Title:Styrafoam Cup
Pairings: WolfwoodxVash
Warnings: Yaoi aka mansex, don't like, don't read
Summary: Vash is a loser, rejected at his job and shunned by his co-workers. Except for one, who seems to think he is special and not so much of a strange person after all when he takes Vash under his wing.
A/N: Paaaart three. Vash and Wolfwood in the caaaaar. Vash is more emotional, so he's developing quicker than our stoic Wolfwood Pardon any over-looked mistakes!

-----Part Three-----

"Hey, Tongari, could ya turn on the heater? It's freezing in here."

Wolfwood was mumbling around the long cigarette he was trying to light with his troublesome lighter that simply would not do its job. He was also having trouble driving his car. One hand was messing with the flickering device while the other precariously drove along the nearly empty street, causing the vehicle to weave from side to side. Needless to say, Vash was more worried about Wolfwood's eyes not being on the road instead of the stupid lighter.

Never the less, the blonde quickly reached out and turned a small knob, making him happy for the gracious heat pouring from the car's vents. Vash kept his gaze locked on the floorboard beneath him, trying his hardest not to look to up and see how badly Wolfwood was driving.

"Hah! Got it!"

The dark haired man released a large cloud of smoke in triumph, scaring the living daylights out of Vash when he narrowly missed swerving into a nearby wall. He smoothly guided the car away from the obstacle and began driving with both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road.

Vash shivered and sank in his seat a fraction, reaching up with trembling fingers to try and loosen the strangling hold of the seat belt that was wrapped around his neck. Wolfwood shot him a glance and reached over, pulling loose the belt before Vash choked himself.

"You're such a klutz, Tongari."

The dark haired man said the comment with a smile, so the blonde smiled back. He felt fuzzy and warm, not because of the heat sliding out from the car, but because of something else Vash couldn't quite put his finger on. He had felt it before... but he couldn't remember where. This was getting annoying... His confused feelings made him frown and Wolfwood, in his turn, frowned as well.

"What's wrong?"

Vash quickly looked away and began tracing stick figures in the fogged up window.

"It's nothing."

Wolfwood exhaled lightly and nodded as he let the matter be, sensing that he shouldn't push whatever was bothering the other man. He was about to reach down and turn on the radio when the annoying whir of alarms burst into the silent car.

"Well, shit."

The driver looked down at his speedometer.

"I was only doing 87..."

He quickly shoved his cigarette into the already full ashtray and ran a hand through his messy hair, trying to straighten his sloppy appearance as he slowed his car to a stop. The distant growl of the policeman's motorcycle purred to a stop as well when the piercing alarms were shut off. Wolfwood shot a quick glance to his companion.

"Just keep quiet, okay?"

Vash nodded mutely and sat up in his seat. Wolfwood rolled down his window, frigid winter air spilling into the once warm cabin of the car.

The officer's heels tapped lightly on the asphalt as he approached the car, dark sunglasses shielding his eyes despite it being nearly pitch black outside. He pulled down on his helmet slightly and reached Wolfwood's car window, his eyes slowly taking in the man below him.

"Did you know that you were speeding, sir? 96 miles per hour in a 65 zone. That's just a bit over the limit, wouldn't you say?"

The policeman had a deep, scratchy voice and pursed his lips together after he had finished telling the convicted his crime. Tugging nervously on his shirt, Wolfwood nodded slowly, highly irritated that he had been caught. The officer nodded to himself and pulled a very small clipboard out of his back pocket, reaching up to his chest to take a pen from the pocket there.

"License."

He looked the rather nice car over once.

"...And registration."

Wolfwood grinned widely, showing too many white teeth, the smile almost looking like a grimace as he reached into his back pocket to retrieved his license. His face paled considerably when his hand collided with nothing. He moved to the opposite pocket, desperately trying to find his wallet, but again, he came up with nothing.

Dammit! Where'd I put it?

