LABOR DAY MEANS NO SCHOOL!: And a new chapter apparently. Dun dun dun...episode 22. Murder, drama, and oatmeal. Everything you need on a typical Monday morning. Okay, something is hitting the side of my house and it's really freaking me out (ignores strange knocking sound). I'm surprised how much acclaim the 'stampedelets' received. I guess it's not as funny to me because I use to know this guy that'd put 'let' after anyone's last name to signify what their offspring would be called. Of course the technique works better with some names more than others. Lucky for us, it turns out it sounds pretty good on the end of Stampede. And don't worry AnonymousTrigunOtaku that last intro was a one time thing. Just something different and randomly stupid to cheer myself up. Thanx for the MW compliments guys. It means a lot. I guess it is pretty obvious by now that they're my fave pairing, even though I try so hard not to discriminate. MerylxVash! Woot! My favorite polar opposites who clash constantly. Like seriously, what's Milly without her Sempai? And you can not have a goofy Vash without a smart-ass preacher. They play off each other. Collect them all! (clearly insane)

THE NEXT MORNING

The ceiling came into focus slowly. She was having trouble breathing. The problem was snoring in her face. Meryl groaned, trying to push him off. "Vash...you're twice my size..." She glared. "Remember?"

He blinked, the confused aqua green eyes staring down at her. "Huh?"

"You're on top of me. I need to get up and fix the kids breakfast."

His eyes went wide for a second until he remembered where they were. "Oh. The kids..."

"Who'd you think I was talking about?"

He rolled off, giving her as much space as their confines would allow. "You know what I was thinking."

"Sorry. No mini typhoons until we're married, bucko."

Vash smiled, letting her get out. "Mind if I sleep some more?"

"Knock yourself out." She looked over to her partner with slight amusement. "Hey Thompson, ditch the urchin and come help."

She opened one eye. "Dang. How'd you know I was awake?"

Meryl smiled. "I didn't."

The tall girl smirked. "Double dang." She looked down at her breathing mattress, not quite sure how to get up. She was lying on him. The only way to crawl out would bring her skirt across his face. Not the safest way to wake Wolfwood up.

Meryl waited for her in the doorway. "What's the problem?"

"I'm afraid he's gonna look up my skirt."

Nick couldn't help but snicker at the innocent yet entirely true statement. He'd been trying so hard to pretend to still be asleep. The preacher retorted without thinking. "So? Nothing I haven't seen before..."

"NICK!"

He blinked. "Heh...just kidding!"

Meryl gave a heavy sigh, putting her head against the doorframe and closing her eyes. He wasn't joking, was he? Not from how bad Milly was blushing. She knew her friend was only a year younger than she was, but Meryl couldn't help but think of her like a little sister. One who she didn't want to believe was actually doing 'that with the grungy preacher. Meryl hadn't even come close to doing 'that' with Vash...and Meryl was supposed to be the more mature of the two insurance girls.

It wasn't clear if The Typhoon was just being himself, or intentionally changing the subject but he sat up with a groan. "Is someone going to go make donuts or not? I'm getting hungry!"

Meryl glared. Something about that whine in his voice just got to her, pushing all other thoughts away. She could never block out that whine. It annoyed the hell out of her. "Vash...have you ever seen someone make donuts? They just don't appear out of nowhere! You need batter and oil and all kinds of crap we don't have!"

He tilted his head. "What about waffles with holes in them? Could you make that?"

She rolled her eyes, putting her hand over her face. "That'd be a waste of food! Get some variety in your diet for God's sake..."

12 MINUTES LATER

The tall woman turned on the burners and got the pots out while the short one dug through the available food, trying to think of the most efficient meal to make out of what they had. "Do you think they would mind oatmeal? I'm sure we could make enough for everyone."

Milly looked over her shoulder. "That depends on the flavor. I'm sure if it's something sweet, none of them will complain."

"Yeah..."

"Well I'll start boiling the water then. Which pot should I use?"

Meryl cocked an eyebrow. "All of them I gue-"

One of the windowpanes split and the unmistakable sound of a ricocheting bullet quickly made its way around the kitchen. The girls instantly dove under the table, then stared incredulously at the new hole in the gas stove. That one shot could have easily just blown them to freaking pieces. But what could they say that hadn't already been said? It's not like they could actually be surprised. They dashed half crawling, half running out the kitchen as more bullets came in through the windows. Children were crying all over the house. The insurance girls entered the room where most of the children were gathering. A room full of windows. Meryl screamed at them to get down, to get away. But most were too confused or too afraid to even try and save themselves. The girls grabbed whom they could, jerking them this way and that to avoid the gunfire.

