Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Midvalley's Serenade ❯ The Limits of Men and Angels ( Chapter 44 )

The Limits of Men and Angels

In the aftermath of the shooting that ended Zazie's life, it was Vash the Stampede who dug a grave, placed the body in it and covered it up with rocks and sand. I stood with Legato and watched from a hotel room that overlooked the main street of Keybas.

I observed the gunman through the window as he lashed a makeshift cross together, marked the grave with it, and stood beside it weeping. I'd never seen anyone shed so many tears for a murderer. He should have been celebrating that there was one less on the planet, I thought cynically. Not that I thought that I was any better---I knew I wasn't. Still I wondered if I died, would Vash be weeping just as melodramatically over me?

I laughed to myself with some bitterness at the thought, then wondered who would truly mourn my passing. Nick and Hot Lips were the only two who came to mind.

It bothered me not knowing if my father was alive or dead, but the idea upset me so much that I didn't want to think about it. As for Nick, the emotion I felt through my empathic link to him was pain. I sighed.

The sound roused Legato though he could not pull his eyes away from his contemplation Vash the Stampede's distress.

"Perhaps an assignment would keep your mind off your troubles," he said.

Outside by Zazie's grave, the short insurance girl, tugged at the sleeve of Vash's coat and managed to lead him away.

"What a pity," said Legato with a slight smile, "I was enjoying that."

He watched Vash the Stampede until he was out of sight, then turned to me.

"Master Knives will be expecting our reports," he said, and was just about to add something else when there was a tap on the door.

I opened it and was surprised to see one of the kids who'd been at the orphan's hideout with Zazie.

"Ah, I've been expecting you," said Legato.

The youth pushed passed me. He held a large envelope in his hands and offered it to Legato.

"What's this?" he asked the child.

"Zazie's briefing packet. I thought it would be better if it didn't get into Vash the Stampede's hands."

"Very good. Anything more?"

"I planted the information about the disappearances in Tonim Town yesterday and mentioned the mysterious voice I'd heard to Vash The Stampede. You should have seen the look on his face. He took the bait all right. What a sucker. I just heard him tell the insurance girls that he was heading for Tonim Town, so I came here to let you know."

"What happened with the priest?" asked Legato.

"He rented a motorcycle. He told me he would wait outside town and follow them at a safe distance."

"What was his state of mind?" asked Legato with a glance at me.

The boy answered, "I couldn't tell."

"That was expected. He is difficult to read. All in all, good work," said Legato, "and your disguise was impeccable. Even the Hornfreak didn't recognize you."

I gave the boy a closer look and was surprised when I finally placed him as one of the students in a strategy and tactics class.

The boy moved to leave but turned and said, "Zazie told me before he died that there are plans in the works to re-open Evergreen's Academy. Is the rumor true, Master Legato?"

"Master Knives has already set things in motion to start it up again, even better than before," said Legato.

This was news to me.

The boy seemed pleased as he left.

I heard the sound of a motor revving outside and saw the short insurance girl maneuver the vehicle that Nick had been driving the day before down the main street. Her partner, Millie, sat in the front passenger seat. Vash the Stampede was in the back, shoulders slumped in depression.

I saw the child exit onto the street and wave as the sedan passed by.

"Bye, Mr. Stampede!" shouted the boy with a big show of friendliness.

The greeting roused the gunman from his gloom momentarily, and he waved back.

The kid really was a hell of an agent.

"When are we leaving?" I asked Legato.

"Not for a while. I too must write a report and I expect some change in instructions from my master. It occurs to me that you'd better find Caine. I want him in position before Vash the Stampede arrives in Tonim Town. As for the Evergreen, I believe he is waiting for additional orders from Master Knives."

I left the room carrying Silvia's case. When I got to street level, I headed up the boardwalk in search of a bar, my best bet at finding Caine.

The streets were full of wagons and crews still removing the carcasses of sandworms and the bodies of those that we had killed the night before. The people of the town had barred the gates of the city to prevent just such catastrophes. Now that the worst had happened, with the walls destroyed by the giant worms and half the population dead, the citizens of Keybas no longer seemed to care about a few strangers in their midst.

