Chapter 6

Devil's Advocate

Though Vash and Knives seemed unbothered to the amazing architecture and technology of Sky City, Millie and Meryl were thunderstruck. They openly gawped at their surroundings as the Doctor led them trough the twisting grey corridors and through doors which opened by themselves.

'How have things been?' asked Vash.

'Not too bad,' replied the Doctor evenly. 'We've settled down quite acceptably I think. There have been some raids and attempts to steal both our equipment and data, but we've held out well enough. We've opened a few trading routes, exchanging knowledge for food and so forth. There have been losses, of course, but it could have been much worse. We're recovering and adapting remarkably all things considered.'

Vash nodded. 'But things haven't been easy, right?'

The Doctor sighed as yet another door slid open before them, this time revealing a large, white, pristine room filled with various strange implements, all different shapes and sizes. Several men and women bustled around it, all dressed in white robes or shirts.

'No,' he said, 'not all together easy. There is a lot of anger and malcontent, but then change is never easy. We always remember what we had, saying what has gone before was better… Ah, here we are at the Medical Centre.'

He spread his arms out wide, indicating the large room they'd just entered. 'We'll start our examination now Vash, if that is alright by you?'

'Sure,' said Vash, moving to sit on one of the beds.

'Right, first we'll require various samples, you know the usual… blood, saliva, urine, faeces and semen. Then we'll move onto deeper examination…'

As he spoke Vash turned slowly red and winced slightly. He'd obviously forgotten this part of the medical attention. His embarrassment was only increased when, from the back Millie piped up, 'how are you going to get the-'

'Never mind that Millie!' interrupted Meryl quickly, saving Vash from death by sheer mortification. 'What do you want us to do, sir?'

The Doctor turned to them, still smiling kindly. 'I honestly don't think there's much any of you can do right now, not until the tests on Vash are complete. Perhaps you should go to your quarters?'

'We have quarters?' asked Meryl, curious.

'Oh yes, as soon as I heard you were coming I arranged several room in the east section of the city to be prepared for you. They're somewhat remote but I thought it best if… ah… you were kept away from certain members of the populace.' His eyes flickered almost imperceptibly towards Knives. 'You saw how some of our citizens greeted you.'

Vash opened his mouth to say something but he was interrupted by the loud squeal of 'Vash!'

The others dived out of the way as a smallish, brown haired girl… no, woman, dashed passed them towards the gunslinger.

Vash laughed and nearly overbalanced as the girl pounced on him, hugging him tightly, her large green eyes filling with tears of happiness.

'Vash!' she crooned, 'it's so good to see you!'

Vash chuckled a little and held her tight though, Meryl realized, there was some sadness in his eyes. 'Hello Jessica,' he said, 'how have you been?'

'Fine,' trilled back Jessica, 'even better now you're here! What happened to you? Have you come back to stay this time? Where is your coat? What happened to that nice priest man?'

Multiple emotions flickered beneath Vash's eyes, joy, worry, concern, fear, sadness, all hidden by that strange, neutral smile of his.

'It's all kinda complicated,' he said, hugging her close. 'But I think I'll be here for a while, so there's plenty of time to explain.'

Jessica looked overjoyed at this news. 'What about these people?' she asked. Releasing him from her hug and turning to the other three. 'Are these your friends? Will they be staying here too? Not many people like outsiders, Vash…'

The outlaw licked his lips nervously, once again anxious about making introductions. 'Umm,' he began, 'this is Millie and Meryl and… hum, Knives.' The last name was mumbled under his breath, but Jessica obviously heard it. Instead of looking terrified or outraged, however, her pretty face suddenly gained a sort of hardness.

'Oh,' she said, 'I… heard that you were here but I didn't believe…' She stared straight at Knives. 'I hope… I hope you've changed. You're not going to hurt anyone, right?'

'I won't,' said Knives calmly, 'I'm only here to make sure Vash gets better.'

Jessica looked briefly towards the Doctor, who nodded. She turned back to Knives. 'Alright then,' she said, 'if Vash trusts you… I will to.'

Vash smiled warmly as she said these words and the Doctor, if at all possible, seemed happier and more content than ever.

'Thank you Jessica,' he said in that high, rattling old voice of his. 'That's very forgiving of you. I don't suppose you'd be kind enough to show our guests to their quarters? Vash will be staying here in the Medical centre for a while, but the others need showing to the rooms we've prepared for them. They're in the east sector.'

'Alright sir,' said Jessica. 'Come on, and keep your guns near by, there are a lot of people aren't very happy to see you.'

