Chapter Five:
"Where All Agony Prevails"


Mars


In the crowded spaceport few of the hurried travelers paid any mind to the newscast on the monitors placed throughout the building. Families made their way to their respective terminals, destinations ranging from Jupiter's moons to asteroids not far from the planet they were currently on. Business people, honeymooners, or people simply trying to get from one place in the solar system to another ... all of them flowed through the corridors, yet hardly any of them watched the news.

"He told me the human race's days were numbered," the young man, now identified as William Harman, said from his position huddled in his chair. His eyes were glazed over as he spoke. But hardly anyone listened to his words. "He gave me a name ..."

The people passed by, few even glanced at the man who'd witnessed the total annihilation of every person he'd ever known. It was an Earth problem, why should they care?

"And the name was?" prompted the female reporter's voice off-screen.

One man, though, stopped in the middle of the busy thoroughfare, his cold blue eyes lifting until they found the face of a familiar someone on the monitor above. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, his hands dug deeper into the pockets of his long red coat and he murmured, "Yes ... tell us his name ... "

"Vash ... the Stampede."

A sketch of the man William Harman saw in Calcutta appeared on the monitor. It was enough to make the perpetrator recognizable, but vague enough not to give an exact picture of who he was. Still, hardly anyone in the spaceport looked. Perhaps, if they had, some of them may've escaped what was to come. Maybe.

"Hey ... mister?"

Knives looked down when he heard a young girl address him. Her bright blue eyes reminded him of someone he once knew. The woman's smiling face flashed through his mind and he outwardly flinched. His hand tightened its grip on the gun in one of the coat's pockets. He never could accept or understand Vash's obsession with that foolish woman and her flawed ideals.

The dark-haired girl pointed up to the monitor. "Is that you?" she asked. When he simply nodded, she smiled. "Wow! You must be special to get on the news! Did you do something important?"

Knives dropped to one knee in order to look the girl in her eyes on her own level. He smiled a little. "Yes, I did."

Her voice lowered as she leaned towards him. "Was it something bad?"

"No," he answered, shaking his head. "It wasn't bad at all."

The more he stared at her, the more she reminded him of Rem Saverem. Was this girl a relative? An ancestor? The forbearer of the woman who'd twisted his brother's mind and turned him against his own family?

"You should tell somebody, then," the girl suggested.

"I tried. He wouldn't believe me."

She frowned then suddenly brightened. "Tell him again! And keep telling him until he believes you!" She grinned. "My mom says that the truth is the truth. If you always tell the truth, you'll never be in trouble. So ... you should tell him again."

Knives looked around the spaceport crowded with the useless trash that referred to themselves as "humanity". "That's why I'm here, to tell him again. He'll realize soon enough that I'm right."

"Ramona Mae!"

The girl gasped when she heard her name yelled. "Uh oh. That's my mom." She looked back to Knives. "I have to go. We're going to meet my dad."

"Ramona, come back over here this instant!"

"I'm coming!" She waved a bit to Knives as she made her way back to her mother. "I hope everything goes okay for you! Bye!"

Knives' eyes narrowed as the girl reunited with her mother. "It will." He rose to his feet and cast one last look at the spaceport, physically ill as he remembered how much Vash loved these pathetic creatures.

More than his own brother, he bitterly thought. He won't for much longer. Not if there aren't any of them left for him to care about.


The crew of the Bebop stared across the table at Vash and Meryl, who'd finished their joint telling of the sordid tale. None could quite believe the entire thing, especially when Vash recounted his showdown with Knives back on Gunsmoke and the use of a ... mysterious weapon of incredible power to open a hole in time and space.

Meryl side-glanced at Vash then her eyes flicked back to Jet, Faye and Spike. They didn't appear to know how to respond to the story. She could empathize. The history of Vash and Knives, while curious, was terribly sad.

Faye blinked a few times as the numbness wore off. She'd only half-listened to the story after the point she'd learned Nicholas Wolfwood was dead. Not only was he dead, he'd been with the people determined to destroy Vash. It made little sense to her. How could he, of all people, have been with these ... Gung-Ho Guns?

