Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Forever Mine ❯ Not So Simple Twist of Fate ( Chapter 46 )

 

Disclaimer: Hmmm... I own my kids (Because I made them) I own my husband, (Because the Marriage License says so) and I own a REALLY big mortgage. (Because I'm stupid and signed on the dotted line.) However I don't own Trigun. (Because if I did, I wouldn't have said mortgage.)

“blah blah” : talking

`blah blah' : thinking

“blah blah” : telepathic talking

blah blah : other misc. stuff.

 

*~*~*

 

Forever Mine

Chapter 46: Not So Simple Twist of Fate

 

 

 

Caden breathed out in relief after Meryl pulled Milly around the corner. At least they would be safe. Now, all he had to worry about was getting out of the mess without injury or worse… death. Slowly turning around, he noted how the once fairly busy street was now completely abandoned, leaving just him and the six men, who were standing less than ten yarz away with a vast array of weaponry in their hands. From submachine guns to nine millimeter hand guns, they had it all. `Just great,' he thought before pinning his icy glare on the shorter blonde man standing slightly in front of the others with a pair of Uzi pistols in his hands. “Snider… you know I'm not going to willingly hand the map over to you. So, why don't you just give it up?”

 

“Caden, Caden, Caden…” Snider tsked with a shake of his head before a small chuckle escaped his thin lips. “Ya' know… you're making this much harder than what it needs to be. I don't see why it's such a big deal. Do you really want to see more people die, Chaos? Wasn't your brother enough?”

 

“You know damn well that an insignificant worm like Keele could never kill Regan,” Caden roared as his eyes started to blaze with an inner fury, while the hands, that were resting at his sides, started to twitch in anticipation. He was more than ready to begin this.

 

“Oh dear friend… you are vastly mistaken, for your brother is dead, except it wasn't Keele who shot him. It was you!”

 

“Liar,” the outlaw seethed, instantly reaching for his guns, which prompted the others to open fire.

 

Diving out of the way, Caden ended up flying through the glass window of the local mercantile, with his guns drawn. A barrage of bullets flew overhead from his adversaries, piercing everything in sight, including several rows of shelves that carried propane gas for portable cook stoves. An instant later, a flash of light enveloped the space, triggering the gunman to dive back out the window just as the store blew sky high. The force of the explosion knocking the other men off of their feet as Caden's dive turned into a throw, sending him a few yarz in the air before crashing to the ground.

 

Shaking his head, Chaos grabbed his Stetson and set it back in place before taking in his surroundings. Noticing the debris from the now destroyed building, he staggered up from the ground and muttered a few curses as he looked over at the other men. The outlaw saw that three of the six were simultaneously standing and taking aim. However, before they could get their shots off, they were hit from behind by stungun cross bolts and several bullets from what he assumed to be derringers.

 

“Typical… women never listen,” he groaned right before noticing the other three were rising. Quickly stepping backwards, he grabbed his bag with one hand while starting to shoot over their heads with the other. In order to keep them down on the grown before turning and running down a side street.

 

Caden knew that they needed to get out of town and immediately! But, unfortunately, the bus was probably already gone and he still needed to retrieve the insurance girls. Turning around another corner, he saw salvation, an unoccupied jeep. “Perfect,” he said with a grin before throwing his bag in the back, re-holstering his guns, and hopping into the driver's seat. Looking under the floor mat, he found the keys. “Such idiots,” he laughed before starting the vehicle and driving off.

 

 

 

*~*~*

 

 

 

“Gee… Meryl where do you think he could have gone?” Milly asked, while watching her partner as she peeked out from an alley to a main road. In the hopes, that they eluded the men, who were now looking for them as well.

 

“I don't know Milly, but I think our main concern is to make sure that we've lost those goons,” Meryl replied before motioning that it was clear to move from the shrouded space.

 

“Wow… this kinda reminds me of all the trouble we got into with Mr. VVV… I mean him,” the big-girl muttered, while looking through the people reemerging from their hiding spots because of the earlier shootout and heading over to the building that was nothing but a pile of smoldering rubble. “I mean we even have a destroyed buil… oh the chief is going to be mad at us again, isn't he?”

 

“Let's not worry about that right now,” Meryl bit out as she grabbed Milly's arm again to lead her away from the `war zone.' Reaching another corner, she peeked around it and deemed it safe for them to turn. That's when they heard grinding sound of tires halting in the compacted sand and gravel of the road.

