NOTE: Do NOT read the Reader Replies until you have read this chapter, it will contain spoilers.

Chapter 3

She felt… numb.

How could it happen? Two days ago she'd had everything and now… now…

She wandered aimlessly around the desolate streets of the once proud city, brought to its knees… no, to its belly, by the actions of one man, Vash.

How they'd known it was him, she'd no idea. But the rumour that this chaos, this desolation had been brought about by a man in a red coat, spread through the city like wild fire. Vash, he was known as, and even if a herd of stampeding Thomas had run through the city they could hardly have caused half the chaos and damage of that one, lone man. Thus he had earned the title, Vash the Stampede. The Humanoid Typhoon, an uncontrollable force of nature, not killing, but leaving nothing but wreckage and ruin in his wake.

What's more, they said, he was still here.

She didn't dare wander far from her home, that's how… how… her mind went blank, she mustn't think of such things. For if she did she would fall apart again, fall apart like the city, like her house, break even further down. If she broke any more she was sure she'd never be mended again.

She flittered from shadow to shadow, looking for something… some abandoned shop, some scrap of food. She'd stored a little back at what was left of her home, but it was important to get more, to keep her eye out so that she could hole herself up later. July had already turned into hell. Bands of desperate men and women roamed the streets, pillaging, stealing, murdering.

It was then, amidst the detritus, she saw him.

She didn't recognise him immediately, not until she saw the flash of red beneath the tattered cloak he wore. Then… just then, she knew what she was looking at. Like a demon out of hell, he stood there, Vash the Stampede.

She couldn't make out his features, the dust and grime hid all details. But she saw that he wasn't alone for he was holding something… some one. A girl, a little girl was pressed close to him; she seemed to be sobbing into his grimy, grey cloak.

The words of her neighbours came back to her…

"Vash the Stampede… he'll kill anyone!"

"The Gunslinger in Red, he bathes in blood!"

"A servant of the devil…"

"He drinks the blood of those he kills!"

"Nothing can stand in his way; he's got the blessing of hell upon him!"

Some might have claimed what she did next was brave and might have praised her for putting her life on the line for the sake of a child. She would have disagreed.

For, right then, she felt like she had little enough life to loose anyway. Indeed, death would have almost been a blessing and only the innate, desperate determination to survive which is inherent in almost all humans kept her alive.

So, really, pointing a gun at Vash the Stampede in order to save the girl wasn't much of a heroic act at all, not really.

'Get away from her!' she shrieked, causing the gunslinger to looks up and the little girl he clutched to scream, shrilly.

She couldn't make out his features, couldn't even see his eyes properly, but she knew he was looking at her, staring at her. Slowly he released his hold on the girl who, being only very young, did the first thing that came into her tiny head and ran.

She watched from the child's escape from the corner of her eye, hoping she would get away.

Vash the Stampede stayed where he was, his tattered cloak flowing about him in the dusty wind. Then, slowly, he took a step towards her.

Her hand trembled, she tried desperately to keep the monster in her sites, tried to stay calm.

'Don't!' she yelled, but The Stampede took no notice, he took a further step forward.

'Please!' she screamed, 'please, stop it! I'll shoot!'

The creature continued to advance.

'Get away from me! I'm going to shoot! I will shoot you!'

Still he advanced then a mournful sound, the moaning of the damned, came from his throat, 'rmmmmmm…'

She screamed and pressed the trigger on her gun.

Click.

Oh no.

She pressed it again.

Click, click:

She'd never used a gun before, this had been one she'd found in the street in her wanderings and in a sort of minimal, shocked daze, had picked up and kept. She should have guessed that it would be empty.

Click, click, click, click.

She pulled the trigger desperately, as if it would magically start working. Vash the Stampede continued to advance; the blowing wind parted his tattered cloak long enough for her to see the folds of a dirty red trench coat. From beneath those dirty rags a hand, rapped in tattered bandaging, emerged. It reached out to her, stretching, grasping… the sound came once again, 'rrrmmmmmm…'

She tried to escape, desperately back peddling, unable to take her eyes of the dreadful creature. Then, in her blind fear, she tripped!

Down she fell, into the dust and debris. She screamed again, hardly thinking anyone would actually care or come to help.

The creature wailed again, taking another step towards her, 'r…r…eh….mmmmm?'

The world swam around her as tears burst from her eye lids, she was shaking in fear, her bladder felt loose, her stomach turned and all she could see was that dreadful, encroaching figure.

Its stretching figures were about to reach her, another sound emerged, a word.

'Rem?'

With this, Vash the Stampede fell to his knees and for a moment the two people were both sitting in the dust, at an equal level. Then, like a stone, he completed his decent, falling all the way to lie on the barren earth.

