REPORT #44 FROM FORMER IVAN BUNKER 6B

LOCATION: EVACUEE RESORT A.K.A. BR, LA

Not surprisingly, Tiger U decided to shut down for two whole days in preparation for real life Typhoon, Ivan The Category 4. Isn't the gulf coast fun? I feel bad for my neighbors, good old 'bama and 'sippi. Guess it was their turn to get crushed. My entire town was completely full to the gills with evacuees...it was nuts. Course I'd run too if I lived a little south in a freaking bowl like New Orleans. It's weird to me to think some of you guys have never known the experience of a few good hurricanes. You wouldn't believe how many parties we have down here once the wind picks up(even as our fishing camps are blowing away and our windows shattering). School gets cancelled, the roads flood, the power goes out, and everyone shuts in to bond over candlelight, canned food, beer, and radio weather reports as their house is beaten to death from the outside. It really is a social experience.

But anyway, here's the update I wrote up on my hurricane time off. I can't decide what I think about it. I'm an action junkie and nothings really going on right now except everyone trying to deal with their emotions. But I guess that's that little thing called 'depth' I hear so much about. Instead of just mindless fighting or fluff. I have no idea what I'm talking about. Just read on and make your own judgements. And if you're from MS, AL, or FL, I hope Ivan didn't take your house with him.

She sighed, kicking the covers back and sitting up. It was too cold to sleep. Milly forced herself back out the small twin bed and walked across the grimy floor to dig some socks from her duffel bag. She couldn't remember if it'd always been this frigid in the cheap inns they found along the way, or if she'd just gotten too use to having him more than willing to keep her warm during night. She didn't bother to find the light switch, just drug her bag into the small square of moonlight coming through the window and started her search for something soft and cottony. After a couple minutes of blindly exploring with no results, she unzipped one of the side pouches and kept digging. Her fingertips grazed something she didn't recognize and she stuck her hand deeper to catch onto something metal. Milly blinked, yanking the unidentified possession up into the moonlight. Her eyes widened as it began to untangle itself, but a sudden knock at the door caused her to all but drop it.

"Milly?"

She stared over her shoulder, barely recognizing the voice. "Meryl?"

"Can I come in?"

Milly caught on to the tone of distress, and stood up hurrying to the door. "Hold on, I just have to unlock it."

When the door opened, Meryl looked down at the floor in slight embarrassment. "I'm sorry to bother you like this..."

The tall girl blinked, seeing the tears on the short girl's face and ushered her in without hesitation. "You could never bother me...what's wrong?"

Meryl sat down on the bed while Milly locked the door back. "We had a fight."

Milly turned with a look of genuine disbelief. A real fight? "You...and Vash?"

She looked back up with sarcasm. "Is it really that surprising?"

Milly's eyes softened. "To me it is."

Meryl sighed, hanging her head. "You actually think we get along? Yeah right."

The tall girl sat on the bed beside her. "The usual bickering doesn't count...it's practically the same as flirting."

Meryl cocked an eyebrow, giving her a sideways glance. She opened her mouth to say something cynical, but paused noticing the glinting chain clutched in Milly's hand. "What's that?"

Milly had completely forgotten. She looked down with renewed sadness. Its presence here was definitely intentional. He would never be so careless as to accidentally leave something this important to him. What it was meant to symbolize though, she wasn't sure. "Well...I found it right before you got here." She lifted the long necklace up, letting it hang full length for Meryl to look at.

It glinted as it untwisted in the moons' rays. Blood red rubies, connected by a dark silver chain in the shape of Y. An image of the virgin Mary was at the center of the Y and a metal crucifix at the bottom of it. Meryl blinked, observing it. "It's beautiful..."

"Yeh...I always thought so too." Milly folded the rosary carefully back up, closing her hand over the cross. She weakened momentarily, lowering her voice. "I miss him so much Meryl."

Meryl wiped a stray tear back. "They're very good at making us miserable, aren't they?"

Milly looked over at her with sympathy. "I'm sure Vash is just as upset as you are..."

The short girl shook her head with a frown. "No, he'll just be upset that I'm mad at him. I'm sure he still thinks he's right to lie to me."

Milly sighed, opening her hand again to look thoughtfully at the image of Christ on the cross. "Maybe it's us that don't have enough trust."

Meryl looked at her briefly, but refused to admit agreement. "Why does everything have to be so complicated..."

The tall girl gave a surprisingly genuine smile. "Because God knows we're the only girls who could put up with it."

"Well I'm ready for my break now."

