"No Rock! Don't look at her! Look at me!" Revy called, but it was too late. As she hung on Rock's shoulder, her leg with a massive hole in it, his neck remained unswiveling as that stupid girl drove the sword through her neck. He's seen it all now. He'll be scarred for life. He'll never be the same.

No.

"Look at me!" Revy screamed again. She had to see into Rock's eyes, to know that the man she's come to know was still in there. The last thing Revy wanted was for Rock to lose the humanity that made him Rock. Why? Why did she care what Rock was like as a person? She asked herself that a lot, but never quite found an answer.

Finally, he turned, his face was mere inches away from hers.

"Keep looking..." Revy whispered as she held his cold gaze, looking for that familiar glint or twitch of the mouth that said Rock was still in there. She couldn't find it, but maybe she hadn't allowed for enough time to pass.

"Rock..." Revy said, her voice cracking a little with worry.

"Let's get you to a hospital." Rock said flatly before she could continue.

Dread started to creep into Revy's mind. Could she have lost Rock? Will she never again see that little crybaby? That punctual businessman? That normal human being?

She put that out of her mind when she started having to focus on walking with a stab wound in the leg. The pair slowly drifted away from the two dead bodies that sat bleeding on the dock before they got far enough to safely phone for an ambulance.

Next thing Revy knew, the hole in her leg was wrapped in bandages, and she was lying in a bed in a hospital, white walls, light and curtains dominating her vision. She felt a painful lurch in her chest when she saw the face of Rock, who was sitting in a chair to her right. She hoped his expression would be a bit more pained at having failed to save that girl, as bad as that sounds, but he just stared back into her eyes with as emotionless a face as anyone could have. His mouth hung slightly agape, his eyelids falling just a bit. Had she not known any better, Revy would've thought he was just exhausted.

"Rock, I'm sorry." She finally said, a string of words that never come out of her lips in that order before.

Rock let his eyes fall. "That dumbass would've gotten herself killed anyway."

No! Rock wouldn't say that!

"You don't mean that!"

Rock's gaze turned back to Revy curiously.

"That's not you talking Rock. That isn't the you I know. Don't let this change who you are! Don't let this destroy you. Rock, I can't watch you turn into something you're not cuz of this! Fuck... don't let this change you!" Revy could feel herself letting much more emotion than usual flow out, her face genuinely pained and concerned.

Rock stared back blankly. "Why do you care if that changed me?" He asked.

"B-b-because, you're not like us! You belong in the Lagoon company, but you're different!" Revy took up his left hand, which was resting on the bed, with both of hers as she said that."You're... normal. I like you that way. I can't watch you be broken. I... I care about you Rock..."

Those last words wandered in and out of Rock's ears for a few moments, before he did something surprising. He smiled warmly, though a tinge of sadness stuck out. "I care about you too Revy."

"Tell me the man I met is still there." Revy said, pulling his hand closer, her thumb brushing along his.

Rock exhaled deeply through his nose. "I'm right here Revy."

Revy finally smiled back, widely. In fact, she was so happy, she could kiss him. She did. It was so sudden, neither of them could really tell who made the first move, but both of them knew their lips were pressed together, Rock was leaning out of his chair and into Revy, who was sitting up in bed, their eyes were closed and they wanted this. No thoughts of them being coworkers or of all the beatings Revy gave Rock crossed their minds. Only their own bottled up desires which they were just uncorking.

Once they had touched down at the small airport that stood roughly an hour's drive from Roanapur, Rock's phone started buzzing. He picked it up once he and Revy were outside, waiting on a cab.

"Rock?" The gruff voice of Dutch said into his ear.

"Yup. How's it going big man?" Rock said in an upbeat tone.

"Put the phone on speaker... let Revy hear this." Dutch said, exhaling the words in an exhausted manner.

Confused, Rock tapped Revy's shoulder and indicated to his cellphone before activating speaker. "Hey Dutch." She said into it.

"Hope you kids are doing alright... listen, don't come back to Roanapur."

"What?!" Revy nearly yelled into the phone.

"Looks like our past has finally caught up with me and Benny, but you two still have a chance. I've wired all the money I could into Revy's account."

Rock and Revy met each other's gaze with a look of horror.

"The Lagoon Company had to end sometime I guess. Least some of my best employees-" Dutch was stopped by a loud bang.

"Dutch?" Rock asked meekly as a yellow cab pulled up.

Nothing. Rock and Revy locked eyes again. As the sounds of white noise emitted from the cell phone and yelling from their cabdriver, Rock swallowed hard and grabbed Revy's hand, pulling her back towards the airport.

"We're leaving." He said with an assertive tone that dared anyone who heard it to argue.