With Vash living at the house things really hadn't changed all that much. Nell and Liana went about their days as usual with a small distraction that more often than not caused them to laugh about something. Eventually Nell was planning to return back to work in the city which would leave Vash and Liana alone in the house. That in itself wouldn't have been that horrible of a turn of events, but she knew that without Nell there to break up the monotony of the day she would start to go stir crazy. So it was back to searching for work. It was better than sitting at home doing nothing and she figured if Vash wanted to come with her he could. If not she'd leave him to do whatever it was he wanted to do since he seemed content where he was.
As it stood, there were plenty of other bounties and jobs to take aside from Vash's contract and when he heard that she was going to be heading to a small town the west to look for bank robbers, he was more than happy to join in with her. It seemed he himself spent most of his time going around trying to help people when he could, or cleaning up after his brother's messes. So the morning after Nell had left for the city, they loaded up their packs in the back of Liana's truck and started out west on the mainland toward the small town. A little speck of civilization buried in a quarry, overshadowed by a tall pillar of rock that the town had been named after. Jenora Rock. She'd been there once or twice before and couldn't really recall anything particularly interesting about it so the ride was mostly silent aside from Vash humming along to whatever tune was playing on the static filled radio at the time.
As they neared the town, Liana insisted they would be camping outside the perimeter until they were sure how the townsfolk were going to take to Vash and he seemed to agree, noting that she had indeed packed a tent in the back of the truck the day before. She found a small little outcropping of rock to park the truck near, stepping out into the hot morning air with a groan. It was so hot already and with no wind to move the air around it was stifling. She couldn't imagine how Vash was still wearing that damned coat when she was already sweating in the shorts and blue shirt she'd put on before leaving the house. But he didn't seem at all phased by the temperature, stepping out of the truck and stretching dramatically before checking his holstered gun he'd spent most of the day before cleaning to make sure it was ready for the job at hand.
It had been a curious thing to watch, how he quickly and expertly cleaned and reassembled the revolver like it was second nature to him. It was obvious he knew how to handle the weapon even if his demeanor didn't suggest he could ever even fire it with an intent to hurt anyone. The entire thing seemed like some kind of ritual to him, like a meditation to take his mind off of whatever dark thoughts were floating around in his head. She'd seen the dark look on his face more than once when he'd fall silent and drift off into his own mind, but she never pried. After their last conversation about his gifts and his brother she forced herself to keep her questions to herself. Anything to keep from making him relive those horrid memories more than he already did.
"Hot out today, isn't it?" Vash chuckled, brushing his hair back out of his face before he pulled a pair of yellow tinted sunglasses from his jacket and slid them on. "Gonna be a long one."
"Yeah, lucky us," she huffed, pointing off in the direction of the looming pillar of rock the town was nestled under. "Let's try to get this over with as quick as we can."
"Yes ma'am!"
She resisted the urge to punch him in the shoulder as they started off toward the town side by side. There really wasn't much to the area but dead sprigs of plants sticking up from the dried up earth. Everything was a hazy shade of tan that was boring and unremarkable. Even the town itself was laced with buildings the same shade as the sandy earth, spotted with dark roofs and grimy windows. Whoever had decided to come and rob a bank here must have been either stupid or very, very desperate because it didn't seem like they had much in the way of wealth to begin with. Of course that was probably why the threat had come down on them, assuming that they were so small and unable to defend themselves properly. The robbers had been on some sort of spree and this town was in line to be the next they hit, which was why Liana and Vash were there in the first place.
As they entered the town she saw glimpses of residents boarding up their windows, some of them stopping to gawk at them as they walked past. Vash wandered along beside her waving to some of them like an idiot until she reached over and jabbed him in the side. He made a show of grabbing his side like she had stabbed him, frowning down at her as she motioned for him to follow her into a nearby building. It was a little inn that couldn't have housed more than ten people and the little bar inside was quiet and nearly empty aside from a few day drinkers that were already slumped over their glasses in tables scattered around the room.
