FicWad

Author's Note: This piece is several years old by now and is the piece where I learned the difference between "blonde" and "blond." I have killed the "e"s at least fifty times and yet, for some reason I can not fathom but probably has something to do with Word, they keep coming back. I think I managed to get them all (again), but if I missed a couple...yes. Well. Mea culpa. Please forgive me.



"Why do they have to put so much space between towns?" Vash yawned, stretching his arms over his head and wincing as one particularly stiff joint cracked. "Mou, I feel like I've been walking for years!" In the back of his mind he could hear Meryl laughing at him.

Some tough gunslinger you are, Broom Head! You've only been walking for two days! Even Milly and I could do better!

"Hmph. You insurance girls always have transportation other than your own two feet!" The blond gunslinger grumbled at the absent woman, trying to convince his own extremities that they weren't about to drop off. "It's strange though...why am I so tired? I can normally walk twice this far without much problem." Vash paused, a slight frown tugging at his lips. Pale blue eyes scanned the surrounding rocks.

Something doesn't feel right. I don't know why, but all of a sudden it feels like there's about to be a storm... With a shiver, Vash pressed on, still glancing around him like a rabbit looking for danger. Above, the stars glimmered coldly in the perfect black of the sky, without so much as a wisp of clouds to block their light. The path climbed upward, rocks steadily replacing the sand under his aching feet. To his right, the rising ground fell away in a sheer cliff, mirrored by the solid rock wall on his left.

A thin trickle of sweat worked it's way down the back of Vash's long, red coat, tickling the fine hairs on the back of his neck.

Yeesh, I didn't realize it was so hot out here! It feels more like noon than midnight! Absently he reached up and unbuttoned the collar of his coat. It didn't help much. This must be a record high! Can't wait to get into town and get something to drink!

The thought of water and a nice, clean bed to sleep in kept him moving at a brisk pace, despite the fact it made his temperature rise further. By the time the path leveled out into a small plateau over looking his destination, his breath was coming in short huffs and sweat puddled wherever his clothing met his skin. Phew! almost thought I was going to pass out there for a second. With a weary sigh he staggered to the edge of the plateau, looking down on the lights of the city, and thoroughly enjoying the slight breeze playing across the rocky face. Ah, Vash stretched, feeling muscles in his back pop. It feels so good to get that heavy coat off...

Wait a second! Blue eyes blinked. I don't remember taking my coat off! As if to assure himself the offending article of clothing was indeed missing, he looked down at his bare chest, eyes tracing the patchwork of scar tissue that made up his upper torso. Where...?

"Looking for this, Vash the Stampede?"

Vash spun, drawing his gun on pure instinct and pointing it back down the path. His coat lay in an untidy heap on the stone, a dark little lump compared to the pristine white worn by the man standing behind it. The man smiled, a secretive smile, one amber eye watching Vash from beneath a shock of dark hair that light would have revealed to be blue.

"Legato." Muscles tensing automatically, Vash tried to regard his enemy with the same, cool look he was receiving, and failed miserably. Try though he might to deny it, there was something about Legato Bluesummers that scared him. Something unpredictable and infinitely calculating. Something that made him want to simply pull the trigger of his gun and watch the other man's brains go flying out the back of his head. No! The rather tempting thought was banished quickly. No one has the right to take another life! No one! Suddenly nerveless, the fingers holding the gun uncurled, allowing the weapon to drop unhindered to the ground.

"You should have killed me." Legato's smile broadened slightly as he stepped over the coat. "It would have made your life infinitely easier."

"No one has that right!"

"Hm. It doesn't matter now anyway." With the easy pace of a stalking predator, Legato moved across the plateau, eyes never leaving Vash, smile never fading. He stopped just in front and to the right of the other man, staring over the blond's shoulder at the town below. "What do you see, when you look down there, Vash the Stampede?" The words whispered across the ear next to them, tickling lightly. "Safety? Comfort? Are your friends waiting down there?"

"Save your threats, Legato," Vash growled, glad to discover he could at least still speak. He could feel the other man slinking about the back of his mind, holding him perfectly still, "I haven't seen them in days."

"So, you don't know where they are, or what sort of danger they might be in."

What? Suddenly Vash wanted nothing so much as to grab Legato by the collar of that damn white coat and shake him until his teeth rattled. Damn you, you bastard! If you've done anything to the girls, I'll...I'll...

