Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Epidemic ❯ The First Of Two ( Chapter 5 )

~*Chapter Five - The First Of Two*~

"You never cease to amaze me, Vash…with all the pain you've gone through in your life, and still you manage to smile…you're a far better person than I ever was…"

Silently, the sun began to rise over the edge of the desert, casting a warm, purplish glow over the rugged terrain. Faint fingers of dawn stretched out over the rocky dunes, highlighting the world in a warm golden glow, and yet, the magnificent light seemed to pale in comparison to the faint, unobtrusive glow that seemed to radiate innately from Nicholas D. Wolfwood's own body. He watched the sunrise quietly, his cobalt eyes seemingly distant, and yet, somehow focused. He glanced quietly over to his shoulder, where, sometime in his slumber, Vash had slumped to his left and let his head fall comfortably on the angel's shoulder.

Nicholas hadn't moved since, content to let the slight weight remain.

The outlaw was smiling faintly in his sleep, which was surprisingly untainted with nightmares, and his blond hair was drooping slightly from a mixture of sleep, sweat, and the elements. It hung slightly on the side of his face, framing his young face gently, and long lashes graced the top of his cheeks, bright green eyes closed in quiet rest.

Shaking his head slightly, Wolfwood frowned a bit and reached over, brushing a few strands of flaxen hair from Vash's face, letting a few fingers touch the scratches lightly. He was careful not to wake him, for fear of being caught in a rather vulnerable position, and lowered his hand again, sighing.

"…I wouldn't have had the power to sate myself with just wounding Knives…I would have killed him…killed him for all the torment he and the Guns put you through….for all the torment I put you through…" he said quietly, bowing his head slightly. "But…I did promise, didn't I? I promised you not to kill another person after that day…" He paused and smiled sadly. "And I've kept my word…I really didn't have much choice, did I?"

The priest watched Vash slumber for a bit longer, his chest moving slightly beneath that crimson coat, and leaned his head forward slightly, smiling a bit fondly. Such a multi-faceted man Vash the Stampede was…ever compassionate, ever gentle, even in the face of the most extreme adversity…

"And yet, I'm the cynical one," he said wryly, and sighed deeply as the desert wind brushed through his hair once more, slightly gritty and cool. "But I'm glad…I'm glad I've gotten at least a hint of another chance here…with you…"

"Wolfwood...who are you talking to?" came a sleepy voice to his right, which caused the priest's shoulders to go rigid. Slowly, Vash raised his head and yawned tiredly, rubbing a gloved hand over his eyes lightly, frowning a bit.

"Oh…no one, Vash…" he said hesitantly, and quickly averted his eyes, thankful that the dim light shaded his slightly flushed cheeks from view. "Just myself…" Wolfwood fidgeted slightly, clearly nervous and slightly embarrassed at being caught in a sentimental moment such as that.

"It didn't sound like you were talking to yourself," Vash replied, pushing some hair from his face slightly. "Who are you glad to have another chance with?" Gently, he reached out and put a reassuring hand on the priest's shoulder, bringing that apprehensive gaze back to his own. He smiled kindly, the sunrise reflecting softly in those viridian depths. Wolfwood turned and slowly looked upon that kind face, his lips parted slightly as if to speak. He found himself surprised to find a trace of hope on the outlaw's handsome face, and swallowed slightly, looking at Vash searchingly.

"I…"

But he was silenced as Vash raised a hand and put a gloved finger to his parted lips, smiling gently. He let the finger remain there for a moment, letting the silence wash over them, and as he moved the digit, the outlaw bit his lower lip hesitantly for but a second before he began to lean forward, a bit of bashfulness in his eyes.

"I missed you, Nick…"

Nicholas inhaled slightly as he watched the outlaw's slight movements, marveling momentarily at the way the adventing light seemed to grace the perfect curves and contour of Vash's face, shading against his eyes and yet dancing hopefully in those expressive depths…He couldn't remember the last time he'd witnessed such a perfect sunrise as the one he was witnessing now…

"Oh! Mr. Priest! Mr. Vash!" came a sudden voice from the back seat, and both Wolfwood and Vash jumped out of their rhapsodic haze as Millie held up a grubby cardboard box with duct tape and various writings all over it. She appeared to be oblivious to the scene she had interrupted, and Vash quickly pulled away from Wolfwood, turning his eyes towards the desert nervously, while Wolfwood cleared his throat apprehensively and turned his eyes to look at Millie.

