By the time the girls reached the main control room, the fight had already ended and Vash was sitting bruised and bleeding in the middle of the floor. Meryl ran to him while Milly hung in the doorway, making sure no one else would get the jump on them.

He raised his head up wearily. Please, not more Fris relatives...

Meryl kneeled down as his eyes went wide. He looked so strange in normal clothes. She smiled. "Still getting your butt kicked after all this time?"

It really was her...Meryl was here, right in front of him. But how had she found him? He could only stare as the blood dripped down his face.

She wiped it away with her cape. "Well aren't you going to at least say hi? It's been a while you know."

It had been forever. Too long. Vash leaned against her. "My head hurts...why didn't you bring donuts insurance girl?"

Meryl was a bit taken back by the move and regained the tone he was more familiar with. "Come on, don't be such a wimp! Now let's get out of here for someone comes arrest your pathetic ass." She stood up and walked towards the door.

Vash smiled, swollen face and all, and slowly forced himself up. You just couldn't escape a determined Bernardelli girl.

The girls blinked as an evil grin suddenly appeared on Vash's face. "Yo Wolfwood, ready to go?"

Awfully cheery for an idiot that'd almost just been killed. "You do realize stunts like that aren't going to work forever..." He turned and his smug look instantly faded.

Vash grabbed the tall insurance girl by the shoulders and shoved her forward. "Look who I found!"

Milly blushed. Why the heck was Vash being so weird?

Nick pulled her away from Vash with a glare. He looked down through his sunglasses. "What are you doing here big girl?"

She smiled. "We got our assignment back."

Vash looked to Meryl for verification. "So you guys are gonna be around 24/7 again?"

The short girl put her hands on her hips. "Yep."

"Really now?" The priest regained his suaveness as he slid an arm around Milly. "Sounds good to me."

THAT NIGHT

"Something wrong Meryl?"

She looked away from the fire as Vash sat beside her. "Huh?"

His eyes were sympathetic. "You look unhappy."

Milly piped up from the other side. "She's just grouchy because she doesn't like sleeping outdoors. Total city girl."

Meryl glared across at her. "I'm perfectly fine thanks! But you know we don't have the supplies for this."

Nick cocked an eyebrow. "You mean you two didn't bring sleeping bags?"

The short girl huffed. "Why should we? We never camp in the desert."

Vash blinked. "Never?"

She gave him a cold look. "It's called a hotel."

He sighed. "Man, you guys are spoiled."

Wolfwood grinned while stealing a sandwich. "Well, you'll freeze together."

Milly looked from her bag to Nick. "Hey!"

Vash smirked. "Looks like we'll just have to share I guess."

30 MINUTES LATER

She stopped. "Wait a minute..."

Vash yawned while waiting for her to get in. "What?"

Meryl stared at him. "You meant..."

These bags were only made for one. You'd be sleeping right on top of whomever you shared them with. She couldn't possibly be thinking what he thought she was. His eyes went wide. "YOU THOUGHT I WAS GONNA SLEEP WITH WOLFWOOD?"

Milly bust out laughing while Nick freaked out. "THAT'S DISGUSTING!"

The short girl crossed her arms. "I just assumed!"

The Typhoon glared. "WELL YOU ASSUMED WRONG! Now get in! I'm tired!"

Was he...bossing her around? "EXSCUSE ME?" Meryl kicked the bag as hard as possible.

He screamed, nearly going into the fire. "AAAHH! HOT! HOT!"

Wolfwood rolled his eyes. "We'll never get any sleep with those two."

Milly smiled. "They're just happy to be reunited."

Nick smirked looking up at her. "Speaking of..." He pulled her into the bag with him. "Did you miss me?"

Extremely close quarters. She cocked an eyebrow as his hand found her thigh. "You really are a horrible priest aren't you?"

"I have my faults..." He kissed her while the war raged on across the fire.

"COME ON MERYL, I ALREADY SAID I WAS SORRY! CAN'T WE JUST PUT IT BEHIND US?"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

He sighed lowering his voice. "Fine...how about you just take the bag and I'll sleep on the dirt."

"It's your bag."

"You can't stay out all night. The fire's already dying. You're gonna freeze. Come on, we can squash up back to back so there will be no shady happenings."

She gave him a weird look. "You really do sound like a two year old sometimes."

"I'd like to meet a two year old who expresses complete thoughts like that. Look, either we share the bag or I let you use it. I'm not letting you sleep out in the cold."

Meryl's eyes softened for a moment. There was that self-sacrificing side again. "Alright, alright...we can share." She paused. "But back to back."

Vash smiled. "On my honor."

3 HOURS LATER

Honor, my ass. They'd both rolled over in their sleep and were now pressed together with his face only centimeters from hers. She turned her head to glance up at the night sky. It really was beautiful. He was beautiful. Meryl immediately scolded herself for the sudden observation. But it was hopeless. No matter how much she denied it, she was so happy to see him again...to be beside him again. Maybe one day she'd be able to tell him the truth. One day she'd tell him how she really felt, but right now this was just fine.

She opened her eyes to the first rays of sunlight on the horizon. Nick had his head resting in the hollow of her neck and his arms around her waist. Who would ever think the smell of cigarettes could be so comforting? Milly started running her fingers through his hair and he smirked in his sleep. He'd probably be horrified to know how innocent he looked at this moment. Not that he wasn't a tough guy, but she knew his heart was a lot softer than he made it out to be. Her thoughts were interrupted as something made a scratching noise and she turned her head just in time to see a huge sand roach disappear into the sleeping bag.

Meryl and Vash awoke to horrified screams. It was impossible to get out the bag at the same time, so it just went into panicked convulsions as both the Typhoon and insurance girl tried futilely to escape.

Wolfwood had absolutely no idea what was going on. Milly had just exited the warmth of the sleeping bag like she was being shot at, and now she wouldn't stop screaming.

"IT'S IN THE BAG!"

Nick got out and shook the bag until the culprit fell onto the sand. Not exactly the horrible monster he was expecting. He stared as it ran around disoriented. A bug. All that terror...for a bug. He slipped his shoe back on, squashed it, and then looked to Milly in amazement.

Why was he looking at her like that? She had every right to act this way. "IT TOUCHED ME!"

"So..."

Her eyes changed to heartbreak. How could he be so insensitive? "I HATE ROACHES, NICK!"

He slipped on his other shoe. "It's just a bug." He knew he was right, but when she turned her back to him he instantly felt guilty. He just never thought she'd be the kind a girl to make a big deal over something so small. Nick sighed as he walked towards her. "Come on big girl, don't give me the cold shoulder like that..."

She crossed her arms. "I know it's just a bug...but roaches are like the only thing that grosses me out, okay?"

He hugged her from behind and let his chin rest on her shoulder. "Okay."

Vash looked at Meryl. "As far as I'm concerned, this crisis is over. Wake me up when they're done with the mush fest."

He laid his head back down and Meryl punched him in the shoulder. "Oh shut up! I've seen you act worse with perfect strangers!"

"Hmph, whatever...but I'm gonna pick the hell out of him about this later."