I walked up to the doors of Gentleman Gene's Tavern and saw Caine sitting with Chapel the Evergreen at a booth in a quiet corner. I walked over and addressed the sniper, "Vash the Stampede is headed for Tonim Town. Legato wants you in place before he arrives."

Caine nodded, stood up and walked out of the room so quietly that no one in the saloon seemed to notice his passing.

"Does Legato have any instructions for me?" asked the Evergreen.

"He said you were expecting new orders from Knives."

"I was going to go wait at the wire office as soon as I finished this drink," he responded and lifted a whiskey glass to his lips and took a sip.

"Have you heard a rumor about the academy re-opening?" I asked him.

"I've already started the process," he said with a smile of satisfaction. "Just a few more days, and all this business with Vash the Stampede will be over for good."

"You have any students lined up?"

"That band of orphans has provided us with more than enough potential. I have made arrangements to take them under my wing. By the way, I have openings for full-time instructors in weapons range and in strategy and tactics. If you and Nicholas applied, I think the arrangement would be beneficial for the Academy and for the two of you as well."

I was glad he didn't see my shit-eating grin as he got to his feet, though I'm sure his infra-red implants took in my blush.

The idea of Nick and me as instructors sharing quarters at the academy---maybe it wouldn't be heaven on earth, but it was close enough.

"Think about it, Midvalley," he said, and left the saloon.

I slid into the seat that Caine had vacated.

A bar boy came to the booth and I ordered a brandy. He was back with it in moments. I took a sip and sighed as the alcohol hit home. I stretched my shoulders and began to relax a little.

After the prolonged stress of the past several months, a return to the academy sounded like a vacation. In fact, it sounded almost too good to be true.

There was still a hitch in the plans and that was Vash the Stampede.

Was I the only Gung-Ho Gun that had noticed how our ranks had thinned? And what the hell was going to happen with Nick? He couldn't act as Vash the Stampede's bodyguard from 300 yarz away. He was going to be reassigned for sure. I liked to think that he would just go straight to the academy, but I wondered if Knives' offer was bona fide.

Just like the kid had said about Vash taking the bait, I began to wonder if that's what the Evergreen had done. The preacher wasn't naïve, but still, I knew Knives a lot better than he did. I felt a cold chill of certainty realizing that Knives would never be satisfied until we all were dead. With that grim thought, I pulled paper and a pen out of my pocket and began to write.

Legato had been wrong when he suggested that writing about the mission would ease my distress. It only reminded me of its cause. I could still feel Nick's emotions and his mood was as dark as my own. I tried to send healing power through my link to him, but either his suffering was too great or I was so sunk in my own misery, I could not help him or myself.

I simply scratched my pen across paper and recorded the cold facts of the mission. The times, the places, the objectives attempted, the objectives achieved.

A little later, the bar began to fill up with customers and I saw a young man walk in through the doors carrying a bulky drumset. Another man about the same age followed him carrying an instrument in a case. He walked over to the proprietor who was tending bar and asked, "Hey, Benny, what do you say about me and Jesse playing tonight?"

"If you had three pieces, I'd think about it, Earl, but nobody wants to listen to a two-piece band and one piece is drums and the other is a bass. Shorty was your draw. No one played guitar like he did and I'm sorry he's dead, but it's not my problem."

"But we need the money."

"Sorry, kid, but it's a bar, not a charity. Find another musician who's half-way decent to sit in with you and I just might change my mind."

The exchange interested me, but I went back to my report writing just as one of the boys said. "You play, Mister?"

I kept writing, and I heard him ask again, "You play, mister?"

I looked up. He was standing at the bar, but he was talking to me.

"Yeah, I play," I responded.

"Is that your instrument?" he asked pointing at Silvia in her case in the booth next to me.

"Yeah."

"Do you want to play some music tonight?"

"I'm busy."

