Chapter Thirteen: "Goodnight Stars, Goodnight Moon"
Knives extended a hand to Vash. "I've released her." He gestured with his fingers for Vash to come towards him. "This isn't like our last meeting, I mean you no harm. I never did."
Vash glanced at Spike. This was what he'd come to do – the reason he'd forced them to agree not to kill Knives. He had to change his mind. "I can't," he quietly replied. "I can't do that, not until you promise me something."
Knives' hand dropped to his side. "What?"
"That you'll leave the people here alone. All of them. You'll allow the future to happen, the way it should."
Knives' eyes narrowed. "Deny my purpose in life?"
"Yes. If not out of compassion for them, then out of desire for self-preservation." He saw the curious expression on Knives' face. "If you end all human life here and now, we'll never exist. You don't know how much you've altered already. The Earth city, that spaceport ... do you understand?"
"You think I care about their future?" He pointed to Spike.
"Your own. If we never exist, then who knows what will happen to us now?"
Knives descended the steps and stopped within a few feet of Vash. "You believe the greater being is afraid to give his own life to destroy the spider?"
"That's selflessness, Knives." Vash paused. "You said I had many weaknesses, that would be one of them. Selflessness requires feelings that, for some reason, you've chosen to ignore."
In the wings, Julia stepped closer to the light. She placed a hand on the wall and peered around the corner, careful to remain out of view. Her eyes flicked from Spike to the man in the red coat. He was so very opposite of Knives – even the tone in which he spoke.
"Compassion, mercy ... love," Vash continued as he never let his eyes leave his brother's. "Those are all things she taught us."
"She turned you against me."
"I was never against you. Why do you think I spent a century searching for you?" He was inches away from Knives. "I want to save you from yourself. There's still time ..."
Knives' jaw clenched. He couldn't understand why Vash persisted in believing that he was the one in the wrong. Perhaps it was time to destroy everything he cared about ... in this time period. Maybe then he'd be more open to his side. Either way, it would make his brother miserable. A fitting retribution. He seized Vash by the coat and used all of his strength to throw him to the floor behind him.
Julia gasped lightly when the other man slid to a stop a few feet from where she stood.
"Do whatever you like with that one. The rest of them, however, are mine," Knives muttered darkly as he walked by Vicious.
Lao grinned as Vicious approached, his sword still in hand. "He's waited a long time for this," he murmured then backed away.
Faye moved forward but Jet grabbed her shoulder.
"No."
"He's going to kill him if we don't do something," she hissed.
"It's his life, Faye. Not yours."
Meryl swallowed hard as she looked from Faye to the scene inside of the church. Vash won't let it happen. He'd never allow someone to die. He just couldn't.
Spike kept his hands in his pockets, his expression never changed as Vicious stepped in front of him. 'Some people don't want to be saved ... ' That was what Vash didn't understand about Wolfwood, or him, for that matter. This was salvation for them.
"No tricks? No hidden grenades up your sleeve?" Vicious gripped the handle of his sword. "Such tactics are unlike you."
"Well, I've changed. Which is more than I can say for you." Spike glanced at Vash. The man remained on the floor, watching with an apprehensive expression on his face. "Why not do what you've come to do? I'm a busy guy."
As Vicious raised his sword, Julia rushed from the shadows. "Stop!" she exclaimed, holding up a hand. "Please! Stop!"
Vicious turned slightly and Spike looked up, surprised to see her coming towards them.
Julia placed herself between Vicious and Spike, facing the former. "You don't have to do this. He's no longer a threat to you. To us."
"Step aside," Vicious coldly ordered.
She firmly shook her head. "No." She came closer to him, a look in her eyes that Vicious had never seen before, even when she'd begged him to spare her. "Just ... let him go. You have everything, he won't upset that."
"I have no leniency for betrayal."
"Unless it's me?" she quickly asked before he could push her out of his way. She held back tears – tears for whom, she wasn't certain. Herself? Spike? Everything that had gone wrong? She pressed her body against his and rested her head on his chest as her eyes closed. "If you can forgive mine, why not his?"