'We'll be back soon,' promised Meryl solemnly.

Vash nodded and waved to them as they departed down the twisting corridors, Jessica leading the way.

Knives couldn't help but notice that the corridors were eerily silent as they walked down them. There wasn't a man, woman or child to be seen. Though, when he listened very carefully he could hear whispered mutterings from behind the iron sliding doors. This didn't mean that their short journey was peaceful, however.

Half way there a boy of no more than twelve dashed out of his quarters and threw something at the small group. Knives stepped aside as the rotten tomato hit the floor besides him. It wasn't the only object he dodged though, as several other people, mostly the younger generation, dashed quickly out of their homes and began to throw things at him. Decomposing food mostly but sometimes more unpleasant objects. He managed to dodge them all but nearly got a face full when a man jumped out from around a corner, gun in hand, and attempted to shoot Knives. He spun away, rotting food spattering his skin and coat. The bullet whistled by harmlessly and the hostile man had his gun shot out of his hand by Meryl. He whimpered and ran, dropping his own fire arm. At the sight of weaponry the food throwers also escaped, forgetting their target and taking refuge in their rooms.

'I told you not many people would be happy to see you,' said Jessica, brushing some rotting slime off her trousers. 'I suppose we'd best hurry to your quarters, if no one is hurt?'

No one was, but it was plain from the look on Knives' face that he was absolutely furious with the situation, he managed to keep his temper in check though.

Eventually they came to the east section, and Jessica showed them into their quarters. In actual fact it wasn't four living spaces but one living space built for a family of four. It had a large dining area, a spacious central room and several small bedrooms.

'Well,' said Jessica, 'now that you know where this place, I'm going to fix you up some food.'

'Good idea,' agreed Meryl, 'I'll help. Perhaps we can send some of it up to Vash. He'll probably be whining for doughnuts by now. Millie, you unpack our stuff. Knives… I'd have a wash if I were you, that garbage smells dreadful!'

'Really,' muttered Knives sourly under his breath, 'I hadn't noticed. I've only got the stuff dripping off me!'

Meryl seemed either not to not hear him or simply not to care. She turned on her heel and left with Jessica who, for some reason, didn't look entirely happy with her company.

'Well now, Mr Knives,' said Millie, 'we'd best be unpacking, hadn't we?'

Knives shrugged but didn't make a move. He just stood there, glowering as the tall woman began to bustling round the room, examining the various strange objects and putting their belongings away.

Millie was a kind woman and she hated to see anyone mad or upset, even those few people she didn't really like all that much. The sight of Knives sulking, his arms wrapped around himself and his lower lip jutting out almost childishly stirred something in hear large heart.

'Mr Knives?' she asked sweetly, 'what's wrong?'

Knives sighed, 'I'm sick of being treated like this,' he muttered at last. 'Sick of the way things are going right now.'

'I know,' agreed Millie, trying to sound sympathetic. 'But you've got to expect people to be a little upset right now. I'm sure when they find out what a-' She struggled for a moment, she couldn't lie, 'an interesting person you are.' She finished at last, somewhat proud of herself for being both nice and honest.

Knives scowl deepened, 'yeah, right,' he spat. 'It's not fair! When I was exterminating them, they left me alone, I would never have been pelted with rotting rubbish then! Now look at me! I turn over a new leaf and they take advantage. If that isn't proof of my theory of humanity then I don't know what is… And it's not just the people here. All over this accursed planet, it's the same damn story. I try to do something good, try to actually half help the idiotic humans and guess what? They kick me in the teeth! There's a damn bounty on my head! It wouldn't be so bad if it was for the things I deserved, but no, it's not. Look at my brother, just look at him! That idiot has sixty billion double dollars on his head, and I've only got a few thousand. And the nickname, Knives the 'Razor.' What kind of name is that? I sound more like a shaving instrument than a threat to humanity! I mean, I ask you, did Vash start out with such a stupid tag? Eh? Was he 'Vash the Small Heard of Docile Animals? Did he begin life as The Humanoid Mild Breeze? I don't think so! It's sickening, it almost makes me wish I hadn't bothered with all this. At least when I was wiping them out they gave me some respect! At least-'

He was unable to continue as, at that moment, Millie punched him rather hard.

Entirely unprepared for the blow Knives stumbled and fell back, tumbling onto the floor. After a few moments he sat up, putting one gloved hand to his mouth. His eyes widened as it came away red with blood.