Milly cradled a terrified child that had just been grazed. "We shouldn't have come here, Sempai!"

"GET DOWN!" Vash knocked Meryl hard to the floor as a bullet shot through the space that had been previously occupied by her chest.

Her eyes were wide and fearful. "Vash..." She glared. "What's going on?"

Wolfwood glanced quickly out the window then jerked his head back as a bullet caught one of his bangs. He opened the machine gun end of his cross. "Just ordinary men with ordinary guns..."

Vash let go of Meryl, suddenly becoming very authoritative. "Wolfwood don't. I'm sure we can talk this out. There's no need for that."

He couldn't stand when Vash talked down to him. Tongari always thought he knew what was best...that he was the levelheaded one that could always see the right path when Nick and the girls couldn't. It was such a load of bull. Just because Vash lived in his own naive belief system, he shouldn't expect the rest of them to. This man would be the death of them one day. "They're shooting at a house full of kids you idiot! You think they give a shit about anything that could come out of your mouth right now?"

"I'm going."

Meryl's hand took hold of his coat as he passed. "Vash?"

He smiled down into her worried eyes, handing her the long colt. "Just trust me."

Wolfwood glared down at the floor as Vash passed him. It took all his willpower not to make a snide comment. As if those three little words would be any comfort to the short girl when Vash's blood was drained out across the sand. Needle Noggin was such an arrogant bastard sometimes. Why did Nick always get the bad rap for being the asshole of the two? Vash was just as selfish in his own way. But no matter how angry it made him, Wolfwood knew he couldn't just stand there and watch. He had no choice but to go along with him.

Before he even leaned his cross against the wall, Milly could already tell by his body language what decision he was going to make...and how unhappy he was about it. She looked up as he walked toward the door. "Please watch what you say Nick..."

He smirked. "Me? Antagonistic? Never..."

Even when Vash and Wolfwood emerged peacefully from the house, unarmed and with their hands in the air...the strangers still weren't satisfied. They didn't just want them to surrender, they wanted them to die. Apparently the men were a posse from the town that hadn't let them in yesterday. Last night a bunch of their own had been murdered, presumably by outsiders...so naturally the legendary gunman, the rogue priest, and the insurance girls had all become the prime suspects and these strangers were looking for Gunsmoke style justice.

The girls were forced to idly watch as nothing came from the attempted negotiation but accusations and more anger. The situation was spiraling. They needed to act. Milly looked anxiously to her partner. "It isn't worki-"

Vash hit the sand after being harshly silenced with the butt of the rifle, Wolfwood immediately spoke out and received the same treatment with a violent ram to his chin.

Meryl's eyes were sub-zero as she glared out that window. One of the men kicked the stunned outlaw in the side and her fists tightened until her palms were a bloodless white. "If we do shoot...everyone will just go nuts. Vash and Wolfwood will get caught in it."

"Well we've got to do something!" Milly could see the red dripping from Nick's mouth as his eyes darkened to a silent rage. "Meryl if we don't, I promise you Nick will. Neither of them have guns, so they'll just get shot anyway!"

Meryl thought quickly. "Well we need a distraction. Something, anything..." Not three seconds after she'd spoken, she began to lose her balance. Why was she shivering? Sure she was scared but, no...the whole room was shaking.

Milly went wide-eyed as a huge roar came from outside. "Holy..."

"What?" Meryl looked in the direction the tall girl was staring and nearly screamed at the huge things rising from the desert sands. Even worse than the robots. Hell...as things were right now, this situation made the robot fiasco look like a day at the firing range.

Take shelter in the city Vash had said. To the rooftops...because after all, the sandworms were only animals. He'd said they didn't have the capacity to attack with malice and neither he nor any of his friends should have the right to kill them. And that was all well and good, but when something that huge with that big of teeth is knocking over freaking buildings to come after you...you tend to wish you had something a little more powerful than a couple handguns. Milly slid around another corner, frantically looking for the child that had run off from the group. The poor thing had been so frightened, his bladder had decided to relieve a little of the tension for him and he ran away in embarrassment. "Jacob!" Her eyes brightened as she finally caught hold of him, landing on her knees.

He refused to even look at her. "Let me go!"

Her voice was calm and motherly despite the situation. "It's all right to be afraid. I'm scared too, but we have to get back to the others now, okay? It isn't safe here..."

A rumble echoed from around the corner as another sandworm came into view, barreling towards them.