Vicious' free hand gently caressed her hair as he looked down on the top of her head. "There is one flaw in your argument ... Julia," he murmured.
"What?"
"I never forgave you."
Her eyes flew open and she gasped loudly when she felt the cold metal drive through her gut. She couldn't move. Vicious held tight to the back of her head. Her fingers gripped his coat as the sword twisted to one side, tearing the wound so it wouldn't close. Then she was free. Stumbling backwards, Julia watched as Vicious' sword slid out of her body. Still unable to process what happened, she touched her fingers to her stomach then looked down on her hands. They were stained red with blood. Her blood.
Spike caught her in his arms before she fell to the floor. Gently, he cradled her as he dropped to his knees. He looked from the wound, continuing to redden her white shirt, to her face, which grew paler with each passing moment.
As Spike crouched on the floor with the dying woman, Vicious simply stared at them. He felt nothing for what he'd done. He only regretted not having done it sooner. Once Spike witnessed Julia die in his arms, he would end it. Forever.
"Julia ..."
She lifted a bloodied hand to shush him. With a finger, she beckoned him to lean closer. Once he did, she used all of her strength to lift her head and whisper, "I'm ... sorry ..." She gazed into his eyes as he sat back a little. "F-Forgive ... me?"
With a slight nod, the best he could do, he offered his absolution.
A weak smile appeared on her face. The blood-stained hand touched his left cheek and she added one last thing. "Live. Be ... ha ... ppy ..." Her eyes began to slowly closer, her hand dropped onto her stomach and one final rasp of air escaped her lips.
"Julia." Spike pulled her lifeless body close and bowed his head. I should've apologized to you, too.
Vicious lifted his sword and prepared to finish what he'd started. A single shot rang out and the metal of his sword clanked as it bent near the middle.
Spike sat up and realized what was about to happen to him. He shifted his gaze over to Vash, expecting to find the blond with his gun in hand. That wasn't the case. Vash only stared, a look of pure empathy on his face.
Another shot fired and one of Lao's men cried out as he grabbed his shoulder. The next bullet dropped him to his knees.
All of them looked to the back of the church where Faye stood, her gun raised and ready to fire again, if need be. "Spike! GET UP!" she ordered. "You are not going to die today! I won't let you!"
The rest of Lao's men reacted to Faye's appearance. She ducked down when several shots were fired in her general direction. Two of the men dropped as Jet entered the church itself. He pivoted and aimed for Lao, who was still in the main aisle.
Lao dove behind one of the pews and cursed under his breath. How did they get inside the church? Why didn't those idiots do what he'd told them?
A blast from MacGruder's shotgun startled Meryl. She gasped and backpedaled as the man who'd been advancing on her fell face down onto the floor – dead. She looked from the body to the other bounty hunter, then to the single Derringer in her hand. What was she doing? She wasn't cut out for this kind of showdown.
Lao peered around the corner and saw the short woman with her back to him. Another gun blast, followed by a scream, let him know the last of his men had gone down.
"Fuck," he swore. He needed leverage. Something to balance out an already screwed situation.
"What happened to the other guy?" Jet called out as he moved towards Vash and Knives. He didn't look Vash in the eye. He couldn't. Knives, however, remained as cool and calm as ever. He didn't appear to care about what was happening around him.
"I don't know!" Faye kept her weapon at the ready as she moved towards Spike. She glanced down at him, then to Julia's body. She swallowed, remembering the last conversation she'd shared with the blonde woman.
"Why are you here?" Spike asked.
"I'm saving your life, stupid," she snapped. "Which way did that asshole go?"
"You wouldn't mean me ... would you?" Lao's voice echoed. He grinned when the would-be rescuers turned. He pressed the barrel of his gun to Meryl's temple and made sure she was positioned in a way that left no opening for a bullet to hit him.
"Meryl ..." Vash managed three steps before he stopped.