::You'll do what, Vash the Stampede?:: Legato's voice curled through his mind like smoke from a near dead cigarette. ::If I hurt them, will you finally kill me? Is that what it will take?:: Lips brushed against Vash's ear, their smile outlining its self on the sensitive skin. "You should be more concerned with your own safety." One hand trailed up the side of Vash's stomach, tracing the scar tissue there with a feather light touch.

"Don't touch me like that!" Vash tried to squirm, to get away from those maddening fingers that seemed to find every sensitive point on his abdomen as if they had homing devices built into them. The intruder in his mind coiled tighter around the controls of his muscles, holding him still with unseen force as a set of teeth closing on the juncture of his neck and shoulder provided more physical incentive to stop struggling.

"You taste sweet." Legato traded teeth for tongue, contentedly licking at the indentations he'd left in the blond's skin. His hand trailed upward, nails raking over the grillwork set in Vash's chest, finally cupping the side of the blonde's cheek and turning his head so that by moving back ever so slightly, Legato could lock eyes with him. "I think perhaps it is the way you look...you cause me so much trouble."

I cause you trouble? Vash started to protest, only to swallow his words, his last breath, and nearly Legato's tongue in surprise as the blue-haired man leaned forward slightly, covering Vash's mouth with his own. The hand that had been cradling Vash's cheek slid downward, retracing its earlier path then continuing to curl between his legs. Don't touch me! Don't touch me like that, don't touch me there, don't touch me period!

Legato broke the kiss off in slow degrees, abandoning it in favor of Vash's throat. The blond gasped frantically for breath, his instincts throwing themselves against the insides of his mind with the panicked certainty that there had to be some way to break free and run. "I...I don't like men!"

A low, highly amused chuckle ran through his mind. Without removing his mouth from the collarbone he was merrily chewing on, Legato smiled. ::What makes you think I care about that, Vash the Stampede? If you're looking for mercy, you're wasting your time.:: As if to accentuate the point, Vash felt both of Legato's hands settled on his belt, scant moments before every muscle in his body relaxed, pitching him rather painfully and ingloriously back onto the plateau's hard stone surface.

Once the brief explosion of stars behind his eyes subsided, Vash glared up to find that his tormenter had indeed had enough time to get his belt undone and was now contemplating the long, leather strap as if it were a fine antique. Amber eyes met his, twinkly cheerfully, watching him whimper as the belt was rather suddenly sent sailing out over the rocky ledge behind him and into space.

"I don't think you'll be needing that." With an elegant shrug, Legato shed his own coat, allowing it to slide down his lean figure and pool at his feet, the spiked shoulder laying along the ground like a knocked over picket fence. If he'd been in a less compromising position, or a bit more vindictive, Vash might have taken some comfort in knowing that the white leather was going to be an absolute dusty mess when it's owner got around to picking it up. As it was he was a bit too busy watching Legato's hands fall on his own belt, undoing the buckle at a very calm, deliberate pace before unwrapping it and dropping it in the pile with the coat. The tight, black top came next, leaving the other man in the same state of undress as his captive. Kneeling next to him, Legato reached over and trailed one finger along the waistband of Vash's pants, a contemplative expression on his face. "These will have to go."

Vash nearly screamed as his hips left the ground of their own accord, giving Legato the space he needed to pull the pants down to tops of his boots, which the blue-haired man then took his own sweet time about unfastening. Once he managed to get them loose, both boots went flying over his shoulder with deliberate casualness to land somewhere in the vicinity of Vash's coat. Now that the blond was completely naked, but for his gloves, he leaned over, amber eyes locked on blue, with the smile of a cat who wants the canary to know he's coming, and brushed his lips along the scarred plane of Vash's stomach. "Enjoying yourself, Vash the Stampede?"

Even without Legato holding it closed, Vash's mouth refused to work. The only noise that would escape, could escape, was a strangled half gasp. That didn't stop his mind from babbling his answer, full volume. No! No, I'm not! Why are you doing this? Why won't you leave me alone?

