A pleasant sound interrupted his dreamless sleep. He would have gladly ignored it and rolled back over if it weren't for the sound's incessant, repetitive nature. Once he was awake enough to place the sound, he realized it was the intercom chiming for his attention.

It finally dawned on him that someone was outside of his room. He opened his eyes slowly and looked at the ceiling. He eventually propped himself up on his elbows.

Who would come here?

He dragged himself out of bed and went into the bathroom. He looked at his own reflection. Black and blond hair poked out everywhere. There were dark circles under his eyes. His tongue felt thick in his dry mouth. He used his real hand to drink out of the sink faucet.

The intercom continued to chime.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and ran his fingers through his hair. The moisture on his fingers did nothing to tame his hair. He felt like he had a hangover. He felt like he had dried up from the inside. He felt like he needed a shower.

The intercom continued to chime.

It must have been Doc coming to check on him. He suddenly worried about how long he had been asleep. The lights on the ship had that timeless hospital feel and he didn't actually know when he'd fallen into bed anyway.

He finally left the sanctuary of the bathroom and ventured out into the living quarters. Knives was nowhere to be found, but the door to his bedroom was open.

He must have been curious, too.

Vash looked down and answered the door. He was looking at where Doc's eyes should have been, but his eyes met instead with a chest…an ample chest. Before he could even raise his eyes to see a face, a fist grabbed hold of his hoodie by the neck and he felt himself being jerked into the corridor. He caught sight of Milly's face just before her other fist connected with his cheek.

For a minute there, he saw stars.

She slammed him up against the wall hard and brought her fist up to her shoulder, ready to hit him again. His cheek was already bleeding into his mouth. He'd only seen her get this angry once before, and she'd been in a "must hit Vash" state then as well. She glared at him, her fist ready to fly at the drop of a hat. She seemed like she was waiting for him to stand up for himself. He didn't particularly want to get hit again, but then again, he couldn't think of any reason she shouldn't hit him. He'd screwed up. No, it was more than just a screw up. It was a colossal fuck up. He wasn't paying attention and Meryl's life had been at stake. Any pain she meted out today would be just a tiny fraction of the agony he deserved.

He did find a bit of solace, though. At least she didn't have her stun gun.

Knives had been listening from his room as his brother had made his way towards the portal. He couldn't believe Vash would actually let them in here. He'd probably told them all his secrets. They were probably waiting to get their hands on him. He had some kind of sick delusion that these inferior beings were capable of friendship, but all they could do was hate. That little one…he had no idea how she could have seen the things she'd seen. He knew she wasn't a plant. It wasn't like there were other independents. In his youth, he'd scoured the planet looking for others like him…others he could use against Vash. He never found any, though, and had to use those wretched humans instead.

He was pulled out of his thoughts of unrequited revenge when he heard a surprised gasp come out of his brother. He looked up just in time to see Vash being yanked unceremoniously into the hall by a larger-than-average human.

It was touching his brother.

He saw a fist fly and connect with Vash's cheek. Vash was slammed up against the wall.

It was hurting his brother.

All rational sense immediately left Knives as he tore out of his room. He sent a mental attack towards the human, an attack that would have normally rendered the human dead, but nothing happened…

Vash had been right.

In a flash, he ran through the living quarters and just as he realized what he was doing, he crossed the threshold to the room. An unfamiliar imbalance in his body nearly made him fall over as his arms went slack. He realized too late the position he was in as he looked at the scene in front of him. Vash was pinned against the wall by what looked to be a huge female human. Her hair was in her face, so he couldn't make out what she was thinking, but she looked like she was about to hit Vash again. An odd sense of powerlessness came over him…one he hadn't felt in over a century. He was watching his brother be abused by another human. Again. It was all happening again, and there was nothing he could do about it. There was no one to protect them. It was almost too much to bear.

The human turned to him. Knives couldn't believe what he was seeing.

