Archive of Our Own

Rosemary quietly but gently shushed her steed as he stirred a little. Cosmic Crisp (lovingly nicknamed Cosmo) shook his head a little, Rosemary seeing him flex his large, scorpion stinger tail a little out of the corner of her eye, but didn’t think twice about it. The worm-horse pawed at the sand by a small rock as she went back to looking through the binoculars at the town nearby. She and Cosmo were up on a large rock as it jutted out of the sand, surveying a small town they’d been informed was being run by a single person, one who had unusual methods, and a ‘strange’ demeanor. They hadn’t been able to find out much more than that, people in the next town over were very tight-lipped about the place, which made her interest even greater.

Well, and the fact that someone had mailed her a contract pleading to have Rosemary kill the person in charge of the whole town as soon as possible. 

“See anything?” a voice called up to her, Rosemary glancing down towards her compatriots as they stood next to or leaned against the motorcycle they’d gotten a while back. The voice belonged to the blond man clad in a shockingly bright red coat, who was looking up at the pink haired woman with interest. The dark haired and dark suited third of their party leaned against the bike with his arms crossed, a cigarette lazily hanging out of his mouth.

“Nope, I don’t see any unusual movement. Actually, I don’t see anything at all besides a couple people running errands, seems like a low population town,” she called back, sliding her eyepatch back down over her cybernetic eye as she spurred Cosmo to move.

The worm horse snorted a little as he obeyed, carefully but smoothly picking his way back down the large rock and back onto the desert sand. Rosemary patted his neck as a thank you before dismounting, keeping the reins in her hand as she did. 

“Still think we should check it out? It doesn’t seem like the place where a notorious criminal is ruling with an iron fist to me…” Rosemary asked, Vash rubbing Cosmo’s snout affectionately as she spoke. 

“Might be worth at least looking into, we came all this way, right?” Vash asked, smiling as Cosmo leaned into the touch.

“I don’t really care, I’m just here ‘cause I have to drive Needle Noggin and he insisted on coming,” Wolfwood exhaled flatly with a shrug, a small cloud of smoke accompanying his words.

“Hm. Maybe next time we go anywhere I’ll make you ride Cosmo then,” Rosemary smirked with an eyebrow raise. “Vashie and I can take the bike and watch you get bucked off and dragged along the sand by your ankle like a sack of potatoes.”

Wolfwood gave her a side-eyed glare at that which made her snicker. 

“Hah hah. So funny,” he snarked dryly, which made Rosemary’s snicker louder.

“What did that letter say again? Something about a woman?” Vash interjected.

“It was vauge, but it basically said something about how there’s some lady who’s been calling the shots around here and another woman wants her gone. Don’t know what makes her so bad that you call in a bounty hunter though,” Rosemary shrugged, Wolfwood not looking very convinced at this explanation either. 

“Maybe I can charm her into giving up her life of crime and be more interested in me instead,” Vash suggested, striking a pose and making a weird face. 

“You do that, I’m telling Clem, and then I’ll cut you,” Rosemary shot back, Vash’s overdramatic yelp at her threat making Wolfwood smirk. 

“Welp, let’s stop yammerin’ and start investigating,” Wolfwood grunted as he stood up and started to get the bike ready to go.

“Wanna ride Cosmo into town, Vash?” Rosemary asked as she handed him the reins.

“Uh, sure? What’re you gonna do?” Vash asked as he took Cosmo’s reins from her. 

“Gonna ride with the ol’ grump over there,” she jested, Wolfwood growling at that. “You go on ahead, I got some stuff to ask him that you don’t need to worry about.”

“Well…okay. Just don’t take too long, I’m probably gonna get caught up in something if you do,” Vash sighs, Rosemary laughing at this.

“I don’t doubt it, Mister Typhoon,” she laughed, Vash sarcastically laughing at the name.

He hopped up on Cosmo and started walking away shortly after, Rosemary turning to Wolfwood and crossing her arms. Her demeanor was different now, sterner and less bubbly than with Vash. Wolfwood’s expression didn’t change but he did raise an eyebrow at her.

“What’s on your mind, nurse?” he asked coldly.

“What’s your sudden problem with me? We were getting along fine a week ago, great even in my book. Now you’re all standoffish and rude like we’re strangers. Hell, you’re probably nicer to strangers!” she started, coming in hot right off the bat.

“Maybe you deserve it. Maybe I’ve changed my mind about you, who knows?” he scoffed back. 

“You were actually being kind of pleasant for a while there, and I was actually starting to enjoy spending time with you. Guess that was just a foolish projection on my part,” Rosemary grumbled back, glaring in the direction Vash had ridden off on, regretting her choice to stick around with the priest. 

She didn’t see it because she was turned away, his gaze hidden behind his dark glasses, but his eyes were soft towards her. They’d softened a little further at her last comment even. Softer than he’d like. Which pissed him off. He didn’t know why he was inclined to be especially nice to her on instinct, and that was making him overcompensate on the natural gruff, snarky exterior he wore. He didn’t understand why she, out of everyone he’d ever met on this awful desert planet, seemed to stick out among the sea of faces he’d encountered over his life. How he could feel his chest tighten when her soft gaze landed on something that made her happy. Things like her sweet laughter echoed in his head afterwards. Or the fact that he wanted to savor her gentle smile, the one that she only gave Vash and him. All of it confused him and he knew deep down he was being unfair to her, but he shoved all that away and let his stubborn, irritable streak take over most of the time when it came to her.

And she was understandably confused and frustrated with him. 

There was a tense pause in the air now and he grumbled a little with irritation before tossing his cigarette into the sand. He hopped on the motorcycle and turned the key, making it roar a little as it sprung to life. Rosemary turned at the noise, a firm frown still planted on her face. Wolfwood gestured for her to get in the sidecar with his thumb, which she silently did, her expression never wavering. They started their way towards the town, Vash hearing them and spurring Cosmo into a faster gait now as the trio reunited. It took maybe 15 minutes of consistent riding or driving for them to get there from the rock formation they’d been scouting from. 

Wolfwood stopped the bike on the edge of town, Vash quietly telling Cosmo ‘woah’ as he gently pulled back on the reins and dismounted. Rosemary didn’t even bother talking to Wolfwood as she got out of the sidecar, getting Cosmo’s reins from Vash with a huff. 

“I’m going to go check out the general store for supplies. Don’t wait up for me,” she grumbled angrily, leading Cosmo behind her as she strode into town.

Vash looked confused at the anger she displayed but said nothing. There was a brief moment as he watched her walk away for a bit before turning to Wolfwood.

“What’d you say to her, Wolfwood?” Vash asked, Wolfwood glaring at him in return.

“Nothing, she’s just being stupid,” he snarked back, lighting up another cigarette. 

Vash crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “You sure you’re not the one who’s being the problem here? Don’t think I haven’t noticed how mean you’ve been to her lately,” Vash replied, an accuatory undertone to his voice. 

Wolfwood glared at his close friend and scoffed. “She deserves it, that’s all.”  

“You and I know full well that that’s completely wrong. What’s going on?” Vash replied flatly, Wolfwood pausing before sighing, a large cloud of smoke accompanying it.

“Look she…I can’t get her out of my head and that’s pissing me off. With her blue eyes ‘n how I can feel my heart in my ears when she looks at me, how some part of me wants to look at me all soft and stuff, and…” Wolfwood started to explain angrily before trailing off mid sentence. 

A look of shocked recognition swept across his face like a tidal wave, his sunglasses sliding off his nose a little. He swore under his breath as he realized what he was saying meant, his ears turning pink. Vash looked flabbergasted for a second but not before that shifted into him being giddy. His eyes grew big and sparkly as he got a huge toothy grin on his face. Wolfwood growled at him under his breath as he made sure Rosemary hadn’t come back for some reason and was within earshot.

