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The next morning, Wolfwood took the first shift. He sped along, Millie beside him as they headed towards Januaria. Meryl was frowning over the map in the backseat. She had her pencil out and was calculating frantically. Vash heard her swear softly.

"What is it?"

"I don't think will make it to Januaria by the date you specified, unless we start driving all night. It's still three days away, and you wanted to be there in two." She touched her injured shoulder absently. "If Millie and I take shifts driving too, then we could technically just keep moving and get there on time."

"Yay!" Millie looked thrilled. "I love to drive!"

"Good, I'll switch with you around noon then, okay?" Wolfwood grinned at her.

"Let's see, then Millie can switch with Vash at 6ish, he can drive til midnight, then I'll take a turn...." Meryl muttered as she scribbled. "We'll stop for gas here and here... eat in the car... Yep, we'll make in plenty of time then."

"We could go slower, I can be a day late." Vash said quietly.

"It's all right Tongari," Wolfwood adjusted his sunglasses. "It's probably a better idea to keep moving anyhow- just in case." Meryl handed the map to Millie.

"Double-check these for me Millie, okay?"

"Sure thing, Meryl..." Millie scanned the map and the equations, occasionally adding a scribble of her own.

"Are you a math whiz too, sweetheart?' Wolfwood asked her casually.

"Well, my middle big brother always wanted me to help him with his studying so he taught me math as a way of refreshing himself," Millie answered.

"He's an engineer," said Meryl to Wolfwood with a grin. "So, yes, she is a math whiz."

"This looks right to me, Meryl. You'll want to get some extra sleep in today though if you expect to take that late shift. No one else will be awake to talk to."

"I know. I'll nap later." Meryl promised.

Meryl was as good as her word. She stayed up to eat lunch with them, and then during Millie's shift she fell asleep. She woke up when Millie and Vash switched off to eat dinner and move to the front seat, but then she fell asleep again. Millie had laughed and waved a hand when Wolfwood had asked if Meryl had taken something to knock herself out.

"Oh no, Meryl used to work late shifts during school all the time. She's trained herself to sleep whenever she can. She's fine, you'll see." Millie and Wolfwood fell asleep around 10, leaning on each other in the backseat. Vash drove on, carefully. He snuck occasional glances at the girl beside him, sleeping peacefully. It seemed a shame to wake her up. He could just drive til he felt tired and then pull over and rest. But when his watch, carefully propped up on the dashboard, showed 10 minutes to 12, Meryl sat up. She stretched and smiled at him.

"Almost ready to switch?" She asked quietly.

"Sure, if you're okay..."

"I'm wide awake," Meryl reassured him. They stopped and switched places. "You can go to sleep, Vash," she said with a faint smile. "I've got it under control."

"I know, but I'm not very tired yet," he smiled back at her. "What job did you have in college where you had to be up all night?"

"I worked at the local undertakers." She smiled. "The graveyard shift."

"What is there to do after midnight?" Vash looked at her, surprised.

"People die at all hours, Vash, and their families need someone to come and get the body and get it ready for burial. Especially on this planet. We couldn't wait more than a day in this heat, even with a cold storage area. So, I got the bodies ready and answered the calls."

"Wasn't it kind of creepy?"

"No. It was my Uncle Luke's business, and my grandfather's before that. My cousin is running it now. How do you think I got my 'nerves of steel' that landed me this assignment?" She laughed quietly. "It was a worthwhile experience. It's why I took the job at Bernadelli's- seeing so many bad things happen to people, watching their families struggle afterwards... I wanted to help." She glanced at him and smiled, her eyes dark purple in the light of the 5 moons.

"So, your uncle was the town undertaker. What about your father?" Vash leaned back against the seat.

"He was the sheriff."

"Ah," Vash replied, remembering Meryl's anger at the corrupt sheriff they had run across. No wonder. "That's where you learned how to shoot."

"Yep, Daddy, three more of my uncles and two of my aunts were the town's law enforcement." She shook her head. "And please don't comment about them making work for my Uncle Luke- I've heard that joke a million times."

"Never even crossed my mind." Vash grinned. "But if you wanted to help people- why didn't you join them?" A shadow passed over Meryl's face.

"Well, first off, according to my Aunt Ami, I was too short." She said lightly.

"Too short? What about your Dad? Oh- is your mom short too?"

"Nope. My Mom is tall and fair- so was Dad. They adopted me when I was just a baby." She smiled, but he saw the flash of remembered pain.