"You'll get paid," he said to me and then turned to ask the bartender, "won't he, Benny?"

"We don't know if he plays any good. I won't pay if he's no good," said the bartender in the background.

"Come on, mister, can't you play with us?"

I sighed. The thought of finding release from my emotions in Silvia was a god-send.

"Sure, kid," I said softly.

"You don't look real happy, mister. Did you lose someone in the massacre too?"

"Yeah, I lost someone."

I put the finishing touches on the report, folded it, and slid it into the inside pocket of my jacket. Then I unpacked Silvia and got ready to play.

Jesse was the name of the drummer. His energy reminded me of a young Lenny. Earl, the bass player was outgoing, the complete opposite of Toby. I liked their enthusiasm. They reminded me of me at the same age with that passion to make good music.

We hashed out a short list of songs for the first set. It didn't take long for Earl to tune to Silvia. After a couple of false starts where we got our signals crossed on the intro and I had a sick feeling of what have I got myself into, we swung into Five Moons Waltz. I only hoped the whole night wasn't going to be as bad as the first two minutes.

The first couple of songs are usually a little ragged anyway, when musicians new to each other's style play together for the first time. I had already decided that I was going to bow out after as gracefully as I could if things didn't get better fast. But the music improved. The fourth song was "G-string." Earl surprised me by playing the shit out of it and I had a horn solo in the middle that smoked. What audience there was in the saloon got excited and we got some whistles and spontaneous applause for how hot we played.

"Damn, that was good, Mister, what the hell is your name anyways?" said Earl.

"Same to you, Earl. Call me Player. Where'd you learn to drum like that, Jesse?" I asked.

"Oh, around," he said modestly and took out his brushes and improvised a kick-ass percussion lick to start off 'Moonsrise'. These boys could jam with the best.

The bass player's fingers slunk up and down the neck of his instrument while his right hand plucked out the deep vibrations. The drummer slid the soft brushes on the snare, and light taps on the thin crash cymbal to keep the rhythm simmering. Toby and Lenny would have liked the way they played. Silvia softly moaned the blues.

At the end of the first set, the three of us were bubbling with high spirits.

Benny the bartender said, "That was real good, the way you played that sax. You sound better than that guy who plays with the Midvalley Seven."

"Thanks," I said.

He slid another brandy across the bar to me, "On the house," he said. "Hey you know that song "Cocksure?"

"Sure do," I said with a grin. "That a request?"

"Yeah," he said with a smile. "Maybe it'll get some of these folks dancing."

"Cocksure?" Earl said, when I mentioned the request. "Check out this bass line," he said with a grin, and started the song off with a run of deep throbbing notes.

Jesse stepped up next with his drumsticks a blur. The rhythm he set was hot, primal and it caught me instantly. For the first time that night, I completely gave myself to the music and let the urgent sensual notes flow wild and free through Silvia's throat.

Sure enough the dance floor filled up and the house showed us their appreciation. I was starting to enjoy myself. Earl and Jesse knew most of the songs from Hornfreak Gold and the Midvalley Seven mini album and we played several them in the second set.

A few patrons came over during the break to ask for my autograph. I scrawled my signature on a few paper coasters. Midvalley the Hornfreak.

I wasn't half-way through the opening number of the third set, "Hell and Damnation" when I saw the audience getting restive and heard a worrisome sound of murmurs from the crowd.

I wondered if maybe more sandworms had been sighted near town.

When a beefy man in a plaid shirt and jeans stood up and said. "That guy is Midvalley the Hornfreak," I took my lips off Silvia's mouthpiece and Earl and Jesse stopped playing.

"I heard a sax play last night when my wife got killed," said the man in plaid.

"I heard wild crazy playing too," announced another voice. "I know it killed my boy, Sammy. I never saw so much blood from eyes, and nose and his ears and his mouth. He was only ten."

A voice from the back of the room called out, "That's how the Midvalley Seven died."

"Yeah and all those people in the saloon in Epril Town," growled Benny the bartender. "I heard it on the satellite. The story was the sax player just went crazy."

