DISCLAIMER: Trigun and its characters belong to Yasuhiro Nightow.
Lyrics to "Bowling Ball" by Superchick
"I don't want to talk about it, Milly," Meryl insisted as she finished dressing in her gym clothes. The entire experience of last night had left a bad taste in her mouth and interfered with her sleep. There was only one thing she wanted to do at this point.
"But Meryl, there must be a reason Mr. Vash –"
"Don't say that name to me! I don't care if he's our job, I don't want to hear his name!" Stalked out with a small canvas bag of workout gear, leaving Milly to fret behind her.
Meryl stormed down to the ground floor, beelining for the hotel gym. Not many guests made use of it, but she was in a mood to burn off some harsh feelings. Sometimes you just have to hit something. Repeatedly.
Her expression made the attendant hesitate, but he swallowed and bravely did his job. "Hello, ma'am! My name is Wesley, and welcome to our gymnasium. Would you care to lift some weights, or perhaps utilize one of our stationary bicycles –"
"Heavy bag," she ground out. "Now!"
"Right away, ma'am! This way, please." He led her to the far corner of the gym, where a dusty heavy bag was hung. Clearly, it had been a while since it had seen use. The attendant hurriedly wiped it with a dust rag. "I apologize, ma'am, but our bag gloves are currently being repaired. All I can offer –"
"I'll handle it," she said curtly. "Leave." The poor attendant gratefully did so.
Meryl set her canvas bag down and rummaged. Pulled out her music player with its special workout earpieces, designed to fit directly into the ear and not slip like headphones would. Pulled out some pink wraps and wrapped up her hands. Pulled out some lightweight fingerless leather gloves with padding stuffed into the knuckles and slid them on. These were much preferable for her over regular bag gloves – no excess padding to protect you from bad striking habits, and that they were fingerless allowed for more than just punches.
Screw stretching. She wanted very badly to hit Vash; since she was too professional to do that, she would happily take the next best thing, something she could mentally fix his image to. Pushed PLAY and unleashed her fury as the music filled her ears.
"Maybe things'll work out…but maybe they'll never
And I think you've given him the benefit of the doubt
You need that boy like a bowling ball
Dropped on your head, which means not at all…"
Over an hour later, she was still going strong. Her clothes were wet, sweat freely streamed down her flushed face, but she wanted to keep hitting until she wasn't angry anymore. That might take a while longer.
Leave it to a jerk like Vash to sucker her in with that stupid I like the way you sing routine. Jab-jab. Palm strike followed by a thumb to the eye.
Should have slammed the door in his face when she saw he couldn't even try to look nice for her. Jab-cross-lead hook, follow-up forearm to the throat.
"It's not like it would be a date."
Except she had let herself think of it that way. Given him every chance to redeem himself on their date, to stop acting like a dick and treat her like the lady she was. Gone further and further down the rabbit hole in pursuit of something he clearly wasn't.
"Pay the bill."
Jab-cross-lead uppercut-cross-lead hook-rear uppercut BAM! Right into where his jaw would be! Rapid-fire impacts echoed through the gym.
She didn't know who the bigger ass was – Vash for being such a tremendous jerk, or herself for thinking she could ever believe otherwise. She had known damn well from the first time she met him and he had kept taking her box of donuts that he was nothing but a twit of a man. Milly always pointed out the donuts had been for Vash the Stampede, but how was Meryl supposed to know an ace gunman and a feather-brained broom-head could be the same man?
Flurry of elbows. Pictured him with a broken nose.
And what did it matter if he could escape from the most impossible situations? What did it matter if she had seen him do amazing things and protect innocent people, in complete defiance to his reputation? What did it matter if her heart beat a little faster when she saw his real smile?
None of that mattered after last night. What a sucker she was to think there was genuine affection in those sea-green eyes. Nothing but a sucker.
Jab-body cross-lead hook-body cross-body hook. Imagined him down on his knees, sucking wind. Take that, you lying sack of –
"MERYL!" Milly's voice broke through.
Meryl turned from the bag and hit PAUSE on her player, taking out her earpieces, breathing hard. "What?"
Milly stood there with a towel and bottle of water. "I've been calling your name for a couple minutes."
Meryl looked down in chagrin. "I'm sorry, Milly. I got caught up in what I was doing."
"I noticed," her friend observed dryly.
Accepted the offered towel and water. Mopped her face. "What's up?" she asked, uncapping the water and taking a swig.
"The Chief would like you to call him as soon as possible, before the end of the business day."
Now what? Meryl shrugged; there was only one way to find out. Finishing her bag work would have to wait.
"How long was I down there, anyway?" she asked as they went back to their room. Shot a death glare at the door to the room Vash shared with Wolfwood as they passed.
"An hour and a half," Milly told her.
"Huh. Felt like less."
She picked up the phone in their room.
"Front desk."
"Yes, this is Meryl Stryfe in room three-oh-seven. Please connect me with the operator."
"One moment, Ms. Stryfe."
"Operator."
"Please connect me to December."
"One moment."
A few minutes and a few operators later, Meryl was connected to the main office of the Bernardelli Insurance Society. Shortly thereafter, she was on the line with her boss.
"Stryfe here, Chief. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. No, sir, the weather's interfering with the connection. Yes, sir, she could handle things for a while; she's a very competent field agent. It's the office where she's not very good. No, sir, we don't expect any rapid changes in our situation. No, sir, he seems content to stay put for the time being. I have to what? Sir, you're breaking up, say again. When? Yes, sir, I'll pack and find a way out of town as soon as possible. I'll walk out if I have to. Very good, sir. I'll report in as soon as I can. Thank you, Chief."
"You're leaving?" Milly asked worriedly when the phone was hung up.
Meryl nodded as she headed for the closet. "Just as soon as I pack and shower. I've been summoned back to the main office; you'll keep an eye on things here."
Milly was a little worried over this development. "How soon will you be back?"
"I don't know." Turned and patted her partner on the shoulder. "You'll be fine on your own, Milly. You're a good agent, you just have to trust yourself."
"How are you going to get out of town?"
"Big trucks don't have a problem coming in and out. I'll try to hitch a ride with someone. If nothing else, like I said, I'll walk out. Right now, I'm just happy to be leaving.
"The sooner I get away from that damn man, the better!"