NINETEEN: time to kill
The heat of the midday sun smiled down on the broken land-rover, mocking Spike with its searing touch. Smoke poured from the engine, and the bounty hunter reeled out of the heavy haze, coughing as hard as he had ever coughed in his life.
"Sonuva bitch!" he shouted, kicking at the tire.
"Calm down, lunkhead! Can you fix it?"
The bounty hunter Faye his coldest stare and whipped off his goggles. "Hell yeah, I can fix it! Let me just pull out that gallon of water I keep stuck up my ass for just such an occasion!" he shouted and flung the goggles out into the desert.
Faye grimaced. "Oh…that bad, huh?"
"Jet didn't say a damn thing about the carburetor." Spike moaned and collapsed in the passenger's seat at Faye's side. "The thing's dry as a bone. We can't go anywhere without water. The engine'll just overheat again. Could do a lot of damage."
"So we're stuck here?"
"There's this little thing they used to do before the invention of the wheel, Faye. It's called walking."
"Is it just me or is that the stupidest thing you've ever said?"
"It's either that or we cook out here," Spike retorted. He gestured over to the towering pillars of stone on the horizon. "That's about a mile off. If we can get over to that stretch of land, we can find some shade. Plus, that's where our bounty's hiding."
Faye rose from her seat behind the wheel and leaned against the windshield. "That's it, huh? You think they have water?"
"Maybe. Hard to say." He climbed in next to her and sighed heavily. He grabbed his half-full water bottle and took a swig. Faye eyed him greedily, but for once, she didn't bitch. After all, she'd downed hers early. "Thing is, the longer we stay here the more likely they'll disappear. As long as Ed has them in her sights, we need to get there ASAP."
"Speaking of Ed, maybe it's time we checked in." Faye grabbed the communicator and activated it. She punched in the code and listened as the thing buzzed at her. In a few moments, Ed appeared on the tiny monitor.
"Faye-Faye! What're you doin' sittin' in the desert?"
Faye rolled her eyes. Of course she would have to know. "It's a long story, Ed. Look, we need an update. How's Mr. Sixty Billion?"
"We may have a problem."
Faye rolled her eyes.
"No surprise there," Spike muttered, closing his eyes as he lit a fresh cigarette.
"Seed cameras show there may be two Stampede-persons onboard."
Spike dropped his cigarette in his lap. "Say what?!"
"Hey, give that back!" Faye shouted when he snatched the phone away.
Spike ignored her and glared into the screen. "You better be fucking kidding me Ed! We don't have time for this bullshit!"
"No BS, Spike-person. Cameras show two different persons fitting the description of one Vash the Stampede in various locations of the seeds ship at similar times."
"Oh God," Spike muttered, tossing Faye the phone. In that moment, he noticed the smell of something burning and saw a thin trail of smoke rising from his lap. "Holy shit!" He furiously began to beat out the small embers with his palm. "Sonuva bitch! This shit is really getting on my nerves, Faye!"
"You knew the risks when you signed on." Faye mustered her sweetest smile despite the thick sarcasm in her voice. She looked to Edward. "Look, the land-rover shot craps. We're about a mile from our target. We have to walk and see if we can find water to fill the carburetor." She glanced up to Spike. "I get all that right?"
"Shit. Close enough."
"Yeah," Faye replied. "Got that Ed?"
"Affirmative, Faye-Faye. Can you bring Edward a souvenir?"
Faye grinned. "For sixty billion, we'll see what we can do, kay?"
"Kay-kay! Bebop out!" In that instant, her face vanished.
"Okay, Spike. Let's hoof it."
Neither noticed the large man who stood off in the distance, glaring down to the land-rover. Morgante the Warhead, the last of the Gung-Ho Guns, frowned down at the odd-looking vehicle, to him no more than an odd-looking jeep with smoke bellowing from its engine. It seemed to be a small tank, with a gray, steel frame, taller than most other vehicles he had ever seen. Studying the vehicle, Morgante let the corner of his mouth turn up into a tiny grin.
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Milly proudly went about preparing dinner for four. She stared into the pot, thinking that it didn't quite seem enough for two Vash-like individuals, Meryl, and herself, but she thought maybe she could spare a little of her own to see the others had enough. She loved to cook, and like any young woman who loved to cook, the very best compliment one could receive was the silence of happily eating people.
She had a hard time looking the man across the room in the eye. He was so much like the man she and Meryl had followed for so long. She couldn't help but feel uneasy around him. He wasn't Vash, and he never would be.
This was a man willing to kill, and she knew it.
She realized another thing, as his eyes met hers.
He reminded her of another person she had lost a little more than a year ago. Stryker was a man willing to take a life so others might be spared.
There was another she knew who would be willing to make such a sacrifice.
It was exactly what the priest would have done.
Milly froze there as she thought about it. Was this man that much like Wolfwood? It was so difficult to see at this point in time. She tried to think about him once more. It had been so long since she'd felt his touch, she worried that she might not remember the true gentleness behind the man.
