O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The golden-haired blond Plant blinked blearily at the shaft of sunlight that had crept in through his window and was shining over his bed, warming his body beneath the blankets. He pulled himself up to a sitting position and yawned mightily. Vash the Stampede leaned back against the wall his bed was placed by as he recalled his decision from the day before. The Plant rubbed sleep from his eyes as he pondered what he and his brother would be doing today. They would probably end up amusing themselves with nothing but playing cards and reading books now that they would not be returning to the daycare.

"Maybe I acted just a little hastily," he murmured to himself, thinking over the events of the previous day. If Knives truly was changing, it had to be mostly because of the little girl there, if not completely. Vash sighed and put his head in his hands. He had acted so irrationally after she had told him what he was blind of.

Vash slid off the bed and onto his feet. He stood and looked at a small mirror that was hanging on the wall and just the right height so that it reflected his face in it. He picked up a comb from the small table by the side of his bed and began to run it through his sleep-mussed hair as he said to his reflection, "Well, it's not too late to fix some things."

The Plant then dressed in a fresh shirt and pair of pants and exited his room. He passed through the kitchen where Milly was making breakfast. Vash paused to sniff the air and then he grinned, "Where's the donuts?"

Milly smiled back, "I knew you'd be able to smell them, Vash-san." She opened a cupboard, pulled out a box and handed it to Vash. "Only have one or two though so that you don't spoil your appetite for breakfast!"

"Yup!" Vash began munching on the heavenly treats as he stuck his head in the dining room, "Hey Mer-" He had been expecting to see Meryl hard at work on the dining room table, sorting through large piles of paper and jotting down notes and memos on a pad of paper, but instead the table was empty. It had been cleared of any evidence she had ever been there except for a blue pen that lay, looking lost and neglected, by where she usually sat. Vash turned back to Milly. "Where's Meryl?"

"Oh, she had to go into work early today." Milly answered. "She got a call from the boss. He said there was a new, really big case that just came in and he wanted her to take it, that she had the best experience for the type."

"Ah, okay," Vash picked another donut out of the box and then put the cardboard container back in the cupboard, "Breakfast will be ready soon?"

Milly nodded, "You going to go get Knives-san?"

"Yup." Vash turned and went back down the hall that was the entry and exit to all of the bedrooms of the small house. He stopped outside the door to Knives' room and knocked. "Knives? You awake?"

There was no answer.

He must still be asleep, Vash thought to himself, not taking into account the fact that Knives never slept in. Vash knocked once more, for the sake of manners, and then opened the door. "Knives, get u-" Vash started and then cut himself off. He stared in shock at the empty room, his brother's wheelchair sitting in the center of it - unoccupied. Vash did a quick check through the room and noted what little possessions his brother had, were gone. The Plant turned around and strode out of the room and down the hallway. "Milly! Has Knives gone anywhere?"

"No, Vash-san. Why?" Milly answered, cocking her head to one side as Vash entered the kitchen.

"He's left the house. He didn't need the wheelchair after all. He was just using it as a cover up so we wouldn't know he was plotting anything. Damn him!" Vash growled. He turned to stare out of a kitchen window as Milly put a comforting hand on his back.

"Where did you go Knives?" Vash whispered to the blue sky and the two brilliant white suns that shone outside.

Vash ate the breakfast in silence with Milly, although he could no longer taste the food that he put into his mouth. His mind was too preoccupied with the thought of his brother. Where did he go? Was he right now plotting the death of more innocents? How had he escaped?

Vash mentally scolded himself. When he thought of Knives leaving in terms of an "escape," it made it sound like Knives had been held at the house against his will. Yet in a way, he had been. Vash had never asked him if he wanted to leave or barely given his brother a choice in anything. The house had been a prison for him in a way. No wonder he had wanted to leave.

"Oh, Yume's going to miss him," Vash muttered to himself through a mouthful of toast.

"What?" Milly looked up from where she had been idly picking at her plate.

"Nothing." Vash stood up and took his dirty dishes into the kitchen. He put them in the sink and then walked back to the table. "I need to go out for a couple hours. Will you be okay here?"

