Standard disclaimer: We do not own Trigun! We wish we did!!
This is a bit cliché, but after we watched the anime we were horrified (like everyone else) that Wolfwood died. That sucked. We are relieved that in the manga, he's still alive!
The sign was dusty, like everything else on this planet, but it was polished under the dust, the letters sharp and clear. The Bernadelli Insurance Society. This had to be it. The man read the sign again, just to make sure, and then sighed. He was being an idiot. He knew this is where they worked. Hadn't he heard it a dozen or so times? "I'm Meryl Stryfe and this is Millie Thompson. We're from the Bernadelli Insurance Society." Meryl was always falling back on her authority as an insurance agent. Millie never did- but then Millie had her stungun for authority. At the thought of the stungun the man winced. Hopefully she didn't take it to work with her. She should only carry it when they traveled for the company. A depressing thought- they might not even be here. They might be out following another dangerous criminal- they might even be dead... He mentally shook himself. Stop delaying! There was only one way to find out what had happened to the girls. The man brushed the dust from his faded green coat, straightened his shirtsleeves and took off his sunglasses before he headed inside the building.
Meryl Stryfe stared at her keyboard, flipped her hair off her shoulder and frowned. Her hair was getting too long- she wanted to cut it short again, but with the longer hair she'd felt like a slightly different girl from the one that had lost her heart to the humanoid typhoon. A little over a year ago she and Millie had watched Vash disappear in the desert. They were still alive, so she could only assume that Vash had won. But where was he? No reports of towns destroyed by Vash the Stampede, or any kind of claims sighting him had come into the office. No reports on his movements on the satellite. He was gone and he wasn't coming back. She felt the familiar prickle of tears at the back of her eyes. Don't think about it. Think about tomorrow when you leave for your vacation. Think about seeing Millie- meeting that huge family of hers. Yeah. Focus on that.
Of course, thoughts of Millie led to thoughts of Wolfwood. He had died without them- alone in that little church. They had buried him out there and Millie had given Vash the cross punisher. Millie had seemed to deal with it okay after the first storm of her tears, but when they got home, she had left the insurance agency and gone back to her family. She said she couldn't take traveling anymore- and Meryl couldn't blame her. It was better for her at home. At first her letters had seemed sad, but they seemed to be getting happier, so maybe Millie was too.
Meryl smiled. Dear Millie, she really couldn't wait to see her. Her fingers began to move across the keyboard. Finish this- work through lunch if you have to- leave early and get on the road to Millie's. Her fingers flew, her desperation to be gone infecting every muscle.
A shadow fell across her desk. She ignored it.
"Excuse me, miss? Can you help me?" She looked up into a familiar face. One she had never expected to see again. It looked almost as surprised as she felt. "Meryl? That is you, isn't it?"
"Mr. Wolfwood?" Meryl felt the blood drain from her face. "You- you can't be here- you're dead, we buried you... " Maybe the stress was making her lose her mind- a hallucination brought on by stress- yeah, that was it. But- he looked slightly different- his hair was a bit shaggier, face more stubbled, different clothes...
"You did- but I wasn't dead. Legato and Knives..." He paused and looked uncomfortable. "It's a long story, and I'll tell you soon, but what matters is- I am really here. I'm not dead." He held out a hand to her and she cautiously touched it. Warm and callused, his hand closed around her slender cold fingers tightly. He was real. "See?" He was surprised to see tears form in her eyes.
"You are here." Meryl leapt to her feet and hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad to see you!" Then she drew back and slapped him across the face. "You bastard! It's been over a year! Why didn't you let us know sooner?" Wolfwood touched the cheek she'd slapped and laughed.
"Same old Meryl, I see. Is- is Millie here?" She heard the hopefulness in his voice and her anger vanished.
"I'm sorry, but no. She quit. Went back to her family." Meryl looked like she wanted to say more but a voice interrupted her.
"Stryfe! I don't recall the company rules saying that we can hit our customers..."
