Shadowed Hearts

by Alucard

Vash stared at the back of the priest slightly below him. The other man was stuttering, a characteristic not usually placed with his attitude and appearance, but at the moment, he was babbling and slurring his language so bad, the outlaw didn't even know what he was saying.

"Stop it. Calm down and tell me what you are trying to say."

The blonde heard a depressed sigh come from the stairs below him.

"Vash, I really don't feel like lying to you anymore."

Vash's eyebrows raised slightly. When had he lied? Well, he knew the priest lied, but when had he lied to him? The outlaw had a good idea, but he decided to save his conclusions for later and listen to what the black clad man had to say.

"Listen for a sec... Let me just say, I used to do things that were terrible, despicable, etc. I was a horrible guy. I shot my first gun when I was around seven, murdering my so called 'parent figure'. Damn I despised him... but that's when I began to look for other things to fill in my time. I killed for money, I killed for food, I did anything I could to survive. I had been going to a catholic school for a while at the discretion of a few caring sisters of the church when they had found me on the street. That's when I got wind of this job that paid really good and was looking to hire a few marksmen, a hobby I was very good at.

I had been training during my spare time with a man who had an establishment near us when I had been going to school, learning to use a gun for any reason at all in the dangerous world we call home. I got really good at it, too. He's the one who gave me information about this job. I had no reason to be suspicious of him, so went to speak with him at his training building.

It seems that the man I had been training with was also offering the job that he had wanted me for, assuring me of a positon because he had seen my skill. There were a few other strange people I didn't know present, but I didn't pay any attention to them.

I was pretty young, 16 to 17 years old... I don't remember, but very impressionable, none the less. I showed them my skills with my target- practice shots and they seemed rather impressed with what I could do. So my interest was raised when they offered me a salary worthy of a few good meals a week along with any other things a desired on a whim. I was very happy with where I was staying, where I was going, who I was seeing, but something always bothered me when I killed another person.

I began to feel emotionally drained afterwards, not really listening to what my trainer was telling me when I would practice in the afternoons after my jobs. I would feel really guilty for some reason, even though some of the scum I killed deserved to die. I would glance at my hands occasionally when I would stay up at night and feel blood soaking them through... never able to wash them clean..."

Wolfwood's voice cracked a bit as he struggled to continue. He didn't want to stop in fear that if he did, he would never be able to tell Vash the rest of his story. He coughed and glanced up at the stars, tearing his eyes away from Millie's hair. He took a deep breath and continued.

"So I kept up this job till I found some kids who had been kept in this closet for an unreasonable amount of time... It was horrible, Vash.. They had been beaten... starved..... It ripped me to shreds on the inside to see these kids like this. And since I had just killed off the guy who had done this to them, they had no one else to go to. I decided to take them in, seeing how as though I had enough money, starting an orphanage around 300 iles from December. I settled them there to keep them away from my employers, who would have most likely .... disapproved, to say the least.

All of my money began going to them. Nothing was for myself anymore. I kept just enough to keep me going on my job, letting local nuns take care of them while I was gone. I stayed away only a few days before I would come back to their happy little faces, smudged with dirt..."

His voice trailed yet again as Vash sensed he was thinking of happier days. He almost felt a twinge of pity for the priest below him, but the outlaw wanted him to finish his story before the suns started to rise, his impatience being kept at bay as he asked Wolfwood to keep going.

"Somewhere in all that time, when I was about 19 or 20, I became a full- time priest, at one of the nun's consent. I told you about that little church school I went to, but I never finished the entire curriculum, just graduating from the regular school. So I basically wasn't a full priest. I considered this and took her up on the offer, taking a short 'vacation' from my job to learn the ways of the cross. I figured that maybe people would be more willing to give donations to a priest with an orphanage than to a man dressed in black and asking for odd jobs to spend his earnings on who knows what.

This worked out well for a while, until I got a letter from my employer, telling me to come back to his establishment immediately. Of course, I had to comply if I wanted to keep my job and I left the children to the nuns.