"Ah…err…what have you got there, Millie?" he asked, his voice slightly gruff. He peered at the box carefully, giving his eyes something to occupy themselves with besides Vash. But even the box and its mysterious contents couldn't pull his mind away from the moment, and what might have transpired if Millie had only waited a bit longer before…she…

"Millie, does that…say…"

"It's a brand new radiator! I guess the last person who owned this jeep knew it needed a new one, so they must have bought a new one and never installed it!"

"Ahh…the Good Lord provideth…"

Vash suddenly whirled around in his seat and stared at the grungy little box as though it had bitten him.

"What?! You mean we had a new one the whole time and we've just been sitting here for no reason?!"

"It would seem that way, Tongari," Nicholas commented with a sigh, and took the box in his hand. "Come on…give me a hand," he remarked, and got out of the jeep with a sigh. Vash looked a bit disgruntled, but brightened somewhat at the prospect of aiding Wolfwood, and followed suit. As Wolfwood closed the door, he looked back at Millie and Meryl, who were cradled in the backseat alongside the Cross Punisher and the stun gun, and smiled. "Wake Meryl up a bit later. She'll be thrilled to know that we've got a new radiator," he remarked, and went around to the front of the jeep, where the outlaw had already popped the hood and was peering at the mess of dusty, greasy tubes and piping in slight dismay.

"How long is this going to take, anyway?" he asked as Wolfwood meandered up and peered down at it as well. "I mean, we don't want to be stuck out here for another day; we're already like sitting ducks as it is!"

"Depends," Wolfwood said as he opened the box and pulled out the spare part. It had all the attachments and required pieces…and lack of a gunshot hole…"You wouldn't happen to have a screwdriver or anything, would you?"

Vash looked a bit bewildered. "Well…um…I don't think so…why?"

There was a long pause during which Wolfwood stared at the radiator in his hands fixedly, debating on what he should say, and finally, he slowly raised his head and peered at Vash, who still looked bemused.

"Well, that settles that then," he said with a sigh as he handed Vash the box, and proceeded to unbutton and remove his blazer once more. He tossed it over the top of the hood and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, and gave a cursory glance into the pipe maze before sticking his hands into the mess once more.

"Wait, settles what?" Vash asked, slightly irritated at Wolfwood's word games. "You're not making any sense."

"I mean to say, Vash, that this is going to take a while. Now would you please stop chattering and give me a hand with trying to disconnect this damn thing?" came the muffled reply, and the priest turned his head to peer irritatedly up at the outlaw. Vash frowned at him, the grimy box still in his hands.

"Would it hurt you to say please once in a while?" he asked, sounding slightly incensed.

"Don't start with me this morning, Vash," Wolfwood said as the old radiator came dislodged with a dull popping sound. The priest stood and waved it at Vash a bit, covered up to the elbows in grease. "You haven't helped much at all since we got here-"

"Don't even start trying to guilt trip me again!"

Clearly, the moments shared only a bit before had been completely forgotten as the two of them diminished into squabbling again, though they somehow managed to begin putting in the new radiator in between their word-flinging. The arguments had diminished into the most random of things by now, no longer having relevance to any issue other than the simple wish to disagree.

"Looks like they're at it again, Senpai!" Millie said cheerfully as she listened to the latest argument - something about the sort of glaze used on glazed donuts - and turned to Meryl with a smile. She frowned slightly, however, as Meryl failed to answer her, and looked at her carefully. "Senpai?"

"No, I think they use a type of syrup, not just sugar and water! It tastes too unique to be just sugar and water!"

"Right, Vash, and since you're the donut connoisseur, your word is supreme and infallible…"

"Mr. Priest! Mr. Vash!"

Vash stopped in mid-retort as he heard Millie's horrified outburst, and both men peered over the side of the hood at the girls. Millie was shaking her superior frantically, trying to wake her up.

"She won't wake up! She's really pale and sweating!" she cried, looking close to tears. "She's breathing really heavily…"

"What?!" Vash cried as Wolfwood darted away from the front of the car and over to Meryl's side, and he quickly followed in suit, having dropped the old radiator in the sand. He watched as Nicholas washed his hands off quickly with some water, and frowned, gently pushing Millie aside.
"Let me see her," he said quickly, and furrowed his brow as he put his cleansed hands against Meryl's forehead. Her skin was hot to the touch, but it was an internal heat, definitely a fever of some sort. Frowning a bit, he sighed and kept his hand to her forehead, closing his eyes slightly.