"Uh, yeah, chief. Um, he..."
"I'm so sorry, Mr.?"
"Nicholas D. Wolfwood." Wolfwood stood up and shook the boss's hand. "Miss Stryfe and I met when she was following the humanoid typhoon. It's a long story, but if she wants to hit me, I don't mind." He flashed a grin. "She and Miss Thompson were real lifesavers out there. You should be very proud of her."
"Oh we are," the boss smiled as Wolfwood's charm did it's magic. He could talk the birds down from the trees, Meryl thought with a faint smile.
"I didn't mean to interrupt her at work, but this is the only way I knew to reach her. I am very sorry."
"It's perfectly all right." The chief smiled at Meryl. "Say, Meryl, since your friend is here, why don't you leave now? You can start your vacation a little early."
"Thank you, chief!" Meryl stood up, straightening the last of the papers on her desk.
"And say hello to Millie for me, will you? Tell her we miss her- even if she was always late." Wolfwood shot Meryl a speculative look.
"I will chief! Thank you!" Meryl grabbed her coat with one hand and Wolfwood with the other. "C'mon, I'll buy you a doughnut."
"What happened to Vash?" They sat in the small coffee shop, a small stack of doughnuts between them.
"I don't know," Meryl replied quietly. "He went out to fight Knives and never came back. He might be dead for all I know." Wolfwood studied Meryl intently. He wasn't surprised he hadn't recognized her right away. Not only was her hair different, but she seemed thinner? sadder? than before. The sparkle he remembered in her eyes was dimmer than it used to be.
"Do you think he is?"
"No." Meryl's eyes were focused on her coffee cup and Wolfwood sensed she didn't want to continue the discussion of Vash. Time to change the subject.
"So, you're going out to visit Millie for your vacation?" That got him a smile.
"Yeah. She's been inviting me for awhile. I think..." Meryl trailed off and she took a grip on herself. "Why don't you come with me?"
"Just like that? You don't even know where I've been or what I've been doing." Wolfwood looked at her searchingly. "I could've been doing horrible things. I betrayed Vash after all- I'm sure he told you that I was working for Knives all along."
"Are you still?"
"No. I haven't seen him since that day... Chapel shot me in the back. He thought he killed me. Hell, I thought he killed me. But it was just Legato playing with us. He stopped my bleeding, and did something to my body so that you'd think I was dead. Kind of like hibernation, he said. He came to retrieve me that night." He didn't want to tell her how he'd woken up in the ground, lungs screaming for air, sure he was trapped in hell. He looked at his fingers for a moment, remembering the blood and dirt that had caked them as he's clawed his way out of the ground. "I think they were planning to do something really bad to Vash with me- but I think Vash managed to mess up their plans." Don't tell her about that dream. "All I knew is one day my guards had vanished and I was alone. So I walked out of there. Broke, nothing but the clothes on my back. I healed up and came here." He looked up. Meryl was studying him intently, those big violet eyes of hers focused on his face.
"Why?"
"Why do you think?" Wolfwood shifted in his chair. "Is she... did she find someone else?"
"No, of course not." Meryl smiled at his relieved expression. "So, then you do want to come with me?"
"Yes. Unless- unless you think it would hurt her more?" His voice shook just a little and Meryl knew what it cost him to ask that question.
"Don't be an idiot." Meryl snapped as his eyes widened. "It would hurt her more if I tell her tomorrow: 'Hey, Mr. Wolfwood stopped by the office. Remember him? Guess what? He's still alive. No, he didn't come with me. Why? Because he's a big chicken.'"
"Hey, that hurt, insurance girl!"
"It was supposed to, preacher man. Don't you dare get all noble on me now. My friend was devastated when we thought you were dead. She put on a cheerful face for me most of the time but I heard her crying at night." Wolfwood looked down at his coffee guiltily. Oh hell, Meryl frowned. Wrong tactic. She leaned over the table. "Look, let me put it to you this way. You have 2 choices: Come with me of your own free will, or I'll tie you up and drag you there."