Legato, it seemed, did not consider the last two questions to be worth answering. Instead he simply gave another of his damned infuriating, not to mention creepy, chuckles, and dropped his mouth lower, ghosting between Vash's legs, tongue flickering out to taste what his hand had earlier caressed. ::No? Are you certain?::

This time Vash did scream, a hoarse little yelp that escaped with only half a lungful of air to support it. With a renewed sense of urgency, he struggled to shake off the mental hand holding him pinned like an insect to the ground. It was hard to concentrate on the effort, though, hard to take a breath around the little washes of pleasure that ran along his veins, strange electric currents in his blood stream. They multiplied with every touch of Legato's skin to his, slowly sapping his urge to resist.

After several minutes of pleasant torture, Legato slid back up to Vash's stomach, one hand picking up where his mouth left off. He hadn't removed his gloves, nor the buckles at their base, which scraped against Vash's reluctant erection, causing the blonde to moan helplessly. Legato's other hand slid along Vash's leg, lifting it, sliding it over one bare shoulder. That done, it took very little effort to re-center himself between the blonde's legs, pressing his body forward far enough for him to nibble along the edge of the scar taking up a good portion of Vash's right pectoral muscle. He worked his way slowly up one side, stopping at the top to run his tongue the length of the blonde man's collarbone, and then down the other before pulling back, admiring the view.

Vash gasped for air, his thoughts slowly gathering themselves now that the stimulation had been reduced to one thigh rubbing against the well defined muscles of Legato's shoulder. Even if he weren't still being pinned to the ground, he doubted his muscles would let him move anyway, given the little tremors still running the length of his body. The stars above him seemed to be vibrating slightly, a quick paced shiver that made him dizzy. He shut his eyes for a moment to block it out, only to suffer a worse case of vertigo as his body automatically heightened the rest of his senses and he was assaulted by the smell of sweat, the harsh sound of his own breathing underlied by the slithering hiss of fabric sliding along skin, and the gentle shift of his skin against Legato's as the other man shifted upward subtly for a few moments before settling down and forward, pushing Vash's leg further forward, almost up against his chest. Why can't the world hold still for a minute? Groaning slightly, he let his eyes flutter open again...and felt his heart stop cold.

In the scant time his eyes had been closed, Legato slid his own pants down around his ankles. Now his eyes held Vash's, the expression on his face one no four legged predator could rival, as he pushed forward slightly, pressing against the bare skin of Vash's ass. ::Are you ready, Vash the Stampede?::

The blond didn't have to ask what he meant, some how he knew. "No..." He managed to eke out, barely. His heart had started again, beating erratically in his chest, it's rhythm as random as his lungs'. Despite the sensory overload that came with lack of visual input, he had the strong urge to close his eyes again, shut out those snake's eyes boring into his mind. This is going to hurt. No matter how good the rest of that felt - even if it was a guy, even if it was him - this is going to hurt!

Legato's smile stretched far enough to nearly split his face in half as he snapped his hips forward, burying himself in Vash. The blond's body arched up against him, his mouth opened in what would have been an ear splitting scream, if his throat hadn't closed on it, cutting off the air needed to produce proper volume. As it was all that came out was a keening whistle, not unlike a teakettle about to come to a boil. Tongue flickering quickly across his lips, Legato pulled back, hesitating no more than half a heart beat before repeating his earlier gesture, reveling in the way Vash squirmed under him, against him, around him.

Vash gave in to the urge to shut his eyes, clenching them tightly as spikes of pain and riptides of pleasure danced hand in hand along his nerves. Heat and hyperventilation made his head swim, but for some reason he remained conscious, acutely aware of the driving rhythm Legato was slowly creating and the coiled tension it was building inside him. Hurts...feels good... The thoughts were half formed at best, more impressions that actual observations. Feels good...why? Don't like it...don't want it...

::Of course you don't want it.:: The husky mental purr rippled through him, touching off every pleasure center in his brain on the way. ::But do you want to want it, Vash the Stampede?::

Want to...? It took him a few minutes to even fully comprehend the question around the mental cacophony that was let off every time Legato so much as shifted his weight against Vash's oversensitive body. No. No, don't want to want it...don't want to like it...don't want to... For one lightning brief moment, Vash's mind cleared, coherency and comprehension crashing against it. His eyes snapped open, staring up at his tormentor, pleading to be told he was wrong and didn't really understand, even though he knew he did, pleading not to have his faith in basic human goodness shaken to the point of near collapse.