 

“Can I offer you ladies a ride,” Caden called out, instantly getting the insurance girls' attention.

 

“Gosh Mr. Caden, when did you find the time to buy a car?” Milly asked as she grabbed their luggage and shoved it into the space behind the back seat.

 

“Well… the transaction was really fast and I even got it at a discount,” outlaw replied with an impish grin, while watching through the rearview mirror as Milly hopped into the backseat.

 

“Five finger, no doubt,” Meryl groused, while climbing into the front. “Let's go,” she added while buckling her seatbelt. He immediately obeyed and with a jerk of the wheel, he turned them around and headed out of the city limits.

 

“Ya' know…” he finally said once safely out of the town, breaking the silence that encompassed the trio, excluding the sound of the vehicle cutting through the air and the tires crunching on the arid terrain. “When I said that I wanted you to head for the bus, I was serious.”

 

“Yeah, and we're serious about our job, Mr. Caden,” Meryl advised him, becoming really annoyed over that fact that he was chastising them. “There was absolutely no way we were going to get on that bus and leave you behind. It's our duty…”

 

“Screw duty,” he bit out before starting to reprimand them more. “You two could have been hurt or worse, damn it! And I would have caught up to you just as promised.”

 

“BBB…But why?” Meryl stammered, now completely confused over him exclaiming he would have searched for them.

 

“Because they know who you are, Meryl,” he said with a hint of desperation evident.

 

“Who, Mr. Caden?” Milly asked from the backseat.

 

He knew that he had to tell them, they were a part of it now and had a right to know. Though, he really didn't want to and wished he could stick them somewhere they would be safe from harm. Unfortunately, there wasn't a safe place other than with him at that particular moment in time. The man they were against was just too powerful…

 

“Mr. Caden who?” the petite beauty then asked, after he didn't answer when Milly asked. “Does this have something to do with those being the same men that were after you before? They were too organized for bounty hunters. You knew them, I heard you say the one's name.”

 

“Yeah and you mentioned something about a man named Cruz. Who's that Mr. Caden? Oh and let's not forget the map thingy,” Milly quickly interjected.

 

“You two heard all of that?”

 

“We are very good at our job,” Meryl answered, turning slightly in her seat to look directly at him.

 

“All right,” He finally said with a sigh, before turning his head to glance at Meryl. “I'll answer all of your questions on one condition…”

 

“Oh yeah… What's that?” the short-girl skeptically asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

 

“When I tell you two to do something, you listen!”

 

“N…”

 

“Okay Mr. Caden,” Milly chirped, instantly cutting Meryl off.

 

“Milly!”

 

“Now Meryl, you know Mr. Caden is only looking out for us,” the big-girl scolded before quickly adding, “Besides, you do want to know what's going on, don't you?”

 

“I suppose, you're right,” she muttered dejectedly. Meryl was used the giving the orders not obeying them. “However, if it's anything completely asinine, you can forget it!” she exclaimed, glaring at the outlaw.

 

“Yes Meryl,” Caden replied, while chuckling. He just loved her shrewish nature.

 

“What's so funny?”

 

“You are,” he replied, now smiling as he turned to gaze at her momentarily. “You're a regular spitfire and I love the way your eyes flash when you're angry!”

 

“Ohhh… would you stop that!” she screeched in mock anger, trying to hide her embarrassment, while Milly simply giggled from the backseat.

 

“So, are you going to ask your questions now?” the outlaw asked with a smile still apparent.

 

“Why don't you just start from the beginning and tell us what's going on,” Meryl simply suggested.

 

“Okay,” he sighed. Closing his eyes for a moment he took a deep breath, and then on the exhale he opened them, beginning his tale, “It all started about five years ago when Regan agreed to become the sheriff of Espoera and I became his deputy…”

 

“You were his deputy?!” both women interrupted, completely surprised over the missing detail from their files.

 

“So, that wasn't in your little character profile of me, huh? Doesn't surprise me, I'm sure Cruz intentionally left that piece of info out.”

 

“Gee… Mr. Caden, who's this Mr. Cruz guy, anyway?” Milly then asked after Meryl verified that he being a deputy wasn't in his profile.