"This is how you get dates, huh?" Wolfwood grinned as Meryl burst out laughing.
"I've missed your smart ass comments." She raised an eyebrow at him. "So, are you going to be sensible? Or do I get a rope? The bus leaves tomorrow morning." Wolfwood looked at her for a moment.
"Do you know where Millie lives? How to get there?"
"Yes, of course. It's not that far away- only 50 iles or so."
"Then why don't we take my bike? We can leave today."
"Your bike? Don't your bikes always break down?"
"No! Well.. at least not this one. She just got a tune up. I worked for a couple of days at a mechanic shop to make sure."
"All right then. Let's just stop and get my suitcase. Can you wait that long?" Meryl laughed and Wolfwood joined in.
"Is my impatience showing that much?"
"Only a little. C'mon, let me get my things." Meryl rose to her feet and led him outside. "Will you give me time to change out of my office outfit?"
"I'll have to, you can't wear a skirt that short on a motorcycle." Wolfwood grinned. "Unless you're planning on stopping traffic."
"I live right here." Meryl pointed to the building across the way. "Go get your bike. I'll be ready in 20 minutes."
"20 minutes? Can you make it 10?"
"Don't push it, preacher man."
Meryl walked out of her building with a light step. She felt happier than she had in months. She was taking Wolfwood to Millie. At least one of them would get a happy ending. Provided nothing else went wrong. She smiled faintly, feeling the derringers under her coat. She would make sure of it.
Wolfwood looked up as Meryl got closer. "Perfect," he said as he looked at her jeans, white shirt and hip-length blue coat. Her hair was twisted up and clipped against her head. "Nothing that can get caught in the wheels." He strapped her case down on the back of the bike and handed her a helmet.
"I don't remember you wearing one of these."
"I didn't want to push my luck," Wolfwood replied, as he put on his own and sat down. "Ready?" She climbed on behind him.
"Yes." She grinned. "We're heading west."
This is a bit cliché, but after we watched the anime we were horrified (like everyone else) that Wolfwood died. That sucked. We are relieved that in the manga, he's still alive!
The sign was dusty, like everything else on this planet, but it was polished under the dust, the letters sharp and clear. The Bernadelli Insurance Society. This had to be it. The man read the sign again, just to make sure, and then sighed. He was being an idiot. He knew this is where they worked. Hadn't he heard it a dozen or so times? "I'm Meryl Stryfe and this is Millie Thompson. We're from the Bernadelli Insurance Society." Meryl was always falling back on her authority as an insurance agent. Millie never did- but then Millie had her stungun for authority. At the thought of the stungun the man winced. Hopefully she didn't take it to work with her. She should only carry it when they traveled for the company. A depressing thought- they might not even be here. They might be out following another dangerous criminal- they might even be dead... He mentally shook himself. Stop delaying! There was only one way to find out what had happened to the girls. The man brushed the dust from his faded green coat, straightened his shirtsleeves and took off his sunglasses before he headed inside the building.
Meryl Stryfe stared at her keyboard, flipped her hair off her shoulder and frowned. Her hair was getting too long- she wanted to cut it short again, but with the longer hair she'd felt like a slightly different girl from the one that had lost her heart to the humanoid typhoon. A little over a year ago she and Millie had watched Vash disappear in the desert. They were still alive, so she could only assume that Vash had won. But where was he? No reports of towns destroyed by Vash the Stampede, or any kind of claims sighting him had come into the office. No reports on his movements on the satellite. He was gone and he wasn't coming back. She felt the familiar prickle of tears at the back of her eyes. Don't think about it. Think about tomorrow when you leave for your vacation. Think about seeing Millie- meeting that huge family of hers. Yeah. Focus on that.
