A Dangerous Game Of Hide And Seek
Some religious station was playing on the radio that no one in the car was actually paying attention to. Meryl was once again in the driver's seat (for some reason, she really was a terrible driver), Milly was in the front middle humming quietly with her eyes closed, and Roberto was in the passenger seat trying to drift off. In the back, it was Vash, you, and Wolfwood; the three of you were fast asleep.
"Ugh, that's enough doomsday talk for now," Meryl complained after sipping on her water. "What was that station anyway?"
"Standard religious trash, newbie," her superior replied.
"It's probably from the Plant Church worshippers," Milly piped in. "I hear there's a headquarters for it in JuLai."
"Yeah, they're the ones who pump out that kind of propaganda." Roberto shifted in his seat to look out his window at the red sand, "As far as whack-job sects go, they're fairly up and coming."
A rather rough going over a dune shook the car. Being somewhat of a light sleeper, seeing as he was a man wanted by many, Vash was startled awake at the jostle. He sat back silently, listening in on their conversation.
Meryl groaned, complaining about the heat. In return, Roberto and Milly teamed up to tell her a 'chilling story' about why the sand was red out here. She could only stare at the two as they spoke. They were totally playing off of her fear at the moment. She chuckled nervously.
Roberto leaned forward to get a glimpse at her fear-stricken face, "Eh? You still hot after that chilling story?"
"Hot and very annoyed!" Then her eyes widened, seeing a dead creature in their path, and she promptly slammed on the break "Holy shit!"
You were tossed into Wolfwoods lap as the car spun around. Your eyes blinked open painfully and you found yourself staring at his stupid smirk.
"Look at you, falling for me already?"
You scrambled to sit up, hissing out, "Not on your life."
"Look. Over there."
Vash nudged your shoulder, making you look at him, and then followed his gaze out the window. Yep, it was a dead creature alright. You followed the rest of the group out of the car, going out Vash's door with him instead of Wolfwood's.
We just met, for fucks sake, why would he flirt with me, you thought while making a face.
You welcomed flirting when it was coming from Vash, but from Wolfwood? Not so much. You knew that eventually, he would trust Vash more than his fear of the doctor, and his morals would rub off on him, but that hasn't happened yet.
Especially with Livio soon to make an appearance.
You furrowed your brow at the thought just as Meryl jogged up to the carcass and examined its wound.
"Looks like wormy took a fist straight to the skull," Wolfwood remarked.
"Fist?"
"Do you think it could have been someone in Knives' group?"
"Could've been that monster in our story," Roberto joked.
You took it as a half-truth, because, well, he was partly right. You nudged Vash at the sight across the horizon.
"You haven't been back in a while, right?" You whispered to him.
Vash had already noticed the windmill-powered town in the distance. If you were pointing it out to him as he was also taking notice of it, he had a feeling that this was part of his 'story'.
"-Even if it was Knives, he'd be long gone by now. Right, Needle-noggin?" You were only half listening to what Wolfwood was saying.
Vash was still the only one you told about your situation, and so far the others hadn't seen your eyes glow so they weren't exactly asking questions. They only knew that you woke up in the middle of the desert about a week and a half before they met you, and had been traveling with the blond next to you for about half that time. And that you 'had amnesia'.
"What's wrong?"
Vash made his move toward the town ahead, you following not far behind him, much to the confusion of the rest of your group. You were nervous, but if Jenora had told you anything it was that things were set in stone. You were just here for the ride.
"Not you too, Heart-eyes!" Wolfwood sighed but hiked up the punisher on his back so he could follow you. The press team followed suit.
In town, you trailed after Vash with Wolfwood at your side. The town was pretty much deserted. The red sand covered anything and everything that was left outside.
"A windmill?"
Wolfwood looked up to the windmill Roberto had pointed out curiously, "It's not 'milling'."
"There's no wind, stupid," you remarked with a roll of your eyes.