The officer blinked slowly behind his glasses and watched in mild irritation as Wolfwood rooted through the junk in his backseat. He straightened with a loud 'HAH!' and came back to the front seat, holding a battered leather wallet in his hand. Opening it quickly, he took out his license and swiftly gave it to the policeman, grinning nervously. They watched each other for a few moments before the officer frowned.

"Registration?"

Wolfwood winced, scrambling to look underneath his car seat, in the backseat, under his feet, and several other places before he smacked a hand on his forehead.

Leaning over towards Vash, Wolfwood placed his hand on the blonde's upper thigh and balanced his weight as he bent over him to rummage through the glove compartment before Vash's knees.

The blonde gasped quietly and immediately bit down on his lip as his face flushed a deep crimson for a reason he didn't really know why. He closed his eyes tightly and gripped the dark material beneath him. Opening his eyes momentarily to see the man positioned halfway on his lap, he felt a rush surge through his entire system, his face reddening even more, if that was possible. The other man's hand on his leg, not really holding onto him so much as balancing, was driving Vash insane and he wished desperately that the policeman wasn't there.

He looked up and stared out of the window in front of him for a moment.

Why would I wish the policeman wasn't here?

Thinking so much about the officer, Vash turned his head and stared at the official, grinning even more nervously than Wolfwood had moments before, his cheeks still tinted dark red. The policeman lazily reached up and tilted his sunglasses down until he could stare at him unusually, his face telling Vash that he thought the blonde and the driver were absolute perverts.

Wolfwood sat up, his registration retrieved, and shoved the paper a little too quickly at the policeman, his anger quickly becoming more evident, his smile becoming a little more strained.

Vash breathed out silently, his face still blood red and his heart throbbing mercilessly in his chest. He glanced to the side to see the officer tip his helmet to Wolfwood and begin to walk back to his patrol bike to write down all the information he needed and to fill in Wolfwood's ticket.

What... What was that...

The blonde felt his heart beat slowing down slightly and his breath began to even out. He watched his hands fist in the khaki material of his work pants as he tried to figure out what the hell had just happened to his body when Wolfwood was leaning over him.

Said man reached up and ran his hand through his hair again, breathing out a very strained breath before ramming his head onto the top of his steering wheel. Vash was surprised there wasn't any blood on the other man's forehead when he pulled back. Deciding to stay silent, the blonde kept his hands clasped onto his knees and looked out the window, reaching up slowly to wipe away the stick figures he had drawn earlier.

The officer came back and handed Wolfwood his belongings and his ticket, a lazy grin sliding onto his face as he told him to have a good night. His heels tapped again on the concrete and the whir of his motorcycle roared behind the pair in the car before he zoomed past them, blowing pollution from his exhaust.

Slowly, Wolfwood reached down and brought his own car to life and put it into drive. With a considerably lower speed being used, he sighed wearily, casting a quick glance to Vash. The blonde could feel his gaze and the blush that had since disappeared came back with a horrible vengeance. Noticing the strange red tint to his companion's face, he lowered his eyebrows in confusion.

"Tongari? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"F-Fine. Really. I'm fine."

Wincing at his stuttering, Vash vainly attempted to calm the raging mix of emotions in his body. He started violently when he felt a soft, warm hand touch his forehead.

"You seem kinda warm. You could have a fever. You should probably take it easy for a while."

Vash stuttered and nodded as the other man pulled his hand away.

"T-Turn left here. That's my building over there."

The blonde pointed feebly at the run-down apartment building, ashamed that he lived in such a horrible place.

I really need to get on the ball about a new apartment.

Vash rolled his eyes at his own laziness and then proceeded to unbuckle his seat belt, wrapping his fingers around the handle to let him out as the car pulled to a halt. He stepped out of the vehicle, pausing to thank Wolfwood.

"Thanks."

"It was no problem. I'll see you tomorrow at work."

"Alright. See you then."

Wolfwood waved goodbye as Vash closed the door and began to walk towards the dim light above the dingy door to his apartment building. Shadows began moving around the edge of the light and the blonde paused, the hair on the back of his neck rising nervously. Shuffling feet and the clang of someone hitting a random garbage can echoed noisily around the empty street.

