A/N: Another chapter up. And to Aine, your question will be answered in this chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Several Complications

Meryl slowly awoke the next morning, her body curled around a warm, if unmoving, object. She snuggled closer, knowing the day was Saturday and she would not need to go to work until later in the afternoon. Suddenly she felt a soft rumble against her head and a hand settle on her left shoulder. Her eyes shot open, the sight of a bright red cloth filling her entire vision. She slowly turned her head upwards and blushed, meeting the gaze of a very amused blonde.

Meryl looked at the position they were currently in. Her body was curled around the gunman's waist, her arms around him and her face buried into his jacket. Vash had one arm on the small of her back while the other was still laying on her shoulder. He seemed more than pleased she was practically laying in his lap, his aqua-green eyes dancing with glee.

"What are you doing?" Meryl softly asked, none of her usual ferocity in the tone. The compromising position they were in numbed her anger, also the idea that both of them may be at fault coming to her mind.

"You sorta climbed into my lap last night" Vash said sheepishly, a small blush growing on his own cheeks. "I didn't really want to wake you and you were kinda warm."

Meryl looked at him for a moment longer, her actions during the night startling her usually cautious nature. She nodded in understanding then proceeded to rise...only to be stopped by the hand still on her shoulder. The small insurance girl shot the gunman a suspicious look, her eyes gesturing towards his arm for him to remove the limb from her.

"Do you have to get up?" Vash asked, his grin growing wider. "Millie told me yesterday you didn't have to go to work until later."

Meryl wasn't sure whether to curse or thank her best friend. She was comfortable in her position, but the proximity of their bodies was causing a heated reaction in her body. Shifting a little with the increasing tension, she gasped as Vash's grip increased and stopped her movements. She turned her head to look at him and felt the blush move across her aching body when her eyes settled upon his own.

The gunman's eyes were swirling with a mix of emotions and colors, the many suppressed expressions causing her head to swim. She noticed the feelings of apprehension, fear, and an unusual discomfort. However, the most dominant emotion was lust, the red irises showing his faltering control and the emergence of his vampiric side.

"Vash" Meryl spoke softly, reaching a hand up and brushing her palm against his cheek. She giggled when he purred and leaned into the touch, his eyes calming and softly closing with her comforting touch. "We have to get up sometime."

"Not now" he whispered, his tone now more of a rumble. "Later."

Meryl shivered at the emotions in those few words, her side suddenly shifting against something hard. She stiffened and her blush deepened, a low growl echoing above her. Seeing his preoccupation with her unintentional shifting, the small insurance girl freed herself from his loose grasp and slid off the bed. Backing away from the stunned gunman, she finally reached the door and searched for the knob.

Unfortunately, Vash realized what she intended to do and was suddenly at her side before she could blink. He merely stood beside her for a moment, neither speaking nor blinking. Meryl stared back, her body shaking and the instinct to run nearly overpowering her common sense to remain still.

"Vash, I want to leave" she said, slowly reaching out and resting her hand on his chest. "Please?"

Vash's eyes widened as the red color melted from the aqua, a trembling hand pressing over hers. Tears began to fall from his orbs, slipping down his smooth face and catching in the down turned lips. Several fell to Meryl's arm, causing moisture to come to her own eyes.

"I'm sorry, Vash" Meryl spoke, releasing her hand and wrapping her arms around his waist. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

"How can you be so forgiving?" he whispered, returning the gesture by wrapping his own arms around her back. "I don't deserve you."

A short, barking laugh escaped Meryl's lips as she pulled away from him. A small smile shone on her face while her arms settled at her sides. She lifted one hand and playfully pointed a finger into his chest, causing a confused expression to pass through Vash's eyes. The precise reaction she wanted, as she lifted herself on her toes and brushed her lips against his.

"No you don't" she whispered against his surprised mouth.

Suddenly turning on her heels, Meryl opened the door and walked out of the room. Leaving a very confused and blushing gunman in her wake.

