Epidemic

By DuoLordOfDeath

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Trigun characters, places, etc. This is for my own personal entertainment, as well as others, and I have no goals to make money from my work.

NOTE: Any and ALL quotes are taken from the Japanese subtitles! I have yet to see Trigun in English!

~*Prologue*~

"Vash…take care of Knives…"

"Yes, Rem…despite what he has done…I would be just like him if I let him suffer…and I would be turning my back on all that you taught me if I were to remain cold and complacent towards him. Like the red geranium, I remain determined that Knives can be turned around from the hating, vindictive person he is so that he may understand and respect the life that humanity has brought to this otherwise barren planet…I can only hope that I can pass on what you taught me to him so that he can see…"

Silently, the man known as Vash the Stampede sighed and turned his gaze from the unconscious form laying on the bed a few feet away to look out over the cityscape of December. The lively sounds of hustle and bustle barely made it to his window from the streets below, and a gentle breeze, warm and slightly dusty, caressed his youthful face as his expressive green eyes watched the goings on below. Many weeks had passed since his last brutal encounter with his brother; a battle he would not have survived had it not been for the lucky change that he had been carrying the Punisher; the cross that Wolfwood…

Vash furrowed his brow slightly; he didn't want to think on that…Wolfwood had led a troubled life; it was better now that he had made his peace with God and was at rest from the weary world…but never was such a death fair…Gritting his teeth, Vash turned from the window and forced himself to forget about those deaths that still held a heavy burden on his shoulders despite the respite of his past. So many deaths that could have prevented…even though he understood now what Rem had taught him about his future being a clean slate, that did not make the acceptance any less difficult.

After the defeat of Knives, Vash had followed Meryl Strife and Millie Thompson of the Bernadelli Insurance Agency back to December, where he hoped to shelve his gun once and for all, and finally find himself a truly peaceful life. Even now, it was little known knowledge that the infamous Humanoid Typhoon lived among the citizens of this city, but the few who did know were allies. Here, he had hoped to nurse his brother back to health and tutor him in his pacifist ways. That no one had the right to take the life of another…Meryl and Mille had returned to Bernadelli and turned in a detailed (and extremely lengthy) report, which in turn gave them both promotions. Millie still was on a bit of probation for her tardiness, but it was easily agreed. If anyone had ever gone through mess and maelstrom to receive a promotion, those two could write the handbook.

Taking his seat once again, Vash managed to smile a bit. It appeared that finally, things in his life were finding a calm niche. Perhaps the mayfly of love was not so far from his grasp now…but such a free-spirited thing was hard to capture. He glanced back over to Knives, who lay asleep and mending from his grievous wounds. He would learn…

"Mr. Vash!" came a cheerful, familiar voice from the stairwell outside the small apartment. Vash looked up quickly, a smile on his face, and arose just as there came a knocking on the door. Striding across the floor, his long red coat rustling slightly as he went, he grasped the doorknob firmly and opened it to find a brightly smiling Mille Thompson standing at his stoop, with a slightly winded but equally cheerful Meryl Strife at her heels.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Vash!" Millie cried exuberantly, her infectious smile perpetually in place. "We were hoping you would be in! Miss Meryl and I are going to visit the orphanage today, and we were wondering if you would like to go! It would make Mr. Wolfwood happy to know that we are caring for his children!"

At the mention of Wolfwood, Vash's smile faded a bit, and a flicker of dark sorrow floated in his usually bright eyes for a moment, but he rallied magnificently, and the waver of loss vanished quickly into a bright, irrevocable grin; his unassailable mask.

"Sure; why not? I'm sure it's safe to leave Knives here alone for a few hours…" he remarked, and nodded warmly. "Let's go."

~*~

A slow, slight grin began to spread across his formerly somber expression as the door creaked closed and the sound of voices faded, and slowly, his icy blue eyes opened, blinking against the brilliant sunlight that flooded the room from where his brother had left the shutters open. He waited until he heard the voices die away completely, and slowly sat up, his elbows supporting him. His closely cropped blond hair rustled slightly with the warm breeze, and as he sat completely up and glanced about his humble surroundings, he noticed that a careful hand had bandaged all his wounds. Frowning slightly at the generosity, he narrowed his eyes coldly and turned his eyes towards the door that had recently been closed. If it were not for the pain that swam all through his nerves, he would have leapt up from the bed and fled…but no. That would seem suspicious…If he were to elude his meddling brother and those silly human friends of his, he would have to be far more calculating…

"Fools," Knives muttered to himself, a dark, slightly mad smile creeping onto his lips and spreading to his cold eyes. "If you think that I will succumb to my brother's childish whims…no." He chuckled darkly. "I refuse to be beaten so cheaply…I will not buy into the simpering teachings of such a weak woman as that Rem Saverem…but Vash need not know that…"

Dark smile still in place, he pulled himself up and silently pulled his legs over the edge of the bed. He was no longer clothed in his suit, but rather, a loose fitting pair of pants and a shirt of the same type, with bandages underneath. Rolling his eyes at how pathetically human his brother was becoming, he slowly stood, his muscles aching a bit, and quietly strode to the shutters, gazing down at the busy streets below. He watched the humans that populated the city with a disgusted, imperialistic stare, aloof and sneering. Such a waste of space…he would make his perfect world, his Eden…a world where none of those wasting humans took up even a breath of air…