As Liana approached the bar she was greeted by a heavily pregnant brunette woman who offered them a warm smile and for a moment she thought they might be able to get away without anyone losing their shit over Vash being there. But as he stepped up next to her the pregnant woman instantly turned to him, glaring at him hatefully. Vash didn't seem at all phased by her glare, smirking sheepishly as he gave her a little wave and sat himself down on the stool in front of the bar.
"Hiya Rosa," he murmured, pointing at her swollen belly. "Workin' on baby number two I see?"
Liana couldn't stop her mouth from falling open in shock as the woman, Rosa, reached over to grab a newspaper off the bar and promptly rolled it up to reach out and smack Vash overtop the head with it.
"Vash! Where have you been?" Rosa barked, slapping the paper on the bar top as he just grinned at her like an idiot. "Last I heard you were over near Augusta. Heard a lot of rumors you were taken in to mainland detention in July."
Augusta. That was near where Liana had taken Vash after finding him mauled on the outskirts. She hadn't realized that news would travel of her taking him in so fast, but clearly someone had been making the rounds. Maybe it was for the best that most of the bounty hunters out there would think that Vash had been taken in already. They might not be chasing after him for a while until someone realize he hadn't actually been arrested. Vash glanced over at her with a small smile before turning his attention back to Rosa.
"Yeah about that. Not exactly what happened but you know how people like to spread rumors," he chuckled pointing over at Liana. "Turns out Lia here was kind enough not to turn me in. We're working together for now and we heard you're in the path of those robbers. Have you noticed anyone sketchy around?"
"Aside from you? No. You and your pretty friend are they first new people we've had through here in a while."
"Well I guess that's a good thing," Liana snorted, trying to ignore the "pretty friend" comment. If she didn't acknowledge it hopefully it would just fade away. "We're going to be hanging around for a while, try to see if we can catch them before they even get into Jenora. If that's alright with you and your people."
"Sure that sounds good. I would say you should stay here, but we're booked up at the moment," Rosa said within a shrug, pulling two glasses up from under the bar. "Do you have somewhere else to stay?"
"We're set on a place to sleep, don't worry about us," Vash butted in, watching Rosa pour two beers into the glasses with that giddy little shuffle in his seat that she'd seen him do so many times at meals.
Rosa passed them both a glass before she disappeared down the bar to help another customer. Vash didn't hesitate to bring his glass to his lips taking a large drink while Liana just pushed her glass back and forth between her hands slowly. He seemed to notice her reluctance to drink her beer and sat his back down, pushing it away from himself slightly.
"Sorry, forgot we're on the clock," he muttered sadly.
"We're not "on the clock" you can drink whatever you want," Liana snorted, finally lifting her glass in a mock toast toward him and took a sip. "Just…wish you had told me you knew these people before we came in here. I wouldn't have to act all shocked and whatnot."
"Sorry about that, it really has been a long time since I was here. I didn't even know if Rosa was still going to be here or not. She said something about leaving for July the last time, I thought she'd follow through with it."
"So, am I right in assuming you're not the father then?" Vash had picked his glass back up and was mid sip when she spoke, causing him to spit half the beer out over the bar and his hand. She just laughed at him, shaking her head slowly. "I was joking. Unless…you really are?"
"Me? No way!" Vash spat, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Rosa is a solid lady, don't get me wrong, but we don't know each other like that!"
She just laughed at him softly, grabbing a handful of napkins from the little holder next to her before passing it to him so that he could clean up his mess. He seemed to be more upset about the spilled beer than her little joke, sighing heavily as he cleaned up the mess and tossed the used napkins into a trash bin behind the bar. They sat there for a long time in silence as they drank their beers, Liana scanning the room as a few more patrons filed in as the day moved on. A few of them seemed to know who Vash was while others ignored him all together. Including a little boy that was the spitting image of Rosa who was promptly chased out by his mother for tracking mud into the bar.
Liana came to learn that Rosa's boyfriend, apparent father of both her children, was a bit of a deadbeat and that was the reason she had considered leaving for July the last time Vash had visited. In the end she had given him the boot and decided to stay, refusing to be chased from her home by a man who refused to do anything to better their lives. Liana could admire her in that respect, being strong and independent enough to run the inn and bar on her own with a young child and another on the way. It was hard work for sure but she seemed to be doing well enough despite the poor state of the town.