Several days later Meryl was again walking home after her late job, the full moon slowly moving over the clear sky. She sighed, a feeling of both relief and discomfort coming over her mood. The lack of attacks and threats was a welcomed reprieve, but she was also worried about the strange quiet in their lives.

Then the situation with Vash had grown slightly more...intimate. Meaning she had no room to herself. The blond gunman was practically latched around her every time she returned from work or an errand, constantly hovering over her and never leaving her presence until bedtime. He would have gladly joined her there but she adamantly refused, the implications the blond made being more than obvious.

Millie was also having her own 'problems' with increasingly lecherous Wolfwood, the sudden change in his usually closed personality surprising Meryl. However, the big girl took everything in stride. Never once did she complain about the less than innocent remarks being made by the priest during the past few days, her gentle smile and clueless face always present. The smaller girl marveled at her partner's patience, she herself having already painfully smacked Vash several times with his antics.

Finally reaching the house and stepping onto the porch, Meryl looked to the sky and gazed at the full moons. They glowed brightly, casting shadows here and there in the empty streets. Turning back to the house and opening the door, she was surprised to see Vash walk up from the basement. Noticing the small insurance standing in the open doorway, the blond slammed the door shut behind him and quickly locked the bolt of the former jail's door.

"What were you doing down there?" Meryl asked, looking between the door and the gunman.

"Nothing" Vash said, stepping in front of her. "So...how was your job?" he asked. Not turning his eyes from her form, he placed the basement keys back on the hook next to the metal door.

Meryl rolled her eyes, trying once again to sidestep the gunman and his attempt at changing the subject. A low growl escaped her throat when he once more stood in her way, her temper flaring from his intrusion to her curiosity. Besides, he had no right to bar her way to any portion of the house, a large portion of the house payment coming from her own paycheck. But seeing his determined face and unmoving form, she knew she would be forced to use drastic measures to accomplish her task.

"Millie, I need you to distract Vash while I find out what's in the basement" Meryl explained, peeking out the door to see him sitting on the couch near the door.

"But why don't we have Mr. Priest help us?" Millie asked.

"I can't seem to find him. Besides, he might be in on this, too" the short girl surmised, finally opening the portal and slowly walking out. She gestured for her partner to walk down the stairs and begin her distraction, watching as Millie nodded and walked down the steps. Stepping up to Vash, the big girl began a conversation with him while Meryl slunk around the shadowed banister upstairs. The small insurance girl did feel a twinge of guilt for what they were doing but she was tired of the mystery surrounding the blond gunman, especially when said man was surrounding her.

Millie was able to lead Vash into one of the bathrooms on the lower floor, the excuse being a plugged pipe that needed tending. Meryl sneaked down the stairs and past the mostly closed door with the two occupants, noiselessly grabbing the keys hanging from the hook. Swiftly unlocking the metal portal and sliding into the basement, she closed the door behind her with some regret. The room was pitch black without the light from the living room and she could not recall where the light switch was situated.

Slowly stepping down the creaky stares, wincing at every noise, Meryl squinted her eyes into the total darkness in an effort to see what Vash had been doing. Her efforts were fruitless as she stepped down off the last stair and looked to her left, seeing the outlines of the two cells.

Suddenly two bright yellow orbs lit within the cell closest to her, causing a muffled squeak to escape from her lungs. She backed against the wall, watching as the unmoving lights blinked slowly in the dark. The insurance girl gathered her courage and slowly inched closer, tentatively reaching out her hand to grasp the bars and peer through the iron grates.

Suddenly the door opened and the light switch at the top of the stairs was flicked on, showing what she had been approaching. With an ear piercing scream, Meryl stumbled back and was caught in the arms of Vash. She turned into his comforting embrace, both for the protection and to hide her eyes from the form pacing in the cell.

