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Chapter 1: Circumstances

"How did it go?" Dutch asked as Revy stormed over to the couch and collapsed on it.

"Horrible."
Dutch sighed, "What did Rock do this time? Did he get caught again?"
"No, he negotiated with them."

"So you didn't get the money?"

"No," she pulled out an envelope and threw it to Dutch, "we got it."

He looked in the envelope and counted the money, "It's all here, Revy, what exactly did he do wrong?"
"I was going to push them for more money. You know, a little pay-back for 'forgetting' to tell their security that we were coming by. But Rock just wouldn't get out of the way. I had half a mind to just shoot him along with the rest and take the money."

"Why didn't you?"
"He's not worth the 70 cents."

Dutch stood up and knocked on Benny's door, "Yeah?" he heard in response.

"Pay-day," Dutch slipped Benny's share under the door and walked to the fridge. "Yo, Revy, want a cold one?"

"Sure." Dutch tossed her a beer and opened his own. Revy opened her can and quickly chugged it down.

"So," Dutch said, "how long till you think Rock gets back?"

"I don't know. I threw him out at Balalaika, so it shouldn't be too late."

"You left him at Hotel Moscow? You're getting soft, Revy. The old you would have thrown him into Sawyer's place."

"Who said anything about Hotel Moscow? I said I threw him at Balalaika."

"Where was she this late at night?"
Revy chuckled, "Out enjoying the little free time she has probably."

"And Rock's going to pay for your little stunt," Dutch took a sip from his beer.

"Yup," Revy went to her room and collapsed on her bed, falling asleep with a smile on her face.

At a little past 3:00 A.M Rock slammed the door to the apartment open, "Revy!" he screamed.

Dutch ran out of his room, "Hey, can you keep it down," he ordered, "We're trying to sleep."

Revy walked out of her room with a wicked smile, "Oh you're finally back. How's Fry-Face doing?"
Rock stormed forward and grabbed her by the neck of her shirt, "Four hours of splicing BDSM tapes." he shook her hard, "Four fucking hours."

"Hey," she punched him in the ribs, but he didn't even flinch, "Get off of me. It was a joke."

"A joke? A joke," he pushed her against the wall, "very funny, Rebecca, I had a blast. Can't you tell?"

"Jesus Christ, Rock, you need to lighten up," she broke his hold on her, but he used his other hand to push her back.

"Lighten up? Lighten up? You need to lighten up, Revy. I just did my job. You were just being greedy."

Benny walked out yawning, "What's going on?" he asked Dutch, not wanting to confront Rock and Revy.

"Rock's had a rough day," Dutch said.

"Okay," Benny yawned again and went back to his room.

"You're so pathetic." Revy said. She pulled his hand off her again and walked toward her door.

"I'm pathetic? Well excuse me for not wanting to shoot everything that moves. You know, sometimes I think you don't even care if we get paid or not. You're just a pissed off, scared little girl who feels like the world owes her. Like she's the only thing that matters because she had a shitty childhood." Revy clenched her fist, "Well, you know what, Revy? I don't pity you. I don't feel bad because of what you had to go through. Because all you do is fight. Everything is a battle to you. You're no better than a troubled 16 year old who decides to bring in an AK-47 for show and tell."

She ran toward Rock and tackled him, "Shut up," she punched him in the face, "just shut up, you self-righteous fuck." She started crying and punched him again.

Rock spat blood out of the side of his mouth, "Is that all you got, Rebecca?"

"Shut up," she pulled out one of her Cutlasses and pointed it at his head.

"What are you going to do? Shoot me?" he said angrily as if he didn't have the barrel of a gun pushing against his forehead.

"Revy," Dutch said calmly, "Calm down."

"I've had enough of his bullshit, Dutch. I'm going to end this right now." she leaned back and got ready to fire when Rock grabbed the gun and forced its barrel away from his head.

"Don't bother. I don't want to be around someone who thinks she's above everyone." He stood up, forcing her to get off of him, and left the apartment.

"What a fucking loser," Revy said as she holstered her Cutlass. She went back to her room and slammed the door behind her.

"This isn't over yet," Dutch said as he sat on the couch and lit a cigarette.

At 7:00 A.M Benny woke up and saw Dutch on the couch, "Hey, good morning."

"Morning, Benny."

Benny sat down in a chair, "So, what was that last night?"

"Even Rock's got a breaking point." Dutch said, "I guess Revy's little stunt was just the thing he needed to push him over the edge."

"So what happens next, then?" Benny lit a cigarette.

"We get Rock back here before he does something stupid."

"That's not what I meant, Dutch. What happens if Rock becomes like us? What happens when he is pushed far enough to kill?"

"We hope that it doesn't break him." Dutch put his cigarette out. He stood up and walked over to Revy's door. "Hey," he knocked, "Revy, get up."
"What do you want?" She screamed from her room.

"It's time to go get Rock."