For the time being it was easy enough to just sit in the bar, sipping beers and listening to the townspeople talk about the impending attack rather than run themselves ragged trying to get people to talk to them. Vash may have been known in the town but she wasn't and she doubted they would be willing to talk with her around. Eavesdropping was much easier and Vash seemed happy enough to sit there and drink. She didn't take him for a big drinker, but there he was giggling along with Rosa and her son when he wandered back in with clean shoes. Every now and again going to harass the rusty jukebox in the corner for a song he promptly butchered. He was kind of a dork if she was being honest with herself and it was a little more than endearing to see. So a feared man was just a big child running around making a fool of himself. How anyone had ever mistaken him for the man that leveled cities and murdered thousands she would never know. Then again she had never seen the apparent destruction his brother had supposedly left behind herself, it had always been months later when she even dared to visit those places and the dead would have already been cleared away.
By the time they were chased out of the bar with all the other late night patrons, Vash was a buzzed mess, swaying down the street beside her like he might fall over at any moment. Part of her regretted letting him drink that much, but she wasn't his mother and if Rosa saw fit to serve him that was his business. They did however have a long trek out of the town limits to where she'd parked the truck and she couldn't foresee Vash being much help with putting up the tent she'd brought along.
She was half right about him being useless with the tent. Several times he had tried to help her get the poles aligned to set the thing up but in the end he just ended up tangling himself up in them and would erupt into a fit of laughter. In the end she shooed him away with a swat on the hands, watching him pout and shuffle away toward the passenger seat of the truck to wait. Things seemed to go much smoother without him there to tangle up the poles and before she knew it the tent was up at the end of the truck bed, the sleeping mat layer out and their blankets laying on opposite sides of the tent. It was going to be a tight fit with his height but they were adults and this was work. It was just going to have to do.
"Alright Vash, tent is ready. You face left, I'll face right and hopefully we'll be out of here before tomorrow night or a room opens up at the-" She had dusted her hands off on her pants and started making her way over to the passenger seat where Vash was sitting in the cab to get him to come to bed when she realized that he was slumped over on the seat passed out, still hanging halfway out of the passenger door. Liana just stood there gawking at him for a long time before she just scoffed out a little laugh and headed back to the tent to grab the extra blanket. When she carried it back to the sleeping idiot he hadn't even shifted as he snored, forcing her to try and shove his leg and arm into the cab before throwing the blanket over him haphazardly so that she could shut him in the truck. "Note to self, don't let him drink that much."
Honestly she was kind of relieved that he'd fallen asleep in the truck so that they could be spared the awkward moment where they both had to share her little tent. She hadn't shared such a small sleeping space with a man in a fairly long time and she wasn't exactly sure she could stop herself from being a bashful mess with someone as strange to her as Vash was. Zipping herself into the tent she made sure her gun was within reach as she settled down for the night, listening to the distant sound of some animal calling in the night as she drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow they'd set up watch somewhere on the road into town, hopefully able to catch the robbers on their way in before they could even get close enough to hurt anyone in the town. Worse case scenario they skipped Jenora all together and she and Vash would be on the hunt for a new job.
When morning rolled around, Liana was woken by the sound of her watch alarm beeping incessantly in her ear where she had fallen asleep on her hand. Groaning softly she rolled onto her back to stare at the top of her tent and she shook her hand feverishly to try and shake away the pins and needles forming there. Since everything was quiet she took the time to quickly change into a new shirt before she unzipped the tent and stepped out. It was nice to stretch out after being cramped up in the tent. Maybe it was more than a blessing that Vash had passed out in the cab of the truck rather than cramp up the small tent anymore than it already was. She was going to have to make a note to get a second tent if they were going on any more jobs together just in case they couldn't find rooms.
When she glanced back at the truck she couldn't see Vash sitting there in the cab anymore so she rounded to the driver side door to pull it open, finding him curled up in as small a ball as he could on the seat of the truck. He was drooling on the faded leather seats curled up in his blanket like a little child. Liana reached out with her hand, hovering over the seat above his head for a moment before slamming it down loudly on the seat and Vash jolted awake with a yelp. He glanced around frantically, clearly disoriented and lost for a moment before he finally spotted her smirking down at him.