'Did you… did you hit me? You really hit me,' he muttered, thrown into shock. 'You hit me…'

He looked up to see Millie, amazed that the gentle, seemingly ditzy woman would hurt him.

She stood there, her hands clenched to her sides, she seemed to be trembling with rage, tears were dripping from her face.

'How dare you?' she said at last, her voice horse. 'How dare you talk like that! It's nasty and arrogant and… and mean! How can you whine and whinge when you've done so many bad things? How can you say things like that when you've hurt so many people? Don't you know how much pain you've caused? Don't you even think about what you've done to them?'

'I…' Knives stuttered, for once at a loss for something to say. 'I… killed them…'

'Yes!' replied Millie, practically shrieking, tears dripping like waterfalls from her pail blue eyes. 'You killed them! You destroyed lives and there are people… people who'll never see those they love again and… and…' Her voice, wobbling with grief, faded away all together. She hiccupped with pent up tears and for a moment Knives found himself unable to look at her, unable to face her.

'Oh,' she sobbed at last, 'please… just have a shower, Mr Knives. I really don't want to see you at the moment…'

Knives nodded and picked himself up off the floor. Some part of him was angry, enraged that she, a spider, had hit him. Had hit him, Millions Knives. Another part, however, was saying that he was no longer Millions Knives. He was Knives Bluesummers and that, really, she had every right to.

Knives decided to put the internal debate on hold and simply go and have a shower to clean the residual stinking rubbish off him. He could ponder the issue later, when he had time. Besides, right now his brother, Vash, came first and not his own pride.

He would settle the issue at a later date, one way or another.

……………………………………………………………………………………

For the girls the next few days were spent lazily, there was nothing for them to do but wait and take care of Vash, when he was let out of the Medical centre.

For better or for worse Knives was kept busy during this time. As soon as the preliminary tests were done on Vash he was summoned to help decode the results.

'We know as much about Vash's biology as anyone on this world,' the Doctor had said. 'But you probably know still more. If nothing else you'll provide an excellent biological comparison.'

Had he been in a different state of mind, Knives might have taken offence to that wording. As it was he simply nodded and did all he could to aid in the decoding of the test results.

And the results were most interesting.

'So,' asked Vash, on the evening of their second night, when he was in their quarters. 'What did you find out? What's wrong with me?'

Knives sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Nothing,' he said. 'We spent all day looking at the results, you're in perfect health.'

Vash gawped. 'That's can't be right,' he protested. 'It's obvious to see I'm ill! How else do you explain my symptoms?'

Knives shrugged. 'I don't know,' he replied, 'but so far all your tests have come back clean. There's not a trace of any sort of virus, chemical or disease in you, no biological infection in your blood, or nothing unusual anyway.'

'So… if I'm not sick, what's wrong with me?'

Knives gave another shrug then leaned back, stretching his back. 'I don't know,' he yawned, 'we haven't got all your tests back yet though. There's still the DNA test to come. All we know is that your body's changing.'

'Changing?' echoed Vash incredulously. 'Like puberty? I hope not. Do you remember going through that in the desert? It really sucked!'

'Well,' replied Knives, rubbing his eyes, he felt absolutely worn out, 'all your symptoms point to it. Such as the vast food intake is to provide your body with both the energy and raw materials.'

'Well, how exactly is my body changing? How do we reverse it? Can it be reversed?'

'I don't know,' sighed Knives, growing more than a little tired of his brother's questioning, 'I imagine so. This might just be another step in our evolution, Vash… It might be the next to change or…'

'Yes?'

'Or this might be something more temporary. Something which only effects the body for a short time whilst a job is done… like pregnancy.'

'I could be PREGNANT!'

It had been a while since Knives had heard his brother so genuinely panicked, he decided to have some fun with it. 'Well,' he drawled, 'it is possible… I'm not sure of the mating habits of Plants… In fact, come to think about it, I've never even encountered a male Plant. We might be the ones that carry the babies after all and with the amount of rutting you do-'

'But I've not had sex for ages! I can't be pregnant!'

'-and it would explain the constant mood swings…'

'I AM NOT PREGNANT!'

The door to Vash's small bedroom suddenly swung open to reveal Millie, a large, joyous grin splayed across her face. 'Mr Vash!' she squeaked, 'are you really pregnant! Can I be the God Mother?'

The two men stared at her.

'Does anything bother her?' Knives deadpanned.

'Not much,' replied Vash in a similar tone.

Millie seemed either not to hear or not to fully understand their comments. 'Ma'am!' she called, before either of them could stop her. 'Ma'am! Mr Vash is having a baby!'