"Lighten up, this guy is just playing some music and he's damned good, " said Earl.

"You think it's just a fluke that we hear sax playing and people die---I saw his picture in the Daily Dish. This is the guy."

He lifted up the coaster with the autograph.

"He signed it just now" the man went on, "signed it, Midvalley the Hornfreak."

"Well, let's get the hell out of here then," said one of the bar girls.

There was a panicked flurry as several members of the crowd ran for the door but others stayed.

"I'm not afraid of this bastard," boasted a drunk with words slurring. "He killed my Emelina and it's time he pays the price."

"Someone get a rope…"a voice shouted.

"Yeah, let's string him up!"

A group of men closed in on me.

"Someone grab that sax of his!" shouted one of my attackers.

A group of men closed in on me, and a surge of black rage flowed through me. I laughed with scorn, took a deep breath, and let it flow through Silvia as my anger moved me. The thickening air slowed the movements of the men who tried to touch me.

I smiled darkly as they moved ever so slowly towards me, bloodlust in their eyes. The hatred in their faces changed to surprise as Silvia's high notes shrieked and squealed and dissolved the bonds between molecules and blood vessels burst in eyes, ears, noses, lungs and hearts of my attackers.

Legs wobbled, bodies lurched and dropped down lifeless in a slow motion dance of death. A hand on my shoulder surprised me and Silvia snarled as I whipped around and saw the drummer's hand slip from my arm. He sagged to the floor, reproach in his eyes as his body stilled in death. The bass player was already slumped limp and lifeless.

I took my lips from the mouthpiece and looked around me. Bodies everywhere. Where there had been music and laughter, there was now a profound silence. My anger was gone and what I felt in its place was a curious emptiness.

I heard the batwing doors of the saloon squeak open. Legato entered the room and looked around with great interest.

"I've always admired your thoroughness, Hornfreak. It's part of what makes you such an exceptional field agent. I was going to tie up these loose ends myself, but you saved me the trouble. You ought to write a post-script to your report before you wire it.

I think I was in a state near shock. Left to my own devices, I don't know what I would have done. But with Legato's soothing voice giving me directions, I picked up Silvia's case, packed her carefully, latched the case, and headed for the door. The rest of the night seemed to pass in slow motion.

Legato filed my report for me. He led me to the vehicle.

"I know you'll drive carefully, Midvalley," he said with his smooth persuasive voice. "Our destination is Tonim Town. You will not think of what happened in the saloon."

I nodded, and waited until Legato got into the passenger compartment. I took my place at the wheel, started the engine, and set the vehicle in motion.

There were only two moons out. With the visibility limited and the roads poorly marked, it took me over seven hours to get to the outskirts of Tonim Town. Even though I knew it was a ghost town, still to see it with the lights still burning made me expect to hear the usual noise and bustle of a town, but all I heard was drifting sand.

When I got out of the vehicle, Legato joined me, and a few minutes later, Chapel the Evergreen appeared.

"You must have received your response from Master Knives," commented Legato.

"Yes," responded the red-eyed preacher. "I met up with Caine and found out that the Stampede's party is at a hotel called the Tonim Townhouse. You can stay out of sight and still have a good view of the main street from the Plaza Hotel. If you use the rear entrance, you won't be seen."

"Very good. Have you seen Wolfwood yet?"

"Not yet."

"Odd," said Legato, but seemed unconcerned he walked off to follow the route that the Evergreen had pointed out. "Coming, Hornfreak?" he called to me over his shoulder.

I followed him into the hotel and to a room on the second floor that overlooked the plaza. A monument at the center of it bore the name Knives painted in red.

"I wonder where your friend, Wolfwood can have gotten to," said Legato. "He should have been here hours ago."

"If he's supposed to be here, I'm sure he'll show," I said.

"Your faith in him is commendable but still he is not here." Legato yawned. "I miss my morning coffee. Could you find me some please, Midvalley? Bring some sweets too. There must be some food in the pantry that is not spoiled."