"Good morning sleeping beauty," she snorted, crossing her arms over her chest as she took in the imprint of the seat seams on his face. "How you feelin'?"
"G'mornin'," he grumbled, reaching up to wipe the drool off the side of his face. "I feel fine-great-I'm great. Did you get the tent up already?"
"Oh yeah, went up in a snap…last night."
He narrowed his eyes at her in confusion for a moment before glancing out the front window of the truck at the sun blaring down on them. Groaning he dropped his head back onto the seat, clearly hung over from the night before. She just rolled her eyes at him before turning to the truck bed and dug under the canvas cover to find her pack and wrestled out her canteen. When she turned back to face him he'd sat himself upright in the seat, rubbing his face forcefully to try and shake off the pounding headache he no doubt had. She just tossed the canteen over to him, leaning against the propped open door as he grabbed it without hesitation and took a large gulp, then another.
"Sorry," he gasped in between drinks. "I really did mean to help you set up the tent."
"It's fine. Actually went a little smoother without you getting tangled up in the poles," she chuckled, watching him down the rest of the water without even offering her any. "Safe to say we shouldn't let you near the bar again, hm?"
He glanced over at her sheepishly for a second before tipping the canteen up again for another drink and realized it was empty. The look on his face was priceless as he turned to her in horror and shook the canteen.
"Crap! I just drank all the water didn't I?!" he gulped, peering into the canteen like he would magically find more water hiding inside it somewhere. "Why didn't you stop me?"
Liana just shook her head slowly, stepping back again to reach down for her bag and pulled out another canteen. She opened it and lifted it in a mock toast toward him before taking a long drink and closing the lid again. The relief that washed over his face was a little saddening, like he thought that she was going to be mad at him for drinking the water. She'd thankfully learned long ago to carry extra water even though she usually did jobs by herself.
"Come on you big idiot," she snorted, sitting the second canteen in the truck seat. "You can help me take the tent down and then we find a spot to post up. I imagine they'll come in off the side road into town so we can start there."
Vash didn't argue with the command, nearly dumping himself out of the truck and shuffling over to help her break down the tent. Once they had everything tucked away and the truck locked up, they started their trek toward the town, hanging farther off to the west entrance that was mostly ignored. From a small set of rusty scaffolding they'd climbed they were able to see most of the main road along with the side entrance and now all they had was time to kill. The two of them sat there in grim silence, legs dangling over the side of the scaffolding lazily. Vash looked pale and peaky, leaning on the railing in front of him like it was the only thing holding him upright.
"You remember when I said we weren't on the clock and you could drink whatever you wanted?" she asked, watching him nod weakly beside her. "Well maybe next time you don't drink that much?"
Again he just nodded his head, pointing off in the distance from where they were sitting to the side road leading into Jenora. They're on the every edge of their view was a large vehicle barreling toward the town leaving a large dust cloud in it's wake. Liana perked up, fighting to get to her feet on the scaffolding. They'd been sitting there for what felt like hours and she was tired of waiting on possible robbers to come through. Vash stood up beside her, rolling his shoulders like he was trying to loosen himself up for a fight. At least she wouldn't have to deal with multiple people all on her own this time, she just hoped that Vash didn't kill all them without even blinking an eye or something equally crazy.
When she turned to descend the steps of the scaffolding, Vash grabbed a hold of the bar he'd been leaning on when they were sitting and vaulted himself over the edge far too nimbly to have just been suffering from a hangover. She just gaped after him as he hit the ground running, tucking himself against a nearby building to await the vehicle racing toward them with such a determined look on his face that she almost didn't recognize him. It took her a moment to shake off her shock, forcing herself down the steps of the scaffolding and moving into a position across from Vash. The two of them shared a quick glance to acknowledge that they were both ready for whatever was about to speed past them.