“Vash if you breathe a WORD of this to her, I will strangle you,” Wolfwood hissed, Vash ignoring the threat.

“Heehee! Wolfwood has a crush!” Vash said in a mocking singsong voice, which got Wolfwood to flick him in the forehead. Vash whined about that but only for a moment.

“So…are you gonna try and find out if she likes you back?” Vash pressed, Wolfwood pausing before looking away towards the town.

“Pretty sure she hates me right now, you saw how miffed she was a minute ago. It looks like I blew my chances with her already,” he sighed back. 

“Aw, I’m sure if you apologize after giving her a bit of time, she’ll come around. She does have a pretty big heart after all, we’ve both seen that,” Vash pointed out with a smile, Wolfwood nodding at that.

“Yeah…yeah she does,” he nodded, a bit of a wistful expression emerging on his face. 

_______________________________

Rosemary fumed as she led Cosmo down the main road of the town. She’d passed under the sign reading ‘Dead Man’s Oasis' marking the entrance into town and was half heartedly scanning her surroundings. She could feel gazes on her as she walked her strange looking scorpion horse, but Cosmo alway attracted attention, good and bad. He didn’t seem to really care, just was following along after her like the properly trained steed he was. She spotted an unoccupied hitch in front of what appeared to be the general store, tying up Cosmo next to a water trough someone had set up, Cosmo indulging in it happily. She smiled at him warmly before heading into the store, the teenaged girl behind the counter greeting her lazily, not looking up from her book.

They didn’t have everything she needed when it came to restocking on medical supplies which made her click her tongue in irritation. They did have pretty much everything else though and she went and got rung up by the teenager working the shop. There was a pause as the girl looked at Rosemary intently, her eyes not hiding that she was deep in thought about something, before recognition flickered in her eyes. 

“Wait…are you the Angel of Death?!” the girl working the register blurted out.

“I, uh…I mean, yeah? How the heck did you know that?” Rosemary replied with a level of horror, wondering if she needed to change her appearance again.

“We contacted you! Oh thank God you actually came. Juliette is the absolute WORST, we need you to get rid of her, fast! I want my life to go back to the way it was, working this job is SO boring!” the girl gasped before starting to excitedly ramble as Rosemary recoiled a little. 

“Wait wait, we ? I don’t remember the letter specifying that I was working for a group,” Rosemary ejected.

“Oh, no, you’re not. Me and most of the other gals in town pooled up the money and finally found the one mail carrier who was willing to deliver the contract to you,” the girl replied, her enthusiasm waning quickly. 

“Ah, Clem came through here, that tracks,” Rosemary smirked with a nod. “But why do so many of you want this lady dead?”

“We shouldn’t talk here,” the girl said while lowering her voice, side-eyeing a man who was strolling by outside the store. “Come meet with a couple of the ladies at the saloon in 5, I’ll make sure they know you’re coming.”

“Alright then. Tell them I got a couple of traveling companions too, I don’t wanna leave them out of this. Even if one of them deserves a good kick in the balls,” Rosemary nodded before muttering a little, the girl pausing at this.

“Wait…wait, don’t tell me you brought men with you,” she asked, a hint of dread in her voice.

“Yeah…? Is that a problem?” Rosemary pressed with an eyebrow raise. 

“Lady, it’s gonna be more than just a problem if those guys are good at fighting. Juliette will have ‘em under her thumb by sundown if we don’t play our cards right,” the girl hissed, moving towards flipping the sign at the front to say ‘CLOSED’ now. 

“I highly doubt my idiots will be that easily swayed by some woman. They may be gullible sometimes, but not THAT easily,” Rosemary chuckled with a shake of her head. 

“No. You don’t understand, she…look just come with me, right now. Get your boys to the saloon without a fuss if you can. I just hope this isn’t another situation like the last girl,” the girl said, clearly looking more stressed now as she exited the store rapidly.

“What happened to her?” Rosemary asked as she followed the teen. 

The girl just pointed over her shoulder to the gallows that was partly hidden from view of the main road, one rope had a corpse in it. Rosemary’s eyes widened a little and swallowed hard, instinctively touching her neck at the sight. She could see that the corpse was female and wearing a torn, tattered dress, hands and feet bound. It was hard to tell from the level of decomposition but she could see the woman had lacerations on her arms and legs and had been blindfolded on top of it all. Clearly, whoever was behind the scene wanted her to suffer and she probably did before her demise. Rosemary’s medical training made her no stranger to injuries and trauma to the body, but this was different. There was a level of cruelty and hatred that she didn’t see often, one that reminded her too much of the mindset that was perpetuated within the cult she’d been working so hard to escape from. A cold chill ran down Rosemary’s spine as she followed after the teen girl, not wanting to bear witness to the scene beyond the general store any longer.

She made a mental note to not let Vash stray too far down that way, and to see if they could bury the poor girl after all this was over. A silence fell between the two women as Rosemary started to unhitch Cosmo after the girl gave her directions to the saloon.

“Who was she?” Rosemary asked quietly, the girl not turning to look as she replied.

“I didn’t know her. The others probably did though,” was the response she got.

Rosemary nodded, getting up on Cosmo and spurring him into a run quickly, deciding to shove her anger at Wolfwood aside until this mess was dealt with. That was if she even remembered to be mad with him, she really hated the feeling and wanted to forget it as soon as possible. Plus the way he made her feel was…too real to ignore, and she knew what these feelings meant. But she figured that deep down, it was one-sided on her part. Liking him more than a friend was something she’d need to bury and move on from. Crushes came and went, she told herself, and that’s all this was. No need to entertain those thoughts, better to just shove them aside until they died off.

For the sake of her relationships with them, she knew she had to.

_________________________

Wolfwood and Vash had just started walking into town, and were just past the sign when they spotted Rosemary. Vash’s eyebrows shot up when he saw how much she was spurring Cosmo on as the mount and rider came barrelling towards them. The guys froze and recoiled a little as Rosemary got Cosmo to abruptly slide to a stop. 

“Get on! Both of you!” she barked, her tone clear and authoritative.

“Are we all gonna fit? Also, care to explain wh-“ Wolfwood started to protest, Rosemary not hesitating to jump off, grab him by the collar with one hand and lean in close.

“Listen up, priest boy. I’m taking absolutely no bullshit from you right now. You two are at SERIOUS risk here apparently, and I’m not letting some strange woman take either of my guys from me. Now gimme your stupid oversized gun, get on Cosmo behind Vash, and get to the saloon. Now,” Rosemary growled through bared teeth, Wolfwood stunned into silence at this.

Vash obediently mounted Cosmo without another word, Wolfwood handing Rosemary a strap to the Punisher. In one motion, she grabbed it and swung it over her shoulder with a grunt, both guys’ eyes going wide at this. The weight of the large gun wasn’t something she was exactly used to, but she’d manage. She couldn’t run at top speeds with it like Wolfwood was able to, but she could jog with it in a pinch. Rosemary gave Vash the directions to the saloon as Wolfwood clumsily got on Cosmo. 

“Tell the gals there that you’re with the Angel and that I’m right behind you,” Rosemary instructed, Vash nodding as he spurred Cosmo to go.

Wolfwood was still silent as he glanced over his shoulder to see Rosemary cutting off to the side towards an alleyway, disappearing from view shortly after. Vash noticed his friend’s gaze and a playful smirk arose on his face.

“You thought that flex she just did of being in charge was attractive, didn’t you?” Vash teased, Wolfwood jabbing Vash in the ribs in response.

“Shut it, Spikey,” Wolfwood grumbled, trying to ignore how hot his ears felt as he replayed what just happened in his head.