Vash blinked worriedly as he watched Nicholas begin to murmur some sort of brief prayer, and looked at Millie, who was already in tears. Meryl didn't seem to be awakening, despite what the angel appeared to be attempting to do.

"What are you doing?" he asked after Wolfwood opened his eyes, finished with his prayer. The angel didn't answer him for a moment, his eyes still focused on Meryl's prone form.

"As the Hand of God…I've been granted the powers to heal the sick and smite these demons…I'm trying to heal her…" he said softly, but his frown increased as the moments passed. "But it's not working…why…why isn't it working…" he said, gritting his teeth a bit.

"What do you mean, it's not working?" Millie asked tearfully, tugging on Wolfwood's shoulder a bit. Wolfwood bit his lip, looking very confused and increasingly frantic.

"That's just it…she's not getting any better!" he said, sounding a bit panicked. He slowly withdrew his hand, looking at his palms in confusion as Vash put his own gloved hand against Meryl's forehead, and narrowed his eyes in mystification.

"But why?" he asked rhetorically, and Nicholas shook his head.

"Vash, it might be too late for this…but take Millie away from here…away from Meryl. We can't move with her like this, and if this is what I think it is…" he sighed in exasperation, trailing off.

After Vash took Millie to the other side of the geoplant, Wolfwood continued to lay on hands, trying desperately to heal her illness, but to his increasing bewilderment, she continued to only deteriorate. Her fever rose, bringing a sickly pinkish tint to her cheeks that contrasted heavily with the pallid hue of the rest of her face, and her dark hair clung to her face from the copious amounts of sweat that shone on her forehead. Nicholas gritted his teeth as he kept trying to save her, slowly feeling more and more helpless. Why…

Why wasn't she getting better???

As night fell upon the desert and the wind grew cooler, Millie sat beside Vash, watching Wolfwood's valiant but futile efforts to try and aid her best friend. Her tears had long ago dried out, and she had fell terribly silent, content to sit with her knees drawn up and chin resting upon them forlornly. Vash put an arm comfortingly around her, letting her lean against him, but didn't try to coax her into speaking. He had a feeling that it wouldn't be the best of ideas. He looked up, however, as he heard the faint crunching of sand under feet, and saw Wolfwood walking towards them, hands in his pockets. His faintly illuminated face was grim, and the light behind his eyes was a bit subdued. He looked as though he'd been utterly defeated, and couldn't explain how it was that his enemies had deceived him.

"Wolfwood…" Vash began, causing Millie to look up gently into the priest's face, but before Vash could continue, Wolfwood raised in his hand gently to silence him and sighed.

"She doesn't…have much time left," he said, sounding pained. "She wants to talk to you, Millie…" he said softly, and bowed his head slightly as the taller woman gasped tearfully, stood and hurried over to her best friend's side. After she passed him by, the priest stepped over to where Vash sat and took a seat, looking slightly confused and almost wounded.

"So…she's really…going…to die?" Vash asked, biting his lower lip. He already knew the answer to that question…he could read it all over Wolfwood's face; in his posture…The angel gave a heavy sigh and looked up at the many moons that dotted the desert sky, knitting his brow slightly.

"I don't understand, Vash…" he said finally, bringing a hand up to run through his raven hair. "I tried everything I could think of…and nothing worked. Why?" he asked softly, rhetorically, as he pulled out a crumpled cigarette and lit it, clearly needing something to distract his mind.

Both men looked up, however, as they heard a soft sob emanate from the jeep, and Nicholas closed his eyes. Vash inhaled slightly as he watched the angel put out his half-finished cigarette and stand, shoving his hands back into his pockets, and watched him carefully for a moment before he followed in suit. Tears began to form at the edge of his brilliant eyes as he met Wolfwood's painfully confused, mournful gaze; he understood what had happened.

"Come on, Vash…Millie needs us," the angel said softly, and began to walk over to the jeep slowly, head bowed silently as though in prayer. Vash followed softly behind him, and closed his eyes.

Would there be no end to this needless death and destruction?

~*~

Author's Notes:

Yes yes! I'm sorry! I killed Meryl…I wasn't going to kill any of the girls initially, but after I devised the fic, I realized that they're just as human as the rest of the general populace, and therefore were susceptible to the disease too. And I wanted to write this realistically…well, as realistic as you can get when dealing with angels, demons, and plant people. Y'know.

Please don't flame me!

Oh Lord…I'm going to REALLY get flamed next chapter…but maybe the yaoi will make up for that…

Maybe…