I went down to the hotel kitchen and saw a black cat braced on the counter nibbling at a wedge of cheese. It didn't run away when I entered the room, but watched me warily with green eyes as I scouted the place. Except for some stale bread and spoiled fruit, there wasn't too much rotting food.

I found a bag of ground coffee standing open. Not too fresh, but it didn't smell bad, so I brewed some. While I was waiting for it to finish, I looked for sweets. There was no cheesecake, but I found a tin of cookies in the pantry. While I looked for a tray to put the food and coffee on, I opened one of the cabinet doors and found I was looking at a dumbwaiter. I almost wished I hadn't seen the thing. I remembered very well the first time I had ever used one and it brought back vivid images of the day that Nick and I made love for the first time.

I had an extreme physical reaction to the memory and had to sit down for a minute, my heart was beating so fast.

I wanted to be with Nick again. I could feel him through the link. He was quite near. I began to be in a hurry to get back to the room. I would probably get a glimpse of him soon.

I decided not to use the dumbwaiter. I finally found a tray and carried the food up to Legato's room.

He opened the door when I knocked with the toe of my wing-tip shoes.

"You're just in time," he said and gestured to the window. "Your faith was justified," he said.

I set the tray on the table, looked outside and saw Nick in the distance walking alongside a motorcycle that he guided with hands on the handlebars. It was clear his bike had another mechanical breakdown.

He stopped and parked the vehicle, set the Cross Punisher against the wall of a building, pulled out a toolkit, hunkered down and began wrestling with what looked like an oil filter. I wondered if it had sprung a leak.

I had to smile when I saw the look of disgust on his face when he tossed it away. Nick and his motorcycles. It brought back fond memories. I grinned. Whatever pain he'd felt the previous day, he'd pretty much snapped out of it, and seemed to be facing the day in a relatively good mood especially considering the breakdown of his bike. That was a relief. I hated to have to worry about him.

I heard Legato pouring coffee behind me. "Have a cup, Midvalley?" he offered.

"Thanks. I said. "I could use some. I'm a little tired."

"Not surprising," said Legato. "You've been up for over 36 hours straight."

I grimaced as I tasted the coffee. It had been a little stale and I missed the cream I liked to use to doctor the bitterness.

I looked out the window again and saw Chapel the Evergreen walk slowly up the dusty street towards his son. When Nick finally saw him, I felt a strong surge of worry through the link, and wondered what was wrong.

Nick stood up as his father approached. When the Evergreen finally stopped in front of his son, he pulled a green apple from his pocket and began to flip it up and down. I recognized the game as a reflex builder the Evergreen used to prepare students for the quickdraw contests at the academy. Nick made a few half-hearted attempts to grab the apple, but gave up.

I was sure he was sparing his father's feelings and didn't want to show the older man up. The Evergreen, as usual, seemed disappointed in his son. He talked a little, but didn't go on at length. Legato sidled up beside me and watched over my shoulder.

"Ah, the Evergreen must be telling Wolfwood about his new assignment."

I felt Nick's mood plummet through the link and knew that whatever the mission was, he hated it and it sure as hell wasn't weapons instructor at the academy.

Legato picked up on my emotions. He seemed sympathetic and said without preamble, "I know you'd like to help your friend, but if you and the priest are ever to be partnered again, you must let him accomplish this assignment on his own. Of course it is difficult, but have you ever known him to fail in a mission?"

Mission failure. What was the mission?

I didn't like where this was going. Then it dawned on me with utter clarity that while Vash the Stampede could weep over a murderer, he couldn't continue traveling in the company of one. If Nick couldn't operate in close proximity to Vash, it was obvious that he could no longer function as his bodyguard. Nick had lost his usefulness and Knives had reassigned him.

Mission failure? Oh, hell, I was sure as could be that his mission, like Zazie's, was to kill Vash the Stampede. But if that was the case, Nick was being set up to fail, and I knew it.

