Knives hurt.  Everything ached from the top of his head down to the bottoms of his feet and everything in between.  Of course, there were varying spots of agony that included his arms, legs and his left side.  Slowly he forced his eyes to open.  It seemed to take an inordinate amount of energy just to accomplish that simplest of tasks and he found he had to take several moments to gather the strength to focus on what he was seeing.  Of course, once he did so he found himself wondering why he even bothered.  All there was to see above him was a non-descript ceiling much the same as any other ceiling except for the tiny cracks spreading out like ugly spider webs in the flaking paint.  **Spiders?**  The thought stuck in his mind for some odd reason and left him with a strange sense of disgust.  Why those tiny eight legged creatures would make him feel like that was currently beyond his ability to grasp, but it was still there, a gnawing, empty ache in the pit of his stomach that spread out and made his aching body tingle with the sensation of having those very same spiders crawling all over him.  He shuddered and immediately regretted the action when the dull ache in his body turned into screaming agony from the tiny motion.  **Spiders…spiders…** His jaw clenched and his eyes filled with horrified loathing.  **Humans!**

    Memory crashed down on him and he felt his stomach clench as he nearly choked on rising bile.  Vash had shot him again…several times if the pain he currently felt was any indication.  **So…why didn't he just kill me?**  His last memory was of his brother standing over him aiming his gun…the silver gun Knives himself had made and given to him…at his head and…and… Blue eyes narrowed in concentration.  Vash had said something…but what had it been?  Something about…survival?  Yes, that had been it.  Vash had said that he would survive and that was the last thing Knives could remember until he'd opened his eyes to stare up the ugly ceiling and its cracked paint.

    The sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention and held it, drawing him out of his confused contemplation of his brother, spiders and survival.  He heard a door opening with a quiet creak and felt warm air wash over him.  He tried to summon the strength to turn his head, but found it futile.  He'd used up nearly all his reserves just in the battle to open his eyes and focus on the ceiling above him.  He felt a rise in his disgust and anger, this time directed at himself rather than his brother.  He hated weakness and found it intolerable when he found it in himself.  He listened to the soft, nearly inaudible footsteps approaching him and the bed he lay on.  They weren't his brother's distinctive and heavy tread.  So…who else could it be?  He felt a snarl drawing back his lips.  There was only one explanation…it was a human!  **Filthy, disgusting, parasitic spiders!**  His hand twitched as he tried to close it into a fist.  His head spun from the resulting pain of his action.

    Knives heard a sharp gasp from above him and forced his vision to clear so he could focus.  He found himself staring up into a pair of wide grey eyes set in a small delicate face framed by short dark hair.  His eyes narrowed.  **Why the hell is she staring at me?!**  He longed to put this puny female spider in her place, to reach up and wrap his hand around her throat and slowly choke the life out of her as he watched.  Unfortunately, in his current state he doubted he could summon the strength to move even his pinky finger never mind use brute force to attack the woman leaning over him.

    "Knives?"  She breathed his name and he winced, hating the way he was so powerless at the moment.  "Oh my gosh!  D-don't move!"  He glared up at her.  **As if I could.**  He thought darkly.  "I-I'll go get Vash!"  **You do that, spider.**  She disappeared from his vision and he breathed a soft sigh of relief.  He hated having those disgusting humans so close to him.  He'd tolerated Legato Bluesummers because the man had been somewhat useful, but that was all.  All other humans were shunned at all costs.

    Why the hell had Vash brought him so close to the humans he hated?  Didn't his brother realize that once he had recovered he'd kill every one of the filthy beasts?  His brother was an even bigger fool than he'd originally thought.  He sighed and returned his attention to the ceiling above him.  **That really is an awful color…** He thought distractedly.  Whoever had decorated obviously didn't have even the faintest notion of suitable colors for an interior.  Dark was **not** acceptable.  He frowned and pursed his lips thoughtfully.  **A light shade, perhaps blue or beige…it would lighten the room and make it appear larger.**  He mentally shook himself.  **What am I thinking?!  What do I care how these spiders choose to decorate their feeble dwellings?  So what if that dark color makes the room dull and lifeless?  I'm not going to be here long enough to really care.**

    His attention was distracted again by an enticing aroma wafting from just to the left of his head.  He sniffed experimentally and frowned.  It smelled good.  It suddenly occurred to him that the female spider had brought something into the room with her.  His eyebrows rose in surprise as he sniffed again.  It really did smell good.  The scent was familiar, teasing his senses but the memory danced just beyond his grasp.  He really ought to know what that scent was.  He frowned again and concentrated, forcing his mind to follow along the path the memory was trying to disappear down as it evaded his grasp.  He sniffed one last time.  **Aha!  Chicken noodle soup.**  He was rather pleased with himself for having finally grasped the elusive memory.  The next instant he was filled with disgust.  **What the hell's wrong with me?**  What did it matter what the human had brought into his room for sustenance?  Of course, it really did smell good.  He wondered idly if it still tasted the same.  That thought was immediately followed by a frown of confusion.  **But…where would they get chickens from?**  If it wasn't chicken…then what could it be?  He felt a little ill at the thought of maybe being forced to dine on Thomas noodle soup.  He really hated those ugly beasts of burden…giant, over-sized… "Chickens…" His voice emerged as a wheeze, rusty from obvious disuse.  "Ugh…" Thomas noodle soup, indeed.  He fervently hoped they didn't try to feed him that disgusting concoction…even if it did smell delicious.

    The sound of running feet drew him out of his morbid fascination with comparing chickens and Thomases.  He recognized the heavy tread as belonging to his brother.  "Knives!"  He winced at the volume of the address.  "Oh man…I'm was so wor—ahh!"  Knives gasped in agony and immediately lost consciousness as Vash tripped and fell across his brother's inert form.  "Oops."