As the vehicle grew closer to them she could make out the laughter emitting from it, resisting the urge to peek around the corner of the building she was using for cover to see if they were even going to stop driving or just barrel past them. If she could remember correctly, the area they were in wasn't inhabited and the bank was several blocks over closer to the main road so it was possible they'd drive straight through. When the tires screeched to a stop she wasn't sure if she was relieved or not, her heart thundering against her ribs as she listened to several people filing out of the vehicle and the clattering of guns and laughter was all she could make out. Reaching into her holster she pulled her gun out slowly, holding it loosely at her side before looking over to signal to Vash that she was ready. Only…he was gone. Liana was left gawking at the space across from her where Vash had been only seconds earlier pressed against the building, seemingly awaiting the arrival of the robbers, realizing that maybe he had just left her there to deal with them alone once he saw how many of them there were. Panic shot through her as she tried to calculate how many voices she heard to see if she even stood a chance at making it out alive or if she should just run. Maybe if she took pot shots at them she could pick a few off while weaving through the abandoned buildings and-
"Who is this idiot?" a female voice called out, pulling Liana out of her train of thought. "Don't tell me they sent this dork to stop us…."
"Hey look, I'm just here to see if you guys wouldn't mind turning around and going somewhere else?" Vash's voice sounded causing Liana to peek around the corner to see him standing there several paces in front of the parked vehicle with his hands in the air like he was already surrendering. There was a group of five bandits in front of him all holding guns. "I kinda had a long night and I didn't get to eat breakfast so if you all could kindly turn around and head back out, that would be great."
He was…an actual idiot!
"Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do?" a man laughed loudly, her heart lurching when she heard the sound of a gun cocking.
"Me?" Vash asked shrugging his shoulders as he pointed off to the far right away from where Liana was waiting behind him. "I'm not gonna do anything, but my partner might not be so kindhearted. You make them mad and I don't think any of us are getting out of here alive."
As if on cue the group all turned in the direction he had pointed and instantly started littering the side of the building he'd pointed to with bullets. She flinched in her skin at the suddenness of it, watching in horror as they all turned back to Vash with their guns aimed, ready to do that same to him.
"Well now your partner is dead, buddy. And you're next," the man laughed, moving to pull the trigger.
Without even waiting to see whatever Vash was planning to do to get out of this mess, Liana stepped out from behind the building aiming her gun square at the man before Vash and fired a single shot that hit the man in the right shoulder cleanly. The man cursed and dropped his gun lower out of reflex to reach up and grasp his shoulder. Vash whipped his head around to gawk at her, almost like he didn't expect her to show herself or rather, be that good of a shot.
"Afraid you missed," she hissed slinking up closer to were Vash was standing. "Turn back. Now."
"That's your backup?" the man barked with a laugh, rolling his shoulder where she'd shot him as if it only phased him for a moment before he readjusted the hold on his gun and aimed again. "Kill 'em all."
With a nod of his head the other four in his group opened fire without hesitation. Her feet moved out of instinct, dipping through a small gap in the dilapidated structure beside her, hearing Vash yelp as he seemed to practically dance around the shots and ducked back behind the building he'd been hiding behind at first. She cursed silently under her breath, wishing that they'd spent more time planning out what they were actually going to do when and if the robbers did appear. Now they were both running on instinct and usually that was a surefire way to get killed or hurt.
"What do you wanna do now?" Vash whispered from behind her causing her to almost let out a shriek before his metal hand clamped gently over her mouth to keep the sound from giving them away. When had he snuck around behind her?! "I was hoping they'd just leave but now…. I think you made him mad."
She tried to snap out an angry accusation but his hand kept her from making the sound she wanted and instead all that made it through was a muffled curse. He seemed to suddenly realize that he was keeping her from talking and removed his hand, taking a small step back from her with both hands up defensively.
"I made him mad?" she growled, reaching out to jab him in the chest with her finger. "You just went out there without even giving me a heads up! What else was I supposed to do? They were going to murder you."
"Probably would have tried," he noted with a shrug and she couldn't believe how casual he was being about it. "But it's ok, you go right I'll go left and we'll just, round them up."
"Round…them up," she repeated, staring at him blankly. "Vash this isn't a heard of cows they are killers!"
"Doesn't mean we have to be killers too."
