And now, for the GRAND FINALE! . . . just kidding. Anyway, I'm glad you all liked the last chapter. Steve Sullivan-sorry, but the doctor and Moratus are two different people. Clever idea, though.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Trigun.

LIVING MEMORIES

-A Trigun Story-

Chapter 17: The Final Struggle

Meryl slowly released Vash from her embrace. Milly followed suit with Wolfwood, the two women reluctantly bidding farewell to the men. They had both accepted that they would be useless against Knives and would only get in the way, but that didn't make parting any easier.

Wolfwood held the Cross Punisher over his shoulder. Milly smiled as she remembered the look on his face when Michael had returned his precious and unique weapon. She had never seen him so shocked, and yet grateful.

Vash slipped on his yellow glasses as he released Meryl. They made him look so much more serious, and unlike himself. When he wore them Meryl felt like she didn't even know him.

Wolfwood turned to Michael.

"Well come on. Let's go."

Michael's eyes widened. "What?" He knew he was the strongest and most capable under Vash and his father, but he had immediately assumed that he would be expected to stay back, even though the thought of not being there when Frey was rescued was practically killing him. He looked at his mother, who just smiled and nodded at him. Her willingness to let him go was surprising. Then he realized that she and his father had probably already discussed and agreed on this. He smiled back, a reassuring smile that was meant to comfort her and guarantee her of his safety. But Milly just watched with a painful and forced grin as he walked forward to join his father. The three started to get in the car they would be taking.

"I want to go too." Everyone looked at Alec, who had stepped forward. He ran a nervous hand through his sandy brown hair. "Look, I know you all think I'll probably just get in the way, but I won't hinder you, I promise. I'll be able to help, and I want to help you save her. She means a lot to me, too, you know."

Aidan reached out instinctively and laid a hand on his shoulder. "But Alec . . ."

He looked back at her over his shoulder and smiled, his dark emerald eyes confident. "I'll be fine, Aidan. I promise."

Sloan took a deep breath and placed a hand on his daughter's head.

"And you'll be able to make sure of that."

Aidan whirled to look up at him, everyone else's eyes focusing on him as well.

"Sloan?" Carly breathed.

Sloan smiled warmly at his daughter, an expression that contrasted greatly with his naturally hard features. "I want you to go with them."

Aidan's eyes instantly welled with tears, and she threw her arms around her father's waist. He patted her gently on the back, obviously feeling awkward at her sudden outburst of emotion. Carly's eyes were shining as well, and she stepped forward to slip an arm through her husband's and kiss him gently on the cheek.

They all knew that Aidan would be of no help in a mission to rescue Frey. Still, Sloan had finally realized how important this was to her, and his actions showed that she had gained his trust and he was willing to let go of her. Sloan looked to Vash, seeking his approval. The Stampede silently smiled and nodded. Sloan nodded his thanks, then looked back down at his daughter. Prying her off of him, he bent down and quickly hugged her, then whispered in her ear, "be careful." She nodded gratefully as he released her.

She slipped her hand into Alec's, who stood waiting, and the two turned to join Vash, Wolfwood, and Michael.

"Alec."

The young couple looked back at Sloan over their shoulders.

"I . . . I'm trusting you to take care of her for me while she's gone." Aidan's eyes brimmed over, silent tears running down her cheeks. Alec's smile faded, and he swallowed hard and nodded.

"Don't worry, sir. I won't let anything happen to her."

Sloan smiled and bobbed his head slowly in acknowledgment. Aidan and Alec turned around again, Alec putting his arm around Aidan's shoulder, and finished their path to their three companions. They climbed into the back of the car next to Michael, and they were off.

"There they go again," Milly commented, smiling.

Meryl looked up at her. "How can you be so optimistic?"

"Because I know they're coming back."

"How?"

"Well they always do, don't they Meryl? No matter how long it takes, they've never been gone forever."

Meryl looked back out at the retreating car. Milly was right. Ultimate danger, murderers, not even death had kept them away forever.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Milly. They never will leave us, will they?"