Of course, thoughts of Millie led to thoughts of Wolfwood. He had died without them- alone in that little church. They had buried him out there and Millie had given Vash the cross punisher. Millie had seemed to deal with it okay after the first storm of her tears, but when they got home, she had left the insurance agency and gone back to her family. She said she couldn't take traveling anymore- and Meryl couldn't blame her. It was better for her at home. At first her letters had seemed sad, but they seemed to be getting happier, so maybe Millie was too.
Meryl smiled. Dear Millie, she really couldn't wait to see her. Her fingers began to move across the keyboard. Finish this- work through lunch if you have to- leave early and get on the road to Millie's. Her fingers flew, her desperation to be gone infecting every muscle.
A shadow fell across her desk. She ignored it.
"Excuse me, miss? Can you help me?" She looked up into a familiar face. One she had never expected to see again. It looked almost as surprised as she felt. "Meryl? That is you, isn't it?"
"Mr. Wolfwood?" Meryl felt the blood drain from her face. "You- you can't be here- you're dead, we buried you... " Maybe the stress was making her lose her mind- a hallucination brought on by stress- yeah, that was it. But- he looked slightly different- his hair was a bit shaggier, face more stubbled, different clothes...
"You did- but I wasn't dead. Legato and Knives..." He paused and looked uncomfortable. "It's a long story, and I'll tell you soon, but what matters is- I am really here. I'm not dead." He held out a hand to her and she cautiously touched it. Warm and callused, his hand closed around her slender cold fingers tightly. He was real. "See?" He was surprised to see tears form in her eyes.
"You are here." Meryl leapt to her feet and hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad to see you!" Then she drew back and slapped him across the face. "You bastard! It's been over a year! Why didn't you let us know sooner?" Wolfwood touched the cheek she'd slapped and laughed.
"Same old Meryl, I see. Is- is Millie here?" She heard the hopefulness in his voice and her anger vanished.
"I'm sorry, but no. She quit. Went back to her family." Meryl looked like she wanted to say more but a voice interrupted her.
"Stryfe! I don't recall the company rules saying that we can hit our customers..."
"Uh, yeah, chief. Um, he..."
"I'm so sorry, Mr.?"
"Nicholas D. Wolfwood." Wolfwood stood up and shook the boss's hand. "Miss Stryfe and I met when she was following the humanoid typhoon. It's a long story, but if she wants to hit me, I don't mind." He flashed a grin. "She and Miss Thompson were real lifesavers out there. You should be very proud of her."
"Oh we are," the boss smiled as Wolfwood's charm did it's magic. He could talk the birds down from the trees, Meryl thought with a faint smile.
"I didn't mean to interrupt her at work, but this is the only way I knew to reach her. I am very sorry."
"It's perfectly all right." The chief smiled at Meryl. "Say, Meryl, since your friend is here, why don't you leave now? You can start your vacation a little early."
"Thank you, chief!" Meryl stood up, straightening the last of the papers on her desk.
"And say hello to Millie for me, will you? Tell her we miss her- even if she was always late." Wolfwood shot Meryl a speculative look.
"I will chief! Thank you!" Meryl grabbed her coat with one hand and Wolfwood with the other. "C'mon, I'll buy you a doughnut."
"What happened to Vash?" They sat in the small coffee shop, a small stack of doughnuts between them.
"I don't know," Meryl replied quietly. "He went out to fight Knives and never came back. He might be dead for all I know." Wolfwood studied Meryl intently. He wasn't surprised he hadn't recognized her right away. Not only was her hair different, but she seemed thinner? sadder? than before. The sparkle he remembered in her eyes was dimmer than it used to be.
"Do you think he is?"
"No." Meryl's eyes were focused on her coffee cup and Wolfwood sensed she didn't want to continue the discussion of Vash. Time to change the subject.
"So, you're going out to visit Millie for your vacation?" That got him a smile.
"Yeah. She's been inviting me for awhile. I think..." Meryl trailed off and she took a grip on herself. "Why don't you come with me?"