Meryl closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, she met Vash's gaze. I'm sorry, she thought. I've put you in this position again.
"Why don't we lay our weapons down, hmm?" Lao suggested, grinning. "Or else I'll redecorate this wall with her brain matter."
Slowly, Meryl's right hand slipped underneath her cape. The fingers of her right hand found the handle of one of her Derringers hidden within it. If Vash was going to save everyone else, she had to remove herself from the equation.
"Throw down your weapons, and she's dead anyway," Spike quietly said. He looked to Vash. "The only way for her to live ... is for him to die."
"Vash ..." Jet side-glanced at the blond, who made a move for his own gun. "You don't have to do this. There's another way."
Lao eyed Vash as the man brought out a silver-plated gun. "Does he honestly think he can hit me from there?" he murmured in Meryl's ear.
Meryl's finger curled around the trigger of her Derringer. "He won't have to," she replied.
She fired.
Her eyes opened. She was alive. The others stared at her, mostly in shock. It took her more than a moment to realize that they weren't staring at her, but something behind her. She looked over her shoulder, then suddenly fully turned around.
Lao leaned against the wall, his left hand clutching the wound in his lower left side. The gun dropped from his right hand and he lifted his stunned gaze to the woman. "You ... killed ... me," he hoarsely whispered.
Meryl carefully backed away as she shook her head. It had to be done. I couldn't let him do it again. I just couldn't. Her own gun clattered to the floor. I'm sorry, Vash.
Slowly, Lao slipped down the wall. Soon, he was slumped over, his eyes closed and then no further movement came from him.
Vicious shifted his attention from his dead lieutenant to Spike still on his knees before him. "That leaves only you and me," he said. He removed his hand from under his own coat and brandished a gun.
Spike looked from the barrel to the expressionless face of the man he'd once considered a brother. "A gun? That's so unlike you."
"Times change." He pulled back the hammer.
Spike made no effort to escape. He simply waited for death to come.
Vicious was about to fire when Vash stepped between him and his target. His index finger backed off of the trigger as he stared at Vash in front of him.
"This is over," Vash stated in a low, even tone. "Enough people have died today."
"Vash -"
Jet grabbed Meryl's arm before she could put herself in harm's way. "Don't."
"Let go!" She tried to pull away but Jet had used his bionic hand, so she was stuck.
"I have no interest in killing you," Vicious blankly said.
Vash let his gun drop to his feet. "Why do you hate him so much?" His eyes narrowed slightly as he searched for something in Vicious' eyes that would indicate that any humanity was left in him. "What did he do to you?"
"Betrayal in unforgivable." Vicious looked down on Julia's body. "They can finally be together ... just not in this world."
"I won't let you kill him."
Vicious shifted his gaze back to Vash. "Then you leave me no choice."
Knives saw Vicious' trigger finger move. The gun, however, wasn't aimed at Spike, it was pointed at Vash's gut. Without so much as a word, Knives drew his own weapon and fired a single shot. In what seemed like slow motion, the right side of Vicious' head exploded. Blood spattered against Vash's coat, his face and the wall behind Vicious. For the first time, the gangster's face registered some kind of an emotion – surprise. Even after his body collapsed to the floor, with dark red blood continuing to gush from the wound, the expression remained, forever etched in stone.
Vash shifted his attention from Vicious' body to Knives. His brother lowered his gun to his side and stared back at him blankly. It was as though he'd done absolutely nothing wrong.
"Jesus fuckin' Christ," MacGruder breathed as he took a few steps away from the blood pooling at his feet. The shot was perfect. Too perfect. With the amount of time between Knives drawing and the shot being fired ... MacGruder'd never encountered a marksman with that level of accuracy.
Faye lowered her own gun, confused. Why did Knives kill him? Weren't they working together? What would make him do such a thing? She shook her head. It was then she noticed movement on the other side of the church.
Vash turned when Spike rose to his feet. The bounty hunter was drenched in Julia's blood. "I ... " he began.