But God, I was tired. I needed to wake up. I took a big drink of the coffee and caught the sound of Legato's hypnotic voice behind me.

"You must have faith in the priest's skill," I heard him say. "And should you attempt to contact him with Vash the Stampede so close by, you could ruin everything. The element of surprise is all important. If you contact him, you could actually be endangering his life and your own."

Legato could make anything sound reasonable, but I had a feeling he was hiding something from me.

"Answer me this, Legato," I challenged him, for I was angry now. "Why did Knives pick Wolfwood for the mission and not me or you? I think Silvia would have a better chance of killing him than a bullet, and as for your powers, I think you could kill him easily."

"Master Knives has resources you cannot imagine and so does his brother. You flatter me and yourself to think that Vash the Stampede would fall victim to psionic power. He is sensitive to it and he can read me when I use it. But Wolfwood is different."

And I realized in that moment how he was different. Nick had always been opaque to psionic power except with me. Not even Legato had been able to penetrate his mind.

I began to be persuaded that Legato had the right of it.

He confirmed as much with what he said next, "I think you wondered at my inability to enter Wolfwood's mind. In truth, the only time I ever picked any feelings from him was through you and then only physical sensations and some emotion."

I swallowed a lump that lodged in my throat as I thought of Nick, now in pain and with his life in jeopardy.

"In any case that is why Wolfwood was chosen for the mission," Legato said lightly. "Chapel the Evergreen made the suggestion himself---the right tool for the job. And when the job is done, Knives is setting up the academy, bigger and better than ever. In the last briefing I had from Knives, he told me that the Academy will reopen soon. He even encouraged me to scout for new talent. As far as teaching staff goes, he expressed a desire to have Wolfwood designated as the primary weapons instructor and for you to be the primary instructor in strategy and tactics."

I felt a surge of relief when I heard Legato confirm the Evergreen's story.

It almost sounded plausible, yet I still had very strong doubts. I had thought some of this out the night before but I was so sleep-deprived, it was hard to follow the logical progression.

"Drink your coffee, Midvalley," said Legato. "It will clear your thinking."

I took another swig.

"And you believe this story he told you?" I asked.

There was still something about what Legato was telling me that felt wrong.

"Knives is not our merciful savior," I continued. "He has nothing but contempt for me, for you, for all humans."

"What you say was true in the past," Legato said gravely. "I did feel his contempt and hatred, but it was because I failed his test. I failed him when he needed me and he hated me for it. I thought I could have it two ways," he said. "But Master will see I have changed."

I listened silent while my fatigue-fogged brain struggled to understand.

"I tried to make my master jealous by reminding him of my feelings for you. He was right to be disgusted with me. I have seen how you are with Wolfwood. He would give his life for you, as you would do for him. I am ready now to make the supreme sacrifice to win my master's love."

His voice held the slightest tremor when he said that last phrase.

Legato was sharing the deepest truth of his heart with me.

"Supreme sacrifice?" I repeated and shook my head to ward off the torpor that got heavier by the minute.

I swallowed the rest of the coffee in the cup.

"He will reward his faithful servant," Legato said softly.

"He'll kill you, Legato," I said. "I saw your scars."

"He will love me," insisted Legato.

"That's not love," I said.

When had I seen the scars?

"Was it yesterday?" I said. I couldn't remember. "Or the day before?"

"You're tired, Midvalley and not thinking clearly. Sit down."

"He wants to kill us all," I said with as much force as I could, but it came out a mumble. I sank into the chair at the table. My legs were so tired.

As for Nick, despite my fatigue, I felt his mental anguish through the link. His conscience was at war within him and I worried he might break from the struggle. His mission was to kill Vash the Stampede, but Vash was a friend and I realized with a sinking feeling that Nick would never kill a friend and Knives would kill him when he failed.

"He's going to kill Nick," I heard my own trembling voice blurt out.

I needed to go to him, but when I tried to get up, I didn't have the strength.

"What's the matter with me?" I groaned. I felt so distanced from my own body.