 

“Publicly, Arturo Cruz is the current mayor of Espoera, but he also runs an underground crime syndicate called the Core,” Caden replied as he shifted his Stetson lower on his head to keep it from catching in the breeze, caused by the jeep's momentum. He also did it to keep the girls from seeing the seething rage crossing his features, because of his absolute hatred for the man. “He's a coldhearted son of a bitch, who is driven by greed and power. And once he sets his mind to obtain something he won't stop until he has it!”

 

“And you have something that he wants… the map right?” Meryl interjected, while trying to read the expression on his face.

 

“Yes,” he quickly hissed, which directed Milly to ask if it led to a buried treasure. He couldn't help but smile over her innocence. She always made things brighter. “I guess you could say that, blue-eyes,” he replied, looking up into the rearview mirror and giving her a silent thank you.

 

“If this map is so special, how did he find out about it?” the short-girl then asked.

 

“Well,” he said with a sigh. “He and Regan became close after a while. I guess you could say that my brother was very trusting and mentioned the map to him one day about three years ago. At first, Cruz tried to get Regan to show it to him, but my brother kept putting if off. You see, he was becoming leery of him and we both started noticing some underhanded things he was doing.”

 

“And when that didn't work, Cruz tried force,” Meryl supplied.

 

“Yeah, something like that. That bastard got fed up with my brother evading him and tried a different route to get the map…”

 

“Gosh, what did he do Mr. Caden?” Milly asked after the outlaw trailed off.

 

“One day he called both Regan and I into his office where he said that he wanted us to join the Core and told us what his plans were. And to show our loyalty, all we needed to do was give him the map.”

 

“And if you didn't?” Meryl asked.

 

“He would kill us,” he said solemnly, moving his right hand from the steering wheel to rub the bridge of his nose. Once returning it back to hold the wheel, he added, “So, we decided that it would be best to hide the map somewhere safe. We split up, leaving that very night. That was…” He paused momentarily to take a deep breath before finishing, “That was the last time I saw my brother.”

 

“So, they had your brother murdered and pinned it on you,” Meryl deduced as she ran her left hand through her hair.

 

“Except my brother isn't dead, Meryl, I can feel it!” he replied with conviction as he stuck her with his piercing green eyes. “There isn't anyway that bastard Keele could have killed him.”

 

“Wait… did you say Keele?” Meryl asked, her eyes becoming wide. “As in Bardeaux Keele?”

 

“Yeah...”

 

“Oh my,” she breathed out as she turned to look back at Milly to see if she knew what the implications where. She did. “At least he's in jail now,” she then added in relief, bringing her attention back to him.

 

“Wait… you know Keele?”

 

“Yeah, Milly and I had a run in with him through Bernardelli about six months ago,” the short-girl replied. “He temporarily took a case over from us to see if he could handle the situation better. It turned out that he was in league with another group and had a pretty good operation going. Basically, they would kill off assignments, falsify documents for insurance claims and then extort the money from our customers. Of course, if the assignment had a bounty on their head, they would go and claim that, too.”

 

“And Sempai figured it all out,” Milly chirped.

 

“God, I hate the ironies of life,” Walker muttered to himself before Milly asked him what he meant by that. Returning his eyes up to the rearview mirror, he looked at the big-girl before glancing over to Meryl. Then as he brought his attention back to the terrain before him, he added, “I can assume that you two are the ones who hospitalized him, then. Well… he isn't in jail and is back as Cruz's right hand man. And before you ask, yes it was the Core who was in league with him for the insurance fraud. It is also rumored that he is seeking out the one who undermined their scam and, in doing so, destroyed half of his face...”

 

“That means…”

 

“Yep… you two being assigned to me wasn't a coincidence,” Caden finished for Meryl. “He's after you, Meryl.”

 

“Shit,” the petite beauty muttered as she slowly ran her left hand through her hair again, realizing just how dire the situation was. “How did you learn of all of this?”

 

“Know one's enemy, I always say,” he replied glancing over to the raven-haired beauty and saw that her façade had crumbled. She genuinely looked afraid. “I swear to you, Meryl. I will protect you with my life, if I have too,” he exclaimed, reaching for the hand that was still in her hair so he could hold it.

 

“Thank you,” Meryl quietly murmured, looking down at their entwined fingers. She wished Vash was there, she needed his strength. Unfortunately, he wasn't and never would be, but Caden was and she knew that she could count on him. The short-girl also knew that he needed her support and she would give it to him. Together, they would get through this, all three of them. After all, Milly always was and always would be there for her. Giving his hand a reassuring squeeze, she looked back up to him and awarded him a confident smile. “Well then… I guess I'll just have to protect you with my life, too.”