Milly grinned, hanging the rosary on the bedpost then stood up to go back to her search for socks. "You can sleep here...but only if you promise to at least try and give Vash another chance in the morning."

She blinked at the terms. "Whose side are you on, Thompson? I knew you first!"

The other insurance girl gave a sly smirk. "Uh huh. And as someone that cares about you, I think it would be in your best interests to not give up on him just yet okay?"

Meryl sighed. "My best interests, huh? To get shot at and chased by Gung-Ho Guns?"

"Could be worse."

The short girl went wide-eyed. "Um...and how do you suppose that?"

Milly smiled, finally finding what she was looking for. "Well, we could still be cooped up in that boring office."

Meryl groaned. "Hmm...avoiding Stacey or dodging bullets? That is a hard decision."

THE NEXT MORNING

She laughed, giving him that wonderful smile and leaning back to look up at the bright blue sky. The sky that was too beautiful to belong to them. Too beautiful to be real. "You're letting the important things pass you by again... "

He closed his eyes, concentrating on her voice. Even here it brought momentary peace to his soul. "But what other choice do I have? He's my responsibility. I'm the only one who can stop him."

"That doesn't mean you should punish yourself the rest of the time. It's alright to want happiness."

"It feels selfish."

"You should have value for everyone...including yourself. It isn't right any other way."

"But Rem..."

"You have to open your heart sometime."

"So it can just get wounded again...so I can hurt someone else?"

She smiled, sitting up from the grass and pulling her knees to her chest. "They all want to help you. You've already made a place in their hearts...it's only fair to clear a spot in yours."

He opened his eyes, looking up at her. Who did she mean when she said all? "Have you been watching, Rem? Do you know what's going to happen to us?"

She laid her cheek down against her knee, looking sweetly at him. "Keep trust for those around you, faith in the path you've chosen, and the hope for a better tomorrow...that's all I can tell you Vash."

It was hard to believe he'd really driven most the night. Hell, he barely even remembered last night. He'd just woken up in the shade of his bike a few minutes ago with sand in his mouth, an unlit cigarette in his hand, and the worst hangover ever known to mankind pulsing through him. Wolfwood sat up stiffly, glaring at his surroundings. Open desert in every direction. Most likely scenario was that after hours of just holding the accelerator, he'd stopped for another cigarette and ended up abruptly opting for coma like sleep in the cold sand instead.

He dusted the dirt off the neglected smoke and lit it anyway, leaning back against his bike. The priest closed his eyes, focusing on that thick taste as he breathed in deeply. The comfort only nicotine could give at a time like this. He should have wrecked last night. Shit...he'd wanted to wreck last night. To die easy before his karma caught up with him. It was nothing he could really define, but for the first time in his life he actually felt cornered. Like a desperate animal trying to claw its way out a trap, but just slipping deeper with every swipe. He'd become so use to being the predator he'd forgotten what it was like to be the one watching over your shoulder. But he refused to just wait around and let his fate come to him. He was going to meet it head on. It was all he knew how to do. Go back to the ship and save Legato the trouble of looking for him. See what plans they had for him now.

After awhile, Nick sighed opening his eyes again. A new emotion invaded them, as he looked longingly to the horizon. No matter what he told himself...no matter how much he knew he was right, he still felt like a piece of his soul had been torn away. The soul he didn't think he had. If he'd known he could protect her from the others, he would have taken her with him in a heartbeat. But that was a joke. He was an assassin with enemies and his own agenda. He could never drag Milly down into his world, regardless of how much it hurt to be without her.

Meryl rubbed at her eyes, squinting towards the bright window. After her sight adjusted, she looked down at her sleeping friend. The tall girl had one of the pillows turned lengthwise so she could lay her entire upper body on it. Her arms were wrapped tightly around it almost like it was another person. Wolfwood's rosary had also been removed from the bedpost sometime during the night and was now looped multiple times over her wrist with her fist lightly closed around the crucifix. Unlike her friend, Meryl wasn't sure if she even wanted to see his face again. She hated Nick for hurting Milly like he did, but at the same time she wished he'd be a man and return to make things right. Then again, men never could be depended on to start the healing process. It was usually up to the girl to swallow her pride and take the first step. Meryl got out of bed quietly, as not to disturb her and started walking for the door.

"Sempai?"

Meryl looked back over her shoulder and instantly smiled. "Nice bed hair..."

She gave a little frown, moving some messy brown strands away from her eyes. "You're going talk to him?"

"Yeah. It's barely ten though. Go back to sleep and I'll come get you later."

She didn't need much more convincing, instantly shoving her face back into the soft pillow. "Kay, good luck!"