'WHAT!'

Meryl's voice rang out loud from the other room, both brothers winced.

'Do you want to explain this to her?' enquired Vash, sweetly.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

As it happened, an 'accident,' in the lab (Knives wasn't convinced. He would have put it passed some vengeful lab assistant to take out a vendetta in this small, annoying, but meaningful way,) meant that the DNA results were delayed. So they spent the day resting in their quarters. They, especially the girls, would have felt cooped up if it hadn't been for Jessica, who came round with food and treated them all to a good meal. Jessica had been the only Sky City resident to visit them, aside from the Doctor.

For this Vash was very glad, it seemed she's forgiven him for the death of Brad. He was amazed at how much she'd changed. She'd grown taller, harder, she wore a shirt and trousers rather than pretty dresses, but her face kept that gentle glow about it, a beautiful, shining goodness which leaked out into her surroundings.

At one point he tried to talk to her about Brad's death, but she waved her hand as if dismissing his sentiment. 'Vash,' she said, 'I know you feel guilty about it, but you shouldn't. His death was not your fault. If anything you were a victim too. If Brad were alive now, I know he wouldn't want anyone to blame you.'

Vash was so overjoyed at her words that he almost cried and he held her tight, or as tight as he could. He could still feel the disease, or whatever it was, taking energy from him, sapping his strength to fuel whatever changes his body was undergoing.

It was the forth day when Knives finally got to examine the results from Vash's DNA test.

Both he and the Doctor squinted at the screen. 'Well,' said the Doctor at last, 'it's plain to see that you are indeed a half Plant, eh? Some of these sequences…'

Knives just grunted. There was something wrong…

'Doctor,' he said, 'do you have any earlier examples of Vash's DNA?'

'Why yes,' replied the old man, tapping buttons on the computer screen. 'This is the most recent, it was done almost a decade ago though, I'm afraid.'

He brought it up and the two men stared at it, comparing it to the most recent result.

'Oh dear,' muttered the Doctor at last, and Knives was inclined to agree.

'It could be a mistake?' suggested the Doctor at last. 'Perhaps the test sample was contaminated in some way… or maybe we're not looking at it right. I'll have the lab do a more thorough analysis.'

'Good idea,' agreed Knives.

'In the mean time,' continued the Doctor, 'I was thinking… there's something I've been wanting to ask you, something that might help our investigations.'

He hobbled over to another computer console and began to tap out various commands. He accessed the central data base of the Sky City Ship.

'This,' the old man rasped, 'is our complete data base for this ship. This was one of the ships in charge of carrying Medical personnel, such as myself. As such it contains a large medical and biological data base, all locked away in this computer. Now, in The Great Fall and in our crash landing on GunSmoke our computer was damaged, but it still retained a lot of data. Amongst this, we believe, may be some information on you.'

'Excuse me?' asked Knives, not quite comprehending.

'What I mean,' reiterated the Doctor patiently, 'is that, with some searching, we discovered several files which mentioned experiments on Plants of one sort or another. I wondered if this might relate to you and your brother. Sadly, the files seem to be both locked and encrypted by a password. It seems only some of the highest ranking scientists and officials had access to them. I, alas, am neither of these. So I was wondering if you, who seem quite experience with computers, might know how to unlock them and access the information. It might shed some light on the situation.'

Knives nodded, 'I can do better than that,' he smirked, 'I can just use the password to get in.'

'How do you know the password?'

'I… persuaded one of the surviving head scientists to reveal it to me, some years back.'

FLASH BACK… 93 YEARS.

The man gave a horrible, gurgling scream as Knives slowly sliced off his left index finger.

He scowled, he was growing board of both the man's screams and the blood. It was all over his nice, clean suit now and, despite his reputation, Knives despised the sight and the smell of blood. But alas it was a brutal necessity in the fight against the foul plague that was humanity.

'Come on, Professor,' he cooe., Absently throwing the severed finger over his shoulder, trying to sound sweet and persuasive. 'Tell me what the password is and this can all be over.'

ProfessorCave sobbed softly, either denying Knives request or too far gone with pain to answer right away.

'Tell me human!' screamed Knives, his patience snapping, he slapped him brutally. 'Tell me now! Give me the information before we run out of digits and I have to start on your limbs!'

The man sobbed and, thankfully enough, it wasn't that much later before he talked.

Millions Knives could be very persuasive like that.

'Did you now?' said the Doctor, his thin, brown eyes studying Knives intently. 'Well isn't that fortunate. Now, tap it in and we shall see what we shall see.'