 

“Don't forget me guys!” Milly exclaimed from the backseat, right before scooting up to the edge where she leaned in and wrapped her arms around their shoulders. “We'll get through this together! We'll be like the three muskets!”

 

“Don't you mean musketeers, Milly?” Meryl groaned out before shaking her head as a laugh escaped her lips.

 

“Yeah… that too!”

 

 

 

*~*~*

 

 

 

“Can I help you?” asked the receptionist sitting behind her desk as the three, newly appointed, Federal Marshals stepped up to stand directly in front of her.

 

“Yes miss, we would like to speak with who's in charge of your disaster investigators,” the man in the red coat answered, rewarding the brown haired woman with a charming smile as he leaned on the granite desk.

 

“Do you mean the chief?” she asked bashfully, blushing over the handsome man's engaging nature.

 

“Yep, sure do.”

 

“I'm… ahhh… sorry, but you need an appointment to talk to him,” she stuttered, not wanting to disappoint him.

 

“Oh I see…” he said overly sad, which made Knives roll his eyes as McKenna shook her head. “That's too bad because this is really important. You see… I have two very close friends that are two of your finest and I just found out that they are out on assignment. Perhaps you know them, Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson?”

 

“I…I know them.”

 

“Ahhh… you do, that's great!” Vash exclaimed. “Well their assignment is a very dangerous man and I would hate to see something happen to them, especially since I have the power to prevent it,” he immediately added, flashing his badge.

 

“Oh you're a Federal Marshal!” she practically squealed in delight.

 

“Marshal Saverem, Miss,” Vash replied with a wink before introducing McKenna and Knives as his partners.

 

“Well since you're the law, I suppose could let you know that his office is on the fifth floor and straight back,” she advised where Vash immediately thanked her, using another charming smile before the three walked back toward the elevators.

 

“Who was that, Mabel?” the security guard asked as he walked back up to the receptionist desk after making his rounds.

 

“That was Federal Marshal Saverem,” Mabel dreamily fluttered, while watching the three enter the elevator.

 

“Don't you think you went a little overboard, Vash,” Knives complained, entering the elevator just a few yarz away from the woman that his brother just captivated.

 

“Hey, it got us the info we needed didn't it?” Vash replied, defending himself as the doors shut.

 

“I guess…” the platinum blonde mumbled, while crossing his arms over his chest. “I don't think we should let you talk to this chief fellow, though. I don't think your flirtations will have the same effect.”

 

“They might,” McKenna interjected with a broad smile, making the twins look at her with uneasy expressions crossing their handsome faces. “What?” she asked after noticing their troubled features. “Geez… I was just kidding you two.”

 

“That wasn't funny, woman,” Knives replied, glaring at her.

 

“Yeah and if that's the case, you get to talk to him, Knives,” Vash added giving his brother a broad smile. But, before Knives could utter a response, the elevator's doors opened to the fifth floor.

 

Upon their exiting of the small chamber, the entire floor stopped what they were doing to watch the three. With confidence in their stride, they made their way toward to other end of the building, managing to keep every eye in the room on them. Wistful sighs coming from many of the women (and a few of the men) as the Plants passed and some were even muttering how handsome they were.

 

McKenna could only roll her eyes and groan, while watching the two strut. She knew that their egos had ballooned up to epic proportions in a mere fifty yarz. “You two are impossible,” she mumbled to herself, until she heard a whistle and a `red is now my new favorite hair color.' She couldn't help but smile, especially after she heard the low rumble of a growl coming from Knives.

 

“I don't hear work going on out here,” a middle aged man, wearing a frumpy white shirt and two days worth of stubble, yelled right after he walked out of his office. Once his people were back on track, he turned his attention to the cause of the uproar and said, “Is there a reason why you are disturbing my staff?”

 

“Well… unfortunately, I just have that natural eff…oof,” Vash started until Knives elbowed him in the stomach to get him to shut up.

 

“Are you the Chief?” Knives coldly inquired.

 

“Yeah and who are you?” the chief asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

“Federal Marshal Saverem and these are my partners, Marshal Saverem and Sa…Madsen,” Knives replied before quickly adding, “Is there some place where we can talk in private?”

 

“Follow me,” he muttered before turning to head back to his office. Once entering, he closed the door behind them and stepped around his desk to sit. Following his lead Vash and McKenna sat, while Knives chose to lean against the wall behind the two. “So… what can I help you with?”

