Jake struggled to regain his composure, shaking off Milly's comforting embrace reluctantly and standing as he wiped his eyes. He unsuccessfully tried to pass off a sob as a chuckle and replaced his melancholy expression with a faltering smirk that somehow gave an even stronger indication of his morose mood. "But hey," he said as he grabbed his coat, "What're ya gonna do, ya know? I'm a murderous ass, I'll never change. Its too late for me."

"No," Milly said, "I don't believe that." She stood and looked at Jake intently, and one could tell she truly meant it.

Jake gave her a slight smile. "That's sweet of you," He said, placing his pistols in thier holsters, "I'm touched, but a nice girl like you shouldn't get mixed up with guys like me. Listen, I appreciate you guys' help, but this is where we part ways." Jake sauntered out with his usual cocky demeanor before anyone could muster a reply.

Vash and the girls stood silent for a moment after Jake left, until Vash walked outside a few minutes later and suddenly stopped on the street. From down the road, a large ruckus was being raised in the nearby saloon. Vash sprinted to the door and rushed inside.

Jake extricated himself from the wreckage of a wooden table as a huge, muscular man cracked his knuckles. "What?" Jake said, staggering to his feet and swaying unsteadily, "That all you got?"

The exceptionally large guy Krieg was fighting charged across the room, screaming wildly. His boots thundered on the floor as he stopped short.

Krieg was standing next to the smashed table, holding his pistols sideways with his arms crossed, pointed at the man. "I think that's quite enough." Krieg said, thumbing back the hammers on his Desert Eagles. He placed his fingers on the triggers, taking the safeties off as the huge fighter produced a sub-machinegun with lightning speed.

"Wait!" Vash shouted from the doorway, "There's no need for anyone to die!"

Krieg spoke to Vash, keeping his visual focus on his foe, "Oh, for the lo... Piss off, man. This has nothing to do with you. Its him or me, get it?" Krieg lowered his voice and narrowed his eyes, just visible over the top of his sunglasses, "an' I got no intention of dying."

Vash took a step toward the standoff, putting on a friendly smile and patting the big guy on the shoulder, "Come on, now. Put the gun away. I promise my friend will, too."

"Who the hell is this dumbass?" the large man said to Krieg.

"The most dangerous man in the world, second to me. Vash the Stampede," Krieg grinned, even giving a small chuckle, "Not what I expected either."

Vash widened his put on smile, "There we go, conversation."

Krieg shook his head ever so slightly, relaxing just a bit, "Mr. Give-Peace-A-Chance here seems to think we could better solve our problems through a game of Scrabble or some shit."

"What the hell?" asked the man with the SMG, turning his head to Vash, "You really are a dumbass." With that, and without turning his gaze back to Krieg, the man opened fire.

"AH SHIT!" Krieg screamed, throwing himself to the side and rolling on his shoulder to come up in a dead sprint next to the wall of the saloon. "SHIT SHIT SHIT!" He added, turning at the corner as bullets ripped pockmarks in the wall inches behind him. He threw himself into the air again, diving over the bar and returning fire from his magnum handguns. He got off four shots before dropping below the bar and slamming back first on the stone floor with an "Oof."

Red geysers erupted from the chest of Krieg's target, and he slumped to the floor in a bloody heap. His arms spasmed as he fell, causing the smg in his hand to fire randomly. Krieg heard a scream, and instantly vaulted the bar with lightning speed. Bullets tore at the wall, gouging a ragged line toward three barmaids who stood, frozen with terror. Jake Krieg sprinted faster than he thought he could, throwing himself under the stream of lead and colliding with the women even as Vash shouted for them to get down. Jake thumped to the floor between two of the women, but he had misjudged the distance to the third, and looked up just in time to see the line of bullets rake across her chest. Her look of surprise and terror intensified as the wall was splattered with blood. Every part of Jake's body screamed except his mouth, which stayed perfectly still as the waitress collapsed, blood spurting from her mouth and chest as she fell. Jake lay only inches from her as she hit the floor with a gurgling thud. He looked directly into her face as she struggled to breathe with a badly punctured lung.

"Oh God!" Jake managed to say after a few seconds, drawing himself nearer and looking over the woman's wounds. He didnt need to look hard to confirm his fear; she had taken a bullet through her left lung, and the angle was such that it had most likely clipped the edge of her heart as well. She was going to die, and nothing could save her. She was looking into his face as he kneeled next to her, and a look of despair crossed her face as she saw Jake's reaction to her wound. Jake fought to contain his tears as he cradled the dying woman in his arms. The front of his shirt and coat sleeves became covered in blood, but Jake didnt care. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry," Jake said, knowing what difference that would make. He held the complete stranger in his arms as she died, and sobbed uncontrollably while her body went limp in his hands.

For nearly ten minutes, Jake didn't move at all, he merely kneeled on the floor, cradling the waitress he had failed to save. This is my fault, Jake thought as he wept, She died because of me.

Vash stood over Jake until he finally rose, gently placing the waitress on the floor as he stood.

"You—" Vash began.

"Killed her..." Jake interrupted, "I know."

"You did everything you could," One of the surviving waitresses said, putting a hand on Jake's shoulder.

"And you saved both our lives," the other barmaid injected, "You didnt kill Mary. You did a hell of a lot more than most guys would have."

What the waitresses said next wounded Jake more deeply than any bullet could. They said, "Thank you."

Jake nearly collapsed back into tears as Vash the Stampede spun him by the shoulder to come face to face. "You're up to 49 now. If you hadnt killed him, She'd still be alive, too. Hope you're happy."

Jake was silent.

The waitresses were not. "And what the hell gives you the right to criticize him, you blondey headed shit? You just stood there like everybody else! You should be ashamed of yourself. All of you should! This man's the only decent fella in the whole bunch a ya!"

"And how do you know he wouldnt have shot her anyhow? He coulda used her as a hostage, or just started shooting people to draw this guy out, or even tripped and shot her by accident, for God's sake!"

Jake silently walked out with his head hung as the barmaids berated Vash, boarded a bus for Inepril, and got the hell out of town before rumors started to spread.