"What happens if there's never any wind?" Milly asked.
"Prolonged power outage," Meryl replied solemnly.
"Stupid plan if you ask me."
Great, they're bickering again.
You looked ahead at Vash, knowing he was thinking about the last time he'd been here. About Rolo. A frown made its way to your face, knowing that Vash was riddled with guilt for all the empty promises he's made over his years on the planet.
He started heading deeper into town and you jogged up to his side.
"You know it's not your fault, right?"
Vash looked at you. You had placed your hands behind your back as you walked, curiously looking around the sand-covered remains of the town.
"Vash?" You stopped in front of a building.
There were bundles of cloth folded neatly on its porch, covered in multiple layers of sand. The blond had been suspiciously silent this whole time.
You walked up to stand next to him as he stared at the cloth in his hands.
"Hey-"
Vash inhaled sharply and pushed you back as gently as he could to make you start running. Bullets made contact with the hard dirt floor of the town.
"Fuck!" You and Vash sprinted backward, the latter slipping slightly on the sand that had built up.
You couldn't tell where the bullets were coming from but they were certainly going everywhere the two of you ran.
Vash pulled you behind a piece of wall that conveniently jutted out into the road. Meryl spotted you at another corner, but flinched at the sound of bullets flying.
"You ok!?"
"Get back!" Vash shouted at her just as Roberto yanked her behind the wall. She barely missed being hit by stray bullets.
"God, he's fugly," you remarked, sweat dribbling down the side of your face. Rolo had just dropped out of the sky with a grunt.
"Vash the Stampede!!" His garbled, deep voice sounded so much scarier in real-time than it ever did on the screen.
"Oh shit-!"
Rolo raised his big-ass arm guns and was about to spray bullets throughout the roadway. Luckily, Wolfwood had jumped into action with the punisher before he could do so.
You and Vash whipped your heads toward him just as he yelled at you two to move it.
"Get up and do something!"
Vash said a soft 'Yeah' and pulled himself off the ground. Vash pulled you up by the collar of your flak jacket once he was up, making you let out a noise.
"Man, what the fuUUUUCKKK!"
Rolo yelled out Vash's name again, before opening fire at the three of you. Like any sane person would you, you three broke out into a sprint trying to get away from him (and being shot at).
Vash slipped as he rounded the corner. You and Wolfwood had luck on your side though, because you both pulled ahead of the blond.
Panting from the amount of running you were doing, you asked Wolfwood, "How can you run with that thing!?"
"No talky!" He huffed at you.
"Get inside!" Vash yelled at your reporter friends. "He's after me!"
"I think we got that, starboy! How do we stop him!?"
You three rounded another corner, ducking under some rugs. Rolo was still in hot pursuit, screaming Vash's name the entire time. He started shooting again.
His bullets ripped through are and fabric, sending confetti-like debris blowing into the air.
You and Vash didn't have any cover for your asses like Wolfwood did. All the same, he ate shit.
"Nick!" You glanced back.
Never mind he was fine. In your peripherals, you watched him fling a piece of rug over himself and scramble out of the way of the onslaught of bullets.
Rolo looked confused for a second but was soon to return to chasing after Vash.
From his cover in an alleyway, Wolfwood slipped out and aimed the punisher at Rolo's back. When his shots had absolutely no effect on the massive kid, he 'tsked and moved up to catch up to you and Vash.
Vash led the two of you to a dead end. Rolo smacked into a pipe with his giant arm-gun. Steam filled the alleyway.
You guys were cornered.
Nervously, your fingers barely grasped the end of Vash's sleeve. With your backs to the gate that kept you in the godforsaken alleyway, you finally faced Rolo's mangled body.
"Vash the Stampede," he breathed out heavily.
You figured now was a good time to pull out your pistol as any. But you had to be quick about it.
"VASH THE STAMPEDE!"
"Oh shit!"
