Disclaimer in previous chapter. Please see Author's Notes at the end.

This is a DIRECT continuation of last chapter.

-x-

"NO!" Meryl leaped forward from the doorway, hand outstretched for the letter. She was in her grey uniform jacket, but her hands were bare, she was going to be instantly immobilized-

Elizabeth saw it too – she moved, but it was to knock Stryfe aside. The shorter woman was not easily deflected, snatching at the letter. Librett seemed to melt backwards, and in a moment Aaron lost track of him – and the envelope – entirely.

"Please don't tear it!" Meryl sounded frantic. "If you won't send it then give it back!"

Aaron cast around for anything to throw – and came up with the tray of food, on the floor near his head, conveniently slightly out of reach. He went for it anyway, even as he saw in his peripheral – always - Miss Elizabeth on her feet, her back against the wall with her hands pulled into her sleeves. "We meant no offense," she tried carefully into the brightly sunlit room. "It's just a letter to our friends -"

Meryl cried out, yanking her face back and swatting at nothing. "Give it back, you basta-" but it trailed off as her voice lost strength. Aaron knew she was going down before she did, and he strained as hard as he could, his left arm numb and flopping uselessly but at least in the right direction. He managed to shove himself onto his side, but a kick to his chest – and it was clearly a foot, the impact made him cough – put him right back at square one.

The sharp ache hit a second later, along with a burning in his lungs that Aaron knew was trouble.

Doc was no longer beside him – he was headed for Stryfe, who was in classic seizure position, probably hit the floor head first given the unnatural curve of her back. She was screaming into a jaw clenched shut, her hands clawlike and scratching at her sides. Elizabeth was braced in front of her, as if to defend.

Punishment. He was punishing her.

But for what? The letter? He was the one who'd given them the damn paper -

Aaron gritted his teeth and flopped over again, this time brushing the teapot handle with his sausage fingers. It was better than the paste; he clumsily rolled onto his back and yanked his right arm at the same time, sending tea flying in an arc across the room.

Paydirt. The bastard chameleon hid some of it, but drops of tea falling from nothing were obvious enough. He was only a few feet from Elizabeth.

The room brightened just slightly, and air rushed by Aaron as a blur in white and tan passed over him. Before he could so much as bark a warning, the white and tan coalesced into Vash, his bare forearm extended in front of him and headed unerringly for the teadrops.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

The tall mutant was quite suddenly visible, dripping and pressed as far back as he could get against the wall to avoid Vash's skin. There was barely enough room for Librett's throat, his feathers had to be brushing the hairs on Vash's arm. Despite the mutant's height Vash was forcing his chin high and head back, and Vash's body was tense. He looked ready to tear Librett apart.

Meryl sucked in a tight breath with a whistling wheeze, but Vash didn't so much as glance at her. "These people are off limits," he snarled. "Release her now."

Vash waited a beat before dropping his arm, but he didn't back off, forcing Librett to cringe around him. His red eyes were wide and fearful, and he too did not even look at the writhing Stryfe before he landed on his knees and laid four fingertips on her face. Elizabeth made sure she was well clear of the gesture, she had Stryfe's hand and just after Librett withdrew, Meryl arched off the ground with a loud gasp, her feet scrabbling for purchase on the floor.

Vash had followed the servant's movements with his head alone, and Aaron gave him a hard look before he decided that it really was Vash. The correct arm was missing. He stood tall, no sign that he was out of breath or weak in any way.

As soon as he had touched Stryfe, Librett folded bonelessly at the waist, forehead to the floor in a gesture of total submission. For several moments, the only sound in the room was Meryl gasping around her sobs. Miss Elizabeth was trying to support her, and Doc had her other wrist, apparently taking her pulse. Only he seemed unfazed; Elizabeth was staring up at Vash as if she too was trying to figure out if he was a trick.

They could turn invisible, after all – who was to say shapeshifting was out of the question?

Vash finally turned from the wall, giving them all a once-over. His eyes were blazing, far harder than Eriks had ever been, and Aaron didn't relax his aching body. Was this really the same guy they'd seen the night before?

"Carter as well," Vash snapped suddenly. "Do it now."

Librett flinched as if Vash's voice had physically bit into his skin, and barely raised himself from his prostrate position before reaching out for one of his feet. Aaron tried not to recoil as the edge of the blanket was flipped up and a surprisingly warm hand was wrapped around his ankle. It didn't sting, but an unpleasant tingling sensation erupted in his left foot and began to creep up into his calf.

The mutant held him for much longer than he had Stryfe, but eventually he withdrew the offensive limb and returned to his full-body bow.