He despised how attractive he thought she was just now, how his chest had tightened and his breath had gotten stuck in his throat. But he hated the fact that he was crushing on her and had just recently soured their relationship even more. 

“Vash, I’m gonna have to apologize to her, aren’t I?” Wolfwood sighed as the duo turned a corner and were in sight of the saloon now.

“I’d advise that, yeah. She’s a pretty forgiving person y’know, I’m sure if you talk it out, you can at least go back to being buddies,” Vash smiled warmly, Wolfwood glancing away and noticing…several women watching them from just inside doorways, shadows in alleys, children peeking down from window sills or between drawn curtains. There were some men scattered around too, acting even more suspiciously than the women and children were, but Wolfwood couldn’t pick which thread to follow so he chose one at random. 

“There are…a lot of women around here,” Wolfwood observed under his breath, feeling a bit nervous without the weight and security the Punisher brought him.

“Yeah. And they aren’t looking at us very friendly,” Vash mumbled, stopping Cosmo right in front of the saloon.

Wolfwood slid/fell off of Cosmo while Vash was dismounting and tying up the steed. Cosmo tossed his head a little and Wolfwood patted the insect steed’s neck as the two men kept their guards up. Vash’s hand instinctively hovered over the handle of the .45 pistol that lived on his thigh, but he didn’t withdraw the weapon just yet. The air was tense and full of uncertainty, and after a bit, Vash made a face while holding both his arms up, bent at the elbows before speaking.

“Hello earthlings! We come in peace!” he stated loudly, Wolfwood smacking him in the head for that. Vash yelped loudly at the smack.

“Look, we’re with the Angel, she sent us ahead on her horse. She’s not far behind us,” Wolfwood explained in a similar volume.

There was a bout of silence around the area for a moment before either of them heard the hushed voices inside the saloon talking, muffled footsteps scattered among the sounds. The teenage girl from the general store emerged from the saloon, an elderly woman with a shotgun not far behind. Vash could see other women inside as well, some of them in the doorway while others were watching at the saloon’s dirty windows.

“Tie them up, just to be safe,” the elderly lady commanded, some women from the doorway descending onto Vash and Wolfwood swiftly.

The guys protested of course but were grossly outnumbered. The duo were grabbed, tied up, and dragged into the saloon shortly after with little fuss. Wolfwood grumbled and complained while Vash whined about the whole thing. A middle-aged woman pointed a small caliber pistol at them and threatened to shut them up for good if they didn’t pipe down, which made them go quiet really fast. They were tied together back to back, with Wolfwood getting a better look at the main room. 

A quick look around the main bulk of this saloon made it clear as day something weird was going on around here. Save for the ragtag group of about 12 or so women that were gathered together and armed, the place was deserted. It was eerily quiet, save for some floorboards creaking and the metallic click of guns as some of the women cleaned or checked the ammo of their guns. A saloon in a town this size should have at least a few patrons, even just the local drunk or two would make sense. The absence of that made Wolfwood suspicious, but he couldn’t really be sure of what. The trained ear of the priest heard a faint sniffle in an opposite corner, leaning over slightly to see a little girl crying into a stuffed animal, her mother holding her silently. One of the women guarding the guys raised an eyebrow at his movement and he sat back up proper real quick. 

“Vash…this goes deeper than I thought it did. Look at who’s gathered here, it’s all mothers and children…” Wolfwood whispered, Vash glancing over his shoulder, looking displeased at this news.

“What the heck is going on around here?” Vash whispered back, Wolfwood groaning a little.

“You think I have any idea?? Try and get us out of this rope or something!” Wolfwood hissed, Vash frowning and shaking his head.

“And then what? They’ll get even more suspicious of us and we’ll be no closer to answers!”

“We ain’t gonna find any while stuck here on the floor!”

“HEY. What are you two whispering about?!” the elderly woman from before shouted, making both of them jolt, Vash yelping a little. “I don’t know why we don’t just make sure you won’t cause us more trouble and get rid of you now!” she continued, Vash and Wolfwood sweating now.

“Grandma Ruby, no! I met the Angel at the store, she’s in town! If they say they’re with her, it has to be true!” the teenage girl pleaded. 

“Rebecca, take your little sister outside. She doesn’t need to see this,” Ruby growled, cocking the shotgun in her hands like punctuation. 

The guys started desperately trying to wiggle free and begging her to reconsider, Rebecca standing back and looking very torn. Not a second later, the door to the saloon was kicked in. The sillouette of a woman carrying a large cross on her back filled the doorway as she stepped in, spurs clanking a little. The large cross was placed firmly on the wooden floor with a resounding, heavy thud, a couple of the women wincing at the heft of the noise. 

“I’d suggest you stop pointing that at my boys. Now, which one of you gals called for the Angel of Death?” Rosemary asked bluntly, eyes locked on Ruby, looking a bit tired but standing tall. Wolfwood and Vash breathed a small sigh of relief at the familiar sight. 

Ruby lowered her shotgun, pausing for a moment before nodding at a couple of the other ladies. They wasted no time untying the guys, Vash thanking them and Wolfwood brushing off his suit a little as he stood up.

“No wonder they call you the Angel of Death, you carry a big cross with you and everything!” Rebecca exclaimed with eyes sparkling, another young teen girl nodding with her.

“Oh, haha uh, this isn’t mine,” Rosemary replied sheepishly. “It’s actually his,” she continued, pointing to Wolfwood who did a casual wave at the mention of his name.

“What sort of strange crew have you accrued, Angel? Are they reliable or will they turn on you like our last girl and her man did?” Ruby asked with a thick layer of venom in her voice. 

“Hey, easy on the accusations. They aren’t ‘my crew’, they’re my friends, and frankly I’m following blondie over there, not the other way around. He’s a good guy, wouldn’t hurt me or any of you here even if he wanted to,” Rosemary replied, Vash doing his signature little peace sign in response.

“Peh, that’s what Annie said, and look what happened to her,” Ruby spat, Rosemary crossing her arms now.

“You’re gonna need to do some serious filling in on what’s going on, and maybe get an attitude adjustment, or I can’t, and possibly won’t, help you,” Rosemary replied, her expression darkening a little. She didn’t seem to notice the eyebrow raise and tiny smirk this exchange gave Wolfwood.

“Fine. Sit, I’ll explain proper,” Ruby grumbled, gesturing to the number of tables in the bar.

Rosemary sat across from Rebecca, Ruby, and a couple other women, pausing and looking over at the guys as they remained standing. She made a face and patted one of the chairs next to her, Wolfwood electing to sit next to her, with Vash on the other side of him. Ruby clearly wasn’t happy with any of this at all, judging by the firm line her lips made at this gesture, but had no sway in the matter.

“We have a big problem with one woman, Juliette. I’m sure you’ve noticed, there’s barely any men in town besides the couple here and they’re doing patrols, hanging outside of places, and lurking around corners. That’s her doing, she’s controlling them to report back to her,” Ruby started, Rosemary tilting her head at this. “She showed up a few months ago, working as a singer and eye candy for the inn at the other end of town, garner up business by looking pretty, the usual. The thing is though…it’s like the men who hear her become mindless. They do what she says but nothing else, they don’t recognize their own wives, children, mothers. They only see her.”

Rosemary’s eyebrows shot up at this, intrigued by all this and wondering how this woman was pulling it off. Wolfwood looked fascinated but troubled by this, Vash seemed unsure of what to make of it all based on his furrowed brow.

“So that’s why you said these two were at risk earlier,” Rosemary thought aloud, Rebecca nodding at this.

“I didn’t know if Juliette had approached them yet and was worried it was too late,” Rebecca stated.

“Would we know if she’d talked to us yet?” Vash asked, getting a bit of side eye from Ruby, which he ignored.