Rolo rose both of his arms to level and fired bullets in succession. Vash bolted, rolling one way while you went the opposite way to end up behind Rolo.
Before Vash was able to pull out his pistol, you already shot at the precarious shelf holding a bunch of rather big-looking pipes. They clattered to the ground, knocking Rolo down with them.
You breathed hard. Your vision had been so much clearer as soon as you pulled out your gun and lined up your shot. It was odd. You'd never had that happen before, except for...
So that's what happened back then, you thought.
You pushed yourself off the floor, running over to Vash across the alleyway. No words were exchanged as you grabbed his forearm and pulled him up.
"Your eyes are glowing again..." he breathed.
They were? A hand flew up to your face, your fingers gently touching your cheek below one of your eyes. Not like it would do anything.
It didn't matter though, because as soon as you had, you remembered Rolo under the debris. Vash seemed to, as well, running over to his collapsed form and pulling larger pieces off of his head.
"Please be alive," he whispered.
You heard him start to make noises again, and watched relief cross the blond's features.
"What a relief! I'm glad you're ok," he smiled.
But you also knew what was coming, so you brought your gun back up.
Rolo slowly stood back up to his full height, saying Vash's full name again. Your eyes glowed brightly as you readied your shot.
Then bullets made contact with Rolo's back, mostly hitting the spine implant, making him turn around and take more bullets to the chest.
"Hey, you two! Wanna live!?"
You held your gun to your chest as you scrambled to get over to Wolfwood. You couldn't really tell, but his eyes widened when they locked with yours.
With a wave of his arm, he said, "Get out of here! Now!"
Vash jogged in place for a moment while you and Wolfwood kept a watchful eye on Rolo. Deeming it safe for now, the two of you turned to run with Vash.
The three of you ducked into an alleyway farther down the street.
You held your knees as you heaved air into your lungs. Wolfwood and Vash did the same. Once you finally caught your breath, you leaned against the wall, pulling down your sunglasses.
He saw them... I know he did. You grit your teeth, thinking about how you had possibly royally fucked yourself over. He'll tell Zazie about it, and in turn, Knives and Conrad.
"You're a dumbass, you know?" Wolfwood sighed out smoke from his cigarette, "This goody-two-shoes shit is killing me."
Vash breathed out an apology. "I was scared that ended the buy guy," he replied.
"Funny, I had hoped it ended you," Wolfwood said.
"Cut it out, Wolfwood," you interjected while your blond friend laughed. "You don't know shit."
He looked at you with a smirk on his lips, "You know, for someone with amnesia, you sure do know a lot."
That was enough to shut you up. For now, anyway.
"You don't pull punches, do ya?"
"Well? This village... This isn't your first time here, is it," he then asked Vash. "The hell happened here?"
The blond sighed. He recounted the events that happened so many years ago, retelling Rolo's story. The pieces that he knew of it. The empty promise he gave him when he dropped him off at the entrance of the village.
"By the time I got back here with some medicine..."
You peered at him through your glasses as he trailed off.
"There was nothing I could do, the kid was-"
"That's enough, Vash. I think you've given Mr. Priest here enough of a confession," you cut in. Vash glanced at you with a thankful, but sad expression.
"So you talked big, but didn't deliver." The undertaker held onto the punisher over his shoulder and sighed. "No way you could've saved him from a fate like that."
You looked at the entrance of the alleyway as soon as you heard Rolo's labored breathing and heavy steps coming down the street. The boys next to you stood up, so you pushed yourself off the wall and readied your gun.
"Ready for round two?"
You came face-to-face with the holographic skull covering Rolo's features.
He screamed Vash's government name (you always thought that was so silly) and rose his arms. You ducked to the same side Wolfwood did, while Vash went in the opposite direction. While you really didn't like the idea of being separated from him, it did give you a chance to flank poor Rolo.
"Gotcha!"
"Nick, wait!" You got low to the ground to avoid being blasted back by the gust of air coming from Rolo's gauntlet.