"You will not touch them again without their permission. Feed them as you feed us." It might as well have been Knives talking for all that Aaron could tell the difference. "They are guests, not prisoners. They are to have unrestricted access to all buildings except ours."

The servant merely trembled at Vash's feet, and it wasn't until the Plant stooped that Aaron realized Librett no longer had the envelope. Vash glanced at the addressing, some of the fury draining from his face.

"Bring them furniture," he continued, in a somewhat calmer voice, still looking at the crumpled letter. "Do not enter this place uninvited again. Go."

The servant jumped up at once, not looking at any of them and using the main door. It slid soundlessly closed, and after a few seconds Vash seemed to wilt, staggering to the nearest wall and sliding down it until he was seated as well. The envelope was still in his hand.

Stryfe was having a hard time pulling herself together, and Doc crooned softly to her, rubbing her wrist with his hand, though he was watching Vash. "It's over, my dear. You're all right now."

Aaron shifted his tingling left leg uneasily, but otherwise stayed put. If it had taken him a couple days to feel this bad, it was going take a couple hours to recover.

It didn't stop him from talking, after all. "Good timing."

Vash snorted halfheartedly, then seemed to shake himself. He glanced at the party to his left, finding Miss Elizabeth's eyes and only holding them for a moment. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "For everything."

Aaron hadn't missed what was omitted from the instructions. "You can't let us go, can you."

A twitch that served as a shake of the head. "No. Knives would never allow it."

"I expect the topic of our fate will come up sooner or later," Doc murmured. "How do you feel, Vash?"

Strangely, Vash smiled. It almost looked as if he was genuinely pleased. "Like the world is falling apart."

Stryfe was slowly gathering herself, sitting up against the wall on her own, and Elizabeth put a steadying hand on her shoulder. Vash should have had the bastard undo whatever had been done to her as well. Her tone was all business. "What do you need?"

Vash was silent for a time. "I need to know what happened," he finally said, haltingly. "On the ship."

It was a broad question. Where to even start? Then again, Aaron figured Vash was probably really only asking for one detail. "Killing him was the same as killing you. We took a vote."

". . . you idiots." There was very little anger in it.

"Yes, well, not every human has the intellect of a Plant," Doc replied. "We care for you. You have already taken that selfsame risk for us."

"I didn't want this." Vash closed his eyes, tightly gripping the envelope. "You must have known that I didn't want this."

"We couldn't risk leaving him on the ship. He would have been converted into a production Plant."

For a moment, Vash stilled, then his brow furrowed in confusion and his eyes drifted open. "What?"

"Knives," Elizabeth elaborated. "They already had him installed by the time we managed to capture the ship."

Vash's eyes flew wide open, and he gaped at her. "They installed Knives? Into a bulb?" Then, "Does he know that?"

"Presumably." Doc patted Meryl's hand and released it to her, resuming his awkward indian style position. "I am certain he would have watched all the footage that concerned their treatment of him. He was certainly aware he was drugged, at any rate. Which you apparently are not."

Vash reeled where he sat, letting his folded legs collapse out in front of him. It made him seem much thinner, much more frail than he had been when he first entered. ". . . but –"

"Perhaps we should start at the beginning," Doc interrupted smoothly. "You were drugged and taken by the New Kennedy for purposes of threat elimination and research. I was similarly drugged and taken from my own ship. After you had missed an appointment, Miss Boulaise and Miss Stryfe noticed your absence, and went in search of you. They took with them Mr. Carter here and a man named Sunjy. We do not know how Knives became aware of your situation. At the same time, Miss Thompson was taken by agents of the New Kennedy for reasons unknown."

"The letters." It was Meryl, and it was thick. She was shaking pretty badly, and she wasn't looking at any of them. "The ones she wrote to you and Knives. They thought she was s-seeing him."

That was news.

Vash just stared at her, completely speechless. Doc cleared his throat. "Knives encountered the group of agents with Miss Thompson and dispatched them. He found a second group, and presumably interrogated them before heading directly to the New Kennedy with Miss Thompson in tow. By then you had been installed into a bulb yourself, and forced to manifest."

Vash's open mouth closed into a flat line, and he gave a short nod. "I remember."

Doc inclined his head. "You were unstable, and forced into a transitional period between Plant and humanoid for an extended period of time. Thus the damage to your Gate and present condition."

"After they'd made you produce power, they stored it in the ship's batteries." Miss Elizabeth's businesslike manner hadn't changed. "When Knives arrived, they used it to lure him into a specially outfitted bulb room. He was gassed with the same inhibitor they used on you. Millie was with him. He only had a few seconds, so he – formed some kind of telepathic bond with her."