"So, you're adopted? But still- your height shouldn't have mattered," Vash frowned, realizing that there was more to this story than she was telling him.

"I know. I wasn't going to let that stop me. But then... well, right before I finished school, they all died."

"Wh-at?" Vash sat up straighter.

"My father, my aunts, my uncles... the town got attacked by bandits- they tried to hold them off- but they couldn't." Meryl's eyes were dry, but her voice was full of pain. "They even killed my Uncle when he insisted on burying his brothers and sisters decently."

"Oh Meryl- how did you..?" She knew what he was asking.

"My cousins, their remaining parents, my mother, my brother and I... we couldn't let them get away with it. They had killed our family!" Vash felt cold. "So we trapped them in a building, held them there for days until the Cavalry came in and arrested them all." The brief summary didn't even touch the pain evident in every line of her. How had they managed it? Vash wanted to know, but didn't want to hurt her more. Meryl looked at him and smiled faintly. "It was awful, watching that building, wanting to kill them and knowing that we couldn't."

"Why not?" Vash asked quietly.

"Because they wouldn't have done it." Meryl took a deep breath. "My father was always saying how the laws needed to be followed. If we had killed those bandits, then we wouldn't have been any better than they were."

"But they had taken something precious to you."

"And I wasn't going to tarnish my family's memory by staining my hands with their blood." Meryl replied. "Afterwards my mother wanted me to find a safer job."

"Does she know what you're doing now?"

"Yes, of course." Meryl laughed softly. "She's not too happy about it, but it's better than what my brother and most of my cousins are doing."

"Did they take over the enforcement for the town?"

"A few did, but most of them joined the Cavalry." Meryl smiled. The Cavalry was one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet.

"Don't you worry about them?"

"Of course. But it is their choice. If they die in the line of duty, I'll know that's how they wanted to go." The underlying meaning in her words was crystal clear. They drove in silence for a while.

Meryl glanced over at Vash. He was still awake, his eyes shadowed. She reached out a hand and patted his arm. "Vash, you should get some sleep." He caught her hand in his and squeezed it gently.

"I will. Don't worry. You just focus on driving, okay?"

"Uh... okay." He squeezed her hand again and let it go. Meryl drove on under the light of the five moons, and Vash wrapped himself up in his own thoughts. He finally fell asleep awhile later, his dreams dark and troubled.

Vash awoke some time later. Meryl was still driving, but the sky was light. He squinted at the clock on the dashboard. "It's almost 8, Meryl. You haven't been driving all this time without a break?" He asked, sitting upright.

"Yes, but I didn't mind letting the three of you sleep in. Look," Meryl grinned mischievously at him and tilted her head towards the backseat. Vash looked back. Millie was curled up against Wolfwood's chest, his head resting on hers. "Isn't that cute? I didn't want to wake them."

"Awww, it is." Vash looked at Meryl and winked. "Don't you wish we had a camera?" Meryl laughed.

"He'd kill us." She gently brought the car to a stop, opened the door and got out to stretch. She winced a second later as her shoulder protested.

"Should've woken me sooner." Vash commented as he dug in the trunk for breakfast supplies. "Did you take your pain meds?"

"No... Vash. Get in the car." Meryl was looking beyond him. Over a ridge a short distance away some cars were approaching them. "I think our friends are back." A burst of gunfire echoed down the ridge.

"Ah hell!" Vash slammed the trunk shut and vaulted to the front seat, adroitly sliding Meryl over. "I'll drive!" He threw the car in gear and accelerated. "Hand me one of those will you?"

"One of what... oh." Meryl looked down and noticed that she was holding a box of doughnuts. "How did... never mind." She opened the box, risking a glance behind her as she did so. "Three of them this time." She handed Vash a doughnut. "They're getting close. Should I wake up Wolfwood?"

"He's still sleeping? Nah, we'll handle this. Any ideas?" Meryl gave him an incredulous look.

"I only have my derringers and... wait a sec." She grinned and reached up into her cloak. "Throw this for me?" She handed him a small canister and pulled out one of her derringers.

"Okay." Vash glanced back and tossed the canister towards the bandit- laden cars. Meryl sighted on it and squeezed the trigger. A loud explosion rocked the ground as the bomb detonated, creating a huge crater right in front of the lead car. It flipped over. Vash looked at Meryl in astonishment. She had paled.

"I didn't realize they were that powerful," she muttered. "He must've changed the recipe."

"I'm afraid to ask if you have any more of those?" Vash asked her. Meryl reached back up into her cloak with a feral grin.