She'd spent a month with him, told him things she'd never told another soul, and she couldn't have imagined he was ... A hand absently brushed over her neck, then she remembered she'd stopped wearing the cross he'd given her. It proved to be more trouble than it was worth in their own time. She kept it elsewhere, but still close to her heart.

Vash noticed the change in Faye's manner, immediately knowing the cause. He understood how she felt. To find out that someone he'd trusted and cared about was not who he appeared to be.

"Faye ..."

He'd only managed that much before the woman hastily excused herself and vanished through the door, outside. He sighed heavily as he bowed his head. Perhaps he shouldn't have mentioned that part. But then that wouldn't have been fair to anyone, especially Wolfwood.

Spike took a long drag from his cigarette, glancing at Faye as she practically ran from the room. Part of him felt guilty for making the crack about "needing a priest" earlier, then the other half of him remembered he really didn't care. She'd started that one, anyway.

Jet leaned back in his chair, arms folded across his chest as he watched Ed click away on her computer. Mostly oblivious to everything else, she was surrounded by her friends. More than likely, it didn't matter to her; she was excited to have Vash around again. He shook his head. Vash's story sounded like the plot of a science fiction movie, almost unbelievable. Then he recalled their own foray into sci-fi.

Meryl glanced between Jet and Spike then looked to Vash. He kept his own gaze on the door Faye had gone through only moments before. Getting to her feet, she placed a hand on Vash's shoulder. When he looked up at her, she offered him a small smile and a nod. He understood - she would take care of Faye.

When Meryl was gone, Spike exhaled a cloud of smoke in Vash's direction. Once he had the other man's attention, he said, "You honestly expect us to believe that story? Because, even after all I've seen in the last two years, it's more than far-fetched. It's bullshit."

"I don't know what I could say to convince you," Vash evenly replied. "I thought that the truth would be enough." He shifted his gaze to Jet on Spike's left. "Whether or not you believe me, it doesn't matter. It will affect the future of humankind."

Jet lifted his head, a realization hitting him at those words. "Your brother?"

He nodded. "Yes."


Outside, Faye strolled a reasonable distance away from the orphanage. The chance of a piece of moon rock striking was always good, but, at that moment, she didn't care. Her mind was on other matters entirely. Soon, she found a decent sized slab of rock to use as a chair.

Sighing, she tipped her head back and gazed at the early evening sky. They'd been listening to Vash's story for quite a while. As she scanned the stars, her mind wandered. She hadn't been on Earth since they returned. Like Spike, she avoided the place, but for different reasons.

She knew she belonged to someone somewhere. Even sixty years later, whoever they were, they were here. But whom? And exactly where? The one beta tape she had offered practically nothing in the way of clues. Children playing; children who had pasts and had lived through their futures. All except one - that little cheerleader remained hopelessly lost.

Her hand slipped into her top and she removed the small gold cross from it. She stared it, lying in the palm of her hand, glimmering dimly under the weakening light of an already faded sun. He, Wolfwood, had told her to have faith.

Faith in what, though? God? She'd tried that for almost two years and nothing came of it. She still couldn't remember who she was and she was certainly no closer to Spike. In fact, she was further away from him now than before their unexpected trip to Gunsmoke.

"Why did you lie to me?" she muttered as she closed her hand into a fist around the cross. Tears stung her eyes. As much as she didn't want to cry, she couldn't help it. Everyone she cared about had either vanished or died. Or acted as though they were dead.

Meryl came to a stop not far from Faye when she heard the woman mutter those words. Her sympathy went out to Faye Valentine. Wolfwood, he'd affected so many people, Meryl never even realized it. It tore her apart inside when she was forced to deal with Milly's mourning of the priest. Though Milly's bond differed from Faye's, Meryl understood the power of it. Her own with Vash had driven her into the desert. Now, here she was, on another planet and out of time.

"What do you want?"