Vash stared at her. "That's impossible," he said flatly.

"He was desperate, and probably acting on instinct." Doc seemed unperturbed by Vash's response. "I have no doubt he never intended her to have the access that she did, but rather was intended to serve as his eyes and ears while he was inhibited."

"If he was inhibited, his telepathy would have been as well." It almost sounded angry. "Doc, there's no way . . ."

"I came to the same conclusion," the old man agreed soberly. "Therefore I must assume the mental ability used to sustain the bond was in fact Miss Thompson's."

Both women looked up at that, though Doc didn't seem to think he'd said anything extraordinary. "However, in doing so he damaged her brain. I don't believe the damage was done intentionally. He unconsciously compensated for her condition, which allowed her to dream, to wake, and eventually to take administrative control of the ship's computers."

Doc paused, letting Vash digest the information. Finally his adam's apple bobbed, and Vash forced himself to speak. "And what was her condition? Is . . . that what . . ."

"He caused damage to the ancillary vessels in her frontal lobe. He may have actually augmented her latent talents." Doc spread his hand, his voice heavy. "I won't lie to you, Vash. Once we brought Knives out of his coma, he ceased to compensate. She fell into a waking coma and suffered multiple debilitating strokes."

Aaron frowned, shifting his legs again as the uncomfortable tingling continued upward. For all that Doc was worried about his mental state, he wasn't exactly being gentle.

Vash blinked, and it was only then Aaron realized he was crying. His brain was still working, though; he glanced again at Doc, this time with more alarm. "Your arm-"

The hits just kept on coming.

Doc shrugged. "A minor injury in the great scheme of things. I'll live, Vash. Assuming your brother doesn't kill me." It was a little more pointed. "I think you can extrapolate the rest of our story. Perhaps you will tell us yours?"

Vash stared hard at Doc. "There's one more thing." Vash's voice wobbled only a little. "Knives said everyone on the ship is dead."

Aaron carefully didn't move, glancing surreptitiously at Doc. It would have been the smart thing, but there was no way any of them would have gone for it. Stripping them of their Plants essentially stripped them of their tech, but certainly not their lives. They had plenty of auxiliary power to get doors open and get to water, supplies – life as they knew it was over, but they were still breathing.

Unless the air hadn't been restored?

"Thompson raised the air pressure before we left," he said aloud.

Miss Elizabeth nodded. "She locked the crew out of our escape path, but she said the doors would all release an hour after we left. They should be fine."

Vash moved, but only his head. "Knives wouldn't lie about something like this."

All he recalled was a message on his handheld, he had left the infirmary right after he'd dropped off Knives. But if she'd written code to unlock the doors an hour later, it meant she'd written a program that was supposed to go into effect after they were all clear.

After Knives was clear.

Aaron glanced at Doc again, this time openly, and the old man merely sighed. "If that is true, then I fear-"

"-Millie." It was just a whisper. "Knives wouldn't let them live, so he made Millie kill them." Stryfe was still hugging herself, her eyes blank.

Damn. If he had, at least she'd died without ever knowing it.

"Vash, there's something else." Elizabeth licked her lips, tightening her grip on Meryl as the shorter woman began to shake once more. "I don't know if Knives is aware, but we – I – I did intend to kill someone. There were explosives planted at the base of his bulb, just in case anything went wrong. I triggered them."

Vash was openly weeping now, and the look he gave her cracked her calm. "What happened?"

"The lines had been cut by Asouard," Aaron cut in. He'd been the one to find it, after all. "Plant worshipper on board. He sabotaged several activities involving you and Knives, and used us by leaking information."

"No," Doc disagreed abruptly. "He was not a Plant worshipper. He tried to help us save Vash, but that was only secondary. He was very specifically interested in Knives, and the role he played in the Great Fall."

Whatever the little creep had been up to, it was no longer pertinent. He had been shot, if the majority of the crew that had been locked up had lost their air again, he was dead of his wounds by now.

"I wanted to make sure you knew," Elizabeth continued, steeling her voice. "I don't know where that puts us in relation to your contract with Knives."

Vash closed his eyes, but he didn't stop crying. It never touched his voice. "It doesn't matter. They put him in a bulb. They put him in a bulb."

"Your agreement didn't have to do with his well-being. As you summarized it to me, if the humans hurt you, he would consider the contract void."

She received a slow nod.

"I don't suppose you specified citizens of Gunsmoke."

He shook his head.

That was a good out, them being fresh out of cold sleep. Aaron gave Stryfe a once-over. She was clearly still chewing on the possibility that Knives had turned her best friend into a mass murderer, and like Miss Elizabeth, she did better when she had a problem to worry. "Stryfe, do you know the details of this agreement?"