“Depends, have you seen any women walking around in an evening gown?” one of the other women piped up, all three of the newcomers shaking their heads. “Then no, we’re in the clear for now.”

“No doubt she knows you’re here regardless, so we’ll have to plan carefully,” Ruby sighed.

“You mentioned someone named Annie before, what’s that story?” Rosemary piped up, a couple of the women listening in looking away, the younger teen behind Rebecca making a face, Ruby getting a faraway, depraved look in her eyes.

“Annie…is that girl you saw on the gallows,” Rebecca said solemnly, Rosemary’s skin crawling as she recalled the sight, Vash looking horrified now, Wolfwood scowling as he stared at the table. “She…stood up to Juliette by herself because she wanted her newlywed husband back. Juliette used him like a puppet to…’make an example of her’, as Juliette put it” Rebecca trailed off, Rosemary feeling a drop of sweat run down her temple as a chill ran down her spine, her blood running cold. 

“She has Frank patrolling around the gallows too, unaware it’s his wife hanging there. It’s all like…some sick game to her,” one of the women seated at another table said with a small sob, getting an affectionate, sad hug from another lady. 

“His sister, Laura. Whole thing has really hurt her bad, as I’m sure you’d understand. We just want justice for Annie and to get rid of Juliette before she takes over our entire town, slowly killing us all off,” Ruby explained, Rosemary nodding and agreeing entirely. 

“I’ll need some info on how she’s got her viper’s nest set up so I can figure out the best way to get in there. Taking her down without some backup seems stupid so I’ll need you both with me, alright?” Rosemary thought aloud, looking at Vash & Wolfwood who both confirmed they understood her loud and clear.

“You’re going to charge in there with these two accompanying you?! Dammit, I knew you weren’t gonna be smart about this. That’s suicide! She’ll get them to turn on you!” Ruby barked angrily, Rosemary looking unimpressed by her words, leaning back and crossing her arms.

“I trust these two idiots with my life. If they take me out of this world, so be it. Better to die at the hand of someone I care about than to be shot by a stranger,” Rosemary retorted. 

She either didn’t notice or didn’t make it clear that she did, but Wolfwood tensed up a little at that comment. He didn’t bring attention to it, but somehow the idea of her dying bothered him, more than he expected. He felt like he needed to smoke after everything that'd occurred already but he had a feeling lighting one up at the table would just piss Ruby off even more. 

“I clearly can’t stop any of you, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” June sighed, resigning herself. Rosemary nodded at this and looked at her boys.

“Are you guys ready to take back a town?” she grinned at them eagerly.

_________________________

The trio left the saloon not too long afterwards, opting to walk to the hotel at the far end of town to not arouse too much attention with Cosmo. The three of them were chatting a bit for part of the walk when a natural lull in the conversation opened up, Wolfwood stepping in to change subjects.

“Hey uh…Rosemary? I gotta…look just c’mere,” he started, slowing down slightly, Rosemary following in suit. Vash glanced over his shoulder but didn’t ask, he already had a sense of what this conversation was going to be. He absolutely was eavesdropping though.

“I wanted to uh…apologize for…how I’ve been lately,” he mumbled, Rosemary’s eyebrows raising at this. “I can…I actually know why I’ve been like this but…I think it’d be better discussed after this job is over.”

Rosemary was a bit caught off guard by this. Her heart skipped a little at the extremely rare apologetic, awkward look he had on his face. It was something she didn’t think she’d get. She’d already resigned herself to just forgive him silently and leave the whole thing unresolved. Her demeanor shifted to a more upbeat one almost immediately. 

“I appreciate that so much, Wolfwood. Really, I do. I’m sorry for snapping at you and being cold too. Glad we can clear the air like this, even in the middle of a job where things could get hairy real fast,” she smiled back. 

“Remind me again what this color means?” Vash interjected, staring intently at the purple candy that Rosemary had given him.

“Do I need to make you a chart?” Rosemary sighed. “Purple is the one with worm-horse venom mixed into it. Kills anyone pretty quickly, nasty business. Don’t eat it.”

“Not a bad backup plan, giving her some sugar to knock her out and make our job easier. Could probably go get some food and drinks after this if it all goes well,” Wolfwood smirked, Rosemary nodding at that idea.

“Can we maybe not kill her unless we have to?” Vash groaned a little.

“That’s what the dark green one is for, Vashie. It’s like giving someone instant food poisoning,” Rosemary explained with a slight eye roll. 

“Again, probably one of the neatest things I’ve ever heard of and I want a stash to mess with people that annoy me,” Wolfwood grinned wide, Rosemary smiling sheepishly at the compliment.

“Feels kinda cruel to me, but I suppose it’s better than nothing,” Vash sighed. “And why do I get the feeling you’re talking about me?”

“Hey, just don’t eat either of them and you’ll be fine. If you give me both of ‘em back, I’ll make sure you get one of the few peppermints I’ve got left,” Rosemary grinned, Vash’s excited sparkly eyes at this promise making her laugh. “That extends to you too, Wolfie.”

Wolfwood paused at that, her favorite nickname for him was back. Verbal confirmation that she wasn’t mad at him anymore. The relief at that was real and bigger than he anticipated, but he didn’t mind it at all. Things between them were finally as they should be, teasing and casual and maybe a little flirty if you looked close. 

“I’ll hold you to that then, sweetheart,” Wolfwood said with a wink. Rosemary felt her face flush at this, and quickly prayed to God about how she hoped it wasn’t obvious…and how she thought he was cute but was not gonna let that slip anytime soon. 

They approached the part of town they were headed to and the atmosphere changed to a more serious, ‘on the job’ one. Vash poked his head out from around a corner and glanced around before signaling for Rosemary and Wolfwood to follow. They’d been given instructions on where the hotel Juliette liked to hole up in was located, and it seemed that the coast was clear for now. The hotel seemed to loom over them as they cautiously approached. Rosemary didn’t like the vibes she got from it almost instantly, the closed shutters, the unlit windows, the broken doors and windows…all of it seemed wrong..too obviously wrong. She couldn’t put her finger on it but she felt a tingle at the back of her neck that told her this was too easy of an approach. Rosemary’s instincts told her it was a trap, all of it was.

The gang spotted the men a second too late. They were descended upon quickly, so quickly that Wolfwood and Vash just barely had time to withdraw their pistols. Rosemary withdrew her sniper rifle into its sword mode but only just able to point it at a man’s neck before he had a revolver aimed at her head. All three of them were back to back in a triangular formation, Rosemary having the most guns and angry glares pointed at her. There were at least 2 dozen if not 3, they were severely outnumbered in this, and Rosemary did not like their odds, even if this was a fair fight. 

“Stay calm guys, we’ll get out of this,” Rosemary said quietly, mind racing on what plan would get them out of this predicament.

“I told you that Banana Split would’ve been a better plan,” Wolfwood hissed between the three of them.

“You’re the one that shot down Mango Tango!” Vash protested.

“And yet we went with Grapefruit Slice, which was doomed to fail since we didn’t even break off properly,” Rosemary sighed, both guys mean-mugging her but saying nothing because she was right.

A woman’s slow, belittling laugh came from the balcony on the second story, causing all three of the group to look up. Before them appeared a woman with red hair reminiscent of the oranges at sunset, deep emerald green eyes like that of the most precious gemstone, and pale skin like that of a porcelain doll. She was wearing a golden evening gown that seemed to glow and glisten in the sun like a pirate’s treasure trove. She looked down at the gang with a bemused smirk, leaning her arms on the balcony railing before speaking.

“Anyone want to explain what we have here?” she started, her voice sweet and calming.

“These three were spotted entering town a couple hours ago, your highness. We think those awful women up at Poor Richard’s hired them to try and take you down,” a tall man with tan hair piped up.