"Has this ever happened to you before?" asked Legato with concern.

"I have to…huh, what?"

I couldn't remember what he'd said.

"I was talking and you just blanked out. Has that ever happened to you before?" asked Legato.

"I think, maybe…." I couldn't remember, exactly.

"You need rest," Legato said in a soothing voice.

"But Nick…" I sighed and my eyes closed.

"Rest," he repeated…..

Somehow, despite my weakness, I found myself standing and walking, but it didn't feel like walking. It was more like floating instead . Legato led me to the bed and I sank down on it. I still had the coffee cup in my hand and it slipped from my fingers. I saw it shatter on the floor and heard the crash a moment later.

"What…was… in… the… coffee…?" were the last words I heard myself slur.

When I woke up, for the first time in a long time, my heart felt at ease. I could hardly wait to see him again. I decided to wear the crushed velvet suit he always said was his favorite and walked over to the dining facility. I poured myself a cup of coffee with cream and selected a plain donut from a tray on the counter. I gave a nod and a smile to the cook in the kitchen…..what was his name? Oscar….It was good to see a familiar face. I sat down, took a bite of donut and then a sip of coffee. I drank in the fragrance of the brew. I hadn't had any quite this good for a while. I saw my reflection on the surface of the liquid. I sighed and wondered when Nick would be coming.

I must have fallen asleep. When I woke up, it was to the sound of a cat mewing and a hand shaking my arm.

"Are you all right, Mr. Midvalley?" said Annie…"You look like you don't feel so well."

"I'm fine. I'm just waiting for Father Nick," I said with a smile.

"He's dead. You brought his coffin back with you this morning. You must be sick. Don't you remember?"

I wake up in shock with the sweat streaming down my body.

I hear shouts and see lighted torches burning in the dark.

"He's in here."

"Abomination!"

"Kill the murderer!"

I woke up with my heart beating fast, and a high-pitched voice whining, mocking me.

"I thought you'd be dead for sure, Whorefreak."

"Zazie?"

I turned to look at him.

He was a lovely young girl, slender and supple, dressed in black.

"You thought a bullet could kill me? Think again. By the way, that's a real nice suit. Perfect for a funeral. Your friend is not long for this world."

"Shut up, Zazie," I said and rolled over and went back to sleep.

I remember the feel of the night wind in my hair. The breath of the wind sounds like voices.

"Wake up! Wake up, Midvalley!"

It's her voice.

I lie on the bed and when I look out the window, I see the silver moon has her face, "Mother," I whisper softly.

"Wake up, he needs you!" she whispers back in her silvery voice.

"Who needs me. Mother?"

"They're killing him, Midvalley. Nick!" The tension in her voice finally rouses me and I feel the urgent need to go to him.

But my fingers and feet move so slowly. Just to put my clothes on takes forever and to stumble down the stairs. When I walk out on the street, a storm is blowing. I try to run but the strong wind beats me back. My legs are so heavy.

"I've got to go to him"

I see him in the street, smiling at the Evergreen, tasting a bite of a green apple.

I smile in relief. I have worried for nothing. Nick is fine.

I hear the muffled pop of Caine's weapon and the machine gun bark of the Evergreen's weapon.

"I've got to go to him," I said as I struggled to get out of bed. I felt dizzy and weak. Legato was no where in sight.

The sound of distant gunfire continued and I doubled over from an acute sensation of pain in my guts like white heat in my brain.

I opened myself to healing power and the sensation of pain in my body eased. I hurried down the steps to the hotel lobby and onto the boardwalk.

The street was deserted but the burning pain in my guts redoubled in intensity. I hugged my arm across the cramp and limped down the street, looking wildly in all directions until I calmed myself enough to get a sense of Nick's presence and a direction in which to travel. North, he was headed north. I walked up the street, a sensation of heat came over me, and then a cold chill.

I passed a cross street, saw a tavern in flames. I got no sense that Nick was there...It wasn't what I was looking for. I stepped in something wet and my foot slipped. Blood. My heart beat fast with fear. I hurried my steps and followed the blood trail . In the distance I saw Vash the Stampede leaning up against a jeep.