Upon arriving there, I was greeted by my trainer. I shook his hand and talked for a moment before his face went blank and he became dead serious. I was just a bit frightened, seeing how as though this was a new side of him, commanding me to go to the building we always trained behind.

I remember walking inside and immediately feeling a chill hit me. My trainer walked in behind me, closing the door and making sure no one else was outside. I had this feeling that he wasn't the only one in the room, so I decided to glance around the large, open space I guessed was some type of warehouse. I knew there were a few shooting ranges inside, I had practiced on them before, but I had never known there was a bar in there. On one of the stools was a man eating what looked like a piece of cake. I swear, Vash, you look at the him... and you just know he's evil.... "

Vash was listening intently, a few people he knew popping up in his head that he could think would be evil, but not pure evil... Maybe it was...

"I believe you've met him, Vash... Blue hair, golden eyes, white coat, skull and spikes... Damn near scariest man I've ever seen... "

Vash's eyes widened. This was no coincidence. He left his post on the porch and hopped over the railing to land on the ground with a cloud of dust. He rushed to Wolfwood, his breath ragged as he began to search the other man's eyes for some reason in all of the confusion he was telling the outlaw.

"Wolfwood.... What are you saying?"

"I worked for Knives, Vash. I was a Gun-Ho Gun. "

Vash stopped working momentarily. His already wide eyes didn't move an inch from the priest's face. It seemed that Wolfwood was having a hard time accepting Vash's reaction. The blonde gunman wasn't moving at all, simply staring.

But the outlaw moved back up to the porch, climbing up the railing instead of walking beside Wolfwood and Millie. His eyes closed as he prepared himself for whatever the priest had left to say.

"Finish your story."

There was no hint of any emotion in the outlaw's voice, which upset the priest on the steps. He sighed very deeply and thought long and hard about what he should say after he had confessed his ultimate sin to Vash. This was ripping him apart and he really hoped Vash knew it.

"So you know now... That was my job.. My employer, Chapel the Evergreen, introduced me to him, Legato, and said that he had a special order directly from a man named Knives."

Wolfwood paused, holding his breath as he waited for some type of response from Vash. When he got none, he continued.

"I had no idea there were people above Chapel. I thought he was the main employer, since he gave me my paycheck all the time. But he explained to me the long chain that I had become a part of whenever I had joined his so- called 'business'.

Of course, he told me all this after Legato had given me my first direct assignment. He told me it was something really big, involving every member of the Gun-Ho Guns out there. I eventually got to meet them at odd intervals for a meeting or something like that, but I didn't get close to any of them. They all seemed to be freaks, weird people with these special talents that appealed to Legato or this mysterious man named Knives I had no clue about.

Legato told me of my mission, stating that I could either receive a large amount of money or a pile of corpses from my orphanage. That really bit me deep even just thinking about all of my kids shot full of holes. I accepted, not even knowing what my task was."

"It was to kill me, right?"

Vash spoke quietly, barely above a whisper. He sounded severely hurt, causing Wolfwood to shift uncomfortably. He shook his head back and forth to tell the outlaw no.

"That's not it. I was sent to protect you and guide you until you were pointed towards Knives. I found out later that he was your brother, violently searching and killing to get you back. I found something wrong with that, but I decided not to argue with Chapel over it, seeing how as though it would probably make me lose my job, my orphans, and most likely, my life.

I also decided that I would be doing a good thing by helping to take down the infamous Humanoid Typhoon. If I took out this death threat to all humans, I could clean off a bit of my slate that had been smudged with all the blood on my fingers.

I found you guys, although it seemed as if you found me. I would have gotten to you somehow, but the way you found me in the desert seemed to be most fitting for a wandering priest with a broken down motorcycle in the middle of the desert. I could catch a ride with you, stay on the bus with you, watch your moves and see what you would do when you got to the next town. That was my sole purpose, to guide and protect you, even if you didn't know it.

But this began to gnaw at me. The idea that I was most likely leading you to death ate away at me eventually because I had gotten to know Vash, the goofy, doughnut loving guy who screamed 'love and peace' everytime he won a fight. I gradually began to regret what I was doing, stalling and waiting at different towns instead of taking you on the direct course to where Knives wanted you to be.