All it did was make you roll onto your back and inhale a shit ton of dust that flew through the air.
"Oh no!"
"Shit," you looked back and saw Wolfwood sprawled out.
You rushed over to where he was trying to decipher if he lost consciousness or not. Having been launched harshly into the wall of a building, he probably had a concussion; if he'd lost consciousness, that would be very bad.
Rolo started getting more irate. He blew compressed air in your direction, kicking up more dust and sending the hood of your flak jacket flying over your head as your hair whipped around. He was screaming 'Vash the Stampede' over and over.
Vash grit his teeth, his gun held tightly in his hands. He just didn't really have the resolve to fire it. He wasn't a 'shoot to kill' kind of guy. He would be alright with injury, but he didn't want people's blood on his hands. In this case, he especially didn't want Rolo's blood on them, considering he still intended to keep the promise he made to the boy all those years ago.
Vash couldn't take that kind of pain.
"Rolo!"
To take the heat off of you tending to Wolfwood, he sprinted down the street. He intended to lead Rolo away. Alone, if at all possible. Rolo pursued the blond up the side of the large covering over the town.
"You better drink up, buttercup," you advised as you scaled the side.
"Wha-"
"I know. That's all I'll say for now," you replied. "I know you saw, so I'll explain, but later. Right now we have an idiot to save."
Vash pleaded for the poor boy to wake up from this nightmare. Either he couldn't, or he was too hell-bent on being angry at Vash for lying to him; the only thing he would do was make noncohesive screams and shoot at him.
"C'mon Rolo! This isn't you!"
Unknown to the blond, and much to his dismay, you and Wolfwood were quick to follow behind the two.
"It's no use," your new partner grunted. "Look at him! Not one speck of humanity."
Vash threw his upper half close to the ground and used his prosthetic to twist himself to face Rolo's shots. He sprinted forward, blocking a stray bullet with the metallic arm. He slid under him before leaping up to get near the boy's helmet.
"Listen Rolo!"
Rolo tossed him aside.
Vash reached out, "Hear me!" There was desperation in his voice.
Rolo threw a punch, but Vash dodged it; his gauntlet broke into pieces, leaving only his bare hand. Taking Vash's dodge as an opportunity to attack, he blasted a gust of air in his direction.
Vash's gun flew backward, out of reach.
Within seconds, you watched as Rolo wrapped his large hand around the blond's neck and slammed him violently into the wall behind him. The force created a crater on its surface.
You reached for your gun when Rolo didn't cease repeatedly slamming Vash into the concrete wall. Wolfwood grabbed the bottom of your flak jacket from his spot on the ground. You ignored his waiting look and ripped yourself away from him.
You didn't like the pained noises coming from Vash, nor the scene unfurling before you.
He could only watch as your eyes glowed painfully bright behind your mirrored shades.
"Rolo-" Vash was struggling to breathe- "I'm sorry. Years ago, you were just a kid! I promised to be there to save you but I-"
"Psh, this is insufferable," Wolfwood spit out his cigarette and broke open his baja blast vial.
"I'm late, and I'm sorry," Vash struggled to speak, but he still managed to crack a smile. "I'm here now to keep my word to you. Now, you won't have to be alone ever again!"
Your hands shook as you lined up your shot with the back of Rolo's helmet. The corners of your vision had started to fill with spots from overuse of whatever your power was, making it hard to focus.
You couldn't take the shot.
"STOP BEING A DUMBASS!"
Wolfwood finally stood up and aimed the punisher at Rolo. He opened fire with it in laser-cannon mode.
The glass of Rolo's helmet shattered and he stumbled, causing his grip around Vash's neck to loosen.
Vash fell to his feet and screamed the boy's name as he tumbled back.
He was a few seconds too late.
Rolo tumbled down the side of the metal covering before going off the edge. It was a nasty fall several stories high, dust flying into the air as soon as his body hit the sand.