For a while she found herself unable to move, unable to think. Her heart, previously thudding in her chest, slowed a little and a measure of serenity returned to her.

Slowly, carefully, she crawled forward towards the figure. Beneath all the rags and dirt she honestly couldn't tell if it… if he, was alive.

Taking a deep breath she prodded him and, when he didn't respond, carefully turned the body around so it was its back.

This provoked a reaction. She gave out a squeak of terror as Vash the Stampede gasped and cloaked, coming back to consciousness. For a moment his eyes, set in dry, dirty, scraped skin, opened and she could see his irises were a strange, blue-green colour, soft and hard all at once.

'Rem?' he whimpered once more from between two, parched lips.

Then, as if this last utterance had used up all his remaining reserves, he closed his eyes once more, his breathing slowed and he was unconscious once again.

She let out one, long breath. He was alive, for now at least.

She studied him; he was hardly what she had expected. Up close he was… young. He couldn't be much older than she and though his face was covered in dirt and scratches, it was not an ugly visage. Far from it, he was quite handsome.

She found herself smiling, wanly. If this was Vash the Stampede, he wasn't so scary. When she looked closer and saw that, beneath the dirt, he had blond hair. A beautiful, rich, bright golden colour, rich and smooth, it was spiked up into a ridiculous style. But it was blond, and soft…

She didn't think much after that, she just reacted. She just grabbed hold of his bandaged hand and began to pull him along by it, dragging him back to her home.

There was pain, a lot of pain but the pain had been there for quite a long while now, so he was almost used to it.

This felt different, though, he was lying on something soft and, for the first time in a while, he was warm. Not hot, not the sweltering heat of the suns, nor the consuming inferno of fever. This was a soft, gentle heat, comforting, fuzzy.

He opened his eyes, wincing at even the soft, yellow light which hit his retina. He found himself looking up into a grubby ceiling, full of rusting metal beams and spider webs. From between the cracks of corrugated steel he was sure he could see patches of bare earth. Something told him he was underground somewhere, not far, but underground none the less.

A figure invaded his line of sight, it was a woman with long, black hair.

'V-Vash?' she asked, her smooth, melodic voice stuttering over the word.

Vash?

Vash.

Vash!

That was it! That was his name! He remembered! He was Vash and she… she… she must be…

'Rem? Is that you?' It was the most he'd managed to say yet and the words came out as a horse croak.

The woman smiled slowly, a gentle, beautiful smile which spread over her pail face like sunshine across the desert plains.

'Yes… Yes, I'm Rem. Do you know who you are?'

'No… yes… I think I'm Vash, right?'

Her smile broadened so much it reached her deep blue eyes, 'yes, you're Vash. You're my husband.'

NOTE: Right now you may be having your doubts about this story, I understand this; but please keep on reading! At least for one more chapter, it will be explained I promise, this is NOT AU and I have absolutely no intention of including any Mary Sue in this fic aside from the one at the very beginning. PLEASE have a little faith and patience, I promise that you shall be rewarded.

Reviews are, as ever, loved, cherished and considered.

Next chapter… It's back to the future as Vash and Wolfwood confront an aged "Rem."

Reader's Replies.

Ron The Future Weasel: Ah… it isn't Rem, you see… or at least it isn't quite Rem. She is an OC though, and I prey that you won't have to use that rock again. I hate Mary Sues, it would make me feel ill if I created one… Sorry about the reviewing mistake last time, please keep on reviewing!

LeDiz: Thanks! Your words mean a huge amount! Because Wolfwood Very hard to write. Vash Very, very, very hard to write. Vash Wolfwood EXTREMELY hard to write! You've gotta get just the right amount of friendliness and antagonism and all that stuff. :sigh: making them different and yet the same… it's tough. And it's part of the reason why I wrote this, to see if I could get that relationship on paper. It think I succeeded, and I'm happy you liked this chapter. It's one of my favourites of the story… again, I'm glad to have wrong footed someone with the Rem thing… hehehe…

Lady Shadowcat: Sorry if you were a bit disappointed by this chapter… but

Rem is in it! In sprit at least… but please don't abandon this, because it is about Rem in a way… don't worry… it'll all become clear soon. I'm so happy your reviewing this!

Saraki: Oooh, a new reviewer! Coolies. Well, I hope this chapter was OK, I love surprising people with this Rem thing, even if it is a bit of a red herring, though in a way it isn't… please review again, each review will motivate me to get the chapters out quicker! (NB: The story is already written, it's just a matter of getting round to posting the separate chapters.)

Well, that's all, tune in next time!