“Oh my, how dreadful! Why would they do such a thing?” the woman gasped, a bit overdramatically. 

“This pink haired, weird eyepatch lady is probably jealous o’ you, my lady!” another man spat, getting a couple of confirmation murmurs from the crowd. 

“Well you know what, I bet y’all are right! How’s about you get on outta here, lil missy, before someone gets hurt?” the woman said sweetly, the condescending undertone obvious.

“Cut the act, Juliette, let these guys go back to their families!” Vash called out, Juliette tilting her head at this.

“And why would I do that, mister? I’m just a lil lady who don’t mind some extra muscle to keep me company,” she replied back.

Rosemary could barf at how fake this innocent act this woman was putting on, especially knowing it probably worked on some of the guys present.

“You know it’s wrong to keep these men captive like this, you greedy harlot. You clearly aren’t happy or satisfied with what you have so you’re making others’ lives miserable or even killing them, for what? The knowledge you have control, the fleeting feeling you’re in control? It’s pathetic!” Rosemary yelled up, not bothering to hide her disgust and disdain at all. 

Juliette’s eyes narrowed at Rosemary’s remark. Her demeanor seemed to shift as she stood up fully. 

“Y’know what? I was gonna let you leave if you let me keep one of your cute boys, the blond one to be specific, cause he bears a VERY striking resemblance to someone I really want to impress. But I think I’ll just take both of ‘em instead. Maybe I’ll have them tie you to your horse after beating you half to death so you can go die in the desert like the animal you are,” Juliette spat, her true nature coming out finally. 

Without another word, Juliette started singing. It was a wordless melody, haunting and ethereal as it rang out across the crowd below her. Rosemary felt a tingling, almost burning feeling at the base of her skull, which made her wince but that was it. She looked over her shoulder in terror at the guys, starting to turn and look at them. Vash seemed…unaffected, unimpressed? His eyes looked the same, his angry gaze still locked on Juliette, pistol still aimed around at the guys surrounding them. Wolfwood however was a different story. His face was twisted into one of painfully fighting something off, clearly losing as the arm holding the pistol twitching as it slowly turned to be pointed at Rosemary. Her eyes widened in absolute horror, Vash also looking agape as his best friend was being controlled by this siren.

“R-run…” Wolfood managed to say before there was a shot fired from the revolver in his hand.

Rosemary felt the bullet whizz by her head as it missed and hit a man behind her, who howled in pain as the bullet grazed his ear, a sizable chunk missing out of it now. Vash didn’t hesitate to start shooting into the crowd, several of the men screaming as guns were shot out of their now bloodied hands and wrists. Rosemary froze, something she didn’t usually do in the throes of a gunfight. But seeing the eerie, empty coldness in Wolfwood’s eyes threw her off immensely. Vash grabbed her and made a break for it, just managing to snag the now discarded Punisher as Rosemary got her feet under her and joined in the mad dash. Bullets started raining down after them, thankfully all missing as the duo ran for cover in the next building over. The hailstorm of bullets stopped almost as soon as it started, the gunfire ceasing as soon as Vash and Rosemary made it into the abandoned house. Juliette clicked her tongue in irritation, glancing down at Wolfwood with disdain.

“I didn’t get Vash the Stampede for Knives, but at least I got someone I can use to my advantage,” she grinned maliciously.

_____________________________

Vash and Rosemary ducked and jumped through windows, holes in walls, even dashing across the street at one point, just to get out of the line of fire. They both ducked behind a partially broken brick wall and panted, breathless. Rosemary clenched her fist and hit it against the wall angrily, Vash looking at her but saying nothing as she stared at the ground in frustration.

“How could I let this happen? Why did I take this damn job? Why did she have to snatch Wolfwood away from us?!” Rosemary growled angrily. “And why weren’t you affected too! I should be dead right now!” she spat, turning to look up at Vash, not noticing the angry tears she had starting to fall down her face.

“I don’t know. It’s probably related to the fact that I’m an Independant, I guess her siren song only works on human men,” Vash theorized, Rosemary hesitating before looking away again.  

“We have to get him back. Even if we have to kill her, we’re getting him back, no matter what,” Rosemary said through angry, gritted teeth.

“Hey! We ARE gonna get him back, but you need to clear your head! You’re gonna die out there if you just shoot while full of blind rage, you know that!” Vash said firmly while grabbing her shoulders, his eyes angrier than she’d ever seen them. The depths of the fury she could see just burning behind his eyes scared her. She’d never actually been afraid of Vash, not for real. 

“…I could say the same thing to you,” she mumbled, his brow furrowing more at that before he sighed and nodded.

“Yeah…yeah, I know,” he admitted, rubbing his forehead a little.

“What’s got you so mad, you’re usually just frustrated or annoyed when stuff like this happens?” she asked hesitantly, Vash glancing over at her before looking up at the sky.

“She mentioned something about wanting to impress someone that looks like me. I’d bet anything that’s Knives, and if she attracts his attention and gets him here…I can’t guarantee anyone that’s in this town will see the suns tomorrow. That includes you and Wolfwood both, which absolutely terrifies me,” he admitted, Rosemary’s eyes widening as she understood fully what he meant. 

There was a pause as both of them meditated on their respective thoughts, Vash’s gaze at the sky above while Rosemary studied the ground below. At some point, Rosemary’s gaze lifted to the Punisher and then the buildings nearby, spotting a church with a large bell hanging in the tower. A plan started to form in her mind, a good plan even, if they could pull it off.

“What do you wanna bet that the church bells would counteract her sound since it’s gonna be louder and more resonating?” Rosemary thought aloud, gesturing to the church. Vash looked where she pointed before grinning a little.

“I’d bet you 3 peppermint sticks or a whole box of donuts,” he grinned, Rosemary standing up and holding out her hand to him.

“Let’s go lure in a siren and get the church bells a-ringin’,' she smirked, Vash taking her hand and standing up.

They cautiously looked around before booking it across the way, making it into the church with no issue. It wasn’t very big, the bulk of it made for the chapel with two rooms in the back and the stairs leading up to the bells in the tower. Vash had run up the stairs to check, shaking his head as he came back down.

“No good, someone cut the ropes to make them ring, we’re either gonna have to have someone up there to ring them manually or think of a better solution,” he groaned, Rosemary swearing under her breath at the news.

“She probably already thought of this which means we’re probably onto something. Maybe if we get her to come here with the posse, one of us can be in position and shoot the bell? How heavy was it?” Rosemary suggested.

“It wasn’t the biggest church bell I’ve ever seen, I bet a bullet or two would do the trick if we can’t ring it manually,” Vash said while holding his chin in thought. Rosemary nodded at that, a plan laying itself out before them.

“Alright. I got a way to stall them after we get them here to give you time to get up there or to be able to shoot it.”

“Wanna fill me in on that?” Vash asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Sure, I’m gonna call her bluff,” she grinned, hoisting the Punisher over her shoulder and gesturing to it.

“Do…you even know how to use that? Did the church guys show you at all?” Vash asked with a cautious tone. 

“Nah, but I’ve seen Wolfie use it enough and I get the idea on how it works. I wanna scare her into doing something stupid that gives us an opening,” she shrugged.

Vash groaned and made a face before sighing. “Just don’t get us all killed, okay?”

“I promise, Vash,” she replied with a wink.

“And yet, I am not confident this will go smoothly,” he muttered back.

They split up not too long after this, Vash going back to the dilapidated hotel and standing in front of it. A couple of men were alerted to his arrival and passed it along. Juliette was on the balcony not too long after, Wolfwood right beside her, the lifeless cold stare in his eyes. Vash’s eyes narrowed at this, though he thought he could spot Wolfwood’s hands and eyebrows twitching a little, which Vash took to mean his friend had been fighting against the control this entire time. That broke his heart a little but he didn’t show it openly. 