She couldn't be the same woman. Her eyes weren't the right color, and neither was her hair…but there was something about her. There was something about her that made him very afraid. She had the same determined look in her face, the same simple righteousness, the same aura. But it couldn't be her.

It couldn't be Rem.

Whether it was guilt or fear or insanity, Knives couldn't tell. He tried to walk backwards into the room and forget what he had seen, but his legs would not obey. Was she a relative he'd failed to eliminate? Had she somehow come back for revenge? He started to hyperventilate. The large woman turned her upper body and let go of Vash. She geared up to let her fist fly. Knives closed his eyes.

He heard a loud smack, but felt no pain. He slowly opened his eyes to see that Vash had intercepted the punch with his prosthetic hand. The woman was staring at Vash, a surprised look on her face. Vash just stared back, his eyes suddenly hard.

So his brother really was going to keep his promise? Knives took a deep breath and lost consciousness.

"Milly, please. What are you still doing here?" Vash was getting exasperated. Milly was like an unwelcome ball of sunshine that was currently turning his living quarters upside down. And she was pouring everything she was looking for down the sink.

He sighed as yet another bottle of whiskey got poured down the drain. He held the cold compress to his cheek as he sank lower into his chair. With Milly around, he felt completely out of control. Where was metered, cautious action? Where was reason? "Where is Meryl?" She might have started out being pushy, but he was feeling more and more like she was the only one around who was really able to understand him. Plus, she never barged in and started restructuring his life.

Milly smiled obliviously as she made her way around the room, picking up dirty dishes and clothes along the way and sorting them into their respective piles. She suddenly spotted a bottle of alcohol behind a chair and made a bee-line towards it. She grasped it victoriously and returned to the kitchen to pour every last drop of alcohol down the drain. She even rinsed the bottles out. "I took her off the case."

She…WHAT? Vash gulped. "You…you…can do that?" All the horror scenarios that flashed in front of his eyes when he first encountered the girls and heard the term "24 hours surveillance" suddenly returned. He jumped out of his chair. This couldn't be happening. "But…but…WHY?"

"Mr. Vash. There's no need to yell." She smiled at him. "Among other things, she was attacked by your brother, so she's officially become part of your case. Doesn't it seem like a conflict of interest to have someone who's been physically assaulted by her assignment's brother still on the case? Hmm?"

"Well, yeah…I mean…there are a lot of reasons why she might…BUT YOU HIT ME! How is that different?"

Milly continued bustling around the room. "Oh Mr. Vash. You're so silly. That's called 'damage control,' and it happens to be my specialty!"

Damage control? She had to be kidding. Another argument died in his throat. This was pointless. He sat back down, slumped back into his chair and tried to ignore the girl's presence. It wasn't like he didn't like Milly. She was one of his closest friends, one of his only friends. But right now, he really wanted to be by himself. He actually wanted to drink himself into oblivion, but any chance he had of doing that was currently being rinsed down the sink. He was so tired and so worn out and he just couldn't deal with Milly's perma-happiness right now.

He got quiet. "Is…Meryl hurt?"

Milly stopped moving. Her expression was thoughtful. "No, I think she's going to be fine. She's just a little overwhelmed with the situation is all." She glanced over at the couch where Knives lay unconscious and looked him over for a moment. Then she turned back to the kitchen and attacked the counter with a clean rag. "As soon as we get Mr. Knives fixed up, everyone should be peachy keen!"

Vash looked at his brother. God…if it could only be that easy. He removed the compress from Knives forehead and walked to the bathroom to rewet it. As he made his way back to the couch, he realized Knives was coming around. He set the compress on the table and knelt down by Knives. "Hey, can you hear me?"

Knives eyebrows creased and he tried to get up. His arms still weren't working. He continued to lie there for a moment. Vash tried to give him a hand. "Get off of me," he snapped at his brother. He used his abdominal muscles to pull himself up. He looked at Vash. "Why don't my arms work yet?" This was getting more and more frustrating.

