10 MINUTES LATER

Yet another corridor of puppets. The deeper they went, the more they found. The girls separated, heading for the screams at the end of two different hallways.

Milly reloaded while running as fast as her legs could carry her. Each scream was possibly another life lost. She slid around the corner and took aim. Six puppets crumpled to the floor as the frightened crew looked up at her. She ran to the injured. "Those of you able to stand, please help the others to the medical bay. We've cleared a path this far. You should be saf-"

Leonof cut her off. "Idiot..." He knew he would be killed shortly, so it didn't matter what he said now. Legato had tricked them all. They were never meant to destroy the Stampede. He'd been placed in Chapel's protection all along. Exposing that priest's true agenda would be the least he could do before his death.

She turned to stare at the talking puppet.

"My pets saw the two of you in the hallway. You actually think he cares for you little girl? I told you there were three demons here...but I wasn't counting myself. I've already been beaten."

He was just trying to stall her. She didn't have time to listen to his nonsense. Milly ignored him, helping the remaining crew members to their feet.

The puppet just kept on. "He and I are brethren under the same code. Don't you understand? That man you seem to trust so foolishly, is one of us. Chapel The Evergreen, disguised as an ally until he is given the order to strike..."

Only ramblings of the defeated. "Liar! I don't have time for you! How could you hurt the innocent just to get to Vash?"

She ran back down the hall as the voice echoed after her. "The signs are all there, girl! What would it profit me to lie?"

Meryl met back up with her at the control room. "Milly? What's wrong?"

She looked distressed. "Nothing...did the boys come back yet?"

"No, they're still fighting down by the plants."

"The plants?"

"I think the Gung-Ho Guns are trying to knock the ship out of orbit..." An explosion rumbled up from the decks below them and the sensors started going nuts. Meryl ran up to the doctor. "What's going on?"

He was typing frantically, bringing up different status readings onto the computer's screen. "Both the plants in Power Room #1 and #2 have taken too much damage, there's nothing else we can do..."

The girls went pale.

Meryl covered her face as the ship began to shake. They'd failed...

30 MINUTES LATER

Milly sat in the dirt with her hair hanging over her face. The storm had ceased and all the survivors from the SEEDS ship had filtered out to stand in the wasteland that would forever more be their home. The tension was high. Meryl stood alongside her friend, trying to block out the crew's venomous glares.

Vash stepped out with his arm around Brad for support. An instant relief washed through him when he saw Meryl. Thank God...

The crowd erupted upon the sight of him. "YOU! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU BROUGHT THEM HERE!"

Meryl's heart pained. How could they? Couldn't they see the look in his eyes? He'd fought his hardest to save them...she knew he'd blame himself as it was.

Vash looked to the ground. "I never meant to..."

"YOU THINK WORDS WILL MAKE THIS BETTER?"

Brad suddenly spoke up, surprising everyone. He finally understood the Typhoon. "SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU! THIS WAS INEVITABLE! THESE PEOPLE AREN'T TO BLAME! WE WERE THE NAIVE ONES! THEY FOUGHT TO SAVE US! DID WE EVEN HELP THEM? WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO CAST BLAME! AS LONG AS WE ARE ALIVE, THINGS CAN WORK OUT! WE'LL MAKE THEM WORK! YOU'LL SEE, WE CAN SURVIVE HERE!"

They all seemed to take his speech to heart and began settling down with shamed looks on their faces.

Jessica ran up to thank Vash and he glanced up at Meryl. The short girl smiled, signaling she didn't mind. Meryl knew it was completely one-sided, and she'd have plenty of time to rush him with her own emotion later.

"TONGARI!"

Milly's face jerked up as she looked toward the voice. Nick was standing on one of the levels of the ship...with the real Jessica.

They all turned as the puppet fired at Vash. Brad moved in front, taking the bullet for him. It fired again and again, until all the bullets had unloaded into Brad's back. He went limp against the Stampede.

Vash tried to catch him as he slid down. "BRAD!"