Knives nodded and began to tap in the code which would unlock the files. Despite himself he was glad the Doctor was no longer scrutinising him. He wasn't proud of what he'd done, not any more and the Doctor's strange, penetrating gaze only made him feel worse. Not for the first time, Knives wished this could all be over, he was growing to hate Sky City very much indeed.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Knives returned to find their quarters empty except for Jessica, who was mulling about doing some cleaning.

'Oh,' she said, just noticing him, 'hi!'

'Hello,' returned Knives glad, despite himself, to see a cheery face. 'Where is everyone?'

'An old friend of Vash's invited him round to his quarters. Vash said yes and he brought the girls with him. They only left a few moments ago. I think they'll be having dinner there but don't worry, I'll fix you up something!'

Knives nodded, and sat down at the small dining table, watching Jessica as she bustled out of the room and moved into the kitchen, no doubt to prepare a meal.

For a while he just sat there, unsure of what to do. Then he picked up a Data Pad and did some reading. Nothing terribly interesting, just some general reports on what had been occurring within the past two years. No doubt it was something of Vash's, trying to catch up on what he'd missed whilst he'd been away.

Knives found himself acutely aware of Jessica as she worked in the kitchen, his sharp ears catching the sounds of plates and cutlery being moved, food being cooked. Being with her, alone, made him feel rather uncomfortable. As it should, he supposed. He had after all, been responsible for the semi-destruction of her home and the death of someone very close to her.

After a while Jessica came back into the dining area, this time holding two plates in her hands. She passed one to Knives, it contained a steaming, wholesome looking stew. She sat down on the seat opposite him.

'I thought I'd keep you company,' she said, tucking into her own meal. 'I know I hate to eat alone.'

Knives just grunted and began to consume the food. It didn't taste bad, rather pleasant actually. It would have been an extremely enjoyable meal, in fact, if it wasn't for the company. He wished he could say something, anything to break that strange silence, but he was at a complete loss.

Suddenly he felt a strange ache in his insides, he paused, his fork midway to his mouth. He felt the pain again, a strange, stinging ache, right at the pit of his stomach.

'Is something wrong?' asked Jessica politely.

'I… I don't know,' mumbled Knives, his fork clattering on the plate as he dropped it. He began to stand up, the pain returned. This time a roiling, searing wave of agony which exploded in his stomach. He let out a cry and fell to the floor, his stomach still burning from the inside, his vision fogging with pain.

He was on his hands and knees now, he tried to comprehend what was happening? He'd never been good with pain. Never been able to stand it as well as his brother, and this was beyond toleration. He could barely think for it. Amidst the furious agony, his stomach heaved and he found himself vomiting up much of his only recently eaten meal.

He needed help. Was this something to do with Vash's condition? Was it something else? Was it deadly? He needed to get the medical centre but he could not even crawl with all the pain assaulting him. He needed to either be carried there, or else to get someone to bring a doctor to him.

Gathering his willpower he turned his head to look imploringly at Jessica, trying to get his sick smeared mouth to form words.

But Jessica was looking at him oddly, her eyes were wide, her body trembled slightly, but not with fear or concern. For there was a look of triumph, of expectancy in her face.

'So,' she said smoothly, 'I see the poison is working.'

Knives turned round so he could be sick again on the carpet.

'How does it feel?' she asked over the sound of his violent retching, 'to be helpless? To be in pain? Do you know have an idea of how you made other people feel?'

Knives didn't reply. The only sound he seemed capable of making at the moment would be harsh sobs and he wasn't about to sound weak in front of this scheming bitch.

'No,' she said at last, 'I don't suppose you do know. That would need empathy. That would need compassion and you're too much of a monster to feel those emotions.'

'How?' Knives managed to choke at last.

'I did some reading,' explained Jessica, calmly. 'There are a few records of your fights with Vash. I learned you didn't take pain well so I sneaked in some chemicals from the Medical Centre and put them in your food. It was very simple really. Of course, as far as I know the poison won't kill you. Which is why I have this…'

She brutally kicked Knives in his side; he yelped in pain despite himself and rolled over onto his back. He looked up to see the small girl looming above him, a gun in her hand.

She was pointing it directly at his head and, for a moment, with the pain burning inside his body, he couldn't help but recall the end of his fight with Vash. When he had been pierced by five bullets and had lain there, tormented by agony and helpless as his own brother pointed a gun at his head. But this was worse, far, far worse.