The woman looked a little dejected but she managed a smile and a nod. "Yeah, I'm going to stay here for a bit longer and then go help Meryl with her paperwork." Vash smiled back at her and then left the house to head off to the daycare.

Milly sat at the table and watched him go out the front door. She heaved a sigh and stared at the food on her plate. The food she had cooked no longer interested her. She picked up the plate and walked into the kitchen to put the dishes away and scrape the scraps into the garbage.

Milly felt depressed. She had been hoping to get Knives to talk to her and be her friend, and now he was gone. Her eyes wandered around the kitchen and settled on the cupboard where Vash's donuts were stashed. She looked around her carefully to see if anyone was watching although she was alone in the house. She opened the cupboard door and reached in past the donut box, feeling around for something that she knew was hidden inside.

Finally, her fingers encountered a small container and the woman smiled triumphantly. She pulled out the tub and grabbed a spoon. "Pudding!" she smiled happily to herself and dug in.

"Hey, I need the home address of a girl who goes here. She's not here today. Her name is Yume." Vash said to the elderly daycare employee.

"I can't give you that information. I'm sorry, sir," she replied, giving him a disapproving look that said to him, 'I can't believe you even asked for it.'

"Can I please have the child's address?" Vash asked, trying to look as pitiful as he could, "My brother ran away last night and I think he might have told her where he went to."

"Isn't your brother a little old to be running away?" the old woman asked, her eyes narrowed.

"Ma'am, I just found out my brother could run this morning, let alone run away." Vash smiled sadly.

"Hey," a boy Vash recognized as Yume's friend tugged on the skirt of the old woman, "my mom wanted me to go home early today. I have to go see the doctor." He handed her a note.

She scanned it over quickly and then nodded. "Okay, you can leave Kole." She turned back to Vash, "I'm sorry, sir, but I can't give out that information. It's confidential. You understand, right?"

Vash sighed, "Yes. I understand." He turned away and began to walk dejectedly out of the daycare.

The boy hurried after him and grabbed his sleeve. "You want to talk to Yume?"

"Yeah, do you know where she lives?" Vash asked, brightening up.

"Yeah, I followed her home one day to find out. She never let me come over to her house for some reason even though she came over to my house all the time," Kole answered.

"She lives close by you?"

Kole nodded, "Just a couple blocks down the road. C'mon, I'll take you there." He grabbed Vash's hand and led him out the door.

As they walked through the town on the way to the girl's home, Vash saw that they were passing Meryl's office. He touched the boy lightly on the shoulder and when the child looked up at him, the Plant gestured towards the building. "I need to go in here for a minute."

"Okay, can I come?" the boy looked around the town nervously. He obviously did not want to be left alone outside.

Vash smiled at the boy. "Sure. Follow me." The two males walked into the building and they strode up to the receptionist's desk. "Hey, do you know where the office of Meryl Strife is?" Vash asked the lady.

The thin, harsh-looking woman popped her gum aggressively at the blond Plant in much the same way that a teenager does to a teacher or parent. "Do you have an appointment?"

"No, I'm her friend," Vash answered.

"Your name?" the lady snapped.

"Oh, I'm Vash. Vash the Stampede. You might have heard of me." He shrugged.

The woman's eyes bulged out of her head and she stared at the legendary gunman. "V-V-Vash the Stampede? Uh, d-down the hall to your, to your left. Right side, third d-door down."

"Thank you!" Vash grinned at her. "And always remember! This world is made of love and peace!" He flashed his love and peace hand sign at her and then disappeared down the hallway with Kole right behind him, leaving the shocked receptionist behind.

Vash knocked on a door that read 'Meryl Strife.' "Come in!" a strained voice called from inside. Vash opened the door and he and the boy, Kole, entered. Meryl sat at her desk that was stacked high with papers and called out, "Hey, Rick. Please get me a cup of coffee. No, wait. Just bring me the whole p-" she stopped speaking as she looked up. "Oh, hey Vash. What are you doing here? And who's the kid?"

"Oh, I was just passing by your office so I decided to stop by and see how you were doing," he answered.

"Ah, and the boy?"