For a moment, there was only silence surrounding the three of you. The spots dancing in your vision were beginning to be too much; you collapsed to your knees, eyes wide under your shades and mouth hanging open in shock. Your gun felt heavy in your hands as they fell to the ground in front of you.
You forgot he would do that. You weren't even going to kill him!
You weren't given a chance to think about it too much before you passed out, landing face-first in the burning metal of the cover above the city.
•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•
When you regained consciousness, you found yourself being propped up by Milly and Roberto down on the sandy dunes again. You hissed at the pain in your head, promptly your friends to look at you for a moment before turning their attention back to Vash and Wolfwood.
"That's a corpse, Stampede," you heard him say.
You looked up in their direction, but could only vaguely make out the glow of the punisher and Vash's prosthetic arm.
"Why'd you shoot?" Vash asked quietly, glaring at the other man out of the corner of his eye.
He grit his teeth, the anger coursing through him like oil being set on fire. "Don't play dumb-!" He rushed over to Wolfwood and grabbed his collar with both hands- "Why'd you shoot Rolo!?"
His voice echoed against the metal of the village. You tried to swat away your friends so you could stand on your own. They hesitantly released you, and you stumbled in the sand.
"Mercy."
Vash's eyes widened. He let go of his collar and took a few steps back. He couldn't believe the words coming out of the guy's mouth right now.
"That monster was not the kid you knew. Keeping it alive would've been torture." He turned to face the body of the boy he killed.
Vash was close to crying, but held them back.
"That's not something for you to decide."
You tried to move forward so you could be by Vash's side. You knew how bad he felt, he needed someone on his side right now because obviously, no one else was going to be. Meryl tugged back on your jacket, stopping you.
You heard Wolfwood scoff, "You think you're some moral authority? It was you who did the poor kid so wrong, an empty promise is a lie."
You glared harshly at Meryl, a dull glow coming from behind your sunglasses as your eyes flashed in anger. She let go of your jacket.
"That, or a wake-up call to check your ego," Wolfwood stated.
"Shut-" you grimaced, pushing up your sunglasses slightly to press a palm to your aching eye. "Your whore mouth, Wolfwood. Just fucking shut up. You heard what he told you!"
You stumbled up to Wolfwood, pushing a finger into his chest. Your eyes glowed dully with anger. How could he say that?
"We still could have saved him if you hadn't gone all trigger-happy!"
Milly anxiously pulled you away from him with her arms under yours. You struggled against her until you heard Meryl gasp.
The wind began to blow.
Vash helped you into the car. You probably had a minor concussion from smacking face-first into the metal below you earlier. And your vision was still blurry. Needless to say, you felt like shit.
No one said anything as you drove away from the village, now beginning to light up thanks to the windmills moving again. Even with Milly sitting between the two in the back and you taking her spot up front, there was a thick tension in the air.
The universe must really fucking hate me, you thought as you drifted back to sleep.
•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•
Your group had been driving for about 2 days to get to the sandsteamer terminal. Tensions were still present between the people in the car, but they had mostly dissipated.
Right now, you were stuck camping out under the stars again. The car had enough battery left to get to the terminal, but when you parted ways they would need to charge it there.
When Meryl parked the car, you immediately grabbed your bag and started walking further off so you could be away from everyone for a little bit.
"(Y/n)?" Meryl tried to go after you, but Roberto held her back.
Wolfwood didn't care what you thought or did, so long as it didn't interfere with his orders. He knew you'd be back though; from what he'd seen the past couple of days, you wouldn't leave without the blond in red. He just had to keep an eye on you and make sure you didn't do anything stupid.
Vash on the other hand stared at your back with concern. He had somewhat come to terms with what Wolfwood did, but he still thought there was a chance to have saved Rolo. Nevertheless, being the only person in this universe who knew about your situation (yeah, you didn't explain shit to Wolfwood after what he did), he hoped you would stick around.