'Now,' she said, her voice trembling only slightly, 'I'm going to give you two choices. If you beg for mercy, plead for you life, I'll shoot this bullet into your skull and end it. But, if you don't then I'm going to keep you on your back and let you choke on your own vomit. Wouldn't that be fitting? The all mighty Millions Knives drowning in his own puke? So, it's your choice. Which way will it be?'

From his supine position on the floor, Knives glared up at her, desperately trying to work out what to do. Whichever option he took there would be an unbearable amount of humiliation involved. However a pragmatic voice inside him pointed out, if he did not beg, then he'd have more time. His only hope was to try to play for that time, to stay alive as long as possible in the hope that someone would find him.

'Why?' he managed to hiss out between clenched teeth, he worked furiously against the pain and the rising of his gorge, trying to stop himself retching again.

'Why?' echoed Jessica, her voice becoming high with rage. 'Why? How dare you ask that! How dare you!' She brought her leg back and kicked him in the face. He yelped as it connected with his cheek. 'Because of what you did! To stop you from doing it again! I'm doing this for all those you murdered! For Brad!' Another kick, this one to his stomach, making him vomit again. 'For Stacy!' another to his side, 'for Mark!' his gut, 'for Shelly, Michael, Jonathan!' She kicked him, again and again, screaming names with each brutal lash of her boot.

'For VASH!' she screamed one last time as her final kick hammered into his jaw.

His head snapped backwards, stars and darkness clouded his vision, his agonized body felt very far away, for some reason, as if his soul wasn't properly attached to it. He couldn't even find the strength to whimper as the torment from his poisoned stomach raged on and as his body ached with abuse. He vomited once again, this time it was mostly bile which burned his throat and stung his split and bloody lips.

For a moment rage flowed through his veins. So this was what he got for playing it Vash's way, this was his reward for tolerating humans, betrayal and an ignoble death! Damn them…

He heard a soft clicking sound and, looking up through blackened, puffy eyes, he saw Jessica slowly raise the gun.

Just then the door opened and none other than Meryl Strife strode in.

'Excuse me,' she began, 'I've just come back to… get…' Her voice trailed into nothing as she viewed the strange tubule in front of her. Knives crumpled on the floor, bruised and battered, lying in a mixture of vomit and blood. Jessica, standing tall, a gun in her hand but her face… very pail and twisted with emotion.

'What exactly is happening here?' asked Meryl, her voice calm and authoritarian.

Knives wanted the laugh, though he hadn't the strength and, even if he did, he knew it would only come out as a chocked, rasping gurgle. What did the idiot of a woman think was happening? A friendly little tea party of some sorts perhaps?

'Go away, Meryl,' stuttered Jessica, still pointing her gun at Knives. 'Leave and come back in a few seconds, I'll be finished by then.'

'What do you mean? What have you done to Knives?'

Jessica laughed shrilly, 'what does it look like? I've put him out of action. I'm punishing him for all the evil he's done and now I'm going to put him out of his misery.'

'Jessica… that's not right.'

'Really?' Jessica's blood shot eyes strayed from Knives to Meryl. 'How would you know? You don't know the history of this fiend. You didn't loose friends, family to this monster. But you know enough, right? You know some of what he's done, at least?'

'Yes,' replied the short insurance woman coolly. 'I know.'

'Then you know I'm right. I'm just taking out the garbage. If I let this… this… thing live then I'd just be allowing him to kill more people. You know what he is, right?'

'Yes,' replied Meryl, 'I've seen what he does. He is… or was a monster. He is a murderer. And yes, he might do so again.'

The small spark of hope that had been lit in Knives' heart upon Meryl's entrance flickered and died. He should have known she'd never support him. She'd shown nothing but suspicion and contempt for him since they'd met.

'So you'll go? For just a few seconds?'

'No Jessica, I won't. I won't let you kill him.'

Knives eyes widened… she… she wasn't going to let him die..?

'Why not! He's a murderer! He should be brought to justice at least!'

'He is a murderer, but this isn't about justice. Killing is never about justice. This is about revenge.'

'That's enough!'

'No, it isn't. Because it'll just continue, an endless circle of hatred as someone tries to avenge him. Because everyone deserves a second chance, even Knives. Because no one has the right to take the life of another! Think of the repercussions of your actions!'

Jessica was in tears now, screaming at the top of her lungs. 'You don't understand what he did! He took everything! He needs to die. I need to end it! I don't care about the future! I don't have a future! He killed that when he killed Brad. When he made Vash go away! He ruined my life as he's ruined the lives of everyone he has met! He's a monster!'

'I… I'm sorry.'