"Just like that? You don't even know where I've been or what I've been doing." Wolfwood looked at her searchingly. "I could've been doing horrible things. I betrayed Vash after all- I'm sure he told you that I was working for Knives all along."
"Are you still?"
"No. I haven't seen him since that day... Chapel shot me in the back. He thought he killed me. Hell, I thought he killed me. But it was just Legato playing with us. He stopped my bleeding, and did something to my body so that you'd think I was dead. Kind of like hibernation, he said. He came to retrieve me that night." He didn't want to tell her how he'd woken up in the ground, lungs screaming for air, sure he was trapped in hell. He looked at his fingers for a moment, remembering the blood and dirt that had caked them as he's clawed his way out of the ground. "I think they were planning to do something really bad to Vash with me- but I think Vash managed to mess up their plans." Don't tell her about that dream. "All I knew is one day my guards had vanished and I was alone. So I walked out of there. Broke, nothing but the clothes on my back. I healed up and came here." He looked up. Meryl was studying him intently, those big violet eyes of hers focused on his face.
"Why?"
"Why do you think?" Wolfwood shifted in his chair. "Is she... did she find someone else?"
"No, of course not." Meryl smiled at his relieved expression. "So, then you do want to come with me?"
"Yes. Unless- unless you think it would hurt her more?" His voice shook just a little and Meryl knew what it cost him to ask that question.
"Don't be an idiot." Meryl snapped as his eyes widened. "It would hurt her more if I tell her tomorrow: 'Hey, Mr. Wolfwood stopped by the office. Remember him? Guess what? He's still alive. No, he didn't come with me. Why? Because he's a big chicken.'"
"Hey, that hurt, insurance girl!"
"It was supposed to, preacher man. Don't you dare get all noble on me now. My friend was devastated when we thought you were dead. She put on a cheerful face for me most of the time but I heard her crying at night." Wolfwood looked down at his coffee guiltily. Oh hell, Meryl frowned. Wrong tactic. She leaned over the table. "Look, let me put it to you this way. You have 2 choices: Come with me of your own free will, or I'll tie you up and drag you there."
"This is how you get dates, huh?" Wolfwood grinned as Meryl burst out laughing.
"I've missed your smart ass comments." She raised an eyebrow at him. "So, are you going to be sensible? Or do I get a rope? The bus leaves tomorrow morning." Wolfwood looked at her for a moment.
"Do you know where Millie lives? How to get there?"
"Yes, of course. It's not that far away- only 50 iles or so."
"Then why don't we take my bike? We can leave today."
"Your bike? Don't your bikes always break down?"
"No! Well.. at least not this one. She just got a tune up. I worked for a couple of days at a mechanic shop to make sure."
"All right then. Let's just stop and get my suitcase. Can you wait that long?" Meryl laughed and Wolfwood joined in.
"Is my impatience showing that much?"
"Only a little. C'mon, let me get my things." Meryl rose to her feet and led him outside. "Will you give me time to change out of my office outfit?"
"I'll have to, you can't wear a skirt that short on a motorcycle." Wolfwood grinned. "Unless you're planning on stopping traffic."
"I live right here." Meryl pointed to the building across the way. "Go get your bike. I'll be ready in 20 minutes."
"20 minutes? Can you make it 10?"
"Don't push it, preacher man."
Meryl walked out of her building with a light step. She felt happier than she had in months. She was taking Wolfwood to Millie. At least one of them would get a happy ending. Provided nothing else went wrong. She smiled faintly, feeling the derringers under her coat. She would make sure of it.
Wolfwood looked up as Meryl got closer. "Perfect," he said as he looked at her jeans, white shirt and hip-length blue coat. Her hair was twisted up and clipped against her head. "Nothing that can get caught in the wheels." He strapped her case down on the back of the bike and handed her a helmet.
"I don't remember you wearing one of these."
"I didn't want to push my luck," Wolfwood replied, as he put on his own and sat down. "Ready?" She climbed on behind him.
"Yes." She grinned. "We're heading west."