"Vash, you can stop taking responsibility for everyone else." He nodded in Knives' direction. "You've taken on more than enough with him."
"Vash!" Meryl threw her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. She wanted to apologize for what she'd done, for what she'd been forced to do. If there was another way, she would've taken it. Instead, she chose only to hold onto him tightly. When she felt one of his hands gently rest on the top of her head, she relaxed a little. He understood.
Lao pulled himself to his feet, clinging to one of the pews to keep standing. He'd lost a lot of blood but he had to know what happened to Vicious and Spike. His eyes widened briefly when he saw Vicious' head blown apart, his body lying on its side on the floor. Judging by the exit wound, only one person in that church could've killed him.
Faye was the only one who saw Lao raise his gun and take aim on somebody. It wasn't Spike. And it wasn't Vash, either.
"Look out!" she yelled, sprinting towards Lao's target.
"What -" MacGruder saw Valentine rushing for Vash's brother. He couldn't figure out what the hell was going on, until he heard the gunshot.
Faye never felt the bullet hit her. In fact, she didn't realize she'd been struck until she saw the blood spattered across the pristine white suit Knives wore. She fell into him, her hands grabbing onto his upper arms. She swallowed hard. What did I just do? The pain began to register. She'd been shot in the upper back. Fortunately, the bullet had exited and missed Knives all together.
"Faye ..." Jet stared as the woman clung to Vash's brother.
She tilted her head back and looked into Knives' eyes. He seemed ... puzzled by it. She half-smiled. This was going to be the end, huh? Well, it could've been worse, she supposed. She could've never woken up at all.
His mind flashed back to the day he and Vash were separated from Rem Saverem. The door slid shut, the woman smiled at them in the same way, despite the agonized wailing of his brother and knowledge of what was to come. He watched the woman crumple into a ball at his feet. He stared at her body then touched his fingers to the blood on his own. He shifted his gaze from his bloodied fingers back to the barely conscious Faye.
Why would you do something so stupid? Why would you do that ... for me?
Selflessness. Compassion. Love. That's what Vash had called it. Why did humans let emotions incite self-destructive acts? Why would Faye, of all people, show such weakness over someone who'd essentially tortured her?
"Faye." Jet carefully rolled her onto her back, applying pressure to the exit wound. "Hold on."
Spike shifted his gaze from Jet and Meryl knelt beside Faye to Julia's body, then to Vicious'. He had wanted nothing more than to kill that man. And ... it just went away. He snapped out of his daze when he heard a clatter behind him. Lao, barely alive, attempted to reload his gun. He was on death's door but continued to fight. And for whom?
"Spike."
He blinked when Vash appeared in his line of sight.
Vash grabbed the bounty hunter's wrist when Spike tried to raise his gun. "No."
"He's already dead. Consider it a mercy kill." Spike wrestled to free his arm but Vash only calmly yanked his gun out of Spike's hand.
He nodded in Faye's direction. "We have more important things to worry about."
Spike looked over his shoulder. MacGruder desperately tried to help Jet stabilize the wounded woman.
"To hell with this. I'm going to get help." MacGruder threw down his weapons and sprinted towards the main entrance to the church.
"We can't save everyone ... we can save her," he finished.
"Faye, can you hear me?" Jet brushed the hair out of her face. She grew paler. If they didn't get her to the nearby hospital soon, she was dead.
Her eyes opened. When she focused, though, she didn't see Jet or Meryl, or even the church in which she lay. She saw her twelve-year old self. The young girl looked down upon her with a sadness in her eyes that Faye recognized – alone, lost, afraid.
"Don't die," the little girl begged. "Please! We've only just found one another again!"
Faye's eyes slid shut once more. The sound of her twelve year old voice faded, along with the image of her younger self. The blackness closed in on her. Her mind slipped out of consciousness.
"Mommy loves you!" she heard her mother's voice happily declare.
I loved you, too ...
End Chapter Thirteen
Song Title Used: "Goodnight Stars, Goodnight Moon" - Tabitha's Secret