After Augusta, I was allowed no rest. I was supposed to be watching you at all times, but you got really tricky and snuck away for nearly two years! That was hell for me! Legato was constantly breathing down Chapel's neck and that made Chapel mad at me because I hadn't found you yet. So you can imagine my relief when I saw a blonde-haired idiot bark like a dog and get shot in the middle of a street by a bunch of bandits. I knew it had to be you. You know what happened from there."

Vash was silent, as was Wolfwood, for a very long time, the both of them simply content to stare at the stars and drift through their own thoughts. The blonde gunman finally spoke up after a while.

"I don't understand how you are sitting there on those steps, holding a woman who loves you so much, breathing, talking to me.... How is that possible? You died..."

Wolfwood pulled his free leg up a step and rested his chin on his knee. He only knew that he woke up at a hotel in December. The only thing before that he could remember were bright lights and voices, but nothing clear. He told Vash this, hoping that the gunman would be able to discern some sense from it. The blonde nodded and said that he understood. Wolfwood turned on the steps, pulling Millie over slightly as she mumbled in her sleep to stare at the outlaw.

"You do? How do you understand that? Is it something to do with Knives?"

Vash nodded again, his face serious and blank.

"Knives somehow has been able to call you back, along with several other Gun-Ho Guns. I'm not sure why all of you didn't come back, but he seemed to pick the stronger ones out of the bunch to come back."

"But why did he pick me? I betrayed him, I didn't follow his orders, I didn't listen to Chapel! Why did he bring me back!?"

"I don't know. I barely understand what Legato told me."

"What? When did you see Legato?!"

"Three days ago. I didn't fight with him, but I did talk for a while.

It seems that Knives has some type of hold on the Gun-Ho Guns physical and mental selves all the time. That wasn't explained in detail, but that's the gist of it. He could bring you back because he had such a strong hold on you, his grip was so tight around you, that you couldn't truly die. You might have experienced death, going to the afterlife and all that, but it was only for the briefest moment before you were pulled back. I have no clue how he does it, but he does and it scares the hell out of me that he knows how."

"What about Legato then?"

"I... I shot Legato shortly after you died. Midvalley died too, but that was his own doing. That made my entire world crumble, that I had shot a man in the head at point-blank range and he was never going to move again, all because I had pulled the trigger. That really made me regret living and it looked like Legato had done his job in making me suffer. I went into a slump around that time and then came back out again after a few things Meryl said to townspeople who were about to kill me. I really appreciated her at that moment and realized that if I didn't go to Knives and cut off his threat to all humans, she and Millie would most definitely get hurt in some way or another. They were almost killed by Legato before ... before I shot him. "

Vash saw Wolfwood's arm tightened the tiniest fraction around the woman beside him. He let the smallest smile possible grace his lips before his face was emotionless again.

"But three days ago, I woke up to two very stunned insurance girls who found a dying man and a town without any people what so ever. The man used his last breath to tell us that a man named Knives had done something terrible to the entire town. I'm still not quite sure what he did, but there were no people left at all, except for that man's corpse when we left the place we had temporarily settled in.

I originally set out by myself, but Meryl is so stubborn, she and Millie followed me. I ended up riding in the car with them both for a while in the desert. But that night, I had a terribly uneasy feeling around me. I wish I had done something about it... Legato was behind us, which drew me from the car we had stopped. The girls were asleep so I figured it was safe to assume they wouldn't follow me when I back-tracked our car tracks to these huge rock formations we had passed earlier. That's were I talked to Legato.

He told me that 'His Master' wanted me back, but I refused and he seriously hurt the insurance girls. I immediately went to go and check on them, help them, but they both seemed really shaken up, especially Millie. I eventually told Meryl to drive to December and wait for me in the morning as I went back to go and talk to Legato. The man told me about how he had come back and explained in very small detail what happened when Knives brought him back. I left of my own free will when he had given me all the information he was allowed to give, but I also sent a message back to my brother to let him know that I was coming to him, but not when he wanted to force me to come. Legato left, and I started the long walk back."