“Decided to trade yourself willingly for your friend did you? That’s sweet, noble even. Unfortunately, I like his spunk, he’s broken out of my control at least three times already, broke one of my boy’s noses downstairs while trying to get out,” Juliette taunted, leaning against Wolfwood as she spoke. “It’s a shame you didn’t bring the girl with you too, I learned some VERY interesting information about how he feels about her. Makes me want to use him to take her out of this mortal coil specifically. Poetic justice and all, y’know?” she continued, smirking down at Vash maliciously.

Vash grimaced a little at what Juliette said, all of it was distressing in some sense. He was glad Rosemary wasn’t here for this too, the whole thing made him feel gross and she’d probably be enraged, which was the point. The fact that she’d gotten Wolfwood to spill about his attraction to Rosemary made Vash nervous though, as he was sure that was going to come up in any showdowns or face offs they would inevitably have. 

“I’m not turning myself into your gross, desperate hands. I’m back to issue a challenge for a duel,” Vash said with a raised eyebrow. 

“Hah, do you take me for a real fool? I know who you are, Vash the Stampede, a duel with you means a guarenteed loss,” Juliette scoffed with a toss of her hair.

“Oh I’m not the one dueling, I’m just delivering the message since you won’t shoot me on sight. Rosemary wants to duel you, for him,” Vash explained, pointing at Wolfwood. Juliette looked interested and leaned on the balcony’s railing.

“Any weapons, or just old fashioned quick draw?” Juliette pressed.

“Any weapons. Where’s the fun in a quick draw when we all know that’d be over in an instant? Gonna have a duel, might as well make it flashy,” Vash smirked, Juliette laughing confidently at this.

“Interesting! Very interesting. I accept, we meet at the top of the hour! I’ll make a grand, bloody spectacle of your precious pink haired girl,” Juliette announced, Vash looking a little irritated before nodding his head and taking off again.

Juliette turned to Wolfwood with a cocky smirk. “I know you can hear me in there. I’m gonna kill your precious little lady and make you watch. Or maybe I’ll cripple her and make you kill her slowly with your bare hands,” she sneered, Wolfwood’s fist clenching tightly and expression shifting to one of seething, palpable hatred. He started to reach into one of the inner breast pockets of his jacket, which got her eyes to narrow. 

“I’m gonna enjoy seeing you dead in the dirt, you bitch,” Wolfwood growled, Juliette scowling and singing a simple melody to get him back under her full control.

“How are you breaking out of my song so much? This makes no sense,” she thought aloud, not getting a response from him. 

She had him show her what he was getting out of his pocket, expecting a knife, a small pistol, some sort of weapon. Her eyebrows raised when it was a small, unassuming piece of purple candy.

“Where’d you get this?” she asked bluntly, looking at it with interest.

“Rosemary gave it to me earlier. She makes candy for fun and gives some to me and Vash sometimes,” he replied in a hollow, empty tone. Juliette looked fascinated and pocketed it for herself, muttering about eating it later. The corner of Wolfwood’s mouth twitched into a smirk when she wasn’t looking. 

_________________________________

Rosemary spotted Vash booking it back with a thumbs up. She smirked and nodded, grabbing the Punisher as her friend returned.

“We have just a few minutes! I’ll get into position, you’re sure you got this?” Vash called out as he ran up to Rosemary.

“I can stall, don’t worry. I made sure to block off all points of entry to the bell tower besides the stairs. If she tries to keep you from going up there with some of her puppets, they’re gonna have to work for it,” Rosemary nodded confidently. Vash nodded and dashed off again, leaving Rosemary alone for the couple minutes before showtime.

The duel was taking place a street over and a couple blocks down from the church. The bell was in view but it wasn’t front and center, which they hoped would be enough for the temptress to not realize their plan. Rosemary was sitting inside an abandoned house just off the road before stepping out into the street, Juliette approaching now with a posse of men behind her, Wolfwood standing beside her. Rosemary had to ignore the pang that her heart made seeing him like that. Even from a ways away, she could tell by his body language that it wasn’t him in control, which hurt and angered her greatly. She gripped the strap of the Punisher she was holding onto a little tighter, channeling her emotions best she could. Juliette spoke soon after.

“Where’s Vash? Thought he’d wanna see his friend be brutally gunned down,” Juliette taunted with a bitter laugh, Rosemary scowling at that.

“He had something else to attend to. Plus, you’re not worth enough to warrant his time,” Rosemary spat back, Juliette scowling at those words.

“Your confidence is adorable. Prepare yourself however you like, this will only end in your death,” Juliette taunted.

“Gladly,” Rosemary said, sliding her eyepatch off, letting it fall to the ground effortlessly.

Removing her signature eyepatch revealed a softly glowing mint green iris, the rest of the eye unnaturally dark, almost black. It was clearly artificial, cybernetic in nature, a strange contrast to the rest of her appearance. Rosemary activated it and was able to scan the red head, locating information about how the woman in the evening gown was armed but with a single gun and a knife hidden under her dress by her ankle. The lack of firepower made Rosemary suspicious but she didn’t give it away. Juliette frowned but said nothing at Rosemary’s actions as she withdrew a high caliber pistol from behind her back. Rosemary smirked and unveiled the Punisher in one dramatic fell swoop, similar to how Wolfwood did it. Rosemary couldn’t see it, but his eyebrow raised for a second. 

“What on earth is THAT?” Juliette blurted out, Rosemary smirking wide as she gripped the Punisher and had it aimed at Juliette.

“It’s my good friend there’s gun. You were stupid enough to let me have it,” Rosemary grinned back wickedly, Juliette glancing at Wolfwood before glaring back at Rosemary.

“Ah yes, the priest. Tell me, are you really just friends with him? Because I happen to know that he…” Juliette started, pausing as she gave a knowing, crooked smile. “Well…let’s just say he thinks so highly of you that I’m surprised you’re just friends. I’d say well…he wants to see you as more than that.”

Rosemary was completely caught off guard by this, her mouth and expression slack. 

“Wh…what?” she managed to say, Juliette smirking wickedly.

“You heard me right. I got him to open up to me, thanks to my powers of suggestion. Gotta say, he was thinking of telling you how he felt after all this was over. Too bad you’ll be bleeding out in the dirt before he can confess his feelings,” she smirked with a condescending glare.

Rosemary started to speak when gunshots rang out and she felt searing pain in her shoulder and lower leg, causing her to stumble a little as she took it. One of the men in Juliette’s posse had shot her from the doorway of a building.

“You cheating, dirty bitch,” Rosemary growled, faltering a little as she gritted her teeth.

“All’s fair in love and war, and this saga has elements of both,” Juliette scoffed callously.

Rosemary had enough by now, twisting the skull shaped grip of the Punisher in a way she’d seen Wolfwood do it before. The gun clicked as it shifted into a firing position, the inner mechanisms starting to glow. Rosemary knew she’d activated the laser part of the Punisher now, the untrained hand set it to build up the charge slowly. She swung the Punisher up onto her good shoulder and positioned it on her back so she’d get a clean shot out onto Juliette. 

But before the Punisher was finished charging, before a shot from either side could be fired…the church bells rang.

Juliette’s eyes widened in sheer horror and terror as this happened. The men were rubbing their temples, shaking heads, rubbing eyes as the fog controlling their minds cleared. Juliette tried to back away but in an instant, she was surrounded and tackled to the ground by the men who lived in town. Rosemary gasped as this happened, she struggled to move the Punisher so it wouldn’t hit the crowd. Wolfwood was in a daze for a second, but he saw her struggling and started to make a mad dash for her, but her releasing her grip on the grip while moving the gun caused the mechanism to trigger, the partially charged laser began to go off. She swept her unhurt leg out into a sharp pivot and caused it to sweep across the bottom of a two story building nearby. She couldn’t run from the falling, dilapidated wooden building as it fell towards her and came down with a thunderous crash.

