DISCLAIMER: Trigun and its characters belong to Yasuhiro Nightow.

A Night Out

The hotel room was stuffy with heat. Far too stuffy. It was time –

The knob of the locked door rattled. The person on the other side pounded.

– it was definitely time to go.

The window resisted his efforts to get it open. The reputation of Vash the Stampede was mighty and feared, but the stubborn window was not impressed.

Finally, with it mocking him every step of the way, he managed to get it open. Took some elbow grease and a little swearing, but he did it. Stopped to take a couple seconds to bask in triumph; noticed that the pounding at the door had stopped.

He grabbed and shouldered his pack, grinning in anticipation of the coming chase. Meryl Stryfe could be bitchy, but she definitely made life interesting.

From the other side of the door came heavy footsteps.

Vash stuck his head out the window to look for a suitable landing spot, in the process bending over and exposing his flank to attack from the rear.

The door was blasted straight in by a projectile from Milly Thompson's stun gun, taken clear off its hinges.

Meryl Stryfe (of the Bernardelli Insurance Society) burst in, accusing finger pointed like a weapon all its own. "AHA! You thought you could escape, but no one escapes from Derringer –" Her speech trailed off as her scanning eyes caught no trace of her intended target.

"Milly!" she directed. "Check the closet and under the bed. We'll clear this floor and then start a radial search pattern. He's not getting away this time!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Milly hustled to follow orders.

Meryl looked at the blasted-in door. It was an old trick, but – "Hiding behind the door, are you? It won't do you –" Stopped as she jerked on the door and it fell over, revealing nothing but an empty window.

Seething with frustration, she stuck her head out the window. "You can run, Vash the Stampede, but you can't hide!"

A weak "Help me," caught her attention, and she looked down to find her prey in a crumpled heap.

Her voice conveyed the only thought that went through her mind: "EEEK!"