Disclaimer still applies folks.
A/N: Wow, this is probably the hardest chapter I've ever wrote. If you guys haven't noticed, I'm not much of an action writer so that made this esspecially difficult to get started on, since I knew there would be a lot of action in it. I hope I did alright, considering how long it took.....
Please R/R!
Desert Sands
By: Batbabe
Chapter 17
/Please Rem, guide my shots....../
Vash fired both his handgun and the gun in his artificial arm at the same exact time. In the split second that it took for the bullets to reach their targets, Vash was aware of everything else that was happening, as if everything was taking place in slow motion.
A drop of water dripped to the floor from one of the stalactites above. Wolfwood was starting towards the girls and beginning to yell something. Knives snorted slightly in disgust at his brother, the world, everything. Milly shut her eyes tightly, her jaw clenching in preparedness for the shot to come. And Meryl whispered his name in goodbye.
/Please, don't let me be off..../
The man in red then heard his bullets rip through flesh.
A hushed silence enveloped the cave. One of the girls gasped. Knives' eyes went wide in disbelief. He looked down to see blood seeping from each of his wrists. For a brief moment, he looked as though he was going to break down in tears at his brother's "betrayal." Then he grinded his teeth to bite back the shriek that was about to escape.
That was when the plant realized that he still had a hold on the guns.
He began to point them to the girls again, though his movements were significantly slowed. It only took Vash a second to take aim and fire the derringers out of his brother's bloody hands.
Again, Knives looked up to his twin's face, deep into his eyes. Vash could see the hatred boiling within his brother once again. Sadness swept over him as soon as he saw it. He knew that there was no going back, Knives would never allow him to live now. There was no saving him, this was the end of it all.
"So, you choose the humans over your own kind.....your own brother." He coughed somewhat as he spoke. His face darkened as he pushed the pain from his mind. "So be it."
Before Vash could react, his brother grabbed Meryl by the next and pulled her to her feet. He ripped off her blindfold, allowing the gunman to look her in the eye for the first time since this had begun. The two locked eyes instantly, fear reflexed in both of them. Meryl steeled herself, not wanting to show any weakness and refusing to let Vash see her frightened anymore. The killer of millions spoke again.
"It appears that I will have to just amuse myself with this one...." His grin was filled with bloodlust.
"No! Let her go, Knives! This is between you and me!" The fear in his voice was palpable and seemed to only fuel his brother's actions.
Knives tightened his grip on the woman's neck, drawing a sharp gasp from her as he began to close off her airway. She closed her eyes tightly in pain. The man in red was filled with rage at his brother's blatant cruelty and lack of regard for someone Vash cared about. He took off in a run towards them.
Seeing that his brother was no longer thinking with his head, Knives picked the dark haired insurance girl up and flung her over his shoulder and ran back into the shadows, ignoring the flash of pain that ran through his wrists at the action.
Vash quickly disappeared into the shadows behind his brother.
Throughout the entire exchange, the preacher's gaze had been on his beloved. He had been inching closer to her while the plant's attention was on Vash, not being noticed. Once the maniac had taken off with his brother in close pursuit, Wolfwood had ran to her side.
He instantly took her in his arms and held her, realizing how deeply he had missed her during his absence. The bigger insurance girl looked up to him, still not quite believing it was truly him. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes as he held Milly close to him for the first time in months. He thought he could feel their baby kicking...
"You're here. You're really here..." She said quietly, hoping that she wasn't imagining it. She had dreamt of him thousands of times since he had "died", and had always woken up feeling alone and empty inside.
He brought a hand to her face to lightly stroke her cheek, not quite believing it himself. "It's me honey, it's really me..." He smiled his first true smile in months, marveling at how incredibly stupid he had been for staying away for so long.
They stayed like that for long moments, him holding her and looking into each other's eyes. Suddenly, Milly spoke.
"Could you untie me now? That way I could hug you back." She closed her eyes and smiled in the sweet way she always did. He simply looked at her for a moment before he broke out in a hearty laugh.
"Well, I suppose that would be a good thing to do, huh?" His sentence was broken with his laughter. He had just been so happy to see her that he had completely forgotten the situation they were in and that she was still tied up.
He reached behind her and quickly released her from her bondage. The ropes hadn't even hit the floor before he was enveloped in a tight hug. The air in his lungs left in a rush at the strength of her embrace. His face was soon covered in kisses as she rejoiced in his return.
"Oh, you don't know how happy I am to see you!" She spoke as she kissed. "I thought I'd never see you again and then I thought that I was never going to see anything again when Mr. Knives brought us here and then you came for us and I knew everything was going to be alright!" She quieted and pulled away suddenly, her face perplexed. "How'd you get here anyway?"
He chuckled lightly. "I just followed needle-noggin. He's the one who got us here."
The insurance girl tilted her head to the side, still somewhat confused. "Uh, that's not what I meant...."
The smile dropped from his face as he realized what she was really asking. He looked down to his lap, hands still on her hips. The preacher wasn't entirely certain how to answer. Instead, he looked at her belly and was filled with a great fullness at being alive again. There was so much to live for.
He brought his hand to rest on her protruding stomach and looked back up to her face, into her eyes. "That doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're alright....both of you." Her face softened and she smiled again, knowing what he said was true. They would be a family now....
Slowly, he leaned down and brought his lips to hers. She melted into him, even with her increased size. Her arms rapped around his neck and his around her back. They both thanked God for this second chance.
"VASH!!!"
They broke apart, startled at Meryl's sudden shriek. A sense of dread came over the preacher, knowing something was terribly wrong. He silently berated himself for rejoicing at recovering Milly while Vash was still in pursuit of his brother.
Wolfwood stood, then brought Milly to her feet. He took her face in his hands and gave her a light kiss, knowing that he had to leave her and help his friend. Looking into her eyes, he knew that she knew what he was about to do and that she hated to see him leave her so soon.
"I'll be back soon Honey, don't worry." She nodded slightly as his hands left her face. He reached into his jacket and pulled out both of his guns again. Then he winked at his beloved and ran into the darkness, after their friends.........
A/N: Wow, that's probably the longest chapter I've ever written for this story! Quite frankly, I'm amazed. Didn't know I had it in me. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!
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