Vash smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "Well, you see…I don't actually know. Doc figured if I knew how to reactivate them, then you might be able to get it out of me."

Knives sneered. "Well…get someone here who knows how to make them work."

Vash continued to smile sheepishly. "Funny thing! See…the only people who know how to activate them are, well, human…and nobody wants to come reactivate them until you're administered a sedative or you promise not to kill anybody. So…it looks like you might be S. O. L. for a while there, buddy." He continued to give his brother the fake smile as Knives gave him a look that could kill.

Knives grumbled at the inconvenience. So this was how it was going to be: they were going to hold his body hostage until his mind capitulated. He sat against the couch and looked past his dopey brother to see that the human from before was standing by the counter, twisting a washrag in her hand. He sat up straighter when he realized he was being watched.

"What are you doing here," he demanded.

Milly stepped forward defiantly. "Mr. Vash…he's my friend. And he needs help."

Vash turned to give her a look. What was she talking about? He didn't need help with Knives. It was his job to take care of Knives. And himself? He was fine! Before he could state his rebuttal, however, Knives had already spoken. "You think punching him in the face is going to help him?"

Milly's face sharpened into an angry expression. "That was because he allowed you to hurt my partner. You should be ashamed of yourself! She's so tiny and you've got brand new arms!"

Knives smiled a little. "Did she happen to mention that she is the one who graciously decided to remove my arms?"

Milly looked very perturbed. "Oh, my no. She failed to mention that." She turned and looked down. She turned back. "That wasn't very nice of her at all." She was very similar to Rem: simplistic to a fault.

Knives continued to smile. "I'm glad we agree on that." He kept looking into her eyes. She really did feel so familiar. Old feelings began to wear his smile down. Rem was the only human he ever really cared about. He had decided she could live…not anybody else. When he was younger, he tried to play it off as an act of mercy for his kid brother to bring her along, but that was far from the truth. He botched the plan. He hadn't accounted for everything. She had chosen the humans over them, but he missed her so much, sometimes he even had to admit to himself that he would have forgiven her. "I need to talk to you," he suddenly stated. He looked at Vash. "Alone."

Vash looked at him like Knives was out of his mind. He looked at Milly like Knives was out of his mind. "You can't be --"

Milly spoke up. "It's okay, Mr. Vash. I can take care of myself."

Vash looked between the two one more time. He sighed and exited the room into the corridor. He hoped Milly knew what she was doing.

He sighed, suddenly feeling very alone and checked his flask. Half full. Where was Meryl?

"Do you know what we are?" Knives asked.

"Yes. You and Vash are plants…independents I think," she answered back.

"How much has he told you about our pasts?"

Milly thought. "He's told me some… He's told Meryl more, I think." She moved over to one of the chairs by the couch and sat down.

Knives thought this over. It made quite a bit of sense, but still didn't account for all that he had seen. "Did he tell you about the Great Fall?" He hesitated. "Did he tell you about…Rem?"

Milly answered quietly. "Yes, he did."

Knives felt like he had lost his mind. What was the point in rehashing the past with this human who didn't have anything to do with it? What kind of relevant judgment could she make on the whole situation? Still, he felt compelled to ask…

He looked down at the useless hands in his lap. "Do you think…I'm evil?" He couldn't look into those eyes anymore.

She was quiet for a moment. "No. No, I don't think you're evil. I just think…you made a mistake."

Knives considered extorting a promise from the human never to breathe a word of this conversation to anyone else, but he realized at this point he'd already said too much for contingency plans and that he really didn't trust humans to keep their promises anyway. This room was probably bugged anyway.

He asked the question he'd wanted to ask Rem so many times. Rem always seemed to have a simple answer. It was irritating and safe at the same time. "Do you think I was wrong? What…would you have done?"

Milly took a deep breath. "I really don't know."