Milly paled. The nearest alleyway was too far. She wouldn't be fast enough. Why was this happening? Since when did sandworms behave like this? None of it made sense. "Jacob, cover your ears!" He looked up as she fluidly drew seven and half inches of cold steel out with her free hand, aiming the revolver up towards the creature's gaping mouth. Of course it'd only be like a few wasp stings to something like this, but maybe that would be enough. She only needed to discourage it. It was their only chance. They boy buried his face, clutching his ears as she unloaded five desperate cracks of thunder.

Meryl and Vash froze midway up the fire escape, looking towards the sound. The short girl's eyes widened. "Milly..."

He shoved her on. "There's nothing we can do right now! Wolfwood already went for her, and we've got to help these kids!"

She nodded reluctantly, continuing to jog up each level of the fire escape, heading to the roof. This was insane. It's like nature had just gone mad. Thank God each level was connected by metal stairs instead of ladders. Some of the smaller children were having a hard enough time keeping up as it was. It's not like they could carry them all. Meryl and Vash stayed to the end of the frightened group, making sure no one was being left behind. She gave words of encouragement, knowing they were almost there.

Milly blinked as the beast merely roared louder, rearing back to strike. There was nothing she could do. No way to escape or fight back. A shudder of fear cut through her heart as she dropped the useless gun, wrapping her arms tightly around Jacob. It'd take a miracle now.

A sudden explosion surprised them from somewhere above. She shut her eyes tightly, protecting the child as plaster and cement rained down in stinging pieces, getting in her hair and bouncing off her shoulders. The sandworm coiled back with a screech, moving away. When the fall of the leftover debris had finally ceased, she opened her eyes looking warily back over her shoulder at the not so shining knight.

He lowered the smoking punisher, letting it stand on its longest end. She was just staring at him. Sitting in the middle of the street with a kid in her arms, dust in her hair, and startled blue eyes. It suited her. An innocent that protected the innocent. "You hurt?"

She snapped out of it, forcing herself up. "No, we're okay!" Milly hesitated, grabbing her gun back up and holstering it. "How'd you know where we were?"

"You're not the only one with legs you know! Now come on, before ugly changes his mind!"

She ran towards him and then they ran together. "Thanks Nick."

He glanced over, keeping pace with her. "Why wouldn't I?"

Milly smiled but said nothing.

A wave of relief washed over her at the sight of Milly and Wolfwood stepping onto the roof with them. "Thank God!"

The tall girl ran over to Meryl and the little group of children, still holding Jacob. "Everyone's okay?"

Meryl nodded, looking down at the whimpering little girl she herself was carrying. "Just shaken up..."

Vash tensed all over again, withdrawing the long colt. "GET AWAY FROM THE EDGE!"

The girls looked back as a sandworm reared up from behind them. Vash ran towards it as the girls and children ran away. It was wrong. Everything was wrong. They should be safe at this height. These animals were far too organized, much too determined. Sandworms didn't hunt people, and even if they did...this wasn't hunting, it was vengeance. They wanted to kill for the sake of killing. Nature didn't work like that. Only people did. And at that moment he noticed something in his peripheral vision...something that made it all make sense.

Another Gung-Ho Gun. Zazie The Beast. A demon in the form of a child. The child that had led them here in the beginning. It'd all been one long setup, and the boy had been the one controlling the sandworms through the frequency of some transmitter in his hair. As soon as one of Vash's bullets destroyed the clip, Zazie's hold on the beasts was lost. But that didn't matter. In fact, the assassin had seemed quite glad to end the charade, finally getting to introduce himself. The others had been so shocked, they were easily overtaken. The boy had shot the long colt from Vash's hand, and now had one pistol aimed at the short girl's head, while the other kept a dead line to Tongari's chest as he walked slowly forward, pleading those damned dreams of his.

He kept his hands in sight, speaking clearly and calmly. Zazie had the devil's own smile, but Vash could see the momentary trace of doubt as it flashed across his eyes. If this is what the boy had really wanted, he would have pulled the trigger already. No one had to die, and the child didn't want to die. He'd cried in his sleep the night before. His soul was still there...begging to be let out. "Please...I know this isn't who you really are. The demon hasn't won..."

Zazie snickered, adding more pressure to both triggers. "Fool! Is that all you can say in the face of death?"

Vash's eyes were so light...so completely certain. "You don't want to do this."

The boy began to lose his composure. "WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP?"

Meryl's looked down the barrel of the gun as it began to shake. Another ounce of pressure and it would go off. Only a touch more. She swallowed, feeling her faith in Vash begin to waver. If he was wrong...

The tension was unbearable. The boy's intentions were wavering violently back and forth as Mr.Vash continued to approach him. Would he or wouldn't he? Milly was frozen to the spot, afraid even the slightest movement would set Zazie off.