A huge humanoid wolf was prowling the length of the cell, his unblinking yellow eyes watching the two. The matted grey fur blended in with the darkened cell walls and massive claw-tipped paws echoed along the cobble floor, the front arms longer than the short back feet. A long tail swept the air angrily and the hunched back bristled with indignation. The monster bared his fangs at the smell of fear coming from Meryl and lunged toward the bars, clawing and gnashing at the source of the delicious smell.

Meryl squeaked and buried herself deeper into the folds of Vash's coat, tightening her hold on his arms. He backed them away from the bars, a sad smile on his face as he watched Millie tentatively walk down the stairs. Her face showed signs of a growing fear, though the most dominant emotion was a pained grief at seeing the animal in the cage. She knew who it was.

"Um, what are you doing down here?" Vash asked innocently, turning to the small woman he held. He wilted under the glare from Meryl as she lifted her head and willingly crashed to the ground when she smacked the back of his head. He supposed the treatment was more than deserved.

Vash, Millie and Meryl once more sat at the kitchen table, the two insurance girls staring at the blond gunman. The smaller woman's fingers were tapping on the wooden surface, her eyes narrowed and her mouth set in a thin line. Though Millie tried to lighten the spirit with a cheery face, her usual smile was smaller than was normal for her. Vash sat there stiffly, his head hung and his fingers nervously twitching in his lap.

"And when were you planning on telling us that Wolfwood was a...werewolf?" Meryl finally ground out, never believing she would ever be forced to say that name. Not receiving an answer quick enough for her liking from the quiet outlaw, she pointed to the door which led to the animal prowling in its cell. She gave another threatening rumble toward the gunman as a signal to start his explanation.

"Um...never?" Vash honestly replied, receiving a knock on the head. "Ouch..." he said, rubbing the growing lump carefully. "You know, it's not like this is my fault. He was like this when I found him."

"And when did you find him?" she questioned.

"About forty years ago" Vash answered. "I really did find him in the desert, completely lost and nearly dead. I brought him to the closest town at about the new full moon and...saw what he turned into. I couldn't leave him by himself to harm others and he knew he couldn't control himself when he was transformed, so we kinda stuck with each other. And because of what he is, he seems to have stopped aging like I have. Kinda made us the perfect friends."

Meryl rubbed her temple, feeling a headache coming on. Then a sudden thought came to her, a remembrance of the tales she'd heard as a child. "Wait a minute..." She looked into the aqua eyes which were staring nervously at her. "Aren't vampires supposed to be able to control wolves in the legends?" she asked suspiciously, turning to the door leading to the trapped animal that was Wolfwood.

"Yeah" Vash said quietly, also gazing at his friend. "Believe me, Knives has tried to do just that. That's one of the reasons why I have to keep him locked up."

"And another?"

"He tends to want to eat people."

"Great" Meryl muttered, trying to force the rather unbelievable sight from her mind's eye. Then her lavender eyes flew open as she looked quickly to the nervous blond before her, a question buzzing through her thoughts which greatly frightened her. "How many people has he killed?" she asked quietly.

"None since I've known him" Vash quickly replied, seeing the worried expression on the small girl's face. "But then, I've always been able to keep him away from humans on full moons."

Meryl stood up, slamming her hands down on the table.

"Vash, you idiot!" she yelled causing even Millie to wince. "We're in one of the most populated areas on Gunsmoke, and you pick now to tell us this!"

"Well, I didn't think he'd bother anyone" Vash said, shrinking under Meryl's intense gaze. "He's locked up in the basement and he usually doesn't try to escape if I feed him some meat."

"Where did you get the money to buy meat!" she asked loudly. Then Meryl remembered he had his own job, along with a weekly allowance of sorts. She ashamedly slipped back down to her chair, realizing she was doing more harm than good with her outrage. "I'm sorry, I know I worry too much" she admitted, trying to give a reassuring smile to Vash. Sighing in relief as he returned her gesture, the small girl rubbed her temples and let her gaze drift to the metal door. "Are you sure he can't get out?" she asked quietly.

"Positive."