"Oh, he's just a friend. He's showing me where a girl lives so I can talk to her."

Meryl rolled her eyes. "Oh, I see."

Vash waved his hands in front of him. "No, no, no! Not like that! Not anything like that! She's only five! I think…" he added to himself.

"Sure she is…"

Vash decided to switch topics, seeing as how she was not taking too kindly to the current one, "So, what's this new case about?"

"Oh," Meryl glared at the piles of paperwork covering her desk, "a house was broken into last night, one of the family members was killed yet nothing was stolen. I'm trying to figure out if they had any insurance for this kind of thing. I'm having to go over all these records," she gestured at the piles and then rubbed her temples, "and then I have to go to their home and inspect the damage and such." She looked exhausted.

"Whoa, that's a lot of work. Makes me glad I don't have a job!" Vash started to laugh but it quickly ended with a strangled sound as Meryl glared at him balefully.

"If you don't have anything helpful left to say, I suggest you leave as I need to work."

"Okay. Good luck, Meryl." He quickly exited the room with Kole close on his heels.

The two males walked out of the building and continued their way down the street. "She's a real bitch, huh?" the boy piped up.

"Yeah, she can b-Wait! You're too young to be using that kind of language!" Vash turned a hot look on the boy.

"Is that a bad word?" Kole asked innocently, "I heard a guy yell it at a girl yesterday."

"Don't use that word again, okay?"

"Okay." They walked on in silence.

After ten minutes, Vash had to ask, "Are we there yet?"

The boy coughed into his hand for a few moments before he answered. "Just two more houses down." He pointed. "It's a white house with a sandbox in the front. You can't miss it."

"Are you leaving?"

"Yeah, I have to go see the doctor."

"Okay, I'll see you later."

"Bye!" Kole turned around and started jogging down the sidewalk. After a few seconds of that though, he had to stop and wheeze for a moment, coughing occasionally. Vash watched the boy recover and then continued away at a brisk pace, struggling for air.

"I hope that boy is all right…" Vash murmured to himself and then turned to walk towards the house that he had pointed out.

He reached the house in question and stopped to stare. There were people walking around it and through it, taking notes, chatting quietly, pointing out things to others and other things. A man walked up to Vash, "Need any help, sir?"

"What happened here?"

"Last night-" he began but was cut off by a woman striding up.

"Vash!" Meryl growled. "What are you doing here?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeril: Greetings to all my wonderful readers who I love and appreciate. ^_^ If it wasn't for all of you, I would probably have given up on, or gotten bored with, this story a few chapters ago.

Yume: *sniffles* You would've left me? Abandoned me to the deep, dark corners of your mind with all your other half-finished projects?

Jeril: Yeah, I'm sorry. ;-; It happens to me a lot. Look at all my paused stories on my profile. Anyway, I have a couple very, very important things to say in this author's note. So pay attention. *Yume winces* ^_^;; Sorry about the bold font, kid. I just wanted to make sure the reviewers are with me. Okay, first thing, sorry about the little bit of a cliffhanger. *dodges a tomato tossed at her* The next chapter is going to be a sort of flashback to the night before so you will know what happened with Knives. I just liked having this day first, to get you people on edge. ^_~ Hehehe. ^0^ Wasn't the chapter title perfect? I love that movie! ^_^

Secondly, I am moving as of very, very soon. I don't know when, or if, I'll have Internet access when we move into the hotel tonight. I will be bringing my laptop with me however, so I am sure I will get a lot of writing done. Anyway, things should be back to normal by the beginning of Aug- *screams of rage are heard and Jeril is pelted by a rain of tomatoes, apples, oranges and other fruits (some rotten, some ripe)* Yume! Now would be a good time to stop handing out fruit, you little demon child!

Yume: Awh, but the reviewers and me are having so much fun! *throws a strawberry at Jeril*

Jeril: Anyone throw one more piece of fruit at me and I will not write the next chapter! *silence reigns*

Yume: *hits Jeril with an apple* We all know you couldn't bear to stop writing now!! *giggles as the hail of fruit begins again*

Jeril: Damn you and your devilish mind, brat…