She threw her door open, "Why? You heard what he said, 'I don't want to be around someone who thinks she's above everyone.' We should just forget about him."
"Revy," Dutch said angrily.
"Fine, I get it. I'll go get little shit." she put on her cut-off shorts and walked, annoyed, out the door.

"Yo, Rock," she called into the Yellow Flag, "you in here?" She looked around and didn't see him, so she walked up to the bartender, "Hey, Horace," she sat down at the bar.
"What's up, Revy?"
"You seen my partner?"
"Yeah he came in earlier. He was pissed. I've never seen a man drink like that before."
"Do you know where he went, Horace?"
"Well, he left with Balalaika."
"What? What was she doing here?"

"Well, your friend staggered out of here at around 5 in the morning and nearly got run over by her car. You know, I'm kind of surprised she didn't just run him over. Normally she doesn't stop for anyone."

"Thanks, Horace." she said. She stood up and left the bar. "Shit." she kept swearing as she walked toward Hotel Moscow.

"Hey, Rock," Balalaika said as she vigorously shook him, "wake up."

Rock slowly opened his eyes, "Ug," he moaned. He sat up and held his head.

"Hangover?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." he focused his vision and looked around. He was in some room. "Where are we? At the Hotel?"

"No. We're at my place. It would be suicide if I slept there." Balalaika answered. She opened her cigar box and offered Rock one. He refused and she grabbed one for herself.

"What happened last night?"
"You don't remember anything, do you?" she laughed.

He looked down and noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt. He lifted the sheets and realized that he wasn't wearing anything at all. "Oh God, did we…?" Balalaika flashed him one of her rare smiles and cut the end of her cigar.

"I don't know what she did," she lit her cigar, "but that girl really got to you last night."
"What girl?" Rock said as he scanned the room for his clothes."

"Wow you really don't remember. You had a huge fight with Revy and I nearly hit you with my car."
"That's right." he said angrily, "she threw me out into the middle of Roanapur."

"Yup, right in my lap, actually. By the way, thanks for the video splicing. I'll be sure to call you next time I have a new order."

"Forget it." he said, "I'm done being a lapdog." He finally spotted his pants in the corner of the room. Not caring about being indecent anymore he got out of the bed and walked over to his pants. He pulled them up and looked around, "Have you seen my shirt?" he asked.

"Yeah. About that." she pointed to the trash can. Rock walked over and picked up his shirt, ripped in two down the back. "Things got a little wild last night, Rock."

"Just my luck. This was my last white shirt. It's going to take forever to find a new one in this town."

"I can always get a friend to order some in for you."
"No thanks, Balalaika. I'll find something."

"Good luck," she said as Rock slipped on his shoes and left her room, shirtless.

Revy walked in the door after searching for Rock for almost 3 hours, "Sorry, Dutch," she closed the door and sat on the couch, "I couldn't find Rock. He's probably dead by now. I heard that Balalaika took him, but he wasn't at Hotel Moscow." she lit a cigarette and leaned back.

"Don't worry, Revy," Dutch said with a smile, "Rock's here."
"He's alive? Good for him. Too bad he won't be for much longer. 3 hours of searching this fucking city just for him to come home safe and sound. It's payback time," she cracked her knuckles.

"Revy, don't go too hard on him. I think he's suffered enough," Benny said as he walked out of his room. "Dutch, the systems are repaired. We can head out for our next job whenever you're ready."
"Good," Dutch said as he stood up.

"Wait," Revy said, "what happened to Rock that makes you think he's suffered enough to escape my punishment."
Benny and Dutch looked at each other and chuckled, "Hey, Rock," Dutch called, "we've got a job, let's go."
"You have got to be kidding me."
"Sorry, Rock," Dutch said, "but we've got a deadline."

"Shit," Rock said. He slowly opened the door and Revy couldn't help but burst into laughter at the sight of Rock.

"Jesus Fucking Christ," Revy said through her hysterical laughter.

"Yeah, yeah," Rock said annoyed, "laugh it up."
Revy kept laughing, "Whoever bought you that shirt is a fucking moron."

"You gave me this shirt, Revy." Rock yelled. Revy instantly stopped laughing, but Dutch and Benny couldn't help but break into hysterics.

"Shut up," she screamed at them. "Rock, go put on a different shirt."
"I can't. This is my last one."
"What?" Revy said surprised, "What happened to all your white shirts?"

"Balalaika ripped my last one in half last night."
"Why, what did you do to her?"

Dutch laughed, "I think it's more of a question of what he didn't do to her."

"Huh?" Revy said confused and the four headed to the boat. It didn't hit Revy until the boat left the dock, "Oh my God," she screamed, "You fucked Balalaika."

coming up: someone's tailing the Lagoon Company. What does this mysterious person want? Is he a threat, a nuisance, or worse? Also, Benny is faced with a tough choice regarding Greenback Jane.