Broken Angel

Disclaimer/Notes: Yes! I think I'm going to have fun writing this one. I've been looking forward to it ever since I penned my outline, because this is the one where things start really moving. I think. Anyway, hope you have a comfy seat, and enjoy reading! On with the story...

"See, Vash? Look around you. This is what things can be like without humans marring everything. Isn't it beautiful? This is what the world will be like one day. What we'll make it to be."

Knives had spoken those words when they entered the ship, and they echoed in the silence of Vash's surroundings. Despite the century that had passed since the Fall, the lost technology of the ship still functioned with flawless ease, as if it had been only days and not countless decades since it had been created. The lights shone down on Vash's shoulders as he wandered the halls, their glow just as bright as it had always been.

Everything was just as it had been so long ago. The only thing absent was life. Vash found himself straining to hear soft whispers or laughs, telltale signs of existence, but he heard nothing. There was no one here to break the horrible silence and stem the flow of painful thoughts that filled it.

Memories whispered through the corridors and sent shivers down Vash's neck as he walked through the sterile halls. He had never thought about it, but he supposed that he should have been ready for the fact that all the other ships would look like the one he and Knives were born on. Every corridor, every room abounded with memories of their childhood aboard the SEEDs ship. Mary, Joey, Rowan...Steve.

Rem.

Each name brought a different feeling, each memory a different sensation. Some were pleasant, others not.

All of them were as clear and real as the day they had been conceived.

Vash wandered the familiar corridors. He ran his hands along the cool metal of the walls. Once they'd entered, Knives had allowed Vash to wander, mumbling that there were some things he needed to do. Vash saw a familiar door, and he put his hand on the scanner pad. A soft light ran the length of his hand. With a hiss, the door opened.

Soft sunlight poured in, erasing the alien feeling that had encompassed him since he'd entered this place. The windowless halls had seemed so lonely without any remnants of life in them. Vash looked around. The ship was standing off-center in the sand, so the walk into the room was slightly downhill. Once inside, he looked around.

Vash stood in the bridge of the ship. The thick glass in front of him was cracked with spider-webbed breaks spreading out from some strong point of impact, and the glass outside—the part that not buried in sand—was covered with an almost permanent film of dust. It was beautiful, though. The usually brutal rays of sunlight were morphed and softened by the window, and they took on an ethereal beauty. The sunlight was warm but not overbearing, a rippling, smoky yellow.

It seemed almost warm in here compared to the frightening chill that shrouded the rest of the ship. Vash immediately liked this place. He reached under his jacket and pulled his old coat from beneath it, letting the folded cloth unroll to touch the floor. He'd taken it from the back of the jeep when they'd entered this place.

The red fabric was dry and dusty, and he was sure that if he shook it, the dust that came out would fill the room. Little rips, tears and ragged bullet holes bore testimony to a thousand memories. Vash sighed and slipped his jacket off. He put one arm into the old coat. The cloth was warm from having been held close to him. It felt like it always had, like he'd never taken it off. He pulled it on and left the buttons unfastened.

Ahead of him sat a long seat like the one that he and Knives used to play on while the crew worked. It had been overturned, but it still provided a nice resting place. Vash settled into it and stared out to nothing as he remembered the days spent here. He remembered when he and Knives had both played with and trusted Rem. They hadn't even been big enough to touch the scanner on their tiptoes. Sometimes Vash just wished that he could go back and start over with Knives. He wondered if things would turn out differently. But despite all the other things he and Knives were able to do, turning back time wasn't one of them.

He needed to stop thinking about things he could do nothing about. He needed to think about now, about how he could change things so that one day he would be able to return to Meryl and the big girl.

Vash was too deep in thought to hear his brother enter behind him, but he still knew. He felt it like an icy shudder. Knives' form, framed in the cold white light from the outside and enveloped by the warm yellow light from within the room, cast double shadows across the floor.

"Vash, I've been looking all over for you. What are you doing in—?" Knives stopped when he saw Vash's red duster. "Brother?" The words were a dangerous hiss, stained with disgust. "Take that thing off."

It wasn't a suggestion. It was an order. Vash stood.

"No, Knives."

"The stupid human who inspired you to wear that is the one who corrupted you, and I will not allow you to wear that thing while you're in here. She took you away from me! She turned you against me. Take it off, Vash."

Vash turned around, drawing a calm breath, and he met Knives' eyes. Their cool blue was alive with disgust and disdain. Vash had not seen his brother angry like this in a long time. "Rem didn't corrupt me, Knives. She showed me that for every person like Steve, there's one like her. She showed me the truth I would have missed had I not known her. You're wrong."