“ROSEMARY!” Wolfwood yelled out with throat tearing force, terror and shock in his voice. Vash came running into view just to see the building fall, swearing loudly as he continued to run over.

The dust hadn’t even settled when the guys were scrambling and desperately digging through the debris. The crowd of men were either staring or were holding Juliette down, a makeshift gag made out of a bandana stuffed in her mouth now. A few started to hustle over to assist the strangers as they searched for the nurse…or possibly what was left of her. Vash wasn’t too far away from Wolfwood and could see the clear panic and fear on his face as he was furiously shoving rubble out of the way. Vash froze for a second as he’d never seen his friend this stressed about someone else besides the times Vash had been in a really tight spot. The sight made his heart hurt and fueled him to search with even more urgency. 

The dust started to clear a little and someone whistled loudly, Vash and Wolfwood’s gaze snapping over to see the Punisher sticking out a little from the rubble. Both of them started to scramble over to it, as if it was a shining beacon in the dark or a lighthouse in a storm. The Punisher was embedded in the ground at an angle, one of the gun’s sharp right angles creating a sort of barrier for a large beam and bits of wall that had fallen on or around it. The Punisher being at an angle was the only thing keeping Rosemary from being completely crushed. She did have some fallen debris on her, but it wasn’t large enough to pin her, thankfully. The guys reached her at about the same time, Vash and another couple guys hoisting a chunk of wall off of the Punisher.

“Rosemary, can you hear me?!” Wolfwood called out as he approached. Wolfwood snatched the Punisher out of the ground before digging Rosemary out from under the rubble bits that she was underneath. Wolfwood held her with one arm behind her back as he knelt with her. She was warm but unresponsive, a combination that was unfavoravble. The sight of her limp body, combined with bleeding from a gash in her head made his heart sink, his blood run cold. 

“Hey, hey, talk to me Rosemary, c’mon,” he pleaded, his voice thick with emotion as he held her close. He put an ear to her chest, listening for a pulse and breathing, hearing something but it was fainter than he’d like. “Shit! Does this damn town have a doctor, a hospital, something?!” he shouted desperately, a mix of frustration and dismay coloring every aspect of him.

A gaggle of women who’d heard the church bell and the crash of the building came running up. A small crowd was gathering around the scene now, men, women, and children alike. A few kids were now running up to their dads, wives searching for their husbands in the mix, the sounds of happy reconnection were filling the air around the destroyed building. It all was so bittersweet for Wolfwood that he felt sick, he couldn’t take pleasure in these people’s relief and jubilation, not with the limp body of Rosemary in his arms. A few folks who had medical training came forward and rushed off with the pink haired girl towards a house that also had a clinic operating out of it. Wolfwood watched them go with a forlorn, beaten look about him, which quickly turned to white hot anger as he turned to see a disheveled Juliette being led away by the local sheriff deputy.

“You damn, awful excuse for a woman! I’ll kill you for everything you did to me and for taking her from me!!” Wolfwood roared as he tried to charge at her, only stopping because Vash tackled him and held him back.

The deputy with Juliette froze and turned, his eyes having the dazed look that the guys knew too well. She had the most smug, vile look of contempt on her face as she sneered at them. She was getting into a car that the deputy had arrived in and Wolfwood struggled to get Vash off him.

“Let go of me! She’s gonna get away with this, all of it!” Wolfwood roared, Vash growling as he was physically restraining his friend.

“You’re going to tear her to pieces or get hypnotized again and God knows where you’ll go after that! I can’t let that happen!” Vash yelled back, Juliette winking maliciously as she popped a familiar purple candy in her mouth.

Vash and Wolfwood’s expressions shifted immediately. Vash looked horrified and his grip on Wolfwood loosened, while Wolfwood looked shocked but it quickly shifted to a cocky smirk. Juliette didn’t seem to notice this as she began to turn away, but then…stopped. She was frozen in place as she began to clasp at her throat, horrible gagging and choking noises coming from her as her mouth began frothing at an alarming rate. She collapsed to the ground and was clawing at her throat while thrashing on the ground like a rabid animal, eyes rolled back in her head as her body seized. As soon as it started, it was over. The deputy rubbed his eyes and shook his head before looking at the fresh, warm body of the woman on the ground at his feet.

“What…the HELL…just happened? Who made that and what was in it?!?” he asked with a bewildered, almost fearful voice.

“Rosemary, worm-horse venom,” was the reply he got in unison from Wolfwood and Vash.

The deputy stared at them for a bit before scratching his head and sighing.

“Well…suppose she wasn’t gonna let us prosecute her without a literal gag order. We’ll take care of the debris clean up fellas, go check on the girl that stopped this mess,” he said with a wave of his hand. “I won’t get after her either since she stopped this…monster of a woman. Consider us even.”

He didn’t have to tell them twice. They were both off in the direction the house clinic was set up in before the deputy was completely finished talking. It was a bit of a ways away from the scene, maybe a good two minute walk if the guys had stopped to measure it. But they didn’t, they were too busy hauling it, both practically racing each other to get there first. They both ended up slamming into the back door (aka the clinic entrance) face first and falling backwards comically. The loud thud caused a lady to open the door and look at them with some surprise since they were in a bit of a heap on the ground, but they were back on their feet shortly. 

“She’s stable but she’s still unconscious,” was all they were told before the lady walked away again, leaving the door open to them. Wolfwood looked defeated at this, Vash patting him on the shoulder.

“C’mon, let’s go wait for her to wake up, you got some scratches on your face anyway,” Vash said as he walked into the house clinic.

Wolfwood touched his jaw and winced a little at the sharp pain that followed, noting the drops of blood that were on his fingertips now. He didn’t even realize he had a small gash and some other scratches on his face that occured while hunting through the debris. The lady from before patched up Wolfwood shortly after, both guys sitting in the living room and chatting while they waited for updates on their beloved nurse friend.

“How’d that singer lady get her hands on Rosemary’s purple candy, anyway?” Vash wondered aloud, Wolfwood not bothering to hide a small, vengeful grin at that. Vash just sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Is it so much to ask for you to not kill people?” 

“Yes it is, Spikey, I’m not having this conversation with you again, not right now. I’m too tired and too concerned about her to argue,” Wolfwood groaned back, starting to go to light a cigarette but stopping when he got a very gnarly scowl from a nurse walking through the living room. He sighed and stood up to smoke on the porch. “Come get me as soon as they say anything.”

Vash nodded and watched his friend go, a small, worried look clear on his face. Wolfwood walked out, leaned on the porch railing and barely registered the movement of people going in and out behind him. The only things he really could have a solid grasp on was the cigarette in his mouth, and how awful he felt inside. He could still feel Rosemary’s limp body in his arms, the sight of her blood trickling down her face and starting to mat her hair reappearing over and over. The whole thing made his stomach churn a little, which threw him off. It’s not like he’d never seen blood before, never seen allies fall to the wayside as this planet took its toll. But…she was special to him, similar to Vash but on a different level. She had become irreplaceable. He ran a hand through and sighed heavily, a cloud of smoke accompanying it.

“Damn it all…” was all he could mutter to himself.

He got lost in his aimless, meandering thoughts as he stood there and smoked, uncaring about how much time passed. He barely awknowledged the person trying to get his attention until they yelled in his ear. He angrily turned to look to see Rebecca again, who had a grumpy look on her face. It quickly dissolved into a small knowing grin though, the four words she said next were exactly what he was dying to hear.

“She’s asking for you.”