Meryl paused, opening the door. "You're just one big ball of optimism aren't you?"

Milly smiled at the compliment. "Well someone has to be...now go find him before he makes one of those noble exits they're so prone to do."

Meryl nodded, before shutting the door. "See ya in a few...and thanks for everything Milly."

The tall girl grinned. "Yeah yeah, just go and get him Sempai."

The dust of the old room danced in the suns' rays before him as he stared heavy hearted, towards the ceiling. It'd only been a dream. He wondered if it was really possible to talk to Rem now. Or if the woman he sometimes saw was just part of his own subconscious. Memories tied into his own beliefs, reproduced as the vision of the first person he ever lost. Vash turned his head, to look at the empty half of the bed beside him. That insurance girl. Meryl Stryfe. She should be there. He got so wrapped up in his own problems, sometimes he didn't notice her the way he should. Didn't appreciate to the full extent how blessed he was to have her. A strong woman whose feelings for him overcame gunfire, assassins, bounty hunters, and anything else the world could throw at them. She had to endure his tendency to emotionally distance himself and the way he went into swings of depression among other things. Meryl wasn't even intimidated by his severe scarring that would have sent any other girl screaming. He didn't understand how she could just lay her head on his chest like it was the most natural place to be, when he had metal plates and parts where entire chunks of flesh were completely gone. He was a kind of monstrosity in his own mind, but she would still call him handsome. Say there was no one else more beautiful inside and out. She really did accept all of him. The good and the bad like she always said. But if she found out he wasn't even human...would that finally be the hurdle even her heart couldn't clear? What would happen when he said he'd been a part of the Great Fall? When he told her about Knives. About Rem. About how the final fight was fast approaching. How the fate of every man, woman, and child lied on his shoulders. How he didn't think he could win. Could she still look at him the same? Could anyone?

She stood uncertain outside the dark wooden door. The one she'd stormed out just the night before. She hesitated in front of it, barefoot in only shorts and a button up shirt...wondering what should be the first word out of her lips. Meryl still wouldn't place the blame entirely on herself, but she could admit not giving him much of a chance to attempt and reason with her. Meryl took a breath, raising her hand to knock. "V-"

"It's open."

She blinked, then relaxed with a sigh. Of course he would know if someone was lurking outside his doorway or not. Meryl turned the knob cautiously stepping in. "I didn't think you'd be awake yet..."

He must have taken a shower sometime during the night because his hair was limp and he was just sitting on the side of the bed in his boxers. He looked up at her with sadness in his eyes. "I only slept a couple hours. Want some coffee?"

She shut the door quietly, then leaned her back against it. "Are we going to talk?"

Vash nodded getting off the bed. "Yeah."

Neither of them said much while the coffee was being made. Vash was too preoccupied with how to explain a truth stranger than fiction, while Meryl jumped from one possibility to the other in her mind, fearing the worst and wondering what kind of past any man could posses that would have to be so guarded.

When the brew was done, they sat down on the bed together with their respective mugs. Vash took a sip and looked at her, not knowing whether to just randomly begin talking or not. "Where do you want me to start?"

Thinking of Zazie, and how many times her and Milly had gotten caught up in his battles with that gang, she chose to be told about them first. "Why are the Gung-Ho Guns after you Vash..."

He smiled slightly at how she'd managed to basically ask for the entire story on the very first question. It was so hard to openly talk about something you'd hidden so long. "It's their only purpose...the only reason they were organized was to bring pain into my life. It's all one man's doing."

She watched him carefully, making sure he was being honest. "You mean Legato?"

"No. Legato's just another of his pawns." Vash glared down into his coffee. "Everything that follows me. The death, the suffering. It's all because of my brother...a man named Millions Knives."

She felt a coldness trace down her spine. There was so much pain in his voice when he said that name. Too much for it to be false. "But why...why would he hate you like that?"

Vash's shoulders tensed but he didn't look up. "Our beliefs are just too different. He sees humanity as a plague upon this world...one that should be eliminated for the good of the planet. In his mind I've committed the ultimate betrayal by living the way I do. He does want to punish me, but he's always got the hope I'll see things the way he does one day. He thinks that if he makes me suffer enough...that if he gets rid of those around me, somehow I might end up coming to my senses."

Meryl stared, the coffee in her hands all but forgotten. "That doesn't make sense...how can anyone look down on what they are?"

The aquamarine eyes stared painfully into her own. More serious than she thought she'd ever seen those eyes. He lowered his head until blonde bangs shielded them from view all together. "Meryl...it's because we are different. Me and my brother, we aren't part of humanity."