Hello there, folks, Darkest Vampire here with the first fanfic written for the Black Lagoon Fanfic challenge from Lazy Eyes Conway. Safe to say i`ve never written a Sawyer x Rock story before nor some mystery-thriller-crime-ish story, but i`d be damned not to try once, right?
As of now, i have no idea how long this story might end up as or how its going to turn out, but it being Black Lagoon, the M rateing is justified by the swearing, the blood, the adult themes and drug abuse etc. If they hit it off, they aren´t going to stop with just a few kisses either.
As a final note, suggestions are welcome, if they aren´t grammar related. I know i can´t type for shit, so.. don´t rub it in, okay?
Now, enjoy, and if you liked it, review please.
It wasn`t hard to figure out that she was single. One just had to take a single look at her and it was obvious. Not because of her body. She was pretty, with her black curly hair and her sleek figure, cute even, being petite and almost childish looking, but then there were her eyes. Those deep, sunken in eyes that seemed to be made out of compressed hatred for the flesh of the living. And then there was the fact that she was mute.
Not entirely mute, but her voice strings were so badly damaged that her voice was too quiet for human ears to hear. The voice amplifier she always carried around helped, but it only further alienated her appearance with that robotic voiceover the machine provided.
One could overlook the childish looks, the gothic outfits she liked to wear and even the eyes that gave an impression of hell for some, but the voiceover was the final nail to any relationship`s coffin.
Sawyer, the Cleaner, was doomed to be alone for the rest of her life.
„Yo, Rocky boy. Dutch`s got somethin for ya to do." Revy`s pat on the shoulder suprised Rock, who was just reading a horror novel which took place in Venezuela. He knew he should`ve never picked up that book after he`d seen the eyes of the femme fatale that cleared out the streets of Roanapur not once, but twice and just happened to live in Venezuela herself... Roberta`s killer eyes had him scared for an enternity and beyond.
„Jesus, Revy, don´t scare me like that." Rock sighed and put the book away, trying to calm his shakeing hands and limb knees by takeing a break. „What does he want?"
„I dunno, he didn`t tell me. Just said it´d be better if you`d handle it. As if i wasn´t good enough for him anymore." Revy`s hinted jealousy made him smirk.
„I told you more than once, sometimes you gotta solve a problem with diplomatics, not with ballistics." Finally, he got up from the couch and stretched his limbs, then giving Revy a short wave and a brief „Later" before heading out towards Dutch`s office.
An „office" it was not, more like an addition to his own room, but at least they stored the few files about the jobs they did there and the booking was done in this place. Rock had been there several times now, the stench of his own cigarettes was slowly overshadowing Dutch`s favorite brand. Not that it would matter much, the entire building smelled of cigarettes, beer and gunsmoke.
„Ah, there you are. Seems as if Revy was quick to carry out commands this time." The afro american was hanging out, leaning back in the chair with his legs on the desk, his boots crimpleing some paperwork that was still lieing on there. He didn`t seem that relaxed though, Rock could tell by the tensed look on his face. Something was up.
„Give her a break though.. she could`ve been a little slower this time around. Whats up?"
„Something big, Rock. Both Balalaika and Chang are takeing aim at the goth-girl from the cleaning company, you know, the chainsaw massacre chick."
„Sawyer." Rock corrected, yet looking suprised. The Triads and Hotel Moscow rarely worked together unless there was such extreme measures to be taken that threatened both organizations alike.
„Yeah, well, word`s going around she iced some of thier men. Both chinese and russian. Ususally the cleaning company is discrete about thier clients, but something must`ve leaked through... and they`re not exactly happy about that." Dutch`s features were still hard and focused, as if this wasn`t the end of the story.
„Yeah, if someone kills one of thier men, thier entire family gets whiped out as vendetta."
„You betcha. Safe to say this Sawyer girl doesn´t have a family, but either way, her friend Rotton gave us a call about that. He doesn´t wanna have anything to do with it, seeing how he´s familliar with Roanapur, but Sawyer can`t use the phone by herself. Asked if we could do something about it."
„Can we?" Rock asked, looking at a suprised Dutch. „Well, its not like we`re a criminal investigation squad or something that could proove her not guilty."
„Nah, thats not what they`re asking us to do, Rock." Dutch replied, pulling out a cigarette. „They want us to get Sawyer outta the line of fire... or even calm down the organizations."
„Ah, i get it. Thats why you don´t want Revy for that." Rock said, starting to get thinking. „She would just blow a hole into everyone that tried to harm her and make things even worse."