The words came not from Meryl, not from Jessica, but from Knives.

Both women turned to him as, slowly, he pushed himself up onto his elbows. He gasped in pain and spat some blood from a cut lip, before continuing. His voice shaky, weak, 'I… I'm not begging but… I know… I have done many… evil things. I know… no apology will ever… ever be enough. Nothing will bring… those people back. But… if I do nothing… nothing else, if I die then… then I can… I can at least say I regret… I am sorry. I truly am. I… I think… I was… wrong'

His strength gave way at this and he fell back down onto the carpet, gasping.

'No,' muttered Jessica, desperately. 'No… you can't say that… you're a monster… you're not allowed to say that… you…' Ser voice trembled, the gun was raised further. Suddenly Meryl moved forward, putting herself between Knives and Jessica, her arms spread outwards, blocking her aim.

'Jessica,' she said, 'don't.'

'No… no… he can't…'

'Jessica, it isn't worth it.'

Meryl began to advance, Jessica stepped away from her, back-pedalling, her eyes wide with fear.

'Please,' she whimpered, almost desperately, 'please… let me… stop…'

Meryl ignored her, she brought her arms forward, as if ready to receive the gun, 'Jessica, please don't do this,' she murmured.

'No… no… this is wrong…'

'Yes, this is wrong. Give me the gun.'

'No… NO… GET AWAY!'

'Jessica…'

Jessica had backed into the wall by now, but Meryl continued to advance. The distance between the two women was rapidly decreasing, Jessica's grip on the gun was shaky, her eyes were wide with panic, fear, and grief. Tears dripped down her face, her voice was raw from shouting.

Then, just as Meryl's outstretched fingers were about to touch the gun's nuzzle, several events happened in quick succession.

The automatic door to their quarters opened once again, its sharp hiss disturbing Jessica. The girl, already on the edge of panic, toppled over into the abyss of madness. She squeezed the trigger of her gun and a bullet shot forth, aimed (all be it unintentionally,) at Meryl's chest.

Before the sound of the first gunshot had even reached Knives' ears, a second spewed forth. Another bullet burst into the air, this one at such a trajectory that it hit Jessica's own shot, mere centimetres away from Meryl, and sent it flying off into a different direction, saving Meryl.

Even before his eyes strayed to the door, Knives knew who'd fired. Only one person besides (perhaps) himself could have performed such a feat.

Vash stood, half slumped in the doorway, his arm-gun still smoking. A look of absolute rage was painted across his features, sharpening it dreadfully, even his eyes seemed to glow blue with an inner fury. Knives had never seen anything quite like it on his brother's face.

Jessica's gun fell to the floor with a soft thud, closely followed by her body as she collapsed onto the ground, sobbing hysterically.

Knives let out a gasp of relief and allowed himself to stop fighting the wave of blackness that had been assaulting him, falling into blessed unconsciousness. The last thing he saw before darkness overcame him was the look of rage melt from Vash's face, replaced by pity, grief and understanding.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Knives tossed and turned the medical small bed, groaning as, slowly, he woke up.

Vash smiled. Despite the reassurance of the Medical Centre staff, he'd been worried about Knives. It was so strange to see him like this, small, hurt, helpless and hurt by a human, no less. He couldn't deny that he was worried as much for Knives mental health as to his physical right now.

Slowly, two cerulean eyes opened (or opened as much as their blackened sockets would allow,) and the Plant looked up at the ceiling blankly for a few moments.

'Knives?'

His brother slowly turned to look at him, wincing at the pain in his neck. 'Vash?' he murmured through his split lips.

'Yeah,' said Vash, 'glad to see you're awake.'

Knives groaned, pain evident in his voice. 'How bad is my condition?' he asked, 'I feel dreadful…'

'Don't worry,' reassured Vash, 'the poison long since worked itself out of your system. You'll need a bit of feeding up, but other than that you're fine. Jessica wasn't very strong either, she…' He paused and gulped, uneasy with talking about such things, 'didn't break any bones,' he continued softly. 'There's just some bruising, a few small cuts, nothing that can't be cured quickly enough. You'll be fine in a couple of days.'

'Good,' said Knives simply, his head falling back onto the pillow, his eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling.

'Knives…' Vash began, but got no further as another figure approached the bed, that of the Doctor.

'Ah,' the old man said, 'you're awake. How are you feeling?'

'As expected,' replied Knives dully, 'I'll live.'

'Excellent, we'll continue work on Vash's case tomorrow then. If you can cope with that?'