Meryl used her last two Derringers to destroy the puppet and everyone just stood in shock. It was just too much. It never ended...

Take care of Leonof. Wolfwood glared at the sudden command. But hadn't he been planning to do that anyway? That bastard didn't deserve to live. He looked to Jessica. "Hey girl...can you turn on that floating platform?"

She nodded in tears.

He looked at the corpse in disbelief. Brad was dead...the others were dead. And it was all his fault. The guilt was unbearable. Vash covered his face, falling into his own thoughts. When would Knives be satisfied? How many people had to die? He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked back. Meryl kneeled down beside him. He just stared at her. "This is all my fault..."

She put her arms around him as the tears began to fill her eyes. If only she could take his pain away. Anything to erase that look in his eyes. It killed her inside. There was nothing he could have done, and there would be nothing to soothe him. "You're wrong."

He leaned against her and just let himself go. He cried for Brad, for the crew, for the ship, for the plants, for failing...for everything.

Milly was just as emotional as everyone else, but not entirely for the same reason. She forced herself up and walked over to Jessica. "Can you tell me...where he is?"

The young girl looked up through sobs. "The...priest?"

She nodded with a pained look in her eyes.

Jessica pointed while sniffling. "That way...he was...on the platform." She blinked as the woman walked off without another word.

He was sprawled on his back with a cigarette in his mouth and an ever-growing bloodstain under his right leg. Was this all part of the master plan? To cause Vash The Stampede that eternal pain and suffering they were always talking about? It was the phrase Legato had used repeatedly in their few face to face meetings during the year or so Vash had been in hiding...he'd said Knives wanted to make his brother pay for the betrayals he'd committed by suffering for all eternity. Talk about sibling rivalry. What kind of messed up family would spawn anything like them anyway. They didn't even seem human...

"Nick?"

He turned his head, perking up. "Big girl?" But something was wrong...that look in her eyes. And she wasn't coming any closer to him.

Milly knew she was being an idiot of course, it's not like the answer was just gonna jump right out by looking at him. Didn't she trust him? He was hurt...so why wasn't she running to him? There's no way she'd put all her faith in one stupid thing a murderer had said in his parting words. No, for her to be acting this way...the doubt had to have been brewing in her subconscious all along. She glanced at the wreckage of the platform and then at the crater where one of his missiles had hit. Her eyes widened. He must have killed Leonof...Nick had taken a life.

Wolfwood sat up painfully. "Milly?"

She stared back down at him. Those blue eyes, the ones that always reminded her of ice and gunmetal. She realized she loved those eyes. But what was really behind them? Maybe he was a Gung-Ho Gun. But when he smiled at her, wasn't it real? Or when he hugged her or kissed her...didn't it always feel genuine? No, even more than genuine. Like...

He watched as her demeanor softened again.

Milly walked forward and outstretched her hand. "You okay?"

Nick took her hand as she helped him up. Her eyes were so sweet now, but before...it'd been like she was looking right through him. What had she been thinking?

She looked down at his wounded leg. He had a deep gash above his right knee that was bleeding steadily. "Come on, let's go back and get you bandaged up..."

The rest of the day was spent digging graves and holding proper burials for the casualties. By nightfall, the physical and emotional exhaustion had peaked. Vash stood alone in front one of the graves as the worn out insurance girls looked on.

Meryl wiped some dirt from her face. "I'm going to stay with him tonight, okay?"

Milly agreed, picking up her coat from the ground. "He needs someone right now." She slung it over her shoulder. "I guess Nick will stay with me then...is there anything you want out the room?"

"I'll come by in a minute."

"Alright then." She walked away as the desert breeze picked up again

The short girl sat down to wait on him. He looked a bit frightening. A dark figure standing alone in the moonlight, between dirt mounds and silhouetted crucifixes.

God rest their souls. The ends of Vash's coat drifted up as he turned. He lifted his head and a sad smile formed as he noticed the slender shadow sitting on the rocks. "You been waiting all this time?"