"At least ten," she said.

"TEN?!" Vash glared at her. "What if you get shot?"

"They're in a bullet-proof pouch." She pulled out two. "And is this really the time to be arguing about it?"

"Nope." Vash took the two from her. "Shoot them right before they hit the ground, okay? Your last shot was too high."

"Okay, but give me a bit of lag time to switch guns, I can't shoot with this arm..." Meryl agreed and pulled out two more derringers.

"Obviously," Vash used the rearview mirror to calculate the trajectory and tossed the next two in quick succession. Meryl shot both right before they hit the ground. The bombs detonated, throwing up huge clouds of smoke and dirt and sand, effectively blinding the two remaining cars. They collided with an audible crunch. Wolfwood jolted awake.

"What th' hell?" He looked over the trunk. "Throwing a party without me?"

"You were sleeping," Vash responded. "We didn't want to wake you." Wolfwood glanced at his watch.

"It's almost 9. Weren't you supposed to wake me?" He said to Meryl who was reholstering the spent guns.

"You were too cute to disturb, dream boat." Meryl laughed as Wolfwood blushed. Millie was still curled against his chest. "But I am tired. I don't suppose you'd switch me seats?"

"Sure, and isn't it my turn to drive, Tongari?"

"Just picking up your slack," Vash teased. Millie was awakened and in a very quick switch, she and Wolfwood were in the front seat again. Meryl yawned as she looked back. "I hope they've given up, but if it's Steve's gang, I'll bet they'll be back."

"I'm sure." Vash frowned. "But not for awhile. Go to sleep. No-" He looked at her. "Give me the rest of those little bombs of yours."

"Thinking there's going to be trouble?" Meryl handed the pouch over.

"Worried you're going to blow yourself up." Vash shook his head at her. "No pouch is completely bullet proof! What if that idiot had shot you in the back instead of the shoulder? You would've taken that entire hotel with you!" Meryl looked up at him with a guilty smile.

"Considering the lecture you're giving me, should I even tell you I have more?"

"On you?"

"Nope. In my luggage. I told you I hadn't used this batch yet. Sam must've upped the explosion power- they really were more like fireworks before."

"Who's Sam?" Wolfwood asked.

"My brother. He's in the Calvary- an ammunitions expert. He invented them. They only explode with a bullet."

"Clever."

"Why does your brother send you... never mind. He knows what kind of assignments you go out on?" Vash raised an eyebrow.

"Of course. He sent me these when I was assigned to follow you- the special 'Stampede' kind he said- I didn't think he'd really changed it that much."

"Was your brother hoping you'd blow me up?"

"Oh no! Knowing Sam he probably figured any big explosions would get blamed on you." Millie and Wolfwood burst into laughter.

"Hey, Tongari- it's true- trouble does follow you wherever you go."

They reached Januaria on the day Vash had specified.

"There it is, finally!" Millie slowed down as they approached Januaria. "The first of the cities."

"And a hotbed of trouble for us right now," Vash replied. "Can't I persuade the three of you to wait for me outside of town? Steve knows I'm headed this way, which means Knives does too."

"And let you out of our sight? No way Tongari. Do you think I want to spend another 2 years looking for you?"

They checked into a hotel near the middle of the city.

"I'll be back in two hours," Vash told them. "Please, I need to do this alone."

"Two hours," Meryl repeated. "And what if you're not back in two hours?"

"Follow the sound of the explosions." Vash grinned at her, expertly flipping one of her little bombs over his hand.

"HEY! What are you planning? We can't let you wreck another city!"

"Relax Meryl, I'm just teasing. I have no plans to wreck the city- honest."

"That's not comforting, Tongari. You never plan to be a one-person wrecking crew- but somehow..." Wolfwood sat down on the bed and grinned at Vash's twitch.

"I'll be back. I promise. And I'll stay out of trouble, okay?"

"Okay," Meryl smiled. "We'll be here when you get back."

Vash hurried back to the hotel, errand completed on time. The two hours were almost up. Now they could get out of this damn city.

The rooms were empty. No note, no sign of any of them. He tried to tell himself that they had just gone out to eat, but he doubted it. He went downstairs to ask the desk clerk if he'd seen them.

"The preacher with the two pretty gals? Some men came in and asked to see them. They all left together about 20 minutes ago."

"What kind of men?"

"Big...one of em had a medallion around his neck..."

"Which way did they go?"

"They had an old beat up car- went east towards the outskirts..." Vash left at a run.