Vash smiled, taking another step. "Please."

The boy's eyes narrowed in rage towards the legendary gunman. "ENOUGH!" He shifted his weight, inadvertently raising one of his pistols slightly and a single, horrible shot shuddered through them all.

The scream never escaped Meryl's lips. Just caught in her throat as she watched the body fall. Nothing could have surprised her more. Her heart was frozen in mid-beat as that one moment seemed to stretch for eternity.

Zazie hit the ground with that sound she couldn't stand. His lifeless eyes still held the fear of his final thoughts as the blood began to pool from the hole in his chest. A life extinguished right before her eyes. She still hadn't taken another breath. Her mind was completely caught in that one action. The one thing she hadn't expected. Milly looked slowly to Nicholas, somehow hoping her eyes would tell her something different from what her heart already knew.

There were no words for the sickening weight of betrayal that now burned within him. The boy wouldn't have killed them. Vash had seen the doubt in his eyes. Zazie had only gotten so angry, because he'd felt it too. The uncertainty in his own actions. Vash knew he would have given in. No one would have had to die. His disbelief began to change to rage as he regarded the priest's dark eyes. There was no remorse in them. Not a trace.

Wolfwood lowered the smoking punisher as Vash approached him. The anger was all too clear on the outlaw's face as his hand reached out, taking hold of Nick's white collar.

He wanted to call him a traitor, he wanted to scream at him and plead with him all at once. How could his supposed friend stare at him with such indifference? A boy was dead, bleeding not six feet away from them. So how could Wolfwood have the nerve to just stand there like that? Vash's voice was the low, deadly calm that only came with true hatred...hatred for the thing Nicholas had done. "How could you..."

The preacher's voice was cold enough to more than match the Stampede's. "You'd prefer you or Meryl lying there right now?"

Vash glared, jerking Wolfwood closer by his shirt. "HE WASN'T GOING TO PULL THE TRIGGER!"

Nick frowned, beginning to lose his patience. "You think a child can't kill?"

He hesitated, thinking of his brother. That wasn't the point though. Vash's fists tightened. "HE WASN'T GOING TO! YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO TAKE HIS LIFE!" And the mantra the girls already knew. "NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO TAKE THE LIFE OF ANOTHER!"

The last straw. That was it...it was all Wolfwood could take. He'd endured Vash's naive ideals for far too long. The same things over and over. Complete bullshit from a guy who didn't know hell about the world around him. This confrontation had been a long time coming, and Nick didn't hold back one bit as he slammed his fist into the side of Vash's face. "DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME YOUR DREAMS IN A WORLD LIKE THIS!"

The girls could only look on in fear as Vash landed hard on his back. Milly weakened, staring at Nicholas. She'd never seen his face so distorted with anger. Never seen him lose control like this. His cold eyes met hers and she froze.

A chill went through his heart as he looked at her. Her eyes...her eyes were like Vash's. The same betrayed look. Even Milly didn't understand. Didn't understand he'd done what he'd had to do. That there couldn't have been another way. Vash sat up, wiping the blood from his mouth and Wolfwood glared back down at him. This was all his fault. Tongari and his foolish preachings. He'd made this so much harder than it'd had to be.

Vash returned the glare, holding his busted face. "You know you're wrong..."

He should have just shot him right then and there. Silence the fool once and for all, and save someone else a bullet. Instead, Wolfwood did something that surprised even him. He just sighed and propped the punisher back over his shoulder. Orders be damned. He couldn't stay here any longer. Not for one more second. Not one more day with this man called Vash The Stampede. "They're going to kill you one day, Vash. Unless you learn to bloody your hands, they're going to kill you. And I won't pity you at all." He turned and there was a slight pain in eyes as he looked at Milly one last time. He wouldn't be able to take her with him. Nick cursed himself for telling her those things the night before. If she'd doubted his feelings, then leaving would have been a lot easier. He looked away, knowing the more he hesitated the more it'd hurt them both.

Milly's eyes widened as Nicholas silently walked away from them, jumping onto the fire escape. He was leaving. He was going to leave them without so much as another word. But she couldn't move or call out to him. She looked back at Zazie's bleeding body and then to the children who were finally beginning to release their held in tears. She didn't know what to do. Wolfwood needed her. They needed her. Who was wrong and who was right? Where did she belong? Jacob began to cry and she lowered to her knees, hanging her head. That sick feeling in her stomach. The feeling she'd gotten when she'd first found out his name was Chapel. The doubt that said this man might not be right for her.

