Quick Recap: Vash and Kallie have a heart-to-heart about his insecurities and she makes him realize that they don't bother her. Things really start to heat up between the two of them, but Meryl interrupts before any action can take place between the happy couple. The two end the night snuggled up in bed next to one another, and soon they drift off into a happy, peaceful sleep!

Disclaimer: We do not own Trigun nor do we own the items or settings where this story takes place. All we own is the idea for this nifty little story and our original characters. Please don't sue, as all you will get from us is a sandwich bag filled with pistachio shells.

Chapter: The Man She Would Risk it All For
Chapter Written By: Peggi
Edited and Revised By: Peggi

Kallie woke up the next morning to see Vash sitting on the end of his bed, completely dressed and looking like he was ready to go. She walked into the bathroom with her bag and brushed her teeth, making her best attempt at a shower without burning her skin off, and then grabbed a change of clothes she had in her bag. Luckily, her side wasn't hurting as much as it had been the previous day, so she knew she could get away with a tank top and jeans as long as she was careful. Once she was ready after her rushed shower and daily grooming, she stepped back out into the room. Vash was still in the same spot, looking in the exact same direction he'd been staring at when she left.

A bit worried about him being so lost in thought, Kallie walked up to him and waved a hand in front of his face.

"You okay in there, Vash?"

He jumped a little at the sound of her voice but then turned to her and offered a small smile. It didn't do much to comfort her, as it was obvious that it was forced.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about someone."

Kallie quirked an eyebrow at the word 'someone', and the jealous girl part of her kicked in, though she didn't show it. She suddenly was wondering if maybe the reason Meryl kept eyeing them and acting so possessive was because there really was something going on. Or maybe Millie, though she didn't seem at all upset by Kallie hanging all over him. Possibly even another woman who he'd recently broken up with. Her mind was a flood of thoughts at the moment, and she almost didn't hear him when he spoke.

"Knives," he said simply.

"Huh?" she wasn't sure she'd even heard him correctly.

"My twin brother, Knives. Legato is working for him, and I'm sure you've been wondering why Legato seems to show up wherever I seem to go."

Kallie just nodded, taking it all in and feeling a bit guilty for even jumping to the conclusion that her newly found prince charming would ever break her heart.

"It's a lot of information, and I know this may change the way you feel about me, but you deserve to know. If you want to go your own separate way, I won't stop you, I'll understand, Kallie."

"Just tell me, Vash. I want to - no, I need to know what's going on. This involves me too, now."

Vash took a deep breath and sighed, mentally preparing himself to lose the first girlfriend he'd ever really had, "well, you see, Knives and I...we aren't humans. Not exactly, anyway. We were created, not born, on Project SEEDS. We're - we're actually humanoid plants, made to create power and energy for humans."

He gave Kallie a few moments to mentally catch up to where he was, and by the vacant expression on her face, her furrowed eyebrows, and her biting her lip, she wasn't quite there yet. After a few moments, she nodded, sitting down next to him and looking down at her lap.

"So, you have a twin brother, his name is Knives, and you're a plant that just looks like a person who was made to power things up," she repeated more than asked.

Vash opened his mouth to correct some of what she'd said, but was just a little surprised she was with him that far, "right. Well, Rem was the woman who raised us. She taught us how to live our lives and how to think. She taught us that peace and love were the two most important things in the universe and no one life deserves to take the life of another. She wanted us to believe that everyone and everything deserves a chance to live. That's what I've always believed, that's why I couldn't even shoot the man with the gun yesterday, or Legato in the bar. It goes against everything I've ever believed to be true and right, ever since I was very young."

Kallie didn't take as long to respond to the second part he'd given her, "so, if Legato works for your brother, then that means that Knives doesn't believe what Rem taught you guys?"

"No, he doesn't. Not all of the humans on Project SEEDS were as kind to us as Rem. I still believe that no living thing deserves to have life extinguished, but Knives believes the opposite. He thinks that humans are like a cancer to this planet, and his goal is to destroy all human life forms. He thinks that we deserve to live, because he considers us to be more important. More worthy. He wants to kill every human he comes across until there is nothing left but us. The only thing stopping him so far is me."

"Wow, that's...that's definitely a lot. So then he's trying to kill all of us, but why doesn't he realize that not all people are like the ones that were on SEEDS with you guys? I mean, that's terrible that you two were created to just be used, and then mistreated or abused, but not everybody is like that. Rem obviously wasn't like that."

Vash nodded, "right, but he doesn't seem to see it that way. His judgement is clouded by hate. The people who hurt us are long gone, but he still blames your race as a whole. We..." he wasn't sure if he really wanted to finish his sentence or not, but decided he might as well, "we've been alive for over 100 years now, almost all of it has been spent here on this planet."

Kallie took in a deep breath, trying to comprehend all of the information she'd been given. Obviously, there was a lot more Vash couldn't exactly tell her in this one conversation, but what he had was an awful lot. She'd read books growing up about girls who fell in love with creatures like vampires or monsters, only very rarely did it ever work out well. This, however, was different. She wasn't dealing with a non-human, evil thing that wanted to drain her blood or make her into dinner. Vash looked human, he certainly acted with more respect and kindness than most of the people she'd ever known. There was a bit of an age difference, but he didn't exactly look like he was over a century old. Actually, he looked closer to her age.

He still had his own thoughts and feelings, and she loved him for who he was. Kallie mentally shook her head, trying to understand her own thoughts. She loved him? No, not love, very much liked was a better way of putting it. Then again, if this had been any other man telling her this she'd have laughed at him for being insane or walked out because clearly if there was a madman who could live for over 100 years after Vash, after humans, sticking around wouldn't be safe. She had to love him, or she wouldn't still be having this conversation.