Wolfwood barely gave himself the time to flick his cigarette away before going back inside. He wasted no time getting to the room Rosemary was in, appearing in the doorway and hesitating as he took in how she was faring. She was hooked up to an IV and had some bandages where she’d been shot and where the gash in her head was. Vash was sitting next to the bed talking to her when Wolfwood arrived, almost slamming the door open, both of them stopping to look up at him. Wolfwood could’ve swore he saw her eyes get brighter upon seeing him, which made his heart skip.

“Hey Wolfie,” Rosemary smiled, her voice tired and a little weak. Wolfwood couldn’t hide the smile on his face upon hearing her.

“I told you to come get me when there was news!” Wolfwood huffed as he entered, his tone half joking. 

“They rushed me in here as soon as she woke up!” Vash fake protested, the whole thing making Rosemary giggle a little.

“Guys, guys, it’s okay! We all made it in one piece and that’s what I care about,” she smiled. “I do think that…Wolfie and I need to discuss some things though.”

“Yeah…yeah we probably do,” Wolfwood sighed, scratching the back of his head.

“Aaaaaand I’m not sticking around for that,” Vash said as he got up to leave, giving a small wink as he did. Wolfwood smacked his shoulder playfully with a smirk before properly turning to Rosemary and sitting in the chair next to the bed that Vash was just occupying.

“So uh…all of that was…interesting,” Rosemary started, Wolfwood nodded as ge clasped his hands together, forearms resting on his knees.

“Yeah…I don’t think I’d choose to go through that again,” he sighed. 

“Were you…in there and…aware the whole time?” she asked tenatively.

“Mhmm. Heard and saw all of it, was fighting against her the whole time. It’s not a pleasant experience…to have someone in your head and you’re practically watching yourself say and do things against your will,” he mumbled, looking at his hands as he spoke. 

“I understand that more than you know…” she mumbled, touching her eyepatch with her fingertips.

He was dying to know what she meant by that, but based on the solemn expression on her face…he knew he couldn’t. She’d tell him someday, he was sure of it. But not now, there were other things they needed to address, things that made him incredibly nervous to bring up but…they’d been brought to light against his will, leaving them undiscussed would be unwise.

“So about…what Juliette said about…me and you,” he started, picking at his fingers awkwardly and unable to look up at her fully.

“Yeah…about that…” she replied sheepishy, fidgeting with the sheets of the hospital cot. “I…okay, I’m just gonna be blunt. If I keep dancing around how I feel about you, I’m gonna go insane,” she started, his eyes raising a little at that, finding her gaze was intently on him and he couldn’t look away now. “If I understand what she said correctly…I believe things might be…mutual,” she admitted, turning slightly pink and glancing away as she said it.

He immediately sat up straighter. This was an unexpected confession from his perspective, and that made him sit as still as a statue for a moment. She couldn’t look him in the face after saying that, but the silence was deafening. She eventually trailed her eyes back to his and only saw a mixture of disbelief and awe at this.

“Wolfie, if you don’t say something, I’m gonna take it back,” she said semi-sarcastically with a sigh. He blinked hard at this before tilting his head a little, a corner of his mouth going up.

“Mutual, huh? So the playful teasing and light flirting we keep doing was real, huh?” he joked, trying desperately to hide how warm his ears felt and how much his heart was racing. 

“I’m serious, Wolfie. The thought that you might even sort of feel the same as how I feel about you…” she started before pausing as she tried to figure out how to speak her mind. “It’s wild and lovely and I want it. I want it to be mutual so badly!” she blurted out and buried her face in her hands, feeling her face and ears heat up rapidly. 

There was a moment of silence before she dared to peek between her fingers at him. She was greeted with a big, dumb, toothy smile that made her heart skip.

“That’s something we can both agree on, Rosie,” he grinned wide. 

“How are you not embarrassed or flustered right now?!” Rosemary groaned a little, getting him to laugh.

“Because I’m too stoked that the gal I’ve been crushing on is interested too, duh!” he teased back. 

“You’re so mean, I’m not giving you any peppermint candy,” she said with a laugh.

“Did Vash already get one?!” Wolfwood protested. 

“Yeah, he gave me back the poison candy. You didn’t,” she raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“I can’t, I used it. Well, Juliette took it from me and ate it but still.”

That revelation got Rosemary to pause. She hadn’t heard anything about Juliette’s fate so she had no idea. 

“I assumed she got arrested or something…” she mumbled as she processed this. 

“Nope. Your little poisoned gift to me earlier was a life saver. Well, maybe not for her but-“ Wolfwood started before Rosemary gasped at that last part.

“Wolfie! That’s so mean!” Rosemary laughed. 

“Hey, she deserved it! She made me talk about my feelings for you against my will and kept talking about making me kill you. Seems fair I took her out indirectly,” he said with a smirk and a shake of his head.

“She…she wanted to make you kill me?” she breathed quietly.

“Mhmm. I think she wanted to force me to strangle you if possible. Make me use my hands to take your life instead of protecting it like I want to,” he replied with a somber tone.

“…Were you scared or worried about me?” she pressed.

“You know damn well I was,” he said, grabbing her hand as he spoke.

“Heh, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. You do apparently like me a lot,” she chuckled, squeezing his hand back. “But I also…I wanted to shoot her in the face as soon as I realized she’d gotten you. No hesitation, no second thoughts, I wanted to destroy her,” Rosemary admitted, sheepishly rubbing her neck with her free hand.

“That is so incredibly attractive,” he blurted out, which made her pause, blush more, and laugh a bit, in that order.

He leaned over and gave her a hug. It was the first time they’d really been physically affectionate with the other, so it was a little awkward at first. But they readjusted how they were holding each other and it felt very natural for both of them after that. Like this was meant to be, how things were supposed to go. Burying her face in the crook of his neck felt so right, as did wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She could feel his heart beating fast as well as hear her own in her ears as it felt like it might burst.

“So are we like…gonna date now?” she mumbled as she thought aloud.

“If you’re interested, I wouldn’t say no to that idea,” he murmured back quietly. 

“Well shoot…guess we’re dating now,” Rosemary giggled as she leaned back and looked at him. “What a wild thought that is.”

“Yeah…yeah, huh. This is…something, that’s for sure. Thought for sure you just had a flirty personality or something,” he smirked.

“Oh please, have you SEEN how I am with the strangers we see on our little road trip?” she laughed heartily. “You’re special, let’s just leave it at that for now.”

“Heh, alright then, sweetheart,” he replied.

“Oh! We can do more silly nicknames now that we’re dating!” she gasped with elation. 

“You better believe it, cutie,” he smirked with a wink.

“Wow, you aren’t hesitating at all, huh?” she giggled back.

“Have no reason to pretend or fake it anymore. Might as well go for it,” he grinned.

There was a thud at the door as it slid open and Vash came tumbling in with Rebecca and her other teenaged friend all in a heap. They’d all clearly been eavesdropping on the conversation between the newly established couple.

“VASH, WHAT THE HELL?!?” Wolfwood immediately protested, letting go of Rosemary and standing up looking a bit embarrassed.

“SORRYSORRYSORRY!!” Rebecca immediately cried out as the trio were getting up. “Vash started it and we got curious!”

“I wanted to see if I won my bet with Meryl again! I didn’t wanna owe her anymore money!” Vash whined.

“…Did you call it right?” Rosemary piped up.

“No…” Vash sighed. “Why did you have to confess first, Wolfwood? You that impatient to kiss her or something?” 

Vash made a funny noise as Wolfwood smacked him upside the head. Rosemary shook her head with a small smile and sighed as Wolfwood continued to be loudly irritated with Vash. 

“At least that’s the same,” she quietly said to herself. She was filled with the reassurance that her life was only gonna get better because of her two idiots.

Well, her idiot boyfriend and the idiot they followed around to be specific.