He gave her a little wink and a click of the tongue before he darted off away from her, leaving her standing there in pure bewilderment. Was this man even for real? Killing for killings sake she would avoid, but these people would kill them and anyone else in their way. At that point it was self defense, but clearly Vash had other methods that were no doubt going to leave her dumbfounded and confused. She didn't even have time to think before he was darting around behind the group who seemed oblivious to him. How had these people robbed three small town banks already and made it out alive? Maybe they weren't all that tough after all and she was making a big deal out of nothing.
Deciding it was best to try and help Vash however she could, she crept her way through the broken building and circled around the back of it to the right. In the distance she could hear the group cursing to one another as their leader, the big man she'd shot apparently, demanded that they find them and be done with it. With Vash behind their car and Liana in front of them as a blockade from the city they had no where else to go but through one of them. She managed to catch a glimpse of Vash holding up a bunch of what looked like rope or cables from behind the vehicle for her to see and she realized he really did intend to just round them up like some kind of cowboy.
With a heavy groan she steadied herself, readjusting the grip on her revolver as she charged out from behind the building to draw their attention. The leader shouted for them to go for her, aiming his own gun in her direction as she darted right and through another large gap in the buildings around them. From where she hid they weren't able to hit her directly, her body flinching as chunks of concrete ricocheted and rained down around her before there was a pause and a loud yelp. She moved again, still circling right and hoping that Vash was at least doing something to dwindle their numbers if she was going to play bait and sure enough, when she stepped back out from the buildings there were two of the group missing from the bunch and the other three were looking around in pure confusion as to where they'd gone.
She fired a single bullet toward the leader again, this time aiming for the ground beneath his feet. The small diversion was enough for them to turn their attention back to her with the only female of their group and a smaller male yelling after her as she darted around almost to the back end of their vehicle. Another curse rang out along with another spray of bullets as she ducked down behind the massive car only to find Vash sitting there with four of the robbers unconscious and tied to the bumper with a metal cable. She just gestured to them at a loss for words and he shrugged, nodding his head back to where the big guy was still cursing them and peppering the surrounding structures with rogue bullets in hopes he'd hit something.
"Out of cable," Vash murdered, rechecking his work on the ties he'd made. Luckily he had the strength in his prosthetic arm to actually tie knots in it to begin with. "Don't suppose you have anything?"
"No Vash, I left my cuffs on the bedside table," she replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes when he gave her a devilish smirk. "I don't think they'll hold him anyway. Too strong."
"Probably right. Guy looks like he snaps necks for fun," he hummed, chewing on his right thumbnail for a second. "Alright, old fashioned way it is then. You wait here."
There was no time for her to tell him to stop, her hand trying to reach for him as he darted out from behind the car. In all her years of doing jobs like this she had never seen anything quite like him. He was fast and agile despite the fact that he'd seemed so sick just that morning, moving like a blur to close the distance between them and the large man in the middle of the road. All she could do was watch wide eyed as Vash dodged a spray of shots and lurched toward the man, delivering one single punch to the man's chin with his metal arm. She could swear she heard something crack in that instant, the large man gagging on his own tongue and just stood there purely still for a moment before his large body trembled and tumbled backward onto the dirt in an unconscious heap.
For a moment Vash just stood up, staring down at the man before he turned toward her with a bright smile and waved. Just…waved. The entire time she'd never once seen him draw the gun holstered on his right leg and they were all alive if not a little worse for wear. It was a remarkable feat she couldn't get her head around and all she could do was stand up from the back end of the car staring after him in awe. This was the man on all the wanted posters in every town, every city. There was no doubt in her mind that if he had wanted to kill every one of those robbers he could have done it with very minimal effort. She was sure that he didn't even need her there to be bait even though he'd never specifically asked her to be bait. She'd used herself that way and had done it gladly. It was just easy for her to trust that he would have helped her out and he'd done just that. He'd subdued all the robbers and taken down their leader in one fell swoop and all she'd done was fire a few deflecting shots.
By the time it was all said and done, they had all five of the group wrestled back into their vehicle they'd arrived in, all tied down and secured. Vash had driven the car into town so that Rosa could have them all shoved into the tiny cell they had in the small jail. Liana had called in the completed job and while they were busy wiring over the money someone was sending officers to come collect the outlaws. By the time the sun was setting Vash and Liana were back in her truck and headed home as if nothing had ever happened.