If the smile in Legato's eyes, half-closed in golden slits of pleasure, didn't confirm his thoughts, the laughing response that echoed through his brain did. ::See, Vash the Stampede? There is pain to be found even in pleasure. Pain in your helplessness, in the knowledge that I can make you do anything, make you like anything.::

Vash closed his eyes again, dampness gathering at their edges. His breathing shifted yet again, from harsh gasps to choking sobs. The tension inside him started to uncoil, arching his body to the point only his shoulders remained pushing into the pebble-strewn surface of the plateau. He could feel Legato's control on him weaken slightly, the other man caught up in his own nearing release. It wasn't enough for him to kick the intruder out, even if he had the strength, however...

No. Impossibly, Vash's mind relaxed, turning from it's fight against the sensations assaulting it, turning inward on it's own inner workings. The sudden lack of resistance startled his already distracted opponent, giving him enough time to gain just enough control to hold back the tension. It was a tremendous effort, but worth it as he felt the faint sting of Legato's irritation along the pathways of his brain.

::Come on.:: The blue-haired man urged softly, a sick parody of a parent trying to convince their child to take a few more shaky first steps. ::Come on...::

No! The sweet tang of blood filled his mouth as Vash bit down on his lower lip, focusing all of his energy into that little bit of control. This was his, this was something that couldn't be taken from him. He'd rather die.

There was a short, derisive noise before Legato pulled back, both physically and mentally, with a speed that left his victim gaping. For a brief second there was a vacuum, an empty space where there hadn't been before, then he shoved forward, all of his weight settling against that critical point inside Vash, the full force of his mind bearing down on the blond's. ::Come on!::

The stars shattered. The world spun out of control as the tension uncoiled with enough force to leave him breathless and shaking. Vash screamed, although whether it was a physical scream or a purely mental shriek of despair as he tried frantically to hold onto that little shred of control, only to have it wrenched sickeningly away he couldn't tell. In the tension's wake he felt sick, too ill to even fully notice when Legato's intrusive presence retreated, leaving him empty and aching on the hard ground. His body was still shaking as he curled on his side, eyes closed against the vertigo, trying not to hear the sounds of footsteps retreating down the path, slowly fading out of existence.

::Have a pleasant night, Vash the Stampede.::

Too exhausted to even be properly angry, Vash couldn't even manage a good come back before losing his tentative grip on consciousness.



Nicholas D. Wolfwood shot out of bed, on his feet and reaching for his cross before the scream that woke him actually registered. He relaxed slowly, listening to the sound of running footsteps echo down the hall, accompanied by Milly's worried cries of "Mr. Vash, are you all right?"

Damnit, that's every night this week. The priest scowled, grabbing his shirt and slinging it over his bare shoulders. One of the benefits of sleeping half dressed was it enabled one to be presentable fairly damn quickly. He crossed to the door of his room, steps unhurried, perfectly aware of what he'd find when he reached his destination. It never seemed to change. As he walked, he got himself a cigarette and lit it, so that by the time he reached the wide open doorway to Vash's room, the last of the adrenaline rush from waking up had worn off and he was feeling fairly calm.

A small black cat passed him as he walked in, glaring up at him as if he had done it some huge injury. "Nyan."

"Hey, I told you not to sleep on his bed anymore." He glared back, then turned his attention from the cat to the scene in front of him. Vash was sitting in bed, sheets pulled up over his lap, liberally scarred chest bare. He was smiling, blushing, and running his fingers through his hair in an embarrassed fashion, assuring the irate woman in front of him that he was just fine and it had only been a nightmare. Meryl Strife was glaring right back at him, with Milly standing worriedly by her shoulder, demanding to know what the hell kind of nightmare was so bad it called for waking everyone up and bringing them out of their rooms in the middle of the night. Nicholas sighed and shook his head, leaning casually against the doorframe. His turn would come after Meryl ran out of steam.

"You know, Mr. Vash," Milly managed to get a word in edgewise as Meryl paused for breath, "I heard that if you keep having recurring dreams, sometimes it means something."

Vash paled slightly at that statement, a fact Nicholas was fairly certain only he noticed, just as he'd be willing to bet that only he noticed the fine tremor in the blond gunman's hand. "Ah, maybe," Vash agreed shakily, "But really, it's just a memory from when I was younger. It's nothing to worry about."

"If it's from when you were younger, then why is it coming up now?" Meryl insisted, leaning forward until their noses nearly touched.