Miles away, in a dark, dirty cell in the fortress of a killer, sat Frey Buskus. The young woman was huddled in a corner on the floor, her face buried in her knees. Anger had overwhelmed her first, anger at the fact that she could do absolutely nothing about what Knives was doing. Bitterness had followed, because of her feelings for Michael. She was overwhelmed with the information Knives had revealed to her, too, and had finally fallen into dire hopelessness, a mix of conflicting emotion rolled up into a ball.

Suddenly the cap and boots from her uniform, previously resting on the floor, raised into the air, moving in wide circles until they crashed into the walls and fell, motionless, back to the ground. Frey curled up tighter, trying to keep control of her powers, and shuddering, but not sobbing, because she had no tears left.

"I'm scared, Michael."

After a few moments her shoulders slumped. She lifted her head and stared blankly at the wall across from her, her wet hair sticking to her dirty face. She glanced at the bars on the floor, mentally chiding herself for being stupid enough to try to compromise with Knives.

Pull yourself together, Frey! This isn't like you!

She knew the subconscious voice was right. She wasn't supposed to cry and be so weak. She was Frey. She laughed slightly, a dead, emotionless laugh that echoed in the cell and then disappeared.

I must look horrible, she said to herself as she ran a hand through her unruly hair. Her hand dropped, landing in a small puddle of water. Frey pulled her fingers through it for a moment, then glanced down at the wet spot. Immediately she hit the spot, dashing the water against the cold, hard floor. She had seen her reflection in it. The sight disgusted her.

That's it. I just have to say no. I'm not going to hurt Michael, or Vash, or Alec, or Wolfwood, or any of them. I don't care what Knives does to me. There has to be some way to beat him.

Frey sighed deeply, feeling suddenly peaceful even though she still had no idea how she was going to get out of this. She laid her head back, closing her eyes and welcoming feelings of sleep for the first time in days.

Almost immediately an eerie feeling ran down her spine. Legato was coming. She looked up as he appeared, no longer really afraid, and stood up.

"It's time."

She took a deep breath, which came out shakily as she exhaled, and walked slowly after him.

Frey closed her eyes and savored the moment as she felt the sun on her face after so many days locked in a damp room. Her moment of rejoicing was quickly interrupted, however, as she looked up and saw Knives standing a few feet from her. He was watching something in the distance, and appearing especially evil. Frey looked in the same direction and instantly recognized one of their cars speeding towards her, carrying Vash and Wolfwood in the front. Her spirit sunk as she was again faced with the impending situation.

As the car neared, Frey could make out Michael, Aidan, and Alec in the back seat. Her knees buckled as she recognized the figure of Michael standing up, yelling her name. Suddenly facing all of them, especially Michael, seemed a lot harder than she had expected. Instinctively she turned to run, but Knives grabbed her by the arm firmly and dragged her to stand next to him.

The car pulled up and skidded to a halt, several yards away from her and Knives. Michael jumped out at a sprint, but Wolfwood grabbed him by the back of the shirt and pulled him back, shaking his head. Michael responded by looking helplessly and worriedly at Frey. She turned her head in shame. Michael watched her sadly. She was wearing merely the gray calvary pants which were too big on her and her black T-shirt, with her gray sunglasses perched on top of her head. But he really couldn't have cared less about that. What concerned him was her cold, pained face, and her reaction to seeing him.

Wolfwood and Vash slowly climbed out of the car, Vash instructing Alec and Aidan to stay in the car and drive as fast as they could if anything went wrong. Alec squeezed Aidan's hand and nodded. Vash turned to Knives.

"So this is what you've been doing since you left," he said accusingly.

Knives rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you were actually naive enough to believe that I would change after you defeated me. Ah," he sighed, "that's just like you."

"Let her go, Knives." Knives just smiled, but Frey cringed. He doesn't get it yet . . .

Knives looked down and saw that Frey was looking away from Vash, Wolfwood, and Michael. He grabbed her roughly by the chin, forcing her to look at them. In the movement her sunglasses slipped from her head.