Meryl sniffled, wiping at her face clumsily with her sleeve. The shaking was still pronounced, probably adrenaline to go with the pain. "No," was all she said.

Vash's eyes half-opened, but they were quite empty, turned inward in thought. "I would remove the Plants, and in return give the cities an alternate reactor. He would create Eden, and I would use my reputation to protect it. Once the project was done, I would remain here in Eden to guard it. If the project failed, he would wipe everyone out. It was the only way . . . to save everyone. To save the Plants and the humans." Vash exhaled harshly, as if the idea pained him. "It's not going to work that way, is it."

"Vash, do you remember exactly what you said?"

"It doesn't matter!" Vash brought his hand – and the forgotten envelope – up to slam into his forehead. "It's semantics! Don't you get it? I messed up! I messed up and he has what he wanted . . . what he always wanted . . ." It trailed off into silence.

"And what exactly is that?" Doc's voice was deceptively gentle.

Vash shook his head, letting his hand – and more tears - fall back to his lap. "He was right."

"About the Great Fall?" Doc pursed his lips. "At best, he has proof that the humans of Earth would have experimented on you . . . as adults. Even just the appearance of being children would have improved your odds. The behavior of the humans on the New Kennedy doesn't mean that is absolutely what would have occurred had he not triggered a catastrophic event."

"Being children would have bought us nothing," Vash interrupted, his voice hollow. "We already have proof of that."

Doc's brow furrowed. "Do you really?"

Delving into Vash's issues didn't seem to be producing results. There was really only one question that needed to be answered, and Aaron went ahead and asked it. "Are you giving up?"

Vash had opened his mouth, perhaps to respond to Doc, but he hesitated. ". . . I . . ."

"It's fight or give up. Are you giving up?"

The weeping Plant dropped his chin, eyes fixed on some point beyond his toes. "I have nothing to fight with," he finally admitted, quietly.

"You have your agreement," Elizabeth said simply. "What you call semantics is the perfect weapon against generalizations. Tell us exactly what you agreed."

He hesitated, but obeyed. "I told him that I wanted to free the Plants by offering the humans an alternate power source. I told him about Kaite, and Elizabeth, and the insurance girls. I told him he was in charge of creating Eden and building the reactor technology, and that I would use my reputation to force the towns to accept the reactor. As a last resort, I would just take the Plants outright and offer to come back with the reactor."

He paused, but no one had any input, so he continued. "He told me the humans would try to take Eden. I told him I would encourage the government to run its own border patrol. He pointed out I would have to remain in Eden, and – none of you would be permitted to visit or contact us. We negotiated on that point and he allowed –" Vash bit his bottom lip. "Elizabeth and Millie. He said Meryl reminded him – us, really – too much of Rem." Vash didn't look at Meryl, who seemed shocked.

"He said the project would fail. I asked him to give it a chance. He told me if anything happened to me, he would wipe them out. I acknowledged that I knew he would. He warned me against betraying him. I promised I wouldn't. He reiterated that it would fail, that humans can't learn, and I asked him again to give it a shot." Vash gestured vaguely at the room with the envelope. "He kept up his end."

Aaron stared at the ceiling, frowning. "If Knives always referred to us as "the humans," there's not much wiggle room."

"Yes, but he meant the humans on Gunsmoke, right?" Elizabeth relaxed slightly against the wall beside Meryl. "He didn't mean he would repair a SEEDs ship and go back to Earth to annihilate the rest of humanity, did he?"

"No," It was weary. "He meant the humans here."

"So the agreement doesn't apply. These humans were much closer to Earth residents. Besides which, he did wipe them out."

But Stryfe was shaking her head. "The agreement was that if anything happened to Vash, he would wipe out the humans. It's implicit that Knives meant if the humans did anything to Vash, as opposed to him falling on his own stupid face, but that statement could be interpreted that even though Earth humans did this, Gunsmoke humans would still pay the price."

Who were they kidding. Knives would interpret it however the hell he wanted.

"However, the reason he gave to wipe us out was because we couldn't learn," Meryl added slowly. "Yet we did the opposite of what the Earth humans did. We risked our lives to stop them and to save both of you, and we did it fully informed of . . . of your capabilities. As Plants. So his reason for killing all of us is no longer valid."

"Some of you," Elizabeth muttered.

"Never speak of that again." Vash's voice was suddenly hard. "Don't even think about it. Any of you. If he thinks you're capable of murder, he'll use you to kill others, and when he feels you've suffered enough, he'll kill you."