 

“Well…” Vash started with a small smile. “We were hoping you would give us the whereabouts of two of your disaster investigators.”

 

“Which two?”

 

“Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson, sir,” the ex-outlaw replied, giving the stern looking man a hopeful expression. Then he saw the frown forming on the chief's face and knew that they weren't going to get too far.

 

“Do you have a warrant?”

 

“A warrant?” Vash asked in confusion, not completely understanding why a warrant was needed just to obtain their most recent location. Then right before the chief elaborated it, dawned on him…

 

“You do realize that the contract we have with the Feds, not only gives our investigators immunity, but it also states that we do not have to give out information unless it is either subpoenaed by the courts or a warrant is given,” Milly and Meryl's boss smugly replied as he leaned back in the chair, looking at the three. Then with a half smirk floating across his normally sterile features, he added, “And I'm sure you don't have one, do you?”

 

“No we do not,” the golden blonde muttered sadly. That was it. He wasn't going to get any information from Bernardelli and knew that they would have to look for his insurance girl the hard way, by listening to the rumors. Then Knives telepathically offered to get their location by entering his mind. However, before Vash could say go ahead, the chief called a woman named Karen into his office.

 

“Yes, sir,” she said, instantly opening the door after the chief called her name. She had obviously been listening on the other side.

 

“Please escort Marshal Saverem and his partners to the door.”

 

“Of course, chief,” Karen eagerly replied, motioning them out of the door. Mutely, the three walk out of the space with the pretty blonde a step behind, until the chief called her name again.

 

As she stepped back through the doorway, Vash instinctively stopped to wait for her. With a sigh escaping his lips, he closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them back up to look at what was right in front of him. It was an empty desk with everything in perfect order, except for the thin layer dust that covered the space, particularly on the silver colored name plate sitting on the front right corner. Focusing on the bold block lettering, he saw the name of the very woman who he was desperately searching for.

 

“Oh Meryl,” he sadly breathed as tear slipped down his cheek. Taking a small step forward, he gently picked up the plate and delicately removed the dust with his gloved right hand. God, how he missed her and knowing that it was going to take longer to find her made his chest tighten. He didn't want anything bad too happen to her and if it did, then it would be his fault, all because he couldn't get to her in time.

 

“Marshal Saverem,” Karen softly called out, after watching the handsome blonde man caress the nameplate engraved with one of her best friend's names. Actually, she witnessed the entire exchange.

 

“I'm sorry,” he mumbled, quickly wiping his eyes with one hand while saying something about the dust getting to him as he hastily set the plate back down.

 

Karen just gave him a sympathetic smile before motioning for him to follow his partners, who were now waiting by the elevators. A few minutes later, she silently ushered them out of the elevators, where they headed toward the building's double doors. She knew that there was something more going on than what the chief had said when she briefly spoke with him. Especially, if the way the one in the red coat reacted to Meryl's nameplate had any bearing. Her friend was very special to him.

 

“You know Meryl, don't you,” Karen declared just as Knives reached to open one of the two doors and escorted McKenna out.

 

“I…I do,” Vash quietly replied, stopping in his tracks and turning before giving her a sad smile.

 

Karen just studied him for a moment. There was something very familiar about the man. It felt as if she knew him, knew of him or, more specifically, read about him. Then it clicked. She realized who he was and why he was here asking for Meryl's whereabouts. Giving him a small glare, she crossed her arms over her chest and shortly asked, “Why are you looking for her? Really looking for her?”

 

“Because I need her,” he simply replied as another tear slid down his cheek.

 

“She is heading east to Inepril City by bus. The last report we received was today and it stated that they will have a lay over in Valdour, which should be for four days. Now according to the post date, they should reach that town sometime today. So, if you hurry, you should be able to catch her there,” she notified him, accepting his intentions as being sincere ones. Then after a brief pause, she advised, “Don't you dare hurt her again! If you do, then you'll have something far worse than bounty hunters after you!”

 

“I promise I won't,” Vash said giving her a sincere smile. “And thank you,” he added before reaching for his golden shades. Slipping them on, he quickly turned and left the building. He had no time to waste if they were going too get to Valdour before his short-girl left.

 

“God's speed, Vash the Stampede,” Karen said with a smile, while watching him quickly descend the steps in front of Bernardelli HQ.