Vash stood up slowly, holding his face. Wolfwood was gone. He wouldn't be coming back, and Vash didn't think he wanted him to. His friend had finally crossed the line, and the trust was broken. He wiped some more of the blood away and trudged over to Meryl and Milly. The short girl was staring at him, looking like she wanted to cry but wouldn't let herself; and the tall girl was sitting Indian style, comforting the children and avoiding his gaze.

Meryl shifted the child in her arms, so she was only supporting her with one hand and wrapped the other around

Vash's waist as he walked up.

He hugged to her, feeling his own tears beginning to form. "I've failed again..."

15 MINUTES LATER

Milly stood up, putting Jacob down. The children were calm again, the worms had completely left the city, and it was time to find Zazie a proper burial place. But Meryl and Vash were more than capable of handling that on their own. She wiped at her eyes, looking to the ledge she'd last seen Nicholas disappear over. How far could he walk in fifteen minutes? Out the gates of the city for sure. Would he go back to the house and get his things first, or just continue into the open desert? It didn't matter. He was just getting farther and farther away, for every second she stood and thought about it.

Vash and Meryl looked up as sudden clangs were heard going down the fire escape. Milly was nowhere in sight. Vash lifted up Zazie's small body in his arms. "Wolfwood won't want anything to do with us now. If they do stay together, she'll have to leave with him."

The short girl looked to the ground. "I don't want to lose her, Vash."

He sighed looking down at the cold flesh in his arms. "Everyone makes their own decisions."

He shoved the rest of his junk into his duffel bag and slid it over his shoulder. It was something when all your worldly possessions could fit so conveniently into one space. He'd already wrapped his cross and was on his way out. Wolfwood was doing his best to keep his mind blank. Pretending like this was just any other day in his life, and that it was time to head back out. Pick up where he'd left off like the wandering soul that he was. Of course that became damn near impossible when he flung open the door and there she was standing on the porch, tear stains on her cheeks and a hand in mid reach for the doorknob.

For a few seconds they just stared at each other. Neither able to verbalize a thought to the other. He had his sunglasses on, so she couldn't tell what he was thinking. Wolfwood moved past her and she snapped out of it. "Nicholas, you can't just abandon us like this..."

Of course she meant he couldn't abandon her like this. He just kept walking, ignoring those sad eyes. She'd really come after him. Too bad it was for nothing. "Go back to town Milly."

His voice was so emotionless...so false. She walked behind him, refusing to give up. "Running away doesn't make anything better, Nick. I know."

"I'm not running. I'm abandoning, remember?"

He was trying to be a jerk to her. He wanted her to go back. Go back with Vash and Meryl where he thought she belonged. Milly was starting to cry again. "Nick...please drop the act. Don't you think I know when you're pretending? You wanted that boy to live as much as any of us, but you thought it was the only way to save Mr.Vash and Sempai."

She used 'he thought' as in he was wrong but still had good intentions. "But you don't agree do you? It's not what you would've done."

"I don't know what I would've done..."

Wolfwood stopped and looked back at her with a glare. "Milly, you don't have to lie. I know you wouldn't have pulled that trigger. It's not in you." And that's one of the reasons he loved her.

"It was once."

He turned back away. "And you still regret it to this day. That's our difference. I never regret it."

She tried to ignore his hostility, regardless of how much it stung her heart. "Yes you do."

He slid the punisher's main strap over his shoulder, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Get out of here big girl. I ain't taking you with me."

"Then when will you be back?"

Was she trying to kill him? This was hard enough, and she had the nerve to ask something like that. "I won't be."

She grabbed him by the arm, slowing him down. "What about all those things you said?"

He sighed. "Men say a lot of things they end up regretting."

Milly let go of him, stopping where she was. A few feet later, so did he.

Wolfwood kept his back to her as he spoke. "Look Milly...I've been caught in a dream. And now I'm awake again. You made me forget who I was for awhile and I thank you for that, but I've got to go now. I don't belong here, and you don't belong with me. Sorry it had to end like this. I guess in the back of my mind I always knew it would, but I wanted you anyway. I've been a dick and an idiot. Feel free to hate me when I'm gone."

She stared helplessly as he continued walking towards the open desert. Her tears were running freely now. "I'm not a child, Nicholas! Stop assuming you know what's in my best interests and what isn't!"

He just kept walking. He wouldn't speak to her any further. But that didn't mean he wasn't screaming inside.

"I trusted you!" After another long pause, she turned her back to him as well. Her voice was low, but he still heard her. And God how he wished he hadn't. Because the last thing she said would haunt him the most of all. Milly looked at the sand, holding an arm across her stomach. "I gave you everything..."