'I can,' said Knives slowly and Vash felt a lump of emotion rise in his throat. Knives didn't cope well with pain, so to agree to help further, even for him, it was… amazing.

'Jessica has been confined to quarters,' continued the Doctor easily. 'If you insist I can press charges upon her but, given the circumstances I would rather not. Besides, I hardly think any jury would be friendly towards your disposition.'

Knives nodded, 'I don't want to press any charges,' he said calmly. Vash felt relief first, then, for a moment he felt a small tinge of anger twitch in his stomach. In some ways wasn't fair that someone should get away with this. Knives was still a person and attempted murder was always wrong. But still… he was glad Knives hadn't. Though he had half expected he would. Did this mean Knives was going to take things into his own hands? Vash hoped not.

'Good,' the Doctor was saying, though Vash hardly heard him for the buzz of thought going round his head. 'Well then, I'd best be off continuing our investigations. I will see you tomorrow, Knives.'

The old man hobbled away, leaving the two brothers alone again.

'Thank you,' said Knives at last, when the silence became unbearable. 'For rescuing me… it's lucky you came then.'

'It's Meryl you should thank,' put in Vash, a little sharper than he'd meant. 'She was the one willing to take the bullet. And it's really wasn't luck. We were at a dinner party, but I heard your mind cry out. I just ran to you as soon as I knew something was wrong… um… I guess my condition must be getting worse, you know, what with hearing you even more clearly…

His attempt at changing the conversation fell flat as Knives saw it for what his was, his blue eyes narrowing in suspicion.

'Are you alright,' he asked at last.

'I've just been poisoned, beaten and very nearly killed,' Knives snarled back, 'what do you think?'

Vash gulped and looked away, his mind racing for something, anything, to say that might make things a little better.

'Vash…' at the sound of his name the gunman's head snapped back towards his supine brother. 'I… don't worry, I'm not going to go on a mad rampage or anything.'

Vash let out an audible sigh of relief, then blushed as his brothers eyes bored into him. 'Sorry,' he said, 'but, you know, you are pretty touchy… I thought you'd be angrier than this.'

'Angry?' echoed Knives, 'yes, part of me is but part…' He sighed, 'I… I'm feeling guilty Vash.'

Vash blinked in surprise. This was a new one. Of course, Knives had professed this feeling before, but that had taken almost a year of persuasion to get him to admit his wrongs in the first place. Now he was feeling guilt once again? What had caused this? What else was hanging over his conscience?

'I've never thought,' the pale Plant continued, 'about the results of my actions like this, you know? I mean… whenever I killed I just thought of it in the sense of death counts. I thought about how many humans I'd exterminated, not about those I'd left alive. I never realized… never thought how it must be… to loose someone like that. About the pain I gave to the survivors too… Jessica… Millie… I never thought about them.'

Vash nodded, empathy swelling his heart, 'I know,' he said, 'I've felt guilt too, both that of the culprit and the survivor. You taught me some of that. But you can't dwell on it, it does no good. Guilt… it exists to help us recognise our mistakes and from that we can learn, even correct, our wrong doings. There's nothing wrong with feeling guilt, it's a good thing.'

'It doesn't feel good,' muttered Knives bitterly. 'But I suppose you're right. Does it ever go away?'

'Sometimes,' Vash replied sadly, 'if you correct your mistake.'

'I can't do that. Not even Plants can bring people back from the dead.'

'Then try to balance it out by doing good, by learning from your mistakes. That's what helps me.'

'That and that Meryl girl,' added Knives with a smirk. 'You should thank her for me, I… I owe her my life.'

'Thank her yourself,' sniffed Vash, acting as if annoyed. 'I'm not your slave. Besides, it would do you good to thank a mere human.'

'Never going to happen,' scoffed Knives imperiously.

'Want to bet on that?'

NOTE: Sorry this came in so late, RL got in the way. :blush: Readers Replies will be going up in a moment on my Live Journal. Also going up will be, by request, a small Knives/BDN fic for your enjoyment.

Also, I've recently discovered I've been making a series of grammatical errors. Most notably my sentence structuring. As I've only become aware of this recently, and I've been writing for a long time, I presume that this isn't a major problem. Currently I don't have the time to do an entire re-write of this fic, though I may go over it later. As such I apologise profusely to any of you who notice and are irked by the grammar errors. I will try to fix them at some point. But unless you want to be waiting months for the next parts of this, I'm afraid you're going to have to live with it.

Sorry.

NEXT TIME: We finally discover what's plaguing Vash… and the news might not be all that good.