Stryker watched her from the doorway, unmoving. He saw the look she gave him but said nothing. His heart went out to these people, as he had come to understand the dangers these two girls were putting themselves into by just being with Vash the Stampede, simply because they believed in him. He respected them for that.
Especially since their views of the Humanoid Typhoon had proved to be true.
After a moment, Milly shook her head and smiled. "I hope you like it hot, Mr. Stryker. I haven't had tomato soup since I was a little girl, and it's very yummy. This kind looks pretty creamy too!"
"Oh, yes. Please, I do like it hot," he said, smiling back.
She's so calm about all this. I mean, she attacked me to protect her friend, but she's already learning to trust me.
Maybe this trust was something he could use, a way for him to find happiness once more. His foster parents had trusted him, but they were dead now. Since that time, nobody had trusted him again. Until now, apparently.
As he stood there, contemplating the girl across the room, the tiny frame of the other slipped silently through the doorway. He didn't look to her; he knew it was Meryl, and that she was alone. He could sense Vash, though only distantly. He was still trying to understand the strange presence in his brain that had somehow been activated within him upon his union with the man that he was supposedly cloned from.
She had been gone some time, half an hour at least, probably to contemplate the difficulties surround her and her small party. She gave him a tiny smile, though her troubles were evident there on her faintly tearstained cheeks. He thought that Vash must be very special to her.
No one spoke of Vash. Milly's quiet gaze told Meryl that she understood, and that there would be no explanation. She had known the instant her friend walked into the room. It was written all over her face, in her body language, in her solemn silence. There was no doubting what had transpired in the hours since Vash had followed Meryl out into the corridor.
Milly simply smiled. There was no use sulking about it, no matter how much it hurt, so she did the only thing she could do, the only thing she had ever done. She smiled the brightest smile she could muster and gazed lovingly to Meryl.
"I hope you like it hot and creamy!" she said, beaming.
Stryker suddenly turned away, turning crimson at Milly's sudden comment. It just seemed…weird for her to say something like that. He knew she didn't mean it, but it took all his power to suppress the laughter tickling his throat.
Meryl covered her mouth suddenly. She had also started to blush at seeing Stryker's face. She had to smile at the moment of amusement Milly had offered. At least the big girl was trying to keep a sense of humor intact. "You know I do, Milly," she said quietly. "You're the best cook I could ask for. She really is, Sean. You'll like it, guaranteed. That girl could make sand taste great. Isn't that right, Milly?"
Milly simply smiled.
"Vash had something to take care of," Meryl added quietly. She gave Stryker a smile. "Right now you'll just have us to keep you company. I hope you don't mind females too much."
He blushed. "No, of course not. Females are the finer half of the breed. At least, that's what my father used to say." He grinned. "And I think I'll take the soup, please. I've eaten enough dirt for one day."
Milly giggled. "Oh, Mr. Stryker. Meryl knows I'd never feed anyone dirt on the first date," she teased.
Meryl shot her a look. Careful of your words, Milly. We still don't know very much about this man. She gave her friend a pale smile and headed over to the table, falling wearily into a chair. At least Milly had the right idea; there was no room for sadness now. Not in this time or place.
"Your father sounds like a very wise man," Milly said.
"Tristan Ryker wasn't my father, but he was there for me when no one else cared," Sean said quietly. "He and his wife were the closest I ever came to having a true family. I don't know if you could ever understand what it was like for me, but I do hope you had the opportunity to share a love with family as I did."
Milly smiled. "Family is very important, don'tcha think, Meryl?"
"Yeah…family."
Milly sighed. "I hope Mr. Vash finds what he's looking for."
"I'm sure he will. You know Vash has never done anything unless he is sure that it is needed to be done. I have every faith that he knows exactly what he's doing."
"Yeah, I guess."
I just pray he comes back alive with the newfound knowledge, she thought, fingering the smooth, black surface of the tabletop. She thought it was weird that she gathered no dirt on her fingertips. With a sigh, she shook her head and looked to Stryker. There was something so very familiar about him, and it was more deeply rooted within him than the fact he looked and sounded so much like Vash. His personality leaned more toward another they had known, that was sure.
"Oh, it's almost done!" Milly announced, stirring Meryl out of her thoughts. The big girl started rummaging around in the cabinet, grinning ear-to-ear, when something black and metal spilled out onto the counter. "Huh? What's this?"
Meryl turned suddenly at the sound of the discovery hitting the counter.
Stryker was there in a split second, scooping the gun to inspect it.
"It's like Mr. Vash's old gun," Milly announced.
He deftly turned the gun over in his hands, slipping his finger against the trigger. He pressed the release, and the chamber fell open. It was empty, as he'd suspected. "I wonder what it's doing here," he said quietly. He closed the weapon, considering it in silence.
Meryl had come to their side the instant the discovery had been made. Her brow furrowed as she inspected the weapon silently, and shook her head. Like Milly had said, other than the fact it was black, and not silver, the gun was identical to the weapon Vash used to carry. For the first time, she realized she hadn't seen it on him since his return.
