his throat.

"They did find him," began Saria, "but..."

"But, what?"

"He's...he's...dead."

Knives slammed down the phone and dropped his head into his hands as tears streamed down his cheeks. Screams of agony came along with he tears and thoughts of his innocent brother dead. He thought back on his dream he had had the night before, how his brother had been viciously killed for no reason, and screamed out in horror as he realized that his dream had come true.

Meryl rushed into the room, eyes wide with worry as she viewed her sobbing fiancé from a distance.

"Knives?" asked Meryl, slowly walking forward to where Knives sat sobbing.

"He's gone," choked Knives.

"What?"

"VASH IS DEAD!" yelled Knives, pressing his face into Meryl's stomach, sobbing more violently than before. "My dream...was it a foreshadowing?"

"What dream?"

"I had a dream last night that I was wandering in darkness and then a bright light engulfed me and Vash was standing in front of me for only a few seconds before he was shot dead. Then the person turned the gun on me and said that I was next and shot at me. Oh God, why?"

Meryl ran her fingers through Knives' hair as tears streamed down her cheeks at the thought of Vash being dead. Why Vash?

Knives eased the pressure he was applying to Meryl's stomach, kissing it and gently massaging it.

"My brother, gone," whispered Knives. "He'll never know."

"We'll never be able to tell him," added Meryl. "He would have loved to see his little niece or nephew grow."

"I'm calling Joe to get the full report of this event."

Knives turned away from Meryl and picked up the phone, dialing the sheriff's office and waiting for his call to be answered.

"December Sheriff's Department," answered a man on the other end. "Joseph Donahue speaking."

"Joe, it's Knives again."

"Knives, I'm terribly sorry about your brother."

"Joe, tell me everything that has happened."

"I'd much rather tell you in person. Do you think that you could come down here?"

"Yeah, I'll be right down."

Knives hung up the phone and rose from his chair behind his desk, kissing Meryl on her cheek and walking out of the office.

"Where are you going?" asked Meryl, turning to face her fiancé.

"I'm going down to the station," answered Knives. "I'll be back in a little while. You stay here and keep all of the doors and windows locked, and if anything happens, grab my gun and call Joe."

"I will. I love you."

"I love you too."

Knives rushed down the stairs and out to his car, starting the engine and driving into town. Thunder sounded in the distance as black clouds continued to roll over the area. Knives turned on the radio and listened to the weather man on the air announce that there was a severe thunderstorm rolling over December.

How convenient...my brother has just been pronounced dead and a storm is brewing...just perfect...

Knives parked his car outside of the station and hopped out, locking all the doors and walking in to Joseph Donahue's office. He was alone with his deputies.

"Joe, where's Saria?" asked Knives.

"She went home," said Donahue, rising from his chair and walking over to Knives. "She couldn't bear to be around her dead husband. We found his gold ring first, and then about a half of an ile away we found him and something else."

"What is this 'something else'?"

"We found a rose lying next to his dead body."

"A rose?"

"Yes, that's correct."

Oh shit! My dream...Vash was shot to death and a rose was lying next to him...what does this all mean?

"Do you have any suspects?" asked Knives.

"Well, we think that the person who killed Vash may be linked to the person who killed Millie," answered Donahue.

"How so?"

"Well, if you remember, there was a rose found near the spot where we found Millie Wolfwood."

"Joe, I want to see my brother."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

Donahue sighed and walked Knives over to the bag which contained Vash's body, unzipping it to reveal the mutilated body of Vash the Stampede. Knives studied his brother's body and features, suddenly realizing that something wasn't right. As he studied his brother's body, he heard a distant voice inside of his head, one of desperation.

'Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by Thy name...'

Vash, is that you?

"Joe," whispered Knives.

"Yeah, I know," replied Donahue.

"Joe, that's not him."

"What?"

"That's not my brother."

"It has to be. He's tall, wearing his infamous red coat, green eyes. This is Vash the Stampede."

"No, it's not. His facial features are all wrong; there are no scars on his body. Joe, where did your guys find him at?"

"They found him about twenty iles from Tonim Town."

"I've got to get back to my fiancé. I'll call you later."

"Drive safely."

Knives ran out of the station and jumped into his car and started the engine, driving like a bat out of hell to get back to his house. He parked his car and jumped out, not bothering to take his keys out, bolting through the door and up the stairs to his office where he found Meryl.

"Knives, did you see him?" asked Meryl.

"That wasn't him," said Knives.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure. There's no time, Meryl. Vash is alive and I know it."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I...when I was looking at his body at the station, I heard someone's voice in my head, and I'm pretty sure that it belonged to Vash. Meryl, give me my gun. I'm going to find my brother, but first, I'll call Saria and tell her my hypothesis."

Knives picked up the phone and dialed Vash's number, relieved that phone line had been reconnected. The phone was not answered.

"I guess she's out and about," said Knives, hanging up the phone. "Meryl, I want you to stay here and don't leave. If anything happens, there is another gun in the bedroom under the bed and I want you to use it if you have to, and then call Joe. I love you and I'll be back soon."

"I love you too. Be careful, Knives. The person who did this may be around the area."

"I know what I'm doing babe."

Knives rushed out of his office, down the stairs, and out of the house, hopping into his car and starting the engine, beginning his pursuit of the person who kidnapped his brother. He prayed that Vash was still alive and that he would find him in time.

A/N: Well, there you have it...chapter 26! What do you think will happen next? You'll find out soon...but not in the next chapter...hehe. Now, all you have to do is review and I'll pump out this next chapter!

Until next time, I remain faithful to my loyal reviewers and I will get chapter 27 out!!!