Thanks to all who read and reviewed. Curse all who didn't read and review.

Disclaimer: I own Trigun, and there ain't a damn thing you can do about it!
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Alex stood outside of the Red Ice, her tan hat tilted to shadow her face, as she leaned up against the building. Despite the easy look, she was actually glancing around, watching the lookouts positioned on the rooftops of the buildings around her. There was Thom, the wiry young brown-haired Coyote on the rooftop across from her, and Kett, another young member with a short, stocky build, on one down the street, and she knew two others, Gryff and Soren, were nearby, watching too. From sources within the city, Eamon had determined that the bounty hunter would be arriving today, so he had them on the lookout.

Wiping her sweaty palms on her pants, she adjusted the blue and white bandanas wrapped around either wrist, then caressed her pistol in her belt to keep her calm. Then she blinked, seeing Kett suddenly turn and motion to Thom, who motioned to her.

She darted inside, and at her appearance the room fell silent. She motioned to Eamon, who, with Vann and Lucius, headed downstairs and to an escape route built into the building that led to another building on the outskirts of the city.

The plan was at a simple point now. She would wait for Mitch Deathseeker to enter the bar, and more than likely ask Renn if she knew where Lucius was. Alex would then announce herself quietly to him, and tell him she knew exactly where he was, and she'd lead him to him. Then she'd go outside and head for the building at the edge of town, where she'd signal to the watching Gryff, who would send Soren out on a thomas to the nearby hills, where the gang was waiting.

Before she knew it, the door was flung open, and she glanced around to see the new arrival. From the looks passing around, she knew it was the Deathseeker. He was kind of short, but stout and muscular, a red bandana on underneath a brown leather had, a brown leather trenchcoat open to reveal black pants, a red shirt, and boots with spurs on the ends. Around his waist were an assortment of handguns and weaponry.

The bounty hunter reached the bar, sitting on the stool a seat away from her. She focused on the whiskey she was carefully drinking. Eamon suggested it to her, but she had to drink it slowly and only enough to cool her nerves, not numb them.

"What'll it be, sir?" Renn asked, as her daughter Leah fetched up a glass.

"Whiskey, please, ma'am," the man said, and added, pulling a paper from his pocket, "and information. Y'know this man?"

Alex saw it was a "Wanted" poster of Lucius, just like the one Eamon had shown her.

"Nope, sorry, can't say I have," Renn said, and Leah sat the whiskey in front of him.

"I do," Alex said to him quietly. The man turned and looked at her, a curious look in his dark brown eyes. His face had numerous scars along it, most likely from knife-fights. "Left-Shot Lucius? Yeah, I know the bastard. Came here a few days ago, an' I know where he stays."

"Can y'show me?" the Deathseeker asked.

Alex gave a glance around, then motioned to the door with her head. Rising, she headed to the door, glancing back to make sure the bounty hunter was following. He was, and inside she grinned triumphantly. She led him outside, down the busy street, and a while on until she reached the edge of the city. There she rolled her eyes to the rooftops, and saw Gryff. She touched the brim of her hat, and he disappeared with a nod.

"You sure you know where you're goin', lad?" he asked, suspicion in his voice.

"'Course, sir," she replied, starting out into the desert, towards the hilly-rocky area where the gang was waiting. "You a bounty hunter or somethin'?" she asked as they walked.

He gave her a cryptic, "Yes," and remained silent. She glanced at him, then shrugged slightly. As they continued on, a new thought entered her mind: I could whip out my gun right now and shoot him, all by myself. But the thought vanished on a small pinprick of doubt that steadily grew bigger and bigger, wiping out the certainty. She would stick to the gang's plan.

"Here," she said, pointing to the rocky hill that rose before them. "They got a base up there, sir."

"Come with me," he said, pulling a gun off his belt and cocking it, then pointing it at her. Her mouth went dry. "No tricks, y'hear? I got my suspicions, and if you're lyin' to me, I'll shoot you."

"Bloody asshole," she growled, and went up to the rocks, praying to God that they wouldn't start shooting until she was clear. The bounty hunter was positioning her directly in front of him, and only the best of snipers would get a headshot.

She saw a miniscule flash of blond hair to her left, and thought of Vann. Was he really going to make sure she didn't get shot herself?

"Keep movin'," the Deathseeker said when she slowed down to climb over a rock. "I'm not afraid to shoot a boy child."