"How should I know?" Vash protested. "I'm not a dream reader!" Taking both of her hands in his, he gave her his best 'Vash the Stampede being Charming' smile. "Look, it's the middle of the night and you two need your rest. I've told you, it's nothing, really. Now why don't you just go back to bed and we can deal with it in the morning, hmm?"

"Well..." Meryl backed down slightly under Vash's now pleading expression. "I suppose, if you're sure you're okay..."

"Just fine!" Vash assured her again, a little too brightly.

Looking none too convinced, Meryl turned toward the door, tugging slightly on the arm of Milly's pjs as she went. "Come on Milly, let's get back to bed."

It took the taller woman a few minutes to actually move away from the bed. First she had to check Vash's forehead for a fever, and suggest that he might try having a cup of tea. "That always helps with my nightmares!"

"Heh heh...danke."

Nicholas gave Meryl a smile as she moved past him. He gave Milly a special smile and wished her a good night, which she returned with her usual enthusiasm. Still smiling, he leaned backwards out of the doorway and watched the girls return to their room. The second the latch on their door shut, his smile vanished. He pulled back into the room, closing the door behind him and fixed deadly serious eyes on Vash.

The other man's smile died slowly, the light that had danced in his eyes draining away, revealing a layer of pained fatigue beneath it. His trembling got worse and he curled in on himself, refusing to meet Nicholas' gaze. The priest, who really didn't care if he was looked at or not, grabbed the lone chair that conveniently came with the room and propped it up next to the bed.

"That was one of the most pathetic stories I've ever heard, Needle Noggin." Nicholas pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and examined the softly glowing tip casually.

"I know." Vash's response was choked and muted, almost as if the other man were trying not to cry, but not quite. "I just...I don't want to talk about it. Especially not with the girls."

Nicholas examined him for a long moment, then went back to smoking his cigarette and watching a little spider run across the floorboards. He had an irrational urge to squish it. "Tell me one thing, if you can. Is it really a memory? Or is it just a nightmare?" He didn't need to ask if it was a recent occurrence, whatever it was. Vash had never acted like this before, and according to the local gossip he'd been acting almost paranoid even before Nicholas and the girls had ran into him earlier that week. This is what I get for loosing track of you. The priest sighed, waiting patiently while the other man apparently searched for an answer. What the fuck happened?

"I don't know." When it finally came, the whisper was so soft Nicholas wasn't certain, at first, that he'd really heard it. "It...it might be a memory. It feels like a memory." Vash wrapped his arms tighter around himself, fingers digging slightly at his scarred back. "But it could just be Legato messing with me." Pale blue eyes looked up, meeting darker blue tentivly, fear and confusion written across them. "I really can't tell."

"Shit." Nicholas sighed, running a hand through his own black mop of hair, scratching slightly at the back of his head. That wasn't what he wanted to hear. "Well, I don't know what to tell you, Needle Noggin."

"'s okay." A snort of laughter worked its way past Vash's lips, dry and humorless. "I don't know what I want to hear."

"You want me to stay here tonight?" It wouldn't be comfortable, given the size of the bed, but Nicholas had dealt with enough nightmares to know that sometimes just having someone else in the room helped. Besides, it'll give me an idea of just how serious this is.

There was a very long pause. "Yes, please."

"Right, let me just go get something." With a stretch, Nicholas stood and headed back to his room for his cross. Shit.




The stars glittered in the sky overhead, each casting off it's own tiny light. That light bathed the plateau, casting little shadows against every pebble on its surface, fragmenting off cut crystal and shaved ice.

A spoon dipped into the little shards of frozen water, glancing off the crystal with a soft chime, lifting a load of ice to waiting lips. The lips curled slightly at the edges, a contented ghost of a smile, as the shaved ice was consumed, the last, sweet little drop licked from the spoon's surface before the metal dropped once again.

Radiating satisfaction, Legato gazed out over the sleeping town through half closed eyes. Watching him, one would think it was an every day occurrence for a man to be sitting at a table, alone, on a rocky plateau in the middle of the night, leisurely eating dessert. He didn't even look that dangerous, if you ignored the set of spikes jutting out of one shoulder of his jacket. Just an average person, handsome, but nothing note worthy, with a malicious gleam in his golden eyes.

::Rest well, Vash the Stampede. You're only beginning to feel the true pain that is an inherent part of living.::


~Finished~