Her eyes locked on Michael's. The bright blue eyes that had thus far always been an assurance and comfort to her were now filled with fear.

"Tell me, Frey, how does it feel? Isn't it wonderful to be fighting on this side, against people like them?"

Frey bit her lip as she saw Michael mouth the word "fighting?" in confusion. She desperately wanted to look away, but was unable to due to Knives' bruising grip. Michael could tell from the look on her face that she would have given anything to be anywhere but there in that moment, as she realized that there was no way she could escape Knives' will, no matter how determined she was.

Alec abruptly jumped out of the car, yelling, "why you-!" He started running toward Knives, steely-eyed and strong-willed, but before he was able to cover more than a few feet Knives had pulled out his gun and fired. Alec stopped short as the point of the leaden bullet easily pierced the skin over his stomach and thrust itself into his unprepared body.

A terrified scream was wrenched from Aidan's throat. "ALEC!"

Knives started to laugh. "Stupid boy," he said, "why do you try to bring on your death even sooner than it has to be?"

It all seemed like a dream to Frey as she watched Alec collapse to the ground, his green eyes wide in shock and terror. Aidan leaped over the car door and fell to her knees next to him, salty tears pouring down her cheeks. She buried her head in his chest, not caring as her pristine white shirt got stained with his crimson blood. After a few moments she pulled back to look at his face.

"Why Alec, why . . ."

Alec removed his hand from where it clutched his wound and reached up to touch her cheek, wiping away a tear but leaving a trail of blood in its place.

"Oh," he muttered, "look what I did." He started to pull his hand away, not wanting to further stain her pure angelic face, but Aidan clutched his hand and pressed it to her cheek, showing that she valued him far above a clean face.

He smiled slightly. "Don't worry about me, Aidan, I-" he paused to cough, a harsh cough that brought a thin line of blood to his mouth. Aidan clenched her eyes shut, crying even harder.

"I'll be fine," he continued. "I promised, remember? I promised your father that nothing would happen to you."

Michael, Vash, and Wolfwood watched the exchange in horror. Wolfwood was the first one to shake himself out of the daze, and ran to the couple, removing the Cross Punisher's cloth cover and applying it to Alec's wound.

Vash glared fixedly at Knives. "You . . . you did it again. Why do you have to kill?" he demanded.

"Why not?" He ignored Vash as he continued to stare at him, shaking, and finally let go of Frey's face. He roughly shoved something into her hands and pushed her forward. "You're up."

Frey looked down. In her hands was the black Long Colt. She gasped. Hadn't she gotten rid of this back in September?

"Kill whoever you want first," Knives murmured so only she could hear him, "just remember to make Vash suffer before you dispose of him."

Frey just continued to stare at the gun, wondering what to do. A soft word from Michael startled her and lifted her gaze.

"Frey?"

The moment she had first seen Michael flashed into her mind, as the dark stranger had dragged her into an alley to save her life after she had landed on him when being thrown out the bar window. Some of the first words he had spoken to her after waking up on the sand steamer came next.

I guess I could have killed them, but Vash never would have forgiven me.

Her gaze shifted to Vash, who didn't at all look afraid or angry at her, just disgusted with his brother. The events of the past few months ran through her mind. He might be Vash the Stampede, but he was an honest, caring, and innocent man.

And I'm about to kill a man like him to make Knives happy.

She turned around and looked straight into Knives' eyes.

"I can't."

To her surprise, Knives just smiled crookedly and smugly addressed Legato. "You know what to do."

Frey watched Bluesummers carefully, but neither he nor Knives moved. Then she heard a sharp cry of pain from behind her. She whirled, only to find Michael holding his own cross pistol to his head. Wolfwood stood from his position beside Alec and Aidan and took a step forward, but halted at Knives' voice.

"Move and he dies."

Frey watched in horror as Michael struggled uselessly against Legato, then looked to her helplessly. Knives rested a hand on her shoulder from behind, but she didn't move.

"Let me make this easy for you, Frey. I need you in order to kill Vash. If you don't cooperate and take care of him for me, Michael dies, as well as every other single one of your weak little friends. Which is the greater loss? One man, or every other person here?"