The room fell into uncomfortable silence. Which Doc immediately filled. "Do you think that's sufficient, Vash? Pointing out that the humans of the New Kennedy had not learned, and they were all killed as punishment, but that the humans on Gunsmoke had come to respect Plants, and had changed? I understand that he thinks this proved that the Great Fall was necessary for your survival, but can you convince him that we also proved humans are capable of coexisting with Plants?"

Vash was quiet a long time. "Are you?" he asked finally. "If I wasn't dying, would you have saved his life?"

"If I thought he'd repay me by killing me?" Doc drawled blandly. "Of course not. But that has less to do with his being a Plant and more to do with my desire for survival. I wouldn't save Mr. Carter there under similar circumstances."

Vash didn't respond.

Aaron raised his right hand, just to see if he could, and he made a weak fist. It hurt. "If you don't believe it, he won't."

Vash was silent.

Meryl rose stiffly to her feet. Aaron was sure she was going to say something, but instead she forced wobbly legs to carry her right by him. He thought for a second she was going for the food tray, but then the room brightened, and her shadow vanished.

No one said anything else, and Aaron started putting his left hand through the same paces.

-x-

She lost track of the time, putting one foot in front of the other until she could do it without having to think about every move. It wasn't just her legs – her arms, her back, her core muscle groups were shaky and weak. She'd be stiff later, but it wasn't as bad as the first time she'd woken. Wasn't as bad as the first time she'd lost her seat on a thomas.

Her walk had brought her back to the big tree, then further into the wooded area, and then back again. Though not everything in the letter had been truth, it really was a beautiful place.

Anyone would feel lucky to walk in a place like this. It almost felt like another world.

"How can he be so stupid?' she demanded suddenly. "How can he be over a hundred years old and be so incredibly needle-brained?"

The trees didn't offer much in a way of reply, and Meryl slowed her pacing to a standstill, staring up at the distant dots and speckles that made up the blue sky, through all those millions of leaves.

How could he have lived so long, and lived so much of that time so hard, and make that kind of agreement with someone he knew, he knew was insane?

The same way he had nearly been killed by Zazie the Beast, her brain supplied. He gives second chances to people who don't deserve it.

"Augh!" she growled, throwing her back against the large tree. There was a somber mound of earth on the other side of it, but she couldn't bring herself to look. If she didn't look, then Millie was leaning against the other side of the tree, looking up at the leaves with her.

Not that Millie was the greatest source for advice. She would say that everything would take care of itself if they were just honest and truthful with each other. That 'Mr. Knives' was just scared and now that his brother was better he'd calm down and they could talk.

"Did he tell you why?" she murmured, letting her head fall back against the bark and waiting for the sympathy echo of pain from her cracked cheekbone. "Did he tell you in those letters why he wouldn't write to me?"

She reminded them too much of Rem, but it was Millie that had been Rem. In Knives' dreams.

Being Rem is unhealthy, her mind observed.

Meryl half-heartedly chuckled. Then it turned into a laugh. Then it was downright hilarious, and she was bent at the waist and nearly threw up and realized that she wasn't laughing at all.

Not even Rem, who topped the pedestals in apparently both of their minds, not even Rem had been able to change Knives. Not even Millie-as-Rem could do it. She'd done even worse; instead of preventing the deaths of all those people on the SEEDs ship, she'd-

Meryl didn't even try to straighten, letting her legs fold themselves neatly beneath her. Her back was still facing the trunk, facing the grave behind her, and she didn't dare speak the thought aloud.

Stungun Millie, Gung-Ho Gun number 13.

Knives had taken the most pure thing, the most positive, hopeful, gentle, wonderful, kind soul on Gunsmoke, and even completely unconscious, he had twisted and perverted her into a murderer. The touch of even his sleeping mind was so malevolent and so despicable that it could corrupt the incorruptible.

Vash wasn't the only one who gave second chances where none should have been given. And the one person that had been put on this space rock to cover his peabrained back was long gone, even though he'd been there the entire time.

"If you can hear me, priest, you had better take Millie and run," she growled into the dirt. It was not a polite prayer. "You take her someplace safe, and you get your bourbon-addled ass back here and help him."

Above her, stretched out languidly along a thick branch, the Plant lay her cheek against the bark and continued watching.

-x-

Author's Notes: As always, the delay was unintentional, and I hope that this very long chapter got us going again. I'd take a crack at the number of chapters left, but I actually started plotting them by chapter, and I've exceeded THAT by three chapters already, so I'd say we've got another ten before all is said and done. As always, no beta, typos exist, and it's so awesome to see such thoughtful reviews! Thank you guys VERY much!