"So, this guy Legato. Is he a plant too? Is that why he wants me dead?"

Vash just shook his head, "no, Legato isn't human. Well, not completely. Not anymore. But I don't think he wants to kill you. If he wanted you dead, you would be. He's had two chances to kill you and he hasn't."

"He's probably using me to get to you, then. That has to be the reason."

"No. I don't know why he involved you specifically, but it wasn't just to get to me, he's tried that before and this is way different."

The conversation was cut short by a knock on the door. Vash placed his hand over his colt, opening the door with his other hand. Kallie stood, slowly backing away, especially nervous after the conversation they were having, but saw Vash lower his hand from the gun. He opened the door and Kallie could see Millie, Meryl, and Wolfwood standing just outside. Millie just walked right in.

"Well, good morning, miss Kallie! Did you sleep well?" the woman asked with a big smile on her face.

Kallie was about to say something when Meryl cut her off, "we're leaving now. If we make it into town early enough, we can eat breakfast there."

Millie turned to walk out the door and the three headed off to where they'd parked the vehicle. Kallie grabbed her bag from the bed and took a quick look around the room to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything. When she turned around, Vash was right in front of her and she almost bumped into him.

"If you don't want to come with us, I'll make sure to let everyone know that you said your goodbyes," he offered in a hushed tone. "Staying with me could be dangerous, you've already seen what it's like."

Kallie saw his eyes flash with the fear that she might leave, it almost looked like he wanted to break down and cry at any moment, but she didn't allow him any more seconds of anxiety. She gave him a quick kiss and walked past him.

"There's no way I'm going to just walk away from this, mister. You've already told me you'll protect me, and what's there to be afraid of when you have a big, strong, gun-slinging boyfriend with perfect aim and a slight donut obsession?" Kallie turned around just long enough to flash a big smile at him and then continued walking.

They caught up to the other three and Vash felt a lot better about things. When he woke up that morning he was almost certain that he would never see Kallie again but now he almost had an entirely different outlook on things. They were just a short distance away from the car when Meryl turned to her.

"So, was Vash well-behaved last night?"

Kallie hadn't minded the intrusion the night before, or even the constant looks while they were on the road, but now it was just becoming annoying, "yes, he was. You know, you don't have to monitor my boyfriend, though. I know you're just worried about me, but I can definitely take care of myself."

Meryl's face went completely pale and she looked stunned, "wait, Vash is...Vash is your...boyfriend?"

Everyone was at the car, ready to get in when they turned to look at Kallie and Vash. Meryl's yelling had gotten their attention, but now the other two were mostly just curious about what they'd missed. Nothing else was said as Millie got behind the wheel. Wolfwood was already at the door to the front passenger seat, and momentarily considered switching with Meryl, so that Kallie and Vash wouldn't have to deal with her during the ride, but he was too amused. Vash was a little bit nervous because of Meryl's temper and knew she wouldn't try anything with Kallie, so he made sure she sat between them.

The first hour was filled with awkward silence, but Millie was bored, so she began singing some tunes kids tend to sing during travel, to pass the time. Wolfwood joined in, while Meryl just glanced over at the other two with disgust. Eventually, Vash got bored from just sitting there for so long, so he decided to find his own creative way to pass the time. He placed an arm over Kallie's shoulders, pulling her towards him at the same time as he used his free hand to turn her face to look at him. Once she was facing him, he pressed his lips against hers, not really giving her much time to protest. Not that she would have, of course.

Meryl let out an indignant gasp at the two, but Kallie, who normally would've been amused by it, didn't even notice. She was too distracted by her boyfriend's tongue in her mouth and the feeling of his hair as she ran her fingers through it. She couldn't even feel the hatred being glared at her by the other woman, and noticed her surroundings even less when Vash pulled away from kissing her to leave light, feathery kisses on her neck. It sent chills down her spine and when he found the most sensitive spot on her neck, right where it met her shoulder, he gave her an extremely light nibble there.

Kallie felt her face heat up, not from embarrassment or anger this time, but from complete lust. She completely forgot where she was and that there were other people in the car with them, and when he sucked on that same spot on her neck she gave him the exact reaction he was trying for. She ever so quietly moaned his name, just loud enough for Meryl and Vash to hear, but not so loud as to bring attention to them from the two in front who were still singing their hearts out.

Vash pulled away, smirking, and Kallie finally collected her thoughts and realized where she was and what had just happened. Her eyes widened a bit and when she turned back around, Meryl looked like she was just about ready to leap out of her seat and strangle them both. Kallie just looked out the windshield, a little nervous because of the way Meryl was looking at her, yet very distracted as Vash kept running his finger up and down her neck and giving her kisses every so often on her ear, cheek, and neck for the next couple of hours.

Kallie couldn't wait to get out of the car and away from Meryl. They finally reached the next down, and drove through the streets. There was a gate just outside of town with some areas to park, which they did, and they walked into the town. There was absolutely no one to be seen. The only sign of life was a black cat walking on a sidewalk, which paused to lick its paw and then went back on its journey down the sidewalk.

Peggi: Thanks to those who favorited/followed this story so far! You guys totally rock! Re-reading all of this to revise, I can't help but giggle at little-me, who had barely seen any of Trigun when this was written, and there's so much later that requires fixing, because of how out of character some of them were! Geeze! But I hope you guys are liking this story so far! Don't forget to leave me some lovely reviews, guys!