A/N: My chapters are getting longer, which I hope is a good thing. Thanks to my readers and reviewers!

Insanity

Knives immediately jumped up from his chair and strode past the amused Vash, headed toward the plant room intent on finding answers. On the way he silently berated himself for being so blind. The angels were older than Vash and him so there was a possibility of them knowing about experiments not found in the computers' databases.

As he entered the Plant room, Knives frustratingly saw that someone was already there. Erica was resting against the center bulb which housed her favorite of the angels, her eyes closed and a small smile on her face.Moving closer, he realized she was asleep.

Damn that spider, does she never leave the plants alone? he wondered angrily, annoyed by the interruption of his planned interrogation and by her constant interaction with his sisters. Walking up to the filth, he was about to yell at her when he noticed the water glistening in her hair. She'd apparently washed before coming and was clothed in only her bathrobe, her one corner slipped and revealing a bare shoulder. Her skin glowed with the warmth from the hot water she'd used, giving her the appearance of a real angel.

Erica must have sensed his presence, for her eyes slowly opened and she blinked sleepily at the blond maniac. She jerked her head up as she comprehended whom she saw only to meet his intense, stony gaze. They stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity, both lost in the sky blue color they shared.

Suddenly Knives angrily realized what he was doing. Snapping back to attention, he grew angry with himself and the female for indulging in such foolish actions. "Spider, leave" he order, stepping up to the bulb she still leaned against. "I have some questions to ask my sisters."

Erica huffed at his commanding tone, but stood silently and exited the room. As soon as the doors had closed behind her, Knives turned to the five angels who had emerged from the depths of their bulbs. His hopes of finding answers were quickly dashed as the center angel spoke to him, having read his thoughts.

"We know what you have come for, brother" she spoke, shaking her head sadly. "I am sorry. We cannot give you the answers you seek. Our daughter is as much a mystery to us as she is to you."

Erica, meanwhile, had leaned against a wall down the hall, wondering about the look her captor had given her. He had stared at her so strangely, and then rudely shoved her out of the room. He could at least have explained himself she thought, confused and insulted by his abrupt change in attitude. When he comes out, I'll just have to question him. If I make him angry he doesn't have his gun, so at least he can't shoot me she surmised dryly.

She was jerked out of her thoughts by Knives exiting the Plant room, looking somewhat dejected and frustrated. He glanced in her direction, then began to walk away from her without a word. Erica opened her mouth to call out to him, but was checked by a sudden revelation. She realized she didn't know the psycho's name. Vash had never spoken his name in front of her, and the angels called him only 'brother'.

Erica caught up to him halfway down the hall. "Excuse me, um, sir" she said, unsure of how to address him. "I...I haven't caught your name."

"So?" Knives asked, turning toward her with an icy glare. He wondered what the spider was up to, partly because no one had ever asked his name before. The few filth he had dealt with had always called him 'master', and Vash and the angels already knew his name.

"Well, I don't know what to call you" Erica stated plainly, scuffing her shoe along the floor in embarrassment at not having asked earlier. "Since we're stuck with each other, I just thought we could at least know each other's names."

"No" he said, still giving her a suspicious look.

"Oh come on" she argued, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's not like I'm going to use the information against you. Here, I'll even give you my full name first, just to show you. It's Erica Sebastion" she spoke with some pride, then gave the man a smile. "Now, what's yours?"

Knives stared at the girl for a moment, finally deciding there was no harm in telling her since she could not leave to tell anyone else.

"Knives" he said gruffly, inwardly grimacing for having given in to her question.

"Knives" Erica repeated slowly, suppressing a snicker. "You mean like the eating utensil?" she asked, starting to laugh at the hilarious comparison.

Knives' mouth went slack jawed. He couldn't believe she was mocking his name, much less laughing at her inane joke before him. However, this spider, this female spider, was doing just that.

With this last indiscretion Knives couldn't take the spider anymore. First she had been disobedient and uncooperative toward his commands, and now she was mocking his name! He suddenly growled and lunged for her, grabbing her arms. Erica screamed and pulled out of his grasp, attempting to turn and flee. However, he fell on top of her, pushing her to the ground with his weight.

As they wrestled along the floor, Knives was vexed to find that the girl's strength was almost equal to his own. He was having a difficult time holding her wrists and she was kicking and biting him without mercy. Knives finally managed to seat himself on top of her and pin her arms above her head, a triumphant smile on his face.

At that moment Vash decided to make his appearance from around a corner. Stopping dead in his tracks, he stared at the compromising position Knives and Erica were in. A small smile appeared on his face as he thought of the implications.

"Is this a bad moment?" Vash asked, indicating their clothing.

Knives shirt and Erica's bathrobe had both come open during the scuffle and Erica's hair was flown about. Erica's face turned a deep red, and she quickly pushed off Knives, who was also in the act of rising. His head was slammed into the floor, followed by some not so mild cursing and a few dangerous looks in Vash's direction. At that moment, he really wanted to kill his brother.

Erica brushed herself off and looked toward Knives to berate him for attacking her, but stopped in the act of speaking. She had been so busy struggling for her life, she hadn't noticed that his cap had been lost sometime during the struggle. She gaped at him, pointing a wavering finger at the top of his head.

"Knives . . . your hair..." she began, then could control herself no longer. The laughter within her exploded, leading to a homicidal look from the deranged plant.

Now, Knives knew he couldn't take his anger out on the girl because of what the angels would do to him. However there was still his sibling he needed to deal with.

"Oh brother" Knives whispered as he turned to the blond gunman, causing the hairs on the back of Vash's neck to stand on end. "I haven't cut your hair yet, have I?" he asked, raising his hand which Vash saw held a scalpel. The sharpened end glinted in the lights above.

"Come on" Vash said, slowly beginning to back away. "Can't we talk about this?"

Erica watched as the two raced down the hall, completely confident they'd both gone insane.

"Hold still, Vash!" Knives yelled, neither gaining nor losing ground in his attempt to catch his brother and wreak vengeance for his humiliation.

Erica shook her head sadly and turned around, heading toward her room for some clothes and a well deserved nap.