"She was a flawed mass of contradictions with ideals that get people killed! The disgusting marks on your body should tell you that much." Knives lowered his head so that only his icy eyes were visible. They stared intensely at Vash, burning with a controlled fire that seemed so much worse than rage.

"Vash..."

Vash did not respond.

"You disgust me sometimes. The spiders have corrupted you so much that...sometimes I wonder if I'll ever be able to extract their venom from your mind."

Vash laughed dryly, all pretense gone. "From my mind? What kind of person kills children and women and men just because they're human, just because they don't know any better? Maybe we can do things that they never will. They're using our sisters, but when someone doesn't know something, it's customary to teach it to them rather than killing them."

"They will never learn! Their race will always put their own concerns above the concerns of fellow beings. Cannibalism, brother. Murder for personal profit...need I say more? It was a fluke that they survived at all. Rem Saverem. She's the reason these people continue to do the horrible things. By allowing these people to live she stained her hands with the blood of our innocent sisters. By following her words, you go against the very ideals you live for. You want to protect her precious people, the ones she died to save, but by allowing them to live...you're allowing them to kill. She said that killing was wrong. Do you see, Vash? Do you see why I say that you don't make any sense? To save something, sometimes...sometimes you must kill it."

Vash clenched his teeth and forced a calm upon himself. When he spoke, it was a soft whisper. "You're afraid of them, Knives, afraid that they won't accept us. That's why you kill them. You're lying to yourself. You're just like them in so many ways."

The words seemed to echo between them in the momentary silence that ensued. Not even the hum of the machinery dared to break it. Just like them...

Knives went completely, frighteningly still. His rage was like a white buzz in the air. It was palpable.

"Brother..." he whispered, ice blue eyes burning. "I told you once..." He let his arms hang at his sides, and closed his eyes. A transformation began on both arms, much more advanced and yet more controlled than Vash had ever seen. Vash was shocked when the transformation completed. Two huge wings spread out behind Knives, unfurling slowly. They looked soft in the wispy yellow sunlight, but they were made up of paper-thin blades. Each feather had razor edges that glinted gold in the light. Knives stretched his hands out beside him, and two long blades slid into his hands.

Once the transformation had completed, Knives looked up again and finished speaking. "Never, ever compare me...to those parasites."

Just as they had when Knives was about to kill Millie, Vash's instincts took over, and he found himself retaliating. Warmth surged through him, surprising and overbearing. It was so strong.

When the pain faded, a single wing spread from behind his right shoulder. His prosthetic left arm remained the same. He stood in front of his brother, gasping in deep breaths. The warmth surged with his heartbeat, sending electric heat through his veins. Each time it faded, he felt dizzy, as if every reserve of energy had been sapped, only to be filled again and taken away. Both hands clasped his knees to keep him upright. Weakness rolled through him.

Knives smirked. "Brother, you look like a broken angel." He smirked. "No...look at what those parasites have done to your body. You look like a misguided demon God had mercy on."

"I thought the only higher power you believed in was yourself." Vash retorted. He shakily stood straight.

Knives seemed to have no problem maintaining his powers. "Yes, and I had mercy on you, as mistaken and broken as you may be."

Vash clenched his teeth and grabbed the bench he'd sat on to stay up. "Might I remind you that it wasn't the humans you despise who made me so obviously broken. It was you." He looked his brother straight in the eye. Knives had sent the Gung-Ho Guns. Knives had taken Vash's arm.

Yet he ignored Vash's words. He let both arms return to normal, and Vash felt the warmth ebbing away from himself as well. The power that had warmed him faded rapidly, leaving his body cold and weak. Vash's sight faded. The soft, golden light from the window turned an inevitable grey-black.

He was sure he would slump to the ground, but Knives reached out, grabbing Vash's arm and sliding it around his shoulder. Knives sighed, shaking his head. "Come, brother. There's still much to be done. I have to show you something."

Author's Notes: Yeah...kind of mangaish...kind of not. I am using the elements in the anime and manga and expanding on them just a bit. Obviously, their abilities are a bit more refined than in the manga, but...I hope that it's okay! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm desperately, insanely eager to hear your thoughts. I'm actually waiting with my tongue lolling out like a puppy dog. Okay. Kidding! But still, I'd love to hear if you think this is stupid or not. Is it okay how I portrayed the characters' abilities? I've started writing the next chapter already, so it should be up in a few days. Please review and tell me what you think. (wrings fingers)