"But you said you were going to make me kill all of them anyway," she answered, her tone scalding.

Knives shrugged. "I am a man of compromise." He then looked to Vash, who he knew had heard the conversation. "Oh, and don't think you can save them, Vash. You might be powerful enough to resist Legato's powers, but the rest aren't."

Frey continued watching Michael painfully, almost looking for an answer from him. But Wolfwood's son just watched her with fear, still trying to remove his gun from his head. She knew she couldn't let him die, but she couldn't kill Vash, either. She glanced desperately at Knives. He was smiling. Instantly her eyes narrowed, her glare caustic.

He's enjoying this. He's actually enjoying this! She remembered him telling her that the doctor that had taken care of her was working for him the whole time. My life is a lie. My entire life is one horrendous lie! She was shaking now, her fists clenched. Their eyes locked and held for several moments, her sparking red ones contrasting with his icy blue ones. But this time his hard gaze didn't put her's out. Her eyes held so much anger, they appeared to be two deep lakes of liquid fire, the very doors to the underworld itself. And there was no doubt that that was the only place she wanted to send him.

Knives didn't flinch. He raised an eyebrow, as if to say, "well?" Frey turned sharply on her heel to face Michael. She closed her eyes, honing in on Legato. The Gung-Ho Gun jerked ever so slightly as he felt the presence of her powers, but even the slight movement made Frey smile. Considering who she was up against, that was a small victory in itself.

Vash and Wolfwood watched the mental battle silently, oblivious to who might be winning. Knives just smiled and shook his head. Aidan looked at Frey for a moment, then turned back to Alec and closed her eyes.

"Oh, please."

Vash's eyes widened in amazement as the gun began to shake violently under the pressure of the two forces. That meant Frey was actually making an impact. Noticing it too, Michael took a deep breath and closed his eyes, mentally encouraging Frey and hoping against hope that it would help.

Frey's brow furrowed in concentration as she worked through the web of tangled emotions inside her head. The gun began shaking more and more rapidly. Then Frey gave her last mental shove, overcoming the very man that had trained her in her first year with these powers, and the gun dropped from Michael's hand, ending the seemingly eternal silence with a soft plop in the dirt.

Frey let out a huge breath and fell to her knees, her shoulders heaving up and down in deep breaths. Her grip around the Long Colt loosened. She wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead and looked up as Wolfwood ran to his son's side and placed a steadying hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Michael answered shakily, smiling at Frey in spite of the situation. Other reactions to Frey's feat ranged from Vash's wide-eyed amazement at her pure willpower to Knives slightly amused grin.

Legato's expression remained imperturbable. Quietly he pulled out a gun of his own and raised it to his head.

"I have failed you, master. I apologize for my inadequacy."

"Legato, no!" It was Vash. The trigger was pulled, and Legato's lifeless body fell to the ground for the second time. Vash fell back a step, thrown into a sick deja vu at the sight.

Aidan cringed and looked away. More tears leaked from her eyes, and she tightened her grasp on Alec's hand. Alec opened his eyes halfway at the sudden pressure.

"What happened, Aidan?"

She shook her head vigorously. "Nothing, Alec. Frey won."

"Won what?" he asked, his words slurred together.

Aidan blinked rapidly to delay the next wave of tears. "Never mind, Alec, never mind. Just try to hold on."

Frey looked up at Knives, exhausted but victorious. Her smile faded at the look on his face.

"Oh, did you think it was over?"

"But, I-I stopped-"

"An unexpected turn, yes, but only a minor setback." He grabbed her hair and pulled. She quickly stood, and he turned her to face Vash. "Your true goal still lies ahead."

Frey stared at Vash again, too tired to be angry or shocked. The Stampede opened his mouth to speak.

"Forget it, Knives. It's over."

"On the contrary, dear brother. Don't be so foolish." The twins stood watching each other for a moment, Vash scowling and Knives still smiling.

"I'm afraid it's only just begun, Vash."