"Fuck you," she snapped at him, then turned away and bit her tongue, continuing on. Then she dropped over a rock into a clearing, and someone grabbed her by the shirt and yanked her between two boulders. As the Deathseeker swore, she looked up at the man crowded with her in the tiny space to see Eamon, staring out intently into the clearing.

Alex flinched when a gunshot went off, and held still when a series of shots sounded for a while. Then there was silence. Eamon gave her a nudge, and she crawled cautiously out of the tiny space, looking around. Two Red Hill gangsters lay on the ground, blood pooling around their bodies, but the Deathseeker crouched on the ground, holding a bleeding wound in his stomach as he pointed his gun across at where she figured Vann and Lucius and the others had ducked down. And then she realized her own predicament, as the bounty hunter's gun swiveled her way. She only had a chance to draw her own gun and hear Eamon cry, "Alex!" when the Deathseeker fired.

What felt like a knife stabbed her in the arm, and she let out a cry of pain as she dodged aside. It wasn't a killshot; if it had been, she would've been dead. She fired her pistol automatically, and struck the bounty hunter in the chest, sending him sprawling. He fired back at her, and she tried dodging out of the way, missing a bullet to her gut and her forehead.

And then the other Coyotes had stood up and were firing upon the bounty hunter, who tried firing back, when his body was riddled with bullets. Then Eamon called for them to stop, and the Deathseeker scrambled his way the best he could over the rocks and on his feet, limping off into the desert.

"Get 'im, lad!" Vann cried.

Alex jumped up on one of the rocks, taking careful aim with her pistol at the pitiful form. The bounty hunter fell, and she waited. Just as he stood up, in the moment it took him to start moving again, she fired, and he dropped instantly.

"Y'got 'im!" a Coyote named Kale called. The gang cheered.

Alex took a deep breath, exhilarated. They trekked out after the Deathseeker's body, and she stood over him, seeing where her bullet had struck him--in the head. The scent of blood made her nostrils flare, her heart beat faster. The giddiness from a kill overtook her, and she grinned wide, dropping to her knees beside him and touching one of his bloody wounds, drawing the crimson liquid to her face and staring at it in fascination.

"You're a true Red Hill Coyote now," Lucius said. "Killin' the Deathseeker was no easy feat, boy."

Alex grinned wider, and then felt suddenly lightheaded, swooning slightly. Eamon saw the look, and said quickly, "Let's get back home."

"Well, killed for th' first time and got shot for the first time," Eamon said, cleaning out her gunshot wound on her arm, just above the elbow joint. The bullet lay in her opposite palm, dug out painfully by the man with a knife. But she was delighted. She was a true outlaw now!

"When can I do that again, man?" she asked.

"I see y'got the bloodlust," he said, shaking his head. "Don't let it overcome you. I've seen plenty of good men go down like that."

"He ain't a man, he's a boy," Vann said from where he sat cleaning their guns. "Damn fine shot, though. Y'were right, mate. 'E'll be a great Coyote."

"I wanna be an infamous outlaw," she said, wincing as Eamon poured whiskey over the wound. "I wanna be known all over Gunsmoke an' be feared and recognized as the greatest outlaw!"

"His hero's Vash the Stampede," Eamon explained to Vann, who raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, I see now." He grinned. "Well, y'gonna try an' wipe out a whole city like 'im? Put a hole in a moon? Huh?"

"I sure the hell will try," she said, grinning.

And so that's how Alex's dream of being an outlaw took flight. She stayed with the Red Hill Coyotes for months after that, growing a special "brotherly" bond with Eamon, and remaining loyal to her gang--as well as learning how to hold her liquor properly.

Now, for my quote-of-the-chapter:

"Violence is not the answer, violence is the question; YES is the answer!"

And as well as that more proof of my psychotic-ness:

A few weeks ago I was at school, and I had to go back to my locker to get something. When I entered the quiet classroom again, one of the boys was like, "What were you doing?"

I slowly closed the door, then turned and faced him and said in the coldest, most emotionless tone I could make, "I was killing many people, causing mass genocide."

And I took a personality quiz, and my personality best matches Legato. Ain't that creepy? I still worship my god, Knives, though, but Legato's pretty awesome too.

KNIVES-- My GOD and MASTER ((worship thee, holiest of holies!))
LEGATO-- My DESIRE AND DREAMBOY((in my dreams at night, tee-hee!))