Roberto, Milly, and Meryl got a fire going so they could cook up something to eat for dinner. The depressed grandpa actually didn't do anything though, he simply leaned against the trailer and lit a cigarette.
You made yourself home at the top of a neighboring dune, turning on your playlist at a quiet volume so only you could hear it. Surprisingly, you hadn't lost or damaged any of your things in the fall of Jenora Rock, your phone being the most important thing to you out of it all.
It was essentially the last connection you had to your old life aside from the clothes on your back.
"You see me sleepwalk, Down the corridor of your seam pocket, Every night."
You listened to the upbeat melody and brought your knees to your chest.
"And when I sleep talk, Don't believe a word, it's the sheep talkin'. They tell lies."
You rested your chin on your knees for a moment before deciding to peel off your flak jacket. You haphazardly folded it up and set it on top of your bag.
"But I know I can depend on you, Because I know you're here to see things through!"
"That's a new song."
You jumped at the sound of Vash's voice, whirring around to see him standing behind you. With a hand to your chest, you breathed in deeply in an attempt to calm your erratic heartbeat.
"Hey, Vash," you said, returning to your previous sulking position.
"You've been pretty closed off lately, are you ok?"
You felt him take a seat in the sand next to you. Were you ok? Honestly, you didn't know. A lot had happened within a single week, you weren't sure if you had fully processed it all.
The song changed to Gimme Love by Joji. You thought it was very fitting; you could really use some love right now, even if just platonic, given the circumstances.
"Dunno," you finally said.
Vash shifted, putting his hands in the sand behind him to stare up at the stars.
"Well, if you ever need to talk you know I'm here for you."
"These people don't heal, these people don't feel, These people aren't real, so make me this deal."
"Jeez, those are some depressing lyrics," Vash laughed.
Him just being next to you had significantly made you feel better.
"He's a lonely guy," you replied. You finally shifted your position to look up at the stars with him. "He's singing about wanting love from the person he's been pining after, so it is a little sad."
Vash glanced over at you. He had a small frown on his face as the slow part of the song started playing. It hurt him to see you so sad. But watching you listen to your otherworldly music, staring up at the stars with a sad smile on your face, the glow of the moons casting a silhouette across your figure?
You looked ethereal to him.
After a moment, you added, "I think we all feel that way, though."
Finally, you turned to look into his blue eyes. There was a much softer smile on your face now as you looked at him. He searched your eyes for any sign of the sadness that he saw earlier but found none.
"Feel what?" He breathed out.
You laughed, mirth present in your gaze turning back to the stars. "Lonely, I guess. For such a social species, humans sure do like to find ways to isolate themselves from others. It makes searching for love that much harder."
The blond next to you could feel heat traveling up his neck to the tips of his ears. He had to tear his gaze away from you to place a hand over his mouth so you wouldn't notice.
"Wolfwood saw my eyes glow, you know."
"Huh?" Blush ever present on his face, he whipped back toward you. You'd down at your hands while he was turned away. "He did?"
You laughed, "I told him I would explain and then never breathed a word in his direction."
"Are you going to tell him?"
"Maybe," you replied. "Probably not until I can bring myself to talk to him though, I hated the things he said to you."
You glared at the ground with your brows furrowed.
"You don't have to worry about me, Stardust," Vash chuckled. "I can take a few jabs to my pride, you know."
You moved your bag behind you and laid down with your arms behind your head. The night air was actually pretty warm for once, you felt comfortable not using your jacket as a blanket.
"Am I not allowed to get mad on your behalf?" You looked over at him, noticing his piercing gaze already on you.
Oh god, he looked like he wanted to cry. There was a stupid smile on his face, too.
"Thank you."
You blushed, eyes wide. You could feel your heart start beating faster but desperately tried to push the feelings away.
You could not start falling for Vash the Stampede right now. So much was about to happen! So much has happened! Nevertheless, you shot him a similar grin.
"Anything for you, Starboy."