I wasn't supposed to let him see me, but he couldn't have anyway with his eyes closed and weeping. He was standing by a gravesite marked with the wreckage of a sniper rifle and a broad brimmed hat. Caine was dead.

The Stampede was so deep in his grief, he didn't notice me at all. In the distance, I saw a steeple and thought that maybe that was where Nick was headed.

The pain in my side eased. The healing power I'd sent had helped . Nick must be feeling better I rejoiced. I hastened my limping steps. I wanted to be with him.

I finally reached the church and as I pushed the door open, a flight of doves sped skyward wheeling into the blue.

It was dark in the church after the incandescent brightness of the twin suns and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust.

My lover was kneeling in front of the altar praying.

"Nick," I said with a sigh of relief.

I walked up behind him. The Cross Punisher was a heavy weight on his shoulders. I pushed it away and Nick began to fall sideways. I knelt to catch him and he sagged into my arms.

My heart was beating too fast as I laid him back on the floor.

With trembling hands, I pulled open his coat. His white shirt was dyed red with blood. With fingers shaking I ripped open the buttons.

There were too many holes in his bronzed chest, the blood flowing from them, pooling on the floor.

A sob caught in my throat.

"Ah, Nick---"

I placed a hand on his forehead and the other on his chest and let all the healing power I had flow through me. I closed my eyes, inhaling and exhaling, feeling a heat and tingling in my hands and then a magnetic sensation. My eyes snapped open when I heard a sharp intake of breath and I felt a surge of relief when I saw Nick's blue eyes looking up at me.

"Midvalley," he murmured softly. He lifted a hand to touch my face.

He coughed and a red froth of blood came up, caught on his lip and rolled down his chin and his hand fell away.

"I've got to go," he said faintly.

"Don't--no, don't go, Nick," I told him. I wouldn't let him leave me. He couldn't die.

"Meet me on the other side," he said. Then the light went out of his eyes, the lids slid shut, and he was gone from the link.

"Damn it! Nick!" I growled, my desperation growing.

"Oh, shit!" I exclaimed. I was scared.

I pulled him into my lap, and tried again to revive him. My limbs trembled as the healing power filled me.

"Oh, God help me!" I prayed as I clasped Nick's body to me.

I could feel the power surging in me as I breathed deep and long and steady and tried to find the link again.

"Don't leave me, Nick," I begged him, but still his body lay limp and lifeless in my arms.

"Wake up," I shouted at him and shook him. but still he didn't wake.

I was sweating from the effort it took me to channel so much power. It had taken everything that I had just to bring him back for a minute---for him to open his eyes, whisper my name and touch my cheek.

Again and again I tried to open myself to healing power, but I had nothing left to give.

There was nothing I could do.

The link was gone.

I wept from frustration, my body shaking with the force of my emotions.

I put my hand over my mouth and my tears splashed down on his face. I wiped them away from his cheeks, then cradled his body in my arms. I held him tenderly as I gave vent to my sorrow. I don't know how long I rocked with him in my arms.

My tears came and went in waves. Part of the time I was out of my mind with grief and even convinced myself that if I just held him long enough he'd wake up again.

When the tears stopped, I had moments of clarity when I realized that he was dead and wasn't coming back.

"Oh, Nick," I moaned low.

I had to let him go.

I touched his face, smoothed the wild tangle of hair from his forehead, traced the planes of his cheek and the curve of his lips with my thumb and leaned to kiss them one last time. They were cold.

I began to cry again. I settled his body on the floor in a patch of light from a stained glass window.

Nick had picked this place to die and I felt that the empty church would make a fitting tomb for him. I buttoned his shirt and jacket, straightened his legs, and folded his arms across his chest in a cross.

If I'd had Silvia with me, I would have played "Serenade" for him.

That's what I 'll do, I thought. I'll go back and get Silvia and play it for him one last time.

To be continued.