Knives head shot up. He was angry now. "How can you not know! You know what I did. You know what I've done to Vash, to other humans. How can you sit there and say that?"

"It's true," Milly started. "What you did to Mr. Vash was very, very cruel. He's your brother and you should never, ever treat family like that." Knives sighed, taking this in. He was surprised when she started again. "However, if what I understand is correct, then you honestly believed that what you were doing was in Vash's best interests. You were trying to take care of him." She trailed off. "If my brothers and sisters were hurt by someone else, I don't know what I'd do."

Something in Knives broke. It was the same simple logic, the logic he'd been telling himself for decades would condemn him. But…had he been wrong all along? Had he been mistaken about Rem from the start? Was he just looking for a ghost in this stranger? He leaned back against the couch and stared at the ceiling. His voice was weary. "You can leave now."

Milly looked at him for a moment. He looked like he was in a lot of pain. "Okay, Mr. Knives." She turned to leave. Before she got to the door, she hesitated and turned back to Knives. "Do you need anything before I leave?"

He shook his head no.

Meryl had been in her room all afternoon. She tried to relax, but she couldn't. Crunching numbers and filing papers were the only ways she knew how to calm her nerves. She tried to read through a paperback she'd found in the sick bay, but it was a cheesy romance and she just couldn't get into it. On the first page, she could already tell that the brooding rogue would fall for the delicate flower. She made a cup of tea and tried to think of something to do with herself. She was really hoping that Milly would have been back sooner, but the girl had been gone for hours. She sat at the table with her tea and looked out the small portal.

Was she over reacting? Was leaving the only real option she had? Vash was in turns shutting her out and letting her get too close. It seemed like he was falling apart. Every time she saw him, it was like he was on the verge of tears. She wanted to help him, but the idea seemed impractical at best and pretentious at worst. Just what good would she be at helping him? She couldn't even figure out what to do with herself.

She felt a strange sensation, like someone else was in the room with her. Despite her initial anxiety, it actually felt like a soothing presence. She looked away from the window and almost fell out of her chair. A short man was sitting on her bed smiling at her. He looked like he was calmly trying to speak to her, but she couldn't here anything that he was saying.

Her throat closed up. She could only get one word out. "…Dad?"

As soon as she'd spoken, she sat straight up in her chair. The suns had gone down. Her tea was cold. Nobody was in the room with her. It must have been a dream. Her dad had been dead for 5 years now. Still…it had felt unsettlingly real.

She needed to get out of there.

She grabbed a jacket and high-tailed it out of her room. She didn't care where she was going. She just needed to go somewhere. She walked down the corridors, sometimes trailing her fingers along the wall. When she'd been walking around earlier, she'd come across one place that she couldn't get out of her head. It was the cold sleep chamber, and if she was correct, it looked like people were still in there hibernating. It was amazing to her. This was how they had all gotten here. They'd all traveled millions of miles through space in order to find a new world. What kind of courage had it taken these people to abandon the only home they'd known and search out a new planet, with only probability as their guide?

She could barely imagine.

She stepped into the antechamber and pulled one of the heavy coats off of its hook. The cold sleep chamber really was…cold. All these people were in here, asleep, with their frozen hopes and dreams. It was such a departure from everyday desert life.

She saw a button near the entrance and realized she would need special clearance to get in. On closer inspection, however, she realized the door was slightly ajar. She pushed it slightly and the door folded into the wall. She walked in timidly, looking all around her. It was surprisingly moist in here as well. She could see her breath in front of her as she breathed.

She walked in a few paces before realizing someone else was also in here.

A/N: Hey everybody. Hope you're still enjoying this story. The next chapter is going to be big: Meryl and Vash have a heart to heart...of sorts...that kind of goes awry...and Doc finally explains what the hell is going on with everybody. Decisions are made, will hearts be broken? YOU WILL KNOW IF YOU READ! And, as always, reviews really do make this writing thing easier! THANKS GUYS!