"Bet you kept Meryl on pins and needles."

"I think I did. It didn't look like she had slept the entire time when I came back. Millie wasn't even anywhere to be found, but I guess you got to her first."

"Yeah, I woke up here, like I had told you, but I didn't have any clue what was going on. The only thing I really cared about doing was getting back to you and the girls. I...I told you that I had changed, had become a different man, partly because of you, partly because of the girls. I was going to go back to a familiar place, my old church, and that's when I saw her walking down the grove. I had some fun when I met back up with her."

Vash could see a smile playing on the priest's mouth as he leaned back a little more comfortably on the porch.

"So what are you going to do now?"

The outlaw was silent as the question hung in the air before him. He hadn't really decided where to move from the town to find Knives, but he was certain that Legato would be back and he wanted to be at least away from Meryl when it happened.

"I'm going to wait a while, see what happens. I know Legato is going to be playing messenger boy for a while between me and Knives, but I'm not sure what my brother's reaction will be when I don't come back to him immediately."

Wolfwood nodded, not really caring if Vash could see him or not. They both knew that either Legato would come back or something would happen within the next few days. If it didn't, Vash at least was content to stay in December for a while and be happy with Meryl.

He hadn't really explained his relationship to the priest on the steps, or to himself for that matter. But it seemed obvious that Wolfwood and the tall insurance girl wrapped in his arms had deep feelings for each other. It was really nice to see Millie so happy after she had been completely devastated by the priest's death. Of course, her good nature had made her cover it up, even if she was practically dying on the inside, shoving her own feelings aside for her partner and himself.

The blonde outlaw stood up straight and stretched lightly as he left the two out on the porch. He said a whispered good night to Wolfwood and then went inside of the cool hotel. Wincing slightly by the loud noise his boots were making on the steps toward his room, Vash finally made it to his door. Meryl had gotten him his own room just in case Millie hadn't been ready to accept that she had spent the night with Vash in her bed.

He chuckled as he pulled out the key to his door. Millie wouldn't have shown it if she had been hurt by the pair. The tall insurance girl would probably have acted really happy for them both, masking her true feelings of pain.

Vash slid inside his room and began to unbutton his bulky red coat. He flung it on the back of a chair in front of a small table. Placing his key on said table, he began to undo the clasps and buttons on the complicated skin-tight suit he wore. It pooled around his feet as he reached over and retrieved his night shirt and pants from his bag on the table.

The blonde picked up his black body suit and placed it inside his bag, yawning deeply as he finished pulling his gray shirt over his head, bringing down his spiky hair with it.

"Finally... nice soft bed...."

He mumbled something about being hungry as he flung back the covers and crept under the crisp, white sheets and laid his head down on the feather pillow. A sigh of happiness whispered around the room as he felt sleep begin to overtake him, his mind not being troubled at the moment by the confusion that had just been flung in his face by the priest.

Vash was just about to trail off to sleep when he heard a gentle rapping at his door. He sighed, not really wanting to be disturbed, but answered anyways.

"Who is it?"

"M-Meryl."

His interest perked up a bit at her voice, but he kept it covered as he answered.

"The door's open."

The cracked frame let the door open with a creak of protest, allowing enough room for the insurance girl's small frame to fit through. She practically floated across the floor as she came to a stop in her white night shirt a few yarz away from Vash's bed. Sighing pathetically, she sat down on the floor and placed her chin in her hands as she stared up at Vash's confused expression.

"Anything in particular you wanted?"

"I can't sleep. At all."

The outlaw noticed the nervous fidgeting of her hands as he rested on his elbow near the edge of the bed. He stared at her with a confused expression on his face, wondering why she couldn't sleep.

"I need to talk to you, Vash."

Vash stared at her in slight confusion.

"About what?"

"About... about us."

u.u.......

Bane: *sigh* I'm getting so fluffy... Sorry for not having action since about the first or second chapter *cough* writer's *cough* block! *cough* But that's basically what I'm trying to get rid of in the next chapter.... no action. SO, the point of this useless paragraph was to tell you, be patient--action on the way.... If I can ever find Knives-sama......