Vash, highly aware of how dangerous his situation was, tried walking stiffly to the door of his building, feverishly whispering prayers that he would make it.

Oh no...

The blonde shut his eyes in regret as two large thugs, decked out in blood red tank tops to show their gang color, quickly barred his way to the door. Vash, still at the bottom of the steps, opened his eyes and stared sadly at the men above him. He turned his head to the side as several thinner gang members slid out of the shadows, surrounding him silently. He rotated completely when he heard footsteps, the person not even trying to be quiet as they approached him.

Oozing a street charm, a handsome, young, brown haired man, no older than Vash, stepped through the ranks of his grungy men. This guy was obviously the smartest here and most likely the leader of the vagabonds. He had nice leather pants, a red turtleneck and an expensive-looking leather jacket to show his authority in his group. The blonde frowned at the leader, his heart racing faster than it had ever done in the past.

"What do you want?"

Vash had spoken a lot louder than he had wanted to, his fear evident in his wavering tone. The young leader smirked.

"My boys here..."

He gestured to the dirty group surrounding Vash.

"They were gettin' bored. I decided I'd let them have a little fun. Hand me your wallet, if you please. I don't like getting blood on the items I would like to keep."

His charming grin did nothing for Vash's nerves, which were tighter than guitar strings at the moment. Backing up slowly, the blonde glanced quickly at the group surrounding him, watching as their tight knit circle closed in even tighter. He swallowed and took a deep breath before taking a few more steps back, his left foot hitting the first stair. He turned and looked up to see the two thugs at the top descending down to join their companions.

Vash's face lost it's color as the first red-clad gang member leapt at him, fist raised. It collided painfully with the blonde's jaw and bright flashes of color bloomed before his eyes as he was knocked to the ground. His head was ringing as he was jerked up violently from the cold concrete. Another hand came in contact with his cheek bone and his head snapped to the side. His head was rammed into the ground again, his skull cracking loudly on the concrete as a gang member pounced ontop of his stomach and began pummeling his chest with a rain of blows.

The poor blonde was kicked, punched and jerked for a long time before the blood from his forehead finally drifted to his eyes and he could not see the evil faces in his vision anymore. They left him finally, the gang leader blowing a farewell kiss to him as he walked away from Vash, leaving him to die on the street.

He couldn't see that well, but he slid his hand slowly towards his side, feeling a cracked rib tenderly. He swiftly left it alone, praying that someone...anyone...would come by to help him.

------------------------------------------------------------

A car passed and then another.

Another.

Did anyone care?

Vash was beginning to think the answer to that question was no. No, nobody wanted to stop and take the time to drive a broken guy to the hospital. They would rather let him die lonely on the street than help him.

Another car.

Dammit. I don't need to lie here any longer... When will someone help me?

He tried vainly to blink the crimson from his eyes, but it was to no avail. It was staining his vision almost completely now and he closed his eyes, sighing deeply. He winced at the sigh, his side protesting violently at any movement. Tears welled up in his eyes and felt them slid slowly down his cheeks, leaving a trail of scarlet down his dirtied skin.

He was about to give up hope, about to despair completely when he thought of someone he wanted with him at this moment. The only person who had befriended him recently...

Wish Wolfwood was here.. He would help me for sure...

Another car.

He thought he heard a car door open and close somewhere far off.

But it's not for me... they aren't stopping for me... Why didn't I look... They were obviously there... Wolfwood...Please, God.. Let someone help me... Wolfwood...

"Tongari?"

They must have banged my head too much... I'm hearing him...

"Vash? Vash! Answer me! Vash?"

Wolfwood's voice was a little too urgent and a little too loud to be in his head anymore and the blonde blinked open his eyes blearily to see the other man crouched over him, stricken with panic. Vash smiled wearily, wheezing out a response.

"Wolfwood..."

It was all the blonde managed before blessed unconsciousness settled over him and he passed out.