„Bingo. And Benny isn´t much of a fighter as well as being a crappy diplomat. The only one of us that could do anything is you... if you`re up for it."
„Whats the catch?" Rock said, jokeingly, but not even smirking about it afterwards.
„The only one i can think of is that we haven`t talked about the reward." Dutch replied, sucking on his cig. „Its all written in the stars so far. The odds of sucess are incredibly low and Sawyer isn´t a multi billionaire, so there´s no chance we`ll get a decent payoff for the risk we take. But hey, putting your life on the line to save others who look innocent used to be your thing, didn`t it?"
Rock`s face was cold and plain, but he nodded. „Yeah... it brought nothing but death and grief. But whatever. I´ll do it... nobody should feel the wrath of both these crazy warmongers... not after i´ve seen what happened to Gretel."
„You`re too kind for your own good, Rock. It might get you killed one day." Dutch shrugged, but smirked. „And thats how we roll in Roanapur."
„Hang on, Rock." Revy said, trying to stop him from simply grabbing his jacket and leaveing. „Haven`t you learned anything from previous deaths? Don`t interfere in stuff like that."
Rock sighed, then turned around, trying to look harsh. „Its different this time. This time its my job to interfere, and i´d be damned not to do that if i actually get a reward for risking my life this time."
„Your life and the one of everyone around you, dipshit. You think i´d like getting shot down from the Triads or butchered by Hotel Moscow?"
„They wouldn`t shoot you. They know what you´re worth for."
„...Ugh, you`re giving me a fucking headache, you know that? Fine then, kill yourself. Have fun." Revy rolled her eyes, but then reached into her pocket and handed Rock a pistol with two spare magazines. „But if you do, give them a fight, will you?"
„You know i hate guns, Revy. I can fight better with words than with lead."
„Yeah, but words aren`t gonna stop the Vysnotiki from snipeing you. If you´re gonna protect that bitch, protect yourself as well. I`m not asking you to go around killing people, Rock, but i feel safer if you have a piece on your ass while you walk through Vietnam."
„Its not like you to be worried about me, Revy."
„Then get used to it."
Revy turned around after he took the weapon, only briefly waveing him off. „Don`t go dieing on me, you son of a bitch, or i`m gonna follow you to hell and bring you back. And that isn´t gonna be pretty."
Rock smirked a little before he put the pistol into his jacket. It looked like a mini-Cutlass, he thought, but then again, it practically was one, a Beretta M92, without all the modifications that made Revy`s ones unique. Funny, she told him once that Chang preached her that Berettas were the most reliable, accurate and styleish pistols there were in the world... and if things went bad, he would use one against Chang himself.
He prayed that he would never need to pull that trigger.
A short drive with the rusty old caddilac of the Lagoon company brought him to the apartment building in which Sawyer lived with her two friends, or at least, she used to be. He didn´t need the room number, it was the only room in which there was stilllight on even though it was past midnight. The gunshots, screams and sirens that gave a terrifieing orchestra the city was so known for completed the image of a cheap horror film he found himself in, and Sawyer, the girl with the chain saw, would be the main actress, the killer with the scissorhands.
Rock tried to get those thoughts out of his head, they would only distract him from the important buisness he was here for. He gave the room a short ring via the doorbell, then opened the front door as it had been busted open years ago.
Going up the steps, the sweat on his back increased, and he felt his hands nervously shakeing from the pressure. Was it a setup? It was possible, and this time, there wasn´t anyone there to protect him.
However, when he finally had the guts to enter the apartment, he only found Sawyer herself there. No sign of Shehuna or Rotton.
„...Where is everybody?" He asked to himself as he almost didn`t see Sawyer, who hid behind a couch.
„Shehuna and Rotton left for good." Her mechanical voice startled him, causeing him to turn around and look behind the couch, directly into her eyes. „Oh, there you are."
„They.. jumped the shark so that they don´t get involved in the war." Her voice sounded emotionless through the voice modulator she wore on a collar, but her faceial expression told him that she wasn´t so happy about that. It was likely though, everyone in Roanapur ducked for cover when trouble rose up.
„Don´t worry. I´ll get you out of there." Rock said, feeling a little pity for the girl who just got dumped by the bounty hunters. „I don´t know how yet, but i`ll find a way."
„Thank you, Mister Rock." Sawyer bowed down with her hands on her knees, makeing him think that she was japanese, but she looked nothing like an asian girl.
The odds were, she was just wierd.
And he would have to deal with that.
End of chapter 1