The Gunslinger's Gambit (Vash X Reader)

1. As Silent as the Wind

Your eyes flutter open, feeling heavier with each attempt to completely keep them open. Your vision trying to stay focused as the blinding white lights hung above you burned your lens. You slowly glanced around the big white room, one giant red symbol on the wall to the left of your body. You continued to look around the room, noticing the machinery behind you and all the wires hanging in various spots of the room.

You knew exactly where you were.

"Good morning" said the Doctor flatly. You lifted your head to look down at the entrance of the room, past your feet that were strapped down to the table. You saw the Doctor's attention focused on the tablet in his hands. You huffed and rested your head back down on the giant cross table you had unfortunately been confined to.

"Your progress after these past five years is unremarkable. Your regeneration is close to the-"

"Don't compare me to him" you stated roughly, cutting the Doctor off. You rolled your eyes and huffed just at the mere thought of being compared to -him- again.

"As I was saying, your strength and regeneration is quicker than ever. Due to this recent finding, you are able to go on another mission again without becoming a casualty" said the Doctor hinting at your previous mission.

Great so we're bringing that up again.

You lifted your arms against the restraints in response, hinting at the man to release you from the hold of the cross shaped lab table. The Doctor looked at your arms bouncing between the table and shackles, acknowledging that you're getting impatient being strapped down. The man in the white coat nodded, and released your restraints.

"I understand your frustration with your last mission, but hopefully all the progress you've made since then will create more desirable outcomes for you" the Doctor commented, trying to cheer you up.

You slowly sat up and crossed your legs over each other in the middle of the cross, rubbing the areas around your wrists. Your hair fell down in front of your eyes and you looked down at the blood stained floors. You noticed the dark black bruises and deep scars all over your legs. Keeping your focus on the bruises covering your body, you heard steps coming from the hall, entering the doorway of the lab.

"Is she ready Doctor?" asked a familiar and stern voice.

Shit.

You slowly lifted your head, internally trembling at the sight of Millions Knives. His slick back platinum blonde hair and crystal blue eyes threatened you. His body suit covered in plant hieroglyphics was tight against his body.

Disgusting.

"She is ready for her next mission. I'll inform the Eyes that she is ready for departure and I'll have Legato escort her to the fourth city of Augusta" announced the Doctor.

You slowly threw your legs over the edge of the table letting your feet hover over the floor, arms folded over each other as you scolded the platinum blonde still standing in the doorway. He found your gaze amusing, as if it was supposed to intimidate him. He slowly walked over to you, not breaking the eye contact that had formed between the two of you. His stance was inches away as he quickly grabbed your face at the base of your jaw. Your instincts kicked in as you grabbed his wrists, trying to escape the pain he was causing.

"Let's get one thing straight-" Knives started to say as his silver tendrils of sharp blades started forming around you.

"-if you miss this up, you're going to be ripped to millions of bloody shreds" Knives finished as he threw your face down, your body following down on the cross shaped table. You guessed he hadn't forgotten about your recent failure either.

You ran your fingers across the area where he squeezed your face and felt the hot, red imprints that he had left. That's going to leave another bruise that I don't need. As you lifted yourself up onto your elbows, you saw Knives' smirk grow into a light chuckle. The silver tendrils quickly stabbing down, near the sides of your head. You slightly flinched, as one struck down and sliced your face.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw steam run up. You went to touch the part of your cheek that had been cut, but the cut was no longer there. Your eyes widened when you shifted your gaze to the Doctor. He walked over to check your cheek and noticed that the scratch had also disappeared, but had left a noticeable scar.

"Looks like your hard work and excruciating experiments had achieved more than I thought it would, Doctor," you whispered in shock. You felt the knife-like tendrils slowly drift away as Knives walked back into your vision.

"I'll have Legato send you the details of the mission, got it?" Knives asked you coarsely. You shifted your attention from the Doctor to Knives, changing your shocked expression to an annoyed one.

"Yeah, yeah understood Millions Knives" you finished saying with a slight tone that made Knives growl in irritation.

"Don't let the Doctor's new found strengths for you go to waste," Knives snapped, "I better hear only good things from your reports, if you want to prove yourself worthy of living".

You stepped off the laboratory table and shifted your weight to slip between the Doctor and Knives. Putting your hands behind your back, you started to whistle as you made it down the hallway to the little cell that held your belongings. You didn't own much, just the weapons that were provided for you by the Eyes, and the clothes you wore besides the gown given when being experimented on. You weren't allowed to have anything else, especially from your past.

The little white box that you called home was dimly lit, and housed a shower in the far left corner of the room. There was a mirror attached to the wall, which was gifted to you after your first mission. Legato didn't like how disgusting and undevoted you looked so he made sure a mirror was put in for better preparations of missions.

You slipped off the white gown, your feet flat against the cold tile of your room. You saw all the burns, bruises, and scars that covered your body. You annoyingly sighed and decided to wash the old blood stains off your limbs.

Although the hot water had stung the scars on your body, you couldn't help but raise your hand to the cheek that Knives had cut, feeling the scar it had left. You had never been able to heal so fast, nor been able to heal without the glass vials.

You shook the thought away as you started putting on your clothes. You finished putting on black colored cargo pants covered in pockets and your skin tight black tank top when you heard large boots stomping down the hall.

Legato.

His heavily armored body standing in the middle of the entrance of your little cubicle. His arms were crossed over his chest and his expressionless face covered by his blue hair. You grabbed your thin black, military boots that had straps all the way up your lower shin.

"Could you be any slower-," Legato started.

"-Wish-Keeper"