"I wonder whose it is," she said. More importantly, who's been here? She shook the thought away, and took a mental note to discuss the situation with Vash. She drew a deep breath and glanced to Sean. "You better hold onto it. Right now, I'm famished. Let's eat, all right?"
Milly grinned. "Alright."
Stryker slipped the weapon into his belt and followed Meryl to the table. Meanwhile, Milly found a set of dishes—bowls, silverware, and whatnot—and pour a healthy serving for the three of them. She was starving, and with Vash gone, she wasn't so concerned about there not being enough. Besides, she knew she could always simply make more.
She joined them at the table, setting a bowl and a glass of water before both of them before serving herself and sitting down to eat. "Eat up!" she ordered. "There's plenty to eat as long as we have water." She took her spoon and took the first big bite. "Oh! This is just like the soup Mama used to make! It almost takes me back, ya know?"
Meryl breathed in the smell of it. The girl was right; even the smell was like the soup she remembered that Milly used to make from scratch. Minus the chunks of tomato and celery, of course. She wouldn't eat much of her own bowl, though. She was too worried to be hungry, and after eating only a third of her serving, she slipped the bowl away and watched the others eat in earnest. Soon, the only sound she heard was the soft clicking of spoons against the bowls.
Meryl could live through many things in life, between sickness and health, happiness and sorrow. But one thing that bothered her most was the overwhelming silence that often consumed her soul. Maybe it was the fact that Meryl was unable to analyze then about what everyone was thinking. It was much easier to determine a person's mood when they were talking.
Meryl often felt trapped in her own silence, where she had only her thoughts and emotions, and truth be told Meryl didn't know if she could stand the quiet much longer. Too many things were going on for her to truly get a grip on one of them at a time, so instead she hoped to lose herself in the emotions of her company. Maybe then she could get rid of this awful feeling in the pit of her stomach.
What earlier had been eating at her was now passed and replaced heavily with the worries that only someone in love has. "Tell me what it was like, Milly. About your family, I mean." Milly gave her a look a little confused. Meryl shrugged and averted her gaze. "You know. I mean, I've heard the stories but Sean hasn't, and I wouldn't mind hearing them again. We have time to kill, anyway."
Milly simply glowed at the request. She was the type that absolutely cherished family history, and with such a large family waiting for her back home, there was enough family history in just her immediate family to write volumes. She quickly burst out the names of each and every one of them, her big brother and sister, her big big brother and sister, and her big big big brother and sister.
It seemed she could go on forever, but that didn't matter to Milly. She had the lungs of an elephant and she could talk forever. Her heart went on and on as she delivered the story with the love of the little sister inside her. She almost forgot to eat as she as the story rolled along, but eventually hunger got the better of her and she continued between long slurps of soup.
"I really miss them, but when I think about all I have to do with my life, with Meryl and Mr. Vash and all, I realize they would want me to go on with my own life. I belong right here, with my friends."
Meryl had to smile with content as her friend finished her tale. Milly was so animated when she spoke it was like seeming a well written play acted out before your eyes, not to mention the blissful, loving tone of her voice. It was very evident, even to an outsider like Stryker, how deeply the big girl cared for her family.
Finally, Milly picked up her bowl and drained the rest of her soup.
"Wow, that really is tasty. Not quite as good as Mamma's but good enough." She grinned over at Meryl. "Go ahead and finish your supper, Meryl."
"No, thank you. I'm not really hungry."
"Oh, okay." Milly gave her friend a worried look but she didn't press the matter. It occurred to Meryl that her friend never held a grudge against anyone, and looking back on it, she was almost certain that was why she was so attached to the girl. She had made plenty of mistakes in her life and despite the ones she would make in the future, she always knew Milly would be right by her side, through thick and through thin. Because that was just how Milly was.
Stryker watched the girls through this exchange, and he had to smile. He was beginning to understand what it was Vash saw in them. They were truly people, people with hearts set on the straight and narrow path, seeking happiness.
He'd been seeking happiness for a long time, just as they had. No doubt it was difficult to find following a man dubbed the Humanoid Typhoon, but as he came to understand more about why Vash had been given the name, as well as the true history behind the legendary gunman, Stryker came to realize that history was really no different than his own: tragic and lonesome. These girls were the only happiness in his life.
Next to that revelation, Milly's tale of love and hope and family made him understand all the more how much he missed his own family.
The way she told the story was humorous, and at the same time very touching. He began to realize what a lovely young woman she was. Despite her large stature, she was a passionate child at heart. Meryl was a hell of a woman herself, a tiny body that packed a powerful punch. Maybe not with her fist, but he had no doubt this woman could hold her own in any situation.
Women are a special breed, his foster father once said. Be careful what you wish for, 'cause most likely they can give it to you. When they do, it's not what you'd expect.
With a small smile, he pushed his bowl to Milly. "Please, fill 'er up."