Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Finding Heaven ❯ Killers ( Prologue )

Disclaimer: Me no own Trigun or Trigun characters. Me own small plastic dashboard angels though, so me happy. Please no sue me, because that make me sad (and broker than me am already)...gawd, me think me been reading too much 'Incredible Hulk' recently.


My brother always said that I viewed things through a narrow field of vision. 'Tunnel vision,' is the phrase he used, I believe. He said I lacked the panoramic view of the universe that he had gained, and therefore, my own actions were limited to my own experience. I laughed at this, he was always saying things like that back then, but now I'm not so sure he was wrong. The longer I live, the longer I see those around me interact with each other, the more I see of this place... maybe I was wrong, all those years ago. Maybe he saw something in their eyes that I missed, simply because I was too close to them. And if there's one thing I've learned in the years I've been on this planet, its that you lose your perspective once you get to close.

The man behind the desk sat up to flick the ash on the end of his cigarette into the ashtray before him. Ice blue eyes surveyed the papers before him, before he raised the cigarette to his lips again and took a long drag. In the smoky twilight of the room, the tip flared briefly before fading once more. Sighing heavily, he released all the smoke in one long breath before setting the cigarette down into the ashtray. Leaning back, he knitted his hands behind his head before looking at the woman who stared at him expectantly. There was a moment of silence as each gauged the other.

"So?" The woman asked, trying to keep the note of impatience out of her voice, "And what do you think of our proposal?"

The man glanced at the papers before him before meeting her eyes, "Honestly, I think the Gung-ho Guns can make a better offer than the ones they've proposed thus far."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously for a moment, before she allowed a quicksilver grin to flash across her features, "This is a dangerous game you play, Knives." Leaning against his desk nonchalantly, she smirked at him, "And what if we decide your price is too high? What if we decide we'd rather just deal with the problem ourselves? We wouldn't need you at all then, now would we? In fact, I could just kill you right now." Like her smile, her draw was lightning swift at displaying steel. Evidently his guards had missed one of her guns, which was no surprise. They might be battle hardened guards, but she was a Gung-ho Gun. She cocked her gun almost disdainfully, carefully checking his reaction before asking him, "Wouldn't that solve most of my problems?" He tried not to shiver as she caressed his cheek with the barrel, and he tried not to think at all as she traced his jaw line with it. Her voice whispered softly in his ear, "Despite your high opinion of yourself, you, Mr. Millions, are as vulnerable as anybody." He could hear the predatory grin in her voice, could sense her bloodlust, and it scared him more than he would ever admit. She was a monster.

"You can't kill me," he choked out, ashamed that the fear was so evident. "I'm the one clue you have on him and if I'm gone, then so is your only hope." Swallowing convulsively, he awaited her response, "If you're going to kill me then do it. This torturing bullshit is worthless and you know it. If you didn't need me YOU would have killed me off long ago, simply because of my ties to the July incident." Although normally he didn't consider himself a betting person, the situation he was in had so degraded that he was forced to wager his life against what he knew of this woman's temperament and history. It was the most nerve-racking thing he could ever recall doing.

Abruptly she spun the gun back into the gun belts slung low on her waist. Grinning broadly, she sketched a bow before snatching her jacket off of the chair next to her. "Very good. I thought you were going to buckle there for a moment, but you proved me wrong. There is certainly more backbone to you than you show, Mr. Millions. Maybe there is more of your brother in you than we previously thought." At this last comment, her eyes flashed angrily, and he could feel the effort she was using to control her violent impulses. "It wouldn't do us any good to be dealing with someone who would give up at the first threat to their life now would it?" Trying to get his heartbeat back to normal, he shook his head slowly. "I'm glad you agree. My master shall review your proposal and see what can be done about it." Pulling her jacket on, she straightened it and headed for the door. Grasping the knob, she stopped as if struck by some thought. He knew the routine, she did it every time that he had dealings with the Gung-ho Guns. Turning back to him, she smiled sweetly before finishing their meeting with, "And like always Knives, if you tell anyone of our meeting I will gladly rip your heart out and serve it to the vultures. You, of all people, know how hard it is for me to restrain myself now. Give me one reason and not even your precious information will be able to save you." With that, she smiled and left, closing the door behind her.

He shivered. Visits from her were never to be taken lightly. She was a killer to the core, and he knew for a fact that she had a special hatred of him. Knives supposed that was why she was sent as the liaison instead of another. The Gung-ho Guns hoped to use his fear of her to speed the process. Well, it wouldn't work, because there was more at stake here than simply his life. He sighed and wished that he knew how to make it so that Millie Thompson didn't scare him so much.

However, he couldn't spend all day cowering under his desk. There were always things to be done when one was the mayor of a major city. Shaking off the feelings of dread that Ms. Thompson always left with him, he opened up his office door to let his advisors in. It was time for the daily briefing.

It was a beautiful morning in Inepril City, and Knives Millions had a feeling that he was getting in too deep. However, at this point there was nothing he could do about it but play along and hope for the best.