Meryl's eyes widened briefly when she heard Faye speak. "Well ... I ..." She didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure why she chose to follow Faye. They weren't close in any aspect of the word, and she'd never particularly liked the woman, either. Faye Valentine was greed personified. "Are you going to be ... all right?"

Faye's hand tightened on the cross and she brushed away the stray tears. "I don't know ..."

Meryl noticed the wet streaks on Faye's left cheek. Her initial assessment, that Faye was a cold, hard bitch, faded away. She noted how the other woman tried to casually dry her tears, without being obvious. Meryl started to realize that she and Faye were more alike than they were different. Both internalized their feelings, tried to hide anything that might be viewed as weakness, and suffered for it.

"Do you mind if I stay with you for a bit?"

Faye shrugged. "I don't care. Do whatever you want."

Meryl seated herself on the ground beside Faye's rock slab. She pulled her knees to her chest then hugged her legs closer with her arms as she let her gaze settle on the sky. She wondered how far her own planet was from Earth. And what about Milly? How was she doing ... all alone? God, Milly! She probably thinks we're dead!

"Were you there?"

"Hmm?" Meryl turned her head to find Faye staring down at her. "Was I where?"

"When he ..." She couldn't even say it. Giving the word her voice only confirmed that she believed it. "Were you there?"

"I was in town." Meryl lowered her gaze to the ground in front of her. "I didn't actually see it, though."

"And where was Vash?"

Her head lifted upon noting the venom in Faye's tone. The other woman's eyes darkened as they narrowed on Meryl. "He was ... he ... " She's worked so hard to put that day out of her mind, it was difficult to recall the details. "I can't ... remember ..."

"Why didn't he do something? He should've done something!" Faye's fists tightened in her lap. "It's that idiot's fault it happened!"

"He can't be in two places at once," Meryl hotly shot back. "And Vash had nothing to do with it!"

"He had everything to do with it!" With all of her strength, she threw the cross onto the ground then covered her face with both of her hands. "It was his fault ..." she choked out into her palms.

Meryl blinked. Had Faye completely broken down? Her surprise was quickly replaced by her own anger. "How is it Vash's fault?"

Faye's hands dropped into her lap as she turned to Meryl. "His stupid policy of 'no killing'! If he hadn't have listened to that idiot, he would be alive! He would've just ... " It hurt to remember Vash's explanation of what had happened. Someone he'd given a reprieve - a chance to walk away, with his life - murdered Wolfwood. "Don't you understand?" Tears spilled down her cheeks, her eyes filled with a hatred Meryl had never seen in anyone before.

That didn't stop Meryl from lashing out, though. "He made his own decision. If you want to blame someone, blame him! If you want to hate someone, hate him!"

"I do!" Faye paused, shocked that she'd screamed at Meryl. Then, she just didn't care. None of it mattered anymore. Her life was a bigger, more miserable mess than ever before and she couldn't take it much longer. Her explosion was a release of a culmination of frustrations over the last two years.

"You ... do?" Meryl's voice was so soft; she barely heard her own question.

"Yes!" Her hands furiously worked to wipe away her fresh tears. "Goddamnit!" She hated crying. She loathed the complete absence of hope. It was worse than any other feeling in the world.

Meryl positioned herself on her knees, just in front of Faye, her expression one of concern as she watched Faye finally let the walls crash down. Without thinking, she placed her own hands on one of Faye's, squeezing it reassuringly. "Why?" she asked, quietly. "Why do you hate him?"

Faye looked from Meryl's hands clutched to one of hers to the woman herself. Why the hell did she care? What was it to her, anyway? It wasn't any of her business, either. Still, she was compelled to answer.

"He lied to me." Off of Meryl's confused look, she continued. "He told me ... to have faith. It didn't work. My life is worse because of him." She averted her gaze; she couldn't look Meryl in the eye. "I was stupid, to believe him. Have faith." She scoffed. "That's what holy people do, right? Give you a false sense of security?"

"What is it that hasn't changed?"

Faye glanced back at the orphanage. "Everything," she murmured. "I can't compete with a ghost. No one can."


End Chapter Five

Song Title Used: "Where All Agony Prevails" - Noctuary